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STORY OF STARK COUNTY Located just north of the city of Peoria, in the great Illinois wheat belt, Stark County is watered by the Spoon River a stream immortalized by the late Edgar Lee Masters in his notable American literary classic, Spoon River Anthology . The county is situated about forty miles north of Lewistown, Illinois, where Masters grew to manhood and where he began a writing career that made him one of America's major poets. When the celebrated British-American pianist and composer, Percy Grainger, sought to create a suitable musical settine for Spoon River An t ho I o gy , he found inspiration in an old StarK County folk tune; one played by fiddlers at dances in the county almost a hundred years ago. It was from this tune that Percy Graineer, a specialist in folk sones of England, Ireland and America, derived the principal idea for his lively and colorful piano solo; "Spoon River." Aside from its associations with the Masters classic, Stark County is of interest for two outstanding pioneers who once lived within its borders Charles E. Duryea and the Reverend Philander Chase, Jr., It was Charles E. Duryea, once a schoolboy in the city of Wyoming, Stark County, who helped as much as any other inventor to create the automobile as we know it today. And, in his particular field, the Reverend Philander Chase Jr. was equally notable, having been an influential preacher among the early settlers of central Illinois. He was a son of the Right Reverend Philander Chase, first bishop of the American Protestant Episcopal Church in Illinois and founder of historic Jubilee College near Peoria. 1 TERRITORIAL DAYS When the Illinois country was separated from Indiana Territory in 1809 and became a territory of its own, what is now Stark County lay in St. Clair County one of the two counties which then composed the new Territory of Illinois. St. Clair was the larger of the two, a vast wilderness region embracing most of the present state of Illinois. The other county, Randolph, occupied a much smaller and more settled area below the future site of East St. Louis. But in 1812 the county of St. Clair was reduced to almost its present size (today it includes East St. Louis) and a new county, Madison, was proclaimed by Territorial Governor Ninian Edwards. Madison, in its turn, embraced practically all of upper Illinois, and thus also the region out of which came Stark County. And this region continued to remain in Madison County even after Illinois was admitted to statehood in 1818. When Pike County was formed in 1821, its area was very large, involving all of the prairie countryside west and north of the Illinois River, including the future sites of Peoria, Rock Island, Chicago and also of Stark County. As more and more settlers arrived in central Illinois, new counties were established at frequent intervals. One of these, Fulton, was created in 1823 and embraced future Stark; then Putnam came into being in 1825 and it, in turn, contained the area that afterwards was to become Stark County. Here it remained until 1839, when Stark County was formed out of a major portion of Putnam and a smaller portion of Knox counties. MILITARY TRACT Long before Stark County was formed, and even before Illinois was admitted to statehood, the United States government set aside a vast region of land in Illinois for veterans of the War of 1812. This was called the Military Tract. Any veteran of the War of 1812 could have a free quarter section of land in the Military Tract if he wanted it. Although many accepted "prairie quarters from the government, few came West to settle on their grants. It seems the hardships of frontier life did not appeal to them. As a result, many veterns sold their prairie quarters (a quartersection is 160 acres)for as little as $100. Some even traded theirs for a horse, a cow or a watch. 2 What happened afterwards was that some of the earliest settlers of the region had great difficulty in ascertaining the legal status of the land they had staked out. They often did not know if their tract was "Congress Land," which they were entitled to pre-empt, or "Patent Land," which originally belonged to some veteran who had sold it. Frequently, a "land shark" would turn up as the owner of the land, having purchased it for a small amount from some ex- soldier. The speculator would then demand an exorbitant price for the tract that the settler had cleared, built his home on, and on which ne had laid out a farm. If the settler could not meet the price demanded, he was evicted. FIRST SETTLER Generally regarded as the first permanent settler of the area that became Stark County is Isaac R. Essex. He was born in Virginia in 1800, and, as a young man, came West with his parents to Ohio. A few years later, young Isaac R. Essex felt the call of the road and this time moved further westward himself, settling at the then newly-founded town of Peoria on the Illinois River. Here, Essex came under the influence of the Reverend Jesse Walker, a pioneer missionary to the Indians of the Illinois River country, often called the "Daniel Roone of Methodism." As a result of this, Essex was appointed a teacher to the Indians by the Reverend Mr. Walker. After teaching several terms, however, Essex again felt the call of the road. We next hear of him staking out a claim on a level bluff overlooking the Mississippi River just below Rock Island. Here he planned to lay out a city to be called "Quebec." Rut this project failed to materialize, and once more Isaac Essex returned to Peoria. Then, in the spring of 3 1828, he went forth again, this time in search of a place for a permanent home. And thus it was that he followed the course of the Spoon River and found a place to his liking in what afterwards became Stark County. Building a temporary shelter here, he staked out a claim, felled some trees for a log house, and made other preparations for permanent settlement. Essex remained here for the summer and then returned to Peoria. "BUILDING BEE" In the spring of 1829, Isaac Essex went back