Perryton Township (part 1 of 4)

Perryton Township

In writing a history of the town of Perryton, I have considered it desirable to embrace in it only those facts that at present have no historical record in existence elsewhere, and which would otherwise be lost with the present generation. I have also endeavored, as far as possible, to place myself with the people who will occupy our places at the recurrence of our national centennial anniversary, and relate such things as will be of most interest to them, as well as our more immediate successors.

Owing to the fact that the earlier settlers kept no written history or record or even regular accounts, and also to the fact that many of them have died or moved to distant localities, it has been very difficult to gather the facts herein recorded, and they must be my excuse for any errors of matter or data herein contained.

I would here acknowledge my indebtedness to all those who have kindly furnished assistance in this historical record of the town of Perryton, and I would especially acknowledge my obligaticjns to William Doak, now living among us, and to Abraham Miller, Jr., who since 1847 has resided in Oregon.

The ^Jhysical features of the town that will not change with time, are only those that are aftected by amount of prairie woodland and such features of water courses as would be aftected by cultivation and by domestic animals. When the white man came he found the surface in the condition created by natural causes, or as aftected by the annual prairie fires of the Indians. Tlie better and more level land was prairie covered by a coat of mixed natural grasses and plants that grew in stools, each independently, to the height of eighteen to twenty-four inches ; some like the polar plant, or rosin weed, running up in alternate years to five or six feet. The ground seemed covered like a meadow, yet there was no sward as in blue grass, altliough the matting of roots l)olow bound the soil very firmlv, oacli ])lmit growing by itself as u tuft. As a })astnrc and for hay, it would yield from one to two tons i)er ac)"e, and most of the plants were eaten by stock, but when closely pastured were sure to die out, giving place, subsequently, to the cultivated grasses. The broken grounds furnished the same grasses but in much less quantity, and in many places the coat was so light that the autumn fires were not hot enough to destroy certain kinds of timber in the most protected places, as on the south sides of ravines and creeks, and such as black oak and white hickory. In some few places the more valuable white and burr oaks had established small groves.

As it may in the future be desirable to know what part of the to\vn once grew timber, I will in brief specity tracts which it occupied in 1845. In the fork of Camp creek, on sections 23 and 24 was some sixty acres of very fine white oak, and there were forty acres of good mixed timber in the southeast corner of section 21. The land that lay between the level and Camp creek on the north on sections 30 and 19, and a little on section 29 had large old white oak trees upon it. On the north side of the creek there was timber, white and burr oak, on KE., KE. 18, on S.E., KW. IS; a little on S.E. of KW. 17, and N.E. of N.E. 16. The broken ground in the southeast corner of the town had some scattering timber, mostly grown since the Indians had left; also most of section 24, and that part of sections 12, 13 and 14 that lay between the two large ravines up to the centre of section 12. The K ^ of 19, S. ^ of 18, S.AV. 17, and north to section 20 was more or less occupied by scattering young black oaks, or, as commonly called, blacks jacks, and white hickory ; also a small body of mixed timber on northeast corner of 16 and southeast corner of 9.

In the early settlement of Perryton none of the woodland was considered as of any value but that containing white and burr oak, and for that reason was the last entered or bought of the Government. The ravines (or sloughs, as called by early settlers) were covered with a dense growth of grass and weeds, rising often to the height of six to ten feet, and were the hiding })laces of deer and wolves. AVhere there was sufficient water to create a channel, it was often not more than one or two feet wide and deep, even a mile from its source on the prairie. The channel being tortuous, and the bottom soil bound by very strong roots, it was only a channel for low watei- that a})})arently rarely changed or increased in size, the fiood water running over the level bottoms without washing. "Where now channels are washed twenty feet wide and six feet deep, the writer has stepped across the original channel without nuich effort.

After tlie removal of tlie Indians, and previous to 1846, they returned to hunt by permission of the Indian agents. The last evidence of their ^dsit was in that year. Besides their knives and arrow head^^, of wliich numbers are still found, they left- no mark save the great trail their tribes followed in cutting oif the bend of the Mississippi to the west, in their navigations up and down the river. This trail entered the town on the south side of 31 ; thence along the divide to Camp creek, crossing at a ford in 19 ; then along the ridge through 20 and 17, and nearly diagonally through the north half of 9, southeast of -1, and northwest of 3. In 1845 there were still five or six distinct, deep worn paths tliroughout the entire distance, and were the guiding path to Rock Island and Oquawka, the two points where it left the river. It is said that the army pursued Black flawk upon this trail, and that Camp creek got its name from having been one of the camping places of the army. The pioneers found the country abounding in deer, wolves and prairie chickens, with many quails, turkeys, rabbits, and occasionally the wildcat and badger. The elk and bulfalo had been ajjundant at no very distant period, as attested by their horns and skeletons, which were found all about this region even as late as 1845.

As was the case everywhere in the prairie country, the earliest settlers made their claims adjacent to a body of timber suitable for fencing and building, and believed almost universally that farms could only be made by the few who were early enough to secure a tract, or take from the government land the scattering white oaks ; and it was for this reason that the best prairie land was the last selected. Although not strictly belonging to the history of the town of Perryton, the early settlement and history of Sugar Grove is so thoroughly intermixed, that no record of either can well be complete without encroaching somewhat on the domain of the other. The first settlement in this vicinity was at Sugar Grove, April 24, 1834. In the month of March, 1834, the following named persons left Montgomery county, Indiana, bound for the Mississippi river: Abraham Miller, Jr., and family, consisting of self, wife, and wife's sister; George Miller, Sr., Abraham Miller, Sr., Isaac Miller, Jr., Jacob Miller, John Miller, Elias Moore, Ben. Welch, Dr. John Kester, "William Shuck, Thomas Dauson, James Kester, and William Moore. This company was fitted out with six ox teams, with breaking plows and other necessary farming utensils. Tliey intended putting in crops and then returning for their families. George Miller, Sr., was selected as guide, because of his extensive experience as a pioneer, and he steered his trackless route through the boundless prairies for days and days, without the aid of a compass, consulting only the stars to guide him to his destination. This coni])any Urst landed at Sugar Grove, April 24, 1834, and built a .small cabin made of split linn logs, on the east side of the grov^e, on the claim of xVbrahani IMiller, Sr. ; and under the protection of this rude cabin the entire company were sheltered until they had each broken up and ])lanted a piece of sod corn, interspersed with pumpkins and melons. The wife of Abraham Miller, Jr., did the cooking for the entire colony. Xone of the crops were fenced that season, lor as soon as planted they all started back to Indiana, with the exception of Abraham Miller and family. At that time there were no other inhabitants within a circuit of ten miles. Abraham Miller, Jr., with his family, remained in their cabin at Sugar Grove until the corn had got well out of the ground, when he removed to l^ew Boston, where he remained until fall, and until the balance of the company returned with their families from Indiana. Of the original company of settlers at Sugar Grove, all but the Millers and Elias Moore went back to Indiana to remain, or settled in the vicinity of New Boston, while a few additions were made to this colony by several families that returned with them in the fall. After the corn crops were all gathered, cabins were built for the different families and preparations were made to settle down for the winter. As the nearest grist mills were on Spoon river, most of the meal f<)r subsistence was procured by pounding the corn in improvised and rudely-constructed mortars.

George Miller, Sr., father of Abraham Miller, Jr., to whom I am greatly indebted for many of these facts, emigrated to Oregon in 1847. In man}^ respects he was a remarkable man, a noble t\^3e of the material out of which our early settlers were made. He was the father of twenty-four children, all of whom he lived to see grown men and women, and bought and gave to each of them a home. All of his children living, but one, are now in Oregon. He died in Oregon, September 11, 1874, in his ninetieth year, and until a short time before his death was as vigorous as most men at forty-five. Nearly all of the Millers moved to Oregon about the same date. They were originally from the State of Tennessee, Crab Orchard, on Doe river. Carter county. They left there for Indiana in the fall of 1812, when the entire country embraced within the limits of that state was occupied by the Indians, and when pioneer life was one of constant danger. It 1834 they left Montgomery county, Indiana, for Mercer county, Illinois, which brings them to the time of our history. Of the four elder Millers \Vho originally settled at Sugar Grove two were democrats in politics and twc> whigs ; two were pro-slavery and two anti-slavery ; two were Methodists and two old school predestinarian Ba])tists. The children followed their fathers in both politics and religion. Coming from

Tennessee and pioneering in Indiana these early settlers were independent of most of the aids of civilized society ; their clothing was mostly home-made, from wool and flax ; a spring pole mortar pounded their meal ; their axes built houses, fences and implements ; their rifles repleted emjDty larders. Those who were the earliest settlers of the ridge south of Camp creek were from Pennsylvania and other eastern states, and being less practiced in the art of pioneering were subject to more privations and experienced more difficulties in supplies of meat and bread. Mr. Peny says that they were obliged to go to Kickapoo, in Peoria county, for their milling in 1836, and to Henderson for blacksmithing ; yet there must have been mills near Henderson, for "William Doak relates an experience in going there to mill in the winter of 1837-8, when with two neighbors he made the trip with a wagon and three yoke of oxen. In order to pass two farms before a supply of corn for a grist could be obtained they were obliged to make a wide detour to the east, became lost in the night upon the trackless ])rairie, were obliged to break ice and ford streams, and only near morning, wet and frozen, they reached the second place, where they bought and shelled the last of their grist.

