Will County, Illinois - The whole text, 1878 (part 14 of 29)

The first "schoolhouse was built in 1855, and was a small frame, costing $1,000. James Pierce taught the first sch6ol in it, soon after it was completed. The present elegant schoolhouse was built in 1872, is a substantial two-story frame, with stone basement, and cost, together with furniture, about $10,000, just ten times the amount of the first schoolhouse. Mrs. Sarah Baldwin is Principal of the school ; Miss Swalm, assistant teacher, and Miss Clara Williams is teacher of the Primary Department. It is a flourishing school, ably-managed and well-attended.

The Mokena Advertiser, a spicy little newspaper, was established by Charles A. Jones, in 1874, and was published until May, 1877, when he died, and the paper was discontinued. His brother, however, carries on a job office in the old Advertiser office.

The village is not incorporated, though containing about six hundred inhabitants. Several efforts have been made to incorporate it, but have always been defeated, and so it still exists under township organization. The business of Mokena may be summarized as follows : Five general stores, two hardware stores, two drug stores, two blacksmith-shops, two wagon-shops, two harnessshops, three hotels, one furniture store, three millinery stores, two butchershops, and seven lager-beer saloons, grain buyers, etc. There are two physicians - Drs. Alexander and Joy. A large majority of the citizens are Germans ; are honest, industrious and enterprising citizens, quietly moving on in their own easy way, without interfering in the business of others.

The Mokena Methodist Church was built in 1868, but the society was organized several years before, in the schoolhouse. The present Pastor is Rev. Richard Gillespie, and the membership of the Church is rather small. The building is occupied every alternate Sabbath by the Baptists, who have quite a prosperous society, with Rev. J. B. Dibell as Pastor. He has been in charge of the Baptist congregation since 1851, except two years. A large and flourishing Union Sunday School of these denominations is carried on under the superintendence of Deacon Rollin Marshall.

The German Lutheran Church was built in 1859, and is a substantial frame building, which cost about $1,500. It was built under the pastorate of Rev. Charles Myer. The present minister is Rev. Charles Schwaub, and the society numbers seventy-two members. The Church supports an interesting Sunday school, with E. Oswald as Superintendent.

St. Mary's German Catholic Church was built in 1864, under the ministerial labors of Father Fasbanter, and cost $1,400. About thirty families worship at its altar, under the spiritual guidance of Father Francis Sixen, present Pastor of the congregation. A good Sunday school is usually maintained, though it is having a kind of recess at present.

This embraces about all of the historical facts pertaining to the village of Mokena, which is a neat and tasty little town, though it does not present the appearance of a place that is improving and building up very rapidly.

The village of Frankfort was named for the township, and the township was named for Frankfort-on-the Main, as already noticed. Frankfort village is situated on the Joliet cut-ofi' of the Michigan Central Railroad, about twelve miles from Joliet, and was laid out in 1855 - the same year the cut-off railroad was built through the township. It was laid out by S. W. Bowen, who owned eighty acres of land embraced in the village. The first store was kept by a man named Higley, a very small affair (the store - not Higley), and did not continue long. The next store - and the first really deserving the name - was opened by N. A. Carpenter in the Spring of 1855, who also put up the first building designed for a storehouse. The first hotel was built by a man named Doud in the Summer of 1855, and still does duty as a hostelry under the supervision of J. R. Letts. The post oflBce in the village was kept by Carpen- ter, as deputy under Van Home, who was mentioned in the township history as accepting the Chelsea post oflSce from L. M. Clayes. After its removal to this place, the name of the oiBce was changed to Frankfort. Van Home remained Postmaster for three years, but the duties of the office were performed by Mr. Carpenter, and after the expiration of the three years, William B. Cleveland became Postmaster. At present, Lewis Claus opens the mail-bags and distributes the contents to his patrons. Nicholas Fortmiller kept the first blacksmith-shop, in 1855, and is now a farmer in Greengarden Township.

The first grain bought at this place was by N. A. Carpenter, who bought for J. L. Hurd & Co., of Detroit. They built the first grain elevator, in 1856, which was burnt in February, 1878. John McDonald was the next buyer, and is still in the business, a prosperous grain merchant. He bought, for a number of years, from wagons, and loaded in the cars. In 1878, he built his elevator, one of the best in the county, and which cost between |6,000 and $7,000. It has a capacity of about twenty-five thousand bushels, and is supplied with steam-power. McDonald has a large trade in grain, and ships altogether East, over the " cut-off" railroad. The Frankfort Elevator was built in December, 1875, by Carroll & Mayer, and at present is owned and operated by D. W. Hunter. It cost about $8,000, and has a capacity of 42,000 bushels ; is supplied with steam-power - Chase's patent. There are from ten to twelve hundred car-loads of grain (corn and oats) handled by this elevator annually, all of which is shipped directly East. The business of Frankfort consists of four general stores, viz.: L. & J. S. Claus, B. Baumgartner, Jacob Mueller and B. Balchowsky ; A. B. Barker, drug store ; T. Herschbach, hardware and stoves ; two hotels, Curtis Williams and J. R. Letts ; Stevens Brothers, manufacturers of plows, wagons and agricultural implements, with butchers-shops, blacksmith and wagon shops, harness-shops, millinery-shops and several lager-beer saloons. Dr. Haas is the only practicing physician since the retiremenc of Dr. Holden.

The first schoolhouse in the village was built in 1856, and is now used as a dwelling-house. Josiah Carpenter taught the first school after its erection. The first school in the village, however, was taught by Miss Lizzie Kent before the building of the schoolhouse. The present handsome and well-designed schoolhouse was built in 1870 ; is a two-story frame, and cost about $5,000. The Principal of the school at present is Prof 0. P. Blatchly, with Miss Raver as assistant teacher, and an average attendance of about one hundred and fifty pupils. The Methodist Church was built in 1856, and was the first church edifice in both the village and the township. The society was originally organized in the "log schoolhouse," one mile east of the village, and grew out of the society formed at Doty's, as elsewhere mentioned. The building is a frame, cost about $2,000, and the present Pastor is Rev. George K. Hoover. A Sunday school is maintained, of which John Sinclair is Superintendent. The Baptist Church was built in 1863, a frame building, costing $1,600. Rev. David Letts was the first Pastor, and lives now in Iowa, Rev. Stephen Bar- terick is the present Pastor, and has a membership of thirty or forty. The society supports a flourishing Sunday school, of which the Pastor is Superintendent. The German Evangelical Lutheran (United) Church was built in 1868. It is a frame building 30x56 feet, cost $2,000, and has a membership of about forty. Rev. T. Walter is Pastor, who is also Superintendent of the Sunday school, which is attended by from forty to sixty children. Our Christian Neighbor is a small religious paper, published monthly in the village, and edited by the Rev. George K. Hoover.

The Frankfort Germania Saengerbund is a society devoted to musical culture, and controlled by a President, Vice President and Board of Directors. It was organized in June, 1875, and incorporated by act of the Legislature. The first Board of Directors were Martin Muff, Jacob Mueller, Charles F. Bauman and George Fink, and the present Board are M. Muff, C. Kuerschner, C. F.

Vice President, and Ludwig, Roehler, Teacher. They have an excellent hall, which cost $1,200, and three acres of ground in the beautiful grove north of the village, which cost $265. The society numbers twenty-five members, is in a flourishing state, and the next annual meeting of the Will County Saengerbund will be held in their hall, in the village of Frankfort. The fee of membership is $2, and 50 cents a month, dues. It is a source of much interest to the German citizens, who comprise a large majority of the population of the place.

The oldest citizens of the village still surviving are : N. A. Carpenter, A. B. Barker and Mr. Ruggles. Henry Dressier is the oldest German citizen of the place.

The classical land of Homer - the site of the famous " Yankee Settlement," and peopled from the old and refined States of the Union, is one of the finest townships of Will County. About three-fourths of it is fine rolling prairie, as rich and productive as the sun shines on in his daily journey, while the remaining fourth is covered, or was at the time of its settlement, with excellent timber, mostly white oak. It is bounded on the north and east by Cook County, on the south by New.Lenox Township and on the west by Lockport, with a population, in 1870, of 1,280 inhabitants. No railroads cross its borders, nor are any large villages or towns located within its limits, but it is a thoroughly farming district and still maintains its reputation of Yankee thrift and intelligence. It is described as Township 36 north, Range 11 east of the Third Principal Meridian.

