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The Story of the Hawkins Family Settlement in the Valley of the Kankakee |
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copy of a photostatic facsimile of a newspaper article
UP 'TIL NOW A Scrapbook History, Old And New, Compiled By The Kankakee County Historical Society. Send contributions to Box 14 Kankakee Daily Journal THE STORY OF THE HAWKINS FAMILY SETTLEMENT IN THE VALLEY OF THE KANKAKEE
BY
Burt E. Burroughs (As written In 1932)
The name of Hawkins is one well known In the Valley of the Kankakee. It has withstood the inroads of disease and death and misfortune to bloom vigorously after the lapse of better than a century.
Jepson Hawkins, second to Noel LeVasseur as a settler in the Valley of the Kankakee in the year 1832, still lives in the lives of collateral units of his family reared at the old homestead in Limestone Township and who live today not far removed from it.
100 Years of Experience
One hundred years of family experiences and traditions in a new land that has given way year by year to the gradual metamorphosis by a era of invention and scientific development, presents many interesting conditions. The old Hawkins homestead on the hill back from the Limestone Road, was first a temporary bivouac by a spring, next a spring, next a rude log cabin, next a four-room frame structure that existed there for better than 90 years, to be replaced in the year 1919 by the present substantial structure of brick supplied with all the luxuries of the modern home. There is a family heirloom, an old fashioned diary whose leaves are brown and mottled by dark spots that goes back to the year 1794. It gives in chronological sequence the early history of the family and we give it here verbatim et literatum, just for its quaintness.
Married in 1794
"Married Feby 16 Anno dom 1794 by Samuel Whitman Ebner Hawkins & Rebekah Jepson in the town of Goshen and County of Hamshire and state of Massachusetts. Ebeneer when married twenty-one years ten months and twenty days old. Rebekah when married were twenty-one years one month and 13 days old. On the eighteenth of above month we started to move to Vermont on the 20th arrive at Sunderland, County of Bennington State of Vermont.
" In August 7, 1794, on Thursday we had a daughter Still Born
" In February 11th, 1796 we had a daughter born which called Deidamia on Thursday of week
" In April 6th 1798 on Friday we had a son born which called Allanson
" On Sunday the 8th of June 1800 we had a daughter Born which we called Deliverance
" On Monday 9th of May 1803 we had a son Born which called Joel Baldwin
" In October 20th we started to move from the State of Vermont and arrived in York in the county of Cayuga and State of New York 17th Novr 1803
" On Monday 3rd of June 1805 we had a daughter Born which called Almira
" on Monday 7th of February Deliverance died 1808 being Seven years and Eight Months old
" On Thursday 29th of Sept 1808 we had a daughter Born which we called Adellia
" In Februy 1809 we moved to Bloomfield Ontario County State of New York Two Daughters Born
" On Friday 28th of Septr 1810 we had two daughters Born which we called Mariet Angeline and Harriet Julia
" On Tuesday 6th of April 1813 we had a daughter Born we called Sabra Ann
" On Sunday 17th of July Deidama Married to Jesse Gilbert of Middlesex
" On Sunday 2th of July 1815 we had a son Born which we called Micah Jepson
" On Thursday 8th of October 1818 we had a son Born which we called Robert Buck
" On Monday 22th Novr 1819 Departed the life of Almira
" On the Sixth of Sep 1825 we started to move from Bloomfield to Illinois and arrived at Jesse Gilbert on the 27 of October. On 21st of Novber 1827 Adelia was Married to Asa R. Palmer (of Danville, Illinois); on the 4 of December 1827 Marriett Angeline was Married William Read - on September the 23 in the year of our Lord, 1828 Ebner Hawkins Departed this life, aged 56 & 5 months & 1 day - December the 22, 1830 Joel (B) Hawkins and Hester M. Bickle was Married.
" Joel B. Hawkins departed this life April 9, 1869."
