Early Settlers

Resources are listed in alphabetical order. More information can always be found by using our website search bar, or contacting a member of our staff.

A Community in Conflict

Digital Exhibit

1 item

1822

The area’s earliest settlers found themselves geographically marginalized, which made it difficult to vote.

Digital Exhibit

Articles

A small selection of Pages from our Past articles written by Bill Kemp

7 items

Before railroads, stage lines crisscrossed the prairies

One of the more striking modern day conveniences we take for granted is the ease of long distan...

Article

portrait of a white man in a three piece suit with very messy dark hair and massive sideburns

Fearsome ‘Sudden Change’ threatened pioneer life and limb

A cataclysmic meteorological event swept across much of Central Illinois the afternoon of Dec. ...

Article

a dirt trail meets water, surrounded by trees and bushes

For pioneers, river crossings sometimes matter of life and death

Of all the hardships faced by pioneers, the danger of crossing swollen rivers and creeks is one...

Article

Honeybees sweetened 19th century life in Central Illinois

In November 1887, a poor local honey harvest led The Pantagraph to predict scarce inventories a...

Article

Oxen the original ‘work horses’ of the prairie

Before the introduction of draft horses and then steam and gasoline-powered tractors, oxen prov...

Article

Picture postcard speaks to power of donations

As a not-for-profit institution, the McLean County Museum of History relies to a considerable e...

Article

Pawnee Bill Lillie and his wife Mary Emma celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on August 31, 1936 in Taos, NM. The celebration included the governors of Oklahoma and New Mexico, and Pueblo, Navajo and Sioux, as well as the requisite contingent of Pawnee. Two weeks later the Lillies suffered a wreck in their gold-colored anniversary automobile. Mary died on September 27 as a result of her injuries.

Wild West legend ‘Pawnee Bill’ got start in Bloomington

The life and times of Bloomington-born Gordon William “Pawnee Bill” Lillie show us that when it...

Article

Biographies

21 items

Allin, James

James Allin was born on January 13, 1788 in North Carolina. He was the son of Isaac and Sarah F...

Biography

Bradner, Judith Ann

Judith Major Allin Bradner was born on May 9, 1814 in Bourbon County, Kentucky to William T. an...

Biography

Brokaw, Abraham

Abraham Brokaw (he preferred to go by Abram), was born November 6, 1815 in Somerset County, New...

Biography

Bunn, T.J.

Thomas Jefferson (T.J.) Bunn was born on August 29, 1832 in Xenia, Green County, Ohio. He was t...

Biography

Cheney, Owen Lee

Owen Lee Cheney (1846-1911) was a quixotic man in his quest for fame, fortune, and new experien...

Biography

Dillon, Martha Fisher

Ellis Dillon was born on March 25, 1816 in Clinton County, Ohio to Jesse and Hannah Pugh Dillon...

Biography

Fell, Hester Vernon

Hester Vernon Fell was born on March 2, 1819 in Little Brittain, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania...

Biography

Ferre, Goodman

Goodman Ferre (pronounced Ferry) was born on January 27, 1806 and died on September 24, 1897. ...

Biography

Funk, Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin Funk was born on October 17, 1837 to Isaac and Cassandra Funk. Benjamin was t...

Biography

Goodheart, James

James Goodheart is recognized in our local history as the son of two “honored pioneers” as well...

Biography

Gridley, Asahel

A great deal of the information known about Asahel Gridley is based on reminiscences of his fri...

Biography

Guthrie, Adam

Adam Guthrie was born on March 10, 1825 in Circleville, Pickaway Co., Ohio. He was one of twelv...

Biography

Haggard, David

David Haggard was proud of his family tree. David was a descendant of Sir Andrew Ogard, a Knigh...

Biography

Hendryx, Jane Frankeberger

Jane Frankeberger was born in Champaign County, Ohio on September 4, 1818 to Jesse and his seco...

Biography

Hobbs, Dr. William C.

Dr. William Hobbs was born in Maryland on December 24, 1800. Very little is known about his lif...

Biography

Major, William Trabue

William Trabue Major was born on March 1st, 1790 about three miles from Frankfort, Kentucky. H...

Biography

Marmon, Mary Ann

Mary Ann (Cheney) Marmon (1837-1908) grew up in a log cabin on the Illinois prairie and was a m...

