South Dixon Township

South Dixon Township

The town of South Dixon was organized in April 1867. The cause of its separation from Dixon, the parent town, was the desire of the outlying farmers to restrain cattle from roaming at large, an evil which was not sufficiently comprehended by the people of Dixon. Mr. Abram Brown, in conjunction witii others, prepared and presented a petition to the supervisors prajnng for the division, which was eventually made.

South Dixon comprises all of T. 21, R. 9 E., of the 4th P.M., and contains thirty sections, having an area of 19,200 acres. It ranks among the first in agricultural resources, the land being in a very high state of cultivation. The soil for the greater part is a black alluvial and is irrigated b}^ numerous small tributaries of the Three and the Five mile branches, which latter traverse the township from east to west; the source of the last mentioned is on the farm of Mr. Burkett, at the southeastern portion of the township.

The surface of the country is gently rolling. The hills and dales are beautified by many groves, under whose grateful shelter comfortable farm-houses appear. A perusal of the biographical sketches will show that for tlie most part the present or previous occupants of this portion of Lee county migrated from Somerset county, Pennsylvania. They are a thrifty, industrious and persevering people, whose energy has transformed a prairie into a garden ; they support schools for the education of their offspring and are commendable for their religious tendencies, and their homes possess all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.

Among the early settlers appear the names of Charles Edson, Abram Brown, Christon Stevens, Henry B. True, Caldwell Bishop, Reuben Trowbridge, Henry Page, Jacob McKenney, Jacob and E. H. Groh, James Rogers, Matthew McKenney, Wm. A. Judd, Nathan Hill, Wm. I. Fritz and others^ to whom particular allusion is made in the memoirs.

There are three churches in the township : two Evangelical Lutheran and one Methodist Episcopal, the last mentioned being also a union church.

St. James' Evangelical Lutheran church is on the Chicago road and was erected in the year 1877, by the representatives of the various religious bodies in the vicinity, but is now exclusively used by members of the persuasion previously mentioned. It can accommodate about 280 members. It is a wooden structure, cost $3,200, and is now entirely out of debt. Wlien this church was built the Sabbath-school was removed thither from the old brick school-house ; it is well attended, has a staff of eight teachers, and for the past fifteen years Mr. Hiram Uhl has been superintendent. The first pastor was the Rev. J. P. Sanderson ; the present one is the Rev. A. J. B, Cast. The church belonging to the Methodist Episcopal body is situated in the village of Eldena. It was built in the year 1870. It is built of wood and can seat 150. It is also a union church, being used by the Evangelicals and United Brethren for church purposes. The first and present pastor is the Rev. M. A. Rice.

There are four schools in South Dixon. Particular allusion may be made to the old brick school-house in Dist. No. 3, T. 21, where the attendance at one time was one hundred and twenty ; the average attendance now is about twenty-seven. The present teacher is Lorenzo Wood ; the directors are Messrs. Abram Brown, HiramUhl and Isaac Seitz. Apropos of education here, the first school was held bj'Miss Edson, in a room in her brother's house. In the same room was organized the first union Sabbath-school in Lee county, outside of Dixon. Mr. E. B. Edson was appointed the first teacher of the new school. The gentlemen most active in its erection were Abram Brown, John and Charles Beal, Joseph Smith, Hiram Uhl, William J. and John Fritz. The Kellogg school is in Dist. No. 8, T. 21, R. 9. The present directors are A. E. Fellows, Frederick BoUman and William Missman. It can accommodate eighty children ; average attendance about twenty-five. It was erected in 1867. The first teacher was A. M. Jennes ; the present one Lydia Conderman. The Lievan school can accommodate seventy ; daily average about twenty-five. Eldena school, in the village of Eldena, can seat one hundred pupils : average attendance about fifty. The first teacher was A. F. Parker.

The county farm is situated in Sec. 26, South Dixon, and contains one hundred acres. The Illinois Central railroad cuts off" a small portion, which is used as a burying-ground, in which five interments have taken place within the past three years. The farm latterly has exceeded the expectations of its founders, and though the land is now of the best, yet under its present management the returns for the past three years have exceeded those of any former similar period. In 1879 there were sold hogs to the amount of $292.82; corn, $164; total, $396.82. In 1880 the proceeds from hogs, corn and oats were $254.12. The prospects for 1881 are fair. There are at present under cultivation thirtyfour acres of corn and eighteen of oats. There are ten cows and four horses on'the farm. It were well to explain that the farm is an asylum for the poor, idiotic, crippled and infirm, as well as for those affected by indulgence in strong drink. There are at present fifteen inmates, nine males and six females. Four only are valuable as farm hands, who are set to suitable work only, such as hoeing, milking, hog-feeding, etc. Dr. Edmond R. Travers, of Amboy, is physician to the institution, and visits whenever notified by the superintendent, Mr. Thomas L. Stetson, who is a salaried officer. He works the farm to the best advantage and hands the proceeds to the board.

Literary And Debating Societies

The only association of this nature in the township was organized in the year 1858, under the title of the Edsonville Literary and Debating Society. Its first meetings were held in the old brick schoolhouse at Edsonville, so called from a family of that name having been the first settlers here. Mr. Abram Brown was its first president. He evinced an unceasing interest in its welfare and progress. The debates were characterized by vigor and ability, many clever men of Dixon participating therein. This society exercised a beneficial influence in forming the habits and educating the taste of the young in this district.

The Illinois Central railroad passes through the township from north to south. There is a passenger station at the village of Eldena. Mr. H. Hursey is the agent who fills the offices of the express agent and operator for the Western Union Telegraph Company. The

Eldena Yillag-E

This is on the line of the Illinois Central railroad, and is situated in the N.E. ^ of X.W. ^ Sec. 36, and comprises about forty acres. The tirst store and house was built by Reuben H. Cheney, deceased. The first and only church belongs to the Methodist Episcopal body, vide churches. The first grain-house was built by Messrs. Reuben Trowbridge, Reuben H. Cheney and Daniel Brown. The school has been referred to under its proper head. The only elevator in the village is owned by Jeremiah Mottollei', who ships annually about 300,000 l)ushels of corn. The elevator is capable of handling 3,000 bushels daily. The only stores in the village are owned by Frederick Glessner, George J^. Stahn, and A. H. Brubaker, who keep an assortment of goods suited to the requirements of the neighborhood ; but the majority of the people choose Dixon for their market town. The village has improved of late years; the population is now about 200.

