McLean County, Illinois - The whole text, 1879 (part 8 of 42)

Eighth Missouri Infantry

McLean County furnished to the Eighth Missouri Infantry Company D, Capt. Giles A. Smith ; First Lieutenant, John White ; Second Lieutenant, Frederick Clapp. After Capt. Smith was promoted, Capt. Potts was killed at Arkansas Post, and John D. Coles was promoted from the ranks to Captain and Ostron to First Lieutenant, Mr. White having gone as Captain to another company and Mr. Clapp resigned. The regiment was mustered in on the 13th of June, 1861, at St. Louis Arsenal. It remained in Missouri the rest of 1861 ; spent the winter of 1862, in Kentucky, and in the summer of that year it was at Fort Henry, Donelson and Shiloh, taking an active part in them all. It was also at the siege of Corinth, and, in 1863, was at Vicksburg, with aU that that implies ; afterward, at Memphis, Chattanoosa and at Mission Ridge. The regiment spent the winter of 1864 in Alabama. In the spring, it was again in Memphis, and moved with the army down into Georgia and was in action on the way in the several battles as far as x\tlanta. On the 13th of June, the time of its enlistment having expired, the company returned home, but the regiment being veteranized went on down to the sea and around through the Carolinas to Washington, with Sherman's army.

Capt. Smith was promoted to Colonel May 8, 1862 ; to Brigadier General in the winter of 1863, and Brevet Major General in 1864, at Atlanta, Ga., for his gallant conduct in battle in front of that city. It has been the fortune of but very few men to win the hearts of his soldiers, the esteem of his fellow-officers and the confidence of his superiors, so rapidly and so meritoriously as did Gen. Smith. On several occasions, he showed that Illinois had in her volunteer service no better officer of his rank than Gen. Giles A. Smith. He never failed in duty, never disappointed ^ expectation, and often surpassed both.

We have thus endeavored to give a sketch of the part that McLean County took in the great civil war that swept like a besom of destruction over this otherwise happy land. We trust that even this imperfect representation is sufficient to prove that the county is not to be surpassed, whenever it undertakes anything in earnest, neither in zeal nor in liberality. When the painful duty of sending thousands of its citizens into danger and many of them to certain death, presented itself, there was no hesitation.

Means were immediately provided to assist those who needed help, and bounty was piled upon bounty to relieve the families of those who, of limited means, had gone to the front.

Nor did the gratitude of its citizens stop at assisting the living. They have contributed liberally toward educating the orphans of those who had fallen in the field of battle, or by the scarcely less destructive diseases incident to such a state of things, and have cared for their widows and their families ; but they have remembered the dead, also, and each succeeding year has witnessed the immense gathering of the people on Decoration Day to strew with flowers the graves of their dead, and publicly recognize the debt of gratitude so dearly earned, and suitably commend their patriotism to the rising generation as worthy of their respect and of their imitation, should occasion call upon them for a similar exhibition of it.

That these noble lessons may not be forgotten and as a lasting memento of its gratitude, the county has erected a fitting monument, consecrated to the memory of its "fallen but not forgotten" citizen soldiers. On the 17th of June, 1869, the monument was appropriately consecrated, in the presence of an immense assemblage of the people of the county. We give below a poem read on the occasion, and extracts from an address delivered from the same stand, and thus close our remarks upon the military history of McLean County.

[Poem by Dr. A. E. Stewart, of Randolph, read at the Dedication of the McLean County Soldiers' Monument. 1 0 marble shaft, lift, up your head

"Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: Grateful in our recollections, we have assembled to dedicate with appropriate ceremony this monument to the heroic dead. This silent yet impressive memorial admonishes us as to the sacrifices which have been made that freedom might live, that social and political order might be maintained, that the blessings of a free government might descend to our children. Standing as I do between the living and the dead, and remembering what the dead have done, and realizing what the living will do, I may be permitted to exclaim, ' The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places ! Yea, we have a goodly heritage ! ' Connected with this day are historic associations which cheer the heart of the patriot, and endear to him the memory of that Revolutionary virtue which made Bunker Hill one of the brightest spots in the landscape of human liberty.

" How shall I speak to you to-day of the heroic past ? Human imagination is too limited in the range of beauty, human genius too meager in the resources of its intelligence, to do justice to the memory of the men whose patriotic virtues are intended to be commemorated by this offering. They fell in the bloom of their youth, and in the vigor of their manhood ; but as the poet has said :

Or in the battle's van, The fittest place for man to die Is where he dies for man.' ******* " This cold and classic pile honors the dead. Its durability of form will carry down to coming generations the names and memories of these fearless champions of liberty. And while you and I have reared this solid granite, this noble and imposing structure, we can and may rear to their memory and to our glory a monument higher and nobler than can be built with quarried stone and chiseled marble. It may be well to say -

" This is pure poetry - it is a thought worthy of the genius of American literature, and as a production of the head, it is unsurpassed in its resources of patriotic conception. But, my fellow-citizens, the heart of gratitude and the hand of substantial charity are to perform the crowning acts of patriotic benefaction. There are of the living camped around and about us, the orphan, unconscious, it may be, of its desolation ; the widow in the helplessness of woe ; the aged parent, the staff of whose declining years has been taken as a sacrifice - these call to us by the memory of fathers, husbands and sons, to be grateful to them as we enjoy the full fruition of liberty consecrated by the blood and preserved by the valor of their kindred.

" The struggle in which these heroes have fallen has no parallel in the history of mankind. Its issues involve the destiny of free institutions throughout the world. It was not a contest between nation and nation to extend the area of their empire, or to settle by an appeal to arms some question of international differences, but it was the longdelayed struggle between freedom and slavery, between popular institutions founded upon broad and liberal views of men's rights, and a circumscribed and selfish policy of caste and aristocracy. Philosophically understood, the war was inevitable. The great battles of history have decided the fate of empires. The maps, not only of our own country, but of all civilized lands, are made and unmade by the terrible art of war. Not only are limitations to territory established by the God of battles, but limitations to laws, customs and constitutions.

" Victor Hugo asks : Was it possible that Napoleon should win the battle ? - We answer, No. Why ? Because of Wellington ? Because of Blucher ? No ! Because of God. Waterloo is not a battle ; it is a change of front of the universe. So, I inquire, was it possible that secession should win the battle? I answer, No. Why? Because of Lincoln ? Because of Grant ? No ! Because of God. Lee's surrender was not the surrender of a battle ; it was a change of front of the universe.

" The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night had become the guardian of freedom ; the sea was passed ; the world gazed upon the scene, and the Goddess of Liberty, moved by the ecstatic inspiration of Miriam, shouted, ' Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.'

** To such shrines as this, my fellow- citizens, you and I should often come to teach us the lesson of patriotic devotion and moral heroism, and to impress upon us our obligation to transmit to those who in their turn follow us, that liberty and those institutions of republican equality purchased and preserved by these sacrifices. The cheerfulness with which the American volunteer rushed to the rescue of imperiled freedom,

" The thundering of Sumter was heard in the crowded streets of the East, upon the hroad prairies of the West, and reverberating onward, it fired up the patriotic heart of the bold adventurer on the shores of the Pacific, and, with one accord, there came from the cities, plains and mountains of our Northlands, an army of heroes, such as before was never marshaled by the proudest conqueror of ancient or modern times. It was a loug, bloody and sometimes even a doubtful contest. ' It is an easy matter to be a patriot in the piping time of peace, in the sunny hour of prosperity.' But, when war, discord and rebellion present their horrid forms to strike the liberty of a hundred years, it is then that the patriot shines in his devotion to his country. It is then that he rises in the majestic sublimity of the great sacrifice which he is ready and willing to lay upon the altar of that country. Patriotism " is an enlargement, an exaltation of all the tenderest, strongest sympathies of kindred and home. In all centuries and climes, it has lived and has defied chains and dungeons and racks to crush it. It has strewed the earth with monuments, and has shed undying luster on a thousand fields on which it has battled.' I have said, fellow-citizens, that the lines have fallen to us in pleasant places- A little over four years since, the cloud of civil war hung heavily in the zenith and horizon of man's hope. It had rained drops of tears and blood. To-day that cloud is dispelled, and the sun of our glory now beams with renewed brightness, and its rays will carry joy throughout the world whenever man is to be raised up to the dignity of his creation, and whenever tyranny is to be destroyed. This is not intended to commemorate a mere military encounter between hostile armies ; it has a higher and nobler mission to. perform. It speaks to us of individual and national suffering, of domestic privations, of weary marches, of sieges, camps, battle-fields and death ; and rising in the heroic form of the American volunteer, it is historic of the final and glorious triumph of constitutional liberty through the patriotic devotion of the citizen soldiery. * * * *

