Allin Township

Allin Township

Presley T. Brooks was born November 9, 1821, in Hart County, Kentucky. His father's name was Miles Brooks and his mother's name before her marriage was Lucy Pulliam. Both were born in Virginia and were of Scotch or Irish descent. Miles Brooks volunteered as a soldier in the war of 1812 and started from home on a campaign, but the war closed and the troops were discharged.

In the year 1828 Mr. Brooks, si\, sold his property in Kentucky for the purpose of going to Illinois or Missouri. He started late in the fall of 1828, but stopped in Indiana until September, 1829, when he came to Illinois. During the winter of 1829 and '30 he stayed at Clearry's Grove in what was then Sangamon County, but is now contained in the county of Menard. During that winter he selected and entered land at a grove which has ever since been called Brooks' Grove, in the present county of McLean. In February, 1830, Mr. Brooks moved from Sangamon Countv to Hittle's Grove in Tazewell Count}-, and on the fourteenth day of March of that year he moved into a very rough log cabin in Brooks' Grove. The Brooks family was the first to settle in the present Allin township. This was before the organization of the county of McLean. The Indians, wolves and deer seemed to have things all their own way and were veiy numerous. The Indians were exceedingly kind and friendly and alwaj's wanted to trade some of their pappooses for white children.

of the deep snow, beyond what is stated in other places in this volume. The Brooks family was snowbound for six weeks and, during that time, saw no living persons outside of their own family circle.

In 1832, when the Black Hawk war occurred, the settlers were panic-stricken, and Mr. Brooks says : " When old Black Hawk was captured, there was rejoicing, you better believe."

Mr. Brooks describes the sudden freeze of December, 1836, and says it came so suddenly that fowls were frozen into the slush of snow and water, which covered the ground. The west wind came cold after a thaw " as quick as thought," and the water and slush became a sheet of ice.

Mr. Brooks had no opportunity to attend school until about fifteen years of age. During the winter of 1836 and '37 he boarded about six miles from home and attended school for about six weeks. During the next summer he went to school for three months and his education was finished. Money was valuable in the early days. Mr. Brooks went to Chicago in 1846, and one dollar paid all of his expenses. But as he camped out during the trip this does not appear so wonderful. In the fall of 1847 Mr. Brooks made a visit to his native hills in Kentucky and returned with his sister's family to Illinois.

The people of Allin township seem to take pleasure in employing the services of Mr. Brooks in the various township offices. He has been constable, justice of the peace and supervisor, and has been elected to these offices without opposition and in some cases against his will. At one time he refused to qualify as a justice of the peace, when his townsmen held a special meeting and chose him once more, and he consented to act. He has been school treasurer, assessor and collector, and if a new office could be invented in Allin township Mr. Brooks would, in all probability, be called to fill it.

On the twenty-ninth of December, 1842, Mr. Brooks married Miss Eliza Silvey Larison, and in April following began keeping house at Brooks' Grove. There Mr. Brooks had built a frame house, one of the first in the township. In November, 1870, the Brooks family moved to Stanford where they have resided ever since. His son-in-law, William J. Haines, lives on the old farm. Mr. Brooks has had ten children, of whom eight are living. Tbev are : Mali n da Catherine, wife of William Haines : Miles Brooks, one of the partners of the firm of Brooks & Son ; Mary, wife of George W. Kaufrnann, who resides half a mile northwest of Stanford ; Ahel Brooks is a teacher, and lives at home; Rachel B., Lucy Ann B., Millie Frances B., and Eliza Ellen B., the pet, live at home.

As to personal appearance, Mr. Brooks is five feet, nine inches, in height, well set, wears glasses when he reads and writes. His hair is turning gray, hut he has plenty of it ; he has a short aquiline nose and blue eyes. He has been very successful in life, which is due in a great measure to his wife.

