Arenzville Township

Arenzville Township

Arenzville is organized as a village, under the general law, but as a hamlet or unincorporated town it has been in existence for many years. About 1821 James Smart found his way into that part of Morgan County, and seeing the need of a gristmill in that locality, and also being impressed with the natural advantages offered for water power on Indian Creek, erected a small mill which was a boon to the people scattered along the Illinois valley, and on the upland prairies to the east. On October 31, 1827, Mr. Smart entered the east half of section 31, and on April 6, 1829, the west half of the same section, and continued running his mill until August, 1831, when he sold his land to Bennet Smart. On July 30, 1832, Francis Arenz purchased the southeast quarter section, together with the mill, and operated it together with his other business interests, with very indifferent success, until about 1853 when he sold to Herman Engelbach and Peter Arenz.

In the meantime, Francis Arenz had laid off a few lots and sold them to settlers who formed the nucleus of the future thriving village. In 1852 Mr. Arenz had John Craig, the county surreyor of Cass County, survey and plat, together with the lots already sold, a part of the southeast quarter of section 31, township ite range 11, for a town, to which he gave the name of Arenzyille, although that part of Morgan County had been designated Arenzville Precinct for some time before Cass County was formed. Mr. Arenz certified to the plat and acknowledged it before his brother, John A. Arenz, a justice of the peace, June 26, 1852, and filed the plat for record on July 80 of the same year. Mr. Arenz died in 1856, and his executors, in the next year, made an addition to the town. naming it the "Addition of the Executors of Francis Arenz," and recorded the plat. In 1876, Thomas Y. Finney, for a number of years circuit clerk of this county, made a complete plat of Arenzville, and the additions, which was recorded October 22, 1876. On May 22, 1878, the trustees of the village adopted the plat by ordinance, as the limits of the town. The first organization of the town was July 9, 1853, and a board of trustees elected. The first president of the board was Francis Arenz, while the clerk was Dr. Julius Philippi, the treasurer was Herman Engelbach, the supervisor was John Goebel, and the town constable was Charles Heintz.

Changes In Area And Value

When <Arenzville Precinct was established it extended to the Illinois River, with the voting place at the town of Arenzville, but in 1857, the west part was cut off and made into a voting district or precinct, and named Indian Creek. There are three water courses traversing the precinct, Indian Creek the largest, which enters the county from Morgan County, just south of the village of Arenzville, and making a great bend north of the village runs in a westerly course, bearing a little north, and empties into the Illinois River; Clear Creek, which runs westerly across the center of the precinct into Indian Creek; and Mud Creek, which is a small tributary of Indian Creek, running from the south line of the precinct near Arenzville, northwesterly for about six miles. Both Indian Creek and Mud Creek overflowed badly and kept the lands west of Arenzville in a wet and unhealthful condition, and rendered it unfit for cultivation except in an unusually dry season. The land was too valuable to be left in that condition, and the enterprising farmers who owned it and had purchased it at a very low price, organized a drainage district about 1899 and have reclaimed the land, and now have hun dreds of acres of excellent soil, producing abundant crops annually. Being now free from the fear of overflow and destruction from high waters, the farms have been well improved, and

The eastern portion of the precinct is very much broken until the prairie is reached about three miles from Arenzville. From that on to the east line of the precinct there is a fine open expanse of more or less level farming land of the highest value. The village is situated on the easterly side of Indian Creek, nestling against the high bluffs which terminate at the very edge of the eastern corporate limits. From these bluffs may be had an excellent view of the entire village, which presents a picturesque appearance, with its churches and school houses of architectural beauty, neat cottages and handsome residences, splendid business buildings and wide, clean, well-shaded streets and parks.

Besides those already mentioned who made this attractive place their home in an early day were: Pompious Philippi and his son, Dr. Julius Philippi, John Altman, Frederick Lang, Jacob Heinz, J. L. Cire, Omar Bowyer, Christian Lovekamp, Frederick Brauer, W. H. Houston, Frederick Lovekamp, Henry Wedeking, Isaac Drinkwater, Herman Lippert, Peter Schaaf, Charles Cooper, George Treadway, Victor Krueger, Henry Goodeking, Philip Yeck, George Hegener, Henry Lovekamp, Adam Schuman, William Tielkmier, Herman Lovekamp, Frederick Hackman, Herman Eberwein, Henry Menke, Charles Merz, Joseph Kircher, Dr. George Engelbach and his son, Herman Engelbach, and John Rahn. Many of the descendants of these pioneers yet remain in and about Arenzville and are the substantial citizens who, with others who have been attracted later to the village, have the credit for the progress and permanent growth of the village of Arenzville, and the rural districts surrounding it. Seven district schools beside the high school and the grade schools in the yillage, are maintained in the precinct ; and the highways are kept in as good condition as the nature of the soil will permit. The old log cabins have all disappeared, and new modern farmhouses and outbuildings have taken their place. Everything shows such evidence of thrift and progress that could Francis Arenz, the early advocate of all these improvements, now look upon them, it would bring delight to the spirit of one who identified himself with every movement for the advancement of civilization in his community.

