Vermilion County, Illinois - Chapter 15: Some of the Makers of Vermilion County, 1911 (part 1 of 2)

Lyons John Jordon William Swank John Myers Henry Canaday Seymour Treat

It seems impossible to learn much of Seymour Treat's life. The first thing known of him is that he lived at Fort Harrison, in 1819. When Blackman returned from his trial to the Vermilion Salt Springs, in company with Barron, and formed another company to return and claim the discovery of them, thereby betraying the trust of Barron, Seymour Treat was one of the men who returned with him.

No record was kept throwing any light on the reason for selecting this party so that little idea of the character of these men can be had, at least as to whether they knew of the previous discovery by John Barron. The only real knowledge that is to be obtained now is of his residence at Fort Harrison.

Seymour Treat came to the Salt Springs, a mile and a half above the old Kickapoo town, the latter part of November, 1881. He with his wife and children, made the trip up the Wabash and Vermilion rivers in a pirogue, bringing tools and what goods they could not do without, and provisions to last them during the winter. One at the present day can hardly imagine the privations they endured. A hastily built cabin kept them from the cold, but that was all. The men of this first settlement included the two Beckwith brothers, Peter Allen, and Francis Whitcomb. They could hunt and find pleasure in the free life of. the wilderness, but wife and small children having none of these diversions found much to regret in the change from life at Fort Harrison. Their nearest neighbors were at the North Arm prairie, fully forty miles away. The old Indian town miles below their cabin was deserted and weeds grew in the fields where the squaws had planted the corn, and hoed the squashes. The loneliness of the life, and the effect of the absence of the comforts they had before enjoyed, is voiced in the words of Treat to the governor a year later: - "My family remained on the ground ever since their arrival, except one who fell a victim to the suffering and privations which they have had to endure in a situation so remote from a settled country without the means of procuring the ordinary comforts of life." This letter was written because of the fact that the treachery of Blacktnan had left even his followers without valid claim to the salt springs. After the different claims to the salt springs were settled, Treat, with Dan Beckwith, went to Denmark. Here Treat built a mill which he operated for some time. Seymour Treat was justice of the peace for a time while this territory was a part of the unorganized territory attached to Edgar County and while in this office he married Cyrus Douglas and also Marquis Snow. He later came to Danville where it is presumed he died and was probably buried in the Williams burying ground.

Dan Beckwith

Dan Beckwith deserves the record as among the first settlers of Vermilion County since his coming antedates the organization of the county itself. Dan Beckwith was a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania. He was born there in 1795. He was one of a family of six brothers and two sisters, who went with their parents into New York state, while Dan was but a lad. Three of these brothers came west and were residents of Vermilion County at one time.

George Beckwith and Dan Beckwith left New York state together, and came to Fort Harrison in the summer of 1816, the year Dan was twenty-one years old. Two years later they went on to the North Arm Prairie, and lived with Jonathan Mayo's family. Here they made their home until 1819, when they went to the Vermilion Salines.

Dan Beckwith was a man of pleasing appearance. He was tall - full six feet, two inches. He had broad square shoulders; was straight, muscular and spare of flesh, weighing, when in health, about 190 pounds. He was an expert axe-man and a shrewd Indian trader. Within two years after he came to the Vermilion he was to be found with an armful of goods such as the red man would fancy, in a place partly excavated in the side of a hill at Denmark, trading for furs with the Indian.

Later, through his efforts mainly, Danville had been selected as the County Seat, he built a cabin on the brow of the bluff, near the end of west Main street, and continued his trading. This cabin was not far from the present-day Gil- bert street bridge. Later he had a cabin further west on Main street and formed a partnership with James Qymer and together they traded to their profit.

When the chosen site of the County Seat of the newly organized Vermilion County at the Saltworks was found to be impossible on account of the lease to Major Vance, and Denmark the already settled town had nearly secured the prize, Dan Beckwith, together with Guy Smith offered land at the present site and determined its location.

Dan Beckwith died while yet a young man. He did not live beyond the days of pioneer Vermilion County. His death occurred at Danville, December, 1835. He was buried in the old Williams burying ground. The city bought the privilege of opening a street through this cemetery of the heirs of Amos Williams and Dan Beckwith's remains were moved to Springhill.

Both the children of Dan Beckwith are now dead. Hiram Beckwith was the father of two sons. His oldest son married Linne Williams, the daughter of Smith Williams, and granddaughter of Amos Williams. They were the parents of two children, Grace and Dan. Hiram's younger son, Clarence, married Grace Dickman and is the father of one son, Hiram William. Mrs. Lemon was the mother of two daughters, May Lemon and Laura Lemon Bird, whose first husband's name was Mott.

Francis Whitcomb

Francis Whitcomb, the third of the first settlers of Vermilion County, who made any impress upon its affairs, was identified with two sections - the saltworks and Butler's Point. He came to the salt springs with the Blackman company and was one of the three with whom Blackman made the agreement to make partners in the profits of the saltworks. That he did not stand by his word has already been recorded. While the matter was being adjusted Francis Whitcomb continued working at the saltworks. It is during his stay here that a story is told of him which shows a kind heart and refined nature that expressed itself in unusual degree. It was after Seymour Treat had gone to Denmark, and there were no women at the saltworks, other than Baily's wife. This family of Baily's consisted of himself, his wife and two or three small children. Baily sold out to Mr. Luddington, and left his family, to go to the "Illinois River Country." Soon the children became ill and Mrs. Baily herself was taken ill. The men working at the saltworks were all unmarried. There was no one to give the women and children the needed care.

Francis Whitcomb took as good care of them as a woman could. He provided their food as well as possible where there was nothing to be had fit for ill people to eat. He did their washing, attended their wants, and rendered all assistance possible under the circumstances, with no doctors, and no drug stores near where aid or medicine could be procured. In spite of the care this young man could give the children, one by one wasted away, and died. No lumber or plank was to be had with which to make their coffins, but the men split rough boards from a walnut tree that grew a short distance from Butler's branch, and made rude caskets. These strong men inured to hardships, silently and with sad faces buried the children, with no minister to say a prayer nor relatives to mourn as the graves were filled.

Francis Whitcomb went to Butler's Point from the saltworks, and took up the farm afterwards known as the one Richard Jones lived on. The house he built is yet standing. He lived here a number of years and sold the farm to Henry Jones himself going to McLean County, where he died and was buried.

Francis Whitcomb was the father of six children. His wife's maiden name was Jane Irwin. His children's names were Ira, Francis, John, Jeremiah, Ruth Ann and Temperance.

Ira Whitcomb married Cynthia Wooden, the daughter of his nearest neighbor, whose house yet stands across the road from the old Whitcomb house. Ira Whitcomb moved to Minnesota, where he lived until he died.

James D. Butler

With the exception of those coming to the saltworks, probably James D. Butler was the first settler in his section of the country. Mr. Butler came directly from Clark County, Ohio, but he had lived in that state only six years so that he really came here a Vermonter in sentiment and habits. He was a native of Vermont, coming west from Chittenden County, Vermont, to Clark County, Ohio, in 1814. He left Ohio in the spring of 1820, and came to the point of timber which ran out into the prairie west of Catlin, and took up a claim. The land had not yet been surveyed by the government and put upon the market. Mr. Butler had friends come with him, neighbors from Ohio. They all put in crops and returned to Ohio in the fall, expecting to come back in the spring. Mr. Butler did come and brought his family with him, but the neighbors refused to come. They thought they had enough of the inconvenience of the new country. It took courage on the part of Mrs. Butler to come to her new home under circumstances such as these. True her husband was satisfied with conditions in the new country, but on the other hand the stories told by the others were very discouraging. But in the due course of time Mr. Butler and his family reached their new home and took possession of the cabin he had built for them the previous summer. His cabin was erected on the east side of the brook which is even yet known as Butler's branch and on the right hand side of the road going from Catlin to the old Fair Grounds. When Butler's family moved in they had as their nearest neighbors, Treat's family at the Salt Springs and to the south the newcomers since his return to Ohio, a man well known late in the county whose name was Henry Johnson. He had moved on the Little Vermilion in the early spring. Within a few years several families came to this neighborhood and Butler's Point became an important settlement and remained so for some time after the organization of Vermilion County. Near Butler's house there was a large oak tree, which had defied the prairie fires and all threats of wind and weather, which became a landmark and sentinel

Later Mr. Butler prospered and built him a fine house, locating it near the corner of the old Fair Grounds, at the northeast corner. This house was almost a mansion as compared with all the other cabins. The logs were square-hewn and the corners of the building cut even with the line of the wall. It was in this house that the first court of Vermilion County sat. Mr. Butler was a man of good business, possessed a practical mind and was conspicuous in the affairs of Vermilion County at an early day. He had the thrift and energy characteristic of one born and reared in Vermont, as well as possessing their courage. He spent the remainder of his life in Vermilion County at Butler's Point and when he died was buried in the enclosure since known as the Butler Burying Grounds. His wife was buried in the same burying grounds. James Butler and wife were the parents of four children, one son and three daughters. The son moved to Kansas, one daughter became the wife of her cousin by name of Butler, the second daughter became the wife of Marcus Snow and later of Cyrus Douglas, and the third daughter became the wife of a Mr. Fielder and after the death of Mr. Coleman, and went west. The two daughters first mentioned were buried in the Butler burying ground.

