Jacob and Eliza Spawr Compare these to similar ones seen of Lincoln. I guess that they were probably taken about the same time period--1845-60????
May 2010
Jacob Spawr, Lexington’s First Citizen
Recently at a meeting to plan for the Route 66 Red Carpet Corridor Tour through Lexington, I made the statement that “Without old Jacob Spawr, Lexington or Route 66 may not be here today!” A prominent city leader responded, “I’ve never heard of Jacob Spawr before!” Thus began my research and the posting of this summary of Jacob Spawr’s life in our community so many years ago, so that some of us may never forget his unheralded contributions to our community.
By Jan Heuer
Jacob Spawr was born on January 24, 1802 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. His father's name was Valentine Spawr and his mother's maiden name was Anna Margaret Richer. Valentine Spawr was American born but of German descent and his wife Anna Margaret was born in Germany but came to the United States when only two years of age. Valentine Spawr was a soldier and served under General Anthony Wayne against the Indians and was once wounded through the body. Jacob was the fifth child in the family and the first son.
Anna Margaret (1793-?)
Eva Catherine (1795-1855)
Susanna (1797-?)
Elizabeth (1800-?)
Jacob J. (1802-1902)
Mary (1804-?)
George W. (1806-1892)
Peter R. (1809-1876)
In the fall of 1826 Jacob Spawr came to Illinois in company with Robert Guthrie and his wife, Jacob’s older sister, Eva Catherine Spawr and the David Cox family. The journey was pleasant and Jacob was active in driving the sheep and cattle. He went to Money Creek timber and there commenced working for Mrs. Elizabeth Trimmer, a widow who had a large family of children. Her husband John had died only a short time after they arrived here. The rest of Jacob Spawr’s family came to the Lexington area the year following his 1826 arrival.
In those early times the style of living was quite primitive. These first settlers were all farmers, after a fashion now unknown. They raised a little corn, a few vegetables, and, like their Indian neighbors, depended on the rifle for their subsistence. For years the people suffered much inconvenience from the growing herds of cattle and hogs that were allowed to roam at will over the prairies because of the lack of expensive fencing. The first pioneers’ houses were but little cabins erected with only an ax and perhaps an auger. No locks, nails, or any other article of iron entered into their construction, but just things that could be taken from the ground by use of the tools named and such materials that the locality afforded. A local example is the preserved Patton Cabin, built in the same era. Jacob Spawr lived in Money Creek Timber for 10 years from 1826 to 1836.
Despite the hardships, there was much good feeling and sociability among the few settlers. Sparseness of population and the consequent mutual dependence upon each other rendered them more helpful and hearty in their reciprocal deeds of kindness and in their social interactions. It is surprising to know that neighbors were considered to be anyone who lived in the entire large county. Jacob Spawr was friendly with not only the local Indians but also many of the first settlers in Blooming Grove and the surrounding area. At first they had to go for their mail miles away in the town of Mackinaw, and after such a long trip they still had to pay 25 cents for each letter. Soon post offices were established in most little settlements in the groves. The mail was carried by horseback with the mail carrier making only one round trip a week.
Jacob Spawr was handy with the ax and saw. It is noted that he constructed from walnut logs by hewing, rough boards which he afterwards made into coffins in which many of the old pioneers were buried. It was not every family, however, who could afford to lay away their loved ones in even so good a coffin as this. Many a worthy old settler was entombed in a casket constructed by simply splitting a log cut to the proper length, and the halves scooped out by the use of a common chopping ax. One half received the remains and the other half, placed in its original position and held with strips of hickory bark or wooden pins, served as the lid.
Jacob Spawr married Eliza Ann Trimmer December 3, 1826. Eliza was one of Mrs. Trimmer’s daughters. Jacob had no license as he would have been obliged to go to the capital at Vandalia to get one so he posted up notices and the justice of the peace, William Orendorff ,who married them made return of the marriage record to the Clerk of the Court at Vandalia. Six or seven years afterwards Mr Orendorff married his second wife and Jacob Spawr, who had been elected a justice of the peace in the meantime, performed the ceremony. After Mr. Spawr's marriage he began farming on his own account in Money Creek. He must have accumulated some land and extra houses, as one account tells that Jacob Spawr rented out one of his farms to a newcomer.
In 1827 the settlers of Money Creek were much excited by the Winnebago Indians in northern Illinois who were threatening in the mining country by Red Bird chief of the Winnebagos. While the excitement continued, Machina, the chief of the Kickapoos, came to Mr. Spawr to inquire the condition of affairs. Mr. Spawr had recently returned from Bloomington where he had been to militia training. Machina declared that in case of war the Kickapoos would certainly help the whites. After a while an order came to send men and Mr. Spawr being first lieutenant of the militia company was ordered to go with them. But the Rev Mr. Latta insisted on taking Mr Spawr's place and at last was allowed to do so. The fifteen men were taken to Peoria but the Indian troubles were soon quieted and the men came home. The Spawr’s first daughter, Ann Margaret, was born that year (and I wonder if that is why Mr. Latta insisted.)