Biography

Paist, Maria Dawson

Maria Dawson Paist came to Illinois with her family in 1822 at the age of five. The Dawson and ...

Biography

Scott, Charlotte Ann Perry

Charlotte Ann Perry was born on September 18, 1831 in Athens, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. She ...

Biography

Stipp, Dr. George Winfield

Dr. George W. Stipp was born on January 27, 1799 near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. ...

Biography

Withers, Allen

Allen Withers was born on a farm in Jessamine County, Kentucky about seven miles from Nicholasv...

Biography

Blog

1 item

McHistory: Early Settlers Battled Prairie Fire to Tame the Land

Listen to the audio on WGLT's website hereMcHistory goes back in time to explore big momen...

Blog Post

Farming in the Great Corn Belt

Digital Exhibit

6 items

1822 to 1852

Frontier farmers were faced with the challenge of producing enough livestock and crops to suppo...

Digital Exhibit

A Scientific Revolution: Eugene Funk and Hybrid Corn

In 1883 McLean County farmer and entrepreneur Eugene D. Funk began to develop a modern system o...

Digital Exhibit

Draining the Prairie

With most savannah land claimed by 1836, some farmers chose to take a chance by trying to produ...

Digital Exhibit

Farm Improvements

Farm improvements, such as fences, barns, sheds, and grain storage were expensive additions. Bu...

Digital Exhibit

Frontier Resources

The rich prairie soil was not the frontier farmer's first choice — the dense root systems ...

Digital Exhibit

Marketing Crops and Livestock

The methods used to transport McLean County farmers’ crops and livestock, as well as the distan...

Digital Exhibit

Finding Aids

7 items

Funk Family

Brothers Isaac and Absalom Funk came to Illinois via Ohio in 1824. Working together the brother...

Finding Aid

Funk, George Washington

George W. Funk was the firstborn son of the Hon. Isaac Funk, Sr. and Cassandra Sharp, founders ...

Finding Aid

Orendorff

The collection focuses upon William Orendorff (March 26, 1792 – May 12, 1869), one of the first...

Finding Aid

Orendorff, Ella

The Ella Orendorff Collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings about the Orendorff fam...

Finding Aid

Sebastian-Bishop

The starting point for this collection is Donna Sebastian, who donated the materials and who co...

Finding Aid

Stubblefield – Funk Reunion Minutes

Robert Stubblefield and Isaac Funk were very early settlers of McLean County in what is today F...

Finding Aid

Trimmer Family

John David Trimmer (1781-1826) and Elizabeth Lanterman Trimmer (1779-1847) and their children m...

Finding Aid

Making a Home

Digital Exhibit

6 items

Burtis Family

The settlement of the frontier was often one of speculation. Buy land cheap, raise the price, a...

Digital Exhibit

Frontier Settlement

John L. Hendryx and John W. Dawson arrived in 1822. They were the first to stake claims for fed...

Digital Exhibit

Jesse Fell

With plans to settle somewhere in Illinois or Iowa, in 1828 Jesse Fell left Pennsylvania headed...

Digital Exhibit

Samuel Hayes

For school teacher Samuel Hayes, the winter journey to Bloomington meant reconnecting with his ...

Digital Exhibit

The Orendorffs

McLean County was a wilderness when the first white settlers arrived. They left behind over far...

Digital Exhibit

William and Henry Wells

Brothers William and Henry Wells had both been born into slavery. They were free men when they ...

Digital Exhibit

Speakers Bureau

4 items

Buckle of the Corn Belt: An Illustrated Tour of McLean County and Everyone’s Favorite Grain

Speakers Bureau

Pioneer Cattle and Hog Droving

Speakers Bureau

The Night the Stars Fell

Speakers Bureau

The Unconquerable: Kickapoo of Central Illinois

Speakers Bureau

Videos

1 item

The Night the Stars Fell

Video

Working for a Living

Digital Exhibit

2 items

Craftsmen

Blacksmiths, tinsmiths, and brick-makers possessed skills helpful for survival when Euro-Americ...

Digital Exhibit

Pioneering Merchants

Before the arrival of the railroad, McLean County residents used credit and a bartering system,...

Digital Exhibit