Livingston County, Illinois - The whole text, 1878 (part 12 of 25)

The government lands in the townships had generally been bought up by speculators, who held them at higher figures and on closer terms than the first settlers were able to pay. The common price of the railroad lands at first ranged from $10 to |20 per acre, according to location. In this township, the settlers paid from $15 to $20 per acre. They were required to pay two years' interest at the rate of 6 per cent, in advance. This secured them the land, the remaining payments to be made each year, in small amounts, the railroad company basing their calculations on the average cost of living and the average receipts for produce. The poor prices realized, however, did not enable many of the settlers to meet the payments when due. They could not make, owing to the low prices for everything, near what they expected. The railroad company did not want them to leave, as its prosperity depended on that of the people along its route, and reasoning that the prices of labor and its products were so low and no prospect for improvement, especially if the settlers were obliged to leave, in many cases took the land for the improvements made, and then immediately resold it to the original settlers for $6 and $7 per acre, in cash. This second sale in many cases occurred just prior to the war, when a great amount of corn existed in the country, and from which the settlers afterward derived large sums of money, enabling ihem to materially better their condition. Where a purchaser could not pay all in cash, he was allowed a reasonable time, and by such a policy, many a home was saved which in after years, with its associates, aiforded immense revenues to the company.

The settlers of 1855-59 experienced about the same trials, required the same perseverance, and lived in the same manner. Each one went upon new, raw land, as it was termed, and each one was compelled to reduce it to a state of cultivation. Among those coming in 1857 may be justly mentioned : C. Bruce, E. F. John, Peter E. and Patrick Flanagan and S. Williams. In 1858, Stephen M. Pillsbury and his family came from Bureau County, where they had been residing for two years, and purchased the farm Mr. Pillsbury yet owns. His sons have all become prominent men, one of whom, N. J. Pillsbury, is now Judge of the Appellate Court. He has been a prominent lawyer for several years, and has held several offices of trust. One other son is now a merchant in the county seat, while the two others, one a lawyer and one a physician, reside in Iowa. Samuel Wilcox, another prominent citizen of this township, came from Bureau County, which, indeed, furnished many settlers about that time.

for the space of three months. This school could supply the demand but a short time, owing to the rapid influx of settlers, and in 1858, four additional districts were created, and the Winter of 1 858-59 saw five good schools in operation.

The next year, in Nebraska Township, was conducted the second teachers' institute held in Livingston County. The first had been held at the county seat in 1859, but as Nebraska Township contained more teachers than any six miles square in the county, and more persons interested and working in the cause of education, prominent among whom were the Pillsbury family, it was decided that the next annual institute should he held there.

The five schools in operation in 1860 soon proved insufficient, and as the population increased and occupied the township, other schools were established, until now there are nine in successful operation.

About 1859, German Lutherans came into the western side of the township and established an excellent private school near their present church, which they have always maintained, affording a course of higher education and instruction in their own language. In this building they met for religious services until the completion of their church, opened in 1866. This school is well patronized and has steadily kept to its purpose, holding open nearly nine months in the year. The Lutherans are quite in the majority here, and possess several fine farms. Like their neighbors in the adjoining townships, the German Mennonites, they are a frugal, industrious class of people and adhere tenaciously to their individuality.

In addition to the German Lutheran, four other churches are maintained in^ the township, viz., the Baptist, Congregationalist, Methodist and Catholic^ The first two are the oldest. The Baptist Church was organized early in the life of the township, and for several years held meetings, alternating with the Congregationalists, in the old Nebraska school house. In 1870 or 1871, they erected a church on the southeast corner of Section 7, which they yet occupy. The Congregationalist Church was organized about 1859 or 1860, and for some time services were held in the Nebraska school house. In 1875, they built their present house of worship on Section 11, and now have a prosperous congregation. The Union Methodist Church was organized about 1869, and, like the others, until it was able to build, used a school house in which to hold meetings. This they did until 1873, when they purchased a large school house, remodeled it, and moved it to its present location on Section 20. It is owned and controlled rather by a union than by any denomination, although the Methodists occupy it more than others, owing to their excess in numbers, and were among the principal movers in the undertaking. The Flannegan brothers, mentioned as among the early residents, were the principal supporters of the Catholic Church. It has been organized some time, and erected, in 1875, a very neat frame church on Section 36. The congregation is now prosperous, and supports regular services.

Two post offices are established in the township - one on Section 10, in a store kept by Seymour Thomas. At this place another store is also kept by Mr. Patten. The "corners" are generally known as Zookville, from Mr. B. Zook, who opened the first store here in 1872. About three years after, he sold to the present owner. Another store was started in 1876, by John McCarty, Avho soon after sold to Mr. Patton. the present owner. A blacksmith shop always appears with every "corners," and Zookville was not long until

The other post office referred to is on Section 19, at the "corners," where the Lutheran school house and church stand. As a wind-mill had been built here about the first of any building, the "corners" took the suggestive name of Windtown, which appellation, like many another Western name, clings tenaciously, and probably always will, to the embryo village. A store was built here in 1872, by Herman Schmidt, who sold in 1875, to John Linnemann. the present proprietor. The post office is kept in this store, and is very convenient to the surrounding neighborhood. This place, like Zookville and all small villages, has its blacksmith shop and sinewy blacksmith, who made his appearance with the start of Windtown, and since then you can

The Lutheran school, the common school of this district, the store, the blacksmith shop and a few dwellings comprise the "corners" at Windtown.

To supply the deficiency of water-mills in the township, and make the item of millino; moi'e convenient, about 1869 a wind-mill was built on the farm of Geo. Sauer. It remained in running order and Avas a "thing" of great convenience to the residents of this locality, until its removal in 1872, to Gridley. McLean County. The latter town and Minonk, in Woodford County, are the principal trading points for the people of Nebraska Township, owing to the distance from Pontiac.

The township possesses some of the finest farming lands in the county. The surface is gently undulating, and the soil exceedingly productive, and is well adapted to the raising of corn, of which cereal immense crops are grown.

The eastern portion of the township is crossed by Scattering Point Creek a small tributary of Vermilion River, which rises about the center of Waldo Township, and is the only stream of water in either that or Nebraska Townships. Good water is easily obtained in wells at a depth of from twenty to thirty feet. Wind pumps are coming into general use, and furnish a never failing supply of clear, cold water.

The vote for township organization was cast Nov, 3, 1857. At this election 738 votes were cast in favor of such a division, and forty votes against it. This decided the matter, and John Darnall, Robert Thompson and Absalom Hallam were appointed commissioners to divide the county into townships. This was accomplished by the 1st of January after, and on the 25th of that month, the committee having invited the inhabitants of each of the divisions to meet and name their townships, which we find from the records they cheerfully did, on

Feb. 13th made its report and was discharged. Owing to the sparse population in some parts of the county, the township organization then in some cases included what is now several townships. This was the case in Nebraska, which included, until about 1861, all of Waldo. At the first election in Nebraska, as well as in all other townships, a full set of officers were chosen, and from that time Congressional District Township 28 north, Range 3 east, has maintained an uninterrupted existence.

The farmers are in nearly all cases in good circumstances, owners of their lands and depend more on the culture of the cereals than the raising of stock, the absence of running water making this the more profitable mode of farming.

This is one of the newly settled towns of Livingston County. Settlements were made in Belle Prairie, Indian Grove, Pontiac, Avoca, and other points along the Vermilion River, more than twenty years before the prairies and marshes of Sullivan Township were sought by the white man, or disturbed other than by the Indian and the wild beasts of the plains. These vast prairies, stretching away beyond the reach of human eye, presented to the early settler all the monotony with much of the dreariness of the African desert. And thus almost a generation had passed since the first settlements in the timber, before the most courageous ventured out on to the prairie.

Alexander Harbison pre-empted a quarter section of land here in 1855, the first claim made in the township. J. G. Chesebrough came with him to look at the land, and pre-empted a like tract, adjoining Harbison's. These gentlemen were from New York. Harbison first hauled a load of lumber to his claim, then brought his wife, and the first night slept under a shelter made of the lumber. The next night they improvised a kind of tent, and the next, which was the third night after he brought his wife to the place, they slept in their cabin, which was a small structure twelve feet square and one story high. This was the first permanent settlement in this township, and here Mr. Harbison remained for ten years, when he removed to Five-Mile Grove in Saunemin Township, and in January, 1866, removed to the village of Fairbury, where he still resides. Z. B. and J. G. Chesebrough settled in Sullivan in 1855, soon after Harbison". The Chesebroughs, as already stated, were from New York, and came West the year previous to their settlement in this town, but had stopped in Ohio, where they remained until they came here. Z. B. Chesebrough, the eldest, pre-empted land adjoining that of J. G. Chesebrough, and they built a house in partnership on the quarter section line, so as to have one-half of the house on each man's land, in order to hold the pre-emption right to both claims. The elder Chesebrough made this his permanent home, where he died in 1861. The other, a young man at the time, after some years married and removed into Saunemin Township. James Maddin came from Wheeling, Va., and settled first in Lacon, then called Columbia, Marshall County, in 1834. Peoria was then called Fort Clark, and five miles above was a place called " Little Detroit." He remained there until 1852, when he came to Sullivan and settled in the southeast part of the town, where he still lives. He is in that portion which, as a Congressional township, would be in Charlotte,' but owing to the Vermilion River, which runs through the latter, a part of it is attached to Sullivan, as a political and school town. R. F. Griffing came from Peoria to Sullivan in 1858, where he settled and where he still lives, one of the prominent citizens of the town.

