 Minonk's orgins are tied to the development of the railroads in Illinois during the 19th century. In 1854 the Illinois Central Railroad completed its main line through Section Seven where the city of Minonk would eventually be located. On November 7, 1854 a plat of the town was recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Woodford County. The naming of the town is generally credited to David Neal, an agent for the railroad, who supposedly chose the name of a street in Boston, Massachusetts, on which he owned property. Another version is that he got the name from the Ojibwa Indians in which the word Minonk means "good place".
One of the first settlers in Minonk was Joseph Stonier who arrived in Minonk in the early 1850's to help build the railroad here. He boarded at the Jonathan Macey house, which was located on the present Oak Street on the site now occupied by the VFW hall. It is assumed to be the first building in Minonk and the Jonathan Macey family was the first family in Minonk. Eventually, Mr. Stonier bought farmland south of the present city border. Stonier married Nancy Jane Macey, daughter of the owner of the boarding house in which he stayed. They had 9 children. In 1889 he founded the Minonk Eagle Brick and Tile Works. He died in 1903. Descendants of the Stonier-Macey family reside in Minonk yet today. They include Jeff, Eric and Craig Meyer, sons of Barbara Morrison (deceased) and the descendants of John Ryan IV and John Ryan V.
The first settlement made in Minonk Township was identical with the first settlement in the present city and was made by Samuel Work, a native of Pennsylvania, he locating there in 1831. The Illinois Central railroad was completed to this point in 1854, and Mr. Work was appointed station agent. He was the first justice of the peace in the township, and at a time when Panola was included in the precinct.
On November 7, 1854, a plat of the village was recorded in the circuit clerk's office. Then the area was 780 feet on each side of the railroad and extending 3,690 feet north and south. Peter Folsom, deputy surveyor in this county, surveyed the plat from Section 7, owned by David A. Neal at that time.
That fall, Charles Dobson moved from Pattonsburg, and started a store, with Work and Jackson Parker. They built the first house in the township on the corner now the site of the banking house of Jenkins, Dunn & Co. In the following December a post office was established here, and Mr. Dobson was Minonk's first postmaster. C. W. Goodrich located in Minonk the following May and erected the second dwelling house.
In 1857, the township was organized as a separate precinct and at the election held April 7, the poll numbered 22. At this time, the first supervisor in the person of George P. Danforth, was elected. The town was not incorporated until 1864. The election for the five trustees was held September 30th, when R. P. Bell, A. Cholwell, C. W. Goodrich, H. C. Dent and M. A. Cushing were elected. Mr. Bell was selected from the number as President of the Board and Mr. Dent, Clerk.
The town existed but three years under this organization, a city charter being obtained March 7, 1867. The election was held October 7, when Dr. Jno. Stoner was elected Mayor and the following Aldermen were selected: Samuel Work, H. R. Kipp, John Sparks, and Henry C. Dent and Clerk M. L. Newell. At an election held September 20, 1872, it was decided to incorporate under the general act. On April 15, following, C. H. Whittaker was elected Mayor.
Minonk of today is the largest place in our county and one of the most progressive towns in Illinois. Since the first settlement, where the growth has been slow, but steady and substantial, until at present time it is referred to with pride as a metropolis of Woodford County. The city has first-class railroad facilities, the main line of the Central with its innumerable connections, the Minonk and Kankakee division of the road and the Chicago, St. Louis & Western. The building of the Central railroad proper anti-dates the history of the town.
The City Officials today are: Mayor, E. A. Wilcox; Alderman: first ward, N. L. Davison and Joe Stoneman; second ward, E. A. Ewen and C. S. Fuller; third ward, J. E. Sangster, J. W. Shepherd; City Attorney, Thos. J. Kennedy; City Treasurer, Chas. M. Golden; Fire Marshal, H. A. Christians, Jr.; Superintendent of Streets, A. Brock; City Marshal, Jacob C. Wickler; Night Patrolman, Dennis Ryan; Police Magistrate, J. M. Mingers.
The township officials today are: Supervisor, Josiah Kerrick; Collector, John Farrell; Assessor, J. Henkell; Clerk, Jas. E. Owens; Justices of the Peace, Alfred Rogers, C. A. Cutler, George U. Simpson; Commissioners of Highways, C. E. Webber, Jas. Ridge, Richard Spires; School Trustees, Alfred Rogers, R. Spires, Ed. Goodwin; and School Treasurer, Ed. Goodwin.
The public school system of Minonk, though under one principal, is, and has been for years divided into two parts known as the East Side and West Side schools. Oak Street is the present boundary between them.
The East Side schoolhouse is situated two blocks east and the West Side one block north and three west of the Illinois Central depot. The former is a two-story frame building, containing five recitation rooms, some cloak closets, etc. It is surrounded by a fair sized playground having a good well and cistern; the fluids quench alike the governors and governed. |
