FrederickTownship History
This is the smallesttownship in the county, containing only twelve full sections, althoughthere are several fractional ones joining the Illinois river and Sugarcreek, which form the eastern boundary line. The greater part of the landis in T. 1 N. R. 1 E., with that part of T. 2 N., R. 1 E, that is westof Sugar creek as far north as the south line of section 7. Its greatestlength is about ten miles and the greatest width three and a half miles.It is bounded north, east and south by Browning township and the IllinoisRiver respectively, and west by Bainbridge and Rushville. The surface isbroken, with the exception of a narrow strip of Illinois bottom. The soilis rich and productive. In the census of 1880, it is credited with having38 farms and 490 population including the town.
Military Claims
These lands were all subjectedto military claims, by the soldiers of the war of 1812, and the followingare a few that was located in T. 1 N. R. 1 E.: December 3, 1817, HalzenRichardson, N. E. 1/4 section 6, and William Bartlett, N. W. 1/4 of a section6 on the same date. December 17, 1817, Francis Hutchison, N. E. 1/4 ofsection 18; January 27, 1818, William Aanderson, N. W. 1/4 of section 9;August 4, 1818, Stephen Page, N. W. 1/4 of section 17, and March 24, 1818,John Glass, S. W. 1/4 of section 14.
Early Settlers
The first settler in thetownship was James Lanny, an Irishman. He located about half a mile northwestof Fredericksville in 1825. He had a wife and three children. In 1826,his wife died, and it is related that this was the second death in thecounty. He stopped here but a few years, and moved to Arkansas. AndrewVance located where Fredericksville now stands about the same time. Hisold log cabin stood there for many years, as a witness of his settlement.Timothy Harris was also an early settler. Edward White and his son-in-lawDoolittle, came at an early date and located in the northern portion ofthe township. White settled the Darnell place on section 6, and Doolittlesettled the Brines place on section 31 of T. 2 N. 2 R. 1 E. It was throughthis township that most of the early settlers passed on their way intothe county, after crossing the river at Beardstown, and quite a numberstopped within its limits for a short time, until they became acquaintedwith the country. That being the case, it is a difficult matter for usto learn the names of many who first located here. There are but few veryold settlers in the township, the earliest of those having located hereas late as 1834, nearly ten years after the first settlement was made,and they know but comparatively little about the first arrivals. AbrahamHollingsworth was among the earliest settlers who became a permanent residentof the county. He located on section 6 April 7, 1827. He was a native ofMaryland, born in 1767, and came to Illinois with his family in 1824, locatingin Morgan county, where he remained until his advent here. He lived onhis improvement in Frederick about two years, and then entered land andmoved north of Rushville, settling on a small stream which has ever sincebeen known as Hollingsworth branch. He was one of the early Justices ofthe peace, and died in 1837. He had a family of six sons and three daughters,all of whom had families, and lived to a good old age. Gabriel B., residingin Browning, at the age of 71 years, is the only one of the family nowliving.
John D. Wren, a Kentuckian,settled just north of Pleasant View in 1829, and became an early settlerin Frederick. Lyman Utter came early in the thirties, and settled in T.1 north, R. 1 east. He died several years ago, and had but one child, adaughter, who became the wife of Jesse Darnell, but died a few years afterher marriage. Samuel Heaton settled the Bellomy place, and had lived therea number of years, when he sold out to Mr. B.
Jesse Darnell, a native ofOhio, came in 1834, and is still residing on section 6, one of the oldand respected citizens of the county.
June 22, 1832, Anthony Messerer,a native German, came to the county and entered the greater part of section6 of T. 1 north, R. 1 east, and immediately located on it. He also purchaseda claim of a man named Saucer, who was then living on the place, and hada cabin and an acre or two cleared. Messerer reared a small family, andtwo of his children are now living in the county–Elizabeth, wife of H.M. Deane, in Fredericksville; and Louise, wife of B. F. Redman, on theold homestead. He died in April, 1859, and his wife survived until 1881.
Another German, Jacob Jacoba,located on the outskirts of the village of Fredericksville in 1833; hedied there in 1844, and his widow still survives. Andrew, a son of his,was one of Fredericksville’s merchants, and others of the children areresidents of the county.
Thomas Bellomy, a nativeof Virginia, emigrated to the county, landing in the spring of 1835, and,as stated above, bought out Samuel Heaton in section 6, where he settledand remained until his death in 1876. He had a family of thirteen children,nine of whom are living, and all but two in the county. Josiah F. resideson the old homestead.
Roswell Brines, who is apioneer of 1827, located on his place in T. 2 north, R. 1 east, at an earlyday, and is still living. The first years that he spent in the county (1827-’28)were in the Chadsey settlement, with Acel, his brother, and James Stillwell,who came with him to the county. He married Delila, a daughter of JohnNorton, who came to Schuyler as early as 1830, and remained about one year.She is also living. Brines has seven children living.
Walter A. J. Black, a Virginian,came in 1837 and settled in Bainbridge. In 1852 he moved to Fredericksville,where he still resides. He had an early mill on Crooked creek, ran a ferryfrom Beardstown to Fredericksville in 1848-’49, and has served severalyears as supervisor of this township.
John Utter deserves mentionin this work as an early resident of the state. He is a native of New York,and came with his father, Henry Utter, to the Illinois territory in 1815,settling in what is now Wabash county. He was born in 1810, being fiveyears of age when he came to this country. He has lived in the most eventfulperiod of our nation’s history, and has seen the state that was then awilderness, transformed as it were by magic into a great and populous commonwealth.He purchased the place he now resides on in 1838 of William Skirven. Ithad been pre empted by a man named Miller, and a man named Ruby had alsolived on the place before he became owner.
We have thus sketched a fewof the earliest and most prominent settlers in the township. There wasno school-house built until the one at Fredericksville was erected, andthere never has been a house of worship in the township. Schuyler Citywas the name of a little place laid out on Sugar creek, in section four,some years ago. There was a landing made and a warehouse built at the mouthof the creek, and some goods were sold there, but the place is now a thingof the past.
Board of Supervisors
We append a list of the supervisorswho have represented Frederick township:
1854 – Anthony Messerer
1859 – Jesse Darnell
1860 – W. A. J. Black
1866 – Charles M. Grimwood
1869 – Jesse Darnell
1872 – Emanuel Hinderer
1875 – Walter A. J. Black
1876 – Jesse Darnell
1881 – John Hinton
1882 – Herman C. SchultzExcerpted from The CombinedHistory of Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, 1882
Transcribed by Robin Petersenfor Schuyler County ILGenWebCopyright 1999, 2000 RobinL. W. Petersen; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercialuse of the information contained in these
pages is strictly prohibitedwithout prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with theinformation.
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