Edgar County IL Archives History - Books .....History Of Prairie Township 1879
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Book Title: History Of Edgar County, Illinois

PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.

   One morning in May long ago, a young man rode across the Illinois prairies
with a friend. They passed on over the boundless expanse, far out of sight of
any human habitation, thousands of flowers blooming around them everywhere,
their beauty and fragrance surpassing all that they had ever dreamed of floral
loveliness and perfume. It seemed as if the whole world had been converted into
green grass, blue sky, blooming flowers and glorious sunshine. The scene was one
that might have inspired the sweet "Southern" singer, when she wrote-
   "Like gladsome gales on Orient seas
       With odors blown from isle and coast,
    From fragrant shores we felt the breeze
       That whispered of the Eden lost.
    We drank the balm of hidden flowers,
       Whose breath was nectar to the heart,
    Nor thought we then the rosy hours
       With life's May dawn would soon depart."

   Hundred of people, abounding with poetical sentiment, have essayed a
description of the great prairies of the West, and made hysteric attempts to
portray their feelings when first beholding them. No doubt they were "grand and
gorgeous" (the prairies, not the people) in their pristine beauty, before the
husbandman came to mar and destroy their loveliness, by turning things
(literally) "upside down." Whether or not the little scene noted at the
beginning of this chapter occurred in Prairie Township, long ago, when its
territory was the undisputed possession of the gopher and the prairie wolf, we
cannot say, We have the authority, however, of a gushing writer of the period,
that it did occur somewhere in Illinois, and so we apply it to this section, on
the strength of its adaptability. Nearly the entire town is prairie land, and is
a part of the Grand Prairie, which, as already stated in this work, extends into
Edgar County. There is but little timber, and that along the margin of some of
the streams passing through the township. Of these streams, all tributaries of
Brouillett's Creek, we may mention Jonathan Creek, Lick Run, Salt Fork, Crab
Apple Creek and Bonwell's Branch. Some of them are small, and perhaps wholly dry
up in summer, but afford excellent drainage of the land.

   Prairie Township lies in the northeast part of Edgar County, and is the very
"corner lot" of the county. It is bounded on the north by Vermilion County, on
the west by Ross Township, on the south by Brouillett Township and on the east
by the State of Indiana. It is one of the best farming districts r in this
section of the country, and has a large number of highly-cultivated and
productive farms. Its fine rolling prairies are especially adapted to
agriculture, ' and the amount of grain annually produced is not equaled,
perhaps, by any township in the county. Much attention is paid to stock-raising,
many of the farmers carrying this branch of business to a considerable extent.

SETTLEMENT.

   Prairie Township, being almost destitute of timber, was not settled as early
as some of the other towns and sections, abounding in timber. The pioneers did
not believe the prairies would ever be good for anything but cattle range, and
hence, the prairies were the last land to be settled. The first cabin erected in
Prairie was by Sylvester Barker, whose history is pretty thoroughly given in
Brouillett Township. In the spring of 1825, he and a brother-in-law, Richard
Jones, and an uncle of his wife, David Wise, located in this town. Mr. Barker's
cabin being the first one put up after they came to the place. But owing to the
wild nature of the country, and also deeming it sickly, Barker remained but
about six months, returning whence he came, and spending the winter at his
father-in-law's, Jacob Jones. In the following spring, he located in Brouillett
Township, as noted in the history of that town. Their experience in Prairie was
quite interesting, though during most of the time it was also unpleasant. They
were young when they settled there, and had but one child, just old and large
enough, says Mrs. Barker, to be everywhere and into everything. Mrs. Barker had
a long and severe spell of sickness, and, as they had no close neighbors (only
two other families in the town, and they some distance off), when Mr. Barker had
to leave the house, he would either take the child with him, or tie her to the
bedpost until he returned. Mrs. Barker informed us that the opossums were so
plenty in the country, and so troublesome they would come in the house while she
was sick, get in the victuals, and annoy them very much.

   The other two families mentioned, Jones and Wise, remained permanent settlers
of Prairie Township. Jones, who was a son of Jacob Jones, an early settler of
the county, and noticed in the history of both Hunter and Brouillett Townships,
settled on the site of the present town of Scotland. He remained a resident of
this township until 1870, when he removed into the city of Paris, where he died
about 1873. As stated, Wise was an uncle to Jones, and to Mrs. Barker, and came
from the State of Maine. He settled half a mile west of Scotland, and both he
and his wife have been dead for years. Their children, too, are all dead, except
two sons, one of whom lives in California, and the other at Cherry Point, in
this county.

