HISTORY OF FORD COUNTY
DRUMMER TOWNSHIP.
Drummer Grove township was organized and set off from Patton township,
September 14, 1858, and comprised all of what now composes the townships of
Drummer, Dix, Sullivant and Peach Orchard or all of Ford county lying west
of range 9 east, and containing an area of one hundred and eighty square
miles.
The township took its name from the little grove called Drummer Grove, which
lies about a mile northwest of Gibson, and which was so called in honor of a
noted hunting dog named Drummer, that became overheated in a deer chase and
died and was buried in the grove. The only authentic history that has been
preserved in regard to the life and character of the dog is that he was not
a "yaller dog."
In 1864 there must have been some congressional investigation or something
discovered derogatory to the character of the dog, for a petition signed by
a majority of the voters of the township was presented to the board of
supervisors asking to have the name of the township changed to Dix, in honor
of General Dix, of New York, which was accordingly done, and the township
was known by that name until 1869, when upon the requisite petition being
presented to the board of supervisors the territory comprised in towns 23
and south half of 24 north, range 7 east, was set off from Dix and
rechristened Drummer Grove, thus dividing the honors of the territory
equally between General Dix and the dog.
In 1870 the name being found too long for practical convenience the word
"grove" was eliminated from the name by the board of supervisors.
The first settler within the limit of Drummer township was Andrew Jordan,
who was a native from Kentucky, where he was born October 28, 1828, and came
to Illinois when twenty-one years of age, with a horse, saddle and bridle
and fifteen dollars in money. He went to work by the month on a. farm in
Cass county, where he remained for two years, and then came into this
vicinity and bought a small farm near the timber in Champaign county. He
lived there a year, then married Miss Amanda Devore, and moved on the
prairie in the fall of 1851. He added tract after tract of land to his farm
until he owned eleven hundred acres of excellent land, all lying in one
body. When Mr. Jordan moved here, Ford county had not been organized. His
only neighbors were wolves and deer, which were exceedingly neighborly in
their visits. His nearest milling accommodations were Danville, Illinois, or
Covington, Indiana; the nearest blacksmith shop or place to get a plow
sharpened was Mahomet, twenty-four miles.
About a year or so after he came here, the town of Pera, now Ludlow, was
started, which was for many years his only market, a distance of seventeen
miles. Corn was then worth ten cents per bushel and land from three to eight
dollars per acre. Mr. Jordan improved all his land, having it thoroughly
tiled with tile of his own manufacture, he having established on his farm
one of the largest establishments for the manufacture of tile and brick in
the county.
The next settler of the township was William Bridges, who came in 1853 and
settled on a farm owned by J. A. Rockwood, of Gibson. During the same year,
William Jordan, brother of Andrew Jordan, settled in an old house on section
13, afterward owned by Leonard Pierpont. Lindsey Corbly came next and
settled on section 25, south of Andrew Jordan, on what is now known as the
Weldon farm.
In 1855 Dr. J. E. Davis settled at Drummer Grove, where he pursued farming
and the practice of his profession for many years, taking an active part in
all the affairs of the county.
The next early settler was Samuel J. LeFevre, who was born in Montgomery
county, Ohio, April 16, 1841, and settled with his parents on this farm in
the year 1856, being then only fifteen years old. Ford county was not then
organized, this territory being a part of Vermilion county, and all called
Patton township, with Prospect City, now Paxton, as the only voting place in
it. In 1862 Mr. LeFevre enlisted in the Seventy-sixth Illinois Infantry and
served until wounded at the battle of Vicksburg in the charge of Fort
Blakely, April 9, 1865. His wound rendering him unfit for military service,
he was honorably discharged, and returned to his farm again, where he
remained until 1872, when he moved to Gibson and engaged in the lumber
business. He was almost continually in the discharge of some official trust
since the organization of the township, having been school treasurer four
years, and trustee six years; member of the village board three years and
president of the board one year; supervisor of the township three and a half
years; and chairman of the county board two years.
In the same year, with Mr. LeFevre's family, J. H. Dungan came and settled
on the farm adjoining Mr. LeFevre on the south, and alike with his neighbors
endured all the hardships incident to that new and wild state of the
country. He remained here improving his farm and pursuing the peaceful life
of an industrious farmer, until he saw the thriving town of Gibson springing
up on the prairie near him, and then moved into town and engaged in the
grain business, and was one of the most energetic men of the town.
