The early settlers of district 71, Eden township, came about the middle
of the nineteenth century, from the East. They had a hard time getting here
because of the poor roads, wagons and the slow movements of the horses and
oxen. Most of them came to buy cheap land and to make a home.
Ira Mosher, an early settler of our neighborhood, came here shortly after
the Black Hawk War in 1832. He made his home about one-third of a mile east
of the Hetrich school.
In 1853 the Illinois Central railroad was built through a swampy and marshy
land. Many of the men working on the railroad caught malaria or typhoid
fever from the mosquitoes of the swamps and marshes. A great number of men
died.
Ira Mosher was a carpenter. He made many beautiful coffins. He was very
skillful in polishing and putting the boards together. Finally the men died
in such large numbers that Mr. Mosher used only the rough boards and nailed
them together to make coffins. The men were buried in a cemetery east of
Hetrick school. Later the human bones were plowed up by the farmers
cultivating the land.
Mr. Mosher was a Methodist preacher as well as a carpenter. He preached in a
little rude structure north of Tonica once a week, which was used as a
school and a church. Now it is used as a barn on Mrs. Minnie Cofoid's farm.
Mr. Mosher traveled from farm to farm preaching, and was a welcome guest
wherever he stopped. For his pay he received flour, some meat, apples or
some other food.
Mr. Mosher had twelve children, five of which were boys. They fought in the
Civil war. They all returned safely to their home at the close of the war.
When Mr. Mosher died, he was buried in the Tonica cemetery.
Mr. Calvin Palmer, another early settler, built the house where Mr. H. O.
Walgenbock is now living. The original owner was Alexander Monroe, who
presented it to Mr. and Mrs. Palmer when they were bride and groom. The farm
contained sixty acres then, but more has been added since.
Mr. Palmer had ten children. They all attended Hetrich school. One of the
boys played truant one day and took a ride to La Salle with a farmer who was
hauling grain. He was coming home earlier than the time school was
dismissed. He jumped off of the wagon before he got home so his folks
wouldn't see him. The old negress who did the washing for the Palmers, spied
him and wondered why he was coming home so early and in such a hurry. The
boy ran into the house
excited and told his mother that Chicago was nearly burned down. He had
heard about the Chicago fire while he was in La Salle.
About the time the Palmer family came here the settlers used very crude
stoves. The chimneys were on the outside of the cabin. When it looked like
rain the children shouted as they ran by, "Pull in your chimney, its going
to rain."
In 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Godfrey Goodwin and their family settled one-half mile
south of Hetrick school, on Route 2. They lived in a rude shanty. Other
shanties were built here, in which the men working on the Illinois Central
railroad lived.
Where Hetrick school now stands stood the old schoolhouse. It was like a
shed, having a few windows. Mrs. Goodwin cleaned the old and later the new
schoolhouse.
She had a log hut east of the school, across the Illinois Central railroad,
in which she sheared sheep, cleaned wool and wove it into cloth. She made
shirts, socks and overalls by hand, not only for her family, but also for
others.
Mrs. Goodwin also performed the part of a doctor because the nearest doctor
lived on the old Ottawa road and a person might die before the doctor
arrived. She was a doctor among her neighbors until she became so old that
she couldn't get around.
Mrs. Goodwin had three sons and one daughter, two of which are still living.
The youngest son, who came to Eden township when six months old, is now an
old man living in Tonica.
Mrs. Goodwin had three brothers, who were killed in the Civil war fighting
on the Union side. Mr. Goodwin couldn't go to war because he was a cripple.
He was mowing a field of grain with a team of colts when they became
frightened. He was thrown underneath the mower and his leg was cut off.
Mrs. Goodwin died at the age of ninety-two. She lived in Eden township from
the time she came here from New York.
The farmers in this vicinity sold their grain in Chicago. A few farmers
would go together on such a trip, which would take more than a week's time.
In order that they could guard themselves against the large packs of prairie
wolves that roamed about attacking the travelers, they slept under their
wagons with their guns by their sides. Another reason they traveled together
was because of poor roads. Many times the wagons were stuck in the muddy
roads. There weren't any bridges at that time and the settlers had to cross
the river on ferries. On their homeward journey they brought home a barrel
of flour, some meat and other necessities.
When the Illinois-Michigan canal was built the farmers brought their produce
to La Salle. From here towboats, pulled by mules on the bank of the canal,
carried the grain to Chicago. When one team became exhausted or had pulled
to its limit, another team was used, and when this team had pulled to a
certain place another team was used, and so on till they hauled the goods to
Chicago. The canal was supplied with water from Lake Michigan by a large
water pump near it.
It was these early settlers who made, this country a better place to live
in. When they came here they found a great deal of timber and prairie land,
but they have changed it to a thriving agricultural region, growing cities
and great farms.
Extracted 06 Jun 2015 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 23.
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