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  • Family Home
    • Surname Index
      • (--?--) — to — Franks
      • Franz — to — Neave
      • Neff — to — Willard
      • Willcockson — to — Zuern
    • Persons Index
      • (--?--)—to—William Delray Alley
      • James Allinder—to—James Beall
      • James Beall—to—Claudia June Bremser
      • Clive John Bremser—to—Daniel Bushnell
      • Ebenezer Bushnell—to—Baby Claggett
      • Benjamin Franklin Claggett—to—James K Crofut
      • Asa Cromeans—to—Levi Jerome Dustin
      • Lydia Althea (Althia) Dustin—to—Bildad Fowler
      • Catherine Fowler—to—Frederick Eugene Gross I
      • Frederick Eugene Gross II—to—Nathan Alexander Hoover
      • Philip Richard Hoover—to—Thomas Kilbourne
      • Dora Kilby—to—Anson Cassim Loveland
      • Asa Loveland—to—Edward Christian McNett
      • Edward Clinton McNett—to—Shawn Newland
      • Judy Carol Newsom—to—(--?--) Phelps
      • (--?--) Phelps—to—John Phelps
      • John Phelps—to—Timothy Phelps
      • Timothy Phelps—to—(Widow) Ridgley
      • Johann Jakob Rieger—to—Betha of Savoy
      • Thomas I Count Savoy—to—Alice Spencer
      • Ann Spencer—to—John Thompson
      • John Thompson—to—Anne Webster
      • Annis Webster—to—Johann Jakob Zuern
    • Four Generations Tree
  • History of the Phelps Surname
    • Possible Origins of the Family in Germany and Italy
    • Spelling and Origin of the Name
    • Welf and Guelph, Possible Ancestors to the Phelps
    • House of Welf vs. the House of Hohenstaufen
    • Origins in Wales
  • William Phelps 1630 Origins
    • William Phelps First Generations
    • William Phelps of Crewkerne, England
    • William Phelps of Tewkesbury, England
    • William Phelps of Dorchester, Colony of Massachusetts
    • William Phelps 1672 Will
  • George Phelps 1634 Origins
    • George Phelps First Generations
    • The Identity of George Parkhurst
    • George Phelps in New England 1634
    • George Phelps 1687 Will
  • Richard Phelps 1633 Origins
  • James Phelps 1786 Origins
  • Phelps Origins in Europe
    • Phelps Origins in Nether Tyne, Checkley, England
    • Decendants of James Phelps of Nether Tyne, England
    • Decendants of James Phelps of Tewkesbury, England
  • Phelps Towns & Villages
    • Tewkesbury, England
    • Crewkerne, England
    • Checkley, England
    • Simsbury, Connecticut
    • Windsor, Connecticut
  • Colonial Voyages to Connecticut
    • Researching the Mary and John
    • Warrent and Order Detaining Phelps' Ships
    • About the Ship Mary and John
    • Voyage of the Mary and John 1630
    • Voyage of the Mary and John in 1633/34
    • Voyage of the Hercules in 1633/34
    • Voyage of the Recovery in 1633/34
  • Phelps Arrival in America
    • Nathaniel Phelps of Dorchester, Connecticut
    • William Phelps of Northampton, Massachusetts
    • Elnathian Phelps b. c1734
    • First Phelps Family Ancestors
    • The Great Migration to the Colonies
      • King Charles Persecutes Puritans
      • John Phelps Regicide to Charles I
      • Phelps Entries in the Great Migration Begins
  • Phelps of Simsbury and Windsor
    • William Phelps and the First Local Government
    • Founders of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut
    • Estimated Population of American Colonies 1620 to 1780
    • Crime and Punishment in Simsbury
    • Organization of the Church in Windsor
    • The Phelps Homestead in Simsbury
  • Phelps Family Letters
    • Isaac Ensign and Cornelia Phelps
    • Ensign Letters from Simsbury to Forsyth
    • Correspondance of Oliver Roswell Phelps and Georgia Phelps
    • Ensign Family Letters
  • Phelps from New York to Illinois
    • Nehemiah West Leads the Settlers West
    • Hoosiers vs. Yankees: A Slave State or Not?
    • The (Ill-fated) Boat Party
    • Pioneer Architecture: From Log Cabins to Homes
    • Galesburg Grows Amidst the Jackson Panic
    • Founding of the Knox Manual Labor College
    • Household Skills in Pioneer Galesberg
    • Commerce is Established With Colton's Store
    • Food and Clothing in Early Galesburg
  • Family Origins in Illinois
    • Noble Phelps Moves West to Illinois
    • Knox County Pioneer Noble Phelps
    • Noble Phelps' Prize Farm
    • Premium for Phelps Best Farm
    • Seraphina Princess Phelps and George Avery
    • Ronald Aaron Noble Phelps 1881 Bio
    • Avery Company History
  • Phelps Family in California
    • Bart Phelps, Navy Telegrapher Radioman
    • Bart Phelps, Yerba Buena 1916 Radio Operations
    • Bart Phelps, Wailupe 1921 Radio Operations
    • Bart Phelps, Alaska 1924 Radio Operations
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps
    • Harold Bartle "Bud" Phelps III
    • A Generation Passes
  • Bartle Family
    • Bartle Family Genealogy
    • The Daily Journal of Births and Deaths
    • Bartle First American Ancestors
    • Henry Hart Bartle Obituary
    • Henry Hart Bartle 1858-1929 Biograpahy
    • Nathanial Sanburn 1723, Kingston New Hampshire
    • Francis G. Sanburn 1899, of Knoxville, Illinois
    • William Toy Bartle Ministry
    • Nathanial Sanborn, 1814, of Canandaigua, New York
  • Beasley Family
    • Beasley Family Genealogy
    • First Known American Ancestors
    • The Price of Slaves 1850
    • Luther S. Beasley 1925 Obituary
    • John T. Beasley 1883-1950
    • John Beasley and Lizzie Bremser Marriage
    • John T. Beasley 1950 Obituary
    • Jane Beasley Raph Professional Life
    • Jane Beasley Raph 2001 Obituary
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps, Mother and Provider
    • Annabeth Beasley Phelps 2001 Obituary
    • Brandy Station in the Civil War
    • T/5 Myron K. Ricketts, WWII Veteran
    • A Hero in Our Midst—Mac Butler's "Battlin' Blue Bastards"
    • Ephraim Beazley 1797 Deeds and Records
    • William Beazley 1824 Court Records and Will
  • Bremser Family
    • Bremser Family Genealogy
    • Finding Heinrich Gottlieb Bremser
    • The Family History
    • Coming to America
    • The Search for Henry Bremser
    • Henry Bremser 1864-1848 Bio
    • Henry Bremser 1864-1948 Obituary
    • Elizabeth Bremser 1888-1952 Biograhy
    • Elizabeth Bremser Marriage Letter Home
    • Bremsers Origins in Germany
    • Bremser-Familiengeschichte (Deutch)
  • Christy Family
    • Guy Christy Horseshoes Collection
    • Christy Family First American Ancestors
    • Guy H Christy, Kentucky to California
    • 27th Illinois Infantry Regimental History
    • The Mystery of Harry Haskell
      • The Civil War Medal
      • A Short Biography
      • Harry's Gettysburg Report
      • 125th New York Volunteers Regimental History
      • Harry's Enlistment Record
      • Harry Haskell Obituaries
      • Mystery Revealed
  • Claggett Family
    • Claggett Family Genealogy
    • Claggett First Ancestors in America
    • Robert Clagget 1490 in England
    • Edward Clagett 1670 Emigration to America
    • Thomas Claggett 1703 of London and Maryland
    • Thomas Clagett 1732 Will
    • Samuel Claggett 1821, Revolutionary War Surgeon
    • Samuel Claggett 1846 of Virginia
    • Samuel Claggett and Julia F. Sanford Marriage Contract
    • Bernard Johnson Claggett 1919 Bio
    • The Price of Slaves 1850
    • Julia {Sanford} Claggett 1876 Civil War Claims
      • Deposition of Columbia Claggett
      • Commision Standard Interrogitories
      • Deposition of Sgt. Ereastus Weaver
      • Deposition of Lt.Frank Foot
      • Deposition of Julia Claggett
      • Deposition of Thomas Claggett
      • Testimony of Craven King
      • Testimony of William Francis
      • Testimony of Erastus Weaver
      • Map of Clagget Farm
      • Claim Exhibits
      • Battle of Bull Run
      • Battle of Brandy Station
      • 121st NY Volunteers
      • Complete Commission Transcript
    • Claggett Family Move to Illinois from Virginia
    • Sanford Ramey Claggett 1895 Obituary
    • Ann Claggett Beasley 1898 Obituary
    • Rev. Thomas John Claggett 1816, First American Episcopal Bishop
    • Thomas J. Claggett 1901 Obituary
    • Columbia Claggett 1904 Obituary
    • Brice Clagett, Family Genealogist
    • Claggett Coat of Arms
  • Diuguid Family
    • Diuguid Family Genealogy
    • George Christian Diuguid of Kentucky
    • The English Royal Connection
    • Harriet Diuguid's Letter About Her Ancestry
    • Diuguid Origins in America
    • Origin of the Diuguid Name
  • Klein Family
    • Klein Family Genealogy
    • Klein Origins in Germany
    • Klein Visit to 1922 Germany
  • Morgan Family
    • Morgan Family Genealogy
    • Utah Pioneer John Morgan
  • Loveland Family
    • Loveland Family Since 1556
  • Notable Family Members
    • 1600-1699
      • John Phelps, Court Clerk at the Trial of King Charles I
      • Anson Green Phelps, Merchant and Philanthropist
    • 1700-1799
      • Richard Phelps, Bell-founder for English Churches
      • Dr. Francis Phelps, Representative and Senator
      • Judge John Phelps, Publisher, Judge, Merchant, and Entrepreneur
      • Noah Phelps, A Spy at Ticonderoga, A Patriot of 1776
      • Oliver Phelps, Land Speculator, Judge, Congressman
      • William Wines Phelps, Judge, Mormon Publisher and Writer
      • William Wines Phelps Letters to Wife
      • William Wines Phelps Revelation Given
      • William Wines Phelps in Church History
      • William Wines Phelps Letter from Liberty Jail 1834
