FLOURING MILL

- AND

GRAIN ELEVATOR.

Our NEW MILL and ELEVATOR being completed, we are now prepared to pay the

HIGHEST MARKET PRICE

-FOR

ALL KINDS OF GRAIN,

Both for shipment and manufacturing into

FLOUR, MEAL and FEED.

Having expended some fifteen thousand dollars in this enterprise, and feeling confident that the inhabitants of Rantoul and the surrounding country can see that our establishment, properly conducted and supported, will

Contribute Largely to their Interests,

as well as our own, we would respectfully solicit their patronage.

P. MYERS,

RANTOUL, ILL.

to any town in the State. This mill has a storage capacity of 20,000 bushels, can grind 300 bushels in 12 hours, has 3 set of burrs, and is run by a 40 horse-power engine, and has the most perfect facilities for loading and unloading at its bins. Mr. Myers is an enterprising business man, too well known over the county to require any notice from us, and in all quarters deservingly popular.

Isaiah Estep & Son, blacksmiths, are superior in their craft, of which the citizens of Rantoul and vicinity are well informed. Mr. J. M. Gray has no superior in the harness and saddle making business. He is an energetic man, pursuing his vocation with vigor, and has acquired a wide-spread reputation for the quality of his work, and fair dealings with his fellows.

J. H. Doane, the furniture man, has few equals in the land for his prompt business qualities, and attention to the wants of the community in his department.

E. J. Udell, the gentlemanly representative of the Telegraph & Express Company at that place, is another of the representative man of the town. He is a Notary Public, and also Agent for the New American Cyclopædia, and may also be found at his post at the depot.

We might multiply these. The dry goods stores, the boot and shoe stores, grocery stores, drug and hardware stores, are all managed by men of practical knowledge, and experience in their business.

They have three church buildings here,-the Congregational, Episcopal and Baptist; also two other organizations, the Presbyterian and Methodist.

The schools are their crowning glory, having one of the best graded schools in the county, and one of the best and most complete school buildings that can be found in a town of the proportions of this, in the State.

Fine Gold and Plated Bracelets.

ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP.

This town is bounded on the north by Stanton, on the west by Urbana, on the south by Sidney, and on the east by South Homer, being town 19-10. It is one of the oldest settled, and a glance at the map will convince any one that this is the paradise of stock-raisers and feeders. The Salt Fork enters the township from the west, near its northern line, and after flowing nearly across it, and being joined by an important tributary from the north, bends away to the south, making, with its northern tributary, a stream over fourteen miles in length, within this town of six miles square. Along the whole length of this stream is a rich growth of timber, principally of oak, ash and black walnut, exceedingly valuable. The prairie lands are gently undulating, exceedingly fertile, well adapted to the cultivation of the cereals and grasses, as well as the raising and feeding of stock.

The first settlers in the county were Jonathan Kazaë, and Silas Yount, who came from Ohio, and settled here in 1881.

In 1833, Mr. Joseph Stayton, from Ohio, came, and bought out Mr. Kazad, who then left the county. Mr. Stayton continued the improvements but barely commenced by Mr. Kazad, and through the years of discomfort and privation, brought his farm to the rank of first class among those of the county to-day.

In 1834, William Peters, from Kentucky, bought out Yount and continued the work there, he had begun. Both of these were energetic, determined men, true types of the early'.pionneer character of the county, through whose might and courage the wilderness has given place to the garden, and uncultivated wilds to bloom and beauty. Jacob Bartley, Joseph Stayton, and William Peters, each planted an orchard in 1835, the first in the town, and among the first in the county. That year there were, in all, ten families in the township, which did not increase much beyond that for many years.

The first land entered here, was by James Roland, in Feb.,

1830, the east half of south-east quarter Section 23, Town 19, Range 10.

Among the prominent farmers of the town is John Kirk, who came from Ohio. His farm of about 1,000 acres, is one of the best stock farms in the State, reflecting great credit upon its owner, by whom it was planned and improved. In all its details there is manifest a care and judgment, worthy the attention of farmers of all classes, as it is by observing and intelligently comparing the work of others that perfection is reached in any branch of business.

David B. Stayton has also a large, well improved farm, devoted to mixed husbandry, of which stock-raising is the leading feature. He, too, has attained success through a thorough practical application, and earnest labor, which proves the superiority of the man and the farmer.

Uncle David Swearingen, as he is familiarly called, has a reputation second to none, as an agriculturist. His farm, with its buildings, orchards, and other surroundings, shows the careful planning of its manager.

H. W. Drullinger, whose fine farm, with its hospitable mansion, close by the Salt Fork, is another of this class, who honor their calling, and the county in which they reside.

John L. Smith also holds a place in the history of the town that will not soon be forgotten. He is possessed of unlimited energy and perseverance, and well deserves the high confidence reposed in him by his fellow-citizens.

These, and many others, are making their mark in the vocation they have chosen, that shall tell for good, when they have passed off the stage of action, and their places are filled by another generation.

The I., B. & W. R. R. passes through this town, and the little village of St. Joseph gives promise of prosperity and importance.

All kinds of Black Jewelry.

B. E. COFFEEN & CO.,

DEALERS IN

DRY GOODS.

Groceries, Clothing, Queensware, &c.

HOMER,

ILLINOIS.

SOUTH HOMER TOWNSHIP

Is bounded on the east by Vermillion county, on the north by Stanton, on the west by St. Joseph, Sidney, and Raymond, and on the south by Douglas county, and occupies Towns 17, 18 and 19, Range 14 west and 11 east, being four miles wide and eighteen miles long, containing 72 square miles, and altogether is one of the finest bodies of land in the State, well calculated for mixed farming or specialties. The Salt Fork runs through the town from west to east, along which there is a splendid growth of valuable timber.

The first lands entered in this town, were by John and James Parker, October, 1828, the S. E. of Sec. 28, Town. 19, Range 14; Josiah Conger, November, 1827, N. W.

Range 14; Joseph Davis, December, 1835, W.

Sec. 5, Town. 18,

N. W. Sec.

6, Town. 17, Range 14; Zebulon Beard, February, 1830, S. W. Sec. 31, Town. 19, Range 11; Henry Thomas, February, 1828, E. S. W. Sec. 6, Town. 18, Range 11; M. L. Sullivant, May, 1853, entire Section 18, Town. 17, Range 11.

The first settler was a man by the name of Gentry, who settled just north of the Salt Fork timber, in 1827. It is not known how long he remained there, but the ruins of his cabin may still be seen. It was the first white man's house in the

town.

In 1828, Mr. Osborn, Mr. Harris, and Thomas Butler,