Month: March 2020

FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP BIOS

W. F. BRUNING, farmer; P. 0. Forest City; was born near Bremen, Germany,
Feb. 5, 1822; when about 18 years of age, he shipped on board the German whaleship Izaria, bound for Greenland, where the crew engaged in catching whales and seals ; the Izaria sailed within a very short distance of the most northern point known at that
time. Mr. Bruning followed the sea for several years, visiting many different parts of
the world, and seeing many curious sights. In 1848, be came to Illinois, and, in the
following year, located on the farm where he now resides. June 18, 1841, he married Miss Magdelain Allebrand in New York City ; they have seven children, six of
them boys Elizabeth J., Fred L., Harman G., Ira W., Henry T., William A. and
George A. Mr. Bruning assisted in organizing the first Sunday school in this part of
the country, and is a consistent member, of the Baptist Church. He owns a fine farm
of 160 acres situated near Forest City, 111.

GEORGE W. DUNN, physician, Forest City; son of Richard and Ann (Wilkinson) Dunn. His father was born at Gales, Yorkshire, England, in 1806 and died
in 1875 ; he was a shoemaker. His mother was a daughter of James and Letitia Wilkinson, of England, was born in 1809 and is still living, in England. They had four
children, all of whom survive, viz., James, living at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, who
is general freight agent of the Trafalgar Street Station ; Jane, living in Richmond,
England ; Ann, married and living in Edinburgh, Scotland ; and the subject of our
sketch, who was born June 29, 1841, in Richmond, Yorkshire, England ; he early
attended school at the national and corporation schools in Richmond; in 1854, he was
appointed as pupil teacher in the national school, in which he served five years. He
passed a yearly examination ; in 1860, he came to Massachusetts and engaged for six months in a woolen mill ; leaving there, he assisted in the office of the American Temperance Union, at New York, for some time, and afterward engaged in charge of the
M. E. Church, at Milburn, N. J.; in September, 1861, he was received into the North
Ohio Conference of the M. E. Church, and, in 1863, was ordained Deacon and, in 1865,
Elder. He was married, Sept. 10, 1863, to Kate Shaffner, daughter of Martin and
Susannah ShafFner, of Pennsylvania ; her father was born in 1787 and died in 1870 ; her mother was born in 1809 and died in 1850; both were members of the M. E. Church, he for sixty-five years. Mrs. Dunn was born April 4,1841. In 1865, the Doctor
moved to Missouri and settled in Knox Co., engaging in the ministry and practicing
medicine; in 1869, he moved to Barton Co., Mo., and continued in the ministry and
practicing, afterward moving to Jasper Co., Mo., continuing the same avocations ; in 1871-72, he attended the Eclectic Medical College, at Cincinnati. Ohio, was valedic- torian of the class and graduated in the spring of 1872; he returned and continued
his practice at Georgia City, Jasper Co., Mo.; he afterward moved to Newton Co., Mo..
practicing there some time, and thence to Barton Co., in 1876 ; he still continued his professions, and, while there, was made President of Barton County Sabbath School
Association for two terms; they then located at Forest City, 111., July 12, 1877,
where they have been ever since ; he still continues his practice and is doing a lucrative business. He not only devotes his time to his profession but throws his soul into the duties of the Sabbath school, church and temperance movement, which should be
the effort of every physician who expects the smile of Providence on his labors. He
is now Vice President of the Sabbath School Association of Forest City Township
and was chose”n lay delegate to the Illinois Conference of the M. E. Church for 1879 ; he and his wife retain their membership in the M. E. Church at Forest City ; he has
been a member of the Missouri State Eclectic Medical Society and is at present a member of the Illinois Eclectic Medical Society ; he was also Corresponding Secretary of
the Missouri Medical Association. They have five children Harry W., A. Lincoln,
Kingsley G , Anna K., and Richard Martin deceased in February, 1879.

