Grundy County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter 18 1882 ************************************************ 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: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 4, 2006, 2:59 am Book Title: History Of Grundy County IL 1882 CHAPTER XVII.* MAZON TOWNSHIP—EARLY TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES—ITS PIONEERS—GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SETTLEMENT—NEW MAZON—CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. TOWNSHIP 32 north, range 7 east, is situated as near as may be, in the center of Grundy County. Its name, Mazon, was derived from the stream which bears this designation, a branch of which crosses a corner of the township. The Indian signification of the word is nettle, and finds its appropriateness as a name for the township in the fact that this plant was found in considerable numbers on the rich timber bottoms of this section. The Indians and early settlers turned this plant to a useful account, taking its fibre, in the absence of hemp, for twine and a coarse thread. The general surface is very level, with hardly variation enough to afford drainage for the surplus water. The soil is good, strong, black muck, and will prove, when properly drained and cultivated, as good land as there is in the county, but it is readily affected by moisture, which it seems to hold for a long time. This characteristic is the bane of travelers and road-makers, and often causes the farmer expensive delays. The general drainage is toward the northeast, the township being marked by six watercourses running about a mile apart, in a generally parallel course. The principal ones are the Waupecan Creek, Johnny Run, Murray Sluice, and the West Fork of the Mazon. These are all insignificant streams *By J. H. Battle. now, generally drying up in the hot months of the summer and assuming a short- lived importance in the spring or on the occasion of a freshet. Their early history, however, was not quite so tame, when from various causes, the water passed off less readily, and swollen with the spring freshet, these streams overflowed their low banks, uniting their waters and giving a large part of the township the appearance of a lake from six inches to two feet deep. The timber was originally found along these streams, the principal bodies being known as Wauponsee Grove, Johnny Grove, and Owen's Spring, on section 24. The farmers give the most of their attention to raising corn, though this is alternated largely with stock-raising, as the corn market proves more or less profitable. There is a gradual increase in the amount of corn fed from year to year, and many of the best farmers believe this to be the most profitable disposition to make of the corn crop. Dairying is becoming a more marked feature here also, the creamery established in Mazon giving quite an impetus to this branch of farming industry. The first settlement of the township was begun in 1833 by A. K. Owen, who, in company with Dr. L. S. Bobbins, John Hogoboom and others, came into the present territory of Grundy County on a prospecting expedition. To this party of explorers the southern portion of the county is principally indebted for its early settlement, and it will doubtless be found interesting to learn something of the history of the leader of this party and at the same time gain some knowledge of the contemporaneous history of the northern part of the State. Mr. Owen has left an autobiography from which the following is taken: "My first visit to Illinois was in the summer of 1819. I made my way from Syracuse, N. Y., which then contained a population of one family engaged in public entertainment. The next town of any note was Buffalo, which was then being rebuilt after the burning by the Indians and Canadians during the war of 1812-15. The next town was Cleveland, composed of one store, three or four mechanical shops and eight or ten families; next was Columbus, Ohio, containing 300 inhabitants. The first mill was then being built on the Scioto River. The next town was Dayton, composed of about a dozen families; next Eaton, of six or eight families; Conersville, of one family; then two days' journey to Terre Haute, through a wilderness, guided by a blazed trail, but where no wagon had ever passed. The population of Terre Haute consisted of about a dozen families, and here two flat-boats had been launched and loaded with goods for trade lower down on the river. From Terre Haute the route lay to Edwardsville, Ill., where a population of 250 or 300 was found. Here I attended a trial for murder—People v. Edwards—for the killing of Daniel D. Smith, the U. S. land agent. After a three days' trial, in which the accused was ably defended by Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, Edwards was acquitted, and Grundy, mounting his horse, took his fee, in shape of a thousand dollar negress, behind him on his horse and paced off for home. "North and west from Edwardsville there were no settlements whatever. My object had been to hunt up two quarter sections of land upon the bounty tract, but the land agent having been killed and his place not yet supplied, all