Rev. Felix Thornton came from Tennessee, near the old home of General Jackson. Although he came from the "Land of Dixie," he was a most inveterate Republican. When the war of the rebellion came on, he sent his two sons and his son-in-law into the Union Army, and told them that if more soldiers were needed, that "he and the old 'oman would come next." Hej removed from his native place, in Tennessee, to Virginia, and from the 01( Dominion came to Illinois and settled in Sullivan Township, in 1856. He pr( empted his land the year before, and after settling, remained on it but about eighteen months, when he sold out and removed to Five-Mile Grove, in Sau-j nemin Township. Being of a migratory, or roving disposition, he finally sole out there and removed to Iowa, where he still lives. He was bought out, ii Sullivan Township, in 1858, by R. F. Griffing, who came here from Peoria^ as already noticed. Oscar Adams came to Sullivan with Rev. Mr. Thornton^ He was his son-in-law, and pre-empted a claim and built a house on it, bu^ did not live long to enjoy it. He enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-: ninth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died at Crab Orchard^ Kentucky.

This includes the settlements made up to the period when people began t<> settle on what was termed the " Swamp Lands." From 1858 to 1860, the following new comers entered land in the Swamp District, as the surrounding section was called, and^which comprised much of as fine land as any portion of the county : David Longmire, Joseph Royle, Jacob Lighty. Abraham Harshbarger, Samuel Graybill, Joseph Small, Daniel Rowan, Hunter Randall, Frederick Hack, Lawrence Haag, John Heckelman, Samuel Harshbarger, George Rosenbower, James Sage and David Taylor. These settlers came in and entered lands and proceeded to make improvements, and the township settled rapidly from this time forward. Abraham Gibson came from Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1859. He lived for a time in Pontiac, until he got his buildings completed, when he settled permanently in this township.

The names already given and the settlements described were the first, a« before stated, and after the date to which these extend, there came such an influx of immigrants that dates become confused, and their settlements too modern to entitle them to mention on the score of antiquity, and we pass without further mention of them to other incidents connected with the township's history.

Sullivan, being a newly settled township, has no church buildings within its geographical limits : but it is not to be inferred that the people are heathen or infidels. They are neither, but a moral and religious community, who support the Gospel as liberally as do those who worship in gilded temples. They use their school buildings for houses of worship as well as for temples of learning ; and before they possessed these convenient edifices, the settler's cabin was improvised into a sanctuary of worship. Rev. Felix Thornton, mentioned as an early settler, preached the first sermon in the township, soon after his settlement. He was a Methodist minister, and preached his first sermon in Sullivan Township in Mr. Harbison's cabin. Harbison, in the meantime, had tiuilt an addition to his original edifice, and had now what was considered in those days quite a commodious residence. The first school was likewise taught in Harbison's house, about the years 1857-8, by Miss Eliza Rowan. Mr. Harbison was the first School Treasurer of the township, and was elected the same year this school was taught. S. B. Chesebrough, Jacob Lighty and Samuel Graybill were the first Directors; and Joseph Royle, David Longmire and David Taylor were the first Board of School Trustees for the township. For some time after the first organization of schools, those of Sullivan and Saunemin were together ; but about 1858-9, they were separated, and each town conducted its own schools according to its own notions of educational advancement. The school fund was small, and after the division of the two townships, Sullivan had but two school districts, in each of Avhich a school was supported for the usual period each year. Harbison says that, at this early date, the funds in his hands belonging to the toAvnship were not large enough for his per cent, on them to pay his taxes, which usually amounted to about six or eight dollars. From the last annual report of the School Treasurer, to the County Superintendent of Schools, we extract the following information :

There are at present nine districts in the township, in all of which are good, substantial school houses. Schools are maintained in each district for the usual period, good, competent teachers are employed, and the schools are of a character of which the people of the township may well be proud.

The first marriage in Sullivan Township was that of Dr. Perry, of Pontiac, and Miss Emily Gibson, and took place in 1858. The solemnization rite was performed by Rev. Felix Thornton, before alluded to as the first minister in the township. The first child born was Willie L. Chesebrough, who was born on the 25th dav of November, 1856. The first death that occurred in the township was Mrs. Abraham Harshbarger, who died in 1859. Several other deaths followed soon after that of Mrs. Harshbarger, but she is generally supposed to have been the first that died in what now comprises Sullivan Township.

A post office was established in the same year, and also a store, both of which were the first of their kind in the township. The store was kept by Edward Ward, who was likewise Postmaster. The post office is called Sullivan Center, after the hamlet in which it is located, that is of the same name. The little village at present contains two stores, kept by Abel M. Morrill and Edwin B. Morrill, cousins ; one blacksmith shop, kept by Frank Carry ; one wagon shop, bv J. J. Brown, and a shoe shop, by M. Davis : and had one physician - Z. L. Kay. The place has never been incorporated, nor has it yet risen to the dignity of a village.

The cemetery is a pretty little burying ground, and was laid out by Nelson Buck in 1863, and is kept in good order. Mrs. Griffing, wife of R. F. GriflSng, was the first person buried in it. She was taken up from the farm where she had been originally interred, and removed to this new burying place, when it was found that it was all that four stout men could do to carry the coffin, a fact that gave rise to the supposition that the remains had become petrified. Her husband and friends, however, would not consent to have the coffin opened and examined.

The Masonic Lodge at the hamlet is called Sullivan Center Lodge, No. 738, and was organized under dispensation October 23, 1875. It was chartered in October, 1876, bj M. W. Geo. E. Lounsbury, then Grand Master of Masons in Illinois, and the charter is signed by John F. Burrill, Grand Secretary. The first ofiBcers were W. W. Porter, Master ; Sam'l McGoodwin, Senior Warden ; Thomas W. Chandler, Junior Warden, and R. F. Griffing, Secretary. The present oflficers are W. W. Porter, W. Master ; Thomas W. Chandler, Senior Warden ; Abel M. Morrill, Junior Warden ; R. F. Griffing, Secretary, and the books bear the names of twenty-two members.

Sullivan was formerly a part of Saunemin Township, but, on petition, was set off" about 1860. At a date still earlier, Pleasant Ridge and Charlotte were included in these as an election precinct, and also for a year or two after town- ship organization, when the latter two were struck off, and then, as noted above, Sullivan was separated from Saunemin. Sullivan is now known as Township 28 north. Range 8 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and is situated in the eastern tier of townships, with Ford County on the east, Charlotte Township on the south. Saunemin on the west and Broughton on the north. The first year after Sullivan was separated from Saunemin, Alexander Harbison was elected Supervisor unanimously, there not being a Democratic vote polled. Jacob Lighty was elected Justice of the Peace, and David Taylor Town Clerk, at this, the first election. Harbison was School Treasurer in addition to being Supervisor. The present township officers are as follows, viz. : J. J. Shearer. Supervisor: James Maddin and R. C. Griswold. Justices of the Peace; Martin Detweiler, Assessor; Andi-ew Hoag. Collector; A. M. Morrill, Town Clerk.

The township has always been Republican in politics ever since its organization, and did its duty nobly during the late war in furnishing soldiers to the full extent of its ability, which was, to send nearly every man subject to military duty. David Harbison was the first man in the township to volunteer. He was a brother of Alexander Harbison, noticed in another place as the first settler in the town, and -'stood not upon the order of going, but went "' without delay.

When Sullivan was struck off from Saunemin, it was necessary for it to have a name. After some discussion of the matter, it was a^^reed to call it after Mr. Sullivant, an extensive farmer of Ford County, and who owns several sections of land in this township. As will be seen, the t has been dropped in the name of the township, which is the termination of Sullivant's. That of the township, however, was intended originally for the same, notwithstanding the present difference in the spelling of them.

As noted in the beginning of this chapter, Sullivan Township is prairie land entirely, with no timber but such as has been planted since the settling up of the country. With the adoption of all the modern improvements in drainage, these prairies are now ranked among the finest farming land in this section of the county.

