Oakwood Township (part 1 of 2)

Oakwood Township

The history of Oakwood township is important, not only on account of its early settlement, but because of its natural advantages as well. Its prairies are rich and extensive, its timber land fully sufficient, while the wealth of its coal banks is incalculable. Oakwood lies on the western border of Vermilion county. Its greatest length is, from east to west, twelve miles. Its width, north and south, is six miles. Like all other townships of Vermilion county, it is made up of parts of several congressional towns. Its north line is two miles north of the south line of town 20 N. Its south line is two miles north of the south line of town 19 N". The west side is the boundary line between Vermilion and Champaign counties. It is the middle line of range 14. On the east the boundary line is broken. Beginning at the south line of the township, at the southeast corner of section 19, T. 19 N., range 12 W., the boundary extends north one mile, thence east two miles on the south side of sections 17 and 16; thence north one mile; thence west one mile to the southeast corner of section 8; thence north one mile; thence west one-fourth mile; thence north one mile, and thence back east to the section line, where a north course on the east side of sections 32 and 29, in town 20, range 12, leads to the northern boundary. It will thus be seen that Oakwood includes a part of six congressional towns; that the greater portion of it is in range 13 W. ; that there is just one half of one congressional town in range 14; that but a small portion is in range 12 W., and that the whole consists of sixtyfive and three-fourths square miles.

In surface and soil the township is diversified. There is little of the soil, however, that cannot be said to be very deep, rich and productive. On the eastern end of the township the broken surface is not quite so attractive to the eye, nor perhaps as remunerative to the laborer; but it furnishes timber for those who dwell in the prairies. On the east end of the south side the same remark would apply. The western border is particularly flat in some places, so that the music of the cheerless frog may often be heard as he boasts of his broad domain. Beside the fiat surface, there is little else to complain of in regard to Nature's gifts fro Oakwood. This defect is largely overcome by draining. In fact, the level land is said to be superior to any other, when well drained. The farmers of Oakwood are draining, within the last few years, as rapidly as they can. All kinds of ditching is done, but tile draining is the most certain and successful, although we were told of a mole ditch which had been in successful operation for more than twenty years. Oakwood is prairie land, with the exception of a band of timber on the east and southeast, and a belt which follows Stony Creek about half way across the township, from the south. These furnish all the timber necessary for the improvement of the prairie portions. There is plenty of water in most parts. On the eastern border is the Middle Fork of the Vermilion River; on the south side is the Salt Fork ; through the center we find Stony Creek, which rises near the northwest corner of the township, and flows southeasterly through sections 31, 5, 8, 9, 16 and 22, and empties into the Salt Fork.

The township is crossed by one railroad, - the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western. It has lent its influence to the development of the country, and although we may conceive this to be from selfish motives, the result has been beneficial to the country. The unfortunate attempt to build three villages on it within one township must not be imputed to any other than those dwelling there. Besides plenty of water, excellent soil and a good climate, this country is well supplied with wood and coal, particularly the latter. We cannot but believe that the elements of a mighty industry are locked up in these resources, and need but the hand of energy and genius to bring them out. The occupation of the people at present is mostly farming and stock-raising. The soil seems equally adapted to the production of grass, corn and wheat. The wheat crop of 1879 is enormous. The acreage is large, and the average yield is beyond the record of the best wheat-growing portions of the state. The cultivation of wheat is on the increase. Corn has been the main crop. Large areas are also sown to grass. Those who ought to know maintain that the best thing for this country is stock-raising. Hogs are very extensively raised, and yet large quantities of corn are annually shipped to Indianapolis from each of the stations on the I. B. <fe W. railroad. At present the country is suffering somewhat from the financial crash of 1873. Many farmers ran behind when times were good, and found themselves much straightened to meet obligations when the crash came.

Early Settlements

The early settlements in this township take the lead of anything in the county, both in regard to priority of settlement, and their importance in the subsequent growth of the country ; and although these pioneer efforts were of such importance in the development of the wealth of this country, the particulars have faded away until accuracy is almost impossible in many cases. The early settlement at the old Major Vance salt works, the first in the township, is fully discussed in another place. It is only necessary to refer to it here. As an example of the general misconception which has arisen in regard to this settlement, we would say that in Oakwood township we found very few persons who had ever heard of Mr. Treat or Blackman, and none had a just conception of the affair, or a positive knowledge of any of the details. Again we were informed that a settlement was made and a cabin built on the Middle Fork as early as 1818, when the evidence shows that the settlement at the salt works was not onty the first here, but the first anywhere within the limits of Vermilion county.

After the first advent of Captain Blackman, and the building of a residence by Mr. Treat, in November, 1819, we find a Mr. Bailey on Stony Creek. This was probably the first man who settled on that creek. He came in 1821 or 1822, and opened a small piece of ground in the timber. This was in section 16, town 19 north, range 13 west. He sold out his interests to Mr. Harvey Ludington, late of Danville, Illinois. Mr. Ludington has been supposed by many to be the first settler on Stony Creek.

Stony Creek was called for a long time Ludington's Branch. The next man in these parts was a Mr. Walker. He settled near the same place, but a little farther up the creek, near the present site of Muncie. He, too, left his name with us. That point of timber where he dwelt went by the name of Walker's Point. The exact date of his settlement we were unable to learn, but it was after the settlement by Mr. Ludington. The settlements along the Salt Fork, on the south side of the township, were early begun, and here we find the principal population for some time. The exact date of many of these settlements cannot now be ascertained, nor do we conceive it to be of very great importance. It is quite probable that the next family that came in here after those already mentioned was that of the man who built the old watermill on the Salt Fork where the present steam and water mill is located. This mill was in operation as early as 1826; how long it had been running previously we are not quite sure. At this date Mr. Nathaniel Mead traveled over the country, and the only inhabitants that he remembers were those at this mill, and John Vance, at the salt works. Mr. Mead is, perhaps, the oldest person living in Oakwood township who saw this country as early as 1826; in fact, we doubt whether another grown person was here in 1826 and is here now. At that time he was twenty-six years old, having been born in the gray dawn of the nineteenth century. He is from the land of "steady habits," having first seen the light of day seven miles from Hartford, Connecticut. He remained there till he was eighteen years old. His youthful days were spent in the dairy. On his western-bound trip he first stopped at Cincinnati. After a stay here we find him next in Union county, Indiana. Although he came here as early as 1826, "prospecting," he did not permanently locate his family in this county until 1835. At this time he bought land near the site of Conkeytown. Excepting a short stay in Covington, Indiana, he has remained in this township ever since. He has reared a family of children. His sons are well-to-do, important elements in societ}r, and he still lingers on the shores of time, two miles southwest of Oakwood station, enjoying the fruits of seventy-nine years' toil among the children of men. He remembers well the war of 1812, and the rejoicing at its close. During his recollection not only Oakwood township and Vermilion county have been developed from their native wildness to a populous, well-organized community, but industries have sprung up all over the nation. He was seven years old when Robert Fulton made that wonderful experiment on the Hudson ; when Lafayette made his wonderful passage through this country he had reached the age of full manhood; when the first car carried its load of stone from the Quincy quarries, he was verging on the period of middle-life; as Queen Victoria ascended the throne, he was growing old. If all the progress of art and science, which has been made within the memory of such men as he, was written in a book, the world could scarcely contain it. The progress in itself is not so startling as the fact that one man's experience has embraced it all.

In following up the settlement after the arrival of the miller on Salt Fork, we are at a loss to trace its progress. ,Williarn Smith opened the farm now occupied by J. R. Thompson, as early as 1830. Smith was an important man in the early settlement of that neighborhood, but no trace of his descendants is to be found here now. In the same neighborhood, and probably earlier in point of time, was a Mr. Lander. Then, too, we hear of Mr. Shearer in this neighborhood at a very early date. Among the early settlers in this part, Mr. Pogue was farther west; he was near the county line. Down along the creek was Mr.

Brewer, and close to the present site of old Conkey Town was Stephen Crane. Thomas W. and John Q. Deakin came in 1835. They lived in this same neighborhood, just on the south line of the township. They were important elements in the early settlement of the neighborhood on Salt Fork. On the west side of Stony Creek, Mr. Wright probably followed Mr. Walker. In 1832 Mr. Aaron Dalbey followed the opening made here, and came over from the south side of the Salt Fork, and began a farm one mile south of the present site of Muncie. Mr. Dalbey was a millwright, and rendered important service to the community in building the second mill on Salt Fork. Mr. Shepherd was the proprietor, but Mr. Dalbey was the architect and builder. Mr. Dalbey remained here till his death. His widow married John McFarland, and still resides on the original farm. The farm is a good one, and under the careful management of Mr. McFarland has reached the highest state of cultivation. A little farther north, up Stony Creek, we find John McCarty, about 1836. He settled just above Muncie. Beyond him, and later, came Harrison and Seneca Stearns. They came to the country, young men, though married, in 1836, and have remained in the edge of the timber ever since. In mentioning the early settlers, we would not forget John Shepherd, who came in 1836, and engaged in the milling enterprise, but who died before he saw his work fully completed. These are the principal early settlers in the southwestern part of the township. No doubt there were others that came early, but they soon moved away. Of those who came later we have scarcely time to speak, although such men as Havard and Cast, that came in 1838, would now be considered old settlers.