Biographical

Abram Bkowx, farmer, Dixon, the son of George and Elsie Brown, formerly of York, latterly of Michigan, was born Nov^ember 17, 1816, in the township of Yarmouth, at Temperanceville, Eighth Concession north of Lake Erie, Middlesex county, district of London, Upper Canada, where he subsequently filled the offices of clerk and deputy postmaster. He migrated to the State of Illinois on September 21, 1837, and settled in the town of Grand Detour, Ogle county, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was appointed postmaster of that place February 18, 18-10, which position he held for three years. In the fall of 1843, having resigned that post, he moved to Dixon and entered into the blacksmithing business, and on his appointment to the postmastership of Dixon he declined his share of the partnership in the blacksmithing business, and having creditably filled the office of postmaster for three years, impaired health compelled him to resign the post, when he moved to Franklin Grove, Lee county, where he engaged in farming and established the first post-office ; he was also the first postmaster appointed there. In February, 1849, he sold out, and on July 3 following he moved to the place he now occupies, in Sec. 13, in the town of South Dixon, and has since followed the occupation of farming. He has always taken a leading part in politics, being a democrat, and was twice honored by his party with the nomination to the legislature. He was six times elected to the office of justice of the peace, in which capacity he commanded the respect of his fellow citizens. He has held the offices of highways commissioner, school trustee, and for eighteen years the post of school director in his district. He took a very active part in having the town of Dixon divided, and the town of South Dixon set oif, in March 1808, the supervisors finally acceding to Mr. Brown's petition. Subsequently he held the post of supervisor of South Dixon for four 3'ears and that of magistrate for eight years. For a number of years Mr. Brown has been crop correspondent of the Bureau of Agriculture at Washington, and has acted in a similar capacity for the agricultural department at Springfield, and has contributed various articles on the topics of the day for the press and literary journals. He possesses a fine library, is a man of extensive reading, and is the mainstay of a once prosperous and talented literary debating society, being its first president. On May 14, 1844, lie was united in wedlock to Correlia Whitney, daughter of Col. Nathan Whitney, of Franklin Grove, Lee county. Mr. Brown has a family of three girls and two boys, all highly educated. Virginia H., the eldest daughter, has taught school for the past fifteen years, and has graduated from Rock River Collegiate Institute. Olga and Mary remain at home. Henry A. Brown, the elder son, studied medicine and is one of the supervisors in the institution for feeble-minded children at Lincoln, Illinois. George M., the younger son, is a student in Champaign College, Illinois, and is naturally an inventor, having patented a device for grinding mower sickels. Mr. Brown is the oldest resident in South Dixon and one of the oldest in the county.

Daniel Brown, farmer, Eldena, the son of John and Nanc}^ (Westcott) Brown, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born November 6, 1820, in Windsor, of the same county and state. When eight years old his father moved to Aurora, Erie county, New York, where he attended school for about six years. In the spring of 1834 his father settled in Du Page county, Illinois, where Daniel availed himself of the means o^' education till he reached the age of twentythree, when he entered Belvidere Seminary, near Rock river, and attended there for one year, when, his father dying, he left the seminary and took charge of his father's farm, which he shortl}^ afterward purchased from the heirs; it consisted of 300 acres of very choice land. In the year 1854 he sold the above farm and moved to Lee county, Sec. 31, in the township of Nachusa, at that time Chinatown, where he remained till 1871, when he disposed of his farm, but had to retake it, the purchaser being unable to pay ; he then rented it till the spring of 1880, in the interim residing in Dixon; since that time Mr. Brown has occupied the farm. In November, 1842, he married Miss Adelaide J. Cheney, eldest daughter of Reuben and Sarah Cheney, of Du Page county, near Naperville, and they have a family of six children, five boys and one girl. Clara, the eldest, has married, and resides in Iowa; Frank, the eldest boy.jwas in the Union army in the war of the rebellion, and at its termination went with the command into Dakota to the Indian territory, where he conducted himself creditably, and located a claim at Ellsworth county, Kansas ; Eugene M., the second son, is engineer on the Texas Pacific railroad ; Walter B. fills the post of clerk in Parsons, southeast Kansas, and Harry E. and Edwun are at home.

Jacob Gkoh, farmer, Dixon, was born in Berks count}^, Pennsylvania, in 1806, where he spent his youth and received a limited education. At the age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to learn the potter's trade, but because of bronchial affections he could not continue in it. In 1828 he was married to Miss Kathrine Hoffman, and for some 3'ears lived at Catawissa, Pennsylvania. In 1848 they moved to Lee county, Illinois, and a little later entered 160 acres of land near his present home, with a Mexican land M^arrant. He is the father of ten children, only two of whom are now living : Mrs. Susan Statlsmith, of Eldora, Iowa, and Ephram H. Groh, Esq., a justice of the peace and prominent citizen of South Dixon township, Lee county. He has a beautiful farm home two and three quarters miles from the city of Dixon, on the Chicago road. Politically Mr. Groh is a republican, but has led a quiet, private life all his days, holding no ofSce save that he was the first overseer of the poor in South Dixon township. He has been a member of the Lutheran church for many years, and was one of the prime movers in the establishment and building of the St. James church, located a few miles from Dixon, on the Chicago road. He helped to build the present school-house in his district, a brick structure, which at that time was the finest in Lee count3^

Oliver E. Fellows, farmer, Dixon, the son of Simon and Elizabeth (Deyo) Fellows, was born June 12, 1837, in Cherry Grove, Jo Daviess county, Illinois. His father was from New Hampshire and his mother from New York state. From Cherry Grove his father moved into Palmyra township, Lee county, to Sugar Grove, where his father rented a farm and where the subject of this sketch attended school for a short time. On March 25, 1860, Mr. Fellows was married to Miss Mai-y E. Boyer, daughter of Abram and Elizabeth Boyer, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He has a fine family of ten children, five boys and five girls, all living under the parental roof. The census taker said he had the premium family in the township. On March 11, 1878, Mr. Fellows moved from Sugar Grove to South Dixon, Sec. 29, and rented a large farm from Col. Noble. The land is most suitable for pasturage and agriculture. It is intersected by the Five-mile

William J. Fritz, farmer, Dixon, the son of John and Eve (Mowry) Fritz, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was born there July 1, 1825, and attended school with much ditticulty on account of the absence of roads. At the age of twenty years he commenced working on his father's farm, which he continued till his marriage with Miss Eliza Phillippi, eldest daughter of John and Rebecca Phillippi, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, which event took place October 16, 1849. After this he went on his own farm in that place. In April, 1853, he moved to Lee county, Illinois, South Dixon, Sec. 24. Mr. Fritz, sr., had previously bought land in this section and gave eighty acres of such property to his son, wlio subsequently bought from his father eight}" acres more. Mr. Fritz has now in this township, in different sections, 390 acres of as good land as can be found in Lee county. He has also eight and a half acres of timber lands, owns besides 758 acres in Kansas, and is an example of what industry, integrity and perseverance can accomplish. Mr. Fritz had ten children : the eldest boy, Peter Freeman, died at the age of eleven years, and rest, seven boys and two girls, are living, and with the exception of one boy who has gone east are all at home. Mr. Fritz spares no expense in the education of his family, sending them to the best colleges. ISToah, the third son, is at Carthage College, Hancock county. Mr. Fritz is most anxious that a superior education should be imparted in the district school.

Hiram Uhl, farmer, Dixon, is the offspring of Daniel and Mary (Long) Uhl, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and was born in the same county and state September 21, 1828. He was educated at the district school till he arrived at the age of eighteen years. He followed the occupation of teaming and farming for a considerable number of years, when he moved west and bought a farm in Sec. 13, at that time Dixon township, which he farmed till the year 1860, when he moved into Dixon and engaged in the milling business for two years. On September 12, 1850, he married Miss Margaret Wilhelm, daughter of Philip Wilhelm, of Maryland, by wbom he had four children, two of whom are dead ; the other two are comfortably' married. Mrs. Uhl died Jul}" 8, 1858, aged twenty-eight years, ten months and twenty-five days. March 20, 1862, Mr. Uhl married Miss ISTancy Hughes, daughter of Joseph Hughes, ot Cumberland, Alleghany county, of whom the issue is four children, all girls: Ida May, Bertha Almeda, Eva Olive, and Grace Guthrie, all of whom are attending school. Mr. Uhl's farm is a good one of 300 acres, watered by a tributary of the Three-mile branch.

