977.342 
 R47h 
 
 | Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart, comp. 
 — Hills Grove, Illinois: Its Early 
 History. (1925) 
 
LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 977-3^2 
 
 I&7h 
 
 Illinois Historical Survey 
 
97734-2 
 P<i7h 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/hillsgroveillinoOOrine 
 

 
 
 
 
 
Hills Grove, Illinois 
 
 Its Early History 
 
 Compiled by Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart 
 1925 
 
 S. C. Davidson, Publisher, Carthage, Illinois 
 
Copyrighted 1925 by Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart 
 All Rights Reserved. 
 
 SEP 21*25 
 
 ©CU8C8249 
 

 CONTENTS 
 
 Dedication. Mrs. Mary Decker Webb 
 
 Seminary. ___. Mrs. Julia Holton Ferris 
 
 Roswell Tyrrell Mrs. Nellie Owen Griffitts 
 
 Hugh McDonough, Senior Charles McDonough 
 
 James Fulkerson William S. Owen 
 
 John Waddill ...James M. Waddill 
 
 Charles Wesley Waddill 
 
 Mrs. Candace Waddill Gallaher 
 Isaac Clark Webb Thomas I. Webb 
 
 James King John Richard King 
 
 Isaac Holton Mrs. Julia Holton Ferris 
 
 Andrew Josephus Walker . 
 
 Mrs. Mary Walker Thompson 
 
 Charles Grandison Gilchrist 
 
 Mrs. Alice Ferris Martin 
 
 Asal Owen William S. Owen 
 
 Samuel Adams Knott Dr. Minerva Knott 
 
 Larkin Crouch Bacon Mrs. Mary Bacon Johnson 
 
 John J. Salisbury Charles T. Salisbury 
 
 Asa Decker Mrs. Mary Decker Webb 
 
 Benedict D. Reynolds 
 
 Mrs. Louisa Reynolds Window 
 
 Isaac Farwell Holton Rev. Charles S. Holton 
 
 Village of Hills Grove 
 
 Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart 
 
 A School of a Later Day Jireh Swift Berry 
 
 A Tribute T r Ruth Cornelia Foley 
 
 Page Three 
 
 
PREFACE 
 
 BELIEVING that the history of the early days 
 of Hills Grove would be interesting, we have 
 written this book. 
 
 Today the stories of pioneer life are not often 
 Heard for the hushed lips do not tell of the fire 
 place, spinning wheel and loom. Seed time and 
 harvest have a different meaning to us than it 
 had to those of the other days. Husking bees, 
 apple parings and spelling matches are not among 
 our social gatherings and this small book is sent 
 forth to preserve the traditions of the past. 
 
 Nineteen persons have written the copy for 
 our little volume, another has sent the drawing, 
 and the forefathers of each were at one time a 
 part of our little colony. The present home of 
 Mrs. Nellie Owen Griffitts is in the state of Wash- 
 ington and Dr. Minerva Knott's in California 
 where our land reaches as far toward the West 
 as it can; while Rev. Charles S. Holton lives 
 where the Atlantic washes our eastern shore. 
 
 The others, who have contributed, live near the 
 scenes where their parents and grandparents 
 settled nearly a century ago. 
 
 It could not have been written without the 
 cheering cooperation of each one who has taken a 
 part. 
 
 Thanks are extended to others who have 
 helped with their suggestions, advice and words 
 oi encouragement. The work has been made 
 pleasant by the kind words of appreciation which 
 came from many sources and especially from 
 those who have passed their three score years 
 and ten. 
 
 The compensation to all who have assisted 
 in any way will be found in the gratitude of those 
 who are interested in this little book, The Early 
 History of Hills Grove. 
 
 — Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart. 
 
 Page Four 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 The dear old Seminary 
 
 Sweet memories round thee cling; 
 
 Its rough hewn tualls and hard slab seats, 
 
 Our homage to thee we bring. 
 
 We think of Uncle Isaac Holton, 
 The man of brain and will. 
 And his good wife, Aunt Phoebe 
 Who sleep near by on the hill. 
 
 And as I pass their grass grown graves, 
 I always pause and think 
 That life is just a fleeting span, 
 We are standing on the brink. 
 
 Mrs. Mary Decker Webb. 
 
 Puge Fi\e 
 
— Drawing by Richard Gilchrist Breeden. 
 HILLS GROVE SEMINARY 1837. 
 
 Page Six 
 
THE HILLS GROVE SEMINARY 
 
 Mrs. Julia Holton Ferris. 
 
 THE School House at Hills Grove was built by 
 my father, Isaac Holton, in 1836 or 1837. It 
 was built as soon after he came to Illinois as he 
 could interest the people in the movement. It 
 was what we should call now a community house 
 or center as well as a school. It was built of logs 
 nauled in from the neighboring woods. In the 
 old times when a house or barn was to be built, 
 all the men of the surrounding country got to- 
 gether to help raise the logs in place, hence the 
 terms "house-raising' and "log-rolling." The 
 logs were hewn and notched at each end so that 
 they would fit into each other and make a firm 
 wall. On the day set, the wives planned for a big 
 dinner for their part in the undertaking. 
 
 The man who was best fitted for superin- 
 tending the work gave directions as log after log 
 was rolled into place with great shoutings. 
 
 The seminary, as we called the school build- 
 ing, was a one-story structure with a loft above, 
 20x24 feet on the ground. It faced the south 
 with the entrance door near the southeast corner. 
 I'nere was a window about the middle of the 
 south wall, another so located in the north wall 
 
 with one in each end. The door was fastened 
 merely by a peg in a hole in the door casing. In 
 the History of McDonough County published in 
 1885 it is said to have been a station of the "un- 
 derground railroad" for escaping slaves. It stood 
 in what is now George Foley's front yard. 
 
 To heat the seminary, father had a sheet iron 
 stove made in which we burned wood (as coal was 
 not yet dug from the mines of Colchester). The 
 stove stood a little east of the center of the room 
 and the wraps, caps and dinner pails were hung 
 on wooden pegs on the east wall. 
 
 The floor was of split logs hewn flat with ax 
 and adze, of the type called puncheon. Of course 
 the nails were wrought, home-made by a black- 
 smith, about two inches long and as big around 
 as a lead pencil. The roof was of split shingles, 
 now sometimes called "shakes" — split from a 
 straight grained log about thirty inches long. 
 We called them clapboards. They were held in 
 place by long poles laid on top of the clapboards 
 at the overlap. 
 
 The seats were oi logs split, with auger holes 
 bored in rounded side for the wooden legs, thus 
 
 Page Seven 
 
having the flat side up. Some legs were made 
 shorter for the smaller children's benches. Later 
 there were desks, each for two persons, with a 
 shelf below for books, slate and pencils. There 
 was a desk on a raised platform where father sat 
 as teacher, keeping rather strict discipline as I 
 well remember. This desk was used as a pulpit 
 on Sundays. 
 
 Father always used a bell to call the children 
 in morning, noon and recess. The bell he used 
 was the one he had used in his former schools, a 
 brass bell with a wooden nandle about ten inches 
 in height and for a long time after his death we 
 had it in our home. 
 
 My father taught the common branches to 
 the children of the neighborhood but he also had 
 a class of young men whom he was instructing in 
 the languages, mathematics and other subjects 
 preparing them for college. Some of these young 
 men later became prominent citizens of the state. 
 
 I do not know definitely what father received 
 for teaching but think it was a certain sum per 
 
 month for each scholar and it was probably paid 
 in labor or produce. 
 
 I well remember those happy days. We had 
 recess morning and afternoon. The children 
 coming from a distance brought their lunches in 
 dinner pails. We played the many children's 
 games: such as, black man, blind man's buff, 
 ante-over, etc. 
 
 The seminary was also used on Sunday for 
 church and Sunday school as well as for all other 
 community gatherings. The room was lighted 
 by candles in those early days and it was custom- 
 ary to announce evening meetings "at early 
 candle lighting." 
 
 Asal Fulkerson bought this building in 1877, 
 (it having been used for a dwelling for sixteen 
 years by Jacob Fousal and his family) for fifteen 
 dollars ($15.00). The floor had to be taken up 
 with a crowbar. The building was knocked apart 
 and taken to Mr. Fulkerson's place. The logs 
 were marked in successive numbers and the build- 
 ing was re-erected as it formerly stood except the 
 windows, as it was to be used as a barn. 
 
 Page Eight 
 
ROSWELL TYRRELL, THE FIRST SETTLER 
 
 Mrs. Nellie Owen Griffitts, Granddaughter. 
 
 ROSWELL TYRRELL, one of the early settlers 
 of Hills Grove, McDonough county, Illinois, 
 was the son of Abijah and Naomi Tyrrell; he was 
 born near Hartford, Connecticut, on May 23, 1798. 
 In early life he showed the peculiar traits of a 
 character which made him noted in after years; 
 he was always a steady lad attending closely to 
 his duties on the farm and in the common school 
 pursuing his studies with zeal. 
 
 In the beginning of the war of 1812, Roswell 
 was too young to enlist but later, when but 16 
 years of age, he enrolled in the army and served 
 until the close of the war.. The year following 
 when he received his discharge he returned to 
 Trumbull county, Ohio, which was then his home 
 and where he remained until the spring of 1819. 
 There being some difficulty in regard to his dis- 
 charge papers, he went on foot to Washington, 
 D. C, to have the mistake corrected and, after 
 having the matter rectified, he started west on 
 loot intending to settle in the State of Illinois. 
 He reached Madison county in the fall, remaining 
 there four years when he moved to Fulton county 
 where on the 22d day of February, 1823, near 
 i^ewistown, he was married to Miss Mary Ann 
 
 Sidwell, with whom he lived happily until death 
 called her away in May, 1828, leaving him with 
 one daughter, Elizabeth. 
 
 Mr. Tyrrell received, as a pension from the 
 U. S. government, for service in the war, a land 
 warrant for 160 acres of land, which warrant he 
 sol oanct with the proceeds in 1826, purchased a 
 quarter section on Section 29 in what is now 
 Tennessee township which he held until his death. 
 
