Stark County, Illinois - Chapter 5: Settleiniext of Stark Couxty, 1916

During the French occupation of the Illinois Valley a trading jjost was established at the site of the old Peoria Indian village, near the outlet of Peoria Lake. When Illinois was organized as a territory in 1809 and Ninian Edwards was appointed governor, this post Avas still in existence. Shortly after the beginning of the War of 1812 Governor Edwards became convinced of the sympathy of the inhabitants with the British cause. He therefore ordered the inhabitants banished and the seventy houses that then constituted the village destroyed. ^Vhile the post was in existence, no doubt some of the traders there dealt with the Indians who lived within the present borders of Stark County, and these traders were probably the first white men to visit this portion of the state. They made no settlements away from the post, however, and it was not until some years later that the attention of immigrants was attracted to the fertile Spoon River Valley.

In 1828 AVilliam Eveland and Harvey L. Ross, accompanied by the French interpi-eter, Edouard Plude, left Lewistown. Fulton County, with a wagon loaded with goods for the piu'pose of trading with the Indians in Peoria, Stark and Knox counties of the present day. They were gone nearly a month, when they returned to Lewistown, where they re])orted a jjrofitable trade, and that they found ])ut two white settlers north of the Town of Canton.

In the fall of that year Isaac B. Essex came to the SjJoon River Valley and selected a claim in section 1.5, township 12, range 6. He remained there long enough to cut logs and make the clapboards for a cabin, after which he returned to the "Sliual Creek Colony," M'here the ti-a(liii^i>- i)()st had hceii destroyed hy order of Governor Edwards, and there passed the winter. In April, IS'il), equipped witli two horses and a wagon laden with tools and supplies, and accompanied by his Avil'e and little children, he set out for his home on the frontier. Pausing for a short time at the settlement known as "Prince's Grove," a short distance northwest of the jjresent Town of Prineeville, he there enlisted the cooperation of Daniel Prince, Frank Thomas, two Baptist preachers - Elders Silliman and Allen - Simon Reed, Stephen French, and periiaps one or two others, all of whom agreed to go with him to his claim and assist him in building his cabin. They arrived at the place late in the day and encamped the first night in the woods, but before sunset of the next day the cal)in was completed and they "had a house to sleep in." This cal)in was the first dwelling erected by civilized man within the ])resent limits of Stark County.

Isaac B. Essex was born in Virginia in January. 1800. From his native state he went to Ohio, and while still a young man came to Illinois and was appointed teacher to the Indian children by Rev. Jesse "Walker, the first INIethodist minister in the state. After teaching a short time he took up a claim on the l)ank of the INIississippi River a short distance Ijelow Rock Island. Here he laid out a town, which he called Quebec, but the project failed and he went to I'eoria, or the Shoal Creek Colony, where he remained until he came to Stark County. He continued to reside in Stark for many years, when he went to Dongola. Union County, where he passed the closing years of his life. Isaac B. Essex was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Essex, who were married in Virginia in IT'.'l. when he was twenty and she eighteen years of age. They followed their son to Stark County, where Elizabeth Essex died on January "iO. 18.53, and her husband followed her to the grave on May 1.), 18.53. Essex Townshii). where thej^ first settled, was named in honoi- of this pioneer family. Others of the Essex family who settled in Stark County were Thomas. Jr., William, David and Josej)h. l)rothers of Isaac, and a sister who was the wife of David Cooper. Further mention of this family will be found in the history of Essex Township.

The second wliite man to build a cabin in what is now Stark County was John B. Dodge, who located in section 14, township 12, range 6. not far from Mr. Essex. After a short residence there he entered land in section 3 and his cabin in section 1-i was occupied by John E. O wings. ]Mr. Dodge it seems was a i-estless sort of an individual, who preferred life on the frontier and went to Texas aliout the time that state was annexed to the Ignited States.

III tlie spriiii^- of 1830 Eenjaiiiiii Smith, the father-in-law of John li. Dodge, became a resident of tlie county. He was accompanied by three others of the family - Sewell, Greenleaf and \\"illiam P. Smith - and they built their cabin not far from that of JNIr. Dodge, ^\'illiam D. Grant also came in 1830.

