a I E> RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N I VERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 977.353 
 
 UliAols
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OIF 
 
 COOm. 
 
 GIVING A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF ITS SETTLE- 
 MENT, ORGANIZATION, PHYSICAL 
 CHARACTERISTICS AND 
 PROGRESS. 
 
 IB3T 
 
 B. J. RADFOKD. 
 
 PEORIA, ILLS. 
 W. T. DOWDALL, PRINTER, 117 MAIJST STREET. 
 
 18V7.
 
 ( 7 7, 5S 5 
 
 (I i 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 DESCRIPTION, NATURAL HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLERS. . . 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY 22 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE 29 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 AGRICULTURE AND FARM PRODUCTS 40 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 MANUFACTURES, TRADE, &c 50 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 POLITICS, LAW AND MEDICINE 67 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS MATTERS. . . 67
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This brief account of the settlements and early life 
 in Wood ford County has been prepared under the 
 auspices of the Old Settlers' Association. The infor- 
 mation has been derived from many sources, and the 
 accounts have sometimes been vague and contradictory, 
 but it is believed that what is here recorded is reliable. 
 There is no doubt much left out of this work which 
 ought to be included, but it has been impossible to 
 come at it. It would be well for all those who are in 
 possession of facts and incidents, which would be useful 
 in a revision of this history, to send them to Col. B. D. 
 Meek, Chairman of the Committee for this work. Com- 
 pleteness and accuracy require that such a revision 
 should be made as soon as it can be done thoroughly. 
 
 As before said, many have aided in gathering up 
 what is here included, but especial mention should be 
 made of Dr. Jas. S. Whitmire, John Clark, Dr. J. G. 
 Zeller, Dr. A. Reynolds, Aaron Richardson, Peter Yance, 
 Winton Carlock, John Summers, Jas. G. Bayneand Col. 
 B. D. Meek, who have diligently assisted in hunting up 
 facts and incidents. 
 
 May these pases call up pleasant reminiscences in the 
 minds of the old, and stimulate the young to usefulness 
 by their examples and their great successes in the face 
 of difficulties and hardships. 
 
 B. J. EADFORD. 
 EUKEKA, ILL., April 14, 1877.
 
 HISTORY OF 
 WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DESCRIPTION, NATURAL HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLERS. 
 
 Woodford County is ,very irregular in its boundaries, 
 and the calculation of its area is somewhat difficult, but 
 it contains not far from five hundred and fifty square 
 miles. I have, with much care, calculated the geomet- 
 ric center of the county and find it to be somewhere in 
 the northeast quarter of section twenty-two, in Roanoke 
 township. The greater part of the county is prairie, 
 the timber being confined chiefly to the bluffs and bot- 
 toms along water-courses. Much of the original timber 
 has been cut away, but compensation has partly been 
 made for this by the planting of groves and orchards 
 upon the prairies. The favorite trees for these groves 
 are black walnut and maple. Black locust promised 
 much at one time, because of its rapid growth and ex- 
 cellent and durable wood, but about twenty years* ago 
 it was attacked by borers so vigorously that all the
 
 8 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 groves have been destroyed or rendered useless. The 
 timber is found chiefly in the southern and western 
 portions, along the Mackinaw and Illinois rivers and 
 their tributaries. The other portions of the county are 
 not only destitute of forests, but also of any considera- 
 ble streams. Water for stock is usually obtained from 
 wells, and can generally be secured at a depth varying 
 from twenty to fifty feet, and for a few years past 
 pumping by wind power has been becoming more and 
 more general. Many valuable sorts of timber are 
 natives of the county. Black, white, red and burr oaks 
 are common ; some black hickory and considerable 
 white hickory. The black walnut and the wild cherry 
 furnish very beautiful cabinet wood, which for beauty 
 of marking, and fineness and richness of luster are ex- 
 celled by nothing I have ever seen in our modern 
 furniture warehouses ; the sugar maple also furnishes a 
 hard, durable and beautiful cabinet wood, as well as the 
 ash, both of which are found in our forests. Red and 
 white elms are common. Among other varieties may 
 be mentioned cotton-wood, sycamore, mulberry, red-bud, 
 crab-apple, plum, willow, hack-berry, sumac, hazel, 
 dog-wood, elder, prickly-ash, &c. But the greater part 
 of ihe county is prairie, arid when first settled was des- 
 titute of trees or shrubs, and was entirely occupied by 
 herbaceous vegetation. The chief part of this was grass, 
 of a coarse sort, which went under the common names 
 of prairie grass and slough grass. These were of vig- 
 orous growths, the culms, or flowering stalks, sometimes 
 growing as high as seven or eight feet, and afforded ex- 
 cellent pasturage. There can be but little doubt that
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 9 
 
 these natural pastures in Woodford County supported 
 herds of bison, deer and other animals for centuries, nor 
 are evidences lacking that our vast western prairies 
 were inhabited by civilized people long before history 
 began to be written. The grasses which grew in the 
 sloughs and along the margins of the ponds were 
 coarser and taller than those which grew on the up- 
 lands, and both localities were occupied by several 
 varieties. There is very little of these native grasses 
 now to be found in the county, and it is probable that 
 the soil, having been cultivated, is rendered unfit for 
 their production. The broad prairies were thickly inter- 
 spersed with bright flowers, nodding their gay heads in 
 the wind, as far as the eye could reach. Chief among 
 these were those of the helianthus, or sunflower family. 
 Flowers of this sort had a dark central head, surrounded 
 by spreading rays of yellow or purple leaves, and were 
 of many varieties. The ponds and sloughs were gor- 
 geous with beautiful bright colored lilies, and many 
 other species of wild flowers aided in ornamenting 
 nature's broad flower garden the prairies. 
 
 The burning of the prairies in the fall exposed the 
 farms of the early settlers to much danger, and some- 
 times rendered travel dangerous if the wind was high. 
 The tall, rank grass would be killed by the sharp frosts , 
 and in a few days become dry and combustible. In a 
 strong wind a billow of fire would sweep over the plain 
 and lick up this grass with the speed of a race horse 
 Those who crossed wide prairies at such times of year 
 usually carried some means of lighting a fire, and in 
 case of need the grass was fired and a space soon
 
 10 
 
 HISTORY OP WOODFORD COTNTY. 
 
 
 burnt, which afforded a safe retreat from the approach- 
 ing danger. Matches would have been a great boon, but 
 there were no matches in those days. The early settlers 
 were compelled to keep fire, or depend upon the some- 
 what uncertain supply of flint and tow. It was some- 
 times found necessary to send to a neighbor's and 
 " borrow fire." The farmers would usually select some 
 calm day, as soon as the grass would burn, and fire a 
 strip about their fields, on the sides from which danger 
 might be apprehended. Several neighbors would collect 
 together, and all except one would be well armed with 
 bundles of brush. The unarmed one would kindle a fire 
 a few yards from the fence, and by means of brands 
 conduct it in a line parallel with the fence. The men 
 and boys with the brashes would arrange themselves 
 close on either side of the fire line, and as soon as the 
 burnt strip was wide enough to preclude all danger of 
 being crossed by a fire coming in from the prairie, would 
 whip out the flames, thus leaving a broad, black strip 
 around the field. If this precaution was neglected the 
 settler often paid pretty dearly for his carelessness. 
 Many among us still remember the midnight alarm of 
 the prairie on fire, and being hurried out of a comforta- 
 ble nap to fight the destroying fiend. A praire-fire at 
 night is a beautiful and fearful sight, and the roar of 
 the flames may sometimes be heard for several miles- 
 These are things of the past now, but it is well for our 
 children to know the dangers and hardships through 
 which their present comforts and conveniences have 
 been brought to them. 
 
 The origin of our prairies has long been a puzzle and 
 a subject for investigation and controversy among scien-
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 11 
 
 tific men. It is evident that for ages the forests and 
 prairies have lived neighborly, side by side, without 
 either encroaching upon the other's territory. Why 
 such different soils and products so close together? 
 Many theories have been advanced to account for the 
 treeless and shrubless character of the prairies. It 
 has been asserted that the soil was too dry for trees ; 
 that it was too wet; that there was too much acid; that 
 the prairies are the product of annual fires, which only 
 permitted the growth of perennial grasses and annual 
 herbs Nearly all are agreed, however, that our prai- 
 ries were once the bottoms of extensive lakes and rivers, 
 of which our ponds and sloughs are the lingering rem- 
 nants, growing smaller and smaller as the country is 
 raised. In Minnesota, among the numberless lakes, we 
 perhaps see prairies in state of preparation, and much 
 the same condition of affairs as prevailed in Illinois 
 hundreds of years ago. This theory seems to carry 
 with it the conclusion that the great lakes to the north 
 and northeast of us once extended over a great portion 
 of Illinois, and that VVoodford County was a part of the 
 bed of Lake Michigan. The theory also predicts that 
 in time, if left to natural agencies, these irreat lake sur- 
 faces will become prairies, and a few little ponds and 
 muddy sloughs their only vestiges. Before dismissing 
 the subject of the prairies, it may be said that, evidently, 
 the best preparation of prairie land for the planting of 
 trees, is to break the clay subsoil by digging through it 
 and filling in with some loose material that shall afford 
 some sort of an artificial drainage. 
 
 Woodford County, geologically, is situated near the 
 northern limit of the great Illinois and Missouri coal 
 fields, which extend into Indiana, Kentucky, Kansas, 
 Arkansas, Iowa and Minnesota. It reaches as far south
 
 12 HlSTOtJY OF WOOBFORD COUNTY. 
 
 as northern Texas, and probably covers an area of 
 100,000 square miles. Near the Illinois river the coal 
 comes nearly to the surface, but on the prairies the prof- 
 itable veins are from 300 to 600 feet from the surface, 
 requiring deep shaft mining. Two attempts at mining 
 of this character have been made, one at Minonk, and 
 one near Metamora. The shaft near Metamora was 
 sunk to the depth of 130 feet. At a little over fifty feet 
 a seam of coal was found about one foot thick. At 
 about 125 feet a three inch seam was met with, and 
 at the bottoai a seam about three feet and a 
 half in thickness. Only about one-third of the thick- 
 ness, in the middle, of this seam is good coal. A 
 boding was made from the bottom of the shaft about 80 
 feet and no considerable coal found. The shaft at Mi- 
 nonk is nearly 600 feet in depth, and coal occurs as fol- 
 lows : at 325 feet a three-foot seam, which is evidently 
 the one met with at the bottom of the shaft near Meta- 
 mora. A very thin seam at about 330 feet, while at the 
 bottom is found a seam of excellent coal nearly four 
 feet in thickness. The uplands of the county have, eve- 
 rywhere, just beneath the soil, beds of diluvium or drift 
 which will average almost a hundred feet in thickness. 
 This is a most singular deposit and extends almost to the 
 southern limits of the state. It is composed chiefly of 
 yellow and blue clay with some sand and gravel. Imbed- 
 bedded in this material are rocks and boulders of all sizes 
 and shapes, which have evidently been brought from a 
 distance. It also abounds in fossils of plants and ani- 
 mals unlike anything now exisiting in this region. This 
 singular mixture has been a great puzzle to geologists. It 
 was first called diluvium because it was believed to have 
 been caused by Noah's deluge ; but this supposition 
 was finally abandoned. It is now generally believed by
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 13 
 
 geologists that all this material was brought, or drifted, 
 here from some place further north. It is, therefore, now 
 called " drift." The clays are sometimes called boulder 
 clay because of the rocks distributed irregularly 
 throughout them. The reasons cannot here be enumer- 
 ated, but there are many for believing that this deposit 
 was made by a great sea of ice, or glacier, which grad- 
 ually crept down from the north, bringing with it these 
 vast amounts of matter, and extending about as far 
 south as the Ohio river. 
 