 In the fall of 1830 he came over from Fulton 
 county, erected his cabin and returned for his 
 family; while he was gone the big snow came of 
 which so much was heard, necessitating his re- 
 maining away until the following spring when he 
 returned and effected a permanent settlement. 
 
 On the 8th of July he was again married to 
 Miss Hannah Ann Brooks. One daughter, Eglen- 
 tine, was born unto them. The second Mrs. Tyr- 
 rell died in 1852. 
 
 In April, 1849, in company with several 
 others he started on the overland journey to 
 California in search of gold, arriving at his des- 
 tination in about seven months. He endured 
 
 Page Nine 
 
many hardships such as losing his oxen and hav- 
 ing to walk a great deal of the latter part of his 
 journey, but he returned home in 1852, having 
 been quite successful after reaching California. 
 
 Mr. Tyrrell was never a member of a church 
 though the second great commandment "To love 
 thy neighbor as thyself" was carried out to the 
 letter; no man stood higher in the esteem of the 
 community and no one ever doubted his word. 
 It was said that the cabin which he erected in 
 1830 was the first home of nearly every family in 
 
 the Hills Grove settlement and no one could pre- 
 vail on him to accept one cent for rent. 
 
 Roswell Tyrrell departed this life on the 13th 
 day of April, 1872, being at that time 72 years 
 old. He left but one daughter, Mrs. Ambers G. 
 Owen to mourn his loss but her grief was shared 
 by friends, neighbors and the citizens of the 
 county in general and probably no man's death 
 was more regretted than that of Roswell Tyrrell, 
 "The Old Pioneer." 
 
 Page Ten 
 
hugh Mcdonough, senior 
 
 Charles McDonouch, Grandson. 
 
 HUGH McDONOUGH, SR., who was born in 
 Ireland in 1798, came to the vicinity of Hills 
 Grove in 1831 and lived with Roswell Tyrrell till 
 he built his cabin on section 31 in Tennessee 
 township. He came from Owen county, Ken- 
 tucky, with his wife, Mary, and six children. 
 
 Cornelius, the eldest, married Maria Dim- 
 viddy and had five children, three of whom, Sam, 
 Joseph and Catherine are deceased ; Leo lives in 
 Kansas City, Missouri, and Mary Seymore in 
 Salina, Kansas. 
 
 Hugh McDonough, Jr., came to Hills Grove 
 with his parents when eight years of age; he was 
 married in April, 1849, to Mary Moore who came 
 from Canada. Five boys came to this home: Leo, 
 who married Carrie Saunders, died in 1907; Adol- 
 phus married Sarah Morrow and died in 1902 ; 
 George died in 1923; Harvey when a baby and 
 Charles, who married Sarah Broadhead, is the 
 last of this family. 
 
 Elizabeth married William Sammons and had 
 one daughter, Mary, who is deceased. 
 
 Leo married Melvina Ross and to them were 
 
 born three children, Walter, Hugh and Katie; 
 only Hugh is living and is in Seattle, Washington. 
 
 John married Mary Goslin and there were 
 five children in their family ; Minnie died in young 
 womanhood and there are living Cornelius, who 
 married Stella Thompson; John, whose wife was 
 Nora Hankins; Lizzie Jones and Marie Bagly. 
 
 Sarah died when seventeen years of age. 
 
 Edward McDonough, born in April, 1832, was 
 the first white child born in this township; he 
 married Amanda Buzan and spent the greater 
 part of his life in Macomb. They had three 
 children: William, who married Georgia Venard, 
 Katie Lawrence and Hugh. 
 
 When the McDonoughs came to this country 
 it was a wild wilderness ; it was forty miles to the 
 nearest market, Quincy or Warsaw, and the trip 
 which required four days was made with an ox 
 team. 
 
 In the latter part of the thirties my grand- 
 father built a saw mill, which was run by water 
 power, on Crooked Creek two miles north of Hills 
 Grove and a great part of the lumber that was 
 
 Page Eleven 
 
used in the homes and other buildings of our vil- 
 lage and vicinity came from this mill. It was 
 one of the first saw mills in western Illinois, was 
 manufactured in the East, brought by boat down 
 the Ohio and up the Mississippi rivers to Warsaw 
 
 and hauled by oxen to the mill site. There is 
 lumber in some of the buildings on Charles Mc- 
 Donough's farm that was made in this mill and I 
 have one of the wrenches that was used there. 
 
 Page Twelve 
 
JAMES FULKERSON 
 
 William S. Owen, Grandson. 
 
 JAMES FULKERSON was born at Fall Creek 
 near Jonesboro in Washington county, Ten- 
 nessee, on June 21, 1797, and on February 18, 
 1818, married Elizabeth Hanna Waddill, who was 
 born near Notichucky river in East Tennessee on 
 June 21, 1799. Their home was in Washington 
 county till the fall of 1831 when they loaded their 
 big schooner wagon and started for Illinois. His 
 brother, Abram Fulkerson and wife came with 
 them also two young men, James Waddill and 
 Henry Mears. James Fulkerson's children at 
 this time were Elizabeth, Charles and Mar- 
 garet, and his wife rode horseback tne greater 
 part of the journey carrying Margaret in her lap. 
 
 The party arrived at Morgan county, Illinois, 
 where they wintered but continued their journey 
 in the spring. On April 9, 1832, they went into 
 camp on section 28 of what was afterwards 
 named Tennessee township and located on a part 
 of this section and of section 29. The place where 
 they camped and later built their cabin is marked 
 by two ancient, ragged, homely white-oak trees 
 that stand together in a field east of the railroad 
 crossing that is northwest of the W. W. Wilson 
 home. The next morning, while breakfast was 
 
 being prepared, the boy, Charles, spied a big 
 black bear reared up on its haunches watching 
 the newcomers ; the men with guns and dogs gave 
 chase, the bear was soon killed and the families 
 well supplied with meat. 
 
 The first sermon preached in this township 
 was in the Fulkerson home in the spring of 1832, 
 by Rev. Valentine Wilson, a Methodist preacher. 
 
 The settlers made nearly everything they 
 used or wore. From the wool of their sheep they 
 spun their yarn and on hand-made looms the yarn 
 was woven into blankets and cloth from which 
 their clothing was made. The fibre of the flax 
 was spun and woven into linen cloth. They made 
 tneir ropes and twine of hemp fibre. The "women 
 folks" did the most of the work of preparing the 
 nbre and wool which they spun, wove and colored, 
 as well as sewing it oy band into garments. The 
 men tanned hides and made the leather into 
 shoes. The farmer harvested his grain with 
 sickle or cradle and bound it by hand. To thresh 
 their wheat or rye, horses were shut in a pen that 
 had a solid clean dirt floor; on this floor bundles 
 of grain had been thrown and the horses kept 
 moving to tramp the grain out of the straw ; the 
 
 Page Thirteen 
 
wheat was shaken on a bed sheet on a windy day 
 so that the wind might blow the chaff away. The 
 wheat that was used for the family bread was 
 ground by a mill on Spoon river thirty or forty 
 miles away. 
 
 Rattle snakes and other poisonous serpents 
 were plentiful and did much harm biting people 
 and killing stock, Abram Fulkerson being one 
 who was bitten by a rattler which later caused 
 his death. Chills and fever also played havoc. 
 
 When the Fulkerson's came here, they 
 brought horses and cattle which in time died from 
 
 snake bites. When the Waddills, who had been 
 their neighbors in Tennessee, settled in the vicin- 
 ity they sold to James Fulkerson some of their 
 black muley cows which they brought with them 
 and the William Owen family have in their herd 
 at present descendants of this same stock. 
 
 James Fulkerson had several striking traits 
 of character; he was very intelligent, brave, in- 
 dustrious, persevering, very conscientious and re- 
 ligious. He and his wife were the parents of the 
 following children : Mrs. Elizabeth Webb, Charles 
 W., Mrs. Margaret Owen, Thomas, Mrs. Mary A. 
 Lord and Martha. 
 
 Page Fourteen 
 
JOHN WADDILL 
 
 James M. Waddill, Grandson. 
 
 JOHN WADDILL was born near Jonesboro, 
 Washington county, Tennessee, Oct. 3, 1800. 
 His parents were Charles and Margaret (King) 
 Waddill, both natives of the state of Tennessee. 
 There he was reared and married to Elizabeth 
 Roiston. 
 
 In the fall of 1833 he moved with his family 
 to McDonough county, Illinois, and entered land 
 in Tennessee and Lamoine townships and a part 
 of this land still belongs to his descendants. 
 
 After coming to this country, he killed many 
 a deer which could be found a short distance from 
 his house. Grandfather built a two story log 
 house south and east of where the Benjamin 
 Waddill house now stands and on the east side 
 of the railroad, which stood for many years after 
 his death. Under the stairway of this house was 
 
 a closet in which he would go, cloose the door and 
 loudly pray. He made shoes for his family and I 
 have a pair of home made lasts which he used. I 
 have his cane which has a deer-horn head and 
 also the bail of the bucket in which he watered 
 his horses when coming to this country ; it was 
 carried hanging under the wagon. 
 
 He died in 1877. The children were Sarah, 
 who married Thomas Sammons; Margaret, who 
 became Mrs. Marvin Cook; Rachel, married 
 Thomas Griffitts ; Charles W. ; Susan, who mar- 
 ried William Cook; John Wesley, who died in 
 1858, and Benjamin. There was one step-sister, 
 Mrs. Jane Morrow Hughes, and her brother, Sam- 
 uel Morrow and also Thornton and Richard Broad- 
 head; Samuel was a young man and Thornton 
 was seven years old when their mother married 
 John Waddill. 
 
 Charles Waddill. 
 
 CHARLES W. WADDILL was born in 1830 in 
 the same place where his father was born, 
 and came to this county when three years of age. 
 In 1860 he bought land in section 32 of Tennessee 
 
 township and lived there all his life. He attended 
 tne Hills Grove Seminary for a time. 
 
 Like all pioneers ne had many hardships. I 
 
 Page Fifteen 
 
have heard father say that when he was a child 
 they went bare foot till winter; when going for 
 tne cows on a cold, frosty morning, if they found 
 them lying down, they would drive them up and 
 stand on the ground where the cows had been 
 lying to warm their feet. 
 