Henry Johnson

The year James Butler came to the place afterward called Butler's Point with his family, the first settlement on the Little Vermilion was made by Henry Johnson. Some doubt is expressed on the matter of date, however, and there is good reason to think that he came in the fall after Butler returned to Ohio. A letter written by Henry Johnson addressed to William Lowery, the member in the Illinois legislature from Clark County at that time, and dated November 22, 1822, is also dated at Achilles township, and from what is written in the letter it is evident that "Achilles township at that time embraced the entire of Clark County, watered by two Vermilion rivers and extended as far north as the Kankakee river." In this letter Henry Johnson states that "he had a knowledge of the affairs of this (Achilles) township since October, 1820." With that evidence it is fair to assume that Henry Johnson came to the Little Vermilion, some two miles west of Georgetown in the fall of the year that James Butler came in the spring and put in a crop and in the fall about the time Johnson came, went back to Ohio for the winter.

- Mr. Johnson was a man of generous impulses and his neighbors long sang his praises. If a man was hard pushed for ready money and went to Henry Johnson he was sure to get it, if it was to be had, and the loan given so cordially was never to pay interest. Mr. Johnson would never take interest on any money he loaned. Mr. Johnson sold his farm in about 1832 or 34, to Levy Long and he moved further west, to the fertile strip between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, called the "Military Tract." Here he was making a good farm until it was discovered that his title was worthless as so many were, and he lost all his land. Thus was the man of whom his old neighbors could say nothing but praise, who was known by the name of the "Good Samaritan," kind and generous, was rendered penniless by these "land sharks" and forced to go yet further west. He was after this lost to the knowledge of his old friends but his kindness was told by one generation to the next and his name kept as synonymous for generosity and helpfulness.

Absolom Starr

Absolom Starr came to Johnson's Point in 1821. This was the settlement begun by Henry Johnson, a brother-in-law of Starr's the fall previous. Absolom Starr came to this part of Edgar County, as it was at that time, directly from Palestine, Illinois. The land office was located at Palestine before it was removed to Danville.

When Mr. Starr came he brought corn and wheat enough to keep his family for a year. He also brought a good yoke of oxen and was well fixed to go into a new country to make his home. He brought his wife and four children with him. He built his cabin on section 36, near to his brother-in-law. So provident a man had every reason to expect fortune to smile on him, but this was not the case, however. During the first winter in their new home he had a trivial injury to his heel, which resisted all treatment and he was assured that cancer had developed. A trip back to their old home in Palestine, where there was a physician living was of no avail, because the idea of cancer was confirmed and there was great danger of having to loose his foot. However, he could not raise the money demanded for the operation and he came back to his new home discouraged and almost despondent. There was an old Indian doctor, called Bonaparte's Indian, who lived about there, and for the want of any more skilled practitioner, Mrs. Starr consulted him. By the use of some herbs he collected along the Vermilion river, he cured the diseased heel which the physician at Palestine thought could be reached only by the use of the knife. Mrs. Starr nursed her husband back to strength, at the same time tending her garden and two acres of corn. Henry Johnson's kind heart helped this family to take care of themselves during these hard days. Mr. Starr lived until October 14, 1829. He was buried in the old burying ground, now known as Mt. Pisgah cemetery, near Georgetown.

Mrs. Starr survived her husband and afterward became the wife of Mr. Jones, spending her last years on the farm she first helped get into cultivation. She was the mother of eleven children and left many descendants in the county, among them being Mrs. J. W. Giddings.

Jotham Lyons

Jotham Lyons took up land west of Henry Johnson about the same time. He lived here until his death, August 2, 1843. He was buried in the present Mt. Pisgah cemetery, near Georgetown. His first wife, Elizabeth, died on Christmas day, 1827, and was buried in the same burying ground.

The children of Jotham Lyons are scattered across the country. One son has lived in the neighborhood of the old home and identified himself with affairs of the county.

John Jordon

Another man to settle in this neighborhood was John Jordon. John Jordon came to Johnson's Point a short time after Absolom Starr arrived, but in the same year.

William Swank

William Swank came to the southern part of the county in this year which saw the advent of Henry Johnson and Jotham Lyons. He entered land at where Indianola is located and became an active factor in the development of that section of the country. The all prevailing demand of the time for whiskey was not lacking in this section, and to meet this Mr. Swank set up a still-house down in the bottom, where he would make an occasional barrel of good pure liquor for his neighbor's use. The condition of this malarial country was one occasion of this demand for whiskey, and this primitive way of meeting it insured a pure article for consumption. Mr. Swank provided for the needs of his neighbors in another, and perhaps better way by the little corncracker which he had attached, which was run by tread-millpower, and did all the neighborhood grinding. So prominent in the affairs of this section did Mr. Swank become, he was given the credit of naming a village at the place now known as Indianola. When the village was first established it was named Chillacothe. Since William Swank was known throughout this section as the "Father of Dallas," there is no doubt of his politics, during the decided Forties and Fifties when men held strong views on all questions of the day whether of politics or of religion. Mr. Swank came from the South and naturally clung to the habit of thought of his youth, and was an uncompromising Democrat. He lived in the same neighborhood into which he first came all his life. His death occurred in the late seventies and he left children who remained in that section and perpetuated his name.

John Myers

John Myers came to the Little Vermilion as early as 1820 and settled on the land afterward the farm of the well known R. E. Barnett. While living in this place this man was much better known as "Injun John." He was a man whose nickname fit him more in its implication, and suggestion than in any other way although he earned it by his open hatred of the Redman.

He was a character noticeable in even those days when all individualities were prominent. In the free life of the pioneer, there was little polish and every man was himself, to be liked or despised as the case might be, but even then, some were more prominent than others because of unusual traits of character. "Injun John" was one of these. He was free with what he had, and expected every one to be equally so. He had little love for property which was his own, and

John Myers had an eighty acre farm in Ohio, but the freedom of the new country in Illinois, which was as yet unorganized into counties, but was attached to Edgar County, appealed to him. So it was Mr. Starr, the uncle of Absolom and Barnett Starr, who had bought eight hundred and eighty acres on the Little Vermilion river at a land sale, found an eager trader in this man from Ohio. He traded his farm of 8 acres for this unseen 88 acres, and started to take possession thereof.

On his way he passed his brother-in-law, Joseph Frazier, in Indiana, and told him he would give him a quarter section of this land if he (Frazier) would go on with him. This gift was not to be refused and they came on and settled in this section in 1821. The particular tract which Myers gave away that he might have company in his new home, afterward became a portion of the Sconce farm. The land was first bought by the Sullivants from Frazier in 1853, when they were the great land kings of Champaign County and were carrying out plans to develop a large estate in Vermilion County. The Sullivants cut the fine growth of walnut timber from the Frazier farm to fence in "broad lands." Myers was a fearless and untiring hunter. At one time just before he came to this section of country, while yet he lived in Ohio, a neighbor of his with his two sons were out in a sugar bush at work in the spring of the year, when some Indians surprised them and killed them.

Myers gathered together a company and went in pursuit of the Indians. They struck the trail in the new snow and followed it until all but three of the pursuers gave out from exhaustion, one of whom was Myers himself. With his force so depleted, Myers told the other two that he would shoot the next one who refused to go on. This increased the courage of his companions and Myers' physical endurance, pluck and determination to avenge his friends was catching "and carried the day," and the three overtook the Indians and had their revenge. This was the material of which Myers was made. A man of powerful strength, he would crack a black walnut with his teath and many a man found to his sorrow that it was not wise to provoke him to a fight.

He hated an Indian and was the first to be ready to go to the Black Hawk war and was one of those who made that war a disgrace to the white man. He knew no such thing as discipline ; abhorred tactics and did not believe in waiting for orders or supplies. He made a great deal of trouble by his insubordination. Habits of intemperance had grown on him, and he would get very drunk and become abusive to the officers and everybody else. He wanted to go into the fight at once ; he had gone into that affair to kill Indians and he was impatient to begin. He came to "fight Injuns" and fight he was going to do, if no one else, then he would try his strength on the officers. He told these new fledged officers that they "knew no more about fightin' Injuns than a bear did about a camp meetin' " and he was put under arrest, to his surprise.

