Champaign County

The Farmers’ Club was also an early organization which did a good work, and the first farmers’ institute was organized about 1873, but was a short-lived affair. The so-called Fair Association had charge of the agricultural and live stock exhibits, originally held in and near the courthouse square. The first regular fair grounds were four blocks south of the courthouse. H. J. Dunlap, now of Kankakee, who was prominently connected with these organizations in the early days, says that the Fair Association went out of existence about 1900, and adds: “The first fair was held in courthouse square in 1852, … Read more

Father Marquette remained in the mission of St. Francois Xavier through the summer of 1674, and late in the fall started on his journey back to Kaskaskia. The escort consisted of two Frenchmen and some Indians. They reached the Chicago portage in the midst of discouraging circumstances. The weather was severe and Father Marquette, sick unto death, was unable to proceed further. On the banks of the Chicago River they built some huts and here the party remained till spring. During the winter Father Marquette did not suffer for want of attention, for he was visited by a number of … Read more

Before starting for Frontenac, La Salle commissioned Tonti to have charge of the Crevecoeur fort, and also to build a fort at Starved Rock. On March 1st, the day following the departure of Ako and Hennepin for the upper Mississippi, La Salle departed, with three companions, for Fort Frontenac. This was a long, dangerous, and discouraging journey. Every venture which he had engaged in seems to have failed. After finally getting together supplies such as were needed, he started on his return journey. He was continually hearing stories from the travelers of the desertion of Crevecoeur. When he came within … Read more

The Farm Bureau, which is doing work somewhat similar to that of the institute, is an outgrowth of the Farmers’ League, and was incorporated in September, 1913. Its annual expenses of over $5,000 are met by the subscriptions of its 435 members, amounting to about $3,000; a $1,000 appropriation from the board of county commissioners; $900 contributed by the University of Illinois and $300 by the National Department of Agriculture. The subscriptions are graduated according to the size of the farms, and the active lecturer and adviser, known as the “farm expert,” is C. H. Oathout. The president of the … Read more

“The tradition is that many years since and before the settlement of the prairies, a band of regulators from an Indiana settlement, having found the trail of a horse thief, who had successfully carried his stolen animal as far as the Tow-Head, overtook the thief there, finding him fast asleep under the shade of this little grove. Without the form of a trial the offender was promptly executed by being hung by the neck to one of the trees until he was dead, where his body was found by the next passerby. This grove of timber was near the road … Read more

Its dairy products comprise milk, cream and butter in the following quantities (1916): 70,884 gallons of milk and 69,866 gallons of cream, valued respectively at $19,139 and $69,886, and 98,876 pounds of butter, at $36,584. In the central division of counties, to which the State Board of Agriculture assigns Champaign, the county ranks fifth in the annual sale of butter, which brought, on an average, 37 cents in 1916. For the raising of live stock Champaign County possesses unusual advantages, on account of its abundant and pure water supply, its equable temperature and the adaptability of its soils to the … Read more

The farmer has no greater enemy to his crops and to his consequent well-being than the obnoxious insect, and there is seldom one which does not retard some form of vegetable life if allowed to flourish unchecked. Consequently certain varieties of the feathered tribe are the farmers’ most useful friends; which they are, and what kind of obnoxious insects are their specially favored diets are thus told by 0. M. Schantz, president of the Illinois Audubon Society: “It is with very mixed feelings that I come to this meeting of the State Farmers’ Institute to talk to the people of … Read more

The soils of Champaign County seem to be especially formed to raise corn and oats. The elements were what they should be, as furnished by Nature, and the husbandman has not allowed the necessary ingredients to be exhausted. The result is that year after year corn and oats are bumper crops, and grain dealers throughout the country have long considered the Champaign County cereals as standard. In the production of corn the county not only leads the State but the United States. The figures vary considerably, as in other sections of the State, one of the most productive years being … Read more

The oldest of these organizations in this section was the Champaign County Agricultural, Horticultural and Mechanical Association, which was organized in 1870. Its constitution, as adopted October 8 of that year, reads thus: Article I. The name of this association shall be “The Champaign County Agricultural, Horticultural and Mechanical Association.” Art. II. The capital stock of this association shall not be less than fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars, and shall be divided into shares of fifty ($50) dollars each. Art. III. The owner of one or more shares shall be a member of the association, but no member owning two or … Read more