O > To \J' ^r> 1 _ ♦ •Of'. , -U '•■' 4.'' .0 '^.'. "^ v"^ /jA^^/k" N?" c^ ' . . . * A <> HISTORY OF D LEXANDER, UNION AND ^OLASKl LODNTIES .,. n ILLaINOIB. EzDiTEiD BY AArii_ii_,ij^3yL H:EisrR.3r iPER^i^iisr. illust:^rat:^ed. ^G^ilRQ r GBUC CHICAGO : O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS, 183 Lake Street. i88^ -? s-x« r PREFACE. rp^HE history of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, after months of persistent toil and -*- research, is now completed, and it is believed that no subject of universal public impor- tance or interest has been omitted, save where protracted effort failed to secure reliable results- We are well aware of our inability to furnish a perfect history from meager public documents and numberless conflicting traditions, but claim to have prepared a work fully up to the standard of our promises. Through the courtesy and assistance generously afforded by the residents of these counties, we have been enabled to trace out and put on record the greater portion of the important events that have transpired in Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, up to the present time. And we feel assured that all thoughtful people in these counties, now and in future, will recognize and appreciate the importance of the work and its permanent value. A dry statement of events has, as far as possible, been avoided, and incidents and anecdotes have been interwoven with facts and statistics, forming a narrative at once instructive and inter- esting. We are indebted to John Grrear, Esq., for the history of Jonesboro and Precinct; to Dr. J H. Sanborn for the historj- of Anna and Precinct ; to Dr. N. R. Casey for the history of Mound City and Precinct, and to George W. Endicott, Esq., of Villa Ridge, for his chapter on Agricult" ure and Horticulture of Pulaski County. Also to H. C. Bradsby, Esq., for his very able and exhaustive history' of Cairo, as well as the general history of the respective counties, and to the many citizens who furnished our corps of writers with material aid in the compilation of the facts embodied in the work. September, 1883. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS. PART I. CAIRO. PAGE. ( HAPTER I.— City of Cairo— The First Steamboat on West- ern Waters — Great Earthquake of 1811— First Settle- ment of Cairo — Holbrook's Schemes — A Mushroom City and the Bubble Bursted — Early Navigation of Western Rivers — Capt. Henry M. Shreve, etc., etc 11 CHAPTER II.— Crash of the Cairo City and Canal Company in 1841 — The Exodus of the People — Pastimes and Social Life of Those Who Remain — Judge Crilbert — How a Riot was Suppressed — Bryan Shannessy — Gradual Growth of the Town Again — The Record Brought Down to l.So3, etc r 31 CHAPTER III.— Cairo Platted— First Sale of Lots— The Foundation of a City Laid — Beginning of AVork on the Central Railroad — S. Staats Taylor — City Gov- ernment Organized and Who W'ere Its Officers — In- crease of Population — The War — Soldiers in Cairo — Battle of Belmont— Waif of the Battle-field— " Old Rube " — Killing of Spencer— Overflow of '58 — Wash Graham and Gen. Grant — A Few More Practical Jokes, etc., etc 47 CHAPTER IV.— Decidedly a Cairo Chapter— Cairo and Its Difterent Bodies, Politic and Corporate — Cairo City and Bank of Cairo — Cairo and Canal C6mpany — Cairo City Property — Trustees of the Cairo Trust Property — The Illinois Exporting Company — D. B. Holbrook — Justin Butterfield — Recapitulation, etc., etc 67 CHAPTER v.— The Levees— How the Territorial Legisla- ture by Law Placed the Natural Town Site Above Overflows — First Eflbrts at Constructing Levees — Engineer's Reports on the Same — Estimated Height and Costs — The Floods — The City Overflowed — Great Disaster, the Cause and Its Effects — The Levees are Reconstructed and They Defy the Greatest Waters Ever Known 90 CHAPTER VI.— The Press— Its Power as the Great Civil- izer of the Age — Cairo's First Editorial Ventures — Birth and Death of Newspapers Innumerable — The Bohemians — Who They Were and What They Did — " Bull Run " Russell— Ilarrell, Willett, Faxon and Others — Some of the "Intelligent Compositors" — Quantum Sufflcit 126 CHAPTER VII.— Societies : Literary, Social and Benevolent — The 'Ideal League — Lyceum — Masonic Fraternity — Its Great Antiquity— Odd Fellowship — The Cairo Casino — Other Societies, etc 155 PAGE. CHAPTER VIII.— Cairo— Her Condition in 1861-1878-1883 — The Ebb and Flow of Business and Population — War and the Panic Which Followed — Steamboats — Mark Twain — Pilots — Some Steamboat Disasters — And a Joke or Two by Way of Illustration, etc 160 CHAPTER IX.— The Church History— St. Patrick's— Ger- man Lutheran — Presbyterian — Baptist — Methodist and Other Denominations — The DiflTerent Pastors — Their Flocks, Temples, the City Schools, etc., etc 176 CHAPTER X.— Railroads — The Illinois Central — Cairo Short Line — The Iron Mountain — Cairo & St. Louis — The Wabash— Mobile & Ohio— Texas & St. Louis— The Great Jackson Route — Roads Being Built, etc., etc.... 195 CHAPTER XL— Conclusion— The Future of the City Con- sidered — Her Present Status and Growth — Present City Oflicials, etc 217 PAET II. UNION COUNTY. CHAPTER I.— Introduction— Geology— Importance of Edu- cating the People on This Subject — The Limestone District of Illinois — Economical Geology of Union, Alexander and Pulaski Counties — Medical Springs, Building Material, Soil, etc. — Wonderful W^ealth of Nature's Bounties— Topography and Climate of this Region, etc 225 CHAPTER II.— Pre-historic Races— The Mound-Builders— Fire Worshipers — Relics of these Unknown People — Mounds, Workshops and Battle-Grounds in Union, Alexander and Pulaski Counties — Visits of Noxious Insects — History Thereof, etc 244 CHAPTER III.— The Daring Discoveries and Settlements by the French — The Catholic Missionaries — Discov- ery of the Mississippi River — Some Corrections in History — A World's Wonderful Drama of Nearly Three Hundred Years' Duration, etc 2.')2 CHAPTER IV.— Following the Footsteps of the First Pio- neers — Who They Were — How They Came— Where They Stopped— From 1795 to 1810— Cordeling- Bear Fight- First Schools, Preachers, and the Kind of People they Were — John Grammar, the Father of Illinois State- Craft, etc 264 CHAPTER v.— Settlers in Union, Alexander and Pulaski— Lean A'enison and Fat Bear — Primitive Furniture — A CONTENTS. PAGE. Pioneer Boy Sees a Plastered House — How People Ported — Their Dress and Amusements— Witchcraft, Wizards, etc.— No Law nor Church— Sports, etc. — (iov. Dougherty — Philip Shaver and the Cache Massacre — Families in the Order they Came, etc., etc 27.5 CHAPTER VI.— Organization of Union County— Act of Legislature Forming It— The County Seal— Commis- sioners' Court — Abner Field — A List of Families — Cen- sus from 1820 to 1880— Dr. Brooks— The Flood of 1844— Willard Family — Col. Henry L. Webb — Railroads- Schools — Moralizing, etc., etc 285 CHAPTER VII.— The Bench and Bar— Gov. Reynolds- Early Courts— First Term and Oflacers— Daniel P. Cook —Census of 1818- County OflBcers to Date— Abner and Alexander P. Field— Winsted Davie— Young and Mc- Roberts — Visiting and Resident Lawyers — Grand Juries Punched — Ilunsaker's Letter — War Between Jouesboro and Anna— County Vote, etc., etc 301 CHAPTER VIII.— The Press— Finley and Evans, and the First Newspaper — " Union County Democrat" — .John Grear— The "Record," "Herald," and Other Publica- tions—How the Telegraph Produced Drought— Dr. S. S. Conden— Present Publishers and Their Able Papers, etc. 318 'CHAPTER IX.— Military History—" Wars and Rumors of Wars" — And Some of the Genuine Article — Revolu- tionary Soldiers— Mexican War— Our Late Civil Strife —Union County's Honorable Part In It— The One Hun- dred and Ninth Regiment — Its Vindication in History, etc., etc , 323 'CHAPTER X.— Agriculture— Similarity of Union County to the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky— Adaptability to Stoek-Raising — Fair Associations — Horticulture — Its Rise, Wonderful Progress and Present Condition — Va- rieties of Fruit and Their Culture— The Fruit Garden of the West— Vegetables— Shipments — Statistics, etc., etc .334 CHAPTER XL— Jonesboro Precinct — Topography and Physical Features— Coming of the Whites— Pioneer Hardships— Early Industries— Roads, Bridges, Taverns, etc.— Religious and Educational— State of Society — Progress and Improvements, etc 3.52 'CHAPTER XII.— City of Jonesboro— Selected and Sur- veyed as the County Seat— Its Healthy Location— Early Citizens — Some who Remained and Some who Went Away— First Sale of Lots— Growth of the Town— Mer- chants and Business Men — Town Incorporated — Schools and Churches — Secret Societies, etc 357 ■CHAPTER XIII.— Anna Precinct— (Jeneral Description and Topography— Early Settlement — The Cold Year- Organization of Precinct — Incident of the Telegraph — Schools and Churches — Bee-Keeping, Dairying, etc. — Crop Statistics— A Hail-Storm, etc 363 CHAPTER XIV.— City of Anna— The Laying-out of a Town — Its Name — Early Growth and Progress — Incor- porated—Fires — Notable Events— Societies, Schools and Churches — Manufactures — Organized as a City — Hos- pital for the Insane— City Finances 371 PAGE. CHAPTER XV.— South Pass, or Cobden Precinct— Its To- pographical and Physical Features— Early Settlement of White People— Where They Came From and a Record of Their Work— Growth and Development of the Pre- cinct—Richard Cobden— The Village; What it Was, What It Is, and What It Will Be— Schools, Churches, etc., etc 392 CHAPTER XVI. — Dongola Precinct — Surface, Timber, Water-Courses, Products, etc. — Settlement — Pioneer Trials and Industries — Schools and Churches— Mills— Dongola Village : Its Growth and Development— Leav- enworth— What He Did for the Town, etc 402 CHAPTER XV II.— Ridge or Alto Pass Precinct— Surface Features, Boundaries, and Timber Grown— Occupation of the Whites — Pioneer Trials — Industries, Improve- ments, etc.— The Knob— Churches and Schools— Vil- lages, etc., etc 410 CHAPTER XVIII.— Rich Precinct— Description, Bounda- ries and Surface Features— Settlement of the Whites— Where They Came From and Where They Located— Lick Creek Post (Jffice— Schools and Churches — Caves, Sulphur Springs, etc 414 CHAPTER XIX.— Stokes Precinct— Topography and Boun- daries — Coming of the Pioneers — Their Trials and Tribulations — Mills and Other Improvements — Mount Pleasant laid out as a Village — Churches, Schools, etc., etc 419 CHAPTER XX.— Saratoga Precinct— Its Formation and De- scription — Topography, Physical Features, etc. — Early Settlement— The Wild INIan of the Woods— Mills- Saratoga Village —Sulphur Springs — An Incident — Roads and Bridges — Schools, Churches, etc., etc 42-5 CHAPTER XXL— Mill Creek Precinct— Its Natural Char- acteristics and Resources— One of the Earliest Settle- ments in the County — Pioneer Improvements — Schools and Churches — Villages, etc 431 CHAPTER XXII.— Meisenheimer Precinct- Its Surface Features, Timber, Streams and Boundaries — Settle- ment of the Whites — Early Struggles of the Pioneers — Schools and Schoolhouses— NReligious — Mills, Roads, etc., etc 433 CHAPTER XXIIL— Preston and Union Precincts— Their Geographical and Topographical Features — Early Pioneers — Where They Came From, and How They Lived— The Aldridges and Other " First Families "— Swamps, Bullfrogs and Mosquitoes— Schools, Churches, etc 435 PART III. ALEXANDER COUNTY. CHAPTER I.— First Settlement of the County— The Way the People Lived — Growth and Progress — Geology and Soils — The Mound-Builders— Trinity — America — Col. Rector, Webb and Others— Wilkinsonville— Caledonia — Unity — Many Interesting Events— etc., etc., etc 44:5 CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER II.— The Act Creating the County— How it was Named — Some Interesting Extracts from Dr. Alexan- der's Letters — The Prominent People — Col. John S. Hacker — Official Doings of the Courts — County Officers in .Succession — Ditferent Removals of the County Seat — Preacher Woffbrd — etc., etc 454 CHAPTER III. — Census of Alexander County Considered — The Kind of People They Were — How They Improved the Country — Who Built the Mills — Dogs Versus Sheep — Periods of Comparative Immigration — Acts of the Legislature Effecting the County, etc., etc 466 CHAPTER IV.— War Record— 1812-15— Black Hawk War- Some Account of It, and ('apt. Webb's Company — Roster of the Company — War with Mexico — Our Late Civil War — Polities — Representatives and Other Officials — John Q. Harmon— State Senators, etc. — Some Slanders Upon the People Repelled, etc., etc 472 CHAPTER v.— Bench and Bar of Alexander County— State Judiciary and Early Laws Concerning It — Judicial Courts — How Formed — First Justices of the Supreme Court — Who Came and Practiced Law — Judges Mul- key, Baker, I. N. Haynie, Allen, Cxreen, Wall, Yocum, Linegar and Lansden — Local Lawyers, etc 479 CHAPTER VI.— The Precincts of Alexander County— To- pography and Boundaries — Their Early Settlement — Dangers and Hardships of the Pioneers — Villages — Schools and Churches — Modern Improvements, etc 491 PART lY. PULASKI COUNTY. CHAPTER I.— Cieology, Meteorology, Topography, Timber, Water, Soil, etc.— Great Fertility of the Land— Its Ag- ricultural and Horticultural Advantages — What Far- mers are Learning — Address of Parker Earle, etc 503 CA AFTER II. — Organization of the County— The Facts That Led to the Same — Act of the Legislature — Estab- lishment of the Courts — the First Officers — Removal of the Seat of Justice -The Census— Precinct Organi- zation — Lawyers — Schools, Churches, etc., etc., etc 510 CHAPTER III.— About Early Leading Citizens— George Cloud, H. M. Smith, Capt. Riddle, Justus Post^Pulaski in War— Black Hawk, Mexican and the Late Civil War— History of the Men Who Took Part— A. C. Bartleson, Price, Atherton— Mr. Clemson's Farm, etc., etc 521 CHAPTER IV.— Agriculture— Early Mode of Farming in Pulaski County— Incidents— Stock-Raising— Present Improvements — Horticulture — First Attempts at Fruit-G rowing — Apples — Tree Peddlers — Strawberries — Peaches — Grapes and Wine — Other Fruits, Vegeta- bles, etc., etc 52C CHAPTER v.— Mound City— Early History of the Place— The Indian Massacre — Joseph Tibbs and Some of the Early Citizens of " The Mounds "—Gen. Rawlings — First Sale of Lots — The Emporium Company— How It Flourished and Then Played Out— The Marine Ways — Governmeut Hospital — The National Ceme- tery, etc ,53.5 CHAPTER VI.— Mound City— Decline and Death of the Emporium Company — Overflow of the Ohio in 1S58 — Flood of 1862, 1867, 1882 and 188:}— Leveeing the City — Bonds for the Payment of the Same — A Few Mur- ders, With a Taste of Lynch Law, etc 55.3 CHAPTER VII.— Mound City— It Becomes the County Seat County Officials— Judge Mansfield— Lawyers— F. M. Rawlings and Others — Jo Tibbs Again — The Press — " National Emporium " — Other Papers — First Physi- cians of the City — Schools — Teachers and Their Sala- ries, etc., etc .561 CHAPTER VIII.— Mound City— Its Church History— Catho- lic Church — The Methodists, etc.— Colored Churches — Fires and the Losses which Resulted— Manufactories — Secret and Benevolent Societies— Something of the Mercantile Business — Population of the City — Its Officers and Government, etc 570 CHAPTER IX.— Election Precincts Aside from Mound City — Boundaries, Topographical Features, etc. — Advent of the White People and their Settlements — How they Lived— Progress of Churches and Schools — Growth and Development of the County .=>30 PART V. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Cairo :i Cairo — Extra ,=>6a Union County. — Anna Precinct 57 Jonesboro Precinct Pi Cobden Precinct 118 Alto Pass Precinct 153 Dongola Precinct 170 Meisenheimer Precinct 182 Stokes Precinct 190 Saratoga Precinct 197 Rich Precinct 204 Union Precinet 209 Preston Precinct 211 Mill Creek Precinct 212 Anna and Jonesboro— Extra 214 Alexander County.— Elco Precinct 21S Thebes Precinct 223 East Cape Girardeau Precinct 2r>5 Unity Precinct 239 Clear Creek Precinct 243 Santa Fe Precinct 247 Beech Ridge Precinct 249 Lake Millikin Precinct 250 CONTENTS. PAGE. Pulaski County.— Mound City Precinct 251 Villa Ridge Precinct 282 Grand Chain Precinct 298 Ohio Precinct 311 Wetaug Precinct 319 Ullin Precinct 326 I'ulaski Precinct 331 Hurkville Precinct 334 PORTRAITS. Arter, D 133 Casey, N. R 547 Casper, P. H 241 Clemson, J. Y 97 Davie, Winstead 223 Endicott, G. W 529 Finch, E. H 151 Gaunt, J. W 259 Grear, John 349 PAGE. Hambleton, W. L 565 Hess, John 187 Hight, W. A oil Hileman, Jacob 331 Hoftner.C 43 Hughes, M. L 277 Leavenworth, E 61 Mason, B. F 295 Meyer, G. F 205 Miller, Caleb 313 Morris, James S 439 Parmly, John 457 Ross, B. F 403 Satfbrd, A. B 25 Sanborn, J. H 385 Scarsdale, F. E 169 Spencer, H. H 115 Stokes, M 421 Toler, J. M 79 Wardner, H .• 367 Weaver, John 475 Williams, A. G 493 HISTORY OF ALEXANDER, UNION AND I D COUNTIES. XX© PART I. HISTORY OF CAIRO, BY H. C. BRADSBY. CHAPTER I. CITY OF CAIRO— THE FIRST STEAMBOAT ON WESTERN WATERS— GREAT EARTHQUAKE OF 1811- FIRST SETTLEMENT OF CAIRO— HOLBROOK'S SCHEMES— A MUSHROOM CITY AND THE BUBBLE BURSTED — EARLY NAVIGATION OF WESTERN RIVERS— CAPT. HENRY M. SHREVE, ETC., ETC. " And leaves the world to solitude and me." — Gray. THE earliest settlement of Cairo, on the promontory of land formed by the junc- tion of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, dates back only sixty-six years ago. There are persons yet living, not only who were born then, but who can even remember events of that time with distinctness. But these clear- headed old people are nearly all gone, and in a very few years there will be nothing left us but the traditions of 1817, unless the pres- ent opportunity is conserved, and the facts placed in a permanent form while it is yet possible to obtain them from those who not only saw, but were a part of the long-ago events that have led to the present changed condition of affairs. The tooth of time eats away the living evidences of what occurred more than fifty years ago with unerring swiftness. The life of a nation or city, compared to time, is but a breath, although it may sur- vive generations and centuries, and how in- conceivably brief, then, is the longest space of a single human life. Man's nature is such that he is deeply concerned in the movements of those who have gone before him. Whether his fore- fathers were wise or foolish, he wants to learn all he can about them; to study their customs, habits and general movements. And while those are yet left who were par- ticipants in the earliest gathering of a peo- ple in any particular locality, it is easy enough to sit down by the fireside and listen to the story of the fathers; of their trials, their triumphs, their failm'es, their ways of thought and their general actions; but in a moment, and before you have had time to re- flect upon the loss, they are all gone, and the places that knew them so well will know them no more forever; and then it is the chronicler, who puts in permanant form all these once supposed trifling details, has performed an invaluable, if not an imperishable, seivice. The proper study of mankind is man. It is the one inexhaustible fountain of real knowl- edge; and the " man" that is best studied is your own immediate forefathers or predeces- sors. To learn and know them well is to 13 HISTORY OF CAIRO. know all you can learn of the human family. To solve the complex problem of the human race does not so much consist in trying to study all the living and the dead, as in mastering, in so far as it is possible, the chosen few. Many thousands of years ago, preparations first began to be made for a habitation for man upon the very spot now occupied by the city of Cairo. The uplift of the rocks that formed the first dry land upon the continent in and about the Huron region had pro- ceeded slowly in their southwesterly direc- tion for a very long time. This was then a part of the Gulf of Mexico, and it was slow and very gradual the uplift went on, and the waters of the Gulf receded south of the junc- tion of the two rivers, and the Lower Missis- sippi River began to form. From Freeport southward, along the line of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, there is a gradual descent to the valley of the Big Muddy River, in Jack- son County, where the level of the railroad grade is only fifty-five feet above that of the river at Cairo. At that point, there is a sud- den rise of nearly seven hundred feet, the only true mountain elevation in Illinois. It runs entirely across the southern portion of the State, finally crosses the Ohio, in the vicinity of Shawneetown, and then is post beneath the coal measures of Kentucky. The forces beneath the surface made this up- lift, and it is supposed by geologists that this must have taken place before the Gulf receded below the present junction of the rivers. Cairo stands upon an alluvium and drift of about thii'ty feet in depth, and while it prob- ably was many centuries in gathering here so as to rise above the face of the waters, yet it has been here a comparatively long time, as is evidenced by the immense trees of oak, and walnut, and many others that do not gi'ow in swamps or grounds that more than occasionally overflow, and beneath these great trees that have braved the storms of hundreds of years has been found the re- mains, deep in the soil, of other great forests that had preceded the one found here by the first discoverers. It takes the geological feons to prepare the way for man's coming, and man can only come when the prepara- tions for his reception are complete. Mr. Jacob Klein, the brick-maker of Cairo, and who has carried on this business success- fully the past nineteen years, determined three years ago to try the experiment of get- ting pure water by digging. He has sunk three wells; the first was sixty-five feet deep where it struck 'a heavy bed of gravel and promised an abundant supply of water, but the very dry season of three years ago his water supply was short. He then [had the second well sunk. This is 100 feet deep, and, like the first, stopped in the gravel. Not still satisfied, Mr. K. contracted for the third well, to be put down with a two and a half inch pipe. The contract called for a well 300 feet deep. The contractor went down 206 feet and stopped, and then Mr. Klein took up the work himself and car- ried it to 218 feet, when he struck the rock. A bed of white clay was encountered, five feet thick, resting upon the rock. Here, clearly, was once the bed of the river. From the clay, which is 213 feet below the surface, the strata are coarse sand and seams of coarse gravel until the alluvium of the surface is reached. Mr. Klein reached an inexhaustible supply of pure, soft water, which stands within fifteen feet of,_the surface at all seasons of the year, and for all pui'poses is as fine water as was ever found. It is described to be as soft as rain water and clear and cold, and is never affected by the stage of waters in ,the river. It never flows during a long stage of high HISTORY or CAIRO. 13 water, as do the shallow wells when the town begins to till with sipe water. Mr. Klein is satisfied that from ten to twenty feet farther do\^n, which will pass through the rock he has now reached, will give him a flowing artesian well, and this improvement he has in contemplation of making the present or next year. This is the first real effort ever made here to get pure well water, and has demonstrated the fact that it is beneath us, in inexhaustible quantities and of the very best quality. Without the attention being specially called to the fact, there are very few people who would] suppose that the white man had come almost in what is a subm'b now of Cairo, and built his fort and fought the " redskins " one hundred and two years ago; yet such is the fact. Fort Jefferson is one of the favorite picnic resorts of the people of Cairo. It is only six miles below here, and across on the Kentucky shore. To the gay party starting out for a festival day, it is but little, if anything, more than merely cross- ing the river into Kentucky to go to Fort Jefferson. How many of all our people, es- pecially the young, know, when they wander about the place, that they are upon historic ground? Let us tell them something of its tragic story, and when they next stroll about in its grateful shades and resting places, let them look for the fast fading landmarks of the old fort, and remember that Mrs. Capt. Piggott and many other noble souls lie buried there; and also let them recall the heroic efforts of those, not only who died that jWe might live, but of those who so heroically struggled to drive back the red fiends. This fort was erected by George Rogers Clark, under the direction of Thomas Jeffer- son, in 1781. Jefferson was then 'Governor of Virginia, and, being advised the Spanish Crown would attempt to set up a claim to the country east of the Mississippi River, he took this step to foil the design. Immediately after the erection of the fort, Clark was called away to the frontiers of Kentucky, but was succeeded by Capt. James Piggott. Immigration to the fort was encouraged, and several families settled at once in its vicinity, and for a living proceeded to culti- vate the soil. For a short time, the settle- ment flourished. During 1781, however, the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians became ex- ceedingly incensed at the encroachments of the whites (their consent for the 'erection of the fort not having been obtained), and they commenced an attack upon the settlers in the neighborhood. The whole number of war- riors belonging to these tribes at that time was about twelve hundred, including the celebrated Scotchman Calbert, whose pos- terity figured as half-breeds. As soon as it was decided an attack would be made upon the fort by the Indians, a trusty messenger was dispatched to the Falls of the Ohio for further supplies of ammunition and provisions. The settlement and fort were in great dis- tress — at the point of starvation, indeed — and succor could not be obtained short of the Falls or Kaskaskia. The Indians approached the settlement at first in small parties, and succeeded in kill- ing a number of the settlers before they could be moved to the fort. Half the people, both in the fort and its vicinity, were help- less from sickness, and the famine was so dis- tressing that it is said pumpkins were eaten as soon as the blossoms had fallen off the vines. The Indians continued their mm'der- ous visits in squads for about two weeks be- fore the main army of " braves" reached the fort. The soldiers aided and received into the fort all the white population that could be moved. 14 HISTORY or CAIRO. In the skirmishes to which we have al- luded, a white man was taken prisoner by the Indians, who, to save his life, exposed the true state of the garrison. The infor- mation seemed to add fury to the passions of the savages. After the arrival of the main body of the savages, under Calbert, the fort was besieged three days and nights. Dm'ing this time, the suffering and misery of the garrison were ex- ti'emely great. The water had almost given out; the river was falling rapidly, and the water in the wells receded with the river. The supply of provisions was quite exhausted, and sickness raged to such an extent that a very large number could not be moved from their beds. The wife of Capt. Piggott and several others died, and were bm-ied within the walls of the fort while the savages were besieging the outside. It seemed reduced to a certainty, at this junctui'e, that, unless re- lief came speedily, the garrison would fall into the hands' of the Indians and be mur- dered. The white prisoner now in the hands of the Indians detailed the true state of the fort. He told his captors that more than half its inmates were sick, and that each man had not more than three rounds of ammuni- tion, and that the garrison was quite desti- tute of water and provisions. On receiving this information, the whole Indian army re- tired about two miles to hold a council. In a few , hours, Calbert and three chiefs, with a flag of truce, were sent back to the fort. When the inmates of the fort discovered the flag, they sent out Capt. Piggott, Mr. Owens and another man, to meet the Indian delegation. The parley was conducted under the range of the guns of the garrison. Calbert demanded a surrender of the fort at discretion, urging that the Indians knew its weak condition, and that an unconditional surrender might save much bloodshed. He further said that he had sent a force of war- riors up the Ohio, to intercept the succor for which the whites had sent a messenger. He gave the assurance that he would do his best to save the lives of the prisoners, except in the case of a few whom the Indians had sworn to butcher. He gave the garrison one hour to form a conclusion. The delegates from the whites promised that if the Indians would leave the country, the inmates of the fort would abandon it with all haste. Calbert'agreed to submit this prop- osition to the council, and was at the point of returning when a Mr. Music, whose fam- ily had been cruelly murdered, and another man at the fort, fired upon him and wounded him somewhat severely, The warriors were engaged a long time in council, and, by almost a seeming interposi- tion of Providence, the long- wished- for suc- cor arrived during the time in safety from the "Falls." The Indians had struck the river too high up, and thereby the boat es- caped, The provisions and men were hurried into the fort, a new spirit seemed to possess every one, and active exertions were at once made to place the fort in position for a stout resistance. The sick and the small children were placed beyond the reach of harm, and all the women and the ^children of any con- siderable size were instructed in the art of defense. Shortly after dark, the Indians attempted to steal on the foii and capture it; but in this being most decidedly frustrated, they assaulted the garrison and tried to storm it. The cannon had been placed in proper posi- tion to rake the walls, so when the " red- skins " mounted the ramparts, the .^cannon swept them off in heaps. The Indians, with hideous yells, and loud and savage demon- strations, kept up a streaming fire from their HISTORY OF CAIRO. 15 rifles upon the garrison, which, however, did but little execution. In this manner the bat- tle raged for hours; but at last the Indians were forced to fly from the deadly cannon of "the fort to save themselves from destruction. "Calbert and other chiefs rallied them again, but the same result followed; they were again forced to fly, and all further efforts to rally them proved ineffectual. The whites were in constant fear that the fort would be fired by the Indians. This, indeed, was their greatest fear. At one time a huge savage, painted for the occasion, gained the top of one of the block-houses and was applying fire to the roof, when he was shot dead by a white soldier. His body fell on the outside of the wall, and was carried off by his comrades. The Indians, satisfied they could not capt- ure the fort, abandoned the siege entirely, and, securing their dead and wounded, left the country. A large number of them had been killed and wounded, while none of the whites had been killed, and only a few wounded. The whites were rejoiced at this turn in affairs, as the number of Indians, and their ability to continue the siege, were ■calculated to terrify them. With all convenient speed, the fort was abandoned. Many of the soldiers, together with settlers who had taken refuge in the fort, moved to Kaskaskia. They proved the first considerable acquisition of American population in Illinois. Since then, Fort .Jef- ferson has remained abandoned, and is now but marked by here and there certain shape- less mounds and piles of debris that are in- distinguishable unless pointed out to the stranger. But this spot will ever retain a great interest to Americans, at least as long as the struggles and privations of those who pioneered the valley of the Mississippi retain a place in the memory of the American people. While it is true that this first attempt of the white men to make a habitation and a home within the immediate neighborhood of Cairo was abandoned and the people dispersed, the most of them coming to Illinois and making their homes in Kaskaskia, it was not wholly a failure in behalf of civilization. The little band, as brave and true heroes as ever fought upon the immortal fields of Thermopylae, had accomplished a great purpose — they had withstood the murderous midnight attack of the bloody, yelling fiends and drove them off. They taught him a bloody lesson, yet that is the only school a savage will learn in. This siege and battle were the first great step in making the shores of these rivers habit- able, and even though the fort was dismantled and abandoned, it is quite true it taught the savage to respect the power of the white man. It was not a long time after this de- ciding battle that we find the white man in his flat-boats, and soon in his keel-boats, in a small way commencing to carry on that great commerce that has since so filled the rivers, and dotted their shores with the pleasing evi- dences of civilization. This commerce of the flat-boat, the keel boat and the pirogue, continued to slowly increase and perform the scanty commerce of the day, until finally the steamboat came, bearing upon its decks the great human revolution, that stands un- equaled in importance, and that will go on in its great effects forever. In 1795, William Bird, then a mere child, in company with his father's family, landed at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This family remained here only a short time, and then went to Cape Girardeau, where they resided, and in 1817 William Bird applied at the land of&ce in Kaskaskia and entered the land mentioned in another part of this chapter. This family were the first white people, so far as can be now as- HISTORY OF CAIRO. certained, that ever put foot upon the spot now called Cairo. December 18, 1811. — The anniversary of this day the people of Cairo and its vicinity should never forget. It was the coming of the first steamboat to where Cairo now is — the New Orleans, Capt. Roosevelt, Command- ing. It was the severest day of the great throes of the New Madrid earthquake; at the same time, a fiery comet was rushing athwart the horizon. In tlie year 1809, Robert Fulton and Chan- cellor Livingston had commenced their im- mortal experiments to navigate by steam the Hudson River. As soon as this experiment was crowned with success, they turned their eyes toward these great Western water-ways. They saw that here was the greatest inland sea in all the world, but did they, think you, prolong their vision to the present time, and realize a tithe of the possibilities they were giving to the world ? They unrolled the map of this continent, and they sent Capt. Roose- velt to Pittsburgh, to go over the river from there to New Orleans, and report whether they could be navigated or not. He made the in- spection, and his favorable report resulted in the immediate construction of the steamer New Orleans, which was launched in Pitts- burgh in December, 1811. Could Capt. Roosevelt now come to us in his natural life, and call the good people of Cairo together and relate his experiences of the day he passed where Cairo now stands, it would be a story transcending, in thrilling interest, anything ever listened to by any now living. All fiction ever conceived by busy brains would be tame by the side of his truth- ful narrative. His boat passed out of the Ohio River and into the Mississippi River in the very midst of that most remarkable convulsion of nature ever known — the great New Madrid eaiihquake. As the boat came down the Ohio River, it had moored opposite Yellow Banks to coal, this having been pro- vided some time previously, and, while load- ing this on, the voyagers were approached by the squatters of the neighborhood, who in- quired if they had not heard strange noises on the river and in the woods in the course of the preceding day, and perceived the shores shake, insisting they had repeatedly felt the earth tremble. The weather was very hot, the air misty, still and dull, and though the sun was visible, like an immense glowing ball of copper, his rays hardly shed more than a mournful twilight on the surface of the water. Evening di'ew nigh, and with it some indications of what was passing around them became evident, for ever and anon they heard a rushing sound, violent splash, and finally saw large portions of the shore tearing away from the land and laps- ing into the watery abyss. An eye-witness says: " It was a startling scene — one could have heard a pin drop on deck. The crew spoke but little; they noticed, too, that the comet, for some time visible in the heavens, had suddenly disappeared, and every one on board was thunderstruck." The next day the portentous signs of this terrible natural convulsion increased. The trees that remained on shore were seen wav- ing and nodding without a wind. The voy- agers had no choice but to pursue their course down the stream, as all day this violence seemed only to increase. They had usually brought to, under the shore, but at all points they saw the high banks disappearing, over- whelming everything near or under them, particularly [many of the small craft that were in tise in those days, carrying down to death many and many who had thus gone to shore in the hope of escaping. A large island in mid-channel, which had been selected by the pilot as the better alternative, was HISTORY OF CAIRO. 17 sought for in vain, having totally disap- peared, and thousands of acres, constituting the surrounding country, were found to have been swallowed up, with their gigantic growths of forest and cane. Thus, in doubt and terror, they proceeded houi" after hour until dark, when they found a small island, and rounded to, moor- ing at the foot of it Here they lay, keeping watch on deck diuring the long night, listen- ing to the sound of waters which roared and whirled wildly around them, hearing, also, from time to time, the rushing earth slide from the shore, and the commotion of the falling mass as it became engulfed in the river. Thus, this boat, during the intensity of the earthquake, was moored almost in sight of Cairo; practically, it was at Cairo during the worst of the three worst nights. Yet the day that succeeded this awful night brought no solace in its dawn. Shock fol- lowed shock, a dense black cloud of vapor overshadowed the land, through which no sun- beam found its way to cheer the desponding heart of man. It seems incredible to us that the bed of the river could be so agitated as to lash the waters into yeasty foam, until the foam would gather in great bodies, said to be larger than flour ban-els, and float away. Again, it is still more incredible to be told that the waters of the two rivers were turned back upon themselves in swift streams, but these, and much more, are well-established facts. It is impossible now to depict all the wonderful phenomena of this world's won- der. There were wave motions, and perpen- dicular motions of the earth's surface, and there were, judging from eifects, as well as testimony of those who witnessed it, sudden risings and burstiug of the earth's crust, from whence would [shoot into the air many feet jets of water, sand and black shale. Just below New Madrid, a flat-boat belong- ing to Hichard Stump was swamped,, and six men were drowned. Large trees disappeared under the ground, or were cast with fright- ful violence into the river. At times the waters of the river were seen to rise like a wall in the middle of the stream, and then suddenly rolling back, would beat against either bank with terrific force. Boats of con- siderable size were " high and dry" upon the shores of the river. Frequently a loud roar- ing and hissing were heard, like the escape of steam from a boiler. The air was impreg- nated with sulphurous eJBfluvium, and a taste of sulphur was observed in the water of the river and the neighboring springs. Each shock was accompanied by what seemed to be the reports of heavy artillery. A man who was on the river in a boat at the time of one of the shocks declared that he saw the mighty Mississippi cut in twain, while the waters poured down a vast chasm into the bowels of the earth. A moment more and the chasm was filled, but the boat which contained this witness was crushed in the tumultuous effort of the flood to regain its former level. The town of New Madrid, that had stood upon a bluff fifteen or twenty feet above the high- est water, sank so low, that the next rise of the water covered it to the depth of five feet. So far as can now be ascertained, but one person has put upon record his observations who saw it upon land. This was Mr. Bring- ier, an engineer, who related what he saw to Sir Charles Lyell, in 1846. This account represents that he was on horseback near New Madrid, when some of the severest shocks occurred, and that, as the waves ad- vanced, he saw the trees bend down, and often, the instant afterward, when in the act of recovering their position, meet the boughs of other trees similarly inclined, so as to be- come interlocked, being prevented from righting themselves again. The transit of the 18 HISTORY OF CAIRO. waves through the woods was marked by the crashing noise of countless branches, first heard on one side and then the other; at the same time, powerful jets of water, mixed with sand, loam, and bituminous shale, were cast up with such impetuosity that both horse and rider might have perished had the swelling and upheaving ground happened to bui'st immediately beneath them. Some of the shocks were perpendicular, while others, much more desolating, were horizontal, or moved along like great waves; and where the principal fountains of mud and water were throwD up, circular cavities, called "sink holes, " were formed. One of the lakes thus formed is over sixty miles long and from three to twenty miles wide, and in places fifty to one hundred feet deep. In sailing over the surface of this lake, one is struck with astonishment at beholding the gigantic trees of the forest standing partially exposed amid the waste of waters, like gaunt, mysteri- ous monsters; but this mystery is still in- creased on casting the eye into the depths, to witness cane-brakes covering its bottom, over which a mammoth species of tortoise is sometimes seen dragging its slow length along, while millions of fish sport through the aquatic thickets — the whole constituting one of the remarkable features of American scenery. In that part of the country that borders upon what is called the "sunk country" — that is, depressions upon which lakes did not form — all the trees prior to the date of the'great earthquake are dead. Their leafless, barkless, and finally branchless bodies stood for many years as noticeable objects and monuments of the earth's agitation, that was to that terrific extent as to break them and wholly loosen from them the supporting soil. As before stated, the severest shocks were the first three days, but they lasted for three months. In many sections, the people dis- covered the opening seams ran generally in a parallel course, and they took advantage o^ this by felling trees at right angles, and in severe shocks even the children learned to cling upon these, and thus many were saved. Were we wrong in stating that the coming of the first steamboat to Cairo was a most memorable event? Such, indeed, faintly described, were some of the surroundings amid which the steamer New Orleans rode out of the troubled waters of the Ohio and into the yet worse troubled waters of the Mississippi River. It was nature's grandest exhibition. It was the coming of the first steamboat in such awful surroundings that made such a strange meet- ing of the excited energies of nature and a human thought — a silent thought of man's brain fashioned into a steam engine, propel- ling a boat by this new idea upon the West- ern waters! What grandeur, and awfal force and terror in the one, and, compared to it how feeble and insignificant the human prod- uct! How one, in its terrific grandeur, could change the whole face of our country in a moment, and make the feeble steamboat ap- pear as insignificant as the cork upon the storm-tossed ocean. A strange meeting of the two — those two things in the world which are so misread, and have been so long mis- understood by men! When natui'e j)uts on her suit of riot and force and begins the play of those fantastic tricks, men's souls are afi"righted, and they fall upon their knees — those, often, who never did so before — and their feeble voices of supplication would ap- pease the storm or stop the earth's throes. The unusual display of the forces of nature appal men, and they worslikip what they con- ceive to be irresistible power. Hence, a country of earthquakes, tornadoes, cyclones and storms is very religious, and generally HISTOKY or CAIRO. 19 full of superstition. A couDtry where lurks danger and perils upon every hand unseen — dangers that accumulate like the horrors of the nightmare — will produce in the human mind little else than superstition and quak- ing fears; the horrible dread ingulfs them like a living hell, till the very soul responds to the hideous surroundings. Man is so con- stituted, he will bow down and worship what he fears, especially when it is an unseen, re- sistless power, displayed in such appalling force as to enfeeble and dwarf his intellect. The ignorant squatters along the river — that is, some of them — had only known that the first steamboat and the great earthquake had come here together. It was firmly be- lieved that it was this flying in the face of God, and making a boat run with " bilin' water," that caused the earthquake. " Pre- sumptuous man had boiled the water, when, if God had wanted it to boil, he would have so made it. " People had navigated the river in flat-boats, keel-boats and canoes, and under these the glad rivers went singing to the sea. But [man must come with his fire boat, and the earth went into convulsions, and terror and desolation brooded over the land. God was mysterious, and man presumptuous. The earth indeed trembled when He frowned, and man must learn to be meek and humble; he was but as the grass that was mowed down by the scythe — a breath, a passing vapor. But even the less ignorant of men — could he comprehend .that in this boat was a great human thought, a wonderful invention of man? He could see the weak hands of men guiding and controlling it. It's a mere toy and child's play, and he looks at it a moment in childish curiosity, perhaps smiles ap- provingly upon it. It's all a momentary pastime with him. It's too feeble to do more than receive a passing notice. Think of it! The thoughts and inventions of genius are the one only powerful thing among men — they and their effects alone endure forever. All else passes away and is forgotten. In a little while, only the' traces of the great'earthquake, even, can be found and pointed out, while the steam engine has been the first, the great power that has done more for civilization and human advancement in the past fifty years than all else combined. From this one feeble, imperfect boat has come the world's Armada, that now plows the waves of every river and sea, until the busy world upon the waters and its wealth of nations almost equals that upon land. It is ever present — ever living — ever growing in might, power and the welfare of the whole human family. The earthquake, in its effects upon mankind, compared to the engine, was as the mote to a world — a drop of water com- pared to the ocean. No one thing in the his- tory of the human family has so contributed to the good of the human race, as the engine be- cause it opened the way and made possible the sweeping advance of the past three-quarters of a century. Remember, since the engine came, the average of human life has been increased ten years ; man knows now, where he guessed and feared before. In no century, in all the world's history, has civilization made such great strides forward as this. It made possible all those comforts and necessities we now en- joy. It has lightened the labors and burdens of men, and given the mind a chance to work It has cheapened food, clothing, books and in- telligence itself, and is gathering momentum as it goes. Who may guess, who may dream of the yet benign and good effects to man that lay hidden in that gi-and and sublime thought of Fulton's that gave us the power of steam? Then, indeed, what a great, what an im- 20 HISTORY OF CAIRO. mortal thing, was the first steamboat upon the Western waters! What a temporary thing was the earthquake that received it! Had the 18th day of December, 1811, only been signaled by any one of the three events above referred to, it would have constituted it a memorable day. But the wonderful com- bination of events makes it out most prom- inently in the calendar, as a day calling up the most vivid and important recollections *of any other in the country's history. Suitable monuments along the river from Pittsburgh to New Orleans should be placed sacred to the memory of Capt. Roosevelt. As soon as the steamboat New Orleans had made its successful trip from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and return, the commerce of the Western waters really began to grow, and although it was six years after this success- ful steam voyage on the Ohio before a steam- boat attempted the waters of the Upper Mis- sissippi as far as St. Louis, yet Cairo soon began to attract the attention of river and commercial men as an important trans-ship- ping point. The steamboat Orleans was furnished with a propelling wheel at the stern and two masts; for Fulton believed, at that time,Jthat the occasional use of sails would be indis- pensable. Her capacity was a hundred tons. The first appearance of this steamboat upon Western waters produced, as the reader may suppose, not a little excitement and admiration. A steamboat, to common observ- ers, was almost as great a wonder as a flying angel would be at present. The banks of the river, in some places, were thronged with spectators, gazing, in speechless astonish- ment, at the puffing and smoking phenome- non. The average speed of this boat was only about three miles per hour. Before her ability to move through the water without the aid of sails or oars had been exemplified, comparatively few persons believed she could possibly be made to answer any purpose of real utility. In fact, she had made several voyages before the general prejudice began to subside, and for some months many of the river merchants preferred the old mode of transportation with all its risks, delays and extra expense, rather than make use of such a contrivance as a steamboat, which, to their apprehensions, appeared too marvelous and miraculous for the business of every-day life. How slow are the masses of mankind to adopt improvements, even when they appear to be most obvious and unquestionable! The second steamboat of the West was a diminutive vessel called the Comet. She was rated at twenty-five tons. Daniel D. Smith was the owner and D. French the builder of this boat. Her machinery was on a plan for which French had obtained a patent in 1809. She went to Louisville in the summer of 1813, and descended to New Orleans in the spring of 1814 She afterward made two voyages to Natchez, and was then sold, taken to pieces, and the engine was put up in a cotton factory. The Vesuvius was the next boat in the record. She was built by Fulton in Pitts- burgh, for a company, the members of which resided in New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans. She was under Capt. Frank Ogden, and went to New Orleans in the spring of 1814. From New Orleans, she started for Louisville in July of the same year, but was grounded on a bar, seven hundred miles up the river, where she remained until the 3d of December following, when, being floated off by the tide, she returned to New Or- leans. In 1815-16, she made trips, for sev- eral months, from New Orleans to Natchez, under the command of Capt. Clement. This gentleman was succeeded by Capt. John De Hart, and while approaching New HISTORY OF CAIRO. 21 Orleans with a valuable cargo on board, she took fire and burned to the water's edge. After being submerged several months, the hull was raised and refitted. She was after- ward in the Louisville trade, and condemned in 1819. The Enterprise was the next boat in the West. She was built at Brownsville, Penn., by D. French, under his patent, and was owned by several residents of that place. This was a small boat of seventy-five tons. She made two voyages to Louisville in 1814, under the command of Capt. J. Gregg. On the 1st of December in the same year, she con- veyed a cargo of ordnance stores from Pitts- burgh to New Orleans. While at the last- named port, she was pressed into service by Gen. Jackson. When engaged in the public service, she was eminently useful in trans- porting troops, arms, ammunition and stores to the seat of war. She left New Orleans for Pittsburgh on the 6th of May, 1815, and reached Louisville after a passage of twenty- five days, thus completing the first steam- boat voyage ever made from New Orleans to Louisville. But from the fact that the waters were very high, and she run all the cut-offs and over fields, etc., this experi- mental trip was not satisfactory, the public being still in doubt whether a steamboat could ascend the Mississippi when the river was confined within its banks, and the cur- rent as rapid as it generally is. Such was the state of public opinion when the steamboat Washington conunenced her career. This vessel, the fifth in the cata- logue of Western steamboats, was constructed under the personal superintendence and direction of Capt. Hemy M. Shreve. The hull was built at Wheeling, Va., and the engines were made at Brownsville, Penn. The entire construction of the boat comprised various innovations, which were suggested by the ingenuity and experience of Capt. Shreve. The Washington was the first "two decker" on the Western waters. The cabin was placed between the decks. It had been the general practice for steamboats to carry their engines in the hold; in this par- ticular Capt. Shreve made a new aiTange- ment, by placing the boiler of the Washing- ton on deck, and this plan was such an ob- vious improvement that all the steamboats on the waters retain it to the present day. The engines constructed under Fulton' s. pat- ent had upright and stationary cylinders; in French's engines vibrating cylinders were used, Shreve caused the cylinders of the Washington to be placed in a horizontal position, and gave the vibrations to the pit- man. Fulton and French used single low- pressure engines; Shreve employed a double high-pressure engine, with cranks at right angles, and this was the first engine of that kind ever used on the Western waters. Mr. David Prentice had previously used cam wheels for working the valves of the cylinder. Capt Shreve added his great invention of the cam cut-off, with flues to the boilers, by which three-fifths of the fuel was saved. These improvements originated with Capt. Shreve, but although they have been in uni- versal use for a long [time, their origin has not been properly credited to the rightfiil inventor. On the 24th day of September, 1816, the Washington passed over the Falls of Ohio on her first trip to New Orleans, and returned to Louisville November following. While at New Orleans, the ingenuity of her construc- tion excited the admiration of the most in- telligent citizens of that place. Edward Livingston, after a critical examination of the boat and her machinery, remarked to Capt. Shreve, "You deserve well of your country, young man; but we [referring to Fulton 23 HISTORY OF CAIRO. and Livingston's monopoly] shall be com- pelled to beat you [in the courts] if we can," An accumulation of ice in the Ohio com- pelled the Washington to remain at the Falls until March 12, 1817. On that day she commenced her second trip to New Orleans. She accomplished this trip and returned to Shippingsport, at the foot of the Falls, in forty-one days. The ascending voyage was made in twenty-five days, and from this voy- age all historians date the commencement of steam navigation in the Mississippi Valley. It was now practically demonstrated, to the satisfaction of the public in general, that steamboats could ascend this river in less than one-fourth the time which the barges and keel boats had required for the same purpose. This feat of the Washington pro- duced almost as much popular excitement and exultation in that region as the battle of New Orleans. The citizens of Louisville gave a public dinner to Capt. Shreve, at which he predicted the time would come when the trip from New Orleans to Louis- ville would be made in ten days. Although this may have been regarded as a boastful declaration at that time, the prediction has been more than fulfilled; for as early as 1853, the trip was made in four days and nine hours. After that memorable voyage of the Wash- ington, all doubts and prejudices in reference to steam navigation were removed. Shipyards began to be established in every convenient lo- cality, and the business of steamboat build- ing was vigorously prosecuted. But a new obstacle now presented itself, which for a time threatened to give an effectual check to the spirit of enterprise and progression which had just been developed. We refer to the claims made by Fulton and Livingston to the exclusive right of steam navigation on the rivers of the United States. This claim being resisted by Capt. Shreve, the Washing- ton was attached at New Orleans, and taken possession of by the Sheriif. When the case came for adjudication before the District Court of Louisiana, that tribunal promptly negatived the exclusive privileges claimed by Livingston and Fulton, which were decided to be unconstitutional. The monopoly claims of L, and F. were finally withdrawn in 1819, and the last restraint on the steamboat navigation of the Western rivers was thus removed, leaving Western enterprise and energy full liberty to cany on the great work of improvement. This work has been so progressive, that at one time no less than 800 steamboats were in operation on the Ohio and Mississippi Kivers; and here this mode of navigation has been carried on to a degree of perfection unrivaled in any other part of the world. In the year 1818, William Bird, now de- ceased, entered the extreme point of land on the peninsula formed by the junction of the two rivers, and known in the Congressional Survey as the southeast quarter of Section 25, and all of Fractional Section 36, the two tracts aggregating about three hundred and sixty acres; but for some years the laud lay unimproved and neglected. From this ownership by Mr. Bird, the locality took the name of Bird's Point, by which name it was designated for nearly twenty years. Shortly after Bird's entry, a company was formed, at the head of which was a man named Comegys, and apparently in good faith set about the work of building a city here that should anticipate the wants of men and commerce for all time to come. They obtained a charter for that purpose, under the name and style of the "City and Bank Company of Cairo." This company foresaw the Illinois Central Railroad, and here, so far as the facts can now be gathered^ HISTORY OF CAIRO. 23 was the first tangible idea of this great rail- road put forth to the world. There was no Chicago then to build a road to; there was little or nothing in the central or northern portion of the State demanding highway privileges and commercial rights, and yet the idea was formulated that, iu the course of time, was worked out to a most successful issue. The particulars of this corporation, and its struggles and its end, are given in another chapter. Sufficient to say here, that the com- pany ceased to exist, and had left untouched the great old forest trees that covered, the town site when first discovered. This first failure had hardly attracted any public at- tention to Cairo. The majority who had come to know the country believed that a city would arise somewhere here on the pen- insula, but they were mostly convinced that it must be built back upon the hills, and not upon the point that all could see was subject to frequent inundations. Henry L. Webb and a few others, therefore, had started, as far back as 1817, the town of Trinity, at the mouth of Cache River, six miles above Cairo, on the Ohio River. This had grown to be a steamboat landing, and in very early times the place could boast a boat store, a tavern, a bar and a billiard soloon, but for ten years after this first abortive attempt to settle, " the smoke of no adventurer's hovel gave gloom to Cairo's canopy," and the unbroken silence remained with the " neck of the woods," where the future Cairo was to be. In 1828, John and Thompson Bird, the sons of William Bird, made the first improve- ment here. They selected the spot a few hundred feet south of the present Halliday House, and, bringing their slaves over from Missouri, threw up a sufficient embankment to protect a building which they erected about twenty-five by thirty-five feet in dimensions, and in a short time after the;i erected another building, between this and the river, which was about twenty feet square, and was placed on piles, as a security against the water. The first building was a tavern, and the latter a store, and for several years it was only the chance flat-boatman that circumstances compelled to land here and get a few supplies for his crew that fur- nished customers to these Alexander Selkirks. Bacon, whisky and flour were the only com- modities wanted by any of the customers of those days. The next season after the Birds had taken possession, a wood-chopper put up a shanty near their improvement, and in this he lived and chopped wood, and piled it on the bank, waiting for some boat to come along and want it. The wood-chopper made a very little impression on the big trees around him, and the Birds had only a small spot cleared and cleaned off, so as to have a little breathing room, as well as a place to receive and pass out the goods they handled. In 1831, only about five acres had been cut away, and this lay in a narrow strip along the banks of the Ohio, and extended no further north than to about where is now Second street. Until 1835, Trinity continued to be the commanding and promising point. In this year, Messrs. Breese, Swanwick, Baker, Gilbert and others began to give the point their open attention, and they entered several thousand acres of land, including all that portion between the two rivers up to and beyond Cache River. They had in view the future possibilities of the place as a point for a city, but having secured the land, mat- ters remained quiet for some time. The next step taken was on the 16th day of January, 1836, when a charter was granted a com- pany, by the Illinois Legislature, to build the Illinois Central Railroad. February 27, 1837, the State of Illinois passed the General Improvement Bill — better 24 HISTORY OF CAIRO. known to the immediate posterity of these early statesmen as the General Insanity Bill — which resulted in a wide-spread bankruptcy, and seriously threatened, at one time, to ruin the State for nearly all time to come. This State scheme of making all the improvements swallowed up all charturs that had been granted to private parties, and, among the others, the charter for the construction of the Illinois Central Kailroad; and, as a specimen of what an insane State could do, the Legislature appropriated (not having a dol- lar, it seems, in the treasury) $3,500,000 for the building of this last-named road. On the 4th day of March, 1837, the Cairo City & Canal Company was chartered by the Illinois Legislature. This was the final act and organization that led to founding a city here, and of the charter and laws and the official acts of the company, and their failures, etc., we refer the reader to another chapter, where these matters are given in their order and at length. This company purchased, on credit, vast bodies of land, including the Bird tract, and pretty much all lands on the peninsula, to and beyond Cache River. The master-spirit of the enterprise, as soon as it was success- fully started, was Darius B. Holbrook, of Boston. The company, apparently, cared not what price it agreed to pay for the land; so the title was secured, that seemed enough. The daring, and doubtless unscrupulous, leader of this company, even in those days of little money and natural economy, seemed to talk and think of money in sums of never less than millions, fie expected to borrow immense sums, and stake these over- bar- gained lands as the security for the vast amount of money wherewith to improve the lands and build the city; and, remarkable as it may be, did so borrow money, and had arranged for it to be advanced by the million, sure enough. While such success shows there must have been method in his madness, yet his whole idea, after he had secured the money, was a piece of madcap folly. When he found it possible to find other men to furnish the money for him to expend, he was at once seized with the idea that, with money enough, he could build a great city, and the whole thing, when completed, would be as much of a private piece of property as would be a large factory, steam mill, or, for that matter, a block of private residences. His theory was to sell no property about the town, except the bonds and stocks. No one could buy a lot and build upon it and own it. You could not buy an inch of the city grounds; but you could buy the bonds, and, upon this insane idea, he went to Europe and hypothecated the city bonds to the amount of more than $2,000,000, and returned to Cairo with the first installment of this money, and com- menced the s^apendous work upon a stupen- dous scale. The only parallel to the vast scheme was the State's craze on the intei'nal improvement folly. It is amusing to conjec- ture what Holbrook would have done had he been backed by a limitless supply of money. He evidently would have left some wrecks here, the like of which the world had never seen, while his cold, selfish, Yankee instincts would have made a heavy per cent of all the money that passed through his hands stick in his fingers. Thus, in the end, he would have grown immensely rich; but it is not at all certain he ever would have erected a town here. When he returned from Europe, he issued a flaming address — a kind of open letter ad- dressed to all the world — full of as much fulsome nonsense and after the style of Na- poleon's address to his soldiers. It can only be guessed why he issued these flaming ad- dresses. He was not seeking purchasers for HISTORY OF CAIRO. 27 his town property, for he had nothing to sell, and the addresses were not got up to di*aw renters. The only excuse there can be for their existence was to brag on himself, and, in the common slang, " blow his own horn." If Cairo has had any parallel, either in its commencement or in much that has occurred in its history during its progress, we are not aware of it. Its very first building was a tavern, its second a store, and then came the first natural growth — the woodman's shanty. Then the next effort was to found a city by starting a wild-cat bank, and then came Hoi- brook and his idea of a city and the inhabitants all stockholders, while he and his company were the real owners. But Holbrook was at least in earnest about the building of levees aroiind the town, to keep out the water. As soon as he secured the money, he made con- tracts with S. & H. Howard, J. H. McMurry, Murphy and others, and these contractors brought on laborers here in large numbers. Many of these brought their families, and, in hastily constructed shanties and huts, they went to living, "keeping boarders, " and put- ting on those airs which belong to a city that has grown in a night. Mr. Walter Falls had a store on a boat, moored at the levee, but its capacity for furnishing supplies was wholly inadequate, and passing boats were called upon to help furnish the people with .some of the necessaries of life. The State also threw a large number of men here to work on the Illinois Central Railroad, so that the demand for flour, bacon and coffee was still increased to that extent that often loaded flat-boats would stop here, and sell out the cargoes they had intended for farther south. A population reaching 2,000 souls were thus thrown suddenly together, and affairs had much the appearance of one of those mining towns that jump into existence so suddenly, aiid sometimes seem to jump out quite as quickly. But the people believed everything was permanent; they, therefore, proceeded in due form to organize a regular form of government, and appoint the neces- sary oflScers to carry out its edicts. As Jus- tices of the Peace, Mr. Marsh and ISIr. Mc- Cord were chosen, and two lawyers decorated a couple of shanty doors with their shin- gles; these were Mr. Gass (good legal name) and a Mr. McCrillis. A post office was at once established, and Squire Marsh was ap- pointed Postmaster. In addition to being Postmaster, he had to receive and forward all mails, and in a short time this task was worth three or four times the whole salary of the office. A Dr. Cummings hung out his banner on the outer walls, and called the sick and afflicted to come to him for quinine and calomel.. The Catholic element, mindful of their religious obligations, set about the prep- aration of a place for the public worship of God. As they were limited alike in means and building materials, and as they desired to subserve only a temporary purpose, they satisfied themselves with a rough, board- roofed shanty in the depths of the convenient woods. In the forks of one of the trees over- shadowing their unpretending church build- ing, they suspended a bell, and this, every Sunday morning and evening, rang out through the deep woods and over the face of the surrounding waters the call of " Come, and let us worship." Such was the first organization of municipal, governmental and church matters in Cairo, as well as the first lawyers, and the first doctor and the first people. Such was the young city at the commencement of the year 1841. At this time, the firm of Bellews, Hathaway & Gil- bert secured a charter for iron works, and they opened their establishment. It was tilled with all the finest machineiy that could be procured in England. At the time, it ranked 28 HISTORY OF CAIRO. among the corapletest establishments of its kind in the United States, and as it was run to its fullest capacity, it gave labor to a large force of men. These works were erected about where is now the corner of Twelfth street and the Ohio levee. Near the iron works were two large saw mills, of great capacity each, and they were busily at work converting the big trees of the adjacent forest into lumber for building purposes and railroad timbers. The company had revived the old City Bank of Cairo — a bank of issue, and, by law, was temporarily located at Kaskaskia, and this money was scattered profusely about the town. By some favored arrangement, the money of this wild-cat bank was taken at the Kaskaskia Land Office, while much better money from Indiana and Ohio was refused there. The company had erected a long frame hotel at the point — its great length, and its verandas extending from one end to the other, all painted white, made it a con- spicuous landmark in approaching Cairo. Its landlord was a man named Jones, and in these flush times it was at all times thronged with the chief men of the town and travelers awaiting ^the arrival and departure of boats to carry them on their intended way. A planing mill of mammoth proportions was erected near the corner of Eighth and Com- mercial streets. Two brick-yards, each sup- plied with the latest patents for turning out brick by the many thousand daily, from dry, compressed earth, were erected. These were then located in what is called Upper Cairo. The company had erected a dry dock, at a cost of over $35,000, and notwithstanding a heavy force of carpenters were erecting buildings in every direction, yet, so urgent was the demand for houses of any and every kind, that Col. Falls had moored at the levee the hull of the steamer Peru, and a Mr. Thompson had also brought the steamer Asia to the wharf for the same purpose. In short, the entire levee soon became a compact mass of wharf- boat hotels, stores, residences, boarding-houses and business places of every kind. Here was a little busy city on boats moored to the shore. Everything and every- where about Cairo bespoke a^marvelous thrift — all was at high pressure, and the wonder of the age had come at last. And all over the land the contagion spread. Along the rivers, from Pittsbm-g and St. Louis to New Orleans its name grew, and crossing the Alleghanies and over the Eastern States, and, pushed by the great banking-house of Wright & Co., of London, which had taken over $2,000,000 in the Cairo bonds, and who were interested in advertising it all over Europe in the most unqualified and extravagant terms, until apparently the large portion of the civilized world looked, at least, and as- certained where this remarkable young city was located on the world's map. Never was more thorough, elaborate or expensive adver- tising done for any place than that for Cairo. Flaming prospective views of the city in splendid lithographs were hung upon the walls of steamboats, hotels, halls and other public places, and to all these were added the potency of a great young State, advertis- ing, by its legislative acts, this great South Sea Bubble, or, as Cairo was modestly then called in the proclamations of Holbrook, the " great commercial and manufacturing mart and emporium." The State had literally bankrupted itself, and perforce wound up its Utopian schemes. Its folly had very nearly universally bank- rupted the entire people. The whole coun- try was ripe for a panic and contraction, and the probe of a solid specie basis pricked, of course, the Cairo bubble, and the crash of tumbling air castles, and the half-completed real ones, carried everything with them, and HISTORY OF CAIRO. 29 left the Cairo City & Canal Company buried beneath a mountain of debris. We have already shown the inherent defectB there were in the Holbrook idea of founding and building a great city, but in a sketch by M. B. Harrell, published in 1864, he gi\es the following as his conclusions as to the immediate and remote causes of the collapse of the town: " There are many causes," he says, "which contributed to the downfall of Cairo, but the chief cause alleged is the failure of the house of Wright & Co., London, through whom the company anticipated continued loans. But this is by no means the sole cause. The suspension of work on the Illinois Central Railroad, the great artery of trade and traffic upon which so much depended, and the gen- eral abandonment of the system of public works inaugurated by the State in 1837, seemed to affect the public at large, and so seriously enervated the enterprise of Cairo. And, again, it is directly taught, by the his- tory of the whole country, that no man, set of men or corporation, can create and success- fully conduct such a monstrous monopoly as that attempted at the confluence of these rivers by D. B. Holbrook & Co. Even per- sonal liberty and freedom of thought were brought in direct antagonism to this singu- lar undertaking. The project amounted to no more nor less than an attempt on the part of these men to build, own and direct a city at the mouth of the Ohio River. At no price, in no shape or form, could a resident of this city, under the Holbrook auspices, become a freeholder. He could not purchase, he could not lease, or otherwise acquire a title in a single foot of ground within the proposed city. If he occupied a dwelling, this com- pany owned it, and consequently he lived in it only daring the pleasure of this ' Lord of the manor.' If ordered to vacate, he could not quarter himself in a hotel or boarding- house and bid his persecutor defiance, for even that was held by the all -pervading power. No house or hotel anywhere within the prescribed limits of the corporation could be erected or destroyed, unless Holbrook ex- ercised the power of controlling the manner and means, and designating the time and place for such erection or destruction. And his powers, or what is the same thing, the powers of the Cairo City & Canal Com- pany, terminated not here. A corrupt or an imbecile Legislature conferred upon that company the dangerous authority to establish all the rules and regulations for the govern- ment of the municipality that a Mayor and a Board of Councilmen, selected from amongst the people might, as a body, establish. It was for D. B. Holbrook, or what is the same, the Cairo City & Canal Company, to define offenses and prescribe their punishment; to declare, by fixing wharfage at a rate that would amount to a prohibition, that steam- boats should cease landing at this delta; to say what style of living or existing should amount to vagabondage, and affix the penal- ty; to declare a levy of taxes, and enforce its collection; and to expend these taxes as he elected, whether for the advantage of the public or the furtherance of the aims of his bantling, the Cairo City & Canal Company. In short, D. B. Holbrook, as the Cairo City & Canal Company, at a late hour in his career here, to wit, on the 17th February, 3871, were clothed by the then sitting, thoughtless or villainous Legislatui-e of Illinois, with all the powers conferred upon the Board of Aldermen of the City of Quincy, as defined between the First and Forty-fifth Sections of the charter of that city; and these grants of power the same Legislature con- firmed for a period of ten years. It is, per- haps true that he never exercised any legal 30 HISTORY OF CAIRO. despotism, or felt any disposition to exercise it, but the mere reposition of such alarming privileges in one man, and that man charged with the control of the material affairs of the city, could have but exercised a most enervat- ing and destructive influence upon the proj- ect in hand, and of itself ultimately insured the overthrow and destruction of the euter- prise." From 1839 to 1841, a little more than two years of Cairo's first glory, there "^ was spent here by Holbrook's company, or the founda- tions laid for spending, the whole of the $1,250,000 that he had arranged for in Europe, and when to this is added the actua 1 expenditures made by the State, and the pros • pective future expenditure of the $3,500,000 by the State on the Illinois Central road, the wonder is [there were not more than two thousand people gathered here. Nearly every one of these must have been needed as em- ployes in the vast enterprises commenced and projected. When the work was stopped by Holbrook's company, the two levees run- ning alung the shores of each river, joining at the south end and forming a levee, were com- pleted, and were of a height and strength then determined by the company's engineers to be amply sufficient for protection from inunda- tion. The base of the levee was forty feet, a top width of twelve feet, with an easy descent on the outside of one foot perpendicularly to seven feet horizontally. In 1843, Mr. M. A. Gilbert constructed the cross levee. As said above, a splendid dry dock and ship-yai'd had been established, and, under the super- intendence of Capt. Garrison, a well-known river man, the steamer Tennessee Valley had been built, and the iron work for this vessel had been turned out, by the Cairo Foundry Works, and thus a complete vessel, of first- class quality, had been fitted out and wholly completed by Cairo skill alone. As the existence of Cairo, under Holbrook's auspices, ran only through about three years, and as much of that time was exhausted in the procurement of lands and means to im- prove them, and in the erection of saw mills and the opening of quarries and brick-yards to provide building materials, but few build- ings were erected, whether for residence or business houses. According to the best data to be obtained, we have it represented that the fii'st building put up by the company was the addition to the Cairo Hotel, situated on the point; then the Bel lews House was erected next; then the machine shops; Holbrook's spacious residence, on the spot now occupied by the Halliday House; the planing mills, and some twenty cottages. These, with a number of shanties, that stood at the mercy of Holbrook, as his order to tear them down at anytime would have been like the edict of a tyrant, were the sum total of Cairo's im- provements in this line even in this zenith of her glory. But a great many others were contemplated, and a few had been commenced before the crash came. An immense stone foundation, near what is now the corner of Sixth street and the Ohio levee, was nearly completed, upon which was to be erected the " Great London Warehouse, " that was to eclipse, in point of size, elegance and general finish, the monster warehouse of like name in the City of London. The intentions of Holbrook's company, in i-egard to future building operations, is prob- ably truthfully shadowed forth in the follow- ing extract from one of the circulars issued about the time when the prospects for the town were the fairest: " The demand for bailding for every pui'- pose and every description, encourages the company to use all the labor and force which can be advantageously employed to meet these applications — in fact, the conclusion is HISTORY OF CAIEO. 31 rresistible, that the proper and requisite number of dwellings and places for business ai'e only wanting at Cairo to secure a popula- tion equal in number and character to any town in the West; and it will be evideot to every one that the advantages which the com- pany possess for building are very great, having their own forests of timber, saw mills, quarries of stone, lime and brick yards, and every other material required is obtainable in large quantities, and consequently at a reduced price; and every kind of labor which can be done, to save advantage, by use of steam power and machinery, will be adopted by the company and made available." This is appropriately chapter one of the history of Cairo. Abortive as the grand effort, or "splurge," to use a more ti-uthful description of the occasion, was, it was the one final effort to lay the foundation upon which the present superstructure stands. A generation has passed away since that time, and of all the struggling, active, busy throng that were parties to this stirring [and hope- ful period, there are but very few now left us to tell over the story, and recall the hopes and fears and trials and triumphs that ani- mated their bosoms in those young days of their lives and of the city's life. The story is a remarkable one and full of interest, and contains a lesson, when properly fread, that none can afford to pass by unnoticed, and that all may contemplate with pleasure and profit. CHAPTER 11. CRASH OF THE CAIRO CITY AND CANAL COMPANY IN 1841— THE EXODUS OF THE PEOPLE- PASTIMES AND SOCIAL LIFE OF THOSE WHO REMAIN— JUDGE GILBERT— HOW A RIOT WAS SUPPRESSED— BRYAN SHANNESSY— GRADUAL GROWTH OF THE TOWN AGAIN— THE RECORD BROUGHT DOWN TO 1853, ETC. IN the preceding chapter we told of the first gathering of the people here, and on what a grand scale they went to work to build a great city. How the Cairo City & Canal Company literally took charge of everything, and, by a profuse display of money, and work and high wages, it in- duced many hundreds of people to come and cast their fortunes with the rising young city; and how in a moment, when all seemed the most promising and cheerful, the whole thing vanished like a pricked bubble, and leaving nothing but grief and pain for promised joy to the many hundreds who felt they had been lured into the wilds by false rep- resentations, and bitterness and disappoint- ment took the place of hope and promise" As already intimated, when the crash came there had gathered here about two thousand people, and they were proceeding rapidly to gather about them all the appliances of civil- ized and municipal life. A man named T. J. Gass, mentioned in the preceding chapter, was teaching the first school in Cairo. It was a pay school, taught in a hastily con- structed building near where is now the cor- ner of Twelfth street and Washington avenue. But when the failui'e of the city company came, everything of a public nature, and even every private enterprise, stopped, and the work of depopulating at once set in and went forward with almost as much celerity as 32 HISTORY or CAIRO. had its gathering of people the year before. The post office, Col. Walter Falls, Postmas- ter, continued. It is said, as an evidence that the few left here were not writing to their fi'iends for 'money to get away, that his salary often amounted to as much as $2.15 per quarter. The Catholic Church, the only one regularly established hei'e at that time, continued its work. The foundry tried to brave the storm, and continued to run when all else had apparently stopped forever, but the cross levee was not yet constructed, and the floods came in 1842, and, on the 22d day of March of that year, it put out its fur- naces, aod forever afterward partook of the universal abandonment to quietude and decay. Col. Falls did continue his store, on his wharf-boat and his wharf-boat business until 1846 or 1847, when he quitted the town and removed to a place once called " Ohio City," on the Missouri shore, a short distance below Cairo. So rapidly did the process of depopulation go on that in a few months there were not more than a score of families left. The flam- ing forges, the flying wheels, the clangor of machinery and the "music of the hammer and the saw" had died away, and given place to a quiet that could not have been far sur- passed had nature set upon tbe city the very signet of eternitj . And now commenced, on the part of those who held unsatisfied claims against the com- pany, a legal effort to secure their own. Judgments were rendered, executions issued, and every article of movable property left or abandoned by the company, not excepting the fine machinery of the mills, shops and foundries, was seized upon and sold for a mere trifle under the hammer at public sale. The dry dock was either cut loose, or the high waters of 1842 swept it away in the flood, and as it approached the Kentucky shore it was seized under an execution for debt, sold, and taken to New Orleans and used at Algiers until the war, when the rebels converted it into one of their first formidable war vessels. For more than a year, the Cairo City & Canal Company, as if overpowered by their complete failure, appeared utterly careless of the wi'eck they had left behind them. The company had gone and chaos came, and there seemed to be no one left to look after or care for its property or its rights here. People moved into the houses that were deserted at will, where they had no landlord, no rents, no taxes, nor no care how soon it fell into decay or was used piece-meal for kindling the matutinal fires. The same with the land; whoever first fancied to take possession and cultivate any cleared portion, did so without let or hindrance. We have spoken of the dangerous powers the Legislature had placed in Holbrook's hands. Upon the sudden dis- appearance of this autocrat, with his excess of law and authority, the people were left at the other extreme, and possession now was sovereign, and, as a rule, every man was a law unto himself. Judge Miles A. Gilbert was the first per- son to come to Cairo after the collapse, and act as agent and representative of the com- pany, to the extent of protecting its property and his own, of which he had large quanti- ties, as well as a considerable holder in the stocks of the company. A detailed account of what he found here, and the spirit and moods of the people in their anger at Hol- brook and his company, could they be fully given, would read like a Western early-day romance. And of all the men it was possible to send here to speak peace to the brewing storm, and stay the uplifted hands of vio- lence, he was the only one. His unflinching integrity, his ripe judgment, and his mild. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 33 and fii'm and fair ti'eatment of all questions that arose between the people and the com- pany were productive of results that must have saved even bloodshed at times, and at all times it was a protection to the property of the place, as well as to the angered and out- rag<^,d people who clamored for the pay due them. Judge Gilbert may justly be regarded as one of the active and leading spirits engaged in the early enterprise of founding the city of Cairo, and the only one of the early founders of the city now living. He was born in Hartford, Conn., January 1, 1810; came to Kaskaskia, 111., June 8, 1832, with a large stock <^f goods; merchandized there eleven years; November 17, 1836, married Ann Eliza Baker, eldest daughter of Hon. David J. ^Baker, Sr., at Kaskaskia, 111. April, 1843, he removed to Cairo, and took charge of all the property there owned by the Cairo City & Canal Company, as their agent. The company had just failed, and a great number of men, in consequence, thrown out of employment, were in a wild, ungovern- able state, making a great noise about their pay. Judge Gilbert's great-grandfather was Abraham Gilbert, who died at Hamden in 1718, and was the grandson of Josiah Gil- bert, who, with three other brothers, came from Norfolk, England, to America in 1640, and settled near New Haven, Conn. ; so that Judge Gilbert's lineage is traceable dii-ectly back to the " Gilberts of Norfolk," England, whose coat of arms bore the motto Tenax propositi — firm of purpose; and there is, per haps, nothing more illustrative of this trait of character in Judge Gilbert, in his long, honorable and active life, or better illustra- tive of the condition of affairs at Cairo, im- mediately following the failure of the Cairo City & Canal Company, than his bold, de- termined and successful defense of the prop- erty of the company he came to Cairo to protect and preserve, as against the enraged mob of workmen he found fiercely demand- ing everything, and threatening an open out- break, and, by mob violence, to seize and sacrifice all within reach. This was the con- dition of affairs when Judge Gilbert arrived in the spring of 1843, and his first work was to set about the most active efforts to thwart the threatened mob. Had he reached the grounds sooner, it is probable he could have influenced the leaders and prevented an out- break. Here were a great number of men sud- denly thrown out of employment; they had grown clamorous and turbulent, and they de- termined to break into the company's machine and carpenter shops, a large building, 150x200 feet in dimensions, and filled with the most expensive machineiy, which was attached to and formed part of the building, and in law formed a part of the realty, and had to be so treated as regards attachments or executions. The turbulents went to Judge Gilbert, and demanded that he allow them to enter the building and detach the machinery and sell it under execution. He had no authority to grant the request, and so in- formed them. They swore they would take it at all hazards, when he informed them he was here to protect the property, and he would do so against friend or foe. The leaders retired in great anger from the in- terview, and at once began to gather their mob. Judge Gilbert, realizing what was coming, selected four laboring men, upon whom he could fully rely, hired them and armed them, and the five men entered the building and hastily barricaded the doors and windows as best they could, and took their respective positions at ^such places as the at- tacking party would have to approach. They had hardly had time to do so when the mob, in great force, approached the front or main 34 HISTORY OF CAIRO. entrance; failing to open this, they tried the windows, but finding them securely fastened they procured a ladder. Judge Gilbert, from the second story window, addressed the crowd, and his quiet, firm, yet pleasant man- ner secured their close attention. lie told them he was their friend, and not their enemy; that it would deeply pain him to hurt or injuire any one of them in any way, but that he had been placed there to protect the property, and protect it he would, to the extent of his life. He advised them to go peaceably home, and await the results of the negotiations of the President of the com- pany, who was then in New York, and nego- tiating for money wherewith to pay every one of them every cent the company owed them. He showed them that they were violating the law, and that, instead of thus righting their wrongs, they were putting themselves in the position to be punished by law; that the law was his protection; it was with him in his effort to protect property, and this made his apparent helplessness and weakness strong enough to resist and repel even their over- powering numbers. He frankly told them they could not come into the building while he was alive, and that for them to kill him in order to get in would be murder, for which they would be hung. He lu-ged them to peaceably go away, and concluded by in- forming them that he would kill the fii-st man who entered the building. This quiet and sensible talk had a marked influence on the crowd; the leaders called them away, and they retired a short distance to hold a council. After much parleying, and a bounteous supply of fighting whisky, they re- turned to the charge, more furious than ever. They surrounded the building, cursing, swearing and howling their rage, like in- furiated beasts, and calling upon each other to kill Judge Gilbert and his four faithful companions and take the machinery and con- tents and destroy the building. The front of the building was upon or against the levee, and the rear of it stood about ten feet above the ground, and here was a large trap -door, used for the purpose of taking in and pass- ing out the most curaberseme articles of goods. The mob succeeded in breaking and pushing up and open this trap- door, and then they attempted to "boost" their men up through this. Judge Gilbert was at the spot by the time they had the trap open, and again appealed personally to some of the leaders and begged them to go away. He showed them he was armed with firearms and a stout hickory club, and told them he alone could kill them as fast as they could , show their heads above the floor, and informed them he would certainly do so. Several ventured to put up their hands and clasp the upper side of the floor, but a sharp rap from the hickory club made them quickly take them down again. Finally, after trying all manner of means to effect an entrance, they persuaded one poor fellow, who was much under the in- fluence of liquor, to let them push him up through the floor. He was warned, as he started up, not to attempt it, but, nothing daunted, he allowed himself to be Shoved forward. He received a light blow from the club, and it affected him so little that the crowd cheered and pushed him the harder. The club was then rained upon his head fast and fiiriovis, and finally he yelled in agony to be lowered instantly or he would be killed sure enough, and he was let down. This man's dreadful experience sobered him, and also seems to have had the effect of sobering the crowd. A feeble effort was made to call out other volunteers to go up, but to this there was no response. They began to fall away in small squads, but the majority lingered around the building until after dark, when HISTORY OF CAIRO. 35 they all left, and quiet reigned supreme once more. Judge Gilbert and his four men re- mained on guard all night, and it can well be imagined they did not even sleep by relays. They stayed close upon duty for several days, until the leaders of the mob (something they should have thought of first) advised with attorneys, and concluded a mob was not the true remedy for their wrongs. This episode is properly a history of the trying times in Cairo, but it well answers the double purpose of illustrating the temper of the people when Judge Gilbert came here to take possession of the Cairo City Canal Company's interests, as well as something of the iron there was in the Judge's nature, and which constituted him the right man in the right place. Judge Gilbert had the cross levee built in 1843, and had the Ohio and Mississippi levees repaired, inclosing about six hundred acres of land, so strong and permanent that it secured Cairo from inundation during the great flood of 1844. He remained there for three years; was one of the original pur- chasers of the land, from Government, on which the city is now built; was identified with all the charter railroads and organiza- tions of the city, as either President, Direc- tor or stockholder, up to the appointment of Samuel Staats Taylor as agent of the Trustees (Thomas S. Taylor and Charles Davis). He then moved to Ste. Genevieve County, Mo. , where he had large landed interests; laid oflf a town thereon, and called it "Ste. Mary," now a flourishing village of several hundred inhabitants, where he has resided ever since, and still resides at his homestead, "Oakwood Villa," situated upon a beautiful hill over- looking the village, on the banks of the Mississippi River, with a splendid view of the river for many miles each way. He has been an active, energetic man all his life; has been for many years, and still is, though now over seventy-three years of age, one of the leading and most influential citizens of Ste. Genevieve County, with a high character for honesty and integrity, and [a kindness, hospitality and generosity poverbial among those who know him. He was elected Judge of the County and Probate Courts of the county three successive terms — twelve years — and so well did he manage the affairs and finances of the county and discharge the du- ties of the office that he was strongly urged to accept another election to the office, but declined. In politics, Judge Gilbert, since the disruption of the old Whig party, has been a Democrat, but strongly opposed the secession movement in Missouri. The first Union resolutions in his county were drawn up by him, advocating to "stick to the Union," and that "secession would prove the death- knell of slav^ery." In 1860, during the secession excitement in Missouri, the State Convention was called, to determine whether Missoui'i should secede or remain in the Union. Judge Gilbert took an active part in securing Union delegates from his district, against powerful opposi- tion, and it was largely through the ^influ- ence of his pen and management that Union delegates were elected from his Congression- al District. At the Congressional District Convention, it is said that he sat up all night, wrote the Union circular address to the people, got it printed, and had it circu- lated all over the district by 12-o' clock next day, and before the secessionists (and seceders from that convention) had their circular printed. Judge Gilbert still holds large interests in Cairo and Alexander County; has two sons living in Cairo — William B. and Miles Frederick Gilbert — practicing law there. His wife is also still living, and he has one HISTORY OF CAIRO. married daughter— Sarah F., wife of Thomas B. Whitledge, residing with him at Ste. Mary, and a prominent lawyer of that place. Judge Gilbert makes frequent visits to Cairo, and takes great interest in the pros- perity of the place, and still has a lively faith in the future greatness of the city. The presence and control uf the company's interests here by Judge Gilbert was a great surprise to many who began to look upon themselves as old settlers. It was the first intimation that the abandonment had not been so complete as they had for some time supposed. When he had completed the cross levee, and had so strengthened the others as to protect the city, even from the extraordi- nary high waters of the Mississippi in the year 1844, when Cairo was the only dry spot from St. Louis to New Orleans, and when these duties were discharged, he would re- turn to business that called him to other places, and, therefore, his government of the people here amounted to no more than the mere assertion of the company's title and possession to moveable property, so the Cairoites continued to occupy at will the houses and so much of the land as they pleased, without rents or question. And they were soon inclined to hoot at the idea of any one collecting rent from them, Was it not enough to live in such a place as Cairo! And thus they assured each other. Thus occupied, the property fell far short of furnishing the means of paying the annual taxes levied against it. For about thirteen years — from 1841 to 1853 — there was little of change in Cairo, except that of slow decay. Mose Harrell is authority for the assertion that the little handful of people here — as the shelter they enjoyed, the ground they cultivated, and the general privileges they exercised, cost them nothing, — prob- ably enjoyed themselves. This inference is strengthened by the recollection that during all this time, they did, or had, but little else to do, and Harrell, therefore, asserts (he was one of the jolly crowd) " they enjoyed them- selves to a degree beyond any other people, so far as he knew or could hear or read about. " In the course of time, after the crash, the mea- ger population left, of about fifty souls, had increased to nearly two hundred, and the town seemed to run to wharf-boats, flats and all manner of water craft. The business was nearly all upon the water's edge, and there was quite a period when it really looked as though, as soon as the few houses rotted down, or were used up for kindling-wood, the entire population and business would crawl over outside the levee, and become a real floating city. Here were the gathering places, eating places, drinking places and the center of all the fun or excitement. People wanted to see the steamboats land; they wanted to go on board, look around, and, by examining the passengers, recall recollections of when they were innocent members of the civilized world. There were three wharf -boats moored in front of the town, and, strange as it may seem, all were doing a fair business, and some of them made money. The Louisiana, Henry Simmons, proprietor, lay about oppo- site what is now Second street; the Ellen Kirkman, Rodney & Wright, proprietoi^s, was just below this, and the Sam Dale, T. J. Smith & Co., proprietors, lay below where the Halliday House stands. " On the hill," as the top of the levee was then called, were to be found the Cairo Hotel, by S. H. Candee, the stores of B. S. Harrell and Oliver S. Sayre, the office of the Cairo Delta newspaper, the saloon of George L. Rattlemueller, and the bakery of George Baumgard. The five last- HISTORY OF CAIRO. mentioned were all in the buildings erected by Jones & Holbrook on the ground now oc- cupied by the Ha Hid ay House. About the total population that was left here after the exodus, as the names were furnished us by Mr. Robert Baird, who was here as early as 1839, are the following — premising there are some, of course, that Mr. Baird cannot now recall, or has wholly for- gotten, and further stating the explanatory fact that, of all the earliest comers of Cairo, the only persons now living of those who did not leave the city in its first panic, are Robert Baird, Nick Devore and Mrs. Pat Smith — just three persons. Here is the now imperfect list of the 1839-40 comers : Squire Marsh, Constable Lee, Dr. Cummings, T. J. Glass, Mr. Jones, Thomas Eagan, Mrs. Pat Smith, D. W. Thompson, who had moved down the hull of the Asia and converted it into a wharf -boat and hotel, afterward taking off the cabin of the boat and moving it to Blandville, Ky. , where he made another hotel of it, which was about the first house in that place; Hathaway & Garrison, the latter went to California and grew quite wealthy; Mr. McCoy, who afterward went to Iowa; Dr. Gilpin and family, kept a boarding-house near where is now the corner of Sixth and levee; Thomas Feely, kept dairy, near cor- ner of Eighth and levee; Mr. Adkins, a butcher; Mr. Ferdon, a carpenter, whose grown young daughter w^as afflicted with at- tacks of occasional insanity. In one of these moods she wandered off, and some distance north of town she came to an old, deserted hut, and as it was night she entered it and found two deer inside, and, closing the door, kept them there, and in this strange company the girl passed the night, unharmed and in seeming content. The next morning she stepped out and fastened the door, and re- porting her adventure to her father, he, in com- pany with some friends, among whom was our informant, Mr. Baird, repaired to the hut and secured the venison; next, a Mr. Lyles, the father-in-law of Mr. Miles F. Parker, a citizen of Cairo; Mr. Shutleff, a foreman in the shops; Tom Brohan, a teamster and con- tractor; Jacob Weldon and family, his widow afterward marrying Judge Shannessy; Isaac Lee, whose son Bill was for many years a Cairo landmark; John Riggs, a ma- chinist, left here afterward and went to Cali- fornia; Ed McKinney, machinist; John Sulli- van, tailor; Mr. Kehoe, carpenter and kept a boarding-house; Walter Falls, kept bar at the hotel and afterward wharf -boat and store; John Addison, carpenter and boarding- house; John Wesley, shoe-maker; William Holbrook and family; Hemy Ours, baker and saloon; George L. Rattlemueller, saloon. Pat Smith married Miss Hennessy, the wedding taking place at the residence of Mrs. Weldon. It was late in the afternoon, and at the church door Smith left his new wife to go along with the crowd, while he went to get up his cows (he seems to have alwa}'s had milch cows). He got his cows, milked, and bethought himself to look up his wife, and she had gone visiting among her friends, enjoying herself very much indeed, and partly to annoy and plague her husband, and partly for fun; so well did she hide her- self that it was late at night before he found her, although he had traveled the town over. No proper history of Cairo will ever be written that omits the conspicuous mention of the name of Judge Bryan Shannessy; nay more, it must account well for some of his acts, and much of the remarkable peculiari- ties of character that possessed him. For the true history of all people is chiefly in the candid picturing of the extraordinary or leading characters, who were among the chief promoters or factors of that society's exist- 38 HISTORY OF CAIRO. ence. By this we do not mean the old notion of the history of a people, where the histo- rian had filled his whole dntj when he told all the minutife of the kings, princes, the queens and princesses, and how they were dressed, dined, wined, and the cost of the latter; how they were sick, or died, or were buried, or were born, or with other details ad nauseum. Or of battles, defeats, and slaughters and sieges; of famines; of church dignitaries and State rulers. These things, during the centuries alone, were history. Had Voltaire and Buckle not lived, this might have been so yet, and continued indefi- nitely. But now, the history of a people. State or nation means the common people as well as the notorious — the history of all alike. Of course it is impossible to individually men- tion each of the masses, as this would make it a mere directory of names, but to portray the extraordinary characters of those who were of the masses, who mingled with and were a part of them, who, as it were, were the very outgi-owth; the immediate develop- ment of that community itself, is to bring to the reader's knowledge one of the best and clearest hints of what the great mass of the people were, how they acted, thought and were influenced. Such a representative we deem Mr. Shan- nessy to be. He came here with the rush of 1840, as unpretentious and unassuming an Irishman as the humblest knight of the wheel- barrow in all the crowd that were drawn here by the mighty schemes of the founders of Cairo. But there was that stuff in him, sometimes called fate, faith or a star, which made him shape his course very differently indeed from the common crowd. He was one of the very few who did not flee when the memorable crash of 1841 came, and reduced the city, in a few weeks, from a prosperous and busy population of over two thousand to less than fifty souls, with no work, no busi- ness, nothing, in short, to do except to oc- cupy'the deserted houses of the desolate city. Then Shannossy, like the man who said if all the world were dead he would go to Phila- delphia and open a big hotel, he opened a boarding-house, and in 1853, while but little better than cockle and jimson weeds had un- disputed possession here, we find him the happy lord of a dingy boarding-house, a saloon, a Squire's shop, a drug store, the post office and a doctor's office. There was nothing else in the place, or he would have had that. It is said the few natives of the place thought of calling on him to preach to them, but when they talked it over among themselves they got afraid of the fiery thun- derbolts he would launch at them in all his sermons, mixed with brogue and brimstone. He continued to hold office all his long life. When the city had waxed great, he became Associate County Judge, and he was Police Magistrate in this city so long that " five dollars and costs " was as natui'al to his tongue and his existence as breath. He was a shrewd, original, strong-minded man, who " never went back on a friend. " This last trait is well told by the story of a prominent lawyer, who desired to bring a certain suit, but felt doubtful about the issue; so he went to the Squire and told him freely his dilemma, and stated what he supposed to be the facts of the case. The Squire told him " that sifter would hold water, dead sure." The suit was brought, but on trial the defendant introduced evidence that utter- ly destroyed every vestige of plaintiff's case. The court finally gave, his decision in an elaborate and learned opinion, reasoned about the law, the evidence, the world's his- tory, the flood, the pandects, the quadrilater- al and the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty, and HISTORY OF CAIRO. 