ABOUT five miles east of Hennepin, on the line of Granville Township, is
Union Grove, the name given to a fine body of timber that dots the great
prairie extending eastward almost to the Wabash. It early attracted the
attention of settlers, and increased more rapidly in population than any
other portion of the County.
The first settler was Stephen D.
Willis, who in 1829 built the first cabin, opened the first farm and planted
the first orchard. He was followed a few months later by James G. Ross, a
brother-in-law. His cabin had neither doors nor windows when he moved in,
and fires were kept up at night to scare away wild animals that prowled
about.
John L. Ramsey located at the south side of the Grove in 1828
or '29; James G. Dunlavy at the west end in 1830.
Hugh Warnock made
a claim on what is now a portion of John P. Blake's farm, in 1828.
John McDonald, the first Presbyterian preacher, located where Dunlavy
afterward lived, in 1829, and planted the second orchard in the township.
Mr. Ash settled on the prairie between Union Grove and Granville in
1828.
Rev. James H. Dickey lived in a small log house near Mr.
Blake's, on the south edge of the Grove, in 1830, and occasionally preached
for the people at the old log church.
Mr. Willis was a most
industrious hunter, and earned his gun wherever he went. He used to say he
"could raise sixty bushels of corn to the acre and never plow or tend it,
and hunt all the time!"
For many years the only post office at all
available for the people of Union Grove, and in fact the whole country
around, was at Thomas's, on West Bureau Creek, twenty miles away and across
the Illinois River.
The first temperance society was organized at
Union Grove in 1832, and Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Strawn rode together on
horseback to sign the pledge. Meetings were held at Nelson Shepherd's cabin
also, and many joined.
The first school at Union Grove was taught by Mrs. Ramsey, in a
blacksmith shop, in the summer of 1831. The building stood about half a mile
east of the brick church at the west end of the Grove.
In the fall
of 1831, John P. Blake was engaged to take charge of the school, and
remained until 1833. Mr. Blake's school was taught in a log cabin which had
been erected by the Presbyterian Church Society in 1830. It was a tolerably
good room, eighteen feet square, with the logs hewn inside. The first school
under this gentleman's management was attended by the children of James W.
and Stephen D. Willis, Hugh Warnock, J. L. Ramsey, Thos. Gallaher, Mr.
Leech, Isaac Stewart, Wm. M. Stewart and Torrance Stewart. Among the other
pupils were two colored people, a young man aged 22 and a girl aged 20
years, runaway slaves. They lived with James W. Willis.
January 12, 1829, the first Bible Society in this part of the State was
formed at Union Grove Church, under control of the Presbyterian society. The
officers were James A. Warnock, President; Christopher Wagner, Vice
President; James W. Willis, Corresponding Secretary; James B. Willis,
Recording Secretary; Hugh Warnock, Treasurer.
James W. Willis was
Chairman and Geo. B. Willis Secretary of this preliminary meeting.
The boundaries of the territory over which this Society had jurisdiction
were co-extensive with those of Putnam County, extending east to the
Vermilion River, south to Tazewell County, west to the Illinois and north to
the same river.
Among the prominent early settlers about the Grove was John Pierce Blake,
who made his way thither from near Detroit, Mich., in the spring of 1831. He
had heard much of Illinois, and being impatient to begin for himself, joined
a company of emigrants from North Hampton, Mass., engaging to drive team.
There were few roads, and great hardships were encountered, and when they
reached the present site of South Bend, Ind., their teams were so badly used
up that by the advice of some old Indian traders they concluded to make for
the portage on the Kankakee, and engaging boats, float down to their
destination. They built dug-outs, and loading their freight and getting
aboard, started on their way May 1st, 1831. Their first night out was marked
with an attack of mosquitoes, larger, more numerous and voracious than they
had ever seen or heard before.
The stream was very narrow, and as
they had lashed their boats together in pairs, it was found that the
narrowness and tortuous windings of the current would not always permit a
passage thus, so they were separated.
But new difficulties awaited
them. Their meat all spoiled and had to be thrown overboard, and their meal,
wet from the rains, also became worthless. There was plenty of game ducks,
geese, and even deer, but they could not get within shooting distance of any
bird or animal. They had been out of food two days and nights, save a few
spoonfuls of flour to each, and were nearly famished, when a chance shot at
a long distance procured them a deer, which, though old, tough and poor, was
the most welcome food they had ever tasted. This, however, did not last
long, and they were soon as destitute as ever.
