BEDFORD TOWNSHIP---GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC.---COMING OF THE PIONEERS---THEIR EARLY STRUGGLES AND HARDSHIPS---WILD GAME---PIONEER MILLS AND WHO BUILT THEM---SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES---VILLAGES---CISNE LAID OUT AS A TOWN---ITS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT---RINARD---LAID OUT, IMPROVED, ETC., ETC., ETC.
BEDFORD TOWNSHIP lies in the north part of the county. It is one of the wealthy townships, and its people are among the most prosperous of any section of Wayne County. The products are grain, stock, grass, fruit and vegetables, all of which flourish exceedingly well. Red top grass is a profitable crop. Besides being used as hay, great quantities of it are threshed for the seed which commands a good price. It is said that more of this grass seed is shipped from Cisne than from any other point in the United States. The surface of the township partakes much of the same nature of the surrounding country, and is diversified between woodland and prairie, the former predominating to some extent. The prairies are generally small, level and productive, and are largely cultivated in wheat. The woodland though not so rich as the prairies, yet is quite productive and of a somewhat rolling or undulating surface. Wheat, corn, oats, fruits and vegetables do well upon these lands. The township is bounded on the north by Clay County, on the east by Elm River Township, on the south by Lamard Township, on the west by Indian Prairie Township, and comprises Township 1 north, and one-half of Township 2 north, all in Range 7 east of the Third Principal Meridian. The principal water courses of Bedford are Deer and Elm Creeks, with their numerous tributaries. The latter flows through the northeast corner and the former through the southern part of the township, affording ample drainage and plenty of stock water. The timber of the township is the same as described in the surrounding sections of the country. The Springfield Division of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad passes nearly north and south through the township, and has been of the utmost importance to the people and their business. Two thriving villages have sprung up on the railroad in the township, which are described further along in this chapter.
Settlement.---The settlement of Bedford Township dates back to a time when the mind of man runs not to the contrary. The early settlers here, as well as of the county at large, were poor so far as regarded worldly goods. They came here desirous of bettering their fortunes, and like pioneers generally, were kind to a fault, and ever ready to do a favor. They came with a meager outfit, but strong in faith and hope, expecting to increase their worldly store, and provide a home in old age. Some came in frontier wagons drawn by horses or oxen, and some used the more primitive pack-horse as a means of transportation. Either was slow, compared to the more modern modes of travel, and their encampment was made wherever night overtook them. A fire was built by the wayside, over which an iron kettle was suspended, and in which the evening meal was cooked. The pioneer’s gun through the day provided abundance of fresh meat of the choicest kinds, for squirrels and wild turkeys were plenty, and deer were really "too numerous to mention." Yet, let the advantages of the journey be the best, it was one of toil and privation. Then there were no bridges over the streams, nor any well-trodden highways. Each band of emigrants followed the general trail, but each sought a new track for his own team. This cut the way into innumerable ditches, of which traces of some may still be seen through the country. If the season was one of much rain, the swamps lying in the way would often be found impassable, and the roads or trails heavy; if the season was dry, the roads were rough, so that at its best the journey could not be termed pleasant; yet the way was often cheery, and through the wild prairie, brown with the somber hue of autumn, or overtopped with myriads of brilliant blossoms, the forests robed in their hues of brown and gold, the emigrant passes on joyously, despite his wayside troubles. He could endure trials, hunger and pain, if a home stood at the end of the journey. Faith and hope are two anchors of the soul without which the poor mortal on life’s pathway would indeed be cheerless on his way.
The exact date of the first settlement could not be ascertained, but we know there were settlements made in the township as early as 1816, but how much earlier we do not know. The Campbells and several other families came in 1816. The pioneer of the family was Alexander Campbell, and he was the father of four sons---all early settlers. Campbell, we were told, was by birth an Irishman, though Campbell is a memorable name in Scotland. He emigrated to this country and settled in Virginia; went from there to Kentucky, and from thence to Illinois in 1816, as above. His sons were Alexander, John, Moses, and Joseph. The old gentleman died here in 1855-56, Moses soon after, and Joseph died last year in Sangamon County, at the age of eighty-four years. John and Alexander, Jr., are also dead. Nathan Morris was among the earliest settlers. He sold out here and went to Salt Lake City, but not liking Mormondom as well as he thought he would, he returned to his old home here. He died several years ago, but has several sons still living. Thomas Sessions, also an early settler, sold out when Morris did, and went with him to Salt Lake City. Unlike Morris, he was so well satisfied with being a Saint---a rustler for the golden stairs, that he remained there in the city of the faithful. Isaac Suns was an early settler, and is still living in the township.