Greenberry Larison was born January 21, 1810, in Bloom township, Morgan County, Ohio, on the banks of the Muskingum River. The ancestors of his father, Abel Larison, came from Holland, and were among the earliest settlers in New York. His mother's ancestors settled in Maryland at an early day, but Mr. Larison does not remember from what country they originally came. The Larison family is very large. There is now in New York a large property, worth perhaps eight millions of dollars which it is thought, belongs to the Larison family ; but matters are so mixed that it is doubtful whether they will receive any benefit from it. It consists of some real estate which was leased for ninety-nine years. The term of the lease expired five or six years ago, but the difficulty now is to find all the heirs and to prove their right. Henry Ward Beecher's church stands upon one of the lots comprised in the real estate claimed by the Larison family.

There were ten children in the Larison family, five bovs and five girls; Greenberry was the oldest boy. The little education he received was obtained in a log school house, where he attended about three months in the year up to the age of seventeen or eighteen. He was a pretty bright scholar, as good as there was in the settlement. He learned reading, writing, spelling and geography, and was taught to cipher up to the rule of three: but grammar was badly neglected.

maid at his father's house, and though Greenberry was then young he wished to do something manly and chivalrous. He took his father's gun and went hunting, and when about a mile and a half from home he killed a deer, a tine buck. The happy youth cut off the head of the deer, put a stick through its neck and dragged it home in triumph, and succeeded in getting there before the pretty maid had left, The name of the charming maiden was Araline Whitehead, but a few years afterwards it was changed to Mrs. Larison.

When Mr. Larison was sixteen years of age he had shown himself very bold and venturesome on the water, and had found some valuable articles and parts of cargoes, which had been lost from fiatboats which had been wrecked on the river. He hunted among the drifts and became so skillful that at the age of sixteen he "followed the river." This is a rough life, and the boatsmen are the hardest of characters. On the Muskingum River merchandise was floated on fiatboats. These fiatboats were sixty or seventy feet in length and eighteen or twenty feet wide, and were loaded with merchandise until they sank two or three feet in the water. It can very readily be seen that they were unwieldy, and in order to move them a hundred feet across the current the boatmen were obliged to let them float a half mile or more. Unless the boatmen were skillful they could not stop or hitch up their flatboat along the shore. A rope thrown from the boat around a tree would soon tighten up and snap in two. In order to manage their craft the boatmen were obliged to know the river and understand all the currents and shoals and eddies. If they wished to stop their boat they tried to run it into still water, or, better than this, into an eddv, and gradually bring the unwieldy craft ashore. Sometimes the boat was carried by the current on rocks, or crowded into shore on some log and a hole torn in the side or bottom. When such a misfortune happened the boat was sure to sink, and the merchandise was of course pretty widely distributed by the water. Some of it would be carried down stream or sunk in an eddy, or caught in a drift. It was in hunting for articles of merchandise lost from sunken flatboats that Mr. Larison learned the river and acquired skill in the management of water crafts. He followed the river for some years, whenever the Muskingum was not frozen too

But he was not destined to be a flatboatrnan all his life. At the age of twenty he married Araline Whitehead, the handsome young lady who had captivated his affections a few years before. This interesting event took place on the first of April, 1830. In the fall of that year Mr. Abel Larison came West with all of the family except Greenberry, and settled at Kickapoo, near what is now called the village of Waynesville. It was not until April, 1831, that Greenberry Larison came to Illinois. He came by water and landed at Pekin. He had, in coming up the river, been carried past this place up to Fort Clark (Peoria), but came back to Pekin, and from there across to Kickapoo, where his father lived. His father had bought three claims, those of William and James Murphy and Josiah Harp. The latter claim was given up to Greenberry Larison on his arrival. At that time he had a five franc piece in his pocket, a bed, and cooking utensils enough for his young wife to cook their scanty meal. He settled on the farm without a horse, cow, pig, sheep or goat. There was on the place a curiosity in the shape of a wooden grindstone. It had been made probably by Josiah Harp, from whom the claim had been bought. When made it was of green wood, and had sand and fine gravel pounded into it. When it had seasoned, the sand and gravel were held fast, and though it did not sharpen an axe very well or put on a fine edge it would give it a lively scratching. The grindstone was a very important article always. Mr. Larison was obliged to go sixteen miles from his place to 'Squire Gates', in Blooming Grove, on the farm now known as the Kitchel farm, to get his axes sharpened.

