Orrin Higgins' Farm

Since late 2017 my family and I have lived in a small, isolated subdivision in Wayne Township.  At first glance, there isn't much to speak about in regard to the neighborhood.  In many respects, is a typical early-90s development, complete with cul de sacs and unimaginative street names (each named for a bird and not all are native to the region - way to go on that one).   The community itself was christened "Meadow Wood", quite possibly the most generic and uninspired name in the history of the universe.  It's also kind of confusing because meadows are what they are because there are no trees, and therefore no wood.  But it must have sounded great to the developers who built the subdivision and to home shoppers then and now.  Safe and naturey.  But I digress.

Walking the curvy streets of Meadow Wood, there doesn't appear to be much if any history whatsoever.  But a sharp eye and a penchant for dusty old books gave rise to this post which I'm sure absolutely no one will care about since it is niche as hell.  I'm gonna do it anyway.

Meadow Wood, and the land surrounding it, was once a gently rolling landscape of tallgrass prairie and savanna.  There are indications that the water table was quite high at one point and that tiling in the mid-19th century effectively dried most of the area for growing crops.  Some of the local drain tiles have been removed, mostly across the road where a seven hundred-plus acre preserve sits.  That preserve is comprised of restored prairie, marsh, and fen habitat, with a one-and-a-half-mile length of river (West Branch of the DuPage River) and two reclaimed quarries (Deep Quarry Lake and Bass Lake).  I'm still working on a series of posts about the preserve itself - the first is here.

Starting in the 1830s, European settlers from the East, primarily Germans, migrated toward northern Illinois for new opportunities.  One of these settlers was Orrin Higgins.  Born in Vermont in 1818, he spent the majority of his life in Ohio before continuing west and landing in Wayne Township in 1840.    He married Betsy Irish in 1845 and together they had four children - Laura, Rosa, Job, and Anna ("Belle").  Their farm was where Meadow Wood sits today.

In 1882, the Higgins property enjoyed its 15 minutes of fame when it was discovered that a rich bounty of fossil fuels might be had there.  

Suffice it to say, "the Junction" (today, West Chicago) never did become a grand health resort or large coal/oil mining town, but we can boast some seriously good tacos and horchata.

Orrin passed away in 1887 at the age of 67, and Betsy followed seven years later in 1894.  Orrin, his wife Betsy, and their oldest daughter Laura were interred at Oakwood Cemetery in West Chicago.

While Orrin claimed land in Wayne Township, a plat map from 1851 does not plot homesteads, only saw mills, post offices, and school houses.  It also spells out landowners, but fails to delineate property boundaries.  The blue X in the map below is roughly where the Higgins' homestead stood.  

Most interesting is that the road which leads to Meadow Wood today, Klein Road, is not featured on this map.  Fair Oaks Road is on this map, running north and south east of the river.  This makes me wonder how the Higgins family accessed their farm.  It seems highly unlikely that access to the farm was via Fair Oaks Road, but it's possible.  This map may not be purely accurate.  There is no indication that Fair Oaks Road ever crossed the river - twice - so I don't know what's up with that.

              

Whomever drew the plat map in 1874 did a much more thorough job.  Properties are clearly drawn out and now we see the locations of farmsteads.  In short, there were both changes to the landscape between 1851 and 1874, AND several errors I've found.  For example, the West Branch of the DuPage River is erroneously labeled as the East Branch, which is actually about six and a half miles east.  So the maps are imperfect - bear that in mind.

1874

In the 1874 map above, the farmstead of Orrin Higgins is clearly labeled near left-center.  There are three black squares (directly over "Orrin") which indicate a house and two barns or other substantial outbuildings. The series of dashes around the buildings indicate an orchard.  There are about two larger blotches which may indicate trees.  There is a large swath of timber just south of the Higgins property, and many of those trees still exist today.

And here is an aerial photo from 1939.  By this time, the farm is owned by the Schramer family.  Visible in the center is a dense cluster of trees, an orchard, a barn, and several other smaller buildings (the house is there, casting a shadow from the southwesterly sun, along the driveway).  This dense cluster appears well-established and probably contains some pre-settlement trees.  Most if not all of the scattered trees to the immediate south are naturally occurring and predate European settlement.  

Also visible here is the old property line that separated Orrin Higgin's holdings from that of R. H. Reed (see 1874 map).  Today, this line separates the West Branch Forest Preserve (north) from the Old Wayne Golf Club (south).  

Also, I quit being a cheapskate criminal and just paid for this image.  Grainy screenshots cluttered with watermarks are so tacky.

I don't know how or when the Higgins home met its fate, but a replacement was constructed in 1912.  It is a beautiful brick farmhouse and thankfully it was spared when all of the other associated farm infrastructure was demolished sometime between 1988 and 1993. For most of the twentieth century, the farm and associated buildings belonged to the Schramers.  Theodore W Schramer and his wife Pearl lived in the brick house for many years.  Theodore was the great-grandson of Johann Schramer, one of the earliest residents of DuPage County.  Among other things, he was president of the Benjamin School District board of directors.

This sign hangs inside Benjamin Middle School.  Two years later (in 1965), Theodore died at the age of fifty.

The old Higgins farm - at this point in time, the Schramer farm - was purchased by Russell Builders around 1990.  In 1992, construction began on a new subdivision known as Meadow Wood. 

Fortunately, Russell had the foresight to keep the Schramer farmhouse intact and preserve most of the old growth trees on the property, but as usual, they demolished the old barn and all other outbuildings.

This was taken in November of 1993.  Courtesy of neighbor Barry Mehrman.  

Another shot of new houses being built, courtesy of a former owner of one of these (unknown).  1993.

The Schramer farmhouse as it appears today.

This cul de sac is the exact location of the old barn that was demolished prior to redevelopment by Russell Builders.

The "graceful oaks", as described by Russell, are still around and truly bring a sense of timelessness and perseverance.  Most are well over a century old, and could be upward of two hundred years old.  I am very glad they are still around.  To see what they have over the years...

A gorgeous shagbark hickory and a bur oak.  The sidewalk respectfully winds around the trunk of the hickory.

A large bur oak at the south entrance to Meadow Wood (with a smaller hickory in the foreground).

Another beautiful bur oak standing in front of what was the Russell office/showcase model (now just another home).

A group of old bur oaks and shagbark hickories.  The Schramer farmhouse is tucked away behind trees on the right.

Another view of some of the historic trees on a gentle rise.

My daughter Lumen standing under some huge oaks with the Schramer home in the background.