 The first comers found many sorts of animals here, 
 which are at present nearly extinct. Among birds, 
 there were quails, prairie hens and wild turkeys, all in 
 great abundance, and all excellent for food. Many 
 sorts of the feathered songsters are still with us, but 
 their numbers have been too .much thinned by useless 
 and shameful warfare. Among our wisest laws are 
 those for the protection of the birds. Snakes were 
 plentiful, especially on the prairies, the largest species 
 sometimes attaining the length of eight or ten feet. 
 The most dreaded was the venomous rattlesnake, which 
 was very common, but now, happily, is rarely seen. 
 Stinging flies and mosquitoes were produced in count- 
 less numbers by the sloughs arid ponds, and at certain 
 seasons of the year ware a vexatious pest to man and 
 beast. A large bloodthirsty fellow, known as the 
 "Green-head fly," drove an unceasing business during 
 the latter half of the summer, and was an object espec- 
 ially dreaded by horses and cattle. They are about ex- 
 tinct now. Prairie wolves were numerous and familiar 
 neighbors. They gave the early farmer nocturnal con-
 
 14 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 certs, and paid themselves from his sheep pen, or Ids 
 tender piglings. They seemed to be born dyspeptics 
 and were always hungry. They would prowl in gangs, 
 and it was unsafe for a man to be among them alone at 
 night. One of the favorite methods of exterminating 
 them was the circle hunt, and was conducted as follows : 
 Upon a set day the settlers would gather at an appointed 
 place on horseback ; a captain was appointed and 
 orders were given. As large a territory as practicable 
 was enclosed and the game driven towards a central 
 point, agreed upon before hand. When the game was 
 finally penned by riders near together the work of kill- 
 ing begun. The wolves which escaped through the line 
 were chased down and dispatched with clubs. Deer 
 would also be often taken in the circle. Bounties were 
 offered by the state for wolf scalps, and wolf hunting for 
 a time became profitable. Money was scarce, and it 
 was sometimes easier for the settler to get enough 
 scalps to pay his taxes than enough money. The poor 
 wolf has about succumbed to this unceasing warfare, 
 and we have seen his lank, familiar visage for almost 
 the last time. To his old neighbors and acquaintances 
 this is a matter of small regret, which argues that Canis 
 Lupus was a bad citizen. There was a few foxes and 
 many deer which afforded sport in the way of the chase. 
 Deer and fox hounds had then some excuse for exist- 
 ence, but now their occupation is gone. The groves 
 abounded in squirrels, and raccoons were common. 
 Coon hunting was chiefly prosecuted at night, and was 
 splendid sport for boys and dogs. A fight between a 
 large " coon " and the dogs was an exciting and inter-
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 15 
 
 esting spectacle. A wise old cur who knew how to kill 
 a coon, enjoyed an enviable reputation among the boys 
 and his canine associates. A good "coon dog" was an 
 important member of the family. Many an inexperi- 
 enced cur got the conceit taken out of him by a short 
 tussle with a full grown raccoon. Badgers 1 were occa- 
 sionally met with, and now and then a black bear or a 
 panther. Wild cats and skunks, and other animals 
 common to the Mississippi Valley, were here. As be- 
 fore said, most of these creatures, little and big, are 
 fast becoming extinct, and it would be useful in after- 
 time to have carefully prepared specimens of them all. 
 It should be part of the work of our public schools to 
 collect, classify, name and preserve all these objects. 
 The numbers of wild animals were greatly diminished 
 by the deep snow of the winter of 1830-1. This snow 
 began Dec. 27, 1830, and fell to the depth of three or 
 four feet, and lay on the ground until vast numbers of 
 animals perished. 
 
 There were a few Indians in the county at the time of 
 settlement by the whites, but the two races did not come 
 into conflict to any extent. The advancing wave of 
 civilization seemed to follow up the retreating wave of 
 barbarism. The first settlers encountered a few Indi- 
 ans, chiefly Pottawotomies, and in 1832 were involved 
 to some extent in the Black Hawk war, but the active 
 operations were further north than Woodford County. 
 A number of the early settlers were engaged in this 
 war, some of whom are still living among us. This war 
 is remarkable for the fact that both Abraham Lincoln 
 and Jefferson Davis were engaged against Black Hawk.
 
 16 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 The poor Sac Chief little thought that he was waging 
 war with palefaces who would become so much greater 
 chieftains than himself. 
 
 The first white man who settled in the limits of this 
 county was one JBleylock, who was found in the river 
 bottom, near Spring Bay, as early as 1819. A few 
 years after this, pioneers began to make settlements 
 here and there, but the number did not increase very 
 rapidly till about 1835. I have endeavored to collect 
 the names of settlers in the various neighborhoods up 
 to this date, and the result will be found in the following 
 table. It includes all those who located in the county 
 previous to 1836, so far as could be ascertained, but no 
 doubt there are some whose .names do not appear here :
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
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 HISTOKY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 
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 HISTORY OF WOODFOED COUNTY. 
 
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 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY., 
 
 For about fifteen years after their first settlement the 
 localitie-s, mentioned in the first chapter, were included 
 in the boundaries of McLean and Tazewell counties, the 
 dividing line between the tw T o running north and south 
 through the present town of Eureka. Up to this time 
 settlements had been made near the timber and along the 
 water-courses in all parts of the present territory of the 
 county, but the prairies were unoccupied. Some places 
 acquired considerable importance, in the early times, 
 w r hich are at present almost abandoned. Bowling 
 Green was a thriving village, where goods were sold, 
 and shops were established ; she also possessed her 
 share of professional men. Her streets were named in 
 honor of the then chief cities of Illinois : Chicago, 
 Peoria, Springfield, Danville and Bloomington. Ver- 
 sailles was laid out with much care. The streets at the 
 four boundaries were called, respectively, North, West, 
 South and East, whilst the intermediate ones had 'such 
 appropriate titles as Peoria, Chestnut, Bloomington, 
 Walnut, State and Locust. The settlement at Metamora 
 was called the settlement of Partridge Point. It was 
 afterward called Hanover, and finally Metamora. El- 
 Paso, Eureka, Minonk, Secor and Roanoke were un-
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 23 
 
 born, and there was little to indicate that these would 
 ever be centers of population and trade. Not many of 
 the younger portion of our people would know where to 
 locate Ross's Point or Travis's Bridge. Yet these were 
 formerly places of great note, and I rind Travis's Bridge 
 now near Mt. Zion church, in Cruger township, men- 
 tioned in the legislature of 1840 as one of the impor- 
 tant and well known places in the state. 
 
 By the year 1840 settlers had become numerous, and 
 it began to appear that new counties must be formed 
 lor the convenience of the people. Both McLean and 
 Tazewell counties were very large and many of the set- 
 tlers remote from the places of holding courts. A few 
 men about Versailles, under the leadership of Thomas 
 Bullock, Sr., made an effort in 1840 to secure th6 forma- 
 tion of a new county, with Versailles as the seat of 
 justice. A petition to the legislature was prepared and 
 circulated. There was a movement at Washington 
 about the same time to form a new county with Wash- 
 ington as the county seat. Most of the settlers on the 
 west side of Walnut Grove, then Tazewell county, fa- 
 vored che latter project. Uncle Tom Bullock got infor- 
 mation of the plans of the Washington men, and with 
 great energy pushed the circulation of his petition and 
 as soon as possible laid it before the legislature. The 
 other party, finding themselves too slow, were compelled 
 to take the defensive, and soon appeared with a remon- 
 strance. Excitement ran pretty high, and the journals 
 of the two houses show that the bill for the formation 
 of Woodford County had a long and doubtful embry- 
 onic period. It was frequently called up and advocated
 
 24 HISTOEY OF WOODFOED COUNTY. 
 
 or opposed, tinkered and half-soled, and then "referred." 
 Attempts were made to have the proposition submitted 
 to a vote of the inhabitants of the territory to be or- 
 ganized into the new county. But on the twenty-sev- 
 enth day of February, 1841, the bill was finally ap- 
 proved by the governor without such submission. It 
 was entitled, an Act for the formation of the County of 
 Woodford, and I suppose this name was selected by 
 Uncle Tom Bullock to perpetuate the remembrance of 
 his old county in Kentucky. The first section of the 
 act describes the boundaries as follows : u Beginning at 
 the southwest corner of Livingston county, thence on a 
 straight line to the northwest corner of the southwest 
 quarter of section twenty, township twenty -five north, 
 range one east of the third principal meridian ; thence 
 south to the northwest corner of the southwest quarter 
 of section twenty-nine, township and range aforesaid ; 
 thence west to the Tazewell county line ; thence north 
 one and a half miles ; thence west to the center of town- 
 ship twenty-five north range two west, of the third 
 principal meridian ; thence north to the line be- 
 tween townships twenty-six and twenty-seven ; 
 thence west to the Illinois river; thence with said river 
 to the northwest corner of Tazewell county ; thence 
 with the northern boundary of Tazewell and McLean 
 counties to Livingston county ; thence south to the place 
 of beginning. " 
 
 The second secton provides for the election of county 
 officers, on the second Monday ot April, 1841. The 
 election was to be held at Versailles and the places for 
 voting for Justices of the Peace in the county. The
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 25 
 
 third section provides that the poll-books shall be re- 
 turned to Versailles, to Matthew Bracken, John W. 
 Brown and Morgan Buckingham, three Justices of the 
 Peace. Section four assigns W"oodford County to the 
 eighth judicial circuit, and directs the judge thereof to 
 appoint a Circuit Clerk and hold courts therein as soon 
 as organization is effected. Sections five, six and seven 
 provide for the disposition of suits begun previous to 
 organization ; the jurisdiction of officers already elected, 
 and the proper disposition of the school fund. The 
 eighth section locates the seat of justice at Versailles 
 for two years, upon the condition that the inhabitants 
 should provide a good and suitable building for courts 
 and other public business ; and directs an election to 
 be held at the end of the two years for a permanent lo- 
 cation of the seat of justice. The place chosen must 
 receive a majority of all the votes polled, and give se- 
 curity for a donation of at least fifteen hundred dollars 
 for erection of county buildings. Section nine fixes the 
 share and the time of payment of the McLean county 
 debt, by those who had been citizens of that county ; 
 and the tenth and last section places Woodford in the 
 same senatorial and representative district with McLean 
 and Tazewell. 
 
 On the 17tii of February, 1843, the legislature passed 
 an act to add to Woodford County all that part of 
 Tazewell lying north of the line dividing townships 
 twenty -five and twenty-six, north ; with the proviso 
 that the annexation should be approved by a ma- 
 jority of the legal voters of each county. A special 
 election was held in both counties, but it seems the
 
 26 HISTOEY OF WOODFOBD COUNTY. 
 
 measure was not adopted. This addition would have 
 given us Washington, and possibly have given Wash- 
 ington the county seat. On the 28th day of February, 
 1843, the line between Woodford and McLean counties 
 was permanently established, as follows : " beginning 
 at the southwest corner of Livingston county, running 
 thence west three miles, thence south six miles, thence 
 west three miles, thence south two and a half miles, 
 thence west three miles, thence south one mile, thence 
 west one and three-quarters miles, thence south one mile, 
 thence west one-fourth of a mile to the corner of Wood- 
 ford County." This constitutes the present boundary. 
 
 According to section nine of the original act forming 
 Woodford County, those who had been citizens of Mc- 
 Lean county were, after 1844, to pay twelve hundred 
 dollars of the McLean county debt. On the 1st day of 
 March, 1843, the legislature repealed this section, and 
 thus relieved the citizens of this obligation. 
 
 It had been provided by the original act that after two 
 years the seat of justice should be permanently located 
 by an election to be held at the usual places of voting 
 in the county ; but on the 28th day of February, 1843, 
 this part was repealed by an act appointing James K. 
 Scott, of DeWitt, Joseph L. Sharp, of Fulton, and John 
 H. Harris, of Tazewell, a commission for the purpose of 
 locating the county seat of Woodford County. These 
 commissioners were to. meet at Versailles on the first 
 Monday in June, 1843. They were to be duly sworn 
 and locate the seat of justice upon the faithful consid- 
 eration of ''geographical boundaries, convenience of 
 inhabitants," present and prospective settlements, eli-
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORDCOUNTY. 27 
 
 gibility of situations and such other lights as they 
 might think proper. The act farther provides that when 
 the said commissioners shall have made the location of 
 the seat of justice they shall make report thereof to 
 the County Commissioners' court, who shall make due 
 record thereof, and direct the application of the dona- 
 tion required in the original act. On the sixth of March 
 following a supplemental act was passed appointing 7 
 Levi A. Hannaford, of Peoria, and John H. Bryant, of 
 Bureau, additional commissioners to act in conjunction 
 with those already appointed. This commission located 
 the county seat at its present situation, and the neces- 
 sary steps were soon taken by the County Commission- 
 ers to erect public buildings, which are those in use at 
 present. 
 