In Pottery Business
In this story of the early settlement on the Kankakee, the brothers Allanson, Baldwin, Jepson and Robert, sons of Ebenezer Hawkins, figured particularly. On the removal of the family to Danville, Illinois, in 1825, the brothers engaged In the pottery business which they pursued for several years. They turned on the potter's wheel such articles as jugs, milk crocks and other household articles. They also made ink bottles for wholesalers of ink. David Hawkins showed us one of these ancient products of the potter's wheel of better than one hundred years ago. It is a bottle made broad of base so that it would not tip easily and glazed with salt to give it a beautiful, smooth finish. The first Ink bottle we ever saw was similar to this. It took us back a long ways just the mere contemplation of it.
Desire For Land
Through the instrumentality of a surveyor employed by the government on the work of surveying the public domain, the Hawkins boys obtained a tip to look In the neighborhood of the Kankakee for desirable land locations. Allanson and Jepson were the first to respond to the urge for land. They made their way up the Chicago-DanvIlle trail by means of an ox team, in the year 1832. They pitched their camp on the site of the present city of Kankakee near to the spring on Squaw Creek where, years later, the Lillie home was built. An incident of their stay here was when one night, a big timber wolf sneaked in and got one of their oxen by the nose in an effort to throw him. So intent was the wolf with the business in hand that Jepson got close enough to land a blow with the axe that finished the wolf then and there.
(Continued from last week)
In 1832 Allanson and Jepson Hawkins came by ox team up the Chicago-Danville trail in search of a new home. They pitched their camp near to the spring on Squaw Creek where, years later, the Lillie home was built. That fortune guided and influenced them in the matter of location in that early day seems reasonable. That they found what they sought in the way of treasure in a measure commensurate with the industry put forth and the exercise of brain and muscle is readily evident. It was wilderness domain at that time only recently acquired by the United States government from its native owners, the Pottawatomi of the Prairie and the Kankakee.
Liked Bradley Area
Looking about the immediate environs of what is now Kankakee, the brothers were greatly taken by the terrain where Bradley is today located. It was a noble piece of land, contiguous to magnificent timber and not far from the river. They investigated matters at the land office in Chicago and found that, mainly, the lands north of the river had been devised as reservations extending in an unbroken line from Soldier Creek all the way to Rook Creek. However, in that early day there did not seem to be any particular choice of lands north or south of the river. The land was high, beautifully timbered and near to water, the three prime requisites for the critical settler, so Jepson lost no time in entering land at the office in Chicago, the same which the family now occupies in Limestone Township.
Second White Settler
On this section 25 and near to a trail which has since become the Limestone Road a mammoth spring gushed from the rocky bank. Here Jepson Hawkins pitched his tent one hundred and one years ago, the second white settler In the domain of the Kankakee. Noel Le Vasseur and his Indian wife having preceded him by a few months. Jepson then only seventeen years of age, established himself here in lonely bachelorhood, the brother Allanson returning to Danville to return the following year and take up land adjoining.
Found Hawkins Spring
In choosing a homesite one hundred years ago and in a new country, there was always one important consideration uppermost in the mind of the pioneer and that was water and plenty of it. The Jepson Hawkins homestead of today to known far and wide for the famous Hawkins spring which, for ages untold, was visited by the aboriginal redman, long before the curse of the white man's "firewater" had perverted his taste. Here, also, in the early days, vast herds of wild game sought the lifesaving waters of the prairie spring on the hillside.
In that year of 1832 when Jepson Hawkins came, the spring was a marked spot for the trails of the Indian and those of the wild game alike led to it. In that day as now, it was a noble stream of water that poured forth from the rocky ledge and it is not to be wondered at that this pioneer land seeker found it without difficulty. And having found it, it is easily understood why he pitched his first domicile, a tent alongside of it and later established his homestead. In all the hundred years that have elapsed since, the first encampment, the spring has served faithfully and wall with no appreciable diminution of its flow even during the most severe seasons of drought.
