After the rain and wind of last evening (and a beautiful sunset), today dawned clear, cool, and with an equally pretty sunrise. The sky seemed cleansed, and it reached an astonishing porcelain blue color that I have rarely seen.
According to my original itinerary, I was to have walked to Camp Point today, ending the day’s walk there, but I was already a bit ahead of schedule, and I wanted to keep pushing on because I had a couple of 11-mile days planned.
I walked out from Coatsburg with a brisk wind at my back. I was delighted with the breeze, though the flag slapped me from time to time. West-bound traffic was very busy, with lots of big trucks, so I stepped off to the side frequently to let traffic pass, especially when there was also traffic from behind.
As I walked into Camp Point, a man on his back deck hailed me and invited me up for a cup of coffee. It was Leonard Gooding, whose wife Shirley brewed a fresh pot of coffee just for me (excellent coffee, by the way). Leonard’s great-grandfather Jabez and his great-uncle Daniel Gooding were among the early settlers of this area. I really appreciated the break, the coffee, and the good fellowship, before pushing on toward Clayton.
Camp Point is on the location of Garrett’s Mill. John Newland had already put up a horse mill to grind corn in what would become the north half of section 5 of Camp Point Township in 1838. (Camp Point Township itself dates from 1850.) In 1844, Peter B. Garret built a carding machine where Camp Point is now, and the next year he also built a grist mill. Unlike Newland’s horse-powered mill, Garrett’s mill and carding machine were powered by a tread wheel operated by oxen.
Steam power came later, and W. A. Berrian and Co. took over the mill. In 1866, Thomas Bailey, Silas Bailey, William Oliver, and Ormond Noble build Casco Mill. I could find no trace of these mills.
In the 1830s Lewis McFarland build a tannery, and he went on to be the first township justice of the peace. Benjamin Booth set up a blacksmith shop, and James Langdon put up a second smithy in 1846. A settler named Granderson Hess opened the area’s first general store in 1854.
The town (not township) of Camp Point wasn’t platted until 1855. It became a station on the Northern Cross Railroad, which began operation in February of the same year. The site was owned by Thomas Bailey, Peter Garret, Benjamin Booth, and William Farlow. In 1850, when Camp Point Township was organized, the residents elected Thomas Bailey to be the first township supervisor. Other early supervisors were James Downing, Vixen Gay, Silas Bailey, Thomas Bates, Richard Wallace, and George Cyrus, who gave lots of helpful information to the author of the old history of the area from which I pilfered much of this information.
A description of the town from the late 1800s called it a “pleasant, progressive village of 1200 people, known as Camp Point, northeast of the central part of the county, on the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.” The town was sited at the headwaters of the south branch of Bear Creek.
Residents circulated a petition to set up a post office at what had generally been known up to that time as “Garrett Mill” or “Garrett Mills.” The town was also known as “Indian Camp Point,” which was shortened to “Camp Point” when the post office was established.
Camp point has more gas stations than any other small town in the area. The modern library facility is open until 6:00 p.m. (I drove back to Camp Point this afternoon to write this post).
Clayton
Clayton, Illinois, has about 900 inhabitants. It also has a remarkable and little-known treasure, the John Roy Site, a site listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This site contains a prehistoric village from the Woodland Period (about 1000 BC to about 1000 AD), and classified as part of the Mississippian Culture. The site is so significant that it has a restricted address and its existence is not widely known.
Clayton can also boast being the childhood home of actor John Anderson, who would go on to play many roles in movies and TV shows. One of his better-known roles was that of Harry Jackson, McGyver’s grandfather. During World War II, Anderson served in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he met and became a lifelong friend of Orazio Fumigalli, a well-known artist of the period.
When I visited the Timewell Post office later in the day, I met John Roy’s granddaughter, Becky Becky Barlow, who lives in her grandfather’s house, which she as restored. She was on loan from the Mount Sterling post office, where she usually works, because the local clerk was out for a doctor’s appointment. Becky, by the way, is the president of the Clayton Public Library District. When I told her I was driving back to Camp Point, she said the Clayton Library also had wi-fi, and there was no reason to drive so far, but I was hoping to get some further local information from a Camp Point librarian, so I made the drive after all.
Later in the afternoon, Becky called me to say that she had a good, twin-size air mattress that I could have for the rest of my trip. I had mentioned to her that the brand-new one I bought for the trip had already failed and wouldn’t stay up. That’s a very generous gift, and one I will long appreciate.
