Greenwood Township

Greenwood Township

S one of the southern tier of townshi])s in the couiily ; bounded on the north by Johnson, east by Rosemond, south by Jlontgomcry county, and west by Rick's township. It is well drained by the South Fork and its tributaries. Along the margin of its streams is considerable timber. The soil is rich and fertile, and produces large quantities of wheat, corn, rye, oats, hay, potatoes and vegetables.

their cabins ahjiig tlie skirts of the limlier, whilst thousands of acres of wild prairie lands adjacent, remained in their native state. Unentered, cheap lands seemed to be a drug in the market. The Government price was one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. A noted land speculator living in Hillsboro, for several years after the organization of the county, competed with this in offering timbered lands at the low price of seventy-five cents an acre, with few sales even at that figure. It was not until after the year 1850, that any material cluuige took jihiee.

The beautiful broad acres about that period began to attract the eyes of emigrants, aud the country rapidly filled up. Tlie vacant lands were soon entered, and jirices advanced from 75 cents to §5, $10 and 820 per acre. For many years after the organization of the county this whole section of country was attached to Taylorville precinct for voting purposes. This was a serious inconvenience. Early in the year 1852, with the influx of emigration, the people made a move for a new Justice Precinct. The petition a.sking for it, signed by William Linn and thirtv-nine others, legal voters within said territory, was laid before the county court by Henry Riggs. The prayer of the jietitioners was granted, and on the 3d of March, 1852, an order was passed forming the ''Nevada Precinct." It comprised all of T. 11 - 2 and the south third of T. 12 - 2. It was the ninth precinct formed in the county. The place of voting at first was fixed at the "Nevada School House," but afterwards, on the 4th of September, 1855, it was changed to the " Sassafras School House " James Pierce, James Linn and Henry Riggs were appointed the first judges of election. Robert S. Welch was an acting justice of the peace, within the bounds of the new precinct ; at the time of its formation each precinct was entitled to two justices of the peace and two constables. Henry C. Dickson was elected the other justice, Nov. 2, 1852, and at the same time Madison Busby and William Linn were elected constables. Thus was organized, officered and set in motion the precinct of "Nevada." Who originated the name or why it was so called, at this date, is unknown. Amongst its oldest settlers may be mentioned Mylo Skinner, William Virden, Duane Skinner, John McClurg, Chris. K. Durbin, George Wilcox, Daniel E. Walker, Bradley Skinner, Josephus and Leonard Durbin, Madison Busby, Francis J. White, Domenick Simpson, H. C. Dickson, John Busbj-, Peter Klinefelter, Old Nathan Durbin, William Walker, James Pearce, Robert S. Welch, James A. Dunn, James P. Walker, Ed. R. Skinner, James Linn, Cornelius Klinefelter. Daniel Micenhammer, John Miller, Edgar M. Thompson, John Carman, Dr. D. C. Goodan, Jerry Welch, a ]\Ir. McFarlaud, George Compton, Peter Oiler, John W. ililler, H. J. Shafl'er, T. L. Bacon, Henry Riggs, Wni. Linn, Andrew S. Miller, and Wm. Slieham. There are several incidents connected with its carl}' history. On one occasion several of its citizens, among whom were Mylo Skinner, Duane Skinner and others, made a trip to Taylorville in the dead of winter, in a sled. On tlieir return in the evening, a blinding snow storm set in as they entered the prairie of Johnson tcwiibhip. Thty continued to travel the whole night, supposing all the time they were making a bee line to the timber in a homeward direction, which, when reached, they might renew their reckoning. To their utter surprise, in the morning, they found they had traveled round and round within a radius of a mile. They all suifered very much from the cold, and Mylo Skinnei's feet were frozen, and he l;nd to have a part of ihcm amputated. In 1861 corn was a drug in the market, and brought only eight cents per bushel. A Jlr. Johnson, of this precinct, u.scd a portion of his crop that year for fuel, as a stroke of economy. It was published in the papers circulating in the cast, and created not a little comment and astonishment, at the wanton destruction. ,In 1866, on the adoption of township organization, the precinct of " Nevada " came to an tnd. and was succeeded by Greenwood township - embracing all of Town. 11, R. 2 west. The remainder of the territory of Nevada was absorbed by Johnson township. It was named Greenwood on account of its beautiful groves of timber An election for township officers was held April 3, 1866. George W. Taylor was elected supervisor; James Aliller and JIadison Busby its first justices of the peace. The lands in this township were originally surveyed by Enoch Moore, Dep. U. S. Surveyor, returned and certified Jan. 25, 1819, Wm. Rector, Sur. General.

