McLean County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 20 of 42)

Oarolina to superintend a mine, where his strong democratic notions in regard to the right of one man to own and sell another received a decided weakening. In 1855, he returned to Lawndale to live, broke up his land, built a house and went to farming. He raised three crops before there was any chance to sell his corn. In 1860, it became necessary to sell some. He hired a man to shell, which cost him, with the hands he had to employ and board, 3 cents per bushel. Shelled 1,200 bushels, hauled it to Lexington, hired three cars and sent it to Chicago, and waited for returns. They came, and it did not take much ciphering to make ou«- that his corn in crib just netted him 7 cents a bushel. Such was farming, even after railroads were built. Mr. Cassedy is a man of large information, positive convictions, and, everywhere and under all circumstances, true to those convictions. He was the first Supervisor elected from the township. Ten times elected to that important office ; five times served as Chairman of the Board. Has continually served his town in other official positions. Has served the county with great credit in the Legislature during the most important General Assembly, when the Revision of 1874 was adopted, and has never been a failure anywhere. Politically, he was a Democrat originally, but joined the Republican party early in its history, and has stood firmly by that party since. But it is, perhaps, less as a partisan than as a clear-headed, progressive and earnest friend of right and home interests that he holds the reputation which he does. Not always over-nice in the terms which he uses, he sometimes aroused animosities, particularly when in the Legislature, which, fortunately, led to nothing more serious than a challenge he once received after a wordy crossfire in which it would seem that he had said something to arouse the ire of a city member. The message was sent by a page of the House, and was probably intended to frighten the country member. Cassedy read it, coolly picked up his pen and wrote this reply: "Sir - Yours received and accepted. Place of meeting, on the top of the State House dome ; time, 12 o'clock to-night ; weapons, pistols for two, coffee for one. P. S. You won't need any coffee. Resp'y, J. C," and returned it by the same page.

During the years from 1854 to 1857 inclusive, Lawndale was pretty generally settled up with persons who owned the land they settled on. Among others, the following appeared here during that time: J. W. L. Matheny, settled on Section 5 ; he was the first blacksmith in this part of the country, and his house was the home of the Methodist ministers who served their generation on this prairie. He took a deep interest in the Sabbath school and indeed in every good work. Meek and retiring, he never sought public notice, but earnestly followed where conviction led, even to the battle-field.

George W. Hanks built on and improved the southwest of Section 6, after which, he moved to Yates Township, and has recently died. He was a man of enlarged views, public spirited, and in all respects a good citizen.

Joel Smith came on to the southeast of Section 5, from Ohio, and still resides there, a trusty, good citizen. John F. Smith on the southwest of Section 4.

James T. Ayers, a public-spirited, pious man, improved a farm and resided here until he enlisted in the army. He was a local Methodist preacher, was full of good works, and his influence all for the right. His son lives in Allin Township. John Burdett came here from Kentucky and bought land in Sections 9 and 16. In company with Dr. J. W. Yoemans, then a practicing physician at Pleasant Hill, he bought three acres of land near the Henline stream, half a mile below the old fort, and eighty rods west of the Evergreen Church, upon which they erected a steam grist-mill, the first and only one in the township, about the year 1853. They put in one run of stone and later, bolts, and for a time did very good work. Dr. Yoemans afterward moved to Pontiac, where, in 1866, he was appointed Postmaster, and soon disappeared in consequence of being charged with complicity in the murder of Mr. Yoe.

S. Withers, living now on the Shelton Smith farm, bought and improved on the northeast quarter of Section 9. H. H. Hughs moved here from Kentucky onto the southwest quarter of Section 1 0, and died here. His wife was burned to death while burning off some rubbish . S. L. Greenwood took up and improved the southeast quarter of Section 10. J. R. Moon improved a farm on Section 16, where he died. James B. Williams came from Ohio to, and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 8. He was a local preacher and lives now near Pleasant Hill. James Wilson, from Ohio, settled on Section 25. John Hawthorne, an Irishman, took up and improved a farm on the southwest quarter of Section 28. Joseph Hamilton, from Ohio, a man of many good qualities, took up and improved a farm on Section 3, and T. A. Hopkins on Section 4.

The township has always been and is yet a large corn-producing one. There have been occasional trials of some other cropping. "Very early, wheat was a great crop, and occasionally a crop of barley and of flax has been raised. Oats has proved a good crop, and the little wheat which has been sown late years has done well. For a number of years, cattle raising and feeding was the great business. During the war, it was very profitable, but latterly many have suffered losses and the feeding of cattle is nearly discontinued. The corn is now sold off or fed to hogs, which branch of farming has, one year with another, proved most profitable.

David and William B. Henline have for many years been the largest owners of real estate and the largest farmers in the township. They early bought large tracts of land and successfully managed it for many years.

L. R. Wiley, one of the early settlers on the Mackinaw, whose house stands on the township line in such a position that he sleeps in Martin and washes and eats his meals in Lawndale, owns and works 440 acres in Sections 27 and 33. He is a good farmer, and, with the aid of his boys, now grown up around him, works it well.

Hon. John Cassedy owns and works 600 acres in Sections 4, 7 and 18. He formerly fed cattle largely, but now only feeds about two car-loads (thirty-two head) per winter. He has a good, plain house and very comfortable feed yards, sheds, etc. He keeps his business well in hand and is successful.

George Davis, a wagon-maker, living in Lexington, has a good farm of 320 acres in Section 14, and James Wilson a like farm in Section 25. These farms are both in the hands of good tenants.

S. Weeks has a fine farm on Sections 1 3 and 24, with fine buildings, neat and tasty grounds, hedges well trimmed, everything showing thrift, care and close attention to business. He has been a successful cattle-feeder, and still continues in that line. T. B. Kilgore has a good farm of 320 acres in Section 26, and is esteemed by his neighbors one of the best farmers in Lawndale. He is a man of great energy and thorough attention to his business, and fairly successful. J. T. Starkey, John White and M. W. McNab, while perhaps making less pretensions to large business, are neat and successful farmers.

In the earlier days, like many others, the community was not blessed with stated religious teaching from the pulpit, and there was not a disposition to seek spiritual guidance. It is told of one circuit-rider who thought he had a call in this " neck of woods," that when he rode into the neighborhood, the boys mistook him for one seeking an opportunity to trade horses, and seized him by the bridle, and, nolens volens, pressed him to the stable to trade horses. His protests against trading were only esteemed a well-assumed shyness to appear too anxious to trade. In the year 1851, a small building was put up at the timber near where the residence of Benjamin Taylor now stands. It was a small house, but comfortable. There was no regular preaching, but the Methodists and United Brethren occupied it occasionally. When there was to be preaching, the minister would advertise it by marking on the building with a coal at what time he might be expected. As he seldom failed to meet an engagement, he had a full turnout from miles around. Revs. Messrs. Calhoun, Craig, Frank Smith, A. Winset and others, preached in the little chapel at different times. In 1856, politics ran high and party spirit was not exactly toned down hereabouts. Some of the Methodist preachers were more than suspected of being " Abolitionists " in very thin disguise. "Abolitionism " did not rage in this country. "Bleeding Kansas" and "Topeka Constitution" were not terms of endearment. When one of the preachers preached and prayed in favor of bringing their religion to the polls, and such other generalities, some of the hearersthought it was political preaching, and went out and made a battering-ram out of a good-sized sappling and bombarded the house of worship in real earnest. The preacher escaped without much injury ; but not so well the bombarders, for the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, and Lawndale soon after became in political sympathy with that kind of preaching.

The Methodist Church now standing on Section 5 (at the southeast corner) was built in 1865. Service had been held for some years by the itinerant preachers of that denomination, and, in 1860, an organization was formed in that part of the township, services being held in the schoolhouses until the church was built. The building is 24x36, plain, and cost about $2,000. J. W. L. Matheny and H. H. Scott were the leading spirits in the enterprise. It belongs to the Pleasant Hill Circuit. Rev. Messrs. Carmack, Day, Hart, Frank Smith, William Underwood, Stevens, Jones and Rogers, have officiated successively.

The "Evergreen" M. E. Church, a neat and commodious building, 24x40, about eighty rods east of the center of Section 30, was built in 1868, at a cost of about $2,700. The men to whom, among many others, only in less degree, the building of this edifice is due, were Shelton Smith, David Hitch, J. T. Starkey and John Cassedy. This belongs to the same circuit and the same ministers have preached there.

was effected in 1858. The first officers elected were: John Cassedy, Supervisor; T. S. Smith and J. T. Ayres, Justices of the Peace; John Burdett, Clerk; H. H. Hays, J. R. Moon and Alfred Heath, Commissioners of Highways ; J. H. Burdett, Assessor, and J. R. Moon, Collector. The town was divided into four road-districts. John Cassedy was Supervisor for ten years and Shelton Smith, J. W. Vawter, T. B. Kilgore and Cyrus Benson have served the town in that capacity. The Justices have been, in addition to those first elected, John Cassedy, J. T. Starkey, Malcom McNab, Silas Wilcox, S. M. Smoats. The following have been elected Assessors : Joseph Hamilton, J. F. Myers, W. H. Myers, S. M. Smoats, Gr. W. Kirker, and these Commissioners of Highways, J. W. Vawter, A. B. McNab, H. H. Scott, R. M. Vance, Hugh Neal, J. Benson, H. W. Warner.

