| HISTORY OF COLES COUNTY. | ||||
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HUTTON TOWNSHIP. The township of Hutton forms an important part of the history of Coles County, inasmuch as the first settlement within its present limits by civilized white men was made in this township more than half a century ago. How many pages have been added to the history of the world in that period of time Empires, kingdoms, nations and principalities have been blotted out, and the remembrance of their glory has almost faded from the minds of men as the “waves of dark oblivion’s sea sweep o’er them,” scarcely leaving a trace to tell how, or when, or where they sunk. “Thrones tottering have fallen; crowns crumbling have disappeared;” ancient palaces, in whose spacious halls the “mightiest monarchs proudly trod,” have been, as it were, swept from the very face of the earth. The storm of war has raged through our own fair land, con vulsing the Republic from its “center to its circumference,” and threatening for a time its total destruction. The tempest roared and howled with terrific force, then passed by, and the olive branch of peace bloomed over the nation fairer than ever. These are but a few of the mighty events that have transpired in the half-century gone by since the first settlement was made here by white people. Hutton Township lies in the southeast part of Coles County, and is bounded on the south and east by Cumberland and Clark Counties, on the north by Ashmore Township, and on the west by the Embarrass River. It is well drained by the latter stream, and the small water-courses that meander through it. At the time of the early settlement of Hutton, it contained much fine timber-land, though about half of the town, perhaps, is prairie. It is considerably above the size of a Congressional township, embracing within its limits some fifty-four sections of land. No railroads intersect it, but the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railroad passes in a few miles of its north line, and the Vandalia line a little south of it, so that its railroad facilities are not at all restricted. EARLY SETTLEMENT. As we stated above, the first settlement in the county was made in Hutton Township. In 1824, John Parker and his sons, Benjamin, Daniel, Silas and James Parker, and Samuel Kellogg and his wife, made a settlement here, and composed this first colony of pioneers in Hutton Township. But one of the little band of pilgrims is now alive—the widow of Samuel Kellogg, who lives at present in the city of Charleston. They settled on the Embarrass River, just opposite where the Blakeman Mills now stand. Some of the Parkers afterward settled in Charleston Township, where they are noticed among the early settlers of that section. Most of them moved to Texas years ago, as elsewhere mentioned, and where two or three members of the family suffered severely by the Indians, two of them, at least, losing their lives.* A daughter of James Parker was taken prisoner by the savages, and held for some time in captivity, subjected to all kinds of cruelty. She was married to a man named Plummer, who was killed at the fort where the Parkers were living at the time she was captured. During her captivity among the Indians, she gave birth to a child, which the savages killed before her eyes. Her father had a long search for her, visiting many of the tribes then in Texas before he found her, but finally did find her, and succeeded in obtaining her release. John Parker (High Johnny, his friends called him) was a Baptist preacher, and one of the first in Coles County. He was of the old Predestinarian belief, and many humorous anecdotes are related at the old gentleman’s expense. One or two of his sons were also preachers; in fact, the Parkers seem to have been a family of preachers, and proclaimed the Word freely to perishing sinners. They ignored the doctrine, although of divine origin, that “the laborer is worthy of his hire,” and would accept no pay for the promulgation of the Gospel, but zealously toiled in the cause of the Master, without money and without price. Taken all in all, they were a remarkable family, and rather above the mediocre in intellect and ability. Daniel Parker, one of the sons, was a preacher, and perhaps the most intelligent one of the name. He represented Crawford County (before their removal to this county) in the Legislature a term or two, and was an able representative as well as preacher. It is told of him, that, although a minister of the Gospel, he would work all the week on his farm, and then take his gun on Sunday, and kill deer enough to furnish his family in meat until the next Sunday. When some of the stricter people spoke to him in regard to such a questionable way of serving the Lord, he told them if he ever got able to live without having to work so hard, and to have time to kill his meat in the week, he would cheerfully do it, but then it was a case of the boy and the woodchuck, “he had to.” Daniel Parker is mentioned, in another page, as preaching the first sermon in Hutton Township, and Benjamin Parker