News Article, Jim McCRORY, Crawford County, Illinois Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives Copyright 2000 Cindy McCachern Jim McCrory   19 March 1909, Hutsonville (IL) Herald   Uncle Jim McCrory was down from West Union Wednesday greeting old friends and visiting his brother.  He will be 81 years of age next month and has resided in this vicinity since 1828, when his parents came here and settled near the old ferry place on the river just north of town.  Uncle Jim says the Indians were plentiful here in those days and often he has been chased out of the woods by them.  A treaty was made with the natives and a date was set when they were to leave the country.  When the day arrived, all the Indians and settlers gathered near the site of the old pork houe, and a big dinner was spread, consisting of deer head soup, vension, wild honey and many other things not to be found on a bill of fare today.  All partook of the feast, and following it, the Indians bid the settlers goodbye and over 600 of the red men took up their march westward for a new hunting ground. Mr. McCrory knows as much or more of the early history of this community as any other person, and among the incidents which he related was that of an Irishman who came here, set his time to die and died.  The stranger arrived by stage about 1840 and the next day announced that he would die on a certain day.  He had Liberty Murphy, a cabinet maker, make his coffin, selected his place to be buried and had his shroud made.  When the day arrived, the Irishman did not die, but was as sick as a person could be without passing off.  He set another day a week later, and that time succeeded in entering spirit-land.  He was buried in Parker's grove north of town, and had a roof placed over his grave which remained for several years.  His body was later removed by unknown persons and the mystery remains unsolved to this day. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb Archivist with proof of this consent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Cindy McCachern