Clark County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter XVIII Orange Township 1883 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com April 24, 2007, 5:45 pm Book Title: HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS CHAPTER XVIII. ORANGE TOWNSHIP—POSITION—TOPOGRAPHY—SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS—PIONEER SETTLEMENT—INCIDENTS—EARLY CONDITION OF COUNTRY—PIONEER DWELLINGS—FIRST BIRTH—FIRST MARRIAGE—EARLY SCHOOLS-CHURCH HISTORY. "The ax rang sharply 'mid those forest shades Which from creation, toward the sky Had tower'd in unshorn beauty." —Mrs Sigourney. THE Township of Orange to which the following pages are devoted, comprises thirty-six sections of land in the southern part of the county and was known in the congressional survey as town 9 north, range 13 west. The surface is composed of prairie and woodland in about equal proportion, the latter being confined principally to the western and central parts, where in many places the land is irregular and somewhat broken. The forest growth of the township comprises the varieties of timber common to Southern Illinois, and was at one time the source of considerable revenue to the lumber merchants, several of whom operated saw-mills at different points along Willow Creek. The walnut and poplar, once so numerous, have long since disappeared, and the most valuable timber now standing is oak, of which several varieties are found growing in abundance. The prairies, in their natural state, were covered with a dense growth of grass, so tall that a person riding through it would be entirely hidden from view, and so thick that the sun's rays were entirely excluded from the soil beneath. As a consequence the ground was always damp and slushy, and served as the breeding place of myriads of green-headed flies, the common enemy of man and beast. These pests together with the miasma that lurked in the dank decaying vegetation caused the pioneers to shun this part of the country and select for their homes more eligible sites, as they supposed, along the water courses and in the woodlands. Some of the best farms in the country were improved from these lands that were once looked upon as comparatively valueless. The township rests upon a clay subsoil which is covered with an alluvial mold in the prairies, varying in depth from eighteen inches to two feet, and is well adapted to almost every variety of grain and fruit indigenous to Southern Illinois. The soil in the wooded districts is lighter and more clay mixed and not so well calculated for general farming as the prairies. It produces good wheat, to which it seems peculiarly adapted, and by proper tillage, good crops of the other cereals can be raised also. There are some fine grazing sections in different parts of the township, and considerable attention is being given to stock-raising, an industry too long neglected in this part of the State. The principal streams by which this region is watered and drained, are Willow Creek and Little Willow. The first named enters the township about one and a half miles west of the eastern boundary, takes a southerly course and passes out of section 31. Little Willow rises in the northeast corner of the township, flows a southerly direction and unites with Willow in section 20. A stream of considerable size and importance traverses the southeast corner of the township and furnishes the principal means of drainage for that part of the country. The settlement of Orange by white men dates from the year 1836, when the first entries of land were made, though it can not be stated with correctness who was the earliest settler. In the above year Nathan Howerton and Moses Engle made entries in section 12, Elijah Peacock in section 25, and John F. Dodd in section 3, ail of whom moved on to their respective lands the same year and began improving. Howerton located the farm where William Hodge now lives, on which he made a number of extensive improvements, and which continued to be his home for a period of twenty years. Peacock was a native of Ohio, and made his way into this part of the country on a tour of inspection for the purpose of selecting a home. Being pleased with the appearance of the country, he entered eighty acres in the section named, and moved his family here shortly afterward. He was a prominent citizen of the township and during the period of his residence here was highly respected by the entire community. The farm on which he settled is at present occupied by Mrs. Baker. In the year 1837 a man by name of Stout came to Orange and entered land in section 27, lot 7, now owned by the widow Hunter. Stout was born in North Carolina and passed his youth and early manhood amid the genial airs of his mountain home. By a life of constant activity he early acquired remarkable physical strength and a vigorous constitution, which fitted him well for the duties of a pioneer in later years. He was a Quaker of the orthodox wing, dressed in their peculiar garb and used the quaint language of the sect in his conversation. His life was a practical demonstration of the pure doctrines of his church, and his honesty and integrity became proverbial throughout the entire community. Like many of the early settlers, he was a noted hunter and ranged this county in quest of his favorite sport. He sold his possessions here about the year 1843 and moved to Indiana, where he died a number of years ago. Other entries were made in the year 1837, by Enoch Thompson, in section 20, C. Hillebert in section 1, and Moses Aughin in the same section. Thompson and Hillebert never resided in the township, and Aughin lived here but few years when he sold his place and moved to a distant State. In the year 1838 the following persons secured lands in Orange: Francis Howerton, O. Harrison, Henry Harrison, Herman Canady, William