Soon after the Millers settled at the Grove they made of a boulder a small grist mill, and upon it they and their neighbors ground their grain. About 1839 they built a saw mill on Edwards river, and the year after a grist mill, and shortly after this a flour mill was built on the "slough," where Milan now stands. The following description of the first grist mill ever erected in Mercer county ^will no doubt prove interesting to the readers of this history. It was built by the Millers at Suo;ar Grove, and was used for several vears. Thev sawed ofl' an oak log about three feet long, stood it on end and placed coals of fire in the center of the top, burning out a hole in the shape of a basin, which they dressed out nicely to receive the corn. They then took a long pole and fastened the butt in or on the ground, set a forked stick in the ground and laid the pole in it, about the middle, something after the style of an old-fashioned well sweep. They then took another pole and fastened to the top of this, like a rope to the top of a well sweep. In the lower end of this j^ole was inserted an iron wedge, with the butt down. Then a hole was bored through this pole, about eighteen inches above the wedge, and a pm pu through it, which pin was seized with both hands and the pole worked up and down. Afterward the Millers found a stone of suitable grain, which they split open and made two good mill stones, twenty-two inches in diameter, which was an improvement on the first mill. Three of the Millers were blacksmiths and they made all their own mill irons when later they built a better grist mill and also a saw mill.

Mrs Martin Bear

Previous to the settlement of Perryton there was a road hiid out by Warren county, of which Mercer was then a part, from IMonmontli to Chirk's Ferry, now Andahisia, on the Mississippi, which, like all tlie earlier roads, was laid with reference to fords and ridges, regardless of section lines. Probably but little of the original road is now a highway, excepting that from the bluffs of Camp creek to section 9. Although this was the only laid out road, yet the nature of the prairie turf and the opportunity of selection of route in an open country made the trav^eliiig very good. Even the most spongy slouglis were covered with a soil firm enough to bear a loaded wagon.

In a community where all were dependent upon labor that brought food in abundance but no monev, all were equallv rich, or rather equally poor. Fashion in fabric or style was unknown. Those who were able to work their own wool and flax into garments were the most independent, and the tow-cloth kersey and jeans of the housewives' loom sufficed for nearly all their wants. Dejjendent upon each other, a warm heart and a ready hand were of vastly moitj value in a neighbor than worldly possessions. Every liouse was a tavern where the traveler found hospitality, and the rude log cabin never was so full as to sliut out the belated wanderer. No caste of wealth or birth interfered with the social relations of those who made up a community. Illustration of the plainness of dress: A young man of this primitive period, courting the daughter of one of our earliest settlers, proposed to his sweetheart and her friend a walk of two miles across the prairie to a neighbor's, and, like all young men in like circumstances, affected as much style as possible. The neighbor described the girls as clad in linsey dresses and sun-bonnets, each one hanging on the arm of the young man. He was clad in very short tow pants, a white sliirt, with a high and stiff collar, and a home-made straw hat, holding an umbrella over his head, his big feet, brown and bare, a very \-isible means of support.

With the pioneer settler comes the ])ioneer preacher, usually a farmer. Knowing more of his Bible than any other book, he made up in spirit and earnestness what he lacked in education. Preaching in log cabins or groves, where the school-houses had not yet arisen, he always found an audience in the entire community. Denominational preferences, how^ever strong, never prevented the attendance of all, no matter who preached. To show the plain style of one, a good old man, who most frequently preached in this neighborhood, in illustrating the doctrine of perseverance he said : " It is like the man who took a coon skin to the store, ah, and says he you may have this coon skin for fifty cents, ah, and the merchant said he did not want it for fifty cents, ah : then, says he, you may have it tor twenty-tive cents, ah, and the merchant said he did not want it for twenty-live cents, ah ; then the man says, you may have it for a bit, ah, and the merchant said he did not want it for a bit, ah ; then the man goes away and leaves it on the counter, ah, and the merchant runs after him with the coon skin, ah. So it is with religion ; when you have got it you can't sell it, nor give it away, nor lose it, ah ! '' The first religious services held in Sugar Grove was by a branch of the old-school Baptist church, of Henderson Grove, extended to Sugar Grove, and held once each month, lastingtwo days. This denomination was more commonly known by the name of hard-shell Baptists. Shortly afterward a church was regularly constituted at Sugar Grove, called the Edwards river church, m correspondence with the Spoon river association of old-school predestinarian Baptists. Elder Joseph Jones was pastor of that church, and Abraham Miller, Jr. , was ordained to a deaconship. There was no church building, and the meetings were generally held at private houses, or in a log school-house, when one had been erected. At a more recent date the Methodists established a class at the house of John Miller, in Sugar Grove. They finally had a camp ground in the Grove, with yearly attendance. One of the original settlers says that there never was a temperance lecture delivered at the Grove from 1S34 to 1846 ; and says further, that they had no habitual drunkards, idlers, fanatics or unnecessary babblers, and no earthly use for temperance lecturers.

In regard to postoflices I have not been able to ascertain, with any certainty, what were the earlier mail facilities. Previous to 1845 a post route had been established through this town, mth an office at Millersburg. Letter postage cost twenty-five cents, just the price of a bushel of wheat. But little corresiDondence was carried on. In 1847 our peojJe succeeded in getting an office at James Gingles', it being the only office until the establishment of a route from Millersburg to Eock Island, when, in 1854, an office was created at Hamlet, at the house of Graham Lee, and removed in 1857 to its present locality, the business place of Josiah Candor.

Lentil 1839 there had "been no school. In that year Miss Farwell (afterward married to William Doak) taught a school in a little 10x14 house, built by Jackson Woods,- on the northwest of section 26. The first school-house was obtained by moving an old frame tenement house of J. Gingles, from near the center of section 27 to the center of section 28, in the year 1849, and it was not until some years later a schoolhouse was built on the north side of the town. Abraham Miller, Jr., claims to have taught the first school at the Grove, but is not positive. He did, however, teach the first school ever had in Mercer county, at or near New Bostoi^

Reciimng to the scarcitj of money, which retarded the growth of society and deprived the early settlers of many things, afterward considered necessities, I will explain that it took all that was" held, and all that could be borrowed, to enter the land which they desired for homes. While the absolute necessaries of living, not obtainable from the farm, could be got from the few traders by barter, yet the prices paid previous to 1840 were not such as to induce the farmer to indulge in luxurious habits. Wheat at twenty-live cents ; corn, ten cents ; pork, dressed, one and a, half to two cents ; good three year old stears and cows, from six to ten dollars. As near as can be ascertained, the first produce sent to market from our town was shipped by Abel Thompson, in a flat-boat from Kew Boston, in the fall of 1840, our respected fellow-townsman, AYilliam Doak, being one of the crew. Without serious dithculty they reached Xew Orleans in three months, and disposed of the cargo, consisting of wheat, potatoes, beans, sauer-kraut, cabbage, etc., etc., to such good advantage that William Doak and Paul Sherifl', in the fall of 1841, built at Keithsburg a flat-boat, on the bank where Keithsburg now stands, and loading it mostly with their o\fa produce, made a successftil and profltable trip to St. Louis. Their success in this venture so encouraged them and others, that the next fall they repeated the experiment, only to end disastrously, for being caught by the very early winter of 1842-3, they, mth four other flatboats, and three steamboats, were frozen up at a ixAnt called Quiver Island, fifteen miles above the mouth of the Illinois river. In order to relieve themselves they were obliged to cut a channel through fifteen miles of ice, in very cold weather, and such were the hardships endured, that of the forty stalwart men who began this task, but three were left to cut the last gorge and free the boats. The writer and the reader of this chapter can but regret that our indomitable neighbor Doak, one of the three iron-hearted men mentioned, should, even in front of St. Louis, his destination, have been wrecked in a dense fog to lose nearly all for which he had risked and endured so much. S])eaking of the departure of the first flat-boat from Kew Boston, Mr. Doak relates that it was watched with intense interest by the large crowd that lined the shore, aild when the boat cut loose and swung out into the stream, three rousing cheers were given in honor of the event, which was such an important era in the history of Xew Boston. In the fall of 1842, George and Isaac Miller, of Sugar Grove, built a boat at Keithsburg, and loaded it with j)roduce with destination for New Orleans.

Before tlie time of the introduction of flat-boats as a means of civilization, the first settlers depended upon their own resources for many of the articles of food which we at this day regard as among the necesities.

The crops raised by the pioneers of Perryton were mainl}' corn, oats, flax, and tlie most useful vegetables. Melons were raised in abundance. Flour could be bought from off the boats, at Denison's landing in 1S34 at four dollars per barrel. But corn was principally used for bread, and for meat they raised a feyv hogs, killed deer, turkeys, prairie chickens, and caught fish. One of the early settlers says that what groceries they used were mostly obtained in exchange for deer and coon skins, beesewax, etc. Coffee was made from parched corn, peas and wheat. Red root leaves, swetted under a dutch oven, dried, and when dra^vn and sweetened with honey, was called "Grub Hyson," and was considered a fine substitute for tea. Pork and corn dodg'ers was the princi])al food.