Francis A, Arenz

Francis A. Arenz was born in Blankenburg, Province of the Rhine, Prussia, October 31, 1800. While yet a young man, he engaged in the mercantile business in his native country, and about 1827 emigrated to America, settling first in Kentucky, where he remained for two years engaged in merchandising. Learning of the lead mines of Galena, Ill., and the prospect of successful business deals in the lead line, he went to that point in 1829, but did not find conditions as satisfactory as he had hoped, and after a short stay in business there, he again sought a new location. A number of persons had come up to Galena from the southern part of Illinois, and also from the vicinity of Beardstown, then just laid out, and from descriptions of the place and its surroundings, Mr. Arenz believed that locality destined to be at least an excellent shipping point on the IIlinois River. Arriving at Beardstown about 1831, he was very favorably impressed with the situation, and began at once to prepare for his permanent settlement. He engaged in his fayorite pursuit of merchandising, and filled his store with everything he thought the people of the new country might need or be induced to buy. Among the goods bought in the East was a eargo of light, brass-barreled guns, which had been manufactured for a South American government, but did not meet the requirements, and so were sent west to Mr. Arenz. He expected to dispose of them to the settlers for shooting water fowl, and like birds, but a more fortunate condition arose in the matter of trade. The Black Hawk war broke out and many of the soldiers called to rendezvous at Beardstown, found themselves without arms, and the state had none with which to supply them. Mr. Arenz tendered his brass-barreled guns to Governor Reynolds, who was on the ground in charge of the troops, and they were immediately purchased, at a handsome profit for Mr. Arenz. He also furnished many other supplies to the soldiers.

Additional Enterprises

After the close of the Indian outbreak, and normal conditions had returned to river traffic, Mr. Arenz thought it would be an excellent idea to establish a newspaper, which he did, calling it the Beardstown Chronicle and Illinois Bounty

Steam Threshing Outfit At Work Even Dts Threshed Straw

Land Advertiser. The paper was conducted for a year under the management of John B. Fulks, then sold and the plant was moved to Rushville. The Illinois legislature had declared the Sangamon River a navigable stream, and Mr. Arenz thought it would be well to shorten the distance and make a more direct route to Beardstown by cutting a canal across to Miller's Ferry. He secured a charter from the state in 1836, incorporating the Beardstown and Sangamon Canal Company, and was made its president, with Dr. O. M. Long of Beardstown, one of the earliest physicians of the county, as secretary. A brother of Mr, Arenz, John A. Arenz, was one of the chief engineers. A survey was made, but the panic of that period coming on, caused the project to fail. The majority of Mr. Arenz's many enterprises were very successful, but one that did not prove satisfactory financially, was the gristmill which he bought of Mr. Smart. In 1835 he closed his mercantile business at Beardstown, and moved to his farm about six miles southeast from Beardstown, where he constructed a substantial house of unique design. It was built on high ground, along the upland bordering the wide Illinois River bottom, and gave a splendid view of that expanse of rich alluvial land which has since become as valuable a tract as any farm land in the state. He remained there until 1839, when he moved to the village to which he had given the name of Arenzville, and there he lived until his death. He delighted in politics, and was an ardent Whig. A man of excellent education, he was a fairly good writer, frequently contributing to the local and state newspapers. No legislature of the state assembled without Mr. Arenz being present.

Elected To The Legislature

In 1844, while living at Arenzville, Mr. Arenz was elected a member of the lower house of the General Assembly from Morgan County, Arenzyille being then in the territory known as the Three Mile Strip. Mr. Arenz added his influence to that of Cass County's representatives, and secured that strip for Cass County, but he was not re-elected to the assembly. In 1852 he was sent to his native land by President Fillmore, as hearer of dispatches to the American legations at Berlin and Vienna. In 1853 he assisted in organizing the State Agricultural Society, and continued a member of it during the remainder of his life. He also helped to organize the Cass County Fair Association and became its first president. Mr. Arenz did not live to see all his hopes and ambitions fulfilled, and laid down the burdens and responsibilities of his busy life at Arenzville, April 2, 1856. Resolutions of respect were adopted by the executive committee of the state board of agriculture and they were published in all the Springfield, Jacksonville and Cass County papers, and copied in many others of the state.

Business Directory Of 1860

Arenzville did not grow fast to any great extent, but was the center of a large German settlement, many of whom were not farmers, but had been well educated to other lines of business in their native land. On coming to this country they thought it would be an easy matter to engage in agricultural pursuits, the soil and climatic conditions being so far superior for that purpose to that of their own land, but few indeed remained farmers, the most of them gathering in the villages. Some remained at Arenzville and some went elsewhere to engage in the various pursuits to which they had been trained in their youth. A business directory published in 1860, gives the following for Arenzville: J. B. Glass, physician and surgeon; Charles E. Yeck and Bro., merchants and grocers; J. L. Cire, merchant and justice of the peace; H. Engelbach, merchant and miller; Charles Coerper, miller; H. Schaeffer, boot and shoe dealer; Charles Pilney, carpenter and cabinet-maker; N. Brill and 8S. Gephardt, wagonmakers and blacksmiths; and A. Boehme, merchant. In 1870 the railroad was built through from Beardstown to St. Louis, and the village began to expand. It became a shipping point for all the products grown in a large area of country, and on February 13, 1893, it was incorporated as a village under the general law, and is now quite a prosperous community. It had, for a number of years, a brewery and several saloons. but at the village election in 1914, with the assistance of the women voters, the saloons were voted out. On December 24, 1913, about midnight a disastrous fire occurred which destroyed a great number of the business houses, but they were rapidly rebuilt.

At the present time there are at Arenzville, an excellent flouring mill, four grocery stores, three general stores, two dry goods stores, two drug stores, two harness dealers, two hardware and agricultural implement stores, two butcher shops, three blacksmith and repair shops, one jewelry store, three restaurants, two hotels, two physicians, a telephone exchange, four churches, grade and high schools, one weekly newspaper, two banks, one lumber yard that handles general merchandise as well, two barber shops, one garage, a brick yard, and several masons, Carpenters and painters. It has one policeman and one calaboose, neither being in great demand.