In the year 1850 Jacob Wolfley moved his family in a two horse covered wagon from Pennsylvania to JoDaviess county, Illinois. The family consisted of his wife and five children, the writer being the youngest, about two years old. After a year’s residence in that county we moved to near Jacobsville, where he took up government land at $1.25 per acre. He built a plain house and worked as a carpenter for Mr. B. Jacobs, the founder of the village, who was building a grist mill. A saw mill was then in operation, sawing all the lumber needed for the mill and for those who were building houses there, using the native timber which was very plentiful.
The mills attracted quite a number of settlers. At one time there was a store, a post office, a doctor’s office (Dr. Reed), a school house, a blacksmith shop, and about a dozen residences occupied by families living near. I remember of seeing Old Glory flying from a flag pole at a Fourth of July celebration. We had a big time and a big crowd in a small place, but there was something to it.
My first day at school is yet clear in my mental vision. The old school house previously mentioned was then located in the village. Miss Agnes Pennington was the teacher. She was the daughter of “Mother” Pennington, who will be remembered by some of the Mt. Carroll old settlers. She afterwards became the wife of George Hay, who lived a half mile south of this commercial center. Well, the little fellows all had to sit beside each other on a long bench with no front or foot rest and as our feet would not reach the floor it was a hard task for us to sit still after we had gone over our A B C’s. We got restless and the teacher scolded us. Being young and bashful it made such an impression on my mind that I have been shy of school ma’ams ever since, although I did muster courage in later years to marry one.
In those early years there were ox teams in that region and a few log houses. Later the old stone court house in Mt. Carroll was built. The rock was taken from the north bank of Plum River, about a mile north of George Wolfley’s residence. Peter Markley, living in Woodland township, was one of the supervisors. The farms were small and fenced with hog and cattle tight fences, although stock ran at large. The fences were built of oak rails, ten feet in length, laid in “worm fences,” staked and ridered and were generally used.
“Straddle” creek was very crooked from Chaflant’s mill to Plum River, its banks heavily bordered with willows, from which we cut out fish poles and fished in many small deep holes where the fish were protected. In the spring of the year many fish were caught in “stir nets,” made funnel shaped, open mouth, held in place by a bow and forked stick. The net was held by one man, two nets beside each other were better. One or two men or boys would go up the creek and drive the fish into the nets by splashing and stirring the water with peeled willow poles. It did not take long to catch a bushel or two. When done fishing the catch was divided into piles, according to the number of fishers. One man would turn his back. Another would point to one of the piles of fish and ask him “Whose pile is this?” until they had all been assigned and fairly and successfully divided. That style of fishing was wet work and hard on boots, but we enjoyed it. (You are right and we have often in the old days gone “Stir-netting,” usually in the evening after the work of the day was done.-- Ed)
We do not recall the building of Chaflant’s mill, but remember there was a still house about a third of a mile south east of the mill where pure whiskey was made of corn. It was located on the old Indian trail used by the red men to haul lead from the lead mines near Elizabeth to the prairie and timber in Illinois. Wild game was very plentiful but we had only muzzle loading guns, mostly rifles.
The old Indian Trail ran from the still west, crossed Cedar Creek at the old Richardson place where William M. Smith lived for many years, thence west, north of Jacobsville, past my father’s house, on the bridge, bearing northwest, crossing Plum River on a ford on the Luke Douglas farm. There I lost track of it. By the way, L. Douglas was a miller in the Jacobs mill. He married my oldest sister and bought the farm now held by Mrs. Douglas, who is living in Savanna with one of her daughters.
In later years there was much lead mined from the hills in the vicinity of the Chaflant mill and hauled to the smelting works in Elizabeth and Galena.
Alice adds this note:
Leroy Getz adds this informaton:
The Old Indian Trail as described would not have been the Lewiston Trail but most likely a shorter trail that intersected with the Lewiston Trail at Jacobstown. Some lead mines were located in this section and the trail was a route to other places.
The 1893 Carroll County Plat Book map puts William M. Smith's farm in Sec. 4 Mt. Carroll Twp., and W. W. Smith's in Sec. 9-10. I know it to be true that Billy Smith owned the property in Sec. 4 which the Caldwell Family held as "Sears Bank and Trust" and today (2006) is owned by Maranatha World Revival Ministries. This property laid just east of George Wolfley's property (27+ acres on the 1893 map) and what was the village of Jacobstown. Cedar Creek and Straddle Creek joined at this point.
The 1893 Carroll County Plat book shows William M. Smith's farm to have been on Sections 9 & 10 of Mt. Carroll Township, and Cedar Creek crosses Sections 9 & 10 on this property. It shows a G. Wolfley property on about 27 acres on the west side of Section 4, Mt. Carroll Township, which is the area where Jacobstown/Jacobsville was. Straddle Creek (also called Carroll Creek) crossed his property. I don't know where the still house was.
What J. D. Wolfley called Chaflant's mill was Leonard Chalfant's mill, which was built in 1838-1839 and later known as Adam Fulrath mill. The "still" house, described by Wolfley as being a mile south east of the mill, was located in the eastern half of Section 3, Mt. Carroll Township, along Straddle Creek. It is not known who operated this still. This information is according to an early history of Jacobstown written by Usshier and published in the Mt. Carroll Democrat newspaper.