39 concluded by giving judgment for the plain- tiff. Everybody was amazed, even the plain- tiff's attorney. Afterward, to this attorney, he remarked: " That was a very close case, very close. The closest case I ever decided in my life. In fact, I believe the law and the evidence were both dead against you; but I never go back on a friend. " He loved his friends as well as he loved office, and he believed in being just to them, and this sometimes made strangers think they had to suffer. But altogether he was full of good, kind traits of charactei'. This is evi- denced by the fact that these outre decisions never alienated his friends so as to defeat him at an election. He reared a large family, of the very highest respectability, and de- parted this life at a ripe old age and full of honors, and his fame is growing greener in the memories of all his numerous friends than is that of, probably, any other man's. It was this decade of years in Cairo's life that it acquired a wide — if not a world-wide — reputation, as being one of the " hardest " places known. Partly, this was owing to the natural reflex swing of the pendulum that had been pushed too far the other way by Holbrook & Co., in their extraordinary puffing of the place in its first heyday, but it is doubtful if this was one of the largest factors that resulted in such gross injustice to Cairo. The writer distinctly recollects that the first he ever heard of Cairo and Mound City was in the scorching lampoons that at that time were passing between Mose Harrell and Len Faxon, on the two rival towns. Doubtless, like thousands of others, he formed his idea of the two places, although he knew, of course, they were the essence of extravagance, from these mutual attacks. If he stopped to think about it at all, he must have known that the language was Pickwickian in the extreme; yet, per- haps, like all the world, who knew nothing of their own knowledge, he must have sup- posed they understood each other's weak points, and made the attacks accordingly. For instance, the Mound City Emporium prints the following neighborly notice: "A numl)er of Cairoites, impelled, per- haps, by a desire to see dry land — to stand once more on terra firma — visited Mound City last Friday, on the tug-boat Pollard. They were a cadaverous, saffron-colored lot of mortals, most terribly afflicted with bad hats and the smell of onions. These poor people inhaled the pure atmosphere of our highlands with an almost ravenous greedi- ness, and on their wan features would occa- sionally play a flush of health as they did so that betokened they were sucking in a flow, to their physical and spiritual parts, of some of that strong, buoyant principle of life possessed by every Mound Cityite. But from this delightful recuperative process they were summoned by the tap of the boat bell. Descending from the elevation our city oc- cupies to the landing, they boarded the craft, and then, descending the Ohio to its mouth, they stopped and made a further descent of sixteen feet or more, which placed them in Cairo. A further descent of sixteen feet could not be made on account of heat, smoke and the smell of brimstone! That's just the distance between the two places!" To this the Times and Delta replies: "The Buckeye Belle came down from Mound City last Satu.rday, having on board quite a num- ber of people from that delectable village; but the quarantine officers of our city enforced the ordinance relative to steamboats landing with sick people on board, and would not permit her to touch, whereupon, after mak- ing sundry ineffectual attempts to land at each wharf-boat, she shoved out into the river, where all hands set up one indignant 40 HISTORY OF CAIRO. yell of flefiance, and, 'cussing,' proceeded back to Mound City, where, we presume, the passengers were remanded back to their re- spective hospitals." The Cairo paper thiis topographically talks of its neighbor: "At last accounts from Mound City, the principal portion of the inhabitants were roosting in trees. Some of them sleep with skiffs by their bedsides. One of these deter- mined not to be treed, procured two quarts of 'crow whisky,' some bread and bacon, and induced one or two inhabitants to go with him, and th^y have fortified themselves on the ' carbuncle,' or mound — the only dry place in the town — where they intend to stay until the waters subside. " The principal occupation of the inhabit- ants for the past three weeks has been every half hour to proceed to the river, punch a stick in the ground at the water's edge, see how much the water has come up and then go home and move their cooking utensils and * steds ' into the second stories of their houses. Where there are no second stories, 'as we said before,' they 'clum' trees." From the same source, here are a few re- marks on health: " The Mayor of Mound City, in his inau- gural address, says to the Council: 'It will soon be your duty to purchase, and fit for use, a sufficient ground for a public ceme- tery. It will take half of the town plat for that purpose.' The Mayor means, we sup- pose, by ' fitting for use,' that portions of the swamp should be fenced and filled up with dirt, so as to give it a bottom." Or this: " We saw a couple betting high at draw poker the other night. The ante was two negroes, and the little one had run up the pot to a cotton plantation and three stern-wheel boats. " ' I'll go you the City of Sandoval better,' said the big one. " 'I'll see you with Mound City and call you,' said t'other. "'Psahw! That ain't money enough.' said big bones. " 'Well, I'll take that back, and bet you a keg of tar and a blind horse.' " ' That'll do,' said big bones, ' but don't try to ring in Mound City again, for I want to play a decent game ! ' " And in this way, for about three years, the " sparring " in the two papers went on, never abating in severity or intensity of ex- pression from the first day, until ail that could be said mean of the two places was blown upon every wind, and, upon the prin- ciple of the dropping water wearing away the hardest stone, so these persistent lam- poons had, doubtless, their effect upon the minds of the outside world. Then, to those who visited and saw the town, there was that unfinished, half-commenced hole dug here, and half- formed mounds thrown up there, that made up its quota of reasons for assisting any rising prejudices in the mind of the beholder, that also aided in creating prejudices against the place. Then, there was still another reason for the bad reputa- tion of Cairo, that is so curious, so extraor- dinary, that, were it not vouched for by the best of authority that was here, and knew whereof it affirms, we could not believe it, and woiild give it no notice in these columns. We again refer to M. B. Harrell, as authority on this matter, only premising that in much of the practical jokes he was nearly always in the thickest of the fray: " Cairo then, and up to a much later period, unjustly bore a hard reputation. Stories of fiendish murders and robberies of travelers stopping in the place were so cur- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 41 rent over the country that the poor Cairoite who would attempt to contradict or correct them was laughed and derided into painful silence. Knowing they could not refute such a general and well-settled impression, they ' turned tack,' and whenever they saw travel- ers exhibiting foolish apprehensions of per- sonal danger, they would at once set about operating upon them, 'just,' as they would say, ' to get even with them.' For instance: " Two consumate dandies [being ' dan- dies,' it seems, was the great crime they were guilty of] from Pittsburgh, stopped upon one of the wharf-boats, to await a passage to New Orleans, they having arrived on a boat that was bound for St. Louis. At once it became evident that these young men had been fed upon stories of Cairo horrors; but they tried fo show, nevertheless, that they could not be scared by anything, however dreadful. Both had revolvers and bowie- knives, but that they were unused to them could be told by the practiced eye of a Cairoite. These weapons were freely ex- hibited, and always worn so as partly to be seen while concealed about their persons. Diligently did these young men try to im- press it upon the people that they would be 'ugly customers' in a hand-to-hand encoun- ter. To show that they were familiar with rough life, they would swear voluminously, and occasionally they would drink brandy, etc., etc." These were line subjects for vic- tims, and the hoodlums of the village gathered about them in full force, and then hours of confidential talk among them would occur — care being taken that the intended victims should overhear every word, about as follows: "I'll be , Tom," remarked a I'ough- looking customer, as he slammed down an empty boot box beside the counter, "I hain't had nothin' as has sot so hard onto mv feelia's as the killiu' of that boy, sense the day I hit my old woman in the breast with the hatchet. He was a smart boy, a ad, by , you know he was; and just to think I could git mad enough at him, cos he failed to lift the stranger's wallet, to smash his skull with a oar. is positive distressin'. But I'll tell ye, Tom — give us a drink — that boy Waxey shall be buried right. The human left into me will see to that. The cat-fish fed onto the old woman, but d — n the bite shall they git of Waxey. And now, Tom, have you a longer box than this? Waxey is five feet long, and this is only four. Hain't got none, hey? Well, 'tis little 'gainst a father's feelin's, but this box must coffin him. I couldn't do no better, Tom, and you know it, so I'll go home now and saw off his legsr Taking another di'ink, the distressed fa- ther (?) shouldered the box, and left the wharf-boat, chuckling at the effect his story had produced upon the strangers. And now night had gathered around, and the usual crowd collected at Louis' bar-room, which, it must be known, was in the store and adjoining the depositor}^ for baggage. The strangers continued guard over their baggage, and viewed, with trembling, the growing multitude. Drinking followed the arrival of each character, and after several glasses had been emptied, the following con- versation ensued, and all for the strangers' benefit, and so arranged that they could hear every word of it : "Well. Boggie, if ever thar war a nicer time'n last night, I'm not posted. Them two strangers what we hornswoggled with us, and who danced with Spike-foot, ain't now 'sash- aying' around here much. But now, Boggie, them men fought tigerish, I tell you! I didn't know, till Bob, here, told me, that we were a-gom' to mince 'em. I didn't, now, 42 HISTORY OF CAIRO. darned ef I did! And of course, jest as soon as he told me that we war a-goin' to mince 'em, why, I stabbed the old one right in the small of the back, like. He had floored Wash Wiggins, and I guess was a-chokin' of Wash, but when he felt my knife ronch against his spinal bone, why, it diverted his attention. He cum at me savage; struck out thickly, and kep' me clear out of reach of him; but Dave, who had got a swingle-tree, seein' how matters was, dropped it on the old one's cranium, and a groan, a gurgle and a little splash of brains was all there was that followed. The old man dropped, and I, thinkin' he might revive and suffer, separ- ated his jugular and let him bleed some. But the other, I tell you he was a snorter! He knocked Clark Ogden clean through the winder, followed, and before anybody knowed it, dressed him off confounded handsome. As we all had nothin' to do, then, but to make way with this chicken, we at once set about it. His first cut I give him; the next punch you made, and then he cut dirt and humped himself. Zofe, there, caught him near the river, but havin' no weapons, he just held him and hollered until weapons was forth- coming. The swipe that let out his innards would 'a saved him; but Dave, you know, stabbed him six times afterward, all over the breast and body. He fell then, and right thar I saw him lyin' not more'n an hour ago. Take the scrape altogether, Boggie," con- tinued the speaker, casting a meaning glance at the strangers, " I think it just about as in terestin' as any we'll have 'tween this and the mornin'." Such was the substance of the rigmarole intended to directly affect the strangers, and it is easy enough to believe the assertion that they believed every word they heard; and the further fact that they had seen one of the desperate men steal a pocket-book from another's pocket (a pre-arranged affair, too), all combined, left the two young men ap- palled with horror. Even this devil-may-care crowd noticed, from the actions of the young men, that they had probably carried the joke too far, and there was danger of them plu ag- ing into the river in order to avoid the worse fate they felt certain was in store for them. It was about decided to explain the joke to them, but it was dangerous to approach them to attempt an explanation, as such an ap- proach would be a signal for them to jump into the waters. Fortunately, at this moment a boat approached and touched at the land- ing, and instantly the two young men boarded her, and hid themselves in the cabin until the boat pulled out. The vessel was on its way to St. Louis, and they were going to New Orleans, but so intense was their alarm that they would have taken a boat for any point in the world to get away from Cairo. It is said that a short time after this, a Pittsburgh paper reached Cairo, in which was a letter, dated from St. Louis, describing, with shocking details, the bloody murders at Cairo, which we have given above, the writers not only attesting that they saw them committed, but they had shot dead two of the murderers themselves, in a perilous effort to stay the butcheries. The story of the boy corpse and the short boot box went the rounds of the papers of the country, and in seven- leagued boots, the Cairo horrors traveled about the world. We have given an account of this in- stance pretty fully. It was only one among hundreds, until the horrible stories from Cairo had been familiarized pretty much over the civilized world. The Cairo people did all this, they said, in revenge for the many gross falsehoods that had been circulated about them and their town. It was a unique mode of revenge, and was of doubtful virtue, V HISTOEY OF CAIRO. 45 for the outside world only too readily be- lieved all they thus saw, but more, too, and it soon fixed itself in the minds of men as a shocking reality. Here was another cause of the blighted reputation of the place. Add this to the causes recited above, and when They are combined it is wonderful that all men did not shun the place as they would the lepers' grounds. There is but one strong reason why they did not. Caii'O was the one gateway between the North and the Scaith, and through here all must pass in nearly all communications between these two regions. This forced men to come. Even the timid and trembling were compelled thus to face the fearful imaginary dangers of the place, and when thus forced into the town, they were like the boy who finally saw the preacher, and remarked to his mother, in disgust, " Why, he's no thin' but a man;" so the Cairo people were found by these com- pulsory visitors to be nothing but human beings; as quiet, civil, well-behaved and honest as any people in the world. But while a slander flies upon tireless wings, truth crawls in gyves and hobbles, and while it is true that " when crushed to earth will rise again," yet there is no day nor hour fixed for the " rising " to be done, and as ' ' the eternal years are hers, " she generally takes up the most of them in running down a lie and putting the truth triumphantly in its place. y j(The only school taught here between 1842 and 1848 was a pay school, and only for a few months, by Mrs. Peplow. In 1848, a Sabbath school was started. It was held in the Cairo Chapel — an up-stairs room in the Holbrook House — but after a few weeks of meager attendance and listless interests it permanently closed up for repairs and the want of patronage. On the 4th of July, 1848, under the auspices of Mrs. Peplow's school, the town held its first national celebration. Dr. C. L. Lind was the Orator of the Day, and Bailey S. Harrell read the Declaration of Independence. This year, too, came the singing-master — the king of the tuning-fork, who could read the " square notes," and who was born with a hawk-nose, chewing plug tobacco, and had been forever trying to marry the belle sun- flower of every school he had taught or at- tended. This particular one is described as a " cadaverous, bacon -colored old curmudg- oen named Winchester. " He left the town in great disgust, so complete was his at- tempted school a failure, and it is supposed Cairo survived this calamity with greater equanimity than any of her other inflictions; we have no hesitation in calling his depart- ure a calamity, because from the above de- scription it will be seen he had many of the ear-marks of a great and good singing-school master, and yet he could not sing his "square notes" in Cairo. His experience here may have given rise to the little legend, "I'm sad- dest when I sing." About the only relief to the monotony of Cairo life began to come as early as 1848, in the promised revival of the building of the Illinois Central Railroad. The subject was stirred more or less at every session of the Legislatui'e, and when the news would reach Cairo of what was being done, a tremor of excitement would pass around, and the wisest heads would say, "Wait till next spring, and the engineers will then be along." There seemed to be no question of the great work being ultimately done. On this point there was neither dispute nor argument, but all questioning turned upon the one pivot, When ? And here the Cairoites centered their future hopes. But year by year came and 3 46 HISTORY or CAIRO. went, and no engineers showed themselves, and the hopes and fears of the people would rise and fall with the seasons. In the meantime, Cairo grew a little — just a little more than the natural increase of population. The few there were here found, eventually, plenty to do, and the steamboat trade had gradually grown to be of the great- est importance. In the winter season, par- ticularly when navigation on the upper rivers would be stopped by the ice, the people of Cairo would find themselves overwhelmed by people, suddenly stopped on their way, until all houses would be filled to overflow- ing, and often hundreds of them would go into camp, and be 'compelled to wait for weeks for the breaking- up of the ice and to resume their journey. Often a boat would thus land and parties would hire rigs and thus go on to Si Louis. Sometimes others would purchase saddle-horses, or a wagon and team, and depend upon selling for what they could get when at the end of their journey. The boats going and coming soon got so they all touched at this point, and in those days there were great numbers of people travel- ing on deck, and these would rush ashore in great crowds for supplies at the baker's, butcher's and at the boat stores. G]:^dually, too, Cairo came to be quite a re-shipping point for St. Louis, and Louis- ville, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh freights, and this gave abundant and profitable business to the wharf-boats. In these and a hundred ways, business thrived, and money was dis- tributed among the people sometimes in plentiful abundance, and there) were hard- working, attentive business men among them, and all such not only made a living, but generally were on the highway to independ- ence and wealth. The social life of the place was much like that of the average small river towns, except the wags and prac- tical jokers noticed elsewhere, and with this further and marked exception, they were a big, warm-hearted, hospitable, independent, and a mind-your-own-business kind of peo- ple. Perhaps no community was ever more wholly free from that tea-table, back-biting species of gossip and slander, and prying into other people's private afi'airs, than were the people of Cairo. They were a just, gen- erous and true people, and so marked was thi^ characteristic from the first, that they have left their impress in these respects, ap- parently, upon the town. The first comers are nearly all gone, the descendants of only a few remain; and yet, whosoever knows the people of Cairo well, may count as his friend many as true people as were ever got together before in the same sized "^commu- nity. I This concludes the second natiiral division in the eras of Cairo's history, to wit, the decade between the collapse of the Cairo City & Canal Company and the revival of the prospects of Cairo by the actual commence- ment of work on the Central Railroad, and, therefore, is an appropriate ending of the chapter. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 47 CHAPTER III. Cairo platted— first sale of lots— the foundation of a city laid— beginning of WORK ON the central RAILROAD— S. STAATS TAYLOR — CITY GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED AND WHO WERE ITS OFFICERS — INCREASE OF POPULATION — THE WAR— SOLDIERS IN CAIRO— BATTLE OF BELMONT— WAIF OF THE BATTLE-FIELD— " OLD RUBE" — RILLING OF SPENCER — OVERFLOW OF '58 — WASH GRAHAM AND GEN. GRANT — A FEW MORE PRACTICAL JOKES, ETC, ETC. IN the preceding chapters we have traced the efforts to found and build a city here, and the social and business life of the people, as best we could, down to the year 1852. We found that from 1841 to 1851 — more properly to 1853 — was the long period of stagnation, marked onl}' by the natural decaj' of time, and the small damages that it was possible to accrue to the place from a succession of high waters in the rivers. Miserable little levees, about eight feet high, girdled about the town, winding with the bends of the stream, or jogged into short angles, in the language of a Mound Cit}' paper of the earl}' times, the " broken ribs" levee. From the first attempted founding of the cit}' by the Cairo City & Canal Company down lo 1851, the company clung pertinaciously to Holbrook's first idea of never selling a foot of the land — only leasing upon the most rigid and arbititiry terms. The agent and attor- ney-in-fact of the property trustees, S. Staats Taylor, Esq., arrived in Cairo, September, 1851. He came with instructions and the power to inaugurate some new and healthy ideas for the company, and for the good of the people and the town. But his first and most difficult task was to obtain peaceable possession of the com- pany's property. The residents had much of it in possession, and so long had they occupied it without landlord, rents or taxes that they felt encouraged to treat the company's preten- sions to ownership with indifference and con- tempt. Then, other parties from the outside had noticed the apparent abandonment of the place by the company in 1841, and they pounced upon the rich flotsam like buzzards upon a dead carcass, and by all manner of Sheriff's titles, tax deeds, and even bogus deeds, attempted to secure both possession and title, some to the whole and some to large por- tions of the land within the city limits. One instance, called the " Holmes claim,' may serve as an illustration of some of the manv difficulties that the company encountered in regaining what they had apparently aban- doned. The company had acquired title to a large portion of the southern part of the city by purchase from the heirs of Gov. Bond. These heirs had made separate deeds, one of them, Elizabeth Bond, had executed her prop- er deed to her interests in the land and this deed Holbrook had carelessly carried in his pocket and neglected to put it upon the record, until, in the course of time, it was mislaid and forgotten. Holmes was a brother-in-law of Miss Bond, and in some way he ascertained Elizabeth's deed was not on record. He went to Thebes, then the county seat, examined the records, and, being duly prepared, at once placed a deed upon record from Elizabeth Bond to himself, conveying all her right, title and interest in Cairo. This conveyance in- cluded about one hundred acres in the south- west portion of the city. The company ap- pealed to the courts ; the case went into the United States Court, and there it stayed for 48 HISTORY OF CAIRO. twenty-three years before being finally adjudi- cated and settled. Five different trials before juries resulted in three verdicts in favor of the company, and two in favor of Holmes — as the boys would say, " the best three in five." There was no question but the chain in the re- cord-title was with Holmes, but the company based their claim and relied wholly upon color of title and seven years' possession and the payment of taxes. Upon this claim the Su- preme Court of the United States gave the compan}' the land and settled the question for- evex*. As said, 1851 dawned a new era upon Cairo. It came to be known that the law had passed the Congress of the United States that would at last secure the building of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, and this was cheering news to the good people of the town, and of the whole State. In 1851, the advance guard — the en- gineers—put in their cheerful appearance, and bright and early one morning a squad of them were to be seen trimming out a passage way in the bush and undergrowth and hoisting flag- poles here and there, and peeping knowingly through instruments, and the children shouted to each other that the railroad had come at last. The almost expiring hopes of the older people were revived to the highest pitch once more. Yet the onward move of the town itself loitered, and, until 1854, there was no change among the residents, and but few accessions to the population or improvements of the town. The causes for this were the difficulties about the possession and titles above noticed. Here were three years in the historical life of the city that may be briefly passed over, the real history, if any, that was made during that time, was exclusively concerning the Central Railroad, and will be found in the chapter giv- ing an account of that enterprise. Mose Harrell, in his sketch of Cairo, justly, we think, insists that for the "real commence- ment of Cairo we are not authorized to go be- hind that period " (1854). The many years consumed by monopolies in futile attempts to build up the place, and the greater number of years of non-action, cannot be fairly added to the real age of the place, as during the whole of that time public capital and energy were not only not invited to come to Cairo, but ab- solutely' forbidden any kind of foothold what- ever. Fairness, then, will fix the birth of the city at that exact period when it became possible and allowable for those essential ele- ments of prosperit}^ to take hold of the under- taking, and to operate without fetter or tram- mel — and not before that period. The Agent, Mr. Taylor, had finally got such sufficient possession of the property, and had platted and laid off the town anew, that on the 4th day of September, 1854,- the lots were of- fered for sale. On the morning of that- day, Peter Stapleton purchased the lot on the cor- ner of Third street and Commercial avenue, where he at once erected a substantial and per- manent residence and business house. This was the first sale ever made of a lot in Cairo ; it was the first step in the real city building that has gone on steadily from that day to the present time. The price paid for the lot was $1,250, not far from what the unimproved lot would be rated at now. This purchase was soon followed by others, including Mrs. Can- dee, John Howley, M. B. Harrell and the grounds on which were erected the Taylor House (burned down with several other build- ings in 1860). The people were now buying the lots and building up the town, and it was no longer Holbrook and his iron-cast monopo- ly ; and now the good work went on with ra- pidity, and within a year from the day that Stapleton purchased his lot, so actively had the work gone on, that a large number of build- ings were erected and in the course of erection, and the streets and avenues come to be well defined b}- the buildings that reared their fronts alono- the streets and at the corners. But HISTORY OF CAIRO. 49 at this time no improvements had been erected on the Ohio levee. The company saw proper to put restrictions here, and would onlj- stipu- late that no other building except brick, iron or stone should be built thereon. All these front lots were regarded as the valuable ones of the town. Williams' brick block had been put up on the levee, and it stood alone until quite an amount of buildings had been placed on Third and Fourth streets and Commercial avenue. Time soon demonstrated the foolish- ness of these restrictions, as few purchasers, be- fore becoming acquainted with the city, its busi- ness, the character and permanency of its pro- tective embankments, the health of the people, etc., felt disposed to erect either very fine or expensive buildings, and these barriers were brushed away and the lots on the levee put upon sale upon the same terms as the others of the town. Then came the hosts of eager purchasers, in response to the word that went out that lots in Cairo were upon the market without restric- tions, and upon terms that were regarded as just and liberal. Another proof, were any proof needed, that no man in New York, Philadelphia, or London can manage and build a great city either out here in Cairo or any- where else, where he is not present and a part of the community. As seen by the purchase price of Stapleton's lot, the property was gen- erally placed at a high figure, but when the property on the levee was thrown, unrestricted, upon the market, the figures were increased, and were, in fact, enormousl}' high ; yet the sales were numerous, the most bu^-ing for improvement, and man}' for speculation, even at these high figures. Then, indeed, came the race in putting up buildings — the wants of builders putting to the test the numerous saw mills in the county, and calling from abroad hosts of mechanics and laborers. A gi'eat vari- ety 'of business enterprises were inaugurated, business, both commercial and mechanical, grew apace ; drays and other vehicles rattled over the wharf and the streets, and the features of a 3'oung and thrifty citj' began to be visible ever3-where. In another part of this work we have given some account of the rather loose and inefficient general city government that had been adopted by the people, after the dethronement of the Czar of all the Cairos, Holbrook, and the tak- ing of the reins of government into the hands of the few jieople left here. Early in 1855, so rapid had been the growth of the place, and so apparent the growing necessity, that the citizens met in mass convention, in the Central Railroad depot, and there determined that until a special charter could be obtained from the Legislature, that the city should be incorpor- ated under the general incorporation laws. In pursuance of this determination, the fol- lowing were chosen, at a general election, Trustees for the ensuing year : S. Staats Ta}'- lor, John Howley, Peter Stapleton, Lewis W. Young, B. Shannessy and M. B. Harrell. This board, at once proceeded to put in place the wheels and pulleys and bands and cogs of an elaborate and complete general government. It enacted voluminous ordinances and fulmi- nated its edicts. The quiet and health of the city was their one ambition. Mose Harrell commenced to studj^, with avidity, the laws of hygiene under Shannessy, and John Howley and Stapleton purchased diagrams and charts of the Constitution of the United States, with a view, perhaps, of settling, by a great com- promise, the questions that were agitating the wharves and wharf-boats, mails, transfers, etc. But the people, from some inscrutable cause, would continue to look upon the whole proceed- ing as a " good joke," and the ordinances were not enforced — remained, in a monumental wa}-, a dead letter upon the journal of the board's proceedings. On March 9, 1856, imperious necessity called out another effort at a city Government — 50 HISTORY OF CAIRO. spelled with a big Gr — and another election was held, when, besides a Board of Trustees, a Police. Magistrate was elected, in the person of Robert E. Yost, Esq. At the first meeting of the board, Thomas Wilson, Esq., was made Pi'esident ; James Kenedy, Marshal ; Isaac L. Harrell, Clerk ; George D. Gordon, Wharf- master, and all other matters closely scru- tinized, to put the machiner}' of the governixient into successful operation. But again, this year, tliere was not a great deal of government in active play, except in the matter of the ordinance department ; these were ably composed, and they did " sound so grand " on the river's bank, but with the ex- ception of a Marshal, to run in a few unfortu- nates before the Police Magistrate — these two officers reporting, as their year's work, the munificent collection of fines, etc., of $355 — and this was added to the Wharf master's year's report of $331.50 wharfage, making in all, for those three officers, the munificent sum of $686.50; of itself, not a very enormous salary, but then there were the honors, which may run the sum total into the thousands. In addition to the fines and wharfage, the cit}' this year derived, from grocery and other licenses, $2,250.50 ; from taxes, $2,325.78. The entire real and personal property of the city then was valued, for the purpose of taxation, at a fraction over $450,000. There were twentj'-eight licensed saloons in the city, two billiard saloons, and nine licensed drays. The records tell the story of how rapidly a solid and flourishing city was rising out of the debris of the wreck of 1841, when the City of Cairo & Canal Company carried all down in its general wreck and ruin. The music of the hammer and the saw was heard upon ever}' side, and to all these was added the cheering scream of the locomotive whistle, and the heyday of flush times once more began to come to Cairo. Before passing again, however, to the material afl"airs of the city, we choose to incor- porate here the details of the most notable occurrence that disturbed the quiet or marred the dignity of Cairo. This was the mobbing of the desperate negro, Joseph Spencer, which took place in the autumn of the year 1855. A citizen of Cairo, George D. Gordon, we believe, had instituted legal proceedings against the negro for trespass, and a writ had been issued for^ his appi'ehension. It was served upon him and he informed the officer that he would be at the Justice's office in a few minutes. Instead of quietly submitting himself to the law, like a rational being, he procured a keg of powder, and with this under his arm he repaired to the court of justice. This office was in a room on the first floor of the Cairo Hotel, the upper rooms being occupied by guests, including many women and children. Arrived at the Squire's office, and seating himself upon the keg, and immersing the muzzle of a cocked pistol far into the powder, the audacious negro dictated his own terms to the officer, which were, that judgment should be instantly pronounced in his favor, and the suit thrown out of court, or he would " fire, and blow to h — 11 the building and every one in it ! " It was evident, from his wicked eye that he would do as he said, and scores of unsuspecting persons in the rooms above would have been blown to atoms. The hangers-on in the court room, as well as the officers present, adjourned themselves out of the doors and windows in rapid confusion. Word of this infernal outrage being generally cii'culated, a lai'ge number of citizens and strangers gathered, and determined that, at least, such a dangerous character should at once leave the city. The negro had a hotel wharf-boat moored to the shore, where he kept a tavern of no mean pretensions, and where many of the sojourners here in their travels have stopped and been entertained. But the reputation of the place was becoming infamous, and circumstances had caused manv to sus- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 51 pect that in the name of caring for travelers, crimes of the deepest cast had long been going on in Spencer's boat. Strangers had been known to repeatedly stop there and were never seen or heard of again after going to bed. The bedrooms ran along the building on either side, with a hallway in the center, and it was ascertained that under each bed, in every room, was a trap-door, with the carpet so neatlj^ fitted over this that it could not be discovered with- out the closest inspection, and by this arrange- ment a person could enter, from the hull below, and pass from one room to the other without ever going in or out at a room door. Spencer was waited upon by a few represent- ative citizens and informed of the determination of the people, and at the same time he was as- sured that he should be safely conveyed across the river. The negro consented to this, pro- vided one or two of the delegation, whom he named, would go in the skiff with him, and to this they agreed. In the meantime a great crowd had gathered on the levee above Spen- cer's boat. Some parties in the crowd, when they learned that these men were going to cross the river with the negi'o, went to them and ad- vised them not to do so, and thereupon they declined to go, and then Spencer not only de- clined to go, but mocked and defied the people he had so signally outraged. An hour's time was given him for preparation to leave — then another hour ; but instead of employing the time for such an end, he used it in preparing himself for resistance. He now concealed him- self in his boat and refused to have intercourse with any one. The crowd grew greatly incensed and they determined to force the negro to leave at all hazards. They made a rush for the room where he was concealed and forced the door, but he had escaped through his secret trap- door as they entered. They were soon notified, however, of his whereabouts, by the report of his shot-gun from another room, the charge of the gun taking effect in the breast and shoulder of one of the party, producing a wound of which the man died some time after. We can find no one now able to recall the name of this man, he being almost an entire stranger. He was a river man, and either a pilot or engineer. When this shot was fired, the crowd rushed to the room and broke it open, but the room was vacant ; and while the assailants were bewildered about the negro's second strange disappearance, the re- port of his gun was again heard. This shot wounded the well-known citizen, Ed Willett,who was innocently on board the boat, not joining in the assault, but endeavoring to save the furni- ture. This last shot enraged the people in an instant into a fierce mob that cried aloud for blood and that now nothing else would appease. The boat was torn from its moorings and towed out into the river, and in full view of at least a thousand people set on fire, and in less than thirty minutes burned to the waters' edge. But while this work was in progress the desper- ate and now doomed negro was not idle. He evidently felt that he must die, but seemed de- termined to sell his life dearly. Upon those who towed his boat into the stream, upon those who applied the torch, and upon those who filled the scores of skiffs which dotted the Ohio River, he fired repeated rounds and scarcely ever without effect. Exhausting his shot or projec- tiles, he charged his piece with stone-coal - and fired that upon his assailants, as long as the eager flames allowed him to resist at all. And now the advancing element had fully shrouded the upper works of the boat, leaving only a plat- form on the stern to be enveloped. Many had concluded the wretched creature had perished in the flames, and as they were about to turn from the sickening sight there was a crash of glass heard in the great bulk of flame. In an instant afterward Spencer appeared upon the stern, in full view of the great crowd, and of his wife upon the wharf-boat, and, looking defi- antly at all, he placed his hand upon his breast and leaped headlong into what he then must 53 HISTORY OF CAIRO. have considered the " friendl}' waters of the Ohio." Long and anxiously the- crowd looked for his appearance to the surface, but the wa- ters had closed over him once and forever. Thus, calling destruction on his own head, per- ished the desperate negro, Joseph Spencer. For weeks and months afterward the news- papers of the country' made allusion to the affair as a " characteristic mob," giving*it more shapes than Pi'oteus, every writer who took it in hand, molding it exactlj^ to his own liking. Mose Harrell, who was an eye witness to the whole sad affair, and who was daily receiving in his exchange papers from all over the countr}^, at- tempted to summarize the accounts and recon- cile them all into one straight, consistent stor}', and here is the remarkable result : '' Joseph Spencer, an eminent colored divine, whose desperate character made him the terror of the community, and whose deeds of blood and acts of Chiistian piet}- gave him great emi- nence, was recently killed by a mob in Cairo under the following justifiable and bloodthirsty circumstances : Mr. Spencer, while conducting a pra3^er meeting on his boat, which was reek- ing in the blood of his murdered victims, was shot down by a disguised mob of well known citizens, who, without premeditation, had assem- bled shortly after dark on the morning of the bloody day for the hellish and authorized pur- pose. These negro drivers, who had just arrived on a Mississippi steamer, then seized him while in the act of getting down to a game of " old sledge" with a distinguished Method- ist minister from Cincinnati, tied him to a convenient tree, and there burned him until the waters of the Ohio closed over him forever. His boat,'upon which he remained until the last moment, was then towed to the middle of the Ohio River, where it sunk against the Ken- tucky shore, by applying the flaming torch to the cabin. " A more diabolical and fiendish act of mer- ited punishment never disgraced a community of incarnate fiends of high respectability more signally than has this act of damnable but richh^ deserved retribution disgraced all con- cerned in it, not excepting the victim himself, who was seen at Memphis recentl}', swearing vengeance dire against his sanctimonious mur- derers." Thus, from Joe Spencer to Eliza Piukston, the " bloody shirt" floated in ample folds all over the North, while the " mud-sills" and the "corner-stone of slaver}^" equally ripened and flourished at the South. And of a nation's throes, coming of these infinitesimal circum- stances, a Lincoln's fame was born, and the way was prepared for that " ambitious youth who fired the Ephesian dome," to assassinate Lin- coln in a theater, on Good Friday, of 1865 ; and the hanging of an innocent woman ; and the second assassination of a President, and the hanging of an insane man. These are the skele- ton, surface results, but beneath that ghastly covering who will ever know, who can ever in his wildest imaginings conceive the blighted virtue, the ruined names, the crushed hearts, the ghastly corpses, the unspeakable agony and woe, that ran over this people like a consum- ing conflagration ! It is well for the mental health of the human race that the charitj- of oblivion rests so deeply upon the sickening stor}^ that it ma^^ never be told. Joe Spencer was nothing but a wretched, desperate, igno- rant and brutal negro, whose life was a constant menace to all with whom he came in contact ; yet the century had been preparing the way for even this vile wretch, and it culminated in his self-sought destruction into a power for evil which may run on for 3'et a hundred years. Nothing is clearer than that it was the right way, the high and solemn dwiy of the people of Cairo to either drive off or kill the danger- ous, bad negro. They should have done this long before they did, and if it was necessar}'^ to kill him in order to get rid of him, he was en- titled to no more consideration than a snake HISTORY OF CAIRO. 53 or a rabid dog. But when he could stand at bay no longer, he placed heavy irons about his neck and plunged into the river, with his dead- 1}^ gun in his hands, and, thus prepared, he fully determined never to rise again, but his conjured ghost was impressed into the service of aiding in the bloody preparations for the carnival of death that was so soon to follow after his destruction. In a preceding chapter, we had occasion to notice the penchant, the genius rather, of the young men of Cairo, that was so fully devel- oped in those dull 3'ears following the disper- sion of the people here in 1841. So ingrained had this become, that now, when the flush times again came to Cairo, and work and busi- ness crowded upon them from every side, they would steal these golden moments whenever opportunity presented itself to again indulge in their favorite pastime. The Legislature had organized a Court of Common Pleas for Cairo, and appointed Isham N. Haynie, Judge. He came to Cairo to hold his first term of court, and a court room had been secured in the Springfield Block. He had not more than fairh' opened the session when the " boys" opened a similar court in the other end of the block, and they had all the officials and paraphernalia of a most August court. The oflScer of Judge Haynie's Court would stick his head out of the window and call a juror, attorney, or witness, and so would the official at the moot court, only the bogus one would call louder, oftener, and a greater num- ber of names, and the bailiffs were fl^^ing around the streets summoning witnesses, jurors and parties to come into court instan- ter. The bogus grand jury held prolonged sessions, and as the bailiffs well understood who to summon as witnesses, and as the jurors well understood what questions to ask such witnesses, it was a roaring farce from morn till night, particularly the revelations they drew out of an old chap whose shebang was down on the point, and who sold ice pi'incipal- ly. From day to day this immense burlesque went on, and manj' names of the best people began to be compromised sadlv- Judge Haynie finally took notice of the matter, and a United States Marshal making his appearance with writs, frightened the " boys" seriously, and, in fact it resulted in driving several of them temporarily out of town, until the matter , was finally fixed up in some wa}^, and their thoughtless acts were excused. A more innocent and comical joke was worked off by John Q. Harmon and Mose Harrell. They were both young fellows, and Mose was clerking in his brother's store — a place of great resort for the old fellows who delighted to loaf, and chew tobacco and " swap lies," And absorb the heat of the stove in cold weather. To move these fellows from the warm fire and clear the store-room was the project set about by these boys. Harmon had got a supply of sand and had it carefuU}' wrapped in a good sized bundle, and seeking the time when the loafers were thickest about the store, he walked in with his package in his hand. He addressed Mose, in a -tone that all could hear, telling him he was going hunting, that he had all the powder he wanted, display- ing his three or four pounds of sand, and went on to tell Harrell that he wanted some shot and would pay for it in a few days, etc. " No sir !" said Harrell, " if you have no money, you cannot get any shot." "Well," says Harmon, "you need not be so short about it. I'll pay 3^ou next week." And from the first the words grew more bitter and loud, and soon the two quarrelers had the entire attention of the house. In the meantime, Harmon had wedged his way close up to the door of the red-hot stove, when, Lhe quarrel going on still, he opened the stove door and bitterly said : " Well, if I can't get any shot, I don't want any powder !" and heaved the bundle into the stove. Such a 54 HISTORY OF CAIRO. hurried exit — some of them not taking time to rise from their chairs to run, but tumbling backward and rolling to the door, and all were upon the streets in such a frightful race to get away they did not take time to look back at the building which every instant they expected would be blown sky high, until thej^ ran so far they were fagged out. In the meantime, John and Mose were fairlj' rolling over the floor in explosions of laughter. It was several days before the old loafers would venture within half a mile of Harrell's store. During the winter of 1857, the city was specially incorporated by the Legislature, and on the 9th day of March following the first Council, under the charter, met for organiza- tion and business. The' following gentlemen formed the Council : Mayor, S. Staats Taylor; Aldermen, Peter Stapleton, Peter NeflT, Patrick Burke, Roger Finn, John Howley, Harry Whitcamp, C. Os- terloh, C. A. Whaley, William Standing, Cor- nelius Manly, Martin Eagan and T. N. Gaff- ney. As the city officers were not elected by the people at that time, the Council elected John Q. Harmon, City Clerk ; H. H. Candee, Treas- urer ; and Thomas Wilson, Marshal. The Board of Aldermen disapproving of the work of their predecessors, b}' a simple resolu- tion, wiped from the books every general and special enactment found in force, leaving no vestige of the old board's wisdom or folly in operation, save only such enactments as con- ferred rights or privileges for a specified time or special nature. The whole city government was remodeled — an entire new set of ordi- nances, relating to ever}' legitimate subject, being framed and adopted. They assumed all responsibility, willing to take the credit arising, or the shower of condemnation following the new order of things. The charter was broad and liberal in its provisions, and under it, with very few and immaterial amendments, the usual work doubtless of " governing too much" has gone on smoothly ever since. S. Staats Taylor filled the office of Mayor six times, viz. : During 1857-58-59-60 and 63. H. Watson Webb was Mayor during 1862, being elected without opposition. J. H. Ober- ly in 1869. In 1864, David J. Baker, one of the present Judges of the Circuit Court, was elected Mayor. During the years 1857-58-59-60 and 61, John Q. Harmon held the office of City Clerk. He was succeeded by A. H. Irvin, who held it seven j'ears. J. P. Fagan, elected 1868 ; Pat- rick Mockler, 1869 ; Mockler was suspended and T. Nail}', appointed to fill out his term ; John Brown was then elected. N. J. Howley, in 1870, held it four terms ; 1872, W. H.Hawkins; 1875, W. K. Ackley; James W. Stewart, 1876; John B. Phillis, 1877 ; D. J. Foley, 1879 ; re- elected in 1881, and again in 1883. The following were the City Treasurers in the order in which the}- are named : H. H. Candee, Louis Jorgensen, John H. Brown, B. S. Harrell, A. C. Holden, Peter Stapleton, John Howley, J. B. Taylor, who held the office until 1872, and was succeeded by Robert A. Cunningham ; in 1875, B. F. Blake was elected ; then F. M. Stockfleth, and then B. F. Parke ; in 1879, E. Zezonia ; 1881, Thomas J. Curt. The City Marshals were Thomas Wilson, D. C. Stewart, P. Corcoran, R. H. Baird, Martin Egan, John Hodges, Jr. In addition to the City Marshals above given we may mention M. Bambrick, Andrew Kane- City Attorneys — H. Watson Webb, who filled the office for four successive terms, and was again re-elected in 1863 and 1864. In 1871, P. H. Pope was elected, and re-elected in 1872. In 1873, H. Watson Webb was again elected. In 1875, H. H. Black, was elected, and re-elected in 1876 ; 1877, William Q. McGee ; 1879, W. E. Hendricks, and re-elected the next term. Police Magistrates —B. Shannessy, who held the office successively from 1857 to 1864, Fred- HISTORY or CAIRO. 55 oline Bross was elected in 1865. In 1876, two Police Magistrates were elected to this office. J. J. Bird in 1880 ; Bird resigned and George E. Olmstead was electfed ; in 1881, Alfred Comings was elected. In 1863, for the first time the Council pro- vided for the office of Cit}' Survej'or, and the Board elected August F. Taylor to that posi- tion. Mr. Thrupp has filled the position almost continually. In addition to the Mayors above enumerated, Thomas Wilson filled the office in 1870 ; John M. Lansden, 1871 ; re-elected in 1872 ; in 1873, John Wood ; 1874, B. F. Blake; 1875, Henry Winters ; re-elected 1877 ; and in 1879, M. B. Thistlewood was elected and re-elected in 1881. The present officers jnst elected, will be found complete in another chapter. Cairo was always "diabolicallj^ Democratic," at least until the " man and brother" from the cotton-fields and jungles of the South parted company with the swamp alligators and tooth- some possoms of that region and came upon the town like the black ants of his native Af- rica. The town sits upon that point of land in Illinois that is wedged away down between what were the two slave States of Missouri and Kentucky. So cosmopolitan were the Cairo people that the}' were impatient of the bawl- ings and crockodile tears of the Abolitionists, and the equally idiotic oaths about the divine institution of slavery. And hence they were equally abused by both sides of the fanatics and fools. Among other most horrid slanders that ran their perennial course through the col- umns of manj' Northerh papers, was the one that Cairo was ready and eager to mob and kill every " loyal " man who happened to be found in the place. One flaming stor}- was added to the Spencer mobbing, about a little preacher named Ferree, who attempted to make an Abo- lition speech in Cairo and was odorously egged, etc. The whole thing was only one of the many slanders upon Cairo. In the campaign of 1856, a noted negroite, from the office of the Chicago Tribune, came to Cairo to make a Fremont speech. His paper had published tomes of the Cairo slanders, and dwelt long and lovingl}' on the Spencer and Ferree mobs. After the distinguished orator arrived in Cairo he ran his eye over the columns of his paper, of which he carried a file that was filled with sectional slanders,and he became nerv- ous, and actually worked upon his own fears un- til he began to seriously believe many of his own published lies. He thought the people would mob him. He locked himself in his room and sent for the Republican leaders, and informed them he was afraid to attempt to speak in Cairo. These men assured him there was no danger, but he would not be satisfied until nearly every leading Democrat in the town had been sent for, and they all pledged themselves and staked their lives upon his entire safety and immunity from all danger. Then, though still nervous, he consented to go on with the meeting. When the hour for the meeting had come the hall was packed with people, although there were not a score of Republicans in the place. The speaker, with his escort, appeared upon the platform, was introduced and received with hearty cheers. He commenced his speech, and the attention of the crowd was close and respectful, and upon the speaker's slightest allusion to anything patriotic or of a spread-eagle nature, prolonged cheers would greet his words. His exordium had been splendidly pronounced and speaker and audi- ence were en rapport, and thus encouraged the orator was rising to the occasion in some of the most eloquent slanders of the South that ever greeted eager and lengthened ears, when all at once, Sam Hall, who sat nearly in the front row of benches, jumped to his feet, turned around with his back to the speaker and facing the audience, and placing his hand significantly to his hip pocket, in a clear and distinct voice, said : " I'll shoot the first son-of-a-sea-cook that throws an egg ! " These words struck the ora- 56 HISTORY OF CAIRO. tor's eai'S like the crack of doom ; his big speech, even articulation, was frightened out of him ; he was so nervous that he could no longer stand, and silence, with an exceptional here and there men clearing their throats and suppress- ing the " audible smiles " of those who knew what the inveterate wag, Sam Hall, meant, was intense, and the speaker hurriedly passed out of the rear door of the hall, and made fast time to his hotel, and was on the first train out of town, and for weeks the Chicago Tribune wrung the changes on " Another Cairo Mob — Free Speech Suppressed," etc. Among the early and long time institutions of Cairo was " Old Rube," the innocent ad- vance guard of the whole " coon " tribe, that have since been inflicted upon Cairo. Old Rube was a rather quiet, well-behaved darkey, who did chores about town, acted as "mud- clerk " for most of the saloons, was always, when he could catch an audience or listener on the street, talking learnedly about the Scriptures, and had a great weakness for chicken-roosts. " Old Rube " was a more modest Ethiopian than his modern kind, at least he never at- tempted to turn the Cairo white children out of their schools, and have himself installed in their places. His extraordinar}'^ ideas, and his amusing way of putting them, made him not only tolerated b}' all young and old of the place, but they afforded much innocent pas- time. He was one morning doing his usual clerking in the new telegraph office, when it was run by Mose Harrell. The only telegraph instruments in those daj^s were the old- fashioned kind, that were wound up, and used long strips of paper. In sweeping about the instrument, which was wound up, in some way he touched it, and it commenced to run down. He realized what he had done and was greatl}' frightened as he saw the weight slowly* descend toward the floor. In some way he got it into his woolly pate that when the weight struck the floor an explosion would follow, and he thought it would blow the whole world into smithereens. On a full run he started to hunt Mose, and when he found him, told him what was going on. Mose in apparent fright, rushed back with Rube to the office, and just as they entered the machine had run down and stopped, of course, just before the weight touched the floor. He made Rube believe he was just there at the last moment, and confirmed the darke3''s idea and enlarged them greatl}^ b}' showing him how the explosion, commencing at Cairo, would have blown away entirely St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and in fact all the leading cities of the world. For the re- mainder of Rube's life he told over this thrill- ing story in which he and Mose Harrell were such conspicuous actors, alwa3^s adding some embellishments to the storj', and ever^' time going a little more learnedly into the scientific intricacies of electricity. In discussing the Scriptures, he evidently believed that the story of Jonah and the whale, and Noah and his ark, were about the sum total of the whole busi- ness. He believed it a religious duty to smoke a strong pipe, because had Jonah not had his pipe and matches in his pocket, after the whale swallowed him, and was swim- ming off for a general frolic with the other whales, he would never have been cast ashore. Explaining one day on the streets all about how Noah constructed the Ark, how long it took him, and how much material there was in it. The question was asked, "Where did he get his nails ? " " Wh}-, in Pittsburgh, of course, you fool you! Whar could he get 'em if not dar?'" He believed heaven a place made up exclusive- ly of chicken roosts, and where there was nothing higher for them to roost upon than a common rail fence. Every one kindly tolerated the ignorant and innocent old man, gave him always plent}^ to eat, and he dressed himself year in and out with the old clothes of which he always had an immense suppl}'. In his young days, he had been one of the innumera- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 57 ble servants of George "Washington, at all events he had told the story until he un- doubtedly believed it, and he alwa3'S respect- full}' spoke of him as " Mas'r George." He was a stanch Republican from the formation of that party, and was a regular attendant upon its meetings in Cairo, yet his associates and friends were exclusively Democrats. He never expected or apparently wanted to vote, and sometimes, like perhaps a majority of the white voters, got his religion and politics so mixed up that he could not disentangle them. And often when the question was suddenly' sprung upon him he could not tell " Mas'r Linkum " from the ark, nor Noah from the whale, but, to his credit be it said, this mental, political and religious confusion but rarely took pos- session of the old man, except after he had cleaned and righted up, and purified and sweetened his usual morning round of the dog- geries. He has long since, if his theories were all correct, had a touch of experience of those other worlds, about which while here he talked so much, and dreamed such vague and incoher- ent dreams. He rests beneath the willow tree. Id58 — Cairo Inundated. — For the second time a widespread disaster overwhelmed Cairo, and under circumstances in some respects very similar to that of 1841. But this time it was water. On SatJurday, June 13, 1858, at about the hour of 5 P. M., the levee gave away on the Mississippi side of the town, near its inter- section with the embankment of the Illinois Central Railroad. For several days previous it had been predicted b}' many who had closely' watched the progress of the flood, and who were familiar with the character of the levees, that the town was in constant danger. The people were warned of the peril ; but lulled into a feeling of securit}- by the fact that during the fifteen years past they had escaped submersion, and by assurances of the reckless that all was safe, they paid no attention whatever to the warning regarding it, only as the bugbear of panic-makers. As a consequence, the flood came upon many of the people unexpectedly, leaving them only time to escape with their lives. The break, it is now known, resulted from the defective construction of the works b}' the un- principled contractor who made the embank- ment. The water was more than a foot below the top of the levee, and up to the moment of the break gave no sign of the coming disaster. The waters rushed through with a great roar, carrying with them the embankment in great sections, and in places with such force and violence as to uproot trees and stumps in its course. A force of 500 men were as soon as possible placed upon what is known as the " Old Cross Levee," an embankment running fi'om the Ohio to the Mississippi in the upper portion of the city, with the hope that they would be able to fill up the openings which had been cut on the line of the streets and stop the flood of this embankment. But the waters poured in so rapidly and came with such a strong current that this attempt was reluctantly but necessa- rily abandoned. A lady resident, still of the cit}- of Cairo, who was here at the time, gave the writer a most graphic description of the scenes imme- diately following the break in the levee. Gen- erally the women and children only were at the houses — the men at their business, many trying to move their goods and perishable arti- cles to safe places in upper stories, where they could get these, and yet many others were out upon the levees trying in vain to stop the waters. It was after 6 o'clock when a man came galloping down the main street, horse and rider covered with mud and calling out at the top of his voice, " The levee is broken — flee for your lives !" In a few minutes the waters were seen stealing along the sewers and low places in the streets, winding about the houses and the people like an anaconda. The 58 HISTORY OF CAIRO. poor women and children were generally wring- ing their hands and crying in utter helplessness. She says she saw one poor woman with a piece of stove-pipe under one arm and a cheap look- ing-glass under the other, on her way to the Ohio Levee, followed by a brood of five or six children, and all weeping in the greatest dis- tress. Confusion was turned loose, and while all were in the greatest fear and apprehension, yet it was those whose houses were low, one- storied concerns and in low places, that death to them and their little dependent ones seemed staring them in the face. Generally those who were in houses of two stories concluded to stay at home and were busy moving everything into the second story. Soon through the streets in great force came the muddy waters, carrying upon its bosom logs, fences, trees and lumber, and presenting a scene that oppressed the stoutest heart ; and night settled upon the sad scene, and in the darkness and soon in the water itself, were families mak- ing their way to the Ohio Levee. By daylight Sunday morning, there was no dry land to be seen inside the levees, and by noon of that day the waters inside were of the height of the rivers. As far as the eye could see the spec- tator behold naught but a sea of turbid water and a scene of confusion and ruin. Some of the one-stor}- buildings in the low grounds of the town presented only their roofs above the water ; a few light and frail ones bad left their foundations, and yet a few others had careened, while every building of this character had been abandoned at an eai'ly hour by their occupants. In ever}' quarter of the city skiffs, canoes and floats of every kind plied industriously from house to house and were engaged in re- moving women and children, furniture, goods, etc., to the Ohio Levee. The plank walks were sawed into convenient sections and used as floats, and every imaginable species of craft were improvised for the occasion. Altogether about 500 persons were driven from their homes, and the little strip of the Ohio Levee, the only dr}' spot for miles around, was crowded with men, women and children, dogs, cattle, plunder, wagons, cars, etc., from one end to the other. Every nook and corner of the warehouses were crowded to excess with the houseless and their plunder, and the cars on the railroad track were all similarly occupied. Many made their wa}' in rafts and skiffs and also left on steamboats for the highlands, and many of these stood aloof from " health and fortune " by making their absence permanent. Some families were made destitute by the flood, but these were so promptl}- provided for by the more fortunate citizens that no real cases of suffering ensued. Charity was offered the people from other cities, but the pluck}- Cairoites said "No ; we can and are providing for our own people." We can get no reliable estimate of the dam- age financially that the people of the town suf- fered. Many poor people whose loss in dollars and cents was small, yet to ihem it was great because it was their all. But under the cir- cumstances, and considering that the visitation was upon the entire town, and each one lost more or less, the aggregate was not large, not' near so large in property as in the disrupting of established business, the destruction of cbu- fideuce and the general bad odor it attached to Cairo's ah'eady grievous burdens in this respect. It was the suffering by the cit}', as a cit}-, that brought more damage than all the water in- flicted. The general revulsion that followed, the depreciation of property-, the loss of con- fidence — these formed a sum of damages that cannot be estimated in dollars. There was no perceptible rise in the rivers after the breaking of the levee, and the waters began rapidly to recede. In less than two weeks the city was dry again, and every day the citizens were returning to their homes; logs HISTORY OF CAIRO. 59 and rubbish were cleared from the streets, houses were repaired andrepainted, and fences re-built, and but a few months had passed when the prominent marks of the flood had been cleared awa}' — wiped out forever. The two years following the submersion of Cairo formed probably the most trying period of her histor3^ Real estate dropped its former high figures, and purchasers could buy at al- most their own figures, but the shock public confidence had received prevented investments, and business being in a measure deadened, there was no incentive for improvement strong enough to move to action those who had for- merly invested. Rival interests eagerly pro- claimed the downfall of the city, and confident- ly predicted it would never attempt to rise again, and there were man}' in Cairo and out of it who were ready to believe the blow had proved effectually crushing. But the repair- ing, widening and strengthening the levees and expending vast sums in this work, soon created a better feeling at home and helped to inspire confidence abroad, and by the end of the sec- ond year after the overflow, property had about regained its former value and the business of the place its accustomed tone; and as time wore on, and the heights and proportions of the levees increased, confidence in the habita- bleness of the locality gained its original standard. In 1861, Cairo had recovered wholh' from the overflow, and her population had increased to a little over 2,000 souls, the census of 1860 showing a population for Alexander County of a little over 4,000. The town had recovered slowly, but its foundations had been solidly built and the levees had been made the strong- est and safest in the world. In April, 1861, the great civil war was fully inaugurated. The majority of the people of Cairo " knew no North, no South, no East, no West, but the Union, the whole Union, one and inseparable, now and forever." They had hoped, up to the last hour, that in some w&y the bloody issue would be spared the countr}' once more. A military compan}-, armed and uniformed, and composed of nearly all the 3'oung men of the town, met and drilled at their hall regularly ever}- week. They met one evening, and after their usual exercises they engaged in a social meeting and talked over the then absorbing subject of the war. It was evident that it was then up6n the country. Lincoln had called for 75,000 troops, and Seward had proclaimed that it would be fought out in ninety days. Several of the Cairo braves made " talks," and the meeting finally passed some " armed neutrality " resolutions and ad- journed. During all that night the incoming trains were freighted with United States sol- diers, and when the Cairo soldiers got up in the morning, the streets and woods were full of them. And the Cairo company never met again. It is due the Cairo boys to say that about every one of them joined the Union army, and, still more to their credit, it is said that every one of them rose to honorable, and many of them to eminent promotions. The immediate eflTect of the occupation of the place by the militar}' was to check im- provements and paralyze business. This largely resulted from the fact that some of the early commandants of the place were ignorant fanatics, and who proposed to ti'eat every Democrat as a traitor, and visit all with a heavy hand. Then, the further fact, that neither the Government nor troops had any money here at that time, and the business means of the city were absorbed in advancing supplies on credit. But when the Government commenced distributing money here to the troops and its creditors, then a far more grat- ifying condition of affairs was at once inaugu- rated. Our merchants, mechanics and laborers were reimbursed for what they had advanced, and at once an unusual activity not only marked every department of business, but new 60 HISTORY OF CAIRO. branches of trade were introduced, the old ones were multiplied and a vigor, which had never before been felt, characterized the entire city. Cairo was the great gateway between the North and the South. It was a military post of vast importance. Thousands of soldiers were stationed here, forts erected, and still other thousands of soldiers were daily passing through the place. Green- backs were plenty and morals became scarce. Many unblushing outrages, which were never punished, were committed upon citizens by the demoralized soldiers. But the war adver- tised Cairo more than had all else in her his- tory as an important and commanding point on the continent, and business and capital was attracted here in an unparalleled degree. And by the spring of 1863, Cairo was, for the third time, in the glories of flush times. New houses were going up on every hand that were always rented before finished, and, for a village, often at enormous figures ; but the new-comers were on a race for some place to shelter their fam- ilies, and they rarely hesitated about the price of the rent. Everybody was making money, and spending it freel}' and lavishly. The evi- dences of this were well given in the swarms of gamblers that came here and were busy pl3'ing their vocation, until finall}', so systemat- ically were they robbing the soldiers, that rigid military orders were issued in regard to them, and some were put in irons. Gren. Prentiss came here, we believe, in charge of the first arrivals of soldiers, and assumed the command of the post. He was superseded by Gen. Grant, who was here so long that he almost became a citizen. He had his oflflce in the bank building, on Ohio levee, now occupied as a law office by Green & Gil- bert. The present old settlers of Cairo all came to know Grant quite well while he was here. John Rawlins came here with Grant and was his factotum in office headquarters, and Washington Graham, a citizen and business man of Cairo, was Grant's factotum outside. Graham had extensive business ambition, and he was shrewd enough to know and under- stand Gen. Grant and quickl}- formed the closest intimacy with him. He spent his money on the General like a prince, and he was soon the power behind the throne. He bought the best of cigars by the wholesale, and constantly kept the liquid commissary department at headquarters abundanth' supplied. Wash- ington Graham, had he lived during the war, would have, beyond doubt, extended his in- fiuence and power just as Grant was advanced along the line of promotion. He wa^a man of genial nature, strong social powers, and shrewd sense — exactly the kind of man who liked to be the power behind the throne, and wielding that power, when opportunity' offered, to put money in his purse, and to make the fortune of his friends and pull down remorselessly his enemies. He soon became essential to the Grant party in all its junketing on the rivers, and was a member of headquarters' mess on the steamboat in the expedition to Paducah and to Fort Donelson. Grant liked him and his liberal ways from the first of their acquaint- ance, and when he was stricken down with con- sumption and went to his friends in St. Louis to die, it must have seemed to Gen. Grant a serious affliction. The General must have loved all jolly, liberal men. No man in the world could play his role better than Washington Graham. Gen. Grant's family were here for some time with him, and had living-rooms across the hall from his head- quarters. At that time the family seemed to be ver}^ plain, unpretending people. Bill Shuter's extensive establishment was the alma mater of much of the enthusiastic patriot- ism of those days, as well as some of the early strategic movements of the war in the West. Among the first militar}- movements of Gen. Prentiss after he was placed in command of the a/?/&mj^^ HISTORY OF CAino. 63 forces at Cairo, numbering 4,800 men, was to forraall}' demand ttie arms of the Cairo Guards. As the company had dissolved into the air im- mediately upon the coming of the soldiers, the General could find no one to respond to his flag of truce demanding an unconditional surrender of the ordnances. But he found the keys to the armory, and the deadl}^ weapons of war were taken possession of in the name of the United States and turned over to arm the Union soldiers. The next and much more important move- ment was to look out for the steamers C. E. Hillman and John D. Perry, which he had been notified by Gov. Yates had been loaded with arms and ammunition and were on their way South with their cargoes. When the boats reached Cairo they were boarded and brought to the wharf A large number of arms and ammunition were seized and confiscated — a pro- ceeding, at the time informal, but it was after- ward approved by the Secretary of War. Gen. Grant's first battle in the war was Bel- mont, Mo., a point nearly opposite Columbus, Ky., where the rebels were in strong force, and had detached a small portion of the Columbus forces to occupy Belmont. Gen. Grant conclud- ed it would be an immense piece of strateg}^ to capture Belmont, and thus relieve that por- tion of Missouri, and to some extent intercept all communications between the rebel forces of Kentucky and Missouri. So a fleet of boats sailed down the river, and a part of the force marched down by land from Bird's Point — the force from the river to land and attack in front, and the land force to come up in the rear, and thus pocket the enemy. The whole scheme was well devised, and the river force, reaching the grounds long before the land force, and so eager were officers and men for blood and glory, that they at once attacked. The river forces were under the immediate com- mand of Gen. Grant. They were hastil}' deployed from the boats, a short distance above Belmont, formed in battle line, opened fire, and charged upon the enemy's encampment and captured it. But the tents were empty, mostly, and all hands were in deep indignation at the enemy for running away in such a dastardly manner. And the soldiers fell to work ripping up the tents, and prying into the culinary aflfaii's of the enemy's camp, and exulting over their easy victory. Just when they had become prettj' well scattered over the grounds, the enemy suddenly emerged from the woods, and at short range, opened a galling fire. The ad- vance of the land forces just then appeared, and for a few minutes the battle raged fiercely — the rebels charged, and the Union forces fled to the boats, and in a dreadfully un-dx'ess-pa- rade fashion, and amid flj'ing bullets the boats were loaded and steamed back to Cairo. From the manner in which the boats had been sprin- kled with shot, from buckshot to birdshot, and from many of the wounds in the clothes of the federals, the enemy must have been mostly armed with shotguns and fowling pieces. The land forces continued to return in straggling squads, to Bird's Point for a week, as some of them got lost in the river bottoms. The fed- eral forces had simply walked into a trap that had been set for them, and they escaped b}' the " skin of the teeth." An incident of this battle is worth relating. When the Union forces captured the enemy's camp, as stated above, they found nobody at home, but the}' did find a female baby about three months old, slee{)iug peacefull}' on the bare ground, amid the roar of battle and the whistling bullets that played thick and fast all around it. There was no one to claim it, and a good Cairo citizen took the babe in his arms and brought it to Cairo, where it was taken in charge by Father Lambert, and a home provided for the little trophy of war. Nothing could ever be learned concerning the child, although every exertion was made to do so. It was duly christened a Christian, and 4 64 HISTORY OF CAIRO. named " Belmont Lambert." The supposition is, that in the attack and firing upon the camp, the mother of the child had been killed, and as the father must have been a rebel soldier, it is probable he was killed in this battle, or in some other soon after, and it may be that no one of this father, mother and babe ever knew what became of the others. We know nothing of the history of Belle Lambert, after she was provided for here iij Cairo, as an infant. If alive now, she is a grown woman, twenty-two years old. What a dream the strange story of her life must be to her. How she must have employed heavy hours of her young life in peering at every lineament of her features in the glass, trying to discover traces of her un- known father and mother, and having fixed them in her mind, as she supposed, how eagerly would she scan every strange face she met, in the vain hope, in all this multitude, of finding the long-lost and ideally formed and loved mother or father. Is there a mother's heart in all the world that is not melted at the story of this lost babe — the little angel waif, found un- harmed in the midst of slaughter and blood — a little flower of peace and love, sleeping sweetly amid all its hideous surroundings. But to refer again, briefly, to the Belmont battle : There is a part of that story that is furnished us by a prominent and reliable gen- tleman of Cairo, William Lornegan, who was acting mate on the transport, Montgomery, that has never been told in print, and that will some day be essential to the truth of history. He saj'S that one afternoon while the Montgomery was anchored in front of Cairo, Wash Graham came on board and ordered the Captain to coal at once, and drop down to Foi-t Holt,on the Ken- tucky side, and that when he received the signal from the flag-boat he was to swing out into the stream and follow. The Captain asked Graham what the signal was to be, and was answered, "five whistles." Then, for the first time, word passed around with the crew that they were going to attack Columbus. Before that, they supposed they were going to be loaded with soldiers, and take them to Cape Girardeau, as they had made a trip or two of this kind al- ready. These troops, it was afterward known, were to march by land, and come upon Bel- mont, in conjunction with the water forces, and the Bird's Point forces. A force had been sent out from Fort Holt to make a similar detour upon Columbus from the east. Thus, by three columns, a land force on each side of the river and a fleet of transports and two gunboats by the river, the two places, Columbus and Bel- mont, were both to be captured. In accordance with instructions, the flag-boat passed down by Fort Holt about 4 o'clock, P. M., and gave the five-whistle signal, and the fleet of five trans- ports and two gunboats sailed down the river. Going about half waj' to Columbus, they round- ed to and tied up for the night. The next morning the fleet dropped down in full view of the Columbus bluffs, all over which were mounted the rebel cannon, commanding the river. About 9 o'clock in the morning, the forces were disembarked, and were marched toward Belmont. The gunboats dropped down a short distance below the fleet, and fired upon Columbus, the guns from the fort promptly re- sponding, sending their balls, from the first shot, closel}' about the transports — one ball falling just at the stern of the Montgomery, and splash- ing the water over the deck. The fleet moved out from this point, and took a position two and a half miles further up the river in a safe bend, an^l there listened at the progress of the fight at Belmont. The opening musketry was not of long duration, and then there was a long cessation, and the firing again commenced. Mr. L. tells us that he saw nothing of the fight at Belmont, and only learned from hearing the soldiers talk about it, that the enemy threw a force across th6 river from Columbus, and re- newed the fight. He says the first signs he noticed from the battle-o;round was about sun- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 65 down, when two soldiers appeared at the boat, one leading and helping the other, who had been wounded in the arm. They reported that the rebels had crossed over from Columbus, and were " cutting our men all to pieces." The transports at once dropped down to the point where they had landed the night before, so as to permit our forces, whom they learned were in full retreat before the enemy, to get on board. By the time they had landed it was dark, and bj^^ this time, our forces were coming, pell-mell — rank and file — officers and privates, in one indiscriminate mass on board the boats. In the confusion, some one from the hurricane deck gave the mate the order to haul in his gang plank and cast loose. This was onh' done, when the Captain of the boat ordered the gang plank run out again, so as to permit the fast- coming soldiers to get on board. This was done, and then almost immediatel}' the order was again given to cast loose, and this was obej^ed, and the boat steamed up the river. The whole fleet was on its way, and the banks of the river were lined with rebels, pouring a hot fire into the boats. The rebels sent a battery across a bend up the river, intend- ing by this movement ' to capture or sink the entire fleet. As good fortune would have it, they only reached their position just as the boats passed, but so closely had they pursued them that they fired a num- ber of shots at the fleet. Mr. L. thinks that had the fleet been delayed thirty minutes longer, the capture of the Union arm}- and fleet would have been complete. A number of soldiers were left on the bank, and they made their way to Bird's Point, as best they could, and for days and days these stragglers were coming in. Mr. L. sa}' s the fact of our forces not all being able to get on the boats was painfully manifested to his mind at the time b}' a conversation he heard Gen. Logan have with some other officer. Logan denounced what he called deserting these men to their fate, and was insisting; the fleet should return and lake them on board. Mr. L. says when he heard this, he made up his mind he would swim ashore and walk home, rather tlian go back. Wash Graham seems to have been the acting Admiral of the fleet, and so far as its actions were concerned,he managed his part of the battle with skill and success. Upon the return of the army to Cairo, ever3'body seemed to be laboring for several days under a general kind of nebulous demoralization. But in a short time the troops were called back to Cairo, Bird's Point and Fort Holt, and the most of them put upon transports and sent to Paducah, Ky. The history of Grant's expedition up the river and the fights at Fort Henry, Heiman and Fort Donelson are a part of the war history of the country, and are not properly to be considered as an essential part of the history of Cairo ; although Cairo was the base from which the expedition started and on which it relied for material support. And although it is also true that there are men still living in Cairo who were in that expedition; and who were boat officers on the boat that car- ried Gen. Grant, Wash Graham and staff, and whose recollection of much of the behind-the- curtain facts that took place on that boat, are essential to the truth of histoiy, 3'et we do not care to lumber the stor3' of the city of Cairo with them, but to the war historians who are to come — those who do not care to write a partisan account of the war, there may be found val- uable mines of truth among the war survivors at Cairo. In another chapter, we give a tolerably broad insinuation of the kind of men among the first commandants of the post Cairo had during the earh- war times. Col. Boohfort was a crank and in his dotage ; he was a sill}' old vicious creature, threatening everybody — "I'll have 3'ou shot, sir ! Have you shot ! " or in his more rational moods threatening to put them in irons. He had a whole company of his own men ar- rested one da}- and was going to have them shot 66 HISTORY OF CAIRO. as usual, because in riding by their camp he heard them singing " My Mary Ann, " when it turned out that that was his wife's name. A Cairo butcher's team ran away one day and at full speed, the driver trying his best to stop them, they ran across his parade -grounds, and when the old man saw his sacred grounds thus sacrilegiously invaded, he screamed at the poor, helpless driver as far as he could see him, " I'll have 3'ou shot ! Arrest that man ! etc. " The people, however, soon learned that he was as vain as he was weak, and they wound him around their finger by a little fulsome flattery and bragging on him as being the greatest Gen- eral in all the world. Yet his presence was a dreadful affliction to the plaqe. The}^ greatly feared and despised him, and there were few in the town but that rejoiced when he was taken away. His successor was, we believe. Gen. Meredith, of Indiana — a soldier and a gentleman, and better still, a man of good sound sense. His presence gave cheer and hope again to the people, and once more men could go and come from their homes to their business with- out fear and trembling. The result was, the business and the prospects of the town were soon in the most flourishing condition. Then, some of the commandants of the post in the town were sometimes cursed with painfully offi- cious and dishonest Provost Marshals. x\nd when one of these fellows was in command of the Provost guards that patroled the city, and did police duty, he had it in his power and some- times did perpetrate scandulous outrages upon private citizens. They were blackmailers, clothed with power to compel terms from their victims. The people had to appease these sharks b}' frequent voluntary subscriptions to bu}' pres- ents from their admirers, in tha way of fine swords, horses, watches, and champagne, cigars and whisky. These subscriptions were taken up by passing around a subscription paper, and each man would put down his name and not less than $5, and thus he paid his tax to be let alone so that he could carry on his business. It is incredible how many ways these rascals could invent to bring men face to face with the alternatives of blood-money, or iron manacles. A specimen that may illustrate all: A large lot of rebel prisoners were passing through town, after the Fort Donelson fight, and they were standing in front of the business houses on the levee; the weather was wretched, and the poor creatures were the picture of dis- comfort ; they wanted clothing, food, and, es- pecially, tobacco. At a tobacco store where several prisoners had begged a little tobacco, two or three rebel officers entered and wanted some of the weed, and all the money the}' had was Confederate bills. The tobacco was given to them, onl}- a few plugs, and the Confederate money was taken as a curiosity. The Provost- Marshal a few days after arrested the members of the firm and fined them $100 for taking Confederate money. They paid the bill, and, of course, the Government never saw a cent of the money. " Oh, patriotism ! patriot- ism ! what atrocities have been committed in thy name." Another instance of legal honesty will suffice for our purpose, without any further reference to the thousands of others of a char- acter incomparably worse : An official ap- proached a merchant and wanted to buy forty or fifty suits of clothes. He said he did not care what they were so they were cheap, very cheap, anything, any style, second-hand or rebel captured uniforms, or anything else that could be classed as suits. The goods were promptly got ready for delivery at about $2.50 a suit. The officer looked at them, took them and instructed the merchant to make out his bill at $22.50 a suit. And upon his pa3ing in cash the difference in the real price and the bill, he received his voucher for the whole amount. When the Union forces wrested the Missis- sippi river from the grasp of the rebels, and made this o;reat highway again a free channel HISTORY OF CAIRO. 67 of travel and commerce, then, indeed, were the floodgates of prosperity once more opened to Cairo, and the town as the gatewa}' between the Mississippi Valle}' and the South was the busiest place of its size on the continent. On ever}' train and on every steamboat the tide of hu- manity poured through the town. The steam- boats, freighted to the ver}- waters edge, going and coming, filled the rivers, and day and night they were struggling and almost fighting for room at our wharves to load and unload their cargoes. The Ohio levee, from one end to the other, was covered with freight in great rows and piles in bewildering quantities. The marine- ways and docks from here to Pittsburgh were building boats as fast as they could, and every day, almost, new and elegant ones rounded to at our wharf, and j-et they were wholly inad- equate to carry the immense merchandise that was awaiting shipments. The railroads were taxed until they cried " peccavi ! " And it is a well-known fact that propert}^ amounting to millions of dollars awaited shipment over the Illinois Central Railroad, at stations where there being no room in the depots, it was exposed to the weather and rotted. To all this there came a corresponding horde of people to Cairo — per- manent and temporary sojourners. The hotels, boarding houses, tenement and everything in the shape of a house was crowded to suflfocation ; new houses were at once being rapidly con- structed and the universal cry was for more. Rents went to fanciful figures, and in a short time it was impossible to tell bowman}" people were here. Lots, leases, houses, rents and nearly all Cairo property went balooning awaj' in a gay style — sailing up and up as grandly and to as dizz}' heights as a Fourth of July orator's eagle. As said, the transient pop- ulation was immense. In 1864, it was even es- timated, counting the floating population, that there were nearly 12,000 people here, although the vote at that time had never reached a thou- sand. In other words, the population was estimated greater then than the census has snice shown it to be, although the last general elec- tion showed there were over 1,800 voters. In other words, the census of 1880 shows a pop- ulation of a little less than 10,000 people. And it is estimated now that the actual number of in- habitants here is a fraction over 12,000. CHAPTER IV. DECIDEDLY A CAIRO CHAPTER— CAIRO AND ITS DIFFERENT BODIES POLITIC AND CORPORATE- CAIRO CITY AND BANK OF CAIRO — CAIRO AND CANAL COMPANY — CAIRO CITY PROPERTY— TRUSTEES OF THE CAIRO TRUST PROPERTY— THE ILLINOIS EXPORTING COMPANY — D. B. HOLBROOK— JUSTIN BUTTER- FIELD— RECAPITULATION, ETC., ETC. AT a time simnltaneous with, or just prior to, the coming of the nineteenth century, the delta formed by the junction of the Mis- sissippi and Ohio Rivers began to attract the attention of far-seeing men, as one of the future important points upon the continent. And from the time the first white man's eyes ever beheld it, 210 years ago, as Joliet and Marquette and their little party, consisting of five men besides themselves, floated around the point of land that forms the exti'eme southern limit of Illinois, and with joy and gladness beheld the beautiful blue Ohio River, and by this, their marvelous voyage 68 HISTORY OF CAIRO. of discovery, placed this great Mississippi Valley under the ijegis of France and Papal Christendom, and thereby inaugurated that tremendous world's drama that continued during more than ninety years, in which France and the Church were such conspicuous actors ; we say, from this date on, the little strip of land on which the city of Cairo stands at- tracted the attention of men, and presented something of its prospective importance to the entire Christian world. At the time of its discovery, nearly all nations were more or less involved in wars of conquest and in- vasion — those mighty struggles for suprem- acy in civilization, that were the most im- portant factors in the present advanced state of mankind, and especially that splendid civilization that has been spread broadcast over the world by the Anglo-Saxon race. Hence, for more than a century after the dis- covery of the point of junction of the two great rivers, situated almost in the center of the inhabitable portions of the continent of North America, its transcendent importance, in a military point of view, were studied and well comprehended by all the military powers of Europe. Its wonderful undevel- oped and almost unclaimed commercial value and inexhaustible productions were but little considered until the long Revolutionary war had been fought out, and peace had begun to win those triumphs that have resulted in the present rich and prosperous nation of more than fifty millions of people. A large number of incorporation acts, dat- ing back even to the Territorial times of Illinois, have been enacted, and a somewhat extended notice of these legislative doings is made of great importance, from the fact that in the attempt to make laws for found- ing a city here there resulted the most im- portant legislation, in both the State Legis- lature and the Congress of the United States, for the entii-e State of Illinois, that have ever been placed upon the statute books; wise laws, that have brought Illinois from a sparsely settled, bankrupt and unpromis- ing waste and wilderness, to the position of the first State in the Union in many of the leading agricultural products, as well as in railroads and all that tends to make a rich, prosperous and happy people. On the 9th day of January, 1818, the Ter- ritorial Legislature concluded the time had come that imperatively demanded that a city be founded here, and on that day it passed an act for the incorporation of the "City and Bank of Cairo in the State of Illinois;" the incorporators, consisting of John G. Comyges,_ Thomas H. Harris, Thomas F. Herbert, Shadrach Bond, Michael Jones, Warren Brown, Edward Humphreys and Charles "W. Hunter, who had entered a certain tract of land between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and near the junction of the same. This land included Fractional Sections 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and the northeast fractional quarter of Section 27, Town 17 south. Range 1 west, and contained about 1,800 acres. The act of incorporation is ushered into the world by the following grandiloquent stump speech: " And whereas, the said proprietors represent that there is, in their opinion, no position in the whole extent of these Western States better calculated, as it respects com- mei'cial advantages and local supply, for a great and impoi'tant city, tlian that afforded by the junction of those two great highways, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. But that nature, having denied to the extreme point formed by their union, a sufficient degree of elevation to protect the improvements made thereon, from the ordinary inundations of the adjacent waters, such elevation is to be found only upon the tract above mentioned and described. [It must be borne in mind HISTORY OF CAIRO. 69 that this is one way of putting it that the town site only commenced at the north line of Bird's land, which was not included in the town plat.] So that improvements and property made and located thereon [no sem- blance of levees then made] may be deemed perfectly safe and absolutely secure from all such ordinary inundations, and liable to injury only from the concurrence of unusually high and simultaneous inundations in both of said rivers, an event which is alleged but rarely to happen, and the injurious consequen«5es of which it is considered practicable, by proper embankments, wholly and effectually and permanently to obviate. And whereas, there is no doubt that a city erected at, or as near as practicable, to the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, provided it be thus secured by sufficient embankments, or in such other way as experience may prove most efficacious for that purpose, from every such extraordinary inundation, must necessarily become a place of vast consequence to the prosperity of this growing Territory, and, in fact, to that of the greater part of the in- habitants of these Western States. And whereas, the above-named proprietors are desirous of erecting such city, under the sanction and patronage of the Legislature of this Territory, and also of providing by Jaw for the security and prosperity of the same, and to that end propose to appropriate one-third part of all money arising from the sale and disposition of the lots into which the same be surveyed, as a fund for the con- struction and preservation of such dykes, levees and other embankments as may be necessary to render the same perfectly secure; and also, if such fund shall be deemed sufficient thereto, for the erection of public edifices and such other improvements in the said city as may be, from time to time, considered expedient and practicable, and to appropriate the two-thirds part of the said purchase- moneys to the operation of bank- ing. And whereas, it is considered that an act to incorporate the said proprietors and their associates, viz., all such persons as shall, by purchase or otherwise, hereafter become proprietors of the tract above men tioned and described, as a body corporate and politic, while it guarantees to all those who may become freeholders or residents within the said city the fullest security as to their habitations and property, will at the same time concentrate the views and facili- tate the operations of the said proprietors and their said associates in rendering the said city secure from all such inundations as aforesaid, and in promoting the internal prosperity of the same. " After this extraor- dinary line of whereases, the Legislature pro- ceeds to regularly incorporate the " City and Bank of Cairo" — the city to be here, at the junction of the rivers, and the bank tempo- rarily to be, and transact business in, the town of Kaskaskia, giving the body corporate the title of the " President, Directors and Com- pany of the Bank of Cairo," requiring John G. Comyges and his associates, within the space of nine months from the passing of this act, to proceed to lay off, on such town site, a city, to be known and distinguished by the name of Cairo; which shall consist of not less than 2,000 lots, each lot being not less than sixty-six feet wide and 120 feet deep, and the streets of said city to be not less than eighty feet wide, and to run, as near as may be, at right angles to each other; that the price of the said lots shall be fixed and limited at $150 each, and appropriating the money arising from the sale of lots as fol- lows. Two-thirds part thereof, that is to say, the sum of $100 on each lot sold, shall constitute the capital stock of the bank; dividing the capital stock into twice as many 70 HISTORY OF CAIRO. shares as there are lots, the one-half of which shares shall belong to the purchasers of said lots, in the proportion of one share to each lot, and the remaining of the shares shall be the property of the said John G. Corny ges and his associates, their heirs and assigns, in proportion to the interest they may hold in the same respectively; the remaining one- third part of the purchase-money to consti- tute a fund to be exclusively appropriated to the security and improvement of said city; the said Corny ges and associates are author- ized to appoint so many commissioners as they may deem necessary, to receive sub- scriptions for the purchase of lots; they are required, upon any person applying to make such purchase of subscription, to direct the person so applying to deposit to the credit of the Bank of Cairo, in the Bank of the United States, or in the nearest chartered bank, one-third of the purchase money, in three and six months' payments. Then it provides that no subscription shall be re- ceived from any person for more than ten of said lots. When 500 lots have been sub- scribed for, the Commissioners are to call a meeting of such subscribers at Kaskaskia, and elect from their body thirteen Directors, who were to hold office one year, and then these Directors are to choose, by ballot, a Presi- dent; authorizing them to prescribe by-laws and regulations, and defining the duties of the officers; the Directors are at once to dis- tribute by lot among the subscribers, the number each is entitled to receive, and to make deeds therefor upon full and final payment, and they are imperatively required to receive all moneys deposited to their credit in other banks, and thereupon to "commence their operations as a banking company." Provision is then made that the total amount of debts which the bank may at any time owe shall not exceed twice the amount of the capital stock actually paid into said bank; making the bills of credit, under the seal of the corporation, assignable by indorsement, as well as making all bills or notes which may be issued by the corporation, in pay- ment, though not under seal, binding and obligatory as upon any private person or per- sons; the bank is required to make half-year- ly dividends of profits; requiring each Cash- ier, before entering upon the duties of his office, to give bond and security to the amount of 110,000, and each clerk in the bank to give like bond to the amount of |2,000; lim- its the interest on loans made by the bank to six per cent. It then provides for the ap- pointment of three of the Directors, a Com- mittee, to have the charge and management of all that portion of the purchase moneys above set apart, and appropriated as a fund for the security and improvement of said city; and which fund, or such portion there- of as the said Committee shall deem proper and advisable, shall be invested in stock of said bank, the said Directors being author- ized and required to add to the capital stock so many shares as shall be sufficient to take in the same, at the par value of the stock. Section 20 explicitly requires that it shall be the duty of the Directors, immediately after their election, to appoint three persons not of their own body, but who shall be remov- able at the pleasure of the Directors, who shall be citizens of Illinois, and even res- idents of Cairo, if competent and judicious persons can be found in the city, who shall be styled " The Board of Security and Im- provement of the City of Cairo," which boai'd, or a majority thereof, shall, under the sanction of the Directors of the said bank first had and obtained, direct and superintend the construction and preserva- tion of such dykes, levees and embankments as may be necessary for the security of the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 71 city of Cairo, and every part thereof, from all and every inundation which can possibly affect or injure the same; and the erection, fiom time to time, of such public works and improvements as the state of such fund will justify. They are authorized to increase the capital stock, but it shall never exceed the sum of $500,000. Section 23 commands that the corporation shall not at any time suspend, or refuse payment in'gold and silver for any of its notes, bills or obligations, nor any moneys received on deposit in the bank or in its ofiSce of discount and deposit, and if at any time such default is made, then the bank shall forfeit 12 per cent per annum from the time of such demand. The twenty- fourth and last section declares this to be a public act, "and that the same be construed in all courts and places benignly and favor- ably." Such was the grand scheme of the Illinois Territory for founding here a city. To some extent, it was running counter to the world's experience, namely, to start the bank and the embryo city at one and the same time, and require the bank to build the city and the city make rich and strong the bank. It was a species of legislative financial wisdom that might be likened unto the old saying of making one hand wash the other. They pro- longed their vision into their future and our present time, and dreamed golden day-dreams of all Illinois — at least all the part of it south of Kaskaskia. They thought, perhaps, of Romuhis and Rome and the she- wolf ; of St. Petersburg and Peter the Great; of Ven- ice and her gondoliers, and her soft moon- light and music; of Alexandria, in Lower Egypt, with her great forests of masts in her harbor, and her temples and towers and steeples and minarets glittering in the morn- ing sun — the proud mistress of the world, in wealth, commerce, intelligence, prowess and glory — and their souls were fired with no less an ambition than to rival and surpass all these, and, therefore, to found and build here a great and eternal city. They knew of the Egyptian Cairo, lying midway between Eu- rope, Asia, the Mediterranean Sea and the north of Africa; of St. Petersbui'g, where the Gulf of Finland, , the Black Sea and the White Sea, the Baltic and the Caspian pour in their wealth upon [her, through the Dnie- per and Dniester, the Neva, the Dwina and the Volga, with all their ten thousand reser- voirs, by the help of her great canal system, giving her a direct navigation of 4,000 miles, from St. Petersburg to the borders of China. They looked upon New York and her vast navigation; upon New Orleans, whose waters drained a great empire. They, doubtless, unrolled the world's map, and 'there noticed that there are certain points that engage the attention of mankind; that theseTpoints are centers of civilization, and in all time they have been found where vast bodies of water meet, and large, populous and fertile terri- tories converge, giving the most favorable conditions for colonization, supply and de- fense. There cannot be a doubt that, in the estimate they put upon the natural point at Cairo, they were wholly correct, however much they may have been mistaken in the legislative machinery they deemed it wise to put in motion to start into being the young city. John R. Comyges was the moving and mas- ter spirit in the inception and origin of the " City and Bank of Cairo" scheme. He at- tended upon the Legislature, and unfolded his vast enterprise in such glowing terms that that body made haste to grant his every re- quest. He must have inspired those won- derfully-constructed " whereases " that were enacted into a law. And it must have been his busy brain that conceived the dashing 72 HISTORY OF CAIRO. idea of first founding a wild-cat bank in the wild jungles, the oozing marshes and among the festive frogs of the Delta, and upon this South Sea Bubble to lay the foundation of a great city, wliere men should " build for the ages unafraid. " This, the earliest effort to start a city here, to fix a " base whereon these ashlars, well hewn, may be laid," although so generously aided by the Tei-ritorial Legislature, came to naught, by the death of Comyges, just as he was about to visit the capitalists of Europe, to enlist their aid and interests in the grand and promising scheme. The company had entered the land on the old credit system, and had surveyed and platted the town, and were pushing eveiy department under favor- ing prospects, when the sudden death of their organizer and leader, when there was no one to take his place, spread such general doubts and dismay among the stockholders, that the enterprise collapsed and passed away, and the title to the land reverted to the Govern- ment. A part of the interest that now attaches to this original Cairo Company is the record it made as to the knowledge men possessed sixty-five years ago, as to the high waters in oui' rivers, and how much we have learned by the intervening experiences between then and now. In the prospectus, it stated to the world : "It remains only to be shown that the want, in this tract, of sufiicient material elevation presents but an inconsidrable obstacle to its future greatness. To prove this fact, it be- comes necessary to advert to the provisions contained in the charter and the report of the Surveyor, Maj. Duncan, who, at the re- quest of the proprietors, undertook to run the exterior limits and to ascertain the eleva- tion of the ground; from which i-eport' it will appear that an embankment of the average height of five feet will secure it effectually against the highest swells in both rivers. It may here be proper to state that much of this tract is already high, and quite as eligible for warehouses and other build- ings as many of the most flourishing stations on the Ohio." They carefully estimated, from their engineers' reports, that $20,000 would build all the levees around Cairo to forever secure it against any possible waters in the rivers. Cairo City & Canal Company. — On the 4th of March, 1837, the Illinois Legislature incorporated Darius B. Holbrook, Miles A. Gilbert, John S. Hacker, Alexander M. Jen- kins, Anthony Olney and William M. Wal- ker as a body corporate and politic, under the name of the "Cairo City & Canal Com- pany;" giving the usual powers of a charter company, and to own and hardle real estate, but providing that " the real estate owned and held by said company shall not exceed the quantity of land embraced in Fractional Township 17, in Alexander County, and the said corporation are hereby authorized to pur- chase said land, or any part thereof, but more particularly the tract of land incorpo- rated as the city of Cairo, and may proceed to lay off said land, or any part of the land of said Township 17, into lots for a town, to be known as the city of Cairo, and whenever a plan of said city is made, the company shall deposit a copy of the same, with a full de- scription thereof, in the Recorder of Deeds' ofi&ce in the C unty of Alexander. * * * And the said corporation may construct dykes, canals, levees and embankments for the security and preservation of said city and land and all improvements thereon, from all and every inundation which can possibly affect or injure the same, and may erect such works, buildings and improvements which they may deem necessary for promoting the health and prosperity of said city. And for HISTORY OF CAIRO. 73 draining said city, and other purposes, said corporation may lay off and construct a canal, to unite with Cache Kiver, at such point of such river as the company may deem most eligible and proper, and may use the water of said river for said canal, running to and through said city of Cairo, as said company may direct. * * * * The capital stock of the company shall consist of 20,000 shares, and no greater assessment shall be laid upon any shares in said company of a greater amount than $100 each share. And the im- mediate government and direction of the affairs of said company shall be vested in a board of not less than five Directors, who shall be chosen by the members of the cor- poration in manner hereinafter provided, a majority of whom shall form a quorum for the transaction of business; shall elect one of their number to be President of the Board, who shall also be President of the company. * * * * The President and Directors for the time being are hereby au- thorized and empowered, by themselves or their agents, to execute all powers herein granted to the company, and all such other powers and authority for the management of the affairs of the company not heretofore granted, as may be proper and necessary to carry into effect the object of this act, and to make such equal assessments, from time to time, on all shares of said company as they may deem expedient and necessary, and direct the same to be paid in to the Treasurer of the company; and the Treasurer shall give notice of all such assessments, and in case any subscriber shall neglect tn pay his as- sessment for the space of thirty days due notice by the Treasurer of said company, the Directors may order the Treasurer to sell such share or shares at public auction, after giving due notice thereof, to the highest bidder, and the same shall be transferred to the purchaser, and such delinquent subscriber shall be held accountable to the company for the balance. * * * * a. toll is hereby granted and established, for the benefit of said company, upon all passengers and prop- erty of all descriptions which may be con- veyed or transported upon the canal of the company, upon such terms as may be agreed upon and established, from time to time, by the Directors of said company. That the company shall not be authorized by this act to erect or construct any dam or dams upon or across Cache River, for the pui'pose afore- said, until they shall first have obtained the consent of the County Commissioners' Court of Alexander County, which consent so ob- tained shall be entered upon the records of said court; and whenever the route on said canal shall be located, the company shall have recorded a plan and description thereof in the office of the Recorder of Deeds and the office of said County Commissioners' Court, in Alexander County. The said com-* pany shall be holden to pay all damages that may arise to any person or corporation, by taking their land for said canal or any other Ijurpose when it cannot be obtained by volun- tary agreement, to be estimated and re- covered in the manner provided by law, for the recovering of damages happening by lay- ing out highways. When the lands, or other property or estate of any femme- covert, infant or person non conijyos mentis, shall be wanted for the purposes and objects of the company, the guardian of said infant or per- son non compos mentis, or husband of such femme-covert, may release all damage and interest for and in such lands or estate taken for the company as they ,might do if the same were holden by them in their own right respectively This act shall be deemed and taken as a public act. It shall continue in force for the term of twenty- five years 74 HISTORY OF CAIRO. from the passage thereof. The final section requires that unless $20,000 is expended on the canal within five yearS from the date of the act, it shall be forfeited. In February, 1839, the Legislature amended that act as follows: "That the said Cairo City & Canal Company shall not be obliged, as au- thorized by its charter, to lay off and con- struct a canal to unite with Cache River, should the same be deemed injurious to the health of the city — and the twelfth section of said act, which requires a certain amount to be expended on said canal within five years, is hereby repealed." We have given verbatim enough of this remarkable charter, in its ultimate results one of the most important that was ever granted by the State of Illinois, for the reader to see for himself that it is one of two things, namely, either the most amazing in the complete simplicity of its author's ideas, or Machiavelian in its transcendant ability to hide the iron hand beneath the vel- vet glove. No State document was ever drafted that could look more innocent, and at the same time appropriate to itself com- plete and sovereign and autocratic powers, in the name of building a canal from the mouth of Cache River to and through the city of Cairo to the extreme southern point of land. If the company ever thought of building a canal from the mouth of Cache through the city, they would not only have to curve it several times on its, route, to keep the canal from running into the river, but they must have known they would Lave to erect great and strong artificial levees on both sides of their canal to prevent both rivers from rushing from their long-occupied beds, with an angry roar, souse into the canal. On the other hand, if they never did contemplate building the canal, then, indeed, is its mas- terly shrewdness patent at a glance. Cer- tainly, even an Illinois Legislature would have discovered the cat in the meal-tub had the incorporators gone before them and asked for a charter to found a city, and, without any canal attachment, asked for such complete powers of the right of eminent domain over private property, real and per- sonal! If they ever intended to build a canal, they were soon cured of that hallucina- tion, as is shown by the amendment of 1839, which simply permits the whole canal scheme to be dropped, and yet leaves all the great powers that were originally granted the com- pany intact. So far as can now be ascer- tained, the company never abused or exer- cised to the ill of any one these powers con- ferred by the charter. If there was a pur- pose lurking beneath the fair face of the fundamental law of the new city, it, perhaps, was not in the idea of its author to use it to wrong or oppress any private citizen, and it would only be invoked as a last resort to pro- tect the vital welfare of the future city. As stated above, this Cairo City & Canal Company charter became a law March 4, 1837, and not March 4, 1838, as probably the compositor made Mose Harrell say, in a sketch of early Cairo that he published a few years ago. The date is important, because on June 7, 1837, "The Illinois Central Rail- road Company," which had been incorpor- ated January 16, 1836, and authorized to construct a railroad, commencing at or near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and extending to Galena, released all its rights back to the State of Illinois, con- ditioned, however, that "the State of Illinois shall commence the construction of said rail- road within a reasonable [time, and to com- mence at the city of Cairo and build north to Galena." On the 27th day of June, 1837, there was an agreement entered into between the orig- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 75 iual Illinois Central Railroad, by A. M. Jenkins, its President, and the Cairo City & Canal Company, by D. B. Holbrook, its President, by which it was stipulated the railroad to be constructed by the Illinois Central Kailroad " shall be commenced at such point in tho city of Cairo as the Cairo City & Canal Company may fix and direct. This release of the Central Railroad of its franchise back to the State was caused by the wild craze that had taken possession of the entire State on the great intei'nal im- provement system, that so quickly landed the Commonwealth in bankruptcy, and abruptly stopped all State progress for several years. This was a sad and severe lesson to the young State, but probably in the end it was for the best. On the same day of the above agreement, namely, 26th June, 1837, the Cairo & Canal Company having obtained, by purchase, the lands in Town 17 south, Range 1 west, on a portion of which had been laid out the city of Cairo, mortgaged the entire property to the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company, to secure certain loans and moneys advanced by English capitalists. The release made by the Illinois Central Railroad Company was accepted by the State, on the conditions imposed, and the State commenced at Cairo the construction of the railroad, which the railroad company had been authorized to construct to Galena; and the Cairo City & Canal Company pressed forward the improvements it was making, upon which, up to February 1, 1840, it had expended, of borrowed money, about $1,000,000. It had erected mills, various workshops and houses for its em- ployees, and there had congregated here about 1,500 souls. But on Februaiy 1, 1840, the great internal improvement system, which had been inaugurated by the infatuated State Legislature of 1837, was x-epealed, and the work upon the Illinois Central stopped, after the State had expended, as stated, over $1,000,000. While the bursting of this bubble seriously crippled, financially, the entire people of the State, it was especially disastrous at Cairo. ' It was the work upon the railroad that had brought the people here, and when not only the State was bank- rupt, but the Cairo City & Canal Company was insolvent, the railroad defunct, the banker of the company in England had failed, and all work and improvements were abandoned, the people fled, and desolation brooded over the town, where now "the spider might weave, unmolested, his web in her palaces, and the owl hoot his watch song in her temples." On March 6, 1843, the Legislature passed an act to incorporate the Great Western Railway Company. While this was a rail- road charter, authorizing the construction of a railroad upon the line of the original Illinois Central Railroad, yet it was, in fact, a re-incorporation of the Cairo City & Canal Company. After the enacting clause, it says: " That the President and Directors of the Cairo City & Canal Company (in- corporated by the State of Illinoisj and their successors in ofiice be and they are hereby made a body corporate and politic under the name and style of the ' Great Western Rail- way Company,' and under that name and style shall be and are hereby made capable, in law and equity, to sue and be sued, de- feud and be defended, in any court or place whatsoever, to make, have and use a common seal, the same to alter and renew at pleasui'e, and by that name and style be capable in law of contracting and being conti acted with, of purchasing, holding and conveying away of real estate and personal estate for the pm-poses and uses of said corporation; and shall be and are hereby invested with 76 HISTORY OF CAIRO. all the powers, privileges and immunities, which are or may be necessary to carry into .effect the object ,and purposes of ^this act, as hereinafter set forth; and the said corpora- tion are hereby authorized and empowered to locate, construct and finally complete a rail- road, commencing at the city of Cairo, thence north by way of Vandalia, etc.," almost exactly as specified in the charter of the original Illinois Central Railroad. This act of incoi-poration was merely the grafting into the Cairo City & Canal Com- pany a railroad franchise, which in no single clause diminished the original powers of the Cairo City & Canal Company, but enlarged and extended them throughout the entire length of the State. So completely were the two companies made one. indeed, so fully was the railroad merged into and absorbed by the canal company, that the officers of the city company, including the President and Directors, were made the officers of the rail- road by the legislative act. It should be borne in mind that the State had expended over $1,000,000 in work upon the Illinois Central Railroad, and all this was turned over to the Cairo City & Canal Company and the Great Western Railroad (all one and the same thing) and this was turned over to the new company in the following rather loose language, in Section 12 of the incor- poration act: "The Govei'nor of this State is hereby authorized and required to appoint one or more competent persons to estimate the present value of any work done, at the expense of the State, on the Central Rail- road; also of any materials or right of way; and whatever sum shall be fixed upon as the value thereof, by said persons, shall be paid for by the company, in the bonds or other indebtedness of the State, any time during the progress of the road to completion, and any contract entered into under the seal of the State, signed by the Governor thereof^ shall be legal and binding, to the full intent and purpose thereof, on the State of Illinois." Section 14, with equal State liberality and vagueness, goes on to specify that whenever the whole indebtedness of the company shall be paid and liquidated, the Legislature of the State of Illinois, thereafter then in session, shall have the power to alter, amend or modify this act, as the public good shall require, and also that of the City of Cairo & Canal Company; and the eleventh section of the act incorporating the said Cairo City & Canal Company, which limits its charter to twenty years, be and the said section is hereby repealed, and this act be and is de- clared a public act, and as such shall be taken notice of by all courts of justic > in the State, etc. Two years after this, March 3, 1845, the Legislature repealed the act incorporating the Great Western Railroad Company. This repealing law like all other legislation upon that subject, was no doubt passed at the in- stance of the railroad company, or rather of the Cairo City & Canal Company. On its face, it has the appearance of a design to give back to the State all its rights and privileges except those pertaining to the founding of a city here and the construction of a canal from Cache to and through Cairo. But on February 10, 1849, the Legislature passed another law, which repealed the re- pealing act, and starts out by saying that the President and Directors of the Cairo City & Canal Company, under the name and style of the " Great Western Railway Com- pany," chartered March 6, 1843, and that William F. Thornton, Willis Allen, Thomas G, C. Davis, John Moore, John Huffman, John Green, Robert Blackwell, Benjamin Bond, Daniel H. Brush, George W. Pace, Walter B. Scates, Samuel K. Casev, Albert HISTORY OF CAIRO. 