New Boston Township (part 2 of 6)

T. II. DouGHTi', police magistrate and book-keeper, was bom in Centerville, "Wayne county. Indiana, in 1831, and was the fourth child in a family of eleven children by Thomas L. and Mary J. (Kibbey) Doughty. In 1842 he emigrated to New Boston with his parents. He was a pu})il of Simeon P. Smith, and under his tuition obtained a useful education. When a boy he worked in his father's shop and learned the saddler's trade ; but most of the time since he became of age he has been a book-keeper. He was married in 1850 to ^liss Hattie M. Doughty, b}' whom he has had seven children : Willie (dead), Kate (now Mrs. P. E. Tovey), Harry (dead), Josie (dead), Jim E., Sue, and an unnamed infant. Mr. Doughty has been active among his townsmen in promoting temperance work, and the interests of the republican organization. He is a member of the Indei)endent Order of Mutual Aid, and has held several local ottices. He was the Urst mayor of New Boston, and is at present town clerk and police magistrate.

Gideon Ivks, merchant, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1825, and was the youngest son of Gideon and Charlotte (Hall) Ives. He received an academic education in his native town, and in 1843 came west and settled in New Boston, where he at once began clerking for the tirm of Denison & Ives. As early as 1846 he embarked in general merchandising in partnership with Elmer J. Denison, and kept up this connection until about 1865. At that date Mr. Ives withdrew from the firm and was out of trade till 1881, when he formed a partnership with Frank Ives (his son) and C. II. Ballard (his son-in-law), under the style of Ives, Ballard tt Co. Mr. Ives was originally a whig, and voted first for president for Gen. Taylor in 1848. He has been a steadfast republican since his party came into existence. He has always been squarely identified with the tem})erance work. In 1853 he was united in marriage with ]\Iiss Rachel, daughter of John Dniry, by whom he has had seven children, as follows : Frank, who married Miss Lizzie Moll ; Jennie, wife of C. H. Ballard; Flora, Fred, Nellie (died in infancy), Hattie and Paul.

CiiAKLEs W. Bras, lawyer and collector, was born in Lake county, Ohio, May 16, 1828, and is the fourth child of Thomas and Ann (Norton) Bras. He came west with his parents in 1S3T, settling in Louisa county, Iowa, wiiere he worked with his father until of age. He then learned the mason's trade and was engaged in this until when he went overland to California, enduring all the hardshij)s connected with an overland trip across hundreds of miles of a wilderness, where rain never falls, and vegetation does not exist. After arriving irr. California lie clerked in a store one year, after which he was engaged in mining and running a pack-train. He returned to Louisa county, Iowa, in 1853, and was in business there until 1868, when he came to- New Boston, where he opened up a law office, and has been in business' ever since. During the late rebellion he enlisted in the '45th reg. Iowa Vol., and served six months, and was discharged. He received sl common school education, and being a close student he has acquired a good education. In September, 1853, he was married to Miss Hannah. M. Dennott. They have four children : Clarence C, Harry L., Ralph C, Charlotte E., all of whom are living. He has served eleven yearsas justice of the peace, and has been a Mason over sixteen years. In pohtics he is a republican.

R. S. Cramer, farmer, was born in Clermont county, Ohio, Se])- tember 5, 1825, being the first child of William and Sarah (Shute) Cramer. AYilliani was tlie first son of Adam Cramer, an early settler of Kentucky, being a near neighbor of the noted Daniel Boone of early Kentucky fame. R. S. was married to Mrs. Charlotte B. Hams in the fall of 1847 ; she was born in Miami countv, Ohio, in the vear of 1831. They emigrated to Knox county in the fall of 1855. His wife was feeble at the time, and died in Julv, 1856. Two children were born of this union, but they both died while quite young. Mr. Cramer came to this county in the fall of 1856 to make this his permanent home. He remembers of passing along the Air Line raih-oad (surveyed) over the site where now stands Aledo. It was tlien (1855) nothing but a bleak j^rairie, relieved only by the stakes for the raih-oad. He made his home with James M. Manon, of Eliza township (afterward elected sheriff and circuit clerk of this county, and who was, during the late war, colonel of the 102d 111. Vol.), until he married the Widow Cole in February, 1857. She was a sister of the colonel and daugher of Aaron Manon of the same township. The Widow Cole (his present wife) was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1820, and emigrated to this county with her father's family in 1836, and settled in Eliza township. There has been no children by this marriage. Immediately after his marriage he settled two and a half miles north of New Boston, where he has lived for more than twenty-five years. Mr. Ci'amer was brought up in ' a neighborhood where almost everybody belonged to the Methodist Episcopal church. He joined at fifteen years of' age and remained a member of the same some fifteen years. He always indulged in much reading and refiection. The result was he became heterodox in his theological opinions, and to-day is well known as a spiritualist. In politics he early became convinced of the great wrongs infiicted upon the slaves. He gave his lirst vote for Sahnon P. Chase for governor of Oliio, because of his anti-slavery proclivities. From that time till the formation of the republican party he gave his votes where he thought they would promote the anti-slavery interest. He voted for Fremont, in 1856 and continued to act with the republican party until Grant wascandidate for president the second time; and although he was a great admirer of Greeley he refrained fi'om voting at all until Peter Cooper run on the greenback ticket for president. From that time to the present he has been an ardent greenbacker and anti-mono}>olist. He is serving at this time (1882) as chairman of the central committee for the greenback labor party of this county. Mr, Cramer was a very enthusiastic supporter of the late war, having full coniidence that it would result in the fi'eedom of the slaves. He wrote the first articles (published in the "New Boston Herald" and the "Aledo Record") that were ever published in this county advocating the policy as well as the justice of giving the negro the right to vote.

We think it proper to mention here the name of Stephen Randall as one of the well to do farmers of New Boston township. He came to the northeastern part of the township, where he has resided ever since, having accumulated considerable property. He was born in Rensselaer county, New York, November 8, 1813. He is the oldest child of Stephen and Nancy (Cutler) Randall. He came with his parents to Mercer county in the year 1843. He was married February 13, 1844, to Miss Rachel Trumbull of Rensselaer county, New York. She was born September 29th, 1827, and is the sixth child of William and Pauley Trumbull. They have had eleven children (three of whom are dead): Nancy A., married to Joseph Tomelson; William M., to Lueinda Uterback; Lucy M., to Calvin C. Wyatt; Pauley E., to John Fulerton; Celia M., to James AV. Scott; Stephen, Cilvia and Aaron are dead ; Minnie, Alonzo and Tlieron are at home with their parents. Rachel, his wife, died November 15, 1864. He was married again June 14, 1875, to Mrs. M. J. Jones. She was born June 29, 1833, in Rensselaer county. New York, and is a daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Brooks) Bradt. Mr. Randall received only a common school education. In politics he is a republican. He has at present 434 acres of land in section 10 of New Boston township, and also 160 acres in Iowa.

Tlie subject of this sketch, O. C. Lutz, was born in Mercer county, Illinois, March 14, 1845, and is next to the youngest child of Isaac and Lydia (Light) Lutz. His father came to Mercer county in 1836 and settled in New Boston township, where he resided until his death, which took place in October, 1879. His mother died Sei>tember, 1879, at the age of seventy-four. His father was seventy-eight years of age at his death. O. C.'s father built the iirst grist mill in the county about 1838. In 1858 he built a large and commodious mill near the site of the old one. O. C. Lutz started out in life with limited means. He has gradually worked his way u]) until he now owns considerable property. The first real estate he owned was eighty acres in Eliza township. This he sold in 1873 and went to York county, Nebraska, "where he became the owner of 480 acres of land, which yields him an annual income of $700. In March, 1881, he bought the mill estate of his father's in Mercer county, Illinois, and returned in October of the same year, and has refitted the mill and is now prepared to compete with any other mill in the country. Xovember 1, 1871, he was married to Miss Permelia, daughter of Henry and Permelia Hempton. She was born October 12, 1854. They have had two children. In connection with his mill property he owns 167 acres of land. - Mr. Lutz is a republican and cast his first vote for Lincoln.

Thomas Willitt, farmer, was born August 22, 1846, in Mercer county, Illinois. His parents were Kentuckians. He was married September 18, 1871. His wife was the daughter of David and Xancy Brought. She was born in Hancock county, Ohio, December 9, 1848. In 1862 Mr. Willitt enlisted in the 30th reg. 111. Yol. He served his country until the close of the war, and then returned to his home and engaged in agriculture. He received a common school education. He makes a living for himself and family by honest toil.

LviiAN H. ScuDDER was born in Cattaraugus countv, Xew York, October 29, 1829. In the year 1847 he came to jS^ew Boston, where he resided until the spring of 1852, when he started with an ox team for California, and arrived in Placerville in September of that year. He was engaged in mining and farming until the summer of 1855, when he returned to iS^ew Boston. He then ene-a^ed in the liverv business, which he followed until the summer of 1862. In July of that year he enlisted, and on the tenth day of September he was mustered into the service of the United States as captain of company G, 124th reg. 111. Yol. Inf. His regiment became a part of the third Division of the 17th Ai'iny Corps, which was then engaged in pre})aring for the capture efYicksburg, Miss. He i)articipated in several skirmishes and battles, in one of which (Champion Hills, Miss.) he was wounded, and in July, 1864, owing to ill health, he resigned his commission and returned to his home. He has been a resident of New Boston ever since. The subject of this sketch has been twice married. May 13, 1861, he was nuirried to Miss Fanny E. Ives, of Oquawka, Illinois, who died in May, 1865, leaving one son. February 11. I>i66, he was inarried to !Miss Helen L. Moore, daughter of George and Jemima Moore, of New Boston. She was born in EHza township, four miles from her ])resent residence, on May 10, 1837. She has a just claim to be called one of the early settlers. In politics Captain Scudder is 'republican, having voted and advocated the principles of that party ever since its organization. For the past sixteen years he has resided on a farm three miles north of New Boston and has taken considerable interest in a])ianan pursuits.

