One of the earliest settlers of Earl township was my great-grandfather,
Jefferson Nisbet. Many hours I have spent listening to the tales of early days
he told. It required men of courage in those adventuresome times.
He was
born on a farm in New York state in 1837, of Quaker parentage. His grandfather
was a minister in that church. He helped his father with the farm work. Much of
the soil was poor, with out-cropping rock and stone, which had to be picked up
by hand before the crop could be planted. This, as most New England boys know,
meant fence building. Grandfather disliked this part of it and was anxious to go
West, where the soil, so he had heard, was free from rock.
He came West
in about 1854, stopping in Chicago, where he worked on a boat on the
Illinois-Michigan canal. Those were prosperous times for that waterway.
From there he came to Earlville, where he attended school in the first
schoolhouse in the township, where the Precinct cemetery now is. He was then
nineteen years of age.
But the call of the West drew him to Denver,
Colorado, where he was employed in herding government mules. Indians roamed free
in those days and he had many exciting adventures, but they never made an
attempt to harm him.
At one time he was riding his pony, herding the
mules, when an Indian appeared and took the bridle from his horse and threw him
his rope in return and rode off happy. Grandpa was there alone and it was
useless for him to refuse to trade. He knew when to give a point in the Indian's
favor.
A few years later he returned to New York for a visit. But never
again would he be satisfied in that settled region.
The West claimed
him, and this time he was employed by the "Barlowe and Sanderson Overland Mail
and Express Company," as a messenger. These coaches traveled between Kansas City
and Sante Fe, New Mexico. There were no bridges across the rivers or streams, so
they had to be forded. Often the rivers were so swollen that they would have to
wait several days before the crossing could be made.
Their route was
always planned before the journey was begun so that they would know the exact
schedule and the stops could be so timed. How they did strive to be "on time!"
They had no tents and were forced to sleep out in the open, doing their
own cooking. If any Indian disturbances were heard of scouts were sent out to
see if it was safe before the coach would continue. Buffalo roamed freely in
those days and often furnished fresh meat on these journeys.
On these
trips the mail and express baggage was stowed under the driver's seat. If there
was too much for that space it was carried on the top or in the perches, which
was an extension on the rear of the coach.
It took two weeks to make the
trip to Sante Fe. At various places mail was dropped and more picked up. While
on the plains, grandpa traded with the Indians for many things. Among them, and
which he prized most highly, was an Indian jacket and a pair of moccasins. This
jacket was made of two different colored deer skins. It was tight fitting, came
below the waistline, and the lower edge was slashed' up three inches for fringe.
It had a cape, fringed the same way, and trimmed with bright beads. This jacket
was often worn in later years at masquerade parties, and it still in the
possession of my great-grandmother.
Grandfather traveled this trail for
seven years. Fifty-five years later he traveled the same trail in an automobile.
Many places were so changed it was almost impossible to recognize some of them,
but after all, mountains and rock formations change but little.
In 1871
Jefferson Nisbet came to Illinois to buy land. On this trip he came through
Chicago on the train while the city was still burning and smoking from the great
fire.
The next year he returned to New York for his wife and two
children and settled about two and one-half miles east of Earlville.
The
original farm consisted of sixty-two acres of land. He also acquired a large
tract of timber land so that he could have his own supply of wood and lumber.
The land was not fenced in and a great deal of it was swampy. It took much hard
labor to get it in condition. He split rails and made rail fences to enclose his
land. But his struggles were worthwhile, and today great fields have taken place
of the former swamps.
He also brought from New York a two-seated spring
buggy. This was almost a novelty in the community in those days and the
neighborhood always borrowed it for funerals and special occasions.
The
Nisbet family grew and there were four boys and four girls. They attended
school, for grandfather Nisbet believed in education, even in those days when
the struggle of living occupied their thoughts almost entirely.
Along
with his farming grandfather had a cider press. People from far and near brought
apples to be made into cider. The apples were crushed by horse power and then
pressed by hand. Dairying interested him too, and he built many large buildings
in which to carry on this business. In 1894 he built a large creamery, where
butter and cheese were made. He worked in this factory for a great many years.
In the summer of 1920 all the buildings on this farm, except the house
burned, but he replaced them.
At the time of his death the farm had
grown to 320 acres.
Great-grandfather died at the ripe old age of
ninety-two, on August 25, 1928, on my own birthday.
His wife is still
living on the same farm where he brought her, sixty years ago. She is still very
active at the age of eighty-seven.
It is men like Jefferson Nisbet who
have built for the best in a community and their struggles have made history.
I am proud to tell of his life.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 106.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