Justices of the Peace. - James Miller and iladison Busbv, elecled in 1866 ; H. C. Dick.<on and xMadison Busby, 1870; George Taylor, 187.j; James W. Estabrook, 1874; Wm M. Warren and George Taylor, 1877; Elisha Compton, 1878.

Greenwood is one of the best wheat an<l corn producing townships in the county ; also con iderable attention is given to grazing and feeding of stock, which forms one of the leading industries of the people. It has within its borders many well-improved farms. Its inhabitants are an industrious and intelligent class of people.

Biographical Sketches The Goodan Brothers

David C. Goodan, wlio was born in Bourljon count v, Keiituckv.on the 9th of August, 1818, and was the sou of Levi Goodan. The Goodan family was of English descent, and settled in Kentucky at an early day. When Dr. Goodan was four or five years old,' his father moved with the family to Illinois aud settled in Sangamon county, where he was one of the curliest settlers. By reason of the absence of sehools in Sangamon county, at that time, he was sent back to Kentucky to be educated. He studied medicine at Louisville, and after tilting himself thoroughly for the profession, returned to Illinois, and first began practice at Macomb in Mc- Donough county. On the 20th of April, 18o7, he married Catharine Von Ostran. She was born in Hunterdon county. New Jersey, on the 14th of June, 1819. Her father emigrated to this State in 1837, when Mrs. Goodan was a girl of seventeen. He came to Illinois with the intention of making his home in Fulton county, but on reaching Springfield an injury happened to his horses, and he settled in that place, though afterward he moved to Fulton counlv. He was a farmer by occupation.

After Dr. Goodan's marriage he lived for a short time in ]\[c- Douough county, and then removed to the town of Canton, in Fulton count}', where he practiced his profession for four years. He next located in Springfield, and from that place moved to Kentucky, and established himself as a physician, at Paris, in his native countv of Bourbon - the heart of the celebrated blue grass region. He resided at Paris two years, and, in 1844, settled at Taylorville. Taylorville was then a small town of a few fomilies, and the surrounding country was very thinly settled. He afterwards practiced medicine in Sangamon county, and returned to Christiair county in 1857. His djath occurred in Greenwood township, on the 29th of July, 1864. He was a man who possessed fine natural ability. He had acquired an excellent education, and his attainments placad him, as a physician, in the front rank of his profession. He was said to be the best penman in Christian county, and for a time held the office of Circuit Clerk. Whatever faults he may have possessed, none could denv that by nature he was a man of a kind heart and generous impulse, and that his intellectual qualities fitted him for a high rank in his profession.

Ten of his children are now living, all in Greenwood township, w!th the exception of one in the adjoining township of Johnson. Their names are as follows: Sarah G., now the wife of William Clunnley, William; Mary Gertrude, who married Albert Young; Louisa, David, John, Franklin P., All)ert and Charles, who are twins, and Julia.