While brave and generous, he had no judgment about affairs and used up all his property before he died. He took an interest in every enterprise that was proposed. He lost much money in helping Simon Cox try to build a mill which never did get to be a success.

Jack McDowell was a handsome and lively young man who was struggling to get on in the world, and "Injun John" took a notion to him and made him an offer of a half-section of land, but, much as the young man wanted the land there was a provision that he should marry Myers' daughter, and that decided the acceptance of the gift. "Injun John" kept his land. He gave away or lost all his land and went out to the Illinois River where he afterward died in poverty. Thus passed one of the most picturesque characters of eastern Illinois.

Henry Canaday

Henry Canaday was a native of North Carolina who moved north, with his family, in the fall of 1820, and stopped over winter in Wayne County, Indiana. Two of his sons came on over the state line and put up a cabin in what is now the southern part of Vermilion County. His four sons were Benjamin, Frederich, William and John. The entire family took possession of the round log cabin which the two sons had built, and began their new life without neighbors other than the Indians who camped on the banks of the Little Vermilion in the spring of the year to hunt and fish. They would visit the cabin to beg and steal and trade but never seriously annoyed them.

There were many sugar-maple trees on the land the Canadays had chosen for their home and they made sugar that first spring, but they were not contented and Benjamin returned to Tennessee, where their old home had been, and bought a farm. Soon the entire family returned to their old home but it was to stay only during the summer. They sold their property in Tennessee and returned to their cabin on the Little Vermilion river before winter. This was the fall of 1821 and their cabin was on what was yet unorganized territory attached to Edgar County. They had much sickness during this winter, having come from a different climate, and the nearest physician was at Clinton, Indiana. They had to go to mill on Raccoon Creek in Park County, Indiana, and Terre Haute was the nearest trading point. They had no horses when spring came and they broke ground with oxen. Wild deer was plentiful and they filled the smokehouse soon after they came with deer hams, and also had plenty of pork. When they first came the year before, they brought thirty hogs with them from Indiana and when they went back to Tennessee they left them in the woods. These animals lived in the woods and became so wild as to be a menace to stock for years afterward. Wild game was plentiful and deer, turkey and other fowl gave them a variety of food. The entire family occupied the one roomed cabin for some time, and the mother did the cooking by the fireplace ; the floor was of puncheon, the roof of clapboards, held down with weight poles and the stick and clay chimney was built on the outside.

About the second year of their living at this place, Henry Canaday, together with George Haworth, "set up a meeting," as it is called by the Society of Friends, when a new church was established. These two men and others who came afterwards to the neighborhood, built a log cabin in which they had meetings and later built a church of hewed logs. Sometimes the attendance was so small that Henry Canaday and his son, Benjamin, would go to "meeting" and

Henry Canaday was very prominent in the life of the growing Vermilion County. He entered about two sections of land as soon as it came into market, and sold it off to new comers. Henry Canaday was a tanner and a blacksmith, and as soon as possible after the family came to their new home they managed to establish both trades. He could the better do this because of his four grown sons. He started a tanyard in which his son William worked, and also a tinshop for his son Benjamin. William later carried on harness making and sadlery but his father, Henry Canaday, never had that trade.

Benjamin Canaday, the oldest son of Henry Canaday, was a tinner by trade and during the winter of the big snow (1830), he made up a stock of tin ware and traded it off at Louisville for goods. These he brought back with him and put into a building he had put up for a store on his farm just west of Vermilion, (later Vermilion Grove), on the Hickory Grove road. This was the beginning of his career as a merchant. He sold goods here for several years before going to Georgetown where he became the largest, and at one time, the most successful merchant.

Frederick Canaday, the second son of Henry Canaday, made a valuable farm just north of Vermilion station where he spent his life. He was the father of four sons and three daughters. His sons, William, Henry, Isaac and John, grew to manhood and settled around him. His daughters who became Mrs. Lawrence, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Ankrum, went the one to Kansas, the other to Bethel and the third lived near her father.

William Canaday, the third son of Henry Canaday, married Miss Mary Haworth, in 1831, who was the daughter of William Haworth. They were the parents of ten children. These children settled in different parts of the country, a number of them near their parents' home. Mrs. Mary (Haworth) Canaday died in 1855 and Mr. Canaday married Miss Elizabeth Diament, in 1873, for his second wife.

John Canaday, the youngest son of Henry Canaday, lived all his life on \/ the farm on the state road between Vermilion and Georgetown. He had a good farm and was a prosperous farmer. He was the father of five sons and two daughters. The Canaday family have been strong factors in the development of the county. His family of sons with their families of sons and daughters have made the name one of honor and pride in this section which Henry Canaday found a wilderness.

Benjamin Brooks

Benjamin Brooks, the founder of the important settlement called Brooks' Point, came to this part of the county in the fall of 1821. His wife was the daughter of a Mr. Manville, of Madison, Indiana, and they were married in Indiana and came here directly from Jefferson County, of that state. The nativity of Benjamin Brooks is in doubt although there is no question that his wife was born in Indiana.

Had it not been for the generosity of Mr. Canaday, Mr. Brooks would have been in a sad plight. Mr. Brooks had selected his land when he first came to live on the Little Vermilion, and then went back after his family and another man put a claim while he was gone and secured the land. Mr. Canaday had some further up and let Mr. Brooks have it and it was settled so rapidly as to have the point of timber known by the name of Brooks' Point.

George Williams

George Williams came early in the twenties in company with the Bargers, the Paytons and Thos. Collison, from Pike County, Ohio. His native state was Delaware. George Williams had two sons, Harrison and Abner. Mrs. Williams, the mother of these boys died of milk sickness in 1825 and the boy, Harrison, who was then twelve years old, went to live with Reason Zawley, in the Current neighborhood. An idea of the hardships of life at that time is had in the tale of this boy's going to school in the winter time. The school term was limited to a short time in the winter months, and the boy, without shoes or stockings on his feet found the snow-covered road between his cabin home a dread one to travel. Without shoes he took a hickory board and stood it in front of the fire place until it became as hot as possible without catching fire. With his hot board in his arms he would dash out of the house and run as far as possible through the snow. When he reached the limit of endurance, he would put the board down on the ground, and stand on it for a little while, then snatching it up would run on a little further. In this way he went to school and when he was ready to go home the same thing was done over. In 1834 Harrison Williams married Anna Gish, a native of Virginia who had come west when she was fourteen years old. She came with her parents and settled in LaFayette, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Williams made Danville their home, owning property at that place. Two years after he was married he bought the lot on the S. E. corner of North and Walnut streets. At this time the lot faced Walnut street and extended east as far as the alley. A deed yet in possession of the family shows that this lot was bought by Harrison Williams in 1836 for $30. The least the inside lots could now be bought for is $150, per foot. This deed of Mr. Williams was never recorded and a number of years later Judge Terry was ordered by the Courts to make out a new deed, Mr. Williams' address at that time being unknown. Harrison Williams was a carpenter by trade and helped build Gurdon Hubbard's store which was the first frame building in Vermilion County. He also helped erect the first Methodist church building. Mr. Hubbard's store was on the Public Square on the corner where the Palmer National Bank now stands. The church building was on the southeast corner of North and Vermilion streets, Harrison Williams moved to LaFayette, Ind., in 1840, and died there in 1851. Abner Williams was a blacksmith and lived in Danville until he went to Scott county on the other side of the state. He was married twice, the first time to a Miss Delay, a cousin of his, and the second wife was a Miss Judd. He owned the lot on the northwest corner of North and Vermilion streets.

Thomas O'Neal

Thomas O'Neal, with his wife, Sarah (Howard) O'Neal, came from Nelson County, Kentucky, and settled at Brooks' Point in the fall of 1821. He was a native of Nelson County, while his wife was a native of Indiana. Mr. O'Neal first took up a claim near Brooks' Point, but three years later he entered near the Big Vermilion river. After he moved to the Vermilion river, he established a tanyard and made his own leather from which he made the shoes of the family. He made a leather from which he could make Indian moccasins and which the Indians would get from him. The winter months were spent in making rails with which to fence his land and clearing up the ground, thus adding about ten acres of tillable land to his farm every year. When the Black Hawk war broke out, he saddled his horse and with his gun on his shoulder, went into the service. His oldest son was also in that war. Thomas O'Neal remained in the service as long as the war lasted. When he returned home he again took up the work of improving his farm with renewed determination to make a valuable property, and met great success. He died September, 1861, and his wife died two years later. They were the parents of nine children who have kept the name a well known one through almost a century in Vermilion County.