On the southeast corner of the public scjuare. in the Town of Toulon, is a log cal)in which was erected by the Old Settlers' Association and on August 2.5, 1898, it was dedicated to the "Old Settlers of Stark Count)'." In the Toulon Public Library are two large, engrossed panels, framed and covered with glass, giving a list of the county's pioneers to whom the cabin is dedicated. From this list it is learned that the inhabitants of the county in 1831 were: Isaac B. Essex, Thomas Essex, Sr., Joseph Essex, Henry Seely, Benjamin, Greenleaf, Sewell and William P. Smith, David Cooper, Harris W. IMiner, Sylvanus jMoore, David Gregory, AVilliam D. Grant, John B. Dodge and Peter Sheets.

Those who came during the years 1832-33 were as follows: Pardon B. Dodge, Conrad, Jacob and Joseph Emery, John P. Hays, Jesse W. Heath, James Holgate, Elijah ]McClenahan, Sr., Elijah McClenahan, Jr., James and Robert ^NlcClenahan, Isi-ael Seely, iMinott Silliman, Lewis Sturms, Gen. Samuel Thomas and Jefferson Trickle. In this list there are a few names that are still well remembered in the county. IMinott Silliman, a son of the elder Silliman, who helped Isaac Essex to build the first cabin in the county, was the first treasurer of Stark County. The first election in the county was held at the house of Elijah INIcClenahan, Sr., and Stephen Trickle was a member of the first board of county commissioners.

In 1834, according to the list, twenty-two families were added to the population, to wit: George Albright, Augustus Bailey, Isaac Chatfield, Giles C. Dana, Daniel Davis, John Finley, Xelson Grant, Charles Lake, Henry McClenahan, William ^loore, Nero Mounts, Joseph Newton, William Parks, Charles Pierce, Ira and Lyman Riddle, Thomas Scott, Peter Shafer. Robert Sharer, Henry Sturms, jNIathias Stin-ms, Dexter Wall and Thomas Winn.

The next year witnessed even a larger increase, as thirty-two pioneers settled within the county. They were: Thomas Bradford, James Buswell, Capt. Henry Butler, Henry Butler, Jr.. Samuel Butler, Jarville Chaffee, David Currier. Peter Davidson, John Davis, Augustus Dunn, Barnabas Frail, Hugh Frail, John B. Howard, James and Robert IMoore, Benjamin Newton, George Parker, Adam, Lewis and Swift Perrv, John T. Phenix, Peter Pratt, Doctor Rich- ards, jMiltoii and Silas Richards, ^Vhitney Smith, Isaac Spencer, Nathaniel Swartz, James Thompson, Stephen Trickle, Thomas Watts and Calvin Winslow.

In the year 18:30 the immigration passed the hall'-centm-y mark, over fifty new residents establishing their homes in Stark Couiil> . Those wiio came this year were: John W. Agard. Ephraim Rarnett. J. II. Rarnett. Moses Roardman, Charles Rolt. William Rowen. jNIyrtle G. Rrace, Henry Rreese, E. S. Rroadhead, John Rrowii, Jacob Claybangh. Henry Colwell, Presley Colwell, Enoch and Nathan Cox, Lemnel Horrance, Andrew Dray, Ezekiah and Martin Dukes, William Dunbar, George R. Eckley, Lewis Finch. Rrady Fowler. Orange Fuller. Frank Grady. George, John. Langley. Robert and William Hall, Smith Hayes, John W. and Col. William Henderson. Renjamin F. Hilliard, Philip Keller, Joseph 1). Lane. Joseph K. Lane, Nathaniel JMcClure, William JNIahany, Richar<l Maskel. John .Miller, Josiah lAIofKt, Howard Ogle. William Ogle. A^irgil Pike. John Pratz, Christopher Sammis, Sumner Shaw, Aslnn- Smith, Jacob Smith. John Spencer, Andrew Swartz, Edward Trickle, Horace Vail, Archibald and Charles Vandyke, John White, Nehemiah Wycoft".

