Newell Township (part 2 of 2)

Martin J. Barger, Bismark, farmer, was born in Newell township, Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 11th of February, 1845, and is a son of William J. and Elizabeth (Rudy) Barger. His father died when he was quite young, and his mother marrying again, he left home and apprenticed himself to the shoemaker's trade, which he learned. The subject of this sketch displayed a truly heroic spirit in his persistent effort to become enrolled with the Union defenders. At the beginning of the war young Barger endeavored to get into the army while he was yet but sixteen years of age. He was very small and delicate, and had a girlish appearance. At that time the physique of the volunteer was closely scrutinized, as the supply of men was greater than the demand. Co. B of the 25th Reg. 111. Vols, was organizing at Danville, and he presented himself to Capt. Thomas McKibben, who was recruiting it. The Captain "laughed him to scorn," and told him that they did not want boys, but men to fight, at the same time pointing to some stalwart specimens standing by. After this rebuff, he repressed his military ardor until the early spring of 1862, when some of the Davison and Myers boys, of the 25th, were home on furlough. He now determined on making another trial, in spite of the ridicule which beset him, from all who became acquainted with his intention. When his friends returned he started with them, and on reaching Danville applied to be mustered into the service, in the hope of saving transportation expenses. Failing in this, he went on to Springfield, but was rejected there. Proceeding thence to St. Louis with his companions, he was also rejected there. He then went to Rolla, and fared likewise there. This point was the end of railroad travel. A squad of convalescents was forming here to move forward to join their commands, and our hero stated his case to the commanding officer, and requested permission to join them and to be furnished rations. When they reached Springfield, Missouri, he renewed the effort, with the same disheartening result. He continued on with the squad to Forsythe, Missouri, where he joined the 25th 111. Reg. He was dressed in civilian clothing, and before he found the command, was arrested and taken before Siegel's provost marshal, but, on explaining himself, was released. Making application at once to Capt. Wall, of Co. B, he was told that it was no use, he would die in a few days. Foiled again, and at the last resort of appeal, he did not know what to do, but finally decided to follow the army and be a soldier, if for nothing else than to triumph over all opposers and opposing circumstances. He was furnished arms and equipments, and an outfit of clothing. In about a week the army was in motion for Batesville, Arkansas. The first day he kept up, the second day did not get into camp with his command, the third day did not arrive until late at night, and the fourth day entirely lost sight of the army. He had some money, and bought his meals along the route, camping out at night. He moved forward every day, way-worn and weary, almost fainting from fatigue. When he came into camp at Batesville about an hour after the command had arrived, - not having been seen for nearly a week, and supposed to be either captured or dead - the cheers of the boys arose to greet him, and signalize his triumph. Henceforward he kept abreast of the best among them. From thence the army moved to Cape Girardeau, where, after a time, it was paid off. The captain asked him if he wanted pay. "If you think I will make a soldier," was the answer. " O, you'll do!" replied the captain, with an air of confidence and satisfaction. Having signed the pay-roll, he was legally a soldier; his hopes were realized and his triumph complete. Old soldiers know the meaning of "sand" and "grit," but few have seen a better exhibition of it. He was in Mississippi in the summer of 1862, and marched to Louisville under Buell, and was present at the battle of Perryville, but not engaged. He was in the battles of Stone River and Chickamauga ; wounded and taken prisoner at the latter place, and held about ten days, when he was released on parole. He was not exchanged until the next summer, while on the Atlanta campaign. Mr. Barger remained with his regiment until exchanged, but not doing dutv. He fought his last battle at Jonesborough ; was present at the subsequent battles of Columbia and Nashville. The term of service of his regiment having expired, the recruits served out the rest of their time at Gen. Stanley's headquarters. He was discharged in March, 1865. His wound incapacitates him for hard labor, and he draws a pension. He was married on the 19th of April, 1868, to Mary A. Steward, who died on the 16th of August, 1870. He was married again on the 25th of September, 1873, to Margaret W. Richie. They have four living children: Walter L. R., Anna M., Samuel B. and John W. Mr. Barger is a republican in politics, and in religion a Methodist.

