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Theological Seminary. He possessed a respectable library and is known to have expended much labor upon his sermons. A specimen of his sermons is preserved in the appendix to the "Session" Register of the Princeville Presbyterian Church. Their home in Princeville was the house now occupied by Willard Bennett and family, which is still sometimes called the Breese property.
Mrs. Hannah Cutter Breese was born August 2, 1807, in the Cutter home of Pelham, N. H., and was both a first pupil and later a preceptress in the famous Ipswich Academy. In 1840, in the prime of life, with a good education and much experience in teaching, she Came to Illinois, taught in Macomb (where in 1841 she and her home missionary beloved were married), taught on in Rushville, in Princeville, 1843 or '44 (where her youngest brother, Dr. Charles Cutter of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Hospital, Boston, had settled and, about 1846, she began the well known Seminary twelve miles west of here in old Rochester.
Hannah Cutter's ability showed itself so early, when thirteen. that one incredulous teacher declared an essay my aunt handed in in verse to be a theft. She answered by putting in his desk, the next morning before school, an acrostic on his name that opened not only his eyes but also those of her family and friends.
Thirty-five years ago one of her biographers wrote thus: "Of sterling worth and masculine energy, of uncommon literary attainments, many a noble woman owes her strength of character to Mrs. Breese 's teaching and training." Men and women still live who remember their home being moved to Rochester that they might be trained in the Breese Seminary.
Mrs. Breese survived her husband less than a year, till April 25, 1852. The children were David, a Union soldier, starved in a Texas prison; Joanna, 1847-49; and a pair of twin boys, Ambrose and Robert Finley, the last named still living in this state.

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If, as Socrates said, "It is better to write on the hearts of living men than on the skins of dead sheep," then this pioneer couple in their too short lives of evangelistic work and Christian education are worthy examples for youth to-day.
Note l. Mr. Breese was licensed by the Presbytery of Madison June 27, 1838.
Note 2. During his last hours Mr. Breese was partially deranged; but at lucid moments he expressed his full and unshaken confidence in God's covenant mercy.
Note 3. Mrs. Breese, during her last illness, gave very decisive and satisfactory evidence of Christian faith and hope. It may well be said of her "To live was Christ, to die was gain."
Her diary gives many signal proofs of her close self-inspection and of her devotion to her chosen work.
She has left specimens of poetry which evince no small degree of literary taste and genius.
Note 4. The "Massachusetts Teacher" of 185— contains an extended biography of Mrs. Breese, under the title, "The Ardent Scholar and Benevolent Teacher."


REV. ROBERT CAMERON, AND DAUGHTER,
MISS AGNES CAMERON.

By Louis Auten, 1907.

Reverend Cameron has said that it was through the direction of Divine Providence that he came to this community, and no one who has been acquainted with him and the good he has done here thinks differently.
It was in the hopes of regaining his health, and prolonging his life, and to place his daughters in the family of their oldest brother Peter, who lived at Henry, Illinois, that Robert Cameron came to America from near Glasgow, Scotland, in 1842, with his two daughters Agnes and Annie, The daughter Annie was mar-

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ried soon after coming to America, so the father and one daughter lived alone with each other until his death.
They made their home in New Jersey for nine and one-half years when they came to this community, going from New York to Buffalo by canal, and from Buffalo to Chicago by lake steamer, the whole trip taking about two weeks. The family had engaged passage on the steamer "James Griffith," but a break in a canal lock delayed them so they missed their boat, and on that very trip the "James Griffith" was burned and all the passengers lost. Mr. Cameron saw in this delay another instance of the intervention of the Divine Providence in which he had so much faith, The father and daughter intended to make their home at Racine, Wisconsin, but came to this community first to see an old friend, Mr. Buchanan, who lived Northwest of here, and as Mr. Cameron saw great need of his services here, they stayed and made this their home. Their first Princeville home was with Alexander Buchanan and family in a little frame building that stood where Mrs. Shane 's house now is, They lived there for only a short time, after which they made their home with different ones of his parishioners.
For a year and a half Mr. Cameron assisted Rev. Breese in his charge, but on the death of the pastor, the charge was given to Rev. Cameron. He preached his first sermon in Princeville ~n his birthday, July 7, 1852, and preached three times every Sunday, almost until the time of his death. He founded a church at West Princeville, and walked over there every Sunday afternoon and then walked back to preach his evening sermon here. His Princeville church was a small frame building that stood where Cheesman's store now is. lie conducted the first Thanksgiving service ever held in Princeville, and contrary to the expectations of some of his friends who advised him not to undertake it, the church was crowded.
Though Mr. Cameron's object in coming to America was partly to be in the home of his eldest son, he was

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never able to accomplish this, as the son was drowned on a log raft in the Illinois River about the time the family came to America, and it was six years before they could find out what had become of him, or if he were still living, Many of the older people still speak of Reverend Cameron. They remember him as a small white haired, frail man, old beyond his years, feebly walking to his scattered charges, and preaching at times when he was so exhausted that he could not stand, He worked beyond all human endurance and died an old man at the age of sixty-seven.
Agnes Cameron, or as she was known to all her acquaintances, "Auntie Cameron," has lived alone since her father's death thirty-three years ago, and is now at the age of eighty-three, keeping house for herself; waited on to some extent by kind neighbors, but more than repaying all that is done for her, by the warmth of the love which she bestows on her friends.



THE DEBORD FAMILY.

By Louis Auten, 1907.

Believing that a new country offered greater possibilities for a young man of twenty-one, than his own, Reuben R. Debord left Kentucky in the fall of 1839 for Princeville where an old friend of his, John Miller, had established his home. Mr. Debord traveled this distance on horseback and alone, and on his arrival at Mr. Miller's he owned less than a dollar in money, and no property except his horse and the clothes he wore. lie made his home with Mr. Miller, who lived in a cabin one mile north and about four and a half miles west of Princeville, worked for his board, and broke some land for himself. At a large religious meeting conducted by Bishop Chase in the grove (Princeville) at the cabin school house, he met Miss Julia Ann Hall, to whom he was married in 1843.

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Miss Hall was also a pioneer, having come to Princeville in the winter of 1840, with her mother and brothers and sisters. Her oldest brother, Warren, who had been head of the household for several years, came to Princeville in 1837, and deciding to make this his home, he had a wagon made, and sent one of his neighbors, Reeves Sherman, back to Ohio to bring the family. The wagon was loaded with bedding, a table, one or two chairs, and the head and foot pieces of a bedstead, and the family started in January for Illinois. There were ten in the company, of whom three were quite young, so the older ones had to walk. Julia was f our-teen years of age, but young as she was, she walked practically all the way from Ohio to Illinois. They traveled every day, but always timed their progress so that they never had to spend a night in the open, but always slept at some house or hotel, They took food with them, and on their arrival at their stopping places they prepared their meal in the kitchen, and made up a large bed with their own bedding, on the floor. There were no bridges at that time, and the rivers presented difficulties, but the movers were usually able to cross on flat-boats or ferries, though at times they had to unload their wagon and swim the horses over, and take their bedding and furniture in canoes. They arrived at Princeville in March, tired but in good spirits, and made their home in a cabin which stood where Sam Morrow now lives, The next year they moved to Shiloh, or, as it is known today, the Belltree neighborhood. where Julia lived until her marriage.
Mr. Debord and Miss Hall were married at her home in Shiloh by Squire Tucker, They kept house in the same cabin with George I. McGinnis about a mile and a half north of Princeville, until Mr. Debord built for himself, They had eleven children, all of whom are living, and six of them still reside in this vicinity. Mrs. Debord says with commendable pride, "I have eleven children and they are all living; they have always had enough to eat, they have all gone to school, and I haven't one to spare." This is certainly a re-

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markable record, and it speaks well for the ability of these pioneer parents who were able to do for so large a family. We of a younger generation wonder how our forefathers managed to make a living, and how our grandmothers were able to do all the housework, without our modern conveniences, But Mrs. Debord says: "Yes, we were busy then, but we didn't have as much to do as the women do now. A one room cabin was not hard to keep clean, and it was no task at all to dust the furniture, We had to make our own clothes, but each garment lasted us several years, and there was not much washing and ironing." Mr. Debord was a farmer and stock raiser all his life, He was a good judge of stock and of land, careful of his expenditures and investments, and moderate in his manner of living, This was the secret of the success of the family, they were contented and satisfied with what they had, and so what they had was enough; and who will doubt but what they were as happy as any family that stayed in its more comfortable Eastern home'?

The children are as follows, in the order of their birth: William H., Charles W., Henry A., Emily now Mrs. George Gladfelter, Frank, A. Burke, George Frederick, Mary now Mrs. Hurd, Ella M. now Mrs. Elroy Wear, Hattie, and Clara now Mrs. Sanford. Six of these are still living in this vicinity, three are in Missouri, one in Iowa, and one in California, All married except Hattie who lives with her mother and is still single. Of those residing near here, the three men Henry, Frank and Burke, are engaged in farming and stock raising.
Reuben R. Debord died in 1891 at the age of seventy-three, but his wife is still living—loved and respected by her eleven children, thirty-three grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren. Her days of activity perhaps are passed, but not her days of usefulness, for as long as she lives she will be a help and an inspiration to all who know her.

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FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION AT
PRINCEVILLE IN 1844.

Princeville Telephone, July 2, 1885.

Written by Mrs. Esther R. Auten.

This celebration was an impromptu affair, the first we have any account of, and no preparation whatever was made for it till that very morning, We will first name the people who lived here then and describe the town. Win. C. Stevens, Benjamin Slane, Ashford Nixon, Ebenezer Russell, Dr. Charles Cutter, Hid Bouton, Geo. McMillen, Sam'l Alexander, Seth Fulton, and a few others were its sole inhabitants. The Blanchard 's, Auten's and Bliss's were here then, but lived a few miles in the country. The Henry's, Mr. Owens and George Hitchcock were not here as yet. Mr. Stevens lived where he always did, north of the public square. Mr. Russell lived where the American House stands. Dr. Cutter lived in a little red house in the Hitchcock block. 'Squire Slane lived down South of where the flouring mill stood. Hiel Bouton is the only citizen now living who remains on the same old place, North of the Stevens block.
All the children in the town and surrounding country went to school in a log cabin that stood in the edge of the grove South and West of Daniel Hitchcock's residence. When Mrs. Olive Cutter was teacher, there were seventy scholars to pack away in it. Belle Russell and Kate Clussman used to take classes out in the grove and hear them recite under booths manufactured of hickory, elm and oak boughs and saplings. Solomon Cornwell was teacher at one time, and some large bad boys, who had run two or three teachers off, commenced their performances. One day he jerked one of them up before the fire place, and said to him: ''By the gods, I'll throw you on that fire if you don't behave yourself." The fellow was so thoroughly scared he

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never gave any more trouble. The boys used to climb tall, slim trees and bend them over for a swing. One day they got hold of a stiff one. The boys slipped off, and John McGinnis was thrown off in the air, landed on a log, and came off with a broken thigh.
On this glorious Fourth the sun rose without a cloud, People were astir early, as the men were going to Peoria to a celebration there, and to hear a distinguished speaker whose name we failed to learn. At about 7 :30 a. m. the four horse teams began to come in, and in a few minutes some six or eight wagons were loaded and started off for Peoria, The women and children collected at the four corners North of Hitchcock's Hall to see them off, and as the procession rode away and the good-byes were said, some one said:
"Why can't we have a celebration'?" A consultation was held immediately and the matter was soon decided. Everyone promised to bring something for dinner, and Mrs. Russell's large kitchen was selected as the place to dine. Mrs. Sloan and Mrs. Win. Coburn were sent for a mile East of town, where they were neighbors, to come and help celebrate. Children were sent West of town to pick raspberries.
For a flag, Dr. Cutter, who was the only man left in town, and the children manufactured one with neither stripes nor stars, and nailed it to a fence post near Russell's house.
The supplies began to come in at about one o'clock, and dinner was served at two. There were ten or twelve grown persons and about twenty-five children present. The Doctor made a speech of congratulation after dinner, and it was found that there were some sixteen or eighteen varieties of food provided, and enough was left to feed another company as large. The afternoon was spent in having a social good time, and instead of a day of loneliness, as might have been expected, it proved one that never has been forgotten by those who participated in its pleasures.