GEORGE HIMMEL, farmer ; P. O. Bishop’s Station ; is a brother of J. W. C. and T. F. Himuiel, whose sketches appear elsewhere in this work ; he was born Dec. 11,
1835, in Germany, and in 1846 he came with the family to Mason Co., 111., making
their first settlement in Quiver Township, on the farm now occupied by T. F. Himmel ; he remained there until married Sept. 14, 1859, to Elizabeth Haas, daughter of Carl
Gumbel, of .Germany, a blacksmith. They soon settled on her farm of 200 acres
in Spring Lake Township, remaining there eleven years, and then moved to Forest City
Township, and settled there on 160 acres, partly inherited by his father; they have in
all 520 acres, probably worth 50 per acre. In 1864, he was licensed as a local preacher of the Evangelical Association ; he has had nine children Elmira, Katie E.,
Charles E., Annie, George A., Henry, Mary, Frank and an infant deceased ; all belong
to Church. Mr. Himmel has been connected with the school offices, and has been Superintendent of Sabbath schools. Though his sun is now declining in the western horizon, he
enjoys good health, and is quite active for his years. Faithful and reliable in all his
relations of life, he bids fair for more extended usefulness in the country where he
resides.

MRS. LOIS A. INGERSOLL, farmer ; P. O. Forest City ; widow of the lateSamuel Hinkley Ingersoll, who was born in Hinckley, Medina Co., Ohio, Dec. 20, 1828. At
the age of 21, he went with the rush of emigration that swept westward to California in 1849, and there remained until 1855 ; upon his return, he went into the commission
business in Chicago, 111., where he remained for about a year. In 1856, he moved to
a farm about five miles south of Forest City, Mason Co. He was united in marriage
with Miss Lois A. Van Orman, Dec. 13, 1858 ; Mrs. Ingersoll is a native of Medina Co.,
Ohio. They had ten children, seven of whom are living, three boys and four girls. When Mason Co. was first organized, under township organization, Mr. Ingersoll was
elected the first Supervisor of what was then Mason Plains Township, now Forest City
Township, and was re-elected, year after year, with a few exceptions, during the remainder of his life ; he died in the prime of life, deeply mourned by all who knew him, Nuv.
30, 1877. The estate comprises 1,060 acres of as fine farming land as can be found in Mason Co. Mrs. Ingersoll has, with rare business tact, succeeded in managing her large
farms admirably well.

JOSIAH JACKSON, carpenter and builder, Forest City ; was born in Seneca
Co., Ohio, May 8, 1834, where he remained until he arrived at manhood. He married
Miss Mary A. Beard Jan. 6, 1856. In the spring of 1857, they left their home i Ohio and came to Illinois, locating in Vandalia, where he worked at his trade as carpenter for four years. He then removed to the place where Forest City now stands, and
immediately went to work at his trade. Mr. Jackson built the first two dwelling-houses
in Forest City. He.continued to work at his trade here for a year and a half, when he
returned with his family to his old home in Ohio, and resumed his accustomed occupation. May 2, 1864, he enlisted in Co. B, 169th Ohio V. I., and was mustered out of
the service in the following September ; he then returned to his family in Ohio. Again
the little family took their way to Illinois, where he found employment as a school
teacher, immediately after his arrival. Mr. Jackson entered into the mercantile business,
but met with reverses that caused him to abandon it, and resume his old occupation of
carpenter and builder, in which he is still engaged. He was elected Justice of the Peace
in 1866, and again in 1874 ; he has held a commission as Notary Public for twelve
years in Forest City ; for the last ten years, he has devoted all his spare time to the
study of the law, and is occasionally engaged in the pracrice of that profession, with a
fair degree of success. With the usual amount of study and practice, he is bound to succeed in this profession. Mr. Jackson has just been awarded the contract for building
the schoolhouse at Manito, which is a capital indorsement of his capacity and energy
as a business man. They have been blessed with four children Eva D., born May 28,
1857; B. Fuller, Aug. 28, 1860; Sherman G., Jan. 22, 1865; Rutherford, Oct. 3, 1876.

HELENE KREILING, farmer; P. 0. Bishop’s Station; was born September
25, 1821, in Germany; her father’s name was Harman Wittc; she came to Illinois in 1850
and in 1852, was married to B. H. Kreiling. who was born in Germany and came to Illinois about 1 850 ; they settled for some time on a farm near Havana ; in 1854, they bought and settled on the present farm of 180 acres, which they have improved and made of fine quality. Mr. Kreiling held offices connected with the
schools, and was a member of the Lutheran Church; he died April 1, 1879, leaving a wife and nine children Harman, Anna, Henry, Maggie, Mary, Liddie, John, August
and George. They are all members of the Lutheran Church.