Thomas Stephens came next and settled in the south part of the township,
turning his attention principally to cattle-raising, accumulating by
successive purchases a large tract of land on the Sangamon. He followed the
business of stock-raising and farming until too old and feeble to manage his
farm himself, when he divided it among his children and settled down with
them to spend the remainder of his days in a quiet, peaceful way, freed from
the care and anxiety of any kind of business.
Among other settlers who followed in a short time were Asa Canterbury, Caleb
McKeever, B. H. McClure and family, John Pagel, William Reighley, Thomas
Holloway and Lewis Weekman.
The first school taught in the township was at the residence of Dr. J. E.
Davis, during the winter of 1863, taught by Miranda Holloway. In 1866
Drummer Grove schoolhouse was built, and a school taught there by Mary Ann
George. Among other pioneer teachers of Drummer were Miss Arabella Davis,
wife of Weaver White; A. Forbes Irwin, of Peoria, and Weaver White.
The soil of Drummer township is the best in the county, although when
surveyed by the government a great portion of it was returned as swamp land.
Yet, by the system of drainage which has been regularly and steadily
followed during the past fifty-four years, its value and productiveness
cannot be excelled in the county.
GIBSON CITY.
Jonathan B. Lott was born at Graysville, Ohio, February 14, 1840. He
came to Illinois when only eight years old, and located with his parents at
Danvers, McLean county. His father died when he was fourteen, and he being
the oldest son at home, took charge of the family. When the war broke out,
he enlisted in Company C, Thirty-third Illinois Infantry, and served three
years; then reenlisted as a veteran, remaining until the close of the war,
when he was discharged on account of wounds. He was twice wounded at the
battle of Spanish Fort, Louisiana. On his discharge from the army he
returned to McLean county and entered Wesleyan University, where he remained
one year.
January 1, 1867, he was united in marriage with Margaret A. Gibson, and in
1869 purchased from Jesse Whitehead, of Chicago, the town site of Gibson,
and in February, 1869, built his house here. Mr. Lott, by his energy and
personal influence, secured such changes in the surveys of the different
railroads that brought about their junction at the present location of
Gibson. In 1870 he secured the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield, now
Springfield Branch of the Illinois Central. The Lake Erie & Western was
surveyed three miles south of this place, and the Chicago & Paducah, now
Wabash, was projected and surveyed through Saybrook, but Mr. Lott succeeded
in getting them to pass through this town.
Mr. Lott departed this life September 19, 1879. The town was named after his
widow.
Gibson owes its existence and prosperity to the untiring zeal and energy of
J. B. Lott. The original town of Gibson was platted and laid out by J. B.
Lott, the proprietor, on November 1, 1870, and was called Gibson in
obedience to the Scriptural injunction, "Remember Lot's wife," Mrs. Lott's
maiden name being Gibson.
On making application for a postoffice of the same name, the department
added the word "city" on account of the similarity of the name with Gilson,
Illinois; hence the name of the town as platted is Gibson, and the
postoffice is Gibson City.
The first inhabitants of the town were J. B. Lott and wife.
The first commercial business done in the town was commenced by William
Moyer, December 1, 1870. He opened a grain office, which business he
followed for a number of years. Commencing with a very moderate capital, by
attention to his business and the exercise of superior judgment and
discretion in its management, he accumulated a fortune, which caused him to
be recognized as the wealthiest man in Gibson.
Wilson Brothers next opened a general store in January, 1871, on the corner
south of the opera hall. Next came H. J. Ring in the same month, and in
April following his partner, J. H. Collier, and T. D. Spalding. The firm of
Ring & Collier opened a hardware store, and Mr. Spalding operated a
lumberyard near the crossing of the railroads. About the same time came W.
D. Worrell, J. F. Hicks, James Garbett, J. E. Lewis and others followed in
such rapid succession that to particularize would be very difficult.
The first single lady who settled in Gibson was Miss Mary Thompson, a
milliner. The first school in the town was taught by Miss Caroline Williams,
and was taught in a public hall.
The first preaching was conducted by Rev. Schlosser, of Paxton, in the
Illinois Central depot.
Mr. C. H. Yeomans was the first lawyer; Dr. Anderson was the first
physician; J. E. Cruzen was the first postmaster, and M. T. Burwell the
first banker.