 In 1860 he was married to Nancy Lawyer, 
 daughter of Michael Lawyer, one of the pioneers 
 01 Tennessee township; their married life lasted 
 forty years and in that time they never spent a 
 Sunday apart. The mothers of those times had 
 various duties unknown to the present genera- 
 tion, such as spinning tne yarn and knitting socks 
 for the family, making rag carpets and tallow 
 
 candles. I have the candle molds which my 
 mother used. 
 
 Father worked some at grading on the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, when it was 
 being ouilt through his farm. Father and moth- 
 er lived on this same farm till their death. 
 Mother died in 1900, aged 62 and father in 1917, 
 aged 87. 
 
 Their children are James M. and John W., of 
 Tennessee, and William M., of Centerville, Miss- 
 issippi. There was also a niece who lived in 
 their home, Mrs. Mina Griffitts Roberts. 
 
 Benjamin Waddill. 
 
 BENJAMIN WADDILL was born May 9, 1834, 
 and the McDonough county history of 1885 
 says "on the farm owned by V. B. Gilchrist where 
 his father's family lived for a short time after 
 coming to this county from the state of Tennes- 
 see." 
 
 In 1861 he was married to Margaret Lawyer. 
 Charles and Benjamin were brothers and married 
 sisters, lived on adjoining farms all their lives 
 and are now lying side by side in the King ceme- 
 tery. They were never apart from each other 
 for longer than a week in their lives. Together 
 
 they cut the timber from their land and broke it 
 with oxen and it was while they were breaking 
 this ground that Benjamin was bitten on the 
 thumb by a rattle snake. 
 
 Benjamin Waddill died on this farm which 
 had once been his fathers at the age of 84. His 
 wife died in February, 1903. 
 
 When he had passed the three score and ten 
 years he united with the Christian church and his 
 church work was a great pleasure to him. He 
 was interesting in his conversation, was very 
 
 Page Sixteen 
 
fond of his horses and kept a good herd of regis- 
 tered cattle. 
 
 They had four daughters: Mrs. Callie 
 
 Brickell and Mrs. Anna Vaughn are now de- 
 ceased; Mrs. Emma Flynn, who resides in Ma- 
 comb, 111. ; and Mrs. Ella Riley, of Colmar, 111. 
 
 Page Seventeen 
 
CHARLES WESLEY WADDILL 
 
 Mrs. Candace Waddill Gallaher, Granddaughter. 
 
 WESLEY WADDILL was a younger brother 
 of John Waddill and his birth on July 16, 
 1813, was at their old home place in Tennessee. 
 In 1833 the family were on their way to Illinois 
 and while camped near Beardstown witnessed 
 that wonderful meteoric display on the night of 
 the 12th of November which has made that date 
 memorable. 
 
 His father Charles Waddill, who died in 1852, 
 came with him and chose the location on section 
 32 in Tennessee township which was the home of 
 some member of the family for over eighty yeai-s. 
 
 Mr. Waddill knew the hardships of the early 
 settler but by careful saving became the owner of 
 400 acres of land. It has been said that no one 
 ever asked him for a favor and was refused. He 
 held tne respect of all who knew him. He was 
 familiarly known as Colonel Waddill because of 
 being commander of a company of riflemen which 
 met at Hills Grove for drill. He was also a physi- 
 cian and was successful in his practice. 
 
 On December 2, 1845 he was united in mar- 
 riage with Mary E., daughter of Michael and 
 
 Sarah (Parker) Lawyer; she was born in Fayette 
 county, Ohio, in 1825 and came with her parents 
 to Illinois in 1837. After the death of her hus- 
 band which occurred April 9, 1857, she remained 
 on the farm and proved herself a capable business 
 woman. She was a thoughtful friend and neigh- 
 bor and when sickness was in other homes they 
 often came for Aunt Mary (as she was generally 
 called) before sending for a doctor. When her 
 children had moved to their own homes, she lived 
 with her daughter for the remaining twenty- 
 eight years of her life. She died February 16, 
 1907, when 82 years of age. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Waddill were the parents of 
 four children: Sarah S. was born Dec. 8, 1846, 
 and died April 5, 1917; on May 9, 1867, she mar- 
 ried J. D. Tabler who still survives her. Charles 
 R., whose birth was on March 8, 1850, died Jan. 
 3, 1921 ; on Aug. 18, 1887, he was married to 
 Hannah E. Follen, who died Jan. 26, 1907. Michael 
 L. was born March 20, 1852, and died Feb. 17, 
 1890; he was married on Oct. 5, 1876, to Joe 
 Annah Hughes who is now living in California. 
 On August 27, 1855, was the birth of Thomas W., 
 and his death on May 10, 1909; he was married 
 
 Page Eighteen 
 
Oct. 24, 1878 to Louie Phillips who died April 19, 
 1921, and three years later he was again married 
 to Ida Jenkins who lives with her brother, James 
 near Tennessee. 
 
 There was also in the home of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wesley Waddill a sister, Miss Rachael, who is 
 affectionately remembered by all who knew her. 
 She was often found wherever help was needed 
 because of sickness and would stay for weeks if 
 necessary. She always refused pay for her work 
 
 because she felt it was her Christian duty to care 
 for those who were suffering. 
 
 She was often busy with her needle, her 
 spinning wheel and loom, and the beautiful quilts 
 and counterpanes which she made are much 
 prized by members of her family. 
 
 She loved her flower garden and there are to- 
 day roses and hardy phlox at the old homestead 
 that whisper each recurring spring of the life 
 which her relatives love to remember. 
 
 Page Ninete< n 
 
ISAAC CLARK WEBB 
 
 Thomas I. Webb, Son. 
 
 ISAAC WEBB was born near Rutland, Vermont, 
 Sept. 27, 1815. His parents were George W. 
 and Priscilla (Clark) Webb. He came to Illinois 
 in 1834 and taught school for a time. In August, 
 1843, he married Elizabeth King Fulkerson, 
 daughter of James and Elizabeth Fulkerson, who 
 was born near Knoxville, Tennessee, Nov. 16, 
 1820, coming with her parents to Illinois when 
 eleven years of age ; she was also a school teacher. 
 
 After their marriage, father engaged in 
 farming ; he was also a carpenter and cabinet mak- 
 er, often making coffins as there were no casket 
 factories then. These caskets were made of wal- 
 nut, smoothed, polished, varnished, put together 
 with screws and lined with plain white cambric 
 tacked onto the wood; no pretty lace or fluffy 
 white silk- lining as we have today. 
 
 Grandfather Fulkerson's family were strictly 
 religious and the circuit rider, on horse-back car- 
 rying saddle bags (which contained his clothes 
 and bible), always found a welcome at their cabin 
 home. The religious services were greatly en- 
 joyed by the settlers, some of whom came many 
 miles. Peter Cartwright often preached in this 
 home and spent the night there.. As money was 
 
 scarce they had none for the circuit-rider but re- 
 warded him with something substantial on these 
 memorable visits; sometimes it would be bacon, 
 a ham or a sack of flour; sometimes a suit of 
 clothes made of homespun by these careful house- 
 wives and colored with walnut hulls, sumac ber- 
 ries and indigo; a long tedious process that the 
 present generation know nothing about. 
 
 Some wild animals still found a hiding place 
 in the timber. I remember mother telling that 
 when she and father were coming home one night 
 from grandfather's, they heard stealthy steps 
 and knew some animal was following. When 
 they stopped to listen the steps would stop and 
 when they walked into the moonlight they saw a 
 lynx. Since they were carrying a little child they 
 hastened home even then putting a lighted candle 
 in the window which sent the intruder back to 
 the woods. There were also wildcats and wolves 
 which caused much uneasiness to the settlers. 
 
 Father's family moved to Galesburg in the 
 spring of 1867, where he died December 23, 1877, 
 and mother died October 24, 1887. Patience 
 S toner died in 1881 and John, her twin brother, 
 in 1872. Charles L. died in 1884. These are 
 
 Page Twenty 
 
buried in Hope cemetery in Galesburg. George 
 W., the oldest, born June 20, 1844, heard the call 
 for volunteers in the war of the rebellion, enlisted 
 December 12, 18G1, and was No. 4 in Co. A. of 
 Yates Sharp Shooters; was in the service at New 
 Madrid, Island No. 10, Fort Pillow, Pittsburg 
 Landing, through the long siege of Corinth and 
 in the battle of Iuka. After the hardships of the 
 siege he was sick but recovered in time to take 
 part in the battle of Corinth. He died of typhoid 
 pneumonia November 17, 1862, at the hospital in 
 Corinth and is buried in the National cemetery at 
 that place. He gave his life for his country when 
 only 18 years of age. James F. Webb, born Feb- 
 ruary 23, 1846, was a locomotive engineer for 
 over forty-three years, retiring on a pension 
 given by the Santa Fe and died November 12, 
 1910, six months later at Wichita, Kansas; he was 
 buried in Fort Madison, Iowa. 
 
 Eliza Ross Webb, born August 15, 1853, wife 
 of J. H. Drury, died in Los Angeles, California, 
 and is buried in beautiful Rosemont cemetery of 
 that city where flowers bloom and birds sing all 
 the year. Martha Lutheria, born June 18, 1858, 
 married S. Ervin and died October 15, 1911, in 
 Wichita, Kansas, and is buried there. Harry 
 Clark Webb, born August 3, 1863, died at Albu- 
 uerque, New Mexico, February 15, 1925; he was 
 tne youngest of the family. Of this large family 
 of twelve children only two are left: Mary M., of 
 Wichita, Kansas, who was the wife of George H. 
 Ervin, deceased, and Thomas I. Webb, of Hills 
 Grove. 
 
 Father, mother and ten children have crossed 
 over to the other side. "We are going down the 
 valley one by one." 
 
 Pa^e Tvventv-One 
 
REV. JAMES KING 
 
 John Richard King, Grandson. 
 
