Townships

History of Reed Township Illinois

The first Township in the Braidwood area, organized in 1850, was named “Clinton” and was then the largest in Will county. It extended six miles North from and Twelve miles East and West along the Will-Kankakee line, South and West of the Kankakee River. In 1875, the Will county Board of supervisors divided the large, unwieldly “Clinton” Township into two Townships, giving the name “Reid”, later changed to “Reed”, to the portions 3 miles wide and 6 miles long in the extreme southwestern part of the county. The name “Custer” was given to the Eastern Portion of the old “Clinton” … Read more

History of Wheatland Illinois

Immediately north of Plainfield, lies the town of Wheatland-Township 37, Range 9–the northwestern corner of the county. With slight exceptions, this township remained unsettled until after 1840. Two things contributed to delay its settlement. Lying mostly outside of the Indian boundary line, it was not surveyed until 1837 or 1838, and not brought into market until 1841; and being entirely prairie (with a trifling exception in the northeast corner), it did not so early attract settlers as other portions. But this was also an advantage, as it was from these circumstances, kept out of the hands of speculators, and reserved.

History of Green Garden Township Illinois

North of Peotone lies GreenGarden Township, and before Township organization, as Vermont Precinct. It was settled about 1847 by M.F. Sanders and George M. Green. Levi Blanchard and James Hudson came in 1848, the latter-named being a preacher. From 1850 on, the township filled up rapidly, and is now largely German. The streams emptying into the Kankakee, known as Forked Creek and Prairie Creek, have their rise in this township. Source: LeBaron, William, Jr. History of Will County, Illinois. Chicago: William LeBaron, Jr. & Co. 1878.

History of Frankfort Illinois

This was one of the earliest settled of the towns in the county. The township was largely covered with timber, and that proved as great an attraction to the pioneer in Frankfort, as it did in the other parts of the county, for it was a fixed fact that the pioneer would build his cabin where fuel and shelter was to be had, and that too with but little trouble to himself. Another attraction was the land was high and rolling and well watered and drained, and besides the Old Sac trail, which went in almost a direct line from … Read more

History of Custer Illinois

Custer township was organized, as such and under that name in 1886, but it was settled long before when it was a part of Reed township,—in fact, there were inhabitants in what is now Custer township before there was in Reed township, as now organized. The whole township of Reed and Custer was organized in 1850, under the name of Clinton. Soon after, however, it was changed to Reed, and under that name it continued as one large township until 1886, when the inhabitants of the eastern portion seceded, and set up a township of their own, naming it Custer … Read more

History of Crete Illinois

When the county was organized in 1836, what is now Crete and Monee were joined together as one voting precinct, and called Thorn Creek precinct. But in 1850, when the towns in the county were organized under the new state constitution, they were separated and the township of Crete was organized as a voting precinct, and Nicholas Brown was elected the first supervisor. The voting place was established in Crete village, that being the nearest the center of the township. The township is situated in the extreme eastern part of the county, bordering on the Indiana state line. It is … Read more

History of DuPage Illinois

This township is in the extreme northern part of the county, and was organized as a township in 1850, under the law of 1849, relating to the organization of townships. Originally with Wheatland it formed the DuPage precinct when the county was formed in 1836, and was one of the precincts of Cook County, previous to the formation of this county. The township is well watered, having the DuPage river in the western part, the Lille Cache creek in the southern, and the Des Plaines river and the canal in the eastern part. There is a widening of the river … Read more

History of Channahon Illinois

The township of Channahon is located in the southwest part of the county bordering on Grundy county and is known on the map of the county as town 34, range 9 east of the third principal meridian. The township is well watered, having the DesPlaines and DuPage rivers passing through it. They meet a short distance east of the village and hence the town derives its name from the fact, the name meaning in the Indian language “The Meeting of the Waters,” and was bestowed upon it by Judge Peek, one of the early settlers. The surface is pretty uneven … Read more

History of New Lenox Township, Illinois

Greetings from New Lenox, Illinois

New Lenox is what was formerly known as the Hickory Creek Settlement, although the settlement extended into and at first included that in Frankfort. But the settlers there not long after gave their settlement the name of Chelsea and by that name it was known until the Rock Island road went through the township, and then Chelsea ceased to exist and it was thereafter Mokena. New Lenox was one of the first settled townships in the county and no township had more substantial or a better class of inhabitants. The township was originally heavily timbered along Hickory creek, in fact, … Read more

History of Wheatland Township, Illinois

  History of Will County 1878 Township Histories WHEATLAND TOWNSHIP Wheatland is the northwest township of Will County, with Kendall and Du Page Counties on the west and north; Du Page Township on the east, and Plainfield Township on the south. It is described as Town 37 north, Range 9 east of the Third Principal Meridian, and at the last census contained 1,133 inhabitants. It is watered by the Du Page River and its branches; the former entering its territory at the northeast corner, flows through it a little west of south. It is wholly prairie, having but a few … Read more