The first railroad through Gibson was the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield, now
operated by the Illinois Central, which was built in 1871, and was followed
the same year by the Lake Erie & Western, but no regular trains were run
until the following spring. The Chicago & Paducah, now the Wabash, St. Louis
& Pacific, was built in 1874.
The first church edifice was erected by the Methodist denomination, and was
followed by the Cumberland Presbyterian, the First Presbyterian, United
Brethren and Catholics. There are quite a number of colored people in
Gibson, who have built a church called the African Methodist Church.
The first wedding in the place was that of Bruce McCormick and Miss Mattie
Gibson, a sister of Mrs. J. B. Lott.
The first death was that of a jeweler named Angel, which occurred in 1872,
who committed suicide by cutting his throat in the rear of the New York
store.
The village was incorporated in 1872, with T. D. Spalding, J. H. Collier, S.
J. LeFevre, Bruce McCormick and W. T. Kerr as trustees.
In the year 1871 the school accommodations being entirely inadequate to the
wants of the rapidly increasing population of the town, the thoroughgoing
enterprise of the citizens was shown in the erection of what was the finest
public school building in the county. It is a two-story brick, with a full
story basement, sixty by sixty, all finely furnished, and heated by furnace,
with the most approved plan of ventilation. There are five departments in
the building, with a capacity for accommodating three hundred pupils. The
cost of this building was twelve thousand dollars. In 1882, this becoming
too crowded for effective work, another building, forty by sixty, was
erected at a cost of five thousand dollars, with a capacity for one hundred
scholars.
January 29, 1883, the town was visited by a destructive fire, which swept
away in the course of a few hours about fifty thousand dollars worth of
property, not more than one-fourth of which was covered by insurance.
Here again the enterprising spirit of the citizens evinced itself, for in
less than a month from the day of the fire, workmen were busy preparing the
burnt district for rebuilding. In six months' time there was erected twelve
elegant brick stores (all two stories high, except two) from eighty to one
hundred feet in length, all furnished with large plate glass fronts, as fine
as are to be found in any city in the state outside of Chicago. The
improvements made during those six months cost, in the aggregate, nearly
eighty thousand dollars. Among them, and worthy of mention, is M. T.
Burwell's opera hall, on the second floor of the block erected by M. T.
Burwell; is fifty by one hundred feet, with eighteen foot ceiling, and a
self-supporting truss roof, leaving no columns or central supports to mar
its beauty or obstruct the view. The stage scenery is, probably, as
elaborate and complete as is found in an,y city in the state, except
Chicago. The building — hall, stage and footlights — is lighted by gas.
The following is a brief mention of some of the leading business men and
prominent farmers who have lived and are still living in Drummer township:
Leonard Pierpont was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, October 28,
1819. He came to Illinois in 1858, and settled in this township. He was a
good farmer, an honest, industrious citizen and treasurer of Ford county for
four years. He died in April, 1874, leaving a large family. Three of his
sons were killed in the war.
William H. Guthrie was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, in 1832. He
settled in Drummer township in 1865. He purchased from time to time, until
he owned a fine farm of nine hundred and sixty acres. He was married in 1868
to Miss Jennie Stewart. They had five children.
James B. Foley is a native of Adams county, Ohio, where he was born in 1847,
and came to Putnam county, Illinois, with his parents when he was three
years old. He lived there twenty-four years; then settled in this township
on section 20. He was married to Miss Olive L. Skeel, December 24, 1874.
There is hardly a place in the southern part of Drummer that surpasses the
fine home of Joseph T. Roberts, on section 35, coming from Tazewell county,
Illinois. He was married in 1857 to Mary C. Bosserman, a native of De Witt
county, Illinois.
Nathan L. Skeel was born in Putnam county, Illinois, August 19, 1848. He
lived there until about twenty-four years of age, assisting his father on a
farm, when he settled in this township. In 1873, he married Mary Wallace.
Willard Proctor was born in Rutland, Vermont, in 1827, where he lived for
about twenty-five years, then moved to Illinois. In August, 1862, he
enlisted in the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Regiment, and served in the
war until its close. He was married, March, 1847, to Miss Sarah A. Hewitt, a
native of Rutland, Vermont.
