L I E> RARY OF THE U N I VERSITY or 1 LLI NOIS 97737 ?42h ILL,|i|>,,. j,uaiiE» ilUKOtS liSTOStCiarSllRYtf ■h. HISTORY OF ri D HI im COUMES, ItwEi^IMOI© EHDITEID BY AAriLLI^3^d: ."EiElNrR.'ir I=EI^I?.I2Sr. mLX!JSTrFi5\^KID. (». L. CHICAGO: BASKIN ct CO., HISTORICAL PUBLt8HKR8, LAKESIDE BUILDING. 1883. A, PREFACE. THE history of Crawford aucl Clark Counties, after months of persistent toil and research, is now completed, and it is believed that no subject of universal public importance or inter- est has been omitted, save where protracted effort failed to secure reliable results. We are well aware of our inability to furnish a perfect history from meager public documents and number- less conflicting traditions, but claim to have prepared a work fully up to the standard of our promises. Through the courtesy and assistance generously afforded by the residents of these counties, we have been enabled to trace out and put on record the greater portion of the impor- tant events that have transpired in Crawford and Clark Counties up to the present time. And we feel assured that all thoughtful people in these counties, mw and in future, will recognize and appreciate the importance of the work and its permanent value. A dry statement of facts has, as far as possible, been avoided, and incidents and anecdotes have been woven in with facts and statistics, forming a narrative at once instructive and interest- ing. We are indebted to Hon. E. Callahan for the chapter on the - Bench and Bar' of Crawford County ; to Cxeorge W. Harper, Esq., for a sketch of " the pre^" and to Hon. W. C. Wilson for valuable and important historical data ; also to Hamilton Sutton, Esq., for his very able general history of Clark County ; to H. C. Bradsby, Esq., for the chapter on the '' Bench and Bar" of Clark, and to many other citizens of both counties for material aid to our historians in making the proper compilation of facts embodied in tiie work. April, 1883. , THE PUBLISHERS. 233623 CONTENTS PART I. HISTORICAL. CRAWFORD COtTNTY. I'AOE. CHAPTf^R I.— Introductory — Descriptive— Boundaries and Topography— The Science of Geology— Its Influence on Agriculture and Civilization— Geology of Crawford County— The Coal Measures— Outcrops' of Coal— Build- ing Stone— Its Quality and Durability— Iron Ore — Soils, Timber, etc., etc 11 CHAPTER II.— Pre-historic Occupation of the Country- The Mound Builders— Relics and Works of the Lost Race— The Meroui Mounds — Earthworks and Mounds at Ilutsonville— other Relics, etc.— The Indians— l)ela- wares and Kickapoos— Their Position of Southern Illi- nois—Historical Sketches of their Tribes, etc.— Local Facts and Traditions 18 CHAPTKIE III.— Settlement of the County by White Peo- ple—The Early French Explorers— Their Claim to Illi- nois—Gen. Clark's Expedition to Kaskaskia— Emigrants from the States— Fort Lamotte and the Rangers- The Culloms and Other Pioneers— The Hutson Family — Their Murder by Indians— Pioneer Life — Hardships and Dangers of the AVilderness, etc 29 CHAPTER IV. — Organization of tlie County — Illine, linden, hacki)erry and wild cherry; the soil is very productive, and yields annually large crops of all the cereals usually grown in this latitude. The varieties of timber observed in this county are the common species of oak a)id hickory, black and white walnut, white and sugar maple, slippery and red elm, honey lo- cust, linden, hackberry, ash, red birch, cotton- wood, sycamore, coffeenut, black gum, pecan, persimmon, pawpaw, red fliorn, crab apple, wild pl.um, sassafras, red bud, dogwood, iron wood, etc., etc. CHAPTER II.* PRE-HISTORIC OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTRY— THE MOUND BUILDERS— RELTCS AND WORKS OF THE LOST RACE— THE MEROM MOUNDS— EARTHWORKS AND MOUNDS AT HUTSONVILLE— OTHER RELICS. ETC.-THE INDIANS— DELA WARES AND KICKAPOOS— THEIR POSSESSION OF SOUTHERN ILLI- NOIS— fflSTORICAL SKETCHES OF THEIR TRIBES, ETC —LOCAL FACTS AND TRADITIONS. " The verdant, hills Are covered o'er with growing grain, And white men till the soil Where once the red man used to reign." LONG ago, before this country was pos- sessed by the red Indian, it was occupied by another race — the Mound Builders — wliose works constitute the most interesting class of antiquities found in the United States. These relics and works of a lost race, ante- date the most ancient records, and their cliar- acter can only be partially gleaned from the internal evidences which the works them- selves afford. Of the strange people who reared them, we know absolutely nothing be- yond conjecture. If we knock at their tombs, no spirit comes back with a response, and only a sepulchral echo of forgetfulness and death reminds us how vain is the attempt to unlock the mysterious past upon which ob- livion has fixed its seal. How forcibly their bones, moldering into dust in the mounds they heaped up, and the perishing relics they left behind them, illustrate the transitory character of human existence. Generation after generation lives, moves and is no more; time has strewn the track of its ruthless march with the fragments of mighty empires; and at length not even their names nor works *By W. H. Pei-rin. have an existence in the speculations of those who take their places. Modern investigations have thrown much light upon the origin of the human race. A writer upon the pre-historio period, savs: "The combined investigations of geologists and ethnologists have developed facts which require us to essentially modify our pre-exist- ing views as to the length of time during which the human race has occupied our planet. That man lived at a time far too re- mote to be embraced in our received system of chronology, surrounded by great quadru- peds which have ceased to exist, under a climate very different from what now prevails, has been so clearly demonstrated that the fact must now be accepted as a scientific truth. Revelations so startling, have been received with disquiet and distrust by those who adhere to the chronology of Usher and Petarius, which would bring the various mi- grations of men, the confusion of tongues, the peopling of continents, the development of types, and everything relating to human history, within the short compass of little more than four thousand years. " Those great physical revolutions in Eu- rope, such as the contraction of the glaciers within narrow limits, the gradual change of the Baltic from salt to brackish water, the submergence and subsequent elevation of a HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 19 large portion of southern Russia and northern Germany, the conversion of a portion of the bod of the Mediterranean Sea into the desert of Sahara, the severance of France from En- gland, Europe from Africa and Asia from Europe, by the Straits of Dover, Gibralter and the Dardanelles, and the dying out of the volcanic fires of Auvergne — all these great physical changes which geologists, by univer- sal consent, admitted were infinitely older than any authentic history or tradition, must now be comprehended in the Human Epoch." Says Sir John Lubbock: "Ethnology is passing through a phase from which other sci- ences have safely emerged, and the new views in reference to the Antiquity of Man, though still looked upon with distrust and apprehension, will, I doubt not, in a few years, be regarded with as little disquietude as are now those discoveries in astronomy and geol- ogy which at one time excited even greater opposition." However strange these new views may appear, they but prove the origin of man at a time, as previously stated, far too remote to be embraced in the " received sys- tem of chronology." Speaking of the ruins of the magnificent cities of Central America, Davidson says: "The mind is almost startled at the remoteness of their antiquity, when we consider the vast sweep of time necessary to erect such colossal structures of solid ma- sonry, and afterward convert them into the present utter wreck. Comparing their com- plete desolation with the ruins of Baalbec, Palmyra, Thebes and Memphis, they must have been old when the latter were being built." The relics and ruins left by the Mound Builders — the lost race which now repose un- der the ground — consist of the remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifi- cations and pleasure grounds. The farthest of these discovered in a northeastern direc- tion was near Black River, on the south side of Lake Ontario. From this point they ex- tend in a southwestern direction, by way of the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico, Te.xas, New Mexico and Yucatan, into South America. Commencing in Cattaraugus Coun- ty, N. Y., there was a chain of these forts and earthworks, extending more than fifty miles southwesterly, and not more than four or five miles apart, evidently built by a people "rude in the arts and few in numbers." Particularly in the Ohio and Mississippi Val- leys are located many of these works, and some of the most extensive known to exist. " One of the most august monuments of re- mote antiquity," says Foster, " to be found in the whole country^, may stdl be seen in West Virginia, near the junction of Grave Creek and the Ohio River. According to actual measurement it has an altitude of ninety feet, a diameter at the base of 100 feet, at the summit of forty-five, while a partial examination has disclosed within it the ex- istence of many thousands of human skele- tons." In the State of Ohio, at the mouth of the Muskingum, among a number of curious works, was a rectangular fore containing forty acres, encircled by a wall of earth ten feet high, and perforated with openings resem- bling gateways. In the mound near the fort were found the remains of a sword, which appeared to have been buried with the owner. Resting on the forehead were found three large copper bosses, plated with silver, and attached to a leather buckler. Near the side of the body was a plate of silver, which had perhaps been the upper part of a copper scabbard, portions of which were filled with iron rust, doubtless the remains of a sword. The earthwoiks which seem to have been erected as means of defense, usuaiy occupy hill-tops and other situations easily fortified, to put it in modern terms. In Ross County, Ohio, is a fair illustration of this class, and is 20 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. thus described by Squier and Davis, two emi- nent archaeologists: "This work occupies the summit of a lofty, d it lolied hil!, tw Ive miles westward from tlie city of Cliillicothe, near th.i viihige of Bjunieviile. The hill is no; far from Oiie h.indred feet m perpendicular height, and is remarkable, even among the steep hills of the west, for the general abrupt- ness of its sides, which at some points are ab- solutely inaccessible. * * * * 'pijg jp. fenses consist of a wall of stone, which is carried round the hill a little below the brow; but at some places it rises, so as to cut off the narrow spurs, and extends across the neck that connects the hill with the range beyond." Nothing like a true wall, however, exists there now, but the "present appearance is rather what might have been expected from the falling outward of a wall of stones, placed, as this was, upon the declivity of a hill." The area inclosed by this wall was 140 acres, and the wall itself was two miles and a quarter in length. Trees of the largest size now grow upon these ruins. On a similar work in Highland County, O.iio, Messrs. Squier and Davis found a large chest- nut tree, which they supposed to be 600 years old. " If to this we add," they say, " the probable period intervening from the time of the building of this work to its abandon- ment, and the subsequent period up to its invasion by the forest, we are led irresistibly to the conclusion that it has an antiquity of at least one thousand years. Bat when W3 notice, all around us, the crumbling trunks of trees, half hidden in the accumulating soil, we are induced to fix on an antiquity still more remote." At Merom, Indiana, are works of a very interesting character, which have been thoroughly investigated and described by scientists. These works have yielded a num- ber of skulls, which, says Foster, " will form the basis of certain ethnic speculations as to the character of the Mound Builder, and his affiliation with other distinct and widely disseminated peoples." Mr. F. W. Putnam thus describes them: "The fort is situated on a plateau of Loess, about 120 feet in height ar)ove low water, on the east bink of the river. On the river side, the bank, which principally consists of an outcrop of sand- stone, is very steep, and from the western line of the fortification, while deep ravines add to its strength on the other side; the weak points being strengthened by earthworks. The general course of the work is from the north, where it is very narrow, not over fifty feet, owing to the formation of the plateau, south along the river bank aliout 725 feet to its widest portion, which is here about .S75 feet east and west. From this point it follows a deep ravine southerly about 4130 feet to the entrance end of the fort. The bank trav- ersed by the entrance road is here much wider than at other portions, and along its outer wall, running eastward, are the remains of what was evidently once a deep ditch. The outer wall is about thirty feet wide, and is now about one and a half feet high; a de- pressed portion of the bank, or walk-way, then runs parallel with the outer wall, and the bank is then contiinud for about twenty feet further into the fort, but of slightly less height than the front. Through the center of these banks there are the remains of a dis- tinct road-way, about ten feet in width. From the northeastern corner of this wide wall the line continues northwesterly about 350 feet, along the eastern ravine, to a point where there is a spring, and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 feet to the south- west. The mouth of the indenture is about 75 feet in width, and the work is here strengthened by a double embankment. The natural line of the work follows this indent- ure, and then continues in the same northerly course along the banks of the ravine to the HISTORY OF CRAWFOUD COUNTY. 21 narrow portion of tlie plateau, about 550 feet, to the starting point. There is thus a con- tinual line, in part natural and in part artifi- cial, which, if measured in all its little ins and outs, would not be far from 2,-150 feet. Be- sides the spring mentioned as in the indent- ure of the eastern ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine, about 175 feet to the north of the first, and a third in the south- western corner of the work. Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this loca- tion, it is the one spot of the region, for sev- eral miles along the river, that would be se- lected to-day for the erection of a fortification in the vicinjty, with the addition of the pos- session of a small eminence to the north, which in these days of artillery would com- mand the fort. Having this view in mind, a careful examination was made of the eminence mentioned, to see if there had been an op- posing or protective work there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork fortification or mounds of habitation was discovered. * * * * On crossing the outer wall, a few low mounds are at once noticed, and all around are seen large, circular depressions. At the southern portion of the fort, these de- pressions, of which there are forty-five in all, are most numerous, thirty-seven being located on the northern side of the indenture of the eastern ravine. These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty-five or thirty feet, and are irregularly arrangeil. One of the six depressions opposite the indenture of the eastern ravine is oval in shape, and is the only one that is not nearly circular, the others varying but a foot or two in diameter. Two of these depressions were dug into, and it was found that they were evidently once large pits that had gradually been filled by the hand of time with the ac- cumulation of vegetable matter and soil that had been deposited by natural action alone. In some instances large trees are now grow- . ing in the pits, and their many roots make digging difficult. A trench was dug across one pit, throwing out the soil care'fully until the former bottom was reached at a depth of about five feet. On' this bottom, ashes and burnt clay gave evidence of an ancient fire; and at a few feet on one side, several pieces of pottery, a few bones of animals, and one stone arrow-head were found. A spot had evidently been struck where food had been cooked and eaten; and though there was not time to open other pits, there is no doubt but that they would tell a similar story; and the legitimate conclusion to he drawn from the fact is, that these pits were the houses of the inhabitants or defenders of the fort, who were probably further protected from the elements and the arrows of assailants by a roof of logs and bark or boughs. The great number of the pits would show that they were not for a definite and general purpose; and tlioir reg- ular arrangement would indicate that they were not laid out with the sole idea of acting as places of defense; though those near the walls of the fort might answer as covers, from which to fire on an opposing force boyond the walls; and the six pits near the eastern indent- ure, in front of three of which there are traces of two small earth- walls, would strengthen this view of the use of those near the em- bankment. The five small mounds ware sit- uated in various parts of the inclosure. The largest was nearly fifty feet in diameter and was probably originally not over ten feet in height. It had been very nearly dug away in places, but about one fifth of the lower portion had not been disturbed. From this was exhumed one nearly perfect human skel- eton, and parts of several others that had been left by former excavators. This mound also contained several bones of animals, prin- cipally of deer, bear, opossum and turtles; fragments of pottery, one arrow-head, a few flint chips and a number of thick shells of itnios. 22 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. two of which hii'l been bored near the hino^e. This mound has yielded a number of human bones to the industry of Dr. H. Frank Har- per. The second mound, which was partly opened, was some twenty-five feet in diame- ter and a few feet in heijjht, though probably once much higher. In this a number of bones of deer and other animals were found, sev- eral pieces of pottery, a number of shells and a few human bones. The other three mounds, one of which is not over ten or twelve feet in diameter and situated the farthest north, were not examined internally. The position of all the mounds within the inclosure, is such as to suggest that they were used as ob- servatories; and it may yet be questioned if the human and other remains found in them were placed there by the occupants of the fort, or are to be considered under the head of iiitntsioe burials by the later race. Per- haps a further study of the bones may settle the point. That two races have buried their dead within the inclosure is made probable by the finding of an entirely different class of burials at the extreme western point of the fortiftcation. At this point Dr. Harper, the year previous, had discovered three stone graves, in which he found portions of the skeletons of two adults and one child. These graves, the stones of one being still in place, were found to be made by placing thin slabs on end, forming the sides and ends, the tops being covered by other slabs, making a rough stone coffin in which the bodies had been placed. There was no indication of any mound having been ere 'ted, and they were placed slightly on the slope of the bank. This kind of burial is so distinct from that of the burials in the mound, that it is possible that the acts mav be referred to two distinct races who have occupied the territory successively, though they may prove to be of the same time, and simply indicate a special mode, adopted for a distinctive purpose." We have devoted considerable space to the Merom Mounds, from the fact that their near proximity renders them of peculiar interest in the history of Crawford County, more espe- cially, as another group of mounds on the west side of the Wabash, near Hutsonville, were investigated and described by the party to whom we are indebted for the foregoing description of the works near Merom. Of the mounds near Hutsonville, the same authority says: "A group of fifty-nine mounds is to be seen a few miles Up the river from Merom, on the Illinois side at Hutsonville. The relative position and size of the mounds are shown by a cut from a plan made by Mr. Emerton. This group commences just beyond the river- terrace, and widens out to the east and west, covering a distance of about 1,000 feet from the mound on the extreme east to that furthest west, and continues southward, back from the river, on the second or prairie-terrace, some 1,400 or 1,500 feet. The greater number of the mounds forming the group are situated in the northern half of the territory covered, while only ten are on the south of this central line. The mounds are very irregularly dis- posed over the territorv included in the limits, and vary in size from fourteen to eighteen feet to forty-five or fifty in diameter, and are now from a foot and a half to five feet in height, though probably formerly much higher. Four of the mounds at the southern portion of the group were surrounded by a low ridge, now somewhat indistinct, but still in places about a foot in height. These ridges are com- posed of dirt, evidently scooped -up from round the base of the mounil, as between the ridge and the mound there is still a slight and even depression. The ridges about the southernmost mounds have openings nearly facing each other, while the one to the north of them has the ridge broken on both the eastern and western sides, and the one stdl further to the north has the ridge entire. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 23 "In referring to this group of mounds I have called them mounds of habitation, and it seems as if that was most likely to have been their use. First, from the character of the surrounding country, which is level, and only some twenty-five or thirty feet above the present level of the river, with every indica- tion of a clear, damp soil in former times, though the part now under cultivation is cov- ered with a heavy growth of trees, several large trees even growing immediately on some of the mounds. ^Yhat would be more natural to persons wishing to avail themselves of this tenace-prairie and proximity to the river, than to make a mound on which to erect their dwelling? " Socondiv, their great variation in size and irre2;ularity in positiou would indicate that a number of persons had got together for some common purpose, and each family working with a common view to provide for certain ends, had erected a mound, varying in size according to the number at work upon it, or the degree of industry with which its makers worked during the time at their disposal. "Thirdly, four of the mounds were most carefully examined, to ascertain if they were places of burial, one of them being opened by diaro-ino- a trench through it some three or four feet in width, and to a depth of about one to two feet below the level of the surface on which the mound was built. The other three were opened from the top, by digging down in the center until the original under- lined surface was reached. None of these ex- cavations brought a single bone or an imple- ment of any kind to light, but, on the con- trary, showed that the mounds had been made of various materials at hand, and in one case ashes were found which had probably been scraped up with other material and thrown upon the heap. "Fourthly, the ridge surrounding four of the mounds may be the dirt thrown up to help support a palisade or stake fence enclosing these particular mounds for some special pur- pose. The absence of human remains and all refuse in the shape of kitchen heaps, as well as implements, would seem to indicate that it w.is a place of resort at special seasons, or for some particular purpose. That the mounds are of quite ancient date there can be no question; but beyond the fact that at least a second growth of trees has taken place on some of them, we have no data for indi- cating their age." There are no other mounds or earthworks, so far as we have been able to learn, in the county. But in many portions of the Slate they are numerous, and in some very large. Between Alton and East St. Louis there is a group containing some sixty odd structures in which is included the great mound of Ca- hokia, which is denominated the " monarch of all similar structures in the United States." But our space will not admit of further de- scription of the works and relics left by this strange people — works that contain no in- scriptions which, like those found on the plains of Shinar, or in the valley of the Nile, can unfold the mysterious of by -gone centu- ries. The questions, who were the Mound Builders? who reared these mysterious struct- ures? have never been satisfactorily answered. We can only exclaim with Bryant — " A race that long has passed away Built them, a disciplined and populous race, Heaped with long toil the earth, while yet the Greek Wiis hewing the Pentelicus to forms Of syuim 'try, and reaving on its rock The glittering Parthenon." Following the Mound Builders, and sup- posed by some writers to have been their conquerors, came the red Indians, the next occupants of this country. They were found here by the Europeans, but how long they had been in possession of the country, there is no means of knowing. Like their precur- 24 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. Bors, the Mound Builders, " no historian has preserved the story of tlieir race." Tlie question of the origin of the Indian has long interested archasologists, and is one of the most difficult they have been called on to answer. It is believed by some that they were an original race indigenous to the Western Hemisphere. A more common sup- position, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and even when tradition is wanting, any attempt to point out the par- ticular theater of their origin must prove un- satisfactory. The exact place of their origin, doubtless, will never be known, yet the striking coincidences of physical organization between the oriental types of mankind point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place from whence they emigrated. Instead of 1,800 years, the time of their roving in the wilds of America, as determined by Spanish interpretation of their pictographic records, the interval has perhaps been thrice that pe- riod. Scarcely three thousand years would suffice to blot out every trace of the language they brought with them from the Asiatic cradle of the race, and introduce the present diversity of aboriginal tongues. Like their oriental progenitors, they have lived for cent- uries without progress, while the Caucasian variety of the race, under the transforming power of art, science and improved systems of civil polity, have made the most rapid ad- vancement. At the time of their departure eastward a strong current of emigration flowed westward to Europe, making it a great arena of human effort and improvement. Thence proceeding further westward, it met, in America, the midway station in the circuit of the globe, the opposing current direct from ^sia. The shock of the first contact was the beginning of the great conflict which has since been waged by the rival sons of Shem and Japheth.* The first thought of the red men, when hostilities commenced on the Atlantic border, was to retire westward. Fiom the eastern shores of the continent they were pressed backward toward the setting sun, strewing their path with the bones and skeletons of their martyred warriors. They crossed the Al- leghanies, and, descending the western slope, chanting the death-songs of their tribe, they poured into the Mississippi Valley. Halting upon the prairies of the"Illini," amid the forests that bounded the southern streams and shaded the luxurious valleys, the warlike Delawares and the bloodthirsty Kickapoos made the last home of their own choosing. How long they occupied this section of the State, is not definitely known, for no rude pyramid of stone or " misshapen tomb," with traditional narratives transmitted by heredi- tary piety from age to age, tell the exact pe- riod of time when they first planted their wigwams on the banks of the Embarras and the Wabash. It is enough to say, however, that they were not allowed to remain here in peace. From across the ocean the colonists of a new and powerful people came, and ef- fected a lodgment at isolated spots within hearing of the roar of the Atlantic surf. They grew into a great multitude, and like the little stone cut out of the mountains by unseen hands, were rolling on as a mighty avalanche, overv;helming all in its way. In the early glimmering of the nineteenth cent- ury, the Indians were forced to take up their line of march from southern Illinois, nor al- lowed to pause, until far beyond the great Father of Waters. The Indians occupying this portion of Illi- nois, when the first actual settlers came to * Davidson. HISTOR'i OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the territory, were the Delawares and Kicka- poos, with occasional small bands from other tribes. The Delawares called themselves Jjcnno Lenape, which signifies " original " or "unmixed" men. "When first met with by Europeans," says Gallatin, " they occupied a district of country bounded easterly by the Hudson River and the Atlantic; on the west their territories extended to tiie ridge sepa- rating the flow of the Delaware from the other streams emptying into tlie Susquehanna River and Ciiesapeake Bay." The Delawares had been a migratory people. According to their own traditions, many hundred years ago, they resided in the western part of the conti- nent; thence, by slow emigration, they reached the Alleghany River, so called from a nation of giants, the " Allegewi," against whom they (the Delawares) and the Iroq\iois (the latter also emigrants from the west) car- ried on successful war; and still proceeding eastward, settled on the Dela,ware, Hudson, Susquehanna, and Potomac Rivers, making the Delaware the center of their possessions. By the other Algonquin tribes the Delawares were regarded with the utmost respect and veneration. They were called "fathers," " grandfathers," etc.* The Quakers who settled Pennsylvania treated the Delawares in accordance with the rules of justice and equity. The result was that, during a period of sixty 3'ears, peace and the utmost harmony prevailed. This is the only instance in the settling of America by the English, where uninterrupted friend- ship and good will existed between the col- onists and the aboriginal inhabitants. Grad- ually, and by peaceable means, the Quakers obtained possession of the greater . part of their territory, and the Delawares were in the same situation as other tribes — without lands, ' Taylor's History. without means of subsistence, and were threatened with starvation. The territory claimed by the Delawares subsequent to their being driven westward from their former possessions, by their old enemies, the Iroquois, is established in a paper addressed to Congress, May 10, 1779, from delegates assembled at Princeton, N. J. The boundaries as declared in the address were as follows: " From the mouth of the Alleghany River at Fort Pitt, to the Venango, and from thence up French Creek, and by Le Bceuf (the present site of ^yaterford, Penn.) along the old road to Presque Isle, onthe east; the O'lio River, including all the islands in it, from Fort Pitt to the Ouabache, o?i the south; thence up the River Ouabache to that branch, Ope-co-mee-cah, (the Indian name of White River, Indiana,) and up the same to the head thereof; from thence to the headwaters and springs of the Great Miami, or Rocky River; thence across to the head- waters of the most northeastern branches of the Scioto River; thence to the westernmost springs of the Sandusky River; thence down said river, including the islands in it and in the little lake (Sandusky Bay), to Lake Erie, on the west and northioest, and Lake Erie, on the north." These Ijoundaries contain the cessions of lands made to the Delaware Nation by the Wyandotts, the Hurons, and Iroquois. The Delawares, after Gen. Wayne's signal victory in 1794, came to realize that further contests with the American colonies would be worse than useless. They, therefore, submit- ted to the inevitable, acknowledged the su- premacy of the whites, and desired to make peace with the victors. At tlie close of the treaty at Greenville, made in 1795 by Gen. Wayne, Bu-kon-ge-he-las, a Delaware chief of great inOuence in his tribe, spoke as fol- lows: "Father, your children all well under- stand the sense of the treaty which is now concluded. We experience daily proofs of 26 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. your increasing kindness. I hope we mav all have sense enough to enjoy our dawning happiness. All who know me, know me to be a man and a warrior, and I now declare that I will, for the future, be as steady and true; friend to the United States as I have, heretofore, been an active enemy." This promise of Bu-kon-ge-he-las was faithfully kept by his people. They evaded all the eiforts of the Shawanee prophet, Te- cumseh, and the British, who endeavored to induce them, by threats or bribes, to violate it. They remained faithful to the United States during the war of 1812, and, with the Shawaneos, furnished some very able war- riors and scouts, who rendered valuable serv- ice to the United States during this war. After the Greenville treaty the great body of Delavvares removed to their lands on White River, Indiana, whither some of their people had preceded them, while a large body of them crossed the Wabash into Southern Illi- nois. They continued to reside on White River and the Wabash, and their branches, until 1819, when most of them joined the band emigrating to Missouri, upon the tract of land granted by the Spanish authorities in 1793, jointly to them and the Shawanese. Others of their number who remained behind, scattered themselves among the Miamis, Pottavratomies and Kickapoos, while others, including the Moravian converts, went to Canada. The majority of the nation, in 1829, settled on the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. They numbered about 1,000, were brave, enterpris- ing hunters, cultivated lands and were friendly to the whites. In 1853 they sold the Government all the lands granted them, ex- cepting a reservation in Kansas. During the late Rebellion, they sent to the United States army 170 out of their 200 able-bodied men. Like their ancestors, they proved valiant and trustworthy soldiers. The Kickapoos, who also dwelt in this por- tion of the State, were but a remnant of a once powerful tribe of Indians. The follow- ing bit of history contains some items of in- terest: In 1763 the Kickapoos occupied the country southwest of the southern e.xtremity of Lake Michigan. They subsequently moved further south, and at a more recent date dwelt in portions of the territory on the Mackinaw and Sangamon Rivers, and had a village on Kickapoo Creek, and at Elkhart Grove, from which they roamed southward hunting game. They were more civilized, industrious, energetic and cleanly than the neighboring tribes, and, it may also be added, more implacable in their hatred of the Amer- icans. They were among the first to com- mence battle, and the last to submit and enter into treaties. Unappeasable enmity led them into the field against Gens. Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne, and to be first in all the bloody charges on the field of Tip- pecanoe. They were prominent among the Northern Nations, which, for more than a century, waged an exterminating war against the Illinois Confederacy. Their last hostile act of this kind was perpetrated in 1805, against some poor Kaskaskia children whom they found gathering strawberries on the prairie above the town which bears the name of their tribe. Seizing a considerable num- ber of them, they fled to their villages before the enraged Kaskaskias could overtake them and rescue their offspring. During the \'ears 1810 and 1811, iij conjunetion with the Chip- pew.is, Pottawatomies and Ottawas, they committed so many thefts and murders on the frontier settlements that Gov. Edwards was compelled to employ military force to suppress them. When removed from Illi- nois they still retained their old animosities against the Americans, and went to Texas, then a province of Mexico, to get beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. ~T* ' W I lOj V( fytl-JL Coi-VhyP L^iyO CHAPTER III.* SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTY BY WHITE PEOPLE-THE EARLY FRENCH EXPLORERS- THEIK CLAIM TO ILLINOIS-GEN. CLARK'S EXPEDITION TO KASKASKIA-EMI- GRANTS FROM THE STATES-FORT LAMOTTE AND THE RANGERS— THE CULLOMS AND OTHER PIONEERS-THE HUTSON FAM- ILY—THEIR MURDER BY INDIANS-PIONEER LIFE— HARDSHIPS AND DANGERS OF THE WILDERNESS, ETC. ' As some lone wanderer o'er this weary world Oft sits him down beneath some friendly shade, And backward casts a long and lingering look O'er the rough journey he has thus far made So should we pause " AS the Indians succeeded the Mound Build- ers in this territory, so the Anglo-Saxons followed close in the footsteps of the retreat- ing savages. The first white people who laid claim to the country now embraced in tiie State of Illinois were subjects of vine-clad France. The interest which attaches to all that is connected with the explorations and discoveries of the early French travelers in th(^ Northwest but incr(!ases with the rolling years. A little more than two centuries ago, such men as ^Marquette, La Salle, Joliet, De Frontenac, Hennepin, the Chevalier de Trull, Ciiarlevoix, and other Frenchmen, traversed the territory now embraced in the great State of Illinois, and made settlements along the Mississippi, Illinois and Wabash Rivers. Upon many trees and stones were to be seen the impress of thojieur de lis of France, and Kas- kaskia, Cahokia and Vincennes became enter- prising French towns, surrounded by flourish- ing settlements. The sainted Marquette dis- covered the " Great Fatlier of Waters," and spent years of toil and labor and privation *By W. H. Perrin. in explorations, and in christianizing the na- tives, then laid down his life, with no kind hand to " smooth his dying pillow," other than his faithful Indian converts. La Salle penetrated to the mouth of the Mississippi, and there, on the shores of the Mexican Gulf, alter planting the royal standard of France, and claiming the country in the name of his king, was basely and treacherously murdered by his own followers. For almost a hundred years (from 1080) this country was under French dominion. But in the great struggle between France and Eng- land, known in our history as the "old French and Indian War," it was wrested from France, and at the treaty of Paris, February 16, 1763, she relinquished to England all the territory she claimed east of the Mississippi River, from its source to Bayou Iberville; and "the Illinois country" passed to the ownership of Great Britain. Less than a quarter of a cent- ury passed, however, and England was dis- possessed of it by her naughty child, who had grown somewhat unfdial. In 1778, Gen. Georire Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary officer of bravery and renown, with a handful of the ragged soldiers of freedom, under commission from the governor of Virginia, conquered the country, and the banner of the thirteen colonies floated in the breeze for the first time on the banks of the Mississippi. Thus in the natural 30 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. course of events, the lilies of France drooped and wilted before the majestic tread of the British lion, who, in his turn, quailed and cowered beneath the scream of the American eao-le. The conquest of Gen. Clark made Illinois a county of Virginia, and wrested it forever from foreign rule. This acquisition of territory lirought many adventurous indi- viduals hither, and southern Illinois soon be- came the great center of attraction. But a few years after Clark captured Vincennes and kaskaskia, emigrants began to cross the Wabash, and to contest the red man's title to these fertile lands. As to the motives which set journeying hither so many people from the States south of the Ohio, we confess to have been moder- ately curious, until fully enlightened by a thorough investigation. Many of them had not reached life's meridian, but they were men inured to toil and danger. They were hopeful, courageous, and poor in actual worth, but rich in possibilities; men with iron nerves, and wills as firm as the historic granite upon which the Pilgrim Fathers stepped from the deck of the Mayflower, in 1020. Illinois was a territory when the first settlers came, reposing under the famous ordinance of 1787, and many of these pioneers have left their record, that they sought homes here because the land would not be blemished by negro slavery; or, that civil and social distinctions would be yielded only to those who owned " niggers." A fat soil, ready for the plow, cheap lands and a temperate climate, were not peculiar to Illi- nois, or to Crawford County. For the grand simplicity of their lives and their sturdy virtue, these early settlers got recognition and fame, as Enoch Arden did — after death. They had been brought up, many of them, amid " savage scenes and perils of war," where the yell of the Indian and the howl of the wolf were the principal music to lull them to sleep in their childhood and youtii. Such were the men who formed the advance guard — the picket line of the grand army of emigrants that were to follow, and people and improve the great northwest. They ac- complished the task assigned them, and have passed away. The last of the old guard are gone, and many of their children, too, have followed them to that " bourne whence no traveler returns." We can not write history as a blind man goes about the streets, feeling his way with a stick. The facts are transparent, and through them we catch gleams of other facts, as the raindrop catches light, and the beholder sees the splendor of the rainbow. We are to speak of common men, whose lot was to plant civilization here, and who, in doing it, displayed the virtues which render modern civilization a boast and a blessing. These . early times can not be reproduced by any prose of a historian. They had a thousand years behind them, and in their little space of time they made greater progress than ten centuries had witnessed. Theirs was a full life; the work thirty generations had not done, they did, and the abyss between us of to-day and the men of seventy-five years ago is wider and more profound than the chasm between 1815 and the battle of Hastings. They did so much that it is hard to recognize the doers; they had a genius for doing great things. That olive leaf in the dove's beak perished as do other leaves, but the story it told is immortal. Of their constancy, one can judge by the fact that none went back to their ancestral homes. They "builded wiser than they knew," and the monuments of their enernry and perseverance still stand in per- petuation of their memory. The only history worth writing is the his- tory of civilization, of the processes which made a State. For men are but as coral, feeble, insignificant, working out of sight, but they transmit some occult quality or_ HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 31 'power, upheave society, until from the moral and intellectual plateau rises, as Saul, above his fellows, a Shakespeare, a Phidias or a lliimilton, the royal interpreters of the finest sense in poetry, in art and statesmanship. At the last, years color life more than cent- uries had, as the sun rises in an instant, tiioutrh he had beeu hours in hastening to this moment. The French, as we have shown, were the first white people who possessed this country. The first regular settlements made in the present county of Crawford, were in and around Palestine. There is a tradition, that the first settlers found an old Frenchman named Lamotte, living near the margin of the prairie which still bears his name. But little, however, is known of him, or hia residence here. One fact there is, which is borne out by the records of the county, that Lamotte owned considerable lands on this side of the Wabash, but whether he lived here is by some deemed problematical. As Vincennes was, however, a French town, from whence many of its people came into Illinois, there is no just ground for controverting the state- ment that Lamotte actually lived in what is now Crawford County, especially when we reflect that Lamotte Prairie, Lamotte Creek and Fort Lamotte, the latter the site of Pal- estine, all bear his name. There were a few French families among the early settlers of the county, but eventually we believe most of them returned to the east bank of the Wa- bash, or removed to Kaskaskia and St. Louis. It is not known with perfect certaintv at the present day, who was tha first actual set- tler from the States to locate within the pres- ent limits of the county. The first deed re- corded in the clerk's office is dated December 10, ISlO, and is from .John Dunlap, of Edwards County, to Samuel Harris, but it is beyond dispute that there was a considerable settle- ment here several years prior to that time. The following families, so far as we can learn, were among the first settlers: The Eatons, Van Winkles, McGahoys, ' Kitchells, Wood- worths, Culloms, Woods, Isaac Hutson, Dr. Hill, the Lagows, Brimberrys, Wilsons, Wal- drops, Piersons, Houstons, Kennedys and the Newlins. The Eatons are believed to have been here as early as 1809, and very gener- ally admitted to have been the first actual settlers though no one can definitely settle the point now. There were Benjamin, Joseph, John, Stephen and Richard Eaton. They were genuine pioneers and frontiersmen, and were in the fort at Palestine. They dis- agreed with some of the other inmates of the fort, withdrew from it and built another fort at some distance, which received the name of Fort Foot, in consequence of the fact that the Eatons possessed extraordinarily large feet. The McGaheys (Allen and David) are supposed to have come to the country in iS09 or ])erhaps in 1810; Dan and Green Van Winkle also came about 1810; the Woods in 1811, and Hutson in 1812. Isaac, Joseph and William Pierson came perhaps the same year. The others mentioned all came in early — prior to 1818, and several of them became prominent in the history of the county, as more particularly detailed in other chapters of this volume. Woodworth was the second sheriff of the county; the Mc- Gaheys served in the legislature and in other positions, while the Lagows and Houstons were also active citizens, as elsewhere noticed. The Kitchells were perhaps the most prom- inent among the early families in the county. The names of Joseph and Wickliffe Kitchell are not only connected with the history of this county, but with that of the State. They were from Virginia and possessed much of the social qualities and cordiality of manners characteristic of the old Virginia type of gentleman. As Attorney-General of the State, in the State Senate and legislature. