There are two churches in the township outside of the village of Topeka. The Old School Presbyterian Church was built in 1853, at a cost of $1,000. It is situated on Section 14, and for a number of years the congregation was in a flourishing condition. For the past few years, the building has remained unoccupied, save on funeral occasions. The early Pastors of the Church were Revs. William Perkins, C. W. Andrews and Rev. Bennett. Among the early communicants we find the names of John Appleman and wife, Robert Cross and wife, Mrs. Sophia Vanarsdale, Mrs. Chapman, Mrs. Esther Brown, Daniel Waldron and wife, David Beal and wife. The first Elders of the congregation were Robert Cross and Daniel Waldron.

The principal burying-ground of the township is connected with this building. Expensive and tasteful monuments mark the final resting-place of many of her early settlers in this cemetery. The first interment was that of Robert Cross, which occurred in 1852. Since that date, many of his associates have put aside the burden of life, and are sleeping, sweetly sleeping, in the same beautiful inclosure. Indeed, the names of most of the early settlers are found here among the sleepers.

The Christian Chapel, located in the same section, was erected in 1866, at a cost of $900. Joseph Lybarger and wife, William E. Magill and wife, John Hines, William Atwater and wife, were the earliest members of the Church. Elder Andrew Page was the first Pastor. Elders Judy and Haughey have labored for the congregation, the latter of whom occupies the pulpit at present. The religious zeal of the early settlers often led them to travel a distance of ten miles or more to attend "meetin'," and that, too, riding after an ox team. Now, a man or a woman who will do that will, unquestionably, be saved. They might have walked, no doubt, but for the sake of religion they were willing to sacrifice ease and comfort, and ride.

William Atwater and Elizabeth Ringhouse were married in December, 1840, Isaac Parkhurst, Justice of the Peace, officiating. This was, doubtless, the first marriage celebrated in what is now Quiver Township. As this section was at that date a part of Tazewell County, Mr. Atwater obtained his license at Tremont, the county seat.

The earliest practitioner of whom we have any record given was a Dr. Buckner, from Cass County. The exact date of his coming cannot be ascertained. He also combined school-teaching with his practice. Drs. Allen and E. B. Harpham were early practitioners among the denizens of Quiver, the latter of whom is at present a resident physician of Havana. The first birth in the township was that of Fidella Lybarger, a daughter of Joseph Lybarger, the first settler. She was born in 1837. A widowed sister of Henry Seymour's, Mrs. Maria Elan, who died in 1838, was, perhaps, the first death to occur in this part of the county. The year following, 1839, the death of Mrs. Henry Seymour occurred.

The political status of the township has been largely Republican since the formation of that party. During the days of Whiggism and Democracy, the old Whig party was in the ascendency. Throughout the late civil war, she furnished her complement of brave boys to the rank and file of the army, and many of her noble sons attested their fealty to the dear old flag by yielding up their lives in defense of its honor in the hour of its greatest peril. As an agricultural district, Quiver compares favorably with other portions of the county adjacent. Her resources are mainly derived from her vast annual products of corn, wheat, rye, and the other cereals cultivated here.

TOPEKA VILLAGE.