to his claim in future Stark County a region which was then in Putnam County. But this time he was accompanied not only by his wife and children but by a group of friends, among whom were Daniel Prince, Frank Thomas, Stephen French, Simon Reed and two Baptist preachers, the Reverends Silliman and Allen. We are told that Essex and his friends, immediately upon arrival at the spot, formed a "Building Bee." Under the direction of Essex, and using the logs he had obtained a year before, the party went to work erecting a cabin. It was completed within twenty-four hours, says one account of the "bee." This was the first home, the account adds, to be built in what is now Stark County. The Essex cabin stood in the northeast quarter of Section 15 in what afterwards became Essex Township. Just northeast of this site today is located Wyoming Airport, which serves the city of Wyoming. Part of Wyoming city lies in Essex Township. The total population of the township today is 1,001. Another community in the township is Duncan, with a population of fifty. After his cabin was completed, Isaac Essex settled 4 down to the life of a frontier farmer. A short time later John B. Dodge came to the area and built a cabin near the Essex home. Then, in 1831, the parents of Essex arrived (Thomas and Elizabeth Essex), together with other members of their family Thomas, David, William, Joseph and a daughter, Mrs. David Cooper, with her husband. Although some of his brothers remained in the county, Isaac Essex later moved to the village of Dongola, in southern Illinois. PIONEER LIFE
An unusual glimpse of pioneer life in Stark County is contained in a biographical
account of Captain Almeron N. Harris, early settler, appearing in Atlas of Stark
County and the State of Illinois published by Warner & Beers in 1873. The account,
in part, reads: When the elder Mr. Harris bought his present farm in 1843 or 1844 from a Mormon who was going to Nauvoo to join Joseph Smith, he paid for it by giving up his last horse and wagon, his watch, gun, cow , dishes from the family cupboard and the family bedding. His remaining possessions consisted of one cow, five sheep, eleven geese, two sows and a yoke of oxen. He subsequently traded his yoke of oxen for some rails that several soldiers promi sed him; but proved to be deserters and ran away and never paid him; so he lost his oxen. His family at this time consisted of nine children, none large enough to work much. Upon the loss of his oxen, his neighbors kindly offered to assist him. His reply was — 'Thank you for your kindness, gentlemen, but if God gives 5 me health, I want no help!, What old Roman ever exhibited a nobler independence? " In fencing his first eighty acres, he bought the rails in Fraker's Grove, some six miles distant. He finally got a new yoke of oxen and built a sled of poles. He then would start in the early morning and get to La Fayette before daylight. After drawing three loads of rails a day, he would get home at eleven o'clock at night, covered with frost and snow. He had seen no warming fire during the day, and had but a piece of frozen bread for his dinner. " His first house, which stood on what is now called the old homestead, was a log cabin he bought for sixteen dollars and which originally was located down on Indian Creek. He moved it to his farm, a few logs at a time. The mortar to plaster it was made in the cellar by the boys. A stick chimney, puncheon floor, table, hickory-bottom chairs, wooden spoons and gourd dishes were also made — necessity compelling the invention of these things. " The subject of our sketch, Algeron Harris, well remembers the first tin cup that ever came into that cabin: it was bought by his father in Chicago, and was more highly prized than silver and gold-ware at the present day ... " In 1848 the elder Mr. Harris put up his second house, a sixteen-foot frame building, and with a porch connected it with the old log cabin. He had previously built a thirtyfoot barn, and prospects began to brighten. Labor was reaping its reward, but there were other hardships for this family to endure. On Easter Sunday, 1850 while the elder Mr. Harris was absent^ the house was discovered to be on fire. A little bedding was saved, but the house, cabin and a year' s provisions were destroyed. This was a severe blow, but nothing daunted, they moved into the barn, and during the summer built a temporary wood house. 6 In 1851, he made the burnt brick on his own premises, and commenced a new house within a young grove of trees which had been planted in 1844. This new brick house was completed in 1853, and the grove around it has since then become a forest. The location is decidily beautiful and romantic. "It was in this house, built by his father, that young Almeron Harris grew to manhood. After serving in the Civil War, during which he was commissioned a captain , Almeron Harris returned to Stark County and became one of its most prominent citizens. In addition to maintaining a 500-acre farm, Captain Harris was active in Republican politics and a leader in the Granger movement among farmers. WYOMING PLATTED It was in 1836, while the region of future Stark County was still part of Putnam County, that the city of Wyoming was platted by General Samuel Thomas, early settler. From History of Wyoming, a typewritten mauscript prepa red by Gay Shafer and now in the library of the Wyoming High School, we learn that General Thomas named his new city after a Pennsylvania town that was his former home. General Thomas not only gave land for the Public Square in Wyoming, but also for a cemetery and for the Methodist Church. The last-named was organized in t he Thomas home in 1836. A one-time schoolboy in Wyoming was Charles E. Duryea, pioneer American inventor and automobile manufacturer. Today, Wyoming is the largest community in Stark County, with a population of 1,496. It is served by Wyoming Airport and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and Rock Island railroads, as well as by state highways 91 and 17. 7 |
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