The subject of the following sketch is not identified with the history of Mercer county for so long a period as some others, as he did not come until 1S48. Mr. Isom Jackson was born in Hancock county, Indiana, A})ril 4, 1839, and consequently was nine years of age when he came to this county with his parents. He is the youngest child of Dempsy and Mary Jackson. His parents are still living at the age of seventy-five" each. As a tiller of the soil Mr. Jackson has worked at it all his life. By grasping the few advantages afforded in early times he obtained a common school education. He was married May 29, 1864, to Miss Salinda, daughter of John and Rachel Fisher. Mr. Jackson was always a democrat nntil 1876, when he joined the greenback party, of which he has been a member ever since. They have had six children, all of whom are living: they are Ed., John, Homer, Thomas, Bert and Edney. Mr. Jackson has been very successful in accumulating property. At present he has 240 acres of land, 200 of which is in New Boston township and 40 in Eliza. In response to his country's call he enlisted in the 124tli regiment, and after serving eleven months, was wounded in the left hand and right arm, from which he has been a cripple ever since.

Among the well-to-do farmers of New Boston townshi]) may be mentioned Thomas J. Jackson, who was born in Hancock county, Indiana, July 24, 1837. He is next to the youngest child of Demsy and Mary Jackson. When eleven years of age he came with his parents to Mercer county, Illinois, settling in New Boston township, where he has resided ever since. His parents are still living at the age of seventy-five each, and in good health. Mr. Jackson worked with his father until twenty-one years of age, when he commenced farming for himself, in which business he has been engaged ever since with the exception of two years spent in California, where he went in 1862, staying two years. He went by the way of New York, down the Atlantic, across the Isthmus of Panama, and up the Pacific ocean to San Francisco, and returned in 1864. Received a common school education. He was marrie<l to Miss Samantha Drew, daughter of Harrison and Eliza Drew, ]\Iarch, 1860. They had one child, which died April, 1862, His wife died March, 1863. He was married again- August 12, 1868, to Miss Louisa, daughter of David and Eliza Honeyman. They had one child : Gid, who was born April 23, 1875. Mr. Jackson owns the northeast quarter of section 8, in New Boston township, 80 acres of which he bought in 1873 and 80 in 1875.

Marshall Fleming, farmer, was born in Henry county, Indiana, September 8, 1831, and is the oldest child of John W. and Angeline (Cellars) Fleming. He came with his parents to Mercer county, Illinois, in the year of 1819. Two years later he commenced farming for himself. His father was born in Fairmont county. West Virginia, April 20, 1809, and departed this life February 26, 1854. His remains rest in the New Boston cemetery. His mother was born in 1812, in Brown county, Ohio, and is still living at the age of seventy years. Marshall was married to Miss Nancy Kader August 20, 1853. She is the daughter of Abraham G. and Catharine Rader. Her pareiits were among the early settlers of the county, coming in the year 1838. She was born September 27, 1836, in Henry county, Indiana. The young couple started out in life with nothing but a two-year-old colt. For their household goods and one horse they went in debt. This horse and his two-year-old colt made his teauL Thus he went on adding a little each year to his capital, until he has acquired a good, wellimproved farm, having twice taken the first premium. His farm is situated two miles northeast of New Boston. He and his wife have been members of the Methodist church since 1 872. In politics he is a republican. They have had two children : Josephine, born November 27, 1858 ; Elsie, iDorn January 29, 1862, and died October 8, 1863.

G. W. Bridger, farmer, was born January 13, 1858, in Mercer county, Illinois, and is the oldest son of Charles H. and Martha F. Bridger. He was married February 3, 1881, to Miss Josephine Fleming, daughter of Marshall and Nancy Fleming. He lived with his father and worked on the farm until nineteen years of age, when he determined to have at least a common school education. Working in summer he earned enough to send him to the village school of Viola during the fall and winter. This he followed up for three years, working summers and attending school fall and winter. He then taught school for a number of terms. At present he is engaged in farming.

James P. Powley, farmer, was born in Hancock county, Indiana,. September 4, 1832. He came to Mercer county, Illinois, in 1849. He was married February 22, 1854, to Sarah J., daughter of Andrew and Jane Malady. He has been in Mason since 1861. He owns a farm of 140 acres, well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Powley have had born to them two children.

George H. Signor, grocer, was born in New York in 1835. He was the oldest son. His parents, John and Araminta C. (Lawi-ence)- Signor, had eleven children, and in 1839 they removed with them to Ross conntv, Ohio. In 1845 the family emigrated still farther west, settling in Columbus City, Louisa county, Iowa. Living there a year, they next came to Oquawka, where his father shortly after died, aged about forty-six years. In 1853 Mr. Signor settled in New Boston, where he was married and has since had his home. His mother is still living at the age of seventy-three. It is a curious fact that the ages of her nine living brothers and sisters average her own age. His marriage on January 1, 1857, was with Miss Maria Alyea, of New Boston, daughter of Josei)li Alyfea, one of the tirst settlers and business men in the place. Mr. Signor was employed by him as a clerk when he iirst came. Both he and his wife are communicants in the Methodist church, of New Boston, of which he is steward. He takes a lively interest in the temperance cause, and has always taken a leading part in organizations of that nature. He has filled the highest position in three Good Templar lodges and is an Odd-Fellow of twenty-five years' standing. Raised a whig, he voted first for Fremont, and has since trained strictly with the republicans. In 1880 he started in the grocery trade.

George Gore, banker, was born in Maryland in 1837, and was the only son of Philip and Susannah (Baugliman) Gore. He had six sisters. In 1841 his parents moved west and settled in Columbus City, Louisa county, Iowa, where his mother died the next year at the age of forty-two. In 1846 his father married again, this time Mrs. Margaret Alexander, and in 1854 moved with his family to Keithsburg, where he engaged in merchandising. He had been previously selling goods in Columbus City. Mr. Gore remained with his father at Keithsburg until 1864, when he went to Montana for the benefit of his health. Being restored, he returned at the end of nine months and settled in New Boston, and during the succeeding eight years was in the service of Wells Willits as book-keeper. In 1873 he embarked in trade on his own account, and was in partnership the first two years with C. H. Bell. Impaired health caused him to sell out in 1880, and with his family he went to Florida, spending seven months there. Returning somewhat improved, he engaged in banking in the autumn of 1881. Mr. Gore has been a Mason since 1874, and has held the office of alderman and mayor. He was mayor of New Boston in 1879, and as a firm sui)porter of the tem])erance programme and principles was chosen to that place to further the interests of the conmninity from that standpoint. Always a democrat in politics, he stood with tliose who gave hearty encouragement to the Union cause throughout the war. In h)cal elections he votes for whomsoever is, in his judgment, the best man. He was married in July, 1861, to Miss Emily C. Hubbell, step-daughter of H. G. Calhoun. Their only son, Clair, is nine years old.

This is township) 13, range 5, embracing fifteen full and four fractional sections. The soil is generally sandy, particularly so along the river which is skirted above Keithsburg by a narrow belt of timber. It lies upon the elevated bottom lands below the blutf, which once confined a mightier and more majestic flood than the "Father of Waters," whose headstrong tide washes its western boundary in easy and graceful curves.

The first settler was John Vannatta. He came alone from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, arriving here about the first of May, 1827, and ojjened a supply yard for wooding steamboats. A year oV two afterward his brother Benjamin followed him, and the two carried on together the peaceful employment of cutting and selling wood, until interrupted in 1831 by disquieting rumors of the uneasy disposition of the Indians and their pre])arations for war. Their neighbors at the Upper Yellow Banks, the Denisons, left their home for two months, and it is probable that these families also went away until security was assured. Next year the Black Hawk war broke out - a war in which the excitement was more disproportion ed to the danger than in any other of which we read. But the danger was real and imminent in this region. Yet these white families remained busy at their toil, unmoved by the warnings and entreaties of their dusky friends, tarrying in the face of peril, refusing to depart. How was it hundreds of miles away ? The people, alarmed by exaggerated reports, had loaded their wagons for possible flight, and regularly laid down to their slumbers with barricaded doors and in feverish anxiety. On the day that the Denisons came down on their way to Pence's fort, so-called, the Yannattas gathered up their goods, and with their families went out and stayed all night in a low place on the j)rairie. The following day they reached Pence's, where the inhabitants had collected from the surrounding country. This i)lace and Monmouth were the rallying points for a large section during the war. Pence's stockade was made of logs split once in two, stood upright and close together with one end in the ground, forming a palisade not less than twelve feef high and

Keithsbirg Toavnship

About the montli of August, 1833, John Bates settled on the N. W. ^ of Sec. 33, and made a small farm which was occu})ied some three years afterward by Isom Lakey, who continued to reside in this township with his family up to 1860 or 1861. The next settler was Erastus S. Denison, who came down from the Upper Yellow Banks- (New Boston) in 1835, and made a claim npon the N. E. ^ of Sec. 1. Samuel Vannatta joined his brothers about the spring of 1835. In the fall of that year they sold out their claims to Robert Keith, a Scotchman, who had emigrated to America the year before, and who took possession the following spring, when the Vannattas all removed to the vicinity of Muscatine (then called Bloomington), Iowa.