Mr. Larison worked hopefully though he expected and received many set-backs. In the fall of the year in which he came West he had become wealthy enough to own a fine litter of six pigs, but, during the second night after this sudden wealth had been thrust upon him, the prairie wolves came up within thirty feet of his house and captured the youthful porkers and they were never heard of more. " Riches take to themselves wings and fly away." But Mr. Larison did not despair; during the fall he bought a cow on credit agreeing to pay for her by the following Christmas. He made the money to pay for her bv cutting cord-wood at twenty-five cents a cord from the logs lying where Mr. Scott now lives. He also made rails for Mr. William Murphy at thirty-three cents per hundred and boarded himself and walked three miles to work.

He had in the early days some slight opportunity for seeing and understanding the Indians. In the fall of 1831 some Indians came to William Murphy and offered him a little Indian girl five years of age for four bushels of ground wheat, but he declined the offer. When Mr. Larison heard of this he was astonished and anxious to get the child and willing to give the wheat. He asked Murphy why he refused the bargain, and the latter, having had some experience and knowledge of the Indians, replied that they would soon return and steal the little girl away.

The season of 1831 was cool and short and few of the farmers raised good corn. The winter previous Avas the winter of the deep snow, and the climate was so chilled that the effect was felt during the whole season of 1831. There was a frost every month in the year and the corn could not ripen. It was so worthless that seed corn could not be gathered to plant during the following season. In the spring of 1832 nearly all the seed corn was brought from Ohio and Kentucky and sold for two and a half dollars per bushel and sometimes for more. John Duffy of Randolph Grove brought on a lot of small yellow corn that matured early and this is yet called the Duffy corn.

Mr. Larison was a great hunter. Although the game was made comparatively scarce by the winter of the deep snow, yet the skillful hunter could find it. The big game was deer and turkey and it was well worthy of the hunter's exertious. Mr. Larison says that he has killed " a power of deer and turkey."

Mr. Larison worked hard for two years on his farm at Kickapoo and then removed to Bloomington and bought out a drinking saloon. In those days saloons were patronized by nearly every one and the saloon-keeper was one of the most honored members of society. It is said that Abraham Lincoln once sold liquor at retail when he first came to Illinois. Some years afterwards when Lincoln took the stump against Judge Douglas, the latter alluded to Lincoln's calling in early western times; but Lincoln retorted that while he had officiated in one capacity on

In 1835 Mr. Larison ran for constable at the solicitation of his old friend, General Gridley, and was fortunate enough to be elected. He served in that capacity for five years, and in 1840 was elected sheriff of McLean County for two years. He was the third sheriff of the county, but he was the first one who took a prisoner to the penitentiary. The prisoner, whose name was Webb, had been arrested by Larison for passing counterfeit money. He was one of that numerous band of counterfeiters and burglars that infected the western country, and had just arrived from the Rock River Valley. As soon as the prisoner was remanded to jail a certain individual of Bloomington began to plot to release him, for the band of thieves had agents in every town. But Mr. Larison "got wind" of this little arrangement and carefully guarded the jail, and had the pleasure of seeing Webb tried, convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for five years. Mr. Larison carried the counterfeiter to Alton, and has every reason to suppose that for five years he did the State substantial service.

Occasionally the early settlers enjoyed themselves by dancing and the pleasures of society. At these pleasant gatherings Mi-. Larison was usually the fiddler, and he did what he could to make things lively. Judge Davis was a great dancer in those days, and could step around very lively, but he was not quite so heavy as at the present time. About five years ago some people in Bloomington got up a dance in the style of the early days. Mr. Larison acted in the capacity of fiddler, and the company had a grand time.