   Horatio Blanchard came from Brown County, Ohio, and settled in Prairie
Township, in 1830. His original location was on the west side of the town, and
he remained here until 1835, when he sold out and removed into Ross Township,
where he still lives an enterprising citizen. He lived on one place for about
forty-five years. At the close of the Black Hawk war, he walked all the way to
Chicago and back, remaining there on this visit several months, and was there at
the time the treaty was made with the Indians. The following year he repeated
the trip, which was through an almost unbroken wilderness, inhabited only by
Indians. The houses were often twenty-five miles apart. While in Chicago on this
trip, he helped to build the first brick house erected in the Garden City. His
first neighbors, he says, were Daniel and Lewis Camerer, of Brouillett Township,
Col. William Wyatt, Judge Lowry, John Wilson, John Hannah, Israel D. Sayres, who
lived in other sections of the country around him. He made a trip to Chicago
every fall with his team for several years, hauling to that market grain and
fruit, and bringing back groceries and salt. He made one trip to Rock Island
with his team, via Jolietj taking dried fruit and feathers and, returning via
Chicago, brought back to this settlement a load of groceries. When he settled
here, game was so plenty that he often shot turkeys and deer from the door of
his cabin. He is further noticed in the history of Ross Township.

   John Wilson, who was one of the early settlers of Brouillett Township, was
from Kentucky, and after living there but a short time, removed to this
township. Remaining here a few years, he sold out, and with a large lot of
stock—horses and cattle—went to Oregon, where, at last accounts of him, he was
still living, though almost a hundred years old. John Hannah came from Ohio. He
went into the late war from this township, at the time an old man in years; came
back and soon died from disease contracted while in the service. Daniel Newcomb,
Edmund Clarke. John Jackson and Samuel Lowry were also from Kentucky. Clarke is
dead, but his widow, and a son or two, are still living in the neighborhood.
Newcomb first settled in Brouillett Township; is now dead, but two sons are
still living. Lowry was a branch of the Lowry family, mentioned so often in
these pages, and moved away years ago. Jackson was one of the early settlers,
but has been dead fifteen years or more. Josiah and George Thompson were among
the early comers to Prairie Township. Joseph remained but a short time, and
removed back South, where he came from. George was his nephew, and bought out
Barker, when the latter moved back to Hunter. He has been dead about twelve
years, but has a son living here and a daughter in Chrisman. Solomon Smith and
Samuel Scott were early settlers in the township. Smith died last fall. Scott
has been dead some six years, but has several sons living, who are wealthy. He
was a native of Kentucky, but had been living some time in Indiana before coming
to Edgar County. He has several sons, as above stated, living in the county
still, and a daughter, all of whom are in good circumstances. David Light,
another of the early settlers of Brouillett, was also an early settler in this
town. His early history is given in the chapter devoted to Brouillett; also his
encounter with a wolf is given in that chapter.

   This brings the settlement of the township up to a period when people were
coming in so rapidly as to render it a difficult matter to keep a record of
them. The virtues of the prairies had been discovered, and immigrants were
beginning to push out on the broad plains, among the tall grass, and stake out
claims and put up cabins, that sometimes could scarcely be seen above the grass,
and in every direction might be seen the long teams, usually consisting of three
or four yoke of cattle, breaking the prairie land and taking the initiative
steps for making the magnificent farms to be found in this locality at the
present day.

HISTORICAL FACTS AND EVENTS.

   The reader will notice in the map of Edgar County, two lines running through
Prairie Township. That one passing through in a northwest direction is called
the 10 o'clock line, and the one running a little east of north, the 1 o'clock
line, and are the boundaries of a body of land purchased by Gen. Harrison of the
Indians, for the United States Government, as noted in another chapter. These
lines intersect a short distance north of the county line in Vermilion. The land
east of the line, running north and south, was surveyed several years before
that on the west side, and by some carelessness, oversight or other cause, the
section lines do not "jibe," or make a considerable jog, as will be seen by
reference to the county map and the variation seems to increase on the west side
of the line, as it is laid off to the north, so that by the time the north line
of the county is reached, the regular Congressional townships are completed at
the line of the queer little corner extending down in Prairie Township, while it
takes another tier of sections to complete them on the west side. Hence the
north line of the county in the center of Prairie Township (at the little
corner) is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 11 west, while the north line
of the county is the north line of Town 16 north, Range 12 west. But why the
little neck in the extreme northeast corner of Prairie Township was kept to
Edgar County, or why the north line of the county was not run straight across
from east to west, without making the little corner above described, are
conundrums, and we, as well as everybody else, give it up. It is said to be a
great annoyance to the people living in this little three-cornered boundary,
preventing them from knowing just where they live, almost, whether in Edgar or
Vermilion County.

   At the March term of the County Commissioners' Court, in the year 1854, it
was ordered that an election precinct, to be designated as "Prairie Precinct,"
be laid off and bounded as follows: Beginning at the county line one mile west
of the northwest corner of Town 16 north, Range 11 west; thence south to a point
north of Range 12 west; thence east to the State line; thence north with the
State line to the northeast corner; thence along the county line to the
beginning. And that the place of holding elections in the said precinct be at
the house of Henry Mathers. Z. W. Riley and Miller Ingram were appointed
Justices of the Peace. At the September term, 1855, precinct boundaries were
changed somewhat, as noted in other parts of this history. When the county
adopted township organization, in 1856, the boundaries of Prairie Township
remained the same as Prairie Precinct. The present Supervisor of the town is
Frank Maddock; the Justices of the Peace are M. D. Scott and J. W. McGee.