 REV. JAMES KING was born April 13, 1778, at 
 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and was the son 
 of Thomas and Elizabeth King, who sailed from 
 Dublin in 1755. He was educated at Middletown, 
 Pennsylvania, completing his common school 
 studies, together with geometry, trigonometry 
 and surveying in his 17th year. With his par- 
 ents he moved to Jonesboro, Tennessee, in 1795, 
 and prepared himself for the ministry. In 1806 
 he was placed in charge of a circuit at Chillicothe, 
 Ohio, by Dr. Tiffin, a Methodist minister, who was 
 then governor of the state of Ohio. 
 
 November 7, 1810, Rev. King was made an 
 elder by Bishop McKendree. He was married to 
 Miss Lydia Tilton at Lexington, Kentucky, while 
 he was a circuit rider. They moved to the state 
 of Tennessee where they remained more than 
 twenty years. On December 24, 1831, he was 
 admitted to the practice of medicine. He moved 
 to the vicinity of Hills Grove, McDonough county, 
 Illinois, October 18, 1835, and on November 7, 
 of the same year entered the southwest quarter 
 
 of section four, Lamoine township, for which a 
 patent was issued to him on October 10, 1840, by 
 Martin Van Buren, then president of the United 
 States. Rev. King resided on this land until 
 1846 when he removed to Prairie City and Bush- 
 nell townships. 
 
 The administrators of his estate sold the 
 land in Lamoine township to Thomas Tabler, later 
 owned by J. D. Tabler and at present by his son, 
 Herbert Tabler, and daughter, Mrs. Louise 
 Sweasy. Rev. King reserved the plot of ground 
 in the northeast corner known as the King grave 
 yard in which James King, his son, is buried. 
 Rev. and Mrs. King's family consisted of five sons 
 and two daughters: Thomas, Richard Tilton, 
 James, John W., Clark, Mrs. David Kepple, and 
 Mrs. J. F. Tannehill. 
 
 Rev. James King, one of the pioneer preach- 
 ers of Illinois, and his good wife were greatly in- 
 terested in the building up of the churches and 
 schools. 
 
 Page Twenty -Two 
 
ISAAC HOLTON 
 
 Julia Holton Ferris, Daughter. 
 
 ISAAC HOLTON was born March 13, 1790, at 
 Westminster, Vermont; was married January 
 5, 1827, to Phoebe Arnold, daughter of Seth and 
 Esther Ranney Arnold, born January 29, 1798, at 
 Westminster, Vermont. 
 
 Mr. HoRcn prepared for college at the Aca- 
 demy of Deerneld, Massachusetts, and was gradu- 
 ated from the university of Vermont at Burling- 
 ton in 1814. While a student here he saw the 
 land and naval battle at Plattsburg and on Lake 
 Champlain. Among his classmates were Con- 
 stantine Gilman, Isaac Moore and Erastus Root, 
 M. D. He read law with his brother, John, in 
 Springfield, Vermont, and later with the Hon. 
 William C. Bi*adley, of Westminster. After a 
 brief law practice he accepted a position as teach- 
 er, in which profession he was eminently success- 
 ful. He commenced teaching as principal of the 
 academy at Chester, Vermont, and successfully 
 filled the same position in South Berwick and 
 Limerick, Maine, and Bellows Falls, Vermont. 
 
 Having purchased some tracts of land called 
 "Patent Quarters" in McDonough county, Illinois, 
 he decided to emigrate to the then "Far West." 
 
 In September, 1835, he left Vermont with his 
 family, accompanied also by his brother, William, 
 wnose children, John and Isabel, came with him. 
 Isabel helped mother with the children. Mother 
 carried Charles on a pillow all the way. With a 
 one-horse wagon driven by the nephew and a two- 
 horse wagon which contained supplies for the trip 
 and the new home, they undertook the long and 
 perilous journey, lasting fourteen weeks, reaching 
 their future home December 15, 1835. They 
 found on the land an unoccupied log cabin of 
 which they took possession. It was perhaps 
 eighteen feet square, one room, a clapboard roof, 
 puncheon floor, no windows, light coming in by 
 the door when open. Fortunately that winter 
 was a very mild one. A little light came through 
 tne poorly chinked logs and mother said she could 
 see the stars through holes in the roof. After 
 the long and trying journey, they were glad to 
 find any place they could call home. 
 
 Our family at this time consisted of father, 
 mother and four children, Seth, Rebecca, John and 
 Charles. I was born the following March. Many 
 years passed before we had anything but the bare 
 
 necessities of life. 
 
 Page Twenty-Three 
 
As soon as the seminary was completed, 
 father began teaching the school, having pupils 
 from the primer to the higher branches, even 
 having a number who came from other localities. 
 He was also made postmaster, which was a great 
 convenience as heretofore we had "received our 
 mail from a neighboring town. Macomb, twelve 
 miles away was the county seat and much busi- 
 ness was done there, but Warsaw was the nearest 
 trading point. There were occasional church 
 services by ministers from nearby towns and later 
 the Methodist circuit riders came at stated times. 
 Each family took its turn in entertaining the min- 
 ister. A Congregational church was formed and 
 Sabbath school regularly sustained. 
 
 After teaching there for twelve years, a com- 
 mittee from Carthage urged father to come there 
 to teach, which he did. When we moved to Car- 
 thage, Mrs. Minerva Holton Gilchrist, a niece of 
 father's, was appointed postmistress, which office 
 she held until it was abandoned as too small to be 
 maintained. She was the first woman to hold 
 that position in this part of the country. 
 
 Father taught in Carthage one year, after 
 which failing health compelled him to give up 
 teaching altogether. He returned to his oid home 
 where he lingered in failing health for two years, 
 the end coming June 26, 1850, at 60 years of age. 
 
 My father was a very religious man, very 
 strict in his observance of the Sabbath — Sunday 
 commenced at six o'clock Saturday night. After 
 the necessary chores were done, all but the indis- 
 pensable cooking and house work was dispensed 
 with. If mail was received late Saturday even- 
 ing, it was laid away unopened until Monday 
 morning. At that time there was a great preju- 
 dice against eastern people, "Yankees," but 
 father's interest in the children and young people 
 disarmed their distrust and eventually they 
 joined with him in his plan for the betterment of 
 conditions. 
 
 I remember Indians (probably Sacs and 
 Foxes) on their way to their reservation talking 
 with father. It is supposed that a certain place 
 west of our home had been their camping ground, 
 for arrow heads, stone hatchets and other Indian 
 implements have been found there. A company 
 of young bucks rode through our yard and garden 
 helping themselves to whatever they wished. 
 Rebecca snatched me up and hid in a closet under 
 the stairs until she thought it safe to come out. 
 They were friendly Indians and as father 
 showed himself friendly, there was no more tres- 
 passing. 
 
 Our family consisted of seven children: Seth 
 Arnold, Rebecca Ranney, John Ambrose, Charles 
 
 Page Twenty-Four 
 
Augustus, Julia Esther, Anna Phoebe and Joel 
 Alexander. Anna died at the age of nine and 
 Joel at twenty. The three brothers served in the 
 Civil War. Seth and John were connected with 
 the Medical Depository at Washington, D. C. 
 After the war, Seth had a position in the Pension 
 Department at Washington for a great many 
 
 years and died at the home of his sister, Julia 
 Holton Ferris, at Carthage, Illinois, in 1908. 
 John became a dentist and died in 1873 in Arkan- 
 sas. Charles was a minister in the United Breth- 
 ern church and died in 1887 in Blackstone, Illi- 
 nois. Rebecca, who married Rev. Joseph Mason, 
 died in Godfrey, Illinois, in 1881. 
 
 Page Twenty-Five 
 
ANDREW JOSEPHUS WALKER 
 
 Mrs. Mary Walker Thompson, Daughter. 
 
 ANDREW WALKER and Elizabeth Caroline 
 Taylor were married February 16, 1837, at 
 the home of the bride's aunt, Mrs. Nancy Ann 
 Brooks, near Springfield, Hampshire county, West 
 Virginia. The large stone house in which the 
 ceremony was performed is still standing. 
 
 Mr. Walker had made a trip to Illinois in 
 1836 and entered a claim for government land, so 
 he and his bride started at once for the west. 
 They made the journey in a large, blue, boat- 
 shaped, covered wagon, with heavy tires. 
 
 When Mr. and Mrs. Walker arrived at Hills 
 Grove, they stayed at the home of "Uncle Abe 
 rulkerson' while their cabin was being built one 
 and one-fourth miles north of the seminary. 
 
 This log cabin had two doors and two win- 
 dows, the doors opening with the proverbial latch- 
 string which was pulled in at night. They moved 
 into this cabin before the doors were hung and 
 Mrs. Walker often spoke of her terror at night as 
 she listened to the wolves howl when only a 
 blanket was hung over the door for protection. 
 She thought of the pack of wolves that had 
 chased Elijah Tyrrell up a tree and of the bear 
 
 and panther some one had killed. Prairie wolves 
 used to eat crumbs and scraps around the cabin 
 door. 
 
 Gradually Mr. and Mrs. Walker added to the 
 comforts of their pioneer home. They made 
 their own furniture: chairs with hickory bark 
 seats, tables, two beds and a trundle bed. Spun 
 cotton, made into five-pound bunches, was pur- 
 chased and colored and woven into cloth from 
 which garments for the family were made. 
 
 As the children came, they all enjoyed gath- 
 ering around the large stone fireplace with its 
 chimney made from sod cut from the prairie; 
 here they cracked nuts and parched corn. 
 
 Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Walker, among them being three pairs of twins. 
 Those born in the cabin home were Mary, Wil- 
 liam, James and John (twins), Henry and Annie 
 (twins), Martha and Margaret. William, John 
 and Annie died there. 
 
 In 1852 a frame house was built in a grove 
 of hickory trees a short distance east of the cabin 
 home on section 20. This house had windows 
 with the numerous window panes found in colo- 
 
 Page Twenty-Six 
 
lonial homes, there being twelve windows with 
 twelve panes each. Here Brainard and Isabella 
 (twins) and Henrietta were born and on this spot 
 Henry lived continuously from 1852 until his 
 death ten years ago. 
 