The first settlements within the limits of what might be called the Oakwood neighborhood were made by a Mr. Boland, James Norris and Henry Oakwood, who built dwellings the same spring. This was in 1833. Mr. Oakwood, after whom the township was named, opened his farm then, and remained there the remainder of his life. His work was identified with the interests of the community. Mr. Hubbard came to the same place in the fall of 1833, and lived there till his death. The descendants of these men are too well known to demand anvthing more than a mere mention of the name. Henrv Sallee came to the country a young man in 1834. He soon married a daughter of Henry Oakwood, and located on the east side of Stony Creek, in the edge of the timber, where he has remained ever since. He has raised his family there. His daughters are married and live there. They too have always lived there, and we suppose that they will die and be buried there. These things are not uncommon in old settled and populous countries, but they are unusual in so recently settled countries as this.

When the salt works began to be operated quite extensively, settlements were made np the Middle Fork. In the timber there were a number of settlers and " squatters," many of whom went away as the country began to be settled np. But a number of the earlier ones remained, and their descendants may still be found, some on the prairie and some still clinging to the woods, indulging the delusion that residence on the prairie requires a hardihood, either enforced by poverty or prompted by a recklessness that abandons all ideas of home. About the year 1827 Jesse Ventres and James Howell came to the neighborhood of where New Town now is. They were from Kentucky. Jesse Ventres bought a piece of land one-half mile southeast of New Town from a Mr. Indicut, who must have visited this country in an early day. We were shown the residence said to have been built in 1818» but which we have concluded must have been an error in the date. Certain it is, however, that the building, still occupied by Mr. Michael, was built at a time when hostilities with the Indians must have been anticipated, for the port-holes, by which the red-cheeks were to be discovered and repelled, were manifest in the building. Mr. Ventres afterward sold out and went to Texas. Abraham W. Kutledge was the purchaser. He came to the neighborhood in 1832. He lived and died on this place, and the farm has been in the hands of the heirs until recently. Howell lived in different parts of the neighborhood and finally went west. Stephen Griffith came to his farm, one-half mile north of New Town, about 1826 or 1827. His long residence there, and his efforts in behalf of the public good are too well known to call for a repetition here. There was also in here at a very early date a regular Predestinarian Baptist preacher by the name of Richard Gideon. He came about 1826 or 1827. He is supposed by some to be the first man who preached in this country. But he, too, went west. He left for Texas, and none of the family remain. In the fall of 1828 the Makemsons came. The Makemson company was composed of Thomas Makemson, a revolutionary soldier, and his family. His sons were Andrew, David, Samuel, John and James. They stopped one and one-half miles north of the present village of Oakwood. Here they lived till the father died. John remained on the home farm for forty-one years. He then went west on account of his health. His son still lives on the farm on which he was born. The other descendants of Thomas Makemson are scattered abroad in different places. In this connection, and in this settlement, we find A. W. Brittingham, who came to this country from Maryland in 1830. He was still single, though born in 1801. He came with his father, who moved to the juvenile settlement and died there. Arthur married a daughter of Thomas G. Watson in 1833, and settled in the neighborhood of which we have been writing. He remained there till 1872. He had a great deal of knowledge of pioneer life on account of his practice of medicine. He was not a regular physician, but took up the Thompsonian water cure and steam bath and applied it in many cases with some degree of success. Mr. Brittingham still lives at an advanced age, and enjoys a tolerable degree of health.

In the fall of 1828 (or '29, perhaps) John Cox came to the residence of Jesse Ventres's from Big Sandy, in Kentucky. He built a house within a short time where Swift's mill now stands. Mr. Cox lived in the neighborhood until his death in 1846 ; his sons William and Stephen reside in the vicinity of Oakwood Station, having been in the county more than fifty years. In 1829 William Craig entered the land on which he now lives, at Palestine, Illinois. At this time the land office was located there. In 1830 he came to the place to improve it ; he was a single man then, being about twenty-two years old. His brother came with him and they worked together. After one season of toil and hardship William concluded that it was too big a job for a single team, so he set out to find some susceptible damsel with whom he might link forces. According to his own account he found the search a tedious one, for it was not until 1836 that he led his blushing bride to the altar and beguiled her into a trip to the far west. The story of Mr. Craig's bridal tour has been so often told, and the particulars of his early settlement here have been so thoroughly bruited abroad, that it is not necessary to repeat them here. Suffice it to say that after a life of excessive toil and hardship, during which he has amassed a considerable quantity of property, Mr. Craig finds himself surrounded by his nine children, none of whom, in all probability, will ever realize the conditions from which their prosperity sprang, and himself still able to enjoy life and its blessings. These are the principal settlers of the township in the timber. A few of those already mentioned got out short distances from the timber. Mr. William Parris claims to be the first man that ventured out into the prairie in Oakwood township. He moved from the state road, where he had been since 1834, to the edge of the prairie northwest of Muncie, in 1842. He then went farther out and moved a house into the prairie where J. M. Havard now lives. This house was brought all the way from Salt Fork and put up where it still stands, in 1844 - thirty-five years ago. But this was only a short distance from the timber. At that time, even, large tracts of land lay unoccupied and almost unfrequented within the present limits of Oakwood township ; all the western part of the township was open and much of it afterward sold at very low figures : such as was denominated swamp land was sold as low as twelve and a half cents per acre. The first to settle in the prairie northwest of where the village of Fithian now is, was James H. Black. His residence was beyond the settlements entirely ; he was deemed crazy, almost. The first settlers had thought that if they secured the prairie adjoining the timber no one would ever go beyond them, and they would thus have perpetual range on the prairie. Mr. Black made his home where he now lives in 1856 ; here he bought two hundred and forty acres of land and improved it. At about this same time William M. Rutledge came to the prairie where he now lives, in the northwest corner of Oakwood township. He, too, has remained where his homeplace is for twenty-three years ; he owns just one half section here. He is a son of the early settler, A. W. Rutledge, who located southeast of New Town in 1832. These pioneers of the prairie have enjoyed a remarkable degree of good luck. They bought their land for a trifle ; they were not under the necessity of clearing it before they could cultivate. They were not compelled to fence for some time, and all they required to become independent was a determination to stay right there. Their land has increased in value more than tenfold in many cases, and what could have been bought for a few hundreds then is worth as many thousands now.

In following up Stony Creek the early settlers began to get out into the prairie somewhat. At the "Crab Apple Grove" we find Joseph L. Shepherd, in 1849. He bought land there, and has remained near the same place ever since. A little farther up, and more decidedly in the prairie, we find James Gorman as early as 1853. From about this time the active occupation of the prairie may be dated. When we look over this broad area of productive farm-land, and see the immense crops of corn, oats, wheat and potatoes that are annually produced, and the herds of cattle and droves of hogs that go to feed the hungry multitudes of our large cities, and then remember that twrenty-five years ago all of this was unknown ; that croaking frogs and creeping serpents occupied these rich fields, the progress of a quarter century provokes our wonder as well as challenges our admiration.

