Local History: Nellie, the One-Eyed Wonder
- Terri
- Apr 13
- 9 min read
While researching the history of her own house, Terri discovers an intriguing story about Nellie, the One-Eyed Wonder, along with several other single women who have owned and lived in her house in the past.
Nellie, the One-Eyed Wonder
I’m always amazed at how often I learn about one subject while researching another. Such was the case when I set out to learn my house’s history. I’m fortunate to have possession of the abstract, which provided much of the following information.
If you’ve never seen a property abstract, it begins with the original purchase of land from the US government. I would assume, then, that most Clinton abstracts begin like mine, with James Allin and Jesse Fell purchasing the northeast quarter of section 34 in 1834. At that time, we were part of Macon County, and our township did not yet have the name Clintonia. Jesse Fell actually sold his interest to James Allin, making him sole owner, in July of 1835. In October that same year, the plat for the original town of Clinton is entered with Macon County. It bears both names, Allin and Fell, probably because they owned the property jointly when they contracted to have the survey done, which was then completed after Fell sold out. My house is located in outblock 23, which is not yet divided into lots on the original plat.
The boundaries of the original town are North Street on the north, East Street on the east, Van Buren Street on the South and West Street on the west, which is now called Grant Street.
It looks like Allin managed to pay off his government land purchase because the patent was issued in 1837, paid in full. Then came the Panic of 1837, which was not very different from the housing crash of 2008 – fueled by bad lending practices by the banks – leading to a severe recession lasting roughly ten years. Allin and Fell were both land speculators and lost lots of money. James Allin filed a deed of trust in McLean County in 1842 granting all his real estate in Decatur and Clinton to his son William for the sum of $10 with the agreement that William was to then sell those properties to satisfy his father’s debt holders. Allin and Fell both eventually recovered financially and went on to do great things in Bloomington and Normal.
Meanwhile, DeWitt became its own county in 1839. David Davis was practicing law in Bloomington with a partner named Wells Colton. Colton assumed ownership of some of Allin’s Clinton property, then he died, and his heirs granted power of attorney to Davis to dispose of it. In 1854, Davis sold outlots 10, 13, 23 and 24 to C. H. Moore for $3000 on their behalf. About two weeks later, Moore sold lots 1 and two in block 23 to Jacob Ewing for $180. In the same transaction, Ewing borrowed $102.60 from Moore, which I think he used to erect the first house in the northeast corner of the block. Eight months later, the City of Clinton was incorporated by the Illinois General Assembly.
Jacob Ewing died in 1864 and left all his estate to his widow, Elizabeth. In 1868, she sold the northeast quarter of block 23 to George B. Graham for $1300. In 1874, George Graham sold it to Andrew Hutchin for $1500. In 1876, there was an extensive land deal between Andrew Hutchin and Thomas B. Adkisson, with Adkisson ending up with the property in block 23. Ten years later, his widow, Elizabeth Adkisson sold it to Lewis and Sarah Williams for $700. I don’t have an explanation for the deflated value, but it sounds like the Williams’s got a deal. (Keep in mind, this is as of yet two undivided lots that hold three houses today.)
Fast forward a bit to the 1900 Census. There is no listing for my address, suggesting that the house has not yet been built. Lewis and Sarah Williams are living on the corner in the house that sits next to mine. They are in their 60’s with their widowed daughter and grandson living with them. Frederick Eatherton and his wife Rose are living in a house just outside city limits, and his occupation is listed as a house carpenter. Isabella MacArthur is living in a large house on East Main Street with her husband Duncan, the Baptist minister, and 5 adult children. (Duncan will die in 1901.)
In the fall of 1901, the Williams’s sell the northeast corner of block 23 except 62 feet off the south side to Fred Eatherton for $2000. This divides the northeast corner in half from east to west. Fred and Rose Etherton then secure a mortgage from John Warner & Co. for $1400, payable over 5 years, but paid off by the end of 1902. On the first day of December, 1902, the Eathertons sold the west half of their property, 66 by 70 feet, to the widow Isabella MacArthur for $1800. I believe he borrowed that money from Warner & Co. partly for the purpose of constructing my house, making its birth date over the spring and summer of 1902.
Now for part two of the story… Isabella MacArthur moved into my house with her two “old maid” daughters, Nellie and Agnes, in December 1902. Within two weeks of her purchase of the house, she deeded it to these two daughters with the stipulation that she retain property rights until her death. The 1910 Census shows Isabella, age 72, widowed, native of Scotland, immigrated in 1843, literate and house owned free and clear. Nellie is 41, literate and sells insurance. Agnes, 32, is also literate and works as a “sales lady, dry goods.” In 1920, 1930 and 1940, Nellie is living here alone. I had to know more!
Duncan and Isabella Macarthur were both born in Scotland, but they met and married after their families migrated to Canada. Their two oldest sons were born in Canada, but they reported in the 1900 Census that they had been in the US for 35 years, making their arrival here in 1865. It looks as though the Baptist Church is what brought them to Clinton that very year, and this is where their remaining son and four daughters were born.
Duncan’s obituary states that when he retired from the ministry, he sold
insurance and also served as township clerk for several years. He was a Free Mason, holding the office of secretary in that organization.