John Haworth

John Haworth came to the little Vermilion at very nearly the same time as Henry Canaday and they were close friends as long as they lived. The two families have inter-married and had common interests during all the years since their coming. A Mr. Malsby built a cabin near where Vermilion Grove is located, in 1820; however he did not stay but left his cabin and went to some other place, so his claim to citizenship is not valid. John Haworth, as early as 1818, was living in Tennessee, but had become so distressed with the institutions of the south that he could no longer endure life there. He lived in Union County, so he came to the little Vermilion river in the fall of 1820. Here he found the cabin deserted by Malsby and took possession of it and wintered in it. George Bocke, a son-in-law to Achilles Morgan, had a claim on the cabin, but Mr. Haworth bought it. John Haworth's cousin James later came to Georgetown. John Haworth's neighbors were Henry Johnson and Absolom Starr, off a few miles northwest; Mr. Squires and Thomas Curtis at Yankee Point, three miles east ; John Mills, Simon Cox and Dickson to the west, with Henry Canaday near by.

Mr. Haworth entered several hundred acres of land but he did not do this as a speculation. Indeed he was ready to sell it whenever he could find any one who would make a desirable citizen, and he would sell it cheap and on time if so desired. John Haworth's name has gone into history as a man well being called a Christian gentleman. He was the father of eight children. His uncle, a man of much worth, soon joined this settlement, and, together with Henry Canaday, established the strong Society of Friends in Vermilion County who were so great a factor in its development.

Achilles Morgan

One of the men who made an impress on the affairs of the county was Achilles Morgan, who came to this section in about 1825 or 6. He was accompanied with one at least of his daughters and her husband. They came from Virginia where they as a family were great Indian fighters. Mr. Morgan located on section 15 and was from the first recognized as a leading man in affairs of the county. He was one of the first County Commissioners, who, together with John B. Alexander and James Butler, organized and set to going the machinery of Vermilion County. The neighborhood in which he lived was called Morgans and is perhaps the place platted and on record as Morgantown.

Henry Martin

Henry Martin came to this section with his father-in-law, Achilles Morgan. After going to Brooks' Point settled near Georgetown at a place afterward called Morgans. Some claim this family went first to Butler's Point and some even say they stopped at the salt works. Henry Martin was born in Maryland in 1786 and moved with his parents to Virginia, where he afterward married Mary Morgan, a daughter of Achilles Morgan. He served one year in the war of 1812 and later moved to Illinois, making permanent settlement in the unorganized territory attached to Edgar County. He enlisted under his father-in-law in 1826 at the time of the Winnebago war and followed the lead of Gurdon Hubbard to protect Fort Dearborn from the Indians of the northwest. Henry Martin lived on the farm near Georgetown until his death, September 5, 1851.

Henry Martin was the father of a large family, one of his sons being a well known preacher. Rawley Martin came with his father from Virginia, a boy of four or five years, who had a life of usefulness in the country of his adoption. He showed wonderful energy and perseverance, for, although there were no schools for him to attend, he acquired a very liberal education. He had a very ambitious mother who was well educated, and through her influence he early became familiar with the contents of all the books possible to obtain, principal among which was the Bible. Indeed, he became so familiar with this book that he could repeat it almost verbatim. He early united with the Christian church, and in time was ordained preacher of this denomination. He continued in this work for more than twenty-five years. During this time he organized many churches in the county, baptized more than three thousand people, doing much to strengthen the cause of his chosen faith. He was a superior teacher of the scrip^ tures, was unyielding and uncompromising in his religious convictions. He was an able and earnest defender of the faith. During the war of the rebellion he publicly denounced the right of secession and upheld the cause of the preservation of the Union. He filled two terms as County Treasurer, the expression of a patriotic people of confidence in the man. Rawley Martin was the father of two children, one of them being Achilles Martin and the other, Mrs. George Dillon.

James Hoag And Samuel Munnel Robert Cotton

Robert Cotton came to this section in the fall of 1822. He was born in the vicinity of Beardstown, Kentucky, and there grew to manhood and married Han- nah Howard, who was born in the same place. They were the parents of two children before they left their native state to go to Switzerland County, Indiana. Thence they went to Decatur County in the same state and, once more moving, they came to what is now Vermilion County, Illinois. In many respects both Robert Cotton and his son Henry showed their Puritan ancestry, they being descended from John Cotton of Massachusetts. Robert Cotton lived but two years after coming to this section, dying while yet a young man in 1824. He left seven children. Henry Cotton, the son of Robert Cotton, was the next to the youngest of the children of Robert Cotton. He grew up amid wild scenes of pioneer life. The wild beasts abounded, deer were plentiful, and the wolves howled about the cabin door at night. The education of the Cotton children was had in a log cabin school-house with puncheon floors, the window panes of greased paper and the only means of heating being a long fireplace, across one end of the room. The school term was but a few months in the winter, and the requirements of the teacher were but that he could read, write and cipher. Henry Cotton liked to go to school and when he was twenty-two years old he had acquired enough information to tempt him to, in turn, be teacher. He taught school for two or three years, during the winters. During the time he was teaching school, Henry Cotton was married to a Miss Getty of Pennsylvania. During the summer months Henry Cotton would follow the life of the flatboat man. He made eighteen trips to and from New Orleans in this way. It was upon one of these trips that he met Miss Getty and soon afterward was married. They lived in Vincennes for eight years and then came to Danville township, and was on his way to prosperity. He was working at the carpenter's trade while not on the river. Soon the war of the rebellion broke out, however, and Mr. Cotton enlisted in service, joining the I25th Illinois Infantry. A year later he was obliged to accept an honorable discharge on account of ill health. He left the country for other locations after this and did not return until 1882 when he came to Westville and became a merchant. He made his home here, serving as postmaster three years during the term of office of Pres. Arthur, and was justice of the peace for several years.

Steven Dukes

Steven Dukes was born in Virginia and his wife, Rachel (Lewis) Dukes, was a native of Tennessee. They came to Brooks' Point in 1822. Brooks' Point was just east of Westville about where Kelleyville is now located. Their eldest son was born at that place January 25, 1828.

Asa Elliott

Asa Elliott, who was one of the most prominent men of the county in its earliest life, came to Butler's Point to make his new home in 1822. He was one of the second Board of Commissioners of Vermilion County, and was the first justice of the peace. He was a good business man and very successful. His home, at which the court was held just before the county seat was located at Danville, was about a quarter of a mile from the west line of Catlin village. He had a log house at first but built a better one. He lived here all his life and

John Mills

John Mills came to this part of Illinois in 1822, bringing his family with him. He settled in the northwest quarter of section 23, range 12, township 17, after a journey attended with many difficulties. He was a native of North Carolina and moved to Ross Creek, East Tennessee, before the war of 1812. He was one of the men who belonged to the Society of Friends in Tennessee and left to get away from the institution of the South which was very objectionable to him. Henry Canaday and John Haworth had both preceeded him. He came in company with George Haworth. Along their route there were various swamps, and when four or five miles south of Quaker Point, their destination, they found themselves unable to go further. There were a half dozen girls in the party of neighbors who had made the trip together, and they started off on foot. Taking the teams from the wagons, which they abandoned, for the present at least, the men, women and little children came on as best they might. If the way was too difficult for the horses to draw the wagons, it could not be in very good condition for walking. They reached John Haworth's by dark, however, very glad to find their journey at an end, since he lived near Quaker Point just within the limits of present day Vermilion County. Later, the travelers managed to get their wagons free of the deep mud and taken on their way. John Mills settled among the Indians and wild animals and entered four and onefourth sections of land, where he put up a round log cabin, with a puncheon floor, a great fireplace in one end of the room, with a stick and clay chimney outside and a clapboard roof. The house contained only one room but there was a loft where the boys slept. The nearest trading point was Terre Haute, and the pioneers went to mill on Sugar Creek, in Parke County, Indiana, with ox teams. Deer were numerous, the settlers being able to kill them almost from their door. The wolves made night dismal with their howling, and the chickens, pigs and sheep, had to be securely housed in order to save them. The woods were full of bee trees and there was an abundance of wild fruit. This section of the country was almost literally a "land flowing with milk and honey," but there was much sickness. The death of Hannah Mills was the first one in the neighborhood. She died in the summer of 1823, and her remains were the first to be buried in what is now Vermilion Grove Cemetery. Mr. James Haworth, who accompanied John Mills to Illinois and settled near him, was the father of eleven children, most of whom lived to maturity and did their part in molding the affairs of Vermilion County.