Politically the town was Democratic until 1860, when it was a tie on Presidential candidates. Since then, Republican by about fifteen majority until the "farmer's movement" took shape, since which it has usually given a small majority against the Republican ticket.

The Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry took a strong hold among the farmers here, as well as in almost all the farming communities. Notwithstanding the determination to the contrary at the opening, it soon assumed a political cast, and after its short run, went the way of other organizations whose objects are good, but which have only the general good at stake. , Human nature seems to lack the ability to carry on those purely social and unselfish associations.

By 1852, there seemed, for the first time, a necessity for common schools. The rush of immigration consequent upon the railroad age had commenced. In that year the township school organization was effected. At the close of 1851, not one-quarter of the township had been sold ; but in three years from that time, land was held at $8 per acre, which was a rapid advance, but not beyond a just value. The school section was upon the creek, and was coveted as early as this for a cattle range, having, for most of the year, a good water supply. In 1855, the school land was sold at a low figure, and was really of no great value to the schools, compared with what it would have been if kept for ten years longer. " The Swamp-Land Fund," which was intended as an addition to the common-school fund, has not, in this county, proved, directly at least, such an addition. Complaint is made, that the County Court, previous to the adoption of township organization (and this complaint was one of the principal reasons for adopting that system in this county), had diverted the proceeds of the County Swamp- Land Fund, to secure the location of the State Normal School at or near Bloomington. There never was any general complaint that the Normal School was not, in all respects, a worthy and a valuable institution, and really a desirable acquisition, but that its benefits were largely local. But the great complaint was, that the using of the fund in that way, was a diversion from the common-school fund. The law required that these " swamp " lands (many of which are known to be the very best farms in the county) should be " drained " and sold. The draining was never done except on paper, and one of the great benefits which would have accrued from a general system of drainage was never received.

In April, 1866, the town was divided into five school districts; and, in 1878, into nine. From the last report of the Treasurer, Cassedy, the following figures are taken : Number of districts, 9 ; number of teachers employed, 13 ; whole number of children under twenty-one, 518 ; number between six and twenty-one, 357 ; whole number enrolled in schools, 272 ; average number of months taught, 8 ; amount paid teachers, $2,127.53 ; paid for other expenses, $1,277.20 ; total amount paid, $3,404.73 ; amount of school fund, $4,077. The township furnished her full quota of men to serve in the grand army of the Union for suppression of rebellion. Indeed, it is believed that more than the full number were really supplied. The circumstances were all against getting full " credits " to a township like this. Many of the younger readers will hardly understand what this means, and an explanation is here given for their benefit (the reading of which may be " skipped " by those who were supervisors during that trying time, and those who were in mortal fear of a " draft," for such are presumed to fully understand all about it). During the filling of the first calls of the President for men, all enlistments were from pure patriotism, or from a laudable desire for military renown from honor or promotion. Men rushed to arms from every township of our common country, without ever thinking whether they had a residence, caring only to know whether they had a country. Many transient men enlisted who had no home. In Lawndale there were many new comers, their sons and hired men staying with them perhaps only a few days, and then hurrying to arms without knowing or caring where their residence was. No company or part of a company was raised in town, and many who went to the centers of enlistment, were marked on the rolls as being residents of the place where they enlisted. As time went on, and the demands for men became more urgent, men were always around the business centers, who were shrewd enough to induce men to credit to their place of enlistment instead of their own homes. Thus Lawndale and similar towns never got credit for the men who went to the army ; and when a draft was ordered, it became a source of great trouble and anxiety on the part of those who had the township affairs in charge, to hunt out and get credit for those who had enlisted.

The men from Lawndale enlisted in most all the various regiments which were raised in the county. Some of the first into Capt. Patten's company, of the Twentieth. Others into Oglesby's Eighth. Several into the " Normal " and the Ninety fourth. Some going into the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, which was raised in Livingston County, and of course into many others. The town should, without further delay, make up, for preservation, a record of those who nobly served and heroically died for their country's cause.

Padua Township is in the second tier of townships from the southern line of the county, and the third from the east line, being joined on the north by Blue Mound, on the east by Arrowsmith, south by Empire, and west by Old Town. The surface of the soil is gently rolling, being higher and more rolling along its northern sections, and along a portion of the southern. The high ridge frequently spoken of in these sketches as lying along the line which divides the townships in 24 from those in 23, is plainly discoverable along the northern part of Padua. Indeed, it extends from Normal almost due east nearly to Gibson, in Ford County, and fairly divides the head-waters of the Money Creek, the Mackinaw and the Vermilion north, from those of the Kickapoo, Salt Creek and the Sangamon on the south. Such " divides" are not uncommon, and are always sought out by the " second settlers," that is, those who came in the second immigration wave, after the timber line bad all been occupied ; and the farm-seeker would only take such lands as his judgment told him would not be liable to overflow, and would need no draining. In this view the judgment was hardly correct; for it is a well-known fact now that all through these uplands are spots which are greatly improved by tile draining. A similar, though less marked and less uniform, ridge runs from the head of Old Town Timber almost due east, to the county line, five miles southeast of Saybrook, keeping almost exactly on the line between Townships 22 and 23. These two ridges hold within their bounds all of that portion of McLean County lying east of the Kickapoo, in Town 23, Ranges 3, 4, 5 and 6, and embraces the valley of the Sangamon River for the first twenty miles of such valley.

The remarkable thing about this valley is that it is bounded, as above stated, almost exactly north and south, by the township lines of these four Congressional townships, the north branch of Salt Creek only seeming to find a way across the southern boundary.

It was here, at the point where the timber grows upon this " divide " between the Kickapoo and the Sangamon, that the Indians made their habitations and lived in their Old Town home, as is more fully set forth in another portion of this work ; and near the corners of the towns of Padua, Arrowswith, Empire and West, are 6till to be seen the old fortifications by which they expected to protect themselves from the dangers of " civilization." The township of Padua derived its name from the postoffice of that name within its borders, and was selected by the Department, or, rather, by some official of the Department, for there seemed to be no one living in the neighborhood who had an ambition to have his name perpetuated by post offices. It is six miles square, being a full Congressional township, and had, at its original settlement, about six square miles of timber, covering very nearly the six southern sections.

The La Fayette, Bloomington & Western Railroad, which, since its construction, is known by the title of La Fayette, Muncie & Bloomington, runs through it from east to west, having on it, Holder, on the west line of the township ; Padua, near the centre ; and Ellsworth, near the eastern line ; Benjaminville, a hamlet, with its church, post office and blacksmith-shop, before railroad times, on the prairie, near the northwestern corner ; and its wooded counterpart, familiarly called " Stumptown," on the timber line. With a singular disposition to make the local name as horrid as it could well be, the christening powers added the name of Saint Clairsville, as the name of the precinct where the people from this whole country went up to vote in the olden time.

St. Clair would have been, as the name of the good preacher who, after Peter Cartwright, had charge of the Elder's district, an appropriate name for the field of his labors ; but he who suggested, sanctioned or authorized the tacking of the " viile " onto the good Elder's name and that of Friend Benjamin, has lain himself open to being called a " villain."

In the absence of any official record, and now that the oldest citizens have passed away, it is not positively known, but there is good reason to believe, that John W. Dawson, who was also of the first in Blooming Grove, was the first to settle in that part of Old Town Timber which lies within the present bounds of Padua. Dawson came with his old friend, John Hendrix, from Champaign County, Ohio, via Sangamon County, to

Blooming Grove, and made the first settlement in McLean County in 1822. Four years later, or fifty-five years ago, he sold his claim there and set up his lares and penates and what little else he had, in Padua, on the farm now occupied by John Wirt. Dawson sold his Bloomington claim to Benjamin Cox, who died before he removed his family to it. His son David became the owner of the place. From this, it appears that the settlement of Padua was only four years after that at Bloomington. Mr. Dawson was the father of ten children, who are either dead or scattered from the home of their childhood. He moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa, and died there. In 1829, James Vanscoyoc came from Ohio and took a clSim where his son-in-law, Marks Banks now lives. He was a man of energy, and helped greatly in bringing to subjection the wild lands of Padua. He remained here about twenty years, and then moved to Cheney's Grove. Of seven children, five grew up and settled around him in this and the adjoining townships.