 As we have already said, the formation of Woodford 
 County was chiefly due to the effort* of Thos. Bullock, 
 Sr., and through his influence Versailles enjoyed the 
 distinction of being the capital for two years. The 
 u good and suitable building" required by the legisla- 
 ture for the public business seems to have been 
 promptly furnished, and I am informed that it still 
 rears its venerable gables in the neighborhood, being 
 used as a .barn. In this building, in September, 1841, 
 wa^ held the first circuit court in Woodford County. 
 Judge Samuel H. Treat was on the bench, and among the 
 attorneys at this first session were Abraham Lincoln, 
 the gallant Col. Ed. D. Baker, David Davis, Stephen T. 
 Logan. Jno. J. Harding, Jno. T. Stewart and A. Gridley. 
 
 The first county officers were as follows : Jos. Meek, 
 Josiah Moore and James Boys, County Commissioners,
 
 28 HISTOKY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 and John J. Perry, Clerk of county commissioners' 
 court and Recorder ; J. B. Holland, Judge of Probate ; 
 S. S. Parke, Surveyor ; S. J. Cross, Circuit Clerk ; Wm. 
 S. Magarity, Sheriff; William Hoshor, Coroner ; Jas. S. 
 McCord, Treasurer ; Joshua Woosley, Assessor, and 
 W. E. Rockwell, Collector. The political organization 
 as effected above remained till 1850, when the present 
 township organization was adopted, after much discus- 
 sion, excitement and speech-making, and strenuous 
 opposition. The county commissioners have been 
 superseded by the board of supervisors, and other 
 changes effected not necessary to be enumerated here. 
 The county at /present comprises seventeen townships.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DOMESTIC AKD SOCIAL LIFE. 
 
 The progress which Woodford County has made in 
 civilization can be traced no more plainly in any re- 
 spect than in the conveniences, appointments and meth- 
 ods of domestic life. From a domestic condition differ- 
 ing but little from that of the Indian, a change has been 
 made to the comfort, elegance and luxuriousness of the 
 highest and most artificial civilization in a single gen- 
 eration. The first settlers of the county dwelt in log 
 cabins of rude and habty construction. No lumber was 
 to be had. Saw-mills had not been erected, and the 
 pine lumber, now so common, was unheard of. Many 
 of the cabins contained but a single room ; and a double 
 one, of two rooms, was a luxury many a family could 
 not afford. The matter of ventilation, of such serious 
 consideration in modern architecture, gave them but 
 little trouble, except, perhaps, that it was a little too 
 easy of accomplishment. The logs of which the house 
 was built were sometimes hewed, so as to present a 
 smooth surface on both sides of the wall, but often they 
 were notched and laid up hastily ; the pressing needs 
 of the settler's family not permitting the hewing to be 
 done. The cracks, of irregular shape, between the logs 
 were filled with clay, made into a sort of plaster. If 
 the domicile was so pretentious as to display window- 
 D
 
 30 HISTOBY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 lights they were made of oiled paper. The doors and 
 floors were made of puncheons, or rough boards, split 
 from trees and battened together with wooden nails or 
 pegs. The roof was covered with clap-boards, or some- 
 times thatched. The heating apparatus was the fire- 
 place with its bright, hospitable face. The chimney 
 was built of split sticks, piled up in a rectangle, pen 
 fashion, and plastered inside and out with clay mud. 
 Wooden pegs, driven into the wall, or clap-board shelves 
 resting upon pegs, answered the purpose of wardrobe, 
 cupboard and bureau. Tables, benches and bedsteads 
 were of such rude construction as the skill and imple- 
 ments (usually an ax and an augur, with a hunting 
 knife or jack knife) of the pioneer could effect. 
 
 When we come to consider the culinary arrangements 
 of these old4ime households we are sensible of occupy- 
 ing a comfortable vantage ground. We need not re- 
 move from the parlor or sitting room to find the objects 
 of our investigation. The same apartment often served 
 for the parlor, dining room, library, kitchen, cellar, 
 storehouse and bedroom. There were no cooking stoves 
 in those days. The meals were prepared at the fire- 
 place. Sometimes, for lack of vessels, the bread and 
 potatoes were baked in the ashes, while the meat was 
 roasted on a spit, or twig held over the fire by hand. 
 The well-to-do settlers had ovens, pots, kettles, frying 
 pans, &c. Corn bread was usually baked in hot ashes 
 and coals, without vessel of any sort. For baking bis- 
 cuits a round, shallow oven was used. It was of iron, 
 and tolerably thick. The biscuits were placed in the 
 oven which was set upon the coals in front of the fire-
 
 HISTOEY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 31 
 
 place. A heavy lid was placed upon the vessel and a 
 shovel-full of coals on top of that. The biscuits were 
 then subjected to heat from both sides, and came out 
 nice and light. I remember to have seen among the old 
 residents an apparatus for baking thin cakes from bat- 
 ter. These cakes were very toothsome, and were called 
 waffles. Waffle-irons were made of two rectangular 
 pieces of iron, about six by eight inches, which fitted 
 together in such way as to form a mold, or matrix, which 
 would make a cake about half an inch thick. Each 
 half of the mold was attached to an iron rod three or 
 four feet long. These rods were pivoted together near 
 the molds, and the irons were opened and shut scissors- 
 fashion. The batter being put in the waffle-iron was 
 thrust into a hot place in the fire, and in a few seconds 
 there was turned out a sweet and beautifully indented 
 waffle. The modern pancake is a degenerate^and sorry 
 descendant of this cherished ancestor. 
 
 Fruits were stewed for immediate use, or made into 
 pies. For winter they were jammed or preserved. Both 
 processes were very expensive on the account of the 
 scarcity of sugar ; and a small quantity of such delica- 
 cies was stored carefully away to be produced only on 
 extra occasions. The modern processes of canning fruit 
 were unknown ; apples were not yet being produced, 
 and the long winter's subsistence consisted chiefly of 
 bread and meat. Many a lad was rejoiced at the advent 
 of some distinguished visitor, because of the proba- 
 bility afforded thereby of seeing, and possibly tasting, 
 a little preserves. Vegetables, pumpkins and hominy 
 were cooked in pots or kettles, set over the fire. After
 
 32 HISTOEY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 a time an improvement was adopted in the shape of a 
 long iron arm, fastened to an upright iron rod attached 
 to the jamb in such way as to turn readily in any di- 
 rection. This arm coulS thus be turned so as to bring 
 a pot suspended from it over the fire or back against 
 the jamb, out of the way. This was called a crane, and 
 was considered a wonderful convenience. Cooking 
 stoves did not come into general use until near 1850, 
 the first having been introduced about ten years before. 
 
 Before apples were to be had the staple fruit was the 
 golden and classic pumpkin. The pumpkins were pared 
 and cut into pieces of convenient size for drying. They 
 were then run upon strings and hung up along with red 
 pepper pods, seed corn and jerked venison, articles at 
 once useful and ornamental in the settler's homely 
 cabin. Crab-apples were sometimes gathered and 
 buried in the ground for winter use. Walnuts, hickory 
 and hazel nuts were abundant, and the younger fry sub- 
 sisted largely upon these. In the way of flesh the pio- 
 neer's family was usually well supplied. In addition to 
 the domestic animals and fowls, which were soon intro- 
 duced, the country abounded in excellent game, as men- 
 tioned elsewhere, and the Mackinaw, Walnut and Pan- 
 ther creeks were full of choice fish. Milk and butter 
 soon came to be plenty, but tea and coffee were costly 
 and rare luxuries. Wild bees were plentiful, and many 
 a hollow tree furnished the early settler with delicious 
 honey. 
 
 Among the early settlers store-clothes were out of the 
 question. The garments, as well as the fabrics of which 
 they were made, were the products of home industry.
 
 HISTOEY OF WOODFOED COUNTY. 33 
 
 These fabrics were linen, jeans and linsey. The linen 
 was prepared from the flax, raised and manufactured by 
 the rude implements then at hand. The breaking, 
 hatcheling, spinning and weaving of flax, with their 
 poor facilities, was a slow and laborious work for our 
 fathers and mothers, and a nice piece of home-made 
 linen was an a.rticle of great value. Linsey was made 
 of linen, or usually cotton, chain with fine woolen fill- 
 ing. This constituted the chief winter wear of the 
 women. Jeans was made in much the same manner, 
 except that the filling was heavier than for linsey. It 
 was usually colored brown with walnut bark, or ren- 
 dered more beautiful and expensive with the familiar 
 blue dye. A well fitting suit of linsey or blue jeans 
 was both handsome and durable, and there was a laud- 
 able emulation among housewives to produce the 
 best and prettiest fabrics of this sort. The wool 
 for these fabrics was either dyed before carding or in 
 the hank. The settler would shear his flock about the 
 beginning of summer, and the wife and children would 
 put in their spare time preparing the winter apparel 
 during the season. Before the establishment of carding 
 mills, which was about the year 1831, the whole process 
 of preparing wool was carried on at home. The first 
 thing to be done with the wool, after being thoroughly 
 cleansed, was to card it. The cards consisted of two 
 thin boards, about four inches wide and one foot long, 
 thickly set on one side with fine, short bent wires ; at 
 the side of each was attached a short handle. With a 
 pair of these instruments an accomplished lady of the 
 period could quickly and skillfully work a pile of snowy
 
 34 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY'- 
 
 wool into smooth, even rolls. These rolls were then 
 spun into threads, which wero reeled into hanks, the 
 yarn w as then twisted by means of the spinning wheel, 
 and run upon "quills." The thread was then ready for 
 the loom. After the materials were ready an expert 
 weaver could produce five yards of jeans in a day. 
 Some of the earliest settlers wore buckskin clothing, 
 but this never prevailed to any extent in Woodford 
 County. 
 
 The social customs among the early comers were of 
 the most natural and unostentatious sort. Hospitality 
 was a marked characteristic of the times. Gatherings 
 were frequent, and visiting a feature of social life much 
 more general than at present. Personal social equality 
 was secured by the necessary equality in circumstances 
 and belongings. Social distinctions, in our best civili- 
 zations, do not depend upon ability and character so 
 much as upon differences in personal surroundings. 
 Houses, furniture, vehicles and dress are the props upon 
 which the social grades of Christendom are built. Among 
 our fathers and mothers all were alike in these respects, 
 and the personal equality, which gave so much zest and 
 pleasure to social life, was a matter of course The de- 
 sire to excel in dress and domestic appointments, which 
 it is useless to deny is the sin and bane of modern soci- 
 ety, was never awakened in the hearts of our pioneers. 
 Circumstances made it impossible, and left room for the 
 exercise of their kindly and social instincts, and, no 
 doubt, gave them purer and sweeter springs of social 
 enjoyment than are now accessible. Long and frequent 
 visits among neighbors were prompted and hospitality
 
 HISTOKY OF WOODFOED COUNTY. 35 
 
 quickened not solely by charity, though this in large 
 measure must be conceded to the early settlers. The 
 common and stereotyped invitation to " come and spend 
 the day," and the often acceptance thereof, were 
 prompted somewhat by the same instinct which led the 
 Athenians to spend their time in hearing and telling 
 some new thing. Visits and social gatherings were the 
 occasions of hearing and telling the news. A stranger 
 was received and entertained over night, without charge, 
 partly from the same motive which prompts a man to 
 buy a newspaper or a story book. Nor is this curiosity 
 a mean or useless thing. It impels to those investiga- 
 tions of history and nature which are constantly enlarg- 
 ing the bounds of our knowledge. Among the early 
 settlers these things gave point, interest and dignity to 
 fireside conversation ; but the news of to-day has large- 
 ly deserted social channels, and become an article of 
 commerce, leaving to neighborly and social intercourse 
 the emptiness and nonsense so wearisome and disgust- 
 ing to men of sense. The good old fireside talks of the 
 early life are a thing of the past. The matter and mo- 
 tive of them are found elsewhere, and, so far as this 
 generation is concerned, conversation is almost a lost 
 art. That it will be revived upon a different basis now 
 being laid in universal education can scarcely be 
 doubted. 
 