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNT V. and in the land office, they left their impress. More will be said of them in connection with the court and bar. Edward N. Cullom, next to the Kitchells, was one of the most prominent of the early settlers, and has a son, Leonard D. Cullom, still livincr in Lawrenceville, 111. Mr. Cul- lom landed at Palestine November 25, 1814, or rather at Fort Lamotte, where Palestine now stands. We are informed by Mr. Leon- ard Cullom, whom we visited at his home in Lawrenceville, that when his father's family arrived at Fort Lamotte, there were then within its protecting walls twenty-six fami- lies, and ninety rangers, who were stationed there for the purpose of guarding these isolat- ed settlers. This blockhouse or fort had been erected here about the commencement of the war of 1812, and the rangers quartered in it were under the command of Capt. Pierce Andrew, a frontier officer. Mr. Cullom now only remembers, among those living in the fort, the following families: Isaac and Sam- uel Brimberry, Thomas and James Kennedy, the Batons, the Shaws, .Joseph Waldrop and two sons — William and .John — the Garrards, the Woods, David Shook and a man named Harding. The latter was " skin dresser," and a rather disagreeable man in his family. Mr. Cullom calls to mind a circumstance in which Harding figured conspicuously, in the day> when they were "forted." Harding, for whipping his wife, was taken by the rangers and shut up in his " skin-house," a house ■where he was in the habit of smoking and drying his skins, and put through much the same process for indulging in such family pastimes. Edward N. Cullom eame from Waj'ne County, Ky., making the trip in wagons, the principal mode of transportation at that time. He raised a number of stalwart sons, some of whom were prominent men as well as their father in the county. They were Francis, William, Leonard D., Edward N., Thomas F., and George W. Leonard was 14 years old when his father came to the county, and George W. was the only one of his sons born in the new home. Mr. Cullom was a man of considerable prominence in the county, and served in a number of responsible positions. When he came here he bought the land on which the fort stood (including the improvement on it) for $4.1(5 per acre. The improvement had been made by Brimberry. He bought and entered other lands until he owned several thousand acres. The first summer Cullom raised a large crop of corn, and the winter fol- lowing he loaded a flat boat with corn, and took it to New Orleans. It was the first boat that ever went out of the Wabash River from the Illinois side. He paid S150 for the boat, and at New Orleans, sold it and the cargo for $1,:S00 in money; then made his %vay home overland through the " Indian Nation," as it was then known. His money was in two $500 "post notes," as they were called, or bank drafts, and the remainder in specie. That was an enormous sum of money lor those days, and Cullom was considered a very rich man. He laid it out mostly in lands, and be- came one of the largest land owners in South- ern Illinois. In later years, however, he lost the large part of it by going the security of others, and died comparatively a poor man. The following comjirises many of the early settlers of the county, though it is by no means a complete list: Edward N. Cullom and his sons, John Dunlap, Edward H. Piper, Joseph Malcom, John Malcom, George W. Kinkade, Joseph Cheek, Isaac Moore, James Gibson, Thomas Gill, John Cowan, Thomis Handj', William Lockard, John Allison,William How- ard, Charles Neely, George Catron, James Caldwell, James Ray, Isaac Parker, Arthur Jones, James Shaw, Smith Shaw, S. B. A. Car- ter, Chester Fitch, David Porter, Jan Martin, J. IIISTOUV OF CRAWFOUD COUNTY. Gallon, John Garrard, Ulialkev Draper, Joha Berry, Isaac Gain, George W. Carter, John Mills, ^yillialn Hugh Miller, Jacob Blaze, William Y. Hacket, James Gill, Abram Coon- rod, William Lowe, Seth Gard, Peter Keene, Samuel Harris, William Ashbrook, John Gif- I'ord, Asahel Haskins, William Barber, John Small, Thomas Westfall, D. Mcllenry, Jona- than Young, E. W. Kellogg, Al.irk Snipes, Samuel Baldy, John H. Jackson, James Dol- son, Thomas Trimble, David Stewart, Aaron Ball, Henry Gilliam, Daniel Funk, Enoch ^V'ilhite, Ze])haniah Lewis, John Cobb, Will- iam Jones, John Sackrider, Jacob Helping- steine, George Calhoun, William Highsmith, Jeremiah Coleman, William McDowell, James Boatwright, Daniel Boatwright, John W. Bar- low, Bottsl'ord (^omstock, George Boher, JojI Phelps, Cornelius Taylor, William Gray, George Wesner, John C. Alexander, William Magill, Benjamin Myers, John Boyd, Asa Norton, Sewell Goo^lrich, etc., etc. These ])ioneors will receive ample notic3 in the his- tory of the several townships of the county. The settlement has been given in this connec- tion in a general way, but in other chapters it will be more fully noticed. Our aim here has been merely to show the different possessors of the soil, and the succession in which they followed each other. When the first settlements were made in this region, there were still many Indians roaming through the country, as stated in a previous chapter. They were generally friendly toward tHe whites, except for a short period during the war of 1813, when they became somewhat excited and com- mitted depredations upon the whites, such as stealing horses and other stock, and in a few instances, murdering their pale-faced neighbors. The saddest instance of this kind that ever occurred in what is now Crawford County, was the mur ler of the Hutson fam- ily, who lived a few miles south from where Hutsonville now stands, and which was somewhat as follows: Isaac Hutson was a native of Oliio and removed from Chillicothe in 1811 to Indiana, locating in the present counly of Sullivan, and in what is now Tur- man Township. Indians were plenty in that region, and some of them were hostile. A block-house or rude fort was erected in the Turman settlement for the protection of the few whites then living there. Hutson, one day, crossed the river and visited the section now known as Lamotte prairie; and being attracted by its beauty and fertility, resolved to at once move hither. Accordingly, in the latter part of the winter of 1813 he built a cabin at the north end of the prairie, to which he moved his family in the spring. A man named Dixon settled near bj', about the same time. Hutson at once began preparations for a crop. His family consisted of a wife and six children, the eldest a girl of perhaps six- teen. One day in April, Hutson went to Pal- estine to mill, and did not get started for home until nightfall. When about half wav to his cabin, he noticed an unusual light in the direction of it. Fearing the worst, he threw his sack of meal from his horse and urged him forward at full speed. Upon near- ing his house, his worst fears were realized. His entire family had been murdered by a band of Indians; and to complete the ruin and des- olation, they had sot fire to his dwelling. Frantic with grief and despair, he rode sev- eral times around the ruins, calling wildly the names of his wife and children. There was no one left to tell the bereaved father how his loved ones had perished. He could only realize the heart-sickening truth that all had perished. A few roc's from the burning building, lay the body of Dix- on, mutilated almost beyond rccog h.on. His breast had been cut o[)en and his heart taken out and placed upon a pole which was planted in the ground near by. Satisfy- 34 HISTORY OF cmAWFORD COUNTY. ing himself that the havoc was complete, Hutson made his way to Turmaii's, havino; swam the Wabash, which place he reached about midnight. Hutson was a fine type of the frontiers- man. He was above six feet high, a man of great strength and possessed of extraordinary powers of endurance. He was an adven- turer and knew no law beyond his own will and his own ideas of right. Having lost all for which he cared to live, he swore revenge; and to this end, joined the army at Fort Har- rison, near where Terre Haute now stands. Shortly after he had joined the army, one of the sentinels reported that he had seen an Indian in the grass, some half a mile below the fort. A party was sent out to recon- noiter, among whom was Hutson. Arrived at the designated spot, it was discovered that quite a party of savages had been there dur- ing the previous night. The trail led off to a thicket of brush wood a short distance away. The officer in command rashly deter- mined to make an attack, without any attemjjt to discover the exact wliereabouts of the en- emy, or their number and position. Hutson was placed in the front, but distrusting the speed and power of his horse, asked an- otlier position. The officer reproached him with cowardice, when Hutson dashed for- ward, calling on the men to follow, declaring that he could go where any one else could, and leaving the officer in the rear. Upon approaching the wood, they were fired on, and Hutson receiving a ball in the forehead, fell from his horse dead. The name of Hutson is preserved in the beautiful little town of Hutsonville, and of Hutson Creek, which flows near by where he had reared his lonely cabin. Another incident is related of a man named James Beard, being murdered by Indians in that portion of the county now embraced in Lawrence County, just about the close of the war of 1813. Beard was plow- ing in the field one day, anil the Indians having become incensed at him for some cause stole upon him, and shot him at his plow. Beard, who was a large man, ran to where one Adams, a nephew, was cutting bushes, and told him he was shot, when Adams, notwithstanding the giant size of Beard, picked him up and carried him to the house. A Frenchman named Pierre Devoe, lived near by, and when asked to go and help guard Beard's house during the night he* refused. His wife, a large and rather mascu- line looking woman, when her husband re- fused, declared she would go, and taking up an ax called out to " Come on," she " was ready." But the Indians made no further attack on the house. Mr. Leonard Cullom relates the following: During the time of "forting" at Palestine, Isaac Brimberry and Thomas Kennedy, who generally went by the name of the " Buck- eye Coopers," went up to " Africa's Point," as it was called, on the Wabash, after some timber. They discovered signs of Indians and went back to the fort and reported the same, when a squad of men was sent out to look after them. They divided into two par- ties, one going on in advance and the other acting as a reserve corps. When near the spot where the signs had been seen, they found a number of Indian canoes pulled up out of the water. Instead of consolidating their numliers and proceeding with caution, the foremost party kept on fully exposed, and were soon fired upon by the savages. Lathrop, Price, and Daniel Eaton were killed, and Job Eaton and John Waldrop were wounded, but succeeded in escaping and making their way back to the fort. The "rear guard," when they heard the firing, instead of going to the as- sistance of their comrades, "fell back in good order," and returned to the fort, conscious that discretion was the better part of valor. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 35 Such were some of the trials anil dangers to which the early settlers were exposed, in the development of this country. But upon the close of the war of 1812, the savages of southern Illinois buried the hatchet, and peace reigned among the scattered settle- ments. Though the savages rose in other sections of the State, and clouds of war gathered in the horizon, they rolled away without bursting upon this community. When peace was fully restored to the country in 1815, the population began to rapidly in- crease in the Wabash Valley, and gradually to extend out over the country. In subse- quent chapters the progress of these settle- ments, as we have already stated, will be fully detailed, together with all events of in- terest pertaining to them. The Indian troubles were not the only drawbacks met with in the early history of Crawford County. The settlers were mostly poor, and all had come here with the desire to better their fortunes. They came with a meager outfit of this world's goods, expecting to increase their stores and provide a home for their old age. Some came in frontier wagons drawn by horses or oxen, and some used the more primitive " pack-horse " as a means of transporting their limited posses- sions. The journey was one of toil and pri- vation at best. There were no well beaten highways, no bridges over the streams, but each emigrant followed the general trail. If the season was one of much rain, the swamps they were compelled to cross, were almost impassable; if dry, the roads were rough, and water scarce. But the emigrant could endure trial, hunger and pain, if a home stood at the end of his journey, beck(jning him on. Faith and hope are two anchors without which the poor mortal would be cheerless indeed on life's pathway. Thus the county was settled under difficul- ties, and amid hardships and dangers. But the very dangers drew the people closer to- gether, and made them more de[)endent upon each other. All lived in a state of compara- tive social equality, and the only lines drawn were to separate the very bad from the gen- eral mass. The rich and poor dressed alike; the men generally wearing hunting-shirts and buckskin pants, and the women attired them- selves in coarse fabrics produced by their own hands. The cabins were furnished in the same style and simplicity. The bedsteads were home-made and of rude material, and the beds, usually filled with leaves and grass, by honest toil were rendered " Soft as downy pillows are." One pot, kettle and frying-pan were the only articles considered indispensable, and a a few plates and dishes, upon a shelf in one corner, was as satisfactory as a cupboard full of china is now, while food was as highly relished from a slab table as it is in this fast age from one of oiled walnut or inahogany. It is true they then had but little to eat, but it sustained life. Mr. Cullom says they often had no bread, and he calls to mind an in- stance, when his father's family, who had been without bread for some time, took corn before it was sufficiently matured to shell from the cob, dried it in the chimney, and grated it into a coarse meal. From this bread was made, a " shoat " was killed for the occasion, and with beech bark tea they had quite a feast. A neighbor, who happened in, was asked to dine with tliem, and when dinner was concluded he thanked the Lord that he had had one more good, square meal, but he didn't know where the next would come from. Mrs. Cullom gave him some meal and a piece of the shoat to take home with him, and he went away rejoicing. But the credit of subduing the wilderness, and planting civilization in the West, is not the work of man alone. Woman, the help- 30 HISTORY OF CRAWFOBD qOUNTY. meet, and guiding spiiit of the sterner sex, nobly did her part in the great work. The "hired girl " had not then become a class. In case of illness — and there was plenty of it in the early times — some young woman would leave home for a few days to care for the afflicted household, but her services were not rendered for the pay she received. The dis- charge of the sacred duty to care for the sick was the motive, and it was never neglected. The accepted life of a woman was to marry, bear and rear children, prepare the household food, spin, weave and make the garments for the family. Her whole life was the grand, simple poem of rugged, toilsome duty bravely and uncomplainingly done. She lived his- torj', and her descendants write and read it with a proud thrill, such as visits the pilgrim when at Arlington he stands at the base of the monument which covers the bones of four thousand nameless men who gave their blood to preserve their country. Her work lives. but her name is whispered only in a few homes. Holy in death, it is too sacred for open speech. Three quarters of a century has produced marvelous changes, both in country and so- ciety. In the years that jjave come and gone in quick succession, while the panorama has been unfolding to view, the verdant wastes of Crawford County have disappeared, and in their place are productive fields, covered with flocks and herds, and peopled with twenty thousand civilized and intelligent human be- ings. The Indian trail is obliterated by the railway track, and the ox-team and the " prairie schooner " are displaced by the rush- ing train. In the grand march of civilization and improvement, who can tell, or dare pre- dict what the next fifty years may develop? Within that period it is not impossible tliat we may be flying through the air, as we now fly over the country at the heels of the iron horse. CHAPTEE IV ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY— ILLINOIS AS A PART OF VIRGINIA— DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES— ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE FORMING CRAWFORD— NAME OF THE COUN- TY—THE COURTS, ETC.— LOCATING THE SEAT OF JUSTICE— AN INDIAN TRIAL— OTHER COURT PROCEEDINGS— LIST OF OFFICERS AND REP- RESENTATIVES-COURT HOUSES AND JAILS— CIVIL DIVIS- IONS OF THE COUNTY— REMOVAL OP THE COUNTY SEAT— TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATIONS, ETC., ETC. " The ultimate tendency of civilization is toward bai-barism. ' ' — Hare. THE General Assembly of Viro;inia, in Oc- tober, 1778, passed an act for " establish- ing the County of Illinois, and for the more efiFectual protection and defense thereof." This act declared: "That all the citizens of this Commonwealth, who are already set- tled, or shall hereafter settle on the western side of the Ohio, and east of the Mississippi, shall be included in a distinct county, which shall be called Illinois County." The Gov- ernor of Virginia was to appoint " a county lieutenant or commandant-in-chief," who should "appoint and commission so many deputy commandants, militia officers and commissaries," as he should deem expedient, for the enforcement of law and order. The civil officers were to be chosen by a majority of the people, and were to " exercize their several jurisdictions, and conduct themselves agreeable to the laws which the present set- tlers are now accustomed to." Patrick Henry, the first Governor of the " Old Dominion," appointed as such county lieutenant Com- mandant John Todd, and on December 12, 1778, issued to him his letter of appointment and instructions. * By W. H. Perrin. From the record book of John Todd's offi- cial acts while he was exercising authority over Illinois, a book now in the Chicago His- torical Society, some interesting facts are gleaned of the early history of Illinois. We extract the following from its pages: Todd was not unknown on the frontier. Born in Pennsylvania and educated in Vir- ginia, he had practiced law in the latter Col- ony for several years, when, in 1775, he re- moved to Kentucky, then a county of Vir- ginia, and became very prominent in the councils of its House of Delegates or Repre- sentatives, the first legislative body organ- ized west of the Alleghany mountains. Early in 1777, the first court in Kentucky opened its sessions at Harrodsburg, and he was one of the justices. Shortly after, he was chosen one of the representatives of Kentucky in the Legislature of Virginia and went to the capital to fulfill this duty. The following year he accompanied Gen. George Rogers Clark in his expedition to " the Illinois," and was the first man to enter Fort Gage, at Kas- kaskia, when it was taken from the British, and was present at the final capture of Vin- cennes. ' The act creating the County of Illinois had been passed by the Legislature of Vir^-iuia, and at Williamsburg, the capital then of the 3S HISTOUY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. newly male State, in the very inansi.m of the royal rulers of the whilom Colony, Pat- rick H^nry indited his letter of appointment t ) John Todil, and entered it in the book already referred to. It occupies the first five pages and is in P.itrick Henry's own hand- writing. This book, made precious by his pen, was intrusted to a faithful messenger, who carried it from tidewater across the mountains to Fort Pitt, thence down the Ohio until he met with its destined recipient, and delivered to him his credentials. It is supposed that Todd received it at Vincennes, then known to Virginians as St. Vincent, not long after the surrender of that place on the SJrth of Februarj^ 1779, and thereupon as- sumed his new duties. This old record book, of itself, forms an interesting chapter in the history of Illinois; but our space will admit of only a brief ex- tract or two from its contents. The follow- ing is in Todd's own handwriting, and no doubt will sound strangelj' enough to many of our readers at the present day. We give it verbatim et literatum, as follows: "Illinois, to-wit: To Richard Winston, Esq., ShurilF in chief of the district of Kas- kaskia. " Negro Manuel, a slave in your custody, is condemned by the Court of Kaskaskia, after having made honorable Fine at the Uoor 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 re- quired to put in execution on tuesday 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 in the third year of the Commonvrealth." It is a grim record and reveals a dark chapter in the early history of Illinois. It is startling, and somewhat humiliating, too, to reflect that barely one hundred years ago, that within the territory now composing this great State, a court of law deliberately sen- tenced a human being to be burnt alive! It is palpable that the inhuman penalty was fi.xed by the court, ami as the statute deprived tlie commandant of the power to pardon in such cases, it is probable that the sentence was actually executed. The cruel form of death, the color of the unfortunate victim, and the scattering of the ashes, all seem to indicate that this was one of the instances of the imagined crime of Voudouism, or negro witchcraft, for which it is known that some persons suffered in the Illinois country in the early period. Reynolds, in his " Pioneer His- tory," recites a similar instance to the one above given, as occurring in 1790, at Ca- hokia. A few words additional, of .fohn Todd, the first civil Governor of " the Illinois Country," and we will take up the org.iniza- tion of Crawford Cpunty. In the spring of 1780, Todd was elected a delegate from the County of Kentucky to the Legislature of Virginia. In November following, Kentucky was divided into three counties, viz.: Fayette, Lincoln and Jefferson, and in 1781, Thomas Jelfjrson, who had become Governor of Vir- ginia, appointed Todd Colonel of Fayette County, and Daniel Boone, Lieutenant-Col- onel. In the summer of 1782, Todd visited Richmond, Va., on business of the Illinois Country, where, it is said, he had concluded to reside permanently, and stopped at Lex- ington, Ky., on his return. While here, an Indian attack on a frontier settlement sum- moned the militia to arms, and Todd, as senior colonel, took commmd of the little army sent in pursuit of the retreating sav- acres. It included Boone and many other pioneers of note. At the Blue Licks, on the 18th of August, 1783, they overtook the enemy, but the headlong courage of those who would not follow the prudent counsels of HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 39 Todd and Boone, precipitated an action which proved more disastrous to the whites than any ever fouorht on Kentucky soil — that early theater of savage warfare. One third of those who went into the battle were killed out- right, and many others wounded. Among the slain was the veteran Todd, who fell gal- lantly fighting at the head of his men. Near tiio spot where he fell, on the brow of a sin.ill hill overlooking Blue Licks, his re- mains repose under the pines. On the 18th of August last (1882) the centennial of the dis- astrous battle of Blue Licks was held upon the ground where it was fought, and a resolu- tion adopted to erect a monument to the heroes who there fell in defense of their country. Gen. Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, in company with the Territorial judges, went, in the spring of 1700, to Cahokia, where, by proclamation, he organized the County of St. Clair, the first formed in what now comprises the State of Illinois, and its capital was fi.xed at Kask:is- kia. Randolph was the next county created in Illinois, and its organization dates back to 179.5. No more counties were made until the session of the Territorial Legislature of 1811-12, when there were three formed, viz.: Madison, Gallatin and Johnson. At the ses- sion of 1814, Edwards was created, and at the session of 181(3, AVhite, Jackson, Monroe, Pope and Crawford were formed. At the last session of the Territorial Legislature, and previous to the admission of Illinois as a '^tate, Franklin, ^^'ashlngton, Union, Bond an . Wayne Counties were organized. Thus it will be seen, that Crawford was the elev- enth county formed in the State. It is be- lieved to have been named for Gen. William Crawford, a Revolutionary soldier, who com- manded an expedition against the Wyandot Indians in the "Ohio Country," in 17S2; was captured by them and burned at the stake, at a spot included in the original limits of Crawford County, Ohio. The act of the Ter- ritorial Legislature for the formation of this county was passed at the session of 1810-17, and is as follows: An act for the division of Edwards Conn tv: Be it enacted by the Legislative Council and House of Representatives of the Illinois Territory, and it is hereby enacted bv the authority of the same: That all that tract of country within the following boundaries, to- wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Einbar- ras River, and running with the said River to the intersection of the line dividing Townships number three and four north, of range eleven west of the second principal meridian; thence west with said town.s/iip line to the meridian, and then due north until it strikes the line of Upper Canada; thence to the line that sepa- rates this Territory from the State of Indi- ana, and thence south with said division line to the beginning, shall constitute a separate County, to be called Crawford; and the seat of justice shall be at the house of Ed- ward N. Cullom, until it shall be perinaniMuly established, in the following method, that is: Three persons shall be appointed, to-wit: John Dun lap, Thomas Handy and Thomas Kennedy, which said commissioners, or a majority of them, being duly sworn before some judge or justice of the peace of this Territory, to faithfully take into view the situation of the settlements, the geography' of the county, the convenience of the people, and the eligibility of the place, shall meet on the second .Monday in March next, at the house of Edward N. Cullom, and proceed to examine and determine on the place for tiie permanent seat of justice, and designate the same: Provided, the proprietor or proprietors of the land shall give to said county, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a quan- tity of land at said place not less than twenty acres, to be laid out in lots and sold for the above purpose. But should the said propri- etor or proprietors refuse or neglect to make the said donation aforesaid, then in that case it shall be the duty of the commissioners to fix upon soTne other place for the seat of just- ice, as convenient as may be to the different settlements in said county, which place, when fixed and determiued on, the said conimis- 40 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. sioners shall certify under their hands and seals, and return the Siune to the next county court in the county aforesaid: and as a com- pensation for their services, they shall each be al owed two dollars for every day they be necessarily employed in iixing the aforesaid seat of justice, to be paid out of the county lew, which said court shall cause an entry thereof to be made on their records, etc., etc. SETH GARD, Speaker of the House of Representatives, ^i)'o tenijiore. . PIERRE MENARD, President of the Legislative Council. Approved, Deceinl)er 31, I81G. NINIAN EDWARDS. The remaining sections of the act, of whicli there are two or three, are not pertinent to the subject under consideration. From some cause, the commissioners did not locate the seat uf justice at the time specified in the foregoing act, as will be seen further on in the proceedings of the court. At the time of organization all county business was done by justices of the peace, instead of by county commissioners, as was the custom a few years liter, or by supervis- ors as at the present day. The first term of the County Court was held at the house of Edward N. Cullom, near the present town of Palestine, on the 26th day of February, 1817. From this record it will be seen that the county was fully organized and its civil ma- chinery setin motion, without any unnecessary delay, from the approval of the act (December 31, 1816.) This first term of court was held by Edward N. Cullom and John Dunlap, jus- tices of the peace; Edward H. Piper, clerk, and Francis Cullom, sheriff. The first act of the court was to accept the bond of Cullom as sheriff. Then Joseph Malcom was sworn in as a constable. The next act was to "di- vide the county into districts or election pre- cincts," as follows: The first comprised the tract of country from the mouth of the Em- barras River, which was the southern bound- ary of the county, extending up the Wabash River to the center of township five, thence west to the county line, and vras named "Al- lison." The second, all that country between the center of townships five and eight, and was called " Lamotte." The third included all north of township eight to Canada, and was named "Union." Assessors were ap- pointed for these precincts as follows: Georgo W. Kincaid in Allison; Joel Cheek in La- motte, and Isaac Moore in Union. The fol- lowing was the tax levied: On all horses, mares, mules and asses, ST.J cents per head; on all stallions the sums for which the owners charge for thvnr services; on all unmarried men over 31 years of ago, and who had not $200 worth of taxable property, one dollar; on each bondsmen or slave over the age of 16 years, one dollar; on all mansion houses, whieh included houses of all kinds, thirty cents on the hundred dollars valuation; on the ferry of James Gibson, five dollars; and on the ferry of E. Twombley, three dollars. The rates of ferriage across the Wabash was fixed at the following: a wagon and team, 75 cents; a two-wheeled carriage, 37^ cents; a man and horse, 12.V cents; a man on foot 65^ cents; cattle four cents a head, and sheep and hogs two cents a head each. Fence viewers and road overseers were appointed for the different precincts, and then court adjourned, having completed its work for the term. The second term of County Court con- vened at the same place, and was held by Edward N. Cullom, John Dunlap and Isaac Moore, embracing the 23d and 2-lth days of June, 1817. Permission was granted by the court to Isaac Parker to build a "water mill" on Mill Creek, about twenty-five miles north of Palestine. The laying out of roads occu- pied a portion of the time of the honorable court, and we find that James Caldwell, George Catron and William Lockard were HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 41 appointed to " view and mark out a road " from Edward N. CuIloiii''s, on Laniotte prai- rie, to the head of Walnut prairie, and Smith Shaw, Benjamin Eaton and Francis Cullom were appointed to view out a road from the same place (Cullora's) to Arthur Jones' ferry. Several ottier roads were ordered laid out; also the county officers filed their bonds. Edward II. Piper as county clerk, Allen McGahey as the first coroner, and John Dunlap as first county surveyor, wiiich concluded the business of the term. A third term was held also at CuUom's, in October, which was taken up mostly in order- \u Giljson. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff of §37.02, which was approved by the court. There were a few other trifling cases, and among the proceedings tiie following order was entered upon the record: "Ordered that Thomas Handy, Charles Neeley and John Funk, Jr., be summoned here at the next term of this court to show cause why they shall not be fined for failing to attend as grand jurors agreeably to the summons of the sheriff." Then the grand jury reported their indict- ments, among which we note the following one: UxiTED States ) Indictment for bring- agaiiiKt > ing home a hog with- Cf)RXELius Taylor. ) out the ears. Court then adjourned until eight o'clock the next morning, and, when it met, it adjourned "until court in coarse." We find no record of another term of the Circuit Court being hold, until on Wednesday, July 7, 1819, in P;d- estine, with Honorable Thomas C. Brown as presiding judge, and William W/ilson, circuit attorney. Among the indictments made bv the grand jury at this term was the following: The State of Illinois' VK. Indictment for William Kilbuck, )■ Miirder. Captain Tuomas, | A true bill. Big Panther. J The parties named were three Delaware Indians, who wore chartred with the murder of Thomas McCall, under the following cir- 48 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTV. cumstances: Cornelius Taylor kept a still house, and had been forbidden to let the In- dians have whisky without a written order from proper authority. McCall was a sur- veyor, and had been in the habit of some- times trading with the Indians, and it is said, used to occasionally give them an order to Taylor for whisky. The Indians named in the indictment went to McCall and begged him for "fire-water," and finally to rid himself of their importunities wrote something on a piece of paper which he handed them, and which they supposed was the necessary order. They went to Taylor with it, who read it aloud to them. It was an order — but an order not to let them have the whisky. The Ind ans were so incensed that, to gratify their revenare, they murdered McCall. They were indicted and tried at the term of the court convened, as already stated, July 7, 1819. The trial of the Indians was set for the 9th, the third day of the term. The following are the jury: .las. Sliaw, Smith Shaw, John Barlow, Jas. Watts, Wm. Barbee, Wm. Wilson, David Van Winkle, John W«l- drop, James Kennedy, Isaac Lewis, Joseph Shaw and Gabriel Funk. The jury, upon hearing the evidence, returned a verdict of "guilty." A motion was then made to arrest judgment, which motion was sustained by the court, and a new trial ordered. This time Kilbuck was tried separately, found guilty by the jury, and sentenced by the court to be hanged on the 14th of July, 1819, but made his escape before the appointed day. Captain Thomas and Big Panther asked for a con- tinuance, which was granted, and afterward a nolle prosequi was entered by the prosecuting attorney. So ended the Indian trial. For some ten years after the organization of the county most of the cases tried in the Circuit Court were for assault and battery; a few being for debt, and an occasional one for larceny. From the great number of assault and battery cases, it may be inferred that fighting was the popular amusement of the day. To get drunk and fight was so common that a man who did not indulge in these pas- times was considered effeminate and coward- ly. To be considered the " best man," that is, the best fighter, or as we would say to-day, the greatest bully, and rough, was an honor as much coveted and sought after by a certain class, as in this enlightened age, is honor and greatness. This rude state of society brought to the surface some of the roughest characters of the frontier. For instance, at a single term of the Circuit Court, we find that one Cornelius Taylor was indicted for larceny, for assault and battery, for rape, etc., etc. He was a had man and a detriment to the pros- perity and welfare of the community. With an utter disregard for law and order, he prej^ed upon others, and there are those who knew him still living to bear witness to his numerous shortcomings. There were many charges agair.st him, which were doubtless true, among which were horse-stealing, hog- stealing, and even darker crimes were hinted at in connection with him. In proof of the rough state of society, the following speaks for itself and is but one of many: The People OF THE State 1 t t . , ^ T T-,,,- Indictment for OF Illinois, lit., a u i ^, ' ' > Assault and Hugh Dail, Defendant. J ^' " Be it remembered that heretofore to wit, on the l"3th day of May, 1834, it being the third day of the May term of the said court, the grand jury, by John M. Robinson, circuit attorney, filed in the clerk's office of said Cir- cuit Court, a certain bill of indictment against said defendant, which indictnipnt is in the words and figures following, to wit: State of Illinois, ) Crawford County. ) At the Circuit Court of the May term, in the year of our Lord 1824. The grand jury of the people of the HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 49 State of Illinois, cinpanneled, charged and sworn to inquire for the body of the said County of Crawford in the name and by the authority of the people of the State of Illi- nois, upon their oath present that Hugh Dail, late of the township of Palestine, in the said County of Crawford, laborer, on the first day of May, in the year of our Lord 1824, with force and arms, in the township aforesaid, and county aforesaid, in and upon Isaac Meek did make an assault, and him, the said Isaac, then and there did beat, bruise, wound and threat and other wrongs to the said Isaac then and there did, to the great damage of the said Isaac, contrary to the form of the staute in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the people of the State of Illinois." (Signed,) JOHX M. ROBIXSON, Co. Att'y. Upon this voluminous and very lucid docu- ment, was issued the following iron-clad writ, " in the words and figures following to wit :" " The people of the State of Illinois to the Sheriff of Crawford County, greeting : We command you to take Hugh Dail, if he be found in your bailmick, and him safely keep, so that you have his body before the judge of our Crawford Circuit Court at the court house in Palestine, on the first day of our next October term, to answer the people of the State of Illinois in an indictment pre- fered against lilm by the grand jury at the last May term, for assault and battery, and have then there this writ." Witness. "Edward H. Pipeu, Clerk &c., of said Court this 5J3d day of [siiAL.] 