John Pritchett came from South Carolina in 1816, and settled first in what is now Jasper Township, but shortly after moved into Bedford, and died here in 1854. The Stines came from Ohio. There were four brothers---Stephen, Isaac, Peter and Eri---all early settlers. Isaac is dead, but the other three are still living. Ephraim Lecroy was very early in the township. He came from Ohio, and is still living. He first settled in Bond County, Ill., but came here in an early day. Martin Emmons was also from Ohio, and is still living in the township at quite an advanced age. Noah Towns, another Ohioan, was an early settler in Bedford, but now lives in Elm Township. Jesse Laird, Sr., was probably from Kentucky, and came in early. He has been dead several years, but has a son living on the homestead.
Other early settlers of the township are as follows: R. T. Forth, Jeff Murphy, Stephen and Merritt Harris, Elias May, James Clark, John Pettyjohn, Edward Pettyjohn, _____ Gibbs, Lane Posey, John Rutger, Gil Hawes, Tira Taylor, O. P. Vail, William Cooper, _____ Swain, _____ Metz, Barney McDaniel, and perhaps others whose names have been overlooked. Forth was probably from Kentucky, and came here very early, bringing his entire possessions in an ox-cart. He settled originally near where Mrs. Johnson, in Fairfield, now lives, but later moved into Bedford and still later into Hickory Hill, where he now lives, quite an old man. He was rather prominent in the county, and of more than ordinary intelligence. He was several times elected to the Legislature, and filled other important positions.
Jeff Murphy came from Kentucky, and went to California from here, where he died.
Stephen and Merritt Harris first settled in Barnhill, but afterward in this township. They were sons of Isaac Harris, who, it is claimed, was the first settler in the county. Merritt was born here, is still living, and a citizen of Moultrie County.
Elias May came from Ohio, and has been dead many years.
James Clark was a very early settler, and has children still living here.
John Pettyjohn and his father, Edward Pettyjohn, came in very early. The old man has been dead many years, but John is still living about two miles from the village of Rinard.
Gibbs was a very early settler, and used to burn brick. He is long since dead.
Lane Posey, another early settler, died in Jasper Township, whither he moved some years ago.
John Rutger was a local Methodist preacher, and came into the township very early. He was also a tailor by trade, and the first of his kind in the settlement. He has been dead some time, but has two sons still living in the township.
Hawes was a very early settler. Imbibing Mormon principles, he went to Salt Lake City, where he had his name recorded in the book of the faithful.
Tira Taylor was an old settler. He was a soldier in the Mexican war, and also served in the late civil war.
Oliver P. Vail was also an early settler, and came from Ohio. He is a plasterer by trade, and lives at the present time a little north of the village of Rinard.
Cooper came from Pennsylvania and has been dead several years.
Swain and Metz were early settlers, and early sold out and moved away.
Barney McDaniel came and made an improvement, but had gone away and left it, and it was overgrown with trees when the later emigrants came. Many of the early settlers found apple trees bearing on his deserted improvement when they came to the township. But we can no longer keep track of emigrants as they came into the neighborhood.
The settler on his arrival began at once preparations for a shelter. During this period, the family lived in the wagon, or in a tent, and the cooking and washing were performed by the women under the sheltering branches of a tree. Often a rude pole cabin, with no other floor than the ground, and no windows, save the interstices between the poles forming the walls of the cabin, was temporarily erected, and should the time of arrival be spring, this rude structure sufficed for a habitation until the crops were planted. After that important work was done, there was a season of comparative leisure, during which preparations were made to erect a more comfortable abode.
Another pastime of the early settlers was the enjoyment or necessity of hunting. Wild game was very plenty, so much so that often the settler was obliged to cease work, and, with his neighbors, join in a kind of crusade against it, wolves particularly. These pests were very destructive to young pigs, and to any domestic fowls straying far from the cabin. Hogs could be fattened on the wild mast found in the timber, and needed care only when too small to resist the wolves, who were decidedly fond of fresh pork. These marauders of the forest were gradually exterminated with the advance of civilization, and are no longer seen.
