Farmers Weekly Review

By Sandy Vasko

This week, we look to Plainfield, the first township settled in Will County. Our subject is Rev. S. R. Beggs and the biography can be credited to George Woodruff in his “History of Will County, 1878.”

Remember, at the time this bio was written, Rev. Beggs was still alive.

He begins, “Rev. S. R. Beggs, a veteran Methodist preacher, is an early settler

at Plainfield. He settled here in the Summer of 1831, near where he still lives. Father Beggs was born in Rockingham County, Va., in 1801, and when 4 years old his father removed to Kentucky, where he remained two years, and then settled in Clarke County, Ind., on the Ohio River, seventeen miles above the falls.

“Here the family were subjected to all the privations incident to a new home in a great wilderness, that of chills and fever being included. As an illustration of the times, Mr. Beggs says he was 7 years old before he ever possessed the luxury of a pair of shoes.

“At an early age he entered the ministry, and became an itinerant Methodist preacher, laboring in Indiana, Missouri and Illinois, settling, as above stated, at Plainfield in 1831. To show the hardships those early preachers underwent to plant the Gospel in the wilderness, we again quote from Father Beggs’ book. Referring to his year’s labor, he says; ‘My quarterage this

year was $23 ($690); my clothing, that I had brought from home, was by this time so nearly worn out that it was necessary to replace it with new. Some of the sisters spun wool and made me a coat of blue and white cotton, a pair of white cotton pants and one of mixed. One of the brothers gave me his old hat, which I got pressed, and then I was fitted out for Conference.’ “Think of this, ye high-salaried, stall-fed pastors, who proclaim the Word from marble desks, in gilded temples, resplendent in your broadcloth and white cravats! Think ye, will not these self-denying men of God, who braved danger, hunger and cold to spread the Gospel, receive the brighter crown when they arrive in the Kingdom!

“In 1836, Mr. Beggs was appointed to the Joliet Circuit, and commenced the work of building the first Methodist Church, also the first church edifice in Joliet. Rev. Stephen R. Beggs, who is well known throughout the county as one of the earliest itinerants (traveling preacher) through this region. He settled his family on the southeast quarter of Section 16 of the township,

and built a log house, etc. He subsequently obtained the title to the same at the sale of the section under the school law.

“During the Sac war, his house, then considered the strongest building in the Plainfield settlement, was constructed into a fort. Two log pens which he had built for a barn and shed, were torn down and made into fortifications around his house, into which the settlers all crowded.

“But Indian outrages growing more alarming every day, it was finally decided to risk trying to get to Chicago. The settlers were formed into a company, and James Walker elected Captain. Being only teams enough to carry the people, their effects were left behind, many of which were taken or destroyed by the Indians before the whites were permitted to return. But the cloud of war rolled away before Scott’s legions, and the people could finally return in safety to their homes.

“In the Fall of 1832, Rev. Mr. Beggs succeeded to the charge here, with Father Walker as Presiding Elder. The first church edifice built at Plainfield was by the Methodists, and was erected in 1836. It was a rather small, plain affair, compared to the elegant stone church of the present time. In 1854, Lockport and Plainfield were united, and so remained for a number of years, until the strength of each church became sufficient to admit of their being formed into stations. The fine stone church of the Methodists was erected in 1868, and dedicated by Bishop Simpson. It is built of Plainfield stone, and cost about $22,000 ($527,200).”

I take a break in this narrative to relate how widespread Rev. Beggs activities were. We read in the history of Crete Township: “Though, as before stated, Rev. David Ripley organized the first church in Crete, that being a Congregational society the Methodists really organized the first class for religious culture and teaching. A class of this denomination was formed by the noted pioneer preacher, S. R. Beggs, at Thorn Grove, in 1836, with fifteen members. This was the first religious organization in the east end of the county. Five years later, it was transferred to the village of Crete, but no building was erected until 1852, the meetings of the society in the mean time being held in schoolhouses and, in warm weather, in the open air in the grove.”

And as early as 1833, he had a station (meeting place) in Hadley, and others at Reed’s Grove, Hickory Creek, East DuPage and Walker’s Grove.

Rev. Beggs lived another 12 years after Woodruff’s bio of him, dying in Tazewell County in 1895 at the age of 94.

Sandy Vasko is Director of the Will County Historical Museum & Research Center and President of the Will County Historical Society.