Knox County ILGenWeb

From the 1870 Atlas Map of Knox County, Illinois, Andreas, Lyter & Co., Davenport, Iowa, 91 pages.  [Submitted by Bob Miller.]

"Hezekiah Buffum settled on Section 23, in 1834.  Asay DeLong, Lyman Field, and Wm. Heath, on Sec. 31, in 1836.  Asay DeLong built the first house between Henderson and Knoxville timber.  First Supervisor was Thomas H. Taylor; first Constable, M. P. DeLong; first Justices of the Peace, Ransom Babcock and Mariam Booker.  Coal is in abundance on Sections 16, 17, 22 and 23.  Over three quarters of the Township is best of fine rolling prairie, with best of improvements, and the best of citizens.  J. M. Holyoke, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, M. P. DeLong, President of Agricultural Society, Wm. Robson and W. S. Patterson, extensive stock dealers, are from Sparta.  Phelps' celebrated farm, which took the first premium at State Fair, is on Section 8, and is certainly as fine a farm as we ever saw.  ....."

From the 1878 History of Knox County, Illinois published by Charles C. Chapman.  [Submitted by Bob Miller.]

SPARTA TOWNSHIP.  "Ancient Sparta, after which this township was probably named, existed before the Christian era 800 years, and was the capital of Laconia, and the rival of Athens in the history of ancient Greece.  Sparta has been handed down through all history as a synonym of simplicity of personal habit, domestic economy and courage.  Mr. Amos Wilmot is accredited with suggesting the name of Sparta for the township at its organization.  Mr. Wilmot was born in Connecticut, March 3, 1802, and was one of the first settlers in the township.  After a prosperous life of 76 years, and with a hope of a happy immortality, he died at his home Aug. 28, 1878.

Hezekiah Burford settled on section 23 in 1834.  He is now in Monmouth, Oregon.  Cyrus Robbins, from New York, settled on section 5 in 1836.  His two brothers Levy and Reuben settled on section 5 the same year.  These brothers planted out a nursery, from which they established large fruit orchards and shady groves, which have ever since been known as "Robbins' Grove."

Asaph DeLong and Luman Field, from Vermont, and Wm. M. Heath from New York, settled on section 31 in 1836.  Julius DeLong came from Vermont in January, 1838, and settled on the south half of the southwest quarter of section 31, the present home of his son, Hon. M. P. DeLong, who has represented his township at different times in various offices from the very first organization.  He has been an active member of the Knox County Agricultural Society for fifteen years; was its president three years during that time; has served as Justice of the Peace three terms of four years each, and is now in the fourth term; was elected and served as Supervisor of his township in 1874, when the farmers were organizing into farmers' clubs and granges throughout the Northwest, which in time became national, for the purpose of counter-balancing the influence of the giant monopolies of the railroads which existed at the time.  We will refer to these organizations again farther along in the history of this township.  The prairie fires in the early settlement of the township were something to be dreaded.  The broad, wide-spreading prairies for untold years had lain beneath the sun and the showers, gathering richness, until the vegetable growth was something marvelous, and the tall native grasses would in places hide man and beast.  And when a fire chanced to start in this waving ocean of dried and inflammable material, it was a sure messenger of death to every living thing or creature in its relentless course, unless due precaution had been previously exercised to guard against it.  The roar of the flames when driven by a strong wind could be heard two and three miles away, as was the case one night when these early settlers were awakened by Miss Maria Field, daughter of Luman Field, and sister of the late Hon. Loyal C. Field, of Galesburg.  She, living with her parents near where Center Point now is, awakened about midnight, and discovering the danger of the settlement, ran from house to house, and gave alarm.  A fire had started at Red Oak, in Henry Co., Ill., and now was rushing southward, two miles wide, before a furious wind from the north, with a terrible roar that will never be forgotten by those who heard it.  Fortunately the citizens in this township being forewarned, were fore-armed and prepared to give battle when the fire came.  Trenches and "back-fire" and wet blankets were used to save the buildings, fences and stocks; and even then the heavy wind would carry wisps of burning grass so far that a continual effort was required until the billow of fire had passed.

Section 30 was appropriated in the usual legal way by Richard Joseph and William Armstrong, S. S. Russell, and Stephen Smith.

Section 19 was taken and improved by Thomas and George W. Faulkner, Morvan Baker, and Anson Rowe.

