Crawford County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter XIII Hutsonville 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 19, 2006, 5:06 am

Book Title: HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS

CHAPTER XIII.*
*By W. H. Perrin.

HUTSONVILLE TOWNSHIP—TOPOGRAPHY—EARLY SETTLEMENT—HUTSON FAMILY—THE BARLOWS,
NEWLINS AND HILLS—OTHER PIONEERS—EARLY TRIALS AND TROUBLES—SCHOOLS AND
CHURCHES—VILLAGE OF HUTSONVILLE—ITS SITUATION AS A TRADING POINT—SOME OF THE
MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN—FIRE, WATER, ETC., ETC.

    "Against the cold, clear sky a smoke
        Curls like some column to its dome,
     An ax, with far, but heavy stroke
        Rings from a new woodland home."
                                —Joaquin Miller.

THERE is no perfect history. We dimly outline from our own stand-point the
history which meets our eye, and steer our course between extremes of dates and
happenings, while incompleteness marks the narrative. Transcribing recollections
of the aged, wavering in memory, we do not seek to reconcile discrepancies, but
to embody in these pages the names and deeds of those whose like can never more
be seen. Most of the pioneers of this division of the county have passed to
their reward, and the few still left are tottering on down toward the dark
valley and must soon enter its gloomy shadows. A few more brief years and the
last laud-mark will have been swept away as the morning mist before the rising sun.

  Hutsonville Township is one of the most important civil divisions of Crawford
County. It is situated on the eastern border, and is bounded north by Clark
County, east by the Wabash river, south by Robinson and Lamotte townships and
west by Licking Township. The land is drained by the Wabash and the streams
which flow into it through the township, the principal ones of which are Hutson
and Raccoon creeks. The surface is rather low and level along the river back to
the second terrace, and much of it subject to periodical overflows. Beyond the
second bottom it rises into slight hills, and from their summit stretches away
in level prairie and timbered flats. The original timber was black and white
walnut, hickory, pecan, elm, sugar maple, oak, cottonwood, sycamore, hackberry,
buckeye, etc., etc. By the census of 1880, the township, including the village,
had 1,982 inhabitants. No better farming region may be found in Crawford County
than is comprised in the greater portion of Hutsonville Township. Aside from the
inundation of the low lands, the worst draw-back to its agricultural prosperity
is the great number of large unwieldy farms. Ohio farmers have grown wise in
this respect, and the large farm in that State is now the exception. There are
plenty of farmers in the State of Ohio, who, one year with another, make more
money on a hundred acres than any farmer makes, upon an average, in Hutsonville
Township, or in Crawford County for that matter. Small farms well cultivated,
pay better than large ones poorly worked. A little poem, going the rounds of the
press some years ago, entitled the "Forty-Acre Farm," is not in appropriate, but
may be read with profit. It is as follows:

   "I'm thinkin', wife, of neighbor Jones, that man of stalwart arm,— 
He lives in peace and plenty, on a forty-acre farm; 
While men are all around us,with hands and hearts asore, 
Who own two hundred acres and still are wanting more.

"His is a pretty little farm, a pretty little house:
He has a loving wife within, as quiet as a mouse;
His children play around the door, their father's life to charm
Looking as neat and tidy as the tidy little farm.

"No weeds are in the corn fields; no thistles in the oats; 
The horses show good keeping by their fine and glossy coats; 
The cows within the meadow, resting beneath the beechen shade, 
Learn all their gentle manners of the gentle milking maid.

"Within the fields, on Saturday, he leaves no cradled grain 
To be gathered on the morrow, for fear of coming rain; 
He keeps the Sabbath holy, his children learn his ways, 
And plenty fill his barn and bin after the harvest days.

"He never has a lawsuit to take him to the town, 
For the very simple reason there are no line fences down, 
The bar-room in the village does not have for him a charm 
I can always find my neighbor on his forty-acre farm.

"His acres are so very few he plows them very deep;
'Tis his own hands that turn the sod, 'tis his own hands that reap. 
He has a place for everything, and things are in their place; 
The sunshine smiles upon his fields, contentment on his face.

"May we not learn a lesson, wife, from prudent neighbor Jones, 
And not—for what we haven't got—give vent to sighs and moans? 
The rich aren't always happy, nor free from life's alarms; 
But blest are they who live content, though small may be their farms."

   Of all those immortals who have helped to make this world wholesome with
their sweat and blood, the early pioneers were the humblest, but not the meanest
nor most insignificant. They laid the foundation on which rests the civilization
of the great West. The importance that attaches to their lives, character and
work in the cause of humanity will some day be better understood und appreciated
than it is now. To say that in this chapter, it is proposed to write the history
of every family in the order in which they came into the township would be
promising more than lies in the power of any man to accomplish. But to give a
sketch of some of the leading pioneer and representative men of the times is our
aim, and to gather such facts, incidents, statistics and circumstances as we
may, and transmit thorn in a durable form to future generations is the utmost
limit of our desire and our work.