From the flat-boat to the steamboat the ti-ansition was rapid, so that but few were built after the period mentioned here, and the increase in steamboats, keeping pace with the increase of commerce, markets were opened, and by 1845 business had its regular channels, and settlers were able to sell ]:)roduce, although at the low price of: wheat, forty cents ; corn, pure white for southern bread, ten to twelve and a half cents ; pork, one and a half to two cents. The trade of Perryton was almost exclusively with New Boston, until the building of the Chicago & Rock Island railroad, when the superior inducements offered gradually withdrew the trade to Rock Island .

Previous to 1845, I can learn of no attempt to organize a church within our limits, nor of public worship by regular appointment, excepting that previously mentioned in tliis record, and pertaining to the early settlement of Sugar Grove. The earliest carpentering was done in building houses and barns for McIIard, Gingles and Burrall, by Andrew Gingles, a son of Robert Gingles and nephew of James Gingles. Philip Miller occasionally cut grindstones and gravestones, to add to a living obtained by his rifle and the rental of a small juece of land. The flrst blacksmith shop in town was kept by a man named Jones, on section 25, in 1846-7, and perhaps a little later, but between 1850 and 1860 there was no shop in town of any kind. About the latter date, a blacksmith shop was started on the northeast corner of section 11. George J. Miller, son of Abraham Miller, Jr., should properly be entitled to the credit of first birth in this town, but shortly before his birth, Mr. Miller had moved his family temporarily to New Boston, where he was then teaching school. This was August 31, 1834. But the first birth at Sugar Grove was that of Eliza Miller, daughter of George Miller, Sr., in 1835. Eliza Miller is now living at Miller's Station, Linn county, Oregon, with her second husband, Philij) V. Morris, and she is the mother of a large family of children.

William Mitore was \he first man married ; he married Miss Mary Miller, dauuhter of Isaac Miller, at Sugar Grove in 1835. The first death was a child about one year old, named Philip Farlow, son of John and Sarah Farlow ; died of croup.

The earliest settlers on the ridge all ]>lanted such trees as they could get or raise, mostly seedlings. The first grafted fruit brought to the town was peddled out by a Mr. Robinson, a nurseryman of Fulton county, but there was no general planting of good fruit until Mr. McWhorter established a nursery near Millersburg in 1S46. The sauce depended upon by early settlers was mainly. obtained from the crab-apple and plum thickets, which abounded in the vicinity of timber. These tailing, the dish of ''those" or "them molasses,'' was the ever present and onl}^ substitute foi> sauce. As common as the molasses dish, was the custom of making it a plural. In one instance this custom was broken by an uncourteous guest rei)lying to his landlady's question: ''Will you have some of these?" by saying, "I will take a few of her." One of our earlier settlers relates an account of the manner then in vogue of acquiring seedlings. On the occasion of a public parade, or muster day at Millersburg, at a time in the liistory of that village when it had assumed metropolitan airs, a peddler brought to town a lot of small and half green peaches, which he retailed out at a bit a dozen. The boys eagerly demolished the fruit and threw the seeds on the ground, while a certain economical settler gathered them up for seed. Fearing that he would not obtain enough, our thrifty farmer borrowed a bit for the purpose of investing in peaches, with the view of obtaining the seed. Several years afterward he returned the money thus borrowed. Wild grapes, blackberries and strawberries were used by the settlers for nniking pies and preserves, and wild hops answered the purpose of cultivated ones.

The first fence in the town was built in 1835, on the piece of land broken by Abraham Miller, on the south side of section 33. This was done by piling sod, previously turned by a plow, and making a small ditch on the outside, the dirt from which was thrown inside the i)ile of sod. In 1837 Mr. Burrall, and ]>erliaps Perry, made more sod fence, and began the making of rails, which afterward constituted the sole fencing material, until the unentered land was stripi)ed of everything which would make a rail or jjole. About ls50 the building of board fences commenced. The first ett'ort at hedging was made by planting seed in 1848-9, and I -think the oldest hedge is that of James Gingles, which was "set in" about 1S52, when the date of hedge fencing first commenced. The Millers invented and nuuiufactured a machine for fence ditchinu'. This was the first machine of the kind ever used in

Mercer county. It was an improvement made o^i the original ditching plow, and was done by adding a bar with a tlat underground lining or share that cut off the tier of sod from the bottom. They used three or four yoke of oxen, and thus a string of sod fence one hundred rods long was cut in a very short time. A few abortive efforts at draining by a machine cutting an open ditch, was made as early as 184S. Mole ditching began in 1860, and was prosecuted for many years with varying success, but was iirially abandoned. The aggregate result of mole ditching has been advantageous. "With the exception of a few rods to obtain water, and drain cellars, no tile has yet been laid.

With regard to agricultural implements so much has been said and wi'itten that will go into history, that I forbear saying much more than that steel plows appeared in the Diamond plow in 1844, followed ra}> idly by the plow of the present model. Plows antedating the Diamond were but little better in their working than though of unhewn wood, our fi'iable soil never leaving a mold-board until removed by hand. In 1850 the first reaper was introduced by Levi Cooper, and shortly before the separating thresher appeared. The first plow used for breaking prairie in Mercer county, was the old bar-share with a wooden mold. The Miller's invented a lever power and hung the plow on wheels, which they used at Sugar Grove. It could be set to any depth, and be thrown out at will, and it would run without a holder. This simple invention was almost universally adopted throughout the county for breaking prairie. In this arrangement the driver was also the plowman, thereby saving one hand, besides doing much better work. For ground once broken, the early settlers had what was called the Bull plow, with a short iron mold in front, a few inches high, with the balance of the mold made of wood. Xext was the Carey plow, an improvement on the Bull plow. For tending corn when up, shovel plows, hoe harrows and one horse harrows were used. The Bull tongue was simply a narrow shovel, resembling the pattern after which it was named. The hoe-harrows were a number of small shovels set in a forked stick, in the shape of the letter ''A." The one-horse harrows were made in the same way, generally with wooden teeth, and made narrow, so as to run between corn rows. Xext followed the Scott Diamond plo\v. In early times it was peddled through Mercer county. The Diamond plow was sim})ly a diamond square, cut out of a steel or iron mold the required size ; the lower square was sharpened out and served as the edge or share, and was set up in the required ])itch, and served as share and mold-board, all solid. It was bent hollowing without any t^dst, and then bolted fast to a wooden upright, set in a beam like a shovel \>\o\\\ but the mold did not set square like tlie shovel, but was set quartering so as to throw the dirt to the side of the furrow. This plow would scour completely.

In the fall of 1835 John Black and taniily settled on section 30, and so far as ascertained was actually the first settler within the limits of the townshi]) proper. In ]\[arch, 1836, a child was born to Black, which died at the age of five years. Perry says in 1830 Maj. Edward Biirrall had twenty acres broken on the S.W. ^ of Sec. 28, now the property of David Bhie, and that William Moore broke some land on southwest of 30, and put uj) the body of a log house. Philip Miller also built a log cabin and lived on the same section. In 1837 Ed. Burrail. Jr., and Alfred Perry, living on the west side 6f Sugar Grove, broke prairie for Maj. Burrall on S.W. ^^ 38, and for Dr. Perry on E. ^ of 28. Linus and A. Wood came upon the northeast of 20 and built a loo; house durins: the vear. A. Perry and E. Burrall did tlie first farming on the ridge in Perryton, and during this year Dr. Perry came" west and in the w^inter of 1837-8 built a log house near the timber on the northeast of 28. The cro])s raised this year were sold to the Geneso colony, at the price of one dollar for wheat and seventy-five cents for corn and potatoes. In 1838 xVustin AVood moved his family to the house built bv his son. Burrall built the first frame house on southwest of 28, for Sheldon Wooden as tenent. Dr. Perry died this year. There were no markets during this year, and the settlers went all the way to KickajDOo for milling.

In 1839 James Gingles and AVilliam McIIard, with their families, moved to Perryton, buying for 8500 the claim of Dr. Perry to the west half of section 28. In this year Louisa Wood was married to Lyman Tenney. During this year the land sale occurred, and those who could raise the money entered a part or all of their claims. John Harris and J. Gingles moved into the township, as did also William Doak with his father and family. In 181:0 William McIIard and James Gingles divided the Perry claim and each built a one and a half story frame house, about 16x24 feet, with two rooms below. These were regarded at the time as not only handsome and commodious but luxurious. Previous to this time there had been but a home market for produce, which was conducted mainly by barter. Drury and Willetts, of Xew Boston, traded for some wheat allowing twenty-five cents ]ier bushel in store goods. In 1844 Ilandet Cooper stopped at Burrall's with his wife and seven children, a voke of oxen and cart and cow and a calf Out of mrmey, he was induced to look at the prairie on the north side of Camp creek. It being a very bad season, with the streams high, he camped on the banks of Camp creek, and swinnning the creek, he examined the land and determined to make a claim on section 0. Waiting two weeks for the water to fall so that he could cross the creek, he in the last of June moved up and made the first settlement on the north side of Camp creek. At that time there were living on the south side of Cam]) creek the following families, viz : John Black and Mr. Burroughs on section 36 ; Austin Wood and W. A. Wood on section 26 ; Daniel Ebner and AVilliam Doak on section 27; William McPIard and James Gingles on section 28 ; Edward Burrall and Robert Gingles on section 29 ; Philip Miller and John Crooks on section 30 ; and Isaiah Lockhard on section 33.