Return Visit To Spring
There is this also to be said for the old spring, easily accessible to the public, and which has served mankind from time immemorial, it has been patronized by thousands of travelers who carried its fame abroad. One, D.G. Bean, a water mechanic for the Illinois Central railroad in the early days of the '50's, used to make frequent trips from Kankakee to the farm to quaff its waters. We once visited Tolequah, the capital of the Cherokee nation, and drank of an ancient spring there about which the first tribal council of the Cherokees was held on their removal there. An aged Cherokee woman, Aunt Eliza Bushyhead, asked us if we had drank of the spring. Answering her in the affirmative, she remarked with solemn finality-" You will come back again!"
There is an age old legend that if one but throws a piece of money into the bowl of the Trevi fountain at Rome, he will come back again. The old Hawkins spring has undeniable powers of attraction. Many there are of the countryside who, having tested its sweet waters, go back time and again. It is said of old Dr. Knott, the well remembered physician who early settled at Bourbonnais, that any time he would drive out of his way a mile or two just to partake of the waters of the Hawkins spring. D.G. Bean investigated the sources of the spring and found three producing springs. He also measured the flow of water from them. It ran in a rivulet down the hill across the road to the river. The amount of water thus trailing away every minute of the day and night over the space of a hundred years is something almost incalculable in its immensity.
Water Impounded
For some years past David Hawkins, the present owner and occupant of the place, has impounded a portion of the flow in a large tank-like structure of concrete, 30 x 50, in which rainbow trout and other varieties of fish have been placed. The trout thrived in the cold, spring water and many beautiful specimens were taken by the fly, to be served later crisp and brown as the piece do resistance at a banquet fit for the Gods.
(Continued from yesterday)
ILLUSTRATED HOUSE
THIS FOUR ROOM homestead, erected about 110 years ago by Jepson Hawkins, burned to the ground In 1932, after it had been moved from its original site in 1919 and replaced with a modern brick home. David Hawkins, the youngest son of Jepson, occupies the residence. In the above photograph, taken about 1904, are Jepson Hawkins and son, Mark, who survives. At the left are Lydia and Minnie Detuelir, granddaughters of Jepson.
This territory south of the Kankakee In the year 1832 when Jepson Hawkins settled there, was in Iroquois county. Only the year before Vermilion county, in which is located Danville, extended clear to the south bank of the Kankakee. Iroquois county was organized in 1831. The young husbandman and settler was only seventeen years old at the time and although he busied himself at putting in a small patch of corn and building a small log cabin, time generally hung heavily on his hands.
Indians Wanted Whiskey
The lack of neighbors was seriously felt during that first year. Although the Pottawatomi were numerous at that time they did not afford the type of companionship he craved. They used the sign language in making their wants known and what they particularly craved almost to a man was whiskey. They were very insistent on the matter of whiskey. Young Jepson had plenty of whiskey but he was averse to wasting it on an Indian. They would stand around for hours at a time for all the world like a hungry dog and silent except for that one word In their vocabulary - "whiskey". Finally, as a matter of precaution, Jepson dug a hole in his cabin and put away the main supply where it was safe from prying eyes. His Indian friends were not mean or troublesome particularly - just insistent on obtaining a drink of firewater, that's all.
In these days, to relieve the tedium of loneliness and also to post up on the meager news of the wilderness, he would embark in his skiff, across the river, and then foot it over to Noel LeVasseur's place on the trail at Bourbonnais. Here he visited with LeVasseur end his Indian wife, Wat-che-kee. Often he was invited to lunch with them and partake of soup and hard bread. Under the tutelage of Noel LeVasseur, Wat-che-kee got so that she made a soup that a fellow would smack his lips over and hand back his plate for more.
Conditions Change
By 1833-4-5 conditions changed materially out on the Limestone road so far as the young homesteader was concerned. His three brothers came on from Danville and settled in the immediate neighborhood. Robert settled to the east of Jepson and east of Robert's holdings in 1833 was Ike Thompson, living on the land once owned by Henry Graves, now the property of Len Small. The brother, Allanson, settled to the west of Jepson and next to Allanson were the holdings of the brother, Baldwin. Their combined frontage an the Kankakee in that early day was near to two miles.