" The hurricane, as it sweeps from the mountain-top ; the gentle zephyr, as it murmurs in the green valleys ; the sun, as it rises to gladden the landscape ; the blooming prairie ; the deep solitude of the wild woods, the placid lake, the mighty river and the thunder of the cataract, proclaim, as the voice of God, the freedom and independence of our country. ' Fallen, but not forgotten.' No ; so long as liberty is loved, as valor is admired, as purity and nobleness of purpose are cherished, as slavery is revolting and freedom is lovely and fascinating, it may be said of these heroes, ' Fallen, but not forgotten.' The county of McLean may be proud of the part it bore in wreathing around the brow of Illinois the chaplet of immortal and unfading glory. Our sons mingled in the strife from the Susquehanna to the llio Grande, and have left upon the record of their country's history a fame that will last as long as liberty is loved and oppression hated. What citizen or son of McLean will fail to cherish with grateful recollection the memory of Col. McCullough, with his bold and defiant heroism ; Col. Hogg, with his proud and chivalric bearing, worthy of a knight ; Gen. Orme, with his brave and sagacious comprehension of duty - he who sought the field, not because he loved the clang of arms, but went forth to battle because he loved his country and her liberty better than his life. I refer to these names, not because I wish to draw a distinction between them and the rest of this immortal throng, but they happened to be my intimate and personal friends. I mean no disparagement to those who have distinguished themselves when I say that the private soldier, above all others, is most worthy of our gratitude and respect. His devotion to his country is unalloyed ; if he perishes in the deadly charge, his name is lost to the fame of written history - he lives only in the grateful recollection of bis kindred and friends. * * * This monument may crumble, its inscription may become obliterated, its stony foundation may be moved in the countless ages which are to follow ; but, my fellow-citizens, the traditions of liberty, the lessons of patriotism, the splendid achievements of valor with which these men have impressed their age, will be felt in the preservation of freedom until time shall be no more. " ' How many ages hence shall this Their lofty scene be acted o'er, In States unborn, and by ancients yet unknown ?' " Mr. Webster, in the dedication of the monument at Bunker Hill, looking upon the imposing structure, as its bold summit pierced the clouds, said : ' A duty has been performed ! A work of gratitude and patriotism has been completed.' So it may be said of this. Upon the cold marble are carved in letters of enduring praise the names of the dead soldiers, and to this record of honest fame the child can point as a legacy more precious than a patrimony of gold and silver. My friends, there rests upon us a fearful responsibility. Into our hands for the time being, as the family of freedom, is intrusted the jewel of liberty. If we fail in our experiment of republican government, the hand upon the dial of time is set back at least a century. For the sake of the living, the memory of the dead, and that free institutions may be transmitted to our children, this temple of freedom, this form of national liberty, must be preserved. Let us be grateful in acts of charity and kindness to the soldier's orphan and widow ; let us remember how the dead have suffered that the living, in their political development, might be the pride and ornament of history ; let us cherish memorials like this as landmarks of freedom, union and liberty. With all its faults, the government for which

" The success of the Federal arms in the suppression of the rebellion cannot be overestimated. The triumph of our adversaries would have been the death-knell of liberty throughout the world. The fair valley of the Mississippi, richer than the Land of Promise, when the sun stood in Gibeon and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, would have become the common battle-field of warring States, nations and hostile people. The Flag of the Union - the flag whose glittering stars and bright folds had been gazed upon by Washington, as he led the soldiers of the Republic - would have been driven from every sea ; national literature would have been destroyed ; the cherished memories coming up from the battle-fields of the Revolution would have been forgotten ; ruin and anarchy would have prevailed, and the rights of the people would have depended upon the caprice of some bold adventurer, whose empire of dominion would have been reared upon the broken fragments of our free institutions. But how different the result because of the patriotic death and final triumph of these heroes - ' fallen but not forgotten.'

" My friends, I would be untrue to my conviction of duty, and, I believe, to your sense of justice and propriety, did I fail to refer to the great and good man who, through the fearful storm, guided our destiny as a people. The war for independence and national existence had its chieftain, who, in the resources of his grandness and greatness, was above and beyond all others ; so, too, has the second war of independence given birth to a champion worthy of the praise of all history. If civilization should sweep westward to new scenes of triumph beyond our own country - if old and now desolate fields should be renewed in their pristine beauty ; if the fox should look out from the windows of the American capitol ; if our glory shall live only in history, in poetry and song - yet, amid all this desolation, the patriot in every land, the statesman of progress and the lover of true liberty throughout the world, whether he be a ' castled lord or a cabined slave,' will worship at the shrine of Abraham Lincoln. How splendid, how pure his character ; how noble and yet how unostentatious in the performance of the great work which has made him one of the most resplendent of all the heroes of liberty. Let us indulge the hope that the citizens of our country, in time to come, will imitate the example which these soldiers have left in their lives and by their deaths ; and that the character of Abraham Lincoln, in its outlines of moral, social and political development, may become the standard of American statesmanship. While we bring our offerings to the memory of the dead, we should not forget what the living have done in this great work.

" The women of ancient civilization gave the jewels of their hands to save the liberty of their country ; the women of our day have given the jewels of their hearts to save the liberty of their fathers. This work, as a mere specimen of art, is complimentary to the head and the hand that executed it; and as a work of the heart of the people, in the name of liberty, of justice, of humanity ; in the name of the sacred cause in which these men died ; in the name of the uprisen of liberty and the down-trodden of tyranny, upon this, the anniversary of one of the great battles of the Revolution, I now freely offer this consecrated tomb - these ashes of the honored dead.

" May the sword be beaten into a plowshare, and the spear into a pruning-hook, and may our children dedicate monuments to the victories of peace rather than the triumphs of war. May their heroes be champions of philosophy, of art, and of social and of moral reform. May we, in the spirit of national philanthropy, cherish the union of the States, the just rights of all, and the integrity of revolutionary liberty, as our highest political interest; and as we linger in the twilight of the grave, may our vision be enlightened by a free, united and happy people, one homogeneous whole, spreading the dominion of their empire from the lakes to the gulf, from ocean to ocean.

" ' A union o.f lakes, a union of lands, A union of States none can sever ; A union of hearts, a union of hands, And the flag of the Union forever and ever, And the flag of the Union forever.' "

Post Offices

POST OFFICES. The names of the post offices in McLean County are as follows : Arrowsmith, Belleflower, Bloomington, Chenoa, Covell, Danvers, Dart, Downs, Ellsworth, Empire Station, Garda, Gridley, Hendrix, Heyworth, Holder, Hudson, Kumler, Le Roy, Lexington, McLean, Meadows, Normal, Oak Grove, Osman, Padua, Randolph, Saybrook, Selma, Shirley, Stanford, Towanda, Weston.

The religious sentiment developed itself at an early day in McLean County; and its cultivation has always been a characteristic of its people. Within its boundaries may be found representatives of nearly all the denominations known in the Christian Church. As all over the West, the Methodists were here early and actively represented by plain but zealous and generally efficient preachers. The Baptists and the Presbyterians were also actively represented in this county in early times. There have always been people here of Episcopal preferences, since the country was settled ; but they worshiped with other denominations until more recent times.

Tradition informs us that the first sermon preached in McLean County was addressed to a few friends gathered together by Rev. James Stringfield, in the humble abode of Mr. John Hendrix, near Blooming Grove, southeast of Bloomington, in the fall of 1823. Mr. Stringfield was from Kentucky, and was an uncle of Mr. Stringfield, the old gentleman still living in Randolph. Rev. Ebenezer Rhodes, of Baptist sentiments preached in several places, wherever a hearing could be had, as early as in 1824. Rev. Peyton Mitchell settled in Stout's Grove in 1825, and there introduced the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

In those days came also Rev. James Latta, preaching at Blooming Grove and around about wherever the people would listen ; but he seems not to have preached regularly for a few years. Mr. Latta was quite a prominent man among the Methodists, and he took a lively interest in secular - affairs, occupying several positions of responsibility.

From 1826 to 1830, Revs. William See, S. L. Robinson, Stephen Beggs, and Mr. Shepherd had charge of the Methodist Churches in this vicinity. It is said that Rev. Dr. Crissey preached the first sermon in Bloomington proper, in 1831. Messrs. Royal, Hall, Chase and Haney were his successors.

In 1831, the first camp-meeting in this county was held in Randolph Grove - that old apostle of Methodism and of eccentric plainness of speech, Rev. Peter Cartwright, presiding, assisted by Rev. Mr. Latta and others. Mr. Latta was also a man of much, directness of speech and occasionally made a point that was so inevitably applicable as not to be particularly gratifying to its victims.

In December, 1832, Rev. Calvin W. Babbitt came to Bloomington, and, in the succeeding January, established a Presbyterian Church. He was succeeded the year following by Rev. McG-eogh, who is spoken of as a man of great learning. In the fall of 1833, Rev. Lemuel Foster arrived in Bloomington. He was also a Presbyterian ; and he built a seminary of learning here in Bloomington - the first in the county. These were the early beginnings of several churches now extant in this city. They have since prospered, and the membership of some of them is quite large. Other churches have since been organized here, of which the Catholics are the most numerous.