The village of Topeka is situated about seven miles northeast of the city of Havana, on the P., P. & J. R. R., and is the only village embraced within the limits of Quiver Township. It was surveyed by J. W. Boggs, for Moses Eckard and Richard Thomas, in 1858. In order to secure the town site, Eckard and Thomas purchased 180 acres of David Beal, and 80 acres were made into a town plat. Forty acres were donated to the railroad company in order to secure the station. The first residence in the village was erected by J. L. Yates, in 1860. He was a blacksmith by trade, and had been plying his trade at McHarry's Mill, prior to locating in the village. He was followed, a short time afterward, by E. Y. Nichols, M. D., who built the second residence, and, as a matter of course, was the first resident physician of the place. Harrison Venard was the third resident of the place. Venard was from Ohio, and, in company with a Mr. Rosebrough, who was also from the Buckeye State, opened the first store in the village, near the close of 1860. The firm of Venard & Rosebrough, after a few months, became that of Venard & Musselman. A second store was opened in 1863 or 1864, by Musselman and Aaron Littell. The latter came from New Jersey, but had settled in the county and in the township in 1843. Others came in from time to time, and other stores and shops were opened, till, at one time, Topeka seemed to be on the highway to prosperity. But, like many of our Western towns, it attained its growth almost in the dawn of its existence, and, for some years past, it has remained stationary. A grain warehouse was built by Moses Eckard, in 1860. R. W. Stires, of St. Louis, was the first to operate in grain at this point. R. R. Simmonds, of Havana, and Porter & Walker have operated in grain at different times. The grain was handled in sacks and shipped on flats. In 1875, Flowers, Allen & Sherman built a very small and cheaply constructed elevator; this has been but little used since its completion. Low & Foster, through W. H. Eckard, handle the grain at present. About seventy thousand bushels is the average amount handled annually. A neat and substantial passenger depot was erected by the railroad company in 1872, which adds to the appearance of the village. Harrison Venard was the first agent at this point. W. H. Eckard is the present gentlemanly agent, and has held the position since

1867.

The Methodist Episcopal Church, the only house of public worship in the village, was erected in 1865, at a cost of nearly $4,300. Among the early communicants, we find the names of Lewis H. Ringhouse and wife, Mrs. Susan Colwell, David Kepford and wife, Caleb Slade and wife, Phillip Brown, John M. McReynolds and family. Rev. T. J. M. Simmons was the first Pastor of the Church. It has since enjoyed the labors of Revs. J. G. Mitchell, A. M. Pilcher, G. M. Crays, and others. Rev. L. A. Powell is the present officiating minister. The congregation is in a prosperous condition, and working harmoniously for the upbuilding of the cause. A Sunday school of fine interest is connected with the Church. The post office at Topeka was established in the latter part of 1860, or early in 1861. Harrison Venard was the first Postmaster. The salary at no time has been princely, and those who have kept it have endured it as a necessary evil rather than from choice. J. F. Ruhl is the present incumbent. A neat frame school building was erected in 1867. It is not grand and imposing in its appearance, but is amply sufficient to accommodate the village urchins.

VILLAGE INCORPORATED.

An act to incorporate the village of Topeka was approved by the Legislature April 10, 1869. Under this act, Samuel R. Yates, Phillip Brown and Robert G. Rider were named as Trustees of the village, their term of office to continue until the first Monday in April, 1870. The Board organized by electing S. R. Yates, President; L. S. Allen, Village Clerk; Phillip Brown, Police Magistrate, and John Norman, Town Constable. The revenue of the village from license of any kind has been very limited, and whatever public improvements have been made have been paid for by direct taxation imposed upon the citizens, or by voluntary contribution. The members composing the present Board are the following: Phillip Brown, D. W. Flowers, W. H. Eckard. The village officers are: Phillip Brown, President; Theodore Bell, Town Clerk, and Dr. J. W. Downey, Police Justice. The business of the place is comprised in one general store, one drug, grocery and hardware store, one confectionery and two blacksmith-shops. Dr. J. W. Downey is the resi dent physician, and is a well-read and successful practitioner. The population of Topeka does not exceed one hundred and fifty. Although the village site is the most eligible of any point along the route from Pekin to Havana, yet its proximity to the latter renders it altogether improbable that Topeka will ever be more than the pleasant little village of to-day, drawing its patronage and support from the immediate vicinity in which it is located.

FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP.