Religious Intelligence

Like all other branches of society's interests, the items of interest in Oakwood, of a religious character, are diversified and peculiar. Not only do we find the various denominations represented, but we have a complicated history of almost every one. The various points of settlement and their peculiar relations make it almost impossible to give a correct and intelligent account of the progress of religious interests in the township. If we are to judge of a people's piety by the number of ecclesiastical organizations which they maintain, then Oakwood might be accounted righteous. So far as we have been able to learn, there are nine regular places of holding religious services. There is a provoking indetiniteness in facts and traditions handed down from the origin of things through the lips of generations. Taking into account the probabilities, we suppose that the first preaching in this country was among the Indians by missionaries. And here we do not refer to the original efforts in this direction by Marquette and his followers, but to more recent work. Near the old Oakwood farm the Indians had meetings quite regularly, until some time after the settlement of the pale-faces in their immediate vicinity. As a minister among the white inhabitants the earliest was, probably, Mr. Richard Gideon, a regular Predestinarian Baptist minister, who lived one and a half miles southwest of New Town. He came about 1S26 or 1827, and held meetings occasionally in various parts of the country. But he soon went away, and whether he organized a band of followers we know not. There is a society of the same faith near where he lived, but its origin does not date back to his day. The first organized society of which we have any positive information, was what was called, in a later day, " Old Bethel." This was a Methodist church, and stood one-half mile south of New Town. The first preaching of this denomination was by Revs. Risley, Fox and Colston. Before the building of the church meeting was held in private houses. " Old Bethel " was built about 1835 or 1836. It was one of the first houses of worship in the county. It was 30 x 40 feet, and cost about $500. It was erected by Ashley Southerland. Prominent members of this society at that time included Eli Helmick, Stephen Griffith, Mr. Haston, and many others. The "Bethel Circuit " included a vast scope of territory. People came from remote points in order to get within a church. Twenty miles was not considered a great distance to go in order to attend quarterly meeting. This first building answered the purposes of the society until 1873, when a new house was erected at New Town. This is a large, commodious and well-finished frame building. It was put up by Mr. Kirsh, at a cost of $2,100. The society is a strong one, and keep a flourishing Sabbath-school in operation throughout the year. New Town is the head of a circuit and contains a parsonage for the pastor. Eli Helmick has charge of the work, at present, as a supply. The circuit includes the societies at Pilot Chapel, Emberry, Finley and Bethel, with others where no buildings are erected. The society at Bethel, as well as the circuit of which it is the head, represents the most influential elements in the community in which they exist. In following up the history of Methodism in this township we shall find that nearly all of these societies are an outgrowth of the original one at Bethel. Pleasant Grove class is one of the most recent. It was organized at Pleasant Grove school-house in February, 1879. It began with forty members, and although only a short distance from Bethel, the good people there propose building a house of worship. This society originated in a remarkable religious interest which manifested itself among a people who had hitherto been outside of church faith or creed. Forty new members were formed into a society, and others withdrew their membership from elsewhere and put it in here. John Cook was made class leader, and services are regularly held in the school-house. This society also keeps up a flourishing Sabbath-school. They have a large attendance, and a manifest interest in the study of the scriptures. At the Brown school-house there was a class of Methodists organized in 1873. Rev. Mr. Cline put this society in working order. A. J. Bennett is the class-leader. Preaching is held regularly. There is a membership at present of about thirty. They, too, keep up a Sabbathschool.

Finley Chapel was built as a union church, but under the supervision of the Christian (New Light) church. This was in the summer of 1854. Zephaniah Wilkins was the principal man in having the building put up. James C. Osborne was the mechanic, and he had a mechanic's lien on the property. When he failed to get his pay, he sold the property to Enoch Kingsbury, of Danville. Mr. Kingsbury sold to the trustees of the Methodist church. The Methodists came into possession of Finley in 1860. About this time the society was first organized by Rev. John C. Long. Mr. Long was the first man who preached in the church. It had not been finished up until these men took hold of it. At the beginning there were about thirty members. Prominent among these were: John Makemson, John M. Doran, Martin R. Oakwood, George Cadle, Louis Anderson, L. G. Collett, George A. Fox, and the wives of most of these. William C. Harrison was another whose influence and money helped the good cause along. He gave the ground on which the church stands. John M. Doran was the first class-leader. George A. Fox has been class-leader for a number of years. George A. Fox, W. H. Fox, Charles Hillman, E. C. Layton, Joseph Truax, are the trustees. The church cost the Methodists altogether about $1,000. It is getting a little old now. The intention is to build another before many years, and locate it in Oakwood Station. There are at present about one hundred and thirty members. In the history of Finley there have been three extraordinary revivals. The first was under the care of Rev. B. F.Hyde, in the winter of 1868. This was first in importance, though not in time. One hundred and thirty-five persons, mostly heads of families, united with the church at this place during a series of meetings. In 1876, under the administration of G. Louther, one hundred and thirty-three joined. These were mostly young people. In 1866, under the efforts of John C. Long, there was quite a manifestation, and thirty united with the church. In the western end of the township this denomination did not flourish so early as in the east. The first to begin church organization were the regular Predestinarian Baptists. The first Methodist preaching in west of Stony Creek was probably by Eli Helmick. John C. Long, while on the New Town circuit, held meetings in the school-house above Conkey Town. Revs. Bradshaw and Wallace preached here in the same place. A society was formed, and worship kept up until the building of the church in Fithian. In 1859 there was a society of Methodists formed at the Central school-house. The first preaching here was by Eli Helmick. Mr. Helmick preached in nearly even7 neighborhood in the western part of the county. As early as 1830 he traveled over this country. He of course did not preach on the prairie at that time. Joshua Worley preached at Central school-house quite early. John E. Yinson did the first preaching after the organization of the society. The Central appointment has continued ever since the first organization.

The Regular Predestinarian Baptists, or, as they have been nicknamed by some, the Hard-Shell Baptists, were early occupants of the religious field here. They held the first meetings in the neighborhood of Conkey Town. These were in a log school-house near the old Aaron Dalbey farm. Rhodes Smith was the principal man of influence in the church. At that time he was keeping a small store on the east side of Stony Creek, on the State road. John Orr was the first Baptist preacher. At a later date Mr. Smith moved farther up the Creek, near " Crab Apple Grove," and a society was formed and met at his house regularly. This was in 1S58. The organizer and minister for some time was Elder John Orr. The members of this society, as it was first organized at Mr. Smith's, were the following: John Orr and wife. Rhodes Smith and wife, Jesse Berk and wife, Thomas Cox and wife, James Smith, William Smith, Martin Orr and wife, Nancy Truax and Rebecca Truax. After some time the meetings were held in the Gorman school-house. They continued in the school-house till the building of their church, one and one-half miles north of Oakwood Station. This was put up in the spring of 1876. It is 26x36 feet. It cost 8800. The ministers at the time of the building of the church were R. A. Rabourn and Stephen Cox. They still officiate in that capacity. This society has a neat country church. It has a membership of forty-one. After the first organization it grew till it had thirty members. Then it experienced a season of decline. At one time there were but nine belonging. It then took new life, began to prosper, and has continued with the result above mentioned.

The Walker's Point Church of Missionary Baptists was established on Stony Creek about 1854. The first preachers were Carter and Blankenship. The society contained at first the following members : Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Stearns and one daughter, Seneca Stearns, Joseph Jones and wife and two daughters and one son, Nancy Hart and Nancy Deakin. Harrison Stearns and Joseph Jones were appointed deacons at the first organization. The church edifice was erected in 1857. It is 36x45 feet, and cost $1,200. There is a membership of one hundred and five. F. P. Dalbey is clerk. Mr. Stearns is still deacon. In addition to the regular services of the church, a Sabbath-school is kept in good running order. This is the only society of this denomination that we have found in the township. It is in a prosperous condition, so far as we learned. Its church building was the first in this part of the township. It was the second in the township, so far as we can ascertain.

That branch of the Christian church which has been called New Lights ever since the time of Stone, of Kentucky, manifested quite an enterprising spirit in the early settlement of the west. Isaac Emly and Zephaniah Wilkins were the principal men in the first efforts here. Religious services were held in the Conkey Town school-house, and a society organized that continued seven or eight years. Mr. Emly did the preaching here. The Peytons and Elizabeth Cast were the most important members of this society ; but for some reason, which we did not learn, the society failed to keep up an organization here. The efforts of the same denomination in the Oakwood neighborhood have already been noticed. Stephen Griffith built a brick church and gave it to these people conditionally. There was an organization at this place for some time, but Mr. Griffith finally took the building back, and the place of meeting was changed to the Craig school-house. Services were held here until 1862, when the organization was removed to Pilot township, where the reader will look for a continuation of its history. In 1874 Rev. H. H. Gunn organized a society of Christians - New Lights - at the Central school-house. He continued to preach there for two years, and then Rev. John Green moved into the neighborhood and took charge of the church. He is the present pastor. His church numbers forty members at this point. Richard A. Friedrich is the clerk of the society. They seem in a pros- perous condition, and though they have no church, they have one of the best school-houses in the township in which to hold their meetings. The Campbell ite division of the Christian church began meetings in the school-house north of Conkey Town a number of years ago. William P. Shockey was the minister. He organized a society here. Thomas Deakin and wife, William Fellows, and Cyrus Ratcliff and wife, were among the more prominent members. The organization was kept up for a half dozen of years, and then discontinued. The number of religious organizations that 'sprung up in this vicinity is remarkable. The Christians (Campbellites) organized a society at the Gorman school-house in 1869. The Eev. R. M. Martin was the first to hold meetings at this point, but the organization was perfected by Rev. W. F. Yates, of Champaign county. Isaac Davis, James Rice and wife, Marcus Davis and wife, Thomas Cox, William Dearth and P. T. Hedges were the principal members at the organization. They enrolled forty-two names at the beginning ten years ago. There are about sixty at present. At one time they reached nearly ninety members. There are at present two elders and one deacon. P. T. Hedges and James Rice are the former, while William H. Dearth fills the position of the latter. These have served in their respective positions from the first organization of the society. Thomas Cox wss deacon from the organization until the fall of 1878. The present pastor is John C. Myers. A Sabbath-school of considerable interest is kept up at this point. It will be seen that the people are not without opportunities of moral culture, and that a variety of persuasions offer a number of creeds sufficient to meet the religious predilections of a much diversified population.

