About the Book
Excerpt from The History of Livingston County, Illinois: Containing a History of the County-Its Cities, Towns, &C.; A Directory of Its Tax-Payers; War Record of Its Volunteers in the Late Rebellion; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics; Map of Livingston County, &C., &C For many years after the first settlers located, our broad prairies failed to induce general settlement, as immigrants seemed to prefer the more rolling lands of the northern and western counties, or the timbered regions farther south. It was not until the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, which passed through many miles of Similar country, and brought its peculiar characteristics into favorable notice, and the construction of the Chicago Mississippi Road, which passed directly through the county, that immigrants generally began to discover the value of the lands Of this hitherto neglected region. Much Of the land donated by the Government to the State, and, by the State, transferred to the Central Railroad Company, lay in this county, and was put upon the market. This land rapidly found purchasers and occupants; and the building of these roads, together with the construction of the Toledo, Peoria Warsaw Road, made it possible for producers to market their grain, and greatly enhanced the value Of the land' and the real settlement of the county dates from this era. The history of the county naturally divides itself into three epochs: First, the occupation by the Indians, from the discovery of the prairie country by the French, to the first white settlement, in the Fall of 1829. Second, from the first settlement Of the whites to the building of the railroads, in 1854. Third, from that period to the present time. But, before the subject is treated in this order, a short statement of the derivation of our population will be given, and, also, the topography and geology of the county will receive attention. The earlier settlers came, principally, from Indiana and Ohio, with only a few from the States further east and south, while a large portion of those who, during the third epoch, reduced the virgin soil to cultivation, were immigrants from foreign lands, or from the Older and more populous counties of this State. These last mentioned were attracted hither by cheaper lands and by a wider range of pasturage. Nearly all of these were men of small pecuniary means, but possessed of courage, industry and thrift, and found themselves benefited by their change of locality. The Older counties of La Salle, Bureau, Peoria, Knox, Fulton, Tazewell and Woodford have sent us not a few Of their young and active men. Many of our_most esteemed and worthy citizens are natives Of Ireland, Germany, Norway and Demark. England has contributed her Share, and many freedmen are settled in the county. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