After two days and
nights travel they reached Antoine Peltier's trading house at Dresden, as
since called, where they rested and took in a plentiful supply of
provisions, and moved on. An accident caused their boat to upset, by which
their provisions were lost again. On short rations, they reached the mouth
of Mazon Creek, at Morris, and saw a log house in the distance. The owner
had gone to Mackinaw to mill, and was expected to return that evening. The
woman and a couple of children were alone, their stock of provisions being a
peck of corn meal and some pork, which she gave the travelers, thus
affording them a comfortable meal. They tried hunting that evening and
luckily killed a fat deer and several ducks, which they divided with their
hospitable hostess, and also pounded out a considerable quantity of corn, of
which they left a portion with her. She told them that Walker's trading
house was only twenty-three miles below, and Crozier's but nine miles
farther, where they could supply all their needs, but forgot to mention the
rapids at Marseilles, above Ottawa, where they were shipwrecked and some of
them well nigh drowned. At length, reaching Walker's, and buying flour and
meal, they floated on to where Utica now stands, and there left their boats
to explore the country and select the site for their colony, sending some
men in a "dug out" to Peoria for groceries for summer use.
On the
9th of June Mr. Blake left his companions and walked to Bailey's Point,
where he planted and raised ten acres of corn.
In the fall, having
disposed of his crop, and having heard of Union Grove as a desirable point
for new settlers, he started across the prairie to explore this region,
stopping on the way at a Mr. Williams', in La Salle County, who pointed out
the way. He found an old Indian trail and followed it across the wide extant
of unbroken prairie. On the way he saw an object approaching that excited
all his curiosity, and coming nearer, his fear; for it proved to be an
Indian dressed in hideous war paint and feathers, armed with gun and knife.
Mr. Blake stepped aside and bade him "howd'y" but the savage never
inclined his head or moved a muscle, and passed on in lofty scorn of the
pale face, who felt relieved as between them time and distance, hill and
valley crept in and widened into a respectable space.
On leaving the
Vermilion country Blake had been directed to a lone tree, which for many
years stood a mile east of Union Grove. Keeping this in sight, he reached
the Grove toward evening, and found entertainment at the house of Mr.
Willis. Here he selected his claim at the eastern limits of the timber,
which became his future home.
[One of the oldest churches of Putnam County is located at Union Grove,
but its history we have been unable to secure, and all we can say upon the
subject is copied from Henry A. Ford's History of Marshall and Putnam
Counties.]
The first church erected in Putnam County was put up in
the Grove in 1830 - a little, rude log building in the wilderness, whither
the pioneers and their families for many miles around repaired for the
worship of God. Here in the season of Indian difficulties there was an
appearance of the warlike mingled with the devotional, as many settlers
earned their guns to meeting, to guard against surprise from the savage foe.
A strong religious sentiment pervaded the entire community, and the
settlement was named Union Grove in token of the peace and harmony which
reigned there, and which it was hoped would abide forever within its
borders.
Florid is the name of a one-time flourishing country village, three and a
half miles north from Hennepin, laid out in 1836 by Thos. W. Stewart and
Aaron Thompson. It attained its greatest growth soon after, having a store,
steam mill, church, school house and a couple of dozen houses. The place has
since gone to decay.
This locality seems to have attracted some of
the earliest settlers of Putnam County. In 1827, Thomas Gallaher, Sr., made
his claim north of, and James W. Willis put up the first cabin in the town
of Florid. Thomas Gallaher, Jr., built a cabin near it, and returned for his
family, who came here in the spring of 1828. Nelson Shepherd came and
located a mile south of Florid in 1828. James G. Ross and Wm. M. Stewart
arrived in 1832.
Another settler worthy of special notice was Samuel
D. Laughlin, who made his claim adjoining that of Nelson Shepherd, south of
Florid, in the spring of 1827. Stephen D. Willis put up a cabin for Mr.
Laughlin, and the latter broke about ten acres of ground that season. He
remained here until 1830, when he brought his family, consisting of himself
and wife, and John W., James G. and his wife, and Mrs. Dr. Davis, all living
in Mt. Palatine; Mary, wife of H. P. Leeper, of Princeton; Wm. M., at
Granville; Sarah A., now Mrs. Wm. McCord, of Onarga; Addison, born in Putnam
County, April 11, 1832, now living in Wisconsin, and Caroline, born here,
but now dead.
