John
Boyd Messer was one of the most noted of the old settlers. He was born
August 4, 1807, in Pennsylvania, but in 1811, moved with his father's family
to Ohio. In 1828 the family moved to Sugar Grove, Illinois. In 1829 they
moved to where Lexington now stands, and in 1834, Mr. Messer with his wife
and two children moved to what is now known as the Messer farm, about two
miles east of Kappa. He was a great hunter and devoted most of his life
to that business, and was very successful. He made it a rule to kill his
fifty deer in the fall of each year and during the forepart of the winter.
He was generally very lucky in his hunting adventures, but like all men
his good luck sometimes alternated with bad luck. He was once walking in
the snow towards a deer near Wolf Creek, in what is now J. C. Stone's land,
he pulled off his boots in order to walk more silently. He killed the deer
and hung it on a tree, and that was his good luck; but his boots became
so frozen that he could not put them on, and that was his bad luck. He
saw more deer and had a good opportunity to kill them, and this was his
good luck; but the stopper had fallen out of his powder horn, spilling
all his powder, and that was his hard luck. He killed no more and was obliged
to walk home through the snow in his stocking feet. The old gentleman and
his wife both died, some years ago. Their son, John P. Messer, and their
daughter, Mrs. J. B. Drake, live -- the latter in Kappa, and the former
on part of the old homestead.
Allen Hart
was born in Westchester, N.Y., in 1803. He came to Hudson, Illinois, in
1836, and moved to what is now the Hart Homestead in 1837, having purchased
the property of the father of Dexter Amrine. He was a member of the first
jury that ever tried a case in Woodford County. This case was heard at
the April term of the circuit court at Versailles, in 1842, and was entitled,
"The People, etc. vs Jas. L. Gardner indicted for attempt to do bodily
injury." The verdict was guilty, and Gardner was fined $30 and costs. Ephraim
Potter was another of that same jury. One of the attorneys in the case
was Abraham Lincoln. In 1850 when Palestine Township (which then included
El Paso Township) was organized, Mr. Hart was elected supervisor, which
office he held for several terms. He was the
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