The new Methodist Church in the city is one of the finest in the State, seating a numerous and most respectable congregation, having a very large and excellent organ, well handled, a good choir, and first-class appointments in all its arrangements, with an, excellent man and an eloquent speaker for pastor. The Catholic Church, not yet complete, is an immense building and accommodates a multitudinous congregation. When complete in all its appointments, it will be one of the finest and largest churches in the West. There are other large and well-attended churches in the city, and in the country, which will receive due attention in another part of this work.

The Press

McLean County is now and it has ever been a newspaper county. In 1836, Gen. Gridley, Hon. James Allen and Jesse W. Fell, Esq., entered into arrangements to start a printing office in Bloomington. For this purpose, they purchased in Philadelphia, for early times in a new country, a very good printing establishment, and shipped it for Bloomington - having secured the services of Mr. William Hill, an excellent printer and a good man, still living in the city, to publish it. The result of these arrangements was that on the 14th of January, 1837, the first number of the Bloomington Observer and McLean County Advocate - name enough to swamp any ordinary concern - made its appearance in the town of Bloomington. The town survived the shock and so did the paper.

The Observer was of good size, a very neat and well-conducted paper. It was published about two years and a half, Mr. Hill having in the mean time disposed of his interest therein and left - it being edited by Mr. Fell, a very ready writer, assisted by Mr. Wells Colton and others occasionally. At the end of that time, the paper not being^ a financial success, its publication was suspended.

In the summer of 1845, Mr. Russell Mitchell came to Bloomington and started the publication of the McLean County Register, which survived until the fall of 1846, when it fell into the hands of its indorser, Mr. C. P. Merriman. Thereupon, Mr. Merriman immediately commenced the publication of the Western Whig. In 1850, he sold the office to Messrs. Johnson & Underwood. In December, 1851, Messrs. Jesse W. Fell and C. P. Merriman bought the office, and one year thereafter Mr. Merriman bought Mr. Fell's interest therein - its name having been changed to that of Intelligencer y and, upon again becoming sole proprietor of the paper, he again changed its name to Pantagraph, the name which it sustains even unto the present day.

In June, 1854, Mr. Merriman commenced the publication of the Daily Pantagraph, as well as continuing the Weekly ; and, one year thereafter, instead of discontinuing the Daily, as has been published in the county, he published also a Tri- Weekly edition - which no other person has ever done in Bloomington. Here is what the Chicago Journal said of it on the reception of the first number of the Daily :

Bloomington Daily Pantagraph. - '' Tiny and neat as a new pin comes to us its first number, with every assurance of success that can be gathered from the evidence of enterprise and skillful management, of which its columns possess a rich endowment. If Bloomington does as much for its first daily, as its first daily, if well supported, can do in return, we shall soon see your sheet enlarged. We do not see how it can be otherwise improved, friend Merriman."

In October, 1855, Mr. Jacob Morris being associated with Mr. Merriman, the Pantagraph office was completely destroyed in the great fire that occurred in Bloomington at that period. Since then it has passed through the hands of Mr. William E. Foote, Messrs. Carpenter & Steele, Messrs. Scibird & Waters, into the possession of its present propritor, Mr. W. 0. Davis. The paper has now a large circulation, and the Pantagraph office is a valuable piece of property, being conducted with much ability and prudence. The paper has always been an unhesitating advocate of the men and of the measures of the Whig party, during its time, and of its successor, the Republican party.

The Leader. - The publication of the Weekly Leader was commenced in the fall of 1868, by Messrs. Scibird and Waters. In 1870, the publication of a daily edition was commenced, and the Leader office passing into the hands of a company the same year, the paper soon obtained a large daily and a good weekly circulation, and did a very fine job printing business. In 1874, it passed into the hands of its present publisher, M. F. Leland. It has constantly been an advocate of the men and measures of the Republican party.

Democratic Papers. - There have been several efforts to establish a Democratic paper in Bloomington, but none of them have been permanently successful. Either from want of ability and adaptation on one side, or from want of patronage on the other side, or from both causes, no Democratic paper has stood on a sure footing in McLean County.

About 1848 and 1849, Mr. James Shoaff, under the supervision of Mr. Joseph Duncan, published a Democratic paper here. It passed into other hands and ceased. About 1854 to 1856, Col. Sam Pike published the daily and weekly Democratic Flag, the hottest paper of the kind that has ever appeared in Bloomington. But the old Colonel used to say - and he had tried it many times - that he could make more in starting and selling out papers than in running them ; so the Flag passed into feebler hands, and that, too, ceased. About 1859 and 1860, Mr. H. P. Merriman and Capt. Orme published a Democratic paper ; and having a good job office, they did quite well for some time. But it would not last.

In 1868, S. S. Parke, Esq., started the weekly, and afterward also the daily, Democrat. It seemed to be doing well for awhile ; but that, too, would not last ; so it ceased. From some cause, or causes, the want of skill and industry in the cultivators, or the uncongeniality of the soil, or the character of the seed, Democratic papers have not taken root and prospered in McLean County. Several other efforts have been made to establish papers here, as well in the English as in the German language ; but they have been too numerous and too ephemeral to be individually noticed.

The Little Watchman, a Sunday-school paper, had quite a circulation, and flourished for awhile. The Alumni Journal, by the students of the Wesleyan University, has been published several years. The Banner of Holiness, a religious paper, and which is said to have quite a circulation, has been published here since 1872. There is also the Democratic News, published in the city, which has not yet gone the way of its predecessors. The Sunday Eye is now published in Bloomington, and it is a success. Nor has the press neglected other points in the county. The Times has been published at Chenoa for ten or twelve years. Its existence for so many years makes it evident that it has been well conducted and liberally patronized for so small a place. In Lexington, Sayb rook and Le Roy papers have also been published undei various names and with varied fortunes. Upon the whole, it may be said that the press has been respectably conducted in McLean County, and with fair success.

Sunday Schools

McLean County is a Sunday-school county. Below we give a few facts showing that such is the case. There are, in round numbers, varying but slightly from exactness, 175 Sunday schools in the county, of which 125 are open all the year. Teachers and officers, 2,000 ; scholars, 13,000. There have been, during the current year, 222,000 papers distributed, and there are 14,000 volumes in the libraries, and there have been expended, during the year, nearly $6,000 in promoting the interests of these schools.

These schools are not merely allowed to exist, as if upon probation, but they are encouraged in every way by many of our best citizens, and no pains are spared to make the exercises pleasant and profitable to the scholars who attend them. At the proper season, re-unions and excursions are greatly enjoyed by the young folks and by the older as well. The frequent meetings promote acquaintance and friendliness among teachers and scholars and attachment to the objects sought to be accomplished.

The officers of the McLean Sunday-School Association are : President, F. J. Fitzwilliam ; Secretary, A. Aron ; Treasurer, T. J. Willever, all of Bloomington. Executive Committee - William Bone, Chairman ; J. S. Roush, Prof. H. C. DeMotte, J. W. Compton, Rev. J. E. Kumler, all of Bloomington; C. C. Rowell, Danvers; L. P. Scroggin, Lexington, and Prof. M. L. Seymour, Normal. Vice Presidents - J. N. King, J. L. Arbogast and S. H. Jennings, Saybrook ; R. A. Warlow, Ira Abbott, Danvers ; J. R. Mason, Andrew Forbes, V. W. Thompkins, Bloomington ; James Scott, Thaddeus Crostwait, Belleflower ; R. G. Jordan, Chenoa ; J. C. Arnold, Potosi ; Byron Covey, W. M. Morris, LeRoy ; William B. Anthony, Shirley ; Gr. P. Brown, J. Langstaff, G. W. Kirker, Lexington ; J. A. Moats, Towanda ; J. H. Ritchie, Arrowsmith ; J. C. Bascom, McLean ; R. M. Brown, Normal ; George Fogle, Holder ; H. M. Ham, Ellsworth ; O. C. Rutledge, Heyworth ; Daniel Bishop, Towanda ; A. J. McWilliams, Oak Grove.

Conclusion

We have thus rapidly sketched some of the features of the history of McLean County. It was organized in 1831 from territory previously embraced in Tazewell

County. It is one of the most picturesque and beautiful bodies of land in the West, because its scenery is made up of rolling prairie interspersed with forest groves of evervarying size and form. It is one of the wealthiest counties in the State, because it is the largest; because the character of its soil and of its climate is such as to be adapted to4tbe production of a great variety of the necessaries and luxuries of life, and because it has one of the most industrious and intelligent set of people in any county to develop its capabilities.

Its facilities for transportation and for travel are scarcely rivaled anywhere ; as from every nook and corner of its territory some railroad is easily accessible, and its surface is cut by a multiplicity of good, common roads, and its numerous small streams spanned by many excellent bridges. It is one of the healthiest counties in the country, because its surface is elevated and rolling, and its many streams are rivulets of clear, running water. While its gentle swells are excellent grain lands, its broad vales and sweeping lowlands furnish rich pasturage in summer, and grateful food in winter for multitudinous flocks and herds.