1824:, and the 48th year of the Independ- ence of the United States. Edward IT. Pipkr, Clerk." A return made upon the'back of the writ by the sheriff showed that Dail was not in his " bailmick," whereupon a writ was issued to the sheriff of Edgar County for him, and in due time he_ was produced, acknowledged his offense in court, and was fined the enormous sum of .50 cents and '' costs." The courts moved on in the usual manner of all backwoods counties, having plenty of business, such as it was, upon the dockets at the different tribunals, and which was gener- ally dispatched in a summary, backwoods stj-le, distinguished quite as much for equity and fairness between man and man, as in ac- cordance with the wisdom of Blackstone. Coxinty Officers. — The first county com- missioners, or as they were then called, county j ustices of the peace, were elected or appointed February 26, 1817, and were E. N. Cullom, John Dunlap and Isaac Moore. The next year, 1818, this board wi^s increased to twelve, as follows: E. N. Cullom, Samuel Harris, Geo. W. Kincaid, .Tames Shaw, Smith Shaw, .foseph Kitchell, S. B. A. Carter, Chester Fitch, Wm. Lockard, David Porter, David McGahey and Thomas Anderson. In 1819, it dropped liack to three commissioners — E. N. Cullom, Wickliffe Kitchell and William Barbee; in 1820, David Stewart, Aaron Ball and Henry M. Gilliam; in 1821, Aaron Ball, iJavid Stewart and E. N. Cullom; in 1832, Daniel Funk, Enoch Wilhite and Zephaniah Lewis; in 1823, Daniel Funk, John Sackrider and Enoch Wilhite; in 1824, Daniel Funk, John Sackrider and William Highsmith; in 1826, Daniel Funk, Daniel Boatright and Bottsford Comstock; in 1828, Wm. High- smith, Wm. Magill and Doctor Hill; in 1832, Asa Norton, Jas. H. Wilson and John Boyd; in 1834, Asa Norton, Gabriel Funk and John Boyd; In 1836, John Boyd, Eli Adams and Wm. Cox; in 1838, L. ~V>. Cullom, Daniel Boatright and John Boyd; in 1839, Wm. Highsmith, Daniel Boatright and Wni. Gill; 50 mSTOIiY OF CKAWFOUI) CorXTY. in 1810, Wm. Gill, Win. Highsmith and Win. Mitciiell; in ISll, Wm. Highsmith, Win. Mitchell and John Musgrave; in 1843, Wm. Higlisniitli, Jolin Musgravo and Lott Watts; in ISl-t, Will. Highsmith, Lott Watts and John Boyd; in 1845, John Boyd', Lott Watts and Benj. Beckwith; in 184(j a probate judge was added, and Presley O. AVilson was elected to the office, which he filled until 1849, with the following commissioners: 1846, Boyd, Watts and Beckwith; 1847, Beckwith, F. M. Brown and John Newlin; 1848, Brown, Newlin and Wm. Reavill. In 1849 another change was made. A county judge, with Associate Justices, composed the board, as follows: J. B. Trimble, county judge, and Isaac Wilkin and John B. Harper, associates; in 1853, Richard G. Morris, county judge, and Jas. F. Hand and Wm. Reavill, associ- ates; in 1855, John W. Steers, county judge, and Win. Reavill and James F. Hand, associ- ates; in 1857, W. H. Sierrett, count}- judge, and Hand and John Shaw, associates; in ]8'31, Wm. C. Dickson, county judge, and D. W. Odell and J. J. Petri, associates; in 1805, Dickson, county judge, and Benj. Price and I. D. Mail, associates; in 1807-8 still an- other change was made in the management of county business. The county adopted township organization, and H. Alexander was county judge; in 1809, John B. Harper, county judge; in 1877, Wm. C.Jones; in 1879, Franklin Robb, and in 188-->, J. C. OKvin, who is the present county judge. Circuit and County Clerks. — Edward H. Piper was both circuit and county clerk from the organization of the county to 1835. The offices were then separated, and A. G. Lagow was made county clerk, and D. W. Stark, circuit clerk; in 1837, E. L. Patton be- came county clerk, and in 1838, W. B. Baker became both county and circuit clerk, which positions he held until 1848, when they were again separated, and James H. Steel became county clerk, and C. M. Hamilton, circuit clerk; in 1849, Wm. Cox was elected circuit clerk, but died, and Wm. Barbee became clerk; in 1854, he was succeeded by John T. Co.x, who in 1856 was succeeded by Hiram Johnson, and he by Wm. Johnson, in 1805; in 1806, Sing B. Allen was elected to the office, and in 1876 he was succeeded by our Fat Contributor, the only, the funny and good- natured John Thomas Cox, the present courteous and accommodating incumbent. Mr. Steel remained county clerk until 1857, when the elder John T. Cox was elected. He was succeeded by Wm. C. Wilson, familiarly known as " Carl " Wilson, who held the office until 1877, when he surrendered it to David Reavill. The latter died before his term ex- pired, and T. S. Price was appointed to fill out the term, when he was re-elected, and is at present the county clerk. aheri^fs. — Francis Cullom was the Hrst sheriff of the county; in 1818, John S. Woodvvorth was sheriff; in 1823, John Hous- ton; in 1820, Joel Phelps; in 1827, A. M. Houston; in 1829, E. W. Kellogg; in 1835, John Eastburn; in 183S, Presley O. Wilson; in 1840, R. Arnold; in 1844, L. D. Cullom; in 1850, J. M. Grimes; in 1852, H. Johnson; in 1854, D.D. Fowler; in 1856, John D. New- lin; in 1858, David Little; in 1860, Wm. Reavill; in 1802, Wm. Johnson; in 1804, H. Henderson; in 18i 6, Wm. Reavill; in 1808, Davii Reavill; in 1870, R. Leach; in 1872, A. B. Houston; in 1874, H. Henderson; in 1876, Win. Johnson; in 1878, S. T. Lind- sey; in 1880, John M. Highsmith, and in lSrf2, d! M. Bales. 2'reasurtrs. — The first treasurer of the county was Thomas Kennedy; in 1824, John Houston was elected treasurer; in 1820, John Malcom; in 1833, Charles Kitchell; in 1835, Daniel Hulible; in 1830, John L. Buskirk; in 1837, John A. Williams; in 1839, Fmley PauU; in 1844, James Weaver; in 1845, Jas. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 51 S. Otey; in 1S4G, C. II. Fitch; in 1853, W. C. Wilson; in 1855, James Mitchell; in 18G1, Samson Taylor; in 18G7, John C. Page; in 1871, Wm."RcavilI; in 1873, Wm. Updyke; in 187S, i. U. JIail, and in 1882, Samson Taylor. Surveyors and' Coroners. — John Dunlap was the first surveyor, and Allen McGahey the first coroner, who was succeeded bv Jon- athan Wood in 1820. In 18:23 George Cal- houn was appointed county surveyor, but shortly after was succeeded by Jacob Help- ingstiene; in 1823 George Calhoun was again appointed; in 1838 W. B. Baker was appointed; in 184G, C. H. Fitch; in 1847, Jas. H. Steel; in 1850, PI. B. Jolly; after wiiich we lose trace of the office. Sch< ol Commissioners. — As early as 1819, R. C. Ford was appointed school commis- sioner by act of the Legislature, and in 1833 Thos. Kennedy was appointed; in 1836 he was succeeded by Wm. Barbee; in 1841 Fin- ley Paul! was appointed; in 1842, Jas. S. Otey; i'n 1845, Nelson Hawley;^in 1853, F. Robb; in 1856, Jno. T. Cox; in 1SG7, Geo. W. Peck; in 18G1, John C. Page; in 1865, Geo. N. Parker; in 1869, S. A. Burner; in 1873, P. G. Bradberry; in 1876, G. W. Hen- derson; in 1880, Hugh McHatton; and in 1883, H. O. Hiser. State Senators. — First session, 1818-20. Joseph Kitchell; 1830-33, Joseph Kitchell; 1833-34, Dan'l Parker; 1824-36, Dan'l Par- ker; 1826-38, Wm. B. Archer; 1838-30, Wickliflfe Kitchell; 1830-33, WicklifTe Kitch- ell; 1833-31, Djvid McGahey; 1834-30, Da- vid McGahey; 1836-38, Peter Pruyno; 1S3S -40, Abner Greer; 1840-43, John Houston; 1842-44, John Houston; 1844-46, Sam'l Dun- lap; 1846-48, Sam'l Dunlap; 1848-50 (the State had been re-districted, and Crawford was a part of the 9th district), Uri Manly; 1850-53, Josiah R.Winn; 1852-54, J. R. Winn; lS54-5'i, .Mort rner O'Kaii; 1856- 58, Mortimer O'Kean; 1858-60, Mortimer O'Kean; 1860-62, Presley Funkhouser; 1863 -64, Sam'l Moffatt; 1864-6G, Andrew J, Hunter; 1866-68, A. J. Hunter; 1868-70, Eamotte, voted an ad- ditional donation of $20,000 each. The agi- tation of the project was kept up for several vears, and considerable interest manifested by the leading citizens of the county, and a strong belief prevailed that it would be built at no distant day. The enterprise, however, smouldered for awhile, and about 1875-6 it was revived, and the idea entertained of building a narrow gauge railroad upon the contemplated line. The project of building a narrow gauge road from Terre Haute to Cincinnati was receiving considerable attention, a matter that seemed favorable to the building the east and west road through this county upon the same gauge to connect with the former road somewhere east of the Wabash River. Upon the subject of narrow gauge rail- roads in place of our present system, a late writer says: "As fast as the different lines wear out and need rebuilding, the narrow three foot g:aua:e is claimino; a large share of the attention of railroad men and capitalists; and it seems not improbable that the argu- ments in favor of a complete reorganization of our railroad traffic, will become so strong in a few years as to make the three foot gauge as prevalent in this country as the old four foot ten inches has been and is now. The first argument consists in the economy of construction — the narrow gauge costing but little, if any, over 50 per cent, per mile upon the cost of present roads. The grad- ing and embanking require vastly less labor, while for ties, iron, spikes, etc., there is a cor- responding reduction. Another point in their favor is the facility and cheapness with which the narrow gauge cars can be run after being built. ****** " Gen. Rosecrans, an eminent engineer, in a letter published a few years ago, which at- tracted much attention among railroad men, showed from official records that the cost of the railroads of the country up to the close of the year 1867 (39,244 miles), amounted to $1,600,000,000. The narrow gauge would have been built from 30 to 50 per cent, cheaper, while the cost of transporting thereon would have been reduced at about the same rate. When we compute the money that might have been saved in the original con- struction, and also the annual saving accru- ing from decreased expenditures under the narrow gauge system, we find ourselves in pos- session of an aggregate amounting to nearly one half of the national debt. But the amount to be saved when the railroad system of the country in the future becomes well-nigh de- veloped by the narrow gauge, supposing the firesident; A. J. Reavill, R. R. Lincoln and W'ra. Updyke, vice-presidents; Guy S. Al- exander, recording secretary; Wm. C. Wil- son, corresponding secretary, and Wm. Par- ker, treasurer. Officers for 1874 — James S. Kirk, presi- dent; I. D. Mail, D. B. Cherry and G. Bar- low, vice-presidents; W. Swaren, recording secretary; W. L. Heustis, assistant secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 1875 — Wm. Updyke, president; Oliver Newlin, Sargent Newlin and A. .1. Reavill, vice-presidents; W. Swaren, re- cording secretary; W. L. Heustis, assistant secretary, and Wm. Parker, treas^urer. Officers for 1876—1. D. .Mail, jjresldent; J. M. Highsmith, J. H. Taylor and T. J. Sims, vice-presidents; W. Swaren, recording sec- retary; W. L. Heustis, assistant secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 1877 — J. S. Kirk, president; McClung Cawood, W. A. Hope and Wm. Athey, vice-pesidents; W. Swaren, secre- tary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 1878 — P. P. Connett, presi- dent; Alva Burner, McClung Cawood and W. A. Hope, vice-presidents; L. V. Chaffee, secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 1879— P. P. Connett, president; Alva Burner, G. Athey and J. H. Taylor, vice- presidents; W. Swaren, secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Tiie constitution was amended at this time by adding a fourth vice-president to the board, and one or two other subordinate officers. Officers for 1880 — Wm. Updyke, president; J. M. Highsmith, Sing B. Allen, B. Wood and J. L. Woodworth, vice-piesidents; L. V. Chaffee, secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 1881 — L. E. Stephens, president; Wm. Athey, Wm. Wood, D. M. Bales and J. L. Woodworth, vice presidents; L. V. Chaffee, secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Officers for 18s3* — L. E. Stephens, presi- dent; Wm. Wood, J. M. Highsmith, Wm. Fife and Bennett Wood, vice-presidents; L. V. Chaffee, secretary, and Wm. Parker, treasurer. Horticulture. — Gardening, or horticulture in its restricted sense, can not be regarded ag a very prominent or important feature in the history of Crawford County. If, however, we take a broad view of the subject, and in- clude orchards, small fruit culture and kin- dred branches outside of agriculture, we should find something of more interest and value. That the cultivation of fruit is a union of * No fair was held in 1881, en account of the great drouth, and the old officers held over. 78 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the useful and beautiful, is a fact not to be denied. Trees covered in spi-ina; with soft foliage b;ended with fragrant flowers of wliite, and crimson, and gold, that are suc- ceeded by fruit, blushing with bloom and down, rich, molting and grateful, through all the fervid beat of summer, is indeed a tempt- ing prospect to every landholder. A peo])le so richly endowed by nature as we are should give more attention than we do to an art that supplies so many of the amenities of life, and around whirh cluster so many memories that appeal to the finer instincts of our nature. With a soil so well adapted to fruits, horticult- ure should be held in that high esteem which becomes so impoitant a factor in human welfare. The climate of this portion of the State, antl of Crawford County, is better adapted to fruit culture than further north, though as a fruit-growing region it is not to compare to some other portions of our countrj'. The same trouble mentioned in connection with cotton-growing, applies as well to general fruit-culture, viz.: the variability of tempera- ture, being subject to sudden and frequent changes, to extreme cold in winter, and to late and severe frosts in spring, as well as to early and killing frosts in the fall. The apple is the hardiest and most reliable of all fruits for this region, and there are probably more acres in apple orchards, than in all fruits combined, in the county. The first fruit trees were brought here by the pioneers, and were sprouts taken from varie- ties around the old home, about to be forsaken for a new one, hundreds of miles away. A Mr. Howard, who settled in that portion of Crawford County, now in Lawrence, is suj)- posed to have planted the first apple trees in this section, and to have brought the scions with him when he came to the country. Ap- ples and peaches are now raised in the county in considerable quantities, and small fruits are receiving more attention every year — especially strawberries and raspberries. Many citizens, too, are engaging in grape cult- ure to a limited extent. Coiinty Paupers. — "The poor ye have with you al way." It is a duty we owe to that class upon whom the world has cast its frowns, to care for them, and furnish them those com- forts and necessaries of life wiiich their mis- fortunes have denied them. None of us know how soon we may become a member of that unfortunate portion of our population. " The greatest of these is charity," find to what nobler purpose can superfluous wealth be devoted than to succoring the poor, and relieving the woes of suffering humanity. Crawford is far behind many of her sister counties in the care of her paupers. A large majority of the counties in the State own large farms, with commodious buildings upon them, where their paupers are kept and kind- ]j cared for. This county seems to always have " farmed " out the poor, as it were, or, in other words, to have hired anybody to keep them who was willing to undertake the charge. This does not strike us as the bes method of exercising charity, nor the most economical. Where the county owns a good farm well improved, the institution, if proper- ly managed, can be rendered well-nigh self- supporting. Yerhum sat sajpie/Ui. CHAPTEE YIII.* THE COUNTY PRESS-ITS INFLUENCE IN THE COMMUNITY— NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISES OF CRAWFORD COUNTY— THE CONSTITUTION AND ARGUS— EDUCATIONAL— PI- ONEER SCHOOLHOUSES AND TEACHERS-ADVANTAGES OF EDUCA- TION—SCHOOL STATISTICS— RELIGIOUS HISTORY— EARLY PREACHERS-CHURCHES ORGANIZED, ETC., ETC. "A history which takes no account of what was said by the Press in memorable emergencies befits an earlier age than ours." — Horace Greeley. THE subjoined sketch of the Press was writ- ten for this work by George W. Harper, Esq., at our earnest solicitation. The article is an excellent one and we commend it to our readers. It is as follows: A history of a county without a chapter on the newspaper history, would be " like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out." There is no more faithful historian of a community than the local press; and be it ever so hum- ble or unpretentious, it. can not fail in the course of years to furnish valuable iftforma- tion for future reference. A file of the local paper for a dozen or more years presents a fund of information, the vali^ of which can hardly be estimated. Some people have an idea that newspapers will lie; others are so wise that they will only believe a newsjiaper report when they think it would be easier for the paper to tell the truth than to tell a lie; others think it the evi- dence of flashing wit to reject with a deri- sive laugh any evidence for authority that comes from " the newspapers." To .such an extent has this thoughtlosj juilgnient of the press been carried, that much of its sphere of usefulness has been circumscribed. It is true By W. H. Perriii. there must be some occasion for this wide- spread impression — " there must be some fire where there is so much smoke." Yet how many men can show a record for correctness, accuracy and truthfulness that will at once compare with the average newspaper? The editor gathers his news from a thousand sources, from acquaintances and strangers, from letters and papers. He sits and culls, hunts and details, and endeavors to get "the straight"' of every story he publishes, for it goes to the world over his own name, and he knows that in a great measure he will be held responsible. The private individual hears a piece of gossip, listens carelessly to another with equal carelessness, and if called upon for details, in nine cases out of ten can not give enough of them to make an intelligent item for a newspaper. " Writing makes an exact man," says Lord Bacon. ' The news- paper verifies the truth of the statement. Let any one who doubts this sit d ixvn and put on paper some piece of gossip, with the purpose of having it printed over his own signature, and he will see in a moment how little he knows about a matter he thought himself familiar with. He will then wonder not that the newspaper should contain occa- sional inaccuracies and misstatements, but that it contains so few. And his wonder will wonderfully increase when he remembers that the editor has to deoend for so much of so HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. ■what he publishes on the common run of man- kind. An eminent divine has truly said, "the lo- cal paper is not only a business guide, but it is a pulpit of morals; it is a kind of public rostrum where the affairs of state are consid- ered; it is a supervisor of streets and roads; it is a rewarder of merit; it is a social friend, a promoter of friendship and good will. Even the so-called small matters of a village or incorporate town are only small to those ■whoso hearts are too full of personal pom- posity." It is very important if some school boy or school girl reads a good essay, or speaks well a piece, or sings well a song, or stands high in the class-room, that kind men- tion should be made publicly of such suc- cess, for more young minds are injured for ■want of cheering ■words, than are made vain by an excess of such praise. In the local papers, the marriage bell tolls more solemnly than in the great city dailies. The rush and noise of the metropolis take away the joy from items about marriages, and detract from the solemnity of the recorded death; but when the local paper records a marriage be- tween two favorites of society, all the readers see the hapjiiness of the event; and equally when the columns of such a home paper tell us that some great or humble person has gone from the world, we read with tears, for he was our neighbor and friend. The Wabash Sentinel. — The pioneer paper of Crawford County was the Wabash Senti- nel. It was established at Hutsonville, in 1852, by George W. Cutler, a printer who came from Evansville, Indiana, bringing his press and material from that place. The paper was independent in politics. Its pub- lication was continued by Mr. Cutler some- thing over a year, when the material and good-will were transferred to Ethelbert Calla- han, then a pedagogue of the village, no^w one of the leading attorneys of Southeastern Illinois, and a prominent Republican poli- tician of the State. Under Mr. Callahan's administration the name of the paper was changed to the Journal., and its publication was continued for something over a year, when the material was sold and removed to Marshall, Clark County. llie Muralist. — This was the next news- paper venture, and was established in Pales- tine, in 1856, by Samuel R. Jones, a native Virginian, •who had been brought up by Alexander Campbell, the eminent minister of the gospel and expounder of the doctrine and faith of the religious denomination known as Disciples or Christians. The Ilu- ralist, like its predecessors, was independent in politics. Jones was rather an eccentric man, with numerous professions, combining those of a preacher, lawj-er and doctor, with that of editor and publisher. He was im- bued with the spirit of "Reform" in almost everything, and ■was disposed to make the paper a special advocate of his own peculiar notions and isms. In December, 1S5G, George W. Harper, a printer boy of some eiiihteen years, came from Richmond, Indiana, and w as employed by Jones to take mechan- ical charge of the Ruralist, and as he had " so many irons in the fire," he soon virtually surrendered all charge of the paper into Har- per's hands, who endeavored to make it more of a literary and local paper than it had been previously. Its publication was continued until October, 1857, when it was suspended, and Dr. Jones removed to Wooster, Ohio, to take pastoral charge of the Christian church there. He remained about a year, and just prior to the breaking out of the late war, he removed to Mississippi. After the close of the war himself and son published for a short time a religious paper at Garner, Hinds County, that State. He is now located at ^^;^^/^>^lx/x-7^^/_^^_^ HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 83 Jackson, Miss., and although over seventy years of age is still actively engaged in the ministry. The. Crawford Banner. — Tliis paper was stiirted at Hutsonville in July, 1857, by W. F. Ruljottom, who came from Giayville, this State, and was puhlished by him as an inde- ])endent paper until October of the following year. Jlr. Rubottom c mmeiiced the prac- tice of medicine when he retired from the jjublication of the Danner, and afterwerd went West. The Huhinson Gazette.— The Gazette was the first paper published in Rol)inson. After the suspension of the Jiuraliat, the material was leased to G. W. Harper, moved to Rob- inson, and the first issue of the Gazette made its appearance December 1^, 1857. This was the first political paper issued in the county. Mr. Plarper, the editor, although not a voter, t;iLing strongground in favorol' the principles of the Douglas wing of the Democratic party. Tiio pu lication of the Gazette was continued by Mr. Harper until the expiration of his lease in 1858, when the paper was suspended, and the material passed into the hands of O. H. Bris- tol & Co., to whom it had been mortgaged by Dr. Jones to secure the paj-ment of a debt. Harper then purchased the Banner at Hut- sonville, and removed it to Palestine, where he continued its publication for a year as a Democratic paper. In July, 185 ', while pub- lishing the Banner, its editor took the "Wa- bash shakes," and did not succeed in getting rid of them until tlie October following. The paper had a somewhat sickly existence also, and suspended publication in November. The Yellow Jacket. — Such was the " blis- tering " name given to a paper started at Palestine in December, 1859, by Dr. A. Ma- lone and E. Logan, on the ruins of the de- funct Banner. Dr. Malone withdrew from the paper in a few months, and left Logan in sole charge, who continued its publication for about three years. Tlie paper was Re- publican in politics, and in the campaign of 1800 contained sliarp and spicy editorials, which made it quite well known in this part of the State. The Crawford County Bulletin. — .\s the Yellow Jacket was the onlv paper in the county, the Democrats were not well pleased with its sharp thrusts and cutting sarcasm; especially so, Hon. J. C. Allen, the Demo- cratic ntmiinee for Governor of the State, then residing in Palestine. He therefore purchased the material at Robinson, and Hor- ace P. Mumford, then connected with a pa- per at Greenup, but recently from Kenton, Ohio, was placed in charge, and in July, 1860, commenced the puljlication of the Crawford County Bulletin, at Robinson, as a Demo- cratic paper. Tlie paper was very ably edited, and was during the campaign a fear- less and outspoken advocate of its party ])riiiciples. When the war broke out the editor was one of those patriotic men who wanted "country first and parly alterwaid," and hence took a decided stand in favor of the prosecution of the war for the preservation of the Union. He assisted in recruiting: three or four infantry companies in this county, and in September, 1861, he raised a company for the Fifth Illinois Cavalry, of which he was commissioned captain. He was afterward promoted to be major of the same regiment. He made a gallant and dashing cavalry officer, being quite frequently men- tioned and commended in reports of his su- perior officers for his bravery and daring in battle, skirmish and raid. In October, 1861:, having been nominated by the Union party of this Senatorial district for State Senator he obtained leave of absence for thirty days from his regiment, then stationed at Vicks- burg, and left for home. He was first to re- port at Springfield. Arriving there he was taken with a severe spell of dysentery, and 84 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. died in two or three days, aged twenty-three years. The publication of the Bulletin was continued a short time after Mumford went into the army, by his brother, W. D. Mum- ford, and N. T. Adams, two young printers. Young Mumford withdrew in the summer of 18(32, and left Adams in charge. After con- tinuing the publication alone for a few weeks Adams also abandoned tlie paper, and it was suspended. The Monitor. — The publication of the Yelloto Jacket, at Palestine, having been sus- pended, Mr. Logan now got hold of the Bul- letin material and started the Monitor, at Robinson, which had a rather lively six months' existence, when it "joined the grand army gone before." The Bulletin was again resurrected by Charles Whaley, a printer from Terre Haute, and had a very sickly ex- istence of " half sheets " and " doubled ads " for some six months, when it too " turned its toes to the daisies." The Constitution. — This paper was estab- lished in October, 1863, by John Talbot, who purchased the Bulletin material. He contin- ued as editor and publisher of the paper for some three years, during which time the Constitution was conceded to be the ablest edited, most fearless and outspoken Demo- cratic paper in this section of the State. While the course of Mr. Talbot was severely criticised by the opposition press and party, he was conceded to be honest and conscien- tious in his views, and was a perfect gentle- man in his intercourse with all. Mr. Talbot was born in Tipperarj', Ireland, September 21, 1797, and died in Robinson September 22, 1874. When quite young he removed to Canada, and after remaining in that province several years he emigrated to the United States, settling in Perry County, Ohio, where he engaged in the hardware trade at Somerset. While in business there he came across Phil Sheridan, then a poor Irish boy, and took him into the store. Through Mr. Talbot's influence Sheridan ob- tained his appointment to West Point, and undoubtedly owes his present position to the kind offices of Mr. Talbot. Having indorsed rather heavily for friends who failed to meet their own obligations, the property of Mr. Talbot, accumulated by several years of in- dustry and toil, was swallowed up to meet these demands, and he came to Illinois with a bare pittance. In 1867, owing to failing health, he relinquished control of the paper to his son Henry Grattan Talbot. That dread but sure disease, consumption, had already marked Henry for its victim, and he was able to give to the office and paper but little per- sonal attention, being soon confined to his room. On the 2d day of January, 1808, he died, aged twenty-four years. The senior Talbot again assumed charge of the paper, and continued as its editor and publisher un- til some two years prior to his death, when he relinquished its control to his son Richard, the present senior editor and publisher. At his death the office was left by devise to his widow. Richard Talbot continued as editor and publisher until the death of his mother, when the office was purchased by himself and brother, Percy J. Talbot. The two brothers continued as joint publishers until March, 1879, when Richard sold his half interest to Thomas S. Price, present county clerk. Af- ter his election as clerk Mr. Price desired to retire from the printing business, and in March, 1880, Richard Talbot again became the senior editor and publisher of the jiaper. It is a good live newspaper, and the Demo- cratic organ for this county. The Robinson Argus. — The first number of the Argus was issued December 10, 1863, by George W. Harper, the present editor and proprietor, under whose control it has been ever since, excepting a few months in 1866- 67. The office was leased to Wm. Benson, HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 85 a printer from Sullivan, Iiid., in October, 1SG6, under whose management the paper suspended in about three months. On ac- count of a severe affliction of rheumatism, from whiih Mr. Harper has been troubled more or less from boj-hood, he sold the office after its suspension, but no satisfactory ar- rangements being made for resuming publi- cation of the paper, he repurchased it in some two or three months, and its publication was resumed by W. E. Carothers, under Mr. Harper's management. This arrangement not proving satisfactory, Mr. Harper in a few motiths again assumed full charge of the pa- per as editor, publisher and proprietor, and by strict attention to Dusiness and good man- agement, has made it rank with the best country papers of the State. The office is equipped with a fine cylinder press, and ma- terial for doing fine printing of all kinds, pre- senting quite a contrast to the outfit with which the paper was started, occupying then a small room with only one 10xl2-light win- dow. The paper being of the minority party, published in a town which had less than 800 inhabitants until within the last six or seven years, enjo^'ing none of the "official" pat- ronage of county officers, has proved a mira- cle of success, and is a worthy tribute to the business enterprise and management of its proprietor. The Real Estate Advertiser. — This was a monthly publication started at Palestipe in October, 1871, by Andrew E. Bristol, a real estate agent at that place. The pnper was printed at the Argus office in Robinson. It was very ably edited, containing historical articles, and others calculated to advertise the fertility of the soil and business resources of the county. Mr. B. was competent to his task, and would no doubt have made a suc- cess of his undertaking. After issuing the fcecond number of the paper, and while prepar- ing copy for the third in his room one night, he was suddenly stricken with paralysis, and laj' upon the floor helpless through the night and a greater portion of the succeeding day, before being discovered. He had suifered intensely during this time, and died in a few days afterward. The Palestine JVeirs.- — The N'ews was a little paper started at Palestine in 187'i by N. M. P. Spurgeon, a semi-mute printer, who, after publishing it some six months, removed to Hutsonville, where the publica- tion was continued as the Hutsonville N^ews some six months longer, when it went, too, to its last rest. 7^he Crawford Democrat. — This was the next paper started " to fill a long-felt want," and made its appearance in Robinson in May, 1879, with Ira Lutes as editor and proprietor. Mr. Lutes had previously been engaged in mercantile Inisiness in Robinson, became dis- satisfied, and thought the newspaper business his special forte. After the lapse of some five or six months he conceived the idea that this was not a proper location, and packed his material and removed to Lincoln, Kansas, where he started up again, but soon after- ward sold out and went into other business. The Palestine Saturday Call. — This paper was started in July, 1880, by W. E. Carothers, a printer who had at different times been em- ployed on the Argus. The paper was printed at the Argits office. An edition for Hutson- ville, under the name of the Herald, was also issued. The Call was a spicy little local paper, started on the " three months plan." Although it had proved a financial success, its publisher chose to aljandon it at the end of the first quarter, to prevent its becoming stranded on financial breakers. The Anti- Monopolist was started by "The Anti-Monopolist Publishing Co.," at Robin- son, just prior to the election last fall, printed from the old material of the Hutsonville Keirs, on the Argus press. After issuing 86 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. some three or four numbers, the paper was suspended for a few weeks, when the com- pany purchased a small establishment and resumed publication. Educational. — In the early settlement of this part of the State, there were a great many influences that worked ajrainst general education. Neighborhoods were thinly set- tled, money was scarce, and the people were generally poor. There were no sclioolhouses, nor was there any public school fund to build schoolhouses, or even to pay teachers. Added to this was the fact that many of the early settlers were from the Southern States — a section that did not manifest as great an in- terest in educational matters as New En- gland. And still another drawback was the lack of books and of teachers; besides, all persons of either sex, who had physical strength enough to labor, were compelled to take their part in the work, that of the women being as heavy and important as that of the men; and this strain upon their indus- try continued for years. When we consider all these facts together, we are led to wonder that the pioneers had any schools at all. As soon, however, as the settlements would at all justify such a spirit of development, schools were established in the different neighborhoods, and any vacant cabin, or stable, or other outhouse was brought into service, and made to do duty as a temple of learning. The Fchools were paid for by in- dividual subscription, at the rate of aliout 50 or 75 cents a month per scholar. Although the people of Illinois and of Crawford County displayed such early interest in educational matters, the cause met with many difficulties, and its progress was slow in the extreme. The pioneer schoolhouses, as a general thing, were of a poor quality. In towns they were dilapidated buildings, either frame or log, and in the country they were invariably of logs. As a general thing but one style of architecture was used in building them. They were erected, not from a regular i'und or sub- scription, but by labor given. The neighliors would gather together at some place previ- ously agreed upon, and with ax in hand, the logs were cut, and the cabin soon erected. The roof was of broad boards, and a rude fireplace and clapboard door, a puncheon floor, and the cracks filled with "chinks," and these daubed over with mud, completed the building. The furniture was as rude and primitive as the house itself, and the books were limited in quantity and quality, and were in keeping with the house' and its fur- nishings. But it is unnecessary to follow the description further. Those who have known only the perfect system of schools of the present can form no idea of the limited ca- pacity of educational facilities here from fifty to seventy-five years ago. But there are, no doubt, many still living in Crawford Coun- ty who can recall their experience in the pioneer schools and schoolhouses. Nothing for which the State pays money yields so large a dividend upon the cost as the revenue expended upon education. The influence of the school-room is silent, like all the great forces of the universe. The sun shines without shouting, " Behold the I'ght!" Gravitation spins the planets in their paths, and we hear the cracking of no heavy timbers and the grinding of no great iron axles. So, from the humble scene of the teacher's labors, there are shot into the heart of society the great influences that kindle its ardors for ac- tivity, which light civilization on its widening way, and which hold the dearest of humanity in its hand. The statistics are the smillost exponents of the worth of our schools. There are values that can not be expressed in dollars anil cents, nor be quoted in price-currents. The governing power in every country upon the face of the globe is an educated power. The Czar of the Russias, ignorant of interna- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 87 tioiial law, of domestic relations, of finance, commerce and the or<2;aiiization of armies and navies, could never hold under the sway of his scepter, 70,000,000 of subjects. An au- tocrat must be intelligent and virtuous, or only waste and wretchedness and wreck can wait upon his reign. England with scrupu- lous car.', fosters her great universities for the training of the sons of the nobility for their places in the House of Lords, in the army, navy and church. What, then, ought to be the character of citizenship in a country where every man is born a king, and sover- eign heir to all the franchises and trusts of the State and Republic? An ignorant people can be governed, but only an intelligent people can govern themselves; and that is the experiment we are trying to solve in these United States. Every observing student of the biography of our representative men, has been struck with the preponderance of those who re- ceived their education in the old log school- house. They are designated " self-made men"; but the aspirations that have enabled them to mount to prominence and distinction are oftenest the product of inspirations awakened by the studies that put the key in their hands that unlocks the storehouses of knowledge. It has been quoted until it has become stale, that " a little learning is a dan- gerous thing"; but there has been a period in the history of every scholarly mind when its attainments were small. The superiority of communities in which learning is fostered, over those in which ignorance reigns, has been the subject of pleasing reflection to every man who appreciates the advantages of intelligence. The transforming power of a good school upon any neighborhood hitherto without one, or possessed of an indifferent one, has shown, in every case where the ex- periment has been tried, the happy effects ensuing, which mark the transition and the consequences that wait upon the flight of a single decade of vears. In such, the children of the poor, competing with the scions of wealthy families for the rank and prizes ac- corded intellect, have been able to surmount the privations incident to poverty, and to find their way into a society and pursuits other- wise impossible. Thus, the rich, who would have borne themselves with a haughty dis- dain toward the sons and daughters of their less fortunate neighbors, have been com- pelled to accredit an aristocracy of intellect, and to honor with social respect those who, but for common schools, would have ever re- mained the subjects of a purse-proud neglect. The first school in Crawford County was taught in Palestine, as for many years that town was the Athens, not only of the county, but of this part of the State. It was of the regular pioneer type, and will be more fully described in the chapters devoted to Pales- tine. We find the followinjr among: the county records of the school at that place: "Know all men by these presents, that we, Jo- seph Kitchell, Hervey Kitchell, Asa Kitchell and Wm. Wilson, are held and firmly bound to Smith Shaw, John Cowan and Benj. Ea- ton, as trustees of the school at Palestine, Crawford County, Illinois Territory, and to their successors in office, in the penal sum of five hundred