Mapels, Isaac Foster and Ezekiel Rubottom. Howerton, of whom but little is known, settled in section 21, where he made a number of improvements. He sold his land and moved to Walnut prairie about the year 1847. C. Harrison entered land in section 2, and Henry Harrison in section 10, neither of whom was ever a resident of the township. Herman Canady came to this State from Tennessee in company with a number of other families, and improved a farm near the central part of the township in section 15. He was a man of considerable education and pure morals, and bore a commendable part in developing the resources of the country. His death occurred in the year 1850. In striking contrast to Canady was William Mapels, who came to the township about the same time and settled in the same locality. This man bore a very unenviable reputation in the community, and was known throughout the country as a desperate character, whose greatest delight was a brawl or drunken knock-down. He associated with a set of blacklegs, and desperadoes as villainous as himself, and many acts of lawlessness and crime committed in various parts of the country were traced to his door. He became the possessor of eighty acres of land near the central part of the township, which he sold to John S. Hix two years later, and left the country accompanied by the wife of another man, since which time nothing has been heard of him. Israel Foster settled in the southwestern part of the township on section 30. He was born in Virginia, but moved to Ohio when the latter State was on the remote outskirts of civilization. He joined the tide of emigration which came to Southern Illinois in 1837, and found his way into this part of the county one year later, and being a man of more than usual energy he soon had a goodly number of acres under successful cultivation. At the first election held in the precinct he was chosen justice of the peace, a position he filled very creditably for a number of years. Among the early pioneers deserving of special mention were Aaron Mills, Richard Imes and John Smith, all of whom came in the year 1839. The first named was a brother-in-law of Herman Canady, at whose earnest solicitation he was induced to come West. He came from Tennessee and entered a tract of land in section 15, which is at present in possession of his descendants. Imes located in section 30, and was for a number of years prominently identified with the early history of the township. He subsequently moved to Iowa, where he died a number of years ago from the effects of poison accidentally taken. Smith selected his home in the northeast corner of the township, where he located for the two-fold purpose of farming and engaging in the tannery business. The tan yard which he operated was one of the first in the county, and returned him a handsome revenue during the time he worked it. He acquired a considerable amount of real estate during his life in this county, which is at present owned by his descendants, several of whom reside in the township. His death occurred thirty years ago. About the same time the foregoing settlers came to the country, Nathaniel Blakeman made his appearance and improved a farm in section 29, where he still lives, the oldest living settler in Orange. He came here from Ohio, and for forty three years has been a prominent resident of the township, which he has seen changed from a wilderness to its present high state of improvement and civilization. The other settlers who came prior to 1840 were Mahlon Malone, John Beauchamp and George Bennett. Malone was an Ohioan and located in section 4, on land now owned by Clark Downey, where he lived until 1845, at which time he sold the place and moved to Missouri. Beauchamp emigrated to Clark County from Virginia, and improved a farm in section 4, which he disposed of in 1852, and went to a distant State. Bennett settled in section 25, where he still resides. Prominent in the list of pioneers who selected homes in Orange, was Andrew Hard way, father of William Hard way, who moved his family to the township in the spring of 1840. He came here from Ohio, but was originally from Virginia, which State he left in his early manhood. The farm which he improved and on which he lived until the time of his death, twelve years ago, is situated near the northern boundary in section 4. William Hardway, son of the preceding, can be called an early settler, as he was but eighteen years of age when his father settled in Orange, and has lived since that time within the township limits. The following incident is related, which shows the high estimation in which he was held by the neighbors of his community. Many of the first settlers in this country came west merely on tours of observation, and after having selected and entered their lands, would appoint some one of their number to go back to their former homes for money. This was an undertaking attended with many difficulties and considerable danger, as the journey had to be made on foot or horseback through a sparsely settled country, which at that time was known to be infested with thieves and robbers. Young Hardway was selected for this duty in his father's neighborhood, and at once started on the trip, which he made on foot, and was a number of days in reaching his destination. He remained in Dayton, Ohio, about one week, collected three thousand dollars in money and started on his return. On his way back he avoided the most frequented roads and passed the nights in the woods without fire or shelter, not caring to trust himself to the care of any of the hotels along the way, as many of them were the resorts of desperadoes who would not hesitate to commit any species of crime. He arrived in Marshall late one evening and was pressed to remain over night by a friend, but so anxious was he to get home and