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LETTER FROM MRS. SARAH B. ANDREWS.


Hanford, Calif., Sept. 8, 1908.

To the Old Settlers Association of Princeville,

Greetings:

Having been invited by a member of your association to write something of a reminiscent nature for this meeting, I comply in the hope that the genuine love in my heart for Princeville and Princevillians may atone, in some measure, for the uninteresting manner in which it may be written.
Born and reared within three miles of Princeville and living there all my life, except the three years spent in California, is it any wonder there is not and never can be any other spot half so dear? My first recollection of Princeville is going there one time with my father and mother to attend a funeral, Aunt Susan Debolt's mother's. I think I must have been five or six years old at that time. I remember a very large and crooked tree standing very near the road, about where Lute Blanchard now lives, and bending so far over the road. I thought it would surely fall upon us. I wonder if any of the others remember that tree. It stood a number of years after that.
Also, I remember of attending school in the old stone school-house when Mrs. Dr. Cutter taught and of the "scraps" we little girls used to have with Charlie Cutter who was an inveterate tease; also of attending church in the same stone school-house. Later memories of the dear old Academy days with Prof. Stone and Prof. Means and others at the helm are still cherished, and I think many of the Old Settlers will never forget the old Methodist Church when in the early Sixties so many of our best young men responded so nobly to our country's call to arms; and then, too, who of us could forget the sad, sad days which followed when from the old Christian Church we paid our last

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tribute of respect and honor to Capt. French, Charlie Stevens, Charlie Alter and others.
Ah, those days were fraught with memories, never to be forgotten, and although a good many decades have passed since then they are ever fresh in our memories, and will go with us thro life and help to forge the chain which binds us so indissoluably together. I have so often wished the Old Settlers Picnic Association might have been formed before we left for California's sunny clime, but as it was not, we still rejoice with you in the happiness which comes to you through this medium and, in spirit, extend the "glad hand" to each member of the Association. I see in the last Telephone you have lost one member since your last meeting; perhaps many more, I do not know of. I speak of Maud Charles Hull for whom many of us cherish very tender memories.
Last winter a year ago, while in Spokane, Wash., I had the pleasure of meeting with Morris Smith and his good wife Emma and also Mr. Simpson. We talked much of Princeville friends and of how we could enjoy the Old Settlers Picnic. Also met young Dr. Hutchins, Hannah Stevens Hutchins' son, and he read me his mother's letter telling of the picnic as she was there. These meetings with old friends in strange lands are like the perfume of sweetest flowers. The ''Illinois Contingency" in Hanford number 26 and are all well and apparently happy. The oldest one, Grandma Blanchard, who is almost 83, seems to be renewing her youth, but often speaks longingly of the old home.

With best wishes for a pleasant time Sept. 17th, I remain,

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THE CHRISTIAN MILLER FAMILY.

By Louis Auten, 1908.

One of the largest families that ever made their home in this neighborhood was the Miller family. Christian Miller, born in Hamburg, Germany, came to America when he was 16 years of age, and settled at Hamptonsville, N. C. He was married to Araminta Whitehead. of Irish descent, They made their home in North Carolina for many years, and there were born ten children, Katherine and Mary, who remained in North Carolina; and John, Daniel, James, Barbara, Henry, Christian, Araminta, and Lydia, who moved with their parents to Kentucky. Barbara was married to a Mr. Brown, and remained in Kentucky, but the rest of the family moved after 8 years to Illinois, stopping a short time in Indiana, It was in the fall of 1837 that the Millers, 13 of them, reached Princeville township, They made the trip in two covered wagons, each drawn by four horses. Besides their horses they brought chickens from Kentucky, and eight milk cows, and it is related that when crossing the Illinois River on the ferry at Lacon one of the cows that had horns forced a 'mooley" cow off the ferry into the river, but to the relief of the family she swam about a mile and a half and landed safely far down the river.
Having left Kentucky to get land that was more open for farming, but wanting plenty of water, and timber sufficient for fencing, the family selected a site about six miles northwest of Princeville for their home. As they arrived late in the fall, they immediately built a log cabin, on the farm that is at present owned by S. A. Walkington, but which was until lately occupied by Edgar Miller, They built fences, plowed the prairie, and laid the foundation for a future that would be free from want. The first winter must have been a hard one, because they could not have brought many supplies with them, but the prairie furnished plenty of

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food for stock, and quail and deer were plentiful. In fact, for several years, the family ate no meat except game they killed, The head of the family was a tanner by trade, probably having practiced it in Germany, and dressed all the deer hides, making clothes for his children, and having leather to sell besides, One winter three of the boys made fence rails in White Oak, walking six miles and back to their work every day. They made 2000 rails in the winter and were paid with rails, and provisions that had been hauled from Chicago, For years there was no fruit in this part of the country, and what was introduced at first was not of good quality.
In the meantime the children were marrying, and raising families of their own on adjoining farms, which they pre-empted and got from the government at $1.25 per acre. John, the oldest son, was married in North Carolina and his three oldest children, Jacob L. Wilham Logan, and Sally Ann, were born in Carolina. After he came to Illinois other children were born, as follows: Katherine, Cloe, Samuel, Mary, Hester and Thomas, There are now living, 35 grand children of this John Miller, and a great many more great grandchildren, though none of them are now in this neighborhood.
Daniel Miller had two daughters, and there are now 14 grandchildren of his. James had two sons who are still living, John H., of Palmyra, Iowa, who addressed the old settlers at the last picnic, James of Des Moines. and a daughter Harriet who died a few years ago. There are living eight grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren of James Miller.
Henry Miller was married in Cambridge to Miss Lucinda Mills, who is also one of our old settlers, having come to Illinois probably in 1829, though she did not come to this vicinity until after she was married. To them were born thirteen children, four of whom died in infancy, but there are still living Nancy Fast. James, Araminta Springer. Dan, Charles, John, Jacob. Bell Stubbs and Steve. Mrs. Lucinda Miller is still

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living, and is the proud mother of nine, grandmother of seventeen, and great grandmother of fourteen. To Christian Miller, Jr., were born Amanda, (Mrs. Bates), who lives at Normal, Ill., Edgar, who lives at Wyoming, Ill., and Albert of Albion, Iowa. There are four grandchildren.
The only child of Christian Miller, Sr., who is still living is Araminta Shaw, She has eight children, one of them Mrs. Nancy Westerfield, who lives near Duncan, Ill. There are about 20 grandchildren.
The youngest member of this generation, Lydia Bliss, had eight children, of whom Mrs. Anna Newlin lives in Lovington, Ill., and Mrs. Clarissa Kellogg lives in Peoria, Ill., and several of the others in Iowa. Thus it will be seen that Christian Miller, Sr., had ten children one of whom, Mrs. Araminta Shaw, is still living in Kansas, 53 grandchildren who grew up, probably about 90 great grandchildren and certainly over a hundred great great grandchildren who are now living.
The restlessness and boldness which made the great grandparents move to America, which made them move with their family from North Carolina to Kentucky, and later to Illinois, has made the younger members move still farther west, so that the family has large representations in Iowa, Missouri, California, Washigton, and Oregon. The only ones that are left in this vicinity are Daniel, Jacob, John, who has four children, Mrs. Bell Stubbs, and Mrs. Araminta Springer, 11 children of Henry Miller, and their cousin Edgar Miller, child of Christian Miller, Jr., and who lives near Wyoming and has two children.
There are buried in the Princeville Cemetery, Christian Miller, Sr., his wife, and four of their children; Christian, Henry, James and Lydia. And so, while here is this great family cherishing memories of their childhood homes in Princeville township, the old settlers of Princeville cherish memories of those who had such a large part in the settling of this township.

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THE MOTT FAMILY.

By W. W. Mott and Louis Auten, 1908.


One of the few families that were in this community when the village was laid out by Mr. Stevens, was that of Mr. Oscar Fitzalen Mott, He was born in Erie County, New York, in 1806, and was married at the age of about 20 years to Deidamia Bump. He was a doctor by profession, located in Boston, Erie Co., N. Y., and built up such a large practice that he could not meet all the demands upon his time and strength. As he wished to get away from his work, and as he was naturally of an adventuresome nature, he started in 1837 with his wife and his two boys, Richard F. (age 8) and William Washington (age 7) for the new West.
They reached Princeville in the fall of 1837, and for some years made their home in a double log cabin belonging to Daniel Prince, and situated in the ravine Southwest of town, not far South of where the Higbee coal mine is now. This cabin was built for a mill, and in one-half of it were the mill stones and the power wheel, but as Mr. W. W. Mott remembers it, the mill was never used while they lived there. They kept a few pigs and a cow or two, which sheltered themselves in the mill part of the cabin, In this cabin were born two boys, Oscar and Eugene, both of them dying in infancy.

The father practiced at his profession as there was occasion, but most of his work was charity work; he took what pay his patients were willing to give. He was an "herb doctor," and was quite successful in the treatment of the commoner diseases of his time, most of which were known as "chills and fever." There were other doctors not very far away, so he was not kept busy at his practice, but spent the most of his time "working out." As this left the boys without much to do, Washington rented a few acres of ground

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and farmed for himself. His older brother was not strong and did not do much heavy work.
After a few years residence in the double log cabin, the family moved to about a mile and a half South of the present center of the village. Then in a year or two more they bought 15 acres of land a mile South and a few rods East from the present Postoffice corner.
In the meantime, a daughter, Josephine, was born in 1847. She grew up to womanhood, and is well remembered by many of those present. She often came to town horseback. with butter and eggs, and always went to the Seventh Day Adventist services which were held at the Santee residence (the old Merritt Homestead) just North of town, on Saturday afternoons. In the 50's, while Josephine was still a little girl, the oldest son, Richard, went to California, and made his home there until his death in 1876. This left only the two parents and the two children at home, and the death of the father in 1863 and of the mother in 1875, left only the brother and sister, Washington and Josephine, Both were unmarried, and together they kept up their farm, four miles Southeast of town, until the death of Josephine, which occurred in the fall of 1902, a very short time after she had been married.
William Washington Mott has always been industrious and careful, has been able to provide for his needs, and content to do without luxuries, He has been successful at farming and at bee culture, and has raised some fruit for market. After the death of his sister he lived alone at his farm for three years, but in 1905, oppressed by loneliness and old age, he rented his farm and moved to town, and now for the last three years he has made his home in a little cottage not many rods from the site of the double log cabin which was his first Illinois home.
His life has been subject to many of the hardships of pioneer times, yet, at the age of 78 years, he walks up town nearly every day to talk over old times with his old friends, or to tell his younger friends of those times that now seem so far distant; of the times when

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the Indians though no longer a menace were still a dreaded memory; when wheat was threshed by driving horses over it and was fanned only by the wind, and was hauled in wagons to Chicago and exchanged for lumber and supplies which were hauled back by wagon; when the best of land could be bought for $300.00 per quarter section; when tiling was unknown, and much of our best land was wet the whole year round; when all travel was by horseback, and when it cost 25 cents to send a letter to New York, Life was crude in those days—to us now it would seem unbearable—but men were men, and women were women, and with their courage and energy and moral uprightness they have laid the foundation for this great Middle West of which the whole country is so proud.