Thomas Watson, Bismark, farmer, was born in Newell township, Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 18th of February, 1846, and is a son of John R. and Susannah (Martin) Watson. He was married on the 21st of September, 1865, to Sarah, daughter of Samuel Adams, born on the 1st of Januar}T, 1846. He lived in Danville during the years 1873 - 4, engaged in the saddle and harness trade. ' In addition to his farming operations Mr. Watson buys and feeds a good deal of stock, in which business he enjoys a rare degree of prosperity and success. He is the father of four living children : Dora E., born on the 26th of July, 1866; Samuel R., February 13, 1868; Bertha A., March 26,

Corydon H. Campbell, Danville, former and line-stock breeder, was born in Seneca county, New York, on the 19th of December, 1825, and is a son of John and Elmira (Hewitt) Campbell. The substantial prosperity which Mr. Campbell has wrought out for himself little indicates his humble beginning. His early life was spent in roving more or less in the southwest, and in handling and driving stock. In 1840 he went to Missouri and lived there seven years, meantime buying and driving hogs to the Cherokee nation, and returning with cattle to Milwaukee. He brought three herds through from that country. For many years he has been an extensive stock-raiser, and has devoted his attention largely to the breeding of blooded stock, of which he keeps the best strains in the country. Mr. Campbell was married on the 11th of November, 1849, to Julia A. Howard, who died on the 1st August, 1850. His second marriage, on the 22d of November, 1852, was to Mary W. Brittingham, who died on the 13th of March, 1869. His third marriage was to Sarah E. Current, on the 1st of January, 1870. He is the father of three living children: John J., Joseph B., Benjamin. He owns eight hundred and sixty acres of land, worth $34,500.

Peter Voorhees, Danville, farmer, was born on the 26th of June, 1827, in Butler county, Ohio, and is a son of Stephen and Rachel (Elliott) Voorhees. When he was two years old his parents removed and settled in Fountain county, Indiana. In 1848 he came to Vermilion county, Illinois, locating in Newell township, where he now resides. He has been supervisor of Newell township, and held minor offices of trust and responsibility. Mr. Voorhees is a large-hearted, public-spirited man, who has been abreast of the foremost in the activities of his community, and who has made his energy felt on all occasions. He is a brother of Hon. Daniel W. Voorhees, present United States senator from Indiana, who has made^a national reputation as a lawyer and statesman. The management of a large farm has chiefly engrossed his attention during a busy life. Like thousands of others, he has not escaped the vicissitudes of the times. He was married on the 1st of April, 1848, to Mary Button. They have five living children : Rachel R., Julia E., Arthur E., Daniel, and Philip B. He owns five hundred and forty acres of land, worth $27,000.

Jacob Robertson, State Line, Indiana, farmer, was born in Newell township, Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 22d of September, 1848, and is a son of Zachariah and Abigal (Starr) Robertson. He was married on the 6th of February, 1872, to Melissa Brittingham, who was born on the 24th of November," 1848. He has one child, Hallie Gertrude. Mr. Robertson is an independent in politics, and in religion a Methodist.

Theodore L. Stipp, Bismark, farmer, school-teacher and minister, was born in Newell township, on the 24th of December, 1848, and is a son of George Y. and America A. (Smith) Stipp. He began private law studies in 1868 ; was admitted to practice in the Circuit Court of Warren county, Indiana, in the April term of 1870. He attended a course of lectures at the University of Michigan in the winter of 1870-1, graduating the 29th of March, 1871. Finding the law not congenial to his tastes, he abandoned the profession and became identified with the Church of Christ, and was ordained a minister on the 24th of August, 1873. His labors have since been extended over a wide field, embracing Warren, Fountain and Vermilion counties, Indiana, and Champaign and Vermilion counties, Illinois. Mr. Stipp has never been a political aspirant for office, but in the campaign of 1875 was favorably mentioned as a candidate for congress on the independent ticket, and received the support of the Vermilion county delegation in the Tolono convention, which nominated J. H. Pickrell. He was married on the 28th of March, 1872, to Emma P. Norris. They are the parents of two living children: Emma Belle and Theodore E. Mr. Stipp owns sixty acres of land, worth $1,800.

