Owaneco, Illinois

During the fii-st settlement to realize on their corn crops the farmers had to feed it to their stock, which they disposed of annually about Christmas. They would frequently drive their hogs to the St. Louis markets, a distance of about one hundred miles. But with the advent of railroads in this county the order of things was changed. The first lot of hogs shipped by rail was by Dr. U. C. McCoy, Joshua Pepper, and John White, in the winter of 1855-56. They shipped six car-loads at Pana, on the Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad, the first that passed over that road after its completion. The first threshing-machine was brought to Christian county by William Hunter in 1855 ; it was a " Marsilon Separator," and attracted much attention in the fiirming community. Its owner had calls for its use from all parts of the county. The old grocery store and saloon was a notable in.stitution on the public road from the county seat to Pana. It was located at an early date, on the north-west corner of section twenty-seven, town twelve, range one, and was a place of great resort for the lovers of foot-races and shooting-matches. As the township increased in population there wa.s a greater demand for postal accommodation. The passing of the tri-weekly stage suggested the idea of a postoffice. It was established in 1857, and was the first one in the township. Judge Yandeveer suggested the name, " Owaneco," whicli was adopted. J. M. Weaver was appointed the first postmaster, :ind the ofliee was kept in a little frame building, near the late residence of Esquire Joseph P. Durbin, on the borders of Locust Creek timber. In the office was kept a few dry goods, groceries, and an ai)undant supply of " tangle-foot." The house was sold at one time by the United States Deputy Marshal for a failure to p:iv Internal Revenue wdiisky tax. The post-office changed hands, and at one time the following amusing incident occurred :

Passage source: History of Christian County, Illinois, published 1880.

In 18(i(i, on the adoption of township organization, this township remained unchanged as to its boundaries. At the election held April 3d, 1866, B. C. Cochran was elected its first supervisor; John W. Hunter and Philip Baker were elected justices of the peace ; and Daniel Orr and David Jarvis, constables, on the 7th of November, 1865. These officers held over till the expiration of the time for which they were elected. The ( ). and M., formerly called the Springfield and S. E. R. R., runs diagonally through the township, entering it on sec. 6 and leaving it on sec. 36. There are two stations in this township on the line of the road, Owaneco and Millersville. That part of the township lying south of Locust Creek forms a part of the territory of what is termed " Buckeye Prairie." It derived its name from a number of emigrants from Ohio, the Buckeye state, settling in this prairie. Its first settler on the Cottonwood Forks was Martin Overholt, in the fall of 1851. He built the first house, and moved into it in an unfinished state, for a time affi)rding only a pretext for shelter from the wintry blasts ; it was situated on the west half of south-west ipiarter section twenty-nine. The house is still standing, and now owned by B. C. Cochran ; it was near the " Buckeye school-house."

Passage source: History of Christian County, Illinois, published 1880.

Dr. Cussins, the present Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, March the 24th, 1851. His grandfather was one of the early settlers of Muskingum county. His father was Samuel Cussins, and his mother's maiden name was Jane Careins. His mother's family had settled at an early date in Ohio, and was connected with the St. Clair family, so that the subject of this sketch was named James St. Clair C. Cussins. He was the next to the youngest of a fiimily of five children. In 1863, his father moved to this state and settled at Decatur, where he died in 1872. The Dr. was in his thirteenth year on coming to Illinois. He laid the foundation of a good education in the public schools of Ohio and of Decatur. In 1869, he entered the Illinois Industrial University, at Champaign, and was a student in that institution for three years. He there, of course, enjoyed excellent educational advantages, and left the University within a few months of the time when he would have graduated. He had begun teaching school at the age of sixteen, and after leaving Champaign he taught school in Macon county for about three years and a half He began the study of medicine with Drs. Moore and Barnes, leading physicians of Decatur, in the year 1873, and afterward entered Rush Medical College at Chicago, from which he graduated in the spring of 1877. During the succeeding summer he practiced in connection with his preceptors at Decatur, and in September, 1877, located at Owaneco, where he has since followed the practice of his profession with merited success. He was married to Miss

Passage source: History of Christian County, Illinois, published 1880.

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 Locust Township - it names this place 2 more 2 times.