William R. Goodheart, father of Sheriff Goodheart, of McLean County, after many wanderings, came here to live in 1827. He only remained here about three years and then took up his abode in Bloomington. He had, perhaps, seen more of the world than any man who was known hereabout at that time, or, very likely, since. Born in Scotland, after living awhile in Holland, he ran away and went to sea ; was captured by the French ; and, taking the matter as easily as possible, he enlisted under the first Consul, and followed the French eagles through seven years of campaigning ; stood sentinel on the porch of St. Peters, in Rome ; and was present at the burning of Moscow. While the Scotch are famous for being found in every clime, and inhabit places in every corner of the globe, he was probably the first Scotch Presbyterian who ever helped the French infidel hold the keys of the Vatican against the Pontiff, who is popularly credited with being the ecclesiastical successor of St. Peter. This exemplifies one of the strong peculiarities of the Scotch. He subsequently enlisted in the British service and came to America to help subdue the States, but was captured in Perry's victory, and, preferring service in the American cause to being exchanged, he enlisted under Harrison. He lived in Ohio awhile after the close of the war, and then came to McLean County and tried the Mackinaw awhile; came to Padua, then went to Bloomington, where he died in 1842. He became a devoted member of the Methodist Church, and was licensed by Cartwright as an exhorter. His life was a varied one, full of the most startling incidents. Born in the land of John Knox, growing up with the Dutch, bearing arms for infidel France, serving commercial England, fighting for Young America, braving the hardships of frontier life in McLean, making the first brick that were made in this county, enlisting late, but with the spirit of a trained soldier under the banner of the cross, he devoted his latter years to a fervid and effective preaching of the Word. He was the father of ten children, most of whom grew up around him to honor the memory of his gnarled life and triumphant death.

Jeremiah Greenman came from Ohio to the Dawson place in 1831. He entered a farm and remained here until he died, in 1843. Nine children were born to him, eight of whom grew up. One was killed in the battle of Prairie Grove, and the youngest son, Jeremiah, after serving his country in the war for putting down rebellion, returned to care for his widowed mother. A few years since, he sold the farm to Willis Whightman, and removed to Kansas.

Jesse Frankeberger came here from Ohio in 1829, and settled on the farm now occupied by his son Frank. He was a local preacher of the M. E. Church, and the preaching services, especially quarterly meetings, were frequently held in his barn. He was a man of strong good sense, and a good manager. He owned and managed a large farm, and preached wherever he was wanted all over this part of the country, from the Mackinaw to Monticello, in the houses or barns or groves, wherever he could collect a few together, riding miles to attend an appointment, and returning home without a dinner. Politically, he was a strong Democrat. He remained upon his farm here until 1858, when he went to Bloomington, where he died at the age of eighty. He was three times married, and was the father of eighteen children, twelve of whom are now living, only two, however, in Padua - Frank and Mrs. Allen Hendrix ; the others are scattered all over the West. His widow recently died here at a good old age.

Adolphus Dimmick came here in 1832. He was originally from Tolland County, Conn. He took up a claim near what is called Stumptown, and lived there until 1845. His family are all dead, except his wife, who married Mr. Ireland. She still lives on the farm which she helped to make, which is in charge of her nephew, John Livingston.

Josiah Horr, who has been, and still is, reckoned an influential man in the history of Padua, came here from Lewis County, N. Y., in 1836. His wife was a Cheney, which probably decided his coming here. He still lives on the ground he first entered has 350 acres, which he and his son are farming. He has repeatedly served his town as Supervisor, and in other official capacity, to the general satisfaction of his neighbors. He lived first on the Dawson place, but soon got into his own cabin. The Padua post office was long held at his house, but was moved when Ellsworth was established at the station. There has hardly been a year since he came here with his father that he has not been in some minor official position - being a man of strong mind and clear perceptions, good education and sterling honesty.

John Bishop, who has lived for some years in the " Stumptown " neighborhood, came to the timber about this time, but first settled further west. Quite a large family grew up about him, several of whom gave their services, and one his brave, young life, to his country's cause. This family, like the other Bishops in this part of the county, are highly respected for their ability and worth.

John Hendrix came to Old Town Timber from Huron County, Ohio, in 1836, and took a claim where the " Cheney's Grove Road " crosses the Kickapoo. In 1854, he came to Padua, and died here in 1857, leaving a comfortable property to his children, who, with his grandchildren, grew up here. Of his six children, three are now living. One was the unfortunate subject of the startling tragedy which, by his own hand, closed the lives of himself and wife in a moment of mania. Another, Allen Hendrix, is too well known in every township in McLean County to need anything more than the mention of his name here to recall a hundred incidents and recollections to the mind of nearly every reader. After living awhile with his father in Old Town, he went to Bloomington and built four houses near where the L. M. & B. R. R. depot now is in Pone Hollow.

He has lived in Padua twenty-one years, on the farm one-half mile south of Padua Station. He married a daughter of Rev. Jesse Frankeberger, by whom ten children were born, nine of whom are living. Mrs. H. is a woman of great personal worth, attractive both in appearance and in the excellence of mental powers and firm

Christian character. Several of her children live near. A son, Lewis, is a large and prosperous farmer. Another, William B., has served several terms as Coroner of McLean County, and as a Justice of the Peace in Bloomington.

Mr. John Hendrix, the father of Allen, should not be confounded with Mr. John Hendrix, who was the first settler in the county. The latter came from Champaign County, and it is not known that he was a relative of the Huron County man.

- Allen - we think no secresy is violated in so stating - is a Republican, and probably no important convention or 'caucus of that party has been held in the county for twenty years without his presence. No one who knows him will question his fixedness of opposition to whatever he antagonizes.

Owen Cheney came here with his father, Jonathan Cheney, who, it will be remembered, lived here awhile before settling Cheney's Grove. Owen married Maria, a daughter of J. W. Dawson, and commenced early to make a farm out on the prairie. He was a man of energy, and, though dying comparatively young, left a considerable property.

His son, Hon. J. H. Cheney, now living in Bloomington, the Vice President and Treasurer of the L. M. & B. K. R., owns a large faim in this township, near Ellsworth, and is largely engaged in cattle-feeding and trading. His annual sales of cattle and hogs are large, and his business capacity is of the highest order.

William Harrison, another son-in-law of Dawson, commenced a farm here about the same time, and still lives with his son on the farm near Ellsworth.

William and Frank Evans, sons of William Evans, who was one of the first settlers of Blooming Grove, early took up farms near the timber, and have raised large families here.

David Brannaman came here with Josiah Horr, and took up a farm near him at Stumptown. He had seven children. His son Addison lives still on the place.

Henry Burne came from Ohio and settled on " Bald Hill " about the same time. He died here and his children are scattered. His sons, who live in Martin Township, are among the best farmers of that town and are respected and successful.

John Arrowsmith purchased the place and still lives on it, his children living around him. His son, the present Supervisor, lives on the farm which was entered about thirty-five years ago by Archie Martin (his father-in-law). Mr. Martin died about fifteen years ago, leaving a family of six children and about five hundred acres of land. The children still reside here.

Henry Arrowsmith, a brother of John, has a good farm in that part of the township, his children living around him. Henry Bump, who came from New York, settled on the farm now occupied by Thomas Mitchell, near the station.

The earlier settlements in the northwestern part of the township, around about Benjamin ville, were made by a number of members of the Society of Friends. John Benjamin, a brother of the present County Judge, commenced his farming operations out on the prairie twenty-five years ago. He gave the name to the post office there and owns 1,000 acres of land around it. He is an excellent man, a good farmer and a citizen of great worth and influence, maintaining the early simplicity which marks the sect. His children have settled around him, and there seems no reason why he should

Henry Bedell, from New York, settled near Mr. Benjamin in 1859 ; is like him in religious belief and practice. He has half a section of fine land, is a good farmer and most excellent neighbor - his eight children living near him. No higher tribute can be paid him than that of one who has long lived near him, who said, in the blunt way which carries with it the conviction of truth, " Henry Bedell is a credit to the community, an honor to the name. He is a Quaker, and a good one."

Friend Abner Moore, a preacher of the Society, lived there several years. He died, leaving a son and three daughters. He was a very old man, but greatly esteemed. His son James has recently sold the old homestead, for $52 an acre, which does not look much like " hard-pan " prices. If it indicates anything it is that good farms are not as much affected by shrinkage in prices as poor ones.

Dr. Hinton came here from Ohio about 1844, and began the practice of his profession. He was a well-educated and skillful physician. He owns about one thousand acres of land. His son Alvin has succeeded to his father's practice, and has a large and successful practice in this and the adjoining townships.

Jonas Krum, father of I. B. Krum, grain-dealer at Bloomington and at Arrowsmith, settled near the mill at Stumptown about thirty years ago. He carried on a considerable farm until his death, about 1860.

There are besides these, who are regarded as the early settlers, the names of several others which properly belong here. Bichard Swan and Mr. Gribbs settled early, near the timber. James G-anoe, John Campbell and William Orange, a little later. Later still, James Welch, Thomas Kennedy, Matthew Bichardson and James Beed, in the northern part.

Joseph Jennings, from Tazewell County, has a fine farm of 400 acres, which he bought of Mr. Hamilton, east of Benjaminville, about 1860. The buildings are firstrate - two good houses and three barns - with 1,200 trees on the place. He is a good farmer, very industrious and successful.

Ashley Merwin has a fine farm of 240 acres, upon which is a nursery and large orchard. George Brigham came here from the northern part of the State, in 1846. He has a good farm near the middle of the north line of the township.

