Kane, Illinois

There have been in the history of the county two places about a mile apart, having the name of Kane. One of these. Old Kane (or Homer as it was formerly called) is situated in Township 9, Range 12, and the other, New Kane, is in Township 9, Range 11. As a preliminary to a sketch of New Kane which is at present the center of trade and activity, some notice of the old town should be given. The first settlements ever made in Greene County were probably in Township 9, Range 12. Here it was that Daniel Allen and his sons Daniel, Jr. and James made improvements in 1816, having spent the previous Winter on the Macoupin opposite the mouth of Taylor's Creek, in what is now Jersey County. They were followed not long after by R. B. Huitt, Rev. C. J. Gardiner and John King. Shortly before the year 1830, came Gen. Jacob Fry and James Stone. In 1836, a man by the name of Stedman, Alexander Smith, Jacob Backus, Enoch Backus, Col. N. M. Perry and others resided near Section 36, on which Old Kane is situated. They were a long distance from any market, Jerseyville on the south and Carrollton on the north were their nearest towns and each was seven or eio-ht miles awa3^ There was a beautiful location for a village on Section 36 and the propriety of establishing a new town was often discussed. Col. N. M. Perry, now deceased, was prominent in these deliberations, as were also Z. H. Adams and a Mr. Brainerd. Col. Perry was the first to settle in the town and he sold the first lot. Z. H. Adams built the first store, where he sold drugs, groceries, calicoes and all the raisellaneous merchandise necessary in a new country. Col. Perry erected the second store building in the now rapidly growing village. He was a gentleman of great activity and occupied a very prominent place in the history of the county. He sold goods in this town for some time and quite successfully until the panic forced him to retire from business for a time. He subsequently resumed business and continued as a merchant in the place for about thirt}' years. Very soon a dwelling house was built by Samuel Pope and he erected the first blacksmith shop. In 1838, the Baptists began the erection of a church in the town, which was completed soon after. It is still standing, one of the old landmarks of the county. The Methodists erected a building later. Although surrounded by some of the richest farming lands in the State, there were few natural advantages to assist the town to a rapid growth.

Passage source: History of Greene County, Illinois : Its Past and Present, Containing a History of the County ; Its Cities, Towns, Etc. ; a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens ; War Record.., published 1879.

In 1854, when Josiah T. Hunt with Mr. Ollendorf his assistant was making the preliminary survey for the railroad, now known as the Jacksonville branch of the Chicago and Alton, it was earnestly hoped by the citizens of Kane that the road might pass through that town. The engineer made every effort to find a feasible route by which this could be accomplished, but when he made his report at the completion of his work he stated that he regretted exceedingly that it was impracticable. Three lines were run, but the nearest of them left Kane a half mile to the west and the route finally adopted was still further distant. The road was opened from White Hall to Godfrey, January 1, 1865, and in November of that year, Tobias Holliday, who owned a tract of land on the railroad, laid out a town on the east side of the road which was known until the establishment of the post office as HoUidaysburg. Subsequently HoUiday's addition west of the track was annexed and became the business center of the town.

Passage source: History of Greene County, Illinois : Its Past and Present, Containing a History of the County ; Its Cities, Towns, Etc. ; a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens ; War Record.., published 1879.

Some time after the town was laid out Thomas Boyd, a leading citizen of Carrollton, of considerable wealth, purchased a tract of land near the town which he divided into lots and sold. This is now known as Boyd's addition to Kane, and a large number of residences have been built upon it. Elder Joel Terry, on his decease, devised to his family a farm of 160 acres, part of which lay within the corporation limits of Kane. A part of this tract sold at public sale in behalf of the heirs was subsequently laid ofiF in lots, and formed that part of the town known as Terry's addition. The place soon adopted the name of its older neighbor, and became known as Kane, or to distinguish it from the original bearer of that name. New Kane.

Passage source: History of Greene County, Illinois : Its Past and Present, Containing a History of the County ; Its Cities, Towns, Etc. ; a Biographical Directory of Its Citizens ; War Record.., published 1879.

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 Kane Township - it names this place 16 more 16 times.