. Historical encyclopedia of Illinois. where there isso much good land, it is not possible for every-body to agree in giving the palm to any oneparticular township. Much of the land in thenorthern and northeastern part of the townshipis rather too rolling. While considerable tractshave been called too wet; but the constructionof the Easterbrook Drainage District in the north-east part, which is also partly in the towns ofBelleflower and Cheneys Grove, has converted alarge area of what was almost a lake for thewhole year around, and actually a lake in wetseasons, into a remarkably rich and fert
. Historical encyclopedia of Illinois. where there isso much good land, it is not possible for every-body to agree in giving the palm to any oneparticular township. Much of the land in thenorthern and northeastern part of the townshipis rather too rolling. While considerable tractshave been called too wet; but the constructionof the Easterbrook Drainage District in the north-east part, which is also partly in the towns ofBelleflower and Cheneys Grove, has converted alarge area of what was almost a lake for thewhole year around, and actually a lake in wetseasons, into a remarkably rich and fertile dis-trict of great value. This ditch was one of thefirst to be constructed in this part of the State,and was considered twenty years ago as atriumph of engineering skill, though it has nowbeen equaled and surpassed many times over inCentral Illinois. Mr. Henry West was the first Supervisor whenthe township was organized in 1858, and so con-tinued until 1878. During the Civil War he wasone of the most prominent members of the Board. ^^ iA/tCZ^^^-^ji^^-y^ HISTORY OP McLean county. 731 Jn devising ways and means to provide aid forsoldiers families at home, and to furnish volun-teers to meet the different calls for soldiers in thefield. In September, 1864, he was Chairman ofa Special Committee on this subject. His wellknown conservatism and broad-minded view madehim a very valuable member of the Board at alltimes. He is gratefully remembered by the peo-ple of West Township who are proud of his mem-ory. To him belongs the credit of having pre-vented the sale of the land in the school the whole population of the township hadpetitioned for a sale of this land, but Mr. HenryWest contrived to have it leased for five yearsinstead, and by the time the lease was up, theland was considerably improved and had dulyincreased in value. It was then plainly to beseen that the public interests were better servedby continuing to lease the land rather than to sellit, and risk the
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