Owego Township

Owego Township

On the completion of the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, among the many little towns which sprang up along the line was this. It was surveyed and platted by A. C. Huetson, from the southeast quarter of Section 32, for James Rowe, the proprietor, July 24, 1871. As will readily be guessed, the name iwas for the originator of the scheme. The project has been scarcely as successful as many who lived in the vicinity hoped, though it has proved a great con- Ivenience to shippers of grain and stock, and as a minor trading place ; and the road has been quite an accommodation as a means of communication with the ,30unty seat. The village contains at this time about fifty inhabitants, one store, one grain elevator and one blacksmith shop. J. M. Rowe still owns the plat of he town, though he has removed to the town of Sheridan in this State.

Esmen, otherwise in the survey described as Town 29 north, Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian, is bounded north by Sunbury Township ; east by Odell ; south by Pontiac, and west by Amity. Its surface is slightly undulating in the eastern part, and somewhat more level in the southwestern part. Nearly all of the land is of an excellent quality, though in portions of the township, the soil, being rather thin with a clay subsoil, is rendered subject to drought. It is traversed by Wolf Creek and its branches. Baker's Run and Mud Creek, all of which flow from the township on its western side, and empty into the Vermilion. The Chicago & Alton Railroad from the northeast to southwest, cuts oif a few acres from the southeast corner of Section 36, near the village of Cayuga. The Chicago & Paducah Railroad passes through the southwestern part, from northwest to southeast, cutting off" two sections from the southwest corner. Perhaps two sections in the vicinity of Mud Creek, and a quarter section at the head of Wolf Creek, called Babcock's Grove, embrace all of the timber in the township.

Source changes here: from Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Livingston County, Vol. 2 by Strawn, Johnson, and Franzen (1909)., by Dale C. Maley, published 1909; 118 words in this source stream.

Owego Township

The village of Rowe is located on the southeast quarter of section 32. It was platted by James Rowe in 1871, who owned the land and gave it its name. The village is on the Wabash road, between Pontiac and Cornell and has a population of about thirty inhabitants. It has three grain elevators and a general store, The latter is owned by Christian Ryning, who is also postmaster. Rowe has but one church, the Norwegian Lutheran, and this denomination also has a parochial school. The church was built in 1876, and has since been remodeled. Another edifice erected in 1864, about a mile northwest of the village, was torn down several years ago, the two denominations consolidating.