This township is one of the best watered in the
county. It is crossed by Scattering
Point Creek in its western part; by Rook’s Creek, from which it receives its
name, through the eastern and central portions; by the Vermilion River, in the
northwest corner, and variously traversed by numerous small tributaries of
these streams. The eastern and northern
parts are well timbered, though the large trees fell before the axe of the
pioneer, and by the old water mills were rapidly converted into lumber.
Away from the streams, the
surface of the township is rather undulating, and well adapted to stock
grazing. The land is very productive,
and many of the farmers confine their occupation to raising grain. In the early settlement of the township,
wheat was one of the principal crops grown.
Of late years, however, corn has done better and is now the principal
grain crop grown. Oats and rye do well
and are raised to a limited extent.
The earliest settlement is
this township dates prior to the Black Hawk war. It is a noticeable fact, and one the reader
cannot well pass by in these pages, that all early settlers located near the
timber. There were many causes tending
this move. The majority came from a
wooded country, and, not knowing the prairie could be cultivated and having no
implements with which to do it, had they desired, allowed it to remain as
nature formed it. Being accustomed to
log cabins, large fireplaces (and who of such does not yet love to linger over
the wide old fireplace?), with the blazing log fire, they very naturally sought
for the same comforts in their new home.
Coal was not then to be had; hence we find the pioneers of Western life,
with scarce an exception, taking their claims near the timber, and in many
cases, planting their first crops there.
The first settler in the
township was Roderick Rook, from
whom the creek and the township afterward received each its name. He brought his family here in the latter part
of 1830, and located a claim where is now the farm of Nathan Huston. Mr. Rook came
from Pennsylvania to the Sucker State, and though this part was then a
wilderness, with hardly an inhabitant, with his German pertinacity, he stuck
boldly out for it, and that year found a suitable home and determined to
locate.
At that date, there was not a
sign of civilization where Pontiac now stands, and not a village in this part
of Illinois could be found. The nearest
point was Bloomington, on the south, then scarcely worth the name of that
village. Ottawa, on the north, was just
coming into notice; Chicago was a small trading village, with more Indians than
white men; Springfield was only small town; Jacksonville had about 200 inhabitants;
while “Egypt” was the “land of corn and wine” to many a frontier settler, who
replenished his crop of corn from that locality when nature failed him or his
supply was exhausted.
Mr. Rook built a small cabin
immediately on his arrival and began the subjugation of his pioneer farm. Mr. John
Johnson, who followed him in 1833, thinks he came in the spring of 1831,
and raised a crop that season. He is
certain he preceded Mr. Garret Blue,
the second settler in the present bounds of Rook’s Creek Township, whom he
thinks came in the autumn of 1831. Mr.
Rook remained on his claim until about 1835, when he sold to Robert Breckenridge and went to
Missouri. From that State as though
desirous of getting farther in advance of settlements, he went to Texas. In all his removals, his family remained with
him, and with him went to the Lone Star State.
Mr. Blue’s family consisted of his wife and several children. Mrs. Johnson thinks a daughter of his, Keziah, was the
first white child born here, and that the marriage of another daughter, May, to
Lemuel Barrett, was the first nuptial event
in the settlement. “We generally had a
frolic, when a marriage occurred in the neighborhood,” said Mrs. Johnson, in a
conversation with the writer, “but when Mary was married; there wasn’t enough
to make a frolic if we had invited everybody on the creek.” Weddings were a source of great pleasure to
the pioneers, and when one occurred, everybody was always invited. A great affront could not have been given
than to have omitted inviting any neighbor to a wedding. It was rarely if ever, done, and only when a
feud or an ill feeling existed between the family of the groom or bride and
some of their neighbors – a state of feeling rarely existing. A settlement of a few families was made on
the eastern side of Rook’s Creek about 1831 or 1832, by a Mr. Hill, David Kinkaid,
and a Mr. Moxley. These persons, it seems made a very short
stay, removing in a year or two after their settlement. They were, no doubt, only looking for a permanent
location, and not feeling satisfied with the country here, soon left for other
parts. While living her, Mrs. Hill died.
This is believed to be the first death in the settlement. So of all the pioneers who had so bravely
endured the trials incident to frontier life, Mrs. Hill was the first to lay herself down in that quiet sleep that “knows no waking.”