THE ARMSTRONG FAMILY.

By Mrs. Rose C. Armstrong.

In the early part of the 19th century, May 6, 1819, were united in marriage, one James Armstrong, son of James and Margaret Armstrong, and Miss Mary McCoy. They were the parents of six sons and three daughters, namely; Joseph, born April 17, 1820; James, Dec. 17, 1821; William, Sept. 8, 1823; Margaret, Sept. 19, 1825; Eliza, Dec. 17, 1827; Mary, Jan. 30, 1830; John, Feb. 15, 1832; Martin, Dec. 18, 1834; Ebenezer, June 22, 1836.
They bought a farm and by hard work and economy had it nearly paid for when Mr. Armstrong was fatally injured by a tree falling upon him and died May 22, 1837, leaving the wife and mother to provide for the family, the youngest a babe of eleven months. Two sons had preceded him, The business affairs were placed in the hands of a relative who took six or seven years to settle the estate and then took the farm for his pay; thus leaving the family in very reduced cir-

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cumstances. All had to work and help along as soon as they were able.
Joseph, the oldest son, was married to Martha McNeal March 10, 1841, and moved to Ohio County, W. Va., where he worked in a mill for his uncle, three years, receiving only his flour to use as compensation, the wife supplying the rest of the living by the proceeds from her cow, garden and chickens. Then feeling competent to run a mill he hired to a wealthy widow, a Mrs. Kruger, who owned a mill, and ran it for her nine years, receiving the flour for family use, a hog to butcher each year and a share of the bran, shorts, etc., with which Mrs. Armstrong fed her cows, pigs, and chickens, continuing to be the main support of the family while Joseph's wages remained in the hands of Mrs. Kruger. When he had been there seven years the lady owed him $970.00, She gave him a check on the bank for $1000.00 and let him come West on condition that he buy a farm and then come back and stay with her two years longer which he did, He came from that mill to Peoria County in 1853, partly by railroad. The rails were 2½ inch wagon tire, spiked on sills and laid on ties, and spiked or keyed down so the track could not spread. Trains went slowly and were, perhaps, as safe as trains are now.

He bought the farm where the rest of his life was spent from Geo. Bestor, but could not find him when ready to pay, so left his money with James Sutherland of French Grove, who made the purchase for him. The Sutherland's, Yates' and McCoy's came from Washington County, Pennsylvania, and Ohio County, Virginia, and were old acquaintances, He had intended going to Iowa to buy but they persuaded him to buy here.
In those days there was a four horse stage run from Peoria to Knoxville, On this he came from Peoria to Brimfield and returned the same way. On the stage a man from California showed him an eight cornered $50.00 gold piece. Quite a curiosity.

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In the month of February, 1855, John Armstrong came from Washington County, Pennsylvania, with four horses, making all the trip on horseback. The mother with the rest of the family, excepting Joseph and James, came from Wheeling by boat, There was much ice running in the river and they had to tie up nights. John reached here first. At a hotel he was given a bed in which a typhoid patient had died, and was coming down with the fever when he met the rest with a team and wagon in Peoria, They managed to take him as far as Brimfield where he lay sick at a hotel for a long time, his mother staying to care for him while the rest went on three miles farther where they rented a place. When John was able to be moved they went home, but Mrs. Armstrong had contracted the disease and died three days later, April 29, 1833, and was laid to rest in the French Grove Cemetery.
During that summer Joseph had a small 1½ story house built on his place and the family moved in in September before the house was finished. A month later Joseph came with his own family, having sent goods to Peoria by boat and moved the family in a wagon. They all lived in this small house that winter.
In the spring of '56 the rest moved to the Lem Camp farm, leaving Joseph and his family in their own home. They lived on the Camp farm three years, John and Ebenezer running the farm, Margaret keeping house, while Eliza and Mary became a couple of the pioneer school teachers of Peoria County, teaching some years in the vicinity of Brimfield and in Princeville Township. While not busy with the farm work John and Ebenezer worked at the carpenter trade. With the help of a Mr. Anderson, they built a house where Mr. Abe Miller now lives and moved into it, living there three years. They built the house on the West half of Joseph's quarter, the mason work being done by John Stubbs.
Into this house they moved, having the use of something over an acre of ground for a garden. Here they made their home for many years, going forth one by one

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till only Margaret and the waif she had given a home to since she was a baby five months old, were left and three years ago last April they moved to Monica that they might be near enough to a church to attend services.
Speaking of the early days when this family came to Illinois, Joseph, or Squire Armstrong, as he was generally called, said the prairie South and West of his house was pretty much open and that towards Princeville was only about half fenced. They were obliged to burn the grass about the house in fear of prairie fires. There were Oliver Moody, B. Hare and James Debord on the road and Bob Garrison about the middle of Millbrook. He, Garrison, came very poor but there was plenty of pasture and by raising stock he became very wealthy. The Carter's each had a quarter worth about $600.00.
The fences were mostly posts driven in the ground with a wooden drop hammer on which were nailed three poles. Timber was hard to get and he had to haul his first nine miles. Peoria and Oak Hill were the markets in those days.
The first school in the White's Grove district was a little board shanty on the farm where Henry DeBord now lives, There was no church nearer than French Grove, Later there was one at Princeville, After the second school house was built, there were meetings there sometimes. The present school house is the third on one.
As Mrs. Jos. Armstrong began so she continued and because of her thrift and economy the income from farm products was largely left to use in buying more land and improving the same. She died March 3, 1877, at the age of 59 years. After her death her daughters nobly filled her place.
Squire Armstrong took an active interest in township affairs and held the office of supervisor for 18 years and that of Justice of the Peace for 24 years. He was a great lover of peace, and having seen the folly of litigation in his mother's home, he would settle dif-

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ficulties when possible without allowing them to come to trial, While not bound to any church he early learned to love his Bible and always stood ready to help any righteous cause both financially and by his influence. He lived to the ripe age of nearly 83 years and died January 9, 1903, esteemed and beloved by all who knew him.
There were eleven children, four sons and seven daughters. One son died in infancy, Mary married Allen McMillen and lived near Wichita, Kansas, and died last November, Joseph died June 7, 1879. James married Katie Parnell and lives near Bondville, Champaign County, Illinois. Lucretia, wife of James Parrish, lives near Shenandoah, Iowa. Isabella, first wife of Jas. Parrish, died Aug. 11, 1886. Ellen, wife of Jackson Leaverton, lives at White's Grove, William married Rose C. Haller, died March 2, 1904. Rosalie lives in Shenandoah, Iowa. Martha, wife of John Squire, lives near Monica, and Jennie, wife of Chas. Blank, lives near Coin, Iowa, There are 39 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
James Armstrong, the second son of James and Mary McCoy Armstrong, did not settle in Illinois but went farther West where he was lost track of for 21 years, Then he was discovered by the late Hugh Roney, his great resemblance to Squire Armstrong making Mr. Roney stop and question him. He started a foundry in Maryville, Mo., which his second son William still runs. He died several years ago. There are three daughters living.
Eliza married Sanford M. Whittington. May 22, 1857, who owned the farm now owned by Henry DeBord, He later sold this and after living in Princeville and vicinity a while, they moved to Blandinsville, Ill., where she died July 5, 1878. She was the mother of six daughters, four of whom survived her. Mary, now Mrs. Will Schaad of Merna, Neb., Sarah, now Mrs. Fred DeBord of Maitland, Mo., Clara, wife of Ben Miller of Broken Bow, Neb., and Ida, wife of Henry Simmons, of this place.

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John Armstrong married Louisa Walliker July 4, 1863, and lived on a farm near Spoon River, which was a wedding present to his wife by her father. After living here some years, they moved to a farm five miles East of Maryville, Mo., where they still live with their oldest son and daughter who are unmarried, and three small grandchildren. One son is a widower and one son and three daughters are dead.
Ebenezer taught school a number of years, was in the 86th regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Civil War. He married Martha Walliker Oct. 30, 1866. Bought a farm with the money saved from his army pay and built a house on it with the money his wife received as a wedding present from her father. This is the farm now owned by John Squire where Robt. Ellison lives. John's farm was just West of it, He later became a Baptist minister and preached several years at White's Grove and Kickapoo. They sold the farm and in February, 1886, moved to a farm near Larned, Kansas, and later to Hutchinson, Kansas. He continued to preach as long as his health would permit. He died Jan. 30, 1903, leaving his wife and six sons and three daughters. Three sons and one daughter are married.
During the time of the Civil War, when merchandise sold at fabulous prices, Margaret, better known as "Aunt Peggy," and Mary conceived the idea of raising flax and preparing it for cloth themselves, which they did, spun and wove it. For years after this they carded and spun wool and wove it into blankets and wove rag carpets, till they were known all over the Northern part of Peoria County and beyond its limits. They gave some time every day to the reading of Scripture and singing of hymns, and were faithful workers in church and Sunday school. Two more earnest, wholesome, God fearing women than they, it would be hard to find. Always giving liberally of all their substance, their wealth is that which is laid up in heaven.
Mary became a member of the Monica Woman's Christian Temperance Union when it was organized and

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was an effective worker there till she moved away. When in the vigor of their womanhood no call for help in time of sorrow or sickness was ever unheeded and this was kept up as long as they were able to go.
On March 6, 1896, Mary married Wm. Mann of near Beatrice, Neb, They were each 66 years old. They lived together happily for ten years when he was called hence. A few years previously they had moved into Beatrice where she still lives, a blessing to the community, still giving of her substance as faithfully as of yore, and enjoying, in a greater measure than most do, a simple trust in and nearness to the Heavenly Father and His Divine Son. Surely the world is better because Margaret and Mary Armstrong have lived in it. Aunt Peggy is now 83, Aunt Mary 78 and Uncle John 76 years old. "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days." (Prov. 10:27.)



THE LAWRENCE McKOWN FAMILY.

By Mrs. Eliza Bouton and H. J. Cheesman, 1908.



Lawrence McKown and his wife, Cynthia White McKown, first came to Princeville about 1830, but on account of homesickness, soon returned to Rockville, Indiana, whence they had come. In 1833, their daughter Eliza then being two years old, they returned to Princeville and brought with them Mrs. McKown's parents, Mr, and Mrs. Hugh White, who settled in Northwest Princeville. The McKown 's, after staying a little while in Northwest Princeville, built their first cabin in one of the ravines just East of the Jubilee road, near the present "Santa Fe Arch." This is the first home that their daughter Eliza remembers. Hugh McKown was born here in 1835. Next they built a small cabin on the land of James Morrow, near the "Hitchcock Pond." In this second home Levi McKown was born in 1838. This house, south of the "Hitchcock

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Pond" ravine, was built and the McKown's were living in it some years before the Slane family built near them, and before the school house was erected on the site where later stood Hitchcock & Voris' mill. Although living close to school, Mrs. Eliza Bouton says the "Hitchcock Pond" ravine was often so full of water that it was "pretty tough walking and wading to get to school." It was a "subscription" school, and her father paid tuition for the privilege of sending his children. The first teacher was Miss Esther Stoddard and the second was another Miss Stoddard, sister of the first, Next was Mr. Solomon Cornwell, remembered by his pupils because of his severity. This log school house, just Southeast of where the Rock Island depot now stands, was very small and when the scholars all stood up to spell they reached around the four sides of the room.
Mrs. Bouton 's first recollection of the present site of Princeville was that people used to come up from Jubilee way to pick blackberries and hazelnuts where the town now stands.
In 1840, Mr. McKown and family moved to Missouri. Here he lost his wife in 1842, and he brought the children back to Illinois. His moving disposition took him away again, this time to Texas, where he stayed, leaving the children here to grow up with their cousins, the Whites and the Morrows, He returned once about 1875, and again a few months before his death at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Bouton, in 1891.
Eliza McKown was married to Alanson Bouton on Jan. 5, 1854. Mr. Bouton died July 3, 1868, and their only child, Miss Minnie, still lives at home with her mother.
Amanda McKown married Isaac Crowe and now lives in Toulon, Ill.; her children are: Wm. Crowe of Iowa, Mrs. Ella Moss of Jubilee and Mrs. Jennie Smith of Toulon.
Hugh McKown married Lizzie Bouton on March 29, 1864, and died April 8, 1874. Their children are Mrs.