as building the first mill. * Since the above was written, we have been informed by Mr. Hutton that John Parker, the old gentleman, and two of his sons, were killed by the Indians in Texas. A mention of the sons being killed is made in the general county history. Another family of Parkers, and not related to those above mentioned, settled in this township in the winter of 1825-26, on what is called Parker Prairie, and from them the prairie received its name. George Parker and his sons, Samuel, Daniel, Jeptha and William Parker composed this settlement. They were originally from Butler County, Ohio, and removed to Crawford County, Ill., in 1817, locating south of Palestine, where they remained until their settlement in this town, on Parker Prairie. Samuel Parker went back to Crawford County and died there, some of them died here, and Daniel and Jeptha are still living in the township, prominent farmers. George Parker is said to have entered the first land in Coles County. John Hutton, one of the esteemed citizens of this township, has, probably, been acquainted with Coles County longer than any man now living. There are older residents of the county than he, but none who knew it so early. He assisted the Parkers in moving to this township, in 1824, and spent several days in bee-hunting in the heavy-timbered sections. Says that he was on the ground where Charleston now stands during that trip, and that there is not another man living that can truthfully make the same statement—a fact that is, perhaps, undisputed. While here at that time, he heard the first sermon preached in the present territory of Coles County. It was in a small log cabin, and though every man, woman and child in the county were present, the house, he says, was by no means crowded.. Daniel Parker preached the sermon, and, at its close, old “Father High Johnny ” made the quaint remark quoted in another page: “ Brethren, we have wandered far into the wilderness, but even here death will find us.“ When Mr. Hutton started back home (he then lived in Crawford County), he took a straight course through the forests and across the prairies to save distance, as around the trail was much further. He had an ox-team, with which he had hauled a load of “plunder” for the Parkers to their new home, and traveled very slowly; consequently, was several days making the trip. When night came, he would tie up his cattle, and “camp till morning.” One night, a panther “squalled and screamed” around his lonely camp for an hour or two, frightening his oxen considerably, and himself somewhat; but, as he kept up a bright fire, it finally retired without making an attack. Notwithstanding he traveled through the unbroken country, where no trail had been marked, he made the trip in safety, and without the least bewilderment. So well-skilled were the pioneers in woodcraft, that they read signs in the forest like a printed book, and the very bark of the trees was to them the points of the compass. Mr. Hutton is a native of Montgomery County, Ky., and came to Illinois, with his parents, when quite young, and settled in Crawford County, in 1816, where he remained until 1834, when he removed to Hutton Township, where he has since lived. His mother came here with him, his father having died in. Crawford County. He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, from the latter- named county, and went out in the company commanded by Capt. Alexander Huston, long a resident of Palestine. He was one of the few “pale-faces” who crossed the Mississippi after the Indians in that memorable campaign. He has always been a prominent and enterprising man in his neighborhood; was one of the Commissioners to lay off the county into townships, and was the first Supervisor of Hutton Township, an office beheld three terms in succession, and from him the town received its name. He was a great fox-hunter, in his day, and many are the stories he can tell of his exciting chases after Reynard. He kept a pack of hounds for the purpose, and a fox-chase was his most enjoy- able pastime. Though in his seventy-ninth year, Mr. Hutton has an excellent memory, and is enjoying fine health for his advanced age. To his vivid recollection we are indebted for many particulars that, but for him, would ere now have been lost. Kentucky contributed the following early settlers to Hutton Township: The Conleys, the Rennelses, Richard 0. Wells, the Beavers, the Brandenburgs, George and John J. Cottingham, the Goodmans, the Evingers, William Stivers, and perhaps others. The Conleys emigrated to Indiana, and lived some time in Lawrence County before coming to Illinois. Joel Conley, the father of all the Conleys, was a North Carolinian, but removed to Kentucky, and from thence to Indiana, and in 1832, to this township. He died on the farm where his son, Edmond Conley, now lives. His son, Jack Conley, went to Texas, and William to California, where they died. Edmond, Elijah and Washington Conley still live in Hutton Township, and are among the prosperous and energetic men of the community. The Rennelses came from Madison