Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 61: Hamel Township, 1912

The Original Pioneers - Also Came Before 1820 - In the Twenties - Early Census - Centenarian - Township in 1853 - A Screaming Tornado - The Judy Family - Carpenter - Property Valuation.

One of the important townships of Central Madison is Hamel. It is bounded on the north by Omphghent, on the east by Alhambra, on the south by Pin Oak and on the west by Fort Russell. It is traversed by three railroads, the Wabash, the T. W. & W. and the Jacksonville Southeastern, now the Litchfield & Madison. It is also traversed by the Illinois Traction line which has a "booster" station at Hamel's Cor¬ ner. These excellent transportation facilities give it not only direct communication with the county seat but also with St. Louis which is the main market for its corn, wheat and other farm products. Its pursuits are mainly agri¬ cultural. It was originally settled by immi¬ grants from Kentucky, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia, but in later years the Ger¬ man element has been attracted to it in large numbers and the population is now largely of German descent.

While the early settlers were mainly from the south they were not the original pioneers. This honor belongs to a band of Massachusetts people consisting of Robert and Anson Al¬ drich, George and Henry Keley, Mrs. Henry Keley, Mrs. Ann Young, Henry T. and Har¬ riet Bartling. They located on section 29 of this township in 1817 and built the first cabins. Robert Aldrich rose to prominence in the new community and represented the county in the Legislature in later years besides filling vari¬ ous local offices of honor and trust. He lived to an advanced age. He left a sketch of the township in early times which is here tran¬ scribed as the most authentic data available. Mr. Aldrich records : "Hamel township is situ¬ ated mostly on Ridge Prairie, called Prairie du Long by the French and is a northern con¬ tinuation of the old Goshen settlement. It is the watershed between the Kaskaskia and Mis¬ sissippi rivers, but is naturally less fertile than old Goshen, having a shallower soil, and inter¬ mixed in the northern parts with those in fer¬ tile spots called "scalds." The south boundary was surveyed in April or May, 1808, by John Messenger. The east boundary was surveyed in February, 1814, by J. Milton Moore and the subdivision in March of the same year. In 1811 a small improvement was made on sec¬ tion 7, in the timber on Cahokia creek by a man named Ferguson who abandoned it on the beginning of the war of 1812.

1818 - Robert Aldrich, a native of Massa¬ chusetts, settled on section 29 and is still liv¬ ing thereon (about 1875). Thos. Barnet, a North Carolinian, settled on section 32, and terminated his pilgrimage there April 21, 1852, aged seventy-three years.

Henry Keley, settled on section 29, but left there in 1823. Elder Thomas Ray, a Virgin¬ ian, settled on section 11, southern boundary, in 1818, and died there October 21, 1854, aged eighty years. William Hoxsey, a Rhode Is¬ lander, settled on section 6, T. 5, R. 6, eastern border, and died there October 18, 1832, aged sixty-six years. James Hoxsey, his only sur¬ viving son, occupies the old place. William Hinch, a Kentuckian, settled on section 19 and died there January 5, 1845, aged 60 years.

1820 - Oliver L. Kelly built a log house on section 20 which has been occupied by differ¬ ent families and is now owned by the heirs of John Love.

1827 - Daniel Roach, a Kentuckian, settled on section 3, and died there February 10, 1848, aged fifty-nine years. Zachariah Robin¬ son, a North Carolinian, settled on section 4, and died there in November 1831. Jacob F. Hoosier, a Pennsylvanian, settled on section 5.

1829 - Estabrook & Livermore, Massachu¬ setts men, erected a saw and grist mill on Cahokia creek, in section 6, which continued in operation until 1852.

1845 - Francis Roach died in July, at Lamb's Point, aged 106 years. He was a Virginian, and a soldier of the Revolution. Roads - The old Kaskaskia and Peoria trace passed through the middle of this township and was traveled by the French carts prior to 1800. In 1832 the Edwardsville and Staunton road was established. In 1835 the Edwards¬ ville and Hillsboro and in 1837 the Alton and Greenville. The Decatur & St. Louis (Wa¬ bash) railroad in 1870.

1853 - Another citizen of township elected to Legislature (Thomas Judy). Two others elected school superintendents. (One of them seems to have been John Weaver.)

The township is divided into four school districts ; have good school houses. The Ger¬ man Lutherans have erected a comfortable brick church in section 1. A steam flour mill was established at Hamel's Corner by A. J. (Jack) Hamel and Handshy & Sparks which

The old Beck block house was the most northern residence of the old Goshen settle¬ ment whose people, formed into ranger com¬ panies, guarded the scattered settlements dur¬ ing the war of 1812.

Don Alonzo Spaulding, formerly county surveyor, ascertained in establishing lines of land owners in the central part of the town¬ ship, that there was a variation of the mag¬ netic needle.

One struck section 18, in 1814, coming from southwest, prostrating all timber in its path. In 1823 another, also from southwest, with pathway only one rod wide, fairly screamed as it tore through section 29.

Air. Aldrich elsewhere says : "There was not a peach, pear or apple tree in the township when I came in 1817. In 1819 Henry Keley and Anson Aldrich went to Griffith's Nursery, at Portage des Sioux, AIo., and procured apple grafts. That was the start of my apple orchard which was still in bearing fifty-six years later."

Of the early settlers of Madison county none were more widely known than the Judys. Col. Thomas Judy was a son of Col. Samuel Judy. He was born December 19, 1804, at the old Judy homestead in the Goshen settlement. In 1850 he removed to Hamel township. He was elected to the Legislature in 1852. He was a successful farmer and large land owner. He died October 4, 1880, at a good old age. He reared a large family. His sons, Thomas and William, became prominent farmers, the former in Pin Oak and the latter in Hamel.

first to improve farms in the southern part of the township. Among the prominent residents were Judge Henry K. Eaton, a native of Mis¬ sissippi. He was born April 4, 1811. He spent his early manhood in Kentucky where he married Miss Elizabeth Pomeroy. The family removed to Edwardsville in 1836. He became prominent in public affairs and was elected county judge and served eleven years. It was during his administration that the pres¬ ent court house was built. In 1856 he with¬ drew from public life and settled on his farm in Hamel township, where he died April 1, 1881, aged seventy years. His son, W. P. Eaton, served through the war in the 117th Illinois and, after the war was elected county superintendent of schools. The latter's son, Henry, named after his grandfather, the judge, is now a leading lawyer of the county.

The largest town in Hamel township is Car¬ penter, on the Wabash road. It is a flourishing village and important shipping point. The site was laid out by John F. Opel and the plat was recorded May 9, 1877.

The population of Hamel township has been practically stationary for the last twenty years. In 1890 the population was 1,205; in 1900 it was 1,103; in 1910 it had declined to 1,078. The township is well supplied with churches to minister to the spiritual needs of the popu¬ lation there being five churches, one German Evangelical ; two Lutheran, one Baptist and one Presbyterian.