Epiieaim Fkitz, farmer, Dixon, son of Ananias and Harriet Fritz, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1847. His parents migrated to South Dixon, Lee county, in April 1852, and bought a farm of 135 acres in S.E. ^ Sec. 13. It has a southern aspect and is well adapted for agriculture and pasturage. His mother died in 1864, and his father has removed to Kansas, where at present he farms 140 acres. The subject of this sketch, July 10, 1873, was united in marriage to Miss A. C. Seibert, daughter of Rev. James L. W. Seibert, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. They have three children, two girls and one boy, named Flora Amelia, Harry Seibert, and Ida May, aged respectively seven, live and four years. Mr. Fritz was for three years in the Illinois Central railroad office at Eldena.

DuANE W. Bailey, farmer, Dixon, son of Capt. Hiram Bailey and grandson of Maj. -Gen. William Bailey, was born in Rupert, Bennington county, Vermont, December 10, 1838. He came from Michigan to Illinois in the spring of 1866 and engaged in the dry-goods business in Polo for some years, when he came to Dixon and bought a farm in the vicinity of the town. Mr. Bailey has honorably tilled the position of town clerk of South Dixon and now occupies the position of supervisor. He returned to Yermont and married Miss Julia E. Graves, the youngest daughter of Francis Graves, of Rupert, Bennington county. They have had five children, but two have been removed by death, and two girls and one boy remain.

J. MosTOLLER, grain, stock and coal dealer, Eldena, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1836, and came to this count}^ in 1855 and engaged in farming till 1861. He entered the army in Capt. Cheney's battery, of Dixon, in which he remained for three years, having discharged his duties efficiently and having enjoyed the esteem of his comrades. He passed unscathed through thirteen battles. After leaving the army he returned to farming for two years, when he embarked in the dry-goods, lumber, coal and grain business, and now owns the only elevator in the village, from which he annually ships about 300,000 bushels. This elevator is capable of handling 5,000 bushels per day. In 1877 he married Miss Rachel Morris, of Lee county.

Isaac Seitz, tanner, Dixon, was born near Dayton, Ohio, ISTovember 18, 1843. His parents were Isaac and Elizabeth (Flora) Seitz, the former born in Lancaster county, and the latter in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and both removing to Ohio in an early day. During life the elder Mr. Seitz was a farmer and cooper, and died of apoplexy about February 20, 1877, in Lee county, aged sixty-seven years, and Mrs. Seitz died about 1848, also in Lee county, in the same house that her husband died in. Mr. Seitz, jr., came to this county when about the age of two and a half years, and has resided here ever since.

His education was of a limited character, and his occupation through lite has been that of a farmer, having under cultivation some eighty acres in excellent condition, all amassed by hard labor. He was married to Miss Susan Landers December 2, 1869, in Sterling, Whitesides county, Illinois. She was born March IT, 1850, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, her parents also being natives of the same state. They have live children: Cora A., born September 11, 1870; Irving O., December 17, 1874; Isaac H., March 10, 1876 ; William A., February 12, 1878; and Agnes May, March 27, 1880; Ollive Frances, born July 9, 1872, and died March 27, 1873, aged eight months.

Feederick Glessnek, general merchant, Eldena, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1847. His parents were Jeremiah and Amy Ann (Laub) Glessner, both natives of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, the father still living, and the mother dying February 1868, in this township. Frederick, with his parents, came to this country in 1864, locating near Eldena. He received the usual winter schooling, and during the summer season he worked on the farm. In September, 1877, he opened a store in Eldena, carrying a general stock of merchandise, in which, by perseverance, industry and integrity he has built himself up a fine business. He was married to Miss Luphema Hill March 31, 1868, she having been born February 11, 1848, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. Her parents,, both deceased, were natives of the same state. Mi*. Glessner has a family of five children ; Jeremiah, born January 28, 1869 ; Frank, October 1, 1871 ; Percy, February 9, 1874 ; Esther, March 30, 1876, and Arthur, August 26, 1880. Georgiana was born October 28, 1879, and died February 25, 1880.

Jacob Senneff, farmer, Eldena, was born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, July 11, 1836. Ilis parents were William and Phoebe (Barnedt) SennefF, the former being born in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, June 1795, and died in Carroll county, Illinois, in June 1875, in his eightieth year. The latter was born in the same count}- in 1797 and died in 1842, aged forty-five years. Mr. Senneff's father and grandfather were born in the same house, and he was born not a half mile distant. Our subject's great-grandfather was a general in the German army during the twenty-one years' war, but resigned and came to America, settling in Pennsylvania, his nearest neighbor being sixty miles distant. At the age of eighteen years Mr. Senneft' moved to Dixon township (1854), and to Carroll county in 1859, returning in 1861 to Dixon. In the latter year he enlisted in the 34th 111. Yol. Inf, Col. Edwin M, Kirk commanding. His first engagement was at Shiloh, followed by the battles of Stone River, Chattanooga, Mission Ridge, Chickamauga, the Atlanta campaign and Sherman's march to the sea, as well as the campaign of the Caroliiias in 1865. He was wounded in both arms at Bentonville, North Carolina, March 19, 1865, havino- his ri.o-ht arm amputated above the elbow, his left beino- still in a crippled condition. He received his discharge July 24, 1865, and returned to his home, moving to Carroll county the same year and returned to Lee county in 1874, where he has since resided, following the occupation of a farmer. He was married to Miss Sarah Fritz November 15, 1855. Her parents were John and Eve (Mowry) Fritz. ]\[rs. Senneff was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, December 8, 1831. They have four children living: Mary Ann (wife of E. M. June), Harvey M., Ellen A. and Susan V. Mr. Senneff has never been the recipient of any office, nor has he ever sought for one, having always been content with the position of " high private."

This township derives its name from a military officer by that name, who fell in the battle of Palo Alto. It is known as T. 19, K. 10 of the 4th P.M. The tirst settler to cast his lot in this township was Joseph Ba}^, who located on Sec. 13, south of Palestine Grove. The next settler was Ira Axtle, who came in the same year, and located on Sec. 6.

In 1840 William Dolan settled on Sec. 14. Mr. Dolan is one of the most prominent citizens in the township, and has always since the organization of the township held some position of trust. He served twelve years as supervisor, was justice of the peace fourteen years, and also held the office of town clerk and commissioner of highways for a number of terms.

Martin McGowan, J. Moran and John Darcy also came in 1810, and took claims in Sees. 14 and 23. Of these early settlers, Dolan, McGowan and Darcy are the only ones who are at present residents of the township.

May and Sublette towns were once a part of what was known as Inlet voting precinct, and the voters were obliged to go to Inlet to cast their votes. Elections K^re for a number of years held at the residence of Joseph Sawyer at that place. The citizens of May were led to expect the Illinois Central railroad to run through the town, but were disappointed.

A post-office was established in the town at the residence of Mr. Morrison, known as May Hill post-office. Through the efforts of some interested parties the stage route was changed and a post-office established at the residence of Daniel Beard, which office was known as Brookfield.

In 1850 William Dolan wrote to the Postmaster-General in regard to the removal of the office, and three months afterward the mail route Avas again changed and the office restored to its former location, and a Mr. Hubbard appointed postmaster, which position he held until the railroad had been completed, when the office was removed to Sublette.