In 1830 their second daughter, Elizabeth, was born. This year was also the winter of the deep snow, which started falling late on Christmas Day, December 25, 1830. There are many accounts from Jacob Spawr and his fellow “snowbirds” telling about the great fall of snow that year, which has never been witnessed since. It caused great loss of stock, covered under the snow, and from starvation. The inhabitants were themselves nearly buried in their dwellings and visits between the distant neighbors was suspended for weeks. The abundant game in the country became worthless from starvation, and animals perished in great numbers from the severity of the weather.
The first movement towards establishing a major road through this area was in 1831. On the 21st of July of that year Jacob Spawr of Money Creek presented a petition to the county court, praying for a road from Frederick Rooks, on the Vermilion River, to William Evans, on the Mackinaw, thence to Jacob Spawr's, on the Money Creek, crossing Sugar Creek at a point north of Bloomington and below the forks of that stream; then south through Main Street, Bloomington; south through Randolph's Grove, Long Point to the south line of the county. This petition was granted.
In 1832 open hostility was declared by Chief Black Hawk about 100 miles to the north. The Indians in this vicinity still professed friendship, but still there was constant dread and alarm. The settlements here were still weak and scattered and if enemies had attacked them they would have been easily overpowered. A company of rangers, including Mr. Spawr, was organized for the purpose of scouting through the country in the direction of the Indian camps in the north to ascertain their movements. Several forts or blockhouses were built at various points along the Mackinaw River and many families left their farms and lived near the blockhouses until the trouble was over.
With the Indian troubles finally over, 1833 saw a rapid increase in the population of the county. The Spawr family added another daughter, Mary Jane. At the March County Commissioners Court they redivided the county into 22 road districts and Jacob Spawr became Road Supervisor of District #12, the huge Money Creek and Mackinaw Timber area.
Most of these early settlers were of serious religious character; consequently they soon began to find ways and means of establishing a school and a church. The Jacob Spawr residence on Money Creek was the first and regular meeting place for the Methodists in the early 1830's. Mrs. Trimmer and her son David were prominent members. The first schools were private subscription and semi-subscription. School was held as early as 1834 in Money Creek, at a private home and at the first 1og school house in 1835.
The town of Lexington was laid off in 1835 and Lexington was platted on January 14, 1836 by Ashael Gridley and James Brown. Gridley and Brown acquired the land from the federal government. Gridley would become well-known for being responsible for plotting and planning several communities in McLean County during this time of prosperity and growth. In common with other towns founded during the 1836 boom, and unlike many later towns, Lexington was designed around a central public square with streets running true north-south and east-west. In the case of Lexington, the original town consisted of thirty-six blocks, each containing six lots. Like most of the towns of the 1836 era the town was built along the line that divided woodland from prairie; the southeast corner of the town was just within the limits of timber. Like most Mackinaw River towns, Lexington was laid out on higher ground some distance from the river itself.
In 1836 Mr Spawr purchased lots at the NE corner of Pine and Walnut in Lexington and moved his family there from Money Creek timber. Mr. Spawr was the first man to take up his residence in the newly laid out town of Lexington. That same year the Spawr family welcomed daughter #4, Sarah Catherine, into their family. Mr. Spawr erected a cabin north of where the Church of Christ Uniting now stands. His log cabin stood just across the street from and north of where the old Presbyterian Church would be built. Jacob Spawr built his house of a type known as a double log pen, a dog trot, or sometimes two-pens-and-a-passage: essentially it was nothing more than two log cabins facing each other with a common roof.
It was during December of 1836 that the great sudden change of the weather occurred. Mr. Spawr was quoted in several books about how he saw the water blown into waves and frozen in that way. During that winter Mr. Spawr even pounded corn. (Seems that this was meant to show that they couldn’t even get to the mill and had to make do with very course grain for cooking.) “For nearly sixty days the sun did not shine warm enough to make a wet spot in front of my south door. During that winter a former neighbor from Money Creek named Rook came down from Rook's Creek or Little Vermilion with a handsled walking with snow shoes and obtained corn for his family from a Lexington neighbor, Coonrad Flesher.”
By 1837, the town had grown so much the first post office was established. Jacob Spawr was named the Lexington community's first postmaster that same year. The closing terms of the court of that year were marked by many applications to do business, petitions for new roads, and permission to construct mills and dams in all directions in McLean County, showing great activity and enterprise among the citizens.
Jacob Spawr’s house served as dwelling, post office and tavern. Because Lexington was half way between the county seats of Pontiac and Bloomington, Spawr's house provided a convenient stopping place on the road being established between Chicago and Springfield. Abraham Lincoln, David Davis and Stephan Douglas were among the frequent guests. Jacob Spawr kept the first board-house or hotel in Lexington. It was said that he could put up all the drovers and could provide pens for as many as 1500 hogs. Jacob Spawr told stories of when Abraham Lincoln used to frequently be one of his guests. Once when Mr. Lincoln was stopped with the Squire a heavy rain storm came up. Just before it commenced to rain Mr. Spawr's daughters went to bring in some young poultry, and Mr. Lincoln, volunteering his services, came out, and waving and swinging his long arms helped to secure the goslings in their coop. He made himself quite at home among the Squire's guests and in his family. He was always ready to lend a helping hand when help was needed, and being fond of children was often among them and helping them.