Those who settled in the co\inty in 18:57 Avere: P. J. Anschutz, Zebulon Avery, Carson and John Rerfield, Nelson Ronham. Dr. Alfred Castle," Thomas S. Clark, \Villiam Cue, Adam Day, W. W. Drummond, Calvin and Stephen Eastman, Joseph and Levi Eckley, Caleb Flint, Ansil Fuller, Luther Geer, Joshua Grant, David Guyer, Dr. Thomas Hall, John Hamilton. Aaron Harvey, Harry Hays, John Hester, Jonathan Hodgson, 1). S. Ilurd, Theodore F. Ilurd, Henry T. Ives, Lemuel R. Leonard, AVilliam Lyall, Thomas Lyle, Thomas McNaught, Abiah JNIanning, Newton Matthews, Orin INIaxfield, Charles H. and Rev. Jonathan ^Miner. Adam and Thomas Oliver, Stephen Ordway, Joseph Palmer. Rnloff and Squire Parrish, Joseph Perry, Isaac Polhamus, P^dward Porter, William Porter, Calvin Powell, Sr., William Pratt, Ren.jamiii Ricker, W. W. Riggin. Robert Rule, David, Jacob and John Simmerman. Israel Stoddard, liberty Stone. John F. Tbom])son, Charles Todd. John Turnbull. AN'illiam Wheeler, Oliver Whitaker and Ilewes White.

The list of settlers for 1838 includes the following: Philander Arnold, Royal Arnold, David W. Rrown, Timothy and AVilliam Carter. Riley Chamberlain, Dr. Ebenezer Clarfield. John Culbertson. John CurdifF. Eli jab Eltzi'otb. Joshua Gilfillan. Christian (Tingrich. Daniel Gingrich. Daniel Hodgson, H. M. Jackson, Jonathan H. anf^ James Jackson, John Lackey, Caleb Lyon, David Rouse, Philip

In JNlarch, IH'M, the Legislature of Illinois passed the act providing for the organization of Stark County. During that year the following persons and their families settled in the new county: James L. Ayers, Jeremiah Bennett, Joseph and William D. Blancliard, Samuel Camp, Alexander Christy, Asa Currier, Luther Driscoll, Ellis Uwire. F. W. Emery, James Headly, George Jackson, Sheridan Jones, John Me^^^illiams, ^Villiam Mason, E. C. Merritt, John Pryor, John Kiggin, John Kussell, Benjamin Turner and ^^^ A. Walters.

Tile above list of pioneers, compiled as it is from the records of the Old Settlers' Association, is probably as nearly correct as it can be made and includes a majority, if not all, of those who settled in the county prior to its organization. Further mention of many of these early settlers, giving the places where they located and some account of their achievements, will be found in the chapter on Township History.

Looking back over a period of four score and six years, to the time when Isaac B. Essex built his lonely cabin on the banks of the Spoon River, about two and a half miles southwest of the present Town of Wyoming, it occurs to the writer that the young people of the present generation may find some interest in learning how the first settlers in Stark County lived. Imagine a vast unbroken tract of country, interspersed with forest and prairie, stretching away toward the JNIississippi River, with but few white settlers between the Shoal Creek Colony at Peoria and the great Father of Waters. It was into this wild region that the Stark County pioneers came - not as con- (|uerers, seeking to enrich themselves with the spoils of a vanquished foe, but, armed with axes, rifles and farming utensils, they came to coiKjuer and subdue the wilderness, build roads, schoolhouses and churches, and develop the resources of a state that today ranks second to none in the American LTnion.

One of the first things that confronted the pioneer was the necessity oi' some sort of shelter for himself and family. The manner in whicli the first cabin in Stark County was l)uilt has ah'eady been told. Sometimes two or more families woidd come into a new country together. In such cases one cabin Mould be erected, in which all would live- tugetlier until each settler could stake his ckiui and build a dwelling of his own. liun)ber and brick were luxuries unknown to the frontier settlement, hence the log cabin was the universal type of residence. The first cabins were built of round logs, but a little later some of the more aristocratic citizens put up hewed log houses. And what an event was a "house-raising" in a new settlement.