James and Abraham Neely came from Cayuga, New York, the latter in 1836, and made him a home on section 8.  He now lives in Missouri.  The former made a home on section 30, where he has since lived.  Part of section 8 was afterwards occupied by T. G. Hadley, who originally came from "way down" in Maine.  Also on section 8 may be found G. S. Hawkins, who was for many years a merchant in Henderson, also A. S. Fitch, who with many others from this loyal township, was one of "the soldiers in blue" during the civil war.  Section 8 also includes the premium farm owned by A. N. Phelps, Esq., and contains 200 acres without a foot of waste land.  This farm was granted the first premium by the Illinois State Agricultural Society in 1868, and again in 1870.  It has been awarded the first premium by the Knox County Agricultural Society previously for five successive years.

Mr. Phelps was born in Westfield, Mass., September 9, 1819.  He came, with his mother and his two sisters, to Galesburg in 1836.  The amount of his worldly possessions at that time was enough to buy a box stove and a cow, valued at $30.  The eldest daughter became Mrs. G. Avery, of Galesburg, and the youngest the wife of B. Kilbourn, of Wisconsin.  The mother died at Galesburg, November 23, 1855.  The father, Aaron Noble Phelps, had died previous to the family's moving west, at Westfield, Mass., in March, 1830.  He and his wife (Miss Clarissa Root) were married in 1814.  Their only son, A. N. Phelps, and Miss Sarah J. Adams were married March 29, 1847, and moved to their present home in 1856, which has since taken the premiums already mentioned.

Johnson Babcock was born in 1770, in Rensselaer county, New York.  Miss Zilpha Green was born near Poughkeepsie, New York.  These two were united in marriage in 1796.  Ransom Babcock, their son, was born September 20, 1822, and in 1839 he came from Onondaga county, New York, to Knox county, arriving at Galesburg the 12th of July; was married to Miss Mary Miller, September 1, 1842.  Mrs. Babcock was born January 7, 1825, and is the daughter of James H. and Hannah (Preston) Miller, originally from New England, who came from Michigan to Knox county in 1838.

William S. Patterson, on section 18, is one of the most extensive farmers in the township.  His single shipments of cattle and hogs have at times amounted to $30,000 or $40,000, especially during the civil war, when the price of live cattle was eight cents per pound, and live hogs ten and twelve cents per pound.  He introduced many choice breeds of cattle and hogs.  One car-load of short-horns were purchased by him in Kentucky and brought home in 1871.  William S. Patterson was born in Columbus, Ohio, December 13, 1825, and at Henderson, Ill., September 30, 1834, was united in marriage with Miss Matilda Miller, whose parents were James H. and Hannah (Preston) Miller, natives of New England.  Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Patterson move to their present home in 1855.

William Williamson, one of the township commissioners for 1878, has also introduced the short-horn cattle on his farm.  His residence is located on section 21.

Mr. Robson, the present supervisor, owns 500 acres of land.  The Robson Bros. have been extensive shippers of stock.  William Robson came to his present home in Sparta township in 1863, and he has made single shipments from Wataga station amounting to $35,000.  He has also introduced short-horn cattle, Poland China and Berkshire hogs.

Niles Bros., whose residences are located south of Wataga, on sections 21 and 19, are from Chatham, Columbia county, New York.  They were proprietors of the Wataga mill for seven years before turning their attention to farming.  They introduced the short-horn cattle on their farms in the spring of 1874 - 30 head that year - at a cost of from $100 to $500 each.

Henry Rommel's farms are located on section 28.

Mons Olson's home is located south of Wataga, on section 28 and 33, and what is known as the Mound, which is one of those beautiful elevations that occur occasionally in this part of the Mississippi valley.

Ed. Kennedy and Thomas O'Connor are prominent real-estate holders in the southeast part of the township.

Anson Rowe, born in Vermont, came to Center Point with his family in 1838, and settled on section 19.  His son, Lorenzo Rowe, moved on his farm, section 19, in 1850.

Eber Goddard came from Massachusetts at a later day, and settled on section 4.

C. C. West came from New York in 1837, and has a farm on section 3.

B. Pickrel, whose birth-place was in Virginia, came to the county in 1837, and to Sparta township in 1867.

One of the institutions of the township is the Wataga Nursery, temporarily begun by O. W. Hoff in 1864, and permanently established in 1869, on the southwest quarter of section 16, one block south of the Wataga Mills, by Hoff & Cooper, whose term of partnership was for five years, since which time O. W. Hoff has owned and conducted it.  Mr. Hoff has been in the business since January, 1858, working at first with T. K. Phoenix, at the Bloomington Nursery.  He came from his native place, Greenbush, Rensselaer county, New York, in 1855.

