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

-22-

Next Page
Previous Page
Link back to index.