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ROOTS REUNION TOUR OF

EL PASO IL AREA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2010

10:15-11:00

HUDSON, ILLINOIS

KAPPA, ILLINOIS

PATRICK CORBITT HOMESTEAD

JOHN CLEARY

J.T. CLEARY HOMESTEAD

11:00-11:30

ST. MARY’S CEMETERY

11:45 – 12:30

LUNCH

12:30-1:00 and 1:00-1:30

BUS #1

DOWNTOWN EL PASO HISTORY

EVERGREEN AND ST. JOSEPH’S CEMETERIES

CLEARY RETIREMENT HOMES IN EL PASO

BUS #2

EVERGREEN AND ST. JOSEPH’S CEMETERIES

CLEARY RETIREMENT HOMES IN EL PASO

DOWNTOWN EL PASO HISTORY

1:30-2:00

ST. MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH

(get off bus, one bathroom available)

2:00 – 3:00

ENRIGHT STATION SITE

JOHN STACK LAND

MICHAEL AND SARAH MURPHY CLEARY SECOND FARM

GRAND VIEW SCHOOLHOUSE SITE

PATRICK CLEARY HOMESTEAD SITE

CORNELIUS AND MARY EVANS HAYES HOME

MICHAEL J. CLEARY SR, M.J. JR and M.J. III CENTENNIAL FARM SITE

CATHERINE CLEARY STACK HOME SITE

MICHAEL AND SARAH CLEARY FIRST LAND SITE

THOMAS CLEARY HOMESTEAD SITE

MARTIN CLEARY HOME SITE

FISHBURN SCHOOLHOUSE SITE

3:00 – 3:30

DRIVE BACK TO BLOOMINGTON

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ELPASO BUS TRIP, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2010

NOTE TO BUS LEADERS: There is plenty of info here. You may need to delete some of

the info to keep on the time schedule.

(Have people gather in lobby at 10. Decide who has to carpool if anyone. Those carpooling get

a script/photos/family tree to follow as they drive. Those in bus get photos/family tree only.

Make sure we have some water and orange juice and first aid on board each bus)(Let’s try to

bring some lawn chairs to be used for those that need to sit at the cemetery)

Hi. Welcome cousins! I am xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, from xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, a descendant of

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. We want to thank the Quinlan cousins for donating the

cost of the buses today. Any Quinlan’s on board??? How about a round of applause?

Today our tour will focus on the lives of the children of Mary Quigley Cleary, our immigrant

Irish matriarch. We will hear what McLean County was like when Mary and her 5 sons and 2

daughters arrived from Ireland. Some of her sons will be talked about more than others, only

because there are more written records from which to gather information. You will need to use

your family tree to keep track of who is being talked about today, as we have many Michael’s.

As Mary Quigley Cleary had 42 grandchildren we will cover only a few of the grandchildren

today. If you are descended from any of the Cleary’s, then Mary Quigley Cleary is your

matriarch. (ASK FOR RAISE OF HANDS)

We will also overlap with the James Murphy family from yesterday’s Bentown tour as one of the

Murphy girls—Sarah-- married Michael Cleary. In addition, the daughter of one of the Mary

Murphy Evans married Cornelius Hayes from El Paso area.

If you are descended from Bridget Blair, Mary Evans, Sarah Cleary or Philip Murphy then James

Murphy is your patriarch. (ASK FOR RAISE OF HANDS)

If you are descended from Michael and Sarah Murphy Cleary, then you can claim both James

Murphy and Mary Quigley Cleary as your matriarch and patriarch. (ASK FOR RAISE OF

HANDS)

If you are not descended from one of these, or married to a descendant, you are on the wrong

bus!

We have emergency water and juice on board and a first aid kit. Our first bathroom break will

be at lunch. A group photo will be taken today on the steps of St. Mary’s Church. Bob Stozek

will be our photographer today and will also take random photos. All photos will be published

on our family website for you to copy.

You each have an “As It Was Then” photo pages with today’s itinerary and family tree. As we

see sights today, you will be able to see how it looked many years ago. A copy of the “script” I

am reading from will be available for you on our family website.

Please speak up any time you have something to add.

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10:30 (bus leaves the chateau)

DRIVE: Veteran’s Parkway north to Ft. Jesse Rd (corner of CVS Pharmacy)

Turn left (west) on Ft. Jesse to stoplight. (corner of Walgreen’s)

Turn right (North) on Towanda. Go north on Towanda to Raab Rd. (corner of large

church)

Turn left (west) on Raab Rd to Linden.

Go north on Linden (also North 1500 East) straight to Hudson, IL. (about 8 mi)

WHAT WAS BLOOMINGTON LIKE WHEN THE

CLEARY’S CAME FROM IRELAND?

