LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY-OF ILLINOIS 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
 977.3 
 Sm5h 
 v. 1 
 cop. 2 
 
 T.H.R

 
 A HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its 
 People, and its Principal Interests 
 
 BY 
 
 George Washington Smith, M. A. 
 
 VOLUME I 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 CHICAGO AND NEW YORK 
 1912
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1912 
 
 BY 
 THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
 
 5 n 
 
 V. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 The richest heritage which shall ever come into our possession is the 
 simple story of the struggles, the sacrifices, and the triumphs of the 
 men and women our fore-parents who planted in this western wilder- 
 ness the home, the school, the church, and the state. 
 
 We shall never know that story in all its fullness and completeness. 
 For the noble men and women who opened up the way for civilization 
 
 SPINNING WHEEL, SPOOL FRAME, AND WARPING BARS 
 
 in all this western country, have long since gone to their reward, and 
 they have left meager accounts of all the vicissitudes through which they 
 passed when "wilderness was king." 
 
 We may never realize, fully, what it meant for the men and women 
 of a century or more ago to leave comfortable homes, devoted friends 
 and relatives, the associations of childhood, aye, the graves of their 
 dead, and take up their weary march over mountains, across streams, 
 through trackless forests, to plant new homes in a wilderness inhabited 
 by wild beasts and wilder men. 
 
 It is the purpose of this little volume to reveal a portion of that 
 story to our people, and especially to the boys and girls while they are 
 yet free from the cares of the graver responsibilities of life. If these 
 young people shall ever come into possession of their inheritance, we 
 may not fear for the future of our homes nor for the destiny of the 
 state. 
 
 The tendency of those who gather up the history of a state or of a 
 nation is to put much stress upon the political movements and greatly 
 to neglect the other phases of a people's life. As individuals and as a 
 
 iii
 
 IV 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 people we do not have very definite notions of the march of progress in 
 the social life of our people; or of the industrial movement which has 
 revolutionized all kinds of labor. Likewise we find it difficult to formu- 
 late definite notions of our religious and educational advancement. 
 
 But it ought not so to be. We ought to be as deeply interested in 
 the unfolding of our industrial life as in the evolution of our political 
 history. What could be more profitable, and what more charming than 
 the story of the progressive steps by which our home life has moved 
 away from the one room log cabin with its chinks and daub, its puncheon 
 floor, its open fireplace, its stick chimney, its whitewashed walls, and 
 its creaky door upon its wooden hinges ? 
 
 This story may yet be preserved, in part at least, for there are people 
 now living in our midst who remember the hand cards, the spinning 
 wheel, the reel, the walking frame, the dull thud of the loom, as hour 
 by hour the mother toiled in the mystery of shuttle, and sley, and 
 
 A HOME-MADE LOOM USED IN WEAVING CARPETS 
 
 treadle, and harness, and warp, and woof. The oldest inhabitant remem- 
 bers vividly the shaving horse, the shoemaker's kit, the shuck collar, the 
 wooden mold-board, the chain traces, the broadaxe, the sugar camp, 
 the reap-hook, the whipsaw, the flail, and the water gristmill. 
 
 And we need only to rummage the attic of the old homestead to find 
 the gourd, the piggin, the powder-horn, the bullet-moulds, the hackle, 
 the candlestick, the swingling knife, the candle-moulds, the split bottomed 
 chair, and the cradle. 
 
 And who has not heard of the campmeeting with its mysterious con- 
 versions, its powerful sermons, its prolonged prayers, its stories of men 
 who came to scoff but remained to pray ? Did you ever hear the hymns 
 lined? Did you ever hear the tune pitched? Did you know that this 
 faithful preacher had toiled hard all week at farm work, and studied 
 his Bible at night in order to be able to shepherd his flock on Sunday ? 
 Did you know the church finances were never "embarrassed" in those 
 early days? There are those in nearly every neighborhood who carry in 
 a sacred corner of their memory the story of the early church. They
 
 INTRODUCTORY v 
 
 say little about those days. But they will tell you quietly this beautiful 
 story of devotion and sacrifice. 
 
 And what shall we say of the pedagogue of a hundred years ago? 
 He was like the seasons he came and went. He had no settled home. 
 He taught his school in some abandoned building and ' ' boarded 'round. ' ' 
 There were no school-book trusts, and no school-furniture combines in 
 those dreamy days. There were no county superintendents to refuse 
 certificates, and no school journals to furnish methods and devices. But 
 notwithstanding the meager material equipment of the schools, and the 
 lack of intellectual preparation in the teacher, there was yet a constant 
 movement toward better things. And if there was a lack of scientific 
 
 A WHEEL MORE THAN 150 YEARS OLD, USED IN SPINNING FLAX 
 
 methods in the educational processes, there was compensation in the 
 moral and spiritual vigor instilled into the young people of that day. 
 What a charming thing it would be to re-live this life with grandfather 
 and grandmother! Who would not enjoy going back to the old home- 
 stead even though it be in imagination only. 
 
 To the writer it has seemed not inappropriate to attempt to gather 
 up and put into convenient form this simple story of our wonderful 
 growth and development. His 'parents were immigrants in the early 
 '30 's and the story of the life of those days as it came from father and 
 mother is a blessed memory. This traditional knowledge has been sup- 
 plemented by a limited amount of original investigation, but the chief 
 reliance has been placed in the published histories to which the writer 
 has had access. 
 
 The illustrations have been secured after much research and at no 
 little expense, and it is hoped they may be found to be of true historical 
 merit.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS GEOLOGY 
 
 CIVILIZATION BASED ON GEOLOGY GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PHASE THE 
 GEOLOGICAL ERAS TABLE OP GEOLOGICAL TIME DIVISIONS THE GLA- 
 CIAL PERIOD. 1 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 SOILS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS TIMBER OUR COAL 
 FIELDS STONE, OIL AND GAS SALT, LEAD AND CLAY PRAIRIE AND 
 TIMBER AREAS 10 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 INDIANS AND PREHISTORIC PEOPLES 
 
 GREAT INDIAN FAMILIES THE ILLINOIS INDIANS GREAT CHIEFS EVI- 
 DENCES OF PREHISTORIC PEOPLES THE CAHOKIA MOUNDS IMPLE- 
 MENTS, POTTERY AND PICTOGRAPHS. 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 
 
 CLAIMANTS TO AMERICA MARQUETTE AND JOLJET THE TRIUMPHS AND 
 DEATH OF LASALLE His BRAVE LIEUTENANT, TONTI 33 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS IN ILLINOIS 
 
 KASKASKIA SETTLED GRANTS OF LAND OTHER SETTLEMENTS WAR 
 AND PROGRESS GOVERNMENT, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS 49 
 
 vii
 
 viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 LOUISIANA AND ILLINOIS (1732-1777) 
 
 ILLINOIS PRIOR TO THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR THE STRUGGLE FOR 
 THE OHIO VALLEY OLD FORT CHARTRES THE COMING OP THE 
 BRITISH ILLINOIS UNDER BRITISH RULE. 61 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 
 CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS CLARK'S EXPEDITION TO THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 PUBLIC INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL CLARK PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS 
 DOWN THE RIVER ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS CAPTURE OP KAS- 
 KASKIA COUNTY OP ILLINOIS 79 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 ILLINOIS COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 
 
 THE ROUTE TO VINCENNES CAPTURE OP VINCENNES COMING OF JOHN 
 TODD VIRGINIA CEDES HER WESTERN LANDS ORDINANCE OF 1787 
 PASSED GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS LOCAL 
 GOVERNMENT. 90 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 AS A PART OF INDIANA TERRITORY 
 
 HARRISON AND THE INDIAN PROBLEMS SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORY ILLI- 
 NOIS TERRITORY ERECTED. 104 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 ILLINOIS (1809-1812) 
 
 TERRITORY OP THE FIRST CLASS WAR OF 1812 MATTERS OF LOCAL IN- 
 TEREST ILLINOIS A SECOND CLASS TERRITORY A RETROSPECT. 109 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 APPROACHING STATEHOOD 
 
 NEW COUNTIES BANKS AND BANKING IMMIGRATION FIFTEEN COUN- 
 TIES UP TO 1818 NATHANIEL POPE ELECTED TO CONGRESS 124
 
 CONTENTS ix 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 ILLINOIS BECOMES A STATE 
 
 SERVICES OP NATHANIEL POPE THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 
 THE CONSTITUTION OP 1818 129 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 ILLINOIS UNDER GOVERNOR BOND 
 
 STARTING THE NEW MACHINERY ILLINOIS' BLACK CODE IN THE NEW 
 CAPITAL ATTEMPTED FINANCIAL RELIEF MILITARY TRACT THE 
 ENGLISH PRAIRIE SETTLEMENT GOVERNOR BOND RETURNS TO His 
 FARM 136 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR COLES 
 
 A MAN WITH CONVICTIONS THE SLAVERY ISSUE A BITTER CAMPAIGN 
 THE RESULT THE SANGAMON COUNTRY A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR 
 THE ELECTIONS OP 1826 148 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 NINIAN EDWARDS, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS 
 
 THE STATE BANK AN INTERESTING DOCTRINE SCHOOL LEGISLATION 
 THE WINNEBAGO WAR. 166 
 
 i " ; ' - 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 EXPANSION 
 
 KASKASKIA AND CAHOKIA MILITARY BOUNTY LANDS PEORIA AND GAL- 
 ENA RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS PRESBYTERIANISM MISSIONARIES 
 METHODISM THE BAPTISTS. 172 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 AN IMPORTANT STATE PERIOD 
 
 How GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAS ELECTED THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 
 VDEEP SNOW OP 1830-1 THE BLACK HAWK WAR CALL TO ARMS 
 
 THE END SECOND HALF OF ADMINISTRATION. 180
 
 x CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR JOSEPH DUNCAN 
 
 ELECTION AS GOVERNOR BANKING LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED UNITED 
 STATES AND STATE BANKS REDEMPTION EXTENSION SUSPENSION 
 OF SPECIE PAYMENTS STATE BANK IN LIQUIDATION INTERNAL 
 IMPROVEMENTS RECOMMENDATIONS BILL PASSED OVER GOVERNOR'S 
 VETO CAPITAL REMOVED TO SPRINGFIELD ALSO PASSED OVER 
 COUNCIL'S VETO. 193 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 MARTYRDOM OF LOVEJOY 
 
 SLAVERY IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS AGITATION BY ABOLITION- 
 ISTS AND NEWSPAPERS A MORAL HERO LOVEJOY BECOMES AN EDI- 
 TOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT "OBSERVER" MOVED TO ALTON MOB 
 DESTROYS PRESSES LOVEJOY A MARTYR 207 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 ILLINOIS FROM 1838 TO 1846 
 
 THOMAS CARLIN ELECTED GOVERNOR "TIPPECANOE AND TYLER Too" 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES COLLAPSE GOVERNOR THOMAS 
 FORD ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL PROGRESSES SOME SOCIAL 
 PROBLEMS. 219 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 ADMINISTRATION OF AUGUSTUS C. FRENCH 
 
 THE MEXICAN WAR THE MORMONS CONSTITUTION OF 1848 THE ILLI- 
 NOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD A NEW BANKING SYSTEM. 228 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 GOVERNOR JOEL A. MATTESON 
 
 UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION MATTESON ELECTED GOVERNOR ILLI- 
 NOIS CENTRAL BUILT SLAVERY AGITATION CANAL SCRIP FRAUD 
 STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS. 246 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 PERIOD OF POLITICAL UNREST 
 
 ILLINOIS' FIRST REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR OFFICIAL OATH AGAINST 
 DUELLING SOME MATTERS OF LOCAL INTEREST POLITICAL SITUA- 
 TION IN SOUTHERN ILLINIOS IN 1858 WHEN DOUGLAS CAME TO 
 CAIRO LINCOLN IN ANNA AND JONESBORO. 253
 
 CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE AT JONESBORO 
 
 MR. DOUGLAS'S SPEECH MR. LINCOLN'S REPLY MR. DOUGLAS'S REPLY. 
 
 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 ON THE EVE OP THE GREAT CONFLICT 
 
 THE ELECTION OP 1858 DOUGLAS AT BENTON POLITICAL MEETINGS 
 AT CENTRALIA LAST DEBATE AT ALTON THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 
 A SON OP ILLINOIS. 300 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 "WAR HISTORY (1861-1898) 
 
 POLITICS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS PRESIDENTIAL VOTE (1860) IN LOGAN'S 
 DISTRICT STATE CONVENTIONS AND ASSEMBLIES KNIGHTS OP THE 
 GOLDEN CIRCLE "THE AMERICAN BASTILE" SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 IN CAMP AND BATTLE THREE YEARS' SERVICE ONE HUNDRED 
 DAYS' SERVICE THE ALTON BATTALION ONE YEAR SERVICE CAV- 
 ALRY SERVICE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR THE FOURTH ILLINOIS IN- 
 FANTRY EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY 314 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 THE RETURN OF PEACE 
 
 A REUNITED PEOPLE ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT POLITICAL AND CON- 
 STITUTIONAL CHANGES CONSTITUTION OP 1870 ELECTIONS OP THE 
 SEVENTIES RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1870 THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES 
 THE WORLD'S FAIR FROM ALTGELD TO DENEEN. 336 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 JOURNALISM 
 
 FIRST ILLINOIS NEWSPAPERS SLAVERY QUESTION STIMULATES JOURNAL- 
 ISM UNCERTAINTIES OF PIONEER JOURNALISM ABLE OLD-TIME EDIT- 
 ORS LATER STIMULATING ISSUES PAPERS FORCED TO SUSPEND 
 FOUNDED PRIOR TO 1880. 344 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 TRANSPORTATION 
 
 EARLY RIVER BOATS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WATERWAYS PIONEER TRAILS 
 AND ROADS GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS THE NATIONAL ROAD WORK 
 OF THE STATE. 353
 
 xii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS BASIS OF ILLINOIS SYSTEM PRIMITIVE 
 SCHOOL HOUSES CONVENTIONS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC EDUCATION 
 BEST FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE STATE LAW OP 1855 PRESENT SYSTEM 
 OP PUBLIC EDUCATION. 364 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 
 
 A PART OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM CREATED BY THE STATE SCHOOL 
 OPENS IN 1866 UNCERTAINTY AS TO STATUS LIFE GOES OUT IN 1879. 
 
 376 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 PRIVATE SCHOOLS 
 
 FIRST HIGH SCHOOL IN ILLINOIS SHURTLEFP COLLEGE MCKENDREE AND 
 EWING COLLEGES SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE GREENVILLE 
 COLLEGE. 381 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE 
 
 FIRST BUILDING ERECTED ' ' THE HERALD OF TRUTH ' ' COLLEGE REVIVED 
 CHARTER SECURED CLOSED IN 1870. 387 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 STATE SCHOOLS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION 
 
 STATE AID AND LEGISLATION SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOLS 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY WORK OF THE STATE 
 TEACHERS ASSOCIATION LEGISLATURE CREATES NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTIONS CARBONDALE, SITE OF SOUTHERN ILLI- 
 NOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OPENED BUILDING BURNED 
 THE NEW MAIN BUILDING GENERAL REVIEW. 392 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 BANKS AND BANKING IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 FIRST LAND OFFICES AND BANKS IN EGYPT BANK OF ILLINOIS CREATED 
 BANK OF CAIRO THE STATE BANKS -INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT 
 SCHEMES FINANCIAL COMPLICATIONS AND EMBARRASSMENTS THE 
 FREE BANKING LAW ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN BANKS OF ISSUE 
 EFFECTS OF NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM- ILLINOIS BANKERS' ASSO- 
 CIATION GROUP No. 10 (SOUTHERN ILLINOIS) BUILDING AND LOAN 
 ASSOCIATIONS. 409
 
 CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES 
 
 PREPONDERANCE OF RURAL POPULATION AVERAGE SIZE AND PRICE OP 
 FARMS -PERCENT OF VALUE IN LANDS, BUILDINGS, ETC. NUMBER OF 
 FARMS EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 419 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 ALEXANDER COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS NEAR THEBES AND AT CAIRO COUNTY SEAT CHANGES 
 CAIRO SURVEYED AND FOUNDED LUMBER INTERESTS AND LEVEES 
 ALEXANDER IN WAR INDUSTRIES, RAILROADS AND SCHOOLS NOTED 
 VISITORS SOME PROMINENT MEN OF THE COUNTY THE OLD TOWN 
 OF THEBES. 425 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 BOND COUNTY 
 
 f Two NEIGHBORHOOD FORTS BUILT THE Cox MASSACRE SALT WORKS- 
 SLAVERY ISSUE IN BOND COUNTY SCHOOLS FARMS AND FINANCES. 
 
 432 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 CLARK COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENTS MARSHALL AND THE NATIONAL ROAD PROFESSIONAL 
 MEN OF THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND FINANCIAL. 436 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 CLAY COUNTY 
 
 MAYVILLE, OLDEST SETTLEMENT COUNTY SEAT MOVED TO LOUISVILLE 
 BUSY EARLY DECADE (1840-1850) OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD 
 BUILT FOUNDING OF CHURCHES SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN SEC- 
 TIONS PRESENT VILLAGES AND TOWNS. 439 
 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 CLINTON COUNTY 
 
 CARLYLE, FIRST SETTLEMENT AND COUNTY SEAT LAID OUT IN 1818 
 CANDIDATE FOR STATE CAPITAL JUDGE SIDNEY BREESE PRESENT 
 CONDITIONS. 443
 
 xiv CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 CRAWPOKD COUNTY 
 
 LAMOTT, FIRST WHITE RESIDENT TERRIBLE HUTSON MASSACRE PALES- 
 TINE, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT ROBINSON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 AGRICULTURE COMING OF RAILROADS AND OIL OBLONG THE OIL 
 INDUSTRY. 446 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 CUMBERLAND COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CHANGES GENERAL FACTS OP INTEREST NEWSPAPERS 
 THE NATIONAL ROAD AND RAILROADS. 451 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV 
 EDWARDS COUNTY 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE ENGLISH PRAIRIE ALBION FOUNDED JUDGE WAL- 
 TER S. MAYO PIANKASHAWTOWN AN EARLY TEACHER THE MANU- 
 FACTURE OF CLAY PRODUCTS INTERESTING COUNTY ITEMS. 453 
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 EFFINGHAM COUNTY 
 
 EWINGTON, FIRST COUNTY SEAT PRESENT SEAT OF JUSTICE TEUTOP- 
 OLIS LAND VALUES 458 
 
 CHAPTER XL VI 
 FAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS OF THE COUNTY FIRST CAPITOL AT VANDALIA SECOND 
 CAPITOL PERRYVILLE, SEAT OF FAYETTE COUNTY ERNEST, OR HAN- 
 OVER COLONY FAYETTE AND VANDALIA ITEMS. 461 
 
 CHAPTER XLVII 
 FRANKLIN COUNTY 
 
 CAVE TOWNSHIP FIRST SETTLED PIONEER MILLS ERECTED EARLY-TIME 
 ITEMS SLAVES AND LAND BENTON, THE COUNTY SEAT LOGAN AND 
 DOUGLAS GROWTH OF COAL INTERESTS. 465
 
 CONTENTS xv 
 
 CHAPTER XL VIII 
 GALLATIN COUNTY 
 
 THE COUNTY'S FIRST WHITE SETTLER FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT A 
 LAND OF FLOODS AND LEVEES THE WILSONS GENERAL THOMAS 
 POSEY OTHER PROMINENT MEN TOWN OF EQUALITY. 469 
 
 CHAPTER XLIX 
 HAMILTON COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS JUDGE STELLE'S PIONEER PICTURES WHICH RECTOR 
 WAS MASSACRED? TOWN OF MCLEANSBORO As TO EDUCATION 
 JAMES R. CAMPBELL GENERAL INFORMATION. 475 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 HARDIN COUNTY 
 
 PICTURESQUE AND PROSPEROUS LEAD MINES AND TOWNS FIRST SET- 
 TLERS CAVE-IN-THE-ROCK DESCRIBED. 478 
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 JACKSON COUNTY 
 
 SETTLED EARLY PART NINETEENTH CENTURY SALT INDUSTRIES FOUNDED 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL BRINGS SETTLERS CARBONDALE PLATTED 
 COAL MINING GRAND TOWER MURPHYSBORO. 481 
 
 CHAPTER LII 
 JASPER COUNTY 
 
 i 
 
 NEWTON, THE COUNTY SEAT POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE VILLAGES 
 IN COUNTY. 486 
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 JEFFERSON COUNTY 
 
 MT. VERNON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT MILITARY RECORD JUDICIAL AND 
 LEGAL CENTER CAR SHOPS MT. VERNON OF TODAY FACTS OF 
 INTEREST. 489
 
 xvi CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER LIV 
 JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 CREATED BY GOVERNOR EDWARDS AGRICULTURE AND STOCK RAISING 
 EARLY SETTLERS SLAVERY CONTEST (1823-4) MAJOR ANDREW J. 
 
 KUYKENDALL CLARK PASSED THROUGH THE COUNTY. 492 
 
 CHAPTER LV 
 LAWRENCE COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER FRENCH SETTLERS THE DEEP SNOW AND MILK SICKNESS 
 SCHOOLS CHARLOTTESVILLE OLD TRAILS ACROSS THE COUNTY 
 LAWRENCEVILLE, THE COUNTY SEAT OIL AND GAS WELLS. 497 
 
 CHAPTER LVI 
 MARION COUNTY 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK OLD SALEM, THE COUNTY SEAT ' ' STATE 
 POLICY" ABANDONED FATHER OF WILLIAM J. BRYAN GEN. JAMES 
 S. MARTIN THE PRESENT SALEM AND CENTRALIA LATE DISCOVERY 
 OF OIL. 502 
 
 CHAPTER LVII 
 MASSAC COUNTY 
 
 OLD FORT MASSAC METROPOLIS LAID OFF BROOKPORT (FORMERLY 
 BROOKLYN) JOPPA DRAINAGE AND AGRICULTURE THE OLD FORT 
 TO BE PRESERVED. 506 
 
 CHAPTER LVIII 
 MONROE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS JEFFERSON'S ESTIMATE OF JAMES LEMEN - 
 OLD LEMEN FORT (SECOND BRICK HOUSE IN ILLINOIS) THOMAS 
 FORD AND DANIEL P. COOK FIRST COUNTY COURT SCHOOLS AND 
 SLAVES OLD FRENCH LAND GRANT ELDER PETER ROGERS. 509 
 
 CHAPTER LIX 
 PERRY COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS PINCKNEYVILLE SELECTED AS COUNTY 
 SEAT FIRST CIRCUIT COURT DuQuoiN AND TAMAROA 513
 
 CONTENTS xvii 
 
 CHAPTER LX 
 POPE COUNTY 
 
 SARAH VILLE (GOLCONDA), THE COUNTY SEAT EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL 
 NOTED PERSONAGES "GREAT MEDICINE WATER" STATISTICS 516 
 
 CHAPTER LXI 
 PULASKI COUNTY 
 
 CALEDONIA, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT MOUND CITY OP THE EARLIER 
 TIMES GENERAL M. M. RAWLINGS PLANS FOR THE GREAT EMPORIUM 
 CITY UNION BLOCK, CIVIL WAR HOSPITAL THE PRESENT MOUND 
 CITY VILLAGES OP THE COUNTY. 519 
 
 CHAPTER LXII 
 RANDOLPH COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY AND STATE HISTORY PARALLEL KASKASKIA COURT HOUSE OP 
 1819 A SLAVE COUNTY POPULATION, 1825-1840 COUNTY SEAT 
 MOVED TO CHESTER DECLINE OP KASKASKIA ON THE RAMPARTS OP 
 OLD PORT GAGE. 524 
 
 CHAPTER LXIII 
 RICHLAND COUNTY 
 
 CONDITIONS IN 1820 ELIJAH NELSON AND ROSWELL PARK CUSTOMS OP 
 EARLY SETTLERS THE HARD YEAR, 1881 FIRST INSTITUTIONS THE 
 CIVIL WAR OLNEY. 528 
 
 CHAP'CER LXIV 
 ST. CLAIR COUNTY 
 
 GENERAL ST. CLAIR CREATES THE COUNTY COUNTY SEAT TRANSFERRED 
 FROM CAHOKIA TO BELLEVILLE EARLY SETTLEMENTS GERMAN IM- 
 MIGRATION JOHN REYNOLDS AND JOHN M. PECK CAHOKIA AND PRAI- 
 RIE DU PONT THE PRESENT COUNTY AND COUNTY SEAT CHARLES 
 DICKENS AND SON EAST ST. Louis. 532 
 
 CHAPTER LXV 
 SALINE COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER EVENTS COUNTY SEAT LOCATED AT RALEIGH POLITICAL HIS- 
 TORY CIVIL WAR SENTIMENT HARRISBURG ELDORADO CARRIER 
 MILLS THE OLD STONE FORT. 538
 
 xviii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER LXVI 
 UNION COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS JONESBORO MADE THE COUNTY SEAT THE WILLARD 
 FAMILY COLONEL JOHN S. HACKER VEGETABLES AND FRUITS MIN- 
 ERALS AND MINERAL SPRINGS TOWNS. 541 
 
 CHAPTER LXVII 
 WABASH COUNTY 
 
 FOUR TOUGAS BROTHERS, FIRST SETTLERS THE THREE BLOCK FORTS 
 TIMBER AND SAW MILLS MILK SICKNESS SHIPTINGS OP THE COUNTY 
 SEAT ABORIGINAL REMAINS NOTES FROM NATURE THE WABASH 
 AND MOUNT CARMEL LIVE STOCK RAISING. 547 
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CONTENTIONS NASHVILLE FINALLY SELECTED COURT 
 HOUSES CITY OP NASHVILLE MINOR TOWNS. 552 
 
 CHAPTER LXIX 
 WAYNE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS AND EVENTS FIRST COUNTY SEAT IN THE WARS 
 CAPT. THOMAS W. SCOTT FAIRFIELD FARM VALUES. 555 
 
 CHAPTER LXX 
 WHITE COUNTY 
 
 ORIGINAL PHYSICAL FEATURES WHITE COUNTY AND ITS SPONSOR EARLY 
 VISITORS CARMI, THE COUNTY SEAT ENPIELD EARLY DAY WILD 
 PIGEON ROOST. 558 
 
 CHAPTER LXXI 
 WILLIAMSON COUNTY 
 
 LAST OP INDIANS THE JORDAN BROTHERS INDUSTRIES MEXICAN AND 
 CIVIL WAR MATTERS TOWNS IN THE COUNTY. 561
 
 INDEX 
 
 Abt, Paul W., 1362 
 
 Adams, Robert L., 1528 
 
 Adams, Willard W., 1299 
 
 Adams county, 174 
 
 Adderly, Henry C., 575 
 
 Adles, Max, 923 
 
 Agnew, T. Lee, 780 
 
 Agricultural resources Preponderance 
 of rural population, 419; average 
 size and price of farms, 420; percent 
 of value in lands, buildings, etc., 420; 
 number of farms, 421; educational 
 agencies, 421 
 
 Aiken, Hiram M., 1233 
 
 Akers, Peter, 385 
 
 Albion, 453, 454, 549 
 
 Alexander, James, 1376 
 
 Alexander, John, 1376 
 
 Alexander, Milton K., 205 
 
 Alexander, Walter C., 569 
 
 Alexander, William M., 425 
 
 Alexander county First settlers near 
 Thebes and at Cairo, 425; county 
 seat changes, 425 ; Cairo surveyed and 
 founded, 427 ; lumber interests and 
 levees. 427; Alexander in the war, 
 427; industries, railroads and schools, 
 428; noted visitors, 429; some prom- 
 inent men of the county, 431; the old 
 town of Thebes, 431; the visit of the 
 "Concord," 431; Alexander county 
 court house (illustration) At Cairo, 
 424; at Thebes (1845), 426 
 
 Allen. James C., 314, 338, 447, 1608 
 
 Allen, Thomas G., 329 
 
 Allen. William J., 338 
 
 Allio, James H., 1139 
 
 Allyn, Robert. 402. 407 
 
 Almira College, 435 
 
 Alsbrook. Arthur B., 811 
 
 Alsbrook, Robert W., 793 
 
 Alsup. James T.. 1509 
 
 Altgeld. John P., 341 
 
 Alto Pass, 545 
 
 Alton Battalion, 332 
 
 Alton city hall where Lincoln-Douglas 
 debate was held (illustration). 302 
 
 Alton Seminary, 383 
 
 "Alton Spectator." 348 
 
 Ames, E. R., 384 
 
 Amity Academy, 434 
 Andel, Casimir, 334 
 Anderson, Amos, 514 
 Anderson, Benjamin H., 902 
 Anderson, Charles E., 1040 
 Anderson, Cyrus H., 956 
 Anderson, George H., 1642 
 Andrews, George W., 1106 
 Anna, 545 
 
 Anti-Nebraska party, 250 
 Antrim. Hugh S., 740 
 Apple, Elmer L., 1579 
 Applegath, Joseph, 455 
 Applegath, (Mrs.) Joseph, 456 
 Archer. William B., 436 
 Asbury, Isaac M., 1417 
 Atherton, William N., 1699 
 Attractive architecture, McLeansboro 
 (illustrated), 476 
 
 Badgley settlement, 173 
 
 Bailey, Henry, 1540 
 
 Bainbridge, 564 
 
 Baird, Samuel W., 1161 
 
 Baker, Carl, 1135 
 
 Baker, David J., 166, 527 
 
 Baker, E. D., 230, 560 
 
 Bald Knob, 544 
 
 Baldwin, Theron, 372 
 
 Ballance, John W., 603 
 
 Bank of Cairo, 410 
 
 Bank of Illinois (Shawneetown), 125, 
 198, 223, 409, 412 
 
 Bank bills (illustrations), Issued by Ed- 
 wardsville bank in 1821, 141; by 
 Cairo bank, 196 
 
 Banks and banking First land offices 
 and banks in Egypt, 409; "Bank of 
 Illinois" created, 409; "Bank of 
 Cairo," 410; the state banks, 410; 
 internal improvement schemes, 411; 
 financial complications and embarass- 
 ments. 412; the Free Banking Law, 
 414; "Wild Cat" banks, 415; one 
 hundred and fifteen banks of issue, 
 415; effects of national banking sys- 
 tem, 416; Illinois Bankers' Associa- 
 tion. 416; group No. 10, (Southern 
 Illinois), 417; building and loan as- 
 sociations, 124, 194, 243, 417 
 
 XIX
 
 INDEX 
 
 Banks and banking (illustrations), 
 Cairo bank, Kaskaskia, 410; old 
 banking house in Shawneetown 
 (1840), 413 
 
 Banksou, James, 552 
 
 "Baptist Banner," 348 
 
 Baptists (early), 121, 179 
 
 Barclay, Guy C., 1492 
 
 Barclay, Phil C., 626 
 
 Barker, Daniel P.. 878 
 
 Barker, Lewis, 489 
 
 Barnett, William U., 1482 
 
 Barr, William W., 817 
 
 Barringer, George, 602 
 
 Bartlett, Oscar L., 632 
 
 Bartmes, Frank, 1030 
 
 Barton, John H., 1697 
 
 Bateman, Newton, 255, 393 
 
 Battle of Bad Axe, 191 
 
 Beach, Herbert C., 877 
 
 "Beacon," 445 
 
 Bean, Jerome F., 1694 
 
 Beatte, Ira, 1305 
 
 Bechtold, Herman T., 1193 
 
 Bechtold, William G., 1123 
 
 Beck, Guy, 461 
 
 Beckemeyer, Herman H., 1633 
 
 Becker, Edward P., 1076 
 
 Beecher, Edward, 372 
 
 Beever, John C., 980 
 
 Beever, W. George, 961 
 
 Begg, J. Cyril, 1357 
 
 Belleville, 532, 533, 535 
 
 Bellefontaine, 509 
 
 Bellmann, Emanuel, 1497 
 
 Bennett, John, 941 
 
 Benson, Newton J., 693 
 
 Benton, 467 
 
 Bergen, John G., 178 
 
 Bernreuter, Louis, 1234 
 
 Berry, William, 346 
 
 Beveridge, John L., 340 
 
 Bierer, Frederick C., 662 
 
 Bierer, Frederick G., 663 
 
 Big Four Depot and Y. M. C. A. build- 
 ing, Mt. Carmel (illustration), 550 
 
 Big Muddy river, 355 
 
 Biggs, William, 433, 509 
 
 Binder. John F. W., 1056 
 
 Birkbeck, Morris, 143 153, 346, 453, 
 454, 456, 457, 559 
 
 Birkner, Edward H., 1182 
 
 Bissell, L. H., 459 
 
 Bissell, William H.. 229, 251 
 
 Bissell (William H.), administration 
 Official oath against dueling, 253; 
 Bissell-Davis affair, 254 
 
 Black Hawk (portrait), 185 
 
 Black Hawk war, 183 
 
 Blake. Edward L., 1405 
 
 Blake, William B., 1072 
 
 Blanchard, Israel, 322 
 
 Boewe, Ernest E., 1589 
 
 Boggs, Vivian O., 772 
 
 Boisbriant Pierre Duque, 59, 66 
 
 Bon Pas block house, 549 
 
 Bond. Shadrach. 103, 117, 118, 135, 136, 
 147, 494, 509, 527 
 
 Bond (Shadrach) administration 
 Starting the new machinery, 136; 
 Illinois Black Code, 138; in the new 
 capital, 139; attempted financial re- 
 lief, 139; Military tract, 142; the 
 English Prairie settlement, 142; Gov- 
 ernor Bond returns to his farm, 147. 
 
 Bond county Two neighborhood forts 
 built (1811), 432; the Cox massacre, 
 432; Salt works, 433; slavery issue 
 in Bond county, 434; schools, 434; 
 farms and finances, 435 
 
 Bone, Finis E., 975 
 
 Bonney, John R., 1242 
 
 Borah, William E., 556 
 
 Borah, William N., 556 
 
 Borah, James L., 1636 
 
 Boswell, Charles J., 911 
 
 Bour. Frank. 1534 
 
 Bouthillier, 175 
 
 Bowlesville, 472, 482 
 
 Boys' corn club in Johnson county 
 (illustration), 374 
 
 Boyd, Christopher J., 1201 
 
 Boyer, Eli, 531 
 
 Bracy, Benjamin D., 1080 
 
 Bradbury, Presley G., 1536 
 
 Braden, Clark, 390, (389 portrait), 391 
 
 Braden, William E., 1175 
 
 Bradley, Daniel J., 1326 
 
 Bradley, James, 383 
 
 Bradley, Thomas A, 625 
 
 Bramlett. John D., 863 
 
 Brayfield, Benjamin F., 695 
 
 Breese, Sidney, 238. 376, 445 
 
 Breeze, Emanuel, 906 
 
 Brick, 19 
 
 Bridges, Gus H., 699 
 
 Bridges, Harry T., 678 
 
 British occupation, 72 
 
 Britton. Edward G., 657 
 
 Brock, F. M., 1655 
 
 Brookport (Brooklyn), 507 
 
 Brooks. John F., 372 
 
 Brooks, William, 439 
 
 Brosman, William H., 1595 
 
 Brown, Alfred, 1165 
 
 Brown, Austin L, 1327 
 
 Brown, Charles, 982 
 
 Brown, Columbus, 614 
 
 Brown, John J., 1615 
 
 Brown, John M., 630 
 
 Brown, John P., 886 
 
 Brown, Joseph M., 1144 
 
 Brown, R. E., 596 
 
 Brown. Samuel B., 1523 
 
 Brown. William H., 166, 346 
 
 Browning. John L., 1579 
 
 Browning, Levi, 1577 
 
 Browning, Nelson, 667 
 
 Browning, 0. H., 251 
 
 Brownsville's only remaining house, 483 
 
 Bruchhauser, William, 625 
 
 Brush, Daniel H., 1398 
 
 Brush, Samuel T., 1395 
 
 Bryan, Silas Lillard, 338, 503 
 
 Bryan, William Jennings, 338, 504
 
 INDEX 
 
 xxi 
 
 Bryant, Emmett 0., 1516 
 
 Bryden, William, 577 
 
 Bucher, Eberhard, 789 
 
 Building and loan associations, 417 
 
 Bunch, Andrew J., 264 
 
 Bundy, Joseph B., 744 
 
 Bundy, William F., 1479 
 
 Burbes, Henry S., 963 
 
 Burch, Elmer, 1261 
 
 Burgess, Hampton S., 1610 
 
 Burkhardt, Henry, 1377 
 
 Burkhardt, John M., 1309 
 
 Burkhardt, Phillip, 1037 
 
 Burkhart, James M., 1049 
 
 Burnett, C. P., 1290 
 
 Burnett, Henry L., 1300 
 
 Burnett, John H., 1104 
 
 Burns, Henry E., 979 
 
 Burton, Charles C., 1170 
 
 Burr, Aaron, 506 
 
 Burris, Hiram H., 692 
 
 Burritt, Eldon G., 386, 435 
 
 Bushnell, D. I., 28 
 
 Butler, William N., 814 
 
 Butner, Andrew J., 862 
 
 Cache river, 355 
 
 Cahokia, 51, 100, 172, 532, 534 
 
 Cahokia Building, view of, 1361 
 
 Cairo, 118, 427 
 
 Cairo City and Canal Company, 427 
 
 Caldwell, Andrew S., 1067 
 
 Caledonia, 519 
 
 Calhoun, Hugh, 528 
 
 Callahan, Ethelbert, 1245 
 
 Ualvin, Allen F., 1197 
 
 Calvin, Robert, 521 
 
 Camp, Abram, 447 
 
 Campbell, Alexander, 555 
 
 Campbell, Bruce A., 958 
 
 Campbell, James R., 335, 477 
 
 Campbell, J. M., 400 
 
 Canal scrip bill ($100) (illustration), 
 248 
 
 Cantrell, William S., 830 
 
 Cantril, John, 1706 
 
 Capel, Sigel, 1374 
 
 Capitols (illustrations) At Kaskaskia, 
 137; at Vandalia, 139, 462; at Spring- 
 field, 204, 338 
 
 Carbondale, 484 
 
 Carbondale College, 397 
 
 Carbondale National Bank, 761 
 
 Carlile, R. A., 818 
 
 Carlin, Thomas, 219 
 
 Carlin, William P., 328 
 
 Carlyle, 443 
 
 Carlyle, James C., 1662 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 444 
 
 Carmi. 558, 559 
 
 Carr, John E., 801 
 
 Carrier Mills. 540 
 
 Carroll, Charles, 471 
 
 Carroll, McDaniel, 1371 
 
 Carson, William C., 1119 
 
 Carson, Zenas C., 1108 
 
 Carter, George E., 1571 
 
 Carter, James C., 765 
 
 Carter, Marcus L., 861 
 
 Carterville, 564 
 
 Cartwright, Peter, 384 
 
 Casey, Thomas S., 330 
 
 Casey, William, 489 
 
 Casey, Zadoc, 179, 181, 192, 489, 503 
 
 Caspar, Edward J., 1519 
 
 Casper, Walter J., 1140 
 
 Casteel, Burton L., 893 
 
 Catholic missions (early), 121, 175 
 
 Catlin, Oren, 176 
 
 Cave-in-Rock, 479, 480 
 
 Centerville, 549 
 
 Central City, 505 
 
 Centralia, 505 
 
 Cereal Springs, 564 
 
 Cerre, John Gabriel, 101 
 
 Chaffin, Horatio C., 1253 
 
 Chamberlin, John M., Jr., 574 
 
 Chapman, James C., 1469 
 
 Chapman, Pleasant S., 496 
 
 Chapman, Pleasant T., 750 
 
 Charlottesville, 498 
 
 Chase, Charles H., 717 
 
 Cherry, Thomas L., 707 
 
 Chester, 527 
 
 Chicago Inter-State Exposition, 341 
 
 Cisne, William H., 1661 
 
 Citizens' State & Savings Bank, 1602 
 
 City Hall, Mt. Carmel (illustration), 
 546 
 
 City National Bank of Murphysboro, 677 
 
 Civil war period Logan's popularity, 
 315; Logan In congress and the field, 
 316; state conventions and assemblies, 
 316; Knights of the Golden Circle, 
 317; Southern Illinois in camp and in 
 battle, 322; three years' service, 326; 
 one hundred days' service, 332; the 
 Alton Batallion, 332; one year ser- 
 vice, 332; cavalry service, 333 
 
 Clanahan, Milo R., 1262 
 
 Clark county First settlements, 436; 
 Marshall and the national road, 436; 
 professional men of the county, 437; 
 agricultural and financial, 437 
 
 Clark, George Rogers, 83 (portrait), 
 495, 506, 561 
 
 Clark, Harry H., 1622 
 
 Clark, James S., 1079 
 
 Clark, John, 179 
 
 Clark, Thomas A., 1651 
 
 Clark's conquest of the Illinois country 
 Conditions in Illinois, 79; Clark's 
 expedition, 80; public and private in- 
 structions to General Clark, 81; down 
 the Ohio, 82; across southern Illinois, 
 83 ; capture of Kaskaskia, 85 
 
 Clay City, 441 
 
 Clay county Maysville, oldest settle- 
 ment, 439; county seat moved to Lou- 
 isville, 439; busy early decade (1840- 
 1850), 440; Ohio and Mississippi rail- 
 road built. 440 ; founding of churches, 
 440; settlement in western sections, 
 441; present villages and towns, 441
 
 XX11 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Clays, 19 
 
 Clayton, Walter E., 1075 
 
 Clements, Frank, 633 
 
 Clendennin, T. C., 429 
 
 Clinton county Carlyle, first settle- 
 ment and county seat, 443; laid out 
 in 1818, 443; candidate for state cap- 
 ital, 444; Judge Sidney Breese, 445; 
 present conditions, 445. 
 
 Clinton, DeWitt, 443 
 
 Cloud, Newton, 234 
 
 Coal, 15, 467 
 
 Cobbett, William, 143 
 
 Cobden, 545 
 
 Cockrum, Matthew W., 1205 
 
 Cole, Charles B., 1248 
 
 Cole, Hermon C., 1248 
 
 Coles' (Edward) administration a man 
 with convictions, 148; the slavery is- 
 sue, 150; a bitter campaign, 152; the 
 result, 155; the Sangamon country, 
 157; a distinguished visitor (LaFay- 
 ette), 160; the elections of 1826, 163 
 
 Coles, Edward (portrait), 149 
 
 Coles, Frank, Jr., 1593 
 
 Coles, Frank, Sr., 1580 
 
 Collier, Homer, 1084 
 
 Colp, John, 1532- 
 
 Colyer, Walter, 1586 
 
 Comings, Alfred, 727 
 
 Company of the West, 54 
 
 Compton, Levi, 547 
 
 Concrete railroad bridge over Salt creek, 
 near Effingham (illustration), 459 
 
 Connaway, Norman W., 831 
 
 Constitutions Territorial bill of 1809, 
 109; of 1818 (state), 133; of 1848, 
 233; of 1870, 339 
 
 Cook, Daniel P., 164, 510, 527 
 
 Cook, John, 324 
 
 Cook, Marion C., 854 
 
 Cook, Rufus E., 1502 
 
 Cook, Thomas M., 624 
 
 Cooper, John L., 1605 
 
 Copeland, James P., 1589 
 
 Copeland. Louisa, 1592 
 
 Copeland, Minnie L., 1593 
 
 Coughanowr, George W., 784 
 
 County of Illinois, 87-90 
 
 Covington, 552 
 
 Cowan, Thomas J., 797 
 
 Cowling, Edward J., 969 
 
 Cox, Henry, 1493 
 
 Crab Orchard, 564 
 
 Grain, Clain, 977 
 
 Crawford county Lamott,first white 
 resident, 446; terrible Hutson massa- 
 cre, 446; Palestine, the old county 
 seat, 447; Robinson made the county 
 seat, 447; school interests, 447; agri- 
 culture, 448; coming of railroads and 
 oil, 448 ; Oblong, 449 ; the oil industry, 
 449 
 
 Crawford, Francis E.. 1156 
 
 Crawford, James W., 1073 
 
 Cremeens, George L., 1195 
 
 Crichton, George K., 687 
 
 Crim, Charles W., 1506 
 
 Cross, John R., 1427 
 
 Crowley, Joseph B., 1511 
 
 Crozat, Anthony, 53, 59, 175 
 
 Cruiser "Concord" iu port at Cairo, (il- 
 lustration), 430 
 
 Cruse, Grant, 1154 
 
 Cullorn, Edward, 447 
 
 Cullom, Shelby M., 340 
 
 Cumberland count y County seat 
 changes, 451; general facts of inter- 
 est, 451; newspapers, 451; the na- 
 tional road and railroads, 451 
 
 Cunningham, J. M., 562 
 
 Cunningham, James T., 314 
 
 Curtis, Henry C., 672 
 
 Cutler, Manasseh, 99 
 
 Dailey, Samuel M., 1275 
 
 Daily, Whitson W., 477 
 
 Daniel, Marshall E., 1422 
 
 Dare, Eugene M., 1331 
 
 Daugherty, John E., 1463 
 
 Davenport, George O., 1380 
 
 Davenport, John, 1378 
 
 Davidson, Charles A., 1402 
 
 Davis, Charles C., 1301 
 
 Davis, David, 251 
 
 Davis, Frank M., 1574 
 
 Davis, Henry L., 1332 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 192 
 
 Davis, Joseph W., 842 
 
 Dawson, Duly M., 674 
 
 Dawson, Lewis A., 769 
 
 Dell'Era, Louis, 1400 
 
 Deneen, Charles S., 343, 385 
 
 Denison, Leon E., 767 
 
 Dense woods, Johnston county (illustra- 
 tion), 494 
 
 DeRenault, Phillipe Francois 54, 66 67, 
 105 
 
 De Rocheblave, Chevalier, 75, 96 
 
 Dewey, Robert K., 1138 
 
 Dewey, William S., 859 
 
 DeWitt, John C., 713 
 
 DeWitt, William M., 1623 
 
 Diamond Grove Prairie, 173 
 
 Dick, Edgar B., 821 
 
 Dickens, Alfred Tennyson, 431, 537 
 
 Dickens, Charles, 536 
 
 Dickey, Thomas M., 1623 
 
 Dill, John D., 607 
 
 Dillon, Andrew, 1530 
 
 Dillon, Elisha, 1123 
 
 Dillon, Hettie A., 1125 
 
 Dillon, Wilford F., 1478 
 
 Dimmock, Thomas, 216 
 
 Dinwiddie, Charles C., 1354 
 
 Dixon, William. 518 
 
 Dodd, George E., 1513 
 
 Doherty, Anthony, 1460 
 
 Dollins, James J., 330 
 
 Donagliy, Mrs. Minnie J., 778 
 
 Donaghy, William B., 778 
 
 Donaly, James, 1002 
 
 Dorris". William S.. 909 
 
 Dougherty, Henry, 327
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXlll 
 
 Dougherty, James, 520 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 238, 249, 255, 301, 
 313, 314, 371, 429 
 
 Dowell, George W., 1450 
 
 Dowell, William C., 1204 
 
 Draper, Newton W., 1468 
 
 Drone, Marion N., 1285 
 
 Dry, Alva R., 847 
 
 Dubois, Jesse K., 251, 497 
 
 Dubois, Toussaint, 497 
 
 DuCoign, Jean Baptiste, 26 
 
 Duff, A. D., 322 
 
 Dulany, William A., 1612 
 
 Dunaway, Samuel W., 1069 
 
 Duncan, George E., 1061 
 
 Duncan (Joseph) administration elec- 
 tion as governor, 193; banking legis- 
 lation recommended, 194; United 
 States and state banks, 195; redemp- 
 tion extension, 197; suspension of 
 specie payments, 198; State Bank in 
 liquidation, 200; internal improve- 
 ments, 200; recommendations, 200; 
 bill passed over governor's veto, 203; 
 capital removed to Springfield, 203; 
 also passed over council's veto, 205 
 
 Duncan, Joseph, 157, 165, 169, 185, 192, 
 193, 222, 368, 436 
 
 Duncan, Mathew, 344 
 
 Dunn, Joel, 1538 
 
 DuQuoin, 515 
 
 Dwyer, Mrs. W. T., 716 
 
 Dye, John W., 851 
 
 Early-day dwelling of clay and straw, 
 Richland county (illustration), 529 
 
 Early River boats, 353 
 
 Early schools, 120 
 
 Early school houses, 369 
 
 Early school teachers, 120, 366, 455 
 
 Easley, William T., 1324 
 
 Easterday, Elmer P., 731 
 
 Easterday, Melancthon, 612 
 
 East St. Louis, 537 
 
 Eaton, Abel C., 914 
 
 Eaton, Samuel B., 898 
 
 Ebers, William, 945 
 
 Echols, Thomas B.. 1613 
 
 Eddy, Henry (portrait), 154, 344, 471 
 
 Edgar, John, 103 
 
 Edwards county Settlement of the Eng- 
 lish prairie, 453; Albion founded, 454; 
 Judge Walter L. Mayo, 454; Pianka- 
 shawtown. 455; an early teacher, 455; 
 an early civil engineer, 456; the man- 
 ufacture of clay products, 456; in- 
 teresting county items, 457. 
 
 Edwards, Cyrus. 371, 376 
 
 Edwards. Francis M., 1104 
 
 Edwards. James E. N.. 1070 
 
 Edwards, James G., 348 
 
 Edwards (Xinian) administration The 
 State Bank, 166; an interesting doc- 
 trine, 168; school legislation, 169; the 
 Winnebago War, 170 
 
 Edwards. Xinian, 109. 164, 533 
 
 Edwards. Ninian W., 373 
 
 Edwards, William 0., 829 
 
 Edwardsville, 344 
 
 Erlingham, 458 
 
 Ettingham county Ewington, first 
 county seat, 458; present seat of jus- 
 tice, 458; Illinois College of Photog- 
 raphy, 459; Teutopolis, 459; land val- 
 ues, 459 
 
 Eighteenth Infantry Regiment, 327 
 
 Eighth Illinois Infantry, 335 
 
 Eightieth Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 Eighty-first Infantry Regiment, 330 
 
 Eighty-seventh Infantry Regiment, 330 
 
 Eis, Gustave E., 1315 
 
 Eldorado, 540 
 
 Eleventh Infantry Regiment, 326 
 
 Elizabethtown, 479 
 
 Elliott, Thomas 0., 1003 
 
 Ellis, John M., 176, 178, 382 
 
 Elvira, 494 
 
 Emmerson, Louis L., 1373 
 
 Emporium Real Estate and Manufactur- 
 ing Company, 521 
 
 Enfield, 560 
 
 English, George W., 745 
 
 English Prairie settlements, 144, 453 
 
 Epler, Elbert, 1659 
 
 Equality, 472 
 
 Ernest, Ferdinand, 462, 463, 559 
 
 Ernest (Hanover) colony, 463 
 
 Ernst, Frank, 1097 
 
 Eshleman, Hugh B., 905 
 
 Etherton, James M., 759 
 
 Evans, Joseph T., 1028 
 
 Everest, Harvey W., 407 
 
 Ewing College, 385 
 
 Ewing, W. L. D., 192 
 
 Ewington, 458 
 
 Fager, Daniel B., 1157 
 
 Fairfield, 557 
 
 Faller, Louis, 1239 
 
 Farmer, Robert, 75 
 
 Farmer, William M., 1152 
 
 Farms f illustrations) Oakdale farm, 
 Vienna, 493 ; P. S. Chapman farm, Vi- 
 enna, 495 ; Wm. E. G. Britton, Mounds, 
 519 
 
 Farris, Dawson, M.. 1336 
 
 Fayette county First settlers in the 
 county, 461; first capitol at Vandalia, 
 461; second capitol, 462; Perryville, 
 seat of Fayette county, 462; Ernest, 
 or Hanover colony, 463; Fayette and 
 Vandalia items. 463 
 
 Feirich, Charles E., 816 
 
 Feldmeier. Samuel H.. 1277 
 
 Felts, Benjamin R.. 1683 
 
 Fern. William .T.. 588 
 
 Ferrell, Benjamin B., 1527 
 
 Ferrell. Hosea V.. 1163 
 
 Ferrell. William F.. 1183 
 
 Feuchter, Charles, 873 
 
 Fifer. Joseph W.. 341 
 
 Fifth Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 
 Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment, 334 
 
 Fifty-fourth Infantry Regiment, 329
 
 XXIV 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Fifty-sixth Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 File, Charles H., 1490 
 
 Finley, John Evans, 122 
 
 First American school teacher in Illinois, 
 120 
 
 First Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 
 First court of law, 69 
 
 First High School in Illinois, 382 
 
 First magazine in Illinois, 347 
 
 First National Bank of Mound City, 798 
 
 First Republican governor of Illinois, 
 253 
 
 Fischer, John G., 1060 
 
 Fisher, George, 117 
 
 Fisher, Orcenith, 553 
 
 Fithian, Charles D., 1550 
 
 Fitzgerrell, Daniel G., 1341 
 
 Fitzgerrell, Evan, 1024 
 
 Flack, John, 513 
 
 Flanagan, Samuel J., 399 
 
 Flannary, Abraham, 425 
 
 Flannary, Joshua, 425 
 
 Flannary, Thomas, 425 
 
 Flannigen, John L., 932 
 
 Flathead and Regulator war, 224 
 
 Fleming, Richard G., 1387 
 
 Fleming, R. K., 346 
 
 Flora, 441 
 
 Flower, George, 144, 346, 454, 457 
 
 Flower, Richard, 144, 145 
 
 Fly, Jesse \J., 697 
 
 Ford, J. B., 919 
 
 Ford, Theodore M., 618 
 
 Ford, Thomas, 166, 348, 510 
 
 Ford, William H., 1143 
 
 Ford (Thomas) administration Illinois 
 and Michigan Canal progresses, 223; 
 a brighter outlook, 223; some social 
 problems, 224 
 
 Fordham, Elias Pym, 454, 456 
 
 Foreman, Ferris, 230, 231, 463 
 
 Forester, John, 892 
 
 Fort Chartres, 54, 66, 71 and 72 (illus- 
 trations) 
 
 Fort Clark, 174 
 
 Fort Crevecoeur, 45 
 
 Fort Dearborn (Chicago) in 1812 (illus- 
 tration), 114 
 
 Fort Dearborn massacre, 112 
 
 Fort Edwards, 115 
 
 Fort Gage, 527 
 
 Fort Massac. 506, 507 (illustration), 508 
 
 Fortieth Infantry Regiment, 328 
 
 Forty-third Infantry Regiment, 328 
 
 Forty-eighth Infantry Regiment, 328 
 
 Fouke, Philip B., 327 
 
 Four Mile Prairie, 513 
 
 Fourteenth Cavalry Regiment, 334 
 
 Fourth Illinois Infantry (Spanish-Amer- 
 ican war). 334 
 
 Fox, Erwin D., 1320 
 
 Fraim, Oliver M., 739 
 
 Frankfort, 467 
 
 Franklin county Cave township first 
 settled, 465; pioneer mills erected, 
 465; early-time items. 466; slaves and 
 land, 466; Benton, the county seat, 
 
 467; Logan and Douglas, 467; growth 
 
 of coal interest, 467 
 Fraser, Alexander S., 643 
 i'ree Banking law, 244, 414 
 French, Augustus C., 255 
 French (Augustus C.) administration 
 
 End of Flathead and Regulator war, 
 
 226; Mexican war, 228; Mormons, 228; 
 
 constitution of 1848, 233; 111. Cent. 
 
 R. R., 237; a new banking system, 243 
 French, D. P., 378 
 French, George H., 573 
 French villages, religious life of, 60 
 Frier, Harry L., 1006 
 Friganza, Commodore, 1392 
 Friganza, Willis T., 1393 
 Fuller, R. C., 1384 
 Funkhauser, John J., 330 
 Fyke, Edgar E., 1542 
 
 Gahm, George L., 1557 
 
 Galbraith, John T., 579 
 
 Galena, 175 
 
 Gallatin county The county's first 
 white settler, 469; a land of floods and 
 levees, 470; the Wilsons, 470; Gen- 
 eral Thomas Posey, 471; other promi- 
 nent men, 471; town of Equality, 
 479; a pioneer industry, 479 
 
 Gallatin County Bank, 1702 
 
 Galligan, James H., 890 
 
 Uarretson, James, 509 
 
 Garrison, I. L., 1624 
 
 Gas, 18 
 
 Gasaway, Americus, 1294 
 
 Gaskins, Edward, 833 
 
 Gaskins, John T., 858 
 
 Gaskins, Wilson, 825 
 
 Gatewood, William J., 371 
 
 Gauen, Albert, 1054 
 
 Gauen, Roy E., 1032 
 
 Gee, Harl L., 1330 
 
 Gee, Knox, 1503 
 
 Gen. Grant and Gen. McClelland at 
 Cairo (1861) (illustration), 323 
 
 Geology Civilization based on, 2; Gen- 
 eral scientific phase, 3; eras, 4; time 
 divisions, 5; Southern Illinois, 5; 
 Glacial period, 7 
 
 George, William E., 1200 
 
 Georgetown, 552 
 
 Gerhart, Thomas S., 1225 
 
 Gerlach, Jacob P., 578 
 
 Gerould. Theodore F., 1293 
 
 Gibbs, William L, 226 
 
 Gibson, Elijah P., 1271 
 
 Gibson, James Walter, 1158 
 
 Gibson, James W., 1421 
 
 Gilbert, Edward L., 795 
 
 Gilbert. Miles F.. 726 
 
 Gilbreath, Whitney, 933 
 
 Gill, E. E., 1058 
 
 Gillespie, Joseph, 39, 314 
 
 Gillespie. Robert E., ?72 
 
 Gilliam. William H.. 1304 
 
 Glass. William T., 1339 
 
 Glynn, John P., 600
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXV 
 
 Goddard, George A., 682 
 
 Goddard, Henry T., 1677 
 
 Goddard, Reuben J., 924 
 
 Golconda (bird's eye view), 517 
 
 Goodman, Thomas B., 1115 
 
 Gordon, Abram G., 1172 
 
 Gordon, George A., 1497 
 
 Gordon, H. S., 1497 
 
 Goudy, John, 376 
 
 Grammar, John, 542 
 
 Grand Rapids dam, Mt. Carmel, 356 
 (illustration), 551 
 
 Grand Tower, 484 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S., 324 
 
 Grant, William A., 997 
 
 Grant, William H., 822 
 
 Gravier, James, 49 
 
 Greaney, William P., 826 
 
 "Great Medicine Water," 518 
 
 Great Western Railway Company, 238 
 
 Green, Earl, 1352 
 
 Green, Reed, 842 
 
 Green, William H., 1353 
 
 Green, William P., 609 
 
 Green, Judge William P., 1240 
 
 "Greenup Tribune," 451 
 
 Greenville College, 386, 435 (illustra- 
 tion) 
 
 Grierson, Benjamin H., 333 
 
 Grissom, William M., 1207 
 
 Griswold, Stanley, 109 
 
 Gum, George W., 1489 
 
 Gun "Capt. Billy Smith," Cairo (illus- 
 tration), 428 
 
 Gunboats at Cairo (illustration), 325 
 
 "Gusher" near Robinson, Crawford 
 county (illustration), 449 
 
 Hacker, Fanny P., 429, 1297 
 
 Hacker, John S., 543 
 
 Haertling, G. H., 1575 
 
 Hale, James I., 628 
 
 Hale, John A., 584 
 
 Hall, Frank H., 422 
 
 Hall, Henry R., 1319 
 
 Hall, James, 344, 347 
 
 Hall, William B., 880 
 
 Hall, William 0., 1455 
 
 Halliday, Samuel, 1692 
 
 Hambleton, W. L.. 522 
 
 Hamilton, Charles E., 658 
 
 Hamilton, James W., 1364 
 
 Hamilton College, 477 
 
 Hamilton county First settlers, 475; 
 Judge Stelle's pioneer pictures, 475; 
 which Rector was massacred, 476; 
 town of McLeansboro, 476; as to edu- 
 cation, 477; James R. Campbell, 477; 
 general information, 477 
 
 Hamlin, John, 174 
 
 Hammond, Jackson L., 756 
 
 Hansen, Nicholas, 151 
 
 Hardin county Picturesque and pros- 
 perous. 478 ; lead mines and towns, 
 478; first settlers, 479; Cave-in-Rock 
 described, 480 
 
 Hardin, John H., 229 
 
 Hardy, John G., 690 
 
 Hardy, Solomon, 178 
 
 Hargrave, Jean, 796 
 
 Harker, Oliver A., 1100 
 
 Harlan, James D., 1617 
 
 Harmon, John, 385 
 
 Harper, John B., 1539 
 
 Harreld, William E., 1344 
 
 Harrington, Lawrence R., 685 
 
 Harris, Clyde D., 774 
 
 Harris, Gilham, 555 
 
 Harris, Isaac, 555 
 
 Harris, Thomas W., 329 
 
 Harrisburg, 540 
 
 Harrison, Francis O., 1220 
 
 Harriss, Judson E., 938 
 
 Hart, Samuel, 1096 
 
 Hart, William H., 1274 
 
 Hartwell, Dausa D., 1038 
 
 hartwell, DeWitt T., 1022 
 
 Hasenjaeger, Henry, 808 
 
 Hatch, O. M., 251 
 
 Hawkins, Louis A., 1324 
 
 Hawks, Walter S., 322 
 
 Hay, W. D., 560 
 
 Haynie, Isham N., 328 
 
 Heard, Montreville, 1444 
 
 Hearn, William O., 733 
 
 Heckert, Henry F., 1226 
 
 Helm, Douglas W., 1670 
 
 Hemenway, Justin G., 884 
 
 Henderson, W. H., 222 
 
 Henry, James D., 185 
 
 Henson, John H., 1250 
 
 Herbert, Oscar L., 87fi 
 
 Herrin, 564 
 
 Herrin, Paul D., 1118 
 
 Hersh, E. W., 1065 
 
 Hess, L. Jasper, 805 
 
 Hester, James S., 648 
 
 Hewitt, Francis M., 1098 
 
 Heyde, John B., 1055 
 
 Hickman, George A., 749 
 
 Hicks, Stephen G., 231, 328 
 
 Higher education First High School in 
 Illinois, 382; Southern Illinois Col- 
 lege, 387; state aid and legislation, 
 392; Southern Illinois high schools, 
 394; Southern Illinois Normal Uni- 
 versity, 395; work of the State Teach- 
 ers' Association, 395; Legislature cre- 
 ates Normal University, 396; educa- 
 tional conventions, 397; Carbondale, 
 site of Illinois Normal University, 
 400; University opened, 402; build- 
 ing burned, 404; the New Main Build- 
 ing, 406; general review, 407 
 
 Hight, James F., 758 
 
 Hileman, George T., 694 
 Hill, William S., 732 
 
 Hill, William H., 1425 
 
 Hill, Robert P., 1089 
 
 Hillman, A. C., 378 
 
 Hill's fort, 432 
 
 Hines, Frank B., 386, 1685 
 
 Hirons, John D.. 1237 
 
 Hodges, Edmund J., 1485
 
 XXVI 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Hoffman, Francis A., 251 
 
 Hoffman, George, 1626 
 
 Hoffmeier, Fred, 1316 
 
 Hofsommer, Charles W., 1114 
 
 Hogue, James H., 1466 
 
 Hogue, Wilson Thomas, 386 
 
 Holbrook, Darius B., 427 
 
 Holcomb, Matthew R., 1562 
 
 Holdoway, John A., 897 
 
 Holshouser, William 0., 1480 
 
 "Homestead Exemption Law," 235 
 
 Hood, Fred, 752 
 
 Hoopes, Thomas F., 1432 
 
 Hopkins, Frank, 585 
 
 Hopp, Edward J., 867 
 
 Hord, George Y., 1511 
 
 Horn, Henry, ST., 985 
 
 Horn, Mary F., 987 
 
 Horn, Thomas, 987 
 
 Hostettler, Henry W., 1244 
 
 Hotels (illustrations) Old Sweet hotel, 
 Kaskaskia, 162; the Rawlings hotel, 
 Shawneetown, 163; old Jonesboro ho- 
 tel, headquarters of Lincoln and 
 Douglas (1858), 542 
 
 Hovey, Charles E., 396 
 
 Howe, Elbridge Gerry, 176 
 
 Howell William H., 1472 
 
 Hubbard, Adolphus Frederick, 164 
 
 Hubbard, William H., 1134 
 
 Huddleston Orphans' Home, 380 
 
 Hudgens, Hiram A., 677 
 
 Hudgens, John B., 696 
 
 Hudson, Ira J., 719 
 
 Huegely, John, Jr., 1310 
 
 Huegely, Julius, 1173 
 
 Huffman, G. Riley, 721 
 
 Huffman, George H., 734 
 
 Hughes, Aurelius G., 737 
 
 Hull, John, 407 
 
 Hull, Nathaniel, 509 
 
 Hundley, Robert M., 331 
 
 Hunsaker, George, 542 
 
 Huntsinger, Harrison P., 894 
 
 Huthmacher, Charles C., 1062 
 
 Huthmacher, George, 725 
 
 Hynes, Thomas W., 433 
 
 "Illinois Advocate and Lebanon Jour- 
 nal," 385 
 
 Illinois Agricultural College A part of 
 the General System, 376; created by 
 the state, 377; school opens in 1866, 
 378; uncertainty as to status, 379 
 
 Illinois and Michigan Canal, 202, 223 
 
 Illinois Bankers' Association, 416 
 
 Illinois Central Railroad, 238 
 
 Illinois College, 385 
 
 Illinois College of Photography, 459 
 
 Illinois country, 62 
 
 "Illinois Emigrant," 344 
 
 "Illinois Gazette." 344 
 
 "Illinois Herald," 344 
 
 "Illinois Intelligencer." 346 
 
 "Illinois Monthly Magazine," 347 
 
 "Illinois Republican," 346 
 
 Illinois State Trust Company, 1361 
 
 Illinois S t a t e The constitution o f 
 1818; first state election, 135 
 
 Illinois Teachers' Association, 372 
 
 "Illinois Temperance Herald," 348 
 
 Indiana Territory Harrison and the In- 
 dian problems, 104; slavery in the 
 territory, 105; erection of, 108; War 
 of 1812, 111; matters of local in- 
 terest, 115; a second-class territory, 
 116; a retrospect, 119; services of 
 Nathaniel Pope, 129; the constitu- 
 tional convention, 131; immigration 
 to Illinois, 126; Indian trails, 357 
 
 Indians Great families, 23; Illinois In- 
 dians, 24; great chiefs, 25 
 
 Industrial League of Illinois, 376, 395 
 
 Ingersoll, Ezekiel J., 406, 650 
 
 Ingersoll, Robert G., 471 
 
 Inglis, Samuel M., 435 
 
 Ingraham, Charles E., 703 
 
 Internal Improvements, 201, 221, 229 
 
 Irvin, Cyrus H., 1190 
 
 Irvington, 378 
 
 Isley, Albert E., 1491 
 
 Jackson, Charles A., 809 
 
 Jackson county Settled early part of 
 nineteenth century, 481; salt indus- 
 try founded, 482; Illinois Central 
 brings settlers, 483; Carbondale 
 platted, 484; coal mining, 484; Grand 
 Tower, 484; Murphysboro, 485 
 
 Jackson, Earl B., 1035 
 
 Jackson, James W., 1072 
 
 Jacksonville, 178 
 
 James, Bennett, 1674 
 
 James, Fountain E., 1576 
 
 James, George W., 715 
 
 Jasper county Newton, the county 
 seat, 486; population and agriculture, 
 486; villages in county, 486; Mt. Ver- 
 non made the county seat, 489; mili- 
 tary record, 490; car shops, 490; ju- 
 dicial and legal center, 490; Mt. Ver- 
 non of today, 491; facts of interest, 
 491 
 
 Jenkins, David P., 334 
 
 Jenkins, Henry H., 807 
 
 Jennelle, John J., 1464 
 
 Jeremiah, Thomas, 1212 
 
 Jesuits, 60, 80 
 
 Jinnette, Ezekiel R., 1418 
 
 Jo Daviess county, 174 
 
 Johns, Frederick A., 332 
 
 Johnson, Charles, 1638 
 
 Johnson, Edgar F., 1434 
 
 Johnson, Matthew, 75 
 
 Johnson, Stephen A., 1039 
 
 Johnson. William L., 910 
 
 Johnson county Created by Governor 
 Edwards. 492; agriculture and stock 
 raising, 492; early settlers, 494; sla- 
 very contest (1823-4), 494; Major 
 Andrew J. Kuykendall, 495, Clark 
 passed through the county, 495 
 
 Johnston City, 564 
 
 Johnston, James F., 1142
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXVll 
 
 Johnston, William H., 708 
 
 Joliet, 36, 40 
 
 Jones, Alfred H., 1486 
 
 Jones, Emsly, 481 
 
 Jones, Gabriel, 527 
 
 Jones, James, 348 
 
 Jones, James M., 966 
 
 Jones, Obadiah, 109 
 
 Jones, Robert S., 1541 
 
 Jones, Thomas X., 1470 
 
 Jones, William, 179 
 
 Jones, William C., 1563 
 
 Jones' fort, 432 
 
 Jonesboro, 542 
 
 Jonesboro College, 385 
 
 "Jonesboro Gazette," 348 
 
 Joplin, James M., 1236 
 
 Joppa, 508 
 
 Jordan, Joshua, 547 
 
 Jordan brothers, 561 
 
 Journalism First Illinois newspapers, 
 344; slavery question stimulates 
 journalism, 346; uncertainty of pio- 
 neer journalism, 346; able old-time 
 editors, 347; later stimulating issues, 
 348; papers forced to suspend, 348; 
 founded prior to 1880, 349 
 
 Judd, Norman B., 251 
 
 Judy, Samuel, 173 
 
 Kane, Elias Kent, 157, 527 
 
 Kane, W. C., 868 
 
 Kansas-Xebraska act, 249 
 
 Karraker, Jacob, 1191 
 
 Karraker, O. M., 1192 
 
 Karraker, Thomas N., 992 
 
 Karsteter, William R., 968 
 
 Kaskaskia, 49, 102, 110, 172, 524 
 
 Kaskaskia, Capture of, 85 
 
 Kaskaskia eighteenth-century mill, ruins 
 
 of (illustration), 120 
 Kaskaskia Presbyterian church, 176 
 Kaskaskia view from Fort Gage, 342 
 Kaskaskias, 24 
 Kasserman, Henry M., 1443 
 Kasserman, Rudolph J., 1405 
 Keefe, David E., 1481 
 Keen, Frank B., 683 
 Keen, John, Jr., 1646 
 Keen, Raab D., 1664 
 Keener, George W., 332 
 Keith, Leroy G., 712 
 Keith, L. D., 665 
 Keller, P. J., 964 
 Kellogg, A. N., 349 
 Kellogg, Elisha, 173 
 Kellogg, Seymour, 173 
 Kellogg, William Pitt, 312 
 Kelly, Daniel E., 701 
 Kelly, George H., 1057 
 Kennedy, George, 1043 
 Kennedy, George, Sr., 1043 
 Kennedy, James B., 855 
 Kennedy, Marcus L., 904 
 Keokuk (chief), 183 
 Kerley, Thomas B., 666 
 Keys' Willard. 174 
 
 Kickapoo Indians, 25, 102 
 
 Kidd, Robert, 509 
 
 Kimmel, Singleton H., 344 
 
 Kimzey, Loranzey D., 922 
 
 King, Freeman, 942 
 
 Kinney, William, 180, 205 
 
 Kirkham, Robert, 329 
 
 Kirkpatrick, Cornwall E., 773 
 
 Kirkpatrick, R. D., 973 
 
 Kitchell, Joseph, 447 
 
 Kneffner, William C., 332 
 
 Knights of the Golden Circle, 318, 322, 
 
 539 
 
 Knoph, Aden, 1272 
 Knox, James, 250 
 Koch, Fred J., 1105 
 Koenigsmark, Alois J., 1048 
 Koenigsmark, Jacob J., 1047 
 Koenigsmark, John J., 930 
 Koenigsmark, Thomas, 1046 
 Koennecke, Frederick H., 1415 
 Koerner, Gustavus, 246, 251, 340, 533, 
 
 534 (portrait) 
 Kohn, H. H., 640 
 Kramer, Edward C., 571 
 Kramer, James H., 1634 
 Kuhls, Frank G., 1133 
 Kuny, Frederick J., 1704 
 Kuykendall, Andrew J., 495 
 
 Lackey, George W., 1437 
 
 Lacky, William A., 882 
 
 LaFayette, 160, 161 (portrait) 
 
 Lamer, Charles R., 1192 
 
 Lamott creek, 446 
 
 Lamott prairie, 446 
 
 Land, George L., 1702 
 
 Langan, Peter T., 644 
 
 Lansden, John M., 1672 
 
 Largent, W. W., 871 
 
 LaSalle, 41 
 
 Latham, S. W., 881 
 
 Lauder, Hugh, 567 
 
 Laughlin, William T., 783 
 
 La Ville de Maillet (Peoria), 174 
 
 Lawler, Michael K., 231, 327, 471 
 
 Lawrence county Pioneer French set- 
 tlers, 497; the deep snow and milk 
 sickness, 498; schools, 498; Charlottes- 
 ville, 498; old trails across the coun- 
 ty, 498; Lawrenceville, the county 
 seat, 499; oil and gas wells, 499 
 
 Lawrenceville, 499 
 
 Lawrenceville High School (illustra- 
 tion), 499 
 
 Layman, Thomas J., 300, 1065 
 
 Lead, 19, 174, 478 
 
 Leavitt, J. A., 385 
 
 Lebanon Seminary, 384 
 
 Leib, Daniel, 185 
 
 Lemen, James, Sr., 509 
 
 Lengfelder Brothers, 1520 
 
 Lengfelder, Charles R., 1521 
 
 Lengfelder, Gustavus A., 1521 
 
 Lengfelder. Louis F., 1522 
 
 Lentz, E. Gilbert. 1112 
 
 Leonhard. Adolph M., 1452
 
 XXV111 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Leppo, Frank T. I., 1220 
 
 Lesemann, Philip B., 1260 
 
 Levett's Prairie, 439 
 
 Levy, Isaac K., 568 
 
 Levy, Mike, 1411 
 
 Lewis, Albert W., 1318 
 
 Lewis, Cassie B., 1177 
 
 Lewis, Elijah, 1066 
 
 Lewis, John S., 1013 
 
 Lewis, Steven C., 1273 
 
 Libke, Andrew K., 1667 
 
 Lightner, Alfred S., 1631 
 
 Lillard, Joseph, 122 
 
 Lime, 17 
 
 Limestone, 16 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 192, 204, 251, 255, 
 304, 306, 308, 309 (portrait), 310 
 
 Lincoln-Douglas debate Arrangements 
 for, 256; some matters of local inter- 
 est, 257; political situation in South- 
 ern Illinois in 1858, 258; at Cairo, 
 261; Lincoln in Anna and Jonesboro, 
 263; at Jonesboro, 267; Douglas at 
 Benton, 300; last debate at Alton, 301 
 
 Lindly, Cicero J., 1546 
 
 Linegar, David T., 314 
 
 Lingle, Fred L., 597 
 
 Lingle, Willis E., 1134 
 
 Link, Robert R., 917 
 
 Lippincott, Thomas, 177 
 
 Lippitt, William D., 907 
 
 Lockwood, Jesse C., 476 
 
 Log school house (illustration), 371 
 
 Logan, John A., 231, 255, 314, 315, 316 
 (portrait), 327, 467, 471, 485, 538, 539, 
 563 
 
 Logan, Thomas M., 1148 
 
 Long, James M., 1321 
 
 Looney, William A., 615 
 
 Lord, Hugh, 75 
 
 Louisiana, 61 
 
 Louisville, 439, 441 
 
 Lovejoy (Elijah Parish) and his mar- 
 tyrdom a moral hero, 209; Lovejoy 
 becomes an editor, 210; constitutional 
 right, 211; "Observer" moved to Al- 
 ton, 211; mob destroys presses, 212; 
 Lovejoy a martyr, 215 
 
 Lovejoy monument (illustration), Al- 
 ton, 218 
 
 Lovejoy, Owen, 251 
 
 Lowe, Ausby L., 1435 
 
 Lowis, William W., 1120 
 
 Lufkin, John E., 1179 
 
 Lusk, Jack. 869 
 
 Lyerly, Andrew J., 627 
 f Lyerly, William D., 729 
 
 Lyle. John D., 1198 
 
 Lynch, John, 531 
 
 Lynn. Charles, 1705 
 
 Lyon, Charles M.. 1431 
 
 McAdams, Clark, 28 
 McAdams, William, 28, 30 
 McBaen. William. 507 
 McCall, Daniel. 730 
 McCann, Oria M., 1661 
 
 McCann, Patrick S., 1147 
 
 McCarley, Herman, 896 
 
 McCartney, Marcus N., 1566 
 
 McCaslin, Warren E., 1130 
 
 McClernand, John A., 471 
 
 McUintock, Charles E., 779 
 
 McClun, J. E., 250 
 
 McClure, Chester A., 1669 
 
 McClure, John, 510 
 
 McClusky, Frederick W., 1291 
 
 McCollum, Harvey D., 1258 
 
 McConnell, Murray, 205 
 
 McCormick, Alphouso, 1159 
 
 McCreery, Walker W., 1286 
 
 McCullom, Vandalia, 463 
 
 McCullough, J. S., 243 
 
 McElroy, Isaac N., 983 
 
 McElvain, Robert J., 1100 
 
 McEwing, William, 515 
 
 McFall, William W., 1322 
 
 McFarlan, James, ST., 479 
 
 McGehee, Moses P., 1264 
 
 McGoughey, John E., 1257 
 
 McGuyer, John B., 1536 
 
 Mcllrath, Robert J., 962 
 
 Mclntyre, Aorman, 994 
 
 McKeaig, George W., 331 
 
 McKee, John F., 1052 
 
 McKendree College, 384 
 
 McLaren, Archibald B., 1254 
 
 McLean, John, 135, 157, 471 
 
 Madison county, 116 
 
 Maeys, Edward, 1627 
 
 Maeys, Jacob, 1627 
 
 Mahan, I. S., 378 
 
 Main street, Elizabethtown (illustra- 
 tion), 482 
 
 Maps Showing royal grants, 33; Amer- 
 ican Bottom (French villages), 56; 
 Clark's route from Fort Massac to 
 V incennes, 91; settled portions of Il- 
 linois in 1812, 113; first fifteen state 
 counties (1818), 127; showing vote on 
 slavery question (1824), 158 
 
 Marberry, Oscar J., 447 
 
 Marest, Gabriel, 50 
 
 Marion, 564 
 
 Marion county Agriculture and live 
 stock, 502 ; Old Salem, the county seat, 
 503; "State Policy" abandoned, 503; 
 father of William J. Bryan, 503; Gen. 
 James S. Martin, 504; the present Sa- 
 lem and Centralia, 504; late discovery 
 of oil, 505 
 
 Marker of Lincoln -Douglas debate at 
 Jonesboro (illustration), 266 
 
 Marks, Daniel, 451 
 
 Marlow, James T., 903 
 
 Marquette, 35, 40 
 
 Marquette among the Indians, (illus- 
 tration), 36 
 
 Marshall, 436 
 
 Marshall. Charles, 1483 
 
 Marshall. John, 125. 471 
 
 Marshall, John A., 321 
 
 Martin, Edward A.. 1639 
 
 Martin, George E., 616
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXIX 
 
 Martin, James H., 676 
 
 Martin, James S., 331, 504 
 
 Martin, Sidney C., 654 
 
 Massac county 226; Old Fort Massac, 
 506; Metropolis laid off, 506; Brook- 
 port (formerly Brooklyn), 507; Joppa, 
 508; drainage and agriculture, 508; 
 the old fort to be preserved, 508 
 
 Mason, Charles H., 1021 
 
 Mason, Tice D., 1595 
 
 Matheny, John W., 1413 
 
 Mather, Thomas, 195, 205, 527 
 
 Mathews, John, 176 
 
 Mathews, W. A., 385 
 
 Mathis, George W., 655 
 
 Mathis, John B., 887 
 
 Mathis, John P., 743 
 
 Mathis, Robert D., 798 
 
 Matteson (Joel A.) administration 
 Matteson elected governor, 246; Illi- 
 nois Central built, 247 ; slavery agita- 
 tion, 247; Canal scrip fraud, 248; 
 state and national politics, 249 
 
 Matthews, William A., 654 
 
 Maulding, Ambrose, 489 
 
 Maxey, Bennett M., 1180 
 
 Maxey, James C., 490 
 
 Maxey, Moss, 1027 
 
 Maxey, Walter S., 1349 
 
 May, Leonidas J., 1094 
 
 Maynard, Charles E., 1504 
 
 Mayo, Walter L., 454 
 
 Maysville, 439 
 
 Meads, Joseph L., 582 
 
 Medill, Joseph, 251 
 
 Meirink, Bernard J., 1219 
 
 Menard, Pierre, 117, 135, 141, 367, 521 
 
 Mermet, P. J., 50 
 
 Merrifield. Walter E., 1391 
 
 Merritt, Wesley, 504 
 
 Meserve, Frank C., 1169 
 
 Methodists (early), 122, 178 
 
 Methodist Episcopal church, Mt. Carmel 
 (illustration), 548 
 
 Metropolis, 507 
 
 Meyer, Frantz J., 1033 
 
 Meyer, George L., 1333 
 
 Meyer, H. A., 435 
 
 Mick, Robert, 1420 
 
 Military Bounty lands, 173 
 
 Miller, Alexander W., 1206 
 
 Miller. Andrew E., 591 
 
 Miller, Ernest F., 1087 
 
 Miller, James, 251. 255 
 
 Miller, Jesse E., 1673 
 
 Miller, John P.. 1326 
 
 Miller, John W., 1111 
 
 Miller, Robert H., 1087 
 
 Miller, Sidney B., 1475 
 
 Mills, Commodore, 1191 
 
 Mills. Charles W.. 673 
 
 Mills, Virgil W., 1641 
 
 Millspaugh, Albert C., 1354 
 
 "Miner's Journal." 347 
 
 Mitchell. H. C., 563 
 
 Mitchell, Henry C., 1064 
 
 Mitchell. James C., 1045 
 
 Mitchell, John W., 539, 540 
 
 Mitchell. Samuel M., 563 
 
 Moffat, Thomas, 1390 
 
 Mohlenbrock, William, 1278 
 
 Molitor, John, 1229 
 
 Monken, George J., 1102 
 
 Monk's Mound, 28 
 
 Monroe county First American set- 
 tlers, 509; Jefferson's estimate of 
 James Lemen, 509; old Lemen fort 
 (second brick house in Illinois), 510; 
 Thomas Ford and Daniel P. Cook, 510; 
 first county court, 510; schools and 
 slaves, 511; old French land grants, 
 511; Elder Peter Rogers, 511; Col. 
 William R. Morrison, 512 
 
 Mooneyham, James P., 637 
 
 Moore, Carroll, 1170 
 
 Moore, Hosea H., 1630 
 
 Moore, Henry W., 234 
 
 Moore, James. 509 
 
 Moore, John, 222 
 
 Moore, John W., 583 
 
 Moore, Risdon M., 331 
 
 Moore, Thomas L., 553 
 
 Moorehouse, Thaddeus, 528 
 
 Moorman, Howard, 1029 
 
 Morgan county, 173 
 
 Morgan, Ambert D., 646 
 
 Morgan, Charles E., 947 
 
 Morgan, Harry P., 1561 
 
 Morgan, James D., 326 
 
 Morgan, Lewis C., 1343 
 
 Mormons, 222, 224, 228 
 
 Morony, James J., 1128 
 
 Morray, Damie, 652 
 
 Morris, Buckner S., 252 
 
 Morrison, Joseph, 527 
 
 Morrison, William R., 231, 512 
 
 Moss, Douglass, 1507 
 
 Moss, Harry C., 1600 
 
 Mound City, 520 
 
 Mounds, 523 
 
 Mt. Carmel, 549, 551 
 
 Mt. Vernon, 173, 179, 489 
 
 Mozley, Norman J., 668 
 
 Muer, A. C., 175 
 
 Mulcaster, John G., 761 
 
 Munndell, Cornelius W., 1531 
 
 Murphy, Penina O., 1654 
 
 Murphy, William K., 1652 
 
 Murphysboro, 482, 485 
 
 Murray, Hugh V.. 1505 
 
 Murrie. William J., 664 
 
 Musselman, Edward, 943 
 
 Nashville, 553 
 
 "Nashville" at the Golconda wharf (il- 
 lustration), 518 
 
 National Cemetery near Mound City (il- 
 lustration), 522 
 
 National road, 358, 360, 437. 451. 464 
 
 National Stock Yards National Bank, 
 1092 
 
 Nauman. John A., 1472 
 
 Nauvoo, 224, 228 
 
 Needham, Daniel, 1160
 
 XXX 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Needles, Thomas B., 1411 
 
 Neely, George W., 332 
 
 Nelson, Elijah, 528 
 
 Nelson, Snowden B., 955 
 
 Nesbitt, William A., 660 
 
 Newbold, Joseph H., 348 
 
 Newby, E. W. B., 232 
 
 New Chartres, 55, 68, 69 
 
 New counties, 116, 118, 124, 141 
 
 New Design, 509 
 
 New Grand Chain, 523 
 
 Newland, H. W., 322 
 
 Newlin, Enoch E., 1446 
 
 Newlin, LeRoy, 1518 
 
 Newlin, Thomas J., 1516 
 
 Newton, 486 
 
 Newton, Lawrence G., 711 
 
 Niebur, B. Clemens, 1095 
 
 Nimms, Alexander J., 330 
 
 Ninety-seventh Infantry Regiment, 330 
 
 Ninety-eighth Infantry Regiment, 330 
 
 Ninth Illinois Infantry, 335 
 
 Nixon, Madison G., 1019 
 
 Noleman, Frank F., 1457 
 
 Norris, George W., 681 
 
 Norton, Jesse O., 250 
 
 Northwest Territory Civil government 
 north of the Ohio, 98; ordinance of 
 1787 passed, 99; government organ- 
 ized, 100; conditions in Illinois, 100; 
 local government, 103 
 
 Oakley, Charles, 205 
 
 Oblong, 449 
 
 "Oblong Oracle," 449 
 
 O'Connor, Ephraim, 172 
 
 O'Gara Coal Company, The, 1224 
 
 Ogilvie, Lewis, 1598 
 
 Oglesby, Richard J., 251, 340, 341 
 
 Ohio valley, struggle for, 64 
 
 Oil, 449, 499, 505 
 
 Oil in transit Lawrence county (illustra- 
 tion), 500 
 
 Oil territory. A common sight in (illus- 
 tration), 450 
 
 Okawville, 554 
 
 Old Illinois Agricultural College, Irving- 
 ton (illustration), 379 
 
 Old Kaskaskia disappears, 342 
 
 "Old Lemen Fort," 510 
 
 Oldest Illinois publication (facsmilie of 
 "Illinois Herald,") 345 
 
 Olmsted, 523 
 
 Olney. 528 
 
 One Hundred Ninth Infantry Regiment, 
 330 
 
 One Hundred Tenth Infantry Regiment, 
 330 
 
 One Hundred Eleventh Infantry Regi- 
 ment. 331 
 
 One Hundred Seventeenth Infantry 
 Regiment, 331 
 
 One Hundred Twentieth Infantry Regi- 
 ment, 331 
 
 One Hundred Twenty-eighth Infantry 
 Regiment. 331 
 
 One Hundred Thirty-first Infantry Regi- 
 ment. 331 
 
 One Hundred Thirty-sixth Infantry Regi- 
 ment, 332 
 
 One Hundred Forty-third Infantry Regi- 
 ment, 332 
 
 One Hundred Forty-fourth Infantry 
 Regiment, 332 
 
 One Hundred Forty-fifth Infantry Regi- 
 ment, .332 
 
 One Hundred Forty-ninth Infantry Regi- 
 ment, 332 
 
 One Hundred Fiftieth Infantry Regi- 
 ment, 332 
 
 Ozburn, Harry 0., 1602 
 
 Ozburn, John L., 611 
 
 Ozment, Marshall, 1042 
 
 Page, Oliver J., 1514 
 
 Palestine, 447 
 
 Palmer, Elihu J., 399 
 
 Palmer, John M., 251, 258, 305, 338 
 
 Palmyra, 549 
 
 Pape, Gustavus, 526, 952 
 
 Parish, John J., 846 
 
 Parish, William H., 844 
 
 Park, Edmund C., 1246 
 
 Park, Roswell, 529 
 
 Parker, Charles A. C., 781 
 
 Parker, George N., 1424 
 
 Parkinson, Daniel B., 407, 1602 
 
 Parmly, Walter D., 1459 
 
 Parrish, Braxton, 466 
 
 Parsons, George, 1188 
 
 Parsons, S. H., 99 
 
 "Patent inside," 349 
 
 Pautler, Nicholas B., 972 
 
 Pavey, C. W., 341 
 
 Pavey, Louis G., 1185 
 
 Payne, William S., 1340 
 
 Pearce, Jo R., 852 
 
 Peck, Ebenezer, 205 
 
 Peck, John M., 153, 348, 371, 372, 376, 
 382, 534 
 
 Peeler. Samuel D., 1414 
 
 Pellett, Ezra B., 794 
 
 Peltier, P. P.. 511 
 
 Penvler, Hugh, 1495 
 
 Peoria, 174 
 
 Permanent settlements Kaskaskia set- 
 tled, 49; grants of land, 52; war and 
 progress, 58 
 
 Perrine, William A., 1312 
 
 Perry county Pioneer settlers and inci- 
 dents, 513; Pinckneyville selected as 
 county seat, 514; first circuit court, 
 515; DuQuoin and Tamaroa, 515 
 
 Perry. Enos. 670 
 
 "Perry County Times," 515 
 
 Perry'ville, 462 
 
 Personeau. Etienne. 532 
 
 Pflasterer. Frank. 963 
 
 Phillips, A. J.. 261. 264 
 
 Phillips, David L.. 261 
 
 Phillips. D. W.. 378 
 
 Phillips. John E.. 1386 
 
 Phillips. William H., 619 
 
 Phillips. Winfield S.. 1371 
 
 Philp. Harry 0., 1303 
 
 Piankashawtown. 455
 
 INDEX 
 
 xxxi 
 
 Piasa bird, 32, 38 (illustration) 
 
 Piatt, Hiram H., 1388 
 
 "Picket Guard," 349 
 
 Pickrell, Andrew J., 775 
 
 Picquet, Joseph, 1712 
 
 Pictographs on Illinois river bluffs, (il- 
 lustrations), 31 
 
 Pier, Charles S., 1688 
 
 Piercy, Willis D., 1284 
 
 Piggott's fort, 509 
 
 Fillers, George W., 835 
 
 Pinckneyville, 514 
 
 Pinkel, Armin B., 1378 
 
 Pinkstaff, John, 498 
 
 Pioneer monument at Old Kaskaskia, 
 (illustration), 343 
 
 "Pioneer of the Valley of the Missis- 
 sippi," 348 
 
 Pippin, W. H., 1252 
 
 Pitner, Homer W., 1643 
 
 Pixley, Harvey F., 1265 
 
 Plummer, Walter B., 1453 
 
 Pontiac, 26, 73 
 
 Poorman, Andrew J., Jr., 1606 
 
 Pope county Sarahville (Golconda), 
 the county seat, 516; educational and 
 social, 516; noted personages, 517; 
 "Great Medicine Water," 518; statis- 
 tics, 518 
 
 Pope, B. F., Sr., 823 
 
 Pope, Benjamin W., 823 
 
 Pope, Nathaniel, 109, 128, 129, 366, 444 
 
 Pope, Payton S., 621 
 
 Pope, Pleasant N., 837 
 
 Porter, Edward K., 800 
 
 Porterfield, John F., 1279 
 
 Portraits George Rogers Clark, 83; 
 Abraham Lincoln, 309 ; John A. Logan, 
 316; Edward Coles, 149; Henry Eddy, 
 154; Lafayette, 161; Black Hawk, 
 185; Clark Braden, 389; Peter White, 
 473; James C. Maxcy, 488; Gustavus 
 Koerner, 534; Samuel Westbrook, 539 
 
 Posey, Thomas, 471 
 
 Post, Frank H., 1031 
 
 Potter, William O., 1010 
 
 Potthast, Fred, 1213 
 
 Powell, Alfred E., 786 
 
 Powell, H. K., 1155 
 
 Powell, William H., 251 
 
 Prairie areas, 21 
 
 Prairie du Pont, 535 
 
 Prairie du Rocher, 55, 59 (winter view) 
 
 Prehistoric people Evidences of, 27 ; the 
 Cahokia mounds. 28; implements, pot- 
 tery and pictographs, 30 
 
 Prehistoric relics from Wabash county 
 (illustration), 26, 29 
 
 Prentiss, B. M.. 324 
 
 Presbyterians (early), 122, 176 
 
 Press (See Journalism) 
 
 Price, George B., 445 
 
 Prill, Max, 1558 
 
 Proctor, David Choate, 176 
 
 Protestant churches (early), 121 
 
 Pruett Family, the, 1474 
 
 Public schools First American, 365; 
 basis of Illinois system, 366; primi- 
 
 tive school houses, 369; conventions 
 to encourage public education, 370; 
 best friends of the cause, 372; state 
 law of 1855, 373; present system of 
 public education, 373 
 
 Pulaski county Caledonia, the old 
 county seat, 519; Mound City of the 
 earlier times, 520; General M. M. Raw- 
 lings, 520; plans for the great em- 
 porium city, 521; Union Block, Civil 
 war hospital, 522"; the present Mound 
 City, 523; villages of the county, 523 
 
 Pulley, Lewis B., 999 
 
 Quick, Thomas, 378 
 
 Quincy, 174 
 
 Quindry, S. Eugene, 1588 
 
 Raab, Henry, 341 
 
 Raddle, Frank J., 1621 
 
 Railroad strike of 1877, 340 
 
 Railroads, 203, 236, 237, 503 
 
 Rainey, Henry T., 338 
 
 Raith, Julius, 328 
 
 Raleigh, 538 
 
 Randolph county County and state his- 
 tory parallel, 524; Kaskaskia court 
 house of 1819, 525; a slave county, 
 529; population, 1825-1840, 525; coun- 
 ty seat moved to Chester, 526; decline 
 of Kaskaskia, 527 ; on the ramparts of 
 Old Fort Gage, 527 
 
 Rapp, Frederick G., 1137 
 
 Rapp, Isaac, 405, 636 
 
 Rapp, John M., 1644 
 
 Rathbone, Valentine, 849 
 
 Rathbone, Walter R., 849 
 
 Raum, Green B.. 329 
 
 Raum, John, 517 
 
 Rawlings, M. M., 205. 520 
 
 Rawstron, R. N., 1650 
 
 Ray's settlement, 494 
 
 Rea, Herman M., 1259 
 
 Reardon, James S., 327 
 
 Rebman, Emma, 1709 
 
 Rector, John T., 362 
 
 Rector. Nelson, 115, 476 
 
 Reed, Frank S., 690 
 
 Reed, John, 75 
 
 Reed, Joseph B.. 688 
 
 Rees, Samuel H., 736 
 
 Reichert, August, 1628 
 
 Reichcrt, John F., 1570 
 
 Reinhardt. 0. F., 1565 
 
 Renault, Phillip, 207 
 
 Renault land grant. 511 
 
 Rendleman. Andrew J., 598 
 
 Rendleman. Drake H.. 1575 
 
 Renfro, John H. B., 706 
 
 Renfro. Robert E., 705 
 
 "Republican Advocate." 346 
 
 Repudiation of state debt, 221, 223 
 
 Residences (illustrations), John Mar- 
 shall's residence. Shawneetown, 125; 
 John A. Logan's home at Benton, 466; 
 childhood home of William J. Bryan, 
 Salem, 504; residence of the late Wil- 
 liam R. Morrison, Waterloo. 513; man-
 
 XXX11 
 
 INDEX 
 
 sion of Pierre Menard, near old Fort 
 Gage, 525; home of Daniel Stookey, 
 near Belleville, still standing, 535 
 
 Reuter, Theodore L., 1231 
 
 Revolutionay flag owned by Robinson 
 brothers, Shawneetown (illustration), 
 469 
 
 Reynolds, H. G., 400, 401 
 
 Reynolds, John, 167, 255, 533 
 
 Reynolds, Marcus Green, 483 
 
 Reynolds, Thomas, 527 
 
 Reynolds (John) administration How 
 Governor Reynolds was elected, 180; 
 the inaugural message, 181 ; deep snow 
 of 1830-1, 182; the Black Hawk war, 
 183; call to arms, 184; the end, 190; 
 second half of administration, 192 
 
 Rhodes, Orange H., 659 
 
 Rich, George D., 580 
 
 Rich, George W., 1129 
 
 Rich, Robert L., 1109 
 
 Richards, J. H., 343 
 
 Richardson, A. M., 31 
 
 Richardson, James A., 489 
 
 Richardson, William A., 252 
 
 Richart, Fred W., 1007 
 
 Richland county Conditions in 1820, 
 528; Elijah Nelson and Roswell Park, 
 528; customs of early settlers, 529; 
 the hard year, 1881, 530; first insti- 
 tutions, 530; the Civil war, 531; Ol- 
 ney, 531 
 
 Rickert, Nelson, 949 
 
 Rickman, Joshua H., 1210 
 
 Rider, William H., 383 
 
 Ridgeway, Thomas S., 340, 471 
 
 Risley, Theodore, 549 
 
 Ritter, Charles L., 1209 
 
 River steamers on the marine ways, 
 Mound City (illustration), 520 
 
 Roads (early), 357 
 
 Roberts Family, 926 
 
 Roberts, George W., 1131 
 
 Roberts, Harry" W., 930 
 
 Roberts, Ira T., 1017 
 
 Roberts, John F., 586 
 
 Robinson, 447 
 
 Robinson, J., 540 
 
 Robinson, James C., 314 
 
 Robinson, Luther F., 1222 
 
 Robinson Township High School (illus- 
 tration), 448 
 
 Robison, Thomas L., 1151 
 
 Rock Springs, 173, 382 
 
 Rock Spring Seminary, 382; (illustra- 
 tion), 383 
 
 Rodenberg, William A., 1508 
 
 Roedel, Carl, 1243 
 
 Rogers. Peter, 511 
 
 Rogers Seminary, 511 
 
 Ronalds, K. C.. 608 
 
 Rose, Albert M., J535 
 
 Rose, James A.. 517 
 
 Rose. Pleasant W., 776 
 
 Rosiclare, 478 
 
 Ross, Charles H. S., 948 
 
 Rothrock. Walter S.. 1583 
 
 Rude, Hankerson, 538 
 Ruf, John, Jr., 1093 
 Russell, John, 376 
 Russell, William, 111 
 Russellville, 497 
 Rutherford, Friend S., 330 
 Rutherford, Larkin, 509 
 
 Sabin, Frank A., 777 
 
 Saguinn (Blackbird), 25 
 
 Sailor Springs, 441, 442 
 
 Ste. Anne, 71 
 
 St. Clair, Arthur, 100, 101, 532 
 
 St. Clair county, 100, 102 
 
 St. Clair county's first court house (now 
 in Jackson Park, Chicago), 533 
 
 St. Clair county General St. Clair 
 creates the county, 532; county seat 
 transferred from Cahokia to Belleville, 
 532; early settlements, 532; German 
 immigrations, 533; John Reynolds and 
 John M. Peck, 533 ; Cahokia and Prairie 
 du Pont, 534; the present county and 
 county seat, 535; Charles Dickens and 
 son, 536; East St. Louis, 537 
 
 St. Francisville, 497 
 
 St. Joseph's academy, 511 
 
 St. Marie, 487 
 
 St. Phillipe, 55, 71 
 
 Salem, 503, 504 
 
 Saline county Pioneer events, 538; 
 county seat located at Raleigh, 538; 
 political history, 538; Civil war sen- 
 timent, 539; Harrisburg, 540; Eldo- 
 rado, 540; Carrier Mills, 540; the old 
 stone fort, 540 
 
 Saline river, 354 
 
 Salt, 18, 433, 472, 482, 484 
 
 Salzmann, Ferdinand, 1389 
 
 Sanders, Carl D., 1348 
 
 Sandstone, 17 
 
 Sangamon country, 157, 159 
 
 "Sangamon Spectator," 348 
 
 Sarahville (Golconda), 516 
 
 Sargent, Winthrop, 100, 101 
 
 Sauer, Albert N., 714 
 
 Sauer, George N., 1443 
 
 Sauer, Nicholas, 1439 
 
 Sauer, Philip E., 1442 
 
 Saussier. Jean B., 68 
 
 Schaefer, Charles, 963 
 
 Schaefer, Herman L., 1671 
 
 Scharfenberger, Frank, 1018 
 
 Schatz, William, 870 
 
 Schauerte, Kasper, 1283 
 
 Schmidgall, John L.. 643 
 
 Schmidt, Henry E., 1116 
 
 Schmitt. Edward G., 1110 
 
 Schorr, John S., 1004 
 
 Schroeder, Edward A., 1581 
 
 Schroeder, Henry W., 1088 
 
 Schuh. Paul G., 1703 
 
 Schulmeister. Ernst F., 1009 
 
 Schurmann. Edward. 1657 
 
 Schuwerk. William M.. 1162 
 
 Schwartz, William, 1458 
 
 Schwartz, William A., 1034
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXXlll 
 
 Schwarzlose, Gideon, 1641 
 
 Scott, Charles L., 1665 
 
 Scott, J. H., 594 
 
 Scott, Thomas W., 557 
 
 Scudamore, Joseph B., 1618 
 
 Seaman, Jonathan, 1146 
 
 Seeber, William P., 788 
 
 Second Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 
 Seed, Maurice J., 1370 
 
 Seeley, John, 366 
 
 Seely, Samuel J., 120 
 
 Sellers, George Eschol, 472 
 
 Sessions, A. Ney, 1048 
 
 Seten, Ross, 1351 
 
 Seventh Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 
 Seventy-first Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 Shadle. Jacob, 440 
 
 Shaw, Charles W., 1658 
 
 Shaw, John, 151 
 
 Shaw, John W., 622 
 
 Shaw, Raleigh M., 1676 
 
 Shawneetown, 125, 173 
 
 Sheets, John M., 1288 
 
 Sheley, Laurence B., 1063 
 
 Shelton, William, 385 
 
 Shields, James, 527 
 
 Shoupe, Walter C., 1091 
 
 Shriner, Harvey W., 1255 
 
 Shryock, Henry W., 1214 
 
 Shull, John, 175 
 
 Shurtleff College, 383 
 
 Sims, Horace R., 885 
 
 Simpson, John C., 970 
 
 Simpson, S. S., 435 
 
 Sixth Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 
 Sixtieth Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 Sixty-second Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 Sixty-third Infantry Regiment, 329 
 
 Sizemore, M. Wilson, 1025 
 
 Skaggs, Charles P., 888 
 
 Skaggs, Pryor L., 889 
 
 Slack, William P., 753 
 
 Slade, Charles, 192, 444 
 
 Slade, James P., 435 
 
 Slater, W. Frank, 1005 
 
 Slavery in the Illinois country, 105 
 
 Slavery in the state, 150, 207, 247, 346, 
 
 434, 494, 525 
 Slocum, Rigdon B., 181 
 Sloo, Thomas, 164 
 Small, William M., 498 
 Smith, Decatur A., 891 
 Smith, Dudley C., 332 
 Smith, Egbert A., 1560 
 Smith, Frank S., 698 
 Smith, George W., 243, 312, 1714 
 Smith. Henry M., 1167 
 Smith, James, 121 
 Smith, James B., 1707 
 Smith. Joseph, 224 
 Smith. Randolph, 1269 
 Smith, Rozander, 547, 551 
 Smith, Sarah A., 1167 
 Smith, Theophilus W., 197, 202, 346 
 Smith, Thomas B. F., 1296 
 Fmith, Ulysses E., 722 
 Smith, Virginius W., 1305 
 
 Smith, Walter S. D., 994 
 
 Snider, Andrew L., 1404 
 
 Snoddy, Lewis O., 1599 
 
 Snodsmith, John, 1529 
 
 Snyder, Adam W., 222 
 
 Snyder, John, 68 
 
 Social life (early), 123 
 
 Soils, 10 
 
 Sondag, William, 981 
 
 Sons, Walter, 1633 
 
 Southern Collegiate Institute, 386 
 
 Southern Illinois College, 388 (illustra- 
 tion) 
 
 Southern Illinois College First building 
 erected, 387; the "Herald of Truth," 
 388; college revived, 389; closed in 
 1870, 391 
 
 Southern Illinois high schools, 394 
 
 Southern Illinois Hospital for the In- 
 sane, Anna (illustration), 543 
 
 Southern Illinois Milling & Elevator 
 Company, 1696 
 
 Southern Illinois Normal University, 
 391, 395, 400, 401, 403, 405, 406 and 
 407 (illustrations) 
 
 Spanish-American War, 334 
 
 Spann, William A., 1554 
 
 Specie circular, 197 
 
 "Spectator," 344 
 
 Spencer, Thomas J., 402 
 
 Spiller, Adelbert L., 592 
 
 Spiller, William F., 803 
 
 Spivey, Allen T., 1215 
 
 Sprague, Daniel G., 176 
 
 Sprigg, Ralph E., 1465 
 
 Springfield selected as state capital, 204 
 
 Sprinkle, Michael, 469 
 
 Sproul, Alexander B., 857 
 
 Stahlheber, Charles, 1449 
 
 Staley, George A., 1639 
 
 Staley, Ulla S., 1635 
 
 "Star of the West," 344, 346 
 
 Starved Rock (illustration), 46 
 
 State Bank of Illinois, 166, 182, 194, 
 198, 200, 223 
 
 State capitals Kaskaskia, 137; Vanda- 
 lia, 139 ; Springfield, 204 
 
 State Normal University, 396 
 
 "State Policy," 236, 503 
 
 State Teachers' Association, 395 
 
 State Teachers' Institute, 396 
 
 Stead, W. H., 242 
 
 Steeker, Rudolph, 1053 
 
 Stelle, Thompson B.. 475 
 
 Stephenson, Benjamin, 124, 128 
 
 Stephenson, James W., 205 
 
 Stephenson, Thomas B., 954 
 
 Steward, Lewis, 340 
 
 Stewart, James C., 782 
 
 Stewart, Warren, 334 
 
 Steyer, Theodore, 516 
 
 Stilwell, C. D., 1279 
 
 Stirling, Thomas, 75 
 
 Stockade and blockhouses (about 1812), 
 (illustration), 112 
 
 Stock certificate of Cairo City and Canal 
 Company (illustration), 239
 
 XXXIV 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Stone, 16 
 
 Stonecipher, John S., 1544 
 
 Stonefort, 540 
 
 Stookey, Vincent A., 840 
 
 Stotlar, Harry, 1495 
 
 Stout, Amos N., 1395 
 
 Stout, John B., 1476 
 
 Stratton, Charles T., 341 
 
 Stringer, Daniel W., 1553 
 
 Stringer, William M., 1051 
 
 Strong, Judson E., 828 
 
 Sullins, Thomas B., 1375 
 
 Sunnyside coal mine, Herrin (illustra- 
 tion), 562 
 
 Supreme court building, Mt. Vernon (il- 
 lustration), 490 
 
 Suspension bridge across the Kaskaskia, 
 Carlyle (illustration), 444 
 
 Sutherland, Prior W., 498, 1710 
 
 Swanner, Francis A., 642 
 
 Sweitzer, John, 1145 
 
 Swift, Eben, 334 
 
 Swift, Hardy M., 1178 
 
 Sycamore near Mt. Carmel (illustration), 
 13 
 
 Taffee, John G., 850 
 Talley, Henry, 1151 
 Talley, Richard, 1149 
 Tamaroa, 515 
 Tanner, James M., 1647 
 Tanner, John R., 341, 343 
 Taylor, Harry, 1380 
 Taylor, Joseph H., 1385 
 Taylor, Robert M., 1381 
 Taylor, Samuel L., 1572 
 Taylor, S. Staats, 431 
 Taylor, Zachary, 115 
 Tecumseh, 25 
 
 Tenth Infantry Regiment, 326 
 Templeton, James S., 874 
 Templeton, Robert B., 1467 
 Terpinitz, Joseph E., 264 
 Terry, Henry, 684 
 Teutopolis, 459 
 Thacker, Francis B., 1408 
 Thebes, 431 
 
 Third Cavalry Regiment, 333 
 Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment, 334 
 Thirtieth Infantry Regiment, 327 
 Thirty-first Infantry Regiment, 327 
 Thirty-eighth Infantry Regiment, 328 
 Thistlewood, Napoleon B., 1551 
 Thomas, Benjamin F., 1668 
 Thomas, Jesse B., 109, 367, 527 
 Thomas, William W., 792 
 Thomason, John W., 1230 
 Thompson, Sam A., 1336 
 Thomson, William, 725 
 Thrash. William H., 1545 
 Throgmorton, Emmet F., 764 
 Tibbets. Albert S., 757 
 Tillson (Mrs.), John, 177 
 Timber, 12 
 Timber areas, 21 
 
 "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign, 
 220 
 
 Titus, William S., 1429 
 
 Tobacco field, Clay county (illustration), 
 441 
 
 Todd, John, 95, 100 
 
 Tohill, Noah M., 1406 
 
 Toler, Silas C., 329 
 
 Tolliver, Alsie N., 1276 
 
 Tomb of Gen. Alexander Posey, Shaw- 
 neetown (illustration), 471 
 
 Tonti, 42 
 
 Tougas, Frank, 497 
 
 Tougas brothers, 547 
 
 Tourney's fort, 443 
 
 Towle, Herman T., 840 
 
 Towle, Joseph W., 839 
 
 Trainor, William E., 1426 
 
 Transportation Early river boats, 353; 
 Southern Illinois waterways, 354; pio- 
 neer trails and roads, 357; government 
 highways, 358; work of the state, 363 
 
 Trautmann, William E., 984 
 
 Treat, Cyrus P., 804 
 
 Trousdale, Fletcher A., 639 
 
 True, James M., 329 
 
 "Truth Teller," 445 
 
 Tufts, Charles D., 1359 
 
 Turkey Hill, 176 
 
 Turner, James W., 1238 
 
 Turner, J. B., 372 
 
 Tuthill, Lewis B., 724 
 
 Tuttle, Isaac R., 865 
 
 Twelfth Infantry Regiment, 327 
 
 Twenty-second Infantry Regiment, 327 
 
 Twenty-ninth Infantry Regiment, ' 327 
 
 Ullrich, William, 931 
 
 "Underground" railroad station, St. 
 Clair county (illustration), 536 
 
 Union Block, 521, (illustration), 522 
 
 Union county First settlers, 541; Jones- 
 boro made the county seat, 542; the 
 Willard family, 542; Colonel John S. 
 Hacker, 543; vegetables and fruits, 
 544; minerals and mineral springs, 
 544; towns, 545 
 
 United States Bank, 197 
 
 University of Vincennes, 367 
 
 I'pton, David, 475 
 
 Valter, Peter J., 1356 
 
 Van Arsdall, Elmer, 1270 
 
 Van Cleve, M. T., 540 
 
 Vandalia, 139, 173, 463 
 
 Van Kirk. Samuel A., 671 
 
 Varnum, Benjamin B., 958 
 
 Varnum, James M., 100 
 
 Venerable, James E., 1122 
 
 Vernor, George, 1346 
 
 Vick, John W., 1015 
 
 Victor, William A., 1690 
 
 Vienna, 494 
 
 View of the Mississippi from Chester 
 
 water tower, 526 
 Villa Ridge, 523 
 
 Vincennes Route to. 90; capture of, 93 
 Vise, Harvey C., 1311 
 Vise, Hosea'A., 593
 
 INDEX 
 
 XXXV 
 
 Vogel, Henry, 1410 
 Vogelpohl, Henry F., 1268 
 Voris, Hardy C., 1196 
 Voyles, Lloyd F., 1585 
 
 Wabash county Four Tougas brothers, 
 first settlers, 547; the three block 
 forts, 547; timber and saw mills, 549; 
 milk sickness, 549; shif tings of the 
 county seat, 549; aboriginal remains, 
 561; notes from nature, 561; tlie Wa- 
 bash and Mount Carmel, 561; live 
 stock raising, 561 
 
 Walker, Allen E., 1585 
 
 Walker, Cecil, 1430 
 
 Walker, D. Esco, 718 
 
 Walker, H. R., 833 
 
 Walker, Jesse, 178 
 
 Walker, Lindorf, 1102 
 
 Walker, Pinckney J., 833 
 
 Wall, James B., 1382 
 
 Wall mill, 530 
 
 Wall, William A., 754 
 
 Wall. William T., 864 
 
 Wallace, Coke B., 946 
 
 Wallace, Thomas L., 940 
 
 Wallace, William S., 971 
 
 Waller, Elbert, 1227 
 
 Walnut Hill, 503 
 
 Walser, C. R., 763 
 
 \Valser, Gaither C., 1619 
 
 Walters, Peter C., 1582 
 
 Ward, Adam, 1611 
 
 Ward, Francis M., 1082 
 
 Ward, George F. M., 1524 
 
 Ward, Guy C., 327 
 
 Ward, Harry B., 1394 
 
 Ward, Henry B., 1524 
 
 Ward, Julius H., 989 
 
 Ward, Robert R., 1001 
 
 Ward, Todd P., 1524 
 
 War of 1812, 111 
 
 Warren, Hooper, 344, 348 
 
 Warren, Willie E., 1611 
 
 Washburn, Benjamin L., 1076 
 
 Washburn, Cicero L., 1494 
 
 Washburn, John, 385 
 
 Washburne, Elihu B., 250 
 
 Washington county County seat con- 
 tentions, 552; Nashville finally se- 
 lected, 553; court houses, 553; city of 
 Nashville, 553; minor towns, 554 
 
 Wastier, Peter, 604 
 
 Waterloo, 511 
 
 Watson, Andrew, 1455 
 
 Wayne county First settlers and events, 
 555; first county seat, 555; in the 
 wars, 556; Capt. Thomas W. Scott, 
 557; Fairfield, 557; farm values, 557 
 
 Wayne county corn fields (illustration), 
 556 
 
 Weaver, James R., 1461 
 
 Weaver, Louis H., 1666 
 
 Webb, Byford H., 770 
 
 Webb. Isaac H., 1402 
 
 Webb, Henry L., 428 
 
 Webber, Andrew J., 1307 
 
 Weber, Mathias, 1686 
 
 Weber, T. C., 1688 
 
 Wehrenberg, Charles, 741 
 
 Weinel, August F., 1071 
 
 Welborn, George B., 1522 
 
 Wentworth, John, 251 
 
 West, Emanuel J., 346 
 
 Westbrook, Samuel (portrait), 539 
 
 "Western Emporium," 347 
 
 "Western Monthly Magazine," 347 
 
 "Western Observer," 348 
 
 Western Stage Company, 362 
 
 Wheatley, Reuben J., 921 
 
 Wheeler Brothers, 1548 
 
 Wheeler, Charles B. 1549 
 
 Wheeler, Charles W., 589 
 
 Wheeler, Fred L., 1550 
 
 Wheeler, Walter A., 1584 
 
 Whitcomb, Augustus L., 386 
 
 Whiteaker, Hall, 747 
 
 Whiteaker, Mark, 1328 
 
 Whiteaker, William J., 901 
 
 White, Horace, '256, 258, 265 
 
 White, Isaac, 559 
 
 White, James A., 1008 
 
 White, W. Thomas, 915 
 
 White county Original physical fea- 
 tures, 558; the county and its spon- 
 sor, 558; early visitors, 559; Carmi, 
 the county seat, 559; Enfield, 560; 
 early-day wild pigeon roost, 560 
 
 Whitehead, Noel, 787 
 
 Whiteside, Samuel, 115, 185, 186 
 
 Whiteside, William, 115 
 
 Whiteside station (fort), 509 
 
 Whitley, Marion S., 1280 
 
 Whittenberg, Alonzo L., 1680 
 
 Whittenberg, Daniel W., 1681 
 
 Whittenberg, John S., 1680 
 
 Whittenbergs, 1679 
 
 Wiebusch, Alfred C. C., 960 
 
 Wiegmann, Louis, 1456 
 
 Wilcox. J. H. G., 507 
 
 "Wild Cat" banks, 245, 415 
 
 Wiley, William W., 771 
 
 Wilkins, John, 75 
 
 Will, Albert J., 587 
 
 Will, Conrad, 172, 482 
 
 Willard, Elijah, 205, 543 
 
 Willard, Jonathan, 542 
 
 Willard, Samuel, 167 
 
 Willard, Simon, 812 
 
 William County Fair, Marion (illus- 
 trated), 563 
 
 Williams, Billy, 429 
 
 Williams, John C.. 1556 
 
 Williams, Walter W., 935 
 
 Williams, William Green, 483 
 
 Williams, William H., 1016 
 
 Williams, William M., 680 
 
 Williamson, Albert W., 649 
 
 Williamson, Thomas B., 1294 
 
 Williamson county Last of Indians, 
 561; the Jordan brothers, 561; indus- 
 tries, 562; Mexican and Civil war 
 matters, 562; towns in the county, 
 564
 
 XXXVI 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Williard, Willis, 543 
 
 Willis, Jonathan C., 791 
 
 Willis, William A., 1218 
 
 Wilson, Albert L., 937 
 
 Wilson, Alexander, 470 
 
 Wilson, Harrison, 471 
 
 Wilson, Henry, 1126 
 
 Wilson, J. C., 1648 
 
 Wilson, Lyman W., 1597 
 
 Wilson, S. J. Harry, 819 
 
 Wilson, William, 157 
 
 Wilson, William A., 1166 
 
 Wilson, William P., 1181 
 
 Wilson, William S., 912 
 
 Wing, Robert H., 806 
 
 Winnebago war (scare), 170, 183 
 
 Winter of the deep snow (1830-1), 182 
 
 Winthrop, Dempsey, 991 
 
 Wisehart, William, 1695 
 
 Woelrle, Francis R., 686 
 
 Wood, George H., 606 
 
 Wood, James N., 608 
 
 Wood, John, 146, 174, 256 
 
 Wooden pipe used at Equality Salt 
 
 Works (illustration), 472 
 Woodside. Edward E., 709 
 Woodworth, Abner P., 1281 
 World's Columbian Exposition (see 
 
 World's Fair) 
 World's Fair, Chicago, 341 
 Wren, John, 538 
 Wright, Joel, 205 
 Wylie, Walter L., 1202 
 
 Yates, Richard, 251, 314, 343 
 Youngblood, Dewitt C., 1338 
 Young, George W., 1700 
 Young, John G., 1345 
 
 Zenia, 439, 441 
 Ziebold, George C., 1368 
 Ziebold, George W., 1366
 
 HISTORY OF 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS GEOLOGY 
 
 CIVILIZATION BASED ON GEOLOGY GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PHASE THE 
 GEOLOGICAL ERAS TABLE OP GEOLOGICAL TIME DIVISIONS THE GLA- 
 CIAL PERIOD. 
 
 It it a well known principle in educational processes that things are 
 really known only as they are seen in their relation. Objects and sub- 
 jects of study are wholly unexplainable when dissociated from one 
 another. The physician who is called to the bedside of the fever patient 
 no longer begins his treatment by making up large doses of medicine to 
 reduce the fever, but proceeds to an examination of the blood of the 
 patient for the presence of typhoid or other fever germs. If these are 
 found his treatment is governed accordingly. This examination pur- 
 poses to discover the cause of the illness; and the cause of the illness 
 will in a very large degree determine the method of treatment. 
 
 Science, in general terms, is the knowledge of things in their rela- 
 tion. No study in the school curriculum has been more thoroughly 
 rationalized within recent years than have the geographical studies. 
 Formerly we merely asked the child to give, in his answer to a question, 
 the bare fact, never the explanation. The child learned that the Amazon 
 is the largest river in the world. He was not asked to see the relation of 
 the Amazon river to its drainage basin, nor to the equatorial calm belt, 
 the trade winds, nor its relation to the Andes mountains. Hence the 
 child acquired no causal or related knowledge. The pupil learned that 
 rice is a product of Louisiana, not the reason that the state is adapted 
 to that grain. He may have learned that Illinois is a great agricultural 
 state, but he gets no hint of the relation of that fact to the geological 
 structure, or the climatic condition of this great state. It may be the 
 child was taught to recite glibly that the New England states are manu- 
 facturing and commercial in their interests, but not that both facts 
 are the result of geological formations. 
 
 In recent years we have been trying to give the children in our 
 schools a body of facts that have causal relationship. In this way we 
 appeal to their power to discriminate, to judge, and to reason. We 
 thus lead the child to the acquisition of the power to solve many prob- 
 lems for himself, and above all we lay the foundation for a form of
 
 2 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 scientific investigation which will lead the child in after years into a 
 real scientific inquiry relative to the forces which from all directions so 
 greatly modify his physical, mental, moral and spiritual life. 
 
 CIVILIZATION BASED ON GEOLOGY 
 
 "It is axiom in general application in geological science that there 
 is an intimate relation existing between the physical geography and the 
 geological history of every portion of the earth's surface; and in all 
 cases the topographical features of a country are moulded by, and there- 
 fore must be, to some extent at least, a reflection of its geological struc- 
 ture. . . . More over, all the varied conditions of the soil and its 
 productive capacities, which may be observed in different portions of our 
 state, are traceable to causes existing in the geological history of that 
 particular region, and to the surface agencies which have served to 
 modify the whole, and prepare the earth for the reception and suste- 
 nance of the existing races of beings. Hence we see the geological his- 
 tory of a country determines its agricultural capacities, and also the 
 amount of population which it may sustain, and the general avocation of 
 its inhabitants." 
 
 The people of Arabia could not well be other than horsemen, herds- 
 men, and dwellers in tents. It was altogether fitting that the shepherds 
 of Judea should have been watching their flocks by night. What else 
 could the early people of New England do so well as to fish for their 
 living? It is no mystery that Southern Illinois should count among her 
 population tens of thousands of native and foreign-born miners. How 
 appropriate that central Illinois should raise corn, and hay and oats. 
 It is as easy to explain why the people of western Dakota, Nebraska, 
 Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas should lead the life of the plainsman as 
 to explain why the Scotch are a frugal, healthful, God-fearing people. 
 
 Reverting once more to the principle that things are known only 
 in their relation, we may readily understand that the life of any people 
 as a whole may be interpreted in a very large degree in terms of the 
 geological structure of the region where that people lives. It is true 
 that the casual observer may see that the people of central Illinois are 
 agriculturalists because the lands are adapted to that occupation. Or 
 that the people of the Rocky mountains are largely miners because 
 there are many precious minerals in that region. But this understand- 
 ing of these things is superficial and not in any sense scientific and 
 hence not satisfying. He fails to see the vital relation between the 
 particular calling a people may have and the peculiar geological for- 
 mation of the region which lies at the base of that calling. The funda- 
 mental, scientific explanation of a people's occupation is wrapped up 
 in the geology of that people's land. 
 
 Nor does the geological history explain only the kind of occupa- 
 tion a people may follow; but the social, intellectual, and spiritual 
 life derives its character indirectly from the rocks, the hills, and the 
 streams, or perchance from the presence of the great ocean. It is 
 generally agreed that the explanation of the wonderful genius of the 
 old Greek civilization was partly accounted for by the great number 
 of physical units in mountains and valleys. The Greeks never attained 
 to a great national life ; the geological facts were against such attain- 
 ment. But what the Greeks lost in government and national political
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3 
 
 life, they were more than compensated for in their enriched intellect- 
 ual and spiritual life. Nowhere has beauty had such exponents as in 
 Greece. Nowhere has the spirit of moderation been so wonderfully 
 manifest. The wonderful language of the Greeks, their unparalleled 
 sense of the beautiful, their charming spirit of moderation may they 
 not all be accounted for in the great variety of landscape, the well 
 proportioned hills, the flowing valleys, the alternation of land and 
 water? Be it so. 
 
 GEOLOGY (GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PHASE) 
 
 Geology is a science which has for its purpose the revelation of 
 the processes by which the outer portion, or crust of earth, was 
 brought to its present state or condition. It does not attempt to ac- 
 count for the origin of matter, but assumes that the earth once 
 "existed in a state of fusion," or in other words, that the earth was a 
 globe of liquid fire. The radiation of heat from the surface resulted 
 in the gradual cooling of the mass, and thus the first rocks were 
 formed, just as rocks are now formed from molten masses that are 
 poured forth from some of our great volcanoes. 
 
 It is the theory then that the outer surface of the earth was once 
 a great mass of rock formed from the cooling of the outer portions 
 of the liquid sphere. This outer crust became hard while the inner 
 part of the earth was still in a molten condition. This hard crust of 
 the earth formed from the cooled outer portions of the liquid mass 
 is called igneous rock. As the cooling process continued, the layer of 
 rock became thicker by the additions of inner portions, and the liquid 
 mass has constantly decreased in size. As time went on the enclosing 
 crust "crumpled" in its effort to conform to the liquid mass beneath. 
 In the course of time water gathered in the depressions and the pro- 
 jecting portions became our continents. Eventually the elevated 
 portions began to disintegrate under the influence of rain and other 
 agencies, and the detritus was transported by running water and de- 
 posited in the lower levels. In the course of great stretches of time 
 these deposits, which necessarily were in layer form, grew in num- 
 bers until they now aggregate thousands of feet in thickness. These 
 layers of rock formed under standing water are known as sediment- 
 ary, or stratified rocks. We thus have two general classes of rock, 
 igneous or fire rock, and sedimentary or layer rock. 
 
 Great convulsions of the earth have completely changed the orig- 
 inal relation of these two kinds of rock. The igneous elevations have 
 been worn down and in many instances have sunken under the sea, 
 and the sedimentary areas have been upheaved and have produced 
 our present continental forms. In such cases the sedimentary rocks 
 are no longer lying horizontal as they were when first formed, but 
 are found in all kinds of positions. In some instances the layers may 
 be seen standing on edge. Again the upheaving force may have been 
 less violent, and the layers may have been pushed up in long folds; 
 a cross section of which would present a series of arches. A third form 
 of upheaval resulted in pushing large areas straight up, the elevated 
 area breaking loose from the surrounding areas thus presenting the 
 fractured edges to view many hundreds of feet above the surrounding 
 country.
 
 4 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 It must not be thought that there was much regularity in the orig- 
 inal formation of the sedimentary layers. For these layers are not 
 uniform in thickness, nor in extent. Often a layer will appear in one 
 place while in large areas of adjacent territory that layer will not 
 appear. This is accounted for by supposing that there were slight 
 upheavals which pushed the given territory up while the surrounding 
 areas were receiving other layer material. If a certain deposit was 
 begun upon a foundation which was slightly inclined and the deposit 
 continued for long periods, that layer would be thick on one side of 
 the area and thin upon the other, even thinning to an edge. 
 
 These layers have all been studied and named, their life history 
 written, and their relationships established. The individual layers 
 have been brought into "groups" and named from the condition of 
 life represented in the various layers. The time occupied in deposit- 
 ing the layers in any named group, is sometimes spoken of as an era, 
 while the sub-divisions of an era are known as periods. A brief de- 
 scription of the eras will enable the reader to follow the descriptive 
 matter with greater ease. 
 
 THE GEOLOGICAL ERAS 
 
 A 
 
 The Archeozoic Era includes the oldest stratified rocks, and these 
 under ordinary circumstances would be found just above the oldest 
 igneous formation. The word Archeozoic means beginning that is 
 the beginning of life. However, few life remains have been found in 
 the layers of this era. So uncertain are the geologists about the iden- 
 tity of life forms in this era that the word Azoic, which means with- 
 out life, has been applied. The rocks of the Archeozoic Era are so in- 
 terwoven with the igneous rocks that there is great confusion in the 
 layers, and much uncertainty in identification obtains. 
 
 The Proterozoic Era rests directly on top of the archeozoic layers. 
 The stratifications are much more easily determined in this era. Little 
 if any signs of animal or plant life are to be found in these rocks and 
 the term Azoic is also applied here. 
 
 The Paleozoic Era is the third in order, and lies directly above the 
 Proterozoic. The word means ancient life that is first life. The old- 
 est forms of life appear in the rocks of this era. Since they are the 
 oldest forms they would be by the evolutionary theory the lowest 
 forms when structure is considered. Something like five hundred spe- 
 cies of the fauna have been classified belonging mostly to the inverte- 
 brates. Some plant life is also recognized. 
 
 The Mesozoic Era is fourth in order and lies just above the Paleozoic 
 Era. The rocks of this group are so named because of the advanced 
 stage of life represented, the word Mesozoic meaning middle life that 
 is life between the invertebrates and the higher forms of vertebrate life. 
 The life found includes reptiles, amphibians, and mollusks, as well as the 
 lowest forms of mammals, fishes, and birds. 
 
 And lastly we have the Cenozoic Era. The word means modern life 
 or new life. This is the age of mammals. There now appears the fullest 
 development of animal life including man. The poisonous gases have 
 disappeared largely consumed by the abundant growth of vegetation. 
 The earth, and water, and air have become the fit habitation of the 
 highest forms of fishes, birds, and mammals. This is the age in which 
 we now live.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 5 
 
 "We thus see that we could simplify the classification by applying 
 the four terms Azoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic No life, old 
 life, middle life, and new life. Each era has been carefully analyzed 
 and subdivided into what are called periods. 
 
 The following scheme will give the ideal which the geologist has con- 
 structed. 
 
 TABLE OF GEOLOGIC TIME DIVISIONS 
 
 Eras Periods 
 
 f Present 
 I Pleistocene 
 
 Cenozoic. . J Pliocene 
 
 I Miocene 
 I Oligocene 
 (_ Eocene 
 
 f Upper Cretaceous 
 
 Mesozoic J Lower Cretaceous 
 
 1 Jurassic 
 t Triassic 
 
 C Permian 
 
 Coal Measures 
 I Sub-Carboniferous 
 Paleozoic { Devonian 
 
 Silurian 
 
 Ordovician 
 I Cambrian 
 
 f Keweenawan 
 
 Proterozoic j Upper Huronian 
 
 (. Middle Huronian 
 
 ( Laurentian 
 Archeozoic j Lower Huronian 
 
 GEOLOGY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The word "Periods" in the foregoing scheme is used to denote a 
 certain amount of time consumed in the deposit of the various layers 
 grouped under the several "periods." The word system is often used 
 to name the group of rock layers formed in any period. The several 
 systems are often sub-divided into an upper, middle, and lower, or into 
 other divisions. 
 
 There are probably no rock formations in Southern Illinois older than 
 those found in the Lower Silurian layers. "Just below Thebes, in 
 Alexander county there is an exposure of about seventy feet of the 
 upper part of this group, consisting for the most part of white and light 
 bluish gray limestone, in layers two or three feet in thickness. It can 
 be cut into any desired form and is susceptible of a high polish." This
 
 6 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 same stone outcrops in Missouri near Cape Girardeau where it has been 
 long extensively used, and where it is known as Cape Girardeau Marble. 
 This is known as the Trenton limestone and is the lead-producing rocks 
 of Galena. A representative of the Cincinnati group of the lower Silu- 
 rian is found at Thebes in Alexander county both sandstone and lime- 
 stone. The former has been extensively used in foundation work in the 
 city of Cairo. 
 
 The Upper Silurian group is known as the Niagara limestone and is 
 represented in Union and Alexander counties. It is a cherty material 
 and is recommended as an excellent product for macadamizing the public 
 roads. 
 
 The Devonian system of rocks is represented in Southern Illinois. 
 There is what is called the Clear Creek limestone found in Jackson, Union, 
 and Alexander counties. It is a chert or impure flint, rather compact in 
 texture, buff, light gray, or nearly white in color. The decomposed ma- 
 terial forms a white clay resembling chalk. This deposit is known across 
 in Missouri as the "Chalk bank." Some of this Clear Creek limestone 
 has the qualities required for mill-stones and some good burr-stones have 
 been made from this limestone. At the "Devil's Back Bone" at Grand 
 Tower, at Bald Rock on Big Muddy and on Huggins creek in Union 
 county, the stone has a beautiful grayish white color and takes a very 
 high polish. This limestone is identified with the Oriskany sandstone of 
 New York by the fossils found in each. The Devonian system is further 
 represented by the ' ' Calico rock ' ' of Union county. This is almost iden- 
 tical with the St. Peter's sandstone. The "Bake Oven" near Grand 
 Tower represents the Onondaga group of New York. Black shale also 
 belongs to the Devonian system. It is quarried in Union county under 
 the name of Black slate. 
 
 The Lower Carboniferous system is also known as the Mississippian 
 system. During this period of time the Mississippi basin was covered by 
 the sea and certain sedimentary formations were in progress. The Kin- 
 derhook group consisting of shales and limestones find outcroppings in 
 Union, Hardin and Monroe. The Keokuk group of the lower carbonif- 
 erous system is found in Monroe county. The Chester limestone lies like 
 a great flat wedge to the southward 800 feet in thickness, but at Alton 
 only 20 feet thick. It outcrops in Randolph about Chester and 
 in Pope county on the Ohio river. 
 
 The Upper Carboniferous system (coal measures) lies just above the 
 lower carboniferous strata. It contains the great coal deposits which is so 
 marked a geological formation of Southern Illinois. There are five produc- 
 tive coal fields within the limits of the United States. The Southern Illi- 
 nois field of some 37,000 square miles is the largest field found in any one 
 state. Twenty thousand square miles of coal fields in Indiana and Ken- 
 tucky, belong to the Southern Illinois field. 
 
 There is no doubt as to the origin of coal at least it is certain it is of 
 vegetable origin. Just as to the process of formation, the geologists are 
 not agreed. The opinion is general that the vegetable matter had its 
 origin where the coal layers are now found. At the time when the coal 
 measures were first being formed the entire south end of the state was 
 submerged, and after long periods there was a gradual emergence and 
 then a submergence. During this period the coal measures were de- 
 posited. The economic phase of the coal measures will be considered in 
 a later chapter.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7 
 
 The Jurassic system is slightly represented in the area of Southern 
 Illinois. Jurassic rocks have been found in the bluffs near Thebes in 
 Alexander county. They are found up the Mississippi on the Illinois 
 side as far as Grand Tower. These rocks are well represented on the 
 Missouri side of the river. The older geologists thought that creta- 
 ceous deposits could be identified along the Ohio, but later investiga- 
 tions seein not to confirm the first impressions. 
 
 None of the first four systems of the Cenozoic Era is represented 
 in Southern Illinois excepting some representative rocks of the Eocene 
 group. These have been found in Pope, Massac, and Pulaski. Some 
 clays and lignite have been found in Alexander county. But the Ple- 
 istocene and recent or Post-Glacial formations are found in great abun- 
 dance in Southern Illinois. 
 
 The Quarternary Period of the Cenozoic Era, as indicated above, 
 ' ' embraces all the superficial material, including sands, clays, gravel, and 
 soil which overspreads the old formations in all parts of the state. 
 This last formation is the most important of all for it is of primary 
 importance, economically considered, because it gives origin to the 
 soil from which all our important agricultural resources are derived. ' ' 
 The system of formations which are known to the geologists as Post- 
 Tertiary are included in four divisions : Sands and clays ; drift clay 
 and gravel ; loess ; and alluvium. 
 
 The sands and clays are the oldest layers and consist of beds of 
 stratified yellow sand and blue clay of variable thickness. In the 
 region of Perry, Washington, and adjacent counties there is what 
 seems to be a blue mud, such as would accumulate in the bottom of a 
 muddy pond. Beds of clay and sand have been found in other locali- 
 ties in the sinking of shafts and in the digging of deep wells. It is 
 thought that these formations extend quite generally over the state, 
 
 Above these stratified sands and clays we find several varieties of 
 drift clays with coarse gravel and boulders of varying sizes which 
 have been transported evidently from the region of the great lakes. 
 These layers vary in thickness from twenty to one hundred feet, or 
 more, and all are overlaid with beds of stratified gravel. The true 
 Drift, which term is applied to all these formations, is not generally 
 markedly stratified and yet the deposits or formations appear in beds 
 of various thicknesses. "At Vandalia, in the bluffs of the Okaw, there 
 is a good exposure of these formations, showing both the stratified and 
 unstratified deposits. The unstratified drift-clays constitute the lower 
 portion of the bluff, extending to the height of thirty-five or forty 
 feet above the bed of the river at low water, and resting thereon about 
 the same thickness of sand and gravel presenting distinct lines of strat- 
 ification. 
 
 The third kind of formation resting upon the Drift is the Loess, a 
 fine mechanical sediment that seems to have accumulated in a quiet 
 lake or other body of fresh water, or to have been deposited by the 
 action of winds from the south or southwest. 
 
 And finally we have the Alluvium, a rich deposit forming the bot- 
 tom lands in rivers and smaller streams. 
 
 THE GLACIAL PERIOD 
 
 The Cenozoic Era is so recent and its history is so vitally related 
 to the life of the human race that it will be quite proper to give a
 
 8 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 more extended account of the geological story of this period. The 
 formations are discussed under the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods. 
 The latter period is popularly divided into the Glacial and the Post- 
 Glacial formations. These glacial formations have been so recent and 
 the territory covered by the great ice sheets so extensive, that great 
 interest attaches to this period. 
 
 In North America there seems to have been three great centers of 
 glacial movement one known as the Labrador ice sheet; a second 
 called the Kewatin ice sheet ; and the third the Cordilleran ice sheet. 
 The first sheet had its center of movement near the central point of the 
 peninsula of Labrador; the second had its center near the western 
 shore of Hudson Bay ; and the third moved from the Canadian Rockies. 
 The ice sheet whose center rested on the Labrador peninsula is the 
 one we are locally interested in. The movement from this center to 
 the south, northeast and northwest soon reached the waters of the 
 Atlantic and the Hudson Bay; but the movement to the southwest 
 covered nearly the entire state of Illinois. The Labradorean sheet 
 reached its extreme southern limit in Southern Illinois, some 1,600 
 miles from the point of departure. The advancing front in Illinois 
 took on the form of a crescent and its extreme southern reach may 
 be traced according to the most recent geologic surveys from Chester 
 in Randolph county southeast through the southern side of Jackson, 
 eastward through southern Williamson, east and northeast through 
 southeastern Saline, northeastward to the Wabash through the north- 
 west corner of Gallatin and southeastern White. This line marks the 
 southern limit also of the prairie areas and is also coincident with the 
 northern foot hills of the "Ozark Mountains" which trend east and 
 west across the state through Union, Johnson, Pope, and Hardin. 
 
 Illinois was subject to at least four ice-sheet invasions according 
 to the more recent investigations. These in order of time were : First, 
 the Illinois sheet, which seems to have covered nearly the entire state. 
 The portions not covered are known as the driftless or unglaciated 
 areas. There are three of these First, all the territory south of the 
 southern end of the drift as traced above from Chester to the Wabash. 
 This driftless or unglaciated region includes in part the counties of 
 Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Gallatin, and White, and it includes 
 in whole the counties of Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, 
 Pulaski and Massac. There is a second driftless area of a few coun- 
 ties in the extreme northwest corner of the state in the vicinity of the 
 old lead mines. The third driftless area is found in the end of the 
 peninsula formed by the Illinois and the Mississippi rivers including 
 the counties of Pike and Calhoun. 
 
 The second invasion is known as the lowan sheet. It seems not 
 definitely settled whether this sheet had its origin in the Labrador 
 center or in the Hudson Bay vicinity. It seems to have moved south- 
 eastward and left a "profusion of large granatoid boulders which lie 
 chiefly on the surface and are somewhat aggregated into a boulder 
 belt on the eastern border of the tract." One may see residences and 
 other buildings, yard fences and ornamental structures constructed 
 from these boulders in the towns near the boulder field. Such houses 
 may be seen in the county of DeKalb and adjoining counties. The 
 territory covered by this second invasion may be roughly enclosed by 
 the Rock river on the west, Wisconsin on the north, Lake Michigan
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 9 
 
 on the east, and on the south by the parallel of the southerly bend 
 of Lake Michigan. 
 
 The Third invasion is named the Earlier Wisconsin and covers 
 the northeastern fourth of the state. 
 
 The Fourth invasion is known as the Later Wisconsin and borders 
 the west shore of Lake Michigan, reaching out some fifty or sixty 
 miles from that body of water. Here in Southern Illinois we are more 
 interested in the first ice sheet since it is the only one that directly 
 affects us. 
 
 No other single agent has been so potent in the modification of 
 the surface of the earth as have glaciers and ice sheets. When we 
 remember that these ice-sheets were hundreds and possibly thousands 
 of feet thick, and were hundreds of miles in width and length, some 
 adequate notion may be formed of their power to plow up and com- 
 pletely change the surface structure of the earth. 
 
 The debris which they brought with them from the Laurentian 
 mountains of Canada was distributed over Illinois greatly to the en- 
 richment of the soils of our entire state. This material which eventu- 
 ally became our soil in all the glaciated areas, was transported in sev- 
 eral ways. Much of it was pushed along mechanically in front of the 
 advancing ice-sheet, so that when the forward movement began slow- 
 ing up this material was left scattered along in lines agreeing in gen- 
 eral with the front of the advancing ice-sheet. Much material was 
 carried along under the ice-sheet and was very generally ground and 
 distributed over the glaciated area. Other material was carried on 
 the ice-sheet and often deeply imbedded in it. When the movement 
 was checked this superimposed material becoming heated under the 
 warm rays of the sun worked its way through the ice and rested on 
 the ground, the whole body of ice eventually melting. 
 
 Lastly. Vast quantities of material were carried by the streams 
 which continually flowed from the melting ice. Much of this detritus 
 was left on the broad flat prairies, but much was carried into the 
 streams which overflowing their banks carried this material to right 
 and left in the stream's valley where it was deposited as alluvium, 
 previously mentioned. 
 
 The material which these glaciers brought into our state is called 
 Drift. Its composition varies, but is usually clay, sand, and boulders. 
 This drift is often found stratified, but more generally it is without 
 definite layer formation. Further attention will be given to this mat- 
 ter under the head of soils. 
 
 We come now to the last phase of the geology the Human or 
 Present Period. We must now see the earth as the home of man. 
 Through untold ages the Creator has been gradually unfolding his 
 plan to us, of filling the earth with plants, and animals, and last and 
 most important of all man. It must not be supposed that the forces 
 which have been operating through all the geological ages have all 
 run their courses and are no longer active and powerful. Many of 
 these forces which were instrumental in producing the various stages 
 in the geological history are still at work and will continue to work 
 for untold ages. Among these we may mention the forces affecting 
 the elevation and subsidence of the continental forms. The work done 
 by running water has not ceased as we can easily see everywhere. 
 The disintegrating power of alternations in heat and cold especially 
 when accompanied by the presence of moisture is always going on. 
 
 We will now turn our attention to the resources which a wise Cre- 
 ator has placed within the reach of the human race.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 SOILS OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS TIMBER OUR COAL 
 FIELDS STONE, OIL AND GAS SALT, LEAD AND CLAY PRAIRIE AND 
 TIMBER AREAS 
 
 Southern Illinois has three general kinds of soil, or rather there are 
 three recognized sources of the soils of Southern Illinois. First, there are 
 the various kinds of soils which were formed out of the stratified rocks by 
 mechanical and chemical processes. Second, soils formed by the drift 
 which overlies all the areas known as glacial areas, and third, the soils 
 formed by the loess which was widely distributed over Illinois following 
 the recession of the ice sheets. 
 
 The first is known as residual soil, because it is what is left after the 
 decomposition of the sedimentary rocks in the unglaciated regions. The 
 second is called the glacial soil because it is formed directly from the 
 matter furnished by the glacial sheets. The third are called silt soils 
 because the loess is of the nature of silt which settles from water or which 
 might be sifted over a country by constant winds blowing from a dry and 
 timberless region. 
 
 It is easy to understand the formation of the residual soils. At the 
 end of the Upper Carboniferous Period the whole state was covered with 
 the rocks of that period. If now we think of these rocks as being exposed 
 to the sun's heat, the winter's cold, the action of water, freezing and 
 thawing, and the chemical changes, we can understand that in the course 
 of time a coating of soil would be formed. If the running water did not 
 carry this new formed soil away it would lie where it was formed. It 
 will also be easy to understand that as the coating of soil grew thicker the 
 process of decay was less rapid, since the soil acts as a sort of blanket to 
 prevent the agents of decomposition from reaching the undecayed 
 rocks. Now this is exactly the soil making process that has been going 
 on for hundreds of years in those portions of the state not covered by 
 the ice invasions. 
 
 It will be readily seen that the character of the soil formed in this 
 way will be determined by the nature of the rock deposits in different 
 localities. In the three previously named areas, as driftless areas, namely, 
 the extreme south end of the state, the regions about Galena, and the 
 peninsula between the Illinois river and the Mississippi, the soil will be 
 known as residual soil, except as it has been modified by the deposit of 
 loess in larger or smaller quantities. 
 
 In these driftless areas the "soils show variations which correspond 
 in a rough way with variations in the structure of the rocks from which 
 
 10
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 11 
 
 they are derived. In regions underlaid by shale or limestones a more com- 
 pact and adhesive soil is found than in sandstone regions, while each 
 class of limestone has its own peculiar soil. With proper rotation of 
 crops these soils constitute a fertile portion of the state, otherwise they 
 become exhausted sooner than soils formed from glacial drift. ' ' 
 
 . The character of the soils formed by the glacial drift varies also ac- 
 cording to the nature of the transported material. Three general classes 
 have been recognized. First, Stony or Glacial Clay soil. This soil is made 
 from the weathered surface of the drift-sheet unaffected by water in its 
 formation and not subsequently covered over with loess or silt. This 
 class of soil is found in the ' ' corn belt ' ' north of the Shelbyville moraine. 
 Second, we have the gravelly soils. This kind is found near streams, 
 lakes, and in regions where lakes once existed. It is not of value except 
 as a subsoil for loamy deposits. Third, sandy soils are found in the old 
 beaches and along certain rivers. Mason county presents a very excellent 
 illustration of this class of drift soils. 
 
 The loess soils are very widely distributed and are of three classes 
 according to the degree of their perviousness to water. They are those 
 readily pervious ; slowly pervious, and nearly impervious. The first is 
 a characteristic soil in Southern Illinois. As it recedes from the Missis- 
 sippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash it becomes of the nature of a white clay. 
 Its chief ingredient is silica, and this soil is adapted to the raising of 
 grains and fruits. This white soil is one of the first things that attracts 
 people's attention who have been accustomed to the black soil of Cham- 
 paign, Dewitt, and other corn counties, and they say, ' ' Why your soil is 
 so poor, if is as white as chalk. " It is not necessarily the poor quality 
 of the soil but the peculiar mechanical structure which allows the water 
 of the rainy season to escape together with an extended drouth period 
 from June to September that prevents Egypt from presenting an attrac- 
 tive appearance in midsummer. Good illustrations of the slowly pervious 
 silt soils are found in the regions of the lower Illinois river. The third 
 class, almost wholly impervious silts are found in the uplands of 
 "Egypt." This is the soil which has made Egypt famous as an apple 
 producing region. Clay, and Marion, and Wayne and other nearby coun- 
 ties find a mine of wealth in their orchards. A failure in the apple crop 
 in these counties is not to be attributed to the soil but to the various 
 forms of insect life which is baffling the orchardists of this region. 
 
 The loess soils of Southern Illinois are among our richest areas. Not 
 because of the great amount of loess but probably because of the mix- 
 ture of loess with either the residual soils or with the silt soils. The soil 
 of the unglaciated region of Union, Johnson, Pope, Saline and Hardin 
 is of a remarkable type. Bald Knob, near Alto Pass, a young mountain 
 of some eight hundred or a thousand acres and something like 800 feet 
 in height has a very rich soil. Even upon the very top, the soil is deep 
 and of a rich brown color. Apples, peaches, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, 
 grains and small fruits abound. This young mountain is a part of the 
 Ozark range and was never glaciated. Mr. Rendleman who lives on the 
 very summit of the Knob says the winds are continually bringing a rich 
 silt up its long slopes and leaves it upon the top of the hill. And there 
 are evidences that large quantities of loess have been deposited there. 
 Throughout the Ozarks, especially on the south side of the range, the 
 soil is very productive and all kinds of fruits and vegetables are pro- 
 duced in abundance.
 
 12 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Alluvial soils abound in Southern Illinois. Alluvium, as we know, 
 has been deposited by water. It is not different from the Residual, Drift, 
 and Loess soils but a mixture of all. As the soil was forming the run- 
 ning water was gradually transporting it to lower levels. This process 
 the average school boy is familiar with. This alluvial matter has been 
 left in the river valleys, in inland lakes and in ponds and on flat and un- 
 drained prairies. The Great American Bottom which reaches from 
 Alton to Chester, a distance of nearly a hundred miles by the windings 
 of the river, and from five to nine miles wide, is the most remarkable 
 alluvial deposit, outside of delta formations, in the United States. 
 There are large areas of alluvial deposits along the Ohio river in the 
 counties of Gallatin, Massac, Pulaski, and Alexander. The Wabash 
 valley on the Illinois side has considerable alluvial areas. The small 
 streams all have alluvial bottoms. The lands between the Embarras and 
 the Wabash is alluvial. Such streams as the Little Wabash, the Saline, 
 the Cache, the Big Muddy, the Kaskaskia, all have alluvial bottoms. 
 In many localities this alluvial bottom land is worthless as water stands 
 on it "the year round." The laws of Illinois provide for the organiza- 
 tion of drainage districts and much of the land will be redeemed. 
 
 The soils of Southern Illinois have never been scientifically studied 
 until within recent years. The State University has begun a regular soil 
 survey and when this is complete there will be a revolution in methods 
 of farming in "Egypt." The state has also established experimental 
 farms in several counties of Southern Illinois where the farmers may 
 see just how the soils in that region should be cultivated. 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS TIMBER 
 
 Although Illinois is called the Prairie State, in its early history at 
 least twenty-five per cent of its area was covered with forests. These 
 forests lay mostly in Southern Illinois. "There was no county en- 
 tirely without timber, but the real forests were confined to the south- 
 ern portion of the state. Many counties throughout this section pre- 
 sented an unbroken forest, chiefly deciduous trees, rich in variety, and 
 of a quality unsurpassed on this continent. The growth on the mar- 
 gins of the smaller streams, areas between forks of creeks, or wher- 
 ever protected from forest fires, including the "oak openings" 
 peculiar to the broad rolling prairies, consisted largely of burr, black 
 and red oaks. 
 
 The origin of the Prairies is accounted for on the theory that the 
 forest fires kept down the young trees. In 1880 when a careful esti- 
 mate was made of the timbered areas there was found only about 15 
 per cent of the entire area covered with timber. This loss is almost 
 entirely due to marketing the merchantable timber in the southern 
 part of the state where the production of lumber and cooperage stock 
 has been an important industry for many years. Owing to the ex- 
 haustion of the best grades of mature hard woods, the business has 
 been rapidly diminishing, and as the present supply is chiefly on lands 
 not available for cultivation, the remaining area is not liable to fur- 
 ther encroachments. 
 
 The state is about four hundred miles from north to south. This 
 corresponds with the distance from Norfolk, Va., to Boston, Mass. 
 Within this distance of four hundred miles there grows as great a
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 13 
 
 variety of trees as is found in twice the distance from north to south 
 in Europe. 
 
 An exhibit of the forest wealth of the state was made at the World's 
 Columbian Exposition at Chicago, and the great variety of native 
 growths was a wonder to our own citizens. There were twenty-four 
 genera comprehending seventy-five species of indigenous woods rep- 
 resented. Three kinds of Gum, fourteen kinds of Oak, four kinds of 
 Hickory, two of Locust, four of Ash, five of Maple, and four of Elm 
 were exhibited. In addition to these native woods there were shown 
 nineteen genera of cultivated timber, including seventy-two species 
 
 A SYCAMORE, TWENTY-EIGHT FEET IN CIRCUMFERENCE, NEAR MT. 
 CARMEL, W ABASH COUNTY 
 
 making in all one hundred and fifty species of woods in the state at 
 that time. A farm wagon was shown made of twenty-five different 
 kinds of cultivated woods all grown on one farm in Lee county. It 
 was reported that more cultivated woods were growing in the state 
 than were exhibited. It is further stated that while the total area 
 of timber has decreased probably the leaf surface has held its own 
 and the beneficial influence of vegetation on climate, water supply, 
 etc., has suffered no loss. 
 
 The oldest citizens tell of some of the methods of waste in the tim- 
 ber supply. Often in alluvial bottoms where the timber had reached
 
 14 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 considerable size it was customary to clear up the underbrush and 
 then with axes cut deep rings around the trunks of the large trees 
 left standing. Often a belt of bark a couple of feet wide would be 
 removed. This was done in the late fall or at latest in the winter. In 
 the spring when the surrounding forests put forth a wealth of verdure 
 the girdled trees stood leafless. This allowed the sun to reach the 
 ground and thus crops of corn or tobacco were raised. In the fol- 
 lowing winter the thrifty farmer cut down his dead trees, cut the 
 trunks into saw logs and had them sawn into material for a barn or 
 a house. The brush and rougher trunks were burned and the second 
 year he had only the stumps to contend with. 
 
 The shiftless farmer allowed his trees to stand for several years 
 often building fires about the bases of the dead trees which were 
 eventually consumed entire. Others would cut the trees down and 
 cut the trunks into certain lengths. When this work was done a 
 "Log-rolling" was announced. Scores of men would come to the log- 
 rolling. Often the women would also come and assist the good house- 
 wife in preparing the noon meal or engage in quilting, or tacking 
 carpet rags. The men divided themselves into squads of ten to twelve. 
 Each squad elected a captain and chose up. Hand spikes were pro- 
 vided and when all was ready the logs were lifted and carried to the 
 pile. These piles often contained eight to twelve logs, ten to sixteen 
 feet long. They were set on fire on the very top of the pile, the fire 
 burning downward. In this way the farmer got rid of his trees but 
 he burned up hundreds of dollars worth of good lumber. It is no 
 uncommon thing in this day to see in Southern Illinois large alluvial 
 fields in which the trees have been girdled, the trunks still standing, 
 having been partially consumed by fire. 
 
 Saw mills were plentiful forty and fifty years ago, but now they 
 are few. The best timber in Southern Illinois was used up to supply 
 the first railroads with bridge and framing material. Tens of thou- 
 sands of beautiful young trees were taken for piling. In recent years 
 the walnut, oak, hard maple, and a few other growths have been cut 
 for furniture. Hard wood finish in residences has been popular and 
 the price of good oak flooring for such use is now from five to eight 
 dollars per hundred feet. 
 
 Nothing so well represents the rapid disappearance of our best 
 Southern Illinois timber as does the establishing of "tie preserving 
 plants" in several of our cities. Fifty years ago when railroads 
 began to thread our state the builders would have nothing but the 
 best white oak ties. Now there is no longer a supply of timber for 
 this grade and the railroads are under the necessity of providing sub- 
 stitutes. This is done by introducing a scientific process by which ties 
 of the common woods are rendered longlived. 
 
 Arbor Day, which the law recognizes, has, through the public 
 schools, done much and will do more toward creating public sentiment 
 favorable to the conservation of our forests. And it is building up 
 an aesthetic taste in the planting and cultivating of flowers, shrubs, 
 and cultivated trees. Since the advent of concrete and steel in con- 
 struction there is no longer the great need of timber that there was 
 in the early days.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 15 
 
 OUE COAL FIELDS 
 
 Nothing has brought Southern Illinois more material prosperity 
 than has the coal deposits within her limits. Coal was known to exist 
 about Belleville, and on the Big Muddy, probably as early as 1826, or 
 possibly earlier. Governor John Reynolds built a railroad from the 
 bluffs near Belleville across the American Bottom to the Mississippi 
 in 1837. He says: "I had a large tract of land located on the Mis- 
 sissippi Bluffs, six miles from St. Louis, which contained inexhaustible 
 quantities of bituminous coal. This coal mine was the nearest to St. 
 Louis of any on this side of the river." In 1835 the legislature of 
 Illinois granted a charter to the "Mount Carbon Coal Company." 
 "Hall Neilson and his associates, successors, and assigns" constituted 
 the company. In 1836 Mr. Neilson, who lived in New York city, adver- 
 tised the "Mount Carbon" property for sale. The property was fully 
 described. The mines were located near Brownsville, the capital of 
 Jackson county, thirty miles from the Mississippi river in a bluff adja- 
 cent to the Big Muddy river. The seam of coal is described as six 
 to seven feet thick, "mines easily, in large blocks, and does not crum- 
 ble or form much slack or dust." Each hand could mine and deliver 
 on the wharf one hundred bushels a day. Wages were $10 to $15 per 
 month. It was figured that the coal could be put on the barge at two 
 cents per bushel. "For several years past coal has sold in New Or- 
 leans, during the winter season, at 37 y 2 cents to 62y 2 cents per bushel. 
 The supply at New Orleans is derived from Pittsburg and Wheeling. 
 Mount Carbon is only half as far away and the quality of the coal 
 decidedly better." Mr. A. B. Waller of Washington, D. C., visited 
 this mine in the interests of a prospective purchaser and reported that 
 the coal had been mined back from the face of the bluff about fifty 
 feet and that ' ' the quality of the coal is superior to any bituminous 
 coal I have ever seen, except perhaps the Cumberland." 
 
 Although the presence of coal in Southern Illinois was known from 
 the early '30s, little was done or could be done toward developing 
 this resource until railroads became an established fact. The only 
 way of transportation prior to 1854, when the Illinois Central was 
 completed, was by river. A few mines were opened in the vicinity 
 of the rivers, but the only use for coal in the interior was for black- 
 smithing, and even in this instance charcoal was very generally used. 
 The first engines used on the railroads burned wood. The railroads 
 have been the most direct factor in opening up the coal mining busi- 
 ness in Southern Illinois. The Illinois Central reaches the coal fields 
 in Jackson, Perry, Washington, and Marion. The Mobile and Ohio 
 reaches the mines of Jackson, Randolph and St. Clair. The Chicago 
 and Eastern Illinois serves the mines in Johnson, Williamson, Frank- 
 lin, Jefferson, and Marion. The Big Four passes through the counties 
 of Johnson, Saline, White, and Wabash. The Baltimore and Ohio 
 Southwestern reaches the mines in Gallatin, White, Marion, Clinton, 
 and St. Clair. In addition to these five more extensive railroad sys- 
 tems, there are several short independent lines which act as feeders 
 to these five larger roads. 
 
 The whole state is divided into ten mining districts of which four 
 are located in Southern Illinois. In the Seventh District are the coun- 
 ties of Bond, Clinton, Madison, and Marion. The Eighth District
 
 16 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 contains the two counties of Randolph and St. Glair. The Ninth Dis- 
 trict includes Franklin, Gallatin, Jefferson, Perry, Saline, and White. 
 The Tenth District comprises the counties of Jackson and Williamson. 
 The total output from these four districts in 1911 was 25,000,000 tons. 
 The supply of coal is of course not inexhaustible as was formerly 
 thought. The area of the coal field in Southern Illinois is in round 
 numbers about 6,000 square miles or 3,800,000 acres. It is estimated 
 that one square mile will produce 1,000,000 tons of coal for every foot 
 in thickness of the seam. Dr. David Dale Owen estimated the entire 
 thickness of the twelve coal seams of Southern Illinois at thirty-five 
 feet. Each square mile then would produce 35,000,000 tons, estimat- 
 ing that all the coal could be mined. But it is liberal to say we mine 
 only about eight feet of this thirty-five. There are then only eight 
 million tons available per square mile. Not over three-fourths of this 
 estimate is removed, making only about six million tons per square 
 mile. Our annual production runs about twenty-four million tons for 
 Southern Illinois. This gives the result of an annual consumption of 
 four square miles, and our coal will last 1,500 years. 
 
 STONE, OIL, AND GAS 
 
 No other portion of the state is so rich in stone, oil, and gas. The 
 geological formation has already been given, but it will be necessary to 
 repeat some facts in dealing with these resources. 
 
 The two general classes of rock which are economically valuable 
 are the sandstones and the limestones. The chief use made of these 
 stones is for building purposes. Limestone is burned into lime in many 
 localities in Southern Illinois. And probably in some a fair grade of 
 cement is manufactured, but there are no noted instances. Crushed lime- 
 stone has been extensively used as ballast for railroad beds, and as the 
 foundation for the macadamizing of the public highway. In many 
 places along the railroads, stone crushers have been erected and quite 
 an industry built up. In the larger towns and cities of Southern Illinois 
 there has grown up the spirit of permanent improvement and many 
 cities are paving the streets. This is usually done by establishing a grade 
 setting curbing of sandstone or of concrete and then placing on the 
 grade crushed limestone to the depth of four or five inches upon which 
 is placed a coating of sand and paving brick, or finer crushed stone and 
 some "bonding" material of a bituminous nature. Another economic 
 use made of the limestone is that of constructing building blocks of 
 crushed stone and cement. This same material is used as above indi- 
 cated for curbing. Then there is a rather recent use of crushed lime- 
 stone in the construction processes, namely : The use of concrete in 
 railroad culverts, archways, retaining walls, and in the construction of 
 walls of great buildings, the floors, stairways, and foundations. Fence 
 posts, gate posts, and watering troughs are some recent innovations on 
 the farm, of the concrete material. It has also been used as flooring 
 in dairy barns, livery stables and for the bottom and sides of grain 
 bins. 
 
 But perhaps the most far reaching and important use made of lime- 
 stone is the use the farmers are making of it as a fertilizer. The soils 
 of Southern Illinois are what the agricultural chemist calls sow. That 
 is, there is a large quantity of humic acid in the soil which renders the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 17 
 
 soil unfit for the production of most agricultural products. This humic 
 acid is found wherever there have previously been large accumulations 
 of vegetable matter, resulting in what the chemist calls humus or vege- 
 table mold. Under the leadership of the College of Agriculture of the 
 State University, the farmers are now applying crushed limestone to 
 their soils in quantities ranging from 800 to 1,000 Ibs. per acre. This 
 crushed limestone is attacked by the humic acid in the soil and new 
 chemical combinations formed which provide the needed foods for the 
 growing crops. One may see carloads of crushed limestone upon the 
 siding of the railroad tracks in the villages and towns of Southern 
 Illinois. If one will watch for a day or so he will see the farmers com- 
 ing with their wagons prepared to haul, and distribute this material 
 over their farms. 
 
 The state has done much to assist in the investigation of the value 
 of this crushed lime when applied to the sour farm lands of this end of 
 the state. An experiment station has been established at the Southern 
 Illinois State Normal University and experiment farms are located at 
 several points within our territory. To lessen the cost of procuring 
 this crushed limestone the state furnishes it from the penitentiary at 
 Chester almost free of charge, the farmer paying the freight. 
 
 Lime is burned in many portions of Southern Illinois where lime- 
 stone deposits are found. Large quantities of lime have, in previous 
 years, been made in the vicinity of Alton. In fact, from Alton to 
 Cairo, along the bluffs, there are outcroppings of limestone and in many 
 localities lime has been burned. It is said the best quality of lime is 
 produced near Prairie du Rocher. The limerocks about Chester and 
 in Union county are used for the manufacture of lime. St. Clair county 
 has an abundance of limestone and quantities of lime are burned and 
 some cement made. Near Falling Spring, in the southwest part of St. 
 Clair, a high grade white lime has been manufactured. It is said lime 
 was burned near Alton as early as 1815, by collecting large logs into a 
 heap, piling thereon the limerock. When the logs had been burned 
 the limestone had been converted into lime. Shipments in barrels be- 
 gan in 1847. 
 
 Fine qualities of limestone for building purposes and for lime are 
 found in Pope and Hardin. In Johnson county building stone, both 
 limestone and sandstone for ordinary building purposes, is found in 
 abundance. Sandstone of a very excellent quality is found in Jackson 
 county on the Illinois Central Railroad, four miles south of Carbon- 
 dale, at a small place known as Boskydell. Here quarries were opened 
 as early as 1855. In the construction of the Southern Illinois Normal 
 University, large quantities of this brown sandstone were used. About 
 the same time or perhaps shortly previous, the present capitol at Spring- 
 field was in process of building. The reputation of the Boskydell brown 
 sandstone had become so general that the building commission author- 
 ized the use of the Boskydell sandstone in the great columns on the 
 north, east, and south of the great capitol, while the trimmings on the 
 fronts are of the same stone. The capitals and cornices are from the 
 white sandstone quarries of Grand Tower in Jackson county. In 1883, 
 a Mr. Rawles, a stone merchant in Chicago, purchased these Boskydell 
 quarries and installed about forty thousand dollars worth of modern 
 machinery, including steam drills, saws, hoisting machines, dressing 
 machines, a gravity railroad from the quarries to the Illinois Central 
 
 Vol. It
 
 18 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Railroad, and other modern machinery. Cut stone was sent into all 
 the great cities and for a time was used extensively, but the presence 
 of numerous deposits of iron and the lack of uniformity in color, worked 
 against the general use of this stone and the quarry was abandoned 
 and the machinery rotted and rusted away. 
 
 The discovery of gas in Southern Illinois occurred at Sparta in 
 1888. Some progressive citizens organized a company for the purpose 
 of prospecting for natural gas. The first well put down, struck gas at 
 a depth of 848 feet in a bed of light grey porous sand. The pressure 
 was strong and steady. A new company was organized and began 
 boring in earnest. In 1894 there were twelve wells producing gas and 
 supplying four hundred domestic fires besides a number of manufac- 
 turing establishments. The total production per year when the wells 
 were at their best was eight million cubic feet. It is estimated that 
 the equivalent of the fuel capacity of one ton of coal is twenty-three 
 thousand cubic feet of gas. This would give a saving in coal per year 
 of three thousand five hundred tons in the Sparta gas field. 
 
 In addition to the wells sunk by the company mentioned above, 
 there were many wells sunk by private parties. The gas was known 
 as the "sweet" or "petroleum" gas which to many was a sure sign of 
 the presence of oil in this region. Since 1894 the wells have weakened 
 and in many there is little or no pressure, and no recent borings have 
 been made. The total number of wells bored was twenty-two. The 
 territory covered by the borings was less than two square miles. 
 
 SALT, LEAD, CLAY, ETC. 
 
 The earliest travelers and explorers discovered traces of salt in va- 
 rious places in Southern Illinois. There can be little doubt that the 
 Indians were accustomed to either evaporate or boil the salt water 
 which was found in the form of springs. The most noted place in 
 Southern Illinois where salt was manufactured in an early day was 
 on the Saline river in Gallatin county near the present town of Equal- 
 ity. On the Big Muddy in Jackson county near the old forgotten town 
 and county seat of Brownsville. In several places in Madison, Monroe, 
 and probably in Bond and in some of the Wabash river counties salt 
 was made, not on any great scale but for local market. The making of 
 salt at Equality was such an extensive industry that its description has 
 been given in a separate chapter. 
 
 In 1856 a town was laid out by the county surveyor a mile or so 
 north of the present city of DuQuoin. It has never grown to any size. 
 In 1857 an iron and coal mining company was organized and engaged in 
 coal mining until 1867 when W. P. Halliday of Cairo purchased the 
 stock of the company. In 1870 in boring into the lower strata to de- 
 termine the value of the coal layers there, at the depth of 940 feet salt 
 water was discovered. At this time the great salt works at Equality 
 were not being well managed, and Mr. Halliday saw his opportunity. 
 In 1873 he put in a complete plant costing several thousand dollars for 
 the manufacture of salt. Additional wells were sunk and the work 
 was extensively carried on. At the time of their greatest prosperity the 
 works turned out 150 barrels per day. The product was shipped south 
 mainly. By 1890 the production had begun to decline, though they 
 continued to operate for ten years, but for the past few years the works
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 19 
 
 have been abandoned and ere long the spot that knew a thriving industry 
 will be marked by old foundations and rusting machinery. 
 
 Lead is found in such apparently inexhaustible quantities in the 
 territory west of the Mississippi river, that the few traces of lead found 
 in Southern Illinois seem very insignificant. However, we ought never 
 despise small beginnings. Lead was known to exist in the northwest 
 corner of the state in a very early day. Mining began about 1827. 
 These mines in their palmy days produced about one-fifth to one-fourth 
 of the output of the world. In 1845 the mines were at their best and 
 from that date to the present the production has greatly diminished. 
 
 In 1839 lead was discovered in the digging of a well on the farm of 
 Mr. James Anderson one mile below Rosiclare on the Ohio river in 
 Hardin county. In 1842 Mr. William Pell discovered spar and lead 
 about three-quarters of a mile back of the river at Rosiclare. Com- 
 panies were organized and a number of "diggings" opened. As many 
 as nine shafts were opened for the mining of lead. In going down, the 
 shafts pass through beds of fluor spar to a distance of ninety feet. 
 The lead mines were operated with small or no profit, and in 1851 the 
 "diggings" were abandoned. In several other places in Hardin county 
 lead has been discovered, but not in quantities which would justify an 
 attempt to produce it for the market. Traces of lead have been found 
 in other counties, but no diggings have been opened. 
 
 The clays of Southern Illinois will yet prove of great value, but up 
 to the present time no industries on a large scale have been established 
 to develop the clay resources, except for the manufacture of brick. The 
 various uses of the different kinds of clays found in Southern Illinois 
 are the manufacture of common red brick, fire clay brick, paving 
 brick, terra cotta, drain tile, sewer pipe, crocks, jugs, jars and finer 
 queensware. 
 
 Common red brick are manufactured in great quantities in all sec- 
 tions of the state. In the early days the home-made bricks were used 
 for outside as well as for inside work. In many towns in this territory 
 the older brick buildings show the old fashioned hand made brick, but 
 in the better class of business houses as well as in modern Brick resi- 
 dences they use "pressed brick." These have been manufactured in 
 large quantities in the penitentiary at Chester, the hand made products 
 being used for inside walls and for "filling." 
 
 Fire brick clay is often found closely associated with the seams of 
 bituminous coal in this section. Throughout Randolph county there are 
 two deposits of fire clay, one at a depth of 70 or 80 feet and another at 
 the depth of 120 feet. The same layers of fire clay are also found in St. 
 Clair county. In four oil borings in the Sparta oil field, fire clay was 
 found at a depth of 125 feet. The layer was found to be from two to 
 eight feet thick. Some fire clays are found in Johnson, Pulaski, and 
 Pope counties. 
 
 Paving brick are manufactured in Murphysboro and in Albion. 
 The demands for paving brick are beyond the supply furnished by these 
 two paving brick plants. At Albion a second company has been or- 
 ganized, and is working its way into the favor of municipalities where 
 paving improvements are going on. 
 
 Drain tile clay is not of a very high grade in Southern Illinois and 
 no large factories have attempted its manufacture into drain tile. Local 
 factories have sprung up here and there, but usually of short life. No 
 sewer pipe is manufactured in this territory.
 
 20 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Potter's clay has been found and small factories have engaged in the 
 making of jugs, crocks, and jars in Anna and in Metropolis, and in 
 McLeansboro, and probably in other localities. But all these industries 
 are gone and only dilapidated sheds and rusting machinery are left. 
 
 It may not be generally known that Southern Illinois has rich beds 
 sf a very high grade of clay suitable for the manufacture of porcelain 
 wares. These fine clays are found in the region of the Ozark hills. In 
 the World's Fair exhibit, in the Illinois building, were "some very 
 pretty dishes of Vhite and decorated faience, made of clay and silica, 
 from Union county the only articles of white table-ware ever made out 
 of purely Illinois materials. The following is the chemical analysis 
 furnished by the Rostrand Porcelain Works at Stockholm, Sweden. 
 The first sample was taken from the clay pit, Mountain Glen, Union 
 county. This clay is called Ball Clay : 
 
 Silicic acid 57.71% 
 
 Titanic acid trace 
 
 Alumina 32.75 
 
 Oxide of iron 1.93 
 
 Lime 53 
 
 Magnesia 19 
 
 Potash 96 
 
 Soda 24 
 
 Water and organic matter 11.69 
 
 Total 100.00 
 
 Another analysis made by Harold Almstrom of earthly silica from 
 the mine of the Chicago Floated Silica Company in Union county, is as 
 follows : 
 
 Silicic acid 97.82% 
 
 Alumina and oxide of iron 1.08 
 
 Lime 50 
 
 Water and organic matter 42 
 
 Alkalies and loss 18 
 
 Total . 100.00 
 
 Samples of clay from Pope county are very similar to the two above 
 samples. Some very fine samples of queensware have been made from 
 the Pope county clays. 
 
 It has been stated that the deposits of fluor spar found in Hardin 
 and Pope counties are the only ones found in the United States. But 
 there are said to be traces in Kentucky. At Rosiclare, a little village 
 on the Ohio river in Hardin county, just where this county joins Pope, 
 there are apparently inexhaustible quantities of this mineral. It is 
 found in connection with lead ores and with silver. It is sometimes 
 free and presents the most beautiful tints of blue, yellow, red, and 
 green. Two or more companies are now operating in this locality. The 
 spar is used for various purposes, but chiefly as a reducing agent or 
 flux in the reduction of ores. It is shipped from the mines by way of 
 the Ohio river.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 21 
 
 PRAIRIE AND TIMBER AREAS 
 
 Nothing in the New World was more interesting to the Europeans 
 than the broad prairies. In 1817 Governor Edward Coles, then a young 
 man, when returning from a diplomatic mission to Russia stopped 
 in France and in England. He was a Virginian but he had traveled 
 through the west, and had himself been greatly charmed by the broad, 
 rich prairies. The French and the English never tired of his beautiful 
 descriptions of the prairies. Among those who were charmed by his 
 story of the western prairies was Morris Birkbeck who was a very 
 prosperous tenant on a large estate in England. Mr. Birkbeck came 
 to America and settled the City of Albion in Edwards county. In later 
 years when England's prince of letters, Charles Dickens visited Amer- 
 ica he was anxious to see a prairie. His wish was gratified as the 
 reader will understand by reference to his Notes on America. 
 
 The French who of course were the first Europeans to reach the 
 Mississippi valley, were amazed at the great sweeps of timberless areas 
 and they immediately applied the French term prairie, without change 
 in the spelling, to designate these meadowlike regions. The word was 
 first applied by Hennepin and later by other French writers. The 
 term was first used to describe the "bottoms" or valleys adjacent to 
 the rivers and bounded on opposite sides by the ' ' bluffs. " As a proof 
 of this we need only to study the early French names, as : Prairie du 
 Chein, Prairie la Forche, Prairie la Crosse, Prairie du Pont, and Prairie 
 du Rocher. Nor is this application of the term scientifically inap- 
 propriate for it is shown by Professor Leo Lesquereux that the for- 
 mation of the prairies of central Illinois was identical in character 
 with the formation of the bottom lands along the Mississippi and other 
 similar streams. It is said the English had no name for that peculiar 
 formation which we call prairies, because they had no such formation. 
 
 "These are the gardens of the Desert, these 
 The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful, 
 For which the speech of England has no name." 
 
 Bryant. 
 
 It is said that it was a very difficult thing to convey to the mind of 
 the unimaginative Englishman any adequate conception of the great 
 prairies of America. 
 
 When our forefathers came originally to the Illinois country, they 
 found about one-fourth of it timbered and about three-fourths timber- 
 less or prairies. The early settlers designated the largest treeless area 
 the "Grand Prairie." Its location corresponds almost exactly with a 
 great divide or watershed which separates the drainage of the Missis- 
 sippi from the drainage into the Ohio. It reaches from the north- 
 western side of Jackson county through Perry, part of Williamson, 
 Washington, Jefferson, Marion, Fayette, Effingham, Coles, Champaign, 
 and Iroquois, crosses the Kankakee river and extends to the southern 
 end of Lake Michigan. Another extensive prairie region extends from 
 Kankakee county west and northwest, crosses the Illinois river and oc- 
 cupies a very large part of the territory between the Illinois and the 
 Mississippi rivers. 
 
 The origin of the prairies has been a debatable question for many
 
 22 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 decades. Three general theories have been advanced to account for 
 their existence at the time of the coming of the earliest settlers into 
 the limits of this state. One explanation, and that one is not an at- 
 tempt to account for the soil formation, but merely to account for the 
 absence of the trees, is that the great prairie fires Which annually swept 
 over the "grand prairie" effectually kept the trees from making 
 enough headway to withstand the destructive flames. And there can 
 be no doubt that these annual fires were a sufficient explanation of 
 the treeless condition of the prairies to the unscientific settlers. But 
 there are two other explanations both approaching the subject from a 
 scientific standpoint. 
 
 Professor Whitney holds to the theory that the treeless prairies 
 have had their origin in the character of the original deposit or soil 
 formation. He does not deny, in fact admits, the submersion of all 
 prairie lands formerly as lakes and swamps ; but he holds that while 
 the lands were so submerged there was deposited a very fine soil which 
 he attributes in part to the underlying rocks and in part to the accumu- 
 lation in the bottom of immense lakes, of a sediment of almost im- 
 palpable fineness. This soil in its physical and probably in its chem- 
 ical composition prevents the trees from naturally getting a foot-hold 
 in the prairies. 
 
 Professor Lesquereux holds to the theory simply stated that all 
 areas properly called prairies were formed by the redemption of what 
 was once lake regions and later swamp territory. He points out that 
 trees grow abundantly in moving water but that when water is dammed 
 up it always kills trees. The theory held by Professor Lesquereux is 
 that standing water kills trees by preventing the oxygen of the air 
 from reaching the roots of the trees. He further shows that the nature 
 of the soil, in redeemed lake regions, is such that without the help of 
 man trees will not grow in it. But he further shows that by proper 
 planting the entire prairie area may be covered with forest trees. 
 
 As rich as was the soil of our prairies, the first immigrants seldom 
 settled far out on these treeless tracts. Most of the early comers were 
 from the timbered regions of the older states and felt they could not 
 make a living very far from the woods. Coal had not come into use 
 and wood was the universal fuel. There was a wealth of mast in the 
 timber upon which hogs could live a large part of the year. Again our 
 forefathers had been used to the springs of the hill country in Ken- 
 tucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, and they did not think they could 
 live where they could not have access to springs. An early comer 
 back in the thirties rode over the prairies of central Illinois and then 
 entered a hundred and sixty in the timber and here he cleared the land 
 and opened his farm.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 INDIANS AND PREHISTORIC PEOPLES 
 
 GREAT INDIAN FAMILIES THE ILLINOIS INDIANS GREAT CHIEFS EVI- 
 DENCES OP PREHISTORIC PEOPLES THE CAHOKIA MOUNDS IMPLE- 
 MENTS, POTTERY AND PICTOGRAPHS. 
 
 There were several tribes of Indians occupying the Illinois country 
 when the French first came into the territory. It is stated that there 
 were few Indians west of the Mississippi river when the continent was 
 discovered. Of course such statements must be taken with limitations. 
 The Indians of Mexico and territory to the north numbered many thou- 
 sands. Evidently there were few in the region afterwards made into 
 the states of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and what we call our northwestern 
 states. The Indians whose homes were east of the Mississippi, began in 
 a very early day to move into the west, and in this way we of the later 
 years are accustomed to think of these western Indians as having long 
 occupied the land. The number estimated as living east of the Missis- 
 sippi at the coming of the whites is stated at 250,000 ; and they were 
 scattered rather uniformly over the country from Canada to the Gulf 
 of Mexico. 
 
 They maintained the tribal form of government that is, they had 
 a chief, and prominent warriors, who, upon certain occasions, met in 
 council and decided upon war, or peace, or upon other general questions. 
 The Indian race was an indolent, thriftless people. They had an in- 
 definite notion of a future life. In their natures "they were ruthless 
 and revengeful, narrow minded and brutal, dissolute, selfish, gluttonous, 
 polygamous and lustful." Surely this is a pretty strong indictment 
 against them. They lived in temporary shelters called wigwams, and 
 provided their sustenance by hunting and fishing chiefly. Among some 
 tribes there was carried on an indifferent cultivation of the soil. The 
 work in tilling the soil was done by the squaws and the old men, the 
 young braves considering it beneath their dignity to work. 
 
 GREAT INDIAN FAMILIES 
 
 Those who have given considerable study to the Indians have 
 grouped them first into great ' ' families, ' ' the grouping being based upon 
 their language. Then these families are subdivided into "confeder- 
 acies" and these into "tribes." The Algonquin family occupied the 
 territory north of the St. Lawrence river and the lower lakes, around 
 the upper lakes and along the Mississippi, eastward along the Ohio river 
 into the Chesapeake bay. The Iroquois family occupied what is now the 
 state of New York and parts of adjacent states. They were completely 
 
 23
 
 24 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 surrounded by the Algonquins. The DaKota (or Sioux) family, was 
 located in the territory north of the Wisconsin river and west of the 
 Mississippi river. These are the chief families with which Illinois his- 
 tory is concerned. 
 
 THE ILLINOIS INDIANS 
 
 The Indians found in Illinois by Marquette and Joliet, belonged to 
 the Algonquin family. There was undying hatred between the Iroquois 
 and the Algonquins. The Illinois Indians were therefore in constant 
 dread of the attacks of the Iroquois. 
 
 The Illinois Indians formed a sort of loose confederacy of six or 
 more tribes, known as the "Illinois" confederacy. The following tribes 
 constituted the "Illinois" confederacy: The Metchigamis; the Kaskas- 
 kias ; the Peorias ; the Cahokias ; the Tammarois. In addition, there 
 were the Piankashaws, the Weas, the Kickapoos, and Shawnees and 
 probably other tribes or remnants, who sojourned on Illinois soil for 
 longer or shorter periods. The first five of the above named tribes were 
 probably all who ought to be counted in the "Illinois confederacy." 
 
 The Metchigamis were found along the Mississippi river, having 
 originally come from west of the Father of Waters. They sojourned in 
 the vicinity of Fort Chartres and were the objects of earnest missionary 
 effort on the part of the Jesuits. They also lived in the vicinity of Lake 
 Michigan, to which they gave their name. They were allies of Pontiac 
 in his war of 1764, and perished with other members of the Illinois 
 confederacy, on Starved Rock in 1769. 
 
 The Kaskaskias originally were found along the upper courses of 
 the Illinois river, and it was among the members of this tribe that Mar- 
 quette planted the first mission in Illinois. They moved from the upper 
 Illinois to the mouth of the Kaskaskia river in the year 1700, and 
 founded there the ancient city of Kaskaskia, which eventually became 
 the center of French life in the interior of the continent. From the 
 year 1700, when the tribe numbered about six or eight thousand souls, 
 to 1800, the Kaskaskias occupied the territory around the village of 
 Kaskaskia. It is said the Tamaroas and the Kaskaskias were united into 
 one tribe in the first part of the nineteenth century under Chief John 
 Baptiste DuQuoin, who was a personal friend of General Washington. 
 Their numbers were greatly reduced, and there was constant friction 
 between these two remnant tribes and a branch of the Shawnees who 
 lived east of the Big Muddy in Saline and Gallatin counties. A final 
 bloody battle was fought by a pre-arrangement on the land now owned 
 by L. D. Throop, three miles southwest of Frankfort, in Franklin 
 county, in 1802. The battlefield was well marked for many years and 
 white men have lived continuously in the immediate vicinity since 1802, 
 and the account of the battle needed only to pass from the pioneers of 
 1800 to the present living generation. The Kaskaskias were forced west- 
 ward to the Big Muddy when the slaughter continued until the Kaskas- 
 kias were all killed or captured. This is sometimes called the battle of 
 Battle Creek. The spot is at the crossing of the Big Muddy river by 
 the road from the town of Frankfort, in Franklin county, to DuQuoin, 
 in Perry county. In after years the Kaskaskias remained on a reserva- 
 tion on the lower Big Muddy, whence they removed to the Indian 
 Territory.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 25 
 
 The Cahokia and the Tamaroa tribes remained in the region of what 
 is now St. Clair, Clinton, and Payette counties, up to the close of the 
 eighteenth century, when they were merged with the Kaskaskias under 
 Chief John DuQuoin. 
 