The first settlements in Homer Township was before the Sac war, during which period some of the settlers fled with their families to the Wabash settlements and others to Fort Dearborn at Chicago, but returned to the settlements and joined Sisson's company in the blockhouse so often referred to in these pages. The following names were among those belonging to Capt. Sisson a

-company in the blockhouse during the Indian war : Benjamin Butterfield, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Glover, John McMahon, Joseph Johnson, James Ritchey, Edward Poor, Joseph and James Cox, John Helm, Salmon Groodenow, Joseph McCune, Selah Lanfear, Peter Polly, David and Alva Crandall. Of these, Joseph Johnson and his two sons are supposed to be the first settlers in Homer Township. They were from Ohio, and came in the Fall of 1830, and were in the town during the Winter of the deep snow, and suffered all the hardships of that dreary Winter. The elder Johnson died in the Summer of 1846. James Ritchey came from Ohio, and settled here in the Spring of 1831. He made a trip through the country in November of 1830 and selected his location, and moved out in the following Spring. During his first trip to the country, in the Fall of 1830, he says, as he wandered through dismal swamps, dark forests and lonely prairies, he for the first time in a long trip wished himself safe back at home. He made his claim on Section 9, where he has lived «ver since, but has recently sold out to his son-in-law, with whom he at present lives. Mr. Ritchey is in good bodily health, but has been almost blind for a number of years. Edward Poor was a North Carolinian, but had lived for years in Tennessee, and came here from Indiana in the Spring of 1831, and is yet living in New Lenox Township. He served in the war of 1812, also in the Black Hawk war, and is now about 84 years of age. Joseph and James Cox came from Indiana in 1831, but whether that was their native State or not we are unable to say. John McMahon is the first who settled in what was termed Gooding's Grove. He made a claim there and sold it to Gooding, upon his arrival in 1832. McMahon came from Indiana, but was originally from Ohio, and was here during the Indian war. Salmon Goodenow was from Ohio, but had lived some time in Indiana before settling in this township in 1882. Joseph McCune was his brother-in-law, and after the war was over, returned to Indiana, where he remained for a time and then came back and settled in what was called Jackson's Grove. Goodenow moved down about Reed's Grove, where, it is said, he got tired of life and finally cut his own throat. John Helm came from Indiana and settled in Gooding's Grove in 1832. He went to Indiana during the war, and when it was over, came back to the Grove and found James Gooding on his claim, and sold it to him for flO, and shook the dust of Yankee Settlement from ofi" his feet. Benjamin Butterfield, who lived on the place afterward occupied by Jireh Rowley, and which Rowley bought from him on his arrival in the country, was an Eastern man, but had been living some time in Indiana before removing to Homer. He is noticed in Lockport, also, and as removing to Iowa, where he was living when last heard from. Peter Polly and a younger brother were in the fort, and came from Indiana in the Summer of 1832. Selah Lanfear was from New York, and came to the settlement in 1832. He is said to have first settled in Lockport Township. Yankee Settlement extended to tlte river in Lockport Township, and it is a rather difficult task sometimes to keep all on their respective sides of the fence. David and Alva Crandall were from

New York, and came to the settlement in 1832. Both were in the fort, and Alva was Orderly Sergeant of Capt. Sisson's company, while David was a private in the same command. John Blackstone, or Judge Blackstone, who settled at Ha(i^Iey Post Office, was First Lieutenant of this military company, while John Kay, a brother-in-law of Blackstoiie's, was Second Lieutenant. They were from Ohio, and married in the Glover family. Thomas Fitzsimons was from New York, and came in 1832. He started to California during the gold excitement of 1849 and 1850, and died before reaching his' destination. Jame& Glover was from Ohio, and settled in the town in 1 831 or 1832. He went to Iowa in 1854, and was alive at the last heard from him. Two others belonged to the military band were of the Homer settlers, viz.. Ashing and McGahan, but of them little could be ascertained. This, so far as can now be ascertained, comprised the settlement of Homer Township, or, as it was then called, Yankee Settlement, at the time of the Black Hawk war, and the names above given were in the blockhouse in 1832, and were members of Capt. Sisson's company. Nearly all of them are gone to join that army of white-robed saints over on the other shore, where the pale-face and the savage do not war with each other, but sit down in peace together in the Father's kingdom. None are known to be alive now except James Ritchey and Edward Poor ; the former is extremely sprightly, except his blindness, for a man of his years, and possesses a most wonderful memory. In fact, his recollections of the time ?pent in the fort are as vivid as though of recent occurrence. Mr. Poor, as stated, lives in New Lenox Township. Several of the others were alive when last heard from, but as they have removed to other States there is no definite information concerning them. Their Captain, Holder Sisson, died but a few months ago, as noticed in the history of Lockport Township.

Luther C. Chamberlain came from New York in 1832, and purchased a claim to eighty acres of land in Homer Township, and a claim to eighty acres of Canal land, then returned to New York, and in January, 1833, came back, bringing his two sons with him. His son, S. S. Chamberlain (now of Lockport), rode an Indian pony through from New York, which his father had purchased at Plainfield on his first trip. Through representations made by Mr. Chamberlain on his return home from his first trip to this section, when he came back in 1833, the following gentlemen came with him to look at the country: Ebenezer Griswold, Warren Hanks (a bachelor at the time), Capt. Rowley and his son J. B. Rowley (the latter still living in Homer), Oscar Hawley (oldest son of Lyman Hawley, and for a number of years clerk of Will County), Abram Snapp (father of Hon. Henry Snapp of Joliet), and Dr. Weeks (the father of Judge Weeks of Joliet). The most of these returned for their families, and came back and settled in this township, of whom were Dr. Weeks, Capt. Rowley and Mr. Snapp ; here they lived, honored and respected citizens to the day of their death. Mr. Chamberlain settled where Rev. Mr. Cowell now lives, and planted the beautiful row of maple-trees that are now the admiration of all who pass that way, and are said to be the first trees planted in Homer Township. He died in May, 1878, at the age of 90 years. S. SChamberlain says he slept in Lociport for the first time on the night of February 27, 1833, and that there is not another man living, so far as his knowledge extends, that can with truth say the same. He remembers to have heard his father and Capt. Rowley remark that the prairies of Homer would never be settled in their life-time, and they would always have it for the range of their own stock, and in four years there was not an "eighty" left vacant. Deacon James Gooding, the father of William, Jasper A. and James Gooding, Jr., was from New York, and came to this township and settled in Gooding's Grove in 1832. He was 60 years of age when he came to the settlement, and lived at the Grove bearing his name until his death. His son, William Gooding, who is mentioned in the history of Lockport Township, planted a nursery and cultivated an extensive orchard here, perhaps the first eflbrt at fruit-growing in the township, or even in Will County. Benjamin Weaver came from New York in the Fall of 1833, and died in 1870, at the advanced age of 90 years. John Lane was also from New York, and came to the settlement in 1833. He was the inventor of the first steel breaking-plow ever used in Northern Illinois or in th(! Western country. He has been dead many years. Frederick and Addison Collins were from New York State, and were brothers. Addison was a lawyer by profession, and had practiced for a time in Rochester before removing West. He went to the Legislature from this county, and it is said that it was through him that Gov. Matteson's little speculation in Canal scrip was discovered. But this is familiar to all our readers, and is withal an unpleasant theme, so we will pass it without further allusion. Addison Collins died in this town in March, 1864. Frederick Collins is still living within a mile or two of where he settled some forty-five years ago, and is still an active man for his time of life.

Jireh Rowley came from Monroe County, N. Y., in 1838, and settled on Section 19, where he lived about three years, when he sold out and entered land on Section 34, where he lived until his death, which occurred in December, 1844, on the place now occupied by his son, A- G. Rowley. Calvin Rowley, another son, came out in 1832, driving a peddler-wagon all the way through from New York. He made a claim, on which he erected a cabin, and in which the family moved upon their arrival. Calvin Rowley now lives in the city of Rockford. Hiram Rowley, another son, lives in Chicago, and J. B. and Phineas K. Rowley, two other sons, live in this township, and are prosperous farmers. The Rowleys bought their claim from Benjamin Butterfield, who had entered the land where 'Squire Rowley now lives. The elder Rowley had married a second wife before leaving New York - a Mrs. Gray, who had several children, and they came West with the Rowley family. There were three daughters and two sons ; one of these sons, Charles M. Gray, is freight agent of the Michigan Southern Railroad, a position he has been in for the past twenty years. The other son, George M. Gray, is agent of the Palace Car Company of Chicago. One of the daughters married S. S. Chamberlain, of Lockport. They came round the lakes on their way here, in an old schooner, and landed at Chicago, when Chicago was not, but a swampy marsh called Chicago, since grown into the recognized metropolis of the Northwest. Their landing at Chicago, and their trip form there to Homer, is graphically described by 'Squire Rowley in an article written about two years ago for the Joliet Sun : " On or about the 17th of July, 1833, the sail-vessel Amaranth, anchored in Lake Michigan, nearly opposite Fort Dearborn (Chicago), after a voyage of three weeks out from Buffalo, N. Y., and having on board about seventyfive souls, and among them was the writer, then a boy about 10 years old. The vessel was relieved of her cargo by means of small boats, and the passengers after being taken on shore, were entertained as best they could be, ' in and around ' the residence of Herman Bond, which was built of logs and sods, and was located near the foot of Monroe street. Chicago then consisted of the fort at the mouth of the river, the house of John Kinzie, and some French shanties the North Side, the hotel kept by Ingersoll, at the forks, a store at Wolf Point, the intersection of Lake and South Water streets, the frame of what was afterward called the Mansion House, on the north side of Lake, between Dearborn and State streets, a few other shanties, and the ' palatial residence ' of our host. After taking in Chicago the next day, three of the several families who had journeyed together thus far chartered some ' prairie schooners ' and ' set sail ' for their destination, in what is now the town of Homer, Will County. This was composed of the families of Capt. Jireh Rowley, John Lane and Charles M. Gray, the latter, now and for many years past, freight agent of the Michigan Southern Railroad at Chicago. We made our way as we could through the tall rosin weeds, with very little track, to Lawton's (now Riverside) and thence to Flagg Creek. Here we found the body of a log cabin, and the owner, Mr. E. Wentworth, whose place in after years became quite a noted stage stand. W^e fought the mosquitoes until morning, and after partaking of our frugal meal, we launched out upon the prairie, and at noon halted at the Big Spring near Lilly-Cache Grove, and upon what is now the farm of Thomas J. Sprague. After refreshments, we moved on, crossing the Des Planes River at what was known as Butterfield's Ford, opposite the present town of Lockport, and near nightfall arrived at our destination, all weary and sad. Calvin Rowley (now of Rockford) who came on prior to the Sac war, was here and had erected a log cabin in the timber, about a mile and a half east of the river. Here we stayed until other and better places could be provided. On looking around we found already here, Selah Lanfear, Luther Chamberlain, Holder Sisson, Capt. Fuller, Armstead Runyon, Edward Poor, James Ritchey, John Blackstone, John Stitt and a few others settled in what was afterward called the Yankee Settlement." We offer no apology for this lengthy extract, but deem it very appropriate in these pages. It is but the reflex of hundreds of the early set-