After the settler had cut his logs and dragged them to the site of the cabin - quite likely with a team of oxen - invitations were sent to the neighbors, some of whom lived several miles distant, to attend the "raising." Verv seldom was such an invitation declined. AVhen all were assembled the first thing was to select four men, skilled in the use of the ax. to "carry up the corners." It was the duty of these four men to take their stations at the four corners of the cabin and, as the logs were lifted up to them, to shape a "saddle" upon the top of each log and cut a notch in the under side of the next to fit upon the saddle. The notch in the butt end of the log had to be cut a little deeper than the one in the top end, in order that the walls nnght be carried u]) ap])roximately level, a work that was aided by alternating the butt and top ends of the logs on each side and end of the cabin. No plumb line was used to keep the walls perjiendicular, that \nivt oi' the woik depending upon the eye of the cornerman.

No openings were left for doors and windows, l)ut these were sawed or chopped out afterward. i\t one end an opening was made for the fireplace, just outside of which was constructed a chimney. If stone was convenient the chimney was built of stone: if not it was built of sticks and claJ^ The roof was invariably of cla])boards, split or "rived" with an instrument called a frow, and were held in place bv a pole running the full length of the cabin and fastened to the end logs with wooden pins. The floor, if there was one, was made of l)unchcons - that is, slabs of timber s])lit as nearly the same thickness as ])()ssible and smoothed ofi' on the ui)])er surface after the floor was laid. The door was also made of thin puncheons, hung on wooden hinges and provided with a wooden latch. To lift the latch from the outside a thong of Inickskin was passed through a small hole in the door. At night the latch string was drawn inside and the door was locked. This custom gave rise to the saying, "The latch string is always out." used to signify that a visitor would be welcome at any time. Nails were rare and not infrequently the entire cabin Mould be - finished without a single piece of iron being used in its construction.

with pins, upon wliicli boards were laid, formed the "china closet." Smaller pins driven into the walls were used to hang clothing on and constituted the only "wardrobe" of the family. Boards taken from packing cases, or claplioards, battened together, formed the top of a table, which was supported on two trestles. When not in use, the top of the table could be leaned against the wall, or set outside the cabin, and the trestles could be placed one on top of the other to make more room. In one corner of the cabin was the bedstead, which was made by boring holes in the logs at a suitable distance from the corner for the length and width of a bed and inserting poles, which were supported at the outer corner by a post. Across this framework clapboards were laid, one end resting on the "bed rail" and the other in a crack of the cabin, and on these boards was placed the "straw tick." Benches and stools took the place of chairs. A few immigrants brought with them a little factory made furniture and a sash tilled with glass for a cabin window, but in a majority of cases the furniture was "liome made." and light was admitted through oiled paper instead of glass.

Stoves were unknown and the cooking was done at the tireplace, an iron teakettle, a copper-bottomed coffee pot, a long-handled skillet and a large iron pot being the principal cooking utensils. The skillet was used for frying meat and baking bread and the iron pot was used in the preparation of the "boiled dinner." While doing the cooking the housewife often wore a deep sunbonnet to protect her face fi-om the heat of the open fire. "Johnny cake" was made by spreading a stiff dough of corn meal upon one side of a smooth board and pro])])ing it up in front of the fire. AVhen one side was baked sufiiciently. the dough would be turned over so that the other side might have its inning. A liberal supply of johnny cake and a bowl of fresh milk often constituted the only supper of the pioneer.

Somewhere in the cabin, two hooks, formed from the forks of small trees, Avould be pinned against the Avail or to one of the ujjper joists for a gun rack. Here rested the long, heavy rifle of the settler and suspended from its muzzle 6r one of the hooks hung the bulletjiouch and powder-horn.

After the "house-raising" came the "house-warming." A newcabin was hardly considered fit to live in until it had been properly dedicated. In nearly every frontier settlement there was at least one man who could play the violin. The "fiddler" was called into requisition and the new cabin would become a "sound of revelry by night." The two-step, the tango or the hesitation waltz were not known, but the Virginia reel, the stately luimiet or the old-fashioned cotillion, in which someone called the figures in a stenotorian voice, were very much in evidence. It is doubtful if the guests at a presidential inaugural ball ever derived as much genuine pleasure from the occasion as did these peojjle of tlie frontier at a house-wariuiiig. If the owner of the cabin had scruples against dancing, the house was warmed by festivities of a different character, but it iiad to be "warmed" in some way before the family took full possession.