The Cleary’s were from County Tipperary, Ireland. They began immigrating in 1854 with the

two eldest sons coming first, Patrick and Michael. They worked a few years in the New York

area and then settled near Bentown and worked as hired hands. (Bentown was covered on

yesterday’s tour.) It took the next ten years for the entire family to arrive and be reunited. It is

surmised that each helped the next to come over. Once that goal was met, the Cleary’s began

buying land in Gridley Township.

The Cleary brothers arrived in Mclean County at an advantageous time. The railroads had just

come thru the county--which over the next 20 years would bring tremendous growth and land

availability. In 1830 there was no Bloomington, in 1850 6,000 population, and by 1860 28,000.

When the Cleary family was first taking root in McLean County, Bloomington had a Court

house, railroad shops, schools, churches, shops, parks and saloons. Abe Lincoln practiced law in

this circuit and was often seen in Bloomington. The President was Franklin Pierce. We were

only a few years away from the Civil War.

The only immigrant daughter to live in Bloomington was

Mary Cleary Penn (daughter of Mary Quigley Cleary) Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1845. Immigrated in 1859 and lived with her brothers

Patrick and Michael in Old Town Township (near Bentown). The next farm was owned by the

Penn family. At age 16, Mary married Clement C. Penn. They lived in Bloomington and had 7

children.

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The other immigrant daughter

Margaret Cleary Kennedy (daughter of Mary Quigley Cleary) Born in County Tipperary, Ireland, around 1820. She married John Kennedy while still in

Ireland. They stayed about ten years in the New York area after immigration and then settled in

the Peoria area. She is believed to be buried in Peoria.

TRAVELING NORTH

As we travel north, we will be back and forth between McLean County and Woodford County.

HUDSON

We are passing Hudson IL. In 1836 a hopeful group of New Yorkers laid out a planned

community named Hudson. Each investor would receive a town lot for his home, an adjacent

outlot for the milk cow, a wood lot for fuel to ward off the hard winters, and a prairie section for

growing crops. The plan attracted many hopeful families. Families could enter new lands and

re-create New England on the prairies of Illinois.

Yankee ways were a part of village life in Hudson for many years. One of the Hudson town

services was handled by the village herder. His job was to keep track of everybody’s milk cows,

gathering strays and helping get the cows to the outlots in the morning and back in the evening.

Continue straight thru Hudson IL. (becomes N. 1475 East)

Continue 2 miles to E 2500. Turn west on E 2500 for short distance. Turn north on Rt 251

(do not cross overpass)

KAPPA

As we cross the Mackinaw River and look to the right, you will see the remains of an old iron

bridge. Near the site of the bridge was one of the first grist mills in the county. (corn cracker

they called it then). Built by a Mr. Dixon, born 1803, he and others from this area served in the

Blackhawk War. His descendants live in the Dixon centennial farm on the north edge of Kappa.

Mr. Dixon was a relative of Jeremiah Dixon, who with Mason, made the survey known as

"Mason and Dixon's Line".

The dam for the mill provided a small lake and became a picnic center towards the end of the

19th century. They built a dance pavilion and other facilities, added a fleet of row boats, and at

one time had a small steamboat which made regular trips between the dam and a deep spot at a

bend in the river. Surely, our Cleary ancestors would have enjoyed a picnic or two here.

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GOING INTO KAPPA

The Village of Kappa plays an important part in the history of this area Long before most of the

El Paso appeared above the grass and flowers of the Prairie, Kappa was running three large

stores and dealing extensively in grain. By 1867 when the Cleary brothers moved to El Paso area

Kappa had a school, Methodist and Baptist churches, shoe factory, train depot with eating house,

and doctor, blacksmith, carpenter, and general store.

DRIVE OUT OF KAPPA

Continue on Rt 251, jog left, jog right, continue north on Rt 251

After the jog right, go ½ m., west side of road, was Patrick Corbitt farm. Nothing remains.

PATRICK CORBITT (father of Richard Corbett)

Any Corbetts or Quinlans with us today?? (Show of hands)

As we pull out of Kappa, round the curve by the cattle farm, then go 1/2 mile. On the left was

the homestead of Patrick Corbitt. Patrick Corbitt was born 1815 in Tiffiara, Ireland. Patrick

Corbitt came to Kappa in 1852 to aid in the construction of the railroad. He was here a year

before sending for his wife. He worked on the railroad till 1860, when he went to farming and

accumulated a nice property.

Patrick Corbitt had 7 children. He died 1880 and is buried at St. Mary’s, El Paso. One son,

Richard, married Mary “Mollie” Cleary, daughter of Michael and Sarah Cleary. Richard and

Molly were to live in Ludlow/Rantoul area and farm and have 7 children. The spelling of the

Corbitt name was changed to Corbett by some of the descendants. (surnames: Quinlan, McCabe,

Halpin, Corbett) We thank the Quinlan cousins again for donating the cost of today’s buses.