 In the way of gatherings there were house raisings, 
 weddings, funerals, elections, spelling matches, religious 
 meetings and parties. It was a duty no settler thought 
 of shirking to help his neighbor to raise his house or 
 barn. These were constructed of heavy materials, and
 
 36 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 the appliances were very rude. It was heavy and 
 dangerous work, and the raising of a large barn required 
 the united energies of a whole community. The early 
 elections were not by ballot, as now, but each voter 
 signified his candidate or candidates to the office viva 
 voce. This prevented the secresy and quiet now possi- 
 ble, and an election was a lively and interesting occa- 
 sion. Weddings were not the solemn and stately things 
 of the present ; but occasions of the utmost fun and 
 festivity. A funeral was a time of sadness Each mem- 
 ber of a small community possessed a larger importance 
 than the dweller in a large city, or dense population. 
 The early settler looked upon the loss of a member 
 much as a family does at the loss of a brother or sister- 
 There were no beautiful and guarded cemeteries. The 
 loved one was laid to rest on the lone hill-side in the 
 forest, encased in a rude coffin, made of boards split 
 
 from a tree. There were no burial cases none of those 
 
 * 
 
 innocent deceptions by which we persuade ourselves 
 that we keep something of our lost ones to ourselves, 
 and rescue the precious clay from corruption. It was a 
 literal returning of dust to dust, and could not be other 
 than sad. Spelling matches were a useful means of 
 education, but were engaged in perhaps more from the 
 enjoyment they afforded, and the sparking facilities en- 
 joyed by the youngsters, than from any sense of their 
 utility. Religious meetings were at first held in private 
 houses, and were thus semi-domestic in character, and 
 it is a matter of regret that along with the meeting there 
 has been too much of a tendency to banish to the meet- 
 ing house the worship and piety which should have
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 37 
 
 been partly retained at home. Parties were usually 
 given over to the young people, and the boys and girls 
 generally managed to have a good time ; a little uproar- 
 ous sometimes with "hurly-burly," "spin the plate," or 
 "weevilly wheat," but, nevertheless, enjoyable and in- 
 nocent. There has been considerable change in the 
 matter of amusements and pastimes. The immense 
 amount of work to be done did not allow of so much 
 leisure as may be enjoyed now, but yet there would be 
 many seasons which could be spared to fun and recrea- 
 ation. One of the chief sports, half fun and half busi- 
 ness, was hunting. Every settler possessed a rifle, and 
 often each boy must have one, and the cabin would be 
 ornamented by several of these weapons upon their 
 hooks. Even now you may find, in the old farm 
 houses, many a long, trusty rifle which did its share in 
 the early day, in supporting the family. There it hangs 
 idly in its rack, and quickens the recollection of the old 
 man in the scenes and enjoyments of the days that can 
 return no more. It seems to have outlived its usefulness, 
 but well deserves a place in the family archives for what 
 it has done. Naturally enough, among a hunting people, 
 shooting at a mark was a favorite pastime. The best 
 shot among the pioneers was one who was held in 
 esteem ; and it was refreshing, not many years ago, to 
 see an old man carefully wipe his spectacles and show 
 the boys, in a very convincing way, how much better 
 they could shoot in the good old time than they can 
 now. In Walnut Grove there used to be immense num- 
 bers of squirrels, and in the early summer the people, 
 for miles around would collect at the old meeting house
 
 38 HISTOEY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 spring, on an appointed day, and enjoy what was called 
 a " burgout." A "burgout (pronounced burgoo) was a 
 feast, the chief feature of which was squirrel soup. 
 Early on the appointed clay the young men would be 
 abroad with rifles, in search of young squirrels. By 
 eight or nine o'clock these would begin to come in from 
 all directions with their game. By this time, the old 
 people and children had gathered together and the 
 work of preparation was begun. Large kettles were 
 suspended over the fire, and in these the dressed squir- 
 rels were deliciously souped. By common consent the 
 direction of affairs was surrendered to Uncle a Lijah" 
 Dickinson, who knew exactly how to make the best 
 soup. The young man who brought in the greatest 
 number of squirrels was the hero of the day, and di- 
 vided the honor, if not the authority with Uncle Lijah. 
 The soup was supplemented by the good things pre- 
 pared at home, and the feast was always one of bounty 
 and hospitality. It was always field at the old meeting 
 house spring, near the southeast corner of the present 
 college campus, and the memories connected therewith, 
 in many a heart, are pure and sweet as the waters which 
 bubbled up from its depths. Jumping and wrestling 
 were much in fashion, and it was an enviable thing to 
 be the champion in either of these respects. Among 
 indoor sports checkers, fox and geese and hull-gull were 
 vejy common. Books were scarce, and periodicals rare, 
 while musical instruments were confined chiefly to the 
 violin and accordeon. Croquet and base ball were un- 
 known, but there were bull-pen, town-ball, cat, horse- 
 shoe and marbles. These were excellent in their time,
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 39 
 
 but we fear must give place to these new fangled things 
 which are not half so good, you know. 
 
 We close this chapter with the impression that change 
 has been, and still is, making rapid inroads upon the 
 manners and customs of our domestic and social life. 
 It stamps itself upon our intercourse and amusements, 
 upon our food and dress, upon our houses and conveni- 
 ences. Whether those changes are for better or worse 
 will be decided in different ways by different people ; 
 but looking over the whole field the conclusion is forced 
 upon us that there has been real progress in all depart- 
 ments of human life. That in the two-fold aspect of indi- 
 vidual and social improvement much has been done can 
 hardly be doubted ; and the retrospect fills us with hope 
 and high anticipation for our county and mankind.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AGEICULTURE AND FAEM PEODUCTS. 
 
 The chief industry among the early settlers of Wood- 
 ford County was farming. Many of them had been me- 
 chanics and tradesmen before emigrating from their old 
 homes, but they found little demand for their services, 
 and soon turned their attention to opening up farms. 
 Almost the whole country is tillable land, and the cul- 
 tivation of the soil is still the most important interest 
 and is likely to remain so. It will, therefore, be inter- 
 esting to note the progress of this business during .the 
 last fifty years. About the year 1824 some farms were 
 opened in the river bottom, near Spring Bay. About 
 the same time some prairie was broken, on the place now 
 occupied by Joseph Meek, by a man named Joseph Dil- 
 lon. The first comers either settled in the timber or at 
 the skirts thereof. They knew of the fertility of the 
 prairie land, and the comparative ease with which it 
 t could be brought into cultivation, but thought settle- 
 ments away from the timber would never be possible. 
 They little dreamed that they would live to see these 
 broad prairies one continuous ptretch of farms and 
 pleasant homes. They knew little of the treasures of 
 the coal mines under their feet, and less of the wonder- 
 ful possibilities suggested thereby. The many improved 
 farms on our prairies have chiefly sprung up since the
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 41 
 
 days of coal mines and Chicago pine lumber. Many of 
 the settlers grubbed farms out of the thick trees and 
 brush, at great expense of time and muscle, when thou- 
 sands of acres of blooming, fertile prairie were in sight 
 of their cabins, unclaimed and unoccupied. The favor- 
 ite location, however, was at the edge of the timber, 
 where materials for buildings and fences and fuel were 
 at hand, and the farm extended from a half of a mile 
 to a mile into the prairie. 
 
 The out-buildings were usually a stable, a corn- crib, 
 a smoke-house and an ash-hopper. The stable, corn- 
 crib and smoke-house were usually of logs, and the 
 ash-hopper of clap-boards. The first frame farm 
 houses were very substantial affairs. The sills, plates 
 and corner posts being heavy, hewed timbers, mortised 
 and pinned together as substantially as the timbers of 
 a modern railroad bridge. Even to this day the old 
 settlers look upon the light, pine frames, now so much 
 in vogue, with a good deal of suspicion. Some of the 
 early barns were buildings of no small pretensions. 
 They were of the solidest materials, and sometimes f 
 considerable size. I remember one which was standing 
 till about the year 1850, on the farm now occupied by 
 Thos. Ray, near Eureka. This building was constructed 
 of logs hewed on two sides, so as to present a smooth 
 wall inside and out. They were about ten inches thick, 
 and some of them, near the base, were not far from three 
 feet broad. The barn was about thirty feet square, and 
 the walls, as I remember them, must have been sixteen 
 feet high, containing in the neighborhood of fifteen 
 thousand feet of hard lumber. The entire space within
 
 42 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 was occupied by a threshing floor, and triangular grain 
 bins, made by planking off the corners. This threshing 
 floor was made use of by the neighbors generally, be- 
 fore the days of threshing machines. They would haul 
 their wheat to the barn in the sheaf, distribute a quan- 
 tity of it about the center post and then put the horses 
 upon it. After a long time of walking round and round 
 the horses were taken out, the straw raked off and re- 
 moved, the wheat winnowed by means of shovels, and 
 taken home. The plates of this barn were nicely hewed 
 on four sides, were about ten by eighteen inches and 
 thirty feet long. The raising of such a building must 
 have required the united energies of the whole commu- 
 nity. 
 
 The oldest plank fences date back only about twenty- 
 five years, and before that time rails were the fencing 
 material. A few fences were made of sod, but these 
 were not common. The splitting and hauling of rails 
 was a work of great labor, but a good rail fence was a 
 substantial and durable affair. In late years the farmers 
 have turned their attention to the growing of hedges, 
 and many experiments have been made with plants of 
 various sorts. The only thing which so far has been 
 generally adopted is the osage orange, a native plant, 
 which grows, under favorable circumstances, to 
 a height of sixty feet. The wood is elastic and 
 fine-grained, and was much used by the Indians 
 for bows. The fruit is about the size and somewhat 
 the appearance of an orange. It has a juicy and 
 wholesome pulp, but is not much relished as an article 
 of food, having an uninviting taste and odor. The
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 43 
 
 scarcity of stone forbids its use as a fencing material. 
 
 The early implements of husbandry were of the 
 rudest sort, and the methods slow and laborious. The first 
 plows used in Wood ford County were little better than 
 those in use in Asia twenty -five hundred years ago ; for 
 they had then wooden plows with iron shares, and these 
 were the only sort known to our fathers fifty years ago. 
 The best plow at that time was the Carey, with wooden 
 mold board, and the cultivator was the old time shovel. 
 Scouring plows were introduced about thirty years ago, 
 and were a great improvement, since they lightened the 
 draft, and, what is equally important, enabled the 
 farmer to turn the crust of the soil upside down, thor- 
 oughly pulverizing it, and covering up the weeds. Grain 
 was sowed by hand, and covered by means of harrows 
 or brush drags. Corn was planted by hand and cov- 
 ered with a hoe. Sod corn was planted in every third 
 furrow, and covered by the sod cat by the plow from 
 the next. Corn ground was u laid off" by running far- 
 rows with a shovel plow, four feet apart, both ways 
 across the field. This was a tedious process, but for 
 many years it did not occur to any one that a marker 
 might be used, which should make three or four rows 
 at a time. After a time hand planters came to be used, 
 and now we are all familiar with the splendid machines 
 for planting this most important of our products. 
 
