At 30 years of age Aaron became the father of Thomas H. ORENDORFF in Tennessee, 22 Aug 1814. At 31 years of age Aaron became the father of Joseph McDowell ORENDORFF in Tennessee, 26 Jan 1816. At 33 years of age Aaron became the father of Delilah ORENDORFF in Tennessee, 5 Jan 1818. At 36 years of age Aaron became the father of Mary H. ORENDORFF in Tennessee, 20 Aug 1820. At 39 years of age Aaron became the father of Abigail Chapman ORENDORFF in Robertson County, Tennessee, 13 Mar 1823. At 41 years of age Aaron became the father of Cyrus W. ORENDORFF in Tennessee, 18 Aug 1825. At 44 years of age Aaron became the father of Darius ORENDORFF in Hopedale Twp, Tazewell Co., Illinois, 21 Mar 1828. Darius Orendorff was born on Section 34, Township 23 North, Range 3 West.
At 46 years of age Aaron became the father of Minerva ORENDORFF 17 Mar 1830. At 48 years of age Aaron became the father of Solon ORENDORFF 26 Dec 1832. * * * * * * * * * * * *
From a book: Hopedale (Illinois), My Home Town By: Ruth Schlipp, 1982 FIRST BRICK HOME IN HOPEDALE
The first brick house built in Hopedale Township, and perhaps the first one in Tazewell County, was built by Aaron Orendorff in 1832. He made the bricks that he used to build this house. This house was a well-known stopping place for travelers. Many pioneers had a good time within its walls. This house was situated in a field southwest of Hopedale about a half-mile. The farm where it stood is now farmed by Norman Birkey. Passengers traveling west over the C. & A. railroad could see the house soon after leaving the town of Hopedale. This old brick house stood there many years after the hustle and bustle of the pioneer days.
I often wonder about all the history that surrounded the weather worn shingles, the doors and window sills that were bleached and furrowed by the elements as it beat against it for over a century. There was not a tree around to shade -the house from the sun, or a vine to cling to its decayed and crumbling walls, or a shrub that birds might sit in to warble their happy tunes. Not even a wild flower that might give the house a touch of beauty and life. You wonder what Aaron Orendorff saw as he added the finishing touches to his home so many years ago. He must have seen the vast unbroken prairie land that was about him and the miles and miles of forest where only the wild beasts and the red man roamed. Perhaps in his imagination he could see the fields of ripe grain, flocks and herds grazing in pastures.
Was it from this house that he planned the town of Hopedale, its churches, stores, schools, beautiful homes? Did he dream about a way to transport the products of the farm and town from what was then undeveloped prairie land? Most of those dreams became a reality to this courageous young man and his family.
It was in this brick house that the first white child in Hopedale Township was born. His name was Darius and he proved to be all his father could want in a son. He died at the age of 94 within a few rods of where he was born.
This old landmark was known far and wide as the "Old Orendorff Brick House". He started it in the spring of 1832, and he worked long hours to make sufficient brick to build a "modern" home for himself and his family. The following fall the house was ready for occupancy.
The cuts showed the south end and the west side of the old brick house. It was 28 x 32 feet, built on square lines and it was one and one-half stories. Two enormous fireplaces which were long enough for a four-foot log were built at both ends of this house.
There were two rooms on both floors. The south room of the lower floor was both kitchen and dining room and the room on the north was the "company" or living room. It was on the fireplace in the kitchen that the crane, or extended arm, swung out. On the crane they hung the pot of venison or wild turkey over the hot coals in the fireplace. This was a necessity to a well-furnished kitchen in the pioneer days, just as our "Jen-Airs", or if your kitchen is like mine, just an electric range, is to our kitchens today. There was a door and three windows on the east side, and a door and two windows on the west side.
The upper floor was divided into sleeping compartments with a solid partition between. To admit entrance to these rooms it was necessary to have a stairway for each. One of these stairways went up from the kitchen and the other from the living room.
