SALEM

Transcribed by Laurie Selpien from Edwards County Sesquicentennial 1814 – 1864

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SALEM

Edwards County, Illinois

The first white men to enter Edwards County were the three Dalton brothers who came in 1800. Nothing is known of them except that they lived by hunting and fishing, and when later white settlers came, their empty cabins were found standing in sections 10 and 15, 1 N. R 14 W, northeast of West Salem. The first permanent settler in this area was Ranson Higgins who crossed Bon Pas near Lancaster and settled just inside the county in section 3 where a year or two later, he set up a water mill.

In 1821, George Walser and Lampton McKinney came from Indiana and settled in the Mills Prairie area in Section 21 and 28. In the same year Enoch Greathouse settled in section 13 and Lot Sams, two miles south of Section 25, where he founded Samsville. In 1822 William Lock settled nearby, while Thomas Mason established himself in the extreme northwest corner of the precinct. Most important event of the year was the arrival of Henry I. Mills from Indiana who settled just east of Walser and became a leader of civic affairs of the county. In 1824 a school with real glass window was founded nearby and in 1830 Mr. Mills built the first brick house in the community. During the decade, 1820 – 30, several families moved into the neighborhood, including Benjamin Ulm, Sarah Aldridge, and Joseph Robinson. In 1825, the first wagon maker came to the settlement in the person of Joseph Carpenter. In 1830, immigrants included the Lopps, Hedricks, and Walsers, from North Carolina. Peter Hickle who arrived in 1831, set up the first blacksmith shop just east of West Salem. It was in his barn that the Moravian Church was established. The Clodfelters arrived in 1838 and in 1840 the Kellen-Clodfelter burr mill was set in Section 8. In 1843, Martin Houser visited the area and later returned to establish a church which was dedicated in 1846. The vanguard of a German contingent arrived in 1848 in the persons of P. T. Hallbeck, Albert Knoll, Christopher Israel, and one Gesler. In 1849, large number of Germans arrived, 46 in one day. Martin Houser must receive much credit for the development of this area and the founding of West Salem through his work with the Moravian Church. The Memorial Arch at the entry to the entry to the Moravian Cemetery was erected in his honor.

Since the Prosperous religious community existed, it was felt that the town should be planned. Acting as attorney-in-fact for Rev. Charles Kluge, President of the Synod of the Southern Provincial Conference of the Moravian Church of North America. Martin Houser entered 120 acres in Kluge’s name on October 29, 1845. the town was surveyed and platted by Thomas Birckett on August 3, 1849, and the name New Salem was chosen in honor of Salem, North Carolina. When a Post office was established here in 1855, it became necessary to change the name to West Salem since New Salem already existed. The first lot in the town purchased by Kalen Clodfelter in September 1849. Paul Hallbeck erected the first building, a double frame structure which served as storehouse and dwelling. The second building similar in structure was erected by Stephen S. Gunn who ran flatboats on the Bon Pas and found a ready market for local produce in Vicksburg Memphis, and New Orleans. He was appointed first Postmaster in 1853. West Salem was officially incorporated February 8, 1857. First Board of Trustee were William Foster Sr., President, J. H. McDowell, J. B. Michel, E. G. Altner and George Pixley, with A. L. Hammaker as Clerk, and J. B. Michel as treasurer. On December 8, 1897, an election carried for the incorporated town to organize as a village.

The German immigrants were an industrious, conservative group and helped the new town to prosper. Fruit raising became an important industry here with many varieties produced commercially. The largest industry on the community was the brick plant with a capacity of 22,000 brick per day. In 1878 Frederick Luther erected a three story frame building and ran a steam operated mill with one wheat and one corn burr. He also operated a sawmill in connection with the grain mill.

Millison Bros. also operated a grain mill and an elevator. Voight and Pixley operated a spoke and wagon shop around 1880. The West Salem Brick and Hollow Tile Company was organized in 1911 with a capital stock of $2,400 and set up operations just across the railroad tracks from where the Ice Plant was erected. The West Salem Ice and Light Company was organized in 1915 with capital stock of $15,000 with Hallbeck and Schnuerer as founders. The company manufactured pure artificial ice, using water from a small lake just east of the railroad and near the south edge of town. Electricity was at first available only on a part time basis. This industry prospered for some time, but was eventually taken over by Central Illinois Public Service. The building was remodeled and used for a milk condensery for some years. The old creamery was located at the corner of Church street and Albion where the King Feed Mill now stands. Couch Brothers operated an elevator for many years but later sold to Maurice Campbell. When the old frame building burned, Mr. Campbell erected a modern concrete building to serve the farmers of the area.

An important event in the life of the town was the completion of the Peoria, Decatur and Evansville Railroad in 1881. The term, P. D. and E. used to refer to the road, often meant more than the name of the cities, as the soft road bed made traffic slow in wet weather, it was called “Paddle Down Easy”. This railway, taken over by the Illinois Central in 1900, meant much to the community. Passenger trains carrying mail ran regularly four times per day. Freights puffed in and out, carrying coal and manufactured products in and grain, livestock and fruit out. Changes in the economy of the country, brought about largely through the invention of the horseless carriage, spelled doom to the passenger and many freights in the area. The last regular passenger train made its run on March 16, 1969.

Mail formerly carried by trains is now brought in by star routes. The first rural route of West Salem was established in 1902. Earlier small post offices had existed in Mills Prairie (1836) Maple Grove, Bennington, Black and Samsville. A new post office was recently completed (about.1964) at West Salem under the Postmastership of Clyde B. Miller.

Today West Salem is a clean, prosperous town with a water system, a completely new school building, a dial telephone system, and plans for gas are under consideration. Champion Laboratories, an oil filter manufacturing plant, founded by a group of local industrialists, is most important to the economy of the area. Under the dynamic leadership of Howard Gaither the plant has grown tremendously and now employs approximately 200 people.

The town of Rockford, laid out in the northeast part of the precinct in 1837, existed only on paper. The town was surveyed and platted by James D. Knapp on May 6, 1837 with Ransom Higgins as proprietor. Description was as follows: O-Rock, the beginning of the survey of the town of Rockford 3 ch 40 links from Ransom Higgins house (NW corner). The width of the streets, the length and width of the lots, and the width of the alleys are as marked on the annexed plan or map. Since Ransom Higgin’s house was located in the southern part of section 3 Township One North, Range 14 west, the town site can be fairly accurately located.