An organization existed known as the Palestine Grove minute men, which had been organized for the purpose of protecting the rights of the settlers in regard to their claims. In 1845 the land was surveyed and the market opened, after which the minute men were kept busy. The fii'st claim jumped and entered in the township was that of Hiram Anderson, which was deeded by a man named Bull, who drove stage between Peru and Dixon. This difficulty called the minute men together from all directions. They met in the barn of a Mr. Fessenden and passed resolutions which gave Mr. Bull some uneasiness. He afterward deeded the land back to its former owner, and gave him one 3'ear in which to pay the entrance fees.

In 1843 the township was made a voting precinct. In 1S60 the township cast but 120 votes, yet furnished forty-seven men to aid in the suppression of the rebellion. Co. F, of the 75th 111. Inf., was composed mostly of men from May.

Shortly after the war the German Catholics erected a church, wdiich was named St. Mary's. The Irish Catholics also erected a church on the west side of the town, which surpassed any building of the kind in the vicinity. This building cost about ^9,000.

Among the other institutions in the town of May the academy stands prominent. For this educational advantage the citizens are indebted to Mr. Patrick Piley, who on his death bequeathed his property to his wife until her death, after which it was to be used for the purpose of establishing an academy in May township.

Mr. Riley emigrated from the city of Philadelphia in 1848, and settled on Sec. 23. By economy and hard labor he accumulated a considerable amount of the world's goods. In 1860 Mr. Riley's health began to fail him, and in spite of the efforts of the most skillful physicians, grew rapidly worse, and in 1868 he passed through the dark valley, leaving his property to be used in the establishment of an institution of learning accordingly. The property, consisting of 120 acres of land, was sold by the trustees, Martin McGowan and Patrick

McCann, and the work of constructing the academy was at once entered upon. It was decided to ei'ect it on a piece of hind belonging- to the estate, on the Rocky Foi'd and La Moille road, eight miles south from Amboy. The main building is 30x48. The L is 16x18 feet, and the whole is twenty feet in height. The institution is divided into several diii'erent compartments. On the Urst floor are the school-rooms, music-room, parlor, sitting-room, dining-room and kitchen. On the second floor is the chapel, which is nicely fltiished and has a vaulted roof. The rest of the upper floor is divided into sleeping-rooms, occupied by pupils who board at the academy. The building is surmounted by an observatory, from which a view of the surrounding country nja}^ be had. The seminary was dedicated early in September 1880, and is now occupied by six sisters of the order of Benedictine nuns, who ai'e teaching, in addition to the common branches, German, French, music, and drawing. They receive none but young ladies as boarding scholars, but will admit boys as day pupils. The fact that the school is crowded, together with thenniversal satisiaction expressed by all whose children attend, is a suflicient guai'antee of the success of the institution, and of the great benefit wliich will undoubtedly be derived from it in years to come.

John McGinn, farmer, Amboy, was born in Ireland about 1811. He is the son of William and Bridget (McGuirk) McGinn, and second in a family of seven. About forty years ago he came to Canada and lived a few j^ears. Returning to Ireland, he was married to Mary Jane Montague (deceased 18G0\ by whom he has had eleven children, eight of whom are living: James F., Marianne (Mrs Millard, widowed and living in New York city), Michael M., Patrick Henry, Joseph, Dilia, Catherine, Margaret. James and Michael McGinn, clergymen in the Catholic church, are living in Philadelphia. In 1860 Mr. McGinn came to the city of Now York and engaged in mercantile business till 1876, when he removed to this township and bought the S.E. ^ of Sec. 16, where he has since resided. All but two of his family were born in Ireland. In the old country Mr. McGinn owned forty acres in Ulster, county of Tyrone, besides other property in the same county. He was in a general diT-goods and grocery business in the town of Carrick More, near which his property was situated.

Petee Lannen, farmer, Amboy, was born in the county of Louth, Leinster province, Ireland, March 1825. He came to New York in 1847, being the first of his famil}^ in America. Thence he went to

Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where he worked several years for a farmer. He next came to Prophetstown,Whitesides count}', Illinois, and worked two years for a farmer. From there he went to Bui'eau county and staid five years, thence to May township. He first bought eighty acres in Sec. 19, where he is now living, and built upon it. He now owns the north half of this section. While in Massachusetts he married Mary Smith. Their issue are nine children : Thomas, Bernard, James, Mary Jane, Rose, Peter, Maggie (deceased), Theresa, and Lizzie. Bernard is married and living witli his wife and three children in May township. The family belong to the Boman Catholic church. Mr. Lannen is an enterprising man and is devoting his large farm chiefly to dairying. In 1865 he built a good dwelling, at a cost of about $1,800. His father died when he was only about two years old. His mother was a hundred years old when she died, in 1879, having come to America with her son, Owen, a few years after Peter came. Two of his brothers died in Savannah, Georgia, of the yellow fever, about 1859, having gone there about five years previous.

John Dakcy, farmer, Amboy, was born in Cavan county, Ulster, Ireland, in the year 1818; son of Bernard and Mary (Lee) Darcy. His father was a farmer, and died when John was quite young. In 1837 Mr. Darcy came to Canada, landing in Quebec June 15. In the fall of 1838 he started for Cincinnati, but wintered in Toledo, and went the next spring to Chicago. While here he was working most of the time on the canal. In the fall of 1810 he settled in May township, Lee county, and claimed the N.E. J Sec. 23. He built a house the same fall. There were then but tM'o or three dwellings between his and La Moille, Bureau county, and none between his place and East Grove. About this time Mr. Darcy worked a few weeks on the old State railroad, then being graded through May. Mr. Darcy, like many others, received nothing for his labor but some worthless paper issued by a certain A. H. Bongs, of La Salle, who had started a bank there. Mr. Darcy now owns a farm of 280 acres. He was married in 1850, to Margaret Curran, by whom he had two children: John, born in 1851, and Catherine born in 1853. He is now living with his second wife, by whom he has had five children. He is a Catholic; in politics a democrat. He is not ambitious for office, having been once elected justice of the peace and would not have the office.

Patrick McCann, farmer, La Moille, was born in the county of Tyrone, Ulster, Ireland, in February 1825. His parents, Arthur and Mary (Hackett) McCann, had four children, of whom he was the j'-oungest, and the only one in the family that left the old country. In June, 1843, he landed in ISTew York ; thence he went to Connecticut, working on a farm during the summer, and in the fall came to Peru,

Illinois, and worked for a farmer till December 1844:, when he entered the regular armj at $7 pei" month. He was first sent to Fort Jessup to join his regiment, the 3d Inf. In about three months he was sent to Corpus Christi, where he remained till he was sent to Fort Brown, which he helped to build. He was in Co. F, Capt. Bainbridge, Don Carlos Buell being his first lieutenant. He was with Gen. Taylor in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma May 8 and 9, 1846. After the latter he was made a sergeant in Co. C, of the same regiment. He was in the battle of Monterey in the following September, after which, with the best of Taylor's forces, he was sent to augment Scott's arm}", then about to begin its march to the cit}- of Mexico. He was at the taking of Vera Cruz, in the fierce fighting at Oerro Gordo, and in all the engagements till the fall of the city of Mexico. He was at El Paso, New Mexico, when his term of five years expired, December 2, 1849. From here he came back to Philadelphia via San Antonio, New Orleans, Wheeling and Baltimore, and went to work on Petty's Island in the Delaware river, between Camden and Philadelphia. In 1852 Mr. McCann came to Illinois to near Bloomington, and began work on the Chicago & Alton railroad, having been married in 1850 to Mar}^ Burns. In the summer of 1853 he worked on the Illinois Central, north and soutii of Sublette. After this he went to farming; bought the E. ^ of N.W. J Sec. 35, and built a small frame house. He also owns forty acres in Sec. 26, and half a section in Shelby county, Iowa. Mr. McCann has a family of seven living: James, who is married and living in Iowa; Arthur, also in Iowa; Peter F., at school at Niagara, New York; Felix, Mary, Rose Ann, and Kate (one deceased, aged nine months). Mr. McCann and his family are Catholics, and a pleasanter man it has never been our fortune to meet.

