Tipton, Illinois

Tipton, Illinois. Kaskaskia Cahokia Trail. , This small community is located in the southern part of New Design Precinct. It was settled in the late 1830's by immigrants from Tipperary, Ireland. The press of economic and political circumstances caused many Irish to immigrate to Monroe County during this time. Others came from Mayo, Roscommon and Galway Counties in Ireland. In fact, the original name of Tipton was Tipperary Town; the settlers considered the rough, hills in the area similar to the ones they had left in Ireland. The name was later changed to Tiptown, then to Tipton., By 1840, the community was established. First church services were held at the home of Edward Walsh., In June 1849, Fr. P. McCabe purchased forty acres of land from the government for one dollar an acre, upon which to erect a church. The original plans were not very ambitious because there was not much wealth among these struggling pioneers, many of whom had come penniless from Ireland during the great "Potato Famine" just the year or two before. They took time off occasionally from their efforts to eke out an existence on soil only slightly better than that of their native land to work on a small wooden church, located where the priests' lot now is in the cemetery. It took three years to build this little log house of worship but no doubt the devotion and faith of the people made up for any lack of elaboration or ornamentation. It seems, therefore, that sometime in 1853 marks the first Mass in the parish church at Tiptown, which was dedicated at that time to the Blessed Virgin Mary as St. Mary Parish., The first settlement centered about three miles east of the church. As the Irish continued to arrive they expanded in a westerly direction. The first families were the Sennot, McLaughlin, Burns, Tim Dugan, Pat Lynch, David Donahue, Cooney, Dwyer and Butler clans., The completion of the log church seemed a signal for wide expansion of the community and quick growth of the parish. By 1855 the parish was able to record 23 baptisms in one year. The influx of Irish immigrants continued so that the church was immediately inadequate. A dynamic man in Rev. john F. Mohr, took over the parish as a mission of his post in Red Bud. During the war between the states he undertook to build a new rock church, with some money left by Fr. Gifford for this purpose., Under date of April 7, 1864 we find this note in the records: "On this day the corner stone of a new church which is to be called St. Patrick Church when finished, was laid in this parish, commonly called Tiptown. Pope Pius IX at this time occupying the chair of St. Peter in Rome, and Abraham Lincoln being the President of the northern part of the United States and Jefferson Davis of the southern, the whole country being at this time scourged by a most cruel civil war. This architect of the stonework was Daniel Davanough, Esq. The church was constructed of native stone hewn and hauled by the parishioners. The completed edifice, being the one still in use, cost about $3,000 and has a seating capacity of 260., Hardly had this structure been occupied when plans were made to erect a parish house in anticipation of a resident pastor. Fr. Mohr supervised this building, and by 1868 he had erected an eight-room, two and a half story rectory which was called "the handsomest parsonage in Monroe County.", The church was enlarged in 1899, with a bell tower, sanctuary and two sacristies. The Church was frescoed in 1902 and art windows were installed. An historic occasion for the parish was the opening of a school in 1901 in a small building on the parish grounds. Because the condition of the roads at certain seasons made attendance impossible, the school was discontinued in 1909. The school was reopened in 1913 in a new building. Ten years later the school was again forced to close because of lack of attendance., A post office opened in Tipton on July 24, 1871, with Christian von Ende as Postmaster. He remained in this position until the post office closed on April 3, 1888. A school opened south of Burksville Station, and the intersection of Sportsman and LL Roads. When Tipton School District 13 closed in 1949, the teacher was Vincent Walsh., St. Patrick's Parish in Tipton continues to serve the residents of the area., Illinois' First Road: , The K-C Trial is a 60-mile corridor through Randolph, Monroe and St. Clair Counties. The trail dates back to use by Native American civilizations as long ago as 11,000 BC. It played an integral part in French Colonization, and remained a main road through the founding of Illinois as a state. It remains a highly trafficked route in the Metro East St. Louis Region.