Thomas Kennedy has an excellent farm of 240 acres, in the western part of the town. He came here from Funk's Grove, in 1863. The buildings, orchards and fences are in excellent condition, and the farm shows a careful and successful farmer.

Jonathan Spencer has a well-improved farm in Section 17, upon which he has lived eighteen years. He has a fine, new barn, and first-rate stock, having a decided weakness for good horses. A thrifty man, with a family of nine children, ought to be, and is, deemed a success.

The first regular Quarterly Meetings here were held in Frankeberger's barn, by Peter Cartwright and John St. Clair, Presiding Elders. The former is well known, the latter not so well, but quite as favorably. He was a most excellent man, and tbe few wbo are now here that formerly knew him, speak of him in terms of profound admiration. At a camp-meeting once, when the services were at the most interesting point, a heavy and very threatening cloud collected, and, with awful peals of thunder and terrific lightning, approached. The tornado was too well known by these dwellers along the timber edges at this time. Fear seemed to seize every heart but the pious Elder's, who, with no indications of other than a fear for the final condemnation of the impenitent, discontinued his sermon, and asked the whole congregation to unite with him in a prayer to Him who holds the winds in the hollow of his hand, for the aversion of the coming storm. With tones as free from feeling as if he had been in his chamber, he sent up the petition of the congregation, that if it was the Lord's will the storm might pass by, that the religious services then in progress might be permitted to continue, to the glory of Grod, and the up-building of His Kingdom. Whether in response to the prayer of faith or not is not given to finite minds to decide, but the storm divided and passed away. The effect upon the audience was beyond the power of pen description. The whole congregation shouted as they sang a hearty thanksgiving, and each one felt as if standing on holy ground. They retired to their tents to continue clear into the middle of the night hallelujahs of praise. It was the most remarkable soul-stirring scene ever witnessed in this part of the country. Some of the earlier preachers here were Mr. Frankeberger, William Royal, John French and Squire P. Chase. The first class consisted of eight persons, with John French for leader. They were : Mr. and Mrs. French, Mr. and Mrs. Swan, Mr. and Mrs. Frankeberger and two daughters.

The first M. E. Church was the Old Town Chapel, near the southeast corner of the township, south of where Ellsworth now is. It was built about 1845, and is about 30x38. Jesse Frankeberger, Ezekiel Arrowsmith and Andrew Jones were largely instrumental in building this house. An M. E. Church was built in 1860, at Benjaminville, under the active energies of James White, Joseph Murphy and others. It was removed to Holder, and sold to the United Brethren, after which the Methodists built Harmony Chapel, in 1877, two miles east of Benjamin ville, on Jennings' land. It is 32x40, plain and neat, painted and carpeted. This was under the pastorate of Mr. Job Ingram, now of Downs, and W. B. Rucker, Seth Middleton Jennings, White and others were active in supplying the long felt need. Asbury Chapel was built at Stumptown about 1869, and cost about $1,900. David and Alfred Frankeberger, and Lewis Hendrix were the leading spirits. The house was dedicated by Presiding Elder Buck.

The Baptists have in years past held an important position in the southern portion of the township. Their house of worship was built about 1843. Elder Whitney preached here several years. Elders Fiske and H. H. Ballard also officiated frequently. There were about twenty-five members at the time of building. Archie Campbell, Mrs. Esther Ireland and Elder Whitney were the most energetic in this work. Mrs. Ireland, now apparently nearing her end, has long been a stay of the church, by her example, her earnestness, doing personally all that any woman could, her purse always open, her faith always strong. Her nephew, Mr. Livingston, and Charles Ingell are live workers in the cause. The Christian Church had on organization before Ellsworth was laid out, and held meetings in Center Schoolhouse. Elder Speed Stagner and Mr. Robinson have preached, and Oscar D. Campbell officiates at present.

Money Creek Tp

The township is usually Republican, when party lines are strongly drawn, but the people have a fashion of voting independently. The following is the list of township officers who have been elected since township organization was adopted :

The following have been elected Justices of the Peace: T. N. Hoffman, John Bishop, Josiah Horr, James Smith, H. H. Ballard, D. 0. Stout, D. Frankeberger, G-. W. Crutchler, F. La Rue, H. T. Edwards, James A. Doyle.

The Commissioners of Highways have been: B. Fetheroff, S. Gaver, A. Merwin, A. Frankeberger, J. R. Benjamin, S. Stanger, William Harrison, Sylvester Stanger, Thomas Starr, I. B. Jackson, Wilson Vandervoort, James Welch, Levi Branson, John Creel, J. B. Moore, Ed. Coale, D. P. Carlisle.

In 1867, by a vote of 79 to 49, the township voted to subscribe $25,000 in ten year's 10-per-cent bonds to the La Fayette, Bloomington & Western R. R. Co. Soon after, the township voted $5,000 additional to the same road. These bonds are due next year, and a proposition has been made to issue in lieu thereof, thirty new bonds, payable five of them each year, for six years, which will probably be accepted.

Padua Station

At the time the railroad aid was voted by the township, it was supposed that the station would be near the center of the township. When the road was completed, however, one station was placed on the western line and one near the eastern, where certain " influential " men had land. This is said not to have been satisfactory to Allen Hendrix and his neighbors, near the center, and they set about " coercing " the officials to provide for them. They did this by a pertinacious system of coaxing, badgering, threatening, begging and buying ; they finally got a station by agreeing to put up the buildings, which was done on Allen Hendrix's land in Section 17 ; he, with Thomas Mitchell, Joseph Jennings, James Moore, A. R. Coe and A. Mervin were principally instrumental in securing this concession. When the station was established, the post office was called Padua, the name which had for years been used by the office at Horr's.

Samuel Rodman was first appointed Postmaster. Alpheus Webber moved his store from Stumptown to the new station and sold it to Samuel & Scammon Rodman, who continued in business till 1877, when they sold to W. I. Merwin, who is now in trade, is Station Agent and Postmaster. Cheney, Rodman, Merwin, and some others, have been engaged in buying corn, and the latter had a steam-power hay press in use for awhile, until it burned.

The Padua tile-factory was erected by Samuel Stoops & Co., in 1878. They have two kilns with a capacity of 20,000 pieces, and use the Tiffany machine which will run from six to eight thousand per day. About $2,000 are invested in the buildings and machinery, and eight men are employed. Sales are ready, and the tiles, which usually run from two and one-half inches to six, are said to be as good as any. They use steam power, and require four days to properly burn.

Ellsworth Village

Ellsworth was laid out on the lands of Mr. Ellsworth, J. H. Cheney and A. B. Ives, of Bloomington, in 1871. The land of the former lay north of the railroad; Cheney's south of the road and east of the principal street, and Ives' west of that. A^ J. Wampley bought the first lot that was sold ; he purchased, in 1871, on the Ives land. The switch and depot were put in the next year, and the post office established, Wampley being first Postmaster, a position which he holds yet. Wampley at once opened up a general stock of merchandise, and continued there until 1878, when he moved his store and house across the street to lots bought on the Cheney land. John Campbell moved his store and stock of goods from Stumptown, in 1872, and has continued in trade since that time. Harry Vandervoortv and Joseph Pierce put up a store and opened in the hardware and implement trade, in 1873. In 1877, they sold to Holdren, who added drugs to his stock, and continues in trade.

W. L. Sapp, James Reed and Mr. Arnold associated with themselves twelve other farmers, and subscribed $100 apiece to commence the " Club " store in 1872. Mr. Van Gundy was employed to conduct it. The next year, Reed & Van Gundy bought it out, and after another year Reed retired, and Van Gundy has continued in the business since.

In 1874, Dr. Patterson, who had been here in practice a year, coming here from Heyworth, put up a small store and put in a stock of drugs, which he has continued to run in connection with his practice.

The same year, Mr. Rockwood put in a stock of groceries in the building used by the "Club" store, and Joseph Starkey moved his store from a place three miles southeast, popularly called " Confedrit X Roads " (from a real or fancied prevailing opinion that some of the citizens there held opinions not dissimilar from those so eloquently championed by Rev. Mr. Nasby, Deacon Pogram and Saint Bascom), which he continued to occupy for a few years. August Flint has a wagon-shop ; A. Jacoby a harnessshop ; H. T. Colwell, a shoe-shop. Dr. L. H. Scaggs has been in the practice of medicine for some years.

David Hitch, who had had considerable experience in milling, built a grist-mill with two runs of stones, the citizens subscribing $1,000 toward it. After running it awhile, he sold to S. F. Myers, who is doing a very fair business. Stumptown was just in the edge of the timber. A steam-mill was built there as early as 1854, by Horine &

Harrison. After running it awhile, they sold to Fisher & Gibbs ; they to David Hitch, who was in trade with Webber, who put in a good grist-mill and sold to Hobart, who, in turn, in company with Mr. Dickinson, put the machinery into the Le Roy Mill. Webber & Hitch were selling goods, and John Campbell, also. James Holdren had a blacksmith-shop, and John Selman a wagon-shop. These all took to the prairie when the first proud snort of the locomotive was heard at Ellsworth, and Stumptown became like " Sweet Auburn," a deserted village.