 Many a young farmer will smile to be told that the 
 crows and blackbirds used to be regarded as formidable 
 enemies of the pioneer's cornfield. These birds were 
 in immense numbers, and cornfields were not numerous 
 nor large, and when the corn was young these thievish
 
 44 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUJSTTY- 
 
 imps exhibited great intelligence and commendable in- 
 dustry in pulling it up to get the grain which would ad- 
 here to the little stem, ft would require several hills of 
 corn to make a breakfast for a hungry blackbird, and 
 they did much mischief in this way. As an offset corn 
 was generally planted too thick, and what the birds 
 failed to thin, had to be thinned by hand, Even at a 
 distance of twenty-five years our back aches at the 
 recollection of that most hated of all pastimes, thinning 
 corn. It was, in our estimation, entirely " too thin." 
 Before the days of double shovels the proper cultiva- 
 tion of corn required three furrows to the row. The 
 older ones would do the plowing next to the rows and 
 leave the boys to " split the middles." Of all the mo- 
 notonous things in the tedious round and routine of hu- 
 man labor, there is nothing approaching in monotonous- 
 ly monotonous monotony the " splitting of middles." 
 But it has had its day, and has Ibeen laid aside with 
 many another tedious thing, which required neither 
 skill nor intelligence but stolid perseverance. At first 
 the harvesting was done largely with the sickle, or 
 reaping hook, but cradles were early introduced. Wheat 
 used to be a mu@h surer crop than at present, and the 
 old-fashioned harvest was a time of plenty in all re- 
 spects. Plenty of grain, hard work, fun and hot weather. 
 A stout man with a cradle could cut three acres of grain 
 per day, and it is still an open question whether a 
 reaper really saves much time orMabor. However, it 
 cannot be doubted that the present" inventions of har- 
 vesters and self-binders will leave no room for a discus- 
 sion of this sort. It being impracticable to market
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 45 
 
 grain at all times as now, the wheat and oats were usu- 
 ally stacked and thrashed in the fall and winter. The 
 farms in August presented a cheerful sight, with their 
 green cornfields, golden stubble and huge stackyards. 
 Hay was not so much cultivated as now. Many depended 
 upon wild grasses, and meadows of tame grass occu- 
 pied only a small portion of the farm. Timothy was 
 the chief tame grass ; and sometimes in flat places was 
 a patch of red-top, or English grass, sometimes called 
 herds-grass. After a time clover was introduced and 
 has been found to be useful not only as an article of 
 food for stock, but also for re-fertilizing land which has 
 been exhausted by grain crops. The common red clover 
 is the variety which has been most used. Later claim- 
 ants for favor, however, have 1 ailed to supplant timothy 
 and clover. 
 
 For many years hay was cut with the scythe and 
 taken up by hand-rakes and pitchforks ; the methods 
 now in use, and the implements for cutting and hand- 
 ling being vastly superior to the old. These render the 
 raising of stock much easier than it could be done with- 
 out them. 
 
 Stock raising was not much of a business in Wood- 
 ford County before 1850, and has made great progress 
 in the last few years. The first settlers kept a few pigs 
 and cattle in a promiscuous way, with the pastoral idea 
 that they might furnish the family with milk and butter, 
 and meat and lard. The custom of raising and fatting 
 stock for market was unknown. After a time markets 
 were established on the Illinois river for pork, and the 
 farmers began to fatten a few hogs annually. There
 
 46 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 was no market except in cold weather, and the hogs 
 were all fattened in the fall and winter. Still later a 
 few men began to buy up the odd calves and steers a 
 settler might have, and these were prepared for market, 
 which was either St. Louis or Chicago. Stock raising 
 soon became profitable. It is true pork did not bring 
 much, but it did not cost much to raise hogs. The range 
 was large, and what with wild strawberries, blackber- 
 ries, and acorns and hazel nuts the pigs would take care 
 of themselves during the summer and fall and come up 
 at the end of the season having outgrown the knowl- 
 edge of most intimate friends, and ready for easy fat- 
 tening. Cattle would fatten and grow on the prairies 
 from middle of spring till Christmas, and there was lit- 
 tle thought of the time when all this range would be 
 fenced and owned by somebody, and pasturage would 
 be scarce and expensive. We see how that from these 
 rude and careless beginnings the raising of stock has 
 become an important and systematic part of farming. 
 Great improvement has been made in the breeds of cat- 
 tle and hogs, and our sleek and aristocratic Berkshires, 
 Chesters, Poland-Chinas, Durhams, &c., would hardly 
 claim kin with their ungainly and bony predecessors. 
 Attempts to improve our stock of horses by importa- 
 tions and careful breeding have been frequent in the 
 last few years, and the experiment has not so far ad- 
 vanced as to permit the extent of benefit to be fully de- 
 termined. 
 
 In the matter of poultry, turkeys, chickens, ducks 
 and geese were soon introduced, but there has been 
 great improvement made in chickens. The kinds upon
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUiNTY. 47 
 
 which the pioneer preacher subsisted were tough and 
 poor in comparison wiih the tender and luscious ones 
 which tempt the modern ministerial palate. 
 
 The vegetable garden contributed its share to the set- 
 ler's table. Potatoes, beets, cabbages, onions, beans 
 peas, and the like, grew in the virgin soil with such 
 cultivation as the women could give them. The chief 
 improvements in these matters being the early varieties 
 of such vegetables as have been cultivated from the 
 beginning. Cultivation and experiment have made a 
 gain of from one to two months in the producing of our 
 more important garden vegetables. An advantage not 
 enjoyed by the newcomers is the possibility of getting 
 good and reliable seed. In the old time seeds must be 
 saved from year to year, and new varieties and fresh 
 seeds were hard to get. The garden usually afforded 
 a space for a display of flowers. The kinds were nqt 
 numerous, but, though old fashioned and of unpretend- 
 ing titles, were beautiful and sweet. It seems that the 
 chief improvement that has been made has been in the 
 matter of names. The beauties which used to gladden 
 our eyes did not rejoice in the high-sounding titles of 
 the modern flower aristocracy. We had no Dicentra 
 Spectabilis, no Gladiollus, Gilia Coronopifolia, Passi- 
 flora Caerulea, Fuchsia Microphylla, Albizzia Julibris- 
 sin. No one can deny that there must be an incalculable 
 amount of beauty, delicacy, rarity and agony which 
 demand such extraordinary verbal exponents, but, as 
 in many other things, it sometimes happens that the 
 magnificence of the name is more easily seen than of 
 the thing named. We are sometimes pervaded with a
 
 48 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 sense of the ridiculous when we notice some poor, little, 
 misshapen "body addressed as your Majesty, or some 
 short, dumpy, Esquimau-legged specimen dubbed your 
 Highness. But however incongruous the thing must be 
 done, and lie is but an uncharitable boor who refuses to 
 see the qualities suggested by these grandiloquent and 
 appropriate titles. It is not unusual to see sensible 
 people, neglecting the learned, the beautiful and the 
 truly great, gathering about some scion of effete aris- 
 tocracy, bowing and scraping, and pretending to admire ; 
 nor is it unusual in these days to see sensible young 
 men and women, oblivious to roses and pinks, bestow- 
 ing care and praise upon some pompously named little 
 weed which has neither grace, elegance nor perfume ; 
 and is only recommended by its name and rarity. In 
 the good old days there were pinks, and roses, and hol- 
 lyhocks, and touch-me-nots, and violets, and lilies, and 
 thb broad prairies were a vast flower garden themselves. 
 The chief house-plants were such as are sometimes 
 seen in old fashioned families nowadays, and are likely 
 to become of some consideration because of their rarity, 
 although not usually exotic ; namely, children. It is 
 worthy of remark that some of the most troublesome 
 pests with which the farmer has to contend, were orig- 
 inally introduced as rare plants and choice flowers by 
 romantic and sentimental cultivators. 
 
 The weeds during the first few years of the country 
 did not offer much hinderance to cultivation. The soil 
 was free from noxious seeds, and the farmer could tend ^ 
 with his single plow, forty or fifty acres of corn ; and it 
 seems that the improvement in cultivators has not been
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 49 
 
 more than sufficient to counterbalance the increasing 
 crops of weeds. New sorts are constantly met with, and 
 many a farmer is coming to the conclusion that he has 
 been trying to cultivate too much ground, until his land 
 is foul with all manner of villainous growth. Fewer 
 acres to the hand and more thorough and repeated at- 
 tacks seems to be the only remedy. 
 
 We have seen that fifty years have made a marvelous 
 change in nearly everything pertaining to agriculture in 
 Woodford County. Some of these changes have been 
 for the better, some for the worse, but that the direction 
 has been such that we may call the whole movement a 
 progress cannot be denied. We may safely say there 
 has been a great and gratifying improvement. In com- 
 fort and independence, in security of person and prop- 
 erty, in social and political importance, in moral worth 
 and respectability and downright enjoyment of the best 
 gifts of Nature, there is probably no people in the 
 world which surpasses the farmers of Woodford County.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MANUFACTURES, TRADE, ETC. 
 
 'Woodfurd County has not made the same progress in 
 manufactures as in other branches of industry. About 
 fifty years ago mills for the preparation of flour and 
 meal began to be thought of, but most of the necessary 
 articles were made at home. Indian corn was pounded 
 in a mortar dug out of a stump or trunk of a tree. This 
 was a slow arid laborious process. In a few years horse 
 mills were established, by means of which wheat was 
 ground. The flour was sifted and bolted by hand. 
 Gradually improved machinery and methods have been 
 introduced, until grades of flour are produced equal to 
 those anywhere in the world. This bracnh of business 
 has suffered much in the last ten years because of the 
 almost constant failure of the wheat crop in Central 
 Illinois. 
 
 Iron manufacture lias never flourished to any extent 
 among us. Blacksmiths' shops were early needed for 
 the repairing of vehicles, shoeing of horses, making of 
 hails and supplying other needed aiticles, bat beyond 
 something of this sort little has been done to the pres- 
 ent time.' We have had our boot and shoe makers from 
 the beginning, and good mechanics of this class are to 
 be found in all of our towns, but there is nothing in the 
 shape of a manufactory of this sort in our county. In
 
 HISTOKY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 51 
 
 the making of wagons and carriages we have a little 
 better showing, and in several places considerable cap- 
 ital and skill are at present employed. As we have 
 seen, the manufacture of fabrics was at one time an ex- 
 tensive domestic industry, but it seems never to have 
 got beyond the limits of home. We have no establish- 
 ment for the manufacture of cloths, and perhaps the 
 nearest approach to it are the semi-domestic factories of 
 traditional rag carpet. 
 
 Without being more specific in details, we may state 
 briefly some of the causes which have hindered the growth 
 of the county in the above respect. In the first place la- 
 bor and capital have found ready employment in agricul- 
 ture and trade, which have seemed to offer surer and 
 speedier returns. In time past factories have seemed to 
 flourish best where agriculture flourished least, and the 
 energy of the people turned into the channel of manu- 
 facturing only when denied any other. This fact often 
 separated the factory and the product upon which it op- 
 erated by wide distances. It put the cotton mills in 
 Massachusetts and England, hundreds or thousands of 
 miles away from the staple upon which they feed. We 
 are beginning to find that this is putting asunder what 
 Q-od has joined together. If Woodford County can 
 produce wool it is but reasonable to suppose that she 
 can manufacture that wool into cloths, and make it 
 profitable. If we can produce excellent and abundant 
 brom corn, we can produce excellent brooms in im- 
 mense quantities, and it will be wise for us to look about 
 to see if there be not some of these complementary in- 
 dustries to which we can turn our hands. Instead of 
 
 USURY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 UR8ANA
 
 52 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY- 
 
 making endless failures in spring wheat it would be 
 better to raise flax, and then operate factories that would 
 utilize both the fiber and the seed. That our county is 
 well adapted to agriculture will probably be seen to be 
 the very reason why it is well adapted to certain sorts 
 of manufacture; but curiously enough these are the 
 very sorts that have received least attention. 
 
 Another reason assigned for our slow progress in 
 manufactures is the scarcity of fuel, but immense coal 
 deposits have recently been developed upon two sides 
 of us, and the very best bituminous coal can be had by 
 deep mining, at any point in our territory. Besides 
 there is much difference in the amount of fuel required 
 to carry on the different sorts of factories, and those 
 manufactures of which we produce the raw material in 
 greatest abundance require comparatively little fuel. 
 