We have digressed somewhat in
our narrative, and will return to Mr. Blue.
He, as has been narrated, sold to Jacob
Marks. When Mr. Marks took possession,
Mr. Blue went to Wolf Point, where he passed the remainder of his days. One of his daughters married and removed
further west; the other is now the wife of Reuben
Bennett, of Amity Township.
One of the earliest residents
near the timber skirting Rook’s Creek was Andrew
McMillan, whose claim was in Pontiac Township. His sons were grown when they came. It was in his house that the first election
for county officers was held, May 8, 1837, when the highest number of votes any
candidate received was eight-six.
Mr. John Johnson, already referred, came to the settlement in August
1833. He brought his family first to the
cabin of Mr. Blue, with whom he
remained until his crops were gathered.
He then went to his own selected claim and there he is yet living. He built a small log cabin, in which they
lived until he was able to erect a better one.
His first son occupied the site of his present home, and here he and his
family passed many happy days.
The oft-repeated story of the
emigrant’s removal to the West need hardly be repeated here. It was substantially the same in all
cases. Almost all came in the large
canvas-covered wagons, drawn by as many horses as their means allowed them to
own. On the way, they camped out when no
sheltering house could be found, and prepared their evening, morning and noon
meals by the roadside over a fire kindled for the purpose. In this way he journeyed on, over plains,
through forest, fording streams, with the sun, in many cases, his only guide
from one landmark to another. When he
arrived at his destination, his first care was the erection of a cabin, which,
with its mud or puncheon floor, its stick chimney, rude door and no window save
the openings left here and there between the logs, sufficed him many days for
house. Mr. Johnson,
says that when he arrived on the banks of Rook’s Creek, no families save those
mentioned – Mr. Rook’s and Mr. Blue’s were living in the confines of what is
not Town 28, Range 4east. He made the
third actual settler, the families of Mr. Hill, Mr. Kinkaid
and Mr. Moxley, from their short stay, not being
counted among actual settlers. Mr.
Johnson says concerning the time of this settlement.” The prairie west of me
was as wild as it ever was. There was
not a house to be seen anywhere on it, and one could travel many miles before
he would find one. Wolves were as plenty
as blackberries, and were rather bold in their movements. I could have shot lot s of them from my cabin
door. They would commonly stay in the
prairie in the daytime, and come to the woods at night. Deer were not so plenty as first after a few
years. The Kickapoo
Indians had hunted a good deal around her, and had driven them away. The killed more does than bucks and hence put
a check on their increase.” After a few
years, however, they increased rapidly, and Mr. Johnson and other pioneers tell
how they could go out on the prairie any time and see from fifty to one
hundred. The early settlers often
supplied themselves with clothing by tanning the hide of the deer, dressing it
with oil and making pants or cloaks. If
tanned and dressed properly, the hide would always remain pliable, and not
shrink when wet, and was very durable.
Wild ducks, geese, cranes and prairie chickens abounded then in great
numbers. They furnished plenty of food
for the early settlers, and afforded fine opportunities to any wandering nimrod
who desired to enjoy this healthful sport.
The gradual encroachment of the white man drove way these natives of the
prairies, until now not one remains.
The next settler after Mr.
Johnson was Mr. Robert Breckenridge. He came in 1834, purchased the claim of Mr.
Rook; returned to Ohio, and sent his boys to the new home. They brought part of their goods in wagons,
and shipped part by water around to Hennepin, where they found them, and from
thence brought them to Rook’s Creek.
Another native of the Buckeye
State, Thomas Pendiel,
with his brother David, came about the same time. They did not remain long, however, removing
to some other locality.
David Corbin
also came to Rook’s Creek about the same date, from the Vermilion River. A short time after this, the land was
surveyed and the settlers were required to go to Danville to the land office
and pay for their claims. They commonly
paid Government price, $1.25 per acre, and were always allowed first choice in
the entry of their homesteads. Did a
speculator attempt to overbid them at the land sale; they were a kind of law
unto themselves, and per-bidding against any of them. He must content himself with un- settled
lands, and generally acceded to the demands of the settlers.
