Putnam-Bureau-Stark County IL Archives History - Books .....Chapter VI - Early History Of Bureau & Stark Counties 1860
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Book Title: History Of Putnam & Marshall Counties

CHAPTER VI.

EARLY HISTORY OF BUREAU AND STARK COUNTIES.

An account of the early settlement and progress of those parts of Putnam 
county which were set off to form other counties, and also of the facts 
connected with and attending their separation, forms an important topic in the 
history of Putnam.

The first settlers upon the territory now within the limits of Bureau county 
were Henry Thomas and a Frenchman named Bulbona, in 1829. Mr. Thomas and 
others had been engaged the year before in surveying a stage-road from Galena 
to Peoria, and his eye had been attracted by the beauty of the country. He 
made a claim at Bureau Grove, and moved upon it the succeeding year. About the 
same time Elijah Epperson came from Ohio to the Bureau Creek, near Princeton, 
and settled there; Chas. S. Boyd located soon after at Boyd's Grove; Joseph 
Smith at Dad Joe's Grove; John Hall at Hall's Settlement; and others at 
various points.* By the year 1831 the settlement about Bureau Grove had so 
increased as to make the establishment of a post-office there desirable. One 
was accordingly opened, and Mr. Thomas appointed the first Postmaster.

In the summer of the same year, a considerable colony from Northampton, Mass., 
came into the neighborhood of Mr. Epperson. They had organized and also formed 
a "Hampshire Colony Congregational Church," before leaving New England. Dr. 
Nath'l Chamberlin was the principal man and physician of the colony; Rev. 
Lucien Farnham pastor of the church. On emigrating to the West, the party 
stopped at Bailey's Point, in La Salle county, and sent committees in various 
directions to "prospect" the country. In June the location upon Bureau Creek 
was determined, and claims were made accordingly. Movements were soon made for 
a town, to be situated upon the school section in that township. At the 
December term of the County Commissioners’ Court of Putnam, John P. Blake, 
John Musgrove, and Roland Moseley were appointed trustees of school lands in 
the township, and a petition for permission to sell the same was presented the 
next February. A partial survey for & town thereon had been made in 1831, 
which was completed August 23d of the

*Sketches of Princeton, p. 45.

following year. After much discussion, the new town was named Princeton, (from 
the literary metropolis of New Jersey, at the desire of Mr. Musgrove, who was 
a native of that State.) No building was erected upon the site until the fall 
of 1833, when a log cabin was put up by S. D. Cartwright; the next year the 
first store was opened in the place; and in 1835 a small frame meeting-house 
was built on the public square by the Colony Church. Since that time its 
progress has been steady, and at times rapid. It is now a large and 
flourishing city.

During the years following the Black Hawk war, the country improved slowly. A 
post-office or two was created, but no new towns were laid off until the 
speculative times of 1836-7, when they suddenly became numerous. The first was 
Windsor, situated nine miles west of Hennepin, which was surveyed Jan. 15th, 
1836, for Augustus Langworthy, proprietor. It was a fine-looking town—on 
paper. A "Great Public or County Square" was conspicuous in it; and there were 
roads branching from it in every direction—towards Ottawa, Hennepin, 
Knoxville, Rome and Peoria, Boyd's Grove, Galena, Rock Island; and the Rapids 
of Rock River. A "Market Square" and "Liberty Square" were devoted to the uses 
of the public, and there were reservations for church and seminary purposes. 
It was a very fair specimen of the "paper towns" of that inflated age. In 
March of the same year, a large addition was made under the name of ''West 
Windsor," with streets bearing the sounding names of Washington, Jefferson, 
Franklin, etc., and a "Judicial Square" and "Pleasant Square" by way of parks, 
or breathing places for the (prospectively) crowded population. This addition 
was vacated in less than a year. Another—a very small addition—was laid off by 
Mr. Langworthy in 1837, just before Bureau became independent of Putnam. The 
village of Indiantown afterwards sprang up in the immediate vicinity; and in 
1840 the Legislature united the two, giving, the new town the name of Tiskilwa.

Kin-nor-wood was the fanciful title (obtained by joining the first syllables 
of the proprietors' names) applied to a town located between the Illinois 
river and Bushy Creek, a few miles below Peru. Col. H. L. Kinney, of Nicaragua 
celebrity, Geo. H. Norris, and Robert P. Woodworth, were the proprietors; 
March 11th, 1836, the date of the survey.

The next town in the order of time was Concorb, four miles north of Princeton, 
on the road from Galena to Hennepin. It was founded March 26, 1836, by Jos. 
Brigham, and vacated Feb. 28, 1837.

Greenfield, a town site of considerable size, was laid off twelve miles north-
east of Princeton on the 15th of April, 1836, by John Kendall and Tracy Reeve. 
There being several other towns of the same name in the State, another 
designation was afterwards found advisable; and in 1840 its name was changed 
by Legislative act to Lamoille.

Fairmount, seven miles north-east of Princeton, was called into being June 
18th, 1836, by Eli Nichols. It was vacated by act of the Legislature Feb., 
1840, after the bubbles of speculation had burst.

