A History of the Henderson - Smith - Collings Home

by Mary Rhae McBride
The Rossville Historical Society
April 18, 1994

  Rossville, in its earlier existence, was known as Liggett's Grove or Henpeck, as it was sometimes called.  In 1853, the post office was moved from the settlement of North Fork to   Liggett's Grove.  Alvan Gilbert was the first postmaster followed by James Stewart.  Stewart had the post office in his home which later became the east end of the home located at 509 North Chicago Street.  The post office maintained the name of North Fork until the town of Rossville was platted in 1859.  At the time Mr. Stewart was postmaster, the postal territory for North Fork included all of the present Grant Township.

The first residence built on the property at 509 North Chicago Street was known as the Townsend House and had been built around 1847.  James Stewart, who was a small child when the family came to Vermillion County, from Connecticut purchased the Townsend House.  His daughter, Josephine, who was a small child when the family came to Vermillion County, grew up in the area, met and married John R. Smith.  (Author's note:  this is the John Smith and Josephine Stewart that had Minnie Smith who married our George Sadler Smith, son of Charles Smith and Martha Sadler).  In this house the marriage ceremony was performed.  John R. Smith, and his wife Josephine, built their own home just south of the Stewart property.  Records show her father, James R. Stewart, was a member of the Ross Town Mutual Horse Company in the late 1850's.

On December 22, 1865, James R. Stewart and his wife, Minerva, sold this property to William J. Henderson.  The Henderson family did extensive remodeling on the original Townsend House.  Only a small portion of the house which served as the post office remained a part of the newly constructed home.

W. J. Henderson was born in Sligo, Ireland in 1831.  He left his parents in the old country and came to America in 1848 when he was seventeen years old.  He apprenticed himself to a cabinet maker in Lafayette, Indiana in 1849 and 1850.  He made a fortune making coffins.  Some unwise investments took it all from him.  He then went to Waynetown, Indiana.  Here he established himself in the furniture business and did quite well.  In a few years he had acquired another fortune.  He lost this fortune in the panic of 1857 and the following few years.  This did not daunt him.  He worked hard and accumulated a little money which he invested in cotton goods at the opining of the Civil War.  He once again laid the foundation for his third fortune.

Henderson was married four times.  His first wife was Eliza Dwiggins, whom he married after he went to Waynetown.  She lived but a short time.  After Eliza's death, he married Mrs. Urmelia Yorg, who came with him to Rossville.  They were the parents of three daughters.  The oldest daughter Mary (1862-1916), became the wife of Charles Ellis.  They had three sons:  Ernest, Henry Clay and Lawrence.  These boys all grew up and settled in the Rossville area raising families of their own.  Daughter, Jennie, (1865-1884), died at the age of 19.  Fannie (1868-1954), the youngest daughter, married Daniel Evans Maury, a local druggist.  The Maury's built a home at 410 North Harrison Street and were the parents of three boys:  Carl Lee; James Gernant and Daniel Evans.

After the death of his second wife, William J. Henderson married Catherine Searles Scott on March 17, 1870.  Catherine was born near Pittston, Pennsylvania on June 21, 1842, the daughter of Ethan and Mary Stine Scott.  In 1863, at the age of 21, during the dark ages of the Civil War, she came with her parents to Illinois in a wagon.  They settled on a farm west of Rossville.  W. J. Henderson and his wife, Catherine, were the parents of two daughters:  Anna (1882-1978) married Frank Davis, who was in the furniture and mortuary business in Rossville; and Nellie (1875-1958) married Daniel Watson, a local banker.  W. J. . Henderson's third marriage was to Fannie Sumner of the Milford area.

W. J. Henderson was one of Rossville's leading citizens.  When he first came to Rossville, he opened a store handling a general stock of goods and the people soon learned he had come to stay.  IN 1864, he built the frame store which he replaced in 1875 with a magnificent brick block building.  (Today this building houses the Market Place.)  Henderson was interested in farming, hotel keeping, merchandising and looking after the general welfare and advancement of the Rossville people.

In the summer of 1873, Henderson and his wife, Catherine (Kate) rented the newly remodeled Williamson Hotel.  Mrs. Henderson managed the hotel.  Mr. Henderson conducted a general store and managed his grain elevator and the farms.  It was in the hotel business that Mrs. Henderson became acquainted with people for miles around, as this was the central trading point in the Rossville area.

