CUMBERLAND COUNTY, ILLINOIS
NEOGA 'S EARLY HISTORY
Before Neoga Was
For many years, Miss Mary Fellows
taught her pupils at Neoga Grade School to locate Neoga, Illinois,
accurately on the big globe at 39 degrees north latitude and 88 degrees
west longitude. When the geography class could spot it easily in
relation to the known universe, she would proceed to explain how it
happened to be there. She doubtless never failed to capture the
immediate attention of the seventh grade when she started the history
of Neoga with Indians, Until about the year 1823 the Kickapoo Indians
were in full possession of the territory where Neoga now stands, Their
numbers gradually grew less until the Black Hawk War in 1832 drove them
west to greater security from the white men. Traces of their
civilization are occasionally found by jubilant children, but their
principal legacy is, very likely, the name Neoga.
The white settlement of
Cumberland County came close upon the retreat of the savages. In 1832
the work on the National Road through the county began, and settlements
developed along the route. Early settlements wore made at high points
of timber that skirted streams. The prairie was covered with joint
grass, which at times reached the enormous of ten or twelve feet. There
was little natural drainage, and the rainfall saturated the soil until
the prairie land became almost a marsh at times. The frontier settlers
believed the open land could never be tilled successfully; there fore
they chose the timber sites for their farms.
In 1842, Coles County the territory
now embraced by Douglas, Coles and Cumberland Counties. The area was
broken up into three counties as of May 1, 1843, In 1855 an election
established Prairie City (Toledo) as the county seat of Cumberland and
the county was divided into voting precincts. Wabash precinct,
later called Neoga precinct, was the northwest corner of the county,
five miles wide east and west, and seven miles long from north to
south, In 1861, the county was reorganized on a township plan. Neoga
precinct and Clear Creek precinct were combines to form what is now
known as Neoga Township.
In 1843, when the county of
Cumberland was formed, there were less than 500 people living within
its allotted boundaries. From this time to 1950, immigration almost
ceased and the growth of the population remained at a standstill. In
1845, cholera proved fatal to many, and a considerable number joined
the rush to California in 1849, About 1650, however, the land warrants
issued to soldiers of the Mexican War brought about a change. These
warrants got into the hands of persons seeking new homes, and from 1850
-1853 almost every acre of public land was entered. A large part of
this land was entered through the United States land office at
Palestine at $1.25 per acre.
The early wagon ways in Cumberland
County were scarsely more than trails. One led from Greenup to the
Johnstone settlement; another connected Woodbury to Johnstown, and a
third led from Greenup to the Glenn settlement in Coles County. These
first routes of travel led along the edge of timber, as the greenhead
flies made it impossible for animals to pass through the prairie during
the larger part of the day. Streams were forded, sloughs were plunged
into or avoided by circuitous routes. As lands were entered and these
found to interfere with private interests, they were changed to run on
section lines. An inter-county road from Greenup to Charleston was
established in 1835.
Some early settlers in Neoga
Township: Neoga’s first merchant - Ludley Keen Johnson, born in
Anderson County, Kentucky, October 2, 1815; died in Neoga December 8,
1869; Jackie Young, progenitor of all the Youngs of that vicinity;
Jackie Spain, postmaster; the Allen and Wagner families; Roger Cross,
the Good and Blystone families, Others in Cumberland County were the
McCartney family; Mitchell Lockhart, who had a saw mill near Concord
Church; Castevens family; Andrew Gray, James NcNutt, James Morrison,
Wm, Allison, John and Garrett Buchanan, James Ewing and James Wilson.
Taken from the Neoga
Centennial Program 1856 - 1956.
"Originally
transcribed by Martha Greeson and published in the Cumberland and Coles County
Historical Society Quarterly on April 1973 and transcribed here for
Genealogy Trails by Barb Z."