BACKTRACKING
Knox County Early
History
Part V. Townships and
Towns
by Terry Hogan
Knox County was well on its way to doing something with
itself. A county government was
formed. Townships were formed. Henderson was laid out and soon became
Knoxville. Henderson/Knoxville was
designated the county seat, and the "trappings" of county government
began to come to Knoxville. A jail
was built; a courthouse was built; and town lots increased in value. But in the battle for the railroad, the
neighboring (and competing) town, full of those New York "Yankees",
prevailed and won the railroad.
It looked to be, and clearly became, a threat to the success of
Knoxville.
But there was life beyond Galesburg and Knoxville. Other towns were formed in other
townships. Other lives were
led. Knox County was more than
Galesburg and Knoxville. Some
sites appeared to be thoughtfully laid out with careful selections. Others just seemed to appear. But they
did generally appear to have one thing in common - a railroad.
In 1837, the brief description of Knox County published by
Mitchell (1837), Illinois in 1837, mentions Knoxville with its 200
inhabitants as being the county seat. Beyond that, it mentions only two other
towns in Knox County' "ÉHendersonville
and Galesboro' are small villages, a few miles from Knoxville." But we know life existed beyond.
Knox County was laid out in townships in accordance with the
established procedures for the Military Tract. In 1878, Chapman published a
history of Knox County that included a retrospective history of these
townships. Given that it was
written over 125 years ago and it looked back in time from that vantage, it
gives us a view of early Knox County. This historical review was augmented by
Bateman's (1899) history.
Probably a good place to start is to review the townships in
Knox County. Starting from the
northwest corner and moving east and then returning back (like a typewriter
action), we find four townships in
a row and 5 rows:
Rio Ontario Walnut
Grove Lynn
Henderson Sparta Copley Victoria
Galesburg Knox Persifer Truro
Cedar Orange Haw Creek Elba
Indian Point Chestnut Maquon Salem
Given the previous review of Galesburg and Knoxville (Part
IV), the Galesburg and Knox townships will be largely excluded from this discussion. In this article, the townships in bold
(above) will be reviewed. The
remaining townships will be addressed in the next article.
Indian Point Township -
Abingdon and St. Augustine
Indian Point was described as being mostly prairie with
undulating land. It sounds much
like an early description made for the entire county. Indian Point is located in the southwest corner of Knox
County. Abingdon and St. Augustine, hugged the northern and southern township
boundaries, respectively. They are found in the 1878 history of Knox
County. Both are located along the
CB&Q railroad line. The
township name is attributed to a point of timber that extended from Cedar
Fork. Indians frequently camped
along the edge of this timber, even well after the settlement by European
settlers. John C. Latimer is
attributed to being the first, or one of the first permanent settlers in the
township, establishing a residence in Section 6 in 1833. Other early arrivals
in Indian Point included Stephen Howard, John Lomax, John Howard Sr., Reverend
John Crawford, William Steward, Henry Russell, Daniel Meek, John Dowdy, Meryweather
Brown, Anthony Bowers, and Alexander Latimer (Chapman, 1878).
St. Augustine, first occupied in 1835, was named after the
"apostle of Africa." This "old St. Augustine" was located
in Fulton County. However, the
CB&Q railroad didn't pass close enough to old St. Augustine so the town
moved a little north to the railroad.
The "new St. Augustine" was laid out in 1854. The new site was
about 1/2 mile north of the old site, putting it in Section 32 of Indian Point Township.
On April 29, 1897, a large fire destroyed nearly 2/3 of the
business district of St. Augustine.
Cedar Township- Abingdon, Saluda, Louisville and Cherry
Grove
Abingdon is also found in this township as it straddles the
line between Cedar and Indian Point.
It is the only town shown in Cedar Township in the 1899 Knox County map.
But there used to be other settlements, named Louisville, Saluda and Cherry
Grove.
Louisville was located about three miles north of Abingdon.
Louisville was laid out by John S. Garrett on the southwest quarter of Section
16. It was platted on September 30, 1836. For a period of time, it was the
primary gathering place in the township and supported several local elections.
By 1855, Abingdon's growth had cast a shadow over Louisville and it is no more
today.