As the founder of Keithsburg Robert Keith is entitled to more than incidental notice. He was reared in Belfrone, Scotland, where he received a liberal education.

After his second mamage in that country in 1821, he lived two years in London, and was a traveling salesman for a book establishment. He then went to Dublin, where he had control of a similar house, and whence he embarked for this countrv. He left New York and came direct to Quincy, Illinois, in the spring of 1835, and in the autumn following made his selection for a permanent home at this place, which became known as Keith's Landing.

In the spring of 1836 Abner Martin settled on the southwest quarter of section 13, and in the same year sold out to John McH. AVilson, who occupied the premises the following year and lived in the same place until his death in 1879. He was one of the most respectable citizens of the township.

The same spring William Sheriif and Paul Sheriff settled on the west half of section 24, and on the southwest quarter of the same section the latter is still a resident and prosperous farmer. In 1837 William Sheriff erected a saw-mill on Pope creek on the northeast quarter of section 23, and expended a large amount of money upon a dam which was a total loss, owing to quicksand in the bed of the stream, rendering the structure unserviceable. The mill rotted down, but at low-water mark some of the spiles in the bottom of the creek on which the dam rested may still be seen. J. McH. Wilson, Paul Sheriff, A. B. Sheriif and T. B. Cabeen were employed as laborers, and did many hard days' work ui)on this mill and dam, and all except Wilson are still living in the t<jwnship. This was the only attempt ever made to erect a dam on Pope creek in this township. A. B. Sheriff

In 1836 Daniel Justice began to improve a farm on tlie southwest quarter of section 1, where he made a fine home and resided until the summer of 1851, when he sold to John Doak and moved to Polk countv, Iowa. William "Wilson, formerlv of Dam-ille, Pennsylvania, then of Chicago, Illinois, settled also in 1836 on the east half of the northeast quarter of section 13, where he improved a good farm and where his wife died in 18M, and he himself about two years later. John McH. Wilson was his son. His daughters, Hannah Ne^-ius and Xucy Cabeen, are still residents of this township. About the year 1838 Joel A. Hall, the mill-wright who had charge of the work on William Sheriff^s mill, entered and settled on the northwest quarter of section 13, but resided there only a year or two, when he sold out and west. Near the same time Bennett Hurst settled on the northeast quarter of section 2 and made his home in that place up to 1850, when he disposed of his farm and bought other property in the township, and has been a citizen here till a recent date. Benjamin F. Gruwell moved from Indiana and took up a farm in November, 1837, on the northwest quarter of section 1 ; in 1852 he sold out and came to Keithsburg, where he \e^t hotel a number of years and has since resided. In 1837 or 1838 John W. Nevius began a home in the township. He lived here till his death in 1875, Joseph J. AYordin emigrated from Ohio and landed at New Boston in 1837. The following spring he became a resident of this township, and has had his iome in Keithsburg nearly ever since. His wife died here in 1873.

Robert Keith laid out the town in 1837, and between that date and 1846 not more than half a dozen families, including Mr. Wordin's, came to reside in the place. The Rev. James Ross, a local preacher of the United Brethren church, arrived with his family about 1841, and was the first minister to take up his residence here. Both he and his wife died in this township some five years afterward, and many of their descendants can yet be found in this vicinity. In 1841 B. L. Hardin began a home on the S. E. ^, Sec. 11, where he still resides and has "become one of the solid farmers of the neighborhood. About 1842 James Garner came to Keithsburg with a few trifling articles of trade and a barrel of whisky, and made the first attempt at merchandising in the township. The business was unremunerative, and he sold out to David Bowen, who had come in 1839, and moved on to the N. E. J, Sec. 25. In 1847 he left that place and came again to Keithsburg and this time went to keeping hotel. In the same year, and again in 1849, lie was elected justice of the peace, and at one time was sheriff of the

'County two years. I^ot long after his first election as magistrate he presided in a jury trial, with C. M. Harris, of Oquawka, and John Mitchell, of Monmouth, as opposing attorneys. The former was a man of admirable physical resources, while the latter would scarcely weigh a hundred pounds, and, besides, was disabled in the left arm from a wound received in the Mexican war, Harris stated the case to the jury and sat down. Mitchell arose and had proceeded but a little way with his statement when Harris in bullying tones said, "That is a lie!" A glance from Mitchell was all the attention that this sally received. A few moments elapsed and again Harris interposed, saying, "That is another lie !" Mitchell turned to him with gleaming eye .and warned him not to repeat that insult or he would strike him, and then went on. A minute or two more and Harris broke in: "And that is an infernal lie ! " The words were not more than uttered before Mitchell delivered a stunning blow between his eyes which sent him over backward to the floor. Some one interfered to separate them, while the justice was standing and looking over his table in bewilderment to see the light go on. All of a sudden, as soon as it was over, he involuntarily brought his finger-tips down upon the board with a thud, exclaiming, in blank astonishment: "Well, I'll be d - d!" but instantly recovering himself and his dignity he called out to the offenders : ' ' Gentlemen, I fine each of you $10, by ! "

A small chapter of such court incidents could be written, but this furnishes fully enough at one view of the manners of the period. Many years ago Mr. Garner removed to Millersburg where he still lives, holding on to life by feeble tenure.

Soon after purchasing Garner's mercantile stand Bowen closed up the business and moved to Rock Island, of which city he is still a resident. His son George was born on election day, August 3, 1840, and this is supposed to have been the first birth in Keithsburg. This election is said to have been the first held in the place. "A quart cup of whisky was kept standing on the judges' table all day for an hour glass," writes Mr. Bowen. About 1843 an old Frenchman by the name of Bochelle landed here in a small boat, bringing with him a few goods with which he started a country store. Shortly after a family named Omy came to the settlement, and it has always been reported that the young men made an excursion down the river one fine day in an open boat, accompanied by Rochelle, who suspiciously failed to return, and that his companions approjjriated his effects.

In 1842 Zephaniah Wade made a claim to the N. W. ^, Sec, 14 ; he died in a few years, but his widow survived until a few months since, when she jjassed away in Keithsburg among her decendants.

In 1843 Nicliolas Edwards settled on section 5, at the moutli of the Edwards river, where he and "William Willett and Isaiah Brown had the year before erected a saw-mill. This year AYillett sold his interest to Brown. After doing a successful business for sometime Edwards removed to his farm in Mercer townshi]) and is now a resident of Aledo. Brown went to California, where he died.

Another settler, who was less conspicuous for the term of his residence than for his ambition to become the builder of a town, was a man named Gavitt who made a claim about a mile below the landing, wdiere in 1837 he laid off a town and designated it Columbia city. It occupied a high plateau which bore signs of having been formerly an Indian encampment. There was the held where the squaws had raised their corn ; the pits in which it had been buried ; and the places where their fires had burned were yet visible ; and poles still standing in the ground showed where their lodges had stood. Gavitt's i)lat was not recorded, and he was not long in this vicinity. Alexander Davis bouo-ht his claim and entered the land.

"VVe borrow the following sketch of "What Grandmother Said," which gives a very fair idea of the methods and resources of every day life in the pioneer period: "We came here in October, 1832. We lived the first winter in a log cabin made of hickory. We had a door made of clapboards, and a crack between the logs for a window. Our bedstead was made in the corner with one leg drove into the ground (we had no floor) and slabs laid across. The straw would freeze to the slabs. We had two chairs, brought with us from Kentucky ; grandfather made stools for the children. We built our fire on the ground, and our chimney was made of sticks and daubed with mud. We baked our bread in a skillet, and made our own coftee by scorching meal and pouring boiling water on it. We had no table, so we ate on a goods box. We bored holes in the logs and put pins in and made our cupboard. I swept our floor with a bunch of hazel brush or a hay broom. In those days we never had to scrub or mop. Wlien we butchered we made a scafibld on one side of the chimney and laid our meat up there, so the dogs and wolves could not get it. When I washed I went down to the spring, a quarter of a mile from the house, and carried the clothes. I had neither tub, board, nor boiler, but washed on my hands, in a large bucket, and did the boiling in an iron kettle. I have the kettle yet.

"' This is the way we lived the first winter, and we were glad to get so good a house. I lived hapj)ier then than I do now in a fine house. There were two or three log cabins and a log court-house in Monmouth. . . . The mail carrier carried the mail from Oquawka to

Monmouth in the top of his hat. We had to go to Rock Island to mill. We lived here one year without cows, sheep or chickens. We had one horse and two yoke of oxen that we moved here with, and a few hogs. In the fell of 1834 my husband died and left me with five little children. That fall the Indians burned our flax and wheat. When the children saw the flax burning they said : ' Oh ! mother, what are we to do for clothes ? our flax is burning up ! ' I j^aid my children's schooling, and my store bill, and my expenses for one year, with $15. My taxes on half a section of prairie land and eighty acres of timber were two or three dollars."

PoRtoffice. - The ''Bluft'" postotflce, the pioneer in this vicinity, was established some time about 1837 at the house of Frederick Frick, in Abington towniship, Ave miles northeast of Keithsburg. As late as 1846 the people of the village, yet inconsiderable in numbers, went away out there to post their letters and to bring back their own and their neighbors' mail.

