Oblong Township

Oblong Township

In the western part of Crawford County stretches a prairie, which was called Oblong by the first settlers in that region, and this name was subsequently given to the township division within whose borders it was included. This township has an area of 56 square miles, lying in the middle of the western portion of the county, extending seven miles east and west and eight miles north and south. It is bounded on the north by Licking Township, on the east by Robinson, south by Martin and west by Jasper County. Muddy Creek, Big Creek, Willow and Dogwood Creeks, and North Fork are the water courses running through the township. In its wild state nearly half of the township was wooded, heavy timber bordering the creek, and now the land, which is very productive, is divided into farms. moderate sized. Lot Watts, who came from Tennessee to Illinois early in the '20s, first buying a tract of eighty acres in the vieinity of Robinson, made the first entry of land in the township, locating on Section 6 in 1830. He was the first Justice of the Peace in the township, and subsequently served as one of the County Judges. His death took place in 1854, and that of his brother, Robert Watts, who settled in the township in 1831, occurred in 1871. James Watts, Robert's son, was a venturesome hunter and trapper, and became known a daring backwoods fighter. He married a daughter of William Wilson and lived in a small cabin, devoting the latter part of his life to trapping, whereby he profited much. Together with Robert Watts, arrived Jeremiah and Jesse York, cousins, and later, in 1831, Jesse Eaton. In the humble dwelling of Jesse York, a very worthy and influential man and a devout Methodist, were held the first religious services in the township. Jesse Eaton lived a while on North Fork, moving then to the northeastern part of the township, which was his home until 1863. He was an Old School Baptist minister, and preached throughout the township. Ezekiel and Areh York developed good farms in the southern part of the township, clearing the ground in 1834. In the same year George Miller, a successful hunter and trapper, but a bully and frontier marauder, "squatted" on North Fork, where he died in 1863.

In 1836 the community received additions through the arrival of John Smith, Elijah Smith, Greenberry Eaton and John Salisbury, with their families. Mr. Eaton entered up land in Section 36, near the present village of Oblong, and being a cooper by trade, supplied his neighbors with buckets, tubs and barrels, of which they had much need. Mr. Salisbury came from Indiana, locating in Section 19, where he became the owner of considerable land. 'The Smiths, who came from Kentucky, were men of unsettled habits and rambling tendencies, having no definite abiding place. and earning their living by hunting. Their brother, James, whose advent was somewhat later, was a man of different mold. He located a little east of the site of Oblong village and acquired forty acres of land. He was one of the first constables of the precinct out of which Oblong Township was created. Conspieuous in the early history and progress of Oblong was Joseph Wood, who became a resident of the township in 1839. He was a native of Virginia, whence he journeyed to Indiana on horseback in 1809. After living a short time in Vincennes, he came to Illinois, locating near Palestine, and serving as a "ranger" during the Indian trouble. After these were ended he changed his location to the vicinity of the present village of Robinson, and next made his home in Oblong Township, entering land in Section 3, a little way from Big Creek. He continued taking up more land until he acquired over 2,000 acres, and was the most prominent and prosperous farmer in the township. His death occurred in 1866. Other early settlers were Richard Lecky, Wood's son-in-law, who made his home in Section 2, near the eastern township line; D. F. Hale (of New York) and Abraham Walters, who located north of Lecky ; John Hollingsworth, who settled in Section 32, and Reiley York, whose home was in Section 18 to the south. Still later came George Jeffers, settling in Section 27; James Boatright, of Tennessee, in Section 23; Ira King, a New Yorker, in Section 27; William Wilson, in Section 31; and John Mc- Crillis, from Ohio, in Section 32. The last named developed a fine farm east of the site of Oblong and was also engaged in tanning. All these arrivals preceded 1850, the larger portion being from Indiana and Ohio, and by the end of the first half of the century the public lands were all taken up. But a few years have elapsed since the passing away of the last of the pioneers, who were accustomed to recount to their children (some of whom are still residents of the township) tales of the savages and wild animals, of the lack of provisions (excepting game) and most of the comforts of life, of the crude log shelters with puncheon floors and stick chimneys, and of spinning wheels and looms in the humble abodes.

Near its northern line, in 1832, was built the first mill in Oblong Township, the owner being George Miller. It was run by horse-power, its utmost capacity being 15 bushels of corn per day. In 1833 Richard Eaton put up on North Fork, a frame water-mill of two stones, 20 by 30 feet in dimensions. It had a saw attachment, and besides its flour and meal output, turned out a large amount of lumber. In the eastern part of the township, in 1840, Joseph Wood built a combination mill two stories high and 20 by 32 feet in size, the capacity of which was about 100 bushels of grain per day. Big Creek supplied | the water-power of this mill, which was conducted for sixteen years. The Oblong steam flouring-mil was erected by John Miller. It covered 30 by 40 feet of ground and was two and a half stories high. In 1881 it was entirely remodeled and equipped with new machinery,

Two of the early enterprises in the township were a distillery built in the northeast corner of the township about 1849, and a wagon shop which stood two miles east of Oblong. The first blacksmith shop was built by Jesse Barlow in the northern part in 1852, and a tan-yard was started on the farm of John McCrillis in 1857.

The Vandalia State road, laid out about 1831, was the first legally established highway in Oblong. Another highway at an early period, from east to west. In 1852 the range line road was made, running through the township north and south, and crossing the former road at Oblong. Another highway at .an early period, and leading through the eastern part, is the Stewart's Mill and York road, and still another is the Henry road, crossing the northern portion, and made to connect the town of Robinson with Hammer's Mill in Jasper County. The Indiana & Illinois Southern (Narrow-Gauge) Railroad, completed in 1880, runs through the central part from east to west. It is now a branch of the Illinois Central.