Saluda was located north and east of Abingdon, not far from
where Lake Bracken is today. It
sat along the CB&Q railroad line, just west of Lake Bracken. It left behind a rail sign showing
"Saluda", and the hardroad fill located along the end of Lake Bracken
is known locally as the "Saluda fill".
But the earliest settlement was Cherry Grove, named for the
presence of a wild cherry tree grove in the area. From the old history, it is not clear to me where Cherry
Grove was located, although mention of a Cherry Grove Seminary in Section 29
might be a clue. That would put it a little north and west of Abingdon.
(Perhaps a reader can help out with this?)
Abingdon was the survivor. It was laid out in 1836 by
Abraham Davis Swarts. Swarts came from Abingdon, Hartford County, Maryland,
which presumably accounts for the source of the town's name. In 1837, lots were auctioned and at
least 40 were sold. Abingdon was incorporated as a city in 1857.
Prior to 1850, Cedar and Indian Point were treated as a
single voting precinct and they were jointly known as Cherry Grove. The name's origin relates to a large
grove of wild cherry trees that used to be present in the area. Efforts to name
a township as Cherry Grove failed as another township in the state had already
laid claim to the name.
Early residents to Cedar Township were reported to be
Reverend Hiram Palmer in 1828, Abraham Swartz in 1829, and Jonathan Latimer in
1832. History records that the Latimer family had no door for their log
cabin. They were forced to rely on
a bed-tick filled with straw, hung across the opening. Wolves found this to be a minor
impediment, so the family was forced to burn a fire in the cabin all night long
to prevent the wolves from entering the cabin. Another wolf story for the township is about one William
Bevans who was confronted by wolves in 1834. He used his ax to keep the wolves at bay, but while
defending himself, the soft soap he was carrying was spilled. The wolves became
interested in eating the soap, and Bevans was able to leave and return safely
home.
The land had been prairie and was subject to frequent
prairie fires. With the decline of
prairie and prairie fires, the land's character was changed by the growth of
timber where tall prairie grass once stood. This impact was not uncommon in Knox County, with the
decline of the prairie grass with its extensive root system. By plowing under the prairie grass, the
soil became available for both native trees and trees that farmers brought into
the area for planting.
Cedar Township would become the home of Lake Bracken,
constructed by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy railroad in the early 1920Õs
for the purpose of providing a reliable water supply for the needs of the
railroad, including the steam locomotives. The stream bottom was cleared of trees, and an earthen dam
was constructed to collect and retain the water from Brush Creek.
Henderson Township- Henderson
Henderson is located along the western boundary of Knox
County, north of the Galesburg Township. Henderson is located in the
township. It is recorded that
Henderson Township was the first township in Knox County to be inhabited by
European settlers. In February
1828, Daniel and Alexander Robertson settled there. Indians, of course, were
present, tilling fields of corn, prior to western settlement.
Henderson Township, like so many of the other townships in
Knox County, was subject to the threats of prairie fires. One such fire was detected by Harmon
Greathouse Brown, Peter Frans and Ben Bruington while out hunting. They ceased
hunting, returned home, and spent the entire night fighting the fire.
Henderson Grove with its timber and stream played an
important role in the early settlement of the area as "Log City" was
located there. Log City was the
early, temporary home of those New York Yankees who would lay out and occupy
Galesburg and establish what is now known as Knox College in Galesburg Township
to the immediate south.
Henderson village is the only community to have been started
in the township. It was laid out
on June 11, 1835 by Parnach Owen for Calvin Glass. It was incorporated in 1838
on a vote of 28 to 0. In the
early days, Henderson appeared to have a great future. It supported five stores and between
1840 and 1850 it had over 30 coopers who made pork and whiskey barrels that
were shipped around the state.
With the arrival of the railroads to other nearby towns, Henderson began
to decline, but was saved by the construction of the Rio branch of the
CB&Q.
Henderson was the site of some good old fashioned spirits.
Not good humor, but good drink. In
1839, Ben Campbell established a distillery. In 1841, Calvin Glass opened up a still in the saw mill that
he operated. The still was able to
produce ten barrels a day. It burned that year, however. In 1842, two gentlemen by the name of
Poyer and Wickes built a still a little north of Henderson. It was even bigger than Calvin Glass's
operation as it could produce a whopping 20 barrels of good spirit per
day. It also burned in about a
year.