It is worthy of mention that during this long journey
Miss Mary Laughlin, afterward Mrs. Babbitt, rode on horseback all the way,
and helped drive the cattle and sheep.
During Mr. Laughlin's absence
after his family, a claim-jumper named Ely undertook to "jump” his
improvements, but the neighbors, at the head of whom was Jeremiah Strawn,
sat down on him so effectually that he never showed himself again.
Samuel D. Laughlin remained upon his farm until his death in February, 1849.
His wife, formerly Miss Rebecca Dunlavy, died three days before him, and
both lie together in the Union Grove Cemetery, which encloses the remains of
Mrs. Geo. Ish, Mrs. McComas and Mrs. Hugh Warnock, the latter probably the
first of the old settlers who was buried here.
Here in 1832 was erected one of those border forts or block houses for
defense against the Indians, known as Fort Cribs, for the reason that a
number of corn-cribs were in the enclosure. It was resorted to by all the
settlers in the vicinity for safety, as many as ninety-eight being here at
one time.
A memorable event was the birth while in this fort of
Milton Shepherd, son of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Shepherd.
Wm. Stewart,
called "Big Billy," commanded the fort. No attack was made upon it, though
an Indian was seen lurking about in the timber, probably a spy.
Among those quartered here during the scare, in addition to the families of
Willis and Shepherd, was James G. Ross, Hugh Warnock, S. D. Willis, Wm. M.
Stewart, William Stewart, Rev. Mr. McDonald, James Harper, Mr. Rexford,
George Ramsey, William Ham, Mr. Wagner and Geo. B. Willis and their
families, besides some unmarried men.
While the citizens were forted
up, the school that had been carried on at the "Grove" was removed to Mr.
Willis' barn, near the fort, as a place of greater safety, where some forty
pupils were in attendance. One day some little girls playing in the edge of
the timber imagined they saw an Indian, and ran screaming to the fort. Mrs.
Willis, with motherly instinct, thought of the unprotected little ones in
school, and at the supposed risk of her life ran to the barn, crying at the
top of her voice, "The Indians are coming; run for your lives." The school
room was emptied in a twinkling, and all were got safe inside and the heavy
doors closed. The alarm proved false, but it was a terrible shock to the
women and children in the stockade.
Another time the fort was thrown
into the wildest alarm by Mr. Ramsey, who was on guard, declaring he saw a
whole row of Indians marching right towards the fort. The men got out their
arms, but no enemy appearing, some over-bold volunteers investigated the
matter and found his row of Indians was a row of poplars which the shadows
gave a distorted appearance, and his fears did the rest. The poplars were
afterward known as "Ramsey's Injuns."
The first newspaper in Putnam County was the Hennepin Journal,
established in 1837 by Dr. Wilson Everett. The country was sparsely settled,
the value of advertising but little appreciated by business men, and it led
a sickly existence until December, 1838, when it gave up the ghost. The
Genius of Universal Emancipation was established in 1845, but opposition to
its teachings was so great that it was removed to Lowell, near Ottawa, where
a more friendly population welcomed it. In 1845 Philip Lynch started the
Hennepin Herald, and ran it from 1845 to 1848. v After this came the
Hennepin Tribune, by Birney & Duncan, in 1856, and existed for three years.
The Putnam County Standard was established by J. F. Grable, with Thomas
Stanton editor, in 1860. In 1861 it was run by W. H. G. Birney, and in 1863
by J. S. Grable. In 1868 I. H. Cook began the publication of the Putnam
Record, which still exists. It is a neatly printed seven-column paper, very
industriously edited, and is well supported. The office is supplied with
suitable presses, and a full outfit for all ordinary printing.
"Besides these home enterprises, the plan that finally resulted in starting
at Chicago The Herald of the Prairie, afterward Prairie Herald, later and
better known as the Western Citizen, was first discussed and settled by
Zabina Eastman, Hooper Warren, and James G. Dunlavy, in the log cabin of the
latter at Union Grove. This was before 1844. It appears from the facts here
gathered that from 1837 to 1876 inclusive a paper has been sustained
eighteen out of thirty-nine years." *Warren.
Extracted 14 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from Records of the Olden Time, 1880, by Spencer Ellsworth, pages 198-207.
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