Dry Grove Township

Dry Grove Township

Henry Yansickles was born in Green County, Pennsylvania. March 4, 1793. At the age of seven years he emigrated to "Western Virginia with his parents, Anthony and Rebecca Yansickles. At the age of nineteen he enlisted under his father, Captain Anthonv Yansickles, and served six months in the war of 1812. enduring many hardships and privations.

In about the year 1815 he married Miss Elizabeth Gilston, of Louisburg, Virginia, and shortly afterwards moved in a flat-boat to White County, Illinois, near the present village of Carmi. There they lived in a log cabin, with a bed quilt for a door. One day a large panther came in front oi* the house, while Mrs. Vansickles was there alone. The animal raised itself up, placing its fore-feet on a log, and took a good view of the premises. -Mrs. Vansickles picked up an axe and stood at the door ready for tight, but the panther walked off.

The Vansickles family came to McLean County in the tall of 1826, and commenced improving land at the west end of Blooming Grove on Sugar Creek. There he made an improvement on the creek bottom, and in the following spring he planted a crop. But the rains descended and the Hoods came, and a June freshet destroyed a portion of his crop and washed away his fence. Before this lie had dug out some logs to use as vats in tanningdeer skins, and he lashed these vats together and used them as a boat to save his rails.

He left Sugar Creek after this wet experienee, went to Dry Grove, built a cabin and took possession of it in January, 1828. The nearest market then was Springfield, which was eighty miles distant. He supplied the family with venison and honey by his skill in hunting. He raised corn, pounded it in a mortar, or took it to some little "corn cracker" mill to get it ground. He raised wheat, cut it with a sickle, threshed it out with a flail or tramped it out with his horses, took it one hundred and sixty miles distant, to Chicago, sold it for thirty-five cents per bushel, and took one-half of Ids pay in store goods, when coffee was fifty cents per pound and calico was from twenty-five to fifty cents per yard. He then drove a four-horse team, managing: it with a single line and riding the wheel-horse. He raised sheep, and his daughters learned to card wool and spin. He made a loom, and his active, industrious daughters made cloth enough for family use and some to sell. He was very successful, notwithstanding all of his difficulties, and he owed his success in a great measure to his daughters, who always made themselves useful. They were a Messing to their father and mother, and those who were afterwards married, were a blessing to their husbands.

The seeond daughter, Sarepta, was married in 1845 to Charles J. McClure, second son of Colonel Robert McClure, of Stout's Grove, and now lives near Eldora, Iowa.

The fourth daughter, Maria Louise, was married in the year 1845 to James M. Buckner, son of Henry Buckner, of Stout's Grove, and now lives near Salem, Nebraska.

James G. Vansickles, the eldest son, married in 1845 Miss Mary Green, daughter of Reilley Green. He lives at the present time in Hardin County, Iowa, near Steamboat Rock.

John H. Vansickles went to Bourbon County, Kansas, and there married Miss Martha Stevenson. During the war he served two years as Captain of a company of home guards, and was finally killed while charging on a rebel camp.

After all of Mr. Vansickles' children were married, except Clarinda, he sold his farm to a Mr. Otto, and his residence in Concord (now Danvers) to Levi Danley, and in the fall of 1864 moved to Eldora, Iowa. There he bought a fine residence and a fine farm, and lived in the enjoyment of reasonable health and plenty until the tenth of September, 1867, when he died from a stroke of apoplexy. Mrs. Vansickles and her daughter Clarinda still reside at the homestead at Eldora. A beautiful marble monument, three miles east of Eldora in the Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery, marks the spot where sleeps all that is earthly of Henry Vansickles.

Stephen Webb was born May 8, 1797, in Burke County, Xortk ( Jarolina. His father's name was William Webb, and his mother's name, before her marriage, was Nancy Humphreys. I lis father was of English descent and a little of Irish. His mother's ancestors came from Ireland, but were probably originally from England. Mr. Webb lived in Burke County, Xorth Carolina, until he was seven years of age, when he came to Barron County, Kentucky, where he lived twelve years.

In about the year 1815, he moved with his father's family to Overton County, Tennessee, where he went to tanning. He was ;i sharp sportsman, and hunted turkeys, deer and wolves. About three miles from where he lived was a cave, which made a den for a pair of large gray wolves, which had raised eight cubs. One of the old wolves was caught in a steel-trap, and the settlers turned out to catch the rest in the den. The dogs were sent into the den and they killed and brought out the eight cubs, but the old wolf was protected by a crevice, where only her head appeared, and the dogs could not get hold of her to bring her out. Mr. Webb volunteered to go in and shoot her. He crawled into the den with his knife at his side and his gun in his hand, and was lighted by a candle, fastened to the muzzle of his gun. His' brother James followed after him. Stephen Webb crawled in until he saw the wolf, fired at it, handed his gun hack to his brother, and dragged the animal out. It was shot between the eves, but a little too low. It revived after being brought out and showed fight, but was easily killed. Stephen and James "Webb received ten dollars for their exploit. Mr. Webb says that when the gun was fired in the cave it sounded no louder than a popgun.