Continue north on Rt 251 1/2 mile to NW corner of Rt 251 and 700 N., west side

of road, nothing remains of John Cleary homestead.

JOHN CLEARY 1843-1898

The 5th son of Mary Quigley Cleary. Born in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland 1843. Came to

America in 1864 with brother Martin. Married Jane Reeves in 1868 in Blooomington. His farm

was just north of the Corbitt farm. Worked in Minonk coal mine and Kappa brick yards. We

believe John owned land here.

Minonk is 10 miles north of El Paso. The Minonk coal mines were opened in the middle 1860's.

For many years it was the main industry in Minonk employing 400 men at its peek. Anyone

traveling through Minonk can't help notice the huge slag pile that looks like a purple mountain.

This mountain was created from the residue of the mine and was called "Jumbo" by the local

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people.

On the evening of Oct 5, 1898 John got off the southbound train in Kappa and started walking

the one mile north up the track towards home. He was struck by a south bound freight train. He

died the next day. He was only 53 years old. We believe photo 2 is John. He had 11 children.

His granddaughter, Rita Hynes Scheer lives in El Paso. She is the last surviving grandchild of

our immigrant Cleary brothers/sisters.

(ANY DESCENDANTS WITH US TODAY?)

Continue 1 mile north on Rt 251 and turn right (east on 800 N). Go past grain

bins and pull into farm lot on south side of road.

JOHN T. (J.T.) CLEARY FARM 1863-1954 Photo 1

Eldest son of Michael and Sarah Cleary This farm is the only farm of Cleary descendants in the

El Paso area still farmed by direct family. Farmed today by his grandson Dennis Cleary and his

sons John and Tom. The farm was nearly lost in the depression. J.T.’s son, Eugene, came home

from college and went to St. Louis and was able to work with the bankers and saved the farm.

Until the 1990s Mike Cleary III was the other Cleary descendant still farming. We will see that

Centennial Farm later. The original house was on the northwest corner of the building

area. (Point to empty lot between the drive and mills)

J.T. was a prosperous farmer and father of 8 children. He was one of the organizers of the

Woodford Cty Farm Bureau, an early director of Farmer's Elevator Co., and served on the high

school board. Around 1930 J.T. built a retirement home in El Paso which we will see today.

(ANY DESCENDANTS WITH US TODAY?)

Continue North on Rt 251 about 3 miles to Cemetery

EARLY ROADS

An important factor in the slow development of rural McLean County was the fact that the soil

was abominable in its natural state for the building of roadways. The nature of the soil, when

soaked with water, was the consistency of putty or worse.

With the advent of the Civil War, main north-south and east-west roads had been accomplished

but even these remained horrendous during the wet seasons. Not until motor cars made a

growing demand for road travel the paving of county roads in McLean County began.

In 1923 the state of Illinois began building a new “hard road” paralleling the Toledo Peoria and

Western Railroad, which was at first called the Corn Belt Trail, but soon became U.S. 24.

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BUSES PULL INTO MIDDLE LANE AT CEMETERY AND BACK OUT TO

LEAVE

ST MARY’S CEMETERY

Before we disembark, please be respectful and keep on the grass walkways or drives. As we get

off, we will gather for a short history of the cemetery and then a short ceremony at the graves of

our matriarch of the Cleary family (Mary Quigley Cleary) and patriarch of the Murphy family

(James Murphy). Our cousin Larry Wallace will show us where to gather. After that, there will

be plenty of time to walk thru the cemetery. Please be back on the bus at XXX and we will go to

lunch.

Return to Intersection of 251 and 24. Go west short distance to fast food area.

LUNCH BREAK

Time for lunch! You have your choice of McDonalds, Subway and Hardees. Please be back on

the bus at XXXX The bus does not allow xxxxxxxxxxxxx to be brought on after lunch.

After lunch the buses will split up. Bus #1 will be taken on a tour of historical downtown El

Paso by David Fever---local historian, genealogist, and Rose and Joe Hayes’ nephew.

While bus #1 is on the downtown tour, bus #2 will tour Evergreen Cemetery, St. Joe’s Cemetery,

and Cleary retirement homes in El Paso.

The buses will then meet and David will board bus #2 to give the downtown tour while bus #1

sees the cemeteries and retirement homes!

The buses will meet up again in one hour at St. Mary’s Church where we will unload.