At her husband's death ]\Irs Goodan found herself with a large family of children, and with no means for their support. Their circumstances were extremely straitened, and the boys were compelled to find places on forms, where they could earn their own living. The oldest son, Clarkson V. Goodan, took charge of the family, and his home has always been with his mother. The boys Avere strong and healtliy ; they had been raised to habits of industry, and all were willing to do their share of hard work. The first move which Clarkson made was to rent land on the prairie, in Greenwood township, and begin forming for himself. Albert and Charles, the younger boys, have always lived at home, and they assisted as they could in carrying on farming operations. The other boys found employment with other farmers. Having saved sufficient money to justify the attempt to secure a farm of their own, Clarkson, William, David, John, and Frank, together with their mother, bought their present farm in Greenwood township. They went to work with a will, and in spite of poor crops and bad seasons, have managed to succeed. They arc now in a promising financial condition, and among the prosperous and progressive larmers of the county. Besides carrying on general farming operations they have been engaged, to a considerable extent, in raising and dealing in stock. During the last six years they have bought and sold large numbers of cattle. All are shrewd traders, have a sound judgment of stock, and are business men of good capacity Beside their own farm, they rent additional land. In the year 1880 they farmed a whole section of land, and raised 240 acres of wheat and 240 acres of corn. All the boys, with the exception of Charles, are now jointly interested in their operations. Their farm consists of 228'. acres, anil is situated in sections three and ten, of Greenwood township. A full page view of it may be found elsewhere Charles was married on 1st of June, 1875, to Frances V. Shivers, daughter of Samuel Shivers, one of the early settlers of Christian count}', and is now farming in Johnson township.

William was a soldier in the army during the war of the rebellion. He enlisted in company G, of the 41st Illinois regiment, and was nuistered in at Decatur on the 5th of August, 1861. After serving with his regiment for fifteen months, he was detailed fijr service with company G, of the 1st ^lissouri Light Artillerv regiment, as acting forage master. After the expiration of his three years term of enlistment, he served in the 31st Illinois regiment to the close of the war. He was in the Army of the Tennessee, and with the 17th Army Corps, and took part in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Metamora, the Siege of Vicksburg, and accompanied Gen. Sherman on his celebrated inarch from Atlanta to the sea. After the Sherman raid, he was taken prisoner at Goldsboro, North Carolina; for a couple of weeks was a prisoner at Salisbury, and was exchanged just at the close of the war.

These enterprising young men have the satisfaction of knowing that what they have accomplished has been by their own efforts. As self-made men, they have demonstrated the fact that it is possible for young men of energy and industry to raise themselves from poverty to independence. Much of their success is perhaps due to the efi'orts of Mrs. Goodan, who has always endeavored to make the best of the circumstances in which she was placed, to raise her sons to temperate and frugal habits, and to furnish them with such educational advantages as were po-ssible. It may be truthfully said that it is rare to find a family of so many sous, among whom bad habits are so few, and industry and sobriety so generally the rule. In politics all are democratic, with the exception of William, who was raised a democrat, but returned from his service in the army a republican. William is also one of tiie officers of Greenwood township.

John Av. Miller

JOHN AV. MILLER Was born in Tuscarawas county, (_)liio, April 25, 1840. Ilis father, John Miller, was of Irish descent; was born in Penn.^ylvania in 1805; and in 1817 moved with his father to Guernsey county, Ohio. His mother was Harriet Miskimen, who was of Scotch and German origin. In 1852, Mr. Miller's father moved to Christian county, and in the spring of 1853 settled where Mr. Miller now lives, in section 15 of Greenwood township. At the time of making this settlement, Greenwood township had but few inhabitants. - About twenty families had settled along the timber. Between his father's house and Pana, no settlement had been made within a couple of miles of the direct road. His mother died in 1852, during the first summer after the coming of the family to this state. His father died in 1804. After his mother's death JMr. Miller lived at various places in the county, and two years with an uncle in Ohio. He was married July 5th, 1864, to Julia .\. Klinefelter, daughter of Peter Klinefelter. Her father was b:irn in Pennsylvania; moved from that state to Ohio, and settled in Greenwood township in 1»61. Since 1864, Mr. Miller has been farming in Greenwood township. He was first elected supervisor in 1867, and served for five successive terms. He was elected again in 1877, and has represented Greenwood township in the Board of Supervisors ever since. He is a republican in politics.

