First EventsFifty-six years have come and gone since Nathan Dillon erected his cabin on section 1, of this township. It is claimed that he was the first settler in the county, save the old French traders, and for proof to substantiate this we refer the reader to his own words, recorded in the first chapter of this book There is another claimant, however, to this honor. We refer the reader to William Blanchard's sketch in the history of Fond du Lac township. He brings a prior claim to that of Mr. Dillon's. We state the facts as clearly and pointedly as we can deduce them, and leave the readers to draw their own conclusions. It is useless to dwell at length upon the early history of this township, as that is embraced in the first chapter of this volume.
A few incidents of the early settlement will illustrate the hardships encountered by the pioneers. Mr. John Trowbridge relates that when he came to the county, in 1833, he worked for his uncle, James Kinman, for two years at his sawmill, and for other parties, for $5 per month. He says there were but four or five cabins on his side of the Mackinaw then. When he and his brother, Jessie, first purchased land, they had no timber from which to make rails. They accordingly went over to a grove, called Walnut Grove, which they named at the time. This grove was eight miles from their cabin. In the first three they cut down, which was a walnut, they found and killed four coone fences entirely. Three children were drowned in the Mackinaw when she first came. They were sliding on the ice, which broke, they went through and were drowned. Their graves are near the Mackinaw. They were children of Mrs. Mosler, who now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Ball, at Delavan.
Mrs. Josiah Baily came in the fall of 1828, and is today, at the age of 73, on of the smartest old ladies in the county. She resides with her brother, Daniel Brown. She remembers seeing Black Hawk and 1,500 warriors on parade. They had to go to Peoria after lumber when they first came, and it took them four days to make the trip.
Matthias Mount came in 1833, Feb. 20. He served in the Black Hawk war, as Second Lieutenant in Co. C, 1st rest. He was at the battles of Wisconsin and Bad Axe, and attended the treaty at Rock Island, and says our portrait of Black Hawk is an excellent one. He had a horse shot from under him.
Daniel Crabb is one of the early settlers, and one who has, by his own labor and good management, amassed a fortune. He made rails for 37 1/2 cents per hundred, and took his pay in trade, when he first came.
The first meeting after the township mode of conducting county affairs was adopted, was held April 2, 1850. Nathan Dillon presided. A vote was taken, and Nathan Dillon elected Supervisor; J.W. Musick, Clerk; R.H. Hardy, Assessor; J.B. Lander, Collector; Daniel Dillon, Com. of Poor; Abner Rulon, Obediah Studyvin and Samuel Berry, Com. of Highways; Sherrod Williams and Jesse Kinman, J.P; John B. Landet and Wm. Stockton, Constables; Andrew Wallace, Pound Master. Nathan Dillon was the first Justice of the Peace in the township; he held his commission from Governor Edwards.
Antioch Christian Church was the first Church organized in the township. Jesse Fisher, Jereome Waltmire, William Dillon, Abner Rulon, and others formed the congregation. The first edifice was built in 1838; the present on in 1858, at a cost of $600. The Elders are J.R. Campbell, Wm. Johnson, Rees Gatlis and Allen Leonard.
There are two towns in the township, both of which are small and quite old. They are Dillon, situated on section 3; and Tullamore, on section 24.
In connection with the history of Dillon Township, we mention some of the representative and leading citizens, believing they not only deserve mention, but that a short sketch of them will be read with interest.
Dillon writes:
"On our journey, when a short distance from where the village of Delavan now stands, we were overtaken by a heavy thunderstorm. We hurried along as fast as possible until sundown, when the wind changed to the northwest, and in fifteen minutes' time our clothes were frozen hard, our horses mired down, and my wife and children had to get out of the wagon into the bleak wind.
"Then we unloaded the wagon and moved it out of the slough by hand, the water half-leg deep, and reloading, hitched up the horse and moved on about a quarter of a mile further, when the same accident occurred again. "It was now quite dark; the wind was blowing, the weather freezing cold, wolves howling in every direction. "We concluded to start for the timber, which was about three miles off; so, packing wife and children on horseback, we started against the wind; it was to do that or freeze on the prairie. "We were in a truly desperate condition--no fire, and all of us wet, cold and hungry. We had to have fire or perish; so on our arrival at the timber it devolved on me to strike a fire, for my brother was so near chilled through he could do nothing, as he had been riding and driving a four horse team. "In those days we had no matches, and were compelled to strike a fire by a flintlock rifle, which was a bad job, as the whole ground was flooded and nothing could be found dry. I at length succeeded in getting a fire, and we piled high the wood and stood around and thawed out and dried our clothes; and when my wife went to look for the provisions to get some supper, the dogs had found where it lay, and eaten it all up; and we went supperless to our wet beds."
When they arrived about when James Willis, one of the settlers on the Mackinaw, started out on a trip with a hired man. About 18 miles from their destination, Willis dismounted from his horse to let Cowhart take a turn at riding. Cowhart promptly mounted the horse and took off at high speed in the opposite direction. It was decided that Dillon, three of his brothers, and a neighbor would head the hunt for the horse thief even though they took chase three days after the horse had been stolen. The five men tracked Cowhart through the snow all the way to Rockville, IN. Shortly after being caught, Cowhart tried to escape.
As Dillon puts it, "When issuing out of the Wabash bottom we ascended a steep point with deep ravines on each side. We noticed him slyly inspecting the grounds. His countenance lighted up as if he was bout gibing us the slip. "We told him that if he made such an attempt we would surely shoot him. He pretended to regard as strange what we said, but afterwards confessed that he had intended to run down the steep, covered as it was with thick vines, and escape by running along the trackless ice in the stream."
The men took their prisoner to a tavern at Newport on the Wabash were a lawyer who happened to be at the inn presented a writ of habeas corpus to the prisoner to sign. It was at this point that Dillon took matters into his own hands.
"I snatched the petition from the prisoner's hand, saw what it was, gave it to the lawyer and told him to keep it for himself or I would give him trouble.... I told him plainly that if I heard another word from him I certainly should slap his jaw, then left him pale as death and turned to the prisoner and took him by the collar. As they were leaving the inn, some of the men tried to help the prisoner escape, but were stopped short by Dillon's warning to the prisoner.
"We told him that if he attempted to get off the horse or if any man attempted to assist him, we would "blow him through."
For the capture of the horse thief, Dillon was paid $36.68, a tidy sum in those days. All was for naught, though, as Cowhart escaped from the newly built jail the same night he was incarcerated.
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