77 G. Caldwell, Humphrey B. Jones, Charles Hoyt, Ira Minard, Charles S. Hempstead, John B. Chapin, Uri Osgood, H. D. Berley, Henry Corwith, I. C. Pugh, John J. Mc- Graw, Onslow Peters, D. D. Shumway, Jus- tin Butterfield, John B. Turner, Mark Skin- ner and Gavion D. A. Parks be associates with said company i;Q the construction of said railroad, and are empowered and reinstated, with all the powers and privileges contained in said act of incorporation, and are also subject to all restrictions contained in said act of incoporation — the act in force March 3, 1845, which repealed the charter of the company, to the contrary notwithstanding. This reviving act then proceeds to extend the privileges of the Cairo City & Canal Company in a most liberal manner. It authorizes them to construct the Great Western Railroad from the termina- tion set forth in the said charter, at or near the termination of the • Illinois & Michigan Canal to the city of Chicago. Section 3 is important enough to give it entire, as follows: "And the right of way the State may have obtained, together with all the work and sur- veying done at the expense of the State, and materials connected with said road, lying be- tween the termination of the Illinois & Michigan Canal and Cairo City, are hereby granted to said company upon conditions as follows: Said company shall take posses- sion of ^said road within two years of the passage of this act, and as far as practicable preserve the same from injury and dilapida- tion; and said company shall, within two years from the passage of this act, expend $100,000 in the construction of said road, and $200,000 for each year thereafter, until said road shall have been completed from the city of Cairo to the city of Chicago. Sec. 4 The Governor of the State of Illinois is hereby authorized and empowered to contract with and agree to hold in trust, for the use and benefit of said Great West- ern Railway Company, whatever lands may be donated or thereunto secured to the State of Illinois by the General Government, to aid in the completion of the Central or Great Western Railroad from Cairo to Chicago, subject to the conditions and provisions of the bill granting the lands by Congress, and the said company is hereby authorized to receive, hold and dispose of any and all lands secured to said company by donation, pre-emption or otherwise; subject, however, to the provisions of the eighteenth section of its charter. [This clause was to the effect that all lands coming into the hands of the company, not required for use, security or construction, should be sold by the company within live years, or revert to the Govern- ment.] Provision was then further made that the Governor should, from time to time, as the company progressed with the work, des- ignate in writing the proportion of such lands donated by Congress to be sold and dis- posed of. In order to complete the list of incorpo- ration acts, that had a direct reference to the owners and proprietors of the city of Cairo, it is proper here to explain that on January 18, 1836, the Legislature incorporated the Illinois Exporting Company. The act states that "all such persons as shall become sub- scribers to the stock hereinafter described, shall be and they are hereby constituted and declared a body politic and corporate. " It proceeds to enable the President and Direct- ors of the company to "carry on the manu- facture of agricultural products; erect mills and buildings; export their products and manufactai'es, and enter into all contracts concerning the management of their prop- erty. The capital stock is $150,000, and may be increased to $500,000; meetings and 78 HISTORY OF CAIRO. general places of business of the company to be at Alton; may select any other place of business; may erect mills, etc., in any county in the State, by permission of the County Commisisoners' Court. James S. Lane, Thomas G. Howley, Anthony Olney, John M. Krum and D. B. Holbrook are appointed Commissioners to obtain subscription to the capital stock of the company; any one could become a subscriber by paying $1. Provided, the provisions of this act shall in no case extend to the counties of Edgar, Green and St. Clair, etc., etc. On September 29, 1846, in consequence of the general and financial disasters, resulting from panic and widespread bankruptcy throughout the commercial world, the parties interested in Cairo, the mortgagees, judg- ment creditors, owners in fee and otherwise interested, after a series of consultations, agreed and did form and create the " Trust of the Cairo City Property," conveying the property to Thomas Taylor, of Philadelphia, and Charles Davis, of New York, as Trustees. On May 10, 1876, the Trustees of the Cairo City property, having expended in making material improvements about Cairo $1,307,- 021.42, of which $184,505.64 was expended upon the levee running along the Ohio River, and $149,973.23 upon the levee running along the Mississippi River, and $70,445.06 upon the protection of the Mississippi River bank, and $571,534.08 upon general improve- ments, and $330,553.41 upon taxes and as- sessments, found themselves unable to pay two loans obtained from Hiram Ketchum, of New York — one on October 1, 1803, for $250,000, and the other on October 1, 1867, for $50,000, to secure which, mortgages, of the dates given, had been executed. The mortgages were, therefore, foreclosed, and the property of the Trust of the Cairo City Property sold to the bondholders under the mortgage, and a new, and the present, trust was formed, called the Cairo Trust Property, under the control and management of Col. S. Staats Taylor and Edwin Parsons, the Trustees. On the 14th of February, 1841, the Legis- lature passed an act conferring upon the Cairo City & Canal Company "all the powers conferred upon the Board of Alder- men of the City of Quincy, as defined be- tween the first and forty-fifth sections of the charter of that city," and these grants were confirmed for ten years. It is possible there were other laws passed for the benefit of the many charter companies that depended and hinged upon the Cairo City & Canal Company, but we have not, so far, found them. But in all these acts and doings, one fact is distinctly seen: Many people believed that it was all, practically, the work of D. B. Holbrook, and that, as a rule, up to the time that his path was crossed by Judge Douglas, the names of D. B. Hol- brook and the Cairo City & Canal Company were practically one and the same thing. He was certainly a man of great activity of intellect, shrewdness and untiring industry, and while all conceded him this, yet many deemed him utterly selfish, and indifferent to all interests except his own, and that he was a shrewd and dangerous marplot, who brought evil to Cairo by his reckless greed of power and money. In speaking of the crash that came upon Cairo in 1841, Mose Harrell, among other things, enumerated, as the chief cause thereof, to have been the fail- ure of the banking-house of Wright & Co., London, through which continuous loans to the City Company were anticipated; the sus- pension of work on the Illinois Central Rail- road, upon which so much trade depended, and the general abandonment of the system of public works inaugurated by the State in J-- ^ .^, Jo^^i^'l^^ HISTORY OF CAIRO. 81 1837, and he says: " Possibly another reason was the monopoly of which Holbrookwas the head. Under his rule, no person could be- come a freeholder in the city; ground there could not be purchased or leased; all the dwellings were owned by the company; no one could live in the city, unless at the pleas- ure of Holbrook, as even the hotels were the property of the company. More than that, the company were empowered (with) all the rules and regulations for the municipal gov- ernment, such as a Mayor- and Common Council might establish. The company could declare a levy of taxes and enforce its col- lection, and could expend the money as it chose." In a letter published in the New York Herald, and of date October 3, 1850, we extract the following: " In 1835, Mi'. D. B. Holbrook, originally from Boston, pro- cured from the Legislature of the State of Illinois his first charter for the Cairo City & Canal Company, and he also procured a charter for the Central Railroad Company, from Cairo to Galena. He subsequently ob- tained a third charter, for the Illinois Ex- porting Company, with authority to carry on transportation by land and water, and to in- sure against risks from tire and water, and to carry on manufacturing business gener- ally. He also purchased and revived a de- funct bank charter, known as the Cairo Bank, and one or two others I cannot specify. Mr. Holbrook at once organized the Cairo City & Canal Company; took the stock himself, and had himself elected President; also or- ganized the Central Railroad Company, by a nominal payment of 11 per share (which was never paid in, but a note given in lieu of the money), and elected himself President. He also organized the Illinois Exporting Com- pany, in the same mode; and also organized the Cairo Bank, and put one of his instru- ments at the head of it. Subsequently, D. B. Holbrook, as President of the Cairo City & Canal Company, entered into a contract with D. B. Holbrook, as President of the Central Railroad Company; and D. B. Hol- brook, as President of the Central Railroad Company, further contracted with D. B. Hol- brook, of the Illinois Exporting Company, and D. B. Holbrook, as President of that company, contracted with D. B. Holbrook, as President of each of the other companies, that each of said companies might exercise all and singular, the rights, privileges and powers conferred by law upon either; by which all companies were to be consolidated into one, and exercise the several powers con- ferred upon each. * * * * jn 1836, the Illinois Legislature adopted its mam- moth system of internal improvement, and among other enterprises, commenced the construction of a Central Railroad as a State work, Mr. Holbrook having sui-rendered his charter for that purpose. After having spent about 11,000,000 on |the road, the credit of the State failed, and the system was abandoned. A charter was subsequently granted by the Legislature to the Cairo City & Canal Company, by which that company was authorized to construct the Central Rail- road. At the last regular session of the Legislatm'e, while a bill was pending before Congress, maki ng' a grant of land to the State, in aid of the construction of the rail- road, a law was passed, transferring to the said company the right of way, and all the work which had been executed by the State at the cost of $1,000,000, together with all the lands which had been, or should here- after be, granted by Congress to the State in aid of the construction of said railroad. How this act was passed remains a mystery, as its existence was not known in Illinois until Judge Douglas brought it to light in a speech at Chicago in October last. In that 82 HISTORY OF CAIRO. speech, Judge Douglas denounced the whole transaction as a fraud upon the Legislature and the people of the State, and declared that he would denounce it as such in the Senate of the United States, if an application was ever made to that body for a grant of land, whilst the Holbrook charters, and es- pecially the act referred to, remained in force." The letter proceeds to give an account of how Judge Douglas finally compelled Hol- brook and his company to execute a complete release of their charter to the State, and then says: "But for the execution of the re- lease by Mr. Holbrook, and the surrender of all claims to any railroad charter, or rights and privileges under any act of the Illinois Legislature on the subject, the grant of land would never have been ^made by Congress. Thus it appears that Mr. Holbrook has no charter for a railroad in Illinois, and no claims to the lands which have been granted, unless the State of Illinois refuses to accept the release, or makes a new grant to D. B. Holbrook, which, unless its members are crazy, it Is not likely to do. I have deemed it necessary to make this exposition of the facts in the case, in order ^^that capitalists in New York and elsewhere may not labor under erroneous impressions in regard to so impor- tant a matter, affecting alike the honor of the State of Illinois and that of Congress." A full and complete account of the nego- tiations, correspondence, etc., that ^resulted in this important transaction, will be found in another chapter in the account of the building of the Illinois Central Railroad. We give here these extracts from the letter of "An Illinois Bondholder," merely to show the tenor of the attacks that were in that day made upon Holbrook, and the wide and pro- found sensation the appearance of this ex- traordinary financier made all over the coun- try. The reader ^can now readily see there are many historical inaccuracies in the let- ter, yet, at the time it was published, it was a strong document, and had evidently been carefully prepared by some one who had studied well the subject. It is possible the writer was a jealous rival of Holbrookes, and one who conceived that his own success could only be accomplished by first pulling down Holbrook and his company. Certainly, there is too much feeling displayed in these attacks upon this remarkable man by his cotempo- raries, to cause all their statements about his unholy purposes to be now implicitly re- ceived, and given to the world as attested facts. A patient and impartial investigation of the times, and the general circumstances surrounding D. B. Holbrook and his asso- ciates in the Cairo City & Canal Company, leads to the conclusion that they were seek- ing sincerely to improve the great West, and to build here in Illinois great cities and rail- roads, and that neither the glory nor the blame, nor the wise and beneficial acts, nor the mistakes of the company properly be- longed wholly to Holbrook, as were so widely charged in his day of activity here. His aS: sociates and co-incorporators in the Cairo City & Canal charter were among the most eminent, patriotic and just men in the State in their day. They have mostly passed from earth, and all have ceased from the active struggles of life, and of Breese, and Casey, and Judge Jenkins and Miles A. Gilbert, the only one living, and the many other co- laboi'ers in the early work of improvements in Illinois, their untarnished ^memories will ever remain a rich legacy to the people of Illinois. Thejinger marks of these men will ever remain upon the early history of the State. Each one of them worked in his own chosen or allotted sphere, yet in harmony with his other incorporators, and together HISTORY OF CAIRO. »3 they thought out and worked out causes here, whose effects will endure perpetually. As remarked in the early portion of this chapter, the act granting the charter of the City of Cairo & Canal Company was the first step in attracting the attention of many of the leading men of the nation to this great natural commercial point, and that attention once arrested, and the lakes of the North and the waters of the great rivers at once made plain the fact that they must be joined together by railroads, had set busy minds to thinking how this immense work could best be done, or, for that matter, done at all. Men were studying the maps with the care and diligence which warriors give these things with reference to their marches, re- treats or battle grounds. In the latter days of Judge Breese's life, he claimed that he had promulgated the idea of a Government land-grant in aid of the constrviction of the Illinois Central Railroad. There is an abundance of evidence that not only Judge Breese, but that many others were giving it close attention. But, com- mencing with Judge Breese, and following along all the now existing records, letters and publications, we find they, one and all, fell short in the full completion of the idea of a land donation in this: They advocated donating the lands by pre-emption, and not as in the form the act was finally passed by Judge Douglas as a direct and absolute transfer of the title in fee to the railroad, upon its conforming to the prescribed condi- tions. Nearly all the people of Illinois had discussed the subject in social life, in the pi'ess and in public meetings held in ,the counties along the route of the proposed railroad, but the pre-emption-donation idea only prevailed, and the first time the thought of a direct title in fee was put forth by Mr. Justin Butterfield, Januaiy 18, 1848, in a public meeting of the citizeDs of Chicago, which he had called for the purpose of con- sidering the feasibility of constructing a rail- road to connect the Upper and Lower Mis- sissippi with the Great Lakes of the North, and to recommend to Congress that a grant of lands should be made to the State of Illinois for that purjDose. The meeting was presided over by Thomas Dyer, Esq., and Dr. Brainerd acted as Secretary. Col. K. J. Hamilton, Justin Butterfield, M. Skinner, A. Hunting- ton and E. B. Williams were appointed, by the chair, a Committee to report resolutions, and they reported the following, which had been prepared by Mr. Butterfield, which were unanimously adopted: Resolved, That the great and almost in- credible increase in wealth, population and commerce of the great valley of the West, during the last ten years, as clearly exhibited by oflficial reports submitted to the Congress of the United States, appears to re(iuire. on the part of that enlightened body, a corre- sponding attention to its wants an 1 necessi- ties. Resolved, That the grant of public lands by Congress, for the purpose of opening or improving avenues of commerce in their State jurisdiction, has been approved by the wisest and most experienced of our states- men, and has been eminently beneficial to the States and the Union. Resolved, That a railroad, to connect the Upper and Lower Mississippi with the great lakes, would be a work of great importance, not only to the agricultural and commercial interests of the State, but to all portions of the United States interested in the commerce of the lakes and the Western rivers. Resolved, That, in a military point of view, as well as for the speedy and economical transportation of the mails (objects eminent- ly connected with the general welfare and common defense), such a road would be un- questionably of national importance, and therefoi'e deserving of aid from the National Legislature. Resolved, That our Senators and Repre- HISTORY OF CAIRO. sentatives in Congress of the United States be requested to use their best exertions to secure the passage of a law, granting to the State of Illinois the right of way and public lands, for the constr action of a railroad to connect the Upper and Lower Mississippi with the lakes at Chicago, equal to every al- ternate section for five miles wide on each side of said road. Upon these resolutions, Mr. Butterfield de- livered an able address, which he read from manuscript; from which we make the fol- lowing extracts: "The locomotive, whose speed almost annihilates time and distance, has introduced a new era in travel, in trans- portation and in commercial interchanges. It is in successful operation in most of the nations of Europe, and in most of the Ameri- can States, Illinois excepted — a level, cham- paign country, better adapted by natm*e for its use than any other State or country of equal extent in the world. Why we should be so far behind the age, in the adoption of this great improvement, it is unnecessary now to inquire. Suffice it to say, that in the years 1836 and 1837, when we were compara- tively weak and feeble in population, in pro- ductive industry and pecuniary resources, we madly and wildly rushed into a gigantic and ill-digested system of internal improvements altogether beyond our ability. We projected more than thirteen hundred miles of railroad; we borrowed millions of money, and sowed it broadcast; our money was soon expended, and our credit gone; in the great re-action of 1839 and 1840, desolation swept over the land, and the moldering ruins and crumbling monuments of public works are all that now remain of our once magnificent system of in- ternal improvements. * * * * " The extent of steam navigation upon the Mississippi and its tributaries is rising of 16,000 miles, giving a coast of over 32,000 miles, * * a large portion of which is as fertile as the Valley of the Nile, and capable of sustaining a population as dense as that of England, and is now settling and im- proving with unparalleled rapidity. The Middle and Eastern States, and many of the nations of Europe, are the great hives that are sending forth their swarms to populate our Western lands; year after year, in ever- increasing numbers, they come, and truly demonstrate that ' Westward the march of empire takes its way.' But who can foresee, who can calculate, the immense trade, travel and commerce that will be done upon the Western lakes and rivers when their banks and coasts shall be settled with half the density with which Europe is populated ? " It is proposed to construct a railroad to connect the Uppor and Lower Mississippi with the Great Lakes; this railroad to com- mence at the confluence of the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Rivers at Cairo. * * * * "Cairo is the most favorable point for the southern terminus of this road, as the navi- gation of both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, above Cairo, is often obstructed by ice in the winter and by low water in the summer; but from Cairo to New Orleans there is an uninterrupted navigation all sea- sons of the year. * * * * The railroad is important to our national defense. I be- lieve it is regarded by military men, that in case of a war with a mai'itime power, like England, the Gulf of Mexico on the south, and that portion of our country bordering upon Canada in the north are our weakest frontiers; and in the event of such a war, it will be necessary for our defense to marshal our naval forces, so as to maintain our mari- time ascendency in the Gulf and on the lakes. That it is viewed in this light by the Govern- ment, may be inferred from the fact that about three years ag the ice. Construct this rail- road, give Chicago a southern outlet for her produce in the winter, and it is all she asks." The resolutions adopted by this meeting, and the speech made by Mr. Buttertield, were printed in pamphlet form, and were sent to the different counties along the line of the proposed road, with requests that pub- lic meetings should be held at each county seat, for the purpose of ci-eating a public sentiment in favor of the Congressional land- grant project, and of requesting the Illinios Delegates in Congress to support it. This work among the people of Illinois, in order to influence to activity the members of Con- gress, was necessary and proper, and attended with much labor and considerable expense, and the preceding circumstances that brought both of these about were the following: The Bank of the United States of Pennsylvania, located at Philadelphia, had become the owner of large interests in Western real es- tate, as well as a large number of the bonds of the Cairo City & Canal Company, and the holder of much of the land of the company as security for loans advanced. It was, there- fore, largely interested in Cairo. In the year 1843, it sent its confidential clerk, S. Staats Taylor, to the West, to look after its interests. Mr. Taylor made his headquarters in Chicago, and had his office, during that time, with Justin Butterfield. This, prob- ably, was the main caitse of deeply interest- ing the latter in the railroad project from Chicago to Cairo. Then, the bank's interests in the West caused it to take a deep concern in the progress of the State of Illinois, and especially of Cairo and its vicinity, and it therefore provided the necessary funds to de- fray these first and necessary expenses. In fact, it is now well understood that the start- ing point in the building ot the Central road and the city were made oi'iginally a tangible fact and the expenses defrayed in getting the law passed by Congress, by the hypotheca tion of a strip of land in the city of Cairo, running from river to river, and long known as the "Holbrook strip." This strip of land is what is now Tenth street to Twelfth street, inclusive. 86 HISTORY OF CAIRO. Mr. Justin Butterfield was one of the large-minded, public-spirited men of Illinois, who was profoundly interested in the de- velopment and welfare of his adopted State, and while he did not lay claim to the patern ity of the advanced idea that perfected the land-grant to the I'ailroad, and made it such a great and complete success, yet as he had stated to his office companion, Col. Taylor, he had first heard the idea advanced at some of the county meetings he had held, and his active mind was ready to take it at once in its entirety, to see its value and to boldly and ably push it forward to its final triumph. Certainly, the Centi-al road had no better or abler friend than was Justin Butterfield, who, singularly enough, was the Commissioner of the General^Land Office during the building of the railroad, and in that position was con- stantly called upon to guard the State's, the road's and the Government's interest in the matter of the land grant of the road. Prob- ably for his incorruptible discharge of these duties, he was savagely attacked in some of the public prints, and on April 24, 1852, he repelled these slanders in an open letter to the country, which opens with the following explanatory sentence: "During the past and present months, various publications have appeared in the Chicago Democrat (John Wentworth's paper), charging J. Butterfield, Commissioner of the General Land Office, with having been actuated by deadly hostility against the Illinois Central Railroad Company; of unwarrantably delay- ing and procrastinating the adjustment of the grant of lands; of attempting to kill the Chicago branch, by deciding that it should have diverged from the main trunk at the junction of the canal and river at Peru, and that the act of the Legislatui'e, providing that it shou.ld not diverge from any point north of 39 degrees, 30 minutes, was void; and of corrui^tly making various other de- cisions in the progress of the adjustment of that grant, adverse to the rights of that com- pany, from which an appeal was taken to the Secretaiy, and Mr. Butterfield overruled in all his objectious; but that things went on so slowly, that the Directors of the company laid their case before the President, who at once ordered Mr. Butterfield to put the whole force of his office upon the work, if necessary to its execution; and that after this Mr. B. changed his whole course of conduct, etc. " After giving this summary of the charges against him, he proceeds to say in reply: " Had these publications been confined to the scurrilous sheets issued by the notorious editor of that paper, I should not have noticed them; but these falsehoods are told with siich apparent candor and circumstan- tial detail, that some respectable papers, I observe, have been imposed upon, and copied them." He then gives a brief and succinct history of the grant, and the transactions un- der it, and then sums up the six distinct falsehoods in the charges, denies and refutes them in detail, and thus concludes his inter- esting letter: " The route of the old Central Railroad, as established in 1836, was from Cairo, via Vandalia, Shelbyville, Decatur, Bloomington, Peru and Dixon, to Galena; it did not touch within about one hundred miles of Chicago. " A project was devised and published, in the latter part of 1847, for a railroad leading directly from Cairo to Chicago, and from thence to Galena, recommending an applica- tion to Congress for a grant of lands to be made to the State, in alternate sections, to aid In its construction. Judge Dickey, James H. Collins, Thomas Dyer and hun- dreds of other citizens of Chicago and other portions of the State, will recollect who was the author of the project! To whom did HISTORY OF CAIRO. 87 the newspapers of that day ascribe it? Who, at his own expense, got up and circu- lated petitions far and wide to Congress for a donation of lands to the State for this purpose ? Who called the first meeting that was ever held in the State on the subject of a railroad direct from Cairo to Chicago? An address which I had the honor to make on that occasion, giving my views of the im- mense importance of the work and urging its prosecution, was published and circu- lated. " Those who have, for years past, known my sentiments and humble services in favor of internal improvements, and especially for a direct communication between Chicago and Cairo by railroad, can judge of the prob- ability of my having attempted to strangle the project on the eve of its accomplishment! The charge emanates from one whose name and character, wherever he is known, is a sovereign antidote for all the poison he can distill. " Although famous at the Capitol, in the adjustment of ' Congressional stationery,' in which vocation 'he can't be beat,' he is evi- dently a great novice in the adjustment of railroad grants." Recapitulation. — In their chronological order, we give the corporation acts, as they were passed by the different Legislative bod- ies, that had in view the building of the city of Cairo, and that are referred to at length in the preceding part of this chapter. January 9, 1817 — John G. Comyges and associates were incorporated by the Territo- rial Legislature of Illinois, as the "President, Directors and Company of the Bank of Cairo," and authorized to build a city upon the lands entered by them. January 16, 1836— D. B. Holbrook, A. M. Jenkins, M. A. Gilbert and others were in- corporated by the Legislature of Illinois as the " Illinois Central Railroad Conjipany," authorizing the company to construct a rail - road, " commencing at or near the mouth of the Ohio River, and thence north, to a point on the Illinois River, at or near the termina- tion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal," with the privilege of extending the road from the Illinois River to Galena. February 27, 1837 — Act passed by the Legislature^^ of Illinois, " to establish and maintain a General System of Internal Im- provement," and "providing for a Board of Public Works," and directing and ordering the construction of a railroad from the city of Cairo, at or near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, to ^some point at or near the southern termination of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, via Vandalia, Shelbyvi lie, Decatur and Bloomington, thence via Savanna to Galena, and appropriating for the construction of said railroad the sum of $3,500,000. March 4, 1837— A. M. Jenkins, D. B. Hol- brook, M. A. Gilbert and others were incor- porated as the Caii"o City & Canal Company, and were authorized to purchase and sell land in Township 17 south. Range 1 west, in Alex- ander County, and to build a city thereon, to be called the city of Cairo. This act amended February, 1839. June 7, 1837— The Illinois Central Rail- road Company released and' gave back to the State the right to construct " a railroad, com- mencing at or near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and extending to Galena, conditional, however, that the said State of Illinois shall commence the con- struction of said railroad, within a reasonable time, from the city of Cairo." June 26, 1837 — An agi-eement entered into between the Illinois Central Railroad, by its | President, A. M. Jenkins, and the Cairo City HISTORY OF CAIRO. & Canal Company, by D. B. Holbrook, its President, that the railroad to be constructed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company " shall commence at such point or place in the city of Cairo, as the Cairo City & Canal Company may fix and direct." June 26, 1837— The Cairo City & Canal Company mortgaged its lands in Township 17 sovith, Eange 1 west, of the Third Principal Meridian, on a portion of which the city of Cairo had been platted and laid out, to the New York Life Insurance & Trust Company, as security for loans secured from English capitalists. February 1, 1840 — The act to establish and maintain a General System of Internal Improvements, passed February 27, 1837, was repealed by the Legislature, and the work on the Illinois Central Eailroad stopped; building a city here stopped, and, to complete Cairo's disasters, the company's banker in London failed, and the Cairo City & Canal Company were hopelessly bankrupt, and the nearly fifteen hundred people that had gathered here dispersed, and desolation brooded over the land. March 6, 1843 — The President and Direct- ors of the Cairo City & Canal Company were incorporated as the Great Western Railway Company, and authorized to construct a railroad, " commencing at the city of Cairo, in Alexander County, 111., and thence north, by way of Vandalia, Shelbyville, Decatur and Bloomington, to a point on the Illinois River at or near the termination of the Illinois & Michigan Canal," and to extend the main road to Galena. March 6, 1845 — The last above-mentioned act repealed by the Legislature. September 29, 1846— The bondholders, creditors and owners of the City of Cairo & Canal Company franchise, organized The Trust of the Cairo Property, and all the com- pany's property in Town 17 south. Range 1 west, was conveyed to Thomas TayJor, of Philadelphia, and Charles Davis, [of New York, as Trustees of the Cairo City Prop- erty. February 10, 1849— The President and Directors of the Cairo City & Canal Com- pany, with others, rechartered and rein- stated as the Great Western Railway Com- pany, with all the powers conferred by the act of March 6, 1843, and the Governor of the State authorized to hold in trust for the Great Western Railway Company whatever lands might be donated or thereafter secured to the State of Illinois b_y the General Gov- ernment to aid in the construction and com- pletion of the Illinois Central or the Great Western Railroad from Cairo to Chicago. December 24, 1849 — Release executed by the Cairo City & Canal Company to the State of Illinois, of the charter of the Great West- ern Railway Company, upon the condition that the State would build "within ten years from January 1, 1850, a railroad from Cairo to Chicago, and that the southern terminiis should be the city of Cairo. September 20, 1850 — An act of Congress, granting to the State of Illinois the alternate sections of land, for sixteen sections in width, on each side of the railroad and its branches, for the constiaiction of a railroad from the southern terminus of the Illinois & Michigan Canal to a point at or near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, with branches to Chicago and Galena. September 20, 1850 — Release by the Cairo City & Canal Company of the charter of the Great Western Railway Company to the State, and the acceptance of the same by the State of Illinois. February 10, 1851 — The act of incorpora- tion of the Illinois Central Railroad passed by the Legislature, and providing for the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 89 conveyance to Trustees the lands donated by the General Government to the State. June 11, 1851 — An agreement between the Illinois Central Railroad and the Trustees of the Cairo City Property, for the railroad to construct and maintain levees around the City of Cairo, in consideration of conveyance to the railroad company of certain lands in the city of Cairo, specifying the levees were to be about seven miles long, and to inclose, about thirteen hundi'ed acres of land on the point, September 15, 1853 — The city of Cairo was platted and laid out and recorded by the Cairo City Property, and the first lot sold to Peter Stapleton. October 15, 1853 — Deed executed by the Trustees of the Cairo City Property, to the Illinois Central Raikoad, for the land speci- fied in the agreement of the road to construct and maintain levees. May 31, 1855 — An additional agreement entered into between the Cairo City Property and the Central road, by which the road agreed to "construct and maintain new pro- tective embankment, to prevent the abrasion of the Mississippi levee." This agreement materially changed that of June 11, 1851. June 12, 1858 — This new embankment, constructed on the Mipsissippi River, gave way, and the city was inundated. October 12, 1858- The Illinois Central Railroad, having i-estored the levees to the condition they were in before the overflow, were informed that the reconstruction of the levees did not fulfill their agreement, and the road was notified to widen and strengthen the works to at least a width of twenty feet on the top of the levees, with a slope on each side of one foot perpendicular to five feet horizontal, and the entire levees to be raised two feet higher than the old levees. October 29, 1858 — Formal notice given by the Trustees of the Cairo City Property to the Illinois Central road, that, in conse- quence of the road's failure and refusal to strengthen the' levees, according to their con- tract, the Trustees would at once proceed to do the work and hold the railroad company responsible for the reimbursement of all costs of the same, with interest. October 1, 1863 — Mortgage executed, by the Trustees of Cairo City Property, toBiram Ketchum, Trustee, to all the property of the Trust of the Cairo City Property, as a secur- ity for a loan of $250,000. October 1, 1867 — An additional mortgage, by the same parties last above-named, upon the same property, for an additional loan of 150,000. July 18, 1872 — Suit commenced by the Cairo City Property against the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad, for $250,000, money expended by the city company upon the levees. The suit was compromised by the payment by the railroad of $80,000, and the conveying back by deed to the Cairo City Property, of 397 acres of the 487 acres that had been conveyed to the railroad, in consideration that the road would construct protective levees. By this settlement, the railroad was released from any further obligations in regard to the levees. May 10, 1876— The Cairo City Property, being unable to pay the loans negotiated in 1863 and 1867, the mortgages were fore- closed, and the property of the Trust sold to the bondholders under the mortgage. January 20, 1876 — A new Trust formed, called the Cairo City Trust Property, under which the property is now managed by S. Staats Taylor and Edwin Parsons, Trustees. The finale of all this is, there was much more legislation than city or railroads con- structed. It is an evidence that the way cities are built is not by cunning or strong 90 HISTORY OF CAIRO. legislative acts, but by strong, enterprising, busy men; not by powerful, speculative cor- porations, but by independent individuals; not by anticipating the incoming rush of the thousands who make it a metropolis, and dis- counting in advance the per capita profits of their coming, but by voluntary acts of each one, actinof in ignorance and unconcern of what the future is or may be of the place — the busy, enterprising men of small capital and vast energy. These are the broad and strong foundations of all great cities that have ever yet been built in this country. It is the antipodes, in everything of a movement to found a city, to be, when completed, the property of a chartered corporation. CHAPTER V. THE LEVEES— HOW THE TERRITORIAL LEGISLATURE BY LAW PLACED THE NATURAL TOWN SITE ABOVE OVERFLOWS— FIRST EFFORTS AT CONSTRUCTING LEVEES— ENGINEER'S REPORTS ON THE SAME— ESTIMATED HEIGHT AND COSTS— THE FLOODS— THE CITY OVERFLOWED —GREAT DISASTER, THE CAUSE* AND ITS EFFECTS— THE LEVEES ARE RECON- STRUCTED AND THEY DEFY THE GREATEST WATERS EVER KNOWN. IN the preceding chapter we have at- tempted to give a succinct account of the many charter and other corporation laws passed in reference to founding the city of Cairo, commencing with the first act of the Illinois Territorial Legislature, of June 9, 1818, and in chronological order tracing these acts down to date. Following this, in the natural order, would be a similar account of the construction of the city's levees, from the first little rude embankments of William Bird around his little trading house, to the present more than seven miles of the finest, and probably the most solid, protective em- bankments in the world. In the year 1828, John and Thompson Bird brought their slaves over from Missouri, and built an embankment around the hotel that then was the solitary building in Cairo; v^hich stood a short distance below the pres- ent Halliday House. It was a frame build- ing, about twenty-five by thirty-five feet in dimensions. This levee seems to have ful- filled its purposes well, and for years kept out the waters. The same partifes soon after erected another building, for a store, and as this was just outside the levee, it was perched on posts that were high enough to keep it from the raging waters. For the particulars of the next attempt to construct levees we are indebted to the now venerable Judge Miles A. Gilbert, of Ste. Mary's, Mo., who gives us his recollections of the acts and doings of the old City & Bank of Cairo Company. He says: " John C. Comyges, the master spirit of this enter- prise, had just perfected his plans to go over to Holland, and bring to Cairo a shipload of Dutch laborers, to build the dykes or levees ai-ound the city, when he was taken sick and soon died, when the other incorporators, becoming discouraged, the enterprise was finally abandoned. In those days (1818), the public lands wei-e purchased from the Gov- ernment, under a credit system of $2 per acre — 50 cents in cash paid, and $1.50 on time. If the $1.50 was not promptly paid at maturity, the land reverted to the Govern- ment, and the 50 cents per acre paid was forfeited, and the land became again subject HISTORY OF CAIRO. 91 to entry. In 18B5, Judge Sidney Breese, Miles A. Gilbert and Thomas Swanwick re- entered these lands, the object being to revive the old charter of the City & Bank of Cairo Company, of 1818, w^hich had not yet expired by limitation of its charter. In order to gain influence to effect this purpose, Miles A. Gil- bert and Thomas Swanwick sold an undivided interest to Hon. David J. Baker, Hon. Elias K. Kane, Pierre Mesnard and Darius B. Hol- brook. " [Then follows an account of the chartering of the original Illinois Central Railroad, and the Internal Improvement Sys- tem, and the final release of the railroad charter to the State. For particulars see pre- ceding chapter. — En.] " Judge Gilbert in- forms us that one of the conditions of the Central's release to the State was, the State should build a road upon the proposed line and establish a depot in the city limits, and the city company was to deed the railroad ten acres of land for depot purposes, which deed was duly made. "In 1838, D. B. Holbrook, the President of the Cairo City & Canal Company, went to England and negotiated a loan or hypotheca- tion of the company's bonds, to the amount of 155,800 pounds sterling. On his return, he revived and organized the Cairo City Bank, which was, as required by law, for the time being, located at Kaskaskia, when work was commenced at Cairo upon a large and extravagant scale. Anthony Olney was ap- pointed General Superintendent. A large force was set to work, building the levees around the city. " Foundries, machine shops, workshops, boarding-houses and dwellings went up as if by magic. But in the midst of this general and cheerful prosperity, the banking-house of Wright &Co., of London, failed. The im- mediate cause of the suspension at Cairo was the failure of Wright & Co. to meet the drafts then drawn on them by the Cairo City & Canal Company, and that were on their way to England. Had the failure been post- poned sixty days longer, and the existing drafts been honored, the Cairo Company could have met all its contracts thereafter incui-red, by a little prudence, and the com- pany have been made self-sustaining. D. B. Holbrook made every effort in his power to raise means to pay and secure those whom the company owed at Cairo, but distrust had seized every one, and the result was the com- pany, bank, and all woi'k suspended. Fol- lowing this, recklessness and mob law reigned supreme" — idleness, rioting, de- moralization and drunkenness held sway, and the seething, roaring mob were as a den of mixed wild beasts, where only the fierce and bloodthirsty passions were manifested or to be met. Here was the rapidly gathered together young city, of about two thousand people, plain laborers mostly, many skilled mechanics, boarding-house keepers, engineers, merchants, traders, contractors, and the women and children. Their incipient city fringed along the banks of the Ohio Kiver, where the great old forest trees had been felled along the edges of the river bank to make room for this little border of mosaic work of civilization in the far West. The young town was in all its bewildering new- ness and freshness — that unfinished confusion on a fresh bank of earth here, a ditch there; a rough, stumpy, newly blazed road or trail, hardly yet cut by its first wagon tracks, lead- ing nowhere; newly-built houses dotted here and there as though dropped at random from the skies, without reference to their ever tak- ing their positions in streets or regularity, so new, too, were they, that a blanket, a piece of cai'pet or a quilt did duty for a door, and upon every hand were other still newer houses in every stage of building, from the few half- 92 HISTORY or CAIRO. hewn logs that lay scattered over the ground and obstructing the passage-ways, to those with the new board roof being nailed on; workshops, boarding-houses, hotels, foun- dries, in short, a great city was almost magically being built in the wild forests, and simultaneously a great railroad was being built in the city, and happy and busy men were working out this apparently inex- tricable confusion, and bringing order and symmetry out of disorder, when the crash came, and hope and confidence fled from the people; all labor instantly ceased, and whole families swarmed from their homes, cabins and tents, after the fashion of angry bees when a stick is thrust into their hive. Hol- brook's fair promises were scouted, the law of the land ridiculed, and pell-mell the mob commenced an indiscriminate sacking of all public or city company property. They mostly must have found but little comfort in this, as there was little or nothing that could be converted to private use that would be of any value, and hence the robberies or appro- priations must often have been after the fashion of the soldier, who started on the march to Georgia, and the first day out dis- covered the highways and the by-ways, the fields and the woods were full of bummers, who were stealing everything as they went. Piqued at his being behind ^the early birds, he looked about him for something to steal, when the only thing he could find left was a plow. This he shouldered, and in happiness resumed his march. After tugging in sore agony and distress under his load of loot for a few miles, he overhauled his elder patriotic brother, stranded by the wayside from a grindstone that he had appropriated a few miles back. These two patriots, as it is right and proper they should be, are now on the penson list, for permanent disability — not for wounds received in battle, but for strains in transporting from the Southern Confeder- acy the sinews of war. Mr. Anthony Olney, the Superintendent, attempted to stay the storm and protect the property, but soon saw how futile his efforts were, and he quit serious efforts in that di- rection. He died a short time after this. Soon those to whom the Cairo City & Canal Company was indebted began to make efforts to collect their money by law. They attached everything they could find belonging to the company, which was sold at public sale for a mere trifle. For nearly two years the place was abandoned by all the repre- sentatives of the company, and the mob and the officers of the laws had effectually dis- posed of all the company's property. In 1838, just previous to the commence- ment of the improvements noted above, the city company issued the following circular: " The President of the Cairo City & Canal Company, having made arrangements in England for the funds requisite to carry on their contemplated improvements in the city of Cairo, upon the most extensive and liberal scale, it is now deemed proper to ""give pub- licity to the objects, plans and other matters connected with this great work, in order that every one who feels an interest or has pride in the success of this magnificent public enter- prise, may properly understand and appre- ciate the motives and designs of the project- ors. " The company, from the commencement determined to withhold fi'om sale, at any price, the corporate property of the city, un- til it should be made manifest to the most doubting and skeptical, the perfect practica- bility of making the site of the city of Cairo habitable. This being now fully established, by the report of the distinguished engineers, Messrs. Strickland & Taylor, of Pennsyl- vania, and also by that of the principal en- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 93 gineers of the State works of Illinois, the company are (?) proceeding in the execution of their (?) plans, as set forth in their pros pectus, viz.: To make the levees, streets and embankments of the city; to erect ware- houses, stores and shops convenient for every branch of commercial business; dry docks; also buildings adapted for every useful me- chanical an manufacturing purpose, and dwelling-houses of such cost and description as will suit the taste and means of every citizen — which course has been adopted as the most certain to secure the destined popu- lation of Cairo, within the least possible time. The company, however, wish it fully understood, that it is far from their desire or intention to monopolize, or engage in any of the various objects of enterprise, trade or business which must of necessity spring up and be carried on with great and singular success in this city; it being their governing motive to offer every reasonable and proper encouragement to the enterprising and skill- ful artisan, manufacturer, merchant and pro- fessional man to identify his interests with the growth and prosperity of the city. When the company makes sales or leases of prop- erty, it will be on such liberal terms as no other town or city can offer, possessing like advantages for the acquisition of that essen- tial means of human happiness — wealth. The President of the company is fully em- powered, whenever he shall deem it expedi- ent, to sell or lease the property, and other- wise to represent the general interests and affairs of the company." This proclamation was the work of the President, Holbrook, and it was the aims, hopes, ambitions and intentions of the cpm- pany, as he was willing and eager for all the world to see and know them. In this mani- festo, Mr. Holbrook feels constrained, in the name of the company, to say, " that it is far from their desire or intention to monopolize or engage in any of the various objects of enterprise, trade or business, Avhich must of necessity spring up, etc." It was only after the calamitous crash came that people re- membered there had been anything really said in the President's circular except that " the President of the Cairo City & Canal Company, having made arrangements in England for the funds requisite to carry out their contemplated improvements in the city of Cairo, ii.pon the most extensive and liberal scale, etc." The subject of "funds" was all that caught the eye of the hopeful comer to Cairo, and the liberal and extensive works of buildino- the foundations of the city, that caused the money to pour out to the people in a golden stream, were abilndant evidences to all the world that the company had not only got the money, but were honestly putting it to the purposes for which they said " they had secured it " in their circular. But in the great financial wreck, that carried down such a wide circle of public and private enter- prises, and that came like a clap of thunder from a clouldess sky, the larger portion of the laborers that suffered from the visitation looked no further for the source of their woe than to Holbrook and his circular. And no doubt that here was the origin of the distrust of this man and his schemes, that eventually widely spread, and entered deeply into the minds of men all over our country, even to that extent that his usefulness ceased, and he returned to his Boston home to retire- ment from his struggles, to privacy and death. When Holbrook got the money from Eng- land, he put his engineers at once to work to ascertain the wants of the town site in the way of protective embankments from the waters of the two rivers that laved the three 94 HISTORY OF CAIRO. sides of its shores, and when they reported, he put 1,500 laborers upon this work, which he was pushing vigorously when the crash came. The levees along the two rivers had been regularly made and joined together at the southern extremity, but the cross levee on the north, to connect the two levees on the shores, and thus encircling the entire city, had not been constructed, and thus, practically, all the work completed was of little or no value without the completion of the north cross-levee. As stated above, the Cairo City & Canal Company, and their Superintendent, Mr, Olney, had abandoned the town and their property, and, eventually, so did nearly all the '2,000 people that had gathered here, and so complete was this exodus that it is stated less than fifty of them permanently re- mained. These seem to have been an easy, devil-may-care class of men, who found themselves the happy possessors, and for all purposes of use and occupation, the owners of a great young city, or the half -finished ground-plans thereof. The sudden coming together of what all the world thought to be a young and prom- ising great city was equaled (»nly by its sud- den, alm'>st complete desertion when the storm of adversity broke upon it. The completed improvements in the town were the iron works of Bellews, Hathaway & Gilbert, which were supplied with the best English machinery, which were in full oper- ation, and turning out much valuable prod- ucts. This institution continued its busi- ness, running its machinery to its full capac-, ity until the 22d of March, 1842, when the floods of that year, owing to the unfinished condition of the levees, washed it away. This flood at the same time swept away the dry dock, which had been erected at a cost of over 135,000, when it was seized by credit- ors, taken to New Orleans and sold. The City Company had made a large addition to the Cairo Hotel, which was thronged with guests at all times, many of them being tourists, attracted here by the wide name and fame of Cairo. Two large saw mills were turning out building lumber and steamboat timbers. A three-story planing mill was running to its fullest capacity. This was situated on the corner of Eighth street and the Ohio levee. The sieamer Asia and the hull of the steamer Peru had been moored in front of the city, and were made into wharf- boats and hotels. Holbrook had erected a spacious and elegant residence on the spot now occupied by the Halliday House. The company had erected twenty neat and com- modious cottages during the season of 1841. Then the numerous shanties, cabins and pole-huts, together with the unfinished levees and an unfinished railroad, were the heirlooms that became the possessions of the happy-go- lucky fifty people that remained here amid the general wreck and ruin. In April, 1843, Miles A. Gilbert was ap- pointed Agent of the Cairo City & Canal Company, to take possession, care and gen- eral control of its property in the city. The condition in which he found matters upon his arrival here, the mood and temper and claims of the peopte, the lawless spirit of the mob, and their primitive notions of the vested rights to everything that their occupancy had given them, the episodes Mr. Gilbert en- countered, that drove him to that " last re- sort of nations," a">'e fully told in the bio- graphical sketch of hina in another part of this work. As soon as Mr. Gilbert had vindicated his right to the possession and conti'ol of the property, he j)ut a force of laborers at work constructing the cross- levee, from the Ohio to the Mississippi levee, and this was com- HISTOKY OF CAIRO. 95 pleted during the year 1843. He also re- paired, strengthened, raised and leveled the old levees running along the river banks. The levees, as now completed, inclosed about six hundred acres of ground. Their average height above the natural surface of the land was between seven and eight feet. Their efficacy as embankments to keep out the waters is well told in the following ^rom Mr. Miles A. Gilbert: " They kept out the great flood in the Missisippi of June, 1844. Cairo was the only dry spot in the river bot- toms to be found between St. Louis and New Orleans. That season, 1 had a field of corn, of many acres, planted inside the Cairo levee, which grew to maturity and ripened into a good crop, although the water sur- rounding the city was about eight feet higher than the surface of the corn-field." The flood in the Mississippi Biver of the spring of 1844 was historical, aad remains to this day, as marking the extreme height to which the waters of that river have attained since its discovery. The writer remembers standing upon the high bluffs opposite St. Louis, when the waters of the river stretched from the base of the hills like a great sea, and as he looked west over the expanse of waters, could see no dry land except Monk's Mound, which was covered with domestic animals. From Alton to New Orleans, the river extended from the hills on one side to the hills on the opposite side, and probably averaged in width between fifteen and twenty miles. The destruction of human life, the devastation of property, in all this strip of wide country, for twelve hundred miles, was appalling. Houses, fences and buildings of all kinds were washed away, and a wide track of desolation marked the whole course of the river— -except within the levee of the city of Cairo. Here, Miles A. Gil- bert's field of corn was vigorously pushing up its heads, to look and smile, perhaps, upon the angry fljod that suri'ouuded it. What a triumph for the young city, to fol- low, as it did, so closely in time upon the tracks of the financial disaster that had swept over it, and against which no levees or em- bankments could protect it! What a laurel wreath it was for Miles A. Gilbert and his co-laborers in their heroic determination to overcome all obstacles, and build a city here! From the hour that Mr. Gilbert finished and inclosed the city with a levee, there has come to the town no disaster from the high waters in the Mississippi River; and yet the highest floods ever known in that river came while the levees were so con- structed and finished by Mr. Gilbert, and before they had been raised to their present height, which is an average of about twelve feet above the surface of the ground all around the city, or, in other words, five feet in height had been added to the original levees. It is a well-established fact that even the first levees built here would have been an abundant protection from any waters in the Mississippi Kiver. While this wonderful river, in its onward surge to the sea, defies and baffles the puny arm of man to guide, check or control it, yet nature has so arranged the topography oE the country, thiough which the river runs between this point and St. Louis, that its greatest floods can do no harm at Cairo. At Grand Chain, the river has cut its bed down through the solid rocks many hundreds of feet, and the great, water-seamed cliffs stand facing each other, forming the narrowest point, and the highest perpendicular rocky bluffs on either side of any other place in^ the Lower Mississippi. This aarrow gorge holds back the water above, and allows it only to pass through in such quantities, that the wide bottoms that 96 HISTORY OF CAIRO. commence here take them ofif as fast as they can come. "While this is true of the Mississippi River, it is not the ease with the Ohio River. The same Grand Chain crosses the Ohio, and passes into Kentucky a few miles above here; yet the river channel has not been so con- fined by steep, rocky shores, but, upon the contrary, there is quite a sufficient space for the waters in uninterrupted ^volume, even at the highest stages. But recent experiences teach there has been a materia] change in the frequency and force of the high waters, especially in the Ohio River. The great freshets in the Mississippi are usually known as the " June rise," and generally come from the melting snows in the Rocky Mountain regions, while the Ohio River is almost wholly influenced by long- continued heavy rains in the Mississippi Valley. Since 1860, the drainage of the en- tire agricultural country in the Valley has been greatly increased, until lagoons and marshes and ponds that ouce held the rain- fall, and allowed it to pass off only by evaporation, are now dry and well-tilled farms. So wide and thorough has general drainage been inaugurated, in surface, and subsoil and tile drainage, that it must greatly affect the gathering of the waters to the large rivers, and is, no doubt, one of the large factoi's in producing the change that has taken place in the annual freshets in our rivers. Still another alleged influence is the clearing out of the forests all over the counti*y,and thus taking from the atmosphere and the soil one large source of gathering and holding back the waters. But this last theory is somewhat fuddled by the often- advanced philosophical idea that the cutting away of the forests re- duces the rainfall, and hence the great droughts which so severely afflict the country at now frequent intervals- One or the other. perhaps both, of these theories are false, yet there is one thing well established, namely, that a heavily- timbered country always be- speaks a large rainfall there, while the treeless desert as certainly tells of a cloudless sky and no rainfall. So, if the trees do not pro- duce an increase in the rain, the rain cer- tainly does increase the tree growth. When Miles F. Gilbert had completed his levees around the city of Cairo, in 1843, he had walled the waters out, and fenced in the ragged squad of fifty men, women and chil- dren that constituted the population of the forlorn city. This tattered remnant of peo- ple had taken and held possession of the houses, and the first choice of hut, shanty, cottage, Holbrook's handsome i-esidence, or mill, or factory, was to the swift of foot, who, when the exodus commenced, could get there first, and acquire ownership by possession. They evidently looked upon Mr. Gilbert with some distrust and ill-will, as he was " not regular" in this; he claimed there were yet property rights here of the Cairo & Canal Company, and he further believed in the majesty and supremacy of the law of the land. Be gave his time and labored faith- fully, never, for a moment, so doubting his eyes and senses as to lose faith in the future great destiny of Cairo. From 1843 to 1851 did he continue thus to " hold the fort, " and protect the town and build up its inter- ests. In those eight long years of decay and dilapidation, the population increased only from 50 to 200 souls. Except for the efforts of Mr. Gilbert, there was an interreg- num here, and a prostration of the hopes of the town quite as profound as was the finan- cial and commercial panic in the country generally. And all over the West this pros- tration lasted until the passage by Congress of the bill for the building of the Illinois Central Railroad, in February, 1851. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 99 April 15, 1851, S. Staats Taylor succeeded M. A. Gilbert, as Agent of the Trustees of the Cairo City Property. At that time, only about fifty acres, along the Ohio River, near its confluence with the Mississippi River were cleared. The rest of the gi'ounds were mostly covered with a dense growth of tim- ber. The buildings and other improvements made by the city company, from 1837 to 1842, had nearly all fallen and decayed, or been removed. Only a few buildings re- mained, and they were in a tumble-down condition. The Central Railroad had made arrangements to commence the construction of its road, and desiring privileges within the city of Cairo, and the right of way from the north to the south limits of the town, on June 11, 1851, Thomas S. Taylor and Charles Davis, the Trustees, living in New "Sork, entered into a contract with the rail- road company to construct and maintain levees around the city. The consideration paid the railroad, in addition to the right of way through the city, was 487 acres of land, this land mostly on each side of the track and the levees around the city, with certain tracts extending to the rivers on each side of the city. This agreement provided that the railroad company should encompass the city with a levee or embankment of adequate height to exclude the waters of the rivers at any then known stage or rise of the same; that this embankment or levee should be so formed or graded as to furnish a street or roadway, as nearly level, transversely, as might be deemed proper, of not less than eighty feet in width, and, beyond the street or roadway, to slope toward the river, on a descent of one foot in five, to the natm-al surface of the land, which [slope was to have been continued toward the river, to low water mark. As this agreement and contract was event- ually the most important to the city com- pany, to the town and to the railroad, and led finally to misunderstandings and lawsuits between the two companies, and to much dis- cussion and disputes among property holders in the city, and as they have never been properly understood by the many interested therein, we give them here entire, together with the correspondence arising therefrom between the railroad, the city company and the property holders: " AGREEMENT. " The Illinois Central Railroad Company, with the Trustees of the Cairo City Property. June 11, 1851. " Memorandum of an agreement made pro- visionally, this 11th day of June, 1851, be- tween Thomas S. Taylor and Charles Davis, of the first part, and the Illinois Central Railroad Company of the second part. "1. It is hereby mutually agreed, that proper deeds, conveyances and instruments necessary to secure the performance of this agreement, shall be executed by the respect-, ive parties hereto, when prepared in due form of law and with accurate descriptions. " 2. It is also agreed, that the site of Cairo City, substantially as shown on a map thereof made by H. C. Long, dated June, 1851, and annexed hereto, 'shall be estab- lished by the parties of the first part, and maintained by them against the abrasion and wear of the waters of the rivers, and that all the constructions, of whatever nature, for the purposes of forming, maintaining and pro- tecting the site of the city, shall be made by and at the cost of the parties of the fii'st part. " 3. It is agreed, that this site shall be encompassed entirely by a levee or embank- ment of adequate height to exclude the waters of the rivers at any stage or rise of the same now known, to be established, for 6 100 HISTORY or CAIRO. the purposes of this agreement, by the en- gineers of both parties, which shall be so formed and graded as to furnish a street or roadway as nearly level, transversely, as may be deemed proper, of not less than eighty feet in width, and, beyond the width adopted for the level street or roadway, to slope toward the rivers, on a descent of one foot in five, to the natural surface of the land — which slope is to be continued toward the river, to a point to be selected by the en- gineers at low water mark; but a level sur- face (transversely) may be introduced between the slope of the levee or embankment and the slope down to the low water mark, in case the width of the bank between the water and the levee should make it necessary or expedi- ent, and it should be so arranged by the en- gineers of both parties. All of which em- bankment, or levee, or slopes, and inter- mediate level, if any there be, shall be made, formed and graded by and at the cost of the parties of the second part. " 4. It is agreed, that the location of the levee or embankment shall be such as will supply, from the excavation and removal of the earth forming the slope to the low water mark, all the earth necessary for the forma- tion, grading and construction of the levee or embankment, with only such variations in the places as the engineers of both parties may agree upon as absolutely necessary. " 5. It is agreed, that when the levee street is formed and graded, of a width of not less than eighty feet on top, and the slope of the levee wharf formed and graded, that the same shall be considered as com- pleted under this agreement, and that no further protection or construction, such as paving, planking, etc., shall be required of the parties of the second part; but all re- pairs, works or constructions which may thereafter become essential or necessary for the preservation, maintenance and repair of the levee or embankment shall be made by and at the cost of the parties of the second part; and such as may be essential and neces- sary for the preservation, maintenance and repair of the level in front of the levee or em- bankment, and of the slopes or levee-wharf, shall be made by and at the cost of the parties of the first part, except in front of those parcels of land to be appropriated to the parties of the second part, extending to and into the waters of the rivers, where the level, slopes or levee- wharf shall be maintained and re- paired by and at the cost of the parties of the second part, but not so far as to dis- charge the parties of the first part from the agreement to establish and maintain the site of the city No. 2. " 6. It is agreed, that the parties of the second part may, whenever they may see fit, lay down, construct and operate a single or double line of rails, of such form or rail, gauge and manner of construction as they may deem judicious, upon or along the levee or embankment or any part thereof; and may use the same for the transportation of passengers, goodf and merchandise, by steam or other power — subject only to such reason- able and just rules and regulations, as to the use of their tracts, as may be made and inaposed by the proper authorities of Cairo City for the time being, but no rules or reg- ulations shall be imposed, or if imposed need be respected, which, in elfect, would essentially effectually impair or entirely de- stroy its right of constructing and operating the tracks on the levee or embankment. " 7. It is agreed, that cross-levees or em- bankments shall be made and maintained by and at the cost of the parties of the second part, of adequate height and width for the purposes proposed for them, which shall cross from the levee or embankment on the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 101 Mississippi to that on the Ohio, one of them on and upon the strip of land marked on the map A, and the other on the strip of land at the northern boundary of the city, marked B; but no public streets or highways are to be laid out upon these levees or embank- ments, except to cross the same nearly or exactly at right angles; and the tracks and rails laid thereon are not to be subject to any rules or regulations other than those which are imposed upon the parties of the second part by their act of incorporation and the laws of the land. " 8. It is agreed, that the parties of the second part shall proceed with due diligence in the construction of the crosslevee or em- bankment on the lower strijD marked A, and of the levee or embankment below the same, and entirely around the point of the city, at the confluence of the rivers, as shown on the map; but that they may postpone to such time as they may deem reasonable and proper, the construction of the cross-levee or embankment on the upper strip of land, marked B, and the levees or embankments to connect with those previously constructed on the lower portion of the city. "9. It is agreed, that the parties of the second part may locate their railroad ^from the northern line of Cairo City, upon the line of the width of roadway [shown on the annexed map, being 100 feet, to a point to be established and fixed by the engineers of the two parties, in the northern line of the cross strip of land, marked A on the annexed map, and below and south of that point on and over all the land colored blue on said map, to be surveyed and described by metes and bounds; and also on and over all the lands colored blue on the annexed map, above the northerly line of the strip marked A, on each river to the northerly line of the city; and also on and over the strip of land marked B, including in the preceding de- scription the station lots, depot grounds and levee wharves shown on the said map. " 10. It is agreed, that when the above location shall have been made according to law, that the deeds of release and cession shall be made, executed and delivered by the parties of the first part, to the parties of the second part, in the consideration of the agree- ment on their part for the construction and maintenance of the levees, embankments and slopes above described, of all the lauds and premises to Avhich reference has heretofore been made, and which are to be particularly surveyed and accurately located and de- scribed, to hold the same absolutely in fee simple, for the uses and purposes of the said railroad and its business, and for the trans- portation of passengers, goods and merchan- dise and the station accommodations, storage, receipt, delivery and safe keeping of the same, and for the machine and repair shops, engine and car houses, turn-tables, water tanks, and generally for all the wants and requirements of the railroad service, so long as the said parties of the second part shall continue to use, occupy and operate the same for the pui-poses above intended. "11. It is agreed, that the parties of the second part may lay down, maintain and operate their lines of tracks and rails, upon the above-described lands, in such manner and form as they may deem proper; and may use thereon steam, or other power of any kind, subject only to the general liabilities of land-owners as to the use of their property, but exempt from any special rules or obliga- tions imposed or attempted to be imposed by the parties of the first part, or any and every grantees or grantee of the Cairo City Proper- ty. " 12. It is agreed, that the tracks or lines of rails of the parties of the second part, 102 HISTORY or CAIRO. to be laid down on the strip of land, of 100 feet in width, running entirely around the city, shall be laid, as nearly as may be, at and under each street crossing, upon the natm-al level or grade of the land, in order to gain as much elevation as possible under the bridges to bo erected by the parties of the first part, and each at every street cross- ing, but the grade may vary from the natural surface at all other points, as the parties of the second part may see tit. "13. It is agreed, that the cross streets are to be located by the parties of the first part, across and over the strip of land men- tioned in the preceding article, with a spare of at least 400 feet between them; and are to be graduated so as to cross the strip of land on bridges, with at least sixteen feet above the rails of the parties of the second part, for the passage of engines, and that no crossing shall be laid out to ci'oss the tracks in any other way 'than with sufficient space below it for the passage of engines, and that no crossing through or upon any of the sta- tion or depot lands. " 14. It is agreed, that the parties of the first part are to build and maintain all the bridges or street crossings, at their ex- pense and cost, and that the parties of the second part az'e to drain and protect the strip of land above-mentioned, by sewers, drains, culverts and fences, at their expense and costs. " 15. It is agreed, that the parties of the second part shall release and convey to the parties of the first part, all their right, title and interest of, in and to a certain depot lot in the city of Cairo, containing ten acres of land, conveyed to them by the State of Illinois by deed dated the 24th day of March, 1851, and also of, in and to all the roadway of the railroad heretofore located in the city of Cairo and also conveyed to them by the above-mentioned indenture, so far as the same may not be included within the boundaries of the lands and premises, which are intended to bo conveyed to the parties of the second part, under this agi'ee- ment. " 16. Finally, it is agreed, that in case of the necessity of any further covenants or arrangements, to carry out the pui'poses of this agreement, or explanatory of the same, but not essentially to impair or mod- ify the same, that both parties will proceed to adjust and execute the same, in the full spirit of mutual confidence in which this agi'eement has been negotiated and settled, and that in the event of any misunderstand- ing or disagreement of any kind, or in any way connected with this agreement, its pur- poses and objects, that the points of disagree- ment and dispute shall be reduced to writ- ing, and in that form submitted to the arbit- rament and decision of thi'ee referees, to be chosen in the usual manner." • This agreement was duly signed by Robert Schuyler, President of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and by T. S. Taylor and Charles Davis, Trustees of the Cairo City Property. In addition to the foregoing vast consider- ation of lands and privileges granted to the Illinois Central Railroad Company, 5,000 shares of the Cairo City stock were conveyed to the order of the Directors of that com- pany, by the Trustees of the Cairo City Prop- erty, as appears by the following extract from a circular published by them in Novem- ber, 1854, for the information of the share- holders, and of all others interested, or wish- ing to become interested therein: "In the year 1851, the Trustees made the most advantageous arrangements for the property, by which they secured the con- struction of the Illinois Central Railroad, HISTORY OF CAIRO. 103 from Cairo, as its southern terminus, to Chicago and Galena; and by which they also secured the completion of the levees of the most permanent character, and inclosing the whole site of Cairo, by the said Illinois Central Railroad Company, and at its ex- pense. These arrangements were perfected by the Trustees, by an authorized expend- iture or issue of 5,000 new shares in the 'Cairo City Property,' and by donations of the land at Cairo needed for railroad and other purposes." On May 31, 1855, the following additional memorandum of an agreement was made and entered into between Thomas S. Taylor, of the city of Philadelphia, and Charles Davis, of the city of New York, Trustees of the Cairo City Property, of the first part, and the Illi- nois Central Railroad Company of the second part: " Whereas, the said parties did, on the 11th day of June, 1851, make and enter into % certain agreement with each other, relative to the 'deeding and conveying certain prop- erty at Cairo, by the said first to the said second party, and in consideration thereof for the construction of certain levees and woi'ks, for the protection of the said city of Cairo from the waters of the Ohio and Mis- sissippi Rivers, by the said party of the second part; and " Whereas, the said deed and conveyances have been executed, delivered and accepted, and a part of the levee to be constructed, on the Ohio River, had been begun and partly completed, and in other respects said con- tract remains to be executed; and " Whereas, for the purpose of obviating misunderstanding, as well as because re- monstrances seem to render it expedient, it has been deemed best to modify the said con- tract in one or two particulars, as well as to render more clear its meaning in others; now, therefore, " This Indenture ivitnesseth, That, for the consideration named in said agi'eement, and in consideration of the premises, and of $1 by each of the parties hereto paid to the others, the receipt whereof is mutually con- fessed, it is agreed by the said parties as fol- lows, to wit: ''^ First. The said second party agrees that the levee on the Ohio River, now under con- struction, shall be completed to low water mark, which has been designated and fixed by the engineers of both parties, at a point forty -two feet below the grade line of the levees, as soon as the condition of the river will permit, and the paving in front of the lots of land conveyed by the first parties to the said second parties, under the agreement of the 11th of June, required to be done by the parties of the second part before men- tioned, shall be prosecuted and completed by the second parties with all convenient dis- patch; and the first parties shall, in like manner, prosecute and complete the pave- ment in front of the remainder of the said levee, when completed as above. " Second. The said first party agrees, that the completion of the remaining parts of the levee agreed upon and described in the said agreement of June 11, and the constiniction of which was therein undertaken by the said second parties, as is herein agreed, but Id no way modifying the said original agreement in this respect, except as to the time of con- structing and completing said levees, and that upon the condition of the construction of protective embankments, as hereinafter agreed. " Third. The said party of the second part agree to maintain in good repair the protec- tive embankment, now existing, from the 104 HISTORY OF CAIRO. point of the confluence of the Rivers Ohio and Mississippi to the old cross embankment, to the height of the newlj- constructed levee on the Ohio River, except so far as the engineers of both parties shall deem it advisable to deviate fi'om the present course of the same; and in case it shall be deemed advisable to deviate from it at any point, the , new em- bankment required to be constructed by the said direction shall be constructed and main- tained by the said party of the second part, to the same height and in the same manner as tliey are required to maintain the present embankment. " The said second party shall and will also construct and maintain a new protective em- bankment upon the Mississippi River, from a point at the westerly end of the old cross embankment, to be fixed by the engineers of both parties, upon a location to be determined by said engineers, to connect with the track of the Illinois Central Railroad, at or near the strip of land marked 'A' upon the ndap or plan fixed to said agreement of the 11th of June, A. D. 1851; and the mark to be re- quired for the construction and repair of the embankments herein mentioned, shall be com- pleted before the 1st day of December next. " Fourth. The embankments above pro- vided, but which are only provisional and temporary, substituted for the levees agreed to be constructed by the said second parties, shall be maintained and kept in repair by the said party of the second part, until the levee-: by them agreed to be constructed shall be built in the manner and form as prefaced in the said agreement of 11th June, 1851. And the said second parties agree to construct and complete the said levees as fast as ^the business of the Illinois Central Railroad i-e- quires the extension of the track over and upon any portion of the bank of the Missis- sippi River, which is to be protected by such embankment, whether upon the levee or on the inner track, and. shall in like ^manner construct a similar levee or levees, upon the banks of the Ohio, between the land by the strip marked 'A' upon the said map or plan, and the levee already constructed upon the bank of said river, as the business of the city of Cairo shall require it, and the parties of the first part, or their successors, shall re- quire it to be done. ******* ^^ Eighth. The parties of the second part shall examine the Mississippi bank, on the tract of land conveyed to them for a station, and take all necessary steps to protect the same from further abrasion until the con- struction of the permanent levee?, according to the said agreement of the 11th June, 1851, at their own expense. " They shall, in like manner, examine and protect the point of the Mississippi Jliver, where the abrasion has affected the old em- bankment, and do what is necessary to pro- tect it for the same period, at their own ex- pense. " They shall also survey the Mississippi River banks opposite the point nearest the Cache River, and shall do at their ex- pense, what is in the report of the smweyors necessary to protect the same from further abrasion or inroads; provided such work shall not exceed in expense the sum of $20,000; and provided also, all the work herein pro- vided for, as well as the said provisional temporary embankment, shall be constructed under the joint superintendence of the en- gineers of the two parties, and be proceeded with as early as practicable." This agreement concludes by specifying that the original agreement is to remain in full force, except where modified by this. It is then duly signed and acknowledged by W. H. Osborn, President of the Illinois HISTORY OF CAIRO. lOo Central Eailroad, and by the Cairo City Property. There were many causes occurring, be- tween the dates of this first and second agreement, that led, finally, to the adoption of the additional and explanatory second agreement between the two interested par- ties, the leading ones of which are yet the un- written though important part of the city's history. In accordance with the terms of the first agreement of 1851, the Illinois Central Eail- road, in a short time after the adoption of the articles, proceeded about the woi'k of making new levees, and to construct these ac- cording to the terms of the contract. In order to the better understanding of the work done by the road, it is proper to ex- plain that the levees, as completed under the supervision of Miles A. Gilbert, were constructed near the banks of the two rivers, ai-d circling and coming together at the south upon the line now occupied by the levee. The north cross-levee was upon a ridge of ground commencing near the present Illinois Central Railroad stone depot (about Tenth street), and running directly west to the Mis- sissippi River, inclosing about six hundred acres. By the contract with the Central road, the north cross- levee was to be ex- tended, or cai-ried north, so that the levees would inclose about thirteen h,undred acres of ground, or to the position substantially as cow constructed. The new levees along the rivers were lo- cated inside the old levees, and, where prac- ticable, their dirt was used on the new ones. The President and Directors of the Illinois Central Railroad Company were, unques- tionably, in good faith anxious to fulfill their contract; construct strong and really protect- ive levees; stop the abrasion of the natural bank on the Mississippi side, and further the interest of their road and the city, and help build a great city here. But their work upon the levees soon began to drag; to meet un- accountable obstructions; to work at loose pm-poses, and often to assume the appear- ances of undoing good work that had been before done, and tearing down instead of building up. This inexplicable coui-se of circomstances would often menace the very existence of the city; greatly astound and exasperate the Cairo City Property, as well as the President and Directors of the Central road. The secret of these studied wrongs that so greatly injured the city, and from the evil effects of some of them it has hardly re- covered yet, was this: The Chief Engineer of the Central Railroad — a man named Ash- ley — and it is alleged other officers, and among them R. B. Mason, the Superintend- ent, had conceived a daring scheme of specu- lation, whereby they purchased a great deal of real estate in and around Mound City, and in order to make this valuable they un- dertook to destroy Cairo, and thereby make Mound City the actual terminal point of the road. And Engineer Ashley evidently an- ticipated that his official position in con- trolling the work in Cairo would enable him to carry out this purpose. That such was their cunning scheme, which Ashley boldly attempted, is strongly evi- denced by this incident, as well as many others that occurred in the year 1854, as follows: A contractor upon the levee work, named Dutcher, brought on a force of six hundred or more laborers to work on the road and levees, and commenced to cut down the old levees, and, as he stated, for the purpose of erecting the new ones. But the new ones were left with great gaps, and often there were long stretches where there were no ap- 106 HISTORY OF CAIRO. pearance of new embankments going up. In the meantime, the high waters began to come down the rivers, and the agent of the Cairo City Property began to realize that Dntcher was exposing the city. He said all he could to change the course of the work, but Dutcher would only promise and do noth- ing. When it became plain something must be done quickly, Mr. Taylor employed 300 men to work at night, and bank off ,the ris- ing waters, where the levees had been cut down. They would go to work in the even- ing, when Dutchei''8 men would quit work. After this had gone on two or three nights, Mr. Dutch er claimed the city company were interfering with his work, and he abandoned his contract, and turned adrift his force of 600 men, all of whom, of course, were given to understand that the city company had brought about the troubles. On the third night, when the night laborers repaired to their work — the waters every moment now becoming very dangerous — they found their works and tools in the possession of a mob of Butcher's men, and they were vowing and swearing that no man should do a strcike of work unless their whole force was also em- ployed, and paid at the rate of $3 each per night. Such was the emergency, that even to delay and parley was to sacrifice the town, and the agent of the Cairo City Property ordered one and all to go to work. They did so, and this disastrous mob attack, at a critical mo- ment, when it could not be resisted, was after all, the means that saved the city and kept out the waters. The strip of levee between the old and new levee was the weak spot in the works, and so rapidly did the waters come during the night, that on this place the men worked for hours in water over twenty inches in depth. To understand this, it is neces- sary to state that there was an old levee out- side of this, and that when the water broke over the outside levee, it came to the new one in a swirl or circle, so that the tendency of the current was not over the new levee. But so great was the emergency, and, thanks to the mob, so abundant were the laborers, that men were placed upon the endangered spot, and actually so thickly were they crowded, that human flesh formed an embankment, and kept back the waters until dirt was placed there, and the levee made high and^ strong enough to stay the waters. The riotous labor- ers lingered about the town, often threatening the men at work on the levees with violence; openly threatening to burn and destroy the town, and they were several times caught at- tempting to cut the levees and let in the water. The regular laborers had armed, as well as they could possibly, with pistols and guns, and one night the rioters tired a num- ber of pistol shots in the direction of the workmen, and it is most fortunate that they did not hit or hurt any of them, for the rea- son that the laborer's had their instruction to pay no attention to their assailants unless some of their men were hurt, and in that event to charge upon them and spare not, but kill all they came to. Many of the peo- ple in the town took sides against the com- pany, and turbulence continued to spread and intensify and grow, and finally the company telegraphed to St. Louis for a few boxes of muskets, and when the mob saw these arrive, and noticed they were taken to the com- pany's oflice, the next morning the roads, the by-ways and the brush, even, were full of Butcher's laborers, with their .little bundles on their shoulders, getting out of town as fast as they could. Dutcher, when he threw up his contract, repaired to the nearest hills, up the line of the railroad, and there awaited news of the drowning or burning of Cairo, and vapored and blowed his wrath at the town, threatening to sue and collect many HISTORY OF CAIRO. 1C7 millions of dollars damages for interfering with his contract work. There are many other circumstances that go to establish the fact that Ashley was not only disloyal to the railroad company that employed him, but that he was willing to sacrifice not only Cairo, but the best inter- ests of the road in his schemes of speculation and selfishness. So plain did this eventually become, that the authorities of the railroad became aware of his tricks, and they per- emptorily and curtly dismissed him from their service. Instead of the city company being sued and made to pay immeasurable damages for employing this large force of men to work at night and save the city, the agent, Mr. Taylor, made out a bill against the road for every dollar he had expended, and the road paid it, because it was convinced that, instead of interfering with Dutch er's contract work, the company, by their agent, was simply doing the work the road had bound itself, by solemn contract, to do. Strange as it may seem, this dastardly at- tempt to destroy the town, and probably all in it, was not understood at the time by the people; in fact, many so completely misun- derstood the daring moves of the unholy con- spirators, that they not only did not see how they and theirs had been saved, but they took sides, and many were vehement partisans of Ashley and his followers. They believed that the city company had stood about the town like a dog in the manger, and refused to let the railroad build the levees; and when the arrival of the muskets had dispersed the riot- ous laborers, and driven them in panic away, there were citizens left to take up their quar- rel, and threaten the city company. Another par incident, only on a more ex- tended scale, was when the United States Marshal came down from Springfield to serve writs upon the " heads of the town " — lead- ' ing citizens, as it were, who, like pretty much all of the residents, were defiant tres- passers upon the company's property, and the few leaders of whom the company had commenced proceedings against in the United States Court. When the Marshal ar- rived, there was a flutter of excitement, and the mutterings of the threatened storm were all around the sky. But the Marshal was quiet and gentlemanly; in truth, he seemed to be about the only one not heated with great excitement. He waited upon the parties for whom he had writs; told them that he was going up the river for two days, and then he would return, and they must give bail, or he would be compelled to perform the pain- ful duty of putting them in jail. That night, a meeting of the people was called; some brave, short speeches were made, and finally the meeting resolved that the city company had no right nor title to any property within the city, and that they ivoiild not obey the ivrits of the United States Court. Here was insurrection and civil war! Or, as it turned out, a roaring farce, that surpassed the Three Tailors of Bow Street, when they issued their proclamation to an astonished world, and announced that " We, the People of England, etc." When the oflBcer returned, and the " rebels " took a second look at him, they concluded to recognize his writs, and, under solemn protests, gave bail and escaped the bastile. The embankments constructed by the Illi- nois Central Railroad, under their contract, did not prove to be protective embankments or levees. On June 12, 1858, they gave way, and the city was inundated; this inundation was the result solely of the imperfect con- struction of the embankment. Logs and stumps had been put in the levees, and this furnished a route for the waters until the 108 HISTORY OF CAIRO. dirt became so soft and giving,that it ceased to be an obstruction to the waters, and the flood came. This destructive overflow led to the following correspondence between the Illinois Central Railroad Company and the Cairo City & Canal Company, and which furnishes the only complete explanation of the facts, and the views of the different in- terested parties at the time that we can now procure : July 13, 1858, Charles Davis, Esq., one of the Trustees, addressed the President and Directors of the Central road, substantially as follows: " The recent inundation of Cairo has particularly directed the attention of the Trustees of the Cairo City Property to their agi'eements with the Illinois Central Rail- road Company, relative to the construction and maintenance of levees or pi'otective em- baukments around the city of Cairo. " At the time of making those agreements, the Trustees understood, and have ever since understood, and have uniformly and repeated- ly been advised by various counsel, that these agreements were, on the part of your company, not only a legal undertaking to construct levees or protective embankments, to the extent and in the manner prescribed in said agreements, but were also a continuing and perpetual legal undertaking to maintain the same after they had been constructed. " The Trustees have received, both from their beneficiaries and from purchasers of land at Cairo, very many expressions of regret that the levees and protective embankments have proved insufficient for the purpose of their con- struction, and very many statements of great actual and prospective loss and damage to such beneficiaries and purchasers, and many inquiries whether the Illinois Central Com- pany had performed their agreements before- mentioned. Their beneficiaries have com- municated to the Trustees the opinion of said beneficiaries, that the duty of the Trustees to the said beneficiaries required them to de- mand, and by all means in their power to en- force, a full and continual performance of said agreements, and urgently request the Trustees to give immediately, and in the fut- ure continue to give, their attention to this matter. " Without now adverting to any omissions in the past, the recent inundation has done much damage to the levees and embankments, which, under said agreements, it is the duty of your company to repair. The Trustees have a telegram from Mr. S. S. Taylor, dated at Cairo, 6th inst. , informing them that the sewers were all open, and a portion of the city dry, so that work on the levees and embankments could be resumed. " The Trustees do hereby, in conformity to the requests of their beneficiaries, and in as- sertion of their rights under said agreements, request the President and Directors of the Illinois Central Railroad Company to repair the damage which has been done, and also to perform at once whatever ha& been omitted that is required to be performed, under said agreements for the construction and main- tenance of levees and protective embank- ments around the city of Cairo. "When the Trustees consider the importance of the performance of these agreements to the compamy itself, but much more 'when they consider the innu^merable and the very heavy liabilities to which the company is needlessly exposed by every omission to perform agree- ments of such general and public concern, the Trustees can scarcely believe that the President and Directors of the company will delay unnecessarily, or even voluntarily neglect to do all that the company has by said agreements undertaken." To this, under date 15th July, 1856, Mr. Osborn, the President of the Central road, HISTORY OF CAIKO. 109 replies, acknowledging the receipt of the let- ter, and stating " it is the intention of the company to repair ^the damage occasioned by the late freshet to the works at Cairo, as far as is incumbent upon it under the con- tracts with your company. I am not aware of any omission in the performance of the contract, and do not understand that clause of your letter which requests this company to perform at once whatever has been omit- ted that is required to ^ be performed under said agreement for the construction and maintenance of levees and protective em- bankments, etc." Under date 22d, the same month, Mr. Os- born again writes to Mr. Davis, and among other things says: " I am desirous to meet the views and wishes of your shareholders, but the difficulty is the ready money. Capt. McClelland has decided to accept, if not al- ready done, the proposition of Mr. Edwards, to whom the price of the unfinished work was referred, payable, $5,000 upon the Ist day of September, and the balance (about $6,000) on the 1st day of December. If you will be good enough to postpone those payments un- til the 15th of January, I will at once give directions to have a force make the repairs to the levee and embankments with all prac- ticable dispatch." On the same day, by written communica- tion, Mr. Davis accepted the terms and con- ditions proposed by Mr. Osborn. Under same date, S. Staats Taylor, in re- ply to letter of inquiry from the Trustee, Mr. Davis, writes: " I would state that, in my opinion, an embankment twenty feet wide on the top, with a slope on each side of one foot perpendicular to five (or even four) feet horizontal, would be sufficiently strong to resist the pressure of any water that could be brought against it, provided it was properly constructed. The late higrh water at Cairo has demonstrated that the levees are not high enough, and to make them safe in this par- ticular they should be at least two feet (if not three feet) higher. Where the levees were up to grade, the water in the Ohio was within one foot seven and a half inches of the top of the levees, and on the Mississippi side it was still higher, bringing it within a very few inches of the grade. " I have reason to believe that the embank- ment at the place where it broke was ren- dered weak and insecure by logs being buried in or under it, and a considerable portion of the new protective embankment, both on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, was con- structed without the natural surface being properly prepared by grubbing and plowing, so as to allow the artificial embankment to amalgamate and firmly combine with the natural ground. From a neglect to do this, the water during the late high v.-ater perco- lated, and found a passage in many places in considerable quantities, between the artificial embankment and the natural ground. This neglect to properly prepare the ground ex- isted at the time of building the new levee on the Mississippi last winter, and the ground was not only not grubbed or plowed, but large stumps were allowed to remain in that levee, and are there now, notwithstanding my notification at the time to Capt. McClelland that they were so allowed to remain there. The contractor emj^loyed by the railroad company last winter was detected by myself in burying large logs in that embankment, not merely allowing those to remain that had fallen, when the embankment was to be con- structed, but actually rolling others in from other places. When detected, those that were in view were removed, but as a portion of the embankment was constructed before his practices were known, the probability is no HISTORY OF CAIRO. that others are yet in the embankment, de- tracting, of course from its strength and security. " A communication from Mr. S. S. Taylor, which was read at the meeting of the Trustees on the 29th September, 1858, is, to some ex- tent, a semi-official account of the overflow of the town in 1858, and as such deserves to be placed upon a permanent record. It is dated Cairo, September 6, 1858. " After the last meeting of the stockholders, in Septem- ber, 1857, our city continued to increase in population, and improvements continued! to be made, the improvements, owing to the financial crisis, being fewer in number than during the previous spring and winter. The increase in population was, nevertheless, greater than at any previous period, every house and structure capable of protecting population from the elements becoming filled to repletion. This increase continued dur- ing the winter and spring, so that at the municipal election in February last, in which there was no such particular interest taken by the people as to bring out a full vote, there were over 'four hundred votes polled, and at the same time it was known that there were about two hundi-ed and fifty residents who did not vote, some by reason of not being entitled, and others for want of inter- est. " It was thus ascertained, with a consider- able degree of accuracy, that at the time of the election in February last, we had at least 650 men residents here. It is generally con- ceded that one in seven of a population is a large allowance of voters, in many places it not being more than one in ten. But giving us the largest allowance, and that may be proper, inasmuch as in a new place there is always a preponderance of men, this calcula- tion will afford us a population of 4,500. Shortly after this time, some inconven- ience from the accumulation, of water within our levees began to be felt. This accumula- tion arose from excessive rains. These rains interfered somewhat with the filling in and grading of the Ohio levee, and in the early part of December we were obliged to close our sewers, from the waters in the rivers having risen to a level with their outside mouths, and, with the exception of a few days in the early spring, they remained closed until they were re-opened after the overflow. " This state of things continued until, and was in existence at, the time the breach in our levees occurred on the 12th of June last. " As you are aware, this breach, whereby the water was first let into the town, oc- curred on the Mississippi, at the point where the levee on that river leaves the river bank, on the curve toward the Ohio River, and about half a mile from the junction of the two levies. " At this point where the crevasse first oc- curred, the levee was very high, the filling of earth being not l^^ss than twelve feet high. " In the neighborhood of the crevasse, the soil appears to be sandy, and an undue quan- tity of that kind of soil may have entered into the composition of the levee at that point. An inspection of the crevasse also shows that the ground was not properly prepared for the reception of the embank- ment, it not having been properly grubbed, as appears by the roots and stumps still standing in it, in the ground where the em- bankment is washed off. When the levee broke, no one was in sight of it, that I can ascertain. Capt. McClelland, the Vice Presi- dent and Chief Engineer of the Central Rail- road and myself had passed over it on foot within two hours before it occurred, and a watchman, whose duty it was to look after it, was over it about twenty minutes before, but HISTORY OF CAIRO. Ill to none of us was there any appearance of weakness. After leaving the location about twenty minutes, and being distant less than one- fourth of a mile, the watchman heard the roaring of the waters running through the crevasse, and when I reached it, three- fourths of an hour afterward, the water was running through to the full width of 300 feet, and in an unbroken stream, as if it was to the full depth of the embankment. The probability is, I think, that, aided by the stumps and roots in the embankment, and it is possible some other extraneous substances, the water had found its way through the base of the embankment, and had so far saturated it as to destroy its cohesion with the natural ground below, and then the weight of the waiers on the outside had pushed it away. " As you are aware, when the contracts for building the different divisions of ]the Illinois Central road were originally let, in June, 1852, that for the construction of the lower cross- levee and the levees below it, on both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was included in the letting, and was given out to ^Mr. Richard Ellis. Under this conti-act, work was com- mencfid and prosecuted at various points, on both the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from September to December, 1852, when the con- tractor failed, and the work was abandoned until December, 1853, except on that por- tion along' the Ohio River above the freight depot. On that section it was continued, with a view, apparentl}', of constructing an embankment for the accommodation of their railroad track, rather than for the purpose of protecting the toivnfrom inundation, the em- bankment having been built in the same manner as their ordinary railroad embank- ments. The instructions given by their en- gineer in charge of their work at the time it was done were the same as those issued in other cases for the construction of railroad embankments, viz., that while the fillino- was over four feet, the stumps were not to be removed, and no grubbing done, and I am told by the engineer in charge at the time the work was done that these instructions were followed, and that the embankments along the Ohio River, above the freight de- pot, was thus built without the stumps being removed or grubbing done. A portion of this bank, at or near the curve on the Ohio, near the junction of the levee, is quite narrow, and after our late experience I should think it was far from being secure. " At the time of the overflow, a very large portion of our population were obliged to go away, from inability to procure accommoda- tions here. Some, who had two-storied houses, remained in the upper story, but most were obliged to deeert their dwellings. The population thus mostly scattered into the neighboring towns and country, with the exception of those who procured accommoda- tion on the wharf and flat-boats and barges at the levee. A lai'ge portion of those who thus went away have already returned ; others are coming back daily, and if employment to justify their return can be found, I am sat- isfied the great bulk of our population will shoitly be back here again. I think our population is at least three thousand now, if not more. " Early in the last spring, the foundry buildings took fire, and were entirely con- sumed. The ^^establishment was just begin- ning to transact a very successful and pro- fitable business. < " During the last spring, a good ferry was established between Cairo and the adjoining States of Missoiiri and Kentucky, by the Cairo City Ferry Company, and a good steam ferry-boat furnished, which makes regular trips between those States and Cairo, bring- ing trade and produce to it. Before the de- 112 HISTORY OF CAIEO. struction, by the late high water, of the prod- uce of the farms alonof the rivers, a very perceptible increase in the business of the city took place from this cause, and a re- suscitation of the business of the adjoining country on the opposite sides of the river will, by the aid of the ferry, be attended with a corresponding effect here. " Portions of the roads in the adjoining States are so far finished that, by the 1st of November, we shall have a continuous rail- road from here to New Orleans, with the ex- ception of the river travel between here and Columbus City, sixteen miles from here." This I'oad is now finished, with the exception of two gaps, of eighteen and six miles re- spectively, and these are being rapidly filled. A steam ferry-boat will commence running from here to Columbus, on the 1st of the next month, in connection with this road, and when the road is completed, as it will be by November 1, we shall be within two days' travel of New Orleans. " The first section of the Cairo & Fulton Railroad, in Missouri, is now pushed for- ward with energy, and that portion between Bird's Landing, opposite here, and Charles- ton, a village about fourteen miles from the river (Mississippi), will be in operation by the 1st of December next. Charleston is a thrivin gvillage, in a well-settled, well-culti- vated and flourishing section of Missouri, and our connection with it by railroad will tend to increase considerably the business and trade of our town. As you are aware, a road was cut out along the bank of the Ohio River to Mound City last fall, and a bridge across Cache River was commenced then, but has been delayed since by the high water. The construction of this bridge has been since re-commenced, and the contractor in- forms me that it will be ready for use one week from next Saturday. This will give us a good road to Mound City, and, by connec- tion with roads there, will give us free com- munication with the country and villages be- yond, and thus give us a good deal of trade from those quarters. " In consequence of the great destruction of property by high water in the countiy about us, the farmers have but little to sell, and this, connected with the general depres- sion of trade, has made it rather dull here; notwithstanding which, some improvements are still going on in our city. The distillery which was commenced last spring is being pushed to completion, and will be ready for operation by the 1st of next month. Two houses — one a dwelling, twenty-five by forty, two stories high, the other for a German tavern, twenty-five by seventy-five, and three stories high — both commenced before the overflow, are in process of completion. Two others, one twenty-five by seventj' and three stories high, have been contracted for and begun since the overflow, and are nearly finished; and one other, a dwelling-house, contracted for since the overflow but not yet begiin. " The work of macadamizing the Ohio levee, and building the protecting wall at the base, has so far advanced, that about one thousand feet of the wall, extending from the lower side of Fourth street to the lower side of Eighth street, has been completed, and for about six hundred feet in length additional, the broken rock is placed for about one hundred and twenty- five feet from the top of the levee. The grading of the levee with earth, within the same limits, has also been prosecuted, as the waters in the rivers would permit. A few weeks of favorable weather and a favorable stage of water would enable us to complete the whole of the grading and macadamizing of the whole of the 1,000 feet above the passenger depot. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 113 " Most of this rock work was done pre- viously to January 1, 1858, when the com- munication with the quarries was interrupted by ice in the jNIississippi; after this difficulty was removed, the water was so high as to cover the quarries, and has continued so un- til the last week, with a brief interval, dur- ing which we were enabled to get down two barge loads of stone, and last week the water had so far receded at the quarry as enabled us to make regular trips with the steamboat and barges. During the spring and summer, the water has been too high, most of the time, to admit of much work on the filling and grading of the Ohio levee, between the depots, according to our arrangements with the i-ailroad company, to complete for them the unfinished work. But at intervals, we were enabled to do something, and worked moder- ately, as the weather and water would per- mit, until, within the last four weeks, when we have pushed the work vigorously. " The bank building belonging to Gov. Matteson has been {completed for several weeks, but there do not appear to be any in- dications of an early opening of the establish- ment, although T am told the note-plates have all been prepared, the officers engaged and all other arrangements completed months ago for the opening. This delay is to be re- gretted, especially as, if the ground had not been occupied by Gov. Matteson, or rather if his declared intention had not gone abroad through the whole country round about, a good bank would have been established here last fall, by Mr. E. Norton, one of our old citizens, in connection with his brother, the Cashier of the Southern Bank of Kentucky, established at Russellville, Ky. " In conclusion, it is very evident that had the Illinois Central Railroad constructed the levees, as they should be constructed, and not have substituted for them the common railroad embankments, that this interruption to the onward progress of Cairo would not have taken place." Some robust correspondence was inaugu- rated by the Cairo property owners of Springfield, 111., after the overflow of June, 1858, and as they discuss some questions that have been mooted by our people at vari- ous times, we give extended extracts from both sides of the discussion. On the 17th June, 1858, J. A. Matteson, Johnson & Bradford, R. F. Ruth, John E. Ousley, W. D. Chenery, H. AValker, T. S. Mather and fifteen others of the leading citizens of Springfield, addressed a joint-letter to S. Staats Taylor, " Resident Agent," from which letter we extract such sentences as these : " We are apprised most fully of the great calamity which has befallen Cairo. Had we supposed such ruin possible, we could never have been induced to expend the large amounts of money which we have, nor could we have used our influence as an in- ducement for others to do so. " The large sum of $318,000 has been ex- pended by ourselves) and others of Spring- field, in the purchase of property and its improvement at Cairo; and the people of Springfield themselves, under the strong as- surances made to them by the Cairo City Company, have invested, and induced others to invest, no less than from $150,000 to $200,000 in buildings alone. " By this calamity, which might have been prevented if the company had thrown around the city such complete protection as they were bound by interest and by legal con- tract with purchasers, to do, this property has been rendered comparatively valueless. Nothing but prompt action and judicious plans, on your part, can save your city and your property alike, with that of others, from utter ruin, or at least from such a set-back 114 HISTORY OF CAIRO. as will require the work of years to regain. " Already is the sentiment fast gaining ground upon the public mind that Cairo is hopelessly ruined. This sentiment must be at once met, and contradicted at whatever cost. ******* " We feel that the company are both legal- ly and morally hound to fully restore those who have sustained the damage to their former position before the flood. Independ- ent of their legal obligations, we deem it to be the highest interest of the company to institute the most prompt and vigorous measures, not only to restore to those who have suffered loss, but to so act as to satisfy the public mind at once that the company themselves are not disheartened, but that they are ready, promptly, to do justice to every ODe who has sustained damage by the overflow of water. * * * * in our judgment, the company should seek to inspire all those who had made Cairo their home, and who had made improvements there, however trivial in amount, that they will be immediately aided and fully restored to their property. This would establish confidence against which no tide could successfully flow. But this must be done promptly; must be done at once. The people who have settled there should not be suffered to scatter, if possible to prevent it. They should be aided and en- couraged at once with the idea that the storm is over, and the floods are past ; they shall be made good again, and their future secured beyond a contingency, " Many of the subscribers to this letter own stock in the Cairo Hotel Company, and we think that, as soon as the waters subside, you ought to rebuild the fallen building, at least to a point to where the company had carried it before the levee gave way. * * " Public sympathy might now be relied upon to a large extent. Cairo, though worse afflicted, has been overtaken by a calamity which has befallen almost every city and town in the Mississippi Valley to a greater or less extent. This superior affliction may, by timely action, be made to bear rather favorably than otherwise; and the waiers of public opinion, which now inundate the pros- pects of Cairo, may be made to subside as rapidly as those of the Mississippi will retire now that the storms are past." The object of this carefully constructed letter, signed by so many of the leading men of Springfield, was to get money from the company to compensate them for damages sustained. The company, however, in substance, an- swers as follows: "1. There was no such contract ever made. Honest opinions and conscientious represent- ations were made, of which the parties pur- chasing were always able to judge, having the city of Cairo with all its defenses before them, and all the agreements with the Illinois Central Railroad Company lying open for their inspection. " 2. Ample confirmation is found here, as to the mischievous character of the news- paper reports complained of. "3. All that is recommended and more will be done. See the resolutions adopted at the meeting of September 29, 1858. " 4. The gentlemen whose names are af- fixed to this letter will find their leading views corroborated by the proceedings referred to above, though the facts relied upon, the points urged and the legal questions in- volved, are very differently understood by the Trustees and their Counsel. " 5. The population have not been suffered to scatter, as will be seen by the report of the General Agent, and the most liberal course of action has been recommended by the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 117 Executive Committee, and authorized by 34.000 votes." Other, and, if possible, stronger letters, were written the company by N. W. Edwards and also by William Butler, President of the Cairo City Hotel Company. Then, July 8, 185S, Mr. William Butler, President, and James C. Conklin, Secretary, addressed a joint- letter to S. S. Taylor, and in it they say: " We notice the stockholders of Cairo City are requested to meet at Philadelphia on the 15th inst. We presume one of their objects is to take into consideration the course of action to be adopted by them con- cernincf the damages which resulted from the recent flood. In behalf of the Cairo Hotel Company, we desire they should not only consider the communication heretofore trans- mitted by us to you, which was general in its character, and had reference, more partcular- ly, to what might be deemed politic on the part of the Cairo City Company, but we wish to propose now, more distinctly for their con- sideration, the position of the Cairo City Hotel Company. " In the publications made by the Cairo City Company, under date of January 1 5, 1855, and in their pamphlet issued in 1856, various inducements were held out to capi- talists to invest at Cairo City ; and the strong- est language was used in regard to the sta- bility and permanency of its levees. It was said that they would afford a complete pro- tection from overflow at any stage of water, however high; that the expense of the levees was provided for by the Trustees of the City Property, that it would entirely encompass the city, and was to be eighty feet wide on the top, and that an inundation was an impossibility, and that human ingenuity had successfully opposed a barrier, even to the chance of an overflow, and that gigantic works had marked the Rubicon which even the mighty Father of Waters could not overstep. ' ' These works, it was represented, had been commenced, and progress had been made in their construction, ' for the interests of property holders." * * * * These representations were published to the world, and extraordinary efforts were made to impress the minds of the community that Cairo was beyond the reach of any con- tingency arising from floods, until the con- viction was well-established, and it was gen- erally believed that the Cairo City Company had effectually provided against any danger that might be apprehended from this source. The events of the last few weeks, however, abundantly testify that said embankments were not secure, that the company had not fully pretected the interests of property hold- ers in said city, etc., etc. * * * * In consideration of the premises, the un- dersigned, in behalf of the hotel company, would respectfully represent to the stock- holders of Cairo City, that said stockholders ought to assume the responsibility of said loss and damage, that this is the just and reasonable view of the case, and that the claim of the hotel company is not only founded upon sound reason and good faith, but that, by the established rules of law. the Cairo City Company and their Trustees are bound to indemnify the hotel company for all the losses sustained by reason of the in- sufficiency of the levee to protect the city. To this the Board of Directors and the Trustees answer substantially as follows, in addition to previous answers to similar com- munications from parties in Springfield: 1. All the promises were prospective, and founded upon a justifiable belief. 2. And this, their belief, 'wns founded upon all past experience, upon careful sur- veys, many times repeated by eminent engi- 118 HISTOIIY OF CAIRO. neers, and upon the testimony of unimpeacli- able witnesses. Their expectations were well-founded, and not unreasonable, as the adverse parties knetv, and acknowledged by their acts, for they were able to judge for themselves, and asked for no other deed than that which had always been given. And what, after all, do the Trustees promise in the publication cited? Only that certain things "would be done" thereafter; and that, when done, there would be no possible danger from overflow. And they say the same thing now. They expected the levee to be completed by the Illinios Central Rail- road, as promised a?zd paid for ; and they tried, in every way, to have it done, short of bringing them into a court of law, while under overwhelming embarrassment; and if they had fulfilled their undeiiaking, it is clear, beyond all question, as the foregoing documents prove, that Cairo would not have been flooded in June last, notwithstanding the unexampled rise of both rivers. * * 4. Under all the circumstances, the fault being that of the Illinois Central Railroad, and not of the Cairo City Property or their Trustees, would this be a just or reasonable expectation? etc., etc. The shareholders of the Cairo City Prop- erty, as per call noticed above, met in Phila- delphia on the 15th of July, 1858, and, among other proceedings, passed the follow- ing resolution: " Resolved, That the Executive Committee be requested to confer with the President and Directors of the Illinois Central Railroad Company, to ascertain if some arrangement cannot be made to repair the damage to Cairo, and if that cannot be accomplished, then to request the Trustees of Cairo City Property to authorize the agent, S. Staats Taylor, to cause the proper repairs to be made, and to institute legal proceedings against the railroad company for the amount expended, and for all damages sustained by the overflow caused by the neglect of the said railroad company. The shareholders had appointed an Execu- tive Committee, to consider matters in refer- ence to the inundation of Cairo. This com- mittee held a meeting in New York, and in their report they say: " Believing that they could not properly and thoroughly discharge their duty, under the resolutions referred to, without a personal examination of Cairo, and the General Agent, Mr. S. S. Taylor, being of opinion that a visit by the whole Execu- tive Committee, or by a sub-committee of this board, would greatly encom-age the people of Cairo, tned to allay their apprehensions, and check, if it did not put a stop at once and forever, to the mischievous falsehoods and gross exaggerations which, under a show of authority, and as admissions made by par- ties deeply interested in the reputation and welfare of Cairo, were gradually taking pos- session of the public mind, both at home and abroad, your committee delegated Mr. Bald- win, of Syracuse, and Mr. Neal, of Maine, to visit Cairo, and make such personal inves- tigation upon the ground as would enable them to report understandingly upon the present condition and wants of the city. * * * And to take such immediate meas- ures as might, in their judgment, be needed for the safety of the city, before the whole board could be brought togfether. " When this sub-committee arrived in Cairo, they looked carefully over the gi'ounds, and on the 6th of August, 1858, a public meeting of the inhabitants of Cairo was called, with a view to a full understanding of all ques- tions at issue; and of this meeting the com- mittee said in their report: " The meeting was large, for the popula- tion, and very quiet, and the addresses of HISTORY OF CAIRO. 119 your sub- committee, together with explana- tions and assurances, in behalf of the share- holders and proprietors, were well i-eceived. It was stated that shareholders, to the amount of nearly two millions and a half, at the par value of the stock, were assembled at Philadelphia, on the 15th of July, where they chose an Executive Committee of six, who afterward chose from their number two, as a sub-committee to visit Cairo in person, look into the condition of the city and the wants of the people, and report at the next yearly meeting, on the 29th of September. " The people of Cairo were encouraged to believe that, if they were faithful to them- selves, the Trustees, and shareholders and proprietors wei-e determined to pursue a liberal course of action, and they might con • sider the C. C. P. pledged to the full amount of all their interests in Cairo to carry out whatever they believed to be for the advan- tage of all parties; and the meeting ended at last with mutual congratulations and assur- ances that Cairo should not be left to the guardianship of treacherous friends or un- principled foes; but to the watchful care of those who had something at stake in her rep- utation and welfare." The sharp bend in the Mississippi River, just belcw the north line of the city, throws the water almost straight across to the Illinois shore, and the abrasion of this shore threat ened to cut its way, eventually, entirely across to the Ohio River, unless in some way con- trolled. Between the years 1875 and 1880 the General Government expended on the protective works on the Mississippi, opposite this city, the sum of $113,351.43. This woi'k extends along the face of the river bank, from a point below where the Mississippi River levee runs away from the river bank at least three- quarters of a mile, to a point up the river at least two miles above the upper limits of the city. When the water is at a low stage in the Mississippi, the current thrown, as stated, against the Illinois shore, begins to under- mine the banks, which are nearly always perpendicular and composed mostly of de- posits made by the silt-bearing water of the river in flood times. This undermining proc- ess goes on at the surface of the water, un- til the superincumbent mass of the bank falls into the river, and is carried away by the stream. Then the undermining process commences again, and proceeds to precisely similar results. In this way, at this point, the river has heretofore undermined the banks of the Mississippi River, dropping them slowly into the stream, and iinally digging under j)ortions of the levees and carrying them away into the river. Here has been one of the severest problems in the mat- ter of protecting the city from the waters, this erosive -action in low water going on re- gardless of any possible heights of levees placed upon the shores. This abrasion of the shore has necessitated the building of a new levee on the Mississippi side, about a mile in length, which is of an average of twelve feet high, measuring from the surface on which it is constructed; is twelve feet wide on the top, with a slope on its outside of one foot perpendicular to five feet horizontal, and on its inside of one foot to two and a half feet, making an average width of fifty feet; and its top is fifty-four feet above low water mark. The average height of the other portions of the levee, standing on the bank of the Mississippi River, from its junction with the new levee on the bank of the Ohio River, is one foot and three inches above the high water mark. This is measuring only to and not including the ties uf the Cairo & St. Louis Railroad track. The Cairo & St. Louis Railroad has the right of way along its top, from the Ohio River to a 120 HISTORY OF CAIRO. point beyond and outside of where the new levee makes a junction with the levee owned by the Trustees. Where this right of way exists, the railroad company is obliged, by reservations and penalties in its deed, to maintain the levee at its original height, of fifty-three feet and three inches, and to its original width on top of sixteen feet. There has been much work done, by the United States Government and by the Trust- ees of the city company, in protecting from the erosive action of the current the Missis- sippi River bank. The manner of doing this was to place large mattresses, made of wil- lows and tree branches; these were loaded with rock, and sunk to the bottom, at the bank where the current was cutting un- der the superstructure, and upon this mat- tress was then sunk another one, and another one on top of that, until a stone wall was formed for the waters to beat against, extend- ing from the bottom of the river to above the surface of the water. There were about two miles and a half of these stone -anchored mattress walls constructed, extending north from a point nearly opposite "the lower end of the new levee. On the top of these mat- tress-walls, medium sized stone were placed against the bank, to nearly the top fhereof, thus facing the river bank with a stone re- vetment. Previous to this work being done by the Government, the city company had some years ago revetted nearly three-quarters of a mile in length. So there is now standing, against the face of the bank of the Missis- sippi, and extending from a point below where the levee runs away from the river, up the river about three and a half miles, to a point about two miles above the upper limits of the city, the revetments extending from the bottom of the river, and up along the face of the shore from fifty to sixty feet. There has been here expended $196,806.49, o^ which $113,351.43 was by the General Government. July 18, 1872, after the Trustees had spent large amounts of money in widening, raising and strengthening the levees, and had brought suit for $250,000 against the Central I'oad for money thus expended, which suit was eventually compromised and 397 acres of the 497 acres were re-conveyed by the rail- road to the city company, and the payment of $80,000 in money, and the release to the Cairo City Property all its original rights to the collection of wharfage, etc. And the railroad was released from all obligations in reference to maintaining and repairing the levees, except that portion actually occupied and used by them. In 1878, in consideration of the vacation of Levee street, above Eighteenth, by the city, and the granting of privileges upon the same to the Illinois Central road, the road deeded the 100- foot strip, running from Thirty- fourth street to the point, and parallel with the Ohio levee to the city. The City Council recently ordered the Ohio levee to be raised, commencing with a raise of two feet at or near the stone depot, grading to the present height at Second street, and with this increase of the height of this levee, the entire levees of the city will be above the highest water mark ever known. The Hon. D. T. Linegar, the present mem- ber of the Illinois Legislature, has secured the passage of two bills, that are now attract- ing the attention of the people of Cairo. The titles of the bills indicate largely the purpose of the same — the Levee Bill and the High Grade Bill. The fundamental idea of the two evidently is to enable the city to raise the levees and the lots within the city limits to any height or grade they may wish. We are informed that the levee bill authorizes the city authorities, whenever they shall HISTORY OF CAIRO. 121 deem it necessary for tlie protection of the city, to order the owners of any part of the levee to raise and strengthen the same, in such manner as the city may think best, and upon a failm'e to comply with this order, the city may proceed and do the work, and sell the property and pay its bill, and nearly a similar authority is given as to all lots, whether they belong to public institutions or are private property. The remarkably high waters of 1882 and 1883 go to show that probably from one foot to eighteen inches should be added to the levees around the city, and, as soon as possi- ble, revetments extending entirely around and against the embankments of both rivers, and thus made strong and permanent, and Cairo need never fear or dread any high water that can ever come against its bulwarks. The city has triumphantly passed through the flood crisis of the two years of 1882-83, that poured out the greatest floods of water ever witnessed in the rivers at this point; and it is now a remarkable historical fact that the only town from the source of the Ohio River to the mouth of the Mississippi River, that passed unscathed and unharmed by the floods, was Cairo. The rivers, north and south of here,' bore devastation upon their raging bosoms. Pittsburgh, Cincin- nati, Louisville, New Albany, Lavsrenceburg, Shawneetown and many other places have sufl^red immeasurably from the high waters of the past two years. Often, the floods in the Mississippi have so crippled and confined the business of St. Louis, that at intervals it was prostrated. But Cairo, so widely be- lieved by many to be the worst water-afflicted city in the United States, has experienced none of the troubles of the other river towns. The past two years, the early spring freshets have driven thousands from their homes in Cincinnati, Louisville, Shawneetown and other places; business houses were flooded and washed away; and manufacturing estab- lishments were compelled to "shutdown;" railroad communication with them was de- stroyed, and " the widespread distress filled the land with its wail, and the charity of the nation was appealed to for aid for the flood sullferors. With a flood-line marking a height never before attained by any of the floods of the past, the citizens of Cairo, while taking all precautions to keep the great levees which surround her intact, have transacted their business, but little disturbed by the threaten- ing waters. Not a mill nor a manufacturing establishment of any kind has been " shut down" for a moment on account of the floods, and the Illinois Central Railroad, which makes connection here with its south- ern division by a " transfer steamboat " for New Orleans, has never missed a train, or been compelled to abandon any of its track for a single hour. No cry of distress has ever gone out to the country from the people of Cairo, but when the last waters Avere high- est, and the croakers against Cairo were loudest, a public meeting of the people re- sponded to the cry for help from their neigh- bors al. Shawneetown by a cash subscription of $1,000. The truth is— established by the severest test ever known — that Cairo, the much maligned and slandered Cairo, is, in any flood that may or can come down the rivers, the city of refuge — the place of safety, and the only reliable one, from St. Louis or Pittsburgh to New Orleans. On the 26th of February, 1882, the flood- line at Cairo was fifty-one feet ten and a half inches above low water mark. On the 26th of February, 1888, exactly one year to a day, the flood-line at Cairo was fifty-two feet two inches above low water mark. In these two 123 HISTORY OF CAIRO. unprecedented stages of water, as before re- marked, Cairo was the only river town that passed unharmed. People wonder, and muse, and talk much about these two years, and their great waters, and the conclusion is a common one, that it is the general sj-stem of draining in all the country north of this, both open and tile draining, the cutting of the forests and open- ing the sluice-ways for the surface water, that has been one great cause of the higher waters in late years than was ever known formerly. Again, it is said that the towns and railroads and other improvements upon the river banks, tend to confine the waters, and thus swell the height of its flow; and the fact is cited that where a few years ago were ponds and pools of water, sometimes stand- ing the whole season through, are now often well-tilled farms, with a drainage so perfect that no water ever remains more than a few hours upon any of its surface. It looks rea- sonable that there is something in these theories — there probably is — but the fact that the waters were higher at the source of the river than here at the mouth (of the Ohio), would go far to contradict this theory. At Cincinnati this year (1883), the water was five feot higher than ever before known. As early as the 12th of last February, the rise in the Ohio had utterly paralyzed business, and had deprived 20,000 working people of Cincinnati, Covington and Newport of the means of livelihood. Five square miles of Cincinnati were covered with water from one inch to twenty feet deep. Many lives were lost, and many millions of dollars worth of property was destroyed, and along the Upper Ohio hundreds of thousands of people suf- fered inconvenience or loss from the wide- spread river overflows. In the Kentucky bottoms, opposite Shawneetown, the water was three and a half feet higher than ever before known since the settlement o^ the country; while at Cairo the water of the year only exceeded that of last year by three and a half inches. There must have been other causes than cuttingr the trees or draining:, for the floods of this year (1883), one pecu- liarity of them being that thoy were re- stricted to no particular locality, but seem to have been general, and to extend nearly over the whole world. The long-continued rains in the valley of the Ohio, that fell upon the frozen and ice covered grounds, where not a drop was absorbed into the earth, and started the raging torrent at the fountain-heads, were the palpable, prime cause of the unusual waters. In Europe the rain-storm started that did so much damage here. It flooded the Theiss and Danube, the Rhine, in Ger- many, and the Rhone and all the rivers of France, and sent them, like the Ohio, boom- ing out of their banks and doing widespread damage. The course of the storm across the Atlantic could be distinctly traced to its out- burst in the region of the Upper Ohio and the lakes, and spreading rapidly all over our continent, until every section, often the most retired villages, far up in the mountains, and miles away from any lake or river, seemed scarcely safe. Indeed, one of the most awful calamities of the long list of disasters of this year was that which took place out in the open prairie near Braidwood, 111., where the rain had piled up the waters three feet into a lake, which, breaking through a mine, drowned the unfortunate miners within. Every tributary of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was rising at the same time; the Allegheny, Monongahela, Licking, Kentucky and Cumberland were all at flood-tide; the Wabash was out of its bed^ and carrying de- struction on its course. The rivers pouring into the lakes were also raging; the Miami flooded a large portion of Toledo; the Cuya- HISTORY OF CAIRO. 123 hoga has twice this year inundated Cleve- land, and even the Atlantic slope tells the same sad story, and in the far West it is again repeated. We have told of the inundation of Cairo in 1858. The damage to the property of the town, except the falling of the hotel wall (and that was evidently from the imperfect building of the foundation more than the water) did not amount to $1,000. There was not a house, excepting the merest shanties, that was materially injured. The largest sufferer, in a pecuniary way, was Bailey Har- rell, whose stock of goods was injured to the extent of a few hundred dollars. The people of Cairo felt no suffering from actual want, and indeed they refused any outside aid when such assistance was tendered them. In one sense, the actual and material injury to the place was most insignificant and tri- fling; and yet, in another sense, by a singular chain of circumstances, it was almost an ir- reparable calamity to the interests of the city. In the most exaggerated way it was blown in the face of all the world, until men never after heard of Cairo except to shudder or shrug the shoulders, and either express the sentiment or believe it, that its very name meant floods, and drown- ings, aDd wreck and ruin. There is not a river-town from St. Louis ^or Pittsburgh to New Orleans but that has suffered from in- undations incomparably worse than has Cairo, and yet their raging waters are hardly passed away when the people seem to forget it all, and their calamity is not again whispered until the next high water and its devastation. We have shown how trifling and insignifi- cant was the only overflow Cairo has ever had since she has been walledabout by her levees. In contrast to this, look at the fol- lowing description, by an eye-witness, of the Upper Ohio in last February: " The proportions of the calamity that is upon the people of the Ohio Valley are hour- ly increasing. There are suffering, desola- tion and death in each inch of the awful rise of the river upon a stage of water absolutely without precedent, and the details of distress which called for sympathy in the floods of Europe, except as to loss of life, are largely repeated in this section to-day. * * * * For thirty miles, beginning with the upper suburb of Cincinnati, and ending with Law- renceburg, Ind., twenty-five miles below, the damage, destitution and distress are unparal- leled in American history. Below Lawrence- burg, and £o Louisville [equally true if he had said to Cairo — Ed.] the situation is the same. Beginning with the upper suburb of Cincinnati, on the Ohio side, are Columbia, Pendleton, Fulton and ^ then Cincinnati, Sedamsville, Biverside, Fernbank, Lawrence - burg, Aurora, Rising Sun, Patriot, Vevay and Madison. On the Kentucky side are the towns of Dayton, Bellevue and Newport, and Covington, opposite Cincinnati, Ludlow, Bromley, Petersbui'g, Hamilton, Warsaw, Ghent, Carrollton, Milton, Westport and Louisville. At Patriot and Vevay, the river is five or six miles wide, and at all these points it simply extends from the Ohio to the Kentucky hills, covering all the rich bottom lands. Its average width is from one to two miles — a sea of yellow waters. At all these points more or less damage is done. No statistics are available, but a cool guess would place the number of people either homeless or imprisoned, at not less than 50,000. There are 15,000 at Newport alone, and 5,000 in Lawrenceburg; at Louisville, New Albany and Jeffersonville, it is in many respects even worse. " The east end, up in Fulton and Colum- bia, has eight feet of water flowing through the main street. Many houses have been 134 HISTORY OF CAIRO. swept away, and many more are expected to follow. If the weather was not warm "and pleasant, the suffering would be intense. The water is five miles wide from Columbia to the other shore of the Little Miami River, and all the houses on the bottom have disap- peared, not even the roofs being visible. Western avenu«», on the western side of the city, along Mill Creek Valley, has been de- clared unsafe, and travel on it is stopped. The American Oak & Leather Company's tannery, the largest in the world, was sub- merged at 1 o'clock this morning (February 15). Along Mill Creek Valley are most of the packing houses. One packer has 3,000,- 000 pounds of meat under water, and from 10,000,000 to 15,000,000 pounds of dry- salted meats are in the same condition. No one has dared to make an estimate of the total loss here (Cincinnati), but they will be millions." Of Lawrenceburg, Ind., an official report, among other things, specifies : " There never was," so they report, " in all history of the floods in the Ohio Valley, a city, town or hamlet so completely at the mercy of the an- gry element as is Lawrenceburg. For three days, the citizens were almost without a morsel to eat. In the lower portion of the city, everything is destroyed, save the dwell- ings, and they, of coui'se, must be badly damaged. , Hundreds of the houses are from ten to fifty feet under water. The people, driven from their homes, fled to the public buildings. All they possessed is destroyed. We steamed alongside the court house, woolen mills, churches, furniture factories and public school buildings. All of the above-named buildings were crowded with people rescued from watery graves. " In the large and more secure residences, families have been driven to the second and third stories. On the principal streets, the water ranges from seven to twenty-five feet deep. Few of the merchants saved any of their goods, and although precautions were taken, yet nearly all furniture is ruined. A great many houses in low lands have been swept away, and houses and contents are lost forever to the owners. " The damage to factories cannot be esti- mated. In the city there are a great many furniture factories, all of which had on hand large stocks of lumber; in many cases this has all been swept away. " The machinery in some, if not all. the factories and mills, has been badly damaged, and mostly ruined. The county records have all been saved, they having been carried to the top stories of the court house. The rich and the poor are upon a common level, and indiscriminately huddled together. In one part of the court house, death was claiming its victims, while in another new lives were being ushered into the world, * * * * The reports of the condition of the people have not been exaggerated. In fact, the half has not been told. The entire city, with a population of some 5,000, are in want, and are at the mercy of the public. Distress ex- tends from one end of the city to the other. The town has been without communication with the outside world for days, except by boats, and no regular packets are running. The telegraph offices are flooded, and the wires are down. The telephoDe office is in several feet of water. In short, there is not a dry square foot of ground in the place. " The situation of the citizens of Law- renceburg, imprisoned in the court house, is constantly growing more dangerous. Added to the irregularity of the food supply, and the crowded quarters, is the possibility that the court house may collapse, from the un- HISTORY OF CAIEO. 125 dermining of its foundation by the flood of waters. Should that occur, the loss of life certainly will be great." We forbear to extend these sad and har- rowing details, nor have we given the worst side of the picture, as drawn by correspond- ents who visited the different towns along the Ohio River. While this terrible page of ' history was being written of every river town above this point, Cairo was peacefully and securely pur- suing her avocations; her railroads making their regular trips; not a wheel in any of her factories impeded for even a moment. The ordinary business of the day was transacted in confidence and safety. No one was alarmed even in Cairo, except the negroes and a few nervous and timid " tenderfoots," who, when they would go upon the levee and look out upon the broadest expanse of waters they had ever seen, would quake, for fear Cairo's great levees would give way, and no Noah's ark was at hand to take them in. AVhile Cairo was the one dry spot, the city of refuge to which came the sufferers from above and from below, the -following appeal to the world's charity-was being issued from nearly every town fi'om here to Pittsburgh : Shawneetown, 111., via Evansville, Feb. 24. To Marshall Field & Co., Chicago: Our people are overwhelmed with the most ap- palling misfortune ever visited upon any locality. The Ohio River is five feet higher than ever known, and still rising. Our wealth has gone down with the angry waves. Hundreds are destitute, penni- less and suffering. We must have help. The river is from three to thirty-five miles wide, and carrying utter destruction before it. The loss in this imme- diate vicinity will reach $350,000 at least. We ap- peal to the charitable for assistance in this time of need. We have been under water for nearly three weeks, and it will take four weeks for it to subside. (Signed) Swoppord Bros., Allen & Harrington, M. M. Pool, ThOxMas S. Ridgewat, I. M. Millspaugh, Mayor. The very next day, February 25, Cairo sent out the following: " The river was fifty -two feet one inch at 6 P. M. , and on a stand. Our levees are holding out splendidly, and no fears of trouble from that source are ex- pected." While Cairo deeply deplored the calami- ties to her sister towns, and was ready and did lend a generous and helping hand to the sufferei'S, yet why should she not rejoice in that prudent care and forethought that placed these strong battling walls around her, that defied the angry waters, and un- shaken, stood guard over the peaceful slum- bers, the lives and the property of her peo- ple? The oft-repeated question, can levees be built that will secure your town against any water ? has been most triumphantly an- swered, both in the year 1882 and 1883. It is no longer a theory nor a guess, but a demonstration, as plain and strong as Holy Writ. 136 HISTORY OF CAIRO. CHAPTER YL THE PRESS— ITS POWER AS THE GREAT CIVILIZER OF THE AGE— CAIRO'S FIRST EDITORIAL VENTURES— BIRTH AND DEATH OF NEWSPAPERS INNUMERABLE— THE BOHEMIANS— AVHO THEY WERE AND WHAT THEY DID— " BULL RUN" RUSSELL— HARRELL, WILLETT, FAXON AND OTHERS— SOME OF THE "INTELLI- GENT COMPOSITORS"— QUANTUM SUFFICIT. " A history which takes no account of what was said by the Press in memorable emergencies befits an earlier age than ours." — Horace Greeley. IN the order of making settlements in the Mississippi Valley, it was the hunter and the trapper, the trader and the merchant, the ham- let, village or the mushroom cit}'^, and then the newspaper. Here it waited not, like of old, for that ripened civilization that was supposed to come of the centuries, that left people hungry, if not perishing, for that rich, juicy and nutri- tious mental pabulum that the editor was always supposed to furnish. The Press is the Third Estate in this coun- try — it has been called the palladium of Amer- ican liberties. One thing is quite certain, that the wisest and best thing our forefathers did was to establish a " free press," nominally, if not actually. True, it is absolutely free so far as the Government is concerned, but sometimes it is not so free from military dictation or from mob rule, and a few instances have occurred, in the history of the country, where there has been a foolish, violent and fanatical public sen- timent, grossly wrong in all its parts, that has crushed out the truth, and actually suppressed the only true friend the people had — the local press. But in return, the press can saj' it has committed outrages upon the public quite as often or oftener than have wrongs been perpe- trated against it. The averages, say, are even ; then if two wrongs can make a right, a reason- able justice has been done, and the great pal- ladium remains, and the Government did wisely foresee the eventual wants of mankind in this respect. And under the benign rays of their wisdom, the American people enjoy a free press, and this means free speech, free schools, free religion, and, supremest, and best of all, free thought ; for here is where the world has suf- fered most, because as a man's thoughts are the highest part of him — that which makes him the superior to the ox that grazes upon the hill — it is here that he can suffer infinitely the most ; where wrongs may be inflicted that are inelfaceable, incurable and shocking. For it was thought, and nothing else but thought, that has produced the present civilization and all its joys and pleasures — all that marks the diflerence in us and those miserable crea- tures who once were here, owning and possess- ing all this grand country, and whose mode and manner of life maj' all be drawn from the simple fact that they would bury the live wife in the same grave with the dead husband. This is a historic fact, although it occurred among a prehistoric people. They had no free speech, free press or free thought. They may have had a strong government, a govern- ment of iron and lead, and the}' may have wor- shiped that government as dutiful children worship a cruel father, but they have never had a free thought, except one of the basest kind, but the fact remains that they were a despicable people, because they had none of that civilization that eventuates in a free press. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 137 It was the great invention of movable tj'pes that has made the present greatness of the press possible. " The types are," remarked one of the greatest men the world has pro- duced, "as ships which pass through the vast seas of time, and make ages to participate of the wisdom, illuminations and inventions, the one of the other ; for the image of men's wits remain in books, exempted from the wrongs of time, and capable of perpetual renovation, neither are they fitly to be called images, because they generate still and cast their seeds in the minds of others, provoking and causing infinite action and opinions in succeeding ages. We see, then, how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power or of the hands. For have not the verses of Homer continued twenty -five hundred years or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter ? during which time, infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities, have decayed or been deiliolished. That whereunto man's nature doth most aspire, which is immortality or continuance ; for to this tendeth generation, and raising of houses and families ; to this buildings, foundations and monuments ; to this tendeth the desire of memory, fame and celebration, and in effect the strength of all other human desires." The types do infinitely more than this ; they are men's highest source of unalloj'ed enjoyment in this world. They may be made to contribute more to his real pleasures than anything else. While the}' are the most enduring thing of life, the joy and pleasures they bring, which they give for the asking, they give food and pleasure to the mind. For in life what pleasure equals that of the acquisition of new truths ? This is not only the greatest pleasure to the healthy mind, but it is the most enduring. It is the perennial fountain of knowledge, where the thirsty mind may drink deeply, drink draughts of which all the nectar the gods ever quaflfed are but puddle water. And it is not alone to the mind thirsting for the deep draughts of knowledge that its blessings are confined, but it gives equally to all — the thinker, the worker, the idle, the dissolute, the rich, the poor, the king and the outcast, aye, even the wretched leper to whom the work of the types are all in this world that can save him from a living tomb. It is the philosopher's touch-stone, the Aladdin's lamp, the genial ray of sunshine that penetrates all dungeons, that will go and abide forever wherever human life can exist. In the dingy printing office is the epitome of the world of action and of thought — the best school in Christendom — the best church. Here is where divine genius perches and pauses, and plumes its wings for those lofty flights that attract and awe all mankind and in all ages — here are kindled and fanned to a flame the fires of genius that sometimes blaze and dazzle like the central sun, and that generate and renew the rich fruitage of benign civilization. The press is the drudge and pack-horse — the crowned king of all mankind. The gentle click of its types is heard around all the world ; they go sounding down the tide of time, bear- ing upon their gentle waves the destinies of civilization, and the immortal smiles of the pale children of thought, as they troop across the fair face of the earth in their entrances and exits from the unknown to the unknown, scattering here and there immortal blessings, that the dull blind types have patiently gath- ered, to place them where they will live forever. It is the earth's sj'mphony which endures, which transcends that of the " morning when the stars sang together," and when its chords are swept by the fingers of the immortals, it is the echo of those anthems that float up forever to the throne of God. Of all that man can have in this world, it is the one blessing, whose rose need have no thorn, whose sweet need have no bitter. It is freighted with man's good, his hap- piness and the divine blessings of civilization. By means of the press, the lowliest cabin equals 128 HISTORY OF CAIRO. the lordliest palace in the right and authority to bid enter its portals, and be seated in the famil}' circle, the sweet singer of Scotland — the delightfully immortal Burns — who died at thirty-seven, and over whose grave his mis- taken, foolish countrymen were relieved of the poor outcast and sot ; they thought they were burying an outcast, when the clods that covered his poor body hid the warm sunlight of Scotland. Or bid the crowned monarch of mankind come in, and with wife, children and friends tarry until bed-time, and tell the real story of Hamlet ; or Lord Macaula}^ will la}^ aside titles and dignity, and with the poor cotter's family hold familiar discourse in those rich resounding sentences that flow on forever like a great and rapid river ; or Charles Lamb, whose heart was saddest, whose wit was sweet- est, whose life was a mingling of smiles and tears, and let him tell the children and the grandsires the story of the invention of the roast pig ; or Johnson, his boorishness and roughness all gone now, in trenchant sentences pour out his jeweled thoughts to eager ears ; or bid Pope tell something of the story of man's inhumanity to man ; or poor, poor delightful Poe, with his bird of evil omen, croaking, croaking, " nevermore !" Or Dickins, George Elliott, Bunyan or Voltaii-e, or any of the thousands of others, when all may be fed to fullness. Thanks, then, a million times thanks, to our dear old Revolutionary sires for giving us the great boon of a free press. If our Government endui-es, and the people continue free, here will be much of the reason thereof, for, mark you, freedom, though once never so well established, will not maintain and prepetuate itself, because by the laws of heredity that lurks in every man, more or less, the latent customs or habits or mental convictions of a barbarous ancestry leave the seeds of monarchy and despotism. True, the Americans have this (speaking in reference to a democratic form of government) less than any other people in the world ; they are farther removed from an ancestry that worshiped under kingly rulers — an ancestry that perhaps honestly worshiped an autocrat and that would have almost let out its own blood, had they known they would produce a posterity that would cease to worship at the same shrine, or even emigrate to some foreign country, and learn to detest and hate all im- perial pretensions. Hence, we say, the xlmerican people have this tendency to return to monarch}' less than any other people in the world, and yet even here it is as true now as when uttered, that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The press, therefore, is essential to the perpetuation of free institutions in America. That the press can do no wrong, it is not our intention in the remotest way to assert. So great an institution, so varied its interests, so numerous its controllers and its guides, that it would be a foolish man indeed who would even hope that it ever would become infallible. A wise people, therefore, will jealously watch it, while it is standing upon the watch-tower, hunting for the ambitious usurper to catch and slay him. This is the very genius of free institutions — vigilance and untiring watchful- ness upon the part of all. But it is of the coming of the press, the printers, the editors, the writers, publishers, and others brought here in connection with the press, even including that strange creature, who always accompanies those pious and verj^ moral gentleman, the " devil," that it is our purpose to immediatel}' speak. They were altogether a remarkable set, who published remarkable papers, and some still more remark- able articles. They, as has always been the case ever^'where, had their differences, their quarrels even, but be it said to their credit, no matter from what cause it came, the disputes never resulted in anything more serious than a few bitter paragraphs, and then their injured HISTORY OF CAIRO. 129 honor was appeased, and the entente cordiale once more prevailed. Here the whole thing was like the rise and fall of the Roman empire, except there was more of them. Cairo reached the astounding population of 2,000 souls before an attempt was made to start a paper here — something that could not possibly happen now, as probably 300 is the extreme limit that the lynx-eyed printer of this age will allow to gather together without starting at least one paper, and often two. In the year 1841, just when Cairo was in the zenith of her first term of greatness and just before she fell from that height and past to her first nadir, that one Mc- Neer came here and brought a small press and started a paper. It was in the first flush times of Cairo, when Holbrook was the master and autocrat of all, when his company were spend- ing mone}- by the millions, and were building everything and doing everything. McNeer was a stranger to aflfairs, and showed his utter want of judgment by not asking Holbrook if he might come. Indeed, worse than this, when he started his paper he had the audacity to criticize that great ruler, and he soon acknowl- edged his error by leaving town and taking his paper with him. The unholy monster monopol}'^ had crushed him, and no other daring advent- urer followed, for the simple reason that in a few months the dynasty, the town, and ever^^- thing pretty much about it had gone much worse bursted and crushed than had poor McNeer. In June, 1848, Add Saunders established the Cairo Delta, neutral in politics, and although Cairo had only 142 souls, yet the breezy new- ness of such a thing soon gave him a circula- tion of 800 copies. But whether because he saw the storm coming or from what cause we do not know, he closed the concern in October, 1849, left Cairo, went to Evansville, and consolidated with the Evansville Journal. And then another interregnum occurred in the newspaper world of Cairo. This continued until April 10, 1851, when Frank Rawlings, of Emporium, or Mound City, started the Cairo Sun here. It was full of good enough Democ- rac}', but was supposed to be really in the inter- ests of the Emporium City Company, if not actually started by it. This was a company started at Mound City for the purpose of break- ing down Cairo and building the great city at that point. It was this perhaps as much as anything else that caused the paper to die of starvation just one j'ear to a da}^ from the time of its starting. There are now pretty strong evidences that this was the true fact in the case, as, within the year of the paper's publication, Gen. Rawlings, the father of Frank, had come to Cairo, and in the name of some tax-titles or Sheriff's deeds or a combination of these and even other things, had tried to capture the entire town of Cairo, or a larger portion of it. An old settler here still remembers seeing the old General in solemn state carefull}' ride around the cit}-, taking possession of his demesne. If there were other instances at all similar to this it makes it plausible that the good people of Cairo feared that " my son Frank" was really little else than a well-got-up sp}'. Just here it should be noted that it was a singular fact that the Cairo & City Canal 'Company, or perhaps better to say Holbrook, in all his vast schemes of grabbing after rail- roads, canals, wild cat banks and the greatest commercial city in the world and untold mill- ions of hard dollars from Europe, and what little else the balance of mankind had, should never have thought to start a paper in his own private interest. Was this the fatal spot in the heel where he was at last wounded unto death ? A personal organ in those daj'S prob- ably had not been tried, but this is precisely the reason it ought to have suggested itself to Holbrook. Cairo Times. — After another reign of silence from the news world, Len G. Faxon and W. A. Hacker started the Cairo Times. Hacker was 130 HISTORY OF CAIRO. the heavy editor, while Faxon, with a dreadful long-pointed sharp stick, stirred up the animals. The paper was a weekly, and of the old bour- bon barefooted Democrac}- — the kind that would have cried out to its million readers, at the outbreak of the war (it never had 300, you know) to maintain an armed neutralit}' and save the nation from bloodshed and war. Hacker had good talents, but he was not a journalist ; he did not seek to be one. He was a politician and a lawyer, and he soon retired from the newspaper to his favorite pursuits. On the other hand, journalism was as natural to Faxon as water is to a duck, and there was but one thing that ever prevented him gain- ing the highest eminence in his profession, and that may best be designated as general insta- bility. " He was a fellow of infinite jest," and a sharp and vigorous pen, but as to using it he preferred to be with the boys. He made no professions to profundity of writing, but he was always sparkling and readable. He did not re- main a very long time in Cairo, but perhaps as long as he has remained anywhere since he be- came a Bohemian, and after leaving here he has drifted about the world and fiuall}' is now in Paducah, Ky., where he went in his regular trade, and after making himself the master bantam of that town, we believe he dropped his faber and is now seeking other and more promising schemes. But it is not worth while to bid him adieu yet from the profession, for almost any moment you may hear of him breaking out afresh in some new, strange and most unexpected journalistic waj-. But we have not concluded our account of Faxon in Cairo j^et, which we will now proceed to do. He severed his connection with the Times earlj- in the year 1855, being with the paper a little less than one year, and Ed Willett, the poet, journalist and erratic young man, took his place. And it was then Hacker & Willett who were steering the Times along the troubled waters of the journalistic sea. They continued the publication until the following November, when the paper was merged with the Delta, and Hacker, so far as we know, retired forever from the vexations, the trials, the strains and glories of the editorial life., And as we will say no more of Hacker in this department, we will dis- miss the subject of his ability, st3ie and excel- lence as a writer by quoting the remark of " Mose" Harrell, in a published account of the press of Cairo in 1864. In speaking of this very paper that we have just followed to its grave, he says : " This hebdomadal was Democratic in politics, every number betraying the impress of the engaging ponderosity^ of Hacker's pen," etc. — the " engaging ponderosi- ty"_^is rather neat, but of Mr. Hacker in his real place in life, we will have occasion to speak at more length when we come to the chapter on the bench and bar. Cairo Delta.— On the 4th of July, 1855, Faxon started this paper. It had but little politics in it, but it wielded a free lance for every comer, and poked and prodded and put on a long-tailed coat and would tread majesti- cally- around dragging this behind and begging some man to tread on it. It had onl}- a short existence of four months, when Faxon, dis- covering what he lacked in Willett, and Willett discovering certain essential qualities him- self in Faxon, the}- wooed and wedded and' joined their two papers together, and this happy union resulted in the Times and Delta. — xlnd so ancjther paper was launched upon the journalistic sea, the first issue of which was in November, 1855. It flourished finch- under its dual title, because it combined the materials of an almost certain success in its publishers. The publication con- tinued until 1859. Cairo Egyptian. — Established in 1856, by Bond & McGinnis. This was Ben Bond, the youngest son of the first Governor of Illinois, who was one of the earliest men to see here in Cairo great future possibilities. His faith in HISTORY OF CAIRO. 131 the place perhaps induced Bew to come here and try the wheel of fortune in what turned out to be a rash venture. The paper was of course an uncompromising Democrat in poli- tics. It could hardly have been anything else with the name of an}^ one of the numerous Bond boys to it. The paper soon passed to the control of S. S. Brooks, and its name changed to the Cairo Gazette, and its publication con- tinued under this rather brilliant newspaper man for nearl}' two years. Brooks, when he closed out his paper interest here, went to Quincy, 111., where he established the Her- ald, in which he made an extensive reputation, which reputation, our recollection is, was some- thing after the style of G. D. Prentice, that is, in Prentice's double meaning paragraphs. In 1858, Brooks sold out to John A. Hull and James Hull, and they continued the publica- tion until the month of August, 1859, when it was purchased by M. B. Harrell, who published the paper until the spring of 1864, when he sold it out to the Cairo News Company, a Ke- publican concern, organized chiefly by the efforts of John H. Barton. Cairo Journal — A Grerman paper, the first of the kind attempted here, was issued in 1858. A weekly paper and the few Gei*- mans there were hex'e to patronize it valued it quite highly, yet it lingered in a state of great, destitution and died after a few months. Cairo Zeitung. — Its name tells its nativity This was a semi-weekly paper, issued from the office of the Gazette in 1859. It was an am- bitious little Dutchman, as is evidenced by the fact that it started in as semi-weekly. It fair- 1}" " donnered de wedder" the first few weeks of its existence, but it was all to no purpose, it sickened and died, aged four months, and its happy shade is now in the krout business in the happy hunting grounds set apart for deaid Cairo papers. Egyptian Obelisk. — In 1861, William Hunter and a few other infatuated souls, concluded Cairo was ripe to be Christianized by a great daily Kepublican paper, to let in some light upon Egyptian darkness. As this was a free country — all except Cairo, which was intensely Democratic — no one interfered with their gi- gantic project, and upon a fixed hour it was launched upon an astounded world. Its rug- ged course of life lasted through just two issues, when its little slippers were put away, with the consoling remark, " whom the gods love die young." Cairo Daily News — A Republican paper, es- tablished in 1863, by a joint-stock compan}^ the head of which compau}', the writer's rec- ollection is, was John W. Trover. This was quite a pretentious, and in many respects, a paper that was a credit to Cairo. It was prob- ably the first paper in the town that ever took the Associated Press dispatches. It had a general and local editor, and published con- siderable river and financial news. But its specialty was the army and navy and " loyalty," with a strong penchant for watching the trait- ors, or which was then the same thing, the Democrats. It piped its own loyalty, and the arrant treason of every one who differed from it. Its first editor was Dan Munn, known far and wide as a brother of Ben's. Dan was an offshoot of the remarkable establishment that flourished here as a part of the great war times, known as the house of Munn, Pope & Munn. To Dan's credit be it said he never was a journalist. His forte la}" in other direc- tions, and in a ver}' short time he retired and was succeeded as editor b}' John A. Hull, whose industry soon showed that there was a marked change in the department. Hull never was brilliant, because he did not have much faith in that kind of editing, and to this day we believe that if an^'thing could have made the Neios a success, it was the steady-going, even-tempered mode of editing pursued by Mr. Hull. 132 HISTORY or CAIRO. Before the paper was a year old, it became apparent that Trover was rapidly tiring of footing the deficiency bills, and the News com- pany notified the boys in the office, or at least action to that effect was had, and the usual process of rats deserting the ship was again enacted in the world's history. At one time Birney Marshall and James 0. Durff ran it until the first week's bill for the Associated Press dispatches came in, when they declared the great house temporarily closed. Still others were induced to put in enough money, and when it had good luck it would run a week, and then again twentj^-four hours would wind it up. But finally, in 1865, at a little over the age of two years, and filled with more changes and vicissitudes than any similar thing that ever existed, it breathed its last. It had been dead so long before it acknowl- edged it that it is doubtful if it ever had any funeral. Marshall and Durff both died a few years ago in Memphis. Cairo Democrat — By Thomas Lewis, a daily and weekl}' Democratic paper. The office was removed from Springfield, 111., to this place, and the publication of a nine-column dail}' paper commenced on the 3d day of August, 1863. This was about the first effort to establish a I'eal metropolitan daily paper, giving all, even the great), amount of war news then prevalent in the country. It was brought here at great expense, run with a full force of editors, re- porters and printers, and was published under great disadvantages. Cairo was literally a fort of the Union Army, the town full of soldiers and under martial law ; provost guards were the police of the town, and a military man was not only Mayor and Grovernor, but supreme auto- crat, whose will was law even unto death, and there were onl}- a few of them who doubted his own ability, not only to discharge his military office, but to edit at least all the Democratic papers published within the United States. The result was there was sometimes that kind of meddling that was exceedingly unpleasant to publishers. Orders would come some- times daily, either from the Provost Marshal's office, or from headquarters, giving directions how to run the paper, what to publish and what not to publish. Practicall}^, j'ou were paying the heavy expenses of a printing office, and some one else was editing it — such edit- ing as it was. At times an order would come — a standing order, mark you — to submit all matter intended for the paper to inspection, before it could be printed. The writer hereof remembers an amusing in- cident of those strange times. He had written and published a short, sill}' story about a man who kept a pea-nut stand on the street, and how he first " knocked down" the profits^ and finally the capital and clandestinely closed his establishment and crawled under the sidewalk, just beneath where his store had been, and left his creditors to whistle. Then went on with a lot of stuff about how all the first detectives in the world were put upon the fugitive's tracks, chartering steamers, railroads, telegraphs, etc., and how they peered around and peeked into the North pole in the pursuit, and how he lay snoring under the sidewalk all the time. It is hard to imagine anything more silh' to be put into print, but there may have been some excuse at that day, from the fact that some man had just defaulted in New York for a large amount, and supposing he would flee to the uttermost parts of the earth the detec- tives acted accordingly. Whereas, in fact, he only moved to a new boarding house, and rested there content. It seems he could not be found because he had not fled. For this the writer was jerked up and asked to explain it all. He frankly confessed that it was wholly meaningless — confessed upon his sacred honor it was not a cipher dispatch to the Southern Confederacy, and was ready to swear with up-lifted hand, that he thought if HISTORY OF CAIRO. 135 Jeflf Davis ever was compelled to read it, or by any chance should read it, that it would kill him in five minutes. This happy explanation closed the doors of the threatening bastile, with the happy victim on the outside and not inside. We cannot here enumerate all the annoyances that it was possible to and that actually were thrown in the way of the publication of the Democrat, but they were many, vexatious and sorelv trying. But just here we wish distinct- ly to remark that it was not a universal prac- tice with the military to act such silly roles. The commanding officer was often changed, and it may be said, on behalf of the majority of them, that they were intelligent and clever gentlemen, and from all such there was no more annoj'ance than from any private gentle- man. Indeed many of them were of that cult- ured and agreeable kind that all the society people of Cairo much enjoyed their sta}' among them. But when the meddlers did come, their folly was only the more illy borne b^- the con- trast that the others made. Mr. Lewis is entitled to all the credit that can come of persistence in the face of such obstacles as we have named. Of course, there were many others, but so there are under any circumstances in starting an enterprise of this kind. The paper had a warm support throughout all Southern Illinois, and a partial support from both Kentucky and Missouri, but in these two last-mentioned places there were so few mail facilities, and there were guerrillas frequently in those localities, that the circulation of the paper was in that direction infinitesimal. Without giving figures, it is probably a fact that the daily and weekly Democrat, within a year of the commencement of publication, had, combined, the largest circulation of any paper published in Cairo. The first editor v^s H. C Bradsby, assisted in the local department by C. C. Phillipps, and John W. McKee. Mr. Bradsby continued in his position about one year, and having accepted a position of correspondent of the Missouri Re- publican and afterward the Chicago Times, re- tired, and was succeeded by J. Birney Mar- shall, of Kentucky. Mr. Marshall continued for some months as editor, and, retii'ing, was suc- ceeded by Joel G. Morgan, who came here for that purpose, from Jonesboro, 111., and after a short time Mr. Morgan retired and was replaced by John H. Oberly. The paper lived along until 1878, when it passed into the hands of a joint-stock company and joined and consolidated with the Cairo Times. The new concern retained the name of Cairo Democrat, H. L. Goodall, General Superintendent, and John H. Oberly, editor. It was the hope of its friends that this ar- rangement would relieve both papers of all em- barrassments and make one strong, self-sus- taining paper. It was ably and expensively operated under the new arrangement, and cer- tainl}- a common, strong effort was made to make a paper that would draw to itself a good support. But after the first month, its very ex- istence was precarious, and after fifteen months of heroic struggles it was sold by the Sheriff, and John H. Oberly became the pur- chaser, and thus ended the long struggle for existence by a daily paper in Cairo, the long- est made by any of the hosts that have come, flourished their brief hour and expired. The War Eagle — Was a soldier's paper pub- lished at Columbus, Ky., by H. L. Goodall, who moved the entire concern to Cairo in 1864, and made a vigorous, spicy little Republican paper of it. It was so suc- cessful and was attracting so wide an influence, that parties here induced Mr. Goodall to en- large his sphere of action, which he did by pur- chasing a fine outfit for a large office, moving into new and spacious quarters (from the Eagle's roost in the barracks). And the en- larged new paper was the 186 HISTORY OF CAIRO. Cairo Times — A daily Republican paper, commenced in the latter part of 1866. The Eagle was a little unpretentious weekly, but the Phoenix that rose from its ashes, was a large, handsome, well -constructed daily. The paper was well patronized, but we very much doubt if Mr. Goodall ever saw the day, after the first six months, that he was glad of the change. The Times had none of the Eagles scream. Maj. Caffrey was its general editor — a man of considerable ability, a strong Repub- licai^ and good fellow. He remained with Mr. Goodall until politics had ceased to be a feat- ure, when he sought other pastures. At latest accounts he was in Kansas City, Kan., pub- lishing a weekl}' Republican paper. The Union — A Republican weekly, started in 1866, by H. L. Goodall, as a side-show, per- haps, to his great and flourishing daily. The editor of this inoffensive political organ was Mr. Hutchinson. It was soon sold to J. H. Barton and its publication discontiniied. The Sunday Leader — A literary paper, started in 1866, by Ed S. Trover, issued every Sunda}^ morning. There were many marks of real merit about this periodical. The sole writer for it was its editor, but he was well known in the city from his position of local on the News, where he had made his mark as a promising boy. City Item — A little five-column weekly local paper, was started into existence in the early part of 1866, by Bradsby & Field (Bourne). It was independent in politics and pretty much everything else. It was only intended to cir- culate in Cairo. This paper was the suggestion of John Field, who had for a long time been foreman in the Democrat office, and, leaving that place, he went to Bradsby with his scheme ; that he would do all the work, Bradsby to do the writing ; to rent a case in one of the printing offices and hire the press work done. It was to be all original matter, set solid, and to con- tain no "ad" more than ten lines long, and no display advertisements. It was no serious eflfort at a paper, and by common consent, the whole community looked upon it as a joke, and that reall}' was about all there was of it, and it was perhaps luck}' for the criminal that this was so. It lived something over a 3ear and then quit. Olive Branch — By Mrs. Mary Hutchinson, a family paper, with an olive wreath about its brow. It lived about one year. It commenced and died in 1867. Cairo Times. — Revived in 1868, by H. L. Goodall. A stx'ong daily and weekly Repub- lican paper. Its regular publication continued until the early part of 1871, when Mr. Goodall evidently tired of the newspaper busi- ness in Cairo, wound up his concern, sold out all Cairo interests ^nd went to Chicago. Cairo Daily Bulletin — A Democratic paper started by John H. Oberly, in November, 1868. J. H. Oberly, chief editor, M. B. Harrell, as- sociate. The paper started under most favor- able and promising circumstances, but just as its promise seemed fairest, the office and con- tents burned to the ground, and to add to its calamities there was no insurance on the con- cern. This fire occurred in December, 1868, when the establishment was only a little more than a month old. An entire new outfit was immediately procured and the publication re- sumed, and is to this day still a daily morning paper. The reader can hardly imagine what a joy and relief it is to at last come to one in the long line that is aliA^e, prosperous and happy. The long preceding list is so much like a call- ing the roll of the dead, that the change from the funeral to the festival is inexpressibly pleasant. Mr. Oberly and Harrell continued to push the paper successfully for some years. Its job department had grown to large proportions and eventually promised to support well the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 187 newspaper part of the establishment, but in 1878, matters began to grow perplexed and embarrassments began to beset the institution. Among other calamities, the j'ellow fever had visited the town and all business was pros- trate. About this time the arrangements were made to lease the office to Mr, Burnett, the present proprietor. This took effect July, 1878, and it is probable the absolute stoppage of the paper was thus avoided. Mr. Burnett con- tinued as lessee until Januar}^ 1, 1881, when by pui'chase he became the absolute and sole owner, in which position he has not only been able to make the paper self-sustaining, but has so carefuU}' attended to matters that it is rapid- ly becoming a first-class paying property. Mr. Burnett has worked his way from "in charge of the circulation," in March, 1868, to that of sole owner and proprietor. For two years he was book-keeper, and was then made general manager. This position he held until 1867, when he left the office and took employ- ment in the Illinois Central Railroad office, in this city, where he remained about eighteen months. He then returned to the office of the Bulletin as lessee. The first 3-ear's earnings of the institution were slightl}' in excess of ex- penses, even after deducting considerable necessary additional materials ; the second year was not so good, but b}' this time Mr. Burnett had so systematized matters that it has been eas}' sailing in placid waters since. It is located on the levee in the proprietor's own building, and the constant additions and im- provements being added will soon make it one of the leading solid institutions of the kind in the country. The first few years after Mr. Burnett took control of the BuUetin, it was edited by M. B. Harrell, and, when the latter went to Chicago, the editorial work was done by Mr. Ernst Theilecke, who was connected with the office for a long time. Mr. Theilecke is now in Lock- haven, Penn., and occupying much the same position there that he did here. The present local and assistant writer upon the Bulletin is Mr. E. W. Theilecke, who has oc- cupied his present place the last two years. He is quite a young man, who gives every evi- dence of usefulness and ability. In as few words as we could possibly make it, this is history of one of the very few success- ful papers of the many started in Cairo. It leaves this as a demonstration and conclusion : When the papers of Cairo eventually come in- to exactly the right hands, they then, and then only, become permanent and valuable institu- tions. Cairo Sun — A weekly Republican paper, started by D. L. Davis in 1869. After running it a few months as a weekly, it took the form of a daily paper, and in this shape in a short time was sold by Mr. Davis to the Joy Bros., who continued the publication until January 1, 1881, when, for some I'eason best known to the publishers, they voluntarily killed off the Sun and started a new paper, the JVews, which worked along in fair weather and in foul just one year, and ceased to exist January 1, 1882. Radical Republican — Its name indicates its political proclivities, was issued for a short time from the Sun office. Its publisher was Louis L. Davis. It never had much vitality, and perished in 1880. The Three States — Colored ; politics un- known. Died Februar}-, 1883. Gazette — Colored ; W. T. Scott, proprietor and publisher. A weekly paper that is one of the few that has not ceased to exist. The Camp Register — A daily sheet for sol- diers mostl3^ Was published during May, June and July, 1861. The Dally Dramatic News — Was published by H. L. Goodall during the winter of 1864-65 in the interests of Crump & Co., the builders and first proprietors of the Cairo Atheniieum. Cairo Paper — A vigorous and able Demo- 138 HISTORY OF CAIRO. cratic paper, established b}- M. B. Harrell in 1871. Not liking the name, be changed it in a short time to Cairo Gazette, and thus returned to his first love in the Cairo papers. In this style the publication was continued until 1876, when it was sold by the proprietor and moved to Clinton, Ky. Cairo Daily Argus — Independent daily pa- per, by H. F. Potter, publisher, and Walt F. McKee, editor. Was first issued in its present form November 15, 1878. Seventeen years ago, Mr. Potter took possession as owner and publisher of the Mound City Journal, which he has conducted from that da}' to this success- fully. Eight years ago, deeming his old fields of operations somewhat circumscribed, and looking about for an opportunity to enlarge them, he conceived the happy idea of a combi- nation of Cairo and Mound City interests, and so he issued the Cairo Argus and Mound City Journal, the work being done at the commence- ment in the Mound City office, with a local agent and office in Cairo, but no printing mate- rial in Cairo. In one year after starting this enterprise he moved his office to Cairo, and continued the publication, simply reversing the local office and the printing office as to their places. After the office was in Cairo a few months, the title of the paper was changed into the Argus- Journal, and was still issued at Cairo and Mound City weekly. Then, as above stated, in 1878, November 15, he issued directly the Cairo Daily Argus, and still continues to publish the Mound City Journal, which, upon the appearance of the Daily Argus, resumed its old name, and, certainly, a very high compliment to Mr. Potter's foresight, the Journal, through all its marrying and journeyings, retains every one of its old Pulaski County friends, and at the same time had so managed its Cairo patrons to the weekly paper that when tlie daily was started it already' had its subscription list made up. Mr. Potter's past experience, his good, strong judgment, his energy and faithfulness to his business, and his known integrity, deserve an ever-increasing success in his venture into a field where so man}', so bright and so worthy have heretofore nearly one and all completely failed. He well understood all these failures before he looked toward Cairo as a field of operations. He had known Cairo as well daily for the past twenty yeai's as though he had been a citizen during all that time. He knew, personally, all of these men, and had watched their wrecking, and, doubtless, it is well for him he had the benefit of others' sad experience, as it enabled him to lay his plans the better, and the caution he has displayed when he was eight long years in reaching the point of having a daily paper in Cairo shows a species of method, determination, sound judgment and persistence of purpose that is certainly a sufficient guaran- tee to the people of Cairo that they need not hesitate a moment in giving his concern their fullest confidence. We mean by all this that they need not fear to trust the man or his busi- ness, and they need not be influenced b}- the many failures in the lives of paper publications the}' have seen, and, therefore, class the Daily Argus as being only another one that, in a short time, is to follow in the already beaten track of the many. His selection of an assistant and editor has been equally fortunate with his other move- ments in the establishment upon a permanent basis of his paper. We refer, of course, to Walt F. McKee, than whom no more reliable man lives. He has resided in Cairo since boy- hood, and during nearly all that time has oc- cupied responsible and confidential positions for organizations and institutions, which are known to give trust only to the most trust- worthy. Mr. McKee entered the office of the Argus with but a limited knowledge of the bus- iness, but as his employer foresaw he would learn, and he has learned until to-day he is quite as well informed of the duties of his position as are those who consider themselves HISTORY OF CAIRO. 139 the par excellence leaders and teachers in this most trj'ing and arduous profession. We gladly dismiss this long column of dis- mal failures, consisting of over thirty papers, only three of which are now living to gladden the e^'es of their friends. But should we drop the subject and pass to other themes, and sa}' no more than we have said of the men who were the actors and doers in this cui'ious news- paporial world, the list would be but a skeleton, and not a pleasant one at that. The Bohemians. — We confess we can find no other word under which we can group the au- thors, correspondents, editors, reporters and contributors, who were of and at one time a part of Cairo, so well as the one we have adopted. Could we group these as one fair picture and show the people who it is that has come and gone, attracted to Cairo, some of them, in the hunt of permanent homes and bus- iness, others brought. here as war correspond- ents at the time when Cairo was the great central news point in the United States, others here permanently as the representatives of many, in fact, nearly all the great leading dail}' papers of the country. We say, had we the pen and the necessai'y facts to make this grouping, the people would rise from the perusal amazed if not delighted. But the knowledge of these men by the writer of these lines is imperfect, as some of them he never knew, and many othei's, whom he vividly remembers the faces and their peculiar cast of mind, their names have passed out of mind. The first man nearly in point of time, cer- tainly in point of fame, who visited Cairo " to write," was Charles Dickens. He was here in 1842. He took his notes, went home and wi'ote Martin Chuzzlewit. So far as his attempt to describe Cairo itself is concerned it is like everything else Dickens wrote — fiction. But there are some things he said he saw here that can hardly be in his usual strain of extrava- gance. For instance, any old settler can tell 3'ou that the first crash in Cairo had come be- fore Dickens' visit and that like a stricken city the decimation of people from 2,000 to less than fift}- had come like a cyclone from a cloud- less sky. The historian, too, has no hesitation in telling j^ou that the few left could not oc- cup3' the houses, and that when the canal com- pany failed they were left with almost nothing to do. Still there is scarcely a doubt that no matter how bad Dickens found matters, his pen would have been palsied if he had not " lied just a little." The writer has not seen the work in which he tells how Mark Tapley visited Cairo and had the ague, and how he and his companion were visited by the leadmg politi- cian and stump speakers of Southern Illinois ; how the stump speaker talked in the '• Home- in-the-Settin'-Sun " style, and then spit over the prostrate Martin, at a crack in the floor ten feet awaj^ and^hit the crack, and assured him he might lie eas}' on his blanket, as he would not spit on him, etc., etc. When we read all this rather coarse kind of stufi" as a boy, we thought it rather smart and funny. Mark and his friend, it seems, came to Cairo in order to have the chills — all the way from England. A long dis- tance to come for what they could have pro- cured a much stronger article of thousands of miles nearer home. But they were here for that purpose, says the veracious author, and while here they described the kind of acquaint- ances they associated with and formed. Now any Cairoite can to-day go to Loudon and find, if his tastes so run, an infinitely worse crowd, more vile, more squalid, dirtier, and in short the very abomination and indescribable dregs of humanity. What a ti'aveler's eyes sees de- pends upon the traveler, much more than on what is spread before him, panorama-like as he moves along. Out of all the Southern Illi- nois and Cairo people the traveler met and associated with here, there is not the picture of one that any here would read and say that is so-and-so, even Maj. Challop, the Home-iu-the- 140 HISTORY or CAIRO. Settin'-Sun fellow, the leading politician with whom the travelers conversed in a very idiotic fashion on Grovernment, is an unrec- ognizable, not known to a living soul ; but when the traveler walked ashore and describes the emptj' building (they were certainly here in 1842), and says " the most abject and forlorn among them was called, with great propriety, the Bank and National Credit Office. It had some feeble props about it, but was settling deep down in the mud, past all recover}-." That is not a very extravagant picture of the real case of Holbrook's bank and where it went to. So deeply was that South Sea Bubble hur- ried, exploded or evaporated, about the very time Dickens penned these lines, that its ghost has never been seen even in the region or at the hour when " graveyards yawn." And if Dickens was right about its settling in the mud and ooze, so be it. One thing is certain, this is the onl}- real account of what did ever be- come of that enormous swindle. The man next in order, and, perhaps, the next in celebrity, who was at one time a tempo- rary resident of Cairo, was W. H. Russell, bet- ter known all over this country as Bull Run Russell, the celebrated war correspondent of the London Times. He was stationed here in 1861, and because he was an Englishman, or because he represented the far-off London Times, or because this country just at that time was deeply engaged in playing sycophant for fear of the growl of the English lion, or ma}'- hap for all these reasons combined, our mast- fed military commanders in and about Cairo were doing the very best toadying to this John Bull that they could conceive of. They must have supposed that Bull Run would write to the Queen, and especially mention the fact that Colonel or General So-and-so was a great friend of England, and the only way to keep him in a good humor and prevent his getting " mad " and eventually eating Britain's Isle, would be to recognize him or the United States, or both, and not to recognize Jeff Davis, who was all the time hanging on a " sour apple tree." For all this coarse, clums}', and rather disgusting syco- phanc}', Russell wrote to the London Times fairly taking the hide off these fellows, describ- ing them, giving the names of many of the most prominent, as coarse, vulgar, ignorant louts, who smelt of the stables, even through all their new, cheap tinsel and military toggery. He criticized unmercifull}^, and, no doubt, justly, their display of military knowledge in ever}^ department. In the high privates of the army he thought he could plainly see the germ from which a strong army might be made, but evidently in the commanders he could not speak of them without thinking of the toad}'- ing they had just been giving him, and his patience was at once gone. As to the natives, or the home talent, or the native casual Cairoites, we may divide them, for convenience' sake, into the two fol- lowing natural divisions: the ante-bellum crowd, and then the remainder to the pres- ent day. And of the first, we may designate M. B. Harrell, L. G. Faxon and Ed Willett as the three names that always come to the lips when speaking of the early newspapers. CertainlJ', three more distinct characters, in the same line or profession, never met. They may be said to have practically been here together from the very first, and of all these, Harrell, so far as we can learn, was here some time before the other two were. He must have been here early in the " forties." His brother, Bailey Harrell, was one of the very earliest leading merchants here, and "Mose," as he is more widely known than by any other designation, was, perhaps, a boy about bis brother's store when he was quite young, and it is reasonable to suppose that he took his first lessons in composition in copying or finally writing advertisements for the store. HISTORY OF CAIRO. 141 We only claim to be guessing at all this, but if here was where he got his education, then he went to a school that has been seldom equalled. In the old files of a Cairo paper, we find an advertisement of B. S. Harrell's store, and the whole thing convinces us that either Mose or Bailey wrote it. There were but two merchants here, rivals, and both doing business under the same roof. One was a Yankee, the other Harrell. The Yankee brought on a large stock, and adver- tised in the Cairo Delta, that he had bought his stock for cash, and could, therefore, sell lower by far than any one else. In the very next paper, Harrell's advertisement appeared, in these words: "Now, these goods I can and will sell lower than my competitor, for the simple reason that I bought them all on credit, and that, too, without the slightest intention of ever paying a cent for them. " Mose was here during the long reign of idleness, when the whole community was given over to practical joking and fun of all kinds. He was the first telegraph operator, when but a single wire stretched its way to this then outside of the telegraphic world. He says he was at last relieved from the ar- duous duties of receiving the two or three dispatehs that sometimes came daily, " for shutting up the office" and going courting one night. It is much more probable tha^ he was discharged for some of his pranks, of which his supply was inexhaustible, as the following specimen may show: A boat had landed on its way from New Orleans to St. Louis. Among the many deck passengers who sought the top of the levee for supplies, bread, bologna, etc., was one poor fellow whom the boat left. He had failed to reach the wharf in time to get aboard. He was in sore distress; his family were on board the boat, and what would he do? Mose, of course, met him like a good Samaritan; showed him the wire and the poles, and ex- plained that it was made on purpose to send things to St. Louis. The institution was new then,, and little understood. The man listened, and begged Mose to send him on at once. Mose explained to him how he would have to jump at each pole, and the man thought he could do it. The dupe was then prepared for the trip by his friend. The bread, cheese, bologna, etc., were made into a pack and carefully tied upon .his back. The telegraph -climbers were placed upon his feet, in order that he might climb to the wire and get on. But for the life of him he could not climb the pole; he worked by the hour, sometimes digging into the pole and sometimes in his own legs, and only from sheer exhaustion did he finally give up in despair. Mose then told him to go up town and find Corcoran, who was the keeper of the ladder that was used by the ladies ,to climb with when they wanted to travel by tele- graph. The poor fellow hunted until he found Corcoran, and told him what he wanted. He was informed that the ladder had been broken the day before by Barnum's fat woman going up on it, and finally per- suaded the dupe that the wire was considered dangerous ever since the fat woman and her seven Saratoga trunks had passed over it, and that he had probably better wait until another boat came along, and then he could go to St. Louis in peace and safety. Mound City at one time — very foolish it all now looks — concluded to rival Cairo, not rival, but simply distance and build all the great city up there. They probably found some man, as Cairo found Holbrook, and at it they went, spending money right and left at an immense rate. Whoever was running Mound City was smarter than the one that ran Cairo, because, as soon as matters were under full 'headway, he imported a news- 142 HISTORY OF CAIRO. paper outfit, came to Cairo, and hired M. B. HaiTell at a big salary to go up there and abuse Cairo. Although the salary was lai'ge, Harrell earned every dollar, and more too; for instance: " We attended a meeting of the Cairo City Council Monday night. The room being well warmed, and a bottle of Fair's Ague Tonic being provided for each Alderman, and an ounce of quinine for the Board gen- erally (from which the Clerk would occasion- ally take a spoonful). The fever and ague by which the majority were at the time afflicted, interfered only immaterially with the busi- ness. If anybody wants to see 'great shakes, ' let 'em attend a Cairo Council meeting." Or this: " The Cairoites, in imitation of the Yankee at sea, have provided themselves with a good supply of soap, so that, if the river over- whelms them, they can wash themselves ashore. If they should be compelled to use it, the town of Columbus, just below, would be overflowed by an awful nasty sea of soap- suds." Or again: " A fire company has been organized at Cairo, and where's the necessity for it ? In case of a fire, just let them knock the plugs out of the levee sewers, and the river water will fly all over the village." Cairo employed Faxon to stand in front of these projectiles, and do the best he could to defend Cairo, but this all only resulted in the two rival toAvns coming out like the Kilkenny cats, only so much the worse that there evi- dently was not so much us the bob-end of a tail left to either. It was all quite comical at the time, and no doubt the people of the two towns looked forward eagerly each week to see what next was coming. The serious side of the story was, that often the worst of these squibs were taken up and reprinted over the North, as true pictures of Cairo and Mound City, as drawn by their own people. Up to the war, this trio, Harrell, Faxon and Willett, were the Cairo and Mound City editors. They started papers, changed sides, and bobbed around, but it was one contin- uous circle, and generally all on the Cairo press, and they seem to have indulged, to their hearts' content, in lampooning each other and each other's towns, when they hap- pened to be in different villages. The compositors of that day seemed to deem it a duty devolving upon them to fur- nish their full quota of unaccountable human beings. They had probably caught the in- fection fi'om [either Willett, Faxon or Har- rell, A few specimens: A printer who' worked here as early as 1848, was said to have been the fastest hand- pressman of his time in the United States. He was said to have worked off 800 impres- sion of a sheet 24x36, on a Washington hand- press, in two hours and twenty minutes. This was equivalent to an impression every ten and two-fifths seconds. It is probably well there were no other such pressmen, or there would never have arisen the necessity fur the perfected Hoe press. A compositor in the Sun office in Cairo, in 1850, named Frank Urguhart, could set 15.. - 000 long primer and brevier in ten hours, and always got roaring drunk after supper, but would appear at his case as usual the next morning, ready to do as big a day's work as ever. He was wholly worthless, however. He married a Cairo girl in a short time after he came here, lived with her two weeks, then abandoned her and has never been heard of since. E. F. Walker a compositor who worked immediately before and during the early years of the war, was quite a character. For six months or more he was planning a HISTORY OF CAIRO. 143 week's hunt in the neighboring woods of Missouri. Practicing great economy, he finally found himself the possessor of $80. He bought a $1.50 shot-gun, four ounces of powder and a pound of shot. He then sup- plied his commissary department with a half- dozen pigs' feet, a pound of crackers, two gallons of whisky, a horse-blanket and a second-hand wheelbarrow. Thus equipped, on the morning of July 4, 1862, he bade the office boys good-bye, and started for the ferry-boat. He halted his^ wheelbarrow be- fore every saloon on the [levee, stepped in to take a drink and bid the boys good-bye. The ensuing night, he tumbled into the office, drunk as a lord, swearing he could not get off, because the ferry-boat refused to carry his ammunition ! Next morning, he and his wheelbarrow were again making the rounds of the levee. The day again closed on a drunken Walker. He explained that the ferry-boat multiplied itself so often, and ran in so many different directions, he was afraid he might take the wrong boat and lose his wheelbarrow. On the third day, he got drunk again, but, to .the end that he might start early and sober, he slept all night on the wharf in his wheelbarrow. The fourth and fifth days were a repetition of his first and second, but on the seventh day he kept himself drunk all day and all night, waiting, he said, for the arrival of a ferry-boat that was not given to the insane habit of running ' sideways. ' Early on the morning of [the eighth day, he happened to leave his wheel- barrow and accouterments unguarded Ke- turning to search for them, they were not to be found. Ed Willett had trundled them across the wharf boat, and to this day they lie on the bottom of the Ohio River, where he dumped them. Walker, having only 40 cents of his $80 left, couldn't secure another outfit, sobered up, and returned to his case again. He was abundantly satisfied Avith re- sults, however, and always [afterward, when speaking of festive occasions, would jdeclare his ' great seven days' hunt in the Missouri bottoms ' the happiest interval of his exist- ence. Walker was a congenial soul; some- what erratic, but always harmless. He has long since passed over to the happy hunting ground, for the full enjoyment of which, it is quite apparent, he was only preparing him- self in his great hunt here. In the early days of the war, Jimmy Stockton, afterward editor of the Grand Tower Item, was a compositor in M. B. Har- rell's Gazette office. At the time the officer in command of the post in Cairo had tried to suppress the Gazette, and had ordered the editor to submit all matter to him (a full ac- count of which we give in another column), and the way Harrell got around the dilem- ma, so tickled poor Stockton, that he got more than glorious. He had spent the even- ing at Dr. Jim McGuire's, and had repaired to his room rather late, which was on the fourth floor, just above the composition room. The printers reported the following cir- cumstances: About 11 o'clock at night, a compositor, working at his case, heard a whiz, and saw a dark object flit past his win- dow, which was in the third story. Hasten- ing down stairs to see what had happened, what was his amazement to find Jimmy Stockton, stretched at full length on the top of a pile of empty barrels, and sound asleep! While leaning out of the fourth story window, he had lost his balance; fall- ing a distance of about twenty feet, he struck the roof of a two-story addition, and rolling off, alighted on the barrels and went to sleep. But for his limberness, he would have been crushed to a pulp, but no serious injury was sustained. "Well, now, do you know,'' said 144 HISTORY OF CAIRO. Jimmy, when the boys had finally aroused him and got him down ofif the barrels, " that I dreamed I was on top of a tall ladder; that a sow uptripped it — and now I come to thiuk of it, it wasn't all a dre^im, boys! but where's that sow — and the ladder?" The fever of life has passed with poor Stockton, and] to those who knew him best, the memory of his big heart and warm soul will always come sunshiny throughout their lives. It was poor old Sam Hart, peace to his re- mains, who was hard of hearing, and was always imagining, when he could not hear what was being said, that the other boys were talking about him, and over this he was in constant hot water. He was getting old, and was very nervous and sometimes peevish. He would imagine more than enough, but then the others, perceiving his oddities, would constantly add to his sources of worry and vexation. Matters finally culminated in Hart making up his mind absolutely to challenge to the death Joe Wiley, as he appeared to be about the worst, and was the fittest, in the old man's estimation, for an example. He called upon his friend, another 'printer, and told him his unalterable resolution, and re- quested his assistance. This was promptly given, and all the minutiae arranged for the combat, which was to take place just outside the Mississippi levee after sundown. Two immense horse-pistols were procured, and the parties were to repair to the spot in a" state of scatteredness, for fear of drawing the at- tention of the police. It seems all were in the joke except poor Hart. Parties were placed for the fight, and Hart was awful nervous, and he told i^his friend he expected his time had come. When the weapons were handed them, it was with difficulty Hart could hold his in both his hands, so very nervous had he become. They were ordered to stand and await orders to fire, but Hart knew he could not hear good, and so, the moment he got his, he raised it in both hands andbiaz — no, snapped. But matters were again adjusted, ^and he was told he must wait for the word to fire. The pistol was again placed in his hands, and again he pro- ceeded at once to raise it with both hands, and fi — no, snap again, and he dropped the weapon and fled for life toward town. He told his second two or three different stories about the matter. First, he was positive there was a general conspiracy to murder him, and, second, that he saw the police com- ing, and he thought it all great foolishness, anyhow. But of the trio of the original Cairo journal- ists — Harrell, Faxon and Willett. It is diffi- cult to draw any comparison or parallel be- tween any number of men, all of whom are wholly unlike. These three men were alike in this only— they were all writers. The writer of these lines never knew Willett personally, yet, in some way, he has formed the opinion of the man, to the efiect that he was purely a literary man in his nature, and always thought his chief talent was as a poet, and hence he wrote poetry for pleasure, and as a rule it turned out to be mere doggerel, but that, upon literary subjects, where he some- times drove his pen with a master's hand, he always felt he was a mere drudge, debas- ing the fine horse Pegasus into the meanest of dray horses. That he was of a nervous, sensitive turn of mind, and the rough-and- tumble ,bouts that Harrell and Faxon some- times gave him neai'ly killed him. Willett left Cairo before or during the very early part of the war, and is said now to be on the sta£f of the New York Herald. Of Faxon we know more, both personally and by reading his writings. His pen bristled like the "fretful porcupine," and he HISTORY or CAIRO. 145 shot the pointed quills sometimes in every direction. His talents were good, his nature genial and full of sunshine. He is living now in .Paducah, Ky., as stated elsewhere, and may he be yet spared to develop fully to the world what we believe to be truly in him in the way of literary talent. Of M. B. Harrell it may well be said, there is no name yet so impressed upon Cairo and its very existeuce as his — its mark is^ every- where, and must coexist with the city. After a long and thorough acquaintance with him, we have no hesitation in pronouncing him of the highest order of talent among the writers of his day. Of all the hosts that have vent- iired their editorial fortunes in Cairo, they found Harrell the Nestor when they came, and they left him in undisputed possession of his title and crown. Mr. Harrell came to Cairo about 1845, a mere boy, to do errands about his brother's store and learn to be a clerk, if he developed talent enough for such promotion. His in- stincts [took him, at an early day, to the printing office, and here he went to school, and soon mastered the business to that ex- tent that he was an invaluable part of the office. When the war broke out, he was editor and proprietor of the Cairo Gazette, and quietly continued its publication after the military had ^taken possession of Cairo. As to some of his experiences at that time, we permit Mr. Harrell to tell himself: " In the early stages of the war, when nearly every prominent Democrat was in the Old Capitol Prison, and Logan was watched, and suspicioned Democratic editors in Egypt had a rough time of it. I was seated at my desk in the Gazette office one morning, when in stalked Col. Buford, attended by an Ad- jutant, and both of them in the dangling, jangling war accouterments in which showy warriors were wont to array themselves. ' Is the editor in ?' asked the Colonel, in a tone of voice suggestive of hissing bombs, sword- whizzes and the spluttering of fired grenade fazes. 'He is^ sir,' I replied, with a not- able tremor of voice ; ' I respond to that de- signation. What is your pleasure, sir ? ' 'I have this to say to you, sir, and mark .me well, that there may be no misunderstanding. These are perilous times, sir; we have enemies at our front, sir, and more cowardly ones in our rear, even in our midst. Upon these latter I am resolved to lay a strong hand. 1 have to say to you, then, that if you publish anything in your paper that shall tend to discourage enlistments, encourage desertions, or in any manner reflect upon the wai' policies of the administration, I shall take possession of youi' office, sir, and put you in irons.' " ' I beg to assure you. ' I replied, as soon as I could command composure enough to speak at ail, ' I feel no inclination to offend iD that direction; but how can I shape my editorial labors so as to have a guarantee of your approval ? ' " ' Submit your matter to me, sir. If I find it unobjectionable, I'll return it; otherwise, I'll destroy it.' " Then, with the bearing of a Scipio — a ' see -the -conquering- hero comes ' gait and carriage — the Colonel and his Adjutant left the office. " The next day, and the next, and the day after that, I laid before the Colonel a great deal more selected matter than I had pub- lished during the previous quarter. I clipped columns of stuff I had no idea of pub- lishing; tore several leaves from the Census Returns of 1860; levied heavy conti'ibutions from the stah? jokes found in Ayers' Al- manac; long editorials from the St. Lou.is Republican; full pages from De Bow's Sta- tistical Review of the Southex-n Cotton Crop; 146 HISTOEY or CAIRO. 'takes' of Ed Willett's newspaper poetry, and massive rolls of matter that I felt certain nobody ever had or ever could read without mental retching, and all this stuff I ' respect- fully submitted for the Colonel's perusal and approval.' Palpable as they were, the Col- onel, evidently, did not ' tumble ' to my tac- tics. On the evenings of the first and second days, the installments were duly re- turned, stamped with evidence of approval. On the evening of the third day, the roll of copy was returned unopened, bat accompan- ied by the following explanatory and ad- monitory note. "Editor Gazette: Finding that a close pre- supervision of the oentents of your paper involves an expenditure of more paper and labor than I can bestow, and much more than I anticipated, I return to-day's installment unopened; exercise your cus- tomary discretion and allow the latent Unionism in your composition to assert itself, and the result, I dare say, will be as satisfactory to me as it will be creditable to yourself. (Signed) B. In the early part of the war, Cairo devel- oped to be just what its very first discoverers foresaw, namely, that in case of war it would be the one great, important strategic point — the key to all the military movements in the vast Mississippi Valley. Daniel P. Cook, the Delegate from the Territory, of Illinois in Congress, and who framed the bill for its admission as a State into the Union, based his report and his speech in that behalf, upon the peculiar position of the Territory, and as clearly foretold, as did the war demonstrate, that Illinois was the natural keystone State to the gi-eat Northwest. From the early part of 1863 until the conclusion of the late war, the whole world looked with eager interest to Cairo. It was here that all eyes turned, in the hope of some ^word that would decisively settle the great and bloody questions that were raging so fiercely. This brought here a swarm of correspond- ents, men representing at one time nearly every leading paper in the whole country; and to give some idea of the magnitude of the in- crease of news that was ftu-nished at this point, it is only necessary to say that from four to six telegraph operators were found necessary, and that often and often the news wires wex'e doubled, and kept busily running night and day, and then frequently great rolls of copy were taken from the hook the next day that it was impossible to pass over the wires in time for the paper to go to press. The writer of these lines well remembers that at one time there were twenty-five men here who represented these different news- papers, and whose sole business was to allow nothing to escape them, and send it by light- ning dispatch to their respective papers. There were groat jealousies and rivalries among the different representatives of rival papers. A correspondent would about as soon die as to allow his rival, or anybody else, to get up a " scoop " on him while he slept or closed his ears, and there was an equal rivalry among the respective papers backing each one of them. These corre- spondents, many of them, had instructions to spare no expense in getting news. " If necessary to get the latest and important news, charter an engine or a steamboat, and draw on this office," was substantially [the instructions that several of these news- gatherers had. It was the correspondent who failed to get the latest important news — no matter how much money he saved — who was always summarily dismissed. And of course at that time, in this country, the New York Herald had the prestige for enterprise among all the papers. There was no other institution in the country until the war. that thought it worth while to try to compete with James Gordon Bennett; but the war brought much change here as well as in other things, and made many papers quite as daring in HISTORY OF CAIRO. 