County, and located in what is known as the Rennels Settlement, a mile or two from the little village of Salisbury. James Rennels was the first one to settle in the township, locating on Section 32, in 1832, where he has ever since resided. John Rennels, his father, came to the township in 1837, and settled near by, where he died in 1866, at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. He was a native of the State of Delaware, and emigrated to Kentucky at an early day, when the Indians were extremely hostile, and committing all sorts of depredations in the “dark and bloody ground.” William Rennels, another son, moved here at the same time his father came, and settled on the place where he still lives. The Rennels family is a large one, and embraces some of the thrifty farmers of the country. Richard 0. Wells was from Bourbon County, and settled in Hutton Township in 1838. He remained here but a few years, when he returned to Kentucky, and resided there until 1853, and moved back to this township and settled where he now lives. F. M. Wells, a son of his, enlisted in Company H, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteers, and died in 1865, on his way home from the war. It is a melancholy reflection. He had served through the war and the banner of peace again waved over the country, but he died before reaching home, where loved ones anxiously awaited his coming. The Beavers are natives of the Old Dominion, but emigrated to Kentucky when it was in a wild state, and the hunting-grounds of hostile Indians. William Beaver came to Illinois in 1827, and settled in the Rich Woods, in the present bounds of Clark County, where he remained until 1830, when he came to this township and entered the land upon which he now lives. For forty-nine years he has been living on the same farm—a lifetime of itself. When he came to this State, the land was owned by the Kickapoo Indians, who were thick in the neighborhood. He remembers when cutting some “bee trees” at Long Point, of seeing the runners sent out by Black Hawk to summon the Indians to the grand powwow, of which the Black Hawk or Sac war was the final result. Mr. Beaver is over eighty years old, is remarkably active, and seemingly good for another decade. Mathias Beaver came from Meade County, and settled in Hutton in 1833, where he still resides, an enterprising farmer. Albert Beaver was a soldier in the Fifty-fourth Illinois Volunteers in the late war, but was discharged on account of ill-health. Solomon Brandenburg, the progenitor of the Brandenburg family, came to this township in 1829, and settled on Section 14, where he died in 1861. He first settled at White Oak Point, on Grand Prairie, but did not remain there long until he removed to Hutton, as above noted. Among the worthy farmers and citizens of the town, are his sons, James, William, Solomon, Calvin and Charles Brandenburg. George Cottingham was originally from Maryland, but went to Kentucky in the early times. In 1836, he, with his family, removed to Illinois and settled in this neighborhood, where he resided until 1859, when he came to Charleston to live with his son. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and of the war of 1812. In the former he served under Gen. Washington, and professed to have been well acquainted with the Father of his country, and for years made Gen. Washington’s shoes and boots. He had a strong desire to live to vote for Stephen A. Douglas, for President in 1860, and claimed to have voted for every President from Washington down. What a history. How many changes he had seen in the country he had fought to free it from British oppression. From the thirteen feeble colonies, he had seen it expand into nearly three times that number, of great and prosperous States. He died soon after the Presidential election of 1860, at the extreme age of one hundred years. John J. Cottingham, his son, came to Hutton Township in 1836, having first settled in Clark County, where he remained but a short time. He removed to the city of Charleston, in 1859, and died there in 1863. There are still many younger members of the family living in the township, and Mrs. Hutton, John Hutton’s wife, is a daughter of the elder Cottingham, mentioned above. The Goodman family came from Putnam County, Ind., though originally they were from Kentucky. William Goodman died on the way here, and John and Thomas Goodman settled in the town very early. John Goodman is dead, but Thomas is still living. He is a minister and lives in Charleston. The Evingers were among the early settlers here, and came from the vicinity of Louisville. Of those who were prominent men in the township, were Daniel, Jacob, Henry and Frederick Evinger. There is a large family of them, and they are of the Very best men in the neighborhood. William Stivers came here about 1829-30. He had “run off from Kentucky and left his woman,” is the way old friend Beaver put it, and she followed him to this country and took charge of him “ whether or no.” He was a sleymaker (we do not mean a vehicle on runners, but an “implement” used by our mothers and grandmothers for weaving cloth) and used to manufacture these useful articles, when the pioneer ladies were accustomed to make the cloth wherewith their families were clothed. Forty or fifty years ago, the people in this country (male and female) wore few “store clothes,” but were thankful to have sufficient, even of homespun, to keep them warm. As pertinent to the subject, and in illustration of the times of which we write, we give space to a little poem from the bard of Pleasant Grove:
