Tyrone Township lies south of Goode and joins Perry Countyon the west.The name
Tyrone was selected as the name of the township when it was first organized. The
name was taken from the name of an old steamboat that plied on the waters of
the Mississippi River. Charles Tinsley was captain of this steamboat for many
years and being an early settler and a man of influence, the name of the
steamboat was voted as the name of the township.
John Kirkpatrick seems to have been the first settler in the township, settling
on what is now the Reid farm on Little Muddy Creek, in 1818. Barzilla Silkwood
and the Tinsleys came soon afterwards, so likewise did the Mulkeys.
Old Mulkeytown sprung into existence in the very early day; the trading point
took its name from the Mulkey family. John Mulkey put up the first store in
1835. The Mulkeys have been very prominent in the the history of the county.
Judge Mulkey, who became very prominent as a jurist, sprang from this family of
Mulkeys in the county.
The Mulkeys and John Kirkpatrick were related. They held religoust meetings at
the home of John Kirkpatrick soon after his coming to Franklin County in 1818.
As a result of the meetings, a church was organized in about 1823, which
became known as the "Christian Church", being the first organized in the state of
Illinois. For nearly a century the Mulkeys and Kirkpatricks have been identified
with this old church. From this church's influence more than eleven Christian
Churches have been organized.
Later the Harrisons, Bayless, Prices, Plumlees, Rogers, Means, Davis, Swishers,
Greenwoods, Arteberrys, Dees, Tefferkellers, McClellands, Snyders, Capelands,
Reids, Keonigs, Hills, Browns, Faggs, Eubanks, Ethertons, Moyers, and Cook
families came into the township and Tyrone township began to develope rapidly.
What is known now as the I. C. R. R. was built through the county in 1879-80.
Isham Harrison had part of his farm laid outinto town lots, soon new Mulkeytown
became a thriving village. Mulkeytown has not been a mushroom town, but has had
a steady growth, the citizenship of the staid old town has been of a high
character, standing for good schools and good moral citizenship. The people of
the vicinity of Mulkeytown have ever been characterized as church-going people.
In the eastern part of Tyrone and in Browning Township, settles a family of
people destine to play an important part in the history of the county. This was
the Harrison family. They seem to have been related to the Virginia stock of
Harrisons , and of close kin to William Henry Harrison of "Tippecanoe fame" who
became president.
The founder of the Harrison Clan in this county was Isham Harrison who, coming
into the county about 1814, settled southeast of what is now the city of
Christopher. Isham Harrison was shutup in the Fort Jordan during the indian
trouble of 1812. He, like John Browning, selected a site on the west of Big Muddy
for his place of settlement.
Along with him two grown sons came and settled near by. When Illinois almost
reached statehood and Franklin County had been organized, Harrison was sent
to Kaskaskia, then the capitol, to help frame the first Constitution of Illinois.
The greatest question in the convention was the slavery question. Harrison, though
a slave owner, stood against a slavery clause in our constitution. On Aug. 26, the
convention had finished its work. The Constitution of Illinois was never ratified
by the people.
Lemuel Harrison, a son of Isham Harrison, was the first surveyor and county
commissioner of the county. He surveyed out the first town on Frankfort Hill. His
two sons, Isham and Christopher, were the founders of the two largest towns in
Tyrone-Christopher and Mulkeytown.
Christopher Harrison, a son of Lemuel R. Harrison, was one of the 49 dying of
cholera and was buried at Independence, Mo. His cousin was with him and went on
to California, but returned in a short time and married the widow of his cousin.
Christopher Harrison owned land where the city of Christopher is now located.
His two sons, F.O. and Sydney, had the town named Christopher in honor of their
father.
The town did not grown fast at first. Bolliver Farris put up the first store,
then later sold to Walker Bros., who continued the store. Then came Horace
Shepherd, who became apartner of Farris. Mr. Shepherd was an original boomer
of Christopher has been with the city during all its growth, he having died a
short time ago.
In the early days of Christopher the postmaster would carry the mail to the
train and most of the citizens of the town would accompany him to see the "cars
come in." Many jokes were made on Christopher in those early days but ere long
the staid old town took on a new life. Coal was located and mines developed. An
energetic bunch of real estate men began to push Christopher and soon it was a
fast growing town.
The building of the C. B. & Q. Railroad and the great coal development has
transformed the little village of Christopher into one of the best cities in the
county. Christopher has four large coal mines lying near, with an output that is
enormous. The population of Christopher is about 8,000.
Tyrone has the following schools: Robtown, Cane Creek, Blue Grass, Long Beach,
Mulkeytown, Arkansas, Christopher, North City, Valier.The churches of the town-
ship are: Baptist - Christopher and Valier; Methodist - Greenwood, Valier and
Christopher; Christian-Mulkeytown and Christopher; Catholic - Christpher; Free
Baptist -Christopher. Politically, Tyrone is Democratic but often times Republicans
carry the township. The present supervisor is Joe Bacon.
The town of Valier on the C.B.& Q. R.R. is a livvely place. There are two large
mines near and indications point to it as a very important city of the country.
[(1918) Franklin County History Centennial Edition by H.M. AIKEN]
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