 The first settlers had but little money of any sort, 
 and but little chance of getting more. It used to be 
 that letters were paid for at the place of delivery, and 
 sometimes, if the letters came far, the sum would amount 
 to twenty-five cents in silver. I have been told by those 
 who know, that a settler would often be compelled to 
 wait fiom a week to a month before he could scrape 
 up enough money to get his mail. This sounds like ex- 
 travagant talk, but there is che best of reason for be- 
 lieving that many among us, who are now wealthy 
 farmers, were often put to such straits as these. At first 
 whatever was raised in the way of grain, over and above 
 the needs of the family and the new immigrants, was 
 permitted to waste, there being no market. Pretty soon, 
 however, a market for grain and stock was established
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY". 53 
 
 at Fort Clark (Peoria), and then at Spring Bay. Pork 
 would sell from a dollar and a quarter to a dollar and 
 a half per hundred weight dressed, wheat about three 
 bits a bushel, and corn for almost nothing. They were 
 usually paid for in high priced goods and paper money. 
 This money was of the most doubtful character, and 
 the settler never knew whether it would be worth any- 
 thing when he wanted to use it. The hardy pioneers of 
 our civilization did not sit down and whine over these 
 hardships, but were wide awake and took every advan- 
 tage of circumstane.es. If they could do a little better 
 at Pekin, some one would be sure to find it out and tell 
 his neighbors, and if the market should drop there they 
 would go to Peoria, or even away off to Chicago Many 
 a load of grain has been hauled the latter distance from 
 our county, and hogs have been driven to the same 
 market, in the rigors of winter. The distance which 
 produce had to be hauled, and the lack of information 
 with respect to the markets, left little room for the ex- 
 ercise of discretion and foresight in the disposal of a 
 crop. The farmer would hear that a good price was 
 being paid for wheat in Peoria, or Spring Bay, and 
 would quickly clean up a load and put for market. 
 Bat he was often too late, and the market had broken 
 down. I was told by an old settler that once, in a very 
 dull time, he took a load of wheat to Pekin. To his 
 surprise arid delight he received fifty cents a bushel, 
 and that too, in bright silver. With great joy he re- 
 turned home and hastily prepared another load to be 
 taken next day, meanwhile sending the good news to 
 his neighbors. The news spread rapidly, and the next 
 G
 
 54 HISTOEY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 morning our settler put out with bis load for Pekiu. 
 But imagine his chagrin when he discovered that the 
 market had fallen nearly one half, and the only money 
 being paid out was the doubtfullest sort of "shinplasters." 
 He was compelled to dispose of his wheat thus, and in 
 different mood from the day before, wended his way home 
 as the evening shadows gathered about him. But all 
 this time the news had been traveling, and he met teams 
 from away east of Panther Creek, hurrying wheat to 
 Pekin to ,uvt the silver half dollar per bushel. It seems 
 that some of the early graft n buyers in certain " ways " 
 and "tricks" resembled the "heathen Chinee," very 
 closely. 
 
 By and by things began to improve. By 1830 steam- 
 boats began to ascend the Illinois river, and take pro- 
 duce from Pekin, Peoria and Spring Bay, to St. Louis 
 and New Orleans, In 1840 Munn & Scott established 
 themselves in Spring Bay as grain buyers and general 
 merchants, and trade was divided between Chicago and 
 the points below. The opening of the Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal was a great step for the commerce of 
 Wooford County, and when the Central Railroad was 
 completed in 1852 we began to feel assured of our fu- 
 ture. Since that time new roads have been built, and 
 markets and places of trade have been established 
 within easy reach in all parts of the county. Unforeseen 
 circumstances have brought our pioneers, who used to 
 wonder what disposition they could ever make of the 
 products of their rich soil, to the verj^ door of the great- 
 est grain and stock market upon the globe. 
 
 These changes have not only brought markets to ou
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 55 
 
 door, but with them have brought accurate daily infor- 
 mation of markets all over the country. A settler on 
 the prairie in Roanoke township to-day, can know more 
 of the markets in New York and Liverpool yesterday, 
 than he could h'ave known forty years ago of the mar- 
 kets of Peoria and Spring Bay the day before. Postal 
 privileges, which were formerly scarce and costly, are 
 now enjoyed to the fall and at but little cost. Our first 
 settlers had to get their mail from Peoria and Mackin- 
 awtown, and these places were far away from many of 
 them. After a time post offices were established at 
 Washington. Metamora, &c., and the settlers felt that 
 with a post office within ten miles and mail every week 
 things were getting handy. If we could drop our daily 
 mails and daily newspapers and go back thirty years 
 we should have a better realization of the disadvan- 
 tages with which our fathers and mothers had to con- 
 tend, if we should be compelled to give up no other con- 
 veniences than these. 
 
 Goods began to be sold at Spring Bay, Metamora, 
 Versailles and Bowling Green, and for many years 
 these were places of considerable trade. Not many fine 
 goods were brought, and such as were for common use 
 were sold at high prices. It sometimes happens that a 
 bushel of wheat will buy a calico dress, but in the olden 
 time a bushel of wheat would often fail to pay for a 
 single yard. ,Ten bushels of corn would often be 
 thought a good price for a pair of boots, but' our 
 early settlers often saw the time when a team couldn't 
 carry .enough corn to market to secure one pair of sto- 
 gas. There has been great improvement, not only in
 
 56 HISTOEY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 prices, but in the quality and variety of commodities 
 sold, and in the matter of general merchandise it seems 
 that an unrestrained competition has had its full and 
 legitimate effect. It is probable, as hinted above, that 
 this business has been overdone in this county. There 
 are too many merchants and clerks and not enough 
 manufacturers and working men, and it seems that there 
 is a substantial reward awaiting the prudent investment 
 of capital in suitable industries. With all her resources 
 developed, and all her energies wisely directed, Wood- 
 ford County will be the home of an intelligent, healthy 
 and happy people.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 POLITICS, LAW AND MEDICINE. 
 
 The citizens of Woodford County have always taken 
 much interest in politics, and political gatherings and 
 speech-making have been customary for many years. 
 Up to the formation of the Republican party in 1856 the 
 two prominent parties were Whig and Democrat, but 
 the Democrats were in considerable majority. There 
 were a few citizens, living chiefly above Metamora, who 
 possessed an intense hatred to southern slavery, and did 
 not respect the Fugitive Slave Law. Investigation 
 before the grand jury showed, that in all probability, 
 there existed in this vicinity one of what were called 
 " the stations of the underground railroad " These 
 were nothing more nor less than hiding places for fugi- 
 tive slaves who were trying to make their way to Can- 
 ada. The stations would be at convenient distances, 
 such as could be driven or walked in a night, and the 
 fugitives would travel in the darkness, and tind con- 
 cealment, shelter and provisions during the day at the 
 hands of people who thought they were doing right in 
 thus defeating a cruel and unjust law. It seems that 
 there was a station in Tazewell county, one in Woodford 
 and one in Bureau county, connecting with others 
 north and south, forming a continuous line from the 
 slave states to Canada. There existed many such lines
 
 58 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 as these running through the northern states, and many a 
 poor negro followed them to liberty. The existence of this 
 station soon became known to the citizens of the county, 
 but many did not seem to wish to interfere, and had 
 little inclination to wrest the captive from the hands of 
 his helpers and send him back to slavery. Some, how- 
 ever, regarded them as law-breakers, and much preju- 
 dice was stirred up, and at times excitement ran very 
 high. I believe, however, that little or no violence was 
 ever resorted to in Woodford County on this account. 
 
 Since 1856 the two prominent parties have been the 
 Democratic and Republican. The Democrats have al- 
 ways been in the majority, and have usually controlled 
 the county offices. When the rebellion broke out in 
 1861, with but few exceptions, political questions were 
 made of secondary importance, and our county was 
 among the first to furnish troops for the preservation of 
 the Union. From the best information it seems that, 
 first and last, we furnished about fifteen hundred sol- 
 diers to the Union armies, being fully one- tenth of the 
 entire population. There was little or no public dis- 
 turbance among the people during the war, and I think 
 it may be truthfully said that Woodford County bore 
 her full share of the terrible burden with patience and 
 cheerfulness. 
 
 During political campaigns immense open air meet- 
 ings have been customary in our county, and our citi- 
 zens are familiar with the oratory of Lincoln and Doug- 
 las, and Trumbull, and Allen, and Yates, and Dickey, 
 and Ingersoll, and scores of others prominent in the 
 political world.
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFOBD COUNTY. 59 
 
 About twenty years ago the American party had or- 
 ganization and a jrood many adherents in many parts of 
 the county, but I believe it does not exist as a separate 
 organization at present ; although there are those who 
 still advocate the principles and doctrines which it then 
 advocated. Prohibition has figured to some extent of late 
 years as a political issue in the county but has never 
 succeeded in controlling elections to any extent. The 
 Temperance party in 1869 seemed to possess more vigor 
 and shape politically than since, not, perhaps, because 
 our citizens are indifferent as regards the matter, but 
 because the prominent political organizations have not 
 been willing to regard temperance as a legitimate polit- 
 ical issue. There was as early as 1851, at Metamora, a 
 society known as ''Division 33, Sons of Temperance, of 
 the State of Illinois," with printed Constitution and By- 
 laws and Rules of Order. About 1856 a large public 
 meeting was held in the Christian church in Walnut 
 Grove and strong resolutions against the liquor traffic 
 were prepared and generally si'gned. 
 
 The Democrats and Republicans have been repre- 
 sented for a number of years by party newspapers, the 
 Democraticjocated at Metamora, "The Woodford Senti- 
 nel? and the Republican, 'the " Journal? at El Paso. 
 In 1854 there was put forth, by C. McKinzie, a pros- 
 pectus for the "Woodford County Times? to be devoted 
 to news and politics. It was to be Democratic. I be- 
 lieve this was the beginning of newspaper enterprises 
 among us. Metamora long enjoyed the preeminence 
 of being the only place of publication in the county. 
 In the year 1865 the^'ElPaso Journal" was commenced,
 
 60 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 and in the year 1867 tho "Eureka Journal" The news- 
 papers of the county at present are the "Sentinel" Met- 
 amora ; the "Journal" El Paso ; the "Journal" 
 Eureka, and the "Times" Minonk. 
 
 The early administration of justice, of course, partook 
 somewhac of the irregularities and peculiarities charac- 
 teristic of this art in all new countries Justice is a 
 goddess who possesses wonderful powers of adaptation 
 to circumstances, and makes her abode with the rude 
 backwoodsmen as contentedly as with the learned and 
 wealthy. Among our fathers the best facilities for pun- 
 ishing crime were not always afforded, and sometimes 
 it happened. in new countries that the friends of law and 
 order are in the minority. It so happened in some por- 
 tions of Illinois. Probably the most impudent defiers 
 of the law, and thost? who most provoked the wrath of 
 the settlers, were horse thieves. These fellows occa- 
 sionally coupled with their regular vocation, by way of 
 variety, burglary and highway robbery. There existed, 
 no doubt, throughout the west a numerous and organ- 
 ized band of these desperate villains They seem f o 
 have got the start of the law, and sometimes secured 
 the election of members of the gang to local offices. To 
 counteract these dangers the early settlers united in an 
 organization known as the " Regulators." These often 
 made short and unceremonious work of horse thieves 
 and robbers. Our county suffered considerably from 
 these depredators, but our citizens never found the op- 
 position to law strong enough to resort to lynch law. 
 
 Among the early settlers legal knowledge and advice 
 was not always attainable, but the juctices and officers
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 61 
 
 were usually men of great practical sense, and un- 
 doubted integrity. Their methods of getting at truth 
 and fairness were sometimes excentric and original, but 
 it is probable that equal and exact justice was done as 
 often as by our present more refined, technical and in- 
 volved processes. Lawyers were scarce, and suits were 
 sometimes disposed of in a way which might provoke 
 a professional smile, but somehow it all averaged well, 
 and the majesty of the law was vindicated and main- 
 tained. Even after the organization of the county, and 
 the circuit court brought in such men as Lincoln, S. T. 
 Logan and Davis, there was a free and easy way about 
 courts and lawyers which would be refreshing if it 
 could be revived at present. While Judge Treat was 
 presiding at Versailles he would frequently summon 
 the lawyers from their contests with the settlers in 
 jumping and horse-shoe pitching to attend to their busi- 
 ness indoors. The officer would sometimes find Lin- 
 coln at these sports, with coat off and full of excitement, 
 when needed in court. In those days the court room 
 was the scene of the utmost good humor and hilarity. 
 Jokes and anecdotes were current, and attending court, 
 in the days of my boyhood, was better than a circus. 
 The same spirit has not always characterized our legal 
 proceedings, arid I have witnessed in cur county some 
 disgusting and humiliating spectacles of bullying, 
 brow-beating and abuse. It is believed, however, that 
 this is a thing of the past, and that our bar is at pres- 
 ent characterized by a higher tone. Without attempt- 
 ing to blame any one in particular, it is well for the 
 fraternity to see to it that coarseness and profanity 
 H
 
 62 HISTOBY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 shall never again become so prevalent as formerly. 
 
 For a long time after the removal of the county seat 
 nearly the whole bar resided at Metamora, but lawyers 
 are found at present in all parts of the county. The 
 first licensed attorney was John B. Holland, who went 
 to California in 1849, and died there. Prominent among 
 those who have first and last expounded the law in our 
 midst, and taught our people the eternal principles of 
 justice, are S. P. Shope, Welcome P. Brown, C. H. Chitty, 
 John Clark, R. T. Cassell. A. E. Stevenson, Briggs and 
 Meek, E. D. Davidson, Harper and Cassell and a lot of 
 younger men whose names will probably figure in his- 
 tory by and by. 
 