In its early history the proverbial latchstring always hung from the doors of this home. It is said that many a weary traveler was given shelter and food here.
The hospitality of this family was tremendous and often they kept people who needed a place to live while they built a cabin for their family and meager belongings.
Could it be those old walls echoed with the laughter of children as they played, or perhaps the young people as they pulled taffy that had been boiled in the kettle over the fireplace?
Did the rooms of this house echo the laughter of a baby and the singing of a lullaby as a young mother rocked her baby in a cradle? Did it hear the prayers of the father as he prayed for protection and guidance from God? Perhaps there was the chimes of wedding bells as two young lives were pledged to one another, the grief of relatives and friends when death entered. Perhaps all of these things were a part of this "Old Brick House", as generation after generation passed over its threshold.
The "Old Brick House" was torn down in the late 1940's or early 50's, I do not know for sure. However, there are a number of people in town that have some mementos of that old brick house. Because of Mrs. Agnes Zehr's generosity, I have one of its bricks.
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THE FOUNDERS OF HOPEDALE
by
Ruth Schilpp (1982?), Author Forward of the book Hopedale, My Home Town
Who were the founders of Hopedale? Why did they select this particular spot as desirable for their homes? The answer to these questions, with all the interesting incidental information, is the purpose of this book.
The name Orendorff, in this year of 1983, is still a familiar one in Tazewell County. A family by this name founded our town in 1826. They were of German lineage, coming from Prussia, north of Frankfort. Three brothers who came from Germany about 1740 are the beginning of the story of the Hopedale Orendorffs.
But it was months, even years, and many moves by these members of the Orendorff family before we learn of Absalom and his reaction to the beautiful prairie and groves of trees that surrounded the town we now call Hopedale. While several miles from this site, he, with his brother Aaron, viewed this area of several thousand acres; which Aaron eventually owned. As the older brother pointed out their possible home sites, Absalom, the bachelor brother, stood on top of a wagon to get a better view.
"There," he said, "see the great oak standing tall like a sentinel on that high ground? If I die while in Illinois, I want to be buried under that tree."
Did Absalom get his wish? To find out we must go back to those earlier Orendorffs and what they were doing in those years between 1740 and this date in 1826. The day which brought these brothers to this spot on the Illinois prairie.
When the brothers, Christian, Jacob and John, came to this country, it is thought they sailed from Rotterdam on the ship St. Mark. These three brothers settled in southeast Pennsylvania in Lancaster County. Christian moved from Lancaster County to a part of Frederick, now Washington County in Maryland, and settled on the Big Antieam River in the early 1760's.
He employed Jacob Hess, a young millwright, to build his mills on the Big Antieam. The railroad bridge is across the river in view of the old mill dam. After Jacob completed the mills, he and Christians' eldest daughter, Margret, were united in marriage. Her father gave them three hundred acres of land about two and one half miles from the Antieam River. On this three hundred acres, a town by the name of Keedyville was located. Baltimore was the nearest market for Christian's products from his mill and plantation. His son, Christopher, was his teamster. Christian and his two elder sons, Christian Jr. and Christopher, served in the Colonial armies during the Revolutionary War.
Captain Christian Orendorff, Jr. was taken and held prisoner by the British for a considerable length of time. It appeared that the Redcoats daughter had been left in charge of him. One day, in the absence of her father, Ann Marie Stille took her prisoner out to the parsonage and they were married. When her father returned, he was furious and demanded an explanation. Captain Orendorff demanded to be put on equal ground and was given a 1oaded pistol , which had a part in an agreeable compromise to the situation.
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Christian Sr. was born in Germany on November 15, 1726. He died near Sharpsburg, Maryland on December 10, 1797. He married Elizabeth Hoffman in Pennsylvania on April 2, 1749. His son Christopher was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on November 23, 1752. He married Mary Thomas in Washington County, Maryland on March 21, 1775. He died in Logan County, Kentucky, on September 14, 1823. He had a family of twelve children, four daughters and eight sons.