First Schools. - The first school in Keithsburg township, as we learn from Mrs. Samuel Scott, who was one of the pupils, was kept by Mrs. William Sherift', in the summer of 1841 or 1842, in one room of her double log house, situated close to the site of the present farm house of James AVilson, northeast of Upper Keithsburg. The next was in John McH. Wilson's cabinet shop, in the summer of 1845, and Miss Lucy Wilson, noW' Mrs. T. B. Cabeen, was the teacher. The third school was in Keithsburg ; but we shall defer the account of this and others imtil we come to the history of the town.

Early Preaching. - The earliest preaching was by the Rev. John Montgomery, who settled in Preemption township in the S]M"ing of 1836. He w^as a Presbyteiian and held services throughout the country in difterent places, and usually in these parts once in two weeks, sometimes at William Sherifl''s in this township, at other times at Frederick Frick's in Abington, or at Thomas Candor's in Ohio Grove, lie died over thirty years ago.

The first Methodist minister of wdiom we have heard any account was the Rev. Asa McMurtry, who preached at the house of John Nevius in 1838. Religious services for some years after, no less than at this period, W'ere irregular and only occasional. Tiie Revs. Frank Smith and Sanuiel P. P>urr came among the people soon after McMurtry.

Gregg, who came fi-om Galesburg and occupied the church at the bluff in New Boston township, and whejti passing through Keithsburg to and from his charge, held services in the place.

The outward evidence was that the Master's kingdom did not more than hold its own. B. L. Hardin, who came in the sprmg of 1841, was here three montlis, he says, before he discovered a professing cliristian, though like Diogenes he hunted the bailiwick over, but not with the same c^niical philosophy. The first meeting he attended was four miles north of his home, in New Boston township, at a Mr. Rader's, where the congregation numbered just six persons, including Mr. Rader's family. The Rev. Wiley was the itinerant. Preaching followed at that place every four weeks during the summer, and has been kept up in that neighborhood nearly ever since.

In the autumn of the same year services were begun at Mr. Hardin's house, and the first sermon was by the Rev. Burr, who had a charge in New Boston township. When the appointment was given out Mr. Hardin set himself to making benches out of common slabs to seat the crowd that he could see with the eye of faith would come to the meeting. He labored with zeal and the pile of benches grew. Unwittingly though done, it was successful advertising, rivaling the subtlest conception of the down-east Yankee. Curiosity and inquiry were the result, and as Noah when building the ark was the butt of questioners and doubters, so Mr. Plardin was beset with questions and skeptical objections, and if he was ridiculed a little it was all the same ; the work went on. The preacher was early at hand, and as the hour for service approached, the door was thrown open to surjDrise the waiting minister with the inspiring sight of people swarming from every direction. He said the house would not hold the people, and it would not but for their standing up in a densely packed throng. The benches and the Christian perseverance of Brother Hardin had done holy work, iMit the former were now as useless as the open roof of the Arkansas traveler. However, they had subsequent use. This meeting showed that souls were hungry. Either an influx of orthodox Christians had come into the settlement between spring and fall, or the Universalists had turned out like boys to a circus.

The appointment was regularly continued at this place, and in the autumn of 1843 the first class ever organized in the township was formed at Mr. Hardin's house. The original members were James Gibson and his wife Polly, John Nevius and his wife Hannah, B. L. Hardin and his wife Minerva, and James Nevius, Jr. Mr .Kellogg joined at the next meeting. In the summer of 1846 preaching was begun at John McII. Wilson's by the Revs. Whitman and

Geddings, circuit riders, and services were kept up liere one year. In warai Aveatlicr day nieetinfi;s were held in tlie grove ; and at night in Mr. Wilson's cabinet shop. Other preaching points in the country were at John Nevius' and James Gibson's; and all four places were used until about 1850, when Keithsburg became the center where the people came together for worship.

Tlie Vannattas made the beginning here. As early as 1834 Rousy Bowen was living in a little house on the bank of the river, and chopping wood for these men. By the next year Jesse Mount had come to the settlement, and the same season Robert Keith bought Benjamin Vannatta's claim, which embraced the site of the present town, and in the spring of 1836 took possession of his purchase. He continued keeping the wood-yard which his predecessors had started, and henceforth the place was called Keith's Landing. It was in this same year that the insane policy of internal improvement inaugurated an era of the wildest speculation ever witnessed in this country. It is next to incredible that men could have been capable of so \asionary schemes. In the absence of epidemic excitement, half-grown boys would have shown more reason. But as it was, towns were planted everywhere by being laid off, as this was cheaply done ; for the pro])netors imagined they saw in it the source of sudden wealth. Although Father Keith could not have escaped the ruling influence of the times, it is ])lain that he did not reckon without some judgment, and that he was not mistaken as to the right place for the town, but it was witli several years of patient suspense that he waited for the fruition of his. hopes and plans.

The original survey was made by Hiram Hardie, deputy county surveyor, on July 29, 1837, and the plat was acknowledged before Abraham Miller, Jr., county clerk, by Mr. Keith, on November IS. The location is on Sec. 23, T. 13, R. 5. Two principal streets, Main and Washington, were laid out east and west, and these were crossed by seven others designated as First, Second, etc., beginning next the river. The plat com})rised thirteen blocks. The first sale of lots took place in July, the same year, and several of them were bought at prices varying fi*om $20 to $60. Subsequeiitly a few families came here to settle, and prominent among the number was Joseph J. Wordin, the first wheelwright, who still resides in the town. But the place lingered along in discouraging inactivity until 1845. We refrain from calling it a town at this date, for its actual towjihood has alwaysbeen reckoned by the citizens from 1847, when it succeeded to the dignity of county-town. When emigration had brought to the back country a moderate but sturdy population, a convenient ship]ting })oint.

was of the first necessity. Even yet eai)ital was scarce, and the times had not ahogether abated their stringency, and business men did not stand ready then to invest in town })roperty in a new country, in advance of the real demands of trade. So an association of farmers, living mostly in Abington and Ohio Grove townships, undertook, in 1844, to erect a warehouse in Keithsburg for storing and handling then- grain. To encourage the project, Robert Keith gave lots six and iseven, in block three, on which the building was begun, facing north at the foot of Main street ; and when the fi'ame was up, title to the property passed to William Willett. The evident prospect of future business brought Col. J. B. Patterson, of Oquawka, here, and he secured an equal interest in the warehouse on condition of finishing it. Keith had put up a small building for a business stand, and he persuaded Patterson to fill it with a stock of goods. "The Colonel put Spence Record into the new warehouse to receive grain, while he and Roothe Nettleton sold -dry goods and groceries over on Washington street."

Writing afterward of the small beginnings of the place. Col. Patterson said: "At this time, 1845, we visited Keithsburg with a view of making it a trading point ; to sell goods and buy produce. The improvements consisted of one frame house (which we had fitted up for a store), one log house, and three cabins. The trade of that season amounted to 3,690 bushels of wheat, 512 barrels of flour and 2,250 bushels of corn. At the close of the season we retu*ed, leaving the work we had begun in the good hands and stout hearts of Messrs. Noble & Gayle; and Nohly have they kept the banner we entrusted to them waving in the Gayle until many a Doughty champion has risen up to proclaim the glories of a town which, though a wilderness a few years ago, is now Rife with business (the Spice or life we may say of prosperous progress), and ranks high among her sister towns. "

Noble & Gayle, young and enterprising business men, erected a one-story frame store on lot 1, block 2, corner of Main and Second streets, and a warehouse on lot 10. In 1848, thev built a brick packing house, which stood on lot 0. In the same year that Noble & Gayle began business, McConaha & Rife started a saloon, called in those days a grocery. The next store was ojjened the following year by Jonathan Judah, a Jew, and occupied lot 7, block 4. The old building is still standing. In 1848 Wilford J. Ungles arrived with his family and began trading at the foot of Washington street, where, in 1855, he erected a large warehouse, which is yet in use. Wilson Redmon began the erection this year of the brick building on Main street now owned and occupied by Mrs. McManus. AVhile in process of building lie sold it to Dr. A. ]]. Campbell, who finished it. In the spring of 1849, McConaha tfc Rife dissolved partnership, and the latter embarked in the grocery trade, afterward adding dry goods, first occupying the Camj)bell building until he erected, the same year, the brick house adjoining it on the west. The brick store on the northeast corner (»f ^fain and Second streets was built by T. B. Cabeen, in 1S48. On the second and third floors lie fitted up a suit of rooms which were occupied by his family, while the business part of the house was filled the next year with a stock of goods by Mrs, E. Smith. In 1851, R. H. Spicer *k Co., Mrs. Smith being the other member of the firm, started in trade in the same place.

In 1847 a series of elections liaving taken place, the ultimate choice for the county seat fell to Keithsburg, Donations from the citizens in and around the place were nearly, if not fully, sufficient to build the court-house. Keith gave half of the fractional tract known as Keith's first addition, which was shortly after laid out (January 12, 1848), and then the division of blocks was made by alternate choice. Those falling to the county were subdivided into lots, which were sold and the proceeds ajiplied to the erection of the court-house ; but Keith did not commence the sale of his for some years. The first term, and several subsequent ones of the circuit court, after the removal of the seat of justice, were held in AVillett's warehouse, which use in various ways became a public convenience. The coui't-house was built on the secluded campus covering four-fifths of block 7, and all that part lying within the addition. It was finished at the end of the summer of 1851, and was considered a building that the county might be proud of in its infancy, though its squat a])pearance called out the malicious remark that it might be mistaken for a church. It is a one-story brick, 40 X 50 feet on the foundation.

