Hoopeston. The Turners were from near Ottawa, and settled here in 1867, where they still reside. Walker came from Galena, and the Parsleys from La Salle County, and settled here in 1867, and still live in the township. McCormicks were also from La Salle County, and settled here in 1865. The The first birth in Fayette Township was Rose McCormick, a daughter of James and Jane McCormick, who was born December 15, 1865. The first death was that of a young man of the name of Eaton, and occurred at the residence of John Brownlee about the 1st of August, 1867. The first marriage which took place in the township was that of Moses K. McDowell and Mary Morgan; and the second, that of D. R. Morgan, a brother to the first bride, and Jennie McDowell, a sister of the first bridegroom, on the principle, we presume, that " a fair exchange is no robbery." Since the occurrence of the two marriages above recorded, Frank C. McDowell and Laura Morgan have been united in holy wedlock, thus forming a triple alliance between the McDowell and Morgan families. The first physician was Stacy Stephens, who located in the village of Strawn soon after it was laid out. Dr. G. S. Harvey has recently located there, and both practice their profession in the village and township. The first Justice of the Peace in the town was H. McCormick, who was elected in 1869, and held over on the separation of Fayette from Belle Prairie Township in 1871. It seems appropriate that some mention should be made in the history of Fayette Township of the "Burr Oak Farm," the largest farm in the world, perhaps, owned and controlled by a single individual. The Burr Oak Farm of M. L. Sullivant embraces nearly 40,000 acres, eight sections of which lie in Fayette Township and four sections in Germantown, while the remainder of it is in Ford County. People who have never visited the great West, and in whose eyes a farm of two or three hundred acres is large, have very little conception of the magnificent scale on which farming operations are carried on in the regions of the prairie country. Notwithstanding the vast area of this gigantic plantation, its management is reduced to so perfect a system that everything moves on with as much harmony as though but a few hundred acres were embraced in it. In 1871, the Harpers sent out a special artist and reporter to visit "Burr Oak Farm," as Mr. Sullivant's place is called, and to write a description of it, with illustrations. An issue of their Illustrated Weekly in September, 1871, contained about three columns, descriptive of this great farm and the mammoth establishment of Sullivant's, accompanied by some dozen engravings of different scenes and occupations. Among the illustrations we noticed the following: First, a striking portrait of M. L. Sullivant, the proprietor of Burr Oak Farm; "The Homestead, Burr Oak," "Evening in the Burr Oak Grove," "Planting Corn," "Ditching Plow," "Cultivating Corn," "Hedge Gang," "Breaking Raw Prairie," "Farm Gang," "Harvesting," "Mr. Sullivant and his Captains at Evening," "Sunday in Burr Oak Grove," etc. The system observed on this place is equal to military discipline. Sullivant was Commander in Chief, then an Adjutant under him, who assisted him in the management and saw that all orders were obeyed; next, there were twelve Captains, each of whom had three Lieutenants under him, and each Lieutenant had charge of a gang of six to ten hands. The farm was laid of into stations, and each station was in charge of a Captain, whose duty it was to report every day's business to the Commander in Chief at night. A bookkeeper was employed and an account opened with every station, and in this account was entered everything done on that station each day, viz., how many men were employed, how many horses, mules and oxen, together with what kind of labor each had performed. The following table will show for one day's work: * This is but a fragment of the list, but shows the system adopted. Nor was the Commander idle. Seldom a day passed but either he or his Adjutant was in every field on the entire plantation; so that if a Captain had attempted a false report it would have been detected at once. The following extract is from Harpers' Weekly, of the date already alluded to: "The machinery in use at Burr Oak would handsomely stock two or three agricultural implement stores: 150 steel plows, of different kinds; 75 breaking plows; 142 cultivators, of several descriptions; 45 corn planters; 25 gang harrows, etc. The ditching plow, a huge affair of 18 feet in length, with a share of 11 feet by 2 feet 10 inches, is worked by 68 oxen and eight men. These finish from three to three and a half miles of excellent ditch each day's work. * There is 300 miles of hedge, 6 miles of board fence for stock, and 150 miles of ditching to drain the wet places. The stock of Burr Oak at present is 300 mules, 50 horses and 50 yoke of cattle. There may be 1,000 or 1,200 hogs and a magnificent herd of milch cows-mostly Durhams-and very valuable. An entire section of land is devoted to raising produce for feeding stock and hands. There are 2,500 acres of tame grass, which will cut an average of a ton and a half to the acre; besides this, much wild grass is cut." But anything like an accurate and complete description of this immense farm would occupy more space than we can give it in these pages, and, therefore, we must let it pass with this meager notice. The first school in Fayette Township was taught by Rebecca Morgan, in 1868, in a small shanty on Section 6, located on the present site of the school building near the residence of William Walker. In 1873, there were eighty-five children in the township entitled to school privileges, and seventysix reported as attending school. Two schools were reported, with one male teacher and four female teachers. School fund, $10,803. The treasurer's last report shows the following: Number of males in township under 21 years... Total........... Number of males between 6 and 21 years.......... Total.......... Number of males attending school.......... Number of females attending school........... Total........... Estimated value of school property....... Principal of township fund............. Highest monthly wages paid male teachers. Lowest monthly wages paid any teacher.......... Whole amount paid teachers....... 192 165 857 93 103 196 69 73 142 ..