October 2010
Old Chicago Trail 2--More Thoughts to Share
Old Maps, Barnard Elm, Hedgerows, and Houses
In doing our research and combing the files for information on The Old Chicago Trail, someone at The Fort found this hand drawn OLD MAP. Somewhere there must be a list explaining the meaning of each notation on the map and the name of the artist, but we haven’t found that data yet.
It is interesting to see the elongated timber areas (green) around the rivers (blue) which provided transportation and life giving resources for man and animals. Note, too, the large expanses of grasslands (white) that the early settlers thought were useless, barren areas of land. This map includes the known Indian villages from before 1835, when the last Indian left McLean County. Many of the trails (red) that were to later become roads still mark the routes of our major highways in this county today. It takes some careful studying to notice the boundary lines for each modern township. It would be fun to make a transparency of this map and lay it over a current county map to see how things match up.
Here is another OLD MAP of our area from the 1856 McLean County Atlas which shows the Old Chicago Trail remnants soon after the railroad came through. Our guesses on where the remnants of the road can be found now, may have been a bit off in June.
Only a few landowners were named on this version, which makes it look much less populated than it really was by that time. The slim black line from Lexington to Towanda is the GM&O railroad tracks and the red lines are the known roadways.
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In doing the Old Chicago Trail article of last June, I noted the description of the famous BARNARD ELM, used as a landmark in the Money Creek timber: Note the Barnard property in sections 20 and 21 on the map above where the road forms a Y. This is the most likely location of the old Barnard Elm.
"There is one item of interest connected with this old highway; that is the Barnard elm. This tree stood some little distance from the road and received its name as it was on Mr. Barnard's land. This tree could be seen for miles and was a landmark in the olden times. It was one of the largest trees in the county, being twenty-one feet in circumference, which would indicate a diameter of seven feet. This tree was a favorite resort for bees ever since the white man has known it. It has been regretted that there had not been some public spirited artist who would have presented the Historical Society with a photograph of it before its death."
Any tree would have to be very outstanding to qualify as a landmark in a timber of hundreds of trees! Knowing about this old tree caused me to look for some big, old trees in this area to see if there was anything even close to compare. I even tried to find out how to age a big old tree. The best method is to count the rings when the tree is finally cut down. Articles told that measuring living trees to determine age is a very unscientific process because of all the different factors that could influence the growth of a tree—species, weather, surroundings, and soil conditions over the years. I found out that most living trees are measured at 4 feet above the ground for circumference and then the diameter is estimated.
As I looked for the biggest trees around, I noticed this stately old oak in the Route 66 park at the corner of Main and old Route 66 in Lexington. It’s amazing to think of all the changes that have taken place around this old tree. It has survived tornados and wind storms, building of roads, many changes in its surroundings and still it stands tall, watching over all who come and go. It is huge, especially when you get up close beside it.
Here is my helper holding a 7 foot tape to demonstrate how much bigger this old tree will have to get to be about the size of the Barnard Elm! As you can see, it will take many more rings for this tree to match the 7 foot diameter of the Barnard Elm. I wonder if our old tree will make it that long?
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As I was looking for old trees to compare to the Barnard Elm, I also noticed some of the long HEDGEROWS that still line the edges of some fields around the county. It’s hard to imagine those lines of trees forming the boundaries of each farmstead in the old days.
Farmers used the hedges for fences, wood cutting, hunting for the little creatures for food, and to protect their barns, animals, and houses from the wrath of the weather. Our landscape has changed so much from the days when the Old Chicago Trail went across McLean County. The farms are larger, the timbers are mostly gone, and our way of living no longer depends on the supply of ready wood out the back door. Take note of the few hedge rows that are left. They are quickly disappearing.
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Trying to travel the Old Chicago Trail today is mostly impossible. There are a few narrow country roads that wind past old cemeteries and around stands of old timber, but usually after a few miles, you come to a barricade with cars buzzing by on a super highway in front of you. On one of my journeys through the country I passed this OLD HOUSE...
It had obviously been quite a place in its day. But when would that have been? It intrigued me to the point that I did some investigation and found out that it is what remains of the old Jesse Trimmer Homestead in section 17 of Money Creek Township.
Jesse Trimmer came to the area as a young boy with his parents and lots of sisters and brothers in the 1820’s. Soon after their arrival near Money Creek, John Trimmer, the father, died of a sudden illness. Elizabeth Trimmer was left with all the children, no home, and dangerous conditions to contend with. Somehow they made it and prospered.
Over the years the Trimmers purchased many acres of land and became outstanding and well-known citizens of the county. Jesse built this fashionable home in the country on his huge Money Creek township farmstead.
It is said that the farmstead was so extensive that the roadway ran between the house and the major farm buildings on the east side of the road. This was one of the fashionable homes picked to be drawn by a traveling artist and preserved in the best way they had back in 1874.
Jesse and Amanda Trimmer not only lived a lavish lifestyle on their country estate, but also built a very similar style home in the town of Lexington in 1866. Jesse was also a brother-in-law of Lexington's Jacob Spawr. (Jesse's sister Eliza married Jacob in 1826.) Both the Spawrs and the Trimmers were friends of Abraham Lincoln, David Davis, and Jesse Fell and seem to have been important people of the time.
Next month we will learn more about that other Trimmer home, now known as The Franklin Mansion still standing on South Street in Lexington.