Alexander Mcdonald

Alexander McDonald, a pioneer of Vermilion County, Illinois, was a native of Tennessee, where he was born in 1796. He, in company with John B. Alexander and his family, one of whom he had married, came to Illinois in the year

1820. He located near Paris, where he remained two years, and in 1822 he moved to the Little Vermilion timber, and made a farm about three miles west of where Georgetown now is. His neighbors were mostly Indians, bears, panthers, wild cats, and other wild creatures, of which the woods were full. Among the earliest recollections of the writer of this sketch are accounts of the child-like crying of panthers, told by the first settlers in this wilderness. There was no Georgetown, no Vermilion County, no Danville, no Chicago, then. It is hard for a citizen of Vermilion County, of sixty years of age, to believe that only a few years before his birth, Illinois was such a wilderness. Such it was for many years after Alexander McDonald commenced making his farm. At that time Edgar County reached almost to the northern border of the state. In 1826, the land attached to Edgar County on the north was made into a new county, and named Vermilion. The south part of the state was settled first and mostly by people from the southern states. On his farm on the border of civilization, Mr. McDonald lived with his wife, Catherine Alexander McDonald, who came into this world in the year 1800, and on it they raised ten children, six daughters and four sons, all of such character that their acquaintances were glad to point to them as their friends. Mr. McDonald was justice of the peace, whether by appointment or by election, I do not know. He was also postmaster. The duties of both offices were performed at his residence. The first Cumberland Presbyterian church in the county, was organized at his home and in it, the congregation held all services for a long time, and, until a meeting house was built on his land. He was an elder in the church until his death in 1861.

Uncle Alex McDonald was an old fashioned Democrat. Accepting the principles of the Declaration of Independence as to the inalienable rights of men in their true spirit, he could not remain contented in a slave state. He was among the first insurgents in the Democratic party, when it attempted to extend slavery. He claimed no advantage of birth, condition or position. The passport to his confidence was merit. He had sympathy and hospitality for all. I lived, when a boy, in his house for some time. I never saw, or heard of an applicant for a meal or a night's lodging, being turned away. All were supplied without money and without price. I can truly apply the following lines to him :

"A man he was to all the country dear, Remote from towns he ran his godly race Unskillful he, to fawn or seek for power Far other aims his heart had learned to prize. More bent to raise the wretched than to rise His house was known to all the vagrant train, He chid their wanderings, but relieved their pain. The ruined spendthrift now no longer proud, Claimed kindred there and had his claim allowed."

The wives of the pioneers deserve equal honors with their husbands, if not greater. They endured, and shared all the hardships incident to a new country and suffered its privations and by their womanly nature softened the manners of the people. Catherine, wife of Alexander McDonald, when scarcely more than a young girl, left society and many cultured friends among whom she was raised, and came into the wilderness where she endured privations unknown to women of this year 1910. She was a helpmeet, indeed. With no servant, she, with handspinning wheel, hand loom, scissors, and needle made all the clothing for the family, and over, and around an open fire, she cooked the food they and their guests ate. I can truthfully say that Aunt Catherine never spoke a cross word to, nor a complaining word of, any person. I feel sure that of her, as Jesus said of little children, could be said, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." She lived to be eighty-one years old and died in Danville in the home of her son, Milton, and was buried by the side of her husband in the Weaver graveyard, about one mile south of the house where they raised their family.

John Leneve

John LeNeve, a young man of twenty, came to what is now Newell township in 1823. His birthplace was Tennessee, whence he came with his parents to Illinois when he was but a lad and they settled in what is now Lawrence County, on the Ellison Prairie directly west of Vincennes. He had a brother, Obadiah, who in 1822 took a journey into the newer country looking for a location. This journey took Obadiah LeNeve from Vincennes to St. Louis, and thence into northeast Missouri, and on his homeward trip through a circuit in northern Illinois. Coming into the section now Newell township of Vermilion County, he took a great fancy to the country and decided upon locating there. Before he left the favored place he took the numbers of the following tracts : W. one-half N. W., one-fourth sec. 23, and E. one-half N. E., one-fourth section 24, town 20 N., range II W., 3rd principal meridian, and after going home there was a sale of land when he bought this particularly desired part. Just before Christmas the two brothers took their belongings, such as would be needed in a new country, as provisions and bedding, and set off for their new home. A third person accompanied them to take the team back. On reaching their destination they cut a few rails and laid up a square, chinking and filling the spaces with pulled grass, and covering one-half of the rude structure with puncheons. The Indians were very friendly and proved themselves honest and, on the whole, not bad neighbors. When they were about at the time the new white settlers were eating, the Indians were invited to share their meal which they did and showed themselves friendly and inclined to treat the newcomers with all kindness. These two brothers spent the winter splitting rails until, when in February they began making prepartion for their return to arrange a permanent removal to this section. They used some of their rails to build a cabin for Ben Butterfield who expected to arrive toward the last of February. He came, as was expected, and the LeNeves went back, to return later, prepared to make a permanent settlement. John Le- Neve married Rebecca Newell, the daughter of the man who was the leader of affairs in that part of the county as long as he lived. Rebecca Newell came with her father from Harrison County, Kentucky, not long after the LeNeves had made this settlement in this particular section.

John LeNeve, it is said, had a limited amount of money, in exact figures being one hundred and thirteen dollars and fifty cents ($113.50) and he invested

$100 of it in timber and prairie land at one dollar and a quarter an acre leaving him thirteen dollars and fifty cents with which to begin fanning. But he could count among his assets a pair of good strong arms and a willing heart to work, so his success was assured. From this modest beginning Mr. LeNeve became a land owner of pretention, and his farm is yet a landmark testifying to his thrift, and industry.

His brother, Obadiah LeNeve, was a man particularly remembered as one of charity and public spirit. He was always kind to the widow and orphan and seemed to feel a responsibility to share with those less well off than he. He never butchered without killing more than enough for himself, so as to give to those not able to buy meat. He was always ready to help any one in distress and was widely known and universally loved. He was born in 1799 and died in 1884. John LeNeve lived on the old homestead all his life and died there. His wife also spent her last days in her own home and died and was buried from the old homestead.

William Mcdowell

William McDowell came to the Little Vermilion in the year 1823 with his four grown sons and two married daughters. He came from Kentucky and settled south of the creek. His sons were John, Archie, James and William, and they were all very much in need of this world's goods. They had come to this new country to try to make a new home under better conditions. The seven years previous to his coming had been spent in Palestine in poverty, but the children were old enough to help in the family and all had concluded to spend the $100 which they had managed to save up that would be enough to enter eighty acres of land. So the eighty acres of land was entered in sections 35 and 36, range 13, and they came here to live with little else other than the strength of the father's hands and the courage of the not overstrong sons. When McDowell arrived at this new home, he built his cabin on a piece of land adjoining what he had bought, thinking he would buy this other piece as soon as possible. One day he learned that another man, Peter Summe, had gone to Palestine to enter that same piece of land. He had not a dollar but he determined if possible to prevent that and to save the land. He started on horseback to ride to Palestine, and spared neither the horse nor himself. Riding all night he reached there before business hours and went directly to the house of the register, who was a friend of his, and told him the trouble. The register, to help him out, made the papers out trusting him for sixty days. This act would have cost him his place had it been known, because Peter Summe was there with the gold in his hand. McDowell came back happy, but it cost him dearly, since the worry over getting the hundred dollars inside of the two months (he had to sell some of his land to do this) threw him into a fever from which he died. Several members of his family died at about the same time. The death of his father compelled John McDowell to care for the family and work out his fortune as best he could. He had no money, but he was plucky and worked for whomever needed him, for whatever wage he could get, all the time determined to win out, which he did. A few years later he split rails to pay for the land he lived on and, in time, he bought and paid 'for eleven bun- dred and fifty acres of land, the most of which he gave to his children, living all the remainder of his life on the land which his father made that night's ride to Palestine to buy on credit.

Aaron Mendenhall

Aaron Mendenhall was born in Guilford, North Carolina, near the scene of the battle of the Guilford Court House. Soon after the opening of the Ohio Territory, his father brought the family to this new territory and was killed while on his way, by Indians. At this time Aaron Mendenhall was a small child. He grew to manhood in Ohio and in 1824 he, with his family, following in the footsteps of his father, started for a new country. They came to the Little Vermilion and entered two hundred and forty acres of land which is now in the farm of Silas Baird. This land was entered while yet Illinois was a wilderness, at least excepting in certain localities in the southern part. Like other pioneers this family endured hardships and privations incident to such a life. They were, however, brave and stout hearted and made successful battle in subduing the wild land and making it blossom. Thrifty and industrious, they taught their children to work and developed them physically and morally at the same time. Politically, Mr. Mendenhall was, as his son said, "a whig, morning, noon and afternoon," as long as that party was in power. He looked upon Henry Clay as one of America's greatest statesmen, and so taught his children to do. Later they were as staunch Republicans. His children who lived to maturity lived about him, and in this neighborhood of friends were most consistent members of that society.