Early Industries

First and foremost among things of this kind must be placed the salt-works. This enterprise called the first settlers to the county ; it supplied them with a necessity that was hard to obtain anywhere else; its importance was recognized by Indian and white, and by government as well. But as the work and its influence are discussed elsewhere, it is unnecessary to dwell long upon it here. The one hundred kettles in which salt was made were scattered over the country, and occasionally one may still be seen.

In point of time, the old water-mill on the Salt Fork came in next after the industry above mentioned. It was put up at a very early date ; in 1826 it was in active operation ; it continued for a number of years. At that time people would come all the way from McLean county in order to get their grinding done. The mill stood out in the middle of the stream just north of the present mill ; it was built of logs, and ran, as all other mills did at that time, by water-power. It was succeeded in about the year 1837 by a mill put up by Aaron Dalbey for Mr. John Shepherd, who came to Illinois from Ohio in 1836. Mr. Shepherd put $3,000 in this mill, and then died before he could realize anything from his expenditures. The mill then fell into the hands of Aaron Dalbey, and from his possession to Mr. Parris. Parris operated it awhile and then sold out to John Hay. In 1873 C. M. Berkley bought the mill and has been running it since that time ; the same building that Shepherd put up is now used ; it shows very evidently the marks of time ; it was moved from the position that it first occupied to the bank of the creek ; this was only a short distance. It is 30 x 42^ feet ; it has both water and steam power. The supply of water is so constant that the steam is seldom used. The mill is situated just north of the south line of Oakwood township.

The first mill on Middle Fork is in dispute. It is frequently impossible to get two stories alike. One old settler tells us that Mr. Whitsill built the first mill on Middle Fork about 1832 or '33, that he operated it several years, and then it fell into the hands of the McGee family ; this was a grist-mill with a saw-mill added ; it finally went down on account of age. Another man, who has been in this country more than fifty years, tells us that James Howell built the first mill on Middle Fork ; that he operated it a short time and died, that his son did likewise ; that a Mr. Downing then took it, and next James Cunningham ran it till it went down. This was first a saw-mill, but it finally had a corn-cracker attached before it closed. About forty years ago James George built a grist-mill on the Middle Fork and operated it eight or ten years ; he then sold to Mr. Watts. The last named ran the mill seven or eight years and sold to Phillips. Mr. Phillips then sold to Abisha Sanders. Done & Byerly rebuilt the mill and set it to going with new energy, but it soon passed into the hands of Swift, of Danville, who owns and runs it at the present time.

Coal

Aside from the fertility of the soil, the most valuable natural endowment of Oakwood township is her coal. It is of good quality and very abundant ; there have been such quantities taken from the banks that the farmers could almost get it for hauling away. For a number of years in the first opening up of the business, any who wished could dig all the coal wanted and take it away free of charge. The first use made of this coal -was probably by Mr. Vance in boiling salt-water ; he began using coal about 1830. The first who mined and hauled coal away to sell were Rice & Co. ; they would haul with teams to Champaign and adjoining counties. The first bank opened was about three miles southeast of Oakwood Station. We find the following in the business at present : John Thomas, B. Coffeen, William Moore, McBroom & Yerkis, G. L. Hiatt, L. Teach, Valentine Shock, Francis and Charles Moore ; these nearly all ship coal. The number of bushels annually taken out is immense ; the exact amount we have no means of ascertaining, but the enterprise seems destined to increase in magnitude and importance until it will be second to no interest in the township.^

Educational

In discussing the educational condition of affairs, we can find nothing new. It is the same old story that we have all heard our grandparents tell, - of log school-houses, of smoking fire-place, where the full length of one side of the house was devoted to the purpose of warming the others, of stick-chimneys in many cases, of greased paper for glass, of an absent log for a window, of puncheon benches for seats, where little fellows' legs might hang over and go to sleep all they chose, so that the eyes were on the book ; in short, of all the trials, temptations, hardships and vexations of pioneer pedagogy. As a remarkable instance of the elementary condition of the early schools, we were told of a little incident in the school life of Michael Oakwood. At times they had had a good teacher in the Oakwood settlement, one who could go beyond the " double rule of three." Young Mr. O. had progressed finely in his studies, as things were counted then, and as he was a young man, and still desirous of attaining more knowledge than the curriculum of the common school afforded, he was advised to begin this advanced course of culture by a study of English grammar. Such a course could be pursued only by the thoroughly ambitious and qualified pupil. Mr. O. was fortunate enough to have a teacher who had been through the labyrinth of English syntax, but said pedagogue had not yet learned our present habits of oral instruction. It was therefore necessary that a text-book be purchased. The free-hearted disciple of Pestalozzi of to-day would have loaned so ambitious a student anything in his library, but the library of the teacher in this case contained no treatise on this abstruse science. The young man was advised to apply to the book venders of Danville. He did so, but without success. He was told that English grammars were not used in the schools of Vermilion county, that they never before had any call for such an article, and that in the city he would find his search vain, unless certain families of culture, lately from the east, should happen to have the article, and would be kind enough to benefit him with a loan of the same. The search terminated as anticipated. Mr. O. found a Kirkham with the compendium gone. He used this until he had an opportunity of sending to Chicago, by Mr. Rankin, who took up a drove of cattle, and brought back the necessary books. We were further told of the ignorance of some of the early instructors in these schools by a man who attended one of the first in the country. It was simply the inability to work through the fundamental principles of arithmetic. Our informant said that he " stalled " his teacher in long division. "Whether he worked out himself, or whether the teacher finally mastered the " sum," or whether teacher and pupil remained on the elementary side of long division, we were not told, but certain it is that much of the early teaching bore about the same relation to our modern successful teaching that the old wooden mold-board plow bore to the present riding plows. But why should not we expect the same relations ? This is an age of progress, and he who thinks he sees some great things in "the good old times" needs but go back to his wooden mold-board plow, his reap-hook and his sled ; and in school facilities to the testament for a child's reader ; to a book on geography without any maps ; and to the days when none but men dare teach in winter, and dare not refuse to treat on holidays without the penalty of a ducking and a barred door against him.

The first school building in the township was built about 1829 or 1830. It was of the usual pioneer pattern, and stood close to the present site of New Town. 'Squire Newel and a Mr. McGuinn taught in this house soon after it was built. This house continued in use for some time, but another was built on what has a long time been known as the parsonage hill, just south of New Town. Another of the early school-houses was built on the State Road, near Stony Creek. At present the contrast is great between the building, their conveniences and number as compared with the condition forty years ago. Large, commodious and well-furnished school-houses may be seen in almost every district. There is, generally, a good class of teachers, and the progress in school work is rapid and practical.

War And Political Record

In the Indian war of 1832 Oakwood had its representatives. Stephen Griffith, David Makemson and Samuel Makemson were in the war. At least, they went out as the threatenings of Indian invasion became evident. The volunteers from this part of the state did not reach the scene of action in time to participate in the illustrious campaign at Stillman, but they were on hand at a later period, ready to enter "the thickest of the fight." Mr. Crawford, from Indiana, went out with the company of Independents. He still lives, and resides in the western part of the township. He is the only man living in the township now that was in the Black Hawk war. There were a number in the Mexican war from this township, it is said; but they have either moved away or died, as we met no man who volunteered from this part of the county. In the war of 1861 Oakwood furnished her full proportion. Captain Levin Vinson led his company mostly from the east side of this township. All over the country we meet men who braved the cannons of a confederate foe. Here and there may be found a widow with a number of children whose father perished in his countrv's service. Anions those who left a wife and children we found the following: George Boord, of Co. C, 125th Reg.; William Hart, 2d Lieut. Co. G, 125th, and Nathan C. Howard, Co. D, 135th Reg. Of Mr. J. H. Black's four sons that were in the army, two died, one in Jefferson City, Missouri, of typhoid fever, and another near Washington, of the same disease. Thomas W. Smith, of Co. F, 26th Reg., was wounded in the second day's fight before Atlanta. He was taken to Chattanooga and interred in section F, grave 670, in the general hospital cemetery, on the 13th of September, 1864. In the cemetery on the State Road several soldiers are buried. Two were buried in one day at one time. Although their deeds were among the bravest of warlike feats on record, others rest in their unknown graves with their praises sung only in the general patriotic anthems of the nation. But the results of their labors are the same as though their names were inscribed on every tombstone in the land, and their deeds in the mouths of all who enjoy the blessings of liberty, prosperity and happiness so dearly bought and bravely won by the nation's gallant men.

In political matters, the township is pretty nearly evenly divided between democrats and republicans. This has been the case for a few years only. Formerly, Oakwood stood republican by large majorities. On national and state questions they still hold the field, but in local elections we find a few democrats in office. Although, as a general rule, we find "stalwart" republicans in this part of the county, men whose opposition to democracy is as pronounced and vigorous as the most radical could desire, we do not find much bitterness nor party strife in local affairs.