Dwight Towxship

There is nothing more astonishing to the professional traveler, or even tu the staid "old fogv" New Englander who has never been bevond the shadow of his own sterile hills, than the startling rapidity with Avhich the Great West has been developed and settled. As if by magic, towns, cities and villages have sprung up from the rank prairie grass and unfolded in grandeur and magnificence. Yesterday, where the tall grass waved in the wind and myriad wild flowers bloomed, and spent to-morrow, as it were, finds a citv or village laid out, and buildinors goinf up at a rate to startle anybody but a wide-awake Westerner who has been born and bred to this spirit of enterprise, and views it as a matter of course. A conversation overheard on the train, a day or two ago, between a couple of old gentlemen awakened this train of thought and called up these reflections. One of them was from Western New York and the other was a native of Massachusetts but both now lived in Illinois. Said one, " It is the most astonishing thing in the world, this amazing growth and development of the Western country." "Yes," said the other, "down East, where I came from, there is the old road along which we went to school, and the rock where we kicked ofT a toe nail ; the chestnut stump that stood by the side of the road, etc. In ten years we find them just as they were in our school days. There is the rock where we stubbed our toe, and the old chestnut stump by the roadside ; nothing is changed. But here in the West, what changes take place in that period ! Let us be absent from our neighborhood for ten years, and when we return we find nothint^ familiar; everything - almost the face of nature itself - has changed." Thus it is, that where, a few years ago, was a wilderness, unbroken and undisturbed save by wild beasts, to-day are the most flourishing farms, villages, towns and cities. Little more than a quarter of a century ago, the township of Dwight was a wild prairie, untrodden by the foot of the white man, and, as we have been informed, without a single stick of timber of any kind - not even so much as a hazel or willow shrub. Now, beautiful trees and artificial groves abound in all parts of it, the result of the planting and cultivation of timber. Cottonwood, maple and elm seem to be the favorite varieties in this section, and grow and flourish in a very satisfactory manner.

Like all the prairie land, this township was not settled for more than twenty years after settlements had been made in the groves of timber and along the water courses of the county. John Conant came from Rochester, Ohio, in 1854, and settled on the northeast quarter of Section 8, which is conceded to be the first permanent settlement in Dwight Township, outside of the village of the same name. He put up a frame building, which is still standing in a good state of preservation, though its builder has "mingled with the clods of the valley." He died a few years ago, at an advanced age; but his widow is still living, and occupies the old homestead. Mr. Conant was the first Postmaster at Dwight, and the first Justice of the Peace after township organization. The next year. Nelson Cornell came to the neighborhood and put up a house on Section 5, which he still owns and occupies. Thomas Little settled near Cornell soon after. He sold out. ten or twelve years ago, and removed to Wilmington, where at present he resides.

James Mclldufi", in 1854, bought the northwest quarter of Section 18, on which he had some ten acres broken very soon after his purchase. This, it is claimed, was the first "breaking of prairie" in Dwight Township. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and came to his farm the next year after this plowing, and settled permanently. He occupied his farm for a number of years, then removed to the village, where he served as Postmaster during the Presidential

In 1855, James C. Spencer, of New York, began improvements on his farm adjoining the present village of Dwight. He was born on the Hudson River, below the cit}' of Albany, and was a lineal descendant of Hon. Ambrose Spencer, once Chief Justice of the State, and, through his mother, of George Clinton, first Governor of New York and Vice President of the United States, and of De Witt Clinton, also Governor of New York and the projector of the Erie Canal. He owned about 1,200 acres of land here in a body, and came to the place as an engineer of the railroad company. Mr. West, mentioned in tliis chapter as one of the early settlers of Dwight, broke the first prairie, on Spencer's farm. It was on this farm that the Prince of Wales made his headquarters for a few days, in 1860, as noticed further on in these pages. Mr. Spencer at present lives in Milwaukee, and is Vice President of the Davenport k Northwestern Railroad of Iowa, and Consulting Engineer of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad.

Henry A. Gardner, then a resident of Joliet, who owned 1,000 acres of land east of the village, commenced improvements on it this year. He was originally from Massachusetts, and he and Spencer and R. P. Morgan, the latter more particularly mentioned in the histoiy of the village, were civil engineers in the employ of the ''Chicago & Mississippi Railroad Company," as the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Road was then called. Mr. Gardner was employed as rodman on the Great Western Railroad in 1836, under Morgan, and soon advanced to Junior Assistant. He was engaged, at different periods, as a civil engineer on the Hudson River Railroad, the Harlem Railroad and the Mohawk & Hudson River Railroad. In 1845, he came West and accepted a position on the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and in 1853 was employed, as above stated, in constructing the Chicasro, Alton & St. Louis Railroad from Joliet to Bloomington. He located his lands near the present village of Dwight, when making the railroad survey, and also settled his family here. After spending some time on his farm, he was called to a position on the Hudson River Railroad. At the time of his death, July 26, 1875, he was Chief Engineer of the Michigan Central Railroad. The following statement, made a short time before he died, shows his excellent business qualities : "I never had a bill, approved by me, returned for correction or explanation during my professional life." He has left behind him a family of able representatives, of whom the eldest son, Richard Gardner, occupies the original homestead.

Another of the early settlers and substantial men of the neighborhood was Benjamin Chester. He settled here in 1860, and was originally from Connecticut, and sprung from a good old Revolutionary stock. He died in 1868, and his son, Wm. P. Chester, who appeared fully capable of the management of their large farm, followed his father to the land of rest in October, 1869, leaving a sister. Miss Hannah Chester, the only surviving member of this excellent family.

C. Roadnight, from the "chalky cliiFs " of Old England, settled just north of the village in 1857. A man of extensive means and of fine education, he soon obtained the pseudonym of " Sir Charles," a name that ever after clung to him among the democratic citizens of this " blarsted country." He undertook to farm on the English style, but it did not result very successfully. In this country, and particularly in the great West, where there are men who own farms nearly as large as the British Empire, and on which there is annually wasted as much, perhaps, as is made on the largest English farms in a single year, there is little attention paid to scientific farming, and, indeed, in the great every-day rush, it seems that the farmers actually have no time to devote to the science of the business. Mr, Roadnight was, for a number of years. General Freight Agent of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, a position he filled with entire satisfaction.

This includes a number of the early settlers of the township outside of the village of Dwight. From this period forward, the influx of immigrants was too rapid to further admit of individual notice in the history of the town, but there are those whose histories are identified with the village, and in that connection will receive proper mention. The country around the little village rapidly filled up, and the new railroad, when completed, was an inducement, to people in search of homes, to bring them to this section, and soon not a "forty" nor "eighty" was left untenanted.

Like all portions of a new country, the main historical importance centers in the cities or more important villages. It is so in Dwight Township, and very few items of interest, beyond the mere fact of settlement, have occurred outside of the village limits. There are, however, one or two instances that belong in the township history, and will be given in their proper order.

One of the most important, and, perhaps, deserving of precedence, even among our republican people, who have little veneration for royalty, but a good deal of curiosity perhaps, was the visit of the Prince of Wales to this country, in 1860. All who read the public journals of the day are familiar with the main features of his tour of the United States, and it is only necessary to state here, that the Prince, en route from Chicago to St. Louis, stopped here for a few days' shooting. From a work entitled " Past, Present and Future of Dwight," written by F. B. Hargreaves, Esq., and published by The Dwight Star, we extract an account of the royal visit. Speaking of the events of the year 1860, the author says : " This year was remarkable for nothing, as far as we can learn, except the visit of the Prince of Wales. The theory of the divine right of kings has long since been exploded, and is now thrown aside by all intelligent people. Yet, if the theory has gone, one of the practices which it involved remains. There seems to be a natural craving in the minds of many to see a royal personage, even if it be only a second cousin. The strangest part of it is, that such a desire should be manifested in our own country, the acknowledged land of independence and the home of republican thought and feeling. It is.

true, however, that our countrymen, and women especially, have a great reverence for foreign nobility, and the visit of the Prince of Wales, and later of the Duke Alexis, confirms the statement. That this state of things exists is not surprising. but it is sad. It would seem that if a tribute of praise or meed of honor is due to any man, it is to him who has wn'ought noble deeds for his country ; it is to that man who, lajing aside all selfish ambition and worldly fame, devotes his faculties, his energies, his life to the welfare of our common humanity.

" During his progress through our country, the Prince of Wales met with an enthusiastic reception. His visit to this neighborhood was expected, and the residence of James C. Spencer was prepared for his visit. The household furniture was taken away, and special furniture, sent ahead by the Prince's party^ supplied its place. A crowd of citizens gathered on the edge of the railroad opposite Mr. Spencer's residence and waited for the Prince's arrival. It is mournful to be compelled to state that no triumphal arch had been reared ; no town band was there with pleasant music, no leading citizen to present an address of welcome to the youthful scion of royalty. * * *

About 27 minutes after 6 P. M., on September 22, 1860, the Prince of Wales arrived at this town. He was at once escorted to the residence of Mr. Spencer, where he remained during his stay here. He came to this neighborhood for the purpose of shooting, and had not been many minutes at the farm before he called loudly for his gun, and announced his intention of having some sport that evening. He only shot one bird, a little 'screech owl,' and that was enough for the time being. The next day was Sunday, when the Prince and his suite attended divine service at the Presbyterian Church. The sermon was preached by the Rev. P. D. Young. The Prince was much pleased with the service, and, in consequence, made a donation to the church. The next day, the party, numbering some twelve or fourteen gentlemen, commenced shooting in downright earnest. One day they shot from the train, and had such success that over two hundred quails and chickens were bagged. The Prince was then 19 years old, and had a good appearance. He was looking remarkably well, and enjoyed excellent health. His spirits were always good and his manner uniformly genial. He was very much pleased with our country, and expressed himself eminently satisfied with his visit to Dwight. His stay was short ; he came on Saturday and went away on Wednesday. " The last day he was here, he planted an elm tree on Mr. Spencer's farm, and it; has now grown to large propoitions. Those who are curious about such matters can walk up to the residence of Mr. P. E. Miller and see that elm tree for themselves. It will no doubt be gratifying to look upon a tree planted by royal hands. Mr. Miller was turned round quickly and said, " If you'll just mind your business, I'll mind mine.' It is also related how Mr. Roadnight drove up one day in rattling style, and, sitting in his vehicle, called, ' Ho, there ! ' No reply was vouchsafed to the challenge ; and when it had been unsuccessfuly repeated, the irate Englishman put his whip to his horses and told the Prince .to ' go ' somewhere, but history does not state positively the place. Mr. Miller says the party behaved themselves with great decorum during their stay, and as the town is also reported to have done the same, we may safely congratulate ourselves on having entertained the heir to the throne of England, with satisfaction and credit."