Col. Patterson having wound up his business here in 1846, William Willett, who emigrated in 1838 and had just settled in the town this year, started up in the grain trade in the warehouse in which he and Patterson held joint ownership. When the latter transferred his interest to Burr P. McConaha, in 1849, the two formed a short-lived partnership, the last-named withdrawing early in 1850 and joining the emigration to California. Willett then leased the building foi- one year to Willits & Doughty and accepted a situation in their service. Next year Willits, who was tlie heavy member of the firm, and had stocked the house and sent Df)ughty down from New Boston, where both lived, to manage the business, sold out to A. B. Sherifi", William Willett and J. W. Doughty, and these men carried on business together a few years, Doughty fiiuilly selling to his partners. The partnership of Sheiiff & "Willett lasted till 1864, when the latter retired just in time to save himself fi-om the prodigious decline in prices following the close of the war, which overtook his partner and swamped him, as had been the issue with nearly all of the tradesmen in the crisis of 1857. The building was used for grain storage till about 1875, and from that time as a liver j until January 20, 1879, at wdiich date it was burned down. Thus disappeared the original landmark in which the real business history of Keithsburg had birth. Phelps tfe Brewer occuj^ied it, but the loss, reaching $1,000, fell upon Willett.

Dropping back to 1850, we find trade and industry in lively growth and activity, and the other attributes of townhood multiplying in social, benevolent and literary organizations. Before railroads came into use produce was hauled to the Illinois and Mississippi rivers ; and prior to the construction of the Illinois & Michigan canal farmers went all the way to Chicago from this and adjoining counties with ox and horse teams to sell a little grain and pork, and to bring back a few store goods. Some of the pioneers who toiled in this manner are still living, and we have heard them say that the expenses of a trip were sometimes greater than the receipts. In point of business Oquawka was the senior of Keithsburg by a number of years, but now she had a spirited rival which was diverting a generous share of her hitherto large trade.

October 16th Col. Patterson published in Oquawka the first number of the ' ' Oquawka Spectator and Keithsburg Observer, " this title being confined to the inside of the sheet, and the ''Observer" department to the third page. The Keithsburg editor was James "W. Doughty, of the mercantile firm of Doughty & Willits.

At this time there were two places of public entertainment : the Calhoun House, built by John Moore in 1850, and kept by H. G. -Calhoun ; and the Keithsburg House, with J. B. McConaha as landlord.

A division of the Sons of Temperance was in a fiourishing state, and in the early spring of 1852 "Star Union" of the Daughters of Temperance came to its support in the same beneficent work.

Late in the season a debating society was formed by some of the leading men for mental culture and entertainment during the winter, the most active being Robert Keith, John C. Pepper, B. C. Taliaferro, N. C. Adams, R. C.^Cabeen, O. C. Allen and Dr. E. L. Marshall.

At the opening of the packing season James A. ISToble put in operation his large, new slaughter-house, and about the same time Gayle finished an additional warehouse. Next spring Noble began selling the first drugs.

Keitiisburg Towxsiiii'

A little later occurred the remarkable flood of 1851. Tlie water began rising near the end of May, and on the 2^th was encroaching upon the streets ; it continued to spread until it reached nearly to Fifth street, when it was standing over the lower part of the town from four to seven feet in depth, according to the inequalities of the surface. In the main quarter the ground has since been raised four feet by filling. The river kept u]i,at its highest stage until the 11th of June, when it commenced falling slowly. The "Observer" of that date said: "Our town is flooded. Goods and household furniture on platforms and second floors. We share the fate of our neighbors." It adds that the Mississippi covers the country from seven to ten miles in width 1,800 miles above its mouth. Rafts circulated in the streets in the course of business ; and the row and sail boats Kate and Fawn went about the town by moonlight, bearing ' ' lovely women and brave men," in pleasuring and serenading parties. The river was not within its banks again till after the 20th. This rise was compared to those of 1844 and 1828, and it is said sui-passed them.

The high water of October, 1881, rose within a few inches of the same mark. Half a mile of the railroad track was submerged ; and skifl^'s tied up on Second street. There was a notable freshet the previous June, and also one the preceding year.

July 15, 1852, by a vote of the citizens, Keithsburg became a corporate town under the general incorporation law ; and on Monday, the 26th, the first board of trustees was elected, consisting of AVilliam Willett, J. J. Wordin, T. B. Cabeen, Alexander Davis and X. B. Partridge.

The same year William Gayle built a steam saw mill on Pope -creek, where the railroad bridge crosses, and sold it to John H. Marshall & Co., by whom, in 1856, it was converted into a flouring mill. Subsequently it was known as the Ogden mill, and was burned after a few years. Tlie second saw mill was built by Ender & Eckly at the foot of Van Buren street. This was burned down, and they immediately built another, which was run unsuccessfully some three years, when, being abandoned to creditors, it was bought b}' William D. Smith, who moved it to Jackson street, between Eighth and Ninth, where it was used for planing and sawing out dimension and hardwood lumber. Tlie next saw mill was removed in 1857, or the year after, to the foot of Jackson street, by Alexander Frick, it having been flrst put up on John E. Willit's land to saw ties and timbers for the Warsaw & Rockford railroad. It was leveled by fire in 1859.

by Smitli c% Hersey. It was the largest mill in the county when biiilty and was run with profit, employing some thirty-iive men, till 1872, since which time it has not been operated, except in a small way, James C. Stevens erected a grist mill on Eighth street, between Main and AVashington, about 1864. This was never a success, and was dismantled between 1877 and 1879. The Elevator Flour Mills were put into the Eife warehouse on Second street, at the foot of Washington, by W, D. Smith, in 1868. This building was consumed January 1, 1878.

About 1855 a distillery was erected on the river, in Mechanics'^ addition, by W. L. Matthews and O. C. Richardson. After operating it a year they sold it to AVilliam Gayle. Through his failure it passed out of his hands in 1857, and was idle till Benjamin Phelps became the o-vvner. He ran it very successfully three years and sold it to Pickering. Stewart and Colvin each owned it afterward, a^id finally Mason & Crosby, of Chicago, who refitted it at large expense, when it was burned down in 1872, before they had put it in operation. It wa& insured for the sum of $10,000. This distillery was not exempt fi-om certain infirmities of transaction which was common to the distiller's business after the war had induced the high tax on spirits.

In 1880 C. A. & L. L. Mertz erected a saw and planing mill at the base of the sand bluif in Keith's first addition, which they are now operating in conjunction with their lumber trade.

In July, 1853, the ferry boat Dove, owned- by Seth H. Redmon, began making daily trips between Keithsburg and Huron and Prairie Point. The same proprietor was "running the swift, staunch and capacious steam ferry boat Iowa," three years later.

Mr. Gayle erects a large two-story packing house in 1853. Keithsburg is in the middle of the period of its greatest growth, which extended from 1850 to 1856, and two more additions are laid out: Keith's seconfl, April 1, and Sheriff & Cabeen's, June 3. The country for thirty-five miles back was tributary to this point, which was becoming, and soon became, the leading produce market above St. Louis. Trade got to be immense for a town of so moderate size. One "big day" in February, 1854, 250 teams were counted in the town, and it was believed that 300 had been in from the country. Of this number eighty remained over night. Gayle & Co. and Noble & Bro. were the packers at this date. In the following autumn the firstnamed firm erected a slaughter house near the steam mill. It might be well to say that the first packing done in the place was by Noble & Cxavle in the winter of 1846-7. Gore ife Gamble beffan business in the spring of 1854. The latter retired at the end of two years and Miv Gore remained in trade till after the war.

At this period goods were sold on long credit, a year's time. After a day of large sales hardly money enough could be found in the drawer to take the salesmen to a show. At the end of the year debtors settled their accounts by note. Many of these ran one, two and three years, and some are running yet. For ten years from 1850, when the ])opulation of the county was 5,300, the country east of Keithsburg, like all parts of the west, settled up rapidly. The settlers were generally men of small means, who depended upon the heavy dealers for money to make payments on their land, expecting and engaging to discharge tliese second obligations with their crops. It was the custom of Messrs. Gayle and Rife to advance large sums in this way, and tliey oflen took* the risk of cri])])ling their own credit by these accommodations. Tlie necessities of trade also required that the more extensive tradesmen should buy their patrons' grain and hogs, and these two kinds of business, dissevered now, naturally iitted together then as parts of the same system. Accordingly the heavy merchants combined a warehouse and slaught.ering business with merchandising.

A few statistics will show the gi'owth and amount of business better than any other form of statement. From the first of October, 1850, to the iirst of October, 1851, the shipments of grain purchased here amounted to 169,366 bushels of wheat, corn and oats, besides some meat and other products. In the same time tliere were received 407-|- tons of merchandise. Februaiy 24, 1852, 3,176 bushels of grain were taken in, "this being no inore than an average day for the last ten. The receipts for the week ending the 2Stli exceeded 20,000 bushels."