Albert Gilmore was born in Harrison county, Ohio, in 1841. In 1861, he came
here and bought sixteen hundred acres of land. In 1880, he married Miss
Elizabeth A. Boundy, of Peoria county, Illinois. She was born in 1858.
Robert A. McClure was born in McLean county in 1843. He lived there until
1867, when he came to this township. In 1862, he enlisted in the
Ninety-fourth Illinois Regiment, and was in the service until the close of
the war, when he was honorably discharged and returned home. He was married
in 1865 to Miss Ann McLaughlin.
Austin Crabbs was born in Richland county, Ohio, January 8, 1838. His
father, David Crabbs, was a native of Pennsylvania, and removed to Indiana
in 1852, where he departed this life in August, 1854. Mr. Crabbs came to
Illinois in 1873, and located at Gibson. He engaged in the mercantile trade.
Mr. Crabbs served in the civil war for three years, being captain of Company
C, Forty-seventh Indiana Volunteers. He erected two handsome buildings in
the Center block. He was married to Miss Catharine Yeiter in Decatur county,
Indiana, March 3, 1864.
Gibson also has a Christian church, a Swedish Lutheran and Swedish Mission
church.
The opera house was built in 1884 by N. T. Burwell.
A mile of brick paving on Main street was laid in 1906, at a cost of forty
thousand dollars.
The waterworks was built in 1895. The water, of a fine quality, is obtained
from wells and pumped into a tower and reservoir. One pump has a capacity of
one million five hundred thousand gallons every twenty-four hours. Cost of
plant thirty thousand dollars.
The city hall was built in 1906. Lot and building cost eleven thousand
dollars.
Gibson has three school buildings. A new one was erected in 1888, at a cost
of ten thousand dollars.
Gibson City has two hotels: the New Gibson and the Central. The New Gibson
was built in 1900, by W. W. Johnston. Cost twenty thousand dollars.
Gibson's new Presbyterian church edifice was erected in 1905. It is of brick
and stone, and the cost was twenty thousand dollars.
The Christian church building was erected in 1891, at an expense of ten
thousand dollars.
The physicians now practicing in Gibson City are: F. O. Culter, D. Y.
Shamel, F. B. Lovell, W. R. Cothern, G. A. Wash, J. C. Cunningham, H. D.
Rothgeb.
The veterans of the Civil war have at Gibson City Lott Post, No. 73, G. A.
R.
Gibson City has an improvement club, woman's club, recreation club. It also
maintains, in prosperous condition, Masonic, I. O. O. F., K. of P., M. W.
A., and Court of Honor lodges, not forgetting the Rebekahs, Rathbone
Sisters, Royal Neighbors and others.
The present mayor is C. W. Knapp; clerk, W. A. Davidson; attorney, L. A.
Cranston.
BANKS OF GIBSON CITY.
The Farmers and Merchants' Bank was established in 1885 by H. C. McClure
and his sons, Robert A., Herman W., and George L., as a private concern.
Capital, ten thousand dollars. W. J. Stone, now president of the bank, came
into the concern April 1, 1907. The other proprietors of the bank are
members of the McClure estate. Robert A. McClure died in 1906. The present
officers of the bank are as follows: President, W. J. Stone; vice president,
Mrs. Robert A. McClure; cashier, J. C. McClure; assistant cashier, W. A.
Davidson.
The First National Bank is the culmination of a private bank organized in
1872 by N. T. Burwell. About 1876 Mr. Burwell took into partnership W. J.
Wilson, and the style name of the firm became Burwell & Wilson, and so
continued until 1880. The concern was reorganized in the latter year, by the
admission of E. O. Leffel, and the firm name became Burwell, Leffel &
Company.
In 1882, a further reorganization took place when Evan Mattinson and Matthew
Mattinson, his father, and Washington Wilson, father of W. J. Wilson, became
partners, and the banking firm took the name of Mattinson, Wilsor & Company.
April 1, 1906, Messrs. Burwell and Leffel retiring, a charter establishing
the First National Bank was secured. Evan Mattinson became the first
president; W. H. Simms, vice president; E. L. Rockwood, cashier; Bryson
Strauss, assistant cashier. Capital and surplus, one hundred thousand
dollars.
Gibson City has three railroads: The Illinois Central, Wabash and Lake Erie
& Western.
Extracted 30 Aug 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, Volume 1, pages 117-126.