As to the tree planted by his Royal Highness, and referred to in the foregoing extract, we had the curiosity natural to a "Brother Jonathan." and paid the tree a visit. So impressed did we become with its royal greatness, that we mechanically lifted our "tile" and bowed low to its waving branches, while with awe we plucked a leaf which we bore away as a relic. Spencer's place, where the Prince was entertained, is, or was, known as "Renfrew Lodge," and is half a mile north of the village. It is occupied at the present time by Leander Morgan, whose beautiful daughter pointed out to us the memorable tree.

Some notice of a murder that occurred but a few miles from the village of Dwight, and is part of the history of this township, may be given in this connection. A Prussian nobleman, by name Alvin V. Panwitz, had settled a few miles from the village, where he was murdered on the 23d day of January, 1872, by his German serving man, Frederick Schafer. Panwitz was a man who drank to excess, and on the day of his murder had drawn some money remitted to him from the old country, and as usual got drunk. Late in the evening, he and his man, together with Conrad Reinmiller, started for home in his sleigh, but owing to the violent quarreling of Panwitz and Schafer, Reinmiller left the sleigh. After they had arrived at home, it seems their quarrel was renewed, and while Panwitz was lying on his bed, Schafer struck him with a " monkey wrench " several blows, which ultimately resulted in death. His victim was buried in a compost heap near the stable, and for three days Schafer hauled corn to Nevada, when, having aroused suspicion against him, he dressed himself in his late master's clothes (whom he strongly resembled, it is said), gathered up all the valuables he could get his hands on, and started with the team for Chicago. Detectives there were notified, and soon discovered him in a stable trying to dispose of the horses for a small amount. He was at once brought back to the village of Dwight, and after a preliminary hearing sent to Pontiac, where, in due time, he was tried and sentenced to eighteen years in the Joliet prison. He is still immured within its gloomy walls, paying the penalty of his crime.

In Dwight Township, as in all prairie country, the people were often exposed to the terror and danger of prairie fires ; many lost property, and came near losing their lives. Referring again to the history of Mr. Hargreaves, already quoted from, it says of these terrible fires : " Nelson Cornell was out hunting one dav on the east side of the town, and when returning saw an immense prairie fire approaching. In order to save his life, he burnt the grass in the place where he was, and stood on the hot ground while the larger fire swept by him, nearly suffocating him with smoke and ashes." Thus the early settlers of the prairies were often in danger of losing, not only their property, but their lives.

When the county was divided into election precincts, before township organization, Robert Thompson, living then in what is now Nevada Township, was a Justice of the Peace in this '' Election Precinct," and was the first to exercise the functions of that office here. John Conant was the first Justice after township organization. The first Constables were B. Losee and W. H. Ketchum ; the latter was also Collector, and Isaac G. Mott was the first Supervisor. The present township officers are : Hugh Thompson, Supervisor ; John Thompson and W. H. Ketchum, Justices of the Peace ; Joseph Ford, Assessor ; Joshua Sibley, Collector ; C. M. Baker, Town Clerk, and Francis Carey, School Treasurer.

The first birth in the township was a child of Thos. Wilson, the Railroad Agent, about 1854, and died in about six months, which was also the first death in the town. It was buried in a private cemetery, before one was laid off for the village. The second death was the wife of Alexander Gourley. She was taken sick and died at Mr. West's, in 1855. She was buried in the Dutch Settlement, and an infant left by her at her death is now a young woman She has already been married twice, and in her marriage relations has received nothing but the worst of treatment. The good lady who informed us of the fact stated that her life had been a sad one from infancy,'and her married life, instead of bettering her condition, had brought her nothing but misery and cruelty, and that all the sorrows of her life would fill a volume. The first marriage of which we have any account, is Elon G. Ragan and Maria West, who were married February 19. 1856.

Politically, Dwight Township is Republican, and taken together with the village of Dwight, they give from 150 to 200 Republican majority, but formerly, before the demoralization caused by the Greenbackers and Independents, 250 majority was about the average of the Republican strength. The war record of the town will be given in the history of the village, wiiere, as already stated, most of the history of the township centers. As it was in the villac^e that the first settlement in the town was made ; the first church was also built there, and there the first school was taught. The name of Dwight was taken from the village of that name, which was laid out and named before township organization.

The Village Of Dwight

Dwight is situated on the main line of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, at the junction of its Western Division, and is about seventy miles from Chicago, and twenty miles from Pontiac, the county seat. It is a place of about 2,000 inhabitants, is the third in size, and one of the most important shipping points in the county. The repair shops and the round house of the Western Division of the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad are located here, as well as the headquarters of the bridge builders of the main line. The tank men were stationed here until recently, when they removed their headquarters to Bloomington. A large number of men employed by the two roads live in the village of D wight, and have all their interests centering here.

It was surveyed by Nelson Buck, Deputy County Surveyor, for Amos Edwards, the regular Surveyor of the county, in the Fall of 1853, for R. P. Morgan, Jr., Jas. C. Spencer, John Lathrop and J. and K. W. Fell, who owned the land on which it stands. The original town embraced the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 4 ; also the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter, and the northeast quarter of the northwest (quarter of Section 9, Township 30 north, Range 7 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and on the 30th day of January, 1854, was dedicated by Mr. Morgan, and the plat admitted to record. The following are his dedicator^/ words : " To be known as the town of Dwight, and the streets and alleys described on the town plat are hereby donated to the public." It was named for Henry Dwight, of New York, who was a capitalist, and furnished the money to build the road from Joliet to Bloomington, known now as the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad. He is said to have lost a fortune in the construction of this road ; and as a compliment to him, and in honor of his noble deeds, his name was given to the new village, which, in spite of efforts to change it, it has ever since borne. A " quill " of the time thus poetized :

" When first this village D. was thought, The friends of D. some others fought, To give a little name, and birth To homes of clay, and joyous mirth. This settled, and a sign they placed To guide the weary wanderer to rest : A hickory pole of twenty-two feet, A rusty pan did gracefully o'erleap.

We are told that the very first indication of a town was the raising of a telegraph pole, with a tin pan nailed on top, which served as a landmark and guide to the surveyors engaged on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis Railroad, or, as then known, the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad. The history of this great railroad, one of the leading roads in the State of Illinois, is so well known that any notice of it in these pages seems almost superfluous. The enterprise was begun in 1853, under the style of the Chicago & Mississippi Railroad Company, wnth the intention of building a railroad from Joliet to Alton. The road was located by Oliver H, Lee, Chief Engineer of the company, and the work pushed forward under the supervision of Assistant Engineers R. P. Morgan, Jr., H. A. Gardner and James A. Spencer, with such vigor and dispatch that on the 4th day of July, 1854, the first passenger train passed over the new road..

Since that event, its history is so familiar to all as to need no comment here. Suffice it to say, it has made the village of Dwight what it is - a fact of which its citizens are aware, and appreciate accordingly.

In 1869, the Western Division of the C. & A. R. R., which leaves the main line at Dwight, was begun and completed, and trains running over it in 1870. This makes Dwight quite a railroad center.

The first house or cabin in the village of Dwight was built by a man fi-om Morris, whose name is now forgotten. It was a frame building, 16x24 feet, one and a half stories high, erected on Lot 8, Block 18, in 1853. and was built originally for a store or a kind of supply depot for the railroad hands, and finally passed into the possession of Dr. Haggerty, whose family still own it.

The first permanent residence erected in the village was by Augustus West, on Lots 18 and 19, in Block 7, and was completed in June, 1854. He still owns the property, but has built a larger and more commodious house on the original site of his first cabin. Mr. West came to the State in 1853, and early in 1854 came to Dwight, where he has ever since remained, and beheld the sickly village of a quarter of a century ago grow up into a prosperous young city.

In 1854, John Campbell put up a temporary eating house, which was the first place of public entertainment the village knew. The trains stopped at it for dinner and supper, which arrangement was continued until 1855, when it was purchased by Hiram Cornell, who came from New York, and who conducted it as a hotel for some time. The following story is told of hira during his first W^inter as " mine host: " He had a barrel of whisky (without which the Western hotel was never found in those early days), and from some cause, wholly unaccountable, it "froze up" during the first cold snap, nor could he get it near enough to the fire nor the fire hot enough to thaw it out ; and so it remained until Spring came with its warm days. Cornell remained in this little shanty until he built the "Dwight House," the first regular hotel in the village, in 1855. Since the erection of this hostlery, many changes have taken place in the hotel business, as well as in all other lines represented in Dwight. At present, the principal hotel of the place is the " McPherson House," and is rnu by that prince of landlords, Charles Staff"ord.

