Spring Grove, Illinois

Spring Grove is situated in the middle of the northern tier of townships, number 12 north, of range 2, west. The county of Mercer is at the north, and on the east, south and west sides lie respectively the townships of Kelly, Monmouth and Sumner. The nature of the land in the greater portion of the township is rolling, ; in the western part it is in places quite broken. It is liberally watered by the Middle Henderson, Cedar Creek and tributaries, which meander westward into the Henderson River. Along the water courses the township is pretty well timbered. The facilities for drainage are good, and there is but little dead land in the township, nearly all being subject to cultivation, and very : fertile.

Passage source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren County, Illinois : Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States ; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement Up to the Present Time, published 1886.

A postoffice was opened at Spring Grove, in 1835, soon after the Rock Island stage route was established. There was a little settlement at this place, and some trading done before the Rock Island & St. Louis R. R., was built and the town of Alexis was started, when the business, with most of the settlement here, moved to the latter place.

Passage source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren County, Illinois : Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States ; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement Up to the Present Time, published 1886.

There is a United Presbyterian congregation at Spring Grove, which was organized by the Monmouth Presbytery, June 22, 1855. J. C. McKnight was the first pastor, serving from June, 1856, until March, 1860. He was succeeded by Wm. M. Graham, who served the Church until 1863. Then they were without a pastor for about a year, when they secured the services of T. P. Patterson, who remained until December, 1868. Rev. David Inches then took charge and remained until 1874, and was followed by Revs. Rufus Johnson, Wm. J. Mc- Croney and A. W. Johnson, the present pastor, who was installed Aug 25, 1885, this being his first charge.

Passage source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Warren County, Illinois : Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Illinois, and of the Presidents of the United States ; Also Containing a History of the County, from Its Earliest Settlement Up to the Present Time, published 1886.

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 Spring Grove Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.