How easy it is at the present time to enter a i-oom at night, turn a switch and flood the whole place with electric light! It was not so four score years ago in Stark County. The ho\isewife devised a lamp bj- ushig a shallow dish, in which was placed a quantity of lard or bear's grease. In this grease was immersed a loosely twisted rag, one end of which was allowed to project slightly over one side, and the projecting end was lighted. The smoke and odor emitted by such a lamp could hardly be endured by fastidious ])ersons of the present day, but it answered the purpose then and gave light enough to enable the good woman to perform her household duties. Next came the tallow candle, made in moulds of tin. Sometimes only one set of candle moulds could be found in a new settlement and they passed freely from liouse to Iiouse until all had a supply of candles laid away in a cool, dry place sufficient to last for many weeks. Often, during the winter seasons, the family would spend the evening with no light except that which came from the roaring fire in the great fire])lace.

Xo one Avore "store clothes" in the early days. The housewife would card her wool by hand M'ith a pair of broad-backed Avire brushes, the teeth of which were slightly bent all in one direction. Then the rolls would be spun into yarn on an old-fashioned spinning wheel. She would next weave the yarn into cloth u]}on the old wooden hand loom and make it into garments for the members of the family, doing all the sewing with a needle. A girl sixteen j'^ears of age, who could not spin her "six cuts" a day and make her own dresses Avas hard to find in a new settlement. How many graduates of the Stark County high schools in 1910 know what "six cuts" means ^

In these days, with plenty of money in circulation, when anyone needs assistance he hires someone to come and hel]) him. When the first white men came to Stark County, money was exceedingly scai'ce and they overcame the difficulty by helping each other. Cooperation was the rule. All the settlers in a commimity would join in raising a cabin for a newcomer, although a total stranger. If a clearing was made in the timl)er they would all join in the "log-rolling." l?v this means the logs Mould be ijiled in great heaps, so that they could be burned. The same system was followed in harvest time. Fre(iuently ten or a dozen men would gather in a neighbor's wheat tield, and while some would swing the cradle others would bind the sheaves and shock them, after which the whole crowd would move on to the next field where the Avheat was ripe, and so on imtil the entire crop of the neighborhood was cared for, or at least made ready for threshing. Xo threshing machines had as yet made their a))pearance and the grain was separated from the straw with a flail or tramped out by horses or cattle upon a smooth piece of ground, or upon a barn floor, if the settler was fortunate enough to have a barn \vith a floor that was suitable.

And the community of interests, the custf)m of "swapping work," did not apply alone to the men. ^Vhile they were raising the cabin, rolling the logs or harvesting the wheat, the "women folks" would get together and prepare dinner, each one bringing from her own store some delicacy that she thought the others might not be able to supply. If the weather was pleasant the table would be set out of doors. Bear meat and venison took the place of terrapin and canvas-back duck, but each man had a good ai)petite by the time the meal was ready and the quality of the food was not criticized. The main thing was to have plenty of it, and when they arose from the table it "looked like a cyclone had struck it." Each family had its turn and by the time the year rolled around no one suffered any disadvantage in the amoimt of food consumed.

Now, when a family needs a supjily of breadstuff, all that is necessary is to step to the telephone and order the grocer to send out a sack or a barrel of flour, but in the early days going to mill was no light affair. ]\Iills were few and far a])art and the settler would often have to go such a distance that two or three days, or even more, AAOuld be required to make the trip. To obviate this difficulty various methods were introduced for making at home corn meal - which was the principal breadstuff of the first settlers. One of these methods was to build a fire upon the top of a large stump of some hard wood and keep it burning until a hollow was formed. The charred wood was then carefully cleaned out of the "mortar," corn poured in small quantities into the mortar and beaten into a coarse meal with a hard wood "pestle" or a smooth stone. In the fall of the year, before the corn was fully hardened, the "grater" was brought into requisition. This implement was made by launching holes closely together through a sheet of tin. which was then fastened to a board, rough side upward.

so tliat the till woukl be slightly convex on the outer surface. Then the corn would he rubbed over the i-ougli surface, the meal passingthrough the holes and sliding down the hoard into a vessel ])laced to receive it. A slow and tedious process was this, but a bowl of mush made from grated corn meal and accompanied by a generous supjily of good milk formed a repast that was not to be sneered at, and one wiiich no pioneer blushed to place before a visitor.