Aaron, Absalom and Esau Orendorff were born in Washington County, Maryland. Aaron, was born on February 5, 1784. They moved with their parents to Virginia and then to Kentucky in 1807. Aaron returned to Virginia and learned civil engineering with the intent to come to Illinois as a government surveyor. Because of the Indian trouble in Illinois at that time, government surveying was postponed. Aaron, with his brother John, made farm implements and in 1801-1810, they built a Catholic church house in New Orleans.
Aaron Orendorff and Martha McDowell were united in marriage on September 2, 1813. He sold his land and mill property in Kentucky and moved, with his brother John, across the state line to Tennessee; his wife had property there. He improved that property and built a mill on the south fork of the Red River. They made their home there until 1826.
In the Spring of 1826, Aaron and his youngest brother, Enoch T., who lived in Kentucky at that time, came to Illinois on an exploring trip. They forged the Illinois River near Ottawa, swimming it on horseback. They came to Fort Clark (Peoria) and followed an Indian trail southeast; this trail passed through what is the present town of Hopedale. They were on their way north.
Aaron had heard of an Orendorff that lived on Sugar Creek, some six to eight miles north of Postville, in Logan County. There they found another Christopher Orendorff, a full cousin of their father, Christopher. On their way back north from Sugar Creek, they struck a point of timber bordering Section 34 of Highland Township (later changed to Hopedale Township) on the West. Aaron remarked to Enoch that if they found nothing that pleased them more, he would lay claim here. They went back home to Kentucky.
On their return to Tennessee and Kentucky, Captain John Mosely and Elias Sparrow were so pleased with their description of Tazewell County, Illinois, that they loaded up their families and other household goods and Enoch T. Orendorff with his teas, as guide, came to East Dillon Township in 1826.
Aaron Orendorff closed his business in Tennessee and in mid-autumn moved his permanent residence on the N.W. Quarter of the N.W. Quarter of Section 34; which is now Hopedale Township in Tazewell County of Illinois.
The wagon that brought Aaron and his family to this area, with the few belongings they had, was later taken apart and a table was made from the material. The legs of the table were made from parts of the wagon wheels. The top was made from the bed of the wagon. The spindle was cedar and was turned from a post which fenced in their cabin after arriving here.
This table was handed down through the family and Aaron's great-greatgrandson, Mr. Robert Shipton of Delavan, now owns it and considers it a prized possession of his family heritage. He was kind enough to share this with me and gave me a picture of the table.
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Why did the Orendorff's choose Hopedale to settle and make their home? Can you imagine the beauty of this vast prairie land? The rich soil, the creeks where they could build their mills. Was this the place where they could build, work hard, raise their children and make their dreams a reality? Yes, this was the place. He could see here a future that would bring him and his family happiness and wealth.
John Mosely and Elias Sparrow also located permanent homes in Hopedale Township. There were two springs between the creek that ran between Sections 33 and 34; one spring branched into the south part of that section giving water for drinking, washing, and cooking.
Many years later, Aaron's granddaughter recalled that her father had made her a wood rub or scrub board that was similar to the zinc wash boards in later years. She and her sisters had their wash kettles, bench and paddles under a walnut tree near this spring. He also made them a "modern" wash machine which was made from half of a log with a complete half circle 21 x 41 cut out, a slatted reel, in this the clothing was revolved until there was but little work for the paddle or the rub board.
On the creek between Section 34 and Hopedale Township, a man by the name of Shaw settled for a short time. The place was called Shaws-Branch. Near this branch that ran through Hopedale Township, which was on an Indian trail, a section was selected by a Mr, McClure as a location for his home. He learned later that Aaron Orendorff was to settle here so he chose a location in Stout's grove. This branch of the creek was called McClure's Creek.
It was in this area that an Indian squaw had lived, her husband had been killed in the war and she had requested to be buried on the Orendorff land where her husband had often hunted and where she had spent her early childhood. The Orendorff's granted her request.