In 1850 Mr. Larison was anxious for a chance to hunt, and went to California with a company of sixty persons. They had a great time of it, and Mr. Larison did not return for two years. While crossing the plains they came upon the great game of the West, buffaloes. Some of the party mounted their horses and started for them. The buffaloes, of course, made as good time as they could to get out of the way. Mr. Larison did not have his own horse near, so he borrowed one with little ceremony, and started. He soon came across a buffalo which had taken refuge in a hollow, and gave chase. He rode up by the side of it and was about to shoot when the ferocious beast turned upon him and, to make matters more troublesome, his horse refused to get out of the way or move until the buffalo was within about fifteen feet of him. But when the horse saw the danger he sprang out of the way. Shortly afterwards Mr. Larison dismounted and shot the buifalo, but did not kill it. John W. Dawson, after snapping a few caps at the animal, held Larison's horse while the latter tried again and succeeded in bringing the buffalo down. They had a great many interesting adventures. When they came to Sweetwater they heard of a place a few miles above them called Devil's Gate. It seems to be a ledge of rock cut through by the washing of water. It is about two hundred feet high and not far from perpendicular. Near the top of this ledge Fremont made his sign, and of course all persons who pass that way must do the same and gain for themselves a cheap notoriety. The most of the company went to the top by a wide circuit, but William Hodge (a son of W. H. Hodge) climbed up this ledge of rock two hundred feet, almost perpendicularl}-, and when he came within twenty or thirty feet of the top he found it so steep that it seemed impossible to go further, and equally impossible to retreat. In order to climb the remaining short distance the young man pulled off his boots and threw them up to the top. One of them landed safely, while the other tumbled down two hundred feet to the bottom. But the vounsr man sueceeded in getting to the top. jStow it so happened that a party from the company went to visit the Devil's Gate and while there were suddenly astonished by a boot which dropped down among them. They carried it to camp and found young Hodge coming in barefoot. He had dropped one boot and thinking the other of no use threw it away. Mr. Larison had a little experience of this kind. He tried to climb a steep ledge, and when part way up, at a giddy height, he found it impossible to retreat, and a little green bush growing from a crevice in the rock was all that made it possible for him to proceed.

Mr. Larison was a hundred and four days on the plains. On his route he found many things new and strange. He saw Indians, of course, but during his trip he saw a new variety, the Digger Indians. They live in holes in the ground, and this circumstance has given them their name. They are the lowestin the scale of humanity, and are as innocent of clothing as Adam and Eve in the Garden before the fall. They show very little ingenuity, and rely upon their bows and arrows to kill their game. Sometimes they build brush fences a half a mile or more in length. Two of these fences converge and form an acute angle with a small opening in the angle. The Indians then collect in large numbers and drive deer and other game between these fences, and as it comes out at the angle parties of Indians shoot it down with arrows.

While in California Mr. Larison transported goods from the sea-coast inland about one hundred and fifty miles to the mines, which were between the summits of the mountains and the valleys. There he traded groceries and provisions to the miners. But it was during the season of 1850 and '51 when there was a drouth. During the winter when rain was expected it continued perfectly dry, and the miners could not wash their gold. They had great heaps of earth piled up ready to be washed when the rain should come and the water should flow down the mountains. But the rain did not come, the miners were "dead broke," and Mr. Larison lost about twelve hundred dollars in his speculation. He then left and went to mining, but it was a year before he made enough money to bring himself home.

The society in California was hard, there was no safety for life or property, and that man was in danger who had money or a good mule. The miners had a very sure way of stealing mules. When a stranger came along with a good mule, some tough old miner would claim that he had lost the mule a few months before, that it had been stolen, and he would bring up four or Ave of his companions who would swear to his statement. The stranger was brought before a justice, who ot course was obliged to decide in accordance with the weight ot evidence and give the miner the mule ! Mr. Lnrison bought a very fine mule at Rough and Ready. It was a splendid creature, coal black, with three Spanish brands. It was sure-footed, and would pick its way carefully with its heavy load through the dangerous defiles and over the mountains. After traveling two hundred miles, and having kept it for a long time he sold the mule to Solomon Baker for seventy dollars. Baker enjoyed possession of the animal but a very short time. He was incau- tious enough to leave bis companions, and before long a stalwart miner laid claim to tbe mule and brought on a gang of villains who all swore the animal away from the unfortunate Baker. The latter came back on Larison, who, in turn, was obliged to refund the seventy dollars and pay also twelve dollars costs for the crime of having owned a pretty black mule ! But sometimes this little game does not work. Occasionally the owner of the mule has proof unexpectedly near. One of the party happened to be riding a mule ten miles from Rough and Ready, when a hard-looking character claimed the animal and said he could produce his witnesses at Rough and Ready. The owner said "come right along," he had some witnesses there too. This rather astonished the strange claimant, and he concluded he had " struck the wrong lead."

