Tremont, Illinois

This township has a fair proportion of timber land, and is well drained by numerous streams, among which are Mackinaw river, Prairie creek. Deer creek. Mud creek, etc. The township was settled at a very early date, and has been brought to a very high state of cultivation. Among the first settlers Avas Hezekiah Davis, who was born in Virginia, Dec. 3, 1798. He came to Illinois in 1819, and to Tazewell Co. in 1826. He bought out Thomas Cameron, who had started in the tannery business, but had not finished any leather. In July, the 17th, 1827, Mr. Davis moved his tannery to Pleasant Grove, sec. 2, Elm Grove township. He carried on the business there until the Tremont colony came. The colonists bought up all the timber land and he could get no more bark, and was compelled to abandon the business. It took him about a year and a half to tan hides, as the fires that ran througli the timber liad weakened the bark. Mr. Davis could do nothing at his business during the winter of the deep snow. He was away from home, and was unable to get home for two months. It is supposed that James Chapman was the first settler in the township. Among other early settlers were Michael Trout, David Lackland, Wm. Stcarling, William and James Broyhill, the former of whom bought the improvements made by Chapman. For some years nothing of interest occurred in the history of the township. It was not until 1834, when the purchasing committee of the Tremont colony appeared, that anything of interest is noted. This committee was composed of Josiah L. James, John H. Harris and Wjlliam Sampson. They selected a fine body of land on the prairie in the western part of this and Elm Grove townships. There was no settlement on this prairie at that time, save a place known as the Auburn house, which was near the center of the township. The Tremont colony was formed in New York City and in Providence, R. I., and came here in 1835. It was composed of about fifty persons. They brought with them the culture, refinement and enterprise of the East. The town prospered at first, and soon secured the public buildings of the county, which gave an impetus to its growth that was remarkable. But soon the long, eventful and disastrous contention arose between Pekin and Tremont, which not only retarded its growth at the time, but injured the bright prospects of both towns. We speak of this portion of Tremont's history in the second chapter of this book, and will, therefore, make no repetition.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

Nathan Kinsey delivered the first load of lumber in Tremont for the first house, which was Col. Chas. Oakley's, and Josiah Matthews completed the first house. The old county buildings still stand, and are owned by the town. The court-house was used for a number of years as a high-school building, and many of the men and women who are to-day actively engaged at various callings throughout the county, received much of their education in attendance upon the the Tremont High School.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

Phillips Bros, have a saw-mill on the Mackinaw, on the line between Hopedale and Tremont townships, on sec. 3 of the former and 34 of the latter. They have good facilities and are doing a good business. They have a twenty horse-power engine, and a capacity of turning out 4,500 feet of lumber per day.

Passage source: History of Tazewell County, Illinois ; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. History of Illinois ... Digest of State Laws, published 1879.

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 Tremont Township - it names this place 22 more 22 times.