Orange Township

Orange Township

Orange township is bounded on the north by Knox, on the east by Haw Creek, south by Chestnut and on the west by Cedar. It is well divided between prairie and timber lands, and is one of the very best townships of land in the county. It was settled at an early date. Joseph Wallace was the first white man to make his home here. He settled on section 15 in 1830. James Ferguson settled on section 11 the following year, and Samuel Mather on section 14 in 1832. The first birth was Cynthia Ferguson, daughter of James and Martha Ferguson. She was born in 1833. The first death was a Mr. McCramer, who died in 1833, on section 15. James Ferguson was the first Justice of the Peace, being elected in 1833. The first schoolhouse was erected on section 14 in 1836. The first teacher was Thomas Ellison. The first church was organized by the Methodists, on section 22, and known as Orange Chapel. The first sermon that was preached in the township was by Jacob Gum, the old pioneer preacher of the county, at the residence of James Ferguson. The first marriage ceremony was a double wedding. Alexander Robertson wasunited to JNarcissa Ferguson and David Fuqua to Lydia Bowmar.

Source changes here: from Portrait and Biographical Album of Knox County, Illinois, by Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago, published 1886; 1,072 words in this source stream.

Orange Township

FrANGE township was organized by 1^ the election of township officers, April 5» 1853. Asa Haynes was chosen Supervisor; Anderson Barnett, Clerk ; A. Pierce, Assessor; John G. Rude, Collector; Samuel Mather and J. Wallace, Overseers of the Poor; John H. McGrew, Thomas Gilbert and Morris Chase, Commissioners of Highways ; James Godfrey and Davis Stevens, Constables ; Peter Godfrey and Charles Corwin. Justices of the Peace.

Joseph Wallace and family were the first to come in and settle, in 1S30 making a claim on section 15, and erecting a little cabin for their shelter. His first wife died at the old farm place, and Mr. Wallace subsequently moved to Iowa. He has been dead many years. Mr. Cranmar settled there in 183 1. James Ferguson, with his wife and children, settled on seciion 11, in 1832. They had previously lived in Henderson Township, near Hendeison village, to which place they came in 1830 from Kentucky. They reared a large family of children, a part of whom were born here. The names of the children were Narcissa, Nancy, Francis, Sarah, Cynthia, Andrew, Thomas and Martha. Of these Narcissa and Cynthia are dead. Mr. Ferguson died in 1841. He was quite an active and prominent man in township affairs, and was generally known as Maj. Ferguson. His widow survived him some 20 years, departing this life at the old homestead, in August, i86i. They were buried in the cemetery on section 1 1. Sarah Ferguson was married to 1 homas Godfrey, who removed here from Ohio, March 6, 1848, 'Stiuire Barnett performing the ceremony. Her husband died in October, 1868. Subsequently she was married to Aaron Weir, and they are now living on section 15; Andrew Ferguson on section 10; Thomas is living on section 11. The Fergusons were good people and were well thought of. Samuel Mather and family moved in soon after the Fergusons, settling on section 14. John Denny, with John and Simon McAlhster, made claims in the township in 1834. John McAllister and family moved to Oregon ; Simon lived and died on section 12, where he first located ; so did his wife. His son, Wesley, is living on the old place; he was married to Harriet Reed. Mr. Denny had a large family ; they all moved to Oregon, where they prospered. Thomas Gilbert was one of the early settlers, locating on section 8. He died some years ago, and his widow is living in Kno.wille. His oldest son, Thomas, is also living there. Israel Turner came to the settlement in 1837, and later on his brother, William, came.

In 1837 Anderson Barnett. that now genial, highly respected and poetical old gentleman, sought a home in this township, locating on section 10, where he erected a cabin for himself and his good wife. To this worthy couple were born 18 children, ten of whom are still living and, diligent in business, are winning high places in life. After living on his farm for 45 years, and having acquired by his industry and economy a handsome competency, he has retired from active labors, and is now living with his faithful life companion at Knoxville, enjoying the fruits of hi-i industry, surrounded by numerous friends, by whom they are loved and respected. (See biography.) James Reed, a brother-in law of Mr. Barnett, came West witli him. He afterward moved to Iowa.

