Woodford County is a county located in the state of Illinois. The 2020 United States census listed its population at 38,467. Its county seat is Eureka. Woodford County is part of the Peoria metropolitan area. Its name comes from General William Woodford, an officer of the American Revolutionary War who served at the brutal military encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
History Establishment Woodford County is part of what was formerly the homelands of several Native American peoples, including the Potawatomi, the Meskwaki, Twenty-first century names have been provided for Moore's "Fox" and "Sac" tribes, south of the "Illini." and the Sauk peoples. It was located just south of the land of the Illiniwek. The western portion of the county in particular shows much archeological evidence of having supported extensive First Nations populations.
At the time of the American Revolutionary War, three competing American colonies – Massachusetts, Virginia, and Connecticut – claimed part of what is today the state of Illinois. The matter was solved in 1778 when Virginia amalgamated lands in the region into a massive county called Illinois, borrowing the name of a native people. Indiana Territory was formed in 1800 with William Henry Harrison as Governor; the future Illinois was part of this territory. It was not until 1809 that Illinois Territory was formally established as an official territory of the United States of America. Statehood followed in December 1818.
The first organized Anglo settlements in the future Woodford County region appeared in the 1820s. First settlement in the county came at Spring Bay, with pioneers managing to select the same ground occupied by an ancient Indian burial site which ran north-and-south through the entire settlement. The location was chosen due to its proximity to the Illinois River.Moore 1910, pp. 10–18
In the 1870s, an early historian of Woodford County wrote: There were a few Indians in the county at the time of settlement by the whites, but the two races did not come into conflict to any extent. The advancing wave of civilization seemed to follow up the retreating wave of barbarism. The first settlers encountered a few Indians ... and in 1832 were involved to some extent in the Black Hawk War, but the active operations were further north than Woodford County.
The current boundaries of the county were not those originally drawn; moreover, the names of various counties in the region changed frequently The Eastern portion of Woodford County was known as Edwards (1814–16), Crawford (1816–19), Clark (1819–21), and Fayette (1821-25) Counties, while the Western part of today's county was included in Madison (1814–17), Bond (1817–21), and Sangamon (1821–25) Counties.
In 1827 new lines were drawn and Tazewell County was established, including all of today's Woodford County. Settlers began arriving from neighboring territories during the early 1830s.Moore 1910, p. 20. This led to the formal creation of Woodford County along its current boundaries in February 1841 from a portion of Tazewell County and a portion of McLean County that had been part of Tazewell County before 1830.Moore 1910, p. 12
The county was named for Woodford County, Kentucky, which was in turn named after General William Woodford, who served with General George Washington at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania during the brutal winter of 1777–78.The Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society, Vol. 1. Kentucky State Historical Society, 1903; p. 37.
The first post office in today's Woodford County was established in 1836 at Partridge township, named for local tribal leader Black Partridge.Moore 1910, p. 14. Also in 1836, the area's first (private) school was founded, by Miss Betsy Page. The first public school followed shortly thereafter.Moore 1910, p. 33. The first Sunday school was established in 1837 in the home of Parker Morse in Cazenovia.Moore 1910, p. 94.
Pioneer life
The first settlers of Woodford County occupied crude log cabins. Windows were covered with oiled papers; doors and floors were constructed of rough boards split from trees and held together with wooden pegs. Construction of the cabins was primitive, with the floor plan generally involving a single room heated with a fireplace.
Meat was frequently roasted on a spit; cornbread was generally baked on the fireplace coals. A common staple of pioneer life was waffles, baked from batter in a folding iron mold three or four feet long. Modern canning processes were unknown and the wintertime larder consisted primarily of bread and meat. Vegetables were consumed seasonally, with pumpkin, red peppers, corn, and venison dried for later use.
Clothing was made at home, generally of linen made from homegrown flax. In addition, other heavier compound fabrics known as "linsey," made of linen or cotton with woolen filling, and "jeans," made of an even heavier material and dyed brown with walnut bark, were also used.
Prior to 1831 all preparation of wool had to be done by hand at home, with the raw fiber "carded" between pairs of thin, metal spiked boards about 4 inches wide and a foot long. The resulting rolls of wool were then spun into thread upon a spinning wheel and thereby prepared for the loom.Radford 1877, pp. 29–34.
A sexual division of labor was practiced, with women engaged in home manufactures and food preparation while men were occupied with agriculture, hunting, and construction. Since a great percentage of the land of Woodford County was tillable, farming was the principal occupation of the early settlers. Plowing was by means of wooden plows with iron shares; corn was planted by hand and covered using a hoe. Hay, often using wild rather than cultivated grass, was cut with a scythe and taken up with rakes and pitchforks.Radford 1877, pp. 40–45.