BUS #1 DOWNTOWN EL PASO HISTORICAL TOUR

Pick up DAVID FEVER at Doc’s Drug Store lot downtown

BUS # 2 DRIVE TO EVERGREEN CEMETERY AND ENTER, STOP BY ST. JOE’S

EVERGREEN

The El Paso Cemetery Association was organized 1859 to solicit funds for the purchase of a site

for a cemetery located east of the village. The land was a part of the Illinois land grant to the

Illinois Central Railroad. Early burial records for the cemetery were lost when the home of the

sexton burned in 1890. A number of persons were transferred from farm graves, so some stones

show earlier deaths than the cemetery records would provide, and it cannot be determined when

the first burial occurred.

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A township highway on the south side of the cemetery was vacated in 1917 and a quilt claim

deed from adjoining landowner James W. Cleary (Thomas’ son) secured the area for an addition

to the cemetery.

ST JOSEPH’S CEMETERY

2.7 acres in the northwest corner of Evergreen cemetery were purchased in 1870. St. Joseph’s

has been the burial site for German members of St. Mary’s congregation.

Family members buried are:

Corbitts, Haas

EXIT THE CEMETERY TO GO TO ELMWOOD COURT

PULL INTO PAVED LOT IN MIDDLE OF CIRCLE

ELMWOOD COURT

Elmwood Court is interesting because members of the J. T. Cleary family built homes here and

have lived here over the years. Elmwood Court was originally a circle until the newer apartment

building was built.

521 Elmwood Court Photo 2

The large white house in the center of the circle was built in the 1860’s and was the home of El

Paso’s co-founder George Gibson. George L. Gibson had made the gold rush trip overland to

California in 1849 with John Tucker, an adventurer whose wife's brother was a tight-fisted and

shrewd thirty-six- year-old bachelor named James H. Wathen. Wathen would become Gibson’s

partner in the founding of El Paso. James Wathen’s home still stands on Main Street and was

locally known at The Elms restaurant for many years.

The founding of El Paso, Illinois was a cold business venture. Sites for the new towns were

being staked off every seven or eight miles along each railroad right-of-way, with quick profits

in sight. Nothing but prairie grass and one tiny cottonwood sprout stood on the future site of El

Paso. How then did it happen that a town grew here, on a spot not selected for one by the Central

IL. Railroad?

In midsummer of 1852, two young business men of Washington, Illinois, then a rail less village

east of Peoria, noticed there was still an unentered half section of land. They conceived the idea

of patenting these two adjoining quarters and then plotting a town site, hoping they could induce

the proposed eastern extension of the Peoria and Oquawka Railroad to cross the Central over

their land. They succeeded and in 1856 the rails were laid.

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Gibson and his fellow founder James Wathen drew straws to see who would choose a name for

this town. Gibson won. Having returned from a trip from California thru El Paso County in the

Rio Grande pass in Texas, he named the town “El Paso”, Spanish for “the pass.”

Elmwood Court, El Paso IL

J.T. Cleary (whose farm we stopped at) built the big brick house on the "circle" in El Paso-

before 1930. J.T. and his wife Mary retired from farming and lived here. When J.T.s wife died

in 1933, son Eugene and his wife Isabel married in September 1933 and moved into the house

and cared for J.T. "Pop". Eugene’s sister Madelon who also lived there. Granddaughter Mary

Adlington remembers it was a beautiful brick house with beautiful wood work.

J.T.s son Frank Cleary later bought the house and lived here until he moved to California.

591 Elmwood Court (home north of the new apartment building)

In 1940 Eugene and Isabel, having lived 1 mile west of the farm for several years, built a new

colonial house at 591 Elmwood Court near J.T.s home. Eugene’s daughter Mary Adlington

remembers climbing to the second floor of the house on a ladder when it was being built.

The family sold the house when Isabel died in 1973. Son Stephen married and had three children

and eventually bought the house back. He and his wife live here today.

Elmwood Court

Around 1940, J.T.s daughter Kitty Cleary Bosworth and her husband Vane built a house with a

similar floor plan as her brother Eugene’s just west of the brick house. Kitty and Vane lived

there for a time and then sold it to her sister, Loretta Cleary Hass and her husband Arch who

moved in from their farm. Arch died and Loretta lived there until she became ill..

DRIVE TO MICHAEL AND SARAH CLEARY’S RETIREMENT HOME AND STOP.

297 S Sycamore. Northeast corner of intersection of S. Sycamore and W. Lincoln.

Michael 1828-1907 and Sarah Cleary 1841-1917 PHOTO 3 Purchased by 1901 and remodeled by 1903, this was the retirement home of Michael and Sarah

Cleary.

Drive to meet the other bus and pick up David Fever at Drug Store lot

downtown.

BOTH BUSES SHOULD MEET AT ST. MARY’S CHURCH AT XXXXXXXXXX

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ST. MARY’S CHURCH BUS LEADER

Here we are at St. Mary’s Church. The ONE bathroom is located in the vestibule. This will be

the last bathroom break today before we return to The Chateau. We will be here about ½ hour.