“ I have been charmed by the sweet-sounding lute,
There are many living in Coles County who will recognize the truth of
these simple lines, and doubtless when they read them, memory will roll back
over the years that have past, to kindred scenes in their own childhood homes.Oft been entranced by the organ and flute; These things I heard, but the music I feel Is the far-off roar of my mother’s wheel, As with midnight lamp by its side she stood. Still spinning the yarn to clothe her dear brood. ’Its echoes still float up through the long years, To solace my heart and sweeten my tears; And as down life’s stream my little bark sails, Sweet sounds may often be borne on the gales; But sweeter by far, on my soul will steal, My childhood’s music—my dear mother’s wheel.“ John Ashby was a native of North Carolina, but had lived some time in Tennessee before emigrating to Illinois. When he came to this State, he settled in Crawford County, near Palestine, where he remained a few years, and then came to this township about 1828-29. He was a blacksmith, the first of that useful trade in the town; he died here many years ago. Another old North Carolinian is Jeremiah Cooper. He came to the township in 1837, and is the oldest man now in it, and perhaps the oldest in the county, being in his ninety-fifth year. Nicholas Lemming is eighty-eight years old. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and in early days emigrated to Ohio, then to Indiana, and from thence to Crawford County, Ill., where he remained a short time, and, in 1835, removed to Hutton Township, where he still lives, quite an active man of his age. Grifiin Tipsoward was an early settler in this township, but after a residence of a few years, moved to the neighborhood of Kaskaskia. He was an old soldier of the Revolutionary war, and made application for a pension under a law of Congress passed in 1832, On the early records of the County Court we find the following declaration:
On the 15th day of October, personally appeared in open court before Isaac Lewis and James S. Martin, County Commissioners for the County of Coles, in the State of Illinois, now sitting, and constituting said County Commissioners’ Court, Griffin Tipsoward, a citizen of the United States of America, in the County of Coles and State of Illinois, aged 77 years, who, being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress passed June 7th, 1832: That he entered the service of the United States as a Revolutionary soldier under the following-named officers, and served as herein stated, viz.: In General Rutherford’s Brigade, Colonel McKatty’s Regiment, Major Horn’s Bat talion and Captain Grimes’ Company; that he entered the service about the 18th of July, 1775, and was discharged by General Washington at the close of the war, which discharge was sunk in the Ohio River. That he was in the engagement at the battle of Eutaw Springs, under General Greene, Col. McKatty, Major Horn and Captain Grimes; that he was in the battle of King’s Mountain, under Col. Slielby; that he was in the battle of Charleston, under Col. McKatty and Capt. McGwire; that he was in the battle of Cross Creek, under General Gates, Col. McKatty and Capt. McGwire; that he was in the battle of Hawe River, commanded by Genl. Greene, Col. Chamberlain, Major Peat and Capt. John Galloway. He states that he was here wounded by a musket-shot from the enemy’s gun. That he marched first after leaving North Carolina into the State of Virginia; that he was at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, under General Washington, Col. McKatty and Capt. McGwire. That he lived in the County of Roan and State of North Carolina, when he entered the service; that he was first drafted for three months ; he then, at the end of the three months, volunteered, and was enlisted during the war. That he was born in the State of Pennsylvania, near the Susquehanna River, in the year of our Lord 1755; that he has no record of his age that he knows of. That he moved to Kentucky the second year after the expiration of the war; that he settled in the neighborhood of Boonesborough, where he resided until he moved to the Territory of Illinois, in which Territory and State he has resided about twenty years. That he now resides in Coles County and State of Illinois; that he supposes his name will be easily found on the Continental Rolls. He hereby relinquishes all claims whatever to a pension or annuity, except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension-roll of the agency of any State. Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid.