Benjaminville contained a store carried on by Mr. Hollinshead, a blacksmith-shop by Mr. Burrows, and the Friends' meeting-house, built in 1862, with sheds, etc., for comfort as well as worship, at a cost of $1,000.

The township of West is the second from the east in the southern tier of townships. It embraces a Congressional township and a third, and is described as Town 22 north, Range 5 E., and 12 sections off the north end of Town 21 north, Range 5 E. of the Third Principal Meridian. It was originally all prairie except about 300 acres in Sections 6 and 5, where the extreme eastern point of the Old Town Timber runs out on the line between West and Arrowsmith. Topographically, it is one of the most curious in the county, being, as you pass from the northern to the southern boundaries, a succession of high ridges, amounting almost to hills, and valleys. Along its northern end a high ridge extends entirely across the township from Old Town Timber nearly to Cheney's Grove, forming the southern boundary of the valley of the Sangamon, and is a pleasant succession of hillocks and vales, not too abrupt for general cultivation, and making a delightful contrast when viewed in connection with the pleasant valleys on either side, and the broad stretch of level country stretching off to the east into Ford County. The surface, as if by " unanimous consent," makes a gentle declivity to the south, reducing gradually both its elevation and its unevenness for two miles, reaching a dead level, which forms the head of the east branch of Salt Creek, which is about one mile in width, and extending without any seeming variation in its' monotonous plain entirely through the township from west to east, and apparently forming a portion of the stretch of level land which runs due east from Randolph's Grove, through and beyond the eastern border of the county, more nearly a perfect plain here than on either side, of unsurpassed richness, but too flat for thorough cultivation in wet seasons. It was intended to drain this thoroughly, but the cumbrous machinery of our drainage laws were past the ability of such mortals as undertook it, and the attempt was abandoned until our wise legislators succeed in forming a drainage law which can be executed by common people, without going to the Supreme Court with every acre drained. Farther south, and extending like this valley across the entire township, is an elevation less high and more even than the one at the north ; and beyond this is the flatter land which forms the southern end of the township. Across the southeastern corner of this latter the branch of Salt Creek runs, being here increased by numerous branches to a stream of sufficient size to supply the wants of the herds at all seasons of the year.

There were no early settlements in this township. It was not until about 1850 that the first sod was turned, and much of the land was unplowed as late as 1865, when the boys came "marching home " to find, many of them, that it was too crowded in the old homesteads and " swarming " was the order of the day. This " swarming " wave coming principally from the West soon filled up the country that until then had remained unbroken. Tazewell, Fulton and other »western couuties, sent many of their young men in here. West is pretty liberally supplied with railroads. The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western runs about three-fourths of a mile across the southwestern corner. The Springfield branch of the Illinois Central - formerly the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield - runs two miles across its southeastern corner, cutting Sections 1, 11 and 12 (T. 21-5), and has two stations on it, Weedman and Kumler. The Havana, Rantou] & Eastern runs across on the half-section line of sections, numbering from 19 to 24 inclusive, having two stations, Sabina and Delana.

When the first white settlers made their way into this locality they found a band of Indians in assumed possession of quite a tract of country, though in reality their chiefs had for them some years before traded all of this land to the Government. They were, however, permitted to occupy the country until such time as it was wanted by actual white settlers.

An Indian town was not such a substantial affair as the towns and villages of the county to-day, being but the rudest cabins and tents made of bark, skins of animals and slender poles. Therefore, an Indian town was not necessarily permanent, and we have no evidence that this Kickapoo village had existed in this locality more than a few years. The probability is that it was a band that had moved from some other place upon the appearance of the lawful owners of the country. At Danville, a few years previous, a tribe of the Kickapoos were occupying the timber along the Big Vermilion, and, upon the approach of the whites, they removed to the interior of the State, and from evidences in possession of H. W. Beckwith, Esq., of Danville, but little doubt remains that this was the same band. As soon as the whites had settled to some extent in the neighborhood of Old Town Timber, the Kickapoos, feeling that they were being somewhat crowded, removed their town or camp to the banks of Mackinaw, near the present site of Pleasant Hill ; thence, after a few years, to Indiau Grove, in Livingston County; and, in 1832, to Oliver's Grove, in the same county. At the last-named place they/ lived a year or two, when they removed from the State and were lost as a distinctive band or tribe, being merged with other kindred tribes at the reservations beyond the Mississippi.

The early white settlers speak in the most kindly terms of their early red neighbors. They were kind, honest, temperate and religious. Of course they were very ignorant, poor, and not over nice in their habits, though a few of them were credited with being neat in person and habits and of being possessed of some education, such as obtaiued only in good schools. Of this last class were uotably Aunt Nancy and Aunt Peggy. They are remembered by some of the early settlers as very decent-looking and good-mannered squaws who made considerable pretense to book learning. On one occasion, they went to hear the pioneer preacher, Peter Cartwright, discourse on religion, and when asked how they liked him, replied, " Oh, he talks very well, but he has no education." In the library of Mr. Beckwith, of Danville, is a copy of the first paper published in the State in 1818, called the Illinois Magazine. In this paper is printed a sermon delivered by a Christian Indian to this same band of Kickapoos while tbey still resided near Danville. The sermon was translated into English by Gurdon S. Hubbard, who was then an Indian trader at Danville, and furnished to the magazine named for publication. For good, sound sense and good rhetoric it is not often excelled by the more enlightened white divines of to-day. Mr. Hubbard says the sermon waslistened to with close attention, and seemed to be well understood and appreciated.

In house-building, they approached more nearly to civilization than most others of tbeir race. While living in this vicinity, some of them provided themselves with houses or cabins as good as some of those occupied by the wbites. It is true, most of their dwellings were of a very primitive character ; but Mrs. Paist, who was here in 1822, and then a little girl, informs us tbat several of their cabins were graced with a second story, and were, in many respects, quite comfortable. The women cultivated patches of corn, beans, potatoes and other vegetables, and in the line of agriculture, excelled most of their white neighbors, though the men considered labor of that kind below their dignity, their business being the pursuit of game, with which the forests and prairies of this part of the county abounded.

During the trouble with the followers of Black Hawk, in the northwestern part of tbe State, the Kickapoos remained friendlv to the whites, and, though the excitement consequent upon that war caused some suspicions even at this distance from the seat of war, and though quite a large number of soldiers were raised for the war in this county, the friendly Kickapoos remained true to their professions, and no outbreak occurred. At one time, Machini, who was the chief of the band, proposed a great war-dance, at which many of the settlers became very much frightened, and prepared for defense. They, however, did not understand the import of the demonstration, for, as afterward understood, it was not a menace, but simply the celebration of some past event. Indeed, Chief Machini, to express his friendship for the whites, invited a number of them to take part in the evolutions peculiar to the occasion. Some of the whites, however, fearing that this might be a ruse to entice them from their homes for the purpose of murdering them, discreetly "sent their regrets." The Dawsons and Orendorffs, however, attended, and were entertained in as kindly a manner as possible. Machini invited John Dawson to take pa*rt in the exercises, and, thinking to please the chief, he entered into the contortions with zeal. Mr. Dawson imagined that he understood the step quite as well and could sing far better than the chief himself; but he had sung but a few stanzas of the " he aw haw an a haw he haw" when the chief musician, who was Machini himself, shouted, "Stop!" Then turning to Mr. Dawson, in a very grave and somewhat injured manner, said : " Friend Dawson, you dance much good, but you no sing good." Mr. Dawson thereupon ceased his harmony, and confined himself to his muscular exercises. The war-dance passed off without any other disagreeable incident, and Machini thereafter explained that Dawson's singing confused him. In these dances, the women took no part whatever, but were simply spectators.

When the first white man came here to reside, there was upon Section 5, upon the high land which lay beyond the point of timber, the remains of the old Indian fort which, though much talked about by those who make Indian history a study, still seems to be very little known by the citizens of the county in general. The land upon which it stood was surrounded by a fine growth of blue grass, showing that at one time the

It is a well-known fact that prairie grass has not the quality of propagation, having no seeds and no root power of procreation. In these respects it is anomalous. It is not known that any other plant lacks these two essential principles of preservation and propagation. Once kill the roots of a single square rod of prairie grass and to the end of time that particular piece of land will never be covered with a growth of prairie grass again. When in the course of events this destruction occurred at and around the old fort, blue grass came in and remained as long as the land was kept in pasture, which was till about the year 1867. This was famous grazing ground, and Isaac Funk selected and entered it as he did other such lands in this part of the county. It still remains in the family, it being the property of his son George. Until it was put under the plow, the remains of the fort were plainly seen. A recent visit to the ground, in company with Mr. S. H. West, shows that the plow has pretty nearly obliterated the last fading lines of this most important landmark. But the importance of its position as a strategic point, as such defense was understood by Indians, will never be effaced.

In another portion of this work, under its proper head, will be found a very full account of the military events which called this fort into being, and the results it effected ; it remains here to describe only its exact locality and position.