Railroads And Highways

As has been remarked elsewhere in these pages, the prairies of this country were not occupied until a comparatively recent date, but nothing has contributed more largely to this result than the railroads. Oakwood is traversed its full length by the Indianapolis, Bloomington &

Western railroad. This road enters the township from the east, near the southeast corner of section 8, town 19, range 12, and with the exception of a short curve on the east side, follows the section line west through to the county line. This is two miles north of the south line of the township. The road was built in 1870 and 1871, and though many persons were cheated out of the pay for their work, it made lively times for awhile. Previously there had been a few little places which had been striving to attain the dignity of " town," so that when the railroad came much strife was manifested in securing the location of stations. But the three, though small, furnish so many shipping points for the farmer, and tend to give a lively competition in this line of business. Much grain and stock are shipped by this road. It furnishes direct communication with Indianapolis, and will be the means of inducing a thorough cultivation of this wonderful farming land. To one unacquainted with shipping figures, the amount already shipped from these small stations seems wonderful - both of stock and grain.

The oldest wagon-road in this township, or anywhere in the western part of the county, is the old State Road, which dates back to pioneer days. It runs obliquely through the south part of the township, passing out at the south side about two and one-half miles from the county line. On this road the early settlements on the south and west side of the township were made. It is still much traveled. There were roads along the timber in various places at quite remote dates, but we found it impossible to trace their origin. At present nearly every section line in the township is a laid-out road, while there are many that do not follow lines. The level character of the country makes it necessary that these be either graded or drained. In some places we find thoroughfares that must be well nigh impassable in rainy weather, but generally the roads are in good condition. This is more especially true of those that lead east to Danville, and there are several.

Organization Of Oakwood

Although the system of township organization was adopted in 1850, Oakwood, as a distinct township, dates its birth from a much more recent period. What is now included within the limits of this township lay formerly in Pilot, Vance and Catlin. On the 2d day of October, 1867, Geo. A. Fox, supervisor from Vance township, offered a resolution creating a new township from the territory of Vance, Catlin and Pilot, in accordance with the prayer of certain petitioners from said townships. At this time Mr. West was supervisor from Pilot and Mr. Church from Catlin. These gentlemen supported the motion, but the supervisors' court concluded to delay action thereon until the March session of the next year, in order that all persons affected by the proposed change, might have opportunity to approve or disapprove the change. Accordingly, on the 9th of March, 1868, the petition presented in the fall of 186T was again taken np, and Mr. Fox urged the passage of a resolution creating the new township. An effort was made to postpone again the consideration of this resolution, but without success. The prayer of the petitioners was then granted, whereupon the township was declared created, and an election ordered for the purpose of selecting township officers. This first election was held at the Stearns school-house on the 7th of April, 1868 : Geo. A. Fox was elected supervisor ; Henry Sallee, town clerk ; J. A. Littler, assessor ; J. A. Brothers, collector ; Joseph Truax, Levin Vinson, J. C. Jenkins, commissioners of highways ; Samuel Major and Thomas Makemson, constables; Geo. A. Fox and J. H. West, Justices of the peace. The present officers are (elected on the 2d of April, 1879) Henry J. Oakwood, supervisor ; Henry Sallee, town clerk ; W. H. Noble, assessor ; William Craigmile, collector ; Joseph Mullins, commissioner of highways. Elected in 1878 : James Hargan, commissioner of Highwaj-s. Elected in 1877: J. A. Littler and William P. Van Allen, justices of peace ; J. K. Sowards and Charles K. Trimble.

There are two precincts in Oakwood township, called first and second ; the line which separates them extends north and south between sections 21 and 22, 16 and 15, 9 and 10, 4 and 3, T. 19, R. 13, and between sections 33 and 34, 28 and 27, T. 20, R. 13. Oakwood Station is the point of voting for the first, and Fithian for the second.

Oakwood can boast of the number, if not the size, of the hamlets within its borders. If, in considering these places, we begin with that which dates farthest back in the settlement of this country, the place around which early legends cling with the dim uncertainty that characterizes the histoiw of a Thebes, a Cuzco, a Nineveh or a Jericho, we must turn our attention first to

New Town

This village was surveyed and laid out by Benjamin Coddington, from the east half of the southeast quarter of section 25, T. 20, R. 13. The lots were made three rods wide and six rods long ; the alleys are one rod wide. Main street extends north and south four rods wide; High street extends east and west, of the same width. The plat of the village was filed on the 15th of June, 1838, and given under the hand of Owen West, county surveyor, and filed with the probate justice on the 27th of June, 1838. The first man to locate in the vicinity of this place was Stephen Griffith, whom we have referred to as coming to this neighborhood in about 1825 or 1826 ; but Mr. Griffith was not connected with the town. Mr. Coddington built the first dwelling. Within a year or two after the building of the first house in the village Hezekiah Miners built the second. About the same time Jonathan Harris put up the first store ; he ran the business for a short time, and then they were a long time without any store. William Reed, the earl}7 sheriff of the county, built a residence here in 1837. A blacksmith shop was set up about 1838 or 1839 ; this finally failed and the second one was not started until 1857 or 1858. Thomas Henderson put up a store in 1849. In the mean time a few families had gathered around the spot, until at present there are nearly a score of buildings in that vicinity. There is one blacksmith-shop, one wagon-shop, one shoe-shop, one school-house, one church, one drug-store and postoffice, one general country store of dry-goods, clothing, groceries, etc. etc., one M.D., and one parsonage where a minister may generally be found. New Town lies off the railroad, and thus experiences a disadvantage in competition with its sister villages. The postoffice is kept by S. H. Oakwood. Its name is Pilot, and confusion is thus sometimes made from the fact that Pilot township lies so close to the north and that there is a postoffice there, near Pilot Grove. At New Town there is quite a flourishing lodge of

This lodge was organized through the efforts, more particularly, of Tilton and Payne, merchants here. For a short time they worked under dispensation with the following persons : Lonzo G. Payne, John O'Ferrall, T. J. George, Asbury Craig, A. J. Bennett, J. G. Kirsh, John Cork, jr., A. S. Tevebaugh, G. F. Hilliary, James Osborne, A. B. Tilton. Added to these were : D. Makemson, A. McVicker, Samuel Durham, J. H. Trimmell, S. H. Oakwood, C. W. Keeslar, C. Sumner, John P. Tevebaugh, Jesse Wilson, J. H. Van Allen, M. C. Davis, Samuel Solomon, F. A. Collison, C. J. Martin and Jesse Doney for charter members. Catlin Lodge is looked upon as the mother of this. The charter is dated Chicago, October 7, 1 874. A. G. Payne was the first master. Since that time Dr. O'Ferrall and Thomas George have acted in that capacity. In the summer of 1874, Tilton and Payne, merchants, built a new storehouse, and above they made a hall and sold it to the lodge. This hall is 22x45 feet; it is fixed up nicely, carpeted, and the rooms furnished with all the paraphernalia of a wellequipped lodge of A.F. & A.M. The society is out of debt and in good condition. They have a membership of about forty. The officers at present are : John O'Ferrall, W.M. ; J. G. Kirsh, S.W. ; M. C. Davis, J.W. ; John Swift, Secretary ; J. V. Ludwig, S.D. ; A. S. Tevebaugh, Treasurer; C. Sumner, Tyler.

Conkey Town

Some years ago there was quite a cluster of houses, and a lively business was done, at what was called Conkey Town. At present it is difficult to find much of the place, but we can find where it was. Here is an instance of the influence that a railroad has on a small country village when it passes to one side a short distance. We have no record of any survey, or any laying off into a town ; but O. M. Conkey came here about 1851, and operated a general country store. He came from Eugene, Indiana. A Mr. Denman set up a blacksmithshop, and Mr. Conkey got a post-office. Conkey sold out to Rowe & Beatty, and they sold to Mattocks & Maters Brothers. These men finally closed out about the time that the I. B. & W. came through. There was also another man, who kept a grocery, beer, etc.; but he, too, closed out and moved away. The first ideas of trade in this part of the country were entertained by Mr. Rhodes Smith. He began business on the State Road, just down close to Stony Creek, at quite an early day. "Why he quit we did not learn, but suppose that this suggested the idea of Conke}7 Town, as well as the fact of a successful mill which had been operating from the earliest days. During the palmiest days of this little village Dr. Wilkins was their physician. He has left the reputation of being a good practitioner, and an upright man. But its days are over. The place reminds one of Goldsmith's words as he sings of the deserted village. "W". R. Jones now owns the site of the village. He has a farm of two hundred acres here, and that includes the town.