The Webb family had a farm in Tennessee, and they also kept a tavern on the Cumberland Mountains on the turnpike road between Nashville and Knoxville. Their tavern was about midway between these places. Stephen Webb hauled corn with a four horse team from a plantation at the foot of the mountains up to the top to supply the hotel. He drove the team by riding one of the wheel horses, and driving with a single line. At one time, while driving down the mountain, his horses took fright at sonic pigs that came suddenly out of the brush, and team and wagon went sailing down the mountain side. Mr. Webb stuck to his horses but unfortunately broke his line in trying to stop them. At the foot of the mountain was a sharp turn, but the horses went straight ahead over an enormous log three feet thick. Mr. Webb tried to leap from his horse, when he came within twenty feet of the log, but landed on the other side of it. When the wagon struck tin1 log, the box went sailing over the helpless driver. Mr. Webb laid where he fell, for his knee was dislocated and also his ancle, lie feels in his knee, at the present time, the effect of that fall.

On the 10th of December, 1X24, Mr. Webb married Penina Hinshaw. They lived in Tennessee until they came to Illinois in 182t!. During that year he made a visit to Illinois with old George Hinshaw. They traveled in a little two-horse wagon over Central Illinois, and started for Chicago, but lost their way and could find nothing but Indians, who wore unable to direct them. They came down the Desplains River to where Ottawa now is, and there found three families. From this place they returned to Tennessee. In June, 1827, the families of Stephen Webb, "William McCord and George and Jacob Hinshaw, started for Illinois with teams. They had a pleasant journey until they reached the Ohio River. While there the wet season set in. and the streams were all overflowing. The travelers were frequently water-bound. They crossed the streams by taking their goods over in canoes and swimming; their horses across with the wagons. At the Sangamon River they determined to make a raft and were obliged to swim the stream and push their clothes across in washtubs. They made their raft and brought over their teams and wagons. When they arrived at Cheney's Grove, old George Hinshaw said he would go no farther, as he was sick of unpacking his goods at every little stream in order to get across. The Hinshaws remained there for a time, and Mr. Webb and Mr. Mc- Cord went on. They were water-bound for a while at Money Creek, but after crossing it they came to Twin Grove. Here they stopped, intending in the fall to go up to the Kankakee River, where Mr. Webb had made a claim during the previous year. But in the fall many rumors came concerning; the difticulties with the Winnebago Indians in the mining; country around Galena, and Mr. Webb thought it hardly safe to go any farther north; so he made a claim at Twin Grove in the southwestern corner. When the land came into market he traded his improvement for eighty acres of entered land on the northwestern corner of the grove. During the third winter after their arrival, Mr. Webb, George Hinshaw and "William McCord started north to the Kankakee. They each furnished a horse which they hitched to Mr. Webb's wagon and started. When thev arrived near Ottawa, two of their horses strayed off during the night. Mr. Webb and Mr. Hinshaw went to hunt for them while Mr. McCord remained with the wagon. The two men followed the trail of the lost horses one day and slept in some brush at night. They had nothing to cat but an ear of corn. Mr. Hinshaw came near freezing to death, but was warmed by a fire which they succeeded in kindling. They came to the Mackinaw and found it waist deep with drift ice running. Thev waded it and came out on the prairie, and there they found a road which Mr. Webb recognized. But he was so confused by cold and the suffering they endured that he could not decide which end of the road led towards home. After traveling on the road some distance they came to some holes where Indians had formerly buried corn, and there Mr. Webb saw that they had been going the wrong way. Mr. Hinshaw suffered so much with cold that he said "Let's crawl into these holes and die." But Mr. Webb insisted on making another trial for life. They turned towards home and came to a creek, which was frozen over with ice too thin to bear them while walking; so they laid down and scratched and wriggled across. While Hinshaw was scratching and working himself over, the ice cracked under him, but he was suffering so severely that he was almost anxious to die, and said: "Let it break, let it break;" but he succeeded in dragging himself over. They went down to Lewis Soward's house, stayed there all night and went home. As soon as possible Mr. Webb took two horses and went to Ottawa and brought back McCord and the wagon. On their return, during one foggy day, their heads became " turned around," and they thought that north was south and east was west, and the first intimation they had of their mistake was finding themselves traveling back on their own track.