Mrs. Johnson states that for
several years after the settlements we have described, they were allowed to
live alone, no new settlers appearing.
This part of the State had as yet not outlet for its products nearer
than Ottawa or Chicago. Bloomington was
only a small trading place and post office, affording no market for grain or
hogs. As the country nearer the river was
yet thinly settled, emigrants located there, in the Western Reserve or in the
Sangamon country. This retarded the
upper central par of Illinois, and not until the completion of the canal and
the railroads did that part of the State whose history these pages chronicle
fill rapidly with settlers.
In the spring of 1840, school
was opened in a small log house, in what is now Amity Township. It stood near the line dividing Amity from
Rook’s Creek, neither of which were then contemplated, and was the school for
all the children on the creek. Many came
quite a distance and boarded with some of the nearest residents. The teacher received her pay directly from
the patrons in the form of subscriptions.
The school was maintained three months, and had an attendance of from
fifteen to twenty scholars daily. The
next school in the neighborhood was kept in Mr. Johnson’s cabin the following
summer, and had about the same number of scholars; studied the same branches,
prominent among which were the three “R’s”.
Not long after this, the community concluded a schoolhouse would be a
good adjunct in their midst, and quite a number getting together on the farm of
Mr. Breckenridge, erected a very substantial log structure, and the following winter,
1842-43 saw a very credible school taught therein. Like its predecessors, it was a subscription
school, and in fact for over ten year none other was sustained. In the erection of the log schoolhouse, the Edgingtons took a prominent part, and were always firm
supporters of any and all education enterprises.
In Amity Township, the
principal sale of the school section was made in 1847, through five years
before this, twenty acres had been sold.
The sale of the land created a fund for school purposes, and was the
principal reason of the firm establishment of the school in the early days of
that township. The people of Rook's
Creek, though known there only by the Government survey, desired to profit by
the success of Amity, and petitioned for the sale of the school section. November 24, 1854, this sale was effected, and with the fund on hand derived from the state
only yearly enumeration, constituted a fund amounting to nearly two thousand
dollars. With this amount secured to the
township, a good beginning could be made.
It is to be remembered all this money was not paid as yet, but was
secured. At a meeting of the residents
in the township, it was decided to make two or three districts and erect in the
one most populous a suitable schoolhouse at once. The school was in operation during the winter
of 1854-5, as we find from a report made by William McMillan, Township Treasurer, for the latter year. From this report we learn that there was
taught one school by a “male” teacher; that he had 30 scholars – 16 boys and 14
girls – attending his school; that he was paid $18 per month, and that there
was only $21 in the treasury to pay him, compelling him to wait until the tax
was collected. This report further
states that the amount of the principal of the township fund was $1,853.12;
that the amount of interest on township fund paid into the township treasury
was $186.15; that the amount of State or common school fund received by the
Township Treasurer was $216.50; that the amount of ad valorem
tax was $$572, which he is able to record as all paid. The Treasurer states, also, that the “whole
amount paid for building, repairing, purchasing, renting and furnishing school
houses was $686, and that the amount paid for school apparatus was $15.61. Mr. McMillan reports three districts
organized at that date, including the school mentioned, the other two building
houses shortly after. From the erection
of the school house and its school of thirty scholars dates the beginning of
the public common schools of Rook’s Creek Township, and from that time, as new
settlements were made, other house were built, until the common number – nine –
is now reached. Good schools are now the
order, and are regularly sustained from five to seven months during the
year.
Religion and education
generally go hand in hand in the history of our country. The first settler desires a schoolhouse and
then a church, and rests not until he gets them. Earlier than the school, came the ministers
of the Gospel and proclaimed its good news.
But the people were poor, not able to support a minister, and contented
themselves with meeting in each other’s cabins and holding a service of prayer
and song. After the schoolhouses were
built, they occupied those until they were able to erect a house exclusively
for religious purposes. The first
attempts for the formation of a religious society were made in the autumn of
1858. In October of that year, Rev. D. Anderson, a Methodist minister,
who had been several times along the creek holding services in schoolhouses and
dwellings, organized a class consisting of Samuel
and Martha M. Malone, John and Mary Lilly and Jesse and Catherine Legg – six members. Mr. Malone was appointed Class Leader, and
Mr. Lilly, Steward. Before the year
closed, this little band was joined by Mrs. Lucinda Riggle. It met in the old schoolhouse near the
church, in which building the congregation met until the completion of their
present house of worship.
