ZIF TOWNSHIP---BOUNDARIES AND SURFACE---ORIGIN OF NAME---FIRST SETTLERS---ZIF---RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL NOTES---AGRICULTURE---MAIN PRODUCTIONS---THE GREAT PRAIRIE FIRE, ETC., ETC.
THIS beautiful little township has the following boundaries and position - Clay County on the north, Mt. Erie Township on the east, Elm River Township on the south, and Bedford Township on the west, and is designated as Town 2 north, Range 8 east, but includes only the southern half of this Congressional township.
Zif occupies a most admirable position, being included almost wholly in Long Prairie, and its gently undulating surface dotted here and there with its several large and beautiful private dwellings, presents a most pleasing landscape to the appreciative eye. The only timber within the limits of Zif, is situated in the western portion and northeast corner of the township, and is composed chiefly of the usual varieties of elm, oak and hickory. The soil of this township is generally of an ash-gray color, and although possessing less humus or organic matter than the black loamy soil of Central Illinois, yet, is sufficiently rich to yield abundant returns under the intelligent labor of her prosperous farmers. The streams of this township are all small, yet afford a good and sufficient drainage to the whole territory embraced in it. They all flow from the central part in east and southwest directions.
The word Zif, which is a somewhat peculiar name for a township, was the one selected by J.C. Patterson and W.R. Barker, who represented this portion of the county at the first convention held after the question of township organization had been affirmatively settled. It was patterned after the old Hebrew month of the same name, and this we presume is all the significance it has. Concerning the early settlers, not much of the history regarding their advent into this township could be ascertained. The first pioneer to permanently locate within its limits is believed to be John McDaniel, who was an inveterate hunter, and who raised a large family here. William Tanner, Isaac Creek, John Parish and Jacob and Henry Reister were also among the first of the early settlers. Jacob C. Williams, the oldest settler now living in Zif, came here from Ohio in 1838, and has resided in the township mostly ever since.
The little town of Zif, whose all consists in a residence or two, a store having a post office in it, all of which is owned and run by Mr. Ezra Banker, has never been laid off. The post office was established about the same time the township was organized, and the order of the successive Postmasters is as follows: J.C. Patterson, Levi Johnson, Louvina A. Sharp, and the present incumbent, Ezra Banker, who has had the office since 1868. He also keeps a general store, and has a large trade from the surrounding country.
The history of the early churches and preachers is given at the large in another portion of this work, and that of Zif is substantially the same as that therein described. The Zif Baptist Church, situated on Section 28, was the first church building erected in the township, and the church is still in a prosperous condition. The Methodists have a large and substantially built church edifice, where regular and largely attended meetings are held. It is situated on Section 20.
The cause of education has always received the studied attention it deserves at the hands of the people of Zif, and the primitive log cabin, which puncheon floors and slab seats, has been superseded by more pleasant and commodious structures, and there are now in Zif three of these latter, with other items in relation thereto, as follows, taken from the County Superintendent's reports, for the year ending June 30, 1883:
Number of pupils enrolled, 113; number of teachers employed, 6; average pay of same, $25; estimated value of school property, $1,500.
As previously stated, Zif Township comprises within its limits a section of country of high agricultural worth. Its farmers are generally prosperous and wealthy, and possess in many instances from 400 to 800 acres of land each, which are devoted considerably to the raising of quality stock, although admirably adapted to the successful production of the cereals, and, on the higher ground and ridges, to fruit culture, particularly that of apples, which latter has received the especial attention of the farmers for the last few years, owing to the happy discovery that a better portion of the Great West, for this purpose, could hardly be pointed out.
A brief account of a prairie fire, as given by one of the oldest residents of Zif, is here recorded. Only those who have seen the like can fully imagine with what terrific rush and destruction it sweeps across the country, ofttimes distancing a horse upon the dead run, and spurred on perhaps by the frenzied anxiety of his rider to reach his distant home and save his family and goods. Upon the occasion to which we refer, and it occurred in the fall of 1843 when the prairie in Zif was as yet unsettled, the wind which was in the southwest, suddenly shifted to the northwest, apparently to meet and combine forces with a huge black cloud that had gathered in that quarter, and backed by this the fire that had caught the prairie to the north came on with a terrible velocity and vengeance, sweeping everything in its pathway, and destroying game in large quantities, and also many horses and hogs that found no time to escape from its fearful onslaught. A rain, that had come up in the meantime, put a stop to the scene, and probably saved some of the lower settlements along its intended path from partial if not total destruction.
| Visit Our Neighbors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Marion | Clay | Richland | |
| Jefferson |
 |
Edwards | |
| Franklin | Hamilton | White | |