(MAKE A JOKE ABOUT DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE END TO GO) (WE DON’T HAVE

TIME TO HAVE PEOPLE LINED UP WAITING)

Before we go into St. Mary’s, please stand on the steps for a group photo. Tall people at ends of

rows or back row!!! To save time, Bob Stozek will take the photo and it will be posted on the

family website. That way we won’t have to take snaps with everyone’s camera!!!

After the photo, please enter the church and look around. In the vestibule is a display in Bishop

Fulton Sheen’s memory. When we are settled we will have a blessing by the priest, and then

Sister Catherine Cleary will present a short program of the history of the church, the connection

between the Thomas branch of the Cleary family and Bishop Sheen, and time for plenty of

anecdotes that you would like to share about El Paso, your grandparents, the church, farming,

schools…... Be ready to share. I bet you heard a lot of good stories today over lunch??? Let’s

hear those too.

Let’s unload and gather on the steps for the group photo.

LEADER Time to board the buses. We will head east of El Paso into the countryside to see the homesteads

and schools of our ancestors. We will not be getting off the bus during this part of the trip but

we will stop at different sites so they may be viewed from the bus. We should be back at the

Chateau by 3:30.

DRIVE: RT 24 EAST TO N. 1600 EAST ROAD. PULL ONTO 1600 TO STOP ON SIDE

ROAD

ENRIGHT STATION Photo 4

Built in 1900, the Enright station would have been a hub of local activity for farmers, a place to

get the news about what was happening in the area.

STACK

For those Stack descendants on board, 80 acres on the NW side of Enright corner was owned in

1895 by John Stack. Prior to that, John Stack purchased 40 acres ½ m north and 1 m east in

1871 when he moved from Peoria area.

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We will now be visiting the sites of farmsteads owned by the immigrant Cleary brothers.

Michael, Patrick, Thomas, and Martin who all lived within 1 mile of each other here in Gridley

Township. We will also see two schools attended by the family and a few second generation

farms.

DRIVE: CONTINUE ON RT 24 EAST ONE MILE. PULL INTO DRIVE ON SOUTH

SIDE OF ROAD.

Michael & Sarah Murphy Cleary farm Photo 5 Any descendants of Michael and Sarah on board?

Born in 1828 in County Tipperary (Nenagh) Ireland. He and his brother Patrick were the first

Cleary’s to come to America in 1854. Worked as a hired hand near Bentown. Married Sarah

Murphy of Bentown in 1862. He purchased his first land 1 mile south of here in 1867, 40 acres,

for $560 from railroad which we will drive by today. By 1880-1890 Michael sold the land 1

mile south and purchased this land. The house looks much as it did when built. Michael

continued to add properties over the years. When his sons came of age and land had become a

premium in Gridley Township, he began purchasing land near Ludlow/Rantoul and established

his sons and daughters in farming. Only children J.T., Patrick, Catherine Stack, Bridget Frawley

and Lucy remained in the El Paso area.

Sarah’s father, James Murphy, whose grave we saw at St. Mary’s cemetery, was living here with

Sarah and Michael at the time of his death.

In 1901 Michael and Sarah bought a retirement house in El Paso which we saw earlier today.

Michael died in 1907. Newspaper account of his death: “By industry and economy, he

succeeded in acquiring a satisfactory competency. His estate consisted in fine farms located in

Gridley and Ludlow. At the time of his death he was retired and living in El Paso.”

This home has housed several generations of Cleary’s:

Michael’s son Patrick and Eva married 1903 and raised their 12 children here.

Patrick’s son Don and Della and family lived with his father Patrick after Eva died in 1957.

Patrick’s son Leo and Margaret lived here after that.

CONTINUE ONE MILE EAST ON RT 24 TO N 1800 EAST

PULL IN THE BUSINESS ACROSS THE STREET TO TURN AROUND AND GET A

VANTAGE POINT OF THE INTERSECTION

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GRAND VIEW SCHOOL NW corner by tree Photo 6

Erected in 1873 the neatly painted house on the level prairie suggested the name, Grand View.

Prior to 1873 there was a large corral on the school site where the cattle of the community were

collected. During the day a boy herded them on the prairie, dipped water for them from a curbed

well to the north, and returned them to the corral in the evening.

This school would have been attended by up to 3 generations of children from the following

families:

Hayes, Michael and Thomas Cleary’s children and grandchildren.

When we stop at Fishburn School later today, we will hear more school stories about both

schools.

PATRICK CLEARY HOMESTEAD SW corner

Born in 1824 in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. Came to this country in 1854 and settled in

Bentown area. He married Mary Spain in 1859. In June 1870 he purchased 40 acres here for

$560 from the railroad. Patrick and Mary had no children. He died May 19, 1893.