Hale S. Mason, another of the pioneei's of Homer who is still living, was originally from the old Bay State, and came to this settlement in 1834, where he lived for twelve years, when he moved into Lockport Township, and located about a mile northeast of the village, and where he still lives, an active old man. Two years ago he and his good lady celebrated their golden wedding, and to them it has been a golden life. Happy in each other's love and each other's society, they have gone hand in hand down life's pathway, sharing its joys and dividing its sorrows. They came through in wagons from Bristol, Ontario County, N. Y., where they had for some time resided, and which, we believe, was Mrs. Mason's native place, and were on the road four weeks, arriving here on the 6th day of June. Mrs. Mason kept a diary or journal of the trip, and no doubt it contained many items of interest - items that would be very entertaining to read at this distant period, if it could be fished up out of the " rubbish of forgotten things." Mr. Mason's two sons, who were rather young then, enjoyed the trip for the first week, but after that became so tired of the monotony that they seemed almost as ready to die as to get into the wagon of a morning and start on the journey of the day. Jaspfer A. Gooding came out with the Masons, and a daughter of his soon grew so homesick that she said one day she would be willing to go back in a wagon to the old home in New York if the road was all like the " Black Swamp," a piece of road, it seems, that was extremely bad, from trees that had been grubbed up, leaving holes on either side. But one of Mason's boys spoke up, and said he would not be willing to go back in a wagon over such a road as that, " 'cause the wagon jounced too much." Mr. Mason went to California during the gold fever of 1849-50, and was rather successful while there ; was in Sacramento City, he says, when they attempted to illuminate it in honor of the election of Gen. Pierce as President the United States, and burned up nearly the entire place in their excitement. James Gooding, Jr., a brother of William and Jasper A. Gooding, came to Homer Township before the Sac war, and was one of those who ran away (!) in an ox-wagon from the Indians, and took refuge in the fort at Chicago.

In 1834, Deacon Asa Lanfear came to the neighborhood. He was from Cayuga County, N. Y., and settled on what was called " Hawley Hill," the first who located there. He remained on this his original claim until his death, took place in 1871, and his widow, who is still living, occupies the old homestead. She has been blind for twelve years, but otherwise is quite healthy and active. The following new-comers from " York State " were added to the settlement in 1834, besides those already mentioned : Alanson Granger, Cyrus Cross, Levi Savage, Reuben Beach, Nathan Hopkins, Samuel Anderson and Horace Messenger ; and John Ross from the Buckeye State. These are all dead except Horace Messenger and Levi Savage. In fact, but very few of the pioneers of Homer are left. Mr. Ritchey and Mr. Poor, who were in the stockade with Capt. Sisson, and Savage, Messenger, Frederick Collins, Mason, who came in a year or two after the war, are the only landmarks left of the early times. And erelong these, too, will be gone. Already are they on the shady side of life, '' descending the hill of existence in the shadow of age," and trembling on the line that divides two worlds. After this period, the town rapidly filled up, and, by 1840, it was almost entirely settled and fenced.

The first post ofiice was established in Homer Township in 1836. This was the Yankee Settlement, bear in mind, and the Yankees were wide-awake, intelligent people, and would not be deprived of their mail and other reading matter. The office was called Hadley, for Hadley, Mass., from which some of the settlers came who were active in getting it, and Reuben Beach was appointed Postmaster. A store was opened by Pratt & Howard, and Hadley became quite a business place, with some chance of becoming a town. At one time it bQasted two stores, a post office, blacksmith-shop, church, etc., but railroads and the canal changed the order of things, and the glory of Hadley waned. The post office and church are all that now remain of the once busy place. Charles Haley is at present the Postmaster of Hadley. Before the office was established here, the setDlers of Homer went to the post office on Hickory Creek, at "Uncle Billy" Gougar's, for their mail matter, and right gladly forked over their quarters (which was then the postage on letters, payable at the office of delivery) for the long-wished-for letter from the old home in the Yankee States. When the post office was established at Hadley, the mail was carried on horse-back from Chicago, but a few years later, a mailroute was formed between Michigan City and Joliet, and then it was brought to Hadley over this route in a kind of open hack or stage.

The first store in the township was kept by Norman Hawley, on Hawley Hill, in 1835. The goods were hauled from Chicago by ox-team express, then the usual mode of transportation. This spot once made some pretensions toward becoming a village ; but, as Josh Billings said of the attempt of the two railroad trains to pass each other on a single track, " it was a shocking failure." Mr. Lanfear built the first house on the hill ; the first schoolhouse in the township was built there, then a blacksmith-shop and the store just mentioned. But the only trace of the village still remaining is the hill itself. Reuben Beach built a saw-mill on Spring Creek about 1838 or 1839, and several years later, Jaques & Morse built a steam saw-mill. These are the only efforts made in the mill business in this township. Before Beach put his mill in operation, the settlers used to haul what little lumber they were forced to use, from Col. Sayre's mill on Hickory Creek. With the lumber thus procured some of their first shanties were built, while others were built of logs, " chinked and daubed," and had chimneys made of sticks and mud.

The first school in Homer was taught by D. C. Baldwin, the veteran hardware merchant of Lockport, and was taught in the Winter of 1834-35, on Section 19, in a little log shanty with stick chimney which had been put up as a

" claim hut " and abandoned. It is said by some that a Miss Sallie Warren taught a school before Baldwin, but from the most reliable facts now to be had, are of the opinion that Baldwin preceded her. The next Summer after Baldwin's school. Miss Abigail Raymond taught a school in a building that had been put up for a cow stable, on the place of Deacon Lanfear. The first house for school purposes was built on Hawley Hill, by the neighbors, who donated the time, labor and material. An old settler - but young enough then to shoot paper wads in that primitive building - thus alludes to some of the comforts and conveniences pertaining to it : " Our seats and desks were made of split puncheons, and our ' persuaders ' and ' reminders ' were the young hickories growing around the schcolhouse." Among the scholars who attended this early temple of learning, were some of the brightest men of Will County, of whom we may mention Hon. Horace Anderson, Hon. Henry Snapp, Judge C. H. Weeks, N. L. Hawley, Esq., Judge E. S. Williams, of the Cook County Circuit Court, and others. Mrs. Fred Collins, then Miss White, taught a school the settlement in a little log cabin, still standing on Mr. Collins' farm, in 1838. But the schools of Homer have increased since that day, as we find in 1872, there were in the township 8 districts and 9 schoolhouses. There were 412 pupils enrolled, 16 teachers employed, at a cost of $2,213.53. The total expenditures of the year were f2,683.30, leaving a balance in the treasury of $122.67.

The first church organized in Will County is said to have been the Presbyterian Church at Hadley, in this township, by Rev. Jeremiah Porter, the pioneer of the American Home Mission Society in the Northwest. The society was organized about 1833 or 1834, and Rev. Mr. Porter and Elder Freeman, both of Chicago then, preached alternately for some time at this place ; and people of all religious beliefs within a radius of ten or fifteen miles would come together and worship God without the restraints resulting from closely-drawn sectarian lines, as at the present day. Mrs. Mason says they owned a yoke of oxen and Mr. Gooding a wagon. On Sunday they would hitch their oxen to his wagon, and both families jump in, and off" they would go ten miles to "meeting." Churches there were none. Religious services were held in the groves - " God's first temples " - and at the cabins of the settlers. The first church was built at Hadley about 1838 or 1839, and was church and schoolhouse combined. The The people met in it, of all denominations, and were not selfish nor confined to one particular sect. But the church there has passed away and the society has drifted into the Congregational Church, near the center of the township. This edifice was erected in 1862 ; is a neat frame, and cost $1,500. Rev. George Slosser was the first preacher. The membership is rather small ; has been decreased by death and removal, but is in a flourishing state. Rev. Mr. McKee is the present Pastor, and William Storm Superintendent of the large Sunday school. The Baptist Church at Hadley was originally organized by Elder A. B. Freeman, as already stated. He was the first Baptist preacher in Northern Illinois, and is said to have baptized the first person on the western shore of Lake Michigan, in April, 1834. The church was built there a year or two before the Congregational Church above mentioned. It has a large membership and a flourishing Sunday school, but no regular Pastor is in attendance at present.