I could do was to take on a full cargo of fever and ague and return to New York. "My next visit to Illinois was in the spring of 1827 or 1828. I journeyed from Hazlegreen, Alabama, on horseback to Quincy, Ill. It was a very wet season, and I had creeks to swim more or less every day, carrying my saddle bags on my shoulders. I ferried the Mississippi at Golcondee, six miles from the mouth of the Illinois, there being very little settlement thereabouts. The whole of the military tract was then included in Pike County. Some fifteen or twenty miles above the mouth of the Illinois, under the Mississippi bluff, was a little town called Atlas, settled by two Ross families. From there to Quincy were two families, Harrison and Thomas. At Quincy were also two families, Woods and Keys, and one single man, H. H. Snow. The first county election took place a few days after my arrival. Snow was elected circuit and county clerk, recorder and justice of the peace; Wood and Keys held the balance of the offices with the exception of sheriff and constable, which were bestowed upon me. In August of the same year I accompanied the first wagon from Quincy to Galena. The Sac and Fox Indians inhabited Rock Island with two military companies on the island. There were no other whites on the route. At Galena there were two small trading posts, a few miners, but not a white woman above Quincy. In August of the next year I was again in company with the first wagon from Galena to Chicago, crossing Rock River above Rockford. The population of Chicago was then about 900, with two companies of troops at Fort Dearborn. "In 1829, we obtained permission to organize a county. At a meeting held for this purpose the name of Daviess was suggested for the new county, but it was objected that there was then a county by that name in the State. At this, John Armstrong jumped up and suggested Jo Daviess, which was accepted. I remained at Galena until the fall of 1830, when I took what was called "the sucker shoot;" went down the river to winter, which was a very common thing with the miners. I put up for winter quarters on Faney Creek, eight miles north of Springfield, which then contained just four families and a tread-mill for grinding corn. "In the spring of 1831, I found myself the wealthy owner of two horses and harness, but no wagon, so I cut a couple of poles for thills, put cross pieces behind the horse, set on my clothes trunk, hitched my other horse in front, and then, whip and single line in hand, set my face northward to seek my fortune. The first good fortune I met was in the person of Chloe, only daughter of Ezekiel Stacey, living on Oxbow prairie. Just there and then we made a life-long contract, got consent of her parents, and next morning I proceeded on my northward journey to locate and prepare a home. That night I reached the cabin of a Mr. Long, three miles south of Ottawa on Coville Creek. Mrs. Long was very low with dyspepsia and had to be fed every half hour. Her husband being exhausted by his unremitting attention, I volunteered to care for her through the night and did so, and the next morning while harnessing my horses, George Walker, the first sheriff of La Salle County, summoned me to appear forthwith to serve on the grand jury, it being the first session of the circuit court of this county. Of course I pleaded non-residence, but the sheriff informed me that he had summoned every eligible man in the county and still lacked one, and I must serve. So I went to Ottawa and was appointed foreman of the jury. For want of a better place we held our deliberations under two maple trees on the bank of the river, situated about ten yards apart. Our constable was Moses Booth, and he was kept busy running from one tree to the other to keep the hogs out of hearing distance of our deliberations. The only complaint before the jury was for breach of promise, but the jury brought in no bill. On presentation of this report, the judge complimented the good people of the county as a law-abiding community, from the fact that they had nothing for the grand jury to do. At dinner time we sent the constable to David Walker's, the only cabin in the place, to engage our dinners, and got answer that he had but two rooms, one for the court and one for the kitchen, and that the judge and attorneys had monopolized these accommodations. We got some crackers and cheese, however, at a little trading post kept by George Walker, and was allowed to enjoy this frugal meal only through the indefatigable energy of our constable who kept the hogs at bay. On being dismissed from the grand jury, I returned to Mr. Long's, and at his earnest solicitation bought his claim, giving him one of my horses and two months' work. "On the 17th of July, 1831, I borrowed a horse and six dollars in cash from Mr. Long, and went to Oxbow prairie and redeemed my vow; then returned and paid my two months' work due on my claim, and on the first of October following, went after my wife. I borrowed a yoke of oxen and wagon of Mrs. Armstrong, living near the mouth of Coville Creek, attached a rope to the horn of the 'near ox,' and went to Oxbow prairie, returning soon after with my wife and little household