Joe and Rose Hayes (part of our tour committee) lived in Patrick’s house and farmed the land in

their early married days. Joe Hayes grew up in his grandfather Cornelius Hayes’ home that you

see just to the east. We will drive by it and then come back by it so all can have a good vantage

point.

DRIVE EAST ON RT 24 SLOWLY PAST THE CORNELIUS HAYES HOME. TURN

AROUND IN THE EMPTY BUSINESS LOT.

CORNELIUS AND MARY ELIZABETH EVANS HAYES – large house just to east

PHOTO 7

Any descendant’s on board??

Mary Elizabeth Evans (1859-1943) daughter of Mary Murphy and John Evans of Bentown,

married Cornelius Hayes in 1877. Cornelius was a cousin of the Cleary brothers and had

immigrated with Martin and John.

Mr. Hayes from a young man was frugal and hardworking. He accumulated 500 acres of fine

farmland here. He built this large home in 1897. He would die in 1905. He and his wife had 11

children.

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His grandson, Joe Hayes, remembers his Father telling him that his grandmother (Mary Elizabeth

Evans Hayes) wanted a practical square house, but his grandfather (Cornelius) wanted to build a

showplace. It had a lovely staircase and hall inside the front door next to the parlor. At the top

of the staircase there was a kind of sitting room surrounded by the stair rail. There were also

stairs going up from the kitchen, which is what they always used. Joe's Father also commented

that when they put siding on the house in the Forties, they had to tear off at least $1,000 worth of

"gingerbread".

This house was home to several generation of Hayes’.

GRIDLEY , IL

Two miles east on Rt 24 is Gridley, IL. Asahel Gridley, a local politician, went to Springfield

and he got the IL Cen RR routed through here. He made a millon $. He was described as one of

the most important men in McLean County’s first 50 years and also as the most disliked man in

town. Abe Lincoln once defended Gridley in a slander suit. Lincoln was quoted as “If anybody

else would have said it he would be guilty of slander. But everybody knows General Gridley

talks that way all the time.”

Drive west on Rt 24 and turn south on 1750 E (known as Cleary Road)

Drive one mile south just past E 3000 N.

PULL INTO SITE OF CENTENNIAL FARM LOT AND STOP

MICHAEL J CLEARY Sr. 1864-1943 PHOTO 8

Before we get to the immigrant brothers Michael, Thomas, and Martin’s farmsteads, we are here

where Thomas’ son, grandson, and grt grandson lived and farmed.

In 1980, this farm was given the Illinois centennial status for having 3 generations farm here for

over 100 years. This land was farmed by Michael Sr, Michael Jr., and Michael III.

Who on the bus was raised here???

Born near Bentown in 1864. Son of immigrant Thomas, he came to Gridley Township with his

parents in 1866. Attended Fishburn School but quit after the fourth grade to help his father farm

80 acres. Age 16 he left home and worked in a coal mine in Bloomington. In 1883 he married

Julia Hanifin. They moved to a house on this site on 80 acres he had purchased. The house was

located behind the newer machine shed.

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In 1900, two years after Cornelius Hayes built his large Victorian home on Rt. 24, Michael J. Sr.

built a new large house on this site. The following excerpt from the Bloomington paper provides

an apt description: “It is a two story frame house, with all the modern improvements. Every

room in the house has hot water heat, even the kitchen. There is a cellar under the entire

building. The house cost fully $5,000. It contains 15 rooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 lavatories, each

with marble slabs and 3 water closets. With money inherited from her father, Julia, Michael’s

wife, bought new furniture and wall to wall red carpeting on both the downstairs and upstairs

floors. Carpenters who built the house were paid $1.50 per day. Here they raised their 15

children.

One interesting fact is that the house had a front staircase and a back staircase. The back

staircase led to upstairs bedrooms that were occupied by the hired men. At times there were up

to 16 hired men working on the farm. The upstairs hall was walled off and did not go thru to the

family side. In later years, when the home was occupied by Michael J. Jr. and family, their

young boys occupied the former hired men bedrooms. If they were sick in the night, their mom,

Clarys, had to go down the front stairs, walk the length of the house, and go up the back stairs to

get to her sons!!

Michael J. Sr. was one of the first to see the necessity for land drainage. He put in new tile lines

each year. He was an expert in breaking and training wild horses; at least twice he had a train

car load of wild horses shipped to him from the West which he would break and sell. Often there

were as many as 50 horses in the barn at once. He built the first cement tanks for livestock water

supply. He was one of the first in these parts to rotate various crops and apply chemical

fertilizers to the soil.

