Woodford County, Illinois - Chapter 9, 1910

AS the county became more thickly settled the demand for a more convenient county seat became imperative. By 1840 the vicinity of Spring Bay, Versailles, Bowling Green, Metamora and Walnut Grove had numerous settlers, and a movement was begun for the organization of a new county. Aside from the need of a more conveniently located seat of justice, was the ambition of the citizens of Versailles to make that the county seat. It was hoped that the location of the seat of justice there would soon make it the metropolis of the county. A petition was circulated praying for the creation of a new county, of which Versailles was to be the county seat. Thomas Bullock, who had named the town, was one of the prime movers in presenting the matter before the legislature. The granting of the petition was opposed by citizens of Washington, who were ambitious to make that city the county seat. A petition had been circulated with that in view, but Versailles had gotten its petition before the legislature in time to give it precedence, and Washington confined its efforts to opposing its granting. Mr. Bullock and others worked unceasingly and were rewarded by seeing their cherished bill become a law. A new county was created named Woodford, in honor of Woodford county, Kentucky, the former home of Mr. Bullock. It did not however, make Versailles the permanent seat of justice, but located it at that place for two years, on condition that suitable buildings were furnished free of expense to the county.

A school house was provided for the use of the county officials and answered the purpose of a court room very well. This law provided for the completion of the organization of the county, and the election of the necessary officers. On April 13th, 1841, the persons elected met in Versailles to organize. The affairs of the county were then in the hands of three county commissioners instead of a board of supervisors as at present. The commissioners organized with John J. Perry as clerk. On June 7th, they decided the date of the expiration of the term of each commissioner as follows:

Joseph Meek, of Walnut Grove, August, 1841 ; James Boys, of Metamora, August, 1842 ; Josiah Moore, of Bowling Green, August, 1843. The remaining county officers were as follows : Probate judge, J. B. Holland ; sheriff, William S. Magarity ; circuit clerk, S. J. Cross ; county clerk, John J. Perry ; coroner, William Hosher ; treasurer, James S. Mc- Cord ; assessor, Joshua Woosley ; collector, William Rockwell; surveyor, S. S. Parke.

For convenience in voting the county was laid off into four election precincts, designated as Bowling Green, Versailles, Partridge and Richland. The voting place in Partridge was fixed at the house of John Sunderland, while that of Richland precinct was the house of James Owens.

It may be interesting to note here the names of the first judges of election after the organization of the county. Bowling Green, Eli Patrick, Samuel Arnold, Samuel Kirkpatrick ; Versailles, Henry I. Clark, Warren C. Watkins, Ben Major; Partridge, Jefferson Hoshor, John Page, Joel Ranney; Richland, Benj. D. Perry, Jesse Hammers, Jefferson So wards. In a short time Spring Bay precinct was formed. In each of these precincts was an overseer of the poor, whose duty was to look after the needy in his precinct. The first of these appointed by the commissioners were, Versailles, Benj. J. Radford; Bowling Green, Reuben Carlock ; Partridge, John Page ; Richland, J. Foster.

The first county order was issued to Henry I. Clark for $1.00 in payment for his services as judge of election, that being the compensation of such an official at that time, while the clerk received $1.25.

The growth of the financial affairs of the county may be shown by a glance at the report of the first collector, who acted for the county instead of for each township as at present. His total collections were $1,034.60, while the collections of the various township collectors in 1909 amounted to $262,322.32. William Rockwell, the first county collector, gave a bond for $4,000, while that of L. C. Gish, now county treasurer, was $202,000.00. The first sheriff, William S. Magarity, gave bond for $1,000.00 which amount seems small in contrast with the bond for $10,000.00 required of the present sheriff, B. F. Slenker.

Each official subscribed to an oath in which he pledged himself to support the constitutions of the United States and of the State of Illinois, and to fulfill the duties of his office to the best of his ability, but in addition to that he was required to swear that he had never taken part in a duel, had sent no challenge, and further that he would take no part whatever in a duel during his term of office.

Woodford county was made a part of the Eighth judicial district, and the first session of court was held at Versailles, in September, 1841, with Judge Samuel H. Treat on the bench. The county commissioners, at their session in June, had chosen twenty-three men to act as the first grand jury, and also twenty-four men as petit jurors. The grand jurors were as follows : Thomas A. McCord, John Mohr, S. Y. Barnard, Reuben Carlock, William C. Anthony, Henry I. Clark, Amos Watkins, James Findley, David Travis, Elijah Dickinson, Caleb Davidson, Ellis Parker, Parker Morse, William Dodds, Jesse Hammers, James Owens, Samuel Headlock, Harlow T. Barney, Austin Crocker, Joseph Wilkerson, John Sunderland, John Page and George Bennett. Only seventeen of the above number are shown by the court records to have been present the session of court Those present with John C. Coons formed the first actual grand jury. John W. Page was chosen foreman and the work of the term was taken up. Two indictments were returned, one against Nathaniel Wilson for larceny, and the other against Alfred Moore for arson. Neither case was tried at that term of court.

Daniel R. Meek, who resides at Secor, was present at the opening of the session of court. He distinctly remembers the occasion, which was an important one in the history of Versailles. Flags were flying from the school house in which court was held and men laid aside their work to attend court. There were a number of prominent men in attendance upon the session of the court altho they had not gained the prominence they afterward attained. Among these were Abraham Lincoln, David Davis and others.