When Mr. Larison had made enough money by mining to come home he left the hard societ}* of California. He was delighted with the climate, and would have been glad to have lived there if it had not been for the lawless people who first settled in that golden country.

Mr. Larison is a man of rather less than medium height and not heavily built. In his younger days he was heavier, but he had a severe attack ot erysipelas and has never since been so health}' and strong. His eyes are small, but show good sense. His hair and beard are becoming a little gray with age. He seems to be a man of very good judgment. He has plenty of courage, and it is safe to say that he has never abandoned any enterprise on account of fear. He is very cheerful, and his conversation is very interesting, particularly when he talks of early days.

Richard A. Warlow, sou of Benjamin Warlow, was born March 20, 1822, in Oneida County, New York. The family moved to Ohio, and in the fall of 1834 they came to Dry Grove, McLean County, Illinois. There they settled on a farm bought by Joshua Bond, an uncle to Richard. The family soon became acquainted with the people in the West, and during the fall of their arrival had a great corn-husking frolic. The inconveniences of the country were severely felt, and Mrs. Warlow often said she would be perfectly satisfied if she could only have what wheat bread she wished to eat. The paradise on earth would be prepared, if she could have an unlimited supply of wheat bread.

Mr. Warlow sustains all that has been said of the great change in the weather of 1836, and speaks of the geese which he saw frozen fast to the ice which covered the ground.

In the fall of 1836 Mr. Warlow, si\, entered land a little north of Brown's Grove. There he built a little cabin of split logs, roughly notched and fitted and covered with bark. In this cabin three of the Warlow boys lived for a while, and cut rail timber and hauled it out of the grove. In February the family, which then numbered eight, moved down to their log cabin, which was twelve by fourteen feet. This cabin was near the place where R. A. Warlow now resides, in Allin township.

Mr. Warlow's opportunities for obtaining an education have not been good. For two winters he attended school in Dry Grove. After he was twenty-one years of age he boarded and attended a subscription school at Dry Grove for twenty days, but at that time the school-house burned dowu and his school days were ended. When he began work for himself he engaged in various occupations ; he worked at pump making ; for many years he ran a threshing machine, and for a short time he attended to a saw-mill. He was handy at everything and succeeded well.

Mr. Warlow tells a pretty hard story of the prices of things in early days. In the year 1844 he attended a sale of stock at Dry Grove, and there bid off' a yearling steer for $3.50 and was allowed one year's credit. After keeping it for a year or more he sold it for nine dollars ! II. A. Warlow obtained his start by raising corn and selling it in the neighborhood for twelve and a half cents per bushel. With money so obtained he bought the Clark estate at Stout's Grove. It consisted of about one hundred and thirteen acres, and he paid four hundred dollars for it. He afterwards sold oufin order to enter land at Brown's Grove; but when he was ready to enter, the land office was closed. The charter had been passed for building the Illinois Central Railroad, and no land was sold until the company had selected what belonged to it. But when the Illinois Central Company at last obtained its land the remainder of the unentered government land was all sold at once. When the sale took place the speculators were numerous. They would allow a farmer to buy a hundred and sixty acres of land for a farm, but this was all. If the farmer attempted to buy more they would bid up on the land until he was driven off altoo-ether. Mr. Warlow afterwards bought land of the railroad company, and now owns six or seven hundred acres. He has been once burned out, and has lost* some money by becoming security, but otherwise has had good fortune. The good luck, which always attends the careful and industrious farmer, has been wTith him, and he is prosperous.