The widow Paisley, a sister of Aaron Orendorff's wife, came to Tazewell County with her four sons and four daughters and settled on land that bordered a timber located a mile north of Hopedale. This land is now owned by Deane Wiehmier.
Rev. James McDowell, from Tennessee, came to Tazewell County and settled on the land that joined his sister, Mrs. Jane Paisley. The only sermon preached in Hopedale Township before 1830 was preached by Rev. McDowell in the home of Aaron Orendorff.
THE ORIGIN OF THE VILLAGE OF HOPEDALE
In 1827, Hopedale was founded by Aaron Orendorff. The original name of Hopedale was Osceola. There was an Indian trail that ran through the area so they named it for the chief of the Seminoles. When Aaron made out the application and sent it to the Postmaster General, he found another town was given that name, so he renamed it after the township. It was christened Hopedale by Moses Meeker. The area was largely woodland with the Mackinaw, Little Mackinaw and the Indian Creek as the source of water supply.
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In those early days when Aaron settled here, he owned and operated a lime and brick factory. He also built a flour mill , woolen mill and a lumber yard , a furniture store and a public meeting hall; which we call the "Town Hall". He used the bricks from his brick factory to build it. We still use this building for elections and other meetings. The Open Bible Church used this hall as a meeting place until they purchased another building in town.
Darius Orendorff (Aaron's son) was the first white child born in Hopedale Township and it is said perhaps the first in Tazewell County.
Darius had a daughter named Lydia, it is from her that we get a glimpse into the early years of Hopedale.
In those years, Pekin was quite a pork packing city; yet it allowed the village of Chicago to take a lot of its trade. An agent from Chicago, a Mr. Caldwell, came to buy and bring in Aaron Orendorff's herd of hogs. The next morning there was a warm drizzling rain. The hogs had been left out in the corn stocks so they sent a man to open the gap in the south fence to take the hogs past the timber range on the open prairie. The wind changed suddenly to the Northwest. They called to the man to close the gap. They turned their horses for shelter at full speed. In less than a half mile, their clothing was frozen stiff and their boots froze in their stirrups. It was said that it was so cold that when a lady threw her dishwater out her back door, it froze in mid-air.
On the third morning, they made their drive. The face of the ground was a glare of ice. The ice covered the grass stubs in the low ground and in the ponds. The hogs would slip and fall as they moved across the grass stubs but they finally made it. The hogs had been principally fatted on "mast" which is the fruit of the oak and the beech tree. The average age of the porker was three years. The average weight was three hundred pounds. They brought from $1.25 to $1.50 per one hundred pounds. Each of these hogs had eaten ten bushels of corn, worth in Pekin, ten cents per bushel. When the first settlers cut their wheat, it was with a sickle, thrashed with a flail and cleaned by the wind. It was sold for one dollar per bushel. After the improvement of the cradle, thromping with horses and cleaning with a fan-mill, the price went down until the year the canal was finished which gave them another outlet. Wheat sold at that time, in Pekin, for twenty-five cents a bushel.
On December 29, 1830, it started snowing and it continued for three days and three nights, to the depth of about four feet, on the average. Drifting in some places as high as eighteen to twenty feet. At the time of the deep snow, there were deer, turkeys, prairie chickens and other wild game which came into the feed lots. The opossum became extinct until the year of 1847.
A great deal of early history in this county is calculated by the "deep snow" as it was called. The people that lived here during the time of the "deep snow" were known as the "snow birds" and were among our oldest settlers. Mr. Richmond Robison, Jr., who lives south of Hopedale, has a picture of these "snow birds".