 But it is time now that we should turn our attention to 
 another important class of men, the need of which is 
 felt in all communities', whether barbarous or civilized 
 the medical fraternity. Communities feel the need of 
 and appreciate the doctor long- before the lawyer, the 
 pedagogue or even the preacher. Among rude people 
 the "Medicine Man" shares the honor with the Chief, 
 and the dignity and authority of both offices are often 
 blended in the same individual; while among civilized 
 and polished communities there is no more useful or 
 respected man than the competent and conscientious 
 physician. 
 
 The prevalent diseases among the early settlers were 
 remittent, or intermittent, fevers in the late summer and 
 fall, and pneumonia in the winter. Against the first 
 there seemed to be no adequate means of defense. The 
 immense quantity of vegetation exposed to the heat 
 and moisture as the summer advanced produced miasma
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 63 
 
 in such quantities that no locality escaped. It would 
 sometime happen that not a single family in a settle- 
 ment would be free from malarial affections, and often 
 whole families would be stricken down with ague, and 
 no one able to care for the others. In this condition 
 they would be cared for by the neighbors, and many 
 acts of kindness and self-sacrifice thus called out are 
 remembered by the old settlers with lively pleasure. 
 If the present generation has wherein to boast over the 
 last, it is not in the matter of hospitality or good Sa- 
 maritanism. 
 
 At first the settlers were compelled to depend upon 
 their own knowledge and resources in combatting dis- 
 ease. Now and then a man would couple with his 
 farming the healing art, and some of these, by observa- 
 tion and experience, acquired a considerable degree of 
 skill, and were usually regarded as oracles by the 
 neighbors. Sometimes this office would be assumed by 
 some old lady, who, combining a little experience, good 
 sense and superstition with a deal of good nursing and 
 encouragement, often succeeded marvelously. Inas- 
 much as these practitioners usually gave their services 
 for nothing, and enjoyed the confidence of the people, 
 the early physicians found it difficult to get a foothold. 
 There was another fact, however, which made it hard 
 for the first regular practitioners. The people of the 
 county had largely imbibed the doctrine of Dr. Samuel 
 Thomson, and they looked with much suspicion and 
 prejudice upon these u Old School " or " Calomel " doc- 
 tors. Dr. Thomson taught that since minerals were de- 
 rived from the depths of the earth, their use would drag
 
 64 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 the patient down into the grave ; but that vegetable 
 medicines would raise the body up, inasmuch as it is the 
 nature of vegetables to spring up from the ground. Dis- 
 ease was attacked by means of such weapons as lobelia' 
 cayenne pepper, ceffee, number-six, steaming and sweat- 
 ing. Those fellows who gave calomel and let blood and 
 drew blisters were regarded with some distrust if not 
 aversion. 
 
 It was, perhaps, as well when each family had to keep 
 its own medicines and often to administer them by guess, 
 that the nostrums were of such character, instead of 
 more potent drugs, which might have done infinitely 
 more harm. But so deeply do prejudices relative to the 
 healing art take hold of people that they are with 
 difficulty overcome. I think some of the old settlers 
 would almost as soon have died according to Thomsoni- 
 anism as to have recovered under the ministration of 
 calomel, etc. Things are changed now, and lobelia no 
 longer claims authority to set up its rule in every 
 disordered stomach, arid will no longer cure all mala- 
 dies. But to return to the doctors. 
 
 The first regular physician among us was Dr. Hazzard, 
 who settled near Germantown in 1836. After eleven 
 years of usefulness he was thrown from his buggy and 
 killed. Dr. Wm. C. Anthony, another regularly edu- 
 cated physician, located at Bowling Green in 1837, but 
 left soon after the county was organized. " Medicine 
 men " of this sort did not accumulate very rapidly, and 
 the next one did not put in an appearance until 1846. 
 At that date Dr. J. S. Whitmire, then a young man, 
 took up his abode at Metamora, and for more than thirty
 
 HISTOEY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 65 
 
 years has waged a successful and unrelenting warfare 
 against the diseases which beset our frail tabernacles, 
 in all parts of the county. A little more than a year 
 afterward came Dr. R. B. M. Wilson, but he soon re- 
 moved to Washington, Tazewell county, where he has 
 since resided. Although not a resident of our county 
 he, as well as Dr. G. P. Wood, was a frequent visitor at 
 the households of our early settlers. Among those who 
 have combatted the ills to which flesh is heir, may be 
 found the name of A. Reynolds, who pioneered the way 
 against Thomsonianism about Bowling Green, begin- 
 ning his campaign in 1848. Dr. J. G Zeller was one of 
 the first physicians in the western part of the county, 
 where he is still in successful practice. There were 
 some physicians of the eclectic school among us, some 
 years ago, who practiced with considerable success. 
 Among these were Richard Bard, of Versailles, and Drs. 
 Springgate and Tandy, of Eureka. The eclectics are 
 still represented by Dr. Maloney, of Washburn, and 
 Dr, J..M. John, of Roanoke. 
 
 In 1870 was organized the Woodford County Medical 
 Society, which holds frequent sessions for the advance- 
 ment of medical science, and the discussion of questions 
 connected with tho profession. In this association no 
 one is admitted to membership except those who have 
 received a diploma from some, medical institution au- 
 thorized to confer degrees. The present membership 
 is as follows : Drs. Whitmire and Kinnear, Metamora ; 
 Cole and Lamme, El Paso ; Crawford, Lichtenberger 
 and Rosenberg, Eureka; Blanchard, Minonk ; Morgan 
 and Wilkinson, Roanoke ; Slemmons, Benson ; Dar-
 
 66 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 ling, Low Point ; Garrett, Newkirk and Tweddale, 
 Washburn ; Dr. Gill. Prominent among the fraternity 
 is Dr. Wilcox, of Minonk, who has found opportunity 
 to engage to some extent in politics, with success ; and 
 Dr Z. H. Whitmire, who was for many years in partner- 
 ship with his brother, at Metamora.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL AND EELIGIOUS MATTERS. 
 
 Great progress lias been made by us in educational 
 matters. The first school of which I can find any trace 
 was kept in a little log hut near where E. B. Myers af- 
 terward settled. It was in the year 1832. Not long 
 afterwards Joshua Woosley taught near the head of the 
 grove. About the same time, away over in White Oak, 
 on the place now owned by Winton Carlock, old Abner 
 Peeler began the training of the backwoods youth. A 
 little later still, down in the Uncle Jimmy Harlan neigh- 
 borhood, intellectual culture was attempted, and this 
 time by a lady. Mary Ann Brown heads the list of 
 educators of Montgomery township. Somewhere about 
 1835 the settlers on Ten Mile, in the western part, 
 erected a school house, and George Hopkins undertook 
 the arduous task of instilling through eye and ear and 
 spine the rudiments of learning. This was one of the 
 first school houses, and lest our youngsters should get 
 a wrong notion of it I will attempt a description of the 
 primitive school house. It was nearly square and built 
 of logs. For light a log was left out of one side. The 
 opening was sometimes converted into a u window " by 
 being filled with greased paper for glass Again it 
 would be filled by a broad board, which being let 
 down upon pegs upon the inside, answered for writing
 
 68 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 desk. Writing could only "be attended to when the 
 window was open, and if it was cold or windy there 
 must have been some attendant inconvenience. At one 
 end of the room was a fireplace which had a lively, 
 cheeriul air in winter, when it was put to its best to keep 
 out the cold, but had a dreary, vacant goneness about 
 it in summer. Of all the sad. fancy-smothering, regret- 
 ful things an old-fashioned, gaping fireplace, with its 
 black, sooty jambs and funereal ashes and idle dog-irons 
 is the chief. Housewives used to fill them up with 
 boughs of trees and asparagus bushes, or something of 
 that sort, before screens were thought of. But nobody 
 attempted to relieve the desolation of the school house 
 fireplace. Like a ruin in the wilderness or a carcass 
 upon the plain it was left to its lonesomeness. A stove 
 looks like something, even when not in use, but an un- 
 used fireplace is a great yawning emptiness. But we 
 were talking about the old time school houses. \The 
 benches consisted of a rough slab with four rude pins, 
 and required no other tools in their construction than 
 an ax and big auger. Maps, charts, globes and black- 
 boards were unknown, and the searchers .after knowl- 
 edge had few helps in their tasks ; nor even many com- 
 forts. If one of our modern teachers should be thrust 
 into such surroundings with his work he would be apt 
 to abandon the field in utter defeat. And yet the pio- 
 neers in education wrought patientjy and successfully 
 through all these disadvantages and laid well the foun- 
 dation of learning and intelligence in our midst. 
 
 The first school about Spring Bay was kept in the 
 house of Benjamin Williams, by a man named Ellmore,
 
 PISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNT Y. 
 
 and the first school in Partridge was taught by Mary 
 Curry; A sort of itinerant school was taught at Low 
 Point, in 1837, by Miss Love Morse. It was kept one 
 week at the house of James Owen and the next 
 at the house of Parker Mofse. Miss Morse kept a 
 schedule of attendance at the school, and the expenses 
 wi-re paid out of the state treasury, according to the 
 record. This was probably the tirst free school ever 
 taught in northern Illinois. 
 
 There were many trials and difficulties in the way of 
 the early pedagogue which the modern one does not en- 
 counter. One of these was the necessity of boarding 
 around. Hash was more abundant than money, and 
 when the settler subscribed for a scholar, scholar and a 
 half, or two scholars, or any other number, he stipu- 
 lated to pay part of the price by boarding the "ma'am" 
 or "master." By a curious law this would throw the 
 .teacher most of the time into the most unpleasant quar- 
 ters. If a family was lare, the same cause which 
 would furnish many pupils and require the pedagogue 
 to board longer with the family would also leave little 
 room for his accommodation. By this plan, however, 
 the teacher became familiar with all sorts of people, 
 accommodations, fare, houses and all degrees of clean- 
 liness, and what he lost in comfort and convenience he 
 gathered up in experience. He had good opportunity 
 to acquire that facility of adaptation to circumstan- 
 ces the becoming all things to all men which contrib- 
 ute so largely to success in any calling ; and the chances 
 to study all species of the genus homo in their native 
 haunts was most excellent. Another trial was the in- 
 i
 
 70 HISTOKY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 subordination of the pupils. Muscle was a thing much 
 relied on in those early days, and the successful teacher 
 must be able to thrash the biggest boy in school, or his 
 authority was constantly in danger. Pluck and gener- 
 alship were rieces&ary qualities. Holidays were not 
 granted, as now, by legal enactment, nor upon formal 
 petition, but by forcible expulsion of the master from 
 the school house. They were days of time-honored 
 mutiny and legitimate rebellion, which threatened to 
 extend to all the other days of the calendar. All honor 
 to the heroes who maintained their ground on these 
 doubtful battle-fields. Among these honored ones of 
 the long ago will be found the names of Noel Meek, Sr., 
 E. B. Perrin, the wonderful scribe, A. B. Cram, Holcomb 
 Bobbins and many others ; but probably he who has 
 battled longest and most successfully in the cause of 
 education in Woodford County is A. S. Fisher, who has 
 persistently worked in this field for nearly thirty years. 
 When we turn from the state of affairs described 
 above to contemplate the present condition of educa- 
 tional matters in our midst, it seems almost incredible 
 that all this change should have been wrought in a sin- 
 gle generation. But so it is. In almost every village 
 and rural district we find the neat and painted school 
 house, and the trained teacher, who is beginning al- 
 ready to regard his work as a profession. He takes 
 some educational periodical, attends institutes and ap- 
 preciates the necessity of study and experiment in him- 
 self. Our large towns have their graded schools and 
 tasteful and imposing structures. Great credit is due 
 especially to El Paso and Metamora for the excellent
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 71 
 
 buildings and facilities which they have provided for 
 the public schools. We commend their example to 
 other places. This advice will not be received, of 
 course, by those who regard the money, paid in school 
 taxes, almost thrown away; but will not be lost upon 
 that better class who think mental training one of the 
 necessaries of life, and cheap at whatever cost of mere 
 dollars. Although so much has been done in the last 
 generation in the way of public education, we have not 
 yet arrived at the quitting place, and there is room for 
 as much to be done in the next generation. Too many 
 of our teachers still regard their work as simply a tem- 
 porary employment, and not a profession to be held fast 
 for life. Men cannot achieve success with this idea in 
 law, medicine, commerce or agriculture, nor can they 
 in teaching. Institutes should meet with more encour- 
 agement and awaken more interest, not specially on the 
 part of the public authorities, but on the part of the 
 teachers themselves and the people generally. They are 
 not only essential to the development of the best ideas 
 and methods relative to the work of teaching, but are 
 the best promoters of that fellowship which the French 
 call esprit de corps, so necessary to the success of any 
 army, whether of soldiers, teachers or Christians. We 
 need public libraries and museums, not hidden away in 
 colleges and seminaries where they only benefit the stu- 
 dent, but they should be thrown in the way of the 
 public and maintained at public expense. 
 