 The Peorias made their home in the region of Lake Peoria and were 
 a quiet and peaceable people. They never in any way affected the life 
 of the people in the south end of the state. 
 
 The Piankeshaws were a small tribe of the Miami confederacy. They 
 first resided in southeastern Wisconsin. When La Salle and Tonti 
 founded their empire at Starved Rock, the Piankeshaws were a part of 
 the Indian population. When this enterprise failed the Piankeshaws 
 moved to the region of the Wabash river. They were in the region of 
 Vincennes when Gen. Clark captured that post from the British in 1779. 
 It is said that the Piankeshaws were among the best friends the early 
 settlers had among the red men. They were eventually moved to a 
 Kansas reservation and thence to the Indian Territory. Mr. Walter 
 Colyer, of Albion, has gathered up a large amount of material concern- 
 ing this tribe which sojourned for a few decades in Southern Illinois. 
 
 The Kickapoos came into Southern Illinois in the early part of the 
 nineteenth century. It is said the first time they ever acknowledged the 
 authority of the United States was in a treaty made at Edwardsville, 
 Illinois, in 1819. The Kickapoos seemed to scatter in their settlements, 
 some residing in the Sangamon country, some on the Embarras, and some 
 on the Kaskaskia. They eventually moved to Kansas and from there 
 they drifted to the southwest. 
 
 In this connection it is proper to say a word or two about some noted 
 individual Indians who had to do with the early history of Southern 
 Illinois. 
 
 GREAT CHIEFS 
 
 When George Rogers Clark came to Kaskaskia in 1778, the Ottawa 
 chief, Saguinn, or Blackbird, was temporarily sojourning in St. Louis. 
 Clark desired to have a conference with him since Blackbird had a wide 
 reputation throughout the west as one of the most powerful and saga- 
 cious Indians of the Mississippi region. Blackbird was not at St. Louis 
 at the time Clark sent for him, but had returned to his tribe on the 
 upper Illinois river. The chief hearing of Clark's desire to confer with 
 him, came voluntarily to Kaskaskia, where he held a long conference 
 with General Clark. He obtained from General Clark the real issues in 
 the conflict, and when ready to depart told General Clark that he sym- 
 pathized with the Americans and would so tell his people. It is said of 
 him that he remained a faithful friend of the Americans. 
 
 Tecumseh, a chief of the Shawnees, was the most noted Indian in all 
 the west, unless it may be that Pontiac was more widely known. Tecum- 
 seh had in mind the forming of a confederacy of all the Indians in the 
 west for the purpose of resisting the encroachment of the whites. He 
 had a twin brother called the Prophet, whose home in 1811 was at a 
 village on the Tippecanoe creek, where it empties into the Wabash. In 
 the summer of 1811, Tecumseh left the cares of state in the hands of his 
 brother, the Prophet, and journeyed into the south for the purpose of 
 securing the support of the Indians in that section. On this journey 
 Tecumseh came from the Prophet's town diagonally across Southern
 
 26 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Illinois to the Mississippi at Fort Massac or Cairo. In passing through 
 Williamson county he was seen by settlers among whom was John 
 Phelps. The chief had with him twelve warriors, and passed along the 
 Shawneetown-Kaskaskia trail to a point about where the city of Marion 
 now is, and then he turned south along the trail which passed over the 
 Ozarks through Buffalo Gap and thence south to Fort Massac or Cairo. 
 Mr. Phelps talked with Tecumseh and while he was badly scared, he 
 reported the great Indian as a very approachable and well disposed 
 person. 
 
 A third Indian of prominence was the Tamaroa chief, Jean Baptiste 
 DuCoign, formerly alluded to. He was a very old and respected Indian 
 at the time of the bloody engagement of his tribes with the Shawnees in 
 1802. He had during the lifetime of Washington, visited the president, 
 
 By courtesy of Hon. Theodore Rlaley. 
 
 PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM WABASH COUNTY 
 
 who had presented him with a medal for some service the chief had ren- 
 dered, and this the chief wore with great pride. He was a halfbreed 
 and Reynolds says had two sons, Louis and Jefferson, both of whom 
 were drunken, worthless fellows. Chief DuCuoin had been converted to 
 the Catholic faith and at his death was buried at Kaskaskia by the church 
 at that place. 
 
 Probably the most noted Indian who ever came into the territory of 
 Southern Illinois was Pontiac, the famous chief of the Ottawas, and the 
 moving spirit in the great "Confederacy of Pontiac." After many 
 months of fruitless effort in trying to prevent the British from taking
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 27 
 
 possession of the territory ceded by the French to the English at the 
 close of the French and Indian war, a final treaty was agreed to at 
 Oswego, New York, and Pontiac, broken in spirit and fortune, repaired 
 to St. Louis, where he may have thought he could head another rebellion 
 against British occupation of the territory west of the Alleghanies. In 
 this conspiracy he hoped to have the support of St. Ange de Belle Rive, 
 late commander of the French post at Kaskaskia. After lingering sev- 
 eral days in St. Louis he crossed over the river, against the advice of 
 friends to the old French village of Cahokia. Here a drunken revel was 
 in progress and here the noted chief was murdered. Reynolds says he 
 was stabbed to death by a Peoria Indian in the pay of the British. Moses 
 
 By courtesy of Hon. Theodore Risley. 
 
 PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM WABASH COUNTY 
 
 says he was tomahawked by a Kaskaskia Indian hired by one William- 
 son, an English trader. His body lay in the streets of Cahokia until the 
 arrival of St. Ange de Belle Rive, who took the body to St. Louis, where 
 it was given decent interment. 
 
 EVIDENCES OF PREHISTORIC PEOPLES 
 
 There are so many evidences of a prehistoric life in the Mississippi 
 region that it is now agreed by all archeologists that there was a life 
 of considerable advancement in civilization in the Mississippi valley, 
 and adjacent territory, long before the coming of the Indians, who 
 were here at the coming of the Europeans. It is the purpose here to 
 call attention briefly to some of the existing evidences of that prehis-
 
 28 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 toric life, and thus awaken if possible an interest in this most charming 
 subject. Southern Illinois is rich in prehistoric materials. Many of 
 these materials have been collected and are in the keeping of individ- 
 uals or of institutions, or perchance of the state or national govern- 
 ment. 
 
 One of the most obvious of the evidences of an early people is the 
 great mounds, usually called "Indian mounds" by the general public. 
 They are found in nearly all, if not all, of the counties of Illinois bor- 
 dering the Mississippi, the Wabash, and the Ohio. The most noted 
 perhaps of all these mounds are the Cahokia mounds situated some 
 five miles northeast of the city of East St. Louis. One of these, the 
 largest, is known as Monk's Mound, and in the vicinity are scores of 
 others of lesser size, but thought to have belonged to a great system 
 of such structures in the ages past 
 
 THE CAHOKIA MOUNDS 
 
 The great mound referred to above, is called Monk's Mound from 
 the fact that in an early day in the nineteenth century, a colony of 
 
 MONK'S MOUND, A NOTED MOUND OF THE STRUCTURE OP THE MOUND 
 BUILDERS' TYPE NEAR EAST ST. Louis 
 
 Trappist monks founded a settlement on this mound which flourished 
 for some time but later went to decay and the project was abandoned. 
 This mound covers some sixteen acres of ground and is situated in Sec. 
 34, T. 3, N. R, 9, west of the 3d P. M. It is 102 feet high and is some- 
 what triangular in general form. It has at intervals been visited by 
 scientific men since the year 1800. No very thorough examination 
 has really ever been made of this mound. Some years ago the owner 
 of the land tunneled in some fifty feet but found nothing but some bits 
 of lead. But in digging a well on one edge of the mound many bones 
 and other evidences of a departed people were found. The mound is 
 now owned by a Mrs. Ramey, who places a very high estimate upon 
 the ground occupied by this mound. A Mr. D. I. Bushnell of St. Louis 
 is said to have offered $10.000 for eighteen acres including the mound, 
 but Mrs. Ramey 's estimate of its worth was $100,000 quite a valuable 
 piece of ground. 
 
 In 1907 Mr. Clark Me Adams, son of the Hon. William Me Adams,
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 29 
 
 archeologist of Alton, Illinois, read a paper before the State Historical 
 Society in which he gave an extract from a letter from the Rev. Fr. 
 Obrecht, abbot of the Trappist Monastery at Gethsemane, Kentucky, 
 which throws much light upon the story of the Trappist monks who 
 occupied the Monk's Mound in the early years of the past century. 
 The story as given by Rev. Obrecht, briefly told, is as follows : Two 
 Trappist Fathers, Urbain and Joseph seeking a favorable place for a 
 settlement were offered 400 acres of ground by M. Jarrott on the Ca- 
 hokia river. At first the offer was rejected, but after a time the offer 
 was renewed and accepted. There were about thirty-five people in the 
 colony. They built twenty or more small buildings on one of the 
 
 By courtesy of Hon. Theodore Risley 
 
 PREHISTORIC RELICS FROM W ABASH COUNTY 
 
 smaller mounds. One of these buildings was the church, the whole hav- 
 ing an attractive appearance from a distance. Father Urbain doubted 
 the title to the 400 acres of land given them by M. Jarrott, so he went 
 to Washington and secured from Congress a confirmation of the grant. 
 In digging for the foundations to their buildings, they found many 
 evidences of a former people. It does not appear that any buildings 
 of importance were erected on the largest mound, but evidently some 
 structures were erected there and its sides and top were cultivated. In 
 1811 to 1813 a pernicious fever lingered in the colony, carrying off 
 more than half of the Trappist colony as well as many members of the 
 settlements in the upper end of the "American Bottom." In the early 
 spring of 1813 the colony fled from the plagued spot.
 
 30 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 A traveler who visited the Monk's Mound colonists in 1811 or 12 
 says the bluffs to the east of the mounds appear to be one vast cem- 
 etery. Professor William McAdams in 1882 made an excavation at the 
 foot of Monk's Mound at the northeast corner and unearthed a hun- 
 dred pieces of pottery. A student of archeology has estimated that the 
 community that built these mounds was not less than 150,000 or 
 200,000 strong. 
 
 Other mounds are found in the vicinity of Monk's Mound. A very 
 beautiful mound called Emerald mound is found two and a half miles 
 northeast of Lebanon in Madison county. It covers about two acres 
 of ground and is some forty or fifty feet high. Mounds are found in 
 Alexander county along the Ohio river. A few are to be seen in the 
 eastern part of the state along the Wabash. 
 
 IMPLEMENTS, POTTERY AND PICTOGRAPHS 
 
 A second evidence of a prehistoric race is to be found in a large 
 class of stone tools or implements. These are in the forms of axes, 
 hammers, and edged tools. Then there are those implements that were 
 evidently for warfare. This class of articles are made from the flints 
 and the hardest stones. Ceremonial stones of various forms have been 
 found plentifully in Southern Illinois. Mortars and pestles are numer- 
 ous. Pipes of all designs exhibiting great ingenuity in construction 
 have been dug from mounds and burial places. 
 
 A third evidence of a prehistoric people is to be found in quite a 
 variety of copper objects found in mounds, and buried here and there 
 where excavations have been made. The objects have been found in 
 the form of axes, knives, spears, arrow points, and objects used for 
 personal adornment beads, earrings, and bracelets. Copper kettles, 
 needles and trays have been found. 
 
 The fourth argument in favor of the idea that there was a race here 
 prior to the coming of the Indians may be stated, based upon the amount 
 and character of the objects wrought in clay. It is known that potter's 
 clay of a very high grade is found in many localities in Southern Illi- 
 nois. It is a theory that the region known as the American Bottoms was 
 the center of all this prehistoric life, and that" people from the copper 
 region around Lake Superior, and those from the localities on the Dela- 
 ware, where great clay deposits are found, and those from the barren, 
 rocky region of Labrador and from the home of the cliff dwellers in the 
 southwest all congregated, as some think, about the erreat Monk's Mound 
 for a sort of national feast or other form of gathering, political, social, 
 commercial or religious. In this way the various articles which are found 
 about these great mounds may have been brought into this territory. In 
 England and in parts of Germany and Denmark, there are known to exist 
 the original sites upon which were held trading fairs to which people from 
 all over the civilized world came with their wares and their coins. 
 
 Nothing reveals the fact that these prehistoric peoples had attained 
 a high stage of civilized life more certainly than does the character of the 
 pottery which has been found in many localities. Near the old salines in 
 Gallatin county there can yet be picked up broken pieces of pottery which 
 are fragments of very large clay vessels. These large clay vessels were 
 evidently used in the manufacture of salt the theory being that these 
 large clay vessels were filled with the briny water which, under the in-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 31 
 
 fluence of the sun and the wind, evaporated leaving the incrustations of 
 salt behind. These fragments are from vessels which were from two and 
 a half to three feet in diameter. This would give us vessels that would 
 hold from twenty to forty gallons. 
 
 These specimens of pottery all show peculiar systems of marking on 
 the exravex side while the inner surface is always smooth. The simplest 
 
 PlCTOGRAPH FOUND ON THE BLUFFS OF THE ILLINOIS RlVER IN PlKE 
 
 COUNTY 
 
 form of marking is the simple checks making meshes from half inch to 
 one inch square. These peculiar markings are accounted for by the the- 
 ory that the vessel was made inside of a wicker frame work and when 
 the vessel was burned the markings of the wicker work were left. Gallatin 
 
 INDIAN BUFFALO PAINTED ON A BLUFF IN JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 county seems to be rich in this class of prehistoric material. A. M. Rich- 
 ardson of Shawneetown has a very fine collection of pottery, most of 
 which is in a good state of preservation. Mr. McAdams speaks of seeing 
 two whole pans of pottery used in salt making in the salines near St. Gene- 
 vive, Missouri, that were serving the purpose, when dug up, of a coffin 
 for a child. These pans were of the form of an ordinary bread pan,
 
 32 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 some three feet across and six or eight inches deep. The dead child had 
 been placed in one pan and the other pan inverted above it and the two 
 thus arranged, buried. 
 
 A fifth evidence of a prehistoric race is found in what archeologists 
 call pictographs. These were found in various places in this state. The 
 buffalo shown in the accompanying cut, the writer had the pleasure of 
 examining on a bluff in the Ozarks at? the crossing of the Paducah branch 
 of the Illinois Central railroad. The Piasa bird from its perch upon 
 the rocks near Piasa creek looked out upon the Father of Waters for 
 ages unnumbered before the first white man made its discovery. The 
 tradition of the painting has faded from the memory of the oldest in- 
 habitant. Other carvings upon rocks in various sections of the state 
 can be accounted for only by the supposition that an older race than the 
 Indian once occupied this territory.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS 
 
 CLAIMANTS TO AMERICA MARQUETTE AND JOLIET THE TRIUMPHS AND 
 DEATH OP LASALLE His BRAVE LIEUTENANT, TONTI 
 
 Four European nations established well merited claims to territory 
 in the northern continent of the New World. These were in order, 
 Spain, England, France and Holland. These nations of western Europe 
 all followed up their original discoveries and eventually formed perma- 
 nent settlements and established their civilization in the territory thus 
 occupied. 
 
 CLAIMANTS TO AMERICA 
 
 The English based their claim to territory in the New World upon 
 the supposed discovery of two Italian seamen, John and Sebastian Ca- 
 
 MAP SHOWING THE ROYAL GRANTS TO VIRGINIA, CONNECTICUT AND 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 bot, who were at the time in the employ of Henry VII. These discover- 
 ers are supposed to have traced the Atlantic coast from New Foundland 
 to the Carolinas. It was upon these discoveries by the Cabots that Eng- 
 land based her claim to that part of North America which lay inland 
 
 VoL I J 
 
 33
 
 34 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 from the coast thus traced. Thus Illinois is in the territory claimed by. 
 England, and in the Charter of 1607, granted by James 1 of England, 
 Illinois was included in the territory belonging to the London Company. 
 In later years the English kings granted strips across the entire conti- 
 nent, known as "sea to sea" grants. It thus came about that Illinois fell 
 in the grant to Virginia in 1609, and a portion of the state as it is today 
 fell in the grant to Connecticut, and a portion to Massachusetts. 
 
 The Spaniards settled the Floridas, Texas, Mexico, and Central and 
 South America. They discovered the lower part of the Mississippi river 
 under the leadership of Ferdinand DeSoto in 1541. The Spanish held 
 all west of the Mississippi as a trust for France from 1762 to 1800, when 
 it was ceded back to France, who sold it to us in 1803. During this pe- 
 riod Illinois was held by England and the United States. 
 
 The Dutch occupied the Hudson river valley as early as 1613 and 
 eventually became a prosperous and contented people. They were con- 
 quered by the English in 1664 and from that date forward we hear 
 nothing of the Dutch in America except as individuals or families here 
 and there. 
 
 But the French settled in the valley of the St. Lawrence and in the 
 region of the Great Lakes, and their relation to the early history of Illi- 
 nois is very important indeed. In the year 1534 Cartier came into the 
 St. Lawrence, and in 1541 attempted a settlement where afterward the 
 city of Quebec was located. But the rigor of a Canadian winter was too 
 severe for the French and the attempt was abandoned in the spring of 
 1541. We hear nothing more of the French in the valley of the St. Law- 
 rence until the coming of Champlain in 1608. In that year or the next 
 the foundations of the future city of Quebec were laid. 
 
 Champlain allied himself with the Algonquin Indians, and out of 
 this alliance came an undying hatred of the Iroquois Indians toward the 
 French. These Canadian Indians were accustomed to make warlike in- 
 vasions into the country occupied by the Iroquois Indians. Champlain 
 accompanied the Algonquins on one of these warlike expeditions in the 
 summer of 1609. Lake Champlain was discovered by the great French- 
 man, and the adjoining territory explored. When the allies were ready 
 to return to Quebec they were attacked by the Iroquois and a severe bat- 
 tle was fought. This was the first time the Iroquois had ever seen or 
 heard a fire arm and great fear possessed their souls. This incident ap- 
 parently not a very important matter, was far-reaching in its conse- 
 quences. It determined that the New York Indians should be implaca- 
 ble foes of the French. It further determined that the movements 
 of the French into the territory of the west should be by the Ottawa 
 river and the northern side of the great lakes, and not down the Ohio 
 river the most natural route from lower Canada to the Mississippi 
 river. 
 
 Champlain was far-seeing and patriotic. He saw that the influence 
 which the Jesuit and Recollet priests would have upon the Indians would 
 greatly assist France in the conquest of the wilds of the New World. In 
 1615 Champlain returned to France and succeeded in enlisting in his 
 cause a number of priests of the Recollet order. The French authorities 
 in the new world afterwards called to their assistance the more vigorous 
 Jesuits and now the real onward movement toward the interior began. 
 Mission posts were established along the lakes as far west as Green Bay. 
 Missionaries were coming and going and the geography of the interior
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 35 
 
 was becoming better known every year. Champlain was at the head of 
 a company that had been chartered by Louis XIII, and no small amount 
 of commercial enterprise was carried forward under his direction. He 
 gave direction to the fur trade and to the planting of missions. After 
 more than a quarter of a century of most unexampled activity in the 
 cause of his country, his king, and his religion, Champlain laid down his 
 burdens, and bade adieu to the scenes of his life-work. He died in 1635. 
 
 Following the death of Champlain, the hostile attitude of the New 
 York Indians was renewed. "Seldom did a single year pass without 
 some hostile incursion or depredation upon the settlements from Que- 
 bec to Montreal." From the death of Champlain to 1649 there was a 
 period of marked inactivity in everything except possibly the work of 
 individual priests. In 1649 and for five years, death and destruction 
 reigned supreme. A treaty was effected between the French and the 
 Canadian Indians on one side and the Iroquois on the other, and New 
 France took on new life. 
 
 On June 14, 1671, a congress of representatives of all the tribes 
 around the great lakes was called at Sault Ste. Marie. Seventeen tribes 
 sent representatives. Sieur St. Lusson was sent by the governor of New 
 France to present the cause of the king. Fifteen Frenchmen, including 
 priests, traders, and government representatives, were present. After 
 much feasting and other exchange of courtesies, St. Lusson made "the 
 formal announcement that he did then and there take possession of 
 Lakes Huron and Superior, and all the countries contiguous and adja- 
 cent thereto and southward to the sea, which had been or might hereafter 
 be discovered, in the name of the king of France." 
 
 From this date forward a new spirit of interest was infused into the 
 government side of the westward movement. Reports were frequently 
 coming from priests, traders, and others of the existence of a great river 
 to the westward, and that in the region of this great river there were 
 great stretches of prairies, over which roamed the buffalo and hundreds 
 of smaller animals. These interesting stories had also been told by 
 Indians whose home was in the vicinity of the great river. 
 
 MARQUETTE AND JOLIET 
 
 Among those who seemed to hear definite information relative to this 
 unexplored region along the Mississippi Marquette was foremost. He 
 had conversed with the Indians from the upper territory of the great 
 river. He had in his heart to visit this territory, and had even mastered 
 the tongue of the Illini. His purposes coming to M. Talon, intendant of 
 New France, that official, who was now ready to return to France after 
 many years of faithful service in the province, selected one Joliet to ac- 
 company Marquette on the proposed expedition of discovery and ex- 
 ploration. 
 
 Marquette was born at Laon, France, in 1637. He had inherited 
 from his parents great religious fervor. He was a Jesuit, and was sent 
 to America in 1666. He had traveled throughout the whole extent of 
 the territory from the Lake Superior region to Quebec. He had en- 
 deared himself to the Indians, had learned completely their modes of 
 life, their language, and their susceptibility to religious instruction. He 
 was without doubt the most earnest, humble, and self-sacrificing priest 
 who worked among the North American Indians. His qualifications of
 
 36 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 head and heart fitted him to work in the three-fold capacity of interpre- 
 ter, explorer and missionary. 
 
 Joliet was a native of New France, having been born at Quebec in 
 1645. He was educated for the priesthood but in early life abandoned 
 that profession to engage in the vigorous life of a man of the world in 
 
 MARQUETTE AMONG THE INDIANS 
 
 business and adventure. He is said to have still retained much sympa- 
 thy for the Jesuits, whose ranks he had deserted, and this may be the 
 reason he was selected to accompany Marquette on the journey of ex- 
 ploration. 
 
 Joliet was directed by Frontenac to proceed to Mackinaw where he 
 would be joined by Father Marquette who would represent the church 
 on the expedition, as Joliet would the government. While Joliet was
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 37 
 
 the official representing the French government, Marquette claimed a 
 higher and holier mission. 
 
 December the 8th is the day of the celebration of the feast of the 
 Immaculate Conception as kept by the Catholic church. It was on this 
 day, December 8, 1672, that Joliet reached the mission of St. Ignace on 
 the straits of Mackinaw, on his way to find the great river. Marquette 
 in writing this part of the story, says : 
 
 "The day of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, whom I had 
 always invoked ... to obtain of God the grace to be able to visit 
 the nations on the River Mississippi, was identically that on which M. 
 Jollyet arrived with orders of the Counte de Frontenac, our Governor, 
 and M. Talon, our intendant, to make this discovery with me. I was 
 the more enraptured at the good news, as I saw my designs on the point 
 of being accomplished, and myself in the happy necessity of exposing 
 my life for the salvation of all these nations, and particularly for the 
 Illinois . . . who had earnestly entreated me to carry the word of 
 God to their country. ' ' 
 
 The preparations were indeed very simple. They consisted in pro- 
 viding some Indian corn and dried meat. This was the entire stock of 
 provisions with which they started. They left St. Ignace with two bark 
 canoes and five French voyageurs, May 17, 1673. 
 
 The prospect before both Joliet and Marquette was such as greatly 
 to buoy them up, one looking forward to the conversion of the Indians, 
 the other to the conquest of more territory for his king. They rowed 
 with a hearty good will and stopped only when night forced them to 
 pull to shore. Their course lay along the northern shore of Lake Michi- 
 gan bearing toward the southwest. 
 
 Marquette says: 
 
 ' ' Above all, I put our voyage under the protection of the Blessed Vir- 
 gin Immaculate, promising her, that if she did us the grace to discover 
 the great river, I would give it the name of Conception; and that I 
 would also give that name to the first mission which I would establish 
 among these new nations, as I have actually done among the Illinois." 
 
 The expedition reached Green Bay about the first of June, 1673. 
 Here Father Marquette preached to the Indians. These Indians tried 
 to dissuade him from his undertaking, but nothing would now turn him 
 from his purpose of visiting the Illinois country. At the head of Green 
 Bay was a mission planted, probably, by Father Allouez in 1667. To 
 this mission they paid a short visit and proceeded up Fox river. At 
 an Indian village on the Fox river the travellers were received by the 
 warriors of the Kickapoos, the Mascoutins, and the Miamis. A short 
 conference was held. Marquette says he was pleased to find here a large 
 cross standing in the middle of the village. Here the travellers asked 
 for two guides to take them across the portage to the Wisconsin river. 
 The guides were cheerfully furnished. 
 
 On June 10, 1673, Marquette, Joliet, and the five Frenchmen, and 
 two Indian guides began the journey across the portage. They carried 
 their two canoes as well as their provisions and other supplies. The 
 portage is a short one, Marquette says three leagues long. It was full 
 of small lakes and marshes. When the guides had seen the travellers 
 safely over the portage, they returned to their own people. There were 
 left here the seven Frenchmen with an unknown country ahead of them, 
 but they were filled with the high resolve of finding the Mississippi and 
 of visiting the Illinois Indians.
 
 38 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 June the 17th their canoes shot out into the broad Mississippi. The 
 voyagers were filled with a joy unspeakable. The journey now began 
 down the stream without any ceremony. Marquette made accurate 
 observations of the lay of the land, the vegetation, and the animals. 
 Among the animals he mentions are deer, moose, and all sorts of fish, 
 turkeys, wild cattle, and small game. 
 
 Somewhere, probably below Rock Island, the voyagers discovered 
 footprints and they knew that the Illinois were not far away. Mar- 
 quette and Joliet left their boats in the keeping of the five Frenchmen 
 and after prayers they departed into the interior, following the tracks 
 of the Indians. They soon came to an Indian village. The chiefs re- 
 ceived the two whites with very great ceremony. The peace pipe was 
 smoked and Joliet, who was trained in all the Indian languages, told them 
 of the purpose of their visit to this Illinois country. A chief responded 
 
 Drawing by Timothy Ladd, White Hall. Illinois. 
 
 THE PIASA BIRD AS DESCRIBED BY MARQUETTE 
 
 and after giving the two whites some presents, among which were a calu- 
 met and an Indian slave boy, the chief warned them not to go further 
 down the river for great dangers awaited them. Marquette replied that 
 they did not fear death and nothing would please them more than to lose 
 their lives in God's service. 
 
 After promising the Indians they would come again, they retired to 
 their boats, accompanied by 600 warriors from the village. They de- 
 parted from these Indians about the last of June and were soon on their, 
 journey down the river. 
 
 As they moved southward the bluffs became quite a marked feature 
 of the general landscape. After passing the mouth of the Illinois river, 
 they came to unusually high bluffs on the the Illinois side of the Mis- 
 sissippi. At a point about six miles above the present city of Alton, 
 they discovered on the high smooth-faced bluffs a very strange object, 
 which Marquette describes as follows: 
 
 As we coasted along the rocks, frightful for their height and length, 
 we saw two monsters painted on these rocks, which startled us at first, 
 and on which the boldest Indian dare not gaze long. They are as large 
 as a calf, with horns on the head like a deer, a frightful look, red eyes, 
 bearded like a tiger, the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 39 
 
 with scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes the turn of the body, 
 passing over the head and down between the legs, and ending at last in a 
 fish's tail. Green, red, and a kind of black are the colors employed. On 
 the whole, these two monsters are so well painted that we could not believe 
 any Indian to have been the designer, as good painters in Prance would 
 find it hard to do as well; besides this, they are so high upon the rock 
 that it is hard to get conveniently at them to paint them. This is pretty 
 nearly the figure to these monsters as I drew it off. 
 
 In an early day in Illinois, the description of these monsters was 
 quite current in the western part of the state. So also was a tradition 
 that these monsters actually inhabited a great cave near. (This tradition 
 described but a single monster and but a single picture.) The tradition 
 said that this monster was a hideous creature with wings, and great 
 claws, and great teeth. It was accustomed to devour every living thing 
 which came within its reach ; men, women, and children, and animals of 
 all kinds. The Indians had suffered great loss of their people from the 
 ravages of this monster and a council of war was held to devise some 
 means by which its career might be ended. Among other schemes for 
 its extermination was a proposition by a certain young warrior. It was 
 to the effect that upon the departure of the beast on one of his long 
 flights for food that he would volunteer to be securely tied to stakes on 
 the ledge in front of the mouth of the cave, and that a sufficient number 
 of other warriors of the tribe should be stationed near with their poisoned 
 arrows so that when the bird should return from its flight they might 
 slay the monster. 
 
 This proposition was accepted and on a certain day the bird took its 
 accustomed flight. The young warrior who offered to sacrifice his life 
 was securely bound to strong stakes in front of the mouth of the cave. 
 The warriors who were to slay the beast were all safely hidden in the 
 rocks and debris near. In the afternoon the monster was seen returning 
 from its long journey. Upon lighting near its cave, it discovered the 
 young warrior and immediately attacked him, fastening its claws and 
 teeth in his body. The thongs held him securely and the more the mon- 
 ster strove to escape with its prey the more its claws became entangled 
 in the thongs. 
 
 At a concerted moment the warriors all about opened upon the mon- 
 ster with their poisoned arrows, and before the beast could extricate 
 itself, its life blood was ebbing away. The death of the dreaded monster 
 had been compassed. 
 
 The warriors took the body of the great monster and stretching it 
 out so as to get a good picture of it, marked out the form and painted it 
 as it was seen by Marquette. Because the tribes of Indians had suffered 
 such destruction of life by this monster, an edict went forth that every 
 warrior who went by this bluff should discharge at least one arrow at the 
 painting. This the Indians continued religiously to do. In later years 
 when guns displaced the arrows among the Indians, they continued to 
 shoot at the painting as they passed and thus it is said the face of the 
 painting was greatly marred. 
 
 Judge Joseph Gillespie, of Edwardsville, Illinois, a prolific writer 
 and a man of unimpeachable character wrote in 1883 as follows : 
 
 I saw what was called the picture sixty years since, long before it 
 was marred by quarrymen or the tooth of time, and I never saw any- 
 thing which would have impressed my mind that it was intended to
 
 40 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 represent a bird. I saw daubs of coloring matter that I supposed exuded 
 from the rocks that might, to very impressible people bear some re- 
 semblance to a bird or a dragon, after they were told to look at it in that 
 light, just as we fancy in certain arrangements of the stars we see ani- 
 mals, etc., in the constellations. I did see the marks of the bullets shot by 
 the Indians against the rocks in the vicinity of the so-called picture. 
 Their object in shooting at this I never could comprehend. I do not 
 think the story had its origin among the Indians or was one of their 
 superstitions, but was introduced to the literary world by John Russell, 
 of Bluff Dale, Illinois, who wrote a beautiful story about it. 
 
 The bluff has long since disappeared from the use of the stone for 
 building purposes. 
 
 As Marquette and Joliet passed on down the river they passed the 
 mouth of the Missouri which at that time was probably subject to a great 
 flood. When considerably below the mouth of the Kaskaskia river they 
 came to a very noted object at least the Indians had many stories about 
 it. This is what we know today as the Grand Tower. This great rock 
 in the Mississippi causes a great commotion in the water of the river and 
 probably was destructive of canoes in those days. 
 
 On they go down the river past the mouth of the Ohio, into the region 
 of semi-tropical sun and vegetation. The cane-brakes lined the banks, 
 and the mosquitoes became plentiful and very annoying. Here also 
 probably in the region of Memphis they stopped and held councils with 
 the Indians. They found the Indians using guns, axes, hoes, knives, 
 beads, etc., and when questioned as to where they got these articles, they 
 said to the eastward. These Indians told the travelers that it was not 
 more than ten days' travel to the mouth of the river. They proceeded on 
 down the river till they reached Choctaw Bend, in latitude 33 degrees 
 and 40 minutes. Here they stopped, held a conference, and decided to 
 go no further. 
 
 They justified their return in the following manner : 
 
 First, they were satisfied that the Mississippi emptied into the Gulf 
 of Mexico, and not into the Gulf of California, nor into the Atlantic 
 ocean in Virginia. Second, they feared a conflict with the Spaniards 
 who occupied and claimed the Gulf coast. Third, they feared the Indians 
 of the lower Mississippi, for they used firearms and might oppose their 
 further progress south. Fourth, they had acquired all the information 
 they started out to obtain. 
 
 And so, on the 17th of July, 1673, they turned their faces homeward. 
 They had been just two months, from May 17, to July 17, on their jour- 
 ney. They had traveled more than a thousand miles. They had faced 
 all forms of danger and had undergone all manner of hardships. Their 
 provisions had been obtained en route. France owed them a debt of 
 gratitude which will never be fully paid. Indeed not only France, but 
 the world is their debtor. 
 
 Nothing of interest occurred on their return journey until they 
 reached the mouth of the Illinois river. Here they were told by some 
 Indians that there was a much shorter route to Green Bay than by 
 way of the upper Mississippi and the Wisconsin and Fox portage. 
 This shorter route' was up the Illinois river to the Chicago portage and 
 then along Lake Michigan to Green Bay. 
 
 Marquette and Joliet proceeded up the Illinois river. When pass- 
 ing by Peoria lake they halted for three days. While here Marquette
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 41 
 
 preached the gospel to the natives. Just as Marquette was leaving 
 they brought him a dying child which he baptized. When in the 
 vicinity of Ottawa, they came to a village of the Kaskaskia Indians. 
 Marquette says there were seventy-four cabins in the village and that 
 the Indians received them kindly. They tarried but a short time and 
 were escorted from this point up the Illinois and over the Chicago 
 portage by one of the Kaskaskia chiefs and several young warriors. 
 
 While in the village of the Kaskaskias, Marquette told the story 
 of the Cross to the natives, and they were so well pleased with it that 
 they made him promise to return to teach them more about Jesus. 
 Marquette and Joliet reached Green Bay in the month of September, 
 1673. Probably they both remained here during the ensuing winter. 
 In the summer of 1674, Joliet returned to Quebec to make his report to 
 the governor. On his way down the St. Lawrence, his boat upset and 
 he came near losing his life. He lost all his maps, papers, etc., and 
 was obliged to make a verbal report to the governor. 
 
 Father Marquette remained in the mission of St. Francois Xavier 
 through the summer of 1674, and late in the fall started on his journey 
 back to Kaskaskia. The escort consisted of two Frenchmen and some 
 Indians. They reached the Chicago portage in the midst of dis- 
 couraging circumstances. The weather was severe and Father Mar- 
 quette, sick unto death, was unable to proceed further. On the banks 
 of the Chicago river they built some huts and here the party remained 
 till spring. During the winter Father Marquette did not suffer for 
 want of attention, for he was visited by a number of Indians and by at 
 least two prominent Frenchmen. 
 
 By the last of March he was able to travel. He reached the Kas- 
 kaskia village Monday, April 8, 1675. He was received with great joy 
 by the Indians. He established the mission of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Blessed Virgin. Seeing he could not possibly live long, 
 he returned to St. Ignace by way of the Kankakee portage. He never 
 lived to reach Mackinaw. He died the 18th of May, 1675. 
 
 This expedition by Marquette and Joliet had carried the Lilies of 
 France nearly to the Gulf of Mexico. The Indians in the great plains 
 between the Great Lakes and the Gulf had been visited and the re- 
 sources of the country noted. There remained but a slight strip of 
 territory over which the banner of France had not floated, from the 
 Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. If this short distance 
 were explored, then the French government would have completely 
 surrounded the English colonies in North America. This is the next 
 movement for the French as we shall see. 
 
 THE TRIUMPHS AND DEATH OP LASALJOE 
 
 Chevalier de La Salle came to America in the year 1667. Shortly 
 after arriving in this country he established himself as a fur trader at 
 a trading post called La Chine, on the island of Montreal. Here he 
 came in contact with the Indians from the far west. Within two years 
 he had departed on an exploration. For the next two or three years he 
 had probably visited the Ohio river and had become quite familiar 
 with the country to the south and west of the Great Lakes. 
 
 Count Frontenac built a fort on the shore of Lake Ontario where 
 the lake sends its waters into the St. Lawrence river. La Salle was
 
 42 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 put in charge of this fort. He named it Fort Frontenac. The pur- 
 pose of this fort was to control the fur trade, especially that from up . 
 the Ottawa, and prevent it from going to New York. In 1674 La Salle 
 went to France and while there was raised to the rank of a noble. The 
 king was greatly pleased with the plans of La Salle and readily granted 
 him the seigniory of Fort Frontenac, together with a large quantity of 
 land. For all this La Salle promised to keep the fort in repair, to 
 maintain a garrison equal to that of Montreal, to clear the land, put 
 it in a state of cultivation, and continually to keep arms, ammunition, 
 and artillery in the fort. He further agreed to pay Count Frontenac 
 for the erection of the fort, to build a church, attract Indians, make 
 grants of land to settlers, and to do all for the ultimate purpose of 
 furthering the interests of the French government. 
 
 La Salle returned from France and was perhaps at Fort Frontenac 
 when Joliet passed down the lakes in the summer of 1674. The next 
 year he began the improvement of his fort. For two years he prose- 
 cuted a thriving trade with the Indians and also engaged in farming, 
 ship-building, cattle-raising, and study. 
 
 The fall of 1678 found him in France with a request that the king 
 grant him permission to explore the western part of New France and 
 if possible find the mouth of the Mississippi river. La Salle had 
 matured plans by which New France was to be connected with the 
 western country by a line of strong fortifications. Fort Frontenac 
 was the first step in this plan. He there explained how easy it would 
 be to reach the region of the Great Lakes by the St. Lawrence route 
 or by the Mississippi. There is no doubt that both Frontenac and La 
 Salle wished to transfer the emphasis from the conversion of the Indians 
 to that of conquest of territory for France, and to the more profitable 
 business, as they saw it, of commerce. Frontenac had therefore strongly 
 endorsed La Salle and his plans. Through Colbert and his son, La 
 Salle succeeded in getting his patent from the king. 
 
 His BRAVE LIEUTENANT, TONTI 
 
 While in France La Salle met Henri de Tonti, an Italian who had 
 just won distinction in the French army. His father had been en- 
 gaged in an insurrection in Italy and had taken refuge in France where 
 he became a great financier, having originated the Tontine system of 
 life insurance. Henri de Tonti had lost a hand in one of the cam- 
 paigns, but he was nevertheless a man of great energy, and destined to 
 win for himself an honored name in the New World. 
 
 La Salle returned to New France in 1678, bringing with him about 
 thirty craftsmen and mariners, together with a large supply of mili- 
 tary and naval stores. It can readily be seen that La Salle would be 
 opposed by the merchants and politicians in the region of Quebec and 
 Montreal. He had risen rapidly and was now ready to make one of the 
 most pretentious efforts at discovery and exploration that had been 
 undertaken in New France. 
 
 Late in the fall of 1678, probably in December, he sent Captain 
 LaMotte, and sixteen men to select a suitable site for the building of a 
 vessel with which to navigate the upper lakes. Captain LaMotte stopped 
 at the rapids below Niagara Falls and seems to have been indifferent 
 to his mission. La Salle and Tonti arrived the 8th of January, 1679.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 43 
 
 The next day La Salle went above the falls and selected a place to 
 construct the vessel. (The exact place is in doubt, probably at Tona- 
 wanda creek.) 
 
 Tonti was charged with building the vessel. It was launched in 
 May, 1679, and was christened the Griffin (Griffon). It was of forty- 
 five to fifty tons burden and carried a complement of five cannon, and 
 is supposed to have cost about $10,000. 
 
 An expedition of traders had been dispatched into the Illinois 
 country for the purpose of traffic, in the fall of 1678. Tonti and a 
 small party went up Lake Erie and were to await the coming of the 
 Griffin at the head of the lake. The Griffin weighed anchor August 7, 
 1679, amid the booming of cannon and the chanting of the Te Deum. 
 It arrived at what is now Detroit on the 10th, and there found Tonti 
 and his party. The vessel reached Mackinaw on the 27th of August. 
 Here La Salle found the men whom he had dispatched the year before 
 to traffic with the Indians. He found they had been dissuaded from 
 proceeding to the Illinois country by the report that La Salle was 
 visionary and that his ship would never reach Mackinaw. Tonti was 
 given the task of getting these men together, and while he was thus 
 engaged, La Salle sailed in the Griffin for Green Bay. 
 
 Green Bay had been for several years a meeting place between white 
 traders and explorers, and the Indians. When La Salle reached the 
 point, he found some of the traders whom he had sent ahead the year 
 before. These traders had collected from the Pottowatomies large 
 quantities of furs. For these furs La Salle exchanged a large stock of 
 European goods with which the Griffin was loaded. It is said that he 
 made a large sum of money in this transaction. The Griffin was loaded 
 with these furs and made ready to return to the warehouses at Niagara. 
 
 On September the 18th, the Griffin, in charge of a trusted pilot, a 
 supercargo, and five sailors, started on the return voyage. La Salle on 
 the 19th of September, 1679, with a company of fourteen persons, in 
 four birch bark canoes, loaded with a blacksmith's forge, carpenter's 
 tools, merchandise, arms, provision, etc., started on his journey for the 
 Illinois country. He coasted along the western shore of Lake Michi- 
 gan. Their provision was exhausted before they reached the present 
 site of Milwaukee. They had been forced ashore three times to save 
 their boats and their lives. They now went in search of food and for- 
 tunately found a deserted Indian village with plenty of corn. They 
 appropriated the corn, but left some articles as pay. The next day the 
 Indians returned and followed the whites to their boats and it was only 
 by presenting the calumet that La Salle was able to appease them. 
 
 From Milwaukee they coasted south past the mouth of the Chicago 
 river and following the southerly bend of the lake reached the mouth of 
 the St. Joseph river November 1, 1679. This had been appointed as the 
 meeting place of the two expeditions the one under La Salle and the 
 one under Tonti. La Salle was anxious to get to the Illinois country, 
 but he also desired the help of Tonti and as the latter had not yet ar- 
 rived, La Salle occupied the time of his men in building a palisade fort 
 which he named Fort Miami. Near by, he erected a bark chapel for 
 the use of the priests, and also a storehouse for the goods which the 
 Griffin was to bring from Niagara on its return. 
 
 Tonti arrived at Fort Miami on the 12th of November with only a 
 portion of his company, the rest remaining behind to bring word of the
 
 44 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Griffin. La Salle was now impatient to proceed, and dispatching Tonti 
 for the rest of his crew waited for his return. The ice began to form 
 and fearing the freezing over of the river, La Salle ascended the St. 
 Joseph in search of the portage between the Kankakee and the St. 
 Joseph. He went up the St. Joseph beyond the portage and while 
 searching for it, was overtaken by a courier who told him Tonti and 
 his party were at the portage farther down the river. .This point is 
 supposed to have been near the present city of South Bend, Indiana. 
 Here was now assembled the party which was to become a very historic 
 one. There were in all twenty-nine Frenchmen and one Indian. Among 
 them were La Salle, De Tonti, Fathers Louis Hennepin, Zenobe Mem- 
 bre, and Gabriel de La Ribourde, and La Metairie, a notary, and De 
 Loup, the Indian guide. They crossed the portage of three or four 
 miles under great difficulties, dragging their canoes and their burdens 
 on sledges. The ice was getting thick and a heavy snow storm was 
 raging. By the 6th of December, 1679, they were afloat on the Kan- 
 kakee. For many miles the country was so marshy that scarcely a 
 camping place could be found, but soon they emerged into an open re- 
 gion of the country with tall grass and then they knew they were in 
 the Illinois country. They suffered from lack of food, having killed 
 only two deer, one buffalo, two geese, and a few swans. As they jour- 
 neyed on they passed the mouths of the Iroquois, the Des Plaines, and the 
 Fox. They passed the present site of Ottawa and a few miles below they 
 came to the Kaskaskia village where Marquette had planted the mis- 
 sion of the Immaculate Conception in the summer of 1675. Father 
 Allouez had succeeded Marquette and had spent some time at the 
 Kaskaskia village in 1676, and in 1677 he came again. But on the ap- 
 proach of La Salle Allouez had departed for it was understood that 
 almost all of the Jesuit priests were opposed to La Salle 's plans of 
 commercializing the interior of North America. The Kaskaskia In- 
 dians were themselves absent from the village on an expedition to the 
 south-land as was their winter custom. 
 
 This Kaskaskia village of four hundred lodges was uninhabited. 
 The huts were built by covering a long arbor-like frame work with 
 mats of woven rushes. In each lodge there was room for as many as 
 ten families. In their hiding places, the Indians had secreted large 
 quantities of corn for the spring planting and for sustenance till an- 
 other crop could be raised. La Salle 's party was so sorely in need of 
 this corn that he decided to appropriate as much as they needed. This 
 he did, taking 30 minots. On January 1, 1680, after mass by Father 
 Hennepin, they departed down the Illinois river. On the morning of 
 the 5th they had arrived at the outlet of what we call Peoria lake. 
 Here they saw large numbers of boats and on the banks wigwams and 
 large numbers of Indians. The Indians were much disconcerted upon 
 seeing La Salle 's party land, and many fled while a few held communi- 
 cation with the newcomers. La Salle held a consultation with the chiefs 
 and told them of his taking their corn. He offered to pay for the corn 
 and said that if he were compelled to give up the corn he would take 
 his blacksmith and his tools to the next tribe, the Osages, whereupon 
 the Indians gladly accepted pay for the corn taken and offered more. 
 
 La Salle told them he wished to be on friendly terms with them, 
 but that they must not expect him to engage in conflicts with the Iro- 
 quois whom his king regarded as his children. But if they would al-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 45 
 
 low him to build a fort near, that he would defend them, the Kaskas- 
 kias, against the Iroquois if they were attacked. He also told them he 
 wished to know whether he could navigate a large boat from that point 
 to the mouth of the Mississippi river, since it was very difficult as well 
 as dangerous to bring such European goods as the Indians would like 
 to have from New France by way of the Great Lakes, and that it could 
 not well be done by coming across the Iroquois country as they would 
 object since the Illinois Indians and the Iroquois were enemies. 
 
 The Kaskaskia chiefs told La, Salle that the mouth of the Mississippi 
 was only twenty days ' travel away and that there were no obstructions 
 to navigation. Certain Indian slaves taken in battle said they had 
 been at the mouth of the river and that they had seen ships at sea that 
 made noises like thunder. This made La Salle the more anxious to 
 reach the mouth of the river and take possession of the country. The 
 chiefs gave consent to the construction of the fort and La Salle had 
 a bright vision before him. This vision was sadly clouded on the mor- 
 row when an Indian revealed to him the visit to the chiefs, on the night 
 before, of a Miami chief by the name of Monso who tried to undermine 
 the influence of La Salle. He said La Salle was deceiving them. In a 
 council that day he revealed his knowledge of the visit of Monso and 
 by great diplomacy won the Kaskaskia chiefs to his cause the second 
 time. It was supposed this chief Monso was sent at the suggestion of 
 Father Allouez. Four of La Salle 's men deserted him and returned 
 to the region of Lake Michigan. 
 
 La Salle, fearing the influence of the stories among the Indians, up- 
 on his men, decided to separate from them and go further down the 
 river where he could construct his fort and built his boat. On the 
 evening of the 15th of January, 1680, La Salle moved to a point on the 
 east side of the river three miles below the present site of Peoria. There 
 on a projection from the bluffs he built with considerable labor a fort 
 which received the name of Crevecceur. This was the fourth of the 
 great chains of forts which La Salle had constructed, namely: Fort 
 Frontenac at the outlet of Lake Ontario; Fort Conti on the Niagara 
 river ; Fort Miami at the mouth of St. Joseph river, and Crevecceur be- 
 low Lake Peoria on the Illinois river. 
 
 Fort Crevecceur is currently believed to have been so named because 
 of the disheartened frame of mind of La Salle, but this would not be 
 complimentary to the character of the man. It is now rather believed 
 to have been named in honor of Tonti, since as a soldier in the Nether- 
 lands he took part in the destruction of Fort Crevecceur near the vil- 
 lage of Bois le Due in the year 1672. 
 
 In addition to the building of the fort, La Salle began the construc- 
 tion of a vessel with which to complete his journey to the mouth of 
 the river. The lumber was sawed from the timber and rapid progress 
 was made. The keel was 42 feet long, and the beam was 12 feet. While 
 this work was in progress and during the month of February, several 
 representatives of tribes from up the Mississippi and down the Missis- 
 sippi, as well as from the Miamis to the northeast, came to consult 
 with La Salle. His presence in the Illinois country was known far and 
 near. The Indians from the upper Mississippi brought tempting de- 
 scriptions of routes to the western sea and also of the wealth of beaver 
 with which their country abounded. 
 
 La Salle desired to make a visit to Fort Frontenac for sails, cord-
 
 46 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 age, iron, and other material for his boat, besides he was very anxious 
 to hear something definite about the Griffin and its valuable cargo. 
 But before embarking on his long journey, he fitted out an expedition 
 consisting of Michael Ako, Antony Auguel, and Father Hennepin, to 
 explore the upper Mississippi. Michael Ako was the leader. They 
 started February the 29th, passed down the Illinois river and thence 
 up the Mississippi. They carried goods worth a thousand livres, which 
 were to be exchanged for furs. Father Hennepin took St. Anthony 
 for his patron saint and when near the falls which we know by that 
 name, he set up a post upon which he engraved the cross and the coat of 
 arms of France. He was shortly captured by the Indians and was later 
 released by a French trader, De Lhut. He then returned to France. 
 
 Before starting for Frontenac, La Salle commissioned Tonti to have 
 charge of the Crevecoeur fort, and also to build a fort at Starved Rock. 
 On March 1, the day following the departure of Ako and Ilennepin 
 
 STARVED ROCK UPON WHICH JOLIET BUILT FORT ST. Louis 
 
 for the upper Mississippi, La Salle departed, with three companions, 
 for Fort Frontenac. This was a long, dangerous, and discouraging 
 journey. Every venture which he had engaged in seems to have failed. 
 After finally getting together supplies such as were needed, he started 
 on his return journey. He was continually hearing stories from the 
 travellers of the desertion of Crevecceur. When he came within a few 
 miles of the Kaskaskia village he began to see signs of destruction. 
 On arriving at the village nothing but a few blackened posts remained. 
 The Iroquois Indians had made a campaign against the Illinois Indians 
 and their trail could be traced by death and destruction. 
 
 When La Salle left the locality of Starved Rock for Fort Creve- 
 coeur, on his way from Canada, he passed the Iroquois on one side of 
 the river and the Illinois on the other. He searched everywhere for 
 Tonti but could find no trace of him. He came to Crevecoeur about the 
 first of December, 1680, and found the fort deserted and the store- 
 house plundered; the boat, however, was without damage. La Salle 
 went to the mouth of the Illinois river in search of Tonti but without 
 success. He returned to Fort Miami in the spring of 1681. Here he 
 began the organization of all the Indian tribes into a sort of confedera- 
 tion. 
 
 Upon the approach of the Iroquois shortly after the departure of
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 47 
 
 La Salle from Fort Crevecoeur, in March, 1680, Tonti and his party 
 were scattered far and near. Tonti and Father Membre made their way 
 to Green Bay and from there to Mackinaw. La Salle heard of them 
 here and went immediately to them. Another expedition was organ- 
 ized. La Salle, Father Membre, and Tonti visited Fort Frontenac 
 where supplies were procured and late in December, 1681, the expedi- 
 tion had crossed the Chicago portage. There were in this company 
 fifty-four pople twenty-three Frenchmen and thirty-one Indians. 
 
 They passed the Kaskaskia village near Starved Rock but it was in 
 ruins. On January the 25th, 1682, they reached Fort Crevecoeur. The 
 fort was in fair condition. Here they halted six days, while the In- 
 dians made some elm bark canoes. They reached the Mississippi the 
 6th of February. After a little delay they proceeded down the river, 
 passed the mouth of the Missouri and shortly after that a village of the 
 Tamaroa Indians. The village contained one hundred and twenty 
 cabins, but they were all deserted. La Salle left presents on the posts 
 for the villagers when they returned. Grand Tower was passed, later 
 the Ohio. The trip to the mouth of the Mississippi was without special 
 interest. They reached the mouth of the river in April, and on the 
 ninth of that month erected a post upon which they nailed the arras 
 of France wrought from a copper kettle. A proclamation was pre- 
 pared by the notary, Jacques de la Metairie, and read. It recited 
 briefly their journey and a formal statement of the King's taking pos- 
 session of the country drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries. 
 
 On the 10th of April the party began the return journey. La Salle 
 was stricken with a severe illness and was obliged to remain at Fort 
 Prudhomme which had been erected on the Chickasaw bluffs just above 
 Vicksburg. Tonti was sent forward to look after his leader's interest. 
 He went by Fort Miami, but found everything in order. He reached 
 Mackinaw the 22d of July. 
 
 La Salle reached Crevecceur on his way north. He left eight 
 Frenchmen here to hold this position. He reached Fort Miami, and 
 from there passed on to Mackinaw. From there he sent Father Mem- 
 bre to France to report his discovery to the king, while he himself set 
 about the building of Fort St. Louis, on Starved Rock. The detach- 
 ment left by La Salle at Crevecoeur was ordered north to Fort St. 
 Louis, and he began to grant his followers small areas of land in recog- 
 nition of their services with him in the past few years. The fort was 
 completed and in March, 1683, the ensign of France floated to the breeze. 
 The tribes for miles in circuit came to the valley about the fort and 
 encamped. La Salle patiently looked for French settlers from New 
 France but they did not come. 
 
 During the absence of La Salle at the mouth of the Mississippi, 
 Count Frontenac had been superseded by Sieur de La Barre, who had 
 assumed the duties of his office October 9, 1682. He was not friendly 
 to La Salle 's schemes of extending the possessions of France in the 
 New World. La Salle suspected in the summer of 1683 that the new 
 governor was not in sympathy with him. And after a great deal of 
 fruitless correspondence with the new governor. La Salle repaired to 
 France to lay before the king his new discoveries as well as plans for 
 the future. Tonti was displaced as commander at Fort St. Louis and 
 ordered to Quebec. La Salle not only secured a fleet for the trip to the 
 mouth of the Mississippi, but also had Tonti restored to command at
 
 48 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Fort St. Louis. La Salle sailed to the Gulf in the spring of 1685. He 
 failed to find the mouth of the river and landed in what is now Texas. 
 After hardships and discouragement almost beyond belief, he was 
 murdered by some of his own men the latter part of March, 1687. 
 
 La Salle went to France in the summer of 1683 and left Tonti in 
 charge of his interests in the Illinois country. Tonti was active in the 
 defense of his superior 's interest. In this duty he was forced to defend 
 the Illinois country against the Iroquois, and to struggle against La 
 Salle 's enemies in New France. He made expeditions of trade and 
 exploration throughout all the western country, took part in a great 
 campaign against the Iroquois, and was the life of a growing com- 
 munity around Fort St. Louis. 
 
 The death of La Salle occurred in the spring of 1687. Just one 
 year previous to this Tonti had made a trip to the Gulf in search of 
 La Salle but failing to find him returned sorrowfully to Fort St. Louis. 
 In September, 1688, Tonti heard definitely of the death of La Salle. 
 In December of that year he organized an expedition to rescue the 
 colonists whom La Salle had left on the coast of the Gulf. This expe- 
 dition also proved a failure. For the next ten years Tonti remained 
 in the region of the Lakes, but when Bienville began planting new set- 
 tlements near the mouth of the Mississippi river, Tonti abandoned Fort 
 St Louis and joined the new settlements. He died near Mobile in 1704.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS IN ILLINOIS 
 
 KASKASKIA SETTLED GRANTS OF LAND OTHER SETTLEMENTS WAR 
 AND PROGRESS GOVERNMENT, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS 
 
 Prior to the close of the seventeenth century, there were at least 
 four points where permanent settlements might easily have been 
 planted. These were at Chicago, Fort St. Louis, the Kaskaskia vil- 
 lage below Ottawa, and at Fort Crevecceur. Whether any of them 
 ought to be regarded as the first settlement is doubtful. Some have 
 contended that Kaskaskia and Cahokia in the American bottom were 
 settled as early as the return of La Salle from the mouth of the Mis- 
 sissippi in the year 1682. Again others have claimed that Tonti 
 planted Kaskaskia in 1686, but Tonti accompanied St. Cosme, the mis- 
 sionary, down the Mississippi in the year 1699. On the 5th of Decem- 
 ber of that year they reached the Mississippi from the Illinois and the 
 next day which would be the 6th they reached the village of the Ta- 
 maroa Indians which was evidently the village of Cahokia. These In- 
 dians had never seen a "black gown" which is good proof that there 
 was no mission at that point. A few days later they erected a cross 
 on a high bluff on the right bank of the Mississippi river and "prayed 
 that God might grant that the cross which had never been known in 
 those regions, might triumph there." The point was marked on an 
 old map about fifteen miles below the present mouth of the Kaskaskia 
 river. 
 
 KASKASKIA SETTLED 
 
 Father James Gravier, who was the priest in charge of the mission 
 of the Immaculate Conception in 1695 and again in 1703, made a jour- 
 ney from the portage of Chicago down the Illinois river in September, 
 1700, and says when he arrived at the Kaskaskia mission which was 
 then in charge of Father Marest that the people had moved down the 
 river. He seems to have overtaken them on the Illinois river and to 
 have marched with them four days. He left Father Marest sick at the 
 village of the Tamaroas (Cahokia) and proceeded down the river. 
 Shortly after this the mission was located at the village of Kaskaskia 
 a few miles above the mouth of the river of the same name. 
 
 The records of the church of the "Immaculate Conception of our 
 Lady" now in possession of the priest in charge at New Kaskaskia, 
 show that baptisms were performed upon children born in the parish 
 three in 1695. one in 1697. two in 1698, two in 1699, one in 1700, one 
 in 1701, two in 1702, etc. 
 
 Vol. T 4 
 
 49
 
 50 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The Indians and the few Frenchmen who came to the Kaskaskia 
 of the last century built their huts by weaving grasses and reeds into 
 a frame-work of upright poles set in rectangular form. The roof was 
 thatched as was the custom among the Indians. The ground was very 
 rich and a rude sort of agriculture was begun. In those days, the 
 travel up and down the Mississippi was considerable. The French 
 
 CHALICE AND RECORDS BELONGING TO THE CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE 
 
 CONCEPTION. ALSO TABLE UPON WHICH CONSTITUTION 
 
 OP 1818 WAS WRITTEN 
 
 were just taking possession of the mouth of the river and there was 
 need of communication with New France and hence the travel. 
 
 A very interesting picture has been given of the life in this village. 
 The Kaskaskia church records show that on March 20, 1695, James 
 Gravier was the priest in charge. September 7, 1699, Gabriel Marest 
 was officially connected with the church. April 13, 1703, James Gra- 
 vier officiated. In 1707, January 19, P. J. Mermet officiated in the bap- 
 tism of an infant. Father Marest says of Mermet that he was the soul 
 of the mission, and in describing his work says : 
 
 The gentle virtues and fervid eloquence of Mermet made him the 
 soul of the Mission of Kaskaskia. At early dawn his pupils came to
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 51 
 
 church, dressed neatly and modestly each in a deer-skin or a robe 
 sewn together from several skins. After receiving lessons they chanted 
 canticles; mass was then said in presence of all the Christians, the 
 French, and the converts the women on one side and the men on 
 the other. From prayers and instruction the missionaries proceeded 
 to visit the sick and administer medicine, and their skill as physicians 
 did more than all the rest to win confidence. In the afternoon the 
 catechism was taught in the presence of the young and the old, when 
 every one without distinction of rank or age answered the questions 
 of the missionary. At evening all would assemble at the chapel for 
 instruction, for prayer, and to chant the hymns of the church. On 
 Sundays and festivals, even after vespers, a homily was pronounced; 
 at the close of the day parties would meet in houses to recite the chap- 
 lets in alternate choirs and sing psalms till late at night. These psalms 
 were often homilies, with words set to familiar tunes. Saturdays and 
 Sundays were the days appointed for confession and communion, and 
 every convert confessed once in a fortnight. The success of this was 
 such that marriages of the French immigrants were sometimes solem- 
 nized with the daughters of Illinois, according to the rites of the Cath- 
 olic church. The occupation of the country was a cantonment among 
 the native proprietors of the forests and prairies. 
 
 From this we see that apparently one of the chief interests of the 
 colony was religious. And without doubt the priest did exert great 
 influence over the settlement. But we must not forget that the trader 
 was abroad in the land. His influence with the Indians was not less 
 marked than that of the priest. He held in his grasp the means by 
 which the Indians could be influenced for good if he wished, for ill if 
 he chose. He had long since discovered that blankets and knives, 
 and calicoes, and fire water exerted very great influence upon the na- 
 tives. The trader and the priest were for several years the dominant 
 factors in the community life of our first permanent settlement. 
 Every one hunted and fished, and all conformed largely to the habits 
 and customs of the Indians. 
 
 Cahokia was situated a very short distance below the present city 
 of East St. Louis, probably six miles from the Relay depot. This was 
 called the "Mission of St. Sulpice. " The early priests who labored 
 here were Fathers Pinet and Bineteau. Pinet is said to have preached 
 with such power and attractiveness that his chapel could not hold the 
 multitudes who came to hear him. Bineteau wandered off with a band 
 of Indians and died in the interior of the country. After the death 
 of Pinet, Father Gabriel Marest came to this mission. Cahokia was 
 a good trading point with the northern Indians. Evidently the Peo- 
 rias traded with Cahokia people, for in 1711 Father Marest left 
 Cahokia to serve the Peoria Indians, and this action was taken after 
 what appears to be some pleading. The soil was fertile and its cul- 
 tivation commenced at an early date. The village was first built on the 
 east bank of the Mississippi and on a little creek which flowed across 
 the alluvial bottom. By 1721, the Mississippi had carved a new chan- 
 nel westward so that the village was one-half league from the river. 
 The little creek also took another course and thus the village was left 
 inland. Cahokia as well as Kaskaskia received quite an increase in 
 French population in 1708, and farming was begun in some systematic 
 way. 
 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY 
 <U UKBANA-CHAMPAIGN
 
 52 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 When La Salle went to France in 1683 and got permission to or- 
 ganize a fleet, it was his intention to come into the Illinois country by 
 way of the mouth of the Mississippi, and thus avoid having to pass 
 through New France where his enemies would have delighted to thwart 
 all his plans. He missed the mouth of the river, lost his life, and the 
 expedition ended in failure. But the king who had just signed a 
 treaty of peace with England (at the close of King William's war), 
 saw the necessity of possessing the mouth of the Mississippi river. 
 Expeditions were therefore organized to take possession of the Louis- 
 iana country, by way of the mouth of the great river. Iberville sailed 
 from France in 1698 with two ships expecting to enter the mouth of 
 the Mississippi. He anchored in Mobile bay and reached the Missis- 
 sippi by small boats. Here he was given a letter which Tonti had writ- 
 ten while searching for La Salle in 1686. The letter had been left in 
 the forks of a tree. Iberville now knew he was on the Mississippi 
 river. Not finding a good place to plant a colony he returned to Mo- 
 bile bay and began a settlement at what came to be Biloxi. From now 
 on for the next half century every move by the French government meant 
 the completion of a great chain of fortresses between the mouth of the 
 great river and New France. All the territory drained by the Mississippi 
 was named Louisiana by La Salle. It thus occurred that Illinois came 
 to be a part of Louisiana. 
 
 From 1702 to 1713, France waged war against England. This is 
 what is usually known as Queen Anne's war. The immediate effect of 
 this was not felt in the Louisiana territory. The struggle in the New 
 World was confined to the regions of New England, and New France. 
 The end of the war found England in possession of Acadia and of 
 the region around Hudson bay. However, France had shown her 
 strength by repelling all attempts of England to get control of the St. 
 Lawrence river. 
 
 While the war was in progress France was not altogether unmind- 
 ful of her new territory of Louisiana. During the period prior to 1712, 
 two thousand five hundred settlers came to Louisiana by way of the 
 Gulf of Mexico. In 1712, only four hundred whites and twenty negro 
 slaves were to be found in Louisiana. The yellow fever raged at Biloxi 
 in 1708 and only fourteen officers, seventy-six soldiers, and thirteen 
 sailors were spared. By 1712 the colony was on its feet again and 
 very flattering reports went to France about Louisiana and especially 
 of the Illinois country. 
 
 GRANTS OF LAND 
 
 The English colonists who came to the Atlantic coast in the early 
 part of the seventeenth century were not the only colonists who spent 
 their time and energy in looking for precious stones and precious 
 metals. The French traders and explorers were continually dreaming 
 of gold, silver, and other precious products of the earth. It was gen- 
 erally believed in France that the interior of the New World was rich 
 in mineral wealth. 
 
 The wars which the king was forced to carry on had deprived him, 
 so he thought, of the opportunity to open these rich mines and thus 
 replenish a depleted treasury. He therefore concluded that rather 
 than delay in the matter he would better grant the monopoly of the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 53 
 
 trade and commerce in the Louisiana region to some one who could 
 and would develop its wonderful wealth. In looking around for some 
 one in whom he could repose such a great undertaking, he settled on 
 one Anthony Crozat, a very rich merchant of Paris, and a man who 
 had on former occasions rendered great service to the king and to the 
 kingdom. The king therefore issued a proclamation creating letters 
 patent and granting to the said Crozat the following monopoly for a 
 period of fifteen years. (Abridged) : 
 
 And, whereas, upon the information we have received, concerning 
 the disposition and situation of the said countries, known at present, 
 by the name of Louisiana, we are of the opinion that there may be 
 established therein a considerable commerce, so much the more advan- 
 tageous to our kingdom, in that there has hitherto been a necessity of 
 fetching from foreigners the greatest part of the commodities which 
 may be brought from thence ; and because, in exchange thereof, we 
 need carry thither nothing but commodities of the growth and manu- 
 facture of our own kingdom; . . . 
 
 We have resolved to grant the commerce of the country of Louisiana, 
 to the Sieur Anthony Crozat, our councillor, secretary of the house- 
 hold, crown and revenue, to whom we intrust the execution of this 
 project. 
 
 We permit him to search for, open, and dig all sorts of mines, veins, 
 and minerals, throughout the whole extent of the said country of 
 Louisiana, and to transport the profits thereof to any port of Prance, 
 during the said fifteen years, . . . 
 
 We likewise permit him to search for precious stones and pearls, 
 paying us the fifth part in the same manner as is mentioned for gold 
 and silver. 
 
 Our edicts, ordinances, and customs, and the usages of the mayoralty 
 and shrievalty of Paris, shall be observed for laws and customs in the 
 said country of Louisiana. 
 
 This grant to Crozat empowered him to open mines of gold, silver, 
 etc., to search for stones and pearls, to discover new lands, to control 
 the commerce, trade, etc., and to retain this privilege for fifteen years. 
 Crozat was to pay to the king one-fifth part of all gold, silver, precious 
 stones, etc. The territory was understood to be the region drained by 
 the Mississippi river and its tributaries. It is said that Crozat was 
 authorized to bring slaves to the Louisiana territory. Antoine Cadillac 
 who had, in the year 1701, founded Detroit, was made governor of 
 Louisiana and was given a share in the profits of Crozat 's grant. They 
 were very deeply interested in the commerce as well as in the mineral 
 wealth of the Louisiana country. Two pieces of silver ore from Mexico 
 were shown the governor at Kaskaskia and he was wild with joy and 
 excitement at the prospect of mines of untold wealth. He visited the 
 regions around the lakes and made discoveries of lead and copper but 
 no silver or gold was found. This grant to Crozat seems to nave had 
 the effect of killing the interest in trade and commerce in the Louisiana 
 country. There seems to have been quite a deal of jealousy among the 
 French traders toward Crozat. They grew tired of his monopoly, the 
 English and Spanish did everything they could to cripple his interests, 
 "and every Frenchman in Louisiana was not only hostile to his in- 
 terests, but was aiding and assisting to foment difficulties in the colony. ' ' 
 Crozat in five years spent 425,000 livres and received in return in
 
 54 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 trade 300,000 livres, a loss of 125,000 livres in five years. He resigned 
 his grant to the crown in 1717. 
 
 It so happened that at the time Crozat surrendered his grant to the 
 crown, that there was being formed in France a company which is 
 known by several names, but usually called the Western Company. 
 John Law, the great Scotch financier, was at the head of this company. 
 Its purpose was to re-enforce the finances of France. It was expected 
 that large plantations would be begun in Louisiana, mines opened, and 
 extensive trade carried on in furs and farm products, and large returns 
 were expected to come from all this. Emigrants poured into the Louis- 
 iana country. Over 800 arrived in August, 1717. Law sent 300 slaves 
 to the territory, and French and German emigrants were freely trans- 
 ported to the Mississippi valley. Following Cadillac, came Governor 
 1'Epinay, who served only a short time. Bienville, who was formerly 
 connected with the province, was then made governor. He founded 
 New Orleans in 1718. In that same year, December, there arrived at 
 Kaskaskia a Lieutenant Boisbriant with about a hundred soldiers, with 
 orders to assume military command of the Illinois district in the 
 Province of Louisiana. 
 
 Boisbriant came as the king's military representative with authority 
 to hold the country and defend the king's subjects. He was also au- 
 thorized to build a fort. The place selected for the fort was a point 
 about sixteen miles to the northwest of Kaskaskia, on the alluvial bot- 
 toms of the Mississippi river. The structure was of wood and was 
 probably made of two rows of vertical logs filled between with earth. 
 It was named Fort de Chartres, presumably after the king's son, whose 
 title was Due de Chartres. Inside the palisaded .walls were the officers ' 
 quarters and a storehouse for the company's goods. It is said that an 
 old fort built by Crozat stood near by. Fort Chartres, as constructed 
 by Boisbriant, stood for thirty years and was the center of great mili- 
 tary, civil, and social life. We shall have occasion to refer to Fort 
 Chartres again. 
 
 The fort was barely done when there arrived Phillipe Francois de 
 Renault, a representative of the Company of the West, in fact he was 
 director general of the mining operations of the company. He had left 
 France the year before, in the spring of 1719, with 200 miners, laborers, 
 and a full complement of mining utensils. On his way to the Province 
 of Louisiana he bought in St. Domingo, 500 Guinea negroes to work 
 the mines and plantations of the province. These were not all brought 
 to the Illinois district, but a large number was, and this is the origin of 
 slavery in the state of Illinois. In 1719, also, 500 Guinea negroes were 
 brought > to the region of New Orleans and Natchez. Thus by 1722, 
 1,000 negro slaves were in the Mississippi valley. 
 
 Renault made Fort Chartres his headquarters for a short time, and 
 from here he sent his expert miners and skilled workmen in every direc- 
 , tion hunting for the precious metals. The bluffs skirting the American 
 Bottoms on the east were diligently searched for minerals, but nothing 
 encouraging was found. In what is now Jackson, Randolph, and St. 
 Clair counties the ancient traces of furnaces were visible as late as 
 1850. Silver creek, which runs south and through Madison and St. 
 Clair counties, was so named on the supposition that the metal was 
 plentiful along that stream. 
 
 Failing to discover any metals or precious stones, Renault turned
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 55 
 
 his attention to the cultivation of the land in order to support his 
 miners. 
 
 May 10, 1722, the military commandant, Lieutenant Boisbriant, 
 representing the king, and Des Ursins representing the Royal Indes 
 Company (the Company of the West), granted to Charles Davie a 
 tract of land 5 arpents wide (58.35 rods) and reaching from the Kas- 
 kaskia on the east to the Mississippi on the west. This is said to have 
 been the first grant of land made in the Illinois district in Louisiana. 
 
 The next year, June 14, the same officials made a grant to Renault 
 of a tract of land abutting or facing on the Mississippi, more than three 
 miles wide and extending backward northeast into the country six 
 miles. This tract contained more than 13,000 acres of land. It reached 
 back to the bluffs, probably four to five miles. It is said the grant was 
 made in consideration of the labor of Renault's slaves, probably upon 
 some work belonging to the Company of the West. This grant was up 
 the Mississippi three and a half miles above Fort Chartres. The vil- 
 lage of St. Phillipe was probably started before the grant was made, at 
 least the village was on the grant. 
 
 OTHER SETTLEMENTS 
 
 As soon as Fort Chartres was complete there grew up a village near 
 by, which usually went by the name of New Chartres. About the year 
 1722 the village -of Prairie du Rocher was begun. It was located near 
 the bluffs due east from Fort Chartres about three and a half miles. 
 It is said that some of the houses were built of stone, there being an 
 abundance of that material in the bluffs just back of the village. To 
 this village there was granted a very large "common" which it holds 
 to this day. The common is about three miles square and lies back of 
 the village upon the upland. 
 
 There were, probably, as early as 1725, five permanent French vil- 
 lages in the American Bottom, namely: Cahokia, settled not earlier 
 than 1698, and not later than 1700 ; Kaskaskia, settled in the latter part 
 of the year 1700, or in the beginning of the year 1701 ; New Chartres, 
 the village about Fort Chartres, commenced about the same time the 
 fort was erected, 1720; Prairie du Rocher, settled about 1722, or pos- 
 sibly as late as the grant to Boisbriant, which was in 1733 ; St. Phillipe, 
 settled very soon after Renault received the grant from the Western 
 Company, which was 1723. 
 
 The villages were all much alike. They were a straggling lot of 
 crude cabins, built with little if any reference to streets, and con- 
 structed with no pretension to architectural beauty. The inhabitants 
 were French, and Indians, and negroes. 
 
 The industrial life of these people consisted of fishing and hunting, 
 cultivation of the soil, commercial transactions, some manufacturing, 
 and mining. The fishing and hunting was partly a pastime, but the 
 table was often liberally supplied from this source. The soil was fer- 
 tile and yielded abundantly to a very indifferent cultivation. Wheat 
 was grown and the grain ground in crude water mills usually situated 
 at the mouths of the streams as they emerged from the bluffs. And it 
 is said one windmill was erected in the bottom. They had swine and 
 black cattle, says Father Charlevoix, in 1721. The Indians raised 
 poultry, spun the wool of the buffalo and wove a cloth which they dyed 
 black, yellow, or red.
 
 50 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 In the first thirty or forty years of the eighteenth century, there 
 was considerable commerce carried on between these villages and the 
 mouth of the river. New Orleans was established in 1818 and came to 
 be, in a very early day, an important shipping point. The gristmills 
 ground the wheat which the farmers raised in the bottom and the flour 
 
 MAP OF AMERICAN BOTTOM, SHOWING OLD FRENCH VILLAGES 
 
 was shipped in keel boats and flatboats. Fifteen thousand deer skins 
 were sent in one year to New Orleans. Buffalo meat and other products 
 of the forest, as well as the produce of the farms, made up the cargoes. 
 Considerable lead was early shipped to the mother country. 
 
 The return vessels brought the colonists rice, sugar, coffee, manu- 
 factured articles of all kinds, tools, implements, and munitions of war.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 57 
 
 The boatmen suffered great hardships in bringing their cargoes 
 from New Orleans up the Mississippi river. These brave men were 
 obliged to endure all kinds of weather. They were subject to the fevers 
 incident to a life on the water in a hot climate. The treacherous Indians 
 lined the banks, and life on the boats was never safe. They had often 
 to pull their boats up the strong current by means of long ropes. But 
 with all this the boatmen were the happiest of all the people. 
 
 The social life of these people was one of pleasure. It is said they 
 passed much of their time in singing, dancing, and gaming. The 
 Frenchmen married the squaws of the different tribes and this of 
 necessity lowered the tone of the social life. The population became 
 mixed, and consequently degenerated. There can be little doubt that 
 there were many illegitimate children born. The parish records might' 
 lead one to suppose this for they are not uniform in their statement 
 that all children are born of legitimate marriages. The following is 
 from the parish records of the St. Anne church: 
 
 In the year 1743, on the 28th of December of the same year, I, the 
 undersigned, N. Laurent, priest, missionary apostolic, I baptized in the 
 absence of M. J. Gagnon, missionary of St. Anne's parish of Fort 
 Chartres, a daughter, born in the same month and day mentioned above, 
 of the legitimate marriage of Andrew Thomas des Jardius and of 
 Marie Joseph Larette. . . . 
 
 LAURENT, P. M. Ap. 
 
 The common people were modest in their apparel. They wore the 
 cheaper fabrics. In summer coarse cotton cloth, while in winter coarse 
 woolen blankets were much prized. Handkerchiefs were worn over the 
 heads by men and women. 
 
 While they were light hearted they were light headed as well, and 
 thriftless; the poorer portion laboring long enough to gain a bare sub- 
 sistence each passing day, the rest of the time being spent in sporting, 
 hunting, and wine drinking. 
 
 There was entire harmony with regard to religious matters. Every 
 one was a member of the church. The Indians in most cases were re- 
 garded as members. There were churches in all the villages except pos- 
 sibly in St. Phillipe. The daily requirements of the church have been 
 pointed out in the preceding pages. 
 
 Schools were unknown at least the kind of schools we are familiar 
 with. The priests may have given some instruction in the rudiments 
 of an education. Certainly something was done in the line of instruc- 
 tion for it is stated that a college was founded in Kaska.skia as early as 
 1721, and in connection a monastery was erected. 
 
 The government was very simple, at least until about 1730. From 
 the settlement in 1700 up to the coming of Crozat there was no civil gov- 
 ernment. Controversies were few and the priest's influence was such 
 that all disputes which arose were settled by that personage. Recently, 
 documents have been recovered from the courthouse in Chester which 
 throw considerable light upon the question of government in the French 
 villages, but as yet they have not been thoroughly sorted and inter- 
 preted. 
 
 The Company of the West realized that its task of developing the 
 territory of Louisiana was an unprofitable one, and they surrendered 
 their charter to the king, and Louisiana became, as we are accustomed 
 to say, a royal province by proclamation of the king, April 10, 1732.
 
 58 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The two efforts, the one by Crozat and the other by the Company of 
 the West had both resulted in failure so far as profit to either was con- 
 cerned. Crozat had spent 425,000 livres and realized in return only 
 300,000 livres. And although a rich man, the venture ruined him finan- 
 cially. The Company of the West put thousands of dollars into the at- 
 tempt to develop the territory for which no money in return was ever 
 received. But the efforts of both were a lasting good to the territory 
 itself. Possibly the knowledge of the geography of the country which 
 resulted from the explorations in search of precious metals, was not the 
 least valuable. Among other things, these two efforts brought an ad- 
 venturous class of people into Illinois and this put life into the sleepy 
 ongoing of priest and parishioner. 
 
 WAR AND PROGRESS 
 
 The life of the people in the new village of Kaskaskia is somewhat 
 difficult to reconstruct in our minds since few records are available 
 which give very definite accounts of it. However, we may safely con- 
 jecture that the village of Kaskaskia became the leading town between 
 the lakes and the gulf. Fort St. Louis was abandoned almost entirely 
 by the beginning of 1700. Peoria was never occupied permanently by 
 whites. Cahokia was possibly a rival of Kaskaskia, but never equaled 
 it in importance or in size. The settlers at the mouth of the Mississippi, 
 and the people of New France were constantly passing and repassing 
 the village of Kaskaskia. It was a sort of meeting point between the 
 north and the south. 
 
 There can be little doubt that permanent houses were built of tim- 
 ber, brush, and grasses. The Frenchmen were traders, trappers, and 
 voyageurs. They married the Indian women and there rapidly grew up 
 a half-breed race which probably was more French than Indian, at least 
 as to custom, disposition, and general appearance. There was really no 
 civil government. All differences, if there were any, were settled by the 
 priest in charge. The government of New France exercised no authority 
 in Kaskaskia. 
 
 The Kaskaskia tribe of Indians was never large and the presence of 
 priests, traders, and travelers gave the village quite an air of civiliza- 
 tion. The activities were simple hunting, fishing, and trafficking. The 
 two rivers and their tributaries thereto furnished an abundance of op- 
 portunity for food. Probably no commercial value attached to the occu- 
 pation of fishing ; each person providing his own table with this sort of 
 food. Hunting and trapping became a profitable business, and regular 
 markets were opened where furs were sold for cash or exchanged for 
 European goods which now began to find their way into the Illinois 
 country. As soon as the French established themselves at the mouth 
 of the Mississippi, the intercourse with the mother country was largely 
 by way of the south and through these new settlements, rather than 
 through Canada. However, it must be remembered that coincident with 
 the first decade of the life of the Kaskaskia colony, there was raging in 
 western Europe a war of considerable import the war of the ' ' Spanish 
 Succession," or more popularly "Queen Anne's war." 
 
 This war in no way directly affected our French settlements on the 
 Mississippi, but it prevented France^from giving attention to her new 
 settlements and they drifted along for ten or more years. It is true that
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 59 
 
 colonists were sent to the Mississippi valley from France by the ship- 
 load, as many as 2,500 being sent between the settling of Biloxi and the 
 close of Anne's war in 1713. But the character of the immigrants and 
 the lack of paternal oversight may be seen in the fact that out of the 
 2,500 colonists only 400 whites and twenty negroes were to be found in 
 1813. The settlers about Kaskaskia were evidently more thrifty, and 
 were free from some of the forces which operated to decimate the num- 
 bers at Biloxi and nearby settlements. The situation at Kaskaskia was 
 evidently more healthful than that at Biloxi; the character of the set- 
 tlers more hardy, and the Kaskaskia settlers more industrious, having 
 begun early the cultivation of the soil. There are no means of determin- 
 ing the white population in Kaskaskia prior to the end of Queen Anne's 
 war; but it may be conjectured that the number of whites was very 
 small. 
 
 GOVERNMENT, CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS 
 
 In the grant to Crozat in 1712, it was declared "and further, that 
 all lands which we possess from the Illinois, be united, so far as occasion 
 
 A WINTER VIEW OF PRAIRIE DU ROCHER 
 
 requires, to the General Government of New France and become a part 
 thereof." There certainly was no civil government in the Illinois coun- 
 try during the five years from 1712 to 1717. In 1718 Boisbriant landed 
 at Mobile with a commission making Bienville governor-general over the 
 Louisiana territory and making himself, Boisbriant, commandant of the 
 Illinois country. The growth of the territory was rapid from this time 
 forward, and there was need of better methods of civil administration. 
 In 1721 the whole of the Mississippi valley was divided into nine civil 
 jurisdictions, as follows: New Orleans, Biloxi, Mobile, Alabama, 
 Natchez, Yazoo, Natchitoches, Arkansas, and Illinois. "There shall be 
 at the headquarters in each district a commandant and a judge, from 
 whose decisions appeals may be had to the superior council established 
 at New Biloxi." Breese's History of Illinois gives a copy of an appeal 
 of the inhabitants of Kaskaskia to the Provincial commandant and judge 
 relative to the grants of lands to individuals and to the inhabitants as a 
 whole. It has four distinct sections. The heading is as follows:
 
 60 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 "THE INHABITANTS OF KASKASKIA TO THE PROVINCIAL COMMANDANT AND 
 JUDGE OP THE COUNTRY OP ILLINOIS." 
 
 This petition was duly considered and a notation made upon each 
 section, signed by De Lielte, who was commandant, and by Chaffin, who 
 was judge, and the whole forwarded to the Superior Council for final, 
 action. It bears date 1727. 
 
 The religious life of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and other French villages 
 was quite free from outside influence. By the third article of the ordi- 
 nance issued by Louis XV in 1724, all religious beliefs other than the 
 Catholic faith were forbidden. The article reads as follows : ' ' We pro- 
 hibit any other religious rites than those of the Apostolic Roman Catho- 
 lic church; requiring that those who violate this shall be punished as 
 rebels, disobedient to our commands." This ordinance also made it an 
 offense to set over any slaves any overseers who should in any way pre- 
 vent the slaves from professing the Roman Catholic religion. 
 
 By an earlier ordinance, issued in 1722, by the council for the com- 
 pany, and with the consent of the bishop of Quebec, the province of 
 Louisiana was divided into three spiritual jurisdictions. The first 
 comprised the banks of the Mississippi from the gulf to the mouth of 
 the Ohio, and including the region to the west. The Capuchins were to 
 officiate in the churches, and their superior was to reside in New Or- 
 leans. The second spiritual district comprised all the territory north of 
 the Ohio, and was assigned to the charge of the Jesuits whose superior 
 should reside in the Illinois, presumably at Kaskaskia. The third dis- 
 trict lay south of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi river and was as- 
 signed to the Carmelites, the residence of the superior being at Mobile. 
 Each of the three superiors was to be a grand vicar of the bishop of 
 Quebec. The Carmelites remained in charge of their territory south of 
 the Ohio only till the following fall, December, 1722, when they turned 
 over their work to the Capuchins and returned to France. 
 
 As evidence of the activity of the Jesuits in the territory which was 
 assigned them, we are told they had already, in 1721, established a 
 monastery in Kaskaskia. It is stated in Monette's Mississippi Valley, 
 that a college was also established there about the year 1721. Charle- 
 voix, quoted by Davidson and Stuve, says: "I passed the night with 
 the missionaries (at Cahokia), who are two ecclesiastics from the sem- 
 inary at Quebec, formerly my disciples, but they must now be my mas- 
 ters. . . Yesterday I arrived at Kaskaskia about nine o'clock. The 
 Jesuits have a very flourishing mission, which has lately been divided 
 into two." All descriptions which have come down to us of the condi- 
 tions in the Illinois country in the first part of the eighteenth century 
 represent the church as most aggressive and prosperous. Civil govern- 
 ment certainly must have passed into "innocuous desuetude" by 1732. 
 In 1720 a financial panic struck France and John Law was forced to 
 flee from the country. The Company of the Indies kept up a pretense 
 of carrying on its business, but in 1732 upon petition by the company, 
 the king issued a proclamation declaring the company dissolved and 
 Louisiana to be free to all subjects of the king. There were at this time, 
 1732 about 7,000 whites and 2,000 negro slaves within the limits of the 
 Louisiana territory. The rules of the Western Company had been so 
 exacting that many of the activities of the people had been repressed. 
 Every one seems to have been held in a sort of vassalage to the company. 
 Now the territory was to come directly under the crown.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 LOUISIANA AND ILLINOIS (1732-1777) 
 
 ILLINOIS PRIOR TO THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR THE STRUGGLE FOR 
 THE OHIO VALLEY OLD FORT CHARTRES THE COMING OP THE 
 BRITISH ILLINOIS UNDER BRITISH RULE. 
 
 By the proclamation of the king of France in 1732, Louisiana be- 
 came a royal province, and was attached temporarily to New France 
 for purposes of government. For thirty-two years France had been 
 pouring men and money into the Mississippi valley; Crozat had spent 
 a fortune. The Western Company had sent thousands of people into 
 the territory and had spent money lavishly for supplies, soldiers, forts, 
 transportation, and explorations. The government took up the work 
 with some degree of spirit and began by separating the Louisiana 
 province from New France, in governmental matters. The officers for 
 Louisiana were a governor, an intendant, and a royal council. The 
 governor was to appoint the commandant for the Illinois. At the 
 time of this change in the government from that of the Western Com- 
 pany to that of royal oversight, St. Ange de Belle Rive was command- 
 ant in the Illinois. He was followed by Pierre D'Artaguette, who 
 seems to have assumed command in 1834, probably in the very early 
 part of that year. 
 
 The settlements at the mouth of the Mississippi river and those 
 in the Illinois country were separated from each other by hundreds 
 of miles of territory whose only occupants were Indians. Kaskaskia 
 was the farthest south of any of the settlements in Illinois, and Natchez 
 was the farthest north of any of the settlements about the mouth of 
 the Mississippi. From Natchez south down the river, settlements were 
 scattering. The Natchez and the Chickasaw Indians occupied nearly 
 all the territory adjacent to the Mississippi river, on the east, and 
 south of the Ohio river. These Indians had been more or less trouble- 
 some to the commerce passing up and down the river. In 1729 a con- 
 spiracy was hatched by these Indians, and the Natchez fell upon the 
 settlers at the town of Natchez (Fort Rosalie) and massacred the en- 
 tire population. A vigorous campaign drove this tribe west of the 
 Mississippi, where they were captured and sold as slaves in the West 
 Indies. 
 
 After this summary disposal of the Natchez Indians, the Chicka- 
 saws became troublesome. The governor at New Orleans, felt it his 
 duty to discipline them. He called on D'Artaguette, commandant at 
 Kaskaskia, and upon Francois Morgan de Vincenne, commandant at 
 the Post Vincennes, for soldiers. Each furnished soldiers and some 
 
 61
 
 62 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Indians, and the combined force moved southward from the mouth of 
 the Ohio. The force from the south under Bienville, and the one from 
 the north under D 'Artaguette, were not timed so as to arrive at the 
 Indian stronghold at the same time. D' Artaguette reached the scene 
 of conflict first and in an unsuccessful assault many of his men were 
 killed, and he and Vincenne and Father Senat fell into the hands of 
 the Chickasaws, who, despairing of a large ransom from Bienville, 
 took their distinguished prisoners out into an open field and there 
 tortured them to death by a slow fire. Thus Illinois lost a brilliant 
 leader and a score or more of valuable citizens. Not only so, but it 
 took four years more of warfare to subdue the warlike Chickasaws. 
 After 1739 there was comparative freedom in the navigation of the 
 Mississippi river. The French and Indians north of the Ohio were on 
 very good terms and the French settlements were growing rapidly. 
 New settlements sprang up here and there on the Illinois and on the 
 Wabash. Many of these settlements were not permanent, being en- 
 gaged in the fur trade. 
 
 In 1744 war broke out between France and England and there was 
 more or less friction between the French colonists in Canada and the 
 English settlers in New York, and the New England colonists. This 
 is called in this country, King George's war. The quiet on-going of 
 affairs in the Louisiana territory was not disturbed by this conflict. 
 The French and Indians west of the Alleghanies were on very good 
 terms following the Natchez and Chickasaw war. Agriculture flour- 
 ished, and commerce on the Mississippi was free from any restraints. 
 Capital began to seek investments and population rapidly increased. 
 "Illinois sent regular cargoes of flour, bacon, pork, hides, leather, 
 tallow, bear's oil, and lumber" to the markets of the world. The 
 method of transportation was in keel boats and barges. The keel boats 
 and barges returned up the river from New Orleans with consign- 
 ments of rice, tobacco, indigo, sugar, cotton fabrics, and all kinds of 
 European goods. The entire Louisiana country including the Illinois 
 and the Wabash settlements was quite self-sustaining. 
 
 But while these settlements were free from the war, called King 
 George's war, there were other drawbacks. In the fall of 1745, severe 
 storms and inundations swept over the plantations of the lower Louis- 
 iana, destroying a large proportion of the crops. The rice crop was 
 almost a total loss. Rice was used largely as a substitute for bread by 
 the people of the lower Louisiana, and its loss would be greatly felt 
 unless some other article could be substituted. The loss to the people 
 about New Orleans was gain to the Illinois people for it made a mar- 
 ket for their surplus wheat and flour. Monette, in Vol I, page 316, 
 says as many as four thousand sacks of flour of 100 pounds each were 
 shipped to New Orleans in the years 1745 and 1746. Reynolds says 
 in his Pioneer History that the flour was sacked in deerskins. 
 
 From the coming of the Company of the West in 1718, to the French 
 and Indian war, there was great growth in the Illinois country. It 
 should be pointed out that what people then called "the Illinois" or 
 the "Illinois Country," was principally the territory which came to 
 be known as the American Bottoms. This is a great body of alluvial 
 land stretching from the present city of Alton to the city of Chester, 
 lying between the Mississippi river and the "bluffs" on the east. The 
 distance from Alton to Chester is about seventy-five miles on a straight
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 63 
 
 line, but probably one hundred and twenty-five miles by the river. 
 The width of this alluvial plain is about six to eight miles. These bot- 
 toms are a rich alluvial deposit and are fairly well drained. In some 
 places, however, there are lakes and bayous which render the land 
 useless. Many of the lakes have been drained, and the land thus re- 
 deemed is very valuable. It was in these rich alluvial bottoms that all 
 the early French villages were located. The French had a system of 
 granting their public lands very different from our system of rectangu- 
 lar surveys. We survey our lands and throw them into townships, 
 sections and quarter sections, a rectangular system. Our lands are 
 mapped and it is easy to locate sections or smaller units than the 
 section. 
 
 The French system was virtually a system of strips abutting on 
 the river and reaching back over the alluvial grounds to the "bluffs," 
 and even beyond. If one will examine the county maps of St. Clair, 
 Monroe, and Randolph, he will find these grants laid down the grants 
 abutting on the river and extending in narrow strips back to the bluffs. 
 In addition to these grants of the strips to individuals, there were 
 grants made to each village known as the "Commons" or the "Com- 
 mon Lands." This was a grant made to the community as a whole, 
 and was used as common pasture lands and, when timbered, was used 
 as the source of fuel. Such grants were made to Cahokia, Prairie du 
 Pont, Prairie du Rocher, Kaskaskia and probably to New Chartres. 
 These "Commons" or "Common Lands" must not be confused with 
 "Common Fields." The commons were were not cultivated, while the 
 "Common Fields" were used for cultivation. The common field was 
 laid off in strips, each of which, was assigned to a particular person 
 for cultivation for the season; next season it was assigned to a differ- 
 ent person. The whole of the common field was under one fence, but 
 there were no partition fences. Wheat and corn were raised in large 
 quantities, and there were mills for the grinding of these grains. 
 Renault is said to have put up a water mill and a chapel in his village 
 of St. Phillipe. The mill was for grinding and sawing. There were 
 other water mills along the bluffs where corn and wheat were ground. 
 Horse mills also were common. 
 
 Horses and cattle were introduced very early. Reynolds says the 
 cattle came from Canada, while the horses were of the Arabian strain 
 and were brought to the southwest by the Spaniards. It is not to be 
 understood that the cultivation of the soil was of a very high order. 
 Utensils were crude. The plows were wooden and were usually drawn 
 by oxen. The oxen were fastened together by the horns by means of a 
 flat piece of wood, and not yoked as was customary with the English 
 settlers. The wagons were small two-wheel carts made by the farmers 
 themselves, usually with little or no iron, and were pulled or pushed 
 by hand, seldom by horses or oxen. 
 
 The crops were cultivated by slave labor and chiefly by hand. The 
 French people were much given to the cultivation of small fruits and 
 flowers. Cherry, apple, peach, and plum trees grew in each yard. 
 Large beds of flowers were cultivated, and wild flowers were gathered 
 in abundance. As late as 1825 when La Fayette visited Kaskaskia the 
 French inhabitants searched the woods for wild flowers, and the ban- 
 quet hall was litterly filled with them. The houses were mainly built 
 after one pattern. The "ground plan" was marked off by trenches in
 
 64 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 which upright posts were set side by side in palisade style. The tops 
 were sawed off of uniform height. On top of these posts the roof was 
 placed constructed of simple frame work thatched with wild grasses, 
 or in earlier years with the skins of animals, and in later years covered 
 with boards. The spaces were filled in with mud and grasses, and later 
 with mortar made from lime burned in the bluffs nearby. In later years 
 these upright posts were set on timbers instead of being set in the ground, 
 and there is one old house standing in old Brownville which was built 
 that way. It was built as late as 1830 or 1840. 
 
 The religious life of this people was a simple faith in the priest 
 and in his teachings. As has been said before there were no other 
 faiths than that of the Roman Catholic church. There were no 
 schools in the sense in which we know schools today. The instruc- 
 tion given was largely through the work of the priests. It is probable 
 that many of those who were sufficiently educated to carry on busi- 
 ness transactions were immigrants from Canada or from France di- 
 rect. However, the college which is said to have flourished from 
 1721 to 1754 may have furnished a means for an education which 
 met the demands of those days. It is certain that the great mass of 
 people were ignorant though kind and considerate. 
 
 The Illinois country, as has been shown, included Vincennes and 
 other settlements on the Wabash. Vincennes is said to have been 
 founded as early as 1702 by Francois Morgan de Vincenne. It was 
 the fourth in the line of forts reaching from the lakes to the Mississippi 
 by way of the Wabash. The first of these forts was constructed at 
 Detroit in 1701. The second at the junction of the St. Joseph with 
 the Miami where the city of Fort Wayne is today. A third fort was 
 located about seven miles below the present city of La Fayette and 
 was called Ontanon. The fourth was located where the present city 
 of Vincennes is. This fort was known as Fort Sackville and the town 
 as Post Vincent. A fifth was built on the Ohio a few miles below 
 the mouth of the Tennessee and the fort came to be called Fort Mas- 
 sac. This last fort was built about 1711 or 1712. However, it is 
 claimed that the building of the fort was as early as 1702. There was 
 probably a mission post there as early as 1702 planted by Father 
 Mermet, and was known as the Assumption. By glancing at the 
 map one may see what an excellent water route was accessible from 
 the lakes to the Mississippi by way of the Wabash. Little is known 
 of Post Vincennes and of Fort Massac prior to the French and In- 
 dian war. They were doubtless visited by the French as they passed 
 between the lakes and the gulf via the Wabash. 
 
 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE OHIO VALLEY 
 
 King George's war which had its origin in European political 
 complications closed in 1748. The treaty which closed the war pro- 
 vided for the return of Louisburg to the French, and all other pos- 
 sessions of England and France in America to remain as they were 
 prior to the war. It could easily be seen that the next struggle be- 
 tween the French and the English would be for the permanent con- 
 trol of the Ohio valley and the adjacent territory east of the 
 Mississippi river. The English had never relaxed in their determina- 
 tion to possess the Ohio valley. In 1748 a treaty known as the Treaty
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 65 
 
 of Lancaster was made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, between English 
 commissioners and three Indian chiefs representing twelve towns in 
 the vicinity of the Wabash. The purpose of the treaty was to at- 
 tach the Indians north of the Ohio to the English cause. The Ohio 
 Land Company was formed in 1748. It contained residents of Eng- 
 land and Virginia. It received from King George II a grant of a 
 half million acres of land on and about the Ohio river. They were 
 given the exclusive right of trading with the Indians in that region. 
 
 In 1749 the governor general of Canada sent Louis Celeron, a 
 knight of the Military Order of St. Louis, to plant lead plates along 
 the valley of the Ohio which might eventually prove French priority 
 of occupation of this territory. Several of the plates were afterward 
 unearthed. In 1750 Celeron wrote a letter to the governor of Penn- 
 sylvania warning him of the danger to his people who might tres- 
 pass upon the French possessions along the Ohio. In 1752 agents of 
 the Ohio Company established a trading post within a few miles 
 of the present site of Piqua, Ohio. In the same year the French 
 and Indian allies destroyed this post, killing fourteen Twightwees 
 Indians, who were under a treaty with the English. Logstown, about 
 18 miles below the forks of the Ohio, was settled in 1748 by the Eng- 
 lish and in 1752 a treaty was made there in which the Indians ceded 
 certain rights and privileges to the English. 
 
 The French began in 1753 to build a line of forts from the lakes 
 to the Mississippi by way of the Ohio and its tributaries from the 
 north. The first fort was located at Presque Isle (now Erie, Penn- 
 sylvania) ; the second one was Fort Le Boeuf on French Creek, a 
 branch of the Alleghany. The third was called Venango at the 
 mouth of the French Creek. From here they pushed south and found 
 some Englishmen building a fort at the junction of the Alleghany 
 and Monongahela. The French drove the Englishmen from the place 
 and finished the fort and named it Fort Du Quesne. This was the 
 fourth fortification in the line of forts reaching from the lakes to the 
 Mississippi river. The French and Indian war was now fairly be- 
 gun and we shall return to the Illinois to see what part this region 
 was to play in this final contest for supremacy between the two great 
 old world powers. 
 
 We have called attention to the activity of the French in build- 
 ing forts on the upper Ohio to secure that region from the English. 
 The same activity marked their preparations in the west for th n , im- 
 pending struggle. Fort Chartres had been originally of wood. There 
 never were many soldiers stationed there at any time only a few 
 score soldiers and officers, but following King George's war it was de- 
 cided to rebuilt Fort Chartres on a large scale. Many descriptions 
 have been written of this charming historic spot, and many noted trav- 
 elers have visited its ruins but the author takes great pleasure in pre- 
 senting a sketch written by the Hon. H. C. Voris, publisher of The 
 Waterloo Republican. Mr. Voris has lived in the vicinity of the old fort 
 for many' years and possesses a familiarity with its history and its tra- 
 dition which peculiarly fits him to write its history. I take pleasure 
 therefore in presenting in section three of this chapter the sketch 
 which Editor Voris has so kindly prepared.
 
 66 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 OLD PORT CHARTBES 
 
 Fort Chartres is by far the most interesting and most important 
 historic point in Illinois, perhaps in the Mississippi valley. It is in a 
 class by itself. In its time it was the strongest fort in America. It 
 was the capital of two mighty powers, the center of western civiliza- 
 tion, the Mecca of the West. Passing from control of the Indians, Illi- 
 nois was claimed by Spain, occupied by France, conquered by Eng- 
 land, then passed to the Americans under George Rogers Clark with 
 the capture of Kaskaskia. The French, English, and American flags 
 successively floated at this ancient citadel. 
 
 While all other works of the pioneers have suffered decay, and there 
 remains nothing but the sites on which they stood, the ruins of Fort' 
 Chartres are still well defined, and the old powder magazine is still in- 
 tact, apparently preserved by the very reverence which the surround- 
 ings and traditions of the place seem to inspire. 
 
 Fort Chartres is situated in the northern portion of Randolph county, 
 near the Mississippi, and not far from the Monroe county line. In fact 
 the settlement which grew up about the fort was principally in Monroe 
 county. And the food-stuffs which supplied the fort, and upon which 
 the French drew in the French and Indian war, were produced in Mon- 
 roe, on what is now known as the Renault grant. 
 
 The strategic point of Fort Chartres was first recognized by the great 
 La Salle. He impressed the ministers of Louis XIV of the importance 
 of establishing a string of forts from Quebec down through the Missis- 
 sippi valley, thus early recognizing the fact that this portion of country 
 was destined to become populous and valuable. 
 
 This territory was embraced in the Florida country and claimed by 
 Spain by right of discovery. The claims of France were based upon the 
 explorations of La Salle. The English then were east of the Alleghanies, 
 but were gradually pushing westward. The early French explorers 
 were first to discover the great resources of the valley, its rich trade in 
 furs and minerals, and agricultural productions. The shrewd French 
 traders early saw the clash which was inevitable from the Spanish then 
 at Santa Fe, and the English on the east. 
 
 For protection against these two future foes it was determined to 
 erect a fort, and Pierre Duque Boisbriant, a cousin of Bienville, then 
 governor of Louisiana, was sent with his commission as commandant 
 of the Illinois. He arrived in Mobile February 9, 1718. 
 
 In October of 1718 he arrived in the Illinois country, stopping at 
 Kaskaskia. He determined upon a site sixteen miles above Kaskas- 
 kia, midway between Kaskaskia and Cahokia, and the same winter 
 began work upon the fort. 
 
 Fort Chartres was completed in 1720, and the banner of France was 
 flung to the breeze. This log fort protected within its walls the barracks 
 and commandant's house, store-house of the India Company, and maga- 
 zines. It was named in honor of Due de Chartres, son of the Regent. 
 
 One of the first arrivals after the completion of the log fort was 
 Philip Francois Renault, a banker of Paris, and director-general of the 
 mines of the India Company. He brought with him about 250 miners, 
 and several slaves from St. Domingo. The present colored population 
 of Prairie du Rocher are descendants of the Renault slaves. Thus was 
 slavery introduced into Illinois.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 67 
 
 The fort was scarcely finished when Boisbriant was apprised of a 
 contemplated attack by the Spaniards from Mexico. This force, how- 
 ever, was annihilated by the Pawnees, the chaplain of the expedition 
 alone escaping. This account of the expedition was given to Father 
 Charlevoix at Green Bay by two Indian chiefs. 
 
 Father Charlevoix was traveling through the valley. With him 
 was a young Canadian escort, Jean St. Ange de Belle Rive, who later be- 
 came commander of the fort. 
 
 The village which grew up about the fort became the parish of Ste. 
 Anne de Fort Chartres. 
 
 The Provincial Council of the Illinois consisted of the governor- 
 general, Boisbriant ; civil officer, Marc Antoine de la Loire des Ursins, 
 also principal director of the India Company ; and Michel Chassin, com- 
 missary for the company. This council dispensed justice, regulated 
 titles, and established the court which prevailed for forty years. They 
 executed the grants upon which many titles rest to this day. 
 
 One of their largest grants was made in 1723 to Philip Renault, con- 
 sisting of a piece of land in Monroe county, one league along the river 
 and two leagues inland. This tract lies just north of the fort. It was 
 intended by Renault to furnish provisions for his men at the mines. 
 (This grant was never conveyed by Renault, and for many years was 
 marked upon the map as the property of Philip Renault heirs.) From 
 Indian tradition much mineral wealth was believed to be in what is now 
 Monroe county, and local tradition substantiates such views as to lead. 
 Silver creek derives its name from reported silver mines along its banks. 
 Many efforts have been made to locate the lost lead mine in the bluffs of 
 Monroe, but all have proved futile. Traces of gold have been found in 
 Prairie du Long precinct, and tradition weaves an interesting story, the 
 same traditions, perhaps, that lured Renault. 
 
 In 1728 the troops at Fort Chartres were called upon to repel the 
 Foxes, a tribe of Indians who had become very troublesome. 
 
 In 1729 Governor St. Ange purchased a tract of land near the fort 
 from an Indian named Chicago. 
 
 In 1734 the Chickasaws became offensive, and Bienville resolved to 
 crush them. De Coulanges was sent to Fort Chartres with a supply of 
 ammunition. But he disobeyed orders and transported merchandise, 
 leaving the powder at the Arkansas. For this he was imprisoned six 
 months at the fort. In February, D'Artaguiette, who had succeeded 
 St. Ange, sailed down the river with his troops, together with all the 
 Kaskaskia Indians, and a flock of Indian warriors as far away as De- 
 troit, led by Chief Chicago. The troops reached the Chickasaw vil- 
 lages, but the soldiers from New Orleans failed to arrive, and the 
 Frenchmen were defeated by the Chickasaws. D'Artaguiette, young St. 
 Ange, Vincenne and many others were burned at the stake. 
 
 After the death of D'Artaguiette, La Buissoniere succeeded him as 
 commandant of Illinois. These were the brightest days of Fort Chartres. 
 He kept peace with the Indians, developed agriculture, and extended 
 trade. He sent two convoys each year to New Orleans, loaded with the 
 produce of the vicinity. The smaller villages of Prairie du Rocher and 
 St. Phillipe sprang up in the vicinity. Boisbriant conveyed much of his 
 land ,to his nephew Langlois, and he in turn to others. Descendants of 
 the elder Langlois still reside at Prairie du Rocher. St. Phillipe was es- 
 tablished upon the Renault grant by Philip Renault, and became a thriv-
 
 68 . HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ing village. Renault made his last conveyance of a lot at St. Phillipe in 
 1740, and returned to Paris. 
 
 Chevalier de Bertel became major-commandant in 1743, succeeding 
 La Buissoniere. Affairs at the fort were becoming gloomy. France and 
 England were at war. The Indians had been won over to the English, 
 and had greed to destroy the fort at the falling of the leaves. De Bertel 
 appealed to the governor of Canada, Marquis de Galissoniere, who be- 
 came impressed with the necessity of holding the fort. His memorial 
 to the French government was so strong that the king sacrificed much 
 of his private fortune for its support. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle 
 saved the fort, and gave them time to recuperate. 
 
 Recognizing the importance of the post, the French government in 
 1750 sent Chevalier Makarty, a major of engineers, and a few companies 
 of troops to rebuild the citadel of Illinois. Other detachments followed, 
 until nearly a full regiment was quartered there. Benoist St. Clair had 
 succeeded Bertel as commandant. 
 
 The old fort had been hastily constructed of wood. The new fort was 
 to be of stone. It was planned and constructed by Lieutenant Jean B. 
 Saussier, a French engineer, whose descendants lived in Cahokia many 
 years, one of whom, Dr. John Snyder, now lives in Virginia, Cass county, 
 Illinois. When completed it was the finest and most costly fort in Amer- 
 ica. The cost of its construction was about $1,500,000, and it seriously 
 embarrassed the French exchequer. Makarty evidently drew his inspi- 
 ration from the temple of King Solomon. The stones were hewn, 
 squared, and numbered in the quarries in the bluff just opposite, about 
 four miles distant, and conveyed across the lake to the fort in boats. 
 The massive stone walls enclosed about four acres. They were 18 feet 
 high and about two feet thick. The gateway was arched, and 15 feet 
 high ; a cut-stone platform was above the gate with a stair of nineteen 
 steps and balustrade leading to it; there were four bastions, each with 
 forty-eight loopholes, eight embrasures, and a sentry box, all in cut 
 stone. Within the walls stood the store house, 90 feet long, 30 wide, two 
 stories high ; the guard house with two rooms above for chapel and mis- 
 sionary quarters; the government house, 84x32, with iron gates and a 
 stone porch ; a coach house, pigeon house, and large well walled up with 
 the finest of dressed rock; the intendant's house; two rows of barracks, 
 each 128 feet long ; the magazine, which is still standing and well pre- 
 served 35x38 and 13 feet high ; bake ovens ; four prison cells of cut 
 stone ; one large relief gate on the north. Such was the pride of the 
 French empire, and the capital of New France. 
 
 The fort was scarcely completed when the French and Indian war 
 broke out. In May of 1754 George Washington and his Virginia rifle- 
 men surprised the French at Great Meadows, where Jumonville, the 
 French commander, was killed. A brother of the slain French comman- 
 der, who was stationed at Fort Chartres, secured leave from Makarty 
 to avenge his death. Taking his company with him they proceeded to 
 Fort Duquesne, and there gathering up some friendly Indians they at- 
 tacked Washington at Fort Necessity, which was surrendered on July 4. 
 This was the real beginning of the old French war. Flushed with victory, 
 the little detachment returned to Fort Chartres, and celebrated the tri- 
 umph of Illinois over Virginia. 
 
 In the French and Indian war the demand upon Makarty at Fort 
 Chartres for men and provisions became incessant. In fact, Fort Char-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 69 
 
 tres became the principal base of supplies in the west. In 1755, Captain 
 Aubry was sent to reenforce Port Duquesne with 400 men. The fort 
 held out for some time, but later Colonel Washington compelled its aban- 
 donment. 
 
 The power of the French began to wane. They maintained 
 the struggle gallantly, however, and made one more desperate effort 
 to raise the siege of Port Niagara. They failed. The flower of Fort 
 Chartres went down at Niagara. The surrender of Canada soon fol- 
 lowed, but Port Chartres still held out for the French king. (After 
 the rebuilding of the fort the place became known as New Chartres.) 
 They hoped that they would still be considered with Louisiana, and 
 remain in French territory. Their disappointment was bitter when 
 they learned that on February 10, 1763, Louis XV had ratified the 
 treaty transferring them to Great Britain. 
 
 While the French at Fort Chartres were waiting for a British 
 force to come to take possession, Pierre Laclede arrived from New 
 Orleans to settle at the Illinois, bringing with him a company repre- 
 senting merchants engaged in the fur trade. Learning of the treaty 
 of cession he decided to establish his post on the west side of the Mis- 
 sissippi, which he still believed to be French soil. He selected a fine 
 bluff sixty miles north of Fort Chartres for the site of his post, and 
 returned for the winter. In the spring he began his colony, and was 
 enthusiastic over its prospects. Many of the French families followed 
 him, wishing to remain under the French flag. Their disappointment 
 was still more bitter when they learned that all the French possessions 
 west of the Mississippi had been ceded to Spain. This is now St. Louis. 
 
 The elder St. Ange, who had been at Vincennes, returned to take 
 part in the last act. Though the territory had been transferred to 
 King George, the white flag of the Bourbons continued to fly at Fort 
 Chartres, the last place in America. The Indian chief Pontiac, was 
 another power not taken into confidence at the treaty. Pontiac loved 
 the French, but detested the English. When the English companies 
 under Loftus, Pitman, and Morris, respectively came to take possession, 
 each was balked by the wily red man. Chief Pontiac gathered an 
 army of red men and proceeded to Fort Chartres where he met St. 
 Ange, and boldly proposed to assist him in repelling the English. St. 
 Ange plainly told him that all was over, and advised him to make 
 peace with the English. Fort Chartres was finally surrendered to 
 Captain Stirling on October 10, 1765. The red cross of St. George 
 replaced the Lilies of France. St. Ange and his men took a boat for 
 St. Louis, and there enrolled in the garrison under the Spanish, which 
 St. Ange was appointed to command. 
 
 The first court of law was established at Fort Chartres in December, 
 1768, Fort Chartres becoming the capital of the British province west 
 of the Alleghanies. Colonel Wilkins had assumed command under a 
 proclamation from General Gage, and with seven judges sat at Fort 
 Chartres to administer the law of England. After the surrender by 
 the French the church records were removed to Kaskaskia. The rec- 
 ords of the old French court were also removed there. A constant 
 warfare had been kept up by the Indians, until Pontiac was killed near 
 Cahokia by an Illinois Indian. Pontiac 's warriors pursued the Illinois 
 tribe to the walls of Fort Chartres, where many of them were slain, 
 the British refusing to assist them. St. Ange recovered the body of
 
 70 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Pontiac, and it was buried on the spot now occupied by the Southern 
 Hotel in St. Louis, a memorial plate marking the place. 
 
 In 1772 high water swept away one of the bastions, and a part of 
 the western wall of Fort Chartres. The British took refuge at Kaskas- 
 kia, and the fort was never occupied again. Congress, in 1778, re- 
 served to the government a tract one mile square, of which the fort 
 was the center. But this reservation was opened to entry in 1849, no 
 provision being made for the fort. Governor Reynolds visited the 
 place in 1802. He says: "It is an object of antiquarian curiosity. 
 The trees, undergrowth and brush are mixed and interwoven with the 
 old walls. It presented the most striking contrast between a savage 
 wilderness, filled with wild beasts and reptiles, and the remains of one 
 of the largest and strongest fortifications on the continent. Large 
 trees were growing in the houses which once contained the elegant and 
 accomplished French officers and soldiers." 
 
 Judge Brackenridge of the United States District of Louisiana, in 
 1811, says: "Fort Chartres is a noble ruin, and is visited by strangers 
 as a great curiosity. The outward wall, barracks and magazine are 
 still standing. There are a number of cannon lying half buried in the 
 earth, with their trunnions broken off." 
 
 Hall, in his Romance of the West in 1829, says: "It was with 
 difficulty that we found the ruins, which are covered with a vigorous 
 growth of forest trees. . . . The buildings were all razed to the 
 ground, but the lines of the foundations could be easily traced. A 
 large vaulted powder magazine remained in good preservation. And it 
 was curious to see in the gloom of a wild forest these remnants of the 
 architecture of a past age." 
 
 It is a pleasant drive from Waterloo to the ruins. The twenty miles 
 take you along one of the most productive ridges of the valley for part 
 of the way, after which a turn is made into the bluffs and the "big 
 spring" is passed which was the stopping place for the early travelers 
 on their way from Kaskaskia and Fort Chartres to Cahokia. From a 
 distance, after getting into the bottom, the bluffs present as pretty a 
 picture as do the famed palisades of the Hudson, or the beautiful val- 
 ley of the Ohio. And, suddenly, you descend a little knoll, and find 
 yourself at once in Prairie du Rocher. Here are the descendants of 
 the French of Fort Chartres, who chose to stay rather than to follow 
 St. Ange to St. Louis. Here is the typical French village, where all is 
 sunshine and flowers, where love and piety prevail, where the very 
 atmosphere seems inspired with French accents of the past. Three 
 chalices and a monstrance, and a tabernacle of inlaid wood, all from 
 the church of Ste. Anne of Fort Chartres, are preserved in the church 
 of St. Joseph in Prairie du Rocher. Three miles due west lie the ruins 
 of the old fort. It was the writer's pleasure to visit this spot with 
 Father Krewet in 1886, when he was in charge of the parish. 
 
 All roads formerly lead to Fort Chartres. Now it takes diligent 
 inquiry to find the place. It lies about a quarter of a mile from the 
 public highway, completely obscured by the growth of underbrush 
 which surrounds it. Upon arriving at the spot the old magazine stands 
 out proudly and reverently, connecting the two centuries past with the 
 present. The very ground seems hallowed. The songs of the birds 
 seem sacred. And the lover of history gazes in awe and silence upon 
 the ruins of the past, which almost two centuries ago, teemed with life.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 71 
 
 This was the Paris of America, where the gallant French officers in 
 gold and glitter danced with ladies attired in the latest fashions of 
 France. 
 
 The old gateway of carved stone may yet be traced. One of the 
 corner bastions is still fairly well defined. One angle of the wall still 
 remains, and for many years served as a foundation for a barn built 
 within these sacred precincts. The well is still there, walled with its 
 cut stone, and until recently contained good, pure water, in decided 
 contrast to the ordinary well near the river. 
 
 The old walls have been destroyed by the ruthless hands of ignor- 
 ance, and the lapse of time. The dressed stones have been hauled away 
 and now form the foundations of many houses and barns between the 
 old fort and Kaskaskia. 
 
 Fate has been kind to the magazine. Its walls built of carefully 
 
 POWDER MAGAZINE OF OLD FORT CHARTRES 
 
 dressed and fitted stones, and its arched roof, have defied the elements, 
 and so far have escaped the unsparing hand of barbarous force. 
 
 The cannon which bristled proudly in the halcyon days have long 
 since disappeared, having been removed to Fort Russell (now Edwards- 
 ville), which was the principal base of operations in the west in the 
 War of 1812, and to Fort Jefferson, some miles below Cairo, in Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 The villages of Ste. Anne and St. Phillipe have also disappeared. 
 St. Phillipe is now a farm, but to this day a part of the road at the bluffs 
 and a portion of the field is known as King's Highway, and marks the 
 road which Renault traveled in his zenith. 
 
 The old magazine, now covered with moss and vines, is indeed an 
 object picturesque and venerable. It is by far the most interesting 
 ruin of Colonial days. At the session of the legislature in 1911, a bill 
 was introduced, appropriating a sum of money with which to purchase 
 the site and convert it into a state park. It was a most worthy cause. 
 And it is hoped that some action will yet be taken to preserve the old 
 magazine and preserve the site before it is too late.
 
 72 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 PLAN OF FORT CHARTRES ON MISSISSIPPI 
 
 Survey by N. Hansen and L. C. Beck, in 1820. 
 Scale 125 ft. to inch. 
 A A A Exterior wall, 1,447 feet. 
 B Gate. 
 C Small gate. 
 
 D D Two houses occupied by commandant and commissary, each 
 96x30 feet. 
 E Well. 
 F Magazine. 
 
 SfAVINE. 
 
 OUTLINE PLAN OP OLD FORT CHARTRES, DRAWN FROM A SURVEY MADE IN 
 1820 BY NICHOLAS HANSEN AND LEWIS C. BECK 
 
 GG GG Barracks, 135x36 feet. 
 
 H H Store house and guard house, 90x24 feet. 
 
 I Small magazine. 
 
 K Furnace. 
 
 L L L Ravine, filled with water in spring. 
 
 Area of fort about four square acres. 
 
 THE COMING OF THE BRITISH 
 
 The treaty which closed the French and Indian war was signed at 
 Paris February 10, 1763. It was known when Quebec fell that the ter- 
 ritory west of the Alleghanies would eventually come into possession of 
 the English. It was a great trial for the Indians around the great lakes 
 and in the Mississippi valley to transfer their allegiance from the king
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 73 
 
 of France to the king of England. The Indians claimed that they were 
 independent nations and that they had not had a voice in the treaty 
 and they therefore felt that their interests had been neglected by the 
 treaty-making powers. There were specific provisions for the transfer 
 of the French settlers from the control of France to the oversight of 
 England, but nothing was said affecting the interests and oversight and 
 control of the Indians. When England began the work of taking pos- 
 session of this western territory, the Indians under the leadership 
 of Pontiac began a series of counter movements which delayed the 
 coming of the British. The flag of Great Britain was promptly raised 
 over Fort Pitt, Niagara, Detroit, Green Bay, St. Joseph, Mackinaw 
 and other points. There were only three things for the Indians to 
 do leave the territory for lands west of the Mississippi river, enter 
 into some form of treaty relations with Great Britain and remain on 
 their old lands, or oppose by force of arms the spread of English con- 
 trol in the west. "Their nature, courage, and love of independence, 
 sustained by the justness of their cause, prompted them to adopt the 
 last alternative." 
 
 The King of England in order to allay as far as possible the feel- 
 ings of the Indians, issued a proclamation in 1763 in which he set 
 apart the "Indian Country," which included all the territory west 
 of the Alleghanies, east of the Mississippi, north of the Floridas, and 
 south of the great lakes. He ordered that no governors of the Eng- 
 lish colonies on the Atlantic seaboard should make any grants of lands 
 west of the Alleghanies. He also forbade any transfers or grants of 
 lands by the Indians themselves. Notwithstanding this proclamation 
 the surveyors were busy locating tracts which had been previously 
 granted, and so far as the Indians were concerned or could see there 
 was little attention paid to the king's proclamation. 
 
 All that was needed for an Indian uprising was to find some one 
 who could crystallize the resentment and distrust of the Indians. Such 
 a person was found in the great Pontiac a chief of the Ottawas. He is 
 said to have had French blood in his veins and to have taken a pledge 
 of undying hatred toward the British. He had been prominent in the 
 Indian wars since 1744. He was a man of talent, courage, and integrity. 
 He could not be pacified after the fall of Quebec, and saw more clearly 
 than any one else the doom of the Red Man's reign in the great north- 
 west. He acted without delay and by the middle of the summer of 1763 
 had a well organized opposition to the westward movement of British 
 military forces. A dozen English posts and forts were captured by the 
 Indians and their garrisons put to the sword or the tomahawk, and their 
 houses to the flames. Some of the stronger forts withstood sieges that 
 have become historic. 
 
 It is not within the scope of this work to go greatly into the detail 
 of this matter, but we desire merely to get a background for other his- 
 toric events that do fall within our province. 
 
 The first effort of the British forces to reach Fort Chartres with a 
 garrison was an expedition in command of Major Loftus. He was turned 
 back by an attack on the Mississippi river, below the mouth of the Ohio. 
 The second effort was by Capt. Morris sent from Detroit. Pontiac met 
 him and after an interview, Capt. Morris returned. The third expedi- 
 tion was headed by Lieut. Frazer who came from Fort Pitt. He reached 
 Kaskaskia, but was there met by Pontiac and put in a boat and sent to
 
 74 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 New Orleans. The fourth effort was by George Crogan who with a small 
 detachment was intercepted at Shawneetown and after many trying situ- 
 ations was enabled to come to an understanding with Pontiac relative to 
 the occupation of the Mississippi valley by the British troops. The fifth 
 and final expedition was sent from Fort Pitt in the autumn of 1765. It 
 was commanded by Capt. Stirling and consisted of 120 Highlanders 
 from the Forty-second regiment. They reached Fort Chartres in due 
 time, and when the Lilies of France had been lowered by the temporary 
 commandant, St. Ange De Belle Rive, the cross of St. George was raised 
 over the ramparts of old Fort Chartres, and the Illinois Indians passed 
 under the dominion of the British government. The death of Pontiac 
 has been mentioned and we need not repeat it here. 
 
 ILLINOIS UNDER BRITISH RULE 
 
 At the time of the coming of Capt. Stirling in 1765, Gen. Thomas 
 Gage was in command of his majesty's forces in North America. He 
 issued a proclamation which Capt. Stirling made known when he reached 
 the Illinois Country which was as follows : 
 
 A PROCLAMATION 
 
 Whereas, by the peace concluded at Paris on the 10th of February, 1763, the 
 country of the Illinois has been ceded to his Brittanic majesty, and the taking 
 possession of the said country of Illinois by the troops of his majesty, though 
 long delayed, has been determined upon, we have found it good. to make known 
 to the inhabitants 
 
 That his majesty grants to the inhabitants of the Illinois the liberty of the 
 Catholic religion, as it has already been granted to his subjects In Canada; he 
 has consequently given the most precise and effective orders, to the end that his 
 new Roman Catholic subjects of the Illinois may exercise the worship of their 
 religion, according to the rites of the Roman church, in the same manner as in 
 Canada. 
 
 That his majesty, moreover, agrees that the French inhabitants, or others, 
 who have been subjects of the most Christian King, may retire, in full safety 
 and freedom, whenever they please, even to New Orleans, or any other part of 
 Louisiana although it should happen that the Spaniards take possession of it in 
 the name of his Catholic majesty; and they may sell their estates, provided it 
 be to subjects of his majesty, and transport their effects, as well as their persons, 
 without restraint upon their emigration, under any pretense whatever, except in 
 consequence of debts or of criminal process. 
 
 That those who choose to retain their lands and become subjects of his ma- 
 jesty, shall enjoy the same rights and priviliges, the same security for their per- 
 sons and effects, and likely of trade, as the old subjects of the King 
 
 That they are commanded by these presents, to take the oath of fidelity and 
 obedience to his majesty, in presence of Sieur Stirling, captain of the Highland 
 regiment, the bearer hereof, and furnished with our full powers for this purpose. 
 
 That we recommend forcibly to the inhabitants, to conduct themselves like 
 good and faithful subjects, avoiding by a wise and prudent demeanor all cause of 
 complaint against them. 
 
 That they act in concert with his majesty's officers, so that his troops may 
 take peaceable possession of all the posts, and order be kept in the country ; by 
 this means alone they will spare his majesty the necessity of recurring to force 
 of arms, and will find themselves saved from the scourge of bloody war, and of 
 all evils which the march of an army into their country would draw after it. 
 
 We direct that these presents be read, published, and posted up in the usual 
 places. 
 
 Done and given at Headquarters. New York. Signed with our hand, sealed 
 with our seal at arms, and countersigned by our Secretarv. this 30th of Decem- 
 ber, 1764. 
 
 THOMAS GAGE, [L. S.] 
 By His Excellency, 
 G. MATUBIN.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 75 
 
 Gloom settled over the inhabitants, and everywhere there were prep- 
 erations for leaving the Illinois country. It is said by Mason in his 
 "Chapters on Illinois History" that with the departure of French au- 
 thority from Fort Chartres the life in the village of New Chartres 
 went out. In the register then in use of the church of Ste. Anne was 
 this entry : ' ' The above-mentioned church having been abolished the 
 rest of the paper which was in this book has been taken for the service 
 of the church at Kaskaskia." It was indeed a sad occasion for the 
 French inhabitants. Here they had built up a little inland empire; 
 they had contributed of their treasure and blood to save it from their 
 old enemy, and now they have become subjects of that same enemy. 
 "A large portion of the population departed with their sovereigns 's 
 .power. The old roof trees which had so long sheltered them, the gar- 
 dens they had planted, the grass plots they had embellished, the fields, 
 trees, and shrubbery nurtured, the fields they had cultivated, the old 
 church in which they and their sires before them had been baptized and 
 married, the ashes of their nearest and their dearest kindred lying 
 near it, every hallowed spot, every object around which their warm 
 affections entwined their strongest tendrils, all were abandoned rather 
 than by remaining they should acknowledge fealty to a monarch they 
 did not love, respect for laws they did not understand, and reverence 
 for a church whose creed and forms and ministers had not their con- 
 fidence and attachment." 
 
 The officer in command of the post at Fort Chartres was known as 
 the commandant of the Illinois territory. The following is a list of 
 those British officers who served in that capacity: 
 
 Captain Thomas Stirling 1765 
 
 Major Robert Farmer 1765-1766 
 
 Colonel Edward Cole 1766-1768 
 
 Colonel John Reed 1768-1768 
 
 Lieut. Col. John Wilkins 1768-1771 
 
 Captain Hugh Lord 1771-1775 
 
 Captain Matthew Johnson 1775-1776 
 
 Chevalier de Rocheblave 1776-1778 
 
 There is some confusion in the old histories as to the order and the 
 dates of the above list of commandants, but it is believed the list is 
 quite correct. 
 
 The above named officers were primarily military commandants, but 
 they exercised all the governmental authority that was in force in the 
 territory or at least the earlier commandants did so. The inhabitants 
 were very loud in their condemnation of the oppressions of the military 
 commandants, and they frequently made complaints to those in au- 
 thority but with no relief. These complaints must have eventually 
 borne fruit, for upon the coming of Colonel Wilkins as commandant 
 in 1768, he brought an order from his superior for the establishment 
 of a civil court. 
 
 Colonel Wilkins therefore issued his proclamation creating a civil 
 administration of the laws of the country. He appointed seven judges 
 who should hold court for the adjustment of civil cases. These judges 
 held the first court at Fort Chartres, December the 8th, 1768. The law 
 in force was the common law of England. Trial by jury was one fea- 
 ture of the administration of justice. The French inhabitants had
 
 76 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 never been accustomed to this system and they complained long and 
 loud about the jury system. It was difficult for the Frenchman to 
 understand how there could be any justice meted out to those who 
 sought relief in the courts, by a jury of twelve men many of whom 
 could not read and write and of course had no technical knowledge 
 of the English law. But the government was obstinate and gave the 
 inhabitants no relief. The French inhabitants of the Illinois country 
 therefore kept their contentions out of the courts and there was little 
 for the courts to do. This system continued till the Revolutionary war. 
 
 The civil administration of justice in the Illinois country remained 
 in force till by act of the British government the whole of the Illinois 
 country was thrown into the Province of Quebec. This was done by 
 the passage of the Quebec Act in 1774. It has been affirmed that this 
 act was intended to conciliate the French Canadians whose help the 
 king saw he must have in the approaching struggle. The constant 
 appeals of the French inhabitants of Illinois for relief from the unbear- 
 able civil system may have been another reason, and a third may have 
 been to dissuade the English colonists on the Atlantic coast from open- 
 ing up the interior to settlement, for by the terms of the Quebec Act 
 the Catholic religion was virtually established in the Illinois country. 
 
 The passage of this Quebec Act was regarded by the English colon- 
 ists in America as one of the acts of Great Britain which justified the 
 thirteen colonists in revolting. In the Declaration of Independence 
 we find the complaint 
 
 For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring 
 province (the Illinois country), establishing therein an arbitrary gov- 
 ernment, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an 
 example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into 
 these colonies. 
 
 In the Proclamation of 1763, King George III expressly stated that 
 no transfers of land should be made by any one within the limits of 
 the Indian country, and settlements in this country if not directly pro- 
 hibited were discouraged. However, while Colonel Wilkins was com- 
 mandant he made extensive grants of land to his friends, he himself 
 being interested in the grants. These grants were afterward confirmed 
 by the United States government. 
 
 It was difficult to understand why the king should forbid his sub- 
 jects to settle west of the Alleghanies. One explanation was that above 
 referred to an attempt to pacify the Indians. This proclamation was 
 by and with the consent of the king's ministers. The English along 
 the Atlantic coast were very earnest in their requests, as individuals 
 and companies, to have the privilege of settling in this "Indian Coun- 
 try." To all these overtures, the British ministry turned a deaf ear. 
 In later years two definite and plausible reasons were assigned for the 
 action of the king and his ministers. One by General Gage is as fol- 
 lows: "As to increasing the settlement (northwest of the Ohio) to 
 respectable provinces. ... I conceive it altogether inconsistent 
 with sound policy. In the course of a few years necessity would force 
 them to provide manufactures of some kind for themselves, and when 
 all connection upheld by commerce with the northern country shall 
 cease, it may be expected that an independency in her government will 
 soon follow." The governor of Georgia wrote the Lords of Trade to 
 the same effect.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 77 
 
 He said: "If a vast territory be granted to any set of gentlemen 
 who really mean to people it, and actually do so, it must draw and 
 carry out a great number of people from Great Britain, and I appre- 
 hend they will soon become a kind of separate and independent people, 
 who will set up for themselves, and they will soon have manufactures of 
 their own, and in process of time they will soon become formidable 
 enough to oppose his majesty's authority." 
 
 In 1765, October 25, the king, George III, sent a letter of instruction 
 to John Penn, Esquire, governor of Pennsylvania, calling his attention 
 to the reports of settlements west of the Alleghanies by citizens of 
 Penn's colony and of Virginia. He ordered Penn to use his utmost 
 power to prevent settlements in this western country. Notwithstanding 
 this effort of the king to keep settlers out of this territory west of 
 the Alleghanies, there was, following the close of the French and In- 
 dian war, a constant stream of hunters, explorers, and adventurers 
 moving through the gaps in the mountains into what is now the states 
 of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 
 
 As early as 1747 Dr. Walker of Virginia led an exploring party 
 into eastern Kentucky and named its principal stream Cumberland, 
 after the Duke of Cumberland, the youngest son of George the II. 
 John Finley of North Carolina and some companions visited the south- 
 east part of Kentucky in 1767. Daniel Boone in company with John 
 Finley, John Stewart and three other men, visited the territory of Ken- 
 tucky in 1769. In this same year a band of forty hunters from the 
 head waters of the Holston and Clinch in western Virginia explored 
 nearly all of central Kentucky, and were gone so long that upon their 
 return they were called the "Long Hunters." 
 
 The British government had given land warrants to many who 
 had served in the French and Indian war, and many of these claims 
 were surveyed and located on the south side of the Ohio in 1772 and 
 1773. Two noted surveyors, Thomas Bullitt and Hancock Taylor en- 
 gaged in locating and surveying these claims. James Douglas, an- 
 other surveyor, located claims on the Ohio in the vicinity of Louis- 
 ville. Col. John Floyd and Simon Kenton together with others came 
 into Kentucky about 1774. They built a cabin where the town of 
 Washington, Mason county, now stands. One of their number, a Mr. 
 Henderson, was burned at the stake by Indians at this point. The 
 McAfees settled on a 600 acre tract where Frankfort now stands 
 July 16, 1773. 
 
 During the summer of 1774 James Harrod built Harrodsburg or 
 Harrod's Town. Daniel Boone was engaged to open a road into the 
 country south of the Kentucky river, and it was while opening this 
 road that Boone built the first fort, June 14, 1775. The fort was 
 above Harrod's Town and on the south side of the Kentucky river. 
 
 In the fall of 1775 Hugh McGary, Richard Hogan, Thomas Den- 
 ton, with their wives, and a party of some thirty more settlers, joined 
 Daniel Boone in Powell's Valley just east of Cumberland Gap and 
 after many hardships and dangers arrived at Boonesboro and these 
 were the first families to settle in Kentucky. 
 
 There were in Kentucky in the fall of 1775 three hundred people 
 mostly men. Two hundred and thirty acres were under cultivation. 
 A half million acres of land had been granted by the "Proprietors of 
 the Colony of Transylvania in America." In the summer of 1775.
 
 78 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 George Rogers Clark, a soldier in the Dunmore wars, arrived at 
 Harrodsburg, where he found much unrest about the ownership of 
 the territory south of Kentucky river. A meeting was held at Har- 
 rodsburg June 6, 1776, at which Clark and Gabriel Jones were chosen 
 to go to "Williamsburg, Va., and ask to be seated as representatives of 
 Kentucky county. The legislature had adjourned before they reached 
 Williamsburg, and Clark visited Patrick Henry, the governor, then ill 
 at his home. 
 
 Clark explained the relation of the Kentucky settlers to the state of 
 Virginia, and their danger from the Indians. Five hundred pounds of 
 powder were ordered sent to Fort Pitt to await the order of Clark. 
 Jones and Clark attended the fall session of the Virginia legislature 
 and while not seated as delegates, they got a hearing and eventually 
 got Kentucky organized. Clark was back in Harrodsburg in the 
 summer of 1777 and assisted in the defense of that place against an 
 attack by the Indians. Clark now believed that the vicious attacks 
 upon the people of Kentucky by the Indians were instigated by the 
 British, who were at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes, and Detroit, 
 and he evolved upon a plan of conquest of these places which will be 
 explained in the next chapter.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 CLARK'S CONQUEST OF THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 
 CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS CLARK'S EXPEDITION TO THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 PUBLIC INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL CLARK PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS 
 DOWN THE RIVER ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS CAPTURE OF KAS- 
 KASKIA COUNTY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 Hostilities in the Revolutionary war were well advanced by the spring 
 of 1776. Washington had driven the British troops from Boston, Fort 
 Ticonderoga had been captured by Americans and the patriot army was 
 everywhere very active. 
 
 The British maintained quite large detachments of British regulars 
 in Canada, about the upper lakes, and in New York city and Boston. 
 There never were many regulars stationed at Vincennes, Cahokia, or at 
 Kaskaskia or Fort Chartres. 
 
 CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS 
 
 When Fort Chartres was first constructed by Lieut. Boisbriant in 
 1719, the structure was half or three-quarters of a mile from the river ; 
 but as time passed the river channel changed its course and came nearer 
 and nearer to the fort. In the early part of the year 1772, a flood of the 
 Mississippi undermined the south side of the wall of the fort and por- 
 tions thereof tumbled into the river. The garrison is said to have made 
 its way across the submerged lands and took refuge on the hills near 
 Prairie du Rocher, and later to have taken up their quarters at Kaskas- 
 kia. Pittman was in Kaskaskia probably as a royal engineer with the 
 army under Col. Fraser which reached Fort Chartres December 4, 1765, 
 and remained in that region three or four years. He was in Kaskaskia 
 at that time and has left quite a description of the village. He says of 
 this place: "The principal buildings are the church and Jesuits' house 
 which has a small chapel adjoining to it ; these as well as some other 
 houses in the village, are built of stone. . . . Sixty-five families re- 
 side in this village, besides merchants, other casual people, and slaves. 
 The fort, which was burnt down in October, 1766 (no doubt while Pitt- 
 man was in that region), stood on the summit of a high rock opposite 
 the village, and on the other side of the river; it was an oblongular 
 quadrangle of which the exterior polygon measured two hundred and 
 ninety by two hundred and fifty feet ; it was built of very thick squared 
 timber, and dovetailed at the angles. An officer and twenty soldiers are 
 quartered in the village. The officer governs the inhabitants under the 
 direction of the commandant at Fort Chartres. Here are also two com- 
 
 79
 
 80 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 panics of militia." This quotation from Pittman will help us to settle 
 a matter of uncertainty relative to the occupation of Fort Gage by the 
 British troops when they abandoned Fort Chartres in 1772 on account 
 of high water. They were evidently not stationed in Fort Gage which 
 was burned in 1766 since there is no record of its ever having been re- 
 built. 
 
 The Jesuits were suppressed in France in 1764 and in 1766 their 
 plantation, brewery, and cattle in Kaskaskia were all sold by the French 
 government, the purchaser being Monsieur Beauvais said to have been 
 the richest man about Kaskaskia. The government at that time no doubt 
 took possession of the Jesuits' house and other property held by the 
 order in the town which no doubt included the monastery. The public 
 buildings evidently became the headquarters of the British army when 
 it moved from Fort Chartres in 1772. It was here they were quartered 
 about fifty soldiers, when they were ordered to leave for Canada at the 
 outbreak of the Revolutionary war. There were no British troops at 
 Kaskaskia and probably not at any other point in the Illinois at the com- 
 ing of George Rogers Clark. 
 
 We have already called attention to the inroads of the savages into 
 the country between the Alleghanies and the Ohio river. The state of 
 Virginia had already furnished the Kentuckians with 500 Ibs. of powder 
 and a quantity of lead. With these munitions the Kentuckians had 
 been able to protect themselves against these inroads. George Rogers 
 Clark had studied these Indian attacks and was convinced that these 
 inroads from north of the Ohio were the result of an understanding 
 between the Indians and the British commandants at Kaskaskia, Vin- 
 cennes, and Detroit. 
 
 In the summer of 1777, Clark sent two spies, Moore and Dunn, to 
 Kaskaskia to determine the true situation and to bring a report of the 
 military strength of the place. They returned in due season and "re- 
 ported great activity on the part of the militia as well as the most ex- 
 tended encouragement to the Indians in their barbarous depredations 
 upon the Kentucky frontier. ' ' With this information to confirm his own 
 judgment in the matter he began active measures for the conquest of the 
 entire northwest territory. 
 
 CLAKK'S EXPEDITION TO THE ILLINOIS COUNTRY 
 
 George Rogers Clark left Kentucky October 1, 1777, for Virginia to 
 lay his plans before the authorities for the conquest of the British posts 
 northwest of the Ohio. The people of Kentucky were very loath to let 
 him go as they feared he would join the Continental army and his help 
 be lost to them. But he told them he would return to them which he 
 had fully determined to do. Major Clark remained in WilHamsburg 
 several weeks settling the accounts of the Kentucky militia and gather- 
 ing the temper of the Virginia authorities. On December 10th he felt 
 he was on safe ground and he laid his plans before Governor Patrick 
 Henry. The governor was in perfect harmony with the plans except 
 he feared for a detachment of soldiers in so distant a region. He con- 
 sulted wifti his advisers and after many conferences with Clark and his 
 council the plans were all matured.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 81 
 
 PUBLIC INSTRUCTIONS TO GENERAL CLARK 
 
 On January 2, 1778, Col. Clark received two sets of instructions re- 
 lative to his proposed expedition to the Illinois country. One set he was 
 to make public for the purpose of securing recruits for the defense of 
 Kentucky. These instructions were as follows : 
 
 ' ' Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark : You are to proceed, with- 
 out loss of time, to enlist seven companies of men, officered in the usual 
 manner, to act as a militia under your orders. They are to proceed to 
 Kentucky, and there to obey such orders and directions as you shall 
 give them, for three months after their arrival at that place ; but to re- 
 ceive pay, etc., in case they remain on duty a longer time. 
 
 "You are empowered to raise these men in any county in the com- 
 monwealth ; and the county lieutenants, respectively, are requested to 
 give you all possible assistance in that business. 
 
 "Given under my hand at Williamsburg, January 2nd, 1778. 
 
 "P.Henry." 
 
 PRIVATE INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 "Virginia in Council, Williamsburg, January 2d, 1778. Lieutenant 
 Colonel George Rogers Clark: You are to proceed with all convenient 
 speed to raise seven companies of soldiers, to consist of fifty men each, 
 officered in the usual manner, and armed most properly for the enter- 
 prise ; and with this force attack the British fort at Kaskaskia. 
 
 "It is conjectured there are many pieces of cannon and stores, to 
 considerable amount, at that place, the taking and preservation of 
 which, would be a valuable acquisition to the state. If you are so for- 
 tunate, therefore, as to succeed in your expedition, you will take every 
 possible measure to secure the artillery and stores, and whatever may 
 advantage the state. 
 
 "For the transportation of the troops, provisions, etc., down the 
 Ohio ; you are to apply to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt for boats ; 
 and during the whole transaction you are to take especial care to keep 
 the true destination of your force secret its success depends upon this. 
 Orders are therefore given to secure the two men from Kaskaskia. Sim- 
 ilar conduct will be proper in similar cases. 
 
 "It is earnestly desired that you show humanity to such British sub- 
 jects and other persons, as fall in your hands. If the white inhabitants 
 at that post and the neighborhood will give undoubted evidence of their 
 attachment to thia state (for it is certain they live within its limits), by 
 taking the test prescribed by law, and by every other way and means in 
 their power, let them be treated as fellow citizens, and their person and 
 property duly secured. Assistance and protection against all enemies 
 whatever shall be afforded them, and the commonwealth of Virginia is 
 pledged to accomplish it. But if these people will not accede to these 
 reasonable demands, they must feel the miseries of war, under the di- 
 rection of that humanity that has hitherto distinguished Americans, and 
 which it is expected you will ever consider the rule of your conduct, and 
 from which you are in no instance to depart. 
 
 "The corps you are to command are to receive the pay and allow- 
 ance of militia and to act under the laws and regulations of this state 
 now in force, as militia. The inhabitants of this post will be informed
 
 82 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 by you, that in case they accede to the offers of becoming citizens of this 
 commonwealth, a proper garrison will be maintained among them and 
 every attention bestowed to render their commerce beneficial, the fairest 
 prospects being opened to the dominions of France and Spain. 
 
 "It is in contemplation to establish a post near the mouth of the 
 Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at Kaskaskia 
 will be easily brought thither, or otherwise secured, as circumstances will 
 make necessary. 
 
 "You are to apply to Gen. Hand for powder and lead necessary for 
 this expedition. If he can't supply it, the person who has that brought 
 from Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire, by my orders, and that 
 may be delivered to you. 
 ' ' Wishing you success, 
 
 "I am, sir, 
 
 "Your humble servant, 
 "P. Henry." 
 
 Clark was to proceed to Fort Pitt where he should be provided 
 with boats, powder and other necessaries. Here he was also to gather 
 some troops. Recruiting officers were despatched throughout west- 
 ern Virginia and Kentucky to raise seven companies of fifty men 
 each. Among those who assisted in raising troops were Major Wil- 
 liam B. Smith, Capt. Leonard Helm, Capt. Joseph Bowman, Capt. 
 William Harrod, Capt. Dillard, Capt. Joe Montgomery. 
 
 DOWN THE OHIO 
 
 Upon the arrival of Clark at Fort Pitt, not being able to reveal 
 his real objective, he found considerable opposition to his plans. He 
 was told that it would be far better to transport the people of Ken- 
 tucky over the mountains into Virginia than to attempt to defend 
 them in their scattered homes. Again there was opposition to his 
 expedition because it was threatening to take men from the Atlantic 
 coast, who ought to be available for the greater conflict then waging 
 on that side. 
 
 On May 12, 1778, Clark left Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the 
 Monongahela, and in ordinary flat boats with a few men floated past 
 Fort Pitt and on past Wheeling.- At both places he took on sup- 
 plies. Early in June the little party arrived at the "Falls of the 
 Ohio." Here where the present site of Louisville, Kentucky, stands, on 
 Corn Island, he constructed a temporary fort and the better to cover 
 his designs planted a crop of corn. Here he was joined by the en- 
 listments which had been made throughout western Virginia and 
 Kentucky. Clark felt that he could not longer keep his secret and 
 therefore revealed his true mission to the officers and men. There 
 were some desertions, but out of those left Clark organized four com- 
 panies of about fifty men each. 
 
 On the 24th of June, 1778, Clark left his encampment on Corn 
 Island for his final journey down the Ohio. About twenty families 
 were left on Corn Island. These had accompanied Clark from the 
 vicinity of Pittsburg. They remained on the island and guarded 
 some supplies which Clark left at that place. Just before starting 
 down the river, Gen. Clark received a letter from Colonel John Camp-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 83 
 
 bell of Fort Pitt notifying him of the alliance that had been recently 
 formed between France and the United States. The statement is 
 made that the expedition "shot the falls" during an eclipse of the 
 sun. Near the mouth of the Tennessee Gen. Clark captured some 
 hunters, one of whom was John Duff. These hunters had lately been 
 to Kaskaskia and could give Clark just the information that he 
 wanted. They were induced to accompany the expedition down the 
 river. 
 
 Ten miles below the mouth of the Tennessee river, on the north 
 side of the Ohio, stands the remains of Old Fort Massac. In 1778 
 
 - 
 
 GENERAL GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 
 
 the fort was probably in good repair but not occupied. Here Clark 
 disembarked. He hid his boats in the mouth of a small stream which 
 enters the Ohio from Massac county a short distance above the fort. 
 The expedition now made preparation to march overland to Kas- 
 kaskia. Four days' rations were provided as it was thought the 
 trip could be made within that time, the distance being about ninety 
 miles. 
 
 ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS CAPTURE OF KASKASKIA 
 
 There is considerable local interest as to the route Clark took 
 from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia. The distance on a straight line is 
 less than one hundred miles. But by any route which Clark could
 
 84 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 have taken the distance was not less than one hundred and ten or 
 one hundred and twenty miles. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the hunters whom Clark captured 
 near the mouth of the Tennessee river, knew the different trails 
 which led from Fort Massac and Golconda and the mouth of the Wa- 
 bash, to Kaskaskia. There were two routes from Fort Massac to the 
 prairies of Williamson county. One led from Fort Massac a little to 
 the east of north until it came into the Golconda-Kaskaskia route 
 somewhere west of the town of Golconda. This route after joining 
 the Golconda route turned westward, passed near Allen's Springs 
 postoffice and near Dixon's Springs, thence northwest near "Mill 
 Stone Knob," through the Ozarks by way of Moccasin Gap, through 
 the old village of Reynoldsburg, on near the crossing of the Paducah 
 branch of the Illinois Central and the Big Four at Parker City, near 
 the city of Marion and on to the village of Bainbridge. 
 
 The second route went northwest from Fort Massac, keeping be- 
 tween the ponds and swamps which drain into Big Bay creek on the 
 right and those which border the Cache river on the left. This route 
 passed out of Massac county at the extreme northwestern corner, in 
 Sec. 5, Town 14 S., R. 3 E. It passed near the Forman postoffice and 
 probably led over the hill upon which Indian Point is situated (An 
 old road long since abandoned can be seen here). From Indian Point 
 the route ran about two miles west of Vienna, Johnson county, a 
 couple of miles east of the thriving village of Buncombe, thence over 
 the Ozarks through Buffalo Gap which is at least one hundred and 
 fifty feet lower than the rest of the Ozarks, on through Goreville 
 leaving Marion to the right and joining the Golconda route at Bain- 
 bridge three and one-half miles west of Marion, Williamson county. 
 
 Clark's memoirs state that the third day from Fort Massac the 
 guides got lost and there were some who thought they had turned 
 traitor to their trust. Clark told the principal guide, one John 
 Saunders, that if he did not find the "Hunter's Road" which led into 
 Kaskaskia from the east that he would have him put to death. This 
 probably meant that Clark knew he was far enough to strike the Gol- 
 conda trail. This could not have been in Pope county for that junc- 
 tion was only fifteen miles east of north of Fort Massac. So the ar- 
 gument is quite conclusive that Clark went by way of Indian Point 
 and Buffalo Gap and that he knew they ought to reach the Golconda 
 road at the end of the third day. The guide found the road and the 
 army was probably soon encamped the third night out, near the town 
 of Bainbridge. The first night the camping ground was probably 
 on Indian Point, eighteen miles from Fort Massac. The second 
 night's camp was at a spring two miles north of Pulley's Mill, and 
 twenty miles north of Indian Point. The third day, owing to getting 
 lost they did not make more than twelve miles of progress. 
 
 On the fourth day the little army moved west and a little north 
 and crossed Crab Orchard creek northeast of Carbondale three miles. 
 Big Muddy was crossed at the northwest corner of Town 9 S. R. 1 W. 
 four miles due east of Murphysboro. From the crossing of Big 
 Muddy to Ava, thence to Campbell Hill in the northwest corner of 
 Jackson county. From here by Shiloh Hill, and Wine Hill, crossing 
 St. Mary's river at Bremen Station, all in Randolph. The fourth 
 night out they probably camped at six or eight miles northwest of
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 85 
 
 Murphysboro, and the fifth night at St. Mary's river. The next day, 
 which was the 4th of July, is their sixth day out. They reached the 
 outskirts of Kaskaskia early in the evening. 
 
 As soon as night came on the army moved west and reached the 
 Kaskaskia river about a mile above the town. On the east side of 
 the river they found a farm house in which was a large family, who 
 were made prisoners. Prom this family it was learned that the mili- 
 tia had been called out the day before but finding no cause for alarm, 
 they had dispersed. Boats were secured and the army rowed to the 
 west side of the Kaskaskia. Clark says this took two hours. 
 
 It was now probably as late as ten or eleven o'clock in the night. 
 Clark now divided his army into two divisions, one of which was to 
 scatter throughout the town and keep the people in their houses, and 
 the other, which Clark himself commanded, was to capture the fort 
 in which the commander, Chevalier de Rocheblave, was asleep. In 
 a very short time the task was finished and the people disarmed. 
 The soldiers were instructed to pass up and down the streets, and 
 those who could speak French were to inform the inhabitants to re- 
 main within their houses. The Virginians and Kentuckians were in 
 the meantime keeping up an unearthly yelling, for the people of Kas- 
 kaskia had understood that Virginians were more savage than the 
 Indians had ever been, and Clark was desirous that they should 
 retain this impression. The French of Kaskaskia called the Virgin- 
 ians "Long Knives." 
 
 On the morning of the 5th, the principal citizens were put in 
 irons. Shortly after this Father Gibault and a few aged men came to 
 Clark and begged the privilege of holding services in the church, that 
 they might bid one another goodbye before they were separated. 
 Clark gave his permission in a very crabbed way. The church bell 
 rang out over the quiet but sad village and immediately every one 
 who could get to church did so. At the close of the service Father 
 Gibault came again with some old men to beg that families might not 
 be separated and that they might be privileged to take some of their 
 personal effects with them for their support. Clark then explained 
 to the priest that Americans did not make war on women and chil- 
 dren, but that it was only to protect their own wives and children 
 that they had come to this stronghold of British and Indian bar- 
 barity. He went further and told them that the French king and the 
 Americans had just made a treaty of alliance and that it was the de- 
 sire of their French father that they should join their interests with 
 the Americans. This had a wonderfully conciliatory effect upon the 
 French. And now Clark told them they were at perfect liberty to 
 conduct themselves as usual. His influence had been so powerful 
 that they were all induced to take the oath of allegiance to the state 
 of Virginia. Their arms were given back to them and a volunteer 
 company of French militiamen was formed. 
 
 Kaskaskia was captured on July 4, 1778. On the morning of the 
 5th occurred the incident previously referred to relative to the conduct 
 of the priest, etc. Evidently very early in the day quiet was restored 
 and better relations were established between captors and captives. 
 The treaty of alliance between France and the United States was ex- 
 plained, and immediately the oath of allegiance to Virginia was taken 
 by the people. On the same 5th of July an expedition was planned
 
 86 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 for the capture of Cahokia. Captain Bowman with his company, or 
 probably a portion of it, and a detachment of the French militia under 
 French officers, together with a number of Kaskaskia citizens made up 
 the army. Reynolds says they rode French ponies. The distance was 
 sixty miles and the trip was made by the afternoon of the 6th. At 
 first the people of Cahokia were greatly agitated and cried "Long 
 Knives!" "Long Knives!" But the Kaskaskia citizens soon quieted 
 them and explained what had happened at Kaskaskia only two days 
 before. The fort at Cahokia may have contained a few British soldiers 
 or some French militia. In either case they quietly surrendered. The 
 oath of allegiance was administered to the people and the citizens re- 
 turned to Kaskaskia. 
 
 For the first few days of Clark's stay in Kaskaskia he and his men 
 talked about the fort at the falls of the Ohio and of a detachment of 
 soldiers they were expecting from there every day. This was done for 
 the purpose of making an impression upon the people of Kaskaskia. 
 Clark was a shrewd diplomatist as well as a good soldier, and he sus- 
 pected that Father Gibault was at heart on the side of the Americans. 
 By conversation Clark learned that the priest was the regular shepherd 
 of the flock at Vincennes, and evidently had very great influence with 
 the people there. Clark therefore talked of his expedition against Vin- 
 cennes from the fort at the falls of the Ohio. Father Gibault then 
 told Clark that while the post at Vincennes was a very strong one and 
 that there were usually many Indians about that place, that just at 
 this time, the lieutenant governor or commandant, Edward Abbot, was 
 not at Vincennes but was in Detroit. He also told Clark that there 
 were no soldiers there except probably a few citizen-officers and that 
 he had no doubt if the people there knew the real nature of the conflict 
 between England and the colonies, and that France had joined against 
 the hated British, there would be no opposition to Clark and his pur- 
 poses. The priest further suggested that he himself would head an 
 embassy to Post Vincennes for the purpose of attempting to secure the 
 allegiance of the people there to the American cause. 
 
 This was the most cheering word that had come to Clark in all his 
 first days at Kaskaskia. An expedition was immediately planned. The 
 priest should be accompanied by a citizen of Kaskaskia, Doctor John 
 Baptiste Lafont. The two gentlemen were accompanied by several at- 
 tendants, among whom was a spy who had secret instructions from 
 Clark. 
 
 They departed the 14th of July, and reached Vincennes safely. The 
 priest had no difficulty in making it clear to the people that France 
 was on the side of the Americans. The commander, Governor Abbot, 
 had recently gone to Detroit and there was no one in military com- 
 mand. They all took the oath of allegiance to Virginia. They also 
 organized a militia company and took possession of the fort, over which 
 the flag of Virginia floated, much to the wonder of the Indians. The 
 Indians were told that the old French king, their father, had come to 
 life, and if they did not want the land to be bloody with war they must 
 make peace with the Americans. 
 
 On August 1, Father Gibault and his companions returned to Kas- 
 kaskia and reported the success of their mission. 
 
 Clark was busy just then reorganizing his little army. The term 
 of enlistment of the soldiers was drawing to a close, and hz saw that
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 87 
 
 unless he could re-enlist his men, all the good that had been accom- 
 plished would go for naught. Clark succeeded in re-enlisting about a 
 hundred of his little army while the rest were to be mustered out at 
 the falls of the Ohio, their places being filled with enlistments from 
 the French militia. Captain Bowman was made military commandant 
 at Cahokia, Captain Williams had charge at Kaskaskia, Captain Helm 
 was sent to Vincennes to take charge and Captain Linn was sent with 
 the soldiers who did not re-enlist to the falls of the Ohio, while Cap- 
 tain Montgomery was sent with Chevalier de Rocheblave and dispatches, 
 to Williamsburg. It had been Colonel Clark's intention to treat with 
 great consideration his distinguished captive, but M. Rocheblave be- 
 haved so rudely that he was sent a prisoner to Virginia, his slaves were 
 confiscated and sold for 500 pounds sterling and the money distributed 
 among the soldiers. 
 
 Colonel Clark by early fall restored order and obedience in all the 
 Illinois country. He soon found the need of civil courts. The courts 
 established by Wilkins under the British occupation had gone into 
 "innocuous desuetude." Rocheblave had given little if any attention 
 to civil administration. Colonel Clark made inquiry as to the customs 
 and usages of the people and decided to organize courts for the adjust- 
 ment of claims and disputes. Accordingly Captain Bowman held an 
 election in Cahokia at which the citizens voted and elected judges, one 
 of which was Captain Bowman. Later, judges were elected at Kas- 
 kaskia and at Vincennes. Colonel Clark himself constituted the appel- 
 late court, and from a letter afterward written to Jefferson he must 
 have been quite busy in this line of work for he says, referring to this 
 matter of being relieved from civil duties, "the civil department of the 
 Illinois had heretofore robbed me of too much of my time that ought 
 to be spent in military reflection. I was now likely to be relieved by 
 Col. John Todd. I was anxious for his arrival and happy in his ap- 
 pointment, as the greatest intimacy and friendship has subsisted between 
 us. I now saw myself rid of a piece of trouble that I had no delight in. ' ' 
 
 This extract is from a letter written by Clark to Jefferson when he 
 heard that Col. John Todd had been selected to administer civil gov- 
 ernment in the Illinois country. 
 
 COUNTY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 The people of Virginia were soon aware of the success of the Clark 
 expedition. The common people were of course greatly surprised, and 
 the officials who had stood back of the enterprise were greatly relieved 
 and delighted. The legislature in session in October took steps to extend 
 civil government over the newly conquered country. 
 
 In October, 1778, the legislature of Virginia took the following ac- 
 tion creating the county of Illinois : 
 
 All the citizens of the commonwealth of Virginia who are already 
 settled or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio shall 
 be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois county; 
 and the governor of this commonwealth with the advice of the council 
 may appoint a county lieutenant or commander-in-chief, during pleas- 
 ure, who shall appoint and commission as many deputy commandants, 
 militia officers, and commissaries, as he shall think proper in the differ- 
 ent districts, during pleasure ; all of whom, before they enter into office
 
 88 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 shall take the oath of fidelity to this commonwealth and the oath of 
 office, according to the form of their own religion. 
 
 And all civil officers to which the inhabitants have been accustomed 
 necessary for the preservation of the peace, and the administration of 
 justice, shall be chosen by a majority of the citizens in their respective 
 districts to be convened for that purpose by the county lieutenant or 
 commandant, or his deputy, and shall be commissioned by the said 
 county lieutenant or commander-in-chief. 
 
 The "house of delegates" which was the lower branch of the legis- 
 lature shortly after the creation of the county of Illinois took the 
 following action: 
 
 IN THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES 
 
 Monday, the 23d Nov., 1778. 
 
 Whereas, authentic information has been received that Lieutenant 
 Colonel George Rogers Clark, with a body of Virginia militia, has re- 
 duced the British posts in the western part of this commonwealth on 
 the river Mississippi and its branches, whereby great advantage may 
 accrue to the common cause of America, as well as to this commonwealth 
 in particular: 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of this house are justly due to the said 
 Colonel Clark and the brave officers and men under his command, for 
 their extraordinary resolution and perseverance in so hazardous an 
 enterprise, and for their important services to their country. 
 
 E. RANDOLPH, 
 
 Attest: C. H. D. 
 
 In accordance with the provisions of the law creating the county of 
 Illinois west of the Ohio river, the governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry, 
 appointed John Todd, Esq., a judge of the Kentucky court, as county 
 lieutenant or commander-in-chief of the newly created county. We 
 shall hear more of John Todd and his work later. 
 
 Colonel Clark in the month of September was busy making treaties 
 with the Indians. He met them in council at Cahokia. Treaties were 
 made with the Piankeshaws, Ouiatenons, Kickapoos, Illinois, Kaskas- 
 kias, Peorias, and probably others. 
 
 Captain Helm took possession of Vincennes about the middle of 
 August. By the middle of November or earlier, word had reached 
 Detroit that Captain Helm was in possession of the fort at Vincennes. 
 An expedition was planned under the command of Lieutenant Governor 
 Henry Hamilton, to retake the fort. He must have started from De- 
 troit by the earlier part of November, for on the 4th of December, he 
 had reached Fort Ouiatenon. From here he writes to General Haldi- 
 man, the governor of Canada. Hamilton says he has about 200 Indians 
 with him and hopes no more will join him. He was then on his way 
 to capture Vincennes, which he says he has heard is quite short of 
 provisions. He reached Vincennes December 18, 1778. 
 
 The capture of Vincennes by Hamilton is so full of the humorous 
 side of war that it will bear repeating. When Captain Helm was sent 
 by Clark to take command at Vincennes he relied upon the fidelity of 
 the militia of the village for assistance in case of an attack. When 
 he heard of the approach of Hamilton he fired the signal for the assem-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 89 
 
 bling of the militia, but very few came, and these deserted when Ham- 
 ilton's army came in sight. There were left in the fort (Fort Sack- 
 ville) only two men, Captain Helm and an American by the name of 
 Henry. Helm and Henry planted a cannon heavily loaded in the gate- 
 way of the fort and awaited Hamilton's coming. Hamilton asked for 
 a consultation which resulted in Helm's surrender of the fort provided 
 his army should be permitted to march out with the honors of war. 
 This was granted and Hamilton's army of thirty British regulars, fifty 
 Canadians, and four hundred Indians, was drawn up in line to receive 
 the surrendered army with the courtesies of military regulations. When 
 everything was in readiness, Captain Helm and private Henry, with 
 drawn sword and flag flying came marching out and formally surren- 
 dered Fort Sackville, its brave defenders, and its munitions of war. 
 Captain Helm and Henry were held prisoners of war in Fort Sackville. 
 
 Word soon reached Colonel Clark of the loss of Vincennes, and he 
 now felt himself in a very perilous situation. Vincennes was lost, Vir- 
 ginia had not sent him a dollar with which to purchase supplies, the 
 money he had was of no value, the Indians from the Canadian border 
 were making their appearance around Cahokia and Kaskaskia, and dis- 
 couragement stared him in the face. 
 
 In this extremity a real patriot came upon the scene. This man 
 was Colonel Francis Vigo, a native of Mongovia, Sardinia. He had 
 served in the Spanish army but was now a rich merchant of St. Louis. 
 He sympathized with the American cause and was so deeply interested 
 in Clark that he supplied his army with clothing and provision to the 
 extent of above $20,000, which was never repaid during Colonel Vigo's 
 lifetime. 
 
 Colonel Vigo proffered his services to Colonel Clark. Clark sent 
 him over to Vincennes to see what the situation was. He was captured 
 and would have been severely punished by Hamilton if it had not been 
 for fear of the French, Indians, and Spanish, all of whom were great 
 friends to Vigo. He was released and returned to St. Louis, and imme- 
 diately came to Kaskaskia to inform Colonel Clark of the true situation. 
 This was that Hamilton had a strong detachment of soldiers at Fort 
 Sackville with cannon and plenty of munitions of war. Vigo also re- 
 ported that the French inhabitants were quite favorable to the Amer- 
 ican cause and would render any assistance they could. And again 
 Vigo reported that just as soon as the spring season opened that Col- 
 onel Hamilton was intending to attack Colonel Clark at Kaskaskia. 
 
 A conference was called of all the officers then around Kaskaskia. 
 Captain Bowman came from Cahokia with his small force of soldiers 
 and the first impulse was to get ready for a siege if Colonel Hamilton 
 should attack. This plan was finally abandoned, for Colonel Clark 
 said "If I do not take Hamilton he will take me."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 ILLINOIS COUNTY AND THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY 
 
 THE ROUTE TO VINCENNES CAPTURE OF VINCENNES COMING OP JOHN 
 TODD VIRGINIA CEDES HER WESTERN LANDS ORDINANCE OF 1787 
 PASSED GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS LOCAL 
 GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Vigo reported to Colonel Clark on the 29th of January, and with 
 such dispatch did Clark make preparation for his expedition that he 
 was ready to move by the 6th of February, 1779. Everything in the 
 village of Kaskaskia was activity. "The whole country took fire with 
 alarm; and every order was executed with cheerfulness by every de- 
 scription of the inhabitants preparing provisions, encouraging vol- 
 unteers, etc., and as we had plenty of stores, every man was com- 
 pletely rigged with what he could desire to withstand the cold 
 weather. To convey our artillery and stores, it was concluded to 
 send a vessel round by water, so strong that she might force her way. 
 A large Mississippi (keel) boat was immediately purchased, and com- 
 pletely fitted out as a galley, mounting two four-pounders and four 
 large swivels. She was manned by forty-six men under command of 
 Capt. John Rogers." The vessel was called "The Willing." This 
 vessel was to sail down the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and thence up 
 the Wabash as far as the mouth of the White river and there wait for 
 word from the overland expedition. The vessel moved down the 
 Kaskaskia and out into the broad Mississippi on the 4th of February, 
 1779, while the land forces moved the 7th. 
 
 The little army, consisted of one hundred and seventy men. One 
 company of French militiamen from Cahokia was in charge of Cap- 
 tain McCarty. Another French company from Kaskaskia was com- 
 manded by Captain Charleville. Captains Bowman, Williams, and 
 Worthington commanded the Virginians. The route they took is 
 said to have been the old trail from Kaskaskia to Vincennes. Rey- 
 nolds says it was laid out by the Indians nearly a hundred years be- 
 fore Clark made use of it. 
 
 THE ROUTE TO VINCENNES 
 
 The route as laid down in volume 8 of "Historic Highways" starts 
 from Kaskaskia and goes northeast to Diamond Point some fo\ir or 
 five miles from Kaskaskia. Here they may have halted a day or so. 
 From Diamond Point the route ran northeasterly to Sparta in Ran- 
 dolph county. Thence to the southeast of Coulterville about a mile, 
 
 90
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 91 
 
 thence to Nashville in Washington county in nearly a direct line. 
 From here the trail ran easterly and crossed the Illinois Central 
 within a mile north of Richview. The corner of Jefferson was crossed 
 and Walnut Hill in the southwestern corner of Marion was passed. 
 From Walnut Hill in a nearly straight line to Xenia, Clay county. 
 
 From here the route follows almost exactly the Baltimore and 
 Ohio Southwestern Railroad to Lawrenceville, leaving Olney to the 
 north probably two miles. From Lawrenceville the army turned 
 south and followed the Embarras river on the southwest side, cross- 
 ing the Wabash about two miles south of St. Francisville. From here 
 
 MAP OF CLARK'S ROUTE FROM FORT MASSAC TO KASKASKIA AND FROM 
 KASKASKIA TO VINCENNES 
 
 the route went east bearing toward the north till they reached Chim- 
 ney Rock or what Clark called the Second Mamelle, now called 
 Chimney Pier. From here nearly due north to the village of Vin- 
 cennes. (See map of Clark's routes.) 
 
 The story of the hardships, and the extreme suffering from cold 
 and hunger which this little army endured, will ever be a tale with 
 which to stir the patriotic blood of all loyal Illinoisians. Probably 
 nothing more than the hardships incident to any military campaign- 
 ing was experienced until they reached the Little Wabash February 
 13. Here they had to build a boat in which they ferried their bag- 
 gage, ammunition and men. The Little Wabash was crossed at a 
 point some three and one-half miles above the union of that stream 
 and what is called Big Muddy creek. Big Muddy runs toward the 
 south and nearly parallel with the Little Wabash. The space be- 
 tween was three miles wide. This is low land and is often over 
 flowed. At this time the two streams had formed one great wide flood
 
 92 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 too deep to be waded. A platform was built in three feet of water, 
 and the packhorses were brought to this platform where their bur- 
 dens were transferred to the boat. A similar platform was built on 
 the opposite shore three miles away where the boat unloaded its 
 cargo. The shallow water from each edge of the flood to the plat- 
 forms was nearly a mile wide which made the entire flood five miles. 
 
 When they reached the opposite shore they were ordered to lire 
 no more guns for fear of revealing their coming to the British. They 
 were now forty miles almost due west of Vincennes. Clark writes 
 of the crossing of the two streams as follows : 
 
 This (flood) would have been enough to have stopped any set of 
 men not in the same temper that we were. But in three days we con- 
 trived to cross by building a large canoe, ferried across the two chan- 
 nels; the rest of the way we waded building scaffolds at each side to 
 lodge our baggage on until the horses crossed to take them. 
 
 On the 16th of February the army crossed Fox river which runs 
 southward just a mile or so west of Olney. 
 
 They pushed forward through rain and mud and reached the Em- 
 barras river in the afternoon of the 17th. Here they were within 
 about eight or nine miles of Vincennes but all the lowland between 
 the Embarras river and the Wabash was flooded and no boats could 
 be found in which to cross. Here the army turned south and traveled 
 along the west side of the Embarras hunting a dry spot on which to 
 camp. Captain Bowman says they "traveled till 8 o'clock in mud 
 and water" before a camping spot could be found. "18th At day- 
 break heard Hamilton's morning gun. (They were then ten miles 
 southwest of Vincennes.) Set off and marched down the river (Em- 
 barras), saw some fine land. About two o'clock came to the bank of 
 the Wabash." 
 
 Here they spent the next three days, building rafts, digging 
 canoes, and trying to cross the Wabash. The food was all gone. Ma- 
 jor Bowman's journal says on the 19th "Many of the men cast 
 down particularly the volunteers. No provisions now of any sort, 
 two days, hard fortune." On the 20th, they captured five French- 
 men from Vincennes who said that Hamilton was ignorant of Clark's 
 presence on the Wabash. They killed a deer on this day. On the 
 21st the army was ferried over by the aid of two canoes. They landed 
 on the east side of the Wabash and rested on a little knob called "The 
 Mamelle." From here they plunged into the water and made toward 
 the next "Mamelle" about three miles eastward. Here the little 
 army stayed over night and on the morning of the 22nd of February, 
 they moved northward through water to their waists and even to 
 their shoulders. In addition to the deep water Clark says the morn- 
 ing of the 22nd was the coldest they had had and that the ice was 
 over the water from half to three-quarters of an inch. From the sec- 
 ond "Mamelle" to the next dry ground was about one and a half 
 miles. Clark says "Getting about the middle of the plain, the water 
 about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing, and as there were 
 no trees nor bushes for the men to support themselves by, I feared 
 that many of the most weak would be drowned. . . . Getting to 
 the woods where the men expected land, the water was up to my 
 shoulders, but gaining the woods was of great consequence; all the 
 low men and the weakly hung to the trees, and floated on old logs.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 93 
 
 until they were taken off by the canoes. The strong and tall got 
 ashore and built fires. Many would reach the shore and fall with 
 their bodies half in the water not being able to support themselves 
 without it." Providentially an Indian canoe with squaws and chil- 
 dren was captured. In this canoe was half a quarter of buffalo meat, 
 some corn, tallow, kettles, etc. Those were confiscated, the food pre- 
 pared, and served to the weakest ones, though there was a little broth 
 for all. This meal and the sunshiny weather greatly strengthened 
 the troops and they took up their march in the afternoon of the 22nd, 
 for the town and fort then only about four miles away. They reached 
 the town shortly after dark and while the main body of the troops 
 took up their position in the village, a detachment of fourteen men 
 under Lieutenant Bailey attacked the fort. 
 
 CAPTURE OP VINCENNES 
 
 Shortly after the army came in sight of the town, Colonel Clark 
 issued a proclamation directed to the people of the village which was 
 intended as a warning to those inhabitants who were in any way 
 sympathetic with the British interests. It read as follows : 
 
 To the Inhabitants of Post Vincennes : 
 
 Gentlemen : Being now within two miles of your village, with 
 my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being will- 
 ing to surprise you, I take this method to request such of you as are 
 true citizens and willing to enjoy the liberty I bring you, to remain 
 still in your houses. And those, if any there be, that are friends to 
 the king will instantly repair to the fort arid join the hair-buyer 
 general, and fight like men. And if any such as do not go to the fort 
 shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe punish- 
 ment. On the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may 
 depend on being well treated, and I once more request them to keep 
 out of the streets. For every one 1 find in arms on my arrival I shall 
 treat him as an enemy. 
 
 G. R. Clark. 
 
 The inhabitants of Vincennes, who were at heart favorable to the 
 Virginians, having heard that their ammunition powder, bullets, 
 and other munitions was to be moved to Detroit, buried it to pre- 
 vent its capture by the British. These munitions were now given to 
 Clark. The bombardment of the fort was kept up nearly all night, 
 and till 9 o'clock on the morning of the 24th. The firing then ceased 
 and Colonel Clark sent a note demanding the surrender of the fort. 
 To this note Lieutenant Governor Hamilton sent a very short reply 
 "Governor Hamilton begs leave to acquaint Colonel Clark, that he 
 and his garrison are not to be awed into any action unworthy British 
 subjects." The firing was renewed and kept up vigorously till in 
 the afternoon when Governor Hamilton proposed a truce of three 
 days. Clark refused, but proposed to meet Governor Hamilton at the 
 church to consider any proposition he might have to make. Hamil- 
 ton was accompanied by Lieutenant Helm who had been a British 
 prisoner since he and Moses Henry surrendered the fort the 17th of 
 December, 1778. Hamilton made a proposition of surrender but Clark 
 would not accept it. A parley ensued in which Clark told Hamilton
 
 94 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 that if he had to storm the fort he feared that his men could not be 
 restrained from deeds of violence. Both commanders resumed their 
 places but no firing occurred. Later in the afternoon Colonel Clark 
 made out articles of capitulation which were satisfactory to Hamil- 
 ton. And on the 25th of February the fort was turned over to the 
 victorious frontiersmen. 
 
 There were regular British soldiers in the fort and large quanti- 
 ties of stores said to be worth fifty thousand dollars. Word was re- 
 ceived that a large quantity of supplies was on the way down the 
 Wabash from Detroit destined for the British garrison. Clark dis- 
 patched Captain Helm to discover and capture this merchandise. 
 This he did and returned in a few days with clothing and supplies 
 valued at ten thousand pounds sterling. Clark's troops who were 
 very greatly in need of clothing were now abundantly supplied. 
 Colonel Hamilton and a few of the officers were sent to Williamsburg 
 while the soldiers were paroled and allowed to return to Detroit. 
 
 Colonel Clark desired very much to attack Detroit, but after con- 
 siderable delay he decided to return to Kaskaskia. Before leaving 
 Vincennes he made treaties with the neighboring Indians. He ap- 
 pointed Captain Helm as civil commandant. Lieutenant Brashear 
 was made military commander at the fort, and was given forty sol- 
 diers for that duty. Colonel Clark and the remainder of his army 
 departed March 20, 1779, for Kaskaskia on the galley the "Willing," 
 accompanied by an armed flotilla of seven vessels. The trip down the 
 Wabash and Ohio and up the Mississippi to Kaskaskia was without 
 incident. Clark reached Kaskaskia about the latter part of March. 
 
 Clark returned to Vincennes in July of the same year expecting to 
 find troops from Kentucky and Virginia for the Detroit expedition. He 
 was disappointed. He attempted to recruit soldiers for the Detroit cam- 
 paign in the region of the Ohio but a letter from Jefferson who was now 
 governor of Virginia requestes him to construct a fort below the mouth of 
 the Ohio. Accordingly he undertook this enterprise and by June, 1780, 
 Fort Jefferson, a few miles below the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky 
 side, was completed. It is said that some of the cannon were removed 
 there from the abandoned fortifications of Fort Chartres. The ruins of 
 Fort Jefferson, just below the town of Wycliffe, Ky., may be seen today. 
 In the fall of 1780, Clark was at Fort Pitt trying to fit out his expedi- 
 tion for Detroit. In January, 1781, we find Colonel Clark acting in 
 conjunction with Baron Steuben in repelling the attacks of Benedict 
 Arnold upon Virginia. In December, 1781, Clark was at the falls of 
 the Ohio with an army of 750 men. Later he was engaged in an 
 expedition against the Indians on the Miami river. He never led his 
 expedition against Detroit. In the summer of 1783, he received the 
 following communication : 
 
 In council, July 2, 1783. 
 
 Sir: The conclusion of the war, and the distressed situation of the 
 state, with regard to its finances, call on us to adopt the most prudent 
 economy. It is for this reason alone, I have come to a determination to 
 give over all thought, for the present, of carrying on an offensive war 
 against the Indians, which, you will easily perceive, will render the ser- 
 vices of a general officer in that quarter unnecessary, and will, therefore 
 consider yourself out of command. But. before I take leave of you, I 
 feel myself called upon, in the most forcible manner, to return you my
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 95 
 
 thanks, and those of my council, for the very great and singular service 
 you have rendered your country, in wresting so great and valuable a 
 territory from the hands of the British enemy ; repelling the attacks of 
 their savage allies, and carrying on a successful war in the heart of their 
 country. This tribute of praise and thanks so justly due, I am happy to 
 communicate to you, as the united voice of the executive. 
 I am, with respect, sir, 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 Benjamin Harrison. 
 
 Now that we are about to leave our hero for the consideration of 
 other men and other interests, it may be that some will be curious to 
 know what was the end of a man to whom the United States owes so much. 
 We quote from Brown 's History of Illinois : 
 
 ' ' He was no longer the same man as the conqueror of Kaskaskia, and 
 the captor of Vincennes. His mind was wounded by the neglect of the 
 government of Virginia to settle his accounts. Private suits were brought 
 against him for public supplies, which ultimately swept away his for- 
 tune, and with this injustice the spirit of the hero fell, and the general 
 never recovered the energies which stamped him as one of nature's 
 noblemen. ' ' 
 
 He spent the later years of his life near Louisville, Kentucky. He 
 was completely broken in his bodily frame as a result of years of hard 
 exposure. Rheumatism which ended with paralysis terminated his life 
 in 1818. He was buried at Locust Grove near Louisville. 
 
 COMING OF JOHN TODD 
 
 By virtue of the authority of the act of the Virginia legislature of 
 October, 1778, Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, and by virtue of 
 that position the first governor of Illinois, appointed Colonel John Todd 
 lieutenant-commandant of the county of Illinois. Col. Todd's com- 
 mission bears date of December 12, 1778. Colonel Todd was at the time 
 of his appointment as lieutenant-commandant of Illinois county, a 
 judge on the bench in Kentucky. 
 
 Colonel Todd did not come to Illinois county till May, 1779. Clark 
 had returned from his campaign, and capture of Vincennes. It is stated 
 that Col. Todd was received with great joy by the citizens of Kaskaskia. 
 He was no stranger to many about the village for he had come with Clark 
 in the campaign of 1778, when the Illinois country was captured from 
 the British. He is said to have been a soldier with Clark and to have 
 been the first to enter the fort which Rocheblave surrendered. Be that 
 as it may, he comes now with the authority of the commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia. On June 15, 1779, he issued a proclammation which provided 
 that no more settlements should be made in the bottom lands, and fur- 
 ther that each person to whom grants had been made must report his 
 claim to the proper officer and have his land recorded. If his land had 
 come to him through transfers, then all such transfers must be recorded 
 and certified to. This was done to prevent those adventurers who 
 would shortly come into the country from dispossessing the rightful 
 owners of those lands. 
 
 The country to which Col. John Todd came as county-lieutenant was 
 in a very discouraging condition. It had reached the maximum of pros-
 
 96 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 perity about the time the French turned it over to the English in 1765. 
 Very many of the French went to New Orleans or to St. Louis during 
 the British regime. The English king had attempted to keep out the 
 immigrant. The cultivation of the soil was sadly neglected. The few 
 French who remained were engaged in trading with the Indians. Many 
 came to be expert boatmen. Trade was brisk between the French settle- 
 ments in the Illinois country and New Orleans. 
 
 Previous to the coming of Clark the French gentleman, Chevalier 
 de Rocheblave, who was holding the country in the name of the British 
 government, had been not only neglectful but really very obstinate and 
 self willed about carrying on civil affairs. He allowed the courts, or- 
 ganized by Colonel "Wilkins, to fall into disuse. The merchants and 
 others who had need for courts found little satisfaction in attempts to 
 secure justice. During the time between the coming of Clark and of 
 Todd, there were courts organized but the military operations were so 
 overshadowing that probably little use was made of them. 
 
 Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, made out Colonel Todd's com- 
 mission and in addition gave him a lengthy letter of instructions. 
 Todd was directed 
 
 To cultivate the affection of the French and Indians. 
 
 To impress the people with the value of liberty. 
 
 To guarantee an improved jurisprudence. 
 
 To consult and advise with the most intelligent and upright persons 
 who might fall in his way. 
 
 To hold the property of the Indians, particularly the land, invi- 
 olable. 
 
 To cultivate the good will and confidence of the Spanish command- 
 ant and his people at St. Louis. 
 
 To see that the wife of Chevalier de Rocheblave should have re- 
 stored to her the property of which she was bereft when her husband 
 was sent a prisoner to Williamsburg. 
 
 To subordinate the military to the civil authority. 
 
 To encourage trade. 
 
 And to carry out the above principles with "unwearied diligence." 
 
 This was no ordinary arrival (the arrival of Todd) at the goodly 
 French village of Kaskaskia. In eighty years of its existence it had 
 seen explorers and missionaries, priests and soldiers, famous travelers 
 and men of high degree come and go, but never before one sent to ad- 
 minister the laws of a people's government for the benefit of the gov- 
 erned. 
 
 It appears from the records of Colonel Todd that on the 14th of 
 May, 1779, he organized the military department of his work, by ap- 
 pointing the officers of the militia at Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, 
 and Cahokia. Richard Winston, Jean B. Barbeau, and Francois 
 Trotier were made commandants and captains in the three villages 
 respectively. 
 
 The next step was to elect judges provided for in the act creating the 1 
 county of Illinois. Judges were elected at Cahokia, Kaskaskia, and at 
 Vincennes, and court was held monthly. There seems to have been a 
 scarcity of properly qualified men for the places as in many instances 
 militia officers were elected judges, and in one case the "Deputy-Com- 
 mandant at Kaskaskia filled also the office of sheriff. ' ' 
 
 Todd issued permits or charters of trade and encouraged those about
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 97 
 
 him to engage in business. He also gave attention to the subject of 
 land-claims. No new claims were to be recognized except such as were 
 made according to the custom of the French inhabitants. 
 