effects, and set up housekeeping on Coville Creek. The next spring the Black Hawk War broke out, and at its close, I sold my claim, and in the following spring came on an exploring expedition to Sulphur Springs." This party made their headquarters at Johnny's Grove, and claims were made in what are now the townships of Vienna, Braceville and Mazon. Owen was the only one who settled in Mazon, choosing a site on the West Fork of the Mazon Creek, a little below old Mazon village. This was in the spring or summer of 1833. By the help of one man he succeeded in erecting a log cabin fourteen feet sqnare, into which he moved the following May, and began housekeeping without door, window or floor. For a short-time his most accessible neighbors were one family at Ottawa, one at Pontiac, and one at Joliet, each from twenty-six to thirty miles away. But this state of affairs continued but a short time. In this year quite a number of settlers came into Wauponsee and other townships of the county. None came to Mazon until the following spring, when James McCarty moved from Ottawa and took up his abode upon Wauponsee's little corn patch of three or four acres on section five. He was a bachelor, had served in the campaign against Black Hawk, and found no trouble in camping out while he put in his first crop of corn. This he did with a hoe, and in the fall the stalks furnished him the material with which he built his winter quarters. In June of 1835, he bought his land at the "land sale" and lived here until 1845, when he died and was buried in the Claypool burying ground, the first one to occupy it. Following McCarty late in the fall came Jesse Newport, from Belmont County, Ohio. He settled on the southwest corner of section six, secured his land at the public sale in 1835, and improved his place until 1839, when he rented it to Mr. Dewey, an English immigrant, and went to Hennepin where he died in 1840. In the same fall, James C. Spores built a cabin on the east half of the southwest quarter of section five, and improved his claim here for three or four years when he sold out to John L. Pickering, and moved to the "far West." James P. Ewing came to Mazon in the spring of 1835, building his cabin on the west half of the northeast quarter of section six. The land here was very wet, and greatly discouraged his efforts at making a home. He lived here two or three years, following at times his trade of shoemaker. He finally sold out to Jesse Newport, though not before he had lost a child by the ravages of the miasmatic climate. Pickering, who bought out Spores, was of Quaker extraction, and came from Belmont County, Ohio. He was one of the early county officers and lived here for many years, but subsequently moved to Bloomington in this State. The marriage of his daughter Sarah to Gales Austin, by Jacob Claypool, J. P., was probably the first wedding in the township. About the same time with Ewing came John Ridgway, who bought land on the northwest quarter of section five, and built his cabin there. He improved this place until about 1837, when he sold out to Nicholas Summers and went to Indiana. David Spencer became a settler here about this time also, built his cabin just above Pickering, and subsequently married a daughter of Mr. Summers and went to Indiana. In the fall of 1835. Augustus H. Owen, a lawyer, came from New York and took up his residence in the Hogoboom cabin. This was the first lawyer in Grundy County, but he soon discovered that he was considerably in advance of his age, and finding no demand for his legal abilities, he moved in 1836 to Ottawa, where he followed his profession for a year or two and was subsequently drowned in Rock River. In the summer of 1835, J. C. Murray came to Mazon from Oswego County, New York. He was a brother-in-law of A. K. Owen, and being desirous of getting more land where his growing family could find opportunity of securing homes for themselves, he was induced to come to Mazon on the representations of Mr. Owen. He came with his family by the lakes to Chicago, and was just forty-nine days on the water. He brought with his household effects two new wagons, but of course, no teams, and leaving his family at Chicago he came to Owen's on foot. The latter at once returned to Chicago with his brother-in-law, taking his own team and hiring another to bring the Murray family to their new home. Owen went to Hennepin subsequently, and Murray rented the farm for awhile, in the meantime looking up an eligible site for a permanent home. He then bought land on the old Chicago and Bloomington trail near the Murray sluice on section 33. His cabin was called the "Half Way House," it being situated about an equal distance—sixty-eight miles—from either terminus of the road. This cabin was one of the earliest in the township to be built out on the prairie. The family was moved in before completed, and a blanket for some time served to close the doorway. There was no floor save the earth, and the only board to be got was finally sawed and spliced so as to furnish a suitable door. Mr. Murray was drowned in Johnny Run in June of 1844, an accident which affords a striking incident in the life of the early times. Mr. Murray