of Menard and Mason Counties
By T.G. Onstott
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CHAPTER XXIX Page 289 This township is bounded on the north by Manito township, on the south by Pennsylvania and Sherman, on the west by Quiver township. It is the smallest of the thirteen townships. The soil and general characteristics of the soil do not differ from the adjoining townships. Timber land is found in the north part of the township. Quiver Creek is a small stream flowing through from east to west and this, with artificial drainage, makes it a good agricultural township. It was first called Mason Plain, but the name was changed to Forest City in 1873, the reason being that mistakes occurred through confusing it with Mason City. There was no settlement in that township before 1840. Robert Cross came from New Jersey and settled in Green county in 1839. In 1842 there were only four or five houses standing in what is now Forest City township, the following named persons constituting the residents: Henry Bishop, A. Winthrow, Peter Himmel, A. File and Stephen Hedge. Winthrow came there in 1840 and was no doubt the first settler. Mr. Cross thinks that Himmel, File and Hedge came in 1842. Winthrow, File and Himmel came from Germany; Hedge came from Fulton county. After a few years' residence, Hedge moved back to Fulton county and died there. At the same time there lived across the line of Manito, Ray ----- , Riley Morris and Abel Maloney. In 1846 Alex Pemberton and a man by the name of Babbit settled south of Forest City. They were the first to venture away from the woods. Alex Cross came up from Quiver and settled south of Forest City the same year. Slicky Bill Green and his brother, Nult Green, were from Menard and William Cooleridge was from Tennessee. The Greens settled on the south side of Quiver. In 1852 Bill sold out to George Neikirk and moved to Menard county. His brother, Nult, moved to McDonough county. In 1850 the west side of the township was increased by the coming of August Webber, --------- Greenfelter, E. Harpst, the Weslings, Wemhoffs and Kreilings. They were all German and made good citizens. William and Garrett Bruning and Fred Lux all pitched their tents in the county. In the spring of 1852 a large influx came. T.H. Ellsworth, Joseph Ellsworth, William Ellsworth and W.E. Ellsworth all came from Fulton county. T.G. Onstot came from Havana. The Neikirk family came from Ohio. John Bowser came from Ohio at the same time as Carl Gamble, Silas Cheek, Fred Foster, John Martin, (called Owlpatch Martin), William Ewers and Long John Martin. Samuel Ingersoll located north of Red Oak Grove, but has been dead a score of years. Many of the inconveniences that surrounded Quiver and Manito townships surrounded Forest City. They had to haul their grain a long way to market and had to haul their lumber home the same distance. Their principal markets were Pekin and Havana. For milling they had to go to Mackinaw or across into Fulton county. The journey to Mackinaw mills generally took four days, as the always waited for their grist, even if it took a week. Simmond's and McHarry's mill of Quiver in a few years saved the people from going so far. While the early settlers had many inconveniences, they also had many of the blessings that we cannot now boast of. They had all kinds of game that could be had for the killing. It did not require hunting, as there was always an abundance on hand. Alex Cross, who is considered truthful, says that on one occasion he had counted fifty deer in one drove and they began to come so fast that he lost the count. T.H. Ellsworth, who seldom exaggerated, was fifty-six by actual count. Wild game was so abundant that farmers had to drive them out of their fields as they would a drove of swine. Civilization has driven out all of the deer. Dan Westfall, with a pack of hounds, settled the deer question at the close of the war. Vast and mighty changes have come over the country in the last fifty years, and the youth of today never forget hearing the pioneers of the past tell of the times and of the game that used to roam at will over the vast prairies. The hunter of today would have gone wild over the amount of game we had in early times. Only enough game was killed to supply the table, as there was no way to ship the surplus. The first preacher in the township was Rev. Garner. He had an appointment every three weeks at William Ewers' a half mile south of Forest City, on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. The early pioneers would all turn out to hear Bro. Garner. Some would come in their two horse wagons, some on horseback and some in their ox wagons. The preacher would give his hymn and all would reverently take part, and when the meeting was over the audience would not do as they do now, take their hats and run, but have a kind of old settlers meeting and inquire all about their neighbors and go home with a perfect knowledge of what was going on in the neighborhood. Among the other Methodist preachers were Rutledge Randall and Peter Cartwright. These were the men who planted Methodism on these fertile prairies. Rev. William Perkins, a Presbyterian, occasionally ministered to those who were inclined to that doctrine. The meetings were held in private houses, till schoolhouses were built, which, besides being used for school purposes, were used for preaching places and for elections. The first schoolhouse in the township was Union No. 1, about a mile and a half south of Forest City. John Covington was the first teacher. Other houses were built as fast as the population required them. The houses were neat frame buildings. The fist Sunday school was organized by Thomas H. Ellsworth in the spring of 1853. William Ellsworth was the first superintendent. It was held at a private house till the building of the schoolhouse in 1854, when it was transferred to that point. The German Methodist and the Evangelical soon built houses of worship. The Albright Church was built in 1856, but soon grew, till it had to be rebuilt. There are forty acres of land, with a good parsonage with the church; also a well kept cemetery. Forest City has a large German population, who are all good citizens. Taking all together, Forest City will compare with adjoining townships. The village of Forest City was surveyed in 1859 by J.F. Cuppel and Alex Cross and for Walker, Kemp, Wright and Wagonseller. It contained forty-seven acres. An addition of twenty acres was afterwards made in the north part of the town in 1865 by David S. Broderick. The lines of the original survey ran north and south, but were never recorded. The town runs parallel with the railroad. The town is seventeen miles south of Pekin and thirteen miles north of Havana. Alex Cross built the first residence in the town. T.H. Ellsworth built a residence in 1860. Josiah Jackson, S.T. Walker, T.A. Gibson and E.T. Neikirk were among the early citizens of the place. Cross and Walker built the first store house and began merchandising in 1861. Rogers and brother built the second and opened it up. The business grew, till there were several stores in the village. A large amount of grain was shipped on flat cars to Havana in the early part of the "sixties." The grain would be sacked and piled up on the track and when the train came along the owner would have a lot of men to load one hundred and fifty sacks, as he had the privilege to ride on his load of grain to Havana. The High school building was erected in 1877. The first physician was Dr. Mostiler and was the first to locate near the town. E.G. Nichols was here quite early. Dr. James Walker came next. A lodge of Good Templars was organized in 1865. A good substantial iron bridge over Quiver was erected just south of the town. The first iron bridge in the county was built somewhere in the "seventies" and the road across the bottom, which had been impassable for loaded teams, was graveled with one hundred loads of gravel. Forest City was without any settlements half a century ago. Now it is dotted all over with fine farm houses, large barns and towering wind mills. The people ride in fine carriages and they are intelligent. It has the finest looking women, the best cattle, the best horses, the most intelligent children in the country and furthermore the deponent saith not.
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