Mr. Webb did not suffer much during the winter of the deep snow, as he had previously gathered his corn and was ready for any emergency. On the day when the heavy fall of snow came, he was on the prairie returning from Orendorff 's mill. He was obliged to leave his wagon and come home with the horses. He has a very lively recollection of the sudden change which took place in December, 1836. He says that some cocks which were standim? in the slush at that time had their tails frozen fast and in getting loose left their feathers in the ice.

In about the year 1848 Mr. Webb went to Texas to pay his brother-in-law a sum of money, and on his return was ice-bound at the mouth of the Ohio River by a gorge in the Mississippi. He was obliged to walk through the sloughs to Springfield and from there went home by stage.

Old Settlers Of

Stephen Webb is six feet and two inches in height. His hair and beard are full and white. He is very strong and courageous, but his modesty and good nature are greater than his courage. He has a humorous disposition and a hopeful temperament. It is clearly seen that heisavery honestman,fornotmanypeopleinthis world would travel to Texas to pay a debt. He says, however, that he was curious on that trip to see the country and that this was one of his reasons forgoing. The old gentleman's modesty and good nature make him peculiarly pleasant and companionable.

George M. Hinshaw was born April 25, 1820, in Overton County, Tennessee. His father's name was Jacob Hinshaw, and his mother's maiden name was Marietta Johnson. Jacob Hinshaw was born in North Carolina, but was of Irish descent. When twenty-one or two years of age, he came to Tennessee, and there was married. He had a common school education and taught school in Tennessee for two terms. In 1827 he came to McLean County with his brother George Hinshaw, William Mc- Cord and Stephen Webb. They came with teams, and were often water-bound, because of the heavy rains, but arrived at Blooming Grove on the last of July, 1827. There the Hinshaws farmed for three years, and then moved to Dry Grove. When Jacob Hinshaw came to the latter place, he sold all of his stock, except a cow and a horse, in order to enter eighty acres of land. During the winter of the deep snow he and young George gathered corn in sacks and brought it in from the Held on horseback.

Jacob Hinshaw was deformed in his feet, and while chopping in the timber stood on his knees and often Walked in this way after the plow. He could never hear the taste or even the smell of whisky, and he ate no meat except fish. He died in 1845 in easy circumstances, lie had eight children, of whom six are living. They are :

George M. Hinshaw was only seven years of age when his parents came to the West in 1827. He was not much exposed to the terrible rain storms, hut remained in the covered wagon. He saw the hardships common to the early pioneers. In 1842 he joined the Christian Church. In 1848 he wTas chosen elder, and holds this office at the present time. The Twin Grove Christian Church is strong in numhers and spirit, and its members enjoy good religious feeling. In the spring of 1845, Mr. Hinshaw moved to the plaee where he now lives, just south of Dry Grove and west of Twin Grove. He lives in Dry Grove township, but belongs to the Twin Grove church, and his children attend the Twin Grove school.

Mr. Hinshaw is six feet in height, is slim in build, lias rather a long faee, with tine regular features. His hair is partly gray, and is full on his head. He wears spectacles while reading. He is considerate with regard to other men's rights and feelings, and is absolutely honest in all things. His countenance wears the pleasant expression of honesty and content. He has been successful in his dealings, and is an1 example of the care of an overruling Providence.

Benjamin S. Beeler was born October 18, 1825, in Butler County, Ohio. His father's name was George Beeler, and his mother's maiden name was Delila Sheeley. He is of English and German descent. His grandfather Beeler was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Benjamin Beeler came to Twin Grove in

Tazewell, now McLean, County in October, 1830. He had a rough time, and was three weeks on his journey. He came through in Indiana, where the roads were in a great measure blockaded by timber, which had been blown down by a hurricane. His father, George Beeler, bought a claim and lived during the first year in a little log cabin. It was for a while very difficult to get something to eat, and the family was obliged to pay fifty cents per bushel for corn and gather it themselves. They were much troubled by wolves, and could not set their stock near enough to the house for protection. The wolves were impudent during the day time, and came up within fifty yards of the house. The wild-cats were very dangerous and troublesome in Twin Grove when the early settlers came, and people often had very exciting sport in chasing them. They sometimes started out on ring hunts after all kinds of game. This was exciting and dangerous sport ; it was not particularly dangerous on account of the ferocious character of the game, but it was dangerous because the excited hunters would sometimes run into ant-hills or badger's holes and break their horses' necks.