In 1834 four of the young people of this township found life in this Western prairie very lonely and dreary, unblessed by conjugal ties, and concluded to form alliances more conducive to their happiness. Their names were Ale.x. Robertson, Narcissa Ferguson, and Daniel Fuqua and Lydia Bowmar, all of whom were living on section 11. Rev. Jacob Gum tied the Gprdian knot.

The first birth was Cynthia, daughter of James and Martha Ferguson, in 1833. The first death was that of Mr. Cranmar, who died on section 1 1, in 1832. James Ferguson was elected the first Justice of the Peace. The first school taught was by Thos. Ellison, on section 14, in 1836. Mr. Ellison is now living at Abingdon. Anderson Barnett taught the second school in 1837-38. The first man to administer gospel food in the way of preaching was Rev. Jacob Gum, a Baptist preacher.

by the Methodist denomination, on, section 22, in 1845. It was constructed of brick, which were made by A. Barnett. A Methodist class was established in 1836. Meetings were held at the Wallace schoolhouse and in private houses. The walls of Orange Chapel are cracked and it is very much out of repair, and services are now held in what is called Haynes' Church. Rev. James Core is the present preacher in charge. This is a fine church building. The United Brethren have a congregation in this township, on section 22. It was organized some 20 years ago. Elder Smith has charge of this society.

There were plenty of Indiaris in the township when the white people came in, and remained until after the Black Hawk War. They were quite troublesome and a block-house was built on the southeast corner, into which the people could go for safety. This place is now owned by Cornelius Runkle. One man was killed in this township about the time of the breaking outof the Black Hawk War. He went out of the block-house about sundown to cut some hay, and some Indians came out of the woods and shot him, and then fled. Orange Township is watered by Haw Creek and branches, and some other little streams. It is quite liberally timbered in the northeastern and eastern portions, and in the western the land is quite broken. About the middle portion the land is rolling, and the soil is rich. In this section there are many fine farms. Considerable attention has been given of late years to the raising of cattle and hogs, and the farmers have been successful. The Peoria Branch runs across the northeast corner. The people do their marketing 'and trading at Kno.xville.

In 1880 the population was stated by the census taker at 1,130. It is not far from this at the present writing. There are eight school districts in the township, all of which are ungraded. The school property was valued at ^6,923,80. The schoolhouses are all frame. Of persons under 21 years of age there were 438, of whom 345 were of school age.

Source changes here: from Annals of Knox County : Commemorating Centennial of Admission of Illinois As a State of the Union in 1818, by Knox County (Ill.). Centennial Historical Association, published 1921; 2,099 words in this source stream.

Orange Township

Orange, as a present defined and bounded, was one of the first townships in the county to attract the attention of early immigrants to northern Illinois, and the pioneers were not wholly free from fear of predatory visits from the aboriginal owners of the soil. As a matter of fact, however, in 1830 - the year the first settlers arrived - the Indians were migrating to the west, and the comparatively few of them remained. A blockhouse was erected, however, in 1830, or '31, and the murder of a white man by a straggling band of hostile savages during the Black Hawk War threw the small community into a ferment of apprehension.

The township is crossed by several well defined trails. That which is known as the Peorian and Galena runs diagonally from northwest to southeast, passing also through Knox, crossing the northeastern corner of the present city of Knoxville, A little to the west of this is another, which crosses Brush Creek, in Section 30, and forms a sort of pathway from that stream to the headwaters of Haw Creek, Several Indian graves have been found and their traces are yet plainly discernable just across the Knox Township boundary line, on Section 32, The last appearance of any considerable body of aborigines in the township was in 1843, when several hundred Sacs and Foxes camped on the northwestern quarter of Section 5, while on their way from the north to their reservation in Indian Territory.

The first white family to settle within the present limits of Orange was that of Joseph Wallace, who located on Section 15, in 1830, and found a rudely constructed cabin suffice for their shelter. After the death of his wife, on the old farm, Mr. Wallace removed to Iowa.

