Samuel E. Stevenson was the leading citizen of this township at its
formation, and his name was given to it. About half and half timber and prairie,
but the timber has been cut away and now perhaps not more than one-fourth is
timber. It, like Haines, on the south, and Alma on the north, is good farm land,
and the township has many fine farms. Its survey numbers are town 2 north, range
3 east of the third principal meridian. Near the west side about half way north
and south is an elevated prairie, from which a splendid view of nearly half the
township may be had. The Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad runs across the
north part of the township from east to west, about two miles south of the north
line. There are no towns or villages in the township.
About 1815, a man
by the name of Dumb, settled in the north part of the township on a small creek,
which has since borne his name. John Davidson settled the Daniel Holstlaw farm
in 1821 and shortly after Thomas Fulton settled in the south part of the
township. Richard Holstlaw, with his wife and eight children, came from Indiana
in 1830, and settled on the old state road, but he died three years after, but
the family left their impress on the township in after years, through the son,
Daniel, who left eleven children, who have been prominent in both this and Iuka
townships, one of whom, D. W. Holstlaw, has just begun a term as State Senator,
being elected in November, 1908.
About 1800 William Middleton left
Virginia and settled in North Carolina. On April 15, 1831, he left there and
came to Marion county, Illinois, arriving in Stevenson township the middle of
May the same year. He brought thirteen children with him, the fourteenth, James,
did not come with his father. Joel H. settled in this township. The rest
scattered in after years. He left a numerous offspring.
Samuel Gaston
came to Walnut Hill prairie in 1819, but died in 1826. He was a soldier of the
Revolution. He came from North Carolina to Kentucky, thence to Marion county.
His son, William, married Rachael Huff, and from them all the Gastons of this
township sprung. William moved to Raccoon township in 1833, and later to
Stevenson. He went to California in 1849, and died there in 1865. The widow
lived in Stevenson township until her death in 1899, at the age of ninety years.
David R. Chance first settled in Haines township, but went later to
Iowa, and after a few years returned and settled in Stevenson township. Mr.
Chance was a leading preacher of the Christian church, among the early settlers.
His children scattered some going to Iowa, some to Missouri, Texas, and one to
Jefferson county.
James P. Rogers came from Georgia to Illinois by wagon
in 1818 and stopped two years at Carlyle, and in 1820 came to Walnut Hill
prairie. In 1834 he came to Stevenson and settled on section 32. He died in
1863. James Rogers, of Stevenson, and Mrs. V. L. Harper, of Salem, are his
surviving children.
William Hix Huff came a single man to this county in
1839, and the next year married Mary Crain. He died in 1863. Nine children
survived him, of whom Green, Henderson, and Mrs. Libbie Brazel yet live in
Stevenson, and George and Mrs. Harriett Gaston live in Haines township. Mrs.
Huff herself is still living in Stevenson township, very feeble, in her
ninety-first year.
Reuben Chance was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois, in
1805. He moved to Ridge Prairie, St. Clair county, and to Haines township in
1831. He went to Iowa in 1834, but returned in 1843, and settled on section 14,
in Haines township. Of his children S. S. Chance, of Salem, for many years a
faithful county officer but now retired; Mrs. Elizabeth Metcalf, widow of Joshua
Metcalf, and Rachael, wife of James Hanna, both living in Salem township, are
the only living. J. O. Chance, who was Clerk of the Supreme Court, died at Mt.
Vernon.
The Brubakers, Eli, Noah and Jacob came in 1842, and Israel
Warner came the same year. The Brubakers are still a large family in this
township. Samuel Stevenson came in 1846, and was at his death in 1899, the
wealthiest man in the township. His brother, Noah, still lives in the township.
Joel Middleton was the first blacksmith, and was a fine workman, making
knives and forks, as well as plows, with wooden moul-boards. He built his shop
in 1831, and worked at his trade about twenty years.
The doctors who
first practiced in the township were Middleton and Hall. Richard Holstlaw bought
a mill of John Sutton, and set it up on his farm. It was of about fifteen
bushels capacity.
The first church was built by the Baptists, on Dumb's
creek, but the first preaching was at the house of Mr. Breese in 1831. There are
now a Christian church, Gaston Grove; Methodist Episcopal church, Rabbit Grove;
two Presbyterian churches, old and new Bethel, and Summit Prairie Baptist
church, and Romine Prairie German Baptist church in the township.
The
first school was kept by Othy Davenport in 1833. The school-house was a log
cabin on the Vincennes road, only three months of school being kept.
Banister Switch on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Railroad, near the middle
of the township east and west, is a flag stopping place for local trains. About
1869 a large hay barn was built here by L. G. Porter and Eli Brubaker, but they
sold to John Boynton in 1875. It was blown down in 1880. Mr. Boynton rebuilt a
barn thirty-four by eighty-two feet, with an ell twenty-four by thirty feet, and
baled hay for several years. It is now gone, burned down we believe, years ago.
A town house was built near the switch.
The farmers of Stevenson
township are a forehanded set of men, and are alert to improve their farms and
their stock and have organized horse companies to improve the breed. The county
home and farm is located in this township about seven miles southeast of Salem.
It consists of a one-story frame front about fifty feet long and thirty deep,
with two wings each about sixty feet long, extending back in the form of a
capital U, surrounded by a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. It is well kept
and the farm well tilled, but the buildings are old, and but poorly calculated
to serve the purpose of a county home. There is in addition a small house or two
in the rear that may be used besides barns and other outbuildings. H. C. Pigg is
the present superintendent. The Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad crosses the
southwest corner of the township.
Extracted 27 Mar 2020 by Norma Hass from 1909 Brinkerhoff's History of Marion County, Illinois, pages 210-212.