This township is known as Town 22 north, Ranges 6 and 7 west of the Third Principal Meridian. It is bounded north and east by Manito Township, south by Pennsylvania and Sherman Townships, and west by Quiver Township. It is the smallest of the thirteen civil townships into which the county has been divided, and comprises a little more than thirty-one sections in its area. In surface configuration, it is very similar to the adjacent townships of Manito and Quiver. Timber-land is found only in the northwest corner of the township. Fully five-sixths of its entire surface is prairie land, most of which is very productive. The soil is similar in character to that found in general throughout the whole extent of the county-a rich, brown mold, freely intermixed with sand. The proportions of clay, etc., intermingled, vary somewhat in different localities-some being far more argillaceous than others. In the woodland portions, the surface often arises into bold, round bluffs, with mound-appearing escarpments so common to the landscape further south along the Illinois River. Quiver Creek, a small stream flowing in a general southwestern direction through the township, takes its rise near the village of Forest City and leaves the township near the northwest corner of Section 27. This, with artificial ditches constructed leading into it, efficiently drains a large amount of the prairie portion of the township. In 1862, when township organization was effected, this division received the name of Mason Plains. Prior to this, it had been designated as Mason Plains Precinct-a name given by the early Methodist ministers to their appointments in this section. This name it continued to bear until 1873, when, by an act of the Board of Supervisors, it was changed to that of Forest City Township. The reason for the change existed in the fact that difficulties and perplexities often arose in the shipment of matter, intended for Mason Plains, to Mason City, in the southeastern portion of the county.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

So far as we have been able to learn, there were no settlements made in the limits of the township prior to 1840. Robert Cross and family came from New Jersey and settled in Greene County, Ill., as early as 1839. In 1842, Alexander, a son of Robert, came to Mason County and settled in Quiver Township, about a mile east of McHarry's Mill. During the summer, he frequently passed over this section of the county, and from his statements we learn that, at that time, there were but five houses standing in what is now Forest City Township. These were all in the edge of the timber, in the northwest corner of the township. Four of them were occupied, and the following named persons are given as their occupants: A. Wintrow, Peter Himmel, A. File and Stephen Hedge. Wintrow came in 1840, and was, doubtless, the first

man to make an improvement in the township. Mr. Cross thinks that Himmel, File and Hedge all came in 1842, while Jerry Miller, who settled, in an early day, across the line in Manito Township, gives it as his opinion that Hedge did not come prior to 1844. Wintrow, File and Himmel came from "der Faderland," and Hedge from Fulton County. The latter is supposed to have come originally from some one of the Eastern States, as he was a pronounced Abolitionist long before that sentiment found a secure lodgment in this section. The unoccupied building stood upon Congress land, and had, probably, been erected and occupied by a "bird of passage," who, after a short sojourn, plumed his wings and took his flight to regions farther west. Hedge, after a residence of some years, returned to Fulton County, of which he continued a resident up to the date of his death. Peter Himmel is the only one of the four now living. In the same neighborhood, at the time of which we are writing, there were living old man Ray, Riley Morris, Abel Maloney, and a few others just across the line in Manito Township, whose places of settlement and date of coming have been given in the history of that township. Settlements in the township did not occur rapidly for a number of years, owing to the fact, no doubt, that its available lands were prairie. About 1846 or 1847, Alexander Pemberton and a man of the name of Babbitt settled on the prairie across Quiver Creek, a short distance south of the present village of Forest City. They were the first to venture away from the woods. Alexander Cross came up from Quiver Township and made a settlement in 1848. The same year brought in William G. Greene and his brother, Nult Greene, from Menard County, and William Coolage, from Tennessee. The Greenes settled south of Quiver Creek, where William G., in a few years, possessed himself of a large tract of land. In 1852, he sold out his entire landed estate and returned to Menard County. He is now a resident of Tallula, and is engaged in agriculture and in the banking business. His brother, Nult Greene, romoved to McDonough County, of which he is at present a resident.

In 1850, the population was increased by the coming of August Webber, Greensfelter and Harfst. These all settled in the woods in the northwest corner of the township. They were from Germany, and formed the nucleus of the large German population which now occupies a large portion of the township. The spring of 1852 brought in William Ellsworth, Thomas H. Ellsworth, William Ellsworth, Jr., Joseph C. Ellsworth and their families. These all came from Fulton County, the three last mentioned being sons of the first, but all men of family. T. G. Onstot, from Menard County, came in the same year, and Fred Lux, from Pennsylvania. Most of them are still residents of the township. About the same date, George Nikirk came from Seneca County, Ohio, and purchased the landed estate of W. G. Greene, consisting of over two thousand acres. Mr. Nikirk did not live long to enjoy the comforts of his new home. He died in 1855, leaving to his family his large estate. Twenty years later, his wife followed him to the land of shadows, leaving her