It was a time of intense suffering and inconvenience. For many weeks, the sun was not visible. The cold was so intense that the snow would not melt even on the south side of the cabins. People were locked in their houses, and it was the greatest difficulty that food could be obtained. The early settlers were
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dependent upon wild game and the Indian corn, which had been in abundance that year, although most of it remained ungathered in the fields. They were compelled to go out into the fields and gather the corn. When they saw a corn stalk sticking through the crust of the snow, they would dig down and find the ear. To get wood for fuel , they had to cut off the tops of trees and sometimes stumps the length of a fence rail would be found standing when the snow disappeared. That year, the snow lay on the ground until the first of April. From December 29th, the day it began, until February 15, the next year, it snowed nineteen times. The snow had covered the ground so long that it thinned much of the wild game. They perished in great numbers. The ground was covered with bones where herds of deer had huddled together during the snow. It was said that one could walk over a quarter of an acre and step from bone to bone.
The season following the "deep snow" was a late one. Frost came every month in that year. The corn crop was almost a total failure because it could not ripen.
The grey squirrel found the corn cribs within miles of his range and soon became a pest. In fact, he became such a pest that he was worse than the racoons. They ate more corn than the dwarf rat ate in later years. An interesting fact is that the dwarf rat was imported into the USA in the latter part of the 1830's, finding their way to this area in the 1840's.
Lydia Orendorff (daughter of Darius Orendorff) often told the story of the grey squirrel. Most of the people from Hopedale knew her well. She said that the grey squirrel became so numerous that when she and her brother came in from plowing the field, her brother would take a club and she would scare them out of the crib and as they would run down the fence, he would club them. They soon learned to run to the other end of the fence and into the oak tree. Lydia and her brother would take a grapevine and cow bell and fasten them on a timber limb way up in a tree and when they came in from the field, her brother took his place, club in hand, and most of the squirrels took off for the oak tree. She would then give the grapevine a jerk and every squirrel that was in the tree ran to the end of the limb and jumped for their life. The shower of squirrels was almost equal to a shower of white oak acorns that was knocked out of a tree when a flock of wild pigeons, which were numerous, passed by; they made shadows like clouds passing.
The wild game had returned after the Civil War and they would settle in the white oak trees for food and the acorns would fall like hail. These acorns were also eaten by the children. They ate them either boiled or roasted. They liked to eat the burr oak and the small pin oak acorn because they were so sweet.
Have you ever wondered what the early settlers ate? They depended much on their garden and gardeners they were. They had numerous varieties of vegetables that were raised from their own seed. They surpassed in size and sweetness of anything we have in our gardens today. Watermelons, pumpkins, squash, muskmelon, these seeds were sown with an axe in freshly broken sod. They also had a great variety of other garden vegetables and flowers. The white radish, from seed left scattered from seed stocks over all parts of the garden, would spring up very soon after the ground was broken, and it grew quickly. They were tender and crisp, sliced into a dish of salted water. Lydia said they had one tobacco plant that went to seed yearly for many years. -5 -
They raised almost all of their food and clothing. They had an abundance of wild deer, wild turkeys, prairie chickens, quail, and pigeons. There was also destructive animals such as the small prairie wolf, and the wild cat or catamount (which is in the lynx family). It was as large as a full grown fox and had a short tail. It had no fear of man so they became a real problem. They became extinct in this area in the 1840's. The fox, racoons, skunk, and opossum were also prevalent in this area. The deer disappeared about 1861 and the wild turkeys in 1865. The grey squirrel gave place to the red fox squirrel. The deer is now seen frequently in this area again. The prairie chicken, pheasant, and the woodcock became scarce after the Civil War. At this time, we see many pheasants and also quite a few quail.
In all the material that I had access to, I found no mention of birds other than the wild pigeons. I love to watch the birds that we have now, and there are many of them. I often wonder what kind of birds were here in those early years. Since my mother is in a nursing home in Morton, I have had many hours of bird watching as I go to and from the home. I take a back road and I have observed many things as I have traveled that way. In the last seven to ten years, we have seen many different kinds of birds in our area. The Red Birds, the Blue Jays, Sparrows, Red and Yellow Winged Blackbirds, the Doves, the Brown Thrush, the Robins, the Finches are some of the birds we see in abundance. The last two years, I have seen a number of Bluebirds and they are beautiful. I also had a pair of junco's in my yard this spring. Do you want a real treat on a day that has not gone the best? Take a ride on our country roads or through the park early in the morning or at dusk at night and you will thank the Lord you have eyes and ears to behold the beauty of it.