The truth of this declaration is attested to by John Parker and Joseph Painter, Revolutionary soldiers themselves, and who file similar declarations on their own behalf. The honesty and respectability of the petitioner is also attested by another certificate from John Parker, “a minister of the Gospel,” and James Nees, after which is a certificate from the County Commissioners, stating that they believe the “foregoing declaration to be true, and that the said Griffin Tipsoward was a Revolutionary soldier and served as therein stated,” and recommended that the pension applied for be paid him. Stephen Sargent was originally from New Hampshire, but removed to Kentucky when that State was in its infancy. He came to Illinois in 1836, to Hutton Township in 1838, and settled on Section 11, where he resided until his death in 1878. Stephen Stone was originally from Virginia, and was one of the very early settlers of this town. He died here many years ago. Reddick Cartwright, a relative of the famous pioneer preacher, Peter Cartwright, came to this section about 1827-28. He was from Tennessee, and is long since dead. John Wilkerson, John Walker and Hugh Doyle were among the early settlers. Where Wilkerson came from is not remembered he; removed to Texas a good many years ago. Walker was from Indiana here, and died long ago. Doyle came here from Crawford County, and moved to Missouri, where he died. Andrew Endsley came from Ohio in 1838, and settled near the present village of Salisbury, where he died. A son, Andrew Endsley, Jr., is still living in the neighborhood, one of the prosperous farmers of the country. Charles Harris was one of the early settlers of Hutton Township. He was originally from Kentucky, but had been living in the south part of the State for some time before coming to this section. Charles R. Martin came to Hutton in 1837, and is from Kentucky. He has a clock, one of the old-timers, that extends from the floor to the ceiling, that has been keeping time for ninety years. David Weaver, one of the pioneers of this township, and who has passed to his reward since we began our work of compiling the history of the county, was a native of North Carolina. In an early day, his father having determined to emigrate to the West, packed his earthly all into a wagon, crossed the Alleghanies and continued the journey until he reached Lawrence County, Ind. Here he located, and, in 1833, David and a brother came to Coles County. David Weaver settled in the eastern part of what is now Hutton Township. He is represented as an energetic and public-spirited man, joining heartily in whatever was calculated to promote the interests of the country. He appears to have been of a rather restless disposition, and not contented long in one place. He entered land, bought land, and would locate, plant an orchard, and, in a few years, remove to another location. At one time, he, with two others, owned a saw-mill in what was called “String Town,” and, a few years later, he and George Oliver had a saw-mill on the west bank of the Embarrass River. The following story is told of his attempt to take a flatboat out of the Embarrass River: “During the winter, he built the boat, upon the bank of the river, loaded it with hoop-poles and waited for the spring rain to raise the river. Finally, the anxiously-expected freshet came, and his boat floated down the raging stream. All went well until it reached Newton, the county seat of Jasper County, when it became unmanageable, drifted from the main channel, struck a snag, and became a total wreck.“ The following extract is from an obituary notice in the Charleston Plaindealer: “While it is true that he has gone to the land ‘from whose bourn no traveler returns,’ yet, he is, and will long be remembered, ‘by the word he has spoken, the things he has done.’ There has, perhaps, been none other of Coles County’s pioneers, who did more for the benefit of the county, during its infancy, than Mr. Weaver. Beside furnishing the county with many orchards, he did many other things for its advancement. He aided in surveying and clearing out the Charleston and Westfield road, took an active part in the business of the county, and truly, made himself a necessity to the people in their time of need. By trade, he was a carpenter. As a neighbor, he was kind and generous, always ready to lend a helping hand. He died at his residence in Hutton Township, February 6, 1879, leaving his aged companion to mourn his loss.” William Waldruflf and Anthony Cox settled in the town in 1828, on the Parker Prairie. Anthony Cox, Jr., was a soldier in Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-third Illinois Volunteers, and was killed in the battle of Perryville, October 8, 1862. Jonathan Parker, of Company F, same regiment, was killed in same battle. James