Andkew Kessler, farmer. Van Grin, Bureau county, was born in Saxe Coburg, Germany, April 1815. He is the second child of John and Dorothea Kessler, whose family consisted of two sons and six daughters. In 1850 Mr. Kessler, with his wife and four children, came to Lee county and settled on Sec. 13, in May township. He owns 120 on the S.E. J and 70 acres in Bureau county, nearly opposite. It is all highly valuable land. In 1870 Mr. Kessler put up a fine dwelling at a cost of more than $2,000. He has an interesting and intelligent famil}^ : Kasper, the eldest, is living with his famih' in Bureau county ; Nicholas, Edward with his wife and two children, and Conrad, are all in Nebraska; George is in Bureau county, and John and Sarah are living at home. Margaret, second in the family, died in 1872 or 1873, having about a year before become the wife of Jacob Betz. Julia died in 1870, aged twenty-one years. Besides these, one son died aged eleven years. Mr. Kessler, with his family, belongs to the church

May Towjstship

Joseph G. Hall, farmer, Ambo}^, was born near Birmingham, England, March 1843. His parents were Joseph and Eliza (Haden) Hall. His father, a tanner, came to Philadelphia in 1844, the rest of the family in 1846. The family came in 1857 to May township and settled where "Squire" James Fitzpatrick is now living. In 1862 they moved to Clinton, Illinois, and lived there thirteen years, going from there to Nebraska, where Mi-. Hall, sr., died in 1876. He was twice married ; he had six children by his first wife and two by the second. Joseph G. Hall enlisted November, 1861, in the 57th 111. Yols., Co. A. The regiment was mustered at Camp Douglas, and in February, 1862, went to Cairo, Illinois, and from there to Fort Henry, arriving two hours after its surrender. The}^ were at Fort Donelson, at the battle of Shiloh, and the siege of Corinth ; at luka and around Corinth till the fall of 1863. Mr. Hall was also in the battles of La Grange and Pound Creek, and wintered at Linnville in the winter of 1863-4. From here he went with his regiment to Athens, Alabama, and thence to Chattanooga, and subsequently with Sherman to the sea. He was mustered out at Savannah in December 1864, having been engaged in many heavy battles and weary marches. He was married in October 1867, to Mary E. Ash, only daughter of Geo. Ash. Their issue are Maria Elizabeth, Georgeanna, and Joseph. Since his marriage Mr. Hall has lived on the old Roger Place (also known by other names), in See 3, having previously rented in Bureau county.

George Ash, farmer, Ambo}", was born in Devonshire, England, June 1814. He received but little schooling, and this in a night school, though most of his father's large family were quite well educated. His father died on the day of the coronation of Victoria, queen of England. In 1844 he was married to Maria Elliott, of Devonshire, and in 1847 came with his wife and one child to Pennsylvania; worked several years in Phoenixville, Chester county, as an iron-puddler ; came to Lee county in 1857, and settled on Sec. 10 of this town, baying fifty acres from Henry Keeling, of Amboy. He has since bought eight}^ acres in Sec. 9. Mr. Ash has had three children, only one of whom is living. George, the eldest, enlisted in the 46th 111. Yols., Co. D, Captain Wilder. He was in the battle of Donelson and in the first volley of the first day's fight at Shiloh. In this battle he was killed, not then nineteen years old. William H. died in Pennsylvania, aged eight 3'-ears ; Mary Elizabeth (now Mrs. Hall) was born in 1852. One of Mr. Ash's brothers came to this country two or three years before him, and after living in the State of New York moved to Canada, where he died. Another died in Sublette about the time George Ash came west. He has one brother living in California and a sister in New York.

Silas W. Avery, farmer, Amboy, was born in Orleans county, New York, March 1827. He was the eldest child of William and Rachel (Bishop) Aver}^ He had one brother and two sisters. The former, with his parents, is dead. His sisters are living in New York. When thirteen years of age Mr. Avery began work on the Erie canal at 810 a month. He continnedjin this business till he was twentythree years old, having learned the whole business and received wages ranging from $10 to $130 per month. While at this work he saved money enough to buy a home for his parents. This was thirty acres of land in Niagara county, New York, purchased from Governor Hunt. When he had got a deed of this property and settled his parents upon it he spent a considerable time in traveling. He went the entire length of the Ohio and twice down the Mississippi to New Orleans. While coming up the river from that city the second time he was taken sick and went to Cincinnati for treatment. Upon his recovery he started with a companion afoot to Peoria, Illinois. While hunting and fishing along the Illinois river he was taken with the ague and went back to New York, where he spent the winter of 1851. In the following spring he came with Mr. Acker in a carriage, by way of Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio, to Fayette county, Indiana, where in February, 1856, he was married to Caroline Acker, by whom he has a family of nine, living: Adella, born September 1857; Frank, October 1858; Ella V. (wife of Wm. Boyd), March 1860 ; Mary Jane, July 1862 (deceased June 1880); Sarah, May 1865; Willie "f., September 1867; Alice, March 1872; Clara and Carrie (twins), August 1874. In 1857 Mr. Avery came to Maytown and bought the N.E. J of Sec. 7 from John Dement. He since bought 200 acres from Ambrose Andrews, on the S. ^ of Sec. 5, forty acres of which he has sold. He and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church of Amboy. For many years Mr. Avery has been prominently identified with Sundayschool work. He is in his second term as justice of the peace. In politics he is a greenback republican. He has been twice married, the first time in the State of New York. By this marriage he had one child, Theodore, born June 14. 1848. This son early evinced a desire to enter the military service, and having obtained the consent of his father, in 1864 he enlisted in the 7th 111. Cav. as a recruit. He died of the measles the same fall at Springfield, Illinois, while his regiment were still encamped there.

Thomas Boyd, fjirmer, Amboy, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, about 1813. His father's name was Robert, and his mother died when he was young. There were four in the family, he being the eldest. He received a limited education, chiefly in night schools, and worked hard during his boyhood in factories, serving an apprenticeship of five years to learn the weaver's trade, whicli he followed for a short time. In 1842 he was married to Mary Stuart. About that time he came to New York cit}^ and worked for several years there and in Brooklyn at the molding business, which he had followed but little before. From the east he came to Ogle count}' and worked about ten years in the Grand Detour plow factory. In 1863 he moved to May township, Lee county, and bought 130 acres in Sec. 8, a part of it from the Illinois Central Railroad Company. Mr. Boyd has had a family of nine children : Robert, John, Mar}", Elizabeth (deceased, aged nine years), George (deceased infant), Thomas, Joseph G., William, and Ellen. John enlisted in the Sith 111. Vols, in the fall of 1862, and was with his regiment till March 1864, when he was taken sick near Rome, Georgia. After being in the hospital for a time he died at home of consumption in the fall of 1864. Robert enlisted in the same regiment when it was organized, and after serving three years came home and spent the winter of 1864-5. He reenlisted in the spring of 1865, and was mustered out at the close of the war. Mary, wife of Hugh Roy, is living in Ogle county; Thomas is living in Wyoming territory, and Joseph in Kansas. Both are married. Mr. Boyd and his family are Methodists, and in politics he is a republican. His father, Robert Boyd, came to I^ew York in 1S45. After living there two years he came to Ogle county and bought a larm near Grand Detour, and here he died. He married his second wife about four years before he left the old country.