The law that created Woodford county provided that all cases begun in the courts of Tazewell or McLean counties prior to the organization of the new county, by citizens living within the boundaries of Woodford, should be decided in the courts where they were begun.

The first entry on the docket is that in the case of George; Case, appellee, vs. Isaac W. Lowe, appellant, in which the suit was dismissed as per agreement.

David R. Campbell was present as states attorney. There were no jury cases at that term altho twenty-four jurymen had been drawn. These were as follows: AVesley Arnold, Jacob Stevenson, William Long, James A. Whorton, Thomas II. Baker, John P. Beaty, Thomas Bullock, Benj. J. Radford, M. R. Bullock, David Deweese, James Wells, James Brown, Cooley Curtis, Francis Boggs, Andrew Galbreth, Solomon Tucker, Aaron Richardson, Samuel Arnold, William S. Pratt, Norman Dutton, George Kingston, C. D. Banta, Amos A. Brown and William Willis.

change the boundary lines between the two counties to the line between townships 24 and 25 north of the base line, but the proposition was never adopted. The same year the boundary line between Woodford and McLean counties was definitely fixed and has remained unchanged since that. time.

In 184!) a movement was organized for the division of the county into townships. The proposition brought forth strong opposition, and a number of prominent men were untiring in their efforts to defeat the measure. The first election was held in 1850, the vote standing at that time 153 for township organization and 107 against it. The proposition did not have the required majority of all the votes of the county, and was resubmitted in 1852, the vote then standing 469 for and 298 against organization. In 1853 a third test was made, the vote then standing 310 for, to 109 against. It was not until 1854 that the proposition carried the required majority, the vote standing 692 for, to 193 against the plan of division. The same year the court appointed John Summers, Daniel B. Owen, and Edgar Babcock commissioners to divide the county into townships. The commissioners did their work and on April 16th, 1855, the first board of supervisors in Woodford county held its meeting at Metamora. The board was made up as follows : Metamora, Simon P. Shope ; Montgomery, James Vance ; Olio, Joseph Meek ; Panola, and Minonk, Robert N. McClelland ; Greene, John R. Gaston; Roanoke, David S. Brown; Linn and Clayton, Isaac Fisher ; Cazenovia, John AV. Acres ; Worth, Jacob Shuck ; Spring Bay, George N. Schnibly ; Palestine, Allen Hart ; Partridge, Jefferson Ilosher. The board organized by choosing as its chairman, Simon P. Shope, of Metamora.

With the organization of this board the work of the county commissioners ended. For about fourteen years the county had been under their control and the affairs had been wisely and economically administered. The growth of the various settlements seemed to demand a closer supervision and the new system was instituted. The first eight years of the county's existence, the commissioners were elected, one being chosen each year to serve three years. In 1819, however, the law was changed and the affairs were administered by a county judge and two associates. The first judge was Welcome P. Brown and his associates were William C. Poynter and W. E. Buckingham.

The growth of the county was gradual but steady, ami the business of the new board increased quite rapidly. In the beginning Clayton and Linn, Minonk and Panola were united so as to form but two precincts. This was due to the sparce settlement at that time, but it was but a few years until each township had its full quota of officials. Cruger township was not created until 1870, when it was cut off the west side of Olio. Kansas township was separated from Palestine in 1859.

Minonk, N. L. Davison; Clayton, B. W. Uphoff, Linn, Ludwig Tjaden; Cazenovia, J. II. Lesch ; Partridge, Sol Winkler; Spring Bay, Alfred Hosher; Worth, Leo T. Schwenk ; Metamora, Henry Ileininger; Roanoke, C. F. Yeck ; Greene, Prank Vogel ; Panola, Theobald Stimpert ; El Paso, E. A. Childs ; Palestine, AV.A. Colburn ; Olio ; E. B Dickinson ; Cruger, Ed. Perrine ; Kansas, W. II. Dixon ; Montgomery, Simon Naffzinger. The board is organized with Alfred Hosher of Spring Bay as chairman.

The early officers were usually elected for but two years, the coroner, sheriff, school commissioner, surveyor and treasurer each serving for that length of time. Later these officers were elected for the full four year term. The title of school commissioner was changed in 1865 to county superintendent of schools. The county has been very fortunate in the selection of its officers. Only once has it suffered serious defalcation. Ayrs M. Whittaker, county treasurer, was declared a defaulter September 11th, 1878, in the sum of $41,632. 63, The bondsmen were called upon to make up the shortage. A settlement w;is finally made with the county bondsmen on the basis of 65 cents on the dollar. They were only held responsible for the defalcation of the county fund. The state bondsmen were held for the other funds. These protested and after three hearings in court they were released from further responsibility on the payment of a nominal sum, amounting to about $800.

Of these D. H. Davison has been the longest server, having been surveyor at various periods for thirty years. L. II. VanAlstine and Adolph Woltzen have been connected with the official business of the county for a number of years, the former as deputy circuit clerk, and the latter as clerk; the latter first as deputy treasurer and later as county clerk.

The business of the county has grown to such magnitude that the treasurer, superintendent of schools, sheriff and circuit clerk are each empowered to employ a deputy, while the county clerk employs two. In the more busy seasons the county and circuit clerks frequently employ additional assistance. As the county grows in wealth the business of the probate court, and consequently of the county clerk, greatly increases.