Nees, Charles Miller and William Cook settled in the southern part of the township, near the present village of “Dog Town.” Joseph Painter* settled in the neighborhood soon after. He, too, was a Revolutionary soldier, and made application for a pension under act of Congress of 1832. This concludes the early settlers of Hutton Township, together with the time of their settlement, so far as we have been able to learn them. There are, doubtless, many omissions, but, after the lapse of all these years, and with the fact that so few of the pioneers are still living, it is not at all strange that names are overlooked that are deserving of record in these pages. * Joseph Painter was a Revolutionary soldier, and filed a declaration in the. County Commissioners’ Court, applying for a pension, similar to that of Tipsoward, given in this chapter. EARLY HISTORY. When the first white people came to this township, the whole country, north and west, was an almost unbroken wilderness, in possession of the aborigines. Wild beasts, and men as wild and savage as they, roamed through it at will, its undisputed masters. There are a few still living in Hutton Township who knew it fifty years ago, who have known it ever since. They remember the “pole cabins” put up by the early settlers as temporary shelters from the fury of the elements; they remember the cabins built of logs split open, “to make them go further;” the puncheon floors, with cracks large enough for a child to fall through; the yawning fire-place and the chimney built of sticks and ” cats and clay.“ They, too, remember the old Gary and barshare plows, the slowgoing oxen, the “scythe and cradle” and the wooden-tooth harrow. And they remember the time when they went to the Sangamon and Wabash Rivers to mill, spending a week on the trip, and the time when they pounded their corn in a block, sifted it, made bread of the finest and hominy of the coarser meal. They have seen the wilderness they first knew develop into as fine and prosperous a country as the sun shines on. The first mill in Hutton Township was built by Benjamin Parker in 1824-25, on the Embarrass River, opposite where the Blakeman Mills now stand. This was supposed to be, as it is, an excellent mill-site, and thus attracted attention at an early day. Before Parker built his mill here, which was completed and commenced operation in the latter part of 1825, the few people then in the community used to go to the Sangamon River to mill, and to the Wabash, near Vincennes. Parker sold this mill to a man named Shaw, and, after operating it for a time, Shaw sold it to Norfolk & Baker, of Charleston. They moved it across the river, to the spot where the Blakeman Mills stand, and where they, later, erected the elegant mills now owned by Blakeman. These famous mills consist of a large frame building, to which there has been added a large brick structure, making altogether quite a huge pile of buildings. Several runs of buhrs are kept pretty busily in motion to supply the trade. A circular-saw mill has been added, which does a large business in lumber. The first blacksmith in Hutton was John Ashby, mentioned as one of the early settlers, who came here from North Carolina, and opened a shop about 1827-28, not far from the present village of Salisbury. He kept a shop here many years, and finally died in the neighborhood. The first orchard planted in the township was by David Weaver, about 1834-35, on what is now known as the Smoot farm. Previous to this effort at fruit-culture, the people had to content themselves with “sour grapes.” Who sold the first goods in the settlement it is hard to say, at the present time, but a little store in “ String Town” was perhaps the first. The first man who administered to the ills of the body was James Hite, long a resident of Ashmore Township. He was not a regular physician, but being a man of considerable intelligence and some knowledge of the science of medicine, he could handle the ague and bilious fever pretty successfully, and in such cases did a great deal of gratuitous practice. Dr. Ferguson, of Charleston, was the first regular physician who practiced in the community, and for many years visited the sick of Hutton Township. The first bridge in this township was built across the Embarrass River at the Blakeman Mills, but just what year is not now remembered. It was a wooden structure, and served for a number of years, and becoming useless was replaced with another of its kind, which, in turn, was finally superseded by the splendid iron bridge now spanning the river at this point. Mr. Hutton was the first person who crossed this iron bridge. Going to Charleston on business one day, the workmen told him they would have the new bridge ready for him to cross on as he came back. As he returned home, the floor