Martin Illinois

Town 24, Range 5 east of the Third Principal Meridian, is Martin. It is six miles square; is the second from the east line of the county, and the third from the north and south lines. The center of it is twenty-two miles north of east of Bloomington. The Mackinaw runs entirely across its northern tier of sections, and threefourths of this tier were covered originally with timber. The remainder of the township is prairie-land of the finest kind, both in the richness of its soil and its adaptability to thorough culture at all times. There is practically no waste … Read more

The following is the roll of officers who have been elected to the various township offices since its organization: Date Votes Cast Supervisor Clerk Assessor Collector 1859 27 J.S.W. Johnson M. Brooke E.W. Anderson S.W. Bray 1860 35 J.S.W. Johnson M. Brooke E.W. Anderson H.C. Langstaff 1861 33 H.C. Langstaff M. Brooke E.W. Anderson P. Horney 1862 30 H.C. Langstaff M. Brooke R.D. Anderson W.G. Anderson 1863 38 J.S.W. Johnson M. Brooke W.G. Anderson J.W. Ritter 1864 33 R.R. Williams J.E. Wood W.L. Anderson H.C. Langstaff 1865 31 W.G. Anderson J. Pool J.S.W. Johnson B.W. Smith 1866 63 W.G. Anderson … Read more

The first settlements were, of course, along the river, and most of those who broke the land here and put up their little cabins along the Mackinaw, still live here, enjoying the well-earned fruits of their early privations, trials and hopes. John Wiley and his sons, William, Lytle R. and Silas W., came here from Indiana in the fall of 1835, the year that the land came into market, and entered land on both sides of the Mackinaw, near the head of the timber belt. The elder Wiley made his little home, with the help of his sons, then young … Read more