Asa Haynes (born in Dutchess County, New York, in 1804,) came in 1836. He had bought the three hundred acres on Section 30, on which he erected a one-roomed log cabin, in which he took up his residence with his wife, formerly Miss Mary Gaddis, to whom he had been married October 7, 1830. He was hardy, daring and adventurous, but without education other than such as he had obtained during two months' attendance at an Ohio district school each winter during six or seven years. He brought with him his two children, a half brother, Hiram, and a nephew, Isaac Hill. During their journey from Ohio, which occupied nineteen days, they encountered more or less rainfall during seventeen days, and found the rivers swollen to the summit of their banks, even the horses' harness never drying. Mr. Haynes was energetic and enterprising, and from the outset proved a potent factor in the development of the new country. He started the first brick yard and in 1840, built the first saw mill, which was operated by water power obtained from Brush Creek. In 1841 he erected a large barn, and the following year replaced his primitive cabin with a brick house, which in those early days was regarded as commodious. While by no means a profound scholar himself, he took a deep interest in imparting of at least a sound primaiy education to children. For a time he himself taught an elementary school in his little cabin, and when his brick home was completed, one room was reserved and furnished as a school-room. Miss Frances Moore was the instructress, becoming later, Mrs. Hiram Haynes. Asa Haynes became, in his day, the largest land holder in Orange Township, at one time owning nine hundred and eighty-nine acres. He was one of the adventurers of 1849 and Captain of the "Jayhawkers" company of gold seekers formed at Galesburg. He led this little band of sixty across the continent. The hards-hips and privations which the men underwent caused many to drop by the way, but Mr. Haynes reached California safely, where he remained until 1851. Later in life he returned to California and made that State his residence for several years. He returned home and died at the house of a daughter, in Missouri, March 20, 1889.

James Ferguson came from Kentucky, with his family, in the same year with Mr. Wallace settling on Section 11. He had several children but only two are at present residents of Orange; Andrew J., a farmer living on Section 10, and Mrs. Sarah Weir, whose home is on Section 15. The elder Ferguson attained prominence as being the first Justice of the Peace and the first Overseer of the Poor in the township. He was also a soldier in the Black Hawk War, being commissioned as Major. He died in 1841, his widow surviving him for twenty years. Both sleep in the quiet plot of ground reserved for sepulture on the old farm.

Peter Godfrey is among the best known settlers of 1832, and he and his wife are among the oldest and most honored couples belonging to the "Old Settlers' Association of Knox County." John Denney and John and Simon McAllister arrived two years later. Isaiah Hutson and wife emigrated from the State of New York in 1837. He has since died (1883), but his widow and daughter still find their home on the homestead, which was theirs sixty years ago. Thomas Gilbert was also an early settler, his farm being on Section 8. His son, Thomas, is a prominent citizen of Knoxville, and two of his daughters still reside in that city.

Other early settlers of the township who are worthy of especial mention are as follows: Thomas and James Sumner, who came from Ohio in 1837 and settled on Section 23. James lost his life through an accident.

Isreal Turner emigrated from Chester county, Pennsylvania, in 1837. He entered two hundred and forty acres on Section 32, remaining there until he died. Anderson Barnett also came in the same year, settling on Section 10. To him belonged the distinction of begetting the largest family of children (eighteen) ever reared in the township.

The early houses were, of course, of logs and of these Mr, Wallace built the first, on Section 15. Thomas A. Rude erected the first brick dwelling, on the farm of the late William Turner, in the same section. A portion of the latter is still standing, but the residence of Mr. Asa Haynes is probably the oldest structure in the county, remaining precisely as it was built.

The two earliest marriages were those of Alexander Robertson to Narcissa Ferguson, and of Danie IFuqua to Lydia Bomar. This was a double wedding and the ceremony was solemnized by Rev. Jacob Gum at the Ferguson residence, on Section 10. The first white child born (1833) was Cynthia, daughter of James Ferguson.

The first school house was of logs, and stood on Section 14. It was known as the Wallace school, and religious services were occasionally held within its rude, unplastered walls. The first teacher was Thomas Ellison, who wielded the birch during the winter of 1836. He died at Abingdon, in 1897. Mr. Ellison was followed by Anderson Barnett, who taught in 1837 and in 1838. The school house erected in what is now District No. 8 was of brick, Isreal Turner being the mason and the carpentry being done by Charles Corwin. Miss Amanda Corwin, one of the earliest graduates from Knox College, was the first teacher and remained six years. Another early school house was that within the limits of the present District No. 3, where Miss Mary Gilbert Chaffee was the first to give instruction to boys and girls, some of whom have long since passed away, while others have grown old and silver-haired. At present Orange township has eight schools, all ungraded, occupying well constructed frame buildings. The houses are modern and represent an outlay, in the aggregate, of about ten thousand dollars. In addition to this sum, libraries and equipments have cost a thousand dollars. The total enrollment of pupils is two hundred and seventeen.