Martin Powell, State Line, farmer, was born on the 13th of December, 1811, in Llanwenarth parish, Monmouthshire, England, and came with his parents, Thomas and Jane (Pritchard) Powell, to America in the spring of 1823, and settled in Dearborn county, Indiana. At the age of twelve he went to Baltimore, Ohio, where he spent five years in learning the trade of cloth-dressing and carding, but he has never followed the business. On his return to Indiana he went into the woods and began clearing up land and farming. On the 12th of April, 1838, he was married to Jeanette Churchill. Between the years 1835 and 1845 Mr. Powell labored in the capacity of pedagogue in the log schoolhouses of Indiana. At different times in his life he has filled the sacred desk. His two sons, Thomas and John, served in the army during the rebellion, the former three years in the 33d Ind. Inf., and the latter two years in the 86th. Mr. Powell is a highly-respected and valued citizen, who is always prominent in local enterprises. He has held some town offices. He owns six hundred and eighty acres of land, worth §20,500. He has five living children : William M., Thomas C, Mary A., Alvah M. and Eliza J.

David P. and Rhoda (Zumwalt) Andrews. He was married on the 2d of April, 1878, to Annie Johnson, who was born on the 18th of March, 1855. Mr. Andrews has an undivided half of two hundred and thirty acres of choice prairie land, and an undivided fourth of forty acres of timber, the whole valued at $4,000. He is a republican in politics.

Samuel Chester, sr., Danville, farmer, was born in Ross (now Fairfield) county, Ohio, on the 9th of October, 1810. His father, Thomas Chester, was a soldier in the second war with Great Britain, and died of rheumatism and congestive chills in the year 1813.' Samuel's mother, whose maiden name was Ruth Peterson, was thus left with seven small and helpless children, and being poor, as the majority of the people then were, Samuel was indentured at the age of seven to Elias Florence, and served with him till he attained his majority. Immediately on becoming of age he was married to Elizabeth Castel, on the 16th of November, 1831. In 1834 he commenced driving fat cattle and hogs over the Alleghany mountains to New York, seven hundred miles; to Philadelphia, six hundred miles, and to Baltimore, five hundred miles. His droves ranged from one hundred to one hundred and fifteen head. The round trip to New York occupied eighty-three days ; to Philadelphia, seventy-three days, and to Baltimore, fifty days. He followed this business eleven summers, and while thus employed, bought one hundred and five acres of land in the neighborhood where he had been raised, for $525. In 1852 he sold it for $2,100, and moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, settling in Danville township, where he purchased six hundred and twenty acres on the Middle Fork. This he afterward sold for $8,500. Leaving the farm, he lived in Danville six years. In 1862 he bought and moved on the place where he is now residing, one and a half miles north of Danville. Mr. Chester's first wife died in March, 1858. On the 11th of June following he was married to Elizabeth Skeels. She died on the 14th of August, 1878. He married again on the 4th of November, 1878, to Susan Barker. Mr. Chester received but two months' schooling. He made his start in life by investing in three ewes, the increase of which amounted, in seven years, to seventy-three head. In politics Mr. Chester is a staunch republican. He owns at present two hundred and eighty-seven acres of land, valued at $12,000.

Robert Phillips, Bismark, merchant, was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, on the 22d of January, 1835, and is a son of William and Julia Ann (Luckey) Phillips. He came and settled with his parents at Myersville in 1844. He worked nine years in the Myersville mill.

Charles R. Andrews, State Line City, Indiana, farmer, was born in Newell township on the 26th of April, 1853, and is a son of David P. and Rhoda (Zumwalt) Andrews. He has been engaged in schoolteaching since he was twenty years of age. Mr. Andrews graduated from Mayhew's Commercial College, Danville, in the spring of 1875. He has traveled across the continent. In politics he is a republican.