deliver the money that he determined to complete the journey that night. He still had about fourteen miles to make, and after traveling six of the number he became lost in the woods. After rambling about for some time he came to a small house at which he knocked and was admitted. This place proved to be the home of the notorious John Birch, and was the headquarters of the most daring set of blacklegs and thieves that was ever known in this country. Hardway remained at this place until morning, but did not sleep any during the night. He knew well the danger of his situation, but fortunately was not disturbed. .After getting out of sight of the house the next morning he started on a run which he kept up until he arrived at home, where he found his parents very uneasy on account of his long absence. John S. Hix and Alfred Prindle made settlements in the year 1840; also the former where Mapel had lived, and the latter in the northern part of the township in section 7. Prindle was supposed to have been connected with the notorious Birch gang, as a number of them had made his house a stopping place while in the neighborhood. During the excitement which prevailed in the country at that time, he was visited by a vigilance committee, and, despite his vigorous denial of any connection with the gang, was cruelly whipped and compelled to leave the country. He went to Missouri where he afterward became very wealthy. The other settlers who came in 1840, as far as known, were Elias Wilson, George Holt, Peter Shwalter, Jacob Allen, Basil Wells, John Bostwick, Elijah King, and John Elliott, all of whom made entries in different parts of the township, but the limits of our space forbids a more extended notice. The condition of the country at the time of its first settlement was wild, in the extreme sense of that term—game of all kind was plenty, and furnished the principal means of subsistence for many families during the first two or three years of their sojourn in the wilderness. Deer was especially abundant, and formed in that day the staple supply of meat in every household. They were easily secured almost in sight of the cabin, though occasionally, when met on equal footing, proved no mean antagonists. It is related of Cyrus King that passing through the woods one day he came upon a couple of bucks that had engaged in a struggle for the mastery with the usual result of inextricably locking their horns. The small buck was found dead but still holding his victor a close prisoner; with the instinct of a hunter, though unarmed, King sought to secure the game thus brought within his reach. Seizing a pole lying at hand he attempted to break the legs of the victorious buck, but without effect. He then tried to break its back, but the powerful animal throwing his dead antagonist about by the horns proved no unequal match for his new assailant. In his desperate struggles the buck became disengaged and once freed, the enraged animal turned the tables and King was obliged to make for an adjacent tree. The hunter, fortunately, made his retreat in time to escape the ruthless prongs of his would-be assailant, which, circling around the tree cut off the hunter's further escape. At times the animal seemed to realize that its efforts would prove futile and leisurely start off but, attracted by the stir of the descending hunter, would as often return to the siege with renewed ardor to find his victim back again out of his reach. After several attempts of this kind, King waited until his enemy had disappeared when he cautiously descended. He got back to his cabin late in the evening worn out by his efforts and with a higher appreciation of the character of deer in general and this buck in particular. The early homes of the settlers were constructed on the most primitive plan and consisted of but a single apartment which answered the fourfold purpose of kitchen, bed room, dining room and parlor. Yet from these humble abodes no stranger was ever permitted to go hungry and a lodging was always assured the benighted traveler if desired. Hospitality was a prominent virtue which the pioneer cultivated to a high degree of perfection, and his latch string, to use his own expression, "always hung out." Hard as was life in the wilderness it had its seasons of recreation and enjoyment, log rollings and raisings were occasions always hailed with delight as they served to bring remote neighborhoods in social contact, and were generally followed by the dance, the chief amusement of pioneer times. Hard work, good digestion, and clear consciences made the time pass merrily, and many a gray-haired veteran whose youth was passed amid the stirring scenes of these times recalls the good old days and thinks of them as the happiest period of his existence. The nearest source of supplies were York and Darwin, though many of the early settlers went to Terre Haute and Vmcennes for their groceries and dry goods. The mills on Mill Creek and North Fork furnished breadstuffs, but a number of families manufactured their own meal with a hand mill or mortar when the condition of the ground rendered going about impossible, as was frequently the case during the winter and spring months. Honey was found in large quantities in the woods, and furnished a valuable addition to the daily bill of fare. Elijah Elliott introduced the cultivation of flax into the township in an early day, and hauled his first crop to Chicago and sold it for fifty cents per bushel. He marketed his first wheat there also, and says that he could have purchased a good lot in that city with the price of one load but considered the sum too exorbitant. The first person born within the present limits of Orange was Francis Hardway, son of Andrew and Margaret Hardway, whose birth occurred in the year 1840. In the winter of 1842 two brothers, Charles and