The fruit they had in those early days was wild fruit such as the crab apple, grapes, plums, cherries, strawberries, blackberries, black and yellow cap raspberries, and many other berries. We have a few of these wild fruits today but people don't pick them like they used to. I remember when my father spent many hours picking these wild berries and loved it so much that he suffered through the poison ivy to do it. There are so many no tresspassing signs today that I doubt that many go berry picking, as we used to call it.
They also had nuts; the black walnut, butternut or white walnut, the hickory nut , and the hazelnut. Most of these we have today. They say that some of'the wild game and these fruits were prepared in a way that was far superior to the tame and cultivated kinds of fruits we have today. We will never know, will we? Where are all those receipes?
Aaron brought from Tennessee many tools for blacksmithing, carpentry, coopers tools (a cooper was one who made and repaired barrels and casks). He also brought a lathe and shoe making tools. When it rained or he had a few leisure days, he made and repaired all of the farming and household implements. Their plates and dishes were remolded by a cobbler who came every year, so their pewter, yes I said pewter, was beautiful. I was just thinking wouldn't it be interesting to be able to visit with those women today? When Denise and I went to a flea market, we picked up some kitchen utensil and she asked "What is it, Mom?" I said, "It's a cherry pitter." She said, "You mean they had to pit their own cherries before they made a pie?" If they could see our kitchens today, they would probably say the same thing. What in the world is it?
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For clothing and household dry goods, they grew flax and raised sheep. The flax for linen had a small stem and grew to two feet high. The seeds were sown on Good Friday, and pulled as soon as the seed began to ripen. They spread it in a wide area on the ground to cure. When it was dry, it was taken up and bound in a bundle and stored until February or March. The seed was then beaten off the flax, spread on the meadow or open ground to rot the stems. They were then gathered into bundles ready for the breaking (I believe this would be like our discing today) which would be done on the warm days before they plowed the flax ground.
Scutch Boards (an implement of wood used in beating flax), sword hackles, spinning-wheels, warping bars and looms were all handmade. The flax gave them summer pants, vests, sheets, shirts, and all their household linens. Their sheep were shorn early and the wool was tub-washed and dried and hand-picked, ready for the carding mill by the time the Red Bud Trees were in bloom. The wool rolls were brought into the house about harvest time. The girls (when old enough) started spinning and weaving the winter clothes and knitting on days they weren't needed outdoors and also in the evenings. The wool was woven into jeans, and linsey, a mixture of flax and wool, was used for filling flannel blankets and for coverlids. Wool yarn doubled and twisted two and three ply were used for stockings and socks. Mothers and daughters designed many beautiful patterns for dresses, blankets, quilts, etc. I wish I could go back 29 years in time and go through our attic which contained many old things of Grandmother Schilpp which we considered "old stuff" that we had plenty of, at that time. I wish I had that "old stuff". It would take me a year to go through that old attic if I could do it today. I would go over it with a fine tooth comb, filling in some of the interesting history that I let slip through my fingers. What is that old proverb? "Too soon old and too late smart".
Some of the pioneers grew indigo which they used for dye. Lydia said her mother never used it because the process of dying this way required much time and care. They did, however, grow their own madder, which was a plant from which red dye was extracted from its root. For other colors, they used the hulls of nuts, the bark of a variety of trees, and wild and cultivated herbs. In thinking about the bark of trees, a while back my daughter-in-law had visited a neighbor with me and her son and they had a Clump-Birch tree in their yard and its bark was coming off. My daughter-in-law was showing Aaron that you could peel the bark off and write on it. He found this fascinating. Now I keep him while she works and one day after we had a storm, Harold found one of our young trees had been struck by lightning and it had several strips of bark off of it. You guessed it , he readily admitted he had taken the bark off of the tree. He said he took it off just in case he wanted to write on it. Grandpa got out his black paint and fixed the tree and Aaron had a lesson on the bark of trees.