Benjamin Beeler remembers the sudden change in the weather in December, 1836, when everything was so suddenly frozen up, and he also remembers another sudden change since then, which was very severe. He was going to Bloomington, and was crossing Sugar Creek, when his horse broke the ice very easily, but on his return, without delay, the ice on the creek bore his horse's weight without cracking. Nevertheless, this sudden change was not so severe as the one in 1836, which was the worst ever known in the West.

Benjamin Beeler married, February 25, 1849, Sarilda Robinson. He has had ten children, of whom eight are living. He is five feet and ten or eleven inches in height, has a good head, has brown hair which inclines to curl, is rather slow of speech, is straightforward in his transactions, wishes to do by his neighbors fairly, and is much respected in the community where he resides.

Mr. Beeler has eight living children. They are : Benjamin F., who is a carpenter, Mary Delila, George L., Huldah Ellen, Alpharetta, Owen, Warren and Rosa. All live at home.

Ormond Robison was born in Tennessee, January 23, 1805. He was married, February 17, 1826, in Overton County, Tennessee. In 1830 he came to Blooming Grove, in what is now Mc- Lean Countv, Illinois. His family suffered on the iournev very much for want of water and because of the dust, for the season was very dry. In 1832 they moved to Dry Grove, and in 1835 to White Oak Grove, where they lived until the death of Mr. Robison, which occurred in 1851.

"When they first came to Illinois, they had very unpleasant times, and were oppressed by the dangers and difficulties of a new country. They paid fifty cents per bushel for the corn they ate, and they picked it from the field themselves. When the deep snow fell, Mr. Robison and William Hinshaw had gone fifty miles distant to mill, and they had a fearful time in returning. Three teams went out to meet them and assist them out of the snow.

Mrs. Robison, who gives the items for this sketch, speaks particularly of the fires which swept over the prairie and sometimes came into the timber and burnt up the young trees, and those which were dead. Sometimes a tree would burn for several days before it would fall. The settlers were so frightened by the prairie fires that they wished to go back to where they came from ; but this was impossible, as the most of them found it difficult to get awav.

The settlers killed game of all kinds, for it was plenty. They killed prairie chickens by catching them in traps. They had what was called the fall-door trap. A hole was dug with a board put over it on a pivot, and a bait fastened to x>ne end. When a chicken attempted so seize the bait the board allowed the chicken to drop into the hole, and then turned back to its place. The hunters killed a great many turkeys in the spring, in gobbling time. They chirped through a quill, making a sound resembling that of a hen turkey, and soon some gobbler would make his appearance and the hunter would shoot him down. The settlers were much troubled by wildcats, which caught lambs and pigs, but would never fight the hunters unless cornered.

Mr. Robison endured the trials to which nearly all of the. early settlers were subjected. He worked for fifty cents per day, cradled wheat for that, and was glad of the opportunity.

( )rmond Robison was a man of medium height, rather slim, pretty strong and very healthy. He had seldom or never been sick, before he contracted the disease which was fatal to him. He was a good workman and pretty skillful at anything, whether it was farming, carpenter work or blacksmithing. He was pretty successful in life, and by his skill and industry acquired enough property to make him comfortable.

John Enlow was born June 15, 1801, in Christian County, Kentucky. His father's name was Abraham Enlow, and his mother's name before her marriage was Jemima Johnson. John Enlow was partly of Dutch descent. He married in February, 1826, Catherine Lander. He lived on a farm in Kentucky, which lie sold on coming to Illinois, which was in the fall of 1835. He had no particular adventure on his journey. On his arrival he settled on the east side of Twin Grove on the prairie and went to fanning. He was a consistent member of the Baptist Church, which he joined three or four years after he came to the West. He died April li», 1860. He had eight children, seven of whom are now living. They are :

Mr. John Enlow was six feet in height and rather a slender man. He had a dark complexion, dark hair and eyes. He was a kind father to his family and a very honest and much respected man. *

Eleazer Munsell was born July 28, 1824, in Seneca County, Ohio. His father's name was Roswell Munsell and his mother's name was Sarah Austin. Eleazer Munsell lived in Ohio until the year 1831, when he came with his father's family to Laporte County, Indiana. There he lived until 1837 when he came to Illinois.