In the meantime Jepson had his eye on the land opposite the city of Kankakee, now known as the Rutledge Enos farm. He was not in a position to take it over at that time so he made a trip to Danville and interviewed his brother-in-law, Asa R. Palmer with regard to his entering It. Mr. Palmer entered the land at the land office July 8, 1839, and received a government patent for the same July 8,1844. By 1853 when Rutledge Enos arrived on the Kankakee from Michigan, he was greatly taken by this location. Word was conveyed to him that Palmer desired to sell. Mr. Enos lost no time but mounted his horse and made the trip to Danville where he closed the deal and then made his way leisurely back.
Meet Midway of Stream
Jepson got to hear of what was going on. He wanted the farm himself and immediately set out with a light wagon for Danville. While crossing the Kankakee at Waldron at the ford of the old Chicago-DanvIlle trail, Hawkins and Enos met midway of the stream, There was an unusual salutation: I've got the Palmer farms," cried Enos. And in the heat of disappointment, Jepson cried, "Rut, that's a damned dirty trick!" However Jepson turned around in the river and the two by the time they got to Kankakee were feeling somewhat better, although the affair rankled Jepson for some time.
Around 1843 Jepson had rather well defined ideas of getting a life partner. The Legg family had moved into the neighborhood and were living in the log cabin in the courthouse square. There was Matilda, sister to Dr. Uran's mother, a young, good looking type of girl that filled his eye and gave matrimonial thought a decided impetus. He courted successfully the fair Matilda and in the meantime busied himself replacing the log cabin at the farm by an ambitious two-story structure of four room, For this edifice he cut timber In the woods and squared end framed them or the first framed structure to be erected In Limestone, If not in Kankakee county.
Left His Heelprints
Window frames, windows and doors he purchased in Chicago and hauled by ox team over the prairie to the river. The big, front door was of white pine and was laid on the bottom of the wagon. On this he stood while on the drive across the prairie and forever afterwards there were registered in the soft material his heelprints, made by the heavy iron nails. No amount of sandpapering or painting could eradicate them. They were clearly visible over a period of ninety years. To this home Jepson Hawkins brought his bride In the year 1845. She did not long survive. In the year 1850 he married for his second wife Miss Harriet M. Lowe, sister of Peter, Henry and David N. Lowe, prominent settlers in the County. Of the family of Jepson Hawkins five sons are living today, namely, M.J.B., of Santa Cruz, Cal., J.B. and A.B. of Kankakee, Mark, of Chabanse and David N., the youngest of the family who today occupies the site of the old homestead on the farm where the family originally settled. (Editor's note: Since this account was written the first three named sons have died.) In the year 1919 David Hawkins moved the old house of four rooms across the road and nearer to the river and on the site built the present commodious and sightly farm home of brick which contains all the conveniences of the modern type dwelling. It is a far cry from the time of the first settler up to the present in which one hundred years intervene. The difference is even more marked an one thinks of the silent Indian and the earliest visitor to the spot where one today tunes in his radio and summons the remotest corners of the world with its news and gossip to the fireside.
Old Home Burns
By the way, the old home which Mr. Hawkins moved was unfortunately consumed by fire only a few weeks ago. Fred Below was its only tenant. Sparks from the chimney it is thought found lodgement In the shingles and the fire ate its way into the rafters and when discovered was completely out of control. Thus passed our oldest landmark in all probability. It had stood better than ninety years. The barn on the place, built around 1845, still remains and is a most substantial structure. The ground sills for this barn are half-round with one side hewed flat with mortise and tenon Joints hold by hickory pegs. These timbers were out in the woods north of the river in the rear of Uncle Billy Durham's place on the Bourbonnais Road and floated down river to the Hawkins farm. The floor joists and rafters are of sawed oak. It is a very substantial structure and looks good for another eighty-eight years.