 Colonel Todd found enough work to keep him busy and it is doubt- 
 ful if it was all as pleasant as he might have wished. The records which 
 he kept, and which are now in the keeping of the Chicago Historical 
 Society, show that severe penalties were inflicted in those days. On 
 page 18, bearing date of June 13, is the following order: 
 
 Illinois to-wit: to Richard Winston, Esq., Sheriff-in-Chief of the 
 District of Kaskaskia. 
 
 Negro Manuel, a Slave in your custody, is condemned by the court 
 of Kaskaskia, after having made honorable Fine at the door of the 
 Church, to be chained to a post at the Water Side, and there to be 
 burnt alive and his ashes scattered, as appears to me by Record. 
 
 This sentence you are hereby required to put in execution on Tues- 
 day next at 9 o'clock in the morning, and this shall be your warrant. 
 
 Given under my hand and seal at Kaskaskia the 13th day of June 
 (1779) in the third year of the commonwealth. 
 
 Jno. Todd. 
 
 A similar case to the above is also recorded in the record book kept 
 by Colonel Todd. It appears that witchcraft among the negro slaves 
 was a common thing in the French villages, and the punishment was 
 death. In Reynold's History there is a statement that a negro by the 
 name of Moreau was hanged for witchcraft in Cahokia in 1790. But in 
 the record book kept by Todd this entry occurs : 
 
 To Capt. Nicholas Janis. 
 
 You are hereby required to call upon a party of your militia to 
 guard Moreau, a slave condemned to execution, up to the town of Cohos 
 (Cahokia). Put them under an officer. They shall be entitled to pay 
 rations and refreshments during the time they shall be upon duty to be 
 certified hereafter by you. I am sir, 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 Jno. Todd 
 15th June, 1779. 
 
 Colonel Todd held this position of county-lieutenant for about three 
 years. During that time he established courts, held popular elections, 
 and executed the law with vigor. 
 
 In the spring of 1780 he was elected a delegate from the county of 
 Kentucky to the Virginia legislature. He attended the sessions of the 
 legislature and while at the capital married. In the fall he returned to 
 Lexington, Kentucky, where he left his bride and came to Illinois 
 county. In the spring or summer of 1781, Governor Jefferson appointed 
 Todd colonel of Fayette county, Kentucky. He purposed settling in 
 Richmond, Virginia, permanently, but in August he was temporarily 
 in Lexington when an attack was made on the town by Indians. The 
 retreating redskins were pursued, and at the Battle of Blue Licks, 
 fought August 18, 1782, Todd was killed. 
 
 There was a deputy county-lieutenant or deputy-commandant in 
 each village, and when Colonel Todd was absent, the reins of govern- 
 ment were in the hands of one of these deputies. On the occasion of 
 his absence at the time of his death he had left, it seems, Timothy De- 
 
 VoL 17
 
 98 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 mountbrun as county lieutenant. This man seems to have been the 
 only one authorized to rule, till the coming of St. Clair in 1790. 
 
 VIRGINIA CEDES HER WESTERN LANDS 
 
 In the famous resolution introduced into the Continental congress 
 by Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, on June 7, 1776, there were three 
 distinct provisions: 
 
 1. That we are and of right ought to be free and independent states. 
 
 2. That we ought to form a National government. 
 
 3. That we ought to send ministers abroad to solicit aid in estab- 
 lishing our independence. 
 
 The resolutions were adopted. A committee known as the Grand 
 Committee consisting of one representative from each state, was ap- 
 pointed to draw up the form of government. This committee reported 
 what came to be known as the Articles of Confederation. This docu- 
 ment provided that it should go into effect when it should be ratified by 
 all of the thirteen colonies. By the spring of 1781, all the states had 
 ratified except Maryland. This state refused to ratify the article un- 
 less all the states that had claims to western lands should cede their 
 lands to the United States to be disposed of for the good of the govern- 
 ment as a whole. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, the 
 two Carolinas, and Georgia had claims to western lands. These states 
 after due consideration of all of the interests involved in the refusal of 
 Maryland to endorse the articles, agreed to cede their lands ; and Mary- 
 land, on the 1st of March, 1781, ratified the Articles of Confederation 
 and the government went into operation under the articles on the 2d 
 of the same month. 
 
 By reference to a former chapter it will be seen that Virginia, 
 Connecticut, and Massachusetts all had claims to land lying within the 
 present state of Illinois. Virginia's claim rested on her "sea to sea" 
 grant of 1609. But in addition she claimed the territory now included 
 in Illinois, because her troops had captured this territory from the 
 British, and her civil government had been extended over it as has been 
 shown in the last chapter. 
 
 Virginia passed her ordinance of cession in October, 1783, which 
 authorized her representatives in congress to sign the deed of transfer. 
 This deed of transfer was duly signed by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel 
 Hardy, Arthur Lee, and James Monroe, December 20, 1783. From this 
 time forward Virginia had no more interest in the Illinois country than 
 had any other state, except that there were reserved certain lands which 
 she wished to use in payment of her soldiers. 
 
 CIVIL GOVERNMENT NORTH OP THE OHIO 
 
 In 1784 congress passed an ordinance which was to serve as a basis 
 of civil government in the territory north of the Ohio river, until such 
 time as there should be sufficient population to justify the admission 
 of the territory into the union as states. In 1785 a system of surveys 
 was adopted by congress which probably was the beginning of what 
 afterward was called the rectangular system of surveys. The public 
 land was to be laid off in squares six miles each way, and each six miles 
 square was then to be subdivided into squares of one mile on a side.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 99 
 
 The law of 1784 provided for an officer corresponding to our surveyor 
 general. Thomas Hutchins, formerly an engineer in the British army 
 was appointed to this office, and his work was very valuable in the 
 early settlement of the west. The ordinance of 1784 was intended to 
 provide a means by which the inhabitants could organize a temporary 
 government. It assumed that the country could be or was settled. And 
 until such time as the inhabitants should call on congress to provide a 
 temporary government for them there was really no government for 
 the people. No one came into the new territory and no land was sold 
 as a result of the land surveys. Probably there would have been very 
 little interest in making settlements in the territory for some time if it 
 had not been for an organization gotten up in Massachusetts which 
 had for its purpose the exchange of depreciated certificates of indebt- 
 edness, held by Revolutionary officers against the general government, 
 for western lands. As early as 1783 petitions had been sent to congress 
 asking for the setting aside of land immediately west of Pennsylvania 
 for the use of Revolutionary soldiers and others. Out of this mover 
 ment there was organized in Boston, March 3, 1786, the Ohio Company 
 of Associates. This organization purposed "The conversion of those 
 old final certificates into future homes, westward of the Ohio . . . 
 and the formation of a new state." 
 
 ORDINANCE OP 1787 PASSED 
 
 This new land company sent Gen. S. H. Parsons to congress, which 
 was then sitting in New York to lay a proposition before that body. It 
 was referred to a committee for consideration. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, 
 of Massachusetts, appeared upon the scene just as the new ordinance 
 was being considered. Doctor Cutler was busily engaged in consulta- 
 tion with committees and with members and as an outcome of it all, 
 congress passed the Ordinance of 1787. Very briefly this ordinance 
 provided : 
 
 1. The territory northwest of the Ohio was made one district for 
 temporary government. 
 
 2. That property of resident or non-resident persons, dying intes- 
 tate, should descend to legal heirs in equal parts. 
 
 3. Congress should appoint a governor, secretary, and three judges 
 to administer civil law. 
 
 4. The governor and judges should adopt and publish such laws 
 from the original states as were found suited to conditions in the new 
 territory. 
 
 5. The governor was to be the commander-in-chief of the military 
 establishment. 
 
 6. The governor should appoint all needed civil officers until such 
 time as a legislature was organized, after which, the creation of local 
 offices was left with that body. 
 
 7. All laws, rules, orders, or regulations were to be enforced in 
 all parts of the territory. 
 
 8. When the population reached 5,000 free male inhabitants of 
 full age, a representative assembly should be granted. 
 
 9. The general assembly or territorial legislature should consist of 
 (1) governor, (2) the council, (3) the house of representatives, con- 
 sisting of one representative to every 500 free male inhabitants.
 
 100 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 10. The legislature should send one delegate to congress who should 
 have the right of debate but not of voting. 
 
 11. There shall be freedom of religious belief and practice. 
 
 12. The inhabitants shall have (1) the privilege of the writ of 
 habeas corpus; (2) the right of trial by jury; (3) processes of the 
 common law; (4) right of bail; (5) exemption from excessive fines 
 and punishments. 
 
 13. The utmost good faith toward the Indians must be preserved. 
 
 14. The legislature of the states when formed, shall not interfere 
 with the congress in the disposition of the public lands. 
 
 15. States may be admitted into the union when the population 
 will justify it. 
 
 16. Slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment 
 for crimes whereof the person shall have been convicted, shall not 
 exist within the said territory northwest of the Ohio river. 
 
 As soon as this Ordinance was passed there sprang up quite an ac- 
 tive interest in the matter of making settlements in this northwest 
 territory. Congress sold large tracts of land. This Ohio Land Com- 
 pany bought about 2,000,000 acres on the Muskingum river, but paid 
 for only about half that amount. Other large sales were made, and 
 immigration set in. The Rev. Manasseh Cutler's company of forty- 
 eight persons from Massachusetts reached the Muskingum April 7, 1788, 
 where they founded Marietta, Ohio. 
 
 GOVERNMENT ORGANIZED 
 
 Following the passage of the Ordinance of 1787, July 13, congress 
 appointed the officials as follows : Governor, Gen. Arthur St. Clair ; 
 secretary, Winthrop Sargent; judges, Samuel Holden Parsons, James 
 M. Varnum, and John Cleves Symmes. The governor arrived at Mari- 
 etta July 9, 1787, but Judge Varnum preceded him, for he made a 4th 
 of July speech at Marietta, five days before the coming of the governor. 
 
 On the 15th of July Governor St. Clair created Washington county, 
 northwest territory. In September the governor and judges adopted 
 a code of laws for the territory. In January these officials came to 
 Losantiville, opposite the mouth of Licking river, which they changed 
 to Cincinnati. Here they created the county of Hamilton. This point 
 was made the seat of government. 
 
 The governor and secretary proceeded westward and reached Kas- 
 kaskia on the 5th of March, 1790. Here they created the county of 
 St. Clair. Later, on the journey back toward the seat of government, 
 the county of Knox was organized. There were thus four counties and 
 four county seats Washington county, Marietta the county seat ; Ham- 
 ilton county, Cincinnati the county seat ; St. Clair county, Cahokia the 
 county seat; Knox county, Vincennes the county seat. 
 
 CONDITIONS IN ILLINOIS 
 
 Let us now recall the condition in which we left the Illinois country. 
 Colonel Todd whose coming promised so much, in 1779, seems to have 
 served the people of Illinois but a short time. He was nominally the 
 civil commandant up to the day of his death, August 18, 1782. But 
 from the day he left in the summer of 1780, the good order and quiet
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 101 
 
 on-going began to decline. John Gabriel Cerre, a very prominent citi- 
 zen of St. Louis and formerly a merchant in Kaskaskia, was before a 
 committee in congress in July, 1786, and upon being interrogated re- 
 plied as follows: 
 
 Question Were the people of the Illinois heretofore governed by 
 the laws of Canada or by usages and customs of their own, or partly 
 by one and partly by the other? 
 
 Answer The people of Illinois were governed before the conquest 
 of Canada by the same laws as the people of Canada, which were of 
 the same nature as those of old France adapted to the particular cir- 
 cumstances of the country. They had local customs which were equally 
 binding as the laws and after the conquest the British commandants 
 were civil judges who governed by the same laws and customs as the 
 people lived under before the conquest of Canada ; all public transac- 
 tions being recorded in French for the information of the country. 
 Criminal cases were referred to England. 
 
 Question By what law or usages and by what judges is criminal 
 and civil justice dispensed at this time? 
 
 Answer In 1779, when Colonel Todd went into that country, the 
 people chose six magistrates to govern them according to the French 
 laws and customs, which magistrates were empowered by Colonel Todd 
 to judge in criminal cases. After the troops were withdrawn the power 
 of the magistrates was annihilated and everything fell into anarchy and 
 confusion the state of affairs at this time (1786). 
 
 Question What is the computed number of inhabitants in the whole 
 Illinois district, and what proportion of them are slaves? 
 
 Answer There may be in the towns on the Mississippi about 300 
 white inhabitants, including American settlers who may number about 
 50. There are, moreover, about 250 slaves. 
 
 Between the leaving of Todd in 1782 and the coming of St. Clair, 
 1790, there were several years of disorder and confusion. There was 
 the constant decrease of the population; there were no courts; there 
 was no money in circulation. There were only sixty-five Americans 
 who could bear arms in 1791, and only 300 militia of all nationalities. 
 There were probably not more than a thousand souls in the Illinois 
 country at this time. A few people were coming into this region. Two 
 families. McElmurry and Flannery, settled in Alexander county oppo- 
 site Goose Island as early as 1783. Other settlements were made and a 
 few block houses were built. Reynolds mentions quite a number of 
 American pioneers who came into Illinois prior to 1790. James Moore 
 settled near the present town of Waterloo at a place called Slab Spring. 
 Shadrach Bond, Sr., uncle of Governor Bond, James Garrison, and 
 Robert Kidd settled Blockhouse fort. These men arrived about 1781, 
 and all came to be highly respected, useful citizens. One of the most 
 noted immigrants of these early times was Gen. John Edgar. He had 
 been in the service of Great Britain but gave it up for the American 
 cause. He came to Kaskaskia in 1784. His name is intimately asso- 
 ciated with the early history of the country. He was quite wealthy 
 and was very generous. He died in 1832. 
 
 When Governor St. Clair and Winthrop Sargent reached Kaskas- 
 kia, they must have been greatly disappointed in the condition and 
 character of the people, for Governor St. Clair, writing from Cahokia 
 to the secretary of war, says r 'They are the most ignorant people in
 
 102 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the world ; there is not a 50th man that can either read or write. ' ' They 
 were all so poor. They had contributed to Clark's needs more liberally 
 than they were able, and the certificates which Clark issued in payment 
 for supplies were still held by, these poor settlers. In addition to all 
 this there had been three recent inundations of the Mississippi bottoms. 
 Not only had crops been washed away but the planting had been pre- 
 vented and much distress had resulted. 
 
 As has been stated, St. Glair and his secretary reached Kaskaskia 
 in March, 1790. On April 27, Governor St. Clair established the county 
 of St. Clair. It included all the territory north and east of the Ohio 
 and the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, and west of the line running 
 from Port Massac through the mouth of the Mackinaw creek a short 
 distance below the city of Peoria. 
 
 The county was divided into three districts with the three towns of 
 Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Cahokia as centers of administra- 
 tion. The governor created a number of offices and filled them before 
 leaving the territory. The most important were : 
 
 Sheriff "William Biggs. 
 
 Judges of the Court Jean Barbeau, John Edgar, Antoine Gerar- 
 din, Philip Engle, John de Moulin. 
 
 Probate Judge Bartholomew Tardiveau. 
 
 Among the other officers were justices of the peace, coroner, notary, 
 clerk and recorder, surveyor, lieutenant colonel, major, captains, etc. 
 The laws which the governor and the three judges had adopted, together 
 with those which they should adopt, were the laws to be administered. 
 It is probable that little official work was done by the officers whom St. 
 Clair left in St. Clair county. The courts seldom convened, and the 
 militia men are said to have refused to serve. There was not much 
 difference between the condition of things before and after St. Glair's 
 coming. 
 
 In 1795, Judge Turner, one of the three federal judges, came to hold 
 court and out of a contention between him and St. Clair the county of 
 St. Clair was divided into two counties by a line running due east and 
 west through New Design. The north half was called St. Clair county 
 with Cahokia for the county seat, while the south half was called Ran- 
 dolph county with Kaskaskia as the county seat. 
 
 There were two sources of annoyance to the people of Illinois be- 
 tween 1785 and 1800. These were the Indian troubles and the conduct 
 of Spain in relation to the use of the lower Mississippi. 
 
 The Kickapoo Indians were quite active in marauding campaigns 
 into Illinois. There does not seem to have been any real military cam- 
 paigns and the work on the part of the whites consisted chiefly in de- 
 fending their homes against the Indian attacks. Block houses were 
 built wherever there were settlers and in many instances stockades were 
 provided for the safety of stock as well as of the people. A number of 
 people were killed in the Illinois country. William Biggs, afterward 
 the sheriff of St. Clair county, was captured by a band of Kickapoos on 
 the 28th of March, 1788. He lived at Bellefontaine, and on the above 
 date, early in the morning he was going to Cahokia on horseback with 
 a load of beaver furs, accompanied by one John Vallis. They had not 
 gone far till they were fired on. Vallis was wounded in the thigh and 
 died in a few weeks. Biggs was not hit by the Indians but his horse 
 received four bullet wounds. Biggs was captured and was taken to an
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 103 
 
 Indian village and after being held for several weeks was released and 
 came home. In 1826 he wrote out and published the entire story of his 
 capture which is very interesting. 
 
 The other matter referred to, the Spaniards ' refusal of the use of the 
 lower Mississippi, did not concern the Illinois people very much. Spain 
 held New Orleans from 1763 till its recession to France. During a part 
 of that time Spain refused to allow our river boats to land our produce 
 on the wharf for reshipment. But in 1795 a treaty was made with that 
 country by which we secured the privilege of the right of "deposit." 
 From this time till the purchase of Louisiana we had free access to the 
 Port of New Orleans. 
 
 LOCAL GOVERNMENT 
 
 The Ordinance of 1787 provided that when there should be 5,000 free 
 male whites of the age of twenty-one years in the Northwest territory 
 they might organize a legislature on the basis of one representative for 
 each 500 whites of the age of twenty-one. This was done in the year 
 1798. Shadrach Bond was elected to represent St. Clair county and 
 John Edgar to represent Randolph county. The legislature met at 
 Cincinnati on the 4th of February, 1799. There were twenty-two mem- 
 bers in the lower house, representing eleven counties. William H. Har- 
 rison who had succeeded Sargent as secretary was elected a delegate 
 to congress. In the session of congress in the winter of 1799-1800, the 
 proposition to divide the Northwest territory into two territories was 
 referred to a committee of which Harrison was chairman. The report 
 was favorably received by congress and on the 7th of May, 1800, an act 
 was passed dividing the Northwest territory by a line running from the 
 Ohio to Fort Recovery and thence to the line separating the territory 
 from Canada. 
 
 The western part was to be known as the Indiana territory and its 
 government was to be of the first-class. Its capital was located at Vin- 
 cennes and the governor was William Henry Harrison. The eastern 
 division was called the Northwest territory, its capital was Chillicothe, 
 and Governor St. Clair was still the chief executive. The east division 
 was admitted as a state in 1802, February 19. Illinois, Indiana, Wis- 
 consin, and Michigan now became the Indiana territory.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 AS A PART OP INDIANA TERRITORY 
 
 HARRISON AND THE INDIAN PROBLEMS SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORY ILLI- 
 NOIS TERRITORY ERECTED. 
 
 The Northwest territory had grown in population since the institu- 
 tion of the Ordinance of 1787. Governor St. Clair had done much for 
 the territory and yet there were loud complaints about the inefficiency 
 of the government. Courts were held infrequently and criminals were 
 seldom punished. Great discontent existed because of the failure of 
 the government to confirm the land claims of the people. St. Clair and 
 the legislature often were bitterly opposed to each other. The Indians 
 were numerous and insolent. The center of population had moved 
 rapidly eastward and St. Glair's interests were carried eastward. 
 
 HARRISON AND THE INDIAN PROBLEMS 
 
 In the congress of 1799-1800 a bill passed providing for the separ- 
 ation of what is now the state of Ohio from the territory to the west. 
 The western part was to be called the Indiana territory while the east- 
 ern part retained the name of Northwest territory. On July 4, 1800, 
 the Indiana territory came into existence. Gen. William Henry Harri- 
 son, at that time a delegate in congress, was made governor of the new 
 territory. The organization was that of a territory of the first class, and 
 John Gibson was appointed secretary, the judges being William Clark. 
 John Griffin, and Henry Vranderburg. The county organization of 
 Knox, St. Clair, and Randolph remained quite similar to that in force 
 before the division. 
 
 The most important work which lay before Governor Harrison was 
 the Indian problems. Governor Harrison was made superintendent of 
 Indian affairs in addition to that of civil governor. By the treaty of 
 Greenville in the summer of 1795, General Wayne acquired about 
 18,000,000 acres of land in the Northwest territory for the United States. 
 The treaty was agreed to by thirteen tribes who claimed lands in the 
 eastern part of the Northwest territory. But now population was mov- 
 ing west rapidly and the Indians in Indiana, Illinois, and the territory 
 to the north were very restless and troublesome. It required the great- 
 est diplomacy to handle these Indians. It has been said that Governor 
 Harrison exhibited just such a remarkable aptitude in handling the In- 
 dian question as was needful at that time. By the year 1805, Harri- 
 son had made treaties with as many as eight or ten tribes in the west. 
 The most noted were the treaties at Fort Wayne, Vincennes and St. 
 
 104
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 105 
 
 Louis. By these treaties the United States came into possession of about 
 30,000,000 acres of land in the western part of the old Northwest ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 It must not be thought that because the Indians had made treaties 
 in which they ceded their lands to the general government that there- 
 fore the Indian problems were all solved. Many of these Indians still 
 lingered in the region of their old hunting grounds, and often it oc- 
 curred that the whites and the red people were closely intermingled in 
 many regions. 
 
 SLAVERY IN THE TERRITORY 
 
 It has already been shown that slavery had been introduced into the 
 Illinois country by Philip Renault in 1721. In that year he brought 500 
 slaves to the Louisiana territory, but probably all were not brought to 
 the Illinois country. But a large number was brought to Kaskaskia 
 and from that day forward for a century, slavery was a fixed institu- 
 tion in Illinois. In 1763, France ceded the Illinois country to Great 
 Britain, and while there was nothing said in the treaty about slaves, 
 the French people could freely remove to other countries or stay as 
 they liked, and if they stayed they were to retain all their rights and 
 privileges which they held prior to the treaty. General Gage in a 
 proclamation to the people of the Illinois country in 1763 stated among 
 other things, "That those who choose to retain their lands and be- 
 come subjects of his majesty, shall enjoy the same rights and privi- 
 leges, the same security for their persons and effects and the liberty of 
 trade, as the old subjects of the king." So there was slavery in Illinois 
 as a British possession just as when it was French territory. In 1783 
 Great Britain transferred this same territory to the United States. The 
 United States in turn agreed to guarantee to the people security for 
 persons and effects. Thus slavery was recognized. Again when Vir- 
 ginia ceded her territory west of the Alleghany mountains she incor- 
 porated in her deed of cession the following "Be it enacted That the 
 French and Canadian inhabitants 'and other settlers of the Kaskaskia, 
 St. Vincents, and the neighboring villages, who have professed them- 
 selves citizens of Virginia shall have their possessions and titles con- 
 firmed to them, and be protected in the enjoyment of their rights and 
 liberties. ' ' This was in 1784. 
 
 In the same year an ordinance was passed to govern the Northwest 
 territory. An amendment was added the next year which said "That 
 there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the 
 states" which shall be made of the Northwest territory. In the Ordi- 
 nance of 1787, article the sixth provides "There shall be neither slav- 
 ery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory otherwise than in the 
 punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
 victed." This clause was a source of fear to the inhabitants around 
 Kaskaskia for they yet held many slaves. When Governor St. Glair 
 arrived in Illinois country in 1790 he put an interpretation upon the 
 sixth article which quieted the slave holder very much. He gave it as 
 his interpretation that the sixth article meant that no more slaves 
 could be brought into the territory, but that the slaves that were al- 
 ready there were not to be disturbed. This was the construction 
 put upon the article for the next several years.
 
 106 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 On January 12, 1796, a petition was sent to congress from Kaskas- 
 kia, signed by John Edgar, William Morrison, William St. Clair, and 
 John de Moulin for and on behalf of the inhabitants of the counties 
 of St. Clair and Randolph praying that congress would annul the 
 sixth article of the Ordinance of 1787. This article prohibited slav- 
 ery in the territory. These petitions argued (1) That Virginia 
 promised them through George Rogers Clark that they should be 
 protected in all their rights and interests. (2) That while they now 
 held slaves as in the days of the British supremacy, yet it was gen- 
 erally agreed that children born of slave parents would be free under 
 the ordinance. (3) That help was scarce and it was quite difficult to 
 get laborers and mechanics. (4) Many excellent people coming from 
 the old slave states go on into Spanish territory where slavery is per- 
 mitted who else would locate in Illinois. 
 
 This petition was forwarded to congress by Governor St. Clair. 
 It was referred to a committee, who, through its chairman, Mr. 
 Joshua Coit, reported that there was no evidence that Edgar and the 
 other signers spoke for any one else than themselves, and that there 
 was strenuous opposition to granting the petition coming from the 
 eastern part of the territory. The petition was not granted. 
 
 A second attempt was made to get the sixth article repealed or an- 
 nulled in 1799. This was a petition of old soldiers to the legislature 
 of Indiana for permission to bring their slaves with them into and 
 upon the Virginia military reserve. The committee reported that the 
 request "was incompatible with the articles of compact." The House 
 e'ndorsed the report. 
 
 In 1800 a petition was circulated about Kaskaskia, asking con- 
 gress to annul the sixth article of the ordinance. It was signed by 
 nearly three hundred names. It contained, in addition to a request 
 for the abolition of the sixth article, a request that congress extin- 
 guish the title of the Kaskaskia Indians to lands in the Illinois coun- 
 try; and again, the granting of tracts of lands to those who would 
 open roads through the country and maintain taverns on them for the 
 convenience of travelers. This petition was presented on the 23d of 
 January, 1801, but it was never acted upon. 
 
 In 1802, while Governor Harrison was in Kaskaskia on business, 
 he was strongly urged to call a convention in Vincennes to take un- 
 der advisement the admission of slavery into the territory. Such a 
 convention was called, elections were held December 11, and the dele- 
 gates were to come to Vincennes the 20th of that month. Randolph 
 sent three delegates, St. Clair three, Knox four, and Clark two 
 twelve delegates in all. Randolph sent Pierre Menard, Robert Rey- 
 nolds, and Robert Morrison. St. Clair sent Jean Francois Perry, 
 Shadrach Bond, Sr., and John Mordeck. The convention was organ- 
 ized and proceeded to the business in hand. The delegates formulated 
 their requests along the following lines: (1) They contended that the 
 sixth article had been the cause of slow growth in the Indiana terri- 
 tory. (2) They asked only for a suspension of the article for ten 
 years, after which it shall be in force. (3) Extinction of Kaskaskia 
 Indian titles. (4) Pre-emption laws. (5) Encouragement of schools. 
 
 (6) Granting large sections of land to those who would open roads. 
 
 (7) The grant of the Saline Springs below the mouth of the Wabash 
 to the Indiana territory.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 107 
 
 The petition was presented to congress and on the 2d of March, 
 1803, the committee reported. They said: "The rapidly increasing 
 population of the state of Ohio sufficiently evinces, in the opinion of 
 your committee, that the labor of slaves is not necessary to promote 
 the growth and settlement of colonies in that region." 
 
 The refusal of congress to grant the request of the Vincennes con- 
 vention roused the people to a determination to take the matter into 
 their own hands. Although the Ordinance of 1787 provided that the 
 governor and judges acting as a legislative body could adopt only 
 such laws as were found upon the statute books of some one or more 
 of the older states, the governor and judges acting as the law-making 
 branch of the Indiana territory, on September 22, 1803, passed "A 
 Law Concerning Servants." It provided that a person coming into 
 the territory "under contract to serve another in any trade or occu- 
 pation shall be compelled to perform such contract during the term 
 thereof." The contract was assignable to any citizen of the terri- 
 tory, if the servant consented. 
 
 Intimately related with this subject of slavery in the Indiana ter- 
 ritory, was the question of advancement to the second grade of terri- 
 torial form of government. This indenture law of 1803, was not re- 
 garded as a very safe guarantee to the southern slave holder, and few 
 slaves were brought in. Notwithstanding this timidity on the part of 
 the slave owner to migrate into the Northwest territory, there was a 
 constant stream of people coming from the non-slaveholding states 
 and also non-slaveholders from the slave states. There can be little 
 doubt that Harrison and his friends were favorable to some plan by 
 which slavery could be introduced, but unless something could be 
 done soon there would be no chance as the whole territory would be 
 anti-slavery. 
 
 The law of congress creating the Indiana territory, also provided 
 that the government might at any time be changed to the second class 
 when the majority of the people favored such a change. It was ar- 
 gued that laws passed by a representative legislature would be re- 
 garded with more consideration than those enacted by the governor 
 and judges. Besides they would have a delegate in congress who 
 while not being allowed to vote would yet be of great service to the 
 people of the territory. The governor, therefore, issued a call for an 
 election to test the wish of the people as to the change from the first 
 grade of government to the second grade. The election was called 
 August 4, 1804, to be held September 11; and the complaint was made 
 that the time was too short for even all the voters to learn of the 
 election. Certainly something worked against a full poll of the terri- 
 tory as only four hundred votes were cast. The majority in favor of 
 the change was one hundred and thirty-eight. 
 
 The governor called an election for members of the legislature. 
 The election was held on January 3, 1805, and on February 1, they 
 convened at Vincennes. There were nine members of the lower 
 house. Randolph sent Dr. George Fisher, while St. Clair sent Shad- 
 rach Bond and "William Biggs. The council was selected in the usual 
 way. Pierre Menard represented Randolph and John Hay was St. 
 Clair 's representative in that body. The full legislature met July 
 29, 1805. The first thing was the election of a representative or dele- 
 gate to congress. Benjamin Parke was chosen. The next thing was
 
 108 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 to pass "An Act concerning the introduction of negroes and mulat- 
 toes into this territory." This was an indenture law. It provided 
 that any slave-holder might bring his slave into the territory, and 
 enter into an agreement with the slave as to the length of time the 
 slave was to work for the owner. If the slave refused to enter into 
 a contract, the owner had sixty days in which to return him to a slave 
 state. The "indenture" was acknowledged before the clerk of the 
 court and placed on record. The slave was then known as an indented 
 slave or an indented servant. If the slave-holder has slaves under 
 fifteen years of age he may simply register them with the clerk of the 
 court. The males must then serve the owner till they are thirty-five, 
 and females till they are thirty-two. Children born of indented par- 
 ents must serve their masters males till they are thirty-two, females 
 till they are twenty-eight. 
 
 ILLINOIS TERRITORY ERECTED 
 
 From the day the Indiana territory was set off from what came to 
 be the state of Ohio, the people of Illinois began to agitate the mat- 
 ter of dividing the Indiana territory. The Illinois people complained 
 that it was a great inconvenience to go so far to the seat of govern- 
 ment. In a petition to congress the Illinois people complained that 
 the road to Vincennes was a hundred and eighty miles through an 
 uninhabited country which it was really dangerous to travel. 
 
 Another argument was that the governor, William H. Harrison, 
 appointed only friends to office and that all important places were 
 filled with the governor's Indiana friends. 
 
 A third argument in favor of the division was that the people in 
 the Illinois region were favorable to slavery while the Indiana people 
 were quite indifferent to the subject of introducing slavery. The Illi- 
 nois people thought if they could get a separate territorial govern- 
 ment, they could manage many problems peculiar to the Illinois peo- 
 ple better than could the legislature as then composed. 
 
 In the session of the legislature in Vincennes in 1808, a delegate 
 to congress was to be elected. Mr. Jesse B. Thomas, the presiding 
 officer, promised the Illinois members if they would vote for him as 
 delegate to congress, he would secure the division. The bargain was 
 made and carried out. 
 
 February 3, 1809, congress passed an act separating the Indiana 
 territory, by a line running north from Vincennes to Canada, into 
 the two territories of Indiana and Illinois.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 ILLINOIS (1809-1812) 
 
 TERRITORY OF THE FIRST CLASS WAR OF 1812 MATTERS OP LOCAL IN- 
 TEREST ILLINOIS A SECOND CLASS TERRITORY A RETROSPECT. 
 
 The bill which passed congress and was signed by the President 
 February 3, 1809, contained eight sections. The first "Be it enacted. 
 . . . That, from and after the first day of March next, that part 
 of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river, and a 
 direct line drawn from Post Vincennes due north, to the territorial line 
 between the United States and Canada, shall, for the purpose of tem- 
 porary government, constitute a separate territory and be called Illi- 
 nois." The second section provided for a government of the first class 
 a governor, three judges, a secretary. The third provided for their 
 appointment by the president. The fourth allowed the governor to 
 call an election for the purpose of determining the desire of the people 
 to enter the second grade of territorial government. And if favorable 
 then he was to carry such desire into effect. Article five prohibited 
 Indiana officials from exercising authority in Illinois. Article six 
 provided that all suits and proceedings in process of being settled should 
 be completed as if the division had not been made. Article seven guar- 
 anteed to the Indiana government the current taxes due from lands 
 lying in Illinois. Article eight fixed the seat of government at Kas- 
 kaskia until such time as the legislature should locate it elsewhere. 
 
 Nathaniel Pope was appointed secretary April 24. He was, for four 
 or five years previous to his appointment, a resident of St. Genevieve 
 but practiced law in Illinois. Ninian Edwards was appointed governor 
 also on April 24, 1809. He was a judge of the court in Kentucky. The 
 judges were Alexander Stuart, Obadiah Jones, and Jesse B. Thomas. 
 Judge Stuart was transferred to Missouri, and Stanley Griswold filled 
 the vacancy. 
 
 Governor Edwards was a man of unusual parts. He had a collegiate 
 training and was a man of wonderful resources. Henry Clay is said 
 to have indorsed Judge Edwards for this place, saying, "I have no 
 doubt that the whole representation from the state (Kentucky) would 
 concur in ascribing to him every qualification for the office in question." 
 
 Nathaniel Pope, who was at Kaskaskia much earlier than Governor 
 Edwards, issued a proclamation establishing the two counties of Ran- 
 dolph and St. Clair. Governor Edwards arrived in June and imme- 
 diately called a legislative session of the governor and judges. The 
 laws first provided were those previously in force in the Indiana terri- 
 tory. The action of the secretary in appointing local officers was con- 
 
 109
 
 110 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 firmed. Among these territorial officers we may mention Robert Morri- 
 son, adjutant general, Benjamin Stephenson, sheriff of Randolph, and 
 John Hays, sheriff of St. Clair. Other minor positions were filled in 
 the two counties. 
 
 The government of the Illinois territory was now completely organ- 
 ized and the people had realized what was for many years a buoyant 
 hope. They said in favor of division, that it would increase immigration 
 and bring prosperity to a lagging and unremuneratve industrial life. 
 They argued that towns would spring up, farms would be opened, and 
 that commerce would be greatly augmented. Their prophecy was ful- 
 filled. 
 
 By a law of congress, passed March 26, 1804, there were established 
 three land offices one at Kaskaskia, one at Vincennes, and one at De- 
 troit. When the United States came into possession of the public do- 
 main, there was no thought of attempting to dispose of it in smaller 
 tracts than many thousands of acres. It was supposed that large com- 
 panies and wealthy individuals would buy these large tracts and then 
 go into the retail business. When Mr. Harrison was a delegate in con- 
 gress, he got a bill through which reduced the tracts to one square mile 
 640 acres. The price fixed was $2.00 per acre, one-fourth to be paid 
 in cash and three-fourths on credit. Later the size of the tract was re- 
 duced; so also was the price. The establishing of the land office at 
 Kaskaskia in 1804 greatly increased the immigration to the Illinois 
 country. So much so that the population of Illinois grew from 2,500 
 in 1800 to 12,282 in 1810, by the census of those dates. 
 
 When Governor Edwards came to take charge of affairs in the Illi- 
 nois territory, or shortly thereafter, in addition to the number of settle- 
 ments in the two counties of Randolph and St. Clair, there were settle- 
 ments in the territory composing the counties of Jackson, Union, John- 
 son, Massac, Pope, Gallatin, Monroe. In spite of the complaints made 
 of the drawbacks of the undivided territory prior to 1809, there had 
 been a great increase in population, in industries, in home-making, and 
 in all the activities which were destined eventually 'to make Illinois a 
 great state. 
 
 But shortly after Governor Edwards arrived in the new territory, 
 the peace and safety of the ten thousarid inhabitants were threatened. 
 The Indians had, in recent years, ceded nearly all their claims to land 
 in Indiana and Illinois, and they now became dissatisfied, and their 
 minds were inflamed. Tecumseh and the Prophet were busy inciting 
 the Indians to deeds of violence. Almost constant interviews were go- 
 ing on between the Indians and those in authority in the two territories. 
 The battle of Tippecanoe was fought on the 6th of November, 1811, 
 and while Illinois had no military organization in the battle, yet there 
 were individuals from around the salt works and Shawneetown who 
 took part in the engagement. Col. Isaac White of Shawneetown, a 
 lessee of the salt works, was a personal friend of Governor Harrison. 
 He took part in the camapign and was killed in the battle above re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 Those who favored separation of Illinois from Indiana had argued 
 that it would greatly increase the immigration into the territory and 
 in other ways greatly benefit the territory. These prophecies were ful- 
 filled. The land offices spoken of above greatly stimulated the sale of 
 land to actual settlers.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 111 
 
 When Governor Edwards had gotten fairly settled in his official 
 home as governor of the new territory, the citizens of Kaskaskia and 
 Randolph counties presented him with a memorial pledging him their 
 hearty support in the discharge of his official duties. In this address 
 they call particular attention to the hard fight they had gone through 
 to get the territory separated from Indiana. They mention the hang- 
 ing of Jesse B. Thomas in effigy at Vincennes in condemnation of his 
 efforts to secure the separation, and also the assassination of an advo- 
 cate of separation in Kaskaskia. Governor Edwards says when he came 
 to the territory he found it divided into violent political factions. He 
 endeavored, and really succeeded, in holding himself aloof from these 
 ruinous factional quarrels. 
 
 But Governor Edwards had harely gotten the civil and military 
 organizations well established before there began a series of difficulties 
 with the Indians which were a source of great anxiety not only to the 
 governor, but to the whole people. Several massacres occurred in the 
 region of the Illinois river, and there followed long interviews and 
 exchanges of linguistic courtesies. The Indians were greatly disturbed 
 everywhere in the west. The battle of Tippecanoe was fought in 1811, 
 and in 1812 war broke out between the United States and England. 
 The Indians throughout the west and particularly around the lakes 
 sided with the British. 
 
 WAR OF 1812 
 
 We may state here that while the territory was absorbed in the War 
 of 1812, the people voted to pass from a territory of the first class to one 
 of the second class. 
 
 Governor Edwards was active in his efforts to provide defenses for 
 the American settlements in the Illinois territory. A line of block- 
 houses was built reaching from west to east. Unfortunately it is difficult 
 to locate these block-houses and forts accurately. In some counties either 
 by tradition or by records some of them can be located. They were some- 
 times quite extensive affairs. The block-house was often enclosed by a 
 stockade large enough to shelter the stock of the neighborhood. The 
 block-house was often nothing more than a strong log house with port- 
 holes. From the best information now available block-houses, forts, or 
 stockades were erected at or near the following places : One at Carlyle ; 
 one near Aviston in Clinton county called Journey '& or Tourney 's fort ; 
 two in the western part of Bond county, called Hill's fort and Jones' 
 fort; one at the edge of Looking Glass Prairie on Silver creek in St. 
 Clair county, called Chamber's fort; two, Middleton's and Going's, on 
 the Kaskaskia; Nat Hill's fort on Doza creek; Jordan's block-house in 
 the northwestern corner of Franklin county ; one southwest of Marion, 
 Williamson county ; one southeast of Marion on Saline river ; Stone Fort 
 on the Saline river; one at the mouth of the Illinois river on the west 
 side ; one nineteen miles above the mouth of the Illinois ; and lastly Fort 
 Russell which was probably the most complete and pretentious fortifi- 
 cation in the state in this war. It was located about one and a half 
 miles northwest of Edwardsville. It included a substantial palisade with 
 buildings for supplies, headquarters, and barracks for soldiers. Some 
 cannon were brought there from old Fort Chartres. This fort was 
 named after Col. William Russell of Kentucky who had command of 
 the rangers in the War of 1812.
 
 112 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 As soon as war was declared by the United States, the Indians in 
 northern and central Illinois became exceedingly warlike. Governor 
 Edwards had taken the precaution to have his militia well organized. 
 Some 500 of them were called into service. Colonel Russell was sent 
 into Illinois to organize the United States rangers. Colonel Russell was 
 a Kentuckian. Several companies of the regiment of rangers were en- 
 listed from Southern Illinois. Two expeditions were made from Fort 
 Russell northward into the central part of the state. One in 1812 and 
 one in 1813. Both had Peoria as their destination. But no real battles 
 were fought with the Indians. The first expedition captured several 
 families of French who lived about Peoria who were thought to be sym- 
 pathetic with the Indians. They were brought to a point just below 
 Alton and there set ashore without food or shelter, and after much suf- 
 
 STOCKADE AND BLOCKHOUSES, SUCH AS WERE BUILT ABOUT 1812 
 
 fering they reached St. Louis. The "Life and Times of Ninian Ed- 
 wards" says they were landed in St. Louis. 
 
 The most important event that occurred in Illinois during the War 
 of 1812, was the Fort Dearborn massacre. Fort Dearborn was a stock- 
 ade and block-house fort just at the mouth of the Chicago river. It was 
 occupied by government troops as early as 1803. In 1812 there were 
 probably a half dozen houses in Chicago outside of the buildings about 
 the stockade. The officer in command was Capt. Nathan Heald. Other 
 officers were Lieutenant Liani F. Helm, Ensign George Ronan, Surgeon 
 Isaac Van Voorhis. John Kinzie was the principal Indian trader. 
 There were seventy-four soldiers in the garrison. By the middle of the 
 summer of 1812, the Indians became very demonstrative and two mur- 
 ders were committed, and other violent conduct engaged in. Captain 
 Heald had received orders to evacuate the fort and move his command 
 to Fort Wayne. He was advised by friendly Indians to prepare for a 
 siege, or 'to leave the fort at once. He did not take this advice but noti- 
 fied the Indians that he expected to abandon the fort and that he would 
 distribute the public property among them. This action on the part of 
 the commanding officer, it was supposed, would greatly please the In- 
 dians and this would guarantee his safe passage to Fort Wayne. This
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 113 
 
 MAP OF 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 SHOWING 
 COUNTY BOUNOVIItS 
 
 1812. 
 
 ( ILLINOIS TY.) 
 
 MAP OF THE SETTLED PORTIONS OF ILLINOIS AT TIME OF THE WAR OF 1812 
 
 Vol. J 8
 
 114 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 decision on the part of Captain Heald was strongly opposed by the of- 
 ficers and Kinzie, the trader. As soon as this word was circulated among 
 the Indians, they became insolent and treated the authority of Captain 
 Heald with contempt. By the 12th of August the Indians had gathered 
 in large numbers and a council was held in which Captain Heald told 
 the Indians his plans. He proposed to distribute among them all his 
 public stores, and in return they were to furnish him an escort of 500 
 warriors to Port Wayne. There immediately grew up in the fort the 
 greatest fear for the safety of the little garrison. Fear grew to despair, 
 and open rebellion against the order of the commander was imminent. 
 Captain Heald decided that he would destroy the guns, ammunition, 
 and liquor in the fort, as these in the hands of the Indians would only 
 be the means of death to the garrison. 
 
 OLD FORT DEARBORN IN 1812 
 
 On the 13th of August the goods were distributed among the Indians. 
 They soon discovered that there were certain things which they expected 
 that they did not receive, and they began to show their dissatisfaction 
 and disappointment. On the 14th Captain Wells, a brother to Mrs. 
 Heald, arrived with some friendly Miamis. He had been brought up 
 among the Indians and he knew from what he saw and heard that "all 
 was not well." 
 
 On the morning of the 15th the sun rose gloriously over Lake Michi- 
 gan. By nine o'clock the little army was ready to depart for Fort 
 Wayne. Each soldier was given twenty-five rounds of ammunition. 
 The baggage wagons, the ambulance and the little army proceeded on 
 their fatal journey. 
 
 When a mile and a half from the fort they discovered Indians hidden 
 behind sand hills, ready to attack. The soldiers were fired upon and 
 returned the fire. The conflict then became general and lasted for some 
 time. Finally after nearly half of the soldiers had been killed, the 
 remnant surrendered. In the agreement to surrender no stipulation was 
 made as to the treatment of the wounded, and it is said by eye witnesses 
 that their treatment by the infuriated Indians beggars all description. 
 Twenty-six regulars, twelve militia, two women and twelve children were
 
 HISTOKY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 115 
 
 left dead on the field of conflict. The prisoners were scattered here and 
 there but were finally ransomed. 
 
 The fort was destroyed by the Indians, but was rebuilt and occupied 
 in 1816 or 1817. It was finally abandoned in 1836. 
 
 MATTERS OP LOCAL INTEREST 
 
 It remains to record a final campaign conducted by Major Zachary 
 Taylor, later president of the United States, supported by Illinois troops. 
 It was very necessary to have a strong fort and garrison somewhere in 
 the region of Rock Island, and the expedition was intended to establish 
 such fort and garrison. The expedition which moved up the Mississippi 
 consisted of 40 United States regulars and 294 Illinois troops under 
 the command of Capt. Samuel Whiteside and Nelson Rector, two noted 
 Indian fighters the whole under command of Colonel Taylor. The 
 expedition started August 23, 1814. It moved up the Mississippi and 
 above Rock Island encountered strong opposition from the Indians, and 
 learning that British troops were in the vicinity with artillery, the boats 
 descended the river. The British had been able to bring their cannon to 
 the banks of the river in time to bombard the retreating vessels. It was 
 remarkable that the boats were not sunk and all on board killed. Fort 
 Edwards was built in the present county of Hancock about where War- 
 saw is, and after holding this point a short time the position was evacu- 
 ated and the troops returned to St. Louis. 
 
 Among the Illinois officers who won distinction in the War of 1812 
 were William and Samuel Whitesides, cousins, who lived in the Ameri- 
 can Bottoms, at a place called Whitesides Station, a family fort, prob- 
 ably of the block-house form. These two pioneers acted as captains in 
 Russell's rangers and became very noted because of their activity in 
 the defense of the American families. James B. Moore whose father 
 was one of the spies sent by General Clark to Kaskaskia in the year 1777, 
 was a captain in Russell 's rangers. Jacob Short who settled near Belle- 
 fontaine in 1796 was captain of a ranger company. Others who won 
 distinction were John Moredock ; William and Nathan Boone, the former 
 of whom was paymaster for a portion of the rangers. He paid them in 
 rix-dollars, a foreign silver coin of the value of 60 cents to one dollar and 
 fifteen cents. William, Stephen, Charles, Elias, and Nelson Rector were 
 all prominent officers in the war. Nathaniel Journey was an officer part 
 of the time, but was engaged chiefly in guarding settlers in the vicin- 
 ity of Carlyle. Willis Hargrave was captain of a company of independ- 
 ent rangers near the Wabash. Later he was a major in the "Spy Bat- 
 talion" in the Black Hawk war. Captain Samuel Judy was also an ac- 
 tive man in the war. In 1816 at St. Louis, Gov. Ninian Edwards of 
 Illinois territory, Gov. William Clark of Missouri territory, and Auguste 
 Choteau of St. Louis, consummated a treaty with the chiefs and war- 
 riors of the Ottawas, the Chippewas, and the Pottawatomies in which 
 treaty the tribes ceded all lands south of a line running east and west 
 through the south end of Lake Michigan. They also ceded a strip of 
 land ten miles in width from the mouth of the Fox river to the lake at 
 Chicago. This strip of land was acquired by the government with the 
 expectation that at an early date the government would build a canal 
 from Lake Michigan to the head of navigation on the Illinois river. 
 This expectation was realized when the Illinois and Michigan canal was 
 constructed.
 
 116 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 A study of the roster of officers and men who took part in this bor- 
 der warfare, reveals a number of names prominent in the history of the 
 state. Prom the beginning to the end of this struggle there were prob- 
 ably two or three thousand citizens enrolled in the service. Scores of 
 lives were lost most of them near their houses. It remains to tell a 
 story of horrid butchery which occurred on Wood river in Madison 
 county, on the 10th day of July, 1814. Mrs. Rachel Reagan and two 
 children went to spend the day at the house of William Moore. In the 
 afternoon on her way home, she came by another neighbor's house, Cap- 
 tain Abel Moore. From the latter place she was accompanied by four 
 small children, two of William Moore 's and two of Abel Moore 's. When 
 the little company of seven were between the homes of Abel Moore and 
 Mrs. Reagan, they were attacked by savages and six killed outright ; the 
 seventh, a little boy, was found alive but died from the effects of his 
 wounds. William Moore returned home from Fort Butler (near St. 
 Jacobs) and finding the children absent went in search of them. They 
 were found but the Indians were still lurking in the immediate locality 
 and the bodies were not recovered till the next morning. The two forts, 
 Russell and Butler, were notified and a pursuing party organized. The 
 savages were followed to a point north of Jacksonville and one of them 
 killed, the rest escaped. More than fifty non-combatants lost their lives 
 in Illinois during this war. 
 
 ILLINOIS A SECOND CLASS TERRITORY 
 
 The fourth section of the act of congress of February, 1809, dividing 
 the Indiana territory, provided that so much of the ordinance of 1787 
 as applied to the organization of a legislative assembly, should apply 
 to the government of the Illinois territory whenever satisfactory evi- 
 dence should be given to the governor that it was the wish of the ma- 
 jority of the freeholders, though there might not be 5,000 legal voters 
 as provided in the ordinance. 
 
 By 1812 considerable interest was manifested relative to the change 
 from the first to a second grade territory. 
 
 The Ordinance of 1787 permitted only freeholders to vote, and so 
 when Governor Edwards called the election in the spring of 1812, to 
 determine the wish of the voters on the proposed change to a territory 
 of the second grade, there were fewer than 400 votes cast, but they 
 were nearly unanimous in favor of the proposed change. In May fol- 
 lowing this vote, congress enfranchised all white male persons over 
 twenty-one years of age, and advanced Illinois to the second grade. 
 
 On September 16, 1812, the governor and judges acting as a legis- 
 lative body created three new counties. The two old ones were St. 
 Clair and Randolph, and the three new ones were Madison, Gallatin, 
 and Johnson. On the same day an election was ordered in these five 
 counties for five members of the legislative council, and for seven mem- 
 bers of the house of representatives, and for a delegate in congress. 
 The election was held October 8, 9, 10. 
 
 Those chosen were, for the lower house, from Madison, Wm. Jones; 
 St. Clair, Jacob Short and Joshua Oglesby; Randolph, George Fisher; 
 Johnson, John Grammar; Gallatin, Philip Trammel and Alexander 
 Wilson. Those chosen for the council were, from Madison, Samuel 
 Judy; St. Clair, Wm. Biggs ; Randolph, Pierre Menard; Johnson, 
 Thomas Ferguson ; Gallatin, Benjamin Talbot.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 117 
 
 This general assembly met at Kaskaskia November 25, and proceeded 
 to organize by choosing Pierre Menard president of the council and 
 George Fisher speaker of the house. Reynolds says the whole of the 
 assembly boarded at one house and slept in one room. The work before 
 this first session was to re-enact the laws for the territory which served 
 while the territory was of the first class, to adopt military measures 
 for the defense of the people against the Indians, and to provide rev- 
 enue for the maintenance of the territorial government. The legislature 
 was in session from the 25th of November to the 26th of December, fol- 
 lowing. This legislature elected Shadrach Bond as delegate to con- 
 gress. He took his seat in the fall of 1812. During his term of office 
 in congress Bond secured the passage of the first pre-emption law of 
 Illinois. This law provided that a man who settled upon a piece of 
 land and made an improvement while it was still government land, 
 should have the right to buy the tract so improved in preference to 
 any one else. This law prevented persons from buying lands which 
 some one else had improved to the detriment of the one who made the 
 improvement. 
 
 The laws which were in force in Illinois as a first class territory 
 were all taken from the laws of some older state. Those passed by the 
 legislature while the territory was in the second grade were usually 
 of the same nature as those in use under the first grade. It will be 
 very interesting as well as quite instructive for us to know some of 
 these laws. A few are given in substance : 
 
 For burglary, whipping on the bare back, thirty-nine stripes. Lar- 
 ceny, thirty-one stripes. Horse-stealing, fifty lashes, and one hundred 
 for second offense. Hog-stealing, twenty-five to thirty-nine lashes. Big- 
 amy, one hundred to three hundred stripes. Children or servants who 
 were disobedient could be whipped ten lashes by consent of the justice. 
 If a man were fined and could not pay, his time could be sold by the 
 sheriff. Standing in the pillory was a common mode of punishment. 
 Branding was authorized in extreme cases. There were five crimes for 
 which the penalty was death by hanging they were treason, murder, 
 arson, rape, and for second conviction of horse-stealing. "For revel- 
 ing, quarreling, fighting, _ profanely cursing, disorderly behavior at 
 divine worship, and hunting on the Sabbath, penalties by fines were 
 prescribed. 
 
 The laws providing for the collection of debts were all quite favor- 
 able to the creditor. No property, real or personal, was exempt from 
 judgment and execution ; and if the property did not satisfy a debt, 
 the debtor could be cast into prison. 
 
 By an act of December 24, 1814, entitled "To promote retaliation 
 upon hostile Indians" we see to what ends the settlers were driven to 
 defend themselves against the savage redmen. It was enacted that 
 (abridged) : 
 
 1. When the Indians make incursions into any locality and kill or 
 commit other depredations, any citizen shall be paid $50.00 for killing 
 or capturing such Indian. If killed or captured by a ranger, $25.00. 
 
 2. Any person receiving permission from a commanding officer to 
 go into the Indian territory and who shall kill an Indian, shall be paid 
 $100.00. 
 
 3. Rangers in parties of fifteen who make incursions into the coun- 
 try of hostile Indians shall receive $50.00 for each Indian killed, or 
 squaw taken prisoner.
 
 118 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Shadrach Bond was the first delegate from Illinois to sit in congress. 
 He was elected in 1812. During his term as delegate in congress he 
 secured the enactment of the first pre-emption law ever put upon the 
 statute books in the United States. This law will be better appreciated 
 when we understand some of the practices of frontier life. 
 
 The wave of immigration often traveled westward faster than the 
 surveyors did. In such cases the settler never knew just where his land 
 would fall when the region was platted by the surveyor. And again, 
 after the surveyor had done his work it often happened that the sur- 
 veyed land was not placed on the market for a number of years. The 
 settler usually selected his lands and made improvements with the ex- 
 pectation that he would buy the land when it came on the market. 
 Unprincipled men would watch and would often step in ahead of the 
 settler at the land office and buy the improved land at government 
 prices. This often resulted in violence and bloodshed. 
 
 Bond's pre-emption law recognized the settler's equity in the im- 
 provements, and prevented anyone else from buying the land without 
 the consent of the one who had improved it. This was legislating in 
 the interest of the pioneers who had borne the burden and the heat 
 of the day. 
 
 There was a rapid increase in the population of the territory of 
 Illinois from the day it became a territory of the second grade. New 
 counties were added to the five previously named. The new ones were 
 Edwards and White in 1815; Monroe, Crawford, Jackson, Pope, 
 Bond, in 1816; Union, Franklin, and Washington in 1818. 
 
 It should be kept in mind that some of these counties were organized 
 with very few people. However, the population was greatly multiply- 
 ing, for by 1818 there were nearly 40,000 people within the state. 
 
 The territorial legislature of Illinois held three general sessions 
 one in 1812, one in 1814, and one in 1816. This last legislature held 
 two sessions on account of the extra work in admitting Illinois as a state. 
 
 Our neighboring states of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri 
 had each a system of banking which furnished an abundance of money ; 
 indeed very much of this money found its way into Illinois. The legis- 
 lature of 1816 passed a law chartering banks at Shawneetown, Kaskas- 
 kia and Edwardsville. We shall speak of these more fully in a later 
 chapter. 
 
 There was a charter issued by the legislature of 1817-18 incorporat- 
 ing the city and bank of Cairo. At this time there was nothing in the 
 nature of a town or city where Cairo now stands. The lower part of 
 the peninsula was claimed by several brothers by the name of Bird. 
 The company called the City and Bank of Cairo consisted of John G. 
 Comyges, Thos. H. Harris, Charles Slade, Shadrach Bond, Michael 
 Jones, Warren Brown, Edward Humphries, and Charles W. Hunter. 
 
 They proposed to sell 2,000 Cairo city lots at $150 each, put $50 
 out of each sale into levees, and a hundred dollars into a bank. The 
 bank was opened in Kaskaskia in a brick building adjacent to the land 
 office. The bill seen on a preceding page bears date January 1, 1841. 
 This bill was issued to J. Hall and was signed by T. Jones, cashier, and 
 D. J. Baker, president. David Jewett Baker was a prominent lawyer 
 in Illinois from 1819 till his death in 1869. The charter of this bank 
 was for twenty years, but in 1837 its charter was extended another 
 twenty years, but in 1843 it was annulled and the bank closed its doors 
 and wound up its business.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 119 
 
 A RETROSPECT 
 
 The year 1818 was a notable one in the history of Illinois. In this 
 year was realized an event which many had looked forward to with 
 great interest ; this was the year when the state became of age. Its his- 
 tory reached back to the discovery by Marquette and Joliet, nearly a 
 hundred and fifty years. It had actually been settled by whites for 
 one hundred and eighteen years. 
 
 Its people had lived successively under three governments the 
 French, the English, and the American. Immigration had reached it 
 from three sources the north, the south, and the east. Each of the 
 three quarters brought its own peculiar people. No other district of 
 equal area created such widespread interest in Europe as the Illinois 
 country. The fame of its rich soil, its noble rivers, its wide stretching 
 lake, its abundance of wild game, its famous wealth of mines, and its 
 geographical situation was spread abroad by every traveller who 
 chanced to traverse its boundless prairies or to thread its silvery streams. 
 
 For a century after the planting of the first permanent settlement 
 the growth of institutional life was very slow. The people for a large 
 part, were unambitious, thriftless, and lived without purpose. Those 
 who were responsible for the continuous ongoing of the settlements 
 looked upon them as a means only to an end, which end was not within 
 the grasp of those who were building more wisely than they knew. 
 The French settlements on the Mississippi could never have lived 
 through the century following their founding, had it not been for the 
 strong arm of the royal government, and the equally strong support 
 of the church. How different from the Anglo-Saxon settlements on the 
 Atlantic coast which prospered in spite of both royalty and ecclesias- 
 ticism. 
 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were probably less 
 than 3,000 souls in the territory. They were distributed chiefly along 
 the Mississippi, a few being on the Ohio, and a few along the Wabash 
 river. 
 
 The chief lines of industrial life were farming, commerce, trading, 
 manufacturing, lumbering, fishing, etc. Wheat was raised in large 
 quantities in the American bottom. The harvesting was done with the 
 old fashioned sickle. Reynolds says there were no cradles in those days. 
 The wheat was threshed with flail or tramped out by means of horses^ 
 The wheat was ground at water mills or horse mills. 
 
 In 1806 the nearest gristmill to the people south and east of Kas- 
 kaskia was John Edgar's mill near Kaskaskia. Corn was raised but 
 not so extensively as wheat. Hogs were fattened by allowing them to 
 feed upon the mast which in that early day was abundant. The corn 
 was used to make "lye hominy" and "samp;" whiskey was distilled 
 by some of the settlers who had come from Tennessee, Kentucky, or 
 the mountainous districts of Virginia. Considerable whiskey was 
 drunk, especially on public days. Fruits were plentifully grown. The 
 French villagers usually had a few fruit trees in their back yards. Flax 
 was grown in considerable quantities. Reynolds says that half of the 
 population made their living by the chase, as coureiirs de bois, or keel 
 boating. The lead mines in the northwest part of the state and in 
 southwestern Wisconsin furnished an excellent market for the surplus 
 food products of the Illinois settlements. The transportation of this 
 provision to the mines and the return with lead down the river, gave 
 work for a large contingent of river men.
 
 120 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Lumber was not extensively used. But there were a few mills for 
 making lumber. The whip saw was the chief dependence for sawing 
 boards, but in about 1800 a water mill for both sawing and grinding 
 was erected on Horse creek. The lumber was used quite largely in 
 building flat boats for the river trade. Some of it, of course, was used 
 in the construction of houses. 
 
 Among the limited kinds of manufacturing, the making of flour 
 was perhaps the most general. This flour was marketed in St. Louis, 
 in the lead mines, in New Orleans, in the eastern states, and some of it 
 is said to have been shipped to Europe. Salt was made at the salines, 
 in what is now Gallatin county, also in Jackson county on Big Muddy, 
 in Monroe, seven or eight miles west of Waterloo, in Bond, and possibly 
 in other localities. There were few tanneries, though Conrad Will had 
 
 RUINS OP AN OLD MILL BUILT IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, NEAR 
 KASKASKIA. THE BURR-STONES WERE BROUGHT FROM FRANCE 
 
 one in Jackson county as early as 1814. It is said that the French 
 women did not take kindly to such work as making butter, spinning, 
 weaving, etc. Blacksmiths were scarce, and so the wagons of those 
 early days were made chiefly of wood, as were also the plows. 
 
 Schools were scarce. It is said that the Jesuits had a school in 
 Kaskaskia in the middle of the eighteenth century. Samuel J. Seely 
 is said to have been the first American school teacher in Illinois. He 
 taught school in New Design. He came there as early as 1783 and 
 taught in an abandoned squatter's cabin. The school was continued 
 the next year by Francis Clark, and he was followed by an Irishman 
 named Halfpenny. Reynolds calls Halfpenny the "School Master Gen- 
 eral of Illinois," because he taught in so many localities. He built a 
 water mill on Fountaine creek, not far from Waterloo, in 1795. Mon- 
 roe had schools as early as 1784. Randolph had a school as early as 
 1790. The teacher was John Doyle, a soldier with Colonel Clark in 
 1778. A Mr. Davis, an old sailor, taught in the fort in Baldwin pre- 
 cinct in 1816. John Bradsbury, "faithful but not learned," taught a 
 school in Madison county near Collinsville as early as 1804. John At- 
 water opened a school near Edwardsville in 1807. St. Clair county
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 121 
 
 had for a pioneer teacher John Messenger, who was also a surveyor. 
 Schools were opened at Turkey Hill in 1808 by John Bradley, and at 
 Shiloh in 1811. 
 
 The school furniture was as primitive as the school house. The 
 seats were made of puncheons, with four legs set into auger holes. 
 Often the seat was too high for the little fellows; and they could 
 amuse themselves by swinging their legs vigorously. There were no 
 desks except for the older pupils who took writing lessons. Stout 
 pegs of sufficient length were set into auger holes in the wall, so as to 
 slope downward ; on these supports, at convenient height, was fastened 
 the smoothed puncheon. Thus the writing pupils sat or stood facing 
 the wall. A pail or a "piggin" of water with a gourd instead of 
 tumbler or mug, was an essential part of the furniture. It was a re- 
 ward of merit to be allowed to go to the spring or well to fill the 
 bucket or piggin. 
 
 In an earlier day the Catholic church was the only religious organ- 
 ization. At Kaskaskia was the mission of the Immaculate Conception. 
 This mission is said to have been founded by Father Marquette as 
 early as 1675 near the present town of Utica. It was moved to Kas- 
 kaskia about 1700. About the same time a mission was founded at 
 Cahokia, and later one at Fort Chartres. The mission of those early 
 days served two general purposes one to serve as a mile stone in the 
 wanderings of the voyagers and explorers, and as place for spiritual 
 invigoration ; the other as a center around which the natives could 
 be gathered for religious instruction. The value of these early mis- 
 sionary efforts from the point of view of the conversion of the In- 
 dians has probably been overestimated. Marquette reports only the 
 baptizing of a dying infant at the end of three days' hard preaching 
 among the Kaskaskia Indians. Father Marest says, "Nothing is more 
 difficult than the conversion of these Indians. Religion among them 
 does not take deep root, as should be desired, and there are but few 
 souls who from time to time give themselves truly to God." Father 
 Membre says, "With regard to conversions I cannot rely upon any. 
 We baptized some dying children and two or three dying persons who 
 manifested proper dispositions." Father Vivier, a Jesuit, said, "The 
 only good they (the missionaries) can do them is the administration 
 of baptism to children who are at the point of death," etc. But it 
 must not be thought that the work of the Catholic church in the Illi- 
 nois country was wholly fruitless. The godly life of the priests ex- 
 erted its influence upon the savages whenever the two came in con- 
 tact. 
 
 There were three leading Protestant churches represented in Illi- 
 nois prior to the admission of the state into the union. These were 
 in order of their coming, the Baptists, the Methodists, and the Presby- 
 terians. The Baptists were represented in Illinois as early as 1787. In 
 that year the Rev. James Smith, from Lincoln county, Kentucky, came 
 to the New Design settlement and enffasred in evangelistic work. Smith 
 was followed by the Rev. John K. Simpson and his son, they by Rev. 
 Smith, who had previously returned to Kentucky. Rev. Josiah Dodge 
 came from Kentucky to visit his brother, who lived at St. Genevieve, 
 and visited the settlers about New Design. Reynolds says that in 
 February, 1794, they cut the ice in Fountaine creek, and Rev. Dodge 
 baptized James Lemen, Sr., his wife, John Gibbons and Isaac Enochs, 
 and that these were the first people baptized in the territory. The
 
 122 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Rev. David Badgley organized the first Baptist church in the Illinois 
 territory in the summer of 1796. The greatest representative of the 
 Baptist faith in the early days of the state was Rev. John M. Peck, 
 but he did not arrive till 1817 and we shall speak of his labors later. 
 
 The Methodists came into the territory as early as 1793. They 
 were first represented by the Rev. Joseph Lillard, who came from 
 Kentucky. He was a circuit rider in that state. He organized a 
 church at New Design and appointed Joseph Ogle as class leader. 
 Ogle had been converted by a Baptist preacher in Kentucky, and had 
 attached himself to the Methodists. The Rev. Hosea Riggs came iu 
 1796 and he was followed by Benjamin Young who was the first cir- 
 cuit rider with a regular appointment in Illinois. Probably the most 
 noted of the early preachers was the Rev. Jesse Walker, who came 
 from Kentucky by appointment from the "Western Conference." 
 The Western Conference, held in 1806, appointed Jesse Walker cir- 
 cuit rider for the Illinois circuit which at that time was one of eight 
 circuits of the Cumberland district. The Rev. William McKendree, 
 afterwards Bishop McKendree, was the presiding elder of the Cum- 
 berland district, and so earnest was he that Jesse Walker should get 
 started that he came with him to the Illinois territory. They swam 
 their horses across seven different streams, camped out at night and 
 cooked their own meals. They finally arrived at the Turkey Hill 
 settlement near the present city of Belleville. The winter of 1806-7 
 the Rev. Walker preached in the homes of the people in and around 
 New Design. In the summer of 1808 he held a campmeeting which 
 was doubtless the first effort of the kind ever made in the state. 
 Walker soon had two hundred and eighteen members in the Illinois 
 circuit. He afterwards established a church in St. Louis. 
 
 The first Presbyterian preacher to visit the Illinois territory was 
 the Rev. John Evans Finley. He reached Kaskaskia in a keel boat 
 from Pittsburg in 1797. "He preached and catechised, also baptized 
 several of the redmen." Although the Rev. Mr. Finley fully intended 
 to settle in the Illinois territory, he and his companions decided to 
 leave when they learned they would be obliged to do military duty. 
 Two licentiates of the Presbyterian church, F. Schermerhorn and 
 Samuel J. Mills, were sent by the New England missionary societies 
 into several of the western states in the year 1812. They made care- 
 ful observations, preached, and made frequent reports of their work. 
 ''In the Illinois territory containing more than twelve thousand 
 people, there is no Presbyterian or Congregational minister. There 
 are a number of good people in the territory who would be glad to 
 have such ministers among them." These two missionaries stayed but 
 a short time in Illinois and went on their way, reaching Nashville the 
 winter of 1812-13. The same Mr. Mills came again in 1814. On this 
 trip he says, "This territory is deplorably destitute of bibles. In 
 Kaskaskia, a place of eighty or one hundred families there are, it is 
 thought, not more than four or five. We did not find any place in the 
 territory where a copy of the scripture could be obtained. ' ' On Janu- 
 ary 20, 1815, he writes " Shawneetown on the Ohio has about one 
 hundred houses. Six miles from Kaskaskia there is an Associate Re- 
 formed congregation of forty families." He says he heard of no 
 other Protestant preachers or members in all the region around Kas- 
 kaskia. But a Methodist preacher from near New Design told him 
 that formerly there were several Presbyterians in that locality but
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 123 
 
 they had now all joined either the Methodists or the Baptists. No 
 Presbyterian preacher was settled or preached for any length of time 
 before the coming of the Rev. James McGready in 1816. He organized 
 the Sharon church, in what is now White county, in September of 
 that year. To the Associate Reformed church mentioned above, Rey- 
 nolds says there came in 1817 a reverend gentleman by the name of 
 Samuel Wylie. 
 
 He had a very prosperous congregation of Covenanters in Ran- 
 dolph county. He and his people became very noted throughout 
 Southern Illinois. 
 
 The social life of Illinois prior to 1818 was certainly not of a very 
 high order. We do not mean there were no good people and that 
 there were not those of culture and refinement, for indeed many of the 
 people who became permanent settlers were from localities in the older 
 states where the agencies of culture, learning, and religion were 
 abundant. However, in any newly settled region there is always 
 found a very rough class of people, and while not necessarily in the 
 majority in numbers, to the casual observer they stand out promi- 
 nently and give character to the community at large. 
 
 In dress the early pioneers were content with the homemade prod- 
 uct. The men often wearing breeches and shirt of the tanned hide of 
 wild animals, and the cap of fox hide or of raccoon skin. This gave 
 them a very rough appearance. Their homes were very crude and 
 not always comfortable. The household utensils were such as could 
 be manufactured by each head of the family. There were no stoves, 
 cooking being done on the fire-place hearth. 
 
 Swapping work was quite common. The particular kinds of work 
 referred to were wood chopping, corn gathering, harvesting, house- 
 raising, and road-making. Some of these gatherings were very en- 
 joyable to the pioneers for they would often spread their meals upon 
 the ground and gather about in modern picnic style. Dancing was 
 a very common amusement and since there were very few preachers, 
 there were few others to object. The French settlers especially were 
 fond of dancing. Horse-racing was another very common recreation. 
 The horse-races usually came off on Saturdays or on public days. 
 Race tracks were common features of many localities. At these races 
 other amusements were indulged in ; fighting was no unusual thing. 
 The "bully" was a man of notoriety. Swearing of the hardest sort 
 was heard and while there were laws against it, still the people in- 
 dulged. "Swearing by the name of God, Christ Jesus, or the Holy 
 Ghost," as well as Sabbath breaking, was finable from fifty cents to 
 two dollars. 
 
 Perhaps one of the most characteristic customs, and one that still 
 lingers in many localities, was the "shooting match." A farmer's 
 wife who had been quite lucky in raising turkeys, would dispose of 
 them in the fall by means of the shooting match. If the turkey was to 
 bring one dollar then ten privileges to shoot must be bought at ten 
 cents each. When the necessary number of chances was taken then 
 a mark was put up at a certain distance and the contest began. The 
 marksman who made the best shot got the turkey. Among these 
 frontiersmen "taking a rest" was a confession of lack of skill. In 
 some of the states south of the Potomac it was no uncommon thing to 
 sell furniture in this way; even the beef carcass was disposed of by 
 the test of marksmanship.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 APPROACHING STATEHOOD 
 
 NEW COUNTIES BANKS AND BANKING IMMIGRATION FIFTEEN COUN- 
 TIES UP TO 1818 NATHANIEL POPE ELECTED TO CONGRESS 
 
 Illinois upon its separation from Indiana in 1809 became a territory 
 of the first class with a governor, secretary, three judges, and such minor 
 officers as were needed. In the spring of 1812 by a vote of the free- 
 holders the territory became one of the second class. This gave the peo- 
 ple, in addition to the governor, secretary, and the three judges, which 
 were all appointed by the president, a legislative body consisting of an 
 upper and a lower house. The territory was also entitled to a delegate 
 in congress who would be entitled to all the privileges of that body ex- 
 cept that of voting. 
 
 NEW COUNTIES 
 
 Elections were held in the five counties then organized namely : 
 Randolph, St. Glair, Madison, Johnson, and Gallatin, for members of 
 the two branches of the territorial legislature. The following persons 
 were elected to the upper house from the counties respectively- Pierre 
 Menard, William Biggs, Samuel Judy, Thomas Ferguson, and Benja- 
 min Talbot. The members of the lower house were : from Randolph, 
 George Fisher; from St. Clair, Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short; from 
 Madison, William Jones ; from Johnson, John Grammar ; and from Gal- 
 latin, Phillip Trammel and Alexander Wilson. There was not a lawyer 
 in either house. The delegate selected to represent the territory in con- 
 gress was Shadrach Bond. 
 
 Under the second class form of government the legislature met bi- 
 ennially. In the summer of 1814 Col. Benjamin Stephenson was elected 
 delegate in congress, and in 1816 Nathaniel Pope, who served till the 
 admission of the state in 1818. Two new counties were added in 1815, 
 White and Edwards, making seven in all. In 1816 four more were 
 added Monroe, Jackson, Pope and Crawford. In 1817 Bond was 
 added, and in 1818 Franklin, Union, and Washington were added, these 
 making fifteen counties at the admission of the state in 1818. 
 
 BANKS AND BANKING 
 
 A bit of interesting legislation occurred in the session of 1816. It 
 will be remembered that the charter to the first United States bank, 
 which was passed in 1791, expired in 1811 and failed of renewal. Al- 
 
 124
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 125 
 
 most immediately the states began to charter state banks. Of course 
 there were state banks before this time, but now there seemed an in- 
 creased demand for such banks. Ohio and Kentucky were quite active 
 about this time in chartering state banks. Illinois had just passed 
 through four years of strain in the Indian wars. Considerable money 
 had been distributed among those who had served in the war, but it was 
 rapidly disappearing, and so the demand for banks of issue was very 
 strong. 
 
 Probably the first bank in Illinois was conducted by John Marshall 
 who resided in Shawneetown. He settled there in 1804 and was a suc- 
 cessful merchant. It is said he rode to Philadelphia on horse back to 
 order his stock of goods taking the silver in a sack. The goods were 
 freighted over to Pittsburg in wagons and then floated down the Ohio to 
 Shawneetown. He early built a two story brick residence just on the 
 
 JOHN MARSHALL'S RESIDENCE IN SHAWNEETOWN, IN WHICH HE KEPT A 
 ^BANif AS EARLY AS 1813 
 
 bank of the river, and in one room of the first floor he conducted his 
 bank as early as 1812 or 1813. The land office was located in Shawnee- 
 town in 1812 and no doubt there was need of a banking house for that 
 reason. 
 
 In 1816 when the territorial legislature met at Kaskaskia there was 
 a very strong desire for a banking system. A bill was introduced and 
 passed creating by charter the "Bank of Illinois" located at Shawnee- 
 town. At another session of the same body held in the fall of 1817, 
 banks were authorized in Edwardsville and Kaskaskia. These were 
 not state banks in the sense that the state was back of their issue only 
 that the state had authorized their organization. These banks all issued 
 bills which they put in circulation. In a letter written May 25, 1816, 
 by John Marshall, president of the Bank of Illinois, at Shawneetown, 
 to Governor Ninian Edwards. Marshall complains that his bank is not 
 treated fairly by the receiver of public moneys at Kaskaskia, nor by the 
 Bank of Missouri. Marshall says the receiver at Kaskaskia will accept 
 the bills of the "Bank of Illinois" one day and the next day refuse them.
 
 126 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 He also says the Bank of Missouri makes it a point to collect large quan- 
 tities of the issue of the Shawneetown bank and then present them all 
 at once for redemption, hoping, evidently, thereby to embarrass the 
 Shawneetown bank. Mr. Marshall says he recently redeemed $12,000 of 
 his bank's notes which were presented by the Missouri bank. 
 
 In the same letter he makes it plain that the best of relations exist 
 between the Shawneetown bank and the bank at Edwardsville in the 
 latter of which Governor Edwards seems to have been financially inter- 
 ested. We shall have occasion to refer to this banking system from time 
 to time as we proceed. 
 
 IMMIGRATION 
 
 Following the return of peace in 1814, there was a great movement 
 of immigration into the west. The political and international condi- 
 tions which obtained in the United States from 1807 to 1812, and the 
 period of war which followed all tended to hold the people in the Atlan- 
 tic states. The economic changes which the war and governmental pol- 
 icies wrought in New England greatly unsettled the people of that 
 section, and for the next two or three years there were constant streams 
 of immigration flowing westward. Thus Indiana grew so rapidly that 
 her population justified her admission in 1816. The population of In- 
 diana was 24,520 in 1810 ; in 1820 the census showed 147,178. In like 
 manner the growth of Ohio is shown. In 1810 her population num- 
 bered 230,760, while in 1820 it was 581,295. Illinois was getting her 
 share of this westward immigration, though her increase was not so 
 marked as that of the two states to the east. 
 
 There were five factors which, taken together, may account for the 
 increased immigration following the close of the War of 1812. 
 
 1. First, the pre-emption law, to which reference was made in the 
 preceding chapter. When one feared that his lands might be taken 
 from him, he was not likely to take much interest in moving into a new 
 territory. This law allowed the settler to select his quarter section or 
 other unit of survey, begin his improvements, and hold the same against 
 the claims of anyone for a limited time. That is, his labor on the unim- 
 proved lands gave him an equity of which he could not be deprived. 
 This law was a very great factor in bringing eastern people where lands 
 were poor and scarce into the rich prairies of Illinois. 
 
 2. The modes of travel had greatly improved within the past twenty 
 years. The national road from the head of navigation on the Potomac 
 over the Alleghanies to the Ohio river had greatly stimulated the move- 
 ment of immigration from the Chesapeake region to the Ohio. On the 
 Ohio there were steamboats in a very early period as early as 1811. 
 The national road and the Ohio river therefore furnished a direct route 
 from the -tidewater region of Virginia to Shawneetown, Cairo, or St. 
 Louis. Thousands of people came in wagons and still others built their 
 own flatboats and floated down the Ohio. 
 
 3. It was the policy of the territorial government in Illinois to 
 organize counties just as rapidly as there could be found any excuse 
 for it at all. Many counties were organized with only a few score of 
 people. This practice has proved a great advantage in building up 
 all of our western states. People do not like to move into regions of a 
 new country where civil government is administered at some inaccess-
 
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 JO OAVIES8 I STEP V, 
 
 I HENRV j 
 
 O 
 MERCER 
 
 I PEORIA 
 
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 1 1 I 
 
 >" "i FORB L- 1 
 
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 (E D_W A R dg S / 
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 MAP-OF 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 SHOWING 
 
 COUNTY BOUNDARIES 
 
 1818. 
 
 (ILLINOIS TY.) 
 
 THE FIFTEEN COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS WHEN ILLINOIS, WAS ADMITTED 
 INTO THE UNION IN 1818
 
 128 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ible or distant point, or where the government is poorly organized or 
 poorly executed. By 1818 fifteen counties had been created in Illinois, 
 county seats had been located and crude public buildings erected, and 
 officers of the law selected and installed. 
 
 4. The treaties with the Indians made immediately at the close 
 of the War of 1812 had given assurance that there would be no more 
 'Indian massacres" in Illinois. Besides there were released large 
 quantities of land which the government could offer the settlers for 
 permanent homes. And in connection with this may be mentioned 
 the setting aside of the military tract which lies between the Illinois 
 and the Mississippi rivers for those soldiers who had served in the 
 War of 1812 and who were entitled to bounty lands. 
 
 5. Not least was the fact that war is a time of more or less rest- 
 lessness and at its close there is always a period of readjustment in 
 which there is a considerable movement from one region to another. 
 All these factors were at work building up the population of Illinois. 
 
 FIFTEEN COUNTIES UP TO 1818 
 
 The accompanying map shows the relative location of the fifteen 
 counties which had been organized up to 1818. The people were 
 thinking of statehood and when the movement was once under way 
 there was constant growth of statehood sentiment. 
 
 The Ordinance of 1787 provided that the region known as the 
 Northwest Territory might be, when sufficiently populated, admit- 
 ted into the union as three, four, or five states. The westernmost 
 state, if three, should include the territory west of the Ohio, Wa- 
 bash, and a line due north from Vincennes; or if two states were to 
 be made of this territory then the south state should be bounded on 
 the north by a parallel passing through the southern bend of Lake 
 Michigan. The northern boundary of Indiana had been placed at 
 this parallel. The citizens of Illinois had began almost immediately 
 after the admission of Indiana to agitate for the admission of Illi- 
 nois as a state. 
 
 NATHANIEL POPE ELECTED TO CONGRESS 
 
 Mr. Benjamin Stephenson's term as delegate in congress from 
 Illinois territory expired March 4, 1817. In the winter preceding 
 the territorial legislature had elected Nathaniel Pope as his suc- 
 cessor. Pope took his seat in congress December, 1817, and imme- 
 diately took rank as a useful member of the national house. 
 Nathaniel Pope was a native of Kentucky, having been born at 
 Louisville in that state in 1774. He was educated in the old Transyl- 
 vania University at Lexington. He studied law with his brother, 
 Senator John Pope, and came into Illinois about 1808. He set- 
 tled at Kaskaskia and became the first territorial secretary under 
 Governor Ninian Edwards. He was a shrewd lawyer with a judicial 
 mind, quick and farseeing. He rendered a great service to his state 
 and to his country.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 ILLINOIS BECOMES A STATE 
 
 SERVICES OP NATHANIEL POPE THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 
 THE CONSTITUTION OP 1818 
 
 The second session of the third territorial legislature, convened De- 
 cember 1, 1817, and adjourned January 12, 1818. At this session a 
 petition was formulated and forwarded to the delegate in congress, 
 Mr. Nathaniel Pope, praying congress for the passage of an act which 
 would permit the people of Illinois territory to form a constitution and 
 apply for admission into the union. 
 
 SERVICES OP NATHANIEL POPE 
 
 Mr. Pope presented the petition on the 16th of January, 1818, and 
 it was referred to a committee of which he was a member. Mr. Pope 
 being a representative of the people making the petition, the committee 
 requested him to draw the bill for the enabling act. This he did and 
 in due course of time the committee was ready to report. On April 7, 
 1818, the committee reported the bill which had been drawn. The re- 
 port was now referred to the committee of the whole in which the bill 
 was taken up April 13. Here in committee of the whole was revealed 
 the most far-seeing statesmanship of Mr. Pope. To understand this 
 matter fully it will be necessary for us to recall some provisions in the 
 Ordinance of 1787. 
 
 The fifth article of the ordinance provided there should be made 
 from the Northwest Territory not fewer than three nor more than five 
 states ; and the boundary of the westernmost state should be the Missis- 
 sippi, the Ohio and the Wabash rivers and a line due north from Vin- 
 cennes to the boundary between the United States and Canada. The 
 middle as well as the easternmost state should extend to the Canada 
 line. Provided, congress should have authority "to form one or two 
 states in that part of the said territory which lies north of an east and 
 west line drawn through the southernly bend or extreme of Lake Mich- 
 igan." 
 
 The latitude of the extreme southerly end of Lake Michigan is 41 
 degrees and 39 minutes. In the bill which Mr. Pope first drew the 
 northern boundary of Illinois was put at 41 degrees and 39 minutes; 
 but between the time that the bill was referred to the committee of 
 the whole on the 7th of April and the day set for its consideration in 
 committee of the whole, Mr. Pope made a discovery. He saw that if 
 41 degrees 39 minutes were made the northern boundary that the state 
 
 129
 
 130 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 when admitted would have no lake coast and would therefore be at a 
 disadvantage in matters of trade and commerce on the lakes. So in the 
 committee of the whole on the 13th of April, apparently without con- 
 sulting anyone, Mr. Pope moved two amendments to the bill as for- 
 merly drawn by himself. One of these provided for the extension of 
 the northern boundary from 41 degrees 39 minutes to 42 degrees and 
 30 minutes; the other provided for the application of three per cent 
 of the sale of the public lands within the state of Illinois to the encour- 
 agement of learning, and two per cent to be used by congress in build- 
 ing roads leading into the state. This latter amendment was a farseeing 
 measure and was readily agreed to by everyone. The first one was 
 probably not so popular and Mr. Pope was under the necessity of 
 inventing argument to prove the wisdom of his amendment. 
 
 First. He argued that in confederacies there was always the danger 
 of secession. Illinois was so situated the Mississippi, Ohio, Wabash, 
 Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee rivers so bound Illinois to the south 
 that in case of secession that Illinois would go with the southern states. 
 Illinois geographically was needed to unify the commerce and trade of 
 the region to the south and west of the Alleghanies. But if the line 
 were pushed to the parallel of 42 degrees and 30 minutes, Illinois would 
 have fifty or sixty miles of lake coast. And while the commerce of 
 the lakes was unimportant now, the time would come when the port of 
 Chicago would be like turning the Mississippi into the lake. And again 
 if the northern line be made 42 degrees 30 minutes, it would give a 
 strip fifty miles wide and reaching from Lake Michigan to the Mis- 
 sissippi river. This strip of land would contain a population which 
 would exert a very great influence in attaching the interests of Illinois 
 to those of Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. 
 
 Second. The Mississippi ran unobstructed to the Gulf. The time 
 would come when it would be very desirable that a water-way should 
 be made connecting the Mississippi with Lake Michigan. The Illinois 
 river presented the most feasible route and its head waters were in 
 close proximity to the lake. If a canal were constructed connecting the 
 lake with the Mississippi, through the Illinois river or by any other 
 route, the state would be strongly attached to the lake route to the 
 sea and much of the products of not only Illinois but of the adjacent 
 states would find its way to the seaboard through the port of Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Pope's earnestness and clearness of presentation were convinc- 
 ing and the committee of the whole voted to recommend the passage of 
 the bill as amended. On the 18th of April the bill passed and became a 
 law. It will be profitable if we will study briefly the provisions of this 
 Enabling Act. 
 
 The act has seven sections. Let us examine each one. 
 
 First. The people of the territory of Illinois are authorized to form 
 a constitution, to assume any name they wish, and may be admittted into 
 the union upon equal footing with the original states. 
 
 Second. The boundary shall be as follows: "Beginning at the 
 mouth of the "Wabash river ; thence up the same, and with the line of 
 Indiana, to the northwest corner of said state; thence east with the line 
 of said state to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the 
 middle of said lake, to north latitude 42 degrees and 30 minutes ; thence 
 west to the middle of the Mississippi river ; thence down along the mid- 
 dle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio river ; and thence up the 
 latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning."
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 131 
 
 Third. This section states the qualifications of those who shall vote 
 for members of the constitutional convention. It also names the fifteen 
 counties which shall send representatives to the said convention as fol- 
 lows : Bond, Madison, St. Glair, Monroe, Randolph, Jackson, Johnson, 
 Pope, Gallatin, White, Edwards, Crawford, Union, Washington, and 
 Franklin. The election day was set for the first Monday in July (6) 
 and the two following days. The number of delegates to the conven- 
 tion was fixed two for each county except Madison, St. Clair, and Galla- 
 tin, which should have three each thirty-three in all. 
 
 Fourth. The day for the meeting of the convention was fixed for the 
 first Monday in August. The form of government must be Republican, 
 and there must be forty thousand inhabitants before the territory can 
 be admitted as a state. 
 
 Fifth. The state when admitted shall be entitled to one repre- 
 sentative in congress. 
 
 Sixth. The following propositions were offered to the convention: 
 
 1. Section number 16 in each township which shall be for the bene- 
 fit of the schools of that township. 
 
 2. The gift of all salt springs within the state together with the 
 lands reserved for them. These salt springs and land to be held by 
 the legislature for the benefit of the state. The lands could not be 
 sold, nor rented for a longer period than ten years at any one time. 
 
 3. The state was offered five per cent of the net proceeds of the 
 sale of public lands within the state ; two per cent to be expended by 
 congress in roads leading to the state and three per cent to be used 
 by the state legislature in promoting learning. 
 
 4. The state was offered a township of land to be used to found 
 a seminary of learning. 
 
 These four propositions or gifts were to be accepted and an ordi- 
 nance passed and a guarantee given that all land sold by the general 
 government within the limits of the state should be exempt from 
 taxation for five years and that non-resident land holders shall be 
 taxed no higher than those who live in the state. 
 
 Seventh. All territory north of the north line of Indiana and 
 north of the north line of Illinois should be attached to the Michigan 
 territory for purposes of government. 
 
 "No man ever rendered the state a more important service in 
 congress than did Nathaniel Pope, to whom the people of Illinois are 
 indebted for securing the passage of this enabling law, upon which 
 he succeeded in ingrafting the important provisions set forth above. 
 And if political rewards were meted out in proportion to the merits 
 of the service rendered, the people's representatives would with one 
 accord have selected him as their senator in congress. Bright and 
 steady as was his fame as a jurist, it would have paled before the 
 brilliant luster of his career as a statesman." 
 
 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 
 
 As has been said, the Enabling Act became a law the 18th of 
 April. 1818. The election of delegates to the constitutional conven- 
 tion was fixed for the first Monday in July, and the constitutional 
 convention was to convene the first Monday in August. But the first 
 thing to do was to take the census of the territory, and if it did not
 
 132 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 have the forty thousand then there would be no need for the con- 
 vention. It was soon evident that the territory did not have the re- 
 quired number. The story is told that the marshal stationed his 
 enumerators on the public highways and counted the travellers and 
 immigrants, regardless of their destination. Not only this, but it 
 is asserted that often the same traveller or immigrant was counted 
 twice or even thrice. At last the enumerators returned forty thou- 
 sand inhabitants, but as the returns were afterward footed up there 
 were really only thirty-four thousand six hundred and twenty people 
 in the proposed state. The delegates were duly elected and assembled 
 at Kaskaskia on the first Monday in August. There were two subjects 
 which were discussed in the canvass for delegates to the convention; 
 one was the question of whether the constituency ought to have the 
 right of instruction, and the other was the question of slavery. 
 
 The following is a list of those who assembled as delegates: 
 
 St. Clair county Jesse B. Thomas, John Messenger, James Le- 
 men, Jr. 
 
 Randolph George Fisher, Elias Kent Kane. 
 
 Madison Benjamin Stephenson, Joseph Borough, Abraham Prick- 
 ett. 
 
 Gallatin Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphus Frederick 
 Hubbard. 
 
 Johnson Hezekiah West, Wm. McFatridge. 
 
 Edwards Seth Gard, Levi Compton. 
 
 White Willis Hargrave, Wm McIIenry. 
 
 Monroe Caldwell Cams, Enoch Moore. 
 
 Pope Samuel O'Melveny, Hamlet Ferguson. 
 
 Jackson Conrad Will, James Hall, Jr. 
 
 Crawford Joseph Kitchell, Edward N. Cullom. 
 
 Bond- Thomas Kirkpatrick, Samuel J. Morse. 
 
 Union William Eckols, John Whittaker. 
 
 Washington Andrew Bankson (other delegate died during con- 
 vention). 
 
 Franklin Isham Harrison, Thomas Roberts. 
 
 The convention met August 3. 1818, and finished its labors and 
 adjourned August 26. Jesse B. Thomas from St. Clair county was 
 elected chairman, and William C. Greenup was made secretary. Up 
 to within the past year no one knew of a copy of the proceedings of 
 the convention, but a copy has been found and is in the possession of 
 the Illinois State Historical Library. 
 
 The constitution was not submitted to the people for ratification 
 and the only officers which the people might elect were : Governor, 
 lieutenant governor, members of the general assembly, sheriffs, and 
 coroners. The offices which were filled by appointment of either the 
 governor or the general assembly were: Judges of the supreme, cir- 
 cuit and probate courts ; prosecuting attorney, county clerk, circuit 
 clerk, recorder, justice of the peace, auditor of public accounts, at- 
 torney general, secretary of state. 
 
 Before taking up the elections under the constitution, let us make 
 a brief study of the document.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 133 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OP 1818 
 
 The preamble to the constitution refers to the enabling act, quotes 
 from the preamble of the constitution of the United States, and traces 
 the boundaries of the state following the boundary lines as described 
 in the enabling act. 
 
 Before taking up the elections under the constitution, let us make 
 a brief study of the document. 
 
 Article one provides that all government power shall be exer- 
 cised through three departments, namely: The legislative, the execu- 
 tive, the judicial. 
 
 Article two vests the legislative authority in a general assembly 
 which shall consist of a senate and a house of representatives. It 
 also fixes qualifications of members of the two houses, states the 
 modes by which bills may become laws. Section 27 reads "In all 
 elections all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one 
 years, having resided in the state six months next preceding the elec- 
 tion, shall enjoy the right of an elector; but no person shall be en- 
 titled to vote except in the county or district in which he shall ac- 
 tually reside at the time of the election." 
 
 Article three vests the executive authority in a governor and 
 other officers and defines their duties. 
 
 Article four locates the judicial power in one supreme court and 
 in such inferior courts as the legislature may from time to time or- 
 dain and establish. 
 
 Article five creates and organizes the militia. 
 
 Article six has three sections which are as follows: 
 
 Section 1. Neither slavery or involuntary servitude shall here- 
 after be introduced into this state, otherwise than for the punish- 
 ment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; nor 
 shall any male person, arrived at the age of twenty-one years, nor fe- 
 male person arrived at the age of eighteen years, be held to serve any 
 person as a servant, under any indenture hereafter made, unless such 
 person shall enter into such indenture while in a state of perfect 
 freedom, and on condition of a bona fide consideration received or to 
 be received for their service. Nor shall any indenture of any negro 
 or mulatto, hereafter made and executed out of this state, or if made 
 in this state, where the term of service exceeds one year, be of the 
 least validity, except those given in cases of apprenticeship. 
 
 Section 2. No person bound to labor in any other state, shall be 
 hired to labor in this state, except within the tract reserved for the 
 salt works near Shawneetown; nor even at that place for a longer 
 period than one year at any one time; nor shall it be allowed there 
 after the year 1825. Any violation of this article shall effect the 
 emancipation of such person from his obligation to service. 
 
 Section 3. Each and every person who has been bound to serv- 
 ice by contract or indenture in virtue of the laws of Illinois ter- 
 ritory heretofore existing, and in conformity to the provisions of the 
 same, without fraud or collusion, shall be held to a specific perform- 
 ance of their contracts or indentures; and such negroes and mulat- 
 toes as have been registered in conformity with the aforesaid laws, 
 shall serve out the time appointed by said laws ; provided, however, 
 that the children hereafter born of such persons, negroes or mulat- 
 toes, shall become free, the males at the age of twenty-one years, the
 
 134 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 females at the age of eighteen years. Children born of indentured 
 parents shall be entered with the clerk of the county in which they 
 reside, by their owners, within six months after the birth of said 
 child. 
 
 Notice the wording in section one "shall hereafter be introduced 
 into this state. ' ' Such a guarantee was necessary in order that the stat 
 might be admitted into the union. The consent of the negro was always 
 necessary to a contract of indenture, and this was hereafter to be inter- 
 preted as "a state of perfect freedom." Again indentures were of va- 
 lidity for only one year. It came to be customary for the man who had 
 indentured slaves to take them across the Ohio and have them inden- 
 tured yearly. 
 
 Section two provides that slaves "hired" in slave states could be 
 brought into the salt works at Shawneetown and held for one year. At 
 the end of one year they could be hired again. But all this must stop 
 by the year 1825. 
 
 Section three provides that all negroes who were, at the making of 
 the constitution, under an "indenture" must faithfully fulfill that con- 
 tract. And children born of indentured parents were to be eventually 
 free. 
 
 The constitution in no way affected the slaves held by the French 
 and their descendants. These provisions will be noted later as we have 
 occasion to consider the laws passed by the legislatures of the coming 
 years. Upon the whole the entire system of slavery and indentured serv- 
 ice remained practically the same as under the territorial laws. 
 
 Article seven provides for the amending of the constitution. 
 
 Article eight contains a bill of rights. The bill contains twenty-three 
 sections and covers all imaginable claims to protection which the indi- 
 vidual might ever need. 
 
 The schedule is a miscellaneous collection of provisions which 
 could not easily be classified elsewhere. 
 
 It is said that only five of the thirty-three members of the con- 
 vention were lawyers. Most of them were farmers. Elias Kent 
 Kane is understood to have been the leading spirit of the conven- 
 tion. The men were practical every day people, simple in their 
 tastes and unlearned in the arts of the politician. It is not at all 
 easily understood why such a body of men who were certainly demo- 
 cratic in their political ideals should clothe the governor with such 
 extensive appointing power and thus virtually rob their fellow citi- 
 zens of the right of franchise on many important offices. This feature 
 of the constitution of 1818 was pernicious in that it fostered 
 office seeking. The governor was hounded for positions and the 
 members of the legislature often traded their votes for the support 
 of a fellow member in the choice of some office holder. 
 
 The governor did not have the veto power as now. This power 
 was exercised by the governor in conjunction with the supreme court. 
 This assembly of the governor and judges was known in the con- 
 stitution as the Council of Revision. The constitution of 1818 abol- 
 ished imprisonment for debt. This was a very advanced step to 
 take for those days. The legislature was not prohibited from grant- 
 ing divorces and this subject was a fruitful source of special legisla- 
 tion at each session. Neither was the legislature prohibited from 
 loaning the credit of the state to any corporate enterprise, and as 
 a result the state was in duty bound to redeem the pledge of more
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 135 
 
 than one corporation. Especially was this the case in the banking 
 business and in internal improvements. The enabling act did not 
 require the submission of the constitution to a referendum vote of 
 the people. The progressive ideas of which we hear so much nowa- 
 days had not yet taken hold on the political mind. The enabling 
 act required that the electors voting for the members of the consti- 
 tutional convention should be "white male citizens of the United 
 States, who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and 
 have resided in said territory six months previous to the day of elec- 
 tion." The constitution of 1818 was more liberal for it declared in 
 section 12 of the schedule that "all white male inhabitants above 
 the age of twenty-one years who shall be actual residents of the 
 state, at the signing of the constitution shall have a right to vote at 
 the election to be held on the third Thursday and the two following 
 days of September next." 
 
 The convention was in session from August 3 to August 26, when the 
 constitution was signed by the delegates. The day fixed by the constitu- 
 tion for the election of the officers provided for, was the third Thursday 
 (the 17th) in September, and the two succeeding days Friday and 
 Saturday. 
 
 At this election Shadrach Bond was chosen governor; Pierre Me- 
 nard was elected lieutenant governor, and John McLean was elected the 
 representative in congress. There were also elected fourteen senators 
 and twenty-nine representatives. 
 
 The legislature was called to meet at Kaskaskia the first Monday in 
 October (the 5th). The first thing for this legislature was the canvass 
 of the votes, and on Tuesday (the 6th), Governor Bond was inaugu- 
 rated. The legislature proceeded to the election of two United States 
 senators. The choice fell upon Ninian Edwards and Jesse B. Thomas. 
 The legislature chose the following state officers: State treasurer, John 
 Thomas ; auditor, Elijah C. Berry ; attorney general, Daniel P. Clark ; 
 supreme judges, Joseph Phillips, chief justice, William P. Foster, 
 Thomas C. Brown, and John Reynolds. The governor appointed Elias 
 Kent Kane as secretary of state. 
 
 All this was done on the supposition that congress would accept the 
 constitution and admit the state. However, the legislature adjourned on 
 the thirteenth of October to await the action of congress. Mr. McLean, 
 the newly elected congressman, was permitted to present the constitu- 
 tion but was not himself sworn in, as was said, "in consequence of con- 
 gress not having concluded the act of admission of the state into the 
 union. ' ' 
 
 A spirited opposition to the acceptance of the constitution arose on 
 the ground that the constitution did not declare against slavery. The 
 matter of its acceptance was referred to a committee of three Richard 
 Anderson, of Kentucky, George Poindexter and William Hendricks. 
 This committee reported in favor of admitting the state. James Tal- 
 madge attacked the report, arguing that the constitution was very in- 
 definite with regard to slavery. It neither prohibited slavery nor ad- 
 mitted it. He also opposed its admission on the ground that there was 
 no evidence that there were forty thousand people within the limts of 
 the state. Mr. Harrison and Mr. Poindexter made spirited replies and 
 upon the vote it was admitted by 117 to 34. On the third of December 
 the senate concurred and the President signed the bill. The senators 
 and congressmen were sworn in, and Illinois was a full fledged sovereign 
 state.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 ILLINOIS UNDER GOVERNOR BOND 
 
 STARTING THE NEW MACHINERY ILLINOIS' BLACK CODE IN THE NEW 
 CAPITAL ATTEMPTED FINANCIAL RELIEF MILITARY TRACT THE 
 ENGLISH PRAIRIE SETTLEMENT GOVERNOR BOND RETURNS TO His 
 FARM 
 
 The first governor under the constitution was Shadrach Bond. He 
 was born in the state of Maryland, November 24, 1778. His father was 
 a farmer, and young Bond never had the advantages of any school be- 
 yond that of the log school house of those days. He came with his 
 father to the New Design settlement in Monroe county as early as 1794 
 and settled upon' a farm. Governor Bond, while not an educated man, 
 seems to have had an abundance of good common sense, and to have had 
 the confidence of his fellow citizens. He served in the territorial legisla- 
 ture, and as territorial delegate in congress. While a delegate in con- 
 gress he secured the passage of the Preemption Act. He held the office 
 of receiver of public moneys in the land office at Kaskaskia. In the elec- 
 tion for state officers under the constitution which occurred September, 
 1818, Mr. Bond was elected governor without opposition. The other 
 officers chosen by the people or by the legislature have been given in the 
 preceding chapter and need not be given here. It will also be remem- 
 bered that there was a meeting of the legislature and some preliminary 
 work done even before the acceptance of the constitution by congress. 
 
 STARTING THE NEW MACHINERY 
 
 Following the announcement of the acceptance of the constitution 
 by congress, Governor Bond called the legislature in special session for 
 January 4, 1819. At this session of the legslature the machinery of the 
 state government was set in motion. Governor Bond's message to the 
 legislature was not an elaborate affair; though he earnestly recom- 
 mended the construction at the earliest date of a canal connecting the 
 head waters of the Illinois river with Lake Michigan. Another matter 
 he brought forward was the depleted condition of the treasury. Third 
 he asked for a modification of the criminal laws in force from the terri- 
 torial period. Fourth he recommended the erection of jails and a peni- 
 tentiary. 
 
 The legislature did not find itself in entire accord with the gover- 
 nor's views, and so followed its own sweet will. The work of this session 
 was along four lines as follows : 
 
 1. Determined the salaries of all state officers. 
 
 136
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 137 
 
 2. Passed a complete code of laws copied largely from the statutes 
 of Virginia and Kentucky. 
 
 3. The permanent revenues of the state were provided for by plac- 
 ing a tax on lands owned by non-residents, while the county revenues 
 were provided for by a personal property tax including a tax on slaves 
 and indentured servants, and by a tax on lands owned by residents of 
 the state. 
 
 4. Another very important action taken by the legislature was the 
 passage of a law for the removal of the capital of the state from Kaskas- 
 kia to a point on the Kaskaskia river east of the third principal me- 
 ridian. A clause in the constitution of 1818 provided that the capital 
 
 THE OLD STATE HOUSE IN KASKASKIA. THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN 
 SHORTLY BEFORE IT FELL INTO THE RIVER 
 
 should remain at Kaskaskia until moved by the legislature. The con- 
 stitution further provided that the state should ask congress for a grant 
 of four sections of land upon which to locate the capitol buildings, and 
 some of which might be disposed of in order to assist in the construction 
 of buildings. 
 
 Congress was asked to donate the lands for the new capital and it 
 readily made the grant. The legislature appointed five commissioners 
 who should locate the gift which congress made. They located the 
 grounds by selecting sections 8, 9, 16 and 17 in town 6 north, range 1 
 east of the third principal meridian. The lands lay immediately west 
 of the Kaskaskia river. These commissioners were also to construct the 
 buildings which should house the infant government. The capitol build- 
 ing was a two-story wooden frame and was ready for the legislature in 
 the summer of 1820.
 
 138 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ILLINOIS' BLACK CODE 
 
 But before we leave the session of the legislature of 1819 in Kaskas- 
 kia let us call attention to what is known as Illinois' Black Code. This 
 was, by its title, "An Act respecting free Negroes, Mulattoes, Servants, 
 and Slaves." This Black Code contains twenty -five sections and was 
 copied from old laws in force in the territorial period and in the older 
 states. The following is a very brief abridgment of the code: 
 
 1. No black or mulatto should settle in the state without a certificate 
 of freedom. 
 
 2. Blacks or mulattoes having certificates of freedom must enter 
 descriptions of their children with the circuit clerk. 
 
 3. No person shall bring in blacks or mulattoes for the purpose of 
 freeing them unless they give bond in $1,000 for the good behavior of 
 the freedman. 
 
 4. All resident free blacks or mulattoes must register their freedom 
 with the clerk of the court. 
 
 5. No person shall hire a mulatto or black who has not a certificate 
 of his freedom. 
 
 6. No person shall in any way hide or secrete runaway slaves. 
 
 7. Blacks and mulattoes found without certificates of freedom could 
 be arrested, advertised and sold. 
 
 8. Provides for reclaiming blacks and mulattoes. 
 
 9. Fixes penalties for kidnapping negroes and mulattoes. 
 
 10. Regulates food, clothing, and lodging, to be provided for ser- 
 vants. 
 
 11. Makes contracts of indenture transferable. 
 
 12. Provides for whipping lazy blacks or mulattoes who are ser- 
 vants or slaves. 
 
 13. Provides penalty for masters who are unjust to their servants 
 or slaves. 
 
 14. All contracts between master and servant void during period of 
 service. 
 
 15. Courts are to hear complaints from servants who are citizens 
 of any one of the states. 
 
 16. Servants may hold personal property. 
 
 17. No negro, mulatto or Indian can hold any other than one of his 
 own complexion as a servant. 
 
 18. No person must buy of or sell to slaves or servants. 
 
 19. Where free persons are finable, slaves and servants shall be 
 whipped twenty lashes for every $8 fined. 
 
 20. Servants (indentured servants) shall upon the expiration of 
 their service be entitled to certificates of freedom. 
 
 21. Slaves and servants found ten miles from their master's home 
 without a pass may be arrested and whipped. 
 
 22. Slaves and servants found "visiting" on one's plantation may 
 be whipped ten lashes. 
 
 23. Slaves or servants who are guilty of sedition are to be whipped 
 thirty-nine lashes. 
 
 24. Persons permitting dancing or revelling by slaves or servants 
 shall be fined $25. 
 
 25. This section makes it the duty of officers to make arrests, and 
 inflict the corporeal punishment. Slaves and others of color could as- 
 semble with written permission of masters.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 139 
 
 These black laws as they were called were passed in 1819, and re- 
 mained upon our statute books till February 12, 1853. 
 
 IN THE NEW CAPITAL 
 
 When the legislature convened in December, 1820. it met in the 
 new capital city, Vandalia. At the time this spot was selected as the 
 capital it was in a great wilderness. The commissioners were author- 
 ized to sell lots and to apply the proceeds in meeting the expenses of 
 building and equipping the new capitol building. The town was care- 
 fully laid out and lots offered for sale. These were bought for busi- 
 ness sites and for homes, and the place soon had the air of business 
 
 THE CAPITOL AT VANDALIA, Now USED AS THE FAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 COURTHOUSE 
 
 about it. Many of the lots were sold on time and the purchasers failed 
 to make payments. In such cases the lots returned to the state and 
 were resold. 
 
 ATTEMPTED FINANCIAL RELIEF 
 
 The second general assembly was elected in August, 1820, and met 
 in December of that year in the new capitol at Vandalia. There was 
 in 1819 and 1820, great distress in the west, especially resulting, it 
 was thought, from the character of the principal circulating medium. 
 The "wild cat" banks which had sprung up since the expiration of 
 the charter of the old United States bank in 1811, numbered, in 1819, 
 something like four hundred, and there was great confusion in the 
 circulation notes from these banks. In 1820 the banks in the neighbor- 
 ing states to Illinois began to suspend specie payment, and those in 
 Illinois soon found themselves unable to stem the current and were
 
 140 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 obliged to suspend. The money which the immigrants brought with 
 them into the west was often worthless, and it is said there were thou- 
 sands of dollars of counterfeit money in circulation. Many towns that 
 were laid out in the new western states had sprung up like mushrooms, 
 and wilted down like the mown grass before the summer sun. Great 
 distress prevailed and no one seemed to be able to suggest a remedy. 
 Everyone waited for the meeting of the legislature, thinking there 
 would surely be someone in that body who, Moses-like, could lead the 
 people through the desert. 
 
 A part of the distress of the times came from the indebtedness of 
 the people for their lands. In 1800, when the lands were put upon the 
 market in smaller quantities, the price was fixed at two dollars per 
 acre. One-fourth of this amount or fifty cents per acre, must be paid 
 in cash, and on the other three-fourths, a credit of several years was 
 given, or if the purchaser preferred he could pay all cash at once in 
 which case the price was one dollar and sixty-four cents per acre. 
 Most people preferred to buy on time and such people were careless 
 about making the deferred payments. The government became lenient 
 and few ever suffered for their negligence in making their final pay- 
 ments. By 1820 there was supposed to be owing to the general govern- 
 ment more than twenty million dollars for lands bought on credit. 
 Congress was memorialized to bring some sort of relief to the people. 
 Senator Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, introduced a bill which 
 was enacted into law, providing that those indebted to the government 
 for lands might relinquish enough land to pay the debt and thus receive 
 a clear title to the rest of the land. The law also provided that here- 
 after the price of government land should be one dollar and twenty- 
 five cents per acre cash. 
 
 The legislature set itself earnestly to the task of bringing relief by 
 chartering the "Illinois State Bank with a capital of five hundred 
 thousand dollars, backed by the credit of the sovereign state of Illinois. 
 For the convenience of the people the bank was to have branches. The 
 parent bank was to be located at Vandalia, with branches at Edwards- 
 ville, Brownsville, Shawneetown, and Albion. Bills of the denomina- 
 tions of one, two, three, five, ten, and twenty dollars were ordered 
 printed. The bills drew two per cent interest and were redeemable 
 inside of ten years. The bank was chartered for ten years. The charter 
 provided that the money might be loaned in quantities of one hundred 
 dollars on personal security and one thousand dollars on real estate 
 security. Bills to the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand 
 dollars were ordered printed, and distributed among the banks accord- 
 ing to the population in the several localities where the banks were 
 located. 
 
 It must not be understood that this gigantic financial scheme went 
 into operation without vigorous opposition. When the bill was before 
 the lower house the banks' friends, who were in a majority, refused 
 to go into committee of the whole, hoping thereby to prevent their 
 speaker, John McLean, from participating in the debate. He was in- 
 dignant at that sort of treatment and immediately resigned his place 
 as speaker and took his place on the floor and warned his colleagues 
 with clearness of reasoning and accuracy of prophetic vision, of the 
 ills which would come to the people and to the state. But his power 
 as an orator and his force as a logician availed little, as the bill was
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 141 
 
 triumphantly passed. When the bill came before the governor and 
 the supreme court as the board of revision, it was vetoed, but the 
 measure was promptly passed over the veto. 
 
 Shortly after the bill became a law, a resolution was before the 
 senate asking the secretary of the treasury to accept the issue of the 
 Illinois State Bank in payment of land. Lieutenant Governor Pierre 
 Menard, who was presiding over the senate, did not approve of the 
 resolution and did not believe the secretary of the treasury would 
 accept the bills in payment for lands, and while the debate continued, 
 became deeply interested. The debate ended and the vote must be 
 taken. The doughty Frenchman said, ' ' Zhentlesmen of de senate ! It 
 is moved and second dat de notes of dis bank be made land office 
 money. All in favor of dat motion say aye; dose against it say no. 
 De ayes have it, and now Zhentlesmen I bet you one hundred dollar 
 he never be made land office money." Mr. Menard had made a true 
 prediction. 
 
 The history of this bank can be written in a few words. There was 
 no real provision made for the redemption of the bank's issue, the ex- 
 
 BANK BILL ISSUED BY THE EDWARDSVILLE BANK IN 1821 
 
 pectation being that the bills would always remain at or above par. 
 The bills actually fell to twenty-five per cent of their face value and 
 soon ceased to circulate. For ten years it was a source of great disap- 
 pointment to its friends and a menace to the growth and prosperity 
 of the state. The charter expired in 1831 and the state borrowed one 
 hundred thousand dollars in order to close up its business and every- 
 body drew a sigh of relief. 
 
 There was not any other legislation of very great importance at 
 this session. The two houses quarreled, and opposed the wishes gener- 
 ally of the governor. However, there were created several new coun- 
 ties, namely: Lawrence, Greene, Sangamon, Pike, Hamilton, Mont- 
 gomery, Fayette. At this time the Pike county boundary read as 
 follows: "Up the middle of the Illinois river from its mouth to the 
 fork; up the south fork (Kankakee) to the Indiana state line; north 
 with the state line to the north boundary of the state ; west with the 
 said state line to the west boundary of the state ; thence with said 
 boundary to the place of beginning." It will be noticed that Chicago 
 was in Pike county.
 
 142 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 MILITARY TRACT 
 
 Shortly after the War of 1812, congress set aside in the territory 
 of Illinois, what afterwards came to be called the "Illinois Military 
 Tract," for the payment of the soldiers of the War of 1812. This 
 bounty land as it is frequently called, lay west of the Illinois river and 
 was bounded on the west by the Mississippi, and extended one hun- 
 dred and sixty-nine miles north of the mouth of the Illinois river. For 
 a few years after the close of the war, immigration to this region was 
 quite active, but by 1820, and for a year or so later, very few settlers 
 came. It is said that the titles to the land did not long remain in the 
 hands of the soldiers, but that they were soon held by speculators. 
 
 THE ENGLISH PRAIRIE SETTLEMENT 
 
 Reference has already been made to the conditions of this country 
 at the close of the War of 1812. Everything favored immigration. 
 The Indians were gradually becoming reconciled to the presence of 
 the whites. They ceded large tracts of land to the United States, and 
 the government was taking steps to have those lands settled as rapidly 
 as possible. Lands in the west were being rapidly surveyed, towns 
 were springing up, and offices were established, steam navigation on 
 the western rivers was reducing the time and danger of the journey 
 to the west, and at the same time increasing the comforts of travel. 
 The government offered land at $2 an acre with the privilege of paying 
 one-fourth cash and three-fourths on time. Many travelers through 
 the west, upon returning to New England and to the middle and 
 southern states, gave flattering reports upon the richness of the soil, 
 abundance of game, and the superiority of the climate. 
 
 In the older states to the east of the Alleghanies, the war produced 
 many conditions which favored the movement of immigration into the 
 west. New England had previous to the war been a commercial sec- 
 tion. They built ships and engaged in the carrying trade. Manu- 
 facture was not then regarded as a line of industry. The embargo, the 
 non-intercourse act, and the war made the New Englanders a 
 manufacturing people. When the war was over, men could not easily 
 adjust themselves to the new conditions. Wages were low, work was 
 scarce, and business deranged. Under these conditions people were 
 easily persuaded to cast their lot in the rising west. The route of 
 travel for the New Englanders was usually up the Mohawk valley, by 
 Oswego, up Lake Ontario, over the Niagara portage, down the Alle- 
 ghany river to Pittsburg, and thence down the Ohio. Another route 
 for the Chesapeake region was up the Potomac, across the mountains 
 to Wheeling, and thence down the Ohio. For the people of the Caro- 
 linas the route lay across the mountains into the upper valleys of the 
 Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and thence to southern Indiana, 
 Southern Illinois or to Missouri. 
 
 Not only was there a large immigration from the Atlantic states 
 into the newer western states, but from the close of the Napoleonic 
 wars in Europe, there was a steady stream of immigration from Eng- 
 land to this country. In 1815 England's debt had reached the enor- 
 mous sum of 831,000.000, specie payments were suspended, and the 
 paper money was rapidly depreciating. Prices were soaring upwards,
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 143 
 
 the harvests were bad, and legislation was against the poor. The 
 "Corn laws" were passed in 1815 which provided that no corn (grain) 
 should be imported until the price should reach 80s per quarter. In 
 case one's income from his labor would not support him, he must be 
 supported from the "poor rates." Thousands of soldiers and sailors 
 who had helped to win England 's victories in the past fifteen or twenty 
 years, were then without employment. Of 644 ships in England's 
 navy, 530 went out of service. The use of machinery was another cause 
 of idleness everywhere, and riots were the order of the day. There 
 was great need of reform in the political world. Some boroughs with 
 not more than a half dozen voters would send two representatives to 
 parliament. Some great cities like Manchester and Birmingham were 
 without representation in parliament. 
 
 Many prominent Englishmen attempted to right the wrongs. Among 
 those who were struggling to better the conditions in England at this 
 time was one William Cobbett, the publisher of a vigorous little news- 
 paper called the Political Register. In addition to publishing the 
 Register, he was a pamphlet-writer and for his strong denunciation 
 of the wrongs perpetrated on his fellow countrymen, he was arrested, 
 fined, and imprisoned. At the end of two years he was released upon 
 bail and came to America and settled on Long Island. While here, in 
 1818, he wrote a pamphlet or book, descriptive of this country, dedi- 
 cated to his friend Timothy Brown, Esq., of Peckham Lodge, Surrey. 
 In the dedication he says: This book "I dedicate to you in testimony 
 of my consistent remembrance of the many, many happy hours I have 
 spent with you, and of the numerous acts of kindness which I have 
 received at your hands. You were one of those who sought acquaintance 
 with me, when I was shut up in a felon's jail for having expressed my 
 indignation at seeing Englishmen flogged in the heart of England, 
 under a guard of bayonets and sabres, and when I had on my head a 
 thousand pounds fine and seven years' recognizances. You at the end 
 of two years took me from the prison, in your carriage, to your house, 
 you and your kind friend Walker, are even yet held in bonds for my 
 good behavior, the seven years not being expired." 
 
 This Mr. Cobbett lived on Long Island, and in 1818 was engaged 
 in the culture of rutabagas. It seems, also, that Mr. Cobbett was very 
 busily engaged in trying to prevent Englishmen who arrived in Boston, 
 New York, Baltimore, and other ports, from coming into the western 
 country. Just what his motives were we may not know, but it has been 
 surmised that he was in the employment of speculators and others who 
 were interested in keeping the immigrants, those from England as 
 well as those who were leaving the Atlantic coast, from coming into 
 this western country. In the preface of the book above referred to, 
 he says: "Yet it was desirable to make an attempt, at least, towards 
 settling the question, whether the Atlantic or the western countries 
 were the best for English farmers to settle in." 
 
 In 1816 to 1817 several men of prominence in England agitated the 
 idea of coming to America. It was just while this stir was going on 
 in England that Edward Coles, embassador from the President, James 
 Madison, to the Czar of Russia, while on his return trip, spent several 
 weeks in England (probably in the spring of 1817). There he met 
 Morris Birkbeck then a man fifty-four years of age. He was at that 
 time the lessee of a large estate called Wanborough, near London. He
 
 144 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 was greatly interested in Mr. Coles' description of the prairies in this 
 western country. He and George Flower, who was also a man of cul- 
 ture and means, determined upon the planting of a colony in the broad 
 prairies of Illinois. Mr. Birkbeck sold out his lease for $55,000 and 
 sailed from London in April, 1817. George Flower had preceded Birk- 
 beck the previous year (1816), and had visited the western prairies, 
 and returned to Virginia where he passed the winter of 1816 to 1817. 
 During this winter he was much in company with Thomas Jefferson, 
 to whom he had letters of introduction from La Fayette. When Birk- 
 beck landed at Norfolk, Virginia, in the month of June, 1817, his friend, 
 George Flower, joined him and they proceeded west to the Illinois 
 country by way of the Ohio river, and Vincennes. From here they 
 went into the prairie afterwards called English Prairie. These two 
 Englishmen each planted a colony. Birkbeck called his settlement 
 Wanborough after his old home in England; Mr. Flower called his 
 Albion, which is an old name for England. The former settlement 
 was about two miles west of Albion. 
 
 These settlements came to be known as the "English Prairie Settle- 
 ments" and were visited by all the travelers whether seeking homes 
 in the new state or as mere passers-by viewing the new country. It 
 also bore the name of "The Marine Settlement" on account of the fact 
 that many of the settlers in that locality were once mariners. 
 
 Birkbeck bought sixteen thousand acres of land in the immediate 
 locality of Albion, and hoped to sell a large portion of it to actual 
 settlers. Mr. Birkbeck was a highly educated gentleman and yet was 
 not afraid of manual labor. Mr. Flower settled what afterward came 
 to be Albion though he himself lived a mile or so distant at what was 
 called "Park House," a country seat after the style of the English 
 country residences. 
 
 George Flower returned to England in 1817 or 1818 and brought 
 to this new English settlement his father, Richard Flower, his mother, 
 his sisters and two brothers. His family reached Lexington, Kentucky, 
 in the late fall or early winter and remained here till the next June, 
 1819. 
 
 When Mr. George Flower left the English settlement to return to 
 England for his father and other members of the family, it was under- 
 stood that Mr. Birkbeck would purchase land for Mr. George Flower 
 and have a residence by the time he should return. In June, 1819, 
 when George Flower landed at Shawneetown the entire family walked 
 to Albion, a distance of forty-five miles, and upon arriving at Albion 
 found no house of any kind in which they might live. It seems that 
 an estrangement had grown up between Mr. George Flower and Mr. 
 Birkbeck which was the occasion of there being two settlements, Albion 
 and Wanborough. 
 
 While living at Lexington the father, Richard Flower, wrote to 
 friends in England in answer to certain questions in which these peo- 
 ple were interested. In speaking of slavery he says: "It is this that 
 keeps the wealth of Europe from pouring its treasures into the fertile 
 regions of Kentucky and the industry of thousands from approaching 
 the state. It would be painful to relate all the horrors I have beheld 
 in slavery under its mildest forms. Whites, full of whiskey, flogging 
 their slaves for drinking even a single glass. Women, . . ., smart- 
 ing under the angry blow, or the lash, . . . lacking food in the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 145 
 
 midst of abundance, and clothing insufficient to satisfy the demands 
 of even common decency." 
 
 On August 16, 1819, the same gentleman writing from "Illinois, 
 near Albion," describes the new home. He speaks particularly of the 
 improved state of health of all the people of the settlement. He urges 
 immigration to the western prairies rather than to stop on the Atlantic 
 shores. The prairies were easily broken and the grazing was abundant. 
 Servants were scarce on account of the ease with which young women 
 found husbands. Female help commanded from $8 to $10 per month. 
 On the English prairie which stretched from the Little Wabash east- 
 ward to the Bonpas creek, a distance of sixteen miles, and extending 
 north and south four miles, there were sixty English families and 
 about one hundred and fifty American families. Counting five per- 
 sons to each family we have one thousand and fifty inhabitants of the 
 English prairie in 1819. "As to the reward of his industry, every 
 farmer who conducted a farm in England, may here become the pro- 
 prietor of his own soil with that capital which affords him only a 
 tenant's station, a precarious subsistence in his own country; an in- 
 ducement, I should think, sufficient to make thousands follow our steps, 
 and taste the blessings of independence and the sweets of liberty." 
 On the subject of slavery Mr. Flower speaks with the earnestness of 
 a Phillips, a Garrison, or a Giddings. ' ' One human being the property 
 of another! No! ... I rejoice, my dear friend, in the choice the 
 English have made of a free state ; and am certain we shall be able to 
 cultivate from the services of free men, cheaper than those who culti- 
 vate by slaves." In this same letter Mr. Flower says "the log cabins, 
 the receptacles of the insect tribe are no longer erected. I have had 
 the pleasure of laying the first brick foundation in Albion ; it is to be 
 an inn where travelers, I hope, may find rest without disturbance from 
 insects. We have also nearly completed our market house which is 
 sixty feet by thirty. A place of worship is begun. ' ' Services were held 
 each Lord's day by some member of the colony. It was the intention 
 which was aftervard carried out to establish a reading room in the 
 church building which should be open on Sunday afternoon. 
 
 The following is a list of prices prevailing in Albion in 1819: A 
 fine turkey, 25c; fowls (chickens), 12c; beef, 5c; eggs, 12^0; cheese, 
 30c; butter (scarce), 16c; bacon, 15c; flour, $9 per bbl. ; deer (whole 
 carcass including skin), $1.50; melons, 12i/ 2 c; honey, $1 per gal.; 
 whiskey, $1 per gal. ; fine Hyson tea, $2 per Ib. ; moist sugar, 31c ; 
 coffee, 62c; fish, 3c. 
 
 On January 18, 1820, Mr. Richard Flower writes again to friends 
 in England. He speaks of the drouth of the preceding autumn and 
 says they have few wells and are obliged to buy water at 25c a barrel, 
 brought from a neighboring spring. Farm laborers are scarce. For 
 Christmas dinner they had a company of thirty-two at Park House, 
 the Flower homestead. They danced to the music of instrument and 
 song. The Sunday service was attended by forty or fifty persons, and 
 in the afternoon the library and reading rooms were quite well 
 patronized. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck, whose residence was a couple of miles west of Albion, 
 at Wanborough, was also busily engaged in opening up his lands and 
 providing for the comfort and advancement of those who might settle 
 near him.
 
 146 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 This settlement was visited by a Mr. Hulme, an Englishman, in 
 1818-19, the next year after the founding. Birkbeck was then living in 
 a log cabin with his two sons and two daughters. The cabin cost $20. 
 He was beginning a more pretentious home near the cabin. Mr. Birk- 
 beck had about him no settlers except his own laborers and some 
 American neighbors who had settled near his lands. Mr. Birkbeck, at 
 the time, had no land in cultivation except for garden purposes. He 
 had occupied his time since arriving in building houses, barns, mills, 
 fences, etc. His fences Mr. Hulme describes as follows: "He makes 
 a ditch four feet wide at the top, sloping to one foot wide at the bot- 
 tom, and four feet deep. With the earth that comes out of the ditch 
 he makes a bank on one side, which is turfed toward the ditch. Then 
 a long pole is put up from the bottom of the ditch to two feet above 
 the bank; this is crossed by a short pole from the other side, then a 
 rail is laid along between the forks." 
 
 Two years later Mr. John Woods, an Englishman, seeking a suit- 
 able home in the new country, visited both Albion and Wanborough. 
 Of the latter place he says there was a store or two, twenty-five cabins, 
 a tavern, several lodging houses, several carpenters, bricklayers, brick- 
 makers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, sawyers, a tailor and a butcher. 
 At this time also they were building an oxmill (tread mill), a malt 
 house, a new brick tavern, and several new houses. They were also 
 digging wells. Mr. Birkbeck had by this time finished his frame house. 
 Wanborough was just in the edge of a small woods. The town was 
 laid out in blocks by streets running east and west and north and south. 
 
 Albion, two miles east of Wanborough, had at this time, 1820, 
 twenty cabins, a place of worship, a market house, two taverns, two 
 stores, a surgeon, carpenters, brick-makers, bricklayers, wheelwrights, 
 blacksmiths, sawyers, a shoemaker, and several wells. 
 
 Four miles east of Albion was the Bonpas bridge across the Bonpas 
 creek. At this point was a water sawmill, a tavern, and a store with a 
 few cabins. The mill was owned by Messrs. Le Serre and Grutt, lately 
 from the Channel islands. 
 
 Mr. Woods settled in W T anborough and owned farms in the neigh- 
 borhood. In speaking of stock running at large, he says: "Beasts, 
 sheep, and pigs are all marked in their ears, by cutting and notching 
 them in all possible directions and forms, to the great disfigurement 
 of some of them ; yet these marks are absolutely necessary in this wild 
 country where every person's stock runs at large; and they are not 
 sometimes seen by their owners for several months, so that without 
 some lasting mark it would be utterly impossible to know them again. 
 Most people enter their marks with the clerk of the county in which 
 they reside. . . . The county clerk's fee for entering a mark is 
 12i/ 2 cents." 
 
 These English settlers were a very thrifty people and the popula- 
 tion grew rapidly. In the vote for or against the slave proposition in 
 1824, there were five hundred and eighty votes, which would represent 
 a population of nearly three thousand people. The settlements are of 
 considerable interest since it is generally conceded that no other man 
 did more than Mr. Birkbeck to save the state from the curse of slavery 
 in 1824.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 147 
 
 GOVERNOR BOND RETURNS TO His FARM 
 
 The constitution of 1818 did not require the governor to reside at 
 the capital only during the session of the legislature; so, as soon as 
 the legislature adjourned, Governor Bond returned to his farm near 
 Kaskaskia, and there he lived as a retired gentleman, entertaining his 
 friends in the simple sports with horses and hounds. The constitution 
 forbade his succeeding himself. He therefore secured the federal posi- 
 tion of register of the land office, which he held for several years. 
 
 By the census of 1820, Illinois had fifty-five thousand two hundred 
 and one inhabitants and the population was increasing rapidly.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR COLES 
 
 A MAN WITH CONVICTIONS THE SLAVERY ISSUE A BITTER CAMPAIGN 
 THE RESULT THE SANGAMON COUNTRY A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR 
 THE ELECTIONS OP 1826 
 
 With the first political maneuvering in the spring of 1822, began one 
 of the most momentous conflicts that was ever fought out on the soil of 
 the great Prairie state. There was no dearth of ambitious men, and 
 candidates were plentiful. There were four candidates for governor. 
 They were Edward Coles, James B. Moore, Joseph Phillips and Thomas 
 C. Browne. 
 
 The last named gentleman was an associate judge on the supreme 
 bench. Phillips was chief justice of the same court. Moore was major 
 general in the state militia. Coles was at this time register of the land 
 office at Edwardsville. 
 
 A MAN WITH CONVICTIONS 
 
 Mr. Coles was a Virginian, having been born in that state December 
 15, 1786. He received a very liberal education in William and Mary 
 College, though he did not graduate. Mr. Coles had all the breeding of 
 a Virginia gentleman. His father was a colonel in the Revolutionary 
 war and counted among his immediate friends and companions such 
 prominent men as Patrick Henry, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, the Ran- 
 dolphs, and others not less prominent. Young Coles, after leaving col- 
 lege in his senior year on account of his health, spent the next two years 
 at his father's home, Enniscorthy, an old Virginia estate, in company 
 with the above named statesmen and in constant reading in his father's 
 library. 
 
 His father died in 1808 leaving the son the estate and the slaves. 
 President Madison had been won by the polish, education, and character 
 of the young man, and offered him the position of private secretary. 
 This was accepted, and thus he spent several years of his life in the very 
 midst of the stirring times of the War of 1812. During these years of 
 life at the national capital he became deeply interested in the problems of 
 slavery. His correspondence shows him to be a profound student of 
 social problems. Jefferson opened his heart to the young man on this 
 great question and no doubt the stand that Jefferson took against slav- 
 ery greatly strengthened young Coles in his convictions of the sacred- 
 ness of human freedom. 
 
 In 1815, he resigned his position as private secretary to the President 
 
 148
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 149 
 
 and traveled extensively in the west to determine where he might like to 
 settle. He drove with horse and buggy, accompanied by a servant and 
 a saddle horse, over the states of Qhio, Indiana, and Illinois. From St. 
 Louis he went to New Orleans, and from there to Savannah, Georgia, by 
 water, and thence to his estate in Virginia. 
 
 In the summer of 1816, the President found it needful to send to 
 Russia a special envoy upon a diplomatic mission of great delicacy. 
 Edward Coles was selected for the mission. He performed this service 
 with great distinction. He returned by way of Prance where he was 
 presented to the French king, Louis XVIII, and was fortunate to meet 
 General LaFayette at a dinner given by Albert Gallatin, minister to 
 France. In London, Mr. Coles met many prominent Englishmen. It 
 
 GOVERNOR EDWARD COLES 
 
 was here he met Morris Birkbeck, founder of .the English Prairie set- 
 tlements. On his return to America, he visited Illinois again in 1818. 
 He was in Kaskaskia when the constitutional convention was in session 
 and remained and used his influence to prevent the insertion of a clause 
 permitting slavery. He returned to Virginia and made preparations to 
 move to Illinois. 
 
 On the first of April, 1819, he started from his Virginia home for the 
 newly admitted state of Illinois. With him he brought his slaves left by 
 his father's death some four or five years before. At Brownsville, Penn- 
 sylvania, he bought two large flat bottomed boats upon which he em- 
 barked with all his earthly belongings, including twenty -six slaves. 
 
 The second morning out from Pittsburg he called all his slaves 
 around him and informed them that he now gave each of them his free- 
 dom. He told them that they were at liberty to go on down the river 
 with him or return to Virginia. If they went with him he intended to 
 give each head of a family one hundred and sixty acres of land and 
 would help them in other ways to get started in the world. Mr. Coles 
 desired to study the effect of the news upon them and said: "The ef- 
 fect upon them was electrical. They stared at me and each other, as
 
 150 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 if doubting the accuracy or reality of what they heard. In breathless 
 silence they stood before me, unable to utter a word, but with counte- 
 nances beaming with expressions which no word could convey and which 
 no language can describe." 
 
 At or near Louisville, Kentucky, he sold his boats and sent his goods 
 and newly freed slaves to Edwardsville by land. Before disembarking 
 Mr. Coles issued a certificate of emancipation to his slaves. Of this 
 matter we shall speak in the future. 
 
 When President Monroe heard that Mr. Coles was corning to Illinois 
 to live, he gave him the appointment of register of the land office at 
 Edwardsville. This he held till he was elected governor in 1822. 
 
 It will be seen that Mr. Coles was comparatively a newcomer in Illi- 
 nois when the canvass began for governor in 1822. It is said, however, 
 that he was a very successful electioneerer. His position in the land of- 
 fice was of great value to him in that it threw him in touch with all the 
 settlers from that part of the state. He was always well dressed, courte- 
 ous, and dignified. It was understood that Coles was an anti-slavery 
 man, while his chief opponent, Mr. Justice Phillips, was in favor of that 
 "peculiar institution." Moore was also anti-slavery, while Browne was 
 for slavery. The vote for Coles and Moore, the anti-slavery candidates, 
 was 3,332, while for the other two it was 5,303. This shows that on a 
 test of the slavery and anti-slavery sentiment the vote was overwhelm- 
 ingly for slavery. And so the slavery party elected the lieutenant gov- 
 ernor and other state officers as well as a majority in both branches of 
 the general assembly. Daniel P. Cook was elected to congress against 
 John McLean. Mr. Cook had served the state in congress and voted 
 against the Missouri compromise. The great measure had been supported 
 by Senators Edwards and Thomas, of Illinois, and the people were con- 
 siderably wrought up over the subject. 
 
 The legislature convened at Vandalia the first Monday in December, 
 1822. This was on the second, and on the fifth the newly elected gover- 
 nor gave his inaugural address. This speech by the governor recom- 
 mended First, that the legislature foster the agricultural society which 
 was then in its infancy. Second, he suggested that a subject of prime 
 importance was the whole financial problem. Third, he was hopeful 
 that the state might soon see its way clear to take steps to connect the 
 Mississippi river with Lake Michigan by means of a canal. Fourth, he 
 was very deeply impressed with the injustice of slavery, and recom- 
 mended the freeing of the slaves in this state. He also called attention 
 to the need of revising the laws on kidnapping, and the black laws. 
 This speech very greatly disturbed the legislature, as well as the people 
 of the state. Nearly all the people had come from slave-holding states 
 and whether they ever had been slave owners or not they were easily 
 touched on this subject. 
 
 THE SLAVERY ISSUE 
 
 The slavery sentiment was rapidly crystallizing around the idea that 
 a convention ought to be called to revise the constitution ; for only in 
 this way could there be any hope of introducing slavery permanently 
 into the state. That portion of the governor's address which related to 
 slavery was referred to a committee which brought in a report and a
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 151 
 
 resolution. The report reviewed the history of slavery up to the admis- 
 sion of the state and then said : 
 
 Your committee have now arrived at the period when Illinois was 
 admitted into the Union upon equal footing with the original states in all 
 respects whatever, and whatever causes of regret were experienced by the 
 restriction imposed on the first convention, your committee was clearly 
 of the opinion that the people of Illinois have now the same right to 
 alter their constitution as the people of the state of Virginia or any 
 other of the original states, and may make any disposition of negro 
 slaves they choose without any breach of faith or violation of contract, 
 ordinances or acts of congress ; and if the reasoning employed be correct 
 there is no other course left by which to accomplish the object of this 
 portion of the governor's message, than to call a convention to alter the 
 constitution. 
 
 A resolution was introduced which read as follows: "Resolved, 
 That the general assembly of the state of Illinois (two-thirds thereof 
 concurring therein), do recommend to the electors at the next election 
 for the members of the general assembly to vote for or against a conven- 
 tion, agreeably to the seventh article of the constitution." It was 
 thought the report of the committee would be readily concurred in. It 
 was also known that in the senate the resolution would easily pass, but 
 in the house one vote was lacking to give the constitutional two-thirds 
 majority. Now began one of the most questionable political schemes 
 which has ever been carried out in the history of the state. Briefly the 
 story is this: 
 
 .Pike county, which included nearly all of Illinois north and west of 
 the Illinois river, had returned Nicholas Hansen as a member of the 
 house. His seat was contested by John Shaw. Very early in the session 
 the house decided the contest by deciding that Hansen was entitled to 
 his seat. The election of the United States senator was next in order. 
 Jesse B. Thomas was returned to the United States senate. 
 
 Nicholas Hansen had voted with the slavery side on all preliminaries 
 and it was assumed he would vote for the final resolution which would 
 call for a vote by the people on the question of a convention. The reso- 
 lution had previously passed the senate and on February 11, 1823, was 
 awaiting the action of the house. When the house roll was called, Han- 
 sen voted against the resolution and it failed by one vote. The conven- 
 tion people were wild with anger. Great confusion reigned, and open 
 threats were made. 
 
 A motion now prevailed in the house to reconsider the seating of 
 Hansen. The proposition carried because it needed only a majority. 
 The next move was to strike out the name of Hansen in the original reso- 
 lution seating him, and insert the name of Shaw. While this motion 
 was pending a great mass meeting was held at night at the state house, 
 and inflammatory speeches were made. Hansen was burned in effigy 
 and the great mob marched through the streets with drums, and bugles, 
 and shouts of "Convention or death." The resolution unseating Han- 
 sen and seating Shaw carried. The next step was to bring Shaw from 
 Pike county to Vandalia as quickly as possible. It was one hundred 
 and thirty miles to where Shaw lived. The going and coming would 
 ordinarily occupy five days, but in this case the round trip was made in 
 four days, an average of sixty-five miles of travel each day. Upon the
 
 152 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 coming of Shaw the remainder of the disgraceful proceedings occupied 
 but little time. The call was issued for a vote for or against the conven- 
 tion to revise the constitution. 
 
 As soon as the resolution was passed a great concourse of the friends 
 of slavery gathered in a mob ; and headed by members of the supreme 
 court, and other men in high stations in life, they visited the residence 
 of Governor Coles, and in a most indecent manner insulted and reviled 
 tne chief executive. Gov. John Reynolds says in his history: "There 
 was in the seat of government a wild and indecorous procession by 
 torch-light and liquor." 
 
 It seems that the friends of freedom would have been crushed to 
 earth to rise no more, but the unjustifiable proceedings of the past few 
 weeks had only given renewed strength to the little band of patriots. 
 They must have had an enlarged vision through faith of what the great 
 heart of the people would do when the question came up to them at the 
 polls. 
 
 A BITTER CAMPAIGN 
 
 And now began one of the most important campaigns, because so 
 far-reaching in its consequences, that was ever waged in this country. 
 The slavery party had become intoxicated with its success and was not 
 in a frame of mind to take a dispassionate view of the problem yet to be 
 solved. So far the supporters of slavery had succeeded by mere brute 
 force and unscrupulous scheming, but now the victory cannot be so won. 
 They must go before the people and show the advantages of slavery, if 
 it have any. It is now a question to be solved by the Christian conscience 
 of the people. 
 
 But the struggle before the people and among the people, was des- 
 tined to be a very bitter and violent one. When selfish personal inter- 
 ests are at stake, and when great and fundamental principles are in- 
 volved, the contest is sure to be accompanied by demonstrations of vio- 
 lent passion. "Never was such canvass made in the state before. The 
 young and old, without regard to sex, entered the arena of party strife ; 
 families and neighborhoods became divided, and surrendered themselves 
 up to the bitter warfare. Detraction and personal abuse reigned su- 
 preme, while conflicts were not infrequent." 
 
 The anti-convention people were not underestimating the seriousness 
 of the struggle, nor were they hesitating about making the sacrifices 
 which they saw must be made in order to gain the victory for freedom. 
 And so they willingly and without reserve offered their all time, money, 
 and energy upon the altar of their conviction. 
 
 Both parties to the struggle selected the same means for the accom- 
 plishment of their ends. Among these we may mention: 
 
 1. Public appeals through posters, hand bills, and pamphlets. 
 
 2. Public addresses given before audiences wherever assembled. 
 
 3. Secret societies organized in various parts of the state. 
 
 4. Newspapers. 
 
 Just before the adjournment of the legislature the convention people 
 drew up "An Appeal" to the people of the state in which they pointed 
 out the urgent necessity of revising the constitution of the state. In 
 this "appeal" not a word was said about slavery, that topic being care- 
 fully omitted.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 153 
 
 The "Antis" were on the point of issuing a similar appeal when they 
 were anticipated by the pro-slavery people. This appeal by the non- 
 convention people was a vigorous arraignment of the recent action in 
 the senate and house. One extract from that appeal shows the spirit 
 of the entire document : 
 
 What a strange spectacle would be presented to the civilized world 
 to see the people of Illinois, yet innocent of this great national sin and in 
 the full enjoyment of all the blessings of free governments, sitting down 
 and in solemn convention to deliberate and determine whether they 
 should introduce among them a portion of their fellow beings, to be cut 
 off from those blessings, to be loaded with the chains of bondage, and ren- 
 dered unable to leave any other legacy to their posterity than the in- 
 heritance of their own servitude ; the wise and good of all nations would 
 blush at our own political depravity. Our profession of republicanism 
 and equal freedom would incur the derision of despots and the scorn 
 and reproach of tyrants. We should write the epitaph of free govern- 
 ment upon its own tombstone. 
 
 In addition to these two "appeals," there were hundreds of pamph- 
 lets, tracts, hand bills, and flaming posters scattered broadcast over the 
 country. It is said some of these pamphlets, bills, etc., were very in- 
 flammatory. The authors of much of this literature as well as those 
 who distributed it were not known to the general public. But it must 
 not be thought that everything of this kind was done in the dark, for 
 many on both sides were very bold in their work. 
 
 Perhaps no one man by means of his pen, did more to bring about the 
 final and triumphant defeat of the slavery party than did Morris Birk- 
 beck, of Wanborough, Edwards county. Mr. Birkbeck, as we have seen, 
 was a cultured and wealthy English gentleman whom Governor Coles 
 had met in London. Mr. Birkbeck wrote with great force, and being 
 thoroughly sympathetic with the anti-convention people gave up his time 
 and energy unreservedly. His writings were published in the Shawnee- 
 town Gazette edited by Henry Eddy. He also published pamphlets 
 which were scattered throughout the state. The articles published in 
 the Shawneetown Gazette were signed Jonathan Freeman, and were 
 widely copied. It must be remembered that the English people who 
 were thinking of leaving England from 1815 to 1824 were too intelligent 
 and too patriotic to leave an unbearable slavery to church and state in 
 England, and to migrate to a country where there was a slavery many 
 times more galling and degrading a slavery which wherever it had 
 been planted, had blighted the purity of the social and family life, 
 paralyzed the wage earning capacity of the honest laborers, corrupted 
 the teaching of holy writ, prohibited the general spread of intelligence, 
 and brazenly usurped the functions of government. 
 
 Morris Birkbeck was only voicing the sentiments of the English immi- 
 grants in Illinois as with ease and grace and great warmth he engaged 
 in the great struggle. 
 
 Another man to whom great praise should be given was the Rev. 
 John M. Peck, a Baptist preacher of St. Clair county. He was also an 
 agent of the American Bible Society. Mr. Peck was constantly going 
 over the country, and he thus had an excellent opportunity to plead 
 with the people and distribute the pamphlets prepared by others. 
 
 The second means was the public addresses which the orators delivered
 
 154 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 wherever and whenever they had opportunity. The attractiveness of a 
 personal explanation of the value of slavery or of the curse of it, drew 
 to the public gatherings vast multitudes of people. The county seats 
 were the centers of the agitation. On all public occasions whenever 
 there was an opportunity, some one was ready with a speech upon the 
 question of convention or no convention. At the public dinner, toasts 
 were given which revealed the spirit in which the contest was carried 
 on. Some of them ran as follows: "The convention the means of in- 
 troducing and spreading the African family." "The enemies of the 
 
 HENRY EDDY, EDITOR OF THE SHAWNEE CHIEF AND OF THE ILLINOIS 
 EMIGRANT, IN 1818 ; AND OF THE ILLINOIS GAZETTE, 1819 
 
 convention may they ride a porcupine saddle on a hard trotting horse 
 a long way without money or friends." "The state of Illinois the 
 ground is good, prairies in abundance. Give us plenty of negroes, a lit- 
 tle industry, and she will distribute her treasures." One need hardly 
 be told that these toasts are the exponents of an intemperate, untenable, 
 and losing policy. There is no sign of seriousness, no indication of a 
 high and lofty ideal of social and political institutions. They breathe 
 the spirit of revenge, and of a losing cause. 
 
 In contrast with these we need only to quote a few toasts given by 
 the fearless public speakers who were at all times conscious of the just- 
 ness of their cause the men who were fighting a winning battle. ' ' The
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 155 
 
 Crisis it is big with the fate of Illinois, and requires every friend of 
 freedom to rally under the banners of the constitution." "The Free- 
 dom of the Late Northwest may it be like the little stone that was cut 
 out without hands and became a great mountain and filled the earth." 
 "The convention or no convention the world listens to hear the de- 
 cision of our moral and political character pronounced by ourselves." 
 "We have confidence in the people of Illinois to support a free consti- 
 tution and prohibit slavery; if we should be disappointed in the people, 
 we still have confidence in the general government. ' ' 
 
 The third agency enumerated above, in carrying on the campaign, was 
 a kind of secret society. The Rev. Mr. Peck was quite active in organiz- 
 ing these societies. These organizations merely got together the people 
 of any locality for consideration of the plans of work and for the hearing 
 of reports and for the encouragement of those who might get disheart- 
 ened. There was a sort of parent society in St. Clair county, and in 
 other counties thirteen other societies were organized. 
 
 To counteract the work of these societies the convention people or- 
 ganized what they called executive committees of ten members each. 
 Vandalia was the headquarters for this work of the executive committee. 
 
 Among the public speakers who favored the convention were : Rich- 
 ard M. Young, Jesse B. Thomas, John McLean, E. K. Kane, John Rey- 
 nolds, Thomas Reynolds, ex-Governor Bond, etc. All these men were 
 prominent in public life. 
 
 Some of those who took the stump against the convention were: 
 Governor Coles, the Rev. John M. Peck, Daniel P. Cook, and others. 
 
 The fourth agency in this great struggle was the newspapers. As 
 soon as it was seen that the struggle would have to be settled by the peo- 
 ple, there was an unconscious turning of the people to the newspapers 
 for direction and information. 
 
 There were five papers in Illinois at that time. These were : 
 
 The Edwardsville Spectator, Edwardsville. 
 
 The Illinois Intelligencer, Vandalia. 
 
 The Illinois Gazette, Shawneetown. 
 
 The Republican Advocate, Kaskaskia. 
 
 The Republican, Edwardsville. 
 
 The first three were against the convention, while the last two named 
 favored the convention. 
 
 THE RESULT 
 
 At last the struggle was over. For eighteen months the state 
 had been in the vortex of a great storm. The cloud will soon break 
 away and the sun will shine once more. 
 
 On the first Monday in August, 1824, the general election was held 
 and it was in this general election that this question must be settled. 
 It was an eventful day. The cause of freedom was on trial. The 
 jury was the 11,612 voters who had the decision in their hands. The 
 result was the occasion of great rejoicing. The following is the 
 vote as furnished by the secretary of state : 
 
 Abstract of vote for and against convention August 2, A. D. 1824: 
 
 For Against 
 
 Counties Conve"tion Convention 
 
 Alexander 75 51 
 
 Bond 63 240
 
 156 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 For Against 
 
 Counties Convention Convention 
 
 Clark 31 116 
 
 Crawford 134 262 
 
 Edgar 3 234 
 
 Edwards 189 391 
 
 Fayette 125 121 
 
 Franklin 170 113 
 
 Fulton 5 60 
 
 Gallatin 597, 133 
 
 Greene 164 379 
 
 Hamilton 173 85 
 
 Jackson 180 93 
 
 Jefferson 99 43 
 
 Johnson 74 74 
 
 Lawrence 158 261 
 
 Madison 351 563 
 
 Marion 45 52 
 
 Monroe .141 196 
 
 Montgomery 74 90 
 
 Morgan 42 432 
 
 Pike 19 165 
 
 Pope 273 124 
 
 Randolph 357 284 
 
 Sangamon 153 722 
 
 St. Clair 408 506 
 
 Union 213 240 
 
 Washington 112 173 
 
 Wayne 189 111 
 
 White . . 355 326 
 
 4972 6640 
 
 Majority against the convention 1,668. 
 
 Some notion may be had of the interest in the convention question 
 by noting the votes for presidential electors compared with the vote 
 on the convention question. Pope cast 397 votes on the convention 
 proposition, while her total vote for electors was 84. Gallatin cast 
 on convention question 730 votes, on electors 315. St. Clair on con- 
 vention question 914, on electors 399. 
 
 The total vote cast on the convention question was 11,612, while 
 the total vote for presidential electors at election in November of 
 the same year in the thirty counties, was but 4,671. 
 
 Many explanations have been offered of the vote on the conven- 
 tion. There were at least four distinct elements in the population 
 as regards this question. 
 
 1. The remnant of the old French settlers who held slaves by 
 reason of the treaties of 1763, and of 1783, and of Virginia's deed of 
 session of 1784. 
 
 2. The pro-slavery instincts of the immigrants from the slave 
 holding states. 
 
 3. The anti-slavery views of the immigrants from the free states. 
 
 4. The intense feeling against slavery held by the English set-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 157 
 
 Hers in the eastern part of the state, as well as that of other European 
 settlers. 
 
 The first named class lived chiefly in Randolph county, St. Glair 
 and Madison. These three counties cast 1,116 votes for the conven- 
 tion. 
 
 The second class had settled in White, Gallatin, and Pope counties. 
 These cast 1,225 votes for the convention. 
 
 The result of the vote in Edgar, Clark, Morgan, Sangamon, and 
 Fulton shows the character of the settlers. They voted very largely 
 against the convention. The vote in these five counties stood 234 
 for and 1,464 votes against the convention. 
 
 The influence of the English settlers may be seen in the vote in 
 Edwards county. But there were Irish, Scotch, and Germans scat- 
 tered throughout the state and their votes were against slavery. 
 
 THE SANGAMON COUNTRY 
 
 The state election at which was decided the convention question 
 was held in August, 1824, while the election for President was held 
 in November following. The diffrence in the vote at the two elec- 
 tions, only three months apart, shows a considerable falling off in in- 
 terest in politics. Everything quieted down after the August elec- 
 tion, and the bitterness engendered in the long campaign vanished 
 as the morning mists. 
 
 When the legislature which was elected on August 2, met in De- 
 cember (first Monday) and organized, the governor sent in his mes- 
 sage. He congratulated the people upon the result of the contest 
 over slavery, and again recommended the abolition of the slaves held 
 by the descendants of the French settlers. But the legislature did 
 not follow the governor's suggestion, although a majority of the 
 members were probably anti-slavery in sentiment. Two United 
 States senators were elected, John McLean and Elias Kent Kane, 
 both very strong convention advocates. The judiciary was reorgan- 
 ized by creating a circuit court of five judges. The supreme court 
 consisted of four judges. These nine judges were elected by the 
 legislature as provided by the constitution of 1818, Article IV. The 
 new chief justice of the supreme court, William Wilson, was a young 
 man of twenty-nine years and had lately, 1817, come into the state. 
 He was a young man of unusual parts. In less than two years after 
 coming he had been put upon the supreme bench and had now served 
 five years in that position. He served the state till 1848 when he 
 retired to the quiet of a very hospitable home near Carmi where he 
 died in 1857. All the other members of both circuit and supreme 
 courts were prominent men. 
 
 The legislation at this session was of general interest. A law was 
 passed which provided for the maintenance of public roads. Up to 
 this time the law had required that every able-bodied man should 
 work the roads five days in each year. In this way the roads were main- 
 tained. The new law levied a tax in proportion to one's property 
 which amount might be paid in money or in labor. Another law was 
 passed which provided a system of free public schools much like the 
 law of today. This school law was brought forward by Joseph Dun- 
 can then a senator from Jackson county. The basis of this law was
 
 158 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 that the voters might levy a tax for the support of the schools in any 
 district, but the taxes must not be more than one-half of one per cent 
 on the assessed valuation, nor more than ten dollars for any one per- 
 son. The tax might be paid in cash or in merchantable produce. A 
 poll tax could also be assessed on all who had the care of children of 
 school age. 
 
 This law was seriously maimed in the legislature of 1826-7 and in 
 
 MAP SHOWING THE VOTE ON THE SLAVERY QUESTION IN 1824. WHITE 
 COUNTIES WERE FOR FREEDOM, BLACK COUNTIES FOR SLAVERY 
 
 1829 it was further crippled, and little if any of the original idea 
 which Mr. Duncan had worked out was left on the statute books. 
 
 At this session also the supreme court was authorized to revise 
 the laws of the state and to present such revision to the next legis- 
 lature. This the court did, and it is said that this revision has been 
 the basis of our laws even up to the present time.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 159 
 
 The law required the census to be taken every five years, and al- 
 though the contest over slavery had checked immigration during 
 1823 and 1824, yet in the latter part of 1824 and in 1825 streams of 
 population poured into the state from the older settled parts of the Un- 
 ion. Travellers who had visited this state carried into the east and even 
 into Europe marvellous stories of the Sangamon country. The name 
 itself is poetic, and there was connected with the expression a sort 
 of vision of paradise. Ferdinand Ernst, in 1819-20, visited that re- 
 gion. He was a German traveller who reached the site of Vandalia 
 before the sale of lots took place, which occurred the 6th of Septem- 
 ber, 1819. From here he visited the Sangamon country. There was 
 a very good road leading from Edwardsville into the Sangamon 
 country. As nearly as this road can be now traced, it ran in almost 
 a straight line from Edwardsville to the present city of Carlinville, 
 passing on the way the site of the present flourishing city of Bunker 
 Hill. From Carlinville the road bent to the east of north passing out 
 of the present county of Macoupin at the northeast corner, three 
 miles east of the present city of Virden. From this point east of north 
 to a point very near Rochester, and thence to a point near the junc- 
 tion of the south branch and north fork of the Sangamon river, leav- 
 ing the site of the present capital some four or five miles to the west. 
 From here the road continued the same general direction to the* pres- 
 ent city of Lincoln. The road continued this general direction till 
 it left the present county of Logan at the old Kickapoo capital. Here 
 it struck Tazewell county and thence turned northwest to Lake Pe- 
 oria. This was the route taken by Governor Edwards in his campaign 
 in 1812. 
 
 Mr. Ernst, the traveller, took this road in 1819. He started from 
 Vandalia and went northwest, crossed Shoal creek, left the head 
 waters of Silver and Sugar creek to the southwest, passed not far 
 from Mt. Olive and Gillespie, and came into the road described above, 
 a few miles north of Bunker Hill. He describes the big prairie which 
 separates the head waters of the Macoupin and the Sangamon. He 
 says the moment one passes over the divide into the drainage basin 
 of the Sangamon he sees a marked difference in the character of the 
 soil. The second night out the traveller stayed with a family on 
 Sugar creek, about two miles west of Pawnee. Sixty farms had been 
 opened on this stream since the spring of 1819. The sod-corn was 
 from ten to fifteen feet high. The land was not yet surveyed and 
 could not be for some three years. This was called "the beautiful 
 land of the Sangamon." From this point Mr. Ernst traveled west 
 in a circuit around the present site of Springfield to Elkhart Grove. 
 Here lived a Mr. Latham who had thirty acres in cultivation. This 
 farm was the farthest north of any east of the Illinois river. How- 
 ever, there were some farms laid out at the old Kickapoo capital 
 just in the edge of Tazewell county, but no settlements made. Mr. 
 Ernst went north to Salt creek, but not being able to get across he 
 retraced his steps. 
 
 Mr. Ernst says: 
 
 In the vicinity of this town (Vandalia) is a large amount of fine 
 land; but every one is full of praise of those sixty or eighty miles 
 northward upon the River Sangamon. The expression the ''Sanga-
 
 160 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 mon country," applied to all that country through which the San- 
 gamon river and its branches now. Peck's Gazetteer, page 131, says: 
 This country contains a larger quantity of rich land than any other 
 in the state. The Sangamon, in particular, is an Arcadian region, 
 in which nature has delighted to bring together her happiest combi- 
 nations of landscape. It is generally a level country. There is a 
 happy proportion of timbered and prairie lands. The soil is of great 
 fertility. . . . All who have visited this fine tract of country, 
 admire the beauty of the landscape, which nature has here painted 
 in primeval freshness. 
 
 This Sangamon region was settled by immigrants from all the 
 older states but probably those from the northern states predom- 
 inated. More than 200 families had settled in the "Sangamon coun- 
 try" before the land was surveyed. In the vote on the convention 
 question, Sangamon county cast 875 votes 153 for and 722 against 
 the convention. This would show a population of over 4,000 in 1824. 
 It also means that these settlers were from the free states chiefly. 
 
 By the spring of 1825, the result of the slavery contest was known 
 in all the older states, and as if people were waiting for a favorable 
 report, the movement of immigration began. 
 
 The fame of the "Sangamon country" had spread into all the 
 older settled portions of the United States and the migrations were 
 largely toward that region. In the summer of 1825, the road leading 
 into the "Sangamon country" was literally lined with movers seek- 
 ing new homes. In Vandalia alone it is said 250 wagons were counted 
 going north in three weeks. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED VISITOR 
 
 The summer of 1825 was a memorable one for the new state, for 
 in the earlier days of this summer, a notable guest was entertained 
 by the young commonwealth. The guest was none other than Gen- 
 eral LaFayette, soldier, statesman, and patriot. The congress of the 
 United States had invited General LaFayette to visit the scenes of 
 his military achievement and to mingle once more with the thinning 
 ranks of the Revolutionary heroes. The gracious invitation was ac- 
 cepted, and on July 12, 1824, LaFayette accompanied by his son, 
 George Washington LaFayette, and his private secretary, M. Levas- 
 seur, sailed for America. 
 
 They arrived in New York August 15, and were received on Staten 
 Island by Joseph Bonaparte, a brother to the great Napoleon, then 
 a resident of Bordentown, New Jersey. General LaFayette was re- 
 ceived in New York city by a double line of old Revolutionary sol- 
 diers, amid the roar of cannon and the strains of martial music. Every- 
 where the same profound respect and triumphant welcome awaited 
 the nation's guest. 
 
 Early in the session of the general assembly in December, 1824, 
 that body extended a cordial invitation to General LaFayette to visit 
 Illinois. This invitation from the state's legislative body was sup- 
 plemented by a very affectionate letter from Governor Coles. On Jan- 
 uary 16, 1825, LaFayette replied from Washington to these pressing 
 invitations to visit Illinois. In the reply he says :
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 161 
 
 It has ever been my eager desire and it is now my earnest intention 
 to visit the western states and particularly the State of Illinois. . . . 
 I shall, after the celebration of the 22d of February anniversary day, 
 leave this place for a journey to the southern, and from New Orleans 
 to the western states, so as to return to Boston on the 14th of June, 
 when the corner stone of the Bunker's Hill monument is 'to be laid; 
 a ceremony sacred to the whole Union, and in which I have been en- 
 gaged to act a peculiar and honorable part. 
 
 On the 12th of April, 1825, LaFayette wrote to Governor Coles 
 from New Orleans saying he would reach Illinois about the end of 
 the month of April. On April 28, the steamboat Natchez arrived at 
 the old French village of Carondelet, below St. Louis, with General 
 LaFayette and his party. He was accompanied by a large committee 
 
 GENERAL MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 
 
 of honor from the southern states. The morning of the 29th of April, 
 Governor Clark, of Missouri ; Governor Coles, of Illinois ; Col. Thomas 
 H. Benton, and others repaired to Carondelet to receive the distin- 
 guished visitors. The entire party moved up the river to St. Louis 
 where LaFayette was received with great enthusiasm. A formal re- 
 ception was held at the mansion of Pierre Choteau, after which a 
 public reception and ball was attended by the party at the Massie 
 hotel. 
 
 On the morning of April 30, Saturday, the Natchez conveyed La- 
 Fayette and a distinguished party to Kaskaskia, the old seat of French 
 empire in the west. A vast throng of patriotic citizens bade him wel- 
 come. A reception was held at the home of Gen. John Edgar. Gov- 
 ernor Coles delivered a glowing address of welcome to which LaFay- 
 ette responded with considerable feeling. 
 
 Just here in the proceedings a very touching scene occurred. A 
 few old Revolutionary soldiers who had fought with LaFayette at 
 Brandywine and Yorktown, were presented. The scene was very 
 affecting.
 
 162 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The party now repaired to the hotel kept by Colonel Sweet, where a 
 banquet was spread. This hotel had been profusely decorated by the 
 patriotic ladies of the town. Laurel wreaths, roses, and wild flowers 
 filled all available space. The ladies had also brought the provision 
 with which the tables were loaded. Col. Pierre Menard sat at LaFay- 
 ette's right, while the priest, Father Olivier, sat at the left. 
 
 After the banquet several toasts were given : 
 
 By LaFayette Kaskaskia and Illinois; may their joint prosperity 
 evince more and more the blessings of congenial industry and free- 
 dom. 
 
 By Governor Coles The inmates of La Granges (LaFayette 's 
 home); let them not be anxious; for though their father is 1,000 
 
 THE OLD SWEET HOTEL IN KASKASKIA, IN WHICH GEN. LAFAYETTE 
 WAS BANQUETTED IN 1825 
 
 miles in the interior of America, he is yet in the midst of his affec- 
 tionate children. 
 
 By LaFayette 's son The grateful confidence of my father's chil- 
 dren and grandchildren, in the kindness of his American family to- 
 wards him. 
 
 By Governor Bond General LaFayette : may he live to see that 
 liberty established in his native country, which he helped establish 
 in his adopted country. 
 
 This last toast touched a tender spot in the heart of the old hero 
 and he said he must stand while they drank this toast. 
 
 A grand ball was given at the residence of William Morrison, Sr. 
 LaFayette led the grand march with Miss .Alzire Menard. a daugh- 
 ter of Pierre Menard. While this festivity was in progress, an Indian
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 163 
 
 woman who belonged to a tribe camped near by, was brought to 
 LaFayette. She presented a keep-sake which she said her father 
 gave her. It was a letter written by LaFayette and given to her 
 father, Chief Panisciowa of the Six Nations. This chief had ren- 
 dered valuable service to the American cause, and this letter was an 
 expression of appreciation from LaFayette. The Indian woman was 
 called Mary. She was an educated woman and could speak French 
 and English. LaFayette confirmed her story of the letter. 
 
 The ball closed the day's reception, and at 12 o'clock Saturday 
 night of the last day in April, the Natchez started with the distin- 
 guished party for Nashville, Tennessee. Governor Coles and other 
 Illinois gentlemen accompanied the party to Nashville. 
 
 On the 14th of May the boat appeared in sight of Shawneetown. 
 Extensive preparations had been made to receive the nation's guest. 
 
 THE RAWLINGS HOTEL IN SHAWNEETOWN, WHERE GEN. LAFAYETTE 
 WAS DINED IN 1825 
 
 At this date Shawneetown was a straggling village with but a few 
 dwellings other than mere huts. There was at least one brick house 
 possibly two no more. One brick was a hotel and was known in 
 after years as the Rawlings hotel. This house stood just on the bank 
 of the river. A walk had been laid from the hotel door to the land- 
 ing, some two hundred feet down the bank of the river. This walk 
 was covered with calico and then strewn with flowers. When the 
 boat run out the gang plank the visitors marched to the hotel door 
 preceded by the reception committee. The walk was lined on oppo- 
 site sides with the people who threw roses and flowers in LaFayette 'a 
 path. At the hotel Judge James Hall delivered an address of wel- 
 come to which LaFayette responded. A banquet was then spread, 
 after which a general hand shaking took place. The distinguished 
 visitors left in the afternoon for the upper Ohio. 
 
 THE ELECTIONS OF 1826 
 
 The canvass for the governorship which took place in the sum- 
 mer of 1826 was a long and interesting contest. The constitution of
 
 164 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 1818 provided that the governor could not succeed himself. Gover- 
 nor Coles was therefore ineligible for re-election. 
 
 There were three who announced themselves as candidates for 
 governor. They were Ninian Edwards, Thomas Sloo, and Adolphus 
 Frederick Hubbard. The last named gentleman was the lieutenant 
 governor with Governor Coles. 
 
 Ninian Edwards was no stranger to the people of Illinois. He 
 was a native of Maryland, but was reared in Kentucky. In 1809 
 when Madison appointed him territorial governor of Illinois, he was 
 an associate justice of the court of appeals of Kentucky. He served 
 continuously as territorial governor till Illinois was admitted into 
 the Union in 1818. He had served as United States senator from 
 1818 to 1824. He became engaged in a quarrel in 1824 with the secre- 
 tary of the United States treasury, William H. Crawford, relative to 
 the loss of money in the bank at Edwardsville and also concerning 
 that official's management of the national finances. He was not able 
 to sustain some charges against Crawford and had lost standing as 
 a result. His candidacy was an effort to gain his former high stand- 
 ing in his adopted state. 
 
 Thomas Sloo was a successful merchant at Shawneetown and later 
 at McLeansboro. He came of a noted family, and was himself a 
 courtly gentleman. He had never practiced public speaking and so 
 was greatly handicapped in the race against so polished a public 
 speaker as Ninian Edwards. 
 
 It is said of Edwards that he dressed faultlessly, and was a "man 
 with a noble, princely appearance." He made his canvass of the 
 state in all the circumstance of a Virginia planter broadcloth suit, 
 ruffled shirt, high topped boots, carriage, and colored servants. He 
 was bold in his attack upon the state bank management and made 
 little or no effort to hold his former friends to his cause. The op- 
 position argued that Edwards was old, and that he and his family 
 and near kin had been holding office since the territory was organ- 
 ized. But when election day came Ninian Edwards was elected gov- 
 ernor for four years. 
 
 There were two candidates for the office of lieutenant governor, 
 William Kinney and Samuel H. Thompson. Kinney was a Baptist 
 preacher and had taken an active part in the convention struggle on 
 the pro-slavery side in 1824. He was not scholarly, but was thor- 
 oughly acquainted with the people and was sympathetic with them 
 in their struggle with all the problems of a new country. He was 
 not averse to making use of the current methods of electioneering in 
 those days. Mr. Thompson was a man of considerable culture, but 
 timid, and not having previously engaged in politics the experiences 
 were new to him and he did not make a very successful canvass. 
 Kinney was the successful candidate. 
 
 There was another election in the fall of 1826 which created no 
 unusual interest. This was the contest for congressional honors. 
 Daniel P. Cook had represented the state in congress the past six 
 years. He had successively beaten John McLean, Elias Kent Kane, 
 and ex-Governor Bond for congress, and had risen to the most im- 
 portant committee chairmanship, that of ways and means. Cook 
 was an anti-slavery man and had voted for John Quincy Adams in 
 1825 when the presidential election came to the house. This was the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 165 
 
 charge against him in 1826, for Illinois was full of Jackson Demo- 
 crats. 
 
 Joseph Duncan felt therefore that he was justified in opposing Mr. 
 Cook for the congressional honors. Mr. Duncan had been a soldier, 
 had served in the legislature, was a strong Jackson man, and made 
 a thorough canvass. He defeated Cook by 641 votes. This is said to 
 be the first canvass in Illinois in which national politics entered to 
 any extent into the campaign.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 NINIAN EDWARDS, GOVERNOR OP ILLINOIS 
 
 THE STATE BANK AN INTERESTING DOCTRINE SCHOOL LEGISLATION 
 THE WINNEBAGO WAR. 
 
 The third election for governor of Illinois occurred in August, 
 1826. The candidates were Ninian Edwards, Thomas C. Sloo, and 
 Adolphus F. Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard had been lieutenant governor 
 under Governor Coles. Mr. Sloo was a prominent business man from 
 the southeastern part of the state. 
 
 THE STATE BANK 
 
 Mr. Edwards had been a prominent figure in Illinois since the 
 separation of Illinois territory from the Indiana territory, in 1809. 
 At that time he was appointed governor of the Illinois territory by 
 President Madison. He served in that capacity till the territory was 
 admitted into the Union in 1818. He then served as senator from 
 Illinois and succeeded himself in March, 1819. In 1824 he resigned 
 to accept an appointment as minister to Mexico. Mr. Crawford was 
 at that time secretary of the treasury and while before a committee of 
 the lower house, made some reference to Mr. Edwards which the latter 
 took as a reflection upon his character. Mr. Edwards sent a communi- 
 cation to the lower house in which he made some serious charges against 
 the management of the treasury. An investigation into the treasury 
 department showed Mr. Edwards' charges not sustained by the facts, 
 and Mr. Edwards resigned his mission to Mexico and sought reelection 
 as a vindication, but failing of reelection he offered himself as a candi- 
 date for governor of Illinois. 
 
 His canvass was made upon the need of a thorough investigation 
 of the affairs of the State Bank of Illinois. The opposition to Mr. 
 Edwards' canvass came from some of the strongest men in the state, 
 especially those connected with the banking system. However, Mr. 
 Edwards had some good help in three gentlemen of prominence 
 Thomas Ford, William H. Brown, and David J. Baker. 
 
 Upon taking the oath of office as governor, he attacked the bank in 
 his first message, as well as in special messages. He also attacked the 
 extravagance in state expenditures, as well as the uselessness of the 
 circuit court judges. He forced the legislature into an investigation 
 of the affairs of the bank, but the committee appointed to make the 
 investigation made a whitewash report, and again Mr. Edwards was 
 humiliated. The recently organized circuit court was, however, 
 
 166
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 167 
 
 abolished, excepting that Judge R. M. Young was still a circuit judge 
 in the military district. 
 
 Another matter of interest was the beginning of the work which 
 finally led to the establishment of the penitentiary system. The terri- 
 torial laws of Indiana and Illinois enumerated the various punish- 
 ments for crimes, consisting of whipping, confinement in the pillory 
 and stocks, and hanging on the gallows. The jails in the early history 
 of the country were so dreadfully shocking that the description of them 
 that has come down to us makes us sick at heart, and we cannot give 
 them full publicity in these pages. The Newgate prison in Connecticut, 
 is described as follows : ' ' The only entrance to it was by means of a 
 ladder down a shaft which led to the caverns underground. . . . 
 The darkness was intense ; the caves reeked with filth ; vermin abounded ; 
 . . . In the dampness and the filth the clothing of the prisoners 
 grew mouldy and rotted away. Into such pits and dungeons all classes 
 of offenders of both sexes were indiscriminately thrust. It is therefore 
 not at all surprising that they became seminaries of every conceivable 
 form of vice, and centers of the most disgusting diseases. . . . Men 
 confined as witnesses were compelled to mingle with the forger, be- 
 smeared with the filth of the pillory, and the fornicator streaming with 
 blood from the whipping post, while here and there among the throng 
 were culprits whose ears had been cropped, or whose arms, fresh from 
 the branding irons, emitted the stench of scorched flesh. ' ' 
 
 It is to be hoped these scenes were never witnessed west of the 
 Alleghanies. But it is true that the places of confinement in Illinois 
 were shocking and the forms of punishment inhuman. Dr. Samuel 
 Willard, still living in Chicago, tells what he saw in Carrollton, Greene 
 county, this state, in 1832. After telling of a public hanging which was 
 revolting, he says: 
 
 Another infliction of punishment which would now be more revolt- 
 ing in public than the hanging would be, I saw on the public square 
 in Carrollton, in 1832. There was then no penitentiary in the state, 
 hence other penalties had to take the place of confinement. 
 
 Near the courthouse on the public square there was set a strong 
 post, an unhewn log, ten feet high with a cross-piece near the top. I 
 saw a man brought from the jail by the sheriff (Jacob Pry) and a 
 constable, to be whipped thirty lashes for the theft of a horse. He 
 was stripped naked to the hips, his hands were tied and the rope carried 
 to the cross-piece and drawn as tight as could be without taking his 
 feet from the ground. Then Sheriff Fry took that terrible instrument 
 of punishment and torture, a rawhide ; . . . the sheriff began lay- 
 ing strokes on the culprit's back, beginning near his neck and going 
 regularly down one side of the backbone, former Sheriff Young count- 
 ing the strokes aloud. Each stroke made a red blood blister. When 
 fifteen blows had been counted the officer paused and some one ran to 
 the poor wretch with a tumbler of whiskey. Then the other side of 
 the man received like treatment. Then the man's shirt was replaced 
 and he was led away to the jail. . . . The whipping-post remained 
 there two or three years, but I never heard of any further use of it. 
 
 It was to remedy the evils of confinement in jails and the punish- 
 ments for offenses, that induced John Reynolds, a member of the legis- 
 lature in 1826-7, to introduce a bill to provide a penitentiary. The
 
 168 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 \ 
 
 measure met with vigorous opposition, chiefly on the ground that the 
 financial condition of the young state would not justify it. Mr. Rey- 
 nolds was quite equal to the occasion and proposed to get congress to 
 grant the state the salt reservations to be sold for this purpose. The 
 measure carried and congress made the grant, and the penitentiary 
 was begun. It was located at Alton. The first commissioners were 
 ex-Governor Bond, Dr. Gershom Jayne, and William P. McKee. By 
 1831 a few cells were ready for occupancy. 
 
 AN INTERESTING DOCTRINE 
 
 It remains to tell of a very interesting doctrine advanced by Gover- 
 nor Edwards and later endorsed by the legislature, relative to the 
 ownership of the public lands in Illinois. When Governor Edwards 
 was in the United States senate a bill was introduced by Senator Lloyd 
 of Maryland, proposing to give to each of the old states, for purposes 
 of education, a portion of the public lands equal to the amount granted 
 for the same to the new states. Senator Edwards opposed this policy 
 in a very able address which was highly praised by men abundantly 
 able to judge of the merits of a public address. Senator Edwards de- 
 fended very earnestly and logically the donations by the general gov- 
 ernment of lands for school purposes to the new states on the ground 
 that schools and schoolhouses would enhance the value of the remain- 
 ing lands, and thus the government would reap the benefit in the early 
 sale of the remaining lands at an advanced price. He showed that 
 this in no sense was a local application of the principle of free dona- 
 tions, but that gifts to the older states out of the lands within the new 
 states could in no sense accrue to the advantage of the general govern- 
 ment, but would be purely local. It is not a very great stretch of our 
 imagination to see how this doctrine laid down by Senator Edwards, 
 in its later application, enabled the government to make those magnifi- 
 cent gifts which have resulted in the building of canals and railroads 
 throughout all the regions from the Ohio river to the Pacific ocean. 
 
 But the matter referred to above was a doctrine which Governor 
 Edwards and the legislature formulated in 1829, relative to the real 
 ownership of the public domain in the new states. Governor Edwards 
 in a message to the legislature covering thirty-nine pages in the printed 
 journal of the lower house, sustained the doctrine that the lands within 
 the limits of the states belonged to the state. He quoted the Ordinance 
 of 1787, which said that the states admitted out of this Northwest terri- 
 tory should be admitted on an equal footing with the older states. The 
 general government never owned a foot of land in any one of the older 
 states except what it bought of individuals. If, therefore, Illinois was 
 admitted into the Union on an equal footing with Virginia, then Illinois 
 must own in fee simple every foot of land in the state. This partly 
 grew out of the fact that the government had set aside nearly one hun- 
 dred and eighty thousand acres of mineral lands in Illinois which it 
 would not sell, only lease. These lessees were under contract with the 
 general government, subject to general governmental control though 
 residing within the state of Illinois yet not subject to the laws thereof. 
 
 The legislature formulated a resolution which was presented to con- 
 gress, declaring that the United States possesses no right of jurisdic- 
 tion over any lands within the limits of Illinois ; that the United States
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 169 
 
 can not hold any right of soil within the limits of the state but for the 
 erection of forts, arsenals, docks, etc. 
 
 This doctrine was not without support in congress as a resolution 
 introduced in 1826 by Senator Tazewell of Virginia, shows, and as late 
 as 1842 it appears a measure was introduced into the senate by Senator 
 Calhoun providing for ceding to the states all remaining unsold lands 
 within the several states. This resolution was supported by seventeen 
 votes in the senate. 
 
 SCHOOL LEGISLATION 
 
 But all the legislation during these years was far from being wise. 
 The lack of foresight on the part of the statesmen of that early period 
 has been a subject of regret in these later years. The second general 
 assembly during Governor Edwards' term of office attempted to legis- 
 late in favor of the cause of education, but looking at it from the year 
 1912, it looks as if its efforts were a miserable failure. 
 
 To understand this it will be necessary for us to go back to the 
 Ordinance and the Enabling Act. The former said : ' ' Religion, moral- 
 ity, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happi- 
 ness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be 
 encouraged (in this northwest territory)." The Enabling Act provided 
 that section numbered 16 in each township, or one of equal value, should 
 be granted the state for the use of the schools of that township. Again 
 three per cent of the net proceeds of the sale of public lands in Illinois 
 was given by the general government "for the encouragement of learn- 
 ing of which one-sixth part shall be exclusively bestowed on a college 
 or university." And again one entire township was set aside by the 
 general government for a seminary of learning in the state. The first 
 grant, that of the sixteenth sections, amounted to near a million of 
 acres, while the township grant amounted to twenty-three thousand 
 and forty acres. The three per cent gift was $613,362.96. 
 
 The first legislation looking toward the care of this munificent gift 
 was in 1819. In that year the first state legislature passed laws which 
 had for their object the protection of the sixteenth section by making 
 it unlawful to take timber from these school lands. It also provided 
 that these lands might be leased and the rents put into improvements. 
 Some legislation in 1821 provided for the opening of schools and the 
 establishing of other educational agencies. 
 
 In 1825 Senator Duncan secured the passage of a law already re- 
 ferred to. This system of common schools planned by Senator Duncan 
 in 1825 was very much like the one we have today. Taxes were to be 
 levied and collected on the property of the people in the district. There 
 was a board of directors who were to have control of the school, build- 
 ings, examine the teachers, and have general oversight of the whole 
 subject. 
 
 In 1826-7 the legislature provided for better securities from those 
 who were borrowing the money for which the school lands had been 
 sold. But in 1829, the legislature repealed the part of the Duncan 
 law of 1825 which gave two per cent of the net revenue of the state to 
 the schools. Every commendable feature of the Duncan law was now 
 repealed and the schools lay prostrate till 1855. 
 
 The legislature of 1828-9 also adopted the plan of selling the school
 
 170 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 and seminary lands. The law provided that the sixteenth section in 
 each township might be sold whenever nine-tenths of the inhabitants 
 (evidently voters) were in favor of the sale. Later the law allowed the 
 sale if three-fourths were in favor of it. 
 
 The immigrants coming into an unsettled township were always 
 eager to dispose of the sixteenth section as it made a fund with which 
 the authorities might assist the schools. But this section when sold for 
 $1.25 per acre, the regular government price, would bring only $800, 
 and this at ten per cent interest would bring only $80 per year. This 
 would not be of much service when distributed among the schools of 
 the township. 
 
 At this date, 1912, much of this land is worth from $100 to $200 
 per acre. The argument for selling the lands was that the early pioneers 
 were the ones who ought to reap most of the benefit of the government's 
 liberality. Six hundred and forty acres at $100 per acre would make 
 a permanent fund of $64,000, which put at interest at six per cent 
 would produce an annual income of $3,840. This distributed among 
 nine schools would give to each school in the township $426.66. 
 
 The seminary township was sold in 1842 and the money borrowed 
 by the state. The state also borrowed the three per cent of the public 
 lands. The amount borrowed was about $500,000. This money came 
 to the state treasury in quantities of $20,000 a year. For twenty-five 
 years the state had a constant income of $20,000 per year. When it 
 was all in, the debt was nearly $500,000. This drew interest at six per 
 cent, the annual interest being $28,000. Thus we received $20,000 a 
 year for twenty-five years for the privilege of paying out $28,000 
 annually for all time to come. 
 
 THE WINNEBAGO WAR 
 
 In the summer of 1827 occurred an incident which is usually spoken 
 of lightly by historians. It was known at the time as the Winnebago 
 war or the Winnebago scare. But however lightly we may treat the 
 matter now, it was one of deep concern to those upon the borders of 
 civilization around Galena in 1827. The story may be briefly told. 
 The Winnebago Indians occupied the lands in the southwestern part 
 of what is now Wisconsin. The whites in their search for lead were 
 continually trespassing upon this territory. Though the Winnebagoes 
 were friendly to the whites, they remonstrated with the latter without 
 success. Eventually some whites were killed. The killing of the whites 
 is said to have resulted from incorrect information coming to Red Bird, 
 the Winnebago chief, as to the death of four of his warriors by Colonel 
 Snelling, commandant at Fort Snelling. Two keel boats returning from 
 Fort Snelling were attacked on the Mississippi, probably about the 
 region of Bad Axe creek. Two boatmen were killed and others wounded. 
 The Winnebagoes sent word throughout the country to exterminate the 
 whites. It was this word which reached northwestern Illinois about 
 Galena and spread consternation far and wide. It is said three thou- 
 sand whites fled to Galena, a flourishing mining town, for protection. 
 
 Governor Edwards was appealed to and immediately dispatched a 
 regiment of militia from Sangamon and Morgan counties under com- 
 mand of Col. T. M. Neale. General Atkinson, of the United States 
 army, with six hundred regulars appeared upon the scene and quieted
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 171 
 
 the disturbance without any bloodshed. Several prominent Indians 
 were arrested and tried, those found guilty of murder were executed, 
 the others turned loose. Black Hawk was among those liberated. 
 
 Governor Edwards closed his term as chief executive of Illinois 
 amid expressions of satisfaction from the people. He turned over the 
 office to his successor in December, 1830, and retired to his home in 
 Belleville where he died in 1833. His life had been indeed a very 
 active one, he having held political office nearly a quarter of a century.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 EXPANSION 
 
 KASKASKIA AND CAHOKIA MILITARY BOUNTY LANDS PEORIA AND GAL- 
 ENA RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS PRESBYTERIANISM MISSIONARIES 
 METHODISM THE BAPTISTS. 
 
 In the settlement of a new country as was the case in Illinois, the 
 population moves first toward a center and later away from such a cen- 
 ter. To understand this matter let us recall some centers of population 
 in Illinois in an early day. 
 