was then on the grand jury, which was in session at Morris, and was a guest of Mr. Armstrong, the pioneer hotel keeper of that place. There had been quite a freshet, and from various causes the landlord found himself out of meat for the morning meal. Murray, who had several pieces of smoked meat at home, volunteered to go in the night and get them to supply the deficiency. He started out on horseback and got home safely, but on his way back to Morris, he missed the ford and was drowned. James McKeen, an early settler in the county and identified with the early history of several townships, was also an early resident of this township. He first moved to the mouth of the Au Sable, thence to the old "Kankakee city," and later to the old Clover Place near the through trail. Here he kept hotel for awhile, when about 1840, he located on section 23, near the old village of Mazon. Hiram Fuller, a relative of A. K. Owen, came from New York about 1839 and settled in Mazon. In 1840 or 41, the Gibson family came to Mazon from Wauponsee township; the family consisting of Robert and Silas, and two sisters, Ann and Bathsheba, came to Norman township about 1837 or 8. The boys were coopers by trade and found the quality and quantity of speculators' timber a profitable source of supply. The sisters married and Silas died before Robert came into Mazon. He first settled in Wauponsee Grove, but subsequently bought land in sections 10 and 11, on Johnny Run, where he improved a large farm. Of the early experiences of this settlement there is nothing peculiar to this township to be noted. The nearest post-office was at Ottawa, then Dresden, and later at Morris. The nearest mills were those at Dayton, Wilmington, and Milford, or Millington. In some respects the community in Mazon were less favorably situated than some others in the county. The number of streams across the surface of the township indicates the slow natural drainage, and it was no unusual occurrence for these to join by overflowing their banks. Under these circumstances all traveling was out of the question. Mr. A. O. Murray relates, on such an occasion, his father's family found themselves with a very slender supply of provisions in the house. A man had been engaged to go to mill at Dayton, but the sudden rise of water had cut off his return. The neighbors who were accessible were in nearly as bad a plight, and there was no resort save to take account of stock and wait for the subsidence of the waters. They found their whole stock consisted of some beans and salt, and on these, of which there was no great supply, the family prepared to subsist for an indefinite time. Fortunately they had a new-milch heifer which supplied the family with milk and butter, the latter serving to render more palatable the slippery elm bark which was fried to eke out the meager store. A sharp freeze which rendered a passage through the submerged territory more difficult, protracted this experience for three weeks. This difficulty in getting to mill was felt to be a serious drawback in this section for years, and was not obviated until the county was formed, and bridges built across the principal streams. Mr. Charles Huston relates a tedious experience of this sort as late as 1845. The community in the southern part of the township had been travel- bound for some time, and while each farmer had plenty of wheat and corn, their families were using boiled wheat or grated corn as a substitute for flour. Huston, a new-comer, had neither, and proposed to earn some flour by taking a load to mill for the community. His wagon was soon filled with wheat, and he set out on his journey. He found but little difficulty in getting across streams by ferry or ford, but the frequent sloughs that blocked his way were not so easily surmounted. Four times each way he was obliged to unload his wagon and carry its contents around, while his team used their utmost powers to drag the empty wagon through the quagmires. On his return, his team worn out with the tedious journey, he was obliged to get assistance to get his empty wagon out of one of these places. There was but little stock in the township save the horses and oxen which served as teams to the farmers. A few cows and hogs were kept, but there was little market for them, and a good cow could be bought for six or eight dollars. The abundance of game relieved the settler of the necessity of buying meat or of using such animals as they had, save for a change or steady supply. Deer, prairie chickens, and wolves were found in great numbers. The latter sometimes proved troublesome to young stock, but the price which the county paid for their scalps more than compensated for their depredations. The through trail which passed along the southeastern corner of this township gave this section some prestige. A great deal of teaming was done on this trail from as far south as Springfield, while considerable stock was driven along this route to Chicago. The teamsters as a rule were a rough class. They slept under their wagons at night, brought their own provisions and did their own cooking. Their teams were generally turned into the nearest corn-patch, a liberty which settlers learned