With the advent of timber milling in the area, frame houses became possible. Settlers cooperated in construction, helping one another raise houses and barns. The latter could be 30 feet in length and width with walls perhaps 16 feet high. "It was heavy and dangerous work, and the raising of a large barn required the united energies of a whole community," one settler recalled. Other buildings commonly constructed included stables, corn-cribs, smokehouses, and ash-hoppers. Plank fences began to appear in the 1850s.Radford 1877, pp. 35–42.
Governance by the early settlers was not by secret ballot, but by voice vote.Radford 1877, p. 36
Antebellum years
By 1850, Woodford County was well settled; county's population topped the 5,000 mark. Illinois settlers were overwhelmingly opposed to the institution of slavery, and with the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, popular discontent grew and opponents began to engage in acts of resistance, hiding escaped slaves seeking escape to Canada. One branch of the so-called Underground Railroad along which escaped slaves furtively avoided their potential captors ran directly through Woodford County.Moore 1910, p. 29.
The "stations" of the Underground Railroad were generally residences where escaping slaves could hide from their pursuers. These stations were located at convenient distances so that those escaping (and their "conductor" guides) could travel from one to the next in a single night.Radford 1877, p. 57
The journey was dangerous. Wanted posters offering rewards of $50, $100, and sometimes more for specific runaway slaves were placed by slaveowners, attracting bounty hunters. Moreover, those assisting escaping slaves were themselves violators of the Fugitive Slave Law, subject to prosecution and punishment.Moore 1910, p. 32
Local historian Roy L. Moore wrote: There was bitter opposition to the enforcement of the fugitive slave law. This condition was not surprising, since the county had men who were strong opponents of slavery and likewise men who would make any sacrifice to have the institution stamped out. Over this branch of the underground road many a runaway slave passed on his way to freedom. There was such a strong sentiment against the [slave] traffic that conductors and stations were found in sufficient number to carry on the work successfully.
Church deacons named Mr. Dutton and Parker Morse were credited by Moore as leaders of the local anti-slavery effort. Despite the fact that these and other active conductors in the Underground Railroad were known to the community, popular sentiment against slavery was such that there was "very little molestation for a long time" in Woodford County. Only one instance of an arrest of a Woodford County conductor is recorded by Roy Moore in his 1910 history, and that ultimately resulted in the quashing of the indictment.Moore 1910, pp. 32–33.
Early administrative structure
When it was first established in 1841, the county seat of Woodford County was placed in Versailles for a temporary two-year interval.Moore 1910, p. 103. Competition for the honor (and related business opportunities) was fierce leading up to the June 1843 decision of the county commissioners to tap Metamora (then known as Hanover) as the new seat.Moore 1910, p. 104. A county courthouse was begun in Metamora in 1844 and a county jail in March 1852.Moore 1910, pp. 105–106.
It was during the pre-Civil War years that Woodford County adopted townships – which was met with strong opposition. No fewer than four public elections were held between 1850 and 1854 before the township system gained a majority of votes.Moore 1910, p. 100
Following the division of the county into townships in early 1855, the system of county government was likewise altered, with a county commission giving way to a board of supervisors. Early county officers, including the sheriff, coroner, school commissioner, surveyor, and treasurer were elected to two-year terms of office, later changed to four-year terms.Moore 1910, pp. 100–101.
Other claimants arose attempting to wrest the county seat from Metamora, including Eureka, El Paso, and Roanoke. El Paso was nearly awarded the seat in 1867, when it sent a local attorney to make an offer of $30,000 to the town of Metamora to relinquish the county seat. A closely contested vote ended with the apparent result in favor of El Paso reversed by a bare 10 votes in a recount.
Another vote in 1869 rejected an appeal to move the county seat to Eureka. A dubious recount in a third election held in November 1873 again overturned an apparent result to move the Woodford County seat to Roanoke. A fourth election in 1884, again proposing relocation to Roanoke, failed miserably. It was only in 1894 when a final election provided a decisive majority in favor of moving the county seat to Eureka that Metamora lost its status as county seat.Moore 1910, pp. 107–109.
An impressive new courthouse building was quickly constructed in Eureka, cementing that town's status as legal and governmental center of Woodford County.
Civil War years
Woodford County's population continued to swell, standing at 13,281 when the American Civil War started in 1861. Support for the Union Cause was strong throughout the county; by war's end 1,643 county residents had enlisted in the Union forces – 12.4% of the population.
Calls for troops were translated into state quotas, which in Illinois was customarily apportioned to the various counties according to their population. Enlistment bonuses were paid. After 1862 when the number of volunteers ultimately failed to fulfill a state's enlistment quota, a draft was begun. Substitutes for those drafted could be sent, with prices paid by the draftee to his substitute generally ranging of $500 to $600, although prices of up to $1,000 were reportedly paid.Moore 1910, pp. 122–123