It has several public institutions, large and flourishing, many public and private buildings that would be an honor and an ornament to any county. Its churches and its schoolhouses are in every locality ; and many of its business houses would be models of their kind in large cities. On the subject of education, leaving out the great city of Chicago, it is undoubtedly the first county in the State, as on that subject alone more than $400,000 are annually expended within its limits. Its religious teachers are everywhere and always at work.

In the late civil war, this county sent into the field more than four thousand volunteers - constituting more than one-half of the population liable to do military duty ; and thousands upon tens of thousands of dollars were privately and publicly poured out annually upon them like water, to encourage those men to do their duty, and to make them and their families comfortable. In this respect, McLean County acknowledges itself to be second to no county in the State.

In less than sixty years, the territory of the county has been changed from a wild and luxuriant waste, marked only by the paths of roaming savages, into a highly-cultivated section of the civilized world, furnishing all the necessities and many of the refinements and amenities of polished society. Its territory now contains more thousands of inhabitants than it has been years in acquiring them ; and for integrity of character, for industry in their callings, and for ability and success in their enterprises, we commend those inhabitants to the good graces of all people.

Note. - The compiler of these pages takes this opportunity to return his hearty thanks to all who have assisted him in gathering the materials ; and were it not that it might appear invidious, he would take pleasure in thanking several of them individually. He will also remark that the name of Hon. L. H. Kerrick should appear in the list of Representatives in the State Legislature. It was omitted by an oversight in the report from Springfield.

By Captain J. H. Burnham

The territorry now included in the township of Bloomington is a part of our common county, and as such entitled to its share in the interest attaching to the general history of our State and nation ; but when we take it upon ourselves to learn the history of the six miles square called Bloomington, we find it almost impossible to divest general history from the local interest of the tract of land under consideration. It would be pleasant to go back to the time when all the country, north of the Ohio, was a French possession ; to glance at its first American baptism, in the year 1778, when Gen. Clarke with his Virginians captured the whole region from the British, who had taken it all from the French in 1763 ; to learn something of its early history as a portion of Virginia after Gen. Clarke returned from his expedition, at which time the whole tract was a dependency of Virginia, called Illinois County ; to look at the same country \ears later, when it was called the Northwest Territory, and to follow its fortunes as the Territory of Indiana, then as the Territory of Illinois from 1809 down to 1818, when the State of Illinois entered upon its independent career. In all these varying changes, the little spot of land we are now examining had a territorial share, but was peopled only by wild and savage Indians, who may have been intelligent enough to know the French from the English, but who were not citizens of whatever power for the time being was in possession of the land. It was not till 1822 that the territory now known as McLean County possessed a single white inhabitant ; and when, in that year, the families of John Hendrix and John W. Dawson made a selection of sites for homes, they were the first permanent settlers in the county, and were also the first in Bloomington Township, of which we now propose'to give an historical sketch. We have a right to suppose that long previous to the date we have mentioned important events transpired here, in which white people took important parts. It was here in this very region that Gen Hopkins' army was embarrassed in 1813, in his fruitless expedition from the Wabash toward the fort which was then standing at Peoria. It is probable that many a party of French and friendly Indians have camped in our old woods when on their way from Lake Michigan to Cahokia and Kaskaskia. Possibly the early Indian traders and hunters may have built trading-stations and occupied them for long periods, at points where our first settlers found partial clearings in the original forests. But perhaps it is not best to indulge ourselves in much speculation or supposition on these topics, as we shall find our path obscure enough, following as we go the best authenticated records that are now available.

We find that the first white men who made marks which have in any manner entered into history were the Government land surveyors, who commenced the work of dividing and subdividing the fertile acres of McLean County in the year 1821. The final survey was not completed until October, 1823, when Blooming Grove Township was surveyed by P. M. Hamtramack.

Our township has been situated in allegiance to many different counties. In 1817, Illinois being then a Territory, the county of Crawford was in power here. In 1819, a year after the State of Illinois had been admitted into the Union, Clark County had jurisdiction, while, in 1821, Fayette County was organized, extending northeast as far as the Illinois River, and to Fayette our first settlers owed allegiance. As understood at the time, Fayette reached to the Wisconsin line. This was the meaning of the act incorporating Fayette County, but as, by a previous law, Pike County included all north of the Illinois River, Fayette County could not enforce its claim to its most northern territory.

All this region of country now known as McLean County, east of the Third Principal Meridian, was situated in the county of Fayette, and thus remained until the development of the country several years later rendered it absolutely necessary that this immense tract should be subdivided into several counties. We will attempt to give the names of only a few of the first settlers of this township, mentioning some of the most prominent, but may, through inadvertence, omit others equally deserving. In 1822, John Hendrix and John W. Dawson, with their families, settled in the southern portion of Blooming Grove. There was with them in the same year a single man of the name of Segur, who, however, did not stay long in the settlement, he having sold his claim in 1823 to Mr. William Orendorff. Mr. Dawson remained four years, when he removed to near the site of the old Indian town in Old Town Timber. During these four years, while his family lived at the Grove, there were no less than fifteen different families who made their homes here, so that Blooming Grove very soon became a wellsettled community. Mr. Hendrix is entitled to the honor of being the first settler, as Mr. Dawson's family did not arrive till after Mr. H. had been here some weeks. Of the family of John W. Dawson, who came in 1822, we will here remark that two are now living in the city of Bloomington, having moved from Old Town many years ago. The oldest is Mrs. William Paist, whose first husband was Maj. Owen Cheney. She was about eight years old when her father moved to the Indian town. She was a great favorite with the Indian squaws, who often carried her to their homes, keeping her for days at a time, where the little girl was greatly pleased and interested. Mrs. P. does not even yet appear aged - scarcely elderly. She takes a great interest in society, and it seems hardly possible that this active lady has seen the full growth and development of Blooming Grove, of Bloomington City and of McLean County. Her brother, John Dawson, is the next oldest pioneer now living in our city.

Mr. John Hendrix is deserving of mention, having been a consistent, devoted Christian, who planted early good seed that has borne many fold. He has been honored by having the railroad station on the Central in the Orendorff neighborhood named after him, as well as the post office, and the true spelling of the name should be Hendrix, it being named for this good old pioneer. The first sermon in Blooming Grove was preached at the house of Mr. Hendrix, by Rev. James Stringfield, in 1823. Mr. Hendrix labored in the settlement as a true Christian should, and very few who have lived in this county have left such a noble record. Men like Mr. Hendrix and Mr. Dawson should always be held in grateful recollection by our people, both of them having been men of great worth. With their two families, t\iey accomplished a great deal of good in forming and molding the tone of society during the first two or three years of the infant settlement. They labored in every manner possible to induce the best class of emigrants to settle as neighbors and used all the skill they possessed to persuade undesirable persons to move on or look further for more congenial neighborhoods. The strict, almost Puritanic, ways of the religious Mr. Hendrix naturally had the effect of impressing new-comers who were reckless and irreligious, with an aversion to his society, and would as naturally attract pious men, like Rev. E. Rhodes, who came in 1823 or 1824, and the influence of all these early settlers was of lasting value.

The influence of a few of the early pioneers in determining the class of settlers who were attracted to cast their lot in the same community, has often heen referred to, but we find that in the case of Blooming Grove a great deal was accomplished in this direction, in the first two or three years of its development, and in this manner we account for the fact that at the time of the location here of the county seat, there was no settlement of equal power and influence anywhere between Vandalia and the Wisconsin line.

In the year 1823, William Orendorff and wife arrived, with Mr. Thomas Orendorff, then a young man of twenty- three. In 1824, Mr. Goodheart and W. H. Hodge settled at the Grove, and about the same time Mr. William Walker and family, and enough others to bring the whole number of families up to about fifteen by the end of the year 1824. There were no exceptions to the general good character attributed to all of the first families, thus giving illustration to the old saying in regard to " birds of a feather."

Our sketch, imperfect as it is, must not omit all mention of the Rhodes family. Ebenezer Rhodes came to the Grove in April, 1824. He was the first minister who settled at Blooming Grove, having been ordained in the Separate Baptists, before coming to Blooming Grove. Mr. Rhodes organized a small church at his own house, consisting at first of eight persons. This church held meetings at the house of John Benson and that of Josiah Brown, at Dry Grove. There had been occasional preaching before his arrival, but from this time forward he kept up regular ministrations. He appears to have been a natural missionary, and labored in all the young settlements within thirty or forty miles. No doubt he was induced to settle here by the presence of such men as John Hendrix, and the prospect that Blooming Grove would be the first settlement able to maintain a church and school ; and we thus see the good effect of the high character of the pioneers of 1822, who attracted men like Mr. Rhodes, who in 'turn exerted a similar influence upon later arrivals. In addition to his service as pastor, Mr. Rhodes was a man of mechanical knowledge - could make spinning-wheels, seats and chairs, and, as early as the first year of his arrival, set up a hand-mill for grinding corn, and in the next year built one that was run by horse-power. *

It would be pleasant to follow this good man in his various enterprises, but space forbids. He was the father of Capt. John H. S. Rhodes and Jeremiah Rhodes, both of whom came here in 1824, and who were among the best of our pioneers. The latter is still living, a hearty old gentleman, a connecting link between the past and the present. He remembers well the condition of the country in those early days. When his father arrived, the Kickapoo Indians were plentiful in this neighborhood. Their chief, Ma-Shee-na, ordered the Rhodes family and others to the south side of the Sangamon River, declaring that he had never signed the treaty which gave the whites possession of Blooming (then called Keg) Grove. It appears that the old chief was sick at the time the treaty was signed, but had sent his son to treat with the whites and sign the articles. Ma-Shee-na threatened to burn the houses of the families here, but finally compromised by allowing them to remain until fail. When one regards the treacherous nature of the Indians, it looks as if the pioneers of 1824 ran a great risk in remaining, under the circumstances ; but the chief appears to have been a pretty good sort of an

Indian, worthy of the confidence reposed in him, and, in the end, the settlers either completely won his good-will or, as is quite probable, so increased in numbers as to overawe the whole tribe. It has been a matter of some surprise to us that the name of this Indian chief, which we spell as pronounced, Ma-Shee-na, has not been preserved in this settlement. So far as we know, there is not in this neighborhood a single Indian name, with the exception of Kickapoo, which is the name of the creek that flows through Blooming Grove.