The first wedding in Homer Township or Yankee Settlement, of which we have any definite record, was Westley Brewer to the widow of Alva Johnson, and they were married about 1833 or 1834, by John Blackstone, the first Justice of the- Peace in the township. The first birth and death are not remembered ; but the fact that the population has increased from a half-dozen persons to twice as many hundreds is pretty good evidence that there have been births, but the first. one cannot now be mentioned ; neither can the first death be given with any degree of correctness. The first blacksmith was John Lane, and, as elsewhere stated, made the first steel plow ever used in the West. He procured ah old, worn-out saw-blade at Col. Sayre's saw-mill, which he cut into strips about three inches wide, and, after making several trials, he succeeded in manufacturing a plow which was a great improvement on the wooden ones then in use. In after years he became a noted plowmaker, and his son, John Lane, Jr., of Chicago, sustains well the father's reputation as a plow manufacturer. C. M. Gray manufactured at an early day such articles as grain-cradles, fanning-mills, etc.; but the improved reapers and threshers have taken the place of these old-time implements.

As already stated, John Blackstone was the first Justice of the Peace in Homer, as well as one of the first in Will County. The first Supervisor after township organization, was Samuel Blount, in 1850, followed by Ira Austin, in 1851; A. Collins, 1852-63 ; Ira Austin, 1854-59 ; Alanson Granger, 1860 ; J. D. Frazer, 1861; S. Knapp, 1862; A. Granger, 1863; A. G. Rowley, 1864-65 ; Levi Hartwell, 1866 ; Amos Savage, 1867-72 ; J. H. Bandle, 1873 -74; Amos Savage, 1875-76; J. D. Frazer, 1877-78. Other. township officers at present are, A. G .Rowley* and A. A. Ingersoll, Justices of the Peace; Amos Savage, School Treasurer, and also a member of the State Board of Equalization, and Philip J. Sharp, Town Clerk. Homer is Republican in politics, nearly two to one, but was Democratic in the time of the two great parties - Whigs and Democrats. However, the reversal and upheaval of political parties have changed the general order of things, and the Republicans carry the day with as much or more ease than did the Democrats of yore. Taking into consideration the fact that in Homer was embraced the very heart of the Yankee Settlement, filled up by people who came from the old settled States, and were scholars and people of enlightened views, it would be but natural to conclude that Homer was named for the famous poet - the author of the "Iliad " and "Odyssey." We dislike to spoil such a pretty little romance, but the facts of history demand it. The name was bestowed on the township by Alan- son Granger, who came from Homer, Cortland Co., N. Y., and gave it in honor of his native place. In the process of naming the townships, the County Commissioners asked him to find a name for this one ; he consulted his neighbors and decided on Homer. Its war history is written in another volume, and also on many a hard-fought battle-field of the late rebellion, and we will not repeat it here. The Yankee Settlement has furnished the country with some able men, but as this part of the subject is mentioned in the general county history, we will pass on without further allusion.

As stated in the introduction to this chapter. Homer has neither railroads, large towns nor villages ; but one or two small country stores, a blacksmithshop or two, a post oflSce at Hadley and at Gooding's Grove, and two neat and tasty little church edifices. Aside from this, the town is devoted wholly to agricultural pursuits, and as to the productiveness of the land, it is not surpassed in the county, and scarcely in the State. Referring again to the article in the Joliet Sun, already quoted from, the writer very truthfully says : " Standing, as we now do, at the close of the year 1876, and looking over the northern portion of the State, and thinking of the great change that has been wrought, we are led to wonder how so much could be accomplished in a few short years. Chicago grown to be one of the greatest commercial centers on this continent, our own city of Joliet numbering its 15,000 inhabitants, with its four railroads and canal giving great commercial advantages, besides being the seat of justice of one of the most important counties of the State."

When Homer was first settled, its prairies were considered the most beautiful that the enthusiastic Yankee had seen. They were just rolling enough to resemble the billows of the ocean after a storm had passed, and the thick grass, three or four feet high, overtopped with fragrant blossoms, might - without violence to the comparison - have been taken for the land of Beulah, which Bunyan " saw in his dream," lying on the borders of the Celestial City. Mrs. Mason says she used to take rides across the prairies, when the wild flowers were as high as the top of the wagon, and as the oxen tramped over and the wagon wheels crushed them, they yielded a sweeter perfume than " Price's Unique Extracts," or the distilled essence of the richest exotics.

This is one of the extreme northern townships of the county, and is bounded on the north and east by Du Page and Cook Counties, on the south by Lockport Township, on the west by Wheatland, and in 1870, had a population of 1,118 inhabitants. The Du Page River waters the northwest part of the town, the Lilly-Cache Creek, the southern part, and the Des Planes River clips off a small portion of the southeast corner. A sudden widening of the river here forms a considerable body of water, called Goose Lake. About two miles of the Chicago & Alton Railroad are in Du Page, but as there is no station, it had about as well be without a railroad altogether. Romeo Station, however, is just over the line, in Lockport Township. The old Indian boundary passes across the northwest corner, and the old Chicago and Ottawa stage-route crosses diagonally, very nearly through the center. Du Page is wholly devoid of towns and villages, and is devoted exclusively to the dairy business and to agriculture. As a civil township it is known as Town 37 north. Range 10 east, and is very fine prairie, with the exception of a few small groves along the water-courses.

The Winter of the " deep snow " found a family or two in Du Page Township. In Central and Northern Illinois, the deep snow is a chronological event, from which the few old settlers who witnessed it date all important items in their history. There are at this date, however, very few left who witnessed that great fall of snow, which occurred in the Winter of 1830-31, almost half a century ago. Occasionally we meet one who experienced the privations incident to four feet of snow for two months, which was the depth of this "great white carpet " we have so often been called upon to notice. To tell of all the sufierings and trials of the few who bore the brunt of that snowstorm in this section of the country, would be to repeat an " oft-told tale." We forbear. As stated above, there were a few families here that Winter. Pierce Hawley, Stephen J. Scott and his son, Willard Scott, and Ralph Stowell came to this township in the Fall of 1830, and settled in the grove of timber bordering the Du Page River. Hawley was originally from Vermont, but first settled, after coming to the country, in Sangamon County, then embracing nearly half of the State. Later, he removed to Holdeman's Grove, and in the Fall of 1830, settled in this township, as noted. He was of the Mormon faith, and at the time these "Latter-day Saints" concentrated their "elect" at Nauvoo, he joined them there, and when driven from that place by the gentiles, he followed the Saints to Utah. But when the corrupt organization admitted a plank into their platform allowing the "faithfal" a "plurality" of wives, he threw off the Mormon faith and left Utah in disgust. He was of a kind of roving disposition, and loved wild, frontier life - was Daniel Boone-like ; and when people began to get too thick around him, would pull up stakes and move on toward the West. From Utah he went to Iowa, where he died. The Scotts came from Baltimore, the "Monumental City of the East," and settled, upon their arrival in Illinois, at Grose's Point (now Evanston), and in the Fall of 1880, came to Du Page Township. The elder Scott went to California during the gold fever of 1849 and 1850, by the overland route ; was 70 years of age at the time of his going, and died in the Golden State. His oldest son, Willis Scott, who came to the settlement two years later, lives in Chicago ; and the other son, Willard Scott, who came with his father, is a prosperous merchant and banker in Naperville. Stowell came from Ohio here ; but whether that was his native State or not, we are unable to say. He settled where Glover now lives, and afterward moved down on Fox River. He died several years ago. These were the families that waded through the deep snow of 1880-81, in this township. They are gone,