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Lena Miller; Emma (deceased); Alanson B., living in Iowa; Mrs. Leis Beall and Mrs. Stella Graves.
Levi McKown married Jane German, and they now live at Elmwood, Ill, Their children are: Mrs. Allie Carter, William, Lewis, Albert, Bessie, Frank, Edith and Eldon.
Mary McKown married Hiram Bronson, both of them now dead; a daughter, Mrs. Clara Archibald, is living in Iowa, and a son, Mark, went to the Philippines some years ago and has not been heard from.
Cynthia McKown married Malchiah Mendell and she is still living in Kansas, although now critically ill. She has six children: Mrs. Mary Gadberry of Russell. Kan.; Mrs. Ida Bowman of Moran. Kan.; Luther A. of Gorham, Kan.; Elza H. of Russell, Kan.; Mrs. Arzella C. Howard of Ft. Scott, Kan., and Iva L. of Russell, Kan. (Mrs. Mendell died April 18, 1911, and was buried in the Russell cemetery.)
Mrs. Bouton is probably the oldest original settler now in this locality. She remembers the building of the first school house, the coming of the Slane family from Kickapoo, also the coming of the Blanchards, the coming of Mr. Stevens, the building of the first Morrow store, the staking out of the original village in 1837, the building of the first Presbyterian Church, where Cheesman Bros.' store now stands, and has been familiar with practically all of Princeville's history. She also remembers the starting of the cemetery out on the Northwest hill, and can tell of the burials in the South woods for a few years before that. There were many hardships during these early years that the people of to-day know nothing about; but along with the hardships there were many pleasant happenings. Best of all was the old spirit of hospitality and ever readiness to help friends.

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PRINCEVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY.

Account as Published in Princeville Telephone Aug. 19, 1909.


Seventy-fifth Anniversary—Presbyterian Church Cele-
brates Mile-stone in Its History—Two Day's
Program Greatly Enjoyed by All Present.

As announced and planned for months past, the Presbyterian Church of Princeville, celebrated on Sunday and Monday of this week the seventy-fifth anniversary of its organization as "Prince's Grove Church" in 1834. Nearly 500 programs and announcements had been mailed to as many present and former members of the church. Large audiences attended all of the services on Sunday as well as the afternoon meeting, supper on the lawn, and organ recital on Monday.
Rev. Wiles' sermon Sunday morning was an historical sketch of the church which is printed in full below, In the evening Rev. Brown, the M. E. church joining in Union services, gave a sermon on Joshua 4:6, "What mean ye by these stones?" In the Sunday School, reminiscent talks were given on the first starting of the Sunday School, and the earliest superintendents and teachers, as well as the more recent ones.
The choir Sunday morning was reinforced by a number of old time singers of the church, In the evening, a chorus rendered Schnecker's setting of the 97th Psalm as a Cantata, preceding Rev. Brown's address.
The Monday afternoon session was perhaps the one most enjoyed by the old members, and the most helpful to the younger ones. After listening to a few letters from former pastors and friends at a distance, those present spoke in an informal way about the early times, giving their recollections about the old building, the first pastors, and the leading members. There were exhibited at this and the other meetings the first session

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book of the church, sermons by Revs. Cameron and Cunningham, a pulpit Bible, presented to the church in 1849, some boards from the first frame church building, and a picture of the wife of the first pastor. The fact was brought out at this meeting that the church is older than the village; and that before there were public schools here the church took a very active part in education.
It was inspiring for the young members to hear at first hand of the greater reverence of those early times; of the loyalty and generosity of the members; and of the intense devotion of the pastors.
For the supper and social on the lawn, a more ideal day could not have been hit upon, and the happy spirit of the large number in attendance was in harmony with the ideal weather conditions. The large tables were seated to their capacity four times in succession, about 280 being served.
Monday evening's recital was a rare treat in a musical way, Miss Edith Campbell of Peoria rendering among other selections, Schubert's Serenade, the Pilgrim's Chorus, and an arrangement of the' Hallelujah Chorus. Mrs. Chas. Whitney, Soprano, and Mr. Howard Kellogg, Tenor, both of Peoria, rendered several solos and ducts. Miss Campbell's mastery of the organ was especially enjoyed by her Princeville friends.



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCEVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

Written for the Occasion of Seventy-fifth Anniversary,
Aug. 15-16, 1909, by Rev. Max Wiles.


It is my purpose to try to sketch the history of this church since its organization. I can, of course, mention but single incidents in each succeeding period, for to go into anything of detail one could write volumes. The church has retained an unbroken history since its

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beginning, Early members have come and gone but the work abides. Like the Children of Israel when they carried with them the Ark and the tables of stone, so each succeeding generation has preserved the records of the deeds of the fathers. As this anniversary service proceeds on into tomorrow, the aged veterans of the pioneer days can supply much of the detail which of necessity is lacking here.
Let us together open the book of time and turn the pages back to seventy-five years ago. In the first session book of the church on page one under the heading "Prince's Grove, August 16, 1834," we have the record of the first meeting of the church, I will read the account as there recorded:
"Agreeably to a request made by a number of professors of religion of the Presbyterian church in this settlement, the Rev, Robert Stewart met them; and after sermon by Rev. Theron Baldwin, the following individuals came forward and presented testimonials of their good standing as church members, and were voluntarily formed into a church, to be known by the name of "Prince's Grove Presbyterian Church." The names of those who united with the church were:
Jonathan E. Garrison, Hugh White, James Morrow, Thomas Morrow, Samuel R. White, John F. Garrison, Mary A. Garrison, Elinor Morrow, Jane Morrow, Elizabeth A. Morrow, Jane White, Mary A. Peet, Elizabeth Prince, Mary White, Martha Morrow, John Miller, and Dosha Miller—seventeen in all. As far as we are able to discover, none of these charter members survive.
The present generation will find it hard to even imagine the scene of this early organization. This meeting was no doubt held in a log school house, situated some place East of the Rock Island railroad crossing.
The Black Hawk war of 1832 had closed and while the Indians were leaving, the settlers were arriving. These broad acres now covered with crops of grain, were then covered with prairie grass, blue-stem, rosin

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weed, red root and sumac. The timber was skirted with patches of hazel brush, blackberry and gooseberry bushes. Frequently herds of deer could be seen in the edge of the hills. Along Spoon river, where we now go fishing in safety, except for the mosquitoes, there were herds of deer numbering one hundred fifty, also wildcats, lynxes, numbers of prairie wolves, coyotes and big gray timber wolves.
Log houses were few in number and with some exceptions widely separated. These settlers built their homes in the timber on some small clearing near the creek. The markets were then Peoria, Lacon, Chillicothe and Chicago. Trips were made to these different places with ox teams, hauling wheat to exchange for lumber, salt and clothing. Such was something of the environments surrounding these early church men.
At the conclusion of this first meeting the church extended an invitation to the Rev. Calvin W. Babbitt to take charge of the work as stated supply. Rev. Mr. Babbitt accepted and served the church a little more than one year. The record speaks well of his ministerial fidelity.
The next minister was the Rev, George G. Gill, who supplied the pulpit, preaching every third Sabbath. During this pastorite, the Rev, Mr, Hill of the M. E. church supplied the pulpit on several occasions.
In the year 1843 the Rev. Robert Breese became pastor and supplied the field of Rochester and Princeville, residing a part of the time in Princeville and the remainder in Rochester. Mr. Breese 's labors covered the period between 1843 and 1851. In 1844 the first frame structure was built on the site now occupied by Cheesman Bros.' store.
Thomas Morrow, Erastus Peet and Samuel R. White, besides others, each hauled a load of lumber from Chicago, some of them with ox teams. This was Rev. Mr. Breese 's first and only pastorate. He fell asleep in 1851 and lies buried in our village cemetery. His grave is marked by a headstone of Italian marble on which is the inscription, "The graves of all His

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Saints be blest." "They rest from their labors and their works do follow them."
It is fitting to speak at this point of the material help given in building this first church by Mr. Win. C. Stevens, the founder of Princeville, He gave the lot with a clear title and no reservations, He gave liberally and generously of time and money. He gave plaster material that had been hauled from Chicago for his own house and then lived in his own house three years without plastering; this that the church might be made comfortable the sooner. His teams went to Chicago twice and he furnished the lumber that they brought back. When money was hard to collect he helped furnish it at a sacrifice and waited until it could be paid back. It was his heart's desire to see a good church established in the community and he entered into the work heart and soul.
After the death of Mr. Breese, the Rev. Robert Cameron was called, who labored most diligently on the field until 1857, when he likewise was called away by death. Robert Cameron was the father of Auntie Cameron who has reached the ripe age of 84 years and is patiently waiting her summons home. Rev. Robert Cameron was much beloved and very highly esteemed by the church and by his ministerial brethren. He frequently contributed able papers to the religious periodicals published in his day. He died happily in the Lord after a faithful ministry covering a period of nearly forty years. His grave is also with us, marked by a headstone of white marble erected by the church to his memory. The church has one of his sermons on file. It was delivered possibly during the year 1855; the text is Matthew 5:8, ''Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
Following Mr. Cameron the Rev. George Cairns and Rev. J. M. Stone as stated supply, each had a part in caring for the flock, during the time the church was without a regular pastor.
This brings us down to the time of the out-break of the Civil War. I find on record that the church met

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together during these troublesome times and by a unanimous voice expressed their loyalty to the government.
In 1863 Rev. William Cunningham, after serving one year as chaplain in the army, came to Illinois and preached at Prospect church (now known as Dunlap) during the summer, In October he was invited to take charge of the Princeville church, which invitation he accepted, serving the church until 1870. During the first part of his ministry he also taught in the Academy; later he severed his connection with the Academy and give all his time and talents to his ministerial duties. In the winter of 1865-6 the church passed through a season of reviving and quickening. A large number confessed their faith in Christ and united with the church. As a result of this ingathering, plans were laid for the erection of the second church building. These plans they were able to carry out and the main auditorium of this building in which we are gathered was built and dedicated. The women of the church were not lacking in this pioneer spirit. Through their efforts they were able to contribute $1000.00 to the building fund.
These were notable years. A revival, a new house of worship, a regularly installed pastor and his salary increased $200.00. Just here an event takes place in the history of the church which cast a cloud over the noonday splendor of its future, It was in the year 1867, the pastor was married to the beautiful and accomplished Miss Laura Aldrich, Much was hoped from this union. But Providence had other ways and plans. In two months after their wedding she was buried in the village cemetery, the victim of a sad accident. The pastor, under this heavy blow, felt that he could no longer carry on the work and so requested the church and Presbytery to unite with him, dissolving the relation.
In 1871, the Rev. Arthur Rose was called, who served the church until 1877. Many present this morning can follow the history here, and for lack of time

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it will be necessary to note only special events. The church had to contend against a shifting population which caused the attendance and membership to rise and fall in point of numbers. The rise in the value of land in Illinois and the inviting openings in the West was the cause of this unrest.
In 1881, Rev, Samuel R. Belville was called to the pastorate and served the church until 1886. During this period the benevolences of the church were carried out systematically, all the boards of the church being remembered with gifts. The work of the Sunday school began to be pushed ahead with greater vigor.
Rev. Chas, M. Taylor came into the pastorate in 1887 and carried on the work until 1896. During the years 1894 and 1895 the church reached its highest mark in point of membership and benevolences. The membership numbered 210 and the Sunday school 238. (All will understand that the church keeps revising its roll and only the names on the active list are counted here.)
Succeeding Mr. Taylor the Rev. D. A. K. Preston served the church for one year as stated supply.
This brings us to the pastorate of Rev. Chas. T. Phillips, whose services cover the period from 1897 to 1903. During this time a large number were added to the church upon confession of faith, Dr, Robert F. Henry, who had served the church as ruling Elder for over 40 years, passed away. Dr, Henry often represented the Peoria Presbytery at Synod and had the honor of being sent to the General Assembly on two different occasions. At his death he was teacher of the famous "infant class." The story of this notable class has been told all over the nation. Fourteen there were whose ages aggregated more than 1000 years. Rev. Mr. Phillips speaks of the inspiration it gave him to see those gray heads reverently bent over the sacred page, every word of which to them was God-breathed. This brief sketch closes with the faithful service rendered by Rev. Amos A. Randall and the beginning of the present pastorate, 1908.

