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NAVIGATION
LaSalle
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History at
Rays Place
Also see [ Railway Officials in America 1906
] NEW
Rays
Place
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In a record written in 1886 reference to this township was made in substantially the following statements: “The
northern part of the township is rolling, and is well adapted to agriculture, while the southern part is broken
and is abundantly rich in deposits of sand, clay, etc. The geologic upheaval in this township has brought to the
surface extended strata of an order and type not in evidence in any other section in the State of Illinois. There
are large elevations of sand of the purest and best quality and specially well adapted to both glass and fire purposes.
The clay is of superior quality. The lowlands of this township were a favorite resort of the Indians, and probably
no other point in the state is regarded with so much interest as this place in the matter of early Indian traditions.
Here the Indians collected in vast numbers and roamed through the canyons and beautiful dales that now attract
so many travelers. Game was plentiful and water abundant. Many Indian relics have here been found and preserved.”
Simon Crosiar was one of the early settlers and resourceful and influential pioneers of this township, was a soldier
in the Black Hawk war, served as a pilot on the rivers, as well as captain of a steamboat, was active and progressive
as a business man, and his home was known for its generous hospitality. He came to Illinois in 1819, and came to
La Salle County in 1826, his brother Amzi having come to Utica Township in 1833. Other pioneers of the 1830-40
decade were James Clark, Hiram Higby, William Simmons, Edward Holland, Zenas Dickinson, Samuel Dickinson, Zenas
C. Dickinson, Ira Hartshorn, Benjamin Hess.
Utica Township was organized April 2, 1850, and the following officials were elected in that year: Supervisor,
Hiram Higby; clerk, James Donaldson; assessor, James Clark; collector, F. Strawn; highway commissioners, A. O.
Crosiar, Z. C. Dickinson, William Simmons; justices of the peace, Ira Hartshorn, Christopher Champlin; constables,
Charles Harkinson, Jeremiah Hess.
Within this township the Town of Old Utica was developed, as well as North Utica, both of which are specifically
mentioned in another chapter of this publication. The census of 1920 gives the population of the township, including
the Village of North Utica, as 1,337.
FROM:
History of LaSalle County, Illinois
By: Michael Cyprian O'Byron
The Lewis Pullishing Company
Chicago and New York
1924
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