In 1831, the settlement was increased by the arrival of Israel P. Blodgett, Robert Strong, John Dudley, Harry Boardman, Rev. Isaac Scarritt ^nd Lester Peet. Blodgett came from Massachusetts, and settled where Royce now lives. He was the father of Judge Blodgett, of Chicago. The Judge is remembered in the town as a boy of rather delicate appearance, who was very studious, attended the public schools, and taught by way of improvement and of defraying his own expenses. The result is his present exalted position. The father moved to Downer's Grove, where he died some years ago and where his widow now lives. Strong, Boardman and Peet were from Vermont. The former was born in 1806, and when 8 years old, his father removed to Pennsylvania, and five years later, removed to New York. Upon arriving at man's estate, and having taken to himself a life-partner, Mr. Strong came to Illinois, arriving in <3hicago in July, 1831. He at once proceeded to Plainfield, but found the land all "claimed" in that section. He says there were then twelve families living at Plainfield, or Walker's Grove, and they told him there was " no room for any more immigrants." He left his family at the house of Timothy B. Clarke, and went out prospecting for a location. He chose the place where he still lives, and bought it from two men named Selvey and Walker, who had a claim on it. He took possession at once and settled his family on the spot, and for forty-seven years they have occupied it. Selvey was an early settler, and was here during the Sac war. He was at one time very wealthy and owned a great deal of land in this section and a large number of lots in Chicago. Mr. Clarke remembers his selling lots on Lake street, in the very heart of the city, at $50 a lot ; and his father once bought from Selvey the lot on which the Union Hotel now stands, corner of Canal and Madison streets, for $53. But being one of those easy, confiding men, he strove to accommodate everybody, and, as a consequence, lost all his great property. He died near Aurora, quite poor, and has a son in this county who works as a farm laborer, by the month, for a living. Dudley was an acquaintance of Strong's, and never really ma,de a settlement in the township. Boardman came from New York, and made the trip around the lakes, landing in Chicago in the Summer of 1831. He was originally from Vermont, but, like Strong, had lived for some time in New York before emigrating West. Mr. Boardman was an active man in the settlement, and favored every enterprise for the good of his town. The first reaper used in Will County was bought by him and operated on his farm, in 1846, which was the year previous, it is said, to the one used by Granger, in Homer Township, mentioned in the " Combination Atlas " of the county. It was a McCormick Reaper. Boardman had known McCormick in New York, before removing to Illinois, and meeting him in Chicago one day, McCormick proposed to sell him a reaper. Mr. Boardman had a large crop of wheat, and said to McCormick, " Suppose I should buy one of your machines and it would not work, I would lose a large part of my wheat crop." Whereupon McCormick proposed to enter into a bond, agreeing to pay the damage if it did not do what he claimed for it. Said Boardman, " I don't know that your bond is any better than your word." But finally he bought a machine on those conditions, and McCormick gave a bond, guaranteeing it as above stated. It was shipped to him and he cut his crop of wheat, it fully coming up to the guarantee given by McCormick. Two of his neighbors bought reapers the same season, and thus those labor-saving machines were introduced in the county. He was one of the first County Commissioners, an oflSce he filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to others. He died in May, 1877. Peet settled here in 1831, near the county line, where Swartz now lives, and died a few years after his settlement. Rev. Scarritt was a Methodist minister, and came originally from some one of the Eastern States, but his wife was a Virginia lady. He settled a little east of where Mr. Strong lives, and upon the election of his son, P. P. Scarritt, Sheriff of Will County, the elder Scarritt moved to Joliet and made a home with his son, he died, several years ago. This comprised the residents in the town at the close of the second year after the first settlement was made within its borders.

In 1832, the year of the Black Hawk war, but few additions were made to the settlement here. Seth Westcott, John Barber and John Miller are all of whom we have any account of locating here during the year 1832. Westcott came from New York, but was originally from Vermont. He settled on tte south side of the river, where his son, Seth Westcott, Jr., now lives. The elder Westcott has been dead three or four years. John Barber came also from Vermont, and settled near Barber's Corners. He had twin sons, whose names were Francis and Franklin ; [the latter lives now^on the old homestead, a prosperous farmer, and the picture of health and vigor. The father died a few years ago, after having been confined to his bed for nearly twenty years from rheumatism, and for several years had been blind and incapable of feeding himself. John Miller, another Vermonter, settled east of Barber's Corners, and was quite a prominent man of the township. He was the first Supervisor after township organization, and was the only Representative that Du Page has ever sent to the State Legislature. He died in the Spring of 1851, but a few weeks before his term of service as Supervisor had expired. In 1833, Samuel Goodrich also from Vermont, settled a few rods west of Strong's. He removed to Minnesota a good many years ago, and died there in 1876, or about that time.

Col. William Smith settled here in 1834. He came from New York, and removed to Joliet a few years after coming to the country, where he was long known as one of the prominent men of the city, and where he died a few years ago. Timothy B. Clarke settled here this year, as noticed in the history of Plainfield Township ; and his son, B. B. Clarke, of Lockport, still owns a portion of the land to which his father then laid claim. The elder Clarke was a soldier in the war of 1812, and also during the Black Hawk war. He was at one time offered the School Section in Chicago, which embraced the lot on which Field & Leiter's wholesale house now stands, at $18 per acre. But it was a low, swampy marsh, thickly set in willows, and during a large part of the year impassable to a horse, and Mr. Clarke had little idea that it would ever be worth the taxes. Harry and Philip Lord, two brothers, came from New York in 1833 or 1834, and made claims and settlements in this town, but of them we could learn but little. Jonathan Royce came in 1835, from New York, but was originally from New Hampshire. He died here ten or twelve years ago, and his son, Abner Royce, now lives on the place where his father located, and which is the original farm settled by Israel Blodgett. Mr. Royce was a prominent man of the settlement, and owned at one time over three thousand acres of land in this township. His wife, who survived him several years, seems to have been not only a very remarkable lady, but to have sprung from a genuine old Revolutionary family. When she died, April 25, 1875, the Will County Courier thus referred to the event : " The deceased was the relict of the late Jonathan Royce, of Du Page, and had lived in Will County for the last forty years. She moved with her husband and family into this county in 1835, and commenced life in her new home on the farm where her death occurred. She was born at Walpole, N. H., May 5, 1784. Her maiden name was Emery. Her father was a Revolutionary soldier, who enlisted at the age of 16, and was with the patriots until the close of the war. He was one of the minute-men at Concord, and participated at Lexington, and received a wound at the battle of Saratoga Springs from which he never fully recovered. He was with Washington in all his campaigns, being one of that little band of patriots who united at Valley Forge and went on that famous march into New Jersey, and the masterly retreat across the Delaware River. Mrs. Royce inherited from her father the spirit of patriotism which characterized him, and during our civil war was the warm friend of the soldier, doing all that she could to aid the cause. She was the mother of a large family of children, most of whom are living and citizens of this State. She lost her husband about ten years ago, who at his death was 86 years of age, and has been long anxious to join him. They traveled the journey of life together for sixty years, honored and respected in society, and in her death society loses one of its most reverenced and beloved members." After referring to the funeral services, which were conducted by the Rev. Mr. Porter, of Naperville, the Courier notices the fact that she was followed to the grave by about seventy blood-relations, forty-seven of whom were her descendants, and that she lived to see children of her great-grandchildren. She died at the age of 90, and retained her faculties to the very moment of her death. Thomas Williams, living in the southern part of the town, is an old resident and a prominent man. He was born in the county of Cornwall, England, and came to America in 1825, and to Illinois in 1834, stopping in Chicago until 1836, when he came out and engaged in a contract on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. He built a portion of the Portage Railroad across the Alleghany Mountains before he came to Illinois, and after quitting the Canal he built twelve miles of the Galena Division of the North-Western Railway ; and, later still, with Mr. Boyer, went to California, where they took a contract to build a levee at Sacramento along the city front ; also a tunnel 1,900 feet long, by which the city is supplied with water. After years of an active business life, he is on his farm, quietly resting from his labors, and enjoying the peace of his fireside.

In 1833, quite a little colony came to the township from Western New York, consisting of Andrew Godfrey, Shubel Swift, Peter Steward, Hiram Warren, Joseph R. Bessey, a family named Clifford, and Hannibal Ward. This colony made claims and settlements in the valley of the Du Page River, and all are now gone from the township except Hiram Warren. Shubel Swift lives at Waukegan, and Steward lives at Naperville. Sylvester Ward, a son of Hannibal Ward, lives near Barber's Corners, and is one of the prosperous and -wealthy farmers of the county. Hannibal Ward, a cousin of Sylvester Ward, is operating the latter's cheese factory, in the southern part of the town. Warren still lives on the place where he originally settled. Samuel Whallen was also from New York, and came to the Du Page Settlement in 1836. He lived to be 94 years old, and died in the township about five years ago. Thomas J. Sprague, another New Yorker, came out on a prospecting tour in 1837, and returned the next year and settled. He lives now at what is called Sprague's Corners, a wealthy farmer. This comprises most of the early settlers up to the time when the rush of immigration began. Settlements were made here as early as 1830, but, as Du Page possessed but a small scope of timbered land there was room for but few inhabitants, until the virtues of the prairies were discovered years later. The early settlers all chose timbered localities, many believing that the prairies would never be of any value save for pasturage. Some even ventured the prophecy that their children would never live to see the prairies settled. In ten years from the time the first claim was made on the Du Page River, there was not a section left vacant in the entire township. Quite a large number of the first settlers of Du Page, perhaps a majority of them were from Vermont, and were an intelligent class of people. The only on« now living, of those who settled here previous to the Sac war, is Robert Strong, and he, as already stated, is on his original claim. Willis Scott, of Chicago and Willard Scott, of Naperville, were here at that time, but were bovs or young men. Mr. Strong is the only old landmark left in the beautiful valley of Fountaindale, and is a man much respected in the neighborhood. He is the oracle, so far as regards the early history of this township, and but for him many of the particulars given in this chapter must necessarily have been left to