Benjamin F. Bonebrake, State Line City, Warren county, Indiana, merchant, was born on the 22d of March, 1839, in Fountain county, Indiana. He is the son of Jacob and Mary Magdalen (Null) Bonebrake. His father was born on the 28th of February, 1789, near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and his mother near Richmond, Virginia. The family settled in Newell township on the 8th of October, 1856; the father dying on his farm on the 25th of July, 1869, and the mother on the 21st of March of the same year. Benjamin enlisted in August, 1862, in Co. B, 125th 111. Vols., Captain Robert Stewart, and was mustered into United States service as private on the 3d of September, 1862. He was promoted to sergeant on the 3d of December, 1862, and to the rank of orderly-sergeant on the 22d of February, 1863. He became sergeant-major of the regiment on the 3d of September, 1863, and was in the battles of Perry ville, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and marched to the relief of Knoxville, Tennessee. After that he bore a part in the battles of Buzzard Roost, Resaca, Dallas and Kenesaw Mountain. At the last named place he received a severe wound in the head, fracturing trTe skull. He was in the hospital at Nashville five and one-half months, and rejoined his regiment at Savannah, Georgia, on the 14th of January, 1865. On his return a commission as firstlieutenant awaited him for gallant and meritorious conduct at Kenesaw Mountain, bearing date of December 5, 1864, and giving him rank from the 10th of December, 1864. He commanded Co. B thenceforward till the close of the service, participating in the final event which signalized it, namely : the grand review of Sherman's army on the 25th of May, 1865, in the capital of the nation. He was mustered out on the 9th of June ; paid off at Chicago, and disbanded the 29th. Mr. Bonebrake was married on the 2d of April, 1866, to Mary M. Lindsey. They have two living children : Ralph and Maud. Lillie died on the 5th of August, 1875.

Asa M. Bushnell, Bismark, merchant, was born in Cook county, Illinois, on the 8th of December, 1850, and is a son of Henry and Lavina (Dayton) Bushnell. He removed with his parents at the age of five years and settled in Steuben township, Warren county, Indiana. Sub- sequently they moved into Newell township, and after four or five years returned to Cook county, remaining there two or three years, when they went to Iroquois county and spent a year, after which they settled in Rossville. At this place, in 1873, Mr. Bnshnell embarked in merchandising. He is postmaster at Biemark, and is keeping a general store in partnership with Francis M. Gundy. Mr. Bushnell was married on the 15th of October, 1873, to Wilhelmina Shockley, who was born on the 17th of April, 1856. They have three living children: Clyde, born on the 7th of June, 1875; Mabel, on the 30th of September, 1876 ; Frank, on the 23d of April, 1878. In politics Mr. Bnshnell is a republican.

James H. Burgoyne, Danville, brickmaker, was born near Uniontown, Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 15th of June, 1834. When ten years of age his parents, James and Mary (Minor) Burgoyne, moved with him to Wayne county, Indiana. In 1859 he came to Catlin, Vermilion county, Illinois, but after a brief stay went to Kansas, where he lived a year or two and then returned to Vermilion county on the 3d of September, 1862. He was enrolled for three }^ears in Co. G, 125th 111. Vol. Inf., and bore an honorable part in the battles of Perryville, Chicamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesborough, and in Sherman's march to the sea, and in the later and greater campaign through the Carolinas, which practically ended with the battle of Bentonsville, in which he was engaged. He passed through Richmond, Virginia, on the homeward march, and was mustered out of the United States' service at Washington City, on the 9th of June, 1865, and the regiment disbanded at Chicago on the 2d day of July. Mr. Burgoyne was married on the 31st of December, 1867, to Miss Louie Butler. They have three living children.

