Niantic Township

Niantic Township

Is situated in section 11, of T. 16 N. R. 1 W-, on the main line of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railway, about eleven miles west of Decatur. It is surrounded by an excellent agricultural country, and large shipments of grain and stock are annually made.

When laid out, in the year 1852, just after the completion of the railroad by Calvin Lockhart and Thomas Lewis, tin; post-office was called Lockhart. The town was for many years called Long Point, so named from the Long Point slough, which lies south of the town. It was afterward known as Prairie City, and finally the present name Niantic was adopted. Jesse Lockhart erected the first house, in what is now the northern part of the town. Mr. Gansen, opened the first store of general merchandize soon after the town was laid out. In 1855, Calvin Lockhart was appointed the first post-master of Lockhart, which position he continued to hold for a number of years. Dr. E. S. Faris, an old and highly respected citizen still engaged in the practice of medicine in the town of Niantic, kept the first hotel opened in the town. Miss Ryan taught school in the year 1855, in a building situated on the south side of the railroad, and originally used as a warehouse by the company.

In the fall of 1858, a very destructive storm swept over the western part of the county, and Niantic was immediately in its path. The storm was seen coming from the south-west ; and knowing the unsafe nature of the warehouse, then being used for school purposes, some of the citizens hastened to the building and warned the teacher and scholars of the approaching danger and assisted them out of the building. No sooner had this been done than the storm struck the house and completely demolished it.

Some of the earliest preachers, were the Reverends John Wilson, J. H. Hughes and J. W. Tyler, who preached in the warehouse, above-mentioned, soon after the laying out of the town. Rev. Benjamin Radford was the first local preacher. The Christian church erected by that denomination in 1867, was the first house of worship built in Niantic.

The steam flouring mill at present standing in the eastern part of the town, was the first and only mill of any kind built in the town. This was erected by J. H. Zarley, in 1868. A cooper-shop was opened by James Cunningham, in 1870. Samuel Powers kept the first blacksmith shop.

Dry Goods and General Merchandise - Nottlemann & Jacobsen ; P. S. Van Cleve. Groceries and Clothing - Coussins & Pritchett ; Boots, Shoes and General Store - John Henebry, J. G. Keizer ; Groceries and Furnishing Goods - Mansfield & Co. ; Drugs - C. B. Richardson, D. H. Rice ; Physicians - E. S. Faris, H. N. Clark, J. H. Rice ; Hardware, Stoves and Tinware - T. A. Pritchett ; Furniture and Undertaking - T. A. Prichett ; Flouring Mill - Gepford Jacobsen & Co.; Elevator - Niantic Stock Co. ; Grain Dealer - J. P. Faris; Meat Market - Benjamin Danley & Son; Lumber Dealer, etc. - Harvey Judd ; Wagon Maker - Jasen Price ; Blacksmith - J. W. Jones, Wm. S. Ishmeal ; Blacksmith and Machinist - W. R. Dingman ; Carpenters - Selig Bros, John McMillen.

Biographical Sketches

Dr. Clark was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, on the 18th of January, 1825. Silas Clark, his great-grandfather, resided in Windham county, Connecticut ; and his grandfather, Abner Clark, was born at Lebanon, Connecticut, in January, 1765. The birth of his father, whose name was Capt. Abner Clark, occurred at the same place on the 25th of January, 1796. In 1797 the family moved to Berkshire county, Mass., and in 1817 to St Lawrence county, N. Y. They settled in the town of Madrid, ten miles from the St. Lawrence river, when that part of the state was almost a complete wilderness. Dr. Clark's mother, whose maiden name was Cynthia Skidmore, was born at Arlington, Vermont, on the 2d of November, 1800. Her parents had moved to Vermont from Connecticut. Dr. Clark's father died in St. Lawrence county on the 31st of March, 1876, when past the age of eighty. At the time of his death he was one of the oldest settlers of St. Lawrence county.