The first mill in Du Page Township was a saw-mill built in 1836 by Alden & Scott. In 1840, another saw-mill was built by Ward, a little above the one iust mentioned. Both were on the Du Page, and were washed away during a season of high water, and the old dams are still observable where these original mills were located. The only grist-mill was a little concern by Pierce Hawley, supplied with horse-power, and used to grind both corn and wheat. The "bolting" was done by band, and we were told that it turned out a very fair quality of flour ; not in quantity and quality with Norton's mill, at Lockport, but then, it satisfied the pioneers, who were often glad to get either flour or corn meal, and even that of an inferior quality. Ralph Stowell kept the first tavern in the township, where Glover now lives, and also kept the stage-house after stages were put on the route between Chicago and Ottawa. Shubel Swift also kept a tavern in the early time's, at what was called " the Junction," being the junction of the Chicago, Plainfield and Joliet roads. Du Page has no village within its limits, nor has ever had a store really deserving the name, but a few little stands, at various times, merely for neighborhood accommodation. The first bridge was built across the Du Page where the Joliet and Naperville road crosses, about 1836 or 1887. It was built of logs, and was a rough affair. A number of good, substantial bridges span the two branches of the Du Page in the town at present. The first post ofiice was established at the stage-house already mentioned, and Mr. Stowell was the first Postmaster. The office was originally called Fountaindale, but finally changed to Du Page Post Office, by which name it is now known. As Du Page Post Office, it has traveled all over the township two or three times. Was first kept at the stage-house, then at Barber's Corners, at Col. Smith's, at the Junction, again at Barber's Corners, and, indeed, it is hard to designate a place in the town where it has not been. There was, at one time, another post office in the southwest part of the township, called " Long John," and was established during the popular period of the man for whom it was named.* The man who made the efi'ort to get the office should have it, but that he would get it for any good Democrat, and so A. C. Paxson was made Postmaster, and he made the Abolitionist his deputy, and thus whipped the devil around the stump. But, Long John post office has passed away, and Du Page is now the only post office in the town, of which Samuel Angleman is Postmaster.

The first school was taught in this township by Josiah Giddings, in the Winter of 1832-33, in a little house built for the purpose, a few rods west from where Mr. Strong lives. The house was a rude afiair, of hickory logs split open and notched down on edge with the split side in ; the cracks between the logs stopped with sticks and mud, and a chimney of the same material. This early pedagogue went to Wisconsin, where he lived at the last heard from him. When the first school districts were laid ofi". Will then being a part of Cook County, this original schoolhouse of Du Page Township was in School District No. 1 of Cook County, and thus entered in the "book of the law and testimony." Du Page has always maintained its early reputation for schools, and spared neither pains nor expense to disseminate knowledge among its inhabit- ants. In 1872, it had 11 school districts ; 375 pupils enrolled ; 22 teachers employed, and 10 good, comfortable schoolhouses. The amount of special tax levied was $2,454.31 ; amount paid teachers, $2,350.62. Total expenditures of the year, $3,749.23, leaving a balance in the treasury of $435.85.

The first preachers in this section were Rev. Isaac Scarritt and Rev. Jeremiah Porter, both of whom have often been noticed among the early divines in different portions of this county. Which one of these ministers preached the first sermon it is impossible to say now, but it is supposed to have been Scarritt, as he settled here as early as 1831. The first church society was organized in 1833, by Rev. N. C. Clark, in the schoolhouse above alluded to, and was a Presbyterian or Congregationalist, or a cross of the two. Like Du Page Post Office, it fluctuated a good deal, and was sometimes Presbyterian and sometimes Congregational. The first church edifice was built about 1854 or 1855, and was remodeled about three years ago. It is a very handsome edifice, and is known at the present day as the First Presbyterian Church of Du Page. The present Pastor is the Rev. J. G. Porter, of Naperville, who has in his charge about one hundred members. A large and flourishing Sunday school is carried on at the church, of which Robert Strong is Superintendent, a position he has occupied so long that the "mind of man runneth not to the contrary." A Methodist Church was built at Barber's Corners, some years after the erection of this, but of it we could not learn much. The society was, at one time, on the point of dissolution. Last year, the Rev. Mr. Hughes, from the town of Crete, preached to them, and, to some extent, revived the work at this place. A small Sunday school is still maintained, of which Mrs. Derby is Superintendent. The Mormon doctrine used to be promulgated throughout this township pretty extensively, by the Elders of that faith. Mr. Strong says the first Mormon sermon he ever heard was preached at Plainfield, in a little while after he came to the county. A great many prominent people embraced the faith, and some even went to the Mormon settlement at Nauvoo. This, however, was before they adopted that broad and liberal platform, allowing a man all the wives he could support; and, when this wholesale measure was adopted, many of the more sensible became disgusted and threw off the rotten yoke of Mormonism forever, while a few still clung to their idols, following the Prophet's fortunes to Salt Lake City.

The first death recorded in Du Page Township was a Mrs. Cleveland, who had just moved into the settlement and died in 1882, and was buried in the cemetery near Mr. Boardman's - the first burial made in that grave-yard, since the receptacle of many of the pioneers of this part of the country. The first birth occurred in the family of either Willard Scott or Mr. Hawley, as both Mrs. Scott and Mrs. Hawley had brand-new babes when Mr. Strong came to the settlement, in 1831, and which must have been born in the early part of that year. As to the first marriage, there is some uncertainty as to whom it belongs. One of the first remembered was a daughter of Shubel Swift to

«, Mr. Godfrey; but whether it was the first it is not possible to say with certainty. The first Justice of the Peace was the Rev. Isaac Scarritt, who, it seems, was commissioned to deal out justice to the offenders of the civil law as well as the divine law. The present Justices of the Peace are John Marvin and Thomas Stanners ; Sylvester Ward is School Treasurer, and Thomas Williams, Supervisor. When the county adopted township organization, in 1850, John Miller was elected the first Supervisor of Du Page. Since then, the following have served in that capacity for the years given in connection with their names : A. C. Paxson, 1851-52 ; R. W. Smith, 1853-54 ; H. Boardman, 1855 ; E. D. Eaton, 1856 ; A. C. Paxson, 1857 ; T. H. Abbott, 1858-59; B. B. Clarke, 1860 ; J. P. King, 1861; Robert Strong, 1862; B. B. Clarke, 1868; E.Virgil, 1864; R. W. Smith, 1865-67; A. Godfrey, 1868 ; J. P. King, 1869 ; John Royce, from 1870 until succeeded by the present incumbent, Thomas Williams.

The dairy business receives considerable attention in this town. The quantity milk produced is, perhaps, greater than in any other township of the county. Besides the amount consumed at the two factories, a great deal is shipped to Chicago from Romeo Station, just on the line between Lockport and Du Page, and which is said to be one of the best milk stations on the Chicago & Alton Kailroad. The oldest cheese-factory in the town is the one near Barber's Corners. It was built originally at Leraont by a man named Hess, from Plain- A company was organized at Barber's Corners about 1870, who bought the factory and moved it from Lemont to its present location. Last Spring, it was bought by S. R. Richardson, and has cost him about $2,000. It is a frame building with a brick basement, and its arrangements for cheese-making -are complete in every detail. He makes up the milk of his patrons on shares, and is, at the present time, making, upon an average, eight cheeses per day, with a constantly increasing business. The factory of Sylvester Ward was built at Sprague's Corners in the Spring of 1877, and is a large and commodious establishment. It is a substantial frame with stone basement, and cost $3,000. It is being operated by Hannibal Ward, a brother of the owner, who is said to be an experienced cheese-maker. They have hitherto been making up the milk on shares for their patrons, but have recently commenced buying milk, and also manufacturing at a certain compensation.

As stated in the introduction of this chapter, Du Page is prairie land, with the exception of a few sections of timber along the Du Page River, and a small grove in the southeast corner of the town. The prairie is of the finest and most productive. When white people first began to settle here, they found the prairie teeming with wild flowers, their beauty and fragrance surpassing all that they had ever dreamed of floral loveliness. Some of the more romantic of them say, that it seemed as if the whole earth had been converted into green grass, blue sky, blossoming flowers and glorious sunshine. This beautiful valley of the Du Page was originally called Fountaindale, from the numerous springs to be found along the margin of the Du Page River. But upon the adoption of township organization, in the process of naming the towns, Du Page was deemed an appropriate title for this, owing to the fact that the two branches of the Du Page River are united within its borders. Thus the pretty and romantic name of Fountaindale was discarded for the less euphonious one of Du Page. During the Sac war, the few whites then living in Du Page, were forced to seek safety in flight. Some of them went to " Fort Beggs," and some to the fort or blockhouse at Naperville. But .when the clouds of war blew over and the olive-branch of peace was held out, they returned to their deserted homes and redoubled their efforts to open and improve their claims.

Politically, Du Page is Republican ; but from the information gathered of its early history, we are of opinion that in the days of Whigs and Democrats, it gave its majorities to the latter party. Its record during the war was patriotic, and many of its citizens shouldered their muskets and marched to the front, and risked their lives for the Union they loved.