 KASKASKIA AND CAHOKIA 
 
 The first centers to which our minds go were Kaskaskia and Cahokia. 
 From these there grew up in the American Bottom the villages of New 
 Chartres, St. Phillipe, Prairie du Rocher, and Prairie du Pont. St. 
 Clair county, whose lands lie partly in the American Bottom, was early 
 settled, and the wonderful fertility of the soil was at that time as well 
 known in western Europe as in the New England states. When Gen- 
 eral Clark came to Kaskaskia in 1778, he had with him something like 
 a hundred and seventy-five men. Many of these were men of excellent 
 character and of clear intellects. They were with Clark at Kaskaskia, 
 Cahokia, and the neighboring regions more than a year. In that time 
 many of them became quite well acquainted with the topography of 
 the country. When the war was over and they returned to their homes 
 in Kentucky, the Carolinas, and Virginia, they remembered the un- 
 surpassed fertility of the soil in the American Bottom, and the grandeur 
 and beauty of the Father of Waters. And the understanding that 
 eventually Virginia was to give to each soldier a grant of land in this 
 western country in payment for his services, induced many to return 
 to St. Clair and Madison counties. 
 
 When the settlements began to spread into the adjacent regions as 
 early as 1802, settlers from Kaskaskia had already gone over on the 
 Big Muddy river, and by 1807, it is said there were twenty-four families 
 in that immediate vicinity. 
 
 By 1814, Conrad Will, a very noted pioneer, was making salt on 
 the Big Muddy river and had laid out the town of Brownsville at the 
 salt works. This became the future capital of Jackson county and here 
 was chartered a branch bank as early as 1820. 
 
 From Kaskaskia and Cahokia also the settlements spread into what 
 is now St. Clair and Madison counties. Ephraim O'Connor settled 
 Goshen six miles southwest of Edwardsville in 1800. He was followed 
 
 172
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 173 
 
 by Col. Samuel Judy who lived in the Goshen settlement till about 
 1840. This locality was situated on Cahokia creek and near the bluffs. 
 It was a widely known settlement. By 1812 quite a number of families 
 had come to this region and when the war broke out Fort Russell was 
 built near the present site of Edwardsville. 
 
 The Badgley settlement is one of the oldest in St. Clair county out- 
 side of the French settlements. It was settled about 1810. In 1815 
 two German families by the name of Markee settled in Dutch Hollow, 
 a canyon in the bluffs and thus laid the foundation for that large Ger- 
 man population which St. Clair has always had. Rock Springs, eight 
 and one-half miles northeast of Belleville, was settled by the Rev. John 
 M. Peck in 1820. It was at a spring on the old trail from Vincennes 
 to St. Louis. For many years this was an important center of influence. 
 
 SHAWNEETOWN, MT. VEENON AND VANDALIA 
 
 Shawneetown, the place of debarkation of the Ohio river travel, 
 destined for Kaskaskia or St. Louis, was a center from which radiated 
 north and west movements of population. There was a ferry here as 
 early as 1800 or 1802. This accommodated the Kentucky people who 
 patronized the salt works at Equality. At this place was also a center 
 of population from which people went into adjacent localities to settle. 
 
 Mt. Vernon, in Jefferson county, was settled by Zadoc Casey in 
 1817, and from that time on it was a center from which the population 
 spread. It was on one of the trails from Kaskaskia to Vincennes and 
 a great many people passed here even in an early day. One road from 
 Fort Massac to Kaskaskia passed through Franklin county; and Frank- 
 fort, now called Old Frankfort, was settled at a very early date. 
 
 Albion, in Edwards county, has already been referred to. 
 
 Vandalia was laid out and became the capital in 1820. It was far 
 to the north of any settlement at that time but the location of the 
 capital there and the general notion that this would eventually be an 
 important city were the causes of its rapid growth. Vandalia soon be- 
 came an important center around which settlements grew up in in- 
 creasing circles. 
 
 The Sangamon country has already been spoken of and we need 
 not speak of it again at this time. Morgan county as we know it today 
 was a portion of what, in a very early day, was called the Sangamon 
 country. Diamond Grove Prairie and vicinity, some two or three miles 
 southwest of Jacksonville, was the center of the settlements in this 
 county, although it is said that Elisha and Seymour Kellogg were the 
 first white settlers in the limits of the county, and they settled on Mau- 
 vaisterre creek in 1818. In 1820 there were about twenty-one families 
 in the county. 
 
 MILITARY BOUNTY LANDS 
 
 This included originally all the lands between the Illinois and Mis- 
 sissippi rivers, and was limited north and south by latitudes 38 degrees 
 54 minutes and 41 degrees 20 minutes. That is, on the south by the 
 junction of the rivers, and on the north by the parallel of 41 degrees and 
 20 minutes. This tract was set aside as the land out of which the gov- 
 ernment was to pay the soldiers who fought in the War of 1812. A very
 
 174 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 large share of this bounty land was granted to soldiers who never came 
 to settle on their claims, and often did not keep the taxes paid and the 
 lands shortly fell to the state. Many sold their certificates to specula- 
 ors and thus large quantities of the land were held by companies. How- 
 ever, as early as 1817, a Frenchman by the name of Tebo settled on the 
 Illinois river on the west side about where the Griggsville landing is. In 
 1820 several located in what is now Atlas township. In 1821 the county 
 was organized with perhaps fewer than one hundred white people in 
 the territory. In the vote on slavery in 1824 Pike county cast one hun- 
 dren and eighty-four votes which indicates a population of probably 
 eight hundred or more. Prior to this vote the county of Fulton had 
 been cut off from Pike. Fulton cast sixty-five votes in 1824, showing a 
 population of three hundred souls. 
 
 PEOEIA AND GALENA 
 
 Another center from which radiated a great many settlements was 
 Peoria. This point was first occupied by Indians. When La Salle came 
 down the Illinois the first time in the winter of 1679-80, he found here a 
 very large encampment. Here he built Fort Crevecoeur. Probably 
 there were whites here at different times from that date till the date 
 usually given as that of the permanent settlements, but they were traders, 
 trappers, hunters, and voyagers. The first permanent house was 
 built about the year 1778. The place was called La Ville de Maillet, and 
 was afterwards changed to Peoria. The village occupied by the French 
 was burned in 1812 by Captain Craig, and the French inhabitants 
 brought to a point below Alton and landed in the woods men, women, 
 and children, without food or shelter. United States troops occupied 
 the place in 1813 and built a block house and called it Fort Clark. This 
 now became a nucleus around which settlements began to cluster. 
 
 In 1819 Abner Eads, Josiah Fulton, Seth Fulton, Samuel Dougherty, 
 Thomas Russell, Joseph Hersey, and John Davis arrived at Fort Clark 
 from the vicinity of St. Louis. Mr. Eads soon brought his family, and 
 the other pioneers boarded with Mr. Eads. The first store was erected 
 by John Hamlin, who was agent for the American Fur Company. As 
 late as 1832 there were only twenty-two buildings in the town. 
 
 By reason of the location of Fort Clark at Peoria and the presence 
 of United States troops, there was security of life and property in this 
 military tract. Adams county was settled as early as 1820. John Wood, 
 who afterwards became governor, and Willard Keys settled in what is 
 now Adams county, in that year. In 1822 Wood commenced laying off 
 the city of Quincy. Adams county was organized in 1824. Quincy was 
 made the county seat ; four men and two women constituted the entire 
 adult population. 
 
 Lead was discovered in Jo Daviess county as early as 1700. Article 
 III. of the grant by Louis, King of France, to M. Crozat in 1712, Sep- 
 tember 24, is as follows: 
 
 We permit him to search for, open and dig all sorts of mines, veins 
 and minerals throughout the whole extent of the said Louisiana, and to 
 transport the profits thereof into any part of France during the said 
 fifteen years ; and we grant in perpetuity to him, his heirs, and others 
 claiming under him or them the property of, in and to the mines, veins 
 and minerals, which he shall bring to bear, paying us, in lieu of all claim
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 175 
 
 the fifth part of the gold and silver, which the said Sieur Crozat shall 
 cause to be transported to France . . . and the tenth part of what 
 effects he shall draw from the other mines, veins, and minerals, which 
 tenth he shall transfer and convey to our magazine in the said country 
 of Louisiana. 
 
 This shows that the notion was abroad that this Louisiana country 
 was rich in minerals. Crozat brought with him "the necessary miners 
 and mining tools, some slaves from the West India islands and other la- 
 borers and artisans and pursued more or less diligently his explorations 
 for the precious metals." His search for minerals and metals was a 
 failure, and in 1717 he surrendered his grant to the king. The whole 
 territory was then re-granted, this time to the Company of the West. 
 This company made Phillip Renault director general of mines. He left 
 for America with two hundred mechanics, laborers, and assayers. On 
 his way he purchased five hundred negro slaves for working the mines. 
 It was the current belief in Prance at this time that the Mississippi re- 
 gion was a vast, rich, but undeveloped mine of all the useful and pre- 
 cious metals. There can be little doubt that the explorers connected 
 with Phillip Renault's expedition knew that lead was to be had on the 
 upper parts of the Mississippi river. Possibly the lead mines of Jo 
 Daviess county were worked by this company. 
 
 The first white settler in the region of the lead mines of Jo Daviess 
 was a man named Bouthillier, who settled about where Galena is, in 
 1820. About this time John Shull and Dr. A. C. Muer established a 
 trading post. A. P. Van Meter and one Fredericks came in 1821. The 
 government sent Lieutenant Thomas to have charge of the mines, and in 
 1823 one James Johnson arrived from Kentucky with sixty negro slaves 
 to work in the mines. By 1826 the locality had one hundred and fifty 
 inhabitants, and from this time forward the growth was very rapid. 
 
 We thus see that as early as 1825 and not later than 1830 there were 
 as many as fifteen or twenty centers from which there were spreading 
 settlements in nearly all directions. With the spread of settlements 
 came the opening of roads, the erection of grist and sawmills, the build- 
 ing of blockhouses, courthouses, and jails. 
 
 RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 
 
 As has been previously stated, the Catholic religion was the pre- 
 vailing belief from the earliest settlement of the French in the Ameri- 
 can Bottom to the coming of Gen. George Rogers Clark. This faith did 
 not spread into the interior of the state in the earlier days. In fact the 
 members of this faith decreased following the occupation of Illinois by 
 the British in 1765. Large members of the French Catholics left Illi- 
 nois upon the coming of the British. French immigration ceased and 
 nearly if not quite all of the early immigrants were Protestants. 
 
 The expansion was not only in the matter of making new settlements 
 but along with this went a steady growth in all the lines of the life of a 
 pioneer people. Churches were organized everywhere. Houses of wor- 
 ship were not always built where congregations were organized, but 
 services were held more or less regularly.
 
 176 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM 
 
 As early as 1820, April 20, a Presbyterian church was organized at 
 Turkey Hill, a settlement four miles southeast of Belleville. This was 
 said to be one of the oldest American settlements in St. Clair county. 
 As early as 1798 William Scott, Samuel Shook, and Franklin Jarvis, 
 settled this locality. The Kaskaskia Presbyterian church was organized 
 May 27, 1821, with nine members. The organization was later moved to 
 Chester. While in Kaskaskia it was a very flourishing organization and 
 contained some of the best people in the locality. The leading spirit in 
 that church seems to have been the Rev. John M. Ellis. He was conse- 
 crated to the cause of missions and education. In 1828 he wrote from 
 Jacksonville, Illinois: "A seminary of learning is projected to go into 
 operation next fall. The subscription now stands $2,000 or $3,000. The 
 site is in this county." A half section of land was purchased one-half 
 mile north of Diamond Grove, which was probably intended to serve as 
 a source of support for worthy students. This movement later attracted 
 the attention of seven young men in Yale University, and resulted in 
 the raising of $10,000, in the east and the coming of Theron Baldwin 
 and Julien M. Sturtevant, and the founding of the Illinois College. 
 
 The Rev. John Mathews, a Presbyterian preacher, arrived in Illinois 
 as early as 1817. He organized a church in Pike county soon thereafter, 
 with eighteen members. He was known all over Illinois and Missouri 
 and lived to the ripe age of eighty-four years. He was an active 
 preacher for fifty years. 
 
 The Presbyterians under the leadership of the Rev. David Choate 
 Proctor, organized what was known as the Wabash church, in Edwards 
 county. Thomas Gould and family came to the "Timbered Settle- 
 ments," which was in the northeast quarter of what is now Wabash 
 county, ten miles from Mt. Carmel, in 1816. He was followed by Cyrus 
 Danforth, Stephen Bliss, and George May. The first Sunday-school in 
 Illinois was held in the home of May and Bliss April 11, 1819. 
 
 In Greene county, as early as April 30, 1823, a Presbyterian church 
 with twenty-one members, was organized in the court house in Carroll- 
 ton by the Revs. Oren Catlin and Daniel G. Sprague. Several of these 
 members lived north of Apple creek some five miles, so that eventually 
 another church was organized in White Hall. The Carrollton church 
 worshiped in the court house or in a blacksmith shop, and frequently 
 with members in their own homes. Paris, Edgar county, had a church 
 as early as November 6, 1824. The membership numbered twelve. The 
 Rev. Isaac Reed, a Presbyterian minister from Crawfordsville, Indiana, 
 preached. Methodist preachers had visited the settlement and had 
 preached, but had not tried to organize a church. 
 
 The Rev. Elbridge Gerry Howe travelled over the state in 1824 and 
 1830 and preached as he travelled. The Rev. J. M. Peck says he saw him 
 in 1825 and that he was a green Yankee, and that his wife was the 
 smarter of the two. He contracted to minister to all the Presbyterian 
 churches in Greene, Morgan, and Sangamon for $300 a year. He could 
 not collect his money, and in a short time was in destitute circumstances 
 in Springfield, where the women of the town ministered to his wife's 
 necessities.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 177 
 
 MISSIONARIES 
 
 Shawneetown, one of the oldest towns anywhere on the east side of 
 the state, was very early visited by missionaries and travelling preachers. 
 It was the point where the overland journey began on the way from the 
 Upper Ohio to Kaskaskia or to St. Louis. 
 
 Or if the travellers came overland from Kentucky or the Carolinas, 
 they crossed the Ohio at either Golconda or Shawneetown as the only 
 ferries that crossed the river were at those two points. This town was 
 begun in 1800 as nearly as can be ascertained. The cabins were of a 
 very inferior grade. The land had not been surveyed and the settlers 
 "squatted" wherever their choice of a building site led them. The 
 houses were probably of the character built by the Indians and early 
 French walls of sticks, grasses, and mud, while the roof was thatched 
 with the swamp grasses which grew in abundance near. In 1812-13 the 
 government surveyed the town and there was quite an adjustment of 
 claims to lots. Tradition says they burned their old log school house for 
 a bonfire when they heard the news that Jackson had whipped the Brit- 
 ish at New Orleans. It is very certain that after the survey by the gov- 
 ernment they erected better houses. But the newer ones were not very 
 substantial homes. A Mr. Low was in Shawneetown in January, 1818, 
 and of the moral and religious aspect he writes: "Among its two or 
 three hundred inhabitants there is not a single soul that made any pre- 
 tentious to religion. Their shocking profaneness was enough to make 
 one afraid to walk the street; and those who on the Sabbath were not 
 fighting and drinking at the taverns and grog-shops were either hunting 
 in the woods or trading behind their counters. A small audience gath- 
 ered to hear the missionary preach. But even a laborer who could de- 
 vote his whole time to the field might almost as soon expect to hear the 
 stones cry out as to expect a revolution in the morals of the place. ' ' Mr. 
 Thomas Lippincott, who was for some time editor of the Edwardsville 
 Spectator, and who later was one of the trustees of Illinois College, 
 passed through Shawneetown with his wife in 1818, and says of it: 
 ' ' We found a village not very prepossessing ; the houses, with one excep- 
 tion, being set up on posts several feet from the earth. The periodical 
 overflow of the river accounts for this." 
 
 Mrs. John Tillson passed through Shawneetown in November, 1822, 
 and was very observing, as the following shows : 
 
 Our hotel, the only brick house in the place (evidently the Rawlings 
 House,) made quite a commanding appearance from the river, towering, 
 as it did, among the twenty more or less log cabins and the three or 
 four box-looking frames. One or two of these were occupied as stores; 
 one was a doctor's office; a lawyer's shingle graced the corner of one; 
 cakes and beer another. The hotel lost its significance, however, on 
 entering its doors. The finish was of the cheapest kind, the plastering 
 hanging loose from the walls, the floors carpetless, except with nature's 
 carpeting with that they were richly carpeted. The landlord was a 
 whiskey keg in the morning and a keg of whiskey at night ; stupid and 
 gruff in the morning, by noon could talk politics and abuse Yankees, and 
 by sundown was brave for a fight. His wife kept herself in the kitchen ; 
 his daughters, one married, and two single, performed the agreeable to 
 strangers; the son-in-law putting on the airs of a gentleman, presided 
 at the table, carving the pork, dishing out the cabbage, and talking big 
 
 vol. I 1 >
 
 178 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 about his political friends. His wife, being his wife, he seemed to re- 
 gard a notch above the other branches of the family, and had her at his 
 right hand at the table where she sat with her long curls, and with the 
 baby in her lap. Baby always seems to be hungry while mammy was 
 eating her dinner, and so little honey took dinner at the same time. 
 Baby didn't have any table-cloth new manners to me. 
 
 The first organized church began its work December, 1823, it is said, 
 with six women as the congregation. They first met in the Seabolt prop- 
 erty the site of the Riverside Hotel. 
 
 Jacksonville was laid off in 1825. In 1827 the Rev. John Brich or- 
 ganized a Presbyterian church. The place of meeting was in a barn 
 belonging to Judge John Leeper, a mile southeast of town. The Rev. 
 John M. Ellis was settled as pastor in 1828. This church is said to have 
 been a great center from which radiated far reaching influences in the 
 spread of the gospel. 
 
 The same Rev. John M. Ellis organized a Presbyterian church in 
 Springfield in 1828. The settled pastor was the Rev. John G. Bergen, 
 formerly of New Jersey. This congregation built the first brick church 
 home in the state in 1829-30. It was dedicated in November, 1830. The 
 pastor organized the first temperance society in the state in Springfield. 
 The Rev. Mr. Ellis organized a church in Hillsboro in 1828, with two 
 members, John Tillson, Jr., and Mrs. Margaret Seward. 
 
 In 1828, the Rev. Solomon Hardy organized a church in Vandalia, 
 of eight members. This church built a modest building and placed 
 therein a bell, the gift of Romulus Riggs, of Philadelphia. The Illinois 
 Monthly Magazine of December 30, 1830, says : ' ' The bell was hung 
 November 5, 1830, . . . it is the first public bell introduced into 
 the state by American inhabitants." Several years ago the bell was 
 given to the Brownstown chuch, eight miles east of Vandalia. 
 
 Within the limits of Illinois there had been organized, up to 1830, 
 twenty-eight Presbyterian churches. There were also at that date six- 
 teen Presbyterian ministers located in the state. 
 
 METHODISM 
 
 Methodism made its advent into Illinois at a very early date. We 
 have in a previous chapter called attention to the work of a number of 
 early preachers of that faith. 
 
 The regular work of this church did not begin until the beginning of 
 the past century. This religious body has a somewhat different plan of 
 work from the Presbyterian church and for that reason we cannot fix 
 dates so easily as in a study of the latter. The class leader in the earlier 
 Methodist organization supplied the lack of a regular pastor. 
 
 The Reverend Beauchamp, a much loved minister in the Methodist 
 church, was located in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1816. He was induced by 
 the people of Mt. Carmel to come to their town, to which he removed in 
 1817. He labored here faithfully for about four years when he was 
 obliged to give up his preaching and retire to a farm. While in the 
 active work of preaching in Mt. Carmel he announced the services by 
 the blowing of a trumpet instead of by the ringing of a bell. 
 
 The work of the Rev. Jesse Walker of the Methodist church has been 
 noted in a previous chapter. He came to Illinois in 1806 and organized 
 churches in various places. In 1807 he organized a church on the Illi-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 179 
 
 nois river of some sixty members all the people in the settlement. He 
 died in Chicago in 1834. 
 
 Where two or three families could be found who were of the Metho- 
 dist persuasion, a class leader would conduct the public devotional serv- 
 ice. From this fact a church may be spoken of when there had been no 
 regularly organized church machinery set in motion. 
 
 As early as 1817, Zadoc Casey emigrated from Sumner county, Ten- 
 nessee, and settled on a farm near the present city of Mt. Vernon, Jef- 
 ferson county. He founded the town of Mt. Vernon in 1818 or 1819. He 
 was a member of the Methodist church and was an active worker in that 
 organization. He was a local preacher in Jefferson county for forty 
 years, and was a man of widespread influence. 
 
 
 
 THE BAPTISTS 
 
 This church had many earnest preachers in Illinois in the early years 
 of the nineteenth century. Among them was one Rev. John Clark. He 
 had for two years been connected with the Methodists but becoming dis- 
 satisfied with some of the methods of that body he withdrew his mem- 
 bership from that organization. He came to the settlements on the 
 American Bottom in 1797 and from that date till 1833, when he died, he 
 was a tireless worker in the church. He taught school and was gen- 
 erally called Father Clark. He was the first Protestant preacher to 
 cross the Mississippi into the Spanish territory. This he did in 1798. 
 He eventually took up his residence in Missouri, but carried on his work 
 in Illinois with great success. 
 
 Elder William Jones came to Rattan's Prairie, near Alton, in 1806. 
 He was very active in building local Baptist churches in the vicinity of 
 Alton, till his death in 1845. 
 
 Another early Baptist preacher was Rev. James Lemen. He was 
 indebted to Father Clark for both his education and his religious fervor. 
 He was a staunch opponent of slavery and was bold enough to express 
 his opposition in the pulpit, which gave offense to some. 
 
 By 1807 there was a Baptist Association in the region around Alton 
 and Edwardsville. It included five well organized churches: New De- 
 sign, four miles south of Waterloo ; Mississippi Bottom ; Richland, in St. 
 Clair county; Wood River, in Madison county; and Silver Creek, in 
 Bond or St. Clair. There were three ordained preachers for these five 
 churches, and sixty-two members. In 1809 six more preachers were or- 
 dained and there was a proportionate growth in membership.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 AN IMPORTANT STATE PERIOD 
 
 How GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAS ELECTED THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
 DEEP SNOW OF 1830-1 THE BLACK HAWK WAR CALL TO ARMS 
 THE END SECOND HALF OF ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The fourth governor of Illinois was John Reynolds. He was an 
 early emigrant to Illinois. He was born in Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, in 1788. His parents moved to eastern Tennessee when 
 the boy was but six months old. From Tennessee the family came 
 to Illinois in 1800, the boy being twelve years old. They crossed 
 the Ohio at Lusk's Ferry, the present site of Golconda, and took the 
 trail for Kaskaskia. They constructed rafts and ferried their wagons 
 and teams across the rivers. They reached Kaskaskia and found 
 the village surrounded with Kaskaskia Indians, who were living 
 very much as they had always lived. The elder Reynolds had started 
 for St. Louis, but was dissuaded by Robert Morrison, John Rice 
 Jones, and Pierre Menard. The father later visited "St. Genevieve 
 to obtain a permit of the Spanish commandant to settle on the west 
 side of the river. In the permit to settle in the Domain of Spain it 
 was required that my father should raise his children in the Roman 
 Catholic church. This pledge was a requisition of the government 
 in all cases, and my father refused to agree to it. ... This was 
 the main reason that decided our destiny to settle and reside in Illi- 
 nois. ' ' 
 
 Young Reynolds received a rudimentary education in the schools 
 available in that day, and when a young man, attended college in 
 Knoxville, Tennessee. He was living at Cahokia when the state was 
 admitted into the Union in 1818. He served on the supreme court 
 and in the lower branch of the state legislature. In 1830 he offered 
 himself as a candidate for governor. He was elected over his op- 
 ponent Lieutenant Governor Kinney, who had served with Governor 
 Edwards. 
 
 How GOVERNOR REYNOLDS WAS ELECTED 
 
 The campaign was without doubt a spicy one. Governor Rey- 
 nolds has given us an unvarnished account which no doubt is a cor- 
 rect story of the canvass. "It was the universal custom of the times 
 to treat with liquor. We both did it ; but he was condemned for it 
 more than myself, by the religious community, he being a preacher 
 of the gospel." Each candidate rode over the state carrying the old 
 
 180
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 181 
 
 fashioned saddle bags. Many amusing incidents occurred. At Jack- 
 sonville Captain Duncan had a saddle bag full of Kinney hand-bills. 
 At night some Reynolds men stole all the Kinney bills and replaced 
 them with Reynolds bills. The next day Captain Duncan went about 
 scattering Reynolds' bills and arguing for Kinney. The Rev. Zadoc 
 Casey of Mt. Vernon was the candidate on the Kinney ticket for lieu- 
 tenant governor and a Mr. Rigdon B. Slocumb was the running mate 
 of Mr. Reynolds. Reynolds and Casey were elected. 
 
 Of Mr. Reynolds, Mr. Ford says he had a good, natural, easy- 
 going disposition and was a good mixer. "He had received a class- 
 ical education and was a man of good talents in his own peculiar 
 way; but no one would suppose from hearing his conversation and 
 public addresses that he had ever learned more than to read and 
 write and cipher to the rule of three." He is represented as being 
 coarse and even vulgar in the use of all sorts of backwoods expres- 
 sions of which he seems to have had a very large supply. "He had 
 a kind heart and was always ready to do a favor and never harbored 
 resentment against a human being." 
 
 In this canvass the newspapers took quite an active part. Mr. 
 Kinney had the support of the Illinois Intelligencer, published at Van- 
 dalia. It was edited by Judge James Hall, formerly of Shawneetown. 
 Governor Reynolds had four papers supporting him, ,all of which 
 were very ably edited one at Shawneetown, edited by Colonel Ed- 
 dy, one at Edwardsville, edited by Judge Smith, one at Kaskaskia, 
 edited by Judge Breese, and one at Springfield, edited by Forquer 
 and Ford. Mr. Reynolds says that a miner's journal published at 
 Galena also supported him. 
 
 In this canvass national politics entered as a very potent factor. 
 It was folly for any man who was an anti-Jackson man to offer him- 
 self for public office. There were anti-Jackson men but they were 
 greatly in the minority. Reynolds calls them the Whigs. Both Rey- 
 nolds and Kinney were Jackson men, but the anti-Jackson men fav- 
 ored Reynolds as the lesser of two evils. It thus turned out that Rey- 
 nolds was elected, the vote standing, Reynolds 12,937, while Kinney 
 received 9,038. 
 
 The candidates for lieutenant governor were Zadoc Casey and 
 Rigdon B. Slocumb. Mr. Casey ran on the Kinney ticket and Mr. 
 Slocumb on the Reynolds ticket. Mr. Casey was a Methodist local 
 preacher who lived at Mt. Vernon and was a man who stood very 
 high in the localities where he was known. He was elected. 
 
 THE INAUGURAL MESSAGE 
 
 At this election the seventh general assembly was also elected. 
 The legislature met December 6, 1830, and organized. The new gov- 
 ernor began his term under very favorable circumstances. Some 
 writers have spoken disparagingly of Governor Reynolds' inaugural 
 message, but when carefully studied it appears a plain, sensible, pat- 
 riotic state paper. It may lack the polish of former or later mes- 
 sages, but what Governor Reynolds had in his heart to say, he said 
 in unmistakable language. He called attention to the rapid increase 
 in population. He complimented the immigrants upon their enter- 
 prise and good judgment, and congratulated the people of the state
 
 182 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 upon the accession to its population of so desirable a class of citizens, 
 lie formally discussed the following subjects as being those upon 
 which he hoped they might legislate. 
 
 "In the whole circle of your legislation, there is no subject that 
 has a greater claim upon your attention or calls louder for your aid 
 than that of education." 
 
 "There cannot be an appropriation of money within the exercise 
 of your legislative powers that will be more richly paid to the citi- 
 zens than that for the improvement of the country." 
 
 Governor Reynolds had, while a member of the fifth general as- 
 sembly, succeeded in getting a bill through providing for the build- 
 ing of a penitentiary. He was able to say the work had progressed 
 quite satisfactorily and that twenty-five cells were nearing com- 
 pletion, and he hoped the legislature would take such action as would 
 carry the enterprise to completion. 
 
 The salines and their reservations had been virtually given to 
 the state by the action of congress in passing the Enabling Act. The 
 state had had charge of the salines since 1818 and very little in- 
 come had been realized from them. He was very desirous that they 
 should be so managed as to result in a source of income to the state. 
 
 The charter incorporating the State Bank of Illinois was passed 
 in 1821. The charter was to continue ten years. The capital was 
 $500,000. There was one parent bank at Vandalia and four branch 
 banks one at Edwardsville, one at Brownsville, one at Shawnee- 
 town, one at Albion. The charter of this bank expired January 1, 
 1831. The end of the bank came therefore in Reynold's term as gov- 
 ernor. The state had lost about $100,000 in this banking business, 
 and must in some way meet this indebtedness. 
 
 Finally, a loan was obtained of a Mr. Wiggins, of Cincinnati, 
 Ohio, of $100,000 and the affairs of the bank wound up. This was 
 known as "the Wiggins loan" and was for many years a great tor- 
 ment to the legislators who authorized it. 
 
 At the close of the session of 1831, the state borrowed $20.000 
 with which to pay the current expenses of the session, and to meet 
 other expenses of the state. 
 
 DEEP SNOW OF 1830-1 
 
 The winter of 1830-1 was long remembered as "the winter of the 
 deep snow." It is said that the winter was a mild one till Christmas. 
 During the Christmas holidays a snow storm began and for nine 
 weeks, almost every day, it snowed. The snow melted little or none 
 and was found to be more than three feet on an average. It was. 
 however, drifted very badly in some places. The old fashioned 
 "stake and rider" fences were buried in many places with the drifted 
 snow. The long country lanes were covered over so that no sign of 
 the road was left. On top of this snow fell rain and sleet and formed 
 such a crust that people and stock might walk on top of the snow. 
 The birds and small pa me suffered very much for want of food, while 
 larger wild game became very tame.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 183 
 
 THE BLACK HAWK WAR 
 
 In 1804, November 3, at St. Louis, William Henry Harrison, at 
 that time governor of the Indiana territory, on behalf of the United 
 States, signed a treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians by which the 
 said tribes ceded to the United States about fifteen million acres of 
 land. A portion of the land lay in Illinois northwest of the Illinois 
 river, while a large portion lay in southwestern Wisconsin. The 
 United States government agreed to take the Sac and Fox tribes 
 into its friendship and protection, and to pay annually $1,000 in goods 
 to the two tribes. It was further agreed that these tribes should re- 
 main on the lands till the said lands were disposed of. It was mutu- 
 ally agreed that no private revenge should be taken for wrongs but 
 that offenders should be turned over to the proper authorities. Citi- 
 zens of the United States were not to make settlements on this ceded 
 territory. No traders should live among the Indians except those 
 authorized by the United States, etc. 
 
 Black Hawk with whom we shall deal in this chapter, said the 
 chiefs who signed the treaty were made drunk and that they were 
 not authorized to cede this land. It should also be kept in mind that 
 the territory ceded was also the home of two other large tribes, the 
 Winnebagoes and the Pottowatomies. 
 
 The British greatly influenced the Indians in the northwest, and 
 the two were allies in the war from 1812-1815. At the close of this 
 war, the Sacs and Foxes entered into another treaty with the United 
 States. Black Hawk did not sign this treaty which, it was hoped, 
 would secure peace. 
 
 Upon the admission of Illinois in 1818 the settlers began to flock 
 into the state and within the next ten years the settlers began to 
 encroach upon the lands actually occupied by the Sac and Fox tribes. 
 The Winnebago war occurred in the summer of 1827. Among the In- 
 dians who were held responsible for this was Black Hawk, a very 
 prominent Indian of the Sac and Fox tribes. He and several more 
 Indians were arrested and held in prison for several months. Some 
 of the offenders were adjudged guilty and executed, others were 
 turned loose, among whom was Black Hawk. In 1830, a treaty was 
 executed at Prairie du Chien in which the Sac and Fox Indians un- 
 der the leadership of Keokuk ceded all the lands east of the Missis- 
 sippi river to the United States. Black Hawk had nothing to do with 
 this treaty. 
 
 The seventh article of the treaty of 1804 provided that the In- 
 dians should remain around Rock river till the United States dis- 
 posed of the land. In 1826 or thereabouts the government surveyed 
 and sold quite a number of plots of land in and about the village of 
 Saukenuk, and the whites began to come in. In the fall of 1830 the In- 
 dians went on their annual hunt and while absent during the winter, 
 heard that the whites were occupying their village. This village con- 
 tained about five hundred cabins of very good construction capable 
 of sheltering six thousand people. 
 
 In the early spring of 1831 when they returned to that locality, 
 they found the whites in their village. In the meantime Keokuk was 
 doing what he could to induce his people to remain on the west side 
 of the Mississippi and to find homes there. And more than likely at
 
 184 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the same time Black Hawk was doing his best to persuade them to 
 return to their old village. At least this was what was done. Black 
 Hawk, with a great number of women, children and three hundred 
 warriors returned and occupied their village of Saukenuk. Of course 
 this meant trouble, for the whites were also occupying the same vil- 
 lage. Seeing that they could not drive off the Indians the whites 
 agreed to occupy the village jointly and to share the tillable land, 
 about 700 acres. The whites, however, took the best land and in this 
 way showed their contempt for the Indians. All sorts of stories be- 
 gan now to reach the governor at Vandalia, and also the United 
 States military commandant, General Gaines, at St. Louis. The In- 
 dian agent at Fort Armstrong also was aware of the coming conflict. 
 An appeal was sent to Governor Reynolds stating that the whites 
 had suffered many indignities from the Indians and had sustained 
 losses of cattle, horses, and crops. Probably the facts are, the In- 
 dians were the greater sufferers. There is good evidence, says 
 Brown's history, that the Indians were made drunk and then cheated 
 badly in trades; their women were abused and one young man beaten 
 so that he died from the effects. 
 
 CALL TO ARMS 
 
 Governor Reynolds acted with some haste probably and ordered 
 out seven hundred mounted militiamen. He communicated this fact 
 to General Gaines and suggested that he, Gaines, might by the exer- 
 cise of some of his authority or diplomacy, induce Black Hawk to 
 move west of the river. General Gaines thought the regulars, some 
 eight hundred or nine hundred strong would be able to handle the 
 difficulty, but the militiamen were already on their way to Beards- 
 town, the place of rendezvous. General Gaines accompanied by six 
 hundred regulars moved up the Mississippi and on the 7th of June 
 a council was held between General Gaines and Governor Reynolds 
 on the side of the whites, and Black Hawk, Keokuk, and twenty-six 
 chiefs and headmen upon the part of the Indians. A treaty was 
 agreed upon. 
 
 The treaty contained six articles, and provided: 1. That Black 
 Hawk and his disgruntled people would submit to Keokuk and his 
 friendly Indians and re-cross the river to the west side. 2. That 
 all lands west of the river claimed by the Sacs and Foxes were guar- 
 anteed to them. 3. The Indians agreed not to hold communication 
 with the British. 4. The United States have right to build forts 
 and roads in the Indians' territory. 5. The friendly chiefs agree 
 to preserve order in their tribes. 6. Permanent peace was declared. 
 The Indians then peaceably withdrew to the west side of the river. 
 The Indians were in such distressed condition that General Gaines 
 and Governor Reynolds issued large quantities of food to them. The 
 army was disbanded and returned home. 
 
 Governor Reynolds himself assumed the active command of the 
 militia. The account he gives of the organization and movement of 
 his troops would make one think of the campaigns of a great general. 
 Every man furnished his own horse and carried his own gun, if he 
 had one, but hundreds appeared at Beardstown without guns. The 
 government had sent guns to Beardstown but not enough, so Rey-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 185 
 
 nolds bought some brass-barreled muskets of a merchant in Beards- 
 town. Joseph Duncan, congressman, was made brigadier general, 
 and Samuel Whiteside major to have charge of the spy battalion. 
 Most of the other officers were elected by the troops. The whole 
 army was divided into two regiments and the spy battalion. Col. 
 James D. Henry commanded one and Col. Daniel Leib the other regi- 
 ment. The army broke camp near Rushville June 15, and in four 
 days reached the Mississippi, eight miles below Saukenuk. Here Gen- 
 eral Gaines received the army into the United States service. On 
 account of a delay the Indians who occupied the village departed up 
 the Rock river. The regulars and militia followed at a safe distance. 
 
 BLACK HAWK, THE NOTED INDIAN WARRIOR 
 
 Black Hawk eventually crossed over on the west side of the Mis- 
 sissippi and the treaty above referred to was negotiated. 
 
 The British Band, as Black Hawk and his followers were called, 
 remained on the west side till the spring of 1832. In the early spring 
 of this year, April 6, Black Hawk and his braves crossed to the east 
 side of the Mississippi in spite of the remonstrances of General Atkin- 
 son, who was stationed at Fort Armstrong with a few regulars. He 
 passed the old village of Saukenuk and proceeded up the Rock river 
 as if to join the Winnebagoes, where he said he wished to raise a crop 
 in conjunction with that tribe. General Atkinson notified Black Hawk 
 that he was violating his treaty and ordered him to return but he did 
 not heed the order. 
 
 This movement on the part of Black Hawk created consternation 
 among the whites all along the northern frontier from the Mississippi 
 to Chicago and the people hastily left their homes and took refuge 
 farther south where the population was numerous, and means of de-
 
 186 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 fense ample. Many fled to Fort Dearborn and remained there till the 
 war closed. 
 
 Governor Reynolds having been notified of Black Hawk's move- 
 ments and knowing that an indiscretion on the part of either the Indians 
 or the whites would lead to serious consequences, decided to take pre- 
 cautionary measures and avert so unfortunate a result. He also re- 
 ceived a request from General Atkinson for troops and on the sixteenth 
 of April the governor issued a call for a large body of troops. They 
 were to assemble at Beardstown on the twenty-second of April. As in 
 the campaign of the previous year, Governor Reynolds took the field 
 himself. As he passed through the country to Beardstown he held con- 
 ferences and otherwise took the people into his confidence. At Jack- 
 sonville the governor had word from Dixon, in the heart of the Pottowa- 
 tomie country, that war was inevitable. On arriving at Beardstown, 
 the governor moved his army to a point north of Rushville. Samuel 
 Whiteside was made brigadier general in command of four regiments, 
 and two irregular battalions. At Beardstown he received more news 
 of the hostile attitude of Black Hawk and his band. 
 
 When the army was thoroughly organized the governor ordered a 
 forward movement on the twenty-seventh of April. The next stop was 
 to be the Yellow Banks, which were in Mercer county, on the Missis- 
 sippi river. Most of the troops were on horseback but about two 
 hundred men were marching as infantry. The roads were very bad 
 and streams had to be forded. Reynolds says that most of the men, 
 two thousand in number, were backwoodsmen and were used to such 
 hardships. When the army reached the Mississippi the provisions had 
 not yet arrived from St. Louis and after several days of anxiety three 
 trusty men, Huitt, Tunnell, and Ames, of Greene county, were asked 
 if they could reach Rock Island, fifty miles away, that day. They 
 undertook the task and delivered to General Atkinson the message from 
 the governor on the self-same day. From the Yellow Banks the troops 
 marched to Fort Armstrong where they were received into the U. S. 
 service. General Atkinson now assumed command and the whole 
 body of five hundred regulars and two thousand militia marched up 
 Rock river toward Dixon, where it was understood Black Hawk and 
 his band were. Spies were sent abroad who reported presently the 
 presence of Black Hawk above Dixon. Dixon was reached on the 
 twelfth of May. Here other information came to the effect that Black 
 Hawk's band was broken up and the men were hunting food. Here 
 also the governor found Major Stillman and Major Bailey, who had 
 been ordered to guard the frontier. These two majors and their bat- 
 talions were anxious to reconnoitre the frontier and if possible locate 
 the hostile band. Governor Reynolds therefore gave them orders to 
 proceed to "Old Man's creek," where, it was reported, there were 
 hostile Indians. 
 
 On the thirteenth of May, Major Stillman marched out of Dixon 
 with two hundred and seventy-five men and with all necessary equip- 
 ment for a contest with the hostile Indians. He went some twenty-five 
 miles to the northeast. Here, on the evening of the fourteenth, he 
 crossed a small stream and began preparations for the night's camp. 
 Presently three unarmed Indians came into camp bearing a flag of 
 truce. And in a few moments five more, armed, appeared upon a hill 
 some distance away. Many of the soldiers hurriedly remounted their
 
 HISTORY- OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 187 
 
 horses and gave chase. The Indians gave them a roundabout chase and 
 finally led them in what appeared to be an ambush of fifty or seventy- 
 five of Black Hawk's warriors. As soon as the soldiers saw their 
 predicament, they started on a retreat and passing through the camp 
 transmitted to those there the contagion of flight. All was now con- 
 fusion, one of their number having already been killed (James Doty). 
 They floundered across the creek and in their retreat Captain Adams 
 and some fifteen men concluded to make a stand a half mile from their 
 camp. It was dark and the fight was a desperate hand to hand struggle. 
 At least nine of Adams' men were slain, including the captain. The 
 retreat continued. The earliest ones to reach Dixon came about mid- 
 night, and they continued to arrive till morning. The dreadful news 
 which these men brought from the scene of carnage filled the army with 
 terror and gloom. The entire army, or at least two thousand five hun- 
 dred men, proceeded to the scene of the defeat. They buried eleven 
 of Major Stillman's men. It seems that when the Indians had followed 
 the retreating army some distance, they returned and mutilated the 
 bodies of Captain Adams' men and later went to the camp, broke the 
 spokes from the wagons, poured out a keg of whiskey, destroyed the 
 provisions, and returned to their camp. The names of the twelve men 
 who sacrificed their lives in this unfortunate expedition are David 
 Kreeps, Zadock Mendinall, Isaac Perkins, James Milton, Tyrus M. 
 Childs, Joseph B. Parris, Bird W. Ellis, John Walters, Joseph Draper, 
 James Doty, Gideon Munson, and Captain Adams. 
 
 The effect of this defeat and rout was depressing in the extreme. 
 The volunteers immediately began to talk of returning to their homes. 
 In fact Governor Reynolds says, in "My Own Times" that he wrote 
 out the order the night of the defeat, for two thousand new troops and 
 by next morning three trusted men were on their way to distribute this 
 call throughout the state. The militiamen becoming impatient, Gover- 
 nor Reynolds and General Atkinson plead with the men to stay at 
 least twelve or fifteen days until the new levies could reach the front. 
 This they finally agreed to do. General Atkinson, now in command of 
 the militia and regulars, moved up Rock river, and when somewhere in 
 the vicinty of the present city of Oregon or probably higher up, they 
 received word of a horrible massacre of fifteen whites near Ottawa. 
 This, too, was depressing, and not finding Black Hawk, General Atkin- 
 son and the regulars returned to Dixon and General "Whiteside and 
 Col. Zachary Taylor went in further quest of the warriors. They came 
 to an abandoned camp on Sycamore creek where they found several 
 things taken from Major Stillman's camp, but not finding the Indians 
 the soldiers again became persistent in their determination to return 
 to their farms and business. General Whiteside not being himself 
 much in sympathy with further pursuit of the Indians, ordered a vote 
 among all commanding officers as to what they wished to do. The~ 
 votes stood about half in favor of continuing the campaign and half 
 against further service. When the governor became aware of the 
 demoralized spirit in the army he ordered them to march to Ottawa 
 where they were discharged. 
 
 General Atkinson and Governor Reynolds were deeply concerned 
 for the safety of the frontier and in addition to the two thousand men 
 called into service the night of the Stillman defeat they yet needed 
 more troops. After the muster-out of the men was completed the
 
 188 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN .ILLINOIS 
 
 governor called for volunteers and a regiment was enlisted without 
 any loss of time for thirty days. Col. Jacob Fry was given command. 
 
 Ottawa and vicinity seemed to be a kind of storm center for Indian 
 depredations and many very exciting stories are told of personal en- 
 counters on the frontier during the summer of 1832. The war had 
 degenerated into bushwhacking, rapine, and murder. One never knew 
 when a savage was at his back. It was therefore the business of this 
 thirty-day regiment under Col. Jacob Fry to guard the various localities 
 till the arrival of the new troops called into service the night of the 
 Stillman defeat. 
 
 There were in Colonel Fry 's regiment seven companies, one of which 
 was commanded by Captain Snyder of St. Clair county. Captain 
 Snyder's company was sent over in the region of Burr Oak Grove 
 (called Kellogg 's Grove). The Indians were committing depredations 
 in that region. On the night of June 17 he was encamped near the 
 above grove. His camp was attacked that night, and the next morning 
 his force went in search of the attacking parties. They finally overtook 
 the Indians and killed four of them. One of Captain Snyder's men 
 was mortally wounded, and while taking this wounded man to the camp 
 the escort was set upon by seventy-five Indians and the wounded man 
 was butchered by the savages while two more of Snyder's men were 
 killed. A few regulars under Major Riley came to Captain Snyder's 
 relief and the Indians fled with a loss of four dead. The thirty days 
 enlistment was up and Captain Snyder's men were mustered out. 
 
 The new levies began concentrating at Fort Wilburn near Peru, in 
 June, and the task of organizing them was not an easy one. Three 
 brigades were formed with Generals Alexander Posey, Milton K. Alex- 
 ander, and James D. Henry in command. There were about one thou- 
 sand men in each division. They were accepted by General Atkinson 
 as United States troops. Governor Reynolds used good diplomacy in 
 his appointments to the various positions in the army. In addition to 
 the three brigades there were two or three independent organizations 
 whose duty was to guard the frontier. 
 
 Major Dement with one hundred and fifty men was sent to guard 
 the region of Kellogg 's Grove while the main army moved up the Rock 
 river. Major Dement and his men arrived at the Kellogg Grove on 
 Saturday, June 21, and took up quarters in some old log houses which 
 had been the home of Mr. O. "W. Kellogg. Upon the opening of hostili- 
 ties he had moved nearer Dixon's ferry. They put their horses in a 
 lot fenced in with a brush fence. Sunday night a Mr. Funk, of Mc- 
 Lean county, stayed over night with the troops and reported Indians in 
 the vicinity. On the morrow, twenty-five soldiers started in pursuit. 
 They were drawn into the edge of the timber by straggling Indians 
 when out rushed hundreds of naked savages with their faces blackened. 
 The troops fled precipitately to the log huts with scarcely time enough 
 to put their horses in the brush lot and get into the fort. Four dead 
 were left on the field. All that day the Indians circled round, firing 
 continuously into the fort. Dement lost only the four men but had 
 several wounded. The Indians seeing they could do no harm to the 
 men in the fort, began a slaughter of horses in the brush-fenced lot. 
 Governor Reynolds says forty-seven horses were killed at the fort be- 
 sides two or three on the battlefield. 
 
 After the battle had raged an hour or so, messengers were sent to
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 189 
 
 Dixon for reinforcements. As good fortune would have it these mes- 
 sengers met General Posey, who was on his way north to the Wisconsin 
 line. General Posey hurried forward and reached the fort by night 
 and the Indians seeing that reinforcements had arrived, slipped away. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Westbrook told the writer that he was with General 
 Posey 's troops and that there were sixty horses killed and that they were 
 nearly all killed by one Indian who was hidden behind a tree. This In- 
 dian was finally killed and the slaughter of the horses ceased. 
 
 The next morning after the arrival of General Posey a grave was 
 dug with tomahawks and knives and the four dead soldiers whose bodies 
 had been mangled beyond recognition, were buried in one grave. This 
 ended the war in that section. Black Hawk was present and was 
 probably the commanding spirit in the attack upon Captain Snyder 
 as well as the one on Major Dement. 
 
 After his defeat at Kellogg 's Grove by Major Dement 's forces, 
 Black Hawk retreated with all his people to the hills of southern Wis- 
 consin. General Atkinson followed with nearly four thousand men. 
 Upon reaching Burnt Village the army halted. Here there seemed so 
 much indecision and lack of plan in the campaign that the volunteers 
 became much discouraged. Food became scarce and desertions were 
 quite the order of the day. 
 
 After some counseling, it was decided to disperse the army to obtain 
 food. A strong detachment went to Fort Winnebago, at the Wisconsin 
 portage, for supplies. General Atkinson returned down Rock river to 
 Kosh-Ko-Nong, General Posey to Fort Hamilton. Governor Reynolds 
 came to his home in Belleville. 
 
 The detachment which went to Fort Winnebago under General 
 Dodge and General Henry, was about ready to return with provisions 
 when they received word that Black Hawk was on Rock river about 
 thirty-five miles above the point where General Atkinson was in camp. 
 After some conferences among the officers it was decided to attack 
 Black Hawk instead of returning to General Atkinson as he had ordered. 
 General Henry, therefore made all preparations for what he thought 
 ought to be the end of the campaign. With a very well equipped army 
 of probably a thousand men or less, he started in quest of Black Hawk. 
 The wily chief knew he was in danger and immediately began a retreat, 
 passing by the four lakes where Wisconsin's beautiful capital is now 
 situated. He was vigorously pushed by General Henry. On the bluffs 
 of the Wisconsin river about twenty-five miles northwest of Madison, 
 the Indians were overtaken. 
 
 A desperate stand was made by Black Hawk, but at the end of the 
 day's fighting he crossed the river leaving one hundred and sixty-eight 
 of his braves dead upon the field of battle, and twenty-five more were 
 found dead between the Wisconsin and the Mississippi. General Henry 
 lost but one man killed and eight wounded. 
 
 General Henry was now without provisions, deserted by his Indian 
 guides, and in the wilderness. While here he received word from Gen- 
 eral Atkinson to repair to the mounds some twenty miles south of west 
 of Madison where the regular army would have provisions. The 
 wounded were carried on stretchers to that point. After a slight rest 
 the army now under General Atkinson crossed the Wisconsin at a 
 deserted village called Helena, and started in pursuit of the enemy. 
 Black Hawk's band was in a truly deplorable condition. They were
 
 190 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 living on roots, bulbs, and game such as could be had, and are said to 
 have killed their horses for flesh. Nor were the soldiers in very excel- 
 lent condition. They had provisions, but they slept in open air, tramped 
 through swamps, climbed precipitous bluffs, and scrambled through 
 briars and dense underbrush. On August 2, 1832, the army reached 
 the Mississippi bluffs about forty miles on a straight line above the 
 mouth of the Wisconsin river. Here was to be enacted the final scene 
 of this tragedy of greed and treachery. 
 
 The Indians had reached the above point a day or so in advance of 
 the army and were busily engaged in making preparations to cross. 
 In fact they had already sent some of their people over to the west side 
 and were embarking their women and children in canoes to go to 
 Prairie du Chien for safety. A part of them were lost on the way and 
 those who reached the village were in a starving condition. While all 
 this was going on, a steamboat, the Warrior, coming up the river tc 
 bring supplies to General Atkinson's army, reached the camp August 
 13. This vessel was prepared for battle and upon approaching the 
 camp of Black Hawk, which was in the valley near the banks of the 
 Mississippi, it was hailed with a white flag. The captain ordered the 
 Indians to come along side in a canoe but they refused, and he then 
 gave them fifteen minutes to get the women and children out of danger. 
 He then fired a six-pounder into their midst and a battle of an hour 
 followed. The vessel returned to Prairie du Chien and remained over 
 night. As a result of this attack by the boat, twenty-three of Black 
 Hawk's men lay dead in the valley. 
 
 On the morning of the second of August the army appeared on the 
 bluffs overlooking the valley and the Indian encampment. Black Hawk, 
 to shield the operations which were going on for crossing the river, took 
 twenty warriors and engaged the army on the bluffs and then retreated 
 up the river with the purpose of misleading General Atkinson. This 
 worked to perfection for the regulars, the Wisconsin contingent, and 
 some of the Illinois militia set off post haste after Black Hawk leaving 
 only General Henry and Major Ewing. When the commanding general 
 and the troops were gone, Henry and Ewing moved down the bluffs 
 and across the valley and presently discovered the Indians near the 
 river bank where they had been attacked by the steamboat the day 
 before. General Henry and the Indians were soon engaged and as 
 General Henry's soldiers pushed forward with fixed bayonets the poor 
 savages were shot down, bayoneted, or driven into the river. There were 
 about three hundred braves, and in Henry's little band about three 
 hundred soldiers. During all this time General Atkinson had been de- 
 coyed off up the river and returned only when General Henry had 
 finished the work of annihilating the Indians. It is estimated that one 
 hundred and fifty Indians lost their lives in trying to swim the river, 
 one hundred and fifty were killed, a few got safely across to the west 
 side, fifty women and children were captured, while Black Hawk and 
 about twenty warriors escaped up the river. 
 
 THE END 
 
 The war was now considered ended and the Illinois soldiers were 
 marched to Dixon, where they were mustered out and thence returned 
 to their homes. Gen. Winfield Scott had been ordered from Fortress
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 191 
 
 Monroe on the 7th of August, 1832, to assist in the restoration of 
 order and in the punishment of the insolent savages. He made tne 
 trip from the seaboard to Chicago in eighteen days the distance being 
 one thousand five hundred miles. 
 
 The Asiatic cholera broke out in his army and he did not take any 
 part in the '"war." Black Hawk finally was induced to come to Fort 
 Armstrong (Rock Island) to sign a treaty, but the parties of the treaty 
 were conveyed to St. Louis where the Sac and Fox Indians ceded every- 
 thing east of the Mississippi river to the United States. Black Hawk 
 was kept a prisoner in Fortress Monroe a while in the spring of 1833. 
 Later he was given a brief visit to the principal cities in New England, 
 after which he was returned to General Street, the Indian agent at 
 Fort Armstrong. He was put under the wardship of Keokuk, which 
 Black Hawk considered a great indignity. He died at the age of 
 seventy-one years. Black Hawk was an Indian with more than ordinary 
 power. He was a man whose thoughts occupied a very high plane, as 
 did those of other Indian chiefs, but he was shrewd, quick to see an 
 advantage, persistent, revengeful. His history has been written by 
 two or three different writers. 
 
 The war closed with the battle of Bad Axe on the second of August, 
 1832. The soldiers returned to their homes and quiet was restored. 
 The general government bore the expenses of the war which are said to 
 have reached $2,000,000. There were killed about two hundred and fifty 
 regulars, and about the same number of militia men and settlers; the 
 Indians suffered a loss of probably three hundred. 
 
 There has been some question as to whether this war might not 
 have been averted. It was a good deal to ask Indians who had cleared 
 seven hundred acres of land and had it in cultivation, to move off and 
 go into a new country. The conduct of the whites in encroaching upon 
 the lands, village, and burying ground in the vicinity of Saukenuk 
 was wholly inexcusable. Moses says: "The real cause of the war 
 existed in that almost universal detestation in which the Indians were 
 held by the pioneers. Their presence could not be tolerated, and 
 whether the lands occupied by them were needed by the whites or not, 
 the cry was 'The Indians must go!' ' 
 
 The "war" made several reputations. For quite a number of years 
 it was a passport to official position to be able to say, "I was a soldier 
 in the Black Hawk war." General Henry, who seems to have been 
 providentially favored in the war never lived to reap political profit 
 as a reward for his services. He was a native of Pennslyvania and 
 came to Edwardsville in 1822. He secured an education under very 
 difficult circumstances, working as a mechanic by day and attending 
 night schools in the evening. In 1826 he removed to Springfield and 
 was shortly elected sheriff of Sangamon county. It was as an officer 
 that Governor Reynolds' attention was called to him. After the war 
 his health failing, he visited New Orleans for medical attention, and 
 for the benefit the climate might do, but nothing availed and he died 
 of consumption, March 4, 1834. It is said that before the war he was 
 supposed to have had a sound constitution but that the hardships in- 
 cident to two years of military life undermined his health and he died 
 as above stated. His modesty is attested by the fact that he did not 
 let the people of New Orleans know that he was the real hero in the 
 Black Hawk war.
 
 192 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Among other men who made praiseworthy records was Governor 
 Reynolds himself, who never tired in his devotion to his duty as the 
 commander-in-chief of the militia. Thomas Ford and Joseph Duncan 
 both became governors of Illinois. Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson 
 Davis were soldiers in the Black Hawk war. Quite a number of men 
 who became prominent state officers were officers or soldiers in the war. 
 
 SECOND HALF OP ADMINISTRATION 
 
 During the second half of Governor Reynold's term as chief execu- 
 tive there was little of general public interest. The state, by the 
 apportionment based on the census of 1830, was entitled to three con- 
 gressmen. This apportionment was made in time for the selection at 
 the regular election in August, 1832. The three men selected were 
 Zadoc Casey, Charles Slade, and Joseph Duncan. The election for 
 members of the general assembly occurred at the same time. The leg- 
 islature met in December. The governor's message dealt somewhat 
 with national politics, since Jackson and the South Carolina milliners 
 were in the public eye. Reynolds urged upon the attention of the gen- 
 eral assembly the cause of education, the Illinois and Michigan canal, 
 or a railroad instead, and the penitentiary system. The house of rep- 
 resentatives early in this session brought charges against Theophilus 
 W. Smith, one of the justices of the supreme court. He was formally 
 impeached, and tried before the senate, but was acquitted. The legis- 
 lature adjourned without accomplishing very much in the way of 
 needed legislation. 
 
 In the summer of 1834 there was another congressional election. 
 And although Reynold's, time as governor would not be out till De- 
 cember, 1834, yet he announced himself a candidate for congress and 
 was elected. The lieutenant governor, Zadoc Casey, had resigned two 
 years before to go to congress and now Reynolds resigned as governor 
 and the burden and honor of the chief magistracy fell upon the shoul- 
 ders of Gen. W. L. D. Ewing, who served as governor fifteen days and 
 until the inauguration of Governor Duncan. 
 
 Governor Ewing was a Kentuckian. He came to Illinois prior to 
 1820, and held a federal appointment in this state under President 
 Monroe ; served in the legislature, and as brigadier general of the ' ' Spy 
 Battalion" in the Black Hawk war. He was elected president pro tern 
 of the senate in the ninth general assembly and thus became the con- 
 stitutional successor of Governor Reynolds upon the latter 's resigna- 
 tion. Governor Ewing later served in congress as representative and 
 as senator. He also held the office of auditor. He died in 1846.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 ADMINISTRATION OP GOVERNOR JOSEPH DUNCAN 
 
 ELECTION AS GOVERNOR BANKING LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED UNITED 
 STATES AND STATE BANKS REDEMPTION EXTENSION SUSPENSION 
 OF SPECIE PAYMENTS STATE BANK IN LIQUIDATION INTERNAL 
 IMPROVEMENTS RECOMMENDATIONS BILL PASSED OVER GOVERNOR'S 
 VETO CAPITAL REMOVED TO SPRINGFIELD ALSO PASSED OVER 
 COUNCIL'S VETO. 
 
 Joseph Duncan was a Kentuckian, having been born at Paris in that 
 state, February 23, 1794. He is recorded as a sergeant in the Illinois 
 militia, in Capt. Nathan Chambers' company of 30-day men in the 
 War of 1812. He served from April 12 to May 12, 1813. He is also 
 put down as a lieutenant in the second regiment, Samuel Judy, colo- 
 nel, which served in the War of 1812. He is also said to have fought 
 bravely with Colonel Croghan in the defense of Port Stephenson in 
 1813. 
 
 At the close of the War of 1812, he settled at the "big hill," now 
 called "Fountain Bluff," in Jackson county, "In 1814, there was quite 
 a large accession to this county. Joseph Duncan, Dr. John G. Dun- 
 can, Polly Ann Duncan, old Mrs. Moore, their mother, and her son Ben, 
 with several blacks, settled here. Joe Duncan built the best house in 
 the county, near the river and under the bluff, and it was called the 
 'White House' as long as it stood. He renovated the mill, and it did 
 considerable business. The Duncans lived there several years. Dr. 
 Duncan died and was buried there." The foundations of the mill 
 dam could be seen a few years ago. Here he occupied himself in the 
 business enterprises common to those pioneer days. In 1823 he was 
 appointed a major general of militia. In 1824 he was elected to the 
 State senate from Jackson county. In 1825 he introduced the first 
 legislation on public schools in the state. It was also the most rational 
 that was suggested for many years. Mr. Duncan was elected to con- 
 gress in 1826, took his seat March 4, 1827, and served continuously till 
 he came home to be inaugurated in 1834. 
 
 ELECTION AS GOVERNOR 
 
 The canvass which preceded the election in August, 1834, was rather 
 a tame affair. Mr. Duncan's opponent was Mr. Kinney who had op- 
 posed Governor Reynolds in 1830, and who had served as lieutenant 
 governor with Governor Edwards from 1826 to 1830. 
 
 Mr. Duncan remained in Washington during the summer of 1834. 
 
 Vol. 113 
 
 193
 
 194 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 He carried on his canvass by sending out circulars and letters. His 
 opponent, Mr. Kinney, carried on his canvass personally, as he had in 
 previous campaigns. Duncan's vote was 17,830, while Kinney 's was 
 10,224, with 5,000 scattered. 
 
 Governor Duncan was naturally a Democrat. He had been a 
 friend to Jackson, but several things worked together to alienate him 
 from the hero of New Orleans. Jackson at the time was working the 
 destruction of the U. S. bank and in his eagerness to do this he often 
 failed to do things which would hold his friends. Mr. Duncan was very 
 much interested in two measures, one an appropriation to render navig- 
 able the Wabash river, the other an appropriation to improve the Chi- 
 cago harbor. In addition nearly every congressman was deeply inter- 
 ested in congressional aid in constructing great highways from the 
 Atlantic seaboard to the region of the Mississippi river. Jackson vetoed 
 the two bills, the one for the Wabash and the one for the Chicago har- 
 bor, and refused aid to the internal improvement scheme at national 
 expense. 
 
 By the time of the canvass, Mr. Duncan was completely at cross 
 purposes with the "Military Chieftain." And it is not at all improb- 
 able that he remained in Washington in order that he might not be 
 under the necessity of letting the people know that the breach was as 
 wide as it was in reality. The Whigs knew of the breach and so did 
 the leaders among the Jackson men, but the former kept still and the 
 latter were not believed by the great mass of Jackson men. 
 
 By the time Governor Duncan took up the duties of his position, it 
 was generally known that he was not in harmony with Jackson. And 
 although the legislature was for "Old Hickory," its members and Gov- 
 ernor Duncan seem to have had about the same general notions of what 
 was needful for the upholding of the interests of Illinois. 
 
 BANKING LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED 
 
 There were two important subjects upon which he recommended 
 legislation one was banking, the other internal improvement. On the 
 latter subject he recommended the laying out of roads now, before the 
 country was settled, so that they might run on the most direct line from 
 one point to another. In response to this suggestion the legislature auth- 
 orized the establishment of forty-two state roads and at a later special 
 session forty more. In addition, a law was passed authorizing county 
 commissioners to establish roads within the limits of their counties. 
 This public road legislation was only an earnest of what was in store 
 for the state within the next few years, and since the legislation on 
 each of these topics, banking and internal improvements, was of such 
 far reaching importance, it will be well to consider one at a time. 
 
 We have in a previous chapter followed the financial legislation up 
 to the year 1831, the expiration of the charter of the State bank, which 
 was granted in 1821. And in this we have seen that the project ended 
 very disastrously for the state. The last act in this ten-year drama 
 was to borrow $100,000 to redeem the outstanding issue of the defunct 
 bank, and anticipating that this would not be sufficient to meet the en- 
 tire obligation of the state, it was provided that the state bonds might 
 be issued bearing six per cent interest to meet the remainder. 
 
 The legislature readily agreed with the governor on the value of
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 195 
 
 banks when he said ' ' banks may be made useful in society. ' ' It should 
 be remembered that the members of the general assembly were not 
 elected with any idea that such a subject would be before them. It 
 was therefore quite a surprise to the members of the legislature, as well 
 as to the people, when they found themselves absorbing a great corpora- 
 tion with millions of capital. A bill was introduced which created a 
 State bank with a capital of $1,500,000 with the privilege of adding 
 another $1,000,000 to the first named sum if the legislature in its wis- 
 dom saw fit so to do. As a sort of offset against taxation, the bank was 
 to pay as a tax to the state one-half of one per cent of its capital actually 
 paid in, but was to be subject to no other taxation. Another bill pro- 
 vided for the charter of the old Shawneetown bank with a capital of 
 $300,000. The bill creating the State bank was passed with difficulty. 
 One representative agreed to vote for the bill if its friends would guar- 
 antee to pass a law taxing the lands held by non-residents higher than 
 that held by the citizens of the state. Another who was opposed to the 
 law creating the bank, suddenly became a convert to the bank and voted 
 for the measure, and the next day he was elected a county attorney, 
 the election to such offices falling to the legislature. 
 
 One million four hundred thousand dollars of the capital of the 
 State bank was to be subscribed by individuals while the state reserved 
 $100,000 for itself. The bank was one of issue and deposit. The bank 
 was to be managed by a board of directors consisting of nine, one of 
 whom should be president. The principal bank was to be located in 
 Springfield with a branch at Vandalia. The stock was subscribed 
 quickly, provision being made in the charter that the subscription 
 books must remain open in this state for twenty days and that $5 in 
 cash must be deposited with the subscription of each share of $100. 
 Another clause prevented any one person from subscribing for large 
 blocks of the stock, but a clique headed by some people interested in 
 Alton, got men over the state to authorize the purchase of stock by this 
 clique and then transferred these shares to the Alton boomers and in 
 this way Godfrey, Gillman & Co., of Alton, Thos. Mather, of Kaskaskia, 
 and others came to own a controlling share of the stock. 
 
 The bank management with Thos. Mather, president, attempted to 
 boost Alton as a great market and distributing point and thus to check 
 the growing power of St. Louis in the Mississippi valley. The lead 
 mines of Galena and adjacent regions were very important at this time. 
 All the trade, however, was centered in St. Louis. The Alton interest 
 invested many thousands of dollars in the mines and in their product 
 and thus "cornered" the market. They held the lead for big prices 
 which were never realized and thus the Alton concerns lost very heavily. 
 This involved the bank. Ford says he thinks the bank lost a million 
 dollars in the venture. There was one arrangement by which the bank 
 could loan on real estate mortgages and in this way hundreds and prob- 
 ably thousands of the small farmers borrowed money, put it into im- 
 provements, and when the hard times of 1837 came they could not meet 
 their notes and their farms were taken in by the bank and sold under 
 the hammer. 
 
 UNITED STATES AND STATE BANKS 
 
 Of course a great concern like this State bank could not escape an 
 alliance with politics. Politics and business are so often joined that it
 
 By courtesy of John M. Lansden 
 
 BILLS ISSUED BY THE CAIRO BANK, BEARING DATES 1839, 1840 AND 1841. 
 THE BANK WAS LOCATED IN KASKASKIA
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 197 
 
 is a rare thing to see a business enterprise that does not get caught in 
 the toils of the politicians. The period through which we are now pass- 
 ing, say from 1830 to 1837, was one fraught with a vital national ques- 
 tion. Jackson was uncompromisingly opposed to the United States 
 bank, chartered in 1816. "When he became President in 1829, one of his 
 chief aims was to crush this bank. Not much was accomplished in the 
 first term, but a bill to re-charter the bank was vetoed by Jackson, and 
 the congress was unable to pass it over his head. Those who could 
 look ahead saw that the days of banking with the United States as a co- 
 partner were numbered. State banks must eventually carry on the 
 business of the country. There was, therefore, great activity in legis- 
 lation in all the states preparatory to the death of the old U. S. Bank 
 in 1836. To hasten the demise of the U. S. Bank, Jackson, taking ad- 
 vantage of a clause in the charter which permitted the secretary of the 
 treasury to withdraw the deposits of the general government from the 
 U. S. Bank, and put them in State banks, issued an order to carry this 
 contingent clause into effect. 
 
 The State banks now looked hopefully forward to the receipt of 
 large sums of government deposits in their vaults. The State bank of 
 Illinois was no exception. But as is so often the case, a very trifling 
 thing, apparently, prevented this bank from sharing in the "distribu- 
 tion of the spoils." 
 
 In the general assembly when this bill was on the passage, there was 
 no division on politics. The bill was prepared by Judge Theophilus 
 Smith, of the supreme bench. Judge Smith was an ardent Jackson 
 Democrat and of course was a strong believer in state banks. But in 
 the organization of the State Bank of Illinois it so happened that a 
 majority of the directors were Whigs, as were also the majority of its 
 officers. The leading Democrats of the state did not hesitate to say 
 now that the charter was unconstitutional. So when the bank asked 
 the secretary of the treasury for a deposit of a portion of the govern- 
 ment funds, the Democratic leaders had so poisoned the minds of the 
 treasury officials at Washington, that they refused to favor the mana- 
 ger of the bank with a deposit. 
 
 Just at this time, too, it will be remembered that Jackson put forth 
 what we know as the "Specie Circular," which was an order that re- 
 ceivers at the land offices were to receive no more state bank issues 
 only gold and silver. This made it necessary if a man had $200 in 
 state bank issue, and wished to enter 160 acres of land, that he should 
 go to the bank and present this paper for redemption, and with the 
 specie he could enter the land. And when the receiver at the public 
 land office received the $200 in specie, he was not allowed to deposit 
 it in the State Bank of Illinois, but must forward it to some state bank 
 that was in good standing. This worked, as a recent statesman said, in 
 the "endless chain" order. The specie was constantly being drawn 
 from the bank vaults. 
 
 REDEMPTION EXTENSION 
 
 On December 7, 1835, the legislature met in special session. The 
 law which provided for the loan of $500,000 on the canal could not be 
 consummated. So at this extra session a loan of five hundred thousand 
 dollars was ordered on the credit of the state. The governor at this
 
 198 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 extra session recommended that the state take the remaining one million 
 dollars of the stock in the State Bank. The legislature did not take 
 kindly to this, but did order a subscription to the one hundred thousand 
 dollars of stock reserved for the state in the charter. A clause in the 
 original charter provided that at any time upon presentation of its issue 
 by holders thereof, the bank should have ten days in which to redeem it, 
 but at this special session the time was lengthened to sixty days. 
 
 When the legislature met in December, 1836, the makeup of the 
 two houses was not different from that of the previous general assem- 
 bly, but they were now deeply interested in what appeared to be the 
 onward movement of the state. The capital of the State Bank was in- 
 creased to $3,500,000 and that of the Bank of Illinois (the bank at 
 Shawneetown) was increased to $1,700,000. This increase in capital 
 amounted to $3,100,000, all of which was taken by the state. It was 
 expected that part of this stock would be paid for out of the surplus 
 revenue which the general government was distributing about this time. 
 The balance was to be paid for with the sale of state bonds. 
 
 The whole financial interest of the state was now put into the hands 
 of a body of men known as the fund commissioners. These fund com- 
 missioners were authorized to subscribe, on behalf of the state, for this 
 increase in the capital stock of the two banks. The increase amounted 
 to $3,100,000. The state had now become a bona fide partner in the 
 two banks and owned a controlling interest in each of them. It was 
 expected that the bonds which would be offered for sale, the proceeds 
 of which were pay for the stock, would command such a premium, at 
 least ten per cent, that it would not only pay the interest on the bonds 
 the first year, but that the interest fund would be considerably en- 
 larged. Likewise it was really believed that the profit from the invest- 
 ment of over three millions in the bank would add greatly to the inter- 
 est fund. 
 
 When the fund commissioners offered the bonds on the market they 
 could not be sold at a premium nor at par, and if sold at all they must 
 be sold at a discount. Rather than have our own bonds go on the mar- 
 ket at a discount, the two banks agreed to take $2,665,000 worth of 
 them. 
 
 The Shawneetown bank, called the Bank of Illinois, effected the sale 
 of $900,000 worth of the bonds, but the $1,766,000 worth taken by the 
 State Bank could not be disposed of. In the spring of 1837 the banks of 
 the whole country began to suspend specie payment. The state bank 
 law contained a clause which provided that its charter should be for- 
 feited in case it suspended specie payment for more than sixty days 
 at any one time. The demands for specie grew and the situation was 
 getting critical. 
 
 SUSPENSION OF SPECIE PAYMENTS 
 
 The State Bank had now become so closely connected with the inter- 
 ests of the state, it being the depository of the funds of the gigantic 
 internal improvement schemes, that the state must maintain it at all 
 hazards. If the bank should go down so must the state's great enter- 
 prises. In this critical situation the fund commissioners appealed to 
 the governor to call an extra session of the legislature for the purpose 
 of legalizing the suspension of specie payment. The governor readily
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 199 
 
 complied with their request and on the 10th of July, 1837, the legisla- 
 ture convened in extra session. The legislature also readily complied 
 with the demand for the legalization of the suspension of specie pay- 
 ment. The governor now embraced the opportunity to appeal to the 
 law makers to repeal the legislation which was driving the state to 
 financial ruin, but all in vain ; the legislature had set itself to the task 
 of putting Illinois in the front rank in the matter of its internal im- 
 provements. "It was plain that nothing could be done to arrest the 
 evil for two years more. In the meantime all considerate persons hoped 
 the public insanity would subside, that the people would wake to re- 
 flection and see the absurdity of the public policy." 
 
 It was now necessary that the bank should go into politics. Self- 
 preservation was justification. In national politics the Jackson Demo- 
 crats had persistently opposed the U. S. Bank and favored the State 
 Bank. The Whigs, or those anti-Jackson Democrats who eventually 
 made up the Whig party, favored the U. S. Bank and opposed the State 
 Bank. But in Illinois the rule seemed to work the other way, for the 
 anti-Jackson people or the Whigs favored the State Bank, while the 
 Democrats or Jackson people were bitterly opposed to it. It was there- 
 fore quite natural for the bank to take such part in the legislation as 
 would result in advantage to itself. Not only was the bank involved in 
 politics but its life seemed to depend upon continuing the far reaching 
 projects for internal improvements. 
 
 It is very difficult to trace the bank from 1837 to its downfall on 
 account of its intricate relationship with the internal improvement 
 schemes. However, in a session of the legislature, which met in Decem- 
 ber, 1838, a law was passed which legalized the suspension of specie pay- 
 ment till the end of the next regular or special session of the legislature. 
 The next session was a special session called just before the constitu- 
 tional time for the assembling of the legislature in regular session. In. 
 this special as well as in the regular session which followed there was a 
 very bitter fight on the State Bank. The enemies of the bank knew that 
 if the law permitting suspension were not extended that the charter of 
 the bank would be annulled since they knew the bank was not able to 
 redeem its issue as fast as presented. If a sine die adjournment be 
 taken at end of special session, then the charter would be annulled, but 
 if they took a recess and began the regular session the friends might 
 succeed in tiding it over. Those in favor of the sine die adjournment 
 seemed to be in the majority, and to break a quorum the members who 
 were against that kind of adjournment made a break for liberty by 
 jumping through the windows, the door having been locked. This inci- 
 dent occurred while the sessions were being held in the old Presbyterian 
 church in Springfield, the capital having been removed to that city, 
 and the new capitol building not being ready for occupancy. Enough 
 of the Whigs were prevented from escaping by the opponents of the 
 bank and a sine die adjournment was taken. 
 
 Notwithstanding this apparent victory of the enemies of the bank, 
 in the regular session beginning December, 1840, the bank won the 
 good will of the majority and considerable legislation was passed which 
 favored it.
 
 200 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 STATE BANK IN LIQUIDATION 
 
 In 1843 the legislature passed a law ' ' to diminish the state debt and 
 put the State Bank into liquidation.". The bank was given four years 
 to wind up its business. Now the State Bank held $2,000,000 worth of 
 bonds and other forms of state indebtedness, while the state held $2,- 
 000,000 of stock in the State Bank. 
 
 This law to "diminish the state debt, etc.," provided that the bank 
 should turn over to the governor the bonds, scrip, etc., to the amount 
 of $2,050,000, while the governor was to deliver to the bank an equal 
 amount of bank stock. This still left the state with $50,000 worth of 
 bank stock. A similar law provided for the cancellation of $1,000,000 
 worth of state bonds held by the Shawneetown bank by surrendering 
 $1,000,000 worth of stock in that bank. Thus the state reduced its 
 indebtedness to the extent of $3,050,000. 
 
 Much of the history of the banking business in Illinois cannot be 
 condensed into a single volume history of our state, and we must con- 
 tent ourselves with the foregoing facts which give the general features 
 of a very unfortunate system of financiering. 
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 In subjects so organically connected with the whole life of the people 
 as roads, bridges, railroads, canals, and banks, it is extremely difficult 
 to find the origin of any one of them. The fact is there is no formal be- 
 ginning. Roads and trails were the earliest care of the permanent set- 
 tlers. Fords, ferries, and bridges were provided at a very early date. 
 But it is probably due to Governor Reynolds -to say that he is to be 
 given credit for first calling the attention of the legislature to the need 
 of internal improvement. Governor Reynolds, in his inaugural mes- 
 sage, transmitted to the general assembly in December, 1830, had this 
 to say on the general subject of internal improvement: 
 
 "The internal improvement of the country demands, and will re- 
 ceive your particular attention. There cannot be an appropriation of 
 money within the exercise of your legislative power, that will be more 
 richly paid to the citizen, than that for the improvement of the coun- 
 try." 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 Governor Reynolds was clearly of opinion that the general govern- 
 ment ought to carry on a system of national improvements, but he was 
 as clearly of opinion that there were certain local improvements that 
 ought to be fostered by the state. He urged attention to the report of 
 the canal commissioners and hoped that the attention of congress might 
 be directed to the national importance of the enterprise. "The im- 
 provement of the navigation of the rivers adjoining and within this 
 state, will be the subject of your serious consideration. Those improve- 
 ments which are local to our state will receive your fostering care, so 
 far as our means will justify without embarrassment to our people. 
 The general good of the present and future population seems to require 
 the permanent establishment of three public roads in this state extend- 
 ing from its southern to its northern limits. (1) One to commence on
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 201 
 
 the Ohio river near its junction with the Mississippi, and extending 
 north, on the western side of the state, by the principal towns on the 
 most direct route to Galena. (2) Another to commence at Shawnee- 
 town passing north, through the center of the state, to accommodate the 
 present and future population, to the lead mines. (3) And one other, 
 to commence on the Wabash river, near its confluence with the Ohio, 
 passing through the principal towns on the eastern side of the state by 
 Danville to Chicago, and thence to the lead mines. ' ' 
 
 Governor Reynolds believed the general government might be in- 
 duced to construct them and that then the counties might be required 
 to keep them in repair. His idea was that a good road passing through 
 an undeveloped region would be a very potent factor in the develop- 
 ment of such a section. He specially called attention to the road lead- 
 ing from Vincennes through the state to St. Louis, saying it was much 
 travelled. 
 
 A careful study of the above modest recommendation and simple 
 suggestions will prepare us to some extent to begin a thorough study 
 of "Internal Improvement" as it was known in later years. 
 
 Governor Duncan was inaugurated in December, 1834. The effects 
 of the Black Hawk war were disappearing and population was moving 
 rapidly into the northern counties. Governor Duncan was specially 
 interested in a public school system, in the Illinois and Michigan canal, 
 and in a system of internal improvement. No action on this last sug- 
 gestion was taken by the legislature of 1834-5. The second session of 
 this general assembly convened in December, 1835, and to this special 
 session Governor Duncan sent his message. In it he says there is a 
 very general demand for other internal improvements besides the 
 canal. "When we look abroad and see the extensive lines of inter-com- 
 munication penetrating almost every section of our western states, 
 when we see the canal boat and locomotive bearing, with seeming tri- 
 umph, the rich productions of the interior to the rivers, lakes and ocean, 
 almost annihilating time, burthep, and space, what patriotic bosom does 
 not beat high with a laudable ambition to give Illinois her full share of 
 those advantages which are adorning her sister states and which her 
 magnificent providence seems to invite by the wonderful adaptation of 
 the whole country to such improvements." And then, as if fearful 
 that this oratory would overcome their conservatism, he adds: "While 
 I would urge the most liberal support of all such measures as tending 
 with perfect certainty to increase the wealth and prosperity of the 
 state, I would at the same time most respectfully suggest the propriety of 
 leaving the construction of all such works wherein it can be done con- 
 sistently with the general interest, to individual enterprise. ' ' This was 
 indeed wholesome advice and had it been taken the state would have 
 greatly profited thereby. But internal improvement was in the air. 
 The subject was receiving unusual interest in Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 New York and Maryland. In 1835 there were twenty-two railroads in 
 operation in the United States, two of which were west of the Alle- 
 ghanies. In addition there were several canals, beside the great Erie 
 canal. 
 
 The members of the legislature were not yet converted to the theory 
 of state ownership of public utilities, and so they did no more than to 
 charter a great number of railroads, but they did come to the relief of 
 the canal and ordered the issue of half a million dollars worth of bonds
 
 202 HISTOKY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 on the credit of the state for the purpose of furthering this enterprise. 
 The message of the governor seems later to have awakened great inter- 
 est in internal improvement. 
 
 The city of Chicago was now growing with amazing rapidity. The 
 lots which were a part of the capital of the canal project were bring- 
 ing big prices and selling freely. The state was taking on the same 
 spirit of enterprise. Towns and cities were laid off and the lots sold 
 at auction for extravagant prices. Five million dollars worth of land 
 was sold in the year 1836. This meant increased immigration and an 
 abundant inflow of money into the state. All the people were full of 
 the idea of a great expansion of population, business, and wealth. All 
 through the summer of 1836, there were all sorts of stories afloat in 
 the air of what was just ahead, and to keep pace with this the need 
 and advantages of a system of internal improvement were discussed 
 everywhere. 
 
 It was argued that Illinois is unsurpassed in fertility of soil, in va- 
 riety of climate, and agricultural products; timber was plentiful, all 
 that was needed was distribution. Her situation relative to the Lakes 
 and the Mississippi was superior to that of any other state west of the 
 Alleghanies. All that was needed was more people and more enter- 
 prises. Public meetings were held in which all these facts were dis- 
 cussed. 
 
 A move was eventually set on foot for a state convention which was 
 appointed to meet in Vandalia at the time of the meeting of the legisla- 
 ture early in December, 1836. Delegates were appointed from the sev- 
 eral counties and much interest was manifested. 
 
 A new legislature was also to be elected in August, 1836, and as 
 the candidates for the legislature went about among the people or 
 spoke from public platforms, the subject of internal improvement was 
 more or less discussed. Another matter which added fuel to the flames 
 already started was the beginning of the work on the Illinois and 
 Michigan Canal. On July 4, 1836, the first ground was broken in Chi- 
 cago on this famous waterway. The event was accompanied by a public 
 celebration in Chicago. The Hon. Theophilus W. Smith, a former canal 
 commissioner, read the Declaration of Independence ; and Dr. William 
 B. Egan delivered an able and appropriate address on the occasion. 
 
 Ford in his history of Illinois, says, however, that the great mass of 
 the people and more particularly those who resided in the country were 
 not in the whirl of excitement. It was chiefly in the towns that the 
 people were wrought up. 
 
 The legislature met the first part of December, and at the same time 
 the convention to consider internal improvements assembled at Van- 
 dalia. The make-up of the legislature was quite remarkable. Among 
 those elected to this general assembly, one became president, one a de- 
 feated candidate for the same office, six became United States senators, 
 eight congressmen, three state supreme judges, and still others reached 
 high state and national positions. Many members of the legislature 
 took part in the deliberations of the internal improvement convention. 
 This convention soon finished its business and adjourned. The result 
 of its deliberations were, first, a bill which it was expected some friend 
 would introduce into the legislature ; and second, a memorial or plea 
 setting forth the advantages, costs, incomes, etc., of this improvement 
 venture. In addition, the convention selected a lobbying committee that
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 203 
 
 should remain in Vandalia during the session and see that timid mem- 
 bers did not fail to do their duty. 
 
 The governor's message was a conservative document for such times. 
 He was heartily in favor of the idea of internal improvements, but was 
 quite doubtful as to the advisability of the state's undertaking the en- 
 tire financial obligation. He was willing that the state should assume 
 a third or a half of the responsibility but was not favorable to the as- 
 sumption of the whole burden by the state. 
 
 After the session was fairly open, the bill prepared by the conven- 
 tion and the accompanying memorial were presented to the house. Reso- 
 lutions were introduced by Stephen A. Douglas favoring state owner- 
 ship. The subject was referred to the committee on internal improve- 
 ment, the chairman ,of which was Edward Smith, of Wabash county. 
 
 BILL PASSED OVER GOVERNOR'S VETO 
 
 The bill which had been kindly prepared by the convention and pre- 
 sented to the legislature for its endorsement and modification by the 
 house, provided for the following internal improvements, and set aside 
 the amounts opposite for the carrying out of the same : 
 
 Improvement of the Wabash, the Illinois, Rock river, Kas- 
 
 kaskia, and Little Wabash, and Western Mail Route $ 400,000 
 
 Railroad, Vincennes to St. Louis 250,000 
 
 Railroad, Cairo to Galena 3,500,000 
 
 Railroad, Alton to Mt. Carmel 1,600,000 
 
 Railroad, Quincy to Indiana line 1,800,000 
 
 Railroad, Shelbyville to Terre Haute 650,000 
 
 Railroad, Peoria to Warsaw 700,000 
 
 Railroad, Alton to Central Railroad 600,000 
 
 Railroad, Belleville to Mt. Carmel 150,000 
 
 Railroad, Bloomington to Pekin 350,000 
 
 To pacify disappointed counties 200,000 
 
 Total $10,200.000 
 
 This bill which provided for the construction of so many railroads, 
 was sent to the governor, who, together with the council of revision, 
 vetoed the measure. But when it came back to the general assembly it 
 was speedily passed over the veto. This bill which looked to the bur- 
 dening of the state to the amount of over ten millions of dollars was not 
 the only measure of importance before the legislature. There were at 
 least three other important matters that must be considered. They 
 were, a bill to increase the capital stock of the state bank $2,000,000, 
 and that of the Shawneetown bank $1,400,000 ; a proposition to re-locate 
 the state capital ; and also a proposition to enlarge the issue of bonds 
 for the completion of the Illinois and Michigan canal. These four 
 measures were fraught with grave consequences to the future of the 
 state. 
 
 CAPITAL REMOVED TO SPRINGFIELD 
 
 It can be readily seen that in this session of the legislature there 
 will be conflict of interest, and it will only be by considerable amount 
 of "swapping" of votes that the several measures can be carried. For
 
 204 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 instance, the delegation from Sangamon county consisted of nine men, 
 two in the senate and seven in the house. They had been instructed to 
 vote for internal improvement, but more especially to secure the removal 
 of the state capital, and to secure its location in Springfield. This lat- 
 ter problem had been intrusted to Lincoln, who, it seems performed 
 his task with eminent success. When the vote was finally reached 
 Springfield, Jacksonville, Vandalia, Peoria, Alton, Illiopolis, besides 
 smaller towns, were candidates for the honor. Four ballots were taken 
 before the selection was finally made. 
 
 Springfield was selected and every one recognized the fine hand of 
 Abraham Lincoln in the result. In a later session of the legislature 
 charges were informally preferred against the "Long Nine" who, it 
 was claimed, had secured the removal of the capital to Springfield 
 through corrupt means. But probably nothing worse was done than to 
 
 THE FIRST STATE HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD. Now COURTHOUSE OP 
 SANGAMON COUNTY 
 
 "swap" votes with some of the members who were not getting out of 
 the internal improvement scheme as much as they thought they ought 
 to have. The names of the group of men known as the "Long Nine," 
 were A. G. Herndon and Job Fletcher, in the senate ; in the house, 
 Abraham Lincoln, Ninian W. Edwards, John Dawson, Andrew McCor- 
 mick, Dan Stone, William F. Elkins, and Robert L. Wilson. Their total 
 height was fifty-four feet averaging exactly six feet each. 
 
 We have digressed from the improvement scheme in order to call 
 attention to the removal of the capital; and now let us return to the 
 main subject. The improvement bill as reported, amended, and passed, 
 contemplated the expenditure of considerably more than $10,000,000. 
 
 This money was to be raised by issuing bonds which it was confi- 
 dently expected would sell at a handsome premium. General Linder, 
 who, in later years, wrote reminiscences of this period, says: "The en- 
 thusiastic friends of the measure maintained that, instead of there 
 being any difficulty in obtaining a loan of fifteen or twenty millions 
 authorized to be borrowed, our bonds would go like hot cakes and be 
 sought after by the Rothschilds and Baring brothers, and others of 
 that stamp ; and that the premiums which we should obtain from them
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 205 
 
 would range from fifty to one hundred per cent and that the premium 
 itself would be sufficient to construct most of the important works, 
 leaving the principal sum to go into our treasury and leave the people 
 free from taxation for ages to come." 
 
 ALSO PASSED OVER COUNCIL'S VETO 
 
 When this bill for internal improvement reached the council of 
 revision, it was promptly disapproved and the bill was returned to the 
 house. The council stated that "such works can only be made safely 
 and economically in a free government, by citizens or by independent 
 corporations, aided or authorized by the government." But the bill 
 rejected by the council of revision was passed by both houses of the leg- 
 islature and there was nothing left for the governor to do but to carry 
 it into effect according to its own provision. 
 
 The act provided for the appointment of a board of three fund 
 commissioners, who should negotiate all loans, sign and deliver bonds, 
 and have charge of all moneys which should be received therefor. They 
 should also pay out this money upon the proper orders. The law pro- 
 vided that these fund commissioners should be "practical and experi- 
 enced financiers. ' ' The three men selected by the legislature to fill these 
 responsible places were Charles Oakley, M. M. Rawlings, and Thomas 
 Mather. There was another board created, known as the board of pub- 
 lic works, consisting of seven members, one from each judicial district. 
 It was the duty of this board to locate, superintend, and construct all 
 public works except the canal which was in the hands of a commission 
 of three. The first board of public works consisted of Murray McCon- 
 nell, William Kinney, Elijah Willard, Milton K. Alexander, Joel 
 Wright, James W. Stephenson, and Ebenezer Peck. 
 
 In the summer of 1837 the fund commissioners went to their task of 
 issuing bonds and offering them for sale. With the help of the old 
 United States Bank, which was at that time winding up its business, 
 they were able to place a considerable quantity of the bonds at par. 
 This money was now at the disposal of the board of public works and 
 the improvements were begun in many places. This was the beginning 
 of a very flourishing period. 
 
 Money became plentiful, work was abundant, and hopes were high. 
 Just at this time the financial crash which followed Jackson's term of 
 office, was coming on and the fund commissioners were not able to place 
 any more bonds in this country at par, and in London they could only 
 be placed at nine per cent discount. It is said that this coming finan- 
 cial crash was hopefully looked to by the opponents of the internal im- 
 provement plan as a means of stopping the wild schemes of the "sys- 
 tem. ' ' But in spite of the hard times which were approaching the fund 
 commissioners secured cash to the amount of $5,668,000 by December, 
 1838. 
 
 The legislature that had projected these vast schemes of improve- 
 ment had hardly adjourned in the early summer of 1837 when the mem- 
 bers were called in extra session to legalize the suspension of specie 
 payment by the State Bank. At the opening of this special session 
 which met July 10, 1837, the governor in his message very earnestly 
 recommended the repeal of the internal improvement legislation which 
 had just passed at the previous sitting of the legislature. He said that
 
 206 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the disasters which had already fallen upon the commercial world sug- 
 gested the necessity of escaping from the perils of a system which could 
 only be fraught with evil. But the legislature paid no heed to this 
 wholesome advice. All through the year 1837-8 the fund commissioners 
 were busy negotiating loans.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 MARTYRDOM OP LOVEJOY 
 
 SLAVERY IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS AGITATION BY ABOLITION- 
 ISTS AND NEWSPAPERS A MORAL HERO LOVEJOY BECOMES AN EDI- 
 TOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT "OBSERVER" MOVED TO ALTON MOB 
 DESTROYS PRESSES LOVEJOY A MARTYR 
 
 A very large share of the history of Illinois is inseparably con- 
 nected with the subject of slavery. It has already been shown that 
 slavery existed in what is now the state of Illinois, since the coming 
 of Phillip Renault in 1719. The French slaves were the negroes and 
 mulattoes whose ancestors were those Guinea negroes brought from 
 the West Indies, by Renault in the above mentioned year. In the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century and the first part of the nine- 
 teenth, slavery existed in Illinois, by what was known as the 
 indenture laws. 
 
 SLAVERY IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS 
 
 In 1818 in the constitutional convention, slavery was a subject 
 which engaged the most earnest and thoughtful attention of the dele- 
 gates. In 1820-3 the Missouri Compromise, although a national mat- 
 ter, came close to the political life of Illinois. The senators in con- 
 gress from Illinois did all they could to further the interests of slavery 
 in that great contest. From 1820 to 1824 the state was a seething 
 cauldron of bitterness and strife over the question of introducing 
 slavery into Illinois by constitutional enactment. Locally, the slavery 
 question was not prominent in Illinois for several years after the 
 great convention struggle in 1824. But from 1830 to 1840 the sub- 
 ject was constantly before the national congress and the public mind 
 was greatly agitated by the discussions in and out of the halls of 
 national legislation. 
 
 It has been said that the Missouri Compromise greatly pacified the 
 public mind on the slavery question. It may have done so for a short 
 space of time, but the pacification was in no sense a permanent one. 
 In fact public sentiment in neither north nor south was crystallized 
 as early as 1830. In the year 1826, it is said more than a hundred 
 anti-slavery societies existed in the slave states, and this number is 
 said to have been three times as many as existed in the north. 
 
 The agitation of the slavery question by such publications as those 
 by Lundy, Birney, and Garrison, resulted in the formation of the Na- 
 tional Anti-Slavery Society in Philadelphia in 1833. This society be- 
 
 207
 
 208 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 gan an active campaign for the abolition of slavery. They sent 
 pamphlets, hand bills, and newspapers broadcast into slave territory. 
 This greatly incensed the slave holders and their friends. In New 
 York the postmaster took from the mail, anti-slavery matter and de- 
 stroyed it. So also did the postmaster at Charleston, South Carolina. 
 This conduct was reported to the postmaster general, Amos Kendall, 
 and he approved of this open violation of the law. Andrew Jackson, 
 in his message to congress, asked that congress might pass a law 
 which would prevent the passage "through the mails of incendiary 
 publications intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection." Anti- 
 slavery meetings were broken up in many northern cities by those 
 who bitterly opposed any agitation of the abolition question. 
 
 Earnest appeals from the south came to the north to suppress the 
 abolitionists. But those in authority could do no more than to stand 
 by the first amendment to the Constitution which says, "Congress 
 shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." 
 Public assemblies and free speech are thus guaranteed and no legis- 
 lation can in any way abridge them. From these anti-slavery societies 
 and other organizations there poured into congress hundreds of peti- 
 tions praying for some legislation looking to the relief of the slave. 
 All means which the friends of slavery in the north had tried in the 
 early days of the conflict to check the growing anti-slavery sentiment, 
 had failed. They thought there was at least one means which would 
 annihilate the abolitionists. This last resort was violence. "Violence 
 was the essential element in slavery violence was the law of its be- 
 ing. " This violence was directed against individuals, assemblies and 
 the press. 
 
 There was a lack of unity, as to the means existing among the 
 anti-slavery people of the north, and men upon whose souls lay the 
 great burden which the nation itself ought to have cheerfully lifted, 
 were in no sense fully agreed upon the final end and aim of their 
 struggle. "It was fashionable to stigmatize them as ultra pragmatic, 
 and angular, and to hold up their differences and divisions as a foil 
 and shield against the arguments and appeals. Thousands consoled 
 and defended themselves in their inaction because anti-slavery men 
 were not agreed among themselves." But while there was a lack of 
 unity in method, there was at least a line of cleavage which separated 
 the anti-slavery people into two great classes. In one class were those 
 who believed that the end whatever it might be was to be reached 
 through constitutional legislation. These men might be called con- 
 servatives. They were fully persuaded that their friends in the other 
 class were not safe in their counsel. These men were found in the 
 two parties then recognized or soon to be recognized the Whig and 
 the Democratic. They hoped to reach the end they cherished by 
 faithful effort within their respective political party organizations. 
 This class of public men who held to the idea of political action as 
 the cure for the ills of slavery eventually made up the "Liberty 
 Party." 
 
 AGITATION BY ABOLITIONISTS AND NEWSPAPERS 
 
 In the other classes were those men who were not willing to wait 
 for the long deferred day when the curse of slavery should be de-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 209 
 
 stroyed by the slow process of legislation. For they knew that any 
 legislation not the outgrowth of public sentiment would be a dead 
 letter upon the statute books. Legislation must follow public senti- 
 ment, not create it. And to the men of the Garrison cast there was 
 no sign of the growth of a sentiment in the south, by 1835 or there- 
 abouts, that had any ray of hope as to the final extinction of slavery. 
 The fact was that by 1835 the public men of the south who had for- 
 merly favored some form of abolition were now bitterly opposed to 
 any effort along that line. This restless class was known as the ' ' Gar- 
 rison Abolitionists." They were the radicals. Their fundamental 
 doctrines were "no union with slave holders," and "the United States 
 Constitution is a covenant with death and an agreement with hell!" 
 There never was any doubt as to the sincerity of purpose of these 
 "Garrison Abolitionists." Nor must we imagine that they were 
 fanatics. They were men of great power and consecration. They 
 belonged to that class to whom the world pays homage. They are the 
 men for whom we erect monuments. They are the men and women 
 whose birthplaces we search out and whose homes, though humble, 
 we mark with tablets of bronze and marble. They are they whose 
 lives are a benediction and whose death is a national calamity. True 
 these men were iconoclasts, they were revolutionists, they would not 
 be limited by any law constitutional or legislative which was antago- 
 nistic to the law of conscience. They openly preached disunion. They 
 did not hesitate to state their "unalterable purpose and determina- 
 tion to live and labor for the dissolution of the present union by all 
 lawful and just, though bloodless and pacific means, and for the for- 
 mation of a new republic, that shall be such not in name only, but in 
 full living reality and truth." 
 
 Believing in free speech and in a free press, they made use of both 
 to spread their ideas and win many to their cause. True, in those days 
 the newspaper was an infant compared with the great newspapers of 
 today. Not only were the papers small in size, but their influence was 
 very much limited by the very small numbers reached by their circula- 
 tion. All the papers which plead the cause of the ' ' Garrison Abolition- 
 ists" were poorly supported financially. 
 
 Among these newspapers the reading public is quite familiar with 
 Lundy's Genius of Universal Emancipation, Garrison's Liberator, The 
 Philanthropist, the Emancipator, and the Alton Observer. 
 
 The spirit of violence above referred to which Mr. Henry Wilson in 
 his "Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America," calls the funda- 
 mental idea in slavery, began now to spend its fury on these news- 
 papers, presses, and their editors. We are now in a position to under- 
 stand the life-work and the martyrdom of the editor of the Alton Ob- 
 server. 
 
 A MORAL HERO 
 
 Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born in Albion, Kennebec county, Maine, 
 November 8, 1802. He was the oldest of a family of nine, seven sons 
 and two daughters. His father, the Rev. Daniel Lovejoy, was a Congre- 
 gational minister, and his mother was a Miss Elizabeth Pattee, a lady 
 of excellent standing in that section. 
 
 There is nothing to record of this young New England scion that
 
 210 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 may not be said of another Yankee boy, unless it may be that he was un- 
 usually precocious. He could read the Bible fluently at the age of four 
 years. He spent his early years on the farm, and all the time that could 
 be spared from the work was diligently applied upon his books. The fact 
 that his father was a scholarly gentleman and his mother a lady of cult- 
 ure explains why young Lovejoy made very rapid progress in his edu- 
 cation. 
 
 His preparatory courses were taken in two academies near his home, 
 and later he entered Waterville College. From this institution he grad- 
 uated with the honors of his class in 1826. He was somewhat given to 
 athletic sports and was greatly admired by his fellow students, for his 
 manly bearing and his gentlemanly deportment. While in college he 
 produced quite a little poetry and one production was of considerable 
 merit, the ' ' Inspiration of the Muse. ' ' In later years while in St. Louis 
 he penned a short poem which was published in the St. Louis Times of 
 which he was assistant editor. This seems to prophesy his sad taking 
 off. One stanza read as follows : 
 
 My Mother, I am far away 
 
 Prom home and love and thee, 
 And stranger hands may heap the clay 
 
 That soon may cover me. 
 
 After graduation from college he taught school in his native state 
 and then catching the fever of immigration, he left his home, his people, 
 and his native haunts and turned his course westward whence were 
 coming such thrilling stories of adventures, opportunity, and sacrifice. 
 Whether or not he purposed coming to the growing city of St. Louis 
 when he started is not stated, suffice it to say he reached that place in 
 the fall of 1827. He engaged in the business of teaching, and during 
 his leisure hours he studied, wrote letters back to his home, and fur- 
 nished articles for the Missouri Republican. Some time in 1828 he be- 
 came connected with the St. Louis Times as contributor or possibly as 
 staff correspondent. This was a Whig paper and supported Henry 
 Clay for the presidency, and Mr. Lovejoy was regarded as one who had 
 vigorously championed the cause of the great Whig leader. 
 
 In the great revival in St. Louis in the winter of 1831-2, Mr. Love- 
 joy united with the Presbyterian church of that city, the pastor at that 
 time being the Rev. Dr. W. S. Potts. Being naturally seriously minded, 
 he felt he ought to give his life to the ministry, and he was therefore 
 more easily prevailed upon by his pastor to enter the theological semi- 
 nary at Princeton, New Jersey, in the spring of 1832. Here he re- 
 mained one year, after which he was licensed to preach by the Second 
 Presbyterian church of Philadelphia. He spent the summer of 1832 in 
 New York and other eastern cities and in the fall of that year he re- 
 turned to St. Louis. 
 
 LOVEJOY BECOMES AN EDITOR 
 
 Lovejoy was now prevailed upon to begin the publication of a 
 weekly religious newspaper. Friends furnished the necessary means, 
 and the first number of the St. Louis' Observer was issued November 22, 
 1832. The editorial and business management of the paper occupied 
 his time quite fully, yet he found time to preach often in adjoining lo-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 211 
 
 calities. As early as 1834 he began to discuss editorially the subject 
 of slavery. From these editorials we gather that he was not an aboli- 
 tionist. In one issue of his paper he says: "Gradual emancipation is 
 the remedy we propose. ... In the meantime the rights of all 
 classes of our citizens should be respected." In a later issue he pro- 
 poses this question: "How and by whom is emancipation to be ef- 
 fected ? by the masters themselves and no others can effect it ; nor is it 
 desirable that they should even if they could. Emancipation, to be of 
 any value to the slaves, must be the free, voluntary act of the master, 
 performed from a conviction of its propriety." From these extracts it 
 would not appear that Lovejoy was a writer whose pen poisoned the ink 
 into which he dipped it. On the other hand it seems to us at this time 
 that such expressions were very mild, to say the least. 
 
 But these expressions were distasteful to many of his readers, and 
 to many more they evidently appeared ill-timed ; for on October 5, 1835, 
 nine prominent men, among whom was his former pastor, the Rev. Dr. 
 Potts, presented Lovejoy a written statement in which they begged 
 him to cease the slavery agitation. They warned him that many threats 
 of violence were heard and they greatly feared for his personal safety 
 and for that of his property. Lovejoy appears not to have returned a 
 written reply to this letter, but he seems to have taken pains to pre- 
 serve it, for on October 24, 1837, more than two years later and just 
 shortly before his death, he endorsed this letter as follows: "I did not 
 yield to the wishes here expressed, and in consequence have been per- 
 secuted ever since. But I have kept a good conscience, and that repays 
 me for all I have suffered, or can suffer. I have sworn eternal opposi- 
 tion to slavery, and by the blessings of God, I will never go back." 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT 
 
 While it is probable that Lovejoy did not formally reply to his nine 
 friends, in an issue of the Observer shortly following the receipt of the 
 admonition, he presented his views on the question of slavery, and 
 claimed protection in the utterance of his position on the subject, since 
 the constitution of Missouri says: "That the free communication of 
 thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man, and that 
 every person may freely speak, write, and print on any subject being 
 responsible for the abuse of that liberty." He closed this appeal to 
 the people with the following declaration : 
 
 I do, therefore, as an American citizen and Christian patriot, and 
 in the name of liberty, law and religion, solemnly protest against all 
 these attempts, howsoever and by whomsoever made, to frown down 
 the liberty of the press and forbid the free expression of opinion. Un- 
 der a deep sense of obligation to my country, the church, and my God, 
 I declare it to be my fixed purpose to submit to no such dictation. And 
 I am prepared to abide by consequences. I have appealed to the con- 
 stitution and laws of my country. If they fail to protect me, I appeal 
 to God and with Him I cheerfully rest my cause. 
 
 "OBSERVER" MOVED TO ALTON 
 
 The public mind became more and more disturbed and the proprie- 
 tors of the Observer asked Lovejoy to resign as editor and business
 
 212 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 manager. This he cheerfully did. The plant had not been a paying in- 
 vestment and it was turned over to a Mr. Moore who seemed to be finan- 
 cially responsible for a debt soon to fall due. Mr. Moore, who was now 
 owner, asked Mr. Lovejoy to assume again control of the paper with the 
 understanding that it should be moved to Alton. 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy found the Alton people quite pleased at the idea of the 
 removal of the paper to their town. In the meantime Mr. Moore and his 
 friends changed their minds and decided to continue the publication of 
 the paper in St. Louis. Accordingly everything ran smoothly till an 
 unfortunate occurrence in that city in April, 1836. This was the burning 
 alive of a negro by a mob. The negro had, without any provocation, 
 fatally stabbed the deputy sheriff who had the negro under arrest. The 
 Observer, of course, took note of the double crime, dwelling upon the 
 danger of the spirit of mob violence. No stress whatever was attached 
 to the fact that the person mobbed was a black man. In connection 
 with the denunciation of this mob in St. Louis condemnatory articles 
 appeared relative to mob violence of recent occurrence in Mississippi 
 and Massachusetts. The court, Judge Lawless, in charging the grand 
 jury in relation to this burning of the negro virtually said if you find 
 that the act was that of a multitude then you will not be able to find any 
 true bills in the case. This charge by the judge to the grand jury was 
 also attacked by the Observer. Popular excitement now ran high, which 
 was not allayed by the announcement that the press would be removed 
 to Alton. The office was entered by unknown parties, and the fixtures 
 broken up and some type destroyed ; but the press was not seriously 
 damaged, and preparations were made to ship it to Alton. The press 
 reached Alton on Sunday morning, July 24, 1836. 
 
 MOB DESTROYS PRESSES 
 
 The press lay upon the wharf through the day of its arrival, but that 
 night a mob broke it to pieces and threw the fragments into the river. 
 The citizens of Alton called a public meeting and while they passed 
 resolutions condemnatory of abolitionism, they also were equally out- 
 spoken in their condemnation of the action of the mob in the destruc- 
 tion of the press. Lovejoy was at this meeting and is said to have 
 promised that he would desist from discussing the subject of slavery. 
 
 But in later years his friends denied this and put out a very strong 
 statement to that effect. The public statement signed by ten men who 
 were present, and heard Lovejoy speak, says that they were willing to 
 testify that he did say: "But, gentlemen, as long as I am an American 
 citizen, and as long as American blood runs in these veins, I shall hold 
 myself at liberty to speak, to write, and to publish whatever I please on 
 the subject being amenable to the laws of my country for the same." 
 The ten men who put out this public statement were : 
 George H. Walworth Solomon E. Moore 
 
 John W. Chickering F. W. Graves 
 
 A. Alexander A. B. Roff 
 
 Effingham Cock James Morse, Jr. 
 
 W. L. Chappell Charles W. Hunter 
 
 As the result of the mass meeting held to condemn the destruction of 
 the press, money was raised and a new press was purchased and on the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 213 
 
 8th of September, 1836, the first issue of the Alton Observer was given 
 to the people. From that day to the following August the paper was 
 issued regularly. During this time it would appear that Mr. Lovejoy 
 had undergone a change relative to the manner of dealing with the 
 slavery question. He had by the middle of the summer of 1837 taken 
 a position of immediate emancipation. He was now willing to petition 
 congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. He was also 
 converted to the idea that the time was at hand for the organization, in 
 the state and the country, of anti-slavery societies. 
 
 He advocated the organization of 'an "Illinois State Anti-Slavery 
 Society." It was finally agreed among those interested that Alton 
 would be the proper place, and about November 1, 1837, the time for 
 such a meeting the meeting was finally called for October 26, 1837. 
 
 In all these weeks and months as time went by, there was a very 
 steady growth of opposition to the work and influence of Mr. Lovejoy. 
 Many absurdly false stories were circulated to lower the estimation of 
 good people concerning Mr. Lovejoy. On July 8, a mass meeting was 
 held in the market house in Alton at which meeting resolutions were 
 passed censuring the editor of the Observer for continually dinning 
 this slavery question in their ears. A committee of five men was ap- 
 pointed to notify Mr. Lovejoy of the feeling of the public and of the 
 action of the market house mass meeting. Mr. Lovejoy replied in a very 
 dignified way, stating that he denied the right of a public meeting to 
 dictate what sentiments should be expressed in a public newspaper. 
 
 The pro-slavery sentiment could not contain itself much longer. It 
 must have vent in some personal violence. On the evening of August 
 21, 1837, late at night, two young doctors, Beall and Jenning, called 
 upon Col. George T. M. Davis, a lawyer of prominence, and informed 
 him that they had started out in company with a dozen others with the 
 express purpose of tarring and feathering the abolition editor, and that 
 they had met him coming to town from his home. The mob stopped 
 Mr. Lovejoy and told him their errand, whereupon Mr. Lovejoy told 
 them that he was going into town after some medicine for his wife who 
 was very sick, that he knew that they had power to do with him as they 
 pleased, but that if one of this mob would take the prescription into 
 town and get the medicine and return with it to his sick wife and not 
 let her know what had become of him, then he would go with them and 
 cheerfully abide by their wishes. At this no one dared to accept the 
 challenge, whereupon, they sneakingly retired and allowed him to pro- 
 ceed. But if they were not brave enough to lay hands on an honest, 
 innocent man they were brave enough to do a deed twice as dastardly. 
 They repaired to his office, broke it open, and destroyed his press and 
 material. It was now confidently believed that abolitionism had been 
 given a death blow in Alton. 
 
 But they who reasoned thus had not reckoned with the abolition 
 forces, for immediately the friends and supporters of Lovejoy met and 
 voted to call for a popular subscription for the purpose of buying an- 
 other press. The funds flowed in with amazing promptitude and by 
 September 21, a new press had arrived from Cincinnati. It was stored 
 in a warehouse on Second street between State and Piasa streets. That 
 night a mob broke open the warehouse and carried the press to the 
 river's edge and there it was broken to pieces and the pieces thrown 
 into the river. This was the third press destroyed and the fourth case
 
 214 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 of violence to Mr. Love joy's presses. The question now arose in the 
 minds of some of Mr. Lovejoy's friends whether to remain in Alton and 
 fight the issue to a finish or remove to Quincy where the people had 
 promised ample protection and support. Mr. Lovejoy never for a 
 moment doubted what his duty was. He thought the paper ought to 
 remain in Alton. 
 
 In the meantime a gathering of what promised to be an anti-slavery 
 convention assembled in upper Alton on October 26, to which had been 
 invited all who thought slavery a sin, together with those who were 
 "friends of free discussion." The pro-slavery men were in a majority, 
 having come under the head of "friends of free discussion." After a 
 two days' discussion the meeting adjourned without accomplishing 
 anything, but fifty-five anti-slavery men met and quietly organized a 
 ' ' State Anti-Slavery Society. ' ' These fifty-five men were of the opinion 
 that the Observer should be continued in Alton. It was finally made 
 known that a fourth press had been ordered and then the rage of the 
 pro-slavery people knew no bounds. A public meeting was called for 
 Thursday, November 2, which after a brief session adjourned to the 
 next day. At this second session strong condemnatory resolutions 
 were passed. Lovejoy was present in this meeting and made a most 
 touching appeal to those present for protection. 
 
 Mr. Lovejoy said in that meeting: 
 
 Mr. Chairman, it is not true as has been charged upon me that I 
 hold in contempt the feelings and sentiments of this community in ref- 
 erence to the question which is now agitating it. ... But, sir, 
 while I value the good opinion of my fellow-citizens as highly as any- 
 one, I may be permitted to say that I am governed by higher considera- 
 tions than either the favor or the fear of man. ... I plant myself 
 down upon my unquestionable right, and the question to be decided is 
 whether I shall be protected in the enjoyments of these rights that is 
 the question, sir, whether my property shall be protected, whether I 
 shall be suffered to go home to my family at night without being as- 
 sailed, threatened with tar and feathers and assassination whether my 
 afflicted wife, whose life has been in jeopardy from continual alarm and 
 excitement, shall night after night be driven from a sick bed into the 
 garret to save herself from brick bats and violence of the mob. That, 
 sir, is the question! ... I know, sir, that you can tar and feather 
 me, hang me, or put me in the Mississippi without the least difficulty. 
 But what then? Where shall I go? . . . I have concluded, after 
 consulting with my friends, and earnestly seeking counsel of God, to 
 remain in Alton, and here insist on protection in the exercise of my 
 rights. If the civil authorities refuse to protect me, I must look to God, 
 and if I die, I am determined to make my grave in Alton. 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Dimmock has said : " I know of no more pathetic 
 figure in all history than this man standing up alone among a host of 
 enemies with tears streaming from his eyes pleading for that liberty 
 of speech and of press which is the foundation of all liberties ; with the 
 shadow of death already gathering about him, yet ready and willing 
 to die rather than yield the highest and noblest right of citizenship." 
 Lovejoy's words were very powerful as those who heard them after- 
 wards testified.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 215 
 
 LOVEJOY A MARTYR 
 
 The fourth press was on its way to the city of Alton. The mayor of 
 the city, Mr. John M. Krum, having a very limited police force, was 
 willing that a body of private citizens should act as a sort of militia to 
 preserve order and protect property. About 2 o'clock on Tuesday 
 morning, November 7, the press was landed at the wharf and was im- 
 mediately moved to the ware-rooms of Godfrey, Oilman & Co., where 
 it was placed on the fourth floor. Although this was 2 o'clock or later 
 in the morning yet the mayor was present to assist, so far as he might, 
 in protecting the press. So also was Mr. Oilman, a member of the 
 above named firm. Likewise the citizen-soldier-band, about sixty in 
 number, was present. There were no demonstrations that night and 
 early in the morning of the 7th, the militia went to their homes. 
 Nothing occurred through the day which would indicate that harm was 
 intended to person or property. Toward evening the militia band to 
 the number of sixty or thereabouts came to this store of Godfrey and 
 Oilman to drill. They were accustomed to drill in an upper room of 
 the big double building, one end of which faced Second street, and the 
 other overlooking the river, faced Levee street, or First street. In this 
 upper room the militia drilled till about 9 o'clock, and thinking every- 
 thing would be safe, they were about ready to go to their homes when 
 Mr. Oilman asked if they did not think it would be safer for a detail to 
 remain all night. He told them they could sleep on the goods in the 
 store. Mr. Oilman's advice was taken and twenty men remained, in- 
 cluding Mr. Oilman and Mr. Lovejoy. 
 
 Those who went to their homes had been gone but a short time till 
 there were signs of trouble. The mob spirit began to show itself. Pres- 
 ently Edward Keating, a lawyer, and Henry W. West, a merchant, ap- 
 peared at the store and asked to see Mr. Oilman. They said the gentlemen 
 who were gathering outside had sent them to demand the surrender of 
 the press, and further said if the press were given up that no harm 
 would be done to persons or property. Mr. Oilman referred the matter 
 to the little band ' and after consultation they decided not to comply 
 with their demands. Keating and "West then said that the people with- 
 out would certainly destroy the building if that were necessary to secure 
 the press. Some of the guard wanted to keep Keating and West as 
 hostages till morning, and if this course had been adopted probably the 
 sacrifice of two lives would not have been necessary. But they were 
 allowed to depart, and their report to the mob only added fuel to the 
 flame and they began an attack on the building with rocks and clubs. 
 The men inside had elected a captain, but he was not equal to the 
 emergency and they soon took positions to suit their own notion of 
 defense. 
 
 It was a very bright moonlight night and one of the guards in the 
 building, Henry Tanner, who afterwards wrote fully of all the incidents, 
 said he could easily distinguish his neighbors on the ground below as he 
 looked out of the doors and windows of the upper floors. The mob be- 
 came more and more demonstrative and shots were fired. Presently one 
 of the militiamen fired into the mob and shot a man named Bishop, who 
 died before they could get him to Dr. Hart's office across the street. 
 Then the mob made preparations to set fire to the building by climbing 
 to the roof on the east side, but they were driven back. Other attempts
 
 216 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 were made when Lovejoy, Roff, and Weller went outside next to the 
 levee to defend it against 1 fire when Lovejoy was shot from behind a 
 pile of lumber at a short distance eastward. He received five balls in 
 his body. He walked inside and up a pair of stairs and said, "I am 
 shot ! I am shot ! I am dead ! He fell to the floor without another word 
 and expired. Roff and Weller were both seriously wounded. Keating 
 and West came then to the door and said they desired to agree upon 
 terms of surrender. The terms offered were to surrender the press and 
 cease the defense. This was finally agreed to and fifteen of the twenty 
 marched out, but they were fired at by the mob until they were out of 
 sight, but fortunately no one was hurt. The five men who remained were 
 Lovejoy dead, Weller and Roff wounded, Thompson, who remained be- 
 hind till the mob entered the building, and Hurlburt, who stayed by 
 the dead body of his chief. 
 
 The press was broken to pieces when the mob dispersed. The dead 
 body of Lovejoy lay on a cot till the following day, the 8th of Novem- 
 ber, the thirty-fifth anniversary of his birth. A hearse was procured 
 and the body taken to the late residence. Mr. Owen Lovejoy was with 
 the stricken wife, and as the dead body of his brother lay before him 
 "he vowed that from henceforth he would fight the cursed institution 
 which had killed his brother." The body was prepared for burial and 
 a grave was dug on a bluff which in after years came to be the City 
 
 HIC JACET 
 
 LOVEJOY 
 
 JAM PARCE SEPULTO 
 
 Cemetery. The Rev. Thomas Lippincott conducted simple services. No 
 sermon or remarks or any explanation of the death was offered. No 
 inquest was held over the body and a very few attended the funeral. 
 
 Eleven years after this tragic event the Rev. Thomas Dimmock, then 
 a young man living in Alton, in company with an older citizen, found 
 the grave of Lovejoy marked with the initials E. P. L. carved in the 
 wood. The grave was between two large oaks. When the ground was 
 fenced and laid off as a cemetery a street ran directly over the grave, 
 the trees were cut down and the board disappeared. The superintendent 
 of the cemetery, Mr. William Bruden, knew the .grave and so he placed 
 two limestone rocks, one at the head and one at the foot, letting them 
 down level with the top of the ground. And thus the grave remained in 
 the middle of the street for several years. Eventually Maj. Charles W. 
 Hunter had the remains removed to an adjoining lot of his own. The 
 person to do this work was a colored man by the name of William John- 
 ston. This colored man had dug the grave and buried Love joy's re-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 217 
 
 mains at the time of his death and now we have a very definite chain of 
 evidence as to the identity of the grave. 
 
 When the remains were removed by order of Major Hunter a crude 
 sort of tombstone, probably an old one, was placed at the grave and 
 marked ' ' Lovejoy. ' ' In later years the Rev. Mr. Dimmock purchased a 
 simple marble scroll resting on a block of granite. On the scroll he had 
 inscribed : 
 
 Hie Jacet Lovejoy. Jam Parce Sepulto. "Here Lies Lovejoy. 
 Spare him now that he is buried." 
 
 The lot was transferred from Major Hunter to the Rev. Mr. Dim- 
 mock, and in August, 1885, he transferred all right, title, and interest 
 in the lot to the colored people of Alton. The city of Alton set aside a 
 suitable lot upon which to erect a monument and an association was 
 formed and considerable interest manifested in the erection of a suit- 
 able monument. But nothing of any importance was accomplished till 
 June 17, 1895. In that year the general assembly appropriated the sum 
 of $25,000 for the purpose of erecting a suitable monument to the 
 memory of this martyr to the cause of free speech, free press, and free 
 men. The citizens of Alton supplemented this with a smaller amount 
 and thus there stands in the cemetery at Alton a beautiful shaft to per- 
 petuate the memory of one of America 's martyrs.
 
 218 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ' 
 
 THE LOVEJOY MONUMENT ON BLUFF OVERLOOKING MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT 
 
 ALTON
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 ILLINOIS FROM 1838 TO 1846 
 
 THOMAS CAKLIN ELECTED GOVERNOR "TIPPECANOE AND TYLER Too" 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES COLLAPSE GOVERNOR THOMAS 
 FORD ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL PROGRESSES SOME SOCIAL 
 PROBLEMS. 
 
 It will be recalled that the unfortunate internal improvement venture 
 had its beginning in the administration of Governor Duncan. In the 
 first two years of Governor Duncan 's term, the public mind was largely 
 occupied with the banking business and with the Illinois and Michigan 
 canal. From the meeting of the legislature in December, 1836, to the 
 end of Governor Carlin's term, the absorbing topic was internal im- 
 provement. In the midst, therefore, of this wild excitement concerning 
 railroad and canal building, the building of cities and towns, and the 
 issuing of bonds by the millions, a campaign was waged for the gover- 
 norship of the state. 
 
 THOMAS CARLIN ELECTED GOVERNOR 
 
 The election for governor and other offices was held in August, 1838. 
 There were two leading candidates for governor. Cyrus W. Edwards, a 
 Whig, announced his candidacy and allied himself with the improvement 
 system. His opponent was Thomas Carlin, of Carrollton, Greene county. 
 Mr. Carlin was a ' ' Democrat of the straightest sect. ' ' Notwithstanding 
 the important local interest of the state, the campaign managers appar- 
 ently recognized the national interest as paramount. The Whig ticket 
 in Morgan county was headed " Anti-Sub-treasury Ticket. For a sound 
 specie-paying National Bank, and for curtailing the Internal Improve- 
 ment System." To meet this array of political principles the opposing 
 ticket read "For the Sub-treasury. Against a National Bank, and for 
 a vigorous prosecution and final completion of the Internal Improvement 
 System." 
 
 The canvass was a strenuous one and was participated in by the 
 leading Whigs and Democrats. The Democrats were victorious by a 
 majority of less than one thousand votes. The legislature met in Decem- 
 ber and Governor Carlin was inducted into office. He unfortunately 
 encouraged the improvement people and, as has been said, nearly a 
 million dollars additional appropriations were added to the improvement 
 schemes. In addition some measures of general interest were passed; 
 one to establish the library for the supreme court: one to establish the 
 
 219
 
 220 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Illinois Asylum for the education of the deaf and dumb ; one requiring 
 the governor to reside at the seat of government of the state. 
 
 We have already spoken of the removal of the capital from Van- 
 dalia to Springfield. The constitution of 1818 provided that the capital 
 should remain in Kaskaskia until removed by action of the general 
 assembly. It also provided that when so removed it must remain where 
 located for twenty years. The legislature of 1836-7, by a vote of the 
 senate and house, located the capital at Springfield. In the session of 
 the legislature of 1838-9, steps were taken for the transfer of the records 
 and other belongings of the state. A state house was under construction, 
 but not complete, and at the convening of the legislature in special ses- 
 sion on December 9, 1839, the use of the Second Presbyterian church 
 was secured for the sittings of the house ; the Methodist church, for the 
 senate; and the Episcopal church for the supreme court. 
 
 The capitol which was undergoing construction was to be a very 
 elegant and commodious building. It was located in the center of the 
 square, and was 123 feet long, 89 feet wide, and 44 feet high. It was 
 constructed from native stone quarried only a few miles from the town. 
 At the north and south ends very large round pillars supported a pro- 
 jecting portico, and the whole was surmounted by a dome of proper 
 proportion. It is still standing and has been extensively repaired, and 
 enlarged by putting an extra story between the basement and what was 
 formerly the first story. It is now the courthouse for Sangamon county. 
 
 The special session of the legislature which met in Springfield Decem- 
 ber 9, 1839, was chiefly concerned about the winding up of the affairs 
 of the collapsed improvement scheme. The session was adjourned Feb- 
 ruary 3, 1840. 
 
 ' ' TlPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO ' ' 
 
 The great "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" campaign of 1840 was 
 warmly contested in Illinois. It was in this campaign that the won- 
 derful powers of Lincoln and Douglas as public orators became known 
 through the state and the nation. Illinois was divided into three con- 
 gressional districts, the third being made of the thirty-four northern 
 counties. Stephen A. Douglas and Mr. John T. Stuart, Lincoln's law 
 partner, were candidates for congress in this district in 1838, and 
 Stuart was elected by fourteen votes. In the canvass of 1840 this dis- 
 trict was therefore fighting ground. The Whigs planned a large meet- 
 ing in Springfield in June, 1840. Lincoln was one of the five presiden- 
 tial electors and he was very anxious not to be defeated. *To this 
 meeting came twenty thousand, some said fifty thousand people. They 
 came from as far north as Chicago. It took fourteen teams to bring 
 the Chicago delegation and they were three weeks on the journey. They 
 brought a two-masted ship with a band of music and a six pound can- 
 non. Delegations came from all directions. A log cabin was drawn 
 in the procession by thirty yoke of oxen, and in a hickory tree planted 
 by the side of this cabin live coons were playing ; a barrel of hard cider 
 stood near the door. Lincoln made a great speech, possibly several 
 during the day, from a wagon. Thousands of people crowded around 
 him. He was then only thirty-one years old, but was rapidly coming 
 into public favor. 
 
 The Democrats held enthusiastic gatherings throughout the state at
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 221 
 
 which eloquent speakers praised the virtues of "little Van." The 
 Democrats carried Illinois by a majority of 1,939. This is accounted 
 for by noting the vote along the canal and in Cook and St. Clair 
 counties. Here the foreign vote was large, and they are supposed to 
 have voted with the Democrats. The questions over which these two 
 parties fought their campaign were : Internal improvements by the 
 general government, United States Bank, Protective Tariff, National 
 Economy. 
 
 There was also elected in the fall of 1840 a legislature. And in- 
 stead of selecting men who were especially fitted to solve the problems 
 arising in the state, men were selected largely by reason of their affilia- 
 tion with national parties. There was a lack of sympathy between 
 these strong partisans when they came together in the state legislature, 
 and often the interests of the state suffered by reason thereof. 
 
 There was some talk in the years of 1839-40-41, of repudiating the 
 state's great debt. This is usually considered a very unpatriotic pro- 
 ceeding. A state may, however, repudiate its debt and there were 
 those who were favorable to such action. Of course few public men 
 talked of repudiation openly, but privately many were favorable to it. 
 Governor Ford, in his history, says: "It is my solemn belief that 
 when I came into office, I had the power to make Illinois a repudiating 
 state." Governor Ford means that all the people needed was a bold 
 leader. But no legislative action was ever taken which looked toward 
 repudiation. The state's indebtedness was eventually paid and the 
 honor of the state saved. 
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES COLLAPSE 
 
 By 1840 it was seen that the state could not carry out its improve- 
 ment plans and steps were taken to abandon the work. 
 
 And while there was an effort to continue certain phases of the work 
 the general feeling was that the safest and sanest thing to do was to re- 
 verse completely the policy. Laws were passed abolishing the board of 
 fund commissioners and the board of public works. One fund com- 
 missioner was then authorized to act but without power to sell bonds or 
 to borrow money on the credit of the state. A board of public works, 
 consisting of three members was created. This fund commissioner and 
 this board of public works were to wind up all business without delay, 
 pay off all contractors in orders on the treasury, and discharge all em- 
 ployees except such as were absolutely necessary to wind up the busi- 
 ness. All bonds unsold were to be returned and burned. The new 
 board of public works was to take charge and operate any roads which 
 were near completion. 
 
 The work on the Illinois and Michigan canal was not checked. 
 
 The "Great Northern Cross Railroad," which was being constructed 
 from Springfield to Quincy was completed from Meredosia to Jackson- 
 ville, a distance of about twenty-five miles. The total cost of the road 
 between these points was $1,000.000. An engine was put on in 1842. 
 The income was not as large as the expenses and in the course of a year 
 or so the engine was taken off and the road wns leased and run bv mule 
 power for several years. It was eventually sold for $100,000. which, was 
 paid for in state stock which was worth twenty-one cents on the dollar. 
 
 In 1840 our indebtedness was more than $14,000,000. This large 
 debt should, however, be credited by the following items:
 
 222 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Forty-two thousand acres of land bought by the state, unsold. 
 
 Two hundred thirty thousand four hundred sixty seven acres of 
 canal donation unsold. 
 
 Three thousand four hundred ninety-one town lots in Chicago, Ot- 
 tawa, etc. 
 
 Two hundred ten thousand acres of land donated by congress in 
 1841. 
 
 A large consignment of railroad iron. 
 
 Large pieces of unfinished railroad in the state. 
 
 Illinois and Michigan canal. 
 
 Thus stood the debit and credit sides of the state's account in 1840 
 when the internal improvement schemes collapsed. 
 
 GOVERNOR THOMAS FORD 
 
 Conventions for the nomination of candidates were a part of the 
 party machinery by 1842. It appears also that people in those days 
 believed in long drawn out campaigns, for as early as December, 1841, 
 the Democratic state convention was held in Springfield for the nomi- 
 nation of candidates for state offices. The honors fell upon Adam W. 
 Snyder, of St. Clair county, for governor, and upon John Moore, of Mc- 
 Lean county, for lieutenant governor. In the spring of 1842 ex-Gover- 
 nor Duncan became the Whig candidate for governor, and W. H. Hen- 
 derson, for lieutenant governor. The campaign promised to be a very 
 interesting one because of the Mormon problem which was just then 
 attracting attention. The Mormons had made liberal requests upon the 
 legislature and it appears that Mr. Snyder, who was a member of that 
 body, had been quite active in assisting them to secure what they de- 
 sired. This fact was used against him and would probably have seri- 
 ously hindered him in his canvass. But in the early summer Mr. Sny- 
 der died and it was necessary for the party to put forward another 
 standard bearer. 
 
 A Democratic caucus was called at Springfield in June, and Thomas 
 Ford, a judge on the supreme bench, was selected as the candidate. 
 Judge -Ford was an ideal candidate for office he was not an office 
 seeker. He had come to Illinois as early as 1808. He was a poor boy 
 whose father had been massacred by the Indians in Pennsylvania. He 
 had been fortunate to have for his friend Daniel P. Cook, who assisted 
 young Ford in many ways. Judge Ford had held the office of state's 
 attorney, and also various judgeships. He in no way could be charged 
 with interest in, or sympathy for the Mormons. The times were indeed 
 in need of a wise counselor and a courageous leader and no one was bet- 
 ter fitted to save the state from the impending dishonor of repudiation. 
 
 The canvass was spirited, the chief topic being the Mormons, the 
 canal, the banks, and the claims of Wisconsin to the fourteen counties 
 in the northern part of the state. Duncan had the advantage of pre- 
 vious campaigning and was, besides, a strong candidate. Judge Ford 
 no doubt thought it wise not to express too freely his views upon the 
 troublesome questions for they were all troublesome and so was ac- 
 cused by Duncan of keeping from the people his real position on the 
 questions of the day. When the ballots were counted Ford had beaten 
 Duncan by over eight thousand votes. The legislature was very largely 
 Democratic. Many prominent in the later history of the state and the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 223 
 
 nation were present as members of the legislature when it met in De- 
 cember, 1842. Two future governors, Matteson and Yates, were mem- 
 bers. 
 
 Governor Ford's inaugural message was full of vigorous suggestions 
 for the legislature. He was in favor of paying every dollar of the 
 state's indebtedness, he favored finishing the canal, and declared the 
 banks should resume specie payment or suffer their business to be wound 
 up by the state. He found the annual expense of carrying on the state 
 government was $170,000 per year, while the receipts were only $140,- 
 000, leaving a deficit of $30,000 each year. In this way a floating debt 
 had grown to $313,000. Auditor's warrants on the treasury were sell- 
 ing for 50 cents on the dollar, while the internal improvement bonds 
 were worth but 14 cents on the dollar. No one seemed to know just 
 what to do; all were appalled by a bonded indebtedness of something 
 near $15,000,000. Many were in favor of public repudiation though 
 not generally openly announcing their views. The fact is that very few 
 of the members of the legislature had had enough experience in han- 
 dling large financial ventures to have any conception of the problem be- 
 fore them. 
 
 ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN CANAL PROGRESSES 
 
 While the internal improvement schemes were absorbing the inter- 
 ests of the people, the Illinois and Michigan canal, which was in a meas- 
 ure an independent matter, was making very good progress. A large 
 amount of money had been spent upon this project and there was yet 
 quite a sum needed to finish it. Many plans had been suggested for its 
 completion, but none were accepted until Mr. Justin Butterfield, of 
 Chicago, a lawyer of eminent ability, and withal a patriotic man, 
 brought forward a scheme for its completion. 
 
 This was a proposition to the holders of the canal bonds to advance 
 $160,000, the amount thought necessary to finish the canal, and to take 
 a lien on the canal and all its property together with its income. This 
 loan and all bonds held by those who would advance this money were 
 to become a sort of preferred claim against the canal and its interests. 
 This, after considerable investigation and consideration was agreed to 
 and the completion of the canal assured. 
 
 The next thing in which the governor was interested was the State 
 Bank, for he knew that rash measures toward the banks would be looked 
 upon with suspicion by those upon whom we were depending to finish 
 the canal. His idea was a compromise. He drew the bill himself and 
 it was passed by the house by one hundred and seven to four. A similar 
 bill also passed relative to the Shawneetown bank. This bill provided 
 that the banks which held more than $3,000,000 worth of bonds, audi- 
 tor's warrants, etc., against the state should turn them over to the 
 state, while the state should surrender a like amount of bank stock, 
 dollar for dollar. This arrangement with the two banks reduced the 
 state's indebtedness over $3,000,000. The bills also provided that the 
 banks should go into liquidation. 
 
 A BRIGHTER OUTLOOK 
 
 Another law was passed which made the governor the fund com- 
 missioner. He and the auditor were to have charge of all the property
 
 224 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 connected with the improvement scheme. They were to collect all this 
 material and turn it into cash. A resolution was passed which pledged 
 the state to the payment of every dollar of indebtedness which had been 
 contracted in the internal improvement venture. All that was done by 
 this legislature under the guidance of Governor Ford seems to have been 
 safe and sane. At least it was so regarded at the time, for auditor's 
 warrants rose from 50 cents on the dollar, at the beginnning of Ford's 
 term, to 90 cents and above. State bonds were 14 cents on the dollar at 
 the beginning of the administration, and before Ford went out of office 
 they were 50 cents. 
 
 It is also said that as much as $5,000,000 of the debt was wiped out 
 by the increase in the value of the lands and appurtenances of the canal 
 and railroad. Again, at the close of Governor Ford's term, the floating 
 debt was $31,212 instead of $313,000 as at the beginning. In many 
 ways there was a restoration of confidence. Immigration was renewed 
 and the population reached three-quarters of a million. 
 * 
 
 SOME SOCIAL PROBLEMS 
 
 In the administration of Governor Ford there were two serious prob- 
 lems, both of which were social in their nature, though one was some- 
 what religious. These were the Mormon problem, and the Flathead and 
 Regulator war in the counties bordering on the Ohio river. The Mor- 
 mon problem was not in any way directly connected with Southern Illi- 
 nois and for that reason only a passing notice can be taken of it. 
 
 Joseph Smith was born in Vermont December 23, 1805. When a 
 young man he claimed to have had a vision in which a book was seen 
 which revealed a new religion. Smith organized a church April 6, 1830. 
 Later his followers established themselves at Kirtland, Ohio, Indepen- 
 dence, Missouri, and later at Nauvoo, Illinois. They began coming into 
 Illinois in the fall of 1839. In two years there were as many as six- 
 teen thousand people in Nauvoo. They soon took an active part in poli- 
 tics and could by holding the balance of power exercise great influence 
 in legislation. 
 
 The city of Nauvoo received a charter from the legislature of such 
 a nature that the state laws were superseded by the city charter. The 
 city courts were of the same rank as state courts, and the city could or- 
 ganize a military force. Friction between these people and the "Gen- 
 tiles" of the surrounding country soon produced civil strife. The gov- 
 ernor and the courts stood by helpless. Finally by a diplomatic move 
 the state authorities secured the leader, Joseph Smith, and put him in 
 the Hancock county jail where he was killed by a mob. The death of 
 Smith was a great blow to the Mormon cause and soon thereafter they 
 abandoned Nauvoo and moved west, eventually to Salt Lake. 
 
 The other matter which engaged Governor Ford's attention was 
 known in after years as the Flathead and Regulator war. Governor 
 Ford in his history of Illinois devotes a chapter to an account of the 
 troubles when it was fresh in his mind. Hon. James A. Rose has also 
 given considerable attention to the event and has made quite a collec- 
 tion of facts which has been filed in the State Historical library. 
 
 The period from 1830 to 1850 was one of great disturbance and un- 
 rest in Illinois. Within these two decades history records the Black 
 Hawk war, the assassination of Lovejoy, internal improvement, the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 225 
 
 Mormon difficulties, the Flathead and Regulator war, the Mexican war, 
 besides many minor disturbances. 
 
 The war between the Flatheads and the Regulators was confined to 
 the southeast part of the state, and chiefly to the counties of Hardin, 
 Pope, and Massac, though other counties shared in the confusion and 
 crimes resulting therefrom. This part of the state was settled chiefly 
 by immigrants from Tennessee, the Carolinas, Virginia, and Kentucky. 
 As early as 1800, and possibly much earlier, there was a ferry at the 
 present little city of Golconda, and as the rough settlers from the above 
 named states came to Illinois, they entered through the counties above 
 mentioned. This region is located in the eastern end of the Ozarks and 
 does not differ greatly from the Cumberland regions. It was rich in 
 timber of all kinds which furnished mast for the hogs; cattle could live 
 through the year on the grass and cane; the purest of water bubbled 
 from scores of springs ; and take it altogether, it was an ideal place for 
 rugged pioneers. The people were not all bad, but many unprincipled 
 men eventually settled in that locality. 
 
 As early as 1831, a man named Sturdevant located in the upper part 
 of Pope county, built a fort, and began to manufacture counterfeit 
 money. There was with him a number of people and for a while they 
 appeared to be law-abiding citizens, but their business was soon re- 
 vealed. Their spurious bills and coins were scattered broadcast. It is 
 said that Sturdevant received $16 of good money for $100 of his 
 counterfeit money. At first some of his confederates were arrested, but 
 upon the trial of the case the jury would hang or in some way he would 
 escape punishment. At last the community became so exasperated that 
 a number of the best people entered into an organization for the purpose 
 of driving these undesirable citizens out of the country. Among 
 those who are named as belonging to this law and order committee 
 were : Joseph Pryor, Dr. William Sim, Rev. William Rondeau, Hugh 
 McNulty, Maj. John Raum, and others. It was the plan to raid the 
 house in which Sturdevant had his tools, plates, etc. In some way the 
 counterfeiter found out about the contemplated raid and was prepared 
 with ' ' shot and shell. ' ' A battle ensued in which it is said that three of 
 the counterfeiters were killed. The siege lasted till night when the 
 outlaws made their escape. 
 
 For a while the community was orderly, and there seemed to be no 
 signs of outlawry. But soon the locality was disturbed by horse steal- 
 ing and the presence of counterfeit money. The road leading west from 
 Golconda was the one used by travelers and immigrants from Kentucky. 
 There was a ferry at Golconda and travel naturally centered at the 
 ferry. 
 
 Whenever any of the better citizens would complain about these ir- 
 regularities, they were sure to pay the penalty for their complaints in 
 the loss of stock, the burning of their barns, or some form of personal 
 harm. In fact there were instances of assassination as the penalty for 
 freely expressing one's opinion as to who was guilty of horse stealing or 
 passing counterfeit money. 
 
 Another form of lawlessness practiced by the reckless element of 
 the region of these river counties was kidnapping. The "Black Laws" 
 were very severe on negroes who came into the state without freedom 
 papers. Nor were negroes who were free, safe from kidnappers. These 
 counties were the homes of a number of negroes and mulattoes who had
 
 226 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 been given their freedom. A ease is given in which three colored chil- 
 dren were kidnapped by prominent citizens in Pope and Massac and 
 sold in St. Louis, and eventually restored to their parents. The one re- 
 sponsible for revealing the names of the kidnappers died shortly after 
 from "apoplexy." A revolting story is told of the murderous attack 
 upon an old man and his wife for being interested in some money sent 
 into Pope county for some free negroes. The records of some of the 
 Ohio river counties are yet burdened with some of the indictments and 
 trials of those who were concerned in this shameful business. 
 
 Public order was so disturbed and life and property so insecure that 
 an organization was effected whose purpose was to safeguard life and 
 property and restore the quiet and order in the community. This or- 
 ganization was known as the Regulators. Some of the good men who 
 supported the law-and-order. committee were : Dr. William Sim, Judge 
 Wesley Sloan, Sheriff William Finley, James McCoy, Thomas Camp- 
 bell, John Raum, father of General Rauni, and others. The persons who 
 were accused of the violation of the laws were called Flatheads. The 
 Regulators arrested several men accused of the attempted murder of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sides, spoken of above. In this case there were indict- 
 ments and confinement in jail but never any regular trials in Pope 
 county. Several of the accused were unmercifully whipped and others 
 ordered to leave the county. Some were taken to Vienna on a change 
 of venue and sentenced to the penitentiary. 
 
 While this struggle between the Regulators and the Flatheads was 
 going on, the legislature created Massac county. It is said this action 
 was secured through the influence of the Flatheads with the thought 
 that this element might control in that county and thus furnish a sort 
 of place of refuge for outlaws. The two elements Regulators and 
 FlatEeads were no longer so fully differentiated as they were at first. 
 Not all bad people belonged to the Flatheads nor all good people to 
 the Regulators. "The cruelties perpetrated by some of the so-called 
 Regulators were such that good men began to revolt." Flatbeads were 
 taken into the woods, strapped to a log and their backs beaten with 
 hickory withes. Some were tied up to trees with weights fastened to 
 their hands and left till they were all but dead. 
 
 Judge Scates, who came to Metropolis to hold court in 1846, was 
 virtually defied by the Regulators. So unbearable had become the 
 conduct of the Regulators that the Flatheads joined with the civil au- 
 thorities for the preservation of order. These disorders were at their 
 height about the time of the trouble with the Mormons. Governor Ford 
 was giving most of his attention to the problem of the Mormons, and 
 apparently neglected the troubles along the Ohio. The governor did, 
 however, appoint Dr. William I. Gibbs of Johnson county, to make 
 an investigation into the matters in Massac county, which he did. He 
 and others secured what they supposed was a sort of compromise, which 
 worked out to the disadvantage of the Flatheads. 
 
 Governor Augustus C. French succeeded Governor Ford in Decem- 
 ber, 1846, and without delay gave attention to the affairs of the Ohio 
 river counties. He commissioned Capt. W. S. Akin, A. D. Duff, and 
 Samuel K. Casey, all of Franklin county, to go into Massac county 
 and make full investigation and report. This they did. saying that 
 there were good and bad men on both sides, and that the conditions 
 were unbearable. The legislature created an extra court, which should
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 227 
 
 try these eases out of the county in which the offence was committed, 
 but this was held invalid and no relief came from that source. The 
 war continued. A regular pitched battle between armed bodies was 
 fought near Metropolis in 1849, in which about one hundred and fifty 
 armed men engaged. These disturbances occupied the attention of the 
 governor, the courts, and the legislature during the years of 1848 and 
 1849. Finally, when it was seen that the state government was in 
 earnest in its purpose to suppress the disorders, quiet was soon restored. 
 It should be said of these people today that they are a law-abiding, 
 industrious, kind-hearted people, who would make any sacrifices neces- 
 sary in maintaining the good name of their counties. 
 
 This war between the Flatheads and the Regulators became so 
 noted that accounts of the disturbances were regularly published in 
 the New Orleans Picayune, Louisville Journal, the New York Saturday 
 Evening Post, the Courier of Philadelphia, and the St. Louis Republican. 
 
 There are yet to be seen in these counties and adjacent counties 
 remains of old forts usually constructed of rock, and enclosing consider- 
 able areas of ground. The people living here do not seem to have any 
 explanation of these forts, but it is conjectured that they may have 
 been built by the two factions in the early days of this unfortunate 
 strife. However, this is only conjecture.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 ADMINISTRATION OF AUGUSTUS C. FRENCH 
 
 THE MEXICAN WAR THE MORMONS CONSTITUTION OF 1848 THE ILLI- 
 NOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD A NEW BANKING SYSTEM. 
 
 As early as February, 1846, the Democratic convention nominated 
 Augustus C. French as the candidate of that party for governor. J. B. 
 Wells was nominated for lieutenant governor. The Whigs were hope- 
 lessly in the minority and could not persuade themselves to enter the 
 race till late in the month of June, when a convention, assembled in 
 Peoria, nominated Thomas M. Kilpatrick for governor and Gen. Nathan- 
 iel G. Wilcox for the second place. The election was the first Tuesday 
 in August and the new governor took his seat early in December. The 
 canvass was in progress during the eventful days of the Mormon trouble 
 and in the early days of the Mexican war. 
 
 THE MEXICAN WAR 
 
 There was not much of an issue in the canvass. The Democrats 
 were in favor of the Mexican war, while the Whigs were opposed to it. 
 This made the Whigs unpopular. The Whigs charged French with be- 
 ing entangled in the internal improvement schemes which to some peo- 
 ple was a sure sign of corruption or of weakness. French was elected 
 by a large majority. 
 
 Governor French entered upon the duties of his office in December, 
 1846. He inherited from the previous administrations some unfinished 
 problems in statecraft. These were the Mormon problem, the internal 
 improvement problem, the new constitution problem, and the Mexican 
 war problem. Some of these had been in process of solution for several 
 years, while others were comparatively new. 
 
 THE MORMONS 
 
 The Mormon question was by no means wholly settled at the out- 
 going of Governor Ford. From the death of Smith the 27th of June, 
 1844, to December, 1846, when Governor Ford retired, there was more 
 or less disorder and violence in the region of Hancock county. 
 
 The Mormons in the fall and winter of 1845-6, were making pre- 
 paration to remove from Nauvoo. The anti-Mormon sentiment was 
 very strong in all the region of Nauvoo, and efforts were made to have 
 their leaders arrested on the charge of counterfeiting. But Governor 
 Ford refused on the ground that a sort of armistice had been entered 
 
 228
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 229 
 
 into. Word was noised abroad that United States troops were coming 
 in the spring of '46, and the exodus was begun and continued through 
 that summer. Their property was purchased by Gentiles and by the 
 time French came in as governor the Mormons had in the main left 
 Nauvoo, but there was still a very unsettled state of the public mind 
 and for many years the effects of the "Mormon wars" were felt in 
 the northwestern part of the state. 
 
 The internal improvement problem was in process of solution. The 
 incomes of the state were not sufficient to pay the current expenses 
 though the deficits were decreasing from year to year. Governor French 
 recommended to the legislature that all the debts of the state, includ- 
 ing bonds, scrip, and interest, be funded and that the new bonds be 
 registered. In this way the people would know just exactly how much 
 they owed and who held the bonds, and counterfeiting, which had 
 come to be a very common thing, would be prevented. As a means of 
 increasing taxes the state petitioned congress to abrogate the clause in 
 the enabling act by which the state promised to exempt from taxation 
 for five years after sale, all government land. Congress having com- 
 plied with the request, the legislature provided for the taxation of all 
 lands. This greatly aided in meeting the current expenses, especially 
 as considerable land was bought in Illinois following the Mexican war. 
 
 Texas was admitted into the Union in the summer of 1845. Mexico 
 immediately broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. 
 Gen. Zachary Taylor was ordered to Corpus Christi, near the terri- 
 tory that was in dispute between Texas and Mexico. The winter of 
 '45 and '46 was consumed in diplomatic maneuvering with barren re- 
 sults. General Taylor moved to the Rio Grande in March, 1846. War 
 was declared to exist between the United States and Mexico in the early 
 part of May. The President of the United States was authorized to 
 call for fifty thousand volunteers, and $10,000,000 were appropriated 
 to carry on the war. The pay was about $15.00 per month. Under 
 the first call for troops, Illinois was to have three regiments of infantry. 
 
 There was at that time a militia organization, at least on paper, in 
 the state, and the governor raised the three regiments through the 
 officers of that organization. The order was issued for these troops 
 May 25, 1846, and in twenty days a thousand more men had enlisted 
 than were asked for. Alton, on account of river transportation south- 
 ward, was named as the place of rendezvous. James Shields, a native 
 of Ireland, who had come to Kaskaskia in 1826, at the age of sixteen, 
 and had held many places of trust in Illinois, was made a brigadier 
 general to command the Illinois troops. 
 
 It was the plan to allow companies to organize by electing the com- 
 pany officers, and when ten companies offered their services, the regi- 
 mental organization should occur. The First regiment was recruited 
 in the counties west of Springfield. Col. John H. Hardin, of Jackson- 
 ville, was given command of this regiment. The Second regiment was 
 a Southern Illinois regiment and the organization was as follows: 
 
 Colonel, William H. Bissell, St. Clair county. 
 Lieutenant Colonel, J. L. D. Morrison, St. Clair county. 
 Major, H. T. Trail, Monroe county. 
 Adjutant, A. Whiteside, Monroe county. 
 Sutler, Lewis J. Clawson,
 
 230 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Captains : 
 
 Peter Goff, Madison county. 
 
 Erastus Wheeler, Madison county. 
 
 A. Dodge, Madison county. 
 
 E. C. Coffee, Washington county. 
 
 John S. Hacker, Union county. 
 
 L. G. Jones, Perry county. 
 
 H. L. Webb, Pulaski county. 
 
 Julius Raith, 
 
 Joseph Lemon,- 
 
 Madison Miller, 
 
 Total men in at muster, 892. 
 
 The Third regiment was in the main an Egyptian organization. Its 
 officers at muster were as follows : 
 
 Colonel, Ferris Foreman, Fayette county. 
 Lieutenant Colonel, W. W. Wiley, Bond county. 
 Major, Samuel D. Marshall, Gallatin county. 
 Adjutant, J. T. B. Stapp, 
 
 Captains : 
 
 J. C. McAdams, Bond county. 
 M. K. Lawler, Gallatin county. 
 Theodore McGinnis, Pope county. 
 J. A. Campbell, Wayne county. 
 W. W. Bishop, Coles county. 
 S. G. Hicks, Jefferson county. 
 James Freeman, Shelby county. 
 J. P. Hardy, Hamilton county. 
 
 Philip Stout, 
 
 B. S. Sellers, 
 
 The regiment numbered nine hundred and six men. Colonel Chur- 
 chill, of the United States army, inspected and mustered in the men. 
 
 Hon. E. D. Baker, at that time a member of congress, obtained per- 
 mission from the secretary of war to organize the fourth regiment in 
 Illinois. The regiment was accepted by the government. Nine of the 
 companies were recruited beyond the limits of Southern Illinois only 
 the tenth company, that of Captain Murphy, of Perry county, being 
 from the south end of the state. 
 
 The First and Second regiments left Alton under the direction of 
 General Wool July 17 to 19, 1846, and landed at Matagorda bay July 
 29, and by August 23, they were encamped at San Antonio, Texas. 
 They left here September 26, 1846, crossed the Rio Grande at San 
 Juan. Thence by the Grove of the Angels to San Fernando, a city of 
 four thousand, beautifully built and luxuriantly surrounded by run- 
 ning water. On the march to Monclova and thence to Parras, a city 
 of six thousand. This last named city was reached the twenty-fifth 
 of December. Here word came to our little army that Santa Anna 
 was collecting a large army at San Luis Potosi, presumably for the 
 reconquest of all the ground thus far gained by General Taylor. Gen- 
 eral Wool and General Taylor united their forces in a narrow pass on 
 the great road from Potosi northward, a sort of Thermopylae, a short 
 distance from the village of Buena Vista, and there fought the deciding 
 battle of the war in the north of Mexico.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 231 
 
 The Second Illinois regiment, Colonel Bissell commanding, played 
 an honorable part in the battle. The report of the battle by General 
 Taylor was highly complimentary to the First and Second Illinois 
 regiments. Special mention is made of the services of Lieutenant 
 Colonel Morrison, Major Trail, and Adjutant Whitesides of the Second 
 regiment. In the battle Col. John J. Hardin of the First Illinois regi- 
 ment and Colonel McKee and Lieutenant Colonel Clay of Kentucky 
 were killed, and the burden for a period during the hottest of the 
 fight fell upon Colonel Bissell. Captain William Woodward of Com- 
 pany K, Second regiment and Lieut. Edward Fletcher, John Bartle- 
 son, Rodney Ferguson, Aaron Atherton, Lauriston Robins, Allan B. 
 Roundtree, William Price, Timothy Kelley and James C. Steel were 
 all killed in this battle. 
 
 The Third regiment with Colonel Foreman in command was at- 
 tached to the army of General Scott, and played an honorable part 
 in the siege of Vera Cruz, and in the march to Mexico, Colonel Fore- 
 man being especially commended in the report by General Scott. 
 
 The Fifth and Sixth regiments which contained few South- 
 ern Illinois people did not see any service in battle but were sub- 
 jected to some severe trials in marching, and in garrison duty. 
 
 Among the Southern Illinois soldiers in the Mexican war who be- 
 came prominent in the Civil war were John A. Logan, Michael K. 
 Lawler, William R. Morrison, and Stephen G. Hicks. 
 
 John A. Logan became a prominent lawyer of Southern Illinois, 
 a noted Democratic politician, a member of the lower branch of con- 
 gress and at the outbreak of the war raised the Thirty-first regiment 
 and was commissioned its colonel. He rose rapidly in command and 
 finished the war as a major general of volunteers. Michael K. Law- 
 ler was born in Ireland in 1814. Came to Gallatin county in 1819. 
 After returning from the Mexican war engaged in farming a few miles 
 from Equality, and when the Civil war broke out he raised the Eigh- 
 teenth regiment and for meritorious services was breveted a brigadier 
 general. He died on his farm in 1882. William R. Morrison belonged 
 to a noted family in Southern Illinois. He served as a private in the 
 Mexican war, returned home and studied law, held several political 
 offices and when the Civil war began raised the Forty-ninth regiment. 
 He engaged in the battle of Fort Donelson where he was severely 
 wounded. He resigned to serve in congress. He was a prominent 
 member of that body serving as chairman of the ways and means 
 committee. He was honored by appointments at the hands of both 
 Cleveland and Harrison. He died at the age of about eighty-three 
 at his home in Waterloo, Monroe county. Stephen G. Hicks, a native 
 of Georgia, came to Illinois in time to engage in the Black Hawk war. 
 He raised a company in the Third regiment in the Mexican war and 
 was promoted finally to be lieutenant colonel of the Sixth regiment. 
 He was colonel of the Fortieth regiment in the Civil war and was dan- 
 gerously wounded in the battle of Shiloh. He eventually returned to 
 his command and served with distinction till the close of the war. He 
 died in Salem in 1869. Nathaniel Niles was a native of the state of 
 New York, coming to Belleville in 1842. He was first lieutenant in 
 Colonel Bissell 's regiment. At the battle of Buena Vista he won dis- 
 tinction and was promoted to a captaincy by General Wool. When 
 the Civil war came on he was commissioned colonel of the Fifty-fourth
 
 232 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 regiment, he was later made colonel of the One Hundred and Thirtieth. 
 He held many positions of honor and trust following the return of 
 peace in 1865. 
 
 In the spring of 1847 following the return of the First and Second 
 regiments from their victories, two more regiments were organized, 
 the Fifth and the Sixth. The officers were as follows: 
 
 
 
 Colonel, E. W. B. Newby, Brown county. 
 
 Lieutenant colonel, Henderson Boyakin, Marion county. 
 
 Major, J. B. Donaldson, Pike county. 
 
 Captains : 
 
 Company A, Thomas Bond, Clinton county. 
 Company B, J. M. Cunningham, Williamson county. 
 Company C, Vantrunk Turner, Marion county. 
 Company D, John C. Moses, Brown county. 
 Company E, G. W. Hook, St. Glair county. 
 Company F, Thomas B. Kinney, Cook county. 
 Company G, Henry J. Reed, La Salle county. 
 Company H, James Hampton, Williamson county. 
 Company I, R. Madison, Shelby county. 
 Company K, W. Kinman, Pike county. 
 
 This regiment proceeded to the front by way of Fort Leavenworth 
 and thence to Santa Fe. Here they did garrison duty and to while 
 away the time organized the first Masonic lodge in that far away city. 
 
 The Sixth regiment was organized in Alton in May 1847. More 
 companies had offered their services when the Fifth was enlisted than 
 could be accepted and it was hoped another regiment would be taken 
 by the government. The secretary of war wrote Governor French as 
 follows: "Yielding to the earnest solicitations of the patriotic citizens 
 of your state, the president has instructed me to request that your 
 excellency will cause to be raised and rendezvoused at Alton another 
 regiment of volunteer infantry." 
 
 The officers were : 
 
 Colonel, Collins, Jo Daviess county. 
 Lieutenant colonel, Hicks, Jefferson county. 
 Major, Livington, Jefferson county. 
 Adjutant Fitch, Greene county. 
 
 Captains : 
 
 Company A, Franklin Niles, Madison county. 
 Company B, Edward W. Dill, Madison county. 
 Company C, Harvey Lee, Fayette county. 
 Company D, John Bristow, Greene county. 
 Company E, Burrell Tetrick, Macoupin county. 
 Company F, James R. Hugunin, Cook county. 
 Company G, William Shepherd, Boone county. 
 Company H, G. Jenkins, Will county. 
 Company I, James Bowman, Jefferson county. 
 Company K, C. L. Wright, Jo Daviess county. 
 
 This regiment proceeded to New Orleans and thence one-half to 
 Vera Cruz and the other half to Tampico. Little real military service
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 233 
 
 was seen by this regiment, but the officers and men suffered from 
 change in climate and water, and much sickness prevailed. Many 
 deaths occurred before the regiment returned. 
 
 It is an old saying that military fame is a passport to political pre- 
 ferment. This was certainly true in Illinois after the war. Nearly 
 every man who won any distinction in the war was honored by elec- 
 tion to some political position in either state or nation. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OP 1848 
 
 The constitution of 1818, made when our statesmen were gathered 
 from among the farmers, doctors, lawyers, traders, and woodsmen, had 
 never been remodeled. It was compiled largely from the fundamental 
 laws from other states, the framers not knowing from experience nor 
 from history what was the vital and essential things which ought to be 
 incorporated in a state constitution. The struggle of 1824 was not made 
 on the ground that the constitution needed revision, although the slav- 
 ery interests made a pretense of such need. The contest was a square 
 fight for and against making Illinois a slave state, on the same footing, 
 and in the same class as the Carolinas or Tennessee. Amendments had 
 been talked of, but none ever added. 
 
 After the defeat of the convention in 1824 nothing was done toward 
 revising or amending till 1840-1. In the legislature of that year a reso- 
 lution was adopted calling on the voters to express themselves relative 
 to a convention at the coming state election in August. The Democrats 
 favored such a convention, but when a bill passed the legislature abol- 
 ishing the circuit court judges and creating five new judgeships on the 
 supreme bench, all of which places were filled by Democrats, the need 
 of a convention was not so apparent. 
 
 The Democrats now controlled the legislature, the executive, and the 
 courts. When the election was held in August the Democrats generally 
 voted against the proposition to hold a convention, while the Whigs 
 voted for it, but the proposition failed to carry. In 1845 the legislature 
 passed another act calling on the people to vote on the question of a 
 convention at the general election in August, 1846. The proposition 
 was strongly urged upon the people by the Democratic press and it was 
 not very generally opposed, so at the election in August, 1846, the ques- 
 tion carried. 
 
 The next step was to pass an act to provide for the convention. This 
 act determined the number of delegates which should sit in the constitu- 
 tional convention, the date of the election, which was fixed for the third 
 Monday in April, 1847, and the date of the meeting of the delegates in 
 the convention, the first Monday in June, 1847. There was no special 
 argument against a convention while several were brought forward in 
 its favor. Some desirable changes were as follows: 
 
 1. To abolish life tenure or long tenure of office. 
 
 2. To prohibit the legislature from involving the state in the bank- 
 ing business. 
 
 3. To limit the power of the state to borrow money. 
 
 4. To give the governor the veto power. 
 
 5. To increase the length of residence for the elective franchise. 
 
 6. To take the power of electing state officers from the legislature 
 and give it to the people.
 
 234 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 7. To fix minimum ages for members of the legislature, and for 
 state officers. 
 
 8. To abolish eligibility to several offices at the same time. 
 
 There were a number of other changes which were considered dur- 
 ing the canvass preceding the election in April. When the members 
 came together June 7, 1847, it was found that the Whigs and Demo- 
 crats were about evenly divided. The convention organized by electing 
 Newton Cloud president, and Henry W. Moore secretary. There were 
 one hundred sixty-two delegates in this body. Among these men, 
 prominent on the Democratic side, were Zadoc Casey, John Dement, 
 John M. Palmer, Anthony Thornton, Walter B. Scates, Willis Allen, 
 L. B. Knowlton, and Thompson Campbell. The leading Whigs were 
 Archibald Williams, James W. Singleton, Henry E. Dummer, Jesse 0. 
 Norton, Stephen A. Hurlbut, David Davis, Cyrus Edwards, Samuel D. 
 Lockwood, Stephen T. Logan, and Abner C. Harding. The session 
 lasted from June 7 to August 31, 1847. 
 
 The constitution made in the summer of 1847 differed from the one 
 of 1818 in several points. There was a preamble in the constitution of 
 1848 similar to the one in the constitution of the United States. Article 
 II put stress upon the distinct separation of the three departments of 
 government. 
 
 In the legislative department the following features may be noted : 
 No member of the general assembly shall be elected to any other office 
 during his term as a legislator. The senate shall consist of twenty-five 
 members and the house of seventy-five members till the state shall con- 
 tain a million people. After that an addition of five in each house shall 
 be, made for every increase of half million till there shall be fifty sena- 
 tors and one hundred representatives, when the number shall remain 
 stationary. Members of the general assembly were to receive $2 per day 
 for the first forty-two days, and $1 per day for each additional day, to- 
 gether with mileage each way at 10 cents per mile. The general as- 
 sembly could not grant divorces, and must prohibit the sale of lottery 
 tickets in the state. The state could not borrow more than. $60,000 to 
 carry on the government, except in case of war, rebellion, or invasion. 
 The credit of the state could not be used to advance the interests of any 
 individual, association, or corporation. 
 
 In the executive department these changes may be found : 
 
 The governor must be a citizen of the United States and thirty-five 
 years of age, and shall be a citizen of the United States fourteen years 
 and have resided in the state ten years. The governor must reside at 
 the seat of government. He shall have the veto power. His salary was 
 $1,500 no more. The secretary of state, auditor, and treasurer shall 
 be elected at the same time as the governor and lieutenant governor are 
 chosen. The governor shall issue all commissions. 
 
 The judiciary department shall consist of a supreme court, circuit 
 courts, county courts, and justice courts. The supreme court shall con- 
 sist of three judges elected from three judicial circuits. The term of 
 office was nine years and the one whose commission bears the earliest 
 date is to be chief justice. Salary $1,200 no more. Circuit judges, 
 $1,000 no more. The legislature may provide for election of district 
 prosecuting attorneys or county prosecuting attorneys. All judges are 
 to be elected by the qualified voters. 
 
 Some miscellaneous provisions were new. The legislature shall pass
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 235 
 
 a general law for township organization. The legislature may pass a 
 law raising revenue by a capitation tax of not less than 50 cents nor 
 over $1 on all electors between twenty-one and sixty years of age. No 
 state bank shall hereafter be created. All stockholders of banking asso- 
 ciations issuing bank notes, are liable for all debts of the company. 
 Article XIII is a declaration of rights; there are twenty-six distinct 
 personal rights enumerated. A tax of two mills on each dollar of as- 
 sessed valuation was authorized to constitute a fund for the liquidation 
 of the state's indebtedness. 
 
 It was further provided that if this constitution shall be ratified by 
 the people, the governor, secretary of state, etc., shall be elected on 
 Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 1848. The governor shall 
 take his office the second Monday in January following the election and 
 serve four years. 
 
 The constitution was completed on August 31, 1847. On March 6, 
 1848, it was submitted to the people for ratification. The vote on the 
 constitution stood nearly sixty thousand for, and nearly sixteen thou- 
 sand against. It was declared in force April 1, 1848. By the terms of 
 the document itself an election should be held on Tuesday after the 
 first Monday in November, 1848, for governor and other executive offi- 
 cers, as well as for members of the legislature. In compliance therewith 
 an election was held on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 
 1848, at which election Governor French was re-elected governor for 
 four years from January 1, 1849. 
 
 The new constitution authorized the legislature to provide for town- 
 ship organization. In pursuance thereof a law was passed in 3849 
 which allowed counties, when authorized by a vote of the people, to or- 
 ganize under this new system. This new system of county organization 
 is distinctly a New England product, and was therefore championed 
 by the northern counties, which had been largely settled by immigrants 
 from New England and the middle states. The legislature on February 
 12, 1849, passed a general law governing all counties under township 
 organization. This first law was somewhat imperfect, and has therefore 
 been subject to amendments up till the present time. The general pro- 
 visions may be briefly stated as follows : 
 
 The three commissioners under the county system have been super- 
 seded by a board of supervisors usually one from each township 
 more properly town. 
 
 Each town elects its own assessor, collector, supervisor, highway 
 commissioners, justices, constables, poundmaster, and clerk. These offi- 
 cers perform such services for the town as similar officers do for the 
 county under county organization. The board of supervisors has charge 
 of the public property of the county, fixes salaries, and audits the books 
 and reports of all county officers. 
 
 The legal voters of each town elect their town officers in April of 
 each year, and while assembled to perform this duty they hold what is 
 known as the "town meeting." In this town meeting they constitute a 
 pure democracy and may enact such legislation as is within the scope 
 of their authority as determined by the statutes. 
 
 An important law which was enacted in Governor French's term 
 was known as the "Homestead Exemption Law." The principle in- 
 volved in this act is very old in English law. It was declared in Magna 
 Charta. section 20, that in case of amercement, the punishment shall not
 
 236 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 extend to the deprivation of the debtor of his necessary means of mak- 
 ing a living. That is, the drayman by occupation must not be deprived 
 of his horse and dray, for then he and his family would become a public 
 charge. The demands of society at large are paramount to those of the 
 individual. Up to 1851 the only exemption was on personal property, 
 and then only to the extent of $60. The debtor who might be permitted 
 by this law to hold a yoke of oxen against a creditor might have no 
 land to till and his oxen might be a burden to him. But the exemption 
 law of 1851 provides that a householder may hold land to the value of 
 $1,000 against the creditor, besides $400 worth of personal property. 
 Such laws are still on our statute books and are seen to be very much to 
 the advantage of the poor man who has unfortunately become involved 
 and cannot pay his debts. 
 
 Among all the matters of general interest in Governor French's 
 administration nothing was more unfortunate than what came to be 
 called the "State Policy." The reader will recall that under the con- 
 stitution of 1818 the credit of the state might be used to foster great 
 public enterprises such as banks, railroads, and canals. The constitu- 
 tion of 1848, Article X, section 3, says: "No state bank shall hereafter 
 be created, nor shall the state own or be liable for any stock in any cor- 
 poration or joint stock association for banking purposes to be hereafter 
 created. ' ' And section 6 says : ' ' The general assembly shall encourage 
 internal improvements by passing liberal general laws of incorporation 
 for that purpose. ' ' It was not possible therefore for the state to engage 
 in any banking business or improvement schemes, but they might grant 
 charters or rather pass laws which would greatly favor individual effort 
 along these lines. It may also be recalled that when the state was in the 
 banking business that an effort was made to build up Alton as a rival of 
 St. Louis, but the city did not make very substantial progress, while St. 
 Louis was growing rapidly. This state policy was nothing more nor less 
 than a determination on the part of a majority of the general assembly 
 to withhold charters for railroads running east and west across the 
 state unless these cross roads would terminate at such points on the Illi- 
 nois side of the Mississippi, and on the west side of the eastern boun- 
 dary of the state, as might be designated by the legislature. These 
 patriotic statesmen insisted that it was the height of folly to say that as 
 great cities could not be built up within the state as beyond its limits. In 
 other words they said let the western termini of all cross roads be Alton, 
 and then Alton will become a great city. But St. Louis was already 
 a great market for the produce of all southern Illinois, as well as a 
 great wholesale and distributing point. Capitalists were anxious to con- 
 nect Louisville, Cincinnati, and other cities to the east of us with St. 
 Louis by railroads, but this could not be done unless charters could be 
 had from the state legislature of Illinois. Such permission was refused 
 in the summer of 1849. 
 
 Then the people in the belt of counties between Terre Haute and St. 
 Louis held a great convention at Salem in Marion county in which a 
 plan of campaign was outlined to secure so important a public enter- 
 prise as a cross railroad. There were one thousand delegates, and three 
 thousand other men in attendance. It was a formidable gathering. But 
 this meeting only put the state policy people to work, and as a result a 
 great meeting was held in Hillsboro in Montgomery county, which was 
 attended by ten thousand people. At this meeting the action of the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 237 
 
 legislature was endorsed and the virtue of the state policy greatly 
 praised. 
 
 Missouri now took a hand in the fight by imposing a tax of $4.50 on 
 every $1,000 worth of produce raised beyond the limits of the state 
 when sold on the markets of St. Louis. This tax would raise about 
 $150,000 annually on the produce from Illinois. The law was finally 
 declared inoperative by the Missouri courts. 
 
 At a special session of the legislature in the fall of 1849 strong reso- 
 lutions passed the general assembly sustaining the state policy. The 
 outside world now attacked Illinois and the matter became one of gen- 
 eral interest in the east. 
 
 The legislature of 1852 was more kindly disposed toward the best 
 interests of the south end of the state, and a beginning was made by 
 chartering the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad Company. This conces- 
 sion was no doubt the result of efforts of Douglas and other prominent 
 Illinois people in congress in consideration of the grant of land just made 
 by congress for the construction of the Illinois Central Railroad. Public 
 sentiment was changing, and in 1854, at a special session of the legisla- 
 ture, a general law incorporating railroad companies in conformity with 
 the sixth section of Article X, was passed without opposition. 
 
 THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD 
 
 Railroads made their advent into England in the year 1822. George 
 Stephenson was the engineer of the first road. In 1825 a wooden rail 
 track was first used in America for the removal of excavated earth on 
 the Delaware-Chesapeake canal. In 1826 Stephen Van Renssalear, of 
 New York, procured a charter for a railroad from Albany to Schenec- 
 tady. This was known as the Mohawk and Hudson River Railroad. It 
 began operations in 1831. In 1827 the Mauch-Chunk Railroad was put 
 in operation. The first built expressly for locomotives was in South 
 Carolina from Charleston to Columbia. It was chartered in 1827 and 
 was ready for use in 1829. The Tom Thumb, the first engine built in 
 America, was constructed for a road from Baltimore to Ellicott Mills. 
 It was built by Peter Cooper, of New York city. 
 
 On January 28, 1831, the general assembly of Illinois chartered a 
 canal or railroad in St. Clair county. This is the first legislation on 
 railroads in this state. On February 15, 1831, a bill providing for the 
 substitution of a railroad for the canal from Chicago to the Illinois 
 river was passed by the legislature. From this time forward the legis- 
 lature was very liberal in granting charters for railroads. But nothing 
 was actually done until in 1837. In that year a railroad was actually 
 put in running order in Illinois. 
 
 Governor Reynolds says in his history, "My Own Times," that he 
 was defeated for congress in 1836 and not having anything else to do, 
 conceived the idea of building a railroad from the bluffs in St. Clair 
 county to a point on the river opposite St. Louis, for the purpose of 
 transporting coal to the market. The road was about six miles long. 
 The engineer named a certain sum of money as the cost, but Reynolds 
 says it cost twice as much. The road was completed in one season. 
 The motive power was horses. The road was not chartered till 1841. 
 
 Just who ought to have credit for originating the idea of a railroad 
 from the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi to the head of naviga- 
 tion of the Illinois river, and perhaps with Chicago and Galena, is not 
 easy to determine. It is stated that Senator Alexander M. Jenkins, of
 
 238 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Jackson county, proposed a survey of a route for a central railroad 
 from Cairo to Peru, in the state senate in 1832. 
 
 On October 16, 1835, Sidney Breese, afterwards a noted jurist of 
 this state, addressed to Mr. John Y. Sawyer, a prominent gentleman of 
 Edwardsville, a letter in which he suggests the building of a road from 
 Cairo to the north end of the state. This letter dealt with the location, 
 cost, and benefits of such a road. Judge Breese afterwards said that 
 the matter was suggested to him by a friend of Bond county. 
 
 On January 18, 1836, a charter was granted by the legislature in- 
 corporating the "Illinois Central Railroad Company." This charter 
 provided for fifty-eight incorporators, one of whom was Judge Breese. 
 Nothing of any consequence was done by this company. On the 
 twenty-seventh of February, 1837, the Internal Improvement Bill was 
 passed and one of the important features was a railroad from Cairo to 
 the northern part of the state. $3,500,000 was appropriated for its con- 
 struction. As a result of this move on the part of the state, work was 
 begun on the Central road, as it was called. Work was also begun on 
 other roads. The road from Jacksonville to Meredosia was practically 
 completed and an engine placed on it, November 8, 1838. It was fin- 
 ished to Jacksonville from Meredosia in January, 1840, and to Spring- 
 field in 1842, February 15. By 1843 the state practically abandoned 
 the attempt to build the railroads, though it had done considerable 
 work on various lines within the state. 
 
 The Great Western Railway Company was chartered March 6, 1843. 
 This company was identical with the Cairo City and Canal Company, 
 previously chartered. This company spent large sums of money in 
 grading on the line from Cairo north to the southern terminus of the 
 Illinois and Michigan canal. Congress had made grants of land so 
 liberally to the state that it was believed it would do so for this Central 
 railroad. 
 
 Judge Breese and Stephen A. Douglas were in the United States 
 senate in 1847; and Douglas introduced a bill for a grant of land to 
 Illinois which was endorsed by Breese and passed the senate, but failed 
 in the house. The old Western Company now saw a chance to get the 
 grant of land and the Illinois legislature was induced to give the con- 
 templated grant to the Western Company, but the gift was afterwards 
 cancelled at the request of Senator Douglas. 
 
 On September 20, 1850, congress gave to the states of Illinois, Mis- 
 sissippi, and Alabama, a grant of land with which to build a road from 
 the gulf to the lakes. 
 
 The law granted the right of way through the public lands between 
 Cairo and the canal, and between the north end of this line and Chi- 
 cago and Galena. The right of way should be two hundred feet wide. 
 Congress granted to the state every unentered, even-numbered section 
 for a space of six miles on each side of the right of way ; and when the 
 even-numbered section had been entered or preempted then the state 
 might choose even-numbered sections in equal amounts anywhere on 
 either side of the right of way to the distance of fifteen miles. The 
 road was to be begun at opposite ends at the same time, and be com- 
 pleted within ten years. The total grant contained two million five 
 hundred and ninety-five thousand acres. 
 
 The government by the same act which made this munificent gift 
 to the state, raised the price of land along this right of way in the odd-
 
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 H 
 S3 
 
 O 
 
 5 
 
 B 
 
 O 
 "3 
 
 O2 
 
 O 
 
 S 
 
 o 
 
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 o 
 
 a 
 
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 y, 
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 o 
 o 
 
 s 
 
 "S 
 
 > 
 2 
 
 <
 
 240 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 numbered sections to $2.50 per acre. In a short time the land was taken 
 off the market for two years and when placed upon the market again 
 it brought on an average of $5 an acre. 
 
 The gift was made to the state, and the legislature might dispose 
 of it anyway it chose, provided it be used to construct the railroad. 
 The government reserved the right to use the road as a public high- 
 way for the transmission of armies, munitions, and other government 
 property, free of charge forever. 
 
 Probably the government intended that this reservation should in- 
 clude the use of cars and engines, but the courts decided that the pro- 
 vision applied only to the roadbed and not to the rolling stock. 
 
 Notwithstanding the recent experience in railroad building by the 
 state, there were those who thought the state ought to build the road. 
 Then again there were all sorts of suggestions as to the towns through 
 which the road should pass, and as to the point from which the branches 
 should diverge. 
 
 When the legislature met in January, 1851, there were all kinds 
 of propositions presented for the construction of the Central Railroad. 
 But a proposition made by a company of men from New York and Bos- 
 ton attracted the attention of the legislature. It was in brief as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 1. The memorialists are named as follows: 
 
 Robert Schuyler. Robert Rantoul, Jr. 
 
 George Griswold. Jonathan Sturges. 
 
 Gouverneur Morris. Thomas W. Ludlow. 
 
 Franklin Haven. John F. A. Sandford. 
 
 Day A. Neal. 
 
 2. They say they have examined the route proposed for the road, 
 and they propose to organize a company and employ the best of talent 
 in the construction of the road. 
 
 3. They pledge themselves to build the road and have it ready for 
 operation by the fourth of July, 1854. 
 
 4. The road shall be as well built as the road running from Bos- 
 ton to Albany. 
 
 5. They agree to pay into the treasury of the state annually .... 
 per cent of their gross earnings, provided the state will transfer to the 
 company the lands granted by congress for the construction of the 
 road. 
 
 This proposition became the basis of the agreement between the 
 state and the company afterwards known as the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road Company. The rate per cent of the gross earnings of the road 
 which should be paid over to the state was fixed so that it should be 
 "at least" seven per cent. 
 
 At first glance it may appear that the government was recklessly 
 liberal in granting two and a half millions of acres for the construc- 
 tion of this railroad. But we should remember that there were, in 
 1850, thousands of acres of unentered land, lying in the central and 
 north part of the state, which had lain there on the market for from 
 ten to twenty-five years. The price was $1.25 per acre. And it is 
 said that after the Mexican war, soldiers who had received their land 
 warrants were willing to take from 50 to 60 cents on the dollar in cash 
 for these warrants. In this way many people got cheap lands by buy- 
 ing up land warrants and using them in locating homesteads. As soon
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 257 
 
 Mr. Lincoln sent a short note in which he agreed to the above ar- 
 rangement. 
 
 At that time there were nine congressional districts in the state. 
 The Seventh, Eighth, and part of the Ninth comprehended all the terri- 
 tory we now call Southern Illinois. The following counties constituted 
 the Seventh district: Logan, Macon, Piatt, Moultrie, Coles, Edgar, 
 Clark, Cumberland, Payette, Effingham, Jasper, Crawford, Lawrence, 
 Richland, and Clay. The member in congress from this district was 
 Hon. Aaron Shaw of Lawrenceville. The Eighth district included the 
 counties of Madison, Bond, St. Clair, Washington, Marion, Jefferson, 
 Monroe and Randolph. The Hon. Robert Smith of Alton was the rep- 
 resentative. The Ninth district included eighteen counties as follows: 
 Wabash, Edwards, Wayne, Perry, Franklin, Hamilton, White, Galla- 
 tin, Saline, Williamson, Jackson, Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, 
 Massae, Pulaski, and Alexander. The Hon. Samuel S. Marshall, of Mc- 
 Leansboro, was the representative. 
 
 The first joint debate was at Ottawa. It was held in the public 
 square and was largely attended. The second debate was at Freeport, 
 and the third at Jonesboro. 
 
 SOME MATTERS OP LOCAL INTEREST 
 
 Without doubt the Lincoln-Douglas debate which occurred in Jones- 
 boro, Union county, September 15, 1858, was the most memorable, pro- 
 found and far-reaching political event which ever occurred in Southern 
 Illinois. Southern Illinois had been the cradle of French interests in 
 the Mississippi valley. It was the seat of British power west of the 
 Alleghanies. Here Gen. George Rogers Clark unfurled the flag of the 
 infant republic. Southern Illinois furnished the first governors, the 
 first congressmen, the first United States senators, and the first supreme 
 court judges of the Prairie state. The names of Nathaniel Pope, Ninian 
 Edwards, Rev. J. M. Peck, Morris Birkbeck, Sidney Breese, James 
 Shields. Wm. H. Bissell, John Reynolds, John Rice Jones, Elias Kent 
 Kane, Jesse B. Thomas, Shadrach Bond, Daniel P. Cook, Joseph Dun- 
 can, James Hall, Gustavus Koerner, John A. McClernand, Henry 
 Eddy, Joseph Duncan, Elijah P. Lovejoy, Joseph Gillespie, and E. D. 
 Baker were as household words in Southern Illinois. Among these 
 honored sons were distinguished lawyers, profound jurists, able states- 
 men, patriots, soldiers, and orators. The rank and file of the people of 
 this end of the state were familiar with the above named citizens. 
 They were familiar figures in the various sections of Southern Illinois. 
 They had often been heard in public gatherings. They compared quite 
 favorably with honored sons of other states. But when we bring Lin- 
 coln and Douglas into this galaxy of bright stars, their magnitude 
 diminishes perceptibly. Lincoln and Douglas were stars of the first 
 magnitude and the lustre of our local stars passes into the third, fourth 
 or fifth class of political luminaries. It was. therefore, a rare treat for 
 the citizenship of Southern Illinois to be privileged to have the oppor- 
 tunity of hearing and seeing these two men. It is not at all likely that 
 either of these two men had ever been seen in Southern Illinois except 
 perhaps as lawyers at the bar. It is said that Lincoln attended court 
 in the old stone court house in Thebes, between 1845 and 1860. At 
 any rate, the coming of these two men was an event of extraordinary 
 importance.
 
 258 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The plan of campaign adopted by both Douglas and Lincoln was to 
 have a number of speaking dates at points on the line of travel in going 
 from one joint debate to the next one. Thus there were seven days 
 between the Ottawa debate and the Freeport debate, and about twenty 
 days between the Freeport and the Jonesboro meetings. This space of 
 twenty days was used by each of the gentlemen in doing a number of 
 lesser engagements throughout the country. 
 
 Mr. Horace White, now of New York city, was at that time a per- 
 sonal companion of Mr. Lincoln on all his campaigns during the period 
 of the joint debate. He has left a complete itinerary of Mr. Lincoln's 
 journeyings from Freeport to Jonesboro. From Freeport Mr. Lincoln 
 and Mr. White went to Carlinville, where John M. Palmer and Lin- 
 coln had a joint discussion. Thence to Clinton, Bloomington, Monti- 
 cello, Paris, where Owen P. Lovejoy, the great abolition orator, spoke 
 with Lincoln. From there to Hillsboro, Greenville, and thence to Ed- 
 wardsville. This place was reached on September the 13th. Here 
 Judge Joseph Gillespie presided and greatly encouraged Mr. Lincoln. 
 This Edwardsville meeting, it will be noticed, was only a dozen miles 
 from Alton, where the last joint meeting was to be held. From Ed- 
 wardsville Mr. Lincoln and Mr. White went to Alton, thence to Spring- 
 field, thence to Decatur and from that point direct to Anna on the 
 Illinois Central. 
 
 The whereabouts of Douglas from the Freeport meeting for a few 
 days have not been traced, but the St. Louis Daily Morning Herald of 
 Saturday, September 11, 1858, has an account of a visit of Douglas to 
 Belleville. He went from St. Louis to Belleville on a special train car- 
 rying twelve coaches loaded with Douglas enthusiasts. It appears that 
 Douglas and Mrs. Douglas had been visiting in St. Louis. Mrs. Douglas 
 accompanied her husband to Belleville. Of Mrs. Douglas the Herald 
 says : "Of the beauty and grace of this lady much has been said ; and 
 all who saw her yesterday are quite ready to testify, with entire truth." 
 