   The Hutson family, there is no doubt, were the first white people in what is
now Hutsonville Township. The sad story of their tragic death—the massacre by
the Indians, of the whole family, except the unhappy father and husband, is told
in a preceding chapter. Hutson was from Ohio, and settled due south of the
village of Hutsonville, where the widow Albert McCoy now lives, and which is the
old Barlow homestead. The war of 1812 was not yet over, and the Indians were
still on the war path more or less, but committing few depredations in this part
of the country. Hutson believed there really was no danger, and so declined to
take refuse in the fort where most of the people of the country then resided for
safety. One day when Hutson was absent from home, a band of prowling savages
came to his cabin and murdered the family—wife and four children, and a man
named Dixon, for what cause, except on general principles, was never known, as
no one was left to tell the tale. When Hutson returned, he found his family all
dead and his cabin in flames. These are the facts in brief. Hutson joined the
army at Fort Harrison and was soon after killed in a skirmish with the savages.

   The Eatons, who figured conspicuously here in early days, settled in the
southwest part of this township; or rather some of them did. "Uncle Johnny"
Eaton, was of those who became a settler in this township after leaving old Fort
Lamotte, where the people "hibernated" during the war of 1812. He died but a few
years ago, and had a mind well stored with incidents of the early history of the
county. All, however, that could be learned of the Eatons, has already been given.

   The Barlows, next to the Hutson family and the Eatons, if the latter settled
here immediately after leaving the fort, were the first settlers in what now
forms Hutsonville township. John W. Barlow came from central Kentucky, and
sprung from a family of Virginia origin. He was brought up in a region where the
first rudiment learned was that of Indian warfare—where the people learned to
fight Indians with their mothers and sisters in their cabins, in ambuscades and
open fields, and before the savage war-cry had died away upon the frontiers of
Indiana and Illinois, he had left the dark and bloody ground as though following
the red man's retreating footsteps. Mr. Barlow stopped two years in Indiana,
near the Shaker village, and in the spring of 1816 came here. He settled on the
place where the Hutson family were massacred, and when the land came in market
he purchased it. Hutson's cabin had been burned by the Indians, but there was an
old stable standing. In this Mr. Barow [sic] sheltered his family, while
preparing his cabin, and while they still occupied it a child was born to them.
Literally, it was "born in a manger," and was doubtless the first birth in the
township. Mr. Barlow lived upon this place until 1839, when he removed to
Marshall. He raised a large family, the names of which were as follows: Sarah
Jane; married Wm. McCoy; Frances, an invalid daughter; Henry M. (he that was
born in the stable), now a resident of Texas; Nancy O. (Mrs. John R. Hurst);
Rebecca, married Wm. T. Adams, she is dead and he lives in Marshall; Alfred died
on the farm; Polyxena, a daughter who died single; Dr. James M., living in
Jasper County; Dr. John W., died in Westfield, Ill.; Dr. J. Milton, died two
years ago in Clark County; Joel died while yet an infant, and Wm. Hugh died
before reaching maturity. Mr. Barlow died in 1863 and his wife in 1879, and side
by side they sleep in the cemetery at Hutsonville. For more than half a century
they toiled together, and even, in death they were not long separated.

   Joel, Jesse and James were brothers of Mr. Barlow. The first two came here
with him and settled, Joel south of Hutsonville, and Jesse on what is now known
as the Steel farm. James came several years later. They are all dead; Joel died
and was buried in Hutsonville cemetery. About the same time that the Barlows
arrived in the township John Neeley and Joseph Bogard came— probably came with
them. Charley Newlin lives on the place where Bogard settled, while Neeley
settled on what is known as the Callahan place. They are all dead and gone. When
their strong and busy hands fell nerveless at their sides in death, their life
work was taken up by those who came after them.

   The Newlins, Hills, and John Sackrider came to the county in 1818, and
settled in the present township of Hutsonville. The Newlin family is one of the
most extensive and numerous probably in the whole county. It used to be a
standing joke, that you might start out and go west from the village of
Hutsonville, and if you met a stranger, call him Newlin, and you would hit the
nail on the head. Another remark often made of the Newlins and Hills, and one to
the truth of which all who know them will bear testimony, is, that the word of a
Newlin or a Hill is as good as his bond, and when once pledged is never broken
but held sacred as though bound by the strongest oaths.

   John Newlin, the patriarch of the tribe, came here with his family in 1818.
He was from North Carolina (this township was settled almost entirely from the
"Tar-heel" State), and stopped for one year in Indiana, but not being favorably
impressed with Hoosierdom, crossed the Wabash, and settled in this division of
Crawford County. His sons were Nathaniel, Thomas, James, "Caper" John, Jonathan,
and William. The old pioneer and all his sons, except Nathaniel—"Uncle Natty,"
as the present generation call him—who lives now with his son-in-law, George
McDowell, on the prairie south of Hutsonville, are dead. For some years before
the old man's death he made his home with Thomas, who lived in what is now
Robinson Township. Some of his sons settled originally in that township, but
most of the family have always lived in this township, and are among its best
citizens. James Newlin entered a section of land in a half mile of where Cyrus
Newlin lives, upon which he lived until his death in 1852. He raised eight
children, all sons, viz.: Andrew, John, Hiram, Alfred, Abraham, Oliver, Nathan
and Cyrus. Nathan lived and died on the homestead, and met his death by cutting
down a tree and being caught under it as it fell. The other sons, with one or
two exceptions, are living in this township. John Hill also came from North
Carolina, and settled on the place now owned by "Bub" Newlin, and upon which he
died some thirty years ago. He had four sons: Charles, Doctor, William and
Richard, all of whom are dead except Mr. Doctor Hill, who lives in the immediate
neighborhood of his father's settlement. John Hill of Robinson is a nephew, and
one of the most respected business men of that enterprising young city.
Sackrider was an active and energetic man. He was a captain in the war of 1812,
and was with Perry on Lake Erie. He died thirty-five or forty years ago. Solomon
and Allen were his sons, and are both dead. Wm. Boyd lives on a part of the old
Sackrider farm. Allen Sackrider died in Terre Haute, and Solomon died in this
township.

