Randolph County ILGenWeb
Will Hill (Lakeville) was settled by German's in 1849. Located in Sec 5 on a hill. Here William Sake opened a store in 1850, The blacksmith was Ned Steines. In the 1860's a winery was est. In 1859 the St. Paul's Lutheran Church was est. In 1861 St. Peter's was opened. The post office was est. in 1867 under the name of Lakeville, the name was changed to Wine Hill in 1895. The post office closed in 1900. The winery was closed and the grapevines destroyed. St. Peter's Church is all that is left of the town.
Shiloh Hill (Steuben) is located in Sec 14. In 1836 a group meet at John B Burke's home to found a school. Benjamin Cully began teaching there with 28 students. A petition was that sent to est. the Shiloh College, this was the first college in IL. The Charter was signed by Gov. William T. D. Ewing 08 Jan 1840. John A Logan attended the college. A brick building was built in 1881, the log school stood until 1933. The college closed and still stands but the charter still exists. In 1856 a town was laid out around the campus. North to South streets are North, Walnut, Cherry, Hazel and Hickory. East to west are numbers 1 to 7. The post office was in service from 1859 to 1906. The blacksmith shop was open in the 1940's.
Leanderville was a store and post office in Sec 17. Jesse Beer opened both in 1892. Beer was single and he lived with Leander Johnson and named the town for him.. Jesse married not long after 1892. The post office closed in 1906, the store was opened until the 1950's. Today, there is but one dwelling there.
Little Chicago was a squatter's camp built during the 1930's. A family who had once lived in RC came back from Chicago during the depression. They settled in Sec 4 in the valley of Degoinia Creek. The farmer who owned the land let them stay, so they wrote to relatives in Chicago and others came. By 1936 all these related families moved to Rockwood or Chester. Nothing remains' of the squatter village.
Jones Creek is actually a creek where Emsley Jones settled in 1804. In 1805 he got into a fight with a man named Reed which he killed. Jones was arrested, convicted and hung in Kaskaskia for the murder. Although he was dead the creek kept his name.