Venison was one of the staple articles of food when white men first subjugated this portion of Illinois, and in those early days deer were often seen in great herds as they wandered over the plains or gathered on some prominence. Their flesh made an excellent article of food, while their skins, well tanned, were made into leggins and hunting shirts. But few bears were found here. They prefer a colder climate, and were a dreaded foe to the Indian, who experienced great delight in hunting them, and had almost exterminated them when the whites came here. But the experiences of the early settlers were so similar that a repetition of them destroys the novelty. It can never lose the charm, however, to the few pioneers still left, or destroy the interest to them, but it renders the description more valuable, applying, as it does, to so many.
Mills.---The first settlers used the mortar and grater for making meal. These appliances are the oldest known for grinding or crushing corn. The mortar is referred to in the Bible, while the grater is as old as America. John Skelton, who was an early settler from Ohio, built a horse mill, the first mill the township ever had, without it was Laird’s, which some say was just over the township line. Harmon Milner had an early mill. It was also a horse mill, and did very good work for its day. Milner was an early settler, and is still living near Cisne. A man named Henderson built the first steam mill ever in the township. It stood east of the present village of Rinard, and ws quite an institution. Henderson died some years ago at his residence near the mill. A steam mill was built on the road to Flora, on the Middle Fork of Deer Creek. A saw mill was added, and large business was done for years both in grinding and sawing. Eri Stine owned and ran a horse mill for a number of years. James Cooper, a brother of William Cooper, built a horse mill. John Pettyjohn also built a horse mill. The township, it will be seen, has been well supplied with mills in its day, such as they were, and, though most of them were rude and primitive, yet they served the purpose for which they were built.
The early schools of Bedford Township are much the same as in the other portions of the county in the early period of its history. The names of the first teachers are forgotten, and the exact spot whereon the first schoolhouse was erected cannot be now designated. There are at present eight schoolhouses in the township. These are all frame buildings, and are comfortable and commodious. Good schools are taught each year by competent teachers, and the educational facilities of the township are not equaled in the county.
There are but two church buildings in the township outside of the villages---the Buckeye Christian Church and the Pleasant Hill Christian Church. A more extended sketch of these churches will be found in another chapter of this volume.
We have already alluded to red-top grass, and the seed as an article of commerce. The grass grows very luxuriantly in this part of the county, and yields sometimes as much as fifteen bushels of seed to the acre. This seed sells readily at 75 cents per bushel, and after being threshed the grass makes good hay. After the ground has once been well seeded, it has been known to do well for twenty years without being interrupted.
The township is well watered. The best of water can be obtained by digging wells to a depth of from ten to twenty feet. Veins of pure water, and in great abundance, are found at this depth.
Village of Cisne.---The building of the Springfield Division of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad was the prime cause which gave birth to the town of Cisne. It was laid out in 1870, and located on the land of David Simpson and Peter Perrine. The survey was made by John Deem, Deputy County Surveyor, and the plat submitted to record. The name of Cisne was given to the place in honor of Levi Cisne. F. A. Kutz bought the first three lots sold, paying for them $25 apiece. As an inducement to the purchase, the proprietors donated to him one lot. Mr. Kutz erected the first house in the town. It was a frame and now forms a part of the busines house of J. P. Billington. Kutz was the first merchant, and soon built up a large trade. The second building erected was the railroad depot, and soon after it was completed J. N. Palmer moved a house from Blue Point and sold goods in it for a time. It is the house in which the post office is now kept, and in which T. D. Colvin does business. In 1872, a blacksmith shop was built by J. P. Billington, who carried it on in connection with a wood shop, doing the latter work himself and employing Charles Phillips to do the blacksmithing. A saw mill was started in 1871 by J. G. Hill, H. Milner and E. Shaw. They operated it for awhile without so much as a shed over it, but afterward inclosed it and added a grist mill. It is now owned by Taylor & Jump, who do a large and profitable business. The post office was established soon after the town was laid out, and was at first kept by Jesse Milner, Jr., at the depot. It was afterward moved to the residence of W. S. Borah, but is at present kept by Thomas B. Colvin at his place of business.
