1843

1843 saw the arrival of the Andrews and Miles families to Washington.  Wells and his wife Nancy spent about a year in the Washington area before relocating to Tremont for a few years, where Wells served as pastor at a Congregational Church.  The family would return in 1854 with Andrews serving at the Presbyterian Church.  The Miles family ran a milling business in Washington for decades, and Philo Miles, the oldest son of Benjamin and Jane Miles, became Peoria's mayor and a distinguished citizen.

 Below are some 1911 recollections from Andrews' daughter, Mrs. George Shaw, on the journey to Illinois in 1843:

It was the last of August, 1843, when Rev. Wells Andrews and part of his family arrived in Washington, Ill.  There journeyed with them from Athens, Ohio, B. Miles and his large family.  Benj. Miles, Col. Dan Miles with Major Joseph Miles were sons.  Mr. Miles and Mr. Andrews had traveled in this region early in the season of '43, and being pleased with the situation of Washington bought land a few miles to the east.  They then rented the only two vacant houses in the village and returned to Ohio for their families.

Early in August, 1843, we took boat on the Ohio river.  At St. Louis we changed to an Illinois river boat.  The stage of water was low, sand bars often grounded the craft, and it was three weeks before we reached Wesley City where we unloaded our goods into wagons and started across the country for Washington.  Our house was one where Father Heath had lived, and had only two rooms.  Mr. Whipple, living near, kindly rented a large sleeping room to us until we could do better.  Soon my father was stricken down with a long bilious fever, so common, especially to new comers in those early days.  And then began our real acquaintance with the kind-hearted people of the new country and good old Dr. Wood.

At that time, 68 years ago, the town reached little farther eastward than the Presbyterian church.  The "sulphur springs" was out of town westward.  To the south, Squire Holland's square frame house standing about where Almon G. Danforth's is today, was quite alone.  The Jacquin house, last to the north.

During the winter of '43 a fire burned several business houses in a block on the main street.  In an upper room of one of these houses Mrs. Charles Anthony, an early graduate of Ipswich Seminary, Massachusetts, taught a select school for young girls.  She was a teacher always to be remembered and loved by her pupils.  Her interest in them was life-long.  Her school was removed to a room in her own house for a few years after.

There was also for little children an old-time "infant school," where a kind lady, Miss Levens, taught them to read and spell and sing and sew, and to "mind their manners."  This was long before public schools.

The recollection of those days is associated with names of early settlers who did much to shape the character of the town:  Dr. Burton and his great-hearted wife, Major and Mrs. Gorin, Mother Crane, who lingered to a great age.  Among all those moved to help night and day was good old Dr. Wood.  Their descendants are factors in the life of the town today, carrying in their faces likeness to their forbears, and in their characters reflecting virtues of the olden time.

That large flock of sheep Father Andrews employed men to drive from northern Ohio to Tazewell county, Ill., in the fall of 1843, did better than they knew.  They were kept the first winter in a large enclosure on John Smith's farm just beyond the northern part of the town of Washington.  In the spring there came up blue grass where they had run, the first every known in this region.  They had brought the seed in their wool.

Further reminiscences of the time by J.A. Andrews from 1903:

When Rev. Andrews came to Washington in 1843 there was but one farm between Joe Kelso’s and Lawson Holland’s, one mile east of town, and Walnut Grove.  That one farm was the Phillip’s farm where J. F. Jacquin now lives.  The settlers around Washington then all lived along the edge of the timber as that land was considered much more valuable than the prairie lands.  When Mr. Andrews traded for his prairie land it was put in at $3.00 an acre.  There was, however, a good deal of land farther away which could have been bought of the government for $1.25 an acre.

When Rev. Andrews first moved to Washington there were probably 400 people here and it was quite a prosperous community.  There were three churches—Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian.  The business part of town was not very large but they had some pretty good stores.  The Danforth, Gaunt, Willard and Dr. Burton stores and Holland’s grist mill were some of them.  Washington was the only town for a large scope of country.  People came fifty miles here to do there trading, as it was the only town that amounted to anything between here and Bloomington.  Where Henry Denhart now lives there was a fine walnut grove.  The old Holland blacksmith shop was located in the corner of the lot and the house he lived in—the first settler in Washington—now does good service and is occupied by Mrs. Carlson and has been moved next to the depot ground.

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