      • Samuel Shethar Phelps, Jurist, Congressman, and Senator
      • Nathanial Sanborn, Pioneer Settler of Canandaigua, New York
    • 1800-1849 A-M
      • Alfred Aaron Phelps, Wild West Show Rider
      • Austin Phelps, Congregational Minister, Educator
      • Charles Edward Phelps, Congressman, Judge, Author
      • Delos Porter Phelps, Lawyer, U.S. Assistant Treasurer
      • Edward John Phelps, American Lawyer, Diplomat
      • George M. Phelps, Master Telegraph Instrument Maker, Inventor
      • Dr. Guy Rowland Phelps, Founder, Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company
      • Judge James Phelps, Judge, Congressman
      • Judge John Jay Phelps, Publisher, Judge, Merchant, Entrepreneur
      • John Smith Phelps, Lawyer, Legislator
      • John Wolcott Phelps, Brigadier General, United States Volunteers
      • Mary Phelps Rich, Pioneer Saint in Tazewell County, Illinois
      • Francis G. Sanburn, Pioneer Resident of Knoxville, Illinois
    • 1800-1849 N-Z
      • Mary Anne Phelps Rich, Mormon Pioneer
      • Rev. Philip Phelps, Founder, First President, Western Theological Seminary
      • John Wesley Phelps, Deputy Sheriff of Hartford County, Connecticut
      • Stephen Sumner Phelps, Illinois Pioneer
      • Thomas Stowell Phelps, Civil War Naval Officer
      • William Walter Phelps, Congressman, Ambassador, Judge
    • 1850-1899
      • Mary Phelps Jacob, Inventor, Publisher
      • William Lyon Phelps, Educator, Literary Critic, Author
    • 1900-2020
      • Chance Russel Phelps, Private, USMC
  • Phelps Family Arms & Crest
    • About Coats of Arms
    • Arms of the Tewkesbury Phelps
    • Arms of Henry Phelps of London
    • Arms of the American Phelps
    • Arms of the Irish Phelps
    • Heraldic Glossary
  • Selected Family Wills
    • Thomas and Katherine Phylypp Wills 1556, Over Teyne, Checkeley, England
    • William Phelps 1672 Will, Windsor, Connecticut
    • Anthony Phillipps 1648 Will, Nether Teane, England
    • Francis Phylyppe 1648 Will, Checkley, England
    • Thomas Phylypp 1556 Will, Over Teyne, England
    • George Phelps 1687 Will, Westfield, Massachusetts
    • Timothy Phelps 1639 Will, Windsor, Connecticut
    • Natnaniel Phelps 1702 Will, Northampton, Massachusetts
    • Thomas Clagett 1708 Will, Calvert, Maryland
    • Thomas Clagett 1732 Will, Prince Georges, Maryland
    • Julia F Sanford 1727 Marriage Indenture
    • Ephraim Beazley 1797 Wills & Deeds, Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • Ephraim Beasley 1797 Deed Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • Ephraim Beasley 1798 to Elizabeth Beazley
    • Ephraim Beasley 1798 Will, Spotsylvania County, Virginia
    • Henry Beazley 1804 Indenture, Spotsylvania, Virginia
    • William Beazley 1828 Will, Culpeper, Virginia
    • William Beazley 1824 Court Records and Will
    • William Beazley 1852 Will, Culpeper, Virginia
    • Cornelius Beazley 1834 Will
    • Ephraim Beazley 1833 Mortgage
    • John Loveland 1649 Will
    • Ephraim Beazley 1798 Henry Beazley 1815 Indenture
    • James Phelps of North Caroline 1786 Estate
    • Robert Valentine Phelps 1905 Australia
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  • Order "Phelps Family in America" Genealogy
    • Updated Index to "Phelps Family in America" Book
    • Excerpts from the Book—European History
      • Spelling and Origin of the Phelps Name
      • James Phelps of Nether Tyne
      • Descendants of Francis Phylyppe
      • Reverend Elnathan Phelps and Eleanor Bridgman
      • John Phelps, Court Clerk at the Trial of King Charles I
    • Excerpts from the Book—American History
      • Introduction to the American Genealogy
      • William Phelps, First Local Government in America
      • Willaim Phelps, Magistrate in Simsbury
      • Organization of the Church in Windsor
      • Early Massacoh (later Simsbury), Connecticut
      • Early Dorchester (later Windsor), Connecticut
      • Oliver Seymour Phelps, Genealogist and Author
      • Noah Phelps, Spy at Ticonderoga, A Patriot of 1776
      • Maps of Ancient Windsor, Connecticut
    • Excerpts from the Book—American Family Histories
      • Introduction to the American Genealogy
      • William Phelps First Generations in New England
      • Descendants of George Phelps and Phillury Randall
      • Deacon Nathaniel Phelps
      • Will or Settlement Deed of William Phelps
      • Last Will and Testament of Timothy Phelps of Windsor, Connecticut
      • The Will of Immigrant George Phelps of Westfield, Massachusetts
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Settlement of Galesburg, Illinois, Including Noble Phelps and Family