Cyrus Douglas

Cyrus Douglas was one of the few early citizens of Vermilion County who was a native of any place above the Mason and Dixon line. Mr. Douglas was born in Vermont and came to Butler's Point in 1824. Whether he was an old friend of James Butler there is no record nor if he even knew Mr. Butler previous to his coming to this place. The fact that they came from the same state when so few people from that part of the country were drawn to this section, is suggestive, but may have been but a coincidence.

Mr. Douglas was a hatter by trade in New York and brought material with him in emigrating to the west to engage in business in St. Louis. He remained there for a time and then went to Brown County, Indiana. He remained in Indiana for a short time when the report of the promising conditions on the Wabash reached him and he went to Eugene entering some land near there east of Georgetown. The grant to this land was signed by President Monroe. After a while he moved to Butler's Point and it was while he was there that he was married, being the first or perhaps it were better to say, second man married within this section, later known as Vermilion County.

Robert Dickson

Robert Dickson was a native of Maryland, born December 16, 1765, and moved to Kentucky, where he was married in Mason County to Phebe Means.

Some time after their marriage they settled in Lewis County, but later decided to try a new country and came to Illinois in 1824, settling in the southern part of that which was to be Vermilion County. Mrs. Dickson died that year at the age of forty-eight. Mr. Dickson survived her but three years when he died from typhus fever. Politically Mr. Dickson was a Democrat, and as well as his wife, he was a staunch Presbyterian. David Dickson was the sixth son of Mr. Robert Dickson, and came from Kentucky with his parents when he was almost a man grown, he having been born December 13, 1806. When his father died three years later he was at his majority and took a man's part. He bore his part in the development of the county and well deserves to be reckoned among the makers of Vermilion County. His life was one of sobriety and his temperate habits showed in his honorable old age. He was the pioneer stockman and feeder and in all his intercourse with his fellowmen he always had their confidence and esteem. The oldest son of Robert Dickson was a boat builder and when they decided to leave Kentucky he and David built a flatboat and their father bought a keel boat, and they loaded their stock, farming utensils and household goods, together with the family, on these boats, and set sail on the Ohio river for the "promise land."

At Louisville, however, they were obliged to abandon their boats and unloading the stock, which consisted of oxen, horses and cows, and make their way overland to their destination. The two boys who had built the boat, and another older brother, pushed the keelboat up the Wabash river and unloaded its contents a little way above Newport, Indiana, at Coleman's Prairie, thence they hauled their property to their destination, which was the land their father had entered from the government when he came the year before. When David Dickson was twenty-three years old he married Miss Margaret Waters, who had but a year previous to this time come with her father from Bourbon County, Kentucky. Mr. Dickson loved to describe this section as it looked to him when he first saw it. It was, according to his description, exceedingly beautiful, diversified with prairie and timber, the meadows and marshes thriving with a luxuriant growth of prairie grass and wild flowers. Wild animals of many kinds abounded, while poisonous reptiles, the rattlesnake, blue racer, black and garter snake, kept the traveler on the close lookout. There were also great quantities of wild birds, geese, ducks and pheasants, besides turkeys and pigeons. The people of that time and place were noted for their hospitality, and the community of interest which led them at all times to be regardful of each other's welfare. After the death of Robert Dickson each of the boys started out for himself. While all were bright and energetic, David was, perhaps, most successful. He began entering land and in time found himself the owner of 1,400 acres which he had to a large extent put into a good state of cultivation. Much of this land was obtained on a Mexican warrant. Before he was married he worked at one time at the salt works. He walked to Fort Clark (now Peoria) in 1827, just after his father died on his way to Galena to work in the lead mines. He carried his clothes and provisions in a knapsack. There he had the vessel which was fired upon by the Winnebago Indians pointed out to him. He worked for a while in the mines at New Diggings and became acquainted with the founder of Fort Gratiot. In the fall of the year he worked his way down the Mississippi river to St. Louis on a keel boat, then purchased a pony and rode home. Mr. Dickson made his first trip to the little town of Chicago in 1832, taking a load of produce drawn by oxen. Later he began feeding cattle and was the first man to engage in this industry on the Little Vermilion river. In 1844 he drove 100 head of hogs to Chicago and in the years immediately following, he shipped several herds in this way to Philadelphia and New York City. Mr. Dickson was a Democrat in his political faith all his life.

John Snider

John Snider, with his wife and three small children, came from Ohio on horseback to what is now Blount township of Vermilion County, in 1824, and built his home in the forest. He entered a quarter section of land and built a log house. The Indians made sugar and held their meetings near the cabin of John Snider. It was a strange place to try to build a home ; the entire country was full of sloughs and ponds. However, John Snider lived to see a great change in the country. He helped fell the trees and clear the land and assisted in organizing the township. A debt of gratitude is surely laid on this generation to him and others like him who have been pioneers in the development of Vermilion County. John Snider was born in 1797, and died November 12, 1849. His wife, who was the daughter of Charles Blount, the man for whom the township was named, survived her husband for several years, she living until in the seventies.

Dk. Asa Palmer

Dr. Asa Palmer was a native of Connecticut, who was born at Coventry in 1786. He became a resident of Vermont in his boyhood days, and later lived in the Black River country of New York. Subsequently he became a resident of Moscow, where both his parents died. While living in New York state, Dr. Palmer studied medicine and practiced a little. He was married while living in New York state. He made a trip to the west in search of a location, and came here to live in 1824. His first trip was made on horseback, but when he came to locate, the journey was made by boat, going first to Pittsburg and then down the Ohio river and up the Wabash river. His destination was the Vermilion river country but at that time there was no Danville to attract him, not even so small a settlement at this place. Dr. Palmer began his practice in this section and for many miles around the settlements from the Little Vermilion to those north and west of the mouth of the North Fork of the Vermilion River, he rode in his practice. After Danville became the county seat, his home was there and his practice was over a broad territory from that point. Eventually he gave up the practice of medicine and lived retired. In connection with his son he established the first drug store in Danville. He was a leading and influential citizen of this section from the time he came in 1824 to his death in 1861. Dr. Palmer was married three times, his third wife being Adelia Hawkins and one of the honored pioneers of Vermilion County. Dr. Palmer was one of the original members of

Hezekiah Cunningham

Hezekiah Cunningham, who was a prominent citizen of Danville at an early day, was born in Virginia, whence he came in 1819. He was accompanied by his mother and with them were the Murphy family. They came in wagons, it taking them seven weeks to make their trip to the North Arm in Douglas county. At that time there were but ten families in .that part of the country. In 1825 Mr. Cunningham came to Vermilion County, following Mr. J. B. Alexander, and married his daughter, Mary. Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham were the parents of five children, two of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. These were Mr. W. T. Cunningham, who was well and favorably known and the daughter, who became the wife of Judge O. L. Davis. In 1828 Mr. Cunningham moved to Danville where he lived the remainder of his life. While a resident of Danville he was interested in all affairs for the advancement of the town. His name is written frequently in the history of the county. He built the storehouse which had a hall in the upper story where meetings of all kinds were held. He was a merchant for many years. Mr. Cunningham, together with his brother-in-law, Mr. J. H. Murphy, were men of public spirit and to them there is much of the prosperity of Danville in its growing years due.

Eli Henderson

Mr. Eli Henderson came to the country about the Little Vermilion in 1824 and brought his son, Elam, a boy of about fourteen, with him. Mr. Eli Henderson lived in this community until his death in 1833. Soon after the death of his father, Elam Henderson married Mary Golden and they moved to Georgetown township, where they accumulated a large property.

Mr. Henderson was elected to the office of County Commissioner in 1836. After filling this office three years, he was elected associate justice. He kept this office about nine years or until the county went under township organization. Mr. Henderson became a merchant in 1853 and continued in that business for more than twenty years. With the exception of two years he was supervisor of his township from 1857 to 1873. Mr. Henderson was an old line whig up to the dissolution of that party after which he was a staunch republican. He was connected with the Society of Friends, as was his father before him.

John Brown Alexander

It was while yet the present United States were the colonies of Great Britain that a ship crossed the Atlantic, having on board a man who was to be a strong factor in the making of Illinois. This man was John B. Alexander. On board the same vessel was another young man who, too was seeking a home beyond the sea whose posterity was destined to be a conspicuous part of the history of this section. Beside these two mien there was a family whose acquaintance they made on the passage. The family consisted of at least two daughters and a son of a Scotchman by the name of King. The acquaintance which might have been of longer standing than the weeks on shipboard, and might not, ripened into ardent affection on the part of young Alexander and McDonald toward the daughters of Mr. King. The result of this or rather these romances was that both the young men, Alexander and McDonald, married his daughters. Mr. King and both John B. Alexander and Donald McDonald, located in Tennessee and there remained for some time.