dollars, for which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, etc. The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bounden Joseph Kitchell shall make or cause to be made a good and sufficient deed for lot one, in the town of Palestine, to the trustees for the school of Palestine, for the use and benefit of a school in said town, within three years from date, then the above obligation to be void, otherwise to remain in full force. Witness our hands and seals, this Tth day of May, 1818;" and signed by the parties men- tioned above. From this it will be seen that 88 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. steps were taken very early for a school in the couTity's capital. As Palestine increased in wealth and in — children, — a second school- house was built, in connection with the Ma- sonic fraternity, the upper story being used as a lodge-room, and the lower story lor the Sfhool. The little school taught in Palestine more than sixty years ago, has expanded into the liberal educational facilities of the present day, and nearly a hundred schools, with thou- sands of children, are found within the lim- its of the county. In illustration of the rapid strides made by education, we give some sta- tistics, furnished us by Mr. Moore, late as- sistant county commissioner of schools, as fol- lows: Kumber of children under 21 years of nge 8,189 " between 6 and 21 years 5,550 of graded sehools in tlie county 1 of scliool-liouses Brick 4 Frame 83 Log 9 . ^_ Total 96 Number of males attending school 2.8(;6 females - " 2.709 ' male teachers employed lOB " female " " 58 FINANCIAL. Balance on hand June 30, 1881 $ 7,215 27 Amount of State fund received S 5.918 90 Special tax for school purposes 22,015 35 Interest on township fund - 1,412 47 Keceived from other sources 217 12 Total amount received.. $-9,59?, U Grand total $36,809,11 Amount paid teachers $20 741 91 For building school-houses 6,500 32 School sites and buildings 136 85 Repairs and iniprovenienls 1,376 80 Incidental expenses 2,183 95 Total expenditures Balance on hand, June 30, 1682.. $S0,939>S3 S ,869 28 Principal of township fund $22,146 48 There is one well-grounded criticism upon the schools, not only of Crawford County, but most of the counties in Southern Illinois, viz.: the small salary paid the county commis- sioner of schools, which is far below that in the central and northern part of the State. The small compensation allowed the commis- sioner, is no object to a man qualified for the position, or when held in connection with some other business, of sufficient inducement to command much of his attention. The com- missioner should be paid a salary large enough to enable him to devote his entire time and attention to the schools, without being com- pelled to add some other calling in order to eke out a living. Better compensation would also be the means of securing a man — or a woman, — better qualified for the position, and the schools be thereby greatly benefited. Jie/if/ious. — Eighteen hundred years ago the Son of Man gave the command, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." It was not intended alone for the salvation of those nations which brought tribute to Ciesar, but with prophetic vision the world's great Redeemer gazed on nations then unborn, and heard the cry of those who groaned beneath the yoke of sin. Then for the redemption. He gave to his dis- ciples the commands which, in later years, have caused His people to widely spread God's glorious truth. The solitary settlers of the western frontier rejoiced to hear the early messengers of God proclaim the "glad tidings of great joy," or wept at the story of Pilate, his pitiless crown of thorns, and the agonies of Golgotha and Calvary. The dark and gloomy forests were pierced by the light that shone from the Star of Bethlehem, and the hymns of praise to God were mingled with the sound of the pioi.eer's ax, as he reared his lone cabin for the shelter of his loved ones. These early ministers ex- posed themselves to all the dangers of the wilderness, that they might do their Master's will, and up yonder they should receive crowns bright with many jewels. They trav- eled on foot or on horseback, among the early HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 89 settlers of Crawford County, stopping where night overtook them, and receiving the hospi- talities of the cabin " without money and without price." Reverently asking the bless- ing of God upon all they did, their lives were simple and unostentatious, their wants few and easily satisfied; their teachings were plain and unvarnished, touched with no elo- quence save that of their daily living, which was seen and known of all men. They were of different religious sects, yet no discord was ever manifested between them, but a united effort was made by them to show men the way to better things by better living, and thus, finally, to reach that best of all — a home in Heaven, that " The good old paths are good enough, The fathere walked to Heaven in them, and By following meekly where they trod, all reach The home they found." They were not only physicians for the soul's cure, but they sometimes administered to the body's ailments. They married the living and buried the dead; they clirlstened the babe, admonished the young and warned the old; they cheered the despondent, rebuked the willful and hurled the vengeance of eter- nal burnings at the desperately wicked. Wherever they went they were welcome, and notice was sent around to the neighbors and a meeting was held, and all listened with rapt attention to the promises of the gospel. For years these pioneer preachers could say literally, as did the Master before them, " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but they (the sons of men) had not where to lay their heads." An old min- ister, speaking of the establishing of churches in the frontier settlements, said: "It used to make my heart sick in the early days of my ministry to dismiss members of my charge to churches in distant regions, and have brothers, and sisters and neighbors leave us for the new settlement in the opening territories. But as I have grown older, and followed these emigrants to their new homes and have found them far more useful in church and State than they ever could have been in the regions they left behind, where others held the places of influence; as I have seen them giving a healthy and vigorous tone to society, while the separation causes a pang of sorrow, the good accomplished more than compensates for the pleasure lost." The good seed thus carried by emigrants is usually sufficient to begin the work of rais- ing society to a higher level of civilization, and their transforming power counteracts those demoralizing influences which tend to social degeneration and disruption. These Christian influences are active in their con- flicts with evil and attractive in social power; and they generally act as a nucleus around which gather the refining influences necessary to carry society onward to a state of compar- ative perfection. We may see by comparing the past and present, how much has been done in this respect. The progress and tri- umph of Christian truth, the superstructure on which societv must rest, if it ever approx- imates perfection, is made apparent. It is thus easily to be seen that no other power than Christian truth can vitalize, expand, har- monize, direct and control the forces which underlie and build up the great fabric of so- ciety. The Baptists were the pioneers of religion in Crawford County. They were of what is denominated the " Hardshell " Baptists, and had ministers here among the first settlers. They were followed soon after by the Method- ists, who built the first house of worship in the county. The first Baptist preachers were Thomas Kennedy and Daniel Parker, both early residents of this portion of the country. Elder Newport was also an early Baptist preacher, but lived in what is now Clark County. His ministrations, however, were 90 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. not confined to any particular section, but de- voted to the needy in every community. Elder Daniel Parker was a zealous minister and preached almost everywhere and to everybody. He preached from Illinois to Texas and back to Illinois, and then made up a colony which he led to Texas. They made the trip by land, and every night during the journey they assembled around the camp-fire, held religious services, passing the evening in prayer and praise to the Giver of all good. Arriving in Texas the colony continued an organized society under the name of " Pil- grim Church," which name they had borne during their "sojourn in the wilderness." The l,amotte Church was organized by these plain and simple old ministers, thefi rst church organization, perhaps, in the county. Elder Parker was a prominent man in the early history of this section of the country, and has been termed one of the ablest men ever in Crawford County. Aside from his ecclesiastical duties, he found time to mingle in temporal matters. He served as State Senator in the Third and Fourth General As- semblies, and was an active and able legis- lator. He was plain and unpolished — the diamond in its rough state — honest to a fault, kindly, and of the justest impulses, a noble type of a race fast passing away. Elder Thomas Kennedy was also prominent in the business affairs of the county. He was its first treasurer; was county commissioner of schools, probate judge, etc., and was thus enabled to deal out justice to either religious or profane delinquents. He was not the equal of Parker in intellect, but, nevertheless, was no ordinary man. Of Newport more will be said in the second part of this volume. The first Methodist preacher was Rev. John Dolhjjhan. He lived in that portion of the county afterward stricken off in Law- rence, and settled there prior to 1820. Rev. Mr. Fox was the first Methodist preacher in the Palestine settlement. These were not what the world would call gifted preachers, but they were earnest and instructive, and faithful to the religion they taught. As emi- grants came in and the people increased in worldly wealth, steps were taken to provide for their spiritual welfare. At first religious meetings were held in any vacant cabin, or in people's houses, but with the growth of the coinitry religious societies were organized, and churches were built, until the silence of the landscape was broken by " the sweet and solemn hymn Of Sabbath worshippers." The first church in the county was built at Palestine by the Methodists. A few years later the Presbyterians also erected a church there. Hebron church was built very early, and was perhaps the next in the county. Temples of worship may now be seen in every village, hamlet and neighborhood. But the churches and church organizations will re- ceive a more extended notice in the chapters devoted to the several townships and vil- lages. CHAPTER IX.* WAR HISTORY— THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE— OUR SECOND "ROUND" "WITH JOHN BULL— BLACK HAWK AND HIS BRAVES, AND HOW WE THRASHED THEM —THE MEXICAN WAR-ILLINOIS' PARTICIPATION IN IT- WAR OF THE REBELLION— DIFFERENT REGIMENTS IN WHICH CRAWFORD COUNTY WAS REPRESENTED— FACTS AND INCIDENTS OF THE WAR, ETC., ETC. " Fair as the earliest beam of eastern light. When first, by the bewildered pilgrim spied. It smiles I pon the dreary brow of night. And silvers o'er the torrent's foaming tide. And lights the fearful path on monntain side; Fair as that beam, although the fah-est far, Giving to horror grace, to danger pride, Shine martial Faith, and Courtesy's briglit star. Throogh all the wreckful storms that cloud the brow of war." —Scott. ALTHOUGH as a nation we are over a hun- dred years old, j'et we have lived, com- paratively, a quiet and peaceable life. Aside iVdni our strujTgles with the Indians (in many of which they had the better cause), we have had but few wars. But those in which we have in- dulired, have been wars of more than ordinary importance. We started out in business for ourselves by threshing our paternal ancestor, Mr. John Bull, thereby inaugurating' what is known in American history as the Revolu- tionary War, and in time achieving our lib- erty and independence. Liberty and inde- pendence! Often as the wheels of iime roll on the anniversary of American Independ- ence, so often does our patriotic zeal blaze out from one end of the Union to the other, in commemoration of those brave war-worn * By W. H. Pen-in. veterans, who bought with tlieir blood our freedom. When the war was over and our in- dependence acknowledged, the patriot sol- diery was paid off in valueless paper and in western lands. This brought many of them to the West, mostly to Ohio and Kentucky, as the lands of those States were in market some time before those of Illinois. There were, however, a number of Revolutionary soldiers among the early settlers of Southern Illinois and of Crawford Uounty. But after this long lapse of time, it is impossible to designate all who participated in the war for libertv, and we shall not attempt it. We have heard of but three, viz.: Asahel Has- kins, Daniel Kinney and George Miller. Ref- erence is merely made to that war as a pre- lude to others that have followed it, and which will occupy considerable of our space in the subsequent pages. After the close of the Revolutionary War our martial experience was confined to the Indians until our second war with Groat Brit- ain, which terminated with that brilliant tri- umph of American arms, the victory of Gen. Jackson at New Orleans on the 8th of Janu- ary, 1815. The opening scenes of this war were characterized by defeat, disgrace and disaster; but toward the close of the struggle a series of glorious achievements compensated 92 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. for these misfortunes. Croafhan's sfallant de- fense of Fort Stephenson; Perry's victory on Lake Erie; the total defeat by Gen. Harrison of the allied Biitish and Indians under Proc- tor and Tecumseh on the Thames, togetlier with the closing scene at New Orleans, have few parallels in modern warfare. The people then living in what is now Crawford County, though far removed from the seat of war, felt its effects in some degree. The Indians in this section, as already noticed, became some- what unruly, and bands of them took the war- path, though they committed few depreda- tions on the people of this county. Their conduct, however, occasioned considerable anxiety, and kept the people continually on the lookout for danger. Many of the early settlers who came to the county following the war of 1812, had participated in it some time during iis progress. But there is no record now by which to obtain any reliable data of tho-e old soldiers and their exploits, and we pass on, with this brief allusion to the sub- ject. The Blade HawJc War. — This war brings us to a period in the history of Crawford County, whpn she had attained an impor- tance second to few counties in the State, as evinced by the part she took in the chas- tisement of Black Hawk. We shall now no- tice briefly some of the leading incidents and facts pertaining to this war. It is unnecessary to go into the details which originated the Black Hawk War. It is the old story of the white man's oppression and the Indian's resentment. Speaking of the causes which eventually led to it. Gov. Edwards, in his history of Illinois, says: "There is no doubt, however, that the whites, who at this period were immigrating in large numbers to the northwest, and earnestly de- sired their removal further Westward, pur- posely exasperated the Indians, at the same time that they greatly exaggerated the hos- tilities committed." The Indians thus mad- dened by the encroachments of the whites upon their hunting grounds, and the insults and injuries heaped upon X.\wm by their pale- faced enemies, finally broke out in open war, and gathered around Black Hawk as their leader. When war commenced, Crawford County aroused herself to action, and many of her able-bodied men shouldered their guns and marched to the scene of conflict. Two full companies were sent from Crawford, while others served in companies and regiments recruited elsewhere. Captain Highsmith's company formed a part of the second regi- ment of the second brigade, and from the re- port of the adjutant-general of the State we learn that it enlisted in June, 1832, and was as follows: William Highsmith, captain; Samuel V. Allen, first lieutenant; John H. McMickle, second lieutenant; B. B. Piper, first sergeant; Thos. Fuller, second ser- geant; Wra. McCoy, third sergeant; John A. Christy, fourth sergeant; Nathan High- smith, first corporal; Martin Fuller; second corporal; Jackson James, third corporal; John Lagow, fourth corporal; and John Allison, Samuel H. Allison, David M. Alli- son, John Brimberry, John Barrick, Benj. Carter, James Condrey, Thomas Easton, John Gregg, Wm. R. Grise, Peter Garrison, Hi- ram Johnson, John Johnson, Geoige W. Kin- ney, James Lewis, Wm. Levitt, John L. My- ers, A. W. Myers, Andrew Montgomery, Isaac Martin, John Parker, Sr., William Par- ker, Thomas N. Parker, John Parker, Jr., Amos Phelps, William Reese, Robert Simons, Thomas Stockwell, Jacob Vaunrinch, James Weger, privates. The company was mus- tered out of service August 2, 1832, at Dix- on's Ferry, Illinois, its term of enlistment having expired. Houston's company also belonged to the second regiment of the second brigade. It HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. was enrolled June 19, 1833, and was as fol- lows: Alexander M. Houston, captain; George "W. Lagow, first lieutenant; James Boat- right, second lieutenant; O. F. D. Hampton, first sergeant; Levi Harper, second sergeant; David Porter, third sergeant; James Christy, fourth sergeant; Cornelius Doherty, first cor- poral; James B. Stark, second corporal; Joseph .Jones, third corporal; Rivers Heath, fourth corporal; Francis Waldrop, bugler, and Geo. W. Baugher, Blanton Blathares, John Bogard, Andrew Baker, Alexander Boatright, Samuel Cruse, Silas L. Danforth, Geo. B. Doughton, Edwin Fitch, Henry Fowler, John Goodwin, Silas Goodwin, Rob- ert Grinton, John Hutton, Joseph Hackett, John A. Hackett, Wm. Hawkins, John Houne, Wicklitfe KitchelL' James Kuyken- dall, Alexander Logan, Matthew Lackey, John McCoy, Johnson Neeley, Robert Por- ter, Wm. Porter, Wm. Pearson, Joseph Pear- son, Edwin Pearson, Zalmon Phelps, Samuel Shaw, John Stewart, John F. Vandeventer, Vastin Wilson, Jacob Walters, privates. This company was mounted, and was mus- tered out of the service at the end of the term of its enlistment, August 15, 1833, by order of Brigadier General Atkinson. The war ended with the battle of August 3, 1833, at the mouth of Bad Axe, a creek emptying into the Mississippi River, a short distance above Prairie du Chien. In Sep- tember a treaty was made, which ended the Indian troubles in this State. Black Hawk had been captiired, and upon regaining his liberty ever after remained friendly to the whites. Tlie 3Iexican War. — All readers of our history are acquainted with the events which led to the war between the United States and Mexico. It resulted from the "annexa- tion of Texas," as it was known, a former province of Muxico, and her adniissiou as a State into the Federal Union. Texas had re- volted, and for years her citizens had been carrying on a kind of guerrilla warfare with Mexico — a war attended with varied results, sometimes one party, and sometimes the other, being successful. The battle of San Jacinto was fought in 1836, and the Texans achieved a brilliant victory, capturing Santa Anna, then Dictator of Mexico, and killing or making prisoners his entire army. Santa Anna was held as a prisoner of war, and was finally released upon his signing a treaty ac- knowledging the independence of Texas. With all the treachery for which that Repub- lic has ever been noted, Mexico, in violation of every principle of honor, refused to recog- nize this treaty, and continued to treat Texas and the Texans as she had previously done. From this time on petitions were frequently presented to the Congress of the United States, praying admission into the Union. Mexico, however, endeavored to prevent this step, declaring that the admission of Texas into the American Union would be reo^arded as suificient provocation for a declaration of war. In the Presidential contest of 1841, between Henry Clay and James K. Polk, the annexa- tion of Texas was one of the leading issues before the people, and Mr. Polk, whose party (the Democrats) favored the admission of Texas, being elected, this was taken as a public declaration on the subject. After this. Congress no longer hesitated as to the grant- ing of the petition of Texas, and on the 1st of March, 1845, formally received the " Lone Star " into the sisterhood of States. In her indignation, Mexico at once broke off all di- plomatic relations with the United States, and called home her Minister. This, of itself, was a declaration of war, and war soon fol- lowed. Congress passed an act authorizing the President to accept the services of 94 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 50,000 volunteers (which were to be raised at once), and appropriated $10,000,000 I'or the prosecution of tlie war. Illinois, in the apportionment, was required to luiriish three regiments of infantry or ri- flemen, the entire force called for being drawn principally from the Southern and Western States, on account of their closer proximity to the scene of war. Gov. Ford, in obedience to the act of Congress, called for thirty full companies of volunteers of a maximum of eighty men, to serve for twelve months. The call was responded to with en- thusiasm, and in ten days thirty-five compa- nies had organized and reported, and by the time the place of rendezvous (Alton) had been selected, seventy-five companies were recruited, each furious to go to the war. The Governor was compelled to select thirty com- pjinies — the full quota of the State — and the remaining forty odd companies were doomed to the disappointment of staying at home. A company made up in Crawford County was of this character. Bi'lbre they reached the " muster place " the quota was filled, and they, with the other companies not needed, vpere furnished transportation to their homes at the expense of the Government. The three original regiments were organ- ized as follows: First Rcqiment — John J. Hardin,* colonel; William B. Warren, lieu- tenant-colonel, and Wm. A. Richardson, ma- jor, with ten full companies rank and file. btcoml Regiment — William H. Bissell, colo- nel; J. L. D. Morrison, lieutenant-co'onel, and Xerxes F. Frail, major; also ten full companies. Third Megimeiit — F. Foreman, colonel; W. W. Willey, lieutenant-colonel; and S. D. Marshall, major; with likewise ten companies. At the expiration of their term * Killed at thfi battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847, in the famous charge with Clay and McKee, of Kentucky. Wm. Weatherford was afterward elected colonel of the regiment. of service (one year) the first and second regiments were organized for "during the war," many of the soldiers re-enlisting, and the discrepancies being tilled by new recruits. Alter the quota of Illinois had been filled by the organization of the three regiments mentioned above, Hon. E. U. B iker, then a member of Congress from the Springfield district, induced the Secretary of War to ac- cept another regiment from this State, and thereupon the F'ourth regiment was organized as follows: Edward D. Baker, colonel; John Moore, lieutenant-colonel, and Thomas L. Harris, major. This regiment, like the others, contained ten companies, rank and file. A number of independent companies, in addi- tion to these four regiments, were enlisted in the State during the war. Under the second call for troops, a call known as the "Ten R'giments Bill," the First and Second Illinois regiments were re- organized. The Whigs, as a party, opposed the war with Mexico, and their opposition to the measure for additional troops and money, was bitter in the extreme. It was in opposi- tion to this bill that the Hon. Thos. Corvvin, of Ohio, in the United States Senate, made the ablest, speech of his life. In it he used the memorable words which have since be- come proverbial: "If I were a Mexican I would tell you, ' Have you not room in your own country to bury your dead men? If you come into mine, we will greet you with bloody hands, and welcome you to hospitable graves.' " But notwithstanding the opposi- tion to the bill it passed, and the war was fou'^ht out bv which the United States ac- quired valuable territory. Crawford County, as we have said, recruited a company, but wore too late, or too slow in their movements, to be admitted into the reg- iments allotted to the State. Of the men comprising this company we have but little data now, as the adjutant-general's report HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 95 jyives but tlie names of those who actually participated in the war. Notwithstamling this company was not accepted, yet quite a number of men from the county went into the army from other sections. Tiie names of tiiese, liowevor, could not be obtained. Some of them have moved away, others are dead, and nut one is now known to be livinn; here. But there are several Mexican soldiers living in the county, who, at the time of their en- listment lived in other counties, and other States, and luive removed to this county since ih ' close of that war. The Ri hellion. — The lato war between the States next claims luir :itt<'ntion. We do not desiifn, how -ver, to write its history, as there is, at ]iiesent, more war literature extant than is read. But a history of Crawford County that did not contain something of its war record, would scarcely prove satisfactory to the general reader. It is a duty we owe to the soldiers who took part in the bloody struggle, to preserve, by record, the leading facts. Especially do we owe this to the long list of the dead, who laid down their lives that their country might live; we owe it to the maimed and mangled cripples who were torn by shot and shell; and, lastly, we owe it to the widows and orphans of those, who, for love of country, forsook home with all its en- dearments, exposing theinselves to the hor- rors of war, and whose bodies now lie rotting in the land of "cotton and cane." When the first call was made for volun- teers, it set the entire State in a blaze of ex- citement. Who does not remember the stir- ring days of '61, when martial music was lieard in every town ami hamlet, and tender ■women, no less than brave men, were wild with enthusiasm? Wives encouraged their husbands to enlist, mothers urged their sons to patriotic devotion, and sisters te.derly gave their brothers to the cause of their country. It was not unlike the summons- - the fiery cross — of Rhodoric Dim to his clan — " Fast as the fatal synibjl flies. In arms the huts and hamlets rise; From winding glen, and upland brown, They poured each hardy yeoman down." But the citizens of Crawford County re- qu're no reminder of those thrilling times. The naines of their patriots are inscribed in characters that will stand as monuments in the memories of men, who, thoua:h dead lono- ago, yet will live, bright and imperishable as the rays of Ansterlitz's sun. Many who went forth to battle, came back to tlieir homes shrined in glory. Many left a limb in the swamps of the Chickahomlny; on the banks of the Rapidan; at Fredericksliurg, along the Shenandoah, or in the Wilderness. Many still bear the marks of the strife which raged at Stone River, Chickamauga, on the heights of Lookout Mountain, where in the lano-uasfe of Prentice — " they burst Like spirits of des^ruction, through the clouds, And "mid a thousand hurtling missiles, swept Their foes belore them, as the whirlwind sweeps The strong oaks of the forest.'' And there were those who came not back. They fell by the wayside, in prison and in battle. Their memory is held in sacred keeping. Others dragged their wearied bodies home to die, and now sleep beside their ancestors in the quiet graveyard, where the violets speak in tender accents of woman- ly devotion and affection. Some sleep in un- known graves where they fell, but the same trees which shelter the sepulcher of their foe- men shade theirs also; the same birds carol their miitins to both; the same flowers sweeten the air with their fragrance, as the breezes toss them into rippling eddies. Both are re- membered as they slumber there in peaceful, glorified rest. While we weave a laurel crown for our own dead, let us twine a cypress wreath about the 96 HISTORY OF CRAWF01.XJ COUNTY. memory of those who fell on the otlior side, and who, though arrayed against us, were — OUK BROTHERS. Mistaken though they were, we reinemijer hundreds of them over whose moldering dust we would gladly plant flowers with our own hands. Let us strike hands over the grave of Slavery, and be henceforth what we should ever have been — " brothers all." From the adjutant-general's report of the State, together with facts gleaned from local records, we compile a brief history of Craw- ford County in the late war. The sketch is necessarily limited and doubtless imperfect but is complete as time and space will per- mit us to make it. A few words will be de- voted to each regiment drawing men from the county. The first in the list was Grant's old rea-iment (the Twenty-first), which was recruited in an early period of the war. The Twenty-first Illinois Infantry was or- ganized at Mattoon, and was sworn into the State Service by Captain U. S. Grant, May 15, 18G1, for three months, and on the 28th of June following it was mustered into the United States service for three years by Capt. Pitcher, of the United States Army, with U. S. Grant as colonel. He was com- missioned brigadier-general on the 6th of August, and Col. J. W. S. Alexander suc- ceeded him as colonel of the Twenty first. He fell at the battle of Chickamauga, Sep- tember 20, 18G3, at the head of the gallant old regiment. George W. Peck was pro- moted lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-first, but was discharged September 19, 1862, on account of ill-health. Company I of this regiment was recruited in Crawford County, and was officered as fol- lows: George W. Peck, captain; Clark B. Lagow, first lieutenant, and Chester K. Knight, second lieutenant. Capt. Peck was promoted to lieutenant-colonel September 2, 1861, and Lieut. Knight became captain, and was mustered out November 16, 1864. Lieut. Lagow resigned in consequence of having been selected by Gen. Grant as a member of his staff. He served in this capacity, partici- pating in all of Gen. Grant's hard campaigns and desperate batth s from Belmont until he left the Western Department to take com- mand of the Army of the Potomac, when, owing to a long continued attack of rhcu- m:itism, and an injury received from his horse falling under him at luka, he was compelled to resign. He was promoted from captain to colonel of volunteers, and then to colonel in the regular army for distinguished services rendered previous to the siege of Vicksburg. Durinor the sieg-e Gen. Grant wanted to use some steamers below the city, and could only get them there bypassing down the river di- rectly under the guns of the Confederate bat- teries. This, he said, was such a desperate undertaking, he would not detail any one to the duty, but called for volunteers to man the fleet. Col. Lagow, being of the number who volunteered, and one of Gen. Grant's tried officers, was given command of the ex- pedition — if such it could be called. He boldly stood upon the deck of the flag steamer while they ran the terrible gauntlet, in face of the enemy's concentrated batteries raining shot and shell upon them. His ves- sel was so riddled with shot that it had to be abandoned in front of their batteries, but he and the men surviving the terrible fire suc- ceeded in boarding another boat. Col. La- gow came through the ordeal without serious injurv, and saved the other boats, somewhat damaged, but not beyond repair, as their sub- sequent use demonstrated to the army. For this brilliant exploit he was brevetted briga- dier-general of volunteers. The Twenty-first served in Jlissouri until the spring of 1863, when it was ordered to Corinth, Miss., and upon the evacuation of that place was engaged in several expedi- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 97 tions in the State. It pjirticipated in the Buell-Brag'g' race to Louisville, Ky., where it arrived September 37, 18G',aiid was engaged in the battle of Perryville on the Sth of Oc- tober, after which it returned to Nashville, Tenn., via Crab Orchard and Bowling Green, Ky. After participating in several trifling skirmishes it took an active part in the battle of Muifreesboro, doing gallant service, and losing more men than any other regiment en- gaged. It was with Rosocrans' army from JMurfreesboro to Chattanooga, and bore an honorable part in tlie bloody battle of Chick- auiauga, September 19th and 20th, 1863, los- ing its colonel kil'ed; its lieutenant-colonel also being wounded, the command of the regiment devolved on Capt. Knight. After the battle of Chickamauga it was on duty at BriJge- port, Ala., during the fall and winter of 1863, as a part of the First Brigade, First Divis- ion of the Fourth Army Corps. Its hard fighting was over, and after the close of the war it was on duty in Texas, until mustered out of the service at San Antonio, December 16, 1805, when it returned to Illinois, and on the 18th of January, 1S66, it was paid off and discharged at Camp Butler. ' The Thirtieth Illinois Infantry was indebt- ed to Crawford County for Company D, which went into the service with the follow- ing ofiScers: Thomas G. Markley, captain; Michael Langton, first lieutenant, and George E. Meily, second lieutenant. This company was unfortunate in officers. Capt. Markley was killed in the battle of Belmont Novem- ber 7, 1861; Lieut. Langton was promoted (laptain in his place, and resigned October 23, 1862; Lieut. Meily was promoted captain April 13, 1803, and was killed May 16th fol- lowing; Patterson Sharp was promoted cap- tain June 13, 1803, and was mustered out of the service July 8, 1805. First Lieut. W. D. Hand (vas promoted captain .July 10, 1805, but mustered out as first lieutenant; Martin L. James was promoted to second lieutenant, but mustered out July 17, 1865, as sergeant. The Thirtieth Infantry was or2:anized at Camp Butler, August 28, 1861, and moved at once to Cairo, where it was assigned to the brigade of Gen. John A. M Clernand. It was sent on an expedition to Columbus, Ky., in October, and November 7th it took part in the battle of Belmont, where it performed gallant service, capturing the celebrated Watson's New Orleans battery. In February it moved up the Tennessee River, and was at Forts Henry and Donelson. As a part of Logan's brigade, it participated in the siege of Corinth. It served in Mississippi until late in December, when it was ordered to Memphis, Tenn., where it arrived January 19, 1803. Here it formed a part of Leg- gett's brigade, Logan's division, and McPher- son's corps. In February it was ordered to Louisiana, but in the latter part of April it returned to Mississippi, taking part in sev- eral skirmishes, and on the 10th of May it participated in the battle of Champion Hills, losing heavily. It crossed Black River with the army, and arrived in the rear of Vicks- burg May 19, 1803. It was actively engaged in the siege of Vicksburg until .Tune 33J, when it moved to Black R ver, under Gon. Sherman, to watch the Confederate Gen. Johnson. After the fail of Vicksburg, it re- mained in camp until August 29lh, when it removed to Monroe, La., but soon returned and was on duty in Mississippi the remain- der of the year. It was mustered in January 1, 1864, as a veteran organization, and continued on duty in Mississippi until the 5th of March, when it left Vicksburg on veteran furlough, and ar- rived at Camp Butler on the 12th; on the 18th of April it left for the front, and pro- ceeded to Tennessee, serving in that State and AlaVjama until the opcn)ingof the Atlanta) Campaign, in which it took an active part. 98 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. It participated in the several enarasements around Atlanta, and on the ith of October it went in pursuit ol" Gen. Hood, returning No- vember 5th to camp. It accompanied Sher- man's army in its march to the sea, taking part in that famous c;impaign. It went to Wash- ington April 29, 1SG.5, by way of Richmond, participating in the grand review May 24:th, at Washington, and June 11th it left for Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out of the service, and returned to Camp Butler for final discharge. The Thirty-eighth Illinois Infantry, was the next regiment to which the county con- tributed. Company D was drawn princi- pally from Crawford, and went into the service with the following commissioned officers: Alexander G. Sutherland, captain; James Moore, first lieutenant, and Robert Plunkett, second lieutenant. Captain Sutherland re- signed April 15, 1864, and Robert Duckworth was elected captain, but also resigned Sep- tember IS, 1865. Lieut. Moore resigned May 29, 1863, and Nicholas Glaze was promoted to first lieutenant and mustered out as ser- geant September 14, 1864. Robert Stewart was promoted to first lieutenant and was mustered out with the regiment March 20, 1866. Lieut. Plunkett was mustered out at the end of first three years. The Thirty-eighth was organized at Camp Butler in September, 1861, and soon after was ordered to Missouri, and wintered at Pilot Knob. In March, 1863, at Reeves Station; the Twenty-first, Thirty-third and Thirty- eighth Illinois, the Eleventh Wisconsin In- fantry; the Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Illinois Cavalry, the First Indiana Cavalry and the Sixteenth Ohio Battery, were formed into the Division of Southeast Missouri under com- mand of Brigadier-General Steele. The first brigade of this force was commanded by Col- Carlin of the Thirty-eighth Illinois, and con- sisted of the Twenty-first and Thirty-eighth Illinois Infantry, Fifth Cavalry and the Six- teenth Ohio Battery. On the 2 1st of April the command moved into Arkansas, Ijut in May the Twenty-first and Thirty-eighth were or- dered back to Missouri, and thence proceeded to Mississippi, arriving before Corinth during the last days of the siege. It remained in Mississippi until August when it joined Buell's army and took part in the chase of Bragg to Louisville. Returning, it participated in the battle of Perryville, capturing, with its brigade, an ammunition train, two caissons and about one hundred prisoners, and was honorably mentioned in Gen. MitchpU's re- port of the battle. It followed in pursuit of Bragg as far as Crab Orchard, Ky., and then returned to Nashville, arriving November 9th. It advanced with its brigade from Nashville December 26th and took an active part in the battle of Stone River, in which it sustained a loss of thirty-four killed, one hundred and nine wounded, and thirty-four missing. It remained at Murfreesboro until in June, 1803, being in the meantime transferred to the Twentieth Army Corps. It was at Liberty Gap, and on the 25th of June, it was ordered to relieve the Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania, which was hotly pressed by the enem\-. The Thirtj'-eighth charged across a plowed field under a heavy fire, and drove the enemy from their works and cajjtured the flag of the Second Arkansas. In a skirmish the next day the regiment lost three men killed and nineteen wounded. It remained in active service during the summer and bore a promi- nent part in the battle of Chickamauga in which it lost 180 men killed, wounded and missing, out of 301 who went into the battle. It went to Bridgeport, Ala., October 25th, where it went into winter quarters. February 29, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted, and in March, came home on veteran furlough. At the expiration of its furlough it returned to Nashville, and on the 17th of May it entered / / HISTOKY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 101 upon the campaicru in Georgia, wliich termi- nated with the fall of Atlanta. It was ('ni;fa"-ed principally in escort duty, with frequent skirmishes, until in June, 1805, when it em- barked lor New Orleans, and in July it went to Texas, where it served until its muster out December 31, 1865. It was then ordered to Springfield, 111., where it was paid off and dis- charged. The Sixty-second Illinois Infantry drew a company from Crawford, as well as a couple of its field officers. Stephen M. Meeker, the major of the Sixty-second, was promoted lieutenant-colonel August 13, 1863, and Feb- ruary 3, 1865, was discharged. Guy S. Alex- ander, who entered the service as second lieutenant of Company F, was promoted to first lieutenant, then to captain, and under the consolidation of the Sixty-second was pro- moted to major of the new organization. Company D of the Sixty-second contained a few men from this county, while Company F was principally made up here. Company F went into the service with the following com- missioned officers: Jesse Crooks, captain; James J. McGrew, first lieutenant, and Guv S. Alexander, second lieutenant. Captain Crooks died October 7, 1864, and December 16th, Lieutenant Alexander was promoted to captain. Upon the promotion of Captain Alexander, George B. Everingham, who had risen to second and then to first lieutenant, was, on the 5th of May, 1865, promoted to captain, and transferred to the consolidated regiment as captain of Company F. Lieu- tenant McGrew resigned September 11, 1862, and Guy S. Alexander promoted in his place. George F. DollUigji was promoted from second lieutenant to first, and transferred, and James Moore, John E. Miller and Wash- ington T. Otey were promoted to second lieutenants. The Sixty-second was organized at Anna, Illinois, in April, 186"2, and was at once or- dered to C.iiro. May 7th it moved to Paducah, and in June to Columbus, Ky., and from thence to Tennessee. It remained in Tennessee until ordered into Mississippi. On the 20th of December, Van Dorn captured Hollv Springs, and among his prisoners were 170 men of the Sixty-second, including the major and three lieutenants. These were paroled, but all the records and papers of the regiment were destroyed. April 15, 1863, the regiment was brigaded with the Fiftieth Indiana, Twenty-seventh Iowa and the First West Tennessee regiments, in the second brigade of the Third Division, Sixteenth Army Corps. It was on duty in Mississippi and Tennessee until the 24tli of August, when it was ordered to Arkansas, where it served until January, 1804. It then re-enlisted as veterans, and on the 25th of April moved to Pine Bluff, remaining there until August 12th, when it came home on veteran furlough. At expira- tion of its furlough it returned to Pine Bluff, where it arrived November 25, 1804. Here the non-%'eterans were mustered out and the veterans consolidated into seven companies, and remained on duty at Pine Bluff. July 28, 1805, it was ordered to Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee Nation, and served in the Dis- trict of the frontier until March 6, 1860, when it was mustered out of service at Little Rock and sent home for final pay and discharge. The Sixty-third Illinois Infantry also drew a company from Crawford County. C'ompany G was enrolled with the following commis- sioned officers: Joseph R. Stanford, cap- tain; W. B. Russell, first lieutenant, and W. P. Richardson, second lieutenant. Captain Stanford was promoted to major, June 14, 1805, and mustered out with the regiment on the 13th of July. Lieutenant Russell re- signed February 4, 1803; Second Lieutenant Richardson was promoted to adjutan^., De- cember 10, 1802. George W. Ball was made first lieutenant upon the resignation of Lieut. 