Dahinda, Illinois

The township has in it one little village, which is located on the line of the railroad, on the southwest corner cf section i6 and the southeast corner of section 17. It was laid off by William Robinson, Deputy Surveyor of the county, in 187 i, and was named Coburg, after the Coe brothers. Soon after it was platted, there was a public sale of lots. Messrs. Schroder & Owens bought one lot on the southeast corner of section 17, for S125, upon which they erected a building for a store, which was the first opened in town. A post-office was established here in 1 87 I and was called North Prairie. Nelson Coe was the first Postmaster. It was subsequently changed lo Rio, which name the village has since borne. It contains a church, school-house and one store. There are a number of wealthy and prominent gentlemen who live in the vicinity, and thus is it a great convenience to them to have a i»st-office and railway station so near.

Passage source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, published 1886.

The first public conveyance and one which also carried the mail was the stage-coach. Just when the stage began running through Persifer we do not know, but it seems to have been running in 1837, according to Mr. David Russell, who came to the township that year and was 15 years of age. The first route of the stage was from Trenton west nearly to the R. C. Benson farm, then in a southwesterly direction to the Miles farm, thence nearly on a straight line to Knoxville, passing the G. W. Manley farm, (now owned by Geo. W. Haner), where was a fine spring where people stopped to water. This route missed all the hills between Spoon River and Knoxville. The state road through Trenton and Knoxville was laid out in 1838. T. D. Butt, Caleb Reece and John Coleman were the commissioners.

Passage source: Annals of Knox County : Commemorating Centennial of Admission of Illinois As a State of the Union in 1818, published 1921.

The first school of which we know was taught by Mary Ann Long in 1839. The school was held in a cabin which stood in the hollow just north of the present Maple Grove School house, District No. 91. This school was not a public school, but was supported by subscription. Mr. C. N. Butt, now living in Knoxville, was a pupil of that school.

Passage source: Annals of Knox County : Commemorating Centennial of Admission of Illinois As a State of the Union in 1818, published 1921.

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 Persifer Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.