^latches were exceedingly rare and a little tire was always kept somewhere about the cabin "for seed." During the fall, winter and early spring months, the fire \\as kept in the fireplace, but when the weatlier grew warm a fire was kept burning out of iloors. If, by some misha]), the fire was allowed to become extinguished one of the family would have to go to the nearest neighbor's for a new supply. But if the pioneers had their hardships, they also had their amusements and pastimes. Old settlers can recall tlie shooting matches, when men met to try their skill with the rifle, the i)ri/e being a turkey, a haunch of venison or a (juarter of beef. And some of these old pioneers with their hair-trigger rities, could hold their own with the l)est of our military sharpshooters. Then there was the "husking bee," in which pleasure and profit were combined. On such occasions the corn to he husked would be divided into two piles, as nearly etjual in size as ])ossil)le. Two of the invited guests would then "choose up" and divide those present into two sides, the contest being to see which side woidd first finish its pile of corn, ^len and women alike took ])art and the young man who foimd a red ear was permitted by the rules of the game to kiss the lassie next to him. "^Nlany a merry laugh went round" when someone found the red ear and the lassie objected to being kissed. Sometimes the young men would })lay an underhand game by passing a red ear surreptitiously from one to another.

After the orchards were old enough to bear fruit, the "a])ple cutting" became a popular form of amusement, when a numl)er of young ])eople would assemble to pare and slice enough apples to dry for the winter's supjjly. The husking bee and the apple cutting nearly always wound up with a dance, the orchestra consisting of the one lone fiddler in the neighborhood. lie might not have been a classic musician, but he could make his old fiddle respond to such tunes as "Turkey in the Straw," "Money Musk," "The Bowery Gals," and "The ^Vind That Shakes the Barley Fields," and he never grew tired in furnishing the melody while the others tri])i)ed the light fantastic toe.

contests, such as foot races, wrestling matches or iiitching horseslioes. The women had their (luilting parties, and after the puhhc school system was introchiced, the spelling school became a frequent place of meeting. At the close of the s])elling match the young men could "see the girls home," and if the acquaintance thus commenced ripened into an intimacy that ended in a wedding, it was usually followed by a charivari, or, as it was pronounced on the frontier, a "shivaree," which was a serenade in which noise took the place of harmony. The proceedings were kept up until the bride and groom came out where they could be seen, and the affair ended all the more pleasantly if each member of the shivareeing party was presented with a slice of wedtling cake to place under his pillow to inlluence his dreams.

There was one custom of olden times that should not be overlooked, and that was the manner in which each settler marked his domestic animals so that they could be identified. There were Jiot many fences and stock of all kinds was i)erinitted to run at large. To jirotect himself, the pioneer farmer cropped the ears of his cattle, hogs and sheep in a peculiar manner and these marks were made a matter of record. The i^rincipal marks were the plain crop, the upper and under bits, the swallow fork, the upper and lower slopes, the slit, the roimd hole, and perhai^s a few others, by a combination of which each settler could mark his stock in a way different from that of any of his neighbors. The "upper bit" was a small notch cut in the upper side of the ear; the "under bit" was just the reverse: the "swallow fork" Avas made by cutting a deep notch in the end of the ear similar in shape to the tail of a swallow, from which it derived its name, and so on. If someone found a stray animal marked with an "up])er bit in the left ear and a swallow fork in the right," all he had to do was to inquire at the recorder's office for the owner of such a mark. These marks were seldom violated and they protected the settler as surely as the manufacturer is protected in the right to use his registered trade mark.

One accustomed to the conveniences of modern civilization would sui)pose that the early settlers would be glad to escape the hardships and disadvantages of frontier life. But there were some who evidently preferred it to any other. JNIany who came to Illinois in an early day and aided in the tlevelopment of the state's resources afterward crossed the ]Mississi]:)pi aiid became pioneers a second time in Iowa, Xebraska or Kansas. There is a freedom on the frontier that becomes restricted as population increases, and many preferred the freedom with its hardshi])s to the advantages of an older comnumity Avith its conventionalities. Such persons are well described in Brininstool's beautiful jioem : '^