Between May 10 and June 14, 1856, there were shipped 48,231 pieces of bulk pork, 374 barrels of pork, 75 casks of hams, 344 sacks of hair and 250 sacks of potatoes. From May 10 to October 11 the aggregate amount of grain taken on board here (in addition to heavy shipments in April) reached 108,291 sacks, or 27tN727 bushels. During the two weeks ending October 11 the shipments by the various firmswere as follows: William Gayle & Co., 16.162 sacks; A. Rife, 10,284; B. P. Frick 6z Co., 3,536; W. II. Ungles, 7,018; and Slieriff & Willett, 2,054.

Tlie largest single shipment ever made was 33,000 bushels of corn Id J William Orayle, in April of the present year (1882). The total receipts at this market between the opening of navigation in 1881 and the same time this rear were 550,000 bushels.

The first shipment ever made from here was by Thomas B. Cabeen, March 25, 1842, and consisted of about 1,400 bushels of wheat in 437 barrels. The grain was raised by himself and his father in Ohio Grove township, and was transported by the steamer Hunts ville, which was a week making the passage to St. Louis.

In 1855 Mr. Gayle erected the three-story brick structure, now the Larue House, on the corner of Main and Second streets, for a store, and the next year put up the addition on the west. The same year B. F. Gruwell built a three-story brick addition to his hotel on the -corner of Main and Third streets where Wliiting's store stands. The -main part was also brick, and from September, 1850, until it became the property of Mr. Gruwell in 1852,. it was conducted by H. G. Calhoun. The entire establishment was destoyed by lire in February, 1860.

Among the earlier and better residences we note as landmarks the first brick building in the place, the small house put up by Robert Keith in 1846, on Fourth street, adjoining the Commercial Hou§e ; the wing of C. S. Ortli's liouse by J. A. Noble in 1849, and the two-story front subsequently added by him ; Gayle's in 1850-51 ; EUett's in 1853 ; T. B. Cabeen's in 1854 ; Rife's in 1855, and Keith's new brick in 1856.

The Central House was built for a residence by Oliver Ross, in 1856, and next year it was enlarged by G. J. Ross. At one time it Avas the Beasley House.

The Commercial House was erected in 1849 by Matthew R. Patterson, for a private residence. In 1850 he conveyed it to S. S. Phelps, ^nd then went to California, where he died. Seven years ago it was opened as a public house by the present proprietor, David N. "Wolfe. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, February 27, 1833, and is the son of Jacob and Mary (Yount) Wolfe. In 1852 he came to Mercer county, looking for a place for settlement. He soon returned to Indiana and made arrangements to remove and permanently inhabit this county, and in 1855 carried out this plan. His first location was in New Boston township, where he engaged in farming. In September, 1861, he enlisted in company G, 30th 111. Inf , and carried a gun in his country's service nearly four years. After his ""veteran" re-enlistment he was appointed second sergeant, but very soon was commissioned captain of his company by Gov. Yates. He was honorably mustered out of the army at Louisville. On his return he began doing a mercantile business, but in a little while was compelled by loss of eyesight to abandon it. lie went t(t Chicago for treatment, which resulted in partial recovery. Since 1875 he has been keeping the Commercial. On March 4, 1857, he was married to Miss Mary J., daughter of John and Sarah (Campbell) Willits. She was born in the same county that he himself was, October 17, 1833, and was brought to Mercer county in her infancy. Gertrude, Josephine and Sarah E. are their children.

The following list is believed to contain about all the tradesmen and mechanics whose length of residence or business importance entitles them to mention. The dates cover the term of their residence in the town ; while many of them are exact, some are only approximately so, and a very few may be found wider still of the correct mark :

History Of Mercer And Henderson Counties

The third addition to tlie town, called Mechanics addition was laid off June 10, 1854, by J. B. Stockton. A. B. Sheriff laid out another iN'ovember 5, 1855; Keith's third addition was i»latted May 21, 1861, and his fourth October 17, 1863 ; Ender and Stockton's October 26, 1863 ; and Ender's May 9, 1857. Upper Keithsburg, which is a mere hamlet, was surveyed on section 13 by C. S. Ricliey in the summer of 1857 for Johalon Tyler and T. B. Cabeen.

A man named Larue was the first blacksmith. James Heaton, who came in 1848, was the second. He burned his charcoal in ]Main street opposite Dennis Murto's present residence. Thomas Hendricks, O. C. Allen, and another by the name of Pierce were early smiths.

Wm. Brewer started the first cooper shop, and his place was taken by Phili]) Forward. Jacob Cooper had the next, and Kelson Green also worked some tim'e at the trade.

Owing to the reason that, with a single exception, files of Keiths- "burg newspapers have not been presen^ed, we are obliged to confess our inability to give a full account of the publishing business. As stated on a former page. Col. Patterson of the '"Oquawka Spectator" introduced into his paper a Keithsburg department under the title of "Observer." Tliis was begun October 16, 1850, and continued till the spring of 1856, when he was persuaded by the very liberal and confident promises of Mr. Keith and others to found the ''Keithsburg Observer." He went to Kew York and purchased a press and office material at an outlay of $1,300, and on April 23 issued the first number of his paper. Some five hundred patrons were enrolled on the subscription list - not more than half the number anticipated by the too sanguine Ijromoters 'of the enterprise. Business men were liberal in advertising jjatronage, and after a useful existence of over a year under Col. Patterson, the pa})er, cleverly avoiding during that time partisan j)()litics and religious dogmatisms, was sold by him to William li. Calhoon, the last issue under the original proprietorship being August 15, 1857. In the summer of 1S5S Calhoon changed the title of the paper to ^'Mercer County Democrat," and at the same time changed it from an independent to a democratic sheet. He was a good printer but bad financier, and tins transition was one ratlier of necessity than of inclination, for he was from this time simply the publisher while the editorial columns were exclusively under the control of a committee. The paper now ceased measurably (and during the political canvass of that year, when the intellectual gladiators, "Honest Abe" and the "Little Giant," went up and down the state discussing momentous issues, absolutely), to be a medium for communicating local news and discussing home topics, and was an organ only for disseminating the doctrines of a party.

Sometime in 1859 the paper suspended, and on December 28 Mr. Calhoon began the publication of the ' ' Northern Illinois Commercial " apparently, if not really, for a company which had furnished the funds for the establishment. This was short lived.

In June, 1860, "The Democratic Press" was started by Y. B. Shouf, who continued the publication till he went to the army about the beginning pf August 1861. The office was the property of the Hon. Thomas B. Cabeen.

Xear the close of the year J. A, J. Birdsall and George D. B. Birdsall came to Keithsburg, and in the tirst week in January, 1862, revived the ' ' Observer " without resurrecting the partisan features with which it went down. The former was the chief person, for we hear no more of his brother. Bating a constitutional want of steadiness and tenacity, Birdsall was above mediocrity in journalism, and he gave the new publication not only life and zest by infusing the spirit of his own energy and talent into it, but by his neutral coursecommanded the support of all classes, and his subscription list is said to have reached 1,200, the largest ever obtained by any Keithsburg paper. Unfortunately for his interests he was seized with the delusive ambition for office and engaged with his paper on the side of the democrats. For this service it is understood that he received his subsequent but fruitless nomination for the legislature. This swapping of a bird in the hand for two in the bush i-uined his business, and he departed from the place poor. A. G. Lucas, a man of clerical antecedents, now took the vacant place at the beginning of September, 1865, and the paper was under his management iintir the same month next year, and during that time was run as a republican organ. Col. Isaac McMjinus succeeded Lucas, and Ijiroughout the exciting congressional campaign of that year it was edited with refreshing spirit and logical power. McManus' energy no less than his industry was unbounded, and whatever he did was done with fervent might. From the knowledge this wi'iter had of his composition and character he is not surprised to learn that liis cohnnns were stamped with tlie rougli strength and active ability of his tireless brain. He was in control only six months when he sold his paper to Tlieodore Glancey, in whom there was a curious combination of youth and manhood, and who published what was regarded as a \'eiy s}»rightly ])aper. In March, 1870, he disposed of his office to an Iowa purchaser who moved it away ; but early in September, 1871, he resumed the business and issued the first number of the "West End Kerana," which was afterward called simply ''Kerana." He soon associated Henry Hurst wnth himself as })ai1:ner, but this not turning out to be a felicitous arrangement. Hurst parted with his interest to Edward Thomas. In the spring of 1873 they sold the office and it was moved to other parts.

Some allusion to Mr. Glancey's life and sad end cannot be omitted in this place. He was a native of Mercer county and reared in Abington township, where the survivors of his father's family yet reside. On the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private in company I, 17th 111. Vol., and served till the expiration of his three years' term, and was mustered out as first lieutenant. Soon afterward, as already observed, he engaged in the newspaper business ; and after its final relinquishment in Keithsburg, went to California where, in March, 1874, he became managing editor of the "Placer Argus." In 1880, he became editor-in-chief of the "Los Angeles Press," a republican organ, and in September of that year Clarence Gray, alias Maginiss, a man of dissolute reputation, republican candidate for district attorney, feeling himself aggrieved at Glancey's strictures upon his character, foully assassinated him when he was unarmed, without giving opportunity for defense. He lived nineteen hours, at times in great sufll'ring, but conscious to the last and full of courage. His last words just before he expired were: "Tell my friends that I die like a man - die for principle; and that I would not go back on it now if I could." He was high-tempered, self-willed, pugnacious ; but earnest, courteous and generous. Strong but honest in bias, he uttered his convictions with great boldness. Whatever opinions were ever formed of his methods, his sincerity was always unquestioned. He was a good speaker, and as a wi-iter is said to have been one of the best on the country press.