History Of Christ I Ax Couxty, Ill 1X0 Is William M. Warren

Mr. Warren has lived in Greenwood townsliip since 1872. lie was born in Piatt county, of this state, on the ITtli of December, 1847. On his father's side his ancestors were Iri.^h, but mixed up with Scotch, Engli.-h, and German. His grcat-graudfathcr settled in Delaware, and his grandfather settled at an early date near Circleville, in Pickaway county, Ohio. His father, Bennett Warren, was born in Ohio ; was married in that state to Eliza Donelscn, and about the year 1840 emigrated to Piatt county, Illinois; he afterward died in Shelby county, as did also Jlr. Warren's mother. William M. Warren was the youngest of a family of five children. He was principally raised in fchelby county, where his father removed when he was about nine years old ; his education was obtained chiefly by his own efforts, and the greater part of it after he returned home from service in the army. He was living in Shelby county at the time of the breaking out of the war of the rebellion. In November, 1863, he enlisted at Jacksonville, iu Company M., 3d Illinois Cavalry. At that time he was one month less than sixteen years of age. He joined his regiment at Pocahontas, Tennes- Part of the time his regiment was attached to the IGth Army Corps, and subsequently to General Wilson's Cavalry Corps. He was present at the battles of West Point, Okaluna, Guntown, and Tupelo. For a considerable part of his term of service his regiment was employed in fighting guerillas in Kentucky, and while there the men saw hard service. After the war closed, by the collapse of the Southern Confederacy, his regiment was ordered to Minnesota, arriving in that state iu June, 18G5, and thence was dispatched for service against the Indians in Dacotah Territory. He was discharged at Fort Snelling, and returned to Shelby county, where he lived till 1872, when he came to Christian county.

He was married on the 24th of December, 1872, to Mrs Anna M. IMiller, whose maiden name was Anna M. Morrison. She was l)orn iu Adams county, Ohio. Her first husband's name was Andrew S. Miller, by whom she had two children, Charles E., and Andrew J. Miller. B_v the present marriage Mr. and Mrs. Warren have two children living, James Bennett Warren and Emma Warren. Rosa Florence, the next to the youngest child, died in infancy. Since living in Greenwood township Mr. Warren has been engaged in farming, and is a man who stands well as a citizen in that [lart of the county. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1877. In politics he has always been a republican.

Charles Miller

CHARLES MILLER. Mr. Miller has resided in Greenwood township since 18(55. He was born near Prusse-^Iinden, in Prussia, on the 31st of May, 1842. His father, Charles Miller, was a well-to-do farmer for the old country, and owned about two hundred acres of land. His mother's name was Christina Busking. Mr. Jliller was the next to the youngest of a familj- often children. He went to school till he was fourteen years old, and afterward worked on his father's farm. He was of an enterprising turn of mind, and when he became eighteen determined to emigrate to America and see whether he could better his circumstances. He came over in a steamer, landing in New York in 1860. A man named Conrad Leesaman, who owned a farm in Madison county, in this State, near Edwardsville, came over in the same vessel. Mr. Miller accompanied Leesaman direct to Madison county, entered his employment and worked for him on his farm for five years. Slost of the time he received good wages and saved his money. In 186-5 he bought fifty-three acres of land, which is included in his present farm in (ireenwood township. In the spring of 1865 he niovid on this farm and began improving it. On the 14th of February, 1867, he married Frederika Kurlbaum, who had been b(]rn and raised in Madison county. She died on the 10th of .Tanuarv, 18i:)'.l. His second marriage took place on the 9th of March, 1870, to Mary Greenwood, daughter of William Greenwood, who was born near Philadelphia, and was mostly raised iu Illinois, and was living in Rosemond township at the time of her marriage. Mr. Miller has six children: Henry, Lizzie, Anna, William, August and Caroline. The last five arc children by his second marriage. He owns 25.3 acres of land, 233 of which are in one body, and twenty timber land. For his success since coming to this country he is indebted to his own energy and industry. The assistance which he received from the old country amounted in all to only two hundred dcllars, and the remainder he has earned by hard work. He stands well among the farmers of Greenwood township. He has always been a republican in politics, and first voted for General Grant for president in 1SG8.

