On this page: Old Bethel RPC, Sparta, Randolph Co; Plum Creek Township, Randolph Co
Latest update: Saturday, 01 July, 2017
RANDOLPH COUNTY
Randolph County Genealogical Society
13 Westwood Drive
Steeleville, IL 62288
(618) 965-3705
Plum Creek Township, Randolph Co, ILLINOIS
38.11551592982289, -89.90816116333008
AKA - Plumb Creek Township, Plum Creek Precinct, Plumb Creek, Randolph Co, ILLINOIS
Historic MapWorks.com - Map of Township 4 South, Range 6 West, Plum Creek
Atlas: Randolph County 1875
State: Illinois
W.R. Brink & Co. 1875
1820 United States Federal Census, Ancestry.com Transcript
Township: Plumb Creek
County: Randolph
State: Illinois
Enumeration Date: August 7, 1820
[on same page as Springfield Township, Randolph Co, ILLINOIS]
Illinois Census, 1810-90, Ancestry.com Transcript
Name: William Edgar
State: IL
County: Randolph County
Township: Plumb Creek Twp.
Year: 1825
Database: IL 1825 State Census Index
"PLUM CREEK Prec, established in 1816. Thomas Widaman, Supervisor of Roads, David Anderson, Assessor,
James Patterson and James Patton, Overseers of the Poor."
Plum Creek Precinct--1825 Randolph Co, IL State Census Index @ GenalogyTrails.com
"About the year 1780, a settlement was made about the mouth of nine mile creek, by some of Col. Clark’s soldiers, and
some friends, whom they had persuaded to come along with them to the country. Of these, Daniel Hicks, Henry and Elijah
Smith, Hilderbrand, Hayden, Lunceford and others were prominent. They nearly all lived and died in the settlement... These
were undoubtedly the first settlements made in this precinct, but little can be learned of them at this date. A locality famous in
early days, was called the Irish Settlement, which was located near the mouth of Plum Creek, and derives its name from the
fact that the Irish settlers were called South Carolina Irish. The place was probably first settled by a man, eminent, even at that
early day, for great energy and activity, James Patterson, from the Abbeville district, South Carolina. He afterwards settled
upon the site of Preston Village, in 1804. This old pioneer held the offices of justice of the peace and county commissioner and
also made himself conspicuous as a ranger in the war of 1812. He had four sons, John, Samuel, Reuben, and James Harvey.
John, after living for several years in the same settlement, with his father, moved to Hill Prairie, where in 1837, he died.
Samuel settled in Horse Prairie; Reuben, in Heacock Prairie; James H. lived on the farm, first settled by his father." Evansville
OLD BETHEL CHURCH
Sparta, Randolph Co, ILLINOIS
Bethel Reformed Presbyterian Church, Sparta, IL Article, PCA Historical Center
"Early in the present century, Southern Illinois became a popular settlement for Covenanters who left the South on
account of the prevalence of human slavery. They settled principally in Randolph and Washington Counties, and became
the nuclei of the present congregations of Old Bethel, Bethel, Church Hill and Elkhorn… Old Bethel. The first Covenanter
minister to visit this region was the Rev. Samuel Wylie in the summer of 1816. In the summer of 1818, he was
ordained by Synod as a missionary and sent to this locality. He made his principal preaching station at the "Irish
Settlement" a few miles south-west of the present town of Sparta, and among a few members of the Associate
Reformed Church. The first Covenanter congregation organized was in June, 1821, with thirty five members and the
promise of a salary of about two hundred dollars per year. The elders were Samuel Little and William Edgar, who had the
year previously emigrated from Tennessee. The Rev. Samuel Wylie was at that time installed in charge and the
congregation was called "Eden," sometimes "Bethel," and he post town was Kaskaskia on the Mississippi river. Soon
afterwards, James McClurkin, from the Associate Reformed Church, and James Monford [sic MUNFORD], recently from South
Carolina, were added to the session. Emigration soon augmented their numbers and Covenanters flocked from the South and
settled around the original society. In 1823, a comfortable frame church building was erected, surrounded by a spacious
graveyard. Soon the house of worship became too small, for there were nearly three hundred and fifty communicants, and
arrangements were made for a new church. Strife arose in settling the location, and during the erection of the building, in
1832, the original congregation was divided, and those at Hill Prairie received a separate organization. At the division of the
whole Church in 1833, these congregations were again divided, and Mr. Wylie took many with him into the New School body.
The remnant of the old Bethel congregation continued to hold their organization. The Rev. James Wallace became the pastor
in August, 1840, and continued steadfast to his post for twenty seven years, when he was released in May, 1867, to labor in
the interests of the National Reform Association. In October, 1869, the Rev. William J. Gillespie was ordained and installed
pastor, and the following year left the communion of the Church. For four years they were vacant and made efforts to obtain a
pastor. In July, 1874, the Rev. Patterson P. Boyd was installed in charge, and was released in December, 1887." History Of
The Reformed Presbyterian Church In America, GLASGOW, page 342
"The Old Bethel, Bethel, Church Hill and Elkhorn congregations are so closely related in their history and members, that
the names are grouped together as representative families of the Covenanter Church in Southern Illinois. Among these are
Samuel Little, William Edgar, John Thomas and James McClurkin, James Monford, Archibald Hood, John and Thomas
Donnelly, Thomas G. Armour, John Hunter, William Kennedy, Alexander Moore, John G. and Charles R. Miller, William and
John Weir, John M. Sloane, James Coulter, Joseph Patton, James and Hugh Matthews, Andrew Todd, John Robinson, A. J.
[Alexander John EDGAR, son of William] and R. S. Edgar [son of Alexander John EDGAR], John Steele, W. A.
Stevenson, M. K. Mawhinney, David H. Coulter, James Beall, James and Thomas Finley, W. B. Whittaker, John Houston, John
and J. M. Wylie, W. J. S. Cathcart, Robert H. Sinclair, Daniel Dickey, Samuel McCloy, William and Samuel Woodside, Robert
McAfee, Robert Ramsey, Francis Torrens, D. F. McClurkin, A. W. Hunter, J. D. Flder, John E. Willson, L. M. Patterson, R. G.
McLean, R. K. Wisely, J. R. Keady, and others." History Of The Reformed Presbyterian Church In America, GLASGOW, page