 With respect to the higher collegiate education 
 Woodford County has no mean record, and can boast 
 of as honest an effort in this direction as any county in
 
 72 HISTOEY OF WOODFOKD COUNTY. 
 
 the state. Much remains to Ibe done, however, in this 
 behalf. Many persons not only fail to sustain and en- 
 courage the higher culture, but utterly fail to under- 
 stand what it is. There is a cheap imitation of gentility 
 in dress and manner which passes for the genuine arti- 
 cle among certain sorts of people, but is ridiculous and 
 disgusting to persons of real refinement. This counter- 
 feit gentility is found as often amon^ the rich as the 
 poor, and is as plainly visible under silk and broad- 
 cloth as homespun. In like manner there is a cheap 
 imitation of higher education, or collegiate culture. It 
 is cfieap because it is secured at little outlay of time or 
 labor, and is worth just about as much as it costs. 
 There is a sort of shallow normalism which insists 
 that two or three years are about all that can be profita- 
 bly given to culture, in the period of youth. There are 
 many so called "normal schools" in the land which pro- 
 fess to do for a young man, in two or three years, what 
 our colleges cannot do in less than five or six. This is 
 sheer pretense and deception, and its effects are being 
 seen in the weak and shallow mentality of many of our 
 "educated" men. But Woodford County has done some- 
 thing for that patient and thorough development of the 
 intellectual and moral faculties which deserves the name 
 of higher education. There are many who recognize 
 youth as a period of growth in intellectual and moral 
 faculties, and that cultivation ought. to correspond with 
 the whole period of growth. A farmer might as well 
 attempt to cultivate his corn by working it three days, 
 as the educator attempt to train and cultivate men in 
 two or three years. Friends of education ought to be-
 
 HISTORY OF TVOODFOKD COUXTY. 73 
 
 gin to understand that the time of cultivation cannot 
 be shortened without detriment to mental growth and 
 strength. 
 
 Impressed with the necessity of thorough education 
 s<>me men about Walnut Grove, under the" leadership of 
 Ben. Major, about 1850, inaugurated the Walnut Grove 
 Seminary, with A. S. Fisher, principal, and Miss Susan 
 Jones, assistant. This soon developed into the " Wal- 
 nut Grove Academy," and in February, 1855. secured a 
 charter from the State legislature under the name of 
 " Eureka College," with the following Board of Trus- 
 tees : Elijah Dickinson, Wm. Davenport, E. B. Myers, 
 John D.irst, John Lindsey, A. M. Myers, John Major. 
 W. H. Davenport, B. J. Radford, David Deweese, R. 
 M. Clark, Wm. Atteberry, Wm. T. Major, C. O. Nev- 
 ille, John Bennett, Wm. M. Brown, Jno. T. Jones, 
 Wm. S. Pickerell, Geo. McManus, Bushrod W. Henry, 
 I. T Logan, P. C. Redding, Henry Grove and Jno. W. 
 Taylor. This institution Las been in constant and 
 successful operation ever since the above date, and has 
 instructed, for shorter or longer periods, over three 
 thousand pupils, more than half ot whom have come 
 from other counties. The college is still flourish- 
 ing and has a corps of eight experienced instructors, 
 and ranks among the first institutions of its class in the 
 state. 
 
 Recently a movement was made to establish an acad- 
 emy at Low Point. Funds were secured and a neat and 
 commodious frame building was erected, well adapted 
 to the wants of the young institution. Prof. J. E. Lamb 
 was appointed principal, and the academy soon got well
 
 74 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 under way, but an unforeseen calamity was in store for 
 it. A few months since the building was burned to tho 
 ground, and by some strange oversight there had been 
 no insurance provided. As soon as they recovered a 
 little from the blow the friends of the enterprise began 
 to think of rebuilding, and money was subscribed, but 
 the hard times make the work drag, and the issue sterns 
 somewhat doubtful. The people of Low Point cannot 
 well afford to let this matter fall through, and outfit to 
 resurrect the institution at whatever sacrifice. A grand 
 stride will have been taken by our people in the march 
 of civilization when they become willing to expend as 
 much upon the brain as the stomach, and come to recog- 
 nize food for the mind as among the necessaries of life. 
 Let every citizen of Woodford County hasten the time. 
 If the people of Woodford are not, like the ancient 
 Athenians, exceedingly religious, they are by no means 
 to be reckoned as heathens. The voice of the preacher 
 of the gospel was heard in the cabins of the early set- 
 tlers, and in the groves which were lately the haunts of 
 the Red man and the panther. About 1829 a Presbyte- 
 rian minister came to Walnut Grove. He was invited 
 to preach at a settler's cabin, but soon after the sermon 
 began two of the boys got into a fisticuff pastime. Ser- 
 vices were interrupted until the disturbances were qui- 
 eted, when the preacher proceeded. This was, perhaps, 
 the earliest voice in the wilderness of these parts, but 
 not many Presbyterian ministers came this way for a 
 long while, and it was not until 1868 that a Presbyte- 
 rian church was organized at Eureka. In 1841 Rev. W. 
 T. Adams, now of El Paso, preached at Low Point in
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 75 
 
 the house of Mr. Farnsworih, but no church was organ- 
 ized here until 1853. At that time some fourteen mem- 
 bers were gathered together, constituted a congregation 
 and enjoyed the ministry of Wm. P. Carson. Wm. 
 Dodds was first elder. The present membership is 
 nearly one hundred. There was organized the next 
 year, 1854, another church known as United Presbyte- 
 rians, which is in a prosperous condition at present. In 
 1856 Wm. Frost began to preach at Minonk, and the 
 next year organized a Presbyterian church at this point. 
 The first organization of this denomination at Meta- 
 mora was in 1858; and their first minister was I. A. 
 Cornelison. It began with a small membership. Mr. 
 Cornelison, in 1868, gathered together some twenty-four 
 members at Eureka and organized them into a church, 
 arid they soon secured the services of Rev. Samuel Hart, 
 under whose care they prospered. They now have an 
 elegant house of worship and are thriving under the 
 ministry of Rev. M. P. Orrnsby. The Presbyterian 
 church in El Paso was organized by VV. T. Adams in 
 1857. Mr. Adams became the pastor iri!864. The con- 
 gregation is now large and prosperous. 
 
 Methodism early gained a firm foothold among the 
 settlers in Woodford County. The first church erected 
 on Ten Mile was Methodist, and the preacher's name 
 was Laitey. He was followed by Uncle Zedick Hall, 
 the famous pioneer Methodist preacher. Father Hall 
 has been a zealous teacher of religion in our county 
 and surrounding regions for more than two score years, 
 and is still vigorous and enthusiastic. He preached 
 throughout Central Illinois in the early day, encounter-
 
 76 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 ing with much fortitude the dangers an<J hardships in- 
 cident to Ills work, and has done as much, perhaps, to 
 build up righteousness and temperance as any man 
 among us. He resides with his son in Worth town- 
 ship. About 1840 Jeter Foster. began preaching about 
 Low Point and soon built up a Methodist church at that 
 place. They erected a meeting house here in 1851. 
 Among the early planters of Methodism in Walnut 
 Grove was Uncle Jimmy Wells, and in almost every 
 neighborhood was to be found the Methodist preacher 
 arid exhorter, so that these people are numerous and 
 iound in almost all parts of the county. They have con^ 
 gregaticns in all the principal towns and neighbor- 
 tioods. 
 
 The Baptists were among the first to proclaim the 
 gospel among us. It is said the first sermon ever 
 preached about Low Point was by a Baptist named A, 
 M. Root at the house of Isaac Buckingham. The Mis- 
 sionary Baptists built a church here in 1846 on the 
 farm now owned by S. Mundell. But the first Baptist 
 church organized in the county was in die south-eastern 
 part at the house of Jas. Vance. This was done by J. 
 D. Newell in the year 1837, and the congregation con- 
 sisted of about a dozen members, Soon afterward, in 
 CazenOVia, the old Klchland Baptist church was organ- 
 ized. The church at Minonk was organized about 18 
 years ago, and has been under the pastoral care of Rev. 
 0. D, Merrit ever since. The Baptists have at present, 
 in the county, eleven organizations and about one thou- 
 sand members, and expend annually for church and be- 
 nevolent purposes above ten thousand dollars.
 
 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 77 
 
 The Christiana church was represented among the 
 early settlers by a number of preachers among whom 
 were John Oatman, Abner Peeler, Henry D. Palmer, 
 Jas. Robeson, Wm. Davenport and Jas. Owen. By the 
 efforts of these men congregations of Disciples were es- 
 tablished in nearly all parts of the county. There are 
 at present eleven organizations with a membership of 
 above twelve hundred. Their two veteran preachers are 
 John T. Jones, of Eureka, aged 82, and James Robeson, 
 of Secor, aed 80. Father Robeson, familiarly known 
 as " Uncle Jimmy," is still vigorous and preaches regu- 
 larly, having been a prea@her of the gospel about sixty 
 years. The denomination has done much for education 
 in the county, having built and sustained Eureka Col- 
 lege ; although the Methodists and Presbyterians of 
 Eureka have liberally assisted them in their commend- 
 able work. 
 
 Besides the above denominations there are several 
 smaller religious organizations of somewhat later origin. 
 There is a prosperous congregation of Tankers, or Ger- 
 man Baptists, near Roanoke, and there are two congre- 
 gations of Omish, or Amish, among us These latter 
 are a portion of the great Mennonite denomination. The 
 Catholics have also organized in several parts of the 
 county, though we have no statistics respecting them. 
 
 Probably the first Sunday school in this county was 
 organized by Father Morse, in 1837, at his house in 
 Low Point. Gradually the necessity and fitness of Sun- 
 day schools was perceived by religious teachers of all 
 sorts, and all denominations came to regard them as an 
 excellent means of religious training. In all our towns
 
 78 HISTORY OF WOODFORD COUNTY. 
 
 and many country churches good Sunday schools are 
 maintained, and it is probable that some two thousand 
 children receive regular instruction by this means. A 
 fact which is full of hope for the Christian and philan- 
 thropist. 
 
 Neighbor, here we bid you good bye. We have seen 
 that in the fifty years since Woodford County was first 
 settled by white men, there has been a wonderful im- 
 provement in all matters pertaining to physical com- 
 fort and conveniences ; to intellectual and social life, to 
 moral and religious institutions and agencies. We have 
 been rapidly catching up with, and finding our place in, 
 the great march of civilization in older communities, 
 but there remains much for all of us to do. He is the 
 best citizen who appreciates most fully and promotes 
 most zealously the improvement of his fellow men in 
 all respects physical, intellectual and moral. Let us 
 quit ourselves like men, Woodford County, desirable 
 as it may be, can only be ours for a little time, and it 
 would be well for us to secure a claim where home- 
 steads never change hands, and there are no graveyards 
 on the hill sides.