A huge ice house was filled in the winter by the hired men cutting blocks of ice from the forest

rivers. The concrete hitching rack Michael built still stands in the farmyard. The hired men

would hitch up the horses for the daughters that were teaching at local schoolhouses. The horses

would be ready when the girls came out in the morning.

Michael was recognized as a great story teller and was called “Monarch” because of his wide

knowledge. If he had two hired men that were more interested in talking than working, he

would create suspicion between them. To effect this, he would furtively disclose to each man

that the other had been in an asylum and should be considered dangerous!

By 1900 Michael Sr. had accumulated 400 acres of land but he suffered misfortune during the

Depression. Two of his sons, Frank and Michael J. Jr., managed to save 320 of his land.

In 1939 the house got electricity! Michael J. Sr. lived in the big home until due to old age, he

traded houses with his son Michael Jr. who lived across the road in the small house and farmed

the property. The small house was always called the “honeymoon house” as it provided a home

for many newly wed couples over the years.

MICHAEL J. CLEARY JR. (1899-1976)

Michael J. Jr. married Clarys Fulton, a first cousin to Bishop Sheen. Michael and Clarys lived in

the small house across the road from the big house until 1934 when they traded houses with his

father who was alone by then. They raised their family of 10 children in the big house.

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Sister Catherine remembers her Aunt Isabel (her dad’s sister) telling wonderful tales about the

Little People of Ireland; she made a noise with her lips like the little people.

Sister Catherine remembers her dad speaking of "the little black man" sitting on our shoulder, if

the children were fussing about something. Then he might take holy water and sprinkle them so

the little man would disappear.

MICHAEL J. CLEARY III and wife Dee farmed the land and lived across the road in the

small house with their 5 children. (The small house has recently had a second floor added) The

big house stood empty for many years after Michael J. Jr.’s death. Cost of restoration would

have been great, and the house was demolished in 1990. The large barn stood until it burned.

Only a machine shed built by Michael J. III in the 1970s still stands.

Does anyone have anything to add about the Michael’s?

DRIVE 1/4 MILE WEST ON E 3000 N TO THE HIGH POINT ON THE NORTH SIDE

OF ROAD AND STOP

CATHERINE CLEARY STACK AND MARTIN STACK FIRST FARM

Catherine Cleary Stack inherited money upon her father Michael’s death. She purchased 120

acres here around 1907. They had 10 children.

The house sat up a lane, back from the road. It was a 2 story, little or no front porch, tall house

which resembled the Michael & Sarah Cleary’s house on the south side of the road, a little to the

west.

The older Stack boys were always up to something. Once they hitched up the horse and buggy,

loaded all the kids in, and took off at a trot to see if the horse could jump the creek with the

buggy behind. It couldn’t. Lost in history is what their dad did to them when he caught them.

About 1918, Martin and Catherine sold this land and bought 320 acres 3 m. west of El Paso on

Rt. 24 (1/2 of a section). It was lost in the depression. To keep going during the depression, the

Stacks chopped wood from their timber to supply the local bakery.

CONTINUE 1/2 MILE WEST ON E 3000 N AND STOP AT FARM WITH WHITE

RANCH HOUSE

FIRST LAND PURCHASED BY MICHAEL CLEARY AND SARAH.

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After living in Bentown, Michael purchased his first land here in 1867, 40 acres, for $560 from

railroad. His brothers Thomas and Martin bought the next two properties. (Remember their

brother Patrick lived across from Grand View School.)

Michael and Sarah lived on this site around 20 years. He sold this land and moved to the Rt 24

property we saw earlier probably around 1880-1890.

John Fulton purchased this land from Michael and raised his children here

Daughter Delia would marry Newton Sheen and become the mother of Bishop Fulton Sheen.

His son Stephen raised his children here also.

Dan Kearney now owns the land and built the current ranch home around 1949.

CONTINUE ½ MILE TO CORNER OF 3000 N and 1650 E

SITE OF THOMAS CLEARY LAND SE CORNER

THOMAS CLEARY 1833-1897

Father of Michael J. Cleary Sr, grandson Michael J. Jr., and great grandson

Michael J. III. Whose centennial farm we have just seen.

Born March 3, 1833 in Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. Came to America with his mother in

1857. The boat carrying Thomas and his mother took three months to cross the Atlantic. While

making the long voyage, Thomas met Johanna Green, whom he later married. They docked at

Flushing, Long Island. Thomas worked in New York as a drayman, a job he held for over three

years

Came to Old Town Township, near Bentown, in1861. He began farming near his older brothers

Patrick and Michael. During the Civil War he paid a man $800 to serve for him, an acceptable

practice at the time. Ironically, the man who replaced him in the war was mortally wounded.

Six men from El Paso were killed in the Civil War while in action; 27 died of wounds or disease.

Some were buried on the battlefield. None were returned home.