The township was organized in 1853.  Thomas H. Taylor was elected Supervisor, and was re-elected in 1854.  Mr. Taylor was born July 14, 1815, on the Isle of Wight; came to New York in 1823, and to Sparta township in 1846; hauled the lumber for his house from La Salle, Ill., 80 miles; shipped the first load of pork and wool through the Illinois canal; was appointed Postmaster under Buchanan, and resigned after holding the office three years; is now living on section 14.

Peter Davis was elected Supervisor in 1855, without opposition.  Mr. Davis was born in 1801, in Kentucky, and came to Knox county in 1834; died at his home, in Sparta township, March 15, 1871.

J. W. Holyoke was elected Supervisor in 1856, and was re-elected for nine successive years; then he was elected Representative; then he was elected Supervisor four successive years; after an interval of four years was again elected Supervisor in 1875, which office he occupied for three years.

John Grey was Supervisor in 1865, and Abram Ebright in 1866.

H. P. Wood was elected three terms, - 1871-2-3.

In 1872-3 the farmers began to organize throughout the States into clubs and granges.  "The Sparta Farmers' Club" was organized in the Town Hall, March 1, 1873; adopted a constitution that was furnished in printed form to local clubs, and the following objects were embodied in Article II: "Its objects shall be improvement in the the theory and practice of agriculture and horticulture; to promote the moral, intellectual, social, and pecuniary welfare of its members; and by active and cordial co-operation with other clubs, and with its county committee, to assist in carrying to a successful issue the object of the State Association."  Whatever they might be was not known to the general membership, - perhaps not to any in the local clubs; and it was generally thought that, to be consistent with the expressed objects of the clubs, none but agriculturist and horticulturists should be members.  This caused a division of sentiment; for the merchants and lawyers claimed they should be made welcome, as "all their interests were in farms."  The result was that at the first annual re-election of officers the County Farmers' Association was captured by the politicians, and a professional lawyer elected Supreme Judge.  This diverted the attention of the people from the primary and meritorious and expressed objects of the the organizations; and they practically ceased to exist.

M. P. DeLong, one of the first settlers in Knox county, and a very worthy farmer, was elected Supervisor of Sparta township in 1874.

The Town hall was built in 1867.

The first coal banks opened in the township were near where Charles W. Rhodes now lives, sections 21 and 22.  Levy James, A. A. Spooner, Lomas & Babcock, and others took part in opening banks, until in 1855-56 there were about 40 banks; 30 of them near Wataga, and managed chiefly by Holyoke and Dolan.  Also Taylor and Parkinson had quite a number of banks, at different times.  About 1856 there were employed 250 men; and probably 100,000 bushels of the "Black Diamonds" were put into the market annually from the deep ravine that runs east from the village.  Of late there has not been so much mining in the coal fields at this point.  There have been two shafts sunk near the C., B. & Q. R. R., on the west side, both of them about 80 feet deep.  The one near the village , by the Illinois Carbon Coal Company, changed hands before completed, and has not been worked.  The Sparta Steam Shaft is about 1/2 a mile southwest of the village, on the east side.  The shaft has been established about seven years, and yields a good quality of coal.  This is run at present by Peter Dolan, who paid out for mining, during the month of September, 1878, $1,200.  Banks have been opened on section 28, by H. Rommel and Oliver Stream, south of the village.  About one mile east of the village there are banks worked by Robert Campbell, Andrew Johnson, Henry Bellamy, Peter Knight, Milo Tompkins, Robert Thompson, Ed. McDermot, Andrew Danielson, Lewis Nodine, James Taylor, and two or three others, whose names we do not have.  Price of coal at the banks at the present time 5 1/2 cents per bushel of 80 lbs.  There have been but few accidents, comparatively, in the mines in Wataga or adjoining territory.  Emanuel Harris lost his life by the bank caving in.  Wm. Hitchey was fatally injured, May 18, 1857, in the air shaft, by the falling  of clay.  He lived but three or four days.  Paul Convery, Nov. 23, 1859, lost his life by the bank caving in.  Peter Cling, on the morning of Oct. 17, 1875, fell from the top of a shaft down some 71 feet.  He lived, but had to have one leg, the left, amputated.  A visitor from the East was down the Sparta Steam Shaft when the platform started upward, and his head was caught between that and the wall of the shaft.  The result was, he nearly lost his scalp and skull, but lived to report to his friends."