 From Belleville, where Douglas spoke on the 10th of September, he 
 went to Waterloo on Saturday the llth. Just where he spent Sun- 
 day is not certain, but on Monday the 13th he spoke in Chester. That 
 night he boarded the "James H. Lucas," a river steamboat plying be- 
 tween St. Louis and Memphis. By Tuesday morning, September 14th, 
 he rounded the southern end of the peninsula and steamed into the 
 Ohio and within less than an hour had landed on the wharfboat at Cairo. 
 
 POLITICAL SITUATION IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IN 1858 
 
 In the summer of 1857, Douglas and Buchanan came to the part- 
 ing of the ways. The Lecompton constitution was presented for its ac- 
 ceptance. Douglas, and Governor Walker of Kansas, had both pro- 
 tested against the acceptance. Buchanan yielded to the demands of the 
 slave power and recommended the acceptance. Doxiglas had preached 
 state sovereignty with all his might and now it looked as if his whole 
 theory was to be cast to the winds by the administration. 
 
 When Douglas reached Washington for the sitting of congress in 
 December. 1857. he called on Buchanan and they went over all the 
 ground. Douglas told the President that he would denounce the 
 Lecompton constitution on the floor of the senate. This he did in a 
 great speech in which he defined the slave power. The fight between
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 259 
 
 Douglas on one side, assisted by a few brave souls, and the slave power 
 on the other, was dragged on till June 16, 1858, when congress ad- 
 journed. 
 
 Illinois Democracy sympathized with Douglas and there grew up two 
 factions known as the Administration faction and the Douglas faction. 
 The regular Democratic state convention met in Springfield April 
 21, 1858. Douglas' course in congress was warmly endorsed. Win. B. 
 Fonday was nominated for treasurer and ex-Gov. A. C. French was 
 named for state superintendent of public instruction. When it came 
 to the resolutions which indorsed Douglas there was a bolt of all the 
 anti-Douglas delegates. They assembled in another room and after 
 some deliberation called a state convention to be held in Springfield, 
 June 9, 1858. The convention was accordingly held. There were rep- 
 resentatives present from forty-eight counties. John Dougherty of 
 Jonesboro, Union county, was named as the candidate for state treas- 
 urer; and ex-Gov. John Reynolds of Belleville, St. Glair county, was 
 the candidate for state superintendent of public instruction. The 
 party title was the National Democratic party. Douglas was de- 
 nounced by the convention and the praises of Buchanan were sung. 
 The convention was in a large measure made up of federal office hold- 
 ers throughout the state, together with a few disaffected politicians here 
 and there. It was urged that candidates for congress and for local 
 offices be put forward everywhere. 
 
 Senator Douglas felt he must defend himself in the senate, and a 
 week later made a speech in which he denounced the "bolters" con- 
 vention, calling the party Danites. This name stuck to the Buchanan 
 or Administration Democrats during the entire canvass. 
 
 The Republicans had nominated Mr. D. L. Phillips, of Anna, for 
 congress in the Ninth congressional district. The Regular Democratic 
 organization had nominated Mr. John A. Logan, of Benton, while the 
 ' ' Danites, ' ' as Douglas called them, the Administration Democrats, nom- 
 inated Mr. Wm. K. Parrish. In the Twenty-fifth Senatorial district 
 for state senator the Douglas party put forward A. J. Kuykendall, of 
 Vienna, the Buchanan party put forward Aaron R. Stout. In the First 
 Representative district, made up of the counties of Union, Alexander, 
 and Pulaski, the candidate for the Douglas party for state representative 
 was Wm. A. Hacker ; for the Administration party, John S. Hunsaker. 
 
 To show the disaffection of the Danites we append the vote for the 
 several positions: 
 
 For representatve : Wm. A. Hacker Alexander county, 322; Pu- 
 laski county, 554; Union county, 566; total, 1,442. 
 
 John S. Hunsaker Alexander county, 24; Pulaski county, 113; 
 Union county, 620; total, 757. 
 
 For state senator: A. J. Kuykendall Alexander county, 307; Un- 
 ion county, 558 ; Johnson county, 816 ; Pulaski county, 579 ; Pope 
 county, 608 ; Massac county, 636 ; Hardin county, 309 ; Gallatin county, 
 610; total, 4,425. 
 
 Aaron R. Stout Alexander county, 225 ; Union county, 561 ; John- 
 son county, 29 : Pulaski county, 78 ; Pope county, 25 ; Massac county, 
 27 ; Hardin county, 46 ; Gallatin county, 395 ; total, 1,386. 
 
 It was probably because of the fact that the Buchanan forces were 
 so strong in the extreme southern counties that Douglas named Jones- 
 boro as the point where the joint discussion should occur in the Ninth
 
 I DUGLAS HAS HUM. 
 
 Immense Gathering! 
 
 TlIE MAS&KS IN-COUNCILM 
 
 lif.i El'. . EV 
 HITTBSUJ 
 
 THE COMMITTEE! 
 3713.0 
 
 ICK WATF.U! 
 
 MUCH ENTHUSIASM. 
 Twelve Men Civc Cheers! 
 
 i DUG APPEARS AT THE WINDOW AND 
 
 SMILES!!! 
 
 SEVEX CHEERS FOR llARilULL, UY THE I1IMOR- 
 Til. TWELVE ! 
 
 Ye Refrigerating Committee! 
 ITS 3DOIKTS! 
 
 YE SHORT AND YE TALL MAKE CON- 
 NEXIONS! 
 
 TUB KUOUED ROAD l;i> THE LEVEE WITH 
 NARY CilKKlt!! 
 
 ENTHUSIASM!! 
 
 C II IE 33 ]E*. S . 
 
 DOUGLAS, A LONG MAN AND A SHO*T 
 MAN!!t 
 
 FOUR BANNERS .' 
 
 A F"L~A G ! ^ 
 
 Yesterday morning about 9 o'clock the 
 'Jam rail. Lucas,, with the liP.iputian giant, 
 OD board, Announced her coming by tho re- 
 port of a tnnnon, wheroapovt tile committee 
 nppointed'for the purpose hoisted their col- 
 j lars, strai&hlcned ilicir hair ami mustaches, 
 wiped the last "liokev" off their lips with 
 their coat sleeves, and made tracka for tho 
 wharf boiit. As soon as the boat landed, .1 
 cannon brought frpiu Mound City Tor the 
 i purpofe (tbC'.brngs piece here is n Iluchanun 
 j cannon, and would certainly have bursted 
 on such an occasion) commenced belchiug. 
 The committee then went to the Luoas. 
 Judge Dn.glas.vM visible and the chairman 
 said "llow d'ye do Mr. DV" a* natural as 
 possible. Mr. D. replied "1 nci tolcrnblc!" 
 The rest of the committee were then intro- 
 .duet'd to the circus giant,. r.EcI a procession 
 was formed. 
 
 wns Mr Doajlos! adorned on 
 Op sid? bjr:Xlr..S. S. Tajlor, sis feet tw'a or 
 seven ipohei .high, and on tho other by Mr. 
 S. S. Brooks, five feet four innh^s high. Mr. 
 Dougllu dad on a white hat, and a coat. 
 ;"Tho bilnnc? of the procession consisted of 
 fifteen Or twenty persons who marched up to 
 the top of the levee, where they were met 
 by four banners, one Sag, ami ton or fifteen 
 more people, M'h'b jOincJ t'uem proitiscunns- 
 Ij. Tbt iojposinjr spccUile thei moved, 
 IcJ on by tho immortal twelve, up to \Vnite< 
 corner, tlicncc down to Bailey HarreH-s 
 and. thence down commercial avenue to the 
 Tailor House. I{erc was the grand display. 
 Little .Mr, Douglas 'and his- Inrgo white hat 
 went Aito thr-l>^l6f House parior, followed 
 by several of thf> committee. About a doz- 
 en of the fanhful had collected nt tho cor- 
 ner, nnd one of them proposed thicc cheers 
 for Mr. Douglas. An attempt was made to 
 give them, but barring the nfores iid dozen 
 or two it wan r,n ignominious failure. Thrco 
 cheers were tht.i proposed foj- Sain M ira'iall 
 which were piven bv aloat eight persons in 
 the very wealiest kiud of stj-le. When Mr. 
 Doagtas was ibcered, he appeared at t'jo 
 pail' window, and smiled very benignly 
 upon the crowd. One of the committee then 
 ftppeiired at tb4 window, called the attention 
 of the crowd, and stated th.it Mr. Douglas* 
 time was too much occupied with speaking 
 an die could ml speak more than once aday, 
 ipeflkin^ wsi^d therefore be commenced at 
 "2 o'clock. Thocrowd quietly dispersed with- 
 out a word, sute from one man, who exclaim- 
 ed, "IVeil, It him rip, then!" Tho bund 
 theu. played e! e more tun?, and everything 
 was soon quitt as if Mr. Douglas w^s n>f in 
 town. From the time of his arrival on the 
 Lucuiti!. bcuicnched the Taylor House, there 
 was not the least enthusiasm among the 
 crowd not even a cheer was proposed, and 
 tho mirch through the hot sun was gloomy 
 indeed. Aidjgother, it waj the flattest, drv- 
 est and moH insipid reception we ever saw. 
 
 LATER. 
 
 At 1 o'cluVjt Mr. D. assembled himself up- 
 on a platfurui which had been erected for 
 his benefit iv front of tho Taylor House, and 
 diilircred bi< stereotyped speech. The re- 
 mainder of- the day was spent in vari- 
 ous amusements until evening, whin the 
 ball commorfCed. Politics having been con- 
 fined to the. kitchen, the ball went off very 
 pleasantly. Judge Douglas' enthusiastic (?) 
 tcceplion, v,-i'.l Ion,-; bo remembered by our 
 ci.iiar.5. Terily tture as ice raise 1 ! with it.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 261 
 
 congressional district. Mr. A. J. Phillips now a citizen of Anna, son 
 of David L. Phillips, who in 1858 was the candidate of the Republican 
 party for congress in the Ninth district, says his father told him that 
 Lincoln did not want to come to Jonesboro to debate, as he thought 
 there was no chance to elect any of the Republican candidates from that 
 region to the general assembly. But Mr. D. L. Phillips and Mr. Lincoln 
 were great friends and the former prevailed on Mr. Lincoln to come. 
 
 WHEN DOUGLAS CAME TO CAIRO 
 
 We have already mentioned the fact that Douglas reached Cairo 
 on his way to Jonesboro Tuesday morning, September 14th. Old citi- 
 zens now in Cairo have a very distinct recollection of that noted occa- 
 sion. By reference to the vote in Alexander county that fall, we find 
 Douglas' friend, Wm. A. Hacker, received 322 votes while Mr. Hun- 
 saker received only 24. Douglas was therefore in the midst of his 
 friends. However, the paper published in Cairo at that time, the Cairo 
 Weekly Times and Delta, was very bitterly opposed to Douglas, as the 
 extract on the preceding page will show, this being taken from the issue 
 of September 15, 1858. 
 
 From personal interviews, and correspondence with men who were 
 in Cairo at the time, the following may be stated: A brass band of 
 twelve pieces from Jonesboro had been engaged to come to Cairo and 
 furnish music for the Douglas reception. It was under the leadership 
 of Prof. Joseph E. Terpinitz. The reception committee consisted of 
 Col. S. Staats Taylor, Col. John S. Hacker, S. S. Brooks, B. O'Shaugh- 
 nessy, Capt. Abe Williams, Capt. Billy Williams, Mose Harrell, mayor 
 of Mound City, John Q. Harmon, M. S. Ensminger, Henry H. Kandee, 
 H. Too Aspern, Ed Willett, and others. The committee had provided 
 a small cannon. The committee, the band, and the cannon were on the 
 wharf when the James H. Lucas landed at the wharf boat. The cannon 
 was fired several times and quite a crowd gathered to welcome the dis- 
 tinguished guest. It seems certain, however, that enthusiasm was not 
 at a high pitch. 
 
 The band led the way and the committee with Douglas marched to 
 the Taylor House, a three-story wooden hotel that stood on the south- 
 west corner of Fourth and Commercial avenue. Mrs. Douglas accom- 
 panied the Senator and they were guests at the Taylor House. The 
 band played a piece or two and the crowd dispersed. Arrangements 
 had been made for speaking in the afternoon. A few prominent people 
 were guests at the hotel for dinner. 
 
 The speaking occurred early in the afternoon. Men who were there 
 seem to think the audience was not demonstrative. Evidently there 
 were few, if any, of the leaders of the party present except local nota- 
 bles. Capt. W. W. Williams, now of Cairo, thinks Josh Allen. John 
 A. Logan and Gen. Uriah Linder were present. Captain Williams 
 says Douglas seemed to be feeling the strain of the campaign and spoke 
 with considerable difficulty. 
 
 An interesting story is told by Captain Williams. He says he called 
 at the Taylor House to pay his respects and was introduced to Mrs. 
 Douglas in the kitchen, where she was assisting in making pies for the 
 dinner or noon meal, as they were expecting many guests. Other citi- 
 zens confirm the story. Hon. W. T. Dowdall. now of Memphis, Ten-
 
 262 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 nessee, was a prominent participant in the reception of Senator Doug- 
 las, and has rendered valuable help in the preservation of the details 
 of that memorable day. He has much to say of the charm of Mrs. 
 Douglas. His notion is that she was of inestimable service to her hus- 
 band in this noted canvass. 
 
 It would probably not be wide of the truth to say that the visit of 
 Senator and Mrs. Douglas to Cairo on their way to Jonesboro was more 
 a social event than it was a political affair. Great preparations were 
 made for a reception and ball to be given in the Tayor House on the 
 evening of the 14th. The evening meal was served promptly and elab- 
 orate preparations were made in the large dining room for the social 
 functions. This feature seems to have been in charge of Hon. Win. 
 A. Hacker, C. G. Simons, H. Watson Webb, and others. Professor Ter- 
 pinitz and his musicians furnished the music, Senator and Mrs. Doug- 
 las led the grand march. Mrs. Douglas, never weary of service in the 
 cause of her noted husband, danced with many of the noted gentlemen 
 present, particularly Colonel Taylor and Captain Billy Williams. Sen- 
 ator Douglas needed to husband his resources for the great conflict on 
 the morrow, so he retired early, but the "younger set" kept up the 
 dance till the wee hours of the morning. 
 
 On the morning of the 15th a special train stood ready upon the 
 Illinois Central tracks to convey the Little Giant and his party to the 
 little village of Anna, in Union county, where they would debark for 
 the historic town of Jonesboro. The train consisted of several coaches; 
 attached to the rear was a flat car upon which was a cannon manned 
 by the "Cairo artillerymen." There was not a large crowd of Cairoites 
 who went to Jonesboro. Professor Terpinitz thinks the cannon was 
 fired often on the way to Anna. The country passed through was 
 mostly timbered and hilly and he says the reverberations of the artillery 
 waked the natives. Anria was reached about noon, and after some de- 
 lay a procession was formed and the party marched to Jonesboro a 
 mile west. 
 
 The following extract from the Chicago Journal of September 16, 
 1858, is of interest, as it helps to settle some matters which the oldest 
 inhabitant does not remember. 
 
 "(Special Correspondence of the Journal). 
 
 "Just as we go to press, we received a letter from Southern Illinois, 
 a portion only of which we can publish today : 
 
 "CAIRO. Sept. 14, 1858. 
 
 " * * * Senator Douglas with his cannon arrived here yesterday 
 (it should read today) and made a speech (today) to the assembled 
 Cairoites. Linder, Judge Marshall, and John Logan also had their 
 say. We did not get here in time to hear the speeches. In the morn- 
 ing, Douglas and his cannon proceed to Jonesboro, where he meets Mr. 
 Lincoln in debate before the Egyptians, for the first time, tomorrow 
 afternoon. Mr. Lincoln is already there, having come down on the 
 same train which brought us to Cairo. He was received bv a number 
 of friends at the depot (in Anna) and is the guest of Mr. Dresser. 
 
 "He looks well, feels strong, and is full of courage as he has every 
 reason to be. A warm time is expected tomorrow, and we hear some 
 whispers of a proposed attempt on the part of Missourians and Ken- 
 tuckians, who are coming over to shout for Douglas, to "put down"
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 263 
 
 Lincoln. But we cannot believe that the attempt will be made. Mr. 
 Lincoln will not be without friends at the meeting. We find that he 
 is personally popular even here in Egypt." 
 
 A correspondent for the Chicago Journal, writing from Jonesboro 
 at the close of the debate, and reviewing the day 's doings, says : ' ' The 
 extra excursion train from Cairo, for the State Fair at Centralia, 
 brought up Senator Douglas and his cannon this evening (evidently 
 afternoon as the train reached Anna about noon or shortly thereafter). 
 We came upon the same train and were surprised that notwithstanding 
 the cannon was fired on the arrival at each station not a solitary cheer 
 was given nor any sign of enthusiasm manifested . . . between 
 Cairo and Jonesboro. . . . When the train arrived at the station, 
 his cannon (he always carries it with him, on an extra wood car at- 
 tached to the train) fired his own salute." 
 
 Another correspondent to the Press and Tribune says: "Shortly 
 before two o'clock the people entered the fair grounds, a little north of 
 the town, where the speaking stand had been erected. The inevitable 
 brass cannon was there before them filling the yard with a loud noise 
 and a bad smell." 
 
 LINCOLN IN ANNA AND JONESBORO 
 
 Mr. Lincoln reached Anna from the north probably about 2 o'clock 
 in the afternoon of the fourteenth. He was accompanied by Mr. Hor- 
 ace White, Mr. D. L. Phillips, and probably Mr. Robert R. Hitt, the 
 shorthand reporter. In the letter above to the Journal, the correspond- 
 ent says he was to be the guest of Mr. Dresser, but Mr. A. J. Phillips, 
 son of D. L. Phillips, says his father entertained Mr. Lincoln. Mr. A. J. 
 Phillips was eleven years old and he says he remembers the occasion 
 in all its details. The elder Phillips had an office in a two-story frame 
 building about where the Miller opera house stands and Messrs. Phil- 
 lips, Lincoln, Hitt and White, possibly others, spent some time in the 
 office, and later Mr. Lincoln went to the home of Mr. Phillips on the 
 north side of the street from Anna to Jonesboro and remained over 
 night. Messrs. Hitt and White went to Jonesboro and stayed over 
 night at the Union Hotel, which is situated on the east side of the public 
 square. In all probability Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Phillips were at the 
 hotel for some time in the evening, for Mr. Horace White, now of New 
 York, writes as follows: "The only thing I recall at Jonesboro was 
 not political and not even terrestrial. It was the splendid appearance 
 of Donati's comet in the sky, the evening before the debate. Mr. Lin- 
 coln greatly admired this strange visitor, and he and I sat for an hour 
 or more in front of the hotel looking at it." Mr. White further says: 
 "The country people came into the little town with ox teams mostly, 
 and a very stunted breed of oxen, too. Their wagons were old-fash- 
 ioned, and looked as though they were ready to fall to pieces." 
 
 On the morning of the fifteenth Dr. Me Vane, a prominent Demo- 
 crat, who lived near Mr. Phillips, offered to take Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
 Phillips out driving. Mr. Lincoln consented. Dr. McVane was quite 
 a horse fancier and drove a fine span of matched geldings. When they 
 were ready to start Dr. McVane asked young Phillips to go with them 
 and of course the youngster was glad of the chance. The four drove
 
 264 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 over to Jonesboro, around the town, and westward along the picturesque 
 road leading to Willard's Landing on the Mississippi river. They re- 
 turned and Mr. Lincoln made some calls, one of which was to the home 
 of a Mrs. Hacker, a daughter-in-law of Col. John Hacker and wife of 
 Dr. Hacker. Some years ago Mrs. Dr. Hacker gave the writer the 
 story of the visit of both Mr. Lincoln and Senator Douglas. She says 
 when Lincoln called she had in her arms a six weeks' old baby. She 
 observed his ungainly appearance, the awkward gait, the long, bony 
 hand, the kindly look in the eyes, the sympathetic conversation, etc. 
 He stayed but a few moments, fondled the child and departed. Doug- 
 las also called. He was tastily attired, his hands encased in kid gloves, 
 and everything denoted the air of a cultured gentleman. In his visit 
 to the home he strengthened the ties already strong between himself 
 and the Hackers, the most influential name in the extreme south end 
 of the state at that time. 
 
 Mr. A. J. Phillips says they returned to Anna for an early dinner 
 and within a short time the village was startled by the roar of a 
 cannon. Everybody rushed to the station and a large crowd of people 
 welcomed the Little Giant. Mr. Horace White says: "I was standing 
 at the railroad station at Anna when Douglas's special train arrived 
 from Cairo. My recollection is that there was a flat car attached to 
 the train on which a small cannon was mounted and that it was fired 
 several times after its arrival." 
 
 Andrew J. Bunch, now seventy-five years of age, living at McClure, 
 in the northwest part of Alexander county, was a young man twenty- 
 one years of age at the time of the debate. He was living in Jonesboro 
 at that time. He says: "Jonesboro was a small town of less than 
 one thousand population. There was a large hotel on the east side of 
 the square kept by a man by the name of Sheets, and one on the west 
 side kept by a Mrs. Williams. The courthouse in the center of the 
 square was very dilapidated. There was no floor, only a dirt floor. 
 The present courthouse was just being plastered. The prominent men 
 were Col. John Hacker, his two sons, William and Henry. The latter 
 was a doctor. William was a very active politician. Col. John Dough- 
 erty was a very prominent man. His son, Lafayette, was the United 
 States marshal for the southern district of Illinois. Other prominent 
 men were John E. Nail, Willis Willard, John Greer, Adam Cruse, Dr. 
 Toler, William Bunch, Ephraim Kimmel, Joseph E. Terpinitz, John R. 
 Miller, George Williams, Samuel Flagler, Jeff Baldwin, etc. But Jones- 
 boro was almost solid for Buchanan and it was a cold reception that 
 Douglas got. The reception committee consisted of the Hackers and 
 Dr. Toler with others who were nominally on the committee. Slight 
 preparations were made. The debate occurred half a mile north of the 
 square. The reason the preparations were slight was that no Buchanan 
 man would do anything toward making arrangements. The Douglas 
 cannon was taken to the grounds and placed to the south of the speaker's 
 stand and fired several times while Douglas was speaking. When the 
 speaking was over someone shouted for Dougherty to speak and he 
 took the platform, but the confusion was too great. Josh Allen got up 
 and shouted for Linder, who came forward and spoke. I do not know 
 what became of Douglas and Lincoln after the speaking." 
 
 Prof. Joseph E. Terpinitz, the leader of the band, after telling of 
 having some difficulty in getting anything to eat, says: "Upon arriv-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 265 
 
 ing at Jonesboro we were again disappointed in getting refreshments. 
 The square was alive with people and streams of men and boys were 
 moving toward the fair grounds. Finally the band led the way and the 
 march to the grounds was taken up. I remember we were tired and 
 hungry and not inclined to pay much attention to what was going on. 
 But as we were going up a gentle slope near the grounds, I noticed to 
 the left of the road in a path a tall, odd looking man walking along 
 with his hands behind him. He wore a tall plug hat, rather long-tailed 
 coat, and was a person who would attract attention in a crowd. He 
 seemed in deep meditation, walking with his head down. I asked 
 Who is that odd looking man? Someone in the band said that was 
 Lincoln from Springfield, who was going to speak. He was not particu- 
 larly with anyone, though there were many people walking along and 
 his friends may have been near." 
 
 The debate was without unusual incident. The audience was in- 
 deed very small. No one has estimated it more than two thousand, 
 while those who were accustomed to size up audiences place it at fifteen 
 hundred. The correspondents for the city papers speak of a good dele- 
 gation coming from the State Fair at Centralia, and of a good sized 
 crowd from Cairo. Mr. Horace White says: "My impression was 
 that the audience at Jonesboro was rather stolid, and took little interest 
 in the questions discussed, but that it was composed of honest, well 
 meaning, old fashioned country folks. I do not think Lincoln made any 
 converts at Jonesboro. I doubt if Douglas made any or even held his 
 own."
 
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 CHAPTER XXIV 
 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE AT JONESBORO 
 
 MR. DOUGLAS'S SPEECH MR. LINCOLN'S REPLY MR. DOUGLAS'S REPLY. 
 
 The joint debate between Mr. Douglas and Mr. Lincoln, which was 
 held at Jonesboro on September 15, 1858, was the third of the series, 
 and so thoroughly covers the ground of the questions at issue, that it 
 is here reproduced verbatim. 
 
 MR. DOUGLAS'S SPEECH 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: I appear before you to-day in pursuance 
 of a previous notice, and have made arrangements with Mr. Lincoln 
 to divide time, and discuss with him the leading political topics that now 
 agitate the country. 
 
 Prior to 1854 this country was divided into two great political 
 parties known as Whig and Democratic. These parties differed from 
 each other on certain questions which were then deemed to be impor- 
 tant to the bests interests of the Republic. Whigs and Democrats dif- 
 fered about a bank, the tariff, distribution, the specie circular and the 
 sub-treasury. On those issues we went before the country and discussed 
 the principles, objects and measures of the two great parties. Each 
 of the parties could proclaim its principles in Louisiana as well as in 
 Massachusetts, in Kentucky as well as in Illinois. Since that period, a 
 great revolution has taken place in the formation of parties, by which 
 they now seem to be divided by a geographical line, a large party in 
 the north being arrayed under the Abolition or Republican banner, in 
 hostility to the southern states, southern people, and southern institu- 
 tions. It becomes important for us to inquire how this transformation 
 of parties has occurred, made from those of national principles to 
 geographical factions. You remember that in 1850 this country was 
 agitated from, its center to its circumference about this slavery ques- 
 tion -it became necessary for the leaders of the great Whig party and 
 the leaders of the great Democratic party to postpone, for the time 
 being, their particular disputes, and unite first to save the Union be- 
 fore they should quarrel as to the mode in which it was to be governed. 
 During the congress of 1849- '50, Henry Clay was the leader of the 
 Union men, supported by Cass and Webster, and the leaders of the 
 Democracy and the leaders of the Whigs, in opposition to northern 
 Abolitionists or southern Disunionists. That great contest of 1850 
 resulted in the establishment of the Compromise Measures of that year, 
 which measures rested on the great principle that the people of each 
 
 267
 
 268 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 state and each territory of this Union ought to be permitted to regulate 
 their own domestic institutions in their own way, subject to no other 
 limitation than that which the Federal constitution imposes. 
 
 I now wish to ask you whether that principle was right or wrong 
 which guaranteed to every state and every community the right to 
 form and regulate their domestic institutions to suit themselves. These 
 measures were adopted, as I have previously said, by the joint action 
 of the Union Whigs and Union Democrats in opposition to northern 
 Abolitionists and southern Disunionists. In 1858, when the Whig 
 party assembled at Baltimore, in national convention for the last time, 
 they adopted the principle of the Compromise Measures of 1850 as 
 their rule of party action in the future. One month thereafter the 
 Democrats assembled at the same place to nominate a candidate for 
 the presidency, and declared the same great principle as the rule of 
 action by which the Democracy would be governed. The presidential 
 election of 1852 was fought on that basis. It is true that the Whigs 
 claimed special merit for the adoption of those measures, because they 
 asserted that their great Clay originated them, their god-like Webster 
 defended them and their Fillmore signed the bill making them the law 
 of the land ; but on the other hand, the Democrats claimed special credit 
 for the Democracy, upon the ground that we gave twice as many votes 
 in both houses of congress for the passage of these measures as the 
 Whig party. 
 
 Thus you see that in the presidential election of 1852, the Whigs 
 were pledged by their platform and their candidate to the principle 
 of the Compromise Measures of 1850, and the Democracy were likewise 
 pledged by our principles, our platform, and our candidate to the same 
 line of policy, to preserve peace and quiet between the different sections 
 of this Union. Since that period the Whig party has been transformed 
 into a sectional party, under the name of the Republican party, whilst 
 the Democratic party continues the same national party it was at that 
 day. All sectional men, all men of Abolition sentiments and principles, 
 no matter whether they were old Abolitionists or had been Whigs or 
 Democrats, rally under the sectional Republican banner, and conse- 
 quently all national men, all Union-loving men, whether Whigs, Demo- 
 crats, or by whatever name they have been known, ought to rally under 
 the stars and stripes in defense of the constitution as our fathers made 
 it, and of the Union as it has existed under the constitution. 
 
 How has this departure from the faith of the Democracy and the 
 faith of the Whig party been accomplished? In 1854, certain restless, 
 ambitious, and disappointed politicians throughout the land took ad- 
 vantage of the temporary excitement created by the Nebraska bill to 
 try and dissolve the old Whig party and the old Democratic party, to 
 abolitionize their members, and lead them, bound hand and foot, cap- 
 tives into the Abolition camp. In the state of New York a convention 
 was held by some of these men and a platform adopted, every plank of 
 which was as black as night, each one relating to the negro, and not 
 one referring to the interests of the white man. That example was 
 followed throughout the northern states, the effect being made to com- 
 bine all the free states in hostile array against the slave states. The 
 men who thus thought that they could build up a great sectional party, 
 and through its organization control the political destinies of this 
 country, based all their hopes on the single fact that the north was the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 269 
 
 stronger division of the nation, and hence, if the north could be com- 
 bined against the south, a sure victory awaited their efforts. I am 
 doing no more than justice to the truth of history when I say that in 
 this state Abraham Lincoln, on behalf of the Whigs, and Lyman Trum- 
 bull, on behalf of the Democrats, were the leaders who undertook to 
 perform this grand scheme of abolitionizing the two parties to which 
 they belonged. They had a private arrangement as to what should 
 be the political destiny of each of the contracting parties before they 
 went into the operation. The arrangement was that Mr. Lincoln was 
 to take the old line Whigs with him, claiming that he was still as good 
 a Whig as ever, over to the Abolitionists, and Mr. Trumbull was to 
 run for congress in the Belleville district, and, claiming to be a good 
 Democrat, coax the old Democrats into the Abolition camp, and when, 
 by the joint efforts of the abolitionized Whigs, the abolitionized Demo- 
 crats, and the old line Abolition and Freesoil party of this state, they 
 should secure a majority in the legislature. Lincoln was then to be 
 made United States senator in Shield's place, Trumbull remaining in 
 congress until I should be accommodating enough to die or resign, and 
 give him a chance to follow Lincoln. That was a very nice little bargain 
 so far as Lincoln and Trumbull were concerned, if it had been carried 
 out in good faith, and friend Lincoln had attained to senatorial dignity 
 according to the contract. They went into the contest in every part 
 of the state, calling upon all disappointed politicians to join in the 
 crusade against the Democracy, and appealed to the prevailing senti- 
 ments and prejudices in all the northern counties of the state. In 
 three congressional districts in the north end of the state they adopted, 
 as the platform of this new party thus formed by Lincoln and Trum- 
 bull in the connection with the Abolitionists, all of those principles 
 which aimed at a warfare on the part of the north against the south. 
 They declared in that platform that the Wilmot Proviso was to be 
 applied to all the territories of the United States, north as well as 
 south of 36 degrees 30 minutes, and not only to all the territory we then 
 had but all that we might hereafter acquire ; that hereafter no more slave 
 states should be admitted into this Union, even if the people, of such 
 state desired slavery; that the Fugitive Slave law should be absolutely 
 and unconditionally repealed ; that slavery should be abolished in the 
 District of Columbia; that the slave-trade should be abolished between 
 the different states, and, in fact, every article in their creed related to 
 this slavery question, and pointed to a northern geographical party in 
 hostility to the southern states of this Union. Such were their princi- 
 ples in northern Illinois. A little further south they became bleached 
 and grew paler just in proportion as public sentiment moderated and 
 changed in this direction. They were Republicans or Abolitionists in 
 the north, anti-Nebraska men down about Springfield, and in this neigh- 
 borhood they contented themselves with talking about the inexpediency 
 of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. In the extreme northern 
 counties they brought out men to canvass the state whose complexion 
 suited their political creed, and hence Fred Douglass, the negro, was 
 to be found there, following General Cass, and attempting to speak on 
 behalf of Lincoln, Trumbull and Abolitionism, against that illustrious 
 senator. Why, they brought Fred Douglass to Freeport, when I was 
 addressing a meeting there, in a carriage driven by the white owner, 
 the negro sitting inside with the white lady and her daughter. When
 
 270 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 I got through canvassing the northern counties that year, and pro- 
 gressed as far south as Springfield, I was met and opposed in discussion 
 by Lincoln, Lovejoy, Trumbull, and Sidney Breese, who were on one 
 side. Father Giddings, the high-priest of Abolitionism, had just been 
 there, and Chase came about the time I left. ["Why didn't you shoot 
 him?"] I did take a running shot at them, but as I was single-handed 
 against the white, black and mixed drove, I had to use a shotgun and 
 fire into the crowd instead of taking them off singly with a rifle. Trum- 
 bull had for his lieutenants, in aiding him to abolitionize the Democracy, 
 such men as John Wentworth, of Chicago, Governor Reynolds, of Belle- 
 ville, Sidney Breese, of Carlisle, and John Dougherty, of Union, each 
 of whom modified his opinions to suit the locality he was in. Dougherty, 
 for instance, would not go much further than to talk about the inex- 
 pediency of the Nebraska bill, whilst his allies at Chicago, advocated 
 negro citizenship and negro equality, putting the white man and the 
 negro on the same basis under the law. Now these men, four years ago, 
 were engaged in a conspiracy to break down the Democracy ; to-day 
 they are again acting together for the same purpose! They do not 
 hoist the same flag; they do not own the same principles, or profess 
 the same faith ; but conceal their union for the sake of policy. In the 
 northern counties, you find that all the conventions are called in the 
 name of the Black Republican party; at Springfield, they dare not call 
 a Republican convention, but invite all the enemies of the Democracy 
 to unite, and when they get down into Egypt, Trumbull issues notices 
 calling upon the "Free Democracy" to assemble and hear him speak. 
 I have one of the handbills calling a Trumbull meeting at Waterloo 
 the other day, which I received there, which is in the following language : 
 
 A meeting of the Free Democracy will take place in Waterloo, on Monday, 
 Sept. 13th lust., whereat Hon. Lyman Trumbull, Hon. Jehu Baker and others, 
 will address the people upon the different political topics of the day. Members of 
 all parties are cordially invited to be present, and hear and determine for 
 themselves. 
 
 THE MONROE FREE DEMOCRACY. 
 
 What is that name of "Free Democrats" put forth for unless to 
 deceive the people, and make them believe that Trumbull and his fol- 
 lowers are not the same party as that which raises the black flag of 
 Abolitionism in the northern part of this state, and makes war upon 
 the Democratic party throughout the state. When I put that question 
 to them at Waterloo on Saturday last, one of them rose and stated that 
 they had changed their name for political effect in order to get votes. 
 There was a candid admission. Their object in changing their party 
 organization and principles in different localities was avowed to be an 
 attempt to cheat and deceive some portion of the people until after the 
 election. Why cannot a political party that is conscious of the rectitude 
 of its purposes and the soundness of its principles declare them every- 
 where alike? I would disdain to hold any political principles that I 
 could not avow in the same terms in Kentucky that I declared in Illinois, 
 in Charleston as well as in Chicago, in New Orleans as well as in New 
 York. So long as we live under a constitution common to all the states, 
 our political faith ought to be as broad, as liberal, and just as that 
 constitution itself, and should be proclaimed alike in every portion of 
 the Union. But it is apparent that our opponents find it necessary, 
 for partisan effect, to change their colors in different counties in order
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 271 
 
 to catch the popular breeze, and hope with these discordant materials 
 combined together to secure a majority in the legislature for the pur- 
 pose of putting down the Democratic party. This combination did suc- 
 ceed in 1854 so far as to elect a majority of their confederates to the 
 legislature, and the first important act which they performed was to 
 elect a senator in the place of the eminent and gallant Senator Shields. 
 His term expired in the United States senate at that time, and he had 
 to be crushed by the Abolition coalition for the simple reason that he 
 would not join in their conspiracy to wage war against one-half of the 
 Union. That was the only objection to General Shields. He had served 
 the people of the state with ability in the legislature, he had served 
 you with fidelity and ability as auditor, he had performed his duties to 
 the satisfaction of the whole country at the head of the land depart- 
 ment at Washington, he had covered the state and the Union with 
 immortal glory on the bloody fields of Mexico in defense of the honor 
 of our flag, and yet he had to be stricken down by this unholy combina- 
 tion. And for what cause? Merely because he would not join a com- 
 bination of one-half of the states to make war upon the other half, after 
 having poured out his heart's blood for all the states in the Union. 
 Trumbull was put in his place by Abolitionism. How did Trumbull 
 get there? Before the Abolitionists would consent to go into an elec- 
 tion for United States senator they required all the members of this 
 new combination to show their hands upon this question of Abolitionism. 
 Lovejoy, one of their high-priests, brought in resolutions defining the 
 Abolition creed, and required them to commit themselves on it by their 
 votes yea or nay. In that creed, as laid down by Lovejoy, they de- 
 clared first, that the Wilmot Proviso must be put on all the territories 
 of the United States, north as well as south of 36 degrees 30 minutes, and 
 that no more territory should ever be acquired unless slavery was at first 
 prohibited therein ; second, that no more states should ever be received 
 into the Union unless slavery was first prohibited, by constitutional 
 provision, in such states; third, that the Fugitive Slave law must be 
 immediately repealed, or, failing in that, then such amendments were 
 to be made to it as would render it useless and inefficient for the objects 
 for which it was passed, etc. The next day after these resolutions were 
 offered they were voted upon, part of them carried, and the others 
 defeated, the same men who voted for them, with only two exceptions, 
 voting soon after for Abraham Lincoln as their candidate for the United 
 States senate. He came within one or two votes of being elected, but 
 he could not quite get the number required for the simple, reason that 
 his friend Trumbull, who was a party to the bargain by which Lincoln 
 was to take Shields 's place, controlled a few abolitionized Democrats in 
 the legislature, and would not allow them all to vote for him, thus 
 wronging Lincoln by permitting him on each ballot to be almost elected, 
 but not quite, until he forced them to drop Lincoln and elect him 
 (Trumbull), in order to unite the party. Thus you find, that although 
 the legislature was carried that year by the bargain between Trumbull, 
 Lincoln, and the Abolitionists, and the union of these discordant ele- 
 ments in one harmonious party; yet Trumbull violated his pledge, and 
 played a Yankee trick on Lincoln when they came to divide the spoils. 
 Perhaps you would like a little evidence on this point. If you would, I 
 will call Col. James H. Matheny, of Springfield, to the stand, Mr. Lin- 
 coln's especial confidential friend for the last twenty years, and see
 
 272 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 what he will say upon the subject of this bargain. Matheny is now the 
 Black Republican or Abolition candidate for congress in the Springfield 
 district against the gallant Colonel Harris, and is making speeches all 
 over that part of the state against me and in favor of Lincoln, in con- 
 cert with Trumbull. He ought to be a good witness, and I will read an 
 extract from a speech which he made in 1856, when he was mad be- 
 cause his friend Lincoln had been cheated. It is one of numerous 
 speeches of the same tenor that were made about that time, exposing 
 this bargain between Lincoln, Trumbull and the Abolitionists. Math- 
 eny then said : 
 
 "The Whigs, Abolitionists, Know Nothings and renegade Democrats 
 made a solemn compact for the purpose of carrying this state against 
 the Democracy, on this plan : 1st. That they would all combine and 
 elect Mr. Trumbull to congress, and thereby carry his district for the 
 legislature, in order to throw all the strength that could be obtained 
 into that body against the Democrats. 2d. That when the legislature 
 should meet, the officers of that body, such as speaker, clerks, door 
 keepers, etc., would be given to the Abolitionists; and 3d. That the 
 Whigs were to have the United States senator. That, accordingly, in 
 good faith, Trumbull was elected to congress, and his district carried 
 for the legislature, and, when it convened, the Abolitionists got all the 
 officers of that body, and thus far the "bond" was fairly executed. 
 The Whigs, on their part, demanded the election of Abraham Lincoln 
 to the United States senate, that the bond might be fulfilled, the other 
 parties to the contract having already secured to themselves all that 
 was called for. But, in the most perfidious manner, they refused to 
 elect Mr. Lincoln; and the mean, low-lived, sneaking Trumbull suc- 
 ceeded, by pledging all that was required by any party, in thrusting 
 Lincoln aside and foisting himself, an excrescence from the rotten bowels 
 of the Democracy, into the United States senate ; and thus it has ever 
 been, that an honest man makes a bad bargain when he conspires or 
 contracts with rogues." 
 
 Matheny thought that his friend Lincoln made a bad bargain when 
 he conspired and contracted with such rogues as Trumbull and his 
 Abolition associates in that campaign. Lincoln was shoved off the track, 
 and he and his friends all at once began to mope ; became sour and 
 mad, and disposed to tell, but dare not ; and thus they stood for a long 
 time, until the Abolitionists coaxed and nattered him back by their 
 assurances that he should certainly be a senator in Douglas's place. 
 In that way the Abolitionists have been enabled to hold Lincoln to the 
 alliance up to this time, and now they have brought him into a fight 
 against me, and he is to see if he is again to be cheated by them. Lin- 
 coln this time, though, required more of them than a promise, and holds 
 their bond, if not security, that Lovejoy shall not cheat him as Trumbull 
 did. 
 
 When the Republican convention assembled at Springfield, in June 
 last, for the purpose of nominating state officers only, the Abolition- 
 ists could not get Lincoln and his friends into it until they would 
 pledge themselves that Lincoln should be their candidate for the 
 senate ; and you will find, in proof of this, that that convention passed 
 a resolution unanimously declaring that Abraham Lincoln was the 
 "first, last and only choice" of the Republicans for United States 
 senator. He was not willing to have it understood that he was merely
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 241 
 
 as the road was built and in operation, there was a rapid rise in the 
 prices of land. Cities sprang up and farms were opened. This in- 
 creased valuation of these lands soon brought in an increasing amount 
 of taxes and thus the burden of the state debt was gradually lifted. 
 The cost of the road, according to a statement made by Mr. Ackerman 
 in 1883, at that time president of the road, was $40,000,000. The sale 
 of the lands along the line of the road produced some income for the 
 company, but within a few years the company was in debt over $23,- 
 000,000. Mr. Ackerman further says that the road was kept from 
 bankruptcy by the heroic work of its officers, assisted by Richard Cob- 
 den on behalf of the English shareholders. 
 
 The charter granted to the Illinois Central Railroad Company con- 
 veyed to that corporation all the lands which congress had so gener- 
 ously given to the state by the act of September 20, 1850. The pro- 
 visons of the charter pertaining to the returns which the company 
 should make to the state for the gift of the lands, were the result of 
 much discussion and several compromises. The memorial addressed 
 to the legislature by the nine gentlemen contained near the close, this 
 clause : ' ' And the said company, from and after the completion of 
 
 the said road, will pay to the state of Illinois, annually per cent 
 
 of the gross earnings of the said railroad, without deduction or charge 
 for expenses or for any other matter or cause." After a thorough 
 discussion of all the interests involved, the following sections were in* 
 corporated in the charter: 
 
 Section 18. In consideration of the grants, privileges, and fran- 
 chises herein conferred upon said company for the purposes aforesaid, 
 the said company shall, on the first Mondays of December and June in 
 each year, pay into the treasury of the state of Illinois five per centum 
 on the gross or total proceeds, receipts or income derived from said road 
 and branches, for the six months then next preceding. 
 
 The same section then provides for the keeping of accurate and 
 detailed records of such income, and for reports, etc., to the governor. 
 Section 22 of the charter provides that all the lands shall be exempt 
 from taxation till sold by the company. It also provides for the 
 exemption of all the stock of the road for six years. Then follows this 
 provision : 
 
 Section 22. After the expiration of six years, the stock, property, 
 and assets, belonging to said company shall be listed by the president, 
 secretary or other officer, with the auditor of state, and an annual tax 
 for state purposes shall be assessed by the auditor upon all the property 
 and assets of every name, kind and description belonging to said cor- 
 poration. Whenever the taxes levied for state purposes shall exceed 
 three-fourths of one per centum per annum, such excess shall be de- 
 ducted from the gross proceeds or income herein required to be paid 
 by said corporation to the state, and the said corporation is hereby 
 exempted from all taxation of every kind, except as herein provided 
 for. The revenue or income arising from said taxation and the said 
 five per cent of gross or total proceeds, receipts or income aforesaid, 
 shall be paid into the state treasury in money, and applied to the pay- 
 ment of the interest-paying state indebtedness until the extinction 
 thereof; Provided, in case the five per cent, provided to be paid into 
 
 the state treasury and the state taxes to be paid by the corporation, 
 VOL i u
 
 242 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 do not amount to seven per cent of the gross or total proceeds, receipts, 
 or income, then the said company shall pay into the state treasury the 
 difference so as to make the whole amount paid equal, at least, to seven 
 per cent of the gross receipts of said corporation. 
 
 The first four semi-annual payments made to the state treasury by 
 the Illinois Central Company consisted of five per cent of the gross 
 earnings. Since April 30, 1857, the payments have heen made on a 
 basis of seven per cent of the gross earnings. The first semi-annual 
 payment made October 31, 1855, amounted to $29,751.59. The last 
 semi-annual payment made October 31, 1911, was $620,388.12. The 
 total paid into the state treasury in the past fifty-one years is $30,942,- 
 282.80. In at least two instances in the past fifty years, the Illinois 
 Central Company has advanced the semi-annual payment several 
 months before it was due, and thus relieved the state from the embar- 
 rassment of a deficit in the treasury. 
 
 As stated above, the company has annually paid seven per cent of 
 its gross earnings into the treasury with the understanding that this 
 is the maximum amount to be paid in lieu of all forms of taxation. 
 The attorney-general, the Hon. W. H. Stead, has furnished to the audi- 
 tor of public accounts an opinion upon the subject of taxation of the 
 Illinois Central Railroad Company, which briefly stated is as follows: 
 
 1. As provided in section 18 of the charter, the said company is 
 required to pay into the state treasury semi-annually on the first Mon- 
 days in December and June, five per cent of the gross earnings for 
 the preceding six months. 
 
 2. Section 22 of the charter makes it the duty of said company to 
 list the stock, property, and assets belonging to the said company with 
 the auditor of public accounts for the purpose of taxation. 
 
 3. It is the duty of the auditor of public accounts to levy upon 
 said property as listed, an annual state tax which shall be paid as are 
 other state taxes. (Provision is made that this tax shall never exceed 
 75 cents on the $100.) 
 
 4. This tax so levied and collected must be paid into the state 
 treasury; and if this tax, together with the five per cent of the gross 
 earnings shall not equal seven per cent of the gross earnings, then the 
 company is bound by the charter to make good such deficiency. 
 
 5. If the tax levied by the auditor of public accounts together with 
 the five per cent of the gross earnings shall exceed seven per cent of 
 the gross earnings the said tax must nevertheless be paid in full. 
 
 6. The provisions of the charter apply to the Illinois Central Rail- 
 road from Cairo via Centralia to La Salle, 300.99 miles ; from La Salle 
 via Galena to Dunleith, 146.73 miles; from Centralia to Chicago, 249.78 
 miles; total 697.5 miles. The provisions of the charter do not apply 
 to any roads leased, purchased, or built by the company other than the 
 697.5 miles referred to above. 
 
 The said company listed its property with the auditor of public 
 accounts from 1855 to 1859, but since that time until the spring of 
 1906 it did not do so, claiming that the seven per cent of its gross 
 earnings was the maximum amount which the company was required 
 by the charter to pay into the state treasury. In the spring of 1906 
 the company listed its property with the auditor and has continued to 
 do so since. The suit entered by Governor Deneen and Attorney Gen-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 243 
 
 eral Stead resulted in the collection of a large amount of unpaid taxes, 
 but now the road after paying in five per cent of its gross earnings and 
 then submitting to taxation as any other railroad finds that five per 
 cent plus the taxes does not equal seven per cent of the gross receipts 
 and the deficit is made up as is shown by the following letter from the 
 auditor of public accounts : 
 
 Springfield, 111.. February 15, 1912. MB. GEO. W. SMITH, 
 Carbondale, 111. Dear Sir: Replying to your favor of the 14th instant I 
 beg to inform you that the value of the stock, property and assets of the Illinois 
 Central Railroad Company, listed by said Company to the Auditor of Public 
 Accounts as required by the provisions of "An Act to incorporate the Illinois 
 Central Railroad Company," approved February 10, 1851, is as follows : 
 
 Value of right of way $60.354,234.00 
 
 Value of buildings on right of way 2,339,832.00 
 
 Value of main track 24,695,733.00 
 
 Value of Second. 3rd, 4th and additional main tracts 9,427.063.00 
 
 Value of side and turn-out tracks 3,792,670.00 
 
 Value of rolling stock 12,550,247.00 
 
 Value of personal property other than rolling stock 933,329.00 
 
 Value of stocks, bonds, cash and other assets 67,973,984.55 
 
 Aggregate value of all property and assets $182,067,092.55 
 
 Payments into the State Treasury by the Illinois Central R. R. Co. since 
 May 1, 1906, are as follows : 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1906 $600,102.55 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Apr. 30, 1907 596,210.28 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1907 642,325.84 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Apr. 30, 1908 533,342.89 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1908 559,773.55 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Apr. 30, 1909 563,307.52 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1909 589,361.82 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Apr. 30, 1910 607,918.20 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1910 610,009.64 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Apr. 20, 1911 619,096.12 
 
 7 per cent on gross receipts for 6 mos. ending Oct. 31, 1911 620,388.12 
 
 The State tax rate for the year 1910 was assessed against one-third of the 
 above total valuation of stock, property and assets which amounted to $60,689,- 
 030.85. the tax rate extended against said valuation being 30c on the $100, and was 
 computed in the assessment as follows: 
 5 per cent on $8,684,545.71 gross receipts for 6 mos. ending 
 
 Apr. 30, 1910 $434,227.29 
 
 5 per cent on $8.714,423.45 gross receipts for 6 mos. ending 
 
 Oct. 31, 1910 435.721.17 
 
 State tax assessed on stock, property & assets for 1910 182,067.09 
 
 Balance necessary to make the taxes equal 7 per cent of gross receipts. 165,912.29 
 
 Total tax due for 1910 $1,217,927.84 
 
 Statement of the amounts paid into the State Treasury on account of 7 
 
 per cent of the gross receipts is as follows: 
 
 June 1910, 7 per cent on $8,684,545.71 gross receipts for 6 mos. 
 
 ending Apr. 30, 1910 $607,918.20 
 
 December 1910. 7 per cent on $8,714,423.45 gross receipts for 6 mos. 
 
 ending Oct. 31, 1910 610,009.64 
 
 Total tax paid the State Treasurer $1,217.927.84 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 J. S. McCuLLOUGH. 
 
 Auditor P. A. 
 
 A NEW BANKING SYSTEM 
 
 The experience of Illinois in the banking business, had been so un- 
 fortunate that there was inserted in the constitution of 1848, Article
 
 244 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 X, Section 5, this provision: "No act of the general assembly, author- 
 izing corporations or associations with banking powers, shall go into 
 effect or in any manner be enforced, unless the same shall be submitted 
 to the people at the general election next succeeding the passage of the 
 same, and be approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such elec- 
 tion for and against such law." Section 4, of the same article pro- 
 vided that all stockholders in banking associations issuing bank notes, 
 should be individually responsible proportionately to the stock held by 
 each, for all liabilities of the corporation or association. Since the 
 winding up of affairs of the old State Bank and the Bank of Illinois 
 there were no banks in Illinois issuing bank bills. The only money in 
 circulation was gold and silver, and paper money from banks located 
 in other states. 
 
 In 1838, the legislature of New York passed a law which created a 
 system of banking quite different from anything before tried in this 
 country. This bill provided the following plan, briefly outlined: 
 
 1. A person or persons might deposit with the comptroller of the 
 state a certain amount of United States bonds, New York state bonds, 
 or other state bonds, or mortgages to be approved by that officer, as 
 security. 
 
 2. The comptroller issued to such persons bank bills which when 
 properly signed by the bank officers might be put into circulation as 
 money. 
 
 3. Said notes when put in circulation were to be redeemed by the 
 bank when presented for redemption by the holder within a limited 
 time, or 
 
 4. The comptroller could sell the bonds deposited with him and 
 redeem said bank notes. 
 
 5. In case the state had to wind up the affairs of any such bank 
 and the securities on deposit did not bring an amount equal to the 
 outstanding bank notes, the available cash from the sale of the bonds 
 was used in paying as large a per cent as possible on the dollar, and 
 all else was lost to the bank-note holder. 
 
 Upon the face of this law it looked as if there was scarcely any 
 chance for loss to the bank-note holder and of course there could be 
 none to the state as it was acting merely in the capacity of an agent 
 of trust. Following the ratification of the constitution of 1848, there 
 began almost immediately an agitation for banks of issue in Illinois. 
 In the session of 1851 the legislature passed a banking law modeled 
 upon the New York law outlined above. This law could not go into 
 effect until ratified by the majority of the votes cast at a general elec- 
 tion. The general election was provided for in November, 1851, and 
 the vote stood for the law, 37,626; against the law, 31,405 a very 
 light vote. 
 
 This law was called the ' ' Free Banking Law, ' ' because anyone could 
 Illinois state bonds, other state bonds. A provision in the law con- 
 go into the banking business. That is one did not have to have a spe- 
 cially enacted charter. The securities were to be deposited with the 
 auditor of public accounts, and might consist of United States bonds, 
 templated the depreciation in value of state bonds and so they were 
 not taken for their full face value. No bank could be organized with 
 a smaller bank issue than $50,000. It was also provided in the law 
 that if any bank refused to redeem its issue, it was liable to a fine of 
 twelve and one-half per cent on the amount presented for redemption.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 245 
 
 One way the bank managed to keep people from presenting their 
 bills for redemption was as follows: A bank, say in Springfield, Illi- 
 nois, would send $25,000 of its own issue to a bank in Massachusetts, 
 say in Boston ; the Boston bank returning a like amount to the Spring- 
 field bank. Each bank would then pay out this money over its counter 
 in small quantities and in this way the Springfield bank issue would 
 become scattered all over New England and no person holding but a 
 few dollars would think of coming to Springfield to get his bills re- 
 deemed. The issue of the Boston bank would be scattered through the 
 west. In this way, and in other ways the money of Illinois became 
 scattered in other states while in the ordinary business transactions in 
 this state one would handle a large number of bills daily which had 
 been issued in other states. 
 
 No doubt many corporations went into the banking business under 
 this law with clean hands and carried on a properly conducted banking 
 business but there were ways by which irresponsible and dishonest men 
 might go into the banking business and make large sums of money 
 without very much capital invested. 
 
 These banks were known as Wild Cat banks. The name is said to 
 have originated from the picture of a wild cat engraved on the bills of 
 one of these irresponsible banks in Michigan. However, they may have 
 been named from the fact that the words "wild cat" were often applied 
 to any irresponsible venture or scheme. 
 
 There were, in Illinois, organized under this law, one hundred and 
 fifteen banks of issue. Up to 1860 the "ultimate security" was suffi- 
 cient at any time to redeem all outstanding bills, but when the Civil 
 war came on the securities of the southern states, on deposit in the 
 auditor's office, depreciated greatly in value. The banks were going 
 into liquidation rapidly. They redeemed their bills at all prices from 
 par down to 49 cents on the $1. It is estimated that the bill-holders 
 lost about $400,000, but that it came in such a way that it was not 
 felt seriously. This system of banking was followed by the National 
 Banking System with which we are acquainted today. 
 
 The one hundred and fifteen banks of issue which were in operation 
 in Illinois just prior to the Civil war, issued nearly a thousand differ- 
 ent kinds of bank bills. Because of the large number of kinds of bills, 
 counterfeiting was easy, and it is said that much of the money in 
 circulation was counterfeit. Bankers received reports as to the condi- 
 tion of the banks over the state daily. One never knew when he pre- 
 sented a bill in payment of a debt, whether or not it was of any value. 
 Often the merchant would accept this paper money only when heavily 
 discounted.
 
 CHAPTEK XXII 
 GOVERNOR JOEL A. MATTESON 
 
 UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION MATTESON ELECTED GOVERNOR ILLI- 
 NOIS CENTRAL BUILT SLAVERY AGITATION CANAL SCRIP FRAUD 
 STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS. 
 
 The constitution of 1818 provided for the state election to be held 
 in August of the election year. It further provided for the meeting 
 of the legislature and the inauguration of the governor to take place 
 in December. The first election for governor occurred in August, 1818, 
 and the inauguration of that officer came in December, 1818. 
 
 In making the new constitution the delegates wished to have the 
 election of governor at the same time as that of the President, so the 
 date for the election of governor was placed in November of the "leap 
 year," and the inauguration of the governor and the meeting of the 
 legislature set for January following. 
 
 Governor French, who was elected in August, 1846, would have re- 
 tired in December, 1850, but on account of the adoption of the new con- 
 stitution he was legislated out of office and was reelected in November, 
 1848, to serve till January, 1853. The governor's term is now identical 
 with that of the President. 
 
 MATTESON ELECTED GOVERNOR 
 
 The Democratic state ticket in 1852 was: Governor, Joel A. Mat- 
 teson, Will county; lieutenant governor, Gustavus Koerner, Belle- 
 ville, St. Clair county ; secretary of state, Alexander Starne ; auditor, 
 Thomas H. Campbell ; treasurer, John Moore. Mr. Matteson was a 
 successful business man of Joliet. He was a contractor in the con- 
 struction of the Illinois and Michigan canal. Gustavus Koerner was 
 born in Germany in 1809. He was highly educated having received 
 the degree of LL. D. from Heidelberg in 1822. 
 
 The Whigs put forward for governor E. B. Webb of White county; 
 for lieutenant governor, J. L. D. Morrison of St. Clair county; Buck- 
 ner S. Morris for secretary of state ; Charles Betts for auditor ; and 
 Francis Arnz for treasurer. 
 
 There was little excitement in the contest and the state and na- 
 tional Democratic tickets were elected. Governor Matteson seemed 
 to have very decided views on the affairs of the state many of which 
 were crystallized into law. He recommended a new penitentiary at 
 Joliet; the building of a governor's mansion; -chartering the state ag- 
 
 246
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 247 
 
 ricultural society; and the most important of all was the free school 
 system. This last will be discussed under the subject of education. 
 
 The progress of the state is shown when it is stated that at the 
 beginning of his term of office there were only four hundred miles of 
 railroad in the state while at the close of his term there were three 
 thousand miles of completed road. The population of Chicago was 
 doubled. During Governor Matteson's term there was radical legis- 
 lation on the sale of intoxicants. In 1855 a law resembling the "Maine 
 law" was passed which was a prohibition law, but it carried a clause 
 which required it to be ratified by a popular vote before it went into 
 effect. When the vote was taken on the referendum clause in June of 
 that year it was lost by a small majority. It is said the counties in 
 the southern part of the state voted against the law. 
 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL BUILT 
 
 The period covered by Governor Matteson's term was one filled 
 with important events both for the state and the nation. The Illinois 
 Central Railroad was built in this time, the Republican party had its 
 origin, the free school system was put in operation, and the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise was brought about. 
 
 SLAVERY AGITATION 
 
 During the years of Mr. Matteson's administration, there was great 
 agitation in Illinois on the slavery question. The constitution of 1848 
 had abolished slavery, but there were in the state quite a number of 
 free negroes. The "underground railroad" was in active operation 
 and had been since 1835. The fugitive slave law passed by congress 
 in 1850 was very obnoxious to many people and the underground rail- 
 way was liberally patronized in the years '51, '52, and '53. On Feb- 
 ruary 12, 1853, the legislature passed a law concerning free negroes 
 and mulattoes. This law made it a crime to bring into the state a 
 negro. Again if a negro came into the state and remained ten days, 
 he was liable to arrest, and to be fined $50. If he could not pay the 
 fine he was sold to anyone who would pay the cost of the arrest and 
 trial. This law was intended to serve two purposes; first to make it 
 a crime to assist negroes into the state and in making their escape, and 
 second to enable the southern slave catcher to get possession of his 
 slave at the actual cost of arrest and trial. Nor was the slave ques- 
 tion at all pacified by the passage of the law repealing the Missouri 
 Compromise. Mr. Douglas was the champion of the bill in congress 
 and when he returned to Illinois he found many of his neighbors and 
 friends actively and even bitterly opposed to the measure. All over 
 tho state there were speeches, conventions, and resolutions denounc- 
 ing it. An active newspaper war was everywhere waged against the 
 measure. The bill was passed in May, 1854, and the congressional can- 
 vass was carried on through the summer months following. Douglas 
 attempted to explain his action but in many places he was treated 
 with scant courtesy by the disappointed people. 
 
 There was a great disturbance in political parties and new parties 
 were being formed. These shall have our attention presently.
 
 248 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 CANAL SCRIP FRAUD 
 
 There was a scandal in Governor Matteson's administration which 
 has left a cloud over the name of a very excellent business man and 
 one who in many ways showed himself patriotic. This is what is 
 known as the canal scrip fraud. It was not discovered until in Jan- 
 uary, 1857, but it will be in order to relate it at this time. 
 
 In the early part of the month named there were discovered evidences 
 of extensive frauds having been committed upon the treasury of the 
 state. It seems that in 1839 the trustees of the Illinois and Michigan 
 canal had issued what was called "canal scrip" to the amount of 
 nearly $400,000. This canal scrip was similar to bank notes and was 
 issued in fifty and one hundred dollar bills. It served the purpose of 
 money till the regular bonds could be sold when with the cash thus 
 received these canal scrip bills were to be redeemed. 
 
 They were all redeemed by 1842-3 excepting $316. But it appears 
 that when this scrip was redeemed instead of being destroyed or can- 
 celled, the bills were packed away in boxes and finally found their way 
 
 A ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR CANAL SCRIP BILL SUCH AS GOVERNOR 
 MATTESON CASHED WHILE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 
 
 to the capitol in Springfield. Here they were stored away and prob- 
 ably forgotten. 
 
 Governor Matteson was a rich man, and had been engaged previ- 
 ously to his election in taking contracts for the building of railroads, 
 canals, and other public works. He also dealt in bonds and stocks. 
 Now there seemed to have been an arrangement by which old canal 
 bonds, scrip, etc., should be refunded or be redeemed in cash. Just 
 before Governor Matteson went out of office he presented large quan- 
 tities of these canal scrip bills for redemption. They were promptly 
 redeemed by the proper officers. Other large quantities were re- 
 deemed. So when the whole matter came to light it appeared that 
 the governor had received about $250,000 from the treasury for this 
 scrip. 
 
 Upon investigation the boxes which formerly contained the uncan- 
 celled scrip were empty at least contained no uncancelled scrip. The 
 canal commissioners testified the scrip presented by Governor Matte- 
 son was the same scrip they had redeemed. Judgment was obtained 
 against Governor Matteson for over $250,000. His property was seized 
 and sold, and altogether $238,000 was realized; it left an unpaid bal- 
 ance due the state of $27,000. Governor Matteson went into retire-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 249 
 
 merit and passed the rest of his days in very great quiet. He died in 
 1873. It is said no one ever went out of office with brighter prospect 
 before him than did Governor Matteson, but this discovery blasted 
 every prospect. 
 
 STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS 
 
 When Illinois came into the Union in 1818, there was but one party 
 in this country. This was what we know as the Democratic party, 
 then often called the Republican party. When Jackson became presi- 
 dent, there were Jackson men and anti-Jackson men, the old Federalist 
 party having run its course. In the struggle over slavery in Illinois 
 from 1833 to 1837 there were two factions, but they were all Demo- 
 crats. But by 1840, there were distinct political parties, the Whigs 
 and the Democrats. There were also Abolitionists who might be either 
 Whigs or Democrats. The Whigs were fairly well organized fom 1840 
 to 1854. 
 
 In 1852 at the Whig convention in Illinois the presiding officer 
 stated publicly that there was not much chance for the Whigs but that 
 they should keep up a bold front for the sake of their friends in other 
 states. When the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was before con- 
 gress, there was great interest in Illinois among the political parties, 
 since it appeared that the line of cleavage would henceforth be be- 
 tween those who favored slavery and those who opposed it. 
 
 In many counties in Illinois there were conventions and other pub- 
 lic meetings held for the purpose of protesting against the repeal of 
 the Missouri Compromise. One such convention which met in Spring- 
 field in October, 1854, took the name Republican. Stephen A. Douglas, 
 one of the United States senators from Illinois, was the champion 
 of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Of course all southern Democrats would 
 be with him, so would those southern Whigs who were slave-holders 
 and wished to see slave territory extended. There were in the north 
 and east Whigs who oppose the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. 
 The Abolitionists, if they took any hand in the contest at all, would nat- 
 urally be against the measure. All Free-Soilers were bitterly opposed 
 to the repeal. The Know-Nothings were against slavery. There was 
 thus in Illinois in 1854, on one side of the anti-Nebraska question, the 
 Democratic party, led by Douglas, which remained loyal to the national 
 Democratic administration. This party was for the repeal of the Mis- 
 souri Compromise. There were on the other side of the dividing line 
 Free-Soilers, Whigs, Know-Nothings, Independent Democrats, and Abo- 
 litionists. 
 
 The common ground upon which all or nearly all of these oppo- 
 nents of the Democratic party could stand, was opposition to the spread 
 of slavery into the territory of the United States. Public meetings, 
 resolutions, and platforms of principles were the order of the day. In 
 Kane county a meeting was held on August 19, 1854, at which the fol- 
 lowing platform was adopted: 
 
 We, the people of Kane county, in mass convention assembled, ir- 
 respective of party, in view of the long continued encroachments of 
 the slave power, culminating at last in the repeal of the law of free- 
 dom in all the hitherto unorganized territories of the Union, will co- 
 operate with friends of freedom throughout the state in an effort to
 
 250 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 bring the government back to first principles ; to restore Kansas and 
 Nebraska to the position of free territories; to repeal the fugitive 
 slave law ; to restrict slavery in the states in which it exists ; to pro- 
 hibit the admission of any more slave states into the Union; to exclude 
 slavery from all the territories over which the government has ex- 
 clusive jurisdiction ; restrict the acquirement of any new slave terri- 
 tory ; and the repeal of the inhuman and barbarous black laws of this 
 state. 
 
 This expresses very generally the feeling of the Anti-Nebraska party 
 throughout the state. 
 
 Anti-Nebraska candidates were nominated for congress, and an 
 Anti-Nebraska state convention, which met in Springfield, October 3, 
 1854, consisting of but twenty-six delegates, nominated a candidate, 
 J. E. McClun, for the office of state treasurer. Mr. McClun's name 
 was later replaced by that of Mr. James Miller. A platform was an- 
 nounced and a central committee appointed. Mr. Lincoln was on the 
 central committee. A vigorous campaign was made. Chase and Gid- 
 dings, of Ohio, assisted in the campaign in this state. Mr. Miller was 
 defeated for treasurer, but three of the nine congressmen from Illi- 
 nois were Anti-Nebraska or Republican. They were Elihu B. Wash- 
 burne, James Knox, and Jesse O. Norton. 
 
 The Anti-Nebraska elements were drawn together all over the coun- 
 try, and the Democrats of Illinois felt keenly the need of holding all 
 their forces together. They issued a call as early as December 1, 1855, 
 for their state convention, which should meet in Springfield May 1, 
 1856. At this convention the Hon. W. A. Anderson, of Adams county, 
 was nominated for governor. Col. R. J. Hamilton, of Cook, was nom- 
 inated for lieutenant-governor. The platform affirmed that congress 
 had no right to abolish, establish, or prohibit slavery in the states or 
 territories. It approved the principle of popular sovereignty, the 
 compromise of 1850, and declared that the foreign born citizens ought 
 not to be proscribed on account of their nativity or religion. 
 
 The Anti-Nebraska party or what came to be the Republican party, 
 was very active during the year 1855, and early in that year definite 
 and vigorous lines of political actions were laid out for the guidance 
 of the party in the campaign before it. The Hon. Paul Selby, now an 
 honored citizen of Chicago, was at that time editor of the Morgan 
 (Jacksonville) Journal. Mr. Selby issued a call through the columns 
 of his paper for a convention of all Anti-Nebraska editors, to be held 
 in Decatur, February 22, 1856, for the purpose of formulating definite 
 plans in the coming campaign. Mr. Selby was honored with the chair- 
 manship of the convention, and Mr. William J. Usrey, editor of the 
 Decatur Chronicle, was made secretary. There was only one funda- 
 mental point upon which all agreed, that was opposition to the Kan- 
 sas-Nebraska bill. There were, of course, many points of difference 
 among the dozen editors present; but they were all wise enough and 
 patriotic enough to leave these differences unnoticed. Strong reso- 
 lutions against the Kansas-Nebraska legislation were passed, and a 
 call was issued for a state convention of anti-Nebraska people to meet 
 in Bloomington May 29, 1856. To further the interests of such a 
 movement, this convention of editors appointed a sort of executive 
 committee consisting of one from each congressional district and two 
 at large, making eleven in all. This committee issued the call, appor-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 251 
 
 tioned the delegates, and made other provisions for the Bloomington 
 convention. 
 
 The convention assembled on the 29th of May. Out of one hundred 
 and two counties in the state about thirty counties were not repre- 
 sented. In some instances men came as representatives having no cre- 
 dentials. In other cases the properly accredited delegates were 
 accompanied by scores of sympathetic citizens. There were present 
 the representatives of at least four political parties Whigs, Demo- 
 crats, Know-Nothings, and Abolitionists. It was not called a Republican 
 convention. Prominent among those who were there were John M. 
 Palmer, who was selected as the chairman of the convention, Abra- 
 ham Lincoln, O. H. Browning, John Wentworth, Richard Yates, Owen 
 Lovejoy, Richard Oglesby, Gustavus Koerner, David Davis, Norman 
 B. Judd, Joseph Medill, and scores of others who afterward filled re- 
 sponsible positions in the party organization as well as in the state 
 and nation. 
 
 The platform was a short but clear statement of the principles up- 
 on which a state and national party might be grounded. There were 
 six resolutions. 
 
 1. They pledge themselves to wrest the government from the 
 Democratic party by honorable and' constitutional means and restore 
 it to the principles of Washington and Jefferson. 
 
 2. They hold to the doctrine held by all the statesmen of the first 
 sixty years that congress has the constitutional right to control slavery 
 in the United States. 
 
 3. They affirm that the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was 
 a violation of the plighted faith of the states, and pledge themselves 
 to restore by constitutional means Kansas and Nebraska to freedom. 
 
 4. They declare their allegiance to the Union and denounce the 
 disunionists who are trying to bring about its dissolution. 
 
 5. They favor the immediate admission of Kansas with the con- 
 stitution adopted by the people of the territory. 
 
 6. Resolved, That the spirit of our institutions, as well as the con- 
 stitution of our country, guarantees the liberty of conscience as well 
 as political freedom, and that we will proscribe no one, by legislation 
 or otherwise, on account of religious opinions, or in consequence of 
 place of birth. 
 
 A state ticket was nominated as follows: For governor, William 
 H. Bissell; for lieutenant governor, Francis A. Hoffman (afterwards 
 replaced by John Wood); secretary of state, 0. M. Hatch; auditor, 
 Jesse K. Dubois; treasurer, James Miller; superintendent of public 
 instruction, William H. Powell. 
 
 Of course there was much oratory and not a little prophesying. 
 Among those who spoke was Abraham Lincoln, but unfortunately his 
 speech was not reduced to writing and it has poetically been called 
 the "lost speech." Men yet living who heard it differ as to some of 
 the details, but upon the main and fundamental points there seems 
 to be unanimity. Mr. Herndon has said: "I have heard and read all 
 of Mr. Lincoln's great speeches, and I give it as my opinion that the 
 Bloomington speech was the grand effort of his life. . . . His eyes 
 were aglow with inspiration ; he felt justice ; his heart was alive to 
 the right; his sympathies, remarkably deep for him, burst forth, as 
 he stood before the throne of eternal right."
 
 252 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The Democratic party had held its convention the first of May, and 
 nominated Col. William A. Richardson, of Quincy, for governor, with 
 a complete state ticket. Colonel Richardson had been a representa- 
 tive in congress for the past eleven years and had been a faithful ally 
 of Douglas. He was considered a very strong candidate at the head 
 of a strong ticket. 
 
 There was another political party which took part in the canvass. 
 It was called the native American party. It put forth Buckner S. 
 Morris for governor. The vote for governor stood, Bissell, 111,375; 
 Richardson, 106,643 ; Morris 19,087. 
 
 The canvass was full of interest. The Republicans looked hope- 
 fully forward to success while the Democrats saw that their only 
 chance was to keep their opponents from fusing their interests. The 
 Anti-Nebraska people, or the Republicans as they were beginning to 
 be called, were bitterly denounced as "Black Republicans," and as 
 Abolitionists. The Republicans brought in noted speakers from abroad. 
 Lincoln made about fifty speeches. The Republicans made very little 
 headway in the south end of the state. In eight southern counties 
 there were cast for Fremont only fifty-one votes. Buchanan carried 
 the electoral vote but the Republicans elected four of the nine congress- 
 men, besides the state ticket. The legislature was Democratic.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 PERIOD OF POLITICAL UNREST 
 
 ILLINOIS' FIRST REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR OFFICIAL OATH AGAINST 
 DUELLING SOME MATTERS OF LOCAL INTEREST POLITICAL SITUA- 
 TION IN SOUTHERN ILLINIOS IN 1858 WHEN DOUGLAS CAME TO 
 CAIRO LINCOLN IN ANNA AND JONESBORO. 
 
 The inauguration of a Republican governor in Illinois was an event 
 of no ordinary interest. The Democratic party had furnished all the 
 governors since the days of Shadrach Bond. The new party was less 
 than four years old, yet it held within its ranks in Illinois men who 
 became famous in the halls of legislation, in high executive stations, 
 on the bench as honored jurists, and as heroes upon the field of battle. 
 Governor Bissell was inaugurated January 13, 1857. He had for some 
 time previous to this campaign been an invalid, having been paralyzed 
 in his limbs. He could walk only with the aid of crutches and then 
 only with difficulty. He was not able to go to the capitol to take the 
 oath, so the legislature went in a body to the executive mansion where, 
 in the presence of the two houses, he took the oath of office. His inaug- 
 ural address was read to the two houses. It was a very simple, plain 
 document. However, it was to many members quite objectionable in- 
 asmuch as the governor took occasion to discuss the slavery question in 
 Kansas. "When, therefore, a motion was made in the house to print 20.- 
 000 copies of the message a debate was precipitated which was so violent 
 as to engender a bitter feeling among those who took part in it. 
 
 To understand this topic it will be necessary to review some of our 
 history. Dueling had been a common practice between "men of honor" 
 for many years. The law of Illinois regarded dueling as murder when 
 the "affair" ended in the death of either party. For being engaged 
 in one of these affairs when death was not the result, the punishment 
 was a disability from holding any office of honor, trust, or profit, and 
 a fine. But the laws were seldom executed though many prominent 
 citizens were entangled in these "affairs of honor." 
 
 OFFICIAL OATH AGAINST DUELING 
 
 In the constitutional convention of 1847. there was found a very 
 strong sentiment in favor of some measure which would effectually put 
 a check to this heathenish practice. It was noticed that most of the 
 "affairs of honor" had been between men who either were or hoped to 
 be politicians and office holders. The thouerht was presented that the 
 practice of dueling might be checked by adding to the ordinary oath of 
 
 253
 
 254 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 office a sort of iron-clad oath which could not be taken by those who 
 had engaged in dueling. Accordingly, Mr. R. B. Servant, a delegate 
 from Randolph county, introduced Article 13, Section 26, which is as 
 follows: "That from and after the adoption of this constitution every 
 person who shall be elected or appointed to any office of profit, trust, 
 or emolument, civil or military, legislative, executive or judicial under 
 the government of this State, shall, before he enters upon the duties of 
 his office, in addition to the oath prescribed in this constitution, take 
 the following oath : 'I do solemnly swear (or affirm as the case may be) 
 that I have not fought a duel, nor sent or accepted a challenge to fight 
 a duel, the probable issue of which might have been the death of either 
 party, nor have been a second to either party, nor in any manner aided 
 or assisted in such duel, nor been knowingly the bearer of such chal- 
 lenge or acceptance, since the adoption of the constitution ; and that I 
 will not be so engaged or concerned, directly or indirectly in or about 
 any such duel, during my continuance in office. So help me God.' " 
 
 It so occurred that Colonel Bissell, while a member of congress in 
 1850, sat one day and heard a member from Virginia, Mr. Seddon, 
 speak slightingly of the conduct of the Illinois troops in the battle of 
 Buena Vista, and praise the valor of a Mississippi regiment which was 
 commanded that day by Jefferson Davis. Colonel Bissell had the honor 
 to command the Second Illinois regiment in that battle, while the la- 
 mented John J. Hardin was in command of the First Illinois regiment. 
 Hardin fell dead upon the battlefield and his place was taken by Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel Weatherford. Both regiments lost heavily in the battle 
 the First losing 45, the dead being 29 ; the Second lost 131, the dead 
 numbering 62. 
 
 Colonel Bissell resolved not to rest under the disgrace thus heaped 
 upon Illinois' sons living and dead, and although a new member he 
 made one of the most dashing, and brilliant speeches of the session in 
 which he proved that Davis' regiment was not within a mile and a half 
 of the battle at the stated time and never fired a gun in that part of 
 the engagement. Colonel Bissell, fired by his patriotism and his love 
 for the dead he left on the Mexican soil, marked himself as one of the 
 nation's most brilliant orators. Jefferson Davis, who was then a sena- 
 tor from Mississippi, made inquiry of Colonel Bissell by means of a 
 note as to his reflection on the Mississippi regiment. Colonel Bissell 's 
 reply was of such a nature that Davis felt called upon to challenge 
 Bissell to a duel. Bissell accepted the challenge, chose army muskets 
 as the weapon to be loaded with a ball and three buck shots, the dis- 
 tance being forty paces. Bissell was in earnest and before the hour set 
 for the duel the friends had succeeded in bringing about a compro- 
 mise, and the difficulty was adjusted. 
 
 BISSELL-DAVIS AFFAIR 
 
 When Colonel Bissell was elected governor in 1857. the question 
 naturally arose whether he could fill the governor's chair. Colonel 
 Bissell and his friends said the interpretation of the constitution was 
 that the participants should have taken part in a duel in the territory 
 of Illinois, but that since he was in Washington, it did not apply to 
 him. After his inauguration and when a motion was made to print his 
 message Bissell was violently attacked by his political opponents. It
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 255 
 
 fell to John A. Logan to make the bitterest speech that was made. Not 
 only on this occasion, but throughout Governor Bissell's term he was 
 relentlessly pursued by the majority party in the house. The Demo- 
 crats of the senate appear to have been less resentful. 
 
 The summer of 1858 witnessed another very exciting contest be- 
 tween the Democratic and the Republican parties. Congressmen, mem- 
 bers of the lower house of the legislature, a treasurer, and a superin- 
 tendent of public instruction were to be elected. The legislature which 
 would meet in January, 1859, would select a successor to Senator Ste- 
 phen A. Douglas. 
 
 The campaign opened by the meeting of the Democratic State Con- 
 vention in Springfield, April 21. For treasurer, W. B. Fondey was 
 nominated, while ex-Governor Augustus C. French was nominated for 
 state superintendent of public instruction. This convention, while 
 representing the Democratic party did not endorse Senator Douglas for 
 re-election to that position. Since Buchanan had been President he 
 and Douglas had had radically different views as to the admission of 
 Kansas into the Union, and as a result the federal administration was 
 not willing to endorse Douglas for the senatorship and although the 
 convention praised his course in congress, it failed formally to endorse 
 his candidacy for a return to the senate. The federal office holders 
 and a few anti-Douglas Democrats held a convention and nominated 
 John Dougherty for treasurer, and ex-Governor John Reynolds for 
 state superintendent of public instruction. This was called the Na- 
 tional Democratic party. It was also called the Buchanan Democratic 
 party. It received a few more than 5,000 votes. 
 
 The Republican convention met in Springfield on June 16, 1858, 
 It re-nominated James Miller for treasurer and Newton Bateman for 
 superintendent of schools. But this work was not the important work 
 of the convention. For months before the meeting of the convention 
 all eyes in the Republican party had been turned toward Lincoln as 
 the one who should contest the senatorship with Douglas. The fact 
 that Douglas had broken with the Buchanan administration was re- 
 garded by some in the east, especially Greeley, of the New York Tribune, 
 as a most favorable omen for the Republican party. These people said 
 to the Republicans of Illinois, let Douglas return to the senate, he can 
 be of more service there than could a Republican. In fact some seemed 
 to think that because Douglas had opposed the admission of Kansas 
 with the Lecompton constitution, that he might eventually come into 
 the Republican fold. This word, brought back by William Herndon, 
 who had been sent east to gather up the consensus of opinion about. 
 Lincoln, was very discouraging. 
 
 But, however much the east might doubt the wisdom of Lincoln's 
 contesting the election with Douglas, the Republicans of Illinois had no 
 such misgivings. Cook county came to the Springfield convention with 
 a banner which read Cook County for Abraham Lincoln. A down-state 
 delegate proposed an amendment to the Cook county proposition. He 
 proposed to substitute Illinois for Cook county and the amendment 
 was passed unanimously. Lincoln was formally endorsed as the can- 
 didate of the Republican party for Senator Douglas' place in the 
 United States senate. 
 
 Lincoln, knowing that he would likely be nominated or endorsed by 
 this convention, prepared a carefully arranged statement of his views
 
 256 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 and of the line of argument he should use in the canvass. It is claimed 
 by Mr. Herndon, who was Lincoln's law partner, that Lincoln showed 
 his speech to a number of his friends and they all, except Mr. Hern- 
 don, tried to dissuade Mr. Lincoln from expressing himself so radically. 
 But Lincoln insisted on giving the speech as he had prepared it. This 
 is called the "House divided against itself speech." "A house divided 
 against itself can not stand. I believe this government cannot endure 
 permanently half-slave and half-free." 
 
 This speech of Mr. Lincoln was delivered from manuscript, and Mr. 
 Horace White says that Lincoln regarded it as the most important of 
 his speeches. The issues were joined between Mr. Lincoln and Mr. 
 Douglas and there was no way to prevent a great political contest be- 
 tween the two men. 
 
 Senator Douglas returned from Washington, arriving in Chicago 
 July 9, 1858, where he was welcomed by thousands of enthusiastic ad- 
 mirers. He delivered a speech from the balcony of the old Tremont 
 House on Lake street. In this speech he presented mainly the doctrine 
 of Popular Sovereignty. On the evening of the 10th of July, Lincoln 
 answered Douglas, speaking from the same balcony. Later both spoke 
 in Springfield. While these were not joint discussions, they served 
 the purpose of placing before the people of the two congressional dis- 
 tricts in which Chicago and Springfield were situated the political doc- 
 trines of the two men. 
 
 LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE 
 
 On July 24th Mr. Lincoln addressed a note to Mr. Douglas asking 
 him if a series of joint discussions could be arranged. Mr. Douglas 
 in reply stated that his speaking campaign had been arranged, and it 
 would not be advisable to disarrange it. However, he proposed to Mr. 
 Lincoln to arrange seven appointments, one in each congressional dis- 
 trict in which they had not yet spoken, and in these districts hold joint 
 debates. He volunteered to select the seven towns in which the meet- 
 ings might be held. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln answered Mr. Douglas on July 29th and Mr. Douglas 
 wrote finally to Mr. Lincoln on July 30th. In his letter of the 30th, 
 Mr. Douglas wrote as follows: 
 
 BEMENT. PIATT Co.. July 30. 1858 Dear Sir: Your letter dated yesterday, 
 accepting my proposition for a joint discussion at one prominent point In each 
 Congressional District, as stated in my previous letter, was received this morn- 
 Ing. The times and places designated are as follows : 
 
 Ottawa, La Salle county. August 21, 1858. 
 
 Freeport, Stephenson county. August 27, 1858. 
 
 Jonesboro, Union county, September 15, 1858. 
 
 Charleston, Coles county, September 18, 1858. 
 
 Galesburg, Knox county. October 7, 1858. 
 
 Quincy. Adams county, October 13, 1858. 
 
 Alton, Madison county, October 15, 1858. 
 
 I agree to your suggestion that we shall alternately open and close the dis- 
 cussion. I will speak at Ottawa one hour, you can reply, occupying one hour and 
 a half, and I will then follow for half an hour. At Freeport, you shall open the 
 discussion and speak for one hour ; I will follow for an hour and a half, and you 
 can reply for half an hour. We will alternate in like manner in each successive 
 place. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 S. W. DOUGLAS. 
 
 HON. A. LINCOLN, Springfield, 111.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 273 
 
 their first choice, or their last choice, but their only choice. The 
 Black Republican party had nobody else. Browning was nowhere; 
 Governor Bissell was of no account ; Archie Williams was not to be 
 taken into consideration ; John Wentworth was not worth mention- 
 ing; John M. Palmer was degraded; and their party presented the 
 extraordinary spectacle of having but one the first, the last, and only 
 choice for the senate. Suppose that Lincoln should die, what a hor- 
 rible condition the Republican party would be in! They would have 
 nobody left. They have no other choice, and it was necessary for 
 them to put themselves before the world in this ludicrous, ridiculous 
 attitude of having no other choice in order to quiet Lincoln's sus- 
 picions, and assure him that he was not to be cheated by Lovejoy, and 
 the trickery by which Trumbull outgeneraled him. Well, gentlemen, 
 I think they will have a nice time of it before they get through. I 
 do not intend to give them any chance to cheat Lincoln at all this 
 time. I intend to relieve him of all anxiety upon that subject, and 
 spare them the mortification of more exposures of contracts violated, 
 and the pledged honor of rogues forfeited. 
 
 But I wish to invite your attention to the chief points at issue be- 
 tween Mr. Lincoln and myself in this discussion. Mr. Lincoln know- 
 ing that he was to be the candidate of his party on account of the 
 arrangement of which I have already spoken, knowing that he was to 
 receive the nomination of the convention for the United States senate, 
 had his speech, accepting that nomination, all written and committed 
 to memory, ready to be delivered the moment the nomination was an- 
 nounced. Accordingly, when it was made, he was in readiness, and 
 delivered his speech, a portion of which I will read in order that I may 
 state his political principles fairly, by repeating them in his own Ian. 
 guage : 
 
 "We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was instituted 
 for the avowed object, and with the confident promise of putting an 
 end to slavery agitation ; under the operation of that policy, that 
 agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. I 
 believe it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and 
 passed. 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this 
 government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I 
 do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to 
 fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one 
 thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the 
 spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief 
 that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it 
 forward until it shall become alike lawful in all the states, north as well 
 as south." 
 
 There you have Mr. Lincoln's first and main proposition, upon 
 which he bases his claims, stated in his own language. He tells you 
 that this republic cannot endure permanently divided into slave and 
 free states, as our fathers made it. He says that they must all be- 
 come free or all become slave, that they must all be one thing or all 
 be the other, or this government cannot last. Why can it not last, if 
 we will execute the government in the same spirit and upon the same 
 principles upon which it is founded? Lincoln, by his proposition, 
 says to the south. "If you desire to maintain your institutions as they 
 are now, you must not be satisfied with minding your own business,
 
 274 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 but you must invade Illinois and all the other northern states, estab- 
 lish slavery in them, and make it universal;" and in the same lan- 
 guage he says to the north, "You must not be content with regulating 
 your own affairs, and minding your own business, but if you desire to 
 maintain your freedom, you must invade the southern states, abolish 
 slavery there and everywhere, in order to have the states all one thing 
 or all the other." I say that this is the inevitable and irresistible re- 
 sult of Mr. Lincoln's argument, inviting a warfare between the north 
 and the south, to be carried on with ruthless vengeance, until the one 
 section or the other shall be driven to the wall, and become the vic- 
 tim of the rapacity of the other. What good would follow such a 
 system of warfare? Suppose the north should succeed in conquer- 
 ing the south, how much would she be the gainer? or suppose the south 
 should conquer the north, could the union be preserved in that way? 
 Is this sectional warfare to be waged between northern states and 
 southern states until they all shall become uniform in their local and 
 domestic institutions merely because Mr. Lincoln says that a house 
 divided against itself cannot stand, and pretends that this scriptural 
 quotation, this language of our Lord and Master, is applicable to the 
 American Union and the American Constitution? Washington and his 
 compeers, in the convention that framed the constitution, made this 
 government divided into free and slave states. It was composed then 
 of thirteen sovereign and independent states, each having sovereign 
 authority over its local and domestic institutions, and all bound to- 
 gether by the federal constitution. Mr. Lincoln likens that bond of the 
 federal constitution, joining free and slave states together, to a house 
 divided against itself, and says that it is contrary to the law of God 
 and cannot stand. When did he learn, and by what authority does 
 he proclaim, that this government is contrary to the law of God and 
 cannot stand? It has stood thus divided into free and slave states 
 from its organization up to this day. During that period we have in- 
 creased from four millions to thirty millions of people ; we have ex- 
 tended our territory from the Mississippi to the Pacific ocean ; we have 
 acquired the Floridas and Texas, and other territory sufficient to dou- 
 ble our geographical extent; we have increased in population, in 
 wealth, and in power beyond any example on earth ; we have risen 
 from a weak and feeble power to become the terror and admiration 
 of the civilized world ; and all this has been done under a constitution 
 which Mr. Lincoln, in substance, says is in violation of the law of 
 God, and under a Union divided into free and slave states, which Mr. 
 Lincoln thinks, because of such division, cannot stand. Surely, Mr. 
 Lincoln is a wiser man than those who framed the government. Wash- 
 ington did not believe, nor did his compatriots, that the local laws 
 and domestic institutions that were well adapted to the Green moun- 
 tains of Vermont were suited to the rice plantations of South Carolina ; 
 they did not believe at that day that in a republic so broad and expanded 
 as this, containing such a variety of climate, soil, and interest, that 
 uniformity in the local laws and domestic institutions was either de- 
 sirable or possible. They believed then as our experience has proved 
 to us now, that each locality, having different interests, a different 
 climate and different surroundings, required different local laws, local 
 policy and local institutions, adapted to the wants of that locality. 
 Thus our government was formed on the principle of diversity in the 
 local institutions and laws, and not on that of uniformity.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 275 
 
 As my time flies, I can only glance at these points and not present 
 them as fully as I would wish, because I desire to bring all the points 
 in controversy between the two parties before you in order to have 
 Mr. Lincoln's reply. He makes war on the decision of the supreme 
 court, in the case known as the Dred Scott case. I wish to say to you, 
 fellow-citizens, that I have no war to make on that decision, or any 
 other ever rendered by the supreme court. I am content to take that 
 decision as it stands delivered by the highest judicial tribunal on 
 earth, a tribunal established by the constitution of the United States 
 for that purpose, and hence that decision becomes the law of the 
 land, binding on you, on me, and on every other good citizen, whether 
 we like it or not. Hence I do not choose to go into an argument to 
 prove, before this audience, whether or not Chief Justice Taney under- 
 stood the law better than Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln objects to that decision, first and mainly because it de- 
 prives the negro of the rights of citizenship. I am as much opposed 
 to his reason for that objection as I am to the objection itself. I hold 
 that a negro is not and never ought to be a citizen of the United States. 
 I hold that this government was made on the white basis, by white 
 men, for the benefit of white men and their posterity forever, and 
 should be administered by white men and none others. I do not be- 
 lieve that the Almighty made the negro capable of self-government. 
 I am aware that all the Abolition lecturers that you find traveling 
 about through the country, are in the habit of reading the Declara- 
 tion of Independence to prove that all men were created equal and en- 
 dowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which 
 are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Mr. Lincoln is very 
 much in the habit of following in the track of Lovejoy in this particu- 
 lar, by reading that part of the Declaration of Independence to prove 
 that the negro was endowed by the Almighty with the inalienable 
 right of equality with the white men. Now, I say to you, my fellow- 
 citizens, that in my opinion, the signers of the declaration had no 
 reference to the negro whatever, when they declared all men to be 
 created equal. They desired to express by that phrase white men, 
 men of European birth and European descent, and had no reference 
 either to the negro, the savage Indians, the Fejee, the Malay, or any 
 other inferior and degraded race, when they spoke of the equality of 
 men. One great evidence that such was their understanding, is to be 
 found in the fact that at that time every one of the thirteen colonies 
 was a slaveholding colony, every signer of the declaration represented 
 a slaveholding constituency, and we know that no one of them eman- 
 cipated his slaves, much less offered citizenship to them when they 
 signed the declaration ; and yet, if they intended to declare that the 
 negro was the equal of the white man, and entitled by divine right to 
 an equality with him, they were bound, as honest men, that day and 
 hour to have put their negroes on an equality with themselves. In- 
 stead of doing so, with uplifted eyes to heaven they implored the di- 
 vine blessing upon them, during the seven years' bloody war they had 
 to fight to maintain that declaration, never dreaming that they were 
 violating divine law by still holding the negroes in bondage and de- 
 priving them of equality. 
 
 My friends. I am in favor of preserving this government as our 
 fathers made it. It does not follow by any means that because a
 
 276 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 negro is not your equal or mine, that hence he must necessarily be a 
 slave. On the contrary, it does follow that we ought to extend to 
 the negro every right, every privilege, every immunity which he is 
 capable of enjoying, consistent with the good of society. When you 
 ask me what these rights are, what their nature and extent is, I tell 
 you that is a question which each state of this union must decide for 
 itself. Illinois has already decided the question. We have decided 
 that the negro must not be a slave within our limits, but we have also 
 decided that the negro shall not be a citizen within our limits; that 
 he shall not vote, hold office, or exercise any political rights. I main- 
 tain that Illinois, as a sovereign state, has a right thus to fix her 
 policy with reference to the relation between the white man and the 
 negro ; but while we had that right to decide the question for our- 
 selves, we must recognize the same right in Kentucky and in every other 
 state to make the same decision, or a different one. Having decided 
 our own policy with reference to the black race, we must leave Ken- 
 tucky and Missouri and every other state perfectly free to make just 
 such a decision as they see proper on that question. 
 
 Kentucky has decided that question for herself. She has said that 
 within her limits a negro shall not exercise any political rights, and she 
 has also said that a portion of the negroes under the laws of that state 
 shall be slaves. She had as much right to adopt that as her policy as 
 we had to adopt the contrary for our policy. New York has decided 
 that in that state a negro may vote if he has $250 worth of property, 
 and if he owns that much he may vote upon an equality with the white 
 man. I, for one, .am utterly opposed to negro suffrage any where and 
 under any circumstances; yet, inasmuch as the supreme court have 
 decided in the celebrated Dred Scott case that a state has a right to 
 confer the privilege of voting upon free negroes, I am not going to 
 make war upon New York because she has adopted a policy repug- 
 nant to my feelings. But New York must mind her own business, and 
 keep her negro suffrage to herself, and not attempt to force it upon us. 
 
 In the state of Maine they have decided that a negro may vote and 
 hold office on an equality with a white man. I had occasion to say to 
 the senators from Maine, in a discussion last session, that if they 
 thought that the white people within the limits of their state were no 
 better than negroes, I would not quarrel with them for it, but they 
 must not say that my white constituents of Illinois were no better 
 than negroes, or we would be sure to quarrel. 
 
 The Dred Scott decision covers the whole question, and declares 
 that each state has the right to settle this question of suffrage for it- 
 self, and all questions as to the relations between the white man and 
 the negro. Judge Taney expressly lays down the doctrine. I receive 
 it as law, and I say that while those states are adopting regulations on 
 that subject disgusting and abhorrent, according to my views, I will 
 not make war on them if they will mind their own business and let us 
 alone. 
 
 I now come back to the question, why cannot this Union exist forever 
 divided into free and slave state, as our fathers made it ? It can thus 
 exist if each state will carry out the principles upon which our insti- 
 tutions were founded, to wit: the right of each state to do as it pleases, 
 without meddling with it neighbors. Just act upon that great prin- 
 ciple, and this union will not only live forever, but it will extend and ex-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 277 
 
 pand until it covers the whole continent, and makes this confederacy 
 one grand, ocean-bound republic. We must bear in mind that we are 
 yet a young nation, growing with a rapidity unequaled in the history 
 of the world, that our national increase is great, and that the emigra- 
 tion from the old world is increasing, requiring us to expand and ac- 
 quire new territory from time to time, in order to give our people 
 land to live upon. If we live upon the principle of state rights and 
 state sovereignty, each state regulating it own affairs and minding its 
 own business, we can go on and extend indefinitely, just as fast and 
 as far as we need the territory. The time may come, indeed has now 
 come, when our interests would be advanced by the acquisition of the 
 Island of Cuba. When we get Cuba we must take it as we find it, 
 leaving the people to decide the question of slavery for themselves, 
 without interference on the part of the federal government, or of any 
 state of this Union. So, when it becomes necessary to acquire any por- 
 tion of Mexico or Canada, or of this continent or the adjoining is- 
 lands, we must take them as we find them, leaving the people free to 
 do as they please to have slavery or not, as they choose. I never 
 have inquired and never will inquire whether a new state, applying 
 for admission, has slavery or not for one of her institutions. If the 
 constitution that is presented be the act and deed of the people, and 
 embodies their will, and they have the requisite population, I will ad- 
 mit them with slavery or without it, just as that people shall deter- 
 mine. My objection to the Lecompton constitution did not consist in 
 the fact that it made Kansas a slave state. I would have been as much 
 opposed to its admission under such a constitution as a free state as 
 I was opposed to its admission under it as a slave state. I hold that 
 that was a question which that people had a right to decide for them- 
 selves, and that no power on earth ought to have interfered with that 
 decision. In my opinion, the Lecompton constitution was not the act 
 and deed of the people of Kansas, and did not embody their will, and 
 the recent election in that territory, at which it was voted down by 
 nearly ten to one, shows conclusively that I was right in saying, when 
 the constitution was presented, that it was not the act and deed of the 
 people, and did not embody their will. 
 
 If we wish to preserve our institutions in their purity, and trans- 
 mit them unimpaired to our latest posterity, we must preserve with 
 religious good faith that great principle of self-government which 
 guarantees to each and every state, old and new, the right to make 
 just such constitutions as they desire, and come into the union with 
 their own constitution, and not one palmed upon them. Whenever 
 you sanction the doctrine that congress may crowd a constitution 
 down the throats of an unwilling people, against their consent, you 
 will subvert the great fundamental principle upon which all our free 
 institutions rest. In the future I have no fear that the attempt will 
 ever be made. President Buchanan declared in his annual message, 
 that hereafter the rule adopted in the Minnesota case, requiring a 
 constitution to be submitted to the people, should be followed in all 
 future cases, and if he stands by that recommendation there will be 
 no division in the Democratic party on that principle in the future. 
 Hence, the great mission of the Democracy is to unite the fraternal 
 feeling of the whole country, restore peace and quiet, by teaching 
 each state to mind its own business, and regulate its own domestic
 
 278 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 affairs, and all to unite in carrying out the constitution as our fathers 
 made it, and thus to preserve the Union and render it perpetual in all 
 time to come. Why should we not act as our fathers who made the 
 government? There was no sectional strife in Washington's army. 
 They were all brethern of a common confederacy; they fought under 
 a common flag that they might bestow upon their posterity a common 
 destiny, and to this end they poured out their blood in common streams, 
 and shared, in some instances, a common grave. 
 
 ME. LINCOLN'S REPLY 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen: There is very much in the principles that 
 Judge Douglas has here enunciated that I most cordially approve, and 
 over which I shall have no controversy with him. In so far as he has 
 insisted that all the states have the right to do exactly as they please 
 about all their domestic relations, including that of slavery, I agree 
 entirely with him. He places me wrong in spite of all I can tell him, 
 though I repeat it again and again, insisting that I have no difference 
 with him upon this subject. I have made a great many speeches, some 
 of which have been printed, and it will be utterly impossible for him 
 to find anything that I have ever put in print contrary to what I now 
 say upon this subject. I hold myself under constitutional obligations 
 to allow the people in all the states, without interference, direct or in- 
 direct, to do exactly as they please, and 1 deny that I have any inclina- 
 tion to interfere with them, even if there were no such constitutional 
 obligation. I can only say again that I am placed improperly alto- 
 gether improperly, in spite of all I can say when it is insisted that I 
 entertain any other view or purposes in regard to that matter. 
 
 While I am upon this subject, I will make some answers briefly to 
 certain propositions that Judge Douglas has put. He says, "Why can't 
 this Union endure permanently, half slave and half free ? " I have said 
 that I supposed it could not, and I will try, before this new audience, 
 to give briefly some of the reasons for entertaining that opinion. An- 
 other form of his question is, "Why can't we let it stand as our fathers 
 placed it ? " That is the exact difficulty between us. I say, that Judge 
 Douglas and his friends have changed them from the position in which 
 our fathers originally placed it. I say in the way our fathers originally 
 left the slavery question, the institution was in the course of ultimate 
 extinction, and the public mind rested in the belief that it was in the 
 course of ultimate extinction. I say when this government was first 
 established, it was the policy of its founders to prohibit the spread of 
 slavery into the new territories of the United States, where it had not 
 existed. But Judge Douglas and his friends have broken up that policy, 
 and placed it upon a new basis by which it is to become national and 
 perpetual. All I have asked or desired any where is that it should be 
 placed back again upon the basis that the fathers of our government 
 originally placed it upon. I have no doubt that it would become ex- 
 tinct, for all time to come, if we but readopted the policy of the fathers 
 by restricting it to the limits it has already covered restricting it from 
 the new territories. 
 
 I do not wish to dwell at great length on this branch of the subject 
 at this time, but allow me to repeat one thing that I have stated before. 
 Brooks, the man who assaulted Senator Sumner on the floor of the sen- 
 ate, and who was complimented with dinners, and silver pitchers, and
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 279 
 
 gold-headed canes, and a good many other things for that feat, in one 
 of his speeches declared that when this government was originally es- 
 tablished, nobody expected that the institution of slavery would last 
 until this day. That was but the opinion of one man, but it was such 
 an opinion as we can never get from Judge Douglas or anybody in favor 
 of slavery in the north at all. You can sometimes get it from a south- 
 ern man. He said at the same time that the framers of our government 
 did not have the knowledge that experience has taught us that expe- 
 rience and the invention of the cotton-gin have taught us that the per- 
 petuation of slavery is a necessity. He insisted, therefore, upon its 
 being changed from the basis upon which the fathers of the government 
 left it to the basis of its perpetuation and nationalization. 
 
 I insist that this is the difference between Judge Douglas and my- 
 self that Judge Douglas is helping that change along. 1 insist upon 
 this government being placed where our fathers originally placed it. 
 
 I remember Judge Douglas once said that he saw the evidences on 
 the statute books of congress, of a policy in the origin of government 
 to divide slavery and freedom by a geographical line that he saw an 
 indisposition to maintain that policy, and therefore he set about study- 
 ing up a way to settle the institution on the right basis the basis 
 which he thought it ought to have been placed upon at first ; and in 
 that speech he confessed that he seeks to place it, not upon the basis 
 that the fathers placed it upon, but upon one gotten up on "original 
 principles. ' ' When he asks me why we cannot get along with it in the 
 attitude where our fathers placed it, he had better clear up the evi- 
 dences that he has himself changed it from that basis ; that he has him- 
 self been chiefly instrumental in changing the policy of the fathers. 
 Any one who will read his speech of the twenty-second of last March, 
 will see that he there makes an open confession, showing that he set 
 about fixing the institution upon an altogether different set of princi- 
 ples. I think I have fully answered him when he asks me why we can- 
 not let it alone upon the basis where our fathers left it, by showing 
 that he himself changed the whole policy of the government in that 
 regard. 
 
 Now, fellow-citizens, in regard to this matter about a contract that 
 was made between Judge Trumbull and myself, and all that long por- 
 tion of Judge Douglas's speech on this subject I wish simply to say 
 what I have said to him before, that he cannot know whether it is true 
 or not, and I do know that there is not a word of truth in it. And I 
 have told him so before. 1 don't want any harsh language indulged in, 
 but I do not know how to deal with this persistent insisting on a story 
 that I know to be utterly without truth. It used to be a fashion amongst 
 men that when a charge was made, some sort of proof was brought 
 forward to establish it, and if no proof was found to exist, the charge 
 was dropped. I don't know how to meet this kind of an argument. I 
 don't want to have a fight with Judge Douglas, and I have no way of 
 making an argument up into the consistency of a corn-cob and stop- 
 ping his mouth with it. All I can do is, good-humoredly to say that, 
 from the beginning to the end of all that story about a bargain between 
 Judge Trumbull and myself, there is not a word of truth in it. I can 
 only ask him to show some sort of evidence of the truth of his story. 
 He brings forward here and reads from what he contends is a speech 
 by James H. Matheny, charging such a bargain between Trumbull and
 
 280 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 myself. My own opinion is that Matheny did do some such immoral 
 thing as to tell a story that he knew nothing about. I believe he did. 
 I contradicted it instantly, and it has been contradicted by Judge 
 Trumbull, while nobody has produced any proof, because there is 
 none. Now, whether the speech which the Judge brings forward here 
 is really the one Matheny made I do not know, and I hope the Judge 
 will pardon me for doubting the genuineness of this document, since 
 his production of those Springfield resolutions at Ottawa. 1 do not 
 wish to dwell at any great length upon this matter. I can say noth- 
 ing when a long story like this is told, except it is not true, and demand 
 that he who insists upon it shall produce some proof. That is all any 
 man can do, and I leave it that way, for I know of no other way of 
 dealing with it. 
 
 The Judge has gone over a long account of the old Whig and Demo- 
 cratic parties, and it connects itself with this charge against Trumbull 
 and myself. He says that they agreed upon a compromise in regard 
 to the slavery question in 1850; that in a national Democratic conven- 
 tion resolutions were passed to abide by that compromise as a finality 
 upon the slavery question. He also says that the Whig party in national 
 convention agreed to abide by and regard as a finality the Compromise 
 of 1850. I understand the Judge to be altogether right about that; 
 I understand that part of the history of the country as stated by him 
 to be correct. I recollect that I, as a member of that party, acquiesced 
 in that compromise. I recollect in the presidential election which fol- 
 lowed, when we had General Scott up for the presidency, Judge Doug- 
 las was around berating us Whigs as Abolitionists, precisely as he does 
 today not a bit of difference. I have often heard him. We could do 
 nothing when the old Whig party was alive that was not Abolitionism, 
 but it has got an extremely good name since it has passed away. 
 
 When that compromise was made it did not repeal the old Missouri 
 Compromise. It left a region of United States territory half as large 
 as the present territory of the United States, north of the line of 36 
 degrees 30 minutes, in which slavery was prohibited by act of congress. 
 This compromise did not repeal that one. It did not affect or propose 
 to repeal it. But at last it became Judge Douglas's duty as he 
 thought (and I find no fault with him), as chairman of the commit- 
 tee on territories, to bring in a bill for the organization of a territorial 
 government first of one, then of two territories north of that line. 
 When he did so it ended in his inserting a provision substantially re- 
 pealing the Missouri Compromise. That was because the Compromise 
 of 1850 had not repealed it. And now I ask why he could not have let 
 that compromise alone? We were quiet from the agitation of the slav- 
 ery question. We were making no fuss about it. All had acquiesced 
 in the compromise measures of 1850. We never had been seriously dis- 
 turbed by any abolition agitation before that period. When he came 
 to form governments for the territories north of the line of 36 degrees 
 30 minutes, why could he not have let that matter stand as it was 
 standing? Was it necessary to the organization of a territory? Not 
 at all. Iowa lay north of the line and had been organized as a terri- 
 tory and come into the Union as a state without disturbing that com- 
 promise. There was no sort of necessity for destroying it to organize 
 these territories. But, gentlemen, it would take up all my time to meet 
 all the little quibbling arguments of Judge Douglas to show that the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 281 
 
 Missouri Compromise was repealed by the Compromise of 1850. My, 
 own opinion is, that a careful investigation of all the arguments to 
 sustain the position that that compromise was virtually repealed by 
 the Compromise of 1850, would show that they are the merest fallacies. 
 I have the report that Judge Douglas first brought into congress at the 
 time of the introduction of the Nebraska bill, which in its original form 
 did not repeal the Missouri Compromise, and he there expressly stated 
 that he had forborne to do so because it had not been done by the 
 Compromise of 1850. I close this part of the discussion on my part by 
 asking him the question again, "Why, when we had peace under the 
 Missouri Compromise, could you not have let it alone?" 
 
 In complaining of what I said in my speech at Springfield, in which 
 he says I accepted my nomination for the senate rship (where, by the 
 way, he is at fault, for if he will examine it, he will find no acceptance 
 in it), he again quotes that portion in which I said that "a house 
 divided against itself cannot stand." Let me say a word in regard to 
 that matter. 
 
 He tries to persuade us that there must be a variety in the different 
 institutions of the states of the Union; that that variety necessarily 
 proceeds from the variety of soil, climate, of the face of the country, 
 and the difference in the natural features of the states. I agree to all 
 that. Have these very matters ever produced any difficulty amongst 
 us? Not at all. Have we ever had any quarrel over the fact that they 
 have laws in Louisiana designed to regulate the commerce that springs 
 from the production of sugar? Or because we have a different class 
 relative to the production of flour in this state? Have they produced 
 any differences? Not at all. They are the very cements of this Union. 
 They don't make the house a house divided against itself. They are 
 the props that hold up the house and sustain the Union. 
 
 But has it been so with this element of slavery? Have we not al- 
 ways had quarrels and difficulties over it? And when will we cease to 
 have quarrels over it? Like causes produce like effects. It is worth 
 while to observe that we have generally had comparative peace upon 
 the slavery question, and that there has been no cause for alarm until 
 it was excited by the effort to spread it into new territory. Whenever 
 it has been limited to its present bounds, and there has been no effort 
 to spread it, there has been peace. All the trouble and convulsion has 
 proceeded from efforts to spread it over more territory. It was thus 
 at the date of the Missouri Compromise. It was so again with the an- 
 nexation of Texas; so with the territory acquired by the Mexican war, 
 and it is so now. Whenever there has been an effort to spread it there 
 has been agitation and resistance. Now, I appeal to this audience 
 (very few of whom are my political friends), as national men, whether 
 we have reason to expect that the agitation in regard to this subject 
 will cease while the causes that tend to reproduce agitation are actively 
 at work? Will not the same cause that produced agitation in 1820, 
 when the Missouri Compromise was formed that which produced the 
 agitation upon the annexation of Texas, and at other times work out 
 the same results always? Do you think that the nature of man will be 
 changed that the same causes that produced agitation at one time will 
 not have the same effect at another? 
 
 This has been the result so far as my observation of the slavery 
 question and my reading in history extends. What right have we then
 
 282 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 to hope that the trouble will cease that the agitation will come to an 
 end until it shall either be placed back where it originally stood, and 
 where the fathers originally placed it, or, on the other hand, until it 
 shall entirely master all opposition? This is the view I entertain, and 
 this is the reason why I entertained it, as Judge Douglas has read from 
 my Springfield speech. 
 
 Now, iny friends, there is one other thing that I feel myself under 
 some sort of obligation to mention. Judge Douglas has here to-day in 
 a very rambling way, I was about saying spoken of the platforms for 
 which he seeks to hold me responsible. He says, "Why can't you come 
 out and make an open avowal of principles in all places alike?" and 
 he reads from an advertisement that he says was used to notify the 
 people of a speech to be made by Judge Trumbull at Waterloo. In 
 commenting on it he desires to know whether we cannot speak frankly 
 and manfully as he and his friends do ! How, I ask, do his friends speak 
 out their own sentiments? A convention of his party in this state 
 met on the twenty-first of April, at Springfield, and passed a set of 
 resolutions which they proclaim to the country as their platform. This 
 does constitute their platform, and it is because Judge Douglas claims 
 it as his platform that these are his principles and purposes that he 
 has a right to declare he speaks his sentiments "frankly and man- 
 fully. ' ' On the ninth of June, Colonel John Dougherty, Governor Rey- 
 nolds and others, calling themselves National Democrats, met in Spring- 
 field and adopted a set of resolutions which are as easily understood, as 
 plain and as definite in stating to the country and to the world what 
 they believed in and would stand upon, as Judge Douglas's platform. 
 Now, what is the reason, that Judge Douglas is not willing that Colonel 
 Dougherty and Governor Reynolds should stand upon their own writ- 
 ten and printed platform as well as he upon his? Why must he look 
 farther than their platform when he claims himself to stand by his 
 platform 1 
 
 Again, in reference to our platform: On the sixteenth of June, 
 the Republicans had their convention and published their platform, 
 which is as clear and distinct as Judge Douglas's. In it they spoke 
 their principles as plainly and as definitely to the world. What is the 
 reason that Judge Douglas is not willing I should stand upon that plat- 
 form? Why must he go round hunting for some one who is support- 
 ing me, or has supported me, at some time in his life, and who has said 
 something at some time contrary to that platform ? Does the Judge re- 
 gard that rule as a good one? If it turn out that that rule is a good 
 one for me that I am responsible for any and every opinion that any 
 man has expressed who is my friend then it is a good rule for him. I 
 ask, is it not as good a rule for him as it. is for me? In my opinion, it 
 is not a good rule for either one of us. Do you think differently, Judge ? 
 
 Mr. Douglas "I do not." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln Judge Douglas says he does not thing differently. I 
 am glad of it. Then can he tell me why he is looking up resolutions of 
 five or six years ago, and insisting that they were my platform, not- 
 withstanding my protest that they are not, and never were my plat- 
 form, and my. pointing out the platform of the state convention which 
 he delights to say nominated me for the senate? I cannot see what he 
 means by parading these resolutions, if it is not to hold me responsible 
 for them in some way. If he says to me here, that he does not hold the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 283 
 
 rule to be good, one way or the other, I do not comprehend how he could 
 answer me more fully if he answered me at greater length. I will 
 therefore put in as my answer to the resolutions that he has hunted up 
 against me, what I, as a lawyer would call a good plea to a bad declar- 
 ation. I understand that it is a maxim of law that a poor plea may 
 be a good plea to a bad declaration. I think that the opinions the 
 Judge brings from those who support me, yet differ from me, is a bad 
 declaration against me ; but if I can bring the same things against him, 
 I am putting in a good plea to that kind of declaration, and now I 
 propose to try it. 
 
 At Freeport Judge Douglas occupied a large part of his time in 
 producing resolutions and documents of various sorts, as I understood, 
 to make me somehow responsible for them; and I propose now doing 
 a little of the same sort of thing for him. In 1850 a very clever gentle- 
 man by the name of Thompson Campbell, a personal friend of Judge 
 Douglas and myself, a political friend of Judge Douglas and opponent 
 of mine, was a candidate for congress in the Galena district. He was 
 interrogated as to his views on this same slavery question. I have here 
 before me the interrogatories and Campbell's answers to them. I will 
 read them : 
 
 INTERROGATORIES 
 
 1st. Will you, If elected, vote for and cordially support a bill prohibiting 
 slavery in the territories of the United States? 
 
 2d. Will you vote for and support a bill abolishing slavery in the District 
 of Columbia? 
 
 3d. Will you oppose the admission of any slave states which may be formed 
 out of Texas or the territories? 
 
 4th. Will you vote for and advocate the repeal of the Fugitive Slave law 
 passed at the recent session of Congress? 
 
 5th. Will you advocate and vote for the election of a speaker of the house 
 of representatives who shall be willing to organize the committee of that house 
 so as to give the free states their just influence in the business of legislation? 
 
 Gth. What are your views, not only as to tfie constitutional right of con- 
 gress to prohibit the slave-trade between the states, but also as to the expediency 
 of exercising that right immediately? 
 
 CAMPBELL'S REPLY 
 
 To the first and second interrogatories, I answer unequivocally In the 
 affirmative. 
 
 To the third interrogatory I reply, that I am opposed to the admission of 
 any more slave states into the union, that may be formed out of Texan or any 
 other territory. 
 
 To the fourth and fifth interrogatories I unhesitatingly answer in the 
 affirmative. 
 
 To the sixth interrogatory I reply, that so long as the slave states continue 
 to treat slaves as articles of commerce, the constitution confers power on con- 
 gress to pass laws regulating that peculiar COMMERCE, and that the protection 
 of human rights imperatively demands the interposition of every constitutional 
 means to prevent this most inhuman and iniquitous traffic. 
 
 t T. CAMPBELL. 
 
 I want to say here that Thompson Campbell was elected to congress 
 on that platform, as the Democratic candidate in the Galena district, 
 against Martin P. Sweet. 
 
 Judge Douglas " Give me the date of that letter." 
 Mr. Lincoln The time Campbell ran was in 1850. I have not 
 the exact date here. It was some time in 1850 that these interroga- 
 tories were put and the answer given. Campbell was elected to con-
 
 284 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 gress, and served out his term. I think a second election came up be- 
 fore he served out his term, and he was not re-elected. Whether de- 
 feated or not nominated, I do not know. [Mr. Campbell was nominated 
 for re-election by the Democratic party by acclamation.] At the end 
 of his term his very good friend, Judge Douglas, got him a high office 
 from President Pierce, and sent him off to California. Is not that the 
 fact ? Just at the end of his term in congress it appears that our mutual 
 friend Judge Douglas got our mutual friend Campbell a good office, 
 and sent him to California upon it. And not only so, but on the twenty- 
 seventh of last month, when Judge Douglas and myself spoke at Free- 
 port, in joint discussion, there was his same friend Campbell, come all 
 the way from California, to help the Judge beat me; and there was 
 poor Martin P. Sweet standing on the platform, trying to help poor 
 me to be elected. That is true of one of Judge Douglas 's friends. 
 
 So again, in that same race of 1850, there was a congressional con- 
 vention assembled at Joliet, and it nominated R. S. Molony for con- 
 gress and unanimously adopted the following resolution: 
 
 Resolved, That we are uncompromisingly opposed to the extension of slavery ; 
 and while we would not make such opposition a ground of interference with the 
 interests of the states where it exists, yet we moderately but firmly insist that 
 it is the duty of congress to oppose its extension into territory now free, by all 
 means compatible with the obligations of the constitution, and with good faith 
 to our sister states; that these principles were recognized by the Ordinance of 
 1787, which received the sanction of Thomas Jefferson, who is acknowledged by 
 all to be the great oracle and expounder of our faith. 
 
 Subsequently the same interrogatories were propounded to Dr. 
 Molony which had been addressed to Campbell, as above, with the ex- 
 ception of the sixth, respecting the inter-state slave-trade, to which Dr. 
 Molony, the Democratic nominee for congress replied as follows: 
 
 I received the written interrogatories this day, and as you will see by the 
 La Salle Democrat and Ottawa Free Trader, I took at Peru on the 5th and at 
 Ottawa on the 7th, the affirmative side of interrogatories 1st and 2d, and in re- 
 lation to the admission of any more slave states from free territory, my posi- 
 tion taken at these meetings, as correctly reported in said papers, was emphat- 
 ically and distinctly opposed to it. In relation to the admission of any more 
 slave States from Texas, whether I shall go against it or not will depend upon 
 the opinion that I may hereafter form of the true meaning and nature of the 
 resolutions of annexation. If, by said resolutions, the honor and good faith of 
 the nation is pledged to admit more slave states from Texas when she (Texas) 
 may apply for the admission of such state, then I should, if in congress, vote 
 for their admission. But if not so PLEDGED and bound by sacred contract, then a 
 bill for the admission of more slave states from Texas would never receive my 
 vote. 
 
 To your fourth interrogatory I answer most decidedly in the affirmative, 
 and for reasons set forth in my reported remarks at Ottawa last Monday. 
 
 To your fifth interrogatory I also reply in the affirmative most cordially, 
 and that I will use my utmost exertions to secure the nomination and election 
 of a man who will accomplish the objects of said interrogatories. I most cor- 
 dially approve of the resolutions adopted at the union meeting held at Princeton 
 on the 27th September ult. Yours, etc., 
 
 R. S. MOLONY. 
 
 All I have to say in regard to Dr. Molony is, that he was the regu- 
 larly nominated Democratic candidate for congress in his district was 
 elected at that time, at the end of his term was appointed to a land- 
 office at Danville. (I never heard anything of Judge Douglas's instru- 
 mentality in this.) He held this office a considerable time, and when
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 285 
 
 we were at Freeport the other day, there were handbills scattered about 
 notifying the public that after our debate was over, R. S. Molony would 
 make a Democratic speech in favor of Judge Douglas. That is all I 
 know of my own personal knowledge. It is added here to this resolu- 
 tion, and truly I believe, that 
 
 "Among those who participated in the Joliet convention, and who 
 supported its nominee, with his platform as laid down in the resolu- 
 tion of the convention and in his reply as above given, we call at ran- 
 dom the following names, all of which are recognized at this day as 
 leading Democrats:" 
 
 "Cook County E. B. Williams, Charles McDonell, Arno Voss, 
 Thomas Hoyne, Isaac Cook." 
 
 I reckon we ought to except Cook. 
 
 "F. C. Sherman." 
 
 "Will Joel A. Matteson, S. W. Bowen." 
 
 "Kane B. F. Hall, G. W. Renwick, A. M. Herrington, Elijah Wil- 
 cox." 
 
 "McHenry W. M. Jackson, Enos W. Smith, Neil Donnelly." 
 "La Salle John Hise, William Reddick." 
 
 William Reddick! another one of Judge Douglas's friends that stood 
 on the stand with him at Ottawa, at the time the Judge says my knees 
 trembled so that I had to be carried away. The names are all here: 
 
 "DuPage Nathan Allen." 
 
 "DeKalb Z. B. Mayo." . 
 
 Here is another set of resolutions which I think are apposite to the 
 matter in hand. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth of February of the same year, a Democratic 
 district convention was held at Naperville, to nominate a candidate for 
 circuit judge. Among the delegates were Bowen and Kelly, of Will; 
 Captain Naper, H. H. Cody, Nathan Allen, of DuPage; W. M. Jack- 
 son, J. M. Strode, P. W. Platt and Enos W. Smith, of McHenry; J. 
 Horsman and others, of Winnebago. Colonel Strode presided over the 
 convention. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted 
 the first on motion of P. W. Platt, the second on motion of William M. 
 Jackson : 
 
 Resolved, That this Convention is in favor of the Wilmot Proviso, both in 
 principle and practice, and that we know of no good reason why any person 
 should oppose the largest latitude in free soil, free territory and free speech, 
 
 Resolved. That in the opinion of this convention, the time has arrived when 
 all men should be free, whites as well as others. 
 
 Judge Douglas" What is the date of those resolutions?" 
 Mr. Lincoln I understand it was in 1850, but I do not know it. I 
 do not state a thing and say I know it, when I do not. But I have the 
 highest belief that this is so. I know of no way to arrive at the conclu- 
 sion that there is an error in it. I mean to put a case no stronger than 
 the truth will allow. But what I was going to comment upon is an 
 extract from a newspaper in DeKalb county, and it strikes me as being 
 rather singular, I confess, under the circumstances. There is a Judge 
 Mayo in that county, who is a candidate for the legislature, for the 
 purpose, if he secures his election, of helping to re-elect Judge Douglas. 
 He is the editor of a newspaper [DeKalb County Sentinel], and in that 
 paper I find the extract I am going to read. It is part of an editorial 
 article in which he was electioneering as fiercely as he could for Judge
 
 286 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Douglas and against me. It was a curious thing, I think, to be in such 
 a paper. I will agree to that, and the Judge may make the most of it: 
 
 "Our education has been such, that we have ever been rather in 
 favor of the equality of the blacks; that is, that they should enjoy all 
 the privileges of the whites where they reside. We are aware that this 
 is not a very popular doctrine. We have had many a confab with some 
 who are now strong ' Republicans, ' we taking the broad ground of equal- 
 ity and they the opposite ground. 
 
 "We were brought up in a state where blacks were voters, and we 
 do not know of any inconvenience resulting from it, though perhaps it 
 would not work as well where the blacks are more numerous. We have 
 no doubt of the right of the whites to guard against such an evil, if it 
 is one. Our opinion is that it would be best for all concerned to have 
 the colored population in a state by themselves [in this I agree with 
 him] ; but if within the jurisdiction of the United States, we say by all 
 means they should have the right to have their senators and representa- 
 tives in congress, and to vote for President. With us ' worth makes the 
 man, and want of it the fellow.' We have seen many a 'nigger' that 
 we thought more of than some white men." 
 
 This is one of Judge Douglas's friends. Now I do not want to leave 
 myself in an attitude where I can be misrepresented, so I will say I do 
 not think the Judge is responsible for this article; but he is quite as 
 responsible for it as I would be if one of my friends had said it. I 
 think that is fair enough. 
 
 I have here also a set of resolutions passed by a Democratic state 
 convention in Judge Douglas's own good old state of Vermont, that I 
 think ought to be good for him too : 
 
 Resolved, That liberty is a right inherent and inalienable in man, and that 
 herein all men are equal. 
 
 Resolved. That we claim no authority in the Federal Government to abolish 
 slavery in the several states, but we do claim for it constitutional power per- 
 petually to prohibit the introduction of slavery into territory now free, and abolish 
 it wherever, under the jurisdiction of congress, it exists. 
 
 Resolved. That this power ought immediately to be exercised in prohibiting 
 the introduction and existence of slavery in New Mexico and California, in 
 abolishing slavery and the slave-trade in the District of Columbia, on the high 
 seas, and wherever else, under the constitution, it can be reached. 
 
 Resolved, That no more slave states should be admitted into the Federal 
 Union. 
 
 Resolved, That the government ought to return to its ancient policy, not to 
 extend, nationalize or encourage, but to limit, localize and discourage slavery. 
 
 At Freeport I answered several interrogatories that had been pro- 
 pounded to me by Judge Douglas at the Ottawa meeting. The Judge 
 has yet not seen fit to find any fault with the position that I took in 
 regard to those seven interrogatories, which were certainly broad 
 enough, in all conscience, to cover the entire ground. In my answers, 
 which have been printed, and all have had the opportunity of seeing, 
 I take the ground that those who elect me must expect that I will do 
 nothing which will not be in accordance with those answers. I have 
 some right to assert that Judge Douglas has no fault to find with them. 
 But he chooses to still try to thrust me upon different ground without 
 paying any attention to my answers, the obtaining of which from me 
 cost him so much trouble and concern. At the same time, I propounded 
 four interrogatories to him, claiming it as a right that he should answer
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 287 
 
 as many interrogatories for me as I did for him, and 1 would reserve 
 myself for a future installment when I got them ready. The Judge in 
 answering me upon that occasion, put in what I suppose he intends as 
 answers to all four of my interrogatories. The first one of these inter- 
 rogatories I have before me, and it is in these words: 
 
 "Question 1. If the people of Kansas shall, by means entirely un- 
 objectionable in all other respects, adopt a State Constitution, and ask 
 admission into the Union under it, before they have the requisite num- 
 ber of inhabitants according to the English bill some ninety-three 
 thousand will you vote to admit them?" 
 
 As I read the Judge's answer in the newspaper, and as I remember 
 it as pronounced at the time, he does not give any answer which is 
 equivalent to yes or no I will or I wont. He answers at very consid- 
 erable length, rather quarreling with me for asking the question, and 
 insisting that Judge Trumbull had done something that I ought to say 
 something about; and finally getting out such statements as induce me 
 to infer that he means to be understood he will, in that supposed case, 
 vote for the admission of Kansas. I only bring this forward now for 
 the purpose of saying that if he chooses to put a different construction 
 upon his answer he may do it. But if he does not, I shall from this 
 time forward assume that he will vote for the admission of Kansas in 
 disregard of the English bill. He has the right to remove any mis- 
 understanding I may have. I only mention it now that I may here- 
 after assume this to be the true construction of his answer, if he does 
 not now choose to correct me. 
 
 The second interrogatory that I propounded to him, was this: 
 
 "Question 2. Can the people of a United States territory, in any 
 lawful way, against the wish of any citizen of the United States, ex- 
 clude slavery from its limits prior to the formation of a State Consti- 
 tution?" 
 
 To this Judge Douglas answered that they can lawfully exclude 
 slavery from the territory prior to the formation of a constitution. He- 
 goes on to tell us how it can be done. As I understand him, he holds 
 that it can be done by the territorial legislature refusing to make any 
 enactments for the protection of slavery in the territory and especially 
 by adopting unfriendly legislation to it. For the sake of clearness I 
 state it again; that they can exclude slavery from the territory, first, by 
 withholding what he assumes to be an indispensable assistance to it 
 in the way of legislation; and, second, by unfriendly legislation. If 
 I rightly understand him, I wish to ask your attention for a while to 
 his position. 
 
 In the first place, the supreme court of the United States has de- 
 cided that any congressional prohibition of slavery in the territories 
 is unconstitutional that they have reached this proposition as a con- 
 clusion from their former position, that the constitution of the United 
 States expressly recognizes property in slaves, and from that other con- 
 stitutional provision, that no person shall be deprived of property with- 
 out due process of law. Hence they reach the conclusion that as the 
 constitution of the United States expressly recogni/es property in 
 slaves, and prohibits any person from beine deprived of property with- 
 out due process of law, to pass an act of congress by which a man 
 who owned a slave on one side of a line would be deprived of him if
 
 288 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 he took him on the other side, is depriving him of that property with- 
 out due process of law. That I understand to be the decision of the 
 supreme court. I understand also that Judge Douglas adheres most 
 firmly to that decision; and the difficulty is, how is it possible for any 
 power to exclude slavery from the territory unless in violation of that 
 decision? That is the difficulty. , 
 
 In the senate of the United States, in 1850, Judge Trumbull, in a 
 speech, substantially, if not directly, put the same interrogatory to 
 Judge Douglas, as to whether the people of a territory had the lawful 
 power to exclude slavery prior to the formation of a constitution? 
 Judge Douglas then answered at considerable length and his answer 
 will be found in the Congressional Globe, under date of June 9, 1856. 
 The Judge said that whether the people could exclude slavery prior to 
 the formation of a constitution or not was a question to be decided by 
 the supreme court. He put that proposition, as will be seen by the 
 Congressional Globe, in a variety of forms, all running to the same 
 thing in substance that it was a question for the supreme court. I 
 maintain that when he says, after the supreme court have decided the 
 question, that the people may yet exclude slavery by any means what- 
 ever, he does virtually say, that it is not a question for the supreme 
 court. He shifts his ground. I appeal to you whether he did not say 
 it was a question for the supreme court? Has not the supreme court 
 decided that question? When he now says the people may exclude sla- 
 very, does he not make it a question for the people? Does he not vir- 
 tually shift his ground and say that it is not a question for the court, 
 but for the people? This is a very simple proposition a very plain 
 and naked one. It seems to me that there is no difficulty in deciding it. 
 In a variety of ways he said that it was a question for the supreme 
 court. He did not stop then to tell us that whatever the supreme court 
 decides, the people can by withholding necessary "police regulations" 
 keep slavery out. He did not make any such answer. I submit to you 
 now, whether the new state of the case has not induced the Judge to 
 sheer away from his original ground. Would not this be the impres- 
 sion of every fair-minded man? 
 
 I hold that the proposition that slavery cannot enter a new country 
 without police regulations is historically false. It is not true at all. I 
 hold that the history of this country shows that the institution of sla- 
 very was originally planted upon this continent without these "police 
 regulations" which the Judge now thinks necessary for the actual estab- 
 lishment of it. Not only so, but is there not another fact how came 
 this Dred Scott decision to be made? It was made upon the case of a 
 negro being taken and actually held in slavery in Minnesota territory, 
 claiming his freedom because the act of congress prohibited his being 
 so held there. Will the Judge pretend that Dred Scott was not held 
 there without police regulations? There is at least one matter of rec- 
 ord as to his having been held in slavery in the territory, not only with- 
 out police regulations, but in the teeth of congressional legislation sup- 
 posed to be valid 'at the time. This shows that there is vieror enough in 
 slavery to plant itself in a new country even against unfriendly legis- 
 lation. It takes not only law but the enforcement of law to keep it out. 
 That is the history of this country upon the subject. 
 
 I wish to ask one other question. It being understood that the con-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 289 
 
 stitution of the United States guarantees property in slaves in the terri- 
 tories, if there is any infringement of the right of that property, would 
 not the United States courts, organized for the government of" the ter- 
 ritory, apply such remedy as might be necessary in that case? It is a 
 maxim held by the courts, that there is no wrong without its remedy; 
 and the courts have a remedy for whatever is acknowledged and treated 
 as a wrong. 
 
 Again : I will ask you, my friends, if you were elected members of 
 the legislature, what would be the first thing you would have to do 
 before entering upon your duties? Swear to support the constitution 
 of the United States. Suppose you believe, as Judge Douglas does, that 
 the constitution of the United States guarantees to your neighbor the 
 right to hold slaves in that territory that they are his property 
 how can you clear your oaths unless you give him such legislation as is 
 necessary to enable him to enjoy that property? What do you under- 
 stand by supporting the constitution of a state, or of the United 
 States? Is it not to give such constitutional helps to the rights estab- 
 lished by that constitution as may be practically needed. Can you, if 
 you swear to support the constitution, and believe that the constitution 
 establishes a right, clear your oath, without giving it support? Do you 
 support the constitution if, knowing or believing there is a right estab- 
 lished under it which needs specific legislation, you withhold that leg- 
 islation? Do you not violate and disregard your oath? I can conceive 
 of nothing plainer in the world. There can be nothing in the words 
 "support the constitution," if you may run counter to it by refusing 
 support to any right established under the constitution. And what I 
 say here will hold with still more force against the Judge's doctrine of 
 "unfriendly legislation." How could you, having sworn to support 
 the constitution, and believing it guaranteed the right to hold slaves in 
 the territories, assist in legislation intended to defeat that right? That 
 would be violating your own view of the constitution. Not only so, 
 but if you were to do so, how long would it take the courts to hold your 
 votes unconstitutional and void? Not a moment. 
 
 Lastly I would ask is not congress itself, under obligation to give 
 legislative support to any right that is established under the United 
 States constitution? I repeat the question is not congress, itself, 
 bound to give legislative support to any right that is established in the 
 United States constitution? A member of congress swears to support 
 the constitution of the United States, and if he sees a right established 
 by that constitution which needs specific legislative protection, can he 
 clear his oath without giving that protection? Let me ask you why 
 many of us who are opposed to slavery upon principle, give our acqui- 
 escence to a Fugitive Slave law? Why do we hold ourselves under 
 obligations to pass such a law, and abide by it when it is passed? Be- 
 cause the constitution makes provision that the owners of slaves shall 
 have the right to reclaim them. It gives the right to reclaim slaves, 
 and that right is, as Judge Douglas says, a barren right, unless there 
 is legislation that will enforce it. 
 
 The mere declaration, "No person held to service or labor in one 
 state under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in conse- 
 quence of any law or regulation therein be discharged from such service 
 or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such. 
 
 Tol. I 1
 
 290 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 service or labor may be due," is powerless without specific legislation 
 to enforce it. Now, on what ground would a member of congress who 
 is opposed to slavery in the abstract, vote for a Fugitive law, as I would 
 deem it my duty to do? Because there is a constitutional right which 
 needs legislation to enforce it. And although it is distasteful to me, I 
 have sworn to support the constitution, and having so sworn, I cannot 
 conceive that I do support it if I withhold from that right any neces- 
 sary legislation to make it practical. And if that is true in regard to a 
 Fugitive Slave law, is the right to have fugitive slaves reclaimed any 
 better fixed in the constitution than the right to hold slaves in the ter- 
 ritories? For this decision is a just exposition of the constitution, as 
 Judge Douglas thinks. Is the one right any better than the other? Is 
 there any man who, while a member of congress, would give support to 
 the one any more than the other? If I wished to refuse to give legis- 
 lative support to slave property in the territories, if a member of con- 
 gress, I could not do it, holding the view that the constitution establishes 
 that right. If I did it at all, it would be because I deny that this de- 
 cision properly construes the constitution. But if I acknowledge, with 
 Judge Douglas, that this decision properly construes the constitution, 
 I cannot conceive that I would be less than a perjured man if I should 
 refuse in congress to give such protection to that property as in its 
 nature it needed. 
 
 At the end of what I have said here I propose to give the Judge my 
 fifth interrogatory, which he may take and answer at his leisure. My 
 fifth interrogatory is this : 
 
 If the slaveholding citizens of a United States territory should need 
 and demand congressional legislation for the protection of their slave 
 property in such territory, would you, as a member of congress, vote 
 for or against such legislation? 
 
 Judge Douglas "Will you repeat that? I want to answer that 
 question. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Lincoln If the slaveholding citizens of a United States terri- 
 tory should need and demand congressional legislation for the protec- 
 tion of their slave property in such territory, would you, as a member 
 of congress, vote for or against such legislation? 
 
 I am aware that in some of the speeches Judge Douglas has made, 
 he has spoken as if he did not know or think that the supreme court 
 had decided that a territorial legislature cannot exclude slavery. Pre- 
 cisely what the Judge would say upon the subject whether he would 
 say definitely that he does not understand they have so decided, or 
 whether he would say he does understand that the courts have so de- 
 cided, I do not know ; but I know that in his speech at Springfield he 
 spoke of it as a thing they had not decided yet ; and in his answer to 
 me at Freeport, he spoke of it so far again, as I can comprehend it. as 
 a thing that had not yet been decided. Now I hold that if the Judge 
 does entertain that view, I think that he is not mistaken in so far as it 
 can be said that the court has not decided anything save the mere 
 question of jurisdiction. I know the legal arguments that can be made 
 that after a court has decided that it cannot take jurisdiction in a 
 case, it then has decided all that is before it, and that is the end of it. 
 A plausible argument can be made in favor of that proposition, but I 
 know that Judge Douglas has said in one of his speeches that the court
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 291 
 
 went forward, like honest men as they were, and decided all the points 
 in the case. If any points are really extra-judicially decided because 
 not necessarily before them, then this one as to the power of the territo- 
 rial legislature to exclude slavery is one of them, as also the one that 
 the Missouri Compromise was null and void. They are both extra-judi- 
 cial, or neither is, according as the court held that they had no juris- 
 diction in the case between the parties, because of want of capacity of 
 one party to maintain a suit in that court. I want, if I have sufficient 
 time, to show that the court did pass its opinion, but that is the only 
 thing actually done in the case. If they did not decide, they showed 
 what they were ready to decide whenever the matter was before them. 
 What is that opinion ? After having argued that congress had no power 
 to pass a law excluding slavery from a United States territory, they 
 then used language to this effect: That inasmuch as congress itself 
 could not exercise such a power, it followed as a matter of course that 
 it could not authorize a territorial government to exercise it, for the 
 territorial legislature can do no more than congress could do. Thus it 
 expressed its opinion emphatically against the power of a territorial 
 legislature to exclude slavery, leaving us in just as little doubt on that 
 point as upon any other point they really decided. 
 
 Now, my fellow-citizens, I will detain you only a little while longer. 
 My time is nearly out. I find a report of a speech made by Judge Doug- 
 las at Joliet, since we last met at Freeport published, I believe, in 
 the Missouri Republican on the 9th of this month in which Judge 
 Douglas says: 
 
 "You know at Ottawa, I read this platform, and asked him if he 
 concurred in each and all of the principles set forth in it. He would 
 not answer these questions. At last I said frankly, I wish you to an- 
 swer them, because when I get them up here where the color of your 
 principles are a little darker than in Egypt, I intend to trot you down 
 to Jonesboro. The very notice that I was going to take him down to 
 Egypt made him tremble in the knees so that he had to be carried from 
 the platform. He laid up seven days, and in the meantime held a con- 
 sultation with his political physicians; they had Lovejoy and Farns- 
 worth and all the leaders of the Abolition party they consulted it all 
 over, and at last Lincoln came to the conclusion that he would answer, 
 so he came up to Freeport last Friday." 
 
 Now that statement altogether furnishes a subject for philosophical 
 contemplation. I have been treating it in that way, and I have really 
 come to the conclusion that I can explain it in no other way than by 
 believing the Judge is crazy. If he was in his right mind, I cannot 
 conceive how he would have risked disgusting the four or five thousand 
 of his own friends who stood there, and knew, as to my having been 
 carried from the platform, that there was not a word of truth in it. 
 
 Judge Douglas "Didn't they carry you off?" 
 
 Mr. Lincoln There ; that question illustrates the character of this 
 man Douglas, exactly. He smiles now and says, "Didn't they carry 
 you off?" But he said then, "he had to be carried off;" and he said 
 it to convince the country that he had so completely broken me down 
 by his speech that I had to be carried away. Now he seeks to dodge it, 
 and asks. "Didn't they carry you off?" Yes. they did. But, Judge 
 Douglas, why didn't you tell the truth? I would like to know why
 
 292 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 you didn't tell the truth about it. And then again, "He laid up seven 
 days." He puts this in print for the people of the country to read as a 
 serious document. I think if he had been in his sober senses he would 
 not have risked that barefacedness in the presence of thousands of his 
 own friends, who knew that I made speeches within six of the seven 
 days at Henry, Marshall county; Augusta, Hancock county, and Ma- 
 comb, McDonough county, including all the necessary travel to meet 
 him again at Freeport at the end of the six days. Now, I say, there is 
 no charitable way to look at that statement, except to conclude that he 
 is actually crazy. There is another thing in that statement that 
 alarmed me very greatly as he states it, that he was going to "trot me 
 down to Egypt." Thereby he would have you to infer that I would 
 not come to Egypt unless he forced me that I could not be got here, 
 unless he, giant-like, had hauled me down here. That statement he 
 makes, too, in the teeth of the knowledge that I had made the stipulation 
 to come down here, and that he himself had been very reluctant to 
 enter into the stipulation. More than all this, Judge Douglas, when 
 he made that statement, must have been crazy, and wholly out of his 
 sober senses, or else he would have known that when he got me down 
 here that promise that windy promise of his powers to annihilate 
 me, wouldn't amount to anything. Now, how little do I look like being 
 carried away trembling? Let the Judge go on, and after he is done 
 with his half hour, I want you all, if I can 't go home myself, to let me 
 stay and rot here ; and if anything happens to the Judge, if I cannot 
 carry him to the hotel and put him to bed, let me stay here and rot. I 
 say, then, there is something extraordinary in this statement. I ask you 
 if you know any other living man who would make such a statement? 
 I will ask my friend Casey, over there, if he would do such a thing? 
 Would he send that out and have his men take it as the truth ? Did the 
 Judge talk of trotting me down to Egypt to scare me to death ? Why, I 
 know this people better than he does. I was raised just a little east of 
 here. I am a part of this people. But the Judge was raised further 
 north, and perhaps he has some horrid idea of what this people might 
 be induced to do. But really I have talked about this matter perhaps 
 longer than I ought, for it is no great thing, and yet the smallest are 
 often the most difficult things to deal with. The Judge has set about 
 seriously trying to make the impression that when we meet at different 
 places I am literally in his clutches that I am a poor, helpless, de- 
 crepit mouse, and that I can do nothing at all. This is one of the ways 
 he has taken to create that impression. I don't know any other way 
 to meet it, except this. I don't want to quarrel with him to call him 
 a liar but when I come square up to him I don't know n'hat else to 
 call him if I must tell the truth out. I want to be at peace, and reserve 
 all my fighting powers for necessary occasions. My time, now, is very 
 nearly out, and I give up the trifle that is left to the Judge, to let him 
 set my knees trembling again, if he can. 
 
 ME. DOUGLAS'S REPLY 
 
 My friends, while I am very grateful to you for the enthusiasm 
 which you show for me, I will say in all candor, that your quietness 
 will tie much more agreeable than your applause, inasmuch as you de- 
 prive me of some part of my time whenever you cheer.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 293 
 
 I will commence where Mr. Lincoln left off, and make a remark 
 upon this serious complaint of his about my speech at Joliet. I did 
 say there in a playful manner that when I put these questions to Mr. 
 Lincoln at Ottawa he failed to answer and that he trembled and had 
 to be carried off the stand, and required seven days to get up his reply. 
 That he did not walk off from the stand he will not deny. That when 
 the crowd went away from the stand with me, a few persons carried 
 him home on their shoulders and laid him down, he will admit. I wish 
 to say to you that whenever I degrade my friends and myself by allow- 
 ing them to carry me on their backs along through the public streets, 
 when I am able to walk, I a.m willing to be deemed crazy. I did not 
 say whether I beat him or he beat me in the argument. It is true I 
 put these questions to him, and I put them not as mere idle questions, 
 but showed that I based them upon the creed of the Black Republican 
 party as declared by their conventions in that portion of the state 
 which he depends upon to elect him, and desired to know whether he 
 indorsed that creed. He would not answer. When I reminded him 
 that I intended bringing him into Egypt and renewing my questions if 
 he refused to answer, he then consulted and did get up his answers 
 one week after, answers which I may refer to in a few minutes and 
 show you how equivocal they are. My object was to make him avow 
 whether or not he stood by the platform of his party ; the resolutions 
 I then read, and upon which I based my questions, had been adopted 
 by his party in the Galena congressional district, and the Chicago and 
 Bloomington congressional districts, composing a large majority of the 
 counties in this state that give Republican or Abolition majorities. Mr. 
 Lincoln cannot and will not deny that the doctrines laid down in these 
 resolutions were in substance put forth in Lovejoy's resolutions, which 
 were voted for by a majority of his party, some of them, if not all, 
 receiving the support of every man of his party. Hence, I laid a 
 foundation for my questions to him before I asked him whether that 
 was or was not the platform of his party. He says that he answered 
 my questions. One of them was whether he would vote to admit any 
 more slave states into the Union. The creed of the Republican party 
 as set forth in the resolutions of their various conventions was, that 
 they would under no circumstances vote to admit another slave state. 
 It was put forth in the Lovejoy resolutions in the legislature; it was 
 put forth and passed in a majority of all the counties of this state 
 which gave Abolition or Republican majorities, or elect members to the 
 legislature of that school of politics. I had a right to know whether 
 he would vote for or against the admission of another slave state in the 
 event the people wanted it. He first answered that he was not pledged 
 on the subject, and then said, "In regard to the other question, of 
 whether I am pledged to the admission of any more slave states into 
 the Union, I state to you very frankly that I would be exceedingly sorry 
 ever to be put in the position of having to pass on that question. I 
 should be exceedingly glad to know that there would never be another 
 slave state admitted into the Union ; but I must add that if slavery shall 
 be kept out of the territories during the territorial existence of any 
 one given territory, and then the people, having a fair chance and clean 
 field when they come to adopt a constitution, do such an extraordinary 
 thing as adopt a slave constitution, uninfluenced by the actual presence 
 of the institution among them, I see no alternative, if we own the 
 country, but to admit them into the Union."
 
 294 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Now analyze that answer. In the first place he says he would be 
 exceedingly sorry to be put in a position where he would have to vote 
 on the question of the admission of a slave state. Why is he a candi- 
 date for the senate if he would be sorry to be put in that position? I 
 trust the people of Illinois will not put him in a position which he 
 would be so sorry to occupy. The next position he takes is that he 
 would be glad to know that there would never be another slave state, 
 yet, in certain contingencies, he might have to vote for one. What is 
 that contingency ? "If congress keeps slavery out by law while it is a 
 territory, and then the people should have a fair chance and should 
 adopt slavery, uninfluenced by the presence of the institution," he 
 supposed he would have to admit the state. Suppose congress should 
 not keep slavery out during their territorial existence, then how would 
 he vote when the people applied for admission into the Union with a 
 slave constitution? That he does not answer, and that is the condition 
 of every territory we have now got. Slavery is not kept out of Kansas 
 by act of congress, and when I put the question to Mr. Lincoln, whether 
 he will vote for the admission with or without slavery, as her people 
 may desire, he will not answer, and you have not got an answer from 
 him. In Nebraska slavery is not prohibited by act of congress, but the 
 people are allowed, under the Nebraska bill, to do as they please on the 
 subject; and when I ask him whether he will vote to admit Nebraska 
 with a slave constitution if her people desire it, he will not answer. 
 So with New Mexico, Washington territory, Arizona, and the four new 
 states to be admitted from Texas. You cannot get an answer from him 
 to these questions. His answer only applies to a given case, to a con- 
 dition things which he knows do not exist in any one territory in 
 the Union. He tries to give you to understand that he would allow the 
 people to do as they please, and yet he dodges the question as to every 
 territory in the Union. I now ask why cannot Mr. Lincoln answer to 
 each of these territories? He has not done it, and he will not do it. 
 The Abolitionists up north understand that this answer is made with 
 a view of not committing himself on any one territory now in existence. 
 It is so understood there, and you cannot expect an answer from him 
 on a case that applies to any one territory, or applies to the new states 
 which by compact we are pledged to admit out of Texas, when they 
 have the requisite population and desire admission. I submit to you 
 whether he has made a frank answer, so that you can tell how he would 
 vote in any one of these cases. "He would be sorry to be put in the 
 position." Why would he be sorry to be put in this position if his duty 
 required him to give the vote? If the people of a territory ought to be 
 permitted to come into the Union as a state, with slavery or without 
 it, as they pleased, why not give the vote admitting them cheerfully? 
 If in his opinion they ought not to come in with slavery, even if they 
 wanted to, why not say that he would cheerfully vote against their 
 admission? His intimation is that conscience would not let him vote 
 "No," and he would be sorry to do that which his conscience would 
 compel him to do as an honest man. 
 
 In regard to the contract or bargain between Trumbull, the Aboli- 
 tionists and him, which he denies, I wish to say that the charge can be 
 proved by notorious historical facts. Trumbull, Lovejoy, Giddings, Fred 
 Douglass, Hale, and Banks, were traveling the state at that time mak- 
 ing speeches on the same side and in the same cause with him. He
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 295 
 
 contents himself with the simple denial that no such thing occurred. 
 Does he deny that he, and Trumbull, and Breese, and Giddings, and 
 Chase, and Fred Douglass, and Lovejoy, and all those Abolitionists and 
 deserters from the Democratic party, did make speeches all over this 
 state in the same common cause? Does he deny that Jim Matheny 
 was then, and is now, his confidential friend, and does he deny that 
 Matheny made the charge of the bargain and fraud in his own language, 
 as I have read it from his printed speech. Matheny spoke of his own 
 personal knowledge of that bargain existing between Lincoln, Trumbull, 
 and the Abolitionists. He still remains Lincoln's confidential friend, 
 and is now a candidate for congress, and is canvassing the Springfield 
 district for Lincoln. I assert that I can prove the charge to be true in 
 detail if I can ever get it where I can summon and compel the attendance 
 of witnesses. I have the statement of another man to the same effect 
 as that made by Matheny, which I am not permitted to use yet, but Jim 
 Matheny is a good witness on that point, and the history of the country 
 is conclusive upon it. That Lincoln up to that time had been a Whig, 
 and then undertook to abolitionize the Whigs and bring them into the 
 Abolition camp, is beyond denial ; that Trumbull up to that time had 
 been a Democrat, and deserted, and undertook to abolitionize the 
 Democracy, and take them into the Abolition camp, is beyond denial; 
 that they are both now active, leading, distinguished members of this 
 Abolition Republican party, in full communion, is a fact that cannot 
 be questioned or denied. 
 
 But Lincoln is not willing to be responsible for the creed of his 
 party. He complains because I hold him responsible, and in order 
 to avoid the issue, he attempts to show that individuals in the Dem- 
 ocratic party, many years ago, expressed Abolition sentiments. It is 
 true that Tom Campbell, when a candidate for congress in 1850, 
 published the letter which Lincoln read. When I asked Lincoln for 
 the date of that letter he could not give it. The date of the letter has 
 been suppressed by other speakers who have used it, though I take 
 it for granted that Lincoln did not know the date. If he will take 
 the trouble to examine, he will find that the letter was published 
 only two days before the election, and was never seen until after it, 
 except in one county. Tom Campbell would have been beat to death 
 by the Democratic party if that letter had been made public in his 
 district. As to Molony, it is true he uttered sentiments of the kind 
 referred to by Mr. Lincoln, and the best Democrats would not vote 
 for him for that reason. I returned from Washington after the pas- 
 sage of the compromise measures in 1850, and when I found Mo- 
 lony running under John Wentworth's tutelage, and on his platform, 
 I denounced him, and declared that he was no Democrat. In my 
 speech at Chicago, just before the election that year, I went before 
 the infuriated people of that city and vindicated the compromise 
 measures of 1850. Remember the city council had passed resolutions 
 nullifying acts of congress and instructing the police to withold their as- 
 sistance from the execution of the laws, and as I was the only man in the 
 city of Chicago who was responsible for the passage of the compromise 
 measures, I went before the crowd, justified each and every one of 
 those measures, and let it be said to the eternal honor of the people 
 of Chicago, that when they were convinced by my exposition of 
 those measures that they were right and they had done wrong in
 
 296 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 opposing them, they repealed their nullifying resolutions and de- 
 clared that they would acquiesce in and support the laws of the land. 
 These facts are well known, and Mr. Lincoln can only get up indi- 
 vidual instances, dating back to 1849- '50, which are contradicted 
 by the whole tenor of the Democratic creed. 
 
 But Mr. Lincoln does not want to be held responsible for the 
 Black Republican doctrine of no more slave states. Farnsworth is 
 the candidate of his party to-day in the Chicago district, and he made 
 a speech in the last congress in which he called upon God to palsy 
 his right arm if he ever voted for the admission of another slave 
 state, whether the people wanted it or not. Lovejoy is making 
 speeches all over the state for Lincoln now, and taking ground 
 against any more slave states. Washburne, the Black Republican 
 candidate for congress in the Galena district, is making speeches in 
 favor of this same Abolition platform declaring no more slave states. 
 Why are men running for congress in the northern districts, and 
 taking that Abolition platform for their guide, when Mr. Lincoln 
 does not want to be held to it down here in Egypt and in the center 
 of the state, and objects to it so as to get votes here. Let me tell 
 Mr. Lincoln that his party in the northern part of the state hold to 
 that Abolition platform, and that if they do not in the south and in 
 the center they present the extraordinary spectacle of a "house di- 
 vided against itself," and hence "cannot stand." I now bring down 
 upon him the vengeance of his own scriptural quotation, and give 
 it a more appropriate application than he did, when I say to him 
 that his party, Abolition in one end of the state and opposed to it in 
 the other, is a house divided against itself, and cannot stand, and 
 ought not to stand, for it attempts to cheat the American people out 
 of their votes by disguising its sentiments. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln attempts to cover up and get over his Abolitionism 
 by telling you that he was raised a little east of you, beyond the 
 Wabash in Indiana, and he thinks that makes a mighty sound and 
 good man of him on all these questions. I do not know that the 
 place where a man is born or raised has much to do with his political 
 principles. The worst Abolitionist I have ever known in Illinois have 
 been men who have sold their slaves in Alabama and Kentucky, and 
 have come here and turned Abolitionists whilst spending the money 
 got for the negroes they sold, and I do not know that an Abolition- 
 ist from Indiana or Kentucky ought to have any more credit because 
 he was born and raised among slaveholders. I do not know that a 
 native of Kentucky is more excusable because raised among slaves, 
 his father and mother having owned slaves, he comes to Illinois, turns 
 Abolitionist, and slanders the graves of his father and mother, and 
 breathes curses upon the institutions under which he was born, and 
 his father and mother bred. True, I was not born out west here. I 
 was born away down in Yankee land, I was born in a valley in Ver- 
 mont, with the high mountains around me. I love the old green 
 mountains and valleys of Vermont, where I was born, and where I 
 played in my childhood. I went up to visit them some seven or eight 
 years ago, for the first time for twenty odd years. When I got there 
 they treated me very kindly. They invited me to the commence- 
 ment of their college, placed me on the seats with their distinguished 
 guests, and conferred upon me the degree of LL. D. in Latin (doctor
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 297 
 
 of laws), the same as they did old Hickory, at Cambridge, many 
 years ago, and I give you my word and honor I understood just as 
 much of the Latin as he did. When they got through conferring 
 the honorary degree, they called upon me for a speech, and I got up 
 with my heart full and swelling with gratitude for their kindness, 
 and I said to them, "My friends, Vermont is the most glorious spot 
 on the face of this globe for a man to be born in, provided he emi- 
 grates when he is very young." 
 
 I emigrated when I was very young. I came out here when I 
 was a boy, and I found my mind liberalized, and my opinions en- 
 larged when I got on these broad prairies, with only the heavens to 
 bound my vision, instead of having them circumscribed by the little 
 narrow ridges that surrounded the valley where I was born. But, 
 I discard all flings of the land where a man was born. I wish to be 
 judged by my principles, by those great public measures and con- 
 stitutional principles upon which the peace, the happiness and the 
 perpetuity of this republic now rest. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln has framed another question, propounded it to me^ 
 and desired my answer. As I have said before, I did not put a 
 question to him that I did not first lay a foundation for by showing 
 that it was a part of the platform of the party whose votes he is now 
 seeking, adopted in a majority of the counties where he now hopes 
 to get a majority, and supported by the candidates of his party now 
 running in those counties. But I will answer his question. It is as 
 follows: "If the slaveholding citizen of a United States territory 
 should need and demand congressional legislation for the protection 
 of their slave property in such territory, would you, as a member of 
 congress, vote for or against such legislation?" I answer him that it 
 is a fundamental article in the Democratic creed that there should be 
 non-interference and non-intervention by congress with slavery in the 
 states or territories. Mr. Lincoln could have found an answer to his 
 question in the Cincinnati platform, if he had desired it. The Demo- 
 cratic party have always stood by that great principle of non-interfer- 
 ence and non-intervention by congress with slavery in the states ana 
 territories alike, and I stand on that platform now. 
 
 Now I desire to call your attention to the fact that Lincoln did not 
 define his own position in his own question. How does he stand on that 
 question? He put the question to me at Freeport whether or not I 
 would vote to admit Kansas into the Union before she had 93,420 in- 
 habitants. I answered him at once that it having been decided that 
 Kansas had now population enough for a slave state, she had popula- 
 tion enough for a free state. 
 
 I answered the question unequivocally, and then I asked him whether 
 he would vote for or against the admission of Kansas before she had 
 93.420 inhabitants, and he would not answer me. To-day he has called 
 attention to the fact that, in his opinion, my answer on that question 
 was not quite plain enough, and yet he has not answered it himself. He 
 now puts a question in relation to congressional interference in the ter- 
 ritories to me. I answer him direct, and yet he has not answered the 
 question himself. I ask you whether a man has any right, in common 
 decency, to put questions in these public discussions, to his opponent, 
 which he will not answer himself, when they are pressed home to him. 
 I have asked him three times, whether he would vote to admit Kansas
 
 298 HISTORY OF SOUTHEEN ILLINOIS 
 
 whenever the people applied with a constitution of their own making 
 and their own adoption, under circumstances that were fair, just and 
 unexceptional, but I cannot get an answer from him. Nor will he an- 
 swer the question which he put to me, and which I have just answered 
 in relation to congressional interference in the territories, by making 
 a slave code there. 
 
 It is true that he goes on to answer the question by arguing that 
 under the decision of the supreme court it is the duty of a man to vote 
 for a slave code in the territories. He says that it is his duty, under 
 the decision that the court has made, and if he believes in that deci- 
 sion he would be a perjured man if he did not give the vote. I want to 
 know whether he is not bound to a decision which is contrary to his 
 opinions just as much as to one in accordance with his opinions. If the 
 decision of the supreme court, the tribunal created by the constitu- 
 tion to decide the question, is final and binding, is he not bound by it 
 just as strongly as if he was for it instead of against it originally? 
 Is every man in this land allowed to resist decisions he does not like, 
 and only support those that meet his approval? What are important 
 courts worth unless their decisions are binding on all good citizens? 
 It is the fundamental principles of the judiciary that its decisions are 
 final. It is created for that purpose, so that when you cannot agree 
 among yourselves on a disputed point you appeal to the judicial tri- 
 bunal which steps in and decides for you, and that decision is then 
 binding on every good citizen. It is the law of the land just as much 
 with Mr. Lincoln against it as for it. And yet he says that if that de- 
 cision is binding he is a perjured man if he does not vote for a slave 
 code in the different territories of this union. Well, if you [turning to 
 Mr. Lincoln] are not going to resist the decision, if you obey it, and 
 do not intend to array mob law against the constituted authorities, 
 then, according to your own statement, you will be a perjured man if 
 you do not vote to establish slavery in these territories. My doctrine 
 is, that even taking Mr. Lincoln's view that the decision recognizes 
 the right of a man to carry his slaves into the territories of the United 
 States, if he pleases, yet after he gets there he needs affirmative law to 
 make that right of any value. The same doctrine not only applies to 
 slave property, but all other kinds of property. Chief Justice Taney 
 places it upon the ground that slave property is on an equal footing 
 with other property. Suppose one of your merchants should move to 
 Kansas and open a liquor store ; he has a right to take groceries and 
 liquors there, but the mode of selling them, and the circumstances 
 under which they shall be sold, and all the remedies must be prescribed 
 by local legislation, and if that is unfriendly it will drive him out just 
 as effectually as if there was a constitutional provision against the sale 
 of liquor. So the absence of local legislation to encourage and sup- 
 port slave property in a territory excludes it practically just as effect- 
 ually as if there was a positive constitutional provision against it. Hence, 
 I assert that under the Dred Scott decision you cannot maintain slavery 
 a day in a territory where there is an unwilling people and unfriendly 
 legislation. If the people are opposed to it, our right is a barren, 
 worthless, useless right, and if they are for it, they will support and 
 encourage it. We come right back, therefore, to the practical ques- 
 tion, if the people of a territory want slavery they will have it, and if 
 they do not want it you cannot force it on them. And this is the prac-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 299 
 
 tical question, the great principle, upon which our institutions rest. 1 
 am willing to take the decision of the supreme court as it was pro- 
 nounced by that august tribunal without stopping to inquire whether 
 I would have decided that way or not. I have had many a decision 
 made against me on questions of law which I did not like, but I was 
 bound by them just as much as if I had had a hand in making them, 
 and approved them. Did you ever see a lawyer or a client lose his case 
 that he approved the decision of the court? They always think the 
 decision unjust when it is given against them. In a government of laws 
 like ours we must sustain the constitution as our fathers made it, and 
 maintain the rights of the state as they are guaranteed under the con- 
 stitution, and then we will have peace and harmony between the differ- 
 ent states and sections of this glorious Union.
 
 CHAPTEE XXV 
 ON THE EVE OF THE GREAT CONFLICT 
 
 THE ELECTION OF 1858 DOUGLAS AT BENTON POLITICAL MEETINGS 
 AT CENTRALIA LAST DEBATE AT ALTON THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 
 A SON OF ILLINOIS. 
 
 When the joint debate was over in Jonesboro, the two contestants 
 began their journey to the next meeting which was at Charleston, Coles 
 county, September 18. Mr. Lincoln seems to have gone direct to Cen- 
 tralia. Just north of Centralia was the new town of Central City. 
 Here the state fair was in progress. Mr. Douglas was not in haste to 
 reach Centralia. At least he visited Benton, the home of John A. Logan, 
 where he received an ovation. A letter from Judge Thomas Layman of 
 Benton tells an interesting story and it is reproduced. 
 
 DOUGLAS AT BENTON 
 
 "BENTON, Illinois, May 1, 1912. 
 
 "Prof. George W. Smith, Carbondale, Illinois Dear Sir : I am in receipt of 
 your letter of April 24th asking for some data relative to the visit of Stephen A. 
 Douglas to Benton on September 16, 1858. The Benton Standard was burned 
 three years ago and all the files of the paper since 1849 were destroyed. So I will 
 not be able to give you much information. 
 
 "On the morning of September 16, 1858, Tillman B. Cantrell, Daniel Mooney- 
 ham and other prominent citizens met Douglas at Tamaroa. At that time 110 
 railroad entered Benton. Douglas arrived in Benton sometime before noon, and 
 was at once taken to the home of John A. Logan on South street The old house 
 where he was entertained is still standing. He spoke in a grove in the northwest 
 part of town. The afternoon of the fifteenth, Mrs. John A. Logan went over town 
 and collected money to buy materials with which to make a flag. She and a 
 party of women spent nearly all the night making the flag which was used in 
 the procession and on the speaker's stand next day. After Douglas had finished 
 his speech he was driven back to Tamaroa and took the north-bound Illinois 
 Central. I am told that John A. Logan presided as chairman at the meeting. 
 Mrs. Douglas did not accompany him. 
 
 "Mrs. Tabitha Browning of this place has given me most of the information 
 that I have obtained. I have been unable to find anyone thus far who attended 
 the Jonesboro debate from Benton. Mr. W. S. Cantrell says that Judge M. C. 
 Crawford of Jonesboro can probably tell you of the Benton visit of Douglas. 
 If I find anything further I will let you know. With best wishes, I remain, 
 
 "Very sincerely, 
 
 "Tnos. J. LAYMAN." 
 
 POLITICAL MEETINGS AT CENTRALIA 
 
 From The Missouri Republican Sept 18, 1858: "The National 
 Democrats held an anti-Douglas meeting here last evening, August 16, 
 in front of the Veranda Hotel, to express their opposition to Judge 
 
 300
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 301 
 
 Douglas, and the principles which he advocates. The meeting was but 
 poorly attended and several times interrupted by cries for Douglas. 
 The first speaker, Governor Reynolds (candidate for state superin- 
 tendent of public instruction), addressed the crowd, and took occasion 
 in the course of his remarks to say that he would not countenance St. 
 Paul though he had sacred gospels on his lips, if he favored Douglas. 
 He was followed by Colonel Carpenter and Mr. Hoyne of Chicago, and 
 others. 
 
 ' ' As evidence of the nature of the meeting and the amount of interest 
 manifested, I will say I saw the principal speaker, assisted by one of the 
 editors of the Chicago Press and Tribune, engaged in carrying dry 
 goods boxes to make a platform from which to speak! 
 
 ' ' The Douglas Democrats soon got up an opposition meeting within a 
 short distance and drew the major portion of the crowd away from the 
 former place. The Douglas meeting was addressed by Messrs. Linder, 
 Fouke, and Hicks, and a great deal of enthusiasm was manifested 
 throughout. ' ' 
 
 On the next afternoon, September 17, Senator Douglas spoke to the 
 assembled citizens in Centralia in answer to Governor Reynolds and the 
 other administration speakers. 
 
 Both Lincoln and Douglas spent their spare time at the State Fair, 
 and on the evening of the 17th they proceeded to Mattoon where both re- 
 mained over night. On the morning of the 18th they proceeded by wagon 
 road to Charleston, eight miles to the east. Great processions were formed 
 and the intense heat and great clouds of dust made the journey very try- 
 ing. The two processions were met out of Charleston with banners, bands, 
 and great crowds. The debate occurred in the fair grounds, and the 
 crowd was estimated at from ten to fifteen thousand. 
 
 LAST DEBATE AT ALTON 
 
 The last of the joint debates was held at Alton October 15. The 
 speaking occurred at the east side of the present city hall. There were 
 joint committees on decorations, music, salutes, and other matters of 
 common interests. Boats and trains brought in people from all direc- 
 tions. The audience was estimated at from five to six thousand. The dis- 
 patches refer to Mr. Douglas' voice as much impaired. Mr. Lincoln 
 seems to have stood the strain of the campaign some better than Douglas. 
 Following the Alton debate Mr. Lincoln filled twelve regular engagements 
 while Mr. Douglas filled nine. 
 
 DOUGLAS ELECTED SENATOR 
 
 The election occurred Tuesday, November 2, 1858. "When the smoke 
 of battle cleared away it was found that the result was : Douglas Senate, 
 14 ; house, 40 ; total, 54. 
 
 Lincoln Senate, 11; house, 35; total, 46. 
 
 The state had gone Republican on the two state positions the treas- 
 urership and the superintendent of public instruction. And probably if 
 the apportionment of the senatorial and representative districts had been 
 fairly made Lincoln would have been the senator. 
 
 The contest between Douglas and Lincoln had attracted the atten- 
 tion of the entire country, north and south, east and west. Mr. Lincoln
 
 302 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 CITY HALL, ALTON, WHERE THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE WAS HELD 
 
 IN 1858
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 303 
 
 was defeated but not cast down. It was only one short year till the na- 
 tional canvass would demand attention of the whole people. Lincoln 
 wrote to a friend shortly after the November election as follows: "The 
 fight must go on. The cause of civil liberty must not be surrendered 
 at the end of one or one hundred defeats. Douglas had the ingenuity 
 to be supported in the late contest, both as the best means to break 
 down and to uphold the slave interest. No ingenuity can keep these 
 antagonistic elements in harmony long. Another explosion will soon 
 come." 
 
 Douglas naturally felt proud of his victory. After a short rest 
 following the close of the campaign, he made a tour of the southern 
 states ; but nothing he could say or do could pacify the administration. 
 Its friends were up in arms against what was called the "Freeport 
 Doctrine." Douglas must feel the hand of the administration, and so 
 he was deposed from the chairmanship of the committee on territories 
 which he had held for eleven years. 
 
 In the Freeport debate Mr. Lincoln ingenuously propounded this 
 question to Mr. Douglas: 
 
 "Can the people of a United States territory in any lawful way, 
 against the wish of any citizens of the United States, exclude slavery 
 from its limits prior to the formation of a state constitution ? ' ' 
 
 If Mr. Douglas wishes still to uphold the doctrine of Squatter 
 Sovereignty he will be forced to say, "Yes." If he says, "No," then 
 his doctrine of Squatter Sovereignty has burst as a bubble. If Doug- 
 las answers in the affirmative he runs counter to the decision of the su- 
 preme court which has so greatly delighted the slave holders of the 
 south. If he says, "Yes," every pro-slavery southerner will be ready 
 to read him out of the Democratic party. If he says, "No," he will 
 lose the senatorship, for those that are pleading Douglas' cause argue 
 that Douglas ought to be sustained because he stands for abiding by 
 the will of the people as expressed in regularly constituted means for 
 such expression. He had won many admirers, not only in Illinois but 
 throughout the north, for refusing to endorse the action of the Le- 
 compton convention which shamefully disfranchised nearly 10,000 citi- 
 zens of Kansas. In this stand he had lost the good will of Buchanan 
 and as to the general feeling toward him in the south we shall see 
 presently. 
 
 Douglas was truly midway between two great dangers, but sum- 
 moning all his native skill in the art of debate he answered : " I answer 
 emphatically, as Mr. Lincoln has heard me answer a hundred times 
 from every stump in Illinois, that, in my opinion the people of the 
 territory can by lawful means, exclude slavery from their limits prior 
 to the formation of a state constitution. . . . The people have the 
 lawful means to introduce it or exclude it, as they please, for the rea- 
 son that slavery cannot exist a day, or an hour, anywhere, unless it is 
 supported by local police regulation." 
 
 This greatly angered the south ; and the press and the public speak- 
 ers in that section denounced him in the severest terms. To get at 
 something of the feelings of the people in the south toward Douglas for 
 his answer to question number two, let us hear Senator Judah P. Ben- 
 jamin, of Louisiana, in the United States senate, May 28, 1860: "Up 
 to the years of 1857 and 1858, no man in this nation had a higher or 
 more exalted opinion of the character, the services and the political
 
 304 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 integrity of the senator from Illinois (Douglas) than I had . . . 
 Sir ... I have been obliged to pluck down my idol from his place 
 on high, and to refuse him any more support or confidence as a mem- 
 ber of the party. . . . The causes that have operated on me have 
 operated on the Democratic party of the United States, and have ope- 
 rated an effect which the whole future life of the senator will be utterly 
 unable to obliterate. It is impossible that confidence lost can be re- 
 stored. . . . We accuse him for this, to-wit: That having bar- 
 gained with us upon a point upon which we were an issue, that it 
 should be a judicial point; that he would abide the decision; that he 
 would act under the decision, and consider it a doctrine of the party; 
 that having said that to us here in the senate, he went home, and under 
 the stress of a local election, his knees gave way; his whole person 
 trembled. His adversary stood upon principle and was beaten; and lo! 
 he is the candidate of a mighty party for the presidency of the United 
 States. The senator from Illinois faltered. He got the prize for which 
 he faltered ; but lo ! the grand prize of his ambition today slips from 
 his grasp because of his faltering in his former contest, and his suc- 
 cess in the canvas for the senate, purchased for an ignoble price, has 
 cost him the loss of the presidency of the United States. ' ' 
 
 This speech is no doubt a fair statement of the feeling of the south 
 toward Douglas for his failure to stand up boldly for the decision of 
 the supreme court. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860 
 
 The year 1860 was one which will long be remembered by those 
 who were old enough to be aware of the significance of the events of 
 that memorable year. It can be truly said that since the success of the 
 Republican party in 1856, that politics was the absorbing thing in the 
 state. Everyone looked forward to the presidential contest which was 
 to take place in the summer and fall of 1860. In the west there was 
 little doubt that Lincoln was the logical candidate of the Republican 
 party. However, there were other men worthy of such honor. Salmon 
 P. Chase, of Ohio, William A. Seward, of New York, and Simon Cam- 
 eron, of Pennsylvania, were also considered presidential possibilities. 
 
 The great battle fought between Lincoln and Douglas had drawn 
 all eyes toward Illinois and Abraham Lincoln. A Chicago editor wrote 
 to Lincoln while the campaign was in progress in 1858, and said : ' ' You 
 are like Byron, who woke up one morning and found himself famous. 
 People wish to know about you. You have sprung at once from the 
 position of a capital fellow and a leading lawyer in Illinois, to a na- 
 tional reputation. ' ' David Davis, one of the great men in Illinois, wrote 
 Lincoln in 1858, just after the final result became known and said: 
 "You have made a noble canvass which, if unavaling in this state, has 
 earned you a national reputation, and made you friends everywhere." 
 
 The Republican central committee of New Hampshire sent word 
 to Lincoln that if Douglas came into that state, to make a campaign, 
 they would want Mr. Lincoln's services. Scores of calls came from 
 all parts of the country for Mr. Lincoln's help in the political cam- 
 paign of 1859. Mr. Lincoln's most serious political work in 1859, 
 was in the campaign in Ohio. The Democratic party had invited 
 Douglas into that state, and as soon as this was known the Republican
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 305 
 
 committee urged Mr. Lincoln to come to Ohio. This Mr. Lincoln did. 
 He made two set speeches; one at Columbus and one at Cincinnati. 
 The burden of his speeches was the subject of slavery. He met with 
 enthusiastic friends everywhere. The committee thought so much of 
 his influence in carrying Ohio that they arranged to print in cheap 
 book form his debate with Douglas, together with the two speeches in 
 Ohio, as campaign documents for the presidential canvass in 1860. 
 
 In the winter of 1859-60, Mr. Lincoln was invited to New York and 
 Boston to make public addresses. He also visited many other points 
 in the New England and the Middle States. These addresses were 
 somewhat of the nature of lectures. Mr. Lincoln received pay, at least 
 in New York and Boston, at the rate of $200 per night. In New York 
 he spoke in Cooper Institute to one of the finest audiences which ever 
 assembled in the city. William Cullen Bryant was chairman of the 
 evening. The next morning The Tribune said : ' ' Since the days of Clay 
 and Webster no man has spoken to a larger assemblage of the intellect 
 and mental culture in our city." This trip to the east was of great 
 value to Mr. Lincoln when the coming canvass was under way. 
 
 All through the year of 1859 there was a quiet, though effective, 
 work going on in Illinois looking toward the securing of the Republi- 
 can nomination for the presidency for Mr. Lincoln. Among those who 
 were thus pushing the claims of Lincoln were David Davis, Leonard 
 Swett, Judge Stephen T. Logan, John M. Palmer, Jesse W. Fell, John 
 Wentworth, Joseph Medill, Norman B. Judd, Richard Oglesby and 
 scores of others. County conventions, which were being held in the 
 early spring of 1860, instructed their delegates to the state convention 
 to work for the nomination of Lincoln. In the winter of '59 and '60, 
 Joseph Medill, editor of the Chicago Tribune was in Washington, try- 
 ing quietly to work up a Lincoln sentiment, and on February 16, 1860, 
 The Tribune came out editorially for Lincoln. 
 
 But in a list of twenty-one persons mentioned for the presidency 
 published in New York in the winter of '59 and '60, Lincoln's name 
 does not appear. There was scarcely a paper in the east that ever 
 mentioned his name as a probable candidate. 
 
 The state Republican convention met in Decatur May 9 and 10. 
 Here Lincoln received an ovation. John M. Palmer moved that, 
 "Abraham Lincoln is the choice of the Republican party of Illinois 
 for the presidency, and the delegates from this state are instructed to 
 use all honorable means to secure his nomination by the Chicago con- 
 vention, and to vote as a unit for him." At this convention Richard 
 Yates was nominated for governor and a full ticket put into the field. 
 
 We have already spoken of Douglas' trip through the southern 
 states following the campaign of 1858. He spoke in all the large cities 
 in the south. He was received with marked courtesy and listened to 
 with growing interest. In early January, 1859, Douglas arrived at the 
 capitol and took his seat in the senate. He was soon made aware of the 
 fact that the southern senators had deposed him from the leadership 
 of his party or at least the southern half of it. They demanded of him 
 what he would do if according to his "Freeport Doctrine" the terri- 
 torial legislature should legislate so unfriendly as to exclude slavery. 
 They pressed him so closely and made such demands that he said to 
 them: "I tell you, gentlemen of the south, in all candor, I do not be- 
 lieve a Democratic candidate can carry any one Democratic state of
 
 306 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the north on the platform that it is the duty of the federal government 
 to force the people of a territory to have slavery when they do not 
 want it." 
 
 Here, in the closing days of the session an irreparable schism was 
 opened between the slaveholding Democracy of the south and the Squat- 
 ter Sovereignty Democracy of the north. In June, 1859, Douglas, in an- 
 swer to a question as to whether he would be a candidate for the presi- 
 dency replied that if the Democracy adhere to its former principles his 
 friends would be at liberty to present his name. On the contrary he 
 said, if the convention shall insist on the revival of the slave-trade, or 
 hold that congress has a right to pass a slave code for the territories, or 
 that the constitution of the United States either establishes or prohibits 
 slavery in the territories beyond the power of the people legally to con- 
 trol it, then he could not accept the nomination if tendered to him. 
 
 The National Republican convention met in a wigwam in Chicago. 
 May 16, 1860. Strong delegations were present from the eastern states 
 to whom the western methods of campaigning may have been a little 
 new. A committee of one from each state and territory, was appointed 
 on the committee on resolution which reported a very conservative set 
 of resolutions as the platform of the party. The following is an abridg- 
 ment of that document: 
 
 The past four years have justified the organization of the Republican 
 party. The causes which called it into existence are permanent. 
 
 The principal of equality, stated in the Declaration of Independence, 
 is essential to the preservation of our Republican institutions. 
 
 The wonderful development of the nation is the result of the union of 
 the states. 
 
 The lawless invasion of any state or territory by armed force is 
 among the gravest of crimes. 
 
 The dogma that the constitution carries slavery into the Territories 
 is a dangerous political heresy. 
 
 We deny the right of congress, or of any territorial legislature, or of 
 any individuals, to legalize slavery in any territory of the United States. 
 
 The recent re-opening of the African slave trade is a crime against 
 humanity. 
 
 Kansas should of right be admitted as a state under the constitution 
 recently formed. 
 
 The party favors a protective tariff. 
 
 The party favors liberal homestead laws. 
 
 Pledges efficient protection to all classes of citizens. 
 
 All citizens who can unite on this platform of principles are invited 
 to give it their support. 
 
 On the first ballot Seward had 132y 2 , Lincoln 102, Cameron 50y 2 , 
 Bates 48, Chase 49, scattering 42. Lincoln's friends felt greatly en- 
 couraged. The second ballot, resulted, Seward 184y 2 , Lincoln 181, Bates 
 35, Chase 42i/>, scattering 22. On the third ballot Seward stood 183, 
 Lincoln 23iy 2 ,~Bates 22, Chase 24y 2 , scattering 7. The total number of 
 delegates was 466, a majority of which would be 234. Lincoln lacked 
 only 2y 2 votes of the nomination. The Ohio delegates changed four 
 votes to Lincoln from Chase, and Lincoln was nominated. With him was 
 nominated Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, for vice president. Mr. Lincoln 
 was notified of his nomination immediately, and the greatest problem
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 307 
 
 he had ever faced was now before him that of harmonizing all of the 
 forces which were eventually to bring about his election. 
 
 The National Democratic convention met at Charleston, South Caro- 
 lina, April 23, 1860. It was known long before that day that there 
 would be a wide difference of opinion on the subject of slavery in the 
 convention. Upon the completion of the permanent organization, the 
 committee on resolutions was named. On the 27th, Mr. Avery, of North 
 Carolina, from the majority of the committee on platform reported (in 
 part) as follows: 
 
 Resolved, That the National Democracy of the United States hold 
 these cardinal principles on the subject of slavery in the territories; 
 1st, That congress has no power to abolish slavery in the territories; 
 2d. That the. territorial legislature has no power to abolish slavery in 
 the territory, nor to prohibit the introduction of slaves therein, nor any 
 power to destroy or impair the right of property in slaves by any legis- 
 lation whatever. 
 
 This was a part of the majority report. Mr. Henry B. Payne, of 
 Ohio, presented the minority report which affirmed the platform of 1856, 
 but added: "Resolved, (2) That the Democratic party will abide by the 
 decision of the supreme court of the United States on the question of 
 constitutional law. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Avery, in commenting upon the situation, said : " I say that the 
 results and ultimate consequences to the southern states of this confed- 
 eracy, if the Popular Sovereignty doctrine be adopted as the doctrine 
 of the Democratic party, would be as dangerous and subversive of their 
 rights as the adoption of the principle of congressional intervention or 
 provision." In this Mr. Avery meant to say that the Republican doc- 
 trine would be as acceptable to the south as the Squatter Sovereignty 
 doctrine. 
 
 A vote was taken on the platform as reported by Mr. Avery and the 
 one reported by Mr. Payne, both of which had been somewhat modified. 
 
 Mr. Payne's report was adopted by a vote of 165 to 138. There- 
 upon Alabama gave notice of her intention to withdraw from the con- 
 vention. Other states followed. The seceding members held a meeting 
 and adjourned to Richmond. The Douglas contingent balloted several 
 times for President, but not making a choice adjourned to Baltimore. 
 Here in June. Douglas was nominated for the presidency. 
 
 The canvass was encouraging to Lincoln's friends from the start. 
 The opposition was divided ; the Republicans were enthusiastic from the 
 beginning. The twenty-four states which took part in the Chicago con- 
 vention had 234 electoral votes out of the total of 303. Fremont, in 
 1856, had carried 114 electoral votes and to these the Republicans, in 
 their estimate, added the votes of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, 
 and Illinois, making 169. a wide margin over the needed majority of 152. 
 
 A very dramatic feature of the campaign was the use of many things 
 illustrative of Lincoln's life. Rails, mauls, axes, and log cabins were 
 siams of his boyhood davs. 'Tis true the east was greatly disappointed 
 when Lincoln received the nomination. They said he was without school- 
 ing, was uncultured, and would be a "nullity" if elected. But while 
 all manner of uncomplimentary things were being said about Lincoln, 
 the great men who contended with him for the nomination were logically
 
 308 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 standing by the candidate. Such men as Sumner, Seward, Chase, Clay, 
 Greeley, and many others of that kind of people took the stump for 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The election came off the 6th of November. Out of the total of 303 
 electoral votes, Lincoln received 180. But there were fifteen states that 
 did not give him an electoral vote, and in ten states he did not receive 
 a single popular vote. Lincoln received in Illinois 172,161 votes; 
 Douglas, 160,215; Bell, 4,913; Breckenridge, 2,401. Yates was elected 
 governor over Allen, the Democratic candidate, by some 13,000 votes. 
 