The first regular store was built by David McWilliams, in 1855. It was painted white, and, like the telegraph pole, surmounted by the tin pan, before alluded to, served as a way mark to all in search of the new village. It is said that the first sale made by Mr. McWilliams, after opening a store here, was a lawn dress pattern, which the workmen presented to the wife of the Station Master of the railroad. The store seems to have been a house of general accommodation, and was used as a place of worship, and also as shelter for the new comers of those early times until they had found a permanent place to lay their heads.

Mr. McWilliams came from Pike County, 111., but was born in Ohio, his parents removing to Illinois when he was a child. He came to Dwight iu

1854, purchased lots and made arrangements for building, but did not settle permanently until the following year. When he settled here, there was then living in the village Simeon Lutz, his father-in-law, John Routzong, a genuine old Pennsylvania Dutchman, Augustus West, James Morgan, an American citizen of Irish descent, Thomas Wilson and James S. Harrison. Morgan was a track-layer on the railroad, and kept a kind of boarding house for the accommodation of the railroad hands. Wilson was the Station Agent, but was of little account, and remained in the business but a short time. Harrison was also a track-layer, and made his home with the Wests, where he died, in 1876. Mr. McWilliams is still a citizen of Dwight, a prosperous merchant and banker,

Hiram Cornell (who bought Campbell's eating-house), George Flagler, William Clarkson, Jeremiah Travis, Wm, H, Ketchum and B. Losee, from the Empire State ; Isaac H. Baker, S. L. D. Ramsey and Dr. J. H. Hagerty, from Pennsylvania. The latter graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1852, and was a prominent physician, and practiced his profession here until 1863, from which date until his death, September 1, 1873, he acted as consulting physician only. The others were of the solid citizens of the village.

The first Postmaster at Dwight was John Conant, and the office was established in 1855. He kept it at the house of Mr. Lutz, and surrendered it to Mr, McWilliams when that gentleman opened his store in the village. The office was a small affair in those primitive days compared to it at present. H. A. Kenyon is now Postmaster.

The first wagon maker in the village was Joseph Rockwell, who came here in 1858 from Connecticut, and made the first wagon in Dwight. He also made a loom for weaving cloth, and his wife used it. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, as was also Mr. Conant, and both belonged to the same regiment.

The first religious meeting held in Dwight was in an unfinished building on Lot 17, in Block 6, in 1855, and but few persons were present, as but few lived in the village at the time. The first sermon preached in the village was over McWilliams' store, on the second Sunday in June, 1855, by the Rev. A. D. Field, of the Rock River Conference, who established the first religious society while here ever organized in the township or village. The religious history of Dwight will be again referred to before the close of this chapter.

As a village, Dwight was incorporated about 1868, but as the first record book has been mislaid, we have been unable to get the exact date of its organization under the legislative act, or the names of the first Board of Village Trustees and officers. At present the Board is as follows, viz. : John Thompson, President ; R. C. Adams, W^illiam Walker, W. H. Ketchum, E. R. Stevens, John C. George ; C. M. Baker, Clerk ; James Mclldufi", Police Magistrate ; W. M. Stitt, Town Marshal, and Henry Eldridge, Treasurer.

An important feature of Dwight is the grain and stock business. The shipments from this point annually exceed those from any other place perhaps in the county. The first grain warehouse was built by John C. Spencer in 1857, but as the country was rapidly increasing in agricultural importance, in 1862 David McWilliams commenced a large warehouse, but the war, which was then assuming a fierce aspect, delayed it somewhat, and it was not until 1864 that it was completed by J. McPherson. It is still in operation ; has a capacity of 60,000 bushels, and is at present occupied by S. G. Eldridge. Another, a little north of McPherson's elevator, was built in 1866, by C. S. Newell and John Campbell. It has a capacity of 15,000 bushels, and is operated by Hugh Thompson. In 1868, C. S. Newell and J. G. Strong commenced the grain business, and put up the elevator adjoining the one last mentioned on the north. It is occupied at present by Messrs. Deffenbaugh & Co., and runs by steam, with storage capacity for 15,000 bushels. In 1873, Cadwallader & Rhodes built an elevator on the east side of the track, a little south of the Round House, at a cost of about $4,000, which has a capacity of 17,000 bushels. It is now occupied by Cadwallader alone. Walter Bladen also put up one a little north of Cadwallader's in this year, which stores about 12,000 bushels of grain, and is being operated at present by Hahn & Kine. Several of the elevators of the village are provided with '-grain dumps," and are operated by steam. In addition to its great grain trade, Dwight is one of the largest stock markets in the county, and ships a large amount yearly. The following are the shipments of freight from and to this station for six months to July 1, 1878 :

A large stone steam mill was built in 1859. The funds were subscribed by the citizens. It has three runs of buhrs, cost originally about $16,000, and is owned at present by H. E. Segert.

The first brick house was built by Dr. Hagerty, in 1871-72, and is now occupied by C. M. Baker as a drug store. Mr. Defienbaugh built the first brick residence.

The first school house was a rather diminutive affair, about 16x24 feet, and was put up in the Fall of 1855, at a cost of $275. It was for about three years a school house, church and public hall. The first school was taught in it by Sarah A. Snyder, and was the first in the township, as well as in the village. This was but the commencement of a thorough system of education, and the labors of the best of the citizens have been crowned with success. In 1859, it was found necessary to erect a moi'e commodious school building, and a house was put up on the east side of the village. In 1864, this had to be enlarged, and an addition was made to the original building, making the total cost $3,500. The rapid increase of population, in a few yeai's more, caused another extension of school accommodations, and in 1870, the elegant brick on the west side was erected, at a cost of $5,000. These buildings at present suffice, and will accommodate nearly five hundred pupils. The Principal and teachers for the coming year are as follows, viz. : Jesse Hubbard, Principal ; Teachers - West Side - Grammar Department, Miss Frank McClure ; First Primary, Miss Emma Baker ; Second Primary, Miss Emma Rodman. East Side - Intermediate, Miss Lucy Banks ; First Primary, Miss Jennie Bradbury ; Second Primary, Miss Agnes Mcllduff. Superintendent of East Side, Mrs. T. M. Wright.

As already noted, the first sermon preached in Dwight, was by Rev. A. D. Field, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1855. His circuit, known as the '' Mazon Circuit," embraced all that tractof country south of the Illinois River, and extending from Morris to Avoca Township. The society was organized with six members, viz. : Simeon Lutz, John Routzong, Isaac Baker, Isabella Baker, David McWilliams and Jeremiah Travis. John Routzong was appointed leader of the class. The Rev. Mr. Field preached a few times during the summer, and at the next meeting of the Conference, two ministers were appointed to the "Mazon Circuit," and Dwight became one of the regular preaching places. From this time forward, there was preaching every alternate Sunday in the school house, then just built. In 1862, the society was struck off from the Mazon Circuit, and Rev. 0. W. Pollard appointed to the charges of Dwight, Odell and Pontiac. The society erected their first building in 1858, which was dedicated in July of that year by the Rev. Dr. Kidder, of Evanston. About 1862-63, the society had so increased in numbers, as to necessitate the enlargement of their building, and it was lengthened twenty feet. For nine years they worshiped in this building, when their present elegant church was erected, at a cost of about $16,000, under the pastorate of Rev. E. D. Hall, and dedicated in October, 1867, by Rev. Dr. Eddy, then of Chicago. It is a handsomely finished edifice, is capable of seating about 500 persons, and the society numbers 260 members, with Rev. E. P. Hall as Pastor. The Sunday school of this society was organized at an early period, and is in a flourishing condition. Mr. McWilliams was the first Superintendent, a position he held for thirteen years in succession. The present Superintendent is W. Rhodes.

The Presbyterian Church society was organized in Dwight in 1856, the next year after the Methodist. Their original members were three males and five females, and their first place of worship was the school house, in which they continued to hold their meetings until the next year, when their present church building was erected, on lots donated by James C. Spencer and R. P. Morgan. This was the first church built in Dwight, and cost originally $2,620. The pulpit was filled by various ministers irregularly, until 1869, when Rev. L. F. AValker was called to the charge. In the Fall of 1871, he was succeeded by Rev. W. L. Boyd, who filled the pulpit until 1873. There is no regular Pastor at present. The Elders of the church are Hugh Thompson, Robert Thompson, James George, James Paul and John C. George. The Sunday school is in a flourishing condition, and well attended.

Union Tp History Of Livingston Countv

The next society organized was the Congregational. December 1, 1865, the first sermon was preached in this faith, by Rev. J. A. Montgomery, a student from the Congregational Seminary of Chicago. Their meetings were held in "Gerson's Hall." On the 12th of January, 1866, a "council of delegates" from the neighboring churches was convened, and invited to give advice regarding the permanent organization of a church, and eleven persons identified themselves with the congregation. In 1867, an effort was made to build a church, the lots procured, and the building commenced. In January, 1868. their present elegant church was dedicated, free of debt. The total cost of the building, grounds, etc., was $5,425. Rev. J. A. Montgomery was Pastor from the first organization of the church until 1873, when he accepted a call to Morris, and the pulpit is at present filled by Rev. W. C. Rogers, with about one hundred and fifteen members. It has also a flourishing Sabbath sohool, with an attendance of about one hundred and fifty, of which A. Brubaker is Superintendent.