147 enterprise as the Herald. One of the pranks sometimes played by correspondents upon each other, was to race for the telegraph office, say just after a battle, and the first one who got the wire, by the rules of the office, could hold it until his ^entire dispatch was sent. They would thus have a tremen- dous race as to who should get there first, and then it was an immense joke if he could hold it until, say, 4 o'clock next morning, when the morning papers all had to go to press. All the people of Cairo will remem- ber Frank Chapman, who came to Cairo as the correspondent of the New York Herald. This story was told of him: There had been a battle, and it was ten miles away to the telegraph office. He happened to be mounted on the fastest horse, and under whip and spur started as soon as the result of the fight was known. He was followed Jin full chase by the others, and it was a break-neck race ; but Chapman got there first, but it was only by a few moments; in short, he was so closely followed, that he rushed into the office (none of them had their dispatches written out yet), and looking about, the only thing he saw was a copy of the Bible lying there. He seized that; opened at thefiist chapter of Genesis, and hastily with his pen- cil wrote above " To the New York Herald" and passing it to the operator, said simply, " Send that," and then sat down leisurely to write out his dispatch. It is difficult to imagine what must have been the thoughts of the news editor of the Herald, when the Bible was thus being fired at it over the wires, as it came chapter after chapter; in that regular order that indicated that probably the whole book was behind. But when Chapman had written out his account, he passed that to the operator, and it is very probable the first word of the real account of the battle told the story of the trick to the New York office. Poor Frank Chapman! T^he war over, he settled down, and tried to make a living in Cairo, by first one thing and then another. He organized the first Cairo Board of Trade, and was the first Secretary. Most unfortu- nately for him he was a splendid ventriloquist. In 1870, he went to Chicago, and there, after long suffering and great privations, died. The Herald had here, and in the field ad- jacent to this place, at one time or another, a dozen or more different correspondents. Among them the writer well remembers I. N. Higgins, now the editor of the San Francisco Morning Call. A brilliant writer, and one of the most genial fellows in the world. Newt! all hail! Another member of the Herald force was a Mr. Knox, who has since traveled pretty much all over the world, and published ^.several books, one or more of which were written for the edification of the youths of the nation, and have earned a wide and solid fame for him. Ralph Kelly was the Cairo war correspond- ent of the New Orleans Picayune; one of the most deceiving and one of the most brilliant and genial fellows that ever graced the town of Cairo. The wi'iter of these lines had noticed Mr. Kelly in passing about the streets, and he was so very odd-looking in his make-up, that he got to inquiring of every one he met, Who is that ? After a long pursuit of this kind, he gained the desired information, and his informant not only gave the information, bat followed it up with an introduction. Mr. Kelly was of Milesian extraction (which was plainly to be seen), and had been reared from early boyhood in the Picayune office, until he was about as much one of its fixtm'es as was any other part of the establishment. His whole life was 148 HISTORY OF CAIRO. centered there; he knew no other home, guardian, parents, or, apparently, place to go, either before or after quitting this world. He probably did not form twenty intimate or general acquaintances while in Cairo. In the presence of strangers, he stood mute, and sometimes appeared almost idiotic, and if, under such circumstances, he tried to talk and make himself intelligible, he apparently only made matters so much the worse; yet, locked up in a room with some congenial, well-un- derstood friend, or place before him pen and paper and instantly he was much as one in- spired. To know Ralph Kelly even slightly, was to read over and over, every day you were with him, the story of Oliver Goldsmith, and to recall what Johnson said, when he called him the " poll-parrot who wrote like inspiration." Ealph Kelly! Have you gone with the fleeting years, and. like them, gone forever? If so it be, we would place one little faded flower to thy memory, typical of as pure a friendship as ever one being held for another. E. H. Whipple was the Cairo war corre- spondent of the Chicago Tribune. We re- member him as a good- looking, round-faced young man, full of the energy and wakeful- ness that always got the latest news, and was certain it should reach the Tribune before he would sleep. He seemed to be a very retir- ing, quiet young man, and much to his credit it was, too, he did not join much in the convivialities that marked the existence of the Cairo life of most of the Bohemians. Mr. Whipple is now in some way connected with a detective agency in Chicago, a ad long since has given his Fabers to his babies for toys. L. Curry represented the Cincinnati Com- mercial. A man of an eventful and a very sad domestic history. His wife, whom he married at the age of eighteen, when he was barely twenty-one, dying with her child in about twelve months after marriage, un- der the saddest circumstances. Mr. Curry was a young man of good education, and had been reared under the most fortunate circum- stances. He was an excellent wi'iter, a warm- hearted and most exemplary young man in his habits. He made so few acquaintances in Cairo — owing to the facts above referred to — that there are very few people here who will remember him. His history, after leav- ing here, is not known to the writer. Charles Phillips represented the Chicago Times. He was quite a young man, but his writings came from his pen rapidly, and as finished, almost, as a stereotype. His cult- ure was unusual for one of his age — prob- ably twenty-four. The wi'iter knows nothing of his history, except what he saw of him in Cairo. A more unassuming young man never lived, and his talents in his chosen line of profession were of the very highest order. He was a consistent, practical and conscien- tious Christian. He was very quiet in his. manners, and his whole nature was such that he could not intrude his opinions or person. He died in the early part of 1864, we believe,. at the home of his parents or friends, some- where near Metropolis, 111., but of this (that is, the residence of his friends) we are not certain. He died of consumption; and for months, before he left Cairo and went home- to die, we confess it was one of the saddest sights we ever saw, to see him suffering, working and wasting away, yet uncomplain- ingly working on, until his pen fell from his nerveless grasp, and the young life that would have been worth so much to the world went to sleep in death. Charley Phillips, may your sad and cru.el wrongs, sufferings and untimely taking-ofif here in this world, have been a million of million times com- pensated in the next! HISTORY OF CAIRO. 14» H. C. Bradsby succeeded Mr. Phillips as the representative of the Chicago Times, and also enlarged the duties, and represented the Missouri Republican. His duties to the lat- ter were to furnish at least two letters by mail per week, in addition to duplicating the Times and Rej)uhlican dispatches. We would not further speak of him here, but we realize a public sentiment will expect it, and to some extent, therefore, require it. He had none of Mr. Phillips religion or morals, and but little of his culture. He was at times (very brief) brilliant, but as a rule was more marked for daring than genius. It would be difficult to find two men more the perfect opposites of each other than were these two correspondents of the Times. Mr. B. continued to represent his two papers until after the war was all over, and Cairo had long ceased to be a great 'news point. He was then, awhile, editing or writing for first one paper and then another, and at one time or another edited or wrote for every paper pub- lished in Cairo during his residence here, except the Olive Branch. In his writings, he sometimes made people laugh, sometimes stare, and sometimes squirm, and he seemed ever equally indifferent as to which result flowed out from his pen. His character always seemed an inconsistent one; at one moment, perhaps, a great egotist, at the next, the picture of self-humility; and these were often and often exemplified in his writings. He had the art complete of making enemies, and holding them, when once made, pei-pet- ually.; and his friends, therefore, were never numerous, but in a ,very few instances firm and stanch. What education he got (though nominally a collegiate) was in the columns of the different papers he worked upon dur- ing the twenty-five years intervening between his first experience upon the proofs of a country press and the present time. He gave considerable attention, in a scattered, inco- herent kind of way, to the scientific writers of the past quarter of a century; and has just now learned enough to cease to be dogmatic in his opinions — to believe little and know less. W. B. Kerney was a long time in Cairo, commencing here as the agent of the As- sociated Press; afterward represented the Chicago Evening Journal, and then the Chicago Tribune. He was an odd little fellow, and quite as clever, when you came to know him better, as the best of them. He seems to have been, all his young life, much given to fall in with isms, and when once he had given anything of this kind his approval, he, for awhile, at least followed it with remarkable devotion. He was an honest, thoroughly good man in every re- spect. He was very industrious, and atten- tive to his business, and was probably the most even-tempered man that ever lived. Nothing could swerve him from the even tem- per of his way, or provoke him into an angry retort. He and his good little wife could almost always be seen together, and it was beautiful to see the rivalry between them, as to which could most admire the other. They were childless, and firm believers in the effi- cacy of the cold water cure for all the ills of life. They had been most unfortunate, in losing ^several children dying in infancy. Upon one occasion, the man and wife were tick, and they were doctoring each other with water, and eating about an apple each a day. Fortunately for them both, Dr. Dunning happened to be called in. He took in the situation, and ordered a good-sized sirloin beefsteak, overlooked its preparation, and made them eat it. To their amazement, they liked it, and they were soon well — better, in fact, than they had been for years — con- tinued to eat good, nutritious food, and the 150 HISTORY OF CAIRO. last accounts the wi-iter had of them, they had three or four as fine, healthy children as you would want to see. In all this vast amount of newspaper births and deaths, there were developed but two men who were purely and only publish- ers. Men who gave this department their undivided attention, and depended wholly upon hiring all the writing that they wanted. These were Thomas Lewis and H. L. Good- all. Each had a long career hei'e, and each gave many evidences that under .different cir- cumstances and suiToundings they might have built up great institutions. Goodall could do the best combining and planning, but Lewis had the nerve for any venture that promised, even remotely, to pay as an invest- ment. When Mr. Lewis quit his old favorite, the Democrat, he seems to have made up his mind to quit the business, but not so with Mr. Goodall. He is now in Chicago, and is still a publisher, and we are more than glad to learn, at last a successful one. May his shadow never grow less! In its proper place, perhaps, but the truth is, the very last place in the rear column, was always the best place for " Old Rogers," one of the most remarkable tramp printers even Cairo ever had, with all its hosts of distin- guished characters in this line. Rogers was a very good workman, but his habits were to prefer dirt and filth to fine linen and the breezes of Araby. He was a tramp printer, with all the term implies, and a great deal more, too. He was here about 1S60, and made Cairo a central point in his rounds. Everybody then knew him, and un- derstood well that he considered it would be a hanging crime in himself to be caught even passably clean in his person, and so- briety and cleanliness were much the same thing with old Rogers. Yet at periods, he had to sober up enough to work, but this necessity never arose as to his habits of per- son. He was smart, quick-witted, and much enjoyed telling how he often astonished and disgusted strangei's, and if he was kicked ofif a train or boat, he relished telling the cir- cumstance immensely. On one occasion, he had just arrived in Cairo from Evansville, and was sm'rounded by Postmaster Len Faxon, Deputy Bob Jen- nings, Sam Hall, tfoe Abell and two or three others, all anxious to hear Rogers tell some of his recent experiences. " I'm just in from Evansville, boys," said Rogers, ",and, great Ceesar, Fm hungry. I was put ashore from a flat-boat at Golconda, because, as the crew said, I was too rich for their blood, and so I've just footed it all the way from there to Cairo, and if I've eaten a mouthful in four days, why, then I've eaten a whole army mule in the last two minutes. By George, to come right down to it, boys, I'm starv- ing." " Well," said Willett, giving the boys a wink, " if I was real hungry, I'd call on Capritz; order a baked bass; a fry of oysters; a plain omelet, and " "But," chimed in Rogers, "I ain't got any money." " If I were you," said Sam Hall, paying no attention to Rogers' impecuniosity, " I'd step into Weldon's; get a porterhouse steak with mushrooms or onions, some boiled eggs, milk toast, and " " Oh, boys, don't," cried Rogers, in evi- dent agony, " you don't know how you're torturing me. I'm awful hungry, but I hain't got any " " I don't know," interrupted Abell, " but a good lay-out for a real hungiy man would be quail, nicely browned, on toast; quail on toast, mind you-, a cup of good, hot choco- late; white hot rolls, with country butter, and " ^7act, and yet comprehensive document, and is ad- mirably suited for the purposes for which it was intended. It names only two points — Cairo and some point opposite St. Louis. As short as it is, it grants every power wanted, and hampers the company with none of the usual provisions and directions and un- necessary minutiae in controlling the action of the company, except Section 5, which we give entire, and out of which has arisen some complications with the city of Cairo. The municipalities along the line are authorized to donate lands and subscribe for stock. S. Staats Taylor was elected President at the meeting for organization of the charter directors. In 1874, he was succeeded by F. E. Cauda, of Chicago. The municipalities along the line, from Cairo to Columbia, in Monroe County, voted $1,050,000 in aid of the enterprise, and the contract to construct the entire •line was awarded to H. R. Payson & Co. , of Chicago. Work was commenced in 1872, at the St. Louis end, or rather at East Carondelet, and under many difficulties, pushed to comple- tion in 1874, to Murphysboro, and the work stopped. This result came from the inability of the contractors to go any further, and they were thus crippled by the municipalities utterly refusing to pay their donations. The '^13 HISTOEY OF CAIRO. contractors had invested over $1,000,000 of their own funds, and failing to get the money donated, according to the terms of the vote of the people, they were too much crippled, or did not feel like risking any more expenditure in the enterprise. The road, so far as built, was at once stocked and operated, being run from East Carondelet to East St. Louis — a distance of about five miles — over the Conlogue road. From the very first, it was a financial success, as a purely local road, and much more than paid expenses. It tapped the very finest country lying east and south of St. Louis, passing through ihe southwest corner of St. Clair, and entering Monroe, and through the center of this and into Randolph and Jackson Coun- ties, and 'giving all this rich and populous section direct and easy communication with St. Louis. But the people of Cairo could not see where this was benefiting them any, and communication was opened with the com- pany with a view of extending it, as the charter specified, to Cairo; and Union County, being as deeply interested as Cairo, joined in offering inducements to have the work completed. Alexander County had sub- scribed $100,000, and the city of Cairo a similar amount; Union County had sub- scribed $100,000, and the city of Jonesboro $50,000. Alexander County and the city of Cairo paid their subscriptions to the last dol- lar, and kept their faith; Union County paid a portion of hers, and Jonesboro paid one- half, or $25,000 of her subscription; and on March 1, 1875, the road was completed from East Carondelet to Cairo, making an entire line from Caii*o to East St. Louis. We may here remark that Jonesboro, after getting the road, repudiated the remainder of her donation, and was sued upon the bonds, and before the local court of Union County easily got a judgment acquitting her of the debt; but the case was removed into the United States Court, and recently this decision sum- marily reversed, and the probabilities are she will have to pay the debt with the accumu- lated interest. It was a case of voting aid by the wholesale, and, except Alexander County and Cairo, repudiation with equal facility and complacency. Our State constitution now prohibits the people giving donations to railroads. It should never have permitted it. It is vicious legislation, and the corruption of the people and banishing all sense of honor from municipalities starts a train of descent that, in the end, reaches the in- dividuals who compose the corporate bodies. The contractors had entered into the usual obligations, namely, to take the donations, and in the end the corporation and all its be- longings as pay for building, and in the end became the sole proprietors of the road. The complications arising from the failure to get the donations, as mentioned, deeply involved the road in debt, and, as the only way out of it, on the 7th of December, 1877, Mr. H. W. Smithers was appointed Receiver of the road, and at once took possession and operated un- der the protection of the courts. This, it seems, was a fortunate appointment, and under his management he repaired, stocked and fixed the line ingfood running order. He constructed depots, and in East St. Louis built a round-house with seven stalls, ma- chine shops and spacious freight and passen- ger depots. He made of it a very good line of road, whereas when he took charge of it, it was in a dilapidated condition from one end to the other. The road was sold, under the decree of the court, in January, 1882, and on February 1, of the same year, was re-organized, with the following as the new Board of Directors: C. W. Schaap, W. T. AVhitehouse, S. C. Judd, L. M. Johnson, E. B. Sheldon, H. B. White- HISTORY or CAIRO. 213 house, J. M. Mills and E. H. Fishburn. The present Board is W. F. Whitehouse, L. M. Johnson, Ex. Norton, Fred Brose, John B. Lovington, C. W. Schaap, H. B. Whitehouse, Josiah H. Horsey and S. Corning Judd. The officers of the road consist of W. F. Whitehouse, President; L. M. Johnson, Vice President; Charles Hamilton, General Sup- erintendent; S. Corning Judd, Gen. Sol.; William Kitchie, Secretary; George H. Smith, General Freight and Passenger Agent, and Lewis Enos, Auditor and Cash- ier. The new organization at once set about building their own road into East St. Louis from Carondelet, and this was completed dur- ing the present year. In the year 1881, the road was engaged in completing its line into Cairo, in accordance with the terms of its arrangements to build on the strip of land of the Cairo Trust Property, on the Missis- sippi side; a part of that arrangement being that, for this privilege, it was to keep in re- pair and raise aud strengthen the levee run- ning along the Mississippi River, and on the south of the city. This work was only fairly commenced, when the city of Cairo went into court, and prayed an injunction to prevent the road crossing Washington avenue. The point where the road comes in contact with this avenue is some distance north of the north levee, and where neither a road, avenue or highway exists, except on the city plat. No dray, carriage, buggy or dog- cart or foot passenger will, probably, want to use that particular portion of Washington avenue for the next hundred years. The in- junction was granted, prohibiting the road from crossing this avenue, and Judge Baker has made the injunction -^perpetual. The road made the best temporary arrangement it could, and has a track on the Mississippi levee, and in this way is euabled to reach the Union Depot. These complications are un- fortunate for the road, as it practically cuts it out of a permanent terminus here, and prevents it making those contemplated im- provements, as well as making any solid and advantageous connecting arrangements with other roads from Cairo south. It practically cuts off its Cairo freight business from the north. And one item nf very great impor- tance to the people and business is, that this unfortunate state of affairs prevents the road shipping to this market the Jackson County coal, that is so much needed here for the manufactories that may be yet built in Cairo, as well as for the local and river trade. Here are altogether a remarkable state of facts. During all the struggle for existence, the city extended to it a princely, liberal hand, and it was the people's money of Cairo that enabled the projectors to ever build the road. After it was built, from some griev- ance not visible in the court papers, she turns upon and badly cripples that particular portion of the road in which the town is deeply interested. There has been short- sighted management somewhere. The man- agers of the road, and particularly the con- tractors, who were saved from hopeless bankruptcy by the action of Cairo, when the other municipalities were repudiating their donations, must have, at one time, felt veiy kindly to Cairo, and the $200,000 put in there by the city and county, certainly could have controlled and brought here the ma- chine shops, round-house and such other and valuable improvements as the road has now made in East St. Louis, and others it will yet make. In the law the city triumphs, but where are her gains ? Look at the results : The road has no reliable entrance into Cairo. During the past twelve months, there were three months that no train over that road came into Cairo; yet its trains ran regularly into East St. Louis, and came down to Hodge' s 214 HISTORY OF CAIRO. Park, a few miles nortli of Cairo, the road all the time doing a good local business, and the managers showed the writer hereof their books during the time of the interrup- tion of trains, and there was no falling o£f in the revenues of the road. That left Cairo in the condition of having given $200,000 to build a railroad to tap the country in her im- mediate vicinity, and take her natural trade away from her very door, and carry all to St. Louis — a species of commercial suicide, as the farmers and business men along the line, from Hodge's Park to St. Louis, were cut off from Cairo as completely as if the town was in the moon, and the doors to St. Louis thrown open to them. A similar policy on the other roads would soon sow the streets of the town with cockle and dog- fennel, to flourish in unmolested glory. The city gave its best street to another road, entirely through the main and business part of the town, where it now runs its trains to the great distress of the people, and at the same time enjoins the Cairo &St. Louis road from crossing Washington avenue at a place in the swamps north of the city proper, where that highway, probably, will never be utilized, except by ducks and frogs, or, in very dry seasons, the " lone fisherman." The Cairo & St.L ouis Railroad has no con- necting interests here with any other railroad. It is now a purely local St. Louis 'road, bringing little or nothing to Cairo, and tak- ing as little away. A talk with the managers will at once convince you that they feel little if any interest in the town. When it is so they can, without any inconvenience, they run their trains into the place; when they cannot do this they don't care. At the St. Louis end, they have running connection with the Toledo Narrow-Gauge Railroad; $200,- 000 of the people's money has gone into the enterprise, and now the city and the road are like the old fellow, when he announced " Betsy and I are out." They rush into law, and the outcome is a triumph for the city, but it. is somewhat like the victory of the wife, who has her husband fined for whip- ping her, and while he enjoys himself in jail, she washes to raise the money to pay his fine. The lion was taking a drink in the stream, and some distance below the lamb was crossing. The lion straightway killed the lamb for muddying the waters up where he was drinking. The managers profess pro- found ignorance of why Cairo should turn upon and rend her own offspring. The peo- ple of Cairo generally profess the same ig- norance, and we know they individually feel kindly toward the road. They realize that it should be, and naturally is, one of the most valuable lines that came into Cairo, and they regret these unfortunate circumstances that have nearly neutralized its good effects upon the town. If there was any serious question to form the bone of contention, it would be altogether different, and then the war might go on, and neither the road nor the people would grumble. True, people here sometimes shake their heads, and say, look at our many great railroads that add their im- mense values to the natural lines of com- merce and Cairo, and yet there is no suffi- cient advance in the city's march forward to keep pace with these encouraging signs. On the surface, there are no reasons for this state of affairs, and yet a look below — where the real facts lie — might reveal a state of affairs that would make all plain enough. But these matters will soon be adjusted; propositions, we are glad to learn, are now passing, looking to a full settlement, and it is to be lioped they will be consummated at an early day, and the I'oad and the city will be just and profitable to each other. Cairo Short Line. — This is another Cairo & HISTORY OF CAIRO. 215 St. Louis Railroad. It was projected and built originally as a southern line for the Indian- apolis & St. Louis Railroad, and was built from East St. Louis to Duquoin, when it was purchased and became a part of the Illi- nois Central Railroad. It runs upon the Central to Duquoin, and there branches off to St. Louis. It is really the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad from Cairo to St. Louis, making the second direct St. Louis & Cairo Railroad. The Wabash was originally chartered as the Cairo & Vincennes Railroad, the incorpora- tion bearing date March 6, 1867. The incor- porators were Green B. Raum, D. Hurd, N. R. Casey, W. P. Halliday, J. B. Cbasman, A. J. Kuykendall, John W. Mitchell, S. Staats Taylor, W. R. Wilkinson, John M. Crebbs, Walter L. Mayo, Robert Mick, Samuel Hess, George Mertz, V. Rathbone, D. T. Linegar, Aaron Shaw, James Tackney, W. W. McDowell, Isaac B. Watts and Isham N. Haynie. They were authorized to construct a railroad from the city of Cairo, by the way of Mound City, to some point on or near the line between Illinois and Indiana, at or near Vincennes. Donations were here liberally Toted, and Gen. Burnside became the gen- eral contractor, and represented fully the interests of the capitalists. In October, 1881, it was consolidated, and became a part of the Wabash system of rail- roads, in which management it is now con- ducted. On the 16th December, 1872, the road was completed from Vincennes to Cairo, and a through passenger train arrived in Cairo, bringing a large delegation of prom- inent citizens, among whom was Gen. Burn- side, who was the chief officer and builder of the road. The visitors were entertained royally, and banqueted in the evening. The original contractors for the entire line were Dodge, Lord & Co. The city of Cairo and the county of Alexander had each sub- scribed and taken $100,000 of stock in the road, paying therefor in their bonds. Finan- cial difficulties of the company compelled the contractors to stop work in 1869, and this stoppage continued until 1871, when Winslow & Wilson contracted for, and com- pleted the work of construction. After the completion of the road, Messrs. A. B. Safford and Mr. Morris were appointed Receivers, and they were afterward succeeded by Messrs. Morgan & Tracey, who continued in control of its destinies to the time it passed into the Wabash system of railroads. Mobile & Ohio Railroad. — This road was in contemplation as a line from Cairo to Mo- bile, as an extension, in fact, of the Illinois Central Railroad. In accordance with the wise provisions of Congress, work was com- menced at the Mobile end of the road, and the work completed to Columbus, Ky, and a transfer boat used in connection with the trains between this point and Cairo. The war coming on, not only the work of com- pleting the road to Cairo was stopped, but it soon Ceased to be a road at all, as portions of it were in the hands of the Union forces, and parts in the hands of the rebels. The rails vfeve torn up, carried away, and often heated and bent out of all shape. The rolling stock was destroyed, as well as the most of the station houses, buildings and shops. After the war was over, and the people of the South had again begun the work of recover- ing their lost fortunes, the enterprise was taken hold of by captalists, and the work of rebuilding the line and extending the road on to Cairo was pressed to completion. The Texas & St. Louis Railroad is des- tined some day to become one of the most important and valuable of all the roads lead- ing into Cairo. It will be, when completed, a direct and continuous line from Cairo to the City of Mexico. 216 HISTORY OF CAIRO. The Texas & St. Louis Eailway Company have recently concluded passenger and freight traflBc arrangements with the Illinois Central Railroad Company, which is to exist for a period of fifty years, the essence of which is that the Illinios Central is to take complete control of the northern, western and eastern passenger and freight business of the Texas & St. Louis, and vice versa the trade of the Illinois Central, as far as it pertains to the country traversed by this new road. The Texas & St. Louis is part of a system of railway which is to run direct from Cairo to the City of Mexico, and em- braces a distance of 2,000 miles; 600 miles of] the system is already in operation, and it is said by those who have made a tour of in- spection, that it is as finely built and equipped a road as there is in the United States. It has been built by foreign capital, not to sell, but as a permanent investment, and therefore the elegant road and magnificent equipage. The inclines, for transfer of cars from Bird's Point to Cairo, are completed, and a first-class transfer boat is now being operated. The business for St. Louis will be done over the Cairo & St. Louis Short Line. The road bearing the name of the Texas & St. Louis will open up a vast, rich country to the trade of Cairo, which has had heretofore little or no outlnt, and its business will, doubtless, render it a marvel in point of financial success. The road runs direct from Bird's Point, opposite Cairo, to Texarkana, thence to Waco, thence to Gatesville, and thence to the Rio Grande, connectinor there with the Mexican Central. Maj. G. B. Hib- bard, chief contractor, with headquarters at Cairo, is pushing the work with all possible speed, and ho confidently believes the entire 2,000 miles will be completed and in success- ful operation within two years. The Iron Mountain Railroad is now a regular Cairo railroad, by an extension from Charleston, Mo., to Bird's Point, giving the town an additional highway to St. Louis and the South. This is one of the valuable Mis- souri railroads, and was constructed and operated for years with the idea that it could aftord to pass within a few miles of Cairo and ignore its existence. But time, and the growth and trade of the place, eventually compelled them to build into Cairo and estab- lish a transfer boat, and thus reach some of the rich harvest that awaited their coming. Here are eight completed first-class rail- roads into Cairo, and the anticipations of the next few months are that the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad will be added to the Cairo list of roads, and thus form a direct line from the city to the Atlantic Ocean at Norfolk, Va., making, by many miles, the most direct road to the seashore. The value of this line, if carried out as now contemplated, would be incalculable to the whole Mississippi Valley. It would compel the building of a direct rail- road from Cairo West to the Pacific coast, or at least to a connection with the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Cincinnati & Cairo Narrow Gauge Railroad is now in course of construction. The road will run direct from Cincinnati to Cairo, passing entirely across the southern portion of Indiana, and have a length of 220 miles. This will bring a rich portion of the country to the Cairo trade. The Toledo & St. Louis Narroiv Gauge is now completed, and the construction of a branch from some point in Shelby or Edgar County to Cairo is being rapidly pushed to completion. This important link is essential to the filling out of the great net-work of nar- row gauge roads that are now being completed from New York City to the City of Mexico. Thus may we not now hope that the commanding commercial position of Cairo will yet compel the making here of a great HISTORY OF CAIRO. 217 railroad and transportation and travel center, that nature evidently intended from the first it should become. At the least, here ia light and hope ahead for the people who have toiled and struggled and hoped so long and so faithfully. CHAPTER XL CONCLUSION— THE FUTURE OF THE CITY CONSIDEFED— HER PRESENT PRESENT CITY OFFICIALS, ETC. STATUS AND GROWTH— "While others may think of the times that are gone, They are bent by the years that are fast rolling on." A BRIEF retrospect, and a short sum- ming-up of Cairo as it is, will con- clude our account of its history; and in this retrospect we much wish we could answer, to our own satisfaction, the oft-repeated question that the people have propounded to us in regard to the future of the city: "What is the city's outlook?" No town site has been more especially favored by natui'e, and few, if any, have been so sorely afflicted with untoward circumstances. And often the most heroic exertions in her behalf, by some of her people here, have re- acted to the apparent real injury to the prospects of the place. Her foundation was laid in a South Sea Bub- ble, by a visionary, impracticable, banlcrupt corporation that gathered the first people here rapidly, and then tumbled over their own air castles and left the people in distress and despair. In a night, almost, a thrifty young city of 2,000 busy, bustling people was turned into an idle mob, wandering about the Ohio levee, and ready — and did attempt — to take by force the first steamer that touched at the wharf, and appropriate it to the purpose of taking the many workers, who bad been thrown out of employment, away from the place. The officers only saved their property by hastily drawing out into the stream. Then, after the levees were built, the waters came and washed them away, and drowned out the town, and gloom and desola- tion marked its tracks. But above, and perhaps far greater causes of evils that have beset Cairo all its life, and of which it is not yet wholly exempt, have been the corporate and private monopolies that have sucked out much of that vitality that it so much needed for its own development. It altogether impresses us with the fact, that the remarkable natiu'al wealth of advantages of the place have been among its misfortunes. As in some spots of the globe the wealth of soil, climate and vegetable and animal growth are so rank and profuse, that they overcome the energies of man, and remain a wilderness, the home of an unparalleled growth of vegetation, filled with ferocious beasts and poisonous insects. For instance, the wonderful laud of Brazil, in South America, a scope of country larger than the United States, and the richest in climate and soil in the world, so rich and so prolific, that it defies the puny arm of man to conquer and become the master of its riot of power in productiveness ol vegetable and animal life. From the very force and power of its abundance, it is made as uninhabitable as are the arid wastes of the sandy desert. In looking over the short life of the city, we cannot but be impressed with the fact that it has been one of its misfortunes in present- ing so many natural advantages as to tempt 218 HISTORY OF CAIRO. the schemers and the unscrupulous to com- bine and attempt to gather in to their own, benefits and advantages that were placed here by nature in quantities sufficient for al- most a young empire. Great cities in this country have not been built by corporations, backed ?by stringent or powerful laws of the State Legislatures. They need no combina- tions, companies or heavy capitali sts in their young and growing days. It wants only the free play of individual efibrt, where each business man may see a hope to realize wealth and position by his efforts, and to know that in such a struggle he will not be crushed by a public or private monopoly. Hence, Cairo's first calamity was a charter granted for its building. Cairo, and its past history, and its destiny, are singular subjects to contemplate. There is, looking from one standpoint, no reason why there should not be as many people and as much wealth here as there is in Chicago, and, turning to the other side of the picture, the wonder arises why the 10,000 people who are now here ever came, or stayed when they did come. It has demonstrated what many wise heads believed impossible, namely, the erection of levees and embankments that would protect, not only against the "highest known waters," but against the unparalleled floods of 1882 and 1883. It has been the only diy land along the river, but it was an island in the waste of waters, and the overflow of the present year has demonstrated that it is not alone enough to keep the water out of the city, but the merchants and business men are now realiz- ing that they must keep up communication with the agricultural communities surround- ing the place, or business will stagnate, and hard times will come. Again, the levees have always presented vexatious questions, that were injurious because unsettled ques- tions. People have divided upon the policies to be pursued in reference to grading up the town and the levees, and continued that un- settled state of the public mind that has caused injury to the permanent growth and especially the manufacturing interests of the place. A world-wide misapprehension and a common stock-slander on the extreme South- ern Illinois, has been in regard to the healthfulness of this section of the country. To the citizens, there is the patent fact that there is no healthier place in the Mississippi Valley. The general appearance of the peo- ple, the overflow of the school rooms with ruddy, chubby-faced, happy children, tell the whole story as to the health of the people; but the traveler sees a pond of sipe water, the low, swampy land about the city, and, being impressed before he comes with the common slander, imagines he needs a medi- cated sponge tied over his nose in order that he may not breathe in death in passing hurriedly through the place, and 'he writes a letter to the great city paper, telling the world of the dangers that he passed, and the providential escape he made, in passing through Southern Illinois. It is immaterial what the health statistics may show, these the affrighted slanderer will not see, particu- larly as they give the lie direct to his manu- factured stories; but if they did, upon the contrary, show a great death rate here, then, indeed, would these tables be quoted and re- quoted the year round, in great, fat display type, that all the world might see, Cairo was the natural crossing point for the immigration and travel east and west, north and south. This point of crossing, in the center of the continent, was, by the war and pother untoward circumstances, moved 300 miles north of this, and the south half of the Union, for commercial purposes, was wiped from the map of the country for a dec - ade or more, and the railroads built, and the HISTORY OF CAIRO. 219 cities sprung up, and commerce adjusted to this northern line, until it may now be for- ever impossible to change it. The very fact that Illinois penetrated, from the northern lakes, like a wedge, down into the Southern States, forming, as Daniel P. Cook argued, the keystone of the great union of States, has been turned, in the unfortunate quarrels of the late war, into a base whereon to place this end of the State in the same category, for the unholy sneers and slanders that were heaped upon all the South, and aided much in spreading her discredit world-wide. Then, the city is confronted with such questions as. Will the rivers continue to mark the flood line higher and higher, as has been the case the past two years ? If so, indeed, then, what of the morrow? It is urged that the constant improvement in draining that is going on north of us — tile draining, espe- cially — that in many places is becoming so universal, and to these are remembered the fact that the forests are being cleared away, and that these facts, added to the levees thrown up at many places as railroad beds, must cause the waters to continue to rise higher and higher, until, in the end, there will be no such things as fencing them out with embankments. There were features of the last flood that fail to bear out this rea- soning. The waters at Cincinnati were five feet higher than ever known; at Cairo, only a few inches. Then, the hope and purpose of the river improvement now going on is to deepen the bed of the river by narrowing the current in the shallow and wide places in the river, and increasing the current (it is claimed, upon experiments, that this deepen- ing can be made to an average of twelve feet), and this increase of current and depth of the river's bed must lower materially the flood line of any high waters that may come down the rivers. The unequaled advantages of Cairo for nearly all our manufacturing industries are beginning to be understood throughout the country. The accessions to the city in important factories in the past few years, show that shrewd men see here the best place in all the West to get the raw material and the machinery for its fash- ioning together, and then, when the article is made, with the easiest and best outlets to the markets of the world — transportation that can never combine or pool its business, to the detriment of the manufacturer or mer- chant. Then, why are not all the gi-eat manufacturing industries of the country rep- resented here, ci'owding the levees of the Ohio and Mississippi with their "flaming forges and flying spindles," and the roar and hum of machinery, and " the music of the hammer and the saw?" In short, why is not Cairo the great manufacturing city of America? Nature has offered illimitable bounties to bring them here; why have they not come? Perhaps each one can figure out for himself the why and the wherefore of this. We believe the reasons to be partially artificial (these might be removed), and partly natural. One thing we may truthfully say of Cairo and her surrounding countiy: The locality has never been advertised to the world. A tithe of the money wasted from time to time, if it had been judiciously invested in adver- tising the superior advantages of this sec- tion of country, would have brought many more people here than are now citizens. Men sit around, and croak about capital com- ing here. This is not the way cities are built; but it is the men starting in trade and commerce; men who are possessed, often, of small means and great activity and nerve, that come to a new place, perhaps commence business in a tent or shanty; that push along, and eventually erect great business houses, and great factories, and build rich 230 HISTORY or CAIRO. cities. The capitalists will only follow where these men have shown the way. We therefore think it probably an unwise act in the city authorities making so large a dis- trict of the city as the fire limits for build- ing purposes. It is very doubtful wisdom to obstruct the man of small means from build- ing. A town full of cheap houses is one of the best indications of coming prosperity. If they burn, they will take their insurance money, and only build a better grade of houses in the place of the old. The man wants all his money in his business, and it is only when he feels comparatively rich will he build fine or extensive establishments. To sum up the evils that have beset Cairo, we need only name the floods and fire, epi- demics and monopolies. These are her main grievances. To these may be added some mistaken legislation on the part of the city authorities, and particularly the grave mis- take of keeping the filling and grading ques- tions always open, and in an unsettled con- dition. This deters men from bu.ilding, as well as others from coming here and putting up extensive manufacturing and commercial establishments. It is better to settle it in some way, and let that be a permanent settlement. Cairo has passed her greatest trials, and whilst her triumph, even, has left her behind in the race with other cities that possessed hardly a tithe of her natural advantages, yet her prospects just now are far better than they have ever been before. She has a per- manent population; they are creating the wealth that some day will do much toward building here a city. The wholesale trade of the merchants has sprung up in a very few years, and if good wagon roads are made to all the surrounding country, and kept up, a few years will mark a splendid and solid advancement of the town. The social and intellectual activity of the community in recent years, is well indicated by a public free library, that is now prepar- ing a permanent and beautiful home for itself, and the two book and news stores of the city that are so largely patronized by the people, and the elegant and spacious Government Post Office and Custom House. The present city officials are Thomas W. Halliday, Mayor; Denis J. Foley, City Clerk; Charles, F. Nellis, Treasurer; L. H. Myers, Marshal; W. B. Gilbert, Corporation Counsel ; William E. Hendricks, City Attorney ; M. J. Howley, City Comptroller; A. Comings, Police Magistrate. Aldermen — First Ward, W^illiam McHale and Henry Walker ; Second Ward, Jesse Hinckle, C. N. Hughes; Third Ward, B. F. Blake, E. A. Smith; Fourth Ward, C. A. Patier, A. Swoboda; Fifth W^ard, Charles Lancaster, Henry Stout; Street Superintendent, Nicholas Devore; As- sistant Chief of Fire Department, Joseph Steagala. PAET II. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. '.\vi^ ®x>^vxX.:' :-> W /tit^J^ieajc^ Lyi a^Ti^ey ■ PAKT II. iSTORY OF Union County, BY H. C. BRADSBY. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION— GEOLOGY— IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATING THE PEOPLE ON THIS SUBJECT— THE LIMESTONE DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS— ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY OF UNION, ALEXANDER AND PULASKI COUNTIES— MEDICAL SPRINGS, BUILDING MATERIAL, SOIL, ETC.— WONDERFUL WEALTH OF NATURE'S BOUNTIES— TOPOG- RAPHY AND CLIMATE OF THIS REGION, ETC. History is philosophy teaching by example. THIS and the two succeeding chapters include the district composed of Union, Alexander and Pulaski Counties. The whole was once Union County, and the first three chapters bring the history down to the for- mation of Alexander County. For school purposes — for the purpose of giving the people a most important education in the practical life interests — there is no question of such deep interest as the geolog- ical history of that particular portion of the country in which they make their homes. The people of Southern Illinois are an agri- cultural one in their pursuits. Their first care is the soil and climate, and it is here they may find an almost inexhaustible fund of knowledge, that will ever put money in their purses. All mankind are deeply in- terested in the soil. From here comes all life, all beauty, pleasure, wealth and enjoy- ment. Of itself, it may not be a beautiful thing, but from it comes the fragrant llower, the golden fields, the sweet blush of the maiden's cheek, the flash of the lustrous eye that is more powerful to subdue the heart of obdurate man than an army with banners. From here comes the great and rich cities whose towers and temples and minarets kiss the early morning sun, and whose ships, with their precious cargoes, fleck every sea. In short, it is the nourishing mother whence comes our high civilization — the wealth of nations, the joys and exalted pleasures of life. Hence, the corner-stone upon which all of life rests is the farmer, who tickles the earth and it laughs with the rich harvests that so bountifully bless mankind. Who, then, should be so versed in the knowledge of the soil as the farmer? "What other infor- mation can be so valuable to him as the mas- tery of the science of the geology, at least that" much of it as applies to that part of the earth where he has cast his fortunes and cultivates 226 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. the soil. We talk of educating the farmer, and ordinarily this means to send your boys to college, to acquire what is termed a class- ical education, and they come, perhaps, as graduates, as incapable of telling the geolog- ical story of the father's farm as is the veriest bumpkin who can neither read nor write. How much more of practical value it would have been to the young man had he never looked into the classics, and instead thereof had taken a few practical lessons in the local geology that would have told him the story of the soil around him, and enabled him to comprehend how it was formed, its different qualities and from whence it came, and its constituent elements. The farmer grows to be an old man, and he will tell you that he has learned to be a good farmer only by a long life of laborious experiments, and if you should tell him that these experiments had made him a scientific farmer, he would look with a good deal of contempt upon your supposed effort to poke ridicule at him. He has taught himself to regard the word " science" as the property only of book- worms and cranks. He does not realize that every step in farming is a purely scientific opera- tion, because science is made by experiments and investigations. An old farmer may ex- amine a soil, and tell you it is adapted to wheat or corn, that it is warm or cold and heavy, or a few other facts that his long ex- periments have taught him, and to that ex- tent he is a scientific farmer. He will tell you that his knowledge has cost him much labor, and many sore disappointments. Sup- pose that in his youth a well-digested chap- ter on the geological history, that would have told him, in the simplest terms, all about the land he was to cultivate, how invaluable the lesson would have been, and how much in money value it would have proved to him. In other words, if you could give youi' boys a practical education, made up of a few les- sons pertaining to those subjects that im- mediately concern their lives, how invaluable such an education might be, and how many men would thus be saved the pangs and pen- alties of ill-directed lives. .The parents often spend much money in the education of their children, and fi'om this they build great hopes upon their future, that are often blasted, not through the fault, always, of the child, but through the error of the parent in not being able to know in what i*eal, practi- cal education consists. If the schools of the country, for instance, could devote one of the school months in each year to rambling over the hills and the fields, and gathering practical lessons in the geology and botany of the section of country in which the chil- dren were born and reared, how incompar- ably more valuable and useful the time thus spent would be to them in after life, than would the present mode of shutting out the joyous sunshine of life, and expending both life and vitality in studying metaphysical mathematics, or the most of the other text- books that impart nothing that is worth the carrying home to the child's stock of knowl- edge. At all events, the chapter in a county's history that tells its geological for- mation is of first importance to all its people, and if properly prepared it will become a source of great interest to all, and do much to disseminate a better education among the people, and thus be a perpetual blessing to the community. The permanent effect of the soil on the people is as strong and certain as uj^on the vegetation that springs from it. It is a maxim in geology that the soil and its un- derlying rocks forecast unerringly to the trained eye the character of the people, the number and the quality of the civilization of those who will, in the coming time, occupy HISTORY OF UNIOX COUNTY. 227 it. Indeed, so close are the relations of the geology and the people, that this law is plain and fixed, that a new country may have its outlines of history written when first looked upon, and it is not, as so many sup- pose, one of those deep, abstruse subjects that are to be given over solely to a few great investigators and thinkers, and to the masses must forever remain a sealed book. The youths of your country may learn thd impor- tant outlines of the geology of their country with no more difficulty than they meet in mastering the multiplication table or th« simple rule of three. And we make no ques- tion that a youth need not 'possess one-half of the mental activity and shrewdness in making a fair geologist of himself that he would find was required of him to become a successful jockey or a trainer of retriever dogs. On the geological structure of a country depend the pui-saits of its inhabitants, and the genius of its civilization. Agriculture is the outgrowth of a fertile soil; mining results from mineral resources, and from navigable rivers spring navies and commerce. Every great branch of industry requires, for its successful development, the cultivation of kindred arts and sciences. Phases of life and modes of thought are thus induced, which give to different communities and states characters as various as the diverse rocks that underlie them. In like manner, it may be shown that their moral and intel- lectual qualities depend on materal con- ditions. Where the soil and subjacent rocks are profuse in the bestowal of wealth, man is indolent and effeminate; where effort is re- quired to live, he becomes enlightened and virtuous. A perpetually mild climate and bread-growing upon the trees, will produce only ignorant savages. The heaviest mis- fortune that has so long environed poor, per- secuted Ireland has been her ability to pro- duce the potato, and thus subsist wife and children upon a small patch of ground. Statistics tell us that the number of mar- riages are regulated by the price of corn, and the true philosopher has discovered that the invention of gunpowder did more to civilize the world than any one thing in its history. Geology traces the history of the earth back through successive stages of develop- ment, to its rudimental condition in a state of fusion. The sun, and the planetary sys- tem that revolves around it, were originally a common mass, that became separated in a gaseous state, and the loss of heat in a planet reduced it to a plastic state, and thus it commenced to write its own history, and place its records upon these imperishable books, where the geologist may go and x'ead the strange, eventful story. The earth was a wheeling ball of fire, and the cooling event- ually formed the exterior crust, and in thw slow process of time prepared the way for the animal and vegetable life it now contains. In its center the fierce flames still rage, with undiminished energy. Volcanoes are outL^ts for these deep-seated fires, where are gener- ated those tremendous forces, an illustration of which is given in the eruptions of Vesu- vius, which has thrown a jet of lava, resem- bling a column of flame, 10,000 feet high. The amount of lava ejected at a single erup- tion from one of the volcanoes of Iceland has been estimated afc 40,000,000,000 tons, a quantity sufficient to cover a large city with a mountain as high as the tallest Alps. Our world is yet constantly congealing, just as the process has been going on for billions of years, and yet the rocky crust that rests upon this internal fire is estimated to be only be- tween thirty and forty miles in thickness. In the silent depths of the stratified rocks 228 HISTOIiY OF UKION COUNTY. are the former creation of plants and ani- mals, which lived and died during the slow, dragging centui-iesof their formation. These fossil remains are fragments of history, which enable the geologist to extend his re- searches far back into the realms of the past, and not only determine their former modes of life, but study the contemporaneous his- tory of their rocky beds, and group them into systems. And such has been the profusion of life, that the great limestone formations of the globe consist mostly of animal re- mains, cemented by the infusion of animal matter. A large part of the soil spread over the earth's surface "has been elaborated in animal organisms. First, as nourishment it enters into the structure of plants, and forms vegetable ^tissue, passing thence, as food, into the animal it becomes endowed with life, and when death occurs it returns into the soil and imparts to it additional elements of fertility. The counties of Union, Alexander and Pu- laski contain an area of 812 square miles, em- bracing all that south end of the State from the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio River, extending north to the north line of Union, and from the Mississippi River to the east line of Pulaski County. The general trend of the line of uplift iin this section of country is from northwest to southeast, and the dip, with'some local vari- ations, is to the northeastward. Hence the escarpments on the south and west sides of the ridges are steeper and more rugged than those of the north and east. The river bluffs along the Mississippi are high and rockj% and are frequently cut up into ragged de- clivities and sharp summits, and are formed by the chert limestones of Upper Silurian and Devonian age, which constitute the more southern extension of the blufls into Alexan- der County. Commencing in the northeast- ern portion of Union County is a sandstone ridge, which forms the water-shed between the streams running northward into the Big Muddy, and those running south into the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. This ridge presents a perpendicular escarpment on its southern face, indicating it was once a bluff to some river, although its course is nearly at right angles to the present water -courses. Its summit is formed by conglomerate sand- stone, and its base by the Lower Carbonif- erous limestone. South of this chain of bluffs, and extending along the line of the Illinois Central Railroad, from Cobden to the bottom-lands of Alexander County, is a broad belt of country underlaid by the Lower Carboniferous limestone, in which the ridges are less abrupt and the surface so gently rolling as to be susceptible of the highest cultivation. There are in this belt an abun- dance of most elegant springs, and this will some day be the great blue-grass district of Southern Illinois, that will equal in value, for dairy, sheep-growing and the production of line stock, the celebrated blue grass region of Kentucky, if it does not surpass it. All it wants to induce a spon- taneous growth of blue grass is for the un- dergrowth to be cleared up and put to past- ure. Here are water, soil, climate aud rocks that clearly indicate what must some day inevitably come. Men must come, or grow up here, who understand fully the geo- logical formations.of this belt, to make it one of the most beautiful, as well as the most productive, portions of the State. For nearly eighty years, the people have lived and farmed this land in their little patches of corn, wheat and oats, much after the fashion they would have managed their farms had they been in the woods of Tennes- see or 'Middle Illinois. Because they could do quite as well as their neighbors in this or HISTOEY OF UNION COUNTY. 229 the adjoining States, they have been content. They knew their land would produce wheat that would command a premium in all the markets of the world, and that their crops never totally failed, as they often did in other places, and they contentedly concluded it was exclusively a wheat-growing country. The intelligent geologist could have told them, two generations ago, that their won- derful soil was ^hotter adapted to that better farming where there are no such things as evil efifects from rains or droughts, early frosts or late springs; where wealth was absolutely certain, and where the profits and pleasures of farming would [make it one of the most elevating, refining and elegant piu-- suits of life; where life upon the farm was divested of that drudgery and um-equited toil that too often di'ive the young men from the farms to the even more wretched life of a pre- carious clerkship in the towns and villages. Farming is much as any of the other pursuits of life. A certain locality will make of the farmers thfe most elegant and refined of peo- ple, and their lives will be surrounded by the comforts and luxuries of the world. Their sons and daughters will attend the best schools, and will complete their education with travels in foreign countries, and thus attaining that refinement and culture that will make them the foremost people in the country. Fortunes are made cultivating wheat and corn, but only by the hardest work and closest economy, and such fortunes are generally gained at the expense of all self- culture among the families that thus work their way along their slow, heavy road. There are few things more pitiable in life than to go into a family where there is wealth and ignorant gi'eed combined — that mockery of all the civilizing influences that wealth should bring, and the stupid conviction that ignorance is adorned by a bank account, and gentility and sense are only intended for people who have no money. The truth is, wealth should always be a blessing to its pos- sessor; yet how generally is it a curse, be- cause its acquisition has been at the expense of that self-culture that the inexorable laws of nature require at every man's hands. The Lower Carboniferous limestone men- tioned above ab a belt extending nearly en- tirely across Union and through Alexander to the bottom lands above Cairo, extend into the northern and northwestern portions of Pulaski County, and forms gently sloping low hills, with a fertile soil, a rich, are- naceous loam. The hills, as is the case in Union and Alexander Counties, are covered with heavy timber, consisting principally of white oak, black oak, pignut hickory, scaly- bark hickory, yellow poplar, black gum, black walnut and dogwood. They slope generally to the southwest, in the direction of the nearest stream. The rich river bottoms along the Missis- sippi are of an average of nearly five miles in width, and are as rich in vegetable food as is the valley of the celebrated Nile in Egypt. The bottoms were originally covered with forest trees that often attained to enor- mous size. Except that these bottoms are subject to overflow at high stages of water in the river, there would be no farms in the world more productive than would here be found . The main body of the upland of Pulaski County, between Cache and the Ohio Rivers, is underlaid with Tertiary strata, and may be called oak barrens. They consist of al- ternations gently sloping, more or less sharp- ly rolling or broken ridges. Their soil is a yellow finely arenaceous loam, which extends to a considerable depth. The growth in the central portion, and extending nearly through the whole width of the county, is 2:!C IIISTOEY OF UNION COUNTY. characterized by an abundance of small, brushy, bitter oak, an upland variety of the Spanish oak, a tree which is hardly found anywhere farther north, and replaces the black oak and fblack jack. The bitter oak usually forms a dense underbrush, together with an abvindance of hazel, sassafras and sumac, with some white oak, black oak barren hickory, pignut hickory, black gum, and in some places small yellow poplar. These oak barrens are only now beginning to be understood. They were called the " barrens," and the name indicated all the people supposed they were good for as agricult- ural lands. Thrifty settlers avoided them, and the coon-skin tribe of early settlers were too often ready to adopt these unfavorable judgments of these lands, and offer that as an excuse for their own laziness and igno- rance of a soil that was really very strong in all the elements of fertility, and capable of being made the rich garden spot of Illinois. But the 1 past decade has . brought a revela- tion to this valuable part of the State, and a new style of farming has rapidly taken the place of the old, and the farmers are learn- ing that for wheat their country is unap- proachable; that their crops never fail, and there is hardly anything, either of the North or the South, but that they can produce to great profit. A "^single instance may suffice to ilhistrate our meaning. Only three or four years ago an enterprising farmer, sim- ply because he was too poor to buy teams and the modern expensive agricultural imple- ments, planted sweet potatoes. The yield was over three hundred [bushels to the acre, and these he sold for $4 per barrel. This chance experiment taught the people that they could raise sweet potatoes in as great abundance, and of as fine quality, as could be produced anywhere, and the profits of this crop were simply immense. Sweet pota- toes are now a staple product of Pulaski County, and in a few years, we make no doubt, the yield will be very large. There are no true coal-bearing rocks in the limits of the three counties of Union, Alex- ader and Pulaski, and hence there is no rea- sonable expectation of finding extensive or paying deposits of coal. From time to time, much labor has been expended in digging for coal west of Jonesboro, in the black slate of the Devonian series; but as this slate lies more than a thousand feet below the horizon of any true coal -bearing strata, the labor and means so expended were only in vain. There are some thin streaks of coal, but it only ap- pears locally, as it is interstratified with the shales of the Chester series; but it has never been found so developed as to be of any practical value. The brown Hematite ore exists in Union and the upper portions of Alexander and the northwestern part j^of Pulaski, but so far no deposit of this kind has been discovered suffi- ciently extensive and free from extraneous matter to justify mining it and erecting furnaces for its reduction, and the iron ore is generally so intermingled with chert, that its per cent of metallic iron is small. The sulphuretof lead, or galena, has been found in small quantities in the cherty lime- stones of the Devonian series. On Huggins Creek, on the southwest quarter of Section 1 , Township 11, Range 3 west, it has been found near Mr. Gregory's. The galena occurs here, associated with calcspar, filling small pockets in the rock. If this ore is ever found in quantities in this portion of Illinois, it will be in pockets, and it is very doubtful if it will ever be discovered in suffi- cient quantities to pay for the digging. An excellent article of potter's clay occurs in many localities in the three counties. In Section 2, Town 12 south, Range 2 west, a very HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 231 fine white pipe-clay is found, which is used by Mr. Kirkpatrick, of Anna, for the manu- facture of common' stone- ware, by mixing with a common clay found near the town of Anna. This pipe-clay is nearly white in color, with streaks of pui'ple through it, and appears, from its colors, to have been derived from the striped shales known locally in this part of the State as " calico rock. " Except for the coloring matter which it contains, this clay seems to be of a quality suited for the manufacture of a fine article of white ware. The clays of the Tertiary formation are found in abundance, and they are valuable for the manufacture of potter's ware, and for years one variety has been in use at Santa F6. It is of a gray color, and is sufficiently mixed with sand to be used without any farther ad- dition of that material. Before burning, the ware is washed with the white clay, to im- prove its color, and the inside of the vessel is washed with Mississippi mud to improve the glazing. The white clays near Santa F6 are supposed to be well adapted to the man- ufactm'e of white ware, but they have not been properly tested. The white clays result from the decomposition of the siliceous beds of the Devonian series. The Devonian sand- stone found in the northeast portion of Un- ion County is often quite pure and free from coloring matter, and is well adapted to the manufacture of glass. Those portions of Pulaski and Union County that are underlaid with limestone have a rich, light, warm soil, which yields the most ample rewards for the labor be- stowed upon it. The southern latitude makes it favorable to nearly every crop that has ever been tried upon it, and almost every year experiments show that its range of pro- duction is most extensive. Many years ago, it was discovered that all this portion of Illi- nois was fertile in the yield of peaches, apples and the small fniits, and lately it has demonstrated that in all garden vegetables it was unsurpassed, and just now it is coming to light that the barren ridges promise the best results, the yellow loam being one of the finest and most inexhaustible soils in the world. On the wide bottoms of Cache River is found very superior land, as is indicated by the timber growth upon it. The low bot- tom ridges or swells have a black, sandy soil, which is more or less mixed with clay^ and they produce most bountifully. They are above the flood level, but are surrounded by low lands, which are wet and often impassable and frequently overflowed. One difficulty in these bottom ridges is pui-e, healthy water, but this defect could be supplied by cisterns. The low lands are very rich, are also very fertile, but somewhat heavy soil. In the course of time these will become very valu- able. The timber is heavy, and is being rapidly cut out to supply the extensive saw mills on the railroads and Cache River. The removal of the timber has a drying effect on the soil, and places which a few years ago were continuous swamps are now becoming dry, and are capable of gi-owing fine crops of corn. This influence will be more and more felt as time goes on, and once the channel of the river is cleared of obstructions, and the soil is broken with the plow, large stretches of now swamp land will be reclaimed and converted into a tine agricultural district. With this will be correspondingly improved the health of that part of the country. Some at- tempts have been made to drain the extensive cypress swamps of Pulaski County, as well as in Alexander and Union Counties. Some years ago, a ditch was cut from Swan's Pond, situated in Sections 22, 23, 26 and 27, Town- ship 14, Range 2 east, to Post Creek, which empties into Cache River, in order to dry the pond; but those who planned the 'work 232 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. were incompetent engineers; the necessary preliminary levelings seem not to have been execut^id at all, or badly exncuted; for when the ditch was completed, it conducted the water the wrong way — that is, from the river to the pond, instead of from the pond to the river. Accurate topographical surveys would readily point out a way to drain the swamp lands of the Cache River, and thus reclaim a very large and rich agricultural section. All over this district is found a soil from three feet to one hundred feet in depth, that will never be exhausted by the husbandman. In even the uplands and in the oak barrens the subsoil, when taken from a depth of fif- teen or twenty feet, needs but a short time to mellow and then produces nearly as well as the surface soil. The richness of the land, and the wonderful store of elements of fertil- ity can, therefore, not be doubted. All that is needed is to keep it stirred, and as the skimmed surface is exhausted simply culti- vate a little deeper, and here is a bank against which the farmer may draw his checks that will always be honored. There is a just mixture of sand in the upland soils that makes them warm, rich and porous, caus- ing them to produce an unlimited variety of vegetation, to defy the droughts as well as the drowning rains. Hence the too little known fact that two years ago, when an un- usually diy summer followed a wet spring, the crops in nearly all the Mississippi Valley failed, and yet the wheat and corn in the oak barrens of Pulaski County produced a good average crop. Corn, we are told by rep- utable farmers in that district, was raised that produced forty bushels to the acre, that was rained on only once between planting and maturity. No industrious farmer need be afraid to trust such a soil with his labor; he may be certain of being repaid, with large interest; but the tendency to cultivate over-large tracts, slovenly, proves injurious to the land, and this great mistake has caused many to misjudge the land, and even pronounce it of inferior quality. Here is a wonderful and only partially developed coun- try, destined, some time, to be the most valuable spot on the contineat; capable of producing tobacco, cotton, sweet potatoes, fruits, garden vegetables, corn, wheat and blue grass ; supplied with magnificent springs abundantly; the Mecca of the coming farmer; the home of blooded stock of all kinds, and eventually a race of people who may take their places in the front ranks of the splendid civilization of the Western Hemisphere. The shiftless half farmer, half coon-skin hunter, and the slave of ignorance and a life of mis- guided toil, disease and suffering, will pass away, as have the red wild men of the forest, and here will take their places a type of re- finement, intelligence, cultui'e, enterprise, wealth and comfort that produces the noblest races of men and women. Nature's bounties have been poured out upon this land in boundless profusion, and the evil, so far, has only come from the plethora of ignorance that has tried in vain to utilize this excess of nature's rich profusion, and this has often given griefs and pain where only should have come the promised joys. It will, at the rate intelligence has progressed since the dawn of history, be a long time yet, perhaps, before ignorance ceases to afflict mankind. And it should be borne in mind, that all pains in this world are the penalties we pay to ignorance. It is hardly possible for a pang to come from any other source. The most of us are incapable of understanding or inves- tigating nature's laws. Hence, we come into the world law-breakers, and thus make of this otherwise bright and beautiful and joyous home a penal colony for the children of men, where we war and struggle for exist- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 233 ence, and suffer long and die, and the fitful fever is over, and the unchangeable and in- exorable laws of God go on, exactly as they have always gone on without beginning, and as they will forever without ending. Building Stone and Marble. — The whole southern extremity of Illinois has an abun- dant supply of superior building stone, and some day the quarries will be properly opened, and then the amount and quality of the material they will afford will be better known. Eere will then be a vast and profit- able industry developed. First in impor- tance, perhaps, not only from the thickness of the formation, and consequently the large amount of material it will afford, is the Trenton Limestone, which has outcropped more extensively on the river bluffs below Thebes than anywhere else. This formation is about seventy feet in thickness above the low water level of the river, and consists of white and bluish-gray limestone, partly in heavy beds of from two to three feet in thick- ness. It is generally free from siliceous or ferruginous matter, can be easily cut into any desired form, and is susceptible of a high polish, and is adapted to various uses as a marble. It has been extensively quarried at Cape Girardeau, since the earliest settlement of the country, both for lime and for the various purposes for which a fine building stone is required, and is widely known and appreciated as the "Capo Girardeau Marble" along the river. For the construction of fine buildings and the display of elaborate architectural designs, this rock has no su- perior in the West. The mottled beds of the Upper Silurian series consists of hard, compact limestone, and are susceptible of a fine polish, and make a beautiful marble. The prevailing colors are red, buff and gray, varying some- what at different localities. The rock is some- what siliceovis, and conseqitently harder to work than the white limestone of the Trenton group, but it ;will, no doubt, retain a tine polish much longer than a softer material, and the varieties of colors which it affords renders it well adapted to many uses as an ornamental stone, for which the other woald not be required. These mottled layers vary from ten to twenty feet in thickness, and can be most economically quarried where the overlying strata have been removed by erosion. For table-tops, mantels, etc., this is one of the handsomest rocks at present found in the country. The St. Louis limestone affords a good building material, especially the upper and lower divisions. At the quarries west of Jonesboro, the rock is a massive, nearly white, limestone, free from chert, and dresses well, and in a dry wall will prove to be dui'able, but splits when used for curbing, or whenever it is subject to the action of water and frost. The middle of this division is a dark gray cherty limestone, that might answer well for rough walls, but would not dress well, in consj^quence of the cherty mat- ter so generally disseminated through it. The upper division of this stone quarried east of Anna, is a light gray, massive lime- stone, tolerably free from chert, and in qual- ity similar to the quarry rock just west of Jonesboro. The best limestone for the manufacture of quicklime, is found in the upper portion of the St. Louis group, and is extensively quar ■ ried in the eastei-n part of Anna Precinct, and in the edge of the village of Anna, where several kilns are constantly in opera- tion. The rock is a crystalline, and partly oolitic, light-gray limestone, nearly a pure carbonate of lime in its composition, and makes a fine, white lime, similar in quality to the Alton lime, made from the same for- 234 HISTORY OF UNIOX COUNTY mation. Mncli of Central and Southern Illi- nois and the South is supplied from these kilns. The supply of this stone is almost in- exhaustible. The Thebes sandstone affords an excellent dimension stone and material adapted to the construction of foundation walls, culverts, etc. It dresses well, and is durable. Some of the beds are of suitable thickness, and make good flagstones. All these beds out- crop along the banks and in the vicinity of the Mississippi River, and consequently may be made available, at a small cost, to all the lower c<>u.ntry bordering on the Mississippi River that is destitute of such material, which is the case with the entire country from Cairo to New Orleans. Millstones. — The enormous masses of chert Tock contained in the Clear Creek limestones afford, at some points, a buhi- stone that ap- pears to be nearly equal, if not quite equal, in quality to the celebrated French buhr stones so extensively used for millstones in this country. Some of the specimens ob- tained here seem to possess the requisite hardness and porosity, and some millstones have been obtained from ithe chert beds of Bald Knob that are said to have answered a good purpose, and have been vised in the neighboring mills. But these were made from the rock that had been long exposed at the surface, .and perhaps were not taken from the best part of that; while the beds lying beyond the reach of atmospheric influences have not been tested. Grindstones. — Some of the evenly-bedded sandstones of the Chester group, and es- pecially the lower beds of the series, are fre- quently developed in thin, even layers, that could be readily manufactured into grind- stones. The rock has a fine, sharp grain^ and if too soft when freshly quarried, would harden sufficiently on exposure to give them the necessary durability. Some beds of the conglomerate sandstone also have a sharp gi'it, and when sufficiently compact in text- ure and even bedded will make good grind- stones. Mineral Springs, at Western Saratoga, in Union County, were widely known as far back as the recollection of man reaches in this sec- tion. In the early times, it was a noted " deer lick," and the deer would gather here in great numbers to quench their thirst and feed at their " licks." It was a noted Indian camping-ground, where they would come and hunt. That the waters possessed mineral properties was known to the earliest settlers, and as early as 1830 people began visiting the place from Jonesboro and the country north to Kaskaskia. In 1838, Dr. Penoyer, who, perhaps, had lived in Union County some little time, purchased a tract of 160 acres, and proceeded to lay out a city, of which the springs were to form the center, and gave it the name of Saratoga. Penoyer made the mistake of platting his town and dedicating, in its center, a square to the public, and this precluded any one from tak- ing hold of it and developing it as it de- served. Another error, that was fatal to the development of the place, was placing upon the lots so high a price that no one felt they could afford to invest. However, about 1840, a man named Bi'adley purchased a small tract, and erected a boarding-house. This stood until 1878, when it was burned. Dr. Penoyer and a man named Harkness, whom the Doc- tor had associated with him, built a bath- ing-house, about forty rods from the spring, and connected with it by a series of pipes. This bathing-house was about one hundred feet long and nine feet wide. This was used for some time, but gradually falling into dis- use it rotted down. As long as people could get accommodation, they flocked here in great HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 230 numbers. They came from all directions, but especially from the Southern States, Mis- souri, Mississippi and Louisiana. For many summers, the boarding-houses, and all who would accommodate boarders, had all and more than they could accommodate, and many were sometimes turaed back by learn- ing they could not get accommodations. The price of lots still continued exorbitantly high, and so wretched were the meager ac- commodations, people ceased to come, and the place fell into decay. A spring-house, which was under way, was left to its fate un- finished, and the timbers now lie around the spring in a decaying condition. When too late, the Doctor discovered his mistake, and had what he called a deed from the public to himself made, conveying the spring back to himself. This curious document was signed by the' visitors who, from time to time, were attracted to the place, and, as legal wisdom spread among the people, it eventually came to be looked upon as fraudulent. Armed with this document, the Doctor set about try- ing to sell the springs. He made a sale to a St. Louis and also to a Chicago firm, but when, in each case, the abstract of title was made out, the trade fell through. At present the springs are uncared-for in the public square, and at times the wayfarer comes, drinks of the Pool of Siloam, and is benefit- ed. Over one-half of the original town plat, including the park, lies in the farm of Mr. Taylor Dodd. The remainder is owned by a few of the older inhabitants, most of whom look forward to better times coming for the place. Dr. T. J. Rich resides upon part of the old town plat, and cultivates liis fruit trees where once it was intended to erect large brick, stone and iron houses. The property is located in Section 1, Township 12 south. Range 1 west. It is a tolerably strong sulphur water, and contains sulphureted hydrogen, a small quantity of sulphate of lime, carbonate of soda, chloride of sodium, and, perhaps, a little alumina and magnesia. The water is said to be a specific for dyspepsia and chronic diseases of the skin. It is also said to be beneficial in cases of scrofula. The water is strongest during the dry season of the year, being then less aifected Jby the admixture of surface water. Dr. Penoyer seems to have been a poor manager, and yet the waters were shipped and sold by him, in quantities, to many parts of the country. For some years he made a practice of boiling it down and bottling and peddling it about the country, and shipping to those wanting it at a distance. In conversation with Dr. T. J. Rich, the following additional facts were learned; The chief ingredients of the water are soda, sul- phuret, patash and traces of iron and iodine. The odor which is noted upon drinking the water is caused by the presence of sulphuret of hydrogen; this is said to pass away entire- ly when the water is allowed to stand an hour or two. The Doctor's method of boiling the water was to take 100 gallons, and boil it until only one" remained. This one gallon was quite thick, and tasted like soft soap-suds, or very strong soda-water. It was about the time that the Doctor was engaged in making this medicine, probably about 1850, that there was an epidemic of ^ flux. It was very fatal, and the physicians gave up many cases, which Dr. Penoyer was able to cure with his medicine, in every instance in which it was given a fair trial. That the water contains ingredients that are full of sl,rong curative powers in many of the human ailments, is beyond all reasonable doubt, and nothing shoi-t of Dr. Penoyer' s folly could have prevented this place from long ago becoming one of the most noted 236 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. health rpsorts in the country. In many chronic ailments, and in all skin diseases, and for old sores, it has, in so many in- stances, and unfailingly, cured, that it may be said to be a specific. Road Material. — An inexhaustible amount of the very best material for the construction of turnpike or common roads, abounds on all the watercourses that intersect the uplands of this district, and is derived from the cherty limestones of the Upper Silurian and Devonian age. It consists of a brown flint or chert, finely broken for use, and occurs abundantly, filling the valleys of the small streams that intersect the limestones above named. This has been used at St. Louis for the manufacture of "concrete stone," and is found equal to the best English flint for this purpose. The material with which' this ex- periment was made was obtained in Union County, bat it differs in no way from the flint found in Pulaski and Alexander Counties. Next to the immense deposits of coal, the St. Louis limestone is reckoned one of the most important formations. It receives its name from the city where its lithological character was first studied. Imbedded in its layers are found Crinoids,* in a profusion found nowhere else in the world. Though untold ages have elapsed since their incar- ceration in the I'ocks, so perfect has been their preservation, their structure can be de- termined with almost as much precision as if they had perished but yesterday. The soil was originally formed by the de- composition of rocks. These, by long ex- posure to the air, water and frost, became disintegrated, and the comminuted material acted upon by vegetation, forms the fruitful mold of the surface. When of local origin, it varies in composition with changing ma- * Crinoidea — An order of lily-shaped marine animals. They generally grow attached to the bottom of tlie sea by a pointed stem, analagous to the growth of plants. terial from which it is derived. If sand- stone prevails, it is too porous to retain fer- tilizing agents; if limestone is in excess, it is too hot and dry, and if slate predominates, the resulting clay is too wet and cold. Hence, it is only a combination of these and other ingredients that can properly adapt the earth to the growth of vegetation. Happily for nearly all the Mississippi Valley, the origin of its surface formations precludes the possibility of sterile extremes arising from local causes. And these causes are more abundant in the south end of Illinois than in probably any other place in the great val- ley. The surface of the country is a stratum of drift, formed by the decomposition of every variety of rock in its distribution. This immense deposit, varying from fifteen to two hundred feet in thickness, requires for its production physical conditions which do not exist now. We must go far back in the history when the polar world was a desolation of icy wastes. From these dreary realms of enduring frosts, vast glaciers, reaching southward, dipped into the waters of an inland sea, extending over a large ^part of the Upper Mississippi Valley. The ponderous masses, moving southward with an irresistible power, tore immense bowlders from their parent ledges and in- corporated them in their structure. By means of these, in their further progress, they grooved and planed down the subjacent rocks, gathering up and carrying with them part of the abraded material, and strewing their track, for hundreds of miles, with the remainder. On reaching the shore of the in- terior sea, huge icebergs were projected from their extremities into the waters, which, melting as they floated into the warmer lati- tudes, distributed the detrital matter they contained over the bottom. Thus, long be- fore the plains of Illinois clanked with the HISTORY OF UNIOX COUNTY 237 din of railroad trains, these ice-formed navies plowed the seas in which they were sub- merged, and distributed over them cargoes of soil-producing sediment. No mariner walked their crystal decks to direct their course, and no pennon, attached to their glit- tering masts, trailed in the winds that urged them forward; yet they might, perhaps, have sailed under flags of a hundred succeeding em- pires, each as old as the present nationalities of the earth, during the performance of their labors. This splendid soil-forming deposit is destined to make Illinois the great center of American wealth and population. Per- haps no other country of the saoie extent on the face of the globe can boast a soil so ubiquitous in its distribution, and so univer- sally productive. And here, on the southern point of land that forms the extreme South- ern Illinois, is a soil enriched to an extraor- dinary depth by all the minerals in the crust of the earth, and it contains an unequaled variety of the constituents of plant food. Since plants differ so widely in the elements of which they are composed, this multiplic- ity of composition is the means of growing a great variety of crops, and the amount pro- duced is correspondingly large. So gi'eat is the fertility that years of continued cultiva- tion do not materially diminish the yield, and should sterility be induced by excessive working, the subsoil can be made available. The cultivation of the soil in all ages has furnished employment for the largest and best portions of mankind; yet the honor to which they are entitled has never been fully acknowledged. Though their occupation is the basis of national prosperity, and upon its progress more than any other branch of in- dustry, depends the march of civilization, yet its history remains, to a great extent, un- written. Historians duly chronicle the feats of the wan'ior who ravages the face of the earth and beggars its inhabitants, but leaves unnoticed the labors of him who causes the desolated country to bloom again, and heals, with balm of plenty, the miseries of war. When true worth is duly recognized, instead of the mad ambition which subjugates na- tions to acquire power, the heroism which subdues the soil and feeds the world will be the theme of the poet's song and the orator's eloquence. The counties of Union, Alexander and Pulaski form the extreme south end of the State, occupying nearly all that point of land south of the grand chain that extends across the lower end of the State, and are in height from 500 to 700 feet, and that make a strong line of difference in the geological forma- tions that extend to the bottom lands near Cairo, as well as exercising a strong influ- ence upon the meteorological changes that occur in this district. The timber, soil, drainage and climate of this district cannot be excelled. Nature has strewn here rich and inexhaustible, and formed a land capable of sustaining a greater population to the area than any other district in the country. When cultivated and tended, as it will be some day, to its full capacity, there is more dollars per acre here than, perhaps, in any other spot on the globe. Only think for a moment, it is no experiment to make fi-om $300 to $500 net on a single acre of ground, and that, too, on land that you can buy at from $5 to $20 per acre. It is, too, most fortunately situated as to markets. Markets that can never be overstocked are at your door; at least, so near at .hand that transpor- tation is merely nominal. Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis, in fact all the North, and especially the growing giant, the North- west Mississippi Valley, whose climate will make it always come here as the best of cus- tomers, and then there is the entire South, 23 8 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. to the Gulf, that will be perpetual customers for all your corn, hay, flour and all domestic animals, with railroads to take the perish- able goods ;vith dispatch to their destination, and both railroad and the great rivers to take the bulky and more durable stuff to all the world. The climate alone is an incalculable fortune, a perennial fountain of gold, as it combines the advantages of the North and the South, enabling you to produce the ear- liest fruits and vegetables of all descriptions, thus putting you in the market when com- petition is impossible, and at the same time you can grow, to the best advantage, not only winter wheat, but all the cereals, as well as compete with any spot in the country in rais- ing of all kinds of stock. Then, too, you are equally fortunate in the topography of your county, both for tillage and for health. The hills, undulations and rolling bottom lands giving you the very best natural drainage, and here you will be equally blest with health and rugged, happy people, as soon as the heavy timbers in the bottoms and near the lakes are a little more cut off, and the pene- trating sunlight, as it always has done and always will, drives away all malaria and miasma. Your excellent natural drainage will protect you from the drowning spring waters that so often visit the central and northern portions of the State, and this very drainage will be almost a specific against the drouths that sometimes visit nearly all por- tions of our country with such a heavy hand. Thfse truths about Southern Illinois should be widely disseminated. Only see what wonders have been performed by the railroads in peoj^ling the treeless, windy, dry, grasshopper regions that were once known as the Great American Desert. That land of alkali, sage-brush, coyotes, cow- boys, scalping Indians and desolate dogtowns. Th«y blew their horns, and cried aloud from the housetops; they advertised, spent thou- sands of dollars, and have been repaid in millions. Here is the difference: Northenr Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska are situ- ated in the natural line of travel for the old Eastern States, and for that wonderful tide of immigration poui'ing constantly into this counti'y from Europe, thus this part of Illi- nois has had her light, so far as emigration was concerned, hid under a bushel. Her unapproachable sources of wealth and her incomparable beauties and advantages have been unseen and unheeded. But little or nothing has ever been done to remedy this evil. On the 9th of last Decem- ber, a meeting was held in Cairo, composed of representative men from Alexander, Jack- son, Johnson, Massac, Perry, Pulaski, Will- iamson and Union Counties, to consider the question of organizing an Emigration Society for Southern Illinois. They concluded to organize under the corporation law of the State, with a capital stock of $10,000. They seemed to realize it as a fact, known to all intelligent people in Southern Illinois, that we have suffered grievously from wrong im- pressions, years ago spread abroad over the country, with regard to our climate, soil and general material conditions, the consequences of which are, we have not attracted the at- tention of immigrants that our merits de- served, and these proiuoters of a community's wealth and prosperity have passed this sec- tion by and gone West, and fared infinitely worse. They go into the arid wastes of the West, and suffer untold hardships. The facts are, there is not an emigrant that em- barks foi" America that has ever heard of Southern Illinois; but he puts on his hob- nailed shoes and starts for the laud of free- dom and hope, in the firm conviction that Nebraska, Kansas and the Texas Pan-Handle are the real United States — the land of peace, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 23 9 plenty, hope and happiness. His pockets are stuffed with glowing literature extolling these places, and the cunning railroads have hired the most brilliant writers to picture, in flowing and fascinating terms, these places that catch the swift-coming tide of immigra- tion. If the outside world does hear anything from this favored and incomparable section of country, it is the cheap stock-slander about " EgyP^ ^^^ i^'S darkness and ignorance," until frightened simpletons, who swallow those slanders, are tempted to travel out of their way, in order to not pass through this section of " ignorant barbarians. " A silly lie can always outtravel the truth, particu- larly when the slandered community treat the slander with silent contempt, and make no effort to correct the story and present the facts. This outside prejudice against this section must be overcome, and the truth dis- seminated in its place. Why, if you could, by some magic, transport this part of Illi- nois, with every physical fact surrounding, exactly as the facts now exist, the soil, the production, the facilities for markets, the health, the climate, everything, in fact, ex- actly as it is, except the removal, to the northern or middle portion of the State, the land that now sells for $10 or $15 per acre, could not, in three months after the change in locality, and with no other change, mark you, be bought for $500 per acre, no, nor for $1,000 per acre. And then, in a very few years. Cook County would be the only county in the State that would equal this section in population. Immigrants going to a new coun- try are much like a flock of sheep crossing a fence. They follow the bell-sheep without looking to the right or left. Of course, there- fore, it is more difficult to aiTest their atten- tion now, and to show them that they are sadly deceived, and are passing by, in ignor- ance, the most favored spot on earth, and going to not the most favored place, even, in this Western country. We see the poor- est country in America, exactly like a quack doctor, can grow great and prosperous, and smile at its betters, by simply advertising itself — using printer's ink. This is the magic ring — the Aladdin's lamp that brings wealth and prosperity to its friends and pa- trons. The ubiquitous, restless, dashing, energetic, audacious and tireless Yankee of the North has always keenly realized this, and has subsidized it to his use and complete control, and when he got a land-grant for a railroad, he cared not what the country was where he built his road and got his lands; he printed books, pictures, placards, chro- mos, handbills and " dodgers" by the mill- ion, and told all the world, and soon con- vinced it, too, that by coming to him they were on the only road to an earthly paradise. Could the outside world be divested of its unjust prejudices about this locality, and could the simple truth — the plain, palpable facts — be made known to them, what a quick revolution it would produce here — what a transformation scene would take place. We have spoken of the advantage of soil, climate and commerce; we have only spoken of the soil, climate, agricultural, commercial and market advantages. In all these you are not only unequaled, but you are simply un- approachable. You can laugh at rivalry in each and every one of these things. In fact, there is no possibility of rivalry from any other section for anything you can produce to the best advantage. Your wheat commands a royal premium in all the markets of the world; your corn cannot be excelled in qual- ity; your potatoes are not only excellent, but they go to the Northern market at a season when you can always dictate your own price per bushel. The topographical advantages seem to be 240 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY as little understood by the people as is the geology of this locality. The geology and topogi'aphy of the country are singularly pe- culiar, the remarkable fact being that these two features — especially the topography — place in your hands advantages that will for- ever exclude competition from any other section of the country. It is situated just south of the only true mountain range in Illinois, the spur crossing the State from the Ozark Mountains and traceable into Ken- tucky. This not only protects it from the severest part of the " blizzards " that visit every portion of the West each winter, but it gives it warmth of soil that enables you to raise early fruits, potatoes and garden veg- etables, and place them in the markets at immense advantage. You thus have the healthy, bracing air of the North, that im- parts a tonic and vigor to all animal life, as well as the genial warmth of more southern localities— combining the bracing Northern atmosphere and the early fructifying tropical warmth. Your advantages in this line are already demonstrated in reference to fruits and early vegetables of all kinds, and the same great truths will be some day equally well demonstrated in regard to another and vastly profitable industry for the people, namely, the raising of blooded cattle and the establishment of creameries and butter manu- factories. Here is an unexplored mine of incalculable wealth, where it is again most fortunate indeed. AVe know of no point in the country where a creamery would yield as much profit on the capital invested as here. The cold spring waters, pure air and superior pasturage would make the greatest yield of butter of the " gilt- edge " qviality, and then you are where you could command the choicest of the butter trade of the entire South. And in this respect there is as little danger of competition from other sections of the country as there is in your fruits and vegetables for shipment North. For instance, Cairo is always ready to pay about 10 cents per pound more for choice butter than the Chicago price. They never can make good butter south of this part of Illinois, and hence, you are at their door with all the fa- cilities and advantages of any Northern point in production, and the immense advantage of being the favored ones in the valuable Southern trade. Thus the profits are multi- plied each way. And is it not plain that if the creameries of Northern Illinois are a source of great profit, both to the factories and to all the farmers for a wide circuit of miles around them, would they not be im- mensely more profitable and beneficial if lo- cated in Union County? This is not all the profits that are to be made ofif domestic cattle here. This district is the home of the nutri- tious grasses that enter into the business of stock-raising — producing these in greatest abundance and of the finest quality. Show the world the truth, just as it exists, and you will soon see yovir county filled with graded cattle, when the industry of butter-making alone would, of itself, make your people prosperous and rich. Your command of the great and best markets in the world — the South for your butter, eggs and poultry, is one of those peculiar advantages of climate, soil and topography that makes it a favored locality. Eggs and butter may yet beco me a fountain of more wealth to the county than are now the wheat and corn of any county in the State. Thvis, this point of Illinois is the doorway of the woi'ld's best markets, particu- larly the North and the South, where it will practically always remain without competi- tion. One day last winter there was a car-load of mules and horses that had been pur- chased in Anna, and were on the switch at HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 243 the depot preparatory to starting to Nebraska, and while they stood there, the freight train passed, going South, and had several car- loads of horses and mules that had been gathered up in the central portion of the State for the Southern markets. A few years ago, some Germans came into Union County from Pennsylvania, and among their purchases were some of the old- est farms in the county; farms that had been badly cared for, and "skinned" and^ washed until they were supposed to be nearly worth- less. Great gullies had been plowed through the fields in every direction by the waters, and the rich soil had disappeared. These thrifty and industrious people, nothing daunted, went to work, and now the soil is restored, the gullies and washouts are filled, and the finest and largest crops every year are the rich rewards of their careful foresight and industry. The geologist will tell you that your land will never wear out under in- telligent treatment, because there is stored in the subsoil an inexhaustible source of ■wealth — a bank that will never break nor run away with the deposits, upon which the farmer may draw checks that will always be honored, and paid in glittering gold. The same geologist will tell you that the geolog- ical formation of a county always determines the quantity, quality and value of its popu- lation — not only the numbers of the people that will some day live upon it, but will pre- figure their comforts, wealth, enjoyments and the possibilities of their enlightenment and civilization. Hence, what is beneath the sur- face of your land is of the very greatest im- portance to all. In Pulaski County is a similar experiment of what a little intelligent treatment may do for a farm that had been pronounced worn out by the " skinning" process of farming, on the farm occupied by Dr. G .W. Bristow, near New Grand Chain. The Doctor has only required foui' yeai's to convert it into one of the best farms in the county, and richer than it was when the virgin soil was first turned by the plow. The past winter furnished some remarkable testimony as to the meteorological advan- tages this end of Illinois possesses in cli- matic arrangements. The Northeast, the West and Southwest — in fact, the entire coun- try — was visited by some remarkable winter storms, sometimes termed "blizzards," ttiat passed over the country, carrying, often, de- struction to man and beast. In the cattle and sheep regions of the West and Southwest, there was great loss of stock from these storms. The fierce winds were almost like a tornado, and they carried the blinding snow and frost at such a rate as to send the ther- mometer down from forty to sixty degrees in a few hours. Several of these storms were unparalleled in intensity, and so widespread were they that much stock was destroyed as far South as Central Texas. The record of the thermometer on one of these occasions marked 17° below zero at St. Louis, and 5° below zero at Dallas, Tex., and at the same time it barely reached zero in any of this part of the State south of the north line of Union County. At no time, during the entire winter, did the mark go below zero here, when it passed below that point six or seven hundred miles south of this. And during the cold storms, on more than one occasion, there was a difference of fifteen or twenty degrees between this place and any point forty or fifty miles noi'th of this. This remarkable state of facts results from the topography of this part of Illinois. The mountain chain, six or seven hundred feet high, passing acros'? the State, just north of this district, fonns a barrier to the tierce winds from the north, and deflects them to the west or east, or 14 244 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. raises them so high, that they pass above us and produce little or no effect. Then, again, the great river, leading directly from the Gulf, forms a complete isothermal line, that is unobstructed in its course until it strikes this mountain range, when it stops, and, to some extent, recoils upon the northern part of Union County. These are some of the geological, meteoro- logical and topographical advantages Union, Alexander and Pulaski Counties pos- sess over all other portions of the great and and rich State of Illinois, and in the interests of truth and justice, and in vindica- tion of a long-neglected, misunderstood and grossly misrepresented portion of our be- loved native State, we have attempted briefly to explain the more important facts. To give the skeleton oulines of such well-established truths as will enable the people to go look for themselves, and to continue the investi- gation in all its detail, and the conclusion in every case, whether a friend or a prejudiced foe of this southern end of Illinois, he will rise from the investigation ready to exclaim^ " the half has not been told." CHAPTER 11. PRE-HISTORIC RACES— THE MOUND-BUILDERS— FIRE WORSHIPERS- RELICS OF THESE UNKNOWN PEOPLE— MOUNDS, AVORKSHOPS AND BATTLE-GROUNDS IN UNION, ALEXANDER AND PULASKI COUNTIES— VISITS OF NOXIOUS INSECTS— HISTORY THEREOF, ETC. "For the truth is, that time seemeth to be of the nature of a river or stream, which carrieth down to us that which is light and blown up, and sinketh and drowneth that which is weighty and solid."