 Both houses of the legislature were Republican. 
 
 The legislature met Monday, January 7, 1861, and organized by elect- 
 ing Shelby M. Cullom speaker of the lower house. This was the first 
 time that the Democrats did not control one or both branches of the leg- 
 islature. Governor Wood, the retiring executive, reported that the state 
 debt had decreased during the four years preceding nearly $3,000,000. 
 On the 14th of January Richard Yates was inaugurated governor for 
 four years. His inaugural address was a vigorous statement of the views 
 of the Republican party relative to the preservation of the union. After 
 the election of Lyman Trumbull, United States senator, and the passage 
 of a few bills, the legislature adjourned. 
 
 A SON OF ILLINOIS 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was born three miles from Hodgensville, in La Rue 
 county, Kentucky, February 12, 1809. His father's name was Thomas 
 and his mother's maiden name was Nancy Hanks. It has often been 
 stated that Lincoln's parents were poor. Perhaps they were; so were 
 many other families in Kentucky. When he was about four years old 
 his parents moved to Knob Creek, sixteen miles away from his birthplace. 
 Here he began his education, but evidently he did not make a business of 
 going to school. Mr. Lincoln says he thinks six months would cover all 
 the time he ever went to school. 
 
 In 1816, Thomas Lincoln moved to a farm one and one-half miles 
 east of Gentryville, Spencer county, Indiana. Abraham was now seven 
 years old. The home is described as a "half-face camp." The furnish- 
 ings were very meager. Wild game was plentiful in the thick woods 
 about them. It has been said that Thomas Lincoln neglected his wife 
 and children while here. Abraham says that these were "pretty pinch- 
 ing times. ' ' Abraham 's mother died in 1818, and then no doubt the Lin- 
 coln home was desolate indeed. 
 
 In 1819, Thomas Lincoln returned to Kentucky and married Sally 
 Bush Johnston, a widow with three children. Mrs. Johnston and Thomas 
 had been lovers in their younger days. The new mother brought quite 
 a few comforts to the forlorn home in Indiana. 
 
 In 1828 Abraham took a flat boat to New Orleans for a Mr. Gentry. 
 The cargo was disposed of to the satisfaction of the owner thereof. He 
 returned to Gentryville to find that the Lincoln family had the western 
 fever. 
 
 In 1830 the Lincoln family moved to Illinois and settled near Deca- 
 tur some ten miles west. Here is where Lincoln made the historic rails. 
 
 The Lincolns fenced ten acres of ground, broke it, and planted it in 
 corn. Lincoln was twenty-one years old February 12, 1830, and this was 
 the last work he helped his father do.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 309 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN
 
 310 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 In the winter of "the deep snow," Lincoln with others engaged to 
 take a flat boat to New Orleans. Lincoln helped to build the boat at 
 Sangamon town (New Salem), and the trip was made to New Orleans in 
 the spring of 1831. It was while in the city of New Orleans that he saw 
 a mulatto girl offered for sale from the auction block in a slave market. 
 The conduct of the auctioneer and the bidders was so revolting that Lin- 
 coln is said to have remarked to his companions, John Hanks and John 
 D. Johnston, ' ' Boys, let 's get away from this. If I ever get a chance to 
 hit that thing (slavery), I will hit it hard." 
 
 On his return he engaged to keep store in New Salem for Denton 
 Offutt. This may have been in the fall of 1831. Here Lincoln spent the 
 next few years of his life. It was indeed a strenuous one. He studied, 
 read, wrestled, and courted. Some attention was given to the study of 
 English grammar. In 1832 he offered himself as a candidate for the 
 legislature. He had hardly announced himself, when in April, 1832, 
 word came to New Salem of the call for troops to go to the Black Hawk 
 war. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln was captain of one of the four companies which 
 constituted the Fourth regiment. When the army was mustered out, May 
 27, 1832, Lincoln re-enlisted as a private in Captain lies' company for 
 twenty days. When his time was up for this enlistment, he re-enlisted in 
 Capt. Jacob M. Early 's company. He moved with the army up Rock 
 river to the Wisconsin line, but later returned to Dixon where he was 
 mustered out. He and a companion walked across country to Ottawa, 
 came to Havana in a canoe, and walked to New Salem. He was defeated 
 in the fall of 1832 for the legislature, but was elected the fall of 1834. 
 
 He served in the legislature from December, 1834, to December, 1842. 
 He represented the Springfield district in congress from December, 1847- 
 1849. In 1855 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States 
 senate. In 1856 he was active in the campaign in which Bissell was a 
 candidate for governor. This brings us to the organization of the Repub- 
 lican party and his career has been briefly sketched and from that time 
 to his election to the presidency. Lincoln remained in Springfield during 
 the canvass of 1860. He received many distinguished visitors during the 
 summer as well as during the winter following the election. Three things 
 especially occupied his mind during the winter of 1860-1. One was get- 
 ting acquainted with the men with whom he must be associated in the 
 work of carrying on the government. Another was the problem of select- 
 ing his cabinet a task of no small proportion. A third was formulating 
 his inaugural address. There was one thing which was a great annoy- 
 ance in these swiftly passing days; it was the spread of the secession 
 movement. His mail was extraordinarily heavy. All sorts of suggestions 
 were pouring in on him and all sorts of inquiries. 
 
 As the time approached for his departure for Washington, he settled 
 up all his private business affairs. One of the most significant incidents 
 of the closing days of his life as a private citizen was his visit to his step- 
 mother, who lived in Coles county near Charleston. He spent a day 
 with her, and accompanied by her, he visited the grave of his father. Mr. 
 Lincoln loved his step-mother very tenderly and it must indeed have been 
 very touching to see this sad parting, for his mother told him she never 
 expected to see him again. She was now seventy-three years old. She 
 died December 10, 1869. 
 
 The ballots of a free people, freely cast, had declared that Abraham
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 311 
 
 Lincoln should serve the whole people in the exalted station of president 
 of the United States. No election had ever been freer from undefined or 
 undefinable issues. There could be no doubt as to where at least three of 
 the candidates stood upon every issue which entered into the campaign. 
 But no sooner was the result definitely known than steps were taken 
 which looked to the ultimate dissolution of the Union. In fact long be- 
 fore the election in November there was a movement in the south favoring 
 secession in the event of Mr. Lincoln's election. 
 
 The rapid growth of the idea of secession, between November 6, 1860, 
 and the 4th of March, 1861, is well known, and it need not here be de- 
 scribed. The seceded states had formed a government, and by the time 
 Lincoln was inaugurated nearly all semblance of national authority in 
 the south had been swept away. 
 
 The winter of 1860-1 in the national capital, witnessed some very 
 strange proceedings. The representatives and senators from the seces- 
 sion states were, day after day, resigning their positions in the federal 
 congress, and they invariably took occasion to deliver very bitter fare- 
 wells before retiring. Patriotic men were doing their best to bring about 
 some sort of a compromise which would restore harmony to the distracted 
 country. All sorts of rumors were afloat, and the public mind was strung 
 to the highest tension. Stephen A. Douglas had no sympathy with seces- 
 sion. He took a very decided stand on behalf of the preservation of the 
 Union. 
 
 Lincoln left Springfield for Washington, February 11, 1861. To a 
 great concourse of friends and neighbors who had gathered about the sta- 
 tion he addressed a very touching farewell. He said: 
 
 ' ' My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feelings 
 of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these 
 people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and 
 have passed from a young man to an old man. Here my children have 
 been born and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when or whether 
 ever I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested 
 upon Washington. Without the assistance of that Divine Being who ever 
 attended him, 1 cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. 
 Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be every- 
 where for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His 
 care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I 
 bid you an affectionate farewell." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln made short speeches in some of the cities through which 
 he passed on his way to Washington. In Philadelphia word was received 
 that an attack would be made upon his life in Baltimore. This caused a 
 change in the programme in the rest of his journey. He reached Wash- 
 ington safely, on the morning of the 4th of March, 1861, and was ready 
 for the inaugural exercises. 
 
 Shortly before noon the retiring President, Mr. Buchanan, called for 
 Mr. Lincoln and escorted him to the senate chamber. From here they 
 passed out upon a large platform erected upon the east side of the capitol 
 where he delivered his inaugural in the presence of senators, representa- 
 tives, judges, foreign ministers, and other public dignitaries. 
 
 When the distinguished party came upon the platform and were 
 seated. Senator Edward Baker arose and introduced Mr. Lincoln, and as 
 he came forward a few steps with his cane in his hand, together with his 
 manuscript and his tall silk hat, he was embarrassed for want of a place
 
 312 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 to put his hat. Just then Senator Douglas saw the embarrassment, step- 
 ped forward and took the president's hat, and stepping back and holding 
 it in his hand, said to a cousin of Mrs. Lincoln, " Ifl can 't be President, 
 I can at least hold his hat. ' ' 
 
 The inaugural speech was a very clear statement of what he saw as 
 his duty as the chief magistrate of the nation. He was especially anxious 
 to have his hearers understand that he had been nominated and elected 
 by people who had full knowledge of the fact that one of his fundamental 
 doctrines was that, "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to inter- 
 fere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists. I believe 
 I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. ' ' He 
 also read from the Chicago platform that, "The right of each state to 
 order and control its own domestic institution according to its own judg- 
 ment exclusively is essential to that balance of power on which the per- 
 
 'if * 
 
 ESTIMATE BY HON. W. P. KELLOGG OF THE GREATNESS OF ABRAHAM 
 
 LINCOLN 
 
 fection and endurance of our political fabric depends." He was also 
 careful to let be known that he regarded ' ' The Union as unbroken ; and 
 to the extent of my ability, I shall take care, as the constitution expressly 
 enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all 
 the states." Just near the close, as he was addressing his "dissatisfied 
 countrymen," he showed them wherein he had the advantage of them. 
 "You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the government, while 
 I have the most solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. ' ' 
 
 On the 12th of April, Gen. G. T. Beauregard, under the direction of 
 the authority of South Carolina, commenced a bombardment of Fort 
 Sumter. This was on Friday. On Sunday morning, General Anderson 
 surrendered, and marched out with the honors of war. Monday morning, 
 the 15th, President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 men. The news of the 
 insult to the flag of the nation and to its brave defenders, flashed over
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 313 
 
 the loyal states with wonderful rapidity, and nowhere was more patriotic 
 enthusiasm aroused than in the Prairie state. 
 
 Within a few days, on April 18, after the fall of Sumter, Stephen A. 
 Douglas called on President Lincoln and assured him of his heartiest sup- 
 port and on the 25th of April he was in Springfield, and here upon invita- 
 tion of the legislature which had met in special session he addressed that 
 body. The speech of April 25 was a vigorous arraignment of secession 
 and a patriotic appeal to all to defend the constitution and the flag. 
 Prom here Douglas went to Chicago, where he spoke in a similar strain 
 in the "wigwam," where Lincoln was nominated. Douglas was taken 
 sick almost immediately after this "wigwam" speech and was confined 
 to his room in the Tremont House, where he died the 3d of June, 1861. 
 It was very unfortunate for the cause of the Union that Douglas died 
 so early in the great struggle. Had he lived he would surely have been 
 a valuable friend of President Lincoln. He had no sympathy with 
 secession.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 WAR HISTORY (1861-1898) 
 
 POLITICS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS PRESIDENTIAL VOTE (1860) IN LOGAN'S 
 DISTRICT STATE CONVENTIONS AND ASSEMBLIES KNIGHTS OP THE 
 GOLDEN CIRCLE "THE AMERICAN BASTILE" SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 IN CAMP AND BATTLE THREE YEARS' SERVICE ONE HUNDRED 
 DAYS' SERVICE THE ALTON BATTALION ONE YEAR SERVICE CAV- 
 ALRY SERVICE SPANISH- AMERICAN WAR THE FOURTH ILLINOIS IN- 
 FANTRY EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 
 
 The election in November 1860 resulted in the choice of Richard 
 Yates, Republican candidate for govenor over James C. Allen. The 
 Democratic candidate, by a vote of 172,196 to 159,253. Of the nine 
 congressmen, those from the first, second, third and fourth districts were 
 Republican while the other five were Democrats. In the seventh district 
 James C. Robinson, Democrat, of Marshall, defeated James T. Cunning- 
 ham, Republican ; Philip B. Fouke, Democrat, of Belleville, defeated 
 Joseph Gillispie, Republican; John A. Logan, Democrat, of Benton, 
 defeated David T. Linegar, Republican. In this ninth district Logan re- 
 ceived 20,863 votes while Linegar received 5,207. There were 165 votes 
 scattering. This would make a total vote on congressman of 26.229 while 
 the total vote for the four candidates for president as shown below was 
 28,172, showing 1,943 voters failed to vote for congressman. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL VOTE (1860) IN LOGAN'S DISTRICT 
 
 The following vote by counties, in Logan's district, November 6, 
 1860, will be of interest: 
 
 Ninth Cong. Dist. Lincoln Douglas Bell Breckinridge 
 
 Alexander 106 684 178 79 
 
 Edwards 580 * 370 16 
 
 Franklin 228 1391 75 5 
 
 Gallatin 221 1020 88 13 
 
 Hamilton 102 1553 99 
 
 Hardin 107 499 62 
 
 Jackson 315 1556 147 29 
 
 Johnson 40 1563 9 
 
 Massac 121 873 84 
 
 Perry 649 1101 138 1 
 
 Pope 127 1202 83 1 
 
 Pulaski 220 550 45 40 
 
 Saline 100 1338 113 15 
 
 314
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 315 
 
 Ninth Cong. Dist. Lincoln Douglas Bell Breckinridge 
 
 Union 157 996 58 819 
 
 Wabash 597 710 22 1 
 
 Wayne 620 1645 48 5 
 
 Williamson 173 1835 166 40 
 
 White . 756 1544 38 5 
 
 5,219 20,430 1,461 1,062 
 
 The votes shown above indicate clearly that Southern Illinois was 
 strongly Democratic in the fall of 1860. John A. Logan who was elected 
 in November, 1860, had served one term in congress. He was deservedly 
 popular throughout all Southern Illinois. He stood by Douglas in and 
 out of congress. In the short session of the congress commencing Decem- 
 ber 1860, Logan was a prominent figure. He heartily supported the Crit- 
 tenden Compromise and every way in his power attempted to prevent 
 secession. In the house on February 5, 1861, Mr. Logan said: "I will 
 go as far as any man in the performance of a constitutional duty, to put 
 down rebellion, to suppress insurrection and to enforce the laws ; . . . 
 Sir, I have always denied, and do yet deny, the right of secession. There 
 is no warrant for it in the constitution. It is wrong, it is unlawful, un- 
 constitutional, and should be called by the right name, Revolution. 
 . . . I would, today, if I had the power, sink my own party, and every 
 other one, with all their platforms, into the vortex of ruin, without heav- 
 ing a sigh or shedding a tear, to save the Union, or even stop the Rebellion 
 where it is. ' ' 
 
 The session ended past midnight of the 3d of March, 1861, with no 
 settlement in sight. Lincoln was inaugurated the next day. Shortly the 
 public men scattered to their homes. The secession movement grew. 
 Fort Sumter was reduced and on April 15th Lincoln called for 75,000 
 troops and asked congress to assemble in special session July 4th. Illi- 
 nois was all military activity. The regiment known afterwards as the 
 Twenty-first was in camp at Springfield and was soon to be mustered 
 in as United States troops, having at first been mustered in as state 
 troops for thirty days. General Grant in his Memoirs says that two con- 
 gressmen, Logan and McClernand came to Springfield about the middle 
 of June and addressed his regiment. Grant says he had heard much of 
 Logan but had not known him personally. "His district had been set- 
 tled originally by people from the southern states, and at the outbreak 
 of secession they sympathized with the south. . . . Some of them 
 joined the southern army ; many were preparing to do so ; others rode 
 over the country at night denouncing the Union, and made it as necessary 
 to guard railroad bridges over which national troops had to pass in 
 Southern Illinois at it was in Kentucky. . . . Logan's popularity 
 was unbounded. I had some doubt as to the effect a speech from Logan 
 might have, but as he was with McClernand whose sentiments on the all 
 absorbing questions of the day were well known I gave my consent. Mc- 
 Clernand spoke first; Logan followed in a speech which he has hardly 
 equaled since, for force and eloquence. It breathed a loyalty and devotion 
 to the union which inspired my men to such a point that they would 
 have volunteered to remain in the army as long as an enemy of the 
 country continued to bear arms against it."
 
 316 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 LOGAN IN CONGRESS AND THE FIELD 
 
 Logan attended the special session of congress, and fought in the 
 battle of Manassas Junction on July 21, 1861. Gen. Anson G. Mc- 
 Cook in describing the battle of Bull Run said two men were in citi- 
 zen's clothes. One was his uncle Daniel McCook, and the other was 
 John A. Logan. Logan had a gun and when not assisting the wounded 
 was firing. He said Logan wore a silk hat. After the battle Logan 
 returned to the capital and telegraphed to John H. White, later lieu- 
 tenant colonel of the Thirty-first regiment, to proceed immediately to 
 raise troops. 
 
 Logan returned from the special session about the 15th of August. 
 His wife drove from Marion to meet him at Carbondale, the nearest 
 
 GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN 
 
 railroad station. On his arrival in Marion great crowds of former 
 friends were gathered. They were angry, desperate. They sympathized 
 with the secessionists. Logan spoke from a wagon and soon converted the 
 mob to friends for the Union. He headed a drum and fife procession and 
 enough men came forward to make Company C of the Twenty-first 
 regiment. From this time forward the tide turned greatly for the Union. 
 However, not all the people of Southern Illinois were enlisted on the side 
 of the Union as we shall show. 
 
 STATE CONVENTIONS AND ASSEMBLIES 
 
 In January, 1861, a Democratic state convention met at Spring- 
 field to give expression to the desire of the people for peace. Zadock 
 Casey of Mt. Vernon presided. Mr. Casey was lieutenant governor in 
 the stormy nullification days and presided over the senate when Jack- 
 son's policy of coercion was heartly endorsed "That disunion by 
 armed force is treason, and should be treated as such by the constituted 
 authorities of the nation." Now Mr. Casey's convention believed:
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 317 
 
 "That the perilous condition of the country had been produced by the 
 agitation of the slavery question, creating discord and enmity be- 
 tween the different sections, which had been aggravated by the election 
 of a sectional President." 
 
 The Republicans carried both branches of the legislature in the elec- 
 tion of 1860. But in the election of 1862 the Democrats carried both 
 branches of the general assembly. From Southern Illinois the sena- 
 tors were William H. Green, Massac county; Hugh Greeg, William- 
 son ; I. Blanchard, Jackson ; J. M. Rogers, Clinton ; W. H. Underwood, 
 St. Clair; S. Moffat, Effingham. The representatives from Southern 
 Illinois were James H. Smith, Union ; T. B. Hicks, Massac ; James B. 
 Turner, Gallatin; James W. Sharp, Wabash; H. M. Williams, Jeffer- 
 son ; J. M. Washburn, Williamson ; Jesse R. Ford, Clinton ; S. W. Miles, 
 Monroe; E. Menard, Randolph; J. W. Merritt, Marion; James M. Heard, 
 Wayne; D. W. Odell, Crawford; J. W. Wescott, Clay; R. H. McCann, 
 Fayette; C. L. Conger, White; J. B. Underwood, St. Clair; J. B. Thomas, 
 St. Clair; S. A. Buckmaster, Madison; William Watkins, Bond; P. 
 Dougherty, Clark. 
 
 The sittings of this general assembly were stormy indeed. The Dem- 
 ocrats presented a set of whereases in which they affirmed that "The 
 allegiance of citizens is due alone to the constitution and laws made in 
 pursuance thereof not to any man, or officer, or administration and 
 whatever support is due to any officer of this government, is due alone 
 by virtue of the constitution and laws." Another resolution read as 
 follows : ' ' Resolved, That we believe the further prosecution of the pres- 
 ent war can not result in the restoration of the Union and the preserva- 
 tion of the constitution, as our fathers made it, unless the President's 
 Emancipation Proclamation be withdrawn." The Republican minor- 
 ity resolved that "it is the duty of all good citizens cordially to sup- 
 port the national and state administrations, and that we hereby offer 
 to the administration of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United 
 States, and Richard Yates, governor of the state of Illinois, our earnest 
 and cordial support in the efforts of their respective administrations to 
 put down the present most infamous rebellion." The two houses quar- 
 reled about the date of adjournment and the governor prorogued the 
 legislature. 
 
 KNIGHTS OP THE GOLDEN CIRCLE 
 
 The Ohio river from a few miles below Pittsburg to Cairo was the 
 dividing line between freedom on the north and west and slavery on 
 the south and east. West Virginia (then a part of "Old Virginia") 
 and Kentucky were slave states and Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were 
 free states. All three of these free states had been settled in an early 
 day largely from slave states. Southern Illinois was almost wholly set- 
 tled, up to the Civil war, from the older slave states. And while some of 
 these people moved out of the slave states to get away from slavery 
 very many sympathized with the southern people. It was not to be ex- 
 pected therefore to find the south half of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 
 enthusiastic for the prosecution of the war. It was easy for the seces- 
 sionists to come out of the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia 
 and find in Southern Illinois enthusiastic sympathizers. 
 
 The first two years of the war were not successfully prosecuted. Be-
 
 318 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 yond the capture of forts Henry and Donelson, and the victory of Pitts- 
 burg Landing, the government had no substantial fruit as the result of 
 the war. This accounts for Illinois going Democratic in the fall of 1862. 
 The issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation alienated from the sup- 
 port of the government many good citizens and influential leaders. Now 
 while these good citizens could not openly oppose the prosecution of the 
 war, they desired in some way to exert an influence looking toward the 
 cessation of hostilities and the restoration of "peace at any price." To 
 meet the need of organized effort there was brought forward semi-mili- 
 tary secret societies that assumed a number of names. The first organ- 
 ization was known as the Circle of Honor. Later the name changed to 
 Knights of the Golden Circle, and still later to the Order of American 
 Knights, and finally to the Order of Sons of Liberty. 
 
 It was the Knights of the Golden Circle mainly which was organ- 
 ized in Southern Illinois, and later the order was known as the Sons 
 of Liberty. Quite a little of the information furnished the government 
 relative to this organization was obtained by Felix G. S.tidger, a United 
 States government secret service agent, who was in 1864 grand secre- 
 tary of the order of Sons of Liberty in the state of Kentucky. Mr. 
 Stidger made a full report to the secret service department of the gov- 
 ernment and it is incorporated in the report of Judge Advocate Gen- 
 eral J. Holt, to the department of war on October 8, 1864. In addition 
 to this government report Mr. Stidger, in 1903, after the passions of 
 the war had subsided, wrote a full and complete history of his connec- 
 tion with the order. The organization was as follows: (1) A supreme 
 council, whose officers were supreme commander, secretary of state, 
 and a treasurer. (2) A grand council, whose officers were a grand 
 commander, deputy grand commander, grand secretary, and grand 
 treasurer. (3) County parent temples: the officers were commander, 
 secretary, and treasurer. There was a military department in connec- 
 tion with the organization. The supreme commander was commander 
 in chief; grand commanders were commanders of the forces of their 
 respective states. There were four major generals for a state, and 
 each congressional district was under a brigadier general. The county 
 was under a colonel, and the forces of a township were under a captain. 
 The writer remembers very distinctly as a school boy. being in the home 
 of a schoolmate when an older brother of the schoolmate arrived from 
 Alton with a one-horse buggy full of revolvers. They were encased in 
 black leather with belt attached. It was a great privilege of the two 
 boys to take the revolvers from the buggy and assist in carrying them 
 into the house. He remembers also that one of the "Knights" was 
 later captured by soldiers and lodged in a prison at Springfield along 
 with five other brothers. Here the "Knight" died and the body was 
 returned to the home for burial. We all went to the funeral and as 
 we trudged along the side of the procession, the "Knights" to the 
 number of thirty or more rode with military order behind the hearse, 
 their revolvers in their black leather cases buckled to their waists. 
 
 It is now half a century since those troublous times, and it is with 
 difficulty that one can get first hand information concerning the or- 
 ganization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle. Personal cor- 
 respondence with responsible people in the several counties has revealed 
 the fact that the order was in a flourishing condition in most of the 
 counties in southern Illinois. We append a few of these replies, omit- 
 ting names.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 319 
 
 Saline county: "The order existed here during the Civil war. 
 Members were not numerous, and while threats of violence were made 
 against strong union men, they lacked the leadership and courage to 
 put their threats into execution. These Knights went to the home of 
 a Mr. Jobe, a discharged soldier, to order him to leave the country. He 
 was sick in bed, but calling for his gun he told them to come into his 
 house at their peril. At this day most of the members of this order 
 are either dead or ashamed they ever belonged to it. In either case one 
 can not get personal information. Judge Duff, who was arrested in 
 Marion in the fall of 1862, was held as a prisoner in Washington for 
 three months. In March, 1863, while holding court in Harrisburg he 
 delivered a great tirade on "Arbitrary Arrest by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment." That was "Black Monday" for loyal union men of Saline 
 county. The Union League was organized in Saline county in several 
 places, and its influence had a salutary effect upon Copperheadism. " 
 
 Cumberland county: "The Knights of the Golden Circle was or- 
 ganized in this county, but it is difficult to get reliable information. ' ' 
 
 Richland county: "Those who sympathized with the south were 
 mustering in different sections of the county, and even made an at- 
 tempt to raid the provost-marshal's office in Olney, to get the draft 
 papers. Colonel 'Kane, who was provost-marshal, wired Governor Dick 
 Yates, and a company of soldiers were sent to protect the office and re- 
 store order generally." 
 
 Crawford county: "While teaching at 'Big Brick' (District No. 
 58), some years ago, I was told that the forty acres on which the school 
 house is located, a beautiful level piece of land, was used as a drill 
 ground by the Knights of the Golden Circle during the war. There 
 were those who watched them from a distance on moonlight nights." 
 
 Monroe county: "Yes, there were Knights of the Golden Circle in 
 this county, but I know nothing about them except they were rebels 
 at heart and secret enemies of the flag. ' ' 
 
 Pope county: "I did not know of any in this county. I knew of 
 Golden Circles in Kentucky. Its purpose was to oppose the Union. 
 Members of this order abused union men who would not join them. 
 Families of unionists who went to war were ill treated by this order." 
 
 Wabash county: "Yes, the Knights of the Golden Circle was or- 
 ganized in this county. There was lots of them. The purpose of them 
 was to preserve the peace in their vicinity, and protect their homes, 
 let the invasion come from any source or place. They did not want to 
 go to the war unless drafted, and then they had secret signs that might 
 save them from death, if they were taken prisoners in the war. It 
 was not of much use here, as we had no trouble in our county. I proba- 
 bly know something about it, for I organized about two hundred of 
 them in our county (he probably means 200 members), and Lawrence 
 county. We never did any harm to anybody, and when the war was 
 over, the organization died a natural death." 
 
 Perry county: "Yes, the Golden Circle was organized in Perry 
 county. Some of the members lived in Tamaroa." 
 
 Richland county: "No. Richland county was loyal to the union. 
 However, just across in Edwards to the south, and in Jasper at the 
 north, they had this order. Its object was to discourage enlistments, 
 aid and abetting the south. The Union League was for exactly the op- 
 posite purpose. There was never a draft on Richland. She was al-
 
 320 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ways ahead on her quota. Company E, Eleventh Missouri Volunteer 
 Infantry was the result of the worked-off surplus from this county. Just 
 across in Edwards county the enlistments were few, as they were de- 
 scendants of southern families, and were in sympathy with their cause. 
 A draft was run on this precinct (in Edwards county) and as the office 
 of Provost-Marshal O'Kane was in Olney and as he held the list of 
 names drawn, it was the plan of the Knights to move upon Olney, 
 seize the list, and burn it, destroying Olney if necessary to accomplish 
 their plans. The Jasper Knights were to march from the north and 
 assist. Perhaps, sometime late in the fall of '64, they astonished the 
 citizens of the county by riding in squads bearing arms, and near Ol- 
 ney they had assembled. The Union Leaguers occupied the town and 
 the unarmed citizens were supplied from the hardware stores as the 
 report had gone out that the city was to be burned. When all was in 
 readiness, the sheriff went out to the Knights and commanded them to 
 disband and to return to their respective homes or he would be com- 
 pelled to scatter them by force of arms. Sentinels and pickets were 
 stationed and no one could enter Olney that night without the pass- 
 word. The Knights began to disperse and long before morning were 
 gone. This is the nearest we came of having trouble during the exist- 
 ence of the Knights of the Golden Circle." 
 
 Effingham county: "There were no Knights of the Golden Circle 
 in this county, but in our neighboring county of Marion a certain prom- 
 inent judge was said to be high priest in that order." 
 
 Williamson county: Perhaps the local history of no county rela- 
 tive to the political situation in 1861-5 has been more carefully pre- 
 served than it has in Williamson county. The facts recorded below 
 are taken from a small history of Williamson county written by Hon. 
 Milo Erwin in 1876 when every fact enumerated could be easily sub- 
 stantiated. Mr. Erwin says John A. Logan sympathized with the 
 south, but early openly declared for the Union. Secession was openly 
 talked up to the firing on Port Sumter. In Marion, just following the 
 firing on Fort Sumter, a dozen or more men congregated in a saloon 
 and while there called a meeting far the purpose of considering an 
 ordinance of secession. The meeting was held in the courthouse April 
 15, 1861, with the avowed purpose of providing for the "public 
 safety." James Manier was president. G. W. Goddard, James M. 
 Washburn, Henry C. Hooper, John M. Cunningham (father-in-law of 
 John A. Logan), and Wm. R. Scurlock constituted a committee who 
 drafted the following resolutions which were adopted : 
 
 "Resolved, That we, the citizens of Williamson county, firmly be- 
 lieving, from the distracted condition of our country the same being 
 brought about by the elevation to power of a strictly sectional party, 
 the coercive policy of which toward the seceded states will drive all 
 the border slave states from the Federal Union, and cause them to gain 
 the Southern Confederacy. 
 
 "Resolved, That, in that event, the interests of the citizens of 
 southern Illinois imperatively demands at their hands a division of the 
 state. We hereby pledge ourselves to use all means in our power to 
 effect the same, and attach ourselves to the Southern Confederacy. 
 
 "Resolved, That, in our opinion, it is the duty of the present ad- 
 ministration to withdraw all the troops of the Federal government 
 that may be stationed in southern forts, and acknowledge the inde-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 321 
 
 pendence of the Southern Confederacy, believing that such a course 
 would be calculated to restore peace and harmony to our distracted 
 country. 
 
 "Resolved, That in view of the fact that it is probable that the 
 present governor of the state of Illinois will call upon citizens of the 
 same to take up arms for the purpose of subjugating the people of the 
 south, we hereby enter our protest against such a course, and, as loyal 
 citizens, will refuse, frown down, and forever oppose the same." 
 
 By the morning of the 16th, General Prentiss at Cairo knew of 
 these treasonable resolutions. J. M. Campbell of Carbondale went to 
 Marion on the 16th and persuaded the people to revoke the resolu- 
 tions. Judge W. J. Allen was instrumental in getting the resolutions 
 repealed. Mr. A. T. Benson carried the action of the repealing conven- 
 tion to General Prentiss. The resolutions were not revoked by the 
 same men who passed them, and so the original convention men held 
 another meeting on the 27th of April, moved to "seize the money in 
 the hands of the sheriff to defray the expenses of arming and equip- 
 ping soldiers for the southern army." The resolution or motion did 
 not carry. 
 
 Shortly after, a considerable army collected in Marion for the pur- 
 pose of dislodging and driving away a company of soldiers stationed 
 at the bridge across Big Muddy just north of Carbondale. The army 
 marched to Carbondale where they were joined by southern sympa- 
 thizers from that locality. They sent a reconnoitering party to the 
 bridge and upon discovering the garrison and their cannon returned 
 and persuaded the crowd that the undertaking was hazardous. While 
 the crowd was still in Carbondale, a train for the Big Muddy bridge 
 came through with a company of soldiers and artillery and the project 
 of attacking the soldiers was abandoned. 
 
 It is said that John A. Logan, Geo. W. Goddard, John H. "White, 
 and John M. Cunningham, all of Marion, entered into a secret agree- 
 ment to stand by the Union. White was county clerk and Goddard was 
 circuit clerk. It was agreed for Logan to go to the special session of 
 congress, and after his return a regiment was to be raised. Logan was 
 to be colonel, White was to be lieutenant colonel, Goddard captain, and 
 Cunningham was to stay home and take care of the two clerkships. 
 This programme was practically carried out. 
 
 In May, 1861, Colonel Brooks and Harvey Hayes raised in Wil- 
 liamson county a company and made their way to Paducah, where they 
 joined the southern army. There were probably fifty or sixty men in 
 the company. 
 
 The Golden Circle was in a prosperous condition in this county in 
 the years 1862 to 1864. 
 
 "THE. AMERICAN BASTILE" 
 
 This is a history of the arrests and imprisonments of citizens of the 
 United States during the Civil war. The book was written by John A. 
 Marshall. In this book there are accounts of one hundred alleged 
 illegal arrests. It should be stated that these accounts refer only to 
 arrests of noted citizens in various parts of the United States. Twelve 
 of these arrests were made in Illinois, and four of the twelve were 
 made in southern Illinois.
 
 322 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 In August, 1862, Dr. Israel Blanchard, who was riding in the 
 streets of Carbondale, was arrested, taken to Big Muddy bridge, and 
 thence to Cairo, where he was turned over to General Prentiss. The 
 charges according to the history were that he had spoken disrespect- 
 fully of Lincoln, had discouraged enlistments, and attempted to raise 
 a company to burn Big Muddy bridge. General Prentiss sent him to 
 Springfield and from there in company with a number of similar of- 
 fenders he was sent to Washington, where he lay in the Old Capitol 
 prison for six weeks. He was eventually set free, and in 1863 was 
 elected to the state senate by the Democratic party by a majority of 
 3,000. 
 
 Judge A. D. Duff, of Franklin county, was arrested by Federal 
 secret service men while holding circuit court in Marion, Williamson 
 county, August 15, 1862. With him were arrested Wm. J. Allen, mem- 
 ber of congress ; John A. Clemenson, state 's attorney, and others. Judge 
 Duff was taken to Washington and confined in the Old Capitol prison. 
 He, too, was later released. 
 
 H. W. Newland, a prominent farmer living near Benton, was ar- 
 rested in August and hurried to Washington in company with eight 
 or ten others. All these persons were required to take the oath of 
 allegiance and promise good behavior. 
 
 Another prominent citizen, Mr. Walter S. Hawks, of Tarnaroa, 
 Perry county, was among the unfortunates. It is generally charged by 
 the friends of these men who were arrested that they were informed 
 on by members of the order called the Union League. 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IN CAMP AND IN BATTLE 
 
 The political campaign of 1860 was a memorable one. Abraham 
 Lincoln was elected president and Richard Yates, governor of Illinois. 
 Governor Yates was inaugurated January 14, 1861. Lincoln was sworn 
 in March 4th. Fort Sumter was fired on April 12th, and on Monday 
 the 15th the president called for 75,000 troops. Mr. Lincoln knew 
 Governor Yates and he felt he could rely upon him in this hour of trial. 
 On the evening of the 15th of April the following telegram was sent 
 from Washington to the governor of Illinois: 
 
 
 
 "Washington, April 15, 1861. His Excellency Richard Yates : Call 
 made on you by tonight's mail for six regiments of militia, for imme- 
 diate service. SIMON CAMERON. ' ' 
 
 This call for six regiments of militia presupposed the existence of 
 an organized militia from which the six regiments might be detached. 
 There were few well organized companies of militia in Illinois at that 
 time. The arsenal at Springfield was empty, with the exception of less 
 than 500 unserviceable guns, pistols, etc. There were some guns in the 
 hands of the militia, but none were modern or in good condition. 
 There were some independent organizations over the state .both of in- 
 fantry and artillery. 
 
 The adjutant general of Illinois issued a call for volunteers, and by 
 April 17th, 10,000 loyal sons had responded, and had offered their serv- 
 ices for the maintenance of the nation's honor. On the 19th the fol- 
 lowing dispatch was received at Springfield:
 
 ----- 
 
 By courtesy of Judge John M. Lansden 
 
 GEN. GRANT AND GEN. MCCLELLAN IN CAIRO IN 1861
 
 324 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 "Washington, April 19, 1861. Governor Yates: As soon as enough 
 of your troops are mustered into the service, send a brigadier general, 
 with lour regiments at or near Grand Cairo. 
 
 " SIMON CAMERON, Secretary of War." 
 
 Governor Yates sent a telegram to General Swift at Chicago to be 
 ready at a moment's notice. The Illinois Central received word that 
 the Big Muddy bridge was threatened, and the railroad company was 
 anxious for its safety. At 11 p. m. on Sunday the 21st, General Swift 
 with 600 men started for Cairo. The next day 400 more troops were 
 dispatched. General Swift left Company A, Capt. J. R. Hayden com- 
 manding, at the Big Muddy bridge. There were a company of the fa- 
 mous Zouave regiment. The rest of the brigade reached Cairo the 
 night of the 22nd. Later another company, Captain Claybourne in 
 charge, was sent to Big Muddy. 
 
 Colonel B. M. Prentiss reached Cairo on the 24th of April. He 
 took command. Shortly boats began moving south with munitions of 
 war from St. Louis. These were all halted and their cargoes confis- 
 cated. As fast as regiments were raised they were hastened forward 
 to Cairo and that city became a veritable military camp. Capt. John 
 Pope, a West Point graduate and son of Nathaniel Pope, was busily 
 engaged in mustering in and forwarding these troops. The colonels of 
 the first six regiments were: 
 
 Seventh regiment, Col. John Cook, Springfield. 
 Eighth regiment, Col. Richard J. Oglesby, Decatur. 
 Ninth regiment, Col. Eleazer A. Paine, Monmouth. 
 Tenth regiment, Col. James D. Morgan, Quincy. 
 Eleventh regiment, Col. W. H. L. Wallace. Ottawa. 
 Twelfth regiment, Col. John McArthur, Chicago. 
 Only one of these colonels was a southern Illinois man Col. John 
 Cook was a son of Daniel P. Cook and grandson of Gov. Ninian Ed- 
 wards. He was brought up in Edwardsville, but had, previous to 
 1855, settled in Springfield. 
 
 General Grant assumed command at Cairo, September 4, 1861, and 
 immediately began to spread his army out over Missouri, Kentucky, 
 and southern Illinois. Troops were stationed up the river between 
 Cairo and Thebes, at Villa Ridge, Mound City, and at Shawneetown. 
 During the summer of 1861 the government was active in preparing a 
 river fleet of gunboats. Mound City, in Pulaski county, became an 
 important ship-building point. Ordinary river steamboats were recon- 
 structed in such a way as to present a very formidable appearance. 
 Capt. James B. Eads was building gunboats at Carondelet, near St. 
 Louis, and he also had in charge the shipyard at Mound City. These 
 gunboats formed Commodore Foote's river fleet. Some of these ves- 
 sels were the Cincinnati, the Essex, the Carondelet, the Tyler, the St. 
 Louis, the Louisville, the Pittsburg, the Connestoga and the Lexing- 
 ton. These were all more or less completely armored. The method of 
 placing the armor differed in different vessels. In addition there were 
 scores of transports, which were ordinary river steamers equipped for 
 carrying men and supplies. This fleet of gunboats, transports, dispatch 
 boats, hospital boats, and other river craft served General Grant ad- 
 mirably in the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and 
 Pittsburg Landing.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 325 
 
 During the entire period of the war Cairo was an important place 
 from a military point of view. Large sums of money were disbursed 
 here and in Mound City. Wm. McHale, recently deceased, for many 
 
 By courtesy of Jud^e John M. Laneden 
 
 RIVER GUNBOATS AT CAIRO IN 1861 
 
 years superintendent of the wharf at Cairo, told the author that he 
 was a ship carpenter at Cairo and at Mound City during the war and 
 that hundreds of men were employed in repairing and remodeling the 
 vessels of the river fleet. He pointed out an old mortar boat anchored
 
 326 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 on the wharf at Cairo, which is the only war time water craft left 
 about Cairo. 
 
 From what has been said in the preceding paragraphs, it will be 
 seen that the northern part of the state was much more responsive to 
 the call of the government for troops than was "Egypt." There was 
 considerable sympathy with southern ideals in this part of the state. 
 Mr. Lincoln's vote in the thirty-five southern counties was very light. 
 The majority of the strong politicians were Douglas Democrats or 
 buchanau Democrats. Neither the President nor the governor looked 
 for much help, in the early days of the war, from Southern Illinois. 
 And so it turned out that many thousands of the early enlistments 
 were from the central and northern parts of the state, while few 
 troops came from the south end. 
 
 The first six regiments were three months' men, and at the expira- 
 tion of their term of enlistment they reenlisted for three years or dur- 
 ing the war. The ninety-day call was considered entirely of a tem- 
 porary nature, so the numbering of the regiments began with the Sev- 
 enth infantry. The enlistments in the Mexican war were numbered up 
 to and including the Sixth regiment. 
 
 We give below the regimental organization for all regiments that 
 were wholly or partly from southern Illinois. 
 
 THREE YEARS' SERVICE 
 
 Ninth Infantry Regiment This regiment did service at Cairo as a 
 ninety-day enlistment, and later entered the three years' service. The 
 officers were as follows : Colonel, Eleazer A. Paine, Mercer county ; 
 lieutenant colonel, Augustus Mersey, Belleville ; major, Jesse J. Phil- 
 lips, Hillsboro ; adjutant, Thos. J. Newsham, Edwardsville. 
 
 From Cairo this regiment was sent to Paducah. Was in campaign 
 against Forts Henry and Donelson, Nashville, Shiloh, Corinth and there- 
 abouts, Decatur, Athens and Huntsville. At the expiration of enlist- 
 ment the veterans and others were consolidated into a new organiza- 
 tion with somewhat different officers from those given above. 
 
 Tenth Infantry Regiment This was the brave James D. Morgan's 
 regiment. It contained three companies that were almost wholly 
 Southern Illinois men. These were Company D, Capt. Samuel T. Ma- 
 son, Alton ; Company I, Morton S. McAtee, Chester ; and Company K, 
 Capt. George C. Lusk, Edwardsville. 
 
 The regiment reported at Cairo April 16, 1861, as a ninety-day en- 
 listment. From Cairo it moved to points south and southeast New 
 Madrid. Corinth, Nashville, Chattanooga and the March-to-the-Sea. 
 Grand Review at Washington. 
 
 Eleventh Infantry Regiment This regiment contained some South- 
 ern Illinois soldiers. Companies C, E, F and G were largely Egyptians, 
 the captains being Geo. C. McKee, Centralia; Loyd D. Waddell. Edge- 
 wood ; Wm. Boren, and Lucius M. Rose, Effingham. The regiment 
 was stationed at Villa Ridge, a few miles north of Cairo. The organi- 
 zation suffered severely in killed, wounded, missing in the Forts Don- 
 elson-Henry campaign. Also lost heavily at Shiloh, Corinth, Holly 
 Springs, Moscow. Mississippi river. General Wallace, General Ram- 
 son, General Atkins were at different times regimental officers.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 327 
 
 , - 
 
 Twelfth Infantry Regiment This regiment contained one Egyp- 
 tian company Company G, Capt. Guy C. Ward, DuQuoin. Nearly 
 all this company came from Perry county. 
 
 Eighteenth Infantry Regiment This regiment was mustered in at 
 Anna June 30, 1861. The officers were : Colonel, Michael K. Lawler, 
 Equality ; lieutenant colonel, Thos. H. Burgess, DuQuoin ; major, 
 Samuel Eaton, ; adjutant, Samuel T. Brush, Carbondale. 
 
 The regiment was mustered into the United States service May 19, 
 1861, and moved as follows: Bird's Point, Mound City, Cape Girar- 
 deau, Columbus, Ky., Forts Henry and Donelson, Pittsburg Landing, 
 Corinth, Jackson, Tenn., Bolivar, Near Vicksburg. Mustered out at 
 Little Rock. Among the men who made enviable records were Col. 
 Lawler, Capt. D. H. Brush, Adjutant Samuel T. Brush. The aggre- 
 gate enlistment was 2,043. 
 
 Twenty-second Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized 
 at Belleville May, 1861. Mustered in at Caseyville, June 25, 1861. 
 Officered as follows: Colonel, Henry Dougherty, Carlyle; lieutenant 
 colonel, Harmon E. Hart, Alton; major, Enadies Probst, Centralia; 
 adjutant, Robert H. Clift, Alton. 
 
 There was a regimental band of nineteen pieces under the leader- 
 ship of William Shaffer. 
 
 The movements were Bird's Point, Belmont, rear of Columbus, 
 Sikeston, Tiptonville, Corinth, Stone River (every horse in the regi- 
 ment was killed in battle of Stone River), Chickamauga, Mission 
 Ridge, Knoxville, Atlanta. Mustered out at Springfield,- 111., July 7, 
 1864. 
 
 Twenty-ninth Infantry Regiment This regiment came from the 
 counties of Gallatin, Massac, Pope, Saline, Hardin, Williamson and 
 neighboring counties. Mustered in at Camp Butler, August 19, 1861, 
 with officers as follows : Colonel, James S. Reardon, Shawneetown ; 
 lieutenant colonel, James E. Dunlap, Jacksonville; major, Mason Bray- 
 man, Springfield; adjutant, Aaron R. Stout, Shawneetown. 
 
 The regiment served under General Oglesby and General McCler- 
 nand, and were the first troops to enter Fort Henry after its evacuation. 
 Was engaged at Shiloh, Corinth, and was surrendered at Holly 
 Springs. Later was at Vicksburg, Mobile, etc. Mustered out Novem- 
 ber 28, 1865. 
 
 Thirtieth Infantry Regiment This was only partly a southern Illi- 
 nois regiment. Its colonel belonged to a noted Southern Illinois family. 
 Colonel Philip B. Fouke, Belleville; lieutenant colonel, Chas. S. Den- 
 nis. Carlyle; major, Thos. McClurken; adjutant, Geo. A. Bacon, Car- 
 lyle. 
 
 The regiment moved from Camp Butler to Cairo, Forts Henry and 
 Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, March to the Sea, Grand Review. 
 Mustered out, July 17, 1865. 
 
 Thirty-first Infantry Regiment This regiment had the distinction 
 of having the greatest volunteer soldier the world has ever seen Col. 
 John A. Logan. Mustered in September 18, 1861. At Cairo. Belmont, 
 Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh. Corinth. Vicksburg. At Vicksburg 
 it was Logan's division, including the Thirty-first that had the distinc- 
 tion of blowing up Fort Hill. It was Logan's troops which marched 
 into Vicksburg on the 4th of July, 1863, and hauled down the Confed-
 
 328 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 erate flag, and ran up the stars and stripes. The Thirty-first followed 
 the fortunes of Sherman through the March to the Sea and on to the 
 Grand Review in Washington. 
 
 The officers were : Colonel, John A. Logan, Marion ; lieutenant col- 
 onel, John H. White, Marion; major, Andrew J. Kuykendall, Vienna; 
 adjutant, Chas. H. Capehart, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Thirty-eighth Infantry Regiment This regiment had three com- 
 panies that were almost wholly southern Illinois men namely : H, cap- 
 tain, Chas. Yelton, Newton; I, captain, Charles Churchill, Albion; K, 
 captain, William C. Harris, Newton. The regimental officers were : Col- 
 onel, Wm. P. Carlin, Carrollton; lieutenant colonel, Mortimer O'Kean, 
 Newton; major, Daniel H. Gilmer, Pittsfield; adjutant, Arthur Lee 
 Bailhache, Springfield. 
 
 Organized at Camp Butler. Thence to Pilot Knob, Corinth, Louis- 
 ville, Stone River, Atlanta campaign, returned to Nashville, Franklin. 
 Thence to Texas. Mustered out in Springfield, December 31, 1865. 
 
 Fortieth Infantry Regiment The Fortieth was enlisted from the 
 counties of Franklin, Hamilton, Wayne, White, Wabash, Marion, Clay 
 and Fayette. Mustered in at Springfield, August 10, 1861, with the fol- 
 lowing officers: Colonel, Stephen G. Hicks, Salem; lieutenant colonel, 
 James H. Boothe, Kinmundy ; major, John B. Smith, Hamilton 
 county ; adjutant, Rigdon S. Barnhill, Fairfield. The movements were 
 from Springfield to Jefferson barracks, Paducah, Bastport, Alabama, 
 Pittsburg Landing (Colonel Hicks was severely wounded in this bat- 
 tle), Corinth, Memphis, Holly Springs, in front of Vicksburg, bat- 
 tles of Jackson, March to the Sea, Grand Review. Mustered out at 
 Springfield, July 24, 1865. 
 
 Forty-third Infantry Regiment This was only in part a Southern 
 Illinois regiment, companies A, B, G and H being from "Egypt." 
 These four companies were from the region of Belleville. Organized at 
 Camp Butler, September, 1861. Officers as follows: Colonel, Julius 
 Raith, 'Fallen; lieutenant colonel, Adolph Engleman, Shiloh, St. Clair 
 county; major, Adolph Dengler, Belleville; adjutant, John Peetz, Rock 
 Island. Camp Butler to St. Louis, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Pitts- 
 burg Landing. Colonel Raith mortally wounded. Corinth, Bolivar, 
 vicinity of Jackson in '62-3. In Arkansas till close of war. Discharged 
 at Camp Butler, December 14, 1865. 
 
 Forty-eighth Infantry Regiment This organization was almost 
 wholly from Southern Illinois. The regiment was mustered at Camp 
 Butler, September, 1861. 
 
 Colonel, Isham N. Haynie. Cairo. 
 
 Lieutenant colonel, Thomas H. Scott, Metropolis. 
 
 Major, William W. Sanford, St. Louis. 
 
 Adjutant, William Prescott, Springfield. 
 
 This regiment took part in the following battles, etc. Forts Henry 
 and Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Black River, Jackson, Knox- 
 ville, Resaca, March to Sea, Grand Review. Marched 3,000 miles, by 
 water 5,000, by rail 3,450. Mustered out August, 1865. 
 
 Forty-ninth Infantry Regiment Organized at Camp Butler, De- 
 cember 31, 1861. 
 
 Colonel, William R. Morrison, Waterloo. 
 
 Lieutenant colonel, Phineas Peace, Centralia. 
 
 Major, William W. Bishop, Mattoon. 
 
 Adjutant, James Morrison.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 329 
 
 The regiment reached Cairo in time to take part in the reduction of 
 Forts Henry and Donelson; thence to Shiloh, Helena, Arkansas, Mem- 
 phis, Red River, and Nashville. Mustered out September 15, 1865. 
 
 Fifty-fourth Infantry Regiment This regiment was altogether from 
 Egypt. The colonel was Thomas W. Harris from Shawneetown. Mus- 
 tered at Camp Dubois, Anna, February 18, 1862. In 1864, while the 
 regiment was stationed at Mattoon the rebel sympathizers in that vi- 
 cinity were very bold, and spirited conflicts occurred. A serious affair 
 occurred in Charleston, Coles county, in which Maj. Shubal York and 
 four privates were killed. The muster out took place at Camp Butler, 
 October 26, 1865. 
 
 Fifty-sixth Infantry Regiment Massac, Pope, Gallatin, Saline, 
 White, Hamilton, Franklin and Wayne furnished the men of this regi- 
 ment. It was organized by Col. Robert Kirkham of Shawneetown, and 
 eventually commanded by Col. Green B. Raum of Harrisburg. The 
 adjutant was Samuel Atwell, Massac county. The regiment was or- 
 ganized at Camp Mather near Shawneetown, February 27, 1862. Did 
 garrison "duty at Paducah, Corinth, Holly Spring, campaigned in Mis- 
 sissippi, Vicksburg, assisted in blowing up Fort Hill, occupying the 
 Crater with heavy loss. With Sherman to Atlanta. Under Howard to 
 the sea. Grand Review. 
 
 Sixtieth Infantry Regiment Colonel, Silas C. Toler, Jonesboro; 
 lieutenant colonel, William B. Anderson, Mt. Vernon; major, Samuel 
 Hess, Vienna; adjutant, Thomas C. Barnes, Anna. 
 
 Took part in sieges and marches around Corinth, Big Springs, Nash- 
 ville, Tuscumbia, Nashville, Murfreesboro, Chattanooga, Knoxville, At- 
 lanta campaign, March to the Sea, Grand Review. 
 
 Sixty-second Infantry Regiment A large per cent of this regiment 
 were Southern Illinois men. Mustered at Camp Dubois, Anna, April 
 10, 1862. Colonel, James M. True, Mattoon; lieutenant colonel, Dan- 
 iel S. Robinson, Bloomington; major, Stephen M. Meeker, Hardinsville ; 
 adjutant, Lewis C. True, Mattoon. 
 
 Reached Cairo June 7, 1862, moved to Columbus, Jackson, Tennes- 
 see, Holly Springs, guarded Mississippi Central railroad, captured by 
 Van Dorn at Holly Springs and records destroyed. Later served in 
 Tennessee and Arkansas. Discharged at Springfield, spring of 1866. 
 
 Sixty-third Infantry Regiment Organized at Camp Dubois, Anna, 
 December, 1861, and received into United States service in April, 1862. 
 Officers were not Egyptians. Seven companies were offered by Southern 
 Illinois men. From Anna to Cairo, Henderson, Kentucky, Jackson, 
 Tennessee, Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, March to the Sea, Grand 
 Review. Mustered out in Springfield, July 16, 1865. 
 
 Seventy-first Infantry Regiment Quite a few Southern Illinois men 
 enlisted in this regiment. It was a ninety-day regiment. Two compa- 
 nies guarded "Big Muddy Bridge." Two companies garrisoned Mound 
 City. The service was largely guard duty, and the regiment was mus- 
 tered out in Springfield in October, 1862. 
 
 Eightieth Infantry Regiment This regiment was organized at Cen- 
 tralia and mustered into the service August 25, 1862. The regimental 
 officers were as follows: Colonel, Thomas G. Allen, Chester; lieutenant 
 colonel, Andrew F. Rogers, Upper Alton ; major, Erastus N. Bates, Cen- 
 tralia; adjutant, James C. Jones. 
 
 Moved to Louisville, Kentucky, was under General Buell, pursued
 
 330 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 General Bragg, battle of Perryville October 8, '62; campaigned in vi- 
 cinity of Louisville and Nashville, surrendered to General Forrest May 
 3, '63, officers sent to Libby prison. After exchanged fought in battles 
 from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Mustered out January 10th, 1865. 
 
 Eighty-first Infantry Regiment This was a Southern Illinois regi- 
 ment. Organized at Anna, August 26, 1862. Mustered out August 5, 
 1865. Officers: Colonel, James J. Dollins, Benton; lieutenant colonel, 
 Franklin Campbell, DuQuoin; major, Andrew W. Rogers, Carbondale; 
 adjutant, Zebedee Hammock, Tamaroa. 
 
 Moved to Cairo, Humbolt, Tennessee, Memphis, Vicksburg cam- 
 paign. Furnished some men who ran the batteries of Vicksburg. Red 
 River and return. Lost in dead, wounded, and prisoners 153 men in 
 Guntown engagement. Mobile in spring of '65. Of 1,144 enlisted men 
 54 killed, 287 died of disease, 274 resigned and discharged, 529 mustered 
 out. 
 
 Eighty-seventh Infantry Regiment Recruited from Wayne, White, 
 Wabash, Edwards and Gallatin, and nearby counties. Organized at 
 Shawneetown October 3, 1862, and mustered out June 24, -1865, in 
 Springfield. Garrison duty at Memphis, here lost and disabled 250 
 men from measles. Battle of Warrenton, Siege of Vicksburg, Red River 
 expedition. Helena, Arkansas, thence to Camp Butler. 
 
 Ninety-seventh Infantry Regiment This regiment contained quite 
 a sprinkle of Southern Illinois men. The colonel was Friend S. Ruth- 
 erford, Alton ; Capt. James G. Buchanan was from Cumberland county, 
 Company G; Capt. John Trible was recruited about Alton. 
 
 Ninety-eighth Infantry Regiment Effingham, Clay, Jasper, Rich- 
 land and nearby counties furnished the soldiers of the Ninety-eighth. 
 Colonel, John J. Funkhauser, Jasper ; lientenant colonel, Edward Kitch- 
 ell, Olney; major, William B. Cooper, Effingham; adjutant, John H. J. 
 Lacey, Effingham. 
 
 Mustered at Centralia, September 3, 1862. Bowling Green, Ken- 
 tucky, Glasgow, Nashville. Raided in Georgia. Returned to Nashville, 
 East Tennessee, Chickamauga and Big Shanty. Campaigned about 
 Nashville and in northern Alabama. 
 
 One Hundred Ninth Infantry Regiment The One Hundred Ninth 
 was almost entirely recruited from Union county, except Company K, 
 which came from Pulaski county. Colonel, Alexander J. Nimms; lieu- 
 tenant colonel, Elijah A. Willard; major, Thomas M. Perrine; adju- 
 tant, James Evans. 
 
 Mustered at Anna, September 11, 1862. Moved to Cairo, Columbus, 
 Bolivar, Moscow, Holly Springs, Lumpkins Mill, Lake Providence. It 
 was armed with inferior guns, and later was consolidated with the 
 Eleventh Infantry. No record of important engagements. There were 
 159 desertions, only one occuring in Company K. 
 
 One Hundred Tenth Infantry Regiment Jefferson, Washington, 
 Wayne, Hamilton, Saline, Franklin, Perry and Williamson furnished 
 the soldiers for this regiment. Mustered at Anna, September 11, 1862. 
 Officers as follows: Colonel, Thomas S. Casey, Mt. Vernon; lieutenant 
 colonel, Monroe C. Crawford, Jonesboro; major, Daniel Mooneyham, 
 Benton; adjutant, Oscar A. Taylor, New York city. 
 
 Louisville, Perryville (not engaged), Central Kentucky, Stone 
 River, Woodbury. Consolidated May '63. Chickamauga, Missionary 
 Ridge, Atlanta, March to Sea, Grand Review. Mustered out June 15, 
 1865.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 331 
 
 One Hundred Eleventh Infantry Regiment This was a real South- 
 ern Illinois regiment. Six companies were enlisted from Marion county, 
 one from Clay, one in Washington, one from Clinton, and one from 
 Wayne and Marion. Organized at Saline, September 18, 1862, at Camp 
 Marshall. Colonel, James S. Martin, Saline; lieutenant colonel, Joseph 
 F. Black, Saline ; major, William H. Mabry, Xenia ; adjutant, William 
 C. Styles, Centralia. 
 
 From Camp Marshall to Cairo, Columbus, Kentucky, Fort Heiman, 
 up the Tennessee, Atlanta campaign, engaged in watching Hood, Grand 
 Review. Engaged in 8 battles, 17 skirmishes. Killed in battle 46, 
 wounded 144, died in prison 11, died in hospital 93, discharged for dis- 
 ability 71. Marched 1,836 miles, by steamer 650, by rail 1,250. 
 
 One Hundred Seventeenth Infantry Regiment Colonel, Risdon M. 
 Moore, Lebanon; lieutenant colonel, Johnathan Merriam, Tazewell 
 county; major, Thomas J. Newsham, Edwardsville ; adjutant, Samuel 
 H. Deneen, Lebanon. 
 
 All the companies except A and B were Southern Illinois boys. Or- 
 ganized at Camp Butler, September, 1862. To Memphis, Red River ex- 
 pedition, eastern Missouri, Nashville, campaigned around the gulf. Mus- 
 tered out August 5, 1865. 
 
 One Hundred Twentieth Infantry Regiment Colonel, George W. 
 McKeaig, Shawneetown; lieutenant colonel, John G. Hardy, Vienna; 
 major, Spencer B. Floyd, Pope county ; adjutant, Buford Wilson, 
 Shawneetown. 
 
 Organized at Camp Butler, mustered October 28, 1862. Moved to 
 Alton, St. Louis, Memphis, garrison duty at Fort Pickering where men 
 had measles, small pox, and pneumonia. Hopesdale, Arkansas, siege 
 of Vicksburg, garrison duty along the Mississippi. Mustered out Sep- 
 tember 10, 1865. 
 
 One Hundred Twenty-eighth Infantry Regiment This regiment 
 mustered into service December 18, 1862, and disbanded April 4, 1863. 
 The officers were : Colonel, Robert M. Hundley, Marion ; lieutenant 
 colonel, James D. Pulley, Marion ; major, James D. McCown, Marion ; 
 adjutant, William A. Lemma, Marion. 
 
 ORDER FROM WAR DEPARTMENT 
 
 "Cairo, Illinois, April 1, 1863. 
 
 "Special order: The One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Regiment of 
 Volunteers, having in its short period of service of less than five months, 
 been reduced from an aggregate of eight hundred and sixty to one 
 hundred and sixty-one principally by desertion and there having 
 been an utter want of discipline in it, the following officers are hereby 
 discharged from the service of the United States, to take effect the 4th 
 inst., etc., etc. 
 
 "By order of the secretary of war. 
 
 "Official: E. D. TOWNSEND, assistant adjutant general. 
 
 "L; THOMAS, adjutant general." 
 
 The officers were nearly if not quite all discharged and the privates 
 were attached to the Ninth Illinois Infantry. 
 
 One Hundred Thirty-first Infantry Regiment This also was an 
 Egyptian regiment. It was organized on the grounds of old Fort Mas-
 
 332 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 sac, near Metropolis in September, 1862. The measles broke out before 
 the regiment left Fort Massac and through death and disability it lost 
 over a hundred men. Moved to Cairo, thence to Memphis, Milliken's 
 Bend, Haine's Bluff, Arkansas Post, returned to Memphis, siege of 
 Vicksburg, Paducah, campaigned in Kentucky, consolidated with the 
 Twenty-ninth. Officers: Colonel, George W. Neely, Metropolis; lieu- 
 tenant colonel, Richard A. Peter, Metropolis; major, Joseph L. Purvis, 
 Metropolis; adjutant, LaFayette Twitchell. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED DAYS' SERVICE 
 
 One Hundred Thirty-sixth Infantry Regiment There were thirteen 
 regiments of Illinois troops organized for the one hundred days' service. 
 They were all enlisted in the spring and summer of 1864. The plan 
 was to have this branch of the service do guard duty, mainly. In this 
 way the seasoned veterans could give their time to the more serious mil- 
 itary operations. The One Hundred Thirty-sixth regiment was officered 
 as follows: Colonel, Frederick A. Johns, Olney; lieutenant colonel, 
 William T. Ingram, Benton; major, Henry A. Organ, Fairfield; adju- 
 tant, Elias J. Bryan, Ashley. 
 
 Mustered at Centralia June 1, 1864. Moved to Columbus, Kentucky, 
 thence to Paducah, Mayfield, Columbus. Reenlisted for fifteen days 
 and mustered out October 22, 1864. 
 
 One Hundred Forty-third Infantry Regiment Dudley C. Smith of 
 Shelbyville was colonel. Companies B, E, I and K were Southern Illinois 
 men. Served from June 16th to September 10, 1864. This regiment did 
 excellent service about Memphis and Helena, Arkansas. 
 
 One Hundred Forty-fourth Infantry Regiment This regiment was 
 recruited from the localities of Shelbyville. Alton, and neighboring lo- 
 calities. Organized at Alton October 21, 1864. Mustered out July 14, 
 1865. No record to be found. 
 
 One Hundred Forty-fifth Infantry Regiment Company A, Capt. 
 Tamerlane Chapman, Vienna, and Company F, Capt. Finis Evans, Ma- 
 kanda, were Egyptian boys. Quite a number of Southern Illinois enlist- 
 ments in other companies. 
 
 THE ALTON BATTALION 
 
 This battalion of two companies was recruited about Alton in June, 
 
 1864. It served till October, 1864. 
 
 ONE YEAR SERVICE 
 
 One Hundred Forty-ninth Infantry Regiment Only partly a 
 Southern Illinois organization. Organized at Camp Butler, February, 
 
 1865, and mustered out January, 1866. Colonel. Wm. C. Kneffner, 
 Collins' Station; lieutenant colonel. Alexander G. Hawes. Belleville; 
 major. Moses M. Warner, Jacksonville; adjutant, Winfield S. Norcross, 
 Carlyle. 
 
 The regiment did garrison duty about Chattanooga and Atlanta. 
 
 One Hundred Fiftieth Infantry Regiment Colonel. Geo. W. 
 Keener, Oldtown; lieutenant colonel, Charles F. Springer. Edwards- 
 ville ; major, Wm. R. Prickett, Edwardsville ; adjutant, Chancey H.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHEKN ILLINOIS 333 
 
 Shelton, Chebanse. Organized February, 1865. Mustered out Jan- 
 uary, l6b. Did garrison duty in the region of Chattanooga, Bridge- 
 port, Cleveland, Dalton and Atlanta. 
 
 CAVALRY SERVICE 
 
 First Cavalry Regiment Companies B, H and I were Egyptians. 
 Company B, captain, James Foster, Equality; Company H, captain, 
 Robt. D. Noleman, Centralia; Company I, captain, Orlando Burrell, 
 Alton. This regiment was mustered in at Alton July 3, 1861. Regi- 
 ment was captured at Lexington, Mo., and after much unpleasant rela- 
 tionship among officers and men the regiment was abandoned and men 
 enlisted elsewhere. 
 
 Second Cavalry Regiment Two companies, D and E, of this regi- 
 ment were southern Illinois troops. Company D, Captain Franklin 
 B. Moore, Upper Alton; Company E, captain, Samuel P. Tipton, Sum- 
 merfield. 
 
 The regiment was mustered August 20, 1861, at Camp Butler. 
 Moved first to DuQuoin, Carbondale, and Fort Massac. Scouted in 
 Missouri after Colonel Jeff Thompson. Took part in all the campaigns 
 up to and including the siege of Vicksburg. Operated on the lower 
 Mississippi. Mustered out January 3, 1866. 
 
 Third Cavalry Regiment Company D, captain, Thomas M. Davis, 
 Bond county, and Company E, captain, John L. Campbell, Saline 
 county, were the only southern Illinois troops in this regiment. From 
 Camp Butler to Jefferson City, Springfield, Pea Ridge, Helena, White 
 River, Grenada, and Haines Bluff. Siege of Vicksburg. 
 
 Fifth Cavalry Regiment Benjamin L. Wiley, of Makanda, Jackson 
 county, was lieutenant colonel of this regiment. Companies A, D, F, 
 H, K and M were Southern Illinois troops. Did valiant service on the 
 Mississippi river south of Memphis. Mustered in November, 1861, and 
 discharged October 27, 1865. 
 
 Sixth Cavalry Regiment This is the regiment that made the famous 
 raid through Mississippi and Louisiana in April, 1863, usually known 
 as Grierson's Raid. It started from La Grange and ended at Baton 
 Rouge. It was a seven teen-days' ride, the distance traveled being 800 
 miles. Company A, captain, Geo. W. Peck, Metropolis; Company B, 
 captain, James B. Morry, Johnson county; Company D, captain, Hosea 
 Vice, McLeansboro; Company E, captain, Isaac Gibson, Olney; Com- 
 pany F, captain, Cressa K. Davis, Harrisburg; company G, captain, 
 John M. Boicourt, Golconda; Company H, captain, John J. Ritchey, 
 McLeansboro; Company I, captain, Reuben Loomis, DuQuoin; Com- 
 pany K, captain, Edward Dawes, Rectorville; Company M, captain, 
 Isaiah M. Sperry, South Pass. 
 
 The colonel was Benjamin H. Grierson. He lived at Jacksonville 
 in 1861, but later resided west of that city. He died recently an hon- 
 ored citizen of a great state. 
 
 Seventh Cavalry Regiment Three companies, F, G, and M, were 
 chiefly Southern Illinois men. Company F, captain, Antrim P. Kockler, 
 Otego ; Company G. captain. Geo. W. Trafton, New Haven ; Company 
 C, captain, John P. Lndwig, Red Bud. 
 
 The regiment was with General Grierson on his famous raid.
 
 334 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Thirteenth Cavalry Regiment This regiment was officered by 
 men from around Chicago. It was consolidated by order of war de- 
 partment in May, 1863. In the new organization there were the fol- 
 lowing companies from Egypt: Company D, captain, Gurnsey W. Da- 
 vis, DeSoto; Company E, captain, David Slinger, Carmi; Company F, 
 captain, Andrew J. Alden, Tamaroa; Company G, captain, George M. 
 Alden, Ashley; Company H, captain, Samuel A. Hoyne, Lovilla; Com- 
 pany I captain Edward Brown, Carbondale ; Company K, captain, 
 Henry W. Smith, Benton; Company L, captain, Geo. W. Sewsberry, 
 Georgetown. 
 
 After the consolidation the regiment did service in the region of 
 Little Rock and southeastern Missouri. Mustered out August 31, 1865. 
 
 Fourteenth Cavalry Regiment This regiment was recruited from 
 different parts of the state. The lieutenant colonel was David P. Jen- 
 kins, Vandalia, and the major was Francis M. Davidson, Anna. Com- 
 pany E, captain, Benj. Crandall, Shawneetown; Company F, captain, 
 Thomas K. Jenkins, Vandalia; Company G, captain, Wm. Perkins, 
 Vienna. 
 
 Did service in vicinity of railroad from Louisville to Nashville. 
 Captured the famous rebel raider, General Morgan. Annihilated 
 Thomas' Legion in North Carolina. In Atlanta campaign. Guarded 
 Hood's movements. Mustered out July, 1865. 
 
 Fifteenth Cavalry Regiment Colonel, Warren Stewart, Alexander 
 county; lieutenant colonel, Geo. A. Bacon, Carlyle; Company B, cap- 
 tain, Egleton Carmichael, Metropolis; Company C, captain, James 
 Dollins, Benton; Company E, captain, Wm. D. Hutchens, Centralia; 
 Company F, captain, Joseph Adams, Benton. 
 
 The regiment moved from Cairo in the spring of '62 and took part 
 in Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth. Scouted in Mississippi, 
 Alabama, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Mustered out August 25, 1864. 
 
 SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 
 
 When the Spanish-American war began in 1898, the President on 
 April 25, called for 125,000 volunteers. Illinois' quota was eight regi- 
 ments seven of infantry and one of cavalry. A second call was issued 
 May 25th, for an additonal 75,000 men. Illinois was to have two addi- 
 tional regiments. This would give the state nine regiments. Eight of 
 these were made up of the militiamen enrolled at that time. The regi- 
 ments were numbered from one to nine. The Eighth regiment was a 
 colored regiment and the Ninth was a "Provisional Regiment." 
 
 The Fourth Illinois Infantry This regiment was made up of enlist- 
 ments from Champaign, Coles, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, 
 Jackson, Jefferson, Montgomery, Richland, and St. Clair. The regi- 
 mental organization was not very stable but at the beginning it was 
 as follows: 
 
 Colonel, Casimir Andel of Belleville. He was tried on charges of 
 violating the 21st, 61st. 62d Articles of War. Found guilty of violat- 
 ing 62d article. He resigned. He was succeeded by Colonel Eben 
 Swift of the regular army. Lieutenant colonel. Stenhen A. D. Mc- 
 Williams of Springfield ; major, Louis E. Bennett of Greenville, was 
 tried on charge of violating the 62d Article of War. Found guilty.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 335 
 
 Adjutant, Harry S. Parker, Effingham; Company A, captain, Joseph 
 P. Barricklow, Arcola; Company B, Win. A. Howell, Newton; Company 
 C, captain, Eugene Barton, Carbondale ; Company D, captain, Ferd J. 
 Schrader, Belleville ; Company E, captain, Chas. E. Rudy, Mattoon ; 
 Company F, captain, Neil P. Pavey, Mt. Vernon; Company G, captain, 
 Claude E. Ryman, Effingham; Company H, William H. Hanker, Paris; 
 Company I, captain, Samuel S. Houston, Vandalia ; Company K, cap- 
 tain, Geo. L. Zink, Litchfield ; Company L, captain, Franz Meunch, 
 Olney; Company M, captain, Wm. R. Courtney, Urbana. 
 
 This regiment was mustered in at Springfield. From there to 
 Jacksonville, Florida. Here the camp was called "Camp Cuba Libre." 
 From here to Camp Onward, near Savannah. The regiment went to 
 Havana, January, 1899, and entered Camp Columbia. In April re- 
 turned to Augusta, Ga. Mustered out in May, 1899. 
 
 EIGHTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY 
 
 This was the colored regiment, Colonel John R. Marshall, of Chicago, 
 was in command. Southern Illinois furnished three companies; one 
 from Mound City, one from Metropolis, and one from Golconda. This 
 regiment rendered valuable service at Santiago. 
 
 NINTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY 
 
 This regiment was enlisted from the counties in the eastern part of 
 Southern Illinois. Colonel James R. Campbell of McLeansboro headed 
 the regiment. The regiment went to Jacksonville, thence to Savannah, 
 and thence to Havana where it remained till May, 1899. This was the 
 provisional regiment that is the troops were not previously members 
 of the militia. 
 
 It has been the aim in the foregoing paragraphs to mention those 
 organizations regimental or company which were largely or wholly 
 from the southern end of the state. It should be borne in mind that 
 hundreds and thousands of men from Southern Illinois were enrolled 
 in organizations credited to other parts of the state and even to other 
 states. As has been previously remarked, the southern counties were 
 sympathetic with the secessionists at first, but as the war progressed 
 their patriotism revived and no other section of the state furnished 
 braver or better soldiers than Egypt.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 THE RETURN OF PEACE 
 
 A REUNITED PEOPLE ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT POLITICAL AND CON- 
 STITUTIONAL CHANGES CONSTITUTION OP 1870 ELECTIONS OF THE 
 SEVENTIES RAILROAD STRIKE OP 1870 THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES 
 THE WORLD'S PAIR FROM ALTGELD TO DENEEN. 
 
 The surrender of Lee in Virginia April 9, 1865, and of Johnston in 
 North Carolina, April 26, 1865, virtually closed the Civil war. In the 
 early part of May the army of Mead and the army of Sherman went 
 into camp near the city of Washington. On the 18th of May, orders 
 were received that a Grand Review would take place on the 23d. On 
 the morning of that day the great army was set in motion and for three 
 days the "boys in blue" marched down Pennsylvania avenue past the 
 reviewing stand in front of the White House. From the capital they 
 returned to their homes to take up the duties of the farm, the shop, 
 the counting house, and the various professions. 
 
 A REUNITED PEOPLE 
 
 Notwithstanding the bitter feeling which existed in Southern Illinois 
 between the loyal union men and those who sympathized with seces- 
 sion, it was soon forgotten and all bent their energies toward building 
 up the waste places. Churches took on renewed life, the congregations 
 grew, preaching was more regular, financial burdens were lightened 
 and in many ways there were signs of real brotherly love. In many in- 
 stances new churches were built, old ones repaired and painted, ceme- 
 teries were cleaned of briars and sprouts, tombstones were straightened, 
 the yard fenced, and the graves of soldiers of the Revolution, War of 
 1812, the Black Hawk war, the Mexican war, and the Civil war marked. 
 The beautiful Decoration Day service became a common possession 
 and each vied with others in deeds of kindness to the war widow and 
 her orphan children. 
 
 ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT 
 
 The close of the war brought economic advancement. While the 
 wages of the soldiers were small and much of their money was spent in 
 the army in a reckless way, yet there were many who saved a portion 
 of their hard earned salary. Again prices of nearly all farm products 
 were high and money was plentiful. Many homes that were neglected 
 while the "boys" or husbands were in the army, were repaired, recov- 
 
 336
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 337 
 
 ered, repainted, and many comforts placed therein. "New ground" 
 was cleared, farms enlarged, barns erected, and farm machinery pur- 
 chased. The cradle was the chief and really the only means of har- 
 vesting the wheat prior to 1860. By 1870 the old fashioned drop 
 reaper was in use. Improved plows, threshers, hay rakes, corn plant- 
 ers, and other improved farm machinery came into general use. 
 
 Roads and bridges received attention, new roads were opened, and 
 railroads brought the markets near to the farmers' door. 
 
 People waked up to the fact that nearly all Southern Illinois is un- 
 derlaid with a fine quality of bituminous coal, mines were opened every- 
 where. In a few places coke ovens were constructed, some of which 
 are yet turning out limited quantities of that useful form of fuel. 
 Rock quarries, and claybeds were operated here and there. Oil and 
 gas were discovered. The wonderful adaptation of Southern Illinois 
 to the growing of all kinds of fruits was discovered. Great apple or- 
 chards were planted in Clay, Wayne, Marion, Richland and other coun- 
 ties, strawberries were raised and marketed; blackberries, raspber- 
 ries, peaches, rhubarb, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and all forms of garden 
 vegetables were grown in great abundance and found a ready market 
 in Chicago and St. Louis. To meet the demand of the shippers, rail- 
 roads were built through most of the counties. 
 
 Not least of the activities of the new generation was the marketing 
 of enormous quantities of all grades of lumber and timber from this 
 end of the state. Saw-mills were located in nearly every neighborhood, 
 and especially did the cities along the Ohio, particularly Metropolis, 
 Mound City, and Cairo foster great lumber and timber interests. 
 
 In the later years of the war as well as for a decade or so following 
 the war, the negroes were migrating to Southern Illinois. They set- 
 tled chiefly along the Ohio. The counties of Alexander, Pulaski, Massac 
 and Gallatin contained a great many negroes. It should be remem- 
 bered that the old system of indenturing servants had brought in a 
 large number of negroes, many of whom never did return to the old 
 home in the south. 
 
 Schools improved wonderfully in the years following the Civil war. 
 Many of the teachers were young men who had had experience in war, 
 and this was of great interest to the students and often a source of real 
 profit to the young people. Better school houses were built. There 
 were scores of school houses during the war which were made of logs 
 and contained only home made furniture. Frame buildings replaced 
 these old log houses and ' ' boughten ' ' furniture was substituted for that 
 made at home by the school patron. 
 
 This awakening reached all the various phases of the people's life, 
 and served greatly to divert the people's minds from the late "unpleas- 
 antness. ' ' 
 
 POLITICAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES 
 
 There remains to be recited the changes in political matters which, 
 if anything, were more marked than any of the foregoing phases. 
 
 By the apportionment of 1850, Illinois was entitled to nine con- 
 gressmen. By that of 1860, the state had fourteen representatives. In 
 1861 there were five Democrats and four Republicans in congress from
 
 338 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Illinois. In 1865 there were ten Republicans and four Democrats in 
 the delegation in congress. In 1870 the census and the apportionment 
 gave the state nineteen congressmen. Fourteen of these nineteen were 
 Republicans, five were Democrats. In 1883 we had twenty congress- 
 men, twelve Republicans, eight Democrats. In 1893 twenty-two con- 
 gressmen, eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans. In 1903, twenty- 
 five congressmen, eight Democrats and seventeen Republicans. In the 
 Fifty-ninth congress the Hon. Henry T. Rainey, from the Twentieth 
 district, was the only Democrat in the delegation. In the present 'con- 
 gress (March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1913), there are 161 Republicans and 
 228 Democrats. 
 
 In the election of 1868 Gen. John M. Palmer, who was essentially a 
 Southern Illinois man. was elected governor. He had been allied with 
 
 NEW STATE HOUSE, SPRINGFIELD 
 
 the Republican party since the beginning of the Civil war. In 1867 
 a move was set on foot to remodel the state constitution. This matured 
 and the convention met in Springfield December 13, 1869. Among the 
 delegates, those from Southern Illinois were: James C. Allen, Craw- 
 ford county; William B. Anderson, Jefferson; Henry W. Billings, 
 Madison; Wm. G. Bowman, Gallatin; George W. Brown, Massac; Silas 
 L. Bryan, Marion; Harvey P. Buxton, Clinton; James Forman, Fay- 
 ette; Chas. E. McDowell, White; Peleg S. Perley, Marshall; James P. 
 Robinson, Richland; John Scholfield, Clark; James M. Sharp, White; 
 Wm. A. Snyder, St. Clair; Chas. F. Springer, Madison; Wm. H. Un-- 
 derwood, St. Clair; George W. Wall, Perry; James H. Washburn, Wil- 
 liamson; John H. Wilson, Monroe; and William J. Allen, Alexander; 
 John Q. Harmon, of Alexander county, was secretary. 
 
 Moses' "History of Illinois" speaks of William J. Allen, of Alex- 
 ander county, and J. C. Allen, of Crawford county, as being the lead- 
 ers in the convention. They were ably supported by Judge Silas L. 
 Bryan, of Salem, Marion county, father of Wm. J. Bryan, now of inter-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 339 
 
 national fame. Among others worthy of special mention were John 
 Scholfield of Clark county, \Vm. H. Snyder and Wm. H. Underwood 
 of St. Clair county. 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF 1870 
 
 The constitution of 1870 contains a bill of rights of twenty sections, 
 provides for minority representation, and requires the legislature to pro- 
 vide "a thorough and efficient system of free schools, whereby all chil- 
 dren of this state may receive a good common school education." All 
 corporate bodies, as cities, towns, school districts, etc., are prohibited 
 from paying money from the public treasury in aid of any church or 
 sectarian purpose, or to any school controlled by any church. The docu- 
 ment was adopted by the convention May 13, 1870 ; ratified by the peo- 
 ple at a special election July 2, 1870, and went into force August 8, 1870. 
 
 The constitution recognizes God as the Giver of all good gifts. The 
 preamble reads as follows: "We, the people of the state of Illinois, 
 grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political, and religious liberty 
 which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for 
 blessings upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unim- 
 paired to succeeding generations in order to form a more perfect 
 government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for 
 the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the bless- 
 ings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish 
 this constitution for the state of Illinois." 
 
 One important provision in the constitution of 1870. is that which 
 provides for minority representation. The constitution created fifty- 
 one senatorial districts in the state. From each senatorial district there 
 came one state senator and three representatives. The plan by which 
 we may have minority representation is to give each elector three votes 
 for representative, and only one for senator. The voter may cast his 
 three votes for any one of the several candidates running for the lower 
 house. Or he may vote one and one-half votes for any two candidates. 
 Or he may cast one vote for each of three candidates. Or he may cast 
 two votes for one candidate and one vote for a second candidate. 
 
 This is so called because the plan allows the voter to accumulate his 
 votes upon any one candidate. If there are sixteen thousand voters in 
 a district, six thousand Democrats and ten thousand Republicans, the 
 Republicans will nominate two candidates for the lower house. Each 
 voter casts one and one-half votes for each candidate. This gives each 
 fifteen thousand votes by this accumulative plan. The Democrats nom- 
 inate one candidate and each voter casts three votes for this candidate, 
 thus giving him eighteen thousand votes. 
 
 Before either party can elect all three representatives in any district 
 that party must have one voter more than three-fourths of all the voters. 
 
 An unnumbered section of the constitution of 1870, is as follows: 
 "No contract, obligation or liability whatever, of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad Company, to pay any money into the state treasury, nor any 
 lien of the state upon, or right to tax property of said company in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of the charter of said company, approved 
 February 10, in the year of our Lord 1851, shall ever be released, sus- 
 pended, modified, altered, remitted, or in any manner diminished or 
 impaired by legislative or other authority ; and all moneys derived from
 
 340 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 said company after the payment of the state debt, shall be appropriated 
 and set apart ior the payment of the ordinary expenses of the state 
 government, and for no other purpose whatever." This clause is full 
 of significance now in view of the claims of the state administration rel- 
 ative to the back taxes due the state from the Illinois Central Railroad 
 Company. 
 
 The constitution prohibits municipalities from subscribing for any 
 stock in any railroad or private corporation; limits the rate of taxa- 
 tion and amount of indebtedness that may be incurred ; prohibits spe- 
 cial legislation; declares elevators and ware-houses public utilities and 
 provides for their inspection; enjoins upon the legislature the main- 
 tainance of an efficient public school system; prohibits any appropria- 
 tion of money for any sectarian purposes whatever; appellate courts 
 are authorized; and salaries of state officers are fixed by legislative ac- 
 tion. 
 
 The campaign in the summer and fall of 1870, was spirited. Logan 
 was returned to congress as a representative-at-large, while the Repub- 
 licans elected the treasurer and superintendent of public instruction. 
 The delegation in congress stood : Republicans, 9 ; Democrats, 5. In the 
 legislative session of 1871, John A. Logan was elected United States 
 Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of Senator Yates' 
 term. Gen. John L. Beveridge was chosen to fill out Logan 's term as 
 congressman-at-large. 
 
 ELECTIONS OF THE SEVENTIES 
 
 In the state and national elections of 1872 there was a very large 
 falling off in the Republican vote. In Illinois the Liberal Republican 
 and the Democratic party fused and named Gustavus Koerner of Belle- 
 ville for governor. The Republicans nominated Gen. Richard J. Oglesby 
 for governor. The Republican tickets were successful. Governor 
 Oglesby was elected to the United States senate and Lieut. Gov. John 
 L. Beveridge finished out the governor's term. 
 
 In 1874 Thomas S. Ridgeway, of Shawneetown, was elected state 
 treasurer on the Republican ticket. The campaign of 1876 was a nota- 
 ble one. Shelby M. Cullom was the Republican candidate for gover- 
 nor, while the Democratic leader was Lewis Steward, who was also the 
 nominee for governor of the Independent Greenback-Reformers. Cul- 
 lom was elected by the small margin of seven thousand. 
 
 RAILROAD STRIKE OP 1877 
 
 The great railroad strike of July, 1877, brought vexing problems to 
 the new governor. Capital and labor were at swords' points, men were 
 restless everywhere, and acts of violence were reported from many 
 quarters. The situation became serious at many points, and troops 
 were ordered out. At East St. Louis cars of grain, flour, live stock, and 
 merchandise were congested in the railroad yards and the railroads 
 were powerless to move their trains. "The Second and Third brigades 
 had been ordered to East St. Louis, where the mob, estimated at 10,000, 
 was terrorizing the citizens and setting the civil authorities at defiance. 
 . . . So wise and judicious had been the arrangements that by July 
 31, the trouble was at an end."
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 341 
 
 The campaign of 1880 was not a vigorous one. The Democrats 
 named Trumbull for governor and the Republicans nominated Cuiiom. 
 Prominent Southern Illinois Republicans who took part in the campaign 
 were: Gen. Green B. Raum, Thos. S. Ridgeway, Gen. John A. Logan, 
 Gen. C. W. Pavey, Thos. B. Needles, James McCartney. Among the 
 Democrats from Southern Illinois were : Samuel S. Marshall, Wm. A. J. 
 Sparks, Wm. R. Morrison, John R. Thomas, R. W. Townshend. 
 
 THE EIGHTIES AND NINETIES 
 
 In 1882 Hon. Henry Raab, Democrat, of Belleville, was elected 
 state superintendent of public instruction, over Hon. Chas. T. Stratton, 
 of Mt. Vernon. Among the prominent ''Egyptians" who were coming 
 into the public eye were: David B. Gillham, Madison county; Henry 
 Seiter, St. Clair, Wm. S. Morris, Pope, and Daniel Hogan, Pulaski ; 
 David T. Linegar, Alexander; Milo Erwin, Williamson; Seth Crews 
 and G. F. Varnell of Jefferson ; J. B. Messic, St. Clair, and R. W. Mc- 
 Cartney, Massac. 
 
 Gen. Richard Oglesby was elected governor in 1884 over Carter H. 
 Harrison. In 1886 John R. Tanner of Clay county was elected state 
 treasurer. Serious labor troubles occurred in different parts of the 
 state in the summer of 1886. At East St. Louis the railroad employes 
 struck and the militia was needed to restore order. Four men were 
 killed and several wounded before the end of the matter. The gover- 
 nor was severely criticized for not taking hold of the matter sooner, 
 but he defended himself on the ground that St. Clair had enough good 
 citizens to suppress the disorders and the burden was upon the sheriff 
 for not calling the posse-comitatus. 
 
 Governor Joseph W. Fifer served from January, 1889, to January, 
 1893. Gen. C. W. Pavey of Mt. Vernon was state auditor for the same 
 period. New men from Southern Illinois in the political field were: 
 James R. Campbell, Hamilton county ; Joseph W. Rickert, Monroe ; Da- 
 vid W. Karraker, Union; James M. Fowler, Marion, and Robt. B. 
 Stinson, Union. 
 
 John P. Altgeld of Chicago was elected governor over Governor 
 Fifer in 1892. During Governor Altgeld 's term there was much ad- 
 vance in various lines. He was a great friend of education and two 
 normal schools, one at DeKalb and one at Chesterton were established. 
 The lieutenant governor under Mr. Altgeld was Joseph B. Gill of 
 Jackson county. 
 
 THE WORLD'S FAIR 
 
 The Chicago Inter-State Exposition, an organization of the city of 
 Chicago, first suggested the holding of a World's fair, in Chicago to 
 celebrate the discovery of America. The enterprise met with favor 
 throughout the country. Senator Cullom succeeded in getting a bill 
 through congress locating the fair in Chicago, and also an appropria- 
 tion of a large sum for an exhibit. A corporation was formed in Chi- 
 cago with a capital of $10.000.000. 
 
 It was soon seen that the fair could not be successfully held in 1892, 
 and the date was changed to 1893. This was a great exposition. Nearly
 
 342 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 every civilized country on the globe sent commissioners and exhibits. 
 Illinois had a most magnificent exhibit in a spacious building of won- 
 derfully beautiful architectural design. Nearly a million dollars was 
 expended by the state in the building and exhibits. 
 
 The fair was a great means of advertising the state and particularly 
 the city of Chicago. The White City by the lake will remain a vision 
 of beauty and a joy forever in the minds of all who beheld its classic 
 proportions. In the session of the legislature which convened in 1891, 
 there was a number of laws passed which were really meritorious. 
 Among them may be mentioned the setting aside of the first Monday 
 in September as Labor Day, a legal holiday ; reducing the rate of inter- 
 
 VIEW OF KASKASKIA PROM FORT GAGE TAKEN ABOUT 1892 
 DISSOLUTION OF OLD KASKASKIA 
 
 est to five per cent with seven per cent as the maximum by contract; 
 providing for registration of voters every two years. 
 
 For several years prior to 1891, the Mississippi river had been cut- 
 ting across the peninsula and finally reached the Kaskaskia. It then 
 began to encroach upon the town. The north and east parts of the 
 village began to disappear in the river. The cemetery would soon be 
 engulfed. The legislature of the year 1891 appropriated $10,000 for 
 the purpose of securing a new burying ground and for moving the bod- 
 ies to the new site. 
 
 About three thousand bodies were removed in 1892-3, the new site 
 lying near to old Fort Gage on the east side of the river. A large 
 monument was erected in the new cemetery bearing this inscription : 
 "Those who sleep here were first buried at Kaskaskia, and afterwards 
 removed to this cemetery. They were the early pioneers of the great 
 Mississippi valley. They planted free institutions in a wilderness, and 
 were the founders of a great commonwealth. In memory of their sacri- 
 fices, Illinois gratefully erects this monument. 1892."
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 343 
 
 Little is now left of the once proud center of fashion and power. 
 As one walks in and out among a few old cabins still remaining, and 
 through a portion of the old grave yard, he is carried back over a pe- 
 riod of one hundred and fifty years to the thriving, bustling capital of 
 the "Illinois Country," to Kaskaskia, the largest city west of the Alle- 
 ghany mountains. 
 
 PROM ALTGELD TO DENEEN 
 
 Governor Altgeld was succeeded by John R. Tanner. Mr, Tanner 
 was a real Egyptian. His home was Louisville, Clay county. He had 
 been actively engaged in politics for several years prior to his election 
 
 MONUMENT ERECTED BY THE STATE IN HONOR OF THE EARLY PIONEERS 
 OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 
 
 to the position of chief executive. He had been sheriff and circuit clerk 
 of Clay county; state senator, and state treasurer; United States mar- 
 shal, and railroad and ware-house commissioner; and assistant United 
 States sub-treasurer at Chicago. And now in 1896 he is elected gov- 
 ernor over his predecessor, John P. Altgeld. 
 
 Richard Yates, son of the old "war governor," was elected gover- 
 nor in 1900. In Governor Yates' term occurred the World's Exposi- 
 tion at St. Louis in 1904. This exposition was to celebrate the purchase 
 of the Louisiana territory from Prance in 1803. Southern Illinois 
 made exhibits along many lines. Probably the most striking exhibit 
 was the display of the coals of Southern Illinois. 
 
 The campaign of the 1904 resulted in the election of Charles S. De- 
 ncen, of Chicago, governor. He is a product of Southern Illinois, his 
 father having been a teacher in McKendree college for many years. He 
 snoceeded himself in 1908, and a candidate for a third term.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 JOURNALISM 
 
 FIKST ILLINOIS NEWSPAPERS SLAVERY QUESTION STIMULATES JOURNAL- 
 ISM UNCERTAINTIES OP PIONEER JOURNALISM ABLE OLD-TIME EDIT- 
 ORS LATER STIMULATING ISSUES PAPERS FORCED TO SUSPEND 
 FOUNDED PRIOR TO 1880. 
 
 The history of journalism in Illinois is the record of the growth 
 of a territory of 15,000 souls and one newspaper, to a commonwealth 
 of more than six million people and publications numbering more than 
 one thousand. Probably no other state west of the Alleghanies can 
 boast of a more successful career in all the phases of journalistic en- 
 deavor than can Illinois. When we remember the character of the early 
 presses and other parts of a newspaper equipment, the absence of large 
 centers of population in the territory west of the Alleghanies, the meager 
 means of communication, and the lack of real newsy news, it is a matter 
 of some surprise when we are told that with the first decade after the 
 adoption of the constitution for Illinois there were as many as five 
 newspapers flourishing in Southern Illinois. 
 
 The first newspaper established in Illinois was the Illinois Herald, 
 and the place of publication was Kaskaskia. The earliest issue pre- 
 served is No. 30, Volume 1, December, 1814, "by Mathew Duncan, printer 
 to the territory and publisher of The Laws of the Nation." 
 
 FIRST ILLINOIS NEWSPAPERS 
 
 By this it would appear that the Herald was an official organ. It 
 is understood that newspapers had been previously published in both 
 Vincennes and St. Louis. The Herald was a four column paper given 
 over to publishing the laws chiefly. The second paper established was 
 the Illinois Emigrant. It was published in Shawneetown, and was con- 
 trolled by Henry Eddy and Singleton H. Kimmel. The date is fixed as 
 early as December 1818, probably in September 1818. The Emigrant 
 was also a four column sheet and contained recent news which came 
 from Pittsburgh by boat. In 1819 the name was changed to Illinois 
 Gazette. It eventually came into the hands of James Hall who was a 
 man of rare literary accomplishments. 
 
 The third paper was the Spectator, published in Edwardsville. It 
 was established by Hooper Warren who was assisted by George 
 Churchill. The Spectator was strongly anti-slavery. The first number 
 was issued some time in 1819. 
 
 The fourth paper was The Star of the West. It too was published in 
 
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 346 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Edwardsville as early as 1822. Its editor was one Mr. Miller assisted 
 by a Mr. Stine. The paper was Democratic. Its name was changed to 
 the Illinois Republican in 1823. 
 
 The fifth paper was the Republican Advocate established in Kas- 
 kaskia as early as 1823. It was a pro-slavery paper and was edited by R. 
 K. Fleming, probably assisted by Elias Kent Kane. 
 
 SLAVERY QUESTION STIMULATES JOURNALISM 
 
 Prior to the action of the Legislature in 1823 calling for a vote upon 
 the question of a state convention, the newspapers seemed to have but 
 little life in them. The news which came from the Atlantic sea-board 
 was several days and even weeks old before it reached the Illinois 
 region. There was little to be said of the every day life of the people, 
 for that life was so simple and uneventful that there was little to be 
 recorded. But with the passage of the bill which brought the slavery 
 question before the people each paper became a sort of forum for public 
 discussion. The Spectator published at Edwardsville was very strong 
 against the convention. It was a pronounced anti-slavery publication. 
 It was the only paper which was opposed to slavery on principle, and 
 up to the early part of 1824 stood alone against making Illinois a slave 
 state. The Gazette of Shawneetown was on the fence as to the conven- 
 tion, but received contributions from both sides. It is certain that 
 Morris Birkbeck and George Flower of Albion would have started an 
 anti-convention paper, had not the columns of the Shawneetown Gazette 
 been open to their contributions. Putting together all the information 
 available it is certain the management of the paper favored the conven- 
 tion till the early part of May, 1824, when a change in ownership brought 
 a change in attitude toward the convention and during the summer of 
 1824 the Gazette was anti-convention. The Illinois Intelligencer of Van- 
 dalia was owned by William Berry and William H. Brown. The latter 
 was anti-convention while the former favored slavery. Berry was 
 bought out by Governor Coles and the paper became a hard fighter 
 against slavery. The Star of the West founded in Edwardsville in 1822 
 was changed to the Illinois Republican in 1823. It was pro-slavery, and 
 attempted to counteract the influence of the Spectator. It was controlled 
 by Judge Theophilus W. Smith and Emanuel J. West. The Republican 
 Advocate of Kaskaskia was pro-convention. It was controlled by R. K. 
 Fleming and Elias Kent Kane. It thus appears that there were three 
 papers against slavery and two for slavery. 
 
 UNCERTAINTIES OF PIONEER JOURNALISM 
 
 One serious drawback in this early period to the newspaper busi- 
 ness was the uncertainty of receiving ink, paper and other supplies from 
 the east. One paper was suspended for three weeks because of the 
 failure of ink and paper from Cincinnati. It has been pointed out that 
 the newspapers of those days dealt largely with political matters and 
 neglected personal and local affairs, and that for two years from 1822 to 
 1824, the character was controversial and often bitter. One thing that 
 has been noticed is that the real owners of those early newspapers were 
 usually silent partners. Among the prominent men of the day who 
 were more or less financially and morally interested in the newspapers
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 347 
 
 were Sidney Breese, John McLean, Hooper Warren, Gov. John Rey- 
 nolds, Daniel P. Cook, James Hall, Elias Kent Kane, Ninian Edwards, 
 and Henry Eddy. In addition to these men there was a large number 
 of contributors among whom we may mention Morris Birkbeck, George 
 Flower, John Russell, Rev. John M. Peck, Judge James Hall and a 
 host of others. 
 
 The War of 1812, the admission of Illinois into the union, and the 
 slavery struggle made an abundance of political capital for the earliest 
 newspapers. In 1825 the papers could turn their attention to such sub- 
 jects as immigration, new towns, new counties, public roads, navigation, 
 establishment of schools, and internal improvements. 
 
 ABLE OLD-TIME EDITORS 
 
 It must not be thought that there was no literary ability among the 
 pioneers of 1820 to 1840. On the contrary there were several men of 
 wonderful native ability in the domain of real literature. James Hall 
 a man of unusual literary skill began the publication of the first maga-. 
 zine in Illinois. It was called the Illinois Monthly Magazine. The pub- 
 lication was begun in 1830. It was published one year at Vandalia and 
 then removed to Cincinnati. Here the magazine was continued under 
 the name of the Western Monthly Magazine. Among those who con- 
 tributed to Mr. Hall's magazine were Morris Birkbeck, Rev. John M. 
 Peck, Governor Edward Coles, Dr. Asa Fitch, George Russell and Sal- 
 mon P. Chase. In 1854 Mr. Hall brought out the Legends of the West, 
 a collection of a dozen tales descriptive of the life of the west. The 
 longest one was Harpe's Head. Others were The Backwoodsman, The 
 Seventh Son, The Indian Wife's Lament, The Emigrants, etc. The 
 book was published in New York and had a generous patronage. 
 
 As has been intimated the people were free after the convention fight 
 was over to turn their attention to other and more profitable subjects. 
 The state grew rapidly after 1824. The Sangamon country was opened 
 up, the Military Tract was settled, Chicago was large enough to be char- 
 tered in 1832, and villages and towns were spreading northward toward 
 the future capital of the state.. 
 
 The Western Emporium, a newspaper published in Centerville, In- 
 diana, estimated that in the fall of 1825 within fifteen days as many as 
 one hundred and twenty wagons passed through that town destined for 
 the prairies of Illinois. Transportation facilities improved ; steam boats 
 were plying the Illinois river by 1828, the legislature had authorized the 
 opening up of roads connecting various important towns and rivers in 
 the central part of the state. The Black Hawk war checked immigra- 
 tion somewhat, but by 1834 the normal condition was restored. The 
 Internal Improvement schemes of 1836-7 greatly stimulated immigra- 
 tion into the central part of the state. 
 
 Springfield in the center of Sangamon county was settled in 1819. 
 In 1821 it was selected as the county seat of Sangamon county. In 1837 
 it contained eight hundred people. Jacksonville was as big as 
 Springfield in 1837 and the Military Tract contained thirteen thousand 
 people. Peoria county contained twelve hundred people in 1825. 
 
 It was natural to expect that the printing press and the newspaper 
 would follow this northward movement of population. The Miner's 
 Journal was established in Galena in 1826. Its editors were James
 
 348 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Jones, and Thomas Ford, later governor of the state. The Miner's Jour- 
 nal took an active part in politics though claiming to be non-partisan. 
 
 The Sangannan Spectator was begun in Springfield in 1827, the edi- 
 tor being Hooper Warren. Jacksonville launched the Western Observer 
 in 1830. It was published by James G. Edwards and was "Devoted to 
 politics, education and religion." The Alton Spectator appeared in 
 1832. For a while it was published in Upper Alton but in the fall of 
 1832 it was moved to what we call Alton. The first paper in Chicago 
 was the Democrat. It appeared in November 1833 and was edited by 
 John Calhoun, and later by John Wentworth. 
 
 Prior to 1840 as many as nineteen newspapers were established be- 
 tween Alton and Chicago by way of the Illinois river and the Canal. 
 The census report of 1840 shows that there were forty -five printing offices 
 in the state. At that time there were three daily newspapers, thirty -eight 
 weekly papers, nine periodicals, and one hundred and seventy-five men 
 employed in the forty-five printing establishments, with seventy-one 
 thousand dollars invested in this business. 
 
 The Rev. John M. Peck began the publication of the Pioneer of the 
 Valley of the Mississippi at Rock Springs, near the present town of Leb- 
 anon, St. Clair county, April 25, 1825. It was a Baptist journal and was 
 largely supported by gifts of eastern people of that religious faith. It 
 was moved to Alton in 1836, and in 1839 was merged with the Baptist 
 Banner published at Louisville, Ky. 
 
 LATER STIMULATING ISSUES 
 
 The Illinois State Temperance Society began the publication in Al- 
 ton in 1836 of the Illinois Temperance Herald, a monthly journal which 
 waged a bitter fight against intemperance. In 1840 occurred the great 
 "Harrison and Tyler" compaign, and this opened up a newspaper war 
 that was as bitter as the one over the slavery question of 1824. Many 
 new papers were started to champion the cause of some one or more of 
 the candidates, and when the election was over the publication of such 
 papers was abandoned. In like manner in the years just preceding the 
 Civil war there was great activity in the founding of newspapers. There 
 were many papers bold enough to attack the administration in the dark 
 days of '63, and many of these were dealt with summarily by the gov- 
 ernment. Others were raided by mobs who had become indignant at the 
 bold criticisms of the president or at the sympathy expressed for the 
 secessionists. Eight papers were forced to suspend operations in Illi- 
 nois. These were located in Bloomington, Chester, Chicago, Jonesboro, 
 Maroa, Mason, Mendota and Olney. Three of these it will be noticed 
 were located in Southern Illinois. 
 
 PAPERS FORCED TO SUSPEND 
 
 Volume VI of the Illinois Historical Collections gives an account of 
 the action of the government in suspending the publication of the Jones- 
 boro Gazette. It is as follows: "A temporary suppression without vio- 
 lence or material damage was enforced against the Jonesboro Gazette in 
 the spring of 1863. Lieut. Colonel Joseph H. Newbold was sent to 
 Jonesboro with a part of the Fourteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry to 
 gather up and return to the service a number of deserters from the One
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 349 
 
 Hundred and Ninth Illinois Infantry, who had returned to their homes. 
 His work was seriously impeded by the radical utterances of the Gazette, 
 which, like a majority of its constituents, was bitterly against the war. 
 Consequently he closed the office during the six weeks of his stay. Col. 
 Newbold so conducted himself, however, as to make many warm friends, 
 and helped materially to change local sentiment toward the government. 
 As a resident of Jonesboro at that time, still living, has written, 'the 
 episode turned out very well.' ' The Loyalist, published by George 
 Brewster at Mason, Effingham county, was so outspoken in favor of 
 abolition of slavery that those who sympathized with slavery forced the 
 suspension of the paper and the editor moved. The Picket Guard of 
 Chester was so strongly tinctured with secession that some soldiers broke 
 into the office in July, 1864, and destroyed the type but did not damage 
 the press. At Olney the Press was said to be so radical in sympathy for 
 secession that it was forced to suspend in 1864. 
 
 The origin of the "patent inside" is told as follows: A. N. Kellogg 
 of the Baraboo, Wisconsin, Republic, was unable to print a full folio 
 because his printers had enlisted in the army. He printed one side of 
 the folio on his own press, the other side having been printed in Madi- 
 son. The plan worked well and afterwards Mr. Kellogg had the Madison 
 Journal get out the "inside" of his paper regularly. From this the 
 plan grew to the present "boiler plate" arrangement. As early as 1866 
 the Belleville Advocate was furnishing "insides" for several papers in 
 Southern Illinois. 
 
 The newspaper business declined after the close of the Civil war. 
 There was, however, some growth in monthly journals and similar pub- 
 lications. There were only three counties in Southern Illinois which 
 supported daily publications in 1880. These were Alexander with three 
 dailies : Madison with two ; and St. Clair with three dailies. 
 
 FOUNDED PRIOR TO 1880 
 
 The following is a list of the first papers published in the several 
 counties of Southern Illinois prior to 1880. The counties are arranged 
 in alphabetical order. Under the county comes the town, name of the 
 paper, and the year the paper was established, then the editors, when 
 their names can be had. 
 
 Alexander County. 
 
 Cairo. Gazette. 1841. Editor, Mr. McNeer. 
 
 Bond County. 
 
 Greenville. Protestant Monitor. 1845. Editor, E. M. Lathrop. 
 
 Clark County. 
 
 Richmond. Index. 1879. Editor, G. L. Watson. 
 
 Marshall. Illinois State Journal. 1848. Editors, John M. Crane, 
 
 Nathan Willard. 
 Casey. Times. 1872. Editors, John Garrison & Nathan Willard. 
 
 Clay County. 
 
 Flora. Southern Illinois Journal. 1870. Editors, M. L. Wilson, 
 J. K. Clarkson. 
 
 Clay City. Times. 1879. Editor, Unknown. 
 
 Louisville. Jackson Democrat. 1859. Editor, Thomas H. Daw- 
 son.
 
 350 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Crawford County. 
 
 Palestine. The Ruralist. 1856. Editor, Samuel R. Jones. 
 
 Hutsonville. Wabash Sentinel. 1852. Editor, George W. Cutler. 
 
 Robinson. The Gazette. 1857. Editor, George W. Harper. 
 
 Clinton County. 
 
 Huey. Clement Register. 1875. Editor, J. W. Peterson. 
 Carlyle. The Beacon. 1843. Editor, George W. Price. 
 Trenton. Courier. 1873. Editor, E. H. Elliff. 
 
 Cumberland County. 
 
 Toledo. Register. 1876. Editor, D. B. Sherwood. 
 Neoga. Advertiser. 1874. Editor, S. Z. Bland. 
 Majority Point. Cumberland Democrat. 1869. Editor, B. Prank 
 Bowen. 
 
 Edwards County. 
 
 Albion. Independent. 1865. Editor, J. E. Clark. 
 
 Effingham County. 
 
 Effingham. Pioneer. 1860. Editor, J. W. Filler. 
 Mason. Loyalist. 1863. Editor, George Brewster. 
 
 Fayette County. 
 
 St. Elmo. News. 1875. Editors, Johnson & Ramsey. 
 
 Vandalia. Illinois Intelligencer. 1820. Editor, Elijah C. Berry. 
 
 Farina. News. 1877. Editor, Ed. Freeman. 
 
 Franklin County. 
 
 Ewing. Baptist Banner. 1874. Editors, Kelley & Allen. 
 Benton. Standard. 1849. Editor, Ira Nortwick. 
 
 Gallatin County. 
 
 Shawneetown. Illinois Emigrant. 1818. Editors, Henry Eddy 
 & Singleton H. Kimmel. 
 
 Hamilton County. 
 
 McLeansboro. News. 1855. Editor, J. D. Moody. 
 
 Hardin County. 
 
 Elizabeth town. Hardin Mineral. 1870. Editor, Solomon S. 
 Burke. 
 
 Jackson County. 
 
 Murphysboro. Jackson Democrat. 1870. Editors, George C. 
 
 Bierer, F. C. Bierer. 
 
 Grand Tower. Item. 1875. Editor, M. F. Swartzcope. 
 De Soto. Farmer. 1855. Editor, James Hull. 
 Carbondale. Transcript. 1857. Editor, J. A. Hull. 
 Ava. Register. 1876. Editor, George Jahn. 
 
 Jasper County. 
 
 Newton. Enquirer. 1856. Editor, George E. Hoar. 
 
 Jefferson County. 
 
 Mt. Vernon. Jeffersonian. 1851. Editors, John S. Began, Mr. 
 Stickney. 
 
 Johnson County. 
 
 Vienna. Egyptian Artery. 1865. Editors, Wright & Company. 
 New Burnsides. Johnson County Journal. 1874. Editor, A. J. 
 Allen.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 351 
 
 Lawrence County. 
 
 Sumner. Lawrence County Press. Editor, James A. Ilger. 
 Lawrenceville. Star Spangled Banner. 1847. Editor, J. F. Bun- 
 tin. 
 
 Madison County. 
 
 Highland. Erzaehler. 1859. Editors, Rudolph Stadtmann, John 
 
 Harlan. 
 
 Collinsville. Argus. 1871. Editor, A. W. Angier. 
 Alton. Spectator. 1832. Editors, O. M. Adams, Edward Breath. 
 Edwardsville. Spectator. 1819. Editor, Hooper Warren. 
 Upper Alton. Qui Vive. 1868. Editors, College Students. 
 Troy. Weekly Bulletin. 1873. Editor, James M. Jarvis. 
 
 Marion County. 
 
 Richview. Phoenix. 1856. Editor, M. L. McCord. 
 
 Sandoval. Prairie Farmer. 1861. Editor, Not known. 
 
 Salem. Weekly Advocate. 1851. Editors, John W. Merritt, John 
 
 H. Merritt. 
 
 Centralia. Gazette. 1856. Editor, Gall & Omelvany. 
 Central City. Gazette. 1854. Editor, Edward Schiller. 
 Kinmundy. Telegram. 1867. Editor, Colonel John W. Fuller. 
 Odin. Southern Illinois Journal. Editor, Mr. Wilson. 
 
 Massac County. 
 
 Metropolis. Promulgator. 1865. Editor, J. F. McCartney. 
 
 Monroe County. 
 
 Waterloo. Republican. 1843. Editor, Elam Rust. 
 
 Perry County. 
 
 Pinckneyville. Perry County Times. 1856. Editor, William 
 Ewing. 
 
 DuQuoin. Mining Journal. 1858. Editor, Paul Watkins. 
 
 Tamaroa. Egyptian Spy. 1861. Editor not known. 
 
 Pope County. 
 
 Golconda. Herald. 1857. Editor, James D. Monday. 
 
 Pulaski County. 
 
 Mound City. National Emporium. 1856. Editor, Dr. Z. Caster- 
 line. 
 Caledonia. Pulaski Democrat. Editor, Mr. Miller. 
 
 Randolph County. 
 
 Sparta. Columbus Herald. 1839. Editor, James Morrow. 
 Chester. Southern Illinois Advocate. 1839. Editors, John Smith, 
 
 H. M. Abbott. 
 
 Kaskaskia. Illinois Herald. 1814. Editor, Mathew Duncan. 
 Red Bud. Egyptian. 1868. Editors, John Briskey, William Bris- 
 
 key. 
 Coulterville. Chronicle. 1879. Editor, John A. Wall. 
 
 Richland County. 
 
 Olney. News. 1849. Editors, Daniel Cox, Alfred Kitchell. 
 
 Saline County. 
 
 Stone Fort. Journal. 1874. Editor, A. J. Alden. 
 Harrisburg. Chronicle. 1859. Editor, John F. Conover.
 
 352 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 St. Clair County. 
 
 O 'Fallen. Advance. 1874. Editor, T. W. Eckert. 
 
 New Athens. Era. 1869. Editors, Bauman & Schild. 
 
 Maseoutah. News Letter. 1860. Editor, August Hamilton. 
 
 Lebanon, 111. Advocate & Lebanon Journal. 1848. Editor, E. 
 Wentworth. 
 
 East St. Louis. American Bottom Gazette. 1841. Editors, Sum- 
 rix & Jarrott. 
 
 Rock Spring. Pioneer of the Valley of the Mississippi. 1829. Ed- 
 itor, John Mason Peck. 
 
 Belleville. Western News. 1826. Editor, Dr. Joseph Green. 
 
 Union County. 
 
 Cobden. Enterprise. 1877. Editor, W. H. Mitchell. 
 Anna. Union County Record. 1860. Editor, W. H. Mitchell. 
 Jonesboro. Gazette. 1849. Editors, Thomas J. Finley, John 
 Evans. 
 
 Wabash County. 
 
 Mt. Carmel. Sentinel & Wabash Advocate. 1834. Editor, Horace 
 Roney. 
 
 Washington County. 
 
 Nashville. New Era. 1851. Editor, P. W. Skinner. 
 Ashley. Enquirer. 1856. Editor, M. L. McCord. 
 
 Wayne County. 
 
 Fairfield. Independent Press. 1852. Editor, John M. Walden. 
 
 White County. 
 
 Grayville. News. 1853. Editor, J. James Prather. 
 Enfield. Journal. 1874. Editor, Lemuel Potter. 
 Norris City. Journal. 1874. Editor, A. J. Alden. 
 
 Williamson County. 
 
 Marion. Western Family Monitor. 1850. Editor, William H. 
 Willeford.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 TRANSPORTATION 
 
 EARLY RIVER BOATS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WATERWAYS PIONEER TRAILS 
 AND ROADS GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS THE NATIONAL ROAD WORK 
 OP THE STATE. 
 
 Southern Illinois is very fortunate in its geographical situation. 
 It is in reality a peninsula projecting southward and terminating in 
 the point of land upon which Cairo is situated. The Mississippi river 
 runs along the entire western side of the state, while the Wabash and 
 the Ohio form the boundary on the east from Cairo to a point above Vin- 
 cennes. 
 
 The Mississippi was early discovered and traversed by the French. 
 Marquette and Joliet navigated hundreds of miles of its central third, 
 while La Salle and Hennepin completed the exploration to its mouth 
 and practically to the source. The Ohio is said to have been discovered 
 by La Salle, but of this we are not certain. The Wabash comes into 
 notice in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and was early dis- 
 covered to be a branch of the Ohio. Vincennes dates its history from 
 1702, and from that time till the coming of Clark in 1778 the French 
 were continually on the waters of these three rivers. 
 
 In the conquest of this western country by Gen. Clark the Ohio, par- 
 ticularly, played an important part. After the conquest there was a 
 constant stream of immigration on the Ohio moving toward Indiana, 
 Illinois and Missouri. 
 
 EARLY RIVER BOATS 
 
 The earlier boats were of the flat-boat type. These were made by 
 placing two "gunnels" side by side and framing them together and 
 constructing thereon the hull of the boat. The "gunnels" were obtained 
 as follows: A large sized tree some sixty or eighty feet tall was felled 
 and split into halves. The rounding sides were hewn off so the gunnel 
 as it stood on edges was six or eight inches in thickness and some three 
 to five feet broad, and some sixty to seventy feet long. These were 
 placed on edge side by side some ten or twelve feet apart. The two 
 "gunnels" were framed together by means of strong cross beams, their 
 upper ends rounded off something like a sled runner. The boat was 
 partially constructed on land bottom up. The flooring or bottom was 
 laid and securely fastened to the gunnels by strong nails or with wooden 
 pins. When the bottom was laid the boat was pushed into the water and 
 there turned right side up. It was now made water tight. Cross beams 
 
 VoL 1 -28 
 
 353
 
 354 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 were laid on the gunnels projecting on each, side some two or three 
 feet. This device made the floor of the boat sixteen or eighteen feet 
 wide. A crude railing was constructed around the edge of the deck 
 and often a small cabin was built at one end in which the hands could 
 do their cooking. A roof was constructed over portions of the boat for 
 shelter and sides arranged which kept out the storms. Pumps were 
 provided which might be used in case of heavy leaks. A steering ap- 
 paratus was attached to the stern and the craft was ready for its cargo. 
 
 These boats were often built quite a ways up the small rivers and 
 larger creeks, and were loaded with the produce of the locality where 
 built. Often they were built and offered for sale to parties moving down 
 the Ohio. The cargoes were corn, wheat, meats, poultry, eggs, and a 
 score of other farm products. It was not an unusual sight to see pigs, 
 calves, geese, ducks, and other live stock as part of the cargo. The boats 
 that were used by families in moving down the Ohio often discharged 
 their household goods at Shawneetown, Golconda, or at Cairo. These 
 same boats then were loaded with produce and floated to New Orleans. 
 The Mississippi above Cairo was not used for flatboating as much as 
 was the Ohio, although many boats were built in Big Muddy, the Kas- 
 kaskia, and the Sangamon. It is generally known that Lincoln built a 
 flat boat and took a cargo of produce from the upper waters of the 
 Sangamon to New Orleans. 
 
 The coming of the steam boat in 1809 marked the beginning of the end 
 of the flat boat business. The small streams fell into disuse and the pio- 
 neer flat boat builder was obliged to seek new fields for his skill. Public 
 roads improved, and landings and river towns multiplied. In the balmy 
 days of river traffic a river steam boat would average a stop every two 
 or three miles. At many of these landings there were wood yards, and 
 to see the negro roustabouts bring in a dozen cords of wood was a sight 
 not easily to be forgotten. The passenger traffic was large in the de- 
 cades just prior to the Civil war. Elegant state rooms, and well laden 
 tables made travel on the Ohio or the Mississippi a luxury. Cairo be- 
 came a very thriving young city. From this river port, transportation 
 pointed in three ways north up the Mississippi, east up the Ohio, and 
 south down the Father of Waters. Many noted travelers passed the 
 city at the junction of the rivers. The oldest settlers remember the 
 visits of Charles Dickens, Gen. Winfield Scott, Charlotte Cushman, Lin- 
 coln, Douglas, and many others. 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WATERWAYS 
 
 The use of the Wabash, Cache, Kaskaskia, Saline, Big Muddy, and 
 other Southern Illinois rivers for purposes of travel and transportation 
 was of course rather limited. There were to be seen however flat boats, 
 keel boats, rafts, and other forms of river craft. Small steamers have as- 
 cended the Kaskaskia as far as Evansville in fact one went up in the 
 region of Carlyle in 1837. Evansville produces large quantities of flour 
 and this has been shipped via the Kaskaskia. The upper courses of this 
 stream have been used for the transportation of logs, lumber, and farm 
 produce. At New Athens there are extensive hard lumber interests. 
 
 The Saline is navigable only a short distance for steam boats. From 
 1800 to 1850 the manufacture of salt at the salt works near Equality 
 created considerable commerce on that stream. Hoop poles and barrel
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 355 
 
 material were brought down from the upper stretches while small 
 steamers and other boats were plentiful on the lower portions carrying 
 out the products of the extensive salt works. Coal was another product 
 which was shipped extensively in barges down the Saline. Little use is 
 now made of the Saline for purposes of transportation. 
 
 The Cache while carrying a large volume of water has never been 
 of any great value for commercial purposes. It is very crooked and 
 flows through a flat country especially towards its mouth and it has been 
 difficult to navigate on account of the presence of drifts and short bends. 
 There are many sawmills along its course and some lumber has been 
 sent out of its mouth to Cairo and Mound City. 
 
 The Big Muddy though smaller than some of the other streams, has 
 played an important part in the development of the region through 
 which it flows. Coal was discovered along its course as early as 1832. 
 About that time a mine was opened just south and adjacent to the 
 present city of Murphysboro. In 1836 one Hall Neilson of New York 
 City offered for sale what was at that time known as the Mt. Carbon 
 coal property. It contained 795 acres of land including a steam saw 
 mill, wharves for loading coal, residences for miners, and other im- 
 provements. The price set was one hundred thousand dollars. The in- 
 ducement to buyers was that the Big Muddy river was navigable, and 
 that the Illinois Central Railroad was expected to pass within 
 a mile or so of this Mt. Carbon property. At that time Brownsville the 
 county seat of Jackson county was located about two or three miles down 
 the river from the coal miners. The survey of the proposed road passed 
 from Cairo via Jonesboro, Brownsville, Pickneyville, Nashville, Carlyle, 
 Vandalia, and thence north to the south end of the Illinois and Michigan 
 canal. The first steamer on the Big Muddy was called Omega. It as- 
 cended the river to the Mt. Carbon mines as early as 1843. The venture 
 was probably not profitable as no other trip was made for several years. 
 In 1851 the coal company shipped large quantities of coal in a steamer 
 called the Walk-in-the- Water. Large barges were constructed and 
 loaded with coal and taken out of the river by this steamer. The Walk- 
 in-the-water made several trips between the coal mines and St. Louis. 
 In 1853 when the Illinois Central was under construction, the contrac- 
 tors brought their material for long stretches of the road up the Big 
 Muddy on steamboats. Several consignments of rails were unloaded 
 at the point where the Illinois Central crosses the river some four miles 
 north of the present city of Carbondale. In the summer of '53 an en- 
 gine was brought up the Big Muddy, unloaded on the north bank of the 
 river at the crossing of the road, and placed on the tracks and assisted 
 in the work of construction. Little use has been made of the Big Muddy 
 river for transportation purposes since railroads became plentiful in 
 Egypt. 
 
 It may be interesting to know that the legislature of Illinois took the 
 trouble to enact laws declaring nearly all of the streams in Southern 
 Illinois navigable. The following streams in this end of the state were 
 declared navigable : Boncoup Creek, tributary of the Big Muddy, 1819 ; 
 Big Bay, in Pope county, 1833 ; Big Muddy, 1835 ; Bon Pas, tributary 
 of the Wabash, 1831 ; Cache river, 1819 ; Kaskaskia, 1819 ; Little Wabash, 
 1826; Skillet Fork, a branch of the Little Wabash. 1837; Lusk's Creek 
 in Pope county was declared navigable in an early day.
 
 
 
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 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 357 
 
 PIONEER TRAILS AND ROADS 
 
 The rivers were the first highways, but our earliest pioneers found 
 already laid out routes of travel between the most important points in 
 Southern Illinois. The Indians were great travelers and they had well 
 established trails in Egypt at an early date. When George Rogers 
 Clark reached Fort Massac in 1778, he found Indian trails which lead 
 from that point to Kaskaskia. He followed one of these trails through 
 the wilderness from the Ohio to the Mississippi and later from Kaskaskia 
 to Vincennes. These trails were early known by the whites and were 
 used by hunters and immigrants. The white men added a valuable fea- 
 ture to these trails by cutting numbers on the trees along the trail. 
 These numbers were painted and gave the distance to the next village, 
 fort, or settlement. In some instances the number was burned into a 
 blazed surface with a hot iron. Gov. John Reynolds describes this 
 method of marking not only the way, but the distance, from Golconda 
 to Kaskaskia which he traveled in 1800. The first stage of development 
 was called a "trail," the next stage was called a "trace." The trail 
 was used only for foot travel or for horses in single file. The trail used 
 by the Indians was often the road used by buffaloes in their journeys. 
 The ' ' trace ' ' was located on the trail but was widened by the use of the 
 ax and made passable for wagons. The streams were forded at low 
 stages, but often movers were forced to build crude rafts for ferries. 
 
 The third step in the development of these lines of travel was called" 
 a ' ' road. ' ' This term was applied to all established routes of travel 
 suitable for wagons, with bridges, ferries, fords and inns along the 
 route. The oldest map of Illinois available was printed in 1822 in Phila- 
 delphia. This map shows the following roads in the south end of the 
 state: A road entering the state from Kentucky a few miles above the 
 mouth of the Cumberland river, thence by way of Fort Massac, Amer- 
 ica in Alexander county, and entering Missouri a few miles above the 
 present site of Cairo probably in the region of Goose Island. Another 
 road connected Fort Massac and Kaskaskia, via Vienna, Crainville, pass- 
 ing near Murphysboro to its destination. A road connected Shawnee- 
 town with Carlyle, thence to Edwardsville and Alton. A fourth con- 
 nected Shawneetown with Crainville in Williamson county and thence 
 to Kaskaskia. A fifth ran from Kaskaskia to Vincennes and was evi- 
 dently the road taken by Clark on his campaign in 1779. Another road 
 ran from St. Louis by way of Carlyle to Salem where it joined the Kas- 
 kaskia-Vincennes route. 
 
 It must not be understood that there were no other roads than these 
 above mentioned. There were many roads which connected these main 
 thoroughfares. A map by Rufus Blanchard printed in 1883 gives all 
 the roads from 1800 to the middle of the 19th century. This map adds 
 quite a few roads established from 1822 to 1850 by the action of the 
 General Assembly. In addition, certain roads which connected the 
 larger towns and were well established were designated by the general 
 government as "mail routes." Over these roads the mail was carried 
 first on horseback and later in stage coaches. One such mail route in 
 an early day ran from Kaskaskia to Carlyle and later extended to Van- 
 dalia the new capital of the state. Another was laid out from Mt. Car- 
 mel by Grayville, Carmi, Equality to Shawneetown. One from St. Louis 
 to Shawneetown passed through Belleville, Carmi, and Equality. As
 
 358 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 has been said these roads were first established by action of the general 
 assembly and afterwards designated as mail routes. Locally these roads 
 were often known as "state roads" and many people supposed that the 
 state made appropriations for the building and repair of such roads, but 
 such was not the case. Only in a few cases were appropriations made 
 for building bridges where the burden was too heavy for the local 
 taxpayers. 
 
 Along these state roads which were designated as "mail routes" 
 there grew up towns and villages. Blacksmith shops were scattered here 
 and there. Country stores were located at such places as would accom- 
 modate the growing settlements, and in these the government would 
 often establish post offices. "Stage stands" became familiar objects 
 along the principal routes. Here the stage with its passengers remained 
 over night or secured dinner and changed horses. These were often 
 called "inns." They were long two story log or frame structures sit- 
 ting near the road. The earlier ones were built of logs, but later frame 
 structures prevailed. They were weather boarded with clapboards or 
 home sawed planks. They were seldom painted and soon took on an 
 appearance of very old buildings. In front was usually a large swinging 
 sign which contained the name of the inn with some design or decora- 
 tion, the skill of some traveling painter. Within, all was hospitality. 
 Meals were served on long tables. In the earlier days tables were home 
 made. The seats were nothing more than long boards with supports 
 serving as legs. The food was coarse, but wholesome and abundant. 
 Meats were plentiful, and buffalo meat, venison, wild turkey, wild 
 pigeon, wild goose, wild duck, squirrel, rabbit, and 'possum were served 
 the travelers from old and new England. 
 
 Probably the most noted road in the state was the National Road. 
 This road started at Cumberland, Maryland and passed through Wheel- 
 ing, Zanesville, Columbus, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, and thence to 
 Vandalia, Illinois. The road was projected to reach the Mississippi 
 river at either St. Louis or Alton, but it was never built farther than 
 Vandalia. 
 
 GOVERNMENT HIGHWAYS 
 
 The building of roads appears to be one of the first interests of a 
 government. In the development of countries the military activities 
 are very great. Following periods of conquest of weaker countries by 
 a stronger power, the problem is how to hold the conquered countries in 
 subjection. One of the most effective agencies found in early history 
 was the military roads. The Persian Emperors knew the value of the 
 military road. It is said that a good road ran from Susa, the Persian 
 capital to Sardis, the chief city in Asia Minor, a distance of fifteen 
 hundred miles. Over this road troops were continually passing to and 
 fro. In the days of the greatness of the Roman Empire there was 
 throughout the entire territory subject to the Roman eagles, a great 
 network of military roads. Over these roads the Roman Legions were 
 easily and rapidly transported. These great highways were generally 
 straight and built of durable materials. Where the road passed over 
 low places high grades were constructed, and through the mountains the 
 high places were brought low. The road bed was constructed of slabs of 
 hard rock carefully fitted together and laid upon a sub-base of gravel
 
 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 359 
 
 and cement. While these roads were primarily for military operations, 
 they eventually came to be used for commercial purposes. 
 
 The Eomans who occupied England from about 50 A. D. to 450 A. D. 
 left many signs of this occupation in the great roads she constructed 
 over the territory occupied. Probably the roads which Rome constructed 
 in England were not so well built as were those in Italy, yet they were 
 so substantially built as to remain to the present time. 
 
 The Spaniards who occupied the Philippines, Cuba, Mexico and South 
 America for four hundred years were active road builders. The road 
 from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico has been described as a very fine 
 specimen of road making. 
 
 It is not strange therefore that the matter of road building should 
 have occupied the attention of the government of the United States in 
 the earliest years. The colonies had few roads of any consequence. They 
 traveled largely by boats, and on horseback along narrow and tortuous 
 trails. McMasters' History of the People of the United States gives 
 some interesting descriptions of early roads in the old thirteen colonies. 
 "On the best lines of communications the ruts were deep, the descents 
 precipitous. Travelers by coach were often compelled to alight and as- 
 sist the driver to tug the vehicle out of the slough. Near Philadelphia 
 a quagmire of black mud covered a long stretch of road near the village 
 of Rising Sun. The horses were often seen floundering in mud up to 
 their bellies. ' ' From Philadelphia in 1784 a road ran west through the 
 counties of Chester and Lancaster over the Blue Ridge Mountains to 
 the little town of Bedford. Thence it wound through the beautiful hills 
 of Western Pennsylvania to the head waters of the Ohio. Over this 
 road, crude as it was, there came to Philadelphia the farm products of 
 the region of Pittsburg. It was over this road also that the earliest 
 immigration to the west passed. But in 1792 a company was organized 
 by act of the Pennsylvania legislature to construct a "pike" from 
 Philadelphia to Lancaster. A traveler described this road in 1796 as 
 follows: "There is at present but one turnpike-road on the continent, 
 and this is between Lancaster and Philadelphia, a distance of sixty-six 
 miles, and is a master piece of its kind. It is paved with stone the 
 whole way, and over laid with gravel, so that it is never obstructed dur- 
 ing the most severe season." 
 
 When Virginia agreed to cede her Western lands to the general gov- . 
 eminent in 1781, there was an understanding that a portion of the 
 proceeds of the sale of this land should be applied to the construction 
 of roads from the tidewater region to the Northwest territory. When 
 Ohio came into the Union, a clause in her enabling act provided that 
 five percent of the proceds of the sale of the public lands within the 
 state of Ohio should be used for the purposes of internal improvement, 
 three percent to be used by the general government in constructing 
 roads within the state, and two percent to be used in roadmaking from 
 the seaboard to the state. 
 
 When Indiana and Illinois came into the union a similar provision 
 was incorporated in their enabling acts. In Illinois however, only two 
 percent out of the five could be used for roads while three percent was 
 to be used for educational purposes. 
 
 In December, 1805, Mr. Tracy from the committee to whom was 
 referred the enabling act for the state of Ohio, made an extended re- 
 port as to the expenditure of the two percent of the sale of public lands
 
 360 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 within the state of Ohio. At that time the sale of lands had amounted 
 to $632,604.27. Two percent of this amount was $12,652. This was to 
 be used in constructing a road to the state from the tidewater region. 
 The report made by Mr. Tracy was very complete and considered all the 
 routes from the coast over the mountains to the Ohio. 
 
 As a result of this report an act was passed March 29, 1806, creating 
 a commission of three "discreet" citizens to lay out and make a road 
 from Cumberland in the state of Maryland to the state of Ohio. The 
 act provided that the road's "right of way" should be four rods, or 
 sixty-six feet, wide. The act made the president the real superintendent 
 of construction. Thirty thousand dollars were appropriated for the 
 survey and the construction. The commissioners were Thomas Moore of 
 Maryland, Joseph Kerr of Ohio, and Eli Williams of Maryland. The 
 commissioners estimated the cost at six thousand dollars per mile ex- 
 clusive of bridges. The states of Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania 
 readily granted the general government permission to construct, own, 
 and operate the road. The commissioners expended some thirteen thou- 
 sand of the thirty thousand, appropriated by congress in 1806. But the 
 project was halted on account of lack of funds, although the two per- 
 cent fund of the sale of lands in Ohio was growing. 
 
 From time to time Congress made appropriations for the road the 
 first, March 29, 1806, and the last May 25, 1838. The total appropria- 
 tion was for the road, beginning at Cumberland and ending at the 
 
 Wabash, the sum of $6,289,919.33 
 
 For the road in Illinois 535,000.00 
 
 Total $6,824,919.33 
 
 The original act was very indefinite as to the details of construction. 
 When the construction of the road was begun the original plans were 
 considerably modified. "The road shall be raised in the middle of the 
 carriage way with stone, earth, or gravel and sand, or a combination of 
 all of them." The grade should not exceed five percent in any place. 
 The progress of the road was slow. It was a great task to construct 
 the road through the Alleghanies, but roadbuilding through Ohio, Indi- 
 ana, and Illinois was not so difficult. 
 
 THE NATIONAL ROAD 
 
 We are more particularly interested in that part of this national 
 road which lay within the limits of our state. The law extending the 
 road west from Wheeling provided that it should pass through Zanes- 
 ville and through the capitals of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and to the capital 
 of Missouri. The survey of the road from Indianapolis west brought 
 it to Terre Haute. Here the survey crossed the Wabash and proceeded 
 in a straight line to Vandalia and thence to a point on the Mississippi 
 river between St. Louis and the mouth of the Illinois river, and from 
 there to the capital of Missouri. 
 
 The act of congress providing for the extension of the road west from 
 Wheeling was passed and approved May 15, 1820, and appropriated 
 ten thousand dollars to carry out the survey. There was no money ap- 
 propriated for actual work on the Illinois extension till May 31, 1829, 
 when forty thousand dollars was set aside for work in Illinois. 
 
 The work of constructing this great national road was begun under 
 the direction of the Treasury Department, but in 1825 the entire matter 
 was turned over to the War Department. In 1828 steps were taken to
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 361 
 
 begin work in Illinois that is, surveys were made and on January 20, 
 
 1829, the commissioner of the road in Illinois, Mr. J. Shriver reported 
 to the War Department a survey of the road from the State line at Terre 
 Haute to Vandalia on the Kaskaskia. This survey shows the distance 
 from the State line to the Kaskaskia to be ninety miles lacking a few 
 rods. The profile shows the starting point on the State line to be two 
 feet above the datum line which is low water in the Kaskaskia at Van- 
 dalia. The road varies slightly from a direct line. The entire distance 
 of ninety miles was divided by the engineers into fifteen sections, making 
 an average of six miles to a section. This was for the purpose of letting 
 the contracts for the construction of the road. The road passes through 
 the present counties of Clark, Cumberland, Effingham and Fayette to the 
 county seat of the latter, Vandalia. The profile and survey does not 
 locate a single town or village, but marks the streams, wood lands, 
 prairie lands, hilly regions, rocks and other physical features. The road 
 passes through Marshall the county seat of Clark county, and through 
 the villages of Irvington, Auburn, Martinsville, Cumberland and Casey. 
 In Cumberland county it passes through the villages of Greenup and 
 Jewett. In Effingham county the road passes through Montrose, 
 Teutopolis, Effingham, Ewington, Funkhouser, Dexter, and Altamont. 
 In Fayette the villages passed are St. Elmo, Howard's Point, Avena, 
 Bluff City, and ending at Vandalia. 
 
 The survey shows the following streams crossed in order from the 
 State line to Vanadalia: Hock's Creek; Ashmore's river, now Crooked 
 creek ; Little creek ; Big creek ; East Fork of Mill creek ; West Fork of 
 Mill creek; North Fork of Embarras; Embarras river; Muddy creek; 
 Salt creek; Little Wabash river; Camp creek; and Kaskaskia river. 
 
 The highest point on the road between the State line and Vandalia 
 is 265.6 feet above the datum line. The thriving city of Marshall, the 
 county seat of Clark county is situated on this high ground. 
 
 The work on the road began in the fall of 1829 or in the spring of 
 
 1830. Contractors were in charge under the direction of the Commis- 
 sioner. Men who lived along the line of the road were employed to cut 
 off the timber from a strip eighty feet wide forty on each side of the 
 center of the roadway. It should be borne in mind that there was a 
 road from Terre Haute to Vandalia prior to the location of the Na- 
 tional Road, and there were settlers along the route. The hills over 
 which the road ran were cut down and the low places graded up, the 
 grade not exceeding five percent at any place. In this the deep cuts 
 through hills the opposite slopes of the cut were sodded with blue grass 
 to prevent washing. In like manner the sloping sides of the fills or 
 grades were sodded. On each side of the roadway proper in the cuts 
 there was a ditch for the drainage of the rainfall. These ditches were 
 often formed with stones on the sides and bottom. No stagnant water 
 was allowed to gather along the road. These blue grass banks and stone 
 gutters are in many places as perfect as they were three-quarters of a 
 century ago. 
 
 The character of the work done on this National road is perhaps 
 best shown at the crossing of the streams. The bridges were of the most 
 approved construction. The larger streams were bridged with "wooden 
 trusses each with six semicircular arches, the ends resting on cross sills 
 firmly imbedded in stone abutments a few feet below the floors. Each 
 bridge had two wagon tracks, a good roof of rived lapped shingles,
 
 362 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 sides boarded with clap boards shaved with drawing knife and painted 
 red. The arches, braces, sills, sleepers, and floors were all produced with 
 the whip saw and broad axe. ' ' In Clark county there were as many as 
 eight covered bridges. In every one the bridge was a single span, and 
 two of them over a hundred feet long. The abutments, wings, and other 
 rock work was of the best quality of lime stone, except the abutments 
 across the North Fork of the Embarras which were sawn sand stone, 
 dressed on the ground and the structures erected according to the en- 
 gineer's drawings. 
 
 Three of these eight bridges are still intact and are apparently good 
 for another century. These bridges are known as Jackson bridges be- 
 cause they were built in Jackson 's ' ' reign ' ' as president. In some cases 
 the old wooden bridge has been replaced by modern iron structures rest- 
 ing on the original abutments. At the crossing of smaller streams and 
 deep ravines instead of bridges, arches of stone were substituted. These 
 arches were built of dressed stone and were substantially built. Many 
 of them stand today and are in a good state of preservation. 
 
 The road in Illinois was free for all, but in Indiana and Ohio as well 
 as in the states eastward the government maintained a system of toll 
 gates the income from which was used in keeping the road in repair. 
 
 The road from the State line to Vandalia was never macadamized. 
 It was the original plan to do so, but in the act of July 2, 1836, which 
 appropriated $150,000 to the road in Illinois, there was an express pro- 
 vision that none of the money should be spent for anything except for 
 bridging and grading. In the act of March 3, 1837, $100,000 was appro- 
 priated for the Illinois portion of the road with the provision that no part 
 of the money should be used to stone or gravel the road unless it could 
 be done as cheaply as such work had been done in Ohio and Indiana. Evi- 
 dently contracts were let for the gravelling of the road as thousands of 
 cubic yards of crushed stone were gotten out at the quarries along the 
 road but none ever placed on the roadway on account of a lack of funds. 
 By 1839 all the money set aside for the Illinois portion of the road had 
 been used and the work on the road stopped. 
 
 The expenditure of such large sums of money very largely for labor 
 and raw material created a deal of immigration to points along the 
 route and many villages sprang up. Large quantities of government 
 land were entered and farms were opened. Schools, churches, saw- 
 mills, stores, taverns, and factories were quickly provided. It is said 
 that many of the laborers, contractors, artisans, and builders bought 
 lands along the route and eventually became citizens of Southern Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 The road became a stage and mail route. John T. Rector of Marshall, 
 Clark county, drove stage on the road for many years. He tells of a 
 farmer who was angry because the government had taken his land for 
 the road. One day he set his fence along the middle of the road. The 
 stages and other vehicles drove around the fence for a few days, but 
 one night a stage stuck in the mud, and all hands alighted and soon 
 landed the fence along the gutter. The stage then proceeded on its 
 journey. The farmer tried to bring suit but he could get no one to 
 serve his papers. 
 
 The Western Stage Company ran a line of stages from Terre Haute 
 to St. Louis. The company built inns and "stage stands" along the 
 way and did a very thriving business. Some of these old hotels still
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 363 
 
 stand. There were no towns along the line of the road prior to 1830. 
 But from 1830 to 1840 quite a number of villages were founded. 
 
 The road was under the control of the general government till about 
 1836 when it was surrendered to the state. The road is in good repair 
 and is much traveled. 
 
 WORK OF THE STATE 
 
 If there is one phase of our state government which is weak it is 
 the method of laying out, grading and keeping in repair of our public 
 highways. One argument that was formerly used to persuade people to 
 change from Commissioners' form of county government to township 
 form of government was that the roads were much better cared for under 
 the township form. But it is doubtful whether our public highways are 
 better where the township system is in vogue than where the commis- 
 sioners are in control. The general assembly has legislated upon the 
 question of public highways, but no progress is made. The Farmers' 
 Institute has done something to advance the interests of hard roads. A 
 few years ago a plan of dragging the roads was tried. It was claimed 
 that if the roads were dragged with heavy split log drags while they 
 were muddy that they would dry faster and be much more solid than if 
 allowed to dry without dragging. Where the farmers have kept up this 
 treatment in a systematic way the results are very satisfactory. Just 
 now hard road construction under the direction of a Hard Road Com- 
 mission is going rapidly forward. The state is trying the plan of build- 
 ing one or more miles from some town into the country as an experiment. 
 The roadbed is graded properly and several inches of crushed stone ap- 
 plied. This is rolled with a heavy steam roller and finer crushed rock 
 applied. When the road is completed the layers of crushed stone ag- 
 gregate some ten or twelve inches. The state, through the Hard Roads 
 Commission, superintends the work and furnishes the material at cost. 
 Many cities and towns are building such roads. The railroads are con- 
 tributing their share toward the good roads proposition by hauling ma- 
 terial at a minimum rate and lending encouragement in other ways. 
 
 There is an abundance of material in Southern Illinois for the con- 
 struction of hard roads. An inexhaustible supply of good limestone is 
 found along the Mississippi from Alton to Thebes. Near Metropolis 
 there is an unlimited supply of gravel which makes a choice roadbed 
 There are also deposits in the region of the Wabash suitable for hard 
 road-making. 
 
 Trolley systems are not extensive in Southern Illinois. In the region 
 of East St. Louis, Alton, Belleville, and Edwardsville there is a net 
 work of trolley roads. There is a short system of trolley lines connect- 
 ing Cairo, Mound City, and Mounds. There are a few cities that have 
 trolley lines, but the interurban lines are as yet in their infancy.
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 EDUCATION IN ILLINOIS 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS BASIS OF ILLINOIS SYSTEM PRIMITIVE 
 SCHOOL HOUSES CONVENTIONS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC EDUCATION 
 BEST FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE STATE LAW OF 1855 PRESENT SYSTEM 
 OF PUBLIC EDUCATION. 
 
 Nothing is dearer to the hearts of the American people than the 
 cause of popular education. Nor is this strange. Every other phase 
 of the people's life has its basis in the education of the masses. Re- 
 ligion without education becomes formal and unmeaning. The indus- 
 trial world would make little progress without the power which comes 
 from education to utilize the forces of nature all about us. Scientific 
 farming awaits an educated husbandry. Society can not be separated 
 from education no education, no society. Culture abides with a people 
 who spend much time and means in intellectual development. Again 
 there can be no government in the true sense of the word where educa- 
 tion does not abound. This doctrine of the basal character of education 
 is as old as the experience of the race. It may be pointed out that many 
 nations have neglected the education of their people and yet have 
 seemed to prosper. It is easy to show that the rank of nations in the 
 world today is largely if not altogether determined by the attention that 
 has been paid to the cause of popular education. 
 
 America is essentially Anglo-Saxon. English ideals were planted 
 on our shores in every one of the thirteen original colonies. Immigra- 
 tion westward in the past one hundred years has carried those ideals 
 into the great interior and indeed over the mountain barriers and across 
 the deserts to the land of the golden sunset. 
 
 Among those ideals was that of popular education. In some colonies 
 the settlers had scarcely finished their huts, their churches, and their 
 blockhouses before they began to make provision for some form of 
 schooling for the children of the colony. In many instances this work 
 of education was carried on by the faithful pastor who came with each 
 distinct body of settlers. It is true that in those colonies where royal 
 ideals were most in vogue that popular education was most neglected. 
 Sir William Berkley, governor of Virginia, said in 1671: "I thank God 
 there are no free schools nor printing in Virginia." In New England 
 where the settlers were more democratic in spirit, more attention was 
 given to popular education. And strange as it may seem when they 
 took up the work of founding schools and opening educational oppor- 
 tunities to their people they went far beyond what had been accomplished 
 in the mother country. Harvard College was founded as early as 1636, 
 
 364
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 365 
 
 while the beginnings of the common school system were crystallized by 
 a law of the general court in 1647. This law provided that in each town- 
 ship or settlement of fifty house-holders, the authorities should provide 
 a teacher ' ' to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and 
 read. ' ' The method of paying the teacher was to be determined by the 
 officers of the town. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 A public school was established in Connecticut as early as 1639. 
 The law on that subject required ' ' the selectmen of every town to have 
 a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors ... to teach, by 
 themselves or others their children and apprentices so much learning as 
 may enable them perfectly to read the English tongue." 
 
 Pennsylvania was noted from the earliest times as the colony of ' ' log 
 colleges," because she gave attention to public education, which was 
 carried on very largely in log school houses. A charter granted by Penn 
 to the settlers in 1711 contained the following preamble: "Whereas, the 
 prosperity and welfare of any people depend, in a great measure, upon 
 the good education of the youth, and their early introduction in the 
 principles of true religion, and qualifying them to serve their country 
 and themselves by breeding them in reading, writing, and learning of 
 languages and useful arts and sciences, suitable to their sex, age and 
 degree which can not be affected in any manner so well as by erecting 
 Public Schools for the purposes aforesaid, etc., etc." 
 
 Maryland in 1723 passed an act "for the encouragement of learning, 
 and erecting schools in the several counties in this province." North 
 Carolina in 1776 provided that "a school or schools should be estab- 
 lished by the legislature for the convenient instruction of youth, with 
 such salaries to the masters, paid by the public, as may enable them to 
 instruct at low prices; and that all useful learning shall be encouraged 
 in one or more communities. ' ' 
 
 It would not be difficult to show that all public men of the later 
 colonial period and of the early constitutional period heartily favored 
 popular education. The "elastic clause" of the Constitution recites 
 that congress shall have power to provide for the common defense and 
 general welfare of the United States. The general welfare could not be 
 provided for in any way so effectively as in founding systems of popular, 
 free education. 
 
 The third article of the ' ' Compact ' ' in the Ordinance of 1787 reads : 
 "Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good govern- 
 ment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- 
 tion shall be forever encouraged." The Constitution and the Ordinance 
 were made in the summer of 1787 and both breathe the spirit of an 
 educated, patriotic citizenship. Thomas Jefferson was not a member of 
 either the congress of 1787 or of the constitutional convention, but there 
 can be little doubt that the generous attitude of both these great state 
 papers toward the cause of popular education was in perfect harmony 
 with his private and public utterances on this subject. On one occasion 
 Jefferson said : "I look to the diffusion of light and education as the 
 resources most to be relied on ameliorating the condition, promoting the 
 virtue, and advancing the happiness of man. ... A system of gen- 
 eral instruction, which shall reach every description of our citizens,
 
 366 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 from the richest to the poorest, as it was the earliest, so it shall be the 
 latest of all public concerns in which I shall permit myself to take 
 an interest. ' ' 
 
 BASIS OF ILLINOIS SYSTEM 
 
 The Enabling Act for Illinois which was drafted by Nathaniel Pope 
 contained a clause which gave the state of Illinois the section numbered 
 16 in each township for school purposes. In addition the act granted 
 one township to the state for a seminary of learning. And again three 
 percent of the sale of all public lands in Illinois was given to the state for 
 educational purposes. The proceeds of the sale of the 16th section in 
 each township helps to make a permanent school fund for that town- 
 ship, while the income from the three percent of the sale of public 
 lands goes into the state's permanent school fund. 
 
 But it will be profitable in this connection to have our minds directed 
 to the very beginnings of education in Illinois. It will be remembered 
 that the French were in control in this territory from the early days 
 of Marquette and La Salle to the close of the French and Indian war. 
 From the reports of the missionary priests we gather that there was a 
 form of education practiced in the very earliest times in the French 
 and Indian settlements. It is probably true that nothing beyond the 
 requirements pertaining to the doctrines of the church was required. It 
 is true also that tradition has been persistent in declaring that there was 
 a college founded in Kaskaskia about 1720, and that it flourished till 
 the outbreak of the French and Indian war in 1754. This college was 
 controlled by the Jesuits, and when this order was suppressed in France 
 in 1764, this property of the order was confiscated in this country. The 
 college buildings, a brewery, and a well stocked farm at Kaskaskia were 
 all sold to the highest bidder. 
 
 There was no educational activity in Illinois during the British rule 
 1765 to 1778. But among the soldiers of George Rogers Clark there 
 were men of some education and it was from this source that the first 
 schools in the truest meaning sprang up. Many of the soldiers with 
 Clark were men of families. When the war was over these men moved 
 from their homes in Kentucky, Virginia, or the Carolinas into Southern 
 Illinois and settled. Others came with them and from that time forward 
 there was a constant stream of immigration into this region. Reynolds' 
 Pioneer History says that John Seeley taught a school in New Design, 
 in Monroe county, in an abandoned squatter's cabin, as early as 1783. 
 There was no floor in the cabin. Poles and logs flattened with the axe 
 served as seats and desks. Afterwards Francis Clark and an Irishman 
 by the name of Halfpenny taught in the same locality. John Clark a 
 Scotchman, a preacher of considerable ability and education followed 
 the above named teachers. The latter Clark taught the higher branches 
 and was without doubt a college bred man. John Doyle who had been 
 a soldier with Gen. Clark returned to Illinois and taught school at 
 Kaskaskia in 1790 and the years following. A Mr. Davis, an old sailor, 
 taught school in 1816 in an old fort in Baldwin precinct in Randolph 
 county. Madison county had a school as early as 1804. It was located 
 about where Collinsville is now situated. It was taught by Mr. John 
 Bradbury who was characterized as "faithful but not learned." John 
 Atwater opened a school near Edwardsville about 1807. Mr. Atwater
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 367 
 
 was a New Englander. John Messenger, a noted pioneer of St. Clair 
 county, was a school teacher as early as 1804. He taught at Shilo, a set- 
 tlement five miles northeast of Belleville. The first school-house in St. 
 Clair was probably the one built at Shilo in 1811. 
 
 All these schools and scores of others of which there is no record 
 were subscription schools. The teachers charged a small fee for each 
 pupil per month or quarter. In addition it was generally planned that 
 the teacher should board in the homes of his patrons. There was little 
 attempt beyond reading, writing, spelling, and simple calculation in 
 arithmetic. 
 
 The first general assembly of Indiana Territory, which included Illi- 
 nois as it is today, passed an act in 1806 creating a university. Jesse B. 
 Thomas, afterwards a very noted Illinoisan, was Speaker of the House 
 and Pierre Menard was President of the Council. The bill provided for 
 the transfer to this university of the township which the general govern- 
 ment had given the future state. The bill also provided that twenty 
 thousand dollars cash might be raised by a lottery for the immediate 
 use of the university, and empowered it to hold not exceeding one hun- 
 dred thousand acres of land, and to receive gifts. The trustees were 
 named in the act and Gen. William Henry Harrison was president of 
 the board of trustees. 
 
 The university was located at Vincennes and is still a nourishing 
 institution of learning. The territory of Illinois was separated from 
 the Indiana Territory in 1809 and the university of Vincennes became 
 an Indiana institution. Another act of the Indiana legislature before 
 the separation was to authorize the Courts of Common Pleas in the 
 several counties to locate the school lands in each county for a period not 
 to exceed five years. This law was in force in Illinois after the separa- 
 tion of Illinois from Indiana. 
 
 In 1816 the Illinois territorial legislature passed an act locating the 
 township which the government had agreed to give the state to sup- 
 port a seminary of learning. The township selected was T. 5 N., R. 1 W., 
 of the 3d Principal Meridian. This township lay partly in the Kaskaskia 
 valley and was afterwards thought to be of little value, and upon a re- 
 quest from Illinois the congress allowed the state to select thirty-six sec- 
 tions in lieu thereof. 
 
 In the early part of 1818 the territorial legislature of Illinois asked 
 Congress for permission to make a constitution preparatory to asking 
 permission to come into the union. Nathaniel Pope was our delegate in 
 Congress and was a member of the committee on territories. The prayer 
 therefore of the Illinois legislature was referred to the committee of 
 which Mr. Pope was a member. This committee out of respect to Mr. 
 Pope asked him to formulate the enabling act. This he did. The orig- 
 inal draft was amended but we may call attention to that part of the 
 act which has to do with the matter of education in Illinois. The sixth 
 section has four clauses and they all refer to the offer of the general gov- 
 ernment of lands to the state of Illinois. First The section numbered 
 sixteen in each township was given to the state of Illinois "for the use 
 of the inhabitants of such township for the use of schools." The Second 
 This clause refers to the gift of the salt lands to the state. The Third 
 This clause provides that five percent of the sale of public lands in Illi- 
 nois shall be reserved for the state two percent for the improvement of 
 roads leading into the state and three percent for school purposes, one-
 
 368 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 sixth part of the three percent, or one-half percent to be devoted to a 
 college or university. Clause Four This clause provides that an entire 
 township of land shall be set aside for use of a seminary of learning to 
 be vested in the legislature of the state. The first provision above gave 
 the state nearly a million acres of land, the proceeds of which passed 
 into a permanent township school fund. This fund has now grown to 
 more than five million dollars. The three percent of the sale of public 
 lands has made a fund of over six hundred thousand dollars. The one- 
 sixth part of the three percent is now a fund of over two hundred thou- 
 sand dollars. The seminary fund from the seminary township is about 
 sixty thousand dollars. 
 
 The wonderful liberality of the general government in making gifts 
 to the cause of popular education in this state ought to be a matter of 
 great appreciation by the people of the state of Illinois. 
 
 In Governor Bond's first message to the legislature in 1819 he re- 
 commended to that body a revision of the laws which had been in force 
 under the teritorial regime, calling especial attention to the subject of 
 education, saying "It is our imperious duty, for the faithful perform- 
 ance of which we are answerable to God and our country, to watch over 
 this interesting subject." In response to this call to duty by the gov- 
 ernor, the legislature passed laws making it an offense to cut timber from 
 any school land ; furthermore a law was enacted providing for the lease 
 of any and all school lands, the rents resulting therefrom to be applied 
 to the cause of education. The same general assembly passed laws char- 
 tering academies at Edwardsville, Carlyle, and Belleville. 
 
 In December, 1820, the second general assembly listened to the mes- 
 sages of the governor, in which he warmly urged the founding of a 
 "seminary of learning" to be located at the new capital, Vandalia. He 
 said this educational institution should be located in the capital "be- 
 cause by an occasional visit at the houses of the general assembly and 
 the courts of justice, the student will find the best specimens of oratory 
 the state can produce ; imbibe the principles of legal science, and politi- 
 cal knowledge, and by an intercourse with good society his habits of life 
 would be chastened, and his manners improved." The legislature evi- 
 dently wished to do something to comply with the governor's wishes and 
 so incorporated the Belleville Debating and Library Society and took 
 other steps looking toward advancing the cause of education at Alton, 
 in Monroe county, and in White county. It does not appear that any 
 actual school work resulted from this legislation. 
 
 Joseph Duncan was a senator from Jackson county to the general 
 assembly in 1825. He introduced a bill which was the first effort at 
 providing a system of free school education. The bill became a law 
 and had many excellent provisions for those early days. The law pro- 
 vided for a school or schools in every county in the state. School of- 
 ficers were created and provision made for elections to fill them. These 
 officers were to have charge of the schools very much as boards of di- 
 rectors have now. School sites and the tax levy were to be fixed by the 
 legal voters in a mass meeting. The taxes must not be more than one- 
 half of one percent on the assessed valuation, and in no case more than 
 ten dollars for any one person. Taxes could be paid in money or in 
 merchantable produce. School houses were to be built and kept in re- 
 pair by a sort of poll tax in labor. The local taxes were to be increased 
 by the distribution of a general state fund derived from one fiftieth of
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 369 
 
 the entire state tax and five-sixths of the interest due on the school fund 
 which the state had borrowed. 
 
 The law as formulated by Mr. Duncan was so modified in the ses- 
 sions of 1826 and 1827 that the whole taxing power was nullified, and 
 . money could be raised only by popular subscription. There was no 
 provision for the examination of the teacher who was selected usually 
 not by the school authorities but by those who were subscribers to the 
 school. In this session of the legislature an academy was chartered in 
 Union county and the first college Franklin College was chartered at 
 Albion, Edwards county. In 1829 a law was enacted which put the 
 schools back where they were prior to 1825. Thus the good start made 
 in 1825 had a miserable ending in 1829. From 1829 to 1855 the school 
 system in Illinois was really a subscription system. This was a great 
 blow to the cause of popular education. 
 
 It is not surprising that the Duncan law was repealed. Most of the 
 inhabitants of Illinois at that time were from states in which there were 
 no free school system. It been estimated that not more than three 
 or four members of the legislature were from states where the free school 
 idea was incorporated into law. It was the bug-a-boo of taxation which 
 killed the Duncan law. 
 
 The system of education in vogue in the slave holding states, where 
 most of the population hailed from in the first quarter of the nineteenth 
 century, was that of private instruction supplemented in some instances 
 by academy or college training. We must not think that because the 
 Duncan law was repealed and the subscription system substituted that 
 the cause of education had no friends, for it was in the period following 
 the failure of the Duncan law that steps were taken to establish colleges in 
 Southern Illinois. These will be considered later as we wish to treat here 
 only the public school phase of the subject. 
 
 The story of education in the various parts of Southern Illinois prior 
 to 1855 is the same for the entire region, the teachers were usually 
 poorly prepared ; they begat no educational enthusiasm. They were in 
 the main not actual residents of the localities. They were a class of 
 men who taught a few months for a pittance and usually moved to 
 other localities at the end of a short term. As a rule they agreed to 
 teach only reading, writing, spelling, and arithmetic to the "single rule 
 of three." They boarded with the families whose children were in 
 school. Each family entertained the teacher a just share of the time 
 which was determined by the number of children in school from that 
 home. This practice was called "boarding around." 
 
 PRIMITIVE SCHOOL HOUSES 
 
 Their school houses and their construction have frequently been de- 
 scribed by the early pioneers. They were invariably of logs, usually 
 about sixteen or eighteen feet by twenty-four feet. The logs were sel- 
 dom hewn. The men of the neighborhood would go into the timber and 
 cut the logs, haul them to the school-house site, and on a designated day 
 would meet and carry up the walls. It was covered with clapboards which 
 were rived out of the oak trees by some patron of the school who had 
 learned the art of making boards. The boards were seldom nailed on, 
 but were held in position by straight poles resting on the lower ends of 
 each layer. These weights were secured by pins at each end of the 
 
 Vol. 124
 
 370 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 pole set into the ribs of the roof, or by flat rocks resting on the roof just 
 below the weight poles. The doors were frequently of sawn boards but 
 now and then they were constructed of clapboards. The hinges were of 
 wood and were home made. Windows were openings in the side of the 
 room made by removing a log or two. Glass was not altogether un- 
 known in these windows, but often the opening was filled with oiled 
 paper or left open entirely. The furniture was of the crudest sort. 
 Seats were of split logs with pins in the rounding side for legs. The 
 split surface was made smooth with broad ax and plane. Desks were 
 arranged around the side of the room of sawn boards or hewn slabs and 
 were used for writing purposes only. The pupil usually stood while 
 writing. Paper was scarce and costly and pupils often learned to write 
 by using slates. The pens were made of goose quills, and the ink was 
 home made. The fire place occupied one end of the building and was 
 often lined with flat rock set up edgewise and held in place by mortar 
 made of clay or lime and sand. Often the wooden fire place was pro- 
 tected against the fire by a liberal coating of clay plastered upon the 
 inner side of the fire place. The fuel was wood from the timber nearby. 
 It was furnished by the patrons of the school and was brought in the 
 form of long poles and logs. The task of preparing it fell to the teacher 
 and the larger boys. And this was the form of fuel long after stoves 
 became common in the school-houses. The wood lay exposed to the 
 rains and snows of the winter and often great difficulty was experienced 
 in keeping the fires going with such fuel. Black boards were very few 
 and very crude. One or two wide planks planed and painted served 
 the purpose. The carpenter's chalk served as crayon. It may be pre- 
 sumed however that the board was not considered a necessary adjunct 
 of the school-room. Books were indeed scarce. Those in use were Web- 
 ster's Speller and McGuffey's readers. The advanced pupils used 
 other books. In not a few schools the Bible was the text in reading. It 
 was no uncommon thing to find about the home a board in the general 
 form of a paddle with narrow handle and broad shovel like end. The 
 board was smoothed on both sides and upon these smooth sides was 
 written the multiplication table. A leather thong passing through a 
 hole in the handle secured the device to the wrist or to the plow handle, 
 and thus was always handy for the use of the learner. The writer has 
 seen these paddles with the tables recorded with keel or lampblack. 
 
 It was no uncommon thing in an early day to find a school conducted 
 in a barn, residence, courthouse, or abandoned cabin. 
 
 CONVENTIONS TO ENCOURAGE PUBLIC EDUCATION 
 
 In 1833 there was held in Vandalia a convention of those interested in 
 public education. It was composed of those members of the legislature 
 who were concerned about an efficient system of public schools, together 
 with those public spirited citizens a few of whom were teachers. The 
 burden of their effort was to gather information concerning education. 
 A permanent committee was appointed consisting of some ten or fifteen 
 of the most noted public men : John Russell, of Greene county ; 0. H. 
 Browning, of Adams; Henry Eddy, of Gallatin; Jeffrey Robinson, of 
 Wayne; J. M. Peck, of St. Clair; Stephen Dewey, of 'Fulton; R. A. 
 Peebles, of Payette ; Benjamin Miles, of Jo Daviess ; William H. Brown, 
 of Payette ; John T. Stuart, of Sangamon ; John Tillson, of Montgomery ;
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 371 
 
 Edward H. Piper, of Crawford ; and W. L. D. Ewing, of Fayette. This 
 committee was to make diligent inquiry in the several counties repre- 
 sented in order to arrive at the attitude of the public toward the subject 
 of general education. The general assembly then in session did not enact 
 any legislation upon the subject of education, but by resolution urged 
 the above committee to gather information, as stated above. 
 
 A circular letter of explanation together with a list of twenty-two 
 questions was sent out. The questions asked for the kind of school 
 houses, number of months of school per year, number of pupils, quali- 
 fications of teachers, whether many children are in need of state aid and 
 several questions on the character of the instruction given in the schools 
 etc., etc. Without doubt this circular letter and these questions created 
 
 IN USE UNTIL RECENTLY 
 
 a very general interest in the cause of education, because the members 
 of the legislature elected in August, 1834, discussed the educational 
 questions in the canvass. 
 
 The Rev. John M. Peck, editor of the Pioneer and Western Baptist, 
 suggested another educational convention in Vandalia sometime during 
 the sitting of the legislature which convened in December, 1834. In 
 response to this suggestion by the Rev. Dr. Peck there was held in Van- 
 dalia on Friday, December 5, 1834, "The Illinois Educational Conven- 
 tion." Hon. Cyrus Edwards was made president and Hon. Stephen A. 
 Douglas was made secretary. A committee of three was appointed to 
 draft an address to the people of the state. This address was of con- 
 siderable proportion and discussed at leiigth the great need of a system 
 of free schools, the revenues of the state, and the progress being made in 
 educational matters in other states. There was also published a memor- 
 ial to the legislature asking for certain amendments to the present law. 
 The result of this address and memorial upon the legislature was that 
 the Hon. William J. Gatewood, senator from Gallatin county offered a 
 "Report on the Subject of Education" in which he outlined a law not 
 altogether different from the Duncan law of 1825. He supported his
 
 372 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 measure with a strong appeal for the cause of the common schools. But 
 all to no avail. The legislature was against an increase of taxation. The 
 best the legislture could do was to provide for a distribution of the 
 school funds of the state to the counties in proportion to the white popu- 
 lation under twenty-one years of age, providing that not more than half 
 of any teacher 's salary should be paid from the state funds, and provided 
 also that all school buildings should be furnished by the patrons of the 
 school. 
 
 BEST FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE 
 
 In another place we shall consider the origin and growth of the col- 
 leges of the state. It may be said here that the best friends of the com- 
 mon schools were to be found among those connected with the cause of 
 higher education. The Rev. J. M. Peck, Rev. John F. Brooks, Prof. J. 
 B. Turner, Rev. Theron Baldwin, Prof. Sturdevant, and Dr. Edward 
 Beecher and a score of others were faithful champions of the cause of 
 the common schools. "The Illinois Teachers' Association" was organ- 
 ized in the chapel of Illinois College on September 20, 1836. Several 
 other meetings of this organization were held but the name soon changed 
 and its identity was lost or at least becomes doubtful. From time to 
 time efforts were made to enact a strictly free school system, but little if 
 any real progress was made. By 1840 the public prints had become 
 active in advocacy of a free school system. No doubt much that appeared 
 in these public newspapers was written by teachers and others inter- 
 ested in the cause of the common schools. Not only was a liberal use 
 made of the newspapers but educational journals began to make their 
 appearance as early as 1847. 
 
 Among the questions sent out in 1833 was this : ' ' How would a cir- 
 cuit teacher do who should conduct four or five schools, visiting them 
 once a week as teachers of singing do, and lecturing and explaining the 
 branches taught ? ' ' This is a strange idea about the way to carry on the 
 work of the common schools but out of this idea has come the position 
 of county superintendent. At the various educational gatherings be- 
 tween 1833 and 1845 resolutions were passed recommending to the legis- 
 lature many new features which eventually grew into law. In 1844 the 
 county commissioner of school lands was made the county superin- 
 tendent of schools, and in the same year the secretary of state was made 
 the state superintendent of common schools. This officer was author- 
 ized to recommend text books, maps, charts, and apparatus. The county 
 superintendent had the right to examine any one who desired to teach 
 in his county. The public school funds could not be drawn without the 
 teachers had "passed" before the county superintendent. 
 
 The first educational meetings were of the nature of conventions 
 to which men of ability and standing were invited. The common school 
 teacher would have felt much out of place in these state conventions. 
 But from these conferences sprang in an early day what were called 
 Institutes. These institutes were meetings of the rank and file, usually 
 led by some distinguished educator. One such institute was held for 
 three weeks in Ottawa in 1849. Others were held in other parts of the 
 state. At these institutes very practical questions were discussed.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 373 
 
 STATE LAW OF 1855 
 
 The general trend of educational movement up to 1855 was not very 
 different from what has been described. In that year the school law 
 was radically changed. The essential points of the Free School law of 
 1825 were incorporated in the law of 1855, namely : 
 
 1. A school system based on law. 
 
 2. A school free of all rates or charges against the children attending 
 or their parents or guardians. 
 
 3. The defraying of all the expense of such a school by taxation of 
 all the property in a predetermined district, except the part that 
 might be met by the income of the various school funds of the state. 
 This law of 1855 found a fairly well organized plan for general 
 
 education in the several counties. In 1845 a law had made the Secretary 
 of State ex-officio state superintendent. In 1854 the office of state 
 superintendent was created and at the first election was filled by the 
 selection of Ninian W. Edwards who had long been deeply interested 
 in educational matters. The county commissioner of school lands was 
 made ex-officio county superintendent of schools in 1845. Districts had 
 been laid out in the several townships and school-houses had been con- 
 structed. The early school-houses were of logs, but by 1855 many frame 
 buildings had been erected. The general plan was for one man to fur- 
 nish the frame, another the shingles, another the weather boards, another 
 the flooring, another the chimney, etc. 
 
 Replies to the questions sent out by the state superintendent of pub- 
 lic instruction published in the School Reports from 1870 to 1900 show 
 that the school interests in many counties were at a low ebb. In 1883 
 the state superintendent of public instruction send out questions to be 
 answered by the several county superintendents on general topics. 
 Among these we note the following: Number of districts having no 
 schools? twelve in Southern Illinois; sixty-four in the entire state. 
 Number of log school-houses in the state 379 ; in Southern Illinois 305. 
 
 PRESENT SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION 
 
 At the present time the common schools of Southern Illinois are 
 thoroughly organized. There are few districts if any where the term 
 is less than six months, and in many the term is eight to ten months. The 
 school-houses are neat structures, well furnished with patent seats, good 
 maps, globes and blackboards. In most of the country schools are to be 
 found well selected libraries, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Much im- 
 provement has been made in recent years relative to lighting, heating, 
 and ventilating. In quite a number of recently built rural school- 
 houses, hot air furnaces have been installed. And jacketed stoves are 
 quite common. Pictures, busts and other forms of art adorn the interior 
 of many rural school-rooms. Opening exercises in which singing is a 
 large and enjoyable part are held at regular periods. Drawing is regu- 
 larly taught in a large majority of the schools, and ' ' singing by note ' ' is 
 very common. The rural free delivery provides many schools with daily 
 papers and magazines, and the discussion of current events is no un- 
 usual thing. Elementary agriculture and domestic science are taught 
 in a few of the best rural schools. The Farmers ' Institute has a strong 
 ally in the free public school. Boys often have patches of corn on the
 
 374 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 farm where they raise that grain for competition in the county fair. 
 The county superintendent has what is called corn day at which all the 
 boys in the township who wish may enter their corn for inspection and 
 grading. The State University has found its way to the rural schools of 
 Southern Illinois and has set up standards for corn judging, cattle judg- 
 ing, etc. Not only so, but the Southern Illinois State Normal University 
 has recently added a department of agriculture and has purchased a 
 farm of some sixty acres adjoining the campus where the boys and girls 
 of Egypt can see the principles of agriculture put into practical opera- 
 tion. 
 
 Annual institutes required by law are held in every county in this 
 end of the state. Often it will occur that the enrollment at the annual 
 institute is equal to or greater than the number actually engaged in 
 teaching in the county. In several counties in recent years the young 
 men engaged in teaching outnumber the young ladies. 
 
 One phase of the common school work which has attracted attention 
 among educators in recent years is the graduation exercises of the rural 
 
 A BOYS CORN CLUB IN JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 schools. The schools nearly all follow the course of study provided by 
 the State Teachers ' Association of the state. It is one of the most satisfac- 
 tory courses of its kind put out by the school authorities of any state. 
 This course lays out a certain amount of work to be done and when 
 the course is satisfactorily finished the county superintendent issues 
 county diplomas to the boys and girls who have faithfully completed the 
 work. The Lindley Law, an act passed by the general assembly some 
 eight or ten years ago, provides that the boy or girl who stands highest 
 in his grades in each township is entitled to a scholarship in the state 
 normal for a four years' course. The graduating exercises of the rural 
 school are frequently held in connection with the summer institute. At 
 such times the parents of the boys and girls come to the institute in 
 large numbers and thus imbibe the enthusiasm of educational progress. 
 Some counties will graduate as many as fifty to seventy-five young people 
 from the eighth grade each year. 
 
 When it is remembered that only one dollar per pupil in attendance 
 upon our schools is furnished by the state and that all other costs must 
 be borne by direct taxation levied by the people themselves, and when it
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 375 
 
 is remembered that the land values of Southern Illinois are not more 
 than one-half of what they are in the black fertile prairies of the central 
 and northern parts of the state, it is a matter of just pride that our 
 schools take such high rank in the state. There is no tax which the people 
 pay with greater pleasure than their school tax. The teachers are being 
 better paid, the terms are lengthening, the character of the work is im- 
 proving, and the outlook for the little red schoolhouse was never more 
 promising.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE 
 
 A PART OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM CREATED BY THE STATE SCHOOL 
 OPENS IN 1866 UNCERTAINTY AS TO STATUS LIFE GOES OUT IN 1879. 
 
 Morris Birkbeck, a prosperous farmer of England, migrated to Illi- 
 nois in 1817. He landed at the present site of Albion White county in 
 that year. Here he purchased fourteen hundred acres of prairie land. 
 He immediately opened a farm and began country life as if he had al- 
 ways lived in the ' ' new west. ' ' In conjunction with others he organized 
 the Illinois Agricultural Society about 1821 or 1822. Mr. Birkbeck 
 was the president of this society in the latter year. Professor Jonathan 
 Turner was an enthusiastic successor to Mr. Birkbeck in the matter of 
 scientific farming. Perhaps no man has done more to advance the cause 
 of scientific agriculture than has Jonathan Turner. 
 
 A PART OF THE GENERAL SYSTEM 
 
 In 1833 there was held in Vandalia the first educational convention 
 in the state, and from that date to 1855 there was a ceaseless effort to se- 
 cure certain educational advantages for the youth of the state. The 
 champions of these efforts were the Rev. John M. Peck, Prof. John Rus- 
 sell, Cyrus Edwards, John Goudy, Judge Sidney Breese and a host 
 of other early pioneers. Gov. Duncan as early as 1834 urged upon 
 the legislature the establishment of a State University, and in 1835 sev- 
 eral charters were granted for the founding of colleges and seminaries. 
 
 There soon developed four lines along which the educational forces 
 of the state seemed to exert themselves. These were : First, a public free 
 school system ; second, a training or normal school for the preparation 
 of young people to teach ; third, an agricultural school ; fourth, a State 
 University. The Normal school idea was agitated as early as 1840 by a 
 paper published in Jacksonville. Agricultural papers were early 
 printed in two or three sections of the state. The Prairie Farmer was a 
 power for good in the early '40s. In 1852 The Industrial League of Illi- 
 nois was formed in Chicago and was incorporated a year later. This 
 league issued an address to the people of the state in 1852 in which they 
 point out the need of a State University that shall provide for depart- 
 ments of instruction, as follows: First, Normal school department; sec- 
 ond, a department of agriculture; third, a department of mechanics; 
 fourth, a department of commerce and business. 
 
 This Industrial League was very active in urging the consideration 
 of at least two of these lines of education. A bill to incorporate the 
 
 376
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 377 
 
 "Illinois University" with Jonathan B. Turner, Bronson Murray, John 
 B. Kennicott, Urial Mills, H. C. Johns, William A. Pennell as trustees 
 was introduced into the legislature in 1855. The bill received favorable 
 consideration in the senate but the time was too short to get the bill 
 through the house, and the effort came to naught. 
 
 In all this agitation by the "Education Convention," which was 
 meeting annually, and the ' ' Industrial League. ' ' the literary phase of a 
 state university was not very prominent. The method of support for 
 these educational projects was the use of the college and seminary 
 funds which had resulted from the sale of lands which had been donated 
 by the general government. 
 
 In 1804 a land office was located in Kaskaskia. The secretary of 
 the treasury was authorized to locate in the Kaskaskia land-office district 
 a township of land to be given to the state of Illinois, when admitted in- 
 to the union, for the purpose of founding a seminary of learning. In 
 the enabling act another township was given for the same purpose. This 
 made seventy-two sections 46,080 acres. In 1829 the state legislature 
 authorized the sale of the college and seminary lands. The land was 
 sacrificed usually at government prices, $1.25 per acre. The total 
 amount sold up to 1855 was 42,300 acres which produced a fund of 
 $59,832. This money was borrowed by the state from time to time and 
 an interest rate of six per cent paid into the fund. This money is now 
 enumerated as a portion of the permanent school fund. 
 
 There yet remained in 1861, 3,880 acres, or four and one-half sec- 
 tions of the seminary lands unsold. A portion of this remnant, if not 
 all of it, was located in Iroquois county. 
 
 CREATED BY THE STATE 
 
 The effort of all the forces at work on the general school problem in 
 Illinois resulted in the creation of the office of state superintendent of 
 public instruction in 1854 and in the passage in 1855 of the act which 
 formed the basis of our present free school system. In 1861 the legisla- 
 ture passed a law creating the ' ' Illinois Agricultural College. ' ' The en- 
 abling section reads : " Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, 
 represented in the General Assembly that J. W. Singleton, Thomas 
 Quick, William A. Hacker, Walter Buchanan, B. C. Renois, Harmon 
 Alexander, Curtis Blakeman, James H. Stipp and Zadock Casey, and all 
 such other persons as may become associated with them, are hereby con- 
 stituted a body corporate, by the name and style of the Illinois Agricul- 
 tural College, for the purpose of instruction and science in practical and 
 scientific agriculture, and in the mechanical arts." 
 
 The capital stock was fixed at $50,000 with the privilege of increasing 
 the sum to $200,000, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, ten 
 percent of the subscription to be paid in cash on each share at the 
 time of issuing the stock. Arrangements in the charter provided for an 
 opportunity for young men who were worthy and needy to have a chance 
 to work in the fields a portion of each day and thus meet a portion of 
 their expense. 
 
 Section 8 reads: "That the college and seminary lands of this state 
 be and they are hereby donated to said corporation with power to lease, 
 sell, dispose of and convey the same, and to receive and collect the money 
 arising therefrom for the purpose of establishing, improving, and carry-
 
 378 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ing on said college and farm. ' ' The lands referred to in this 8th section 
 of the charter were the remnant of the two townships granted by the 
 general government for college and seminary purposes. There were four 
 and one-half sections yet unsold. When the board of trustees was or- 
 ganized, it disposed of these four and one half sections for $58,000 and 
 the money was deposited in the bank of Mr. A. D. Hay, of Centralia, who 
 was treasurer of that institution. 
 
 When it came time for the trustees to locate the school, the activity 
 of Mr. Thomas Quick secured the location of the college in the village of 
 Irvington, the home of Mr. Quick located some five or six miles south of 
 Centralia on the line of Illinois Central Railroad. Lands were purchased, 
 buildings erected, and a corps of instructors secured. 
 
 There was some doubt whether this Illinois Industrial College was 
 a state institution or whether it was a private corporation. In the same 
 way there was some doubt whether the Normal school at Normal was a 
 state school. The tenth section of the charter for the Illinois Industrial 
 College seems to establish the fact that it is a state school. It reads: 
 "Said corporation shall make a full biennial report to the legislature 
 when in session of their financial condition, their progress, the number of 
 pupils received and discharged, stating the residence of each." 
 
 The village of Irvington was a very small collection of houses, but the 
 location was well selected as the land was rich and the physical condi- 
 tions healthful. 
 
 SCHOOL OPENS IN 1866 
 
 Although the corporation was chartered in 1861, there had been 
 much irritating delay in locating the school and in providing suitable 
 buildings. However, the school opened on the 10th of September, 1866, 
 with the following faculty : Rev. I. S. Mahan, president ; Rev. James S. 
 C. Finley, Valentine C. Rucker, Mrs. Helen Keeney, Peter Walser, 
 Thomas Quick. The last named gentleman was the guiding genius in 
 the board of trustees, and while the board had changed some since the 
 charter was issued, Mr. Quick was still on the board and its president. 
 Mr. Quick's position on the faculty was as head of the department of 
 law, when such a department should be organized. 
 
 Mr. Mahan remained but one year as head of the school, and upon 
 the opening of the second year in September 1867, the Rev. D. P. French 
 was the president. In 1871 the Rev. Mr. French was succeeded by the 
 Rev. A. C. Hillman who served till 1874, when the Rev. D. W. Phillips 
 was selected as president. He served till the death of the school some 
 three years later. 
 
 The charter of the school made no provision for requiring a bond of 
 the treasurer covering the funds which might come into his hands. The 
 subscription to the stock was liberal and with this money a farm of 
 five hundred and sixty acres was purchased lying adjacent to the Illinois 
 Central railroad, immediately west of the village of Irvington. The 
 money, some $58,000 for which the seminary lands were sold, was placed 
 in the bank of Mr. Hay, which shortly failed, and the money was lost. 
 In later years the legislature investigated the whole matter of the loss 
 of the college and seminary funds in the hands of Mr. Hay, but no 
 charges of intention to defraud the state could ever be sustained. It was 
 believed that the income from the college and seminary fund together
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 379 
 
 with tuition and the proceeds from the farm would be sufficient to sus- 
 tain the school even if the legislature never appropriated anything for 
 its support. But when the bank failed and the income from the college 
 and seminary fund was shut off, the only source of support was tuition 
 and the income from the farm, the state never having appropriated any 
 money to the school's maintenance. 
 
 UNCERTAINTY AS TO STATUS 
 
 The uncertainty as to whether the school was a "state school" is 
 further shown by the act of the legislature in 1869, two years after the 
 school was actually opened. It seems that the treasurer had failed to 
 make any report to the auditor of public accounts of the proceeds of the 
 
 THE OLD ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, IRVINGTON, WASHINGTON 
 
 COUNTY 
 
 sale of the four and one half sections of the college and seminary lands. 
 He had repeatedly been asked to do so. On April 19, 1869, the legis- 
 lature therefore passed an act entitled "An Act to Secure the Endow- 
 ment Fund of the Illinois Agricultural College." This provided that 
 unless the treasurer of the said college make a full and complete report 
 to the auditor of all the money, notes, interest or other things of value, 
 as the proceeds of the sale of the four and one half sections of the college 
 and seminary land, within three months, then the attorney general should 
 take steps to secure the said amounts of money, etc. 
 
 Section 3 of this act is as follows : " It shall be lawful in case of the 
 establishment of the Southern Illinois Normal University, for the said 
 college to transfer and make over to the trustees thereof the said trust 
 fund, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between 
 the trustees of said college and said university, and which shall be ap- 
 proved by the governor, to be used only for purposes of endowment of 
 said university." There was a bill then before the legislature for the 
 founding of a state normal school south of the St. Louis and Terre 
 Haute Railroad, and it was the intention of this third section to trans-
 
 380 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 fer any money which could be recovered from the Illinois Agricultural 
 College to this proposed normal school. 
 
 At some date prior to April 1878 the state entered suit against the 
 trustees of the Illinois Agricultural College for the recovery of the col- 
 lege and seminary funds amounting to some $58,000. In the April term, 
 1878, of the circuit court in Washington county a decree was entered 
 vesting the title to the "farm" of the Illinois Agricultural College in the 
 state of Illinois, and on the 31st of May, 1879, the legislature passed an 
 act authorizing the sale of the farm of five hundred and sixty acres. The 
 act provided that when the land is sold the money shall be turned into the 
 state treasury and that all liens and incumbrances on the "farm" shall 
 be paid and that the residue shall be applied to educational purposes as 
 may hereafter be provided by law. 
 
 There were several claims against the school probably amounting to 
 several thousand dollars. When the lands were sold and all claims paid 
 there remained the sum of nine thousand dollars which was turned into 
 the endowment fund of the Southern Illinois Normal University. 
 
 The school was well attended from the different parts of the state. 
 As many as from two to three hundred students were enrolled at one 
 time and the entire school seemed to have the air of prosperity about it. 
 There was a preparatory department which accommodated those stu- 
 dents whose preliminary training had been too limited to enable them to 
 enter the regular college courses. 
 