   Of such men as we have been writing: about, how true are the words of Lord
Bacon: "That whereunto man's nature doth more aspire, which is immortality or
continuance: for to this tendeth generation, and raising of houses and families;
to this buildings, foundations and monuments; to this tendeth the desire of
memory, fame and celebration, and in effect the strength of all other human
desires. We see then how far the monuments of learning are more durable than the
monuments of power or of the hands." These men have left monuments as lasting as
the "monuments of power or of the hands"— monuments that will live in the hearts
of generations yet to come.

   From 1818 to 1821, came Aaron Ball, Malin Voorhies, Eli Hand, and perhaps
others. Ball was from New Jersey, and settled here in the latter part of 1818,
or in the early part of 1819. Edward, Montgomery, John and Aaron were his sons,
and two of them he educated for doctors and two for farmers. Edward was a
physician and lived and died in Terre Haute; Aaron was also a physician and
moved west, where he still lives and is practicing his profession. John is still
living where he originally settled, and Montgomery died here some years ago. Mr.
Voorhies was also from New Jersey, and was an uncle to the Tall Sycamore of the
Wabash—Senator Voorhies. He settled on the farm where his son, Henry C.
Voorhies, now lives, and with the exception of a few years, it has never been
out of possession of the family. It is owned now by Henry, one of the honorable
men of the township. Mr. Hand was a native of Virginia, and came here in 1821,
settling where his grandson, Woodford D. Hand now lives. He emigrated to Ohio,
when the Buckeye State was on the very verge of civilization, and afterward came
to Illinois as above, bringing his family and his earthly all in a three-horse
wagon. He died in 1857. Jas. F. Hand was his son, and the father of Woodford. He
was an active man in the neighborhood, and among other positions he held, was
that of associate judge of the county, and justice of the peace. He died in
1876, and the mantle of the active old man has fallen upon the shoulders of his
worthy son, who is treading in his footsteps.

   Nathan Musgrave, a good old Quaker from North Carolina, came to the
settlement in the spring of 1826. He left his old home in 1823, as the leader of
a large company bound for the great West. There was Mrs. Zylpha Cox, a widow,
his mother-in-law; William Cox, her son; A. B. Raines, John R. Hurst, Philip
Musgrave, James Boswell, Joseph Green, Axum Morris, Philip Corbett and family,
and Benj. Dunn and wife. Dunn died on the road, and like Moses, never reached
the Promised Land. They first stopped in Minor County, where they remained about
three years and then came here—all of them, except Morris, Corbett and Philip
Musgrave. Mrs. Cox's sons were William, Thomas and Wiley, and William was the
first merchant in Hutsonville. Nathan Musgrave, has but one son, William P., and
a daughter living— Mrs. Belle Kennedy. William Musgrave, who came to the
township in 1833, also married a daughter of Mrs. Cox. When Nathan Musgrave came
here he found two or three families living in the neighborhood where he settled,
among them the Lindleys. Thomas Lindley was living where his son John H. died
some years ago. He was from Virginia, it is believed, and died upon the place
where he settled. His sons were Abraham, William, John H., and Morton. He had
two brothers Samuel and William, also early settlers in this part of the
township. Young Sam Lindley, as he is called, is a son of William, and a
daughter married Lafayette Raines. Samuel lives where his father settled, and
Lafayette and Simpson Raines live where the elder Samuel Lindley settled. The
Lindleys and Musgraves were another honest set of men, and of the strictest
integrity. Nathan Musgrave lived to a ripe old age and amassed a fortune. One of
the boys who came here with Old Nathan Musgrave, took his first lessons in
honesty, uprightness and square-dealing, which have marked his course through a
long life, from him. We mean "Uncle Jack" Hurst. He came here but a boy, and
lived with Nathan Musgrave, in fact, was mostly raised by the good old Quaker,
and imbibed many of his sterling qualities. The lessons thus learned have been
his guide through life, so that now, when he stands upon a spot from which he
can see the evening twilight creeping on, the name of John R. Hurst is without
blot or blemish. And when the race is nearly run, to see this venerable,
white-haired old man, and his white-haired companion hand in hand passing along,
nearing the journey's end, receiving the love and reverence of all, is a picture
that many loving hearts would wish might never fade.

   Chalkley Draper came to the county in a very early day, and was a man much
above the ordinary. He lived first in the vicinity of Palestine, the general
stopping place of all the early emigrants. He finally settled on the place where
Franklin Draper now lives. He was a Quaker and of the strict honesty that
characterized all the old time members of that peculiar sect. He had several
sons of whom were Axum, Asa, Jesse and Franklin. The latter is the only one
living, and resides on the old homestead. Mr. Wm. L. Draper of Hutsonville is a
son of Axum Draper. Alexander McCoy was also a very early settler. He had three
sons, William, John and Squire. William married Sarah Jane Barlow, and a
daughter-in-law, Mrs. Albert McCoy, lives on the old Hutson place, as previously
stated. Squire McCoy followed the river, and never lived in the township. The
old man died here many years ago.

