The only murder that has ever stained the fair pages of Kappa's history occurred on April 2, 1871, when a man named Abner Allen killed John Crowe. The dreadful affair occurred in the afternoon on the streets just in front of the store of Ira C. Stone. Allen was drunk and disorderly. Mr. Crowe, who was sober and respected citizen, endeavored to quiet Allen, when Allen turned and fatally stabbed Crowe. He lived only a short time. Allen disappeared and has never since been seen.
A short
sketch of the personal history of some of the more prominent early settlers
of Kappa and its immediate vicinity is given below: Every effort has been
made to have these sketches correct. Old records have been examined and
searched. The writer has made many personal visits to the oldest of the
few remaining early settlers; their descendants have been interviewed and
many letters written to persons who are the descendants of old residents,
but who now live in other towns or states. The
earliest
settlers in the vicinity of Kappa were: Thomas Dixon, who came to Illinois
from Ohio in 1826. He was born in Maryland, in 1803. At the age of one
year he moved to Hampshire County, Virginia. His father's name was John
Dixon and his mother's, Drusella Harvey. He was a relative of Jeremiah
Dixon, who with Mason, made the survey known as, "Mason and Dixon's Line".
In 1815 the Dixons emigrated to Ohio and settled on Stillwater River in
Harrison County. In 1826, Thomas, with his wife, moved to Illinois, settling
near Dry Grove, in what is now McLean County, but was then Fayette County.
The next year it was changed to Tazewell County. In a short time Mr. Dixon
moved
up onto the Mackinaw, where he built the "corn cracker" mill, already mentioned.
The stones of this mill were boulders or "nigger heads" with one surface
partially smoothed. They were rounded and bound with three heavy iron bands.
It was the lower stone that revolved. Here he lived during the winter of
the deep snow of '30 and '31. During the Black Hawk or Indian War of 1832,
he
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