102 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. Russell, and died May 34, 1884, when Charles G. (Jochran became first lieutenant, and on the promotion of Capt. Stanford, was made cap- tain in his place. Harvey G. Wycoff was made first lieutenant, but mustered out as ser- geant, July 13, 1865, with the regiment. George B. Richardson was promoted to sec- ond lieutenant, and resigned December 20, 18G3; Benj. B. Fannam was also promoted to second lieutenant, but mustered out as ser- geant. This regiment, like the Sixty-second, was organized at Anna, III., known then as Camp Dubois, in December, 1801, and on the 27th of April following it was ordered to Cairo. Af- ter a short expedition into Kentucky, it was, on the 4th of August, ordered to Jackson, Tenn., where it was assigned to the Fourth Brigade, Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, .John A. Logan commanding the Division. It operated in Tennessee and Mississippi, and was at the siege of Vicksburg. On the 12th of September, 1803, it was ordered to Helena, Ark., and on the 28th to Memphis; it moved toward Chatta- nooga October 6th, and on the 23d of Novem- ber participated in the battle of Mission Ridge. After pursuing the enemy to Ring- gold, Ga., it returned to Bridgeport, Ala., thence to Huntsville, where it arrived on the 26th and went into winter quarters. Janu- ary 1, 1864, the regiment re-enlisted as vet- erans, and on the 3d of April came home on furlough. May 21st, it reported again for duty at Huntsville and was assigned to the duty of guarding the railroads until the 11th of No- vember, when it was ordered to join Gen. Sherman. It accompanied him in his cele- brated march to the sea, participating in most of the battles and skirmishes of the campaign. It left Raleigh, N. C, and proceeded to Rich- mond, Va., thence to Washington city, where it took part in the grand review on the 24th of May. After the review it was ordered to Louisville, Ky., where, on the 13th of Julj-, 1865, it was mustered out of the service and sent home. The following statistics are fur- nished of this resriment: men. Original aggregate 888 Present when re-enlisted 322 Veteran? of eiglit companies (two companies being in- eligible) '^72 Arrival at Camp Butler, July 16, 1865, for discharge 272 miles. Distance traveled by rail 2,208 '* '* ** water 1,995 " marched 2,250 Total 6,453 The Seventy-ninth Illinois Infantry con- tained, we believe, a few men from Crawford County; but no organized force was enlisted here for the regiment. We have no data at hand of the recruits from the county to the Seventy-ninth, or of their service. The Ninety-eighth Illinois Infantry drew more men, perhaps, from this county, than any other regiment. Two full cotnpanies (D and E) may be termed Crawford County companies. Company D was sworn into the service with the following commissioned offi- cers: M'^illiam Wood, captain; James II. Watts, first lieutenant; and William G. Young, second lieutenant. Captain Wood resigned, Dec. 5, 1864, and Second Lieuten- ant Young became captain in his place. Lieutenant Watts resigned February 22, 1863, and David L. Condrey was promoted in his stead, remaining with the regiment to its muster-out. Achilles M. Brown became second lieutenant, and resigned March 22, 1864. Of other promotions, we have no facts. Company E was organizsd with the follow- ing officer^: .John T. Cox, captain; I.-a A. Flood, first lieutenant; and Charles Wil- lard, second lieutenant. Captain Cox re- signed April 13, 1863, and Lieutenant Flood was promoted to the vacancy, and on the 15th of June, 1865, he was promoted to major, but mustered out as captain. George B. HISTORY OF CKAWl-oRl) (OrXTV. 103 Sweet beciime secoml lieutenant, was pro- moted to first, iind then to captain, but mus- tered out as first lieutenant. John Boes became second lieutenant, and was pro- moted to first lieutenant, and mustered out with the regiment. Second Lieutenant Wil- lard resigned .March 20, 1863; J. W. .fones was promoted to second lieutenaut, but mus- tered out as sergeant. The Ninety-eighth * was organized at Cen- tralia. 111., and was mustered into the United States service September 3, ISG'i, and on the 8th it started for Louisville, Kv., then threatened by Gen. Bragg. It was embarked on two railroad trains, and when near Bridge- port, 111., the foremost train was thrown from the track by a displaced switch and five men killed, among whom was Captain O. L. Kel- ly of Company K, while some 7-) others were injured, several of whom afterward died. Arriving at Louisville, it was brigaded with the Seventy-second and Seventy-fifth In- diana Infantry, and the Thirteenth Indiana Battery, Col. A. O. Miller of the Seventy- second Indiana, commanding. The regi- ment, witli its brigade, served in Kentucky until in November, when it marched into Tennessee. From Gallatin it moved to Cas- tilian Springs, and on the 14th of Dec(>mber, to Bledsoe Creek. December 2Gth it began the march northward in pursuit of Gen. Mor- gan, arriving at Glasgow on the 31st; and on the 2d of January, 1863, it moved to Cave City, and from thence to Nashville on thj 5th; then to Murfreesboro where, on the l-tth, it was assigned to the First Brigade, Fifth Division, Fourteenth Army Corps. On the 8th of March, the regiment was ordered to be mounted, and served in Tennessee where it * The sketch of the Ninety-eighth given herewith is oompileil from a history of thj regim 'nfc written by Adjutant Aden Knoph, and published in the Ar- gus in Septembsr, 1882. did active duty in scouting- guarding for- age trains, etc., until the Chattanooga cam- paign, in which it participated. On the 20tii of September, at Cliattanooga, Col. Funk- houser of the Ninety-eighth, was severely wounded, and the command of the regiment devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Kitchell. The regiment lost in the l)attle five men killed and thirty-six woan:led. It continued to operate in Tennessee, engaged in scout- ing and skirmishing, until the campaign in Georgia, when it was assigned to the Second Cavalry Division, commanded by Gen. Crook, and took an active part at Ringgold, Buzzard Roost, Dallas, Marietta, Rough-and-Ready, and other places familiar to the Army of the Cumberland, the Ohio, and Tennessee. On the 1st of November, 1864, the Regiment turned over its horses and equipments to Kil- patrick, and moved via Chattanooga and Nashville to Louisville, where it arrived on the 16th, and lay in camp for some time, wait- ing to be equipped anew. Taking the war- path again, it, on the 31st of December moved to Eiizidjethtown, Ky., thence to Mumford- ville. Bowling Green, and finally to Nashville. ,Tanu;ir\' 1"2, 1805. the command moved into Alabama, remaining at Gravelly Springs un- til March 8th, when it moved to Waterloo, and on the 31st, to Montevallo, and April 2d took part in the capture of Solma. This was the last severe duty of the Ninety-eighth, as on the 20th of April they were detailed as provost guard of JIacon, Ga. May 22d it started for Chattanooga, and from thence to Nashville, where it arrived on the loth, and June 27, 1865, it was mustered out of the service and ordered to Springfield, 111., for final discharge. The One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Infantry, called into service for 100 days, had one com- pany recruited mostly in Crawford County. Company 11 was commanded bv Capt. James 1>. A^'icklin, with Philip Brown as first lieu 104 HISTORY OF (^RAWFOUU lOU.NTY. tenant and A. D. Otey, second lieutenant. We have no record of its operations during its term of service. Tlie One Hundred and Fifty-second In- fantry recruited under the call for " one year service," contained a Crawford County com- pany. Company H veent into the field in charge of the following commissioned officers: George W. Beam, captain; William Dyer, first lieutenant; Ferdinand Hughes, second lieutenant. The One Hundred and Fifty-second was recruited for one year, and was organized at Camp Butler, Illinois, February 18, 1865. It went to Nashville, and thence to TuUahoma. It was mustered out of the service September 11, 1865, at Camp Butler. The One Hundred and Fifty- fifth Infantry drew a company from Crawford County. Company C was principally from this county, and had the following commissioned officers: John W. Lowber, captain; Ross Neeley, first lieutenant, and Marshall C. Wood, second lieutenant. This regiment was organized at Camp But- ler, Illinois, February 28, 18G5, for one year. March 2d, the regiment, 904 strong, proceeded via Louisville and Nashville to Tullahoma, where it was employed mostly in guard duty on the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. September 4, 1865, it was mustered out of the service at Camp Butler and discharged. The Fifth Illinois Cavalry contained a Crawford County company of men. Com- pany F was principally from this county, and was officered as follows: Horace P. Mum- ford, captain; Francis M. Doroth}', first lieu- tenant, and Wm. Wagenseller, second lieu- tenant. Capt. Mumford was promoted to major of the regiment May 24, 1803, and died October 26, 1864, at Springfield, 111. Lieut. Dorothy resigned January 10, 1863; Lieut. Wagenseller was promoted to first lieutenant January 10, 1863, and to captain May 24, 1863, and then resigned. Thos. J. Dean be- came second lieutenant, was promoted to first lieutenant May 24, 1863, to captain July 5, 1864, and died on the 20th of September fol- lowing. James H. Wood became second lieutenant May 34, 1863, was promoted to first lieutenant July 5, 1864, to captain Sep- tember 20, 1864, and was mustered out with the regiment at the close of the war. Edwin P. Martin was promoted to second lieutenant, then became adjutant and alterward resigned. Jacob Stifal was made first lieutenant, and remained in the service until the muster out of the regiment; James G. Bennett was pro- moted to second lieutenant October 26, 1865, but mustered out as sergeant. Of the field and staff, Major Mumford, Adjutant Martin, Quartermaster Robert C. Wilson, and Surgeon Wm. Watts, were Crawford County men. Adjutant Martin re- signed. Quartermaster Wilson was mustered out of the service. Dr. Watts entered as assistant surgeon, was promoted to surgeon, and was mustered out October 27, 1865, with the regiment. Maj. Mumford died in the latter part of 1664. The following tribute to his gallantry as a soldier and officer, was paid him by Gen. Dennis, in a letter to Hon. Jesse K. Dubois: '' This will be handed you by Maj. Mumford, Fifth Illinois Cavalry Volunteers. The Major has been in my command for the last four months, and the greater portion in command of his regiment. In the expedition from Vicksburg, the Major had command of the entire cavalry forces, composed of parts of four regiments. When I say that he handled his command as well, and did better fighting than any cavalry officer I have met with in Mississippi, it will be indorsed by all the old officers who were with the late raids. Maj.- Gen. Slocum was so well please i and satis- fied with him and the good discipline of his men, that he continued him in coniuiand, noi HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 105 withstanding his supoiiois were present with the expedition." The Fifth Cavalry was organized at Camp ButU;r in November, 1861, witli Hall Wilson, colonel. It served in Missouri and Arkansas until the SOth of May, 1803, when it embarked for Vicksburg. xVfter the fall of that rebel stronghold, it accompanied Gen. Sherman's army toward Jackson, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the enemy in which it sustained some loss. It was on active duty in Mississippi until January 1, 1864, when many of its men re-enlisted as veterans, and on the 17th of March, the veterans were furlougliod. May 27th, Col. McConnell took command, when eight companies were dismounted, and Companies A, B, C and D, were fully armed and equipped. This battalion of cavalry con- tinued to serve in Mississippi, and was actively engaged most of the time in raiding and scouting. January 24, 1865, the battalion moved to Memphis, and thence on an expedi- tion to Southern Arkansas and Louisiana, re- turning February 13th. On the 1st of .luly, it was ordered to Texas. It served in Texas until October 6th, when it was sent home to Springfield, 111., and on the 27th, was mus- tered out of the service, paid off and dis- charged. This completes the sketch of Illinois regi- ments in which Crawford County was repre- sented. Many men, however, enlisted in other States, particularly in Missouri and In- diana. Several Missouri regiments contained a large number of Crawford County men, but how many, we have no accurate means of knowing. During the four years of the war, the county kept up her enlistments, equal to almost any other county in the State. There was but one draft, and that vcas for a few men only. The deficiency was thus apportioned among the different precincts: Hutsonville, 10; Robinson, 5; Watts, 19; Licking, 16; Mar- tin, none; Franklin, 33; Embarras, 11; North- west, 8; Montgomery, 21; 01>long, 0; Pales- tine, 14, and Southwest, 3. Buforo the date fixed for the draft, some of the precincts had filled their quotas, and others had decreased the deficiency, so that when it actually took place, it was as follows: Franklin, 16; Watts, 8; Licking, 8; Hutsonville, 1; Oblong, 3; Northwest, 4; Montgomery, 10; with a like number of " reserves " from each of the drafted precincts. The Argus published the following, as the full quota of the county by precincts, un- der the] different calls, including the last two in 1864, whicli two alone aggregated 500,000 men: Hutsonville, quota 176 — credit, 166; Robinson, quota 198 — credit, 193; Watts, quota, 67 — credit, 48; Licking, quota 72 — ■ credit, 56; Martin, quota 69 — credit, 69; Franklin, quota 144 — credit. 111; Embarras, quota 55 — credit, 44; Northwest, quota 59 — credit, 51; Montgomery, quota 86 — credit, 65; Oblong, quota 55 — credit, 49; Palestine, quota 148 — credit, 133; Southwest, quota 20 — credit, 17; total quota, 1,149; total credits, 1,' 03; deficiency, 146. Another draft was ordered later on, to fill up the quota on a last call, but before the appointed day came, more welcome nev\-s was flashed over the wires, viz.: the fall of Richmond, the surrender of Gon. Lee, and the armies of the Confederacy. The draft was declared " off;" the war was over, the country was saved, and the troops were coming home. The saddest part of the home- coming, was in the many vacancies in the broken ranks — the absence of " those who came not back." A little poem dedicated to the "Illinois dead," and published in the initiatory number of the Arffun, is appropriate: " Oh, sing the funeral roundelay, Let warmest tears be shed, And rear the mighty mouumenta For the Illinois dead. " On many a field of victory Tliey slumber in th';'ir gore, 106 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. They rest beneath the shining sands On ocean's soundmg shore. " Where from Virginia's mountain chains, By Rappahannock's side, Upon the Heights of Maryland Her gallant sons have died. " The broken woods of Tennessee, Are hallowed by their blood. It consecrates Missouri's plains, And Mississippi's flood, " Kentucky's ' dark and bloody ground, Is furrowed by theu- graves; They sleep in Alabama's soil, By Pamlico's dark waves. " And Mississippi's poison swamps, Arkansas river ways, And Pennsylvania's pleasant towns Attest our heroes praise. "They saw them in the ranks of war, Oh. memory dark with woe! They saw them yield to death, who ne'er Had yielded to the foe. " Then weave the chaplets fair and well To grace each noble name. That grateful llhuois writes Upon the scroll of fame. ' Her sons have led the battle's van. Where many fought and fell, With all the noble Gracchi's zeal. The hero faith of Tell." We can not close this chapter more appropri- ately, than to devote a few words to the noble women of the land, whose zeal and patriotism were as strong as those who bore the brunt of the battle. They could not shoulder their guns and march in the ranks, but they w >re not idle spectators of the struggle. How often was the soldier's heart encouraged; how often his right arm made stronger to strike for freedom by the cheering words of patriotic, hopeful women! And how often the poor lad whom disease had fastened, was made to tliank devoted women for their ceaseless and un- wearied exertions in collecting and sending stores for the comfort of the sick and wounded. We may boast of the fame and prowess of a Grant, a Sherman, a Lee, a Sheridan, but the devotion of those noblewomen surpasses tiiem all, and truly, the world sustains its heaviest loss when such spirits fall. A war correspond- ent paid them the following merited tribute: "While soldiers of every grade and color are receiving eulogies and encomiums of a grate- ful people, patient, forbearing w^oman is for- gotten. The scar-worn veteran is welcomed with honor to home. The recruit, the colored soldier, and even the hundred days' men re- ceive the plaudits of the nation. But not one word is said of that patriotic, widowed mother, who sent with a mother's blessing on his head, her only son, the staff and support of her de- clining years, to battle for his country. The press says not one word of the patriotism, the sacrifices of the wife, sister or daughter, who with streaming eyes, and almost broken heart, said to husbands, brothers, fathers, " much as we love you, we can not bid you stay with us when our country needs yon; nay, we bid you go, and wipe out the insult offered the star- spangled banner, and preserve unsullied this union of States." Brave and noble, self-sacrificing women! your deeds deserve to be written in letters of shining gold. Love and devotion to the un- fortunate and heart-felt pity for the woes of suffering humanity are among your brightest characteristics. Your kindly smiles of sym- pathy break through the clouds of misfortune, and your gentlest tones are breathed amid the sighs of suffering and sorrow. Your o-entle ministrations to the war-worn soldiers, in humble imitation of Him who taught the sublime lesson about the cup of cold water to the little one, will live as long as the trials and hardships of the war are remembered, and that will be glory enough. CHAPTEE X. ROBINSON TOWNSHIP-DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY-GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE COUNTRY-LAND ENTRIES-ADVENT OF THE WHITES-TIME AND PLACE OF SETTLEMENT-EARLY SOCIETY-THE BEGINNING OF AGRICULTURE —PIONEER INDUSTRIES AND IMPROVEMENTS— EARLY MARKETS, ETC., ETC. . "And nature glarlly gave them place. Adopted them into her race." — Emerson. nOUTHERN Illinois is an offspring of the O "South." Freed from British control in 177S by a son of Virginia, and passing its early existence under the colonial regime as the county Illinois of the State of Virginia, its first American settlements were founded by emigrants from County Kentucky, and the parent State. Later, as the territorial posses- sion of the general government, the story of its beautiful plains, its stately woods and its navigable rivers, spread to the contiguous States of North Carolina and Tennessee, and brought from thence a vast influ.x: of popula- tion. The early tide of emigration set toward the region marked by the old French settlements, and reaching out from this point followed the course of the rivers which drew their sources from the northern interior. Thus for some thirty j-ears the eastern side of this fair country was almost ignored, but the military activities involved in the war of 1813 brought many of the hardy citizens of the south in actual contact with the beauties of the " Wabash country," and the years of 1S14-15 witnessed a concourse of clamorous immigrants held in abeyance upon the bor- der only b}' the slow pacification of the Indi- ans who had engaged in the war on the side of the British. Here and there, one more •By .1. H. Battle. bold than the rest, reared his rude tabernacle upon this debatable ground and occasion- ally paid the forfeiture of his life for his temerity. But the barrier once removed, the swollen tide spread rapidly over the coveted land, and up sprang as though by magic, the log cabins, the teeming harvests, the mill, the church, the school-house, and all the " busy hum " of pioneer activity. Such in brief is the history of Crawford County. The division of the County to which our attention is now directed, is the outgrowth of a later development. As settlements increased, precincts were formed which were after- ward subdivided, and in 1868 the present township organization was effected. Under the original division this township formed the central part of LaMotte Precinct, and on the removal of the county seat from Palestine, this became Robinson Precinct, in honor of .f. M. Robinson, a leading attorney and promi- nent citizen of Carmi. The township thus designated includes thirty sections of town 7 north, range 12 west, of the government sur- vey, eighteen sections of town 6 north, same range, sections 1, 13, and 13 of town north, range 13 west, and sections 12, 13, 24, 25 and 36, of town 7 north, same range, a total of fifty-six sections. The original character of the country included within these limits was part," barrens" and part true prairie. These were irregularly distributed, the latter gener- ally proving to be low levels when the con- 108 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. centrated moisture prevented the growth of the timber of this region. The whole surface, however, was such as to afford but little ob- stacle to the progress of the regular fall fires, and only here and there a good sized tree stood out upon the blackened plain as evi- dence that the whole land had not been van- quished by the fiery onslaught. But the first settlers found further evidence of the char- acter of the land, in the roots or "grubs" •which still remained in the ground, and it seemed an aggravation of the usual hardships of pioneer experience that the condition of the prairie land forced the new-comer to se- lect the poorer land. The' natural drainage of the township is toward the east, south and ■west from the central part. Sugar Creek received two small affluents from the western side; Honey Creek takes its rise a short dis- tance to the south of the village, and an arm of Big Creek drains the eastern side. The soil is a strong yellow clay, which has been the chief resource of the community settled here. Since the early years of the settlement but little attention has been paid to stock raising, save perhaps in the case of hogs, and a system of mixed husbandry in which the cultivation of corn and wheat has been prom- inent, has prevailed. The settlement of Robinson township was not the result of that orderly succession of immigrants often observed, but checked at the Palestine fort, for a year or two the immi- gration gathered such members that when once the fear of Indian hostility was removed, the cooped- up settlers spread simultaneously in all parts of the country. A list of the early entries of land will give some notion of the early comers to the country and their choice of lands, though they did not all settle upon the lands they entered. The entries in town 7 north, range 12 west, were on section 9, Jesse Page and Harmon Gregg, in 1817; on sect;on 10, James Newlin and John Hill, in 1818; on section 11, Thomas Newlin, Thomas Young and Nathan Mars, in 1818; on section 12, Joshua Barbee, in 1818, and Enoch Wil- hoit in 1820; on section 13, William Dunlap and William Everman, in 1818; on section 15, James J. Nelson, in 1818; on section 17, Armstead Bennett, in 1818; on section 22, W. T. Barry, in 1818, and in the previous year on section 27; on section 23, Wilson Lagow, in 1817, and WilHam Nelson, in 1818; on section 24, William Mitchell, in 1818, and William Barbee in 1817; on section 25, John Mars and William Mitchell, in 1817. In town 6 north, range 13 west, entries were made by Charles Dawson, in 1818, and Jona- than and John Wood, in 1819, on section 1; and by Richard Easton, on section 3, in 1818. In town 7 north, range 13 west, on section 11, Wilson Lagow made entry in 1817, and Ithra Brashears, in 1818; on sec- tion 12, Lagow made an entry in 1817, and in the following year, Lewis Little and Barnett Starr, made entries of land. A number of these entries were made for speculative pur- poses; other entries were subsequently relin- quished for a consideration or of necessity, and a number of persons came here who stayed for a few years and moved away without making any attempt to secure a title to land or staying here permanently, entered land much later, so that so far as forming any judgment of the actual settlement of Robin- son, these entries afford but little data. Among the earliest of the settlers in this township was the Newlin family. The flat- tering reports of the character of the Wabash Valley had reached North Carolina, and leaving his native State, Nathaniel Newlin went to Tennessee, where his brothers, John and Eli, had settled, to urge them toward the new land of promise. He was so success- ful that in 1817 the three brothers moved to the "Beech Woods" in Indiana. Nathaniel was not then married, but the trip to this HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 109 region satisfied him that this was the country to live in, and in the fall he returned to brinor out his father, John Newlin, Sr. In the fol- lowing spring he returned to the valley, but his brother not liking their location, he de- termined to try the west side of the river, and eventually fixed upon a site on section 10, towi' 7 north, 13 west. In the same spring, the boys, John and Eli, left their place on the Indiana side and came to Robinson. When the older Newlin came, his son Thomas was prepared to move at the same time, but his wife being sick he was obliged to remain. Durinsr the summer Nathaniel returned to North Carolina, married a lady and assisted his brother, Thomas, to get his goods togeth- er for removal. The latter's wife had so far recovered as to attempt the journey. The family consisted of the sick wife, his sister, and five children, with Nathaniel and his bride. With these stowed away in such space as the household effects left in a large Vir- ginia land schooner, the journey was begun, the men walking most of the way or riding a spare horse which was the marriage portion of the bride. Quite a number of families started in company for the new country, con- tinuing together across a corner of Virginia to Crab Orchard, Kentucky, where the rest took the right hand road which led toward Indiana, thus parting company. While pass- ing through Virginia, Mrs. Newlin grew worse, and finally died, the sorrowing family being compelled to bury her there among strangers. On reaching this country, they found shelter in the cabin of John Newlin, Sr., who very soon afterward took up his home in a new but smaller cabin which was at once constructed. In 1817, Thomas Young, William Barbee and Nathan Mars, came to this country to prospect for a home. The other two men had married sisters of Barbee, and in the fol- lowing year they all returned with their families, Barbee settling on section 25, Mars and Young on section 11. On their return in 1818, from their native State of Kentucky, they were accompanied by the family of John Wright, \sho was also a brother-in-law of Barbee. Jesse Page, a native of Kentucky, came here in 1817, entered land on the fractional quarter on the southeast of section 9, and in the following spring brought his family to a farm, whence he moved to Clark County in 1834. Harrison Gregg came here in the same spring, a young married man with wife and two children, but left this country for Texas some years later. Joshua Barbee, a brother of William, came in the spring of 1818 from Kentucky, but left for the Lost River country a few years later. William Everman came about the same time from the same State, and located on section 13. Arm- stead and Steven Bennett came from Ken- tucky in 1818, and located on section 13. This family were in comfortable financial cir- cumstances, and improved a good farm, but subsequently left for Texas, selling out to Guy Smith. William Mitchel was a young unmarried man, a new emigrant from Eng- land. He entered land as early as 1817, and perhaps was the first actual settler in Robin- son township. After maintaining bachelor's hall for a number of years, he married Sarah Newlin, and lived on his place until the day of his death. Enoch Wilhoit was an immi- grant of 1820, coming from Kentucky, and settling on section 12. The " entry book " indicates an interval of a number of years between the coming of Wilhoit and the next entr}', and it is probable that there were few permanent accessions to the community planted here before 1830. Under the peculiar condition of affairs in a new country it was frequently the case, that people in search of a new home would come to this section, build a cabin, raise one crop and then move to some locality which prom- 110 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. ised better results. This was true to some extent in this township, and later comers found no ditHculty in securing a cabin fitted at least for a temporary abode. Of this later accession John Nichols was an early settler. He came from Virginia about 1830, settling upon property which stiil remains in posses- sion of the family. John Gwin a son-in-law of Nichols, was another incomer of this time, and located about a mile and a half north of town. John Cable came here about this time and purchased considerable land about the site of the village. His cabin was erected on what is now known as the Dunham place. He was a man of good education for the time and had formerly engaged in teaching. An active, intelligent farmer, the prospect of im- proving a large farm and securing a fine com- petency seemed bright before him, when the death of his wife, leaving four little children to his care, dashed his hopes in this direction. He at once sold his property, and moving in- to Indiana engaged in mercantile pursuits, subsequently acquiring considerable wealth, and rearing his children without the aid of a second wile. His old cabin still does duty as a stable for Samuel Maginnis. In 18.33 F. M. Brown came to the east side of the village and en- tered 160 acres of land. He was a native of Virginia, from whence he had gone to Gar- rard County, Kentucky, thence to Indiana, and finally to Illinois. Nicholas Smith, a family connection of Brown's, had settled here, and it was through the representations of the former that Brown came here. The journey was made in a big schooner wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen. In this was be- stowed the household effects, the wife, and so many of the eight children as could not make part of the way on foot. Two cows and a mare and colt completed his whole worldly posses- sion, aside from the entry price of his land. On arriving here, the family found shelter in a deserted cabin built by William Patton, on the site of the old brick-yard. Brown's land lay just beyond the limits of the present village, to the northeast, and when the ques- tion of erecting a cabin on this property came, there was a division of opinion. The head of the family had chosen as the pro- posed site, a pleasant grove situated on a little knoll just east of the village, but Mrs. Brown, always accustomed to wooded coun- try, feared such an exposed situation, and de- sired the cabin built on lower ground in the edge of the timber. It was finally left to a vote of the children, who, sharing the preju- dices of their mother, decided in favor of the low land and timber. In 1833 John Blank- enship came to the central part of this town- ship. He was an old soldier of the war of 1812, as Brown had been, and the two had campaigned together. It was through the influence of Brown that he came here. He built a cabin where Aldrich Waters now lives, the first residence on what is now the village of Robinson. He made no entry or purchase of land here, and subsequently moved elsewhere. Succeeding the accessions of this period another interval of some eighteen years occurred in which there were few or no addi- tions to the settlement in this township. The removal of the county seat, and the laying out of Robinson village, however, changed this apathy into a vigorous activity, though the immediate effect was more apparent in the history of the village than in the surround- ing country, where the last of the public lands were not taken up until about 1851 or later. There was much to remind the first settlers that this was a frontier country. Following close upon the cessation of Indian hostilities, they found the natives in undisturbed pos- session of the hunting grounds they had fre- cpiented from time out of mind; to the north for miles there was but here and there an HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. Ill isolated cabin, while the nearest village was thirty miles to the southeast. A well traveled trail led up from Vincetines, through Pales- tine to Vandalia, and later a mail route was marked by a bridle path from Palestine through the central part of Robinson. The whole country, however, was open to travel, xliere was but little to obstruct the way, or even the view. Doer could be seen as far as the eye would reach, and travelers found it necessary only to avoid the low prairie land which throughout the summer was so wet as to allow a horse to mire to the hock-joint. These lands have since proven the best farm- ing property in the country, but were orig- inally so wet as to be entered only as a last resort. The settler once here, the neighbor- hood which extended for miles about, was summoned and a cabin raised. Here there was no dearth of assistance, but in the lower part of the county, early settlers were occa- sionally obliged to build a three-sided shelter until enough men came in to build a cabin. The difficult method of transportation pre- vented the bringing of any great amount of furniture. Beside the family, the wagon load consisted of provisions, bedding, a few hand tools, and perhaps a chair or two. The New- lins brought in three chairs strapped on the feed-box, and the first care of Thomas was to go to Vincennes where he purchased a barrel of salt for eighteen dollars, some blacksmith tools and a cow and calf. The home once secured, attention was then turned to the preparation of a crop for the next season's support, " Clearing " did not form an onerous part in the first work of the farm. Tlie principal growth was brush, which necessitated a good deal of pains-taking " grubbing," and then the firm sod was turned by the plow. The first of these im- plements in use here, was the Gary plow with a mold board, part wood and part iron, hewed out of beech or maple, which necessitated a stop once in about twenty rods, to clean with a woodeti jiaddle carried for that purpose. These were succeeded by the Diamond plow, manufactured principally at the country blacksmith's. Their construction involved an oblong piece of steel, 13 by 10 inches, which was cut into a rude diamond shape, bent to serve as a plowshare and point, and welded to an iron beam. This was a considerable improvement upon its predecessor, and the two forms sufficed for years. The first crop of corn was very often planted in gashes made in the sod by an ax. From such rude hus- bandry an abundant harvest was received, amply sufficient at least for the support of the family and such stock as needed feeding grain. Thomas Newlin was a blacksmith by trade, and set up his forge very soon after his arrival. This shop was a valuable acquisition to this community, and was the only one for miles about. Here almost everything a farmer needed of iron was made: plows made and sharpened, hand tools and kitchen utensils. An important resource of the early com- munity, and one, in fact, without which the settlement of this country must have been greatly hindered, was the game that found food and shelter here. Deer were found in almost countless numbers, and in some sea- sons of the year as many as fifty or seventy- five have been counted in a single herd. The settlers who came here were not born hunters, and most of them had to learn to shoot deer, though fair marksmen at other game. One of the noted hunters of this re- gion said he missed at least one hundred of those animals before he ever hit one. Hun- dreds of them were killed, and so unequal was the supply and demand of venison that it was years before a deer with the hide would bring fifty cents. When the village growth of the county became such that they could be disposed of at this price considerable numbers were brought in, and the money thus 112 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUICTY. acquired saved for taxes. It is related on one occasion a settler shot a fine deer, dressed it, and took the two hind quarters to Palestine to dispose of. He met a man newly arrived in the village and when asked the price of them, the hunter put a big price upon them, charging fifty cents apiece, but to his utter astonishment the stranger took both quarters and paid down the cash without a question. Much as he needed the monej', the settler has never been quite sure to this day that the stranger was compos mentis, or tiiat he did not overreach his immature experience. Oc- casionally a deer would turn upon his antag- onist and give the sport a zest which did not lessen the attraction to the frontiersman. One of the Newlins out in quest of deer, got a shot at a fine buck and dropped him to the ground. Supposing he had killed the animal instantly, he approached without observing the precaution of loading his rifle. He had his ax in hand, and just before reaching the animal, the buck, which he had only " creased," sprang to its feet and made a desperate charge upon the hunter. Seizing his ax in his right hand, he warded off the horns with his left and aimed a blow with his weapon, but only succeeded in avoiding the antlers of the infuriated animal to be knocked down by its shoulder. A second charge followed which resulted only in Newlin giving the animal a wound but being again knocked down. A third charge resulted in both fall- ing together, the animal on top, but stimu- lated by the exigencies of the circumstances, the hunter got to his feet first and by a well directed blow of the ax swung in both hands, crushed in the forehead of the animal as it got to its feet. The favorite way of shooting these animals was, in the early years, by "still hunt." The hunter taking a seat on a log near a deer trail, and shooting such animals as came within his reach. Others watched a '* lick " and shot the deer as it came to drink. Later, as the deer grew scarce they were pur- sued with dogs, most farmers keeping one or two and sometimes a dozen. Bears were sometimes found, though but few are known to have been killed in this township. One with two cubs passed near a new cabin that had been raised. The settler succeeded in catching one of the cubs, but the mother, contrary to her traditional love for her offspring, lost no time in getting into the timber. On another occasion a party of hunters started out from this settlement with several dogs in pursuit of a bear whose tracks they found in the snow. After following the trail to McCall's prairie they were met by a sudden snow-squall which filled the tracks and blinded the hunters, but the dogs exhib- iting a desire to rush on, were set loose and soon had bruin at bay. The men pushed on and found the animal had taken to a tree, but at the approach of the hunters it came down and was soon at war with the dogs. It was impossible to shoot because the dogs surrounded the victim, so one of the hunters rushed up with an ax and struck it a fatal blow while it held a dog in its teeth. " Painters," wild cats and wolves were nu- merous and considerably feared, though no mishap ever happened to the early settlers here from their attack. There have been a good many narrow escapes from what seemed imminent danger, which served to emphasize the fear generally entertained, but these hardly reached the dignity of an incident. It is related that a hunter following a wounded deer, after he had expended all his bullets was seriously menaced by eight wolves, which the trace of fresh blood from the deer had attracted, and that they came so close that he prudently climbed a tree. He was not besieged long as the trail of the deer promised better game, and the wolves passed on depriving the hunter of his game. But while these wolves were not very trouble- HISTOUY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. ii:; sonio to pui-soMS, tlioir attacks upon stock jiroveda source of annoyanco to the pioneer farmer. There was but little stock in the country. Most of the new comers brought in a cow and team of horses or oxen, and these were generally free from attacks. The young stock, however, were often victimized. Calves, heifers, and occasionally cows were killed, while young pigs and sheep escaped the voracious jaws of these animals only through the utmost care. A drove of sheep was early brought to Palestine, and many of the farmers bought enough to supply wool for their family needs. For years these small flocks had to be carefully watched during the day and folded at night, the younger members of the family acting as shepherds. The farmers' dogs soon learned to keep the wolves off, though it generally needed the presence of some one of the family to give them the necessary courage to attack. Bees were found here in great numbers, and honey and bees-wax became an article of commerce. Many made honey an object of search and became expert in hunting this kind of game. The plan was to burn some of the comb to attract the bees to a bait of honey or a decoction of anise seed, and when loaded up to watch their course. In this way hundreds of trees were found stored with the sweet results of the busy labor of these insects that would have probably escaped the sharp- est sciutiny. S(jme were found containino- fifteen gallons of honey, and the past year is the first, since his residence here, Matthew Newlin relates, that he has not discovereil one of these trees. In such a land, literally flowing with milk and honey, it was natural to expect the Indian to linger till the last possible moment. The treaty with some of the natives of this region provided for the payment of a certain sum of money in four or five annual install- nn,'nts at Vinccunes. This seived to keep these loiterers here, who in the meantime visited their old time haunts for game. There was on the whole the utmost good feeling entertained by both parties. There were several cases of hostility with fatal results in other parts of the county, some of which threatened to involve the whole country here in a serious conflict, but the matter was ar- ranged and the peaceable relations existing between the two people were not disturbed. While the Indians generally respected thg rights of property holders, and are not gen- erally charged with stealing the settlers' stock, etc., they did not hesitate to take any- thing they could eat whenever within their reach. Those who were fortunate enough to have a spring near their cabins constructed a rude spring house where the milk was kept. This was free plunder to the natives, and they did not scruple to come in day light and drain the last drop before the indignant eyes of the housewife. Others were in the habit of coming to certain cabins just about break- fast time, when they had learned to e.