Neponset Township

Neponset Township

Xe])()iisot was lii-st named llrawby. in honor of Brawby. Kiighuul, as quite a number of English people j'roin that locality early settled there. The board of supervisors changed the mime to Neponset in 1866 The name Neponset was suggesetd by Myron H Lee who was the first railroad agent in Xe])onset. This township was in the military tract, and nuiny of the soldiers of 1812 who received patents for land regarded them of little worth and ga\(' no attention to locating them, but after the county began to settle up and land became valuable, these old patents were looked up and claims made to land already settled and improved. 'J'his state of alVairs brought about a largo amount of litig;ilioii in regard to titles. The military tract has already been described in this volume, so we nei'd not repeat the boundaries here. A large number of the early .settlers were from Ensrland. Among lliem were AVilliam Studley, who settled on section S in 1836. Soon William and (Jeorge Norton and James Tibbetts came. Tibbetts settled on section 19 and George Norton f)n section 15. Some of the other early arrivals were Robert Norton. Levi Lewis, George Bowen and E. Kent. The ilepot was built in 1885. M. II. lice was the agent for eighteen years, and built the first house in the village. The town was lilatted in June. 1855, by Colonel ('lark E. Carr and Caleb J. Little and Henry (i. Little. It was first incorporated under spi'cial act, but in October, 1882, it was incorporated under the act of 1872.

Neponset has had the credit of being one of the best stock townshi))s in the county, especiallv in hog products. Barren Grove covers the north part of the township, but most of the surface is a fine undulating ])rairie, which has )nade the farmers, as a class, well to do, and many of them may be called wealthy. Neponset is underlaid with coal, but has never been developed to any great extent. The population in 1900, including the village, was 1224; the village, 51(). 'J'he following-named r)ersons have served as supervisors: ilaeoii was kiin\\n in the eai-jy liistory of this county as Walnut (irovt'. The lirst settlement in this township was in 1837, when William l>ates built a suuxll cabin on Ihe east side of the grove. In 1838 Thonuis :Matlu>r\vell settled on section 20. James B. Akins also came this year. Several years elapsed before any further settlement was made, then Lewis Holmes, T. I. Horton, Charles Wood, .'Mien Iloi-ton, Benjamin Stevens, Charles Lee, W. H. ]\Iason and George and .lohn Zink soon followed, X. Matson, in his "K'eminiseences of r.ureau County," published in 1872, tells of the mui'der of li'ev. John Williams at the east end of (irove in 1812. This was sixteen years before the first white settler stepped a foot on Bureau county soil and si.\ years before Hlinois was admitted into the TTnion. Matson claims that Kev. Williams was a misionary. and was on his way from liock Island to Marietta, Ohio, but at that time the whole country between (Chicago and the Mississijipi, and still on as far as the continent extends, was one unbroken wilderness of grove and ]irairie, and it seems (piite im]irol)able that any lone traveler would attemi)t such a journey, and much less ])i-obable that an Inilian who had been a ]iarly to such a bloody deed would be telling the white settlers about it years afterward. Macon is a good township of land, and is well improved. It has no village or place of trade veithin its borders. It is ])urely an agricultural community. Although it has no commercial center, yet it is in close ])i-oximity to Buda, Ne])onset and T,ombardville. The lirst school is said to have been taught by Miss Elizabeth Haiuiltou in 1857. A log school house was liuilt during this year and the district comprised the whole townshijj. The lirst election was held in 1850, when there were thirteen votes cast. The voters were Cyrus Sweet, John and George Zink, Charles Wood, James Motherell, Samuel Zink, AVilliam Baker, Thomas Motherell, Henry Walker, William H. Mason, David Aikin, Allen Ilortou and Samuel Maycock. The population of Macon in 1900 was O'JG. Those who have served as supervisors are as follows :

JIuch of the early history of Indiantown will be found in the history of the Providence colony. The first settlement was made by one Sampson Cole in 1833. This place was known in after years as the Kinney farm. Mr. Cole also built the first house in what is now the village of Tiskilwa, and the ever present "Curt" Williams was also one of the early settlers. Peter Bloom and Martin Tomkins settled here in 1835. Then the Kinneys, S. Wimple and a man by the name of Burt. The old Indian village where the council was held in 1832 by the Indians was on the present site of Tiskilwa. The portion of the village of Tiskilwa that lies in Arispie was platted by Dr. A. Langworthy on his own land in 1836, and named Windsor. In March of the same year the west part was laid off by J. W. Kinney and called West Windsor. As is always the case where there are two trade centers in a town, there was an intense rivalry between Windsor and West Windsor, but finally in 1840 the two were united under the name of Tiskilwa, which is an Indian word meaning beautiful valley. Tiskilwa was first incorporated under a special act in 1856, and again under the act of 1872, in 1890. The people of this village have for many years maintained a library, to which they are constantly making additions of choice literature. This one fact shows that the citizens of this community are up to date and progressive. The population of Indiantown, including that part of Tiskilwa that lies within her borders, was, in 1900, 1271 ; the Indiantown part of Tiskilwa, 469. In early times there were several flouring mills located along the valley, and they did a flourishing business, but the modern way of concentrating all kinds of trade and manufacturing has stopped (he sound of their grinding and they are all in different states of decay. Indiantown has furnished quite a number of nu'n who have been useful and influential, both in county and state affairs. The names of tlie men who have served as su2)ervisors are as follows :