not being quite finished, they laid down loose plank so that he could cross over. Joel Conley and James Gill (the latter now living in Cumberland County) were the first Justices of the Peace in Hutton Township. When the county adopted township organization, in 1859-60, John Hutton was the first Supervisor, and held the office for three terms, successively, and James Rennels was the first Town Clerk. At present, the township officers are as follows, viz.: W. R. Cox, Supervisor; A. B. Tucker and W. D. Merritt, Justices of the Peace, and Frederick E. Cottingham, Town Clerk. RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL. In our meanderings, we discovered nine church-buildings; how many others are nestled among the hills of Hutton, we are unable to say. Since that first sermon was preached by Daniel Parker, on the banks of the Embarrass, fifty years ago, the Gospel has spread in this region proportionately with everything else. The town has three Christian Churches, two United Brethren, two “Separate” Baptist, one Missionary Baptist, and one Methodist Episcopal Church. The latter church was built in 1870, and is located within a few rods of Mr. Hutton’s residence. It is a modern frame building, and has a large and flourishing congregation; Rev. Mr. Burks is Pastor. The first of the Christian Churches was built at “String Town,” about 1836-37, and was a little log building. Before its erection, they held their religious services in the “Hickory” schoolhouse, so called from being built of hickory logs. After using their log church for a number of years, they replaced it with a substantial brick. We do not know if this house was built upon the sand, but were told that; the “winds blew and the floods came and beat upon that house, and it fell.” In May, 1876, it was blown down to the floor, during a severe storm. Since then, a handsome frame structure has been built on the old brick foundation. This Church has a large membership, of which Rev. Mr. Young is the spiritual adviser. Northeast of Salisbury, is another Christian Church, a brick building, and, west of it, is also a Christian Church. North of Salisbury, is a United Brethren Church, and southeast of the little village, three and a half miles, is another of the same denomination. Both of these churches are in the bounds of the same circuit, and Rev. Mr. Collins is the Pastor of both. The first church erected in the township was by the United Brethren, just across the line from Westfield, and was a large frame. It is still standing, but, since the building of the church at Westfield, has been evacuated, and is not used now. There is quite an extensive burying-ground at it, where sleep many of the Hutton pioneers. About three-fourths of a mile west of Mr. Hutton’s is what is called a “Separate” Baptist Church, and was built in 1857 or 1858. It is a substantial frame building. Rev. Mr. Turner is Pastor of it. A very pretty little cemetery, studded with white marble slabs, is adjacent to this church. Two miles south of Hutton post office is the Missionary Baptist Church, of which Rev. Mr. Thornton is Pastor; and, a mile or two north of the Hutton post office, is another church of the “Separate” Baptists. One of the very early preachers of this town, and the first who ever preached on the “Hurricane” waters, was Rev. Stanley Walker. He was a Hardshell Baptist, but finally joined the “Separate” Baptists. In the village of Diona, just on the line between this county and Cumberland, is a church of the United Brethren and Cumberland Presbyterians. As to who taught the first school in the township, there is some doubt. One of the first remembered, however, was taught by a man named Ellis but; whether it was the first of all, cannot be ascertained now. The house in which it was taught was a small log cabin, of the style usually devoted to school purposes in the early times. The town, at the present day, is well supplied with good comfortable schoolhouses, and excellent schools are maintained during the school-term. No township in the county has more extensive school facilities than Hutton. The first death in Hutton Township was a Mrs. Whitten, the wife of a millwright who was engaged on the Parker Mill, and was the first death in Coles County as well as in Hutton Township. Her death occurred in 1825, and she was buried on the bluff, a few hundred yards east of the mill. The first marriage in the town is lost in the mists of antiquity, and the first birth involved in some doubt. A birth occurred in the family of William Beaver, soon after his settlement here, but whether the first in the neighborhood is not known. POLITICS AND PATRIOTISM. Hutton Township has always been a Democratic town. In the days when it was a voting precinct, and Whigs and Democrats the prevailing parties, it voted for