Much of the information presented here was obtained from the book "Tales From the
Trees" published in 1981 by Ailene Hayes Schneider, a Minonk native.
The original settlers in Minonk were farmers from the eastern states looking
for good farmland. Many of the early settlers passed right on by the Illinois
prairie thinking that if the land couldn't grow trees it could not be good soil.
Little did they realize that this was some of the richest farmland in the world
as the result of glacier activity from million of years ago and preserved by the
deep roots of the 8 foot high prairie grass. The original settlers surely
were amazed at the tremendous prairie fires that occurred each year from lighting
strikes during dry periods. Nevertheless, the land was cheap and plentiful and
with the railroad running through the area it was relatively easy to market their
crops.
The first commercial building shown at the right was erected at the northwest corner of Fifth and
Chestnut by Charles Dobson who moved to Minonk from Pattonsburg. His general
store sold dry goods, nails, groceries, etc. The building is presently occupied
by Leiken & Leiken law office. Lumber for these buildings was
purchased in Chicago, transported by rail to LaSalle and then overland to Minonk
by wagon. Mr. Dobson was also the first postmaster.
One of the first families to settle in the Minonk area was the William Alvah
Parks family. They came to Minonk in 1854 from New York State. The family
prospered as farmers west of Minonk for many years. One of the descendants
of the Parks family was Oliver Parks who was an aviation pioneer and established
Parks Air Force College near East St. Louis.
Mrs. Judy Kalkwarf (Parks)
is a descendant of the Parks family still residing in Minonk.
The first doctor in Minonk was Dr. E. A. Wilcox who came to Minonk in 1857 from
Lacon, Illinois. Martha Cunningham (Eikenmeyer), a Minonk resident, is a descendant
of the Wilcox family.
Another of the early settlers were Sam and Joseph Wylie who arrived in 1855
from Vermont to take up farming. Descendants of the Wylie family farmed in the
Minonk area until the 1960's. Thomasin Jury and her 5 children came to the
east of Minonk in 1854 and purchased land for $2.50 an acre.
Thomasin's husband had been killed by lightning near Low Point earlier that year.
Thomasin was the first female farmer in the Minonk area and still has descendants living
in Minonk. They are Adele Stalter (Dovey) and Elaine Cinnamon (Jury).
Reuben Pemberton Bell came to Minonk from Virginia in 1860 and established a
farm that eventually encompassed the area between East Fourth, Mary, Maple and
East Sixth street. The Fieldcrest High School sets on the land formerly
occupied by the Bell Farm. As late as the 1930's students could observe
from the school windows the cattle grazing in the nearby pasture.
Mr. Bell's daughter Sara married
Bela Stoddard. Martha Cunningham(Eikenmeyer), a
Minonk resident, is a descendant of this union. The Stoddard family becomes
one of the most prosperous families in the Minonk area with extensive land
holdings. To expedite the transportation of crops from the field to the local
elevators, Stoddard built a brick road from his farms 2 miles west of Minonk
into the city. This road remained intact until the late 1940's when it was
paved over.