Dr. E. Duis, The Good Old Times in McLean County, Illinois
(The Leader Publishing and Printing House - 1874)


Adolphus Dimmick was born in Tolland County, Connecticut, January 13, 1791. In the year 1816, he came to Ripley County, Indiana. There he set out a nursery, the first in that part of the country, and raised a great many apple and peach trees. On the 9th of October, 1832, he married Esther Livingston. On the first of November following, he started for Illinois, traveling in a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen and a horse. On the 25th of that month he arrived at Old Town timber, made a claim and commenced farming. He bought a cow and calf, and from this beginning raised a herd of forty or more cattle, besides selling a great many. The cabin was one of the little log huts of the early days, with a pounded clay fireplace, a stick chimney and a floor of linn puncheons. These puncheons were made of rails split thin and shaved with a drawing knife. The windows were of greased paper, and the table was made of a large puncheon. The land, where they lived, did not come into market until 1836. They had very little company. The wild animals came around them and kept them company. The raccoons came up under the window at night; the wolves ate the bones thrown from the house, and the wild turkeys picked up the crumbs near the door. The deer often came around them, and their society was principally that of the wild animals.

Mr. Dimmick died on Christmas day, 1845. He had three children, all of whom are now dead. His stature was somewhat less than medium. He was stoutly built, had a light complexion, was careful and attentive to business and succeeded well. He had a common school education, and taught school in Ohio and Illinois. He was always hospitable to strangers and willing and ready to entertain them. He had always good fortune in life and prospered well. His lady afterwards married Mr. Stephen Ireland, but has been a widow for the last sixteen years. She is a pleasant old lady, and her house is a stopping place for a number of elderly people and seems almost an old folks asylum.