The Baptists made the next efforts, but have not, from some cause or other, flourished as some of the other denominations have done. They own a building, we believe, on the West Side, but have no settled Pastor. The German Lutheran Church was built in 1867, and cost $1,400 ; has about fifty members, and a flourishing Sunday school. Rev. Mr. Schleitweig, of Cayuga, is the Pastor. The German Evangelical Association, or Albright Methodists, have a handsome little frame church edifice, 22x30 feet, which cost about fifteen hundred dollars. The ministers are Revs. Willman and Shaflfle, and the society has twenty-six members. A Sunday school, with an attendance of forty children, is carried on by Dr. H. G. Thole, Superintendent. The Danish Lutherans have a pretty little frame church, built a few years ago, which has a large and flourishing membership. The Pastor is Rev. Jacob Holm. There is also a Roman Catholic Church in the village, and with a membership of about fifty families. Their church is a neat and tasty little building, put up at a cost of about fifteen hundred dollars. The present Pastor is Father James Halpin, who is also Superintendent of the Sunday school, which is in a flourishino' condition.

The Masonic fraternity was organized here March 1, 1862, when Livingston Lodge, U. D., was formed, with the following officers, viz. : E. N. Jencks, Worshipful Master ; W. L. Gross, Senior Warden ; J, W. Rockwell, Junior Warden ; C. S. Newell, Secretary. October 8, 1862, the Lodge received a charter, issued by F. M. Blair, Grand Master of Masons in Illinois, and countersigned by H. G. Reynolds, Grand Secretary. It has a large and increasing membership, and the present officers are : Curtis J. Judd. Master ; W. S. Sims, Senior Warden, and W. S. Wilson, Junior Warden.

Dwight Lodge, No. 513, I. 0. 0. F., was instituted in Dwight by J. S. Hunter, of Odell, D. G. M., May 22, 1873. The first Noble Grand was C. C. Gilbert, and M. W. Tambling, Secretary. In October of the same year, a charter was issued by G. M. Bross, Grand Master, to the following charter members : C. C. Gilbert, W. S. Sims, M. W. Tambling, John L. Clarke, Thomas Weldon, Hugh A. Stevens and E. P. Utley. At present, John Thompson is Noble Grand, and W, H. Bobbins, Secretary.

The tub and pail factory of W. H.* Conrad is quite an institution. The work is all done by machinery, which is run by steam. In connection is a planing-mill and turning lathe. Works a number of hands, and does quite a business in his way. Another is the sash and blind factory, and steam planingmill of W. H. Walker. He was burned out, some six months ago, and lost everything, amounting to about eight thousand dollars, on which there was no insurance. His indomitable energy w^ould not allow him to remain idle, and he immediately rebuilt, and is running again to his full capacity.

The first bank, devoted exclusively to that business, established in Dwight, was by J. G. Strong, in 1866, and continued as such for a number of years ; but at present is being wound up, preparatory to engaging in some other business. D. McWilliams & Co. gradually drifted into banking from doing that kind of business in connection with their store. They now have as handsome a bank building, adjoining their store house, and with which it communicates through the rear, as is to be found in any country town.

It has been said that no "town is a town without a newspaper." In 1868» the first newspaper was established in Dv/ight, and a Star appeared in its firmament which still shines in undiminished brilliance. On the 5th of May, 1868, C. L. Palmer issued the first copy of the Dwight Star. Says Hargreave's History of Dwight : " The Editor, C. L. Palmer, issued this paper more for amusement than profit, but in a short time it was evident that the Star occupied a place which could not be filled by any other claimant to popular favor." Since its commencement, the Star has been enlarged nine times, is a large quarto sheet, and is in the tenth year of its existence, and the only steam printing establishment in Livingston County. It is Republican in politics, and is still owned by C. L. Palmer, its original founder. On the 5th June, 1868, the Dwight Weekly Courier made its appearance, but, after a fitful and brief existence, it quietly passed away. The Dwight Commercial was established in December, 1877, by a stock company, composed chiefly of the business men of the town. It is Independent in politics, and is edited by C. M. Cyrus ; is a very handsome eight-page six-column paper. The Western Postal Review is edited by H. A. Kenyon, Postmaster, and published at the Star office, devoted chiefly to post office matters. We have thus taken a brief glance of the little prairie city, and traced its history from the first laying out of the village through the different stages of its progress and growth to its present standing as a commercial point. A local bard, imbued with prophetic wisdom, lifts^ the veil of Dwight's

Dwight Ix 1928

Oaklawn grounds were green and sweet, OfiFering a calm and cool retreat. Distance a mile from the city limits, Time by the air-car. just three minutes. Here, midst the fragrance of flowers rare. Slabs and obelisks pierced the air. Former inhabitants all were there, Sleeping beneath the solemn trees. Till God shall show them His mysteries ! Town Boards, School Boards, Supervisors, Profligates and stingy misers. Lazy folks and early risers ; Mother and daughter, father and son, Gathered together, one by one ! Epitaphs gave of the dead below Lists of virtues set up for show. Phonographs treasured the precious tones Of old John Smith and young Bill Jones. Photographs shone on the top of each tomb, Glowing with faces of life-like bloom. Said the guest, quoting against his will, "The dead, the dead are living still ! "

He saw his relations scattered around In every part of the burial ground. Sabbath-school teachers of goodness and truth, And Pollard, the faithful old friend of youth. Playmates of childhood, all dead long ago - Lay under the grass where the roses blow. He thought of them and of by-gone years. And his heart dissolved in a flood of tears.

A very important part of the history of the village of Dwight is the litigation concerning what is popularly known as "The Strips." These are two narrow strips of ground, 1,004 feet in length and each 50 feet in width, lying, one between East street and the railroad and the other between West street and the railroad. The first suit brought to test the question of title to these lands was a suit brought by D. McWilliams and James H. Hagerty, to enjoin R. P. Morgan, Jr. (who claimed the title), from erecting an office at the corner of East and Morgan streets, the complainants claiming that the lands had been "dedicated to the public." The case went to the Supreme Court of Illinois, and was decided adversely to the complainants.

In 1873, one R. P. Tansey, who had purchased the undivided interest of one of the original proprietors of the village, in and to all such property as had not been sold and the proceeds divided, and which belonged to the original enterprise, commenced suit for partition ; and, being a non-resident of the State, the suit was brought in the United States Circuit Court, in Chicago. R. P. Morgan, Jr., the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company and others were made parties defendant, and Morgan and the Railroad Company filed cross bills, each claiming absolute title to the premises. This suit was decided in favor of the Railroad Company, but was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, Avhere, after an able review of the facts in the case, by Justice Swayne, the decision of the United States Circuit Court was affirmed. The opinion of the Supreme Court is an able document, and we would be glad to give it in this histor}?^ as an item of interest to the legal fraternity of the county, but its great length forbids it. Pending this litigation, Morgan had leased and sold difi"erent portions of the two " Strips," and a row of wooden buildings had sprung up thereon, fronting on both East and West streets ; but when the opinion of the Supreme Court was rendered, the Railroad Company, having been declared the owners, as above stated, notified all parties who held titles under Morgan to vacate ; and the result is, the buildings are rapidly being removed, thereby adding greatly to the appearance of the village, as well as to its safety.

The village of Dwight is distinguished for the honor of being the military headquarters of the Tenth Battalion of Illinois National Guards, Lieut. Col. J. B. Parsons, commanding. The battalion was organized August 15, 1876, composed of companies from Dwight, Odell, Pontiac, Streator, Joliet and Marseilles.

The field officers elected then were J. B. Parsons, of Dwight, Lieutenant Colonel; L. C. Miles, of Streator, Major. Staff appointed : L. C. Mitchell, of Joliet, Surgeon ; Rev. J. F. Culver, of Pontiac, Chaplain ; J. B. Fithian, of Joliet Adjutant, and C. J. Judd, of Dwiglit, Quartermaster. The battalion has since been reorganized and some of the compaYiies attached to other commands, while two new companies have been added to the Tenth, whose headquarters still remain at Dwight. Under reorganization, it is composed of the following companies, viz. : Parsons Guards, Co. E ;* Pontiac Guards, Company A ; Wenona Guards, Co. B: Odell Guards, Co. D; Fairbury Guards, Co. C. The battalion officers at present are : J. B. Parsons, Dwight, Lieutenant Colonel, commanding; J. K. Howard, Odell, Major; H. E. W. Barnes, Fairbury, Surgeon ; Rev. J. F. Culver, Pontiac, Chaplain ; C. J. Judd, Dwight, Adjutant ; Cadet Taylor, Wenona, Quartermaster. The entire command, except the Wenona Guai'ds, is of Livingston County. They are armed with the uniform breech-loading Springfield rifles, of the Prussian pattern. The companies are well drilled and ready to meet a foe at a moment's warning. A complete roster of the Tenth Battalion will be found in the War Record of this work.