Joseph S. Johnson, State Line, farmer and stock-shipper, was born on the 16th of September, 1827, in Hendricks county, Indiana, and is a son of George and Polly (Walter) Johnson. He was married on the 16th of March, 1854, to Matilda M. Kemper. He was engaged in mercantile pursuits from 1848 to 1855. He settled in Newell township in 1864, and has taught school and music, and has traveled extensively in the middle portion of the Union. In Indiana he was county commissioner, real estate appraiser, deputy sheriff and notary public. In Newell township he has been assessor and collector, and at the present time is justice of the peace. Besides these, he has held other offices. He is the father of nine children. He owns eighty-five acres of land, and is an independent in politics.

rnary, 1837, in Knox county, Indiana, and is the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Boyd) Marple. His father died in October, 1842. His early life was devoted to farming. He clerked in the railroad office at State Line for some time, but abandoning this employment he embarked in the drug trade, which he has since continued. He has been trustee of fechools in Kent township three successive terms. Mr. Marple was married on the 16th of June, 1864, to Mary E. Duncan. They have three living children : Charles, Grace and Stella. In politics Mr. Marple is a democrat, and in religion a Methodist.

Wm. R. Campbell, State Line, Indiana, farmer, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of September, 1823, and is a son of Obadiah and Delilah (Treen) Campbell ; descended from revolutionary stock. When he was one year old his parents removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, thence, in 1830, to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and in 1837 to Fountain county, where Mr. Campbell resided until 1866, when he came to Newell township. He was married on the 28th of December, 1847, to Melinda A. Lucas, who was born on the 2d of January, 1828. He has been in the mercantile business six years. He served as school trustee several years, and filled the office of supervisor for Newell township four terms. He has four living children : Maria E., Josephine, John F. and Charles A. He owns three hundred and fifteen acres of land, worth $12,500.

Jonathan Lesher, deceased, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania' in 1831. He was married on the 1st of November, 1855, to Mary Lang, in Fountain county, Indiana. He was a firm supporter of the war for the Union, and being examined was found unfit for military service; nevertheless he afterward furnished a substitute for the army. In 1869 he removed to Vermilion county, Illinois, and settled in Newell township, where he died on the 1st of November, 1872. Mr. Lesher united with the Lutheran church at the age of fourteen, and continued a consistent member throughout his life.

Ezra Peters, Bismark, physician, surgeon, oculist and aurist, was born in Licking county, Ohio, on the 4th of July, 1846, and is a son of Tunis and Mary (Dicas) Peters. He enlisted in Co. C, 95th Ohio Vol. Inf., on the 12th of August, 1862, when but sixteen years of age. He was engaged at Richmond, Kentuelcy, where he was taken prisoner; held three days and paroled; took part in the battle of Jackson, Mississippi, on the 14th of May, 1863; siege of Vicksburg; siege of Jackson : battles of Tupelo, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee ; the siege of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and was mustered out on the 14th of August, 1865. He began his education at the University of Michigan, where he spent two years, taking two courses of medical lectures at that institution. He practiced medicine tirst at Grand Rapids, Michigan ; then at Central City, Nebraska, and again at the former city - eight years altogether. He entered the Bennett Eclectic College of Medicine and Surgery, graduating therefrom on the 21st of February, 1878, and on the 23d of the same month graduated from the Chicago College of Ophthalmology and Otology. Since his recent settlement at Bismark, Mr. Peters has successfully operated for cataract in a number of cases, extracting the lens and restoring sight. He has contributed one of these cases to the Chicago Medical Times. He was elected vice-president of Illinois State Eclectic Association, held at Springfield on the 4th and 5th of June, 1879, and was delegated to the national association, which convened at Cleveland, Ohio, on the 18th of June, 1879. He was married on the 1st of September, 1869, to Edith Conrad.

Source changes here: from History of Vermilion County, Illinois : a Tale of Its Evolution, Settlement, and Progress for Nearly a Century, by Jones, Lottie E, published 1911; 1,942 words in this source stream.

Newell Township

Newell township early attracted settlers. These came mostly from Kentucky and Ohio. The LeNeves were the first to come to this section. Later a colony came from the same county in Kentucky. This township gave generously to the Blackhawk war. Two of these commanded companies. They were George Ware and Alexander Bailey. Bailey's company was the largest in Col. Moore's regiment. Of the others who volunteered there were Chas. S. Young, Asa and Alpha Duncan, James Cunningham, Ambrose P. Andrews, Bushro Oliver, Obidiah LeNeve, John LeNeve, William Current, William G. Blair, Soam Jennings, John Deck, Samuel Swinford, Jacob Eckler, Jeremiah Delay, and John Watson.