   The Lowes were early settlers in the county. William Lowe was the first of
the name to come, and he settled in the lower part of the county below
Palestine. He was there as early as 1817-18, but afterward came to this township
and located in the Lindley neighborhood. He finally died in Terre Haute. A son
of his, Isaac N. Lowe, long a resident of Hutsonville, was known to nearly every
man in both town and township, and universally esteemed by all. Old "Jackey"
Lowe came here in 1834, and Benjamin, an old bachelor brother, came about the
same time. They are both dead, and few now, except the oldest citizens, remember
them.

   Another good old Quaker family from North Carolina were the Gyers. They came
first to Indiana, and about the year 1825-26 came here and settled northwest of
the present village of Hutsonville. Aaron Gyer died about 1840; of other
branches of the family we have no data, though there are still a number of them
living in the township. Joseph Green was a member of the company that came out
from North Carolina with Nathan Musgrave. He died here about 1855. Another
family are the Coxes, though they came at a later date. Bryant Cox, still
living, came from North Carolina, and arrived here the first of June, 1831. He
settled where his son, Simpson Cox, now lives, while he lives a few hundred
yards distant. His sons are Wm. R., Andrew J., John T., the good-natured circuit
clerk of the county, and Simpson, one of the most whole-souled men in
Hutsonville Township. Matthew Cox was of a different family. He came from
Tennessee in 1830, and settled in the northwest corner of the township, where he
died several years ago, but has several sons still living.

   This is but a brief and meager sketch of some of the pioneer families who
settled this division of the county. The list no doubt is very incomplete, as
the means of obtaining information of this "long ago period" are few, and year
by year are becoming lessened. With all the disadvantages under which the
historian must necessarily labor, it is not strange if many names, together with
important facts and incidents are overlooked or omitted altogether.

   The hard life of the early settlers is a theme often discussed. There is no
question but they did live a hard life. But there were exceptions just as there
are now. There was then, as now, great difference in the forethought and thrift
of the people. Many, even in the earliest years of the county's existence lived
in generous plenty of such as the land afforded. True, the pioneers had to have
powder, tobacco and whisky, but for everything else they could kill game. Meat
of a superior quality and in varieties that we now can not get were within the
easy reach of all, but for meal they at first had to go to the Shaker mills in
Indiana until mills were built here. Game of all kinds was plenty, as well as
wild beasts, which a man would not care to "meet by moonlight alone," such as
bears, panthers and wolves. Mr. Hiram Newlin tells the following panther story:
He, with his father and brother were out one day hunting wild hogs, when the
dogs "treed" some kind of a "varmint." The boys threw rocks at it until tired,
when Hiram, the most venturesome of the lot, climbed the tree. The varmint
jumped out, and the dogs chased it to another tree. The great fuss the dogs and
the boys made, brought some other men upon the scene, who like themselves, had
been hunting hogs, and who happened to have a gun with them. They shot the
animal, when lo, and behold! it was a full grown panther of a large size.

   There is but little of interest in Hutsonville township to write about, aside
from the mere facts of its settlement, as the principal history of the township
is connected with the village. There is a group of mounds near Hutsonville, but
they are fully described in a preceding chapter, and nothing can be said of them
here without repetition. Of the early schools their history in this township is
but a repetition of the same in other parts of the county, viz.: the log
cabin-school house, the illiterate pedagogue and the dirty faced urchins. The
township is well supplied at this day .with good school-houses, and its
educational facilities are equal to its requirements in that line.

   Churches.—The Quaker church is one of the oldest church organizations in the
township—so old that we could not learn the time of its formation as a church.
They first held their meetings in a double log-house which stood near the
grave-yard on the John H. Lindley place. A few years later a log church was
built on the road leading to York and a short distance from the old place. The
next was a frame church at the Cross Roads near Ezekiel Bishop's place. When
that gave out, the present frame church building on the "Quaker lane," as it is
called, was built, and a strong congregation occupy it. It has been a church
organization for sixty years.

   Hutsonville Baptist Church was organized February 21, 1856. The facts which
led to its formations were these: A few Baptists living at and in the vicinity
of Hutsonville, in the summer of 1855, requested the missionary board of
Palestine association to send some one to Hutsonville, and in compliance the
board sent Elder J. W, Riley. In company with Elder E. Frey, he commenced a
meeting at Hutsonville on the 10th of February, 1856, and at its close organized
a church consisting of the following members: Jane Barlow, Daniel S. Downey,
Joseph Medley, Mary Medley, Hezekiah Winters, Maria Vance, Phoebe Downey and
Anna Paine. Elder E. Frey was the first pastor, and Elder Asa Frakes the next,
followed by Elder A. J. Fuson, and he by Elder J. L. Cox, the present pastor.
Although the church was organized in Hutsonville, yet when a church edifice was
built, it was located about three and a half miles northwest of the village. It
was built in 1865—is a frame building 24x36 feet, and cost $1,000, with 140
members at present.

