Pinkstaff, Illinois

The earliest settlement in the township was made in j the neighborhood of Pinkstaff station, about the year | 1815, by Tennesseans. Adam Lackey, Sr., a Revolutionary soldier, came to Lawrence county in 1813, and -went into Fort Allison. He had three children, Adam, Jr., Elizabeth and John, an infant of two years. At the return of peace and the cessation of Indian hostilities, he moved to the N. E. i of the S. E J of section 5, T. 4, R. 11, and there settled permanently and died. His j sons, Adam, Jr., and John, married and settled in the vicinity, and have a number of representatives in the county. About this time, three brothers, William,

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.

John and David McCord, with families sought homes in the same vicinity. They first settled on the N. E. quarter of the N. W. quarter of section 5, T. 4, R. 11. John and David located at what is now Pinkstaff station. A negro settlement was begun in the township, sections 8 and 9, T. 4, R. 11, in the year 1815 or '16. Lion and John Morris settled respectively on the N. E. quarter and the S. E. quarter of section 8, which they entered in 1816. In 1817 Joshua Anderson settled on the If. E. quarter of section 9. Elihu Cole, Obed Goings, John Porter and Matthew Steward lived in the same settlement. The Morris' and the three brothers Anderson were in Fort Allison, and used to go scouting with the other occupants. The mother of the Morris', whose husband was killed by the Indians, expressed the revengeful and mirth-provoking desire, that a cannon be placed on Dubois Hill to exterminate the race who were the authors of her wrongs. The negro settlement has been pushed southward, and now lies mainly in Lawrence township. About the year 1819 a community of the sect known as Shakers, numbering about forty in all, was formed on the Embarras river, at what is now Charlotlesville, by immigrants from Shakertown, Knox county, Indiana, which, now extinct, was quite a village in 1821. The Shakers held their property in common, and transacted all business and financial matters through a board of trustees composed of three individuals. Daniel Rankin and A. Gallaher were members of the first board. William Douglas, George Legier and William Davis also occupied the position of trustees. On their arrival, in 1819, they built two houses, one for the men and another for the women, as the sexes lived apart from each other. The " Shaker Mill " soon followed, and was put in operation in the spring of 1820. It was a frame water-mill with one set of burrs, and was built on the west bank .of the river. The Shakers had operated it about two years, when the breaking of the milldam cast discouragement about them, and having leased \ the property to a man named Beecher, they abandoned their plan of founding a permanent settlement on the Embarras, and emigrated to Shakertown and other points.

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.

It was laid out by Owen Pinkstaff on the southwest quarter of section 8, T. 4, R. 11, and surveyed and platted by B. Benefiel, county surveyor February 23, 1877. T. J. Pinkstaff built a combined dwelling and store, and sold the first goods in 1878. He still continues in business, and is post-master. The post-office was established in 1877, and Alonzo Eaton was its first keeper.

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