ZACHARIAH MILLER, farmer ; P. 0. Forest City ; like many other citizens of Mason Co., Mr. Miller was born in the adjoining territory, which is now Menard
Co.; he was born Aug. 24, 1823, near where Athens now stands. He married Miss
Nancy Cogdall, a native of Kentucky, Sept. 5, 1845 ; they have eight boys and two
girls, all living except the eldest son, Nult, who died in 1872 ; their births were as fol- lows : Minerva, Aug. 3, 1846 ; Nult, Oct. 5, 1848 ; Hardin, March 13, 1851 ; Sidney,
Nov. 7, 1852; Mahala, Jan. 19, 1854; Simeon, Dec. 25, 1856; Clinton, Feb. 25,
1859 ; Austin, Dec. 27, 1860 ; Terry, Aug. 14, 1863 ; Holley, Sept, 3, 1865. When
Mr. Miller, with his wife and one baby, came to Mason Co., in 1846, his worldly pos- sessions consisted of a horse and cow. Mr. Miller now owns 200 acres of good farm
land in the vicinity of Forest City, Mason Co., 111.; he now resides in the village of
Forest City.

ELI T. NEIKIRK, station agent, Forest City; born in Washington Co., Md.,
Sept. 6, 1828 ; moved to the present site of Forest City in 1853 ; his wife’s maiden name was Olivia G. Beard ; they have had four children Clyde G. (who is now sta- tion agent on the P., P. & J. R. R., at Pekin, 111.), Charles Otho (telegraph operator
and railroad book-keeper, at Forest City, 111.), and the two younger children, Laura D. and Don Juan. He was elected Justice of the Peace in 1857, and served four years. He enlisted as a private in Co. K, 85th I. V. I., and was commissioned Second Lieutenant by Gov. Yates May 26, 1863 ; the regiment was engaged in many severe battles,
and closed their military career with the memorable march to the sea under Gen. Sherman ; he was mustered out in 1865, having served nearly three years. On his return
to Forest City, he opened a grocery store and restaurant, which he conducted for nine years ; he was appointed station agent on the P., P. & J. R. R., at Forest City,
which position he now holds ; he owns 240 acres of fine land in the vicinity of Forest City.

T. G. ONSTOT, merchant,- Forest City ; was born in Sugar Grove, in what is now
Menard Co. His father settled in that section in 1824, being one of the very first set- tlers of Sangamon Co. The Onstot family moved to New Salem, on the Sangamon
lliver, in 1831. At this time, the timber-lands along the Sangamon and Salt Creek were full of roving Indians. The family remained at New Salem, where the elder Mr.
Onstot kept the village tavern, until 1840. Abraham Lincoln boarded at this house
when he began his first law studies with Squire Green, and made his home with the
Onstot family for two years, during which time young Lincoln practiced surveying in the surrounding country. Mr. Lincoln and the elder Mr. Onstot were warm friends as long as they lived. In 1840, the town of New Salem was moved bodily two miles north, to the present site of the city of Petersburg, which was made the county seat of
Menard Co. The Onstot family moved their buildings with the rest to the new town,
where they resided until 1847, when they went to Havana, where they remained until 1852. Mr. Onstot, the subject of this sketch, was married to Miss Sarah L. Ellsworth
March 18, 1852. Immediately after their marriage, they moved upon a piece of raw prairie, three miles from the nearest house, where, by hard work and frugal habits, they
contrived to improve their farm and make some advance in prosperity. Mr. Onstot lived on this farm for thirteen years, when he moved to Forest City, and engaged in the lumber business, and still continues in this line of trade. In the spring of 1879, he formed a partnership with George W. Pemberton, under the firm name of Geo. W. Pemberton
& Co , and engaged in a general merchandise business. Mr. and Mrs. Onstot have had six children, three of whom are living Ella C., born May 6, 1859, died Dec. 20, 1878;
Mary E., Susan E. and Lulu C. They also have an adopted son. Mr. Onstot has served the people of Forest City Township as Tax-Collector for four years, and Justice
of the Peace four years.