Within two miles of Fairmount, in a south-west direction, Livingston was laid 
off July 1st, 1837, by Eli Lapsley.

Providence (from the capital of Rhode Island, whence the colony that settled 
it came,) dates from the 14th of July, 1836, when it was founded by Edward 
Bayley, Larned Scott, and Simeon G. Wilson. The greater part of the colony for 
whom this beautiful prairie site was selected, consisting of thirty or forty 
families, arrived a year after, and were cordially welcomed by the local, 
press and people.*

At the formation of Bureau county, its population was estimated at about 
2,000, mainly scattered about the vicinity of the towns mentioned above. The 
large county of Putnam had grown cumbersome as the number of its inhabitants 
increased and a division was now imperatively called for. The proper petitions 
were forwarded to the Legislature; and, on the 28th of February, 1837, an act 
was approved creating the county of Bureau.** Its boundaries were

*See the Hennepin Journal for May 11, 1837; Peoria Register and North-western 
Gazetteer for June 3d, '37.
**This name, though French, is said to be derived from that of some Indian 
chief. Hennepin Herald, Feb., 1847.

defined as "beginning at the north-east corner of Putnam county, running 
thence south on the east boundary line of said county to the centre of the 
main channel of the Illinois river, thence down the main channel of said river 
to the place where the line dividing townships fourteen and fifteen north 
intersects said river, thence west on said line to the west line of said 
county, thence north on the western line of said county to the northern 
boundary thereof, and thence east with said county line to the place of 
beginning." A considerable county was thus set off, embracing 814 square 
miles. Additions have been made since, from the western border of Putnam, so 
that the county now comprises nearly 25 townships. The provisions of the act, 
however, were not to be carried into effect unless a majority of the voters in 
Putnam county, including those of the contemplated county, should elect to 
make the division. The election came off on the first Monday in April, and was 
one of the most exciting ever witnessed in the county. The voters west of the 
river, within, the proposed limits of Bureau, voted almost en masse for the 
division; those on the east side were almost as strongly opposed, except a few 
in certain localities, who believed the removal of the county seat of Putnam 
probable, if Bureau were set off, and that their local interests would thus be 
promoted. The proposition prevailed by a majority of between thirty and forty.

So much interest was felt in the result, that a general rejoicing took place 
throughout Bureau when it was fully known. By the citizens of Princeton the 
news was greeted with many huzzas, bonfires, torch-light processions, and 
other tokens, of joy.*

William Stadden, Peter Butler, and Benj. Mitchell, were appointed 
Commissioners to designate the seat of justice for the new county. They 
performed their duty in May, and located the county seat at Princeton. On the 
first Monday in June, the first election was held, when Arthur Bryant, R. C. 
Masters, and Wm. Hoskins were chosen County Commissioners and Bureau entered 
upon its separate history.

In that portion of Putnam from which Stark county was constituted, there were 
very few settlers prior to 1835. In 1834, a cluster of farms known as Essex's 
settlement existed near the junction of the east and west branches of Spoon 
river, which had a grist and saw-mill in operation, and a post-office.** In 
December of the next year, a young Vermonter took a claim about twelve miles 
north of Wyoming, and threw up a rude log house. There was then no settler 
within five miles of him. This was called the Osceola Grove settlement. In 
less than a year, it contained five families, and by the close of 1838 over 
thirty families had made their homes there. Settlements were also extended 
along Spoon river, the In-

*Sketches of Princeton, 45.
**Peck's Gazetteer, (1st ed.,) 235

dian and Walnut Creeks, and about Fraker's Grove, by the time the county was 
formed. The first settlers were for the most part Kentuckians.

Stark obtained its full share of towns during the speculating mania of 1836-7. 
The first laid off was Wyoming, in the Essex settlement, founded May 3d, 1836, 
by Gen. Samuel Thomas. The progress of this place was very slow. Nearly two 
years after its survey the only building (a store and post-office) upon the 
site is spoken of as "a second-hand seven-by-nine log smoke-house."* It was, 
nevertheless, a prominent candidate for the location of the county seat, and 
is now a village of some size.

Osceola was situated on a large piece of ground eleven miles north of Wyoming, 
with a fine "Washington Square" in the centre. It was surveyed July 7th, 1836, 
for Robert Moore, James C. Armstrong, Thos. J. Hurd, D. C. Enos, and Edward 
Dickinson, proprietors. The town-plat was vacated by Legislative enactment 
Feb. 14th, 1855.

Moulton was laid off three miles west of Wyoming, "in the Military Bounty 
Tract," on the 29th of August, 1836, by Robert Schuyler, Russell H. Nevins, 
Wm. Couch, Abijah Fisher, and David Lee.

Massillon was situated seven miles nearly due south of the present site of 
Toulon, not far from the southern boundary of the county. Its proprietor

*Communication in Lacon Herald for April 14th, 1838.

was Stephen Freckel; date of survey April 13, 1837.

Lafayette, on the western border, in that part of the county which was taken 
from Knox, was also laid off before Stark was formed.