>cpect a large corn-pone fresh from the bake-kettle. The settlers soon learned to prepare for these visits and so save their own meal. One morning fourteen of the Indians came to a cabin early, seeking something to eat. A huge pone was just cooked and removing the lid of the old-fashioned oven the head of the family pointed to the dish. The Indians fln- derstoud the gesture and one of their num- ber thrusling his knile into the steaming bread took it from the fire, laid it on the table, and dividing into fifteen pieces, took a double share and left, munching the food with grunts of satisfaction. The rest each took a share, leaving the family without an important part of their breakfast. Such in- cidents were accepted with philosophic com- posure by the majority of the early white in- habitants, who had a little more to complain of in regrad to the natives. Tliere were 114 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNrV. others, however, who were ready to charge upon the Iiuli;u)s the loss of sundry hogs and cattle, though it is generally believed that such charges were made to account for the hatred they cherished against them. One or two chaiacters are mentioned who, for some depredations committed by the savages in Kentucky, took occasion to here avenge themseves upon innocent members of the same race. The natives were chiefly of the Kickapoo and Delaware tribes, and spent several winters here. Tliey were provided with a canvass wirrwam, the top being open to allow the smoke to escape, and, contrary to the gene- ral custom of the tribes, tilled no corn field, evidently preferring to depend upon the bounty of the whites and the results of a little petty exchange which grew up between the two races. Furs, dressed buckskin, and game were exchanged for corn, bread, and pork on ver\- good terms for the whites. They gradually became very good company with the athletes of the settlement, and took their defeats with the best of good nature. In shooting at a mark, jumping, wrestling and running they were frequently out-done by the whites, but in feats of long endurance, shooting game and woodcraft, thej' sustained the reputation which history has generally given them. The whites, separated from even the crude advantages of a frontier society, were at first whoU}' dependent upon their own ingenuity for the commonest necessaries of life. Most of the early families came from communities where flour was not considered a luxury, mills were within an easy journey, mechanics were abundant and the best implements of the time within their reach. But in coming to this country all these were left behind. Few had money to expend upon anything save the price of their land, and the absence of stores ■was not at first felt to be so much of a priva- tion, but wiien their first stock of ];rovision was expended, and tliis with their clothing was to be replaced, the only resort was to Vincennes, some thirty miles away. Here another difficulty presented itself. The farm- er had a surplus of corn and but little more. This was neither legal tender nor good for ex- change very often, and later, when it became marketable, the exchange for a wagon load would not burden a child. Under such cir- cumstances every piece of coin was husband- ed with miserly care to meet land payments and taxes, and often did not suffice for that. At one time a large proportion of the taxes, which for the whole county did not amountto more than sixty dollars, was paid in wolf- scalps and coon-skins. There was absolutely no money to be had. There was but little wheat sown, as it was believed it would not grow, and even where the seed was found to thrive the slight demand for it discouraged its culture. Corn was the great staple, and va- rious means were resorted to, to make it an- swer the various demands of the farm and family. The nearest mill was at first in Sha- kerville, and subsequently on the Embarras River in what is now Lawrence County. ]}ut these mills were twenty miles away and man3- an emergency arose when there was no meal in the cabin, and lack of time, stress of weather or other obstacle hindered the tedi- ous journey and delay of going to mill. Hom- inj' mortars were found at many of the cabins, which were generally used. These were simply formed out of a convenient stump or laro-e block into which a large excavation was made by f;re and tools. Over this a " sweep " was erected to which was attached a heavy wooden pestle faced with a piece of iron. In such a mill the corn was beaten to various o-rades of fineness, the finest separated by a sieve made of perforated buckskin, was re- served for dodgers, while the coarsest made the traditional dish of hominy. Jesse Page niSTOllY 0I-- CHAWrORD COUXTY. II.- refined upon this construction ainl maile aiudo lianilniill vvliicli was kept in prettj' constant use by himself and neighbors. An ordinary stone properly dressed was set in an excavated stump, and another was cut in circular form ■ind titted on top of it. An iron set in the lower stone protruded through a hole in the center of the upper stone, which, ])rovided with a wooden handle near its outer edge, completed the machine. The corn placed be- tween these stones was converted into very fair meal with not much exertion or expend- iture of time. Later, William Barbce con- structed a single-geared horse-mill near the central part of what is now Robinson town- ship. This mill consisted of a small run of stone with a hopper attachment run by a gear- ing propelled by horses. The mill proper was in a log cabin provided for the purpose. Outside, a perpendicular shaft carried at its uj3- per end a large wheel fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, on the circumference of which was provided cogs to fit in the shaft-gearing which turned the mill. In the lower part of the up- right shaft, arms were fitted, to which two or four horses were attached and the vphole cov- ered with a shed, constituted a horse-mill of the olden time. This proved a great conve- nience, the farmers using their own teams and paying a good toll for the use of the ma- chinery. The absence of any considerable streams in the township prevented the construction of many of those aids to pionejr communities thac do much to mitigate the discomforts of a frontier experience. The horse-mill, while not the best the country, afforded in this line, was much better than going twenty miles for better grinding, though at a later period, when wheat became common, it was found necessary to go to Ilallcnbeck's mill in York township, or to the Shaker mill. But at these mills the wheat was not screened nor the fl jur bolted, and the bread made from the proJuce of these mills would hardly satisfy the fastidious taste of the modern house- keeper. Barbee afterward sunk vats and did some tanning, which was a great addition to the advantages of this community. But all were not dependent upon this for their supplv of leather. Brown & Nichols made a tanner's ooze for themselves, and tanned hides in a trough for years. It was not until about 18-49 that the first saw-mill was erected north of the village, by Barbee & Jolley. One of the Barbees had a small distillery here, about the same time, but it was in operation but a short time when it was discontinued. The clothing of the family depended largely upon the handiwork and ingenuity of the women. The flax was grown and the sheep were sheared, but with this the work of the men generally ceased. To transform these materials into fabrics and thence into clothing, called for accomplishments of no trivial order, but the women of that day were equal to their duties. Work and play were intimately associated, spinning and quilting bees lightened the labor and brought the neighborhood together for a pleasant inter- change of gossip and frolic in the evening. Linsey-woolsey, a combination of linen and wool was the general wear of the women, en- livened by the rare luxury of a calico dress for special occasions. The nun wore jeans, the pants generally faced in front with buck- skin, a style generally called "foxed," and in which tlie women displayed no little origi- nality in their effort to make the addition take on an ornamental as well as useful character. Social gatherings were marked by the play- ing of games rather than dancing. The latter was a favorite form of amusement, but there was a large element of" old school Bap- tists" among the early settleis that did not favor this form of amusement, which led to the employment of other forms of entertain- ment. Whisky was less in general use here 116 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUiN'TY. than in many frontier communities, and drunkenness was at least no more frequent than now, in proportion to the population. The earliest market for the produce of, the farmer was at Lawrenceville, the mer- chants of which did much more business forty years ago than now. Here the farmers drove their hogs and cattle and hauled their corn, which finally found a market at New Orleans. Later the villages of Palestine and Hutson- ville afforded a nearer market. Fruit, honey, bees-wax, tallow, and even corn, were fre- quently hauled to Chicago, the wagons returning loaded with salt. Stock raising, especially of cattle and hogs, was a promi- nent feature of the early farm industry, and brought to the farmer a pretty reliable revenue. Cattle were sometimes driven to Chicago, but the most of the stock was sold to itinerant buyers at the farm, though at marvelously low prices compared with those ruling at this day. A cow and calf sold for $5 or $(3, and a fine fat steer for $6 or $8. John Hill, Jr., sold, on one occasion, seven fine steers, for $50, a price which he obtained only through the most stubborn persistence. Garwood, an Ohio cattle dealer, offered $48 for the cattle, but as Hill was depending upon the sale for the purchase of forty acres of land, he insisted upon the additional $'i, as there was no money to be got otherwise. For two days and nights Garwood haggled over the price, when finding Hill unyielding, gave the price and took the stock. Since then, how marked the change. The generation is growing up that will scarcely believe the unvarnished tale of pioneer ex- perience in this land, and will only value the advantages of the present when they accu- rately measure the sacrifices and achieve- ments of the past. i ^^l^^-c^^e^ CHAPTER XI.* ROBINSON VILLAGE— THE STAR OF EMPIRE— A NEW TOWN LAID OUT— FIRST PLAT AND SUBSEQUE^^T ADDIi'IOXS— EARLY DEVELOPMENT— GROWTH OF BUSINESS IN- TERESTS—THE RAILROAD IMPETUS— SCHOOLS, CHURCHES AND BE- NEVOLENT SOCIETIES— CEMETERIES, ETC., ETC. THE geocrraphical location of Palestine made tlie eventual removal of the county seat td a more central site a foregone conclusion from the very first. But, while this fact vras recognized by all, the influence of Palestine interests was bent to delay the inevitable change to the last possible moment. The rapid development of York and Hutsonville soon made them active rivals for the metro- poiitan honors of the county and foolishly jealous of the prestige of the favored tovifn. As the settlement of the county advanced and communities grew up in the northern and western parts, the long, tedious journeys re- quired to transact public business created an Ticreasing demand that the change should be made as early as possible. There was no reasonable ground on which either of the other prominent towns could hope to succeed to official honors, but the removal, it was thought, would seriously cripple the com- mercial importance of their rival. This agi- tation was not expressed in any combined action until 1843. At this time Hebron had become quite an important inland center, and acting as a cats-paw for Hutsonville, the ini- tiatory steps for the removal were started in these villages, and the matter brought before the people for decision. The first vote was on the cpiestion of removal, which was de- cided affirmatively. An election was then called to choose the site. The act authorizing *Ry J. H. Battle. the removal required a donation of forty acres which should be platted, the sale of which should provide the means for the erection of public buildings. Offers of the requisite land were made on the site of the present village, at Hebron and at a site five miles southwest of the present village of Robinson. In the election which followed, beside these localities, the site on the farm of W. S. Enamons, the geographical center of the county, Hutsonville and Palestine re- ceived votes, but without a sufficient pre- ponderance to make a choice. A second election was then called to decide between the Robinson site and P. C. Barlow's site, in which the former proved successful. The site thus chosen was the judicious selection of the whole people uninfluenced by partisan considerations. It was situated at the central point of the dividing line between sections 33 and 3-i in town 7 north, range 13 west. The east " eighty " was owned by William Willson, the southwest " forty " by Finley Paull and Robt. C. Wilson, and the northwest " forty " by John W. Wilson, ten acres from the converging corners of each section formino' the donation for the village. The forty acres thus constituted were prairie land partially covered with a heavy under- growth of brush with here and there a large tree, and skirted with considerable heavy timber. It was an eligible site in every way, and for the purposes of a county seat was probably the best site in the county, though 120 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. there were but two cabins in the vicinity of the proposed town at that time. William B. Baker, the official surveyor, under the in- structions of the commissioners at once set about platting the new village, and on De- cember 25, 1843, presented the result of his labors for record, with the following concise description: "The size of the lots in the town of Robinson is sixty-five feet front, east and west, and 130 feet long. The public square is 260 feet north and south and 2-iO feet, east and west. The streets each side of the square (east and west sides) are fifty feet broad. The main streets through the center of the town each way, are eighty feet, and all the rest are sixty feet, save the border streets on the outside of the lots which are forty feet." The lines are run by the cardinal points of the compass, the plat fronting the north. The streets running east and west, lieginning at the south side are Chestnut, Locust, Main, Walnut and Cherry; at right angles with these, beginning on the east, are Howard, Franklin, Court street, Marshall, Cheapside, Jefferson and Lincoln. Court street and Cheapside are short thoroughfares which define the public square and connect !Main and Locust streets. Marshall street ends at the central entrance on the north side of the square, its projection on the south side lieing called Broadway. The plat was thus divided into fourteen regular and three irregular sized blocks aggregating 120 blocks. Robinson, thus evoked out of the wilderness, was simply a "fiat" town. It represented no commercial advantages, served no speculative purpose, and awakened no animated interest in its success. It is believed by some that lots were offered at public sale early in 1844, but this is probably a mistake, or the result was deemed unworthy of record. The prop- erly was not the kind which would find ready purchasers at lair figures, as few whose pro- fession or official duties did not require their presence would care to leave more important business centers for any inducements this site could offer. The earliest record of the pur- chase of lots is dated December 3, 1844, when Francis Waldrop bought lots No. 77 and 78, for $45.75. The second purchase was made by Wm. B. Baker and consisted of lots No. 101 to 108, both inclusive, lots 69, 70, 71, 73 and 80, paying S300 for them. There is no further record until December, 1846, when W. H. Starrett bought lot 74 for S22,50; Wal- drop bought lot 56, for $.30, and Leonard D. Cullom bought lots 79, 81 and 82, for $41. In 1847, in September and December, lots 22, 23 and 24 were purchased by Wra. and Thom- as Barbee for $33; lot 98 by D. A. Bailey for $25; lot 75 by Wm. Brown for $25; lot 54 by Mary Johns for $20; lot 99 by Anna Longnecker for $15; lot 67 by Wm. Young for $12.12; and lots 41 and 42 by George C. Fitch for $30. In the following year aliout a dozen lots were disposed of at prices ranging from $11 to $25. Robert and Henry Weaver, David Lillie and J. M. Grimes appearing among the names of purchasers. These names indicate the early accessions to the com- munity though there were others hen; who seem to have bought land at second-hand or occupied a building site some time before purchasing. The first building erected was a small frame structure on the site of Collin's exchange store. This was put up by James Weaver and was subsequently moved to the northeast cor- ner of Marshall and Main streets, where it served as kitchen to a large two-story log ho- tel built on that corner. This building still serves as a dwelling in the northwest part of the town. The vacant frame building now standing on the northwest corner of Locust street and Cheapside is the second structure erected in the village. This was built by Francis Waldrop in the spring of 1844, and united store and dwelling under one roof. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 121 The kitchen part afforded quarters for one of the earliest sessions of the Commissioners' Court. Some time during this year Mr. Wal- tlrop put in a small stock of goods which was boiiirht privately at Hutsonville. A third building was the residence of W. B. Baker. This was a building constructed of peeled hickory logs and situated in the grove just southeast of the plat, where the residence of Mr. Hill now stands. The grove substantial! v as it now stands, was secured by purchase of the lots above mentioned and the balance from Wilson, the original owner of that sec- tion. Baker soon closed up that part of the streets that passed through his property, a summary proceeding which has since received the doubtful sanction of a legislative act. The briek residence occupies the point where the south and east border streets met. About this time the contractor on the court house put up a log building and moved his family here for a temporary residence. This com- prised the village community of Robinson in the fall of 1845, when it received its first professional accession in Judge Robb, who was then practicing medicine. He built a log building about eighteen feet square on the site of Charles Hill's present residence, which placed him just outside the precincts of the rising city. It will hardly be surprising that forty acres should prove sufficient to contain the village, at this rate of increase for some fifteen years. It is questionable whether the crowded condition of things even then de- manded an addition, but it is evidence of growth that in 1858 Asa Ayers did plat twelve lots between Marshall and Franklin streets, adjoining the northern line of the original plat. In 1865 an estimate of the population in the village placed it at less than four hundred, but there was evidence of slow but steady growth, and in 18tJ7 William C. Dickson's addition of twenty lots, and Robb's first addition of twenty-four lots, were made. In 1870 Robert Morrison added sixteen lots, and four years later Watts' addition of twenty lots was made. In 1875 a new element was added to the situation. The agitation of the question of railroads materialized and gave such an impetus to the development of the new town that property holders on the eastern side of the village, catching the infection, vied with each other in platting their lanils. In this year ninety-three lots were added in seven "additions." In the following year seven more additions, aggregating 193 lots, were made, and in 1877, seventy more were added in three parcels. In 1878, two addi- tions aggregating twenty-seven lots, were made, and a final one, in 1881, of thirty-six lots. Until 18GG, the destiny of the village was guided by the justice of the peace, the con- stable and road supervisor. Some few at- tempts at internal improvements had been made but nothing approaching a systematic effort. Early in this year a meeting of the voters of the village was called at the court house, at wliich it was decided by a nearly unanimous voice to take the legal steps to in- corporate the village under the general law. On the 2d day of March, E. Callahan, Thos. Barbee, Thos. Sims, D. D. Fowler and A. P. Woodworth were elected trustees, who met on the following day and organized by elect- ing Thos. Barbee, president, J. C. Olwin, clerk, Joseph Kent, constable, and Thos. Sims, treasurer. At an adjourned* meeting the usual list of ordinances were adopted, the first of which defines tlie limits of the corpo- ration as follows: " Commencing at the south- east corner of the west half of section thirty- four, in town 7 north, of range 12 west, and running thence north one mile, thence west one mile, thence south one mile, thence east one mile to the place of beginning." The limits thus established have proven sufficient. without subsequent extension, to include the 1^2 HISTORY or CRAWFORD COUNTY. growth of the village to this time. By this orio-inal code of municipal laws, litter and ob- structions upon the sidewalks were forbidden, and the sale of liquor as a beverage, public business on the Sabbath, gambling, etc., ta- booed. The more immediate effect of the new order of things was seen in the build- ing of sidewalks. In 18(58 property holders about the public square were required to lay brick or plank walks, and in other parts of town where there was most demand. In 1S75, when the railroad infused new life into every department of society, the town board rose to the importance of the occasion and appro- priated a thousand dollars for this purpose. In the following year 50,000 feet of lumber was bought and another thousand dollars ap- propriated, and this spirit of enterprise has been maintained until there are few villages of the size of Robinson that are so well pro- vided with broad, well made walks. The streets have been under the direction of a road master, and upon them have been ex- pended each year the "poll-tax labor" of the village with some tangible result. Koad making material is scarce in thi's vicinity, and but little more has been done than to care- fully turnpike the streets. Some gravel has been used on the streets about the square but only with the effect to modify the depthless mud that mars the streets of this village during the spring time. Recently some effort looking toward the lighting of the streets has been made, though so far no definite action has been taken. Another subject which is the perennial source of agitation in the villages of Illinois, and which devolves especial responsibility upon the authorities that be, is the regulation of the sale of liquor. The attitude of the first board of trustees undoubtedly expressed the prevalent sentiment of the community in re- stricting the sale of "ardent spirits "to simply the demands for mechanical, medicinal or sacramental purposes. But the minority upon this subject, by constant pressure of specious arguments, soon effected a change in the public policy. In 1870 license was granted for the sale of liquor in unlimited quantities, the vendor, with exception of drug- gists, to pay three hundred dollars and give an indemnifying bond. In the following year the whole liquor traffic was taken out of the hands of regular dealers and the somewhat novel plan of appointing agents to sell only for " mechanical, medicinal and sacramental purposes." This plan seems hardly to have been well considered before initiated, and the board soon found itself involved in the most perplexing maze of evasions and technicali- ties, and in very despair the whole scheme was abolished in 1874, and the regular " no license" plan again adopted. Since then the subject has alternated from one extreme to the other, the license fee reaching as high as §1,200 on the statute book, but without occa- sion of enforcing it. It stands now at eight hundred dollars and a substantial bond to in- sure the I'quor seller's compliance with the terms of his contract. Even at this figure the tr iffic is such that three saloons find induce- ment to carry on the business here. A late outgrowth of enterprise rather than demand of the village, is the fire department. In the early part of 1881, the propriety of securing a hook and ladder apparatus was brought up and carried forward with com- mendable spirit to a successful issue. Rubber- pails were added to the outfit, a company or- ganized and a suitable building erected at a total cost of some five hundred dollars. Early in the follownng year a hand engine for which the city of Vincennes had no further use was purchased and added to the department. There has been no occasion yet to demon- strate the efficacy of the fiie department, nor is its complete organization strong-ly vouched for, but it has had a formal institution and HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 123 will doubtless develop with the occasion for its service. There was but little to attract business to the ni wly laid out town of Robinson, and Waldrop for a time monopolized the fi-ade. In the course of a year or two, however, Ma- ginley set up an opposition store, and Felix Hacket opened a saloon, or grocery where whisky was the principal stock in trade, in a log building on the east side of the square. Barbee and Brown were also amoncr the first log Store merchants, doing business near the center of the east side of the square. In Iy53 brick business houses began to ap- pear. In this year John Dixon, who began trade in Robinson about 1819, put up the first brick store building in the village on the cor- ner of Main and Marshall streets, which is now used by Griffith as a shoe store. In the following year Thomas Barbee, who had " kept hotel " on Marshall street, a block or two north of Main, built the Robinson House, which is now the principal hostelry of the town. In the same fall Woodworth and Lagow began the erection of the brick building occupying the southeast corner of Main and Court streets, finishing it in the following spring. These buildings were a little later follc)wed by the erection of the Masonic Building, and just before the completion of the railroad, what is known as the Southside Block was erected. This block consists of six two-storied brick buildings seventy feet deep and twenty in width outside of three stairways and halls on the second floor of four feet each. The con- struction of this block was first conceived bj' Judge W. C. Jones, who erected two of the buildings, A. H. Jones the third, Jones and Maxwell a fourth, A. O. Maxwell the fifth, and Mrs. Callahan the sixth. The influence of the new railroad was at its heisrht, and al- though its old-time competitors proclaimed Robinson "finished," A. H. Waldrop, then owner of the Robinson House, commenced the erection of a large two-story brick addition in the rear of the hotel at once. In the same season the Robinson Bank and the storehouse of E. E. Murray & Co., both two-storj' bricks of 20x70 feet, were erected, followed in the succeeding season by two more buildings of the same size, erected by J. H. Wood, which closed up the vacant ground on the east side of the square from the Masonic building to the Woodworth buildings. The same season John Hill & Son erected a two-story building on the corner east of the square, extending from Douglas to Jefferson street. In the meantime, beside these structures for business purposes, several fine and substantial resi- dences were erected at a cost of from six to ten thousand dollars. In 1878 the block of brick buildings north of the square was erected, and in the following year .T. U. Grace erected an addition on the west side of the Robinson House, 18 by 110 feet, the lower story for a place of business and the upper to furnish additional rooms for the hotel. About the same time with Dixon, the Lagows started a branch of their Palestine store in Robinson, which in 1853 was con- ducted by the firm of Woodworth and Lagow. Barbee and Jolly began business here about 1855, but continued for only a year or two when they closed up with an assignment, their liabilities being principally to eastern merchants and reaching a very considerable amount. On the death of Dixon about 1855, the Preston Brothers, a heavy business firm of Hutsonville with stores in a half dozen places in Clark and Crawford Counties and else- where, established a branch house in Robin- son, occupying the Dixon building. This firm with that of Woodworth and Lagow were the largest business houses here at that time and until the coming of the railroad attracted a large and peculiar trade. There was but little money in the country until 18GI or 3 and business was conducted almost entirely 1-24 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. without it. Goods were sold on a year's cred- it and in the fall the merchants bought all the grain, hogs or cattle for sale. Each firm had warehouses and packing houses on the Wabash, beside a farm fitted for the purpose of feeding stock. In the spring, grain, pork and cattle were shipped by the river to New Orleans. Considerable quantities of grain were taken in and stored ■ at Robinson until the hard road of the winter afforded an op- portunity of hauling it to the river. One of these firms made a practice of buying horses in the fall, securing the most of them on accounts due them for goods. These were assorted, the inferior stock traded off, and the better ones got in good condition and sent down the river in the spring to market. Thus to insure success in business here, the mer- chant found it necessary to combine the qual- ities of a good stock speculator as well as those of a storekeeper, a failure in either branch proving disastrous to the business. The operations of these business houses took a remarkable range, the Preston Brothers maintaining one partner whose whole time and attention was occupied with these out- side affairs. The coming of railroad facilities wrought a speedy revolution in business circles. The abundance of currency set afloat by the Gov- ernment during the war had nearly done away with the prevailing system of barter and thus curtailed the profits with the extent of the operations of the old time trade. The old firms gradually passed away with the old cus- toms, giving place to others of a younger generation. But there has been no perma- nent contraction of business on account of this change. The large operations of the few have been divided among the number who have succeeded and the business of the village has larg'^y expanded. The coming of the Paris and Danville road, gave Robinson a decided advantage over its competitors for the trade of the county, but the subsequent construc- tion of the "narrow gauge railroad," rather restored the equilibrium, and the "county seat," while still far in the lead, finds the com- petition in the grain trade, at least, one of considerable imnortance. A number of mills — saw, grist and planing mills — constitute most of the manufacturing industries of the town. The large brick figuring mill was built by Brown, Sims & Waldrop, and is now used by John Newton and Dyer's estate. The Junction mills, owned by Collins & Kirk, was built by Will- iam C. Shafer. The saw-mill near the Junc- tion mills was built by Brigham and Wilson, and is' now owned by Reinoehl & Co. Near it is the Robinson machine shop and foundry, put up about a year ago, by Ogden & Martin. It is not running at present. The planing mill of Wiseman & Brubaker is located near the Wabash depot. It was originally built by Wesley Fields. A planing mill stands near the narrow guage depot, owned by Otey & Sons. School furniture is manufactured at this mill. A few other manufacturing enter- prises are in contemplation, but have not yet resulted in anything definite. The educational facilities of Robinson are confined to the public schools. The early history of education in the village is not dis- similar to that of other early settlements. The first school is supposed to have been taught in a log building about 1848, by Wm. Grimes. The court house was used several years for school purposes. The town has now a very good, comfortable school- house — a two-story frame building, but not adequate to accommodate the growing wants of the "young ideas," and a large building must soon take the place of the one now in use. The regular attendance of the Robinson public school is over three hundred pupils. Prof. S. G. Murray, an excellent teacher, is principal; D. G. Murray, teacher of grammar UISTOllY OF CKAWFORD COUNTY. 125 di'partine:it; other teachers, W. G. llale, Miss Mary Firman and Mrs. Fh)ra B. Lane. Tue Methodist Episcopal Church organi- zation is the oldest church in Robinson, and dates back into the " forties." Of its earliest history we obtained no reliable data, and can give but a brief sketch of it. The elegant and tasteful brick church edifice was built in 1866, at a cost of more than S5,000. The membership is large and flourishing, and is under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. Massey. A good Sunday school, of which John Maxwell is superintendent, is maintained during the entire year. The Presbyterian Church, the sketch of which is taken from the Argus, was organized originally, October 38, 1848, with sixteen members, chiefly from the Palestine church. Under this organization it hal a brief exist- ence, and the members dissolved and re- turned to the old church. On the 8th of November, 1872, Rev. Thomas Spencer and Elder Finley Paull renewed the organization as the "First Presbyterian Church of Robin- son." The first elders were Wra. C. "Wilson, John H. Wilkin and Rufus R. Lull; the first minister, Rev. Aaron Thompson. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Spencer and he by Rev. John E. Carson, all of whom have been stated supply. No church building has been erected by the society, but they used the Methodist church. They own a parsonage which cost $1,000, but are at present without a pastor. The Christian Church was organized in Robinson in the spring of 1876, and among the original members were N. S. Brown and wife, M. C. Shepherd, Mrs. Mary Callahan, Hickman Henderson, and Jas. M. Gardner and wife. The organization of the church resulted from a meeting of several days' du- ration held in the court house by Elder A. D. Daily, of Terre Haute. Some fifteen or twenty additions were made to the member- ship during the meeting. Elder Daily visited the church once a mojith for a year or more. The next minister was Elder I. G. Tomlinson, of Indianapolis, who preached here once a month. The church was built about a year after the society was organized, N. S. Brown, ilrs. Callahan, H. Henderson and M. C. Shep- herd being the principal movers toward the building of it. It Wiis completed and dedi- cated in the summer of 1883 by Prof. R. T. Brown, of Indianapolis. There are at present about one hundred members, and they are without a pastor. A Sunday school is main- tained. Robinson Mission Catholic Church was es- tablished in 1882 by Father Kuhlmann, of Marshall, with a strength of about fifteen families. The church building was erected the same year, at a cost of $700, and was dedicated by Rev. Father Kuhlmann, who has been the only rector, administering to the congregation once a month. The secret and benevolent institutions of Robinson come in regular conrse next to the Christian churches. They do as mush good in their way as the churches themselves. And the best men in the country do not deem it beneath their dignity to lend their assistance and countenance to these institutions. The Masonic fraternity has been represented here by a lodge and a chapter. Robinson Lodge, No. 250, A., F. & A. M., was organized in 1856, and the charter signed by J. H. Hibbard, grand master, and H. G. Reynolds, grand secretary-. The charter members were John T. Cox, Daniel Perrine, Joseph H. Huls, Irvine Heustis, J. M. Alexan- der, J. C. Ruddell, John D.Smith and Charles Meilley. John T. Cox was the first master; Daniel Perrine, senior warden; J. H. Huls, junior warden; D. M. Mail, treasurer, and Irvine Heustis, seeretar}-. The present of- ficers are: T. S. Price, master; H. B. Lutes senior warden; W. P. Stiles, junior warden; 126 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. J. C. Evans, treasurer, and M. C. Mills, sec'y. Robinson R. A. Chapter No. 149 was or- ganized December 1, 1871, and among its charter members were J. M. Jarrett, John Newton, A. J. Haskett, 0. M. Patton, Wm. C. Wilson, Wm. Dyer, Geo. W. Harper, Wm. C. Jones, E. Callahan, S. MidkiflF, S. Taylor, J. L. Cox, I. D. Mail, W. F. Fleck, J. O. Steel, etc. The first officers were J. M. Jarrett, H. P.; John Newton, K.; A. J. Has- kett, S.; C. M. Patton, C. of H.; Wm. C. Wil- son, P. J.; Wm. Dyer, R. A. C; Wm. C. Jones, S. Midkifif and W. H. Fleck, G. M. of v.; Samson Taylor, treasurer; E. Callahan, Fecretary, and G. W. Harper, tiler. To the shams of the fraternity be it said, they have let the chapter die out, and the charter has been surrendered to the grand chapter. Crawford Lodge, No. 124, I. O. O. F., was instituted in 1855, with thai following charter members: Wm. C. "^Vilson, Wm. Barbee, A. W. Gordon, S. H. Decius and James S. Barbee. The first officers were W. C. Wil- son, N. G.; Wm. Barbee, V. G., and James S. Barbee, secretary. It died out, but was resuscitated again in a few years. The pres- ent officers are T. S. Price, N. G.; A. B. Hous- ton, V. G.; George Kessler, treasurer, and G. W. Henderson, secretary. Robinson Lodge, No. 1744, Knights of Honor, was organized in August, 1880, and among its charter members are Peter Walk- er, C. H. Grube, J. P. Murphy, M. C. Mills, T. S. Price, A. H. Waldrop, J. C. Olwin, A. B. Houston, Zalmon Ruddell, I. L. Fire- baugh, Geo. N. Parker and others. The present officers are George W. Harper, P. D.; W. N. Willis, D.; P. Walker, reporter; Sol Moers, financial reporter, and J. C. Ol- win, treasurer. CHAPTEE XII.