SAMUEL T. WALKER ; P. 0. Forest City ; was born in Adair Co., Ky., Jan.
30, 1830. At the age of 23, he left his native State, coming directly to Mason Co.,
where he worked on a farm one year. The next few months were passed in a cabinet
shop in Havana. In 1855, Mr. Walker removed to Spring Lake, where he assisted his brother John, who was engaged in a general merchandise business, for about three years. In 1858, Mr. Walker, in company with his brother and three other young men, made
the memorable trip to Pike’s Peak, with the usual degree of success, being absent about
six months. Upon his return, in 1860, Mr. Walker went into partnership with Mr. A.
Cross, in the grain, lumber and general merchandise business, at Forest City, 111., which
business was continued for several years. Mr. Walker was united in marriage with
Miss Julia A. Fosket April 13, 1863. They have had eight children, one boy and
seven girls, three of whom are still living, as follows : Esther E., born Sept. 1’2, 1864 ; Polly
S., April 1, 1874; Patsey Y., April 7, 1878. Mr. Walker owns a fine residence in Forest City, and about one hundred acres of good farming land in the vicinity of the
village. He has been Clerk of Forest City Township for twelve years, and was elected Supervisor in 1878, and re-elected in 1879.

JAS. S. WALKER, physician and surgeon. Forest City. Dr. Walker was born
at Walker’s Grove, in what was then Sangatnon County, May 4, 1839, being one of the
first white children born in that part of the country. At the aj;e of 19, he began the
study of medicine with Dr. Dieffenbacher, at Havana, and in the fall of 1860, entered
Lind Medical College, now the Chicago Medical College, and graduated in 1863; he
then began practice in the same neighborhood where he was born and raised at Walker’s Grove ; he practiced there for three years, with very flattering success. In 1865, he formed a partnership with Dr. Hall, and engaged in practice in Mason City.
This partnership lasted for two years, when he became a partner with Dr. J. C. Patterson ; this lasted until 1869, when Dr. W. removed to Forest City, where he now
resides. He was married to Miss Sarah E. Updike, a native of Trcniout, Tazewell Co.;
111., Aug. 16, 1864. They have had four children, three of whom are living Alma,
March 12, 1866; Ella, Jan. 4, 1868; Frank U., Dec. 22, 1869; Artie, March 16,
1874, died when a little more than a year old. The Doctor enjoys a large and lucrative
practice in Forest City and the surrounding country.

MRS. L. C. WHITAKER, farmer; P. 0. Forest City; was born in Adair Co., Ky., Feb. 22, 1836, her maiden name being L. C. Cheek. She was married to Mr. John B. Whitaker Sept. 22, 1857. Mr. Whitaker was born May 13, 1826, in Muskingum Co., Ohio, and removed to Winchester, 111., in 1849 ; he removed to Mason Co.,
upon the farm now occupied by Mrs. W., in 1852. She has five children living Henry, born Oct. 27, 1858; Mary, Oct. 15, 18’U ; James and William, twins, born
July 16, 1864; Reuben, Aug. 23, 1871. Mr. Whitaker died in 1872. Since her husband’s death, Mrs. Whitaker has carried on her farm, with the help of her children,
with good success. They own about 200 acres, situated one and a half miles south of Forest City.

VILLAGE OF FOREST CITY 

1859- c. 1880

The village of Forest City was surveyed, in 1859, by J. F. Coppel and Alexander Cross, for Walker, Kemp, Wright and Waggenseller. The original
plat contained forty-seven acres. An addition of forty acres lying east of the original town was made in 1865 by D. S. Broderic. The lines of original sur- vey were run north and south, but were never recorded. The plat, as recorded, lie; parallel with the railroad line. The village is located seventeen miles dis- tant from Pekin and thirteen from Havana. It was, at one time,quite an extensive grain mart, but the growth of Mason City on the east, and points on the I., B. & W. R. R., south, have deducted largely from the amount of its annual
shipments. Alexander Cross built the first residence on the town site, and occupied it in the latter part of 1859. The house is still standing, and has
been converted into an office by Dr. James S. Walker. Thomas H. Ellsworth built a residence and became a denizen of the place in 1860. Josiah Jackson,
S. T. Walker, T. A. Gibson, E. T. Neikirk and others were among the earliest citizens of the place..

Cross & Walker built the first storeroom and began merchandising in 1861. In 1864, or 1865, Rodgers & Bros., built the second
store-building in the village and opened up a stock of general merchandise. The business interests of the village continued to grow till, at one time, it had
four good stores in full blast. In 1861, Messrs. Cross & Walker built a grain warehouse and began purchasing grain. The grain trade increased so rapidly
that in 1864 they built an elevator at a cost of $6,000. It has a capacity for storage of 40,000 bushels. The grain interests of the village, at present, are looked after by S. T. Walker, agent for Smith, Hippen & Co., of Pekin, and Z. Miller. The annual amount handled approximates 250,000 bushels. Quite an amount of hogs and cattle are shipped from this point. The trade and traffic of the village reaches, perhaps, $40,000 per annum.

