History of Homer Township

YANKEE SETTLEMENT: Homer Township was named by Alanson Granger in honor of his native home, Homer New York. A True Yankee name from an old Yankee Settlement. Homer had the distinction of being an entire township so designated -- should a traveler for many miles around ask directions to the Yankee Settlement he would usually find his way to Homer Township. In 1832 & 1833 two villages were formed in what is now Homer Township. These were the towns of Goodings Grove & Hadley. In 1836 Will County was formed along with Homer Township.

Excerpts taken from - Where the Trails Cross - Vol. 7:4, Summer 1977 - by Don Witt

FRONTIER SCENES: Homer was one of the first Will County Township to be settled, due to its excellent stand of timber. The early pioneers moved into timber areas, clearing the land for farms and using the timber for building houses, barns, and fences. Homer's land was rolling enough to provide good drainage, yet not hilly enough to encourage excessive erosion of the rich topsoil.

In 1835 the first school house, the first store and a blacksmith shop in the township were built in Hadley. Norman Hawley operated the first store, which was the center of activity for the growing community. Merchandise for Hawley's store was hauled from Chicago by ox teams the only possible means of travel over the rough trails of the day.

When the railroads were laid out a few decades later, they failed to come near the Village of Hadley. People begun moving to be nearer the railroads and the community disappeared.

Little did the residents of Homer Township realize that history of great importance to the agricultural world was being made in a blacksmith shop on the north edge of town. Farmers kept asking John Lane the blacksmith, if he could improve on the old wooden plows they had brought from eastern states. These wooden plows were inadequate for the thick midwestern sod. Much time was wasted stopping the oxen time and time again in order to clean the sod from the plowshares. Lane spent much time experimenting with flexible steel, obtained from Col. Sayer's saw mill in the from of old worn out saw blades. After trying many different sizes and shapes, a successful design was achieved. John Griswold of Lockport mounted a steel blade on a wooden frame and the product was ready for use in the fields.

Comstock Hanford of Homer Township was the first farmer to use the new steel plow. It is said that during the first plowing of the virgin prairie, from five to eight oxen were required to furnish the necessary power to thrust the steel-bladed plow through the thick sod.

John Lane moved his plow manufacturing business to Lockport. There was no suitable steel being made in the United States, and it was necessary to have steel shipped from Germany. In the 1850's Lane formed a partnership with Jasper D. Loomer. The plows were advertised as "Lane's Cast Steel plows", "Lockport's Clippers", and "Sod Breakers". Eventually steel of sufficient strength and flexibility for the plows was manufactured in the United States, and Lane purchased steel from Prime and Kimberly, Chicago hardware dealers. It was hauled to Lockport by ox team. Lockport was coming into prominence as a center of commerce and the steel plow was there in the main stream of traffic for farmers to see and to order.

John Lane also invented a drain plow with a large pointed bulb shaped blade. This formed a tunnel several feet underground to carry away excess water. This worked well for a time, but the tunnels soon filled up with soil. Clay tile eventually solved the drainage problem.

Lane did not patent his invention, being satisfied to share them with his friends of the soil. Another manufacturer of steel plows did get a patent and grew into a large well-know farm implement company. It exists today, claiming to have made the first steel plow. The Centennial Committee of Homer Township attempted to set the record straight in 1911 when they placed a marker at the northeast corner of Gougar Road and 7th Street. The marker reads: "In memory of John Lane who made the first steel plow in 1833 on this farm." Lane's invention made possible the settling of the prairie.

In the 1920's Goodings Grove's Post Office closed, and the horse-less carriage put the Haley's Blacksmith Shop out of business. During the late 1920's the Old Oak Golf Club was opened at Parker & 143rd Street. Also the Goodings Grove (Puckerville) Dance Hall was opened at the old Chrisler Store/Post Office. Most of Goodings Grove's 1830's buildings survived into the mid-1980's before being torn down. But some of the original residential houses still stand.

In the 1890s, Hadley became a ghost town, when the railroad was built several miles south of the village.

In the late 1980s and 1990s the City of Lockport and than the Village of New Lenox began anexing ptopertry in Homer Townhip expanding the size of their municapliities.

In 2001 the Village of homer Glen was formed.