In the timber were numerous breastworks behind which, with the friendly alliance of the trees, a last stand could be made in case the defenders of the Old Town rights stood in need of them, but just outside of the timber, fifty rods from the west line, and not more than fifteen rods from the north line of Section 5, stood the works of the fort proper. The land seemed formed by nature for this particular defensive purpose. So elevated as to command, in a clear day, before civilization had dotted the country with hedges and groves, a clear view of from fifteen to twenty-five miles from the east clear around to the southwest, and north, northeast and northwest a somewhat less extended view. The earthworks themselves were about ten rods by fifteen, with the corners rounded, being longer from north to south, and having the western lines running past each other to admit entranee. A passage-way extended down the hillside west to a stream of water to prevent the cutting off of this needed supply. The works were about breast high. It is evident that the attack was expected from the way of the east, as no one would think of attacking the wily Indian through their natural covert, the timber. On either side, south and north, were the burying-grounds so long used by the Indians. These have in years past been ruthlessly dug over to secure the silver ornaments which were buried with their dead in great numbers. The ground was dug over and over, and hundreds of silver rings, bracelets, etc., were taken out. The bones are now lying on the surface, and at one time it was very common for the boys of the neighborhood, after each rain, to collect on the ground to find whatever of silver trinkets had been uncovered by the rain. In the dry, gravelly knolls around were buried their corn and provisions, for they never seem to have learned the habit of selling their crop before husking-time, and hauling it off to the nearest railroad, to enrich the " middle-man."

Earlier Settlements

The first settlements in West were made in the northwestern and southeastern corners of the town. Henry West in the former, and John Weedman in the latter, are excellent samples of the educated, industrious, business farmers which the " second wave " of immigration brought to these parts ; men endowed with such qualities as to prove a success anywhere. The Crumbaughs, having reduced an " Empire " from wilderness to fruitful fields, went to " West," and verified the old saying, with slight variations - " Westward the Crumbaugh of Empire takes his way : " only in this particular case, Westward was toward the rising sun. James Love, James Spear, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Rice were the first settlers in West - Mr. Love near the north line, in Section 4, Mr. Spear near the west line in Section 6, and the other two near him.

Mr. Love came in 1848, and lives here still on the land he first took up. He has 160 acres, with fair buildings, and is comfortably fixed. James Spear came in 1849, from Ohio, and died in 1859, leaving a widow and five children. Mrs. Spear afterward married David Bean, who has a half-section in Section 11, and her children all, with one exception, are settled around her. James has eighty acres in Section 11; is a young man of sterling qualities and respected by all.

Henry West came to this county in mature manhood, in 1850, from Kentucky. He was at that time forty-six years old, and had, by the careful habits and strict business ways, for which he was so well known both here and there, acquired enough to buy him a comfortable farm, when he could find one that suited him. The reasons for leaving Kentucky were such as operated to induce so many of the pioneers of Illinois to come here. Land was getting too high there for men of moderate means to hope to put their children on good farms. He also had a strong desire to get his family out from the influences of the institution for which he had no admiration. After coming here, he looked around awhile.

The year 1851 was one of those rainy seasons which used to occur with considerable regularity every seven years. The years of floods, which are well-remembered by the present generation, were 1844, 1851, 1858, 18fi9. It will be seen that each seventh year was, for a time, the rainy one. It has been said that 1837 was a similar one, but no record of such has come under the observation of the writer, unless the financial flood may be taken as such, for it swamped more men than all the others combined. We know that the year 1830 was, but the heavy and long-continued flood came in the winter in the form of snow. This remarkable coincidence of the repeated seventh year of flood and the enforced idleness of the land called to the minds of religious people and teachers the Levitical law laid down in Leviticus, chap, xxv, 4 - 7 verses, wherein the Lord directed the children of Israel when they should have come into the land to which he would bring them ; that they should let their fields rest untilled and vines undressed each seventh year, and should not even gather what crops or fruit grew spontaneously on that year ; that their teams, servants, maids, and, probably, women, too, should rest. The line of argument which would follow from these repeated seventhyear rainy " dispensations of Providence " can be so easily imagined or remembered that it need not here be repeated. It was boldly insisted that the law of the Lord was unchangeable, making wise the foolish, and that this country would never prosper until that law was fully obeyed. Probably it will not be doubted that, if, after coming into this glorious county, which was literally flowing with a superabundance of milk and honey - the cows had only to be driven in from the boundless pastures, and the bee-trees to be hunted - the people had given each seventh year to the kind of rest, good works and missionary work, and the land and teams to such rest as the Lord had required of Israel, they would have lasted longer, lived more contented, and increased in those qualities which tend to higher and better life.

The rainy season warned Mr. West that he must look for high land, and, after a good deal of search, he found what suited him in the southeast quarter of Section 5, where Mr. Hedrick now resides, belonging to N. T. Brittin, a man of large wealth and acquisitive habits, living a few miles west, in Empire. He soon closed a bargain with the proprietor, but when he came to get his deed, Brittin " kicked out," and wanted $50 more. This incensed West, whose notions of honor were of the highest Kentucky order, and he determined to have no more to do with Brittin, but could not find another place that suited him and he was obliged to pay the Yankee the price.

Mr. West continued to live here until 1869, buying land as he was able, until he had acquired 2,800 acres, lying in Sections 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 17, 20 and 21. He was the first Supervisor of the township, and continued to represent it in the Board of Supervisors as long as he remained a resident.

The town received its name from him, but not by him. The naming occurred in this way: At the first town meeting, in April, 1858, Mr. Simeon H. West, then a young man, proposed to call the town Pottawatomie, from the Indians, whose fort still stood on the hill in that township. He explains this mistake by saying that, though the Indian residence was so well-known and so much talked about, there was an alarming ignorance in regard to them ; that an old citizen had informed him that it was that tribe which had its home here. The mistake was a very natural one, as will appear from the Indian history at the end of this sketch. When his proposition was made, he learned for the first time that it was the Kickapoos who lived here, and, on his motion, the name of Kickapoo was given to the township. At the first meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the Board was informed that there was already a township by that name in Peoria County, and, on motion of some member of the Board, it was named from the Supervisor from that town.

Mr. West was largely engaged while here in stock-feeding and driving. He never believed in selling grain. When he determined to marry again and reside in Bloomington, he gave each of his children a good farm. Mr. I. H. West, Mrs. Hedrick and Mrs. Cawby, still live on the lands their father thus provided for them.

Henry West was a man of strong, robust constitution, firm will, fixed purpose, and kind and affectionate in his family. This latter trait was the more marked, perhaps, than any other.

He still resides in Bloomington, but owns considerable land in this township. Simeon H. West lived here with his father a few years and spent some years in travel. He was traveling through Kansas when " Ossawatomie Brown," Jim Lane and the Free State men were hunting the " Missouri Sheriff," and " Border Bufiians," and " Atchison, Stringfellow & Co." there, trying to overcome the "elections" which the Cincinnati directory had figured so largely in. He had been an Emancipationist in Kentucky, but a States' Rights Democrat in Illinois. He fell in'with parties of both sides there, frequently, but was easily able to convince both that he was not there to interfere in the

Kansas war. He went twice to California, and spent considerable time there. His time was for some years after his return given to improving his place, since which he has devoted more time to attending to township and county affairs, having been for many years the Supervisor from this town. With enlarged information, he has taken a leading position on the Board, and has given much attention to the matter of delinquent taxes, one of the toughest questions which the present generation has to deal with. He lives on a fine farm near where his father first bought, with convenient buildings, well surrounded with groves, evergreens, orchards and well-kept fields. He has formerly run a heavy cattle business, but, like most of the farmers hereabout, now usually runs what cattle he has through the winter light, and grass-feeds for a fall market. For some years now he has thus fed about one hundred head each year. A public-spirited man, and one who seems well appreciated by his neighbors. Politically, he is decidedly independent, and never finds a party that holds him in traces long at a time.

Harrison Barnett settled on Section 3, in 1854. He died in 1863. His son lives on the farm, and has fine, perhaps extravagant, buildings for a 160-acre farm.

Daniel Barnhart came here in 1854, and purchased a farm on Section 10, and still resides there. He is a good farmer and has an excellent farm. J. T. and L. A. Crumbaugh, of the plethoric, progressive family in Empire, about the same time took up farms on Sections 7, 18 and 19, along the line of Empire, and still reside there. They are good farmers, energetic and public-spirited. Have driven a large cattle business and are still doing a safe one.

Father Thomas V. Warnsley, now of Heyworth, had a farm here about the same time. He remained here ten years, preaching around as opportunity offered, and then, in the absence of so many of the younger preachers in the army, there were not enough to half fill the appointments, he accepted an itinerant appointment from Conference. He, while here, preached both in the houses, and by his daily walk and conversation. Mr. McFarland and Mr. Coleman each had farms along the western border, at that time. S. L. Bishop, M. M. Craig and Bobert Butledge, of Downs Township, each had small farms in Sections 17 and 20, which, some years after, they sold to J. G. Moore, who came here from Pike County, in 1872. Mr. Moore owns the south half of 17, and the northeast quarter of 20, in West, and about 900 acres in Belleflower, which is kept mostly in grass. He is a man of large capacity for business and work, and is regarded a successful one. He keeps from three hundred to four hundred head of cattle, but, like his neighbors, he prefers to grass-feed, stall-feeding being nearly abandoned.