The Kickapoos, a few Delawares, and some Pottawatomies were very plenty from 1822 to 1829, and were generally very kind and friendly. The settlers became acquainted with them, knew their names, and in some cases formed friendships as permanent and kindly as many existing between the whites themselves. When the Indians left they were missed, and their absence as much regretted by some, as if they had been old friends. Most of them left before the end of 1829, though as late as the summer of 1832, there were enough in this region within one hundred miles of the Grove, to cause grave apprehensions, this being the year of the Black Hawk war.

Very few Indian traditions have been preserved, owing, probably, to the fact that the aborigines found by our early settlers were of a roving class, who came here from the eastern part of the State, taking <-he places of other Indians who had preceded them. Had our pioneers fallen in with Indians whose ancestors long resided here, we should probably be able to gather some interesting Indian legends. The Grove was known as Keg Grove until 1824, and, in fact, the old name clung to it at a much later period. It is said that what are now called Sulphur Springs - formerly known as Hinshaw's Springs - formed a common camping-place for hunters and travelers long before the first settlers arrived. It was usual for parties to travel from the Wabash River to the fort at what is now Peoria, or from Chicago to St. Louis. In either case, these springs were a convenient stopping-place.

Tradition asserts that at one time a party of white men hid a keg of rum at this point, probably intending to return for it in a short time. It was found by some Kiekapoo Indians, who, no doubt, then possessed the richest '; bonanza" of their whole lives. The remarkable " find " was reported to the Indians all through this region, who named this locality " Keg Grove."

The " first famih^s " of our ancestors were not of the class who had any fancy for a name which suggested drunken Indians, rum, whisky or anything of the kind, and they believed it for the interest of the infant settlement that it should be rechristened, and to Mrs. William Orendorff is generally ascribed the credit of suggesting the name of Blooming Grove, which proved a very suitable and acceptable name. This was about the year 1824.

The first white female child born in McLean County was Elizabeth Ann Hendrix, daughter of John Hendrix, born May 3, 1823. The first death occurred in the family of Thomas Orendorff, it being one of his children, who died in 1825. Mr. 0. laid out a family burying-ground at that time, which has become an established cemetery - the oldest in the county. The first white male child born in this county (now living) is John Lewis Orendorff, son of Mr. Orendorff, who was born January 30, 1825. The first school was taught by Miss Delila Mullen, in the house of John W. Dawson, in 1823, and it consisted at first of only five pupils. About the year 1825, a log schoolhouse was built, the first in this county. The site is on what is now the Oliver Oren-

The first blacksmith at the Grove was the Rev. Mr. See, who lived in the Price neighborhood, and was here as early as 1826. He did little jobs of such work, though he was a Methodist minister and a farmer.

Thomas Orendorff was born August 14, 1800, at Spartansburg, S. C. He came to Illinois in 1817, when this was a Territory, having been present at the birth of the new State, as well as a prominent actor in its subsequent development. He lived in several different places, having moved from Sangamon County, 111., to Keg, now Blooming Grove, on the 2d day of May, 1823. Thomas Orendorff was then a single man, and made his home with his brother William, who accompanied him. He made a claim near the Mason farm, about three miles south of the city of Bloomington.

October 5, 1824, he married Mary Malinda Walker, daughter of William Walker, one of our most prominent pioneers. This was the first wedding in Blooming Grove. The first in the county was the marriage of John Taylor to Temperance Stringfield, at Randolph's Grove in June, 1824. Rev. E. Rhodes married this couple, and at the close of the ceremony published a notice of the intended marriage of the young couple at Blooming Grove. He also posted written notices of their intention, and when the time arrived performed the ceremony. The newly-married pair moved into a cabin on Mr. Orendorff 's claim, where they made their home for a number of years, until Mr. Orendorff, in his anxiety to be near the open prairie, convenient to a good stock-range, moved to what was then called Little Grove, nearly a mile east of Blooming Grove, five miles southeast of our city, where, with his venerable wife, he is still living, both being in comparatively good health. It is rare, indeed, that we can find a couple who have been married fifty-five years, and when we take into account the severe pioneer life they have led, their good fortune seems almost wonderful.

In Prof. Duis' "Good Old Times in McLean County," we read : "When Thomas and William Orendorff settled in McLean County, the old chief of the Kickapoos ( Mr. O. now thinks these Indians were Delawares) came with Machina (afterward their chief) and ordered them to leave. But the old chief spoke English in such a poor manner that Thomas Orendorff told him to keep still and let Machina talk. Then Machina drew himself up and said in his heavy voice : ' Too much come back, white man, t' other side Sangamon.' Mr. Orendorff told Machina that the latter hadjsold the land to the whites ; but Machina denied it, and the discussion waxed warm, and the chiefs went away, feeling very much insulted. Mr. Orendorff's friends considered his life very much in danger, and he was advised by Judge Latham, the Indian agent, to leave the county ; but he attended to his business and was not molested. At one time, an Indian called Turkey came to Mr. Orendorff, and gave him warning that Machina would kill him ; but no attempt was made to put such a threat into execution." Mr. Orendorff still remembers many incidents in relation to the Indians. He says at one time he was talking with Machina about killing people. " You wouldn't kill a white man would you ? " said Mr. 0. " No," says the Indian, " I go hell and damnation," indicating that he knew the penalty as taught by the missionaries. Mr. Orendorff's memory, as also that of his wife, is now somewhat defective ; and when we consider their early, anxious experiences with the Indians, their pioneer life, and their old ageT we only wonder at their being still alive and as comfortable as we now find them.

Mr. Orendorff was always one of the leading men of the infant settlement. When the plans for a new county were fully matured, he was selected with Rev. James Latta, to go to Vandalia to secure from the Legislature an act of incorporation. These county projects were very numerous at that time, one of the principal matters before the Legislature being the proper consideration of the many county and county-seat projects presented from the newly-settled parts of the State. Our committee urged their claims so successfully that the bill for the incorporation of McLean County was passed by the house in the forenoon and by the Senate in the afternoon of the same day.

Mr. Orendorff has held several offices, having been the first Coroner of Tazewell County in 1827, when by virtue of his office he took the place of the County Assessor who had failed to qualify, and he assessed the immense territory, making a trip on horse-back to the settlements toward Ottawa and Hennepin, on the Illinois River. He was appointed Assessor and Treasurer for McLean County at its organization, and often acted in prominent positions.

We cannot help regarding Mr. Orendorff with a feeling of veneration akin to reverence. Here is a man who came to Illinois when it was a Territory ; who has witnessed the full development of our wonderful State ; who was one of the principal organizers of McLean County ; who has seen the full growth of our city ; who represents the pioneers of Blooming Grove, being with his wife among the last now living. Bloomington should take delight in honoring these noble people, and should be proud to acknowledge its appreciation of their life-long services.

This couple are the parents of eleven children. John Berry Orendorff, the oldest who lives on the farm adjoining his father's, is one of the best known of -the large connection of Orendorffs. The others are all well known and all highly respected in their several homes, which are in a number of different States.

Esquire William Orendorff's name will frequently appear in this history, as he was one of the leading men of this settlement, in fact, of Central Illinois. He transacted most of the public business of this precinct for several years. His children were fourteen in number, of whom three are living in this county. Oliver H. P. and John Lewis live in Blooming Grove, and are among the best known and most popular of our citizens. They have a brother at Cheney's Grove.

The early settlers found here an abundance of game, consisting of deer, turkeys, wolves and the smaller birds and animals. The immense prairies formed most admirable pastures for deer, while the groves were the skulking-places of the large wolves that were very plenty. Some of the pioneers were mighty hunters, while in every family a gun was kept ready for the valuable game that might at any hour come within easy reach. The venison of those early days was a very convenient substitute for the meat-markets of modern times, and though not quite so sure to be found when wanted, was, in many instances, almost as indispensable.