Horace Norton Clark was the second of a family of twelve children, of whom six were boys and six girls. He was raised in St. Lawrence county, obtained a good education, and in 1844, at the age of nineteen, took charge of a school as teacher. After teaching two winters he attended the St. Lawrence Academy at Potsdam, New York. Altogether he taught school ten winters in New York aud two years in Sangamon county after coming to this state. As a teacher he was successful, and in June, 1856, the state authorities conferred on him a diploma enabling him to teach in any school in the state of New York. From 1851 to 1856 he lived in the town of De Peyster, in St. Lawrence county, where he was elected justice of the peace and superintendent of the public schools. ' The latter office he filled for two years immediately preceding his removal to this state. While a resident of De Peyster he taught school in the winter. In the summer his attention was divided between farming and the management of a steam saw-mill, which he owned in partnership with a man named Nelson Thornton. Two of his brothers still reside at Potsdam, New York, Silas S. Clark and Chauncey B. Clark.

Dr. Clark came to Illinois in 1856, and at first made his home at Springfield with his uncle, Oramel Clark, one of the pioneer settlers of Sangamon county. He began the study of medicine at Dawson, Sangamon county, in 1857, and in the fall of 1858 entered Rush Medical College at Chicago, from which he subsequently graduated in 1865. He began practice at Niantic in 1859. On the 8th of April, 1851, he was married to Susan Curtis, of De Peyster, a sister of Gen. N. M. Curtis, of Ogdensburg, N. Y. She died of consumption on the 5th of September, 1854. On the 11th of June, 1866, he married Sarah Pierce, of Canton, St. Lawrence county, N. Y., whose death happened on the 6th of April, 1876. His present wife, formerly Charlotte F. Watson, he married on the 31st of May, 1877. She is a native of Camargo, Douglas county, this state.

Dr. Clark has been engaged in the practice of medicine at Niantic since 1859, and is now the oldest physician in the western part of Macon county, and has enjoyed an excellent reputation as a physician. In politics he has always been a democrat. Before the war he belonged to the Douglas branch of the democratic party. He has been connected with the Masonic fraternity since 1857, and is now a member of Iliopolis Lodge. By his first marriage he had one child, Susan Amelia, who died in 1859 at the age of seven. Two children by his second marriage died in infancy, and one, Bertha P. , is living. By his last marriage he has had two children, Horace F. and Mary J. W. Dr. Clark has been elected to several public positions in Niantic township, but for the most part has preferred to devote his attention entirely to his medical practice, in which he has achieved a deserved success.

Thomas A. Pritchett

Among the gentlemen who have been most prominently identified with the interests of the western part of the county, is Thomas A. Pritchett, of Niantic. He is a native of Kentucky, and was born in Bourbon county, in the heart of the celebrated blue grass region, seven miles from Paris and nine from Lexington, on May 23d, 1830. The Pritchett family were early settlers of the state of Kentucky. Esquire Pritchett's father, Wm. Pritchett, was born in one of the southern counties, and married Lydia Wilson, a native of Fayette county, of the same state.

The Wilsons were among the pioneer settlers of" the state. They were originally from Maryland, and at an early day located near Bryant's Station - the scene of many a bloody conflict between the white pioneers and the hostile savages.

Thomas A. Pritchett was the seventh of a family of nine children. Of these, one died in infancy ; the others grew to be men and women. He now has one brother and two sisters living. His father was a farmer in good circumstances, and owned about three' hundred acres of choice land. When he was about twelve or fourteen his father died. The part of Kentucky in which he lived was well settled, and for that day had good schools. He lived at home until he was about twenty-one, during which time he acquired the substantial elements of an education. On the twenty first of June, 1851, he married Mary E. Ingles, daughter of Wm. Ingles, who was born and raised in Bourbon county. He learned the trade of a saddle and harness maker, and from 1853 to 1856 carried on a harness and saddle shop at Paris, the county-seat of Bourbon county. He concluded to remove to Illinois, and in May 1856 arrived at Springfield, where he remained about a year. In the spring of 1857 he purchased Sec. 28 T. 17, R. 1 W., from the Illinois Central railroad company, and at once began the work of bringing it under cultivation.

Silly Bee P. L. Van Cleve

At that time there were few settlements on the prairie in Niantic township. Improvements had been made along the timber, but the prairie lay open and uncultivated. The Wabash railway had recently been put in operation through the western part of the county, and the town of Niantic had just begun its growth.

In 1864 he entered into the mercantile business, which he lias carried on ever since. He first started in the business of selling dry goods, with which he has since been more or less connected. He has been in business as long a time, consecutively, as any other business man now in Niantic.

