Will County Illinois Genealogy
Past and Present of Will County, Illinois, by W. W. Stevens President of the Will County Pioneers Association Assisted by an Advisory Board, consisting of Hon. James G. Elwood, James H. Ferriss, William Grinton, Mrs. Kate Henderson and A. C. Clement ILLUSTRATED Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1907 Dedicated to the Pioneers of Will County
Joliet, the capital city and township of Will county, is located near the center of the county, in the valley of the Des Plaines river, which flows through it, dividing the township very nearly into two equal parts. Hickory creek enters the township from the east and unites its waters with those of the Des Plaines in the southern part of the city. Those streams, with the Illinois and Michigan canal, and several smaller streams, make it a well watered township, while the bluffs along the river, together with the undulating surface of the land through the township, make it … Read more
The township of Will was another of those townships without a tree in the whole thirty-six square miles of it, and hence it was until a late date before many settlers were attracted to its fertile acres. It was not until 1852 that the original pioneer entered the township and erected his little cabin, and he was a Scotchman. John McKenzie was the first actual settler, although he could not be called a permanent one, for he remained but a few years, and then removed to Missouri. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he enlisted in the government service … Read more
History of Wilmington Illinois, by W. W. Stevens President of the Will County Pioneers Association Assisted by an Advisory Board, consisting of Hon. James G. Elwood, James H. Ferriss, William Grinton, Mrs. Kate Henderson and A. C. Clement ILLUSTRATED Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company 1907 Dedicated to the Pioneers of Will County
There was no part of Will county that was better known in early times than “Twelve Mile Grove” and that was what now constitutes the township of Wilton. True there was prairie all around the grove, but that was not thought of. It was at Twelve Mile Grove where everybody in that section lived, and it was there that all went, who went in that direction. It was a famous locality in many respects. It was a large one, covering some square miles in its original state, and furnished lumber and fuel for all who wanted it. In the early … Read more
This township is located in the extreme southeastern part of the county and forms with Crete the two largest townships, each having about forty-five sections, or square miles. It is generally a good agricultural township, and that is all the settlers have aspired to. Some of the land is excellent and raises large crops of corn, oats, hay and potatoes. The land generally is rolling, but in places it is flat, with poor drainage. Eagle Lake, in the northeastern part of the township, was formerly much larger than now, its swamps and marshes furnishing to the inhabitants immense quantities of … Read more
This township lies to the west of Joliet and is entirely dependent upon the city for its postal service, its trade and its market. There is not a store, postoffice or church in the township, but there are some very good farms, although the land generally is not as good as in most other parts of the county. It is a shallow, gravelly loam, with the rock near the surface in many parts of the towmship. It is well watered, the main stream being the Dupage river, which meanders through it, entering the township near the center on its northern … Read more
This township is in the southern part of the county and lying along the north bank of the Kankakee river, which forms the boundary between that township and Custer on the south side of the river. It is a small township having but twenty-eight and a half sections. Lying along the river as it does it is largely covered with timber only a few sections on the north side of the township being free from it and those sections constitute the best part of the township for agricultural purposes, the only occupation pursued by the citizens to any extent. The … Read more
Wheatland is the northwestern township of the county, and, like the most of them, is a full township of thirty-six sections. It is described as town 37, north range 9, east of the third principal meridian. It is wholly prairie, there never having been to exceed five acres of timber in the whole township. The land is rolling and all good, in fact, some of the very best land to be found in the county is in that township. It is watered by the Dupage river, which passes through it, entering the township in the northeast corner and passing out … Read more
This was one of the first of the townships in the county to be settled, if not the very first. It is said that Rev. Jesse Walker, better known to the pioneers of the county as “Father Walker,” established an Indian mission upon the bank of the Dupage river, in what has since been known as Walker’s Grove, in 1826, and that he made his home there until 1831, a period of five years. Father Walker was an itinerant Methodist preacher, whose home was always where he did his work, and as it is an established fact that he went … Read more