The people of the Spoon river country had early felt the great inconvenience 
of attending courts and transacting their public business at Hennepin; and 
movements for a new county had been inaugurated before Bureau was erected. At 
the same session of 1836-7, when the act creating the latter was passed, an 
act "for the formation of the county of Coffee" was approved. The new county 
was to be 18 miles square, comprising nine full townships—six taken from 
Putnam, two from Knox, and one from Henry county. Benj. Mitchell and Richard 
N. Cullom, of Tazewell, and Samuel Hackleton, of Fulton, were the 
commissioners to select a site for the county seat, which, if located on land 
not before laid out as a town, should be called Ripley. Courts were to be held 
at the house of Elijah McClanahan, Sr., unless otherwise provided by the 
County Commissioners, or until public buildings should be erected. The act was 
not to take effect unless a majority of the voters in Knox and Henry counties, 
at an election on the 10th of April, 1837, should sanction it. Putnam was 
allowed no voice in the proceeding. The project failed on the vote, and Coffee 
county was no more,*

*It appears, however, on several maps of that day.

A fresh effort was made at the session of the Legislature the next winter, for 
the creation of a new county on Spoon river; but with no better success. A 
gentleman of Hennepin, Thomas Atwater, Esq., was then representing Putnam in 
the General Assembly; and it was believed that his action was shaped so as to 
defeat the wishes of his constituents in the western part of the county.

A more vigorous attempt was made in 1838, continuing through great part of the 
year. The question of a new county was made the leading issue in the canvass 
for another Representative. As early as February, a meeting was held at the 
house of James Holgate, near Wyoming, where it was resolved by a majority to 
petition the next Legislature for a new county; to protest against the 
Illinois river as a boundary on the east, which had been proposed by a portion 
of the people; and to nominate Col. Wm. H. Henderson for Representative, in 
order to the success of their plans. After adjournment, a meeting of the 
disaffected minority, some fifteen or twenty in number, was held, and 
resolutions passed to accept the river as a boundary, and to put Thos. S. 
Elston, Esq., of Bureau county, in nomination for the Legislature. Mr. Elston, 
however, does not appear to have become a candidate. Others were nominated in 
different parts of Putnam and Bureau; but only the names of Col. Henderson, of 
the Wyoming neighborhood, Ammon Moon and B. M. Hayes, of Hennepin, and Andrew 
Burns, of Magnolia, were conspicuous in the canvass. In an address to the 
electors of the district, published in the local papers, Col. Henderson stated 
that in relation to the division of Putnam county he should lay down as a 
basis for his action two lines, to wit, the line dividing ranges eight and 
nine east of the fourth principal meridian, and another which had reference to 
the formation of Marshall county. He was elected by a plurality of nearly one 
hundred over his competitors, receiving the almost unanimous vote of Spoon 
River, Lafayette, and Lacon precincts.

Notice of a petition for a new county was advertised according to law in 
October. On the 16th of January, 1839, in the House of Representatives, Col. 
Henderson presented the petition of citizens of Putnam, Henry, and Knox 
counties, praying the formation of a new county; which was referred to the 
proper Committee. In due time a bill was reported for an act to establish the 
county of Stark; which was twice read, and referred to a select Committee, who 
returned it with several amendments, which were adopted by a close vote. The 
bill was unsatisfactory to certain local interests, and was lost upon the 
final reading, as also the next day upon a reconsideration of the vote. On the 
20th of February, the Committee on Counties presented the same object in a 
different shape, under the title of "An act to dispose of the territory west 
of the Illinois river, in the county of Putnam, and for other purposes." It 
passed the House with a little difficulty, and was amended in the Senate, the 
title being changed to "An act for the formation of the county of Stark, and 
for other purposes." The amendments were concurred in by the House, and the 
Council of Revision approved the act March 2d, 1839.

Stark county contained at this time about 1,000 inhabitants, 200 of whom were 
voters. The boundaries of the county were designated as they now exist—six 
townships being taken from Putnam, and two from Knox county (provided, in the 
latter case, that a majority of voters in the two townships should give their 
consent, which they appear to have done). An election for county officers was 
ordered to be held on the first Monday in April following, at the house of 
Elijah McClanahan, Sr. The County Commissioners, when elected, were instructed 
to demand of the Treasurer of Putnam a sixth part of $9,870, received by him 
under the Internal Improvement act. The county seat, when located, should be 
called Toulon. Provision was not made for the selection of its site, however, 
until the next year, when the Legislature passed an act to that effect, 
appointing Commissioners to make the location, who chose the present site, 
where not a house then stood.

Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF PUTNAM & MARSHALL COUNTIES; Embracing an Account of the Settlement, 
Early Progress, and Formation of Bureau and Stark Counties; With an Appendix, 
Containing Notices of Old Settlers and of the Antiquities of Putnam and 
Marshall, Lists of Officers of Each County from its Organization to the 
Present Time, etc., etc.; By Henry A. Ford, Corresponding Member of the 
Chicago Historical Society; Lacon, ILL.: Published for the Author; 1860.


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