Deerskins, coonskins and wolf-robes were important articles of commerce, and in the first stores kept a few years later by Allin, Covell and Gridley, these valuables were the leading staples, forming, with beeswax and honey, the most common payment from many a farmer who in after years sold his hogs and cattle by the hundred, though at the time we are now alluding to, from 1822 to 1827, there was no reliable market for these articles nearer than Vandalia, or the trading-points on the Wabash in Indiana.

A full statement of the trials and difficulties encountered by our pioneers cannot be given in this place, as we are simply chronicling events ; but we might mention a few of the obstacles which they suffered from more than any others. The want of good markets, or, in fact, of any market at all, has been mentioned. The prairie fires were for years dreaded more than almost anything else. In early times, these fires would come rolling before the wind in the fall and spring, often sweeping away fences, farms or grain stacks, and causing severe losses. The settlers generally shared with each other after such disasters, dividing crops with those who had been unfortunate, or turning out day or night to fight fires, without the formality of an invitation.

But the saddest trouble of all was the malarial sickness of the early times. Nearly every family was afflicted, disease and death being faced by all who ventured to remain in this country in the early days when the prairie sod was being broken and subdued. After the prairie land was mostly improved, which brings us down as late as 1855, the health of the settlements grew better, and for the last twenty-five years there has been comparatively little malarial disease.

During the period that elapsed from 1822 to 1827, Fayette County had jurisdiction over all the territory now within the present limits of McLean County, and on north as far as the Illinois River. Vandalia, the county seat, was over one hundred miles distant. Blooming Grove could exert but little influence in so large a district, and its inhabitants urged the formation of a new county. For many years, the only official in all this region was Mr. William Orendorff, who was commissioned in 1825, by Gov. Coles, Justice of the Peace of Fayette County. His jurisdiction extended almost indefinitely toward Wisconsin. The distance to Vandalia was so great that very few of the settlers ever visited the county seat, unless it was on business of the utmost importance. There was one important State election while our pioneers were residents of Fayette County - that of 1824.

At this election, there was great excitement on the slavery question. On its result depended the calling of a convention which would make the introduction of slavery possible, and by a close vote it was decided in favor of freedom. The sentiment of Blooming Grove was unanimously for freedom. The canvass of 1824, in the older settled portions of the State, was exceedingly bitter and animated ; but, in the natural course of events, people in a neighborhood which had only been settled two years could have had few opportunities for being acquainted with the politics of the State of which they had so recently become citizens.

The population of Illinois increased from 55,000, in 1820, to 157,445 in 1830, an addition in ten years of 200 per cent. Population was then most dense on the Ohio River and along the Mississippi in Southern Illinois. All of Northern, Western, and a portion of Central Illinois, was in the possession of the Indians, of whom those in the northern part were hostile, or in a quasi-hostile condition. When our pioneers arrived here, the Indians intimated plainly that they preferred to have no white men north of the Sangamon River. North of the Illinois River, the settlers did not dare to locate ; and, from 1820 to 1830, the region of Central Illinois was almost debatable ground, only occupied by the most daring and hardy pioneers.

These pioneers flocked in rapidly, and took up the most desirable locations along the edge of the timher, holding every inch of ground once occupied, going forward with improvements and making homes for themselves and their families, giving this settlement, in the course of the few years during which we have watched its development, the name of being one of the best regulated of any in the State, and of possessing a remarkably enterprising population.

Fayette County was evidently too large to be convenient, and, in 1826, it was divided, Vermilion County having been erected in that year, including the territory now under consideration. No wonder that this division was called for, when Vandalia, the county seat of Fayette County, was distant over one .hundred miles. No wonder that the first couple married on the Mackinaw dispensed with a license, and in its stead posted notices of their intention and called on a Justice to perform the ceremony without the authority of the too great county of Fayette ! Blooming Grove, for one year was in Vermilion County, though very little county business was transacted during that year by citizens living in this locality.

Blooming Grove contained about six thousand acres of the very finest timber to be found in the West. Nearly every acre was covered with tall, heavy trees, while the soil was of unrivaled fertility. It has been remarked, frequently, that nowhere in this State is there to be found such a large body of rich timber-land, as the general character of the soil, which is covered with a natural growth of trees, is not of the best for farming purposes. The sudden development of this beautiful grove is shown by the fact that, in 1827, it was the happy home of no less than twenty families of industrious, well-behaved settlers, most of whom were surrounded by all the actual comforts, even if they lacked most of the luxuries, of life.

These families formed at Blooming Grove a very important settlement, and began to be restive under the jurisdiction of Fayette County. In 1826, Vermilion County was formed, and its territory seemed to include the eastern part of what is now McLean. Our settlers, however, had little to do with either Fayette or Vermilion County, and it is difficult to state the exact condition of affairs during this year. The records of the State Department at Springfield show that the most of the territory of McLean County was included in Vermilion County in the year 1826 ; but we find from a careful inspection of the official records of Fayette County that during the year 1826 this portion of McLean was recognized as being within the limits of Fayette. The old settlers state that their being included in Vermilion was some kind of a " fraud," and that they never were properly citizens of the latter county. It is an historical fact that Fayette claimed jurisdiction here down to the time of the organization of Tazewell County in 1827, and also that our citizens recognized the demand, and hence we do not see much force in Vermilion's " technical " claim. It appears that at the March term of the Fayette County Commissioners' Court in 1826, it was "ordered that all that part of the county north of Township Seventeen (17) shall compose an election district, to be known by the name of the Orendorff Precinct, and the election therein to be held at the house of William Orendorff, in said precinct ; and further, that William Orendorff, John Benson and James Latta be appointed Judges of Election of the same precinct." An election was held on the 7th of August, 1826, and, on September 4, at the County Court, the proper fees were allowed these judges, and also to the clerks of the election - William See and William H. Hodge " in State paper at two for one." William Orendorff was allowed his fees for returning the election to the county seat at Vandalia - 125 miles - at the rate of 10 cents per mile, also " in State paper at two for one." The records of this county do not show that our settlement had any county business until 1825, when Joseph B. Harbert was appointed Road Supervisor, and these few entries which we have given are all the items of business that appeared to be of any interest to the inhabitants of Blooming Grove, who were so far removed from the county seat. It is interesting to note how large a district was comprised within the " Orendorff Precinct " organized by the above-mentioned order of Fayette County. It included the northern portion of the present county of Macon, most of DeWitt, Piatt, McLean, and, in fact, a strip of country of the same width from east to west in Fayette County, and extending north as far as the Illinois Biver, or to the Wisconsin line, in Fayette County, was generally understood at that time to include all the territory between its southern boundary and the northern line of the State. It would be of great interest could we give the list of voters who attended this first election, but the papers have been lost or mislaid.

The records show that James Allin was one of the Fayette County Commissioners from 1822 to 1825, and judging from the frequency with which his name appears, he must have been a valuable member. He thus acquired influence and position, and when he moved to Blooming Grove at a later date, he was, of course, well known to our leading citizens. The books of the Circuit Clerk's office at Vandalia do not show that a single case of either criminal or civil action ever appeared there from this settlement, neither do the records give any evidence of the recording of deeds or mortgages. As the land-sales had not then taken place, there could, of course, be no use for such records. There are a few records of marriages, the last one being that of Jacob Spawr to Eliza Ann Trimmer, who were " published," no license having been asked for, and they were married by William Orendorff December 30, 1826. Blooming Grove, it appears, became known at the county seat in rather a vague and indefinite manner, but was too remote to receive much attention, 125 miles being too far even for those pioneer days. Fayette County was destined to be subdivided, and in its division our territory was to undergo several important changes of jurisdiction.

In the year 1827, the county of Tazewell was organized, and the career of Blooming Grove while under its control will form our next chapter.

When the new county of Tazewell was organized, in 1827, Blooming Grove was its most important settlement. We find its inhabitants had now no cause of complaint, as they were among the most influential of the leading citizens. The records of Tazewell County show that its first County Commissioners' Court was held April 10, 1827, at the house of Mr. William Orendorff. This Court consisted of James Latta, of Blooming Grove ; Benjamin Briggs and George Hittle, from other parts of the county. Of the new county's first officials, John Benson was Treasurer ; Thomas Orendorff, Coroner ; and W. H. Hodge, Sheriff - all of Blooming Grove. The next meeting of the Court was held at the house of Ephraim Stout, at Stout's Grove, and the first piece of probate business transacted in the new county related to one of the residents of Blooming Grove - Mrs. Benjamin Cox.

Among the pioneers of Blooming Grove, we find no one more worthy of mention than Mrs. Benjamin Cox. Her husband had come here in 1825, had purchased of John W. Dawson an improved claim with a log cabin ; had returned to Ohio for his family and died within a few weeks after his return. His widow, the mother of eight children, determined on emigrating, and with this large family braved the dangers of the long road, and arrived at Blooming Grove, September 23, 1826. When we consider the difficulties which the stoutest men encountered at that day, the bravery of this lady entitles her to the front rank among our pioneers. April 25, 1827, we find from the Tazewell records, Mrs. Felina Cox, widow of Benjamin Cox, was appointed guardian of Aurelius, Benjamin, Nancy and David Cox, with William Orendorffand William Walker as securities in the sum of $1,800. Mrs. Cox came here when Indians were plenty; when only the bravest men had courage to penetrate into this wilderness, and she deserves to be mentioned among the heroines ot Illinois.