Because of the population boom in 1837 the settlements along the Mackinaw needed to be divided into three school districts, designated as upper, middle and lower districts. The upper district comprised the Henline and (Valentine)Spawr settlements, middle district included the Patton settlement, with John W. Smith, trustee. The lower district included Lexington in its boundaries, with Jacob Spawr, school trustee.
The great land rush that peaked in 1836 and 1837 gave way to a severe lengthy national depression. True to their word, Gridley and Brown had begun some construction in the new town of Lexington. Their first structure was used as a store, but in less than a year the business had failed and the building was hauled away. The town square was used for grazing cattle. Yet, some continued to believe in the new town. Jacob Spawr had moved into Lexington and he remained even after the only store had departed.
Between 1837 and 1854 the survival of Lexington was in doubt. The first business was briefly occupied, but it was soon moved to the rival town of Clarksville, which was located a few miles downstream. No one was certain exactly what route the Springfield to Chicago road would take. Clarksville tried to attract the road by building a bridge across the Mackinaw and the 1840 town of Pleasant Hill, which had been established just upstream from Lexington, was doing its best to attract traffic.
At the June term of court in 1840 Jacob Spawr was appointed Commissioner to take the enumeration of the inhabitants, or the census, of McLean County for 1840. Those census reports are still an important part of the official records from that era. At that time Spawr reported that his home was the farthest away from the timber. A strip of a mile or less in width on either side of Mackinaw Creek embraced all of the settlements up to this time.
Mr. Spawr spoke of another sudden weather change almost as severe. “In November 1842 we started for Chicago with a party to drive stock. The weather had been mild but it snowed and melted and by the seventh of November it froze up. On the return of the party from Chicago we crossed the Kankakee on the ice at the rapids where the water runs as swiftly as a mill race. A thaw came in January but the cold weather again returned and winter continued until March.”
Mr. Spawr eventually put up a two story frame house on the same lots in Lexington, and that was where he lived for the rest of his life. The log cabin was moved north of town a few miles, and was occupied by Robert Ambrose.
Mr and Mrs. Spawr had nine children of whom six lived to adulthood. He never raised any soldiers, but instead, quite a family of girls, all of whom were married and doing well and highly respected. Ann Margaret, was wife of Benjamin Fitzgerald and lived in Lexington. Elizabeth became wife of Perceval Champlin and lived in Lexington. Mary Jane was wife of Abiud Sweet and lived at Eppard's Point in Livingston County. Sarah Catherine became wife of Noah Franklin and lived a mile and a half west of Lexington. Emily was wife of SS Shade and lived in Lexington. Lowisa Isabel was wife of C Preble and lived in Lexington. Mr Spawr was reported to have twenty one grandchildren and one great grand child-- enough to eat up his surplus apples—he said when he was interviewed in 1879.
Mr Spawr was of medium height was rather solidly built and seemed to enjoy good health in his old age. He was a quiet man, was very kindly disposed, and much looked up to among the old settlers. He led a very quiet, contented life and reported that he worked enough to keep himself healthy. He was a man universally respected for his integrity and correct judgment.
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Jacob and Eliza Spawr Compare these to similar ones seen of Lincoln. I guess that they were probably taken about the same time period--1845-60???? |
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Picture taken from the "Tree of Founders" on the back wall of The Fort in Lexington. Notice Jacob has his trademark cane in both pictures. |
Squire Spawr, as locals were used to calling him, never accumulated a very large amount of wealth, but he was always a true man. The Squire was a life long member of the M. E. church. He was a peaceable, inoffensive, good man; and he will leave a record behind him that his family may well be proud to read -- the record of an honest man.
Jacob Spawr lived to be over 100 years old, dying in 1902. Spawr's tavern was a noted landmark in its day, but there is nothing left beyond these few sentences written by others. Jacob Spawr was a modest man. His name is mentioned only in passing in several history books of the time. He didn’t pay to have his portrait drawn or his biography added to the books, as many of his contemporaries did. He seems to have been a practical man, a caring man, and one who got things done for his community without the need for fanfare.
Transportation was always been the key to the success of Lexington. Lexington at first was a resting place on Jacob Spawr’s Chicago Trail and the very first mention of Lexington’s name in the press in 1836 included mention of the town's location on the road from Springfield to Chicago. The success of the town had been assured because it had become a station on the road between Springfield and Chicago thanks in the most part to Lexington’s first citizen, Jacob Spawr.
Resources: Good Old Times in McLean Co. by E. Duis
History of McLean County Illinois 1879
Wickipedia