PIONEER SETTLEMENT ENDED
William Wilson, Sr., George Bryan Esquire, a Mr. Whittaker and the Finley's settled in Hopedale township between 1828 and 1835. With this date, the pioneer settlements ended in Tazewell County.
The early settlers had prepared the way for the emigrants. Then the Yankee made his appearance. Mackinaw was our county seat and post office from 1828 to
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1836. Then Tremont, which was settled by a colony from New York, became the county seat and our post office.
Delavan, which was on the stage route from Springfield to Peoria, became our post office from 1840 to 1852. Then Hopedale had their own post office. For twenty-six years, they had traveled from sixteen to twenty miles each week for their mail.
THE VILLAGE SURVEYED AND RECORDED
After the death of Aaron, his son Darius, with the tools his father brought from Tennessee, had the opportunity to use them to become a Jack of All Trades. He rented a farm with the intentions of getting a saw mill going. He was going to take A.J. Ogden as a partner but when he mentioned this to his brother, Thomas, Thomas decided to enter into partnership with him. They put their mill on the bank of the McClure Creek which is now the park. They began their operation in December of 1849, and together they operated the mill until 1852. That year Darius and Thomas had the plat of the village surveyed and recorded.
Darius sold 209 acres of land that he owned in Delavan and Dillon Townships and bought 160 acres in Hopedale Township, making his home place and even mile square. He wasn't happy running the mill by horse power so he sold his share to his brother. It wasn't long after this that Thomas put in steam power and built a mill house in the village, putting in both saw and flour mills.
The village itself was laid out on November 1, 1853. The surveyor's stone on Tremont Street (it runs north and south in front of the gradeschool) marked the corner of sections 22, 23, 25 and 27 and what is now Route 122, but was then known as the Bloomington-Pekin Road. Eight blocks were laid off. Six blocks consisted of eight lots which were 75 by 150 and two blocks on the west side with six lots each. This was called Hittle Street. The other streets were named Lynn, Oak, Tremont, and Elm. The center street ran east and west, was named Cherry Street. The one on the south edge was named Walnut. This was known as "Old Town". "Old Town" consisted of a post office, a woolen mill, a flour and saw mill, a furniture store and a grocery store, and a church.
Abstracts to all these lots began in 1829 when Aaron Orendorff received his title to his land from the government. It is said at one time he was the owner of eighty eighties of land.
Aaron's son, Thomas, had one son whose name was Green, to whom some of this land had been willed. Green sold a portion of this land in "Old Town" to Gottfred Schilpp, a house was built on this property and five generations of Schilpp's lived in this home. My husband and son represented two of those generations. We sold this home, which was located on Tremont Street, in 1962 to Dr. Albert Maurer. Mr. Schilpp built one of the first brick businesses in Hopedale in what was known as "New Town". Mr. Godfred Schilpp and his wife, Mary, had the first twins born in Hopedale. Those twins lived all their lives in Hopedale. The twins were named Mary and Elizabeth. Mary married Dr. Robert Keyes who was Hopedale's second doctor. Elizabeth married Anthony Weihmeir who
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was a farmer. At one time, they were the oldest twins in the state. Mary died in 1960 at the age of 93 and Elizabeth died in 1958 at the age of 95.