The Dwight Guards, a company of the Tenth Battalion, was organized June 20, 1874, and its first officers were : J. B. Parsons, Captain ; S. H. Kenny, First Lieutenant ; S. M. Witt, Second Lieutenant. Upon the organization of the battalion, Capt. Parsons was promoted to its command, and his old company, the Dwight Guards, by a company vote and as a token of esteem for their late Captain, changed the name of the company to " Parsons Guards," which name they still retain. Their officers at present are as follows, viz. : S. H. Kenny, Captain ; S. M. Witt, First Lieutenant ; J. H. Lloyd, Second Lieutenant.

The bar is represented in Dwight by the following gentlemen learned in the law : L. G. Pearre, R. S. Mcllduff, J. I. Dunlap, W. H. Bradbury, F. B. Hargreaves, Lewis Kenyon, J. G. Strong and F. E. Peck. Of this array of native talent, Hon. J. G. Strong has represented his district in both branches of the State Legislature, while the others are all lawyers of ability. The health of the village and country is looked after by Drs. L. E. Keeley and C. D. Chalfant, of the Allopathic school, and Dr. H. G. Thole, of the Homeopathic profession.

One of the loveliest spots around Dwight is Oaklawn Cemetery, which has been laid out and improved in the most beautiful manner. A few years ago, they had a landscape artist from Chicago to lay it off and divide it into lots and plats of the most approved style of art. In 1877, they had 1,300 young trees planted, which are growing finely. On the 15th of August of this year, it was incorporated under act by H. A. Kenyon, President ; C. M. Baker, Secretary ; J. H. Hetzel, Treasurer ; H. T. Newell, J. B. Parsons and A. E. Gould, Directors. The first party buried in this cemetery was Miss Margaret Speers,

Like the majority of Western towns and villages which spring up in a few and are usually built almost exclusively of wood, Dwight has but few brick buildings, and these few are t)f recent erection. Naturally, with so much combustible material and light wood buildings, it has not escaped fires. The most destructive, perhaps, occurred in 1869. The following account is from the Dwight Star, of that date : " About fifteen minutes past 1 o'clock A. M., on the 24th of March, the alarm was given that a fire had broken out in the rear of Gerson's Hall. It rapidly spread to Harris' store, and, in a brief space of time, Hagerty k Baker's drug store, Monahan's building and Newell & Co.'s hardware store were wrapped in flames. The buildings of Mrs. Marsh, A. Wait, Dr. Morgan and M. Rearick were torn down in order to arrest the progress of the fire." After giving some further particulars, the editor summed up the loss at about ^40,000, and the insurance at $25,000. In December of this same year, another fire occurred. It commenced in Mrs. Henry's millinery store, which, together with McWilliams' bank building (a wooden structure), was consumed. The loss, oAving to the exertions of the citizens, was trifling, amounting to only about §1,000.

The war history of Dwight is flattering, and presents a noble record of the loyalty of the citizens of both township and village. When the tocsin of war sounded over the land, and President Lincoln called for soldiers to defend the Union, the young men, and the old ones, too, rose up together and offered themselves for duty. Company B, of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was recruited almost entirely in Dwight. The first Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth (Smith) was from Dwight. When Company B was mustered into the service on the 8th of September, 1862, the officers were: Samuel T. Walker, Captain; George W. Gilchrist, First Lieutenant ; Elihu Chilcott, Second Lieutenant ; Homer A. Kenyon, Orderly Sergeant. These were all from Dwight, as well as most of the rank and file. The history of this company and of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment is important and of much interest from its first organization until mustered out of the service, and will, together with all the soldiers who went from Livingston County, be found recorded in the War History of this work.

From the year 1833 till 1845, the older settled States, especially Pennsylvania and Ohio, were flooded with circulars describing the beauties of the Western country, especially Central Illinois, recommending its lands, praising its climate, and offering every inducement to the homeless to emigrate. The scheme was carried on bv associations or societies, somewhat after the manner

Dear Sir : We wish to call the attention of yourself and friends to the fact that we are the agents of the Central Illinois Emigrant Society, formed for the purpose of giving information and otherwise aiding those desiring to remove to the West, in selecting for themselves homes in that desirable locality. The Indian troubles are all settled, the Indians themselves having been removed to Iowa. A canal through this section of the country is projected, and will soon be built, putting tliis territory in close communication with Chicago and the East. The land, which has just come into market, is of an excellent character, and can be had at from sixty cents to f2.00 per acre. Wood is plenty, water is good and abundant, the soil is extremely fertile, producingcrops that would astonish the Eastern farmer, and the climate is healthful. We shall be pleaseil to have you correspond with us, and we will be glad to give you fuller information.

These circulars and other advertisements were handled largely by people already in the country, who w^re desirous of having their friends emigrate, and anxious to have the country fill up. Realizing the lack of social, educational and church privileges, they were solicitous that the country should be immediately settled.

A few years later, when the Illinois and Michigan Canal had become a fixed fact, this additional argument was urged, and Ave find in a pamphlet published at that time, in the interests of emigration, a statement which, though a poor argument to-day, brought hundreds of families to this part of the country. After describing the country in the highest terms, the writer proceeds to say that, within a year, the canal will be open for travel, which will make Jthe trip by water a comparatively easy and short one. He says : " Heretofore the journey from Erie, Penn., to Central Illinois has occupied not less than two months. After the completion of the canal, the length of time occupied in making the journey will be about as follows : Erie, Penn., to Chicago, four days : Chicago to the Rapids, on Section 21, Town 33 north. Range 1 east of the Third P. M., thirty-three hours, supposing the boats go at the rate of three miles per hour ; thus making in all a trip of only five days and nine hours. Besides making the journey of such short duration, it would obviate the great fatigue and hardships incident to a trip by land." He also hints at the possibility of a railroad, which would traverse this section in the near future. Although such statements seem to us quite modest at present, it was thought by many, into whose hands the information fell, that it was somewhat overdrawn. Indeed, the most enthusiastic could not have imagined that Livingston County, with a population of a few hundred, would see the time that five railroads would pass through its limits, or that Long Point Township would be settled to its entire limits within a space of twoscore years. Such, however, is the case, and much more ; for, not only has all this come to pass, but the social and educational features have fully kept pace. Long Point is so called from the long stretch of timber, extending from the northeast corner of the township almost to its west- limit, and lying on both sides of the creek bearing the same name. The creek itself rises in what is termed the " pan-handle " of La Salle County, and flows in a northeasterly course, leaving the township at the northeast corner. A tributary of this, called Diamond Creek, also flows from the southwest corner and empties into Long Point Creek at the northeast corner of Section 10. These two creeks furnish the only natural supply of water to the township. The land is quite level, especially in the southern part, being almost flat; though, except in the wettest season, none is so level as to prevent cultivation. Probably no richer land can be found in the county than that of Long Point Township. It is well adapted to the production of corn, rye, oats and vegetables of various kinds. Twenty years ago but a small portion of the township had been brought under cultivation ; but, at the present writing, but a very sjiiall portion has not been utilized. The Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad crosses the nortl-west corner, cutting ofi" about five sections. Since the building of this Toad, the village of Long Point has been established on Sections 4, 5 and 9.

Prior to 1838, none of the lands of Long Point Township had been disposed of, though they had been in market two years. On the 6th of November of the year named, Andrew McDowell, who had come to the township some time before, and who was the first settler, entered the first piece of land in the township. Mr. McDowell was from Pennsylvania, and when he first came to the county it must have had a wild appearance indeed, as compared with the well cultivated fields, comfortable farm houses and improved roads that he had left behind. Not only was the township entirely destitute of inhabitants, but for twenty-five miles to the west, and as many south, all was an open plain, with not a fence, or shanty, or any other indication that the country had ever been visited by man. Five or six miles to the north were the Moons and Barackmans, and on the east, in Amity Township, as many miles distant, were a few cabins ; but McDowell was literally on the frontier.

Very soon after the date mentioned, Isaac Hodgson made his entry. Hodgson was also from Pennsylvania. He lived here until 1853, when he sold out to Samuel Sillik, and removed further West.

Edwin L. and Oscar B. Wheeler were from New York. They came to this township, the former in 1839 and the latter in 1841. Both have accumulated from almost nothing, by farming and stock raising, large fortunes.

By the last named date, quite a number of accessions had been made to the community, among which are remembered James Argubright and his father-inlaw Caleb Odle, John Evans, Edward, David and Orin Rhodes, David and Loman Miller, Crawford Isenhour and Lorin Pratt. The first two of these were from Ohio, while the other eight were natives of Pennsylvania.

During the next ten years, the settlements in the township were very few. only one or two new families a year making their appearance ; and at the end of the period named, not more than a dozen additional ones had located here. These were Erastus and William Eaton, Samuel Sillik, E. L. Stratton, E. C. Allen, Orlando Chubbuck, Aaron and Philo Zielman with their father, Hiram and Ferdinand Verner with their father, Thos. Mills, Absalom Hallam, Harvey Windsor and Jas. P. Morgan. The first six and the last named were all from Pennsylvania. The Zielmans had been living in the adjoining county of La Salle ; the Verners were German, and Mills and Hallam were natives of Ohio.

