The story of Harrisonville, the small subdivision on the northwest corner of Carbon Hill Road and Illinois 113 just west of Coal City, Illinois, begins with the Mexican-American War in the 1840s. On February 11, 1847, The United States Congress passed an act which authorized volunteers to the United States Army to claim $100 or 160 acres of land to compensate them for their service in the war1. Sergeant John P. McCabe of the First Regiment Louisiana Foot Volunteers filed a warrant for 160 acres with the General Land Office after the war. On January 10, 18512, US President Millard Fillmore granted the SE quarter of Section 33 of Township 33 of Grundy County, Illinois to McCabe’s assignee, William B. Gurney. Gurney became the first registered owner of these 160 acres, which include the 15 or so acres which later became Harrisonville.
On October 8, 1852, William Gurney and his wife Sarah sold the land to Helen J. Huff, wife of Thomas Huff of Braceville, Illinois for a sum of $950.3 Thomas died in 1854 and Helen was married to James W. Lawrence, when on October 9, 1865, she sold the entire 160 acres to Robert S. Dudgeon, an Irish immigrant (or son of Irish immigrants) farmer living in Felix Township, for a sum of $2880.4 On August 2, 1872, Dudgeon sold the west half of the tract (80 acres) to Lemuel Short for $1640. Dudgeon kept the east half (80 acres).5
By the 1880s, Robert Dudgeon owned several tracts of land in Grundy County. The Coal Mining industry was ramping up and immigrants from all over Europe were moving into the area. In July of 1888, Short and Dudgeon sold the coal and mineral rights under their 160 acres to the Star Coal Company of Streator, Illinois.6 The immigrants needed places to live, so, at the end of August, 1888, Dudgeon authorized the south 15 acres of his 80 acre tract to be surveyed and subdivided into two blocks with 12 lots in each block. Each lot was 100 feet by 200 feet. The survey was conducted by N. McBride, the Grundy County Surveyor on August 30 and 31 and the plat was filed with the Grundy County Recorder’s office on September 3, 1888. Thus, Harrisonville, was born. (see Plat of Harrisonville)
Harrisonville Today, Northwest corner of IL-113 and Carbon Hill RoadThis study of the history of Harrisonville will include a review of real estate transactions, census records and genealogy research. In addition to Harrisonville itself, the property just west of Harrisonville and the property south of Harrisonville, in Maine Township, will also be included in this study.
Plat of Harrisonville, 3 September 1888
Footnotes
1 “1847, February 11 – 09 Stat. 123, Sec. 9, Act to raise for Limited Time Additional Military, Certificates of Warrant 160 Acres” (2016). US Government Legislation and Statutes. 3.
https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_2_d/3
2 Grundy County, Illinois, Deed Records volume 180, page 362; The United States of America Exemplification of Patent to William B. Gurney, 10 Jan 1851. Note that in this database on Ancestry.com: State of Illinois. Illinois, U.S., Public Land Purchase Records, 1813-1909 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999., the date of the warrant to William Gurney is 4 May 1850.
3 Grundy County, Illinois, Deed Records volume G, page 202; William B. Gurney and wife Deed to Helen J. Huff, 8 Oct 1852.
4 Grundy County, Illinois, Deed Records volume 18, page 350; Helen J. Lawrence and her husband James W. Lawrence to Robert S. Dudgeon.
5 Grundy County, Illinois, Deed Records volume 32, page 622; Robert S. Dudgeon and Eliza Dudgeon to Lemuel Short, 2 August 1872.
6 Grundy County, Illinois, Deed Records volume 68, pages 40 and 41; Robert S. Dudgeon and Lemuel Short to Star Coal Company, 20 July 1888.