Rio Township- Rio
Rio is located in the northwest corner of Knox County and
has the town of Rio. Joseph Rowe is recorded as being the first settler in Rio
Township. Other early settlers included Reece Jones, Joseph Halliday, Abe Jones
and John Cresswell. Rio
constructed a fort, named Fort Aggie, in response to the perceived threat of
the Black Hawk War. Fort Aggie
remained until it was torn down in 1836.
The lumber from the fort was used for constructing a barn at the
approximate location of the old fort. Joseph Hahn was the recycler of the Fort.
The fort got its unusual name as an honor to Mrs. Cresswell. Mrs. Cresswell taught the first school
in the township at her home.
The township name evolved from the early 1850's interest in
the war with Mexico. The Rio
Grande became a popular subject in conversation as the new southern border with
Mexico. Lewis Coe is recorded as
taking the idea of the name to the meeting of the Court, but decided that the
Spanish word for river (Rio) was sufficient without the Grande. The Court agreed and the township was
named in 1851. Prior to that time,
the general area was simply known as the "North Prairie".
Rio village was laid out in 1871 and was first named
"Coburg", in honor of Nelson and Lewis Coe who were early
settlers. The post office was
originally called North Prairie and Nelson Coe was the first postmaster. It
should be remembered that in early Illinois history, the names of post offices
did not necessarily match the names of the towns they served. It is strange, but true.
Chestnut Township-
Hermon and Bridgeport
Chestnut Township is located east of Indian Point, in the
southwestern corner of Knox County.
Spoon River passes through the township. Hermon is mentioned in the Chapman history, and both Hermon
and Bridgeport are shown in the 1899 (Bateman) township map. Early settlers came to Chestnut
Township in the 1833-1834 period, including Anson Dolf and John Terry. William McFarland was reported to
arrive in 1839. The 1899 Knox
County history shows that two railroads passed through the township, the narrow
gauge, Fulton County line and the Iowa Central line. The first road in the
township was the "old state road" that ran from Peoria to Oquawka.
The earliest settlers had to travel to Troy in Fulton County
or to Knoxville for a post office.
But in 1848, a post office was placed in Hermon. The mail was delivered once a week to
Hermon from Knoxville. Like so
many communities, Hermon had an earlier name. It was originally known as Harrisonville.
Hermon was platted in 1842, but grew very slowly. By 1850,
it had only 84 lonely souls. The
name change from Harrisonville to Hermon occurred in 1848, with the arrival of
the post office. (Often the arrival of a post office created a name problem, as
there often was another town with a post office in the state with the same
name, requiring a post office name change.)
Orange Township- DeLong
Orange Township is located directly north of Chestnut
Township and has the village of DeLong.
The 1898 map shows the passage of the Fulton Co. Narrow Gauge Railroad
through the township and through DeLong.
Narrow gauge railroads were cheaper and easier to construct than the
more standard track, but it created a fundamental problem of equipment
incompatibility. Early European
settlers in the early 1830s included Joseph Wallace, James Ferguson, and Samuel
Mather. Chapman (1878)
attributes Wallace as being the first, settling in 1830.
Knox Township- East
Galesburg
As Knoxville was discussed at some length in an earlier part
of this series, it will not be discussed here. But East Galesburg deserves a mention. It wasn't always East Galesburg. It was laid out on November 8, 1890 by
C. B. Randall. Oddly enough, it
was named Randall. It was put where it was because of the Santa Fe railroad and
brickmaking occurring there.
Bateman's (1899) history places the population of Randall to have been
about 800. The name change came
about due to the railroad that changed the station name from Randall to East
Galesburg. The town name remained
Randall for a period of time, but was ultimately changed, presumably to make
life a little more logical. In 1892, East Galesburg had a weekly paper, called
the East Galesburg Tribune. It was
printed in Galesburg on the presses of the Galesburg Plaindealer.
Sparta Township-
Wataga
Sparta Township is located north of Knox Township and
northeast of Galesburg. Wataga is
located on the CB&Q railroad.