The post office was established in 1861, and Alexander ‘Cross was appointed Postmaster. He received his commission from Montgomery Blair as Postmaster General. Mr. Cross has
acted continuously from his first appointment down to the present time, and has been efficient and accommodating, as might readily be inferred from his long continuation in office. A neat frame school building, two stories high, was erected in 1877, at a cost of $1,500. This is the pride and ornament of the village, and is a fitting
monument to the liberality of the citizens of the district, who submitted to a heavy taxation in order to secure the building. The M. E. Church, the only
house of worship in the village, was erected in 1863 or 1864. Rev. S. B. Hirsey was the first Pastor. It is a neat frame building, pleasantly situated in a small grove in the western portion of the village. It has a membership of about fifty souls, who meet regularly for worship. A fine and flourishing Sunday school is held in connection with its services. Dr. George Mastiller was
the first physician to locate in the town, as well as the first in the township.

E. N. Nichols, M. D., was also in the township quite early. The former is at present a resident of Kansas, and the latter, some years ago, took up his abode
in Missouri. Drs. James S. Walker and G. W. Dunn are at present resident physicians, each well skilled in his profession, and enjoying a good practice. A
Lodge of Good Templars was organized in 1865. The charter members were Thomas H. Ellsworth and wife, T. G. Onstot, Josiah Jackson and wife, T. A.
Gibson and wife, Miss Sarah Ellsworth, and others whose names could not be obtained. In February, 1867, the hall in which the lodge meetings were held was consumed by fire, and the Lodge soon after became extinct. Forest City Lodge, No. 246, I. 0. G. T., was organized Jan. 27, 1879, by J. Q. Detwiler, State Deputy. A charter was granted to Thomas A. Gibson and wife, Josiah
Jackson, George W. Pemberton, Mrs. Nancy Cross, Susie Cross, G. W. Neikirk, Harry Dunn, Lydia Ellsworth, Mary Ellsworth, Solomon Nikirk, Lillie Neikirk, Lizzie Neikirk, W. D. Thomas, E. E. Bird, Ira W. Bruning, Isaac Beard and William F. Bruning as charter members. The Lodge is in fine working order, and, at present, has a membership of about sixty-five. Regular meetings occur on Saturday evening of each week.

A substantial iron bridge, erected at a cost of from $1,800 to $2,000, spans Quiver Creek, just south of the village. In the winter of 1876, the citizens
constructed a gravel road from the village to, and for some distance beyond, the bridge. The gravel was obtained at Mackinaw, the P., P. & J. R. R. furnishing transportation free, and for once, at least, disproving the oft-repeatedassertion that railroad corporations have no souls. The neat and substantial passenger depot at this point, under the management of Mr. E. T.
Neikirk & Son, is an ornament to the town and a credit to the officials of the road. Forest City Township has been largely Republican in her political complexion since the earliest formation of the party. In the days when the old Whig and Democratic parties vied with each other for supremacy,
this ” district ” could always be relied upon for a handsome Whig majority.

During these latter years, the Republican party has held the field whenever
party lines were strictly drawn. At the outbreaking of the late civil strife, her
loyal sons were not slow in attesting their fealty and devotion to the Stars and
Stripes. At each and every call, she furnished her full quota, and no draft was made upon her patriotic citizens to fill up the oft-depleted ranks of the
patriot army. Many of her noble boys are taking their long, deep sleep in
Southern soil, beneath a Southern sun, far from the spot of their early child- , hood. They fell in the discharge of duty and in the defense of their country’s
honor. Fond fathers and loving mothers cherish with fondest delight the
memory of the brave boys whose lives were offered a willing sacrifice upon
their nation’s altar. Of such we may say, in the poet’s fitting strain :
“Soldier, rest! thy warfare’s o’er, Sleep the sleep that knows no breaking ; Dream of battle-fields no inore,
Days of danger, nights of waking.”
Forty years ago, Forest City Township was without an inhabitant. Now
her surface is thickly studded with comfortable homes, and thrift and enterprise
greet us on every hand. Her citizens are alive to every movement that tends
to advance the interests of their section, and her annual productions rank sec- ond to but few townships in the county. Bishop Station, a small village on the
P., P. & J. R. R., three miles southwest of Forest City, was laid out for Henry
Bishop in the spring of 1875. The post office was established in 1871, four
years prior to the date of laying out the town. A grain elevator, two general
stores and a blacksmith-shop comprise the business buildings of the village.
These, with some half-dozen residences, include all that there is in the town.