The Mormons went into Newell township in 1831 but the year after the church was established and missionary work. They had some converts. Denmark was one of the earliest established villages in Vermilion County. Seymour Treat went from the Salt works in perhaps 1825 or 1826, and built a mill at this place. A thriving village grew up about it and so promising was it that Denmark was a dangerous rival for the county seat. The promise of a prosperous city was made of little worth all because of the liquor sold. Mr. Harbaugh, who is yet living at the age of one hundred and six, gives a word picture of Denmark in 1836 which shows the natural overthrow of its hopes. The village was peopled with a lot of rough characters, whose only amusement was to fight and drink more whiskey. Brawls and street fights were daily occurrences. Religious services were almost completely unknown. Now the only remains of the once flourishing village is one house. A bridge spans the river at the old ford, the farm houses are of modern build and a sense of peace and prosperity makes possible the hospitality of the old time inn. The loneliness of the streets of Myersville is almost a place of the past as is Denmark. True the old mill is yet standing but silent and forsaken it calls the passerby in most pathetic tones of silence. There are one or two of the old buildings left, among them being one which suggests the hospitality of the old time inn. The lonliness of the streets of Myersville is inexpressible. The very atmosphere is filled with memories and suggestions of the life which was there in the thirties, the forties and the following generations for perhaps another decade or more. But all have either moved away or died and been buried in the cemetery. This cemetery is unusually well kept and it seems as though there is the place to look for the names of those who made Myersville the flourishing village of the past. The Gundys, the Davisons, the Henkles, the Wiles, the Kerrs, the Woods, the Andrews, the Carters, and the Barges, all live about Myersville and must all be lying in the Fundy cemetery. As the village was going down people were moving away, and only those who didn't have money enough to get work away, were left, there was much poverty ; then it was that record is made of Mr. "Andy" Gundy who was the most generous of men. He cared for these people as though he felt an obligation to do so. Want was unknown, for but a word would make him relieve any distress, and the people grew to expect and look upon this as a natural right.

The branch of the C. & E. I. R. R. was surveyed and built in 1872. This branch intersects the main line at what is now known as Bismarck. Chas. S. Young and Dr. John B. Holloway each gave twenty acres of land for a town site. John Myers added ten acres, reserving the alternate lots and selling the other to the railroad. The village was laid out in the fall of 1872. The first building put up was by Robert Kerr. In this building he had a store and was succeeded by John Leonard and Asa Bushnell. The latter bought out the former and enter into partnership with Francis Gundy,

Newell township is bounded on the north by Ross, on the east by Indiana, on the south by Danville township, and on the west by Blount township. It ernbraces all of township 20, range 2, except a strip on the west side three-fourths of a mile wide, but includes about and equal quantity of range 10 on the east. It further comprises all the sections from 19 to 30 inclusive, in township 21. range 2, except the west half of sections 30 and 31, which belong to Blount, making an irregular west boundary with four mediate right angles. It covers an area of about fifty-three sections and is about eight and a half miles from north to south and six miles from east to west. Great quantities of black walnut timber was to be found in this section and was a source of great wealth. Stony and Lick creeks are the principle streams. The North Fork of the Vermilion river winds back and forth along the western border, crossing it half a dozen or more times.