  Elder Frakes, the second pastor, was a Kentuckian by birth, and spent the last
years of his life in Vigo County, Ind. He wielded a great influence for good
throughout his long life. When he came to Hutsonville he found the church at a
very low ebb. Under nis labors it thrived and grew constantly during his
administration. He was a man of great firmness, fall of life and perseverance.
When he first commenced in the ministry, he could not read; he studied night and
day and would go to the woods and procure bark to make a light to read by,
sitting up late at night, preparing himself for his ministerial labors. He was
afflicted with dropsy, and near the close of his life, had to sit while speaking.

   Elder Fuson was born in Ohio and came to tins' country in early life,
settling in Clark County, between Marshall and Terre Haute. He lived there
several years, extending his labors up and down the Wabash River, and then moved
to the southern part of Crawford County, where he remained until the fall of
1872 and then moved west. He was of a delicate constitution, but of great
perseverance. The country was new; without railroads, and his mode of traveling
was on horseback, facing wind and storm. He traveled several years for the home
missionary board of New York. His education was fair for that day. The
Hutsonville church greatly increased during his pastorate.

  The Universalist Church was organized in the Methodist church at Hutsonville,
April 5, 1870, by Rev. Robert G. Harris. Most of the members lived in the
country, and when a church-house was built, it, like the Baptist church, was
built some two miles from town. It was built some ten years ago, at a cost of
about $400, and is a neat little frame building. The last minister was the Rev.
Mr. Gibb, but he closed his pastorate in 1882, and the flock is at present
without a shepherd.

   The Village.—Hutsonville was laid out as a village in April, 1832. A body of
land including that upon which the town stands, was entered by Andrew Harris,
who sold a portion of it to his father, Israel Harris. The latter built a tavern
on the river bank, near where, the calaboose stands, and the site of which is
marked by a sink in the ground (the old tavern cellar) and a few bushes growing
out of it. This was on the old State road from Vincennes to Chicago, and which
passed through Palestine, York, Darwin, Paris, Danville, and on to Chicago.
Harris lost money in tavern keeping, and finally traded the property, together
with the land around it, to Robert Harrison, for property in Terre Haute, and
moved to that place.

   Robert Harrison laid out the town in 1832, as above stated, and the original
plat embraced 48 lots, most of which were sold at the first sale. Harrison
afterward surveyed and laid off 80 lots more which was known as u Harrison's
addition to the town of Hutsonville." There have been other additions made of a
later date, but to go into the details of each, is not pertinent to the subject,
nor of special importance. The town was called Hutsonville, in memory of Isaac
Hutson, whose family was murdered by the Indians.

   The first residence built in Hutsonville after the town was laid out was
erected by Wm. Cox, in the fall of 1832. The house was built on lot 32, fronting
the river, and was of hewed logs, and was afterward "weather-boarded." By a
strange coincidence it has fallen down from age, since we commenced writing this
chapter. Wm. M. Hurst, a brother of "Uncle" Jack's; put up the next residence.
He built a kitchen in the fall of 1832, and occupied it and the counting room of
his store, until he could complete the remainder of his residence, which was the
following spring. His was a small one-story building, also on the river bank,
and is still standing and known as the "Gascon Adams House." Residences now went
up rapidly; so rapidly we are unable to keep trace of them.

   The mercantile business took an early start in Hutsonville. William Cox and
William M. Hurst, above mentioned were the pioneer merchants. Under the firm
name of Cox & Hurst, they opened a store in August, 1832, a few months after the
town was laid out. They continued business until 1837-38, when they closed out
for the purpose of collecting up the debts they had made. Everybody there who
sold goods at all, sold on a credit— "the cheap cash store" had not yet been
invented—and hence, every few years, the merchant had to close out his business,
and collect his outstanding accounts in order to raise money to buy another
stock of goods. Thus Cox & Hurst, after running a store some five or six years,
were forced to pursue this method to replenish their stock, and the mercantile
field was left to others. After closing out their business, they rented their
storehouse to C. C. McDonald, who opened a large store, but he soon run his
course and dropped out of the race. But in the meantime, the second store had
been started in 1835, by Scott & Ross, who came here from Terre Haute, for the
purpose of making their fortunes. Scott soon sold out to Ross, and afterward
Ross sold to Royal A. Knott, who took William McCoy in as a partner. In two or
three years they were forced to close out and gather up their scattered capital.