We have been able to obtain but very little of its history, though diligent
inquiry has been made. Its citizens have been backward in giving us anything
like a connected history of the place, laboring, perhaps, under the misapprehension that we were desirous of buying the town at the present low ruling
price, and not recognizing the fact that we were simply desirous of obtaining
data from which to compile a historical sketch of the place. However, the
prospects for its rapid development into a village of any considerable importance
is not, at present, very flattering. Its location about midway between Forest
City and Topeka precludes the possibility of its ever being more than a point
of local interest.

SOME OF THE EARLY INCONVENIENCES.
Much the same surroundings and inconveniences greeted the early settlers
of this township as did those of Manito and other adjacent portions of the
county. Their marketing had to be done a long way from home, and the time
required for getting their crops to market was almost equal in length to that
required to raise them. Their principal trading-points were Havana, Mackinaw
and Pekin. Their milling was done at Mackinaw or across the river in Fulton
County. The journey to Mackinaw consumed four or five days, governed
somewhat by the length of time they had to wait for a “grist” to be ground.
Simmonds built a mill on Quiver Creek, in quite an early day, and a few years
later, McHarry’s Mill, on the same stream, was erected, so that those coming
in a few years subsequent to the date of the earliest settlements made in the
township, were denied the exquisite pleasure of going to mill at Mackinaw, and
on Spoon River, in Fulton County. While there were many inconveniences
and hardships to be endured by the early settlers, they had many things of
which we cannot boast to-day. They had game of almost all kinds, which could
be had for the simple act of killing. It did not require hunting, for there was
a superabundance on every hand. Alexander Cross states that on one occasion,
he counted forty deer in a single herd, as they rose up one at a time, and then
they began getting up so fast that he could not keep the run of them any longer.
Thomas H. Ellsworth takes the ” trick ” and goes fifty-six bettsr. Wild game
of all kinds was so abundant that the farmer did not dare to cut up his corn in
the fall and place it in shocks ; if he did he was sure to come out in the spring
minus one-third to one-half of his crop. The marshes and sand hills around
the head of Quiver Creek were famous hunting-grounds in an early day. But
the march of civilization, the dense settling-up of the country and its improvement into fine and productive farms, have driven out all the larger kinds of game,
and we have nothing left save that which is commonly found in the older settled
portions of our country. Vast and mighty changes have come upon us during
the forty years last past. Forest City Township has never had a grist-mill
erected within her borders. McHarry’s, in Quiver, and Shanholtzer’s. in Manito, supply the deficiency. The Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville Railroad, put in
operation in 1859, is the only railroad line in the township. It passes diagonally through the northwest corner of the township, in a southwestern direction,
giving to it about four miles of track.

EARLY PREACHING, SCHOOLS, ETC.
The ‘first preaching, as was customary, was at the houses of the pioneers,
and among those who ministered to the spiritual wants of the people in an
early day, we find the names of Revs. Gardner, Rutledge, Randall, and the
venerable Peter Cartwright. These were missionaries in the M. E. Church.
Rev. William Perkins, a Presbyterian divine, occasionally preached in the
township, but was regularly engaged in the work at Topeka. Transient ministers of other denominations discoursed at times to the people, but none
remained to effect church organization save the Methodists. After the building of schoolhouses, preaching was transferred to them, and they were made to serve the triple purpose of meeting-house, schoolhouse and voting-place for the
precinct. The first school building erected in the township was the one now
known as Union No. 1, and is situated about one and one-half miles south oi the village of Forest City. It was built in 1854, and John Covington was the
first teacher. Others were built as the increase of population demanded, and
at present each district is supplied with good frame buildings. The ”
old log schoolhouse ” of the days of auld lang syne has faded away, and comes to us only in visions of the past.