(Continued from Yesterday)
Limestone is a place where the picturesque stone fence is very much in evidence. Materials laid close to the surface and were easily obtainable and with the coming of numerous French Canadian families to the county from 1845 up to 1850, labor was also very cheap, for these people mainly had exhausted their resources in making the trip from distant Canada to the Kankakee. They were glad to work at anything and at almost any price to make a living, hence, many of them set to work building stone fences for the settlers. They settled in Bourbonnais township which was only across the river from Limestone, and crossed daily to and from their work.
35 Cents A Day
As low as 25 to 35 cents a day was paid a laborer for laying up loose stone. In some cases 50 cents was paid. In addition to the daily wage, which was very small, we must confess, the settlers for whom made up in a way by handouts of liberal portions of beef and pork, grain and flour.
In addition to laying upstone fences these Frenchmen also cut trees and spit out rails. In fact they did anything there was to do in order to keep their families. Alen, a son of Baldwin Hawkins, who was born on the farm in Limestone, as a boy mingled a good deal with these Canadians. In time, like Osborn Van Meter, he became proficient in speaking the French language. He become enamoured of a French girl and finally married her. At the time of the exodus of many of the Canadian families to Concordia, Kansas, Allen Hawkins and his family went with then and took up their permanent abode.
Foundations Still Stand
To the south of the Limestone Road and a little way below the hill on which is situated the Hawkins cemetery, Baldwin Hawkins early built a very large barn of which the stone foundations remain today. Here In 1854, 1855, and 1856 a famous character known as "Yankee Robinson" wintered his circus. Wagons and stock were accommodated here and from this spot they set forth in the early spring on the long itinerary through northern Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
"Yankee Robinson's" was the first circus the country ever knew. Several years later Baldwin Hawkins sold the barn to Lemuel Milk who removed the timbers of the superstructure to his large farm at Milks Grove and re-erected it, But the old foundation still remains intact while the interior annually grown up to weeds. When Allanson Hawkins sold out and left, Friend Eggleston bought an anvil at the sale. Only recently when Charlie Eggleston had a sale, the anvil was put up and Dave, just for old time's sake, bought it and lugged it home to put among the Hawkins family trophies.
Remained In Family
The record of the Jepson Hawkins family is one worthy of emulation. During one hundred years no one but a member, of the original Hawkins family has occupied the place; the land is held by the original patent issued to Jepson by the United States government: during the one hundred years of its tenancy no mortgage has ever been recorded against the place; get that! Its legal record is as clean as a hound's tooth! Truly, a record very, very unusual. These brothers were of the rough and rugged type that stood for the observance of law and order in a day when horse thieves were numerous and bold in their operations. In that day a horse thief just naturally hated to fall into the hands of a Hawkins. Justice was swift and sure and they knew it.
Of all the serried hosts of the several branches of the Hawkins family that lie buried in the old Hawkins cemetery at a point on the Limestone Road, between it and the river, the young daughter of the Baldwin Hawkins was the first. Shortly after the arrival of Baldwin Hawkins on the river in 1834, he was obliged to go east on business and left the girl with his brother, Jepson. In the Interval of his absence the girl sickened and died. The body was buried in this spot and the selection of location was afterwards approved by the father.
Picturesque Spot
The old burial ground is one of the most beautiful and picturesque situations In Kankakee county today. Near to the river and surrounded by a rustic stone fence, its well-kept graves and lawns and leaning headstones give the, place an air of untroubled repose and serenity. Long before the railroad came, and long before we Kankakee was, the pioneers of the countryside on their passing, were here interred. The spot is known today as "The Limestone Cemetery", but custom and tradition are hard to displace. To most of us it is the Hawkins cemetery still. That the members of the several Hawkins families were once numerous is still evident. On the western side of the plat the headstones stand in serried regimentation like soldiers, grim memorials of a race who have moved on into the shadow land of the spirit.
Connie Smith4-great granddaughter of Allanson Hawkins
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