Gen. Jackson. It is Democratic now by from fifty to one hundred votes. In patriotism, Hutton ranks with any town in the county. It has has always had its heroes in the way of old soldiers. There were John John Parker, Griffin Tipsoward, George Cottingham and Joseph Painter, who faced the legions of King George in our struggle for Independence. Among the heroes of 1812, are George Cottingham, John Scott and Nicholas Lemming, and John Hutton, of the Black Hawk war. In the late war, Hutton Township was ably represented. When the tocsin of war sounded through the land, her sturdy sons left “The plow in the mid-furrow stayed,” and, seizing their “target and claymore,” marched for the front. Hutton kept ahead of all the calls of the Government, furnishing her full complement, even before called for. She never had a draft, and could have stood another call without being subjected to one. Several of her sons never returned; their dust mingles with that of the far-off battle-fields where they fell, “victims to atone the war.” Peace to their ashes, and lightly may the clods rest upon them. THE VILLAGES. Salisbury or Hutton is located on Section 9, and has scarcely attained to the dignity of a village, being nothing more than a cluster of a dozen or two houses. It is, however, an old place, having been laid out as a village December 28, 1837, and, no doubt, at some remote period of its existence, entertained lofty aspirations of becoming a place of magnitude. But railroads passing within a dozen miles of it, have forever blasted these bright anticipations. It was laid out by George K. Harris and John Hulin. The place was first called Stewart, but when a post office was obtained, there was found “another Richmond in the field,” otherwise a post office already of that name, and this then was called Ashby. But this name being so similar to Ashley, the “wrong mail frequently went to the wrong place.” The little town by this time had assumed so much importance that one name was found to be insufficient, and so matters were compromised by calling the post office Hutton and the town Salisbury, for Salisbury, N. C, the native place of Mr. Hulin, one of the proprietors of the place. A man named Gilbert built the first house in Salisbury, or Saulsbury as the people call it, and he and a man named Bartness kept the first store. Who kept the post office first, is not now remembered, but it is supposed to have been kept by one of the last-named gentlemen. The present Postmaster is Dr. J. S. Garner, who was First Lieutenant of Company K, Forty-eighth Regiment Kentucky Volunteers, during the late war. Salisbury has no churches or schoolhouses within its corporate limits, but it is surrounded by both just outside of its “embattled walls.” It has a Masonic Lodge—Hutton Lodge, No. 698 which was organized in 1872. The first officers were: George Bidle, Worshipful Master; C. P. Rosencrans, Senior Warden; John A. Stull, Junior Warden; C. Fuqua, Treasurer; Allen Hill, Secretary; S. S. Bills, Senior Deacon; F. E. Cottingham, Junior Deacon; and Owen Wiley Tiler. The present officers are A. N. Rosencrans, Worshipful Master; John A. Stull, Senior Warden; J. B. Lee, Junior Warden; T. A. Bensley, Treasurer; and F. E. Cottingham, Secretary, with between fifty and seventy members. The business of Hutton is as follows: One store, Endsley & Co.; one millinery store, Mrs. Sarah McDonald; three blacksmith-shops, two with wood-shops added; one physician, Dr. J. S. Garner, and Postmaster; one Justice of Peace, A. B. Tucker, and one Masonic Lodge. The village of Diona, usually called by the poetic name of “Dog Town,” in point of population is about the equal of Salisbury. Small as it is, however, one county is not large enough to hold it, and it is located about equally in Coles and Cumberland Counties. It is divided into four wards by the county line, and the Congressional township line, the latter running through it from north to south, and the county line from east to west. Diona has never been laid out as a village, but is merely an accidental collection of houses, as it were, with a store or two, a post office, shops, etc. Nicholas McMorris is Postmaster. He lives in Cumberland County, but his store and post office are in Coles County. Matthews & Fulkerson also have a store here, and there is a Church of the United Brethren and Cumberland Presbyterians, as elsewhere stated. “String Town” is merely a nickname given to a rather thickly-settled neighborhood, on account of several mechanic-shops, a saw- mill, a church and a little store formerly kept here. Thomas Goodman kept a store here at one time, also a man of the name of Peppers. But all is past, and the glory of String Town has departed. There is nothing left but the church and one or two residences to tell where erst “String Town” stood. |