John Marvin, the first settler in this vicinity, located and built a log house about where Mrs. Doyle lives, in the year of 1830.  

NOTE:  The log house was built in 1831, not 1830.

     William E. Marvin, a son of John Marvin, settled soon after upon what is called the Woodward Farm, east of town, and started a small store.  It being the first place where goods were sold. Wet and dry goods were sold in this store.  

     Mr. B. Hack and Mr. Harmon Allen settled here in the year of 1832.  Mr. Hack settled upon the farm now owned by the Hack Estate and Mr. Allen where Mr. White lives, east of the depot.  

NOTE:  William E. Marvin settled on the Woodard Farm, not the Woodward Farm.

     William E. Marvin and David A. Woodward built the first flour mill in 1834, which contained two very small run of stone.  

NOTE:  David’s last name was Woodard, not Woodward.

     Henry Tolan, a brother-in-law of William E. Marvin, started about the year of 1840, a small factory here, and soon after he started a store of which the dimen­sions were about 10x12 feet.   

NOTE:  Mr. Tolan never built the Babcock Hotel or any other structure on the northeast corner of Main and Tolan.   

     A short time later he built what was later the Babcock Hotel and is now the Minto Clothing Store and the Sanford Hardware Store, and the house now owned by Mrs. Doyle.  This house was originally a part of the Babcock Hotel.

NOTE:  The Babcock Hotel never became the Minto Clothing Store.  The Babcock Hotel was a wood structure.  It was moved away, and the Minto store was built on the same place, of brick.   

NOTE:  Mrs. Doyle never had a house in that location.  She had a house just west of the old police station on W. Main .  Look at the picture of the Braman meat shop with the oxen in front of it.  Mrs. Doyle’s house is visible in that picture just to the west.

     A saw mill was also built by Marvin and Woodward and was situated adjoining the present Neckel Flour Mill.  

     Elijah Ellis built and occupied a store upon the corner of which the Blackmer Estate now owns, in the year 1845.    

NOTE:  Blackmer Estate property probably refers to the southeast corner of Main and Wabash , but it’s hard to say because Charles Blackmer also built on the northwest corner of that same intersection.

     The first school was organized in this vicinity in the year of 1840, and the first school house was built where Mrs. C. M. Blackmer now lives, and after doing good service many years, was sold to make room for a longer one and was moved and fitted up for a dwelling house where Mrs. Kelsey’s store stood, which is now the Farmers’ and Merchants’ Bank.  Later it was moved and finally did its last services as a dwelling for Thomas Dexter.  

NOTE:  The first school in Milan was not built until much later.  If Virginia Hack is talking about York Township, the date is still wrong.  

It’s true the first school house was built where the red brick Blackmer home stands. The rest of the information about buildings being moved about, doesn’t make any sense.

     In 1848 Nicholas Childs built a saw mill about where Mr. Charles Wilson lived by the river bridge.  Mr. Charles Wilson built a potash factory on the river bank, near the rear of Mrs. Nelson Rice’s residence, which used to be Moses Edward’s residence.  

     Mr. Tolan also built a potash factory about where Doctor Cassidy’s barn now stands which used to belong to Thomas Dexter.  

The first minister of the gospel, who preached to the people in this section, was John Roughman of the Methodist church.  

     The first Post Office in this section was at Mooreville, and the first physician located in this region was Dr. Bower.  He also was at Mooreville.  

     The first road in this section was run out and paid for from an appropriation made by Congress about the year of 1828, and is the present road running from Monroe to Dexter.  This road was formerly traveled as all wheat grown regions were.  

Virginia Hack was inspired by the year 1828 when she came up with the title to this essay, "A history of Milan 94 years ago."

     Eight or ten hotels were kept between Milan and Monroe while there are not any doing business now.  

      In 1884 Milan had 160 dwellings, 30 shops and stores, 3 churches, 7 mills and factories, 2 railroads, 1 telephone and 2 newspapers.  Now it has bout 500 dwellings, about 50 shops and stores, 5 churches, 1 mill, 2 factories, 2 railroads, many telephones and 1 newspaper.  

NOTE:  When she talks about “now” she is referring to 1922.

    Written by Virginia Hack in 1922.

Annotations by Warren Hale, July 5, 2006