The first denomination to organize into a church society was the Methodist Episcopal. This body erected a house of worship known as Orange Chapel, in 1855. It was built on Section 22, and was of brick, burned in the yard of Anderson Barnett and laid by Thomas Rambo. The building was dedicated in the Spring of 1856, by Rev. Richard Haney. The Gilson Circuit was estabhshed in 1857-8, and Orange Chapel was included within its limits.

Early in the seventies revival services were held at the school house in District No. 4, which resulted in a general awakening of religious interest. At that time there was no organized church other than Orange Chapel, although there was in the township a moderate sprinkling of Congregationalists and Protestant Methodists. The fervor of both of these sects was aroused. Both denominations organized societies, and Haynes Chapel was built (1871-73) by the Protestant Methodists. The Congregational church had no place of worship and soon ceased to exist as a local organization. A general religious decline appeared to be supervene about the same time, spreading over the territory btween Knoxville and Hermon, on the north and south, and Gilson and Abingdon on the east and west. In fact, for nearly twenty years, or until 1890, Orange Chapel was the only center of organic Christian effort. In the last mentionel year, however, a branch of the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was formed at Haynes Chapel, with nine active members. For several years the young people conducted weekly services there, after their customary fashion, and in 1893, Rev. A. W. Depew, of Abingdon, began preaching with marked success ; Haynes Chapel being considered an outlying station. By this time the Christian Endeavors numbered forty, and it was not long before another Congregational church was organized with twenty-two members. Its first pastor was Rev. Mr. Slater, who preached for the congregation from May, 1894, to February, 1895.

The township was organized and its name chosen at a meeting held April 3, 1853. The name seems to have been selected on account of the shape of the central prairie, which, in those early days, was one of the most beautiful spots in the State. Asa Haynes was elected Supervisor ; A. Barnett, Clerk ; A. Pierce, Assessor; J. G. Rude, Collector; Peter Godfrey and David Stephens, Constables ; Samuel Mather and J. Wallace, Overseers of the Poor ; J. H. McGrew, Thomas Gilbert and Morris Chase, Highway Commissioners.

The chief industries are agriculture and stock raising, although in those early days, brick yards were started by Asa Haynes, Thompson Rude and Anderson Barnett. These ventures proved unprofitable, however, and the kilns long ago fell into disintegration and decay. From the time of its settlement Orange ranked high among the best cereal producing sections of the county, although a lack of transportation facilities prevented the marketing of the grain raised. More than half was used in the fattening of stock. Haynes, Godfrey and Sumner Brothers manifested great interest in improving the

The principle market of the pioneers was Peoria, although Canton and Oquawka received a fair share of the farm products. The farmers hauled their produce by teams, receiving in exchange supplies which they carried home to their expecttant families. The opening of the first railroad, in 1854, altered the entire situation, shippers now finding Chicago at once the most accessible and most profitable market.

The only village in Orange is De Long, a flourishing little station, on the line of the Narrow Gauge Road, now C, B. & Q. It came into existence in 1882, and owes its being - as it does its name - to S. H. Malory. He bought the site from Wayne Marks when the preliminary survey of the line was made, in anticipation of a station being established thereon, and called the village DeLong, in honor of the explorer of that name. It can boast two general stores, one grain elevator, a barber shop, two blacksmith shops, a building containing a hall and store room, and about twenty-five residences. Its population is about 100 and it is a relatively important point for grain and stock.

John Lawrence, Isaac and Samuel Mather were among the early settlers. The Township Hall is located in the center of the township and is a building originally used for a Farmer's Grange Supply Store, Wm. Forlow being the manager in the years from '75 to 80. The White School House, two miles north of Belong, was one of the first schools in the township, the first building was built of logs. The Civil War was furnished two Captains, Wm. Reynolds and Wright Woolsey.