About the first of Aj^i-il, 1874, W. C. Brown started the "Keithsburg Xews," but before the first year was up he sold to Taylor & Blackmail. The latter died in Sei)tember, 1876, and the folLnving spring William H. Heaton bought the office from the Hon. T. B. Cabeen and C. A. Frick, and issued his first number May 17. This is a live paper.

abounding in reliable news, crisp and pungent paragraphs and editorials, temperate and wholesome in their tone, and it receives from the public solid support. It has been a greenback pa])er since Mr. Heatoii became proprietor; and it is worthy of remark that he has been longer in the publishing business in Keithsburg than any other man who has attempted to conduct a paper in the place. Mr. Ileaton is an easy, rapid, oif-hand writer who culls from the mass of daily hap})enings with true journalistic care and judgment, and who brings to his aid in the profession a thoroughly practical knowledge of men and aftairs. To be racy and entertaining he does not believe it necessary to be a scavenger, nor to be always squinting at the immoral side of things which he has the sagacity to see is relished only by a loose and depraved sentiment. His taste is not in this direction, nor does it run toward public criticism of private character. But to uphold the welfare of the community according to his judgment, and to encourage and defend all that is worthy, engages on his part the closest interest. To do this work he does not want for spuit or independence. In May of this year (1882) his paper was enlarged from a seven to an eight-column sheet, which may be taken as evidence of its growing prosperity. He is efficiently assisted by his wife, who is a fine specimen of healthful womanhood and a lady of education and great good sense. Recently he has associated her name with his own as co-editor.

Mr. Ileaton was born November 13, 1828, on a farm in Clark county, Ohio, about ten miles east of Springfield. He was the second son of a family of twelve children, six boys and six gu'ls. Of the boys John Ileaton, of Red Bluft', California, and the subject of this notice are the only ones now living. The daughters are all married and mothers of children. AVilliam came with his father, James Heaton, to Illinois in 1836. He was given a good English education ; he attended a high school in Paris, Illinois, two years, and though he was the youngest pupil enrolled he was too far advanced for the district school of that day. He learned with facility but always preferred hard work to hard study, which agreed better with his rather delicate constitution. He labored on a farm, taught school in the winter, clerked in dry goods and grocery stores ; but these were not congenial to his love of out-door work, sport and exercise. In 1852, he and his father and brother George engaged in farming and buying raw prairie land in Henderson county. He broke prairie four years for himsel/ and his neighbors ; the two last years he worked twenty-eight head, or fourteen yoke of oxen, and used plows which cut a furrow thirty inches wide. In this way he paid for and im})r()ved a half section of land. He was married February 17, 1803, to Miss Millecent E. Davis, of Abingdon, Knox county, and lived on the tarin witli liis ycjuiig- wife five years. In 1868 he rented his farm and moved to Abingd(jn, and for two years was engaged in traveling for the Wier Plow Company, of Monmoutli. Getting tired of being away from his family, he was persuaded to buy a newspaper office, which he did in 1870, and started a democratic jtaper which he called the "Ivnox County Democrat." With this enteri)rise he was very successful, but at the end of six years sold the office at a large advance on the cost of the same when new. He made arrangements to go to his brother, who was then in Texas engaged on a large scale in tlie stock business, and by wliom he was advised that it was not safe to bring his chihh'en to that climate before the autumn season. He heeded this advice, and while waiting in the north was allui-ed into ])urchasing a half interest in the Hannibal, Missouri, " Clipper,''"' for which he paid $3,000 down. In this office he spent most of his money in trying to kee|) the business and his partner out of debt. In April, 1877, he and his wife visited his aged father and mother, at Keithsburg, and while here was induced to purchase the "Keithsburg Xews," which had been taken on a debt. He went fortlnvith to Hannibal and sold his interest in the ".Clipper" office to his partner, taking ])romissorv notes which he still holds. Under his management the "Xews" has been a successful venture; not a dollar is owing on the office, and the papcjr lias just been enlarged. Through the indefatigable energy of Mrs. Heaton, they have purchased a small farm a mile northeast of the town, on the Aledo road, and christened it "The Wilderness." Here they live in domestic enjoyment with then* six happy, sprightly and intelligent children, who read and work, and bless and enliven the lu^me of their parents. It gives us pleasure to say that no ha])])ier household exists in all the land. Mrs. Heaton keeps her husband's books and wi'ites most of his correspondence, and he holds that her help is invaluable. In his judgment every newspaper man ought to maiTv an intelligent wife and give her his entire confidence - a sentiment which does honor to both head and heart of its author.

The "Keithsburg Times," an independent weekly, was established by Eichard Wolfe and H. C. Cook, the first number being issued June 8, 1881. December 23d Mr. Cook withdrew, and the publication of the paper was continued by Mr. Wolfe until its suspension, April 12, 1882. The latter, son of Washington and Rebecca (Marlott) Wolfe, is a native of this county, was born in 1852, and reared a tiller of the soil. His parents emigrated from Wayne county, Indiana, to Mercer county subsequently to 1840. From 1801 to 1866 he lived in Keithsburg ; in 1872 he matriculated at Hedding College, where he was in attendance one year, and since that time he has taught school irregularly. In 1875 he began reading law in the office of B. C. Taliaferro and studied tlie requu'ed time, but has never been admitted.

R. S. Scudder brought the "Keithsburg Independent" here in March, 1880, and kept it alive about six months. It was printed by the - - Burlington Hawkeye. "

It was many years fi-om the fii'st settlement before any educational progress had been made. Settlers were few, everything was in a rough state, all improvements had to be supplied by slow and hard toil ; ground broken up, timber felled, cabins built, fences made ; so that rigid muscle was the fii'st demand, while little use was found for books, and pictures, and teachers.

But the schoolmaster came at last, and his dominion has grown more powei-ftil than church and more extensive than state. The beginnings were of the feeblest character. One term in a year was thought to be a good achievement, and indeed it was for the frontier ; but who would think of calling this the frontier as late as 1847 or 1848? Fifteen years had elapsed since the Black Hawk war. Children had passed the school age in that time. Does it not seem to our young Iriends that it must have been a gloomy era ? We dare say that it was not less joyous than the present. Wants were fewer then than now, and the greater number of to-day are not more easily satisfied. Then they were supplied without vexation, because they were mostly natural ; but now they are gratified with sensible, if not painful, effort, for the reason that they are largely artificial. Intellectual attainments cost something ; physical power is the gift of natm*e. In the former time hewers of wood and drawers of water were of the first station, economically, for tliey accomplished that which was the chief necessity - material development. Education was less valued when bone and sinew held sway, but mind has taken the throne of power, and skilled labor and intelligent machinery, to use a figure, have driven blind force into the rayless gloom beneath the feet of the majority. Acquirements which mean cost to the possessor, the world demands of him with all ease. Hence the multiplication of wants and the shai'per struggle.

At fii'st there was little public money, and schools were maintained by subscription. In this township the school section, number 16, was surveyed and classified with the swamp lands. It was but a fi'actional tract, and the trustees made a selection on section 9, but did not get the

The first school in Keithsburg was taught in a log cabin on the lot now occupied by C. S. Orth's house. Tliis was in the summer of 1846, and Tliomas Libby was the teacher. Isaac Bliss taught next in 1847 in a vacant cabin in Robert Keith's dooryard. The third pedagogue was John Heaton, who had a school in 1848 in a small frame house on the site of Dennis Murto's residence. He taught also in 1849. Mrs. Lucretia Freeman opened a small school in the summer of that year in the brick building belonging to Mrs. Isaac McManus.

Tlie fii-st school-house was a brick structure built in 1849 on lot 3, block 13, the site of the present Methodist parsonage. John C. Pepper, who had just arrived, and was preparing for the bar, was employed to teach. He filled three terms and yielded the post to Isaac N. Smith, who was at the head of the school througli the following winter, and was assisted by Mrs, Freeman. Harvey Senter was the principal from the fall of 1851 to 1855. He was an instructor of excellent capabilities, ingenious in resom-ce, practical in method, untiring in efi'ort. sharp in discipline, and a splendid arithmetician. He died in Aledo a few years ago. N. P. Brown took his place and taught the last term in the old. school-house. This building had been erected by private subscription on a lot donated to the public by Robert Keith so long as it should be used for school purposes. Tlie donor deferred the conveyance till suit was brought to compel such performance, but on his promise to execute a deed the action was withdrawn ; still he failed to carry out the agreement, and afterward sold the property to the Methodists.

The main part of the present building was erected, as near as we can learn, in 1856, and was dedicated by Warren Shedd, who was. i:)rincipal about two years. He served in the war of the rebellion ascolonel of the 30th reg. 111. Vol. Inf His death in Montana occurred in 1881. 'No records of this distant period can be found, and the recollections of men fail at this point.

Pliili}) "Weaver were teachers of good re])utation in the lower (lei)artments in the long ago, prior to the war. Rebecca Weaver and Josie L. Calhoun taught several years in succession at a later perirxl. Of the present teachers Miss J. Hannah Willits presides over the grannnar department, and has been connected with the school as teacher nearly twenty 3'ears. Miss Julia Willett is employed in the first intermediate, Miss Marv Thomson in the second, Miss Alice Sheriff in the tliird. and H. W. Kile in the primary. Mr. Kile commenced, in the school in 1865, and since 1870 has been continuously employed. He first began teaching in Ohio in 1816. In the spring of 1850 he emigrated to this town, and lias taught until the present time without intermission, excepting three years when he was fighting the battles of his country.