This little village is pleasantly situated on the I. B. & W. R. R., about fourteen miles west of Danville. It is just west of the timbers of Stony Creek, and has a very desirable location, so far as the natural advantages presented by the surface of the country are concerned. At least, this is as nearly the case as any location that could easily be found in this country, where every place needs draining. Muncie was surveyed by Alexander Bowman for Edward Corbley, from the southeast corner of section 8, and southwest corner of section 9, T. 19, R. 13. Main street extends north from the corner of sections 8, 9, 16 and 17. This corner is marked by a stone 29-J links from the railroad track. A plat of the village was filed with the recorder on the 7th of

September, 1875. The streets extending north and south are named Main, Walnut, Ross and Craig; those extending east and west are Fowler, McCarty and Corbley. The first dwelling was erected by Elisha Henry. There are now a number of dwellings, one physician, one justice of the peace, one blacksmith-shop, and one firm selling goods and keeping a general country store. As yet, Muncie is without a school-house and church. The Baptist church is not far away, but the school-house is off quite a distance. There is considerable shipping done from this point.

A post-office was first established at Muncie on the 21st of February, 1876. Frank A. Hickman was the first postmaster, William Lynch, the second, and Sanford S. Dickson, the third and last.

This is the most populous village within the limits of Oakwood township. It is situated in the prairie, three and one-half miles east of the county line, on the Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western railroad. Its origin was simultaneous with this road through here. As Dr. Win. Fithian owned vast acres of land in this part of the county, it was to his interest to secure the location of a station upon it. This he succeeded in doing, and, accordingly, Asa H. Guy surveyed and laid out a village from the east half of the southwest quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter of section 7, and east half of the northwest fourth and the west half of the northeast fourth of section 18, in T. 19, R. 13. The plat was filed with the recorder on the 8th of April, 1870. The original plat was a perfect square, and contained eight full and eight fractional blocks, lying partly on each side of the railroad. The streets extending north and south are - beginning on the east side - Jefferson, Main and Adams ; those running east and west are Clinton, South Sherman, North Sherman and Washington.

Besides the original survey there was another on the north side of this, surveyed by Alexander Bowman, county surveyor, on the 12th of October, 1873. This is styled the Franklin Addition, and was laid off for W. H. Smith and J. C. Black. It consisted of four blocks of twelve lots each. On the north of this they opened a street and named it Franklin.

been located he moved down to the road. He was the first to buy a lot here, and the first to ship goods on the railroad. After a year, he took in, as partner, J. P. Nichols. They operated together until 1875, when Berkenbnsch sold out to Nichols, who has been in the mercantile business ever since. Burkenbusch opened his store here in March, 1871. The next merchant was H. Penrod, who sold agricultural implements. He was followed by F. M. Cannady, dry goods and groceries. S. Solomon came next with a drug store. At more recent date came Frisch, Littler and Booker, and Graham Brothers, who still remain. The first physician in the village was Dr. Rice- Dr. Smith, of Muncie, was located here for some time.

Fithian does quite a lively business for so small a place in the way of shipping, both of grain and stock. It has one of the largest warehouses, on the railroad, in this part of the country. But there are a number of grain and hog buyers, and as much or more business is done outside of the warehouse.

The first postmaster was Henry Berkenbusch. The present incumbent is George W. Graham, who has held the office since 1872. The school-house was built in 1873. This building shows the effects of constant wear, but the Methodist church recently put up here is an ornament to the town. Although there are few church members here, this edifice speaks well for the community.

Oakwood Station

This village was surve}7ed by the county surveyor, Asa H. Guy, on the 14th of April, 1870, for Clark R. Griggs, from the S.E. £ and S.W. -J of section 12, and the N.E. £ of section 13, in township 19, range 13. It is composed of thirteen fractional and seven complete blocks, and five out-lots of various shapes and sizes. There are twelve blocks on the north of the railroad and eight and the five out-lots on the south. The first store began here was operated by Johnson & Stewart. It burned down in 1871. Henry Dulin put up the next. He has remained here ever since. He is the postmaster at present. Lonzo Campbell built a warehouse, and bought grain until his death. The property is now owned by his heirs, but is not operated. A storm took off the roof, leaving it in a dilapidated condition. This little village is like its most intimate neighbor, Muncie, in that it has neither school-house nor church. But the school-house is not far away, and Finley chapel is near. There is some shipping done here, particularly of corn, cattle, hogs and coal. The coal mines on the Salt Fork, which yield such an abundance of fuel, have this station as their principal point of shipment.

Biographical

John Makemson was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, on the 10th of February, 1809, and died in Bates county, Missouri, on the 15th of March, 1878. He was a farmer all his life. He lived in Kentucky till he was twenty years old, and then came to Vermilion county, Illinois. His father was one of the revolutionary soldiers. He stopped first north of Danville, but soon came to the east side of Oakwood township, and entered land here in 1829. Mr. Makemson lived on the original home-place, now occupied by his son David, for forty-one years. He moved to Missouri in 1877, on account of his health, and died there. He married Elizabeth Partlow, on the 9th of March, 1837. They had six children, but onty two are living, - a son and daughter. Mr. Makemson was a member of the Methodist church for forty-four years. He was a good man, much loved and respected by all who knew him. His widow still lives with the children.

Stephen Cox, pastor of the Regular Predestinarian Baptist church, in the east end of Oakwood township, came to this county in the fall of 1829, with his father's family, from Kentucky. Stephen, with the other members of the family, grew to years of maturity on the Middle Fork. He has lived in various parts of the neighborhood for fifty years. He has lived on the place that he now occupies, just north of Oakwood Station, since the spring of 1862.

Joseph V. Davis son of Joseph Davis, came to this county from Pickaway county, Ohio, with his father, in 1829. His father was a well-known early settler in the neighborhood of Catlin. Joseph V. was born in 1825, and died in November, 1852. He lived and died on his father's home-place. He married Cynthia McCorkle, on the 13th of March, 1851. They had one child, Joseph S. Davis, who now lives with his mother, Mrs. Doran, northwest of Oakwood Station. The original Davis was a man of large property. The children received their clue portion, and the grandson is well provided for. The same year that Mr. Davis died a brother and brother-in-law died. Each left a widow and one child, and all had been married but a short time.

Samuel Dalbey, a son of the early pioneer, Aaron Dalbey, was born in Winchester, Indiana, on the 12th of October, 1829. He lived with his father there, and came to this county in 1831. His father had six children and one yoke of oxen and nine dollars in money at that time, but the boys grew and prospered notwithstanding. Here Mr. Dalbey remained on the old farm till grown. On the 28th of December, 1851, he married Sarah Watts. After his marriage Mr. Dalbey lived in various parts of Oakwood township, in Indiana and Kansas, till the spring of 1865, when he bought one hundred and sixt}7 acres of land north of Muncie, and has remained here ever since. Besides the prairie farm, he has some timber land. The former is one mile north of Muncie.

Aaron Dalbey, deceased, was one of the earliest settlers on Stony Creek. He was born in Pennsylvania on the 3d of July, 1801. He was of English descent. He remained in Pennsylvania some time ; was married there. He came to Ohio, and then to Indiana, where his wife died, and he married Nancy Wright. She died, and he was married to Henrietta Catlin. Miss Catlin was living in Indiana at this time, June 27, 1837. Mr. Dalbey came to Stony Creek, and opened the third farm on the west side. He first stopped on the south side of Salt Fork in 1831, and staid one season. He then built the house on the west of Stony Creek, and opened the farm. It lies one and a half miles south of Muncie, and is still occupied by his widow and her husband, John McFarland.

Simon A. Dickson, deceased, was born near Dallas in 1833. His father came to this county in 1824. Simon grew up on a farm, and was married to Elizabeth Catlin on the 12th of September, 1854. He lived in the south part of the county at first, and then moved to three miles north of Fithian, and staid here about six years. He enlisted in the United States army in August, and left Danville with the 125th Peg., in Capt. Fellows' company. He was in the fight at Perryville. He took pneumonia, and died in hospital on the 2d of June, 1863, at Nashville, Tennessee. He was a good soldier. Resolutions of respect and sympathy for the afflicted widow were sent by the company to Mrs. Dickson. He had four sons, who still live in this section of the country.

Thornton Hubbard. Among the early settlers, no one is better known in this community than Mr. Hubbard. He was born in Ross county, Ohio, on the 20th of March, 1821. His father was Willis Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard has lived on a farm all his life. He came to Vermilion county with his father in 1833. They stopped on Henry Oakwood's farm. Here the father remained until his death, and the son until he was twenty-one. Mr. Hubbard worked for Major Vance at eight dollars per month, and earned money to enter the land where his new house now stands. « He married, on the 6th of April, 1854, Nancy Dickson. She died on the 25th of January, 1859. They had two children: Lily and Willie. He then married Elizabeth Dickson. They had two children : Olive and Charles. Mr. Hubbard was married to Sarah Hulick on the 25th of October, 1864. They have three children : Lulie, Mary and Willie. Mr. Hubbard owns three hundred and seventy-seven acres of land, and has a large new house, built in 1877, which cost about $3,000. Mr. Hulick, Mr. Hubbard's father-in-law, was one of the first settlers of Perrysville, Indiana. He was an undertaker and liveryman in Perrysville for a long time. He afterward moved to Illinois, and died in this state.