Isabella Macarthur had a stroke and died in my house in 1911. Her funeral was held here, after which she was buried beside her husband at Woodlawn Cemetery. Nellie and Agnes still lived together here, but that would not last much longer. Agnes got married in Cook County in 1914 and moved away, as had all the other siblings, leaving Nellie alone in my house.
So then, what about Nellie? A newspaper query brings back tons of articles – this was one busy woman! Early articles list her name on the school honor roll and as one of 17 graduates of Clinton High School in 1888. Then in 1897, when she was about 27, appears this short blurb:
There is no indication elsewhere that I can find explaining what was wrong with her eye. Infection? Cancer? Injury? Did she have an artificial eye in its place? Did she wear a patch? We’ll probably never know. I’d just die to find a picture of her!
Within a few more years, though, she turns up in the paper, apparently following in her father’s footsteps to a degree. Between 1910 and 1920, she is shown collecting $51 for insuring the county jail and $66.60 for insuring the courthouse (insurance sales was her livelihood). She served as superintendent of the county fair. Her club memberships included the White Shrine of Jerusalem and Eastern Star (associated with the Masonic Lodge), the Rebekah Lodge (associated with the Odd Fellows), the Women’s Relief Corps (auxiliary to the GAR), and the Republican Women’s Club as well as participating in programs at the Baptist Church. Frequently, she would serve as the group’s pianist or organist.
In 1916, Nellie ran for Clintonia Township tax collector and won by a comfortable, though not large, margin.
As US involvement in WWI increased in 1917, an effort was made to get women to register with the government, not for combat, but for resources to fill occupational vacancies of men sent abroad. At the local level, each township had a registrar, and Nellie was placed in charge of the 13 DeWitt County townships, collectively.
In April of 1921, Nellie was elected to the office of justice of the peace for Clintonia Township, to which she was reelected for the next 20 years. Among other duties, she now could perform marriages, and at least two of them took place in my (our) house! (There used to be a charming set of glass-paned French doors that opened onto the porch, and I like to imagine a young couple standing in front of them to repeat their vows.) She remained active with the aforementioned groups, but now she is participating in events at the Presbyterian Church rather than the Baptist Church. After all, it was the “roaring 20’s,” and she was living the life of a modern woman, so perhaps she found the Presbyterians to be slightly more liberal. Doubtful that she did much roaring, though. She joined the Royal Neighbors Club, which was an offshoot of the Modern Woodsmen of America, whose membership was restricted to men. She was also active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and – my favorite – the Jolly 12 Club. She ordinarily held an office in each organization she joined, usually as the treasurer, and would entertain them with piano solos.
Then, in January of 1942, this small article appears. Radium treatments mean one thing – cancer. In the 1940’s, that meant terrible side effects for patients and little hope for recovery.
Nellie Jane MacArthur died on June 16th, 1942, in my (our) house. She was born in December, but the year varies a bit. Her obituary says she was 72 years old, making her birth year 1869 (to turn 73 in December), the 1900 Census says she was born Dec 1870, and yet another Census would place her birth in 1871. I went to Woodlawn Cemetery to find her grave and took a picture of her headstone to add to the Find-A-Grave website. Her stone says 1969, but then again, head-stones are frequently wrong.
At any rate, at the time of her death, she had a brother living in Chicago, a sister in Minnesota, a sister in Montana and a few nieces and nephews. Her probate was published in the paper, too, stating her personal goods were valued at $1744.50 and her real estate (our house) at $2000. None of her family wanted the house, and on 22 Jan 1944, they sold it to Sherman B. Buck for $1800. He and his family lived in the house about three years while he renovated it.
Sherman Buck was primarily an electrician, and boy can you tell! There are outlets and light switches everywhere! On December 1, 1947, he sold it to Allie Lemmel, my widowed grandmother, for $6,600. She lived here until her death in June of 1981. I moved in in August of 1990. So, in the 124-year history of my house, for over 108 of those years, it was occupied by single women.
Nellie MacArthur lived here 39 and 1/2 years.
Allie Lemmel lived here 33 and 1/2 years.
I’ve lived here 35 and 1/2 years. My goal is to have lived here the longest. Four years to go!
Sources
Original Property Abstract
US Government Land Entries
DeWitt County Deeds
Macon County Deeds
McLean County Court Records
United States Federal Census
Ancestry.com
DeWitt County newspapers on microfilm
Terri Lemmel was born and raised in DeWitt County near Kenney. Upon completing her education at Clinton High School, she lived in Bloomington for several years before returning to Clinton in 1990. Her interest in genealogy was piqued in the mid-90s when she found unidentified obituaries in her late grandmother's scrapbook that family members could not identify. While she initially dabbled in the subject, it wasn't until her retirement in 2018 that she jumped in with both feet. Terri joined the Genealogical Society and has been serving as its President since 2022. Research is a passion of hers, and there are lots of interesting stories to uncover! You can find Terri in the DeWitt County Genealogical Society room at the Vespasian Warner Public Library every Thursday completing research and helping others with their family and local history research.
To learn more about the DeWitt County Genealogical Society, feel free to reach out to them via phone at 217-935-5174, email at dewittcgs@gmail.com, their website, or their Facebook page.
The Vespasian Warner Library, located at 310 N. Quincy St. in Clinton, IL, features an extensive collection of local history and archives. To learn more, visit our Local History Page on the website or stop by in person! We are always excited to showcase our local history resources and discuss DeWitt County's local history.
Until Next Time Library Friends!