The Village of Craigtown

Though never formally organized, in about 1843 the community became known as Craigtown for a resident of the area, Elijah Lewis Craig. He was not a large landowner, nor did he hold an office, but he was a popular and respected resident. Craig was a native of Kentucky, as were many of the pioneers of Fall Creek. He had come from Carroll County, Kentucky, to Adams County by way of Alton in about 1842 at the age of 26. He came with his wife Adeline. His sister Lanthia Craig Young and her husband Ambrose Young also migrated from Kentucky to Fall Creek. Craig farmed, traded in goods, and built barrels and casks. He also became an ordained minister of the Christian Church-Disciples of Christ not long after he arrived in Fall Creek. He had come from a family of pioneer ministers and evangelists. Fall Creek was populated by many followers of the Christian Church from Bourbon County, Kentucky. 

Craigtown was situated between Payson and Millville and about 11 miles southwest of Quincy. Millville was later renamed Marblehead. Because of these other thriving towns nearby, Craigtown never progressed and by the 1880’s it consisted only of the church, cemetery, and the Craigtown School. 

An advertisement was placed in the Quincy newspaper in 1858 seeking bids to build a schoolhouse one mile from Millville. The building was to be built on four feet of stone and would be 24 x 84 feet and 15 feet in height. The bids were to be returned to Nathaniel P. Rood, director of Schools, Fall Creek District of Adams County. The land for the school was donated by Curtis Cadwell and carved from the southern section of his farm. This was directly across the road from the farm of Lewis G. Carr and the Craigtown Church and Cemetery. The school was built. There were at one time about 200 one room schoolhouses in Adams County. They held grades 1-8, with one teacher holding classes for between 7 and 35 students. The teachers also acted as the janitor, administrator, and started the wood heating stove each cold morning.

Some referred to the Craigtown Christian Church as the Campbellite Church after the name of one of the founders, Alexander Campbell. Certain records also refer to it as Mill Creek Church, because Mill Creek flows downhill from the church and cemetery site. 

Before the Christian Church was built in Craigtown in 1851, services were held in homes and schoolhouses. The congregation was formally organized in 1840. The simple wood church at Craigtown was the second oldest church of that denomination in Adams County, after Ursa. It was built on land where the community cemetery had been in use since 1841. 

Elder Holman Bowles was a prominent preacher in the area. He and his father, Elder Jesse Bowles, Jr. came to Adams County from Bourbon County, Kentucky in 1831. Rev. Jesse Bowles, Jr. was a founder of the Ursa Christian Church in 1833. Before coming to Adams County, the Bowles family was involved in the community of Cane Ridge near Paris, Kentucky. Cane Ridge was the site of an 1801 revival that attracted over 10,000 people for a weeklong, fervent religious event. The Cane Ridge Meeting House, which dates to 1780, is still standing and is now preserved inside the historical visitor’s center. 

Barton Warren Stone, the other founder of the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ moved from Kentucky to Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1832. He travelled the country spreading the good news of the church. He came to Illinois to free the slaves his wife had inherited as he was against slavery. In his 1832 migration from Kentucky to this part of Illinois, he was accompanied by many of the families who settled in Fall Creek. This devout group of families included the Robert’s family whose son, Corporal William Roberts, is buried at Craigtown Cemetery. Roberts died from wounds he received at the Battle of Shiloh while serving in the Illinois 50th Volunteer Infantry. Dr. Moses Bane of Payson organized the 50th, which was made up primarily of Adams County soldiers. 

In time, the Craigtown Church building was aging, and many of the original residents had died. In 1879, the funeral of Dr. George Morris, physician and Union Army Veteran was held in the church. A large crowd attended and just as the services began, the church floor collapsed, though, fortunately, without any serious injuries. The Craigtown Church ended services in the 1880’s. The church building remained in disuse for years until finally torn down around 1905. Though gone almost 120 years, the “ghost” of the church remains. The outline of the building can be seen upon a visit to the site. The stones of the threshold are still there. A great number of the congregation are peacefully resting on that small piece of ground surrounding the Church, known as Craigtown Cemetery. 

The families who lived in and around Craigtown were those whose dedication, labor, and faithfulness made the community what it was and built the foundation for what it is today. Today, a good number of Adams County and Quincy residents have these Craigtown pioneers as their ancestors. 

Sources

1850 United States Federal Census for Elijah Craig. Ancestry.com

Abilene Christian University. The Christian Evangelist. Digital Commons @ ACU.

Adams County Recorder. Craigtown Cemetery Survey Census.  

Baptist History Homepage. A Source for Original Baptist Documents. The Travelling Church, by George W. Ranck, 1891 (baptisthistoryhomepage.com)

Boyd, Gregory A., J.D., “Family Maps of Adams County, Illinois,” Norman, OK: Arphax Publishing Co, 2007.

Cane Ridge Meeting House. Religion on the Frontier. Cane Ridge Meeting House – Official Web Site

Craigtown Cemetery Census Survey of 1980’s , Recorded at Adams County Clerk, February 20, 2018.

Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Digital Commons @ Disciples History.

“The Gospel Echo, Volume 4 (1866)” by Elijah Lewis Craig and Elijah Perry Belshe (discipleshistory.org)

Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Digital Commons @ Disciples History. Stone-Campbell Movement Resources (discipleshistory.org)

Find a Grave. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124410377/elijah-lewis-craig

Historic Map Works, Plat of Adams County, Illinois Map, 1872.

The Wife of Elder E. L. Craig. Alton Telegraph, August 8, 1873.