Mr. Y\ arlow is six feet and an inch and a half in height, is rather spare but muscular. He has dark and rather straight hair and dark eyes. His features are prominent, and his face is somewhat long. He is a good-natured man and very kind. He attends to his business, sees quickly what will pay, and manages all of his affairs well. He is very straightforward in his dealings.

John B. Thompson was born January 31, 1790, in Culpepper County, Virginia. His father's name was William Thompson and was of French descent. William Thompson enlisted in the Continental army when only sixteen years vf age, and served until the close of the revolutionary stru«;°-le. William was sometimes up to his capers, and one little trick which he played came very near winding up his career as a soldier, lie by some means obtained possession of two kegs of powder, which had been wet and were taken out to dry. He tired them with a slow match, and the excitement which followed may be imagined. The soldiers of the entire camp were called into line, and great efforts were made to discover the perpetrator of the trick, but without success. William Thompson was in a number of severe engagements. When the war was ended and peace declared, he returned to his farm. He became a minister of the gospel of the Baptist denomination, and lived to a ripe old age. He was married to Elizabeth Gardner, who was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, but who was of Irish descent.

In 1805 the Thompson family moved to Madison County, Kentucky, and in 1812 they moved to Boone County, same State. On the 24th of June, 1813, John B. Thompson was married to Polly Steers, who was born August 4, 1791, and was of Irish parentage. He remained in Boone County until September, 1829, when he determined to seek a home in the far West. He was not in affluent circumstances, and he did not like to live in the midst of slavery and bring up a family there. His outfit consisted of a four-horse wagon, one yoke of oxen, a few cows, and a little money. After a journey of twenty days he pitched his tent on the Mackinaw, about five miles east of where Lexington now stands. After looking around in various places he at last settled in the old Delaware Indian Town, situated on the banks of the Mackinaw. Many of the Indian lodges were then standing, and he used them for stabling and other purposes. The appearance and prospects of the country were not then very bright, as the people were obliged to go long distances for the necessaries of life. They were obliged to go nearly a hundred miles to mill. Mr. Thompson's house was a large sized log cabin, with a clapboard roof, and greased paper windows. When the " mansion " was built, Mr. Thompson went to Orendorff 's mill, down on Sugar Creek, and, in his absence, as the family was without breadstuff's, it was necessary for the children to grate and pound the corn to make the meal.

During the spring of 1830 Mr. Thompson was very busy completing an improvement on his farm. It seems that when the Indians were there, they had cut down many trees for the pur- pose of burning the tops, and in some places had cut enough to make a little Indian farm or patch for growing corn. With this clearing Mr. Thompson had about fifteen acres under cultivation and raised a fair crop during the first season.

During the latter part of December, 1830, Mr. Thompson, with his brother-in-law, John Steers, each with a team, started to mill. They had been gone only a few days when the deep snow began to fall. Not anticipating the great storm, they kept on -their course, obtained their loads of meal and returned to within eleven miles of home. By this time the snow became so deep, that they were compelled to leave one of their wagons and double their teams to an ox-cart, in order to travel. They each took a sack of meal and succeeded in reaching home. But this did not last long, and the families were obliged to pound corn during the remainder of the winter, though they had plenty of meal only eleven miles distant. While the snow was on the ground, Mr. Thompson made an unsuccessful attempt to go to Indian Grove, a distance of ten miles, to see his brother-in-law, Martin Darnell, who was the only settler there. Mr. Thompson did not make another attempt to go there until the deep snow was partly melted, when he and John Henline were successful in making their way to the grove. The Darnell family were in good health, but had lost the day of the week, and were observing Saturday as the Lord's day of rest.

The Mackinaw is a very uncertain stream, and sometimes rises very high, and Mr. Thompson built a canoe to be used in this stream when it overflowed its channel. It was used several years for this purpose until a bridge was built.