Maxwell Auld, while crossing Big Prairie one cold night got lost and were frozen to death. These were the first deaths as far as known that occurred in the township. The first marriage ceremony was solemnized in the year 1840 by Squire Nathan Wells, the contracting parties being John S. Hix and Olive Blakeman. The pioneers of Orange took considerable interest in the cause of education and schools were established as early as the year 1841. The first school-house stood in the western part of the township near the Mt. Olive Church. It was a hewed log building, much better than the majority, of early school-houses and was built by the neighbors, each one contributing so much work or a certain amount of material. The first teacher was Moses Downey who taught a three months' term with an attendance of about fifteen pupils. Silas Whitehead, present editor of the Illinoisan, was an early pedagogue at this place and wielded the birch vigorously for several consecutive terms. The second school-house stood on the farm of John S. Hix and was first used by Hayden Hix, one of the early teachers of the county. Another early school-house stood in section 4 and was known as the Malone school-house. The first frame school-house was erected about the year 1859 and is still standing, and known as the American school-house. In educational matters at the present day Orange is not behind her sister townships of the county. There are a number of substantial frame buildings, well furnished with all the modern appliances, and schools last from six to eight months in the year. In tracing back the religious history of the townships but limited satisfaction has been derived. It is known that Elder Joseph Thomas held services at the Malone school-house at a very early day and was probably the first minister in the township. He was a member of the Christian church, or as they are more familiarly known, New Lights. Elders Bates, Mattox and Metheny were early preachers of that church, and held services in the different school-houses and private residences throughout the township, but do not appear to have organized any society. Rev. Robert Bailiff of the Cumberland Presbyterian church preached at various places in the township, at an early day, and organized the Willow Creek church some time prior to 1858. Among the first members of this society were Jacob Keller, Elizibeth Keller, Mrs. ____ Keller, Sarah M. Bennett, George Bennett, Martha Bennett, Ruth Spraker, Mrs. _____ Philipy, Mrs. Martz, and Mrs. Polly Morgan. The last named was one of the chief movers in the organization, and to her wise counsels and untiring zeal in the cause of the Master, is the church indebted for much of its prosperity and success. Immediately after the organization a movement was made to build a house of worship, and in the summer of 1858 a neat substantial edifice was erected at a cost of about $700. It is a frame building 20x26 feet, and stands in the southern part of the township. Rev. Thomas Bailiff has been the faithful and efficient pastor ever since the organization, and during the period of his labors has won a warm place in the hearts of the congregation. Under his fostering care the church has grown constantly, and at the present time numbers about seventy-five communicants, among whom are many ,of the best citizens of the surrounding country. A flourishing Sunday school is kept up during the year, and is well attended. The present superintendent is S. S. Morgan. The Wesley Chapel M. E. Church was organized about the year 1846, and was known for some time as the Baker class. The first members, Thomas L. Baker and wife, William Chapman and wife, John Elliott and wife, Sobrina Hull, John Holt and wife, Mrs. Bostick and Mrs. Hollowell. Meetings were held at different places until the year 1853, when a house of worship was erected. This building was frame, about 26x36 feet, and cost the sum of $600. It was used by the church until the year 1879, when, finding it too small for the congregation, steps were taken to erect a more commodious structure. A fine brick house was built the next year at an expenditure of about $3,000. Its dimensions are 32x52 feet, and the audience room is one of the most commodious to be found in the township. The following pastors have ministered to the church in regular succession since its organization: Munsell, Young, Anderson, Moore, Blundell, Shepherd, Kellogg, Groves, Foster, Cowden, Nelson, Moore, Slater, Harris, McVey, Hungerford, Barthlow, Orr, Mitchell, Gay, Palmer, Corington, Hook, Lacy, May, Gall, Muir-head, Thornburg, Atkinson, Ellis, Shumaker, Walmsley, Jones, Hamel, Middleton and McElfresh, the last named being the pastor in charge at the present time. The society is in a very flourishing condition and has a substantial membership. Their Sunday school was organized in the year 1851, and has been kept up ever since. The average attendance is about fifty scholars. A Methodist church is sustained in the southern part of the township and numbers among its members many of the best and most substantial citizens of the community. Their house of worship is a neat brick structure, which does credit to the energy and spirit of the congregation. The Missionary Baptists have a church in the northern part of the township which is largely attended and well sustained. Nothing concerning its history was learned, and we will be compelled to leave it with the above brief notice. Additional Comments: Extracted From: HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS. EDITED BY WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN. ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, LAKESIDE BUILDING. 1883. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/clark/history/1883/historyo/chapterx90gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/ File size: 23.5 Kb