Preemption, Illinois

Preemption Township has a rich soil and is underlain with beds of coal and rock. From an economic standpoint it is one of the most valuable tracts in the county. It is drained principally by Edwards River in the south and Camp Creek through the central part. On the extreme northern side a few small streams flow northward into Rock Island County. Coal has been mined in this township since the earliest date and many years ago it began to be shipped in large quantities to distant markets. In addition, it supplied the home demand. Schools and churches have been here since almost the date of the first settlement. It is probable that John Farlow and Hopkins Boone were the first settlers in the township. They arrived in 1835 to secure locations, and the place where Mr. Farlow afterwards located became known, and is so called to this date, Farlow's Grove. A considerable portion of the township was prairie then and the first settlers sought the timber, because they did not believe the prairies possessed sufficient fertility. These two men and their families appear to have been the onlv residents for about a year. In the following spring there arrived the families of Rev. John Montgomery, a Presbyterian, James Boone, Gabriel Barkley, Christopher Miller and Rev. Joseph Jones, a Baptist. At first these few families were somewhat isolated from outside settlements, because there were no roads. An Indian trail led from Monmouth to Rock Island and this could be traveled on foot or on horseback but not with wagons. Another early road extended from Beardstown to Galena, but was in bad condition throughout the vear. In 1837 the county built across Edwards River on section 34 a trestle bridge which was covered with oak planks. Across this structure a large travel passed as the years advanced. Another earlv road was from New Boston to Richmond, now a defunct town in Henry County.

Passage source: Past and Present of Mercer County, Illinois, published 1914.

In February, 1867, David Little of Preemption Township sold to Ward & Sons of Aledo seventy-three hogs which averaged 425 pounds each. At the same time and place William Connelly sold ten, which averaged 461 pounds each; one weighed 668 pounds. Hog growers were challenged to beat this record.

Passage source: Past and Present of Mercer County, Illinois, published 1914.

In December, 1869, B. Whitsitt sold at Viola forty hogs, fifteen months old, that weighed 14,640 pounds. He received about ten cents a pound for this lot. In the southern part of the township Mr. Morris had a flour mill on Edwards River, which was in operation in 1869. It was operated by water power. H. Boone conducted a sawmill on the same water power. In 1874 Richard Whitsitt sold thirty-five hogs, aged nineteen months, which averaged 542 2-7 pounds each. They were Chester Whites crossed with Suffolk. The Preemption Creamery has been and was for many years an important local industrial institution. It was operated by David T. Little at first and stood three-fourths of a mile east of the Village of Preemption. At first it ran five wagons but this number was increased at a later date. In 1883 it manufactured 133,655 pounds of butter, or nearly sixty-seven tons. This was nearly ninety per cent increase over the product of 1882. The patrons had greatly increased and the creamery had become extremely popular. Throughout the succeeding year 1834 cents per gallon was paid for milk. Mr. Little had previously been at New Windsor and was at this time also at Viola with a similar institution. Late in 1883 the Preempton Creamery had about three hundred patrons.

Passage source: Past and Present of Mercer County, Illinois, published 1914.

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 Preemption Township - it names this place 6 more 6 times.