The school-house is a strong, two-story brick edifice, with low ceilings, but apartments that are models of neatness and taste. They are all seated with patent furniture and heated with Snead's school room heater and ventilator, and supplied with necessary charts and apparatus of approved kinds. The main part is 30x56 feet on the foundation, and the wing in the rear, built in 1875, is 26x36 feet in dimension. The location is on block 7, second addition. This is the best school building in Mercer county. Under its efficient management for several years past the school has taken a rank inferior to no other of similar grade an^-where.

In Keithsburg select schools .have flourished vrith no common success, and their number has not been small. As far back as the autumn of 1855 a Miss Mulky opened a female seminary in Apollo Hall. Slie retired fi'om the work at the close of the spring term of 1857. The Misses Todd immediately organized the Keithsljurg Seminary, but it is not known how long it was continued. The sessions were held in tlie Methodist church. The Rev. C. M. AVriglit started the Mercer Female College in 1863, in the Orth liouse, subsequently occupying the Masonic building. Late in 1861 the reverend educator was commissioned chaplain of the 102d 111. reg., on the request of the rank and file, and at once departed for his new field of labor. He was very ably assisted by the Misses Mary AV. Evans and Emily J. AVliitlock, fi'om Pennsylvania, and probably by Miss Louisa B. Gass. The first two ladies remained .in charge of tlie school after AVright's withdrawal, and the institution was kept up about three years. J. S. McMillan, another tutor of rare qualification, gave instruction tliere immediately after, and Miss Gass kept select scliools in the same ])lace. Mrs. Lou Kessel also taught several schools of the same class. Five or six years ago W. P. Allen luid a business school in A])ollo Hall. These do not comprise all, but are the principal ones. The veteran

Until recently this townshi]) was divided into but two districts. It now contains three, and will likely remain without important chan<i;c for a long time. District Xo. 2 extends from east to west across the north part of the township and is two miles wide north and south. No. 3 embraces sections 1-I-, 24, part of 23, including U})per Keithsburg, and all of 13, except the E. -J N. E. -^, which, with sections 25 and 3(3, is attached to Abington for school purposes. The rest of the township constitutes No. 1, having Keithsburg in the center. District No. 3 was formed from No. 1, after a long and determined contest. The lirst effort for a division was nuide about eight years ago. A vote had been taken on the question of authoiizing a bonded debt to enlarge the school-house in Keithsburg, and w^as adversely decided. As soon, as the movement for a division was begun the opportunity was seized by those favoring the extension (which was seriously needed) to obtain the necessary authority by election. As the law then stood a district with a bonded debt could not be dismembered. Before the inhabitants in the proposed district began the agitation, the want of more room in the school building was not apparent to the majority. As soon as a se})aration was seriously attem])ted it was instantly recognized wdtli swee])ing unanimit}'. The debt was made and the addition built. The matter slumbered some two years, then the petitioners revived it, on the technical failure of the board of trustees to follow the exact re(]uirements of the law concerning the registration of the bonds. The trustees denied their prayer, and the subject was allowed to rest. In the meantime the law was changed so as to permit a division of bonded districts and an apportionment of their liabilities. In ISSO the struggle was renewed. Some additions to the number of pujjdls had been made in the dissatisfied territory, and the bounds were now extended by the petitioners, enlarging the proposed district. They went to work this time with every advantage in their favor. The trustees again rejected their claims. Tlie case went to the county superintendent on appeal. The application was successful. But before proceedings could be taken upon the order of the superintendent, an injunction was served upon the trustees and treasurer, restraining them from any action in the premises until the question should come before the circuit court of Mercer county for review. Here the decision of the superintendent was sustained. An appeal was next carried to the a])pellate C(jurt. sitting in Ottawa, and on February 2S, ISSl, the judgment of the lower court was attirmed. This victory w'as followed by the election of directors for the new district on March 1!». These were II. S. Scott, David Pardee and

Religion

Preaching in Keithsburg was of irregular occurrence until near 1850. Several persons are mentioned as having held meetings before that time, but it was individual rather than organized work that was done. The Rev. Tail was probably the earliest Presbyterian, and the Rev. Crittenden was another who visited this locality at a somewhat later date. He was here in 1849, and very likely before and after. Tlie Rev. Gregg, Universalist, held early meetings. Yarious Methodist ministers came to lead the hearts of men, but the names of most of them, no doubt, are lost. The Rev. Kirkpatrick is remembered, and the local preachers, Thomas L. Doughty, of Xew Boston, and James Ross, a United Brethren, of this township. Tlie last two are best known, for they were a part of the people and their ministry covered longer periods. Services took place wherever a room could be found that would accommodate the small audiences. After 1845 AVillett's warehouse was used ; in 1849 the old brick school-house was built, and then resort was had to that ; and in 1851 the court-house was finished, when that also was occupied for the same purpose.

The first Sunday school in Keithsburg, except one as early as 1844, in the cooper shop on block 13, corner of Main and Seventh streets, was started in August, 1849, and was founded and taught by John Heaton and Mrs. Lucretia Freeman. About two dozen little boys and girls were regular attendants. After thirty years' improvement in Everything else, the editor of the "News" says "this was the best behaved school we were ever in, and was a complete success." They met from Sabbath to Sabbath on the lot where Dennis Murto's house is situated. In the spring of 1850 another school was organized in the brick school-house. Uncle John Kile was the superintendent, and W. II. Heaton secretary. At that day Mrs. Thomas Iliatt was the only Methodist living in the town, })ut a few months later the number was advanced to two by the arrival of Col. George S. Pierce. Within two miles of town were John Wilson, James Gibson, B. L. Hardin, John Kile and John Eckley, all Methodists. These could not always attend, so it became necessary to reorganize the school, and W. L. Mathews was chosen superintendent, and B. C. Cabeen taught the bible class. Of the ladies, Mrs. Mathews, Mrs. Freeman, and Mrs. Hiatt were active workers. The young ladies were: Maggie and Emma Ungles, Mary Jane Mount, Maria Heaton, INIarv Pie, and three by the name of Williamson. The singing, which J. W.

Doughty led in splendid style, was excellent, and, according to testimony, has not since been excelled in Keitlisburg. The present editor of the ''News," writing of this school, says: "-Uncle John Kile did the praying for the school when he was there. In his absence, the superintendent or secretary read from the scriptures, and a hymn was sung. "We had a committee on attendance, and if a scholar or teacher was not in his or her place, next Sunday he or she was called on, and a reason had to be given and reported for absence. . . . We will remark that this school, for two years, was not under the auspices any church, yet it embraced about all the children in the town."

The first circuit preaching was begun in the autumn of 1S4J) by the Rev. Pierce T. Rhodes, who was on the New Boston circuit and lield meetings every two weeks. He was a man of too much business energy and capacity .to fail to work up an interest favorable to the building of a meeting-house, and therefore we find that in the fall of 1851 a brick church was erected on the northwest corner of block 13, original i)lat, at a cost of some $1,600. It was not entirely finished and plastered till 1853. The Rev. Chandler, of Peoria, conducted the dedicatorial services. The Rev. C. M. AYright came shortly after, and superseded Rhodes. From this time to 1860 the history of the church is a blank. In that year Keithsburg, which had heretofore belonged to the New Boston circuit, was erected into a separate one. Mr. B. L. Ilardin furnishes a list of pastors from 1860, and we use it as it comes to our hands, although it does not complete the period by

O. W. Brown, one year ; J. Winser, one year ; S. Brink, three years ; A. R. Morgan, two years ; L. B. Dennis, one year ; J. Smith, two years ; Richard Haney, one year ; G. W. Martin, one year ; C. B. Couch, one year ; and the present minister, II. S. Humes, who came "upon this charge in the conference year 1881-2.

About 1856 the society i)urchased from Robert Keith the old brick school-house; the walls they partly tore d(^wn and ivbuilt for a parsonage on the original foundation.

The Rev. Stephen Brink conducted a great re%'ival in 1S71 and added over one hundred to the membership. He was a very popular preacher and successful revivalist, and taking the movement in the <;hurcli at its highest tide led the society at once into building their present imposing edifice. Tliis was done in the year 1872. The site was purchased from Bennett Hurst for $1,30<» and the old chui-ch was taken by him in i)ayment of ^100. John McH. Wilson, B. L. Hardin, Dr. C. S. Ilollingswortli, ZMerrick A. Weaver and William (4ayle were the building committee. The entire cost' was $10,000. Chaplain McCabe dedicated it on the 29th of October, and on this occasion $3,715 were subscribed. Over $550 were never collected; a loan of $300 had been obtained fi'om the chnrch extension fimd ; these amounts with interest brouglit the society in time into debt for $1,300. A new subscription was raised in 1880 and this was paid off. The church is a two-stoiy ft-ame 38 X 60 feet on the ground. Tliere are 140 members em'olled, and the condition of the society is good. The Sabbath school, with H. L. Long as superintendent almost consecutively for twelve years, has an average of over 100 scholars. Some of the oldest and most active members have been John McH. Wilson, John j^evius and B. L. Hardin. The tw^o first have gone to try the reality of the faith they professed.