Wheatland is the northwest township of Will County, with Kendall and Du Page Counties on the west and north ; Du Page Township on the east, and Plainfield Township on the south. It is described as Town 37 north. Range 9 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and at the last census contained 1,133 inhabitants. It is watered by the Du Page River and its branches ; the former entering its territory at the northeast corner, flows through it a little west of south. It is wholly prairie, having but a few acres of timber, and, like the surrounding lands of Plainfield and Du Page, is the finest farming and grain section of the county. There are no villages or railroads cutting up and marring its beautiful surface, and the snort of the iron horse is never heard, save as faint echoes of his voice float over the prairies from the distance. '

Rev. Isaac G. Foster is supposed to have been the first permanent settler in Wheatland Township. He came from Watertown, N. Y., and settled here in 1837. It is scarcely known at the present day whether Mr. Foster was a minister or not, although the prefix of Rev. is used, and he was generally termed "Priest" Foster. There are none, however, who I'emember to have heard him preach. He now sleeps with his fathers. Chester Ingersoll, who first settled in Plainfield Township, settled in Wheatland about the year 1839. He laid off the village of Plainfield, as mentioned in that part of this work, and as his history is there given at some length, we deem it unnecessary to repeat it here. Joseph B. Wightman came from Rome, N. Y., and settled in Plainfield in 1838. In 1840, he removed to Wheatland Township, being the third family to settle in this town. Previous to his settlement in Plainfield, Mr. Wightman had lived in Kendall County, where he settled in 1834, upon his first arrival in the West. George Wightman, a son of his, settled also in Wheatland at the same time,.

where he resided until 1865, when he removed into Lockport Township, and located on the farm known as the Sisson Place, west of the village of Lockport. Mr. Wightman married the youngest daughter of that old pioneer. Holder Sisson,. whose history is fully given in the history of Lockport. . His father and mother are still living in Du Page Township, rather feeble and aged, and the former quite deaf A man known as "Hoosier " Smith settled in Wheatland the next year after the Wightmans, on Spring Brook, and in a few years moved away ; of him very little is remembered, as he remained but a short time ; he was probably from Indiana, however, as he went by the name of "Hoosier" Smith. Another settler of 1841, was David Cheeny, from Massachusetts, and a man named Eddy. It is not known where Eddy came from, nor where he lives at pr«sent. Cheeny had settled in Plainfield before coming to this section, as did several other families, who became residents of Wheatland Township. L. G. Colgrove settled in this township in 1839, and, in 1840 and 1841, several other families were added to the scattered settlement of Wheatland ; among them, Simeon B. Tyler and Anthony Freeland. In 1843 and 1844, they came in still more rapidly, including quite a colony from the "banks and braes" of "Auld Scotia" dear, among whom may be numbered the McMickens and Clows, who are more extensively noticed in the general history of the county. This year, there were also added the families of William and A. B. Cotton, James and John Robbins, and many others. In fact, they were coming in at this time in such numbers that it was not an easy matter to keep trace of them.

From the dates above given, it will be seen that Wheatland is recently settled, as compared to other portions of Will County. That it was not settled until so long after other sections, is due to the fact that it is all prairie. We v^ere informed by Robert Clow that the entire township contained but about five acres of timbered land ; and at the time of the first settlements made in this part of Illinois, there were no such things known in the West as board or wire fences, and as stock was allowed to run at large, people were forced to put rail fences around their cultivated lands. Thus it was that the timbered land was taken up before the prairie, and for years the latter was deemed unfit for anything but pasturage, while many were of the opinion that they would never be cultivated. The old Indian boundary or trail, mentioned in another page, passes through this township, and was visible long after settlements were made. Robert Clow says it passed through his father's farm, and showed plainly for years after they came to the country.

Perhaps no township in Will County has a more diversified population than Wheatland ; very nearly half of it are Pennsylvania Dutch and their descendants, while the remaipder rank as follows, viz. : Forty American families, forty Scotch families, twenty-four English families, with two or three families of Irish or French nationalities ; and we may add, that many of the model farmers of the county are to be found in Wheatland Township. Their handsome residences, the neat and tasty manner in which their farms are kept, and the care and attention bestowed on fine stock, all denote first-class farmers. We were told that the finest farm lands in the county are embraced in ten miles square in this corner, including Wheatland, a part of Du Page and Plainfield Townships ; and having been pretty well all over the county, we are quite willing to indorse the statement. There are no villages in Wheatland Township, as already stated, nor mills, and, in fact, the town contains very little of historic interest beyond its actual settlement, and the enterprise and energy of its "sturdy yeomanry."

The first birth in Wheatland is supposed to have been Levi B. Wightman. There are some, however, who are of opinion that it was a daughter of Mrs. Russell, formerly Mrs. Ingersoll. Just which is entitled to the preference, we are unable to say, but think it safe to say that both were jurst - that is to say, the first two. The first death was a child of B. T. Durant. It, at least, was the first burial in the public cemetery, located at the schoolhouse near East Wheatland Post Office. The death of an elderly lady of the name of Coburn is remembered by some of the citizens as taking place" at quite an early day ; but whether it was previous to that of the child mentioned, could not be determined, nor much information obtained in regard to her in any way. The first marriage was, probably, Rufus B. Olmstead to Juliet Foster, a daughter of "Priest" Foster, as the people called him. The date of the wedding is not remembered, neither is the name of him who united the happy couple.

The first schools taught in the township were on Sections 5 and 13, and there is some controversy as to which was taught first ; but the preponderance of evidence, as the lawyers say, we believe is in favor of that on Section 5. However, they were taught very nearly at the same time, and in 1846 or 1847. There is another report of a school, believed by some to have been taught prior to these, by a Miss Elizabeth Hoag. She, it is said, taught a school in a private house belonging to Ira B. Thomas, on Section 26, before the building of schoolhouses. If so, it was probably the first taught in the town. At tlie present time, Wheatland will compare favorably with any part of the county as to the excellent character of its schools. At the close of the school year of 1872, the Superintendent of Schools reported ten schools and an equal number of houses, and 368 pupils enrolled. Twenty teachers were employed; five districts had libraries, containing a total of 156 volumes. The amount of special tax for the support of schools was |2,176.0B ; amount paid teachers, $2,257.80 ; total expenditure for the year, $3,573.12, leaving a balance in the treasury of $620.06. Thus it will be seen that the schools of the town are in a flourishing condition, well supported and well patronized.

The first Justices of the Peace in Wheatland Township were Robert Clow, the present efficient Circuit Clerk of Will County, and Edward Lilly, but as Mr. Lilly declined to qualify, Mr. Clow was really the first officiating Justice. The present Justices of the Peace are John McMicken and Augustus B. Cotton. Other township officers are, A. S. Brown, Town Clerk ; Franklin Boardman,

School Treasurer, and John McMicken, Supervisor. When the county adopted township organization, in 1850, D. W. Cropsey was elected first Supervisor, and served during the years 1850 and 1851. Since his time, the list of Supervisors and their terms of office have been as follows: S. Simmons, 1852-53 ; F. Boardman, 1854-56 ; Robert Clow, 1857 ; S. Simmons, 1858-60 ; Robert Clow, 1861-76 inclusive, when he was elected Circuit Clerk of the county, and John McMicken, the present incumbent succeeded him. Mr. Clow has served his township and county in various offices, in all of which he has acquitted himself with credit, and we should take this opportunity of giving him an extended notice, but know that his modesty and good sense shrink from such notoriety. Hence, we pass without further allusion.

The first regular preacher, unless we except "Priest" Foster, was the Rev. Mr. Oburn, who sometimes preached at the house of Mr. Finley, in the south- Tvest part of the town, on Section 80, about the year 1846 or 1847, but what denomination he claimed, we do not know. The first church was built by the United Presbyterians, in 1855, and was erected on Section 19. It is a substantial frame building, and cost about $1,500. The Rev. James Buchanon is the present Pastor, and has a large and flourishing membership and Sunday school under his charge. In 1864, the German Lutherans built a church on Section 14, which is quite an elegant edifice, costing $8,100. It has a flourishing membership, and a large Sunday school for a country church. The first Directors, or Trustees, were Jacob Fry and John Leppert, Sr. The first meetings were held at their houses. The first clergyman to preach to them was Rev. Mr. Leisman. In 1863, land was deeded to the Church by Robert Clow, Jr., and wife, and the present building was erected. Their first Pastor was Rev. Ernest Buhre, who remained with them until his death, which occurred in 1877. He was a man much beloved by his people. Rev. William Uffenback succeeded him in the pulpit. The present Directors are Jacob Fry, Richard Weinhold, John Smidt, Joseph Smidt and Frederick Stultz. The following story is told of an old German citizen and member of this Church. About the close of the war, when greenbacks were plenty, and fears manifested by some of those who always experience all their woes in anticipation, that greenbacks were of little value, this old German friend concluded to invest as many superfluous greenbacks in the church as possible. So, with this idea in view, he started out on a tour of collecting, or begging, to obtain money for the purpose of adding a steeple and bell to their church, and used for his strongest plea the instability of greenbacks, or the uncertainty of their long remaining of value. In 1868, the German Evangelical Association, or German Methodists, built a church on Section 17, at a cost of between |2,500 and $3,000. It is a handsome frame building, well finished, and presents a modern appearance. A flourishing Church and Sunday school are maintained, and ably supported by the German citizens of this part of the town. Wheatland has several pretty little cemeteries, which are kept in good order, and show much respect for the

The first post office established in the township was called East Wheatland, but what year we were unable to learn. It is located on Section 1-5, and Tamarack Post Office was established some years later in the southwest corner of the town. There is a store at Tamarack Post Office, the only institution of the kind maintained in the entire township. In the early times, prior to township organization, Wheatland was known as Oregon Precinct. But in the process of naming the townships, as "made and provided " by law, this was called Wheatland by a man from the Empire State, whose native place was called Wheatland, and the name has been retained ever since.

