p. 247-249

WILLIAM BANDY. In taking this intelligent old gentleman by the hand, we 
extend greeting to the oldest living resident of Danville. He is now 
approaching the seventy-seventh year of his age, having been born July 
22, 1812, in Bedford County, Va. When a youth of sixteen years, he was 
brought by his foster-parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Howell, to this 
county, they arriving at the present site of Danville, Dec. 13, 1828. 
There were then not to exceed nine families in the town. Some men go 
abroad to look upon great and wonderful things, but Mr. Bandy has seen 
enough at home to satisfy the ordinary individual in the almost 
incredible change which has come over the Prairie State since his 
arrival within its limits.

  Upon leaving the Old Dominion, the little caravan of which our 
subject was a member, having amid much preparation and speculation 
bidden their friends adieu, set out with a four-horse team, the wagon 
loaded with household effects and provisions, and traveled for thirty-
six days before reaching their destination. They made their bed in 
their wagon at night, and set their table by the wayside, traveling in 
the primitive fashion of those days, before the time of railroads, or 
even stages in this region.

  Upon their arrival here the emigrants could not even rent a cabin, 
but finally succeeded in finding shelter in a log house which already 
contained two families of four persons each, and which was sixteen feet 
square, and stood upon the present site of the First National Bank. 
Thus they spent the winter, being able to do but little except to make 
preparations for the spring campaign. The nearest land office was at 
Palestine, ninety miles away, and the father, after making the journey 
thither, was not able to purchase, as the officer in charge refused to 
accept the Virginia money, which was the only currency Mr. Howell 
possessed. Finally, however, he bridged over his difficulties, and 
succeeded in entering 480 acres of land, upon which he erected four 
cabins, the principal one of which was located one mile southeast of 
the court house and constructed of rough logs, with a puncheon floor, 
two windows and a door, using greased paper instead of glass. The 
building was 16x18 feet square, and boasted of window shutters of rived 
boards. For the fireplace there was made in the logs an aperture eight 
feet wide, and built out three feet back, and this was lined with 
earth, while the chimney was built outside six feet high and covered 
with mortar. This contrivance lasted for years, and furnished 
sufficient heat for cooking purposes, as well as warming the building.

  The furniture in this humble domicile was likewise home-made, the 
bedstead being riven boards set up on wooden legs, and upon it there 
was first placed a straw tick, and then a feather tick. The table was 
constructed in a similar manner, only made higher. The family had 
brought with them two chairs, which were given to the father and 
mother, while the boys had to make stools to sit upon. The groceries 
and provisions had to be transported fifty miles from Terre Haute, and 
as may be supposed, at times the family were placed upon short rations 
in this line, although wild game being plenty, they never lacked for 
meats, and in a few years there was a surplus of cattle and swine.

  After the cabin was built, the Bandy family had to carry water 300 
yards until a well was dug. The father and sons made a contract to get 
out 10,000 black walnut rails at 25 cents per 100, and in the meantime 
carried on as rapidly as possible the cultivation of the new farm. 
William, our subject, assisted in breaking the first timber land in 
this region, and harvested some of the finest corn ever raised. There 
was, however, no market for it, and he was obliged to feed it to his 
hogs, and sell the pork for from $1 to $1.50 per 100. A day's work was 
equal to ten or twelve pounds of salt pork, or eight bushels of corn, 
or from thirty-seven and a half to fifty cents in cash, and the latter 
price could only be commanded by extra good men.

  In this way were passed the first few years of the life of our 
subject in this county. He attended the first school taught in his 
township, and remained a member of the parental household until 1831. 
About that time he engaged with the State Militia in the Black Hawk 
War, under Capt. J. Palmer and Col. I. R. Moore. They went first to 
Joliet and built a fort. Two or three of their comrades were killed by 
the Indians. Thence they proceeded to Ottawa, and subsequently our 
subject joined the United States Mounted Rangers, which comprised six 
companies. At Rock Island many were stricken down with cholera. After 
operating around Galena and Prairie-du-Chien, they finally returned and 
wintered southeast of Danville until January, when they were ordered to 
the other side of the Illinois River, but there being no need of their 
services in that region, they came back to the old camp, and remained 
until the 1st of May. They remained ready for duty and reconnoitering 
in different sections until the fall of that year, when they were 
discharged.