In due course of time, Donald McDonald's son, Alexander McDonald, together with J. B. Alexander's son, came to the then new state of Illinois. Since the wife of Alexander McDonald, was Catherine Alexander (the daughter of Mr. Alexander) and his son as well were seeking homes in the new country, the father came with them. Mr. McDonald and his wife came on to the attached part of Edgar County, soon after reaching Illinois, and located in the neighborhood of the Little Vermilion, but Mr. Alexander and his son located in Edgar County, at Paris. There they remained until the new county of Vermilion was formed when Mr. Alexander came to that territory and had much to do in putting the machinery of the new county in working order.

Mr. Alexander was a man particularly fitted to do this work, and it is a fortunate thing that he was willing to cast his lot with the fortunes of the new county. He was the first commissioner and it was through his influence doubtless that Amos Williams was brought here from Edgar County. Mr. Alexander did not come into this wilderness without a sacrifice. His was of a nature that could find expression in intercourse with men. He was a well read man and could give as well as find pleasure among men of letters. His library was a wonder, and his manners were far from those of the pioneer. A memory of his granddaughter that she cherishes with fondness is, when she was a girl of perhaps nine he took the trouble to take into his private room and unlocking the desk, unwrapped a book which he showed her, telling her that it was the first book he procured for her father, Gen. M. R. Alexander. Then he carefully wrapped it up and put it away in the desk which he locked. Mrs. McMillen, his granddaughter, goes on to say, Grandfather told me of his young manhood, he was but a boy when he saw his future wife on ship board, near Charlotte, N. C. How on one occasion riding through the British camp on his way with a sack of corn on his horse going to mill to have it ground. He also told me what an exciting time they had when the whole community assembled in Charlotte to sign and ratify the Declaration of Independence in May, 1775. I said, "Grandpa, were you a democrat then?" Throwing his hands on his breast he said, "Politics, we had no politics, we were patriots." This answer and earnestness impressed me greatly. I thought he was the grandest man I ever had seen.

William Trimbell

William Trimbell came to Vermilion County in 1826, riding on horseback. He was accompanied by his wife who also rode her horse all the way from Kentucky to this county. He was one of the first settlers in what is now Pilot township. He came direct from Kentucky but was born and raised in New Orleans.

Home Of Ends Campbell

He made money in feeding cattle and became possessed of land of value. Mrs. Trimbell long kept the dress she wore on her trip into this county and showed it to her children and grandchildren. It was made of some wool goods which she had spun and woven herself and had dyed a blue color. Mr. and Mrs. Trimbell were the parents of nine children all but two of whom grew to maturity, and had families of their own. Of these children William, the eldest, was the only one not born in this county. Elizabeth became the wife of John Vinson, Sarah became the wife of Gentry Williams, Mary became the wife of George Brown and Harvey Piper married Rebecca, the youngest. John Trimbell married Clara Meade, the daughter of Nathaniel Meade, William Trimbell, Jr., married Zella Outan and Paris Trimbell married a Miss Cook. When William Trimbell took the lone ride from Kentucky, with his wife, who carried their boy on the horse with her the country was rough and unsettled. He entered land, as did all the early settlers near a stream and did not dare go outside the timber to build his house, but stuck to the timber and put the prairie to the apparent natural use as grazing ground for the cattle which brought him great wealth. When his daughter married he gave her a farm on the prairie that her husband could care for the stock. . '

Amos Williams

Amos Williams, one of the most prominent annong the makers of Vermilion County, was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1796. He came to Illinois in ' After going to he settled in Paris where he was clerk of the court and surveyor. It was Amos Williams who surveyed Paris and platted it. When in 1825, the newly organized county of Vermilion was in need of a man to act as clerk, J. B. Alexander was one of the commissioners and much depended upon him to set the machinery going. He knew the ability of this young man and at once took steps to secure his services for Vermilion county. Mr. Alexander had, until quite recently, lived in Paris where his son, at that time, was in business, but his sons-in-law had lived in this part of the attached territory to Edgar County and he had kept in touch with the needs of the territory. He knew not only that it would be a hard matter to get as good a clerk as Amos Williams made, but that there was not the material for such use in this section. The commissioners sent for Mr. Williams to change his residence. Amos Williams consented, and there is a letter in the possession of one of his grandsons written to his mother just before he left Paris, which shows with what serious thought he contemplated the change of location. He also states that he had just married the daughter of Judge Shaw, of Paris. The other daughter of Judge Shaw became the wife of Dan Beckwith, afterward. Mr. Williams, located at Butler's Point, that being the place where the Vermilion County Court was held until a county seat was located. Amos Williams became an active citizen of the county from the first. He assisted in surveying the county, locating the county seat and he built the first house in Danville. He was both clerk of the circuit court and judge of the probate. He was appointed the first postmaster of Danville and also Notary Public. He held all these offices without interruption from the organization of the county until 1843, and some of them, until 1849 - a period of twenty-three years. So faithful was he in his service that many thought there was no other man in the county qualified to do his work. The records need but to be seen to show his proficiency as a scribe. Amos Williams was anxious for all measures which promised the betterment of Vermilion. County. He was most active in advancing education in the county and particularly in Danville. For many years he personally owned the only schoolhouse in Danville, which he had built for that purpose. This building was opened to the use of all denominations as a place of public worship, also for public speaking, lyceums, and all entertainments of an educational or instructive character, and always without charge. Although in public office for so long a time, there was never a charge of incompetency or questionable business methods made. He died November 15, 1857, and was buried in the Williams burying ground. When this burying ground was sold to the city that a street might be extended further east, his remains were removed to Spring Hill Cemetery.

Levi Babb

Levi Babb was born in Green County, Tenn., Dec. 26, 1788. He came to Vermilion County, in October, 1826, and stopped near Yankee Point for a short time. In December of the same year he located on section 14, range n, El wood township. He remained there about three years and a half, entering the west half of the southeast quarter of the section named, where he built the house which not only served him but his son after him for a home. During the time of his early residence in Vermilion County, Mr. Babb entered in all about six hundred acres of land. The Indians had their camping ground about the house he built. There has been much evidence of this particular place being the scene of an Indian battle in the long ago by the many flint arrow heads found on the grounds. There was even a stone axe discovered there at one time.

In the early days of his first coming Levi Babb was obliged to go to Raccoon and Sugar creeks to mill. He endured many hardships and privations as did all the pioneers. He came from Tennessee in a five horse wagon, riding a distance of six hundred and fifty miles. He became a fluent speaker of the language of the native Indian and taught the son of the chief to plow, and in many ways endeared himself to them, and made them his friend forever. He was a tireless worker and in every thing that pertained to his farm he spared no pains to procure the best. He would haul his produce to Chicago and return with salt and groceries. He was offered forty acres of land where Chicago now stands for a yoke of oxen, but he thought the land would never be of any account and so refused the wonderful bargain. Mr. Babb was married twice and was the father of thirteen children. He died March 23, 1872. His first wife was Susannah Dillon, and his second wife who survived him less than a year, was the daughter of Alexander Prevo, a pioneer of Fountain County, Indiana.

William Watson

William Watson was a native of Nelson County, Kentucky, and he went from there to Harrison County, Indiana, thence to Vermilion County, Illinois, in 1826. He bought land and developed a farm, at least was doing what he could, when three years later he died. His son John was not much more than a boy, but boys grew up quickly in those days of responsibility, and John Watson was the same as other boys and early took a man's part. He served in the Black Hawk war and shared all the privation of a pioneer's life. His capital of determination and a pair of good strong arms and willing hands was worth more than money would have been at that time. He entered and bought land until he owned about a thousand acres. His home was about five miles northeast of Danville. He remained on his farm until, in 1873, when at the age of sixty-three, he bought residence property in Danville and made that his home for twenty-five years.

Michael Weaver

Michael Weaver was born in Washington County, Maryland. His father died while yet he was a lad and his mother took him to North Carolina, but he ran away from home with a cattle drover's outfit and he returned to Maryland where his older brothers yet were. From that time he made his way in the world. When he became a man he married Elizabeth Specard. of Hagerstown, and about a year later they moved to Pennsylvania. They later made their way down the Ohio to Kentucky where Mr. Weaver bought a farm and they lived here for three years when they crossed the river into Clermont County, Ohio, and soon afterward went to Brown County in the same state. He remained on that farm for ten years when he put his wife and ten children in a big covered wagon and well supplied with provision and all needed for a new home, they started for Sugar Creek, Indiana. He did not like this location when he reached it, however, and so went on beyond to Vermilion County, Illinois. He settled in what is now Carroll township and entered land which he proceeded to improve. He had to go to Palestine to enter the land. The Weaver family found a cabin which someone else had built, which had two rooms and a kitchen built on. This they made do until they could get something better.