The first Sunday school organized in the township was at the house of
Thomas H. Ellsworth, in the spring of 1853. William Ellsworth was the first Superintendent. It continued at the residence of Mr. Ellsworth till the building of the schoolhouse in 1854, when it was transferred to that point. It finally became the nucleus of the first Sunday school established in the village.
A number of those who took part in the first organization are at present resi- dents of the village, and take a lively interest in the Sunday-school cause. There are two church edifices in the township outside of the village the German Methodist, or Albright, and the German Lutheran, or Lutheran Evangelical. The Albright Church was erected in 1856, and, as the congregation grew in numbers, the building in a few years became too small to accommodate it. In 1865, they rebuilt and greatly increased the size of their house. The
Church owns forty acres of valuable land, and upon this stands the church
building and parsonage. A neatly laid-out and kept cemetery also occupies a
portion of the tract. Their Church property has an estimated value of not less than $7,000. It is, perhaps, the wealthiest congregation in Mason County.
Most of its members are well-to-do farmers, living in this and adjacent townships. The building is located on a gentle rise of ground, from which a com- manding view of the country may be had on all sides ; its tall, white spire, pointing heavenward, presents a pleasing appearance to the traveler passing over the line of the P., P. J. Railroad. The Lutheran Church was built a year or two later, is in the same portion of the township, about one and one-half miles south of Bishop’s Station. It is also a frame church, and cost about $1,200.
Regular services are held, and a flourishing Sunday school is connected with it.

Forest City Township has a large per cent of German population, and, as
is usually the case, they are thriving, enterprising citizens, possessed of finely – improved farms, well stocked. Taken throughout its whole extent, this town
ship compares favorably with other portions of the county in. its adaptation to the growth of corn and the other cereals common to this latitude.

This information comes from a book about the History of Menard and Mason County. The author is listed unknown and is about the time period from about 1834-1880.

Upcoming Schedule

March 2-6- Salt Creek Township

March 9-13- Forest City Township

March 16- 20- Quiver Township

March 23-27- Manito Township

March 30-April 3- Lynchburg Township

April 6-10- Bath Township

April 13-17- Kilbourne Township

April 20-30 Mason City Township

May 4-8- Allen’s Grove

May 11-22- Havana Township

The original survey of this township was made in the fall of 1823, and was designated Township 20 north, Range 6 west of the Third Principal
Meridian. It contains thirty-six sections, each a mile square, except the tier of six on the north side, which are fractional, as is usually the case. Section
No. 36, in the southeast corner of the township, is divided by Salt Creek,which meanders through the southeast part, cutting off about one-third of the section.
The northern part of the township is a high rolling prairie, once marred by numerous basins or ponds, but now almost wholly drained, and in a good state of cultivation. The south and west parts of the township are more broken,and the south part, which includes Salt Creek Bluffs, very much so. Big Grove extends along these bluffs, at an irregular width of from one-fourth of a mile to a mile and a half, at the south side of which the pioneer settlers made their primitive and crude homes. Lease’s Grove, in the northwest part of the township, was originally small, containing an area of about 200 acres, which area is now materially contracted by clearing off the timber for cultivation of the land ; and the same means have very materially contracted the area of Big Grove.

The soil of the township is productive of all cereals and fruits indigenous to the climate, but the principal crop is corn, as in all the eastern part of the
county. In the earlier days, winter wheat yielded a sure and abundant harvest, as it was usually the first crop after the sod was broken. Corn, in those days, required but little cultivation, and, after planting the corn, the pioneer usually occupied most of the time thereafter until harvest, breaking prairie, scattering corn along every third furrow. Corn planted in this way produced a large amount of fodder, and the earlier planting a good yield of corn, but the later planting was generally caught by the autumn frosts, and was not good feed. This was marketed for distilling purposes, and from this fact originated the term, “sod-corn whisky,” which used to be applied to the bad and chemically adulterated grades, as an expression of contempt.

The first entry of land in this township was made August 12, 1829, by Leonard Alkire, of Sugar Grove, and was a tract of 120 acres in the southwest quarter of Section 34, contained in what is now known as the Knox farm, but was not improved by the first purchaser, nor until more than twenty years later- August 17, 1829, William Hagans entered 120 acres, west half of the southwest quarter, Section 33, and southeast quarter of the southeast quarter, Section 32, now known as the Charles L. Montgomery place. Here, near the site of the present brick residence, Hagans built a rude log hut, and, with his family, became the pioneer settler of this township, and of what is now eastern Mason County. June 12, 1834, James C. Hagans entered the forty-acre tract of land now owned in part each, by James P. Montgomery and George H. Short, and built a hut where the latter’s house now stands. June 15, 1837, John Hagans entered the forty-acre tract where J. P. Montgomery now lives, and built a hut near the site of the present residence. A few years later, however, they all sold out to Ephraim Wilcox, and moved away to further Western wilds, and were lost to the knowledge of those who lived after them here.