 A large boarding hall and dormitory was erected which was under 
 the supervision of the wife of Dr. French. The demand for accommoda- 
 tions for students was difficult to supply in a village of only three hun- 
 dred people, and so there were many houses erected in order to accom- 
 modate parents who wished to move to the village in order to school their 
 children. These farmers and others would move away at the end of the 
 school year and then the town consisted largely of tenantless houses. 
 
 LIFE GOES OUT IN 1879 
 
 The unfortunate loss of the funds from the college and seminary 
 lands and the decree of the circuit court vesting the state with the 
 "farm" were blows the school could not stand. The number of stu- 
 dents decreased, the teachers sought other fields, and the Illinois Agri- 
 cultural College was a thing of the past. A Mr. Clark, a Presbyterian 
 minister, occupied the college buildings and carried on a school of the 
 academy grade for some time, and eventually this was abandoned. There 
 was no longer any reason for the people 's remaining in the village, and 
 college buildings and residences were left for the bats and owls. 
 
 In later years the main college building was used as a residence, and 
 some five or six years ago the building and grounds were purchased by 
 the trustees of the Huddleston Orphans' Home, an institution under the 
 auspices of the Baptist church.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 PRIVATE SCHOOLS 
 
 FIRST HIGH SCHOOL IN ILLINOIS SHURTLEFP COLLEGE MCKENDREE AND 
 EWING COLLEGES SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE GREENVILLE 
 COLLEGE. 
 
 The story of educational progress is only partly told when we have 
 recited the part the state has played in education in Illinois. Private 
 enterprise must always receive its share of the honor which comes to any 
 people. Indeed private effort is always the pioneer, and only steps aside 
 when the public conscience has been stimulated by the achievement of 
 individual effort. Upon a cursory view of the matter it may appear 
 that private effort is selfish. This is true to some extent but it is only the 
 first step in the order of development. Public movements are always the 
 outgrowth of private effort. This is well illustrated in the beginnings of 
 higher education in Illinois. 
 
 The first schools were for the masses provided they had the neces- 
 sary funds to pay the quarterly subscription. The house was provided 
 through private or community effort. The teacher was the creature of 
 no law. He was wholly independent of legislative enactment. He was 
 amenable to his patrons under the common law of contracts. If boys 
 and girls desired to extend their knowledge and training beyond the cur- 
 riculum of the subscription school reading, writing, spelling, and arith- 
 metic to the rule of three the state presented no opportunity nor gave 
 any encouragement. This matter was left wholly to private enterprise. 
 Many young people in Illinois in the first third of the 19th century who 
 had exhausted the supply of educational pabulum to be found in the sub- 
 scription schools and who desired to pursue higher courses of learning 
 were obliged to put themselves under the tutorage of ministers of the 
 gospel or go to the older states where private colleges had been estab- 
 lished. 
 
 Governor Reynolds tells how he was obliged to return to Knoxville, 
 Tennessee, for advanced studies. He arrived in Illinois in 1800 at the 
 age of eleven. After attending the subscription schools, he attended a 
 sort of private academy or advanced subscription school a few miles 
 northeast of Belleville on the site of the now famous Rock Spring Semi- 
 nary. This infant academy was taught by John Messenger, a very noted 
 pioneer, educator, surveyor, and legislator. Under Mr. Messenger Gov- 
 ernor Reynolds studied higher mathematics, surveying, the sciences and 
 some astronomy. Having "finished" in this school, his parents sent 
 him to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he remained two years. The minis- 
 ters of those days were usually men of education and culture and often 
 gave private instruction in Latin, Algebra, and other advanced studies. 
 
 381
 
 382 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 FIRST HIGH SCHOOL IN ILLINOIS 
 
 It will he remembered that tradition has it that there was a college 
 in Kaskaskia in the first half of the eighteenth century but that it was 
 abandoned in 1765. Let this be as it may, there can be no doubt that 
 to the Rev. John M. Peck belongs the credit of establishing the first 
 school for higher education in Illinois. The Rev. Mr. Peck was born in 
 Connecticut, October 31, 1789, and came to St. Louis late in the year 
 1817. In 1819 he examined the present site of Upper Alton as a location 
 for a seminary. In 1820 he selected lands some eight and one half 
 miles north east of Belleville. A group of springs issues forth near the 
 roadside, hence the name Rock Spring. Dr. Peck was a missionary and 
 was commissioned "to spread the gospel and promote common schools." 
 
 THE ROCK SPRING SEMINARY, FOUNDED BY REV. JOHN M. PECK 
 
 He moved his family to Rock Spring in the summer of 1822. From 
 1822 to 1824 he was absorbed in the fight against slavery, and was not 
 able to give his attention to the matter of founding a school for higher 
 education. In the early part of 1825 one John M. Ellis, a Presbyterian 
 missionary was passing along the public road leading eastward from 
 East St. Louis past Rock Spring and on to Lebanon. At the spring he 
 heard the sounds of an axe. He stopped and upon investigation he 
 discovered the Rev. Dr. Peck hard at work in the woods and when ques- 
 tioned by the Rev. Mr. Ellis as to what he was doing, Dr. Peck replied 
 that he was building a theological seminary. The Rev. Mr. Ellis was 
 greatly impressed with his short visit with the builder of a theological 
 seminary, for the facts are that in less than a year he had drawn up a 
 plan for the founding of a college which eventually came to be Illinois 
 College, Jacksonville. 
 
 In this early day there were few buildings other than log cabins, but 
 Mr. Peck was building for many years to come and the seminary build- 
 ing was a frame structure two stories high, the walls filled in with 
 brick and plastered over. The building was twenty feet by thirty-two
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 383 
 
 feet, the upper story being used as a dormitory for boys. The lower 
 story was used for school purposes. There were two wings each one 
 story high attached to the sides of the front of the building. There were 
 two log cabins near and these three buildings constituted the "plant" of 
 the Rock Spring Seminary, the first school established as a higher insti- 
 tution of learning. 
 
 The Rock Spring Seminary was opened in November, 1827. One of 
 the few pupils to enter was William H. Rider from Carrollton, Greene 
 county, Illinois. Young Rider was twelve years old when he entered 
 Rock Spring Seminary in November, 1827. He says the small boys slept 
 in the second story on straw beds laid on the floor. It appears, however, 
 that Mr. Rider stayed nearly all his time in the home of the president, 
 Mr. Peck. "He was one of the most industrious men I ever knew." 
 
 The Rev. James Bradley was a sort of vice principal and had charge 
 of the school in the absence of Dr. Peck. Dr. John Russell, the noted 
 pioneer scholar, of Bluffdale, Greene county, was a teacher from the first. 
 He served as principal or vice president during the second year. The 
 school had an average attendance during the first four years of fifty 
 and the southern end of the state was well represented. 
 
 SHUETLEFF COLLEGE 
 
 In 1831 by action of board of trustees the school was removed to 
 Upper Alton and became in 1832 the Alton Seminary. Later in 1835 or 
 '36 the school received a charter, and the name was changed to Alton 
 College and in honor of Benjamin Shurtleff, of Boston, the name was 
 changed to that of Shurtleff. 
 
 This school has had a long and useful career. It has been hampered 
 for lack of funds, but its friends have never weakened in their loyalty 
 and the interest in the school has always been good. John M. Palmer 
 and his brother, Elihu J. Palmer, entered the school in 1835. They were 
 poor boys and needed to earn at least a part of their school expenses. 
 They cleared a road or street as it came to be, of trees and received pay 
 for their work from the school. The street leads westward from the 
 college to the present city of Alton. There were three graduates in 1837 
 and none other till 1842. From that day to the present, with few ex- 
 ceptions, classes have been graduated each year. 
 
 "During the war the number of students greatly decreased, and the 
 very life of the school was threatened for a time. Of former students, 
 and those in attendance at the outbreak of the war, about one hundred 
 and forty enlisted in the service of their country. Several of the stu- 
 dents rose to great distinction as soldiers, becoming majors, colonels, 
 brigadier generals, and major generals. 
 
 "Shurtleff College has been of incalculable benefit to the Baptist 
 denomination in the state of Illinois, and its graduates are occupying 
 positions of influence and responsibility in all parts of the union. They 
 have distinguished themsetlves, not only by their patriotism and bravery 
 in times of war, but as editors, jurists and statesmen, preachers and 
 men of business. 
 
 "The future of the College was never so well assured, or so full of 
 bright promise as it is today." 
 
 The school is under the immediate control of the Rev. David G. Ray, 
 L. H. D., senior regent. The school has a number of beautiful build-
 
 384 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ings in a campus set with native oaks on a high bluff overlooking the 
 Father of Waters. 
 
 McKENDREE COLLEGE 
 
 There can be little doubt that the vision of the Rev. Dr. Peck as he 
 chopped away on the logs which would enter the Rock Spring Seminary 
 as lumber, was also seen by others beside Dr. Peck and the Rev. Mr. 
 Ellis, for the people of Lebanon, a straggling village not more than three 
 miles from Rock Spring, were shortly dreaming of a college which 
 should eventually adorn one of the beautiful hills in the outskirts of 
 their future city. Peter Cartwright attended the Methodist conference 
 held at Mt. Carmel in September 1827. He presented a memorial from 
 Greene county to the conference asking that body to take steps to estab- 
 lish a "Conference Seminary." A committee was appointed to look 
 into the matter. In February 1828 the people of Lebanon, then a town 
 of two hundred people, drew up articles of association ' ' for the erection 
 of an edifice for a seminary of learning." There was bitter rivalry in 
 those days between the sects, or denominations, and no doubt the people 
 of Lebanon were greatly stirred to start their school by the success than 
 attending the Rev. Mr. Peck's school at Rock Spring. A subscription 
 list signed by 104 persons for $1,385.00 was soon secured. Trustees were 
 selected and buildings put under construction. 
 
 The school was opened in the fall of 1828, one year after the open- 
 ing of Rock Spring Seminary, with an enrollment of seventy-two stu- 
 dents. The first year the school was housed in two buildings belonging 
 to the public and used for subscription schools. Mr. E. R. Ames, after- 
 wards Bishop in the M. E. church, was the first principal. His assistant 
 was a Miss McMurphy. Principal Ames received $115.00 for his services 
 for the first term, while Miss McMurphy received $83.33. 
 
 The college building was completed by the fall of 1829. (It burned 
 in 1856.) In 1830 the Methodist conference accepted the offer of the 
 board of trustees and the school was taken under the "fostering care" 
 of the Methodist church. Up to this time the school was known as the 
 Lebanon Seminary. About 1831 Bishop McKendree made a gift to the 
 school of four hundred and eighty acres of land and the name was 
 changed to McKendree College. In 1835 a bill was drawn in the legis- 
 lature and enacted into law creating four corporations to be known as : 
 "The Trustees of the Alton College of Illinois," "The Trustees of Illi- 
 nois College," "The Trustees of the McKendreean College," "The 
 Trustees of the Jonesboro College." The bill named the board of trus- 
 tees for each college, and locates the schools respectively in Upper Al- 
 ton, in Morgan county, in Lebanon, and at or near Jonesboro. This 
 charter contained a clause which shut out any chance for theological de- 
 partments, for it "provided, however, that nothing herein contained 
 shall authorize the establishment of a theological department in either 
 of said colleges." It provided further that "The said colleges and their 
 preparatory departments shall be open to all denominations of Chris- 
 tians." The four colleges were to serve respectively the four leading 
 denominations in Illinois at that time, namely the Baptist, the Pres- 
 byterian, the Methodist, and the Christian. 
 
 McKendree Collesre at Lebanon claims to be the oldest Methodist 
 college west of the Alleghany mountains. It has lived long and has had
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 385 
 
 an honorable career. To be sure in its earlier years it was obliged to ac- 
 cept students whose preparation was necessarily of a very limited char- 
 acter. In recent years all lines of work not purely collegiate have been 
 eliminated and only two courses are offered classical and scientific, 
 with seventy-six per cent of the students taking the classical course. 
 
 The first president under the charter was the Rev. Peter Akers. The 
 first class was graduated in 1841 seven in all and all classical students. 
 In 1848 a paper was started known as the Illinois Advocate and Lebanon 
 Journal. It was a religious paper, and was eventually moved to St. 
 Louis and called the Central Christian Advocate. It is now published 
 in Kansas City. Its editor while it was in Lebanon was Dr. Erastus 
 Wentworth. 
 
 Within the past few years the school has come into some prominence 
 in Southern Illinois because of the interest which Governor Charles S. 
 Deneen has taken in it. His father was a teacher in the school for many 
 years and the Governor was a student there. He has greatly assisted 
 the school by liberal donations and by lending his counsel to the board 
 of trustees. The Rev. Dr. John Harmon is the present president, under 
 whose direction the college is enjoying a gratfying prosperity. 
 
 The Illinois College provided for in the "Omnibus" charter of 1835 
 was founded in 1829 and has had an interesting history. For a full 
 history of Illinois College see the life and works of Dr. Edward Beecher, 
 Dr. Sturtevant, Jonathan Turner, and the "Yale Band." The school is 
 located in the western edge of Jacksonville and being beyond our terri- 
 torial limits we shall not attempt a sketch of its founding and life work. 
 
 The fourth college provided for was to be known as the Jonesboro 
 College. It was to be located at or near Jonesboro in Union county. 
 The trustees named in the charter were : B. W. Brooks, Augustus Rix- 
 leben, Winstead Davie, John S. Hacker, and others. 
 
 There is no record or knowledge of any steps having been taken to 
 organize this school. A careful inquiry among the old settlers does not 
 reveal any satisfactory information concerning the project. 
 
 EWING COLLEGE 
 
 Ewing College, located in the town of Ewing, some eight miles north 
 of Benton, the county seat of Franklin county, though not so old nor so 
 flourishing as either McKendree or Shurtleff, has nevertheless been an 
 important factor in the work of education in Southern Illinois. The 
 school had its beginning in a high school organized in December 1867. 
 Professor John Washburn, D. D., was the first principal. In 1874 a 
 charter was secured which created the school Ewing College. Dr. Wash- 
 burn continued as president of the college. He has served in that ca- 
 pacity three different terms. Rev. William Shelton, D. D., was presi- 
 dent four years and Dr. J. A. Leavitt served for ten years. Dr. W. A. 
 Mathews is now the president. There are some sixteen members of the 
 faculty with an enrollment of some two hundred students. Ewing is 
 not on any railroad and the town is small and these facts are urged as 
 advantages in sending young people to school. Considerable stress is 
 placed upon Bible study and upon the genuine religious character of 
 teachers, students, and citizens. Several prizes are given in oratory, 
 music, literary production, etc. The college is under the control of the 
 Baptist brotherhood. 
 
 Vol. 125
 
 386 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 THE SOUTHERN COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE 
 
 This school is located at Albion, and is a Junior College which grew 
 out of a county normal which was begun in Albion about the year 1889. 
 In 1891 the school was turned over to the Association of Congregational 
 Churches in Southern Illinois. The college has an endowment of $50,000, 
 andi is just now completing a beautiful new three story college building. 
 The school has grown in numbers from 8 to 150 students. The president 
 of the school is Rev. Prank B. Hines. The aim of the school is to develop 
 a high grade of Christian character. The environment is very favorable 
 to this end. Albion and Edwards county have for many years occupied 
 a unique place in Southern Illinois. It is a healthful region. The town 
 has not had a saloon for forty years. The calaboose and jail are rarely 
 occupied. Circuit court is held twice a year and three days are usually 
 sufficient time to dispose of all litigation. The explanation of all this is 
 found in the character of the early settlers English Quakers, Puritans, 
 and Moravians. 
 
 While the college is under the auspices of the Congregational church, 
 young men and young women of all denominations are welcomed to the 
 advantages of the school. Much stress is put upon the importance and 
 value of Christian culture. The school numbers among its graduates law- 
 yers, doctors, legislators, educators, and other valuable members of 
 society. 
 
 GREENVILLE COLLEGE 
 
 Greenville College was founded in 1892 under the auspices of the 
 Free Methodist Church. The property was formerly known as Almira 
 College, and was a school of collegiate grade for young ladies, opened in 
 1855. The principal contributors making possible the original purchase 
 in 1892 were Mrs. Ellen Rowland, James T. Grice, James H. Moss, and 
 W. S. Dann. 
 
 Ministerial scholarships have been founded to the number of ten by 
 John A. Augsbury of Watertown, New York. 
 
 The first president was Rev. Wilson Thomas Hogue, Ph. D., holding 
 his office for twelve years. His successor was Rev. Augustin L. Whit- 
 comb, M. S., who was president for three and one-half years. He was suc- 
 ceeded by Eldon G. Burritt, A. M., who is the present incumbent. 
 
 The organization of the college includes in addition to the College of 
 Liberal Arts and the preparatory department, the associated depart- 
 partments of theology, education, music, commercial science and public 
 speaking. 
 
 The average attendance is three hundred students, with about one 
 hundred in the college department. The college emphasizes strongly the 
 importance of religion as a factor in education. This emphasis has at- 
 tracted students from widely separated sections, some twenty-five states 
 being represented from year to year in the student body. 
 
 The college has been from the first a strongly missionary institution, 
 and thirty of its students have gone to the foreign field. In the com- 
 paratively brief history of its existence, an unusually large number of 
 students and graduates have become prominent in business and pro- 
 fessional life.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE 
 
 FIRST BUILDING ERECTED "THE HERALD OF TRUTH" COLLEGE REVIVED 
 CHARTER SECURED CLOSED IN 1870. 
 
 In the catalogue of the Southern Illinois College for the year ending 
 June 1868, the following occurs as a part of the historical sketch of that 
 school : ' ' The project of a college in Southern Illinois originated in the 
 Presbyterian Synod held at Decatur in 1856. Here it was resolved to 
 build a college in Southern Illinois at some point on the Illinois Central 
 railroad, and that it should be located where the most money should be 
 subscribed by the citizens." In a history of Presbyterianism in Illinois 
 there is no mention of the action of the Synod in this matter for the 
 year 1856. But in the minutes of the Presbytery of Alton held in Mt. 
 Vernon in April 1856, and in an adjourned or called session held in 
 Carbondale in June 17, 1856, there is a a reference to "measures taken 
 to establish Carbondale College." 
 
 The catalogue referred to above further says as a part of the histori- 
 cal sketch: "Circulars were distributed along the road announcing the 
 design of the Synod, and making this offer to the citizens. On May 26, 
 1856, a meeting was held in the west side school-house in Carbondale of 
 representatives of the various competing places, when it was found 
 Carbondale had subscribed nearly double the amount of any other lo- 
 cality, and, of course it was determined to locate the school here (in 
 Carbondale). Henry Sanders, J. M. Campbell, D. H. Bush, Asgil Con- 
 ner, - - Barrow, and others were prominent for their liberality." 
 
 Nothing further seems to have been done until 1858 when Messrs. 
 Rapp, Edwards, Hill, and Burdic began erecting a building which stood 
 for many years and was known as the college. 
 
 FIRST BUILDING ERECTED 
 
 The structure was a two story brick with basement, and was nearly 
 completed in 1861, lacking some of the interior furnishings. Before the 
 building was completed a school had been advertised and opened as the 
 Carbondale College. This school was begun in the upper story of the 
 store of J. M. Campbell. When the college building was completed this 
 school was moved into the new quarters in the southeastern part of the 
 city. The school which was started in the Campbell building was in 
 charge of the Rev. W. S. Post, at that time pastor of the Presbyterian 
 church of Carbondale. The Rev. Mr. Post was pastor or supply for the 
 Presbyterian church from 1856 to 1861 when he enlisted in the army as 
 
 387
 
 388 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 chaplain. When Mr. Post left the church at the beginning of the war 
 his place as pastor and teacher was taken by the Rev. J. Russell Johnson 
 who taught in the college from '62 to '64. The school was not self-sup- 
 porting, the Synod and Presbytery failed to come to its rescue, and it 
 was closed. The building cost some ten or twelve thousand dollars. A 
 portion of this amount was raised in cash subscriptions throughout the 
 south end of the state, but a large share of the cost was carried by Mr. 
 D. H. Brush and Mr. J. M. Campbell. It seems that the Illinois Central 
 people wished to make a flourishing city of De Soto six miles north of 
 Carbondale and to that end would not provide Carbondale with an 
 operator. In many other ways the road seemed to favor De Soto at the 
 expense of Carbondale. Mr. D. H. Brush, a public spirited citizen of the 
 young town of Carbondale, paid out of his own pocket the salary of a 
 telegraph operator for a year or so until the business justified the em- 
 
 THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE, CARBONDALE, JACKSON COUNTY 
 
 ployment of one by the railroad. In his determination to keep Carbon- 
 dale to the front he advanced a considerable share of the money for the 
 college and thus became its creditor for some six or seven thousand dol- 
 lars. 
 
 During the years 1865 and 1866 the building was used for school 
 purposes by the Carbondale school district. The Rev. Andrew Luce, pas- 
 tor of the Presbyterian church was the principal in the employ of the 
 district. When it was seen that the college could not be maintained the 
 property was turned over to Messrs. Brush and Campbell, the principal 
 creditors. 
 
 THE HERALD OP TRUTH 
 
 In the spring of 1866 the Christian churches of Southern Illinois be- 
 gan the agitation for the establishment of a college and of a church 
 paper in Southern Illinois. Among those who lead in this agitation 
 were S. R. Wilson, a Mr. Lindsay, and B. F. Pope, of DuQuoin ; William 
 Schwartz, of Elkville ; J. H. Reeves, and II. D. Banteau, of De Soto. In
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 389 
 
 March 1866 a paper was started in De Soto under the auspices of the 
 Christian church and under the immediate charge of Rev. H. D. Ban- 
 teau. The name of the paper was The Herald of Truth. The college 
 proposition was still unsettled and two meetings were held in DuQuoin 
 in the summer of 1866, and later one in De Soto in which the college 
 matter was considered. Carbondale was a growing town and was ambi- 
 tious in educational lines. The old Carbondale College building was 
 standing idle except during short terms of the public school. The 
 
 THE REV. CLAKK BEADEN, PRESIDENT op THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE 
 
 owners Messrs. Brush and Campbell proposed to turn over the building 
 and thirty acres of ground for $12,000. In the event of its acceptance 
 by the Christian churches of Southern Illinois, Mr. Brush would sub- 
 scribe five hundred dollars, and Mr. Campbell would subscribe five 
 thousand dollars. This latter amount was all of Mr. Campbell's inter- 
 est in the building. This left $6,500 to be provided for by the friends of 
 the new college. The trade was consummated and a provisional board 
 of trustees selected to take charge of the property and to open the 
 school. 
 
 COLLEGE REVIVED 
 
 The school opened the first day of October 1866. The school had 
 been advertised but one week and on the opening day there were present 
 these five students: Butler Hall, Benjamin Johnson, Hayes Mulkey, 
 Mollie Yost, Robert Yost.
 
 390 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The board of trustees had secured the services of the Rev. Clark 
 Braden and his wife of Centralia. Mr. Braden and the five students laid 
 out their work for the first term and after due deliberation it was de- 
 cided to adjourn the school for one week, and in the interim make some 
 needed repairs on the building and try to secure additional students. 
 There were few things about the whole situation which would make one 
 think of a college. No furniture, maps, blackboards or other educational 
 appliances, the building was dirty, window panes were out, and other 
 marks of general neglect were apparent. When school opened on the 
 second Monday there were three new students ready to enroll and the 
 term opened with eight earnest students. 
 
 Before the opening of the winter term, in January 1867, the assembly 
 hall was seated with patent seats. Charts, maps, globes, blackboards, 
 and other necessary helps were provided, and the school was without 
 doubt the best equipped school in Southern Illinois. The fall term 
 closed with forty-four students enrolled. The winter term enrolled sev- 
 enty-five, and in the spring term the enrollment was one hundred and 
 five. In all one hundred and forty-two different students were registered 
 the first year eighty-eight young men and fifty-four young ladies. 
 
 The second year the seating capacity was enlarged to three hundred 
 and twenty students, and other provisions for a large attendance were 
 made. Additional rooms were provided in the basement, stairways were 
 constructed to the second and third floors. The catalogue for the second 
 year shows the board of trustees as follows : John A. Williams, Salem ; 
 Lysias Heape, Tamaroa; Simpson Frazier, Centralia; B. F. Pope, Du- 
 Quoin; William Schwartz, Elkville; John Hall, Blairsville; Dr. L. H. 
 Redd, De Soto; Dr. John Ford, Murphysboro; Stephen Blair, Carbon- 
 dale; Daniel Gilbert, Carbondale; John Goodall, Marion; George W. 
 Ferril, Cobden ; Dr. S. R. Hay, Cairo. Officers of the board : William 
 Schwartz, president; Stephen Blair, treasurer; B. F. Pope, secretary. 
 Faculty: Clark Braden, M., ancient languages and mathematics; 
 James H. Nutting, A. B., rhetoric and science ; Mrs. Sarah Braden, elo- 
 cution and penmanship ; Miss Lydia Pierce ; Mjss Mary E. Bond, Ger- 
 man, French, needlework; Mrs. V. K. De Yo, drawing, painting; Miss H. 
 C. Campbell, instrumental music ^Ai D. Fillmore, R. J. Young, vocal 
 music. The total enrollment for the second year was: Young men, 186; 
 young ladies, 132; total, 318. By terms, fall term, 190; winter term, 
 193 ; spring term, 215 ; total, 598. 
 
 CHARTER SECURED 
 
 A charter was secured from the legislature in the early part of the 
 year 1867. The following copied from the journal of the senate is self 
 explanatory. 
 
 "Thursday, January 21, 1867. 
 
 "Mr. (Samuel K.) Casey introduced senate bill 326 for an act for 
 the relief of the Southern Illinois College at Carbondale, Jackson county, 
 which was read a first time and ordered to a second reading. On motion 
 of Mr. Casey the rule was dispensed with, and the bill read a second 
 time and referred to the committee on education." The bill failed to 
 pass. 
 
 In the summer of 1868 the college was instrumental in getting an 
 educational convention called for Carbondale, in June, at which conven-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 391 
 
 tion the need of a State Normal school for Southern Illinois was dis- 
 cussed. In the session of the General Assembly in the spring of 1869 an 
 act was passed creating the Southern Illinois Normal University. The 
 board of trustees eventually located the school in Carbondale. 
 
 CLOSED IN 1870 
 
 In the years 1869 and 1870 the Southern Illinois College ran behind 
 in financial matters and the president, Mr. Clark Braden, was forced to 
 give a considerable share of his time to the publication of some books the 
 income from which would relieve him and the school from their financial 
 embarrassment. In consequence of this forced neglect of his work the 
 school lost its hold upon the people and its efficiency was considerably 
 lessened. Then the State Normal school was located in Carbondale and 
 was expected to meet the needs of this end of the state. Mr. Braden 's col- 
 lege had been very popular as a training school for young teachers, but 
 the college could not hope to compete with a state school with liberal ap- 
 propriations, and so the work of the school was closed in the summer of 
 1870, and the property passed into the hands of the creditors. These 
 shortly after sold the buildings and grounds to the school district for pub- 
 lic school use. The college building served the use of the school district 
 for the next thirty years since which time its place has been taken by an 
 elegant modern school building. 
 
 It is the belief of those who attended the old Southern Illinois College 
 and of those in touch with the spirit and' methods of work therein that 
 the college served a great purpose in enkindling the educational flame in 
 Egypt and that had the school been backed by strong financial interests 
 it would have filled a much larger sphere of usefulness in the educational 
 world.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 STATE SCHOOLS FOE HIGHER EDUCATION 
 
 STATE AID AND LEGISLATION SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOLS 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY WORK OP THE STATE 
 TEACHERS ASSOCIATION LEGISLATURE CREATES NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTIONS CARBONDALE, SITE OP SOUTHERN ILLI- 
 NOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OPENED BUILDING BURNED 
 THE NEW MAIN BUILDING GENERAL REVIEW. 
 
 We have shown that the first schools were of the nature of private 
 instruction. The teacher was a wanderer, not always with sufficient 
 education to instruct in even the rudiments reading, writing, and spell- 
 ing and frequently of doubtful character. He seldom taught two 
 terms in the same locality. The slight progress made by boys and girls 
 under such instruction is to be attributed to the unquenchable desire 
 for knowledge rather than to the fitness of the system or the proficiency 
 of the teacher. We have shown that this meager schooling was now 
 and then supplemented by the instruction given by ministers of the gos- 
 pel who, coming from the older settled states, were often men with col- 
 legiate training. And again that it was not unusual to send the boy 
 back to the older states for some seminary or collegiate instruction. In 
 the preceding pages w have reviewed the origin and growth of private 
 and church schools for higher education. In this chapter we shall see 
 what the state has done to meet this demand for advanced instruction 
 and discipline. 
 
 STATE AID AND LEGISLATION 
 
 When it is remembered that the state did little or nothing for the 
 common schools prior to 1855, it will not be difficult to understand why 
 state aid was so long in coming to the support of any agency of higher 
 education. However, the state was liberal in granting charters for acad- 
 emies, colleges, and for "school districts." In 1837 the general assem- 
 bly passed an act, known as a charter, empowering the common council 
 of the city of Alton "to establish elementary or common schools, where- 
 in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, grammar, and other useful 
 branches of an English education may be taught." To this end the 
 common council was authorized to assess a tax upon personal property 
 and real estate sufficient to raise the necessary funds for buildings, 
 equipment, teachers, etc., provided the rate should not exceed one quar- 
 ter per cent on the taxable property. It will thus be seen that the com- 
 mon council could establish schools in which, in addition to the studies 
 
 392
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 393 
 
 usually regarded as elementary and preparatory, "other useful branches 
 of an English education" might be taught. In a very early day the Al- 
 ton school did include in its curriculum advanced studies many of which 
 are now found in the high school courses. 
 
 The legislature granted in all thirty -seven of these "special char- 
 ters ' ' creating school districts, in various cities in the state, only three of 
 which cities are within the limits of Southern Illinois, namely: Alton, 
 Upper Alton, and Sparta. However, every one of these charters except 
 the one granted to Alton in 1837, was granted after 1855 and prior to 
 1870. In each charter there was authority explicit or implied whereby 
 the board was authorized to provide for such "other useful branches of 
 an English education, ' ' as were considered necessary. Here then is the 
 entering wedge of the modern city high schools. For example in the 
 charter creating the "Sparta school district" the governing body is 
 known as the board of education ; and section 8 of the charter reads as 
 follows : ' ' Said board of education shall establish a system of graded 
 schools in said corporate school limits, commencing with a primary 
 grade and ending with a high school . . . 
 
 In 1851 Dr. Newton Bateman organized the West Jacksonville Dis- 
 trict School by creating four departments primary, intermediate, 
 grammar, and high school. Dr. Bateman says that all departments were 
 made free to resident pupils prior to the passage of the school law of 
 1855. The high school course fitted for college ' ' and it was the first gen- 
 uine high school in the state which was a free school. ' ' The Peoria high 
 school was organized in 1856 with Charles E. Hovey as principal, and the 
 Chicago high school followed the same year with C. A. Dupee as prin- 
 cipal. 
 
 There was no provision in the enactment of 1855 specially authoriz- 
 ing the organization and the maintenance of a high school. Nor is there 
 any specific law now authorizing high schools outside of the township 
 high school, but by a liberal interpretation of the laws as they are found 
 upon our statute books we can organize a high school in any district 
 where public sentiment will support it. In the seventh article of the 
 school law the article dealing with teachers and certificates we find in 
 section three the studies upon which the county superintendent may ex- 
 amine the prospective teacher. These are for first grade certificates or- 
 thography, reading, penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, mod- 
 ern geography, civics, the elements of the natural sciences, the history of 
 the United States, the history of Illinois, physiology and the laws of 
 health. The purpose of the examination in these branches is primarily 
 to see if the candidate is familiar enough with the subjects to teach them. 
 Now, in section six of this same seventh article, we find this: "Every 
 school established under the provisions of this act shall be for instruc- 
 tion in the branches of education prescribed in the qualification for 
 teachers, and in such other branches, including vocal music and draw- 
 ing, as the directors or the voters of the district at the annual election of 
 directors may direct. ' ' Here then we find the authority for the modern 
 city high school. 
 
 In pursuance of the provisions of this article, boards of education in 
 cities and boards of directors in towns of less than one thousand inhabi- 
 tants, have organized high schools of two. three, or four years, according 
 to the interest in education which prevails in the locality. 
 
 It is useless to try to conceal the fact that for the past half century
 
 394 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the educational progress of the central and northern counties of the 
 state has outstripped that in Southern Illinois. The free school idea was 
 an innovation foisted upon the state by the Yankees who settled almost al- 
 together in the central and northern counties. The early settlers of South- 
 ern Illinois were largely if not altogether from the slave-holding states 
 where the -free school idea had taken slight hold upon the affections of 
 the people. The city high school is a phase of the free high school idea. 
 We would expect therefore that the city high school would secure a foot- 
 hold in the northern counties much earlier than in the southern counties. 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOLS 
 
 At present there are 339 regularly organized city high schools in the 
 state. In addition there are fifty-six township high schools, making a 
 total of 395 regular four year high schools. Of the 339 city high schools, 
 forty of them are south of a line from Alton to Terre Haute. And of the 
 fifty-six township high schools, twelve are in Southern Illinois. Thus 
 out of a total of three hundred and ninety-five high schools in the state 
 fifty-two of them are south of the old National Road. It is proper to 
 add, however, that there are in Southern Illinois scores of well organized 
 village and town schools that are doing one, two, or three years of high 
 school work ; and in a few instances the work covers four years, but such 
 schools are excluded in the census of regular four year high schools on 
 account of shortness of terms, dearth of equipment, or character of prep- 
 aration in the teaching force. 
 
 The authority to organize and maintain a city high school is an im- 
 plied power as we have seen. But there is explicit authority for the or- 
 ganization of the township high school. Article three, of the school 
 law, deals in general with the township trustees. Section 38 of this ar- 
 ticle reads as follows: "Upon petition of not less than fifty voters of 
 any school township, filed with the township treasurer, at least fifteen 
 days preceding the regular election of trustees, it shall be the duty of the 
 said township trustees to notify the voters of said township that an elec- 
 tion "for" or "against" a township high school will be held at the next 
 regular election of trustees, by putting notices of such election in at least 
 ten of the most public places throughout such township, for at least ten 
 days before the day of such regular election, etc. If the proposition 
 carry it is the duty of the board of trustees of the township to hold an 
 election of a township board of education which board shall erect build- 
 ings and organize the school. 
 
 There can be little doubt that the city four year high schools and the 
 township high schools of Southern Illinois are of as high a grade as can be 
 found in the state. It may occur that the buildings erected for high 
 school work in the central and northern parts of the state surpass those 
 of Southern Illinois in cost. It may be that the equipment is more costly 
 and that the enrollment is larger, yet we are not willing to concede that 
 the character of the instruction is superior or that the product is one whit 
 better. And there is at least one element of strength found in the en- 
 tire school system in Southern Illinois which is largely absent in the sys- 
 tem in the other parts of the state. This is the presence of male teachers 
 throughout the system. In many coxinty institutes in Egypt one may 
 notice that a majority of the teaching force of the county is made up of 
 men. Another noticeable thing is a matter of pride to an Egyptian;
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 395 
 
 the per cent of the total enrollment in the high schools in Southern Illi- 
 nois of boys is greater than it is in the schools farther north. 
 
 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 But the crowning act on the part of the state in the effort to provide 
 for higher education and better instruction in the grade schools and high 
 schools is found in the act of the general assembly which created the 
 Southern Illinois (State) Normal University. While this school was 
 brought into existence primarily for the training of teachers for the 
 common schools of this end of the state, it is true that its mission in 
 reality has been in a wider field. It has served the state well in the lines 
 of general training, information, and culture. The law, ordinarily 
 called the charter of the school, was passed in the spring of 1869, and 
 was signed by Governor John M. Palmer April 20, of that year. 
 
 The school was the outgrowth of a need of better trained teachers 
 which was felt not only in Southern Illinois but all over the state. As 
 early as December, 1848, a meeting was called by the Illinois Journal for 
 Springfield to be held June 15, 1849. Memorials or circulars were sent 
 out giving some notion of the line of action that ought to be taken at 
 the Springfield meeting. One thing urged was the ' ' Creation of a State 
 Normal School and providing for its support." At this meeting of 
 January 15, 1849, steps were taken urging the creation of the office of 
 State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and another resolution as 
 follows : ' ' Resolved : That a portion of the College and Seminary funds 
 of the state should be devoted to aid in the education of common school 
 teachers. ' ' 
 
 WORK OF THE STATE TEACHERS ' ASSOCIATION 
 
 An Industrial League was organized in Chicago November 24, 1852. 
 This league was deeply interested in the training of teachers and it 
 urged the founding of a state university with four departments, one of 
 which and the one first named, was "A Normal School Department." 
 The fourth convention of the League was held in Springfield, January 
 4, 1853. At this meeting the establishing of a state university was con- 
 sidered. Resolutions were passed which urged Congress to donate lands 
 to the value of half a million dollars to each state for the endowment of 
 a system of Industrial Universities to cooperate with the Smithsonian 
 Institute and for the practical education of our industrial classes and 
 their teachers. The fifth convention of the League was held in Spring- 
 field January 1, 1855, and took up the question of a university and said : 
 
 "The object of the institution shall be to impart instruction in all 
 departments of useful knowledge, science and art, commencing with 
 those departments now most needed by the citizens of the state, towit : 
 
 "A teachers' seminary, or a normal school department, for the im- 
 provement and education of common school teachers." 
 
 On January 26, 1853, in Bloomington, a state convention was held 
 at which resolutions were passed as follows : 
 
 1. That a state teachers' institute (association) should be organized 
 by this convention. 
 
 2. That the legislature be urged to create the office of State Super- 
 intendent of Public Instruction.
 
 396 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 3. That a school journal ought to be established. 
 
 4. That this convention take measures to secure the establishment of 
 a Normal School. 
 
 5. That a free school system should be established. 
 
 As a result of this agitation by both the Industrial League and by the 
 Educational Convention, which came to be called the State Teachers' In- 
 stitute, the legislature of 1854 created the office of State Superintendent 
 of Public Instruction, and the next year established the free school sys- 
 tem very much as it is today. In the sixth meeting of the State Teachers ' 
 Institute, held in Springfield, December 26, 1855, that body resolved 
 ' ' That the Institute does not wish to discuss any university question, but 
 to occupy themselves with the interests of the common schools and the 
 Normal Schools." 
 
 In all this discussion there was in no sense a unanimity of opinion 
 about the question of normal schools and a state university. The Indus- 
 trial League was for a university with a normal school department or 
 for a normal school vitally connected with an agricultural school. Be- 
 hind the agricultural idea was Prof. Jonathan Turner, who was giving a 
 large share of his time to scientific agriculture. Then there were those 
 who wanted normal schools as distinct agents to prepare young people 
 to teach. There was another group of public spirited people who be- 
 lieved the state should in some way, not very clearly pointed out, pro- 
 vide appropriations to be used in the denominational schools for the 
 maintenance of a teacher-training department. 
 
 The seventh meeting of the State Teachers' Association was held in 
 Chicago in December, 1856. Charles E. Hovey of Peoria, was presi- 
 dent of the meeting. Mr. Hovey was one who believed that the normal 
 school idea should be divorced from all other educational projects, and 
 that a normal school should be established which would be free from all 
 entangling alliances. Among the resolutions was one which read as fol- 
 lows : ' ' That the educational interests of Illinois demand the immediate 
 establishment of a State Normal School for the education of teachers; 
 and ... we recommend an appropriation by the next legislature 
 of a sufficient sum annually for the next five years to support such a 
 seminary of learning. ' ' At this Chicago meeting Prof. Jonathan Turner 
 waived his objection to the establishment of a normal school without the 
 entangling alliance of an agricultural school. 
 
 LEGISLATURE CREATES NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 The legislature which met in January, 1857, was induced to pass a 
 bill creating a Normal University. The bill was signed by the governor 
 on February 10, 1857. A body of men fifteen in number was named in 
 the bill as trustees of the school. The State Superintendent was ex- 
 officio a member and was considered a great addition to the board. After 
 considerable delay the site was selected for the school. It was located 
 just north of Bloomington. A building was planned and its erection 
 begun, the corner stone being laid, September 29, 1857. 
 
 Prof. Charles E. Hovey was chosen the first president, and on October 
 5, 1857, the school was opened in Major's Hall in the city of Blooming- 
 ton, with twenty-nine pupils present on the first day. The number en- 
 rolled before the close of the first school year was one hundred and 
 twenty-seven. There were aggravating delays in the progress of the 
 building, but the class of 1860 graduated in the unfinished structure.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 397 
 
 We do not desire to follow further the history of the normal school 
 at Normal. What has been given will enable us to understand the hard 
 fight necessary to win the battle for normal schools, and the winning 
 of the victory in 1857, made some easier the winning of a similar victory 
 for Southern Illinois in 1869. The educational progress which the state 
 as a whole had made from 1848 to 1868 had not greatly affected Southern 
 Illinois. There was not at the latter date a well organized high school in 
 all Southern Illinois. True we had McKendree, Shurtleff, and an acad- 
 emy here or there, but there was no real educational spirit in all Egypt. 
 The common schools were at a very low ebb. What college training 
 there was supplied the bench, the bar, the pulpit, and the doctor's office. 
 Pew persons receiving a college education would think of going into the 
 school room to make a living or to do missionary work. 
 
 We have already spoken of the efforts to provide training schools 
 for teachers in the church schools which were being planted in various 
 localities. Church schools were planted in many localities but they 
 never seemed to gather much strength and hence eked out a miserable 
 existence financially. One such church school was founded in Carbon- 
 dale in the year of 1856, by action of the Presbyterian synod. It was 
 called the Carbondale College. It was opened in 1861. It passed into 
 the hands of the Christian Churches of Southern Illinois in 1866, and 
 in October of that year school was opened in the rooms of the old college 
 building by Clark Braden. We have traced the history of the school 
 under private schools and need not give it here. In the legislature of 
 1867, a charter was granted entitled "The Southern Illinois College." 
 At the same session or probably in the next session a bill was introduced 
 appropriating fifteen thousand dollars for the relief of the school on the 
 plea that it had a normal department, but on the grounds that it was a 
 church school the appropriation could not be made. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL CONVENTIONS 
 
 In April, 1868, a call was issued for an educational convention to 
 meet in Carbondale in June, to consider the educational interests of 
 Southern Illinois. Among other things mentioned in the call were these : 
 
 1. To hear from Superintendents and teachers a statement of wants 
 in their section. 
 
 2. To organize a Southern Illinois Educational Association, and to 
 discuss the best means of securing the education of teachers of this part 
 of the state. 
 
 3. To consider any other matters which may come before the con- 
 vention. 
 
 In this call it was pointed out that all educational meetings have been 
 held in the central and north part of the state, and that the expense and 
 inconvenience in attending these meetings by teachers living in Southern 
 Illinois had prevented our teachers from profiting from these meetings. 
 Our needs are peculiar to this section of the state. "We have several 
 thousand teachers who need Normal instruction, and our excellent Nor- 
 mal University (at Normal) can educate scarcely a tithe of them. We 
 need a school in Southern Illinois." 
 
 This call was signed by Joel G. Morgan, Cairo ; J. W. Blair, Pinck- 
 neyville ; W. J. Yost, Cairo ; H. C. Robinson, De Soto ; and B. G. Roots, 
 Tamaroa.
 
 398 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Clark Braden, George C. Yost, Stephen Blair, J. W. Spiller, Daniel 
 Gilbert Committee representing the Southern Illinois College. 
 
 D. L. Davis, S. G. Hindman, Frank J. Chapman Directors of the 
 Public Schools of Carbondale. 
 
 ,0n June 15, 1868, a supplemental call was sent out by the Southern 
 Illinois College as follows : " In accordance with an announcement made 
 last April 20th, arrangements have been made for a Southern Illinois 
 Educational Convention at Carbondale, commencing at 2 o'clock P. M. 
 Wednesday, June 24, and continuing two days, closing at noon, Friday 
 26th." The call was extended to all teachers, county superintendents, 
 principals, etc., south of the Alton & Terre Haute Railroad. Speakers 
 were announced Prof. J. V. Standish, of Lombard University, and 
 editor at that time of the Illinois Teacher; Maj. J. B. Merwin, of St. 
 Louis, at that time western manager of an eastern publishing company ; 
 a Mrs. Smith, of Oswego, New York. 
 
 No one was assigned to a particular topic, but the topics were printed 
 and the discussion was free for all. Two important topics were : 
 1. Normal Sclwol. What steps shall be taken to secure the establish- 
 ment of a Normal School in Southern Illinois. 2. Organization of a 
 Southern Illinois Educational Association. Necessity for it. When and 
 how shall it be done ? Shall it be done now ? 
 
 The meeting was held at Carbondale on the "Campus" of the South- 
 ern Illinois College which was then located just where the Lincoln School 
 is. There were present sixteen county superintendents, over two hundred 
 teachers, from forty-one counties, and over two thousand other persons. 
 At this meeting steps were taken to organize the Southern Illinois Teach- 
 ers ' Association, and the need of a Southern Illinois Normal discussed. 
 
 The Hon. Newton Bateman in his biennial report of 1869 and 70, in 
 speaking of this Carbondale meeting of June 24, 1868, and of the teachers' 
 convention at Centralia held that year, says: "The general movement 
 among the friends of education in Southern Illinois the great conven- 
 tions held in Carbondale and Centralia, in 1868 the numerous addresses, 
 circulars, petitions, and resolutions, whereby the intelligent masses of the 
 people in that portion of the state were aroused to an unwonted degree, 
 the chief object toward which all those efforts were being directed being 
 the foundation of another Normal School, to be located in the southern 
 part of the state all these were referred to in my last report." 
 
 The catalogue of the Southern Illinois College for the school year 
 closing: with June, 1868, has the following reference to normal training : 
 
 "There is great need of qualified teachers for our common schools in 
 this vicinity. Our teachers are poorly qualified, because they have not 
 had opportunities to fit themselves for their calling. We intend to make 
 special instruction of common school teachers a leading feature of our 
 school. During the term just closed we have had over sixty pupils in our 
 Teachers' Classes, and the progress made has more than ever convinced 
 us of the advantages and necessity of such classes. We expect to make 
 such instruction a specialty in the College. Next fall we shall organize 
 classes in the branches taught in our common schools, for the purpose of 
 reviewing these studies. . . . Lectures on the organization, disci- 
 pline, and management of schools will be given also." 
 
 In the Centralia Sentinel of February. 1868, we find this reference to 
 a normal school in Southern Illinois. "We present to our readers this 
 week the able address of the committee appointed by the Southern Illi-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 399 
 
 nois Educational Association, at their meeting in Centralia September 
 1, 2, and 3. It sets forth in forcible language the great importance of 
 the enterprise. The success and general results flowing to the state from 
 the Northern Normal University, located at Bloomington, has aroused 
 the attention of educators to the necessity of an additional institution 
 of the same general character in Southern Illinois. ' ' The article further 
 speaks of the crowded condition of the normal school near Blooming- 
 ton; puts forth the claims of Centralia as an ideal place for such a 
 school as the convention recommended. This article was copied into 
 the New Era, a weekly paper published in Carbondale, and commented 
 on as follows : ' ' We endorse nearly every word contained in the above 
 extract. "We agree with that paper in everything except the location 
 of the school. Carbondale is the proper location. Our town is located 
 in the richest and healthiest part of the state. Our railroad facilities 
 are greater than those of any other town in Egypt. We can in the way 
 of inducements, outstrip any other place. Building material is close 
 at hand in inexhaustible quantities. Fuel and produce of every kind 
 are cheap. Land for _such purposes can be had for the asking. In 
 natural beauty our location is five hundred years ahead of all others. 
 
 "Another great advantage, and one we will hereafter dwell upon 
 from time to time, is, we already have such an institution successfully 
 at work. We speak of the Southern Illinois College. The enterprise 
 has met with so much success that it has now become a fixed fact, and 
 is one of the departments of the college. 
 
 "Thus here in Carbondale, the foundation for such an institution as 
 a Normal University is already laid. It behooves our people to watch 
 their interests, and secure the necessary legislation. The liberality of 
 our citizens, the reputation of our town for morality, and temperance, 
 our healthy location should all be brought to bear. Let us go to work 
 at once, that rival towns shall have no start of us." 
 
 In the campaign of 1868, John M. Palmer was elected governor. 
 When the Legislature was organized it was found that the governor 
 was at variance with the general assembly, and some feared it would be 
 difficult to get certain legislation through. However, it proved to be 
 an easier task than at first thought. Among the bills introduced was 
 one chartering the Southern Illinois (State) Normal University. This 
 was passed and signed by the governor March 9, 1869. The governor 
 appointed the following board of trustees, who should locate the school 
 and construct the building : Captain Daniel Hurd, Cairo ; General Eli 
 Boyer, Olney ; Colonel Thomas M. Harris, Shelbyville ; Rev. Elihu J. 
 Palmer, Belleville ; and Hon. Samuel J. Flanagan, Benton. 
 
 On April 29, 1869, this board organized by electing Rev. Elihu J. 
 Palmer, president, and Hon. Samuel J. Flanagan, secretary, and im- 
 mediately proceeded to advertise for the location of the new institution, 
 as provided in the 10th section of the act establishing the school, which 
 reads as follows : 
 
 "The trustees shall as soon as practicable, advertise for proposals 
 from localities desiring to secure the location of said normal university, 
 and shall receive for not less than three months from the date of their 
 first advertisement, proposals from points situated as hereinafter men- 
 tioned, to donate lands, buildings, bonds, moneys, or other valuable 
 consideration, to the State in aid of the foundation and support of said 
 university; and shall at a time previously fixed by advertisement, open
 
 400 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 and examine such proposals, and locate the institution at such a point 
 as shall, all things considered, offer the most advantageous condition. 
 The land shall be selected south of the railroad, or within six miles 
 north of said road, passing from St. Louis to Terre Haute, known as 
 the Alton and Terre Haute Railroad with a view of obtaining a good 
 supply of water and other conveniences for the use of the institution." 
 In due time sealed proposals were received from towns and cities 
 situated in the district denned by the terms of the act as follows : Anna, 
 Union county; Carlyle, Clinton county; Carbondale, Jackson county; 
 Centralia, Marion county; DuQuoin, Perry county; Irvington, Wash- 
 ington county ; Jonesboro, Union county ; Olney, Richland county ; South 
 Pass, Union county ; Tamaroa, Perry county ; Vandalia, Fayette 
 county. 
 
 CARBONDALE, SITE OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 The trustees finally chose Carbondale as presenting the best ad- 
 vantages, everything considered, and the school was located three- 
 fourths of a mile south of the Illinois Central Depot, on a twenty-acre 
 tract of farm land. The contract was let to Mr. J. M. Campbell, a local 
 contractor. The work went rapidly forward. The contractor began the 
 manufacture of brick upon one corner of the twenty acre tract. The 
 Boskydell stone quarry, some four miles to the south of the building 
 site, became a busy place. Scores of men were quarrying out the great 
 blocks of red sandstone, other scores were loading these on cars, and still 
 other scores were busy cutting stone and getting ready for the first 
 great function in connection with the school the laying of the corner 
 stone. Great preparations were made for this event. The first story 
 was rising rapidly. The proportions of the building, the substantial 
 and artistic character of the work, the fact it was a state project, all 
 added interest to the coming event. The day set for the laying of the 
 corner stone was May 17, 1870. The Masonic Order of Illinois, was 
 invited to participate in the exercises. The order accepted the invita- 
 tion and the lodges of Illinois sent large delegations to the corner- 
 stone laying. 
 
 The day. May 17, was an ideal day. The trains came loaded with 
 enthusiastic Illinoisians. Bands of music, uniformed ranks, distinguished 
 citizens, and the rank and file of Southern Illinois poured into the little 
 city. Everything was in readiness. The first story which was of cut 
 stone was well on its way. The walls were very beautiful, the rich red 
 color of the stone, and the beautiful window and door trimmings were 
 a wonder to the country people. The Grand Master of A. F. and A. M. 
 was the Hon. H. G. Reynolds. He was assisted by the state officers of 
 the order, and the laying of the corner stone was a most beautiful and 
 appropriate beginning of the life of a great institution. A score or 
 more of expert stonecutters headed by Mr. John Amon, assisted in the 
 actual work of laying the stone. The number of people who were 
 present in the city on that day has been estimated as high as twenty 
 thousand. The number of Masons in line has been placed at three 
 thousand probably this is overestimated. The formal exercises oc- 
 curred in the forenoon, and then the question arose in the minds of 
 many, how can the multitude be fed ? But the good people had had 
 this problem on their hearts for weeks and they were abundantly able
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 401 
 
 to feed the multitude. Every private home was full of guests, the hotels 
 were filled, the restaurants overtaxed. But the most interesting 
 part of the feeding of the people was a great "barbecue dinner." This 
 was a free feast to all who were present. The name of the dinner comes 
 from the manner of cooking the meat. The entire country round about 
 the city of Carbondale was canvassed for eatables for this great feast. 
 The farmers and others contributed liberally of their flocks and herds. 
 Oxen, sheep, and fowls were freely given. Trenches were dug in the 
 ground some three feet wide, two feet deep and ten or twelve feet long. 
 Large quantities of hickory and oak wood was burned in these trenches 
 until a bed of coals was obtained. Upon rods of iron or other supports 
 the dressed beef and mutton was suspended over these beds of coals. 
 All night, and the early morning of the 17th experts were preparing 
 the "barbecued" meats. Faithful women were arranging the bounti- 
 
 THE FIRST BUILDING OF THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL 
 UNIVERSITY, BURNED NOVEMBER 26, 1883 
 
 ful supplies of other forms of provisions and when all was in readiness 
 thousands surrounded the long tables and partook of Egypt's hospital- 
 ity. It was an occasion long to be remembered by every one present. 
 The barbecue dinner was spread in a grove of native oaks in the im- 
 mediate locality of the present residences of Dr. D. B. Parkinson, Judg 
 A. S. Caldwell, and Judge L. M. Bradley in the southwest part of the 
 city of Carbondale. 
 
 The charter provided that the building should be only two stories 
 high. The structure was located on the side of a gentle slope and con- 
 tained a basement of cut Boskydell stone with a ceiling sixteen feet 
 high. Above this basement a first story of some twenty feet and a 
 second story with a ceiling of some twenty-four feet and resting upon 
 the whole a mansard roof containing a number of spacious rooms. 
 When the building was done the earth was removed from around 
 the basement and the structure stood forth, a four story building of 
 magnificent proportions. In the spring of 1870, Mr. Campbell was 
 
 Vol. 126
 
 402 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 accidentally killed while overseeing the workmen upon the building, by 
 the falling of a heavy beam of timber. 
 
 The death of Mr. Campbell delayed the progress of the building, 
 and the legislature relieved the board of trustees of their responsibility 
 and appointed a building commission of six men who should complete 
 the building. The commission consisted of John Wood, Cairo; Elihu 
 J. Palmer, Carbondale ; Hiram Walker, Jonesboro ; R. H. Sturgiss, Van- 
 dalia ; Nathan Bishop, Marion ; and F. M. Malone, Anna. 
 
 This commission proceeded with the work with all dispatch and on 
 the completion of the building a new board of trustees received from 
 the commission the building and proceeded to the election of a faculty 
 of instruction. The following is the list of teachers and their subjects 
 respectively : 
 
 Robert Allyn, Principal Mental Science, Ethics, Pedagogics. 
 
 Cyrus Thomas Natural History, Physiology. 
 
 Charles W. Jerome, Registrar Languages, Literature. 
 
 Enoch A. Gastman Mathematics. 
 
 Daniel B. Parkinson Natural Philosophy, Chemistry. 
 
 James H. Brownlee Reading, Elocution, Phonics. 
 
 Granville F. Foster History, Geography. 
 
 Alden C. Hillman Principal, High School. 
 
 Martha Buck Grammar, Etymology. 
 
 Julia F. Mason Principal Model School, Drawing, Calisthenics. 
 
 A. D. Duff Dean Law Department. 
 
 The dedicatory exercises occurred on July 1, 1874. It was a great 
 day for Southern Illinois. Thousands of people were in attendance. 
 The speakers were Dr. Richard Edwards, president of the Illinois State 
 Normal University at Normal ; Dr. Charles H. Fowler, president of 
 Northwestern University ; Hon. J. J. Bird, of Cairo ; Hon. Thomas S. 
 Ridgway, president of the Board of Trustees, Shawneetown, and others. 
 The dream of the educational leaders of Southern Illinois had come 
 true. The plans and aims of the enthusiastic men and women who met 
 on the campus of the old Southern Illinois College June 24, 25, 26, 1868, 
 had been realized, at least so far as the material side was concerned. 
 It now remained to be seen if the life of educational progress could be 
 breathed into the walls of the completed building. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OPENED 
 
 On the day following the dedication, July 2d, the first session of the 
 Southern Illinois .(State) Normal University was opened. It was a 
 special session intended to provide an opportunity for teachers to re- 
 view the subjects to be taught in the schools the ensuing winter. The 
 session lasted six weeks and enrolled fifty-three students. 
 
 In the fall of 1877 the school opened with a new department, that of 
 Military Science and Tactics. The general government in following a 
 custom which it had pursued for a goodly number of years of assigning 
 military officers to state and private schools for the purpose of giving in- 
 struction to the students in military matters, detailed Captain Thomas 
 J. Spencer of the regular army as military instructor in this institution. 
 The United States furnished guns, cannon, caissons, and other equip- 
 ment including ammunition. From the fall of 1877 to the summer of 
 1890 this department was a part of the work of the school. In the latter
 
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 404 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 year the government upon the recommendation of the officer in charge, 
 Lieutenant J. Franklin Bell, now Major General Bell of the regular 
 army, discontinued the detail of an army officer and ordered the govern- 
 ment property removed to United States arsenals. Professor George V. 
 Buchanan, instructor in mathematics in the Normal University, con- 
 tinued the drill exercises for a year or two when the department of 
 physical training was established in the school which took over what 
 was left of military spirit. 
 
 The school has continued to grow in numbers, in teaching force, in 
 efficient instruction, and in professional spirit. The attendance, how- 
 ever, has never been what it should have been. This is attributable to 
 the attitude of the school authorities in the several counties toward nor- 
 mal instruction. Too many schools in Egypt have been taught by young 
 people who have barely "finished" the eighth grade. There have been 
 times when not a Normal graduate could be found teaching in certain 
 counties in Southern Illinois. The conditions have rapidly changed 
 within the past ten years. The school has become the educational center 
 of Southern Illinois. The best of relations exist between the county 
 school authorities and the normal school. Many county superintendents 
 are normal graduates and often the members of boards of directors and 
 boards of education are former students at the Normal. Twenty years 
 ago, the Southern Illinois Teachers' Association enrolled less than five 
 hundred teachers in the annual gathering. In 1911 at the annual meet- 
 ing at the Normal University the enrollment was more than fifteen hun- 
 dred. 
 
 There was a tendency in all normal schools, probably, in earlier years 
 to put more or less stress upon academic work. This was no doubt done 
 in this school. The Model school, at first not well organized and not well 
 articulated with the various departments, was discontinued at Christ- 
 mas 1876. In 1882 Professor John Hull who had been in the faculty 
 from the second year of the school, was put in charge of the Model school 
 and since that time there has been steady progress in this department 
 of normal work. In fact the Model school or Training department has 
 come to be recognized as the most rational and practical phase of prep- 
 aration for teaching. 
 
 BUILDING BURNED, 1883 
 
 On the afternoon of November 26, 1883, at 3:20 o'clock, the magnifi- 
 cent building was found to be on fire. The fire had caught in the man- 
 sard roof and the progress of the fire must of necessity be slow, burning 
 from the top of the building downwards. Classes were in session. The 
 news spread rapidly. Everything was done to save the building, but 
 there was little hope from the beginning. When it was decided the build- 
 ing was doomed, the faculty and students turned their attention to 
 the saving of movable objects. The museum was lost, but the library, 
 pictures, desks, pianos, chairs, tables, maps, globes, and other movable 
 things were carried out and taken a safe distance from the heat of the 
 building. The fire caught in the southeast corner of the fourth story 
 and a brisk wind from the northwest blew the flames from the building 
 and the actual burning was prolonged till toward midnight. 
 
 As the sun sank to rest on that chill November evening, the ruins 
 seemed to mock the hundreds of teachers, students, and friends, who
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 405 
 
 lingered at a safe distance from the crumbling walls among books and 
 the other equipment of a great school. 
 
 But there was no time for sentiment. A meeting had already been 
 called in the opera house and before the building was burned down hun- 
 dreds of men had gathered there to devise ways and means for continuing 
 the school. Business men offered vacant rooms, churches were tendered, 
 and halls were proposed as a temporary shelter for the school. On the 
 next day the faculty convened in the Baptist church and assigned rooms 
 for the various teachers and on the second day after the fire, the school 
 opened for business. The fire occurred on Monday and on Wednesday 
 the teachers and students were at their tasks. The recitation rooms were 
 on the west side of the square, mainly in the vicinity of the present Car- 
 
 THE SCIENCE BUILDING OF THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 bondale National Bank. General exercises, roll call and other public 
 meetings were held in the Baptist church, the building now occupied by 
 the editorial rooms and press rooms of the Southern Illinois Herald. 
 
 The walls of the ruined building had not been cooled before Mr. Isaac 
 Rapp, an architect of the city, had plans drawn for the erection of a 
 temporary wooden building which should house the school till the legis- 
 lature could take steps to replace the great building. This temporary 
 building was to be constructed from a fund to be raised from a sub- 
 scription. More than two thousand was raised without delay and the 
 building begun. The subscription list grew as the building progressed. 
 As many as forty men were at work on the building at one time. The 
 building was soon up and enclosed. It cost about $6,000. It was in the 
 form of a Greek cross, the assembly room occupying the center of the 
 structure. This building housed the school till the present building was 
 completed. 
 
 The legislature of 1885 was the first one to assemble after the fire. It 
 was to this body of law makers that the friends of normal training must 
 appeal for the reconstruction of the Southern Illinois Normal University.
 
 406 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 There was little real opposition to the continuance of the school. There 
 were those who were willing to profit by the misfortune of Carbondale, 
 but few who openly opposed the rebuilding of the school in Southern 
 Illinois. 
 
 An effort had been made to get the governor to call an extra session of 
 the legislature, but he could not be induced to do so. The friends of the 
 school were quite well organized and they made a systematic onslaught 
 upon the lobby of the general assembly and as a result secured an appro- 
 priation of $153,000 for the rebuilding of the Normal at Carbondale. 
 The man who should be given most credit for securing the rebuilding of 
 the Normal is Captain E. J. Ingersoll, at present an honored citizen of 
 Carbondale. He worked in season and out of season to secure the appro- 
 
 THE LIBRARY, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STATE NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 priation. He has always taken great pride in the school and was for 
 many years the local trustee, and secretary of the board. 
 
 THE NEW MAIN BUILDING 
 
 Plans and specifications were drawn by Mr. A. L. Taylor of St. Louis. 
 (Mr. Taylor was the architect of the buildings at the World's Fair in 
 Chicago in 1892.) The contract was let to Perry and Neal of Peoria. 
 The building was finished and dedicated to its great purpose February 27, 
 1887, and on the following Monday school opened in the new building. 
 
 This new building or as it is now called the "Main Building" stands 
 on the cut-stone foundation of the old building. It is a beautiful struc- 
 ture and impresses all with its substantial character. It is three stories 
 high and contains some thirty rooms. The building is heated by a steam 
 plant situated some distance away, and is lighted with both gas and elec- 
 tricity.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 407 
 
 GENERAL REVIEW 
 
 Dr. Allyn, who had been president of the school from its opening, 
 resigned in 1892 and was succeeded by Professor John Hull who had 
 been connected with the school since 1875. Professor Hull served one 
 year as president and in that time prepared the exhibit of the school for 
 the World's Fair at Chicago. He was succeeded by Dr. Harvey W. Ev- 
 erest, who presided over the school four years. In his administration 
 the friends of the school secured an appropriation for the erection of the 
 science building. This was in the administration of Gov. Altgeld, who 
 took great interest in education and who has left his impress upon the 
 architecture of several state buildings. Dr. Everest was succeeded by 
 
 THE ALLYN BUILDING (TRAINING SCHOOL), SOUTHERN ILLINOIS STATE 
 
 NORMAL UNIVERSITY 
 
 Dr. D. B. Parkinson in 1897. He still remains the president of the 
 school. 
 
 During the fifteen years that Dr. Parkinson has been president of 
 the school there have been many improvements. A library building very 
 complete in all its appointments, containing a beautiful hall used ex- 
 clusively by the Young Women's and Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tions and two elegant literary society halls for the use of the Zetetic and 
 the Socratic literary societies. A Model school building of elegant pro- 
 portions, of perfect adaptation, and complete in all its equipment has 
 recently been erected on the campus; and now a fifth building, a women's 
 dormitory, is to be begun in the near future. This dormitory will house 
 about one hundred young ladies. 
 
 The internal improvements to be mentioned are the installing of 
 manual training, domestic science, and agriculture. The manual train- 
 ing department is located in the second story of the science building. 
 The department is equipped with benches, lathes, band saws, and full 
 and complete sets of tools. The domestic science department occupies 
 the three rooms 1, 2 and 3, at the south end of the first floor of the main
 
 408 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 building. This department has all the up-to-date equipment required in 
 first-class domestic science schools. The newly installed department of 
 agriculture has properly fitted quarters on the first floor of the science 
 building. The state has very recently purchased about fifty acres of land 
 adjacent to the south side of the campus which is to be used in experi- 
 mentation in scientific agriculture. 
 
 Since the founding of the school in 1874 there have been enrolled 
 about twelve thousand students. These may be found in every locality in 
 Southern Illinois, and in every walk in life. Not only so, but the influ- 
 ences of the school have been felt around the world. In the summer of 
 1901 the school sent five of its graduates to the Philippine Islands as pub- 
 lic school teachers. They did acceptable service as teachers and superin- 
 tendents for several years. All remained in the Philippine service a 
 longer time than their original contracts called for, and one, Mr. John 
 Jenkins, is still in the educational work in that far away possession. 
 
 There are now five state normal schools in the state, located at Nor- 
 mal, Carbondale, Charleston, De Kalb and Macomb. These with the state 
 university and a rapidly developing system of township and city high 
 schools present opportunities for higher education unsurpassed by any 
 state in the union. Our legislatures are liberal in appropriations, and our 
 boards of trustees are careful in the expenditures of the people 's money. 
 Illinois presents the finest body of teachers of any state in the union at 
 the National Association of Teachers, and her numbers surpass those of 
 every other state, unless it may be the one in which the association is 
 held. Who is there that is not proud to be numbered among such noble 
 workers in such a noble calling ? Truly the business of teaching has taken 
 on all the characteristics of a great profession.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV 
 BANKS AND BANKING IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 FIRST LAND OFFICES AND BANKS IN EGYPT BANK OF ILLINOIS CREATED 
 BANK OF CAIRO THE STATE BANKS INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT 
 SCHEMES FINANCIAL COMPLICATIONS AND EMBARRASSMENTS THE 
 FREE BANKING LAW ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN BANKS OF ISSUE 
 EFFECTS OF NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM ILLINOIS BANKERS' ASSO- 
 CIATION GROUP No. 10 (SOUTHERN ILLINOIS) BUILDING AND LOAN 
 ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Southern Illinois cannot lay claim to great wealth. It has always 
 been a prosperous region ; her resources are fairly varied, and there has 
 existed from the beginning a certain amount of activity among her peo- 
 ple ; but farming has always been on a small scale, that is carried on by 
 farmers of small resources; manufacturing has been limited to the 
 cruder forms of articles, and mining is of recent years. One would not 
 expect therefore to find great financial centers within our limits. 
 
 FIRST LAND OFFICES AND BANKS IN EGYPT 
 
 Since the state was first settled in the southern part and the develop- 
 ment of the state moved northward, we should expect the beginnings of 
 the state 's financial history to be found in Egypt. And so it was. The 
 first land office to be opened was at Kaskaskia, probably in the summer 
 of 1804 the law establishing it passed March 26, 1804. The second of- 
 fice opened was at Shawneetown in 1814, and later one in Edwardsville. 
 These land offices handled large sums of money and no doubt there were 
 deposit banks at a very early day. There is very definite information 
 about one such deposit bank in Shawneetown as early as 1813. This 
 was conducted by John Marshall, an early settler in this town, having 
 come in 1804. He conducted a store and was a man of considerable 
 means. The salt works which were only ten miles away brought a large 
 amount of business to Shawneetown. The land-office was also instru- 
 mental in bringing large sums of money to this town. 
 
 "BANK OF ILLINOIS" CREATED 
 
 In the legislature of 1816 a bill was passed creating the "Bank of Illi- 
 nois." This was to be located at Shawneetown. The next year two 
 more were chartered; one at Edwardsville and one at Kaskaskia. The 
 bank at Shawneetown was evidently the successor of the John Marshall 
 bank of 1813. The bank of 1816 was a bank of issue and deposit. A 
 
 409
 
 410 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 letter written in 1819 by John Marshall, president of the Shawneetown 
 bank to Ninian Edwards who was a stockholder in the Edwardsville 
 bank, complains that the receiver of public money at Kaskaskia would 
 one day receive the Shawneetown bank notes and the next day reject 
 them. He also speaks of the Bank of Missouri sending to Shawneetown 
 $12,000 of the Shawneetown bank notes for redemption, and carrying 
 away $12,000 in gold and silver. All three of the banks chartered in 
 1816 and 1817 were made banks of deposit for government funds. All 
 three of these banks were private banks and the notes of issue had 
 nothing behind them except the property of the stockholders. 
 
 "BANK OP CAIRO" 
 
 In 1818, January 9, the territorial legislature passed a bill charter- 
 ing the City and Bank of Cairo, the tenth section of which required the 
 
 
 THE CAIRO BANK AT KASKASKIA. THE WOODEN BUILDING is THE BANK 
 AND THE BRICK BUILDING THE LAND OFFICE 
 
 banking business to be transacted at Kaskaskia. The bank had a fairly 
 prosperous career till 1843 when the charter was annulled, or at least 
 that part conferring banking privileges. Bills show issues as late as 
 1841 and probably many bear later dates. They bear the signatures of 
 David Jewett Baker as president. 
 
 THE STATE BANKS 
 
 By 1821 the prosperous years following the close of the war of 1812 
 had vanished. Banks had failed, speculation had ceased, prices were low
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 411 
 
 arid the outlook was very discouraging. It was thought a new banking 
 system would be the cure-all. After much bitter opposition a bill passed 
 creating the State Bank. The capital was $500,000, and $300,000 in 
 bills were put in circulation. There was not a dollar of capital in this 
 bank but the whole structure was built on the credit of the state. For a 
 short time everything went well but the bills soon fell in value and much 
 distress resulted. The officers, directors, etc. were elected by the legis- 
 lature and it may be predicted that there was too much politics mixed 
 with the banking business. At any rate in 1831 when the charter ex- 
 pired and the state closed up the business of the defunct bank it was un- 
 der the necessity of borrowing $100,000 to redeem the outstanding notes. 
 This business transaction is called the "Wiggins Loan." 
 
 From 1831, when the State Bank went out of business, to 1834, there 
 was no bank in Illinois doing an active banking business. Governor 
 Duncan in his message to the legislature said : ' ' Banks may be made ex- 
 ceedingly useful in society, not only by affording an opportunity to the 
 widow, the orphan and the aged, who possess capital without the capac- 
 ity of employing it in ordinary business to invest it in such stocks; but 
 by its use the young and enterprising merchant, mechanic, and trades- 
 man may be enabled more successfully to carry on his business and im- 
 prove the country. ' ' This was enough to touch off the legislature and a 
 law was passed chartering a new State Bank with a capital of $1,500,000. 
 This new State Bank was to have six branches. In addition the old State 
 Bank of Shawneetown which had virtually been dead since 1822 was re- 
 vived with a new charter with a capital of $300,000. In 1837 the capital 
 of the State Bank was increased by $2,000,000, and that of the State Bank 
 of Shawneetown by $1,400,000. This gave a total capital of $5,200,000 
 for the two banks. In addition the old City and Bank of Cairo with a 
 capital of $200,000 was doing some business in Kaskaskia. 
 
 INTERNAL, IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES 
 
 In 1836 the great Internal Improvement schemes were launched. 
 This plan of internal improvement contemplated the issuing of bonds to 
 the amount of some ten or twelve millions of dollars. In addition there 
 was the Illinois and Michigan canal which called for the expenditure of 
 many thousands of dollars. These great financial ventures became so in- 
 extricably interwoven with the banking business that by 1842 the state 
 was completely submerged by a great wave of financial distress. The 
 banks were forced to suspend specie payment, the state's bonds were a 
 drug on the market, and financial ruin seemed our destiny. "Ever 
 since the abandonment of the internal improvement system, and conse- 
 quent cessation of operations on various public works, the state had 
 been passing through a remarkable financial depression. Individual en- 
 terprise had been paralyzed, and all improvements undertaken on pri- 
 vate account had been discontinued. The channels of trade had been ob- 
 structed and the vitality of business seemed almost extinct." Immigra- 
 tion had ceased, money ceased to circulate, and bartering was very com- 
 mon. Wheat was forty cents per bushel, corn ten cents, pork one and 
 one half cents per pound, butter five cents, plain cheap calico thirty- 
 seven and one-half cents per yard, and groceries of all kinds out of sight. 
 It was often impossible for people to pay their taxes. Sales under the 
 hammer of constables and sheriffs were the order of the day.
 
 412 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 FINANCIAL COMPLICATIONS AND EMBARRASSMENTS 
 
 The debt of the state at the close of the year 1842 was found to be 
 $15,657,950.00. The income to the state was $140,000 annually while 
 the current cost of government was $170,000, thus producing a deficit of 
 $30,000 yearly. This annual deficit had grown to a floating debt of 
 $313,000. The interest on the bonded debt was more than a million a 
 year. It thus appears that the state's debt was growing at the rate of 
 over a million annually. 
 
 Governor Ford came into office December, 1842. The legislature and 
 the governor took up the great task of relieving the state of its very em- 
 barrassing situation. The state held several millions of stock in the 
 State Bank and the State Bank of Shawaneetown. These two banks held 
 several millions of the state's bonds. The banks were forced to exchange 
 the bonds for their own stock. This reduced the debt and stopped inter- 
 est. State lands were sold ; the state also received a share of the sale of 
 public lands from the general government; other steps were taken, to 
 bring order out of chaos. In different ways the debt was reduced sev- 
 eral millions. Auditors' warrants on the state treasury rose from forty 
 and fifty cents to eighty-five and ninety cents. The state's bonds rose 
 from fourteen to twenty and to thirty, and then to forty. Immigration 
 set in, the immigrants bringing small quantities of ready cash. The talk 
 of repudiating the state 's debt was heard no more and every one felt that 
 there was at least some chance of escape from financial destruction. 
 
 The bank at Shawneetown had been able to redeem its notes and was 
 probably the soundest financial institution in the state. In 1841 when it 
 was generally understood that the whole state and all private institu- 
 tions were bankrupt, the State Bank at Shawneetown published a finan- 
 cial statement which is interesting at this time. The statement was as 
 follows : 
 
 Liabilities : 
 
 1. State capital stock $1,000,000.00 
 
 2. Individual capital stock 349,240.00 
 
 3. Circulation 1,309,996.00 
 
 4. United States treasurer 40.00 
 
 5. Unclaimed dividends 1,876.50 
 
 6. Individual depositors 70,708.28 
 
 7. Due other banks 7,497.78 
 
 8. Discount, exchange, interest, etc 29,259.61 
 
 9. Surplus fund 115,463.35 
 
 10. Branch balance 2,317.51 
 
 Total $2,886,398.51 
 
 Resources : 
 
 1. Bills discounted $1,312,070.11 
 
 2. Bills of exchange 295,795.47 
 
 3. Suspended debt 101,085.92 
 
 4. Illinois bonds 369,998.68 
 
 5. Illinois scrip 819.55 
 
 6. Bank and insurance stock 11,900.00 
 
 7. Due from other banks 178,472.49 
 
 8. Real estate 83,336.74
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 413 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 
 Incidental Expenses ................. $ 7,428.34 
 
 Cash (specie) ....................... 422,371.13 
 
 Cash (bank notes) .................. 103,120.00 
 
 Total ............................. $2,886,398.51 
 
 The real estate in item No. 8, in "resources," consisted of a lot in 
 the city of Shawneetown at the corner of Main and Main Cross streets 
 upon which stood and upon which still stands, a magnificent brown stone 
 structure, three stories high and a very spacious open porch or entrance 
 whose roof is supported by five immense fluted columns of Doric style. 
 This open porch is approached by a flight of more than a score of stone 
 steps. The floor above the basement is high enough to be above the high 
 water mark of those days. This is the most imposing building in all 
 the state which dates as far back as 1840. It readily impresses the 
 
 OLD BANKING HOUSE IN SHAWNEETOWN. 
 
 OF $80,000 
 
 BUILT ABOUT 1840 AT A COST 
 
 stranger who "drops into" Shawneetown as altogether of another age. 
 Joel Matteson bought the building after the crash of 1843 for $15,000 
 and began the banking business under the Free Banking system. At 
 the outbreak of the Civil war ex-Governor Matteson fearing the in- 
 vasion of Southern Illinois by the rebels closed the bank and later sold 
 the building to Hon. Thomas S. Ridgway for $6,500. Mr. Ridgway used 
 it for a residence till his death in November, 1897. In 1865 Mr. Ridgway 
 and Mr. John McKee Peeples established the First National Bank of 
 Shawneetown, and carried on the banking business in the front part of 
 the building. 
 
 The collapse of the improvement schemes and of the banks in 1842 
 and 1843, left the state dependent upon specie and the bank notes of 
 banks of other states for its circulating medium. The Mexican war 
 which absorbed people's attention in 1846 to 1849 really distributed 
 large quantities of cash in this state. Banks of deposit and exchange 
 were in operation here and there, but there were no banks of issue in 
 Illinois between 1843 and the passage of the Free Banking laws in 1851.
 
 414 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 THE FREE BANKING LAW 
 
 The constitution of 1818 served the people for twenty years. In 
 1848 we adopted our second fundamental law. It had many features 
 in it which differed radically from the one of 1818, but the phase we 
 are just now interested in was the provision about banks and banking. 
 Articles 10, section 3, reads: "No state bank shall hereafter be created, 
 nor shall the state own or be liable for any stock in any corporation or 
 joint-stock association for banking purposes, to be hereafter created." 
 Section 5 reads: "No act of the general assembly, authorizing corpo- 
 rations or associations with banking powers, shall go into effect, or in 
 any manner be in force, unless the same shall be submitted to the peo- 
 ple at the general election next succeeding the passage of the same, and 
 be approved by a majority of all the votes cast at such election for or 
 against such law." 
 
 In 1838, the legislature of New York passed a law which created a 
 system of banking quite different from anything before tried in this 
 country. This bill provided the following plan, briefly outlined : 
 
 1. A person or persons might deposit with the comptroller of the 
 State a certain amount of United States bonds, New York State bonds, 
 or other state bonds, or mortgages to be approved by that officer, as 
 security. 
 
 2. The comptroller issued to such persons bank bills which when 
 properly signed by the bank officers might be put into circulation as 
 money. 
 
 3. Said notes when put in circulation were to be redeemed by the 
 bank when presented for redemption by the holder within a limited 
 time, or 
 
 4. The comptroller could sell the bonds deposited with him and re- 
 deem said bank notes. 
 
 5. In case the State had to wind up the affairs of any such bank and 
 the securities on deposit did not bring an amount equal to the out- 
 standing bank notes, the available cash from the sale of the bonds was 
 used in paying as large a per cent as possible on the dollar, and all else 
 was lost to the bank-note holder. 
 
 Upon the face of this law it looked as if there was scarcely any 
 chance for loss to the bank-note holder and of course there could be 
 none to the state as it was acting merely in the capacity of an agent of 
 trust. Following the ratification of the constitution of 1848, there be- 
 gan almost immediately an agitation for banks of issue in Illinois. In 
 the session of 1851 the legislature passed a banking law modeled upon 
 the New York law outlined above. This law could not go into effect 
 until ratified by the majority of the votes cast at a general election. 
 The general election was provided for in November, 1851, and the vote 
 stood for the law, 37,626; against the law, 31,405 a very light vote. 
 
 This law was called the "Free Banking Law," because anyone could 
 go into the banking business. That is, one did not have to have a specially 
 enacted charter. The securities were to be deposited with the auditor of 
 public accounts, and might consist of United States bonds, Illinois state 
 bonds, other state bonds. A provision in the law contemplated the de- 
 preciation in value of state bonds and so they were not taken for their 
 full face value. No bank could be organized with a smaller bank issue 
 than $50.000. It was also provided in the law that if any bank refused
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 415 
 
 to redeem its issue, it was liable to a fine of 12% per cent on the amount 
 presented for redemption. 
 
 One way the bank managed to keep people from presenting their 
 bills for redemption was as follows: A bank, say in Springfield, Illi- 
 nois, would send $25,000 of its own issue to a bank in Massachusetts, 
 say in Boston; the Boston bank returning a like amount to the Spring- 
 field bank. Each bank would then pay out this money over its counter 
 in small quantities and in this way the Springfield bank issue would 
 become scattered all over New England and no person holding but a 
 few dollars would think of coming to Springfield to get his bills re- 
 deemed. The issue of the Boston bank would be scattered through the 
 west. In this way, and in other ways the money of Illinois became scat- 
 tered in other states while in the ordinary business transactions in this 
 state one would handle a large number of bills daily which had been 
 issued in other states. 
 
 No doubt many corporations went into the banking business under 
 this law with clean hands and carried on a properly conducted bank- 
 ing business but there were ways by which irresponsible and dishonest 
 men might go into the banking business and make large sums of money 
 without very much capital invested. Such banks were known as Wild 
 Cat Banks. The name is said to have originated from the picture of a 
 wild cat engraved on the bills of one of these irresponsible banks in 
 Michigan. However, they may have been named from the fact that the 
 word wild cat was often applied to any irresponsible venture or scheme. 
 
 ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN BANKS OF ISSUE 
 
 There were, in Illinois, organized under this law, 115 banks of issue. 
 Up to 1860 the "ultimate security" was sufficient at any time to redeem 
 all outstanding bills, but when the Civil war came on the securities of 
 the southern states, on deposit in the auditor's office, depreciated greatly 
 in value. The banks were going into liquidation rapidly. They re- 
 deemed their bills at all prices from par down to forty-nine cents on the 
 dollar. It is estimated that the bill-holders lost about $400,000, but that 
 it came in such a way that it was not felt seriously. This system of 
 banking was followed by the National Banking system with which we" 
 are acquainted today. 
 
 The one hundred and fifteen banks of issue which were in operation 
 in Illinois just prior to the Civil war, issued nearly a thousand different 
 kinds of bank bills. Because of the large number of kinds of bills, 
 counterfeiting was easy, and it is said that much of the monev in circu* 
 lation was counterfeit. Bankers received reports as to the condition of 
 the banks over the state daily. One never knew when he presented a 
 bill in payment of a debt, whether or not it was of any value. Often 
 the merchant would accept this paper money only when heavily dis- 
 counted. 
 
 There was quite a tendency to tamper with the law as originally 
 ratified by the people in 1851. The question of constitutionality of 
 amendments came up and some confusion resulted. In 1854 there was 
 a money panic resulting from the failure of a number of banks in Ohio 
 and Indiana. The flurry was caused by a quick decline of state securi- 
 ties on the New York market. The panic moved west and reached Illi- 
 nois. The bank commissioners were able to satisfy the people that the
 
 416 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 bank notes were secure and the excitement soon died out. In 1857 an- 
 other financial storm broke in this country and Illinois was of course 
 seriously affected. It is stated that there were more than two hundred 
 thousand failures in the United States, with liabilities of nearly three 
 hundred million and with assets of about half that amount. The fail- 
 ures in Illinois were 316 with a liability of more than nine millions. 
 It is thought these great sums were of a speculative nature. The legiti- 
 mate business of the country was not so seriously affected. 
 
 By 1860 the normal conditions of trade and business had been re- 
 stored. There were at that time 110 free banks in Illinois with a circu- 
 lation of $12,000,000 and with securities deposited with the auditor of 
 public accounts of nearly $14,000,000. The notes of these banks were 
 at par in Illinois, but out of the state they were at a discount of from 
 one to three per cent. This system is said to have furnished a good cir- 
 culating medium but there was more or less trouble about the redemp- 
 tion process. 
 
 EFFECTS OF NATIONAL BANKING SYSTEM 
 
 In February, 1863, congress passed an act creating a National Bank- 
 ing System. This plan was modeled after the Free Banking System of 
 the state of New York. Its several features are too well known to need 
 any explanation at this time, several of the free banks of Illinois 
 changed over to national banks in the summer of 1863. All free banks 
 which had their notes secured . by bonds of the seceding states were 
 obliged to put up additional security or redeem their notes and go out 
 of business. In this way the free banks began to disappear. In March, 
 1865, congress passed a law which placed a tax on all state bank issue. 
 This law had the effect of forcing the remainder of the free banks out 
 of business or to force them into national banks. This national banking 
 system has proved the most perfect scheme for issuing paper money of 
 any yet devised, and is the most reliable financial factor in the business 
 world. 
 
 ILLINOIS BANKERS' ASSOCIATION 
 
 The business of banking has grown wonderfully within the past half 
 century. In 1891 the bankers perfected an organization known as ' ' The 
 Illinois Bankers' Association." In 1895 there was a consolidation of the 
 association of private banks and the association of national and state 
 banks. The following comparative table of items will show the growth 
 of banks and banking business since the association has been organized : 
 
 1890 1911 
 
 Number national banks 192 438 
 
 Number state banks 56 544 
 
 Number private banks 473 659 
 
 Totals 721 1,641 
 
 National banks: 
 
 Capital $ 31,200,000 $ 73,220,000 
 
 Surplus 12,000,000 41,936,000 
 
 Deposits 102,696,000 657,552.000 
 
 Resources 206,638,000 826,933,000
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 417 
 
 State banks : 
 
 Capital $ 10,332,000 $ 64,071,000 
 
 Surplus 3,824,000 33,702,000 
 
 Deposits 49,259,000 630,205,000 
 
 Resources 826,933,000 755,454,000 
 
 GROUP No. 10 (SOUTHERN ILLINOIS) 
 
 Several years ago it was thought advisable to organize the bankers 
 into groups within the larger organization. There are ten groups. 
 Southern Illinois comprises all the territory in group ten, all the terri- 
 tory in group nine, and four counties in group six, namely: Clark, 
 Cumberland, Crawford and Jasper. The chairman of group nine is 
 Ben M. Smith, Salem ; secretary, R. E. Hamill, Preeburg. One hun- 
 dred seventy-five banks belong to group nine, and there are twenty-five 
 banks that are not members, total 200 banks. The following is a list 
 of counties with number of banks in each county : Bond, 6 ; Clay, 10 ; 
 Clinton, 14; Edwards, 6; Emngham, 14; Payette, 10; Jefferson, 15; 
 Lawrence, 11 ; Madison, 3ft; Marion, 17 ; Monroe, 4 ; Perry, 8 ; Randolph, 
 17 ; Richland, 5 ; St. Clair, 18 ; Wabash, 6 ; Washington, 9 ; Wayne, 8. 
 
 Group ten has for chairman J. S. Aisthorpe, Cairo ; secretary, E. B. 
 Jackson, Marion. The following is a list of counties in the group and 
 the number of banks in each : Alexander, 5 ; Franklin, 11 ; Gallatin, 8 ; 
 Hamilton, 10 ; Hardin, 3 ; Jackson, 16 ; Johnson, 6 ; Massac, 6 ; Pope, 
 3; Pulaski, 6; Saline, 13; Union, 8; White, 15; Williamson, 15. This 
 group has 125 banks, 112 of which are members and 13 are non-mem- 
 bers. For Southern Illinois there is one bank for every 2,471 popula- 
 tion. 
 
 The twenty-first meeting of the Bankers' Association was held in 
 Springfield, October 11-12, 1911. For that year Mr. E. E. Crabtree of 
 Jacksonville was president. The gathering was a notable one. The 
 programme was varied and some prominent men were present; among 
 them Hon. James J. Hill, who spoke on "The Production, Exchange, 
 and Distribution of Wealth." Dr. Eugene Davenport, dean of the Col- 
 lege of Agriculture, University of Illinois, spoke on "The Relation of 
 the Banker to Agriculture." Hon. J. Adam Bede of Minnesota gave 
 an address full of humorous incidents said to come out of his experi- 
 ence. There were present at this meeting a few of the charter mem- 
 bers of the association, among them D. W. Smith and E. D. Keys of 
 Springfield. 
 
 It is difficult to estimate the part played by banks in the develop- 
 ment of Southern Illinois. Without doubt a bank in a community begets 
 the spirit of thrift, frugality, and conservatism. In many localities the 
 banks foster industries of various kinds and often support the mer- 
 cantile interests. The establishment of savings banks, and savings de- 
 partments in other banks has worked greatly to beget a frugal habit in 
 our people. 
 
 BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS 
 
 It will be entirely in keeping with the subject matter in this chapter 
 to consider very briefly here a species of banking, or at least of savings 
 banking, which we know as "Building and Loan Associations." In the
 
 418 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 general assemply of 1879 an act was passed creating building and loan 
 associations. These are co-operative associations having for their aim 
 the creation of a fund by the monthly payment by "investors" of a 
 small sum, which when sufficiently large may be loaned to "borrowers." 
 The borrower also becomes an investor, and when his investment amounts 
 to a sum equal to the amount he borrowed, the interest having been 
 paid monthly, the debt is cancelled. This enables people who have a 
 small saving each month to invest that in building and loan stock. The 
 earnings are usually better than other forms of investment because 
 the borrower pays his interest monthly. This interest is immediately 
 loaned and is compounded several times by the end of the year. The 
 borrower finds it easy to pay his interest monthly and his investment 
 also, and so in a sense profits much from this plan of paying for a home. 
 The oldest building and loan association under the law of July 1, 
 1879, is without doubt one organized in Centralia in August, 1879. How- 
 ever it appears that there were "Savings and Loan Associations" as 
 early as June, 1874. One such was organized in Shelbyville in that 
 year. This form of savings is very popular in Southern Illinois. There 
 is scarcely a town of any size that does not have its association.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES 
 
 PREPONDERANCE OP RURAL POPULATION AVERAGE SIZE AND PRICE OP 
 FARMS PERCENT OP VALUE IN LANDS, BUILDINGS, ETC. NUMBER OF 
 FARMS EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 
 
 Southern Illinois contains no very large cities, East St. Louis is the 
 largest, with a population of 58,547. Belleville in the same county, St. 
 Clair, ranks second with a population of 21,122. The third city is 
 Cairo with 14,548 souls. Manufacturing is carried on quite extensively 
 in these three cities. In the first the chief manufacturing interests are 
 pork packing and beef dressing. In the second .the interest is chiefly 
 foundry work, and farm and other machinery ; while in Cairo the manu- 
 facturing activities are mostly in the field of furniture and kindred 
 products. Outside of these three large cities there is nothing extensively 
 carried on in manufacturing. However there are some worthy enter- 
 prises in other towns which will be spoken of in another place. 
 
 PREPONDERANCE OP RURAL POPULATION 
 
 Out of a total population of Southern Illinois of 804,877, according 
 to the census of 1910, 31.9 per cent are living in cities of more than 
 2,500, while 68.1 per cent are in towns, villages, or in rural communi- 
 ties. Out of a total population for the state of 5,638,591, 61.7 per cent 
 live in cities of 2,500 and over, while 38.3 per cent live in towns, villages 
 or in rural communities. This comparison is interesting in that it shows 
 that twice as many people in every 100 live in rural communities in 
 Southern Illinois as live in rural communities in the state as a whole. 
 
 When we remember that Southern Illinois soil is poor compared with 
 the black soil of Central and Northern Illinois, we are at a loss to know 
 how to account for the fact that in Egypt more than twice as many 
 people are found in rural communities as are found in cities above 2,500. 
 At the same time two-thirds of all the people of the state live in cities 
 above 2,500 population. 
 
 One explanation of the larger per cent of rviral population over 
 urban population in Southern Illinois is the character of the soil and 
 the lack of any great demand for manufactories in the cities of this 
 region. In making the early settlements the new comers occupied farms 
 of small areas. Many of these were cleared of heavy growths of timber 
 before they were of any value as farm lands. To show the compara- 
 tive sizes of farms in Southern and Central Illinois we have the follow- 
 ing. 
 
 419
 
 420 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 AVERAGE SIZE AND PRICE OF FARMS 
 
 Average size of farms in 34 Southern Illinois counties, census of 1910, 
 of improved lands, is 82 acres. Average size of farms of same charac- 
 ter in northern and central counties is 133 acres. The average for the 
 entire state is 111 acres. The smallest average for farms in any county 
 is in Pulaski county, 56.8 acres. The largest average is in Piatt county, 
 177 acres. Thus it is readily seen that the Egyptians are small farm- 
 ers. Not only so but their lands are the cheapest in price and the poor- 
 est in quality. The average price per acre for farm lands for the state 
 is $95.02. The average price per acre for the 34 southern counties is 
 $38.59. The highest average priced farm lands in any county is, for 
 Cook county, $183. For Champaign county $177. 
 
 PER CENT OF VALUE IN LANDS, BUILDINGS, ETC. 
 
 Something of the character of farm buildings, farm machinery, and 
 domestic animals may be seen in the following comparisons : 
 
 Per cent of value in all farm property in (state) : 
 
 Lands 79.1 
 
 Buildings 11.1 
 
 Implements and machinery 1.9 
 
 Domestic animals 7.9 
 
 100 
 
 Per cent of value in all farm property in (Lake county) : 
 
 Lands 65.6 
 
 Buildings 22.4 
 
 Implements 2.7 
 
 Domestic animals . 9.3 
 
 100 
 Per cent for Southern Illinois: 
 
 Lands 72.54 
 
 Buildings 13.50 
 
 Implements . . : ' 2.37 
 
 Domestic animals . . 11.48 
 
 99.89 
 
 Highest per cent in lands in Southern Illinois is Wabash county, 
 78.1 per cent. 
 
 Highest per cent in farm buildings is in Hardin county, 20 per cent. 
 
 The highest per cent invested in farm machinery is in Pulaski county, 
 3.4 per cent. This, by the way, is the highest in the state. 
 
 The highest per cent invested in domestic animals in Southern Illi- 
 nois is in Hardin county, 22.3 per cent. 
 
 From these and other statistics we see that our lands are rated at 
 only one-third of the value of lands in the central and northern part 
 of the state, but that the people have put more money into their build- 
 ings, implements, and stock, in comparison with the value of their lands, 
 than the people to the north of them have done.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 421 
 
 NUMBER OF FARMS 
 
 In the entire state there has been a falling off in the number of 
 farms from 1900 to 1910. In 1900 there were 158,503 farms in the 
 state ; in 1910 there were 145,107, a decrease of 13,396 farms. 
 
 In the following nine counties there was an increase in the number 
 of farms : 
 
 County 1900 1910 
 
 Edwards 956 1,052 
 
 Effingham 1,784 1,789 
 
 McHenry 1,549 1,592 
 
 Monroe 824 882 
 
 Pulaski 784 883 
 
 Richland 1,678 1,712 
 
 Union 1,357 1,440 
 
 Wayne 3,106 3,185 
 
 Woodford 985 991 
 
 Seven of these counties are in Southern Illinois. That shows that 
 there was an increase in the number of farms in 25 per cent of the 
 counties of this section. 
 
 i , 
 
 EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES 
 
 Much is being done to maintain the dignity of the calling of the 
 agriculturist. We have already spoken of the establishing of a depart- 
 ment of agriculture in the state normal at Carbondale. Experiment 
 stations have also been established in several counties in Southern Illinois. 
 
 The Farmers' Institute has done much and is doing much to advance 
 the cause of agriculture in Egypt. In most of the counties there are 
 county organizations. The congressional district however is the unit 
 of organization. County superintendents report to the superintendent 
 of farmers' institutes. In these reports the county superintendents 
 reveal the spirit and work of the rural communities. In March, 1910, 
 Mr. Frank Hall, then Superintendent of Farmers' Institutes, sent out 
 a circular letter to county superintendents, as follows : 
 
 "Dear Sir: For the good of the cause, please give me for publica- 
 tion in our next report, and elsewhere if I so elect, an account, brief or 
 otherwise, of the work in agriculture being done in the schools in your 
 county. Let your report include the following: 
 
 "1. In what manner and to what extent have you co-operated with 
 the officers of the County Farmers' Institute? 
 
 "2. Was agriculture taught in your last summer's county institute? 
 If not, why not ? 
 
 "3. Will agriculture receive attention in your next summer's county 
 institute? If not, why not? (Questions 2 and 3 are intended to find 
 out if lack of funds or lack of interest is the cause of no instruction in 
 agriculture.) 
 
 "4. Was corn-day observed in your school? Did you have a town- 
 ship or county corn-day following the day appointed by Supt. F. G. 
 Blair for the exhibition and study of corn in the district schools? 
 
 "5. What work in agriculture in addition to the foregoing is at- 
 tempted in the schools in your county? In the grades? In the high 
 schools ?
 
 422 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 "6. What work in domestic science (or domestic art) is attempted 
 in the schools of your county ? In the grades ? In the high schools ? 
 
 "Fraternally yours, 
 
 "PRANK H. HALL, 
 "Superintendent Farmers' Institutes." 
 
 To this letter many very satisfactory replies came, but evidently 
 some county superintendents did not reply at all. 
 
 It is certain from a survey of Southern Illinois that great progress 
 has been made within recent years, and the good work goes on. 
 
 The census report of 1910 shows that Southern Illinois is diversified 
 in its products. The principal crops for the state at large are : 1, 
 corn ; 2, oats ; 3, wheat ; 4, barley ; 5, potatoes ; 6, hay and forage, as 
 follows: (a) Timothy, (b) timothy and clover, (c) clover, (d) alfalfa, 
 (e) millet, (f) other cultivated grasses, (g) wild grasses, (h) grains 
 cut green. 
 
 Attention will be called to the particular crop for each county in 
 the county sketches where there are marked instances in agricultural 
 production.
 
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 CHAPTER XXXVII 
 ALEXANDER COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS NEAR THEBES AND AT CAIRO COUNTY SEAT CHANGES 
 CAIRO SURVEYED AND FOUNDED LUMBER INTERESTS AND LEVEES 
 ALEXANDER IN WAR INDUSTRIES, RAILROADS AND SCHOOLS NOTED 
 VISITORS SOME PROMINENT MEN OF THE COUNTY THE OLD TOWN 
 OF THEBES. 
 
 In the general assembly on March 4, 1819, Alexander county was 
 created. At that time it contained all of its present territory and the 
 west part of the county of Pulaski. The county was named from Dr. 
 Wm. M. Alexander, a pioneer who came to Union county as early as 
 1818. He was instrumental in booming the town of America, the first 
 county seat of Alexander county. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS NEAR THEBES AND AT CAIRO 
 
 Without doubt the first settlers in the county were three families 
 Joshua, Abraham, and Thomas Flannary ; John McElmurry and Joseph 
 Standlee. They settled on the Mississippi river about four miles below 
 the present town of Thebes. There are six or more old French grants 
 lying parallel to the river and touching one another endwise in Santa 
 Fe and Goose Island precincts. They are numbered from north to 
 south as follows: 681, 680, 520, 536, 537, and 2.564, etc. These old 
 French claims were confirmed by Congress on May 1, 1810, to John Mc- 
 Elmurry. Jr., claims or grants numbered 680, 681, 525 and 526 ; to 
 Joseph Standlee grants 2.564, and 684; to Abraham Flannary. or his 
 heirs. 531, 529 ; to Joshua Flannary, or his heirs, 530 and 528 ; to Thomas 
 Flannary, or his heirs. 529 and 527. 
 
 The first settlers in Cairo were a family by the name of Bird. 
 They are supposed to have come to the present site of Cairo as early as 
 1795. and after remaining a short time moved to Cape Girardeau. They 
 may have returned about 1811 as quite a number of refugees came from 
 New Madrid about the time of the earthquake at that place. The Birds 
 settled on the extreme south end of the peninsula, at least they entered 
 land there. As early as 1812 there were a few settlers along the Ohio 
 at Mound City, America, and near New Caledonia. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CHANGES 
 
 The first county seat was America, now a forgotten town, three and 
 a half miles above the present Mound City. In 1833 the county seat 
 
 425
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 427 
 
 was moved to Unity, four miles due west of the present town of Villa 
 Ridge. From here the seat of justice was moved to Thebes in 1844. 
 From here it was removed to Cairo about 1859 or 1860. 
 
 The settlers were slow about taking up lands and opening up farms. 
 They hunted and fished and wandered about. The real settlers who 
 developed the farms did not come till after 1840 and the first church 
 in the county was built about that time. Schools were slow in opening. 
 The first teacher is said to have been David McMichael; Topley White 
 and Moses Phillips were pioneer teachers. 
 
 CAIRO SURVEYED AND FOUNDED 
 
 In 1817, July 26, John G. Comegys of Baltimore bought eighteen 
 hundred acres lying on and constituting the peninsula excepting the 
 extreme south end which was bought by Wm. Bird the next year. The 
 Cairo City and Bank was chartered January 9, 1818. The land of the 
 peninsula was to be made into lots and sold and a portion of the money 
 put into improvements and the rest of it was to constitute the capital of 
 the bank. The peninsula was surveyed and a city laid off. The bank 
 was a bank of issue and was located in Kaskaskia. In 1841 a new com- 
 pany, The Cairo City and Canal Company, was organized which bought 
 large quantities of land on the peninsula. Darius B. Holbrook was the 
 moving spirit in this company. A few houses were built, among them 
 a large wooden hotel, two stories, and some woodmen's shanties. A store 
 was kept in a boat. Work on the central railroad had brought a great 
 many people to the vicinity of Cairo. In the meantime farms were 
 being opened. The villages of the county were flourishing. 
 
 LUMBER INTERESTS AND LEVEES 
 
 The lumber interests were important at an early date. A steamboat, 
 the "Tennessee Valley," was built at Cairo in 1842. It was on April 
 9th of that year that Chas. Dickens reached Cairo from Louisville. As 
 he approached the peninsula he saw the big hotel, the few stores, the 
 brick yards, and the "ways" on which the "Tennessee Valley" was in 
 process of final construction. In 1828 the Birds brought slaves over 
 from Missouri and built the first levee. It was constructed around the 
 big hotel. This hotel stood just south of the Halliday House. The sale 
 of bonds in Europe enabled the Cairo City and Canal Company to con- 
 struct levees about the city. It is said as many as 1,500 men were at 
 work on the levees at one time. In 1844 there was extremely high water 
 but Cairo was protected by the levees. In 1851 the Illinois Central 
 Railroad Company agreed to build a levee around the city eighty feet 
 wide on top and of sufficient height to keep out the highest waters. 
 These levees are doing -duty today, with others which have been built. 
 In June, 1858, the levees broke and the city was flooded, though the 
 water was not so high. The highest water ever recorded above the low 
 water mark was April, 1912. At that time the gauge read 54 feet. 
 
 ALEXANDER IN THE WAR 
 
 Alexander sent her auota of men to all the wars in which Illinois 
 has taken part. In 1812 she furnished three soldiers David Sowers,
 
 428 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Robert Hight, and Nathan M. Thompson. In the Black Hawk war 
 Capt. Henry L. Webb served with a company of 52 men mounted 
 volunteers. The county did her duty in the Mexican war; and in the 
 Civil war, Cairo was the most important military point north of the 
 Ohio. Col. Oglesby, Gen. Prentiss, Gen. Grant, and other prominent 
 soldiers commanded at this point. Gunboats, transports, and naval sup- 
 plies were to be seen on every hand from '61 to '65. Many of the old 
 
 THE GUN, "CAPT. BILLY WILLIAMS," IN DUNCAN PARK, CAIRO 
 THE GIFT OP CAPT. WM. WILLIAMS 
 
 citizens in Cairo remember well when Grant and Foote sojourned in 
 Cairo. 
 
 INDUSTRIES, RAILROADS AND SCHOOLS 
 
 While this county is mainly an agricultural county, there are large 
 interest in manufacturing and shipping. Immense quantities of hard 
 lumber are kept in stock by great lumber firms. Planing mills furnish 
 abundance of work for hundreds of hands. Immense plants have re- 
 cently been located in North Cairo. One of these, a veneering plant, is 
 controlled by the Singer Sewing Machine Co. 
 
 Cairo has in recent years become a great railroad center. The Illi- 
 nois Central has large interests in Cairo. So also has the Mobile and 
 Ohio, and the Big Four. A company called the Cairo and Thebes Rail- 
 road Company has recently erected elegant terminals in Cairo and con- 
 structed a road from Cairo to Thebes where connection is made with a 
 number of other roads. 
 
 Educational interests have suffered in this county largely because of
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 429 
 
 topographical conditions, a large share of the county is subject to over- 
 flow and rural schools are greatly handicapped. In some localities the 
 colored population is considerable and this forces the school district to 
 have two schools or to have colored and white children in the same 
 school. In the city of Cairo, however, the schools have been kept up to 
 a very high standard. Especially is this true of the city high school. 
 The city schools have been under the management of Prof. T. C. Clen- 
 denin for two decades and are well patronized. Mrs. Fanny P. Hacker 
 is the present county superintendent. 
 
 NOTED VISITORS 
 
 The geographical position of the city of Cairo has given the place 
 some notoriety which otherwise would not have come to it. As has al* 
 ready been pointed out Charles Dickens of England visited Cairo in 
 1842. It is doubtful whether he was off the boat, but he saw enough 
 of it to cause a very unpleasant memory of it to be recorded in his 
 "American Notes." It has been suggested that he owned stock in the 
 Cairo City and Canal Company. At least he gave the city some excel- 
 lent free advertising. 
 
 Capt. Billy Williams, an honored citizen of Cairo, says he once saw 
 Gen. Winfield Scott land from a passing vessel and inspect the city of 
 that time. He also remembers Charlotte Cushman as a Cairo visitor. 
 
 Commodore Foote, while yet a flag officer, having returned from the 
 bombarding and capture of Fort Henry was desirous of attending church 
 on a Sunday. In company with his crew he attended the Presbyterian 
 church. The pastor was unable to be present on account of a sudden ill- 
 ness. Comodore Foote was not willing that all the congregation should 
 be disappointed, so he ascended the pulpit and took his text from John 
 14, 1 : " Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also 
 in me. ' ' His sermon was acceptable and all retired feeling that the dis- 
 tinguished guest could do other things than reduce great forts to ruins. 
 
 A very famous picture was taken while the troops were stationed in 
 Cairo in September, 1861. It is a front view of the post office. About 
 its doors are gathered a number of Cairo citizens surrounding two great 
 warriors-to-be, Gen. John A. McClernand and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. 
 This picture appears in Volume I of the Photographic History of the' 
 Civil War and also in Judge Lansden 's History of Cairo. It is a historic 
 picture. 
 
 Probably the most noteworthy event connected with the political life 
 of the county and city was the visit in September, 1858, of Senator 
 Stephen A. Douglas and his wife as they were on their way to the 
 famous Jonesboro debate. But since the details are given somewhat in 
 the chapter on that famous debate we need not repeat them here. 
 
 In 1811 a steamboat was constructed in Pittsburg and put in charge 
 of Captain Roosevelt of New York. The boat was called the "New 
 Orleans." It was ordered to make a trip from Pittsburg to New Orleans 
 and return to test the navigability of the two rivers. It reached Cairo 
 the 18th of December, 1811, made its way to New Orleans and returned 
 to Pittsburg. 
 
 Gen. Andrew Jackson was in Cairo three or four days in 1813. 
 Gen. Zachary Taylor visited Cairo in 1849. Gen. Garfield in 1868 ; Gen. 
 Grant in 1880 ; Jefferson Davis in 1881 ; President Roosevelt in 1907 ; 
 and President Taft in 1909.
 
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 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 431 
 
 A distinguished guest was entertained by the citizens of Cairo on 
 November 30 and December 1 and 2, 1911. It was none less than 
 Alfred Tennyson Dickens, son of Charles Dickens who visited in St. 
 Louis in 1842, and who spoke slightingly of the peninsula and the rivers 
 in his "Notes." Mr. Alfred Tennyson Dickens was entertained in the 
 palatial home of Mayor George Parsons. A reception was held in his 
 honor in the Alexander Club and also in the home of Mayor Parsons. 
 He was driven over parts of Alexander county and Pulaski county. He 
 said the hills reminded him very much of those of Scotland. Mr. 
 Dickens died suddenly in New York January 2, 1912. 
 
 SOME PROMINENT MEN OP THE COUNTY 
 
 This short and imperfect sketch of Alexander county, and its chief 
 city, would be incomplete indeed if the names of some of her noted 
 men were omitted, and we shall therefore append a few of the many 
 who are worthy: 
 
 Wm. Bird who settled the peninsula. Dr. Alexander after whom 
 the county was named. John G. Comegys who purchased all the penin- 
 sula and founded the city. Darius B. Holbrook headed the Cairo City 
 and Canal Company organized in 1837. Judge Miles A. Gilbert who 
 saved the property of the Cairo City and Canal Company after the finan- 
 cial crash of 1842. Col. S. Staats Taylor rejuvenated the city in 1854 
 and was instrumental in beginning the future Cairo. Capt. Wm. P. 
 Halliday came into prominence about 1860 in the financial circles of 
 Cairo. From that time to his death he was a power in business circles. 
 Capt. Halliday had four brothers. They were all noted in business 
 circles. Mayor George Parsons for several years connected with the 
 Cairo City Property, and mayor of the city, has become widely known 
 in Southern Illinois. He is much attached to the highest welfare of the 
 city of the Delta. 
 
 THE OLD TOWN OF THEBES 
 
 Within recent years the historic town of Thebes has come into promi- 
 nence. Just a few miles below Thebes, which is on the Mississippi some 
 six miles below Cape Girardeau, there are some old French grants of 
 land made probably in the days of French rule. The grants fell into 
 the hands of a number of Americans and were confirmed to them in 1810 
 by congress. These early settlers had a "Station Fort" called Mc- 
 Elmurry's Station. This is probably the origin of Thebes. The court 
 house in Thebes still stands. In April, 1905, a very fine bridge of the 
 cantilever construction was completed across the Mississippi and rail- 
 roads are centering here from both Illinois and Missouri. The town 
 has grown and now has a population of 717. 
 
 THE VISIT OP THE CONCORD 
 
 The recent agitation of the "Deep Waterway" project has called 
 attention to the question of the navigability of the Mississippi river, and 
 to put at rest this question the good people secured the visit of the Con- 
 cord, one of our finest cruisers. In the accompanying picture the ves- 
 sel is lying in the Cairo harbor. The Halliday House and business 
 blocks may be seen in the distance.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII 
 BOND COUNTY 
 
 Two NEIGHBORHOOD FORTS BUILT THE Cox MASSACRE SALT WORKS 
 SLAVERY ISSUE IN BOND COUNTY SCHOOLS FARMS AND FINANCES. 
 
 In 1817 the territorial legislature passed an act creating the county 
 of Bond. Its boundary was as follows: "Beginning at the southwest 
 corner of township number three north of range four west : thence east 
 to the southwest corner of township number three north of range num- 
 ber one east, to the third principal meridian line; thence north to the 
 boundary line of the territory; thence west with said boundary line so 
 far that a south line will pass between ranges four and five west ; thence 
 south with said line to the beginning. ' ' The territory so bounded should 
 constitute the county of "Bond." This county as laid off above in- 
 cluded all or parts of Bond, Montgomery, Sangamon, Logan, Tazewell, 
 Woodford, Marshall, Putnam, Bureau, Lee, Ogle, Winnebago, and Steph- 
 enson as they are on the map today. 
 
 The county contains 388 square miles, and has a population of 17,075, 
 a gain of 997 since 1900. The earliest settlers are said to have come to 
 the county as early as 1807. 
 
 Two NEIGHBORHOOD FORTS BUILT (1811) 
 
 It is certain there were settlers in the limits of the county as it is 
 today as early as 1811. When trouble with the Indians began in 1811, 
 Governor Edwards advised the building of family or neighborhood 
 forts. Governor Reynolds says that north of Bond county the country 
 was infested with hostile Indians. Two forts were built in Bond county. 
 One called Hill's fort was built eight miles southwest of Greenville on 
 the farm now owned by John 'Byrne. The fort covered an acre of 
 ground. A mile and a half south of Hill's fort was Jones' fort. It was 
 built in the summer of 1811. The two forts were constructed of palisade 
 walls with block houses, bastions, and cabins within. Portholes were 
 made and the whole presented a formidable appearance. These two forts 
 were spacious enough to accommodate all the settlers and their stock. It 
 is said there was not a piece of iron in the form of nail or spike in 
 either fort. The forts stood on the east side of Shoal creek about where 
 the Yandalia line crosses that creek. The old settlers used to tell how 
 the Indians would come from the north and hunt and fish in the vicinity 
 of these forts. 
 
 THE Cox MASSACRE 
 
 The Cox massacre is a well attested fact in Bond county history. 
 Probably as early as 1809 or 1810 a family by the name of Cox moved 
 
 432
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 433 
 
 from about Alton and settled near the present village of Pocahontas 
 across Shoal creek from the two forts. In 1811 the family was building 
 a horse mill. On June 2nd, some Pottawatomies came to the Cox home 
 finding only a brother and sister at home. It was reported the family 
 had money. The Indians killed the brother in cold blood, taking his 
 heart out and placing it on his head. This was done in the presence 
 of the sister. She was then told to get the money. She gave them only 
 a part of the money. She was then placed on a horse and on other 
 stolen horses the party started north. Rebecca Cox was a sensible young 
 woman. She tore her apron in strips and dropped the strips along the 
 trail. When the family returned Hill's fort was alarmed and Capt. 
 James Pruitt and some settlers started in pursuit. The Indians were 
 overtaken north of where Springfield is now. The young woman was 
 recaptured with a dangerous tomahawk wound in her hip. Rebecca Cox 
 recovered, married, moved to Arkansas where her husband was massa- 
 cred by Indians. Three miles north of Pocahontas stands a monument 
 erected by the community to commemorate the death of young Cox. 
 
 In 1811 when the tension was high in Bond county for fear of out- 
 breaks and secret murders, a band of Indians approached Hill's fort 
 and quietly removing the mud daubing from between the logs in the 
 chimney of the fireplace inserted a gun and shot a man sitting before 
 the fire. 
 
 SALT WORKS 
 
 In the original survey of the lands in the Northwest territory all 
 "salt licks, salt springs and mill sites" were marked by order of the 
 congress. On Shoal creek which flows south through the west side of 
 Bond county signs of salt were discovered and marked on the maps. It 
 is not known how early the manufacture of salt began there but the 
 record at Washington shows that Judge Wm. Biggs was a lessee. A 
 letter from the Rev. Thomas W. Hynes of Greenville to the author dated 
 January 19, 181)4, contains the following: "I have known of the salt 
 well or lick, as it is popularly known, ever since I came to the county 
 now nearly sixty years ago. It is near the south side of the N. W. qr. 
 of the N. E. qr. of Section 32, T. 6, N., R. 4 W. (the old works were 
 three miles north of Pocahontas). The first well was so near the chan- 
 nel of Shoal creek that it was under water every considerable rise of 
 the creek. This so hindered the work that the pioneers dug a well near 
 by, on high ground and used that instead. It was curbed with wood 
 and they used the common well buckets to draw the water. There was 
 a row of large iron kettles (some say as many as ninety) placed so the 
 largest one holding 100 gallons was near the well so the salt water could 
 be emptied into it from the well. The size of the kettles decreased down 
 the row toward the chimney. Wood fires were used. As the water 
 was boiled it was poured from the larger to the smaller kettles and as 
 the brine moved away from the well it became thicker and thicker until 
 it was almost dry salt when it was removed from the kettles. The salt 
 was then sacked and marketed much of it being carried away on pack 
 horses. It sold for several dollars per bushel. Several of the old iron 
 kettles are still in use in this county among the farmers. ' ' 
 
 In addition to Judge Biggs, one Montgomery, Spencer, John Lee, 
 James Coyle and others had charge of the works from time to time. 
 
 Vol. 128
 
 434 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 John Coyle came to the county in 1817 and settled near the salt works. 
 His son Jeremiah Coyle was born there April 4, 1822, and was still living 
 in 1904. The tract of land, 80 acres, on which the salt works were situ- 
 ated was owned in 1904 by Mr. Hartman Gruner. 
 
 In 1816 there were said to have been not over twenty-five log cabins 
 in the county, and these were grouped in a few neighborhoods. George 
 Davidson is said to have built the first house in Greenville. It was a log 
 cabin with puncheon floor, clapboard roof, with neither nails nor glass. 
 When the county was organized the county seat was fixed at Perryville 
 but was moved to Greencastle about 1822. The court house in Green- 
 ville was a wooden building two stories high. It was a frame building 
 and was unfinished in 1836. 
 
 In the Missouri Intelligencer and in the Illinois Advertiser of Sep- 
 tember 27, 1817, appears the law card of John Taylor and James H. 
 Peck. They propose to practice law in Missouri: "Mr. Taylor will at- 
 tend to business in the counties of Bond, Madison, St. Glair, and Harri- 
 son in Illinois Territory." 
 
 SLAVERY ISSUE IN BOND COUNTY 
 
 In 1818 congress passed the Enabling act by which Illinois was to 
 come into the union, and the convention which framed the constitution 
 was held in Kaskaskia in August, 1818. To that convention Bond county 
 sent two delegates, Thomas Kilpatrick and Samuel G. Morse. These 
 men took an active part in the work of the convention. In the campaign 
 for and against a convention in 1823 and 1824, Bond county was an open 
 battlefield. It was so close to the home of Rev. J. M. Peck that we may 
 be sure the sentiment of the people was largely influenced by that great 
 champion of human freedom. When the vote was taken the vote stood, 
 for slavery 63 ; for freedom 240 four to one for freedom. The popu- 
 lation of Bond county in 1820 was 2,931. Probably one-third of this 
 number lived in the territory made into Montgomery county in 1821. 
 In that case the vote in Bond in 1824 was a very full vote. 
 
 Bond county was on the line of the underground railroad. There 
 were three crossing places of the Mississippi one at Chester, one at 
 Alton, and one at Quincy. Those runaways who crossed at Chester 
 moved northward passing through Washington, Clinton, and Bond to 
 Vandalia. They received much help in Bond county. The Rev. Robt. 
 W. Patterson in an address before the Chicago Historical Society, in 
 1880, said the people of Bond county were greatly stirred over the 
 slavery question before William Lloyd Garrison was heard of. 
 
 The prominent names in Bond county in the forties were the Waits, 
 Blanchards, Drs. Perrine and Foster, Newhall, Russell, Donnels, Hugh 
 McReynolds, Laughlins, Stewarts, McCords, Dixons, Davises and Doug- 
 lasses. But no name is more vitally connected with Bond county than 
 that of the Rev. John M. Peck. Mr. Peck's home was in St. Clair, but 
 he knew no territorial limits to bound his usefulness in the New West. 
 
 SCHOOLS 
 
 The earliest record of any school beyond the subscription schools is 
 the establishing of a school known as Amity Academy situated at Poca- 
 hontas. It was running in 1854. But was soon discontinued and its
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 435 
 
 work was taken up by an academy founded at Greenville in 1855 for 
 young ladies only. In 1857 this school was chartered as Almira College 
 and was under the general control of the Baptists. The Hon. James P. 
 Slade was president of the college during a portion of the time prior to 
 1892 when it was sold to the Free Methodists and incorporated as Green- 
 ville College. Under the new management the school has been quite 
 prosperous. Eldon G. Burritt, A. M., is president. 
 
 The public schools of Greenville were organized by Prof. Samuel M. 
 Inglis who had from 1865 to 1868 conducted an academy in Hillsboro. 
 Prof. Inglis remained at the head of the schools of Greenville from 
 
 GREENVILLE COLLEGE, GREENVILLE, ILLINOIS 
 
 1869 to 1883 when he was elected to a professorship in the State Normal 
 at Carbondale. 
 
 The present county superintendent of schools is H. A. Meyer. The 
 superintendent of the city schools of Greenville is S. S. Simpson. 
 
 FARMS AND FINANCES 
 
 Bond county has 1,958 farms, an increase in ten years of 50 farms; 
 962 of these farms contain over 100 acres, and eight of them over 1,000 
 acres. Eighty -nine and nine-tenths of the area of the county is in 
 farm lands. 
 
 According to the "Directory" of Illinois and Missouri published in 
 1854-5, there was not a bank in Bond county but in the Bankers' report 
 for 1911, the county is reported as having six banks, as follows: 
 
 Bradford National Bank, Greenville. 
 
 State Bank of Hoiles & Son, Greenville. 
 
 First National Bank, Mulberry Grove. 
 
 Bond County Bank, Pocahontas. 
 
 Bank of Sorento, Sorento. 
 
 Bank of Smithboro, Smithboro. 
 
 The county's resources are chiefly agricultural, only two coal mines 
 were in operation as reported in the 1911 report.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX 
 CLARK COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENTS MARSHALL AND THE NATURAL ROAD PROFESSIONAL 
 MEN OF THE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND FINANCIAL. 
 
 Clark county was created March 22, 1819. The county was named 
 in honor of George Rogers Clark. It has at present an area of 493 square 
 miles, and its population by the census of 1910 was 23,517. This is a loss 
 in population since 1900 of 516. 
 
 FIRST SETTLEMENTS 
 
 The first settlements were along the Wabash. When the county was 
 organized Darwin, a group of not more than a dozen or so of log huts, 
 was made the county seat. Darwin is on the Wabash about half way 
 from north to south in the county. In 1837 Darwin had about 20 
 families. This village remained the seat of justice till 1849 when it was 
 moved to Marshall about twelve miles southwest of Terre Haute. 
 
 MARSHALL AND THE NATIONAL ROAD 
 
 When the survey for the National Road was made in 1829, it was dis- 
 covered that the highest point on the survey between the state line and 
 Vandalia was at a point some nine miles along the survey, westward 
 from the state line. The attention of Gov. Joseph Duncan and Colonel 
 Win. B. Archer was called to the eligibility of this high ground as a 
 site for a town. These two men entered the land from the government 
 in 1833. Two years later Gov. Duncan sold his interest to Col. Archer 
 and the latter proceeded in the fall of 1835 to lay off a town which 
 came to be called Marshall. The first house, a log cabin, was built in 
 the fall of 1835. 
 
 In the forties and fifties considerable trade was carried on between 
 the region of Clark county and Chicago. Gov. Reynolds in his inau- 
 gural message in 183TF urged upon the legislature the establishment of 
 roads, and among the roads he suggested was one from Shawneetown to 
 Chicago. Roads were early laid out and used as mail routes from 
 Shawneetown and Equality to important points in the eastern part of 
 the state. Among these roads was one from Shawneetown to the mouth 
 of the Little Wabash and thence to Carmi, Grayville, Mt. Carmel and 
 to Lawrenceville where connection was made with the road from St. 
 Louis to Vincennes. This road was a mail route as early as 1806, and 
 it was the extension of this road to Chicago that Gov. Reynolds urged 
 
 436
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 437 
 
 upon the legislature. This road was subsequently opened, and passed 
 from Vincennes to Palestine and to Marshall, Paris, Danville, Iroquois, 
 Crete in Will county, and on to Chicago. The north end of this road 
 was a mail road in 1832. Now by 1839 the National Road was in use 
 from Terre Haute to Vandalia, and Marshall, being at the crossing of 
 the north and south road and the east and west road, soon became an 
 important center. 
 
 It is said that the town of Marshall became a center for the collec- 
 tion of the products of the region and also a distribution point for 
 goods from Chicago and St. Louis. It was no uncommon thing to haul 
 country produce such as lard, meats, beeswax, honey, fruits and vegeta- 
 bles from Marshall to Chicago and to return with dry goods and 
 groceries, leather, iron, and pottery ware for distribution from Marshall. 
 
 The building of the National Road from Terre Haute to Vandalia was 
 the life of all the counties it passed through and especially was Clark 
 county profited by this enterprise. The county was well timbered in 
 many parts, and excellent stone was found along the line of the road. 
 Saw mills were brought in and much lumber produced. Quarries were 
 opened and most of the stone used in the abutments, culverts, and bridges 
 was local material. 
 
 PROFESSIONAL MEN OP THE COUNTY 
 
 In 1854 there were thirteen lawyers in the county, these were : 
 
 Geo. R. Gibson, Constable and Dulaney, Chas. H. Constable, Joshua 
 
 B. Cooper, Robt. L. Dulaney, Justin Harlan, J. Newton Harlan, E. S. 
 Janney, Uriah Manley, J. C. Robinson, Timothy R. Young, Nathan 
 Willard. These were all located in Marshall except Mr. Gibson who 
 was at Lodi. Justin Harlan became a judge of wide reputation; was 
 Indian agent under Lincoln and held other positions of trust. A son of 
 Justin Harlan, James Harlan rose to great prominence in the United 
 States. He was the father-in-law of Robt. T. Lincoln. James C. Robin- 
 son rose to considerable prominence as a Democratic leader in this state. 
 He was the Democratic candidate for governor in 1864. He was a well 
 known criminal lawyer. 
 
 There was a carriage factory in Martinsville in 1854 operated by S. 
 
 C. Wilson. In the same year there were six ministers stationed in the 
 county: Revs. Dean Andrews, Congregational; J. Chapman, Congrega- 
 tional; James Martin, Methodist; E. Montgomery, Methodist; H. Con- 
 den, Methodist ; M. Moore, Methodist. At the above date there was one 
 dentist in the county, Dr. W. H. Eidson, who had an office in Marshall. 
 There was also one flour mill at this time located at 'Marshall and owned 
 by Payne and Overmyer. There were four hotels or public inns in the 
 county in 1854. The "Clark House" kept by S. Archer in Marshall. 
 The "Marshall House," and the "Wright House" were also in Marshall, 
 the former kept by D. Legare, the latter by J. Wright. Martinsville had 
 a hotel kept by W. C. Bane. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL AND FINANCIAL 
 
 Clark county is preeminently a farming county. Ninety-five and a 
 half per cent of the land of the county is in "farms." The average size 
 of the three thousand and twenty farms in the county is 99.8 acres.
 
 438 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 There is a loss in the ten years between 1900 and 1910, of 396 farms. 
 The business and financial interests of the county are abundantly pro- 
 vided for. There are eleven banks in the county with a capital of 
 $300,000 ; and with deposits of $2,000,000. 
 
 The most interesting historical feature in connection with the county 
 is the old National Road which has been described in connection with 
 another subject in this work.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 CLAY COUNTY 
 
 MAYVILLE, OLDEST SETTLEMENT COUNTY SEAT MOVED TO LOUISVILLE 
 BUSY EARLY DECADE (1840-1850) OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD 
 BUILT FOUNDING OP CHURCHES SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN SEC- 
 TIONS PRESENT VILLAGES AND TOWNS. 
 
 Clay county was organized December 23, 1824. This county was 
 made by taking parts of Wayne, Fayette, and Crawford as then existed. 
 It lies directly west of Lawrence county. Its seat of justice was estab- 
 lished at Maysville at the time the county was organized. It was a mile 
 south of the present town of Clay City. It remained the seat of justice 
 till 1842 when the county seat was moved to Louisville which is almost 
 exactly in the center of the county. Old Maysville was on the trail 
 from St. Louis to Vincennes. This road was evidently the one taken 
 by Clark in 1779. It was made a mail route in 1805. The road from 
 Vandalia to Mt. Carmel crossed this old Vincennes trail at Maysville. 
 
 MAYSVILLE, OLDEST SETTLEMENT 
 
 The first settlements were made by a Mr. McCauley in 1809 at the 
 village of Maysville. He was driven out and returned to Kentucky dur- 
 ing the Indian wars of 1811 to 1815. He returned in 1818 or 1819. By 
 this time others had come, among them a Mr. Elliott, Wm. Ingraham 
 and others. James Levett settled Levett's Prairie about 1825. The 
 Indians were removed from Clay county in 1828. A large Indian 
 village stood at the forks of Muddy, and the burial grounds can yet be 
 traced. Settlements were made at Zenia, Louisville, and in the southern 
 part in the years from 1830 to 1835. Among the early names were 
 Ditter, McKiiiney, Campbell, Heaton, McKnight, Cruins, and Maxwell. 
 One William Lewis had a pack of twenty to thirty hounds and drove out 
 the wolves and panthers of which there were large numbers. M. C. 
 Mines settled in the forks of Muddy and Laws creeks and practiced medi- 
 cine among the people. 
 
 Wesley Wood built a saw mill and grist mill combined at the point 
 where Wetweather creek flows into Muddy creek. This point is about 
 eleven miles due east of Louisville. In 1842 Jacob Shadle, a blacksmith 
 and gunsmith, settled in the present Pixley township. He was for a long 
 time the only smith in the county. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT MOVED TO LOUISVILLE 
 
 The settlers came in large numbers after 1840. Settlements grew 
 and in 1842 Louisville became the county seat. Wm. Brooks, a man 
 of means, came to the county in 1842 and settled on Levett's Prairie 
 
 439
 
 440 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 and was a money lender, and may be said to have been the first banker in 
 Clay county. 
 
 BUSY EARLY DECADE (1840-1850) 
 
 From 1840 to 1850 the people were busy opening farms and build- 
 ing homes. There were two stores in the county one at Maysville and 
 one at Louisville. The staples were coffee and powder. Peddlers passed 
 through the county trading simple manufactures for country produce, 
 including linen which the good women spun and wove from flax the 
 farmers had raised. The peddlers would take this produce to St. Louis, 
 sell out and return with another supply of needful things for the farm- 
 er 's wife. 
 
 The prairies and even the woodlands produced an abundance of 
 prairie grass. This was put up as hay, and of course pastured in the 
 summer time. The prairie fires are said to have been very destructive. 
 
 The matter of procuring flour and meal was often embarrassing to 
 the early settlers. The "wet weather" mills were unable to run in dry 
 weather and then farmers had to go to the Big Wabash for their grind- 
 ing. To remedy this defect in social organization, horse mills were built 
 here and there. 
 
 OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILROAD BUILT 
 
 The first railroad in the county was the Ohio and Mississippi which 
 was built through the county between 1850 and 1854. Three stirring 
 little cities have grown up on this road in Clay county Clay City, 
 which is one mile north of Maysville, Flora, some seven miles west of 
 Clay City, and Zenia, in the southwest corner of the county. This road 
 stimulated business in the towns and the agricultural interests as well. 
 Orman Pixley began a business venture where Ingraham postoffice is 
 now; his business thrived from the beginning. He received and for- 
 warded the mail and distributed the same when it was brought from 
 Louisville or Olney. 
 
 FOUNDING OP CHURCHES 
 
 On the first Sunday in September, 1839, the Christian church was 
 organized at the forks of Muddy, now the Christian church of Ingraham. 
 The charter members were William and Mary Ingraham ; William and 
 Patsy Read; Eli and Jane Read; John and Sarah Rogers; John and 
 Susan Jones, and others. The preaching was done by Elders Ingraham, 
 Read, Ballard, Schooley, Turner, Meeks, etc. The church was later 
 moved to Ingraham, and it is said by the historian of Clay county, Mr. 
 Jacob Shaclle, that from the Sunday of its organization to 1876 the con- 
 gregation never missed a meeting on the Lord's day. 
 
 The Methodists organized a church at. the home of Benjamin Ulm on 
 the Two Mile Prairie in 1843. The names connected with this church 
 are Ulm, Lough, Joy, Dewhurst and others. 
 
 The Baptist organized a church at the home of Jacob Toliver on 
 Union Prairie in 1843. Two preachers by the name of Elkins and Blair 
 were instrumental in building up the Baptist congregation. 
 
 This sketch has been taken from a manuscript history of the "Eastern
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 441 
 
 Half of Clay County," written by Jacob Shadle in 1876. He settled in 
 Clay county in 1842 and was the blacksmith mentioned above. 
 
 SETTLEMENT IN WESTERN SECTIONS 
 
 The western half of the county had many things in common with the 
 eastern half. Thomas Elliott settled near Flora in 1818. In 1822 he 
 built a brick house, the first in the county, probably. Here he kept tavern 
 on the old Vincennes-St. Louis road. Schools were opened about 1840 in 
 the vicinity of the present site of Flora. The old settlers would make one 
 believe that all kinds of wild animals infested Clay county. 
 
 About the year 1820 George Goble came from Indiana and settled not 
 far from the present site of Louisville. At one time he ran a grist mill 
 on the Little Wabash. The Lewis' family came to the vicinity of Louis- 
 
 A LARGE TOBACCO FIELD, CLAY COUNTY 
 
 ville about 1830. Several families gathered about the Little Wabash in 
 the vicinity of Louisville and flat-boating came to be a thriving business. 
 These were built and sold at so much per running foot. They were from 
 sixty to seventy-five feet long and from twelve to eighteen feet wide. 
 They were used to transport farm products to New Orleans. 
 
 PRESENT VILLAGES AND TOWNS 
 
 The county is well supplied with villages and towns. Naming them in 
 the order of size they are Flora, Clay City, Zenia, Louisville, Sailor 
 Springs. In the census of 1910 cities are towns of over 2,500, and so these 
 are called towns and villages. In addition to the above there are the 
 small villages of lola, Bible Grove, Ingraham, and Oskaloosa. Flora is 
 quite a railroad center, being the crossing of the B. and 0. S. W. and a 
 branch of the same running from Shawneetown to Springfield. 
 
 The natural resources of the county are somewhat varied. Excellent 
 timber has been found in this county. Building stone, both sandstone 
 and limestone are found in limited quantities. Some lime is burned in
 
 442 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 the county. Pottery clay in small quantities is found near Flora. The 
 coal report for 1910 does not show any coal mines in the county. The soil 
 is light and not considered adapted to farming on a large scale. All the 
 grains are raised and the forage foods are sufficient for the stock raised. 
 Clay county is noted for its apples. Some years ago great quantities were 
 shipped out of this county, but in recent years there have been seasons of 
 utter failure. 
 
 An interesting story is one told of Sailor Springs. This village of a 
 few hundred people is five and a half miles north of Clay City. In an 
 early day there was found at this place a number of springs with very 
 peculiar water. This water was thought to be the cause of "milk-sick" 
 and so the stock was fenced from the springs. In 1869 Mrs. Thomas M. 
 Sailor of Ohio bought the land four hundred acres containing the 
 springs. Mr. Sailor had the water tested and found it contained health- 
 giving properties. Illuminating gas has been gathered from the springs 
 and it has been thought it could be made of real value about the hotels. 
 Back in the 70 's and 80 's the springs were liberally patronized as a sum- 
 mer resort. Two big hotels with fifty rooms each were often crowded 
 while scores and perhaps hundreds lived in tents upon the beautiful 
 grounds. In recent years the reputation of the springs has somewhat de- 
 clined and the place is not so popular. 
 
 There are ten banks in the county two in Flora and two in Louis- 
 ville. The other six are in the smaller towns.
 
 CHAPTER XLI 
 CLINTON COUNTZ 
 
 CAKLYLE, FIRST SETTLEMENT AND COUNTY SEAT LAID OUT IN 1818 
 CANDIDATE FOR STATE CAPITAL JUDGE SIDNEY BREESE PRESENT 
 CONDITIONS. 
 
 This county was named in honor of DeWitt Clinton who was governor 
 of New York and made himself famous by fathering the Erie canal. 
 Clinton county was created by act of the general assembly on December 
 23, 1824. It has for neighbors, on the east Marion, on the south "Wash- 
 ington, on the west St. Clair and Madison, on the north portions of Madi- 
 son, Bond and Fayette. The Kaskaskia river flows through the county 
 from the northeast to the southwest and forms part of the southern 
 boundary. It is a picturesque and historic stream. Other streams are 
 in the west, Sugar creek, to the east of that stream Shoal creek, further 
 east Beaver creek, then Kaskaskia, and in the southeast Lost creek, 
 Prairie creek, and Crooked creek. These streams all run southward and 
 westward. The land along the Kaskaskia is dotted with lakes, many of 
 considerable size. Along the Kaskaskia the lands are heavily timbered, 
 and in other parts there are timbered areas. The prairie lands are rich 
 and loamy while the uplands that are timbered are somewhat clayey. 
 
 CARLYLE, FIRST SETTLEMENT AND COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The first settlers located on the Kaskaskia. Carlyle was founded as a 
 village of a few log cabins as early as 1817. A mail route from St. Louis 
 via the sites of Belleville, Carlyle, to Vincennes, was established as early 
 as 1805. Another mail route from Kaskaskia to Vandalia passed through 
 the site of Carlyle in 1810. 
 
 Another road, though not a mail route, ran from Shawneetown and 
 Equality to McLeansboro, Mt. Vernon, to Carlyle. At the outbreak of 
 the War of 1812, a block house was built somewhere near the present site 
 of Carlyle. The old maps show it on the river some three or four miles 
 below the present city of Carlyle. On Rufus Blanchard's map made in 
 1883 this fort is called Tourney's fort. But others say Tourney's fort 
 was near the present village of Aviston on Shoal creek some twelve miles 
 west of Carlyle. 
 
 LAID OUT IN 1818 
 
 When Clinton county was created, Carlyle was made the county seat 
 and has remained the county capital from that day to this. It was laid 
 
 443
 
 444 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 out as a village or town in 1818. It was platted around a spacious square 
 in which is now a beautiful court house. The ground, twenty acres, was 
 given by Charles Slade and his wife Mary D. Slade. The deed was re- 
 corded July 4th, 1824. A village charter was granted in 1837 and an- 
 other one in 1865. Boats have navigated the Kaskaskia up to Carlyle. 
 The first one, about 1835, was called ' ' the Belleville. ' ' Little use is now 
 made of the river for steamboat navigation. It is used for lumbering 
 and fishing purposes and by pleasure parties. There is a very fine sus- 
 pension bridge across the Kaskaskia at Carlyle. It was built in 1860 by 
 the county at a cost of $45,000. It has a span of two hundred and eighty 
 feet swung from piers seventy feet high. It is a unique feature to stran- 
 
 THE SUSPENSION BRIDGE ACROSS THE KASKASKIA, CARLYLE, CLINTON 
 
 COUNTY 
 
 gers who drop into the little city without knowing the bridge is there. 
 The city takes its name from Thomas Carlyle, the British essayist. The 
 first settlers were English people through Virginia. 
 
 Carlyle had a population in 1910 of 1,982, while Breese numbered 
 2,128. Other towns are Aviston, Boulder, Germantown, Huey, Keysport, 
 New Baden, Shattuc, and Trenton. There are twenty post offices in the 
 county. 
 
 CANDIDATE FOR STATE CAPITAL 
 
 It is said that Carlyle was a candidate for the location of the State 
 Capital in 1819. The constitution of 1818 provided that at the first session 
 of the legislature under the constitution that body should ask congress 
 for a grant of land somewhere on the Kaskaskia, preferably east of the 
 third principal meridian, for the location of the state capital. Carlyle, 
 which had been recently laid off or at least settled, was a candidate for 
 the honor. Nathaniel Pope had some land above Carlyle on the river and 
 he wished to have the capital on his land. It is said that while the loca- 
 tion was under discussion as to Pope's Bluff or Carlyle, a hunter by the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 445 
 
 name of Reeves happened in and made a short speech and captured the 
 location for his laud where the present city of Vandalia stands. It was 
 known as Reeves' Bluff. 
 
 JUDGE SIDNEY BREESE 
 
 Without doubt the most distinguished citizen Clinton county ever had 
 was Judge Sidney Breese. Judge Breese came to Kaskaskia in 1818, and 
 studied law with Elias Kent Kane. He acted as postmaster at Kaskaskia, 
 and was a clerk or assistant in the office of the secretary of state. He 
 drove the wagon which removed the archives of the state to the new capi- 
 tol, Vandalia, in 1820. He says he was obliged to make his own road in 
 some places. He was from time to time prosecuting attorney, United 
 States district attorney, supreme court reporter, lieutenant colonel in the 
 Black Hawk war, circuit judge, supreme judge, United States senator, 
 and later supreme judge and chief justice of Illinois. Judge Breese re- 
 sided in Carlyle during most of the time he was in public life. Scarcely 
 another early citizen of Illinois was held in such high esteem as was 
 Judge Sidney Breese. 
 
 The first newspaper published in Clinton county was the Beacon. It 
 was started in 1843. It was edited by George B. Price, and was Whig in 
 politics. It suspended after a short time and was then revived and named 
 the Truth Teller. The Truth Teller flourished from 1844 to 1846, when 
 it was moved to Carrollton, Greene county, and became the Carrollton 
 Gazette. 
 
 PRESENT CONDITIONS 
 
 Clinton county has 22,832 inhabitants. The farming population is 
 chiefly native-born, but quite largely of foreign extraction. In the cities 
 and towns there is a large element of Germans. Clinton county people 
 are very thrifty. This is shown by the fact that they have fourteen banks 
 in the county. This is an average of one bank for every 1,616 people.
 
 CHAPTER XLII 
 CRAWFORD COUNTY 
 
 LAMOTT, FIRST WHITE RESIDENT TERRIBLE HUTSON MASSACRE PALES- 
 TINE, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT ROBINSON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 AGRICULTURE COMING OF RAILROADS AND OIL OBLONG THE OIL 
 INDUSTRY. 
 
 When Crawford county was created by action of the territorial legis- 
 lature of 1816, December 31st, it was made to include all that part of the 
 state east of the third principal meridian and north of town 4 north. 
 Today Crawford county contains four hundred and fifty-three square 
 miles and is bordered on the east by the Wabash, north by Clark, west 
 by Jasper, and south by Lawrence. Its population is 26,281, a gain of 
 36.6 per cent over the population of 1900. 
 
 LAMOTT, FIRST WHITE RESIDENT 
 
 The first white man to reside in the county was a Frenchman, a 
 trader, whose name was Lamott. He lived at the mouth of Lamott creek. 
 Lamott prairie was named after him. He was located on the Wabash as 
 early as 1811, how much earlier is not known. About this date three 
 families, Boatright, Eaton, and Cullom, came from Tennessee and settled 
 in Lamott prairie. At this date the Indians were friendly, but as a 
 matter of safety these families built two block houses on the west side of 
 Lamott prairie. These were occupied more or less during the war of 
 1812. 
 
 TERRIBLE HUTSON MASSACRE 
 
 While these forts were in process of construction, the builders were 
 agreeably surprised one day to see approaching a man, his wife, and 
 five children. It was Isaac Hutson, Senior, just arrived from Solon. 
 Madison county, Ohio. They shared the protection of the fort. The 
 forts were two or three miles south of the present village of Hutsonville 
 and directly across the Wabash from Merom, Indiana. Here Mr. Hutson 
 built his cabin and was living happily. One day in 1812, he was obliged 
 to go across the Wabash for provision. On his return late in the after- 
 noon he found that the entire family had been massacred. Among the 
 victims was a young babe which the savages had thrown into a kettle of 
 boiling soap which hung from a crane over the wide-mouthed fireplace. 
 The cabin was then burned, the charred remains of the family being 
 found in the ruins. Mr. Hutson vowed he would never show any quarter 
 to an Indian so long as he lived. In company with neighbors the savages 
 were pursued and many of them killed. 
 
 446
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 447 
 
 PALESTINE, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT 
 
 When the war of 1812 was over and peace was restored there was a 
 great influx of settlers, coming mostly from the states of Carolina, Ten- 
 nessee, Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. The town or village of Palestine 
 was probably settled in 1816, and when the county was created it was 
 made the county seat. It is six and a half miles due east of the city of 
 Robinson, the present county seat, and a mile and a half west of the Wa- 
 bash river. It was just at the south end of the Lamott prairie which was 
 a very rich farming country. The mail route from Shawneetown north 
 via Carmi, Graysville, Mt. Carmel, Lawrenceville to Marshall, passed 
 through Palestine. It was also close to the river and that fact helped its 
 commerce. It grew quite rapidly in the first few years. In 1818 a land 
 office was located at Palestine, and late in that year the president, Mr. 
 Monroe, nominated Phillip Foulke and General Guy W. Smith as receiver 
 and register of the land office at that place. Ninian W. Edwards op- 
 posed the confirmation of Foulke and the appointments both failed. In 
 the constitutional convention of 1818 Joseph Kitchell and Edward Cul- 
 lom were delegates from Crawford county. 
 
 One of the first entries in the recorder's office was a certificate of free- 
 dom presented by one Abram Camp, an immigrant from Battelora 
 county, Virginia. This gentleman of color had established the fact that 
 his mother was a Mohawk Indian and the Virginia judge had entered an 
 order establishing his freedom. His certificate of freedom was badly 
 worn having been obtained in Virginia in 1786. It is said some of Abram 
 Camp 's descendants still live where he settled just inside the north line 
 of Lawrence county. 
 
 ROBINSON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 In 1844 the town of Robinson, more nearly in the center of the county, 
 was made the county seat. This was a death blow to Palestine. It de- 
 clined for many years. In 1854 it had one lawyer, James C. Allen. In 
 1837 it had four stores, two groceries, three taverns, two lawyers, four 
 physicians, two ministers and about four hundred and fifty people. 
 
 There seems to have been no bank in Robinson in 1854, and only two 
 settled preachers in that year. They were Rev. Jacob Reed and Rev. 
 Nathan Vance, both Methodists. In 1849, the members of the Presby- 
 terian congregation in Palestine under the leadership of Elder James 
 Eagleton organized a Presbyterian church in Robinson, but it had a brief 
 history. In 1872 the Rev. Thomas Spencer and Elder Findley Paull re- 
 organized the Presbyterian church in Robinson. 
 
 SCHOOL INTERESTS 
 
 In the last decade there- has been wonderful progress in the matter 
 of education in Southern Illinois. Public sentiment has grown and 
 wherever means would permit, fine school buildings have been built. The 
 returns from the oil industry in many of the eastern counties, have en- 
 abled the people to build better homes, schools, churches, lift the mort- 
 gages, and do many other desirable things. No other county has a finer 
 township high school than this county. The school is located at Robin- 
 son, and is under the direction of Prof. Os^ar J. Marberry.
 
 448 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 AGRICULTURE 
 
 This county was comparatively heavily timbered. The prairie lands 
 are in larger and more or less marked areas. There are three large areas 
 that are prairies. One, the Lamott prairie, another just west of Robinson 
 running from northeast to southwest, and one starting at Oblong and 
 running northeast. Those lands are not rich like the black prairies in 
 central part of the state but they are very excellent lands. In 1909, as 
 shown by the census of 1910, there were 138,052 acres in potatoes in Illi- 
 nois with a yield of 12,166,091 bushels an average of ninety bushels, 
 nearly, to the acre. Crawford county had an acreage of 11,864 with a 
 yield of 916,051 bushels an average of seventy-seven bushels, nearly, to 
 the acre. This county had eight and one-half per cent of the acreage of 
 the state but raised only seven and one-half per cent of the total bushels. 
 There is another phase of the agricultural report in the census of 1910. 
 
 THE ROBINSON TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL, ROBINSON, CRAWFORD COUNTY 
 
 Crawford reports under heading Wild, Salt, or Prairie Grasses and acre- 
 age of 28,415, and a tonnage of 26.899, the total acreage for the state be- 
 ing 112,978 and the tonnage 128,531. Large areas of the county were sub- 
 ject to overflows and to lake formations, but the opening of the farms has 
 drained the country and the swamps have gradually disappeared. 
 
 COMING OP RAILROADS AND OIL 
 
 There was slow growth in population in the county prior to 1905. The 
 coming of railroads gave an impetus to the towns and villages through 
 which they passed. Oblong. Robinson, and Palestine grew into flour- 
 ishing towns in the latter part of the last century, but the discovery of oil 
 in this county has revolutionized every phase of the people's life. The 
 population has grown, new business enterprises have started up, and the 
 comforts of life are more abundant.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 OBLONG 
 
 449 
 
 Oblong is a thriving city of 1,482 inhabitants. It is due west of Rob- 
 inson, nine miles. It has prospered by reason of the oil industry. A 
 large share of the credit for Oblong 's business activity is due to Mr. J. M. 
 Sheets, editor of the Obtong Oracle. He never tires of working in the 
 interest of his city. One thing for which the township is noted is the 
 interest in hard roads. The township has now about twelve miles of mac- 
 
 A GUSHER, NEAR ROBINSON, CRAWFORD COUNTY 
 
 adam road and is building more. The township has purchased a ten ton 
 steam roller at a cost of $2,500. The state highway commission speaks in 
 terms of praise of the roads and bridges of Oblong township. 
 
 The county has eleven banks : one each at Annapolis, Flat Rock, Hut- 
 sonville, Stoy, Oblong has two, Palestine two, and Robinson three. There 
 are no coal mines in Crawford county, and outside of the oil industry is 
 an agricultural county. 
 
 THE OIL INDUSTRY 
 
 Since the discovery of oil in such large quantities there has been a 
 large oil refinery established near Stoy some three or four miles east of 
 
 Vol. I 20
 
 450 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Oblong. This gives work to numbers of people and creates interest in 
 the oil field. The reports show a considerable decline in the oil produc- 
 tion in this county. The production for 1911 is reported at 18,000 barrels 
 per day as against 30,000 barrels in 1910. The production for the entire 
 
 A COMMON SIGHT IN THE OIL TERRITORY 
 
 state for 1911 is 30,000,000 barrels as against 33,000,000 barrels for the 
 year 1910. It is reported that 18,618 wells have been bored in Illinois. Of 
 this number 15 per cent are barren. There are some misgivings about the 
 oil wells keeping up the standard set in the first years of their history.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII 
 CUMBERLAND COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CHANGES GENERAL FACTS OF INTEREST NEWSPAPERS 
 THE NATIONAL ROAD AND RAILROADS. 
 
 Cumberland county was created by act of the general assembly on 
 March 2, 1843. It was made from the south end of Coles county. Its 
 name comes from the old "Cumberland" road. The country was very 
 well settled before it was cut off from Coles. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CHANGES 
 
 The first county seat was Greenup, a small town on the old National 
 Road, somewhat in the southeast corner of the county. Here the county 
 seat remained till 1855, when it was moved to a newly laid out town, 
 Prairie City, which afterward came to be called Toledo. 
 
 GENERAL' FACTS OF INTEREST 
 
 This county is a prairie county though well watered by the Embarrass 
 river and by a number of smaller streams. The chief interests are agri- 
 cultural though there are some lines of manufacture carried on, but only 
 on smaller scale. The county is one of the smaller counties containing 353 
 square miles, with a population of 14,281 inhabitants. The larger towns 
 are Greenup with a population of 1,224; Neoga, 1,074; Toledo, 900; Jew- 
 ett, 366. There are other small villages. There are ten post offices in 
 the county. In addition to the four mentioned above there are Brad- 
 bury, Hazeldell, Janesville, Johnstown, Vevay Park, and Woodberry. 
 
 NEWSPAPERS 
 
 The first newspaper in the county was the Greenup Tribune pub- 
 lished in 1855, and continued till 1857. It was published by Daniel 
 Marks and later by Templeton and Bloomfield. The paper was moved to 
 Prairie City in 1857. The Toledo Democrat dates from 1859, and is still 
 published. 
 
 THE NATIONAL ROAD AND RAILROADS 
 
 When the National Road was surveyed in 1829, it ran across the south- 
 east corner of the county. At a point thirty -seven miles west from the 
 state line the survey ran over the bluffs just east of the Embarrass river. 
 
 451
 
 452 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The grade of the road drops into the valley of the river and rises again on 
 the west side. On the bluffs east of the river the town of Greenup was lo- 
 cated. The presence of rocks is marked in the bluffs about Greenup. 
 Some three miles further west the village of Jewett grew up, and two 
 miles further the road crossed Big Muddy creek which flows into the 
 Embarrass river at the south edge of the county. 
 
 The county has two railroads : the Vandalia which follows the line of 
 the National Road, and the Peoria Decatur and Evansville which passes 
 through the county from the northwest to the southeast. 
 
 The coal report for Illinois gives no mines in operation in the county 
 in 1911. There are nine banks in the county one for every 1,586 people.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV 
 EDWARDS COUNTY 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE ENGLISH PRAIRIE ALBION FOUNDED JUDGE WAL- 
 TER S. MAYO PlANKASHAWTOWN AN EARLY TEACHER THE MANU- 
 FACTURE OF CLAY PRODUCTS INTERESTING COUNTY ITEMS. 
 
 No other county in Southern Illinois has a more interesting history 
 than Edwards. It is one among the smallest in both area and population 
 238 square miles and a population of 10,049. It was created by the 
 territorial legislature in 1814, November 28th. It included all that part 
 of the state east of the third principal meridian and north of the present 
 counties of White and Hamilton. It was named in honor of Ninian Ed- 
 wards who was the territorial governor of Illinois. 
 
 The present limits of the county are Wabash county on the east, 
 White on the south, Wayne on the west, and Richland on the north. 
 There were many settlements in other counties that were eventually made 
 out of the original Edwards, before there were any in the present Ed- 
 wards. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE ENGLISH PRAIRIE 
 
 The story of the settlement of the ' ' English Prairie " is so fascinat- 
 ing that there is difficulty in abridging it. The town of Albion was set- 
 tled in the summer of 1817, but there were many cabins in the county be- 
 fore the coming of Morris Birkbeck. Mr. Birkbeck, an Englishman of 
 culture and means, together with Mr. George Flower, reached what is 
 known as English prairie in early summer, 1817. They had come from 
 the Atlantic coast together by way of the National Road over the moun- 
 tains to Pittsburg. From here on horseback a party of ten or twelve 
 came to New Harmony, Indiana. At Princeton, Indiana, the families were 
 left, and following the direction of Mr. Thomas Sloo, who at that time 
 was connected with the land office at Shawneetown, the two pioneers, 
 George Flower and Morris Birkbeck, reached English Prairie. At that 
 time there quite a few settlers on Burke 's Prairie a mile or so west of the 
 English Prairie. Also on Boltinghouse Prairie there were settlers. After 
 looking out a place for their future home they returned to Princeton. 
 
 Arrangements were now made for Birkbeck to come on to English 
 Prairie and Flower to return to England. All the money that could be 
 spared was put into land. Before Mr. Flower returned to England in 
 the summer of 1817, he wrote to Thomas Jefferson to see if a grant of 
 several thousand acres of land could be obtained from congress upon 
 which an English settlement might be established. Jefferson and Flower 
 
 453
 
 454 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 were good friends. Mr. Jefferson replied that such grants had been 
 made, but that it was against the government's policy. Mr. Birkbeck also 
 wrote Mr. Nathaniel Pope relative to the same matter, but Pope's reply 
 was not very encouraging. 
 
 ALBION FOUNDED 
 
 Sometime in July, 1817, Mr. Birkbeck began his settlement at Albion. 
 His own residence 'was built some two miles west. This place he called 
 Wanborough from his old home in England. The group of houses which 
 eventually became Albion were probably scattered about over the prairie 
 without order, for Elias Pym Fordham, a civil engineer who had learned 
 his trade under the tutorage of George Stephenson in England, wrote 
 from the English Prairie October 30, 1818, and says: "I am laying off a 
 new town to be called Albion. It will contain eight streets and a public 
 square. Most likely it will be the county town, and if so there will be a 
 court house and a gaol." 
 
 Mr. George Flower built his home, "Park House," just south of the 
 town site of Albion. English people began coming to the locality and by 
 1820 there were scores of settlers about the edges of the prairies. 
 
 In 1823 to 1824 a fierce struggle was going on in Illinois over the 
 change in the constitution to admit slavery. Morris Birkbeck and the 
 Flowers took an active part in the defeat of the slavery movement. Birk- 
 beck wrote letters signed "Jonathan Freeman," which were published in 
 the papers of that day. In 1825 Gov. Coles appointed Birkbeck secretary 
 of state but a pro-slavery senate refused to ratify the appointment and 
 Mr. Birkbeck gave up the office after serving three months. In the fall 
 of 1825 Mr. Birkbeck was drowned in the Bon Pas river and following 
 this event his family dispersed and none of them was left in the English 
 settlement. 
 
 JUDGE WALTER L. MAYO 
 
 Another very interesting person in connection with the story of Ed- 
 wards county was Judge Walter L. Mayo, the son of a Virginia planter, 
 who arrived in Edwards county in the year 1828 and took up his abode in 
 the family of County Commissioner Jones, a few miles southwest of Al- 
 bion. He was employed to teach school, and between times obligingly as- 
 sisted Mr. Jones in making some perplexing calculations for the county. 
 Mayo's skill as a mathematician and man of business soon became gener- 
 ally known, and when a vacancy occurred in the office of county clerk he 
 was elected to that office. Upon the outbreak of the Black Hawk war in 
 1831 the young clerk quit his office and went to the front where as 
 quartermaster his abilities as a man of business were quickly recognized. 
 When the disturbance was quelled he returned to his duties as county 
 clerk. He so satisfactorily straightened out the tangled affairs of the 
 county that the appreciative voters kept him continuously in office thirty- 
 eight years. He also during that period filled the office of circuit clerk 
 and county judge simultaneously. Moreover, he acted as legal adviser 
 for the people of the entire county, rendering his service gratuitously, 
 and thus as a rule was able to settle disputes without litigation. In his 
 latter years, while still a citizen of the county, he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the state legislature. In the year 1878, while a member of the law-
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 455 
 
 making body, his family removed to Leavenworth, Kansas, where a son- 
 in-law, Major Hopkins, was warden of the federal penitentiary. Upon 
 the completion of his term of office Mr. Mayo joined his family in Leaven- 
 worth, yet he continued to regard himself as only a sojourner in Kansas 
 and spoke only of Albion as home. Having by judicious management 
 and habits of economy amassed a competence, largely invested in the 
 First National Bank of Olney, of which institution he was a director, he 
 felt that he was in position to take his well earned ease and to provide lib- 
 erally for his family. On the 17th day of January, 1878, Walter L. Mayo 
 left Leavenworth for Olney, Illinois, whither he intended going to at- 
 tend a meeting of bank directors. This ends the last known event in 
 the life of Walter L. Mayo, the man who in so great a measure made Ed- 
 wards county what it is. He was known to have gone as far as St. Louis 
 and entered a coach for Olney on the 0. & M. railroad. His valise and 
 e#ne went on through to Cincinnati, but what became of their owner has 
 continued until this day an unsolved mystery. His brother-in-law, Gen- 
 eral John M. Palmer, at one time believed Mayo had gone to some foreign 
 country ; but this theory was long ago abandoned. His heart-broken wife 
 spent the family fortune vainly endeavoring to solve the mystery. Only 
 enough was learned to make it reasonably sure that Walter L. Mayo was 
 either murdered in cold blood and the body destroyed or that he was kid- 
 napped and forever spirited away. A great crime was committed and 
 some of the guilty ones, now dead, are known. His disappearance was 
 the occasion of general gloom and mourning in Edwards county which 
 found expression in the holding of mass meetings at which resolutions of 
 a highly eulogistic nature were adopted. 
 
 PlANKASHAWTOWN 
 
 Probably the only Indian town of importance that ever existed in Ed- 
 wards county was Piankashawtown, located as shown by the government 
 survey of 1809 on section 16, town one south, range ten east, about five 
 miles northwest of the present city of Albion. It was located immedi- 
 ately on the old transcontinental buffalo trail, that historic highway pass- 
 ing through and connecting Vincennes, Kaskaskia and St. Louis. We 
 have the testimony of the earliest settlers that Piankashawtown was a 
 village of considerable importance as late as 1815, about which time the 
 Piankashaw Indians were removed thirty or forty miles to the north. 
 Many implements, guns and weapons have been plowed up by the 
 farmers; and even now one can trace for considerable distance the old 
 deep-cut trail where buffalo, Indian, explorer, priest, trader and sol- 
 dier tramped for successive generations. 
 
 AN EARLY TEACHER 
 
 In the year 1823 Joseph Applegath and wife arrived at the English 
 settlement in Edwards county. Mr. Applegath came from London where 
 he was widely known as a bookseller. He was also a successful inventor, 
 being the senior member of the firm of Applegath & Cowper, inventors 
 and manufacturers of a printing press in use for many years in the of- 
 fice of the London Times. Mr. Applegath was a gentleman of splendid 
 education for one of his time and was especially proficient in the sciences. 
 His greatest delight was in doing good to others. It was his practice to
 
 456 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 gather the young people of the community together at Albion and by 
 means of illustrated lectures to instruct them in natural history, phil- 
 osophy, chemistry, and kindred subjects, charging nothing for his serv- 
 ices. Mrs. Applegath, who an artist of no mean skill, provided many 
 beautiful and artistic paintings, drawings and sketches which were ex- 
 hibited and explained for the benefit of the classes. She was particularly 
 skilled in the painting of birds, animals and flowers. Some of these lec- 
 tures were given on Sundays ; and it is possibly only the truth to say that 
 they were the first Sunday-schools ever held in Illinois, or at least in the 
 English-speaking communities. 
 
 It was in no small measure due to the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. Apple- 
 gath that the people of Albion and Edwards county came to be ranked 
 high in the scale of intelligence and high moral qualities. 
 
 In his latter days when the infirmities of old age crept upon him Mr. 
 Applegath expended much time and labor in the impossible attempt to 
 construct a perpetual motion, and died leaving a room full of ingenious 
 models. 
 
 AN EARLY CIVIL ENGINEER 
 
 It may be a fact worth noting that when Elias Pym Fordham began 
 his survey for Morris Birkbeck of the lands around old Wanborough in 
 the English prairies he used a grape vine instead of a regulation chain. 
 This grape vine survey has withstood the test of time, and it is doubted 
 not that Fordham 's grape vine corners will never be successfully chal- 
 lenged. There is no known evidence to show that this early English set- 
 tlement civil engineer even obtained a metal chain before beginning his 
 survey and plat of the present city of Albion. After his return to Eng- 
 land, Fordham became one of the most famous engineers of the British 
 Isles, and he was by favor of royalty intrusted with some of the most gi- 
 gantic engineering works of that time. 
 
 THE MANUFACTURE OP CLAY PRODUCTS 
 
 There are found in the hills round about Albion and elsewhere in Ed- 
 wards county some of the most valuable shale beds known in this coun- 
 try ; valuable not only because of their perfect adaptability to the manu- 
 facture of paving and building brick, sewer pipe, drain tile, roofing tile 
 and terra cotta, but more especially because of their perfect accessibility 
 and freedom from worthless over-lying strata. The manufacture of shale 
 products at Albion, begun in 1903, has grown to respectable proportions. 
 The Albion Vitrified Brick Company now has an annual output of about 
 7,000,000 ten-pound blocks which meet with a ready sale at the highest 
 price, in all the surrounding territory. A new organization, the Albion 
 Shale Brick Company, with a capital of $200,000, is erecting a new plant 
 to be fully equipped with all modern and labor-saving appliances for a 
 daily output of 100,000 ten-pound paving blocks. The Illinois Tile Com- 
 pany, also located at Albion, is a new company whose plant is equipped 
 with machinery capable of producing 25,000 drain tile a day. At West 
 Salem, the second city of importance in Edwards county, the Hollow 
 Brick and Tile Company is building a $50,000 plant for the manufacture 
 of hollow building brick and drain tile. These, together with flouring 
 mills, saw mills, and creameries constitute the chief manufacturing indus- 
 tries of Edwards county.
 
 HISTOEY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 457 
 
 INTERESTING COUNTY ITEMS 
 
 Many interesting things might be said about the life of the Edwards 
 county people, Morris Birkbeck, George Flower and others of the early 
 people were university men. George Flower was an artist of no mean 
 ability and Park House which was the finest house west of the Allegha- 
 nies at that time was a place of great culture and hospitality. It is 
 indeed a great loss that such a homestead could not have been preserved 
 to the present and future generations. 
 
 The circuit court seldom is in session more than three or four days, 
 and a recent report shows no representative in the penitentiary from that 
 county. Schools and churches flourish and sobriety and industry are the 
 characteristics of the people. 
 
 In the Graceland cemetery in Albion a lot has been set aside for the 
 erection of a monument to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of Ed- 
 wards county. On this lot has been placed a five ton cannon beside a 
 pyramid of one hundred pound cannon balls. A like testimonial has been 
 erected in the public square in West Salem. 
 
 The public spirited people of the county are now even thinking of and 
 laying plans for the centennial celebration of the settlement of Edwards 
 county.
 
 CHAPTER XLV 
 EFFINGHAM COUNTY 
 
 EWINGTON, FIRST COUNTY SEAT PRESENT SEAT OF JUSTICE TEUTOP- 
 
 OLIS LAND VALUES 
 
 This county was created in 1831, February 15, from the east side of 
 Fayette. It was not organized till 1833. The county was named after 
 Lord Edward Effingham, who in 1775 resigned his position in the British 
 army rather than fight against the American colonies. By the census of 
 1910 the population is 20,055; the area is 511 square miles. The central 
 part of the county is drained by the Little Wabash and its branches. 
 This stream flows south into Clay county and numerous branches flow 
 into it from both east and west. The county's topography resembles a 
 basin somewhat the highest parts being the east, north and west. It is 
 considered a prairie county, though the territory adjacent to the larger 
 streams is well timbered. 
 
 EWINGTON, FIRST COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The county seat was first placed at Ewington where it remained till 
 1860. Ewington was a town that had grown up on the old National road. 
 It is some three miles west of Effingham, and twenty -nine miles eastward 
 from Vandalia. In 1837 it was merely a village and in the census of 
 1910 is not separated from the township in the census report. 
 
 The first county commissioners were T. M. Short, I. Fanchen, and Wil- 
 liam I. Hawkins. The first jail was built in 1833 by L. Jordan and James 
 Neal. John Coventry secured a license to keep a tavern and sell spirit- 
 uous liquors on payment of five dollars. 
 
 When the Illinois Central railroad was surveyed, the line ran almost 
 north and south through the county, crossing the National road at the 
 present site of Effingham. In 1856 the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute 
 railroad was completed from Terre Haute to Alton. This road now 
 known as the Vandalia follows very closely the old National road. This 
 accounts for the advantage of Effingham over Ewington as a county 
 seat. The seat of justice was therefore changed in 1860 from Ewington 
 to Effingham. 
 
 PRESENT SEAT OF JUSTICE 
 
 Effingham is now a city of 3,898 people. It is a thriving business 
 place in trade and in other ways. There are three railroads crossing at 
 this place the Illinois Central, the Vandalia. and the Indiana, Illinois 
 and Southern ; and in addition the old National road. 
 
 458
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 459 
 
 ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF PHOTOGRAPHY 
 
 One of the most interesting phases of business is the ' ' Illinois College 
 of Photography." This school was founded by L. H. Bissell and has had 
 a prosperous career. It prepares young people for artistic work in the 
 line of photography. The school is based on the most approved scientific 
 principles. Its graduates have gone into all the states of the union, and 
 the school has a widespread influence in this art. There was for several 
 years a photo-engraving company located in this city but in recent years 
 the company has moved its plant to Champaign. 
 
 Effingham county is well supplied with banks, there being fourteen in 
 the county, two in Altamont, two in Edgewood, two in Effingham, two in 
 
 VANDALIA RAILROAD. CONCRETE BRIDGE OVER SALT CREEK, EAST OP 
 EFFINGHAM ON LINE OF OLD NATIONAL ROAD 
 
 Shumway and one each in Beecher City, Deiterich, Mason, Montrose, 
 Teutopolis and Watson. 
 
 TEUTOPOLIS 
 
 The village of Teutopolis was settled by a colony of Germans from 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, and the community is prosperous though the soil is not 
 very productive. The village of Teutopolis is noted as the seat of a suc- 
 cessful Catholic college. 
 
 LAND VALUES 
 
 The average value of land for the county is $43.70 whereas the aver- 
 age value of land in the state as a whole is $95.02. 
 
 There is no coal in this county according to the coal report of 1911. 
 
 The increase in the value of farm property from 1900 to 1910 was from 
 $8.311,778 to $16,953,704, an increase of one hundred and four per cent. 
 While in the state as a whole the per cent of increase was 94.8. The in-
 
 460 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 crease in the average value of land in the past ten years is very marked. 
 In 1900 the average for this county was $19.47. In 1910 the average 
 value is $43.70. 
 
 There are eighteen post offices in the county located at Altamont, 
 Beecher City, Bluepoint, Dexter, Deiterich, Eberle, Edgewood, Effing- 
 ham, Elliottstown, Hill, Mason, Moccasin, Montrose, Shumway, Teutopo- 
 lis, Watson, Welton, Winterrowd.
 
 CHAPTER XL VI 
 PAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS OF THE COUNTY FIRST CAPITOL AT VANDALIA SECOND 
 CAPITOL PERRYVILLE, SEAT OF FAYETTE COUNTY ERNEST, OR HAN- 
 OVER COLONY FAYETTE AND VANDALIA ITEMS. 
 
 By the Enabling Act, the capital of Illinois was Kaskaskia until such 
 time as the legislature should relocate it. In the first session of that body 
 in Kaskaskia steps were taken to remove the seat of government. The 
 United States government was asked to grant four sections of la,nd for 
 the benefit of the state in locating, building and putting the new capital 
 on its feet. The point selected was the present site of Vandalia. The 
 Enabling Act provided that the capital when relocated should remain 
 where located for twenty years. When the four square miles had been 
 selected the next thing was to lay off the town. This was done and lots 
 offered for sale. The lots were sold at public auction bringing from one 
 hundred dollars to seven hundred and eighty dollars each. The total 
 amount received from the sale of lots was $35,234. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS IN THE COUNTY 
 
 The first settlers within the limits of what is now Fayette county was 
 a family by the name of Beck. The head of the family, Guy Beck, first 
 came to Cahokia in 1809 from Kentucky. Here he remained till 1814 
 when he removed to section 9, township 8, range 2 east. Here he built a 
 cabin. The place is about thirteen miles up the Kaskaskia river from 
 Vandalia. A creek flows into the Kaskaskia river there which is called 
 Beck's creek. His father and four brothers came to this new settlement 
 in 1818. Guy Beck was a blacksmith and gunsmith and was therefore a 
 very valuable man in that region. 
 
 Valentine Brazil and Hiram Higgins settled on section 34, township 
 8, range 1 east in 1816. The Haleys came in 1818-19. Other early set- 
 tlers were the Lesters, Beals, Wakefields, Thompsons, Lees, and William 
 Padousen. 
 
 FIRST CAPITOL AT VANDALIA 
 
 When the legislature decided to move the capital up the Kaskaskia 
 and the commissioners finally selected Reeve's Bluff as the site, there was 
 a rush of settlers to the region of the new capital. This left a wide un- 
 settled space between the northern edge of the permanent settlements 
 eastward from Alton and Edwardsville, and the new settlements about 
 Vandalia. 
 
 461
 
 462 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The commissioners to locate and erect the new capitol building soon 
 performed their duty. The town was surveyed and laid off in large 
 blocks with wide streets eighty feet. The first capitol was a log house 
 of two rooms located on Fifth street, one block south of Gallatin street. 
 
 The first session to be held in this new capitol assembled in December, 
 1820. During this session the structure burned and the legislature was 
 forced to meet in private houses. The senate met in a Mr. Brown's house, 
 and the House of Representatives met in the home of Colonel R. K. Mc- 
 Laughlin. 
 
 SECOND CAPITOL 
 
 The second capitol was a small brick built on the site of the log cap- 
 itol. This served as the state house till about 1834 or 1835 when a very 
 
 THE OLD STATE CAPITOL AT VANDALIA. Now THE FAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 COURT HOUSE 
 
 commodious brick building, the present Fayette county court house, was 
 built by the citizens in the hope of holding the capital in Vandalia. 
 
 The state set aside certain lots for church purposes and for a ceme- 
 tery. 
 
 Prominent among the early comers to Vandalia was one Ferdinand 
 Ernest who was on the ground when the auction of lots took place. Mr. 
 Ernest was from Hanover, Germany, and was looking up a suitable 
 place for the settlement of a small colony by his countrymen. He bought 
 some lots in the new city and built a store room. He also secured land 
 for his colony which came a year or so later. 
 
 PERRYVILLE, SEAT OF FAYETTE COUNTY 
 
 When the capital was moved to Vandalia in 1820, the site was in 
 Crawford county. In 1821, February 14, the county of Fayette was 
 created and the county seat fixed at Perryville which had served as the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 463 
 
 county seat of Bond which was organized in 1816. This old town of 
 Perryville was in the present Seminary township some seven miles down 
 the river from Vandalia. It contained a log court house and a log jail. 
 The county seat was subsequently moved to Vandalia. 
 
 ERNEST, OR HANOVER COLONY 
 
 Much could be written of the Ernest colony sometimes called the 
 Hanover colony. Ferdinand Ernest was a broad-minded, patriotic man. 
 He brought a colony of some twenty families to the vicinity of Vandalia. 
 He was wealthy but used his means to assist his colonists to get a start 
 in the new world. Among those who came with Ernest was Colonel Fred- 
 erick Remann, born in Hanover in 1807. He took an active part in the 
 Black Hawk war ; was a successful business man ; served in the legisla- 
 ture ; was one of the fifty -six Republican electors in Fayette county who 
 voted for Fremont in 1856. 
 
 FAYETTE AND VANDALIA ITEMS 
 
 This county was named in honor of General LaFayette, who in 1825 
 was the guest of Illinois. He visited at old Kaskaskia and at Shawnee- 
 town, and tradition has it that he came to Vandalia, but this is very 
 doubtful. 
 
 The moving of the capital to Springfield in 1840 was a great blow to 
 Vandalia. The former capital became an ordinary county seat town and 
 the dream of its founders has never been realized. 
 
 It is said the first school was taught in Vandalia by a man named 
 Jackson in an old shed in 1819. The first child born was named 
 Vandalia McCullom, son of John F. McCullom. The first frame house 
 was erected in 1820. The first store was kept by Ernest, Holman and 
 others. 
 
 Fayette furnished Colonel Ferris Foreman in the war with Mexico. 
 He was colonel of the Third regiment and was a gallant officer. General 
 T. E. G. Ransom, a brilliant soldier of the Civil war, was from Vandalia. 
 
 Vandalia was the center of great political activity during the great 
 slavery fight in 1823-4. The first newspaper in Illinois was the Illinois 
 Herald, founded in 1814 in Kaskaskia. In 1816 the name was changed 
 to Western Intelligencer; in 1818 changed to Illinois Intelligencer. In 
 1820 it was moved to Vandalia and eventually came out as an anti-con- 
 vention paper. It was continued till 1832, when it was merged with the 
 Illinois Whig. In 1830 a literary journal called the Illinois Monthly 
 Magazine, the first publication of its kind in Illinois, probably in the 
 west, was begun in Vandalia by Judge James Hull, the most versatile 
 writer of his time. There have been published in Vandalia since 1820 
 thirty-seven different papers and periodicals. 
 
 Fayette gained ten in population in the past decade. In 1900 the 
 population was 28,065 ; in 1910, 28,075. In 1900 the value of all farm 
 property, including lands, was $11,945,902. In 1910 it was $25,489,267. 
 The value of domestic animals nearly doubled in the decade. The corn 
 crop in this county is larger than in other Southern Illinois counties. 
 
 Vandalia is the chief city of the county, with a population of 2,974. 
 St. Elmo has 1,227 and is a thriving town. There is a number of other 
 important towns Shobonier, Farina, Ramsey, Brownstown, St. Peter.
 
 464 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The old National road had its western terminus at Vandalia. The 
 road was surveyed to the Mississippi river, but the construction was 
 never continued further west than the capital city. The old bridge across 
 the Kaskaskia is an interesting reminder of the old regime. Vandalia 
 was like a reservoir into which poured the streams of immigration over 
 the old "National pike." 

 
 CHAPTER XLV1I 
 FRANKLIN COUNTY 
 
 CAVE TOWNSHIP FIRST SETTLED PIONEER MILLS ERECTED EARLY-TIME 
 ITEMS SLAVES AND LAND BENTON, THE COUNTY SEAT LOGAN AND 
 DOUGLAS GROWTH OF COAL INTERESTS. 
 
 Franklin county came into being in 1818, January 2. At that time 
 it included the territory of the Franklin county of today and the terri- 
 tory of Williamson just south. The present county has an area of 
 423 square miles, and a population of 25,943, a gain in ten years of 
 6,268. The county is well watered by Little Muddy river on the north- 
 west, Big Muddy and its branches through the center. It is quite level 
 and is largely prairie. The land is not well adapted to farming. The 
 census report of 1900 gives the value of the lands for this county at 
 $14.83 per acre, while the report for 1910 estimates the value of lands 
 at $38.48. This great increase in value comes out of the wonderful de- 
 velopment of the coal interests in this county in the past ten years. 
 
 CAVE TOWNSHIP FIRST SETTLED 
 
 In about the year 1804 seven brothers by the name of Jordan, Wm. 
 and John Browning, Joseph Estes, and one Barbrey settled in what is 
 now Cave township, the southeast township in the county, and there 
 built what was known as Jordan's Fort sometime prior to 1806. Here 
 Barbrey was killed and scalped in 1812. The Brownings came to be 
 a very important people in the history of the county. The McCreerys, 
 Cantrells, Swoffords, and the Joneses were early comers. The next part 
 of the county to be settled was Six Mile Prairie in the southwest part 
 of the present county. The first settler in this region was Chas. Humph- 
 rey who came from Philadelphia in 1811. He kept a ferry across Big 
 Muddy just above where Blairsville is today. After the war of 1812 
 other settlers came to different parts of the county and by 1818 the 
 south and east part of the county was sparsely settled. 
 
 PIONEER MILLS ERECTED 
 
 The early settlers went to Kaskaskia to get their milling done, but 
 in 1810 a "horse mill" was erected in the Jordan settlement. Other 
 mills of the same kind were built on Crawford's prairie, on Frizzell's 
 prairie, and one on Browning's Hill. A water mill was built on Big 
 Muddy in 1838 at Hillen's fork and another was built about the same 
 time on Middle Fork near Macedonia. The first steam mill was built 
 
 Yol. T 30 
 
 465
 
 466 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 on Hickman's Branch one and a half miles south of Benton by Augustus 
 Adams in 1850. 
 
 . EARLY-TIME ITEMS 
 
 Among the early comers was Rev. Braxton Parrish who arrived in 
 1821. He was born in North Carolina in 1795 and came to Franklin 
 county by stages through Tennessee. He settled six miles east of Ben- 
 ton, having married a widow, Mrs. Margaret Knox, in Tennessee. Mrs. 
 Knox's parents lived in Franklin county. In 1874 the Rev Braxton 
 Parrish delivered a reminiscent talk in Benton on early life in Frank- 
 lin county. He describes very vividly the hardships of those early days. 
 
 THE HOME OP JOHN A. LOGAN IN BENTON, FRANKLIN COUNTY, WHERE 
 DOUGLAS WAS ENTERTAINED THE DAY FOLLOWING THE JONESBORO 
 
 DEBATE. 
 
 He paid $12.00 for 25 yards of domestic. He bought it on a credit. His 
 wife was sick and it greatly distressed her to think they were so greatly 
 in debt. Mr. Parrish went hunting one morning before breakfast, cap- 
 tured three otters, and paid the debt with the three otter skins. His 
 wife shed tears of gratitude and said she would never doubt again an 
 overruling Providence. The first Methodist class meeting was held in 
 the home of Nathan Clampets. There were seven persons present. 
 
 It is stated in a history of this county that James Eubanks killed 
 thirteen deer one morning before breakfast in 1840. It appears that 
 the streams and timber along them were full of game and the traffic in 
 furs was an important line of business. Regular trips were made to 
 St. Louis with loads of furs, venison, and farm products. 
 
 SLAVES AND LAND 
 
 Slaves were held in Franklin county by the leading families, but 
 after the decision of the convention contest in 1824, many of these slaves
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 467 
 
 were taken to Missouri and sold. In a few cases they were later bought 
 and brought back to Franklin county and manumitted. A specific case 
 is that of the purchase of Richmond Inge by Alexander McCreery. Inge 
 and his wife were put on a farm in Williamson county where they 
 lived for many years. 
 
 The lands not being very rich, the settlement of the county was 
 slow. By 1850 not more than half of the land was entered. The law of 
 1854 changed the price of land in Illinois from $1.25 per acre to 12!/2 
 cents per acre. Thousands of acres of land in Franklin county were pur- 
 chased of the government under the "Bit Act." When the Congress 
 granted the lands in Illinois to build the Illinois Central Railroad, 33,078 
 acres of the grant fell within the limits of Franklin county. For many 
 years these lands were a drug on the market. The mineral rights in 
 this county are now worth from thirty to forty dollars per acre. 
 
 BENTON, THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 When the county was created in 1818, the county seat was fixed at 
 Frankfort. The court house and jail were not built until 1826 and 
 prior to that date the county seat was temporarily in the home of Moses 
 Garrett about three miles east of Frankfort. When Williamson was cut 
 off from Franklin in 1839, the county seat of Franklin was perma- 
 nently fixed "on or near the summit of a mound or hill in the edge of 
 the timber, and at the south end of Rawlings Prairie." This was to be 
 the site of the future city of Benton. The court house in Benton was 
 built in the spring of 1841. It was a small frame building and stood 
 in the square. A second court house was built of brick in 1845, and 
 a third, the present one, was built in 1874. 
 
 Among the prominent lawyers who lived in Franklin or were accus- 
 tomed to practice before the courts in this county were Judge Walter 
 B. Scates, Judge Wm. A. Denning, Hon. Richard Nelson, Hon. Wm. K. 
 Parrish, Judge Andrew D. Duff, Gen. John A. Logan, and others. 
 
 LOGAN AND DOUGLAS 
 
 John A. Logan lived in Benton from winter 1855-6 to the outbreak 
 of the Civil war, when he made his home in Marion in Williamson 
 county. It is stated elsewhere but will bear repeating that he was a 
 warm friend of Douglas, and when the later was on his way from the 
 Jonesboro debate to the discussion at Charleston, he stopped at Benton 
 and received a great ovation from Logan and his neighbors. The house 
 in which Logan and his wife lived in Benton is still standing but is in 
 very bad repair. A move is on foot to preserve it and make it a de- 
 pository of objects of interest connected with the life and services of 
 this nation's greatest volunteer soldier. 
 
 No county did its duty any more loyally than Franklin in the strug- 
 gle for the preservation of the union from '61- '65. 
 
 GROWTH OP COAL INTEREST 
 
 The chief interests which attach to Franklin county today is the 
 wonderful development of her coal deposits. To show something of the 
 wonderful activity in the development of the coal interests, it is only
 
 468 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 necessary to quote statistics from the coal reports of 1904 and 1911. In 
 1904 the total output of all the mines in the county was 4,240 tons. 
 This small output came from one mine. In 1911 the tonnage was 2,354,- 
 839. This output came from fourteen mines. The coal deposit lies at 
 an average depth of 500 feet, and the veins are from 7 to 12 feet in thick- 
 ness. There were employed in these fourteen mines in 1911 a total of 
 3,732 men and boys. The total days of active operation was 176. 
 
 The increased interests in coal lands and mines had produced a sort 
 of speculative spirit and many have made small fortunes while many a 
 man has in the past year or so discovered that he "let go" too soon. 
 There are eleven banks in the county, all doing a thriving business. 
 Several towns have sprung up and other activities have been stimulated. 
 Among the towns beside Benton are Akin, Christopher, Ewing, Royal- 
 ton, Sesser, Thompsonville, and West Frankfort. There are several vil- 
 lages in addition to the above towns and cities. 