   About the year 1840, William Cox, the pioneer merchant, together with Hurst
and others, under the firm of Wm. Cox & Co., again embarked in the mercantile
business, but in three or four years, and for the same reason as heretofore,
again retired. Caswell Jones opened a store on a small scale about 1839-40, and
continued in business for some ten years. Henry A. Steele also opened a store
about the same time as Jones. He built a store-house where the large brick block
now stands, but retired from business in a year or two. (Again about 1854, in
company with A. P. Harness, he opened a large store, which was continued until
his death in 1860.) Harness then wound up the business and afterward he and
McDowell commenced a store which they operated for a few years. In 1843-44 the
mercantile business had subsided into almost nothing, and the people had to go
to York to supply themselves with " store goods," or in a measure do without
them. Early in the year 1845, Dr. Lucius McAllister rented the Steele storehouse
and opened out a good stock. He flourished but a year or two when he signally
failed, and left town. He located somewhere about Tuscola, where he recuperated
and made money. In 1847-48 the Preston Brothers started a store in the Steele
house, which they operated several years. But while in full blast John Sweeny
bought the Steele store-house and compelled them to vacate it. Prestons then
built a store on the corner opposite the present post-office, and after a few
years more, closed out, and devoted their attention mostly to pork packing. A
man from York named Coleman rented the Preston store-house and opened a stock of
goods, but did not remain but a year or two, when he closed out and returned
whence he came. February, 1864, the Prestons again opened a store, and on a much
larger scale than before. Under the firm of Preston, Lake & Co. they continued
business until a few years ago, and made a great deal of money—just how much
none but themselves perhaps know. But in pork-packing, merchandizing, and in
grain they did the most extensive business ever done in the town. This was the
general headquarters of nine stores which they had in successful operation. They
let the stock run down, and a few years ago, sold it to George McDowell, who
continued business, until one of the fires, which Hutsonville is subject to,
swept away the entire block, and the Preston, Lake & Co.'s building, where money
had been accumulated for years, was but a "heap of smouldering ruins."

   We will go back now and gather up another thread of the mercantile history of
Hutsonville. John A. Merrick opened a large store about 1852—53. He built the
brick storehouse occupied by Hurst & Olwin, when they were burned out in 1873.
He commenced in the old Steele house, several times referred to, where he
remained until his new brick store was finished. Mr. Merrick carried on an
extensive business for ten or twelve years, when he sold to Gen. Pearce & Sons.
They closed out in a short time, and rented the store-house to Musgrave &
Coffin. After a few months Musgrave bought out Coffin, and continuing business a
short time longer, he (Nathan Musgrave) died, when Wm. P. Musgrave, closed out
the store. About the year 1854, Luther A. Stone opened a store as successor of
Wm. Cox & Co. He took in Levi Moore as a partner, and Wm. L. Draper, then a
young man, was employed as a clerk. Stone, Moore & Co continued a few years,
when Stone died, and Moore closed out. A man from Terre Haute opened a store in
the house lately occupied by Stone, Moore & Co., and in a short time sold out to
Draper & Wood. A man named McIntire succeeded Wood, and the firm became Draper &
McIntire. Moore again became a partner, and so continued until he died. Draper,
after Moore's death, closed up the business, and about 1863 sold out to John T.
Cox, a son of the pioneer merchant of Hutsonville. A. J. Cox became a partner,
and the business continued thus several years.

   Wm. P. Musgrave & Co. (John R. Hurst the Co.) opened a store March 17, 1864;
the Prestons had re-opened business here in February preceding. Wm. P. Musgrave
& Co. continued about eighteen months when Musgrave sold out to I. N. Lowe, and
the firm became J. R. Hurst & Co. In November, 1867, John Olwin was admitted
into the firm, and shortly after Hurst bought out Lowe, and changed the firm
name to Hurst & Olwin, which still continues in business. W. B. Hurst became a
partner in 1871. "Uncle Jack," as everybody calls Mr. Hurst, has retired from
active business but the old sign, like that of Dombey & Son, still swings in the
breeze.

   W. L. Draper, who sold out in 1863, and went to Terre Haute, afterward
returned to Hutsonville and went into business again. In 1875, S. L. Bennett was
admitted a partner, and the firm of Draper & Bennett continued until about the
close of the year 1882, when they sold out to Golden & Canaday, now in business.

   This comprises a brief sketch of the early mercantile business of
Hutsonville, together with some of the old firms, so well known to the people of
this section of the county. We leave the records of more modern firms and
business men to some future historian. Many men have embarked in business in
Hutsonville, and some have enjoyed prosperity and success, while others failed;
some of them swept over the scene like untamed meteors, flashed, darted and
fizzled, and then went out. Quorum pars magna fax. Yes, the writer invested his
surplus capital in Hutsonville, but it was swept away in the great overflow of 
" '75 "—otherwise in the "August freshet," and in overflows of a different
character, but nevertheless it went. There have been others who met with like
misfortunes here. But there is consolation in the fact that what is the loss of
one is the gain of others. But Hutsonville has proven an Eldorado to many. More
than one snug little fortune has been carved out here and carried away to enrich
other sections of the country.

   Taverns.—Israel Harris, as stated, was keeping a hotel, or tavern, as they
were then called, when Hutsonville was laid out, and sold it to Robert Harrison.
He kept the tavern for years, and finally killed himself by excessive drinking.
Some time before he died he sold the tavern and all the land he owned (outside
of the town lots) to John Elliott, who, after running the tavern for a while,
sold it to Enoch Wilhite, the father of Squire James Wilhite, whom many of our
readers still remember. Mr. Wilhite kept the tavern as long as he lived. It was
once a very important place; it was the stage-stand, when a four-horse stage ran
daily between Vincennes and Danville. The next tavern was opened by Levi Moore.
During the mercantile career of Stone, Moore & Co. they built the brick
residence now owned and occupied by Mr. W. L. Draper, and in this, after the
death of Stone, Moore kept tavern. Moore sold it to Simons, who also kept it as
a tavern for a while, and then rented it to William Boat-right, who used it for
the same purpose. The next tavern was kept by Joel Barlow, on the corner where
Newton & Rackerby's drug store stands. Then a tavern was opened on the site of
the present Adams House. The house was put up as a private residence by John
Musgrave, but was rented to C. C. McDonald, who kept it as a tavern. It has
charged hands and landlords often since then; alterations have taken place,
additions been built to it, old portions torn down and repairs made, until
to-day there is, perhaps, not a single square inch of the original building left
in the present house. For thirty years or more it has been a tavern-stand, and
twice during that period it has been the "Adams House." Who does not remember
"Uncle Joe" Adams, and "Aunt Jane," and their home-like tavern? The present
proprietor, Mr. Lewis Adams, is a genial host, judging from his evening company,
and an accommodating landlord.