As early as 1830, a family named Slinker, ” squatted ” on a piece of land up in the grove northwest of the places just referred to, but tradition has but few words of remembrance of them or their habitation, and nothing of their place of migration. In 1830, Leonard Alkire bought a large lot of land in Sections 33 and 34, and held it, as was termed by the settlers, as “speculator’s land,” without making any improvements upon it. In 1830, Robert and William Hughes entered the land now the farm of M.
Vanlanningham, which Daniel Clark, Sr., purchased and settled upon in 1835, and where the old gentleman died in 1853, and was buried near the house in which he lived, and which is still there, though the first house he lived in there was a log hut. His three sons are still living ; Alfred, in ‘Crane Creek Township ; Daniel, in Mason City, and William, in Dubuque, Iowa. In 1833, a man named Lease settled in the northwest part of the township, at a grove which, from his settlement there, took the name of Lease’s Grove, which name it still bears. Soon after this, Samuel Blunt, George Wilson and the Moslanders settled there, and formed a little isolated band or neighborhood
in and around the beautiful grove, from which improvement, farther and farther out into the prairie on all sides the Third School District in the township was gradually formed and extended. In connection with the Wilson family, referred to above, it is proper here to state that his son, Orey, committed suicide by hanging himself to the limb of a tree, in 1852, which was the first case of deliberate self-destruction in the township, and the last. The news of the rash act was
received by the sparsely settled county with horror, and, for years after, the scene of the tragedy was a place of dreadful interest, and the helated and soli- tary citizen who passed along the road by it after night did so with light and elastic step, and numerous “hair-raising” stories of suspended ghosts became current in the course of time.

In 1835, Isaac Engle entered the forty-acre tract which is now owned and occupied by W. F. Auxier, and built a log hut on an elevation about forty rods southwest of where the dwelling now stands, as a monument to the site of which primitive landmark a stately locust-tree stood until a few years ago, when that, too, fell a victim to the rapacious ax of the modern inhabitant. This place was purchased, with other tracts adjoining, in 1837, by Edward Sikes, Sr., who, with several other families, came out from Ohio and settled in the grove. A few years later, Mr. Sikes built the substantial frame house which now is on the place, and planted out an orchard of the first grafted fruit-trees ever planted in that vicinity, and which yields its delicious fruit now every year, although the hands that planted them have been in the grave nearly a quarter of a century. In the old log house on this place, the first school in the township was taught, in 1838, by one of the daughters of Mr. Sikes, now Mrs. S. D. Swing, of Mason City, who, soon after, settled with her husband as pioneers at Swing’s Grove, in Mason City Township.

In 1835, Michael Engle entered an eighty-acre tract, now known as the Hume place, and built a log hut about fifty yards west of K. M. Auxier’s house, nothing of which now remains, but the place where the- well has been filled in can yet be distinguished. In this well a child of John Carter, who later occupied the house, fell and was drowned, the summer of 1849. In 1837, Kinzey Virgin moved out from Ohio, bought this place with other adjoining tracts, built a hewed-log house where the barn now stands, and set- tled down in his new and rather wild and romantic home. He was a man of considerable enterprise as a stock-raiser and accumulated this world’s goods
quite rapidly, but was peculiarly unfortunate with his family of children, but one of whom ever lived to reach the years of majority, and that the youngest,
and but a babe when he himself died in 1852, six children, and all but the one, having preceded him to the grave, and the wife following two years later. Though a man somewhat reckless in his habits and profane in conversation, he held it a sacred duty to have a funeral sermon preached for every one of his children that died, and what was something remarkable, John L. Turner, the “little Baptist preacher,” of Crane Creek, officiated at every one of these occasions, and also at that of the father and mother. .The latter, “Aunt Eliza,” was one of Nature’s noblewomen. The silent grief and heartpangs which many circumstances pierced like a dagger her very soul, were buried there and without a word of reproach o’r complaint, forever. She was universally beloved and honored for her inherent goodness and nobility of Nature.