In the fall of 1845 Graham Lee and Henry Lee settled on the east side of section *J. Up to this time the settlements had been begun bv claims, and but few had been able to enter the whole amount of their claims, Edward Burrall and Philip Miller being the only known exceptions. From this to 1850. excepting the lands held by military title, the best lands were taken up and entered, or bought at the land office, and by 1855 no lands were held by claims. The dates of settlements subsequent to 181:5 will be shown by the records, and therefore are omitted from this history which is only intended to cover ground that records will not reach. By general consent the year 181:5 is considered by the present inhabitants to terminate the years of pioneer settlement.

The climate in the early history of Perryton was subject to very severe changes from one extreme to another, with such suddenness as to surprise every one, and thus often causing suffering, and even death, when the settlers were caught unpi-epared away from home on the boundless prairie. An early settler relates of a phenomenon in 1834, in the fall from the clouds of a heavy body of frost, in veins and in all manner of strange shapes. There would be a solid body of several rods in extent that killed all kinds of vegetation, and leading out of this body, in a zig-zag course, a narrow stri]) of the frost that left its mark like the course of a prairie fire. The wind, in the fall season of the year especially, would veer about from the south to the northwest, piercing with the most intense cold, and the fine, dry snow almost blindiiig and cutting like needles those exposed to its fury. A storm of this kind is remembered by one of the earliest settlers at the Grove, in which some persons were caught away from home and i)ei'ished by being fro^zen. Abraham Miller, Jr., was once caught away from home on the ])rairio in a stinging nor'wester, and so badly frozen that for a time his life was despaired of. He was utterly hel|)less when found by his neighbors, who had become alarmed for his safety and organized a ]tart3' of rescue; the skin all peeled off from his face and hands, and the evil effects of this freezing followed him to the declining years of a renuirkably vigorous manhood. An old settler, describing from niem- ory some of the disastrous effects of a tierce liurricane wliicli he witnessed in the north end of Mercer county in ls44, says that the whole neighborhood had scarcely a house left standing for several miles. The main body of the hurricane was not more than three to live miles wide ; it took Mercer in 15 north, and in range 1 or 2, where it did the greatest damage. It came up hurriedly with a dark thunder cloud, accomj)anied with a lierce dash of rain, with a dense fog or smoke. Two deaths and a large number slightly injured were tlie results so far as lieard in Mercer county. One Howard Trego was killed l)y his house falling on hiii;. Ijut liis wife aiul children escaped with only slight injuries.

Among our first settlers there was scarcely ever any thought of going to law with each other. A certain code of honor reigned supreme. If a neighbor did not pay his just debts as socm as able, his neighbors shamed him into paying, and if that failed the case was arbitrated, settled, and all hands went iKnne satisfied and jovial over the result. If a man inclined to act dislionorable, social ostracism brought him around to a sense of the magnitude of his offense, and he was generally made to feel that the community would not receive on an ecpiality any one tainted with the suspicion of dishonorable conduct. In the settlement of personal difficulties, growing out of insults and other indignities offered by one to another, a resort was generally had to a test of prowess in a fair stand-u]) and knock-down fight, the respective friends of the combatants seeing that fair ])lay was had until one of the warriors cried, "Hold I enough I" If one of the })arties was not considered able to combat a larger and more muscular opponent, sometimes a friend and sometimes an entire stranger would take his place in the i-ino;. In those davs a coward was reckoned among the contemjitible things of earth, and if a man exhibited cowardice by drawing a wea})on and threatening another, he was lucky to escape the indignation of the bystanders with a whole body. Although the standard of honor adopted by our early settlers would hardly be regarded as just the thing at the present day, there was that about it which challenges our admiration in sjjite of the condemnation l)Ut u])on it by modern civilization.

The first justice of the ])eace in the Sugar (^rove jjrecincts was Aljraham Miller, Jr. The first suit at law ever had was instituted by a man named B. Lloyd. An excuse for a lawsuit was a sufficient ])rovocation generally for a free ''pitch in." At the time of this first suit there was but one copy of the Illinois statutes in Mercer county, and that was in the hands of the county clerk at New Boston. William Drury, and it could not be loaned. The justice begged time for preparation, but the plaintitF was rampant for litigation and would not listen to a proposition for postponement. So the justice was compelled to ride some twelve miles to Rock Island county, where he borrowed a statute of Daniel Edgington, Esq., which copy was reluctantl_y loaned with the solemn stipulation that it was to be returned in three days. During the time allowed him our justice pored over this book to ascertain the statutory duties enjoined upon his office, and in taking notes for future reference. The notes thus taken from the statutes constituted the edition from which our justice dispensed the law, and were used for a number of years by him, until he^ was fortunate enough to secure a printed edition. AVhon copying from the borrowed book, one night he went to sleep over his labor and upset the inkstand over the sacred volume, which so terrified him that he licked away with his tongue until he had saved the blotted pages from entire obliteration.

Recurring once more to the wild animals and game found by the earlier settlers of this region, as bearing upon the question of food, I will enumerate such as are suggested to my memory and spoken of by the pioneers. Deer were in great abundance, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, squirrels (the gray and the large fox), pheasants, partridges or quails, and the curlew and plover. There were plenty of wild geese and ducks, pellicans, swans, coons, rabbits, large wolves, and the prairie wolf or cayota. Tlie large wolf and the small frequently crossed and the half breed made a very troublesome animal. AVildcats or catamounts, a chance panther, mostly in the heavily timbered bottoms, bears, though not plenty, raccoons, badgers, and opossums. There were ground squirrels, owls, hawks, eagles, turkey buzzards, parokeets, and large snow-white owls. Of fish there was an abundance of all fresh-water varieties, such as the catfish, pike, pickerel, bass, l^ercli, drum, buftalo, red-horse, sucker, dog-fish, flying fish, sunfish, and salmon. Abraham Miller, Jr., says that he has killed with the gig in the Edwards river pike weighing fifty pounds, and that he built a fish-trap in the same river by which he secured barrels and barrels of fish, some of which he took to Knoxville ibr sale. One method adopted by the settlers for trap])ing deer was by what was called fire-liunting, in a canoe.

Of the domestic animals raised by the first settlers, it is a difficult matter to give anything like a pedigree. They were of various kinds and grades, such as the old pioneers happened to have on hand when they landed and settled down in tlieir Ijackwoods homes. At that early date but very little attention had been paid to blooded stock, and hogs and cattle were selected more on account of their qualities for

])ickino; their own living in the woods and on the prairies. George Miller, Sr., brought some fine brood mares with him to Sugar Grove, from Montgomery countv, Indiana, in the fall of 1834. They were originally the foal of a Goliah dam, by a McKinney roan sire, crossed by a Smiling Call horse, then by a cross from a Koanoke sire, and then next crossed with the Copper Bottom and the Flag. This stock was large, wx'll i:)roportioned, docile, and of line spirit, and well suited for the early settlers. One Joseph Tichnor, a young man from Ohio, brought the lirst Berkshire hogs to Mercer county, and made quite a speculation out of them in the Sugar Grove settlements. George Miller, Sr., brought from Indiana with liim a lot of hogs that were a cross between the large China and the large white Shaker hog; they were long, large, heavy-boned, and thought to be as easily fattened as the China. Abraham Miller killed one of this breed in the early history C)f the Sugar Grove settlemicnt that weighed over live hundred pounds, and thinks he could have been made to weigh seven hundred. Later, a few pigs were introduced of the Byefield and Bedford stock. The Berkshire was regarded as a failure. Tlie stock of cattle were a mixed breed, between the old scrub and the Durham, Patton. etc. They made tine, large work oxen, good milkers, and excellent beef. The sheep were of the commonest stock, and no more were kept than answered the purpose of making the necessary clothing. The little flocks of sheep were highly esteemed by the pioneers, because of tlieir usefulness in furnishing clothing, and they were carefully protected from the depredations of the wolves, as they seemed to have a strong hankering after mutton. This appetite resulted in the destruction of the entire race of the large wolves, and almost all of the prairie wolves, by the writer, whose serious loss in sheep compelled him to resort to an extensive use of strychnine, used in bait to accomplish their destruction. After 1845 the wolves had become so thoroughly extinguislied as to occasion no more losses or annoyance to owners of sheep.

Deer were quite plentiful in tlie early history of Perryton, so much so as to furnish a large portion of the meat required for the table. Of the deer and their habits, much could be wTitten which wouUl no doubt prove an interesting part of this record, but I will desist with the simple rehititjn a tight between two buck deer, witnessed by a pioneer near where the town of Millersburg now stands. When tirst noticed, they were plunging and pushing at each other, with horns interlocked and in a manner peculiar to these animals. Their horns could be heard rattling against each other quite distinctly for a distance of three hundred yar<ls. They were both large bucks, one of them a monster of his species, and the struggle between them a tierce one. After watching with deep interest for about one hour, our informant closed in to a distance of about forty yards and awaited an opportunity to get a good square shot. From the extraordinary size, of the hirger buck he was satisfied tliat it was the same one that had acquired the designation of "The Town Buck" from the hunters in the settlement, because of his great size, and because of frequent visits to the towiishij), and successful efforts in always escaping. To capture such a prize would have been regarded as a great honor among the hunters, so our relator was watchfid and wary. The bucks kept continually lunging at each other so that it was impossible to get a safe shot. Finally the smaller one broke away and ran off pursued by the larger. Knowing their habits, pursuit was given and the ' ' Town Buck " soon fell a victim to the rapacity of the hunter. The fame of this affair spread for a great distance, as the buck was one of the largest ever seen by hunters who had grown gray in pioneer life.

