Chauncey, Illinois

John Brigman and William Murphy settled in the township prior to 1838. The latter gentleman made an improvement in section 18, township 4, range 12. Sarah James, a widow, with a daughter, came from Indiana in 1834 In 1838 she was married to Edward Fyffe, who settled on the southwest quarter of section 28, township 4, range 13, where he died. The Petty family, from whom the township received its name, arrived in 1838, or '39. Josiah Petty, familiarly known as " old Uncle Jeff," settled in the west half of the southwest quarter of section 11. Joseph Petty, from Perry county, Ohio, with five children, Peter, Mary Ann, Balser, George and William, settled on the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 15, where he resided permanently. In 1838, John Decker, from Indiana, settled on the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 28, township 4, range 13, where he remained permanently, and reared a family of eight children. Samuel James, about 1840, settled and improved a farm on the east half of the southeast quarter of sec tion 30, township 4, range 13. The principal improvements of the township, especially north of Paragin slough, have been made since 1850. At that time Richard Grier, Nathan Fitz, Ferdinand Kyger, William Munn, Nancy Watts, Christian Loss and the Jackson family were living in that region. The west half of the southwest quarter of section 33, township 5, range 13, occupied, at present, by David Watte, is one of the earliest settlements in its neighborhood. There was also an early improvement on the east half of section 32, township 5, range 13. A well marks the site of a former improvement in David Brown's field east of Chauncey. Christopher Dollahan once lived there.

Passage source: Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883.

Was so named by Peter Smith, for the second son of Wna. H. Brown. It contains about seventy inhabitants, and is situated on the adjacent corners of sections 28, 29, 32 and 33 T. 5, R. 13. John Bach built the first house, a log dwelling, in 1856. He immediately put up a blacksmith shop and began work. Luther Watts sold the first goods in the Daniel Grass building, moved from a point three miles southeast of Chauncey, in the fall of 1860. Daniels and Waggoner opened the first grocery store, in 1866. A wagon shop was put up in 1867, and wagon making was carried on some two years. Daniel Patton established a drug store in 1879.

Passage source: Combined History of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash Counties, Illinois. With Illustrations ... and Biographical Sketches of Some of Their Prominent Men and Pioneers, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Petty Township.