 
 CHAPTER XLVIII 
 GALLATIN COUNTY 
 
 THE COUNTY'S FIRST WHITE SETTLER FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT A 
 LAND OP FLOODS AND LEVEES THE WILSONS GENERAL THOMAS 
 POSEY OTHER PROMINENT MEN TOWN OP EQUALITY. 
 
 Picturesque Gallatin ! With her rounded hills, her precipitous bluffs, 
 her vast stretches of level sandy low lands, her old Salines, her Indian 
 
 AN OLD REVOLUTIONARY FLAG, BROUGHT WEST BY GEN. ALEXANDER 
 POSEY. Now IN POSSESSION OP ROBINSON BROTHERS, SHAWNEETOWN 
 
 mounds and burial places, the historic families and public men the 
 Wilsons, Carrolls, Marshalls, Poseys, McLeans, Gatewoods, Trammels, 
 Castles, Temples, Crenshaws', Lawlers, Rawlings, Streets, Logan, Raum, 
 White, Hargreaves, and a score of others. 
 
 THE COUNTY'S FIRST WHITE SETTLER 
 
 It is generally agreed that Michael Sprinkle, a gunsmith, was the 
 first white man to settle within the present limits of Gallatin county. 
 He is supposed to have come to Shawneetown as early as 1800 where he 
 remained till 1814 when he removed into the country some four miles. 
 
 469
 
 470 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 FIRST WHITE SETTLEMENT 
 
 Shawneetown without doubt became the first white settlement. There 
 was a ferry at Shawneetown probably as early as. 1800 or within a year 
 or so thereafter. Its necessity resulted from the travel out of Kentucky 
 to the salt works which were at Equality ten or twelve miles up the 
 Saline river. The continual moving of people back and forth between 
 Kentucky and Illinois brought many people within the county at an 
 early date. Settlements sprang up about Equality, Omaha, and in other 
 neighborhoods. The first settlers at Shawneetown evidently followed 
 their own sweet will in locating their cabins, but in 1808-9 the general 
 government ordered the town laid out, which was done. The Indians 
 still resided in that locality. In 1812 a land office was located in Shaw- 
 neetown. Many prominent men early gathered about Shawneetown. 
 
 A LAND OF FLOODS AND LEVEES 
 
 The Indians of the village which was located at this point, gave the 
 whites to understand that the land overflowed and the people must 
 often take to the hills for safety. In a very early day the people began 
 to construct levees for protection against high water. There have been 
 floods every decade almost since the town was laid out. About 1859-60 
 the state granted the town a charter to borrow money with which to 
 build a levee. The state granted aid. The work went forward slowly. 
 In 1867 the river covered the entire town and rose into the second 
 stories. The state and town had spent many thousands of dollars on 
 the levees and they were thought safe, but in 1875 they broke and the 
 town was flooded. For several years the floods seemed to come annually. 
 In 1884 the city was flooded the water rising 56.4 feet above low water 
 mark. More money was spent and the levees raised. By 1888 or 1890 
 there were four and a half miles of levees, built at a cost of $200,000. 
 In 1898, or thereabouts, the levees broke above the city and great dam- 
 age was done property by the enormous current which swept through 
 the city. Many homes were swept away and more than a score of lives 
 were lost. The general government appropriated $25,000 with which 
 to repair the break in the levee, and thousands of dollars in money, 
 clothing, and food poured into Shawneetown from every hamlet, village, 
 and town. In 1907 another severe test arose, the water reaching 52.8 
 feet. By prompt and vigilant attention by the city the threatened 
 danger was averted. 
 
 A few years ago the state created an Internal Improvement Com- 
 mission. This commission has expended many thousands of dollars of 
 state appropriations in an effort to strengthen the Shawneetown levees. 
 An effort is also on foot to get help from Congress, and there is reason 
 to believe, since the high water of April. 1912, that the levees are proof 
 against the waters of the Ohio. 
 
 THE WILSONS 
 
 The history of the county, at least in its earliest decades, is identical 
 with the history of a number of Illinois' great names. Probably the 
 oldest name among these is that of the Wilsons. Alexander Wilson an 
 early emigrant to Illinois settled at Shawneetown so early as 1802 or
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 471 
 
 thereabout and operated a ferry across the Ohio river. His son Harri- 
 son Wilson was an ensign in the war of 1812 and a captain in the Black 
 Hawk war. Harrison had two sons, Bluford who was adjutant general 
 of volunteers during the Civil war and solicitor for the U. S. treasury 
 in Grant's administration. The other son, James H., was born in Shaw- 
 neetown in 1837. Educated at West Point; held positions in the Engi- 
 neer corps of several expeditions. Rose to the rank of major general 
 and was detailed to pursue Jefferson Davis in his flight from Richmond, 
 Va., and eventually captured that distinguished prisoner. He returned 
 to private life. When the Spanish-American war broke out he served 
 as Major General of Volunteers. He has written several books of travel 
 and biography. 
 
 GENERAL THOMAS POSEY 
 
 General Thomas Posey was born 1750 in Virginia. He was captain 
 and lieutenant colonel in the Revolutionary war. He was at Stony 
 
 w 
 
 THE TOMB OP GEN. ALEXANDER POSEY, SHAWNEETOWN, GALLATIN COUNTY 
 
 Point and at Yorktown. He held the position of lieutenant governor 
 of Kentucky, U. S. senator from Louisana, territorial governor of Indi- 
 ana, made his home in Shawneetown and lies buried in Westwood ceme- 
 tery; Shawneetown. 
 
 OTHER PROMINENT MEN 
 
 Other prominent citizens of Illinois whose lives were connected with 
 Gallatin county history were John McLean, representative in congress; 
 Gen. John A. McClernand, warrior and statesman ; John Marshall, 
 pioneer financier; Henry Eddy, veteran newspaper man; Gen. John A. 
 Logan, the idol of the Illinois volunteers; Robert G. Ingersoll, the match- 
 less orator; Chas. Carroll and Thomas Ridgway, noted financiers and 
 public spirited citizens of later years ; Gen. Michael K. Lawler, a hero of 
 two wars.
 
 472 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 TOWN OF EQUALITY 
 
 Equality is a thriving town on the Saline river some ten or twelve 
 miles from Shawneetown. It has extensive coal mines and has one of 
 the largest coke ovens in the state. In this city will be erected a monu- 
 ment by the state in honor of the public service to the state of Gen. 
 Michael K. Lawler. The appropriation has been made and the work is 
 under way. Omaha in the northwest corner of the county, Ridgway 
 toward the center, and New Haven in the northeast are all towns of 
 importance. The last named was settled by Jonathan Boone, a brother 
 of Daniel Boone. Boone settled New Haven as early as 1812 or 1814. 
 He built a stockade known as Boone 's Fort. 
 
 Four miles west of Shawneetown is Bowlesville, a small village whose 
 chief interest was coal mining. Here lived fifty years ago a gentleman 
 whom Mark Twain made famous George Eschol Sellers. In Twain's 
 1 "OHen Age" George Eschol Sellers is dramatized as "Colonel Mul- 
 berry Sellers," or "Millions in it." The friends of Mr. Sellers remem- 
 ber him as an honest, industrious, intelligent gentleman who spent his 
 time in making inventions, managing a great coal company, and culti- 
 vating silk worms. He had a valuable private library and kept open 
 house to distinguished visitors. 
 
 A PIONEER INDUSTRY 
 
 On February 12, 1812, congress created the Shawneetown land dis- 
 trict. Leonard White, Willis Hargrove, and Phillip Trammel consti- 
 
 A SECTION OP A WOODEN PIPE USED IN THE SALT WORKS AT EQUALITY. 
 MANY OF THESE WOODEN PIPES ARE STILL BURIED IN THE GROUND 
 IN THAT LOCALITY. \ 
 
 tuted a committee to set aside the land adjacent to these salt works as 
 a "reservation" for the benefit of the salt works. The timber was needed 
 for fuel to boil down the brine. Something like 100,000 acres of land
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 473 
 
 was reserved from sale in the immediate vicinity of the Great Half Moon 
 Lick which was found near Equality. An additional 84,000 acres were 
 reserved in other southern Illinois communities. 
 
 On the Saline river which rises in Hamilton, Franklin, and William- 
 son, and empties into the Ohio in Gallatin county, was found one of the 
 greatest salt licks which is to be found in the United States. There was 
 also in the immediate vicinity salt springs of strongly impregnated wa- 
 ter. This lick is within a half mile of the town of Equality, Gallatin 
 
 PETER WHITE, EQUALITY, ILL. 
 
 In 1844 this man was ten years old. He and three smaller children were kidnapped 
 in Equality and taken to Arkansas, where they were sold for $800.00. They 
 were rescued by Walter White, of Equality, a nephew of Gen. Leonard White. 
 Uncle Peter, as he is called, still lives in Equality. 
 
 county; the spring is down the Saline river about three miles. The salt 
 making process was very simple. Large iron kettles holding from forty- 
 five to ninety gallons each were brought down the Ohio from Pittsburg 
 to Shawneetown. Long trenches were dug in the ground and lined with 
 rock on the sides. The kettles were set over these trenches and the spaces 
 between filled with mortar or mud, a chimney was constructed at one end 
 of the long row of kettles and a fire kept constantly burning under the 
 kettles which were filled with the brine. The brine was gotten by dig- 
 ging wells from thirty feet to 2,000 feet deep. 
 
 The fuel was the timber off of the reservation. This was easily fur- 
 nished for a few years, but soon the timber was cut for one or two miles. 
 Then the cost of hauling fuel to the wells and furnaces was too great 
 to justify the continuance of the business. Then was shown real genius 
 then came the real forerunner of the present pipe line systems. 
 
 The furnaces were now moved to the timber in some instances some 
 three or four miles away. The water was carried to the furnaces in 
 wooden pipes. These pipes were made by cutting down trees about ten 
 to sixteen inches in diameter and into lengths of from twelve to twenty
 
 474 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 feet. A two-inch auger hole was bored endwise through these logs. At 
 the butt end the opening was reamed out, while the smaller end of an- 
 other log was trimmed to enter this enlarged opening. The small end 
 was inserted into the butt end and the joint made secure by a sort of 
 battering-ram. 
 
 To prevent the butt end from splitting, iron bands were fitted over 
 the log. These wooden pipe lines ran straight from the wells to the tim- 
 ber, over small hills and across streams. To force the water over the 
 small hills a sort of standpipe was constructed at the well high enough 
 to force the water over all points between the wells and the furnaces. 
 In crossing the streams the pipe line was forced to the bottom of the wa- 
 ter by heavy iron riders said to weigh several hundred pounds. 
 
 In the days of the pipe line system, there were hundreds of men em- 
 ployed, lumbermen, wood haulers, firemen, hands to attend to the evap- 
 orating pans, coopers, inspectors, store-keepers, rivermen, hoop-pole mer- 
 chants, and overseers. The pipes were first bored by hand but soon a 
 horsepower auger was arranged. Negro slaves were the principal labor- 
 ers. Later when the improved machinery, etc., was used, they made as 
 much as 500 barrels a day. The manufacture of salt ceased about Equal- 
 ity in 1870 because salt could be made cheaper in other parts of the 
 country.
 
 CHAPTER XLIX 
 HAMILTON COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS JUDGE STELLE'S PIONEER PICTURES WHICH RECTOR 
 WAS MASSACRED? TOWN OF MCLEANSBORO As TO EDUCATION 
 JAMES R. CAMPBELL GENERAL INFORMATION. 
 
 Hamilton was created out of White by action of the general assembly 
 on February 8, 1821. It was named in honor of Alexander Hamilton. 
 Its area is 432 square miles, and its population in 1910 was 18,227, a 
 loss in ten years of 1,970. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS 
 
 The first settlers in Hamilton county came as early as 1816, but the 
 territory was then included in White county. David Upton seems to 
 have been the first settler. He located about six miles southwest of the 
 present city of McLeansboro, on what is called Knight's Prairie. 
 Among the names of early settlers were Head, Hardester, Hungate, 
 Schoolcraft, Daily, Mayberry, Biggerstaff, Bond, Lockwood, Carpenter, 
 and others. A. M. Auxier was an early settler, possibly earlier than 
 Upton. Auxier settled on and gave name to Auxier Creek in the north- 
 ern part of the county. 
 
 JUDGE STELLE'S PIONEER PICTURES 
 
 The early life of the settlers has been described by Judge Thomp- 
 son B. Stelle. He tells how the settlers lived, how they made their meal 
 by pounding corn in a "hominy mortar," which was a hollow place 
 burned in the side of a log. The pestle with which they pounded the 
 corn was attached to a spring pole which lifted it after each stroke. 
 "Johnny cake" and "corn dodgers" were the staff of life. Johnny 
 cakes were baked on a board placed before the fire, while dodgers were 
 baked in the hot ashes and coals. The meat was venison and bear meat. 
 Buckskin clothing was a very common article. 
 
 Here, as elsewhere, log cabins were the first homes. Timber was 
 plentiful along the streams, among which the principal one was the 
 North Fork of the Saline River. This stream runs southeastward 
 through the county. The country, especially along the streams, swarmed 
 with small animals which were killed for their furs or for their flesh, 
 though others were harmful, such as panthers, foxes, wolves, catamounts, 
 ets. The farmers went to Equality for their salt, and to the Wabash 
 for their milling. 
 
 475
 
 476 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 WHICH RECTOR WAS MASSACRED ? 
 
 The Indians were plentiful as late as the coming of the earliest 
 settlers. A story is told in Reynold's "Pioneer History" of the narrow 
 escape of Nelson Rector who was surveying on Saline river. He was 
 shot through the arm and in the side, but his horse carried him safely 
 away. It is also said that the records of the county the surveyor's 
 field book contains this: "John Rector died May 25, 1805, at the 
 section corner of Sections 21, 22, 27 and 28; buried from this corner, 
 South 62, west 72 poles; small stone monument; stone quarry north- 
 west 150 yards." This purports to be the records and if so there is some 
 discrepancy in names. The one killed, according to Reynolds, was Nel- 
 
 ATTRACTIVE ARCHITECTURE, MCLEANSBORO, HAMILTON COUNTY 
 
 son in 1814; the one said to be on record was John. Tradition has it 
 that John Rector was massacred by the Indians. 
 
 TOWN OP MCLEANSBORO 
 
 In the act creating the county of Hamilton, the commissioners to 
 locate the capital of the county were to meet at the house of John Ander- 
 son till a permanent seat of justice was selected. On April 9, 1821, the 
 first county commissioners' court was held in the house of John Ander- 
 son. The first act was to appoint Jesse C. Lockwood county clerk. The 
 court then received the report of the commissioners who were to select 
 the county seat. The commissioners had selected the present site of 
 McLeansboro. It was on land donated by Wm. B. McLean and the 
 county seat was named McLeansboro. 
 
 The court house built in McLeansboro was of logs, sixteen feet square, 
 eight feet high, one window, one door, covered with clapboards. The 
 county court met in the new capital on Monday, June 4, 1821. 
 
 The first residences of the town of McLeansboro were built of logs. 
 The first frame house was built by Jesse C. Lockwood. The first doctor
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 477 
 
 was Wm. B. McLean, and the first lawyer was Samuel S. Marshall. Mr. 
 Marshall came to be the most noted politician, judge and lawyer in all 
 Southern Illinois. He lived to a ripe old age and died in McLeansboro 
 in 1890. 
 
 Following the organization of the county, settlers came in large num- 
 bers but they were mostly farmers. The county seat grew but there 
 were no other towns of any importance in the county till the coming of 
 the railroads. At present the population is largely rural. McLeans- 
 boro has a population of 1,796, Dahlgren 654, Macedonia 200, Brough- 
 ton 470, Belle Prairie 87. 
 
 As TO EDUCATION 
 
 The people of Hamilton have always taken an interest in education. 
 Of course in an early day the whole matter was in an undeveloped stage 
 and meager results were obtained, but the people were patient and 
 persevering and now the interest and work is of a high grade. The 
 first school house in the county was the oft-described log structure 
 12 by 14 feet and stood near the present depot in McLeansboro. There 
 was only a dirt floor, and the room was heated by a fire in one corner 
 with a hole in the roof for a chimney. The second and the third schools 
 were of logs. The schools of today are well organized under the oversight 
 of Whitson W. Daily as county superintendent. There is but one well 
 organized high school, that of McLeansboro, but there are seventy-eight 
 rural and village schools. 
 
 The Catholic church maintains a flourishing school at Piopolis, a 
 small village six miles north of McLeansboro. A college known as Ham- 
 ilton College was in operation in McLeansboro from 1874 to 1880. It 
 graduated several students. It was chartered and would have flourished 
 but a quarrel as to the location of the college buildings blasted the 
 enterprise and it closed its doors in 1880. 
 
 JAMES R. CAMPBELL 
 
 Probably the most widely known citizen of the county is the Hon. 
 James R. Campbell. He comes of a noted family of Scotch-Irish. Edu- 
 cated at Notre Dame, Indiana, member of the bar, served in the legis- 
 lature, member of congress, colonel of the Ninth Illinois Volunteers in 
 the Spanish-American war, and since a prominent lawyer and business 
 man. 
 
 GENERAL INFORMATION 
 
 The distribution of values on the farms for the entire county is as 
 follows: Land 70.5%; buildings 12.1%; implements and machinery 
 2.4% ; domestic animals, poultry, etc., 14.1%. The average value of 
 land in 1900 was $15.64; in 1910 $34.32; average for the state in 1910, 
 $95.02. 
 
 There are ten banks in Hamilton county ; three in McLeansboro ; 
 three in Dahlgren ; one in Broughton ; two in Macedonia, and one in 
 Walpole. There is no mining, and no factories of any very great im- 
 portance.
 
 CHAPTER L 
 HARDIN COUNTY 
 
 PICTURESQUE AND PROSPEROUS LEAD MINES AND TOWNS FIRST SET- 
 TLERS CAVE-IN-THE-ROCK DESCRIBED. 
 
 Hardin county was made by taking the south end of Gallatin and 
 the northeast part of Pope. It was created March 2, 1839. Putnam 
 county has the reputation of having the smallest area of any county in 
 the state 173 square miles but Hardin comes in for second honors 
 with 185 square miles. However, Hardin stands last in population, with 
 7,015, while Putnam ranks next with 7,561. 
 
 PICTURESQUE AND PROSPEROUS 
 
 This county though small in area is a very interesting county. It 
 is picturesque in its physical aspects. It lies in the eastern terminus of 
 Ozark range, which crosses Southern Illinois. It has long been held up 
 to ridicule as not having any railroad, but this can be no longer truth- 
 fully said of Hardin county, for she has both a steam road and an electric 
 line. 
 
 The chief interests in Hardin county are agricultural and mining. 
 To be sure the farms are small, but they are well improved and the 
 farmers are a thrifty, intelligent class. More than half of the farms 
 are occupied and managed by their owners. Out of 927 farmers 905 of 
 them are native born whites. 
 
 In 1910 the census showed an average of corn to the acre of 29 bush- 
 els, and an average of 19 bushels of oats per acre, and of wheat 14 bush- 
 els. Three hundred eighty-two acres were in potatoes, which yielded 
 18,566 bushels. The farmers have 666 acres in alfalfa, which is a new 
 crop, and the prospects are for a good yield. 
 
 B>it the most promising outlook for the county is her mineral re- 
 sources. The geological survey of this county shows two per cent of 
 the area alluvial formation, about 20% of the area millstone grit forma- 
 tion, 20% upper division Chester formation, 20% lower division same 
 formation, and about 40% Keokuk limestone. In the latter formation 
 are found deposits of coal, lead, iron, zinc, silver, and fluor spar. 
 
 LEAD MINES AND TOWNS 
 
 In 1839 lead was discovered on the farm of Mr. James Anderson, 
 one mile below the site of the present town of Rosiclare. Nothing 
 was done at that time toward developing the deposit. In 1842 a Mr. 
 
 478
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 479 
 
 Pell, living one mile north of Rosiclare, discovered spar and lead. 
 Companies were organized and mines opened. The operations were 
 poorly prosecuted. These mines were worked at intervals till 1851 
 when they were abandoned. Nothing was done until recent years 
 when the fluor spar mines were opened up, and since then there has been 
 great activity in the fluor spar, zinc, and lead business. The mines are 
 about a mile back of the town of Rosiclare. From the mines there are 
 two roads, one steam and the other electric, leading to the river. These 
 are used to transport the products of the mines to the river, where they 
 are loaded usually on barges for transportation to the markets. 
 
 There are three towns in the county. Elizabethtown, with a popula- 
 tion of 633 ; Rosiclare, 609 ; and Cave-in-Rock, 306. In addition to the 
 postoffices in these three towns there are nine other offices in the county : 
 
 MAIN STREET LOOKING TOWARD THE OHIO RIVER, ELIZABETHTOWN 
 
 Cadiz, Eichorn, Grossville, Hicks, Karbers Ridge, Lamb, Rockcreek, 
 Shelterville, Sparks Hill. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS 
 
 The first settler within the limits of the county probably was James 
 McFarlan, Sr., who had a contract with the United States to furnish 
 beef for the garrison at Fort Massac. He settled at the present site of 
 Elizabethtown in 1808, where the trail crossed from Nashville, Tennessee, 
 to the salt works at Equality. Here McFarlan ran a ferry across the 
 Ohio for twenty years. William McFarlan was also a settler as early as 
 1808. Benona Lee came in 1809. In 1808 Gov. Wm. H. Harrison gave 
 permission to Isaac White and Jonathan Taylor to operate a ferry at 
 Elizabethtown. 
 
 John King was the first cabinet maker. A Mr. Ewell was the first 
 teacher and the Rev. Mr. Stilly, a Baptist minister, preached the first 
 sermon in the county.
 
 4SO HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 CAVE-IN-ROCK DESCRIBED 
 
 Without doubt the most noted natural object in the county is Cave- 
 in-Rock, which is a remarkable cavern some seven miles above Elizabeth- 
 town on the Ohio. Probably we could not do better than to quote from 
 a noted English traveler who visited it in 1803. The traveler was 
 Thaddeus M. Harris, who says : ' ' For about three or four miles before 
 you come to this place, you are presented with a scene truly romantic. 
 On the Illinois side of the river, you see large ponderous rocks piled one 
 upon another, of different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some appear to 
 have gone through the hands of a skillful artist; some represent the 
 ruins of an ancient edifice; others thrown promiscuously in and out of 
 the river, as if nature intended to show us with what ease she could 
 handle those mountains of solid rock. In some places, you see purling 
 streams winding their course down their rugged front; while in others, 
 the rocks project so far that they seem almost disposed to leave their 
 doubtful situations. After a short relief from this scene, you come to 
 a second which is something similar to the first ; and here, with strict 
 scrutiny, you can discover the cave. 
 
 "Before its mouth stands a delightful grove of cypress trees ar- 
 ranged immediately on the bank of the river. They have a fine appear- 
 ance and add much to the cheerfulness of the place. 
 
 ' ' The mouth of the cave is but a few feet above the ordinary level of 
 the river, and is formed by a semicircular arch of about 80 feet at its 
 base, and 25 feet in height, the top projecting considerably over, form- 
 ing a regular concave. Prom the entrance to the extremity, which is 
 about 180 feet, it has a regular and gradual ascent. On either side is a 
 solid bench of rock, the arch coming to a point about the middle of 
 the cave, where you discover an opening sHfficiently large to receive the 
 body of a man, through which comes a small stream of fine water, made 
 use of by those who visit this place. From this hole a second cave is 
 discovered whose dimensions, form, etc., are not known. The rock is 
 lime stone. The sides of the cave are covered with inscriptions, names 
 of persons, dates, etc. According to tradition, this cave has been the hid- 
 ing place of river robbers for more than a hundred years."
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 JACKSON COUNTY 
 
 SETTLED EARLY PART NINETEENTH CENTURY SALT INDUSTRIES POUNDED 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL BRINGS SETTLERS CARBONDALE PLATTED 
 COAL MINING GRAND TOWER MURPHYSBORO. 
 
 When Jackson county was created by act of the general assembly, 
 January 10, 1816, it included just what it does today, except a strip 
 several miles wide was cut off of the north side to add to Perry when 
 that county was created in 1827. This county has the Mississippi for a 
 boundary on the west some eighteen miles, and the Big Muddy river 
 passes through it from northeast to southwest. The tributaries to these 
 two rivers are themselves good sized creeks, so the county is well 
 watered. The south side is in the region of the Ozarks and is very 
 hilly, but the central and north side are slightly rolling. There are 
 large areas of submerged lands along the Mississippi bottoms. The 
 county is underlaid with a very fine quality of coal and the quantity 
 is in abundance. There have been excellent forests, but many of them 
 have disappeared before the onward march of the farmer and the hard 
 himber man. 
 
 SETTLED EARLY PART OP NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 Prior to 1800 there were no whites permanently settled in the limits 
 of the present county. An old historian says the first whites crossed 
 into Jackson county over Degognia Creek, the boundary on the north- 
 west, to make maple sugar in the northwestern part of the county. Two 
 men and their families, a Mr. Reed, and Emsly Jones, settled in the 
 county in 1802. Jones killed Reed and was hanged in Kaskaskia. In 
 1805 or 1806, Wm. Boone moved from near Kaskaskia to the north- 
 western part of the county and settled near Degognia Creek. A family 
 by the name of Brooks came they were friends of Boone. 
 
 As early as 1804 Henry Noble and Jesse Griggs settled on Big 
 Muddy above where Murphysboro now stands. Others settled near, one 
 a tailor, another a miller. The settlers began to arrive and by the war 
 of 1812 there were enough people in the region of the Big Muddy to 
 constitute a company of Rangers. Such a company was commanded 
 by Capt. William Boone. There were 80 men and officers. The "big 
 hill" near Grand Tower and the "devil's oven" were settled as early 
 as 1807. William Boone moved from the northwest corner of the 
 county to what was called the "Sand Ridge," just where Kinkaid 
 Creek flows into Big Muddy, in 1806-7. Here the government had set 
 
 Vol. 131 
 
 481
 
 482 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 aside a reservation for the Kaskaskia Indians and at that time there 
 were about sixty camps or lodges on the reservation. A few settlers had 
 cabins on the Big Muddy near the Williamson county line. Here they 
 built a block house as early as 1811. 
 
 SALT INDUSTRIES FOUNDED 
 
 About 1813 Dr. Conrad Will came to this county. He discovered 
 salt springs on the Big Muddy in 1814. He bought kettles in Pitts- 
 burgh and began the manufacture of salt in 1814 or 1815. Around these 
 
 A KETTLE USED BY CONRAD WILL IN MAKING SALT ON BIG MUDDY RIVER. 
 This kettle holds sixty gallons, and was brought with fifty or sixty others from 
 
 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1814 or 1815. The gentleman is Edward Worthen, 
 
 a grandson of Conrad Will. 
 
 salt works grew up Old Brownsville, which was made the county seat 
 in 1816. This remained the seat of justice till 1843, when the county 
 seat was moved to Murphysboro. The site of Murphysboro had 
 previously been settled by Dr. John Logan, father of Gen. John A. 
 Logan. Conrad Will managed the salt works, owned a store, ran a tan 
 yard, and practiced medicine, served in the legislature and assisted in 
 the management of county affairs. Alexander Jenkins, a young man of 
 promise, was a protege of Dr. Conrad Will. Wm. Boone built a flat boat 
 at the mouth of Kinkaid Creek and made a trip to New Orleans in 1811. 
 In 1814 the Duncans settled at the Big Hill, and the father, Joseph Dun-
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 483 
 
 can, built the finest house in the county. It stood near the river and 
 just at the northwest corner of the Big Hill. It was called the "White 
 House." 
 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL BRINGS SETTLERS 
 
 The eastern half of the county was not settled till late in the first 
 half of the 19th century. The Illinois Central was finished in 1854. 
 This brought many settlers, and towns sprang up. The early history 
 is therefore confined to the section along the Big Muddy and the north- 
 west which was close to Kaskaskia. Marcus Green Reynolds, now living 
 a few miles south of Murphysboro, came to that region in 1832. He 
 
 THIS is THE ONLY REMAINING HOUSE IN OLD BROWNSVILLE, THE FIRST 
 COUNTY SEAT OP JACKSON COUNTY. IT WAS BUILT ABOUT 1830 
 
 was from the Carolinas. Governor Barteme Reynolds, the first Royal 
 governor of Georgia, was an ancestor of Mr. Marcus G. Reynolds. He 
 came to this county when Indians were still on their reservation on the 
 Sand Ridge. He remembers Alexander Jenkins, Conrad Will, Dr. Rob- 
 erts, Peter Kimmel, Rev. Nail, Dr. John Logan, and other early settlers 
 in or near Brownsville. He remembers the first steam mill in the 
 county. He gives this recipe for the ink made in the early schools: 
 Maple bark, copperas, indigo, sugar. Old Brownsville, he thinks, was a 
 town of three or four hundred people; there was a bank, stores, hotel, 
 tan yard, salt works, jail, and court house used for school and church 
 purposes. Here is where Gen. John A. Logan went to school in the 
 court house. 
 
 Another old settler still living is Wm. Green Williams. He came in 
 1832. He knew most of the people whom Mr. Reynolds knew. He was 
 often in Old Brownsville and remembers well the removal of the county 
 seat from Brownsville to Murphysboro in 1843. He now lives northwest 
 of Carbondale two or three miles.
 
 484 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 CARBONDALE PLATTED 
 
 In 1852, the town of Carbondale was laid off on the newly built 
 railroad the Illinois Central. The town was laid off by several men 
 who were interested in the new venture. Among them were John 
 Dougherty, Col. D. H. Brush, Asgill Connor, A. Buck, L. W. Ashley, 
 J. P. Ashley, Wm. Richart and others. A clause in the original deeds to 
 lots prohibited the sale of intoxicating liquors on any lot in Carbondale, 
 but in after years the lawyers got their heads together and decided the 
 restriction would not hold in the courts, and saloons were installed for a 
 period of ten years, but for the past four years there have been no legal- 
 ized saloons in the city. 
 
 Carbondale is the seat of the Southern Illinois State Normal Uni- 
 versity, contains the "tie preserving plant" of the Ayer and Lord com- 
 pany, and is quite a railroad center. Twenty-five passenger trains arrive 
 and depart daily. The offices of the St. Louis division of the Illinois 
 Central are here. 
 
 COAL MINING 
 
 In a very early day, probably as early as 1830, coal was discovered 
 on the Big Muddy. Large quantities were sent out of the Big Muddy on 
 flat boats and barges. Coal has been a source of great revenue to this 
 county, and is responsible for considerable railroad building. The quality 
 and quantity, as has been said, is marked. Jackson and Williamson con- 
 stitute the Tenth District under the mining laws of the state, and Jack- 
 son ranks 19th in production, putting out 621,853 tons in 1910. The 
 report for 1911 shows 26 mines for this count3 r , employing 1,184 men, 17 
 of them are what are called local mines. 
 
 Jackson was originally well timbered, but much of the better grades 
 has been shipped out and only the second and third rate grades are 
 left. The south half of the county lies in the Ozarks and immense quan- 
 tities of fruits and vegetables are shipped from the railroad points. Pine 
 rock quarries are to be found in this countv at Grand Tower and at 
 Bosky Dell. 
 
 GRAND TOWER 
 
 Grand Tower on the Mississippi is an interesting river town. In 
 about the year 1885 a railroad was built from Carbondale to Grand 
 Tower. This connected with the Illinois Central at Carbondale, tapped 
 the coal fields at Murphysboro and passed through the best timbered 
 regions of the county. There were two iron furnaces at Grand Tower 
 and extensive coke ovens at Murphysboro. The furnaces were aban- 
 doned about 1892 or earlier and the town suffered in consequence. 
 Large rock quarries have been in operation in Grand Tower. The town 
 had a population of 875 in 1910. The northwestern part of the county 
 has two towns, Ava and Campbell Hill. Along the line of the Illinois 
 Central, passing through Carbondale from south to north, are the towns 
 of Makanda, a fruit shipping point, Bosky Dell, the site of extensive 
 quarries, DeSoto and Elkville coal stations and country towns.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 485 
 
 MUEPHYSBOBO 
 
 Murphysboro, the county seat, is a city of over 7,000 people. It has 
 several coal mines, the shops of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, and an ex- 
 tensive trade in groceries, dry goods, farm supplies, and lumber. There 
 are five banks, an extensive shoe factory, foundries, and a paving brick 
 plant that makes a very fine grade of paving blocks. The professions 
 are fully represented. Here was the birthplace of Gen. John A. Logan 
 and here some of his near kin live today. Murphysboro has many 
 churches and the school interests are represented by an elegant town- 
 ship high school.
 
 CHAPTER LII 
 JASPER COUNTY 
 
 NEWTON, THE COUNTY SEAT POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE VILLAGES 
 
 IN COUNTY. 
 
 Jasper county lies due west of Crawford, from which it was taken 
 by act of the general assembly February 15, 1831. The county was 
 sparsely settled when organized and was without a railroad till 1876, 
 when the road from Grayville to Mattoon reached this county from the 
 south. Shortly afterwards the road from Effingham eastward passed 
 through the county and since then the growth of the county has been 
 rapid. 
 
 NEWTON, THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The county seat was located at Newton in 1835 and has remained 
 there ever since. It is wholly an agricultural county. The timber areas 
 were originally about equal to the prairies, but much of the timbered 
 districts have disappeared. The forests have kept several saw mills 
 busy for many years. Most of the timber is found along the Embarras 
 river, which runs from the northwest toward the southeast through the 
 county. 
 
 POPULATION AND AGRICULTURE 
 
 The county has an area of 508 square miles, and a population of 
 18,157. This is a loss in population in ten years of 2,003. Eighty-nine 
 and three-tenths per cent of the land in the county is in farms, and the 
 value of all farm property is $18,785,026, a hundred and six-tenths per 
 cent increase since 1900. The distribution of values is as follows : Land, 
 71.8% ; buildings, 13.5% ; implements and machinery, 2.6% ; domestic 
 animals, etc., 12.2%. The last three are much higher than the average 
 for the state. The same items for the entire state are, respectively : 
 79.1; 11.1; 1.9; 7.9. Farm lands have risen in value within ten years 
 from 1900 to 1910 from $22.60 to $46.42. The average crops for the 
 several farm products per acre are : Corn. 19 bushels ; oats, 24 ; wheat, 12 ; 
 barley, 11 ; potatoes, 93.. Forage of all kinds produced, average about 
 a ton, or slightly more, per acre. 
 
 VILLAGES IN COUNTY 
 
 The county seat, Newton, was settled about 1828 and was made the 
 county seat as stated above. It is situated on the Embarras, whence it 
 
 486
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 487 
 
 derives some water power. It has a cross railroad and carries on some 
 industries. It grinds considerable grain and gives attention to the dairy- 
 ing business, which is carried on by the farmers of the county. Newton 
 has a population of 2,108. St. Marie is next in size with 450 people. 
 Other villages are Hidalgo with 190, Rose Hill with 229, Hunt City 235, 
 Wheeler 255, Willow Hill 444. 
 
 There is no coal mined in the county unless it may be to supply a 
 part of the local trade ; no account was made of coal in the 1911 report. 
 Oil is found in the adjoining counties and some borings have been made 
 in this county, and no doubt the time is not far off when paying wells 
 will be in operation.
 
 JAMES C. MAXEY, THE OLDEST NATIVE OP JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 JEFFERSON COUNTY 
 
 MT. VEBNON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT MILITARY RECORD JUDICIAL AND 
 LEGAL CENTER CAR SHOPS MT. VERNON OP TODAY FACTS OP 
 INTEREST. 
 
 This county was settled in a very early day. Zadoc Casey, a young 
 man of twenty-one, came with his mother from Tennessee in 1817 and 
 settled very near the future site of Mt. Vernon. Probably there was 
 even that early a trail from Carlyle to Equality passing through the site 
 of Mt. Vernon and McLeansboro. There was also in a very early day 
 a branch trail running from Mt. Vernon south through the site of 
 Benton and on south to Frankfort, where several trails centered. It is 
 not at all certain that Zadoc Casey was the first settler in the county, 
 but he was without doubt the first settler near Mt. Vernon. Stinson H. 
 Anderson was also an early comer. There were enough people in the 
 limits of the county to warrant its organization in 1819. At that time 
 the county included what is now Jefferson and most of what is now 
 Marion county. 
 
 MT. VERNON MADE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The commissioners to locate the county seat were James A. Richard- 
 son, Ambrose Maulding and Lewis Barker. William Casey donated 
 twenty acres for the benefit of the county seat. The court house was 
 made of hewed logs, eighteen by twenty feet, puncheon floor, one door, 
 and one window ; a fire place and chimney were added, the whole costing 
 $150. The jail was built in 1820. A public sale of lots took place the 
 same year. The lots brought as much as $165 each. A number of the 
 names that we find in the old records, we find today Casey, Pace, 
 "Watson, Dodds, Piercy, Vaughn, Yost, Moxey, Green, Anderson, etc. 
 
 The second court house was of brick and was built in 1822. The third 
 one was built in 1840 after the model of the White county court house. 
 More settlers were coming and new names were being spoken, among 
 them Hicks, Castles, Baltzer, Green, Condit, Pavey, etc. 
 
 Mt. Vernon was the only town of any consequence. All the early 
 comers who did not settle about Mt. Vernon . were farmers. The land 
 was not rich. Peck in his "Gazetteer," printed in 1837, says: "The 
 soil is tolerable second rate land, about one-third prairie," and the rest 
 fairly well timbered. In those days the prairie spots in a timbered 
 country all had names. Some such prairie spots in Jefferson were called 
 Casey's, Jordan's, Moore's, Walnut Hill, Arm of Grand, and Long. 
 Many of these names still remain. 
 
 489
 
 490 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 MILITARY RECORD 
 
 By the time of the Blackhawk war in 1832 the county was able to 
 send a company to the front. It was commanded by Gapt. James 
 Bowman. In the war with Mexico there were two companies from 
 Jefferson county, one Company H of Col. Forman's regiment. Its 
 captain was Stephen G. Hicks, who was colonel of the Fortieth regiment 
 in the Civil war. The other company was under Capt. James Bowman. 
 In the Civil war many of the troops in the 40th, 44th, 49th, 60th, 80th, 
 110th, were Jefferson county boys. 
 
 JUDICIAL AND LEGAL CENTER 
 
 After the revision of the constitution in 1848 the supreme court 
 was to sit in three places, which were selected as Mt. Vernon, Spring- 
 
 THE OLD SUPREME COURT BUILDING IN MT. VERNON, JEFFERSON COUNTY, 
 Now USED BY THE APPELLATE COURT 
 
 field and Ottawa. A very striking building was erected in Mt. Vernon 
 and the courts sat there regularly. Many lawyers made their homes in 
 Mt. Vernon and the presence of the judges of the supreme court and 
 prominent lawyers gave prominence to this little city. The old supreme 
 court building is now used by the appellate court for its sittings. It 
 has a very fine law library. 
 
 CAR SHOPS 
 
 Mt. Vernon has extensive car shops. Originally these shops belonged 
 to the L. & N. road, but they are now operated by a corporation of local 
 capitalists. They are a valuable addition to the industrial life of the city. 
 
 An interesting fact is a part of Jefferson county history. In 1858 
 the state fair was held at Central City, two or three miles north of 
 Centralia. A Professor Wilson was giving balloon ascensions. On the
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 491 
 
 last day of the fair he ascended and sailed into Jefferson county, where 
 he landed at the farm house of a Mr. Harvey in Rome township near 
 the village of Dix. While talking to Mr. Harvey, Wilson had his balloon 
 anchored to a rail fence. Two of Mr. Harvey 's children wished to play 
 in the basket. They were allowed to do so. A gust of wind raised the 
 balloon and it broke anchorage and sailed away. It sailed in a southwest 
 direction and was found the next morning by a Mr. Atchison living in 
 Moore's Prairie township. He found the balloon and the two children 
 fast in an apple tree. They were rescued and taken to their home in 
 the northern part of the county. 
 
 Mr. VEBNON OF TODAY 
 
 As has been said, there are no towns of any size in the county other 
 than Mt. Vernon. This is a beautiful city of 8,007 people. It has beau- 
 tiful and commodious church edifices, a modern court house, the old 
 supreme court building, several ward school buildings, a very fine town- 
 ship high school, and scores of elegant residences. The city has many 
 miles of paved streets, is saloonless and has been for many years. It is 
 not only without saloons but it is a dry town as well. 
 
 In 1888 a destructive cyclone passed through Mt. Vernon from the 
 southwest to the northeast. It mowed a path through the city a hundred 
 yards or more wide, destroying thousands of dollars worth of property 
 and killing thirty people. The generosity of the good people of Southern 
 Illinois was shown in the large quantities of foodstuffs, clothing, monav 
 and sympathy which poured in from all sides. 
 
 FACTS OP INTEREST 
 
 The villages of the county are Woodlawn with 315 people, Belle Rive 
 with 312, Rome 233, Ina 484. It will thus be seen the population is 
 largely rural. The total for the county is 29,111, a gain of 978 since 1900. 
 
 There is considerable waste land in the county, as only 87.2% of the 
 land is in farms and only 85% of the farm land is improved. The 
 distribution of values for farm property is 68.8% in land; 13.9% in 
 buildings; 2.5% in implements and machinery; 14.9% in domestic 
 animals, etc. This shows well for the farmers, since with poor lands the 
 showing good on buildings, implements, and stock. 
 
 The county slopes to the south, as shown by the drainage. The 
 principal streams are the Big Muddy and its tributary, Casey's Fork. 
 Timber for purposes of lumber is scarce, but much remains for fuel. 
 Coal is found but it is 800 feet below the surface and mining is expensive. 
 The number of mines reported is one, with a tonnage of 10,708, all of 
 which, excepting 400 tons, was consumed locally. 
 
 Jefferson belongs in Group 9 of the Bankers' Association. The county 
 has fifteen banks, seven of which belong to. the Bankers' Association. 
 Only two out of the fifteen are national banks.
 
 CHAPTER LIV 
 JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 CREATED BY GOVERNOR EDWARDS AGRICULTURE AND STOCK RAISING- 
 EARLY SETTLERS SLAVERY CONTEST (1823-4) MAJOR ANDREW J. 
 
 KUYKENDALL CLARK PASSED THROUGH THE COUNTY. 
 
 This county lies mainly on the south slope of the Ozarks, the main 
 divide of the mountains running east and west through the northern 
 tier of townships. The county contains slightly more than nine town- 
 ships Cache, containing a few sections from T. 14, R. 2, east. The 
 Cache river drains the west side of the county, while Cedar Creek 
 drains the east third. It is a picturesque region. The hills and valleys, 
 the bluffs and gaps, beautiful farms, quiet homes nestling among the 
 hills, cattle on a thousand hillsides, all give the visitor a surprise and 
 interest from every angle of observation. 
 
 CREATED BY GOVERNOR EDWARDS 
 
 The county is one of the oldest, having been created by proclamation 
 of Governor Edwards the 14th day of September, 1812. 
 
 A PROCLAMATION 
 
 And I do lay off a county or district to be called Johnson county, to be 
 bounded as follows, viz.: To begin at the mouth of Lusk's Creek on the Ohio; 
 thence with the line of Gallatin county to Big Muddy; thence down Big Muddy 
 and the Mississippi to mouth of the Ohio, and up the Ohio to the beginning. 
 And I do appoint the house of John Bradshaw to be the seat of Justice for 
 Johnson county. 
 
 Done at Kaskaskia the 14th day of September, 1812, and the Independence 
 of the United States the thirty-seventh. 
 
 By the Governor. 
 
 Nathaniel Pope, Secretary. XIXIAX EDWARDS. 
 
 By tracing this boundary it will be seen that Johnson includes a 
 part or the whole of Jackson, Williamson, Saline, Pope, Johnson, Union, 
 Alexander, Pulaski and Massac counties. 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND STOCK RAISING 
 
 It is not an agricultural county like the prairie counties of central 
 Illinois, and yet agriculture and stock raising are the principal activities. 
 The abundance of fine spring water, and fine grasses which are found on 
 the hillsides, make stock raising a delight. Within recent years much 
 
 492
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 493 
 
 attention has been given to fine grades of cattle and to dairying grades. 
 The state has established an experiment farm just east of Vienna and 
 the local farmers' institute is in a flourishing condition. The number 
 of farms is put down in the census report as 1,962, which is a loss of 18 
 in ten years. The size of the farms averages 102 acres, but only 73 acres 
 per farm is improved lands. The distribution of values of all farm 
 property is 63.1% in lands; 17.5% in buildings; 2.5%^ in machinery; 
 17% in domestic animals, etc. This is a very interesting table. Only 
 one county in the state surpasses Johnson in the percentage of value 
 in domestic animals and that is Pope, with 19.5%. Pope also is the only 
 county which has a smaller percentage in land 59.6%. 
 
 There are still good timber areas in Johnson county. All along the 
 Cache river there afe good lumber forests. Cypress grows toward the 
 
 ON OAKDALE FARM, WHITTENBERG BROS., PROPRIETORS, VIENNA, 
 JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 south side of the county. Here are vast swamps that have never been 
 drained, and in these the cypress trees flourish. These swamps are now 
 in process of draining and within a few years we may see corn growing 
 where now are the noted black swamps. 
 
 Johnson county has no coal. No coal is found south of the Ozarks. 
 There is in this county a variety of building material in the form of 
 sandstone, limestone and the clays. In many of the bluffs these stones 
 are easily quarried, but there is not much demand for building material 
 of this kind except for foundations. In many localities there are very 
 large sink holes, which indicates the presence of caverns into which the 
 land has sunk. These have the appearance of a funnel and are often 
 several yards across and several feet deep. The native grasses are very 
 plentiful and constitute a large share of the grazing lands.
 
 494 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 EAKLY SETTLERS 
 
 The earliest settlers were located in the northwest and the northeast 
 parts of the county. Elvira was settled in 1806, while Ray's settlement 
 in the northeast corner of the county was made in 1803. In 1815 the 
 county seat was at Elvira. It was later moved to Vienna. This town 
 was begun about 1814 or 1815. It was located on the road from 
 Golconda to Jonesboro and either at or near the crossing of the road 
 from Fort Massac to Kaskaskia. A map published in Philadelphia in 
 1822 by the American Atlas Co. shows Vienna on the road from Port 
 Massac to Kaskaskia. In 1837 the town contained not over 30 families. 
 130 to 150 people, three stores, and the court house. 
 
 Shadrach Bond, delegate in congress, writing to Governor Ninian 
 Edwards under date of February 14, 1814, says he will try to get a bill 
 
 IN THE DEPTHS OF THE WOODS IN JOHNSON COUNTY 
 
 through congress establishing a post road from Kaskaskia to the court 
 house in Johnson county. And in a later communication to Governor 
 Edwards he reports that the bill went through and the post road was 
 assured. 
 
 SLAVERY CONTEST (1823-4) 
 
 In the contest which raged in Illinois from 1823 to 1824 over the 
 question of making Illinois a slave state, Johnson county was evenly 
 divided. When the votes were counted it was found that she had given 
 74 votes for slavery and 74 for freedom. At that time Johnson included 
 the west half of Massac, as it is today, and a portion of the eastern 
 part of Pulaski. It was so close to Kentucky that it is not strange that 
 the slavery vote was so large.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 495 
 
 MAJOR ANDREW J. KUYKENDALL 
 
 Probably the most noted citizen of Johnson county, at least in the 
 early 50 's, was Major Andrew J. Kuykendall. He was a lawyer of 
 great force and a patriotic citizen. When the war of the Rebellion came 
 on he entered the service as major of the 31st regiment, whose colonel 
 was John A. Logan. He was an ardent Democrat, but a loyal one. His 
 influence for the Union was felt far and near. In 1863, when the legis 
 lature was passing resolutions demanding a cessation of hostilities, the 
 Douglas Club of Vienna held a public meeting, which was largely 
 attended by people of all shades of political belief. After a very free 
 
 SCENE ON THE FARM OP HON. P. S. CHAPMAN, VIENNA 
 
 and frank discussion of the exigencies of the situation, the Douglas Club 
 passed the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That as citizens of Illinois and as Democrats, we are in 
 favor of the continued and vigorous prosecution of the war until the 
 supremacy of the constitution is acknowledged in every state in the 
 Union ; that we are in favor of the administration 's using every constitu- 
 tional means for the purpose of crushing the rebellion and restoring the 
 Union ; that the errors of the administration, while they should not be 
 adopted by the people, form no excuse for any loyal citizen to withhold 
 his support from the government. We are inflexibly opposed to the 
 secession heresy of a northwestern confederacy, and will resist it with 
 our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 
 
 There can be little doubt that these resolutions reflect the influence 
 of Mr. Kuykendall. 
 
 CLARK PASSED THROUGH THE COUNTY 
 
 Johnson county is very proud of the fact that Gen. George Rogers 
 Clark passed through its territory on his way from Fort Massac to
 
 496 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Kaskaskia in 1778. A recent movement by some members of the D. A. R. 
 under the leadership of Mrs. Pleasant S. Chapman of Vienna, looks 
 toward the marking of the route at the point of nearest approach 
 to Vienna. Recent communications with Dr. Reuben Gold Thwaites, 
 secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society, has confirmed the general 
 impression that Clark passed near Vienna. As near as it can now be 
 stated, Clark entered the county a mile east of where the Big Four 
 crosses the Cache, or at the middle point of Section 32, T. 13, R. 3, east. 
 From there, north and west over Indian Point, to the Mrs. Wright farm 
 in Section 1, T. 13, R. 2, east. From here to the village of Buncombe, 
 and thence north through Buffalo Gap and north by Goreville and on 
 to Pulley's Mill, etc. Without doubt a monument or marker will be 
 placed on the public road running west from Vienna to West Vienna at 
 a point two miles west of the former town.
 
 CHAPTER LV 
 LAWRENCE COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER FRENCH SETTLERS THE DEEP SNOW AND MILK SICKNESS 
 SCHOOLS CHARLOTTESVILLE OLD TRAILS ACROSS THE COUNTY 
 LAWRENCEVILLE, THE COUNTY SEAT OIL AND GAS WELLS. 
 
 This county lies along the Wabash with Crawford on the north, 
 Richland on the west and Wabash to the south. It was carved out of 
 Edwards and Crawford in 1821, January 16. 
 
 The early settlers no doubt spread westward across the Wabash from 
 Vincennes. Just west of Vincennes, and especially to the northwest, 
 the soil is very fertile. A part of the country here is called Allison's 
 Prairie or Allison Prairie. It is ten miles long and five miles wide. The 
 soil is very fertile. Settlers were in this prairie by 1816. These people 
 were from Ohio and were all members of the Christian church. Just 
 east of Allison's Prairie are unhealthful swamps, and from these the 
 early settlers suffered. St. Francisville was settled probably as early as 
 Allison Prairie. It is at the southeast corner. 
 
 PIONEER FRENCH SETTLERS 
 
 Directly across the Wabash from Vincennes and for some miles up 
 and down the river there are shown on the old maps French grants. 
 These are usually very narrow but sometimes they run back into the 
 country a mile. On one of these old French grants there lived a noted 
 Canadian Frenchman, Touissant Dubois, who came to Dubois hill near 
 Vincennes, on the Illinois side, in 1780. Here he took up his residence 
 under the stars and stripes. He was a warm friend of General Harrison 
 and fought with him in the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. Touissant 
 Dubois also owned 1,000 acres just where Lawrenceville is now. Here 
 he built a residence and planted an orchard, the first in all that region. 
 Touissant Dubois was the father of Jesse K. Dubois, a warm friend of 
 Abraham Lincoln from 1834 to the death of the president. 
 
 In 1812 two forts were built, one at St. Francisville and one at 
 Russellville. These were probably built by early French settlers, as there 
 were few if any English-speaking people in those localities. A white 
 child by the name of Fyffe was born in the fort at Russellville. Frank 
 Tougas was the first white child born in the county, his birth occurring 
 in 1803. Dr. Burget came to the county at a very early day. He is 
 said to have learned all he knew from his wife. He lived on the west 
 side of the county. Another doctor was Jonathan L. Flanders, who was 
 so strong he could drink whisky from the bunghole of a full barrel. 
 
 Vol. 131 
 
 497
 
 498 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 He could work his ears like a donkey a very remarkable man ! Prob- 
 ably the oldest person now living in the county is Mr. John Pinkstaff, 
 living near Russellville. He is 93 years old. Mrs. Sarah H. Millhouse 
 is above ninty. One, Barney McMahon, who came to the county from 
 Ireland many years ago, died recently at the age of 122. 
 
 THE DEEP SNOW AND MILK SICKNESS 
 
 The old settlers remember the deep snow of the winter of 1830. It 
 completely covered the staked fences. The animals became very poor 
 and many died of starvation. The crust which formed on top of the 
 snow was so strong that the people drove their sleds and sleighs over the 
 tops of fences and across streams. 
 
 Milk sickness was prevalent over the county each fall for many 
 years. Settlers were accustomed to keep their cows in their lots or small 
 pastures to prevent them from eating the weeds, buds, leaves, or what- 
 ever brought on the disease. People were supposed to catch the disease 
 through the use of the milk or butter. The diagnosis of the case was 
 usually chills, fever, weakness, and a recurrence of the symptoms and 
 the disease each year. It frequently resulted fatally. 
 
 SCHOOLS 
 
 The character of the schools in this county was not different from 
 that in other Southern Illinois localities. The houses were usually log 
 structures with the crudest furnishings. The teachers were of an inferior 
 sort as measured by good teachers today. The first school taught in 
 Lawrence county was in 1817. In 1819 a Mrs. Martin taught a school. 
 A Mr. Martin taught at a point where afterward the first schoolhouse 
 and church were established. It was near the residence of Mr. William 
 Kincaid. Among the earliest places where schools were taught were on 
 Allison Prairie, at Russellville, and at Springhill. One, Adam Shepherd, 
 a Greek and Latin scholar, taught in this county in the early 30 's. 
 
 In recent years there has been a great advance in the character of 
 the school work. High schools are established in all the towns, and 
 since the discovery of oil, the people are putting their surplus money 
 into good school buildings. 
 
 CHARLOTTESVILLE 
 
 Charlottesville, on the Embarras, was a village in 1819. It bid fair 
 to become an important town but the building of an iron bridge across 
 the Embarras a few miles below ruined the prospects of the town. 
 Charlottesville is a forgotten town. This village was founded by the 
 Shakers, a religious body of people who are exemplary in all their walks 
 of life. 
 
 Col. William M. Small was in the limits of the county as early as 
 1797 and lived till late in the nineteenth century. He has left by word 
 of mouth many facts concerning the early history of the county. 
 
 OLD TRAILS ACROSS THE COUNTY 
 
 Mr. P. W. Sutherland, an estimable gentleman living at Sumner in 
 the western part of the county, has made careful investigation of the old
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 499 
 
 traces or trails across the county, and he writes as follows : ' ' There were 
 three important trails leading through the county. One, the Cahokia 
 trail, another the Kaskaskia trail, and a third the Shawnee trail. These 
 trails have been confused by writers. The Cahokia trail was the most 
 northern and runs from east to west a mile and a half north of the 
 B. & O. It passes through Lawrenceville on the street north of the 
 court house, runs through Olney on Main street. The Kaskaskia trail 
 ran east and west, parallel to this, but one-half to three-fourths of a mile 
 to the south till it reaches a point two miles east of Bridgeport, where 
 it bends to the southeast and crosses the Embarras river at Mussel Shoals, 
 which lies in a big bend of the river. Thence on east to the Wabash. 
 This is the route the old settlers think Clark took in the capture of 
 Vincennes. The Cahokia trace crosses the Embarras immediately east of 
 
 THE LAWRENCEVILLE, LAWRENCE COUNTY, HIGH SCHOOL 
 
 Lawrenceville. The Shawneetown trace ran along the Wabash close 
 to the towns of West Salem, Lancaster and St. Prancisville, joining the 
 Kaskaskia trace at Mussel Shoals ; thence to Vincennes. ' ' 
 
 LAWRENCEVILLE, THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The county seat, Lawrenceville, is a prosperous county seat town. 
 It is situated on high ground just west of the Embarras river, a little 
 to the north of a west line from Vincennes. Its population is 3,235. 
 It is well supplied with schools and churches. The oil industry has filled 
 the coffers of Lawrence county people and they lack for nothing. Bridge- 
 port, which was a small station and country village, has grown to a city 
 of 2,703 people with all the city machinery. Sumner has also grown, 
 but not as the other towns. 
 
 
 OIL AND GAS WELLS 
 
 Oil was first discovered in a shallow well in the vicinity of Casey a 
 half century ago. It was not developed, however, until 1904, when a
 
 500 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Mr. Hoblitzel began its development by drilling in a well north of the city 
 of Casey. The development soon spread to the surrounding counties 
 and to the south, until wells are now producing in Clark, Cumberland, 
 Edgar, Coles, Crawford and Lawrence counties. Crawford has the 
 greatest area and largest number of wells of this group of counties, but 
 Lawrence, with a smaller area and about one-third as many wells, pro- 
 duces more oil than Crawford. 
 
 The depth of the wells range from a few hundred feet in the northern 
 counties to 1,900 feet in Lawrence county. Thus far Lawrence county 
 has seven different depths of producing oil sand. The deep sand wells 
 are usually the best producers. Some of these wells starting with a flow 
 of from 2,500 to 3,000 barrels a day and continuing to flow with a 
 gradual decrease in production for several months, until the flow stops 
 
 THE PRODUCT OP LAWRENCE COUNTY 
 
 and they are then pumped. The shallower wells are usually pumpers 
 from the start and make from a few barrels to several hundred barrels 
 (42 gallons per barrel), but soon diminish in production, and after a few 
 years pumping they are pulled. The deep wells hold up the production 
 much better and will last for ten to twenty years or more. These counties 
 make Illinois the third in rank of states in the Union as to production 
 of oil. In 1910 these counties produced more than 30,000,000 barrels 
 of oil, which sold for more than $19,000,000. 
 
 Of this production the land owner usually gets one-eighth of the oil 
 produced on his land, without any cost of production or delivery into 
 pipe line to him. More than 27,000,000 barrels of the crude oil is taken 
 by the Ohio Pipe Line company and run through pipe lines to Alton, 111., 
 and Whiting, Ind., to the great refineries located in those places. Some 
 of the remainder is taken to the eastern refineries by the Tidewater Pipe 
 Line company ; some is shipped out over the railroads ; some is refined in 
 the independent refineries in the field, and the remainder is used for 
 fuel and on the roads.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 501 
 
 All the strong oil wells produce some gas and there are several strong 
 gas wells in Lawrence and Crawford counties. These have been con- 
 nected up and are furnishing fuel for the cities of Robinson, Vincennes, 
 Lawrenceville, Sumner, Bridgeport and Olney. In the field the gas is 
 used by the oil companies for fuel in drilling the wells and in the 
 engines at the power houses. 
 
 Since the discovery of oil in these eastern counties there has been 
 less activity in agricultural pursuits. The average corn crop was 36 
 bushels to the acre, with an acreage of 54,766 for 1910. "Wheat averaged 
 20 bushels to the acre; potatoes 111 bushels to the acre, with a yield 
 of slightly more than a ton to the acre for all kinds of forage.
 
 CHAPTER LVI 
 MARION COUNTY 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK OLD SALEM, THE COUNTY SEAT ' ' STATE 
 POLICY" ABANDONED FATHER OP WILLIAM J. BRYAN GEN. JAMES 
 S. MARTIN THE PRESENT SALEM AND CENTRALIA LATE DISCOVERY 
 OP OIL. 
 
 Marion county lies north of Jefferson, east of Clinton, south of 
 Fayette, west of Clay and Wayne. It is generally level, though well 
 drained by branches of the Kaskaskia in the west and north, and by 
 Skillett Fork, a branch of the Little Wabash in the southeast. It lies 
 therefore on the "divide" and in the "Grand Prairie" which the early 
 settlers described. 
 
 AGRICULTURE AND LIVE STOCK 
 
 The county was organized January 24, 1823. It is twenty-four miles 
 square four townships each way. It is mostly prairie lands with con- 
 siderable timber along the larger streams. The soil is not of the best 
 quality and much of the ground is not naturally well drained. Con- 
 siderable areas have been tiled and where this has been done there is a 
 marked improvement in returns to the farmer. Much attention has 
 been given to apple orchards. The soil seems to be adapted to the 
 growing of all kinds of fruit. The farmers have had to contend with 
 the usual drawbacks, the various insects, the cold winters, and often 
 the summer drouths, but in spite of these the apple crop is perhaps as 
 remunerative as any other agricultural product. Strawberries, black- 
 berries, raspberries and kindred crops do well, and are produced in 
 large quantities. 
 
 There are 1,279 farms of 100 acres or over, and 2,156 farms of less 
 than 100 acres. The per cent of lands in farms is 92.2, and of this 85.5% 
 is improved. This gives 78.4% of all the lands of the county as improved 
 lands. The distribution of values in all farm property is as follows: 
 71.4% in lands, 13.8% in buildings, 2.1% in implements, etc., 12.7%i in 
 animals, etc. The average value of land per acre is $39.45. In 1900 the 
 value per acre was put down at $19.45. The average value of farm 
 lands for the state is $95.02, while the average for 1900 was $46.17. The 
 distribution of animals and their values on 3.314 farms out of a total 
 of 3,435 farms, is as follows : Total value of domestic animals, $2,192,560. 
 Cattle, 18,860 ; value $492,394. Horses, 13,206 ; value $1,231,697. Mules, 
 2,407; value $233,479. Asses, 113; value $15.706. Swine, 21,393; 
 value $147,991. Sheep, 17,191; value $71,172. Goats, 51; value $121. 
 
 502
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 503 
 
 Two-thirds of all the farms in the county are free from mortgage. The 
 corn crop reported in 1910 was 24 bushels per acre; oats, 31 bushels 
 per acre ; wheat, 21 bushels per acre ; potatoes, 81 bushels per acre ; hay 
 and forage of all kinds, less than one ton per acre. 
 
 OLD SALEM, THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 Salem, the county seat, is a very old town. It was settled in 1623. 
 It is situated a mile south and west of the center of the county. It is on 
 the old trail from. St. Louis to Vincennes and at the crossing of that 
 trail and the old Kaskasia and Detroit trail. The St. Louis and 
 Vincennes trail was made a mail route in 1805. Governor Reynolds tells 
 in his "History of My Own Times" of transporting some money from 
 Vincennes to St. Louis in 1815. He said he was acting for Paymaster 
 Hempstead of Vincennes, and took the money to Paymaster Major 
 Douglass in St. Louis. There were $15,000. Governor Reynolds says 
 he had two trusty Frenchmen as guards. He says: "There was no 
 settlement at that day between Vincennes and the Kaskaskia river." 
 He passed by the site of Salem, on through Carlyle and to St. Louis. 
 
 The growth of Salem must have been slow, as in 1837 it is reported 
 to have had only about thirty families. Walnut Hill, six miles south- 
 east of Centralia, is an old settled neighborhood, and in the early days 
 was probably a larger place than Salem, though most of the settlers 
 were farmers. 
 
 "STATE POLICY" ABANDONED 
 
 In the general assembly which met in the winter of 1848-9 a policy 
 was inaugurated known as the "State Policy," which looked to the 
 building up of cities within our own state. There were applications 
 for charters for railroads from the Indiana line to a point opposite 
 St. Louis. These roads would, of course, benefit the territory through 
 which they would run but would tend to build up St. Louis at the 
 expense of Alton and other Illinois towns. The charters were refused 
 and all Southern Illinois was up in arms in protest against this "State 
 Policy. ' ' To express the general dissatisfaction of the people in the south 
 end of the state a monster meeting was planned to be held in Salem in 
 June, 1849. To this meeting 1,000 delegates came and as many as four 
 or five thousand other interested citizens. Governor Zadoc Casey pre- 
 sided and the principal address was made by William Smith Waite of 
 Bond county. (Mr. Waite was the one who suggested the Illinois 
 Central railroad, originally.) The meeting at Salem denounced the 
 "State Policy" as being detrimental to the development of Southern 
 Illinois. This meeting at Salem was so far reaching in its influence that 
 the opposition felt the need of counteracting it and so called a meeting at 
 Hillsboro, which was attended by as many as 10,000 people. The "State 
 Policy" was eventually abandoned. 
 
 FATHER OF WILLIAM J. BKYAN 
 
 In the year 1851 there came to Salem a young lawyer, recently a 
 graduate from McKendree, by the name of Silas Lillard Bryan. He 
 was a Democrat, with office-holding proclivities. In 1852 he was elected
 
 504 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 to the general assembly and later to a circuit judgeship. He was an 
 influential man in the councils of his party and a valuable citizen. On 
 March 19, 1860, there was born to Judge and Mrs. Bryan a son, 
 William, whom the world knows too well to need any words from the 
 writer. The old Bryan homestead still stands in Salem and the desk 
 is still pointed out at which William sat as he conned his lessons and 
 dreamed dreams of future greatness and usefulness. 
 
 GEN. JAMES S. MARTIN 
 
 No sketch of Salem would be complete if it omitted to mention 
 another distinguished patriot and citizen. This was Gen. James S. 
 Martin, who with his parents came to Marion county in 1846. He served 
 
 THE CHILDHOOD HOME OF HON. WILLIAM J. BRYAN, SALEM, MARION 
 
 COUNTY 
 
 in the Mexican war and afterwards held civil positions. He was colonel 
 of the lllth, and was breveted brigadier general at the close of the war. 
 He was for a while United States pension agent and later a member of 
 congress from his district. He was department commander of the Illinois 
 G. A. R. for 1889-90. He recently died at his home in Salem. 
 
 No less distinguished a soldier and citizen was Maj. Gen. Wesley 
 Merritt, whose father was prominent as a journalist in the 50 's and 60 'a. 
 Gen. Merritt graduated from West Point in 1860. He rose to the rank 
 of major general. He was in command of the troops that occupied the 
 Philippines and acted as military governor for a time. 
 
 THE PRESENT SALEM AND CENTRALIA 
 
 The city of Salem is indeed a beautiful city. Years ago. when other 
 towns were asleep and their patrons from the rural districts were 
 dragging through their muddy streets, Salem was paving her streets. 
 It has two main lines of railroad, the M. & 0. Southwestern and the
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 505 
 
 C. & E. I. In addition there is the Illinois Southern, which connects 
 Chester and St. Elmo. The city has beautiful churches, handsome 
 residences, and prosperous business concerns. It has an abundance of 
 shade, which makes the city a delight in summer. 
 
 Centralia, the largest city in Marion county, has a population of 
 9,680 people, 329 of whom live across the line in Clinton county. This 
 city came into being as the result of the building of the Illinois Central 
 railroad. There were two rival sites for the location of the future city. 
 The railroad first planned to put its shops, etc., near Crooked Creek, the 
 present site of Central City, but because the land speculators were too 
 greedy, it is said the company moved south to the present Centralia. 
 This was in 1853. During this year Centralia was laid off by Jones, 
 Gregory & Hickney. Lots were bought and interest was so keen that 
 additions to the original plat were made. Thomas Green built the first 
 house in Centralia. It was a log house and was a sort of hotel or board- 
 ing house to accommodate the men who were working on the railroad. 
 
 In recent years several railroads have centered in Centralia and her 
 transportation facilities are unsurpassed in Southern Illinois. Among 
 these roads are the Illinois Central, Illinois Southern, Louisville, Evans- 
 ville & St. Louis, and Jacksonville, Litchfield & St. Louis. 
 
 Centralia has a number of shops, factories, mines, etc., where the 
 laboring people can secure work at all times. Probably the greatest 
 source of wealth to the community is to be found in the coal mines. 
 There were seven mines reported in 1911 for the county. Four of these 
 are in Centralia, one at Odin, two at Sandoval. These seven mines put 
 out 1,134,377 tons in 1910. 
 
 There are also several small but prosperous towns in this county, 
 among which are Kinmundy, Odin, Vernon, Patoka, Sandoval, luka, 
 and several country stores and postoffices combined. 
 
 LATE DISCOVERY OF OIL 
 
 The latest matters of interest in this county is the discovery of oil. 
 A recent report says: "The Sandoval field of Marion county in 1911 
 was clearly defined and found limited to about three-fourths of a square 
 mile. There are 66 producing wells that have a daily yield of 1,800 
 barrels. ' '
 
 CHAPTER LVII 
 MASSAC COUNTY 
 
 OLD FORT MASSAC METROPOLIS LAID OFF BROOKPORT (FORMERLY 
 BROOKLYN) JOPPA-^DRAINAGE AND AGRICULTURE THE OLD FORT 
 TO BE PRESERVED. 
 
 This is an Ohio river county, lying along that stream from the point 
 or bend where the river starts definitely westward toward the Mississippi. 
 It was created in 1843, March 3. The territory was taken from Pope 
 and from Johnson. It is one of the smaller counties, having an area 
 of only 240 square miles, and a population of 14,200 souls. 
 
 OLD FORT MASSAC 
 
 The first white people in this county were of course the soldiers that 
 were stationed at old Fort Massac. The story of the founding of the 
 fort is veiled in obscurity. It seems to have been there or was located 
 there during the French and Indian war, which lasted from 1754 to 1763. 
 One date for the fort's origin is 1759. "When the retreating French 
 who had been driven from Fort Duquesne arrived at this point they 
 halted, and if the old fort was there they occupied it, and if there 
 was none they may have built one. At least in a description of the 
 forts surrendered to the British by the French in 1763, one clause is 
 as follows: "Thirteen leagues from the Mississippi, on the left bank 
 (right bank) of the Ohio, is Fort Massac, or Assumption, built in 1757 
 or 1758, a little below the mouth of the Cherokee." In 1766 Captain 
 Harry Gordon, chief engineer in the western department, visited the 
 old fort and says: "Halted at Fort Massac, formerly a French post." 
 
 In 1778 Gen. George Rogers Clark arrived at Fort Massac, where 
 he left his boats and began his journey overland to Kaskaskia. There 
 was probably no one about the fort at that time, and it is odd that 
 Clark says nothing about the fort that would give one any picture as 
 to its physical aspect. 
 
 In 1804 Aaron Burr visited Fort Massac. It was June and he spent 
 four days with Gen. Wilkinson, who was there at that time, though 
 Captain Daniel Bissell was the officer in command. He had in his charge 
 forty United States troops. 
 
 METROPOLIS LAID OFF 
 
 There were, evidently, many settlers within the present limits of the 
 county prior to its separation from Pope and Johnson, but the town of 
 
 506
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 507 
 
 Metropolis was not laid off till 1839. The proprietors of the new town 
 seem to have been J. H. G. Wilcox and William McBaen. The streets 
 are parallel to the river, cut by others at right angles. The river at 
 this point runs north of west, so that the town is not "square with the 
 world." Near to Metropolis, in fact joining it, is the town of Massae 
 City, which was settled probably before Metropolis was laid off. This 
 town is just above the city and in it are the mills and factories which 
 have given Metropolis its importance. Thousands of logs are brought 
 down the Ohio, the Tennessee and the Cumberland for the great mills 
 at Metropolis, Mound City and Cairo. Among these lumber industries 
 are the large saw mills proper, spoke factories, box factories and fruit 
 package concerns. One feature in connection with nearly all these 
 industries that work in wood is the drying kilns. The logs are drawn 
 
 THE SITE OF OLD FORT MASSAC, METROPOLIS, MASSAC COUNTY 
 
 from the river water soaked, but in a few days the products are dry 
 as tinder. There are other forms of industry about the city which add 
 much to the business aspects of the place. 
 
 Many years ago a rock or gravel road was constructed leading north- 
 west from the city some six or more miles. This was originally a toll 
 road. It reaches a very prosperous part of the farming community 
 midway between the river and the ponds and swamps which cover all the 
 northwest corner of the county. "Without doubt this macadam road 
 occupies almost exactly the route taken by Gen. Clark on his way to 
 Kaskaskia. 
 
 BROOKPORT (FORMERLY BROOKLYN) 
 
 Brookport (formerly called Brooklyn) is situated a little more than 
 half way between Metropolis and Paducah. It is the terminus of the 
 Cairo Short Line Railroad, now the Paducah division of the Illinois 
 Central. It has grown very rapidly within recent years. Just now its
 
 508 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 chief interests are the transfer of millions of railroad ties annually 
 from the river to the railroad for the tie preserving plant at Carbondale 
 and Marion. The town formerly sustained a hard name, but in recent 
 years the schools, churches, newspapers, banks and other interests have 
 predominated. Its population numbers 1,443. 
 
 JOPPA 
 
 Joppa is a little town of 734 people that nestles along the bank of the 
 Ohio some six or seven miles below Metropolis. It is an important 
 shipping point for a large area of country just back of the village for 
 four or five miles. Every now and then rumor has it that some trunk 
 line railroad from Chicago or the northwest is tapping the Franklin, 
 Saline and Williamson county coal fields and is seeking a place to cross 
 the Ohio to reach the gulf coast. These rumors always connect Joppa 
 or Metropolis with the bridge across the Ohio and the real estate men 
 push the price of lots one notch higher. 
 
 At present the county is tapped by the Paducah division of the 
 Illinois Central, and a branch of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, which 
 leaves the Chicago and Thebes line at Joppa Junction in the south- 
 western corner of Johnson county and runs to Joppa. 
 
 DRAINAGE AND AGRICULTURE 
 
 Thousands of acres of very rich land which lie in the northwest 
 corner of the county are covered with cypress swamps. Under the 
 drainage laws of the state plans are now in process of completion 
 whereby this land will be drained. The contract is let for the sum of 
 $64,000, for which amount the swamps are to be drained. This, when 
 accomplished, will add very greatly to the sum total of the wealth of 
 the county and lighten the burden which other property is bearing. 
 
 The lands in this county are valued at $29.67, an increase since 1900 
 of $12.83 per acre. The distribution of values on farm property is: 
 Lands, 65.8% ; buildings, 17.7% ; implements and machinery, 3.1% ; 
 domestic animals, etc., 13.5%t 
 
 The corn crop reported for 1910 was slightly less than 30 bushels 
 per acre ; oats, 22 bushels ; wheat, 14 bushels ; barley, 12 bushels ; potatoes, 
 82 bushels per acre. Hay and forage, one ton per acre. 
 
 THE OLD FORT TO BE PRESERVED 
 
 Through the efforts of the Daughters of the American Revolution, 
 supplemented by the State Historical Society, "Old Fort Massac" is 
 to be preserved. The Ohio river is encroaching upon the grounds, which 
 were originally included in the fort. An appropriation was secured from 
 the general assembly some five or six years ago with which a monument 
 was built, the grounds fenced, and a keeper's house built. Another 
 appropriation was made to construct a pavilion for public meetings and 
 serve as a sort of historical museum. The fort stood on a high bluff 
 which commands a view of the river ten or twelve miles both above 
 and below. It is a beautiful natural site and is certainly full of 
 patriotic interest.
 
 CHAPTER LVIII 
 MONROE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS JEFFERSON'S ESTIMATE OF JAMES LEMEN 
 OLD LEMEN FORT (SECOND BRICK HOUSE IN ILLINOIS) THOMAS 
 FORD AND DANIEL P. COOK FIRST COUNTY COURT SCHOOLS AND 
 SLAVES OLD FRENCH LAND GRANT ELDER PETER ROGERS. 
 
 Monroe county is truly historic ground. It probably more than any 
 other spot west of the Alleghanies, is the exact place where purely 
 American life had its beginning. It was created by the territorial 
 legislature January 6, 1816. Its present boundary is almost exactly 
 what it was in the beginning. It lies south and west of St. Clair and 
 north and west of Randolph. 
 
 The French, who occupied this region from the beginning of 1700 
 to the conquest by the English in 1763, were of course scattered from 
 Chester to East St. Louis, but it has been pointed out that in the year 
 1800, of the 800 Americans in the 'Illinois country, not over 100 resided 
 in what is now Randolph county and less than thirty in what is now 
 St. Clair county the rest, 650 or more, resided in what is now Monroe 
 county. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN SETTLERS 
 
 The first American settlers came in 1782. Among them were James 
 Moore, Shadrach Bond, Robert Kidd, Larkin Rutherford and James 
 Garretson and their families. These settlers came to Kaskaskia and 
 probably wintered there in 1781-2. After considerable explorations they 
 settled on the trail known as the hill trail from Kaskaskia to Cahokia 
 at a spring which the French named Bellfontaine. This was ' ' contiguous 
 to the county seat and near the residence of John Milton Moore." 
 New Design, another settlement was four miles south of Waterloo. 
 Whiteside Station (fort) was five miles north of Waterloo. These 
 settlers were reinforced in 1785 by several families from Virginia. 
 Among the noted new comers were Capt. Nathaniel Hull and William 
 Biggs. Biggs was the first sheriff of St. Clair county. By 1786 the 
 American settlers were coming in large numbers. 
 
 Piggott's fort was built just under the bluff due west of the present 
 village of Columbia. Piggott was an old Revolutionary soldier. In 1790 
 seventeen families, numbering forty-six individuals, were at Piggott's 
 fort. 
 
 JEFFERSON 's ESTIMATE OF JAMES LEMEN 
 
 New Design was settled by the Rev. James Lemen, Sr., who was 
 a prominent citizen of Illinois. He was a Virginian and a warm friend 
 
 509
 
 510 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 of Thomas Jefferson, who would consult him even upon matters of 
 state. This is what Jefferson wrote to the Rev. James Lemen 's brother : 
 "If your brother, James Lemen, should visit Virginia soon, as I learn 
 he possibly may, do not let him return until he makes me a visit. 
 I will also write him to be sure and see me. Among all my friends 
 who are near he is still a little nearer. I discovered his worth when 
 he was but a child and I freely confess that in some of my most im- 
 portant achievements his example, wish and advice, though then but 
 a young man, largely influenced my action. This was particularly 
 true as to whatever share I may have had in the transfer of our great 
 Northwestern Territory to the United States, and especially for the 
 fact that I was so well satisfied with the anti-slavery clause inserted 
 in the ordinance of 1787. Before anyone had ever mentioned the mat- 
 ter, James Lemen, by reason of his devotion to anti-slavery principles, 
 suggested to me that we (Vireinia) make the transfer and that slavery 
 be excluded, and it so impressed and influenced me that whatever is due 
 me as credit for my share in the matter is largely, if not wholly, due 
 to James Lemen 's advice and most righteous counsel. His record in 
 the new country has fully justified my course in inducing him to settle 
 there with the view of properly shaping events in the best interests of 
 the people. If he comes to Virginia, see that he calls on me. ' ' 
 
 OLD LEMEN FORT (SECOND BRICK HOUSE IN ILLINOIS) 
 
 Mr. Lemen built the second brick house in Illinois. It was called the 
 "Old Lemen Fort." It still stands. Mr. Lemen was baptized in 1794 
 and helped to organize the first Baptist church northwest of the Ohio. 
 It is claimed that Mr. Lemen drafted the amendment which pushed the 
 line of Illinois from the south end of Lake Michigan to the 42 30' north. 
 He died in 1823. A monument dedicated by William J. Bryan marks 
 his grave. 
 
 THOMAS FORD AND DANIEL P. COOK 
 
 Thomas Ford and his half-brother and their mother came in 1804. 
 Ford was later governor of Illinois. He was a carpenter. He and 
 Daniel P. Cook laid out Waterloo and kept a small store there. From 
 1786 to 1795 Indian depredations were frequent. James Smith, a Baptist 
 preacher, was captured and taken to the Wabash and afterwards ran- 
 somed by the people of New Design for $170. The massacre of the 
 Robert McMahon family was a horrid affair. It occurred northeast of 
 New Design two or three miles, in January, 1795. 
 
 The first mill for grinding grain was built by Jacob Judy east of 
 Whiteside's Station in 1794. Other mills were built soon after. 
 
 A cyclone which swept everything in its path crossed the Mississippi 
 river about where Merrimac is and swept a path three-quarters of a mile 
 wide, carrying death and destruction from the river to the bluffs. This 
 was on June 5, 1805. 
 
 FIRST COUNTY COURT 
 
 The county court was first held in the house of John McClure in 
 Harrisonville, which was on the river due west of New Design. It later
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 511 
 
 met in the house of Thomas 'Conner. Later a grant of eighteen acres 
 was made by McKnight and Brady and the county seat fixed at Carthage, 
 which name was later changed to Harrisonville. In 1825 the county seat 
 was moved to Waterloo. A brick court house was occupied in 1832. 
 
 During the sitting of the county court in 1834 five veterans of the 
 Revolutionary war presented themselves to be identified so they might 
 draw pensions. They were : Ebenezer Brown, aged 81, of the Virginia 
 Continentals; Andrew Hilton, aged 77, of the Maryland Continentals; 
 Michael Miller, of the Virginia Continentals; James McRoberts, of the 
 Pennsylvania Continentals ; Joseph Wright, of the Virginia Continentals. 
 These men drew pensions till their deaths. 
 
 SCHOOLS AND SLAVES 
 
 Early school teaching in Monroe county was similar to that in other 
 parts of the state. The only difference was the schools opened in 
 Monroe a decade or so earlier than in other portions of the country. 
 Among the early teachers were John Seely, Francis Clark, Halfpenny, 
 John Clark, Edward Humphrey, Mrs. Ford, mother of Governor Ford. 
 The first high school in the county was established in Waterloo in 1870, 
 but it was not fully organized till 1879, when Prof. P. P. Peltier put the 
 school on its feet. St. Joseph's academy was organized by the Sisters of 
 St. Joseph in 1866. The school is still maintained. The Rogers seminary 
 was started about 1869 and was continued for several years. 
 
 Slaves were brought to Monroe county by the French early in the 
 eighteenth century. Slaves were never plentiful in Monroe, the senti- 
 ment being against slavery. In 1817 there were only thirteen slaves in 
 the county. In 1824 Monroe voted against slavery, the vote standing 141 
 for and 186 against. Only two men have been hanged, legally, in 
 Monroe, but on one occasion some outlaws were jailed and a mob broke 
 down the jail door and hanged five of them. On another occasion a group 
 of bandits were hanged. These four examples have been sufficient to 
 secure order and safety in the county. 
 
 OLD FRENCH LAND GRANTS 
 
 It remains to speak of the old French grants found on the old maps. 
 These are in the American Bottom and lie in strips at right angles to 
 the river. The most noted is the grant to Philip Renault, which lies in 
 the southern part of the county. It is three miles wide and six miles 
 long. It is still claimed by the heirs of Philip Renault. 
 
 ELDER PETER ROGERS 
 
 Elder Peter Rogers was one of the pioneers of this vicinity. He, like 
 his long line of ancestors, was strong in his religious convictions, and 
 for sixty years preached the gospel, and always without pay. 
 
 Elder Rogers was a son of James Rogers, fifth in descent from James 
 Rogers, who came to America in 1635, taking up his residence in New- 
 port, R. I., and later at New London, Conn. He in turn was a descendant 
 of John Rogers the Martyr, prebendary of St. Paul's, London, England, 
 being the first Protestant martyr in the reign of ' ' Bloody Mary ; ' ' burned 
 at Smithfield, February 4, 1555. John Rogers the martyr was a descend-
 
 512 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ant of Roger I, count of Sicily and Calabria, and the founder of the 
 Roman dynasty in those countries, and who was born in France in 1031. 
 The Roger families went with William the Conqueror to England. 
 
 On the mother's side he is descended from Catharine de Courtenay, 
 whose lineage can be traced in an unbroken line to Alfred the Great. 
 
 Elder Peter Rogers was born in New London, Conn., July 1, 1755; 
 died Nov. 5, 1849, in Waterloo, 111. He was married to Nancy Green 
 July 6, 1782. His second marriage was to Abi Darrow, March 15, 1789. 
 She saved an American army from capture in the Revolution by timely 
 warning. He was married a third time to Martha Pellam, Sept. 10, 1830, 
 in Waterloo. 
 
 The subject of our sketch was a Revolutionary soldier, Fourth regi- 
 ment, Connecticut line. He was fife major, enlisting Nov. 26, 1776, and 
 discharged Dec. 31, 1779. He went into camp in Peekskill in the spring 
 of 1777, and in September was ordered to Washington's army in Penn- 
 sylvania, and was with him at Valley Forge. He was engaged in the 
 battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777, on left flank of the army. Assigned 
 later to Varnum's brigade. Was at defense of Fort Mifflin on the 
 Delaware; engaged at battle of Monmouth. He was attached to the 
 corps denominated "Washington's Life Guard," and was his chaplain. 
 
 In 1780, as privateersman, captain of the ship "Trumbull, " Elder 
 Rogers took a sloop as prize. The Christian example of his first wife 
 turned his thoughts to religious subjects. He was baptized and ordained 
 in 1790. While he was engaged in business a number of years in 
 Connecticut and Massachusetts and New Hampshire, he preached regu- 
 larly, and always without pay. His farewell sermon was preached in 
 the Baptist church in Waterloo in his 90th year. He died Nov. 5, 1849, 
 and his remains lie buried in the cemetery at Waterloo, marked by a 
 simple slab, reciting his military life. 
 
 Elder Rogers was one of the first to clear the forests in this vicinity, 
 and did much to improve and to develop it. His sons were prominent in 
 their spheres. Peter, a merchant, miller, sawyer, farmer ; John, a 
 physician, practicing from Cahokia to the Kaskaskia river ; Lemuel, a 
 teacher; Austin, a presiding elder in the southern Methodist conference, 
 and the only one of the Rogers family not a Baptist. As an orator he 
 was specially gifted. As a minister of the gospel his Bible interpreta- 
 tions were clear and logical and commanded respect. 
 
 COL. WILLIAM R. MORKISON 
 
 While Monroe county had many noted men in early times, she had 
 in recent years at least one very worthy citizen, namely : the Hon. Wil- 
 liam R. Morrison, who as lawyer, soldier, civil officer, and citizen lived 
 a long and useful life. Born in this county on September 14, 1825, died 
 in Waterloo some three years ago. 
 
 After his death it was found he had willed his beautiful home to the 
 city of Waterloo to be used as a public library.
 
 CHAPTER LIX 
 PERRY COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS PINCKNEYVILLE SELECTED AS COUNTY 
 SEAT FIRST CIRCUIT COURT DuQuoiN AND TAMAROA 
 
 Perry county was made from Randolph and Jackson on January 29, 
 1827. The county is almost rectangular and contains 451 square miles, 
 with a population of 22,088. It is an agricultural and mining county. 
 It has 21 coal mines and an output of 1,446,077 tons. It is comparatively 
 
 THE RESIDENCE OF THE LATE WILLIAM R. MORRISON, WATERLOO, MONROE 
 COUNTY, NOW THE HOME OP THE CITY LIBRARY 
 
 level, sloping southward. It has no streams of any size. Beaucoup creek 
 is the largest stream. It flows south through the county, near the center. 
 
 PIONEER SETTLERS AND INCIDENTS 
 
 The first settler was John Flack, who settled on Four Mile Prairie 
 in 1799. About the same time a settler by the name of Cox came, but 
 did not remain long. Four Mile Prairie is south and a little west of 
 Pinckneyville some four or five miles. B. A. Brown and family soon 
 came to be neighbors of Flack. The next settlers were the Hutchings, 
 
 Vol. 133 
 
 513
 
 514 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 John and William, who settled some eight miles north of Pinckneyville. 
 There were eighteen people in the two families, including three or four 
 slaves. It is said the Hutchings people gathered wild honey and hunted 
 deer, and traded beeswax, honey and deer skins in Kaskaskia and St. 
 Louis for things to live upon. John Huggins settled at Cutler in 1802, 
 and Jarrold Jackson near DuQuoin about 1803. Jackson built a sort 
 of bridge across Little Muddy and kept a sort of toll gate and made 
 money. Hiram Root and Ephraim Skinner came to this locality about 
 1816. 
 
 By 1826 there were many families scattered in groups about over the 
 county and steps were taken to get it cut off into a county, which was 
 done in 1827. These early comers were from all sections of the older 
 states. They all entered heartily into the hardships of pioneer life, 
 making their own furniture, tanning their leather, constructing their 
 harness, spinning and weaving their own clothing, etc. House raisings, 
 log rollings, and corn huskings were common. The pastimes were jump- 
 ing, wrestling, and running foot races. The shooting match was an 
 interesting procedure. It was on this wise. A lady would raise a 
 dozen turkeys. A day would be appointed and the marksmen would 
 bring their guns. Ten men would put up 10 cents each for one shot 
 each in a contest for the turkey. The best marksman would get the 
 turkey. The rifles were long, very heavy, and of small bore. Many of 
 these pioneers could shoot the eye of a squirrel in the top of the tallest 
 trees. Shot guns were seldom seen. These conditions prevailed through- 
 out all Southern Illinois. 
 
 PINCKNEYVILLE SELECTED AS COUNTY SEAT 
 
 "When Perry county was created the county commissioners were 
 Edwin Humphreys, Samuel Crawford, of Randolph, and Singleton Kim- 
 mel of Jackson cotmty. They were to meet in the house of Amos 
 Anderson to make selection of a permanent seat of justice for the county. 
 When it should be selected the act provided it should be called Pinckney- 
 ville. The commissioners met in Mr. Amos Anderson's house, which was 
 situated on Panther creek, three and a half miles east of Pinckneyville, 
 on what is now the DuQuoin and Pinckneyville wagon road. The com- 
 missioners selected the present site of Pinckneyville as the county seat. 
 The town was laid off and lots placed on sale with a minimum price of 
 $5.00. They were auctioned off and twenty-four lots brought $1,223.28, 
 an average of $50.97 per lot. 
 
 The first bridge built by the county commissioners was erected across 
 Beaucoup creek just east of Pinckneyville. It was sixteen feet wide and 
 built of the strongest timbers, some of them being 12 by 15 inches. 
 At the time the lots in Pinckneyville were sold, a contract was let to 
 build a court house. It was "to be built of hewn logs which are to face 
 from ten to twelve inches in the middle ; and to be eighteen by twenty- 
 two feet in length. The lower floor of said court house to be laid with 
 good puncheons with good hewn joists, but no floor above, etc." The 
 contract price was $54. This log house was weatherboarded in 1829 
 with four-foot boards, neatly shaved. 
 
 The second court house was of brick, forty-three feet square, two 
 stories high, at a cost of $1,765 for the brick work and $840.87 for the 
 wood work, plaster, etc. This was built about 1837. A third court 
 house was built in 1850, and a fourth one was finished in 1878.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 515 
 
 FIRST CIRCUIT COURT 
 
 The first circuit court was held in the house of Amos Anderson on 
 Holt's Prairie, August 28, 1827. The Hon. Theophilus W. Smith, a 
 justice of the supreme court, presided. David J. Baker was appointed 
 prosecuting attorney. Among the able lawyers and judges who came 
 to the Perry county courts were Judge Thomas C. Brown of the supreme 
 court, Judge Walter B. Scates, Judge James Semple, Hon. William H. 
 Underwood, Judge Sidney Breese, Hon. Alexander M. Jenkins, Hon. 
 John K. Mulkey, Hon. William H. Green, and scores of others. 
 
 The first newspaper printed in Perry county was the Perry County 
 Times. It was first issued October 1, 1856. William McEwing was editor 
 and proprietor. 
 
 DuQuoiN AND TAMAROA 
 
 There are besides Pinckneyville, the county seat, DuQuoin and 
 Tamaroa, which are towns of some importance. Tamaroa is a town 
 situated on the Illinois Central, nine miles north of DuQuoin. It is a 
 very old settled region, the earliest settlers dating back to 1815. When 
 the Illinois Central went through in 1854 the town was located and 
 grew rapidly. It has a number of good business firms, good schools, 
 several small industries, and good churches. Its population is 910. 
 
 DuQuoin is a city of 5,454. It is a very prosperous city. Its mines 
 distribute large amounts of money in the monthly pay roll. It has large 
 flour mills, and the Eldorado branch of the Illinois Central brings a 
 very large amount of railroad business from the east in trading, passen- 
 ger traffic, freight, etc. There are ten coal mines in and about DuQuoin. 
 There are eleven other mines in the county. The vicinity about DuQuoin 
 was settled as early as 1816 by Hiram Root and Ephraim Skinner, two 
 names that have come down to the present day. Old DuQuoin was 
 originally laid out about 1844. The old town was about three miles 
 southeast of the present DuQuoin. It had a good start, with dwellings, 
 stores, shops, churches and a seminary of learning. 
 
 In 1854, when the Illinois Central came and the new DuQuoin was 
 laid out and began to grow, the old town begun to decay. DuQuoin 
 is well supplied with churches and schools. The township high school 
 enrolls about 200 pupils and is tactfully managed to C. W. Houk, the 
 principal.
 
 CHAPTER LX 
 POPE COUNTY 
 
 SAKAHVILLE (GOLCONDA), THE COUNTY SEAT EDUCATIONAL, AND SOCIAL 
 NOTED PERSONAGES "GREAT MEDICINE WATER" STATISTICS 
 
 Pope county lies along the Ohio river just above Massac and just 
 below Hardin. It is a mountainous county and until within very recent 
 years had no railroad. It now has a branch of the Paducah division 
 of the Illinois Central from Reevesville to Golconda, a distance of some 
 thirteen miles. The principal town and county seat is Golconda, which 
 nestles at the foot of the Ozarks close to the banks of the Ohio. There 
 are no other towns, only villages. Golconda is at the mouth of Lusk's 
 creek and here there was a ferry as early as 1800. Here Governor 
 Reynolds crossed the Ohio in 1800 on his way from Tennessee to Cahokia. 
 
 SARAHVILLE (GOLCONDA), THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 Pope county was created January 10, 1816. U was made of the east 
 end of Johnson as it then existed. Since 1816 Pope county has been 
 reduced by taking territory to construct parts of Massac, Hardin, and 
 Johnson. The county seat was Sarahville, which name was afterwards 
 changed to Golconda. The first commissioners were : Robert Lacey, 
 Benoni Lee, Thomas Ferguson. 
 
 Goleonda was not a vigorous village and by 1836 had but three stores, 
 one grocery, two taverns, and about twenty dwelling houses. This 
 would give about 100 people in the village. At that time the court 
 house was brick, thirty-six feet square, two stories high, with a neat 
 cupola. In 1820 there were 2.610 people within the limits of the county. 
 The population grew at the rate of 100 a year till 1860. Since then the 
 growth has been greater. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL AND SOCIAL 
 
 Among the early teachers in the county was a Mr. Jennings, an 
 Englishman. He could make a good quill pen and could work in the 
 arithmetic to fractions. Miss Adetha Hillerman and Mr. Frank Modglin 
 are spoken of very kindly by the old settlers as superior teachers. They 
 both taught in the old days before the introduction of modern methods. 
 Credit is given Mr. Theodore Steyer for lifting the schools from their 
 crude condition to a higher plane. He never ceased to speak, and write, 
 and visit, and work in and out of season for the schools of the county. 
 
 The social life of the early settlers in this county was of the kind 
 common to the early pioneers. The homes, churches and public buildings 
 were of logs. Women did all such work as carding, spinning, weaving, 
 
 516
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 517 
 
 cutting and making. Most of the early comers were from the rural 
 districts of Tennessee, Kentucky and the Carolinas, and so were accus- 
 tomed to supply their wants from the crude materials about them. 
 Game was plentiful and the men were good marksmen and expert 
 hunters. Much of the table food was supplied from the forests in an 
 early day. Dr. Sim and Dr. J. V. Schuchardt practiced medicine in 
 this county for many years. Mills for grinding were early established. 
 In the first place there were many places where falls in streams furnished 
 the power, and then it was easy to bring wheels, machinery, etc., from 
 Pittsburg. There were overshot, undershot and turbine wheels in this 
 county. 
 
 The war between the Platheads and the Regulators, which occurred 
 
 BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF GOLCONDA, POPE COUNTY 
 
 in this and adjoining counties from 1830 to 1849, has been described 
 briefly in an earlier chapter and need not be given here. 
 
 NOTED PERSONAGES 
 
 A noted family of this county was the Raums. John Raum was 
 born in Pennsylvania in 1793 and came to Golconda in 1826. He served 
 in the War of 1812 and in the Blackhawk war. He held many political 
 positions. He died in 1869. His son, Gen. Green B. Raum, was a gallant 
 soldier in the Civil war. He was a staunch republican and has been 
 often honored by his party. He was commissioner of internal revenue 
 under President Hayes, and commissioner of pensions under Harrison. 
 He has written considerably books and magazine articles. His brother, 
 Major John M. Raum, also did valiant service in the War of the Rebellion. 
 
 The Hon. James A. Rose, who has but recently died, was secretary 
 of state for Illinois from 1897 to the spring of 19i2. He taught school 
 in Pope county, acted as county superintendent, state's attorney, and 
 held several appointments under the governors of Illinois. He was at 
 one time a prominent candidate for the nomination for governor. 
 
 There are three banks in Pope county two in Golconda and one in
 
 518 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Eddyville. Golconda is a town of 1,088 people. The other towns and 
 villages are Eddyville 143, Hamletsburg 215, Brownfield, Allen's Spring, 
 Delwood and Azatus. 
 
 "GKEAT MEDICINE WATER" 
 
 One thing about Pope county that must not be overlooked, and that 
 is the presence of numerous springs throughout the county, many of 
 them of great value medicinally. One of these springs is now a very 
 noted resort. It is said the Algonquin Indians used to resort thither 
 as they were waging relentless warfare against the Iroquois of this 
 section. They named the spring "Kitche Mus Ke Neebe," meaning 
 "Great Medicine Water." William Dixon bought the land from the 
 
 THE NASHVILLE AT THE WHARF AT GOLCONDA 
 
 state in 1848. Dixon 's old log cabin still stands, with two massive fire 
 places. The old log church still stands on an adjoining knoll. For 
 many years the springs attracted no particular attention but in recent 
 years they have come into possession of a corporation known as the 
 Dixon Springs Hotel company. Many improvements have been made 
 new buildings added, grounds enlarged, parks improved, concrete walks, 
 swings, amusement halls and all the legitimate accessories of a first class 
 summer resort have been provided. The scenery about these springs is 
 romantic and city people are delighted with the environs. The waters 
 are said to have wonderful curative properties. 
 
 STATISTICS 
 
 The population of Pope county is 11,215. In 1900 it was 13,585, a 
 loss of 2,370. Less than 60% of the lands are improved farm lands. 
 The distribution of values of farm property is as follows: Land, 59.6% ; 
 buildings, 17.7%; implements and machinery, 3.2%.; domestic animals, 
 19.5%. The value of land per acre is $14.72, a rise of $5.88 per acre in 
 ten years.
 
 CHAPTER LXI 
 PULASKI COUNTY 
 
 CALEDONIA, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT MOUND CITY OF THE EARLIER 
 TIMES GENERAL M. M. EAWLINGS PLANS FOR THE GREAT EMPORIUM 
 CITY UNION BLOCK, CIVIL WAR HOSPITAL THE PRESENT MOUND 
 CITY VILLAGES OF THE COUNTY. 
 
 Pulaski is also an Ohio river county. It lies between Alexander and 
 Massac. It is one of the smaller counties, having only 190 square miles. 
 It was formed by taking a part of Alexander and a part of Johnson. 
 This was done March 3, 1843. The commissioners were Henry Sowers, 
 
 ON THE FARM OF WM. E. G. BRITTON, MOUNDS, PULASKI COUNTY 
 
 Thomas Lackey, Jr., and Thomas Howard. They met in the home of 
 Thomas Forker and decided upon the location for the county seat. 
 
 CALEDONIA, THE OLD COUNTY SEAT 
 
 The town of Caledonia, some eight miles above the present Mound 
 City, was selected as the county seat. There was already a small town 
 there. In 1836 there were two or three stores and not more than a 
 dozen families. Here was built a court house and jail. The county 
 
 519
 
 520 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 seat remained here till the summer of 1861, when it was removed to 
 Mound City. 
 
 MOUND CITY OF THE EARLIER TIMES 
 
 This new county seat was first settled in 1812 but it probably grew 
 very slowly. The new county seat was located on land subject to 
 overflow and this of itself was quite a drawback. In the first year after 
 the Phillips family came to Mound City the massacre occurred and no 
 one else came for many years. In 1838 some houses were built and 
 from now on the town grew. A number of families came. They settled 
 near a big mound near the river bank. In 1838 one Coblitz built a store 
 
 FOUR RIVER STEAMERS ON THE MARINE WAYS AT MOUND CITY, 
 PULASKI COUNTY 
 
 in Mound City. It seems that at this time the place was a wood yard 
 for boats on the Ohio. Three roads led away from the new county seat. 
 One from Mound City to Caledonia, one to Unity upon the Cache, and 
 one to Jonesboro. About 1839 Mr. James Dougherty, father of A. J. 
 and J. L. Dougherty, came to Mound City. Mr. Dougherty ran the wood 
 yard and cultivated some land. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the deep water of the Ohio at Mound 
 City, the nature of the banks, and the fact that the river seldom froze 
 at that point, all contributed to give the place prominence among the 
 boat men of the Ohio and the lower Mississippi. 
 
 GENERAL M. M. RAWLINGS 
 
 Among the early men of prominence who came to Mound City was 
 Gen. M. M. Rawlings, who had been a man of affairs in Illinois for 
 several years. He came to Mound City about 1853. The next year 
 he had the town surveyed. The people who had previously gathered 
 at this point had all gone. There was one fairly good cabin left. This
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 521 
 
 served for shelter for the future arrivals till Gen. Rawlings built a 
 commodious frame in the latter part of 1854. Other houses were built 
 one by William Dougherty, another, a brick, by F. M. Rawlings in 1856. 
 General Rawlings was instrumental in building the short railroad 
 which connects Mound City with the Illinois Central at Mound Junction. 
 It was completed in the spring of 1856. 
 
 PLANS FOR THE GREAT EMPORIUM CITY. 
 
 In this year was completed a great scheme in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 
 the building of a great city on the lower Ohio. The company was known 
 as the "Emporium Real Estate and Manufacturing Company." This 
 company bought land adjoining the town Rawlings had laid off and there 
 
 THE BUILDING USED AS A HOSPITAL IN MOUND CITY, 
 
 To which were brought the wounded Soldiers from the Battlefield of Pittsburg 
 Landing and other Fields of Carnage. 
 
 laid off another city with large parks, squares, courts, etc. Public sales 
 were held and in all something like $400,000 was received for all lots 
 sold. Some lots sold for $113 per foot front. The company bought a 
 steamboat, and bought Gen. Rawlings' railroad. When the company got 
 hard up they sold the engine and used mules for motive power. The 
 crash finally came and Emporium City was incorporated with Mound 
 City in a charter in 1857. The company, before the crash, had built an 
 immense three-story brick building to be used as a foundry. Here ma- 
 chinery was installed and the heavy machinery for the marine ways was 
 cast here. It was used by the government in the Civil war for a naval 
 magazine. An explosion ruined parts of the building. 
 
 The marine ways was another enterprise of the Emporium Company. 
 The ways was built by a Mr. Robert Calvin. This great industry is the 
 repairing or building of boats. It can not be described here in detail. 
 Suffice to say a boat is run alongside the ways and with powerful ma- 
 chinery it is drawn sideways upon the ways and there propped up for 
 repairs. During the Civil war this was of immense value to the general
 
 522 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 government in remodeling and repairing the river fleet. The government 
 leased the ways and paid $40,000 a year rent, and employed the owner, 
 Capt. W. L. Hambleton, as superintendent. The three ironclad gun- 
 boats, the Cincinnati, the Cardondelet, and the Mound City were con- 
 structed on the marine ways. At times as many as 1,500 men were at 
 work on the ways. 
 
 UNION BLOCK, CIVIL WAR HOSPITAL. 
 
 A great block of buildings was built just before the war and known as 
 Union Block. It was three stories high. It was occupied as a hospital 
 
 THE NATIONAL CEMETERY NEAR MOUND CITY 
 
 during the Civil war and was perhaps the largest one in the west. It 
 received wounded and sick soldiers from all the battles in the vicinity of 
 Kentucky and west Tennessee. It is said that 2,200 wounded were 
 brought there after the battle of Shiloh. 
 
 Those who died in this hospital were buried above Mound City. 
 After the war their bodies were all removed to the site of the present 
 national cemetery, a mile west of the city. There are 5,555 soldiers 
 buried in this cemetery. The grounds are enclosed with a substantial 
 iron fence. The state has erected an appropriate monument, and the 
 government provides an attendant to care for the grounds.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 523 
 
 THE PRESENT MOUND CITY. 
 
 The Mound City of today is a steady, conservative business center. It 
 has large business firms and an extensive trade. In addition to the 
 branch connecting with the Illinois Central at Mounds, the county has 
 the Big Four, besides an electric line and the river facilities. 
 
 In 1858 the Ohio overflowed its banks and the town of Mound City, 
 as well as Cairo, was flooded. Another flood in 1862 put the people to 
 work to build levees. Only once since the levee was constructed has the 
 water gained entrance into the city. The recent flood, April, 1912, was 
 the highest in the history of the city, and yet the levees withstood the 
 surging flood. 
 
 VILLAGES OP THE COUNTY. 
 
 There are several thriving villages in Pulaski. Among them are New 
 Grand Chain, Olmsted, Pulaski, Ullin, Villa Ridge and Wetaug. New 
 Grand Chain is on the Big Four railroad in the extreme east end of the 
 county. It is in a good farming community. There are large areas of 
 swamp land to the north and east which will in a short time be drained 
 and then we may expect increased production of farm crops and conse- 
 quent increase in business. Olmsted is near the site of old Caledonia. It 
 is a village of 288 people. It is situated on the Big Four railroad. Villa 
 Ridge, Pulaski, Wetaug and Ullin are on the Illinois Central north of 
 Mounds. Their chief interests are farming and fruit raising. Grape 
 culture has prospered about Villa Ridge. 
 
 Mounds, which is on the Illinois Central seven miles north of Cairo 
 and at the junction of the Mound City branch, is a city of -1,686, whose 
 interests are almost wholly in railroading. Here are the railroad yards, 
 round houses, banana houses and railroad offices. It is connected with 
 Mound City and Cairo by electric line.
 
 CHAPTER LXII 
 RANDOLPH COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY AND STATE HISTORY PARALLEL KASKASKIA COURT HOUSE OP 
 1819 A SLAVE COUNTY POPULATION, 1825-1840 COUNTY SEAT 
 MOVED TO CHESTER DECLINE OF KASKASKIA ON THE RAMPARTS OF 
 OLD FORT GAGE. 
 
 This is the second oldest county in the state. In 1790, when St. Clair, 
 the first governor of the Northwest Territory, came to Kaskaskia, he 
 created St. Clair county by proclamation. It included everything west 
 of a line drawn from near the present site of Pekin on the Illinois river 
 to Port Massac and bounded by the Illinois, the Mississippi and the Ohio. 
 In 1795, October 5th, the governor ran an east and west line through 
 Cave spring just south of the New Design and called all south of the 
 line Randolph. 
 
 COUNTY AND STATE HISTORY PARALLEL 
 
 Randolph's civil government from 1795 to 1803 was in the hands 
 of a court of common pleas consisting of twelve justices of the peace. 
 From 1803 to 1809 the commissioners seem to have met in private houses, 
 though there was a jail as early as 1803. 
 
 In 1809 Illinois was set off from Indian Territory with Ninian 
 Edwards as governor and Nathaniel Pope as secretary. Pope, by procla- 
 mation, created the two counties heretofore existing, namely : Randolph 
 and St. Clair. Randolph is supposed to have had 7,000 in it in 1809. 
 After the proclamation of Pope, commissioners "Wm. Arundel, Philip 
 Fouke, and John Edgar were constituted. The court met in the home 
 of Thomas Cox, who kept a tavern in Kaskaskia. 
 
 The history of Randolph and St. Clair for many years after their 
 creations is in the main the history of the state. In 1812 we passed from 
 a territory of the first class to one of the second class. Randolph sent 
 Pierre Menard to the council of the legislature, and George Fisher to 
 the house. 
 
 In the War of 1812 Randolph was the seat of government and Gov- 
 ernor Edwards was there a large share of his time. Many of the troops 
 were furnished by Randolph. 
 
 In the constitutional convention, George Fisher and Elias Kent Kane 
 represented Randolph county. The seat of government was fixed at 
 Kaskaskia, which was also the county seat of Randolph county. 
 
 Although there were fifteen counties in the state in 1818 when the 
 constitution was made, yet the governor and lieutenant-governor were 
 both from Randolph. Shadrach Bond lived at ' ' Elvirade, ' ' a farm near 
 
 524
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 525 
 
 Kaskaskia, and Menard lived at the foot of the bluff under old Fort 
 Gage just east of the river Kaskaskia. 
 
 KASKASKIA COURT HOUSE OP 1819 
 
 A court house was built at Kaskaskia in 1819. It was of brick and 
 two stories high. It cost $4,750 quite a sum for those days. There 
 seems to have been an "old" court house when the new one was built. 
 It was an old residence and was rented for an inn, with "grocery" 
 attached. 
 
 A SLAVE COUNTY 
 
 In the contest of 1823-4 over the question of the introduction of 
 slavery into the state, Randolph county voted for slavery for she already 
 
 MANSION OF PIERRE MENARD, JUST AT THE FOOT OF THE BLUFF, ON 
 WHICH STOOD OLD FORT GAGE, OPPOSITE KAS- 
 KASKIA, RANDOLPH COUNTY 
 
 had quite a number of old French slaves in her territory, 
 this county stood 357 for the convention to 284 against it. 
 
 POPULATION, 1825-1840 
 
 The vote in 
 
 The constitution of 1818 provided for the taking of the census every 
 five years beginning in the year 1820. In 1825 the census of Randolph 
 county was taken by Th. J. V. Owen and the report is interesting. The 
 population was for the county whites 3,481, slave negroes 240, free 
 negroes 91. Total 3,812. The manufacturing interests were reported as 
 follows : ' ' Eight distilleries, nine horse mills, three inclined grist mills, 
 one water grist mill, one 'ditto' saw mill, three cotton gins, one carding 
 machine, two house carpenters carrying on business, three shoe manu- 
 factories, two hat manufactories, five blacksmith shops, one bake shop, 
 two tailor shops, one saddle manufactory, and one spinning wheel 
 manufactory. ' '
 
 526 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 The census of 1830 is also interesting as it connects some of our 
 great names with ordinary "human affairs." 
 
 The population had grown to 4,448 persons. Slaves had increased to 
 99 and free negroes decreased to 102. Six hundred and sixty-one per- 
 sons were enrolled in the militia, and 911 persons were voters. Wm. 
 Morrison was running a copper steam distillery and water grist mill, 
 while Nathaniel Pope had a saw mill and a grist mill. Other prominent 
 men are named as owning or operating distilleries, saw mills, grist mills, 
 carding machines, oil presses, etc. 
 
 In 1840 the population was 7,944; 133 were slaves, 188 free negroes. 
 A study of the report of 1840 shows a very prosperous condition in the 
 county. Thousands of mules, hogs, horses, cattle, poultry, etc., are 
 enumerated. There were still 4 distilleries, making annually 5,300 
 gallons of whiskey. 
 
 VIEW OP THE MISSISSIPPI FROM THE WATER TOWER IN CHESTER, 
 RANDOLPH COUNTY 
 
 Gustavus Pape, still living in Chester, told the writer that he came 
 to Chester in 1832, and that at that time there was a bridge across the 
 Kaskaskia. One day the bridge fell and made a great crash. He said it 
 was never rebuilt. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT MOVED TO CHESTER 
 
 Randolph county took on its present limits in 1827 when Perry was 
 created out of Randolph and Jackson. It now has an area of 587 
 square miles, and a population of 29,120. In 1844 there was high water 
 and the whole city of Kaskaskia was inundated. People fled to the 
 bluffs at Fort Gage, scores taking shelter in the home of Pierre Menard. 
 Boats steamed in and out among the streets of Kaskaskia. 
 
 Following this the agitation began for the removal of the county 
 seat. This was strenuously opposed by the Kaskaskia Republican,
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 527 
 
 edited at that time by Parson Percy. After several elections and more 
 or less illegal voting, as charged at the time, the courts settled the matter 
 in favor of Chester. The county seat was eventually located in Chester, 
 in 1847, though some of the county officers did not remove their offices 
 till the spring of 1849. 
 
 The present site of the court house in Chester was selected by the 
 county board January 16, 1849. It is on a bluff some 250 or 300 feet 
 above the river, and commands a fine view of that stream as well as of 
 the country for miles beyond. 
 
 Probably no county can present the names of so many great Illinois- 
 ans as can Randolph. At the risk of offending some whose friends might 
 be named, we shall give only a few of very many : Governor Shadrach 
 Bond, Pierre Menard, Elias Kent Kane, Thomas Mather, Gabriel Jones, 
 Thomas Reynolds, Joseph Morrison, James Shields, Daniel P. Cook, 
 Jesse B. Thomas and David J. Baker. 
 
 DECLINE OF KASKASKIA 
 
 After the removal of the county seat to Chester the town of Kaskas- 
 kia ceased to grow. There were some people who followed the county 
 seat to Chester, but in the main the citizens remained in the old town. 
 From 1880 to 1890 the Mississippi river was cutting its way across the 
 narrow neck which separated the two rivers. In times of high water the 
 Mississippi would cut across the neck of land and flow down the Kas- 
 kaskia. It was easily seen that that would eventually be the route of 
 the river. And since the bluffs upon the east would prevent the widen- 
 ing of the Kaskaskia in that direction, the town of Kaskaskia, which 
 was situated on alluvial land must eventually be swallowed up in the 
 channel of the great stream. In the legislature of 1891 an appropria- 
 tion of $10,000 was made to remove the bodies from the old town ceme- 
 tery to the bluffs near Fort Gage. This was accomplished none too 
 soon, as the houses, stores, orchards and all improvements began to dis- 
 appear in the newly cut channel. The Catholic church which contained 
 the bell presented by the King of France, and also the records of the 
 Church of the Immaculate Conception, was moved to the interior of the 
 newly made island, where the third Kaskaskia was founded. 
 
 ON THE RAMPARTS OP OLD FORT GAGE 
 
 There are a few old ruins of the former center of French power in 
 the Louisiana province. As one stands on old Fort Gage and looks down 
 upon what is left of a once flourishing city it is with a tinge of sadness. 
 The very air about one is charged with the traditions of two centuries. 
 Yonder is the spot where General George Rogers Clark added an empire 
 of territory to the thirteen struggling colonies. There is where a few 
 embryo statesmen enacted the fundamental law for an imperial com- 
 monwealth, and there the scene of the brilliant and patriotic reception 
 given to the best friend Washington, America and Freedom ever had; 
 and just here at our right are the graves of those early founders of em- 
 pire in the west. If there is any place west of the Alleghanies where 
 one's sluggish patriotism may be stirred, where visions of the past may 
 float before one's imagination and where high resolves may assert them- 
 selves it is on the ramparts of old Fort Gage, Randolph county.
 
 CHAPTER LXIII 
 HIGHLAND COUNTY 
 
 CONDITIONS IN 1820 ELIJAH NELSON AND ROSWELL PARK CUSTOMS OF 
 EARLY SETTLERS THE HARD YEAR, 1881 FIRST INSTITUTIONS THE 
 CIVIL WAR OLNET. 
 
 Richland lies west of Lawrence, north of Edwards, east of Clay, and 
 south of Jasper. It has an area of 357 square miles, and a population 
 of 15,970 souls. It was one of the later counties, being organized Feb- 
 ruary 24, 1841. Its territory lay in Clay and Lawrence. 
 
 CONDITIONS IN 1820 
 
 In 1820 there were about twenty families in the territory included 
 within the present limits of the county. It is said two brothers by the 
 name of Evans came from Kentucky and found near the present site of 
 Olney an unoccupied wigwam in which the fire was still burning. They 
 occupied it. Hugh Calhoun, a relative of the South Carolina statesman 
 came about 1820 or earlier. Other names of early settlers are Thaddeus 
 Moorehouse, Thomas Gardner, James Parker, Cornelius De Long, James 
 Gilmore and two Germans Ginders and Schneider. 
 
 ELIJAH NELSON AND ROSWELL PARK 
 
 Elijah Nelson and Thaddeus Moorehouse built the first frame houses 
 about 1820, and shortly afterwards James Laws erected the first brick 
 house. Vincennes was their usual trading place, but a store was opened 
 at Stringtown in 1825. Stringtown was in the northeast corner of the 
 present county. The first school in the county was taught in Water- 
 town by Isaac Chauncy. In 1822 the Baptists erected a church on the 
 "trace" road. Lorenzo Dow is said to have delivered sermons in this 
 church house. This "trace" was the trail or road which ran from Vin- 
 cennes to St. Louis and is without doubt identical with the George 
 Rogers Clark trail of 1779. It was a mail route as early as 1805. Louis 
 and James Beard, his brother, carried the mail on this trail in 1820, and 
 in 1824 the firm of Mills and Whetsell put on two or three four-horse 
 stages. 
 
 Elijah Nelson practically located Olney in 1820 when he built his 
 frame house on the old trace road. There may have been other houses 
 near, but in 1841 when the county was created the city of Olney, which 
 is almost exactly in the geographical center, was laid out. It was laid 
 off on either side of the trace road, but the town has built more toward 
 
 528
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 529 
 
 the south as the B. & 0. railroad passed about a quarter of a mile south 
 of the trace. In the earlier years the town was called "the painted 
 town" because the New Englanders, of whom there were considerable 
 numbers, painted their houses, and this gave the town an attractive 
 appearance. It grew slowly, having only 300 inhabitants in 1855. 
 
 Mr. R. K. Park, of Parkersburg, has gathered considerable matter 
 pertaining to early Richland county, especially of the south side and 
 acknowledgments are due him for this information. Roswell Park 
 was a native of Connecticut. He came to Parkersburg in 1835, entered 
 land, and taught school for fifteen years. He was a mathematician and 
 a scientist. He was a tyrant in the school room. He walked with a cane 
 and crutch and these he used to good effect in ' ' preserving order. ' ' The 
 first school house near Parkersburg was erected prior to 1840. Some 
 
 A DWELLING BUILT OF CLAY AND STRAW MIXED, IN THE SOUTH OP RICH- 
 LAND COUNTY. BUILT IN AN EARLY DAY AND USED UNTIL RECENTLY 
 
 pupils came six miles to this school. The second house built in that 
 region was only 10 by 12 feet, of logs with the proverbial fireplace and 
 puncheon floor and seats. The pupils carried water from a neighboring 
 well, and all drank from the same mouth. The first high school organ- 
 ized was in Olney. 
 
 CUSTOMS OP EARLY SETTLERS 
 
 It was the custom of the early settlers to build their homes in the 
 edge of the woods where fuel and shelter were plentiful. The earlier 
 settlers were from the slave-holding states, while those that came from 
 1830 to 1850 were from the eastern states. Most of the foreigners are 
 Germans. These late comers had to take the lands that were left and 
 though usually the poorest lands, these thrifty people have outstripped 
 their neighbors on the better lands. 
 
 The early settlers were a sort of go-lucky lot and enjoyed life fully. 
 They participated in all the customs of pioneer life log rollings, corn 
 huskings, house raisings, dancings, infairs, charivaris, etc. A log 
 
 Vol. 134
 
 530 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 rolling was held in sight of Parkersburg to which 100 men came, and the 
 logs they piled and burned would, if sawed into lumber, have built a 
 young city. It has been estimated that the lumber burned in these logs 
 was worth $500 per acre in many instances. 
 
 THE HARD YEAR, 1881 
 
 The year 1881 was a hard year on the farmers of southern Richland. 
 The drouth was unusually prolonged and added to that there was a 
 severe scourge of the chinch bug family. Nothing was raised on many 
 farms. The chinch bug pest returned for the succeeding years and 
 many farmers who had mortgaged their farms were ruined sold out 
 under sheriff's sale, the land bringing from $5.00 to $10.00 per acre. 
 Northern people came in and bought up this land and organized small 
 farms into larger ones, enriched the land, introduced modern methods, 
 planted orchards and made money. The land went up in price, some 
 of it to $100 per acre. The old settlers that are left from the earlier 
 days are dazed and cannot understand it. "The Richland Farm" and 
 ' ' The Simpson Farm ' ' are illustrations of the above. 
 
 George Mason was an early cabinet maker, Henry Holleman was 
 a tanner, Joseph Bare was an old time blacksmith who burned his own 
 charcoal. George Eastman was a cooper and supplied barrels, churns, 
 buckets, etc. Two doctors came very early; one was Daniel Eckley, the 
 other David Burget. It is said they made their own medicines and many 
 people lived to old age in spite of their remedies. Dr. Eckley lived to 
 be 95 and Dr. Burget to be 83. Dr. Reed settled in what is now Lan- 
 caster Prairie about 1844. He also was a root doctor, carried the roots 
 and herbs with him. 
 
 FIRST INSTITUTIONS 
 
 The first mill in the county was a horse mill built on the edge of 
 Sugar Creek Prairie, eight miles south of Olney. It was built in 1824, 
 and was called the Wall mill. The next mill was built on the trace road 
 east of Olney. The next was one built by Barnabas Malone four miles 
 southeast of Olney. The first water mill was known as Spencer's Mill. 
 It was on Bon Pas southeast of Olney. The second water mill was ten 
 miles southwest of Olney and called the Sidler mill. A third built 
 where the trace crossed the Fox a mile west of Olney. Before these mills 
 were built the milling was done at Beddler mill, seven miles above 
 Mt. Carmel on the "Wabash. 
 
 The first church house in Richland was built by the Regular Bap- 
 tists. It was used also for school purposes. It was known as Antioch, 
 and stood five miles east of Olney. Wm. Martin of Kentucky was the 
 preacher there. Union church, twelve miles southwest of Olney, and 
 Shiloh, west of Olney, were Baptist churches. The ministers were Cham- 
 pion Marten, Richard Gardner, Benjamin Coats, Joel Hume, Richard M. 
 Newport, Jerry Holcomb, and Charles "Wheting. These were probably 
 of different denominations. 
 
 The first Methodist church was a log structure built in the northwest 
 part of the town of Olney. It was built in 1842. The first Catholic 
 church was erected on Grand Prairie near where John Achs now lives. 
 It is still used as a place of worship. Among the noted preachers who 
 were in this county were Lorenzo Dow and Peter Cartwright.
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 531 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 Richland county was loyal to the Union in '61 to '65. She furnished 
 her quota of men. Among the officers were General Eli Boyer, Colonel 
 John Lynch, Captain Charley Hollister, Captain J. R. Johnson, Major 
 A. Spring, Colonel John St. John. There is at least one Revolutionary 
 soldier buried in this county. His name was Wm. Richards. He is 
 buried at Richland Church, six miles north of Olney. 
 
 OLNEY 
 
 Olney is the only city in the county. It has a population of 5,011 
 and is one of the most up-to-date cities in Southern Illinois. Noble, Park- 
 ersburg, Amity, Calhoun, Claremont, Dundas, and Wakefield are towns 
 or villages.
 
 CHAPTER LXIV 
 ST. CLAIR COUNTY 
 
 GENERAL ST. CLAIR CREATES THE COUNTY COUNTY SEAT TRANSFERRED 
 FROM CAHOKIA TO BELLEVILLE EARLY SETTLEMENTS GERMAN IM- 
 MIGRATION JOHN REYNOLDS AND JOHN M. PECK CAHOKIA AND PRAI- 
 RIE DU PONT THE PRESENT COUNTY AND COUNTY SEAT CHARLES 
 DICKENS AND SON EAST ST. Louis. 
 
 There are many ways in which St. Clair stands at the head of the 
 list. First it was the first county organized within the present state of 
 Illinois. To be sure the legislature of Virginia created the county of 
 Illinois which should include all settlers north and west of the Ohio river. 
 This was in October, 1778. 
 
 GENERAL ST. CLAIR CREATES THE COUNTY 
 
 In March, 1790, when General St. Clair came to Kaskaskia he created 
 by proclamation the county of St. Clair. This county included all the 
 territory between a line drawn from where Pekin is to Old Fort Massac, 
 and the Illinois, Mississippi and the Ohio. Cahokia was made the capi- 
 tal of the county and a court house was constructed which still stands 
 in a park in Chicago. As told elsewhere, the territory included in St. 
 Clair was divided in 1795, October 5, the south half being called Ran- 
 dolph. The boundary lines of these two counties was changed several 
 times. By 1812 when Madison county was created, St. Clair was re- 
 duced almost to its present limits. It was later enlarged to include most 
 of Clinton and all of Washington. In 1825 it was reduced to its present 
 boundary. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT TRANSFERRED FROM CAHOKIA TO BELLEVILLE 
 
 The capital or county seat was first at Cahokia, but in 1813 it was 
 located in Belleville. The site at that time was a cornfield belonging 
 to George Blair. The court house was built by Etienne Personeau in 
 1814 and about the same time George Blair built a hotel, Joseph Kerr 
 opened a store and the town began to grow. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENTS 
 
 As early as 1805 there was a mail route established from the city of 
 St. Louis via Belleville (site) to Carlyle. There was a trail from St. 
 Louis to Equality and Shawneetown which passed through Belleville, 
 
 532
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 533 
 
 Elkhorn (in Washington county), Benton and Equality. Whiteside and 
 Ogle settled in the northeast corner of the county in 1802. Turkey Hill, 
 four miles southeast of Belleville, was settled in 1798 by Wm. Scott, 
 Samuel Shook, and Franklin Jarvis. This is said to be the oldest Ameri- 
 can settlement in the limits of the county. Ridge Prairie and Badgley 
 were early settled localities and were settled by the Ogles, Lemens, Badg- 
 leys, Kinneys, Whitesides, Pulliams and others including John H. Den- 
 nie, Mitchells, Wests, Stuarts and Bennetts. Alonzo C. Stuart and 
 Timothy Bennett fought a duel in 1819. Stuart was killed and Bennett 
 was charged with murder, found guilty, and executed. 
 
 GERMAN IMMIGRATION 
 
 Belleville is now composed quite largely of Germans. But the Ger- 
 mans were late comers. In 1825 there were only two Germans in Belle- 
 
 ST. GLAIR COUNTY 's FIRST COURT HOUSE, STILL STANDING IN A PARK IN 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 ville, Conrad Bornman and Jacob Mauer. In 1825 Governor Ninian 
 Edwards bought out Personeau and the site was resurveyed and lots 
 were sold and new settlers come from Virginia bringing their slaves. 
 
 Among the Germans that came to St. Clair county in the 30 's was 
 Gustavus Koerner. He became a very active public spirited citizen. He 
 was elected lieutenant governor with Governor Matteson in 1852. He 
 was identified with the Republican party and held many appointive of- 
 fices. He died in Belleville in 1896, at the age of 87 years. 
 
 JOHN REYNOLDS AND JOHN M. PECK 
 
 Governor John Reynolds lived in the earlier part of the nineteenth 
 century at Cahokia but later made his home in Belleville. He built a 
 railroad from the bluffs across the low lands to the present site of East 
 St. Louis in 1837 for the transportation of coal to the Mississippi river.
 
 534 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 This was the first road which was actually finished and used. The motive 
 power was horses. 
 
 Nothing in connection with the story of St. Louis county is so inter- 
 esting as the life work of John M. Peck, who lived at Rock Spring some 
 two miles west of the present city of Lebanon. Here he established Rock 
 Spring seminary which afterwards became Shurtleff college. This story 
 has been told in connection with the chapter on education. No less 
 interesting is the story and early struggles of McKendree college at 
 
 COLONEL GUSTAVUS KOEENER OF BELLEVILLE. HE WAS ONE OP ST. 
 GLAIR'S MOST HONORED CITIZENS 
 
 Lebanon. These two schools and Illinois college, Jacksonville, were the 
 first colleges west of the Alleghany mountains. 
 
 CAHOKIA AND PRAIRIE DU PONT 
 
 Cahokia was an Indian village at the time the Kaskaskia Indians 
 migrated from near Starved Rock to Old Kaskaskia just above Chester. 
 But without doubt the French soon made this Indian village into a mis- 
 sion station. At any rate the French government very early in the 
 nineteenth century made a grant of several thousands of acres to the 
 village as Commons and as Commonfield. These common lands reached
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 535 
 
 from the bluffs to the river. The city of East St. Louis occupies the 
 northwest corner of these grants. Nearly all of this land is now owned 
 by individuals and corporations, but there is yet a quantity that has never 
 been alienated by the village. The income from these village lands 
 sustains the schools and probably cares for the village interests. There 
 is little left of the once prosperous town. The old cemetery may still 
 be seen and the old church stands as a reminder of a forgotten age. 
 
 Prairie du Pont was a French village just south of and adjacent to 
 Cahokia. To this old village was also given a grant of commons and 
 common lands. The Prairie du Pont river or creek rises just a couple of 
 miles west of Belleville, flows west through the bluffs and makes its way 
 
 THIS WAS THE HOME OP DANIEL STOOKEY, A PEW MILES SOUTHWEST OF 
 BELLEVILLE. IT WAS BUILT IN 1808 AND STILL STANDS 
 
 * 
 
 across the alluvial plain occupying a new bed every few years. It was 
 on this stream where it flows into the river that the village grew up. 
 
 THE PRESENT COUNTY AND COUNTY SEAT 
 
 St. Clair county has a population of 119,870. It is dotted with vil- 
 lages and many of the farmers are engaged in truck gardening and 
 occupy small farms. The Germans who are numerous in the population, 
 are very thrifty indeed. It is an interesting sight to drive from East 
 St. Louis to Belleville early in the morning and meet hundreds of wag- 
 ons and carts going into the Twin Cities with their farm produce. The 
 old rock road has been completely worn out with travel and the paving 
 of the road from Belleville to East St. Louis is under way. It is a dis- 
 tance of fourteen or fifteen miles, and it is estimated that it will take 
 19,000,000 paving blocks to pave this highway. 
 
 Belleville, the county seat, is a substantial city of 21,122 people. 
 Its interests are mining and manufacturing and commercial. There are 
 a number of coal mines in the immediate vicinity of Bejleville. This
 
 536 
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 makes manufacturing inexpensive as far as the fuel question is con- 
 cerned. Several lines of manufacturing are carried on. As early as the 
 opening of the Civil war the old "Belleville Separator" for threshing 
 wheat was common in the wheat producing counties in southern and 
 central Illinois. Glass and bottle factories have flourished, foundries are 
 substantial and remunerative forms of industry. The large population 
 produces a demand for large and varied assortments of merchandise. 
 The schools have always had the reputation of being abreast of the 
 times, while religious and social life does not lag. 
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND SON 
 
 An interesting bit of history connected with St. Clair county is the 
 coming of Charles Dickens, the great English author, to see a real prairie. 
 In 1842 Charles Dickens visited America. He came into the west via 
 
 AN UNDERGROUND RAILROAD STATION IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY 
 
 Pittsburgh and the Ohio river. He lectured in St. Louis. While here 
 some literary friends to gratify a wish Dickens expressed to see a real 
 prairie, got up a jaunting party to visit Looking Glass Prairie. Fri- 
 day, April 15, 1842, a party of four teams, about fourteen people, 
 crossed the river and drove through what was eventually to be the 
 city of East St. Louis and seven or eight miles across the American 
 bottom and over the clay uplands to Belleville where they arrived about 
 noon. Court was in session and at dinner time the judge and the lawyers 
 and the guests from St. Louis mingled freely in the hotel, the old Man- 
 sion House on the northeast corner of Main and High streets. After 
 dinner the jaunting party proceeded to Lebanon where they arrived 
 about 4 o'clock. Prom here they passed over the road east from town 
 about a mile and stopped near an abandoned cabin. Here they ate their 
 lunch, and from this point they could get a fine view of Looking Glass 
 Prairie and also of Emerald Mound. They returned to Lebanon where
 
 HISTORY OP SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 537 
 
 they remained over night at the Mermaid tavern. The next day the 
 party returned to St. Louis by way of Monk's Mound, in the American 
 bottom. Only two St. Louis men are named of those who accompanied 
 Dickens on this jaunt John Anderson, a banker, and George Knapp, of 
 the St. Louis Republican. 
 
 Sixty-nine years after Charles Dickens made the above jaunt, his 
 son, Alfred Tennyson Dickens, went over practically the same road. 
 He crossed the Father -of Waters over the Eads bridge in an automobile, 
 and rode in a palace electric car to Lebanon. From here an auto ride 
 to the edge of Looking Glass Prairie gave him the same trip his father 
 took. From Lebanon the party went to Belleville where Mr. Dickens 
 inspected the Mansion House, after which a reception was held in the 
 Court House. Mr. Dickens was greatly delighted with his reception. 
 He died suddenly in New York January 9, 1912. 
 
 EAST ST. Louis 
 
 East St. Louis is the third largest city in the state, with a popula- 
 tion of 58,547. Its interests are varied. It is a real city. Meat packing 
 is a great industry. Railroading absorbs the interests of thousands. 
 The greatest mule market in the world is here. The school system is 
 modern and the church and social life is upon a high plane. There are 
 three bridges across the great river and a fourth one nearing comple- 
 tion. They ars in order of age The Eads, The Merchants, The McKin- 
 ley and what is sometimes called The Free Bridge ; it is not complete. 
 
 St. Clair has a number of other flourishing towns among which are 
 Lebanon, 'Fallen, Freeburg, New Athens, and still smaller villages.
 
 CHAPTER LXY 
 SALINE COUNTY 
 
 PIONEER EVENTS COUNTY SEAT LOCATED AT RALEIGH POLITICAL HIS- 
 TORY CIVIL WAR SENTIMENT HARRISBURG ELDORADO CARRIER 
 MILLS THE OLD STONE FORT. 
 
 Saline county was organized February 25, 1847. It was made from 
 the west half of Gallatin. It is three and one-half townships north and 
 south and three east and west. Its area is 399 square miles and its pop- 
 ulation 30,204. The west and south portions are abundantly supplied 
 with streams, the main ones being Saline river, Skillet Fork and their 
 branches. The southeast quarter of the county is very hilly really 
 mountainous. The name of the hills is Eagle moHntains. 
 
 PIONEER EVENTS 
 
 The county was not separated from Gallatin till so late that it can 
 not be said to have had any pioneer history as Saline county. However, 
 we shall mention the events as belonging to Saline county. John Wren 
 and Hankerson Rude were the first persons to enter land. They settled 
 near Eagle mountains in the southeast township. Wm. Gassaway en- 
 tered land very early in Galatia township. The first mill for grinding 
 was erected by Zadock Aydolett. It was a horse mill, and the millstones 
 were quarried from Eagle mountains. Chas. Mick and Hugh Lambert 
 built the first school house in the southeast corner of the county. The 
 first thresher was brought into the county in 1855. Prior to that time 
 the flail and the sheet were used to thresh and to fan the wheat. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT LOCATED AT RALEIGH 
 
 When the county was organized the county seat was located at 
 Raleigh, six miles due north of the present city of Harrisburg. In 1848 
 a court house was built, also a jail. The latter was sixteen feet square 
 and two stories high. A new court house was built of brick in 1853-4. 
 It cost $5,500. In 1860-1 a new court house was erected in Harrisburg, 
 the location of the county seat having been changed from Raleigh to 
 Harrisburg. 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 The political history of Saline county is interesting. Franklin county 
 lies just west of Saline. This was the home of General John A. Logan 
 
 538
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 539 
 
 at the outbreak of the Civil war. The whole of Southern Illinois was 
 strongly tinctured with secession at the outbreak of the war. Shortly 
 after the war opened many negroes began coming into Illinois from the 
 slave states south of the Ohio. Among those who gave them shelter was 
 Dr. John W. Mitchell, who lived in Independence township, due south 
 of Harrisburg, at a village called Independence. The negroes were 
 known as contraband negroes. The presence of these negroes greatly 
 annoyed certain patriotic states right statesmen and a meeting was held 
 in the court house in Harrisburg October 25, 1862, to protest against 
 the presence of these contraband negroes. The Hon. Wm. J. Allen and 
 James B. Turner were the leading spirits in this meeting. They "re- 
 solved," but they never could find any one who was willing to take the 
 resolutions and notify Dr. Mitchell of the action of the meeting. A sec- 
 
 REV. SAMUEL WESTBROOK, A SOLDIER IN GEN. POSEY'S REGIMENT IN THE 
 BLACK HAWK WAR. HE LIVED TO BE 98 YEARS OLD 
 
 ond meeting was held and similar "resolves" passed, but Dr. Mitchell 
 stood his ground. The negroes were not removed. Dr. Mitchell was 
 indicted under the "black laws," but the indictment was stricken from 
 the docket. 
 
 CIVIL WAR SENTIMENT 
 
 The "Knights of the Golden Circle" were very strong and well organ- 
 ized in Saline county. Three knights went one time to notify L. J. Jobe, 
 a Union soldier who was home on sick furlough, to leave the neighbor- 
 hood. He told his wife to bring his gun and open the door, and as he 
 lay in bed he told them to come in and make their threat good, but they 
 never ventured in. 
 
 Notwithstanding this anti-union sentiment the county contained many 
 loyal people and kept her quota so full it was never necessary to run a 
 draft in that county. Quite a good many of the soldiers in John A.
 
 540 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Logan's regiment, the Thirty-first, were from Saline. Company B of 
 that regiment was largely Saline county boys. Company G also was 
 from Saline largely. 
 
 HARRISBUKG 
 
 The city of Harrisburg is now an important center. It was laid off 
 in 1853. Lots were sold and a few houses built. In 1859 after some 
 litigation the county seat was moved from Raleigh to Harrisburg. It 
 grew slowly. Dr. J. W. Mitchell was a warm friend of the town and 
 did much to further its interests. Today it is a city of 5,309, with all 
 the modern machinery of a young city. The coal interests are largely 
 responsible for its recent growth. Its reputation for good schools reaches 
 all Southern Illinois. The city schools are separated from the high 
 school, the latter being a township school. It is under the principal- 
 ship of Mr. Harry Taylor. 
 
 ELDORADO 
 
 Eldorado is a substantial city of 3,366 people. It has grown very 
 rapidly within the past ten years. It is situated at the crossing of the 
 Shawneetown division of the L. & N. and the Eldorado branch of the 
 I. C., and the Big Four. There are coal interests here and considerable 
 business is done by wholesale firms. There are five coal mines in the 
 vicinity of Eldorado. These mines, the railroad facilities, the country 
 trade, and some minor factors give the town a large amount of business. 
 All about the territory surrounding these towns there are large areas in 
 tobacco. In some places in the county there are to be seen the tobacco- 
 drying houses which gives this region an aspect similar to the Kentucky 
 and Tennessee plantations. Eldorado has a fine township high school. 
 M. T. Van Cleve is principal. 
 
 CARRIER MILLS 
 
 In addition to Harrisburg and Eldorado there is Carrier Mills, a 
 town of 1,558 people. It is on the Big Four southwest of Harrisburg. 
 Stonefort is a prosperous village situated in the southwest corner of the 
 county. Galatia and Raleigh are two towns on the I. C. railroad. They 
 are good business points for business men working on small capital. 
 They have good country around them. 
 
 THE OLD STONE FORT 
 
 An interesting feature in this county is the old stone fort which is 
 found four miles east of the present town of Stonefort. This old fort 
 is on top of a hill which is almost inaccessible. The walls are con- 
 structed of large stones and the whole reminds one of the ruins of a 
 once well constructed fortification. It has gone to ruin more or less in 
 the past fifty years. A town called Stonefort was laid off two or three 
 miles west of the old fort in 1858, but there were houses there earlier. 
 The first house in this immediate vicinity was one built in 1831 by 
 J. Robinson. The old fort was there in the 30 's and there is no tradi- 
 tion that seems acceptable to the public. Some scholarly visitor named 
 the ruins Cyclop Walls, but most people call it old stone fort.
 
 CHAPTER LXVI 
 UNION COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS JONESBOKO MADE THE COUNTY SEAT THE WILLARD 
 FAMILY COLONEL JOHN S. HACKER VEGETABLES AND FRUITS MIN- 
 ERALS AND MINERAL SPRINGS TOWNS. 
 
 Union county is one of the older counties, having been organized 
 January 2, 1818. It was previously in Johnson county. The wonderful 
 resources of Union county are yet almost wholly undeveloped. The 
 great wealth in the soil is only recently becoming known, and the min- 
 eral wealth is just beginning to be understood. The county lies on the 
 divide of the Ozarks. Cobden on the Illinois Central is the highest point 
 of the road in the Ozark region. Just a few miles northwest of Cobden 
 is Alto Pass which is the highest point on the M. & 0., and eastward in 
 the edge of Johnson is Ozark station, the highest point on the Paducah 
 division of the Illinois Central, and to the south and west is Tunnel 
 Hill, where the Big Four pierces the Ozarks an eighth of a mile, the 
 only tunnel in Southern Illinois. 
 
 In these hills are hidden wealth that it may take time to reveal. 
 And on their sides are fruit orchards which yield their owners thous- 
 ands of dollars. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS 
 
 Union county as it is now bounded, had for its first settlers two 
 families, Abram Hunsaker and George Wolf. These two families had 
 descended the Ohio to Fort Massac in the year 1803 and had spent some 
 time along the Cache and were probably on their way to Kaskaskia. They 
 staid over night near where Jonesboro now is. The next day they killed 
 a bear and a wild txirkey, and as the water was good they decided to 
 stay, and in a few days they were building their future homes. For 
 three years these two families were alone in the forest. In 1805 David 
 Green built a cabin in the Mississippi bottoms. He was from Virginia. 
 
 Settlers were coming to points along the Ohio and the Mississippi, 
 but none others came into Union county prior to 1809 when the 
 Lawrences and Clapps came into the south part of the county and set- 
 tled on Mill creek. Other early settlers were John Grammer and Wm. 
 Alexander, who had to do with the founding of America in Alexander 
 county. John Grammar settled south of the present Jonesboro. George 
 James came in 1811 and Governor John Dougherty came with his parents 
 who were fleeing from the "shakes" of the earth at New Madrid. By 
 the close of the War of 1812 the immigrants began to come in large 
 
 541
 
 542 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 numbers. Among the new names following the war of 1812 are Pat- 
 terson, Harriston, "Whitaker, Parmelia, Butcher, Crafton, Menees, Lit- 
 tleton, etc. Jacob Lingle may have come as early as 1807. James Mc- 
 Lain came about 1810. 
 
 JONESBORO MADE THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 By 1818 there were scores of settlers within the limits of the county 
 as it is today. The new county seat was to be a town to be called Jones- 
 boro and was to be located on the northwest quarter Section 30, town- 
 ship 12, range 1. John Grammar gave the land for the capitol of the 
 county. 
 
 The first court met in George Hunsaker's house on March 2, 1818, 
 and accepted John Grammar's gift of land for the county seat. The 
 
 THE OLD HOTEL ON THE EAST SIDE OP THE SQUARE IN JONESBORO, WHERE 
 
 DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN HELD PUBLIC RECEPTIONS ON THE 
 
 OCCASION OF THEIR VISIT IN 1858 
 
 town grew slowly. "Peck's Gazetteer" for 1836, gives the town twenty- 
 five families, seven stores, one tavern, one lawyer, two physicians, two 
 ministers, one carding machine, etc. The court house was a frame build- 
 ing and two stories high. The jail was a brick structure. The court 
 house stood in the center of the square from which point the land slopes 
 away in every direction. 
 
 Probably the first school was taught south of Jonesboro near a spring 
 by a man named Griffin ; and later the school was taught by Winstead 
 Davie and by "Willis Willard. 
 
 THE WILLARD FAMILY 
 
 The coming of the "Willards to Union county in 1820 was an event 
 full of meaning for the county. Jonathan "Willard came to Cairo in 1817. 
 He stopped at Bird's Point only a short time. From here he went to
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 543 
 
 Cape Girardeau where he soon died, leaving his widow Nancy and four 
 children Elijah, Willis, Anna, and William. Mrs. Willard came to 
 Jonesboro in 1820. The oldest son, Elijah, was a young man when he 
 came to Jonesboro, but he immediately began the life of a business 
 man. He began life as a clerk and built up a business under the title 
 of Willard & Co. that reached sales of $100,000 per year. He con- 
 structed the graveled road across the Mississippi bottom to the river 
 at Willard 's Landing. This point is almost due west of Jonesboro, nine 
 miles. The road from Jonesboro to Willard 's Landing was the best 
 road of its length in Illinois. Here at the landing thousands of dollars 
 worth of merchandise was landed, destined for the great wholesale 
 house in Jonesboro of Willard & Co. Elijah died in 1848 and his 
 business fell into the hands of his brother, Willis Willard. Willis be- 
 
 VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS HOSPITAL FOB THE INSANE, ANNA, 
 
 UNION COUNTY 
 
 came very wealthy and at his death was said to be worth half a million 
 dollars. 
 
 Willis Willard was public spirited. He built substantial houses, both 
 residences and business blocks in Jonesboro. He built in 1836, the first 
 steam saw mill in the county. In 1853 he built a seminary for young 
 ladies in Jonesboro at his own expense. He brought from Boston two 
 lady teachers, and this seminary flourished for many years, and supplied 
 a very pressing need of the people of this region of Illinois. "Mother 
 Willard" lived to be 100 years old, lacking less than two months. She 
 died in 1874. 
 
 COLONEL JOHN S. HACKEB 
 
 Another family that greatly affected life in southern Illinois was 
 the Hackers. Colonel John S. Hacker came to Jonesboro in 1817 and 
 was identified with the interests of Union county till his death in 1878. 
 He served in the general assembly, in the Mexican war, was a warm
 
 544 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 friend of Lincoln though of different political faith, was a forty-niner, 
 surveyor of the port at Cairo from which he was removed by President 
 Buchanan because Hacker was a Douglas Democrat. He was assistant 
 doorkeeper of the house of representatives in 1856-7. His sons were 
 prominent citizens. 
 
 VEGETABLES AND FRUITS 
 
 Union county is a vegetable and fruit growing county. In 1860 an 
 express agent carried to Chicago the first express package of fruit ever 
 sent out of the county. This was in May, 1860. Now hundreds of car- 
 loads of fruit and vegetables are sent to Chicago every year. Often two 
 or three cars will be shipped every day from some of the smaller villages 
 along the Illinois Central. The road runs what is called the Fruit Ex- 
 press. Berries can be picked as late as 4 o'clock of an afternoon, be 
 shipped at 5 o'clock p. m., and be on Water street at 9 o'clock the 
 next morning or satisfying some epicure in the hotel at that hour. The 
 following is somewhat the order in which the fruits and vegetables come 
 into the market: Rhubarb, asparagus, raspberries, strawberries, rad- 
 ishes, onions, peas, beans, early apples, cherries, gooseberries, peaches, 
 potatoes, blackberries, pears, sweet potatoes, winter apples, and in mid- 
 winter cold storage apples and sweet potatoes. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing to find four or five thousand barrels of 
 apples and sweet potatoes in storage in any of the towns or villages. 
 The Caspar brothers, living between Anna and Cobden marketed 100,000 
 baskets of apples in Chicago in 1911, the growth from one orchard. 
 
 MINERALS AND MINERAL SPRINGS 
 
 There is no coal in Union county. Her mineral wealth is to be found 
 in her great quarries, kaolin and silica mines. The development of 
 these mineral resources has just begun. Considerable lime is being 
 burned and silica mills are located at Jonesboro and near Willard's 
 Landing. 
 
 Many springs abound and many of these have medicinal properties. 
 Saratoga Springs are located on the third principal meridian at the 
 northwest corner of township 12, range 1, west. The story of the effort 
 to make these springs attractive is truly pathetic. Dr. Penoyer bought 
 160 acres of land including these springs in 1838. He laid off the town 
 of Western Saratoga, built hotels and bath houses, advertised and waited 
 for people to come. His prices of lots were beyond reason, and nobody 
 bought. 
 
 People came by hundreds from many states. They camped out and 
 drank the water. It was thought to be wonderful in its curative power. 
 In course of time the hotels went down, bath houses decayed, and today 
 only the remnants of old buildings are to be seen. The precious water 
 still flows. 
 
 In the west part of the county is Bald Knob, a young mountain of 
 considerable note. It is about three miles from Alto Pass. From its 
 top a view of the country for many miles may be obtained. 
 
 Perhaps the most noted political event that ever occurred in Union 
 county was the great Lincoln and Douglas debate, which is described 
 quite fally elsewhere.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 545 
 
 TOWNS 
 
 The principal towns are Jonesboro, the county seat, Anna the seat 
 of the Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane and the location of 
 Union academy, a school supported by the Presbyterian church. Cob- 
 den, a cultured town on the Illinois Central at the highest point of the 
 road, Alto Pass, on the Mobile & Ohio, Douglas, a fruit and vegetable 
 shipping point and smaller country villages and postoffices.
 
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 CHAPTER LXVII 
 WABASH COUNTY 
 
 FOUR TOUGAS BROTHERS, FIRST SETTLERS THE THREE BLOCK FORTS 
 TIMBER AND SAW MILLS MILK SICKNESS SHIFTINGS OP THE COUNTY 
 SEAT ABORIGINAL REMAINS NOTES FROM NATURE THE WABASH 
 AND MOUNT CARMEL LIVE STOCK RAISING. 
 
 Wabash county is one of the smaller comities in the state in both 
 area and population, the former being 220 square miles and the latter 
 being 14,913. The county was a part of Edwards up to 1824, December 
 27. It has the Wabash river on the east and south, the Bon Pas creek 
 on the west and Lawrence county on the north. The early history of 
 the county is intimately connected with the story of Edwards county. 
 
 FOUR TOUGAS BROTHERS, FIRST SETTLERS 
 
 The first white people in the county were four brothers, August, 
 William, Joseph, Francis Tougas. They settled in 1800 where the river 
 village of Rochester now is. It is said that the Indians held them in 
 great respect. The first English settlers were Levi Compton and Joshua 
 Jordan. They settled in 1802. Levi Compton built Fort Compton in 
 1810. It had a palisade and contained building to accommodate people 
 and stock. He also built the first mill in the county at his fort in 
 Wabash precinct. John Stillwell came from Virginia in 1804, bringing 
 a negro slave whom he freed in 1822. Enoch Greathouse, a native of 
 Germany, settled where Mt. Carmel is, in 1804. He moved to Centerville 
 where he died at the age of 110. In 1816 a little band left Alleghany 
 county, New York, to try their fortunes in the great west. They came 
 by water all the way and landed at a point on the Wabash called old 
 Palmyra. Here they suffered from privations and sickness, losing many 
 of their numbers, after which they moved to different parts of the 
 county. One of that band, Rozander Smith, now 95 years old, still 
 lives in the county. He wrote with his own hands a very full sketch of 
 his county for which the author wishes to thank him. 
 
 THE THREE BLOCK FORTS 
 
 Rozander Smith says there were three block houses or forts in 
 Wabash county. One on Barney's Prairie, seven miles north of Mt. 
 Carmel. The fort was sixty by one hundred feet. The palisade was 
 of split logs, four feet in the ground and fifteen feet above ground, and 
 enclosed about one-half acre. The palisade and fort would accommo- 
 
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 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 549 
 
 date about 50 families in times of danger. There was one in the south 
 part of the county, and another called the Bon Pas block house, not 
 far from the village of Lancaster. In the stockade there was a well 
 which is still there. In addition to these three there was the Compton 
 fort, making four in all. 
 
 Mr. Theodore Risley, who has written a very excellent history of 
 Wabash county, tells of a horrid massacre which occurred in Copper 
 precinct in 1815. A Mr. Cannon came into this precinct out of Indiana 
 and built a cabin. The first day they occupied the house, while Mr. 
 Cannon was cutting a bee tree, Indians fell on the settlers and killed 
 all except Mrs. Cannon, a son and daughter. These were carried away 
 into captivity. The mother and daughter were subsequently ransomed. 
 
 TIMBER AND SAW MILLS 
 
 Wabash county was quite heavily covered with timber, and the early 
 settlers were accustomed to all of the activities we find among settlers 
 in timbered regions. The whip-saw, a thing unknown by many people 
 of today, was the first saw mill. Later the water mill was installed. The 
 people constructed their own furniture and utensils and farm imple- 
 ments. Most of the farms had to be cleared and log rollings were very 
 common, and many thousands of dollars worth of lumber was burned 
 up in the logs. 
 
 MILK SICKNESS 
 
 Milk sickness was common in Wabash county. People took the dis- 
 ease if they drank the milk or ate butter of milk-sick cows. It was also 
 claimed that the beef of milk-sick cattle would when eaten, poison the 
 system of people, and they sometimes died. It was therefore customary 
 to run an ox or cow a half mile before deciding on killing it for beef. 
 If the brute was trembly and exhausted and lay down, it was not killed, 
 but if there was no sign of exhaustion, the beef was killed. The symp- 
 toms in people was sickness at the stomach, indigestion, fainting spells, 
 nervousness, and extreme langour. The old settlers thought that whiskey 
 was about the only remedy for the disease. 
 
 SHIFTINGS OP THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 Edwards county, when created by proclamation of the governor in 
 1814, included all territory east of the third principal meridian and 
 north of the present counties of White and Hamilton. The county seat 
 was fixed at Palmyra. This future town was two and a half miles 
 north of the present site of Mt. Carmel. It was a very unhealthful 
 place and in 1821 the capital of Edwards was moved to Albion. The 
 Mt. Carmel people were very angry at the removal of the capital to 
 Albion and actually organized four companies of militia to recapture 
 the records. Albion compromised by promising to assist in securing a 
 division and thus create Wabash county. The division occurred in 1824 
 and Centerville chosen as the county seat. This town was to be three 
 miles northwest of where Mt. Carmel now is. The county seat remained 
 at Centerville till 1829 when it was removed to Mt. Carmel.
 
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 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 551 
 
 ABORIGINAL REMAINS 
 
 This county is rich in prehistoric and Indian remains. There are 
 several mounds in the county which are thought to be of the Mound 
 Builders type. From these mounds and from other sources large col- 
 lections of stone axes, pipes, vases, bowls, etc., have been made. 
 
 NOTES FROM NATURE 
 
 Rozander Smith was 23 years old when the deep snow came in 1830. 
 He writes an account that agrees with all accounts that have been given 
 of it. The snow covered the fences and people traveled on top of it 
 and were not conscious that they were crossing fences, streams, etc. He 
 says some animals lay frozen to death in the snow and that the carcass 
 was well preserved in the spring and the flesh eaten. He also says that 
 the Indians who were in that region had a tradition that seventy-five 
 years before, another deep snow came and that animals and people suf- 
 fered as did those of 1830. 
 
 In 1877 a cyclone passed over Mt. Carmel and almost swept the 
 town away. The court house was blown down, much property destroyed 
 and eighteen lives lost. The county had suffered so heavily that the 
 general assembly appropriated $15,000 to compensate the county and 
 individuals. 
 
 THE WABASH AND MOUNT CARMEL 
 
 The Wabash is an interesting stream. It has had so much history. 
 One thing that is interesting now is the Grand Rapids dam. This is a 
 piece of government work, and is located about two and a half or three 
 miles above Mt. Carmel. It contains locks and furnishes the best fishing 
 place on the Wabash. The dam is 1,100 feet long and eight feet high. 
 It was built at a cost of $340,000. 
 
 Another thing is interesting. That is pearl fishing along the Wabash. 
 More than a million dollars worth of pearl has been taken from the 
 Wabash in its course along this county. 
 
 Mt. Carmel is a city of 6,934 inhabitants. The railroad shops of 
 the Big Four are located here and have a payroll of $54,000 per month. 
 A railroad bridge spans the Wabash and ferries accommodate the general 
 public. 
 
 LIVE STOCK RAISING 
 
 Considerable attention is given to stock raising. For 1,092 farms 
 reporting domestic animals the value was placed at $870,786. This 
 gives about $870 as an average for the value of stock per farm. This 
 appears small in comparison with most counties, but more than half of 
 the 1,092 farms reporting contain less than 100 acres. There is a stock 
 breeders association and interest in pure-blooded live stock is growing.
 
 CHAPTER LXVIII 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CONTENTIONS NASHVILLE FINALLY SELECTED COURT 
 HOUSES CITY OF NASHVILLE MINOR TOWNS. 
 
 This is an agricultural county lying north of Perry, west of Jefferson, 
 south of Clinton, and east of St. Glair. It has no mines of any kind, 
 is not a timbered county and has few manufacturing interests. The 
 Kaskaskia washes the northwestern side of the county and there are 
 some streams in that quarter of fair size. More or less timber abounds 
 along the Kaskaskia and its tributaries. The county, apart from the 
 territory adjacent to the Kaskaskia, is largely prairie rather poorly 
 drained, and with a soil similar to that of most of the counties in South- 
 ern Illinois. The value per acre of farm lands including buildings is 
 $34.02. Out of 4,285 farms reporting, 2,752 are of less area than 100 
 acres. 
 
 The county was organized in 1818, January 2. The territory was, 
 prior to its organization, a portion of St. Clair county. There were few 
 people in the new county at the time of its organization, for in 1820 
 there were only 1,517 inhabitants in the entire county. 
 
 COUNTY SEAT CONTENTIONS 
 
 The story of the location of the county seat is an interesting one. 
 Jacob Thurman, Reuben Middleton, Leaven Maddux were authorized 
 to locate the county seat. They met March 2, 1818, in the home of 
 James Bankson, who lived on Ashley creek. Mr. Bankson's home was 
 near what is now Clinton county. They deliberated and finally located 
 it on the Kaskaskia ten miles north and west of the present city of 
 Nashville. There was no town there but the town to be was to be called 
 Covington. The custom at that time was to ask of the owner of the land 
 where a county seat was to be established, twenty acres of land for the 
 benefit of the county. This was done in this case and on July 13, 1818, 
 the county court met at Bankson's home and accepted the gift of twenty 
 acres to the county. On July 15, 1818, the county seat was moved from 
 Mr. Bankson's home to Covington. Here it remained till 1831, when it 
 was removed to Georgetown. In 1827 Clinton county was cut off of 
 the north of Washington, leaving Covington at the extreme north edge 
 of the county. The three commissioners appointed to locate the new 
 county seat reported that the spot selected was on sections 19 and 20, 
 township 2 south, range 3, west "near the center of said sections at a 
 pole put up about 45 yards east of two wells on section 19." Tilghman 
 
 552
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 553 
 
 H. West would not donate the twenty acres and the seat was moved to 
 the lands of John Hutchins on section 17 of the same township. 
 
 NASHVILLE FINALLY SELECTED 
 
 "When Judge Theophilus Smith of the supreme bench came to hold 
 court in Georgetown in the fall of 1829 all he found was the wells and 
 the high pole to mark the capital of the county. He repaired to Coving- 
 ton, where he held the court. No circuit court was held at Gorgetown 
 though it was laid off and lots were sold. This site was about four miles 
 west of Nashville. In 1831, after a great amount of dissatisfaction about 
 Georgetown, the county seat was ordered moved. Many people had 
 selected the present site of Nashville as a suitable place for the perma- 
 nent seat of justice. The land belonged to the government and no one 
 had the money to enter it. At last Robert Middleton and Wm. G. Brown 
 of St. Clair county bought the land and gave the required twenty acres 
 and the town was laid off by A. W. Casad, a surveyor. The town was 
 named Nashville, after the capital of Tennessee. 
 
 There were no houses in the new town and the owners agreed to give 
 a lot to the wife of the man who would build the first house. The race 
 for the lot took place between one Orcenith Fisher and Sam K. Anderson. 
 Anderson bought an old log house and moved it and got it done first, 
 but the judges decided in favor of Fisher, who had built a two-story 
 frame house. From this time on houses began to be built, and the 
 town grew. 
 
 COURT HOUSES 
 
 On June 25, 1831, the county commissioners contracted for a court 
 house with Thomas L. Moore. He built a very substantial building in 
 the new town which served as the court house for ten years. In 1840 
 the second building was erected as a court house in Nashville. This build- 
 ing also stood in the public square. In 1855 a third court house and in 
 1884 the fourth one was built. 
 
 The people of this county probably never wrestled with the prob- 
 lems of frontier life as did the people in some counties. In the earliest 
 days horse mills were plentiful. Tread mills were found here and there, 
 and water mills were not unknown. The first steam mill was built in 
 1831 or '32 on Mud creek. Roads were early established. The Kaskas- 
 kia and Detroit trail passed through the county from southwest to north- 
 east. A mail route from Kaskaskia to Carlyle passed through the county 
 as early as 1810. The road from St. Louis to Equality, and George 
 Rogers Clark's route to Vincennes crossed the southeast corner of the 
 county. 
 
 CITY OP NASHVILLE 
 
 The city of Nashville is the center of business interests for the county. 
 It is in the midst of a very prosperous agricultural region. It is on the 
 highest ground in the county, the drainage running in all directions 
 from the town. Its schools are considered up to the standard and are 
 widely known. Not only the city, but the county contains a goodly num-
 
 554 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 ber of Germans and this may account for the general condition of thrift. 
 The city of Nashville has a very noted hotel and spring, known as the 
 Carlsbad hotel and spring. The waters are considered health-giving 
 and the hotel is up-to-date and the capacity of the hostelry is always 
 occupied. At Okawville some ten miles northwest of Nashville are 
 springs that have quite a reputation for their health-giving properties. 
 Quite a few people resort there in search of health and rest. 
 
 MINOR TOWNS 
 
 There are a number of small towns in the county with local import- 
 ance. On the Illinois Central which runs through the east part of the 
 county there are the towns of Dubois, Radom, Ashley, Richview and 
 Irvington. In another part of this work will be found a description of 
 the ' ' Illinois Agricultural College ' ' situated at Irvington forty odd years 
 ago. In the south and west part of the county are, Oakdale, Elkhorn, 
 Lively Grove and Okawville. Hoylton is northeast of Nashville some 
 seven or eight miles. 
 
 Washington county has eight banks. Two at Nashville, one each 
 Richview, Okawville, Irvington, Hoyleton, Dubois and Ashley.
 
 CHAPTER LXIX 
 WAYNE COUNTY 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS AND EVENTS FIRST COUNTY SEAT IN THE WARS 
 CAPT. THOMAS W. SCOTT FAIRFIELD FARM VALUES. 
 
 Wayne county was a part of the following counties: Randolph, 
 1809 to 1812 ; Gallatin, 1812 to 1814. It was in 1819, March 26, created 
 Wayne county. At that time it included the south parts of Clay and 
 Richland. It was reduced to its present limits on December 23, 1824. 
 
 FIRST SETTLERS AND EVENTS 
 
 Wayne county as it is today was first settled by Isaac Harris and 
 his brother Gilham Harris. They wintered in 1812-13 on the Little 
 Wabash southeast of Fairfield. Until recent years twenty odd a 
 daughter of Isaac Harris was living to tell all about those early days. 
 Her name was Mrs. Goodwin. Bears were plentiful prior to 1820. Bear 
 skins were plentiful and were useful in the homes. 
 
 Joe Boltinghouse was massacred by Indians near Massillon on the 
 Little Wabash in 1812 or '13. He was scalped and his body horribly 
 mutilated. Three years later seven Indians camped at the place of this 
 massacre. They had Joe Boltinghouse 's pony. Word was sent around 
 and a posse attacked these seven Indians and they were all killed. One 
 was killed by Joe Boltinghouse 's dog "Beve. " As late as 1816 only 
 three "farms" were opened in Wayne. The people were engaged largely 
 in hunting, trapping, fishing and trading. 
 
 The first horse mill was built by Joe Martin. He brought his mill 
 stones from Barren county, Kentucky. A water mill was built south 
 of Fairfield about four miles on a small stream. George Merritt, whose 
 ancestors fought Tarleton at Cowpens, came in 1816. By 1818 there 
 were scores of people in the county. 
 
 FIRST COUNTY SEAT 
 
 When Wayne was created by the general assembly the commissioners 
 met in the home of Alexander Campbell, who lived in the southeast part 
 of the county, possibly just south of the present line, in White. The 
 act of creation further provided that until the county was provided 
 with a court house the county seat should be in the home of Mr. Campbell. 
 
 The Borah family came to Wayne county in 1818^and 1820. They 
 settled in Jasper township four miles northeast of Fairfield. They have 
 
 555
 
 556 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 resided there now for nearly a century. William N. Borah, born about 
 1817, was an old and respected citizen of Wayne county at his death. 
 He has preserved a great deal of the early history of this region. The 
 present United States senator, William E. Borah of Idaho, is a descendant 
 of the Borah family of Wayne county. 
 
 The first school house in the county was built in the Borah settlement. 
 It was erected about 1824, had a dirt floor, and clapboard roof. 
 
 Two slave women escaped from J. B. Thrasher of Kentucky and 
 were found secreted about the town of Fairfield in 1822. Thrasher made 
 
 A GLIMPSE INTO A CORNFIELD IN WAYNE COUNTY 
 
 affidavit that the slave women belonged to him and no one could deny it, 
 so the two women were delivered over to Mr. Thrasher to be taken back 
 to Kentucky. 
 
 IN THE WARS 
 
 As late as 1840 there were five old Revolutionary soldiers living in 
 Wayne county. They were : John H. Mills, Thomas Sloan. James Stuart, 
 George Clark, James Gaston. The last named was buried in the Bovee 
 cemetery. Sloan is also buried there ; Stuart lies buried in the old fair 
 grounds in Fairfield. 
 
 During the war of 1812, Wayne county was a part of Gallatin county 
 and the settlers were just beginning to come into Wayne. But many 
 men who enlisted from the Wabash territory were later residents of 
 Wayne. In the Blackhawk war Wayne furnished two companies. They 
 were Capt. James N. Clark's and Capt. Berryman G. Wells' companies. 
 These two companies belonged to the first brigade of the Third regiment. 
 These two companies were in the entire campaign from Dixon's ferry 
 to Bad Axe. 
 
 In the Mexican war Wayne furnished one company. This was Com- 
 pany F, Third regiment. The captain was John A. Campbell. This 
 regiment was commanded by Col. Ferris Foreman.
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 557 
 
 In the Civil war Wayne did her full duty, but space forbids an 
 attempt to speak fully of her patriotic citizens. Wayne furnished twelve 
 full companies in the Civil war. 
 
 CAPT. THOMAS W. SCOTT 
 
 An interesting bit of Wayne county history is the part Capt. Thomas 
 W. Scott played in the closing scenes of the war. Capt. Scott lived in 
 Olney when he entered the service but lived in Fairfield many years 
 after the war was over. The records of the war department show the 
 following : 
 
 "MACON, Ga., May 12, 1865, 11 o'clock a. m. Hon. Edwin M. Stan- 
 ton, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.: The following dispatch 
 announcing the capture of Jeff Davis, has just been handed me by 
 Capt. Scott, A. A. G., Second division cavalry: 
 
 J. H. WILSON, Major General. 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS FOURTH MICHIGAN CAVALRY, CUMBERLAND, Ga., May 
 11, 1865. Capt. Thomas W. Scott, A. A. G., Second Division Cavalry, 
 Military Division of Mississippi : Sir I have the honor to report to you 
 that at daylight yesterday at Irwinsville I surprised and captured Jeff 
 Davis and family, together with his wife's sisters and brother, his post- 
 master general Reagan, his private secretary Col. Harrison, Col. John- 
 son aide-de-camp on Davis* staff, Col. Morris Lubbec and Lieut. Hatha- 
 way; also several important names and a train of five wagons and three 
 ambulances, making a most perfect success. * * * 
 
 "I have the honor to be your obedient servant 
 
 D. B. RICHARDS, 
 "Lieut. Col. Fourth Mich. Cavalry, Commanding." 
 
 Captain Scott was brevetted major by President Lincoln at the close 
 of the war. He held many positions of trust and honor. For several 
 years he was adjutant general under .Governor Deneen. He died a 
 few years ago. 
 
 FAIRFIELD 
 
 Fairfield, the county seat of Wayne county, is a city of 2.479 people. 
 It lies a little south of the center of the county in the midst of a fine 
 agricultural region. It is a good trade center, has fine churches and 
 schools, newspapers, banks and stores. 
 
 The average corn crop for the county (census of 1910) was 24.5 
 bushels to the acre ; average oat crop, 26 bushels to the acre ; wheat, 13.4 
 bushels to the acre ; potatoes, 95 bushels to the acre ; hay and forage, one 
 ton per acre. 
 
 FARM VALUES 
 
 The distribution of farm values is as follows: Land, 69.5%; build- 
 ings. 14.1%i; implements, 2.4% ; animals, 14%. This shows that Wayne 
 county has excellent farm buildings and first class farm stock. Con- 
 siderable attention is being given to fine stock, orchards, etc. 
 
 In addition to Fairfield there are several smaller towns in the county : 
 Barnhill, Cisne. Goldengate. Jeffersonville. Johnsville. Keenes, Mount 
 Erie, Orchardville. Rinard, Sims, Wayne City.
 
 CHAPTER LXX 
 WHITE COUNTY 
 
 ORIGINAL PHYSICAL FEATURES WHITE COUNTY AND ITS SPONSOR EARLY 
 VISITORS CARMI, THE COUNTY SEAT ENFIELD EARLY DAY WILD 
 PIGEON ROOST. 
 
 White was first included in Knox county; then it became a part of 
 Randolph; then of Gallatin; then it was organized on the 9th of 
 December, 1815, and included beside its own territory that of Hamilton, 
 Franklin and part of Jefferson. It is now bounded on the south by 
 Gallatin, on the west by Hamilton, on the north by Wayne and Edwards, 
 and on the east by theWabash river. 
 
 Its area is 507 square miles and its population is 23,052. It has but 
 one large town or city and that is Carmi, but it has a host of smaller 
 towns. It has the Wabash on the east, the Little Wabash flowing from 
 north to south through its center, and Skillett Fork coming into the 
 county from the northwest. In addition there are smaller tributaries 
 to these larger streams, and thus the county is abundantly supplied with 
 water courses. This fact may account for the early settlement of the 
 county. 
 
 ORIGINAL PHYSICAL FEATURES 
 
 
 
 When the whites came to this county it was heavily timbered. The 
 growths were oaks, hickory, walnut, hackberry, elm, ash and poplar. 
 There were, however, considerable prairie area. Peck gives three Big, 
 Burnt, and Seven Mile. Big Prairie lay between the Little and the Big 
 Wabash. It was nearly circular and about three miles in diameter. In 
 1836 this prairie was all in a high state of cultivation, the soil being 
 sandy and of great fertility. Burnt Prairie lay in the northwestern part 
 of White and extended into Wayne. This prairie also was circular, two 
 miles across, and had rich soil and many settlers in 1836. Seven Mile 
 Prairie was seven miles west of Carmi. 
 
 Carmi is reported in Peck to be a flourishing town of four stores, 
 a saw and flour mill combined, a neat brick court house forty feet 
 square, two stories high, and neatly finished. There were fifty families, 
 two lawyers and three doctors. In 1820 the population of the county 
 was 4,828. 
 
 WHITE COUNTY AND ITS SPONSOR 
 
 From the earliest days White was intimately associated with Gallatin 
 on the south. In the Indian disturbances of 1811 to 1814 Gallatin 
 
 558
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 559 
 
 county furnished a number of prominent men. At that time Gallatin in- 
 cluded parts or all of a dozen counties in that quarter, and so it happens 
 that often when we read of men from Gallatin we forget that credit 
 ought to be given to other counties. 
 
 Isaac "White, a prominent public spirited man who was in charge 
 of the salt works at Equality up to 1811, was intimately associated with 
 what is now "White county. Isaac White was a personal friend of Gen. 
 Harrison and it thus happened that Harrison was anxious to have "White 
 accompany him on his expedition against Tecumseh's forces in 1811. 
 This Captain "White did and was killed in the battle of Tippecanoe. 
 This was a great loss to Illinois and especially to the southeastern section 
 of the state. The general assembly named "White county in memory 
 of Captain Isaac White. 
 
 EARLY VISITORS 
 
 In 1817 Morris Birkbeck made his first visit to the territory of Illi- 
 nois. He did not come by water to the Illinois country, but overland. 
 On the morning of July 26, 1817, he breakfasted at New Harmony, 
 Indiana, which is some ten or twelve miles northeast of Carmi. He 
 crossed the Wabash and started west, and seven miles out he came into 
 Big Prairie, which was the first prairie he had seen. He stopped at the 
 home of Mr. Williams. The White county militia were having "muster." 
 There were thirty men present, but only twenty guns. The great fields 
 of corn were very attractive to Birkbeck. He says the Big Prairie had 
 been settled about four or five years when he was there. On August 1 
 he was at Bagley's, which was at the present Emma post office on the 
 Little Wabash. From here he went north and west. He crossed 
 Skillett Fork at a shoal. He speaks disparagingly of the country about 
 Skillett Fork. On August 2 he had reached the edge of Seven Mile 
 Prairie on his way over to the English Prairie. 
 
 Ferdinand Ernest, a German traveler, was in Carmi in July, 1819. 
 He describes the road from the mouth of Little Wabash to Carmi as a 
 delightful ride. He says the effects of the terrible storm or cyclone 
 which passed through the county from west to east, between Carmi and 
 New Haven in 1813, could be plainly seen. 
 
 CARMI, THE COUNTY SEAT 
 
 Carmi, the county seat of White county, is a city of 2,883 people. 
 It occupies, very nearly, the geographical center of the county. It was 
 laid off by Lowry Hay in November, 1816. The town grew slowly. It 
 was several years before the court house was completed. The first court 
 house was demolished in a storm in 1824 and it was four years before 
 another was built. The last court house is a magnificent building for a 
 small city. The city is well provided with all modern improvements. 
 The city is located on the west side of the Little Wabash and its growth 
 must be in one general direction away from the river. Carmi is a 
 railroad center of some importance. It is the junction of the Louisville 
 & Nashville and the Big Four. Carmi formerly had the shops of the 
 Louisville & Nashville, but these were moved up to Mt. Carmel and 
 this has been an unfortunate thing for Carmi.
 
 560 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 Mr. W. D. Hay, who has given a good deal of attention to the 
 matter of local history, is to be given credit for collecting matter about 
 the early schools, etc., which follows. 
 
 The first school house in Carmi was a log house and stood in what is 
 now R. F. Stewart's pasture. General Ed. Baker, who was killed at the 
 battle of Ball's Bluff in 1861, was a teacher in that school house. Judge 
 William "Wilson, Dr. Josiah Stewart, and General James Ratcliff started 
 a private school near Carmi, in which Hon. Charles Devens, attorney 
 general in Garfield's cabinet, was a teacher. A school was taught by a 
 Mr. Taylor in a small log house erected for a dwelling at a point between 
 Liberty and Centerville. This was about 1830. 
 
 ENFIELD 
 
 Enfield is situated teij miles due west of Carmi. That locality was 
 settled as early as 1813. Thomas Rutledge came in that year and built 
 a cabin. Peter and James Miller came from Kentucky in 1816 and 
 settled near the present site of Enfield. In 1814 John Morgan built a 
 cabin about where the railroad crossing is. Here he was wounded and 
 scalped by Indians soon after he settled there. 
 
 EARLY-DAT WILD PIGEON ROOST 
 
 Mr. Hay has written an account of a wild pigeon roost in White 
 county that will preserve a bit of local history to posterity. In an early 
 day, probably from 1840 to 1870, the wild pigeon was a semi-annual 
 visitor to many localities in Illinois. The writer remembers a wild 
 pigeon roost in Greene county just after the Civil war. In White county 
 there was one roost just at the south edge of White, a few miles west of 
 New Haven ; another a short distance northwest of the town of Enfield. 
 The latter was the larger and the one used the longer. In the spring 
 of the year the pigeons would go north to rear their young. In the fall 
 they would return in great swarms that blackened the sun. They would 
 feed on the acorns and other mast through the day and late in the 
 afternoon they would begin to gather for the night's roosting. They 
 lighted upon the limbs of the great white oak trees. They clung to each 
 other just as bees do when they "settle" after swarming. They weighted 
 the great trees so that limbs broke, killing thousands of birds. People 
 came many miles to see these pigeon roosts. Many people would kill 
 them with long poles, hauling away their "catch" in wagons. The noise 
 of the birds' wings, the breaking limbs, and the chattering of the 
 pigeons, could be heard for miles. Mr. Hay says that no pigeons have 
 been seen in the Wabash valley since 1874.
 
 CHAPTER LXXI 
 WILLIAMSON COUNTY 
 
 LAST OF INDIANS THE JORDAN BROTHERS INDUSTRIES MEXICAN AND 
 CIVIL WAR MATTERS TOWNS IN THE COUNTY. 
 
 Williamson county lies in the great coal fields of Illinois. This of 
 itself would give prominence to this county. But in addition it is an 
 agricultural county of no mean rank. Its area is 449 square miles, and 
 its population reaches 45,098. It has had an eventful history in several 
 ways. It was one of the later counties organized, namely, February 28, 
 1839. It was for twenty-one years a part of the organization of Franklin 
 county. 
 
 LAST OF INDIANS 
 
 The Indians lingered long in Williamson. They returned to trade as 
 late as 1829 or 1830. They were plentiful between 1800 and 1812. 
 The Shawnees lived over on the Wabash, and the Kaskaskias about the 
 Mississippi. Williamson county was neutral territory or perhaps better, 
 common ground. "Wigwams were still on Carl Graves' farm in 1820, 
 and on Hugh Parks' farm as late as 1829 there were traces of camps." 
 In 1811, when Tecumseh started south to solicit aid from the Indians 
 in that section, he was accompanied by twelve warriors. They came 
 through Williamson county and were talked to by John Phelps, who 
 lived south and west of Marion. 
 
 Colonel George Rogers Clark came through Williamson county with 
 his patriot army in 1778. He entered at the middle of section 34, T. 10, 
 south, R. 2, east, at a place now known as Pulley's Mill. From here 
 he went almost due north to old Bainbridge, thence westward through 
 Crainville, and thence into Jackson county. 
 
 THE JORDAN BROTHERS 
 
 The Jordans, who built the Jordan fort or stockade in southern 
 Franklin, came about 1804. One of these seven brothers settled on 
 the south side of the future dividing line between the two counties. It 
 is claimed that the brother Frank, who settled in Williamson, also built 
 a stockade in the northeast township, in the county of Williamson. 
 Other settlers and their dates are as follows: John Phelps, on Phelps' 
 Prairie near Marion ; Jay and McClure at the Odum Ford ; Joseph and 
 Thomas Griffith at Ward's Mill; William Donald on the Hill place; John 
 Maneece and son James. Phelps' Prairie. These settlers, which were 
 
 Vol. 136 
 
 561
 
 562 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 south and west of the present city of Marion, built a block house on the 
 John Davis place, west of Marion. These all came in 1811. 
 
 In the next year settlers came to the region of the Jordans and to the 
 south side of the county. Quite a few people came to the county in 
 1816 and 1817. In the year 1820 a colored man settled, by the name 
 of Wadkins. It is said nearly all the first settlers were from Tennessee, 
 and previously from Virginia and the Carolinas. 
 
 INDUSTRIES 
 
 Mills for grinding are landmarks in a pioneer country. The order 
 of evolution of the mill seems to be, first, the mortar, next the hand mills, 
 then horse mills, tread mills, water mills and steam mills. The first 
 
 SUNNYSIDE COAL MINE, HERRIN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY 
 
 horse mill was erected in 1817 on the north edge of Phelps' Prairie by 
 Ragsdale Rollins. William Burns erected a cotton gin in 1819. Jonathan 
 Herrin erected a second cotton gin in 1825. The first steam mill was 
 built by Milton Mulkley in Marion in 1845. 
 
 The act of creating the county named Calvin Bridges of Union 
 county, Thornbury C. Anderson of Gallatin, and Jefferson Allen of 
 Jackson county as commissioners to locate the county seat. They met 
 at Bainbridge in the house of William Benson, and chose the site which 
 came to be the city of Marion. The town was surveyed and platted in 
 October, 1839, by Henry W. Perry. 
 
 The first public buildings were a clerk's office and jail. Court was 
 held in the clerk's office. The first jail was partly brick and partly 
 hewn timbers. It stood till 1882, when it was burned. There have been 
 three court houses. 
 
 MEXICAN AND CIVIL WAR MATTERS 
 
 Williamson county sent one company to the Mexican war. It was 
 Company B of the First regiment. Its captain was J. M. Cunningham,
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 563 
 
 the father-in-law of Gen. John A. Logan. But the war history of 
 Williamson county from '61 to '65 would fill several volumes and only 
 a few paragraphs can be given to it. 
 
 The great masses of the people of this county were sympathetic with 
 the secession movement, but John A. Logan was as pronounced in favor 
 of the Union. In a terrible struggle between Logan and a very few 
 friends on the side of the Union, and the masses on the other, Logan 
 won, and by the end of the war Williamson was shouting, marching, 
 sacrificing, for Old Glory. When Logan returned to Marion in 1861 
 it was rumored he would be mobbed. Rebel sympathizers flocked to 
 Marion. It was indeed a critical moment. A few loyal souls came to 
 the support of Logan, among whom was Dr. Samuel M. Mitchell, a warm 
 friend of Logan. Dr. Mitchell* and two or three brave men stood in the 
 
 
 
 PART OF THE BIG RING, WILLIAMSON COUNTY FAIR, MARION, ILLINOIS 
 
 wagon, heavily armed, while Logan made his speech. In front of this 
 little band of fearless friends stood a surging mob of several hundred 
 dangerous men. "The oratory of Logan proved contagious and in a 
 short time he was holding the audience spellbound. Soon they began 
 to cheer, and when he finished they rushed upon the speaker and carried 
 him off in triumph on their shoulders." Of that mob of a thousand men 
 or more, all became loyal friends of the Black Eagle. 
 
 Doctor Mitchell enlisted as surgeon, but was never mustered, because 
 he was the only doctor for many miles in his community Corinth. He 
 cared for the families of those who went to the front and treated the 
 sick and wounded soldiers who were sent back home. His life was 
 threatened by the "Knights of the Golden Circle," and on two special 
 occasions he saved his life only by traveling through by-paths in the 
 woods. He had three or four brothers who were loyal Union men and 
 with their counsel and help he was always able to thwart the designs 
 of the enemies of his country. His son, Dr. H. C. Mitchell, is now a 
 prominent surgeon of Carbondale.
 
 564 HISTORY OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 
 
 TOWNS IN THE COUNTY 
 
 Marion is not the oldest town in the county, though the largest and 
 the county seat. Bainbridge was a village as early as 1818. There are 
 only two or three houses there now. Marion has grown very rapidly 
 since the opening up of the coal fields here some ten or fifteen years 
 ago. It has no manufacturing interests of any importance. A tie pre- 
 serving plant gives employment to a few score men, and there are tile 
 works which employ a few score more. The chief interests are railroad- 
 ing, mining and agriculture. The Marion county fair has come to be 
 very noted and is a stimulus to stock raisers and agriculturalists. 
 
 Marion is a city of 7,093 people. There is a number of mining camps 
 or villages about Marion, where disorder and lawlessness often reign, 
 and this often works to the detriment of Marion's reputation. The 
 people of the city are a cultured, progressive people. There is consider- 
 able wealth in the city, and many retired farmers. 
 
 Other cities are Herrin, with a population of 6,861 ; its chief interests 
 are mining and agriculture. Carterville, a city of 2,791, a mining town. 
 Johnston City, with 3,248 people, beside a dozen towns and villages of 
 more or less importance. Creal Springs, a noted health resort, is some 
 ten miles southeast of Marion. It has famous springs and one of the 
 most substantial resort hotels in all Egypt. A Baptist seminary is also 
 located here. Crab Orchard, an old town, is a few miles east of Marion. 
 It formerly supported an academy, but it has suspended and the build- 
 ing is used by the public school. 
 
 Williamson county and Jaekson constitute the ninth mining district 
 under the laws of Illinois. Williamson has 38 mines, employing a total 
 of 8,532 men and producing 5,180,971 tons of coal annually.

 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 HISTORY OF SOUTHERNIUINOIS: A NARRA1