Hugh Fitzpatrick, farmer. Van Orin, Bureau county, was born in the province of Ulster, Ireland, April 1823. He was the eldest of three children. His parents were James and Mary (McBride) Fitzpatrick. The former died in 1848, the latter in 1835. His sister Ann came to New York in 1845 with some neighbors. She was married in Pennsylvania to John Keefer, who is dead. She is now living in Chicago. The subject of this article landed in New Orleans January 8, 1847. He remained there a few months, and then went to the State of New York. He was three years there and seven in Pennsylvania engaged in railroad construction. Most of tliis time he was a foreman. He next appeared in May township. He first bought eighty acres from John Dement, on Sec. 19. He now owns the south half of this section. The east half of his farm he bought in 1875, from C. H. Chandler, an early settler, who obtained this land from the government. Mr. Fitzpatrick was married in the fall of 1850 to Ann DeLacy. Of their two sons, James, born October 1850, is living ; Bernard, born January 1857, died an infant. The only brother of Hugh came to New York in 1848, and lived there and in Pennsylvania till 1862, when he enlisted in the 16th N. Y. Heavy Art. He died about three months later at or near Bei'inuda Hundred, Virginia, from sickness. Mr. Fitzpatrick has held several offices in the town of May. He is a Roman Catholic, and a greenbacker in politics.

Pateick McMahon, farmer, Ainboy, was born in the county of Limerick, province of Monster, Ireland, in 1818. His father, Thomas McMahon, was a farmer, and for many years held a very respectable position as collector of certain public charges. His wife was Mary O'Brien, by whom he had three children. He died when they were young. Patrick McMahon obtained a good common school education. In July, 1811, he came to Rochester, New York, and worked in a tobacco factory till October 1816. He then went to St. Louis, and lived there till 1819, doing the same work. From St. Louis he went overland to California, returning in 1852 byway of Aspinwall. While west he engaged in raining. In 1853 he came to La Salle, and began a grocer}^ business. In 1856 he removed to Amboy and continued in the same till 1866. At this latter date Mr. McMahon bought from A. G. Moore, of New York, for $2,000, 120 acres of land, the E. | of N.W. I and the JST. W. J of N.W. ^ Sec. 2, town of May, and began farming. This farm has been much improved since he came onto it. He was married while in St. Louis, in 1817, to Ann Chmcey. Of their issue eight are living : Charles, born November 1818 ; Mary Jane, October 1853; Thomas, March 1855; William, Januarj' 1861; Alice, October 1862; Joseph, November 1866; James, November 1868; Maurice, October 1870. Charles and Thomas are living in Marshalltown, Iowa, the former married; and Mary is the wife of William Edwards, Amboy township. Mr. McMahon is a Roman Catholic. He has assessed the town of May since 1875, and previously served two terms as commissioner of highways. He is well educated, and possesses good business qualifications ; to this he adds a manner and bearing singularly pleasing and courteous.

William Cullen, farmer, Amboy, was born in Wexford county, province of Leinster, Ireland. His parents were Francis and Mary (Lawlass) Cullen, whose family consisted of six children, all of whom have come at different times to this country to live. In 1868 two sisters and a brother came to Utica, Oneida county, New York. The next year the father and William came out to them, and in 1870 the mother and eldest son came. In 1876 William Cullen came to the town of May, Lee county, and bought the E. ^ of N.W. ^ Sec. 16. It was unimproved land, there being a fence only on two sides of it. He was married in 1855, to Ellen Converse. Their family are: Mary, Ellen, Delia, Maggie, Johanna, Sarah, and Francis. Kate died about seven years ago, aged thirteen years. Mr. Cullen is sparing no pains to educate his family, and seems fully to realize the importance of such a course. He used to vote the whig ticket, but is now a democrat, though non-partisan in his views of public matters. The family are Catholics. The mother and father of William Cullen both died in May town.

Michael Barron, farmer, Amboy, was born in Ireland about 1825. He was the youngest but one in a family of nine children. Early in 1865 he came to the city of New York, where he lived about two years. From there he came to Lee county and worked around in May and Amboy townships till 1875. He then bought the N. ^ of JST.W. ^ See. 16 from John Cnllen. On this place he is now living. He was never married, and belongs to the Catholic church. Mr. Barron is a remarkably good-natured man. His parents were Michael and Margaret (Whalen) Barron.

William Dolan, farmer, Amboy, was born in the county of Longford, Leinster province, Ireland, April 27, 1810. His parents were Michael and Ellen (Fenny) Dolan, of whose family of six he was the eldest. His £reat-grandfather's property was confiscated and turned over to a Scotchman named Fatherston, who allowed the Dolans to retain the use of twenty acres of the estate as a freehold. William Dolan received a common school education. In 1828 he was a signer of the British emancipation bill. In April, 1832, he landed in New York, having left his native country on a charge of disloyalty that greater trouble might not befall his father's family. In September he went to Boston, and thence to Lowell, and bound himself out to learn wool spinning. While here he was married to Mary McKenna ; he also obtained his naturalization papers through the agency of Ben Butler, then a young legal student in Lowell. In September, 1837, Mr. Dolan arrived in Chicago with nearly $1,000. He went to laying stone OD the canal, and taught school in the winter. In 1840 he came to Lee county and claimed a 160 acres on the E. ^ of Sec. 14, Maytown. He built on Sandy Hill, Sec. 3, and boarded laborers on the Old Illinois Central road. In 1846 he rented his farm and went to work as foreman in a woolen factory at Lockport, under his previous employer, Mr. Madison, afterward governor of Illinois. In 1850 he returned to his farm, where he has since lived. He has held the office of justice of the peace for many years ; was supervisor of May twenty terms. Mr. Dolan is a man of wide information and is known by many eminent men in the State of Illinois. His family are: Edward A., born October 1840; John, October 1842; Mary, April 16, 1847 (wife of Mr. McGuire, died April 1875, in May township) ; Micheal, September 1849; besides two children who died young. John enlished in Co. F, 75th 111. Inf., as 2d sergeant. In the battle of Perryville he became greatly fatigued and was mustered out April

Source changes here: from History of Lee County, Illinois, by Stevens, Frank Everett, published 1914; 3,222 words in this source stream.

South Dixon Township

In the treatment of the township of Dixon, manifestly, little can be said of the olden day because for most of its history, the township was included within the township of Dixon, and most of the old time history jDcrtained to Dixon and has been told already. However, this chapter cannot be dismissed with any such explanation as that. Since its separation from the present township of Dixon, much has happened in South Dixon which deserves close attention from the historian.