   At one time there was supposed to be salt in Prairie Township. The following
story is told of an old Dutchman, who used to live at Fort Harrison, of how he
was "taken in" by the Indians. The red men told the Dutchman that there was a
salt-spring capable of making much salt, and for his gun, horse and money, they
would pilot him to the place, and that the salt was plenty enough to make him
independently rich forever. The Dutchman took the bait, and the Indians led him
into Prairie Township, on what is called Salt Fork, to a place that seems to
have been a kind of deer-lick. It was a basin four or five rods across, tramped
down a foot or two below the surface of the surrounding county. Here they put on
a kettle of the salt-water to boil, to try the salt-making capacity of it; and,
whenever the Dutchman's back was turned, an old squaw, whom the Indians had with
them, would throw a handful of salt into the kettle. Thus the test proved
satisfactory to the Dutchman, who, according to contract, paid over the promised
sum to the Indians. Suffice it, the salt-spring turned out a swindle, and the
Dutchman lost his horse, his gun and money; the Indians proving for once, at any
rate, too sharp for their pale-face friends. Since that time the little stream
where this incident occurred has been called the Salt Fork instead of North
Fork, as before

SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, ETC.

   The first school taught in Prairie Township was by Mrs. Nancy Jones, the
first wife of Richard Jones, one of the first settlers of the town. She was said
to be a most estimable lady, and taught this school in 1830, in her own house,
long before there were any schoolhouses built in this section of the county.
They then lived where the town of Scotland now stands. The next school taught in
the town was several years later, in the west part of the township, and was by a
man of the name of Haines. This was the first school in this section, and was
patronized by all the people living along the creek, both in Prairie and Ross
Townships. Such was the feeble beginning of the schools of Prairie Township,
which have since then increased in numbers and character, until they compare
favorably with those of any section of the county. The town is laid off' into
the usual number of school districts, in which have been erected good,
commodious school-buildings, furnished with all the modern school furniture, and
are well attended by those entitled to their benefits.

   The first sermon preached in the township was by an old Dunkard preacher, of
the name of Thompson, who used to preach in the settlement at a very early day.
The churches of the township are Wesley Chapel, belonging to the M. E. Church,
but used at present by the United Brethren, under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr.
Baty. The church edifice was built in 1867, under the pastorate of Rev. T.
Winns, the first M. E. minister on that circuit. This church is also used by the
Christians, who have quite a flourishing congregation, in charge of Rev. Mr.
Williams. Several of the schoolhouses are also used for religious meetings
occasionally, and Sunday schools are maintained in many parts of the town.

   Bonwell Post Office was established in 1851, and was located near where
Wesley Chapel now stands. Arthur Bonwell was the first Postmaster, and held the
office about four years. It was eventually discontinued, after the laying out of
Scotland. The railroad crossing the township from east to west, known as the
Indianapolis. Decatur & Springfield Railroad, is one of the early railroad
projects of the State, and was surveyed as the Air-Line Railroad, from
Indianapolis to Springfield. But after its survey was made, like many other
similar projects, it was dropped, and lay dormant until, a few years ago, it was
completed under the above title. The township donated §1,200 to the building of
it. A full history of it is given in the county history, and but a few words are
necessary here. The road is of vast benefit to this section, and carries immense
quantities of grain, stock and coal. The political aspect of Prairie is a little
mixed at present, and it is hard to say just which way the political cat would
jump.   It was a Whig precinct in the old times of that party's popularity. In
the late war the town did its duty, as will be seen by reference to the war
record of the county, found in this work.

THE VILLAGE OF SCOTLAND.

   Scotland is a little village of two of three hundred inhabitants, situated on
the Indianapolis, Decatur & Springfield Railroad, about four miles from
Chris-man. It was surveyed and laid out by George W. Foreman, County Surveyor,
for William Scott, and the plat recorded September 17, 1872. Mr. Scott, one of
the most enterprising citizens, and for whom the town is named, donated one-half
of the lots embraced in the original plat to the I., D. & S. Railroad, the
railroad company selling the lots to individuals. The post office was
established here in 1875, having been previously discontinued at Bonwell. A.
Burson was appointed Postmaster, and has held the office ever since. William
Scott built a flouring-mill here in 1873, which, having changed hands several
times, has passed back into his possession. A very handsome and substantial
two-story school-building has been erected, and is an ornament to the little
village. A graded school is conducted from six to nine months of the year, and
well patronized. The land upon which the building stands was donated by Mr.
Scott and the I., D. & S. R. R. Company. The present business of Scotland may be
summarized as follows : Three dry goods stores, Scott Brothers, H. H. Adams &
Bro. and Thomas Hefflefinger; A. Burson, drugs and the post office; one
flouring-mill, two blacksmith-shops, two physicians—Drs. Jenkins and Wright. The
church history has been given in that of the township.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

THE HISTORY OF EDGAR COUNTY, ILLINOIS,

CONTAINING

A History of the County—its Cities, Towns, &c.; Directory of its Tax-Payers; War
Record of its Volunteers in the late Rebellion ; Portraits of Early Settlers and
Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Edgar County; History of
Illinois, Illustrated; History of the Northwest, Illustrated; Constitution of
the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, &c, &c.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: WM. LE BARON, JR., & CO., 186 DEARBORN STREET.

1879.


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