Thomas married Johanna Green at St. Mary’s, Bloomington, 1862.

In 1867 Thomas purchased this 40 acres for $680 from the railroad.

Only a few original buildings are still standing. Thomas’ primary business interest was in the

buying and selling of horses, a skill in which he excelled. Here they raised their 3 children.

He died March 5, 1897 at his home and was buried at El Paso

This homestead was later lived in by Thomas’ daughter Margaret and her husband Pat Hanifin.

They were very close with one of her brother’s (Michael J. Sr.) children – Willie. Eventually the

Thomas’ land was left to Willie and is still in his family today.

The buildings you can see to the south are the remains of Willie Cleary’s farmstead where he

raised his younger children. The house burned about 20 years ago.

Delia and Newton Sheen--the Bishop’s mother and father—lived in a house across the road 3000

N. from the Thomas Cleary homestead during the late 1930s or early 40s. Their grandchildren

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spent time during the summer with them and traveled back and forth to the Cleary homes to play

with their second cousins.

Does anyone have anything to add about Thomas?????

ACROSS 1650 FROM THOMAS LAND – SW CORNER OF 1650 AND 3000

MARTIN CLEARY

This was the 40 acre farm site of Martin Cleary. Born 1840 in County Tipperary, Ireland. Came

to America, with brother John and Cornelius Hayes, in 1864. Lived first near Bentown and

married Mary Houlihan in Bloomington in 1866. Moved to Gridley Township where two

daughters were born. At age 30 the census shows him with $800 of real estate. The census lists

Martin as a railroad helper. Died 1931. We do not know where Martin or his wife are buried.

DRIVE ¼ MILE WEST TO INTERSECTION OF E 3000 North AND N 1600 East – SE

CORNER

FISHBURN SCHOOL

The first schoolhouse on this site was built in 1858. A new school was built in 1875. It closed

its doors in 1948. Families that would have attended Fishburn were Stacks, Martin Cleary’s,

Thomas Cleary’s and Fulton’s.

Nell Fruin (lived one mile north) was a teacher around 1900 at Fishburn. Her memoirs say that

she rode a pony to school except for 4 weeks in the winter when she boarded near the school.

She had pupils in all grades 1-8.

Some info on both Fishburn and Grand View Schools:

EARLY YEARS: 1870s TO 1930.

It was the custom of all farm families to keep their children out of school during the spring and

fall to help with farm work. Michael J. Cleary Sr. did not believe in this and incurred the wrath

of neighbors when he always kept his children in school. (His children include: Monsignor

Thomas who studied Latin by tying the book to the side of wagon while shucking corn; a

mechanical engineer; a female lawyer; two R.Ns.; a teacher; and a foreign trade expert who

travelled the world.

One of the local children wrote in her memoirs “When winter snows were very deep my father

drove us to school in a bobsled. We all were covered with warm blankets. Our lunch pails were

placed on shelves near the north window of the school and by noon were frozen but they tasted

good anyway. School began at 9, recess at 10:30 and 2:30 and an hour at noon.

1930s on

Music was taught by men from Bloomington who came each week.

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They also had books from the Withers Library in Bloomington brought each week for our school

library.

Besides teaching multiple subjects to pupils in all 8 grades, the teacher taught domestic arts and

some woodworking so all could make Christmas presents for their parents and younger brothers

and sisters.

There was no running water in the school, drinking water came from the well just outside the

school, water to wash our hands for lunch was brought in by one of the boys.

In winter children would bring a potato to bake in the LARGE BELLIED furnace in the same

room as our desks. They would write their name in chalk on it and put it on the ledge of the

furnace to bake for lunch. A hot lunch program was provided to schools during WW II. The

teacher would take a pot and set it inside the furnace. By lunchtime it was ready.

Joe Hayes remembers playing in the school yard of Grand View with games of hide and seek,

baseball and handihandiover.

SUMMATION OF SOME TYPE

We hope you had a good day and enjoyed learning more about the Cleary family. The photos

taken today as well as the leader’s script will be available on our family website for you to copy.

You will have a little time to rest when we return to the hotel or browse the display room.

PLEASE leave your photos in the display room and pick them up after the banquet. Meet for a

drink in the sunken area of the lobby by the fireplace at 5. At 5:45 we will go into the banquet

room for dinner, some family history, entertainment and raffles. See you there!

RETURN THE WAY WE CAME OR TAKE RT 24 WEST THRU EL PASO TO I 39

SOUTH. I 39 SOUTH OF I 55 EAST. I 55 EAST TO VETERAN’S PARKWAY. SOUTH

ON VETERAN’S PARKWAY TO THE CHATEAU.

Tour committee: Dee Cleary, Joe Hayes, Rose Hayes, Mary Stack

Written tour prepared by Mary Stack

10/10/10