While he lived in Indiana he was often accustomed to go hunting with the little Indian hoys and kill birds and sqirrels with their bows and arrows. He frequently attended Indian dances, and has often seen the Pottawatomies perform their war dance, smoke the pipe of peace and go through with their religious eeremonies. At their war dances they had weasel skins to which bells were attached. They would divide into two parties and come together with their weasel skins and war clubs, and pretend to kill each other. Some would fall down, apparently lifeless, while others would go through the motions of scalping. They would often collect together in a wigwam and dance to the music of a gourd containing stones or shot. Sometimes they would hit each other a tap with a weasel skin ; this was an invitation to dance. The young braves asked the young squaws to dance by tapping them with the weasel skin, and the young squaws asked the braves to dance in the same way. They began dancing in the morniiig, and at about one o'clock stopped for dinner, which consisted of soup made of dried meat, dried corn and dried blood, all boiled together in copper kettles. They ate their dinner out of large wooden bowls, which held six or eight gallons. Each had a ladle and helped himself. About a dozen of them sat down in a place, and ate out of a bowl. The dance was generally continued in the afternoon and evening and lasted usually two days. At the end of two days they had a religious ceremony, the sacrifice of a white dog. On one of these grand occasions, when about five hundred Indians were present, the chief became drunk, and the white dog was not burned as the ceremony required. When it was pretty well roasted, it was snatched from the tire and eaten up. The sacrifice of the white dog usually ended the dance. While the young braves and squaws were dancing, the old folks would 'gather into a wigwam and smoke the pipe of peace. Each would smoke and hand the pipe to his neighbor until it went clear around. The Indians were very still in their dances and said nothing until one of them struck another with a weasel skin, as an invitation to dance. The striking with the weasel skin was accompanied by an exclamation "ye pooh," and no other words were spoken. Mr. Munsell says that so far as he had any dealings with the Indians he found them very honorable and friendly. They were peaceable even when drunk. The Indian braves never failed to get drunk whenever they had an opportunity. They raised corn sometimes, which was tended by squaws, who cultivated it with hoes altogether, digging up the hills as high as if for sweet potatoes. Whenever they moved they packed everything on their ponies, even their dogs and squaws. Their pappooses were carried lashed to a board, from which they were not usually taken for several month>. These boards had attached to them pieces of buckskin, which went around the heads of the squaws. When the squaws came into camp they cut branches of trees and set them up and hung the pappooses to them or to the limbs of trees. It was the duty of the squaws to chop the wood and build the fires in the middle of the wigwams. Around a fire sat an Indian and his family on mattresses made of rushes. The Indians cooked fish, chickens, muskrats, squirrels, coons, venison, and in fact every kind of meat they might happen to have, in a kettle at once. In the spring-time the Indians caught sugar water in troughs made of birch bark, with the ends stopped up by drawing them together and sewing them tight. These troughs would usually be large enough to hold a bucket of water.

The Black Hawk war in 1832 was a great event in the West, and the scare extended to Indiana, where the settlers built forts for protection. Mr. Munsell lived for six months in a fort.

The Munsell family came to Twin Grove, McLean County, Illinois, in the spring of 1837. They arrived here on the first of June. Mr. Munsell, sr., after farming for some time, broke up housekeeping and lived with his eldest son. He died in 1854. He brought the first threshing machine to the country from Indiana. It was a machine which only threshed the wheat. It was necessary after threshing the wheat to rake off the straw and run the mixed wheat and chaff through a fanning mill and a separator.

Eleazer Munsell has often driven stock to Chicago. He remembers one very exciting adventure with a drove of cattle and sheep, which he was taking to Chicago. When he arrived near Pontiac they became frightened one night at about eleven o'clock, by wolves, and stampeded. The cattle ran over the sheep and killed some thirty of them. The men in charge of the cattle did everything possible for two hours to quiet them, but notwithstanding all exertions, about fifty head of cattle broke away. Their trail was followed the next day, and they were found near Lexino-ton and brought back. Mr. Munsell savs that the excitement during a stampede is intense, and he never wishes to see another.

The prices of cattle formerly varied very much and sometimes were so low as to seem almost to be given away. Mr. Munsell bought good cows for six dollars apiece, and good yokes of oxen for twenty-five dollars. He has bought sheep for fifty cents per head. He has sold number one fall wheat for twenty-five cents per bushel, and oats for five cents.

Mr. Munsell married, October 24, 1850, Zerilda Perry, and has seven children living. Mrs. Munsell is a very kind lady, and thinks everything of her children. She likes to see them do well at school, and takes a great interest in the progress they make in their studies.

Eleazer Munsell is six feet in height. His hair begins to show the effect of time, and a few gray hairs make their appearance in his beard. He is very clever, loves a joke as well as Abraham Lincoln ever did ; is very kind to his family; is careful in the management of his farm ; has been successful in life, and is much respected by his neighbors. His face is broad and goodnatured, and it indicates good feeling and good sense.

Mr. Munsell's children are : Milon, wlio attends school at Eureka; Stephen Alpheus, Zerilda, John Roswell, Josephine, Minnie Warren, and Austin Eleazer, who all live at home.