History of Will County 1878 Township Histories WESLEY TOWNSHIP The alarms of cruel butcheries and inhuman massacres by the Indians had but ceased to echo through the State of Illinois, and the tracks of the red men were still visible in the soil – the Government having but recently removed them to reservations beyond … Read more
History of Will County 1878 Township Histories WILMINGTON TOWNSHIP The ancient philosophers recognized in nature four primary elements – water, earth, air and fire. This was quite a natural classification, as from these, they readily perceived, came all of their comforts. From the first two came food and drink, and from the last two … Read more
History of Will County 1878 Township Histories TROY TOWNSHIP Jedediah Woolley, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers of Plainfield, but of that township it could hardly be said that he became a permanent resident, as he removed from it before the land came into market. He, however, lived there some time, and there … Read more
History of Will County 1878 Township Histories REED TOWNSHIP This is now the smallest township in the county, containing only the west half of Congressional Town 32, Range 9 east of the Third Principal Meridian. For the fifteen years ending 1875, it was the largest, embracing within its limits all of that territory now … Read more
Plainfield lays claim to the honor of the first settlement in Will County. The first settlement made in Walker’s Grove, a body of timber just south of the present village of Plainfield, dates back half a century or more. Look at the figures, 1826-1878! Fifty-two years are between these milestones. Thirty years are the average … Read more
In 1850, when the township of Wilton was formed, Town 33, Range 11, or what is now known as Peotone, contained only two voters, and it was, therefore, necessary to include it with some other township, and as Wilton was already pretty well settled, it was concluded to embrace within its limits the two Congressional … Read more
In New Lenox Township was embraced the larger portion of what, in the early times, was termed the Hickory Creek Settlement — a neighborhood celebrated for its hospitality, and for more pretty girls, perhaps, than any section of the county, unless we except Homer’s famous Yankee Settlement, and with it, Hickory Creek was, in this … Read more
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” sang the bard of Stratford-on-Avon. This township was erst known as Trenton’s name bestowed by William Nelson, the first Supervisor after township organization. When Will County adopted township organization, there not being a sufficient number of voters in this to form a township, it and … Read more
The “war of the races” came to a crisis in 1832. Probably no year in the history of Illinois has been more eventful than the one named. Certainly, no year has brought so much anxiety and excitement to Northern and Northwestern Illinois, as did the year 1832. Previous to this time, it is true, there … Read more
This town is diversified between woodland and prairie, and is divided by the Des Planes River & the Illinois & Michigan Canal, which pass through it from north to south. Away from the river-bottom, the elevation rises almost to abrupt bluffs, beyond which, on either side, are beautiful table-lands or broad rolling prairies of the … Read more