   A post-office was established here in 1832, and William Cox was the
postmaster. It was small and insignificant compared to what it is now. The mail
was received over the old State road then, and when Murphy & Goodrich started
their big four-horse mail coaches, their arrival created a greater sensation
than Charley Willard does now when he comes in from the depot with the mail-bag
on his shoulder. Murphy & Goodrich started their coaches about the year 1838,
but broke up in a few months, and again the mail dropped back to first
principles—the hack, or the "post-rider"—until the iron horse dashed in with it
at lightning speed.

   Pork-packing has been an extensive and profitable business in Hutsonville.
Cox and Hurst commenced the business in 1835 on a small scale, but followed it
only two or three years. About 1838-9 Carson, Hurst & Musgrave, as Carson & Co.,
did a large business in pork-packing. H. A. Steele followed the business for a
few years, and so also did John A. Merrick. He built a pork house and packed
extensively for two or three years.

   But the Prestons did the largest business in packing pork. They commenced
about the time they first opened their store, having rented Cox & Co.'s pork
house. In a few years they bought land near the ferry and built a pork house of
their own. To this they made additions as their business increased, until it
became an extensive establishment. They did a large business in pork, as well as
in merchandise, and grew immensely rich. To the large fortune they are supposed
to have accumulated, Hutsonville and Crawford County contributed far the larger
portion. In the beginning of the pork business here it was shipped almost
entirely to New Orleans by flat-boats. When the Prestons got under way they
shipped by steamboats, and shipped east mostly instead of south.

   John A. Merrick was one of the finest and most accomplished business men ever
in Hutsonville. He made money rapidly, accumulating a handsome little fortune.
But in an evil hour he invested his capital in the old distillery below town,
which proved the rock upon which his ship went down, and has been equally
disastrous to many since his time. Indeed, nearly every one who invested in it
failed utterly. Merrick and Joseph Volke of Palestine built this distillery, and
broke up at it. After breaking everybody that took hold of it, the distillery
itself broke up—the best break of all.

   Mills.—Solomon Sackrider built a steam grist-mill on Hutson Creek about three
hundred yards from the mouth of the creek, the first mill in the town. It was
quite an extensive establishment and did a profitable business. The Prestons
traded for it, and it finally blew up from some cause, and in the explosion one
man was killed. The mill was never rebuilt.

   The Hutson mills were built by the Mark-leys, and was the next enterprise in
the town, in the way of a steam grist-mill. They comprise a large three-story,
frame building, with five run of buhrs, and a capacity of one hundred barrels of
flour per day, most of which, aside from home consumption, is shipped south. The
mills have ail the latest improved machinery, and use the patent process in the
making of flour. They have changed hands many times since they were originally
built, and are now owned by Harness, Newton and Rackerby. These mills, already
mentioned, together with the mill at the old distillery, and a number of
saw-mills built about town at different times, embrace the manufacturing
interests of Hutsonville in the way of mills.

   The stave-factory, saw and planing-mills, on the river above town is an
enterprise of considerable magnitude. It was built by Hussong & Co. in 1881-82.
It works a number of hands, and does quite an extensive business.

   The first school in Hutsonville was taught by a man named Broom, in a little
house built for school purposes, and now occupied as a residence by Jack
Woolverton. The next school-house built, was the present one. The present
attendance at school is about 100 pupils—a little more than half of the
enrollment. Another short-sightedness in the people, is not compelling their
children to go to school. When parents allow their children to run wild in the
streets, instead of sending them to school, they can blame no one but themselves
if they bring up in the penitentiary. Such things are by no means uncommon. The
present teachers of the Hutsonville schools, are Mr. Arthur Horning, and Miss
Dora Braden.

   Rev. James McCord, a local Methodist preacher, delivered the first sermon in
Hutsonville, on Sunday before Christmas, 1832. He then lived near the town, and
often preached for the people at their residences. He preached the sermon above
referred to in a little unfinished house built by T. C. Moore on Water street.
About the year 1840 a Methodist church was organized; a class, however, had been
organized sometime previously. In February of the year noted, a quarterly
meeting was held in the village by Rev. Beadle, the circuit rider, and Rev.
William Crews, presiding Elder, and a church organized. Harvey Wilhite had been
kilted by the kick of a horse, and his funeral sermon was preached at this
quarterly meeting by Rev. Crews. A great revival of religion followed the
organization of the church, and Christianity prospered accordingly. The church
has existed ever since its original organization, though it has dwindled down at
times, and become lukewarm. The present brick church was built, between 1850 and
1854, by contributions from all denominations, but some years ago it was
regularly dedicated as a Methodist church. Rev. Mr. Massey is the present
pastor, and Mr. C. V. Newton, superintendent of the Sunday school, which is
carried on during the entire year.