Rev. A.C. Frick
was the next preacher here, and under his labors the congregation increased to
forty members. In 1860, Rev. Brandenburg was appointed; in
1861, Rev. Robt.
Pierce; in 1862, Re. P. A. Crist; and in 1864, Rev. A. P. Hull; and as the congregation had materially increased
in wealth and numbers, it was determined to erect a church. As this required a legal existence, that year
Trustees were elected. Rev. A. E. Day was appointed preacher
for 1865 and 1866, and during the latter year a revival was held, resulting in
the accession of quite a number of members.
The church was completed the next year, while Rev. Thomas Cotton was Pastor, the dedicatory sermon being preached
by Rev. E. P. Hall. At the Conference the next year, the Rook’s
Creek Church appeared for the first time on the church records, and has since
been regularly represented. This same
year, the Prospect society was formed.
Two years after, a class of several members was formed at Gray’s
schoolhouse, and O. P. Croswell
appointed Leader. In 1871, the parsonage
was erected at an expense of $622. The
congregation is now entirely self-sustaining and is quite prosperous. The Pastor is Rev. J. L. Ferris.
The Germans have a church in
the northwest part of the township, erected some two or three years ago. They are quite numerous in this vicinity; are
industrious and rapidly cultivating and improving their lands.
Rook’s Creek Township was one of the first formed in the
county, and, as has been noticed, was named in honor of its first settler, Mr.
Rook.
The first town meeting was
held April 6, 1858, and the first election that spring. William T. Garner was its first
Supervisor. Among its prominent men is Mr. Geo. B. Gray, now a member of the
State legislature. He is one of the
wealthiest farmers in the township; has been President of the Agricultural
Society at different times, and has always been one of the county’s most
influential and honored citizens.
Away back in the annals of
its earliest years, the township possessed an unenviable name in the county,
owing to the presence of a few who can, if they chose, give an ominous name to
any locality. Happily these are all gone
now, and the township bears a name equally honored with all its
contemporaries. Of the time of which we
are speaking there lived on the edge of Pontiac Township Mr. John Kelley, an eccentric individual, who had a habit of coming
to town every day. So constant had this
practice become, that he was known by everyone; and did he by chance omit his
daily trip, everybody noticed it, and straightway wondered what had come over
Uncle Johnny. He did not, it seems
entertain a very high opinion of Rook’s Creek Township and though a strong Universalist would declare if there was a place of future
punishment, it was in Rook’s Creek or near there. A local poet thus records an absence of Uncle
Johnny from town, the stir it creates, and where he was found:
“Where Rook’s Creek rolls its turbid tide
To meet Vermilion’s gentler flow,
Three weary travelers were espied,
Just as the setting sun was low.
Their shouts filled all the evening air;
“Where is John Kelley; where, oh where?”
“Where is John Kelly?” still the cried,
And echo rolled the notes afar,
Until a distant voice replied,
Like Music from some distant star;
You’ll find me here, below the ridge,
Just northward from the Rook’s Creek Bridge.
They found him digging gin the ground,
The victim of some mystic spell’
He cast his fearful eyes around,
He said: “I fear there is a hell. I think that I can plainly trace
Its indications in this place”.
Uncle Johnny is now an inhabitant of Kansas, but is
well known to every settler
in all
this country and many will readily trace his peculiarities in the poetry
quoted.
Rooks Creek Township is now fully settled. Several excellent farms are in its boundary;
and many wealthy farmers reside where once
“The Indian in all his glory stood,
The lord of all the viewed.”
The present township officers
are as follows: Clerk, S.L. Cunningham; Collector, H. Hutson;
Assessor, S. B. Tuttle; Road
Commissioner, M.Bonham;
Supervisor, James Marks; and Wm. Askew and S. B. Tuttle, Justices of the Peace.
A History of Livingston
County, Illinois
Wm. Le Baron Jr. & Co. Chicago 1878
p. 436-444
History transcribed by Karen
Adams, volunteer