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DECATUR (yt'ifUytJSMl $0m6ert, HERALD p°k 5Early Settlers Gave Names To TownshipsMACON county waa once governed bjr a commission. In recent years there has been talk of going back to it.Neighborhood jealousies and political ambitions of community leaders were the chief handicaps to the early administration of the county’s government under a commissioner's court. Similar factors were operating in other counties of the state, and this led to the passing of an enabling act by the Legislature in 1851 authorizing counties to change to the township form of government. Macon county did not make the change until 1859.Commissioner's Court Benjamin Wilson, Elisha Freeman and Janies Miller were chosen as members of the flr3t commissioners’ court which transacted all forms of county government after the county was established. Some dissatisfaction appeared early. In a dispute over the location of the county seat north or south of, the river, a fight occurred in which one man sustained injuries whieh later caused his death.The commissioners’, court was composed* of a county judge and. two associate judges. As the population grew, the age old complaint of a county seat clique was heard in., Macon and other counties of the state. The commissioners did not have much money to handle; only a few hundred dollars a year in the first few years of the county’s existence, but outlying communities felt a jealousy of the power vested in the county seat,Some effort was made to remedy this complaint by electing one or more commissioners from outside settlements. It waa natural to select a leading citizen; and as might be expected, he usually moved to the county seat and determined to launch out in a political career. The-new member, then was classed as a member of the county seat ring.- Sought Township Form Finally, in September, 1859, Solomon Garver circulated a petition calling for an election to adopt the township form of government.At that time the county commissioners' court was composed of Judge John Ricketts and Associated Justices M. G, Cameron and Jacob Spangler. The election was held Nov.8, 1859, and the proposal was adopted, The lure of numerous political jobs under the new system brought out the favorable vote. Political advancement 80 years ago was an ambition of most men in the county. There were few other ways then for one to gain more than local attention.In the election to adopt the township form of government, there were 10 voting precincts; Ward’s, Decatur, Maroa, Prairie City, Big Creek, Draper's, Badger, Madison, Macon and Garver. A month later the commissioners appointed William Can-trlll, David ( Garver and James Dingman as a committee to divide the county into townships.The first townships were Friends Creek, Maroa, Montgomery (now Austin), Bull Point (now HickoryPoint), Decatur, Long Creek, Whitmore, Oakley, Harris (now Harris-town,) Wilson (now Mt. Zion), South Wheatland, South Macon, Madison (now Blue Mound), and Niantic.First Supervisors In 18G4 a part of Harristown township was detached to form II! ini township. In 1869, a portion of South Macon township was detached to form Pleasant View township. The county's youngest township, Milam, was formed in 1869, from territory detached from Mt. Zion township.Full elates of township officers were elected in each township. The first board pf supervisors, displacing the county commissioners, met April 30, 1860. The board’s membership: Austin township—James S. Parker.Blue Mound—-John L, Armstrong. Decatur—Henry B. Durfee; assistant, John W. Koehler.Friends Creek—David K. Wilson. Harris—Abram Eyman.Hickory Point—J. T. Braden Long Creek—John Rucker.Maroa—William Crawford.Mt. Zion—William C. Mayers. Niantic—J. H. Hughes.Oakley—George W. Forest.South Macon—W. -D. Hamilton. South Wheatland—Isaac S Board-man.Whitmore—James Lichtcnbcrger. Mr. Durfee of Decatur township was elected chairman of the first county board.First settlers reached some of the present township territories as early as 1822. In others there were no settlers before 1850.Settling of Wheatland South Wheatland ^township was named after Wheatland,” the Pennsylvania home of James Buchanan, candidate for President at the time of the organization of the county. The first settler in what is now South Wheatland township was William Downing, who came in 1822 to establish a trading post. He remained a short time; then was driven out by Indians and went to Bond county. John Ward was the first permanent settler in the community. The Ward settlement then waa known as Indian Bluff.”Friends Creek township was named after George W. Friend, a native of Ohio, who came in 1822 and built the first log cabin in that locality.Mt. Zion township was first called Wilson township In memory of an early settler.Whitmore township also was named after an early settler who first came in 1828; although the name of John Draper was associated with the first settlement of importance in the territory. The Draper settlement was a fairly large community by 1840. The present village of Oreana was not platted until 1812.Harristown township was named after Major Harris who fought in the Mexican war. The first settler in the lerriteny now comprising the township was William Hanks, who came in 1828. The village of Harristown was laid out in 1856.Blue Mound township , was firstknown as Madison, the name being derived from the Madison settlement, near the Peru school. William War-nick, first settler, came in 1824. He became the first sheriff after the organization of the county. Persons who believe In inherited talents may find some proof of their thedry In the fact that a great grandson of the county’s first sheriff is now a member of the Decatur police force.The manner in which Hickory Point township derived its name is too obvious for comment by the county’s historians. The township was first known as Bull Point, which may as have referred to frogs as much as to cattle. David Florey was the first settler. He caipe from Virginia in 1825 and built the first house. John Hanks came from Indiana in 1828; then wrote back to Thomas Lincoln, who followed with his family in 1830. .Oakley township apparently derived Its name from a source similar to Hickory Point. James Howell was the first settler in what is now Oakley township. He came in 182-5. The first store in Sangamon was no! built until 1857. The present village of Oakley was laid out in 1S56.Wabash Brought NianticNiantic township got its name from New England, being named for a town In Connecticut, the foimer home of some of the firs^ sctt*ers in, the township. The village of Niantic was laid out in 1862, Immediately after the Wabash It'd'way Co. completed its line. The village was first known as Lockhart; then Long Point; and Prairie City, before it adopted the name of the townshipPleasant View township had for Its first settler, Valentine Claywell, who came from Kentucky in 1828, The village of Blue Mound was laid out after the railroad was built.There was no settler in wlial Isnow South Macon township at the time the county was fir3t organized. William Morris and his family wcro the first settlers, coming in 1835 The village of Macon was laid out after the completion of the Illinois Central railroad.The first settlers In what is now - Long Creek township were WiHa'm B. Baker and his brother-in-law David Davis, who came In 1828 A settlement of Hopejvcll was the first in the territory, and it boasted a postoffice in 1852.Named After IndiansMaroa township is the only one in the county to get Its name from a« Indian tribe. James Pettyjohn, a Kentuckian who came in 1835, wan the first settler. The village of Maroa was laid out after the completion of the Illinois Central railway.The territory now comprising Austin township did not attract early selLlers. Amos Wright, who settled there in 1845, was the first.Mini had its first settler in 1850, when Walter Turner moved in from Ohio. The village of Warrensburg was laid out as a railroad town.Milam .township, the youngest in the group, also was the last territory in the cot nty to attract settle! s. Perry Gruff and James Greenfield, came in 1851.Milam’s name was suggested by J. R. Gleason, who thought that the Milam apple thrive better there than anywhere si a in the county.Macon county derived it name from Nathaniel Macon, the North Carolina soldier and statesman and a speaker of the National House. Afterward elected to the Senate, he retired full of honors the year before Macon county was established. Decatur, the county seat, was named for Commodore Stephen Decatur of naval fame; and it Is one of 13 Decaturs in the United States.FARMERS, LANDOWNERSRemembering“MEIN HOST” CHARLES LAUXfounder in 1861ofThat Decatur Institution--the
Newspaper Details
Decatur Herald
Decatur, Illinois, US
Sun, Jul 07, 1929
Page 5
Full Page
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Decatur P.
IL, USA 05 Feb 2025
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