Politically, Wheatland Township at the present day, is largely Republican, perhaps three-fourths of its voters supporting that ticket. Before the organization of the Republican party, however, it was probably Democratic ; but as in many other sections of the country, it has changed its base, politically speaking, in the last decade or two of years. During the late war, Wheatland did its duty equally well with other portions of Will County. Its citizens waited no urging ; that the old flag had been defied by rebels and traitors, was sufficient incentive to send them to the army by the score. But as the deeds of the Will County soldiery have already been written, we shall not repeat them here.

The recent settlements of Wheatland Township, and the absence of anything like towns or villages, leaves but little here to write about, or to make history. It is now pretty thickly settled, and that by an intelligent and energetic class of people, with excellent schools and churches. It has good roads and a number of substantial wooden bridges, but these are of such modern date as to be hardly considered an interesting matter of history. Then, with these brief pages, we will leave it for some future historian to do it more ample justice.

This is one of the earliest settled townships in the county, the date of its first settlement being almost coincident with that of Chicago. Chicago was laid out August 4, 1830, and the first settlement was made at Reed's Grove six months later. This grove being situated at the corners of Jackson, Channahon, Wilmington and Florence Townships, has given rise to no little misunderstanding as to the location of some of the early settlers of this vicinity ; and we shall not be surprised if some of our statements do not receive immediate indorsement. Several parties, or colonies, who settled in the Grove, though in the immediate neighborhood, since township lines have been established have proved to be in difi"erent townships. This fact also makes the narration of events in one township, without at the same time bringing in the history of other townships, quite difficult; and a small amount of repetition will therefore be necessary.

Reed's Grove received its earliest white settler in 1831. At that time, Indians were plenty in this part of the State, and the Grove was one of their favorite resorts and dwelling-places. The territory now embraced in these townships was occupied by the tribe or nation called Pottawatomies. The relations between these people and their early white neighbors were of the most friendly character. They hunted, visited and drank together, as peaceably as the more modern occupants of the county.

To Charles Reed belongs the credit of being the first settler, not only of Jackson Township, but of the grove which still bears his name. Reed was a man of energy and spirit. He had a family of grown up children, some of whom were already married ; and, being desirous of seeing them settled in homes of their own, such as he was unable to provide for them in the older settled States - he resolved to emigrate to this place.

Accordingly, he with his two sons-in-law, Charles Koons and Eli Shoemaker, and Joseph Shoemaker (brother of Eli), set out for this place in the early Spring of 1831, and reached the grove March 2 of that year. At that time, but few families had settled in the whole section now embraced in Will County. Dwellers at a distance of twenty^five miles were considered neighbors. Joseph Shoemaker, though mentioned here as a member of this settlement or colony, did not in reality settle in Jackson Township. He is usually accredited as the first settler of Wilmington Township ; but this, too, seems to be an error, as his cabin was just on the north side of the line subsequently located between Wilmington and Channahon. Reed, with the balance of his family, removed from the township more than twenty-five years ago, and while the country was yet indeed new. George Kirkpatrick and brother and James Hemphill lacked but a few months of being the first. They came from Ohio, and settled here in May following the advent of Reed. Of these, George Kirkpatrick still resides in the township, but the other two are dead. James Hemphill died in 1863.

During the Spring of the next year, two new companies settled in the township. Wesley Jenkins, Thomas Underwood - brother-in-law of Jenkins - and Jefi'erson Ragsdale were from North Carolina. Of the " Jenkins Colony," as it was called, none are left, all having removed to other parts. Jenkins was quite a character - a very loud and emphatic-spoken man, and a great admirer of Gen. Jackson, whose glory was then at its height. It is related that when the matter of naming the creek, which traverses the township, and from which it is named, was under consideration, Jenkins swore with violent gesture that no personage was worthy of the name but the " Hero of New Orleans," and Jackson it was called.

A Methodist Church was organized in this neighborhood at a very early date, and one of its members felt that he was " called to preach." Some doubted the genuineness of the calling, amongst whom was this profane Jenkins, who accounts for the preacher's determination to proclaim the Gospel, by saying that it was his custom to go out early every morning to feed his hogs, and in

Stentorian tones, -whicli might be mistaken for Gabriel, to call his pigs to their morning meal. On one occasion, he says, while performing this work in the dim light of the approaching morning, he observed running with the hogs, with hymn book in hand, this self-styled preacher, who, he avers, had mistaken his voice for the "call to preach." Indeed, the conduct of the preacher, as subsequently developed, has gone far toward verifying Jenkins' story, the preacher having long since fallen from grace. Jenkins was the life of all the house and barn raisings, and enlivened all of the husking and other " bees " with his peculiar, though sometimes profane, jokes.

The Linebarger colony arrived here from Indiana the same Spring with Jenkins. The company Consisted of Henry, John, George and Lewis. The last named, however, settled in the town of Florence, a short distance from the others. They were also Carolinians, and had left there years before and had resided for a time in Indiana, near the Wabash. Of these, Henry Linebarger lived here but four years, dying here in 1836. George Linebarger is now a resident of the village of Elwood. He has been a very useful citizen, a leader in the Methodist Church, and one of its most pious members. He is now in poor health, and waits but for a short time to take up his residence in another and better country. John Linebarger, though he came to the township at the date named, returned to Indiana a few weeks later, and did not make the township his permanent home until 1850. He now resides in Elwood, and is engaged in the grain business.

Peter Bib, with his three sons, George, Levi and Augustus, was from the State of Virginia. The elder Eib was very fond of his gun, and an excellent marksman. He found here plenty of game on which to practice his skill. It was not an uncommon thing to see from fifty to one hundred deer in a single drove. Turkeys, wolves and other game were so plenty as to make them almost a nuisance. Mr. Eib passed away years ago, but his sons still remain and are amongst the best citizens of the community.

In 1832, emigration to these parts, and indeed to all Northern and Western Illinois, received a very severe check. Previously, the whites and red men had been on the best of terms ; and especially in this region there seemed to be no jealousies existing between the two races. Land and game were so plenty, and the white settlers were so few, that the Indians here did not feel as though their rights were being encroached upon. And then again, the tribes dwelling in this part of the State were of a more civilized character than some others. Indeed, some of the leaders or chiefs were so much so that when the proposition to build the Michigan & Illinois Canal was being agitated, they were not only willing to have the improvement made, but gave it all the encouragement they could ; and it is said that among the first acts of Congress relating to the project there is a clause permitting the free use of the Canal forever to these people. However, before the completion of the work, the stealthy stroke of the Indian's paddle, propelling his canoe, had ceased. The causes which led to their removal were just beginning to take shape, when the emigrants whose names have been given had barely completed their journey. Black Hawk, of whom mention is made on pages 74-79, and his followers and allies had become restless and jealous of the white people, who were in that part of the country , steadily encroaching on both the real and fancied rights of their red brethren. These jealousies eventually broke out into actual conflict, and the State and national military were called out to quell the deadly trouble that seemed to be rising. Of course, great excitement prevailed everywhere, and in sparselysettled neighborhoods like this, with no commensurate means of resistance at hand, and with a people in their midst who, though professing friendship, were yet known to be of a treacherous nature, the most serious apprehensions were entertained. In this state of fear and anxiety the inhabitants of this vicinity were living when, about the latter part of May, 1832, news was brought to the neighborhood of the massacre of several families and the capture and abduction of two young ladies near Ottawa. In those days, this was considered only an adjacent neighborhood, and very naturally the alarm created in this place was intense. A meeting of all the citizens was immediately called, and it was quickly resolved that, in consideration of their utter inability to repel an attack, it was best to remove to the more thickly settled country on the Wabash, whence many of them had formerly emigrated. Accordingly, on the following night at 10 o'clock, there were found nearly twenty wagons and teams gathered at Five-Mile Grove prepared to start. At about the time fixed for their departure they were joined by some parties who reported the Indians approaching. This precipitated their flight, and great confusion prevailed. One man had loaned his ox-yoke, and had sent for it, as he could not harness his cattle without it ; but when the announcement was made that the enemy were near, he snatched a rail from the fence, and with a half-dozen strokes of the ax fashioned it into a substitute, which in a moment more was bound on the necks of his oxen with withes of hickory, as quickly cut from the brush, and he was one of the first to start for the Wabash.