The tribes of Indians roaming about Mercer county in its first settlement were the Sacs and Foxes. The Fox tribe, about the time of the Black Hawk war, formed a union with the Sacs, and became a tribe known as the Fox and Sac. They were large, strong, active, brave and warlike, and used all of the weapons of Indian warfare with great skill. This tribe was formerly headed by the famous warrior Black Hawk. After the war known as the Black Hawk war. he was degraded from his chieftainship because of his counsel in favor of peace. Abraham Miller relates that he saw Black Hawk, with his twelve braves, who always accompanied him after his downfall, strike their evening cam]) on the bank of the Mississippi, at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay, near Xew Boston. They were on a last visit to the grave of Black Hawk's daughter, who was buried there in a grove of black oaks. For their evening meal they boiled a pole-cat which they did not even trouble themselves to take the hair off, but the hair simmered to tlie surface of the stew. When sufficiently cooked, Black Hawk gave to each a share of the savory meal ; the first received the head, and so on until all were served. Black Hawk then wore about his neck a long string of silver medals, which had been presented to him by the goveiTiment, and by English fur companies. Occasionally some few Miamis and Potawottomies wandered through the county, but not to remain. The headquarters of the Winnebagos for the winter season was on the banks of the Mississippi, in Mercer county, a short distance above New Boston. They could there winter their ponies better than elsewhere, in consequence of the tall grass that grew along the bays. Sugar Grove was a great camping-ground for the Indians at one time, especially on the south side along Edwards river.

Perryton Toavxsiiip

The Indian name of this was "Big Tuitle river." AVhen the Miller's lirst settled at the Grove, the Indians had a large encampment there for making sugar, witli quite a large wigwam made of poles and covered with bark.

The early history of Perryton, thus hastily and briefly wi-itten at moments of leisure, and under many adverse circumstances pertaining to lack of data and conflict of facts, will, I hope, possess the certain interest always attaching to the record of that which has passed away, never to return. It is the reflection rather of a period of pioneer life that long ago ceased to exist, the mirror of an irrevocable past, the gi'im romance of the adventurous life of the early settler. None of us who were living and moved in the scenes of pioneer settlement ever, in brightest anticipation, contemplated the possibility of such changes as have been brought by the advancing tide of cfvilization. Never in fondest dreams did the pioneer picture the transition that has actually taken place. The fields have been nuide to bloom and >deld most bountifully of the products which make nations prosperous, thus contributing to their happiness. Many of those who are now enjopng the fruits of the labors of the early pioneers have but little conception of what it cost in hardships and ])rivations to open up the wilderness, and when they read of the trials encountered, the adventures endured, to accomplish this result, they can only realize it in the light of a pleasant romance. While the rising generation are amassing wealth in a life of comparative luxury, we, the earlier settlers yet living, experierice a lively sense of gratitude in the thought that our hands contributed so materially to the building up of the j^resent condition of prosperity and ha])])iness of those who are now occupying the beautiful homes and magniflcent farms to be found in Perryton.

Hamlet

The village of Hamlet, located one mile south of the north line and three miles west of the east line of the township, was laid out on the land of Josiah and Capt. D. M. Candor, in 1S08, and was christened Hamlet, in honor of Hamlet Cooper, now deceased, one of the very first of the pioneers to locate in this section of the country. The progress of the village has been slow, owing to its proximity to Peynolds, the nearest railroad town, but it is one of those quiet country villages where the farmers in the community go for their mail and spend a short time in social converse. The first store erected in the ])lace was that of Josiah and Ca]jt. D. M. Candor, who dealt in general merchan- clise. The latter of the Candor brothers has at this writing withdrawn from the firm ; the former yet continues in the business. Lloyd Girton opened the second store. The first blacksmitli shop was opened here by Thomas Lewis. The business houses of the village are one harness shop, one store of general merchandise, by Josiah Candor, one drug store, by Dr. Criswell, one wagon and blacksmith shop, by A. T. Hooples and D. M. Dumbell and son. The village has a good local trade, and has a population of about 125 persons. The postoffice now kept at Hamlet was first established in this neighborhood in 1851-. The oftice was first kept by Graham Lee, who held it till 1869, when it was moved to Hamlet, and Josiah Condor appointed postmaster. He has since continued to hold the ofiice without cessation.

The Presbyterian church of Hamlet was organized in 1870. Previous to the organization here the members of this faith held their membership in the societies of the surrounding country, the greater part at Millersburg. The first members that constituted the church were thirty-two in number. The society was organized by Thomas M. Wilson, W. S. Dool, and T. R. Johnson. Previous to the organization they had preaching in the school-house one mile west of the village, but not regularly. Those present at the organization were : F. A. Sherer, moderator; William S. Dool, C. B. Bristol, Daniel Kelly, T. R. Johnson, and William W. Morehead. The elders were : Thomas Candor and J. M. Gilmore. Of the thirty-two members who constituted the organization in the beginning, fifteen were dismissed from the society at Edgington Mills, Rock Island county ; thirteen from the Millersburg society; the remaining four were not members of any particular society here at that time. The first elders appointed were : Cornelius Swartwout, J. S. Gilmore, and John Montgomery. The present elders are : William H. Wlieaton, D. M. Candor, and John Montgomery. The ])resent membership is eighty-five. The society has a very neat frame church, 36x50, erected at a cost of $3,000. Since its organization it has supported and kept in operation a live Sunday school. The ministers who have labored here are T. M.Wilson and H. W. Fisk, since the organization ; the former from 1870 to 1872; the latter from 1873, and is at this time pastor of this charge. The membership of this society represents most of the first families in this community. This is the only church organization in the village.

There is another Presbyterian society in the township, south of Camp creek, known as the Perryton Presbyterian church s(X'iety. This society was organized in 1871. The first meethig preliminary to the organization was held February 18 of the same year. It is connected with the society at Hamlet. At the above meeting a committee was ai)itointed, consisting of J. Harris, "William Doak, and Cruser Gray, for the puiix)se of erecting a church-house. This committee located the church at Gingles' Corner, in conformity with the will of the members. The church is a neat, frame edifice, erected at a cost of $2, 100, It was dedicated in 1872, out of debt. The society at its organization numbered thirty communicants ; but from -various causes, over which the church has no control, it now numbers only twelve active members. Its pastors are the same as those of the Hamlet society. Previous to effecting the organization, the people of this faith held their meetings at the school-house near bv, but like the members of the societv at Hamlet, were members of the societies of the same faith at other })laces. The first members who constituted the society were Samuel and Frank McIIard, Mrs. Jane Martha McHard, Martha Blue, Sarah Doak, Mary J. and J. Harris, Mary Guffy, Mary A. Bristow, and AVilliam McIIard, Sr. The society supports a very good Sunday school.

The only Baptist church in the township was located in 1871, near where tlie Methodist Episcopal church now stands. It was organized in 18()9. Almost fi'om the first settlement of the township the Baptist people were represented, but built no church-house ; they held their meetings in private houses and school-houses, and held their membership principally at Edgington, in Bock Island county. Their first and only church building in the township was a frame, erected in 1869, two and a half miles east of Hamlet, wdiere it held its meetings till 1879, when the society moved its building to Reynolds, Rock Island county, where the members of the society now hold their membershi}). The first minister of the society in Perryton township was John Titterington. The cost of the church as erected in Perryton township) was 83,000; size, 30x38. It always supported a live Sunday school in connection with the church.

The Methodist Episcopal church, like the Presbyterian, came with the first settlers. They held their meetings in the pioneer days at private houses, and later at the school-house till 1869, when they built their present church-house twx) miles east of Ilandet. It cost §2, 100, and in size is 30x44. At the time it was erected the society numbered thii'ty-six communicants, now numbers twelve. It has at various times lost many valuable members by removals, but the greatest loss was caused by the organizati(jn of a like society at Reynolds. The building committee were H. Ketzel, S. Iloneycut and ILiliday. The l»resent i>astor is Rev. J. Small ; class leader, Albion Nichols ; trustees,

Among the organizations of Perrvton township, none are more deserving of mention than the Librarv Association of Hamlet. It was established in 1879, with a view of tiirnisliing reading matter at a small cost to those who wished to invest in the enterprise. The lirst officers were : President. Graham Lee ; Secret arv, Edward Hollister. Mr. Lee still holds the office of president. AV. C. Tandalsem is present active secretai-y. The first dii'ectors were : D. 31. Candor. H. "W. Fisk. and P. ^'. Dumbell. The present directors are : P. W. Dumbell. H. W. Pisk, Elisha Lee. D. M. Candor. Libranan. Dr. AT. Criswell. The association reqnu-es an admission fee of one dollar to become a member of the society, and alter that each member pays an annual fee of fiftv cents, and has the use of anv book in the librarv without further charge. The income, up to the present time, has been about $205. much of which has been raised by entertainments. The library now contains 213 volumes, all of which have been selected with great care. It requires three of the directoi*s to place a volume on its shelves. The association is in a prosperous condition.