* LAMOTTE TOWNSHIP— GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND TOPOaRAPHY— EARLY SETTLEMENT —JOSEPH LAMOTTE— THE EATONS— OTHER PIONEERS— THE SEVEN JESSES— EX- TRACT FROM FICKLIN'S ADDRESS— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— PAL- ESTINE— ITS GROWTH, DEVELOPMENT AND INCORPORA- TION—THE LAND OFFICE— REGISTERS AND RE- CEIVERS— EDUCATIONAL, RELIG- IOUS, ETC., ETC. "When in the chi-onicles of wasted time I read descriptions, etc." — Shakespeare. n^^IIE marvelous development of our coun- -L try is without parallel in history. Look back a generation or two and behold tliese smiling- fields a primeval forest or wild prai- rie. There are scores of people still living who recollect when hazel brush grew upon the site of the county's capital, and when the roads were little else than blind trails, and unbridged streams were swum or waded; when, instead of the locomotive's whistle, was heard the dismal howling of the wolf or the far-off screech of the hungry panther. Rapid as have been the changes and great the im- provements in this section, Crawford is only well upon her course; the energies which have brought her to her present state will not falter. "Lo! our land is like an eagle whose young gaze Feeds on the noontide beams, whose golden plumes Float moveless on the storm, and, in the blaze Of sunrise, gleams when earth is wrapped in gloom." This civil division of Crawford County forms no inconsiderable part of the history of the great commonwealth of Illinois. No portion * By W. H. Perrin. of the county, nor indee 1 of the State, is richer in historical interest. It contained the first seat of justice of the county; the first land office established in the State was located within its limits, and the first settlement made in the county was in what is now La- motte Township. Here were erected forts and block-houses, when Indians were far more plentiful on this side of the Wabash than pale-faces, and here transpired some of the stirring events that have embellished with interest the history of the State. Lamotte Township lies on the eastern bor- der of the county and contains much fine productive land. Its surface beyond the river bottoms, which are low and subject to overflow, is generally level or undulaling, re- quiring little artificial drainage. With the exception of the bottoms above alluded to, our idea of its topography does not fully co- incide with the poet-laureate of Palestine when he penned the following lines: " Half a century ago I lived in Egypt's famed land, Where the soil was composed of dark loam and sand; There were swamps on this hand and swamps on that, And the remainder of the land was level and flat." The township lies south of Hutsonville township, west of the Wabash River, north of Montgomery and east of Robinson town- ship. It is drained principally by Lamotte Creek, which flows in a southeasterly course 128 HISTOKY OF CRAWFOIID COUXTY. and empties into the Wabash near Palestine landing. The original timber growth was oak, iiickory, walnut, hackberry, buckeye, sycamcre, pecan, cottoiiwood, etc., etc. Upon the whole, the township is a fine agricultural region, and in 1880 had a popuhition of 2,160 souls — and as many bodies. The S. E. and S. E. narrow gauge railroad traverses it from east to west, thus affording the people railroad communication and benefiting the township to a considerable extent. Early Settlement. — The first occupation by white people, of what is now Lamotte Township, is veiled somewhat in obscurity. Prior to the war of 1813 a number of families were living in this region, and when the war broke out, they congregated where Palestine now stands, and built a fort or block-house. But how long before, white people lived here, there is no one now to tell, for they are o-athered to the r fathers. It is believed that as far back as 1808 or 1809, there were peo- ple of our own kind in this immediate neigh- borhood, to say nothing of the French, who, as they were numerous about Vincennes, mav have been much earlier, and very probably were. Many believed that Joseph Lamotte once lived in this portion of the county, though there is little but tradition, concerning his occupation of the country. The following is related by Mr. Martin Fuller, of Monto-omery Township, who married Rosana Twomley. She was a daughter of Isaac Twomley, who kept a ferry at Vincennes at a very early day. Twomley married the widow of Joseph Lamotte, and of this marriage was born Rosana, the wife of Martin Fuller. Mr. Twomley used to say that Lamotte was an Indian interpreter, and spoke seven dialects of the Indian language, beside English and French, and that the Indians, for his services as interpreter in some of their grand pow- wows with the pale-faces, had given him all that tract of country, now known as Lamotte Prairie. But when they saw a chance of sell- ing it to the United States Government, had watched for an opportunity, and had slain Lamotte. They threw his body into a deep hole of water in the creek just west of Pales- tine cemet'ry. After the death of Lamotte, Twomley was made Indian interpreter. He spoke five Indian dialects as well as English and French, and his daughter, Mrs. Fuller, also speaks French fluently. This story of Lamotte, of course, is tra- ditional, as there are none now living who seem to know anything very definite con- cerning him, beyond the fact that there was once such a man. This, as stated in a pre- ceding chapter, we learn from the old court records, from conveyances of land made by Lamotte. It is probably doubtful, however, if Lamotte ever lived here, notwithstanding the fine prairie north of Palestine still bears his name, also Lamotte creek, and this town- ship, together with the old and original fort which stood on the present site of Palestine. It is a generally accepted tradition, and it is fast becoming a tradition only, that the Eatons were the first of our own kind to occupy this portion of the county, and they are believed to have been here as early as 1808-9. They were a large family of large people, and possessed most extraordinarily lar^e feet. The latter was a distinguishing feature, and when a little unpleasantness oc- curred in Fort Lamotte, and the Eatons with- drew and built another fort, it was unani- mouslv dubbed Fort Foot, in derision of the Eatons' feet. Mr. D. W. Stark, an old and well-known citi- zen of Palestine for many years, furnishes us, throuo-h Mr. Finley Paull, the following re- garding the early settlement: "There must have been a settlement there and in the vicinity, reaching back toward the beginning of the century, for at the breaking out of the war of 1812 a considerable body of settlers HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 129 assembled at Palestine, where thev built two forts in which they I'orteJ during the war. One of the forts, I think, stood somewhere in the southeast of the present town, for in the fall of 18",'0 I well recollect seeing some of the ruins and stoekade still standing. This fort was called Fort Lamotte, after the name of the prairie, and it was named after an old Frenchman. Where the other fort stood, if I ever knew, I have forgotten. It was named Fort Foot, as I understood, from the fact of two or three families of Batons forting in it, who were all noted as having very large feet." The Batons were pioneers in the true sense of the word, and had gone west — had aban- doned home and the signs of civilization, and plunged into the vast solitudes, in order to better their condition, and finally secure homes for themselves and children. These sturdy, lone mariners of the desert were men of action. Not very social in their nature, moody and almost void of the imagi- native faculty, they simply whetted their in- stincts in the struggle for existence atyainst the wild game, the ferocious beasts and the murderous savage. They, and such as thev, laid the foundations on which rests the civili- zation of the great west. They took their lives in their own hands, as it were, pene- trated the desert wilderness, and with a pa- tient energy, resolution and self-sacrifice that stands alone and unparalleled, worked out their allotted tasks, and to-day, we, their descend- ants, are enjoying the fruitage of their la- bors. As we have before stated, the Batons were a large family, and consisted of the patriarch, who is believed to have been named Will- iam, and several sons, among whom were John, Job, Benjamin, Joseph, William and several others. It is not known of a certainty where they came from, but it is believed they were either from Kentucky or North Carolina. They wore in the fort at Palestine during the stormy period of our last war with England, and when the war clouds passed over and the olive branch was waved throughout the country, wooing the red man to peaceful sports, as well as the belliger- ent nations who had lately measured their strength with each other, and the people could branch out from the forts, with none to " molest or make them afraid," then the Batons moved out and scattered in different directions, some of them settling in Hutson- ville township, where they receive furthe) mention. One or two of the Batons weni killed by the Indians during the time tho people were " forted " at Palestine, which is spoken of elsewhere in this volume. Other pioneers, many of whom lived for awhile in the fort, were Thomas Kennedy, David McGahey, the McCalls, the Brim- berrys, James and Smith Shaw, J. Veach, the Millses, George Bathe, J. Purcell, Jesse Hig- gins, Mrs. Gaddis, John Garrard, the Woods, David Reavill and others. Thomas Kennedy was a Baptist preacher, and had squatted on a place, the improvement of which he after- ward sold to John S. Woodwortli. Kennedy then settled in the present township of Mont- gomery. McGahey was a prominent man, and opened a farm south of Palestine, on which Wyatt Mills now lives — himself of the original pioneer Mills family. McGahey served in the Legislature, was connected with the land office, and held other responsible positions. George Bathe entered land with McGahey. He has a son, George Bathe, Jr., now 77 years old, living in Palestine. Smith Shaw, after times became quiet, settled in the present County of Bdgar, where he made his mark, and where he was still livino- a few years ago, when we wrote the history of that County. John Garrard came from South Carolina, and was here as early as 1811. He has descendants still living in Palestine, one of ■whom is proprietor of the Garrard House. 130 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. / John, Joseph and Welton Wood lived a few miles from Palestine. Welton still lives in the west part of the county. David Reavill was born in Delaware, and came to Illinois in 1810, stoppino- at Kaskaskia, then the State capital. When the war broke out with Eng- land, he went to Vincennes and joined the Rangers, serving with them until peace was made, when he came to Palestine. He was killed by lightning, a circumstance known to many of the old citizens. The McCalls (two brothers) were surveyors, and the first in the county. In the southeast corner of Lamotte Township stands one of their old "witness trees," on " Unce Jimmy " Westner's place? and is the only one in the county known to be yet standing. Witness trees were marked by taking off the bark and scratching with an iron instrument called "three fingers," form- ing a cross. It was a mark known to all government surveyors, and when made upon a tree, though the bark would grow over it, the mark could be deciphered a hundred years after it was made. Hence, the name of witness tree. Thomas Gill and family, and John S. Wood- worth, came in the fall of 1814, and were from Mt. Sterling, Ky. Mr. Gill settled on a farm some four miles northwest of Palestine, where he lived, and where he died about 1840. He had a numerous family, but none of them are now in the township; James, the only one left, lives in Cumberland County. Mr. Gill had served in the Revolutionary War, and was a highly respected citizen of the county. John S. Woodworth married a daugiiter of Gill's, and raised a large family of children. But three of them are living, viz.: Martin and Leander of Palestine, and A. P. Woodworth, cashier of the Robinson bank. The first pur- chase of land made by Mr. Woodworth, was the squatter's claim of Thos. Kennedy to IGO acres. When it came in market he purchased it, and had to pay $6.10 per acre for it, a heavy price for the time. Mr. Woodworth was the second sheriff of Crawford County. He was not an office-seeker, but devoted his time and attention chiefly to agriculture. He accumulated a large estate in landed property. Edward N. Cullom came in the spring of 1814, and at a time when the forts were still occupied by the whites. He also was from Kentucky, and had a large family. Two of his sons are still living — Leonard, who lives in Lawrenceville, and George, living in Fay- ette County. Cullom was a very prominent man, and he and Judge Joseph Kitchell were the original proprietors of the town of Pales- tine. He acquired considerable property and purchased large tracts of land, but eventually lost a good deal of it through betrayed trusts. Much is said of the Culloms in a pre- ceding chapter. The Kitchells and the Wilsons were among the prominent families of the county. Will- iam Wilson, the father of W. C. Wilson of Robinson, came here in 1816, and was from Virginia. He settled at Palestine and died in 1850. James H. Wilson, his father, came the next year, 1817, and was the first probate jud;j;e of the county. His sons were James H., Vastine J., Presley O. and Isaac N., Gen. Guy W. Smith married a daughter of Mr. Wilson. They are all dead, except Isaac N., who lives in Kansas. William Wilson's children are all dead, except Robert C, Carl, Eliza M. Patton, and Jane, the latter unmar- ried. Guy S. Wilson of Palestine, is a son of James H. Wilson Jr. Benjamin Wilson's children are all dead, except one living in California. Presley O. Wilson was quite prominent; was county judge and sheriff one or two terms. His widow, " Aunt Maria," as everybody called her, is living in Palestine. The Kitchells were natives of New Jersey. Judge Joseph Kitchell emigrated westward and stopped for awhile in Hamilton County HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. 131 Oliio; from i hence he moved to Indiana, and in 1817, came to Crawford County, locating in P.ilestine. He lived and died upon the place where he first settled. His old house is still standing in the west part of town, on the road leading out to Robinson. He was the first register of the land office when it was established, and was connected with it for more than twenty years. He afterward served in the State Legislature and held other positions of honor and trust. He had the first mill, probably, in the county — a horse mill, but an important institution in its day; really more important than the land office itself. Wickhfl'e Kitchell came to the county the next year, 1818, and was a brother to Joseph. About 1838, he removed to Hillsboro, 111., with his whole fainil}', except one daughter, the wife of Mr. D. W. Stark. He was the first lawyer in Crawford County, and was at one time attorney-general of the State. His wife died at Hilisboro, and he died at Pana, 111., at the age of 82 years. One of his sons, Alfred, was circuit judge of this judicial dis- trict at one time, and afterward m ived to Galesburg, 111., where he died. Another son, Edward, entered the army at the beginning of the late war, and rose to the rank of brevet brigadier-geni^ral. After the war he returned to Olney, his former home, and died there a few years later. Col. John Houston, whom the citizens of Palestine well remember, and himself a cit- izen of the place for n<.-arly sixty years, be- longed to the Rangers that operated in this section during the war of 1812. He located here permanently about 1818, and engaged in the mercantile business. He came here just when he was most needed, and his finger- marks may yet be seen, tolling the story of his handiwork, and writing his epitaph in the hearts of many who are now reaping, and who will in the future enjoy the fruits of his labor and foresight. He served the county in many responsible positions; was sheriff, county treasurer, served in the State Senate, etc., but it was as a msrchant and businessman he was best known. We shall speak further of him under the business of Palestine. Alex- ander M. Houston was his brother, and for years his partner in business, a soldier in the Black Hawk War, and a prominent citizen of the count}'. Mr. D. W. Stark was also a partner of Col. Houston's, and is now living in Indiana. To him we are indebted for many facts pertaining to the Houstons, and other early settlers. We, however, knew Col. John Houston personally, some years ago, and can say much to his honor and credit from our own knowledge. The Alexanders were another of the promi- nent families of this section, and must have come here as early as 1825, as we find John C. Alexander the representative of Crawford Countv, in the Legislature, at the session of 1826-1828. Harmon Alexander also repre- sented the county in the Legislature some years later. They were from Kentucky, and have descendants still in the county. There are many more pioneer families entitled to mention in this chapter, but we have been unable to learn their names, or anything defi- nite concerning them. This section was the first settled of any portion of the county. For years, the settlement was scattered around Fort Lamotte, and not until after all danger was over, consequent upon the war of 1812, did the settlers begin to extend their skirmish line from the base of operations — old Fort Lamotte. As new-comers made their appearance, they stopped awhile in the vicinity, until homes and places of settle- ment were selected. Thus it was that nearly all the early settlers of the county were once settlers of this town and township, and hence many of them are mentioned in other chap- ters of this work. Along from 1825 to 1835, a number of families came, who have been 1"2 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. identified prominently with the town and county. Of these we may mention the La- g-ows, Juda:e Harper, Finley Paull and others, wlio for tifty years or more were, and are still, a part of the country. The I^agows for years were among the most prominent citi- zens and business men of Palestine. Wilson Lao-ow was one of the very first merchants in the county. Judge Harper and Finley Paull are among the oldest citizens of the town living. They came here young men — they are old now, and far down the shady side of life, with the evening twilight gather- ing around them, and life's last embers burn- ing low. For more than half a century Judge Harper has lived here, and has held prominent positions in the county. Mr. Paull was long a merchant, bought goods in Cincinnati and Louisville, and hauled them here in wagons. In closing up his business, he would accept in payment of accounts any- thing he could turn into money, live stock in- cluded. Thus, he became possesse 1, like Jacob of old, of many cattle. These he used to herd on the prairie where Robinson now stands. The Seven Jesses were as noted a family in Crawford County, as the family of Seven Oaks in England, but in character, they were the very antipodes of the latter. There were seven brothers of them, and they lived two miles south of Palestine. Their name was Myers, and the Christian name of the eldest was Jesse. A very strong family re- semblance existed between them, and hence they finally all received the nick-name of Jesse. Gen. Guy Smith, who had a keen sense of the ludicrous,, was the first to give tliem the unanimous name of Jesse, on ac- count of their strong resemblance. They had many peculiar and eccentric traits, one of which was, theyalways went in single file, and it was no uncommon thing to see the seven leave home together, riding invariably one right behind another, with all the pre- cision and regularity of a band of Indians. They were coarse, rude, ungainly and wild as the game they hunted. They were illit- erate, not ignorant; but shrewd, active, alert, and possessed strong, praetical, com- mon sense. Jess went to Terre Haute just after the first railroad was completed into that town. When he returned home he was asked by some of his neighbors if he saw the railroad, and he replied: " Yas, by hokey, and it beats anything I ever seed. A lot of keridges come along faster'n a boss could gallop, and run right inter a house, and I thought they would knock hell out of it, but two men run out and turned a little iron wheel round this way (imitating a brakoman) and the demed thing stopped stock still. They did by . I'm goin' to take mam anfl livd to see 'em shore." The latter were his mother and sister. At another time Jess went to Vincennes, and stopped at Clark's hotel. Next morning when he came down stairs, Mr. Clark said: "Good morning, sir." Jesse replied, " what the h — 1 do you say good morning for, when I have b(,en here all night?" Clark then asked him if he would have some water to wash, and received in response, " No, by ! we Myerses never washes." Clark saw he had a character, and drew him out in conversation, enjoying his eccentricities in the highest degree. A book as full of humor as Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad," could be written of the sayings and doings of the Seven Jesses, with- out exao-o-eratins anv of their characteristics. Thevall lived to be old bachelors before they tried the slippery and uncertain paths of mat- rimony;' Jess was the first to make a break, as the bell-wether always leads the flock, and he was over thirty when he married. How well he liked the venture is indicated iiy the fact that the others went and did like- wise. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 133 Laniotte Township contains some pre-his- toric relics. In the soutlieast portion of the town of Palestine there was a mound, now nearly obliterated, but when the town was laid out, was in a fine state of preservation. Judge Harper informs us it was some sixty feet in diameter at the base and at least twelve foet high, and cone-shaped. Upon its summit stood an oak tree about three feet through at the stump, which was cut down by Judge Kitchell, who owned the land, and made it into rails. When Levi Harper built his blacksmith shop, which stood on rather low ground, he hauled forty odd wagon loads of dirt from this mound to fill up and level the ground around his shop. In so doing many human bones were exhumed, but so long had they been under ground, that as soon as they were exposed to the atmosphere, they crumbled into dust. A number of other mounds south and west of the town are still to be seen. There is one near where Judge Harper now lives, which has been nearly lev- eled with the surface, but no bones have been discovered. Flint arrow heads, however, • have been found in quantities in the imme- diate vicinity. These evidences are conclu- sive that the lost race once inhabited this region, ages before it was occupied by the Anglo-Saxons. But they have faded away from the face of the earth, and have left no traces behind of their existence save the mounds and earthworks found in many parts of the country. Milk-sick. — That scourge of the western frontier, "milk-sick," was common in this portion of the county, and the early settlers suffered severely from its effects. Many people died of thi? worse than plague. A case is related of Thos. Gill's butchering a beef, and after the meat was dressed, he sent a quarter of it to his son-in-law, John AVoodworth. But as soon as he looked at it he discovered evi- dences of its being "milk-sick" beef, and would not take it. A neighbor who happened to be present, said if he would let him have it he would risk it being milk-sick beef. He took it, and every one of his family who ate of it came near dying. Thus milk-sick lay in wait for man and beast along nearly all the streams throughout the county, and often proved as fatal as the horrible malaria which freighted the air, floating out from its noisome lurking places, spreading far and wide its deadly poison. Milk-sick is a dis- ease that has puzzled the wisest medical men for years, and is still an unsolved question. The early life of the people of Lamotte Township, and indeed, of Crawford County, for the time was when what is now Lamotte Township comprised the settled portion of the county, maybe learned by a brief extract from an address delivered by Hon. O. B. Ficklin, before the old settlers of Crawford County, October 6, 1880. Upon that occa- sion, Mr. Ficklin said: "This country was taken fiom the English by Gen. George Rogers Clark in 1778, and the people heard of it in the older settled States, though there were no telegraph lines then — but the peo- ple heard of it all the same. The Revolu- tionary soldiers heard of this Northwestern country, and the news was transmitted to Virginia, to the Carolinas — all over the country, everywhere. To be sure it was not done then as it is now, but our people had sufficient word of it. They knew enough about it. They had heard enough about it to want to emigrate to the new country, and we are a wonderful people to emigrate; v?e go everywhere; we penetrate every new country, and the pioneers started from Vir- ginia, they started from Pennsylvania, and from the Carolinas, and from Georgia, and all that Atlantic belt of country, and came out as pioneers to this newly acquired region. They stopped in Ohio, they stopped in Indi- ana, they stopped in Illinois — stopped in each 134 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. successive State they came to. A few peo- ple — pioneers, men and women of nerve, of pluck, of energy and industry have come here and settled in this country, dotted around, some on the Ohio, some on the Wabash and some on llie Mississippi River, and from this handful, Illinois has grown into a great State." What was it stopped the stream of emi- gration in this particular spot? What was there here to tempt emigrants to brave all danger, and cause tiiem to pause, and fix here the nucleus around which all this present peo- ple and their wealth has gathered? They could not see the toil and danger that lurked upon every hand, yet they could see enough, one would think, to appal the stoutest heart. The wily and treacherous savage was here, the horrible malaria was in the air they breathed, the howling, and always hungry wolf and the soft-footed panther crouched in every thicket, and scores of other impediments were encountered at every step. Then what was the attraction ? Doubtless, it was the broad expense of rolling prairie, the primeval forests that towered along the Wabasli and its trib- utaries, combining a vision of loveliness con- vincing to the pioneer fathers, that if the Garden of Eden was not here, then there was a mistake as to its place of location. Imbued witii this idea, when a town was laid out, they caled it Palestine, after the capital city of the Holy Land. Considering all the difficulties under which these "strangers in a strange land " labored, it is a wonder indeed that they ever came to this earthly paradise, or re- mained after they came. But the pioneers, with something of that spirit with which the poet invests Rhoderick Dhu " If a path be dangerous known, The danger's self is lure aione," faced the perils of "flood and field," whollv indifferent to, if not actually courting the danger that met them on every side. Such as they were they had to be, in order that they tiiiglit blaze the way into the heart of the wilderness for the coming hosts of civili- zation. Cotton was extensively grown here in early times, not so much as an article of commerce as to satisfy the necessities of the times. It was the custom then for each family to manu- facture their own clothing, and to this end cotton was cultivated to a greater or less extent by every settler who made any pre- tensions to farming, while some planted large crops of this, now great staple. Mr. Wiley Emmons informed us that he has seen as much as seventy acres of cotton in one field. Sand prairie produced it well, yielding as much as 200 pounds per acre. Half that amount was the usual crop on ordinary land. William Norris put up the first cotton giti in that portion of the county now embraced in Lawrence County. But experience devel- oped the fact that the county, upon the whole, was not adapted to cotton growing, and as a crop it was eventually abandoned. The fii St school in Lamotte township was tau.tjht in Palestine, as the early settlement encircled that place. The township now h.is a comfortable school building in each neigh- borhood, and is provided with excellent schools. The early schools will be more par- ticularly mentioned in connection with the history of the town. A village called " Bolivar," was staked off in an early day on Lamotte Prairie, on the high ground near the north end of the Monre pond. But it was never regularly laid out, nor otherwise improved. Churches. — The early preacher, as "one crying in the wilderness," came with the tide of immigration, and the pioneers received ghirlly his spiritual counsels. Mr. Samuel Park, at an old settler's meeting, gives a true picture of the frontier preacher in the follow- a f^ Td^'^^-V^Cc^C^TPlyi^ HISTORY OF CKAWFOUD COUNTY. 137 ing: "But see yomlcr in tlie distance, winJ- ing along the path that leads to the cabin, is a stranger on horseback. He is clad in liotne- spun, has on a plain, straight- breasted coat and a broad brimmed hat, and is seated on a large and well-filled pair of saddle-bags. Ah! that is the pioneer preacher, hunting up the lost sheep in the wilderness. He brings glad tid- ings from friends far away, back in the old home of civilization. Not only so, but he brings a message from the celestial regions, assuring the brave pioneer of God's watchful care of him and his household, telling him of God's promise of deliverance and salvation from all sin to all who faithfully combat and overcome the evils with which they are sur- rounded. Most of those brave spirits have alreadj' realized the truths of the message they bore by entering upon their reward. Others are still westward bound over the un- explored plains of time toward the setting sun. Soon, very soon, they will reach that point where the sun will set to those old pio- neers to rise no more. Already their tot- tering limbs show weariness from many hard- fought battles, and their eyes have become dim to the beauties of this world." Such was the pioneer preacher, and in his humble way, he did more to advance civilization than any other class that penetrated the wilderness of the west. He may have been very ignorant, but he was wholly honest and sincerely hum- ble. Generally illiberal and full of severity, and warped and deformed with prejudices, he took up the cross of his Master, seized the sword of Gideon and smote His Satanic Maj- esty wherever he could find him. But he was a God-fearing good man, and but few, if any ministerial scandals were known. The Methodists and the Hardshell Baptists were cotemporaneons in their coming, and, as one informed us, " the Methodists shouting, and the Hardshells singing their sermons through their nose, but in their different fields of usefulness, they dwelt together in true Christian love and friendship." Thomas Kennedy, who was among the very early set- tlers of this section, was a Hardshell preacher, and "old Father" McCord, John Fox and John Stewart were early Methodist preachers. These veteran soldiers of the Cross first preached the Gospel to the people of what now forms Lamotte and Montgomery town- ships. But after this long lapse of years, it is hard to say when or where the first church society was organized, whether in Palestine or in the adjoining neighborhoods. Weshall not attempt to decide the question, but give brief sketches, so far as we have been able to obtain them, of the churches in the town and township. There are some four or five church buildings in the township, outside of Palestine, but the original organization of the difi^erent churches can not, in all cases, be given. The old Lamotte Baptist church, originally organized by Elder Daniel Parker in a very early day, was no doubt the first church in the town- ship, but it has long since become extinct, through death of members, removals, and the formation of other churches. But they once had a church building on Lamotte Prairie and a large congregation. East Union Christian Church in the south part of the township, was organized in 1848, by Elder John Bailey, with fifty mem- bers. It has prospered, and has now about 120 members. Their first meetings were held in a log school-house, and in 1862, their pres- ent frame church was erected at a cost of about $1,000. The present pastor is Elder J. T. G. Brandenburg. The pastors since its organization, have been Elders John Bailey, L. Thompson, John Mullias, David Clark, G. W. Ingersoll, John T. Cox, J. H. Sloan, J. Chowning, Jacob Wright, O. T. Azbill, John Ingle, P. E. Cobb, J. J. Lockhart, F. G. Roberts, and J. T. G. Brandenburg, the pres- 138 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUXTY. ent pastor. A Sunday-school was organized in 1873, and lias a regular attendance of about fifty, under the superintendence of John Miller. Richwoods Baptist Church is situated in the southeast corner of the township, and was founded in the fall of 1871, by Elder D. Y. Allison, with eight original members. The first meetings were held in the Harding school- house. In 1873 the congregation built a good, substantial frame church. The pastors have been Elders D. Y. Allison, J. L. Cox, Jacob Clements, and Isaiah Greenbaugh. In 1881 it had 36 members, and at the present time is without a pastor. There are two church buildings in the north part of the township: the Union church at the Jack Oak Grove cemetery, and the Dunkard church near by. The circumstances attending the formation and building of these churches were as follows: About the year 1870-71 there was quite a revival of religion held on " Rogue's Island," as it is called, at the old Wright school-house, under the auspices of the New Lights. The religious interest awakened suggested the thought of erecting a church building. As the subject was can- vassed sentiment became divided as to the spot where the church should be located. Some wanted it on the island where the revival had been held, while another faction insisted on having it at the Jack Oak cemetery, inas- much as the latter was an old burying ground. The controversy finally culminated in the building of two churches, one at the cemetery, and the other a little east, on the old State road. Both were erected by a general sub- scription from all denominations, and were built by the same carpenter in the summer of 1871. About 1875, the one erected on the State road was burned down, and has never been rebuilt. The one built at the cemetery is ^^till standing, is open to all denominations, but is used chiefly by New Lights and the Methodists. The Jack Oak Grove Cemetery is one of the oldest burying grounds in the county, and contains the mouldering dust of many of the pioneers of this township. Some of their graves are unmarked and unknown, and their fast receding memories are alike unhonored and unsung. They quietly sleep in this lonely graveyard where the grass grows rank with the vapors of decaying mortality, without so much as a rude boulder to mark the spot where they lie. Here rests Thomas Gill, a Revolutionary soldier who fought under Gen. Putnam, and around him sleep some of the red sons of the forest, who, from this quiet spot, took their flight to the happy hunting grounds, so often described in the rude wild eloquence of the medicine men. But not all of the graves here are neglected. Many are marked by stones, moss-grown from age, with dates running back to 1835-30. There also are some very handsome stones and monu- ments. When the first burial was made, is not known, but many who died in this portion of th3 township in early days were interred in this cemetery. Several Indians were buried here, which shows its age as a place of sepul- ture. Side by side the white and red man sleep, and " six feet of earth make them all of one size." The Dunkards had an interest in the Jack Oak Grove church when first built, but there were too many interested to suit them, as they could not alwHys have the use of it when they wanted it. Hence, in the summer of lS8'i, they built a church of their own in the vicin- ity, which is a neat and handsome frame building. Swearingen Chapel, Methodist Episcopal, has been recently built, and is situated in the southwest part of the township. It was built principally by Samuel Swearingen. Rev. J. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 139 B. Reeder was the fiist, and is the present pastor. Harmony Church is located in the extreme northwest corner of the township, and is a union church. It was built by general sub- scription and is open to all denominations wlio choose to occupy it. But it is used mostly by the United Brethren, Methodists and New Lights. It is a neat and substantial frame building, and will comfortably seat about two hundred persons. The old Wabash Valley Railroad which is noticed at some length in a preceding chap- ter, created a great interest in this portion of the county in its day. As a railroad project it grew out of the old internal improve- ment system of the State, and was inaugurated as early as ]S50. About 1854 work com- menced on it in this county, and much of the grading was done, and the most sanguine hopes entertained of its ultimate completion. An amount of money, aggregating $60,000 was subscribed to the enterprise, mostly in this portion of the county. A corps of men, were sent here to take charge of the work. They opened an office in Palestine, and in- stead of pushing the work with energj', they spent most of their time in town, drinking, carousing, and in "riotous living." The funds disappeared faster than the enterprise pro- gressed. Nearly enough money had been subscribed along the line to have built the road, had it been judiciously and economi- cally used. But it was squandered, and the project of building the Wabash Valley Rail- road finally abandoned. The old grade is still to be seen, an eye-sore to the people of this section, and a daily reminder of " what might have been." Later, when the project was revived under the Paris & Danville Railroad, in building the same, it diverged from the old Wabash grade a little south of Hutsonvillo, and run to Robinson, leaving this township out in the cold. It was not until the building: of the Springfield, Effingham & Southeastern narrow-guage railroad that Lamotte Township and Palestine received raiboad communica- tion with the outside world. Trimble station is on the Wabash Railroad just on the line between Lamotte and Robin- son Townships, but most of the town, if town it can be called, is on the Robinson side of the line. It consists of merely a store, post-office, a shop or two, a saw mill, Harmony church, and some half a dozen dwellings. " I can not throw my staff Aside, Or wholly quell the hope divine, That one delight awaits me yet, — A pilgrimage to Palestine." Palestine. — The town of Palestine, the orig- inal capital of the county, and fifty or sixty years ago one of the most important towns in the State, was laid out on the 19th and 20th days of May, 1818, by Edward N. Cul- lom and Joseph Kitchell, the owners of the land, and David Porter, agent for the county. The original plat embraced lUO lots of ground, each fronting 75 feet, and 142 feet deep, with the public square containing two acres. This was Palestine as it was laid out sixty-five years ago. Several additions have since that time been made, but they are not pertinent to this sketch. Of the first build- ings and the first business we have been un- able to gather much satisfactory information. A communication written by D. W. Stark, Esq., to ^h: Finley Paull, who has taken an active interest in aiding us in our researches, gives some interesting facts of the early busi- ness. We make the following extract from his communication to Mr. Paull: "About 1818-19 John Houston, in connec- tion with Francis Dickson, of Vincennes, purchased lot No. Ill, in Palestine, built a house intended for dwelling and store-room combined; finished off the south room on the corner for a store — the room was about 10 or IS feet square. In the year 1819, or in the 14U HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNl'V. beginning of 1820 they brought on a stock of goods to Palestine. This, I believe was the first stock of goods ever in Palestine, or, as far as I know, ever on the west side of the river, north of Vincennes. John Houston married my oldest sister, Jane M. Stark, in the spring of 1831. They were ever after residents of Palestine until their deaths a few years ago. " John and Alexander Houston were the sons of Robert Houston, a minister of the Presbyterian church, who broke off from the church in Kentucky, in the year 1803, at the time Stone, Dunlevy, McNemar and others did. Houston embraced the Shaker faith, moved to the Wabash country about 1806. He located at the old Shaker town, to which point a considerable body of Shakers soon collected and built the old Shaker village. A few years later, Houston for some reason or other left the Wabash, and went to reside at the Shaker village, in Logan County, Ken- tucky, where he lived until his death at the advanced age of 95 years. John and Alex- ander Houston both left the Shakers when quite young — before they were scarcely grown. Alexander left a short time first, going to Nashville, Tenn., to an uncle who re- sided there. John, when he left, remained on the Wabash, and when the war of 1813 broke out joined the Rangers and continued in the service until peace in the beginning of 1815. Then for three or four years was en- gaged in running barges and keel-boats on the Ohio and Wabash rivers, in connection with an uncle of the same name, who lived in Mason County, Ky., but who afterward moved to Palestine and died there — the fath- er-in-law of David Logan. "Alexander M. Houston in a short time after going to Nashville, entered the regular army where he remained for seven or eight years, rose to the rank of lieutenant and quartermaster, and then resigned. He came to Palestine, and went into partnership with his brother John (wlio had bought out Dick- son's interest), probably about 1833. The two brothers remained in business together in Palestine until 1835, when Alexander moved to Rockville, Ind., where he lived for some years, but his wife's health failing, he re- turned to Palestine, where she afterward died. He finally married again, moved to the State of New York, and died there. Neither of the Houstons had any children; .John was up- ward of 86 when he died, and Alexander was 76; both they and their wives are dead, and both families are extinct. " My father, David W. Stark, moved from Mason County, Ky., to Palestine in the fall of 1830, and built a residence east and directly across the street from the old Wilson tavern. My mother died in 1833, and a year or two later my father married a widow Neeley, who resided at the head of Laraitte prairie, where he died in the year 1816. I went to reside with John Houston in 1831, when I was about fifteen years old. I remained with him until I was married in 1831, and continued business with him and Alexander Houston until 1839, when I removed to Rockville, Lid., where I have since lived. I am now 77 years old, and the last of my father's family that is alive. "As it may be of some interest to you to know, I think I can give you the names of at least nine-tenths of the heads of families, re- sidinof in Palestine in 1830. They areas fol- lows: Joseph Kitchell, Wickliffe KitchcU, Mrs. Nancy Kitchell and family, shea widow, Edward N. Cullom, James Otey,- James Wil- son, Wm. Wilson, David Stewart, Dr. Ford, Edward N. Piper, Daniel Boatright, David W. Stark, Guy