G. W. Hedrick, whose father was one of the earlier settlers in Bandolph's Grove, came here from Padua, about 1866, and lives on the West homestead. He has 520 acres, and has followed cattle-raising pretty extensively, and very successfully.

John Weedman, Sr., came into this part of country about 1844, from Randolph, and lived seven years at Hurley's Grove, now Farmer City, in DeWitt County, with his three sons, John, Amos and Isaiah. In 1851, he entered 160 acres on the southern line of this county, where Weedman Station now is, and considerable in DeWitt. In 1853, the different members of the family entered 1,000 acres more in West (21-5), along Salt Creek. This was among the first land entered in this corner of the county, and among the very finest. The excellent living water of this stream makes the land desirable for cattle-farming ; indeed there is none better in the county, though not taken so early as that in the northern part of the township. The little clumps of native timber along its banks made a fine shelter. Amos Weedman built on Section 11, and remained there eight years, when he sold to John, and went to Hurley's Grove, and bought the Hurley farm for $80 per acre. He is now Sheriff of DeWitt County. In 1851, John Weedman, Jr., began farming operations here, built a house and commenced turning the sod. The first year he lost his team and all his cattle by sickness. It did not exactly break him up nor discourage him. He has been remarkably successful in his business, having now 1,000 acres of land, a considerable town property and his banking business at Farmer City. He has carried on stock-raising and feeding largely, formerly stall-feeding 200 head in a winter, but now prefers grazing, though from habit, perhaps, he thinks he must feed a couple of car loads. His house is a neat and commodious country home of modern build, with veranda nearly encircling it, with neat and tasty surroundings, and the farm well-fenced, well-tilled, well-stocked and well (stream) watered. About nine years ago, when the railroads which center at Farmer City were building, he engaged in banking business there, and laid out an addition to the town of 100 acres.

Isaiah Weedman owned considerable land in West, and lived here several years. He entered the military service and was killed at Holly Springs.

In 1854, Melvin Lowery and W. L. Drybread came from Indiana, and settled where the latter still resides. Mr. Lowery moved West some years after.

Dr. Cheney, of Le Roy, came here from Ohio, and entered land in 1851, where Mr. Hamilton now resides. He was a man of energy, and carried on his farm successfully, and attended to a large medical practice here for ten years. He then sold to John Hamilton and went to Le Roy, where he engaged in trade, and did much to build the substantial part of that young city. He met financial reverses, however, and saw the accumulation of many years of hard work swept away.

John Hamilton, since he bought the Cheney farm, has been largely engaged in stock-raising. He has kept from three hundred to twelve hundred sheep. For awhile he lived in Bloomington, to put his children in school while there. Mr. J. B. Lewis, now in the bank at Farmer City, was in charge of the farm. Mr. Lewis was one of the most esteemed and useful citizens during his residence here ; was continually called on to do the work of the town offices, being a good accountant, and a safe, accurate and faithful man.

West has been rather given to furnishing the surrounding cities with bankers, besides Mr. Weedman and Mr. Lewis at Farmer City. Joseph Keenan, who is probably the most extensive business man in Le Roy, was for years a resident of this town. He had a good farm on Section 31, upon which he resided before he began banking at Le Roy.

Mr. Clark, father of the Clark boys, came here from Morgan County in 1853, and bought the Lucas land, a half section in 27. He brought with him the first herd of thoroughbred short-horns ever brought into this part of the county. They were purchased of D. A. Brown, of Sangamon County, and were white, which was the prevailing popular color twenty-five years ago.

J. M. Moon came here twelve years ago from Mendota, La Salle County, whence he had formerly come from De Kalb County. He purchased the south half of Section

10, where he still resides, the north half and southeast quarter of Section 12, and the southwest quarter and west half of northwest quarter of Section 7, in Belleflower.

The home farm he works ; the other is rented to four tenants, who raise corn mostly. For several years Mr. Moon ran a butter dairy of twenty cows, and for awhile fed cattle largely. He had been a business man for several years before he tried farming. He has a good farm with fair buildings, and is reckoned a successful farmer. He has recently laid a mile of tile drain on his home farm, and believes if they are properly laid, by applying the level to every three pieces when laid, that it cannot fail to be of great advantage to the wet lands. He says he has cut more than thirty miles of open ditch with machines. He is a man of intelligence and good business qualifications. He ha^ tried raising flax somewhat, and thinks it promises to be a success. He prefers mixed farming to any one branch alone.

George W. Snook, one of the best farmers, and universally considered one of the best citizens in West, came here from Maryland in 1868. He owned a section of land in the northern part of the township for a number of years. He now lives on and owns a fine farm in Section 23, where he has fine buildings and a well-managed farm, a railroad depot and a store, and is extensively engaged in the grain trade. He has practiced grain raising, never having invested in the cattle business much.

W. J. Kimler came here from Bloomington in 1867. He was a grandson of Mr. Orendorff, one of the earliest settlers in the county. He has a fine farm of 200 acres, with good buildings, hedges, etc.

Rev. John Kumler owns a considerable farm in Section 36, and in 1 and 12, (21-5). He is now at Bloomington, at the Wesleyan University, where he has an appointment by the Conference of the M. E. Church. His farm is in charge of renters. Kumler Station is on his farm. There are two good houses and a fine barn.

I. K. Orendorff entered land in Sections 36 and in 1 (21-5), and about 1858, his sou Perry came onto it to make a farm. He is a good farmer, has good buildings, and considerable fruit. He has 240 acres close by Kumler Station.

Stephen E. Clarno, an old resident of Logan County, who came across the Sangamon River with his father in 1819, when there were only three families between there and Fort Clark, purchased 400 acres of Mr. Ball, in 1875, along Salt Creek, just north of John Wedman's residence, paying for it $40 per acre, cash. He built a large barn, and, after living there a year to see whether he liked it, he sold his farm in Logan and bought 280 acres more, and built a large two-story house - large enough to entertain a good many friends at once. He had been a great traveler ; had gone all over all the Western States and most of the Territories, trying to find the best place he could find, and, when he found this one, he believed he had got about as good a farm as could be found. It lies for a mile along both sides of the stream, which here has water enough at all seasons of the year, is clear, with gravelly bottom. Here he and his family feel, as well they may, content to work out their time earning a living and laying up a trifle against a time of need. The old gentleman was laid hold of by the citizens of West, after he had been here one year, and elected Supervisor. One year satisfied him, however, and he retired on his laurels. He is a good farmer, and calculates he has got enough for his four children (he has buried nine), so that each can have a good farm. The land lies in Sections 2 and 11.

Thomas Warton has a good farm in Section 33 - 240 acres. James Kincaid, 160 acres in Section 32 ; Henry Grizzell, 240 in Section 33 ; and William Scott, 80 in Section 28. These men have been here since about 1853, and have good improvements and are good farmers. Corn-raising and stock-grazing and feeding have been the principal lines of farming. Some years since, considerable broom-corn was raised, but this crop has been discontinued. Some are now raising flax, but as there is no sale for the straw, it is not very largely grown. Some small fields of wheat are seen, and oats receive more attention. Corn and stock remain the staples.

Railroads And Stations

The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Railroad was built by large local township stock subscriptions, in 1870. This township voted $20,000 subscription, and 10 per cent bonds were issued. The road only runs across the southwestern corner, about three-fourths of a mile, with no station in it. Empire Station is just west of the township line. Half of the bonds have been paid, and the balance come due in three and eight years from now. West has never gone into any contest of the legality of these bonds, and makes the best of what seems to have been a rather one-sided bargain. It never has objected to paying whatever it agreed to, though a case may arise soon wherein it may try titles with the railroads. She pays her taxes closer than any township in the county. There are no delinquent taxes to be fought over in the Courts.

The stock of the town in this railroad has been wiped out by the recent sale of the road, under a decree of foreclosure, for $1,000,000, which, it is believed, is just about enough to pay the lawyers for wrecking it and the enormous legal (and illegal) expenses which follow such a proceeding in Court, and the back taxes due. By a timely motion on the part of the Board of Supervisors, an order was entered of record that no deed should issue for the road until taxes were paid.

The Springfield Division of the Illinois Central Railroad - formerly the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield - runs across the southeastern corner about two miles. No bonds were voted for this road. It was built in 1871 and 1872. The stations are Weedman, near the southern line of the township, and Kumler, near the eastern. At the former, Lee Watt is station agent. R. M. Ewing has a grocery store, and Mr. Bumcrots a blacksmith-shop.

Capt. James Steele, from Menard County, is buying grain. He had been teaching school for eighteen years, and came here two yeats ago to work up the grain-trade. He has bought about 100,000 bushels per year. The most of this grain is sold on track. Halliday Brothers, of Cairo, have been large buyers, taking the white corn to Cairo and the yellow and mixed to Chicago.