The Mutual Fu-e and Lightning Insm-ance Company was organized at Hamlet in 1878, under the insurance laws of Plinois. Josiah Candor and Graham Lee were the principal leaders in efl:ecting the organization. The fii'st officers of the company were : Graham Lee. president, and Josiah Candor, treasurer. The subscribed capital was $62,016.65. The present board of directors is: Graham Lee (president), H. Ketzel (secretaiy). W. TVilmerton, J. I. Everett, G. D. Miller, David Mavhew. R. S. Montcfomerv. WilKam Wait, J. B. McConnell, and G. Peate. The number of policies now out is 146. with an aggregate capital of $3(>4,720. Tlie company, dui-ing its organization has not met with a single loss, hence their insurance dining the time has cost them nothing. This has proved the best system of insurance to the farmer of Hamlet and vicinity ever adopted by them.

Townsliip organization was effected in 1855. Tlie first town-meeting was held in 1S55. at Gingles' comers. Graham Lee was appointed moderator, and S. D. Trego made clerk. In 1856 "Wm. McHard was made moderator, and S. D. Trego clerk of the meeting. At this meeting townshij) organization was adopted and officers elected. Tlie following is a list of all the oflicers elected to the present.

The justices of the peace of Perr\'ton township, so far as we were able to make up the list from the count}' records, are as follows : Edward Burrall, elected April 30, 183S. and resigned April 6, 1839:

Jacob Bear I'Ekk Vton Towxsi 1 1 P.

Perryton township is located along the north line of the county, and is bounded on the north bv Rock Island countv, on the east bv Pre-emption, south by Mercer, and west by Duncan. It is divided into two sections by Camp creek, which enters the townshi]> on the south half of section 24, and flows west across and out (tf the township on section 19. The country for some distance on either side of this creek is very broken ; but both north and south Perryton is a tine farming country, hi the neighborhood of Hamlet, the country cannot, for farming purjioses, be excelled by any locality in the county. It is peopled by a well-t(j-<.lo class of farmers, who ])ride themselves in having good improvements, and many of them have their fjirms so beautified by fine buildings, groves and lawns, as to attract the attention of lovers of the beautiful. The farm of Graham Lee is the most beautiful farm in the township, and justly merits the title, ' ' The Evergi-een Home." There are a number of farms both north and south of Camp creek that need to be mentioned, but the owners names of most of them will be found in the biographical department of the township. Tlie stock of the township in every particular will compare with tliat of everv other section of the countv.

Biographical

Meigs Wait is a native of Switzerland county, Indiana, born in 1826. His parents were Hemy and Sophia (Wells) Wait, the former a native of Grand Isle county, Vermont, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812 at the battle of Plattsburg, and died February 9, 1882, at the age of eighty-nine years. His father, Gardiner Wait, grandfather of Meigs, was a native of Wales, and came to America at an early date and settled in Grand Isle county, Vermont, and served in the Contuiental army as a soldier, and died about the year 1788. Henry Wait, by this marriage with Sophia AYells, raised a family of eight children : William, Sarah, Ruth, Rhoda, Harriet, Jacob, Lucretia, Lavina (deceased). Meigs Wait was married in Switzerland county, Indiana, in 1856, to Caroline Robinson, of Indiana, daughter of Thomas and Mary Robinson, and emigrated to Eflingham county, Illinois, in 1864, where they both died. Mr. Wait has by this marriage two children : Frank G. and Katie, whose mother died in 1862. In 1863 Mr. Wait was married a second time, to Miss Edith Clark, ( )f Pennsylvania, born in 1842, and daughter of William and Mary Clark, both of Pennsylvania. They came to Mercer county in 1853, and located near Kew Boston, where they remained oidy a few months, when they moved to Perry ton township. There they both died, the former in 1882, aged seventy-seven years ; the later in 1875, aged sixty-sLx years, both members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was a local preacher. By this marriage Mr. Wait has seven children : Harry, Ernest, Daisy, Bertie, Marion, Guy, and ]\[ark. His wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has a beautiful and well improved fiirin of 400 acres, located at the north line of Mercer county, one mile west of Reynolds. He raises on his farm thoroughbred cattle, and feeds cattle for the market. His hogs are of the best breeds. He does the largest business in buying and shi])piiig stock, es]>ecially cattle, of any man in Perryton townshij). The Wait family came here as early settlers. They are all well-to-do and highly respected citizens.

Lee Holister is a native of Connecticut, born in Litchfield C(junty in 1822, son of Horace and Sarali (Lee) Holister, both nati\'es of Connecticut. Ilis mother died in Connecticut in 1830, aged thirty-nine years. His lather came to Macoupin county, Illinois, in 1864, where he died in 1860, aged seventy-five j'ears. lie was by vocation a farmer. He and M'ife were members of the Comj-reo-ational church. Mr. Lee Holister was reared in Connecticut where he remained till he was twenty -four years old. He then came to Illinois and located in Peoria county where he remained till 1856, when he came to Mercer county and located where he now resides. He was married in 1^47 to Esther Barker, of Greene county, New York, daughter of Charles and Anniiui (Smith) Barker, both of New York. They came to Peoria county, Illinois, in 1846, where the}' are yet residing; the former is now seventy-eight years old, the latter seventy-seven. Mr. Holister has by this nuirriage four children : Minnie, Edward, Clara, and Alice. He and wife and three children are members of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet. He has a well impro\ed farm of eighty acres, one-fourth of a mile west of the village of Ilandet, and keeps a good grade of farm stock. He has held the otfice of justice for the past eighteen years.

George D. CrxVbs is a native of Jefi'erson county, Ohio, born Decembei" 11, 1824, and is a son of Philip and Sarah (Dutfield) Crabs, both of Pennsylvania ; his father of Westmoreland county, and mother of Cumberland county. They emigrated to Ohio with their parents, where they were married. The latter, Philip Crab's wife, died in Ohio in 1836, at the age of fifty-five years ; the former came to Rock Island county in 1858, and died there in 1878, at the age of seventy-five years. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812, was wounded by the enemy in an engagement near Lake Erie ; at another time by one of the guards who accidentally hit him w hile shooting at a pig a negro was trying to force across his beat. By trade he was a carpenter and joiner. His lather was Abraham, born in 1767, and died February, 1836; his mother, Thankful Crabs, was born in August, 1775, and died in Se})- tember, 1814. G. D. Crabs received a fair educational training in his boyhood. He was reared to the trade of carpenter and joiner, which he followed for a livelihood till 1859 when he locatetl in Mercer county where he now resides, and engaged in farming. He emigrated with his family in 1844, from Ohio to liock Island county, where he resided till he located in Perryton township. He was married July, 1850, to Sarah B. Hazlitt, of Xew York, who was born in 1827, and is the daughter of Alexander and Sarah (McKay) ILulitt, both of Xew Jersey. Thev emii::rated to Illinois in 1838, and located iu Ilock Ishmd county in 1839, where the father died in 1849, at the age of eighty-two ; t!ie mother in 1842, at the age of fifty-seven. Both were members of the Presbyterian clmrch. Mr. and Mrs. Crabs have a family of seven chikh-en: Armenia, Ichx, Ekla, Sarah J., Emerson, Amy T., and Fay. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He lias a well improved farm of 120 acres, located one mile west of the village of Hamlet. His stock, consisting of Norman and Morgan horses and short horn cattle, is of the best grades.

AViLLiAM Brain, the subject of this life sketch, is a native of England, born in 1807, son of John and Sarah Brain, who were born and reared in their native country and there died. Our subject's father was a boatman. William Brain came to America in 1832, stopped for a time in Connecticut, then went to New York where he remained till 1834, when he returned to his native home. In 1843 he returned to New York, remained five years, came to Illinois and located where he now resides. By trade he is both wagonmaker and carpenter. He has been married twice, first to Elizabeth Sproson, of England, in 1832, by whom he has three children: Sarah A., Anna, and Elizabeth. The mother of these died in 1861. He was married ae:ain in 1862 to Mrs. Mary Hal stead, formerly Miss Mary Cooper, and daualiter of Thomas and Ann Cooper. She is a native of England. Mr. Brain has a fine farm of 240 acres, well improved and well stocked.

J. Ct. Gilmore's parents, Robert and Elizabeth Gilmore, came to Illinois with the pioneers and located in Warren county, eight miles northeast of Monmouth. The former was born in Chester county, the latter in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. They emigrated to Jefierson county, Ohio, with their parents, where they were married. He was a tanner by trade, but followed farming exclusively in Illinois. In 1820 he was a member of the Ohio legislature, and at one time was colonel of the state militia, and held the office of captain in the war of 1812. He and wife were members of the Presbyterian church. J. G. was born in 1819, in Jefierson county, Ohio, and came to Illinois with his parents when two years old. His early educational training was only such as the common schools of the pioneer districts of Illinois could furnish. He was reared on the farm. In 1839 he moved from Warren county to Mercer, where he has aince resided, with the exception of two years. In 1840 he moved to Iowa, where he remained one year, when he moved to Missouri, and stayed one year and returned in 1842 to Mercer county. He was married in December, 1843, to Alletta A. Brady, native of Ohio, born in 1822, daughter of John and Elizabeth Brady. By this marriage he has nine children : Elenor (deceased), Mary, Elizabeth, Lydia, Ann E., Robert J^., Arabella, Ephraim C, and Albert N. (deceased), lie held the otKce of justice for iiinc'teon years without ccssatioii, and was re-elected in IbSl for another term, lie also tilled the otlice of supervisor for two 3'^ears, the office of collector two years, and assessor in 1S80. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet. He has a farm of eighty-one acres, well improved and fairly stocked.