During the year 1831, many people came to the western country; the older settlements were strengthened and new ones were formed. Society was then forming, election districts were formed and officers were chosen. During that year Mr. Thompson was elected justice of the peace, and served in this capacity for eight years. He assisted in the organization of the county and was one of the first grand jurors. He was at Bloomington when the county seat was located, and saw the stakes driven with a " nigger head " mall.

poos, who had a camp at Indian Grove, and a fort was builtat the house of John Henline to afford protection. A full description of this matter is given in other sketches, and it is unnecessary to repeat it here.

The early settlers were not immortal, and occasionally had a funeral, and this of course made the services of an undertaker very convenient. Mr. Thompson made coffins out of lumber dressed down from split puncheons.

In 1834 immigration to Illinois was strong, and all comers met with a hearty welcome at their cabins. But money was liable to great fluctuation, as the land was in market, and settlers made great efforts to collect money enough to enter their improved claims. This they were sometimes unable to do, and their improvements were in some cases sold at a great sacrifice.

John B. Thompson is a man of fine appearance, rather above the medium height, with dark complexion and dark eyes. His head is a little bald ; his hair, which in his younger days was very black, is now partly gray; in walking his step is quick, but not so buoyant as formerly ; he retains his original vigor of mind, is a fluent talker, and while speaking of the country and telling how "it used to be," he is very animated and earnest. It is said of him that " he is quite a young man, to be nearly eighty-one years of age."

On the twentieth of April, 1873, the wife of Mr. Thompson died, after a happy married life of nearly sixty years. All of their living children, seven in number, were present at their mother's funeral. They are :

Jacob Smith was born April 21, 1821, in Switzerland County, Indiana. His father's name was Charles Smith, and his mother's name before her marriage was Elizabeth Adams. Charles Smith was of Irish descent; that of his wife Elizabeth is not known. Charles Smith was not confined to one occupation. He was sometimes a farmer and sometimes a flatboatman on the Ohio River. He was a captain in the militia and held this position until death, which occurred in the fall of 1832. During the spring of 1833 the Smith family of seven children, four girls and three boys, came with their mother to the head of the Mackinaw, about five miles above where Lexington now is. Their journey was a hard one, as it was rainy and muddy. They broke down on one Sunday, and an old Quaker on his way to church stopped and helped them to mend the wagon. That was the way the spirit moved him. They bought a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land, with a cabin on it and twelve acres fenced and broke. But during the latter part of the summer the family took the ague; it was a family affair and all came down with it. This discouraged them so much that in the fall of the year they went back to Indiana. There they remained a year, and in December, 1834, started again for Illinois. At Indianapolis it began snowing and continued until eight inches of snow covered the ground. They stopped in an old shanty for a week, b}r which time the roads became broken and smooth and they again started on their journey. When they came near Terre Haute they found it difficult to get a place to stop, but at last a good man named Steele took them and charged them nothing for entertainmeut. When they arrived at Cheney's Grove they had twenty-five cents in money, which they used to buy a bushel of corn meal. They went on to the head of the Mackinaw, where they stayed one year and then moved back to Cheney's Grove, where they made a permanent location. Mr. Smith has lived near Cheney's Grove ever since. For the last twenty-eight or nine years he has lived on his place, about a mile west of the grove, in Arrowsmith township. He farmed for a while on old Jonathan Cheney's place. For a long time he was not rich enough to afford a strap for a line with which to guide his horses, but used linn bark.

Mr. Smith has hunted deer, wolves and wild hogs. The latter he considers very dangerous game, as their tusks grow out long, forming the most effective weapons for fighting. At one time, while hunting, he saw a dog take a wild hog by the ear; but the hog threw up its snout and struck its tusk into the breast of the dog, penetrating to the heart at one stroke, killing the dog instantly.

Ethan Allen Smith, the eldest son, enlisted in the 116th Illinois Volunteers, during the late war, and died at Memphis, Tenn., of typhoid fever.

Mr. Smith is about five feet and eleven inches in height, has brown hair, rather gray whiskers, and light grayish-blue eyes. He is broad-shouldered and very muscular. He has worked hard, has saved his earnings and never gone security for any one. He would rather pay a debt or lend the money than go security for it. He has never sued any one or been sued. He has a fine farm, well arranged, and certainly ought to enjoy life.