If no more than the old red brick schoolhouse were to be treated, that historian would have his hands full for a considerable period of time. Nine-tenths of the boys and girls of Dixon who have amounted to anything in the world have taught school in the old red brick. The old debates there have attracted the very best there was in all the countryside and in Dixon to thresh out a decision. The flights of eloquence which have battered those sacred old walls would have annihilated any built less foimidable.

Who is tlieve of lialf a centm-y ago who does not remember the bursts of rhetoric supplied by Ephraim H. Groh'? Who that ever has seen and heard him can forget Abram Brown, one of the most delightful gentleman that ever entered the borders of Lee county ? To possess those two gentlemen and to honor them will lend to South Dixon a history worth Avhile.

The old red brick stands today as modestly as it stood the day it was built ; I wish I could find out just when it was built. Modestly I say, yet valiantly, when Mr. Brown wrote his brief historical sketch of this township, he very modestly omitted the schoolhouse and its debating society. This debating society was organized in the year 1858, under the title, The Edsonville Literary and Debating Society. Its first meeting was in this old brick school- house, so that it was standing then. The "corners" were called Edsonville. Mr. Brown who was a member of it from its birth until his death, was its first honored president.

Never was there a political campaign during the old days but the red brick was used week after week, and from the little rostrum, Elihu B. Washburne, Horatio C. Burchard, Tom Turner, James L. Camp, Col. John Dement, and Shelby M. Cullom have spoken.

Today tliose same corners are called St. James and a church opposite the old red brick has been built, taking the name perhaps from the name of the church, ' ' St. James Lutheran. ' ' At one time the attendance at this school was 120, more than at any other school in the county outside the cities of Amboy and Dixon.

Joseph Cortright was the first permanent settler. In 1839 he died and after that, the ^^adow and her son, Richard removed to Dixon to live. Before that date, however, a young man whose name has not been left behind, settled in 1836. He staked out a claim near the three mile l^ranch on the Chicago road. Shortly afterw^^rds Peter McKenney and his good wife, Aunty Rhoda came along and through some misunderstanding, the}' jumped the young man 's claim. Uncle Peter was about as hard headed as most men and when his head "was sot" as he termed it himself, he was as immovable as the rocks of Gibraltar. When told that he had jumped the young man's claim he refused to yield to the demands of the "Claim Jumper's Society," and that body proceeded at once to make him move. When a delegation reached the place ITncle Peter was smoking his pipe peacefully in the shade of his shack while Aunt Rhoda was getting dinner. Two of the delegation took Uncle Peter by the arm and without much resistance, he was led over the boundary of the claim. But witi.\:'mplicit faith in his better half, he sent back the rallying cry, "Keep possession, Rhody; keep possessi(»n. They can't get us out if you keep possession." But in spite of Uncle Peter's faith in Aunt Rhoda 's ability to keep possession. Uncle Peter's cabin was loaded on a big wagon and wheeled away and the McKenneys tried no more to secure the claim.

The second permanent settler was Charles Edson, who came with his family, of wife and sons and daughters, in 1839, from Pennsylvaina. That family increased to five sons and three daiTghters.

very day the Edsons are remembered for tlieir many virtues. Mr. Brown tells a very amusing story about Mrs. Edson after she had her teeth dravpn. Her chin, like Mother Hubbard's turned upward toward the nose and upon meeting her one day, Mr. Brown said jocularly, "Your nose and chin will have a meeting some day." "Indeed," she answered quicklj'^, "I'm not certain but they will; many words have passed between them already. ' '

I feel it my duty to repeat Mr. Brown's words concerning this delightful family, not because they are relatives of my family's relatives, but because they so truly and so nobly represented the pioneer spirit.

"Mrs. Edson was of that cheerful, mirthful disposition that attracted the grave as well as the gay, while her lovely character b(juud in the ties of a warm esteem, all who were thus attracted.

"Mrs. Edson was left a widow before her children were fully grown, but their training was Ijegun right and it was her pride to say in her old age that 'not one of them ever caused her a moment's pain or shame by any wrong-doing.' They were all worthy men and women, noble in nature, honored by their fellow citizens and beloved by those who knew them best. To the day of her death in advanced age they showed the tenderest solicitude for their mother, and this slight tribute to her inestimable worth will find an echo in their hearts as well as in many others.

"The oldest daughter, Harriet, married Otis Eddy, but was soon bereft of her husband and infant daughter. She became a very tower of strength to all the family thereafter, and is to this day an ideal woman - practical, iniostentatious, but noble in every sense. She went with her brothers across the plains to California when the gold fever broke out. Returning, after a few years, she again accompanied them to Pike's Peak on a summer trip, made in the same way. When a younger brother lay at the point of death in a southern hospital during the war, it was Harriet who went to him, cared for him, and brought him home.

"The family went to California and prospered. Their home lies at the foot of Mt. Shasta, and Mrs. Eddy was the first woman who ever ascended that beautiful peak. She made the ascent about the year 1854, and ten years later she repeated the feat with her youngest sister, Libbie.

"The other sister, Lucy, is well remembered as a talented musician. Though a sufferer from a fracture of the hip joint which made a crutch necessarv from childhood, she was as readv and

"Tliey Ijuilt the house and barn now owned by the writer - one of the few of the original farm homes left on the prairies. They afterwards removed to the place near the Brick School House, which is often spoken of by their name. Their house is still standing though no longer used as a dwelling.

"Here Mr. Edson died, and here the sweet youngest daughter, Libbie was born. As soon as their first home was habitable, Mrs. Edson gave up her largest room for a school. This was the first in the vicinity. The teacher was a Miss Robinson, later a preceptress in Mt. Morris Seminary. She married Judge Fidler of Ogle county, and after his death. Bowman Bacon, a nephew of Mrs. Joseph Crawford.

"Among the scholars beside Mrs. Edson 's children, were Mary Augusta Gartbior, now Mrs. James A. Hawley; William W. De- Wolf, the genial judge ot later years; his brother Erastus; Wellington Davis and Hannah Casterline, later the wife of Mr. Davis.

"The superior schools in that district at a very early day were largely due to the influence of the Edson family, some of whom were its best teachers. Mr. Edson helloed to build the first Methodist church of Dixon." [Note: He also helped build the Brick School House and was its first teacher : Editor.]

The next fannly which came to South Dixon was that of James Campbell, with Mrs. Campbell, two daughters, Oj^helia and Jidia. The latter became one of the first teachers in the North Dixon primary schools and later married Eugene Pinckney.

Eliram and Heman Mead came soon afterwaixls. Their brother, Alonzo settled a little f ui'ther to the east in China township. Later in life, all three moved into Dixon and there died at advanced ages.