It also became a two railroad town with the formation of the Galesburg
and Great Eastern Railroad that ran to Victoria and Etherley in Copley
Township. Sparta was named for the
ancient Greek town. The name for
the township is attributed to a suggestion by Amos Wilmot. Wilmot was an early settler of the
township and came from Connecticut.
Other early settlers included Hezekiah Burford and the three Robbins
brothers- Cyrus, Ley and Reuben.
Wataga fell under the influence of a large presence of
Swedes, and also by the presence of coal available in relatively shallow
seams. In the 1800's many farmers
mined coal after the harvest was in.
Frequently shallow mines were dug into ravines or stream backs,
following the near-surface coal seam.
Around 1856, it is reported that about 250 men were busy at about 40
"banks" mining coal.
About 100,000 bushels of coal were mined and sold. The 1898 history
reported the presence of two coal shaft mines in the Wataga area. One was by
the Illinois Carbon Coal Company that wasn't being operated and the Sparta
Steam Shaft that was located about a half mile southwest of Wataga.
Coal has been an issue for this area from time to time as
coal operators look to develop strip mines for the taking of coal. However, the coal tends to be high in
sulfur and high sulfur coal markets have shrunk with more stringent
environmental regulations.
Ironically, with even more stringent regulations, more sulfur dioxide
scrubbers are being built on coal-fired power plants that will allow them to
once-again burn high sulfur coal. This may bring the coal companies back to the
farmersÕ doors once again.
I have a particular fondness for Wataga as many of my
ancestors settled in or near Wataga and are buried in the Wataga Cemetery. The small Lutheran Church
in Wataga had Swedish origins and was built on land donated by the Williamson
family. A review of early plats
will show much of the land in Sparta was owned by Swedes or descendants of
Swedes. Probably much of this Swedish
presence can be reasonably attributed to the Swedish Settlement at nearby
Bishop Hill.
Wataga was platted in 1854 by H. M. Holoyoke, Silas Willard
and Clark M. Carr. It was incorporated in 1863 and re-incorporated in
1874. Holoyoke was the first resident,
the first postmaster and built the first store. In 1856 the railroad depot was built as was the Wataga
House. The Wataga Mill was
constructed in 1856, but was damaged by an explosion. The mill was bought and
sold over the next 20 or so years, having various owners including two
brothers, William Williamson and M. O. Williamson. The latter moved to Galesburg, became the president of a
Galesburg bank and became Treasurer of the State of Illinois.
Ontario Township- Oneida
Ontario Township is located north of Sparta Township and
east of Rio Township. Ontario was named in 1850 by its inhabitants. It is recorded that many of the
residents were from New York and that the name of the township was after the Great
Lake of that name. Early residents
of the township were reported to include Alexander Williams in 1833, Isaac
Wetmore, and G. W. Melton. Early family names in the area included Wetmores,
Champ's, Cranes, Camps, Mosher, Hollister, Savage, and Powell. Many of the early settlers were
from Oneida County in New York, presumably accounting for the naming of Oneida,
located in the southeast corner of the township, along the CB&Q
tracks.
If you have been paying attention, you will have noticed
that many of the towns in the townships are along the railroads. This shows the economic importance that
the railroad once had in Illinois.
If the railroad would not build to the town, often towns would build or
relocate to the railroad. An odd
bit of trivia is noted in the 1899 history - with one exception, all the roads
in Ontario Township are constructed along section lines.
Oneida was platted on September 1, 1854. By Christmas, it
had become a railroad station and this was quickly followed by the construction
of a hotel. Despite this, only eight families lived in Oneida at the end of
1854. Oneida was incorporated as a
village in 1859 and as a city in 1869.
References
Bateman, Newton, et al. 1899. Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and Knox County. Munsell
Publishing Company. Chicago. 968 pages.
Chapman, Chas. 1878. History
of Knox County, Illinois. Chicago. 718 pages (reprinted version by Knox
County Genealogical Society, Galesburg, IL).
Mitchell, A. 1837 Illinois
in 1837; A sketch descriptive of the
situation, boundaries, face of the country, prominent districts, prairies,
rivers, minerals, animals, agricultural productions, public lands, plans of
internal improvement, manufactures etc. Philadelphia. 143 pages.
1-31-06