When the county was divided into townships the name of Riceland was given to Newell bt.u was changed to the present name because there was another town of that name in the state. At this time Newell township had a third more territory which was lost when, in 1856, Blount township was organized. When the Toledo & Wabash railroad was built its western terminus was the point in Newell township now known as State Line City and Illina. The Great Western was built by another company and had a continuation of the same route to the southwest and the two roads formed a junction here. No wonder the village began to grow. State Line City was laid out in the spring of 1857 by Robert Casement and at the suggestion of A. P. Andrews was given its name. Not long afterward that part on the Illinois side was laid out by Parker Dresser and Edwin Martin and called Illina being a word formed from the first two syllables of Illinois and the last syllable of Indiana. The railroad company put up two engine houses and a passenger station with a large eating house attached. Passengers changed cars and all freight was trans-shipped here. A large region, including the towns of Covington, Perrysville, Eugene, Rossville, Myersvijle and Marysville shipped and received freight at this point. About forty railroad hands were employed. Some time during the season John Briar and A. P., Andrews, under the firm name of Briar & Andrews, built a general merchandise establishment. These early years of State Line City and Illina record the names of Perrin Kent and his son, William, CoL E. F. Lucas, Harvey Barkley, Dr. Porter, Robert Craig, and John Ludlow, Prof. Elbridge Marshall established a manual training school by soliciting subscriptions and issuing stock certificates entitling the holder to tuition for the amount subscribed. He bought ten acres of land and put up a two story building, 40 by 42 feet, in dimensions at a cost of $4,000. This institution was named Evens Union College. Prof. Marshall was a good instructor, and he managed the school well and until he severed his connection with it there was no complaint to be made concerning it. In 1864 he was succeeded by Prof. Asa D. Goodwin as principal all through the influence of John H. Braiden. These changes became the fruitful source of sectarian dissension and the prosperity of the school rapidly decreased. Two or three years afterward the trustees of Kent township bought the house for $2,700. It was later used for a public school

In June, 1865, the railroad house and passenger house were burned and the two roads having been consolidated, the engine house was moved to Danville. The town suffered for this and perhaps yet more from the building of other railroads, which cut off territory tributary to it, and its decline was rapid and steady. A postomce was once established at Walnut corners, which is thought to have been the first in Newell township. Ambrose P. Andrews was the first postmaster. Another postoffice was established at Myers Mill probably about 1854. Yet another, called Kentucky, was first located opposite Pleasant View Church, and was kept by Mordecai Wells, a blind man who had a little store at that place. He held it but a short time when Squire Phillip Leonard became the postmaster, and kept the office for above twenty years.

Blount township was a part of both Pilot and Newell townships when the county was first divided by township organization. The two streams, North Fork and Middle Fork formed barriers to interchange of neighborly duties and the transaction of business and in 1856 the supervisors determined upon a further division. This name given to the new township was Fremont, because of admiration of the dashing general by that name, but did not prove acceptable to all and some one remembered the kind old man by name of Blount who lived in this section when the county was young and his name satisfied everyone. The lines which form the eastern and western borders of Blount township are quite irregular but follow as nearly as possible within hailing distance of a creek. It contains territory a little more than a congressional township and a half. The surface of the township is higher in the middle and north where the prairie lies and was covered in the southern half and along its eastern and western boundaries with a stalwart growth of forest trees of oak, walnut, maples and here and there a beech tree. These trees are almost all destroyed. There has been a wicked destruction of the forest trees in Vermilion county during the past thirty years. There is a 'famous spring in Blount township where there has been an effort to establish a health resort under the name of Henrietta Springs. It was at this spring that the Indians spent much of their time when the white men came to this section. Samuel Copeland was the first settler of Blount township. The first schoolhouse in the township was the old log school a mile east of Mr. Copeland's house. John Skinner was the first teacher. The first preaching in the township was by the Rev. McKain at the home of John Johns. The Fairchild family came to Blount township in 1828. It was in 1834 or 1835 that Mr. Blount sold out and went to Wisconsin, attracted by the lead mines. There were a number of people who went at the some time. Hunting was the principle business of that time. Sickness was the rule and ague, milk sickness and fevers of all kinds kept the people broken in spirit, and sapped their strength, and energy.

Higginsville or Vermilion Rapids as it was called in the plat taken to the eastern capitalists in 1836, as yet exists but entirely shorn of its glory. No one could guess the beautiful city as represented to the would-be-purchaser of lots at this head of navigation of the Vermilion river, was the poor and almost deserted hamlet now standing on the Middle Fork in Blount township. Salem was another prospective city which never was much more than on paper. Mr. Oxley laid out the village and there was a store and a tannery as well as a doctor at this little village as early as 1837. This township has plenty of coal to gather but better facilities to raise it must be secured, before the attempt to market it will be made.