Henry J. Oakwood, the present supervisor from Oakwood township, was born in Brown county, Ohio, on the 7th of March, 1819. He came to this county with his father, Henry Oakwood, in 1833. Roland, Norris and Oakwood were the first settlers in the neighborhood. "When Mr. Oakwood first came to the county he stopped on the south side of Salt Fork, and then built on the north side in the spring of the next year. Henry J. grew to manhood on his father's farm, and began for himself by working around. He bought his first eighty acres of land on the north side of his father's farm. It was low prairie, and some of the early settlers were sorry that he should take hold of such a bad piece of property. But his land, when drained, proved to be a good investment. He taught school three years in his younger days, but now owns property enough to keep him employed looking after its interests. He has six hundred acres at present. He married Priseilla Saylor on the 9th of April, 1850. They have eight children. Besides supervisor, which office he has held for some time, he has held various positions of trust, but is chiefly known as a man of business, whose energy and good sense keep things moving.

Henry Sallee is not only one of the oldest settlers, but he is one of the stanchest men of Oakwood township. Mr. Sallee was born in Brown county, Ohio, on the 3d of June, 1810. He removed to Kentucky at the age of five and one-half years, and stayed with his grandparents till they died. He came to this part of Vermilion county with his uncle, Michael Hickman, in 1834. He stopped on the south side of Salt Fork until he married Matilda Oakwood, on the 8th of January, 1835. She was a daughter of Henry Oakwood. They had three children, two of whom are still living near their father. Mr. Sallee bought the place where he now lives and moved on it in the fall of 1837. He bought one hundred and sixty acres first and improved it, and afterward added more till his premises now include three hundred and fifteen acres. He was married a second time, in 1861, to Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of William Jones, who settled quite early on the southeast of Danville. Mr. Sallee has been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church for thirty-five years, and an elder since 1850. He has been town clerk since the organization of the township, and school treasurer of town 19, range 13, for thirty-one years.

ber, 1807; his mother, Matilda Blackburn, was born on the 4th of March, 1808. Francis M. was born on the 29th of September, 1833, near Cynthia. Kentucky. The Rankins reached their home in this county on the 14th of April, 1834. They lived sixty miles up the Licking River, and two families joined, built a family boat, and came down the rivers and up the Wabash to Filson's Ferry. The family lived east of Fair mount ; then four years at Homer. Mr. Rankin, sr., is dead, but his wife is still living. Francis M. stayed on the farm which his father bought in 1845, till he was grown. He moved to Iroquois county and stayed three years, but has been in Vermilion county nearly all his life. He bought the heirs' claims and now owns six hundred and forty acres including the Young farm. He deals largely in stock, feeding from one hundred to two hundred head annually. He was married to Elizabeth Young, daughter of William Young, on the 15th of October, 1865. She was born on the 30th of March, 1842. They have six children : Gertie is the oldest, then come : Montgomery S., Warren W., Francis M., Lyford M., Alta N.

Thomas W. Deakin, deceased. The early settlers pass away, and their places are filled by new and strange men. Their early struggles may be recorded in history, but the facts of a personal character are remembered only by those whose interest can never flag in regard to the dear ones gone before. Mr. Deakin was one of Vermilion's early settlers - one of her persevering pioneers. He was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 2d of August, 1811. His father died when the son was quite young. He remained in Ohio on a farm until 1835, when he came to this county with his brother John Q. His first stopping point was on the road from Danville to Champaign, on Salt Fork. In 1837 he married Miss Sarah E. Swearingen, who was then living at Hickory Grove, Champaign county. He remained on the same farm until his death. At first he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, but afterward he began enlarging this territory, until he became the owner of a large property in this section of country. He was also a dealer in stock, trading to a considerable extent. He was a member of the Christian church, and remained a firm believer in its doctrines until his death.

William Mead, a son of Nathaniel Mead, one of the oldest old settlers in the western part of the county, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, on the 24th of May, 1822. He remained in Ohio until 1835, when he came with his father's family to Vermilion county. The family stopped at Conkey Town when they first came. William afterward went to New Town, and from there to Mr. Foster's place. He moved then to Crab Apple Grove, and next to one mile south of

Fithian. He then came to the farm he now holds on State Road, southeast of Muncie. He has been here twenty-one years. A portion of his place has been cleared of timber. He married Margaret Tanner on the 16th of November, 1843. She died, and he has married a second time. His children live near him with the exception of one son, who is teaching in Indiana. Mr. Mead has been industrious, and, notwithstanding the hard times, is independent and out of debt.

John McCarty was born on the 22d of August, 1809, in Virginia. His parents moved to Ohio when he was small. His father was a cooper. Mr. McCarty was a farmer. He married Miriam Sewell in Clinton county, Ohio. They lived there on a farm about six years and then came west. He came to Salt Fork in 1836. He staid there one year, and then came to where the widow now lives. They were about the first family in this part. Here Mr. McCarty lived until his death, on the 18th of September, 1877. He was school director and a respected citizen in the community for a number of years. He had eleven children, but five only are living ; these are James S., George, Alvin N. and two married daughters. Mrs. McCarty is one of the few remaining persons who settled in this neighborhood when the prairies were yet undeveloped wastes, and Stony Creek had no inhabitants but Indians.

Joseph L. Shepherd, farmer, is regarded as one of the most successful men on Stony Creek. He was born on the 21st of September, 1825, in Pickaway county, Ohio. His father came to Ohio at a very early date. Joseph L. was the youngest of the family. They came to this county in 1836. Mr. Shepherd put $3,000 into a mill on Salt Fork, but died before the mill began work. He owned four hundred and eighty acres of land. Joseph L. grew up in the neighborhood, and married Louisa Davis in January, 1849. Mr. Shepherd came to the farm where he now lives in 1849, and stopped at the grove at first. He has three children by his first wife. He married Elizabeth Mires in 1861. They have had nine children, four of these are dead; three died at about the same time with diphtheria, in January, 1879. Mr. Shepherd owns three hundred and twenty-five acres of land at home place, eighty acres near Fairmount, and fifty-eight acres of timber land. His frugality and economy have made him independent.

J. C. Stearns, a son of Seneca Stearns, came to this county with the family in 1836. He was born in Clinton county, Ohio, on the 5th of August, 1835. He grew to manhood on the farm still occupied by his father. He worked at the carpenter's trade for five years. He was married on the 4th of December, 1861, to Susan Snyder, of Montgomery county, Indiana. They set up on the farm of Wm McBroom.

After short residences in various places, he bought land on the State Road, southeast of Muncie, where he has continued to reside ever since. He now has one hundred and forty-five acres of good farming land. He has been here since 1866. Although comparatively a young man, Mr. Stearns can well remember the time when this country was yet in a state of almost uncivilized wildness.

James H. West was born on the 15th of March, 1822. His father was Michael West, who was a native of Maryland, but afterward went to Kentucky, and then to Clark county, Ohio. From Clark county, Ohio, the family came to Vermilion county, Illinois, in January, 1838. The elder Mr. West rented a farm of James Norris, one mile south of Oakwood station. James was brought up on his father's farm in Ohio, and lived in the family in this county till grown. He then went to Ohio, and took part in the campaign of 1840. He came back to Illinois, and went to New Orleans, and from there across to Havana, Cuba, with a load of produce, which he sold to the inhabitants at a good profit. He went to New Orleans a second time, and in 1844-5 was engaged in driving beef cattle to New York city. In 1846 he went to Wisconsin, and from this date till 1850 dealt in horse and cattle trade to Wisconsin. In 1849 Mr. West was married to Eliza V. McGee, of this county. He then lived two years in Champaign county. After this he moved to Middle Fork. He came to the place where he now lives in 1867. Here he owns two hundred and forty acres of land. He has seven children living and three dead. Mr. West was elected supervisor in Pilot township in 1866, and served two terms; then elected justice of the peace in Oakwood for two years; he then served as supervisor for Oakwood for four years. He has always held office of some kind. He has also been successful in business.