 Mary, James, Henry, Martha and Margaret 
 attended the Hills Grove seminary and Mary, 
 who is 87 years old, is the only one living today. 
 She remembers well the great respect they all 
 had for their teachers, how the boys all removed 
 their hats or caps and made a polite bow, and the 
 girls took hold of their skirts and made a courtesy 
 when they entered the door. 
 
 First thing in the morning a chapter was 
 read from the bible and prayer was offered by the 
 teacher. Water was carried from a neighboring 
 well and it was considered a great privilege to be 
 allowed to go for water and pass it around in the 
 school. All drank from the same dipper and 
 were well and happy in those days before germs 
 were discovered. 
 
 There are still living of this family, Mrs. 
 Mary S. Thompson, of Galesburg, 111., Brainard, 
 of Kansas City, and Mrs. Isabella Glasgow, of 
 near Good Hope, 111. 
 
 Page Twenty-Seven 
 
CHARLES GRANDISON GILCHRIST 
 
 Mrs. Alice Ferris Martin, Granddaughter. 
 
 CHARLES G. GILCHRIST was born in Walpole, 
 New Hampshire on May 27, 1802. His par- 
 ents were Samuel and Betsey Allen Gilchrist, she 
 being a niece of Colonel Ethan Allen, famous for 
 his deeds in the Revolutionary War. He married 
 Miss Minerva Holton on December 31, 1829. She 
 was born October 18, 1805 at Westminster, Ver- 
 month and was a descendant of Edward Winslow 
 who came to America from England a short time 
 after the Mayflower brought the original Puritan 
 forefathers here. He had a brother who came 
 over on that ship. While Miss Holton lived in 
 her native state she taught school and received 
 as her wages one dollar per week and "boarded 
 round." 
 
 This husband and wife first settled in Sax- 
 ton's River, Vermont, remaining there until 
 1837, when they departed for Illinois by team and 
 wagon with their lamily which then consisted of 
 Helen Minerva, born uctooer 23, 1831, at Saxton's 
 River; Charles Allen born February 13, 1834, at 
 the same place and David Van Brugh who was 
 born April 11, 1836, at Westminster. Upon their 
 arrival in Illinois the family settled at Hills Grove 
 in McDonough county. Later two more children 
 
 were born: Erastus, on September 8, 1839, at 
 Hills Grove and Edward who was born on January 
 18, 1846, at Westminster, Vermont. 
 
 The first home in Illinois was a log cabin and 
 later the family lived for one year in a two-story 
 house in that community owned by a Rev. Wil- 
 liams. They then built a house called the red 
 nouse and after a few years a frame house, a part 
 of which still stands. 
 
 Erastus died at the age of eleven years, Octo- 
 ber 24, 18ol. 
 
 All of the children attended school at the 
 seminary in their early days and four of them 
 went to school at different places away from their 
 home. 
 
 Helen departed for New York City when she 
 was twelve years old in company with a Mrs. 
 Dowd. In New York she attended a school for 
 young ladies, making her home with her aunt, 
 Miriam, a sister of Mrs. Gilchrist. In her letters 
 during that time (which are still kept) she writes 
 of having seen Tom Thumb, of hearing Jennie 
 Lind sing and also tells of studying French, paint- 
 
 Page Twcnty-Eight 
 
ing, music, dancing and of her other studies. She 
 returned to her home in Illinois in 1849. The 
 piano, which her aunt had given her, was shipped 
 by sailing vessel to New Orleans, up the Mississ- 
 ippi to Warsaw and taken by wagon to the home 
 at Hills Grove. This was the first piano in Mc- 
 Donough county and people came miles to see it 
 and hear "Haste to the Wedding," "Campbells are 
 Coming," "Flow Gently Sweet Afton," and other 
 melodies which she played; il is greatly prized, 
 being now owned by her daughter, Mrs. Lelia 
 Lionberger. Later Helen attended for a time a 
 boarding school which was conducted by Miss 
 Doty. On May 23, 1850, she was married to Dr. 
 Leonard T. Ferris, of Fountain Green, Illinois; 
 she lived here the greater portion of her life, mov- 
 ing to Carthage, Illinois, after her husband's 
 death and dying there on April 8, 1912. 
 
 Charles Allen attended school in New York 
 City and also at Knox College in Galesburg, Illi- 
 nois. At the beginning of the war he enlisted in 
 the Union Army and remained in the service until 
 the end, during which time he was advanced to 
 the rank of Brigadier General. After receiving 
 his discharge he followed the profession of a civil 
 engineer, surveying many of the railroads which 
 pass through this and other parts of the country ; 
 one of them being the Chicago, Burlington & 
 
 Quincy which passes near his old home. On 
 October 1, 1857, he was married to Lucy Ellen 
 Walker. He died January 3, 1906. 
 
 Van Brugh attended school with his brother, 
 Charles, in New York City, going there when he 
 was thirteen years of age and remaining three 
 years. In 1854 when eighteen years old, he 
 joined a company starting for the gold fields of 
 California; he helped in driving a large herd of 
 sheep across country; he returned after seven 
 years to his old home at Hills Grove, where he 
 bought the farm on which he lived the remainder 
 of his life. On December 4, 1862, he was married 
 to Miss Sarah A. Robinson. He died March 8, 
 1914. 
 
 Edward M. Gilchrist attended school at Hills 
 Grove and later at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. On 
 July 16, 18G2, when sixteen years old he ran away 
 from home, enlisted in the Union Army and dur- 
 ing his service was made Captain. When in 
 camp at Vicksburg he was so ill with typhoid that 
 he was thought to be dead and his measure taken 
 for a coffin; his brother, Charles, was notified, 
 took charge of the case and nursed him back to 
 health. He was later a civil engineer and was 
 with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in various 
 capacities for thirty-one years. On December 
 25, 1866, he was married to Miss Mary J. Botts, 
 
 Page Twenty-Nine 
 
who died in 1881 ; later he married Miss Lucretia 
 Allton. Edward Gilchrist died July 16, 1910, be- 
 ing killed in a railroad accident. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Gilchrist lived at 
 Hills Grove on their farm the remainder of their 
 
 lives. 
 1874. 
 
 Mr. Gilchrist died in 1882 and his wife in 
 
 It can be truly said of them that they and 
 their children proved to be good citizens, respect- 
 ed and honored by all of their friends and ac- 
 quaintances. 
 
 Page Thirty 
 
ASAL OWEN 
 
 William S. Owen, Grandson. 
 
 DR. ASAL OWEN, an early resident of Hills 
 Grove settlement, was born near Kenton Sta- 
 tion, later called Washington, the county seat of 
 Mason county, Kentucky, on December 8, 1792. 
 His father, William Owen had a good friend named 
 Whittlesey who was a government agent to the 
 Shawnee Indians who were then on a reservation 
 in Ohio. This Whittlesey sent word to the Owen 
 family and some of their neighbors that if they 
 would come to him he would help them get some 
 extra hne land; so Asal Owen's parents and an 
 uncle, also two men named Taylor and Moody 
 loaded their families, with a few household goods, 
 into wagons and started to Ohio. They located 
 near Nettle Creek in Champaign county among 
 the Indians. Asal Owen's playmates were for 
 the most part Indian boys; he learned their lan- 
 guage and became skilled with a gun and in hunt- 
 ing and fishing. The medicine man taught him 
 the plants and barks they used for medicine and 
 the diseases they would cure. 
 
 In spite of his surroundings he craved an 
 education and determined to get one. He was 
 nearly grown when he began to study in earnest, 
 but by patient, persistent effort he gained a 
 praiseworthy measure of learning; ne studied 
 medicine with a Dr. Lester and became a physic 
 
 cian. He was an ordained Baptist preacher. He 
 was a "book worm" and the lure of writing both 
 prose and poetry, was upon him. 
 
 He was united in marriage with Miss Eliza- 
 beth Cowden Grafton, a daughter of Thomas 
 Grafton of St. Paris, Champaign county, Ohio, on 
 July 13, 1815. In 1836 or 1837 Asal Owen and 
 family moved from Ohio into Indiana and from 
 there to Illinois. They arrived at Graves Mill, 
 Hancock county, in 1840; in a short time crossed 
 over the line into the Hills Grove settlement and 
 this was their home till death claimed them. He 
 served as pastor of various Baptist societies in 
 this and adjoining counties. Wherever he lived 
 he faithfully followed his calling of preaching the 
 Gospel and doctoring sick folks. 
 
 Asal Owen and wife were the parents of the 
 following children: Mrs. Hester Ann Burdick, 
 Mrs. Louisa Tabler, Mrs. Sarah Salisbury, Bethel, 
 Ambers, William, Mrs. Lavina Fulkerson, Thom- 
 as, Mrs. Elizabeth Poling, Mrs. Nina Sidwell and 
 Asa Kenton Owen. The youngest son, who died 
 at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, two years 
 ago, was gifted with his pen and the newspaper 
 world had in him an efficient editor; he has given 
 also to the literary world several good articles 
 both prose and poetry. 
 
 Page Thirty'On* 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS KNOTT 
 
 Dr. Minerva Knott, Granddaughter. 
 
 SAMUEL KNOTT, his wife, Susan Heller Knott, 
 (granddaughter of John Heller of Revolution 
 tame) and their children have lived in the mem- 
 ory of the former residents of Hills Grove, Illi- 
 nois, for over three-fourths of a century — not on 
 account of their riches or show of vanity and 
 power, but because of honest integrity, justice to 
 their fellow man and sincere christian benevol- 
 ences. 
 
 Mr. Knott, who was familiarly known as 
 "Squire," and family lived near Hills Grove on 
 Section 30 of Tennessee township, for a number 
 of years ; he obtained the deed for this farm from 
 the government in 1840 and it was in his posses- 
 sion for twenty-five years. Later he moved to 
 Tennessee where he had a store and also served 
 as justice of the peace for that locality for many 
 terms. His judicial ability and judgment was 
 considered by many equal to that of the average 
 practicing attorney, samuel Knott was given the 
 name Adams because his mother was a direct de- 
 scendant of President John Quincy Adams. 
 