Daviu Bopes is a native of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, born in 1825, son of Ge<H'ge and Sarah (Bauchard) Bo})es. Both were natives of Pennsylvania. They were married in Pennsylvania and came to Illinois in 1836 and located in Rock Island county, near Edgington, when there were but few white settlers in that part of the country. The former died in 1838, at a comparatively early age ; his wife afterward moved to Mercer county, where she died in 1843. She was a zealous christian and member of the Methodist Episcopal, church. He was a man respected for his integrity and other good qualities. David Bopes came with his parents to liock Island county where he resided till 1858, when he located where he now resides. His early educational training was that of the pioneer schools of his neighborhood. lie has always been engaged in farming, the vocation of his father. In 1854 he married Miss Sarah E. Titterington, a native of Ross county, Ohio, born in 1836, daughter of James and E. (Beal) Titterington, the former a native of England, and came to America when he was ten years old ; the latter b( )rn in Ross county, Ohio, and now a resident of Rock Island county, near Edgington. The former died in 1876, at the age of sixty -nine years. They located in Rock Island county in 183y. Mr. and Mrs. David Bopes have six children living. He crossed the plains to California in ls4!», and returned in 1851. Mr. Bopes has a farm of 480 acres of as line land as can be found in Mercer county. It is well improved with substantial buildings, and beautified by groves which he himself planted, He deals in cattle, feeding them for the market, and has his farm well stocked with good grades. He is a successful farmer.

Among the soldier citizens of Perryton township is C. B. Hai.stkad. He was born in New York in 1843, and son of Lewis M. and Mary J. (Cooper) Halstead. His lather was a native of New York, and his mother of England. He first emigrated to JVIichigan in 1838, where he married and returned to New York. In 1851 he came to Mercer county and located where his son C. B. now resides. Here he died in 1854, at the age of forty-two. He served three years in the U. S. dragoons. The date of his discharge is 1836. C. B. Halstead came to Mercer county with his fatliei- when eight years old. His early education was limited to the connnon school. In 18()1 he enlisted in company H, 61st 111. Vol. Inf.. and served two years and live months.

He was in the battles of Pea Ridge, Prairie Grove, and Yicksbiirg, after which he was discharged on account of a wound received in the battle of Pea Pidge. He then returned home to the farm. He was married in 1870 to Elnora A. Xeely, of Illinois, born in 1851, in Stark county, daughter of Joseph and Happy Xeely, both of Pennsylvania. They came to Stark county with its early settlers and moved to Mercer county. The father is now living in Hamlet, this township ; the mother died in IS 79, at the age of 66. Mr. Halstead has four children: Dallas B., Riley E., L. Benjamin. He is a member of the masonic lodge at Edgington, Illinois. He has a farm of 120 acres, and keeps a good grade of farm stock.

Among the farmers and stock raisers of Perryton township is -Michael Yetter, located on the north line of the township. He is of German birth, born in Hesse Darmstadt in 1830, and is a son of Peter and Mary Yetter. They lived out their lives in their native country. The former died in 1862, aged sixty-four years ; the later in 1852, aged fifty-three years. They were members of the Presbyterian church ; by vocation they were farmers. Michael came to America and first located in !New Jersey ; then moved to jSTew York ; then to Rock Island county, where he remained till 1867, when he came to Mercer county, where he has a fine farm of 292 acres fairly improved and well stocked with good grades of cattle, sheep, hogs, and horses. He was married in 1856 to Elizabeth Yetter, of Germany, daughter of Lewis and Mary Yetter, both of Germany. The former died in Germany in 18-10, at the age of forty-two ; the latter came to America in 1855 and located in Rock Island county, now lives in Duncan township, and is in her seventy-seventh year. By this marriage Michael has eight children : Catharine, Barbara, Mary, Elizabeth, Lewis, Michael, John, and Willie. He and wife are members of the German Presbyterian church.

Frederick Hartman is a native of Germany, born in 1838, and is a son of Daniel and Barbary Hartman, both of Germany. They came to America in 1810: li^'ed one vear in Muscatine: then moved to Buifalo Prairie, Rock Island county, where they lived for thirty years, when they moved to Perryton township, where their son Frederick now lives. Thev were farmers, and members of the German Presbvterian church. The father died in 1866, aged seventy-eight years ; the mother in 1818. Frederick came to Mercer county in 1867, where he now resides. He was reared to the business of farming. His literary education was wholly German and taught him in his mother tongue. He was married in 1861 to Barbary Schweobel, of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, daughter of George and ]\Iargaret Schweobel, both of Germanv. Thev emigrated to Rock Island countv in 1819, and now live with tlieir dtingliter, Mrs. Frederick ITartman. They are both members of the German Presbyterian church. Mr. and Mrs. llartman have six chikh-en : ]\[argaret, George, Thomas, John, Frederick, and Edward. lie has a tine stock farm of 2-10 acres, well improved and well stocked. He and wife, like their parents, are members of the German Presbyterian church.

HiOiLET Cooper (deceased) was one of the pioneer settlers of Perryton township. He located here in 1844. At that time there was but little else here than wild grass and wild animals. He emigrated from England, his native country, about 1832, to New York, and then to Michigan, where he resided six years, and then came to Perry ton township, where he died in 1847, at the age of forty-one years. In 1829 he was married to Mary A. Clark, of England. They, raised a family of eight children: Thomas, William H., Charlotte A., John H., Lester II., Philip, Enoch, and Eobert (deceased). The last named enlisted in company A, 9th 111. cavalry ; he was mustered into the service in 1801 and served one year, when he died at Keokuk, Iowa. "William H. and Lester H. enlisted in 1862, in company C, 102d 111. Yol. Inf , and served till the close of the war. They were at the battle of Peach Tree creek, with Sherman on his march to the sea. Both were with the company all the time during their term of service. They passed through Richmond, to Washington, then to Chicago, where they were mustered out. William H. now resides in Kansas ; Lester H. on the farm, three-fourths of a mile west of the village oi Hamlet. Lester H. received onlv a moderate educational 'traininij;: for several years he followed breaking prairie, when he took to the farm, but at present is engaged in keeping line horses. He was married in 1876 to Mary J. Nichols, native of Illinois, daughter of Ephraim H. and Diana Nichols, both of Ohio. They came to Illinois in 1854 and located in Hancock county; they afterward came to Mercer county, but returned to Hancock county, where both are living,

David II. Cooper was born in 1832, in the State of New York, and is a son of Levi and Lucy Cooper. He emigrated with his parents from New York when five vears old, and came with his father in 1S46 to Mercer county, where lie has since resided. His early educational training was such as the pioneer schools of the west could furnish. He was reared to the business of farming, which he has since followed. He was married in 1855 to Sarah A. Brain, daughter of AVilliam and Betsey Brain. He has by this marriage seven children : Clara, Lucy, Lewis (deceased), AYillie J., Fanny E., Ella, and Levi. His wife is a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. He resides oil the farm of his father. He keeps a good grade of farm stock. In politics he is a republican.

H. X. EosEBERRY is R native of Xew Jersev. born in 1S27, son of Elijah and Xancy (Xoung) Eoseberrv, natives of Xew Jersey. The mother died in IS'29 ; the father came to Perrvton township. Mercer county, \yhere he died in 1S64. at tlie asre of sixty-three years. He was a farmer and trader. H. X. came with his fatlier to Mercer county in 1S4"J, and located where he now resides. He was married in 1S59, to Ann EUllon. a native of England, born in 1S42. who came to Amenca with her god-father, in 1849. Her parents were James and and Marv E^lon, of whom the former died in 1869. the latter abi^ut 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Eoseberrv have seven children : Anna. Mary, Eebecca, Catharine. Hilda H., Stanton (the youngest not named). He has a fine farm of 190 acres located along the north line of the county in Perrvton township. It is well improved and well stocked with good grades. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Since he settled in Mercer county he has seen the sea of tall, waving wild grass transformed into beautiful farms, ornamented with the maple and elm trees, and fine spaci(jus barns and dwellings.

F. G. Wait, the subject of this sketch, is a native of Indiana, born in 1857, son of Meigs and Caroline Wait. He was reared on the fann, and received a common school education. Except one year, which he spent in a store, he has followed the business of fanning. He was married in 1881 to Lizzie Asquitt. of Illinois, born in I860, daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Webster) Asquitt. both of English birth, and emigi*ated to America about 1850. They are now residents of Reynolds,' Rock Island county. Illinois. They are members of the Methodist Episccjpal church. He is a retired farmer. F. G. Wait has a well improved farm of eighty acres, located two and a half miles east of Hamlet. He keeps a good grade of stock.