— Bacon. AS to the many different peoples that have occupied all this portion of the coun- try, in the long-baried ages of the past, are questions that have long been, and are now, of deep interest to archaeologists. How many different and distinct races; how many cent- uries intervened between their rise and ex tinction; what manner of people they were, and how they came and then passed away — many of them, perhaps, leaving no wrack behind, while others built the mounds, the military posts of defense, the burial monu- ments, the flint instruments of the chase, and the varieties of pottery that are dug up here and there, as the mute but eloquent story of an unknown people, who here, at some time in the world's history, lived, flourished, struggled and died. Could we unravel the strange, eventful story of these different peo- ples, what fairy- like legends they would be. Thus, the busy investigators are digging in the mounds, visiting the battle-fields and delving in the burial places, and laboriously and patiently trying to unravel and gather up their histories, and rescue them from the oblivion that has so long rested upon their memories. Until within a period considerably less than a century ago, few, comparatively, of even the thinking and investigating portion of mankind, were much concerned about the question of the antiquity of the race. The church maintained, through centui-ies, that the Bible was the only authentic and trust- worthy record of antiquity, and maintained, equally, that itself was the only authorized interpreter of this record and on this basis HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 245 certain vague chronology, which did not, in its various forms, agree with itself by some three or four thousand years, and this vague belief as to time, which fixed the origin of man and of the globe he inhabits at a period now some six thousand years ago, was gener- ally accepted as not to be disputed. Now and again some thinker, bolder than his fellows, formulated some theory which looked toward a far greater antiquity for the race. As early as 1734, Mahudel, and at a later period Mercatl, ventui-ed the suggestion that the flints found pretty much all over the globe, " from Paris to Nineveh, from China to Cam- boja, from Greenland to the Cape of Good Hope," were the weapons of the men who lived " before the flood." Bat these were looked upon, when they received any atten- tion at all, as merely fanciful, not to say ridiculous,, speculations. Even when Buffon, in 1788, " affirmed again that the first men began by sharpening into the form of axes these hard flints, jades or thunderbolts, which were believed to have fallen from the clouds and to be formed by the thunder, but which, said he, ' are merely the first move- ments of the art of man in a state of nature,' the simple and just theory, upon the sub- stantial truth of v^hich all scientific men are now agreed, was allowed to pass without notice. " Later, Mr. Bouche de Perthes was virtually laughed at upon the presentation of an account of his discoveries, and the theories he deduced from them, to the French Insti^tute, and it was not until the lapse of fifteen or twenty years from the time when he first called the attention nf that body to these discoveries and theories that they were given any serious consideration. Even then, the attention was not what a purely scientific question should have. De Perthes himself says: "A purely geological question was made the subject of religious controversy. Those who threw no doubt upon any i-eligion accused me of rashness; an unknown archae- ologist, a geologist without a diploma, I was aspiring, they said, to overthrow a whole system confirmed by long experience and adopted by so many distinguished men. They declared that this was a strange pre- sumption on my part. Strange, indeed; but I had not then, and I never have had, any such intentions. I revealed a fact; conse- quences were deduced from it, but I had not made them. Truth is no man's work; she was created before us, and is older than the world itself; often sought, more often re- pulsed, we find but do not invent her. Some- times, too, we seek her wrongly, for truth is to be found not only in books; she is every- where; in the water, in the aii', on the earth; we cannot make a step without meeting her, and when we do not perceive her it is be- cause we shut our eyes or turn away our head. It is our prejudices or our ignorance which prevent us from seeing her — from touching her. If we do not see her to-day, we shall see her to-morrow; for, strive as we may to avoid her, she will appear when the time is ripe." These are very simple truths, and yet it is only the man who has the courage to see facts who is also capable of seeing these truths of reason. The change from that day to this is remarkable indeed. Neither ridicule nor disbelief is now the por- tion of the believer in that antiquiiy of the race which goes back of a supposed BibJical chronology. Even upon the point of that chronology itself, scientific men and the most learned theologians alike are almost or quite agreed to coincide with Sylvestre de Sacy, himself a savant and devout Christian also, who said: " People pei'plex their minds about Biblical chronology, and the discrep- ancies which exist between it and the dis- coveries of modern science. Thev are jxreat- 246 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. ly in error, for there is no Biblical chronol- ogy." While this is true of the thinking people of the world, it is in far less degree true of the untliinking masses, and the liberal thinker is even yet looked upon by many as a sort of monster. This is not, however, a fact that ought to produce any uneasiness, since it is the opinion of the thinkers which, sooner or later, makes the opinion of the world. This territory, including the three coun- ties of Alexander, Union and Pulaski, are rich in these remains and relics of men of a time reaching back to the paleolithic and the neolithic civilizations, or rather of the slow evolution of civilization in those divis- ions of the so-called stone age, of which those " fairy tales of science" that were started into life dm-ing the past quarter of a century were written. The mounds, and the great workshops for the manufacture of flint in- struments, the battle-grounds and the burial- places, indicate that some one race of these stone-age people probably made their na- tional headquarters in the upper portion of Alexander County, and from this point they extended their habitations and working places in every direction, into Kentucky, Missoui'i and the uppor portion of Illinois. The most recent " finds " have been so traced as to plainly point out that from here they must have traveled into and through Mexico and into South America, and that in making this extended voyage they passed directly southwest from this point, and in returning they came from the Gulf toward the lower portion of the Ohio River, on the east side of the Mississippi, and the improvement made in the few flint instruments, and again in the pottery vessels, mark as well the ad- vances these pre-historic races made as the course of their slow travels over the con- tinent. If the cave peuple were here in these hills of Southern Illinois, their resorts or dwelling-places have not yet been discovered, yet the hunt for them has hardly com- menced, as the investigations are so far con- fined to the mounds and the graves, as well as the flint instruments that are plowed up in the fields and found nearly everywhere over the face of the country. The topog- raphy of the country has, most probably, in- vited here, at some time, the cave-dwellers. The action of man himself should be well considered in seeking the causes which have brought about the filling of the caves; for in many cases they have served as dwellings, as refuges, as the rendezvous of hunters, as meeting places or tombs to the earliest popu- lations of these districts. It is, therefore, not surprising that they should have left in them their mortal remains, the fragments of their daily meals, their weapons, their tools — in a word, the still simple' products of their dawning industry. Unfortunately, we can- not always be sure that these objects are of the same date as the bones of extinct species with which they are found. Accidental dis- turbances of the soil, occuring at widely- separated ;periods, may have mixed the j^ro- ductions of human industry with the bones of a very different date. This is evidently the case in the cave of Fausan (Herault), where Marcel de Sevres found a fragment of enameled glass embedded in a skull of Ursus Spelaeus ; specimens of fire-baked pottery, relatively quite modern, were found at Bize. by the same naturalist, side by side witb other ves- sels of unbaked clay and of far ruder work- manship. Similar facts, which may have oc- casioned many mistakes, have been observed in several other caves, among which it is sufficient for the moment to cite those of Herm and Auvignac. We cannot, therefore, always, and as a matter of course, conclude that the human bones found in company with HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 247 the remains of extinct animals were contem- porary with each other. But doubt is no longer reasonable when the bones of animals and those of oiu" own species, uniformly mixed, imbedded |in the same sediment, and which have undergone the same alterations, are, moreover, covered by a thick layer of stalagmite; when objects of a completely primitive industry occupy the same bed with bones belonging to extinct species; when the latter bear the evident marks of human workmanship; finally, when we find in the diluvian strata of the valleys manufactui'ed objects and bones exactly like those dis- covered in caves of the same date. Now, all these circumstances occur together in the valleys of the Somme, the Rhine, the Thames, etc. , as well us in certain caves of France, England, Belgium, Italy, Sicily, etc. Dr. W. R. Smith, of Cairo, informs us that he has extensively examined the mounds, burial-places and workshops of Southern Illinois, and across the river into Kentucky and Missouri. He finds within this scope of country the burial mounds, tem- ple mounds, altar mounds and mounds of observation, the distinction in them being clear and distinct, and he finds many facts corroborating the belief that the upper part of Alexander, or the lower portion of Union County, was the center or great meeting place of the surrounding tribes. In the tem- ple mounds are many evidences that they were erected by the fire- worshipers. The Lake Millikin mound, in Dogtooth Bend, is the third largest mound in size in the United States. A large number of mounds in th« western and southern parts of Union, and in the upper part of Alexander County, are all burial mounds, and one very large one in Alexander is composed of chert stone, and was evidently the point where they manu- factured their rude implements of industry and the chase, and, most singularly, it seems, they carried the flinty chert rock to their working place instead of moving their work- ing place to the hills where ihey dug out the chert used in the manufactui-e. This mound has every appearance of having been formed as chip mounds are formed near the wood piles where the wood is chopped, and the chips left to rot and accumulate. The im- mensity of the works may be imagined when the workmen's chips would accumulate into a large-sized mound that would remain through all these ages, and another most singular cir- cumstance is the fact that no implements can be found at these points where they were evi- dently made. Across in Kentucky is an ex- tensive region underlaid with remnants of pottery, and the grounds about Fort Jeffer- son seem to have been the main headquarters for this industry, the burned fragments, in some places, underlying the thin surface soil to a considerable depth. In Kentucky and Missouri, near Cairo, a great many pieces of pottery have been found, in a perfect state of preservation, particularly some perfectly formed water jugs, that are so true and per- fect in construction that skilled workmen who have examined them have believed they could only have been made upon a potter's wheel. Dr. Smith suggests that they shaped or fashioned their flint implements, and were enabled to chip and break them into the many forms they did, by means of heat, and then deftly touching with a wet stick at just those points which they wished to scale off. It is possible that in this way they made their flint or chert darts and arrow-heads, while other rocks show they were shaped by rubbing and the slow process of friction. Ethnology has hardly yet begun to be a science, and yet its progress is sufficient to demonstrate that, in the slow progress of evolution, many millions of years have 248 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. passed away since man, in some form, ap- peared upon our continent. But why a numerous people should appear in the world, live oiit their allotted time, and wholly dis- appear, and in the long course of time be followed by another and yet a distinct race of people. Did they come at fixed periods, think you, after the manner of the seventeen- year locusts? Evidently not; as the old law of transmigration of souls would have to be revived, in order to account for those long periods of absence of each race from the earth. In the investigations thus far, these two points only are established; that is: That distinct races have come, lived then- brief time upon the earth, and then passed away entirely, to be succeeded by another race of human beings, and this by still an- other. How many of these have played their separate parts in this ' wonderful world's drama we may never know, and so blended now are the remains and traces they have left, that it may be forever impossible to ar- rive at the numbers of the different races, much less to fix the period of the coming of the first, or the length of time intervening between the disappearance of one and the ap- pearance of the other. Indeed, so little can we yet positively know, that it may even be conjectured that one people would come and displace those they found here, much as the white man has superseded the Indian, and in the course of long centuries have driven them from the face of the earth. In the northeast part of Pulaski County, where the river bank is rugged and rocky, the sandstone rocks have been washed bare, in the solid rocks are the footprints of three persons, a man, woman and a child, the child supposed to have been about six years old. The impressions of the feet are clear, and every outline sharply defined, and are sunk into the rock nearly an inch in depth. They are ordinary sized feet, and indicate arched instep and wide and long toes — feet, evi- dently, that had never been cramped by tight shoes. The position of the tracks would in- dicate the man and woman (and it is only supposed to be a woman's track because somewhat more delicate and smaller than the other) stood facing each other, and five or six feet apart, and the child stood to the man's lef tj a few feet. A few feet from these are plainly marked, on the same rock, turkey tracks, and these you can trace where the turkey walked out and circled and returned by the same way that it came. The surface soil at one time had covered this rock three or four feet in depth. Insect Plagues. — At irregular periods, in nearly all portions of the world, appear those extraordinary visitations of insects, that sud- denly come, and often as suddenly disap- pear, and we can no more tell from whence they come than we can tell whither they go. All of the southern and central portions of Illinois, particularly this extreme southern end of the State, received one of these un- accountable visits this year (1883), in the form of innumerable caterpillars. They over- ran the country in immense numbei's, and as they came with the early tree leaves, they left the apple trees and certain kinds of forest trees, upon which they fed, as barren of foliage as the middle of winter. The forest trees upon which they would feed were the walnut and sweet gum and the red oak. The injury these insects caused was not regularly inflicted upon all the orchards, as there were, places where they did not seem to go, and thus some orchards escaped their visitations, while in other localities it is much feared the trees are permanently injured. They were called caterpillars, and yet they were a different variety from the regular old orchard insect that weaves its web and HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 249 liatches its young to feed upon the leaves, and more or less of which we have every year. They were like those noxious insects that have from time immemorial visited the world, that are to the insect world much as the wandering comets to the heavenly bodies. The sudden appearance, and the no less sud- den disappearance, of noxious insects, have given rise to much speculation concerning their cause. They have been common in all countries, from the equator to those nearest the poles. The earliest historians took note of them. Moses has described the insect plagues of ancient Egypt, and Greek and Roman writers furnish graphic accounts of the ravages of insects in other countries of antiquity. In times when religious and superstitious beliefs were stronger than they are at present, it was generally thought that insects were sent to various parts of the earth to inflict punishments for the sins of the peo- ple. It appears certain that the coming of large numbers of noxious insects has been accompanied with outbreaks of epidemic diseases among human beings and domesti- cated animals. Possibly the climatic condi- tions that favored the production of these in- sects were unfavorable to the health of ani- mals, human beings included. When some of the vegetation was destroyed, it was but natural that the physical condition of the animals that gained their sustenance from them should be reduced. The sudden de- struction of vast numbers of insects would be likely to vitiate the air and to render water unlit to drink. If we can credit ancient his- torians, the sudden appearance of large num- bers of insects, especially of those not com- mon to the country, was generally accompa- nied by earthquakes, floods and various other calamities. No natural connection, of course, exists between the flight of locusts and an upheaval of the earth. The early accounts of insect plagues are generally meager, and probably very iuaccui-ate. About the year 141, we are told that " de- vastation from every variety of the insect tribe " presaged the outbreak of an awful pestilence at Rome in that year. In 158, all the grain in Scotland was destroyed, famine ensuing. An ecclesiastical chronicler relates that when the King of Persia was besieging Nisibin in 260, swarms of gnats suddenly appeared, and attacked his elephants and beasts of burden so furiously as to kill or dis- able most of them. The siege had to be raised in consequence, a step which ultimate- ly led to the discomfiture of the Persian Army. In 406, multitudes of grasshoppers infested Egypt. They are said to have been so numerous that the putrifaction of their dead bodies occasioned a plague in the coun- try. It is not improbable that locusts are the insects meant, for we frequently find old writers calling locusts grasshoppers; and, besides, there are many instances of the advent of locusts in a country being fol- lowed by a pestilence. In 1807, after a shower of blood in England, Grafton says that there " ensued a great and exceed- ing number and multitude of flies, the which were so noxious and contagious that they slew many people." What might be the nat- ure of these deadly flies we are unable to conjecture. The army of Philip of France, while at Gerona, in 1283, was attacked by swarms of flies, the poisonous stings of which were fatal botli to the men and the horses. The insects are described as being the size of acorns. Two species have been suggested as likely, neither of them, however, indigenous to Spain, viz., the Simulum reptatis, a native of Eastern countries, and Chrysops coecu- fiens, an African fly, which is said to attack horses. The French Army lost about four 250 HISTORY OF UNIOJ^ COUNTY. thoasand men, and as many horses, through the attacks of this insect The plague was attributed to a miracle wrought by St. Nar- cissus. In 128'), "a curious worm, with a tail like a crab," appeared in numbers in Prussia. The sting of the creature was fatal to animals within three days. Riverius, a medical writer, mentions that in April and May, 1580, prodigious swarms of insects obscured the daylight, and were crushed on the roads by the million. The species is not indicated, but they were sup- posed to have risen out of the earth. In 1612, previous to the outbreak of epidemic pestilence in Germany, Goelenius relates that " a sud- den and amazing number of spiders ap- peared." It is curious that the same phe- nomenon occurred at Seville nearly a century afterward. In 1708, just before the plague broke out in that city, immense swarms of insects appeared, most conspicuous among which were spiders. Why spiders in par- ticular should herald pestilence it is difficult to understand. In the summer of 1664, the ditches in England were filled with frogs and various kinds of insects, the houses liter- ally swarmed with flies, and ants were so numerous that they might have been taken in handfuls from the highways. This abund- ance of insect life was said to foreshadow the great plague of London which followed. Five years later, a remarkable swarm of "ant-flies" alighted at Litchfield and other places. They appeared over the city about noonday, and were so thick that they dark- ened the sky. On alighting, they "filled the houses, stung many people and put all the horses mad." All who happened to be out of doors had to flee. The market people packed up their goods and made off, and those in the harvest field were all driven home. After remaining on the ground for three hoiu:s, the swarm took flight in a northerly direction. So many of the insects were left dead on the streets that their bodies were swept into great heaps. In 1679, the little town of Czierko, in Hungary, was the scene of a curious visita- tion. During the summer, a winged insect, of an unknown species, made its appearaace, and inflicted mortal wounds upon men, horses and oxen with its sting. Thirty-five men and a great number of animals were killed. In the case of the men, the insect inserted its |sting wherever the skin was un- protected, i, e., the face, neck and hands. Shortly after the infliction of the wound, a tumor was formed. Unless the poison was extracted at once, the victims died within a few days. The Poles, it seems, were the chief sufferers, on account of their habit of wearing short hair, and thus exposing their necks. It is remarkable that the insects confined their ravages to Czierko, a circum- stance which caused many people to regard them as a divine punishment. Sir Thomas Molyneux, in the " Natural History of Ireland," gives an account of an invasion of cockchaffers, which occurred in 1088. He says: "They appeared on the southwest coast of the county of Galway, brought thither by a southwest wind." Pass- iDg inland toward Headford, " multitudes of them showed themselves among the trees and hedges in the day-time, hanging by the boughs, thousands together, in clusters, sticking to the back one of another, as'^in the manner of bees when they swarm. Those that were traveling on the roads, or abroad in the fields, found it very uneasy to make their way through them, they would so bpat and knock themselves against their faces in their flight, and with such force as to smart the place they hit, and leave a slight mark behind them. A short while after their com- ing, they had so entirely eaten up and de- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 251 etroyed all the leaves of the trees for some miles about, that the whole country, though it was the middle of summer, was left as bare and naked as if it had been the depth of winter, making a most unseemly, and, in- deed, frightful appearance; and the noise they made, whilst they were seizing and devouring this their prey, was as surprising, for the grinding of the leaves in the mouths of this vast multitude altogether, made a sound very much resembling the sawing of timber. Out of the gardens they got into the houses, where numbers of them, crawling about, were very irksome." The ensuing spring (1689) brought but little improvement, for the young of the in- sect, " lodged under the ground, next the up- per sod of the earth," did great mischief by devouring the roots of the corn and grass. These indispensable crops having failed, the people were reduced to the necessity of cook- ing the cockchaffers and eating them, while the hungry " swine and poultry of the coun- try at length grew so cunning as to watch under 'the trees for their falling." The plague was fortunately checked by high winds and wet weather, which was so disagreeable to the insects that many millions of them died in one day's time. Smoke was also dis- tasteful to them, and some places were pro- tected from their ravages by making tires of weeds and heath. Some years after this, the dead insects lay in such quantities on the Galway shore as to form at least forty or fifty horse loads. In 1697, they reached the Shannon, and some of them crossed the river and entered Leinster; but there they were met by an " army of jackdaws, that did much damage among them, killing and devom'ing great numbers. Their main body still kept in Connaught, and took up their quarters at a well-improved Eng^sh plantation, where they found plenty of provisions, and did a great deal of mischief by stripping the hedges, gardens and groves of beech quite naked of all their leaves." The cockchaffer, which is called in Irish Primpelan, still ex- ists in the country. Immediately after the destruction of Port Royal (Jamaica), in June, 1692, by an earthquake, great numbers of mosquitoes and flies appeared. The same thing has been ob- served after earthquakes and volcanic erup- tions elsewhere. Thus, in 1783, after a tremendous eruption of the volcano Skaptar Jokul, in Iceland, the pastures swarmed with little winged insects, of blue, red, yel- low and brown colors, which belonged to a species until then unknown in the island. They were not at all destructive, but caused considerable inconvenience to the haymakers, who were covered with them from head to foot. The cause of the sudden appearance of insects at such times may be the rise of temperatu.re due to volcanic activity induc- ing premature development. The so-called new species may possibly have been one in- digenous to the island at a remote period, when its climate was different, some long- buried larvae of which the volcanic heat serve to develop. In the year 1858, there was a visitation, in pretty much all Southern Illinois, of the " army worm. " In places, they almost cov- ered the face of the earth, and often a person could not walk along the highway without crushing them under his feet. They seemed to be constantly traveling in the hunt of timothy grass or the wheat fields. They would leave the grass fields looking much as though a fire had passed over them, and, if the wheat had well "headed out," they would feed upon the leaves of the stalk and do no" harm. In fact, many farmers believed that, under these circumstances, they were a benefit to the wheat. Chickens, turkeys, «52 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. birds and hogs would devour the army worm in great quantities, yet they came in such numbers that such enemies made no apparent impression upon their volume, and farmers would dig trenches about the timothy and field of young corn, and then they would tumble into the trench until it was nearly full, would hitch a horse to a log and drag it along the trench, and thus crush them by millions, and yet, by the time he would thus go around his field, the ditch would again be full. The locusts have made their irregular, and yet somewhat regular, visitations to all parts of the State, and this portion of Illinois, being all heavily timbered, they have come here in much greater numbers than in many other parts of Illinois. They are an arboreal insect, and although capable of ex- tended flight, yet they do not care to travel farther than from tree to tree, at very short distances. They inflict much injury to orchards, as well as some of the forest trees, in the process of depositing their eggs in tbe young twigs. They always come about the middle of spring, when the leaves are unfolded and the new and tender twigs of the limbs of the tree are growing. They select this new growth to bore into and de- posit their eggs. They find a place, and bore two holes into the wood, and these holes circle and come together, this junction al- ways being toward the body of the tree. So perfectly is the work done, that the twig will soon break, the leaves will die, and after a certain time it will fall to the ground, carry- ing every egg with it, and this falling of the dead twig is timed exactly to the time when I the egg is ready to hatch out a grub, and at once it goes into the ground on its thir- teen or seventeen year trip, according to the kind to which it belongfs. CHAPTER III. THE DARING DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMExXTS BY THE FRENCH— THE CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES- DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER— SOME CORRECTIONS IN HISTORY- A WORLD'S WONDERFUL DRAMA OF NEARLY THREE HUNDRED YEARS' DURATION, ETC. "Should you ask me, whence these stories, Whence these legends and traditions With the odors of the forests, With the curling smoke of wigwams. With the rushing of great rivers I reoeat them as I heard them." — Longfellow. THE truth of history in regard to the great Mississippi Valley is only just now being examined closely by the impartial investiga- tors, and the facts in relation thereto are slowly coming to light. For this empire of mag- nificent proportions, the great powers' of the Old World contended for nearly three hundred years, and it is a singular fact that these warlike nations that only struggled for wealth and empire by the power of the sword, were in nearly all instances guided and pointed the way into the heart of the New World, and the home of the powerful savage tribes by the missionaries of the Catholic Church, who carried nothing more formidable for defense or attack than their prayer books and rosaries, and the word, "peace on earth and good will to men." The French Catholic mission- aries were as loyal to their Government as they were true to their God. They planted the lilies of France and erected the cross of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 2-)8 the Mother Church in the newly discovered countries, and chanted the solemn mass that soothed the savage breast, and spoke peace and good will, and smoked the calumet with "wild men of the woods. The settlement of the West and the first discoveries were made by the French, and it was long afterward the country passed into the permanent possession of the English; the latter people wrote the histories and tinged them from first to last with their prejudices, and thus promulgated many serious errors of history. Time will always produce the icon- oclast who will dispassionately follow out the truth regardless of how many fictions it may brush away in its course. Thus, history is being continually re-written, and the truth is ever making its approaches; and the glorious deeds of the noble sons of France are becom- ing manifest as the views of our history are brought to light, particularly their occupancy of the valley of the Father of Waters. As early as 1504 the French seamen, from Brit- tany and Normandy visited the fisheries of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. These bold and daring men traversed the ocean through the dangers of ice and stormsto pursue the oc- cupation of fishery, an enterprise which to-day has developed into one of gigantic magnitude. France, not long after this, commissioned James Cartier, 'a distinguished mariner, to explore America. In 1535, in pursuance of the order, they planted the cross on the shores of the New World, on the banks of the St. Lawrence, bearing a shield with the lilies of France. He was followed by other adventurous spirits, and among them the im- mortal Samuel Champlain, a man of great enterprises, who founded Quebec in 1608. Champlain ascended the Sorel River; ex- plored Lake Champlain, which bears his name to-day. He afterward penetrated the forest and found his srrave on the bleak shores of Lake Huron. He was unsurpassed for bravery, indefatigable in industry, and was one of the leading spirits in explorations and discoveries in the New "World. In the van of the explorations on this con- tinent were found the courageous and pious Catholic missionaries, meeting dangers and death with a crucifix upon their breasts, bre- viary in hand, whilst chanting their matins and vespers, along the shores of our majestic rivers, great lakes and unbroken forests. Their course was marked through the track- less wilderness by the carving of their em- blems of faith upon the roadway, amidst perils and dangers, without food, but pounded maize, sleeping in the woods without shelter, their couch being the ground and rock; their beacon light, the cross, which was marked upon the oak of the forest in their pathway. After these missionaries had selected their stations of worship, the French hunters, couriers de bois, voyagers and traders, opened their traffic with the savages. France, when convenient and expedient, erected a chain of forts along the rivers and lakes, in defense of Christianity and commerce. France, from 1608, acquired in this conti- nent a territory extensive enough to create a great empire, and was at that time untrod by the foot of the white man, and inhabited by roving tribes of the red man. As early as 1615, we find Father Le Carron, a Catholic priest, in the forests of Canada, exploring the country for the purpose of converting the savages to the Christian religion. The fol- lowing year he is seen on foot traversing the forests amongst the Mohawks, and reaching the rivers of the Ottawas. He was followed by other missionaries along the basin of the St. Lawrence and Kennebec Eivers, where some met their fate in frail barks, whilst others perished in the storms of a dreadful wilderness. 254 HISTORY or UNION COUNTY. In 1635, we find Father Jean Brebeauf, Daniels and Gabriel Lallamand leaving Quebec with a few Huron braves to explore Lake Huron, to establish chapels along its banks, from which sprung the villages of St. Joseph, St, Ignatius and St. Louis. To reach these places it was necessary to follow the Ottawa River through a dangerous and devious way to avoid the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Senecas and Iroquois, forming a confederacy as the "Five Nations," occupy- ing a territory then known as the New York colony, who were continually at war with the Hurons, a tribe of Indians inhabiting Lake Huron territory. As early as 1639, three Sisters of Charity, from France, arrived at Quebec, dressed in plain black gowns with snowy white collars, whilst from their girdle hung the rosary. They proceeded to the chapel, led by the Governor of Canada, accompanied by braves and war- riors, to chant the Te Deum. These holy and pious women, moved by religious zeal, immediately established the Ursuline Con- vent for the education of girls. In addition to this, the King of France and nobility of Paris endowed a seminary in Quebec for the education of all classes of persons. A public hospital was built by the generous Duchess of D'Arguilon, with the aid of Cardinal Richelieu, for the unfortunate emigrants, to the savages of all tribes, and afflicted of all classes. A missionary station was established as early as 1641, at Montreal, under a rude tent, from which has grown the large city of to-day, with its magnificent cathedral and churches, its massive business houses, and its commerce. The tribes of Huron Lake and neighboring savages, in 1641, met on the banks of the Iroquois Bay to celebrate the " Festival of the Dead." The bones and ashes of the dead had' been gathered in coffins of bark, whilst wrapped in magnificent furs, to be given an affectionate sepulture. At this singular fes- tival of the savages the chiefs and braves of different tribes chanted their low, mournful songs day and night, amidst the wails and groans of their women and children. During this festival appeared the pious missionaries, in their cassocks, with beads to their girdle, sympathizing with the red men in their de- votion to the dead, whilst scattering their medals, pictures of our Savior, and blessed and beautiful beads, which touched and won the hearts of the sons of the forest. What a beautiful spectacle to behold, over the graves of the fierce warriors, idolatry fading before the Son of God! Father Charles Raymbault and the indomitable Isaac Joques, in 1641, left Canada to explore the country as far as Lake Superior. They reached the Falls of St. ]\rary's, and established a station at Sault de Ste. Marie, where were assembled many warriors and braves from the great AVest, to see and hear these two apostles of religion and to behold the cross of Chris- tianity. These two missionaries invoked them to worship the true God. The savages were struck with the emblem of the cross and its teachings, and exclaimed : "We embrace you as brothers ; come and dwell in our cabins." When Father Joques and his party were returning from the Falls of St. Mary's to Quebec, they were attacked by the Mohawks, who massacred the chief and his braves who accompanied him, whilst they held Father Joques in captivity, showering upon him a great many indignities, compelling him to run the gantlet through their village. Father Brussini at the same time was beaten, muti- lated, and made to walk barefooted through thorns and briars, and then scourged by a whole village. However, by some miracu- lous way, they were rescued by the generous HISTORY OF UNIOJS COUNTY. 255 Dutch of New York, and both afterward re- turned to France. Father Joques again re- turned to Quebec, and was sent as an envoy amongst the "Five Nations." Contrary to the savage laws of hospitality, he was ill- treated, and then killed as an enchanter, his head tung upon the skirts of the village, and his body thrown into the Mohawk River. Such was the fate of this courageous and pious man, leaving a monument of martyr- dom more enduring than the Pyramids of Egypt. The year 1645 is memorable, owing to a congress held by France and the "Five Na- tions," at the Three Rivers, in Canada. There the daring chiefs and warriors and the gallant officers of France met at the great council fires. After the war-dance and numer- ous ceremonies, the hostile parties smoked the calumet of peace. The Iroquois said: "Let the clouds be dispersed and the sun shine on all the land between us." The Mohawks exclaimed: "We have thrown the hatchet so high into the air and beyond the skies that no man on earth can reach to bring it down. The French shall sleep on our softest blankets, by the warm fire, that shall be kept blaz- ing all night." Notwithstanding the elo- quent and fervent language and appearance of peace, it was but of short duration, for soon the cabin of the white man was in flames, and the foot-print of blood was seen along the St. Lawrence, and once more a bloody war broke out, which was disastrous to France, as the Five Nations returned to the allegiance of the English colonies. The village of St. Joseph, near Hui-on Lake, on the 4th of July, 1648, whilst her warriors were absent, was sacked, and its people murdered by the Mohawks. Father Daniel, who officiated there, whilst endeavor- ing to pi'otect the children, women and old men, was fatally wounded by numerous ar- rows, and killed. Thus fell this martyr in the cause of religion and progress. The next year, the villages of St. Ignatius and St. Louis were attacked by the Iroquois. The village of St. Ignatius was destroyed, and its inhabitants massacred. The village of St. Louis shared the same fate. At the latter place, Father Brebeauf and Lalle- mand were made prisoners, tied to a tree, stripped of their clothes, mutilated, burnt with fagots and rosin bark, and then scalped. They perished in the name of France and Christianity. Father de la Ribourde, who had been the companion of La Salle on the Griffin, and who officiated at Fort Creve Cceur, 111., whilst returning to Lake Michigan, was lost in the wilderness. Afterward, it was learned he had been murdered in cold blood by three young warriors, who carried his prayer-book and scalp as a trophy up north of Lake Su- perior, which afterward fell into the hands of the missionaries. Thus died this martyr of religion, after ten years' devotion in the cab- ins of the savages, whose head had become bleached with seventy winters. Such was also the fate of the illustrious Father Rine Mesnard, on his mission to the southern shore of Lake Superior, where, in after years, his cassock and breviary were kept as amu- lets among the Sioux. After these atrocities, these noble missionaries never retraced their steps, and new troops pressed forward to take their places. They still continued to explore our vast country. The history of their labors, self sacrifice and devotion is connected with the origin of every village or noted place in the North and great Wesi France ordered, by Colbert, its great min- ister, that an invitation be given to all tribes West for a general congress. This remark- able council was held in May, 1671, at the Falls of St. Marv's. There was found the 256 HISTOKY OF UNIOX COUNTY chiefs and braves of many nations of the West, decorated in their brightest feathers and furs, whilst the French officei's glistened with their swords and golden epaulets. In their midst stood the undaunted missionaries from all parts of the country. In this re- markable congress rose a log cedar cross, and upon a staff the colors of France. In this council, after many congratulations offered, and the war dances, the calumet was smoked and peace declared. France secured here the friendship of the tribes, and domin- ion over the great West, Marquette, while on his mission in the West, leaves Mackinac on the 13th of May, 1673, with his companion, Joliet, and five Frenchmen and two Indian guides, in two bark canoes, freighted with maize and smoked meat, to enter into Lake Michigan and Green Bay until they reached Fox River in Illinois, where stood on its banks an Indian village oc- cupied by the Kickapoos, Mascoutins and Miamis, where the noble Father Allouez offi- ciated. Marquette in this village preaches and announces to them his object of discover- ing the great river. They are appalled at the bold proposition. They say: "Those distant nations never spare the strangers ; their mutual wars fill their borders with bands of warriors. The great river abounds in monsters which devour both men and canoes. The excessive heat occasions death." From Fox River across the portage with the canoes they reach the Wisconsin River. There Marquette and Joliet separated with their guides, and, in Marquette's language, " Leaving us alone in this unknown land in the hands of Providence," they float down the Wisconsin whose banks are dotted with prairies and beautiful hills, whilst siir- rounded by wild animals and the buffalo. After seven days' navigation on this rivei% their hearts bound with gladness on behold- ing, on the 17th day of June, 1673, the broad expanse of the great Father of Waters, and upon its bosom they float down. About sixty leagues below this they visit an Indian vil- lage. Their reception from the savages was cordial. They said : ' ' We are Illinois, that is, we are men. The whole village awaits thee ; then enter in peace our cabins." After six days' rest on the couch of furs, and amidst abundance of game, these hospitable Illinois conduct them to their canoes, whilst the chief places around Marquette's neck the calumet of peace, being beautifully decorated with the feathers of birds. Their canoe again ripples the bosom of the great river (Mississippi), when further down they behold on the high bluffs aud smooth rock above (now Alton), on the Illinois shore, the figures of two monsters painted in vari- ous colors, of frightful appearance, and the position appeared to be inaccessible to a painter. They soon reached the turbid wa- ters of the Missouri, and thence floated down to the mouth of the Ohio. Farther down the river stands the village of Mitchigamea, being on the west side of the river. When approaching this place its bloody warriors, with their war cry, embark in their canoes to attack them, but the calu- met, held aloft by Marquette, pacifies them. So they are treated with hospitality, and es- corted by them to the Arkansas River. They sojourn there a short time, when Marquette, before leaving this sunny land, cele- brates the festival of the church. Marquette and Joliet then turn their canoe northward to retrace their way back until they reach the Illinois River, thence up that stream, along its flowery prairies. The Illinois braves con- * duct them back to Lake Michigan, thence to Green Bay, where they arrived in Septem- ber, 1673. Marquette for two years officiated along HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 257 Lake Michigan; afterward visited Mackinaw; from thence he enters a small river in Mich- igan (that bears his name), when, after say- ing mass, he withdraws for a short time to the woods, where he is found dead. Thus died this illustrious explorer and remarkable priest, leaving a name unparalleled as a brave, good and virtuous Christian. Robert Caraiin La Salle, a native of Nor- mandy, an adventurer from France, arrived in Canada about 1670. Being ambitious to distinguish himself in making discoveries on this continent, he returned to France to so- licit aid for that purpose. He was made chevalier, upon the condition that he would repair Fort Frontenac, located on Lake On- tario, and open commerce with the savages. In 1678, he again returned to France, when in July, 1677, with Chevalier Tonti, his liieutenant, with thirty men, he left Rochelle for Quebec and Fort Frontenac. Whilst at Quebec, an agreement was made by the Gover- nor of Canada with La Salle to establish forts along the northern lakes. At this time he undertook with great activity to increase the commerce of the West, by building a bark of ten tons to float on Lake Ontario. Shortly afterward, he built another vessel, known as the Griflfin, above Niagara Falls, for Lake Erie, of sixty tons, being the first vessel seen on the Northern lakes. The GriflSn was launched and made to float on Lake Erie. "On the prow of this ship, armorial bearings were adorned by two griffins as supporters; " upon her deck she carried two brass cannon for defense. On the 7tli of August, 1679, she spread her sails on Lake Erie, whilst on her deck stood the brave naval commander La Salle, accompanied by Fathers Hennepin, Ribourdo and Zenobi, surrounded by a crew of thirty voyageurs. On leaving, a salute was fired, whose echoes were heard to the as- tonishment of the savages, who named the Griffin "The Great Wooden Canoe." This ship pursued her course through Lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron to Mackinaw, thence through that strait into Lake Michigan, thence to Green Bay, where she anchored in safety. The Griffin, after being laden with a cargo of peltries and fui's, was ordered back by La Salle to the port from whence she sailed, but unfortunately on her x'eturn she was wrecked. La Salle, during the absence of the Griffin, determined with fourteen men to proceed to the mouth of the Mi am is, now St. Joseph, where he built a fort, from which place he proceeded to Rock Fort in La Salle County, 111. La Salle hearing of the disaster and wreck of the Gi'iffin, he builds a fort on the Illinois River called Creve Cceur (broken heart). This brave man, though weighed down by misfortune, did not despair. He concluded to return to Canada, but before leaving sends Father Hennepin, withPiscard, Du Gay and Michael Aka, to explore the sources of the Upper Mississippi. They leave Creve Cceur February 29, 1680, float- ing down the Illinois River, reaching the Mississippi March 8, 1680; then explored this river up to the Falls of St. Anthony; from there they penetrated the forests, which brought them to the wigwams of the Sioux, who detained Father Hennepin and compan- ions for a short time in captivity; recovering their liberties, they returned to Lake Superior in November, 1680, thence to Quebec and France. During the explorations of Father Hennepin, La Salle, with a courage unsur- passed, a constitution of iron, returns to Canada, a distance of 1,200 miles, his path- way being through snows, ice and savages along the Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario Reaching Quebec, he finds his business in a disastrous condition, his vessels lost, his goods seized and his men scattered. Not being discouraged, however, he returns to his 258 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. forts in Illinois, which he finds deserted; takes new courage; goes to Mackinaw; finds his devoted friend Chevalier Tonti in 1681, and is found once more on the Illinois River to continue the explorations of the Missis- sippi, which had been explored by Father Marquette to the Arkansas River, and by. Fa- ther Hennepin up to the Falls of St. Anthony^ La Salle, from Fort Creve Coeur, on the Illi- nois River, with twenty-two Frenchmen^ amongst whom was Father Zenobi and Chev- alier Tonti, with eighteen savages and two women and three children, float down until they reached the Mississippi on F ebruary 6, 1682. They descend this mighty river until they reach its month April 6, 1682, where they are the first to plant the cross and the banners of France. La Salle, with his com- panions, ascends the Mississippi and returns to his forts on the Illinois; returns again to Canada and France. La Salle is received at the French court with enthusiasm. The King of France orders four vessels, well equipped, to serve him, under Beaugerr, commander of the fleet, to proceed to the Gulf of Mexico, to discover the Balize. Unfortunately for La Salle, he fails in discovering it, and they are thrown into the bay of Matagorda, Texas, where La Salle, with his 280 persons, are abandoned by Beaugerr, the commander of the fleet. La Salle here builds a fort, then undertakes, by land, to discover the Balize. After many hardships, he returned to his fort, and again attempts the same object, when he meets a tragical end, being murdered by the desper- ate Duhall, one of his men. During the voyage of La Salle, Chevalier Tonti, his friend, had gone down the Mississippi to its mouth, to meet him. After a long search in vain for the fleet, he returned to Rock Fort, on the Illinois. After the unfortunate death of La Salle, great disorder and misfortune occurred to his men in Texas. Some wan- dered amongst the savages, others were taken prisoners, others perished in the woods. However, seven bold and brave men of La Salle's force determined to return to Illinois, headed by Capt. Joutel, and the noble Father Anatase. After six months of exploration through the forest and plain, they cross Red River, where they lose one of their comrades. They then moved toward the Arkansas River, where, to their great joy, they reached a French fort, upon which stood a large cross, where Couture and Delouny, two Frenchmen, had possession, to hold communication with La Salle. This brave band, with the excep- tion of young Bertheley, proceeded up the Mississippi to the Illinois forts ; from thence to Canada. This terminated La Salle's wonderful ex- plorations over our vast lakes, great rivers and territory of Texas. He was a man of stern integrity, of undoubted activity and boldness of character, of an iron constitution, entertaining broad views, and a chivalry un- surpassed in the Old or New World. France, as early as possible, established along the lakes permanent settlements. One was that of Detroit, which was one of the most interesting and lovely positions, which was settled in 1701, by Lamotte de Cardillac, with one hundred Frenchmen. The discovery and possession of Mobile, Biloxi and Dauphine Island induced the French to search for the mouth of the Mis- sissippi River, formerly discovered by La- Salle. Lemoine d'Iberville, a naval o£&cer of talent and great experience, discovered the Balize, on the 2d of March, 1699; pi-oceeded up this river and took possession of the country known as Louisiana. D'Iberville returned immediately to France to announce this glorious news. Bienville, his brother, was left to take charge of Louisiana during ^^^. p-'-^A HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 361 his absence. D'Iberville returned, when Bienville and St. Denis, with a force, was ordered to explore Red River and thence to the borders of Mexico. La Harpe also as- cended Red River in 1719 built a fort called Carlotte; also took possession of the Arkan- sas River; afterward floated down this river in pirogues, finding on its banks many thriv- ing Indians villages. France, in September, 1712, by Letters Patent, granted Louisi- ana to Crozas, a wealthy Frenchman, who relinquished his rights and power in 1717 to the Company of the West, established by the notorious banker, John Law. Under a fever of great speculations, great efforts wei'e made to advance the population and wealth of Louisiana. New Orleans was mapped out in 1718, and became the important city of Lower and Upper Louisiana. The charter and privileges of ' ' Company of the West, " after its total failure, was resigned to the crown of France in 1731. The country, em- bracing Louisiana, was populated by numer- ous tribes of savages. One of these tribes was known as the Natchez, located on a high bluff, in the midst of a glorious climate, about 300 miles above New Orleans, on the river bank. The Natchez had erected a re- markable temple, where they invoked the •'Great Spirit," which was decorated with various idols moulded from clay baked in the sun. In this temple burned a living tire, where the bones of the brave were burned. Near it, on a high mound, the Chief of the Nation, called the Sun, resided, where the warriors chanted their war songs and held their great council fires. The Natchez had shown great hospitality to the French. The Governor of Louisiana built a fort near them in 1714, called Fort Rosalie. Chopart, after- ward commander of this fort, ill-treated them and unjustly demanded a pai't of their vil- lages. This unjust demand so outraged their feelings that the Natchez in their anger lifted up the bloody tomahawk, headed by the "Great Sun,'' attacked Fort Rosalie No- vember 28, 1729, and massacred every French- man in the fort and the vicinity. During these bloody scenes the chief amidst this car- nage stood calm and unmoved, whilst Cho- part's head and that of his officers and sol- diers were thrown at his feet, forming a pyra- mid of human heads. This caused a bloody war, which, after many battles fought, termi- nated in the total destruction of the Natchez nation. In these struggles the chief and his 400 braves were made prisoners, and after- ward inhumanly sold as slaves in St. Domin- go- The French declared war in 1736 against the Chickasaws, a warlike tribe, that in- habited the Southern States. Bienville, commander of the French, ordered a re-union of the troops to assemble on the 10th of May, 1736, on the Tombigbee river. The gallant D'Artaquette from Fort Chartres, and the brave Vincennes from the Wabash River, with a thousand warriors, were at their post in time; but were forced into battle on the 20th of May without the assistance of the other troops; were defeated and massacred. Bien- ville shortly afterward, on the 27th of May, 1736, failed in his assault upon the Chickasaw forts on the Tombigbee, where the English flag waved, and was forced to retreat, with the loss of his cannons, which forced him to return to New Orleans. In 1740, the French built a fort at the mouth of the St. Francois River, and moved their troops into Fort As- sumption, near Memphis, where peace was concluded with the Chickasaws. The oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi was Kaskaskia, first visited by Father Gravier, date unknown; but he was in Illinois in 1693. He was succeeded by Fathers Pinet and Biaetan. Pinet became 262 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY the founder of Cahokia, where he erected a chapel, and a goodly number of savages as- sembled to attend the great feast. Father Gabriel, who had chanted mass through Can- ada, officiated at Cahokia and Kaskaskia in 1711. The missionaries in 1721 established a college and monastery at Kaskaskia. Fort Chartres, in Illinois, was built in 1720; be- came an important post for the security of the French, and a great protection for the com- merce on the Mississippi. "The Company of the West " sent an expedition under Le Sieur to the Upper Louisiana about 1720, in search of precious metals, and proceeded up as far as St. Croix and St. Peters Eivers, where a fort was built, which had to be abandoned owing to the hostilities of the savages. The French, as early as 1705, ascended the Missouri River to open traffic with theMissou- ris and to take possession of the country. M. Dutism, from New Orleans, with a force, arrived in Saline River, below Ste. Genevieve, moved westward to the Osage River, then beyond this about 150 miles, where he found two large villages locaf^^ed in fine prairies abounding with wild game and buffalo. France and Spain, in 1719, were contend- ing for dominion west of the Mississippi. Spain, in 1720, sent from Santa Fe a large caravan to make a settlement on the Missouri River, the design being to destroy the Missou- ris, a tribe at peace with France. This car avan, after traveling and wandering, lost their way, and marched into the camp of the Missouris, their enemies, where they were all massacred, except a priest who, from his dress, was considered no warrior. After this expe- dition from Santa Fe upon Missouri, France, under M. DeBourgment, with a force in 1724 ascended the Missouri, established a fort above, on an island above the Osage River, named Fort Orleans. This fort was after- ward attacked and its defenders destroyed and by whom was never ascertained. The wars between England and France more or less affected the growth of this con- tinent. The war in 1689, known as " King William's war," was concluded by the treaty of Ryswick, 1697. "Queen Anne's war," terminated by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. " King George's war "concluded by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, in 1748. These wars gave England supremacy in the fisheries, the possession of the Bay of Hudson, of New- foundland and all of Nova Scotia. The French and Indian wars, between 1754 and 1763. The struggle between England and France as to their dominion in America commenced at this period. It was a disas- trous and bloody war, where both parties en- listed hordes of savages to participate in a warfare conducted in a disgraceful manner to humanity. France at this time had erected a chain of forts from Canada to the great lakes and along the Mississippi Valley. The English controlled the territory occupied by her English colonies. The English claimed beyond the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River. The French deemed her right to this river indisputable. Virginia had granted to the "Ohio Company'' an extensive territory reaching to the Ohio. Dinwiddle, Governor of Virginia, through George Washington, re- monstrated against the encroachment of the French. St. Pierre, the French commander, received Washington with kindness, returned an answer, claiming the territory which France occupied. The " Ohio Company " sent out a party of men to erect a fort, at the confluence of the Alleghany and Mononga- hela rivers. These men had hardly com- menced work on this fort when they were driven away by the French, who took posses- sion and established a "Fort Du Quesne." Washington, with a body of provincials HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY- 2(i3 from Virginia, marched to the disputed ter- ritory, when a party of French, nuder Jumon- ville, was attacked and all either killed or made prisoners. Washington after this erected a fort called Fort Necessity. From thence Washington proceeded with 400 men toward Fort Du Quesne, where, hearing of the advance of M. DeVilliers, with a large force, he returned to Fort Necessity, where after a short defense Washington had to capitulate with the honorable terms of re- turning to Virginia. On the 4th of July, 1754, the day that Fort Necessity surrendered, a convention of colonies was held at Albany, N. Y. , for a union of the colonies proposed by Dr. Ben. Franklin, adopted by the delegates, but de- feated by the English Government. How- ever, at this convention a treaty was made between the colonies and the ' ' Five Nations," which proved to be of great advantage to England. Gen. Braddock, with a force of 2,000 soldiers, marched against Fort Du Quesne. Within seven miles of this fort, he was attacked by the French and Indian allies and disastrously defeated, when Washington covered the retreat and saved the army from total destruction. Sir William Johnson, with a large force, took command of the army at Fort Edward. Near this fort, Baron Dieskan and St. Pierre attacked Col. Williams and troop where the English were defeated, but Sir Johnson com- ing to the rescue defeated the French, who lost in this battle Dieskan and St. Pierre. On August 12, 1756, Marquis Montcalm, commander of the French Army, attacked Fort Ontario, garrisoned by 1,400 troops capitulated as prisoners of war, with 134 cannon, several vessels and a large amount of military stores. Montcalm destroying this fort returned to Canada. By the treaty of peace of Aix la Chapelle of October, 1748, Arcadia, known as Nova Scotia, and Brunswick, had been ceded by France to England. When the war of 1754 broke out, this territory was occupied by nu- merous French families. England fearing their sympathy for France, cruelly confiscat- ed their property, destroyed their humble homes and exiled them to their colonies in the utmost poverty and distress. In August, 1757, Marquis Montcalm, with a large army, marched on Fort William Hen- ry, defended by 3,000 English troops. The English were defeated, and surrenderd on condition that they might march out of the fort with their arms. The savage allies, as they marched out, in an outrageous manner plundei'ed them and massacred some in cold blood, notwithstanding the efforts of the French officers to prevent them. The mili- tary campaign so far had been very disas- trous to the English, which created quite a sensation in the colonies and in Eng- land. At this critical period, the illustrious Mr. Pitt, known as Lord Chatham, was placed at the helm of state on account of his talent and statesmanship, and he sent a large naval armament and numerous troops to protect the colonies. July 8, 1758, Gen. Abei'crombie, with an army 15,000, moved on Ticonderoga, defend- ed by Marquis Montcalm. After a great struggle, the English were defeated with a loss of 2,000 dead and wounded. August 27, 1758, Col. Bradstreet, with a force, attacked the French fort. Fort Fronte- nac, on Lake Ontario, took it with nine armed vessels, sixty cannon and a quantity of military stores, while Gen. Forbes moved on Fort Du Quesne, who took it, which fort was afterward called Pittsbm-gh, in honor of Mr. Pitt. In 1759, ihe French this year evacuated Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara. Gen. 264 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Wolfe advanced against Quebec, then defend- ed by the gallant Montcalm, where a terri- ble and bloody battle took place between the two armies. Gen. Wolfe was killed and a great number of English officers. When the brave Wolfe was told the English were victorious, he said he " died contented." Montcalm, when told his wound was mortal said, "So much the better; I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec,'' which city surrendered September 18, 1759, In 1760, another battle was fought near Quebec, which drove the English into their fortifications, and were only relieved by the English squadron. Montreal still contended to the last, when she was compelled to surren- der, which gave Canada to the English. Treaty of peace, February 10, 1763. By this France ceded to England all her posses- sions on the St. Lawrence River, all east of the Mississippi River, except that portion south of Iberville River and west of the Mississippi. At the same time, all the terri- tory here reserved being west of the Missis- sippi, and the Orleans territory, was trans- ferred to Spain. France, after all her la- bors, toil and expenditures, and great loss of life surrendered to England and Spain, her great domain in North America. The histo- ry of France, embracing a term of 228 years, is replete with interest and with thrilling events in this country up to 1763. The de- feats of the French in North America great- ly led to the establishment of the United States Government. The accomplishment of such a glorious end was largely due to the gallant Frenchmen. As long as the anni- versary of the American Independence shall be celebrated, the names of Washington and Lafayette will ever be remembered by a grateful people. We can but congratulate ourselves, as citizens of this great valley, that owing to the sympathy of France and her people under the great Napoleon and the immortal Jeflfersou, that we today are a por- tion of this grand republic. CHAPTER IV. FOLLOWING THE FOOTriTEPS OF THE FIRST PIONEERS— WHO THEV WERE— HOW THEV CAME- WHERE THEY STOPPED— FROM 1795 TO 1810— CORDELING— BEAR FIGHT— FIRST SCHOOLS, PREACHERS AND THE KIND OF PEOPLE THEY WERE—JOHN GRAMMER, THE FATHER OF ILLINOIS STATE-CRAFT. ETC. " Yet even these bones from insult to protect, Implore the passing tribute of a sigh." — Gray. More than two hundred years ago, a large portion of the territory of the Missis- sippi Valley passed nominally at least from under the exclusive dominion of the savage races and the wild beasts to that of the tri-color of France and the benign sway of the Catholic Church. In the year 1673, those bold ex- plorers, Joliet and Marquette, with their small company of five white men and three Indian guides, floated down the Mississippi River and within the bounds of the territory that is now Union County. It is not at all probable that they rounded to their frail, light crafts and placed their feet upon the actual soil of Union County, yet they were upon our waters, and as they floated down the " Father of Waters " they took possession by virtue of discovery, Joliet in the name of HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 265 France and Marquette in the naroe of his church. This voyage of discovery resulted in the French settlement of Kaskaskia, and afterward of Cahokia — five miles below St. Louis, on the Illinois side. It is not at all probable that any of the early Kaskaskia settlers ever ventured as far away from their fort and fortifications as to come into the county, even upon hunting expeditions. The next nearest settlement of the white men was at Fort Massac, on the Ohio River, about thirty- six miles above Cairo. This was founded in 1711, and in the course of time became the only trading point for the earliest pioneers of the extreme southern limits of Illinois. It was for many years called Fort Massacre, and it got this blood-curdling name from some Indian strategy that re- sulted in the massacre of every man in the fort. The Indians dressed themselves in bear skins and appeared on the Kentucky side of the river, in full view of the fort, walking and acting like bears, when the soldiers and people, after watching their antics for some time, made up a company, including the most of the men in the fort, gathered their guns and crossed hhe river in skiffs for a great bear hunt. The few per- sons who did not go in the hunt were gath- ered upon the river bank watching with ea- ger interest their friends as they crossed the river. The moment the Indians saw their trick was successful, they retired to the brush from view, and, making a hasty detour, crossed the river unseen, in a bend a short distance above, and by a small circuit reached the fort from the rear and entering when there was not a soul left, secured the few re- maining guns and then commenced the mas- sacre, which only stopped when no white person was left alive in or about the fort. They then sacked and burned the buildings. A few years after, it was rebuilt and called for a long time Fort Massacre, but in the course of time it again resumed its original name, Fort Massac, by which it is known to this day. For some years after the trappers, fishers and pioneers began to skirt with sparse cab- ins the Ohio River and the Cache River, Fort Massac was the only point within reach where these people could resort for the little trading in those essential supplies of ammu- nition, etc., that they were compelled to have. For a long time, too, this place was the land- ing point for all those pioneers from the Carolinas, Virginia and Kentucky, that came down or crossed the Ohio River on their way to Kaskaskia or Cahokia. At first this was a route for nearly all the immigi-a- tion into Southern Illinois, much of which came down the Ohio River on batteaus, pi- rogues and canoes and skiffs, while some crossed the river at Shawneetown and some at Fort Massac. In the year 1 797, some years before any white man had ventui'ed into what is now Union County, in the hunt of a permanent home, a colony of Virginians, numbering 126 persons, landed at Fort Mas- sac, and pursued their toilsome and tedious way through the dense forests to New De- sign. The distance thus traversed was only about 135 miles, yet the little colony was twenty- six days on the road, and so great was their toil and exposure that within a few months after reaching their destination a majority of them died. These emigi-ants may have touched the northeastern portion of the county on their way through the ter- ritory to their destination. If they passed through any portion of Union County, then they were the first here after the long lapse of years since Joliet and Marquette had passed down the Mississippi, and in the name of France and Papal Christendom started that tremendous drama that lasted 266 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. for more than ninety years, and in which France and the church were the principal actors. New Design, in the present county of Monroe, was established in 178^, and un- til the time of the advent of this Virginia colony, it was the attractive point in the territory for immigrants. But the news of the calamities that befel this colony were caiTied back to the old States, and for some years the impression widely prevailed that all this territory was a mere plague spot where civilized people could hardly hope to long survive a removal to it, and this re- tarded the heavy immigration that afterward came. In the year 1803 — just eighty years ago — the first white settlement was made in the territory now comprising Union County. This feeble colony thus braving the wilds, the dense forests and its almost impenetra- ble undergrowth, consisted of two families, namely, Abram Hunsaker's and George Wolf's. They had come down the Ohio River and up the Cache, hunting and fish- ing, and finally started on an overland route, intending, it is supposed, to strike the Mis- sissippi River and ascend the same to the settlements of Kaskaski a and Cahokia. Those wanderers camped one night a short distance from where Jonesboro now is, and the next morning the men found that they had to re- plenish their meat supply, and they shouldered their guns and in a few minutes killed a large and fat bear, and in a little while after getting the bear they added a fine turkey gobbler to their store. They were so de- lighted with the land of plenty, both of game and excellent water, that they concluded to rest a few days, and before the few days had expired the men were busy at work building cabins in which to house their families and make this their permanent home. Just eighty years! How feeble this little begin- ning of the white man and civilization must have appeared in the face of the riot of un- bridled strength of wilderness, the wild beast and the more deadly and treacherous savage. For two years, in all that region then included in Johnson County, these were the only white settlers. They knew of no neighbors in the Illinois Territory, and the nearest white settlements were at Kas- kaski a and Cahokia, which, for any purpose of trade or communication, had as well beon at the farthest ends of the earth. For years they saw no white face except the members of their own families. They held no inter- course with their fellow-men; they had placed behind them the comforts and blessings of civilization. There is a tradition, not well authenti- cated, that in the year 1804 a man whose name will never now be known, had fixed his residence in the hills of the northwest part of the county and here alone he lived for some years. The story is that he had se- lected this wild spot that he might hide him- self from his fellow- men, because at some time he had committed a great crime and was a fugitive from justice; that he fled as soon as he ascertained there had been a set- tlement in this part of the country, and it was only by the discovery of his deserted cabin long after he had gone, and probably there were some things found, either old files of papers or something else to give cur- rency to the stories as to who he was and why he thus fled from the presence of all men. The next year, 1805, David Green came with his little family and built his cabin in the Mississippi bottom, about a half mile north of what is known as the Big Barn. He was a Virginian, and had been engaged in navigating the rivers in the early flat-boat days, and in waiting upon the banks of the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 267 river and hunting for game he came upon the spot where he afterward lived, and re- turned to his family and brought them with him to his new home. It was a long time before he knew the Hunsakers and Wolfs were his nearest neighbors. There was an Indian trail that, as was generally the case, was following a buffalo path that passed diagonally across the lower portion of the State and passed near where Jonesboro now is but a little to the south. During even the early part of the eight- eenth century there were white men passing up and down the Ohio River, and the govern-- ments that at different periods had posses- sions had erected Fort Massac, Fort Wil- kinson and Fort Jefferson and here were sta- tioned soldiers, but these were merely guard posts of armed men for the purpose of keep- ing the possession and retaining the owner- ship of the country. And often the Indians would gather in great force and besiege the place and bloody battles would ensue, and then for years the place would be evacuated and left untenanted. The tenure of these possessions was frail and uncertaii}, as they were often the prizes to contend for among iinfriendly whites as well as with the native savages. Skirting along the Ohio River from Fort Massac to the junction of the rivers, there were temporary settlements or camps of pio- neers on the banks as early as 1795. At the junction where Cairo now is, William Bird, in company with his parents, remembered in his lifetime of stopping and camping a short time at the point where ^'he two rivers join, but after a rest of a few days the fam- ily proceeded up the river and settled near Cape Girardeau. He bearing in mind the impression the junction of the two great riv- ers had made, returned, being then hardly grown, to the place, in the year IS 17, and made a permanent and the first settlement of Cairo. Thus during all the early years the extreme point of land at the confluence of the two rivers was known as Bird's Point, and it was only in years after it came to be known as Cairo, and the name Bird's Point crossed the river when the Bird family made their residence at that place. James Conyers with his family came down the river from Kentucky and camped where Cairo now stands. His son, Bartlett Con- yers, was then seven years old. He is now an active, well-to-do man, eighty-five years old and lives in Menard County, 111. Through the politeness of Mr. Potter, of the Argus, we were shown a letter from Mr. Bartlett Conyers, of June, 1881, in which he gives some of his recollections of the country now composed of Alexander and Pulaski Coun- ties. Among other things he says: "We made our first halt and went into camp where Cairo now is. We had moved from Livings- ton County, Ky. It was then a wilderness, and wild game, such as turkey, deer, wolves and bears, was plenty." He says he killed a number of bears as well as other game in what is now the city boundaries. He tells of an encounter he had as follows: " [ went out hunting and had only two balls for my gun. The first shot I killed a very large bear dead in his tracks; with my second ball I slightly wounded another. Although I was but sixteen years old, I thought I could kill him with my knife, so I followed him up and went into the fight in earnest, but after a short tussle in which neither got much worsted, I beat a hasty retreat. The bear retreated at the same time I did, but for some strange cause, retreated in the same direction I did, and only a few feet behind me, but I soon got out of his way. T then cut a good, short club and followed ^him up, but was more cautious. I soon came up with him, and after a little maneuvering hit 268 HISTOIIY OF UNION COUNTY him a fair lick on the head. I expected to see him fall, but^, all the effect it had was to make him take right after me again. In this way we continued the tight foi at least an hour, when I accidentally hit him on the back of the head, which knocked him down. For the first time my knife came in good play, and I soon finished him. " Mr. Conyers remembers spending five years hunting exclusively, and all this time had only Indians for associates and bed- fel- lows. He says his father, James Conyers, located twelve miles from the mouth of the Ohio in 1805, at a point which was after- ward America, now Pulaski County. This was the first white family in that county. The Indians were friendly and often visited the house. The next settlement in the coun- ty was Jesse Periy and family. His place was two miles above Conyers.' The nearest settlement to these two families at that time was one near Jonesboro, in Union County. Mr. Conyers says they had no communica- tion with the outside world; each family de- pended solely upon itself for everything. The little bread they used was pounded in a mor- tar or eventually ground on a hand mill, depending wholly on game for meat, which was plenty. In 1807, Thomas Clark settled where Mound City now stands. And in a short time a man named Humphrey came and settled where Caledonia now stands. Solomon Hess next came and settled at the mouth of what was afterward called Hess Bayoa. A man named Kennedy was living on Clark's place in 1812, when the Indian Massacre occui-red. George Hacker was the first settler on Cache River; he came there in 1806; soon after, John Shaver settled near him, and, about the year 1810, Rice and William Sams located on the Cache. This includes every soul in all that region prior to the war of 1812. The people were not troubled for years in holding elections or paying any taxes. The war of 1812 stopped all immigration for some years, and the In- dians became troublesome, and the citizens, for self -protection, had to gather together, and the house of James Conyers was selected for the rendezvous and convei'ted into a fort or block-house, and the settlers all " forted " there. The Indians had a regular crossing about one mile above Conyers' place, and it was here Tecumseh crossed the river when he went south to incite the Creek and other tribes to go to war. This crossing may yet be found, as it is at the mouth of a little creek about one mile above America. Mr. Conyers furnishes us some new facts in reference to the first attempt to settle the point of land at the junction of the two riv- ers. His recollection is distinct that it was a man named Drakeford Gray. He built his house on posts or stilts, and above the high waters. During very high water, the build- ing caught fire and burned. A boat hap- pened to be passing, and took the people off, otherwise, there is hardly a doubt they would have all perished. The earliest settlements naturally were made along the Ohio River, and a short dis- tance up its tributaries. The pioneer river men became the pioneer settlers, and the name of Cache River is a history of itself^ of those who came thei'e and why they came. A " cache" is thus described in Irving's " Asto- ria:" " A place for the cache is situated near a running stream, a circular sod is cut out and laid aside, a hole is then dug wider at the bottom than at the top, the earth is thrown into the stream, the cache filled with such goods as are to be concealed and the sod carefully replaced." The earliest set- tlements, or rather encampments of settlers, at the mouth and a short distance up this HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 269 stream, date back to 1795. In 1809, four families had settled in what is now Dogtooth Bend. They were named Harris, Crane, Wade and Powers. They built a school- house, the first so far as can be now ascer- tained in this section of the State. The lit- tle house was made of a cottonwood tree that had been split into rails, and the first teacher was an unknown Irishman. He took his toddy and shed the light of his birch rods with no scanty or light hand. One of his pupils was John S. Hacker, who, it seems, here laid the foundations for those political tilts that he was afterward to engage in with John Grammer. Many of the immigrants into this part of Illinois had fled for safety to these high hills from the great earth- quake of 1811. This brought ex-Gov. John Dougherty, a small child at that time; he re- moved to near Cape Girardeau and after- ward to Union County. The earliest settlers along the river were supplied with salt, iron, ammunition, etc., by keel -boats. The fol- lowing description of keel- boating was fur- nished Rev. E. B. Olmstead by Col. John S. Hacker, who had often acted as bowsman in trips up and down the river: The hull was much like a modern barge or small steam- boat; a mast about forty feet high was erect- ed near the bow, to the top of which a line nearly two hundred yards long was attached. The men, with the line on their shoulders, walked on the bank, drawing the load slowly against the current. To the tow line a line was attached about thirty feet long, called a stirrup; the end next the boat passed through a ring on the tow line, so as to be within reach of the bowman, who^ by this means kept the boat from swinging out, and with a pole kept it oif the banks. In this he was aided by the pilot or helmsman at the steer- ing oar. This was called cordeling. When the current of the river was very strong. warping was resorted to. A line was sent ahead, fastened to a tree and the boat drawn up; as the line was drawn in, another was paid out and sent ahead. Often two to four miles was all the advance a day's hard work yielded. But ten miles could frequently be made, and when the wind allowed a sail to be unfurled it proved a blessing to the men. It required ninety days to make the trip from New Orleans to Louisville, and forty men to man the boat. Wages were $100 for the trip up, and freight was $5 per huadred pounds. The adventurous and daring navi- gators saw the beautiful country along the banks of the river and marked them for their future homes. Prominent among these was Capt. James Riddle, of Cincinnati. He was afterwai'd one of the proprietors of Trinity, America and Caledonia, and still later of the Mounds. In 3816, James Riddle, Nicholas Berth- end, Elias Rector and Henry Bechtle entered lands extending from below the mouth of Cache River to the Third Principal Meridian, and by a general subdivision established Trinity. No town lots were sold, but James Berry and afterward Col. H. L. W'ebb, in about the year 1817, coumenced a hotel here and commenced a trading and supply busi- ness. Goods were shipped here for St. Louis, and as early as 1818 a town was laid out on an extensive scale. The propri- etors were James Riddle, Henry Bechtle and Thomas Sloo, of Cincinnati, and Stephen and Henry Rector, of St. Louis. The agent of the proprietors was William M. Alexander, who then resided at America. The agent of Mr. Riddle was John Dougherty, whose son Will- iam is a citizen of Mound City. Mr. Alexander was one of the extraordinary men of the early day. A physician of great eminence, and immediately upon the formation of Al- exander County, was elected its first Represen- 270 HISTORT OF UNION COUNTY. tative in the General Assembly, and was chosen Speaker of the House. Dr. Alexan- der was here when Union County did'not ex- ist; he was here and traversing the entire county, and was well known to all the peo- ple in the district when Union County era- braced all of the now three counties. His reputation extended throughout the State, -and he was intent upon building a great city at or near the confluence of the two great rivers. Something of what was going on in the way of city building may be gleaned from an extract or two of the Doctor's letters. In one dated ]" Town of America, April 4, 1818," to James Biddle, of Cincinnati, he says: " The survey and additions will be <5ompleted in probably two weeks; nothing but a desire to promote the prosperity of the place could justify us in selling property which must become erelong of immense value." In another letter dated March 10, 1819, not quite one short year, he says: "The present is the crisis of its [the town's] fate. I wish you could be at America and view with your own eyes the necessity for somo exertion. Only see what has been effected by my feeble exertions since the 1st of De- cember. I say it with dififidence, but I must say it, if I had not gone there at that criti- cal time, America must have fallen in a long sleop. The public mind of the coun- try was prejudiced against it. I opened Ohio street as far as Washington, Washington as far as the public square, a road to Jonesboro and one to Cape Girardeau. Had all the timber from the mouth of tbe creek leveled down with the earth, set the first example of erect- ing a house, have so conciliated the good will of the citizens that they have petitioned to have America made the seat of justice. Now all may bid defiance to opposition, but let us not sleep. What I have said of my- self is not by way of boasting, but to show the effect of limited means, to show what your superior ability could effect if exerted. The Commissioners for fixing the seat of jus- tice were selected by myself, and will of course be favorable to our views. The con- dition of its establishment will be the pay- ment of $4,000 in installments for public buildings. I have completely abandoned the idea of making an immediate specula- tion. We must wait patiently for the im- provement of the town. We must dig a well, build a free bridge over the Cache, so as to draw the trade of the Dutch in Union Coun ty Send us down mechanics o^ all sorts. As the Legislature has made the County Commissioners one of the most influential and respected offices in Ihe State, I shall be a candidate for that office in Alexander Coun- ty, which is the name the Legislature has given the new county. If I am elected, I will bend the whole county to such improve- ments as will promote the interests of Amer- ica. I shall take immediate steps for tne erection of the public buildings." William M. Alexander soon left America and Union County and resided at some time in Kaskaskia. He was determined to join his fate to some new Western town that would grow at once into a great and pros- perous city, and the fates seemed to pursue him. America went " to sleep," as the Doc- tor feared it would in one of his letters, and he was hardly more than fixed in Kaskaskia when the capital of the State was moved to Vandalia, and that old town followed the fate of its more humble contemporary, Amer- ica. After residing in Kaskaskia, he went South and died. In the year 1809, in the south part of what is now Union County, the family of Law- rences, three in number, and William Clapp, making four families, settled. They lived on Mill Creek. In a short time after this, HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. '^71 John Stokes, William Gwinn, George Evans and Thomas Standard settled in the last part of the county in what has long been known as the Stokes settlement. Hon. John Grammer.— About this time, it may have been earlier, as the most diligent search has failed to fix the date, and which is much to be regretted, there came to this county John Grammer, the model, the won- derful, the extraordinary pioneer; the fisher, hunter, trapper, politician and statesman. So litfle was his appearance an index to the man that he was an old settler before any one there knew that stich a being existed. His presence was heralded by no star in the east or west to point him out and say to all the world " behold the man!^' The inferences from the early records are that he was accom- panied by his brother William in his com- ing. It cannot be ascertained what his age was when he came, or where he was from. We only know that among the early and re- markable productions of the county, Johnson County then embracing all the territory of Union, Alexander and Piilaski Counties, was the Hon. John Grammer, who settled in what is now Union County, a little south of Jonesboro. He was one of the first offi- cials in the county, representating John- son County in the first Territorial Legis- lature as early as 1812, when there were but five counties in the State, and the entire Assem- bly would gather about a good-sized table in Kaskaskia and talk in a coversational way for an hour or two, and then join in one of those exciting games of " crack-loo " for the drinks, and in this august assembly Gram- mer was a statesman of the rough diamond, barefoot persuasion. He was as illiterate as he was indifferent to fine clothes and per- fumed soap; as slouchy, careless and un- couth in manners mostly as he was reckless and indifferent in the use of the King's Engf- lish, when pouring forth from the stump one of his towering philippics. He came among the early simple hunters and trap- pers of Union County like an Aurora in soiled linen or an unshod, burr- tailed colt from the mountain " deestrict," and he waked the echoes of the primeval forests, and as a politician bore down all opposition, as he rode in triumph into the affections of the voters and into high official positions. In the very first election ever held in the coun- ty he was made a Justice of the Peace, from which foothold he essayed and accomplished dizzy flights to higher positions, until he was elected to the State Senate, which position he filled time and again, from which vantage- point his name and fame extended through the entire State, until " as John Grammer says " became a by- word from Galena to Cairo. He was no common man in any- thing; he was no man's man, but strong, original, honest and incorruptible, he trod alone, sword in hand, his great life pathway, with an eye that never quailed and heart for every fate. He was unlearned in the books, but original and strong in intellect. It was from the rude, simple, illiterate John Gram- mer that the statesmen of Europe learned that when a legislator is called upon to vote in a legislative body, if he don't fully under- stand the question, to always vote "no." This was John Grammer' s rule, from which he never deviated in the Illinois Senate. Nor had he any of that false pride and silly fear of be- ing laughed at that so often makes weaker minded men assume to know all things brought before them, and to hide their igno- rance in silence. This was John Grammer's cardinal idea of statesmanship: the idea and practice was his invention or discovery, and the great Frenchman De Tocqueville, when studying this government, was attracted to Grammer, and in his book on Amei'ican insti- 272 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. tutions, the Frenchman called the attention of Europe to it in terms of highest commen- dation. What other statesman has America pro- duced that has been thus handsomely started on the road to a deserved immoi'tality, to equal this unwashed, unkempt, illiterate backwoodsman? Early Illinois produced many remarkable men, but none so strongly original, so uncouth, so illiterate, or so in- teresting as John Grammer. As said before, he borrowed nothing from the books, and his illiteracy was so marked that it amounted to a gift or talent. He borrowed or copied from nothing. He never hesitated for a word, for when he wanted one he would coin it upon the instant. When addressing the Senate, he would shake his frowsy locks and point his finger at the chair and exclaim: " Mr. President, I give you a 'pernipsis' of that bill." All other business stopped while he was giving his promised synopsis. When thoroughly warmed up, his eloquence was a Niagara of words, until sometimes his tongue would trip and he would land souse in a " tangled priminary," as he always called a dilemma, when he would appeal to the brother "siniters" to help him out of the difficulty, which some of them would always do, when with unruffled plumes he would sail away again so grandly, with such gor- geous home-made rhetoric as would have paled the meteoric glories of even Sir Boyle Roche himself. Something of his greatness, in fact, lay in his ready aptness in word-coin- ing and phrase-making, and it was no trav- esty upon grammar — the science of lan- guage — when his patronymic was solemnly recorded as John Grammer, the father of Illinois true Statecraft, the author of amus- ing bulls, quaint mistakes and pat phrases that deserve to live forever in connection with his name. The heaviest constitutional questions had no terrors for him, and when he found a fellow-senator attempting some real or fancied innovation upon the funda- mental laws, he snuffed the battle afar off and clothed his neck with thunder. Upon an occasion of this kind, he controlled his patience as long as he could, when he arose, and in a voice that pierced the marrow in members' bones, exclaimed, " You can't do that. It's fernent the compack! " and the country was saved, and John Grammer sat down immortal and to this day in all South- ern Illinois, when a thing is " fernent the compack," it is a dead cock in the pit. Many of the early statesmen in Union County, in fact in all this then very large Senatorial district, have been sadly worsted in their attempts to supersede him among the voters. They found him wily, tough, stubborn and full of resources. He under- stood the people. He did not, when in a campaign, or any other time for that matter, array himself in purple and fine linen; nor did he drive a tandem team of blooded trot- ters with gold-mounted harness. A log wagon bull team, trimmed with bark and hickory withes was the most sumptu.ous go- to meetin' rig he ever possessed or used. And when dressed in his best on such oc- casions, he was generally barefoot, and thus arrayed it only seemed to add force and fii'e to his vehement eloquence, if his breeches were rolled up to the knees, and a twist of tobacco in one pocket and the Democratic platform in the- other. He was Nature's un- adorned progeny — rather broad and liberal in his mode of thought, either in politics or religion, as well as his customs, manners, morals and habits. Like pretty much all of his day and time, he would sometimes in- dulge his appetite beyond stern puritan ideas, but he seldom went so far in this way as not to keep an eye on the main chance. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 273 An instance of this is given when on one oc- casion there was a great political rally, for the benefit of candidates, down in the north part of Alexander County, and Grammer was posted for a big speech. He reached the grounds some time before speaking was to commence, and before that hour had arrived he was out of all condition, and he realized this so fully that he reported himself sick, and sought seclusion, where he would soon brace up and be all right for the ordeal. The crowd foolishly gathered about him densely, when his rival pushed into the crowd and shouted: " Stand back, men; give him air!" Grammer rolled his helpless head, eyed his rival and understood he only wanted to expose him, and he said : " D — n you, I understand you. I'll be thar or bust yet," and so he did, and made one of his most effective speeches. As did all men in those days, he hunted a great deal. On one occasion he was out in the rain all day, getting very wet; at night he hung his powder-horn on one side of the large open fixe-place, so that the large tow string by which he swung it over his shoulder might dry. During the night, the " fore- stick " burned in two in the middle, and the end flipped up and set the tow string on fire. It burned off and the horn fell into the coals, and soon the sleeping household was startled by the explosion, which scattered the fire all over the room, and even on the bed where the man and wife slept. The woman soon brushed and swept up the coals, and all was safe and serene again. But Grammer didn't retui'n to bed, but walked the floor in great distress, his hands clasped across his stomach. Finally his wife, in great alarm, asked what was the matter, " Oh, Lord! Oh, Lord!" exclaimed the poor man; " it is not the loss of the powder, or the horn. I could stand all that; but, Sal, suppose it purtends a sign!" And again and again the distressed man moaned like the sad, wet winds. In the simplicity of his soul, he dreaded a "sign," a portent from a displeased heaven. Here was greatness and childish simplicity and credulity that brings to mind the agony of fear that is sometimes said to seize the huge elephant upon seeing a ridiculous little mouse. He was a peculiar bundle of wisdom and weak and childish fears and superstitions; a medley of strange contradictions; a man who, perhaps, amid other surroundings, would never have emerged from the profound obscurity that surrounded his early life, and it now strikes the ear of the reader like the happy fictions of the romance writers, when they are told that this obscure, illiterate man, at the first moment an opportunity pre- sented itself in the State, to offer his services as a law-maker to the people, and they read- ily accepted the offer. How did this silent hunter, this illiterate recluse, ever come to know that Illinois had been advanced to a second grade Territory, and would want, as early as 1812, the people to elect a Legisla- ture, to go to Kaskaskia and enact laws, and fix the governmental machinery that was to bear aloft the weal and destiny of the young giant State. He read no newspapers, and the obscurity that envelopes the first years of his life in these wild woods, indicates that he held no converse or communication with liv- ing thing, except with the wild game, to which he spoke with the keen crack of his rifie, and its reverberating echoes among the hills. But when his adopted State called for statesmen he stepped forth, regal in coon- skin and deer-skin clothes, and filled the be- hest and was immortal. No proper histor}^ of Illinois will ever be written which omits the name of John Grammer. The first Ter- 274 HISTORY OF UXTOX COUNTY. ritorial Legislature convened November 25, 1812, and adjourned December 25 of the same year. The second session met and com- pleted its session and adjourned on the 8th day of November, 1813. A prominent, if not pre-eminent, member of that body was John Grammer. He then retired from the legislative halls for one session, and then was elected in 1816 again. When Illinois became a State, he was elected to the State Senate. In the Territorial times, the Legis lative Assembly consisted of a Council and House of Representatives. In the first As- sembly — 1812 — John Grammer was a mem- ber of the House of Representatives, repre- senting one of the five counties, St. Clair, Randolph, Gallatin, Madison and Johnson, that then constituted the State. In 1816, he was elected again, but was promoted to a member of the Council (now called the Sen- ate), and was re-elected to the session of the same body for the session of 1817-18. He was again elected to the State Senate in 1822-24, and again to the Assembly of 1824- 26, and again re-elected Senator to the As- sembly of 1830-32, and again 1832-34. Here was a long service in the legislative de- partment of the State. The importance with which he was esteemed is fairly illus- trated by the fact that, while he was a mem- ber of the Senate, the first compilation of the Illinois laws was made, and among the people they were distinguished by the name of the " Grammer laws. " It is reported that a certain Judge Block was holding court in Vienna in the earl), rude times. Jeptha Hardin was arguing a case before him, and when he undertook to fortify himself by read- ing from a book which he held -in his hand, " What book is that yoa are reading from ?" demanded Judge Block, sternly. " May it please the court," said Hardin, blandly, " it is Chitfcy on Contracts." "Chitty!" said the Judge, " Chitty! Take it away, sir! take it away! What did our fathers fight for ? Take it away; we will try this case by the Grammer laws! " In Stuv6 and Davidson's history of Illi- nois, John Grammer is mentioned as the father of Illinois demagogues. This is an in- justice to that sturdy, honest-minded old pioneer. The charge is an injustice to his memory. He simply voted "No," and had the moral courage to oppose the public craze of 1837, on the subject of internal improve- ments, and for this wise stand in defense of the people he lost the affection of the voters, and was then, for their first time, defeated at the polls. Had he been a demagogue, he would have played the demagogue's part, and simply trimmed his sai Is to the popular breeze, and only have increased his power, not lost it. The same history relates an anecdote of Grammer, and while i* is nut well-authen- ticated, nor is it, on its face, a reasonable story, yet we give the substance of it, be- cause it, to some extent, explains his humble beginning in life. When he was first elected to the Legislature — so the story runs — there was much counseling and financiering in his own and his neighbors' families as to how a suit of clothes could be got for him to go to Kaskaskia in. Eventually, he and family gathered nuts and carried them to Fort Massac trading post, and exchanged them for a few yards of "blue drilling." This was carried home, and the neighbors called in to cut and make the clothes. After meas- uring, turning, twisting and stretching, the cloth was short and finally it was cut into a hunting shirt and then there was only enough left to make a pair of high "leggins, " and thus arrayed he served his term in the Leg- islature. This is something of the life and times and character of John Grammer — a hiwtorical HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 375 landmark in the early history of Illinois — a study and a delight for the coming children of men. He left numerous descendants, but his scepter of power, originality and invention passed away forever with the breath from his body. He was a just man in his judgment it seems, and wholly fearless in following the convictions that took hold of him. It appears that he about equally divided his time in a rigid and exemplary membership of the church, and then a jolly, won't-go-home-till- morning with his good friends and neigh- bors, and whether it was one or the other, he allowed no grass to grow under his feet, as his energy and industry kept even pace with his quick mother wit, shrewd good sense or bad grammar. He never made a long speech in his life, but he never took his seat after an effort of the kind without having made just svich a speech, particularly in words. quaint phrases, construction, and sometimes ideas, as no other man in the world could have imitated, much less made. His was a rich and incomparable vein of originality — often the most humorous when he felt the most solemn, as at other times he was as fiinereal as a hearse when he fancied his wit and humor the most sparkling. He always opened a stumping campaign by announcing that he believed there were men " more fitner" for the office than he was, but his friends would "anomJnate" him " wherer or no," and " thairfore" he would make the race, and, if elected, would do the best he could; and thus he would beat his eloquent huzzy- guzzy and sound his thew-gag down the banks of the Mississippi and up the Ohio, till the deep-tangled wildwood echoed his eloquent refrain, and victory floated out upon his banners. CHAPTER V. SETTLERS IN UNION, ALEXANDER AND PULASKI— LEAN VENISON AND FAT BEAR— PRIMITIVE. FURNITURE — A PIONEER BOY SEES A PLASTERED HOUSE — HOW PEOPLE PORTED— THEIR DRESS AND AMUSEMENTS— WITCHCRAFT, WIZARDS, ETC.— NO LAW NOR CHURCH — SPORTS, ETC. — GOV. DOUGHERTY — PHILIP SHAVER AND THE CACHE MASSACRE — FAMILIES IN THE ORDER THEY CAME, ETC., ETC. "The sound of the war-whoop oft woke the sleep of the cradle." THEKE is much of romance in the story of the first settlers upon this southern point of Illinois, which is now comprised in the three counties — Union, Alexander and Pulaski. The first white men that were here trod the soil of St. Clair County, then em- bracing the State— 1790. Then they were citizens of Randolph County: then Johnson County, then Union County and from the territory of this last-named county was formed Alexander County, and eventually Pulaski — mostly from Alexander County, but partly from Pope and Johnson Counties. The spirit of adventure allured these pio- neers to come into this vast wilderness. The beauty of the country gratified the eye, its abundance of wild animals the passion for hunting. They were surrounded by an enemy subtle and wary. But those wild borderers flinched not from the contest ; even their 276 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. women and children often performed deeds of heroism in the land where " the sound of the war-whoop oft woke the sleep of the cradle," fi'om which the iron nerves of man- hood might well have shrunk in fear. They had no opportunity for the cultiva- tion of the arts and elegancies of refined life. In their seclusion, amid danger and peril, there arose a peculiar condition of society, elsewhere unknown. The little Indian meal brought with them was often expended too soon, and sometimes for weeks or months ihey lived without bread. The lean venison and the breast of wild turkey thoy taught themselves to call bread. The flesh of the bear was denominated meat. This was a wretched artifice, and resulted in disease and sickness when necessity compelled them to in- dulge in it. loo long, preceded by weakness and a feeling constantly of an empty stomach, and they would pass the dull hours in watching the potato tops, pumpkin and squash vines, hoping from day to day to get something to answer the place of bread. What a delight and joy was the first young potato! What a jubilee when at last the young corn eculd be pulled for roasting ears, only to be still intensified when it had at- tained sufiicient hardness to be made into a johnny cake by the aid of a tin grater. These were the harbingers from heaven, that brought health, vigor and content with the surroundings, poor as they were. The first settlers along the rivers and among these hills of Southern Illinois judged the soil upon their first coming here by what they knew of North Carolina, Vir- ginia and Tennessee; and that, with a few years' cultivation, it would wear out and have to be abandoned. We now know they were utterly mistaken in this respect. ThQ grounds, when pastured, soon produced rich grasses, that afforded pasture for the cattle, by the time the wood range was eaten out, as well as to protect the soil from being washed away by rains, so often injurious to hilly countries. The difficulties these people encountered were very great. They were in a wilderness, remote from any cultivated region, and am- munition, food, clothing and implements of industry were obtained with great difficulty. Then, as early as 1810, the merciless savage had begun to paint himself for war and put on his tomahawk and scalping-knife, and there was then only increased danger, toil and suffering for the few and widely separ- ated settlers. The furniture for the table for several years after the settlement of the country consisted of a few pewter dishes, plates and sometimes spoons, wooden bowls, trenchers and noggins, gourds and hard-shelled squashes, that wei-e brought from the old States, along with the salt and iron, on pack- horses. " Hog and hominy" were the viands that were served upon this table furniture. Johnny-cake and pone bread were in use for dinner and breakfast; at supper milk and mush was the standard dish. Ask any of these very old settlers you meet if, in his youth, he did not have many a scramble, and often a battle-royal, with his brothers and sisters, for the "scrapings" of the mush-pot. Dr. Doddridge, in 1824, said in his diary: " I well I'ecollect the first time I ever saw a teacup and saucer, and tasted coffee. My mother died when I was six years old; my father then sent me to Maryland, to school. At Bedford, everything was changed. The tavern at which I stopped was a stone house, and to make the change still more complete, it was plastered on the inside, both as to the walls and ceiling. On going into the dining room, I was struck with astonishment at the appearance of the house. I had no idea there HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 279 was a house in the world not built of lo^s; but here I looked around the house and could see no logs, and above I could see no joists. Whether such a thing had been made so by the hands of man, or grown so of itself, I could not conjecture. I had not the courage to inquire anything about it. I watched at- tentively to see what the big folks would do with their little cups and spoons. I imitated them, and found the taste of the cofifee naus- eous beyond anything I had ever tasted in my life. I continued to drink, as the rest of the company did, with tears streaming from my eyes; but when it was to end I was at a loss to know, as the little cups were filled immediately after being emptied. This circumstance distressed me very much, and I durst not say I had enough. Looking at- tentively at the grand persons, I saw one person turn his cup bottom upward and pvit his little spoon atiross it. I observed after this his cup was not filled again. I followed his example, and, to my great satisfaction, the result, as to my cup, was the same." The hunting-shirt was universally worn. This was a loose frock, reaching half way down the thighs, with large sleeves, open before, and so wide as to lap over when belted. It generally had a large cape, and was made of cloth or buckskin. The bosom of this shirt served as a wallet, to hold bread, jerk, tow for wiping the barrels of his rifle, or any other necessary article for the warrior or hunter. The belt, which was tied behind, answered several purposes besides that of holding the dress together. Moccasins for the feet and generally a coon-skin cap Avere the fashion. In wet weather, the moccasins were only a " decent way of going bare- footed," and were the cause of much rheu- matism among the people. The linsey petti- coat and bed-gown were the dress of the women in early times, and a Sunday dress was completed, by a pair of home-made shoes and handkerchief. The people " f orted " when the Indians threatened them. The stockades, bastions, cabins and block-house were furnished with port-holes. The settlers would occupy their cabins, and would reluctantly move into the block-house when an alarm was given. The couriers would pass around in the dead hours of the night, and warn the people of the danger, and in the silence of death and darkness the family would hastily dress and gather what few things they could lay their hands on in the darkness, and hurry to the fort. For a long time after the first settlement, the inhabitants married young. There were no distinctions in rank, and but little of fort- une. A wedding often engaged the atten- tion of the whole neighborhood, and the frolic was anticipated by old and young with eager expectation. This was natural, a its was the only party which was not accompa- nied with the labor of log-rolling, building a cabin or planning some scout or campaign. On the morning of the wedding, the groom and his friends would assemble at the house of his father, and they would proceed to the house of the bride, reaching there by noon, and here they would meet the friends of the bride, and a bottle race would ensue, and the joy of life was in full sway. The gentlemen, dressed in shoe-packs, moccasins, leather breeches, leggins, linsey hunting- shirts, and all home-made; the ladies dressed in linsey petticoats and linsey or linen bed- gowns, coarse shoes, stockings and handker- chiefs, and all home-made. After dinner, the dancing commenced, and would generally last until daylight next morning. About 10 o'clock in the evening, a deputation of young ladies would steal off the bride, and ascend the ladder to the loft, and passing softly over (6 280 HISTORY or UNION COUNTY. the loft floor, whicli was made of clapboards, lying loose, put the bride to bed. A deputa- tion of young men would then steal off the groom, and similarly put him to bed, and below the dance went on. The next day, the " infair" went on at the house of the bride, much as it had at the house of the groom, and sometimes this feasting and dancing was continued for days. A grater, the hominy block, the hand- mills and the sweep, were the order of the coming of the mechanic arts in bread-mak- ing. Pretty much each family was its own tanner, weaver, shoe-maker, tailor, carpenter, blacksmith and miller. The first water-mill was a grand advance in the comforts of civili- zation. They were often called tub-mills, and consisted of a perpendicular shaft, to the lower end of which a horizontal wheel of four or five feet in diameter was attached. Amusements are, in many instances, either imitations of the business of life, or at least of some of its particular objects of pursuit. Many of the sports of the early settlers were imitative of the exercises and stratagems of hunting and war. Boys were taught the use of the bow and arrow at an early age, and ac- quired considerable expertness in their use. One important pastime of the boys was that of imitating the noise of every bird and beast in the woods. This faculty was a very nec- essary part of education, on account of its utility in certain circumstances. The imita- tion of gobbling and other calls of the turkey often brought these keen-eyed denizens of the forest within reach of the rifle. The bleat- ing of the fawn brought its dam to her death in the same way. The hunter often collected a company of mopish owls to the trees about his camp, and amused himself with their hoarse screaming. His howl would raise and obtain a response from a pack of wolves, so as to inform him of their neighborhood, as well as to guard him against their depreda- tions. This imitative faculty sometimes was requisite as a measure of precaution in war. The Indians, when scattered about in a neighborhood, often collected together, by imitating turkeys by day and wolves by night. And sometimes a whole people would be thrown into consternation by the screeching of an owl. Throwing the . tomahawk was another sport, in which many acquired great skill. The tomahawk, with its handle a cer- tain length, will make a given number of turns in a given distance. At one certain distance, thrown in a certain way, it will stick in a tree with the handle down, and at another distance with the handle up. Prac- tice would enable the boy to measure with his eye the distance so accurately, that he could throw the ax and stick it into the tree any way he might choose. Wrestling, running and jumping were the athletic sports of the young men. A boy when twelve or thirteen years of age, when it was possible so to do, was furnished with a light rifle, and, in killing game, he soon could handle it expertly. Then he was a good fort soldier, and was assigned his port-hole in case of an attack. Dancing, quiltings, singing schools and "meetin's" soon were the amusements of the young of both sexes. Shooting at a mark was a com- mon diversion of the men, when their stock of ammunition would allow ; this, however, was far from being always the case. The modern mode of shooting off-hand was not then in practice. This mode was not consid- ered as any trial of the value of a gun ; nor, indeed, as much of a test of the skill of the marksman. Such was their regard to accuracy in those sportive trials of their rifles, and in their own skill in the use of them, that they often put moss, or some other soft substance, ' on the log or stump from which they shot, for fear of having the bullet thrown from the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 281 mark by the spring of the barrel. When the rifle was held to the side of the tree, it was pressed lightly for the same reason. The belief in witchcraft was so prevalent among the early settlers as to be a sore afflic- tion. To the witch was ascribed the power of inflicting strange and incurable diseases, particularly on children ; of destroying cattle by shooting them with hair balls, and a great variety of other means of destruction ; of put- ting upon guns spells, and of changing men into horses, and after bridling and saddling them, riding them at full speed over hill and dale, to their frolics and places of reodez- vous. The power of the witches was ample, hideous and destructive. Wizards were men supposed to possess the same mischievous power as the witches ; but these were seldom exercised for bad purposes. The powers of the wizards were exercised almost exclusively for the purpose of counteracting the malevo- lent influences of the witches of the other sex. They were called witch -masters, who made a pi'ofession of curing the diseases in- flicted by the influence of witches, and they practiced their profession after the manner of physicians. Instead of "pill-bags," they carried witch balls made of hair, and in strange manner they moved these over the patient, and muttered an unknown jai'gon, and exorcised the evil spirits. One mode of cure was to make the picture of the supposed witch on a stump, and tire at it a bullet with a small portion of silver in it. This silver bullet transferred a painful, and sometimes mortal spell, on that part of the witch cor- responding with the part of the portrait struck by the bullet. Another method was to cork up in a vial, or bottle, the patient's urine, and hang it up in the chimney. This gave the witch strangury, which lasted as long as the vial hung in the chimney. The witch had but one way of relieving herself of any spell inflicted on her in any way, which was that of borrowing something, no matter what, of the family to which the sub- ject of the exercise of her witchcraft be- longed. And thus often was the old woman of a neighborhood surpi-ised at the refusal of a family to loan her some article she had ap- plied for, and go home almost broken-heart- ed, when she learned the cause of the refusal. When cattle or dogs were supposed to be un- der the influence of witchcraft, they were burned in the forehead by a branding-iron, or when dead, burned wholly to ashes. This inflicted a spell upon the witch, which could only be removed by borrowing, as above de- scribed. Witches were often said to milk the cows. This they did by fixing a new pin in a new towel for each cow intended to be milked. This towel was hung over her own door, and by means of certain incantations, the milk was extracted from the fringes of the towel, after the manner of milking a cow. This only happened when the cows were too poor to give much milk. Once upon a time, the German glass-blowers drove the witches out of their furnaces, by throwing living puppies into them. Voudouism was one of the miserable su- perstitions of witchcraft that was largely be- lieved in early times. The distinction between this and the original belief in witches is in the fact that it applies wholly to the negro conjuring. An African slave by the name of Moreau, was, about the year 1790, hung on a tree, a little south of Caho- kja. He was charged with this imaginary crime. He had acknowledged, it is said, that by his power of devilish incantation, "he had poisoned his master ; but that his mistress proved too powerful for his necro- ,mancy," and this, it seems, was fully be- lieved, and he was executed. In the same village, ignorantly inspired by a belief in the 282 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. existence of this dread power of diabolism, another negro's life was offered up to the Moloch of superstition, by being shot down in the public streets. One of the first acts of the first civil Governor of Illinois Territory, Lieut. Tod, was an order to take a convict net^ro to the water's edge, burn him and scat- ter his ashes to the four winds of heaven, for the crime of voudouism. It was a very com- mon feeling among the French to dread to incur in any way the displeasure of certain old colored people, under the vague belief and feai* that they possessed a clandestine power by which to invoke the aid of the evil one to work mischief or injury to person or property. Nor was the belief confined to the French, or this power ascribed wholly to negroes. The African belief in fetishes, and the power of their divination, is well known. Many superstitious negroes have claimed the descent to them of fetish power ; the in- fatuation regarding voudouism is 3till to be found among the ignorant blacks and whites. In 1720, Mr. Renault, agent of the " Com- pany of the West," bought in San Domingo 500 slaves, which he brought direct from Africa to Illinois. Mankind have been prone to superstitious beliefs ; there are many per- sons now who are daily governed in the mul- tiplied affairs of life by some sign, omen or aiTgury. The red children of the forest seem to have been as ignorant as the whites upon this subject. The one-eyed Prophet, a brother of Tecumseh, who commanded at the battle of Tippecanoe, in obedience, as he said, to the commands of Manitou, the Great Spirit, ful- minated the penalty of death against those who practiced the black art of witchcraft or magic. A number of Indians were tried, convicted, condemned, tomahawked and con- sumed on a pyre. The chief's wife, his nephew, Billy Patterson, and one named Joshua, were accused of witchcraft; the two latter were convicted and executed by burn- ing ; but a brother of the chief's wife boldly stepped fo'i'ward, seized his sister and led her from the council house, and then returned and harangued the savages, exclaiming : "Manitou, the evil spirit has come in our midst and we are murdering one another.'' .It is a sad confession to make that no white man had the sense and courage to thus save his friends and family and rebuke the miser- able murders that were being perpetrated in the name of witchcraft. For some time this was a country with "neither law nor Gospel, " and for a long time the people knew nothing of churches, courts, lawyers, magistrates, Sherifi's or Con- stables. Every one was, therefore, at liberty " to do whatsoever was right in his own eyes." Public opinion answered the place of church and State. The turpitude of vice and the majesty of virtue were then far more apparent than now, and people held these crimes in greater aversion then than now. Industry in working and hunting, bravery in war, candor, hospitality, honesty and steadiness of deportment, received their full reward of pub- lic honor and public confidence among these om'rude forefathers, to a degree that has not been sustained by their more polished de- scendants. The punishments they inflicted upon offenders were unerring, swift and in- exorable in their imperial court of public opinion and were wholly adapted for the ref- ormation of the culprit or his expulsion fi-om the community. They had no law for the collection of debts, and yet every man was rigidly compelled to sacredly keep his promises. Any petty theft was punished with all the infamy that could be heaped on the offender. A man on a campaign stole from his comrade a cake out of the ashes, in which it was baking. Hr was immediately HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 283 named " the bread rounds." This epithet of reproach weh bandied about in this way; when he came in sight of a group of men, one of them would call, "Who comes there?" another would answer, " The bread rounds." Another would say, "Who stole a cake out of the ashes ?" when another would reply giving yie name of the man in full. And this he would hear during the campaign and after his return home. If a theft was de- tected, the thief was tried by his neighbors, and if guilty severely whipped and ordered out of the country. With all their rudeness, these people were given to hospitality, and freely divided their rough fare with a neighbor or stranger and would have been offended at the ofifer of pay. In their settlements and forts, they lived, they worked, they fought and feasted, or suffered together in cordial har- mony. They were warm and constant in their friendships. On the other hand, they were revengeful in their resentments. And the point of honor sometimes led to personal combats. If one man called another a liar, he was considered as having given a challenge which the person who re- ceived it must accept, or be deemed a coward, and the charge was generally answered with a blow. If the injured person was quite un- able to fight the aggressor, he might get a fi'iend to do it for him. The same thing took place on a charge of cowardice or any other dishonorable action, a battle must follow, and the person who made the charge must fight either the person against whom he made the charge, or any champion who chose to espouse his cause. This accounts for the great difference in then and now in speaking evil of your neighbors. . In a preceding chapter we have given an account of those who came into the territory now comprising Union, Alexander and Pu- laski Counties prior to the year 1810, and where the first settlements were made. The tide of immigration was then checked by the growing hostility of the Indians toward the whites, and the prospect of a general war which did commence in 1812. Indian mas- sacres and outbreaks commenced in 1811. and early in 1812 a most shocking butchery of all the settlers on Lower Cache occurred. A full account of this will be found in the chapter on Mound City and Precinct. Mr. George James came to this part of Illinois in 1811, and settled west of Jones- boro, but he had hardly fixed his location when he was warned by the Indians, and he returned to his old home in Kentucky, and after the war was over and a peace had been conquered from the Indians, he returned to what is now Union County. Ex-Lieut. Gov. John Dougherty came to this part of Illinois, in company with his parents, in the year 1811. Like most of the immigrants who came to Illinois that year, they were flying to the hills from the great earthquakes. John Dougherty was of poor parents, and when a lad was apprenticed to a hatter to learn the trade, at which he worked for some years. He married the daughter of George James, and lived out a long life among the people of Southern Illinois, practicing law, and fulfilling the many arduous duties of a politician and office-holder. He was State Senator, Circuit Judge and Lieutenant Governor, besides fill- ing several minor positions of trust. His politics was intensely Democratic until after the breaking-out of the war. In 1860, he was a candidate for a State office on what Judge Douglas called the Danite party's ticket. This party was known in Illinois as the " Breckenridge j^arty," and they bitterly opposed Douglas, because his Democracy was ' ' too weak on the slavery question. " Out of 284 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY nearly half a million votes, Dougherty got something over 4,000. The election over, he issued through a Cairo paper an address to the world, i-eading Douglas and his quarter million of deluded followers out of the Democratic party, and solemnly warned the approaching Charleston Convention not to admit the Democratic (Douglas) Delegates from Illinois. Mr. Dougherty attended the Charleston Convention, and, it is said, made, from the steps of the hotel, after that conven- tion had dissolved, a most able and fiery address to the Southern people on the subject of the state of the country. He ran upon the Republican ticket for Lieutenant Governor, and was elected and served out his tei-m with great fidelity to his party. When the war of 1812-15 was over, the stream of Illinois immigration again set in, and except occasional trouble from Indians, continued uninterrupted, and we note the following as the arrivals in what is now Union County, in the order of their coming: 1812— Thomas D. Patterson, Phillipp Shaver, Adam Clapp, Eduiund Vancil. Phillipp Shaver was one of the parties that was in the Cache massacre of 1812, and the only one who escaped alive. He was badly wounded by a blow from an Indian's toma- hawk, and pursued by two savages, and swam the icy bayou, and on foot made his way to the neighborhood south of where Jonesboro now stands. Thomas Standard, John Gwin, John N. Stokes, settled in Section 12, Range 1 east, in the year 1811. Robert Hargrave came the same year. 1814 — The arrivals included the following heads of the households and their families: George Lawrence, John Harriston, John Whitaker, A. Cokenower, Giles Parmelia, Samuel Butcher, Robert W. Crafton, Jacob Wolf, Michael Linbaugh, Alexander Boren, Hosea Boren, Richard McBride, Thomas Green, Emanuel Penrod, George Hunsaker, George Smiley, Daniel Kimmel, Robert Har- grave, John Whitaker, David Cother, David Brown, Alexander Brown, Alexander Boggs, Daniel F. Coleman, Benjamin Menees and Jacob Littleton. October 22, 1814, Thomas D. Patterson entered the northeast quarter, of Section 33, Township 11 south, range 1 east, the first entry ever made in the county. C. A. Smith settled near Cobden in 1815. Jesse Echols, who was appointed by the Legislature to fix the seat of justice in Union County, came to Illinois in 1809, and settled at Caledonia, and afterward mcjved into what is now Union County. Two brothers, Joseph and Ben Lawrence, came here on a trapping and hunting expe- dition in 1807. They were so pleased with the country that they selected a home on Mill Creek, and one of them returned to his old home and brought Adam Clapp and family. Jacob Lingle, it is supposed, came in 1807. His sOn lives west of Cobden. In company with two other families, the Lingles came down the Ohio River in batteaus, and landed near where Caledonia now stands, and slowly continued their way to their future home in Union County. Among the first settlers in the eastern and southern part of county was George Evans and family Then came John Brad- shaw, and Bradshaw's Creek bears his name. In 1808, John McGinnis and family settled near Mt. Pleasant. James McLaIn was born January 8, 1 783, in Rowan County, N. C, and died May 15. 