The first school taught in the village was in a frame building which had been used as a schoolhouse in an adjacent district. The district in which Cisne is situated, and which is No. 7, was formed out of other districts, and this building purchased for a schoolhouse. The present school building is a two-story frame, and was erected at a cost of about $1,300. The average attendance is about sixty pupils, with a requisite number of competent teachers to instruct them.
A church of the Christian denomination was organized during the Christmas holidays in 1874, and the first preacher was S. V. Williams. The church building is a frame 36x48 feet. It was erected before the society was really organized by means of subscriptions raised among the people. A portion of the members who organized this church had belonged to one of the same creed, which used to meet in the old schoolhouse above mentioned. The present membership is about 150, under the pastorate of Elder Rose. A good Sunday school is maintained.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in the Bedford Schoolhouse, one and a half miles north of Cisne. But they have recently moved to the village, and at present meet in the Christian Church building. Rev. Mr. Harper is the pastor in charge.
The first physician in the place was Dr. W. H. St. John, and the second was DR. J. A. Parmenter. The present physicians are Drs. T. Vanfossen and J. P. Walters.
The following statistics show the present business of the town: T. D. Colvin, G. T. Harrington and Robert Davidson, general stores; J. P. Billington, drugs and groceries; H. C. Hill, groceries; J. C. Brock, hotel and groceries; Brock & Cisne, grain buyers; F. A. Kutz, grain and stock; William White, furniture; J. C. Phillips, blacksmith; George Trager, wagon shop; David Slade, shoe-maker, and W. Cisne, railroad agent.
Rinard Village was laid out in 1870, but was not platted until April 18, 1871. The plat shows 109 lots on the northeast quarter of Section 31, land owned by Ed Bonham, of Fairfield. The cirumstances which led to the location of a town here, were as follows: A proposition was made by C. A. Beecher, at that time Vice President of the railroad, to Mr. T. R. Center, to buy so many thousand bushels of oats to be shipped from this point, and he would put in a side track. Upon learning of this, Mr. Bonaham and Adam Rinard, at once employed Center to purchase the oats, amounting to several thousand bushels. The side track was then put in, and the little town of Rinard, named in honor of Adam Rinard, at once sprung up.
The first building was erected by D. F. & B. J. Chaney. It stands on Lot 29, and is the one now used by R. L. Wilcox as a store. The next house erected was the depot building. Before the depot was built, Mr. Wilcox, who was the first, the last and the only station agent the railroad has had at this place, kept the depot in a box car. The depot was built in the spring of 1871, about the time the town was surveyed. The second house, aside from the depot, was put by C. McDaniels, and was a two-story frame building. The lower room was used by him for a store, and the upper for a dwelling. Later his brother was conducting business there, and the building was burned. McDaniels then erected a dwelling, and for some time carried on a general merchandise business. The building which burned stood on the present site of D. T. Chaney’s store.
The Presbyterians built a church in Rinard in 1873. It is a brick structure, 25x50 feet, and cost about $1,400. The first preacher was Rev. J. H. Hughey. The Presbyterians soon sold the building to the Methodists, who still own it, and use it for a temple of worship. The membership is about sixty, under the pastorate of Rev. L. A. Harper, and a good Sunday school is kept up, of which A. R. Spriggs is Superintendent. A good comfortable schoolhouse was built in 1875. It has two rooms, and one teacher is employed.
The post office was established soon after the town was laid out. R. L. Wilcox was the first Postmaster and still holds the position. He first kept the office at the depot, but now keeps it in his store. Mr. Wilcox is also a Notary Public, and deals largely in grain.
Rinard has about eighty inhabitants, and the business outlook is as follows: R. L. Wilcox, general store; D. F. Chaney, general store; M. W. Naney and W. W. Wheeler, blacksmiths; C. E. Yokey, shoe-maker; millinery store in charge of Mrs. Martha Fletcher; R. L. Wilcox, grain dealer; Dr. J. H. Hall, physician. The first physician here was Dr. J. A. Jeffries, and was soon followed by Dr. A. R. Spriggs. W. W. Naney was the first Justice of the Peace; the town boasts of none now. R. L. Wilcox, who is a Notary Public, attends to what little legal business the place requires.
| Visit Our Neighbors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion | Clay | Richland | |
| Jefferson |
 |
Edwards | |
| Franklin | Hamilton | White | |