 Their children were Mary, Isaiah, Minerva, 
 Helen and Thompson; Mary, Minerva and Helen 
 
 died in young womanhood and with their mother 
 are buried in the Hills Grove cemetery. 
 
 Mary and Isaiah attended the Hills Grove 
 seminary under the beloved teacher, Isaac Hol- 
 ton. Mary taught school in that locality for sev- 
 eral years and was highly esteemed for her fine 
 mind and strong Christian character. Isaiah 
 Knott studied medicine at St. Louis, Missouri, re- 
 turning to Illinois where he practiced his profes- 
 sion for a number of years. In 1858 he was mar- 
 ried to Mary Ann Wolfe, a niece of Mrs. Honor 
 Bacon. 
 
 In 1866 they moved to Marceline, Missouri, 
 where they lived till the death of Dr. Knott, Nov- 
 ember 29, 1904, and of Mrs. Knott, Februarv 3, 
 1912. 
 
 A few years after Dr. Isaiah Knott moved to 
 Missouri, Samuel Adams Knott and son Thomp- 
 son also moved to the same state where the father 
 died September 20, 1871 ; Thompson Knott died 
 (without heirs) July 27, 1880. 
 
 Dr. Isaiah Knott and wife had nine children: 
 Susan Louise, Emma Helen and Samuel Harvey 
 
 Page Thirty-Two 
 
were born at Tennessee, Illinois, and the latter 
 two are still living at Marceline, Missouri; Susan 
 Green died September 8, 1918. The other child- 
 ren are; Dr. Minerva Knott, Glendale, California; 
 Fred Knott, of Salisbury, Missouri; Mary 
 Maughs, Marceline, Missouri; Dr. Isaiah Knott, 
 Jr., Montrose, Colorado; and Rose Edith Morrow, 
 who also lives at Marceline; Dr. Albert W. Knott 
 died at Montrose, Colorado, on January 2, 1918. 
 
 Dr. Isaiah Knott has twenty-two grandchild- 
 
 ren now entering into various business interests 
 of life. Pardon me if it seems boastful to state 
 in this age of wild reckless living, that the de- 
 scendants of Samuel Adams Knott have always 
 held positions of honor and trust and not one of 
 them has ever been under arrest for any form of 
 misdemeanor or lawlessness. 
 
 "All the day long he dealeth graciously and 
 lendeth ; and his seed is blessed." 
 
 Page Thirty-Three 
 
LARKIN CROUCH BACON 
 
 Mrs. Mary Bacon Johnson, Daughter. 
 
 LARKIN BACON, the son of Joseph Barnes and 
 Agnes (Crouch) Bacon, was born near Jones- 
 boro, Tennessee, May 2, 1818. His grandfather, 
 Isaac Bacon, was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 War, and his father, Joseph Barnes Bacon, was 
 captain of a volunteer company in the war of 1812 
 and served under General Jackson in the southern 
 campaign. Father's parents moved to Illinois in 
 1834 and were among the early settlers in the vi- 
 cinity of the town of Tennessee which was named 
 in memory of their native state. 
 
 He attended the Holton seminary at Hills 
 Grove, founded by Professor Isaac Holton. 
 
 In 1841 Mr. Bacon was married to Miss 
 Honor Durbin and bought a farm at Hills Grove 
 which was their home for the rest of their lives. 
 Their children were: Sarah Arabelle, Mary Ann, 
 Sarah Alice, George Washington, Sophronia Pal- 
 estine, Joseph Barnes, James Harrison, Harvey 
 McCutcheon, Louisa and Fannie. Those now liv- 
 ing are Mary who is Mrs. Mason M. Johnson, of 
 Carthage, Illinois; Sarah Alice, whom we know 
 
 as Mrs. Damon G. Tunnicliff, of Chicago; Dr. 
 Joseph B. Bacon, of Macomb, Illinois; James H. 
 Bacon, of San Diego, California, and Harvey M. 
 Bacon, of El Paso, Texas. Mrs. Honor Bacon 
 died in 1864, and later Mr. Bacon married Mrs. 
 Louisa (Latimer) Meek. Their children were 
 Ulara, Nancy, Larkin William and Agnes, of 
 whom Clara and Agnes survive and are living in 
 Baltimore, Maryland. 
 
 Mr. Bacon and his family were members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal Church in which for a 
 great many years he was superintendent of the 
 Sunday School, efficient and always faithful. He 
 also took great interest in educational matters. 
 He was a school trustee for over twenty-five 
 years, and used his influence to secure as teachers 
 well educated men and women who could prepare 
 their pupils to enter college, a privilege of which 
 many of the next generation availed themselves. 
 
 Mr. Bacon had one of the most carefully 
 managed farms in McDonough county, well 
 stocked and improved in every way. There he 
 died October 24, 1877. 
 
 Page ThinyFour 
 
JOHN J. SALISBURY 
 
 Charles T. Salisbury, Son. 
 
 BEFORE mother's death she gave me notes and 
 dates of our family history and, sad to relate, 
 the things that later I would have prized so 
 highly I did not then think were of any value. 
 
 My father, John J. Salisbury, IV., was of 
 English descent for his great grandfather, John 
 J. Salisbury, I., came to America with the army 
 of King George III., to quell the uprising of the 
 colonists; he quickly took in the situation, joined 
 the colonists and fought with them until the close 
 of the war. He followed the sea until he was 
 recognized by an officer of an English vessel; for 
 fear of being returned to his native country he 
 fled to the interior where he later married and to 
 them were born William and John J. Salisbury II. 
 
 The younger son, when he reached manhood, 
 pushed on toward the west where he drove an ox 
 team between trading posts; to him and his wife 
 were given two children, John J. Salisbury III., 
 and Helen. Their home was in Champaign coun- 
 ty, Ohio. 
 
 This son, who was my grandfather, was 
 killed in a clearing accident. The shock of his 
 death, coupled with the burning of their cabin 
 
 heme on the night of my father's birth (on a 
 hastily constructed bed in a wagon box under a 
 chestnut tree), caused my grandmother's death. 
 In a short time father and his brother William 
 were twice orphaned. 
 
 These boys were cared for by friends till fif- 
 teen and seventeen years old when they came 
 west with some neighbors and other orphans. 
 The company camped on St. Mary's Prairie in 
 Illinois and from that time father had a home 
 with William Barnes, who lived in this vicin- 
 ity, till his marriage in September, 1843. His 
 brother, William, went to Missouri where he was 
 overseer of a woodman's camp which finally grew 
 into the city 01 Salisbury. 
 
 My mother, daughter of Asal and Elizabeth 
 Owen, was born April 2, 1820, in Westville, Ohio, 
 and later moved witn her parents to Philometh, 
 Indiana, where she met and married William M. 
 Green, September 3, 1836, and to them was born 
 one son, William Mortimer Green, in Urbana, 
 Ohio. Her husband died in 1839 and mother re- 
 turned to her parents in Illinois. 
 
 Mrs. Green met John Salisbury at a picnic at 
 Graves' mill. A baby had been lost and a youn& 
 
 Page Thirty-Five 
 
mother was excitedly imploring everybody to find 
 her boy ; a tall young man with black hair came 
 toward the crowd from the mill race and delivered 
 a scared little toddler to an equally scared little 
 mother. They were later married in the Hills 
 Grove seminary by Rev. Capman after the morn- 
 ing sermon and the entire village repaired to Dr. 
 Owen's home for a wedding dinner. 
 
 Their children were Helen, deceased at 72; 
 Ambros L., who died at 39; Elizabeth, who lived 
 to be 69 ; William 0., 72 years of age, lives at Brit- 
 ton, Oklahoma, where he owned and worked a 
 section of land till he lost his son, Earl, and now 
 lives with his daughter, for his wife and two sons 
 have passed on ; Joseph G., 70 years old is a bach- 
 elor, also lives in the same state and has been 
 blind since 21 years of age ; Avis C., aged 68, lives 
 in Pawnee county where he won a farm when 
 Uncle Sam parceled out the land secured from the 
 Indians; Charles T., 66 years old who never wan- 
 dered far from the old home, lives in Galesburg 
 and is employed by the Chicago, Burlington & 
 Quincy Railroad Company in the office of the 
 Over, Short and Claim department; Homer died 
 when 10 years old and James C. at 28, he being 
 also a railroad man. 
 
 "When the one grand scorer comes 
 To write against our name, 
 
 He will not write how we lost or won 
 But how we played the game." 
 
 Our old Hills Grove people who shared each 
 others joys and sorrows will have nothing to fear; 
 they played the game square. 
 
 A Story. 
 
 May I relate one act of real deviltry pulled off 
 by some very likable boys of former days? No 
 names will be mentioned because some of the 
 actors in this near tragedy are still living, al- 
 though fifty summers have come and gone. An- 
 other reason for not mentioning names is because 
 Dolph Long and John Morrow made a vow that 
 the culprits would rest in jail when discovered. 
 
 Two of the McDonough boys gave a "Ring 
 around a Rosy" and " Who's got the Thimble" 
 party. When the invitations were issued, for 
 reasons best known to them, some of these lov- 
 able boys were left out (although their best girls 
 were there) and these same boys swore venge- 
 ance. 
 
 The time was June. A big round moon, giv- 
 ing off a soft mellow glow, made it an ideal night 
 for exhilarant youth to whisper sweet nothings in 
 the ear of the other fellow's girl. This party was 
 made up of John, Sadie and Josie Morrow, Dolph 
 
 Page Thirty-Six 
 
Long, Anna and Vina Barker, Doug Griffitts, 
 Nellie Owen and Dolph and George McDonough 
 and a few others.. 
 
 These young villians, to make good their oath 
 of vengeance, took two four-gallon milk pails and 
 niled them from the milk-man's best friend, the 
 pump. They hid themselves behind the hedge on 
 Charles Gilchrist's old home where the road 
 turns toward the Hills Grove burying ground. 
 West of this corner was a white oak tree (still 
 standing) and later was destined to be the saviour 
 of this party of merry-makers. 
 