1870, aged eighty -seven years and four months. He came to Illinois and settled near Shawneetown in 1808, and in 1810 came to what is Union County, and lived here sixty years. He was for years a Justice of the Peace, and Associate Judge of the County HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 285 Court, and had long acted as a Constable. In his last years, he was a pleasant picture of a bright and cheery old man, who was a friend to everybody, and nothing more pleased him than to get a good listener, when he would tell over by the hour the story of pioneer life in Illinois, when in the long ago he had to make trips over all this vast territory that was then under one jurisdiction. He carried his hotel with him in his saddle-bags, as often it was fifty miles or more between houses. He would stop when darkness over- took him and stake his horse, and his saddle for a pillow, bivouac beneath the twinkling stars, his lullaby the howl of the wolves. Like all travelers in those days, even on horseback, he had to carry with him a hand ax, to cut his way through the dense, tangled under- growth that often obstructed his way. He stood upon the banks of the Ohio, and saw the soldiers on their way to New Orleans to whip Packenham. McLain was a useful cit- izen, and much respected by all who knew him. In his death, there passed away one of the landmarks that divide the past from the present. He will long be remembered for his many sterling qualities and his social disposition. CHAPTER VI ORGANIZATION OF UNION COUNTY— ACT OF LEGISLATURE FORMING IT— THE COUNTY SEAL- COMMISSIONERS' COURT— ABNER FIELD— A LIST OF FAMILIES— CENSUS FROM 1820 TO 1880— DR. BROOKS— THE FLOOD OF 1844— WILLARD FAMILY— COL. HENRY L. WEBB— RAILROADS— SCHOOLS— MORALIZING— ETC., ETC. ''T'^HE act creating Union County bears date -^ of January 2, 1818. It is entitled *' An act adding a part of Pope County to Johnson County, and forming a new county out of Johnson County." Section 1 defines the boundaries of the new county of Johnson. ' ' Section 2. And be further enacted, that all that tract of country l>ing within the fol- lowing boundary, to wit: Beginning on the range line between Kanges 1 and 2 east, at the corner of Townships 10 and 11 south, thence north along said range line eighteen miles to the corner of Towns 13 and 14 south, thence west along the boundary line between Townships 13 and 14 south, to the Mississippi River, thence up the Missis- sippi River to the mouth of the Big Muddy River, thence up the Big Muddy River to where the township line, between Towns 10 and 11 south, crosses the same, thence east along said township line to the place of be- ginning, shall constitute Union County ; Provided, that all that tract of country lying south of Township 13 south to the Ohio River, and west of the range line between Ranges 1 and 2 east, shall, until the same be formed into a separate county, be attached to and be a part of Union County. " Section 3 provides that the courts for the county shall be held at the house of Jaoob Hunsaker, Jr. , until a permanent seat of Justice shall be established and a court house erected. Section 4 provides for the appointment of Commissioners to fix the seat of justice, 286 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. and, without explaining why, provides for two sets of these officials. It starts out by declaring that William Fatridge, James Bane and Isaac D. Wilcox be appointed Commissioners to fix the permanent seat of justice. It then proceeds to say that George Wolf, Jessee Echols and Thomas Cox are appointed Commissioners to fix the perma- nent seat of justice, etc. The first-named Commissioners are not recognized as of the old settlers of Union County, while the other Commissioners are. And in addition to this, Wolf, Echols and Cox did proceed at once to fulfill the position as their report following shows : To the Honorable the Justiceg of the County Court of Union : The undersigned Commissiones, appointed by the Legislature of Illinois Territory, for the purpose sf designating a seat of justice for said county, report as follows : That they met at the time and place men- tioned in the law establishing said county, and pro- ceeded to examine and to take into view the most cen- tial, convenient and eligible spot for the same, ihat iheyhave chosen and designated to (your?) Honors, the northwest quarter of Section No. 30, in Township 12, Range 1 west, and that they have received a deed of conveyance for twenty acres, the donation required by law, to which you are referred for particulars. They also beg leave to designate and recommend the center of said donation as the suitable place for the erection of the public buildiugs. Given under our hands and seals this 25lh day of February, 1818. (Signed) .T. Echols, George Wolf, Thomas Cox. The first Commissioners were not residents of the county of Union, and as the bounda- ries of Johnson and Pope had been dis- turbed in order to fix the new county, it is probable they were to look after any change that might be necessary to make in these older counties. It will be noticed that the first part of the act describes the boundaries of Union County exactly as they are now, and it calls this original boundary line as including Union County, and then the proviso goes on to attach to this county and make a part thereof, " until a new county is formed," all of what is now Alexander County, and a large por- tion of Pulaski County. Union County, there- fore, extended to the junction of the rivers at Cairo and the major part of Pulaski County until Alexander County was formed, which act passed the Legislature March 4, 1819, at which time Union County assumed exactly the boundary lines that she now has. The land mentioned in the report of the Commissioners above given for a county seat belonged to John Grammer. On the 25 th of February, 1818, he and his wife, Juliet, duly executed a deed donating ' ' to the Justices of the County Court of Union County," the following described lands : "Being a part of the northeast quarter i;f Section 30, Town 12, Range 1 west; beginning near the north- west corner of said section at a stake and a dogwood tree; thence running south 6 poles 2 links; thence east 18 poles 24 links; thence south 21 poles 2 links; thence east 28 poles 23 links; thence north 60 poles; thence west to the beginning." This is the tract of land that the Commissioners, fixing the county town, say they, " beg leave to designate, and recommend the center of said donation as the suitable place for the erection of the public buildings." The county seal when explained, tells how the county came to be named Union. The figures upon the seal represents two men standing up and shaking hands. One of them is dressed in the old-fashioned shad- bellied coat and vest, broad brimmed hat, and long hair. The other is in the conven-. tional ministerial suit. It represents a meet- ing of a Baptist preacher named Jones, and George Wolf, aDunkard preacher, mentioned in another place, as_^one of two men, first in HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 287 this county. Jones had been holding a re- markable series of meetings, and Wolf and he met, shook hands, and agreed to hold or con- tinue the meeting, the two joining in the work, and calling it a Union Meeting. This was held in what is now the southeast portion of the county. The seal illustrating this his- toric incident in the county was designed and adopted by the County Commissioners in 1850, and it was, it is said, the suggestion of Gov. Dougherty. The meeting of these pio- neer preachers that thus became historical, probably occurred about 1816 or 1817. A County Commissioners' Court for the new county was elected, and consisted of Jesse Echols, John Grammer, George Hunsaker, Abner Keith and Rice Sams. They met, organized and held the first coiirt at Hunsak- er's house, as the law directed, March 2, 1818. The court's first ofiicial act was to accept John Grammer's donation, and name the town Jonesboro. Abner Field was Clerk of this court, and Joseph Palmer was the first Sherifl' of the county. The Clerk certifies that on the 2d day of February, 1818, George Hunsaker, William Pyle, John C. Smith, Rice Sams, Abner Keith, Jesse Echols and John Brad- shaw were each commissioned by the Gover- nor as Justice of the Peace for Union County, and the oath was taken and they entered upon their official duties. Robert Twidy was the first Constable. The court declared the road leading from Elvira to Jackson and from Penrod's to El- vira, public roads, and David Arnold, Will- iam Pyle, George Hunsaker, Ephraim Voce and Henry Larmer appointed Road Overseers and Viewers. Robert H. Loyd was licensed to open a tavern. The first county order ever issued was one for $2 to Samuel Penrod for a wolf scalp. The Constables for the county were John Wenea, William Shelton, Samuel Butcher, Samuel Hiinsaker and Wil- lie Sams. This court realized that the main stay of life was "suthin" to eat and drink, and with a wise forethought that is to be for- ever commended, they ordered that the price of whisky should be 12^ cents per half pint; rum, 50 cents ; brandy 50 cents; dinner, sup- per and breakfast, 25 cents each; bed, 12^ cents; horse to stand at hay and corn all night, 37|^ cents. Thus, the young county was full blown, and was well started on her future great career. Courts and officers were in their po- sitions, and the roads arranged for, and the price of meat and drink regulated to a nicety. Who was here to enjoy all its blessings, fell the great forest trees and open farms, kill the wolves and wild animals and tame and civilize and make habitable for their descend- ants this great wilderness? A record of "marks and brands," opened at once after the county was organized, shows the following were here and were interested in domestic animals. Jacob Wolf, George Wolf, Edmund Vancil, William Dodd, Samuel Hunsaker, Michael Linbough, David Brown, William Thornton, Wilkinson Good- win, Edmond Hallimon, Joseph Hunsaker, William Pyle, William Grammer, Rice Sams, Abram Hunsaker, Thomas Sams, Benjamin Menees, John Mcintosh, George Hunsaker, James Brown, Jeremiah Brown, John Weigle, Christopher Hansin, Isaac Vancil, R. W. Crofton, John Cruse, James Jackson, George Smiley. Joseph Palmer, George James, Rob- ert Hargrave, John Hargrave, John Hunsaker, John Whitaker, Johnson Somers, Charles Dougherty, Joel Boggess, Jonas Vancil, Emanuel Penrod, John Stokes, Samuel Pen- rod, Cliff Hazlewoo I and John Kimmell. Those who had entered land that lies within the county up to and including the year 1818 were John Yost, Wilkinson Good- 288 HISTOEY OF UNION COUNTY. win, George Hunsaker, William Thornton- John Hunsaker, John Miller, George Law- rence, Henry Clutts, Christian Miller, James Mesam, John Harriston, John Kimmell, John Frick, Edmond Holeman, Adam Clapp. John Miller, George Devolt, Michael Dillon, John Grammer, Benjamin Memees, John Miller, Michael Halhouser, John Hartline, Anthony Lingle, John Whitaker, Phillipp Shaver, Phillipp Paulus, William Worthington, John Bradshaw, John Saunders, John R. McFar- land, John Tyler, Joseph Waller, Joseph Walker, A. Cokenower, Andrew Irwin, Giles Parmelia, Samuel Butcher, Samuel Penrod, Robert W. Grafton, Edward Vancil, John Gregory, Jacob Lingle, Israel Thompson, Adam Cauble, Jacob Rentleman, Jacob Wei - gle, George Wolf, Michean Linbough, Jon- athan Hasky, Joseph Barber, Lost Cope, John Cope, Barber, Isaac Biggs. Alexander Biggs, the Meisenheimers, John Eddleman, Thomas Mcintosh, Cornelius Anderson, Du- vall Lence, John Lence, Benedict Mull, Pe- ter Casper, John Wooten, Anthony Lingle, David Crise, William Morrison, Robert Crof- ton, Jacob Hileman, David Miller, A. Cruse, Abraham Brown, John Knupp, Andrew Smith, David Meisenheimer, Joseph Smith, Thomas H. Harris, Richard McBride, S, Lewis, Thomas Green, Benjamin J. Harris, Jacob Trees, Joseph Palmer, Thomas Green, David Kimmel, Alexander P. Field, Anthony Morgan, James Ellis, Joseph McElhany Abner Field, Thomas Deen, Rice Sams, Dan- iel Spence, William Craigle, David Miller, George Cripe, Isaac Cornell, Nicholas Wil- son, Henry Bechtle, Thomas Bechtle, Thomas Lanes, John Uri, Stephen Donahue, Jacob Littleton and S. W. Smith. From the best estimation we have been en- abled to make, there was here, in what is now Union County, a population of 1,800 souls. About one-third of the families were at that time freeholders. The official census of 1820 shows a popu- lation of 2,3B2. In the year 1830, it had increased to 3,239; in 1840, to 5,524; in 1850, the population rose to 7,615; in 1860. to 11,181; in 1870, to 16,518, and in 1880, to 18, 100. The smallest increase was from 1820 to 1830, which was a little over 1,000, and the lai-gest increase of any decade, from 1860 to 1870, was 5,337. This is ac- counted for by the fact that it was the period of the coming of the railroad — a ray of light let in upon the eternal darkness. The com- pletion of the Illinois Central Railroad, in August. 1855, from Anna to Cairo, and finally to Dubuque, and then on the 1st day of January, 1856, the time of the fii'st through train on schedule time, from Chicago to Cairo, was an era in the county's history. The tide of emigration here was never in a strong and swollen stream, as it was in the northern portion of Illinois, and yet it was constant and increasing, as the census re- turns above given show. The county's growth has been a slow, yet a steady and healthy one, and it has never suffered from what is often a serious condition of affairs in locali- ties where the rush of people has been very great, and a sudden turn in affairs would produce a widespread distress and suffering, and a turbulent and restless population. The first marriage on the county records was John Murry and Elizabeth Latham, by John Grammer, on the 26th of February, 1818. On the 7th of April, 1818, John Wel- don, Esq., certifies that he married James Latham and Margaret Edwards, on the 2d of March. Joseph Painter and Elizabeth Brown were maiTied on the 26th of April, 1818, by George Hunsaker. Samuel Morgan and Re- becca Casey were married by Abner Keith, Esq., on the 28th of May, 1818. July 5, 1818, Fi-ancis Parker and Catharine Clapp were married by George Wolf, the Dunkard preacher, and, by the records, the first min- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY 280 ister who performed the ceremony in the county. August 6, same year, Allen Crawl and Catharine Vancil were married by the same minister. September 24, 1818, John Rupe and Lydia Brown were married by John Grammer. December, same year, Eli Littleton and Ede Hughes were married by Wolf. This includes the entire list of mar- riages of 1818, as the record shows. The next year, 1819, there was quite a falling oflf in the activity of the marriage market, there being but two weddings the entire year. These were David Callahan and Elizabeth Roberts, February 25, and Isaac Finley and Polly Hai'grave, March 17. In looking fui'ther along in the records, we find the Dunkard preacher Wolf had per- formed four marriages in 1818, and he only made his returns to the County Clerk in 1820. His certificate reads as follows: "I did, on 7th of June, 1818, join in marriage, as man and wife, William McDonald and Mary Mc- Lane, and Henry Johnston and Nancy Ath- ei'ton, all of the aforesaid county." Strictly speaking, the good old Dunkard married the double couple as men and wives, and not, as he states, as "man and wife." But we are told the marriage return was good and strong enough, and each couple picked themselves out of the jumble, and were happy and con- tent. The year 1820, however, showed a cheer- ful state of activity in the line of courting and marrying. We can account for this be- cause it was leap year, and the dear girls were resolved to "make hay while the sun shines." John Russell and Percy Huston opened the ball, by mai'rying on the 3d of February; Daniel Ritter and Elizabeth Iseno- gle, March 2; Peter Sifford and Leyah Mull, February 20; Jacob Hunsaker and Elizabeth Brown, March 9; A. H. Brown and Sarah Mathes, June 19; William Ridge and Esther Penrod, July 30; Abraham Hunsaker and Polly Price, May 20; George Dougherty and Rachean Hunsaker, August 3; John Biggs and Sarah Cope, September 1; William Clapp and Phoebe Wetherton, September 8; George Lemen and Susan Lasley, October 2; John Price and Nancy Vancil, October 5; John Leslie and Catharine Wigel, and Peter Wolf and Margaret James, Messiah O'Brien and Charlott Hotchkiss, Daniel T. Coleman aud Lucy Craft, Samuel Dillon and Margaret Lingle, December 26. In the year 1835, the county had the cen- sus taken, and a careful count showed there were 4,147 persons in the county — 2,100 males, and the remainder females. There were forty-seven negroes. Only one person over eighty years of age, five shoe-makers and saddlers, one tailor, two wagon -makers, two carpenters, and one cabinet-maker (supposed to be a man named Bond), two hatters (one of whom was James Hodge) eleven black- smiths, three tan-yards (one Jaccord's, south of Jonesboro, and the other, Randleman's, north of the town), twelve distilleries, two threshing machines, one cotton gin, one wool-carding machine (Jake Frick's), one horse and ox saw mill, eighteen horse and ox grist mills, two water sawmills, and five water grist mills. Of the shoe- makers, wore John Blatzell, David Spence, John Thames and Wesley G. Nimmo. The tailor probably was William Kaley, and George Krite and David Masters were the wagon-makers, and John Rinehart was one of the carpenters. The venerable Mrs. Mcintosh came to the county in 1817, settling south of Jonesboro. Her husband, John Mcintosh and one child, now Mrs. Malinda Provo, constituted the family. There were two othei's. Mrs- Mc- intosh was a married woman with a child seven years old when she came to this wild 290 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. territory. She has lived here sixty-four years, and her physical strength is unusual, considering her great age. Her neighbors, she remembers at first, were John Grammer, Robert Hargrave, Samuel Hunsaker, Rice Sams, Thomas Sams, Daniel Kimmel, James Ellis, George Wolf, Jacob Wolf, Winsted Davie, Joseph McElhany, John Menees, Har- ris Randleman, Willis, Elijah and William Willard, George Weigle, Wiley Davidson, David Miller, J. S. Cabb, Jeremiah Brown and Mr. Verble. Her recollection is that the nearest carding machine, and where they had to go to get their wool carded, was at Jackson, Mo. — a trip that it took three days to make. Mr. Verble had a water grist mill seven miles southeast of Jonesboro. The only lumber then was cut with whip-saws. The woods were full of an undergrowth of the pea vine. A man named Griffin taught a school near the spring south of Jonesboro, in a small log cabin; afterward Winstead Davie taught the same school, and then Willis Williard' taught there for some time. Dr. B. W. Brooks lived about half a mile south of Jonesboro. He was a man pos- sessed of a thorough classical education, and had traveled and mingled with cultured so- ciety, and read and studied the best authors un- til he was an accomplished scholar and was a well-informed physician. His family were possessed of ample means, and it must have been a singular impulse for the fascinations of the wilderness that could have induced him to woo fortune here and spend his life among a rough and unlettered })eople. A strong mind, a finished classical and profes- sional education, of polished and courtly manners, when he felt the necessity of so be- ing, it seems strange that he preferred the rough and hard life of a pioneer, and was often ready to lay all his accomplishments aside, and with the keenest zest enjoy his un- couth surroundings. He was possessed of a fine vein of humor, and his practical jokes, sometimes very rough indeed, were inex- haustible. He had an extensive practice all over this part of the country, and his reputa- tion as a physician was wide and of the high- est order. He was one of the early County Commissioners, was a member of the Legis- lature, and filled mmierous minor otficial positions. His love of fun and his keen sense of the ridiculous were evenly balanced, and it was the delight of his life to get some Yahoo into a conversation and put the whole village into a roar over his making-up with his new acquaintance and so shrewdly would he quiz the fellow that he would soon con- vince him that he was a native of the particular neighborhood that " greeny " had come from, and finally that they were close blood relatives. Often he would call a stranger into the tav- ern and agree to give him $5 to let him abuse him as much as he pleased for one hour. The conditions being that if the stranger tired of his bargain and did not stand out the hour that he was to give back the money. It is said he always got his money back in the course of ten or fifteen minutes, and sometimes a fight to boot; and the Doctor would enjoy one about as well as the other. One of the first Irishmen that came to Union County had the usual ready Irish wit aad repartee, and he was a great admirer of Dr. Brooks, and many was the bout at chaffing that they had when the Irish- man would come to town. One day the Doc- tor told him how they caught the wild Irish, by putting potatoes in a ban-el with a hole just large enough for them to get their hand in, and they would reach in and grab a po- tato,and with this in their hand they were tight and fast. By the time the story was told the Irishman was fighting mad. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 291 In looking over some of Dr. Brooks' old papers are found the following graphic and interesting account of the high waters in the Mississippi: "The Mississippi commenced rising on the 18th of May, 1844, and con- tinued rising at the rate of two feet to thirty- inches in twenty-four hours, until the 1st of June, at which time it stood within eight inches of the flood line of 1808. By the 10th of June it fell five or six feet, and left the farms in the bottom all free of water. The bottom farms had been more or less cov ered with water except that of Jacob Trees. On the 11th of June, the waters commenced to rise again, the flood coming down the Mis- souri and Mississippi Rivers, and this time it rose from one foot to eighteen inches in twenty-four hours. This rise steadily con- tinued until it overflowed the bottom land in Union County from eighteen to thirty feet deep. This was the depth of the water on the road to Littleton's old ferry, and also to Willard's landing. Stock, crops, houses and fences were carried away in th« raging waters. The people made great eflforts to save their stock, and called to their aid ferry and coal boats and all floating craft, but soon they found they could only hope to save a few of their household effects, and the stock was left to its fate and the people fled to the hills. This rise continued steadily until June 29, when it came to a stand. On the 1st of July it commenced slowly to recede. This was higher water than that of 1808 by ten or twelve feet. It was higher than was ever known, except in 1785, which Beck says in his history was the highest waters in 150 years. Mr. Cerre, one of the oldest French settlers of St. Louis, said: 'The flood was higher by four or five feet in 1785 than in 1844. In 1844, the steamer Indiana trans- ported the nuns from the Kaskaskia Convent to St. Louis. The boat received them from the door of Pierre Menard's residence, the water in front of the house being fifteen feet in depth. Two hundred people went from Kaskaskia on the Indiana, and about 300 found shelter at Menard's, while yet others were sheltered in tents on the blufi's. The loss in the bottoms was at least $1,000,000. From Alton to Cairo there were 288,000 acres of land overflowed. In Randolph County is a document soliciting a grant of lots from the crown of France, and urging as a reason the great flood of 1724, which over- flowed the village and destroyed it. Great overflows occurred in 1542, 1724 and 1785, and in 1844. The Mississippi bottoms are now very clean, as everything is washed off and many of the small trees are killed." Dr. Brooks died September 12, 1845, aged fifty-three yeax's. His widow, Lucinda Brooks, survived and died in 1881, 16th of July, aged eighty-one years. Mrs. Nancy Hileman came in 1817, with her father's (George Davis) family. She was then twelve years old, and for an active, healthy old lady, her long life here of sixty- six years tells a strong story in behalf of the health of Union County. Elijah Willard came to Union County in the year 1820, a poor boy, with a scanty education, and he was the only support of his widowed mother and three small children. The coming of this family was the most val- uable acquisition to the community it prob- ably ever made. At a glance, this boy realized the imperative wants of a rude people, and he laid the foundations of society upon which have been reared the structure we behold to- day. He was the architect and founder that converted an almost unorganized , and igno- rant gathering of trappers and hunters into a commercial and agricultural community, with all the arts and science of a splendid civili- zation. Before Elijah Willard came, the 293 HISTORY OF UNIOK COUNTY. people hunted game for food, and exchanged peltries and honey for the few articles of commerce that were necessary to their sim- ple, scanty lives. He saw that highways to the world's market were the only road to the change that must be brought among the peo- ple, and he therefore obtained leave and built the turnpike across the bottom to the river, and opened " Willard's Ferry," and showed the people that they could raise pi'oduce and export it, and that by selling and buying in the markets they could surround themselves with all the comforts of life. He not only pointed out the way, but he worked out his designs, and by opening the largest and best farm in the county demonstrated that there were higher walks in life than baiting bears and gathering coon-skins. He led the way, and the people followed, and he lived, short as was his great life, long enough to see the merchandise that could once be carried in its importation on a pack- mule, rise to such pro- portions that his annual sales were more than $100,000. When would the people without Willard have discovered that the key to civ- ilization and a powerful community of farm- ers, merchants, laborers, manufacturers, and the arts and sciences lay in the direction of the open doors of such markets as St. Louis, New Orleans, Cincinnati and New York? And he opened the way. We now look upon the great change, and how few know to whom they owe these blessings ? In the little more than twenty years of his active life, he gave the people ideas and public improvements that will continue to be invaluable benefits for generations yet to come. He was the master spirit of Union County while he lived, and his influence will be here when we are all gone and forgotten. How incomparably greater is such a life than are all the Napo- leons, Bismarcks or Alexanders that pver lived! His life was as different and as much greater than these men as it is better than the modern millionaires of the Gould kind who gather in colossal fortunes by gambling — pulling down and not building up a people. He had saved from a small salary $250, and with this he laid the foundation of the house of Willard & Co., and had so perfectly reared the' superstructure that at his death his brother was enabled to carry out his designs. It would only bespeak on the part of the people of Union County a just appreciation of the benefits the life of Elijah Willard has been to them to place in some of its public buildings a full-sized portrait of him. No act could be more appropriate to his mem- ory. No j)ublic expression of gratitude could be more just. Willis Willard. — Jonathan W^illard, a sol- dier in the war of 1812, came down the Ohio Kiver from Pittsburgh, and landed at Bird's Point in 1817. From here he went to Cape Girardeau, where he died the same year, and left his widow, Nancy, with four children — Elijah, Willis, Anna and William. The widow with her children came to Jonesboro, and in great poverty commenced the serious struggle for life. Elijah was old enough to commence clerking in a stoi'e in Jonesboro, and in a few years he bought out his employer and associated with himself his brothei Wil- lis. In 1836, Elijah was made Internal Im- provement Commissioner for the State of Illinois. He died in 1848, of consumption. The Williard family is of English origin, and dates back in this country to the first col- onists of Massachusetts, Simon Willard hav- ing landed in Boston in 1634. Willis Willard was born in Windsor Coun- ty, Vt., March 20, 1805. He died May 12, 1881. He was but eleven years old when he came West, and had but little schooling, and but few opportunities for educating him- self in this new country. His mother came HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 29S to Jonesboro in 1820, and he was a clerk for different merchants until he was twenty-one years old. He took charge of his brother's business at his death, and rapidly rose to be the greatest merchant in Southern Illinois. He continued to merchandise for forty-three years, and the fame of the house of Willard & Co. extended over the entire country. He sold goods and operated extensively in real estate. At one time he owned 13,000 acres of land in Union County. He retired from active business in 1873, the owner of 4,000 acres of the choicest lands in the county, and other property, making a total of over $500,000. For a long lifetime, he was the foremost man, not only in his county, but in Southern Illinois, in every enterprise tending to pro- mote the material and intellectual interests of the people. He erected many of the best business and private houses in Jonesboro. In 1836, he built the first steam saw and grist mill that was ever in the county. In 1853, realizing the wants of Union County, he built at his own expense a female semi- nary in Jonesboro, and sent to Boston and brought two lady teachers to take charge of the institution. For years this was a flour- ishing school, and gave the people excellent facilities for educating their daughters, with- out being compelled to send them to the dis- tant and expensive seminaries of the country. His enterprise and benevolence went hand in hand. He was not a politician, and although often tempted and persuaded, could never be induced to accept office; yet, in local politics, he often took a deep interest, and here, when he so desired, he wielded a master hand. He was a consistent Democrat all his life, but in political friend or foe he I'espected honor and worth, and despised all frauds and shams, and for pretentious demagogues he had neither respect nor patience. In 1835, he was married to Frances Webb, and of this marriage there were eleven chil- dren, five of whom died in infancy. Henry, the eldest, who had become a successful mer- chant in Jonesboro, died in 1865, aged twenty- eight years. Willis Wi Hard's princely foi'tune was the accumulations that come of those sterling business qualities and sound judgment that wronged no man, but tended to aid and build up all around him. His word was never questioned, his good advice and ripe judg- ment was freely extended to all, the humblest as well as the highest. To his many em- ployes, he was a most generous master, and a duty well perfoi'med was not overlooked, but remembered and rewarded. After a life of unremitting toil and tireless energy, the declining years allotted him were spent in that quiet retirement which he so well had earned. And when the summons that awaits us all finally came, he folded in peaceful content those once strong and bounteous hands upon a breast stiJled of the desires, hopes, loves and hates of this world, and went peacefully to his fathers. May his memory linger for aye, as a benison to the good people of Union County. Mrs. Nancy Willard, the mother of Wil- lis Willard, died February 12, 1874, aged ninety-nine years ten months and five days, one of the noblest women that ever came West. Left poor, with four young chil- dren her whole life was her children's, with a devotion that never ceased, and in the rising fortunes of her children and grand-children was her whole life-thought and labor. For half a century she was widely known as "Mother Willard," and probably above all women that ever lived in Union County de- served that appellation of love. She was wise, earnest, active and charitable; she was the friend, the " mother " indeed of all who 294 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. needed aid and comfort. She sought and cared for the poor orphans with ceaseless anxiety, and it is said in her just praise that no human being ever appealed to her for aid in vain. In every relation of life she was conspicuous and great; a loving mother, a dear friend, an earnest, good Christian, full of charity and forgiveness for all. For sev- enteen years before death, she was blind; her other faculties were unimpaired. Her end was peace and joy. She had wanted to fill out the even hundred years of life, but the summons came only a few days before the full century was reached, but she was ready and willing to go; she had prepared "or it more than fifty years before it came. A long life, a valuable life, a life the world could but illy have spared. What a sweep of great events and changes that one life witnessed. She well remembered the sur- render of Yorktown, and the rejoicing over the acknowledgment of oar nation's inde- pendence by Great Britain, in 1783. She was sixteen years old when our national Consti- tution was adopted, and thirty -one years old when Napoleon ceded to the United States the French possessions in America. She was forty- two years old when Napoleon was ban- ished to St. Helena, and fifty-three when La- fayette visited America. She had seen Illi- nois grow from a wilderness of wild beasts and Indians to a great State of over three millions of people. She had seen those who saw the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock, from the Mayflower. Blessed " Mother Willard!" Hail, and farewell! The manner of home life and labor about the cabins of the early settlers is to some ex- tent well illustrated by the following account of a piece of goods shown us by Judge Daniel Hileman. It is a cotton- linen bed spread, and made sixty-five years ago in this county by his mother and sister. With their own unaided hands these good women planted the seed, both of the cotton and the flax, tended, gathered and did everything in the prepar- ation of the fiber in order to make it into cloth, and then wove and bleached it, and although it is now sixty-five years old, it is as white as driven snow and soft and strong of texture, and as smooth as any goods that can be made by the best of modern improve- ments. The nimble fingers that so deftly spun and wove this now interesting relic have been still upon their pulseless bosoms these many years, and, we confess, in con- templating the piece of goods we were car- ried back to those ancient days when the humble cabins of our fathers, each and all presented these scenes of " the good dames, well content, handling the spindle and the flax." This relic, telling its simple story of the dead, is now more precious than fine gold; of itself it is a history of the domestic life of those brave and hardy people who im- periled their lives in the preparation of this smiling land of happy homes for us and ours, and it is hoped that when Judge Hileman's family can no longer keep and care for this precious memento it may go into the care of the Government, the State, or some historical society, or, perhaps best of all, into the care of Union County, and be encased in glass, with a carefully prepared history of it, even to the minutest details, where it may be kept as a reminder and a monitor for the genera- tions to come in the future centuries. There are not many facts now attainable by which we are enabled to write the history of the growth of those ideas that have carried our people forward in civilization. We can only guess, mostly, about those important events that worked strong influences upon the general mind. They were a people that made as few records for our study and in- spection as possible. It seems strange, that HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 297 among all those early pioneers there was so little care for what their posterity might be able to learn about them. That there was no Herodotus to jot down the details of every movement of the people, and realize that the most trifling and tiresome details would now be of intense interest. So far as we can now learn, in the three counties of Union, Alex- ander and Pulaski, there were only two men who wrote down their observations and ac- counts of events that passed before their eyes — Dr. B. W. Brooks and Col. Henry L. Webb. Dr. Brooks' papers and records are scattered, and many, doubtless, lost; and we almost accidentally came across his account of the high water of 1844, which we publish else- where. And we are indebted to Mrs. M. M. Goodman, of Jonesboro, for some invaluable reminiscences of Col. Henry L. Webb, which he had written out concerning the early set- tlement of what is now Pulaski County, and for the perusal of which we refer the reader to the history of that county, in another part of this work. The living but seldom realize in what light their humble lives may be reflected upon posterity. They know that they are deeply interested in the story of their fathers, but they never dream that such will also some day be the case of their own descendants about them. To their minds their fathers were important, great and good men, while they themselves and their surroundings are insignificant and wholly worthless. Hence the vagueness and imperfection of any his- tory of the human race that can ever be writ- ten. And just here comes in the one great- est loss to the human race. To know the true history of mankind is to have nearly all knowledge; for, indeed, this "history is phi- losophy teaching by example." It is not the dates and days of supposed great events that constitute any part of history. Battles, earth- quakes, floods, famines, the birth of empires and the death of kings, are interesting events to know, but they are little or no part of true history, because real history is an ac- count of the human mind — how it has been affected, what influenced it to march forward in the path of civilization, or caused it to recede or stand still and stagnate. It is the doings of the mind, and not so much the acts of the body, that constitute history. And what data has the student now for the gain- ing of this divine knowledge ? Could such a book be written, it would be worth a million times all that ever yet came from the print- ing press. The present century has produced two or three minds that weie great enough to grasp this truth, and the work of re-writing the world's history has now commenced. And the scant materials will some day be worked out and fashioned by great minds. If we had a complete chronology, or the full statistics of all the nations that have lived, there would soon come men who could write almost the true history — the tragic story of the ebb and flux of civilization. Hence the loss, the irreparable loss, of all those details and statistics about a people that constitute, not their history, but their chronology — the instruments and materials which, in the hands of a real historian, can be made into history — a text-book superseding all the school books, the schools, colleges and uni- versities in the world. True, with all the materials ready to hand, no mere chronicler could then write history, because he must be a philosoper, indeed, in order to trace cause and effect upon the general mind; not only such things as had strong effects, but to go deep enough to attach cause and effect together, wherein circumstances or events are to the ordinary mind, not only widely separatod, but so distant as to apparently have no pos- sible connection. 17 398 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. By all this disconnected moralizing we only desire to impress upon the reader that some time it may be many yeai's after he has passed away, there will come the future his torian, who will be prying into the circum- stances of his times, and even with a sharper interest than we are now tm-ning over, perusing and gathering up all the details oc those who have preceded us, and putting it in a story for the pleasure and instructions of the yet unborn generations. Preserve old files and records and papers; then, and yet more, when- ever there is an accident, an unusual season, an event of any kind, even trifling circum- stances, go and do as Capt. Cuttle, " when found, make a note on't." An extended account of the two railroads passing through Union County may be found in the chapter on railroads, in the history of Cairo, in another part of this volume. A fact illustrating how the most trifling circum- stances sometimes produce important results is given in the first operations of building the Illinois Central Railroad. The engineers had surveyed the line just where the road runs. The people of Jouesboro, that is, a few of them, became solicitous about the road not being surveyed through Jonesboro. A self-appointed committee of two or three of the people of that ancient town waited on the engineer, Ashley, and had an extended interview with him. They explained what they wanted, I and insisted that from the " pass " where the road would cross the hills north of this, a shorter and as good a line could be found via Jonesboro, as by the survey made. Mr. Ashley finally agreed that if the town would pay $50 to defray the expense Of a survey by that route, he would order one made. The committee reported to the people, but so confident were they that the road must touch their town, that they would not contribute a cent for the survey. They felt certain the survey as made and this offer of a new one, was only a weak attempt to get money fi'om them for nothing. They re- fused to give the money, and the result is the town of Anna came into existence, and has finally outstripped the old town in the race of life. Had the road been built through Jones- boro, it is easy enough to believe that it would have had many more people in it to- day than there are now in both the towns. For many years, Jouesboro was the leading^ town in Southern Illinois. It has lost that prestige. It is possible it could not have kept in the van under any circumstances, but one thing is certain, had the road been built there it would have made a thrifty, rich and prosperous little city. This would have greatly benefited the whole county, as it would have tended to bring people here of energy, capital and enterprise, and the farm- ers of the county would have kept pace to some extent with the prosperity of the town. In the end, Jonesboro lost the Central road, and in years after subscribed $50,000 to the Cairo & St. Louis Railroad, that now passes through the place, but as if fate was against it, there has sprung up several little towns about it that more or less divide the trade of the place instead of helping to build it up. Schools. — In another chapter we have spoken at some length of the early schools in the first settlement of the county. They were somewhat slow to come, and they did not seem to grow and flourish to any great extent when they did come. The law requires that school directors shall report the number of persons between twelve and twenty -one years of age who cannot read and write. The United States census of 1880, and the school census, show a strange incon- sistency on this point. The former report the number of persons under twenty-one in the county at 9,878. The school census re- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 299 ports it at 9,564. The school census reports the number of persons who cannot read and write between the ages of twelve and twenty - one at 130. The Government census I'eports this class of persons at 658, the last gives those between the ages of ten and twenty- one. This is a glaring discrepancy, and we have no hesitation in adopting the Govern- ment report as much nearer the truth. Union County is not any worse in this respect than the counties of the State generally. Not nearly so bad as many. For instance, Jasper re- ports twenty-three illiterates, and the Gov- ernment reports for that county 534, who can- not read and write. We do not believe in compulsory education, and yet we con- fess it is not a cheering sign to see a large per cent of illiterates. It is a misfortune for any people to have very many who cannot read and write, but it is a greater misfortune to the individual sufferer than the body politic; but so is it a misfortune to have poor health, poor teeth or a bald head. It is a misfortune to have young men grow to maturity without any of those refinements and polish that make social life so pleasant, but you cannot legis- 'late away the clowns and roughs, though their presence may mar society never so much. We have too much law concerning the schools already and too little education. A compul- sory school law has been practiced in this country and in Europe for generations. It can hardly be said to be an experiment. If it corrects the evil of illiteracy, and in return gives us the much greater ills of a paternal government, where are the benefits? There are always a class of men who are infinitely more dangerous to society than are those who cannot read and write. These are the reform fanatics, who would legislate away all evils, and legislate into force all morals. They see a real or an imaginary wrong existing, and they tly to the Legislature and call for a police- man to remedy the wrong. They know no power for good except the brute force of gov- ernment. The same class of men a few years ago were in power in most of the governments. They made the blue laws of New England, and talked in a heavenly, pious twang, and burned poor old helpless women for witches, and murdered hundreds of thousands of other people for the shocking crime of heresy. Power in the hands of such lunatics is indeed a menace to mankind. They have no more idea of the part and province of a govern- ment than has an enraged bull- dog of human- ity and justice. It is not a great while since these fanatics had a compulsory church at tendence law in Scotland, and policemen ap- pointed to visit the houses and see that every one attended. Did they have a doubt, think you, that they could legislate people into heaven ? The work of forming strong pater- nal governments has been going on for six thousand years, at least, and the supreme evil that has afflicted mankind in all these centuries has been over- legislation — too much law, too much interference with the people, too many government officials, too much of governments trying to do what only individ- uals can do for themselves. That man is not fit for the noble duty of self-government, who thinks government ever did or ever can legis- late men either into morals, religion or educa- tion. That man is insuiferably ignorant who does not know that the only way to make men good, and to cleanse him from all evils is to first remove his ignorance. It is ignorance that has brought into this world all our woe. An ignorant man is a menace to a community. But simply to know how to i*ead and write is not a proof of the absence of ignorance. If people had the correct ideas of schools and education, there wou^ld not be a child (except idiots) that would grow to the age of twelve in the land but that could read and write. It 300 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. is no more trouble to teach any child to do this than it is to teach it to eat with a knife and fork. When people's ignorance is re- moved, they will no more gi'ow children that cannot read and wi'ite than they will who cannot dress themselves, or talk, or play the innocent and healthy plays of chil- dren. A compulsory law to wash the child's face and comb its hair might now be neces- sary in say an avei'age of one family to a county. Reading and writing are not edu- cating; they are simply a species of training and of themselves of no higher grade than those of ordinary acts of politeness, cleanli- ness or decency. An ignorant, savage peo- ple must have a school, if their children ever learn to read and wriite, but no civilized fam- ily has to have any such assistance. And you may mark it well, that the day is either now hei'e or it is very near, when such a thing as people sending their children to school to learn to read and write will be as unknown as is now the custom of sendinsr them out to be washed and their heads cleaned. The reader who feels his own con- victions outraged by these sentiments is most respectfully requested to turn back and ex- amine carefully over again the definition of the word education. What is it? Not as the dictionaries will tell you e from, and duco to lead. You can get no idea from the defini- tion you will find in the dictionaries of what the real meaning of the word is. " To lead from ignorance " is like the old defini- tion of heat as the absence of cold, and cold, then, would be the absence of heat. You might study such definitions a thousand years and you would not have nearly so good a definition of heat as the child when it tells you " it burns." Ask any man you meet what education is, and the chances are ninety- nine in a hundred he will tell you so-and-so is highly educated, because he can read Latin and Greek, when the facts are a man may read all the dead and living languages of the world and still not be educated at all — still be very, very ignorant. You cannot think, much less talk, intelligently about education unless you first know the full and true mean- ing of the word. Education is getting knowl- edge, and knowledge is understanding the mental and physical laws. We start you on the way of mastering the understanding of the word education. You can pursue it and follow it out to its complete understanding if you so desire, i The School Superintendent of Union Coun- ty, W. C. Rich, in a report to the State Superintendent in 1884, says: " Irregularity of attendance in country schools — this can only be met by a compul- sory act. The object of the free school sys- tem is to give every child of school age a common school education, but in the absence of a compulsory law, the object of a free school system will never be accomplished." In Union County there are three brick schoolhouses, sixty frame houses and eleven loghouses, making a total number of school- houses seventy -four. One new one was built in 1882; of these are seven graded schools. Number of male teachers in graded schools, 10; females, 15. Number of male teachers in ungraded schools, 52; number of females,20; making the total number of teachers in the county 97. Certainly a creditable showing as to both the number of houses, teachers and pupils in a county of only a little over 18,000 popula- tion. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 301 CHAPTER VII. THE BENCH AND BAR — GOVERNOR REYNOLDS— EARLY COURTS — FIRST TERM AND OFFICERS- DANIEL P. COOK— CENSUS OF 1818— COUNTY OFFICERS TO DATE— ABNER AND ALEXANDER P. FIELD— WINSTED DAVIE— YOUNG AND M' ROBERTS— VISITING AND RESIDENT LAWYERS— GRAND JURIES PUNCHED— HUNSARER'S LETTER —WAR BE- TWEEN JONESBORO AND ANNA — COUNTY VOTE, ETC., ETC. "Ambition sighed; she found it vain to trust The faithless column, and the crumbling bust." TN the early organization of a county, -*- especially away back in the history of Illinois to 1817, the date of the formation of this county, the courts, and their short bi- ennial sessions, the judges, the judges' great, ness and dignity that those people readily conceded the judicial toga, the lawyers, as they traveled over the large circuits, through the many large and sparsely settled counties, were objects of much awe and admiration among the people. Even the Clerks of the Courts, the Sheriffs, the foreman of the grand juiy, as well as other petty officers about the court house, who, by virtue of their ofl&cial positions, could, on terms of apparent great famiiiarit}', exchange a few words with the Judge and the lawyers, were temporarily greatly enlarged and magnified, and perhaps envied sometimes by the common crowd. But soon after the organization of each county came the local lawyer, the permanent dweller at the county seat, and thus some of the glamour that invested the profession of the law passed away. Their numbers in- creased, and as law and politics were then synonymous terms, and they still more mixed among the people, and coaxed and wheedled them out of their votes, kissing the babies, patting the frowzled-headed, dirty-faced youths on the head, talking taffy to the vain old mothers, hugging, like a very brother. the voters, and dividing with them their plug tobacco, and making spread-eagle stump speeches everywhere and upon all occasions, and upon the slightest opportunities, and thus still more of the awe-inspiring great- ness of the px'ofession passed away. Thus, in the long process of time, a lawyer came to be only a human being, and even the high Judge, as the boy said about the preacher, " nothing but a man." But the fact remains that in the early settlement of the State, and in the formation of the county municipalities, these legal gentlemen had very much to do in those initiatory steps that have shaped and fashioned the destiny of both the State and the counties that transformed this wilderness of wild men and wild beasts into the fourth commonwealth in this cluster of great and growing States, and from this vantage-point our State is entered in the race for the third place, then the second place, and then the great goal of first place in the galaxy of States. The finger-marks of these founders, and largely the architects of the early State polity that has so swiftly led to these as- tounding results, are to be seen everywhere, and the meed of praise is justly theirs for this beneficent foresight, patriotism and un- yielding integrity that have stood like beacon lights upon the troubled waters, when the storms raged and beat upon the ship of State. Amon^ the earliest of the Illinois lawyers. 302 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. who at one time lived in the county that then included what is now Union County, was John Eeynolds- -the Old Ranger. The ap- pellation of Old Ranger was "given him for his great services in the soldiery that fought the Indians. In the early days, these soldiers were mounted men, and often they were designated in their military capacity as rangers. Gov. John Reynolds was a native of Penn- sylvania, and came to Illinois and located in Kaskaskia in the year 1800. Only eighteen years after the first American flag had been unfurled over all this territory, and the land had become a part and parcel of the posses- sions of the United States, under Lieut. Todd, who had been commissioned by Gov. Patrick Henry to come here, take possession in the name of the United States, and put in force and operation the principles of our present free and enlightened Government. Gov. Henry wrote this important document within hearing of the booming of the guns of the Revolution. The Governor appointed a messenger to bear the important commis- sion to Lieut. Todd, who was fighting the Indians and British somev^here in the North- west, and it took the bearer nearly or quite a year to find Todd and invest him with the important authority of organizing and establishing upon an enduring basis the benign government that now blesses so many people of the great Mississippi Valley. Thus it was the soldier, Lieut. Todd, who laid the foundations of a free government here, and upon this foundation has risen the grand superstructure we now behold, and, as before remarked in this work, a great deal of credit is due the early lawyers of Southern Illinois, and among the earliest and most valuable of these, to the then young Territory, was John Reynolds, whose life, after he came here, was spared to us sixty-five years. He was a re- markable man in many respects. The writer hereof first saw him in 3844, and to his boy- ish eyes the Old Ranger was the one great man that he ever expected to see. He was tall, slim, erect, with classical features, soft, white hair, moderate mutton-chop whiskers of the same color, with a wonderfully pene- trating, restless gray eye. It was a warm day, and he had his coat off, and his shirt collar unbuttoned, and was battling for Polk for President. He talked rapidly, and held the closest attention of the men, women aud chil- dren present, ever and anon appealing per- sonally and by name to some voter in the audience, and always addressing him by his given name, and so adroitly did he manage this, that by the time he would finish his speech he had thus appealed to about every voter in his audience. It was told of him. that in about every county in Southern Il- linois he could pass through them on an elec- tioneering tour, and shake hands with every voter he met, and call him, by his given name. His knowledge of men, his ready wit, his practical, shrewd sense, his big, warm and generous heart, and incorruptible integrity both in private and public life, were the som'ces of his invincible power among the people. When the least bit embarrassed, he had a singular way of rubbing his hand down over his face and at the same time giving his nose a slight pull. His speeches were some- what in a familiar conversational manner, and interjected with side remarks that were explanatory and often intensely amusing. In many respects he was admirably equipped for a great and successful demagogue, and for sixty- five years he plied his vocation to such an advantage that he occupied from time to time nearly all the exalted positions in the State, as well as Financial Agent of the State in negotiating the Internal Im- provement Loan of $4,000,000 to Europe. HISTORY OF UNIOX COUNTY. 303 It is not proposed here to give a detailed biography of the Old Ranger, for this is a familiar subject to all our people. His last years among us was the happy rounding out of a well-spent and valuable life. And when started once upon his favorite^ theme, the venerable old kindly face would kindle and flame with recollections of the pioneer times and people, and his talk became as intensely interesting as his fund of incident and anec- dote seemed inexhaustible, and of him and about him there was current among the people nearly an equal fund of anecdote. These the old Governor never referred to in his conversations, especially that one in refer- ence to his sentencing, while on the circuit bench, a man to be hung: "Mr. Green," said the Judge, addressing the prisoner, " the jury and the law have found you guilty of murder. I am very sorry for you Mr. Green. I wish you would send word to your friends down on Flat Creek that it was the jury and the law, and not me, that sentenced you to be hung. What day would suit you best to be hung, Mr. Green? Well, 1 will do all I can for you. The law permits me to extend your life four weeks and I will give you all the time I can." Then addressing the clerk he said : * ' Mr. Clerk, I wish you would look at the almanac and see if next Friday four weeks comes on Sunday? " " You see, I don't want to hang you on Sunday, Mr. Green." And thus this really sad and afflicting duty of this kind-hearted ofl&cial was gotten through with. Green was duly hung, but his friends on Flat Creek, as Green exhorted them from the scaffold to do, always afterward voted for the Old Ranger unanimously. The old Governor would often in his speeches, especially if there were ladies present, tell the story about his riding along the road one day in the early time, and coming and wagon. He finally asked her opinion of the coimtry. "Oh; well," said the good dame, " it seems to be good enough for men and dogs, but is powerful tryin' on women and oxen." The first term of the Circuit Court convened in Union County was in Jonesboro, at the house of Jacob Hunsaker, May 11, 1818; Daniel P. Cook, Presiding Judge. A picture of this pioneer court room and the gathering of the people in this humble log house of jus- tice, in their hunting shirts, coon-skin caps, and generally each man with his shot -pouch hanging to his side, and early as it was in the spring, many of them barefoot, and the others with deer-skin moccasins; when the grand jury, after being charged by the court with the affairs of the county and the weal or woe of litigants or criminals, filed out in solemn silence in the charge of an officer of the court, who conducted them a short dis- tance in the woods to their grand jury room, which consisted simply of a log lying be- neath the old forest trees; and then, after a hot trial as to whom the meat belonged to of a certain wild hog that one hunter had shot and another had captured, to see the petit jury similarly file out to another log in another part of the woods to be "locked up," or rather seated on another log to deliberate on their verdict. We say, this in a picture would now look curious and very rude in- deed. And so it was in some respects, and yet when more deeply studied and under- stood, it would be seen that there were here in this log court house, with all its primitive surroundings, men of ability, education, and forensic talents, that might have adorned the most elevated or historical woolsacks in the world. Daniel P. Cook will take his place in the history of Illinois as second to no other man u ^ w,-j1 I woman who was driving an ox teamin the State except Stephen A. Douglas. He 304 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. came from Missouri to Kaskaskia a very young man and in very delicate health; stud- ied law with his uncle, Nathaniel Pope; was admitted to the bar, and at once took his position among the great lawyers of his day; was the Territorial Delegate in Congress, and framed the measure and passed it through Congress admitting the State into the Union; in 1819, was elected Attorney General of the State, and afterward a mem- ber of Congress, defeating^ McLean in a con- test extending all over Southern Illinois, and that was conducted by joint discussions, and, it is said, was never excelled for displaying great talents, unless it was in the campaign of Douglas and Lincoln in 1858. In the bill to admit Illinois, the committee reported the north boundary line of the State to run due west on a line parallel with the southern bend of Lake Michigan, and it is due to Judge Cook that this was changed to its present line, and thus the fourteen northern counties, including the city of Chicago, were taken from the Territory of Wisconsin. He showed Congress that the lakes of the North and constant navigation at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers must not be separated by dividing State lines — that Illinois must be made a Keystone State of the Mississippi Valley. He then foresaw would come the great questions between the North and the South that did come, and his wise forethought was the architect of the West and of the Union as we now have it, and it is highly probable that his action here did more ultimately to preserve the integi-ity of the union of States in the late civil war than any other one thing in our history. Such was something of the magnificent record of a man who sank into his grave at the age of thirty- seven years, and who nearly all his life was an invalid and sufferer. His brief life, his wonderful achievements, his lingering death from consumption upon the threshold of his manhood, are, indeed, "a strange, eventful story." His was one of the few lives that adorned the morning of the nineteenth century, and was a blessing to American civilization that only ignoble de- scendants will ever forget or cease to cherish. At this, the first term of the court, the Sheriff returned the following grand jury: James Westbrook, George Woo If, John Riton, John Weigle, John Mcintosh, Michael Lin- burg, Thomas Sams, Joel Boggis, Alexander Beggs, Benjamin McCravens, James Murphy, John Whitaker, Nicholas Wilson, Samuel Sprood, Rice Sams, David Mclntuff, Benja- min Worthenton, Adam Clapp, Richard Mc- Bride, George Godwin, Henry Lamer, John Crise, David Penrod, and Owen Evans. John Whitaker was appointed foreman. James Evans, Esq., on exhibiting license from the Superior Court, was admitted as an attorney at law. This was then known as the Western Dis- trict of the Territory of Illinois. The first day's proceedings were a contin- uance of the case of Daniel Ritter vs. Joseph Taylor, action on the case. Letters of ad- ministration were granted John Bradshaw, on the estate of Charles Murphy. The case of Joseph Taylor vs. Thomas Giles, con- tinued. A judgement taken upon confession against John Stokes, one of the defendants, for $L10. The grand jary returned into court an in- dictment against John C. Thomas, felony. The court disposed of case of " Milly, a black woman," on habeas corpus, was dismissed. On the second day, the case of John C. Thomas, continued for the term. The next criminal case was the indictment against Samuel G. Penrod for retailing liquors. The second term of the court was held by Judge John Warnock. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 305 Johnson Renny was, at the September term, May, 1818, admitted to practice law. At this term of the com't, William Russell is ad- mitted as an attorney. Mr. E. K. Kane also appeared as an attorney. At this term, John Reynolds, the " Old Ranger," appeared as an attorney. At a term court, May 13, Richard M. Young produced License and was admitted as an attorney. On Tuesday, September 14, 1819, David T. Maddox was ad- mitted as an attorney. At this term of the court, Daniel T. Coleman prosecuted his suit for divorce against his wife, Judah. A jury was called and the divorce granted. At April term, on April 10, 1820, Charles Dunn produced in court a license to practice law and was duly enrolled. Thomas Rey- nolds was acting as Circuit Attorney. April term, 1821, Thomas C. Browne was the Presiding Judge. David J. Baker appears as an active and practicing attorney at this term. In another chapter, we have given the ox'der of the organization of the County Commis- sioners' Court, the platting of the town of Jonesboro, and the election and appointment of the county officers, and the commence- ment of the work of putting into operation the county machinery, which constituted the county's government. When the little county ship of State was duly launched, it was in power over the large territory that now em- braces Union, Alexander and Pulaski Coun- ties, and contained a population in 1818 of 2,482 souls, and was in the number of its in- habitants the fifth county in the State. The counties outnumbering it were Gallatin, with 3,256 people; Madison, 5,456; Randolph, 2,939; and St. Clair, 4,519. The total pop- ulation of Illinois at that time was 40,156. Joseph Palmer, as stated, was the first Sheriff of the county, and he and the Com- missioners' Court, upon a settlement, could not agree, and the court cjlaimed he was $260 behind in his payments of money collected, and they entered judgments for that amount, and also assessed the State penalty, which was that such delinquents were to pay twelve per cent per month from the rendering of such judgments until the judgment should be paid. The case was in litigation some time, and finally compromised by the court allow- ing a part of Palmei^'s set-offs, and his pay- ing'the remainder. In 1821, George Hun- saker was the Sheriff of the county. Abner Field was acting as County and Circuit Clerk, and his entire salary for performing the duties of the two offices for one year was .|60. He resigned. Wiustead Davie, at the April tenn, 1822, of the Circuit Court, was ap- pointed Clerk, by Judge Browne, Presiding Judge. And at the March term, 1823, there appears upon the records the following : " Winstead Davie having been before ap- pointed Clerk, in the place of Abner Field, resigned, he presented his bond as Clerk of the Circuit and County Court, Recorder and Notary Public." The bond was approved. There is no man whose history is more closely interwoven with the early accounts of the county, or whose history is more interest- ing and instructive, than that of Winstead Davie. A complete story of his life would read like a well-constructed romance. Born with physical infirmities that rendered him a cripple for life — requiring the constant use of two crutches — he commenced in poverty the struggle for existence, and worked out a career that points him out as the child of destiny. He was the crippled, helpless in- valid child of poor parents, with a large family of children. It is told of him, that in his youth he overheard his parents talking and lamenting over his affliction and his 306 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY gloomy outlook for the future. They agreed he would be a burden upon them as long as he or they lived ; that they would tenderly care for him as long as they lived, then in- voke the protecting mercies of heaven, and resign him to this not very charitable world. The hearing of this conversation was the tiu-ning point in the youth's life. Every word had sunk deeply in his heart, and, young and crippled as he was, he looked fortvine in the face, and resolved that he would go out into the world and tight his own battles of life. He commenced to educate himself, and in a year or two concluded he was prepared to teach school. It is told of him that the first house he visited for the purpose of making up his school, the family saw the poor cripple hobbling toward their door, and, supj^osing he was a beggar, slammed the door in his face, and he was compelled to turn away. But he persevered, and became a school teacher. In 1817, he came to Illinois, and among those rough peo- ple commenced a school a short distance be- low Jonesboro. Afterward he was put in possession of a small stock of goods in Jones- boro, to sell on commission. For many years he was Recorder, County and Circuit Clerk, and Probate Judge, and he was eventually able to purchase the stock of goods that he had been managing on commission. 80 in- timately had his life become interwoven wdth the courts of the county, that when it came to adopt the design for the county seal, it appropriately was formed representing Davie sitting at a desk writing, showing^ his crooked and crippled lower limbs, and crossed and forming an arch above the desk were his two crutches. It is now to be regretted that this design was ever changed and a new seal adopted, as was done, and an account of which appears in the preceding chapter. When IVIr. Davie had purchased the little store, he then commenced his true career, and he extended, enlarged and pushed the busi- ness, successfully fighting his way against Willis Willard, his brother-in-law, or any and all competition that could come against him, and he retired from office and gave his entire attention to his business, which soon grew to vast proportions. He possessed an energy, clear, strong judgment and a fore- sight in all business affairs that were never at fault. His physical defects were more than compensated for in his active and pow- erful intellect, and he amassed great wealth, and at one time had more employes and de- pendents than any other man in the county. His master mind guided and controlled and managed much of the business affairs of the county, and here he was even more valuable to the growing young community than he had been as an officer and executive in the official matters of the county. His charity was ex- pansive and just, and while he ruled with firm decision and strong emphasis, he scrupu- lously rewarded merit and never overlooked, even in his humblest dependents, true worth. Nature had so equipped him for life that the very misfortunes that environed him were converted into stimulants to urge him forward to the accomplishment of great enterprises, where others under the same circumstances would have despaired and turned their faces to the poor house. He married Anna Williard and it is whis- pered that at this important period of his life he met the same troubles that attended his first effort to secure a school. The same old objection was made, that he was a cripple and poor, and here again came back and was re- newed the great resolve of his boyhood, that he would have a fortune that should equal or surpass that of those who urged these objec- tions against him, and he did. Like the generality of cripples, he was HISTORY OF rXION COUNTY. 30" very sensitive on the subject, and never al- luded to it. When it was spoken of by others in his presence, he would change the subject, and any attempt to force sympathy upon him was sternly rejected. On one occasion, after he had sold a customer a large bill of goods, and all was satisfactorily settled, the custom- er commenced the usual story of his sorrow and sympathy for Davie's misfortunes. Da- vie made several efforts to turn the subject, and when h*s patience was exhausted he gave the man a most meaning look and answered, ' ' Yes, yes, but after all it is better to be crip- pled in the legs than in the head." Some years ago, Mr. Davie divided the bulk of his large property among his children and retired from business life. His great mind had burned out its strength and brightness, and a recluse and an invalid he day by day and now almost hour by houi- calmly awaits that summons from the high court of God that will come to us all. Richard M. Young was among the earliest lawyers in Union County. He was appointed pro tern. Circuit Attorney at the March term of the Circuit Court in 1823. Judge Young was a bright young man, and had the gift of fine colloquial powers, and in his intercourse with men was smooth and urbane, and al- together an address well calculated to irh- press all he met as a man of excellence and worth, in which lay the secret of his success, rather than in the force, vigor and compass of intellect. His talents were respectable, and above mediocrity. He was a Kentuckian, of spare build, rather tall, educated, and a lawyer by profession. In 1824, he was elected by the Legislature one of live Circuit Judges, and assigned to the Second Circuit He was elected to succeed Gen. W. L. D. Ewing in the United States Senate, and served out a full term, from March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1843. Samuel McRoberts was his principal opponent ; Archie Williams and Gen. Ewing also received some votes, the former twenty-one and the latter thirteen. In 1839, Judge Young was appointed by Gov. Carlin one of the State agents, in connection with Gov. Reynolds, to negotiate the $4,000,- 000 canal loan, for which purpose they re- paired to Europe, and their advances of $1,- 000,000 in Illinois bonds to the house of Wright & Co., of London,- proved a heavy loss to the State. Yet, under party operations, be- fore his Senatorial term expired, he was made, February 3, 1842, a Supi-eme Judge, a posi- tion which he held until 1847. He died in W^ashington in an insane asylum. Alexander and Abner Field were here at the very commencement of the county's ex- istence. They were men of strong charac- ters, and Alexander Field's long life career clearly points out that he was no ordinary man. He took from the very tirst of his en- try into the bar a commanding position. A good lawyer, sound reasoner and a brilliant orator, either at the bar or on the stump. He won his way to a large law practice, and from county offices was appointed Secretary of State December 31, 1828, and with a con- stant war upon him of rival candidates for that office, he held it until November 30, 1840. When he became Secretary of State, be changed his residence to Vandalia and Springfield, and for years he was one of the " circuit riders " of the Illinois bench and bar, and continued to add to his already ex- tended reputation as one of the celebrated lawyers of that time that was noted for its remarkable men. He seems to have been of a roving, restless disposition. He removed his home to St. Louis, and for some years was among the foremost lawyers of that city. Then he went to New Orleans, and there made his home until his death, a few years ago, at an advanced age. 3C8 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. In 1821, George Hunsaker was Sheriff of Union County. At the September term of this year. Constantine Kessler appeared iu open court, and, after taking the oath of allegiance, was admitted a citizen of the United States. At the March term, 1824, Thomas Browne was the presiding Judge. This year. John Hunsaker was elected and qualified as Sherifi'. In 1825, Samuel McRoberts was the Circuit Judge, Sidney Breese, Circuit Attorney, W. Davie, Clerk, and John Hunsaker, Sheriff. Judge Samuel McRoberts, the first native Illinoisian ever elevated to the high office of a United States Senator from this State, was born April 12, 1799, in what is now Monroe County, his father residing on a farm. He received a good English education, and at the early age of twenty, he was appointed Cir- cuit Clerk of Monroe County, a position which afforded him opportunities to become familiar with the forms of law, which he eagerly embraced, pursuing at the same time a most assiduous course of reading. Two years later, he entered the law department of Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky., where, after three full courses of lectures, he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He commenced the practice of law in competition with such men as Kane, Rey- nolds, Mills, Mears, Blackwell, Star, Clark, Baker, Eddy, McLean, etc. In 1824, at the age of twenty-five, he was elected by the Legislature one of the five Circuit Judges. As Judge, he first publicly exhibited strong partisan bias. In 1824, he had been a violent convention advocate and now, in defiance of a release by the Legislature, he assessed a fine against Gov. Coles for settling his emanci- pated slaves in Madison County, without giving bond that they should not become a public charge; he also removed a Circuit Clerk in the same county, and appointed another in his place, from partisan motives, which caused a great outcry at the time and contributed largely to the repeal of the Circuit Court system in 1827. In 1828, he was elected a State Senator, and in 1830 was ap- pointed United States District Attorney for this State; in 1832, Receiver of the public money's in the Danville Land Office, and in 1839 Solicitor of the General Land Office at Washington. When the State banks of 1837 passed into Whig control by their organiza- tion, Judge McRoberts, with others, opposed them and they were refused the Land Office moneys as deposits, to aid in crippling them. On the 16th of December, 1840, Samuel McRoberts was elected United States Senator for a full term, commencing March 4, 1841. He received on the first ballot seventy-seven votes, Cyrus Edwards, the Whig nominee, fifty and E. D. Baker, 1. He died March 22, 1843, in Cincinnati, at the house of his old friend Judge James Hall, formerly of Shaw- neetown, on his route home from Washington, in the vigor of his intellectual manhood, at the age of forty- four years. Judge Mc- Robert was of medium height, spare build, nervous, bilious temperament. His mind clear and strong and precise. An industrious student and given to over-exertion. He was swayed by a stubborn will, high ambition and unbounded energy. He governed by the power of will, rather than address and bland- ishments. Sidney Breese, who appeared as prosecut- ing attorney at this same term of the court, with Judge McRoberts, succeeded R. M. Young to the United States Senate for a full term, from March 4, 1843. He was the Democratic caucus nominee, and was elected December 17, 1842, on the first ballot, by 108 votes, to his opponent, Archibald Will- iams' 49. He was a native of Oneida County, N. Y., HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 309 and was educated in Union College. He had been the school-fellow of Elias Kent Kane, who was his senior. After the latter had been appointed Secretary of State, in 1818, he wrote for young Breese to join him. This gave him great advantages in the new State. In 1820, he commenced the practice of law in Jackson County, but met with only failure before court and jury, and, over- whelmed with mortification, resolved to aban- don his profession. The next year, he was Postmaster at Kaskaskia. la 1822, Gov. Bond appointed him Circuit Attorney, in which position Gov. Coles retained him, but Edwards did not. In 1831, he prepared and published "Breese's Reports" of our Supreme Court decisions, being the first book ever published in the State. The next year, he took part in the Black Hawk war — being a Major. On the establishment of the Circuit Court system, in 1835, he was chosen Judge, in which capacity the McClernand Field case came before him— an exciting political ques- tion—concerning the power of the Governor to remove the incumbent of the office of the Secretary of State, which he decided with an elaborate opinion in favor of the relator, but which the Supreme Court reversed. Upon the reorganization of that court, in 1841, resulting in a great part from this question, he was elected one of the five Democratic Supreme Judges. As a Senator, he occupied the seat of his old schoolmate and friend, E. K. Kane. Upon the expiratioji of his term, he was elected, in 1850, to the Legislature, and was made Speaker of the House. In 1855, he was again elected Circuit Judge, and two years later, on the resignation of Judge Scates, again elevated to the Supreme bench, which position he held to the time of his death. An estimate of his mental character- istics, and his estimate as a statesman and jurist, will be found in another chapter of this work, in which is the account of the Illinois Central Railroad. At the October term, 182G, David J. Baker, Sr., was appointed Circuit Attorney. The next year, 1827, Phillip Hargrave was Sheriff of the County, and W instead Davie filed bonds and entered upon a new term of oflice as Circuit Clerk. In 1828, William J. Gate- wood was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the term. October term, 1828, Phillip Har- grave entered upon second term of Sheriff. At the October term, 1830, Richard J. Ham- ilton was appointed, p/"o tern., Prosecuting Attorney. The next year, Henry Eddy ap- pears as the regular Circuit Attorney. Octo- ber term, 1831, Alvan Cook presented license and was enrolled. A. F. Grant was the Prosecuting Attorney. In 1832, the records show the name of John Dougherty as a regu- lar attorney of the coui't; and at this time appear the names of Hardin, Rumsey and Evans as of the bar of Union County. In 1832, Champin Anderson was sworn into the office of Sheriff; Davie still Clerk; Jacob Grammer, Coroner. These were all re-elected in 1834. At the May term, 1835, Alexander F. Grant was Presiding Judge. In the same year, Justin Harlan held the November term of the court, and John Dougherty was the Prosecuting Attorney. Walter B. Scates was one of the attorneys at this term of court. At the April term, 1836, Jeptha Har- din was Judge, and same term, iu 1837, Walter B. Scates presided. Wiley J. David- son was the Sheriff and Jacob Grammer was still Coroner. In 1840, Jacob Davis was Sheriff, and Judge C. Campbell, Coroner. At the May term, 1841, Willis Allen was Prosecuting Attorney, and among the other attorneys was Judge Billings. At this term of the court, Sidney S. Condon was appointed Clerk. October term, 1841, Willis Allen was, 310 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. pro tern., Prosecuting Attorney. May, 1842, John A. McClernand appeared uraong the attorneys. In 1842, Thomas Hodges was Sheriff, S. S. Condon, Clerk, and H. F. Walker, Coroner. AV. A. Denning was Pros- ecuting Attorney in 1845. In 1844, Daniel Hileman was Probate Judge of the county. At September term, 1847, W. A. Denning was the presiding Judge; John Grear was County Coroner. In 1849, Thomas Hileman became Clerk of the Circuit Court, Master in Chancery, and Pro- bate Judge. The last two offices he has held ever since, and when he fills out his present term of office, will have held the positions thirty-six years — an average life-time. May, 1851, Alexander J. Nimmo was Sheriff, W. K. Parish, State's Attorney, and John C. Albright, Coroner. May, 1852, James W. Bailey was County Clerk. In 1853, Syrean Davis was Sheriff, John A. Logan, Prosecut- ing Attorney, W. K. Parish, Judge, A. J. Nimmo, Sheriff. 1858, M. C. Crawford was State's Attorney. 1859, Thomas J. Finley, County Clerk, A. M. Jenkins, Judge, Nimmo, Sheriff, Hileman, Clerk, and A. P. Corder, Prosecuting Attorney. 1861, Lorenzo P. Wilcox, Sheriff. At the May term, 1863, Thomas J. Finley, Sherifi, and at the Octo- ber term of the same year, William C. Rich was the Sheriff. 1864, John H. Mulkey, Judge, W. C. Rich, Sheriff, M. C. Crawford, Attorney, and Hileman, Clerk. At May term, 1865, George W. . Wall was Prosecuting At- torney, and A. J. Nimmo, Clerk. 1866, W. H. Green, Presiding Judge. October term, 1867, M. C. Crawford, Judge, Joseph McEl- hany. Sheriff. 1869, W. C. Rich, Sheriff. 1871, Jacob Hileman, Sheriff, Jackson Frick, Prosecuting Attorney, and A. Polk Jones, Clerk. Jones died about one month after entering upon the duties of his office for the third term. The Court appointed Henry P. Cozby Clerk pro tern., who colitinued to fill the place until the election of the present incumbent, Ed. M. Barnwell. In 1878, there were elected for this judicial district Judges Daniel M. Browning, Oliver A. Harker, and David J. Baker. Among the attorneys resident of the coun- ty, we have given an extended account of the earliest who were here, including Gov. Dougherty. Succeeding these were M. C. Crawford, John E. Nail, James H. Smith,. David L. Phillipps, W. A. Hacker, W. L. Dougherty, Wesley Davidson, Semple G. Parks, who is now Judge of the County Court of Perry County. W. A. Hacker was a native of this county, and was educated at West Point. He re- moved to Alexander .County, and died there a few years later. W. L. Dougherfcy was a son of Gov. Dougherty, and was considered one of the promising young attorneys of the county. Wesley Davidson was a school-mate of the writer of these lines at McKendree College. He was a good, average bright student, but was impulsive and inclined to be erratic. He was drowned a few years ago. John E. Nail was a common law and chan- • eery practitioner of good abilities. Read law with J. H. Smith, of Chicago. Located in Union County, and commenced the prac- tice of his profession. Married Sarah J. Dishon. Alexander N. Dougherty studied law in his father's (Gov. Dougherty's) office. Was admitted to the bar in 1863, and died in Jonesboro in 1878. W. A. Spann was a native of Union Coun- ty, now of Johnson County. He has been twice in the Legislatui'e from his district, W. S. Day is a native of Tennessee. He came to Union County when very young, studied law with Judge Crawford, and has HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. •611 already reached a prominent position at the bar. Robert W. Townes, a native of Illinois, was admitted to the bar in 1861, and imme- diately went to the war as Orderly Sergeant in Company C, Eighteenth Illinois Volun- teers. He was soon transferred to the Thir- ty-first Regiment and made Adjutant thereof, acting as Acting Adjutant General to Gen. Logan in the Fort Donelson battle. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. When he returned from the war, he located in Duquoin, and. engaged in the active practice of his profession. He was elected Prosecut- irg Attorney for the Third Judicial District, and. served the term with ability and great fidelity. He was at one time Secretary of the Illinois State Senate. David L. Brooks, a son of Dr. B. W. Brooks, was a member of the Union County bar as far back as 1852. He was a very bright young lawyer. He died in 1845. Jackson Frick, son of Caleb Frick, was born in Jonesborn in 1849. He graduated at Yale College, and was universally consid- ered a most promising and brilliant young man. He studied law with Judge Crawford. He died on the very threshold of his young life in 1877. Mathew J. Inscore, a native of Robinson County, Tenn. Was admitted about 1860, and has commanded a large practice. Thomas H. Phillipps, a native of St. Clair County, 111. His biography will be found in another column. William C. Moreland, born in Tennessee, studied law with Col, Bob Townes, and was admitted in 1877. Hon. Sidney Greer is a native of Union County, studied law with Gov. Dougherty; was licensed as attorney in 1879, and is now serving a term in the Legislature as a Repre- sentative. David W. Karraker, the present County At- torney, is a native of Union County, read law with Gov. Dougherty, and was admitted to the bar in 1879. W. C. Rich was admitted in 1880 to the practice of the law. He has served the peo- ple as County Treasurer and also us County Superintendent of Schools. Hugh Andrews, one of the present practic- ing attorneys of the county. His biography will be found in another part of this work. Jesse Ware is a native of Ohio, and was licensed as a lawyer in 1857. He came to the, State in 1855, and studied law with Judge Reeves, of Bloomington, 111. He has served two terms in the State Senate, commencing in 1872 and retiring in 1880. W. B. Maxey came to the county when three years old, and has lived in Union Coun- ty. He studied law with W. S. Day and was admitted to the practice in 1882. H. F. Bussey, a native of St. Louis, came to Anna in 1877. He is thirty-one years old; studied law with M. J. Inscore, and was ad- mitted in 1881. Judson Phillipps is a native Illinoisian, only recently admitted to the bar, and has opened an office in Anna. Townsend W. Foster, of Cobden, was ad- mitted in 1881. This includes the prominent facts of the bench and bar of Union County. The rem- iniscences and anecdotes and remarkable cir- cumstances of the earliest day of the legal life of the county are now mostly forgotten, and are buried with those who were here and were actors, but have now passed away. Pre- vious to the organization of Union County, there was here a community which grew to more than two thousand people, and were literally without " law or gospel " — without schools, churches or officers of the law. Their courts and police and marshals were only 312 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. public opinion, and a few simple modes of punishing bad men that were mild, swift, certain and efifective. All crimes above a cer- tain grade, such as are now here grand and petit larceny, were punished by banishment, and others by whipping, and still others by the contempt and manifest loathing toward the guilty by the entire community. The establishing of the new order of things came strangely to these people. We believe it was Gov. Reynolds who tells of an early court. The grand jury found a true bill against a man for hog stealing. The jury had not the assistance of trained lawyers to write their indictments, and they had no idea how to word it. They searched among the records and law books, and finally found an indictment for murder. They copied this, merely substituting the thief's name for that of the murderer, where it occurred in the in- strument, and depended on an "aside remark" to the court to explain that that particular case was hog murder and not human slaugh- ter. And upon this indictment the man'^was tried, convicted, whipped and ordered out of the country, with as much justice, accuracy, and with as certain bringing out of the truth in the case as was ever done in a court where the most learned and noted lawyer had drawn all the miserable verbiage and idiotic iteration and reiteration that would make a perfect indictment. It is an old story that necessity is the mother of invention. In this necessity of this jury was made a true discovery, but it was allowed to sleep and be forgotten. Its memory passed away and left no impression. The reader can see for him- self the moral force of the incident. It dem- onstrated that the idea of the old common law indictment and its technicalities, and quibs, and quibbles are mere nonsense, and that their day of usefulness has passed away centuries ago. The vast intricacies, machin- ery, subtleties, formalities, red tape and child- ish puerilities of our ignorant ancestors of the dark ages — the dreary ages of feudalism and slavery — are brought down to afflict and curse the people, and the courts, legislators and lawyers cling to these barbarisms with a tenacity that makes our highest courts and most learned law-makers the objects of the sneers and contempt of all men of sense. The result is that the law that should only pi-otect and guard the people's rights and liberties is a vast machinery of oppression, outrage and wrong. The courts are largely the refuge of scoundrels, and the dread and horror of good men. Can any man tell why we retain the grand jury — a secret star chamber — that is a menace to the rights and privileges of every good man in community ; with its pre- miums and rewards to every sneak, coward and scoundrel in the world to go and stab his neighbor in the dark and assassinate his fair name, and make the people foot the bills of his diabolical acts. This clinging to old bar- barisms and abominations for centuries are an index, that cannot be mistaken, that the majority of men are mere creatures of custom and habits, and are no more given to look at things and reflect about them than is a nest of blind mice. 1818 — The convention to adopt the State Constitution assembled at Kaskaskia in July. Adjourned August 26, of same year. There were thirty-three delegates. The Constitu- tion was adopted without being submitted to the people. Approved by Congress Decem- ber 3, 1818. The members from Union County were William Echols and John Whit- aker. In the State Legislature of the same year Thomas Cox was Senator, and Jesse Echols, Representative. 1820 — Edmund B. W. Jones, Senator, and Samuel Omelveny, Representative. m:m 'x£^^aJ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 315 1822 — John Grammer, Senator; Alexander P. Field, Representative. 1824 — Alexander P. Field, of Union, was a Presidential Elector. In 1828 Richard M. Young was an elector, and in 1852 Edward Omelveny. Assembly, 1824-26 — John Grammer was ^ Senator for Union and Alexander ; John S. Hacker and John Whitaker, Representatives. Assembly, 1826-28 — George Hunsaker, Sen- ator, and Alexander P. Field, Representative. 1830-32 — John Grammer, Senator, from Union, Johnson and Alexander Counties, and Joseph L. Priestly, Representative from Union. 1832-34 — John Dougherty, Representative from Union. 1834-36— John S. Hacker, Senator, Brazil B. Craig, Representative. 1836-38 — John Dougherty, Representa- tive, 1838-40— John S. Hacker, Senator, and Jacob Zimmerman, Representative. 1840-42 — John Dougherty Representative. 1842-44 — John Dougherty, Senator, and John Cochran, Representative. 1846-48 — John Dougherty, Senator, Mat- thew Stokes, Representative. 1848-50 — John Cochran, Representative. 1850-52 — Cyrus G. Simmonds, Repre- sentative. 1852-54 — John Cochran, Representative. 1856-58 — John Dougherty, Representative. 1858-60 — W. A. Hacker, Representative. 1862-64 — James H. Smith, Representative. 1864-66— W. H. Green, Senator, H. W. Webb, Representative. 1868-70— John Dougherty, President of the Senate; Lieutenant Governor. 1872-74 — Jesse Ware, Senator, M. J. Inscore, Representative. 1880 — Sidney Grear, Representative. In the Constitutional Convention of 1847, Samuel Hunsaker represented Union County. In the Convention of 1862, W. A. Hacker represented Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties. In the Convention of 1870, W. J. Allen represented the same counties. The following letter will be read with universal interest, and is an admirable illus- tration of the ideas of a government as entertained by our fathers. It is from the Hon. Samuel Hunsaker, and was written while in attendance at Springfield upon the Constitutional Convention of 1847, and is ad- dressed to Judge T. Hileman. Springfield. 111., July 17, 1847. Dear Sir: I received your kind letter of the 10th inst. on yesterday, and will proceed to give you all that I have of interest, though it is but little. We are moving along but slowly in framing a constitu- tion for the people. I am entirely disappointed in my calculations, knowing as I did that I had but one motive in coming to this convention, and that was, to do the will of the people in making such changes as would be conducive to their interests and promote their future welfare. I reasonably con- cluded that at least a majority of the members would feel a like disposition, but, sad and strange to tell, it appears entirely different, for whenever any- thing is brought up that looks like retrenchment it is jumped on by lawyers and doctors and young politicians and strangled instantly. We have gone through the executive and legislative reports in committee of the whole, made some changes, but if we can get them through the convention as they are, I think they will do some good, though they are not according to my mind. The Governor is to be elected once in four years, salary, $1,250, appoint his own Secretary, with a salary of $800; the num- ber of members in the Legislature, seventy-five in the House and twenty-five in the Senate, with $2 per day for the first forty-two days, and $1 per day after that; 10 cents per mile for travel; elections to be on the first Monday in November, which we of the south are entirely opposed to, and will use every exertion to have changed. The report of the Committee on the Judiciary will come up on Monday, which I presume will occupy at least a week ; it is very ob- jectionable, I think, in some of its features; it creates three Supreme Judges and twelve Circuit Judges, the Supreme Judges to receive $1,200 and Circuit Judges $1,000 per annum. I suppose the 316 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. salary would not be much too high, but their num- ber is too great; it also provides that one term of the Supreme Court shall be held yearly in each Judicial Circuit, the Judges, Clerks and all, to be elected by the people. I have no idea now that we shall get away from here before September, and when I look forward and see the amount of business before us, and look back on what we have done, it appears as though we would not get through in twelve months, but I still hope for the better. I still think they will get tired after awhile, and become willing to do things up and go home. I think that I shall never have any desire to be in such a body again, but I will try to perform my duty faithfully, to the best of my abilities this time. I am enjoying reasonable good health. I have lost no time from the House. Give my respects to all, and accept for yourself my true friendship. (Signed) Samuel Hunsaker. A letter from Jonesboro, published in the Cairo Bulletin, of December 9, 1870, tells of an episode that thrown much light on the loQg-drawn struggle of rivalry between the towns of Jonesboro and Anna. The letter, among other things, says: " Yesterday was a day of intense excitement in Jonesboro and Anna. It is known that a spirit of opposi- tion and rivalry exists between the two places. Two years ago an effort was made in our State Legislature to submit the question of the removal of the county seat from Jones- boro to Anna to a vote of the people of Union County. This effort failed through the schemes, etc., of certain parties. The County Court, at a recent session, ordered Mr. Keonig, County Surveyor, to prepare plans and specifications for building a new jail. The people of Anna, etc., were opposed to building a jail until the location of the county seat had been decided by the people at the ballot box, and prepared a petition, very numerously signed, to be presented to the County Court. Yesterday was the day appointed to receive the report of Mr. Keo- nig; whereupon Charles M. Willard, Esquire Bohanan and Mr. Lence came over from Anna, appeared before the court and asked permission to present their petition. Per- mission was granted, and Mr. Willard read it. Soon as he concluded the reading, the County Judge fined Messrs. Willard, Bo- hanan and Lence $50 each, and ordered them to remain in the custody of the Sheriff until the fines were paid, for contempt of court. The Deputy Sheriff immediately marched them to the jail. Upon arrival at the gloomy^ desolate and filthy old stone hut, Mr. Wil- lard, on account of ill health, concluded not to pass its iron grates, and paid his fine. Bohanan and Lence, on the contrary, marched into the felon's cell with a firm step and a determinatioD to await their fate. When Mr. Willard returned to Anna and gave an account of the affair, the excitement beggared description. ' Let us go over and tear down the jail and liberate Bohanan and Lence,' said one. * Oh, what an outrage,' said an- other. ' Did not our fathers fight the Revo- lution for the right of petition?' was fre- quently asked. Attorneys left immediately for Cairo with a petition to Judge Baker for a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of the pris- oners." Of course these martyrs in the " old stone bastile " were in the end liberated — the ex- cited people of Anna slept off their anger and " grim-visaged war smoothed his wrink- led front," but the rivalry and opposition of the two towns have kept their fires still burn- ing brightly upon the watch-towers. In the matter of moving the county seat, Jones- boro is in possession, and with the " nine points of law," she has been able to thwart the plans of Anna thus far. A little incident in the office of the County Clerk is deemed worthy of mention: Andrew Deordoff succeeded Davie as County Clerk in' 1841, and served one term. He was suc- ceeded by Wilcox, who served one term. Randolph V. Marshall was then elected HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 317 Clerk, and had served one term, and was bo popular that he was re-elected, and just after he had entered upon his second term he ran away, and was never heard of again. Judge Hileman appointed Wesley Davidson to fill out his term until an election was held, when Thomas Finley was elected to the office, in which he remained until 1861, when A. J. Nimmo was elected, and the next term James Evans was elected, and the Governor refused as long as he could to issue Evans' certificate of election, because he deemed him disloyal. Evans' disloyalty, it seems, Cfjnsisted in be- ing the Democratic editor of the county at one time, and a strong and vigorous writer; he had lashed without mercy the Belknaps, Babcocks and Dorseys of the other party, and therefore he was disloyal. Nimmo was elected Clerk again in 1869, and at the end of his term William Hanners was elected, and continued in the office until 1883, when the present incumbent, J. H. Hilboldt,wa8 elected. The circumstances attending the sudden disappearance of Marshall were somewhat singular. He was a man of pleasant address and great piety, a leading member of the church and Sunday school His morals were considered most exemplary. In some way or other he came into the possession of a coun- terfeit $20 bill. He had passed it once and it was returned to him. He had offered it to a Jonesboro merchant, who judged it to be counterfeit. He then passed it upon a preacher, who was a book agent, who sent it to ^Baltimore, when it was returned and marked "counterfeit," and again it confront- ed Marshall. By this time the grand jury was about to assemble, and Marshall fled. The following references to all the laws passed by the Illinois Legislature in refer- ence to Union County, may prove a valuable aid to any one desirous of looking up or in vestigating these subjects: County to share in proceeds of Gallatin Salines; L. Februaiy 16, 1831, 14; borrow money to complete county buildings; L. Feb- ruary 1, 1840, 75; A. Deardoff, acts as Coun- ty Clerk, legalized: L. February 26, 1845, 295; management of school fund; Id. March 3, 321 ; taxes of 1844 remitted in part, ac- count of loss by high water; Id. Februaiy 21, 353; borrow $1,000 to repair coui't house; L. February 11, 1853, 234; borrow $2,500, to build jail; Pr. L.March 4, 1854, 167; bor- row $5,000 to build courthouse; Pr. L. Janu- ary 19, 1857, 25; Sheriff discharged from liability for failing to collect land tax; L. March 27, 1819, 300; Isaac Worley indicted for murder, change of venue; Pr. Laws, Jan- uary 24, 1827, 17; road, America to Vanda- lia, re-location, L. January 7, 1831. 