A part of Mr. Weaver's family was his son-in-law and his family. They arrived here November 12, 1828. Mr. Weaver was a man of a high sense of honor and justice. He would never accept more than six per cent interest for money loaned, nor would charge or take more than twenty-five cents for a bushel of corn. He declared that was all it cost to raise it. He was very benevolent and always had his house open for any one. Nothing pleased him more than to help those who tried to help themselves. Mr. Weaver lived to be more than one hundred years old and in his old age he was a man of great wealth. He was the father of seven children who married into the families of the prominent settlers and settled in the neighborhood so that many in that part of the county are direct descendants.

Abel Williams

Abel Williams came into this county in 1826, bringing his wife and four children. They came from Tennessee, his father having gone there from North Carolina. He and his wife were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church and when he came here the first thing he did was to build a place of worship. He did it without help from any one until it was almost completed. It was the first house of worship ever built in Carroll township. It was built about a mile southwest of Indianola, and was the center of Methodism for many years and several counties. Mr. Williams was the first advocate of "total abstinence" in Vermilion County. When he first came there was not a man but who drank more or less intoxicating liquor. The church members were no exception. When Abel Williams began to advocate "teetotalism," as it was called, he made many enemies as may be supposed. He lived, however, to see intemperance discounted in the church and public sentiment banish it from the best society.

Abel Williams was the second justice of the peace and held the office twelve years. It was well known that he would not issue papers for law suits until he had exhausted every means of other settlement. His decisions were always sustained by the higher courts. Abel Williams came of Quaker stock.

Samuel Gilbert And Sons, And Solomon Gilbert

The family of Gilberts are well considered together, since all of them were more or less great factors in the making of Vermilion County. Samuel Gilbert, with his family, consisting of his wife and three sons, Alvan, James and Elias, came to Vermilion County from Ontario County, New York, in 1826. They had really come west the previous year but stopped in Crawford County until this time. When they came to Vermilion County they settled two miles south of Danville. There was, at that time, no town in the county containing more than fifty white families. The nearest mill was at Eugene. The great need of this section was a mill and in 1831, Mr. Solomon Gilbert, the brother of Samuel came from the east and put up one at near the mouth of the North Fork of the Big Vermilion. Another brother, Jesse, established a ferry across the Vermilion river, a much needed improvement.

Mr. Samuel Gilbert lived in Danville until 1839, when he went to Ross township and there was made the first justice of the peace. He was also the first postmaster, serving in this office for twenty years. He held the office of justice for ten years. Mr. Gilbert's wife died the year he moved from Danville, and was buried in the Williams' burying ground. Mr. Gilbert afterward married Mrs. Elizabeth (Dougherty) Ferrier, the daughter of one of the early settlers of Vance township. Mr. Samuel Gilbert lived to be seventy-two years old. He died and was buried in the Williams' burying ground.

Alvan Gilbert, the oldest son of Samuel Gilbert, was fifteen years old when he came to Vermilion County. He spent the first years after coming here in the work provided by the many interests of his father and uncles. In 1831 he married Miss Matilda Horr and the following year he went with his father to Ross township, where his father-in-law owned land. Mr. Gilbert bought a small farm of his father-in-law which he afterward enlarged to 240 acres. This farm he afterward sold to his father and brother James, and bought another farm of his uncle Solomon. This later farm included the northern limits of Rossville. He lived her about three years when he again sold and bought another farm of Mr. Leg-gitt which included a part of the southern limits of Rossville. He traded extensively in real estate and personal property, and it has been claimed that during his life he had more deeds recorded than any other man in the county. Mr. Gilbert's first wife died in 1840, leaving two daughters, one of whom afterward married George C. Dickson and the other became the wife of Frederick Grooms. Mr. Alvan Gilbert served as Supervisor of his township for many years, being president of the Board for a part of the time. Upon the adoption of the township organization he was one of the three commissioners appointed to divide the county into townships. He was also one of the three commissioners appointed to divide the swamp lands between this county and Ford, when Vermilion lost that territory. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Lamm represented the old county and Judge Patton, the new one. He had Judge (Guy) Merrill and John Canaday as associates in the act of making the division of the county into townships. The three who divided the swamp lands were about three months in making the division. Mr. Alvan Gilbert's second wife was Nancy (Horr) Elzy.

Samuel Baum

Samuel Baum came to Vermilion County at the same time as his father-inlaw, Michael Weaver, and settled on the Little Vermilion. His brother Charles came nine years later and together they became the founders of the family of that name of whom there have been many in Vermilion County. Samuel married Sarah, the daughter of Michael Weaver, while they were in Ohio and had a family of two children when he came west. After coming to Illinois there were six more children born to them. Sarah (Weaver) Baum died and Samuel Baum married Mrs. Polly Matkins, the widow of William Matkins, and they became the parents of four children. Samuel Baum was a large, powerful man, six feet one inch in height, and weighed three hundred pounds. He was jovial and good hearted, always a good tempered man. He took the first produce he raised in Vermilion County to Chicago, driving five yoke of oxen. His sole possession when he came to Illinois was a horse, a bridle and a saddle, and at the time of his death in 1861 he was the owner of 1,500 acres of well cultivated land, besides personal property. He belonged to the Republican party and died at the age of fifty-six. His brother, Charles Baum, who came to this county some years after took up 1 60 acres of land from the government, and made later purchases until, at one time, he owned 1,660 acres, besides the 200 acres that was the gift to his wife from her father. Charles Baum was married three years after coming to Vermilion County to Miss Catherine Weaver, who was the fourth daughter and sixth child of Michael Weaver. Mrs. Baum was born in Clermont County, Ohio, and came to Illinois at the same time as her father, she being but eight years old at the time. Mr. Baum lived on his home farm which his wife's father gave her.

John Larrance

John Larrance was a native of North Carolina, but he came to the Little Vermilion directly from Tennessee in 1827. He had his choice of almost the whole of Vermilion County at that time and he made a good one. He entered 240 acres of land, paying the government price, and thereon built a cabin made of round logs. It had but one room and was not at all luxurious. The floor was logs split in two with the flat side up, a clapboard roof and doors of the same material. They lived happily for one year in this house and were determined to make a comfortable home of it in spite of inconveniences. For nine years Mr. Larrance's wife cooked all the meals on the fireplace, using a long handled skillet and a brick bake oven. At the end of that time he went to Chicago for some purpose and brought back a cook stove. This was the first one in the neighborhood, and was a great curiosity. The maiden name of Mrs. Larrance was Ruth Mills, she being the daughter of John Mills. She was the mother of nine children.

Mr. Larrance's oldest son was nearly ten years old when they came from Tennessee, and he soon grew to take his place in the affairs of the county. His education in books was had in the old school-house with greased paper for windows, stick and clay chimney, slab benches and wall desks, of the pioneer days of Illinois. The school course was limited to two or three months in the winter. Moses Larrance married Nancy, the daughter of Aaron Mendenhall. Mr. Mendenhall had been living in this part of Vermilion County for three years when Mr. Larrance came from the same place in Tennessee. Mr. Mendenhall owned the same farm that Silas Baird later purchased. Mr. Moses Larrance was the father of thirteen children, who have married among the children of the early settlers until they are related to many. He and his household have, as had his father before him, been strong supporters of the Society of Friends.

William Current

William Current came to Vermilion County in 1827 and settled five miles northeast of Danville in Newell township. He was a man of twenty-four and his wife, hardly more than a girl, being but twenty, yet having been married five or six years. They came from Pennsylvania and endured the common trials of pioneer life. Mr. Current secured a good tract of land and built up a fine homestead. The family came in time to experience the suffering of the winter of the deep snow. Mr. Current volunteered in the Black Hawk war and served until discharged with the other troops. William Current was the father of thirteen children and died in 1851 at the comparative early age of forty-three. His wife survived him, remaining a widow for thirty-three years. She died in 1884.

Andrew Patterson

Andrew Patterson brought his family to Vermilion County in 1827 from East Tennessee. He was a native of Granger County, East Tennessee, as was also his son William who was at that time three years old. Andrew Patterson settled his family at Yankee Point among Indians and wild animals. Like all the pioneers they settled in the timber, thinking the prairie could never be used for anything but grazing.