As I road my bike down the road that leads to the heart of downtown Clayton (the westernmost exit from U.S. 24 that will get you there, I thought I heard someone greet me, so I turned around and went back. A gentleman of about my own age emerged from a camper. He said he’d seen me on the highway the day before and had wanted to stop and talk, but that he had deemed that unsafe.
Kenshaw E. Walker grew up in this area, but had lived in California for many years. While there he had met his lovely wife, and had moved back to Clayton only last year to help his brother Dan (known locally as “the jelly man” for his corn cob, apple, and other jelly) manage his fruit orchards and acreage. Kenshaw has posted copies of the 10 Commandments in several conspicuous areas on the property (at least that’s still not illegal!).
He spent 26 years in the U.S. Army, most of it in the Special Forces. Right out of Fort Benning’s jump school, The 82nd Airborne Division to help keep the peace. After that adventure, he ended up in a Special Forces unit in Vietnam in the Na Trang area. He has a deep faith in God, and gives God the credit for bringing him safely through many very close calls.
Even after he retired as a sergeant first class, Kenshaw worked with the Young Marines Program there in California. As a parting gift, he gave me a Special Forces baseball cap, for which I am very grateful.
Just past the Walker homestead is the Old Westside Cemetery, which has one Revolutionary War veteran and many Civil War dead and veterans buried there. The cemetery is closed to further burials, and there is restricted access to it.
On my way bicycling back to Coatsburg to retried my pickup truck, I encountered gusts of wind that I’d estimate topped 30 miles per hour. Though I was in no danger, I had started walking by the time I got to the Golden Road. A gentleman pulling out of the drive for B&B Livestock Equipment had heard me on the radio and offered to drive me back to my pickup. I took him up on the offer, leaving my bike at B&B.
When John dropped me off at my pickup, I asked him to wait while I got him one of my walk brochures. He then offered to pray for me, and I took him up on that immediately. He prayed God’s blessing on my walk and on my life.
I saw him again briefly when I picked up my bike at B&B, and he gave me a company baseball cap, a really nice one with stars and stripes on the bill. Then he offered to let me take a shower at his place in Mount Sterling. I was really blessed.
Timewell (Mound Station), Illinois
Timewell was founded a year later than Fowler, in 1858, as Mound Station, and became a post office in 1860. The town incorporated as Mound Station in 1901. To avoid having a similar name to Mounds in Pulaski County, citizens changed the name of the post office to Timewell in 1903, but the town name has never been officially changed. Thus the State of Illinois still lists the town as “Mound Station (Timewell)” on the official state roadmap, and the U.S. Census Bureau lists the name as “Mound Station.” Just remember that, if you want to send a letter to someone in Mound Station, you have to mail it to Timewell.
The National Weather Service still gives an occasional storm warning for Mound Station, and the deeds to the houses in town also read “Mound Station” as part of the legal description.
Timewell has about 143 residents. It’s the first town along my route that is in Brown County. The county seat of Brown County is Mount Sterling, the next town along the route. Brown County was carved out of a larger Schuyler County in 1839. It was named for General Jacob Jennings Brown, the 1812 War hero who defeated the British at the 1813, and who served as commander of the U.S. Army from 1821 until his death in 1828.
I rode my bike around Timewell for nearly two hours and talked to only a handful of people. One of them was Becky, whom I mentioned in the Clayton entry. Another was the local bank branch manager, who made a very generous donation to the costs of my trip. He told me that the Timewell Bank had been an independent bank until earlier this year, celebrating its 100th anniversary before being acquired by the Mount Sterling Farmers State Bank.
A local gentleman I met (Forrest Icenogle) is having increasing difficulty expressing himself, but he told me of some of his adventures during his 12 years in the U.S. Army, including some extreme endurance tests he and his men underwent in Canada. His son, a veteran of Desert Storm, is now a guard at the prison in Rushville. He was at the house briefly, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, and I’m sorry for that.
Just before I left Timewell, I returned to the bank to thank the manager for his kindness. He reminded me of the town’s slogan, “time spent in Timewell is time well spent.”
Outside I encountered two of Brown County’s finest, patrolling the streets of the town. I flagged them down and gave them one of my brochures, asking that they notify the Sheriff’s Department that I’d be walking and riding in Brown County for the next several days. They wished me Godspeed and said to call the Sheriff’s department if I needed anything. I really did feel welcome in Brown County at that point.
To top off a wonderful day, my son Joe just called to say that he was on his way driving over here from Champaign to have supper with me, so my day has been filled with wonderful people, beautiful blue skies, and an amazing number of blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment