History of Monee Township

In the township of Monee, lying between Greengarden and Crete, there were a few who settled quite early. In 1834, John S. Dilley; in 1835, John M. Chase, N.C. Tibbitts, S.W. Cooper, Nicholas Young and Ruel Carney; and in 1836, S.W. Gaines, Aaron Bond, Otis Philips, Hollis Newton, and a Mr. Hall. This township has abut three sections of timber in the northeast corner, which will account for its earlier settlement. There is also a little grove in the southeast corner of the town. The first school was opened in 1836, by Otis B. _______. It has filled up in later years largely with Germans. It has a flourishing station on the Central Railroad, of the same name. ^[1]LeBaron, William, Jr. History of Will County, Illinois. Chicago: William LeBaron, Jr. & Co. 1878.

This division of the county formed with Will Township the town of Cary, up to the division of 1858-9, when it was separately organized. The supervisors of the original town as well as those who have served since the formation of Monee township, are named as follows:

Carey — S. W. Cooper, 1850; John S. Holland, 1851–53; George Baker, 1854–55; B. Sheridan, 1856; D. Milliken, 1857–58

Monee — O. Kahler, 1859–62; A. Herbert, 1863–4; E. C. Howard, 1865; A. Vass, 1866–68; S. W. Cooper, 1869; J. Griffith, 1870–72; J. Kolstedt, 1873–4; Leubbe Albers, 1875–77; John Koldstedt, 1877 –81; Philip Bischman, 1881–4

The other members of the board, elected in 1884 are; Ed. R. Freese, clerk; L. Albers, assessor; Gus Kettering, Collector; Charles Ruder, Highway commissioner, and Henry F. Pauling, school inspector.

The population of Monee village in 1880 was 503, and of the township outside the village 1,091 —-1,594. The aggregate assessed valuation 1883–4 was $435, 475, of which town lots were valued at $35,145, and personal property $74,023. The tax levy amounted to $8,981.55, including $2,881.23 school tax.

The original settlers were: Ruel Carney, N. C. Tibbitts, John M. Chase, 1835; C. W. Cooper, S. W. Gaines, 1836; Nicholas Young, 1835: Aaron Bonnell, 1836; John S. Dilly, 1834, from Ohio in 1832-3; W. H. Newton, John Hall, and Otis Phillips, from New York, 1836; William Kinney and J. E. Philips.

Shortly after the arrival of Otis Phillips, in 1836, he opened a school at the Grove in his own cabin. In 1854 there were four school buildings, and at this time there were four hundred and seventy-two school children under twenty-one years old. One of these house was built at Monee in 1854 with Miss Margaret Wilson Teacher. In 1872 the Monee Academy building was erected by Janzen & Stassen, with Professor Janzen in charge. In 1858 the German Lutheran Church building was erected, at a cost of $1,500. The society was formed by the Reverend William Shaefer in 1857. The congregation numbers between three and four hundred. The Catholic Church was established here in 1861, by Reverend W. B. Atkinson, and a house of worship erected in 1866. This was followed in 1868 by the Methodist Episcopal society. That year the society was organized by Reverend Mr. Ross, and the church building erected, at a cost of $1,500. The Baptist, Universalist, and a few other demonminations are represented here.

Monee Village

This village was platted in 1853 for August Herbert, on section 21, where he located 160 acres in 1849, under a land warrant granted to him for services in the Mexican War. In 1852 he sold to the Illinois Central Railroad Company a tract of forty acres, which was also platted, and both form the village. The first house was brought hither by Simeon Abbot, in 1852. In 1853 the owner of the town built a house, which now forms a part of Kittering’s Hotel. Later in 1853 O. B. Dutton built a store, and here a post-office was opened the same year, with Dutton postmaster. Three years later the Koenig & Kohler steam grist-mill was erected. This was followed by the building of grain warehouses, stores, the Holland wind-mill, and dwellings, until Monee became one of business railway hamlets brought into existence by the Illinois Central. The village was incorporated in 1874, and the first election of village officers was held December 5, 1874, when the following were chosen trustees:

H. Hoffman,
Charles Plagge
Philip Volmar
Christ Schomstedt
August Schiffer
E. Weringk, with Ed. Weringk, president
W. F. Hutchinson, Clerk

With the exception of a few years, Ed. R. Freese has served as village clerk since 1876.

Monee Lodge, No. 660, I. O. O. F.

was organized April 8, 1878, with Ed. R. Freese, W. D. Cox, Adam Vatter, Charles Merz, and G. H. Leuhrs, charter members. The membership at present is thirty-five.

The only newspaper ever published here was the Eagle, issued in 1861, by J. G. Scott, and continued until 1864.