CHAPTER XVIII.
pg. 58

The Beginning of Dongola, Cobden, Saratoga, Lick Creek, Mt. Pleasant and Preston.

     Dongola was laid out and the plat recorded May 23, 1857.  It occupied the north part of Section 25 and the south part of Section 24, Township 13, Range 1 West.  It was located about nine miles south of the town of Anna.
     The people living near Dongola had patronized the horse mill built by Youst Coke and the water mill built by David Penrod on Cypress Creek.  In 1852, Col. Bainbridge had built the first steam mill and this mill and a small store keeping notions, mainly whiskey for the Illinois Central workmen were the only two businesses in Dongola before it was laid out as a town.
     Ebeni Leavenworth, an engineer who worked on the construction of the Illinois Central owned most of the town and was responsible for its origin and original development.  He built the first residence and the first store building.  The first store was kept by Edmund Davis who had a $3,000 stock of merchandise in 1860 and the second store, by Abraham Misenheimer who carried a $5,000 stock in 1860.
     Mr. Leavenworth also owned and operated the Novelty Works, which manufactured wagon hubs, spokes, furniture, feed boxes, wooden bowls, plows, wagons and other wooden articles.  This business was assessed in 1860 under the name of Leavenworth and Reese for $1,500.
     After much effort, Mr. Leavenworth induced the Illinois Central to stop trains at Dongola so that it became a shipping center for farmers in that area.
     After much effort, Mr. Leavenworth induced the Illinois Central to stop trains at Dongola so that it became a shipping center for farmers in that area.
     The first school in the village was a frame building near the Novelty Works and in 1873 a large frame building which would house 200 pupils was erected.
     The Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized in Dongola in 1865 and another church was built by the Methodists, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Lutherans who took turns using it.  The Baptists erected a frame building for their church.
     Dongola Lodge, No. 581, A. F. and A. M. was chartered Oct. 6, 1868 with J. H. Dodson, Master. Dongola Lodge, No. 343, I. O. O. F. began Jan. 31, 1867 under the leadership of E. Leavenworth.
     Cobden, originally known as South Pass was laid out in 1857 and upon the completion of the Illinois Central was made a station.  The land was then owned by Benjamin L. Wiley, whose wife was Emily, the daughter of Winstead and Anna Davie. The town was located on Section 30 of Township 11, Range 1 West, on the west

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side of the railroad.  The original plat was recorded May 28, 1857, but afterward other additions were made: Buck's addition west of the original plat; Hartline addition, south of Buck's; Frick's addition east of Hartline's and on the east side of the railroad; and Clemens addition, east of Wiley's.
     Lick Creek had a postoffice and store and five or six dwellings.  Mangum and Gourley were the first storekeepers and Gourley was the first postmaster.  The first school was built near A. J. Mangum's home.
     In the summer of 1860, Richard Cobden, one of the owners of the Illinois Central and an Englishman, made a tour of the railroad and stopped at South Pass and, because he liked the climate, stayed a few days to picnic and hunt.  The town was then named Cobden in his honor and the railroad station was called Cobden.
     The settlers who came to this part of the county, before 1850, like the others in the county were originally from North Carolina.  However among the settlers who came after the building of the railroad were many New Englanders, attracted by the suitability of this part of the country for growing orchards.
     In May, 1858, Amus Bulin and Moses Land moved into Cobden and later in the summer Col. Bainbridge came and bought the Bell farm on Bell Hill east of Cobden.  Henry Ede lived in a house built in the Buck Addition and Jerry Ingraham, foreman of the repair shop of the railroad lived next to his shop.  Thomas Baker built a house which was occupied by Isaac Phillips and later became known as the Roth Hotel.
     The first store, kept by William Henry Harrison Brown was opened early in 1859.  He sold out to Adam Buck because he had been indicted by the grand jury for selling a deck of playing cards.  The second store was opened by John Davis and the next by Frick and Lamer.  Mathias Clemens came during the time of the construction of the railroad and ran a boarding house for the workers.  LeBar and Davie built a mill about 1860.
     The first school built in the town was a brick building costing $10,000.  This was one of the first brick schools in the county
     Cobden was incorporated as a village Apr. 15, 1859.  The first board of trustees were I. N. Phillips, John Buck, Henry Frick, David Green, Mathias Clemens, Dr. F. A. Ross and John Pierce.
     The Presbyterian, the Congregational, the Methodist Episcopal and the Catholic were the first churches established in Cobden.  The Masons and Odd Fellows organized Cobden Lodge No. 466, A. F. and A. M., Oct. 3, 1861 and Relief Lodge, No. 452, I. O. O. F. Oct. 10, 1871
     By 1860 four other villages which were never incorporated had been established: Saratoga, Lick Creek, Mt. Pleasant and Preston.
     Lick Creek had a postoffice and store and five or six dwellings.  Mangum and Gourley were the first storekeepers and Gourley was the first postmaster. The first school was built near A. J. Mangum's home.

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     Mt. Pleasant village was laid out in 1858 by Caleb Musgrave and Abner Cox.  A few lots were sold but the town did not grow much.  The plat was recorded Apr. 9, 1858.  There were a church, a store, a postoffice, a saw mill and a few residences there in the beginning.  The first store was kept by Thomas Boswell on his farm before the town was laid out.  A man named Black opened the first store in Mt. Pleasant and sold it to Leavenworth and Little who sold to John Stokes.  Mr. Stokes built a two story brick building for the business.
     The village of Saratoga was laid out by Dr. Penryer, Nov. 6, 1841, on the northeast quarter of Section 1, Township 12, Range 1 West.  A mineral spring was the cause of the location of the town here.  Dr. Penryer thought the place could be made into a health resort.  A boarding house was built near the spring which entertained summer guests for several years but the business gradually died.  This was owned by Caleb Cooper.  Elijah Beardsley owned a saw and grist mill and A. W. Simmons and William Reed opened stores.
     The old village of Preston was laid out as a town October 27, 1842, by John Garner and for a time was a shipping point but the Mississippi gradually moved in on the town and finally covered the spot where it once stood.
     There were many country stores scattered through the county and several mills, but the leading business centers by 1860 were Jonesboro, Anna, Cobden and Dongola.