The town of Dimmick embraces Township 34, Range 1. The Little Vermillion
passes from north to south through it, east of the center, and the Tomahawk, its
principal branch, comes from the northeast and joins it on Section 34. There is
considerable light bluff timber along these streams, but little bottom of heavy
timber growth like that of Troy Grove. The early settlements were
correspondingly slow. Along the Tomahawk the St. Peters sandstone comes to the
surface of the creek bottom, and the Trenton limestone shows slightly in the
western part. The Illinois Central Railroad runs north near the center of the
town, and like all railroad towns, Dimmick has become populous and wealthy.
The first settler in the town was Daniel Dimmick, who came from Mansfield, Ct.,
in 1824, to Washington, Richland County, Ohio, and from Ohio to Peoria in 1828,
to near Princeton, in Bureau County, in the spring of 1829, and in 1830 to near
Lamoille, and went to Hennepin during the Indian war. In 1833 he settled on Sec.
26, in the present town of Dimmick. Mr. Dimmick had much new country experience.
He carried the chain to lay off the town of Zanesville, in Ohio, in a wind-fall,
and he lived many years in his final home, almost secluded from neighbors and
society. He held the office of Justice of the Peace. He died at the home of his
son, Elijah, in 1861. Mr. Dimmick had six sons and two daughters. Elijah is the
only one remaining here; he married Mary E. Philips, second wife, Caroline Foot,
and has seven children. He says that in the spring of 1833, while in Hennepin,
his father sent him to Dixon to inquire of Mr. John Dixon if it was safe to come
back, and Mr. Dixon assured him that it was, and they then went on their claim
in the town of Dimmick.
Jarvis Swift came from Cayuga County, N. Y., in 1838; married Jerusha Kellogg.
Elijah, married Lydia Tibballs, now in California.
Richard H., married Melissa A. Tibballs, came in 1835, was a prominent
capitalist, and loaned money till 1840, then went to Chicago, engaged heavily in
banking, and failed in September, 1857; is now in Colorado, in reduced
circumstances.
Henry Swift married Mary Simpson, and died in Colorado.
Lyman Swift is in Chicago.
Albert is in Michigan.
Mary married Mr. Anderson, is in Kansas.
Garret Fitzgerald was an early settler in the west part of the town.
Israel Kingman came in 1835, and settled on Section 1. He lost three sons in the
army in the war of the rebellion.
Extracted from 1877 History of La Salle County Illinois, pages 466-467.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
 |
Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