The first blacksmith on the south side of Blooming Grove was a man of the name of Dow, who came in 1829. The neighbors turned out and built him a shop, rejoicing at now being able to obtain blacksmithing near their homes. Mr. Dow only remained a short time. The first stock of goods was kept by Mr. Black, in 1828 or 1829, at the house of Mr. William Orendorff. The first shoemaker seems to have been Mr. William Orendorff, who frequently made and mended shoes for his neighbors, who would gather corn or do some other farm work for him in payment. The first blacksmith and carpenter work was accomplished in the same manner by the more ingenious of our pioneers, as during those early times, the mother of invention, "necessity," was ever present to stimulate all to deeds and works the actors hardly supposed themselves capable of performing. In fact, this statement is true even in these times, when our statesmen, our generals and our capitalists arise from the most humble surroundings, brought to perfection by necessity, or in other words, by the genius of our free institutions.

Mr. William Orendorff was made Justice of the Peace in Tazewell County, and filled the office for many years. Judging from the early records he married a large number of young couples. He married the first couple that wedded in this region after Tazewell was organized, Abram Hobbs to Elizabeth Evans, June 25, 1827; Miss Evans was a daughter of the William Evans who afterward settled in what is now the city of Bloomington. The same year, he married Amos Lundy to Susannah Copes, August 16, and the next year, on the 1st of January, 1828, John Kimler to Mary Cox. The latter were residents of Blooming Grove, as were John Cox and Elizabeth Walker, who were married March 18, 1828. October 23, 1828, James Hodge was married to Minerva J. See. All these were married by Mr. Orendorff, who seems to have carried on a lively business. Blooming Grove was gay with weddings in those times - as James Benson married Polly Hinshaw, November 16, 1828; while January 1, 1829, Henry Miller married Temperance Evans, daughter of William Evans. This last was a real Bloomington wedding, the first, probably, that ever occurred within the present limits of the city of Bloomington. The bride of that day, now Mrs. Jane Whitcomb, is still living at Old Town, in this county. Three more weddings took place in the year 1829 - Richard Grass to Elizabeth Maxwell, William Maxwell to Mrs. Elizabeth Hobbs, and James Walker to Jane Brock. Within a little over two years, we thus find there were eight or nine marriages of Blooming Grove couples, indicating a degree of enterprise that has not been surpassed by any of the later inhabitants.

June 25, 1827, it was ordered that a new voting precinct, to be called Blooming Grove, be formed of all that part of the county, east of Range 3, and north of Town

22. This voting precinct was therefore thirty-six miles from east to west, and extended from the south line of Bloomington Township, to the northern line of Tazewell County on the north. The first election was held at the house of John Benson, and the first Judges of Election were E. Rhodes, Henry Vansickle and William Orendorff. This immense territory was erected into a road district, and Joseph B. Harbord was made Road Supervisor.

The first grand jurors from Blooming Grove Precinct were William Orendorff", John H. S. Rhodes, William Walker, L. Hurst, Peter McCullough and William Gilston, whose names were drawn August 7, 1827. From this time until the year 1831, when the new county of McLean was organized, the residents of Blooming Grove transacted county business at Mackinaw, the county seat of Tazewell, only about twenty miles away, and the transition from the far-away county seat at Vandalia was found most convenient and agreeable. There was, in those days, but little business to be attended to, but it was promptly despatched. We find that the first road in this region was laid out in 1827, from "the upper point of Kickapoo and Salt Creek, to the northeast corner of Blooming Grove, thence to the Dry Grove, thence to Mackinaw to the east end of Main street." This was the first legal road in Bloomington.

One of the great difficulties of the pioneers, was the want of mills for making flour and meal. Most of the streams of this region are liable to go dry in summer, and were always a poor dependence ; but at this early time, very few good mills had been erected in this vicinity. It was no uncommon thing for teams to go to mill all the way to Attica, on the Wabash, in Indiana, distant 120 miles, or to Perry ville, 110 miles. They often went to the Sangamon, over 50 miles, to the Kankakee, 70 miles, and to Green's mill, on the Fox River, above Ottawa, over 60 miles. When Whistler's mill was built on the Mackinaw, in Tazewell County, it was considered quite a convenience, although over 20 miles from Blooming Grove. Various were the expedients for dispensing with these long trips. One of them was pounding corn in a piece of hard wood, hollowed out on the principle of the pestle and mortar, and another was the horsemill. These mills were erected in nearly every settlement ; one being made here, a handmill, by Ebenezer Rhodes, in 1824, and one in the winter of 1830, a horse-mill, by Isaac Baker. The mill-stones were common "nigger-head" stones, from the surface of the prairie, held in a frame in such a manner, that a horse traveling in a circle would set them in motion. After the wheat was ground, the flour was separated from the bran by sifting it through a bottom of two cloths, by which the flour was separated. It was rather a wasteful method, and very slow, but it generally happened that the flour thus obtained made good bread. Possibly our modern " new process " flour, from the best Kansas wheat, tastes less sweet to our palates thap did the home-made article of fifty years ago. Crushing corn, however, was the principal work of these mills. Small watermills were constructed, wherever there was an opportunity ; mostly, however, at a later day. There was even one on Sugar Creek, near the present city of Bloomington, built by Samuel Lander, which did good service foi several years, but later than the time of which we are now speaking. It stood but a short distance below the old Pekin road, and the old dam is still to be seen. A mill was built on the Kickapoo, and several on the Mackinaw, but the settlers, in 1829, longed for a reliable steam-mill that would never go dry. All these difficulties were met, however, by a cheerfulness peculiar to these pioneers. They were almost surrounded by Indians, of whose friendship they were never sure, being, in fact, in one of the frontier counties of the State, Woodford not yet being organized, the territory of Tazewell extending to the Illinois River, north of which was the disputed ground, where, in 1831 and 1832. Black Hawk's bands roamed and massacred at will, and the public mind was in constant alarm from rumors of anticipated outbreaks. There were also bold and venturesome settlers scattered along the groves and creeks of Woodford, at this time citizens of Tazewell, and also a few in the Vermilion timber, in what is at the present time in Livingston County, but who were, at this date, included in the county of Tazewell. We shall see, in a short time, that at a later period Blooming Grove and its neighbors raised a company of rangers for sixty days' service on the frontier of McLean, who, under Capt. J. H. S. Rhodes, performed good service from the head of Mackinaw to the Vermilion, besides hearing of more important work in the Black Hawk war.

Our settlers were occupied in not only securing an education for their children, in clearing and fencing farms, raising food and obtaining clothing, but they were compelled to think of their defense against a common enemy, and we need not wonder that their lives were anxious and laborious. We are surprised that they found time to participate in the Presidential elections of 1824 and 1828, which took place during this period. Tradition informs us that the voters were generally Jacksonians - even as late as 1832, only six in the county having voted for Jackson's opponent. In 1824, the State gave two electoral votes for Jackson, and one for Adams, and the indignation of citizens in this part of the State knew no bounds when the election of Adams was proclaimed. In 1828, the vote was for Jackson, with little opposition except on State and minor officers. Elections in those days were different from what we have seen in later years. People voted for men, and not as much for measures. Party lines hardly existed, or if they did, the State was so strongly Democratic that opposition was confined to a choice of candidates. Nominations were not made by conventions until in later times. Men became candidates and ran for office on their merits, and the result, perhaps, was about the same as now, though the means for accomplishing it might differ. To vote against a candidate partook of the nature of a personal affront, and many of the contests were peculiarly bitter and aggravating. Offices were sought for with as much avidity as at present. In the formation of new counties men saw opportunities for new offices as tempting, no doubt, for their honors as we have seen them in later times for their emoluments.

The center of population and influence was in the Orendorff neighborhood, about four miles southeast of our city, where, at William Walker's house, Mr. Allin opened a store late in 1829, where there was, as early as 1824, a log schoolhouse, and where, from indications, it was thought, as early as in 1826, quite a village might one day be built. Blooming Grove was, in 1827, well settled as a farming neighborhood. It was surrounded on all sides by a belt of farms, some of them quite large, all of them valued highly by their owners. These owners had most of them built comfortable log houses, had constructed many miles of rail fences, and had broken and cultivated a large area of prairieland. They were employed, as were all the pioneers of the day, in subduing nature, but with it all they were social and happy, having a care for the morals and education of their growing families, and making for the times one of the pleasantest settlements in the new and growing State. There was in the neighborhood more than the usual amount of warm-hearted friendship and neighborly affection. All were equal in social state and dignity. Fashion was not then the inexorable goddess we are accustomed to meet in these modern - perhaps we may add - these degenerate days. Our pioneers were proud to be attired in home-spun, woven by the busy housewife of the period, while such a thing as a carriage or buggy was unknown in Blooming Grove. Husbands went to church on foot ; their wives rode the horses, carrying with them such of the children as were too young to make their way by walking. If the good wife was clad in a calico of durable texture and fast color she was as happy as the fine ladies of to-day robed in velvets and sealskins. The religion of the times favored a very rigid and severe adherence to plain and unadorned attire, making, as it would almost look to us, rather a virtue of a necessity, although a few years later, when the rapid accumulation of wealth rendered display a matter of easy accomplishment, we shall find large numbers of the pioneers, from motives of principle, refraining as carefully from any vain show or unnecessary ornament as they did in the primitive times of which we are now writing.