  Mr. Bandy now, in company with Mr. Howell, commenced operating ns a 
carpenter, and put up a house on what was called Sulphur Spring Place, 
about one mile southeast of the present courthouse. In the spring of 
1834 they built a flat boat, 75x16 feet in dimensions, and upon this 
loaded great quantities of pork, which Mr. Bandy had purchased for the 
purpose of transporting to New Orleans. The craft was propelled by hand 
power, and when arriving at the Crescent City, the “traveling salesman" 
was confronted by a cholera epidemic, and sold only enough to pay 
expenses putting the balance of his property into the hands of 
commission men. He then returned home and awaited results. One morning, 
two years later going to the post-office soon after the blowing of the 
horn by the carrier on horseback, he received a letter, stating that 
all his pork had been sold, but at very little profit, and the proceeds 
were sent him in a draft on a bank in Louisville, Ky.

   Mr. Bandy finally succeeded in getting his money, and after building 
another boat, proceeded as before, and carried on this business for 
several years, conveying wheat and pork to New Orleans, and building a 
new boat each year. He was the first man to run a boat down the 
Mississippi River, and about 1839 or 1840 abandoned the river until 
after the close of the Mexican War. He then secured a sub-contract to 
deliver horses in New Orleans, and by this time could transport by 
steamboat. The business proved quite profitable until the last trip, 
when he got as far as St. Louis, and found that the war was ended, and 
he was left with fifty horses on his hands. He finally traded them for 
a lot of worn-out Santa Fe horses, getting §17 a piece for his own to 
boot, and reserving two of his best animals. He returned home with the 
poor horses, fed them up, and sold them to the Illinois Canal Company, 
receiving therefor good prices. Later Mr. Bandy furnished a large 
proportion of the packet horses of this company, and in the meantime 
had carried on general merchandising in company with his father-in-law, 
William Murphy, they operating together five or six years. Later he 
engaged in the hardware trade and conducted the largest business of 
this kind in the county for a number of years. Finally selling out for 
a large lot of Wisconsin lands, he began dealing in real estate, and 
was at one time the owner of 1,500 acres. Mr. Bandy sold considerable 
of this land afterwards, but he and his wife own together 1,600 acres 
at the present time.

  In addition to his other enterprises, Mr. Bandy put up a large number 
of business houses and residences, and during the last years of his 
active life con fined himself largely to the business of real estate 
dealer and capitalist. About 1882 he retired, and for the last eight 
years has made his home in Danville. His first residence was on North 
street, where he had a half acre of ground, and effected some fine 
improvements. In 1830 he was appointed by the Legislature as one of the 
commissioners to make the slack water of the Vermilion River, but did 
not see it practical. Later he was appointed Marshal of the Eastern 
District of Illinois, with a bond of $40,000, but there being nothing 
particularly desirable in the office, he withdrew.

  Mr. Bandy has represented his township in the County Board of 
Supervisors two terms; he has served as President of the City Council, 
and also as Alderman. He voted with the Republican party until the 
administration of President Lincoln, and has since been a Democrat. His 
whole career has been signalized by liberality and public-spiritedness, 
he having probably contributed as much as any other man in furthering 
the interests of Danville and vicinity. A goodly portion of his capital 
is now invested in the live-stock business, which yields him handsome 
returns.

  The marriage of William Bandy and Miss Harriet J. Murphy occurred at 
the home of the bride in Edgar County, Ill., Oct. 16, 1833. Of this 
union there were born five sons and two daughters, and six of the 
children are living. Samuel J., the eldest, is a resident of Danville; 
John W. is the owner of the Bandy block, and is in the drug business; 
Bennett E. is the School Commissioner of the township, and interested 
in the Building Association; Emma, the youngest born, remains at home 
with her parents, and there is also in the household circle a foster 
child named Bella E. Bandy. Mrs. Harriet Bandy departed this life 
March, 1872. She was born in Bedford County, Va., and came with her 
parents to this county in 1818, about the time that Illinois was 
transformed from a Territory into a State.

  Mr. Bandy, in 1881, contracted a second marriage with Mrs. Deborah 
(King) Johnson. This lady was born in Kentucky, Oct. 13, 1815, and when 
quite young was taken by her parents to Indiana, they settling on the 
western line of the State, just across from Danville. She spent the 
prater part of her early life in Warren County, Ind. where she was 
married to Mr. Johnson, who died near West Lebanon, Ind., in 1853. 
Joseph King, the father of Mrs. Bandy, was a native of Virginia, and a 
farmer by occupation. He spent his last years in Missouri.

  The father of our subject was James Bandy, who was born in Virginia 
about 1790, and upon reaching man's estate was married to Miss Nancy 
Brown, also of the Old Dominion. Only two of their children lived, and 
the mother died, when William, our subject, was an infant of three 
years. A few years later he was taken into the home of the Howells. 
James Bandy finally removed to Tennessee to take care of his father. He 
was married a second time, and came to the southern part of Illinois, 
where he died in 1883, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. He 
came to Virginia after his children, both of whom were with the 
Howells, but the latter were unwilling to give them up. He became the 
owner of lands and slaves, which he gave to his children.