not to resent. The corn was of but little value, and unless the owner was of a muscular build and willing to take his pay "out of the hide" of the offender there was little chance of redress. Thus the professional teamster, though he got comparatively very little pay, continued to make his trip to Chicago from the south with wheat, and return loaded with salt and store goods, a favorable trip consuming from two to three weeks. Mr. Huston relates a trip to Chicago, which illustrates a common experience of the time. Some drovers had found it necessary to slaughter some hogs which were unable to travel further, and engaged Mr. Huston to take a load to Chicago for twelve dollars. It was in January, and in company with another team he started on his trip by way of Morris. As they crossed the ice on the river at this place, the rain began to fall with the temperature. The roads gradually became heavier, and little more than half way to the city it was found necessary to leave a part of each load, buried in a hay stack, to prevent the pork from thawing out, and proceed to the city with half a load, which was accomplished only after almost superhuman exertion. On discharging their load, the teams were obliged to get the remainder, and deliver it in Chicago. In the meanwhile the mud of the roads was gradually getting deeper until the last trip was made with the wheels sinking to the hub most of the way. The return trip Mr. Huston utilized by bringing a thousand feet of pine lumber for his building then going up at Mazon. As frequently occurs in an open winter, the weather changed to a cooler temperature as suddenly as it had warmed to a thaw, and the return trip was made through mud, gradually stiffening with the cold, which greatly retarded the progress homeward. On arriving at Morris, the river was found banks full and impassable, and to save time the wagons were loaded with coal from Goold Ridge, and taken to Kendall County where it was disposed of to blacksmiths. On their return the river was found still impassable. Ice had formed in the center of the river, but at either margin was a space of running water which defied passage. After waiting some time and becoming impatient with delay, Mr. Huston conceived a plan to cross the stream. Using his lumber to bridge the margins on either side and after testing the strength of the ice by pushing his wagon on it by hand, and subsequently leading a horse on, he proceeded to cross. Hitching one horse on the end of the tongue of the wagon, and leading the other in the rear, the weight was so distributed as to promise a safe passage. Unfortunately the bridge on the south margin proved defective, and wagon and horses were precipitated into the freezing water. The leading horse proved true, and swam out, bringing the wagon on to solid ground. The led horse, however, refused to swim, and it was only with great exertion and the strength of the other animal, that he was brought to shore. In the meanwhile Mr. Huston had spent an hour or two, waist deep in water getting his team in shape and saving his hard earned lumber. The latter he piled up in a safe place on the bank and reached home nearly frozen after just three weeks' absence. The early traffic on the Bloomington and Chicago road was very large and seemed to warrant the belief that the canal would not greatly interfere with it. Mr. Charles Huston who had come from Syracuse, N. Y., in 1845, had kept hotel there and doubtless could see no good reason with such advantage as the trail afforded, why a city should not grow up here as readily as elsewhere. At any rate in 1848, urged by a Mr. Hall of Ottawa, who agreed to open a store, he bought land of McKeen and laid out forty acres in streets, squares and lots. The store was started but subsequently was sold out to Wm. B. Royal. As the country developed all enterprises based on the permanency of trail traffic failed. The railroad and canal put an end to teaming and "droving," and the store here languished. A co-operative store was inaugurated, but this finally failed, passing into private hands and being eventually closed out by fire about 1854. Some years later a temperance society put up a building, renting the under part for a store, but the railroad put a finishing stroke to the declining prosperity of the town and the metropolis was transferred to the "center." The building of the Pekin, St. Louis & Chicago railroad gave a new impetus to the village growth of the township, but transferred it to the location of the depot. A store was begun here about 1875, by McAfee, who was succeeded by Gilford and later by M. Isham. A church, a school-house, a half dozen stores two grain elevators, and a cluster of rather new looking wooden buildings, represent a village of some 500 inhabitants, which is known by the post-office and railroad authorities as Mazon, but is popularly designated by the addition of "New town" in parenthesis, to distinguish it from old Mazon. An enterprise which does much to build up the village is a creamery which was established at the Miller cheese factory in 1880. In the following winter it was brought to the village and now occupies a building devoted exclusively to its