$1,965 00 2,078 47 40 00 30 00 665 43 There are four school districts in the town and four good, substantial school houses, in which first-class schools are maintained for the usual period each year. The building of the Chicago & Paducah Railroad through this township has been the means of developing it, and has been a great convenience to the people, particularly to those who have business occasionally at the seat of justice. The road received their hearty support and they have always been friendly toward it. As previously stated, Fayette was a part of Belle Prairie until 1871, when it was set off by act of the Board of Supervisors. The present officers of the township are as follows, viz.: J. W. Ebersol and M. M. Gatchel, Justices of the Peace; William McCormick, Assessor; Adam Kopp, Collector; John Hopkins, Town Clerk, and D. A. Morgan, Supervisor. The color of Fayette politics is about half and half; that is to say, it is about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. At least, it has been so for some time past; but it is not easy to say just what effect the Greenbackers will have in the township. The war record is given in the histories of other sections of the county, as there were no settlements made here until very near the close of the war. THE VILLAGE OF STRAWN. Strawn is situated on the Chicago & Paducah Railroad, about ten miles south of Fairbury, and was laid out June 6, 1873. It was surveyed by Alfred C. Huetson, County Surveyor, for David Strawn, the original proprietor, and for whom the village was named. The original plat contained 30.09 acres, in Section 3, of Town 25 north, etc., and has since, we believe, had some additions made to it. In order to induce settlers to locate in the village, and in building it up, Mr. Strawn adopted the plan of giving every alternate lot to such as would erect houses, under certain specifications, by the 1st of September folowing its laying-out. The houses might be as large as the proprietors chose to build, but must not fall below certain dimensions. No shanties, either as business or dwelling houses, were to be erected. The first business house inclosed in the village was that of E. H. Roberts, who selected the first lot, on the day the village was laid out. The business houses of H. McCormick, T. H. Aaron and Brownlee Brothers were under process of erection at the same time. The first dwelling was erected by John Colfer, now owned by Hampton McCormick, and operated as an hotel. About the same time, dwellings were put up by L. L. Graves, James Stevenson and a Mr. Welch. E. H. Roberts, now of the firm of Aaron, Roberts & Co., sold the first goods in the village. His store was opened about the 1st of July, 1873. At the present time, there are eight stores in Strawn, also harness shops, blacksmith shops, shoe shops, grain firms and one saloon. Indeed, the village seems to have completely risen above the swamps and marshes, where it languished when a poet of the period evoked the muses and thus described its condition: The frogs are hatching their spawn In the streets of the village of Strawn; And their music down there Fills the ambient air · From the falling of night till the dawn. The post office was established October 6, 1873, and E. H. Roberts was appointed Postmaster, which position he still holds. The first freight received at Strawn station was July 1, 1873, and was a barrel of meat for S. K. Mitchell, who kept a boarding house. The first shipment of freight was a carload of hogs, and was made by Walter D. Strawn, July 7, 1873. The freight shipments for the six months ending July 1, from Strawn, were as follows: Forwarded-Number of car loads of grain, stock, etc..... 195 32,000 810 $485.70 The amount of grain shipped from this point during the year is not far short of 250,000 bushels. The first corn bought here for shipment was by W. Reed, agent for Hoyt & Beebe, of Forrest. The first school was taught in Strawn by Sarah Hanagan, of Ottawa, in the Summer of 1874, and a temporary school house built the same year. The village at present supports a good school, which is well patronized and main. tained about eight months in the year. At the last election, a tax of $1,800 was voted for the purpose of erecting a suitable school building, and soon the clangor of the seminary bell will be heard in the village, morning, noon and night. The Methodist society was organized in the village in the Summer of 1874, under the ministerial care of Rev. R. D. Russell. The membership at the date of organization did not exceed eight persons, and the church now numbers on its roll some twenty active members, and is in a flourishing condition. Strawn, like hundreds of other railroad towns and villages, has sprung up in the last few years like a hot-house plant. It is, however, a flourishing little place, full of energy and enterprise, and does a large amount of business. It is increasing in importance each year, and will soon overtake some of its elder neighbors, unless they rub off the rust of years, and, like Dickens' Little Joe, 66. 'move on." GERMANTOWN TOWNSHIP. O sprecht warum zogt ihr von dannen? Wie wird es in den fremden Waldern Wie wird das Bild der alten Tage Durch eure Traume glauzend wehn! Gleich einer stillen, frommen Sage Wird es euch vor der Seele stehn. Der Bootsmann winkt!-Zieht hin in Frieder Gott schutz' euch, Mann und Weib und Greis! Sei Freude eurer Brust beschieden, Und euren Feldern Reis und Mais! This township is very appropriately named. It is strictly a German town. Three-fourths of its population, perhaps, are from the "Faderland,” and have sought the prairies of the New World, and homes where all are free and all are equal. No more honest and enterprising farmers, or quiet and peaceable citizens exist in Livingston County, than these hard-working Germans of the township heading this chapter. They move on in the "even tenor of their way" without ostentation or display, quietly enjoying their pipes and their lager beer, and very rarely interfering, to their credit be it said, in the affairs of others. Germantown occupies the extreme southeast corner of the county, and is described as Township 25 north, Range 8 east of the Third Principal Meridian. It is a fractional town, and is almost entirely prairie, with but very little native timber, and a small quantity of what was in the earlier days of settlement, termed "swamp lands." Until 1867, Germantown was included in Chatsworth Township, as noticed in that part of this work. At the meeting of the Board |