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Town of York, Early History

(Note: In the 1800s, areas with sparse population were often referred to by the TOWNSHIP name, therefore the "Town of York" was the Township of York.)

The first settler in the Town of York (York Township) was Elisha Fish, who took up the southeast quarter of section 35 in 1834.  (See Section map at York Township Ownership -- 1870s).   He was joined the following year by Henry Reader, Luther Morton, Benjamin Fuller and Nicholas Torode, Sr. 

Nicholas Torode, Sr., was a native of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, which are French although ruled by England since the time of William the Conqueror.  The name FRENCHMAN'S WOODS was used in years past to refer to the Torode property where many generations of Elmhurst residents picnicked.  Mr. Torode was the first to make use of the area's limestone, building a stone house at York and Roosevelt roads.  Torode also established a sawmill on Salt Creek which was  the predecessor of the Graue grist mill.

Addison Township was first settled in 1834 by Hezekian Dunklee and Mason Smith. York Township settlers of 1836 included John Talmadge, a veteran of the War of 1812, David Talmadge, Jesse Atwater, Edward Eldridge, Jacob W. Fuller, David Thurston, and John Glos, sometimes regarded as Elmhurst's first settler.  In 1837 they were joined by Sheld Peck, W. Churchill, Zerais Cobb, John Bohlander and John Thrasher.

To read about the final fate of the Torode homestead, see:

• Torode Homestead Displaced By Tri-State
• Torodes Woods.

The primary source of this information is:

"ELMHURST:  Trails from Yesterday" by Don Russell.  It was  published by the Heritage Committee of the Elmhurst Bicentennial Commission on the authority of the City of Elmhurst, Illinois in 1977

Last Modified:  08/17/2003