Elisiia Compton

Among the old settlers and leading citizens of Greenwood township is Elisha Compton. He was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, on the 20th of October, 1838. His ance.stors were of English descent, and they settled in Old Virginia at a period previous to the Revolutionary war. George W. Compton, his father, was born iu Culpeper county, Virginia, and was married there to Amelia Wood, whose ancestors were also early residents of the Old Dominion. Soon after his marriage George W. Compton started with his young wife for Ohio, and settled in Coshocton county. This was about the year 1818. He chose as his location the point of land running down between the Tuscarawas and Walhondiug rivers, which there unite to form the Muskingum. This was the birthplace of Elisha Compton. There were eight children in the family, and the subject of this sketch was the fourth in the order of his birth. He lived in Ohio until about eighteen years of age. For the boj's of that day the ordinary district schools were the only means of obtaining an education, and not much attention was paid to schooling. The whole family moved to Illinois in 18.^6, settling in the spring of that year on section 32 of Greenwood township. At that time, this part of the county was but thiiily inhabited. The improvements were confined to the edge of the timber. The prairie was almost entirely without .settlements. Before the family left Ohio, his father had purchased a thousand acres of land and had a hou.^e built ready for occupancy. His father lived in this place till his death, which occurred on the 28th of January, 1877. His mother died on the 4th day of April, 1870. George W. Compton was a man of great industry and of superior business managenieut. Ill his youth he had enjoyed but scanty educational advantages, but possessed good uatuial abilities, and was known as a slirewd and successful trader. He had no ambition for public life, and was better suited for the plain career of a quiet farmer. He was moral and temperate in his habits, and was respected by everybody who knew him for his many good qualities as a neighbor and a citizen. He was a member of the United Brethren Church. In his politics he was a republican, and had been a member of tliat party from its first organization. He accumulated considerable property.

Elisha Compton was married on the 1st day of November, 1860, to Miss Ardenia Ann Teasley. This marriage took place at Greenville, Bond county. Mrs. Compton was born in Bond county, October 30, 1841. Her father, William Teasley, was from Kentuckv, and came to Illinois about the year 1836, at the age of twentv-one. Her mother's name before marriage was JIartha Ann

Jilt. Aftri- Ills mnn-iatre lOlisha C'cmiptnii began fai-iiiing t')r liiiii- Hc'lC, ami a iM.iiplc nf yi-ars afUrward iii(iv((l (Wi the place where lie iKiw lives. ]Ie (iwiis ISO aires (if lainl. The names of his chihlrun are: Martha A., William ( i., :Mary A, Liiitisha B., Henry C, Alfarata, and Allurt. In his jiolities he has ahvaj-s been a member of the repuhliean party, ami his first vote for president was cast for Aliraliani I>ineoln, at his first election in I860. Although he has been an earnest repnbliean, and on general issues has supported the candidates of that party, yet in local elections and in choosing township officers, he has always felt himself free to vote for the best man for the position without regard to his political proclivities. He was elected justice of the jjeace in 1S7.S. He is a member of the Methodist Church. As one of the n'presentative citizens of Greenwood township and one of the old settlers of this part of the county, liis name deserves a [ilace in this work.

native of Huntingdnu county, Pennsylvania, and was six years old when the family moved to Ohio and settled on the Ohio river at the mouth of .Short Creek. Mr. Simpson's mother's maiden name was Eliza Evans; she was born in Ireland, and came to America with an older married sister when she was sixteen. The subject of this sketch was the third of a family often children, of whom seven were boys and three girls. He was raised in Harrison county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1852, soon after he was twenty-one years of age, came to this State. He first located in Pike county, and part of the time was engaged in farming and part of the time was a clerk in a store at Perry. His first marriage occurred in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, to Sarah J. Cheney. In the spring of 1857 he settled in Christian county, on a tract of lilt) acres of land, in section twelve of Greenwood township, which he i)urchased from the Illinois Central liailroad Company. A view of his farm is shown on another page. The death of his first wife took place on the 30th of May, 1873. His second marriage was on the 6th of December, 1877, to Martha S. Cheney, who was born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. In politics he has alwaj's been a republican, and is one of the representative citizens of the southern jiart of the county.