Arispie and Indiantown are so united by the village of Tiskilwa that it is hard to separate their history. Amos Leonard is said to be the first settler, followed by Michael Kitterman in 1831. Soon after Dr. A. Langworthy, Dave Jones, Cyrus Watson, Ferrill Dunn, Elijah Searle, Elder J. B. Chenoweth. Alexander Holbrook, Alanson Benson and Josejjh Beeler. Dr. James Swanzy and Oliver Milling settled in Arispie in 1836, A. M. Sheldon in 1837 and Henry Obermire in 1840. This township originally had a large amount of timber land on both sides of Bureau creek, but the south half of the township is prairie land, and some of the fine farms of Bureau county are there located. Arispie in 1900, including its part of Tiskilwa, was 1209; Arispie part Tiskilwa, 496. The following were tiie supervisors:

Leiipki'Town

Leepertown contains only about one-half the area of that of a congressional township. It borders on the Illinois river, and is very irregular in shape. It was named after Jolm Leejiei-. tbc fathei' of n. B. Leepor, of Princeton. The first settler was Timothy Perkins. Following him came Uavid Xickerson. David 8. Miller, Jesse Perkins, Charles Leeper. X. H. Averill was one of the early settlers, and many years a supervisor. At one time West Hennepin, opposite Hennepin, had quite a number of warehouses. Stevens & McConihe did quite a business then in shipping grain and pork, but when the Rock Island railroad wont through ^\'est Hennepin gave up the struggle for life, and today no trace of its former glory is left. There has been a ferry across from this point to Hennepin since 1831. In the forties this was quite a shipping point. Bureau Junction, now called Bureau, is located at the junction of the Peoria branch of the Kock Island with the main line. It is a small village, and is what we call a railroad town, as most of the people are connected in some way with the railroad. Leepertown, including Bureau village, contained a population of 715; Bureau village, 545. The supervisors have been as follows :

\\'heatland is only one-half of a congressional township. It is mostly fine prairie land, and under a good state of cultivation. The noted lone tree stood about in the center of this township. This was a tall and stately oak that lifted its branches heavenward. Here it stood, solitaiy and alone. Here it had defied the tempests and the storm for countless years. It was a guide and a comfort to the early settlers, for it lifted its head so high that it could be seen for a long distance, and many a weary traveler who had lost his bearings has been set right by coming in sight of this grand old tree. The early settler had great admiration and reverence for this giant of the prairie, but at last it fell in decay and the people mourned its loss. The Andersons were very early settlers in this township. J. Miller, J. Meritt, E. S. Hunter, Raleigh Rich and S. M. Clark were also early settlers. Alpheus Cook and Michael Jennett came in 1843. In 1841 John Kirkpatrick built a sawmill on Crow creek. This township was in the military tract, and titles were not easily made perfect, and as a result of this WTieatland was not settled as early as it otherwise would have been. The population in 1900 was 3G9. The supervisors have been as follows :

The first settler in Milo was Mr. John Dixon, who took a claim in 1828 at the head of what has been for years known as Boyd's Grove. In 1830 he sold to Charles S. Boyd, who was for nearly ten years the only settler in all that township. Early in the forties David Bryant settled on the sijuth side of the grove, and Bamev Hagan and a Mr. Clark located on the north side. John A Griswold and Isaac Sutherland settled on section 22 in 1841. About the same time Edwin Merr'ck and A. E. May laid claims on sections 2 and 3. Among the early settlers were H. Griswold, J. W. Harris, J. V. Thompson, R. Steinhauer, C R. Cook, Joseph Sutherland and R. Hay Milo is one of the finest townships of land in the county. The farms are in a high state of ctiltivation, and one traveling through this township cannot but be impressed with the thrifty appearance of the farms and homes. A few years ago the people were somewhat excited at the prospect of finding oil, but no extensive prospecting has been made Several gas wells have been put down and some gas found. The people of Milo are intelligent and progressive and many of the farmers have become wealthy and moved into adjoining towns For many years there has been a store at the grove, and until the free rural delivery there was a post office there. Milo has no village within her borders, but is well located so far as marketing and trade is concerned, Bradford being the trading point for the south part of the township. Lombardsville, Tiskihva and Henry also receive trade from Milo. Tlie northwestern railroad runs through the south part of the township, entering it on section 7 and passing out on section 31. Boyd's Grove was one of the noted places in the early times in this countv. The population of Milo in 1900 was 731. The following have served Milo on the board of supervisors :