A. Kexdat.t. is a native of Chautauqua county, Xew York, born in 1836, son of Hazzard and Mary (Smith) Kendall, both of Connecticut. Thev emicjrated to Pennsvlvania, then to Xew York, then to Kane coimty, IlHnpis. then to Kendall county, Illinois, where the foiTuer now lives, his wife having died in 1838 in Xew York at the age of twentv-one years. Ebenezer Kendall, father of Hazzard Kendall, was a native of Scotland. The family, consisting of four brothers, came to America and settled, one in each of the following states (then colonies) : Massachusetts, Xew Jersey, Yennont. and Connecticut. Levi Smith, maternal grandfather of A. Kendall, was a native of Genesee county, Xew York, and moved to Mercer county in 1840. locating at ^[illersburg. A. Kendall was married in 1863 to Lucretia Wait, of Switzerland county. Indiana, born in 1863, and daughter of Henry and Sophia (Wells; Wait, both of Yermont. They came with their parents to Xenia. Ohio, where they were married, then to Switzerland county, wliere their daujrhter was born ; thev then moved to Rock IsLind county, where the father died in 1SS2. at the age of eighty-nine. He had served as a soklier in tlie war of 1^15. A. Kendall has four children: Lettie, Ida, Viola, and Meigs AV. lie has a farm f»f '1\^\ acres of tine farming land, taii'ly improved and well stocked with good grades of cattle, sheep and liogs.

OiRXELiLS SwABTwouT is a native of Saratoga county. Xew York, born in 1809, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Swaitwout, both of Xew York state. His father died in 1S39 at the age of Hfty-six. and his mother in 1S14. Tliey were Baptist people. The advent of the family into America, consisting of three brothers, was dui-ing the colonial times. AU of them settled in Xew York. The Swartwout family is of German descent. Cornelius received a common school education, such as could be obtained in the then almost pioneer schools of his boyhood days. He was taught the vocation of farming which he lias always follotred. He came to Illinois Avith his family in 1S55 and located in Rock Island c< imity. where he remained until 1S60, when he came to Mercer county, where he now resides, three-fourths of a mile east of Hamlet, on his farm of 240 acres. He was mai'ried in 1S39 to Lucinda Piatt, a native of X"^ew York and daughter of Epenitis and Eve Piatt, both of Xew York and now livinif in their native state. Thev have six children : James. Elizabeth. Sarah, John. "William, and Hem-y. Tlie eldest enlisted in the ai-my in 1862. in company B. 126th 111. Vol.. and died in 1861. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

Graha^l Lee. the subject of this sketch, was born January 22. 1821, and is the son of Elisha and Almvra (^Scoville) Lee. His father is number 18.191 of the sixth generation of the family. Graham is immber 18,219. Elisha Lee was born August 27. 1791. Tliis history is recorded in the chronological history of the Strong family, volume II. Tlie Lees trace their ancestry to John Lee, born in 1621, a native of Ipswich, England, who came to America in 1831, in the ship Francis, under the care of William "Westwood. He located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he remained a slu:>rt time when he moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where he married and became one of the permanent men of the settlement. Graham Lee was born on the same farm as was his lather, and in the same house, where he was reared to the age oi twelve, when his father moved to town and engaged in the mercantile bushiess. Here Graham received a tair education and but for indisix»sition of his eves would have beirun a collei^iate course. But notwithstanding his failure to enter college, a loiig life of continuous reading and careful observation has made him a well-posted man as to practical knowledge concerning business and national needs. At tlie age of nineteen he went to ISTew York to suj^erintend the dairy farm of his father where he remained till he arrived at the age of twenty-one. In 1842 he went on a wlfaling voyage on the Pacific Coast with a view to improve his health, and spent two years on the coast of Alaska. In 18-1:5 he, in company with his brother Henry, went to Ohio, purchased a flock of sheep, which they drove to Mercer county, Illinois, the same year, to what is now Perryton township. They laid a claim on section 9, which is now owned by him. He has made one of the most beautiful farms in Mercer county. In 1853 he was m'arried to Mary A. Candor, born 1834, and a native of Union county, Pennsylvania. She came with her parents, Thomas and Margaret (Montgomery) Candor, to Mercer county, Illinois, in 1837. They had nine children, two of whom are living: Elisha, born in 1856, and Fanny, born September, 1865. Elisha was married December 18, 1881, to Lena Bopes, daughter of David Bopes. He carries on the business of the farm for his father. Mr. Lee was elected vice-president of the state board of agriculture in 1864, which position he held till 1870. At the organization of the institute for the feeble-minded of Illinois, he was appointed a member of the board, and with the exception of two years has held the position of president of the board since its organization. His wife, Mary A., died January 30, 1874. He was married a second time, to Anna S. Fisher, a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania, born March 1, 1847. They have one child, Graham, born February 24, 1880. Mr. Lee was raised a Congregationalist, but is now a member of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet.

Among the many successful farmers of Mercer county whose first capital to begin business with was muscle and will power is the subject of our sketcli, Jouathan Gaunt. He is a native of Lancashire county, England, and a son of James and Ann Gaunt. His father was a manufacturer of cotton, and died in 1845, at the age of fifty-six years. His mother came to America with Jonathan in 1851, and settled in Rock Island county, wliere she lived for ten years, when she moved to Mercer county, where she died in 1879, at the age of eighty years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, her husband of tlie E])isco})al church. Jonathan partly learned the trade of his father. He lived with his mother till lie arrived at the age of twenty, when he went to work for himself He was married in 1862 to Emily Damp, a native of New York, born in 1841, daughter of Michael and Eliza Damp. They have five children : Fernando, Cicero, Lorenzo, Eliza, and Albert. He lias a fine stock farm of 520 acres, well imj^roved and well stocked

John Moxtgomeky is a descendant of one of the earliest i)ioneer families to locate in this part of the state. Among the pioneer preachers of northwestern Illinois is llev. John M(Hitgomery, his uncle. John Montgomery, our subject, is a native of Rock Island county, born in 1838. His parents were Daniel and Margaret S. Montgomery, both of Montour county, Pennsylvania. They emigrated from their native state to Edgington, Rock Island county, in 1830. They were of that class of Pennsylvania people who carried their morals with them. Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian church, and did much to establish a high degree of morality in the community where they resided. The father died in 18-1:9, when he was fifty years old. The mother is now living in Milan, Pock Island county, and is in her seventy-third year. John Montgomery received a fair common school education, in addition to which he attended school at Dixon, Illinois, for some time. He was reared on the farm, which business he lias always followed. He was married September, 1868, to Sarah J. Morris, native of Ohio, and daughter of William and Sarah Morris, both of Ohio, and members of the Methodist Episcopal church. By this marriage he has two children living: Maud M., born January 4, 1870, and Fanny L., - September 6, 1871. His w^ife, Sarah J., died in is 74. He married again in 1876, Elizabeth Swartwout, born in 1842, a native of Xew York and a daughter of Cornelius and Lucinda Swartwout. Bv this second marriage he has three children : Lucinda, bcfrn March 6, 1877 ; James S., Mav 17. 1878 : and William H., May 30, 1880. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet. He first came to Perrvton township in 1868, then returned to his native county and remained till 1 882, when he again came to Perryton township, and located on the old David Blue farm, where he owns 360 acres. He makes a specialty of fat cattle, in addition to which he does a good business in buying and shipping stock. He enlisted March, 1S6.5, in company K, 68th 111. Yol., and served one year.

The present practicing physician and druggist of Hamlet is Dr. M. Criswell, a native of Pennsylvania; was born in 1847, and is a son of Matliew and Sarah M. (Whitehill) Criswell, both of Pennsylvania. They emigrated to Rock Island county, Illinois, in 1855, where they remained till 1878, when they came to ]\Iercer county, where she died in 1864, aged fifty-one years. The father and his son Mathew now reside in the village of Hamlet. Dr. Criswell received a good common school education. In the study of medicine he graduated at Jefferson medical college, Philadel})hia, with the class of 1876. The same year he located in Pre-emption township, where he remained till 1ST7, when he came to Hamlet. He was married in 1870 to Anna C. Huvett, o Illinois, native of Eock Island connty, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Harriette L. Huvett, of Pennsvlvania. Thev located in Milan, Eock Island county, about 1850, where he has since been engaged in the practice of medicine. Dr. Criswell has by this marriage one child, Edith. He has a paying practice.

The subject of this sketch Josiaii Candor is a native of Columbia counts', Pennsvlvania, born in 1830, and is the son of Thomas and Margaret (Montgomery) Candor. He came to Mercer county with his parents. He was reared and educated on his father''s farm in Oliio Grove township. In 1852 he went to Oregon and California, returned in 1854 and engaged in the mercantile business in Edgington, Eock Island county, where he remained till 1867, when he, in company with his brother, Capt. D. M. Candor, opened a store of general merchandise in Hamlet, in which business he continues. He has held the office of postmaster in Hamlet since 1868. He was married in 1857 to Mary E. Xichols, a native of Searsport, Maine. She was born in 1838 and is a daughter of Woodburn and Olive (Sleeper) JS^ichols, both of Maine, who came to Mercer county in 1859 and located in Perryton township. The mother now lives her son Albion, one mile south of Hamlet. Mr. and Mrs. Candor have six children: Marv C, Mav, Eobeit A., Edwin H., Yessie O., and Herbert J. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He has a farm of 175 acres well improved, and adjoining Handet, on which he keeps a good grade c^f stock. He and his brother formerly dealt in stock buying and shipping. Previous to the building of the town of Eeynolds, in Eock Island county, they carried on a trade in coal at Hamlet. He has been the school treasurer of the township for the past six years.