Hon. E. C. Allen was Clerk pro tern, of the first election held in the township, and was elected to the office at the first township meeting. In 1859, he was elected Supervisor, and was re-elected every year until 1862. In 1870, he was again elected to the same office, and held it continuously until his election to the more honorable position of Representative in the State Legislature, in 1876, when he declined re-election.

E. L. Stratton, familiarly known as " Stub" Stratton, was elected to the office of Supervisor at least five times, and has held many other positions of honor and trust.

0. Chubbuck has figured as largely in politics, in Long Point Township, as any other man. He removed to Streator, some years since, to practice law.

Absalom Hallam was the first Postmaster. He was appointed to the office soon after his settlement, and kept the same in his house a few years, when it was moved to the house of E. L. Wheeler, who was appointed Postmaster. The office had a kind of migratory existence, until the village of Long Point was laid out, when it was permanently established at that place, with Dr. J. N. Markle as Postmaster.

James P. Morgan came to this country in 1835, and, but for a little unfavorable impression that he received on his arrival, we might have had the privilege of recording him as one of the earliest settlers. Mr. Morgan was a printer in his younger days ; had worked at his trade at Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and for Horace Greeley, in New York ; and, like most of the journeymen of that trade, desired to see some of the world. So, he packed his few effects and drifted down the Ohio River and up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and thence up the Illinois to Ottawa, where he obtained a job of work on which he was to commence on a certain day. On the morning specified, he proceeded to the print- ing office and prepared to commence operations. In the mean time, the other boys rolled up their sleeves with like intentions, and Mr. Morgan noticed their arms were sore from their wrists to their shoulders ; and being somewhat inquisitive, inquired the reason of the ''raw " appearance. He was informed that it was what was called the prairie scratches ; and his informant, with frequent passages of the finger nails over the afflicted parts, which included not only the arms but all parts of the body, more expressive than language, continued: " We've all got it. and you'll have it, but you'll get used to it after a while." Mr. Morgan thought he had seen enough of the prairie, and without even offering his hand, said -' good by " and took the first boat for St. Louis. He felt itchy for several days, and could scarcely convince himself that he had not caught it. After eighteen years more of tramping, he returned to the scene of his adventure, and soon after settled in this town. On the organization of the town, in 1858, he was elected the first Supervisor. He now, at the age of 76, resides at Long Point Station.

We have reliable information in regard to the first school taught in the township. Our informant was then a young unmarried man ; and, though not one of the Directors, took a very deep interest in the school and visited it frequently, in the evening, just after school was out. .

There is no doubt, then, that the first school was taught in an old log cabin, on Section 4, and that the teacher's name was Jane Devens, a relative of Andrew McDowell. Our informant is certain that it was in the year 1843 - just two years after he came out from New York. School was kept here, by various parties, for two or three years, when a building was erected for church and school purposes, in the neighborhood of Absalom Hallam's. This house, like all others before 1855, was erected on the mutual plan. It was a small frame, and was used for church, school and all other purposes, for a number of years.

The finest church building in the township is that erected by the Methodist Episcopal Society, in 1872. It is located in the northwestern part of the township. The building, complete, cost about $6,000, and excepting perhaps one is the best of its kind in the countv west of the Vermilion River.

Three years ago, the Protestant Methodists completed a neat little house of worship, in the middle of the eastern part of the township. The cost of the building was about |1,200.

Besides the ones already mentioned, the Methodists have a society organized at the village of Long Point. A room is hired and regular services are held.

As before stated, in 1858 the township of Long Point was organized. The following are the names of the persons elected to the respective offices : J. P.

Morgan, Supervisor; E. C. Alien, Clerli : 0. B. Wheeler, Assessor: James I Worlds, Collector ; Thomas Mills, Overseer of the Poor : E. L. Wheeler and I Amos Roberts, Justices of the Peace ; James Worlds and William Werner,

The officers elect at the present time are : A. J. Bosserman, Supervisor ; A. A. Graham, Clerk ; J. B. Phillips, Assessor ; E. L. Stratton, Collector ; S. D. Carson and A. M. Taggart, Justices of the Peace ; James Bradbury and Joel Hakes, ConstEtjbles ; H. Verner, Isaac Ramsey and A. J. Ewart, Road Commissioners ; S. D. Carson, School Treasurer.

Village Of Long Point

The Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad was completed through this township in 1872, and immediately there sprang up all along the line at the distance of a few miles apart, new towns, among which was the village named. The Burvey was made by A. C. Huetson, County Surveyor, for F. Plumb, Samuel Sillik and A. J. McDowell, from parts of Sections 4, 5 and '.>.

As soon as it was settled that a station was to be located here, this became a busy point indeed. Lots were bought, houses were built, stores opened, shops erected, and, within less than a year, almost every kind of business carried on in a town a dozen years old was flourishinof.

The first building erected was the one afterward occupied by Hiram and Wesley Grable, of Wenona, as a store room. John Gossett followed soon after with a portion of the hotel to be used as a boarding house. The first dwelling was put up by Peter Bennet.

The road at first refused to make a station of Ancona ; and, consequently, some of its best institutions were removed to this point, among which were Amos Bosserman and the Masonic Lodge. Bossermau was made agent of the road at this place, and still remains in the position. The Lodge, previously known as Ancona Lodge, was removed the year following the establishment of the town ; and in 1877, its name was changed to Long Point Lodge. This Lodge was organized in October, 1866. The first officers were : Abel Bradley, W. M.; 0. Chubbuck, S. W.; J. C. Mills, J. W.; J. B. Phillips, Treas.; A. J. Bosserman, Sec; E. L. Stratton and J. C. Fulton. Deacons; and I. D. Bullock, Tiler. The present officers are A. J. Bosserman, W. M.; S. D. Carson, S. W.; E. L. Stratton, J. W., A. M. Taggart, Sec; Wm. Miller, Treas.

The township of Long Point bore an honorable part in the struggle for the preservation of the Union. The promptness with which volunteers flocked to the standard of the country was not surpassed by that of any other community, and several of them sacrificed their lives in their eff'orts to protect it.

This is one of the latest organized townships in the county. It was sparsely settled until the commencement of the war, and from the date of its earliest settlement was attached to Odell for judicial purpose. It remained in this connection until February 2, 1864, when, upon a petition from twenty-four of its citizens, it was set off" into a township by itself, and named " Union." As a Congressional township, it is Town 29, Range 7.

The earliest settler in its limits was Mr. John Harbison, who, with his family, came from Pennsylvania in 1856, and settled on land belonging to Mr. Alex. Campbell, a native of the same State, and a large land owner in the township. He knew Mr. Harbison in his Eastern home, and, offering him liberal encouragement to come West, induced him to try his fortune in the Prairie State. That same season, a Mr. Scott located in the township, and Mr. Joseph Walton, with his family, came from Boston, Mass., and settled near them. These three families Avere the pioneers of Union Township. They were the first to subdue it from the hand of nature to its present condition, and the leaders in its cultivation. The last mentioned, Islr. Walton, sold out in 1864, and returned to the East. When they came to this part of Livingston County, not an inhabitant dwelt near them, and not a road was laid out to mark their way. They found the township a beautiful undulating prairie, possessed of an excellent soil, and traversed by iwo small creeks. In many places large sloughs were found, which, since the settlement of the township, have been ditched, and, in many cases, are now valuable pasture lands. The township represents now an unbroken series of excellent farms, all in an advanced state of cultivation, and all showing in a remarkable degree the rapid progress of its settlers.

Hardly had these three families got settled, when they were joined by \Yestly and Fletcher Hedenburg, who purchased a section of land on which Fletcher settled, and on which he remained in the pursuit of farming until his death in 1868 or 1869. Westly was then a resident of St. Louis, and a dealer in real estate. He never lived in the township, coming occasionally to attend to his interests here and to visit his brother. He is now living in Chicago. William and Hugh Thompson were also land owners at that date.

The first settler of 1857 was Mr. Levi Dell, who came with his familv from Williamsburg, Penn., and opened a farm. When the war broke out, he enlisted in the army of the Union, and in one of the engagements was severely wounded. After his return he sold his property and removed to Chicago. Mr. Joseph Dell settled the same year. His wife died the next year, and is believed to be the first death in the limits of the township. Her grave was by some means unmarked, and is now unknown and trodden over by the foot of the plowman as he yearly turns the lea. In 1858, Mr. Arthur Marshall came from Belmont County, Ohio. He soon after married one of Mr. Thompson's daughters, and became a resident of the township.

While a resident of the Keystone State and a mechanic in his native town^ he became acquainted with the owner of much of the land east of Odell, in Livingston County, and, desirous of seeking a location and an avocation moreconducive to his health, was induced to try the West, and became a farmer. After selling his property there, like, others of his day, he took the cars for Chicago, and from there to his newly chosen Western home. Emigrants of his day were not obliged, like their predecessors, to come West with ox or horse teams, drawing the huge emigrant wagon, but could come by a much swifter and easier way - the railroad. While many followed the example of their ancestors, in their western journeys, none of them were compelled to, and only adopted that mode of migration from choice.