purposes. The project was conceived and put in force by T. Rankin, who found it impossible to profitably handle farmer's butter, which he bought in the course of his business. In starting the creamery he revolutionized the cheese business which had a fair start here, and greatly extended the business of his general store. Nine teams are maintained, each of which makes a daily circuit of twenty-five or thirty miles, skimming the milk of patrons and bringing in the cream to the factory, at the same time taking orders and delivering goods from his store to any who may desire them. The cream is bought by the inch; the milk being placed in cans of a foot in diameter, the thickness of the cream is noted through a graduated glass inserted in the side of the can. An inch of cream is calculated to make a pound of butter, and varies in the price paid with the general changes of the butter market. The capacity of the factory is 1,100 pounds of butter per day, and at certain seasons of the year is crowded to its full capacity, involving an annual outlay of from $25,000 to $35,000 for cream alone. The Methodist church was the earliest religious organization to gain a foothold in this community. Missionary agents of the Congregational society were early in the township, especially in the southern part, but for various reasons their efforts did not result in any marked permanent achievement. In William and Charles Royal, who came into Mazon about 1847, the Methodist organization had zealous workers, and a society was formed which erected a place of worship at Old Mazon, about 1851. When the new town sprung up, this building was sold, and now serves as a granary, not far from its former site. The present neat, wooden structure at Mazon, was erected about 1877, at a cost of $2,400, and is the only one in the village. The Wauponsee Grove Congregational Church is a society in the northwestern corner of the township. This church was organized May 6, 1864, with seventeen members, among whom were H. B. Goodrich, William Hotchkiss, F. T. Benton, Abbott Barker, John Sample, and their wives. Rev. James Longhead, of Morris, had been holding Sabbath services here before this, and continued to supply this point and another neighborhood with alternate services. In 1868, a resident pastor was secured, the church holding its services in the school- house in the meanwhile. May 27, 1869, a site was selected, and one acre of land donated for the erection of a church building, and being the jubilee year, the effort to secure a church home was greatly assisted by the enthusiasm evinced by the Congregational membership at large. Memorial offerings were received from various persons and churches abroad, to which was added the enthusiasm of the ladies of the society here, who pledged a thousand dollars toward its erection. The building was erected, dedicated June 3, 1871, and in March of the following year, the church voted itself self-sustaining, having received aid from the American Home Missionary Society since its organization. It has now a membership of some sixty-two members, and a Sunday school of about 106 attendants. The earliest school-house was probably on section 24, and was built in 1837. In its time it was the finest cabin in the settlement. It was a square structure, built of logs, with windows made of six panes of glass placed in a single horizontal line in an enlarged crack between the logs. Against the log just below this window, supported by pegs driven into the side of the structure, was a rough puncheon which by courtesy was called the desk. Before this, on rude slab benches, the scholars sat and faced about as they copied the epigrammatic wisdom which adorned the top line of the copy-books of a quarter century ago. This cabin had a floor of riven planks, trimmed to lay reasonably still when trod upon, and was the admiration of the community. Mr. Axtell was the first wielder of the birchen scepter. No trace of these primitive times now greet the eye; the men and women of that early day, with all their toil and privations, have gone and made no sign; they labored, and the present generation has entered into their labors; the present stands upon the shoulders of the past; and, if manfully meeting the duties of the present hour, we lift the world higher by the full stature of a man, the pioneers of this land will not have toiled in vain. Additional Comments: HISTORY OF GRUNDY COUNTY ILLINOIS; Containing a History from the earliest settlement to the present time, embracing its topographical, geological, physical and climatic features; its agricultural, railroad interests, etc.; giving an account of its aboriginal inhabitants, early settlement by the whites, pioneer incidents, its growth, its improvements, organization of the County, the judicial history, the business and industries, churches, schools, etc.; Biographical Sketches; Portraits of some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, etc.; ILLUSTRATED. CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, Lakeside Building. 1882. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/grundy/history/1882/historyo/chapter166nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 31.5 Kb