Just another story from the pen of Mr. Brown about another South Dixon settler which is most interesting: "Somewhat in cont)-ast to tliese, was a man by the name of Hannnill, who brought with his family from the poor-house of Buffalo, N. Y., a little child. The (^hikl was so shamefully treated that N. G. LI. Morrill, the county ])oor overseer or poormaster, took her to his home in Dixon. Ller pitiable condition excited the s^^npathy of the people at once. Her hair was dirty and matted, face unwashed and what do you think she was clothed in? It was an old coffee sack, with the

"Hammill prosecuted Mr. Morrill for kidnapping the child. When the case was called, he was read}' with his lawyer, whom many old settlers remember; Mackay by name. When they adjourned for dinner the}' went to the old Western Hotel. Just as the,y were through dinner, some men stepped up to Hammill with a kettle of hot tar, which they poured over his head and shoidders, the streams running down over his whole body; another shook over him a bag of feathers, and then they rolled him in the sand of the street. I shall never forget how he looked, lying there with closed eyes. I thought he was dead. But in a moment he opened one eye, then the other, and seeing the naen bus}' elsewhere, r(dled over and springing to his feet, ran to some bushes near by, then for home. He was a laughal^le sight. On the principle that the partaker is as bad as the thief, the men felt that his attorney deserved similar treatment and attempted to administer it, but the tar was too cold to run easily or to hold the feathers. He showed fight and came near killing one of the boys. The muzzle of his gun was knocked upward b}' a l^ystander just in time. The kidnapping suit ended there, and so I think, did the career of Mr. Mackay in Dixon. "

I ma}^ as well add that when the war Ijroke out, Mackay was a violent southern s}anpathizer and he made so many uncomplimentary remarks aljout the northern people and our soldiers, that a party waited upon him and ordered him to leave town or swing to a tree. He went South and never was heard of again excei^t b}' rumors now and then.

"In an early da}', i^roA'isions, pork and flour, were mostly brought from St. Louis, Xentuckv, Indiana and the southern part of the state in large wagons with Ijroad tires, high wheels and very high, long boxes, often 20 or 22 feet long. They made a track over a half wider than our common wagons. Drawn by three or four teams of horses, to eight }'oke of oxen, and carrying from sixtv or eighty hundred pounds, they well deser^'ed the name of Prairie schooners. They went in gangs of six or eight wagons, with several men on horseback to pilot them and helj) avoid the sloughs. They sold their bacon at from 2-5 to 35 cents per pound; flour from 25 to 35 dollars per barrel.

"A few years later, while the men were working at the now abandoned track still discernible in places, of the Illinois Central raih'oad, some such traders wonld start from the southern part of the state, with large di'oves of hogs, carrying with them all the facilities for butchering - kettles for heating water, tubs for scalding, etc. When they came to a gang of men or to a village, they would sell, kill and prepare the meat for their customers. They carried their own corn, and gathered wood at the groves as they traveled ; did their own cooking and w^ere very independent. They lived chiefly on fried pork, coffee and hoe cake, made of corn meal, wet with water and baked on a board before the fire.

"It is said that when the prop for the board failed to do duty, they cast lots or played high, low, jack, to see who should lie on his back and prop the board with his feet."

Sjjeaking of the old Illinois Central of the thirties, just as one entei's South Dixon township, the old grade shows as plainly today as it did sixty years ago. The fill never has been plowed and the cut never has been plowed and in that cut there grows an immense Cottonwood tree. It is Lee county's best monument to the follies of the wild cat days of internal improvements. Jacob Groli came to this township in 3848. Among the other old settlers wh© moved in to South Dixon townshiiD in the thirties and forties, were Uncle Jacob and Aunt Polly McKenuey; Christon Stevens; Henry B. True; Caldwell Bishop; Henry Page; James Rogers; Matthew McKenney ; W. A. Judd ; Nathan Hill ; possibly some of these men did not get here imtil the early fifties, but most of them came before that decade.

The Lee County Home for the Poor is located on the southeast quarter of section 26, alx>ut half a mile from Eldena. Clyde Wiclier at present is the sujoerintendent of the home and Mrs. Wicher is matron.

When some years ago, 1906. the Northwestern raih'oad company desired to construct a line oi- road or cut-off to avoid the steep grades of the main line through the city of Dixon, it was built from Nachusa to Nelson, and passes through South Dixon with a considerable curve, and in a southwesterly direction entering section 12 and leaving the township through section 19.

South Dixon is settled by the very best of farmers. In this township Mr. I. B. Countrjanan 's Oak Dale fai'm is located. Mr. Countrjanan is a wealthy retired merchant. He had been active so many years he could not be idle. He deeply loved a farm and so he purchased a farm in this townshi]3 in the southeast quarter of section 8. When purchased, it was said to be the poorest farm in the township. For years it had been stripped. Nothing had been returned to the soil and Mr. Countryman's many friends enjoyed much amusement at his expense for engaging in agriculture with characteristic city propensities of the agriculturist instead of the farmer. Mr. Countryman enjoyed all this badinage and proceeded with his program. He built very handsome buildings on the place and purchased some pure-bred Holstein cattle. Then he began building up the soil. Now he is reaping handsome benefits and profits from his investment. During the season just past he took from a field of alfalfa of nine and a half acres, $100 per acre. Next year the field will contain twenty acres and the proceeds from it will be raised to $2,000. A twelve acre field of clover yielded forty tons of hay and five and a half bushels of clover seed. The hay at ten dollars per ton made $400 and the seed at ten dollars per bushel made $55.

From his herd of Holsteins he sold ten bulls for $1,250. Last season his cows averaged him $160 per head in cream. In all his efforts to raise the standard of productivity in farm lands, Mr. Countryman has kept accurate account of every cent which has gone into the place and all that has been taken from it and he finds that for every dollar of feed he put into his cows, he realized two dollars and sixty-three cents. His butter fat cost him twelve dollars and forty-four cents per hundred pounds and his milk cost .6643 to produce.

Every day his cattle are groomed. The milking is done by machine into air tight receptacles. Then the milk is placed in the milk house and cooled in the quickest possible time. After each milking, all tools are sterilized. Dirt is impossible. After each churning, a jet of steam is turned into each machine which sterilizes it.

Recently a representative from the State University from Champaign made a test of Mr. Countryman's cows. Four tests were made per day and samples were taken, one of them being at midnight. With the twenty-eighth milking the product was sealed and sent to the state laboratory at Champaign. The cow especially tested was a three-year-old, after delivering her second calf. This female ran sixty- four pounds in one day of milk and in seven days she ran 452 pounds.

Very recently Mr. Countryman added butter to bis Oak Dale product. He puts bis butter in beautiful receptacles made from spruce pulp, bolding one, two or five pounds. Tbese are shipped to a special line of customers at figures far above the regular price of butter.

Soil culture has been studied carefully by bim. His land bas been fertilized and cbarged witb joroperties required to bring about the best results in grains and grasses and having reaped handsomely from his intelligent efforts Mr. CoimtrjTuan claims that land at $1,000 per acre can be made to pay a profitable dividend.

Lee county may well feel proud of two enterprising citizens who more than almost any others have demonstrated what the farmer, the backbone of the country, may do if he will try putting intelligence into the gronnd along with fertilizers. These two are Mr. Countryman and Mr. Abram Ackert, now of Dixon but for many years an honored resident of Marion township.

Mr. Ackei-t is president of the Lee County Farmer's Institute and has been for many years. By his untiring efforts in securing demonstrators and lecturers here he has aroused a concerted effort all over the county for soil mending and soil medicines. Mr. Ackert is the pioneer in Lee county. Although retired now, and enjoying the blessings of plenty, like Mr. Countr;^anan, he is constantly and imselfishly devoting all his time and all his efforts to better the conditions of his old time friend the farmer. Latterly too in this same township of South Dixon, Mr. C. B. Swartz, has bought a farm. He has stocked it with Holstein cattle and Duroc Jersey Red Swine and by the most systematic and painstaking efforts, he is building up a farm which is doing wonderful work for him. I^ike Mr. Countryman, he weighs each ration for his cattle and at the end of each day and each week Mr. Swartz can tell how any one of his animals stands gauged by the standard of profit and loss.