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I could not begin to speak of the industry, the self sacrifice, the consecration of these early days. In God's great Book of Life it is all recorded.
The church early adopted the plan of Rotary Eldership. This gave a number of different laymen the opportunity to serve, The oldest elder in point of years and also of service is Elder Geo. Rowcliffe, who took his office in 1870. Mr. Lemuel Auten was a colleague of Mr. Rowcliffe 's. (Mr. Auten has since taken his church letter to our sister denomination at Monica.) Elijah Tracy and Byron H. Wear also served in the office of eldership for a number of years. G. W. Rowcliffe has been honored by being re-elected to this office a number of times. John M. Yates, who comes from an illustrious family of church goers, is serving his first term on the Board, C. J. Cheesman, who is a colleague of Mr. Yates, also holds the office of superintendent of Sunday school, This is his specialty, having been in this work as leader since 1889, The Board of Trustees composed of Mr. Peter Auten, Bruce Henry and G.
W. Rowcliffe come in for their share of praise. They are contempling larger things in the way of improvements and building.
The church treasurer is Mr, Henry J. Cheesman, whose exemplary care of the church funds deserves great praise. In his honesty and fidelity he is a man after our own heart.

POINTS OF LOCAL INTEREST


We have five members who are well past four score years: Miss Agnes Cameron, Mrs. Eliza Barr, Martin Luther Bingham, Mrs. Jane Smith and Mr. J. T. Albert-son, All these will soon join the church triumphant.
Tradition tells us that Mr. Hugh Morrow and Mrs. Eliza Bouton were two of the children present with their parents in that famous meeting in 1834.
The one to whom the honor is ascribed of being the oldest member in point of church membership is Mrs. Hugh Morrow, she having joined in 1854 and remain-

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ing in constant communion of the church for fifty-five years.
Mr. Edward Auten and his brother, Lemuel, united six months after Mrs. Morrow, The beloved Mrs. Dr. Henry was also a member of this class, Mrs. Henry joined the church above within the last year.
Many more things might be mentioned and will be told as we go on through the services of this day and tomorrow.
God has verified His promise to His church. Through summer's heat and winter's cold He has kept this vine alive. Though dry and parched it became at times, he watered it with the dews of Divine Grace and again it has sprung into new life. And now, after seventy-five years of growth, its protecting branches cover a multitude. With peace within and without our borders, this church stands as a center of radiating blessedness, cheering, sweetening, purifying and saving the souls of men.
The last year witnessed the largest number gathered into the church in any single year. In benevolences this last year we stand second only to the banner year.
Firmly believing in the worthiness of this church and of the community's present-day need of it, I summon all to a new consecration. As has been so well said by a wise Educator, "The iron of the fathers is in us," let that iron brace us for the new day and the new duties. The beauty of the fathers is in us, too. Let that beauty make us loving and winsome. Our mission is not yet accomplished, Here the church stands beautiful for situation, the choicest building site in the village. May we be a joy to the entire community. It can be truly said that prayers rise continually like sweet incense to the very throne of God in behalf of this place.
Think of the heavenly scenes witnessed at this altar. Innocent babes in their parents' arms receiving the Sacrament of Baptism; children, youths and older ones reverently taking upon themselves the vows of membership, and gathering at the table of their Lord. And

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then how often and especially within the last year, when the cloud of sorrow concealed the brightness of the sun, have we gathered within these sacred walls to be comforted by the service in which the last sacred rites were administered to those whom we love.
My friends, this church, this place, has grown to become a part of us, our interest, our work, our very life, May it be that our adorable Master may always find this church answering the deepest yearnings of His Heart as we go on in His name changing darkness into light and sin into Salvation.



HISTORY OF PRINCEVILLE M. E. CHURCH.

Princeville Telephone, Sept. 30, 1909.

Written by Milton Wilson.

Rev, N. J, Brown has just put out a booklet among his people and the friends of the church in which is contained a concise historical sketch of the Princeville M. E. church from early times, written by Mr. Milton Wilson of Princeville. We think this sketch worthy to be reproduced in our columns, with some additions, which space did hot permit to be produced in the booklet.
In attempting to write a history of the M. E. church of Princeville, the writer is confronted with the fact that there are no records to which reference can be made, no memorandum or data as a helper, consequently has to depend wholly upon tradition prior to the autumn of 1848, for material for such history.
About the year 1836 there came from the State of New York to this place, Rev. John Hill, a local minister of the M. E. church, Soon after his arrival, he and his rather numerous family of sons and daughters settled on land now owned in part by Stephen Hoag. "Father Hill," as he was familiarly called, was a very conscientious and faithful man, highly esteemed by all

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who knew him, He soon began to gather in at his humble home the "lost sheep "—immigrants who had formerly been members of the M. E. church at places of their nativity and were now scattered over a sparsely settled country with no previous opportunity of returning to the "fold." Services were rather infrequent and informal, In due time they became regularly organized and became a part of a six weeks' circuit, supplied by a regular minister. Services were held first in Aunt Jane Morrow's log cabin, and then for a number of years in a small log school house, situated about thirty rods southeast of the present site of the C. R. I. & P. depot, where they continued to worship for a number of years. In the year 1846 the stone building now occupied by the Misses Margaret and Arilla Rid was erected for school purposes. The Board of Directors very generously tendered its use to all religious denominations, including the M. E. church, for religious services when not needed for school purposes.
At this time the circuit had narrowed to a four weeks' itinerary, including Kickapoo, Brimfield, Rochester, now Elmore, and Princeville. The ministers who served under Conference appointment prior to the fall of 1848, were Rev. Messrs. Pitner, Whitman, Cumming, Hill, Beggs, Applebee, Grundy and Gaddis. The laymen at that time and for a few subsequent years who were the most active and faithful workers, have all entered into rest. They were: Messrs. Martin, Russell, Ayling, McMillen, Hare and Hoag.
At the Annual Conference held in the fall of 1848, two young, unmarried ministers were appointed to the circuit, both of whom very wisely secured "help meets" during the year. Under their ministrations the church prospered in every respect. Its numerical strength largely increased by the inflow of immigration. In the early "fifties" the junior preacher under appointment, known as the "bachelor preacher," well educated and able in discourse, attracted attention by a certain eccentricity. He seemed to have such intense concentration of thought while preaching as to be oblivious to sur-

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roundings, Also he seemed to possess an unlimited supply of handkerchiefs and to have a mania for their use. Beginning his sermon he would soon produce a handkerchief from a pocket and lay it on the desk. After a little another would make its appearance. Then another and another, until from four to six handkerchiefs would be in sight, no two alike in style or color. It was a query among the young people, to whom this was very funny, where he found room on his person for such a consignment of linen.
In the spring of 1853 the class decided they would have a house of worship of their own. Building was begun on Lots 1 and 2, Block 16, now owned by Mrs. M. J. Adams, but the structure was not completed until the following year owing to scarcity of money. The writer does not remember that there was any formal dedication service at its opening. From this date there was a gradual growth in church interests, with lapses at intervals, of spiritual life, During one of these latter a Quarterly Meeting day arrived, It was late in the autumn and the weather was chilly. The time was Saturday afternoon, About twenty persons were present, and as the Presiding Elder, a nervous man, came in he glanced at the fireless stove, As he walked up the aisle he took note of the accumulated dirt and dust in nook and corner. Presently an aged sister secured a broom and began sweeping. The Elder looked quickly from where he was sitting and said, ''Don't, sister. Never sweep the room after the table is set." The good old lady, greatly abashed, set the broom back in its resting place and sat down. The Elder then picked up a heavy shawl which he usually wore in cold weather. and drawing it around his thin shoulders with the top reaching to the crown of his head, took his place behind the pulpit and throwing his head back, eyes closed and arms folded, began singing, "Come, Thou Fount of every blessing." The whole scene was so amusing that religious sentiment, for the time, was barred.
August, 1858, is remembered as the "great revival year." A Camp Meeting was held in the grove on the

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farm of Jacob Hoag, and the meeting was one of great spiritual power. The number of conversions was large. But anxiety was not absent during that meeting. Late in the afternoon, on Sunday, information came to the ministers that some disorderly fellows from a distant neighborhood were coming in the evening to create a disturbance and "break up the meeting." The ministers at once entered into consultation as to necessary steps taken for protection as well as defense. About this time two or three young men of the immediate neighborhood went around to where the ministers were in consultation and said to them that they were not professed christians, but believed in defending religious assemblages in their rights, and for them to have no further thought or anxiety about the matter, as they were fully organized to take care of the "Spoon River gang" if they made any attempt to disturb the meeting. This was soon communicated to the "gang" when they very wisely decided that ''discretion is the better part of valor" and hastily left the grounds.
Another incident: A young fellow came into the evening service and took a seat on the side of the aisle assigned to the ladies. Presiding Elder Richard Haney immediately went back and said to him kindly that perhaps he was unaware of the custom of the church, that the males sit on one side of the aisle and the females on the opposite side, and asked him kindly if he would please be seated on the men's side. He looked up defiantly in the face of the elder and replied, "I guess not.'' ''I guess you will,'' said the elder, and quickly grabbing his coat collar with his left hand and with his right getting a very convenient grip on his trousers, lifted him bodily across the aisle, setting him down, not very tenderly, with the remark, "Now sit here and behave yourself, or fare worse." He did, never stirring from his enforced place of seating during the entire service, only occasionally glancing in the direction of the athletic preacher.
Just before the closing of the meeting the local officiary said they felt that the church had been so greatly

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blessed spiritually, in accessions and in membership, that Princeville was able to support a pastor alone and at the Annual Conference a few weeks later Princeville became an independent charge, Rev. Millsap being the first appointed pastor. The church under the new arrangements began and continued to prosper along all lines until the beginning of the War of the Rebellion. And notwithstanding the cloud of gloom and sorrow that hung over the church during those trying years of the war, there seemed to be no abatement in spiritual feeling or church interests, though depleted in its male members and outside attendance at its services by reason of so many having volunteered and gone to the front, There were very few homes not represented in the service by a husband, father, son or brother. In 1861 and 1862, Rev. Ahab Keller was the preacher in charge. He was known as the "fighting parson." With him, at that time, no sermon was complete and well rounded out that was lacking in patriotic utterances.
After the close of the war and the return of the soldiers, the church took a new life and increased interest in its advancement and work, the outside attendance at the services being greatly increased. These conditions continued to grow and increase until the spring of 1868, when the question of building a new and larger church edifice began to be agitated, there not being room enough in the old building for the increased membership and the increasing numbers in church attendance. The matter soon took form and the preliminary work began. It was completed and formally dedicated in the month of September, the same year, by Rev, L. B. Kent, Presiding Elder of Peoria District, Thus after twenty years in occupancy of the first church building, they became occupants of the new structure. The building is now known as the "old Academy." For an even twenty years this building continued to be occupied as a house of worship. During all these years peace and harmony generally prevailed within the sacred walls. One sad thought lingers in memory—of