Commerce is Established with Colton's Store

The business life of Galesburg began with a real-estate transaction, the purchase of half a township of government land for a dollar and a quarter an acre and selling it for five dollars an acre. People in conjunction with land produce wealth. The direct means here was agriculture, but the farmers required some organ of distribution to dispose of what they raised, and give them supplies in return, and that was afforded by Chauncey Sill Colton. Trade and industry in this prairie village began with two men, the brothers Colton. Chauncey was a merchant, his brother Gad a mechanic. Retailing and manufacturing stemmed from these two. As a young man seeking opportunity Chauncey went to Illinois. He was not a subscriber to Gale's plan, but roaming about the state he heard of it, and visited Knox County. Before deciding on a location, he surveyed the scene of his venture with a shrewd and appraising eye.

He noted that there was already at Knoxville, the county seat and largest town, a flourishing and well-managed store conducted by Herman Knox sufficient for that neighborhood; that at Henderson, the next choice, was a settlement of Hoosiers who, while sufficiently industrious, made merry over the week-end and spent their Saturdays in outdoor sports, horse races, gander pullings and wrestling bouts—much like the New Salem of Abraham Lincoln's youth—who bet their money on such contests, took frequent pulls at the whisky jug, and on Sundays had little inclination for church; but that over at Log City was a diligent colony of settlers, who planned to establish a village on the prairie near by, who worked all the week preparing their farms for occupancy the coming spring, and spent their Sundays in divine worship, a serious people, who took life seriously; that while he himself was not a church member, or even a professing Christian, and had no pronounced views on temperance, he realized that it would be necessary for many years to do business on long credits, waiting for his money until crops were harvested, and taking his pay in produce, and that he might therefore trade more profitably with the sober, church-going Yankees than with the livelier, pleasure-loving Hoosiers.

He bought a lot on the public square in Galesburg, and return furnished water. As a temporary "construction camp" for building a city on an adjacent site, Log City is probably unique in the annals of pioneer settlement.

Here occurred many of the significant events of their lives, births, marriages, and deaths. Here their church was organized. During the one to two years the settlers became acquainted with each other, and lasting friendships were formed. The name had a sentimental interest for years. The children played together in the woods, and formed memories which lasted a lifetime. "There never was," said Sam Holyoke, son of the Cincinnati wheelwright, when eighty-six years old, who lived as a boy in Log City, "another company of people living together for one purpose who lived together so happily and worked with such mighty energy. . . . It will not be possible for those who have no experience with frontier life to realize and appreciate the amount of courage and energy such life demands."