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The following is an article from the July 4, 2003 Peoria, IL, Journal Star:
Hopedale Celebrating its 150th Anniversary
By JOHN SHARP of the Journal Star
HOPEDALE - Like any small town in Illinois, Hopedale consists of generations of the same families, businesses and ideals. In addition, Hopedale (pop. 1,000) celebrates its annual Fourth of July festival the same way many other typical small towns do: carnival rides, a parade, tractor-pulls and food. But unlike other small-town annual gatherings, this southern Tazewell County town is celebrating its 150th anniversary with reunions, beard judging contests and bluegrass music. It's a unique two-day festival for a town with really no extraordinary past. "It's still a town where if a kid runs out in the road and you stop and explain to the kid why you shouldn't do that without looking both ways, the parent won't get upset," said Nan Springer, co-owner of "Now $ Then", a Hopedale eatery decorated in memorabilia and newspaper articles on the town's past. Hopedale's sesquicentennial celebration continues today with the annual parade kicking off at 10 a.m. Longtime former Police Chief Wilbur "Tex" Hall, 83, will serve as the grand marshal. "Tex was the type of person that made you want to come back home," said Dan Springer, also a co-owner of "Now $ Then." "So many times police can be hard on kids, but when Tex told us to go home, we'd go home and everything would be forgotten. It was mutual respect." Hopedale was founded in 1827 by Aaron Orendorff. It officially became a village Nov. 1, 1853, and has been, primarily, a quiet community to raise a family. Don Springer said the biggest events in recent history were the arrival of Hopedale Medical Complex in 1955, the tumultuous closure and demolition of Hopedale High School in the 1970s and a tornado that struck the town's park in 1986. Today, the medical complex is the community's largest employer, with 250 employees and a payroll of about $6.5 million, said Mark Rossi, the chief operating officer of the complex. The hospital complex was founded by his father, the late Dr. Lawrence Rossi.
(The following is a personal note from George E. Drake about his ancestry: Aaron Orendorff begat Abigail Orendorff who begat Jasper Mount who begat Abigail Mount Drake who begat M. B. Drake who begat George E. Drake, etc. I think this makes Aaron Orendorff my great, great, great grandfather. GED 7-5-03)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Aaron ORENDORFF and Martha McDOWELL had the following children:
At 30 years of age Thomas became the father of Green P. ORENDORFF 24 Nov 1844.
She resided in Hopedale, Tazewell Co., Illinois Mar 1858.
At 28 years of age Darius became the father of Phebe J. ORENDORFF 7 Aug 1856. At 30 years of age Darius became the father
of Lelia L. ORENDORFF 12 Dec 1858. At 32 years of age Darius became the father of Flora E. ORENDORFF 26 Jun 1860. At 34
years of age Darius became the father of Martha A. ORENDORFF 11 Nov 1862. At 36 years of age Darius became the father of
Lydia M. ORENDORFF 15 Apr 1864.
391
i.
Thomas H.7 ORENDORFF was born in Tennessee 22 Aug 1814. He married Letitia C. MITCHELL in Kentucky?, 5 Nov 1840.
392
ii.
Joseph McDowell ORENDORFF was born in Tennessee 26 Jan 1816. Joseph died 28 Jun 1842 at 26 years of
age.
393
iii.
Delilah ORENDORFF was born in Tennessee 5 Jan 1818. Delilah died 8 Jan 1871 in Lincoln, Logan Co.,
Illinois, at 53 years of age. She married Samuel MCCLURE 7 Jan 1848.
394
iv.
Mary H. ORENDORFF was born in Tennessee 20 Aug 1820. She married David
VANDEVENDER 29 Nov 1849.
+
243
v.
Abigail Chapman ORENDORFF was born 13 Mar 1823.
395
vi.
Cyrus W. ORENDORFF was born in Tennessee 18 Aug 1825.
396
vii.
Darius ORENDORFF was born in Hopedale Twp, Tazewell Co., Illinois 21 Mar 1828.
Darius Orendorff was born on Section 34, Township 23 North, Range 3 West. He married Mary J. WALTERS 12 Jul
1855.
397
viii.
Minerva ORENDORFF was born 17 Mar 1830. She married Alfred REID.
398
ix.
Solon ORENDORFF was born 26 Dec 1832. He married Lydia TAFT 22 Apr 1858.
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