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the scores who worshiped at its altar and attended upon its services who have passed to the other shore. But in nearly every case the passing was a triumphant one.
In the year 1889 the present church edifice was erected and formally dedicated on Sunday, September 15th, of the same year.
Since that date the history and progress of the church ought to be fresh in the memory of its members as well as all who attend the services. If, however, a continued history of the church is desired, this closing is a good beginning for a more youthful and capable successor. A list of the regularly appointed ministers by the Annual Conference is herewith given, covering a period of sixty-one years, with the closing Conference year. It will be observed that there have been thirty-six distinct ministers who served the church during this time, in length of service from one to five years. Only once has a minister returned to the charge under a second appointment, this one being Rev, J. S. Millsap, in 1881.
1848, B. C. Swartz, T. F. Royal; 1849, W. C. Cummings, J. W. Stogdell; 1850, John Luccock, _______ Dodge; 1851, U. J. Giddings, J. B. Craig; 1852, U. J. Giddings, ____ Reack; 1853, N. H. Gregg, C. B. Crouch; 1854-55, P. F. Rhodes; 1856-57, J. B. Mills; 1858-59, J. S. Millsap; 1860-61, Ahab Keller; 1862-63, W. J. Beck; 1864, G. W. Brown; 1865-66, S. B. Smith; 1867-68, John Cavett; 1869, M. Spurlock; 1870, G. W. Havermale; 1871-72, E. Wasmuth; 1873-74, J. Collins; 1875-76, W. B. Carithers; 1877, W. D. H. Young; 1878-80, Stephen Brink; 1881, J. S. Millsap; 1882, M. V. B. White; 1883-84, H. M. Laney; 1885-87, F. W. Merrill; 1888-92, Alex Smith; 1893-95, R. B. Seaman; 1896, J. D. Smith; 1897-98, J. E. Conner; 1899-1900, John Rogers; 1901-04, R. L. Vivian; 1905, L. F. Cullom; 1906-08, N. J. Brown.

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TRACES OF EARLY INDIAN LIFE AT ROCHES-
TER, PEORIA AND KNOX COUNTIES,
ILLINOIS.

By W. H. Adams, 1909.

Evidently the primeval race of men who once inhabited Millbrook Township and have long since vanished, like the early white settlers looked upon the high prairies as the play-ground of the winter's blizzard and summer's tornado, and therefore sought the protection of the bluffs and hills along Spoon River and its confluents as a site for their villages and dwelling places. The quantity of the ancient earthworks, and other tumuli, would indicate the presence of a considerable population at one time, or perhaps, more properly expressed, a population extending over a long period of time.
The kitchen middens on the west bank of Walnut Creek, near its confluence with Spoon River, on the farm of E. L. Grohs, indicate that a considerable village existed there for a long period of time. Intermingled with the soil that would naturally accumulate about the home of the savage, is the refuse from their feasts. This consists of the bones of the deer, opossum, raccoon, land snails, fresh water shells in great abundance, and of the species most common at the present time; also, of implements of the chase, etc., as spearheads, lances, knives, arrow points made from chert, hornstone and other forms of quartz, stone axes, celts, gorgets, discoidal stones, stone hammers, .shreds of pottery, etc. Nowhere in this great mass of material is there any evidence that this primitive people came in contact with the Aryan race. Undoubtedly this was a place of considerable importance. Miss Sumner, Miss Emma Cumming and Mr. Jay Walsh and others prominently identified with the educational affairs of Knox County, have been able to trace an ancient Indian trail to this place from well defined village sites in Knox County.

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There is an ossuary or burial mound some eighty rods southwest of this village that contained the skeletons of thirty or more individuals that had been piled up somewhat like the chopper cords up his wood, with this difference: the long fellows were placed at the bottom of the pile and the short ones on top, and over the whole was erected a considerable mound of earth that was thoroughly rammed or packed.

On what is now the village park of Rochester was once the playground where the plumed braves, when not engaged in the chase or lifting scalps, were wont to engage in the pastime of playing Chunkee and other games of like character germane to savage life—perhaps with the same enthusiasm that is so prominent a characteristic of the foot and baseball players of the present day.
On land owned by the Biederbeck family is a series of round and long mounds of considerable magnitude, very similar to those so common in the State of Wisconsin. One of this group is in the form of a Grecian cross. The skeletons in the more ancient graves afford but a faint trace of chalk. This would indicate a very remote interment, perhaps many thousands of years ago.
Here and there the little flint chips that are scattered over the surface of a slope or knoll, swept by the west and north winds, is the monument that marks the site of the ancient arrow-maker's workshop. There is a strong probability that the vocation of fashioning the various forms of chipped implements was one of the warm summer time. Here beneath the wide spreading branches of some great oak, the arrow maker would pursue his calling, undisturbed by the noxious insects so prevalent on the low lands or near the water courses. Those little flint chips are not only the monuments that mark the site of an attalier, but tell us in language that can not be misunderstood, that the contemporaries of the arrow-makers were a commercial people and carried the crude material in boats from distant places.

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That those people had some sort of a religion or worship is evident from the fact that just over the line in Knox County, on a well prepared earthen altar, four men and one woman were burned, so that the bones were charred, and the soil was impregnated to a considerable depth with the oleaginous matter. In an excavation beneath this altar were the skeletons of two men. What dire calamity had overtaken those people, that five of their number in the morning of young man and womanhood should be immolated on a fiery altar to propitiate an offended deity? It was certainly a religion as unreasoning as the creed of the bigoted fanatics, as cruel as starvation, as merciless as the hate of the wanton scorned.
The question is often asked where did those primitive peoples come from. Some argue that they are the descendants of the ten and a half lost tribes of Israel that came to America by the way of Behring Strait. The law of supply and demand of food cuts this theory out. Others advanced the theory that they came to America by the way of the Pacific Ocean. This is plausible. Able archaeologists take the position that they originated in America. Or in other words that the human family originated in more than one place. It is just as easy to believe that if man is a creature of evolution he had several starting points, as to believe he had but one.
In 1812 Congress passed an act creating a military bounty land district between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers in the Territory of Illinois, for the benefit of the soldiers engaged in the war with Great Britain, In 1816 Amos Wheeler ran the Fourth Principal Meridian west of Peoria County, and the Standard Parallel between Townships Eight and Nine North. The first record we have of the presence of white men in the north and northwestern parts of Peoria County is the presence of the men who were engaged in survey of the public land in 1817.
The Townships of Millbrook, Brimfield, Elmwood and Trivoli were surveyed and subdivided by James D.

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Thomas in 1817. Trivoli was partly re-surveyed by Isaac L. Baker in 1853. The Townships of Princeville, Jubilee, Rosefield, Logan, Timber, Hollis, Limestone, Richwoods and Hallock were surveyed by Thomas Joyes in 1817. The Townships of Akron, Radnor, Kickapoo and Peoria were surveyed by Thomas Willis in 1817. Townships of Medina, Chillicothe and Rome were surveyed by Jeremiah Rice in 1817.
To John Dantz, private in Bliss' 11th, belongs the honor of first taking title to land in Millbrook Township, to whom was patented the Southwest quarter of Section Thirty-three, on the first day of January, 1818, warrant 9661, The second tract was the Southwest quarter of Section Nine to Daniel Whittain, Feb. 9th, 1818.
The first tract of land in Prineeville Township was the Southwest quarter of Section Twenty-nine. It was patented to John Cady, father and heir of Adair Cady, Oct. 6, 1817. There were forty-five quarter sections of land in Princeville Township patented to soldiers or their heirs, that were engaged in the last war with Great Britain.
The following communication was received from the War Department in answer to a request for information as to what tribes of Indians occupied this section of the country in the early part of the last century.

War Department, Washington, July 17, 1909.

Mr, W. H. Adams,
Laura, Peoria Co., Ill.
Nothing has been of record in this department to show that a military escort was furnished for the protection of Surveyors engaged. It appears from correspondence on file that the Surveyors were harrased by Indians belonging to the Sac, Fox or Winnebago tribes.
It also appears from the records that Fort Clarke, Illinois, was erected in 1813 on the present site of Peoria as a protection against the Peoria Indians.

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REMINISCENCES OF THE STEWART FAMILY.
By Layton L. Stewart, 1909.

The Stewart family came to Illinois from Philadelphia, Pa, Thomas and James in 1852 and Joseph in 1859. Thomas and James left the East on the 1st April of that year and after a journey of two weeks, from Philadelphia to Pittsburg by railroad and stage coach, then down the Ohio to the Mississippi and and up the Illinois to Peoria, and out to Trivoli Township by stage coach, where they arrived on the 14th of April. The next day they all went sleigh-riding, so it seems there were late springs in those days as well as now.
Thomas and James settled in Jubilee in 1857, Joseph in 1859. The Rowcliffe and Moss families were the only neighbors in this part of the Township at that time except Bishop Chase, who had founded Jubilee College several years before, about the time that Princeville was first settled.

There were many earlier settlers in the county, but it was, in comparison to the present time, a wild country around Jubilee. It was no uncommon sound to hear the wolves howling around the house at night and see herds of deer feeding on the fall grain on winter mornings.
The children of the early days are the old settlers now. The older generation is rapidly passing. May we fill their places as faithfully as they performed their parts in the making of our favored country.

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PIONEERS OF MILLBROOK TOWNSHIP.

By. W. H. Adams, 1910.

The early settlers of Millbrook Township came to Illinois that they might obtain homes for themselves and a heritage for their children, They were a people who respected and revered the Sabbath as a day free from toil, and one of religious worship, of high moral character and business probity, they promoted education by building school houses, and advanced religion by erecting churches. Around the hearthstone of their humble log cabins, the wayfarer, though a stranger, was hospitably entertained, They were home-builders in the broadest and best sense that term can imply.
In the fall of 1834, William Metcalf built a log cabin on the East half of the Southeast quarter of section nine, In May or June, 1835, John Sutherland moved his family from Peoria to French Grove, where he resided until his death in 1846.
In the month of October, 1835, John Smith, Sr., John Smith, Jr., and Theragood Smith and families, accompanied by John White (who afterwards became a prominent citizen of the township), and another young man landed on the site of the Village of Rochester; and they immediately proceeded to make permanent improvements on the lands that they had entered at the Land Office at Quincy the preceding year. The next year Charles Yocum and John Carter settled in the township. Elias Wycoff, Sr., and his two young sons came in 1838. John McCune and Alexander McDonnell settled on Scotland Prairie about 1836 or '37 (if I have not mixed dates).
Subjoined is a sketch of Col. Clark W. Stanton, one of the most prominent and conspicuous characters that has ever appeared in the business arena of the Township, by his son, Erastus Stanton, of Scandia, Kansas.

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Col. Clark W. Stanton
By Erastus Stanton, 1910.