John M. Havard, farmer, is yet comparatively young, but he is an old settler of Vermilion county. He was born in New York city, on the 31st of May, 1833. His father was from Wales. He was a farmer, and came to this country on account of the opening it presented for any who wished to make a living. Mr. Havard, jr., was brought up on a farm. His parents came to Ohio and stayed four years. They then came to this county, in January, 1838. He stopped on section 25, town 19 north, range 14 west. He had been out in 1834 and bought land ; he came on foot. He stayed on this farm until his death, on the 9th of August, 1859. Mr. Havard, jr., stayed in this neighborhood till he was twenty years old. His father bought the William Parris place, and the son and daughter came to it, where they kept together until a short time before her death, which occurred in May, 1872, from consumption. Then Mr. Havard kept tenants, and " bached " for five years. He married Sarah E. Richter on the 29th of September, 1870. He still lives in the house that William Parris moved from Salt Fork - eight miles - thirty-two years ago. Mr. Havard has eighty acres on his home place, and one hundred and sixty acres one half mile north. He has four children. He is proud of anything he may have done for the support of our country, believing that patriotism is one of the first principles of a true manhood. He received his education m the log school-house, and although fourteen months is all the schooling he received from the age of six to seventeen years, yet he is a man who delights in books and reading.

Capt. Levin Vinson is well known and much respected Iry the people of Oakwood township, both on account of his honesty and integrity as a man, and for the services he has rendered his country. He was born in Parke county, Indiana, on the 20th of February, 1829. He was brought up a farmer. He came to Vermilion with his father in 1840. They came to the same farm that the Captain now owns. Mr. Vinson has been a large land-holder, but sold off" recently. He married Naomia Ligget in September, 1850. He is a member of the A.F. & A.M. lodge at New Town. Mr. Vinson went out with the 125th Reg., as captain of Co. I. He led the company till they started with Sherman to the sea. His health failed, and he resigned in March, 1863. He came home and remained.

Isaac K. Cannon, Oakwood, farmer, is known as one of the neatest corn-producers of the township and of the county, so far as we have learned. He is an old man, but we found him plowing away in the warm weather, like a young man just beginning in life. Mr. Cannon was born in Delaware on the 15th of Februaiy, 1817. His father was a farmer, and the son staid there till he was twenty-six years old. He then came to Ross county, Ohio, and staid about two years on Deer Creek. He came to New Town in 1845. He lived four years near this place, then about two miles west, four years, and then moved to a large farm one and a half miles northwest. This belonged to Mr. Campbell. He then moved to Mr. Craig's place, and staid twelve years; then to the place where he now lives. After staying here five years he tried keeping boarders in Fithian for thirteen months. From Fithian he went back to the farm, and still lives there. He bought one hundred and sixty acres of land first, and then eighty. He now owns one hundred and eighty-seven and a half acres, having given his son a piece. Mr. Cannon married Eliza J. Brown on the 15th of March, 1838. They have had eight children; six are living, five sons and one daughter.

sacrificed their lives for the sake of their country. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 20th of February, 1832, but his father soon moved to the country, and William was brought up on a farm. He came to Vermilion county with his parents in 1845. He improved the farm where his mother still lives. In 1862 he volunteered in the 125th 111. Inf., Co. G. He went out as a private, but was soon appointed sergeant, and afterward second lieutenant. He was in the Perryville fight, October 8, 1862, but took sick afterward, and died of bone erysipelas in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, on the 2d of April, 1863. His body was sent home by the captain, and interred in the cemetery near the State Road on the south side of the township. Mr. Hart married Sarah E. Dougherty on the 18th of December, 1853. They lived on the home farm till after he went into the army. Since then Mrs. Hart has bought a small farm just north of Fithian, and kept her children there. The youngest was born after the death of his father. Although sixteen long years have passed since the death of the husband and father, his deeds still live, and his memory will ever be cherished, not only by the family, but by all who honor patriotism.

S. H. Oakwood was born in this county, in Blount township. He is a grandson of the original Henry Oakwood. He was brought up on a farm. He began teaching at the age of twenty. He taught and farmed for five }^ears, and then went into the drug business in New Town in the spring of 1875. He has been postmaster since January 1, 1879. He was married in September, 1878, to Laura Bennett, of Georgetown. He is a member of the New Town Lodge of A.F. & A. M., and also a R.A.M. of the Danville Chapter.

John R. Thompson now lives on the farm first settled by William Smith in 1830. This is one of the oldest settled farms in southwest part of Oakwood township. Mr. Thompson was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of April, 1830. He remained there till grown. He then came to the western part of Vermilion county. He came with a drove of sheep, and continued in the business for six years afterward. During this time he often took sheep to Chicago, and herded them where the main part of the city is now located. He went to farming about 1857. He was on the Boswell farm two years, and also two years on another east of his present residence. He then bought one hundred and sixty acres, and improved it, but sold again, and bought two hundred acres in another place. This latter was known as the David Wright farm. He sold again, and bought six hundred acres where he now lives. He has operated this since 1865. His family have been in Danville three years, but are now on the farm again, with the exception of the eldest son, who graduated from the Danville high school in the class of '79. Mr. Thompson was married on the 26th of November, 1856, to Elizabeth Wright, daughter of David Wright. They have nine children.

Stephen Brothers was born in Carroll county, Ohio, on the 25th of September. 1829. His father was a farmer, and brought up his son in the same calling:. Mr. Brothers also followed blacksmith itii>\ He came to Vermilion in March, 1851. He came to Bloomfield, and then to Danville, where he worked as a smith. He afterward went back to Ohio, and then to New York, but came back to Illinois. He has also been in Nebraska four years. He married Mary Hall on the 14th of May, 1857. They have two sons. Mr. Brothers is a member of the Methodist church, and was a class-leader in Nebraska. Mr. Brothers was in Co. I, under Capt. Vinson. He was second lieutenant. At the battle of Perryville he was knocked over by a shell, but not seriously hurt. He resigned his commission in April, 1863.

George A. Fox has been more closely identified with the local politics of Oakwood township than any man we have met. He was born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, on the 28th of February, 1823. His father was a brick and stone mason. Mr. Fox was taught farming, and remained in his native county till the 2d of May, 1853. He reached the neighborhood where he now lives, on the 9th of July, 1853. In 1854 he bought two hundred and forty acres of land where he now lives. On the 9th of November he married Margaret Oakwood. She was the youngest daughter of Henry Oakwood. They have six children living; one is a graduate of the Danville Business College and another is teaching. Mr. Fox was elected J.P. in 1856, and served in that capacity till 1870 ; he was supervisor for four years, 1866- 69; he was the first supervisor from this township. In Vance township he was assessor and collector for three years, 1859-61. He has been school director sixteen years ; was first elected in 1858. He was also school trustee for three years. In 1868 he got every vote but one for supervisor. He has been a member of the M. E. church since the 3d of January, 1851. He has been class-leader for a number of years. He is steward and trustee at the present time for Finley Chapel.

Richard A. Friedrich, although not one of the oldest settlers of the township, is one of the first inhabitants of the prairie where he now lives, and is well known throughout the county. He was born in Saxon}', Germany, on the 15th of August, 1830. He was brought up on the Hartz Mountains. He went to school all the time he lived in Germany. He came to New York on the 1st of December, 1848 : went to Prince William county, Virginia, and staid five years, coming to Vermilion county on the 12th of June, 1853, and settling just below the Gorman school-house ; he entered a quarter-section there. He moved to where he now lives, three miles north of Fithian, in the spring of 1867. He has been here ever since. He was married to Permelia Allhands on the 6th of August, 1854. They have had ten children. Mr. Friedrich owns eighty acres of land where he lives. He was collector in 1870, '71 and '72, and in '74 and '75 was assessor and collector, and in '77 and '78 was supervisor. He has been school treasurer for this township for the last ten years.

George Boord, deceased. " They live. Although the individual life has lost its identity, its value can never be lost. The nation's life is not composed alone of those who live, but of the many sacred offerings that have been laid upon her altars." George Boord was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 27th of June, 1826. His father was a brick-mason and farmer. Mr. Boord was brought up on a farm. He remained in Ohio six or seven years, and then came to near Covington, Indiana. He came to where his widow now lives in 1854. He married, on the 9th of September, 1847, Sarah A. Bowling. She was a daughter of one of the earliest settlers of Covington. Mr. Boord entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, but the widow has sold twenty of it since. Mr. Boord was a member of the 125th Reg., Co. C; was with the regiment as they marched to Nashville. This broke his health ; he was transferred to the invalid corps and then to a camp in southern Indiana. He then went to Camp Dennison and was sick for some time. Mrs. Boord got word that he was worse, and went to see him immediately. She reached Columbus, and out to Camp Chase, thinking to rind him, but he was dead and buried wThen she got there. He died on the 5th of November, 1863 ; his remains rest in the cemetery at Columbus, where the names of many soldiers are inscribed on a suitable monument. There are four children living: Alpheus E., Martha A., Elijah J. and Ida May. Martha is married to Joseph Fisher. The other three are at home. Mr. Boord wras a member of the Christian church fifteen years, and died firm in the faith and happy in the hope of life to come.

Joseph Truax, Oak wood, farmer, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, on the 25th of Julv, 1838. He came to this countv in 1854; he stopped first east of Pilot Grove. He married a daughter of Eli Hel. mick. He went into the army in the 125th; he came out captain; he was all through the thickest of the struggle. He now lives on his farm south of Oakwood Station. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.