Paw Paw, Illinois

Wyoming, the southeastern township of Lee county, is the congressional T. 37 N., E. 2 E. of the 3d P.M., and is bounded north by Willow creek, on the east by Paw Paw in De Kalb county, south by Earlville in La Salle county, and west by Brookljai. In the days of precincts it formed the south third of Paw Paw precinct, and when set off and organized as a township in 1850 was named Paw Paw township, and since the beautiful grove, hereafter described, that gave this name stands almost wholly in this township, and the post-office is named Paw Paw Grove, it would seem that this name should have been retained. But as the township next east chose the same name, it became necessary that one of the contending parties renounce its favorite name. It is reported, but by no means verified, that when contention began to wax hot the question was left to be decided by lot, and that the lot fell on our time-honored Paw Paw of Lee county. And it ma}^ be thought by some that this ill turn of luck is what has tended to give to the citizens of Wyoming their proverbial love for w^hatever is straight and honest and of good report, as opposed to games and " options " of luck and chance. Be that as it may, it cannot be doubted that the citizens of township 37 did then, and do to-day, fervently love their pioneer name. On the plat of their chief village we read : " Town of Paw Paw Grove." Two other villages on the township lines are designated South Paw Paw and East Paw Paw, and naturally the term West Paw Paw is much used, while the abrupt business man everywhere seems partial to the short old name, and the railroad authorities, in deference to a prevailing sentiment, so named the station. " But what's in a name," gays the poet, and so said the people. No ill-will seems to have been engendered. The change was ordered here, so at the suggestion of James Goble, and in deference to the wishes of the many w^ho came from the beautiful valley of Wyoming, the present name w^as adopted by the county commissioner's court, Isaac Harding, Warren Badger and Lorenzo Wood comprising said court, and on May 14, 1851, the board of supervisors ordered that "the township formerly called Paw Paw shall hereafter be called Wyoming."

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

The first settlers located around Paw Paw Grove. This is still a charming piece of forest. It is some three miles long, and from one to two miles wide. It lies east of the railroad station and about threefourths of it in Wyoming. From its northeast corner Paw Paw creek runs through it in a southeasterly direction, and after making a junction with Indian creek empties into the Illinois river. A small tree or shrub, unknown to many people in other parts of the United States, east and north, grows freely in this grove and bears a sweet, edible fruit, somewhat like the banana in flavor, but often larger in size.

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

This is the papaw. It was a favorite with the Indians, and gives its name (somewhat changed in spelling) to a considerable number of places. When the white settlers first came " the timber," as they called this tract, contained about two thousand acres. Unlike other groves, it was free from underbrush. The sugar maple was very abundant. There were many large black walnut trees, four kinds of oak, the hickory, and cottonwood, with a few butternuts and sycamores. " From one of the maples that grew here," says a well known physician, " in 1855, I sold considerable lumber and had left enough wood to supply all the fires of my family for a year." Plums, blackberries and gooseberries were also plentiful here. On the east side, near the county line, was an excellent spring, where the water bubbled up from the bottom, pure, sparkling and abundant, and never freezing in winter. At the northwest corner was another, in all respects equal to the former, and with a volume that seemed inexhaustible. It was the great and constant feeder to Paw Paw creek. These springs were treasures in those early days when water fit to drink was rarely seen by travelers in the west. James Goble, who came in 1837, says he has frequently seen an acre of wagons camped around the latter spring,where now stands the Oak Grove creamery, supplied by this same spring. The prairie grass of this region was remarkable in quantity, and equal to grain in quality, while in the lowlands a rider on horseback could tie the tall, rank slough-grass together above his head. Yet it was very healthy and free from ague. When Rev. Caleb Morris was seeking the most healthful location he learned from the Indians that this was their favorite resort for raising their papooses. Here then were great attractions for emigrants, but the tenure of the land was uncertain, for it was generally believed that this grove was included in Indian reservations ; and the old chief Wabonsie and his tribe still had their home within its limits when the whites began to reside here. As is well known, the Black Hawk war did not close till 1832. It had raged from Dixon southward, as well as elsewhere, and included this region. For at Indian creek, not far away, there had been a horrible massacre, and Wabonsie and his neighbor Shabbona had taken part in the campaign, though these noble red-men fought on the side of the whites. For a year later there were disturbances from disaifected Indians ; hence it was not until midwinter of 1833-4 that any white men came here and stayed even a short period, so as to make claims upon the land. It was nearly fifty years ago, yet quite a number of the early settlers are still living. Reminiscences of frontier life and adventure and the strange contrasts of the old times with the present, which they describe, have oftentimes a fascinating interest. At one period there were desperate men here, horse thieves, counterfeiters and gamblers, who gave their locality a hard name for a long time, down to as late as 1860 ; but it is matter of grateful record that those w^ho gave direction to affairs, the men who have made Wyoming what it is to-day, were strong, brave, fearless and shrewd. These old people will soon be gone. By their hearty cooperation in the effort of the historian they have done a service which all readers will appreciate. Dates and details are usually dry and tedious ; but the records of the first things that relate to our own hearthstones are specially valuable in local annals.

Passage source: History of Lee County, published 1881.

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 Wyoming Township - it names this place 171 more 171 times.