They were in the hotel business for three years, during which time construction of their new home at 509 North Chicago Street was underway.  W. J. Henderson farmed a large tract of land partly within the northern limits of town, which contained the former home of James Stewart.

Catherine was not only a kind and loving mother to her own two daughters, but also proved a devoted mother to her three stepdaughters.  The funeral services for Jennie Henderson and Mary Henderson Ellis were held in the Henderson home as well as services for Catherine's mother, Mary Scott.  Fannie Henderson was married in this home on September 4, 1890 to Daniel Evans Maury, son of Gernant Stout and Rebecca Miller Evans Maury.

Trouble began to erupt in the Henderson household.  Catherine got a divorce and purchased a home at 209 Maple Street.  In 1896, Charles Smith and his wife, Susan, purchased the Henderson property at 509 North Chicago Street.

The Smith family were pioneers of the area.  Charles Smith's father, Thomas Smith was born in Northwest Oxford shire, England on November 20, 1820.  He came to America when just a small child with his parent sot New York.  Her he met and married Miss Martha Sadler in 1844.  Martha was also born in England, on June 10, 1827.  She was the daughter of John Sadler and Elizabeth Davenport.  She came to this country with her parents in 1836, also settling in New York.  As newlyweds, Thomas and Martha headed west settling for a few years in Danville where Thomas worked at the blacksmith trade.  They then moved to a farm west of Rossville where Thomas acquired within a few years a considerable amount of land.

Thomas and Martha were the parents of nine children, four of whom were still living in the 1891 at the time of Thomas and Martha's deaths.  Mary (Molly) (1855-1903) married John Hollenbach; George (1858-1904) married Minnie Smith, daughter of John R. Smith and Josephine Stewart; Belle (1861-1918) married Frank Stewart; Charles (1864-1918) married Susan Pendergrast, daughter of Patrick and Laura Albert Pendergrast; and Martha Carter (1867-1912) their adopted daughter who married George Maury.

Charles, son of Thomas Smith and Martha Sadler, was born March 13, 1864 and spent his entire life in this vicinity.  His youthful days were spent in the usual manner of farm lads.  The work of the fields engaged his attention from the time of early spring planting until crops were gathered in the autumn.  His education in the public school developed his mental powers, and thus school and home training qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties.  The farm upon which he resided, comprised of two hundred and seventy acres adjoining the corporation limits of Rossville, increased his total land holdings to ten hundred and eighty acres which provided him annually with a substantial revenue.  Charles Smith devoted himself largely to the study of the economic conditions and natural resources of the country.  He felt there was no better investment in all America than Illinois farm land.  He early came to a realization of the fact that "There is no excellence without labor".  His sound judgment in various branches of the farming business brought him well merited success.  He certainly gained his place among the more prosperous farmers of the area.

No section in Illinois can be found where farming is so diversified as in the territory adjacent to Rossville.  Dozens of farmers living fifteen miles or more from Rossville came here because of the strong market.  One of the most substantial and convenient elevators in the state for the rapid handling of grain and one of the largest on the C. & E. I. railroad was the G. & C. Smith's Elevator.  The building was erected at a cost of $14,000.00.  Both men were shrewd operators.  Charles, it is said, was a great one for betting odds.  He, Oscar Crane and Harlan Steeley used to sit on the steps of the O. G. Crane building.  They would see a group of pigeons on the building across the street and bet on which pigeon would fly off the building first.

Charles and Susan Pendergrast were married October 13, 1887.  She was born in 1866, the daughter of Patrick Pendergrast and Laura Virginia Albert.  Patrick was born in 1832 in Louisville, Kentucky.  As a young man he came to this part of the country where he and his brother, Garrett, excelled as brick masons.  The two men laid the brick for several of the downtown buildings.  Laura and Patrick were married on February 23, 1860.  Laura was the daughter of Samuel Albert and Mary Shivley.  She came to Rossville with her parents when Rossville was known as "Henpeck".  At that time there was one general store, a blacksmith shop and a post office.