The pioneer of Rochester, Clark W. Stanton was born in Steuben County, in the State of New York in 1800. The country was wild and new and while he was yet a small boy, the war of 1812 came on and he being the oldest child, with his mother was compelled to face all the hardships of frontier life, with the added horrors of British, and Indian dangers, as his father and his father's brother were on the border or in Canada repelling the enemy. The privations and suffering of the family were great. There was not much farming yet in the country, and what flour there was was mostly gathered up for the use of the army. I remember his telling of often seeing his mother sifting wheat bran to get something to make bread. But when peace came their fortunes were much improved, and having a desire to learn the carpenter's trade, he was apprenticed to a good workman and mill-wright with whom he remained for several years.
In those days, it being so soon after the war, military exercise took the place that base ball does and the young man in time became so proficient the he was advanced to the rank of captain and afterward Colonel, although I do not remember of hearing that he took part in any actual warfare.
At the age of twenty-five he and Amy Barnes were married, and they removed to Rochester, New York, where there were better opportunities for work, and remained there for several years, getting ready for the inevitable west.
In 1833 or 34, they took shipping in a sailing vessel for Chicago, a little heard of and almost unknown village on the lower end of Lake Michigan, going around by the Straits of Mackinaw, and in due time arriving at Chicago, where they do not seem to have tarried long, for in 1834 or so he assisted in the building of the

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Court House at Peoria, and if I am not mistaken, was the contractor for building the same—all the time looking for a stream and location where he could fulfill the dream of his heart and build a mill.
And he found Spoon River and the beautiful location where Rochester reposes in romantic beauty. He at once built a log cabin which stood directly in the rear of what is or was the Wilkins store, for just over the bank there, was a beautiful spring, clear, cold and sparkling, The first thing to do was to build a saw mill, dig a mill race and dam the river. He gathered around a crew of stout, gallant young fellows, those remaining now remembered, being John White and Robert Armstrong. I can remember names of several others, but the sound of their names would mean nothing nor convey any idea, This was in 1836.
They were a happy company; long years afterwards I have heard my mother speak kindly of those "boys" as she called them, and when in after life they used to meet me, they spoke so good of my father and mother that I still cherish their memory.
Supplies of most kinds were brought by wagon, but game was good and plenty, and some of the men were expert with the rifle. Deer, wild turkeys, prairie chickens and other game were no luxury; in the winter especially many deer were killed and brought home and thrown upon the cabin roof until it would be completely covered, The river furnished an abundance of fish, also.
The work went steadily on; material was handy, the level land in front of the mill site being covered with forest, mostly oak, as was also the whole of the land that afterward became the town site. The saw mill soon went up and a deep ditch was dug where the race was to be, with the correct idea that when the dam was built and the water turned in, it would soon wash out a sufficient mill race through the loose soil. The building of the dam took some time, but being completed, the chug-chug of the saw soon woke the echoes along the lonely Spoon.

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The next problem was the building of a grist mill. There never having been much money, the remainder was getting painfully low and it takes money to build mills, but to Clark Stanton a little matter like that was of no consequence. The saw mill going night and day was making something, and he needed no master builder; also, he found a man of money who loaned him Fifteen Hundred Dollars, which was quite a sum for those days. I do not remember this man's name although I used to know it very well, because of my mother's worrying so much about the debt and about what might happen. I came to look upon the kindly old man who came around once a year to collect his interest, as a horrible ogre who was liable to gather us all up and take us to jail any minute; and to add to my terror, I once heard my father say, "Mr. ________ will soon be here and I must have his money ready, or Hell will be to pay," but my fears were groundless. The mill went up, the country filled with people who laid the foundation of the great Illinois of today.
About the year 1844 my father's younger brother Russel Stanton came to Rochester from the East, He was a different man in many ways: a very good and extremely pious man, but so visionary. He was violently opposed to slavery, and in conjunction with some fellow conspirators, organized a line for the purpose of assisting colored people to Canada. I know he had one fellow worker named Webster at a place called "Nigger Point" near West Jersey, and another named Boyd, up that way somewhere; together they concocted a scheme to ruin the South financially, and thus release the bondmen. It was no less than the manufacture of molasses and sugar on so large a scale as to run out the southern planters. There was nothing known of sorghum in those days. The sweetness was to be from the corn stalks crushed in the same manner as sorghum now is. So Uncle Russel built the mill all right and it was surely a good one. My father tried to argue him out of his freakish notions, but unsuccessfully. Anyway the corn field and the mill finally

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got in conjunction, but I am not sure that any molasses was the result, for at that time of my life I absorbed a great deal of molasses and if there had been any abundant quantity, I surely would have noticed it. Anyway, the South survived that blow.
In 1846 my old grandfather also named Clark Stanton, accompanied by his fourth wife and a grandson, made a visit to Illinois, and the East part of the red house was arranged for their use. He was very talkative, as is common to the aged, and told me many tales of war and also of the revolution which he had heard from his mother and other older persons. They stayed only about a year, she pining for children back in York State. Grandfather said his ancestors first landed at Saybrook, in Connecticut.
The mill was kept going night and day when there was water to run it. Good wheat was raised there then and teams were busy hauling flour to Peoria and goods back for the merchants, but my father's health began to fail. The dam was a constant trouble, the banks were soft alluvial soil, and the material was mostly willow brush, quickly rotting and needing constant repair, floods sometimes washing the whole out and the exposure and work in the cold water warned him to quit.
He rented the mill, and in 1849, a feeble man, he started to California by way of New Orleans. Arriving at Chagres he crossed the Isthmus some way and at Panama took passage on the English sailing vessel, "The Twin Sisters,'' it being Hobson's choice. The ship was crowded, old and leaky and not fitted with stores and provisions nor sufficient water, and commanded by a drunken captain. The water soon gave out and the passengers rigged up a condenser to boil water and run the steam through a pipe enveloped in cold water. Each passenger was rationed a pint of water a day. After baffling winds and long delay they reached Acapulco in Mexico and procured water, but the food was nothing but sea biscuit, dry, hard and wormy. After a crowded, suffering voyage they made

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the port of San Diego, and almost all of the passengers abandoned the ship and made their way the best they could to Sacramento, which was the outfitting point to the mines. Here my father found a freighter who wished to sell out and return home, whose oxen and wagon he bought and loaded with provisions and started for the mines. Here he sold his load to such advantage that he continued in the business for some time, and then tried mining with some success.
But old Spoon River was calling all the time and he took a sudden notion to go home, and no sooner said than done. Well do I remember the cold winter night when the door flew open and he was among us, looking hale and well. Oh, but there was a happy time in the old Red House that night.
His good health was only apparent, however, so he resolved that his only chance was to return to California. He wished to close his business and go back for good and all, but he sank rapidly and died still a comparatively young man at the age of 51 years. My mother was five years younger than he and survived for that time and died at the same age.
My father was of poor pioneers and had very little book education, but my mother was born and raised in the Genesee valley of forehanded parents and was well educated for that time. She said her father strongly objected to her marrying that "wandering blade of poverty," but I suppose that only hurried matters as is usual in such cases.
Of the five children, Irena, the oldest, was lately buried at Rochester, where she came with her parents when a little girl, the greater part of a century before, as also Malvina, two years younger, who is buried at Galva, Ill.; Franklin, buried at Shenandoah. Iowa. The still living are Chloe of Galesburg, Ill., and the writer, of Scandia, Kansas, This closes a labor of love and I am glad to cast even so poor a wreath upon the graves of my dear parents.

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GEORGE W. SCOTT.

By Odillon B. Slane, 1910.

About four years before General Samuel Thomas platted and laid out the Village of Wyoming, and the same year that bullets for the Black hawk War were moulded in the Slane cabin at Ft. Clark, Peoria, there was born in the State of New York a man whose future life and character as a pioneer was destined to become closely interwoven with the early history of Peoria and Stark Counties.
George Washington Scott was born July 21, 1832 at Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, His parents were of Scotch-English origin. His father, Ephraim Scott, Jr., was an engineer, and died in 1839 at Sydney, Ohio. His grandfather, Captain Ephraim Scott, a soldier of 1812, commanded a company at Buffalo when that post was burned. His mother, Lydia Sherman, was a daughter of Reuben Sherman, a soldier of the Revolution, and a cousin of Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Scott has now in his possession two commissions: ''Ensign in 1802" and "Captain in 1806," issued to his grandfather by Caleb Strong, governor of Massachusetts. He is a direct descendant from Isaac Allerton, who landed at Plymouth in 1620, which fact gives him a membership in the ''Society of the Mayflower.'' George W. Scott is also a member of the ''Sons of the American Revolution."
The subject of our sketch, with his mother, moved to Peoria County, Illinois, in 1853, purchased land at $5.00 per acre and engaged in agriculture, He and his mother lived together on Section 3, Princeville Township, till her death in 1857. Both parents are buried in the Princeville Cemetery.
His marriage to Mary C. Cox took place December 23, 1858. She was a daughter of Enoch Cox, a native of Virginia, and one of the pioneer settlers of Stark County, Illinois.

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In 1862 the subject of our sketch moved to Wyoming, Illinois, and engaged in the mercantile business. In 1870 he established the banking house of Scott & Wrigley, which firm is now classed among the leading banking houses in the state. That he has been a friend of the church and school, is evidenced by his services on the Board of Education for thirteen years. His life has been a busy and eventful one, lie has witnessed great changes in the settlement of this great northwest, especially in Central Illinois.
Ever a friend to the cause of humanity—to the moral uplift of society, such characters as his have from pioneer times hewn the paths of progress through the eventful periods of our country's history.



THE STOWELL FAMILY OF LAWN RIDGE
By Calvin Stowell, 1910.

To the Officers and Members of the Old Settlers Union of Princeville and Vicinity

Greeting:
We have been repeatedly asked to furnish a sketch of our father's life in connection with his pioneer days in the early settlement of Illinois. We feel it to be a delicate matter to write of the life of one, or portion of the life of one, as close by the ties of nature, as father and son; but we realize that those of my father's generation, and a large proportion of those of the generation immediately following, have passed over the "Dark River," and so far as I can remember, there is no one now living that could testify in regard to the facts connected with our final move to Illinois in 1843, aside from the writer.
Of the incidents connected with his first trip to Illinois on his exploring expedition in 1836, we can only give them from memory as we have heard talked over again and again at the fireside in our childhood days,

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and often repeated in our maturer years. So under existing conditions, we should feel ourselves unworthy of the father that begot us, and the mother that bore us, if we should refuse to give any facts in regard to those pioneer years of hardship and heroic endeavor and endurance that would add anything to the history of the early settlers of Illinois, whose lives are now numbered upon the records of the heroic deeds of the past.
In the spring of 1836, when my father, Ebenezer Stowell, was twenty-nine years of age, he with his first cousin, Roswell Nurse, and his son, Isaiah Nurse, a young man just at his majority, packed their grips with such things only as were absolutely necessary for health and comfort on the road, and, with one rifle as their only weapon, which they carried turn about, started from Bambridge, Chenango County, New York, for the much talked of ''Land of Promise," the young state of Illinois.
Their plan was to make the trip on foot and to make any side explorations in going as might be deemed best. Just the route which they took, we are not able to give, further than this, tbat they explored quite thoroughly much of the country along the Wabash River in Indiana, and then struck across to Peoria, Illinois, which was then little more than a village. From there, they went up the River to Chillicothe, a town of a few houses along the river bank. Here they met Jacob Booth, whom they had known in York State. who had preceded them by a length of time unknown to us. We have also heard them speak of meeting J. H. McKean, now a resident of Wyoming, Illinois, well past his four-score and ten years. But they had little time for visiting; time was precious and they were there on business.
Leaving Chillicothe, they went to Northampton, where Reuben Hamlin had a tavern, Here they established headquarters while exploring the country. They finally located timber-land upon what has since been called Blue Ridge, and prairie along the south line

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of Marshall County, where Lawn Ridge now stands. They then took up their line of march for the nearest land office, Quincy, Illinois, one hundred and sixty miles distant.
Having made their entries, and secured their patents, they returned to Hamlin's, which they made their stopping place while they built a small but comfortable log house on the exact spot where Isaiah Nurse subsequently built a good substantial home, now owned by H. H. Nurse, and occupied by his son. Game was plentiful in those days and in their walks back and forth to Hamlin's, they often picked up a turkey with their trusty rifle that added materially to their bill of fare.
It was now getting well along in the fall. The object of their summer's tramp accomplished, it was arranged that Isaiah Nurse should remain and keep house while Roswell Nurse and my father should return to the East for their families, So again the two men started on their tramp for Chicago, with a view of expediting their trip home, by taking a schooner to Buffalo, New York.