 At tnis point the young culprits, waiting like 
 jungle beasts for their prey, finally heard the 
 chatter of the innocent victims and the dull thud 
 of the plodding mule team (2:30 a. m.) At the 
 moment the wagon brushed the corner, up rose 
 the ghosts of outraged affection and the deluge of 
 Noah's day was a small affair (so the girls said) 
 to the water that swept over the occupants of 
 that wagon. 
 
 Then the unexpected happened ; the team 
 started to run (so did the above named boys), 
 
 the girls screamed and the mules ran into the 
 aforesaid oak tree, broke the wagon tongue and 
 the lower order of animals stood looking into the 
 wagon at the higher order of animals. 
 
 One laughable feature was when the entire 
 village gathered around the weeping girls and 
 helpless boys and Van Gilchrist said to John, the 
 driver, "Why did you let the mules get a start?" 
 and he answered without thinking, that he could 
 not find the lines. Moral: Never drive mules un- 
 less you have a good hold on the lines. 
 
 Had this badly disarranged party taken a 
 good look at a suspect that the writer thinks was 
 one of the culprits, although in bed, they would 
 have found that he was not asleep. Furthermore, 
 if the wise one of the party had put his ear to the 
 ground he would have heard the hoof beats of a 
 high-spirited sorrel galloping toward the east, 
 veering to the right down 
 and stop at the gate of a 
 But why go further. I told 
 you some of the actors in this tragedy are still 
 living and if everything was made as clear as mud 
 there might yet be some new faces in Joliet. 
 
 across the railroad, 
 through the timber 
 certain Aunt Mary 
 
 Page Thirty-Seven 
 
ASA DECKER 
 
 Mrs. Mary Decker Webb, Daughter. 
 
 ASA DECKER was born in New York near 
 Shawangunk, Ulster county, June 3, 1819. 
 His parents were Cornelius and Gertrude Decker, 
 the father being a thrifty Hollander. Asa was 
 of a family of eleven children and when his moth- 
 er was left a widow, the children early in life were 
 foi-ced to rely on themselves. He attended school 
 a few months in winter but in summer worked 
 for neighboring farmers for very small wages. 
 
 When he reached his majority he felt the 
 longing to own some land. He had heard of the 
 fertile lands of Illinois — "the country away out 
 west," so he left home and mother, coming by 
 canal and the Great Lakes to the land of promise. 
 He stopped in Lamoine township where he 
 worked clearing the timber lands for the early 
 settlers and making rails to fence the same for 
 the magnificent price of 50 cents per hundred ; he 
 continued this work for a year when he found 
 employment as a miller at Rockeys mill, a water 
 power mill on Crooked creek southeast of where 
 Colmar now stands. The settlers would come for 
 miles on horseback with their sack of corn or 
 wheat to have it ground, and the miller for his 
 work took "toll". 
 
 Here Asa Decker was married in 1845 and 
 went to housekeeping in a one-room cabin. He 
 made a bedstead of hickory poles and their split 
 bottomed chairs of the same material were made 
 by a neighbor; their table was a box which, when 
 the frugal meal was over, was used as a cupboard ; 
 a fireplace in one corner served for heating and 
 cooking; thus they began life simply but they were 
 happy for they were working together for a home 
 of their own and here their first child, George, 
 was born. 
 
 After a few years they rented land and began 
 farming on what is now the Wybrant farm. 
 About 1851 they bought sixty acres of land from 
 a Mr. Talbot of Ohio, who had entered the land 
 from the government; do not know the price but 
 tiiey bought it on time and once came near losing 
 it; it was hard to meet the payments for prices 
 were low and money scare. They built a cabin of 
 two rooms one of which was upstairs and on one 
 never to be forgotten day the last dollar was paid 
 and it was theirs. In this cabin I was born. 
 About 1855 father bought forty adjoining acres 
 of Charles G. Gilchrist at $25.00 per acre and paid 
 for it m gold coin which was carefully hid away in 
 
 Page Thirty-Eight 
 
a tin box under the stairs. This land is now all 
 owned by Mrs. Eugene Ellis. 
 
 My brother and 1 spent our first school days 
 in the old seminary. I remember especially one 
 teacher, J. Berry, who was considered a fine in- 
 structor and also his rules were strictly obeyed. 
 
 Some of the happenings of those days are in- 
 delibly stamped on my memory. Mother would 
 sometimes allow me to spend an afternoon with 
 Aunt Phoebe Holton, visits which were greatly 
 enjoyed by me for I loved her. I can see her yet 
 as she looked then; her face with that pleasant 
 smile, her wavy hair tinged with gray, her dark 
 eyes looking into mine; she greeted me cordially 
 and made me welcome although I was a little child 
 and she an elderly lady. 
 
 In those early days there were not many lux- 
 uries and then we took our pleasure rides in a 
 wagon sitting on split bottom chairs ; I remember 
 going to Macomb in this kind of conveyance to 
 hear Lincoln speak, of seeing the crowd and the 
 two clubs marching: "The Hickory Club" whose 
 suits were of blue and white striped shirting, 
 carrying hickory clubs, and "The Wide Awakes" 
 who carried lighted torches. 
 
 Mother died in 1868 and father in 1876. 
 They, with many others whom we loved, rest in 
 the Hills Grove cemetery. There are now living 
 of this family, Mary, wife of T. I. Webb, and 
 Retta, Honor having died in 1914 and George in 
 1919. 
 
 Page Thirty-Nine 
 
BENEDICT D. REYNOLDS 
 
 Mrs. Louisa Reynolds Window, Daughter. 
 
 "How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood 
 When fond recollection presents them to view." 
 
 THE old log school house with its high narrow 
 benches, its shady playground and our won- 
 derful Snake-den hollow where wild flowers and 
 ferns grew in abundance; the playhouses were 
 adorned with bright bits of ware ; happy the little 
 girl who could claim for her friend a boy who 
 would carry boards and bricks to build a cupboard 
 tor those handsome dishes made valuable by 
 enchantment and glamour. 
 
 The names we loved to hear have been carved 
 for many a year on granite. I can recall very 
 lew who are now among us of that long line that 
 "toed the mark" when the spelling class was 
 called. At the teachers word, "Attention," each 
 boy made a stiff little bow bending his neck and 
 knee, each girl dropped a courtesy and then came 
 the ordeal; from Webster's blue backed spelling 
 book were pronounced such words as cin-na-mon, 
 et-y-mon, etc.; lucky the child who could spell and 
 pronounce each syllable and many of us could re- 
 cite the whole column without prompting and, oh, 
 the pride with which one would step above those 
 who forgot. 
 
 Page Forty 
 
 My school days in the log seminary were 
 after Mr. Holton's death when it was used as a 
 district school building. But even at a tender 
 age life could not be all smiles for the best teach- 
 ers were intent on keeping good order. An edict 
 had gone forth that we must not whisper; on one 
 fateful day (it must have been an "unlucky Fri- 
 day"), turning in my seat I asked Mary Bacon 
 "what is Con-stan-ti-no-ple ?" and then I received 
 my first humiliation for I was punished. 
 
 My parents with all the neighbors worshiped 
 in this same log house. My father was said to be 
 the best dressed man in the house ; his Sunday 
 suit of jean was made from the wool he sheared 
 from his own sheep; my mother spun it into 
 yarn, colored and wove it, cut and fitted the suit 
 and sewed it by hand ; yet she had time for many 
 little neighborly attentions her descendants of the 
 present generation cannot compass. 
 
 Both my parents were well educated for that 
 time; my mother had taught school, my father 
 nad traveled ; when fourteen years of age he went 
 to sea and his first cruise was through the Medi- 
 terranean across the Pacific, around Cape Horn 
 and ended at Baltimore after three years; this 
 
ship, Delaware, was the largest in the navy. 
 For twenty years he was on the Mississippi, Mis- 
 souri and Illinois rivers, being at one time mate 
 of the Lady of Lyons. On one trip he landed at 
 Beardstown from where he walked across country 
 to Carthage. 
 
 My mother was Amelia Thompson. She came 
 with her parents from Hopkinsville, Kentucky to 
 Carthage, Illinois, in the early forties, making the 
 entire trip on horse back. 
 
 A few years later, her little niece, Margaret 
 Eliza Thompson, lost her mother by death and 
 became a loved member of our family for several 
 years. She now lives in Passagrill, Florida, the 
 widow of the late Dr. James R. Paine. She went 
 to school at Hills Grove and has a clear picture in 
 her mind of the house, the seat she sat in and 
 many of the boys and girls. 
 
 Page Forty One 
 
ISAAC FARWELL HOLTON 
 
 Rev. Charles S. Holton, Son. 
 
 FARWELL HOLTON was born August 30, 
 1812, in Westminster, Vermont, being the 
 tenth 01 the twelve children of William and Olive 
 (Rockwood) Holton. Whatever may have been 
 the characteristics of the other members of his 
 family, it is very evident that he was never des- 
 tined for a farmer. Chafing under its restraints 
 as a boy, when he came to young manhood he fol- 
 lowed nis yearning for knowledge and won out 
 because of the fact that his father's youngest 
 brother, Isaac, had already been seized with this 
 consuming desire, not alone to learn but to impart 
 learning to others. 
 
 Uncle Isaac took up the art of teaching as a 
 form of Christian service. My father attended 
 his school in South Berwick, Maine, and complet- 
 ing his preparation at Amherst Academy, Mass- 
 achusetts, he entered Amherst College and gradu- 
 ated in 1836. In the previous year there had 
 been quite a family emigration from Westminster 
 to western Illinois in which grandfather and his 
 children joined and Uncle Isaac went out under a 
 true missionary call. They settled in Hills Grove. 
 
 Father had been captivated by his study of 
 chemistry and botany ; he had also felt the call of 
 
 Page Forty-Two 
 
 the ministry. While continuing his studies for 
 the latter calling he never ceased to keep abreast 
 of the developing sciences and after graduating 
 from Union Theological Seminary in 1839, he be- 
 came a teacher in the Mission Institute near 
 Quincy, Illinois. 
 
