A Vanished Village South of Sandwich
Two miles south of present-day Sandwich, in the open farmland of DeKalb County, there once stood a village called Asbury. Today nothing remains. No buildings, no visible foundations, no road signs mark the spot. The land has returned to quiet agricultural use. Only scattered fragments in the soil, bits of pottery, glass, a small doll’s arm, and a blue marble, testify that a community once lived and worked there.
Asbury at a glance
Founded: 1830s
Location: Section 13, Northville Township
Key Establishments: Store, blacksmith shop, post office
Prominent Resident: W. L. F. Jones
Decline: Following railroad realignment
Present Condition: No visible remains
Asbury emerged in the 1840s, during the earliest wave of settlement in the southern portion of what would later become Sandwich. The railroad had not yet arrived. In 1845 Almon Gage purchased the first property that would become Sandwich, and by the early 1850s rails would reshape trade and growth across the region. But before Sandwich rose to prominence, settlement activity was already taking root nearby.
Among the early pioneers was William Farley, who came west seeking land and opportunity on the Illinois prairie. Like many settlers of the period, he broke raw ground, built a modest home partially set into the earth, and began farming. His claim lay in the fertile soil that drew so many east-to-west migrants. Farley planted crops, raised stock, and established an orchard. Over time, neighbors followed.
As settlement increased, a small cluster of activity formed east and slightly south of Farley’s farm. A post office, a general store, and a blacksmith shop appeared. Stagecoaches ran between Asbury and Ottawa, and also connected to Newark Junction, now Sandwich. Mail and goods arrived by horse drawn coach long before rail traffic changed the map. For a brief period, Asbury thrived.
Another prominent early figure was William LaFayette Jones, a blacksmith by trade who recognized the opportunity in the growing settlement. His shop became an economic nucleus for the area. Jones prospered and played a role in the broader development of the region, including early railroad interests. Like many pioneer communities, Asbury’s growth was driven by industrious individuals whose names now survive mostly in obituaries and scattered accounts.
Religious life also shaped the village. A church was organized, and the community gathered there for worship and civic life. The origin of the village’s name remains uncertain. One possibility connects it to Francis Asbury, the early Methodist bishop, though no definitive proof survives. As with many early settlements, documentation is sparse and questions remain.
Asbury’s decline came gradually. Railroads redirected commerce toward larger and better connected towns. Ottawa benefited first, and Sandwich followed. Trade patterns shifted. Businesses relocated or closed. Buildings were moved to neighboring farms or dismantled. The small cemetery established near the settlemen, later known as the Dixon or Pine Mound Cemetery, remained, but the village itself faded from the landscape.
By the early twentieth century, little physical evidence of Asbury remained. Farley’s home was gone. The orchard disappeared. Structures that once housed the post office and shops were repurposed or removed. The land reverted fully to farmland.
Today, the only tangible reminders lie beneath the surface. Fragments of transferware, stoneware crocks, bottle glass, and domestic pottery occasionally surface after plowing or rain. Among them are more personal relics: a porcelain doll’s arm and a blue glass marble. These small objects speak quietly of the children who once played in yards between rough wooden buildings. They remind us that Asbury was not merely a trading point or a postal stop, but a living village of families.
History does not always leave monuments. Some communities vanish so completely that only careful research and a handful of artifacts preserve their memory. Asbury is one of them.
Though no structure stands today, its story survives in land records, obituaries, cemetery stones, and in the soil itself. Through those fragments, and through continued research, the forgotten village south of Sandwich is remembered once more.
Sources
Rogers, Shawn. “Asbury Vanished.” Cornsilk: The Quarterly Magazine of the DeKalb County History Center, Vol. 43, No. 4 (Winter 2024), pp. 6–9.
Rogne, Marie. Undated manuscript account of early Asbury settlement (discovered c. 1990s; referenced in Cornsilk, Winter 2024).
Obituary of William LaFayette Jones, January 27, 1882.
Local cemetery records, Pine Mound (Dixon) Cemetery, DeKalb County, Illinois.
Field artifacts recovered from the former Asbury site, including domestic pottery fragments, bottle glass, porcelain doll fragment, and glass marble (private collection; photographed by the author).
Early regional settlement and railroad development records, DeKalb County, Illinois.
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