It was now getting late in the fall, and they were beset with high and adverse winds and bad storms, often compelled to lie under the lee of some island for days before they could proceed. Three weeks were consumed in the trip from Chicago to Buffalo, New York. Here again they took up their line of march for their homes in Chenango County, about the center of the state on the south line,—their long tramp finished, and the work they set out to do fully accomplished.

It was upon his return from Illinois that I first met my father, my arrival having anticipated his by a few weeks. While we have no very distinct recollection of the occasion, we think it fairly to be presumed that we met him with the grace and dignity becoming one of our age and experience, And here closes the first chapter of the record.

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The spring following their return to New York State, Roswell Nurse moved with his family to their possessions in Illinois. My father being a mechanic with plenty of work in the East, and no assurance of any in his line in the West, deferred moving his family until 1843, when, with a good team of mares attached to a wagon with the box set upon springs, our family, then five in number, started on the long road to our future home, which we reached in three and one-half weeks. A young man by the name of John Champlin went through with us, driving a horse and buggy of Dr. Ashed Wilmot's, who moved to Illinois the same spring. Doctor's old Charley horse and sulky were known on the road for many years as the Doctor made his professional visits.

Our journey was made without incident or accident worthy of note, but the broad prairies, as hour after hour we drove over them without seeing a sign of human habitation, were in strong contrast with the same country two and three decades later. Our heavy goods father had drawn to Olean Point in the late winter before, when they were rafted down to the Ohio River in charge of Uncle Lyman Robinson, who came around by water the same spring, arriving at our destination some weeks ahead of us.

The next day after our arrival, the goods were stored, the family found shelter amongst the neighbors, and father was in quest of a saw mill which he found on the Senachwine Creek, about two miles above Northampton. Being a mill-wright, he soon had it in order, and was sawing lumber for a house, while Champlin with the team and wagon was drawing it to the place designated for a building. In just two weeks from the time of reaching our journey's end, we were under our own roof, and gathered as a family in our own habitation. Crude and unfinished though it was, it was home, and life in our new environment was begun, in what was then called the ''Little Blue Ridge Settlement."

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Of this little pioneer settlement much that would be of interest could be said, but that would take us beyond the scope of this paper. That those first years in Illinois were both primitive in matters of dress and very plain in matters of living, goes without saying, and had it not been for kind-hearted, industrious Grandma Will who preceded us to Illinois by a few years, and announced that she had planted garden for all of the newcomers, we might have truly said that our living was both plain in quality and scrimped in quantity; for what little cash came into the treasury in those early years, father depended upon his trade.
Being a Yankee, he considered a barn indispensable, and the second year put up a good framed barn, enclosed with hardwood lumber of his own sawing. The example seemed contagious, and numerous other lobs of the same kind were soon given him, In addition to this, he got several jobs in building over and repairing both flouring mills and saw mills, one near Princeton, one on Crow Creek where he took the ague which stayed by him for many months, and was altogether more than he bargained for. He also did work on the old Evans flouring mill, which many of the old settlers will remember, located upon the Kickapoo Creek in Peoria County.
Clothing was among the important items to be provided for, and a flock of sheep was among the first things to be looked after, the care and preservation of which in those early days of dogs and wolves was no small item. The wool from their backs was spun into yarn and woven into cloth by my mother's deft hands, and by her cut and made into garments for the whole family. From her loom also came many a bolt of cloth for the neighbors, with all of whom, comfort counted for everything, and mere style for less than nothing. The loose woolen shirt, the jeans pants, vest and wampus was the style for the men and boys; and, for the women, the plain calico dress in summer, and the woolen dress for winter, were the order of the day.
The year 1840 is approximately that of the building

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the little brick school-house from which we and many others graduated. It was also the church from which the circuit rider held forth once in four weeks. Feeling the need of more religious services in the community, Dr. A. Wilmot, Nathaniel Smith and father, with their wives, organized a Congregational Church-- not as a rival, but as a helper—in maintaining religious services with all that can be implied in it. Owen Lovejoy of Princeton, who afterwards became famous in the nation's councils, was at the head of the Council of Organization. This church worked harmoniously with the Methodist people and for the general good of all, until in the process of settlement a few years later, service was moved to Lawn Ridge where the church still stands, and has the honor of being the parent from which the Congregational Churches of Stark, Edelstein and Speer have sprung.
It was not our design in writing this paper to give biography of our father's life, only a few incidents in connection with his pioneer days, which with his optimistic views of life, were most thoroughly identified with those of his neighbors in upholding all that morally, socially and financially was for the best interest of all concerned: and we realize that we are drawing out this paper to great length, still do not see just where to stop.
There is one thing more due primarily to my father's fore-sight which has become an universal blessing. It was early noted in the old settlement that there was but one spring of absolutely living water in the settlement. Knowing that the land was for sale and that it was liable to be closed to the public, father approached the owner with the proposition to segregate the spring from the balance of the tract, and sell it for the benefit of the public. Having got consent of the owner to do so, Uncle Erastus and Lucas Root joined hands with him in putting up the cash. The land connecting the spring with the public highway was bought and deeded to the public forever, and it became a veritable ''Jacob's Well." There have been times of drouth

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when it seems that both man and beast would have perished without it.
Amongst the sad events of that early day was the death by lightning of my Uncle Nathan Stowell, who with my father and brother was making hay on the prairie, about three miles from home. The three were standing together not a yard from each other when a bolt of lightning struck Nathan dead. My brother Orson was also struck and blistered from head to foot, a spot on his arm burned to the bone, and a wound inflicted on his head from which blood flowed freely; while, strange to say, father did not lose consciousness for a moment, was not even knocked down. This Uncle with a younger brother who died from the effects of an accident the following winter were the first two burials in Blue Ridge Cemetery. My father died in the year 1880 in his 72nd year; my mother in 1889 in her 81st year.
We feel that we cannot close this sketch without a word in a general way for the old neighbors of pioneer days with whom we were closely associated for many years. Fraternity and reciprocity were characteristic of them as a whole; not that they always saw "eye to eye." for they were all human; but in no case did their petty differences withhold the helping hand in the day of affliction, and be it said to their credit that such a thing as a law suit was never known within our recollection of more than sixty-five years.
In looking back over the record of those in and around the old settlement as early as 1846, we can count the graves of at least twelve fathers and mothers who rest side by side in the little settlement cemetery.
Within a half mile of our old home, we wooed and wed the faithful wife who has walked by our side for forty-six years. Here our first child was born. Here, when the curtain falls, we expect to be our final resting place amongst the old neighbors, kindred and friends we knew so long and well.

Sincerely,
CALVIN STOWELL.
402 E. Henry Street, Savannah, Ga.

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THE McGINNIS FAMILY.

By Geo. I. McGinnis, 1910.

George I. McGinnis, son of James and Temperance McGinnis, was born in Granger County, Tenn., Sept. 15, 1802. At the age of about nine years he moved with his parents to Ohio, settling near Cincinnati, After remaining there a few years, he moved to Park County, Indiana, where on January 1, 1829, he was united in marriage to Sarah J. Montgomery, daughter of John and Elizabeth Montgomery. She was born in Russell County. Virginia. Sept. 20, 1812. When about nine years of age she had moved with her parents to Kentucky. After remaining there a few years, they moved to the East side of Indiana, thence to Park County, Indiana.
The newly married couple, first remaining in Park County about five years after their marriage, then moved to Peoria County, Illinois, They settled about a mile and a quarter northeast of where the Village of Princeville now stands, on the South half of the Southwest quarter of Section Seven, in what is now Akron Township.
Here they remained about three years, when they moved onto the North half of said quarter section, which they made their permanent home, They were the parents of twelve children, in order as follows:
Susan. deceased; Sarah Ann, died in Indiana; John deceased; Nancy, deceased; James, Mary, Elizabeth; Temperance, deceased; Jane; William, deceased; George and Charles, deceased. Temperance was the first person buried in the Princeville Cemetery. She died on the evening of Sept. 14. 1844. The next day, the 15th, the now venerable John Z. Slane dug the grave. He was a lad then seventeen years of age. The funeral was preached by the Rev. Breese in the grove Southeast of the old log schoolhouse, there being no church building in the village at that time. Her

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body was borne to its last resting place attended by quite a large concourse of sympathizing friends for that time. But how oft that Cemetery has been consecrate with similar concourses since that time, the many tomb stones attest.
George I. McGinnis died April 11, 1875. Sarah J. McGinnis, his wife, died July 22, 1897.
John Montgomery, a soldier of the revolution, died January 26, 1845, aged 80 years. Elizabeth Montgomery, his wife, died September 14, 1846, aged 75 years. Both are buried in the Princeville Cemetery.



THE HENRY BLISS FAMILY.

From a letter written by Mrs. Esther Blanchard, 1910.

My father and mother, Henry and Rebecca Bliss, with their family, moved from Chautauqua County, N. Y., to Peoria County, Ill., in 1838. We went down the Allegheny River to the Ohio and down the Obio on a raft, to Louisville where the lumber was sold. From there we went on a steamboat down to the Mississippi, then up to St. Louis, where we took a smaller boat for Peoria. Peoria was a very small town then, only a double log house for a hotel, kept by Mrs. John Slough.
Western New York was covered by large forests of white pine at that time, and the principal business was clearing the land, hauling the logs in winter to the saw mills, making shingles, and running the lumber down the rivers to market in the spring. Those rafts of logs were huge affairs about 20 feet wide and 100 feet long, six of them coupled together, with oars 20 feet long, one on the end of each section. It took two men to work one oar or twenty-four men and a pilot to run the entire raft.
We had a cabin built on the raft, had a stove and bedsteads set up, and lived very comfortably. We

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were five weeks on the raft and one on the boats. We children thought it very nice to float down the river by cities and towns.
At that time there was a great deal of sickness in Peoria County and we had our share of it. There was no fruit, and no railroads to bring supplies,—only the river and when it was frozen up people had to do without all luxuries and many comforts. The grist mills were a long ways apart and people had to do without many things that are thought indispensable now. The younger generation do not know what the early settlers had to endure.
(Written from Hanford, California, July 30, 1910. as a part of a letter of greeting to the O. S. U. P. V., in Mrs. Blanchard's eighty-fifth year.)


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INDEX

  PAGE
Andrews, Mrs. Sarah B., Letter 63
Armstrong Family 70
Belford Family 51
Blanchard, William P., Family 10
Bliss, Henry, Family 114
Breese, Rev. Robt. Finley, and Family 54
Cameron, Rev. Robt., and daughter Miss Agnes 56
Chase, Simon P., and Family 47
Cornwell Family 49
Debord Family 58
Early Indian Life at Rochester 94
Fourth of July Celebration, Princeville, 1844 61
French, Stephen 8
Houston, William, and Family 46
McGinnis Family 113
McKown, Lawrence, Family 76
M. E. Church, History of 88
Miller, Christian, Family 65
Moody Family 41
Moody, Ethan, Letters 43
Morrow Family 15
Mott Family 68
Presbyterian Church, Historical Sketch of 80
Presbyterian Church, Seventy-fifth Anniversary 79
Pioneers of Millbrook Township 99
Prince, Daniel 5
Rochester, Early Indian Life at 61
Scott, Geo. W., of Wyoming 105
Slane Family 20
Sloan Family 14
Smith, John, Family, of Northwest Princeville 16
Stanton, Col. Clark W 100
Stevens, Wm. C., the Founder of Princeville 25
Stevens, Wm. C., Letter written by him 37
Stevens, Wm. C., Reminiscences 39
Stewart Family 98
Stowell Family of Lawn Ridge 106

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