   The Christian Church was organized soon after the Methodist church, but a
church edifice was not built until in 1860, when the present frame church was
erected. Eider Alfred P. Law organized the society in a little log-house which
stood on lot-18, and is now used as a stable. The next preacher after Law was
Elder William Tichnor. There is no regular pastor at present. The church is
numerically strong, and has had some able ministers, the ablest of whom perhaps
were James Morgan and Elder Black. A flourishing Sunday school is maintained
under the superintendence of Mr. A. J. Cox. There are no other church
organizations in the village than those mentioned.

   Hutsonville Lodge No. 136 A. F. and A. M., was organized October 5, 1853,
under E. B. Ames, Grand Master, and H. G. Reynolds, Grand Secretary. The first
officers were B. F. Robinson, Master; Joshua Davis, Senior Warden, and J. J.
Petri, Junior Warden. The present officers are John M. McNutt, Master; John
Olwin, Senior Warden; L. W. Smith, Junior Warden; R. W. Canaday, Treasurer; C.
V. Newton, Secretary, and C. Rogers, Tiler.

   Hutsonville Lodge No. 106 I. O. O. F., was instituted October 15, 1852, by W.
L. Rucker, Grand Master, and S. A. Coneau, Grand Secretary. The charter members
were Wm. T. B. McIntire, J. N. Cox, Liberty Murphy, J. M. Wilhite, and Andrew P.
Harness. The present officers of the lodge are Price Johnson, N. G.; John
Carpenter, V. G.; E. Kinney, Treasurer, and H. H. Flesher, Secretary.

   Osmer Lodge No. 2330 Knights of Honor, was organized and a charter issued
under date of June 9, 1881, to John Olwin, Wm. Eaton, Danl. Holderman, J. L.
Musgrave, M. P. Rackerby, C. W. Keys, C. V. Newton, C. Rodgers and others, as
charter members. The present officers are Wm. Eaton, P. D.; James Handy, D.;
Lucius Hurst, A. D.; Jesse C. Musgrave, V. D.; John Olwin, Treasurer; C. V.
Newton, Reporter, and M. P. Rackerby, Financial Reporter, and several others too
tedious to mention.

   Hutsonville has been incorporated time after time. Its first experience of
this kind was some time between 1840 and 1850. This style of government was
allowed to go by default finally, and about 1852 it was incorporated under a
special charter, which "Uncle Jack" Hurst says was as voluminous as the history
of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and as binding in its provisions as
the laws of the Medes and Persians. This charter was repealed in a few years,
and the village incorporated under a special act of the Legislature, and the
following Board of Trustees elected: Benj. Henry, President; W. Holden,
Treasurer; W. L. Draper, Clerk; and Catlin Preston, John R. Hurst and J. O.
Harness. In 1875, it was re-incorporated under the general law, and the
following trustees elected: John Harness, President; I. N. Lowe, Clerk; C. W.
Keys, Treasurer; J. M. Wilhite, Police Magistrate; and R. W. Truitt, Frank
Brivogal, W. P. Claypool and Geo. W. Wood. The present board are, C. V. Newton,
President; H. H. Flesher, Clerk; M. P. Rackerby, Treasurer; M. T. Wolf, Police
Magistrate; and Lewis Adams, Henry Draper, C. W. Keys, Green Becknal and Jack
Plough.

   Destructive conflagrations and disastrous overflows are common to
Hutsonville. The town has been inundated by the roaring Wabash scores of times
and much property destroyed. It has been burnt out so often that a fire is no
longer a novelty to its citizens. The two great elements—fire and water— seem to
have conspired against the growth and prosperity of the place. What the floods
leave fire sweeps away, and as Shakespeare says: "So thickly do they follow as
to tread on each other's heels." The great overflow of 1875—the "August
fresh"—of which so much has been said, was an epoch—a kind of chronological
starting point from which all matters of village gossip dated. But the "February
fresh" of 1883, put the "August fresh" of 1875 in its little bed, and closed the
mouth of the "oldest inhabitant" with ten or twelve inches more of water than
the Wabash marked in the great flood of 1828, or in that of 1875. The "February
fresh" takes the place of the "August fresh," thus constituting a new starting
point in the town's chronology.

   To conclude its history, Hutsonville is noted for many things. Not the least
of these are the courtesy of its inhabitants, the beauty of its women, the
integrity of its business men, its calamities from fire and water, and its many
burglaries.

   West York, a small village situated on the railroad in the extreme north part
of the township, was laid out by Ezekiel Bishop, Esq., an early settler in this
section of the county. It grew out of the building of the railroad, and has a
population of about a dozen families at the present time. The first store was
kept by H. J. Musgrave, who sold out to G. W. Bishop. The store is now kept by
Buckner Brothers. It is a good grain point, and two grain warehouses are in
operation, one by G. W. Bishop, and the other by S. C. Brevoe.

   The first car-load of grain shipped from Crawford County, was by Jesse C.
Musgrave and G. W. Bishop, the pioneer grain dealers of West York. The car was
loaded at Quaker Lane, and run out on Sunday, March 26, 1875, by the
construction train, as no regular trains had, at the time, been put on the road.


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/crawford/history/1883/historyo/chapterx10nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/

File size: 48.7 Kb