For neighbors, the Blooming Grove farmers had the settlers in Randolph's Grove, Dry and Twin Groves and Funk's Grove, voting in the same precinct with most of them at first, while they knew all the inhabitants along the Mackinaw, from its head to far below the old town of Mackinaw, in Tazewell County, with which county, it must be rememberedj they were attached until a year after the period we are now discussing. The families at Cheney's Grove were also neighbors and friends, while people living in Macon and Sangamon Counties were almost as well known as those ''around the Grove." Young women then thought nothing of a walk of five or six miles to make calls, while for visiting, a ride of thirty miles over the prairie was as easy as one could wish.

The early pioneers, those who came previous to October, 1829, could not obtain a legal title to their farms, as the General Government did not offer the land here for sale until October, 1829. Before this time all the land was held by " claims." The settlers had an agreement among themselves by which they allowed a man to " claim " about as much timber-land as he might need, generally not over 160 acros, upon which he might build his cabin and make his other improvements ; and woe unto the speculator or new-comer who should attempt to " claim" land already occupied by a bona-fide settler. Blooming Grove was nearly all taken by these claimants before the land came into market, and some of the prairie adjoining was, of course, taken in the same manner. These claims were bought and sold, the purchaser coming into possession of the improvements together with whatever rights were considered as appertaining thereto. Many quarrels ensued from this state of affairs, though we do not find that Blooming Grove was the scene of any difficulties of much note.

When the land-sales came off in October, 1 829, at Vandalia, there was a gathering of pioneers from the townships offered for sale, at which no speculator was allowed to purchase until all settlers had made their selections ; rather a high-handed proceeding, as it would now appear, but one which was justified by the condition of the infant settlements.

The records at our Court House show that John Hendrix entered the first tract of land in the Grove, October 9, 1826 ; but as he purchased the adjoining eighty on the 9th day of October, 1829, at which time the land all came into market, there is almost a certainty that the first record is an error, and that he bought both pieces at the same time in 1829.

A tract of eighty acres was entered on the 9th of October, 1829, in the names of Seth and Isaac Baker. On the next day, October 10, it appears that no less than eighteen of the pioneers of Blooming Grove entered their farms, indicating that a jolly crowd went from here to Vandalia at that time. Within a short time after this, it appears, nearly the whole settlement secured their homes.

Many of our pioneers borrowed money at the exorbitant rate of twenty-five per cent interest, in order to secure their farms. There was at that time no usury law in the State. There were very few capitalists, money being very scarce indeed. Some of the early settlers found it impossible to hold and pay for their farms at these rates, although they paid such a low price for the land.

Quite a number of our pioneers borrowed money for their farms of Dr. R. H. Peebles, of Vandalia, and his name appears frequently on our early records. He was regarded as a man of wealth, having loaned money over a large area. We have stated that this region was taken off from Fayette County, in 1826, and included in Vermilion County for a time. In 1827, Tazewell County was formed, as we have mentioned, and, in 1829, its boundaries were re-arranged, and the eastern portion of Tazewell, including Blooming Grove, was contained, nominally, within the limits of Vermilion from 1829 to 1831, but attached to Tazewell for county purposes. In the records of the County Commissioners' proceedings at Pekin, this district is often spoken of as the " attached " portion of Tazewell County. County lines were understood to be in a formative condition, and it was entirely uncertain where they would eventually be permanently established, and hence one can realize that there was great interest felt in all schemes for the formation of new counties. The territory under consideration was " in the market," so to speak - ready for any project that might promise to benefit the interests of Blooming Grove. For several years, there was quite a conflict between the interests of a portion of the people living in what was then the " attached " portion of Tazewell and those in the western part of the same county. The latter were not by any means united in their interests, as Pekin was aspiring to become a county seat, while Mackinaw was striving to retain the prize then held.

One of the last acts of the Tazewell County Court affecting the interests of Blooming Grove Precinct was at the June term of 1830, when Judges of Election were appointed. They were John Benson, John Hendrix and John Cox. The election was ordered to be held at the house of William Evans. This being the year during which the project was carried out for the formation of a new county, and, having taken place after Mr. James Allin had opened his store at this point, it is altogether probable that Mr. Allin favored the holding of this election at the house of Mr. Evans, in order to enlighten the inhabitants of the Grove as to the eligibility of this locality as a site for the county seat, although the mere fact of his store being here might have been the main element of " centrality " that entered into the case. At all events, it is quite certain that this election at the house of Mr. Evans was the first public meeting of any kind that was ever held in the city of Bloomington.

We are now approaching the time when the new county of McLean was organized, and it is possible some of the actors may have been interested in the manufacture of new offices, as much as others were in the location of new county seats, and the combination of these inducements no doubt contributed to the formation of the county of McLean, as well as to the location of its capital, which was to grow into the thriving city of Bloomington. It will, of course, be remembered that Blooming Grove was in Fayette County until 1827, when the northern portion of Fayette was organized into the county of Tazewell, on the plea that the increase of settlement rendered it impossible to hold this region as a dependency - one hundred miles from the county seat at Vandalia. The new county, Tazewell, had its capital at Mackinawtown, only twenty miles distant, and hence our settlers had not the excuse of inaccessibility, as before. Other reasons, however, existed for the organization of a new county, a careful examination of which will show good cause why a new county should be authorized. Tazewell County, as it then existed, stretched from the Illinois River to the present line of Iroquois County, or in that neighborhood, on the east, and to the Illinois River on the west and north, an immense territory, now occupied by about seven or eight counties. This district was rapidly filling with industrious settlers, and it was seen that new counties must be carved out of this territory at no distant day. The problem for those interested here at Blooming Grove was, to detach sufficient timber-land from Tazewell to form a good county. Prairie was then reckoned as so much waste - little better than a desert. After considerable scheming, a petition was taken to Vandalia by Thomas Orendorff and Mr. James Latta, who secured from the Legislature a law for the formation of a new county, to be called McLean, which was detached from Tazewell at the session of 1830 and 1831.

The name McLean was given in honor of John McLean, who had been a Representative in Congress, and was greatly respected. He had also been twice a member of the United States Senate, and died in that office in 1830 ; and his death being a recent event, it was natural that a new county should be named for the magnanimous, noble man, who never had an enemy in his life. The law provided that a Commission should meet in the new county and proceed to locate its county seat, which was accomplished, as we shall briefly relate ; but we will first take a view of what was evident to those who were actors in the events of the times.

We should also mention that by this time there were a number of families along the Mackinaw, a good many at White Oak and Stout's Grove, while Dry and Twin Groves, Randolph's Grove, Old Town Timber, Buckles', Cheney's, and in fact all the groves were peopled with settlers ; and in some places there was still left good timber-land unclaimed, which, in a short time, as was well understood, would be as fully occupied with families as were the other tracts of timber in the county. In all this district the only trading-place was the store of James Allin, removed from the house of William Walker to what is now Bloomington, and situated at what is now the southeast corner of Grove and East streets. Of course, Mr. Allin' did not supply all the goods that were used, as Mackinawtown contained stores, while many goods were purchased at Springfield, at Peoria, and at towns on the Wabash and other places. But it was foreseen that the new county seat would be a place of considerable importance, even to supply the trade already existing, while with the increase of settlement expected, business would become at some future time, extensive enough to sustain considerable of a town.

Mr. James Allin had opened his store at his new location in 1830, and made a purchase of land where the city of Bloomington now stands. Before the law organizing McLean County was passed, Mr. Allin formed his plans to secure the county seat, though we cannot say just how much mention he made of his designs. The famous deep snow came in the winter of 1830 and 1831, and was the means of preventing the assembling of the county seat Commission on the " second Monday of February, or in five days thereafter ; " but as soon as possible, as they say in their report, they made their selection of the site for the permanent county seat of McLean County.

A location was shown the Commission in the OrendorfF neighborhood. At this time, in fact from 1823, William and Thomas OrendorfF were the most substantial settlers, or very nearly so, were very influential, and they were men who could, no doubt; have secured the county seat near them, in what was then the oldest and best settled part of the Grove, had they made the attempt. Mr. William OrendorfF remarked that he would not have his farm cut up by a little town, and made no effort, though importuned by some of his neighbors. Mr. James Allin was always grateful to Mr. OrendorfF for the stand he took. It was agreed by all parties that the name of the new county seat should be Bloomington, and it was thus named in the act incorporating McLean County.