Ewing Township

Ewing Township

THE town of Ewing, Illinois, is among the oldest settlements in the County, having been founded in 1874. It is located about nine miles northeast of Benton, and has a population of six hundred. The coal iields in the immediate neighborhood of Ewing have not as yet been opened up and the rapid development of the town as an industrial center is still in the future. There are several prosperous business establishments, among the most prominent of which is the Ewing Bank of Wat- son, Fitzgerrell & Company, which was established in 1903. Its stockholders are among the wealthiest and most influential men of Franklin and Jefferson Counties.

The country around Ewing has been thoroughly prospected and is underlaid with a vein of coal averaging nine feet or more in thickness. It is only a question of a short time until the country-wide demand for Franklin County coal will cause Ewing to become a mine center.

Ewing College

The greatest boast of Ewing and one of the features of Franklin County is Ewing College. Ewing College was founded in 1870 by John Washburn, D. D., and has grown from a comparatively small beginning until today its properties are estimated to be worth $100,000.00. The first trustees of the Institution were John W. Hill, Elijah T. Webb, William A. King, Robert R. Link and Richard H. Richeson; all of whom are deceased, except William A. King, who still resides in Ewing, and who is one of the best known and most respected men in the community. Ewing College is located at the geographical center of Southern Illinois. The Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad runs within a couple of miles of the College, giving Ewing and Ewing College all the advantages of a railroad town, without its disadvantages. The college is located in a small town, which is an additional argument in its favor. When character is the chief aim of education, it is decidedly an advantage that young people should be sent, not to a large city, where there are the greatest possible number of distractions, but to a small place where the temptations and vices incident to larger cities are lacking. Proof of the soundness of this theory lies in the fact that many prominent men, of great ability and strong character, now scattered throughout the United States, received their early education at Ewing College. The college has a magnificent Carnegie Library in connection, and has a large and able faculty.

Benton Homes

was made possible by the subscription of the publicspirited citizens of Franklin County, and it is hoped and earnestly requested that the business men whose advertisements appear in the volume be given due consideration.

Usually, the greatest expense in the publication of a book of this character is the cost of securing subscriptions and the editorial work, all of which valuable service has been cheerfully donated, thus exemplifying the liberality and progress} of the people of Franklin County.