A sketchy community life was set up, education and religion were provided for, and the Galesburg colony had a taste of pioneer life as it was lived by the Hoosiers around them. The cabins were small, generally one room, fourteen by fourteen feet and the families large, and more than one family was the average quota, and this phase of their experience is an interesting interlude to their progress, harsh in the actual experience, but pleasant and romantic in retrospect.

The log cabins, whether bought from the southern settlers or built by themselves, were constructed after the same fashion. From the forest close at hand, where each purchaser of land on the prairie had a timber lot, uniform logs were cut the proper length and pared down on opposite sides to a thickness of nine inches. Timber was also cut for shingles and clapboarding, and joists and spars to be laid across, and the material hauled to the site of the house.

At this point neighbors were called upon, for the "raising." The best axemen were stationed at the corners, as the notching or dovetailing was the more technical operation. The corner man built up the walls of the cabin by fitting the ends of the logs into the corresponding notches square and true. By thus saddling the logs, the walls are raised to a height of about seven feet; the logs are gradually shortened for the gables. After three or four courses, spars are sloped against the sides and the logs rolled up, first by hand, and then with forked sticks. The chinks left between the logs are filled with sticks and daubed with clay, which must be renewed each year.

Poles for the roof are laid from gable to gable and covered with shakes or "Hoosier clapboards," about four feet long, riven from short lengths of log. Weight poles are laid transversely over the shakes to hold them in place, spaced by short bits of timber called "runs." After the house is up and roofed, an opening is cut for a door, usually one on each side to afford air in hot weather, or if a window instead, it is covered with oiled paper. The door is made of spliced clapboards, hung on wooden hinges; the latch is also wood, manipulated by a strap attached, hanging outside through a hole, which is pulled in to lock the door. Sometimes the cabins are double, with a dog-trot between, a pleasant open-air kitchen.

A large perpendicular opening is cut in the gable for the fireplace; the chimney is built outside of sticks laid corncob fashion and heavily coated with clay. The cabin consists of one room, but often poles are laid for a second floor, reached by a ladder through a hole cut in the ceiling. The floor is made by laying sleepers on the ground, to be covered with planks when obtainable. Otherwise puncheons—that is, short lengths of logs split in half, laid flat side up. No nails or other metal are used, wooden pegs or tree nails being employed where necessary.

In this one room the immigrants installed such furniture as they were able to bring on their wagons, eked out by home-made articles improvised on the spot. The fireplace, wide enough to take the biggest log a man can lift, is flanked by a kettle, a longhandled frying pan, and if they were lucky, a Dutch oven—a sheetiron covered box which could be buried in the coals.

Above the fireplace on the mantel stood a tallow dip thrust into a bottle, or a saucer of lard with a strip of cotton cloth for a wick; on a bench a bucket of water with a gourd dipper. At each of the opposite corners would be a one-legged bed—a pole erected between the floor and ceiling, the width or length of the bed from the walls, with poles running from it to the walls the proper height from the floor. A leather thong or rope laced back and forth on these horizontal poles supported a tick filled with straw, husks, or in some cases feathers. Beneath were pushed the trundle beds on which the children slept.

Most of the shifts and devices employed were learned by the Galesburg colonists from their southern neighbors, who had been on the ground seven years, and who even in the states they came from knew no higher standard of living. The Hoosier housewives, though friendly and curious about their new neighbors, resented what they considered their "quirky" ways, and sniffed when the Yankee women vigorously scrubbed and cleaned the cabins taken over from them.

Tables were rude affairs, sometimes boxes or boards, with three-legged stools and benches; a rough cupboard hanging on the wall made proud display of whatever dishes they boasted. Privacy was insured by hanging muslin curtains around the beds; the attic was sometimes divided into guest rooms in this manner, for there were frequent lodgers, until new arrivals could find accommodations of their own. As the heavier household goods began to arrive by way of the Great Lakes or the Mississippi, the cabins took on a more comfortable and homelike appearance, and under the hands of the tidy housekeepers who had tended better homes in the East, acquired a certain domestic charm.

Extracted from They Broke the Prairie: being some account of the settlement of the Upper Mississippi Valley by religious and educational pioneers, told in terms of one city, Galesburg, and of one college, Knox. By Calkins, Earnest Elmo, 1868-1964. New York : Scribner's, © 1937.

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