 Numerous stories have been told of his tire- 
 less searchings for botanical specimens wherever 
 he might be — how on one of the trips he made 
 from the new western home back to his studies in 
 the east, they were making part of the journey 
 by steamboat, and whenever the boat tied up, 
 father was off over the hills looking for speci- 
 mens ; as the time came for resuming the journey 
 the captain would cry out, "Ring the bell for 'The 
 Weed Man' " and in a few moments he would be 
 seen loping through the fields to the landing with 
 his hands full of the specimens he had gathered. 
 
 Concluding his botanical researches in the 
 Mississippi valley, he accepted a professorship in 
 the College of Pharmacy in New York City. 
 During this time he also gave lectures on botany 
 in the schools for young ladies in New York, and 
 occasionally assisted in lecturing on chemistry 
 ana botany at Princeton College and the College 
 
of Physicians and Surgeons of the State Univer- 
 sity of New York. Subsequently he taught these 
 sciences in Middlebury College, Vt., and completed 
 his study of botany with a trip to South America 
 where he spent nearly two years studying the 
 flora and fauna of that country, later publishing a 
 volume entitled "Twenty Months of the Andes." 
 Through a deep friendship with Professors Asa 
 Gray of Harvard and John Torrey of the College 
 of Physicians and Surgeons, (the leading botan- 
 ists of the country), many specimens from South 
 America found a place in their herbariums while 
 the exchange made my father's herbarium "sec- 
 ond to none" as Prof. Gray declared. It is now 
 the possession of Amherst College.. 
 
 While teaching in Middlebury in 1857 Prof. 
 Holton nlled the pulpit of the Congregational 
 Church of Cornwall where he met the daughter 
 01 Deacon Dan Warner, whom he married April 
 26, 1858. They movea to Lawrence, McHenry 
 county, Illinois, where father was pastor of the 
 Presbyterian Church. Here Clara was born. I 
 have an idea he was too interested in his beloved 
 sciences to give much time to the tasks of parish 
 work for in three years, during which time Nancy 
 Gates was born in Cornwall, Vt. The family 
 settled in Hills Grove, where he attempted to 
 carry on a small farm and pursue his studies, for 
 
 father had done a great deal of writing ever since 
 his college days. 
 
 Farming was not his forte, that is certain! 
 When he went to the fields, he usually took a book 
 along and the fence corners made a convenient 
 resting place (so I have been told). Tne sur- 
 roundings were not like those of their beautiful 
 Vermont home nor were the cries of coyotes at 
 night conducive to mother's happiness. 
 
 Soon after Edward Pay son was born in '64, 
 father was called to aid in editing the "Boston 
 Recorder" and the family moved to Medford, a 
 suburb of Boston. Father became a bosom 
 friend of Charles Sumner whose name he gave to 
 his next son who was born in '66; I later had the 
 pleasure of sitting on his lap and hearing him tell 
 stories. 
 
 The family moved to Everett where father 
 became one of its most honored citizens and 
 where he lived until his death, January 25, 1874. 
 Mother bravely took up the task of educating her 
 children; Clara graduating at 15 began to teach 
 in Vermont, because of her youth, but later 
 taught in Everett tiil her death in 1879. Nina 
 went right into her sister's position and taught 
 till both boys were prepared for college, Edward 
 graduating from Amherst in '87, and Charles two 
 years later. Nina then continued studying the 
 
 Pare Forty-Three 
 
sciences her father had loved, spending a year in 
 Zurich, Switzerland, and graduating from Chi- 
 cago University in 1896. After teaching a while 
 she entered a governmental position in 1902 in 
 the Bureau of Plant Industry of the Agricultural 
 Department in Washington, D. C, as a microscop- 
 ist and doing translating and abstracting till her 
 aeatn in May, 1908. 
 
 Edward graduated from Yale Divinity School 
 and went as a Missionary to Madura Mission in 
 Southern India, where he has since been working. 
 Charles studied in Yale, graduated from Andover, 
 and is at present pastor of the First Congrega- 
 tional Church in Newoury where he has been for 
 twenty-eight years. 
 
 Page Fortv-Four 
 
VILLAGE OF HILLS GROVE 
 
 Mrs. Elva Gilchrist Rinehart. 
 
 THE name Hills Grove was suggested by Mrs. 
 Esther Hill, a sister of Mrs. Isaac Holton, 
 whose husband took up some land near here. It 
 was laid out by Samuel A. Hunt, February 22, 
 1844, and deeded April 3 of the same year to 
 Town Plat of Hills Grove by Isaac Holton. 
 
 There are ten blocks in the plat, three on the 
 east side of Main Street, which is now a public 
 road, and seven, one of which is the public square, 
 on the west. There were at one time in and ad- 
 joining the corporate village thirteen homes, a 
 blacksmith shop, two stores and a post office 
 which was kept in a private home. 
 
 Isaac Webb lived north of where the church 
 now stands and afterwards in the same house 
 lived a Mr. Sullivan and later John Newkirk who 
 was his son-in-law. A little northeast of the 
 present school building was a log house where 
 Squire Nichols lived and then Mr. Towe and Mr. 
 George Decker and wife began housekeeping here. 
 
 East of the above named school house but 
 on the same block was the home where Harriet 
 Macklin took the vows which made her Mrs. Wil- 
 liam Potter. West of this same school building 
 
 was a one-room cabin where Tom Richardson 
 lived. On Hickory street, which was south of the 
 school lot was a log building where Jacob Fousal 
 lived and a two-story frame occupied by William 
 Odell and which he sold in 1855 to Allen Porter 
 for $305.00. On the corner of Hickory and Main 
 was a busy blacksmith shop run by James Peck, 
 Mr. Pierce and later by Mr. Duncan. 
 
 On the corner of Hill and Main was a one and 
 one-half story frame nouse built by John C. Co- 
 nant, a cabinet maker; in the same house later 
 lived Mr. Starboard who had a cooper shop back 
 of his home. Those of a later generation will re- 
 member it as the home of the John Salisbury 
 family. 
 
 On the corner of Prairie and Main was the 
 two-story frame built by Rev. D. R. Williams and 
 was then an unusually fine home; Mrs. Julia 
 Ferris remembers how she thought it would be a 
 wonderful experience to look out of those up- 
 stairs windows. During the gold excitement he 
 went to California and returned in 1852 because 
 of failing health, but before he reached his home, 
 he grew worse and died at Pennington's Point. 
 
 Page Forty»Five 
 
He owned the first melodeon in the county which 
 now belongs to Miss Anna Owen. 
 
 Fronting the square, which was south of 
 Prairie and west of Main streets, were the two 
 stores owned respectively by William Odell and 
 Hampton Wade. Near the south side of the 
 square was the home of Mrs. Parker whose yard 
 was a flower garden and in a house north of where 
 his father lived was the home of John Holton and 
 later of Malcolm Stewart. There was also the 
 Isaac Holton home and that of Charles Gilchrist 
 which was located on Adams street and the house 
 near the three walnut trees where Farwell Holton 
 lived. 
 
 The old time hospitality is shown by this 
 clipping from a diary written in 1842: "We all 
 went to Church this morning and twenty-five ate 
 dinner with us." 
 
 One cannot but think how independent each 
 settlement could be ; tney had their own teachers, 
 preacher, doctor, nurses, dentist and legal advis- 
 er; they made their own lumber, had their own 
 cooper and cabinet maker and on their farms they 
 grew practically all that they needed. 
 
 Of this little village, there stands today a 
 church, schoolhouse and two dwellings. 
 
 Page Forty-Six 
 
Pap.e Forty-Seven 
 
A SCHOOL OF A LATER DAY 
 
 Jireh Swift Berry. 
 
 SINCE learning of the book which is being writ- 
 ten about the early days of Hills Grove, I 
 have been coaxing my memory to tell me of the 
 boys and girls who were my pupils when I taught 
 there in the fifties, but am not meeting with much 
 success. To go back seventy years and recall 
 those who were starting in their life work is 
 something of an undertaking, nevertheless I re- 
 member some of them. 
 
 I boarded with Hugh and Mary McDonough 
 and from them learned the history of Snake Den 
 nollow. Their son, Leo, was one of the pupils. 
 
 I remember Henry Walker and his younger 
 sisters; Mary, Sarah and George Bacon; Lou 
 Reynolds, Ed Gilchrist, Asal Fulkerson and 
 George and Mary Decker. There were also Lizzie 
 and Maggie Wybrant, Ira and James Groves, 
 Sarah and Charles Waddill, Guinn and Sam Port- 
 
 er and I think there were two from the Neal Mc- 
 Donough family. I knew the Salisbury, Webb 
 and Owen families and there were many others 
 whose children attended the school. 
 
 The old log school house, which had once 
 been the Seminary, was crowded to its utmost ca- 
 pacity. School houses in those days were not 
 very near each other and the parents of that 
 neighborhood were anxious to give their children 
 all the advantages of an education that was pos- 
 sible. 
 
 I recall, without any effort however, the 
 agreeable associations which I had with the 
 people of Hills Grove and I remember with pleas- 
 ure the friends which I made while there. 
 
 My home is in Browning, Illinois, and I will 
 be one hundred and three years old in October. 
 
 Page porty-Eight 
 
A TRIBUTE 
 
 As the years have quickly passed, 
 Many changes have taken place 
 But memories long will last 
 And those we love to trace. 
 
 In a building of logs he started 
 His useful work to do 
 And the knowledge that he imparted 
 Has lived the long years through. 
 
 Like the oak by the side of the road 
 Isaac Holton's good work has grown; 
 A tiny seed at first he sowed 
 But with help it grew and was known. 
 
 And our friends we also remember 
 The joys and sorrows we shared, 
 The quarrels and tears we surrender 
 But our friendships cannot be spared. 
 
 We loved this dear, kind man 
 With his spirit so noble and true; 
 And the tree of good he began 
 Shows its growth by the things we do. 
 
 A tribute to each one we pay. 
 And we know that his life has been 
 Helpful and true in many a ivay 
 And a guide for other men. 
 
 Ruth Cornelia Foley. 
 
 Page Forty-Nine 
 

 
 

 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 977 342R47H C001 
 
 HILLS GROVE. ILLINOIS CARTHAGE 
 
 3 0112 025390995 
 
 II