Charles and Susan Pendergrast Smith were the parents of nine children:  Thomas (1889-1961) was the father of four children; Charles, Helen, Ray and Wendall (my father) (Ray died as a newborn).  Fern (on left) (1890-1967) married Hjalmer Rehn who was born in Sweden; Edwin (1891-1983) married Leota Peters; Ray, (1894-1894); Austin, (1895-1969); Minnie (1897-1962) married Byron "Barney" Thomas; Leo (1899-1984) married Ethel Laverenz and is the father of two daughters; Shirley and Sandra; Donavon (1902-1980) was the father of two children; Alice Louise and Virginia Sue; and George (1904-1986) married Florence Barrett and is the father of three children  Edward, Susanne and Sally.

With a lot of children in the home, there was always excitement around.  Fern was the only one of the Smith children to be married in the Smith home.  Grandma Pendergrast spent her latter years in the home of her daughter, Susan Pendergrast Smith.  She used to sit in her rocking chair and crochet rugs, knit bedspreads and always kept her hands busy.  Many Many of these items are treasured by her great grand-children today.  Grand-children, Alice Louise and Virginia Sue grew up under the watchful eyes of their Aunt Minnie and Uncle Aussie (Austin).

Minnie was very talented singer and had done extensive study in voice.  At her father's request that she sing at his funeral.  This she did, but only sang publicly one other time and that was at the funeral of her friend, Margaret Songer.  The Smith home was always open to visitors.  Minnie usually had some of her homemade candy on hand to serve guests.  She had a special marble slab she used in making the candy.  She usually kept it locked up in the front bedroom an don several occasions the family would sneak out a piece every so often without her knowledge.  She also kept the minced meat in the basement and Uncle Aussie was observed many times taking a spoon with him down to look at the furnace.

During the late 1920's and 1930's, the Smiths kept milk cows and delivered milk to customers around town.  One such delivery boy was Bill McLain.  He could be seen swinging the milk bottles as he made deliveries around Rossville.  Charles (Albert (AB) Santmyre used to milk cows morning and evenings.  He received $1.50 per week plus a quart of milk each day.

After the deaths of Minnie and Austin, the house was put up for sale.  On July 1, 1970, the Smith property was purchased by Marvel Hill Collings of Danville.  On March 30, 1971, Judith Ann Collings and her mother together proceeded with renovation plans for the property.

The upstairs was made into a lovely four-room apartment.  The front entrance was changed to the south side of the house which also provides for the entrance to the upstairs apartment.  A huge picture window on the west side of the house now replaces the front entrance.  It is adorned with exotic plants and marble statuary.  A new front stairway, which was imported from England, provides access to an upstairs bedroom on the west side which used to be the attic.  Several rooms have been relocated and the entire house redecorated.  A long porch surrounds the east and south side of the house.  The east side of the porch, originally a part of the Stewart home that housed the post office, has been removed.  A large three-car garage was constructed with an apartment on the second level.  This apartment is now occupied by Opal Garner McClure.  The upstairs apartment had been rented to Mr. and Mrs. O'Donnnelly.  Mr. O'Donnelly was the Superintendent of the Rossville School system until June 30, 1994.

Judith Ann, after the death of her mother, decided to continue living in Rossville.  She retired from Sears, Roebuck in Chicago, where she was an interior decorator.  Her decorating expertise reflects throughout her home.

Small shrubbery aligns the west walkway.  Evergreen tress have been planted strategically throughout the yard.  The south pasture has been seeded with lilacs and wild flowers.  The entire yard lends itself to a bird sanctuary, 

Judith Ann Collings was the daughter of Gilbert Melvin and Marvel Hill Collings.  They were married September 6, 1916.  Their picture, the account of their wedding and Marvel's wedding dress are in possession of the Rossville Historical Society.

Judith Ann Collings died September 14, 1993.  She left a donation to the Rossville Historical Society, of which she was an active member, to landscape the newly acquired home of the society on West Attica street.  This historic house is once again for sale.

The photos of the Smith home above were generously donated by James Smith, who now owns the home and is totally renovating it and restoring it to it's original floor plan with period decorations and fixtures.  I met him in June 2004 and he showed me around, very nice man and I am glad he now owns what was where my ancestors lived. 

Pictured left is myself with Mary Rhea McBride who wrote the history of the house and lives a couple blocks from it in Rossville.  Pictured right is myself with the current owner, Mr. James Smith.