The M. E. Church was organized here some years ago. This spring, Messrs- Kissack, Hellor, Weedman, Steele and Reed were elected Trustees, and will build a church on land procured from Mrs. Dodson this summer.

At Kumler Station, C. D. Belleville has a store, Frank Rawlings a blacksmithshop, and Mr. Thrashor buys grain. This station is of recent origin, and not so much grain is bought in here.

The Havana, Rantoul & Eastern Railroad, narrow-gauge, was built in 1878 (see Empire for its history). About $7,000 were subscribed to the stock in this town. It runs straight across the town from west to east on the half-section line, half a mile north of the center of the township. Two stations are on it - Sabina, on the line between Sections 20 and 21, and Delana, on the line between 23 and 24. No depots havp yet been put up. Keenan & Barnum, two grain-dealers at Le Roy, buy grain and have a grocery store at the former, and G-. W. Snook at the latter. About one hundred thousand bushels of grain have been purchased at the two stations this winter.

This road was built as a matter of self-preservation to get lower freights and less hauling. There seems to be a difference of opinion whether it has accomplished all that was claimed, some asserting that grain has been from 2 to 4 cents higher in consequence of it, while others say it is a great convenience, yet it has not increased the price of grain to the farmer one cent. Of course, the men who put their money into it only expect to get the return indirectly, and there seems to be little reason to doubt that it will result in an increase of the value of the farms in the central part of thf! township more than the $7,000 invested in it. Very little but grain or lumber is carried by this road, passenger traffic is light, and, as yet, no stock shipments. The grain is carried to the eastern end of the route, where it is reshipped on to Wabash cars at a point fifteen miles east of the Indiana State line.

In 1870, a vote was taken in West Township, which resulted in a donation of $25,000 to the Decatur and State Line R. R. This road has not been built for reasons very fully set forth in the Anchor Township article, and the time for issuing the bonds expired by the terms of the act under which the aid was voted July, 1877, and it was generally supposed that the subscriptions made in this and other counties had fallen by these terms. An act of the Legislature, passed in 1877, extended the time for issue three years. The plan for building this road has been revived, and it may yet transpire that the towns which voted bonds will have to stand it or fight the matter in the courts. The temper of the people of West is to contest it, and it is likely the chance will be afforded within a twelvemonth.

Churches, Etc

The United Brethren Church, on Section 2, was built in 1871. It is 34x40. The men who were, in a great measure, instrumental in accomplishing the work were Samuel Bright, Daniel Barnhart, Daniel Bean, J. P. Roby, Mr. Slingoff and Mr. Morris. Service is maintained every alternate Sabbath. Messrs. Morris, Fisher, Mitchell and J. W. Gilbert have officiated in turn since the chapel was built.

Mount Olive M. E. Church was built about 1869, west of the center of the township, through the active aid of the Clarks, Hamands, G-rizzell and others of that denomination who live in that vicinity. A Methodist Church is to be built at Weedman the present summer. The town still owns its school section, and has it leased and under cultivation, waiting for higher prices than the present. Until Township organization, residents here used to go to Le Roy to vote.

Below will be found a list of the township officers elected since township organization. It will be seen that Henry West was continuously elected Supervisor until his removal from town, and that his son, S. H. West, has been retained in that position much of the time since, though not usually in political sympathy with the majority in the township, a tribute alike to the good judgment of the citizens and the wise and valuable services of the Supervisor. Mr. J. B. Lewis, also, during the early years of the township history , was almost continually in the official service of the town until he removed to Farmer City to engage in banking pursuits :

The Justices of the Peace who have been elected are H. R. Coleman, M. H. Cawby, William Rosencrans, George Hedrick, L. T. Delaplain, E. Dickinson, R. Robertson.

Some pages back, the confusion in regard to the Indian tribes was alluded to, and the statement was made that that confusion was a very natural one, and that the mistake which so annoyed Mr. Simeon H. West, in his attempt to rescue the name of the primeval inhabitants of this town from oblivion, was not so much of a mistake, after all.

The statements following are given on the authority of Hon. Perry A. Armstrong, of Morris, Grundy Co., who is the highest authority in all matters pertaining to Indian history and tribal complications in this part of the State.

The Kickapoos, Pottawatomies and Miamis, more than a century ago, formed an alliance, offensive and defensive, against the Illini, who were the first inhabitants of this region of which history gives any authentic account. The Illini- - meaning superior men - were a confederation of the Peorias, Moinguienas, Kas-Kaskias, Tamaroas and Cahokias. In 1700, their great Chief, Chicago, went to France, and was received with the distinguished consideration which the French always showed the Indians, and which was the secret of their success in dealing with them.

Against this confederation the allies first-named above began a war of extermination, - probably coming here from the east, - which was long and eventful, and ended in the tragedy of " Starved Rock," in La Salle County, in 1774, a year before the beginning of the American Revolution.

This defeat of the Illini, who had held the prairie State so long, left the allies in undisputed possession of a large portion of the eastern half of the State ; but, true to their robber-like instincts, they immediately fell to quarreling over the conquest. I» this latter struggle, the Kickapoos and Pottawatomies were united against the Miamis. To settle the whole matter, it was agreed that each contending party should select three hundred picked men, who should meet each other in mortal combat, the contest to determine on the result of the combat. The opposing bands met on the banks of Sugar Creek, less than a year after the affair at Starved Rock, and by the terms agreed on, the duel opened at sunrise and lasted till the going down thereof. When the sun set on this exciting day, only twelve warriors remained able to do battle, seven of which belonged to the Kickapoo and Pottawatomie side, and five to the Miamis ; and the latter retired to their old homes east of the Wabash, which left this portion of the country in undisputed possession of the two tribes, who amicably divided the country on theline of the old Indian trail running near Oliver's Grove. This trail was distinctly visible until the land came into cultivation. When this boundary line was established, the Pottawatomies retired to the Fox River, and the Kickapoos occupied this region. The amicable relations of the two tribes were never broken, the former never coming south of Rook's Creek, in Livingston County, which was not quite the southern limits of their possessions. It will be seen that the two tribes were not only on very friendly terms with each other, but were frequently together ; and, in all probability, the Pottawatomie tribe has occupied the very ground which the people of West now cultivate. The township might well have borne the name first suggested twenty-one years ago.

Arrowsmith Township was named by the Supervisors after Ezekiel Arrowsmith, who was the first Supervisor and one of the early settlers. It contains thirty-six sections, being a full Congressional township, and is known of record as Town 23 north, Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian. It is almost entirely prairie, having originally about one square mile of timber in Sections 31 and 32, where the eastern extremity of Old Town Timber lies along the line of Arrowsmith and West, giving to eich a little patch of woodland, which was so highly prized by those who first commenced settlement here. There was in addition a small bunch on Section 24, " Smith's Grove," which hardly grew to the importance of being called timber-land. In its general topographical appearance it is not unlike Padua, which is upon its western border, having the same high ridges along its northern and southern sides, a trifle more elevated and uneven, the well-rounded hills being a somewhat more prominent feature in its landscape, and the level of its valley being somewhat more undulating than in the former. Under the head of Padua (which see), a fuller description of the peculiarities of the

Sangamon valley is given, which need not be repeated here. The Sangamon River, by its numerous rivulet feeders, becomes a considerable stream in its course across the township, although not large enough to make it sufficient for mill-power. The township is bounded on the north by Martin, east by Cheney's Grove, south by West, and west by Padua, and is second from the eastern and southern boundary line of the county. Owing to the lack of timber it had few early settlers, and correspondingly fewer early incidents of importance.

So far as the facts in regard to the earliest settlement in this township are at hand, it seems that the sons of Jonathan Cheney were the first to take up claims and live in what is now Arrowsmith. The land around the head of the timber was attractive on account of its grass. All around the old Indian fort, the blue-grass had come in after the prairie-grass had been killed out. The first year of Jonathan Cheney's residence in the county, he had driven his cattle here for late pasturage. Undoubtedly attracted by this fine pasturage, his sons, when they began to look out homes for themselves, looked this way, for, in 1833, two or three of them had taken claims in this township. Thomas lived for a while in Section 31, where he had a little patch of about ten acres fenced in. He did not remain on it long, however, as a few years after he sold it to Daniel Hall, and joined his brother Owen, in Padua, in building a mill. He afterward went to California. Cassel Banks, father of Marks Banks, of Padua, rented this land one year.

David Hall came here about 1837, and settled on this land in Section 31. Here h"! and his sons, Pryor and Daniel, built their cabins, and remained here until the old gentleman died. Pryor removed to California, and Daniel, Jr., died here, his children Jiving around here. Their sister married Mr. Maurice. William Cheney took up the land in Section 30 about the same time, and, in 1835, Abijah Westover came from New York and bought Cheney's claim, and, in 1839, married a daughter of Aaron Hildreth. About 1850, he went to California, and thence to Australia and returned, and finally settled down in Johnson County, Mo. His wife still remains here, and keeps the hotel at Arrowsmith, and is now the oldest resident of this township, having come here with her father in 1836. Her daughter married Mr. Cundiff, and lives on the Mackinaw, and her son Sherman is engaged in the grain and lumber trade at Arrowsmith.