141; ex- amination of said road between Jonesboro and county line south, Pr. L. December 20, 1832-33, 199; same, Jonesboro to Snider's Fer- ry, a State road, L. February 13, 1835, 122; same, Manville's Mills to Saratoga, and Jones- boro to Fredouia, locations, L. February 20, 1843, 252; Champion Anderson, $28.17, for selling bank property, L. February 7, 1835, 78. School lands, Town 12 — 3, sale of; L. De- cember 19, 1835-36, 13Q. Saratoga changed to Western Saratoga, L. January 21, 1843,297. Hygean Spring at West Saratoga chartered; L. March 1, 1845, 113. County charcoal I'oad chartered, Pr. L. February 28, 1847, 160. An- drew Deardoff, $32.67 repaid; Id. February 24, 181; Union Turnpike Co., chartered, Pr. L. February 12, 1849, 104; Jonesboro Plank Road chartered, Pr. L. February 13, 1851, 112; Amended, Pr. L. February 14, 1855, 467; County Agricultural and Mechanical Society chartered, Id. January 30, 110; Va- cated, Pr. L. February 9, 1857, 310; Rand J. Stacy convicted of larceny, restored; L. February 24, 1859, 18; Joseph G. Webb re- stored to citizenship; 2 Pr. L. February 21, 318 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 1867, 812; J. H. McElhaney robbed of $9,363.68; time of payment extended, L. March 13, 1869, 337; D. Gow released from judgment, on recognizance, Id. April 7, 340. The total vote of Union County, 1880, was 3,418. In 1882 it was 3,160. Hancock's majority in the county for President, 1880, was 1,120. The total vote of the precincts were: Anna, 577; Cobden, 473; Alto Pass, 415; Dongola, 523; Jonesboro, 575; Mill Creek, 109; Rich, 218; Stokes, 181; Preston, 42; Union, 152; Saratoga, 201; Meisen- heimer, 112. In the election for Congress- man, 1882, Murphy (D.) 1954; Thomas (R.) 993; McCartney (Pro.) 86. CHAPTEK VIII. THE PRESS— FINLEY AND EVANS, AND THE FIRST NEWSPAPER-' UNION COUNTY DEMOCRAT"— JOHN ORE AR — THE " RECORD," " HERALD" AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS — HOW THE TELEGRAPH PRODUCED DROUGHT — DR. S. S. CON DEN — PRESENT PUBLISHERS AND THEIR ABLE PAPERS — ETC. "A cheil's amang ye, takin' notes." — Burns. THOI^IAS J. FINLEY and John Evans were the first men that had the nerve to start a newspaper here away back in 1849— the Gazette. It was a modest, seven-column, long primer, Democratic weekly paper. Finley was the writer, it seems, and Evans the practical business man. When first is- sued, it attracted some attention, and those who could read at all looked through its well- filled columns with a curious interest, and a good many people had the enterprise to be- come regular subscribers, but the most of them, we are told, made their subscriptions very short-timed, as they had no idea it could possibly live more than a few weeks, and they only cared to get the first few copies in the expectation of laying them away, and after awhile they would have a curiosity to show the people of what a rash attempt Evans and Finley had made to establish a paper in these wild woods. But these print- ers did the most of their own work, and lived along in the most economical way and kept the paper alive — generally getting it out each week, but when their paper failed to come, or the 4th of July came in their way, or Christmas, and sometimes the circus and such distracting accidents and incidents, would cause them to miss a week or two, but they would rally and make ample amends by flooding their readers with resounding edi- torials and anecdotes and quips and italic lines and exclamation points, that would put to shame the most hardened grumbler. The county paper of thirty years ago and now differed in many respects. There was very little of this modern, personal journalism that is so common now. Papers then were more given to long, dry, moralizing and heavy editorials on metaphysical subjects and were quite indififerent, compared with papers of to-day, in the enterprise for news, or scan- dalous sensations. The appetites of readers then had not been whetted for much of the prurient stuff' that is now wired all over the world for the delectation of newspaper read- ers. Publishing papers thirty-five j'ears ago Was not so nearly a distinct profession as it HISTORY or UNION COUNTY. 319 is now. There were fewer readers, but they were more select, and their tastes were not vitiated as now. They studied over the market columns, knowing they were from a week to a month old, with great interest and satisfaction, never dreaming that many of them would live to see the day that the markets and weather reports would some time be reported instantaneously to every village and hamlet in the land. In those days people waited to see what George D. Prentice had to say about a subject before they wotild come to a conclusion. There were two or three editors in the country whose names were a great power in the land, and their printed opinions in their papers were a potent influence upon the country. And scholars were content to wait the coming of the Quarterly Reviews for their mental pabulum on the questions of the day. The country editor was an institution but little, if any, below, in importance, wisdom, and all knowledge upon all subjects, the village schoolmaster. He was in the eyes of many a master of the " black art, " a magician. In the highest work of mankind — the building up of civilization — the press is the one su- preme factor. The post office, bookstore and news stand are places where you may go and see, and measure the ratio of intelligence among the people. Men without thought say, ''look at our schoolhouses and churches!" While back and beyond and more potent than all these combined are the books, periodicals and papers, of which the post office and book store tell the story. A country print- ing office is a dingy place, yet in the hands of a mai_ of an intellect, u.nderstanding his responsible place in life, it is the home and resting-place for genius, where it pauses and plumes its feathers for those inspired and dazzling flights that attract and awe mankind. When the late war closed, there had been completed a revolution in the newspaper pub- lishing business. The telegraph had been utilized, and men had been taught to look for news, and not for the opinions and fine writings of certain individuals. The business of writing for the paper had to adjust it- self to the change of circumstances, and short, crisp editorials, and the news of the hour, and, instead of the long "thundering leader," came the wit, that largely consisted of slang and bad spelling. The metropol- itan press, through the telegraph, and the perfected Hoe press, began to absorb from the country, first, its talent among writers, and then to monopolize the business itself, until the country paper found no other avenue to walk in except the purely local news, gossip, and chit-chat of its immediate lo- cality. The result has been the deteriora- tion of quality of the writing in the countiy press, and improvement in the mechanical department, and somewhat better edited Sheriif sales and tax lists. The solitary county newspaper antedates the railroad in this county. Finley & Evans started their paper in 1849, and the railroad came in 1855. Can you imagine what Fin- ley's rather sharp and trenchant pen was doing for his subscribers when it had failed to scrape off such ignorance as is told of in another part of this work, where they were going to tear down the telegraph wires because they concluded it took all the elec- tricity — thunder and lightning — out of the county, and thus produced the great drought of that year ? The people were suffering for rain, the crops were burning up, and the sufferers called upon the learned pundits and the preachers and big farmers, and they issued their " Pope's bull against the comet," and in the firm conviction that God had ab- dicated, mostly in their favor, they were going to regulate the heat, the cold and the 320 HISTORY or UNION COUNTY. weather. Such egotism and ignorance was never excusable, and it was the high duty of the local paper to have exposed it, and held it up to the ridicule and contempt of all men. There was no paper published here in the early forties, and probably not two subscribers to any papers or paper published in the world, when F. H. Kroh's father startled the county by bringing and exhibit- ing the first matches ever seen here. He had been away off traveling, and had been shown some matches, and he secured a few, and arrived in Jonesboro with them. He told the astounded people what he had, and they wanted to see him "strike fire" with them. He told them to assemble in the pub- lic square after dark and they should see the marvelous exhibition. The word passed around, and the population gathered en masse. Kroh ascended a platform where all could see, and scraped the match, and the bright blaze flashed upon the astounded people. They looked on in awe and terror. The luminous mark made where the match was scraped was felt and smelled and exam- ined by all who could get near enough, and it was pronounced, sure enough, lightning. Mr. Kroh only burned two or three — they were too precious to waste, and the few were enough. The sulphurous smell, the luminous track it left on the wall, the bright and hot blaze of the sulphm- and wood, all combined, warned the people of the angry artillery of heaven, the lurid lightnings of the storm, and the thrice heated and flaming lake of fire and brimstone that was so often preached in ragged thunderbolts at their heads from the Sunday pulpits. And the public made up their minds that matches were a danger- ous, forbidden and unholy invention, and there must not be any more brought to Jones- boro, either to sell or for the purposes of exhibition. They could see nothing but evil in thus mixing the lightning and brimstone, and Kroh was admonished in his future travels to bring no more matches with him, but to leave them to the ungodly and the ignorant. Finley & Evans found but a meager sup- port for their paper, and often it was close work to find ready ways and means to pay for the little white paper they used. They sold the paper to H. E. Hempstead, who ran it with varying success for about two years. In 1855, it was purchased by John Grear, who successfully conducted it for two year^, when it passed, by pm'chase, into the hands of Gov. Dougherty. The Governor was just then deeply engaged in politics, and the paper had carefully trimmed its sails in ac- cord with the Democratic party, under the leadership of Stephen A. Douglas, and when Douglas and Lincoln were arranging the pre- liminaries for the contest for Senator, the paper had begun to skirmish for Douglas, when Dougherty, who was in Springfield, telegraphed to change its course — oppose Douglas, and support the Breckinridge, or " Danite" party. After the election, Dough- erty sold it to a joint stock company. Then McKinney had the control of it for some time, and just about the time of the break- ing-out of the late war, it again passed into the hands and control of Evans. In 1861, Evans went to the war, and before going, sold out to William Jones, who was making it a very successful paper, when a military donkey named Newbold suppressed it be- cause it was a Democratic paper. It had probably had the effrontery to say it loved the Constitution of the United States, or that George Washington was a great and pure patriot, and this masterly idiot, screeching for free speech, suppressed it for treason. The commanding officer of the district re- voked this order of suppression as soon as it HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 321 came to his knowledge, yet the proprietors did not receive it, and for six months the office was closed. It was then purchased and revived by Joel G. Morgan, who made qaite a successful paper of it. He continued in possession until 1864, when he was offered the position of editor of the Cairo Democrat, and he sold to J. D. Ferryman, and removed to Cairo. Morgan was well calculated to run a successful country paper, and was out of his element on a pretentious daily as was then the Cairo Democrat. J. D. Ferryman ran it a short time, and finding it unsatisfac- tory in its returns, left the office and returned to Bond County, his home. During much of the time of the real life of the paper — of its days of ability and useful- ness — it was under the editorial management of Dr. Sidney S. Canden, the strongest and ablest writer the county has yet had. He wrote and published a great deal of matter during twenty years of his life here. His facile pen ran smoothly over the paper, and, when he cared, he could invest his subject in strong and glowing language, but he was negligent about dates, and this often made some of his best contributions almost worth- less. His death, about six years ago, was most sad and terrible. He had been called to see a patient, and on his way returning he was stricken dead by paralysis, and his body was not found until the next day, when it had been mutilated. The Union County Democrat was started in Jonesboro as a Douglas paper or organ, intended to counteract the baneful influence of the Gazette under Dougherty, which was an ti -Douglas. The Democrat was started in the early part of 1858, by a joint-stock com- pany. The principal stockholders were L. P. Wilcox, W. A. Hacker, Mr. Toler, and other leading Democrats. After the election of 1858, the office was moved to Anna. The editor of the Democrat was A. H. Marschalk. Union County Record.— This was a six- column paper, weekly. Was started in Anna in July, 1860, by W^ H. Mitchell, and was strongly Republican in politics. This was quite a vigorous party paper, and was edited and managed with considerable ability. Mr. Mitchell, when he ceased publishing a paper in Anna, left Illinois, and is now engaged in publishing a paper in Minnesota. Union County Herald. — This was venture No. 3 in the way of newspaper enterprises in Anna. This was independent in politics, and its proprietor, Mr. Rich, had been paid a bonus of $500 to establish his paper. Mr. Rich soon sold to Dr. J. J. Underwood, and after a short and precarious existence it died. The office was sold and moved to Cairo. The Anna Union was started in 1874 by A. J. Alden, a Republican organ in politics. Mr. Alden lived in Cairo, and came to Anna, and when his paper was sold to J. J. Penny he returned to Cairo. Mr. Fenny published the paper about six months, when it died. The Advertiser was published by Dough- erty & Galigher, and was established in 1870 — a seven-column weekly. Republican paper. After being published about two years, it was taken to Jonesboro, where in a short time it stopped publication, and the office was sold to John H. Barton, and taken to Carterville, in W^illiamson County, and then in a short time sold to Mr. Feck, and is now used in publishing Peck's Southern Illinoisan. Farmer and Fruit- Gi'ower. — Mr. H. C. Bouton's agricultural paper was started in 1877 as a modest little experiment, issued semi-monthly A four-column, eight-page paper, devoted exclusively to the agricultural and horticultural interests of Union County and Southern Illinois. In the fall of 1877, it was changed into a five- column quarto, 323 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. and was then published as a weekly, and then again the demands npon its columns were such that its size was increased to a six-column quarto, its present size. The Farmer and Fruit- Grower was, as stated, an experiment in the beginning, and rather a daring venture, but its success has been great, and the good influence it has exerted upon this entire southern part of Illinois has been wide and lasting. Mr. H. C. Bouton has built up the best printing oflSce that was ever in the county, and the circulation of his paper has reached the unparalleled figures of over 1,200 copies. The farmers and fruit- growers all over the country deeply appreciate this as their friend and organ, and all over the State it is already well known and highly valued. The horticultural department is in editorial charge of Dr. J. H. Sanborn, who renders tis department valuable to the horicuitural and fruit-growing interest. Union County News, by Hale, Wilson & Co., was first issued in 1880, a five-column quarto semi-weekly paper. Republican in politics. Messrs. Hale, Wilson & Co. contin- ued the publication for about two years. It was soon changed from a semi-weekly into a five- column folio weekly. It was then sold to the Advocate Printing Company, and changed in- to the Southern Illinois Advocate, A. J. Nis- bet as editor. He was succeeded by D. W. Mil- ler, andMillerby W. C. Ussery. In February, 1882, it was leased for one year to J. H. Gropengieser, who continued its publication until his lease expired, when the ofiice was closed. Mr. Gropengieser left Illinois and is now publishing a paper in Montana. When Mr. Gropengieser retired, Willard Rushing rented the office and ran it as a job office for a short time. The Talk was started by Mr. W. W. Faris, of Clinton, he having purchased the princi- pal stock shares of the News Company, and during the spring of this year (1883) started in the old Advocate office his present spicy and vigorous weekly paper, that bids fair to rapidly win its way to general favor. The Talk is independent in politics, but full of life in all that goes to make a good paper, and we predict a long and successful career for it. Mr. Faris is a much better writer than is generally to be found on weekly papers, and we deem the people of Anna most fortunate in securing his location among them. The Missionary Sentinel, by Rev. S. P. Myers, was published first in 1879, in the in- terests of the German Reformed Church. After being published about one year, it was moved to Dayton, Ohio, and its publication continued. A parting word of the newspaper men of Union County, with whom we have spent the last few months so pleasantly, and we con- clude this chapter. The publishers of Union County includes the names of H. C. Bou- ton, of the Farmer and Fruit Grower ; John Gropengieser, of the Advocate, recently gone to Montana, and Mr. W. W. Faris, of The Talk — all clever and affable gentleman, of whom the good people of Union County need not be ashamed, and not one of whom will ever disgrace or dishonor the responsible positions they fill, and tj all and each of whom we return sincere thanks for many and valuable favors and divers and oft-repeated courtesies and great kindness. And when the next cen- tennial history of Union County comes to be written, and one and all of us are silent dust, we beg the historian not to forget to perpet- uate the name and fame and good deeds of these gentlemen, and of the Fruit Grotver and The Talk we most heartily wish, esto per- petua. HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 323 OHAPTEE, IX MILITARY HISTORY— "WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS "—AND SOME OF THE GENUINE ARTICLE- REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS — MEXICAN WAR — OUR LATE CIVIL STRIFE— UNION COUNTY'S HONORABLE PART IN IT — THE ONE HUNDRED AND NINTH REGIMENT— ITS VINDICATION IN HISTORY— ETC., ETC. "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of warl" — Shakf.sfeare . WHEN the learned Hardshell announced that of the "hull lot on 'em," he reckoned that St. Paul was the "most know- ensomest man," but St. Peter was the " most fightensomest man " of all the Scripter men" of that good old time, he was only giving expression to that world-wide love of bullies, prize-fights and bloody battles that is a lin- gering relic of man's barbarism. The men of the new West have more fight in them than their brethren of the older States; not that they are more quarrelsome by nature, but once when war is declared they are first in the field, and in private life, especially the pioneers, when deliberately insulted, they generally are found always with an armful of fights on hand. In the early day here in Illinois, there were more fist fights, especially when the general election day was in August, than we have now, even with the great increase of population. The time was when every county had its "bully," and he always whipped every one who stood up against him, until finally he would force a fight upon some peaceable non-combatant and get thrashed soundly, and then he would be branded Ichabod, and anybody could bluff and abuse him at pleasure and with impunity. Then some other fighting hero would step to the front, generally to wind up with the same ignoble ending. These old-time bullies were great men in their day, they received the adula- tions of the ignorant and coarse and vulgar people. The bully of the early day has passed away and the prize-fighter of civiliza- tion has taken his place. And curious as it may be, the rough has as an institution quit- ted the'West and taken up his abode in the old States of the East. There is not a gen- uine " fighter for fun " in Southern Illinois, where at one time a fair per cent of the grown men at times indulged in this godless pastime, and esthetic Boston — the land of baked beans — is the proud possessor of the greatest bruiser in the world, and he is ad- mired and worshiped to the extent that his presence in a theater will draw the biggest paying houses of any living man. The nat- ural bull-dog in man clings to his nature with a desperate tenacity. When driven from one place of lodgment, it appears in another, and when extirpated in one form it bobs up serenely in some other. In times pf peace, this disposition to fight is not a public good, nor can it be reckoned among the valu- able accomplishments that adorn the race; yet, in times of war, the hour of justifiable war, when the invader is driven away or killed, the belligerent propensities of men may be made to subserve the noblest purposes, and fight the battles of humanity and win victories that make true heroes who deserve to live in immortal epic. Many of the earliest settlers here were from 334 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY North Carolina, and some of them were of that noble stock who constituted the heroic band of Revolutionary Soldiers. — Of these we find the names of Elias Moiers, Joseph C. Ed- wards, Christopher Lyerle, Jacob Frick, Peter Meisenheimer and Travers Morris, and there were no doubt others whose names we could not find on the records, who stood shoulder to shoulder in these trying times, with their brothers in arms, and fought, bled and suffered and toiled so hard, so patiently and so well in that immortal battle for the independence and all the blessings of a free government we now enjoy. At the April term, 1828, of the Union County Circuit Court, Elias Moiers filed a petition in open court, making application for a pension as a Kevolutionary soldier. The afiidavit states he is wholly disabled by reason of his serv- ice in the army, and then says: "I did not apply for a pension sooner because I have heretofore been able to make my own liv- ing," but now, "being wholly unable to so do," he appeals to hie country for a small as- sistance, etc. In his affidavit, he enumer- ates his earthly possessions as "one horse, $60; saddle, bridle and saddle bags, $15. Total, $75. He says he volunteered for a term of ten months in the State of South Carolina, under Capt. Williams in the regi- ment of Col. William Polk, and that he served out his term and was discharged on the "High Hills of Sautee, S. C." The af- fidavit states that he has no other property in person, trust or otherwise, and is " wholly disabled by age and disease." The applica- tion is long and is very minute in details, and to this there are the corroborating affi- davits of two witnesses and a physician. A transcript of this long record was made by the County Clerk, Winstead Davie, and transmitted to the Secretary of War. At April term, 1829, of the Union County Circuit Court, Joseph C. Edwards, aged seventy-nine years, filed his sworn declaration and application for a pension as a soldier in the Revolution. He enlisted, he says, for nine months in the year 1776, in Virginia, in Col. Adam Slencar's regiment, served out his term and was discharged at Martins- burg, Va. His property is scheduled as one bed, 13; one ax, $2; one plow, $3; one hoe, $1. Total, $9. In 1831, Christopher Lyerle, a soldier of the Revolution, filed his declaration for a pension. His age then was sixty-seven years. He enlisted 1780 in North Carolina, in Capt. Lytle's company, Col. McRea's regiment, and served eighteen months, his full term of en- listment. His property was three horses, $100; cattle, $12; hogs, $10; household fur- niture, $20; farming utensils, $5; wagon, $40; one- quarter section of land, $150. Total, $337. At the October term of the Circuit Court, 1832, Jacob Frick and Peter Meisenheimer made application for pension for services in the Revolutionary war. And at the April term, 1833, Travers Moiers made his similar application. The Black Hawk War. — This was the most important of the Indian wars in the West. During Gov. Edwards' administration, as ex- ecutive of the State, the Indians upon the Northwestern frontier began to be very troublesome. The different tribes not only commenced a warfare among themselves, in regard to their respective boundaries, but they extended their hostilities to the white settlements. A treaty of peace, in which the whites acted more as mediators than as a party, had been signed at Prairie du Chien, on the 19th day of August, 1825, by the terms of which the boundaries between the Winne- bagoes and Sioux, Chippewas, Sauks, Foxes HISTORY OF UNI0:N COUNTY. 325 and other tribes were defined, but it failed'to keep them quiet. Their depredations and murders continued frequent, and in the sum- mer of 1827, their conduct, particularly that of the Winnebagoes, became very alarming. A combination was formed by the different tribes of Indians under Red Bird, a chief of the Sioux, to kill or drive off all the whites above Rock River. They commenced opera- tions by a massacre, on the 24th of July, 1827, of two white men near Px-airie du Chien, and on the 30th of the same month they attacked two keel boats on their way to Fort Snelling, killing two of the crew and wounding four others. Gov. Edwards sent an expedition against them which punished the sav- ages and captui'ed Chiefs Red Bird and Black Hawk. The tribe was apparently humbled, and a peace was declared, the Indians agree- ing to mov^e west of the Mississippi and give up the Rock River country to the whites. Bxit they did not go, and in 1830 there was another outbreak. Black Hawk had assumed command of the combined tribes, and he ordered the whites to leave the country, and in April, 1831, he re-crossed the river at the head of a force variously estimated at from three to five hundred braves of his own tribe, and two hundred allies of the Pottawato- mies and Kickapoos, to regain the possession, as he declared, of the ancient hunting grounds and the villages of his tribe. He commenced first to destroy the property of the whites and order them away. Gov. Reynolds was Governor when he learned of the state of affairs ; issued a call for volunteers (May 27, 1831), and the whole northwestern part of the State at once resounded with the hasty preparations of war. No county south of St. Clair, nor east of Sangamon was included in the call, which was limited to seven hun- dred men, who were to report in fifteen days' time, mounted and equipped, at the place of rendezvous, which was fixed at Beardstown, on the Illinois River. More than twice the number called for responded, and the Gov- ernor concluded to accept the whole sixteen hundred men. June 15, 1831, they took up their march, and arrived at Rock River June 25. There were six companies of regulars sent up from Jefferson Barracks, under com- mand of Gen. Gaines. This met the volun- teer forces on the Mississippi River, and the forces were combined under Gen. Gaines. But the wiley Black Hawk, when he found this force approaching him, deserted his vil- lage and re-crossed the river, and the soldiers took possession of the deserted village and burned it. Gov. Ford says: " Thus perished this ancient village, which had been the de- lightful home of 6,000 or 7,000 Indians, where generation after generation had been born, had died and been buried." Gen. Gaines sent word to Black Hawk to come in and treat for peace, and on June 30, 1831, Black Hawk met Gen. Gaines and Gov. Rey- nolds in full council, in which the Indians agreed that in future no Indian should cross to the east side of the Mississippi without permission. The troops were then disbanded. Thus ended without bloodshed the first cam- paign of the Black Hawk war. Notwithstanding the treaty, the trouble was not yet ended. In the spring of 1832, Black Hawk recrossed the Mississippi (April 6) with 500 braves on horseback. When Gov. Reynolds heard of this, he called for 1,000 volunteers from the central and south- ern portions of the State, to rendezvous at Beardstown, but this call was soon extended to the whole of the State. Eighteen hundred men met at Beardstown, and an election for field officers was held. Col. John Thomas was elected to the first regiment. Col. Jacob Fry to the second, Col. Abram B. DeWitt to the third regiment, Col. Samuel L. 326 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. Thompson to the fourth. Maj. James D. Hemy was elected to command the Spy Bat- talion, and Maj. Thomas James to command the " Odd " Battalion, and there were eight companies not attached to any regiment. Gov. Reynolds accompanied the expedition, and he placed Brig. Gren. Whiteside in im- mediate command. On the 29th of April, 1832, the army left camp near Beardstown and marched to the Mississippi River, near where is the present town of Oquawka. From here they marched up Rock River, where they were all received into the United States service, and 400 regu- lars and an armament of cannon was joined to the force. In May, 1832, was fought the battle of " Stillman's Run," in which the Indians were victorious against Gen. Stillman's de- tachment. During the night after this battle, Gov. Reynolds made a requisition for 2,000 addi- tional men, to be in readiness for future operations, while the utmost consternation spread throughout the State and nation. Gen. Scott, with 1,000 troops, was immedi- ately ordered to the Northwest, to superin- tend the future operations of the campaign. Black Hawk and his forces retreated up the river. On the 6th of June, Black Hawk at- tacked Apple River Fort with 150 warriors. There were only twenty-five men in the fort. The fort held out bravely, and was finally relieved by the army marching to the relief of the besieged, when Black Hawk retreated and his forces scattered. Our army was put in pursuit, and on the 2d of August overtook the Indians on the banks of the Mississippi as they were preparing to cross, and the bat- tle of Bad Axe was fought and the Indians completely vanquished. Their loss was over 150 killed, besides a large number drowned and many more wounded. A large number of women and children lost their lives, owing to the fact that it was impossible to distin- guish th^ra from the men. The American loss was seventeen. Black Hawk was soon after captured and sent to Fortress Monroe. In September, 1832, a treaty was made which ended the Indian troubles in this State. Union County had one full independent company that had been called into service and mustered July 13, 1832, and mustered for discharge August 10, 1832. The men were enrolled June 19, 1832. The following is a complete roster of the company : Cap- tain. B. B. Craig; First Lieutenant, Will- iam Craig; Second Lieutenant, John Newton; Sergeants, Samuel Moland, Solomon David, Hezekiah Hodges, John Rendleman; Cor- porals, Joel Barker, Adam Cauble, Martin Uri, Jeremiah Irvine; Privates, Aaron Bar- ringer, John Barringer, John Corgan, Mathew Cheser, Daniel Ellis, AVilliam Farmer, Thomas Farmer, Moses Fisher, Abraham Goodin, William G. Gavin, Hiram Grammer, William Grammer, Lot W. Hancock, Daniel P. Hill, Jackson Hunsaker, Peter Lense, John Langley, Moses Lively, A. W. Lingle, John Murphy, P. W. McCall, John Morris, Nimrod Mcintosh, John A. Mackintosh, Solomon Miller, Thomas McElhany, James Morgan, Washington McLean, Elijah Mo- Graw, John Penrod, John Parmer, John Quillman, W. H. Rumsey, Elijah Shepherd, Daniel Salmons, Preston I. Staten, John Vincent, and Jessee Wright. I'he Mexican War. — This war made Illi- nois the first military State in the Union. On the 11th day of May, 1846, Congress passed an act declaring that " By the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that Government and the United States." At the same time that body made an appropriation of 110,000,000 to carry on the HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 327 war, and authorized the President to accept 50,000 volunteers. Illinois was called on for three regiments of infantry or riflemen. Gov. Ford issued a call for thirty full companies of volunteers, of a maximum of eighty men, to serve for twelve months, and with the privilege of elect- ing their own company and regimental officers The response to the call was enthusiastic and overwhelming. Within ten days thirty-five full companies had organized and reported. By the time the place of rendezvous had been selected, there had been seventy-five com- panies recruited, each furious to go, of which the Governor was compelled to select thirty, and leave the remainder to stay at home. Three regiments were formed: First, Col. John J. Hardin; Second, Col. W. H. Bissell, and the third, Col. Ferris Foreman. These three regiments were mustered into the service at Alton, on the 2d of July, 1846. Hon. E. D. Baker prevailed on the Govern- ment to accept another regiment, and on the 18th of July the Fourth Regiment was mus- tered into the service. Union County furnished Company F of the Second Regiment, Capt. John S. Hacker. The Second Regiment was transported down the Mississippi River and across the Gulf, and went iuto quarters at Camp Erwin, near the old town of Victoria, on Wenloop River, march ing from thence to San Antonio, Tex. , and there joined Gen. Wool's army of the center. They left that city on the 26th day of September. On the 24th of October, they entered Santa Rosa. Thence they marched to Monclova, thence to Parras, where the original idea of the march — -the capture of Chihuahua — was abandoned. They remained here twelve days, and started to intercept, if possible, Santa Anna's attack on Monterey, and on the 2 let of De- cember occupied Agua Neuva, thus complet- ing in six weeks' march about 1,000 miles, which had been barren of results. On the 22d day of February, 1847, was begun the battle of Buena Vista, which ended on the 23d, and resulted in a complete victory for the American forces, and in which the Second Regiment, Company F included, covered itself with glory. The roll of Company F, when mustered * out of the service, was as follows: Captain, John S. Hacker; First Lieutenant, Sidney S. Condon; Second Lieutenants, John Roberts and Joseph Masten; Third Lieutenant, Al- phonso Grammer; Sergeants, John C. Hun saker, Alex J. Nimmo, Abram Hargrave and John Grammer; Corporals, Adam Creese, Wright C. Pender, Henderson Brown, Abram Cover; IVTusicians, Jacob Greer and George H. Lemley; Privates. Talbot Brown, John Bevins, John Brown, Charles Barringer, John Z. Burgess, Peter Cripps, Peter H. Casper, Elijah Coffman, Scipio A. B. Davie, John Davie, Daniel Dougherty, Simeon Fisher, Charles A. Finley, James Fike, Jesse Gray, Franklin Geargus, James Grammer, Henry Flaugh, William N. Hamby, William Henry, Samuel Hess, Benjamin F. Hay ward, Henry C. Hacker, Fielding A. Jones, Silas Jones, John Kerr, Frederick King, Adam Lingle, Phillip Lewis, John Lingle, Daniel W. Lyerle, An- drew J. Lemons, Daniel Lingle, Chesterfield Langley, John Menees, Harrison McCoy, Jefferson Menees, William Miller, John H. Millikin, John Moland, Samuel Martin, Washington L. Mcintosh, John McGinnis, James M. Phelan, Samuel Parker, Gax-rett Resink, John W. Regan, Franklin Sprey, Amalphus W. Simonds, James A. Springs, .A.zel Thornton, Le Roy Thomas, James I. Toler, Thomas F. Thurman, Reuben Vick and James Walker. Charles A. Finley was on detached service in Quartermaster's Department December 30. 328 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. Henry C. Hacker was Hospital Steward from July 25 to October 5, and from December 17 to January 20. Pless Martin was discharged on Surgeon's certificate, at Saltillo, March 21. Died: Felix G. Anderson, in hospital, Saltillo, April 9; Alexander Davie, San An- tonia, Tex., date not known; Joseph Ledger- wood, in hospital at Saltillo, March 21. The company was discharged June 18, 1847, at Comargo, Mexico. The Civil War. — The history of all civil war —the butchery of brother by brother — should be written upon the water, or at least the horrid record should be made only by that kindly angel who recorded Uncle Toby's oath, and when the entry was made ' ' dropped a tear up- on it that blotted it out forever." A family quarrel is about the meanest thing a human being can engage in, and there are few con- ceivable sights more pitiful or disgusting than to hear one member of a family boast- ing that he had whipped his little brother, sister, father or mother. To any well-reg- ulated mind, it is inconceivable how such deg- radation can come and root out every elevating impulse, and all essence of self-respect, as to glory in a family light or butchery. A victory in a civil war may be a good thing, but a dire necessity, but it is in fact but as the chas- tisement inflicted by a kind father upon his wayward child. He whips his child, in- flicts the lash with a bleeding heart, and do you suppose that a natiiral father could cherish and boast over his victoi'y, and the cries of pain that he extorted from his poor erring child? A nation is but a large family of brothers and sisters, and that individual is badly made up who has trained his heart to maltreat without an irresistible cause any portion of that great family. War at best is bad and brutalizing in its very essence, and enough of bloody victories will in the end bring only woe and desolation to the victors. There is biit one kind of war that can be ex- cused, or that is not a high crime against God, and that is a war to repel invasion — to drive out the armed enemy that invades a country for conquest and to destroy the liberties of the people. Here are the fi!elds of glory to the ambitious soldier. Here alone may be gained laurels that may be ever kept green, and the battle-scarred veterans merit the love and rt-spect of the 8:)ns and daughters of those to whom they gave liberty and national glory. The action of the people of Union County in the late war is a demonstration that the early people here and their descendants, had kept brightly burning the fires of patriotism upon the altars of their country, and were ever ready upon the call of their country, to respond to that call and take their position in the "red gaps of war'' and peril their lives with unequal ed heroism in the defense of the integrity of their country. The patriotic bravery and warlike spirit is manifested by the simple statement that Union County, under all the heavy calls of the Government for 'men, was one of the few counties in Illinois that was never sub- jected to the draft in order to fill up their quota, she always having in the field more than her share of men, and this was true after furnishing substitutes for the busy brokers all the way from Massachusetts to Chicago, and nearly every other regiment from Illinois, and even some for Missouri and Kentucky reg- iments. From the Adjutant General's Reports, it is impossible to find any account of those men from the county who went as squads ov as individuals and volunteers in companies and regiments that were credited to other locali- ties. From the best information we can gather, there is no doubt that Union County, from first to last, gave 3.000 men to the armv; Illinois altogether 256,000 men. HISTORY OF U2^I0N COUNTY 329 There are 102 counties in the State, an av- erage of 2, 500 men to the county, and but few counties but that a portion of these were forced into the service by the draft. These figures are a severe rebuke to the slanders upon Southern Illinois from those sections that raked the country for negro substitutes to fill their ranks and the demands of the " lottery of death," the draft wheel. Locali- ties that were so loud with their patriotism, so loyal in their votes, and so brave in sup- plying sutlers, cotton speculators and camp followers, and who so tenderly cared for the war widows, and made millionaires of them- selves, and with their mouths put down the rebellion, and waxed fat and great at the public crib, and volunteered in the Home Guards, and hunted down their unarmed neighbors and arrested them, because they were "off" in their politics, and sent them to the bastile or mobbed and killed them, and by their cant and hypocrisy made the name " loyalty " a by- word and a synonym of all that is detestable in human nature. The records show that Union County, in addition to the full One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, furnished Capt. Mack's Company, as well as a number of men to the Eighteenth Regiment, one company, Capt. Reese, to the Thirty-first Regiment. A portion of the Sixtieth Regi- ment was enlisted here. This regiment ren- dezvoused in this county, and was filled out with Union County men. The county also furnished a large number of men to the Sixth Cavalry, in addition to Capt. Warren Stew- art's Company. As it is not intended to give a history of the war of the rebellion, we would be con- tent to close this chapter just here, but the truth requires that some errors be corrected in reference to the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, and wrongs heaped upon some of the best people of the county to some extent righted, and the truth of history vindicated. The following military orders that are neces- sary to an understanding of the matter are given in full: Headquarters Seventeenth Army Corps, | Lake Providence, La., April 1, 1863. ' \ GfUfral Orders, No. 8. I.— Commanding Officers will immediately send in to these headquarters the names of all officers who, in their judgment, should be required to sub- mit to an examination before the " Board of Exam- iners," convened in pursuance of Special Orders, No. 53, from these headquarters. H. — Field officers will be examined in all that is required of company officers; Evolutions of the line; elementsof military engineering; the circumstances under which the use of field artillery is proper, and all other requirements necessary to the capable and efficient officer. HI. — Company officers will be examined; 1st, On the manner of instructing recruits. 2d, In the schools of the soldier, company and bat- talion. 3rd, In the duties of Officers of the Day and Officers of the Guard, and particularly in the proper con- duct and necessary requirements of sentinels. 4th, On the reports and returns required under ex- isting orders and regulations. 5th, In all matters deemed by the board necessary and proper. IV. — Commanding officers are reminded that they are responsible for the efficiency of their subordi- nates, and they will accordingly be held to a strict compliance with the requirements of this order. By order of Maj. Gen. McPherson. This order bears date, it will be noticed, of April 1, 1863. From this there emanated the following order only ten days after the above, as follows: Special Orders, No. 6. Lake Providence, La., April 10, 1863. The officers of the One Hundred and Ninth Regi- ment Illinois Volunteers, except those of Company K, having been reported as utterly incompetent to perform the duties of their respective commissions, and evincing no disposition to improve themselves, are hereby discharged from the service of the United States. This is the regiment which was within a few miles of Holly Springs, when attacked by the 330 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. rebels, failed to march to the support of their com- rades, but drew in their pickets, aud stood ready to surrender. From nine companies, 287 men deserted, princi- pally at Memphis, and but one from Company K. To render the men efficient, it is necessary to transfer them to a disciplined regiment, and they are accordingly transferred to the Eleventh Regiment Illinois Volunteers, Company K, to make the Tenth Company. It then proceeds to enumerate by name every officer then belonging to the regiment, except those of Company K. The following letter from the War Depart- ment in Washington, dated February 2, 1882, among other things, says : " April 9, 1863 (the day before the above order), Col. T. E. G. Ransom, commanding Second Brigade, Sixth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, reported that the One Hundred and Ninth Illinois Volunteers was assigned to his brigade March 30, 1863, that he had inspected the regiment thoroughly, as well as reviewed and drilled it; that he found the men physically good, but the officers all in- competent to command, except the officers of Company K; that 237 deserters had been dropped from the rolls, most of whom de- serted at Memphis; that he did not believe that the regiment could be made efficient under the organization it then had, and there- fore recommended that the officers (except those of Company K) be mustered out of serv- ice, and that the remaining officers and men be transfeiTed to some Illinois regiment. The recommendation was 'heartily approved' by Maj. Gen. J. B. McPherson, Commanding Department Tennessee." Upon the report and recommendation re- ferred to, Brig. Gen. L. Thomas, Adjt. Gen. U. S. Army, who was at Lake Providence, La., the station of the One Hundred and Ninth Illinois Volunteers, issued Special Order No. 6, ' 'discharging the officers of the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment." A careful reading of the above orders and the letter of explanation given of them by the letter from the War Department are not difficvilt of explanation. Col. Ransom was in a position where he was ambitious to succeed to the position of a Brigadier General. His own regiment was decimated, and it is pos- sible he may have coveted these men of the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, and he could only get them by first getting rid of the officers. Then again, if they were re- organizing the army and consolidating or merging the small l^giments into the larger ones, then this would necessitate,* perhaps, the mustering out of those officers who were so unfortunate as to belong to these regi- ments of few men. Thus, Col. Ransom may have been deeply interested in the very mat- ter he was appointed to investigate and report upon. If he was so interested, he was in a position where he was judge, jury and exe- cutioner, as well as party to the suit. With these facts borne in mind, the out- rage of the stab at the good name of these men — a stab, bear in mind, in the dark, is the better understood. They were sentenced without trial, without conviction, and above all, without the slightest opportunity to de- fend themselves. They were not called be- fore a court of investigation, nor were they reviewed, nor were they inspected in their drill. The order dismissing them says they were incompetent, and some of the men had deserted. In short, without trial, without opportunity \o vindicate themselves, and without justice or cause, they were dis- missed the service. On the face of the order of dismissal, its injustice is as apparent. It makes the unsubstantiated charge that the officers were not competent because some had deserted. Is there a child in the world who cannot see the gross and infamous injustice of this star chamber conviction? Is it a 22,^.^ x^^^^^,^^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 333 crime for which officers are cashiered when the men desert? Was such a punishment ever before inflicted in any army ? Are men to be cruelly assassinated in their good name and fame by a court in secret sitting, and that is deeply interested in convicting the ac- cused, and dismissed the service because cer- tain privates deserted? Is the officer pun- ished for the men's crimes ? This order is fiill of falsehood and slander. There were officers in the One Hundred and Ninth Kegi- ment, particularly Col. Nimmo, Capts. Hun- saker, S. P. McClure, Hugh Andrews and all the Lieutenants, whose courage, patriotism and competency were of the highest order. And either one of whom as a soldier had no superior in the service. It is possible there were officers in the One Hundred and Ninth Eegiment unworthy the uniform they wore, and who should have been dismissed the serv- ice, but even they were entitled to a fair trial and examination, and dismissed only when found guilty. In the name of the Government was an un- holy attempt made to blur the fair fame of some of the best men in the army, and blacken thereby the good name of Union County. It was a cruel act, and all mankind should resent it with scorn and indignation. To re-read "Special Order No. 6" is to see that it is the work of some man trying to hunt for a pretext or excuse for some unjusti- fiable act he is about to do. It is evident the writer of that order was racking his brain to find a charge against men against whom nothing could be proven. It says : * ' This is the regiment which was within a few miles of Holly Springs when attacked by the rebels, failed to march to the support of their com- rades, but drew in their pickets and stood ready to surrender." That is not only a slander but a cunning and dastardly false- hood. The charge had been circulated in camp, and the matter had been investigated by a court of inquiry and the regiment exon- erated. And yet the "order " re-asserts and puts upon record, not as the finding of a court, not as an established and proven fact, but as an assertion merely, and in the face of the truth that a court of examination — the only one ever granted the One Hundred and Ninth Regiment, and that investigated, and had before it no other question but the one named above, had pronounced it false. These are the facts as they are furnished by the records and the very officers who thus attempted to heap disgrace upon, and did grossly wrong the officers and men of as brave a regiment as ever kept ste- to the music of the Union or upheld the flag amid the din and smoke of battle. 19 334 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. CHAPTER X.* AGRICULTURE— SIMILARITY OF UNIOxN COUNTY TO THE BLUE GRASS REGION OF KENTUCKY- ADAPTABILITY TO STOCK-RAISING — FAIR ASSOCIATIONS— HORTICULTURE — ITS RISE, WONDERFUL PROGRESS AND PRESENT CONDITION— VARIETIES OF FRUIT AND THEIR CULTURE — THE FRUIT GARDEN OF THE WEST- VEGETABLES— SHIPMENTS— STATISTICS. ETC., ETC. "For as ye sow ye shall reap, etc." AGRICULTURE is the great source of our prosperity, and is a subject in which all are interested, from the day- laborer to the banker and railroad king. It has been said that gold is the lever that moves the world, and it may be very truly added that agriculture is the power that moves gold. We speak of our moneyed kings, our railroad kings and political kings, but these dwindle into insignificance when compared to that monarch — the farmer. All important in- terests, all thriving industries, and all trades and professions receive their means of sup- port, either directly or indirectly, from this noblest of sciences — agriculture. " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," was spoken to the erring pair in the garden of Eden, and with them the tilling of the ground for subsistence began, and must continue to the end of time. It is the foundation of support of the human family; none other has been devised. With all of our inventive genius, we must ever draw our sustenance from Mother Earth. "Where is the dust that has not been alive? The spade, the plow, disturb our ancestors; From human mold we reap our daily bread." The progress of agriculture in Union County has been much slower than in other and less favored regions of the country. *By W. H. Perrin. With a soil, timber, drainage and climate that cannot be excelled, it is capable of sus- taining a greater agricultural people to the area she possesses than any other county in the State. Nature has strewn here beauties rich and inexhaustible, and when cu.ltivated, as it will be some day, to its full capacity, there are more dollars per acre in Union County than in any other spot of like extent, almost in the world. The Blue Grass Region of Kentucky is celebrated and world-famed for its fine stock — horses, cattle and sheep. Examine that locality, critically and scientif- ically, and then turn to this county, and the two sections will be found very similar in all their physical features. The cheapest lands here, the roughest hills, when the heavy timber is cut oflf and the brush and under- growth cleared away, and the land pu^" under pasturage, will spontaneously set a splendid growth of blue gi'ass — nature thus making the finest pastures known to the stock-raiser. It has been satisfactorily demonstrated to the intelligent mind that blue grass, spring- ing from a limestone soil, possesses nourish- ing and fattening powers over any other veg- etable growth. A writer, from a scientific standpoint, speaks thus of the Blue Grass Jlegion of Kentucky: " The vigor and lux- uriance of the vegetable growth, and the superior development of the animals of the farm, are now acknowledged by the world at HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 335 large. Even man himself seems to take on a higher development in this favored region. The native Kentiickian has, from early times, been noted for his size and strength, and this traditional opinion was fully sustained, dur- ing the late oivi] war, in the actual measure- ment of United States volunteers of differ- ent nationalities. From the report of the Sanitary CommiKsion, compiled by B. A. Gould, it is shown that the men from Kentucky and Tennessee, of whom 50,333 were meas- ured, exceeded those from other States of the Union, as well as those from Canada and the British Provinces, and from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and Scandina- via." This is but a proof of the nourishing qualities of blue grass, and particularly where it grows upon a limestone soil, such as pre- dominates in this county. Central Kentucky, as a stock-raising district, has not its equal in the world. Its horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep are produced in their most perfect form and development- The South and West look to its great annual sales of short-horns for their supplies of breeding animals, and the East to its annual horse sales for their supplies of fast trotters and fleet-footed coursers. Many of its best bloods have found the way across the ocean, with a view to im- proving the studs and herds of Great Britain. All that this section wants and requires to make it the peer of the famous Blue Grass Region of Kentucky is energy and enterprise on the part of the farmers. They have the soil, climate, market facilities and, indeed, everything to bring them into successful com- petion with that celebrated locality. Especially is Union County adapted to shgep -raising. It requires no very astute in- dividual to see the advantages it possesses over those far-western regions, for the im- mense profits in sheep are plain and self- evident; indeed, so plain that " even a fool need not err therein." Where there are cents in the far West in sheep, there are dollars in them in Union County, and that, too, after the farmer pays for the dogs annually killed by — vicious sheep. With the climate, location and markets tliat are best adapted for sheep- raising, that is to raise the best sheep for the least money, and then to enjoy the best markets and cheapest^' transportation, any school -boy can figure out the colossal fort- unes for all who understandingly engage in the business. The secret of certain success is in finding the best location for the business. The nearest of those Western sheep ranches are 500 miles from market, and some of them 1,500 miles or more. Then in addition to the expense of transporting their wool, which would make wool here worth five cents per pound more, there is little or no accessible markets for their mutton — one of the chief sources of profit in sheep -raising. Slow and backward as Union County has been in agriculture, yet the science is not the least interesting, nor the least important of its history. The pioneers who commenced tilling the soil here, fifty or sixty years ago, with a few rude implements of husbandry, laid the foundation of the present system of agriculture. They were mostly po<>r and compelled to labor for a support, and it re- quired brave hearts, strong arms, and willing hands — just such as they possessed — to con- quer the difficulties which confronted them at every step. But they went to work in earnest, and faltered not, and their labors have brought the county to what it is to-day. It does not equal the perfect system of agriculture in the central and northern part of the State, but in this section it is unsur- passed in its agricultural prosperity. The tools and implements with which the pioneer farmers had to work were few in number and of a poor kind. TJie plow was 336 HISTOEY OF UNION COUNTY. the old "bar-share," wooden mold-board and long beam and handles. Generally, they were of a size between the one and two -horse plows, and had to be used in both capacities. The hoes and axes were clumsy things and were forged and finished by the ordinary blacksmith. There was some compensation, however, for all the disadvantages under which the pioneer labored. The virgin soil was fruitful and yielded bountiful crops, even under poor preparation and cultivation. The first little crop consisted of a " patch " of corn, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, and in some cases a few other " eatables. ' ' If possible, a " patch " of flax was grown, from the lint of which the family clothing for summer was manufactured. This brought into active op- eration the spinning-wheel and loom, then useful implements, and which had been brought to the country by the pioneers, and constituted the most important articles of housekeeping, as all the women and girls could spin and weave. In the early history of the county, the pioneers were favored by the mildness of the climate, the abundance of wild game, and the fertility of the land when brought into cultivation. Step by step the hardy settlers made their inroads into the heavy forests, enlarged their farms and increased their flocks and herds, until they found a surplus beyond their own wants and the wants of of their families. There was then but little outlet for the products of the farms, and far less of the spirit of speculation than at the present day. The result was, that the farm- er's had plenty at home; they handled less money, it is true, but they lived easier. They did not recklessly plunge into debt; they lived more at home with their families, and wore far happier. There was, too, much more sociability, neighborly feeling and good cheer generally among them. There was not such a rush after great wealth, and hence fewer failures among farmers. The accumu- lated wealth of fai'm products directed atten- tion to the question of markets, which had hitherto been confined to a kind of neighbor- hood trafiic among the farmers themselves. Bxit now the navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was looked to as a means of reaching better markets, and New Orleans became the great center of trade from this region. It was the principal market until the completion of the Illinois Central Rail- way opened the best marts of trade, and brought them, by means of competition, within the very limits of the county. No section has better market facilities; markets that can never be overstocked are so easily accessible that transportation is merely nom- inal. With Cincinnati, Chicago, St Louis and New Orleans, at their very doors, what more could any community desire, in the way of market facilities? With both railroads and the great rivers, to take her surplus products to all the world. Union County is certainly a most favored region for the farmer. The following statistics compiled from the last report of the State Board of Agriculture, show something of the material resources of Union County, and will doubtless be of in- terest to our readers: Number of acres in corn 19,941 "Number of bushels produced 698,256 Number of acres in winter wlieat 26,081 Number of bushels produced 287,999 Number of acres in spring wheat 102 Number of bushels produced ... 643 Number of acres in oats 4,056 Number of bushels produced 51,927 Number of acres in timothy 1,825 Number of tons of hay produced 1,214 Number of acres in clover 4,046 Number of tons produced 5,265 Number of acres in apple orchards 3,800 Number of bushels produced 149,591 Number of acres in peach orchards 543 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 337 Number of bushels produced 48,690 Number of acres in pear orchards 142 Number of bushels produced 3,904 Number of acres in other fruits and berries, 2,573 Value of the same $56,040 Number of acres in pasturage 4,164 Number of acres in woodland 31,865 Number of acres of uncultivated lands 3,216 No. of acres of city and town real estate area 475 Number of acres not reported elsewhere 10,180 Total number of acres reported for county. . 114,045 Number of fat sheep sold 661 Number of sheep killed by do^s 182 Value of sheep killed by dogs $342 Number of pounds of wool shorn from sheep, 9,643 Dairy products — Number of cows kept 1,899 Number of pounds of butter sold 42,169 Number of gallons of cream sold 1,100 Number of gallons of milk sold 5,125 Number of fat cattle sold 951 Number of fat hogs sold 2,721 Number of hogs and pigs died of cholera. .. 2,187 Fairs. — Union County is well supi 'lied with agricultural fairs and associations, it having two excellent organizations of this kind. The oldest of these is the Union County Agricult- ural and Mechanical Society, which dates back to 1855. It was organized and held under the auspices of the citizens of Jones- boro and the county, and the veteran Jacob Hunsaker was its first Prsident. The next year, it was re- organized under a special act of the Legislature, and Col. A. J. Nimmo was the first President under the new organization. Some years later, it was again re-organized under the present State law governing agri cultural societies, and is now known as the Union County Agricultural Board. The pres- ent officers areas follows: L. J. Hess, Presi- dent; C. Barringer, Treasurer; T". C. Cozby, Secretary, and Harrison Anderson, Fred Oli- ver, Henry P. Stout, and M. J. Lockman, Directors. The association owns ten acres of ground, which were purchased at $50 per aci*e, and is well improved. The buildings and sheds are extensive and in good repair, and the grounds are well shaded and watered. The society is flourishing, and additional im- provements are being made every year. The fair held at Anna was organized un- der special act of the Legislature December 13, 1879, and is entitled "The Southern Illinois Fair Association." The first set of officers were elected in August, 1880, and were as follows: M. V. Ussery, President; C. M. Willard, Treasm-er, and E. K Jinnette, Secretary. The officers elected in 1881 were: Jacob Hileman, President; M. V. Ussery, Treasurer, and C. E. Kirkpatrick, Secretary. In 1882, the same officers were re-elected, and are now in office. The association is under the supervision of twenty-one direct- ors elected for three years, seven of whom are elected each year. They bought some fifty - four acres of land, for which $80 per acre was paid. Since its purchase, a portion has been sold to the city of Anna, for $3,000, for a cemetery. The fair grounds are well improved, and have buildings and other im- provements, worth perhaps $5,000. The fair grounds at Jonesboro belong to Union County; those at Anna are a private enter- prise, and owned by a joint stock company. Horticulture.^ — Sacred history furnishes evidence of the early devotion of mankind to the pursuit of horticulture; and both sacred and profane history abound with proof that the condition of horticulture in any country or community may safely be taken as a crite- rion from which to judge the stage of ad- vancement of that people in civilization and refinement. The greater the progress any nation makes in the arts and sciences, the nearer to perfection will be the ways and means employed in producing those crops upon which the nation subsists. The Romans not only had quite a catalogue of cultivated fruits, but well understood the art of pruning *By Dr. J. H. Sanborn. 338 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY and grafting. During the decline of that empire and the long night of the Dark Ages, horticulture, in common with the other arts and sciences, suffered by neglect, and fell only to rise with greater glory at a later a ad better period. France, Belgium and En- gland have since taken the lead in horticult- lu-al matters, and from these countries we have derived the majority of our improved fruits, bulbs and flowering plants, and many of our choicest vegetables. But our own country is fast advancing to the front, con- taining, as it does, all the plants of the most genial climes, on soil owned and occupied by a people constantly striving, with the aid of mind and muscle, to wrest from Dame Nature those productions which a diligent and enlightened system of labor can alone obtain, and of which the results are already most satisfactory. Almost the only success- ful fruits now cultivated in this county and the West are those of American origin. Our natural advantages for gardening are so great that many are satisfied with the prod- ucts of but little, often too little, labor and skill, frequently depriving themselves of much which more liberal culture would give. Horticulture forms the aesthetic part of rural life; it is the poetry of agriculture. It generates and fosters a deeper love for the beautiful, and a better appreciation of and regard for those things which satisfy the longings of our higher nature. It com bines in one harmonious whole the practical and the ornamental. No man can watch the development of a plant from the time it first lifts itself above the ground, tiny and weak, until it is crowned with rich blossoms or fair fruit, and see how the rains and dews nourish it, and the sunlight gives it beauty and strength, without becoming better and more humble for the lessons he thus learns. No man can thus watch the mysterious processes of nature and her loving, tender care over every plant that springs from her bosom, and not be led from nature up to nature's God. As our country advanced with giant strides toward the front rank of enlightened nations, horticulture kept pace with its onward march until, from the few sour and imperfect fruits of our forefathers' time we can now revel in the delights of hundreds of varieties most luscious to the taste and most pleasing to the eye. With the Westward progress of the settler and civilization, there came the desire for more and better fruit, for the seedlings planted by those who first made their homes in this country failed to satisfy the craving demands of those who came later. Sprouts and suckers taken from varieties highly prized around the old homes in other States, were brought here and planted near the log cabin. These in their turn, though answer- ing a good purpose, were found unsatis- factory, and gradually the European fruits were introduced with a hope that they might find a climate and soil adapted to their cult- ure and growth. The science of horticult- ure had, however, at this time, received but little attention or study, and the adaptation of particular soils to fruits, had not been de- termined in this country with any degree of exactness. Horticultural journals were un- known in the West, and horticultural societies and associations, for promoting the cultiva- tion of fruit and the diffusion of knowledge pertaining to this science, had no inception. The only knowledge obtainable was that by individual experience. For the fifty years composing the first half of the present century, from 1800 to 1850, the history of horticulture in this county is the history of a struggle abounding in dis- appointments, and unassisted by any of the more modern aids furnished by the press and local or State associations. Even as late as HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 339 the advent of the raih-oad in the year 1854, the only considerable orchards existing were those of seedling trees, grown in the effort to reproduce the fruit most in favor in the lo- cality whence the owner had emigrated; and as some of the settlers came from the South Atlantic States, the seedling stocks were not all sufficiently hardy nor suited to this sec- tion of country. There were some small or- chards of grafted, or nursery trees, which had been brought by team long distances, often fifty miles and more. With the commencement of the running of regular trains on the Illinois Central Rail- road, a new era in horticulture burst upon Southern Illinois, which more directly affect- ed that portion embraced in Union County. It had already been discovered that such va- rieties of fruits as succeeded here at all, grew with wonderful vigor and attained a surpris- ing degree of excellence. Through the facil- ities afforded by the railroad, large quanti- ties of grafted and budded trees were now obtained, forest lands were cleared of the encumbering timber and converted into or- chards; extensive portiotis of the fields hitherto devoted to the production of wheat and corn, fields that had once helped to make this country famous as the land of plenty and entitle it to be called Egypt, were now set with fruit trees, and in a few years, instead of a harvest of grain, there were annually gathered untold quantities of rarest fruits, fragrant with the richest odors, and rivaling in magnificence of color, size and flavor all that the most vivid imagination can paint of the fruits of Paradise. The first shipment of peaches from this county to the Northern markets were so ex- traordinarily superior that they attracted great attention, both to the fruit and to the section where they were produced. As a natural consequence, the hill lands of Union County rapidly rose in public estimation and price. Men of experience and men of inex- perience flocked to the new Eden and en- gaged in the raising of fruit. Horticultural societies were now formed, the mails brought newspapers and agricultural periodicals, and the greatest interest was manifested in the successful prosecution of the new entei'prise. A spirit of inquiry was evolved, experiments were instituted, and under such a system of observation and investigation there originated new and better methods of culture and im- proved varieties of fruit. The small and poor seedling apples and peaches were quickly superseded by the improved kinds, and every department of fruit culture made rapid prog- ress. The remnants of several of those fa- mous orchards of twenty years ago are still to be found, and isolated specimen trees yet stand, tottering monuments of their former glory. Though the beginning of fruit culture in this county may be said to date from the beginning of the present century, it received but little attention till the completion of the Illinois Central Railroad gave it its great impetus. From that time it became a lead- ing industry with the people, especially those living near the depots, and gave char- acter to the whole population and section of country. In 1858, the shipments of fruit to Chicago first began to assume importance. The earliest fruit-grower on the Coben range was George Snyder, who came there in 1857, and embarked at once in the business. He had great faith in the future of Southern Illinois and in this section as a fruit-growing region, and he showed his faith by his works. Purchasing land about one mile north of the station, he cleared off the heavy timber and planted out fruit trees, apple, pear and peach, and continued to plant till now he has ex tensive orchards that are not only a source of 340 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY considerable income, but an object of just pride and satisfaction to the owner. The next, perhaps, to engage in this new business and one of the most prominent growers and shippers at that early stage of the enterprise, was Allen Bainbridge, who lived on the Bell hill, near South Pass, and from 1850 to 1860, by his enthusiasm on the subject of fruit- growing, his experience and his knowledge of the capabilities of the soil and fitness of the climate, enlisted many others in this branch of horticulture. About the year 1858, E. N. Clark and G. H. Baker came to South Pass and engaged in fruit-growing. These gentlemen, by their skill and enterprise, did much to develop the business and increase its importance. From 1855 to 1860, the shipments consisted almost entirely of seedling fruit. Benjamin Vancil had meantime started a nursery not far from the village, which now began to supply fruit trees of improved varieties. He also planted large orchards of the best fruits, and for years was known as a leading horticulturist in this county. Later still, James Bell, A. M. Lawver, J. A. Carpenter & Co. and others had nurseries, more or less extensive, which aided in supplying the demand for grafted trees. The years 1860 to 1865 witnessed a large influx of people who at once became earnest and enthusiastic fruit-growers. The whole fruit-growing interest had, up to this time, centered around the station and village known as South Pass, but thenceforth called Cobden. Lands hitherto of little woi-th now rapidly rose in value. Farmers in other parts of the county began to give more atten- tion to the raising of fruit. Orchards in- creased in number and extent as if by magic, all over the county, and in 1866 the volume of fruit exported by railroad from Union County had reached such enormous dimen- sions as to necessitate the running of a daily special train to carry it, the very freight on which alone amounted in that year to over $75,000. From that year to the present time, the fruit crops have annually deman- ded the continuance of this daily fruit train. Among all the fruits grown in this lati- tude, the apple ranks first in importance. Its many uses, its healthfulness, its long keeping qualities and its ease of production, all serve to make it the favorite fruit, in town and on the farm. No farm is complete with- out its apple orchard, and it will be safe to say that no such incomplete farm exists in Union County. The total area given to this fruit amounts to about 3,800 acres. The early varieties commence to ripen in July. These are sent off in one- third b^ishel boxes, and command good prices. The Astraehan, Red June, Early Harvest and Benoni are the profitable kinds. Summer and fall varieties, of which the most popular kinds are Maiden Blush and Buckingham, are shipped North in barrels, and often pay the grower very handsomely. The Baldwin, Spy and some other winter varieties ripen here in the fall, and will not keep into winter. The favorite varieties, Ben Davis, Rome Beauty, Smith's Cider, Winesap, Jonathan, Janet, Rhenish May aud Romanite, succeed admirably. The apple is the most satisfying of all fruits, and, like bread and meat, never cIoy& the stomach. Since the days of Adam and Eve, it has been cultivated and held in high esteem, and is likely to continue in favor and maintain its supremacy so long as the world repeats its seasons. But the apple in this county has probably seen its best days and reached its highest glory. The small fruits have been found to yield, so far, greater re- turns, and the profit from apple orchards is so inferior in comparison with the same area in berries taking one year with another, that HISTORY OF UN'ION COUNTY. 341 relatively few trees have been planted for several years past. Though our location and climate are pecu- liarly favorable to this fru.it, as well as to all other fruits of this zone, and our rich clay soil most admirably adapted to its growth, some skill and good judgment are requisite in planting and managing an orchard. The warm sun of our winter renders a northern slope preferable for this arid most other fruits, as the spring frosts are more to be dreaded than the extreme of the winter' s cold. On a northern slope the buds will survive a tem- perature of 25° below zero, and are seldom killed here. The apple is properly a fruit belonging to a cold climate and flourishing best in Northern latitudes. The more nearly the location of the orchard approaches in character that of the habitat of the fru.it, the more successful will be its conduct. Young orchards have here been uniformly remunera- tive. The White Winter Pearmain, ten to fif- teen years ago, produced abundant crops of excellent fruit. Now, the old trees have be- come scabby, and the fruit knotty and un- marketable. As soon as this stage occurs, it generally pays better to cut down the trees and plant a new orchard elsewhere. The land needs rest and manure. Of the apple- growers, there might scores be named whose orchards and their crops deserve honorable mention. James Bell's orchard, at Cobden, is kept in prime order, and produced last year 3,000 bushels of apples. C. D. Hol- combe, of Cobden, is a large shipper of this fruit. Jacob Hilemau and Hugh Andrews, of Anna, obtain large crops of remarkably fine Ben Davis apples. Caleb Miller, of Anna, in 1881, picked over 3,000 boxes of Red June apples fx'om about six acres of sparsely set and old trees. In 1881, there were shipped from this county 58, 993 bushels of apples. The apple, both tree and fruit, in the early history of fruit-growing in Union County, was quite free from disease. The forests furnished shelter to the orchards and also to innumerable birds, which destroyed the in- sects. The forests are now mostly gone and the insect-destroying birds are much less nu- merous, while the insects themselves have multiplied beyond conception or endurance, and fruit crops of any kind are only raised with the expenditure of much care and labor. The woolly aphis, the bark louse, the borer, canker worm, caterpillar, blight, codling moth, etc., are perennial troubles, to which the fruit-grower gradually gets accustomed, and which he can combat, but the semi-annual tree peddler is the greatest enemy to the horti- culturist, ensnaring him with wily tongue, and beguiling many fools to trade their hard- earned cash for his worthless trees. In view of all the disturbing influences, the future ex- tensive planting of apple orchards in this county is hardly warranted. What is desired is the introduction of more good winter va- rieties that can be kept through till the spring months. The pear is another popular fruit, greatly desired by all horticulturists, but very difii- cult to raise. The insect enemies are not so numerous as with other fruits, but the dread disease known as blight has kept the cultiva- tion of the pear in check from the earliest history of fruit culture in the West. Seed- ling trees, sprouts and nursery grown trees have been planted in this county year after year, from the time of the first settlers, but only a very small fraction of them now sur- vive, though the tree is naturally long-lived, seedling trees being known to attain the age of 200 years and more. Some of the improved varieties came quickly into bearing, while many others were so tardy as to discourage growers, and but few are now in the business. 342 HISTOEY OF UNION COUNTY. Near Cobden, Parker Earle has sixty acres iB pears. W. L. Parmley, E. D. Lawrence and James Bell also have excellent orchards of this fruit. At Anna, S. D. Casper and A. O. Finch are the principal pear gi'owers. The old Bell pear is still one of the most reliable. The Bartlett, Howell and Duch- esse d'Angoiileme are the most profitable. The Buerre d'Anjou, Sheldon and Mount Vernon are excellent varieties here. The best preventive of blight, found, after long trials and experiments with numberless so- called remedies, is a wash composed of four pounds of lime, two pounds of copperas, and one pound of glue dissolved in a bucketful of hot suds, and applied warm with a brush. This, also, is a most effectual meaus of pre- venting rabbits and mice from injuring the trees, if used often and thoroughly. Abovit 300 acres are planted with this fruit in this county. The quince has been raised here in small quantities, and does well when the trees are on moist land, and kept well manured and cultivated. In such cases the crops are large and very profitable, outselling the pear in price at that time of the year. This fruit deserves more extended planting, where suitable soil and location can be found. The borer has damaged the trees some, and the blight has killed a few. There are now, per- haps, thirty acres in this county set with quince. The same wash recommended for the pear trees has been found highly bene- ficial to the quince and apple alpo. • The peach is a fruit well suited to this climate. The winters are very seldom cold enough to injure the trees; never cold enough to kill them, and only occasionally does the mercury sink sufiiciently low to affect the buds, which requires a temperature of twelve degrees below zero. This fruit has been of great value to Union County, and is likely to again assume its due importance. As a general thing, high elevations have been proved the best locations for peach orchards. About 1,000 acres are given to the peach, but froia 1860 to 1870 the peach acreage probably exceeded this area. It was in those years that this fruit made this section of country famous throughout the land as a wonderful fruit region. The northern people were astonished at the marvelous beauty and perfection of the peaches that reached them from the hills of Union County. During the palmy days of this fruit, the railroad stations were daily for hours sur- rounded with heavily laden teams waiting their turn to unload into the north-bound train. At the height of the season, from twenty-five to thirty-five carloads of peaches left Cobden daily for the Chicago and way markets. The growers quickly discovered that a single day's shipments poured into Chicago alone would break the market flat, and hence began the system of distributing the fruit to other cities all over the West. Under this plan, prices were maintained, and the orchards continued sources of great profit. In 1881, the total shipments of peaches from this county were 10,654 bushels, as reported to the Assessor. The true yield undoubtedly greatly exceeded this amount. But many difl&culties attended the success- ful manasrement of these orchards. The cur- culio, rot, root grub and spring frosts gradu- ally discouraged and drove from the field many of the growers, so that, although the fruit is still greatly esteemed, and in favor- able years pays well, the former big ship- ments exist only in memory, and the large orchards have dwindled to comparatively small ones. The growers, however, may yet be numbered by hundreds, among whom George Snyder, J. J. Keith, Jacob Eendle- man and H. C. Freeman may be mentioned HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 343 as large growers and shippers. The first named gentleman has about 4,000 trees of tested and approved varieties, 3,000 of which are in bearing and will pay a hand- some dividend this }'ear (1883), being loaded down with fruit. The early and late varieties have paid well, the middle-season peaches only serving to glut the markets and lower prices. The late sorts have occasionally been sent South with remarkable profit, but the bulk of the crop has been distributed among the principal cities of the Northwest. The plum, worse than the peach, suifers by the carculio and rot, so that only the wild kinds can be raised here. Experiments with the other sorts have invariably resulted in failures. The Wild Goose and other sorts of the Chickasaw plum flourish well and yield fair crops nearly every year, the profits on which vary greatly. Only about fifty acres have been planted with this fruit, the immense crops of Kentucky, Tennessee, Mis- sissippi and Arkansas plums forestalling the markets and checking any tendency to exten- sive planting in this county. The apricot and nectarine, from the same reasons, are not grown, except as specimen trees near the dwelling-house. Cherry trees were early planted in this county, and propagated by seeds and sprouts. Trials of the sweet varieties de- veloped the fact that they rarely succeed in ripening crops. The Early Richmond, May Duke and English Morello have seldom failed to yield good crops of cherries, which, when thoroughly ripe, are quite palatable, their 'acidity disappearing as they acquire color and size. The Yellow Spanish suc- ceeds the best of the sweet sorts. Knight's Early Black does well in suitable localities, and is worth trial. The Early Purple Guigne is grown to some extent with fair success. The principal cherry growers at Cobden are J. B. Coulter, "C. C. Pelton and E. N. Clark. In the whole county there may be, all told, about sixty acres devoted to this fruit. Man has a natural, inborn desire for fruit. His appetite continually craves it, and this inner craving prompts him to provide for its gratification by the planting of trees and vines. Thus Noah, as soon as the subsidence of the waters would permit, hunted for a suitable location and set out a vineyard. In case of another flood, experience would dictate the selection of some other site for a vineyard than Union County. The grape does not flourish remarkably here. The vines grow, but bear not. In other words, the grapes rot, wither and come to naught. Long and costly years of experiment have proved this. The soil is too rich and too fine a loam, or something else is wrong. During the sixth and seventh decades of this century, the prevailing mania for fruit- growing led to the planting of numerous small vineyards in this county, mostly of the Concord and Catawba varieties. The labor was all lost, and the vineyards, several of which were terraced and trellised at large cost, went rapidly to destruction. Great has been the grief among the fruit-growers, but time has satisfied them that there was and is no help for it, and they have retired in disgust from the struggle. During the last twenty-five years, scores of new grapes, native seedlings, crosses and hybrids, have been brought into notice, some of which have proved equal to the emergency. The Ives' Seedling has been proved to be a good grape for general culti- vation, rotting but little, ripening early, and bringing in a good average profit. The Delaware succeeds quite satisfactorily in most hands and localities. The Tele- graph rota but little. Norton's Virginia and Cynthiana never rot, and bear enormous 344 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. crops. The Noah and Elvira are beautiful white grape?, bearing heavy crops entirely free from rot and mildew. The Perkins has borne large crops of sound grapes for the last ten years, and is a reliable grape. The Pearl and the Amber (Rommel's) are among the best grapes for this section, and do not rot. The Brighton and Prentiss have, so far, done well, and are grapes of great prom- ise. Grapes which otherwise rot must be protected by tying each cluster in a muslin bag when the grapes are not larger than small peas. Union County has had, at different times, many vineyards, but can now boast of none of any magnitude, and twenty acres will embrace all the room at present given for this purpose. There seems no reason why grape-crowing should not be profitable here, if those varieties are planted which do not rot. The season is long and the location favorable. That superior grape, the Goethe, which does not ripen well north of this latitude, here develops its best qual- ities. The Worden and all the hybrids are here magnificent grapes, but require to be protected in sacks while attaining their growth. It is in the production of the small fruits and early vegetables, notably berries and to- matoes, that Southern Illinois finds her pres- ent fame, and in this division of horticult- ure Union County takes the lead. The North may exceed in apples, pears and plums, and the South may boast of its peaches and oranges, but the great cities of the North- west look to Egypt for their main supplies of the early fruits and vegetables. The fra- grant strawberry is pre-eminently the most popular, profitable and widely cultivated of all the berries. Careful inquiry shows that there are fully 1,200 acres of this berry, old and new plantings, now under cultivation in this county, by about 300 growers. Since the earliest days of berry-culture here, this berry has been constantly growing in favor, and never was more popular than just at this time. Mr. B. F. Smith, formerly in the em- ploy of the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany, furnishes the following history of the early shipments of this berry. " I very well remember the first package shipped from that country to the Chicago market. It was a small box, containing about three gallons of small berries, probably Early Scarlets. I carried them into the baggage car. It was in May, 1860. They were grown at a little station twenty miles north of Cairo. In the years 1861 and 1862, some parties from the East bogan berry-grow- ing at Anna and Cobden, thirty-six and forty- two miles north of Cairo. About this time the Wilson's Albany seedling was brought to notice in the West. By the years 1863 and 1864, the small fruit business began to at- tract the attention of Southern Illinoisans, and desirable fruit lands, near Cobden and Anna, sold for high prices, and the farmer who had two or three acres of strawberries was the lion of the day. In those days men made from $800 to $1,000 per acre on their strawberries. " The growth of the berry business so in- creased that by 1864-65 we had to attach from two to three cars to each afternoon pas- senger train. By the spring of 1867, the strawberries raised in Southern Illinois de- manded a fast fruit train, which was put on the road, starting from Anna. Thus the trade had grown in seven years from three gallons to a train load. In the berry season of 1879, from fifteen to twenty carloads were the daily shipments from Southern Illinois to Chicago and other points in the North." From the outset, Cobden has been the heart-center of the fruit interests, and " Cob- HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 345 den fruit " has become a general appellation abroad for all that goes from this county, the shipments from that station comprising two- thirds of the county's exports. Fruit-grow- ing, however, is acquiring increased impor- tance in the other portions of this county and in the counties north and south of this. In 1880, Cobden alone shipped 113 car loads of strawberries, and in 1881 sent off 116 car loads, or about 50,000 cases of twenty-four quarts each, besides large quantities sent by express in odd lots. The total strawberry shipments from the whole county the same year were 67,182 cases, or 1,612,368 quarts. The net receipts from these berries by the growers will average $1,000 a car load, thus showing Cobden's income from this one crop to be over $100,000. As a matter of record, a few names of the principal growers are given: At Cobden, W. F. Lamer, Willis Lamer, E. N. Clark, G. W. James, A. H. Chapman, James Bell, Fay Rendleman and G. H, Baker have from ten to thirty acres each in strawberries. At Anna, Parker Earle & Sons have eighty acres in strawberries, and are the leading growers. A. D. Finch, E. Babcock, J. W. Fuller, S. D. Casper, Caleb Miller, D. H. Rendleman, J. G. Page and S. Martin cultivate from ten to twenty acres each. F. A. Childs,of Kansas, was formerly a leading grower of this berry at A ana, and an active horticulturist. Cyrus Shick, of Pennsylvania, was also, till 1880, an exten- sive berry grower and shipper. Until the year 1880, berries were shipped in the fruit cars specially constructed for that purpose, and went by the fruit train, or else the fruit was sent by express on the regular passenger trains, as the shipper found it to be most convenient or necessary. In that year, the berry shippers commenced using re- frigerator cars. In 1881, cooling houses in Cobden and Anna svere built in which to store and cool the fruit preparatory to shipment. These were the first buildings erected for this purpose in Southern Illinois. The refriger- ator cars delivered the berries in prime con- dition at Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. In 1883, cooling houses were built at other stations along the railroad. The use of these cooling houses and refrigerator cars permitted the growing and shipping of varie- ties otherwise too soft for carriage to distant markets, and thus allowed a more extended planting of berries than would have been possible without them. Refrigerator cars are also used for the transportation of raspberries, blackberries, peaches, tomatoes, etc., in their season. The cooling houses in the winter form storage places for sweet potatoes and fruit. The house in Anna was built by P. Earle & Sons, to accommodate their own immense crops. The Cobden cooler was built by the Cobden Refrigerator & Shipping Company, a stock company which receives berries from any grower, and at the low charge of 10 cents per case of twenty-four quarts gives them the benefit of the cooling house and of the refrigerator car to Chicago. The freight, $90 per car, is an additional expense, divided among the shippers according to the number of cases sent. A car will carry 500 cases, and on a trip to Cleveland is recharged with ice at Indianapolis. When sent to Chi- cago, the expense of loading the berries at Cobden, and unloading in Chicago, is $6.50 per car extra. The " Cobden Fruit Growers' Association," known also as the "Tha Peo- ple's Line," is another organization to facil- itate the cheap transportation and delivery of fruit, and handles the great bulk of the shipments. These companies are great aids to the gi-ower in economizing expense, and have helped largely to develop the fruit- growing business in the county. 346 HISTOKY OF UNION COUNTY. The black raspberries have been raised here iu great quantities in past years. About the year 1873, the Turner red raspberry came into extensive cultivation in this county. It was so early in ripening, and so excellent in its other characteristics, that it created a new era in raspberry culture. The profits on this berry for several years were exceedingly large, and stimulated the growers to over- production. Fields of from ten to twenty acres of these raspberries multiplied rapidly. In 1879, Union County shipped 3,411 bush- els of raspberries, of which amount Gobden shipped 2,736 bushels, all in pint boxes. Of these, about one -fourth were black varieties, and the rest were the Turner. In 1880, there were hundreds of acres of these berries in bearing, and the market price fell below the cost of production. This was the crown- ing year of the raspberry business, the crop amounting to over 5,000 bushels, of which Cobden furnished 11,027 cases, or 4,135 bushels. The growers then plowed up their fields, and betook themselves to other fruits. Parker Earle & Sons, who were always the largest growers of this berry here, still have thirty acres of ii; in bearing at Ana a. In its best days, cases of twenty- four pints often sold for $7 and $8 each. There are at pres- ent only 400 acres in raspberries, of all kinds, in this county. The Turner variety is the general favorite of the red sorts, and the Miami of the black sorts. By the careful method used here in picking and packing, the Turner, though naturally a soft berry when fully ripe, was carried in good order to such distant points as Chicago, Milwaukee and Dubuque. Walter S. Lamer is the larg- est shipper of raspberries at Cobden. His berries are superior in quality and in pack- ing, and bring the highest price in market. The Lawton and KittatiuQy blackberries were grown to the extent of 180 or 200 acres, between the venrs 1870 and 3880, but now the total acreage given to the blackberry in Union County does not probably exceed 100 acres. The fruit ripens during the hottest season of the year, when it is difficult to make long shipments in anything like good condition, and when the pickers are all tired out with their tasks in the strawberry and raspberry fields. The market also is very tickle, as in some years the wild berries are so good and so plentiful as to seriously affect the sale of the cultivated varieties. The old growers have had their experience, are satis- fied with it, and are now pretty much out of the business. The largest blackberry ship- pers this year are P. Earle & Sons, who have out thirty-two acres of the Early Har- vest, Wilson's Early and other varieties in their extensive berry plantation at Anna. The red and white currants have been tried, time and again, but no great profit was found in them. They grow and yield well. The black currants succeed finely and make a delicious wine, the Black Naples va- riety being the best for this purpose. Gooseberries have been grown by the acre, but the cash returns were n(.-t such as to fascinate the grower, and so this fruit also has become merely a side show. The crops were large enough, but sugar is still too costly. When the great West becomes a sugar- producing section, and the sorghum lands reduce the price of sugar to a par with the gooseberry, quart for quart, then this great colic promoter will assume an honora- ble position among the small fruits which .bring fame and wealth to Union County. The tig tree is a treacherous plant here, no matter how well sheltered. Trees have been grown here out of doors, of the Brown Ischia and Early Violet varieties, and borne fruit, but the only certainty is found by trans- planting the tree or bush to the cellar through the winter. The mulberry grows to perfection here; HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY Ml and now that silk culture is being revived in this country and is found to be a profitable pursuit, there might be some advantage de- rived from giving it some attention on our rich lands. The English walnut ripens here perfectly. There ai'e over a dozen trees near Jonesboro, some of which bear annual crops. A grove of these trees would rival the orange in profit. The sweet American chestnut is also at home on the Union County hills. The pecan, shellbark hickory, black walnut, butternut, etc., all flourish here, and may be made sources of considerable profit by judi - cious planting. The American elm, the ash, beech, horse chestnut, locust, linden, maple, oak, sweet gum, poplar and willow are all grown as ornamental and shade trees and abound in the forests. The evergreens re- quire more care, but are successfully grown. Many private residences in different parts of the county have their lawns graced with groups of the arbor vitse, junipers, pines and cedars. The holly is also seen here. Bos and privet serve as borders for walks and beds. The mock orange and the Osage orange thrive, and the magnolia grandifiora shows its huge snowy flowers in sheltered places. Flower gardens, filled with the richest and gayest of roses, shrubs, vines, bulbs and flowering plants, that bewilder an amateur, are to be seen around every village and town in the county. The cut-flower business has not grown in proportion to the other depart- ments of horticulture, or to its merits. James Bell constructed quite an extensive green house several years ago, from which considerable quantities of roses, ferns, etc., have been sent to Northern cities, realizing excellent retui-ns. T. A. E. Holcomb also built a beautifu.1 little conservatory, which has been a soiirce of delight and profit to the owner. The science of horticvilture has not yet developed here its aesthetic side suffi- ciently to attract the masses. Only a por- tion of the people take other than the prac- tical, matter of fact view of it. The culti- vation of flowers and care of lawns are now, to many of the farmers, just what the grow- ing of small fruit was twenty-five years ago — too small business for men to bother about. Befoi'e taking up other subjects, it is well to mention here that great efforts, many of them quite costly to the people, have repeat- edly been made to economically and profita- bly dispose of the vast amount of third-class fruit which annually goes to waste on the fruit farms, for want of time and means to save it. Evaporators, under the Alden patent, were erected in Anna and Cobden in 1872, costing about $10,000 each, the peo- ple, as stockholders, putting in $5,000 cash and land, and the Alden Company offsetting this with the building and machinery, thus making it a stock concern. The evaporators were set to work on fruit and vegetables ; but two years' experience under the most careful management showed the mortifying fact that, do the best they could, the evaporated fruit cost more than it would sell for in market. In other words, the Alden system was a fail- ure here. The heat was developed from a steam coil beneath the drying shaft. By re- moving the coil, putting the furnace in its place so as to use direct heat, and avoiding all use of steam, as has been done elsewhere, the business might have taken a profitable turn; but the stockholders had no great de- sire to experiment further, and abandoned the whole affair, converting the building to other uses. At different times distilleries have been put in operation in different parts of the county, and made apple and peach brandies, etc. ' The injury proved greater than the 348 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. benefit derived, and the growing temperance movement soon crowded the distilleries out. At the present writing, the whole county is a solid unit for temperance, the principal towns working under iron-clad ordinances, and no intoxicating liquor being allowed to be sold or made. The tomato, often improperly classed as a vegetable, is a fruit which has of late years acquired such prominence in the shipments from Union County as to outrank the berries in quantity if not in value. Col. F. E. Peebles, Secretary of the Fruit Shippers' Association, supplies many of the following facts: Tomatoes were raised by David Gow, at Cobden, in 1858, but the business was fairly opened in 1859 by D. Gow, G. H. Baker and Henry Ede, gentlemen who still rank high among the tomato growers. At that time, these three growers were able to supply the Chicago market with all the to- matoes it needed, and from not over 10,000 plants. As the tomato grew in favor as an article of diet,the demand called for increased production, until in 1882, thei-e were around Cobden 220 growers cultivating 500 acres set with nearly 1,000,000 plants, from which over 225,000 third-bushel boxes of tomatoes were shipped; and not less than 15,000 bushels were allowed to rot, when the price fell too low. The fruit was shipped in fruit cars to points as far as Western New York, Canada, Dakota and Colorado. Cobden, for several years, has annually grown and shipped more tomatoes than any other place in the United States. In 1882, the crop exceeded that of any former year, the total shipments by freight and fruit ex- press aggregating 220 car loads. On July 29 of that year, twenty -five car loads of to- matoes left Union County, of which Cobden furnished over twenty -two car loads, and could have sent off thirty car loads, had the prices warranted it. This immense shipment on one day was too much for even Chicago to hold up. The great markets of the West broke down and were weak for several days, during which the shipments continued, though at a daily loss to the shippers of not less than $1,000. The tomatoes cost at the Cobden depot at least 12 cents a box. The early sales reach $1 per box, and then rapidly fall as the supplies increase. In 1863, they sold as high as $3 per box, but now the ship ments from Bermuda and the South take the early market prices. Willis Lamer is a lead- ing grower. E. N. Clark excels in quality. J. T. Whelpley, J. Metz, Green & Vener- able, H. R. Buckingham and A. H. Chapman are also large growers of the tomato. Some of these growers cleared $2,000 each on the crop of 1882. The watermelon succeeds in this county only in particular localities. The soil is generally too heavy for it; but the musk- melon grows finely and has become one of the famous products of Union County. The Japan variety has been grown in quite large quantities, to the extent of eighty to 100 acres. In 1870, Horace Eastman began the growing of melons at Anna, and for several years obtained extraordinary prices, ranging from $8 to $12 per crate of twenty-five mel- ons. In 1879, the melon business was at its height, with opening prices at $6 per crate of one and one-half bushels. Anna was the principal shipping point, with sixty acres in this crop, which yielded 9,200 crates and paid about $300 profit per acre above ex- penses. The leading growers at Anna were H. Eastman, I. C. Piersol, E. G. Robinson, J. A. Noyes, Asa Harmon and J. B. Miller. At Cobden, G. H. Baker is a leading grower of this fruit. In vegetables as in fruits. Union County is a principal source of supply and Cobden is "p^ A^-7*"^^- ? «-J^ HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 351 the lai'gest shipping station. In any city to which Cobden chooF.es to send its products, it can, with a single day's shipments, break down the markets with either of the follow- ing articles : Strawberries, tomatoes, rhubarb, asparagus, spinach or sweet potatoes. Of asparagus, it has about eighty acres, grown principally by Amos Poole, M. A. Benham, A. Buck and E. Leming & Co. Other parts of the county have twenty acres or more in this crop, making a total of 100 acres. There are seventy-five acres of rhubai'b grown in the county, of which Cobden has fifty acres, and ships by the car load. The shipments of rhubarb fi'om that station for 1880 were 340,- 465 pounds, or 170 tons. A. Poole was the principal grower at the origin of the busi- ness, and last year he gathered a barrel of rhubarb from seven hills at one picking. The net profits are about $125 per acre. There are about 120 acres in the county planted with spinach, of which Cobden grows seventy- five acres, and in 1882 shipped fourteen car loads, or 13,500 crates, holding three-fourths of a bushel each. But small attention is given to peas, beans, lettuce, beets, I'adishes, cabbage, etc. , on ac- count of the increasing production of these crops at points further South. The total an- nual shipments of peas and beans from this county will average about 2,000 boxes; of Ifittuce, 2,000 cases; of radishes, 400 cases; of squashes, 200 cases, and of cucumbers about 500 boxes. Early onions are exten- sively grown, the crop of 1882 amounting to 1.200 cases, principally of the variety known as Scallions, or winter onions. The field onion is also extensively grown. The sweet potato is grown in great quantities. The shipments for 1882 were, from Cobden, 530,460 pounds; from Aima, 522,650 pounds; from Dongola, 322,550 pounds; from other places, 50,000 pounds, or a total of 23,880 bushels. In these statements, Anna gets the credit of much that is grown around Jones- boro, and Cobden the credit of much that is grown around Alto Pass. In 1882, the total fruit and vegetable shipments from Cobden wpire 6,480,160 pounds; from Anna, 3,285,- 685 pounds; from Dongola 1,444,960 pounds, and fi'om Alto Pass 407,040 pounds. In the year 1877, the fruit train shipments from Cobden reached the enormous amount of 10, - 287,835 pounds, equal to 643 car loads. The packages used in shipping the prod- iicts of Union County are the one third bushel box for peaches, early apples, pears, plums, tomatoes, early potatoes, etc. ; the twenty-four quart case for strawberries, blackberries, cherries and vegetables; the twenty-four pint case for raspberries, and the one and one-half bushel crate for melons. These packages are manufactured in the county, principally by Mesler & Co. , at Cob- den, M. M. Henderson & Son, at Anna, and R. T. Shipley, at Jonesboro. These firms turn out several million packages annually, which are supplied direct to the growers in all parts of the West, and cannot be ex- celled for quality of material or workmanship. The third bushel boxes are supplied at a cost of $37.50 per 1,000. The reputation of Union County as a fruit- producing section is not based wholly upon the immense quantities of fruits, etc., shipped from here, but largely upon the excellent quality of the fruit, the superior character of the packages, and the unrivaled perfection of the packing. In do other section is fruit packed better, nor is there anywhere else so great skill and care -used in the preparation of the shipments. The long distances over which much of the fruit is sent requires the utmost nicety of preparation and attention to the minutest particulars. The growers and shippers pride themselves on the excel- 352 HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. lence of their shipments, and in sustaining the fair fame of their county as the finest fruit garden in the valley of the Mississippi. Thus the cultivation of the fruits and vegetables in this county has progressed from the rudest beginnings to its present noblo proportions. The wild fruits have gradually given place to improved and cul- tivated varieties. Horticulture has risen to a science calling for the genius and talent of the most intelligent men, and affording ob- jects for the expenditure of wealth and taste to a most liberal extent. Several new fruits have originated here through the skill of some of the more studious horticulturists. The Freeman's late peach was originated by H. C. Freoman, of Alto Pas.s; the Lawver apple by John S. Lawver, of Cobden, and the Sucker State strawberry, by John B. Miller, of Anna, all of them fruits that do honor to the county and State which gave them origin. The future of horticulture in Union County is full of glorious promise. As the great West absorbs the limitless population of the four quarters of the globe, its crowding mill- ions will call unceasingly for more and more of the fair fruits that bless the soil of South- ern Illinois. The resources of this favored region and the energies of its people will be taxed to their utmost capacity. The time is not far ahead, and the day of preparation is now at hand. The beginning is already well made, but the tenth part of what is to be has not yet been done. Though the history of the past fifty years of horticulture in this county may seem sufficiently honorable and grand, that of the next half century will far transcend anything that the proudest fruit- grower of this day and generation can con- ceive. To our children and our successors is committed the great work of achieving this result, and for them this history of our own labors is written, with the hope that the same God who has prospered us thus far will also prosper them, even to the end of time. CHAPTEK XI JONESBORO PRECINCT— TorOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES— COMING OF THE WHITES— PIO- NEER HARDSHIPS— EARLY INDUSTRIES— ROADS, BRIDGES^ TAVERNS, ETC.— RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL-ST.\TE OF SOCIETY— PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENTS, ETC. " And the names he loved to hear Have been carved for many a year On the tomb." — Oliver Wendell Holmes. "TONESBORO PRECINCT is situated in ^ the west central pari of Union County, and comprises Township 12 south, in Range 2 west, of the Third Principal Meridian, with a few additional Sections which have been attached to it for the sake of convenience. It *By John Grear. is bounded on the north by Ridge or Alto Pass Precinct, on the east by Anna Precinct, on the south by Meisenlieimer Precinct and on the west by Union Precinct. The surface is rolling, and often rough and hilly, with numerous small water-courses. The princi- pal of these is Clear Creek, which flows through the western part, in a southerly course, and passes into Meisenheimer Pre- cinct. Several small streams flow into it in this precinct. In addition to the streams HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY. 'd56 mentioned, there are a number of springs which afford an abundant supply of excelleat water the entire year. Originally, the land was covered with heavy timber, but much of it has disappeared before the encroachments of the " relentless pioneer," but enough still remains for all practical uses. The St. Louis & Cairo Railroad runs through the precinct, and has greatly improved the country since its completion. The principal products are corn, oats and wheat, some stock and a little fruit. The latter, however, is grown more for family use than for sale, none of the farm- ers devoting especial attention to it, as in some of the neighboring precincts. Jonesboro Precinct is one of the oldest set- tled portions of Union County, more than seventy years having elapsed since the first white people penetrated thus far into tlie wilderness. See the figures: 1809—1883! More than two-generations have passed be- tween these milestones, and many of their names have long ago been " carved on the tomb." The pioneers who bore the brunt of life in the wilderness have passed away, and their bodies have moldered into dust. We shall never see their like again, for the times in which they lived have changed, and there can be no necessity for the repetition of their experiences fifty or seventy-five years ago. The life which the pioneer of the far Western Territories leads is vastly different to pioneer life in Southern Illinois. Here they had none of the comforts or luxuries of civilization, but endless toil and extreme privation were required to maintain existence. With the railroads penetrating the Great West and the unsettled Territories, the pioneer can take with him to his new home not only the com- forts, but many of the luxuries of the older settled States with trifling cost, and live with comparative ease. Even houses can be transported to the contemplated settle- ment, and set up in a short time ready for their occupants. Not so fifty years ago. The settlers came with nothing, and for years it was an incessant struggle for life itself. It was only by the most superhuman efforts and persevering industry that a comfortable home was finally obtained. The first settlement of this precinct was made by North Carolinians, as were nearly all of the early settlements of the county. It is generally conceded that John Grammer, the hardy, rough, rude old pioneer — the rough diamond —was the first settler in Avhat now ffu'ms Jonesboro Precinct, and that 1800 was about the date of his settlement. ^\e have but little to say of John Grammer in this chapter, as considerable space has been de- voted to him in the preceding pages, and any- thing further would be a repetition. The following pioneex's, and early and prominent citizens of Jonesboro, town and preci«.ct, have also been written up, and their lives and deeds placed upon record in other chapters of this work. Dr. S. S. Condeu, Thomas Fin- ley, John Evans, W^insted Davie, Dr. B. W. Brooks, the W^illar