He has had nine children, of whom five are now living. The oldest daughter, Clara B., is the wife of James H. Chamberlain. The others now living are - James H., Mamie, Nettie C., and Ada S. The remaining four died in infancy.

Esquire Pritchett is a man whom the citizens of his part of the county have entrusted with several public positions. He was elected justice of the peace in 1860, and has filled that office from that time to the present with the exception of a few months, during which time he laid down the office voluntarily. He has made an acceptable magistrate. He possesses a thorough knowledge of the legal points usually arising in the jurisdiction of a justice of the peace, and has enough ability and fairness to apply the law in justice to all parties.

For the last eight years he has also acted as notary public. After the adoption of township organization, he was elected the second member of the board of supervisors from Niantic township, filling the position during 1862. He has filled several other offices in the township.

In his political opinions, like most Kentuckians, he was originally a member of the Whig party. After the Whig party went to pieces, he became a democrat, voted for Douglas in 1860, the first vote for President he cast in this state, and has been a democrat ever since. He is not, however, so strongly devoted to party that he can see no excellence in men of opposing views, and in local elections has generally cast his vote for the candidate whom he con. sidered best qualified for the position. He is a man whose private character, and reputation for honesty and integrity have been above reproach. He has been connected with the Christian church for a number of years, and has served the church of that denomination at Niantic in the capacity of elder. He is now among the old residents of Niantic township, and with its business affairs has probably been as closely connected as any man in that part of the county. He is now carrying on a hardware and agricultural store at Niantic, a view of which appears among our illustrations of Niantic on another page.

John P. Faris

John P. Faris, one of the representative business men of Niantic, is a native of Highland county, Ohio, and was born on the seventh of April, 1840. The family from which he is descended was of Welsh origin. His great-grandfather, whose name was James Faris, emigrated from Wales and settled in Pennsylvania. He served as a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and was killed by the Indians during the progress of that struggle. His grandfather was named John Faris. His father Dr. E. S. Faris, was born in Brooke county, Virginia, in the year 1807. The family moved from Virginia to Highland county, Ohio, in the year 1815. This was just after the close of the war with Great Britain, and they were among the pioneer settlers of Highland county. Mr. Faris' mother's name before marriage was Lucinda Pulliam. She was a native of the state of Kentucky.

In the year 1854, the family moved from Ohio to this state. They resided in Pike county till 1 857, when they came to Niantic Mr. Faris was 14 years old when he became a resident of Illinois. He attended the public schools in Ohio, and after he came to Pike county acquiring the elements of a substantial business education. He began life on his own account by becoming a clerk in a store in Pike county, and has been more or less identified with the mercantile business since. For two years and a half after coming to Niantic he was clerking in a store at that place. In the year 1861, then twenty-one years old, he embarked in business on his own account, and began buying grain at Lanesville in Sangamon county. He commenced operations with only a small capital, but in a short time was able to enlarge his business. In 1864, in partnership with Thos. A. Pritchett, he opened a dry goods store at Niantic. He sold goods with Esquire Pritchett as a partner for three years, and for two years afterward was a partner of A. W. Pritchett. When he entered into the mercantile business he also began the buying of grain which he has since followed.

His marriage occurred on the fourth of May, 1865, to Miss Fannie Ruby of Lafayette, Indiana. By this marriage he has had three children. The oldest child, Edith, died at the age of five years. The second, Charles, was nearly two years old at the time of his death. The youngest, John B., is living, and is five years old. In his political opinions, Mr. Faris may be called a democrat with a big " D." He is a sincere believer in the principles of the democratic party, and considers that they are best fitted to carry out the ideas ou which our forefathers founded this republic. He cast his first vote for President for a democratic candidate, and voted the democratic ticket ever since. He has served as town clerk of Niantic, and has filled other positions. He has been engaged in active business enterprises in Niantic longer than almost any other resident of the town. He is now engaged in the business of dealing in grain. He has also been employed in making collections in that part of the county. He is a gentleman of unquestioned personal standing, and of excellent business capacity. His business training is the result of practical experience. He began life without any capital, except his own energy and natural business qualifications. He is an Odd Fellow, and also a member of the Masonic lodge at Illiopolis.