W. Smith, George Calhoun, John Houston, Robert Smith — the t^vo latter unmarried." These lengthy extracts give much of the early history of Palestine, when it was a strao-o-ling village, and the backwoods county HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 141 seat of a realm of almost undefined bounda- ries. From a series of articles published in the Robinson Artjim some years ago, entitled, " Palestine Forty Years Ago," we gather some items of interest. From them we learn that in 18.i"2, Palestine was a place of some five or six hundred inhabitants, and contained five dry goods stores, two groceries, two sad- dle shops, three blacksmith shops, one car- penter shop, one cabinet maker shop, one wagon shop, one cooper shop, one tailor shop, one hatter shop, two shoe shops, two tan yards, two mills with distilleries attached, one cotton gin, one carding machine, two taverns and one church. Palestine was an important place then — a more important place than Hutsonville ever was, for it was the county seat, and this gave it an air of great dignity. The businessmen could number among their customers men who lived twenty-five and thirty miles dis- tant. The merchants were John Houston & Co., Uan forth & JIcGahey, Wilson Lagow, .Tames & Mauz}', A. B. Winslow & Co., Otey & Waldrop, Ireland & Kitchell. The part- ner of Ireland was J. II. Kitchell. Thej' bought up and loaded a flat boat with pro- duce, and Asa Kitchell started with it to New Orleans. It is a fact remembered still by many of the old citizens, that he nor the lioat were ever after heard of. The suppositiim was that the boat was swamped and all on board lost, or that it was captured by river pirates and the crew murdered. Of the two mills, one was an o,\-mill, the power made by oxen upon a tread-wheel, and was owned by John Houston & Co., but was being run by James and Peter Higgins. It had a distillery in connection with it, also in ojjeration. The other was a horse-mill, and belonged to Joseph Kitchell, but was rented to one Morris. A distillery w.ts in operation in Qonnection with it also. Morris died, and bijth mill and distillery ceased operation. Corn was then cheap and plenty, and making whisky was profitable. It was shipped to New Orleans mostly — what was not used at home as antidote for snake bites (!) only. An incident is related of the proprietor of a dis- tillery being reproved by his pastor for fol- lowing a business, even then considered disre- putable and inconsistent with religious teach- ings. He listened attentively to the holy man, and then informed him that he was shipping it down south to kill Catholics. There is no record of what further took place, but as Protestant ministers then were more prejudiced against Catholics, if possible, than now, it is supposed the preacher considered that the end justified the means, and the man might continue the business. The ox-mill stood for many years, and furnished much of the flour and meal for the surrounding coun- try. It was afterward converted into a steam- mill, and is still standing, but is old and rickety, and belongs to Mrs. Noll. Reuben Condit built a mill in 1850-52. It is now owned by MiesenheKler & Son, and stands in the southeast part of town. It is a frame building, and still doing a good business. A saw-mill is connected with it. The taverns were owned Ijy the AVilsons and Elisha Fitch. That one owned by Wil- son changed hands frequently, and became the Garrard House. I. N. Wilson run it for years, and made money at the business. It was a great place of resort for a hundred miles around. People who came to buy land and to attend court stopped at it, and it was often the scene of balls and parties, grand and gorgeous for a backwoods cotnmunitv. It was the stage stand, and this brought it all the transient custom. The old-fashioned sign swung in front of both these oM-fasliioned taverns. The device on Wilson's was the rising sun, and that on Fitc'h's the moon a few d.iys old. As he had but little custom compared to Wdsun, the boys called it the 142 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. " Dry-moon tavern." The Garrard House is still in operation, but the gay times it once knew it now knows no more. Palestine was incorporated by an act of the general assembly, February 16, 1857, and organized under special charter in April fol- lowing-. It continued under this organization until the third Tuesday in April, 1ST7, when it was re-organized under the general law, or incorporating act, and officers were elect- ed accordiuQ-ly. The present board of trus- tees are Andrew Saulesbury, Wm. R. Eni- rnons, R. H. Kitchell, John W. Patton, and Amos Miescnhelder, of which Andrew Saules- bury is president, Amos Miesenhelder, treas- urer, and Wm. Alexander, clerk. But little is known of the early schools of Palestine. George Calhoun taught in the town as early as 1820; but little else can be ascertained of him and his school. As early as 1830 the Masons and school board owned a building, which was used jointly as a Masonic lodge and a school house, the Masons occupying the upper part, and the school the lower. The lodge had a large membership then, but many moving away, and others dy- ing, the lodge finally ceased to exist. The building was used for school purposes until it became too small, and after the county seat w: s moved to Robinson, the old court house was used some time as a school building. The present school-house was built about 1870-72, and is a substantial two-story frame. The school has an attendance of some two or three hundred children. Prof. James A. ISIaxwell is principal, and Prof. Bussard, Miss Mary Goram and Miss Lizzie Alexander, assistant teachers. The school building oc- cupies the old public square, which makes a beautiful school yard. Palestine in early days was the Paris of Illinois; it was the center of fashion, of wealth, pleasure and social enjoyment. Many of its citizens were cultured, educated people. belonging to the very best class of society, and ranking among the aristocracy of the country. While this was true, however, of a large class, there was another class, and quite as large, that were just the opposite in every- thing. They were the fighting, roystering, drinking, devil-may-care fellows always to be found in frontier towns. To hunt a little, frolic much, go to town often and never miss a muster or general election day, and get "glorious" early, and fight all day for fun, was the pleasure and delight of their lives. At musters and elections they had a glorious picnic from "early morn to dewy eve," and they made ihe most of it. But such charac- ters do not last long, and generally follow the ffame westward. The time was when Palestine was a place of considerable business. For years it was the only place in a large area of country where pork was bought, packed and shipped. It was the first place in the county to pur- chase and ship wheat. It carried on a large trade in pork and wheat. O. H. Bristol & Co., who bought wheat extensively from 18-12 to 1815, built a grain warehouse. Many people made sport of it and said it would hold more wheat than the county would raise in ten years, but the business done proved them false prophets; Bristol & Co. often had it full of wheat two or three times a year. They had been merchants, but went into the grain business, which they continued several years. Other firms embarked in the grain and pork business, but when a railroad was built through the county it crippled Palestine as a grain market. The building of the narrow-gauge, railroad, however, has revived somewhat this line of business. Morris, who has been al- ready referred to, commenced a big distillery about 1831. He broke up at it, and died before completing it. Harmon Alexander bought the property and turned it into an oil factory, and for several years manufactured HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 143 castor and linseed oil very extensively. A woolen mill was built here some years ago, but it never proved a success, and is now standing idle. The Land Office. — This public institution was established at Palestine May 11, 1S30. The first land sale took place several years jiri'viouslv, we have been told, to the date of opening the office here. Tlie following wore the registers and receivers during its contin- uance at Palestine, as furnished by the State auditor: Joseph Kitchell, from the establish- ment of the office to 1811 ; Jesse K. Dubois, from ISll to 1842; James McLean, from 184:i to 184.5; '•Harmon Alexander, from 1845 to 1849; James McLean, from 1849 to 1853; Vllarnion Alexander, from 1853 to 1855. The receivers were, Guy W. Smith, from the es- tablishment of the office to 1839; Augustus C French (afterward governor), from 1839 to KS42; David McGahey, from 184-2 to 1845; William Wilson, from 1845 to 1849; Jesse K. Dubois, from 1849 to 1853; Robert C. Wilson, from 1853 to 1855, when the office was dis- contijiued and the books and records moved to Springfield. The land-office was quite a feather in the ca]) of Palestine as it rendered it the most important town in the State, perhaps the State capital excepted. It was established in a couple of years after the town was laid out, and continued its e.xistence here for a quarter of a century. All who entered land in the southern part of the State had to come to Palestine to do it, and this brought trade and importance to the town. The office was dis- continued after all the land was taken up south of the Danville district. Mr. Guy Wilson now owns the old desk used in the land-ollice for many years, which lie values highly as a relic. It is a massive piece of furniture, and was made in Philadel- phia specially for the office. It is of walnut lumber, and is still in an excellent state of preservation. The Jlethodist Episcopal Church, is the old- est religious orgiinization in Palestine. Most of its orioinal members were from Wesley Chapel, and among them were the Culloms. Revs. John Fox and old Father McCord were the eany preachers, and the church was or- ganized about 1828-29. The first church house was a frame and was never finished. The present church was built for a town hall, and somewhere about 187:^-73, was bought by the congregation and converted into a church. It is a frame building, has been re-modeled and improved, and is a very comfortable and even elegant church. Before its purchase, the congregation worshiped some time in the Presbyterian church. Rev. Thos. J. Mas- sey is the present pastor of the church. A Sundaj'-school is maintained, of which Arthur Vance is superintendent. The Presbyterian Church of Palestine was organized in 1831.* Rev. John Montgomery of Pennsylvania, and Rev. Isaac Reed of New York, held a meeting here embracing the 14th, 15th and Kith of May, of the above year, and during its progress organized the church, with the following members: John, Nancy, Jane and Eliza Houston, Mary Ann Logan, Wilson, Henry and Alfred Lagow, James and Margaret Eagleton, James Cald- well, Phoebe Morris, Anna Piper, John and Ann Malcom and Hannah Wilson. John Houston and Wilson Lagow were chosen elders. The following have since filled the office: James Eagleton, Dr. E. L. Patton, Fiidcy Puull, Andrew McCormick, James C. Allen, J. M. Winsor, J. H. Richey, Dr. J. S. Brengle, J. C. Raniey, and H. T. Beam. The following preachers have ministered to * From Dr. Norton's History of the Presbyterian church in Southern llliii us. 144 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the congregation: Revs. John Montgomery, Reuben White, James Crawford, Isaac Ben- nett, E. W. Thayer, R. H. Lilly, Joseph Piatt, John Crosier, J. M. Alexander, Joseph Piatt (again), A. MoFarland, A. Thompson, Thomas Spencer, J. E. Carson and S. W. Lagrange. There is no pastor at present. Of the original members all are dead, and of those present at its formation, but two were present at its semi-centennial, May 14th, 15th and IGth, 1881,; these two were Isaac N. Wilson and Abigail Wilson, members of the Presbyterian church of Olney. Dr. Norton, in his work on the Presbyte- rian (Church of Illinois, pays an eloquent and justly merited tribute to Mr. Finley PauU. After speaking of his long and faithful ser- vice, he closes as follows: " Elder Finley Paull has been an elder nearly ever since his union with the church in ]83i, and in all that time has missed but two meetings of the ses- sion, while but three members have been ad- mitted when he was not present." There are few instances of a more faithful stewardship. Of former pastors, there were present at the semi-centennial. Rev. E. W. Thayer of Spring- field; Rev. J. Crosier of Olney, and Rev. A. McFarland of Flora. There had been 440 persons connected with the church since its or- ganiza'ion fifty years before, and two churches, Robinson and Beckwith Prairie churches have been formed from its membership. The first house of worship was a carpenter shop they bought and fitted up for the purpose. In 1840 they built a church 38x50 feet at a cost of §1,300. Tlie house has been remodeled and enlarged and a bell attached. A Sunday- school in connection with the church is car- ried on, with Mrs. Lottie Ramey as superin- tendent. The Christian church of Palestine is an old organization, but we were unable, through the negligence or indifference of its members, to learn anything concerning its early history. Their first church edifice was a frame and was burned some years ago. In 1874 they erected their elegant brick church, which in outward appearance is the handsomest church in the town. They have no regular pastor at pres- ent. Palestine Lodge No. 2352, K. of H., was instituted January 31, 1881. The present officers are as follows: J. A. Martin, Dicta- tor; H. H. Haskctt, Vice Dictator; Perry Brimberry, Assistant Dictator; J. W. Laver- ton, Past Dictator; A. C. Goodwin, Repor- ter; W. R. Emmons, F. Reporter, and J. A. Maxwell, Treasurer. The site of Palestine is a beautiful one for a town, and its selection shows good taste in the commissioners who selected it for the county seat. It seems a pity that the seat of justice could not have remained here, but the center of population demanded its removal. The question of public buildings and removal of the county seat is noticed in the chapter on the organization of the county. The little town in its palmy days produced some able men, agovernor (A. G. French); an attorney general (Wiokliffe Kitchell); and a circuit judge and member of Congress, m the person of James C. Allen. With the removal of the county seat the town lost much of its former prestige, and to-day it is a rather dilapidated, rambling, tumble-down old town, almost wholly devoid of life and energy. Some beautiful residences, standing in spacious and well-kept grounds are an ornament to the place, and show a refinement of taste in their owners. The cemetery of Palestine, like that at Jack Oak Grove, on the prairie, is an old burying ground, and is the resting place of many of Crawford County's early citizens. It is a very pretty grave-yard, with some fine monuments, and elegant marble slabs, silently testifying to the affection of surviving friends for their loved lost ones. CHAPTEE XIII.* HUTSONVILLE TOWNSHIP— TOPO",RAPHY— EARLY SETTLEMENT— HUTSON FAMILY- THE BARLOWS, NEWLINS AND HILLS— OTHER PIONEERS— EARLY TRIALS AND TROUBLES— SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES— VILLAGE OP HUTSONVILLE —ITS SITUATION AS A TRADING POINT— SOME OF THE MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS MEN— FIRE, WATER, ETC., ETC. __ " Against the cold, clear sky a smoke Curls like some column to its dome, An ax, with far, but heavy stroke Rings from a new woodland home." — Joaquin Miller. THERE is no perfect history. We dimly outline from our own stand-point the his- tory -which meets our eye, and steer our course between extremes of dates and happenings, while incompleteness marks the narrative. Transcribing recollections of the aged, waver- ing in memory, we do not seek to reconcile discrepancies, but to embody in these pages the names and deeds of those whose like can never more be seen. Most of the pioneers of this division of the county have passed to their reward, and the few still left are totter- ing on down toward the dark valley and must soon enter its gloomy shadows. A few more brief years and the last land-mark will have been swept away as the morning mist before the rising sun. Hutsonville Township is one of the most important civil divisions of Crawford County. It is situated on the eastern border, and is bounded north by Clark County, east by the AVabash river, south by Robinson and La- motte townships and west by Licking Town- ship. The land is drained by the Wabash and the streams which flow into it through *Bv W. H. Pernn. the township, the principal ones of which are Hutson and Raccoon creeks. The surface is rather low and level along the river back to the second terrace, and much of it subject to periodical overflows. Beyond the second bottom it rises into slight hills, and from their summit stretches away in level prairie and timbered flats. The original timber was black and white walnut, hickory, pecan, elm, sugar maple, oak, cotton wood, sycamore, hackberry, buckeye, etc., etc. By the census of 1880, the township, including the village, had 1,983 inhabitants. No better farmino- region may be found in Cravpford County than is comprised in the greater portion of Hutsonville Township. Aside from the inun- dation of the low lands, the worst draw-back to its agricultural prosperity is the great number of large unwieldy farms. Ohio farmers have grown wise in this respect, and the large farm in that State is now the exception. There are plenty of farmers in the State of Ohio, who, one year with another, make more money on a hundred acres than any farmer makes, upon an average, in Hutsonville Township, or in Crawford County for that matter. Small farms well cultivated, pay better than large ones poorly worked. A little poem, going the rounds of the press some years ago, enti- tled the " Forty- Acre Farm," is not in appro- priate, but may be read with profit. It is as follows: 146 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. " I'm thinkin', wife, of neigbbor Jones, that man of stalwart arm,— He lives in peace and plenty, on a forty-acre farm; While men are all around us, with hands and hearts asore. Who own two hundred acres and still are wanting more. •' His is a pretty little farm, a pretty little house; He has a loving wife within, iis quiet as a uiouse; His children piny aniund the door, their father's life to charm Looking as neat and tidy as the tidy little farm. "No weeds are in the corn fields ; no thistles in the oats ; The horses show good keeping hy thAr fine and glossy coats; The cows within the meadow, resting beneath the bcochcn shade, Learn all their gentle manners of the gentle milking maid. " Within the fields, on Snturday, he leaver no cradled grain To be gathered on the morrow, for fear of coming rain ; He keeps the .'^abbaih holy, hi-i ehildieu learn his ways, And plenty fill his barn and bin after the harvest uays. " He never has a lawsuit to take him to the town, For the very simple r ason there are no line fences down. The bar-room in the village does not liave for him a cliarm I can always find my neighbor on his forty -acre larm. "His acres are so very few he p'ows them very deep; 'Tis his own hands that turn the sod, 'tis his own hands that reap. He has a place tor everything, and things are in their place ; The sunshine smiles up .n his fields, contentment tin hi. face. " May we not learn a lesson, wife, from prudent neighbor Jones. And not— for what we haven't got— give veut to sighs and moans ? The rich aren't always happy, nor free from life's alarms ; But blest are Ihcy who live content though small may be their farms." Of all those immortals who have helped to make this world wholesomo with their sweat and blood, the early pioneers were the hum- blest, but not the meanest nor most insignifi- cant. They laid the foundation on which rests the civilizn'-icn of the great West. The importance that attaches to their lives, char- acter and work in the cause of humanity will some day be better understood und appreci- ated than it is now. To say that in this chapter, it is proposed to write the history of every familj' in the order in which they came into the township would be promising more than lies in the power of any man to accom- plish. But to give a sketch of some of the leading pioneer and representative men of the times is our aim, and to gather such facts, incidents, statistics and circumstances as we may, and transmit tliam in a durable form to future generations is the utmost limit of oui desire and our work. The'Hutson family, there is no doubt, were the first white people in what is now Hutson- ville Township. The sad story of their tragic death — the massacre by the Indians, of the whole family, except the unhappy father and husband, is told in a preceding chapter. Hutson was from Ohio, and settled due south of the village of Hutsonville, where the widow Albert McCoy now lives, and which is the old Barlow homestead. The war of 1S1"2 was not yet over, and the Indians were still on the war path more or less, but committing few depredations in this part of the country. Hutson believed there really was no danger, and so declined to take refuge in the fort where most of the people of the country then resided for safety. One day when Ilutsnn was absent from home, a band of prowling sav- ao'ps came to his cabin and murdered the fam- ily — wife and four ciiihlren, and a man named Dixon, for what cause, except on general prin- ciples, was never known, as no one was left to tell the tale. When Hutson returned, he found his family all dead and his cabin in fl:tmes. These are the facts in brief. Hutson joined the arm\' at Fort Harrison and was soon after killed in a skirmish with the sav- ages. The Batons, who figured conspicuously here in early davs, settled in the southwest part of this township; or rather some of them did. " Uncle Johnny " Eaton, was of those who became a settler in this township after leav- in closed his pastorate in 1882, and the flock is at present witiiout a shepherd. The Village. — Hutsonville was laid out as a village in April, 1833. A body of land in- cluding that upon wiiich the town stands, was entered by Andrew Harris, who sold a por- tion of it to his father, Israel Harris. The latter built a tavern on the river bank, near where the calaboose stands, and the site of which is marked by a sink in the ground (the old tavern cellar) and a few bushes growing out of it. This was on the old State road from Vincennes to Chicago, and which passed through Palestine, York, Darwin, Paris, Dan- ville, and on to Chicago. Harris lost money in tavern keeping, and finally traded the property, together with the land around it, to Robert Harrison, for property in Terre Haute, and moved to that place. Robert H.irrison laid out the town in 1833, as above stated, and the original plat em- braced 48 lots, most of which were sold at the first sale. Harrison afterward surveyed and laid off 80 lots rttore which was known as "Harrison's addition to the town of Hutson- ville." There have been other additions made of a later date, but to go into the details of each, is not pertinent to the subject, nor of special importance. The town was called Hutsonville, in memory of Isaac Hut- son, whose family was murdered by the Indians. The first residence built in Hutsonville after the town was laid out was erected by Wm. Cox, in the fall of 1833. The house was built on lot 33, fronting the river, and was of hewed logs, and was afterward " weather- boarded." By a strange coincidence it has fallen down from age, since we commenced writing this chapter. Wm. M. Hurst, a brother of "Uncle" Jack's; put up the next residence. He built a kitchen in the fall of 1833, and occupied it and the counting room of his store, until he could complete the remainder of his residence, which was the fol- lowing spring. His was a small one-story building, also on the river bank, and is stdl standing and known as the " Gascon Adams House." Residences now went up rapidly'; so rapidly we are unable to keep trace of them. The mercantile business took an early start in Hutsonville. William Cox and William M. Hurst, above mentioned were the pioneer merchants. Under the firm name of Cox & Hurst, they opened a store in August, 1833, a few months after the town was laid out. They continued business until 1837-38, when they closed out for the purpose of collecting up the debts they had made. Everybody there who sold goods at all, sold on a credit — " the cheap cash store " had not yet been invented — and hence, every few years, the merchant had to close out his business, and collect his outstanding accounts in order to raise money to buy another stock of goods. Thus Cox & Hurst, after running a store some five or six years, were forced to pursue this method to replenish their stock, and the mer- cantile field was left to others. After clos- ing out their business, they rented their store- house to C. C. McDonald, who opened a large store, but he soon run his course and dropped out of the race. But in the meantime, the second store had been started in 1835, by Scott & Ross, who came here from Terre Haute, for the purpose of making their for- tunes. Scott soon sold out to Ross, and after- ward Ross sold to Royal A. Knott, who took William McCoy in as a partner. In two or three years they were forced to close out and gather up their scattered capital. About the year 1840, William Cox, the pioneer merchant, together with Hurst and others, under the firm of Wm. Cox & Co., again embarked in the mercantile busi- ness, but in three or four years, and for the same reason as heretofore, again retired. -'\\ i^^^/^74W^A HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 155 Caswell Jones opened a store oa a small scale about 1839-4:0, and continued in business for some ten years. Henry A. Steele also opened a store about the same tmie as Jones. He built a store-house where the large brick block now stands, but retired from business in a year or two. (Ai^ain about lSo4, in company with A. P. Harness, he opened a large store, which was continued until his death in ISGO.) Harness then wound up the business and afterward he and .McDowell commejiced a store which they operated for a few years. In 1843—14 the mercantile busi- ness had subsided into almost nothing, and the people had to go to York to supply them- selves with " store goods," or in a measure do without them. Early in the year 1845, Dr. Lucius McAllister rented the Steele store- house and opened out a good stock. He flourished but a year or two when he signally failed, and left town. He located somewhere about Tuscola, wliere he recuperated and made money. In 184^-48 the Preston Brothers started a store in the Steele house, which they operated several years. But while in full blast .John Sweeny bought the Steele store-house and compelled them to vacate it. Prestons then built a store on the corner opposite the present post-office, and after a few years more, closed out, and devoted their attention mostly to pork packing. A man from York named Coleman rented the Pres- ton store-house and opened a stock of goods, but did not remain but a year or two, when he closed out and returned whence he came. February, 1804, the Prestons ag&in opened a store, and on a much larger scale than be- fore. Under the firm of Preston, Lake & Co. they continued business until a few years ago, and made a great deal of money — just how much none but themselves perhaps know. But in pork-packing, merchandizing, and in grain thej' did the most extensive business ever done in the town. This was the general headquarters of nine stores which they had in successful operation. They let the stock run down, and a few years ago, sold it to George McDowell, who continued business, until one of the fires, -which Hutsonville is subject to, swept away the entire block, and the Preston, Lake & Co.'s building, where money had been accumulated for years, was but a " heap of smouldering ruins." We will go back now and gather up anoth- er thread of the mercantile history of Hut- sonville. John A. Merrick opened a large store about 18-53-53. He built the brick store- house occupied by Hurst &01win, when they were burned out in 1873. He commenced in the old Steele house, several times referred to, where he remained until his new brick store was finisheil. Mr. Merrick carried on an ex- tensive business for ten or twelve years, when he sold to Gen. Pearce & Sons. They closed out in a short time, and rented the store-house to Musgrave & Coffin. After a few months Musgrave bought out Coffin, and continuing business a short time longer, he (Nathan Mus- grave) died, when Wm. P. Musgrave, closed out the store. About the year 1854, Luther A. Stone opened a store as successor of Wm. Cox & Co. He took in Levi Moore as a part- ner, and Wm. L. Draper, then a young man. was employed as a clerk. Stone, Moore & Co continued a few years, when Stone died, and Moore closed out. A man from Terre Haute opened a store in the house lately occupied by Stone, Moore & Co., and in a short time sold out to Draper & Wood. A man named Mclntire succeeded Wood, and the firm be- came Draper & Mclntire. Moore again be- came a partner, and so continued until ha died. Draper, after Moore's death, closed up the business, and about 18G3 sold out to John T. Cox, a son of the pioneer merchant of Hutsonville. A. J. Cox became a partner, and the business continued thus several years. Wm. P. Musgrave & Co. (John R. Hurst 1ii6 IirSTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. the Co.) opened a store March 17, ISiU ; the Pi-estons had re-opened business here in Febru- ary preceding. Wni. P. Musgrave & Co. con- tinued about eighteen months when Musiirave sold out to I. N. Lowe, and the fn-m became J. R. Hurst & Co. In Novemlier, 1867, .John Olwin was admitted into the firm, and shortly- after Hurst bought out Lowe, and changed the firm name to Hurst & Olwin, which still continues in liusiness. W. B. Hurst became a. partner in 1S71. "Uncle Jack," as every- body calls Mr. Hurst, has retired from active business but the old sign, like that of Doni- bey & Son, still swings in the breeze. W. L. Draper, who sold out in 1863, and went to Terre Haute, afterward returned to Hutsonville and went into business again. In 1875, S. L. Bennett was admitted a part- ner, and the firm of Draper & Bennett con- tinued until about the close of the year 1883, when thev sold out to Golden & Canaday, now in business. This comprises a brief sketch of the early mercantile business of Hutsonville, together with some of the old firms, so well known to the people of this section of the county. We leave the records of more modern firms and business men to some future historian. Many men have embarked in business in Hutson- ville, and some have enjoyed prosperity and success, while others failed; some of them swept over the scene like untamed meteors, flashed, darted and fizzled, and then went out. Qnorum pars maf/naj'ui. Yes, the writer invested his surplus capital in Hutsonville, but it was swept away in the great overflow of " '75 " — otherwise in the '• August freshet," and in overflows of a different character, but nevertheless it went. There have been others who met with like misfortvines here. But there is consolation in the fact that what is the loss of one is the gain of others. But Hutsonville has proven an Eldorado to many. INIore than one snug little fortune has been carved out here and carried away to enrich other sections of the country. Taverns. — Israel Harris, as stated, was keeping a hotel, or tavern, as they were then called, when Hutsonville was laid out, and sold it to Robert Harrison. He kept the tav- ern for years, and finally killed himself by excessive drinking. Some time before he died he sol i the tavern and ail the land he owned (outside of the town lots) to John El- liott, who, alter running the tavern for a while, sold it to Enoch Wilhite, the father of Squire James Wilhite, whom many of our readers still remember. Mr. Wilhite kept the tavern as long as he lived. It was once a very important place; it was the stage- stand, when a four-horse stage ran daily between Vincennes and Danville. The next tavern was opened by Levi Moore. During the mercantile career of Stone, Moore & Co. they built the brick resi- dence now owned and occupied by Mr. W. L. Draper, and in this, after the death of Stone, Moore kept tavern. Moore sold it to Simons, who also kept it as a tavern for a while, and then rented it to William Boat- right, who used it for the same purpose. The next tavern was kept by Joel Barlow, on the corner where Newton & Rackerby's drug store stands. Then a tavern was opened on the site of the present Adams House. The house was put up as a private residence by John Musgrave, but was rented to C. C. McDonald, who kept it as a tavern. It has charged hands and landlords often since then; altera- tions have taken place, additions been built ' to it, old portions torn down and repairs made, until to-day there is, perhajis, not a single square inch of the original building left in the present house. For thirty years or more it has been a tavern-stand, and twice during that period it has been the " Adams House." Who does not remember "Uncle Joe" Adams, and "Aunt Jane," and their home-like tavern? HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 157 The present proprietor, Mr. Lewis Adams, is a t^euial host, judging from his evening com- p;iny, and an accommodating landlord. A post-office was established liere in 1832, and Wdliain Cox was the postmaster. It was small and insignificant compared to wiiat it is now. The mail was rocoivt'd over the old Slate road then, and wlien Murpliy & Goodrich started their big four-horse mail coaches, their arrival created a greater sensa- tion than Charley Willard does now when he conies in from the depot with the mail-bag on his shoulder. Murphy & Goodrich started tiieir coaches about the year 183S, but broke up in a few months, and again the mail dropped back to first princi])les — the hack, or trie "post-rider" — until the iron horse dashed in with it at lightning speed. Pork-packing has been an extensive and profitable business in Hutsonville. Cox and Hurst commenced the business in 1835 on a small scale, but followed it only two or three years. About 18-i8-9 Carson, Hurst & Mus- grave, as Carson & Co., did a large business in pork-packing. H. A. Steele followed the l)usiness for a few years, and so also did John A. Merrick. He built a pork house and packed extensively for two or three years. But the Prestons did the largest business in packing pork. They commenced about the time they first opened their store, having rented Cox & Co.'s pork house. In a few years they bought land near the ferry and built a pork house of their own. To this they made additions as their business incneased, until it became an extens.ve establishment. They did a large business in pork, as well as in merchandise, and grew immensely rich. To the large fortune they are supposed to liave accumulated, Hutsonville and Crawford County contributed far the larger portion. In the beginning of the pork business here it was shipped almost entirely to New Orleans by llat-boats. ^Vhen the Prestons got under way they sh.ipped bj' steamboats, and shipped east mostly instead of south. John A. Merrick was one of the finest and most accomplished business men ever in Hutsonville. He made money rapidlv, accu- mulating a handsome little fortune. But in an evil hour he invested his capital in the old distillery below town, which proved the rock upon which his ship went down, and has been equally disastrous to many since his time. Indeed, nearly every one who invested in it failed tttterly. Merrick and Joseph Volke of Palestine built this distillery, and broke up at it. After breaking everybody that took hold of it, the distillery itself broke up — the best break of all. jnils. — Solomon Sackrider built a steam grist-mill on Hutson Creek about three hun- dred yards from the mouth of the creek, the first mill in the town. It was quite an exten- sive establishment and did a profitable busi- ness. The Prestons traded for it, and it finally blew up from some cause, and in the explosion one man was killed. The mill was never rebuilt. The Hutson mills were built by the Mark- leys, and was the next enterprise in the town, in the way of a steam grist-mill. They com- prise a large three-story, frame building, with five run of buhrs, and a capacity of one hun- dred barrels of flour per day, most of which, aside from home consumption, is shi])ped south. The mills have all the latest improved machinery, and use the patent process in the ma ving of flour. They have changed hands many times since they were originally built, and are now owned by Harness, Newton and Rackerby. These mills, already mentioned, together with the mill at the old distillery, and a number of saw-mills built about town at different times, embrace the manufacturing interests of Hutsonville in the way of mills. The stave-factory, saw and planing-mills, on the river above town is an enterprise of 158 IIISTOUY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. considerable magnitude. It was built by Hussong & Co. in 1881-83. It works a num- ber of hands, and does quite an extensive business. The first school in Hutsonville was taught b}' a man named Broom, in a little house built for school purposes, and now occupied as a residence by Jack Woolverton. The next school-house built, was the present one. The present attendance at school is about 100 pupils — a little more than half of tlie enroll- ment. Another short-sightedness in the peo- ple, is not compelling their children to go to hchool. When parents allow their children to run wild in the streets, instead of sending them to school, tliey can blame no one but themselves if they bring up in the peniten- tiary. Such things are by no means uncom- mon. The ])resent teachers of the Hutson- ville schools, are Mr. Arthur Horning, and Miss Dora Braden. Rev. .lames McCord, a local Methodist preacher, delivered the first sermon in Hut- sonville, on Sunday before Christmas, 1833. He then lived near the town, and often preached for the people at their residences. He preached the sermon above referred to in a little unfinished house built by T. G. Moore on Water street. About the year 1840 a Meth- odist church was organized; a class, however, had been organized sometime previously. In February of the year noted, a quarterly meet- ing was held in the village by Rev. Beadle, the circuit rider, and Rev. William Crews, presiding Elder, and a church organized. Harvey Wilhite had been killed by the kick of a horse, and his funeral sermon was preached at this quarterly meeting by Rev. Crews. A great revival of religion followed the organization of the church, and Christian- ity prospered accordingly. The church has existed ever since its original organization, though it has dwindled down at times, and become lukewarm. The present lirick church was built, between 1850 and 1854, by contri- butions from all denominations, but some years ago it was regularly dedicated as a Methodist church. Rev. Mr. Massey is the present pastor, and Mr. C. V. Newton, super- intendent of the Sunday school, which is car- ried on during the entire year. The Christian Church was organized soon after the Methodist church, but a church edi- fice was not built until in 1800, when the present frame church was erected. Elder Alfred P. Law organized the society in a little log-house which stood on lot- 18, and is now used as a stable. The next preacher after Law was Elder William Tichnor. There is no regular pastor at present. The church is numerically strong, and has had some able ministers, the ablest of whom per- haps were James Morgan and Elder Black. A flourishing Sunday school is maintained under the superintendence of Mr. A. J. Cox. There are no other church organizations in the village than those mentioned. Hutsonville Lodge No. 136 A. F. and A. M., was organized October 5, 1853, under E. B. Ames, Grand Master, and H. G. Reynolds, Grand Seoretarj'. The first officers were B. F. Robinson, Master; Joshua Davis, Senior Warden, and J. J. Petri, Junior Warden. The present officers are John M. McNutt, Master; John 01 win. Senior Warden; L. W. Smith, Junior Warden; R. W. Canaday, Treas- urer; G. V. Newton, Secretary, and C. Rogers, Tiler. Hutsonville Lodge No. 106 I. O. O. F., was instituted October 15, 1853, by W. L. Rueker, Grand Master, and S. A. Goneau, Grand Sec- retary. The charter members were Win. T. B. ilclntire, J. N. Cox, Liberty Murphy, J. M. Wilhite, and Andrew P. Harness. The present officers of the lodcre are Price John- son, N. G.; John Carpenter, V. G.; E. Kinnej', Treasurer, and H. H. Flesher, Secretary. Osmer Lodge No. 3330 Knights of Honor, HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 159 was organized and a charter issued under date ol' June 9, 1881, to Jolm O win, Win. E.iton, Danl. Iloldennan, J. L. Musj^rave, M. P. Rackerby, C. W. Keys, C. V. Newton, C. Rodgers and others, as charter members. The present ofEcers are Wm. Eaton, P. D.; James Handy, D.; Lucius Hurst, A. D.; Jesse C. Musgrave, V. D.; John Oiwin, Treasurc^r; C. V. Newton, Reporter, and M. P. Rackerby, Financial Reporter, and several others too te- dious to mention. Hutsonville has been incorporated time after time. Its first experience of this kind was some time between 1840 \-as completed in the summer of 1873, at a cost of $700. Rev. Harris, the first pas- tor, preached two years and was succeeded by Rev. C. C. NefF, who remained with the church three years. Then came Rev. M. L. Pope, who ministered to the congregation about two years, and was in turn followed by Rev. S. S. Gibb, the present pastor. The present membership is about forty. In educational matters the citizens of this township have always taken a lively interest, and schools were established shortly after the first settlers made their appearance. The first school-house, as near as could be ascertained, stood on the west side of Oblong Prairie near the North Fork, and was built some time prior to 1836. Among the first teachers who wielded the birch in this rude domicile was one James Smith; the names of other early teachers who dignified this frontier college with their presence have unfor- tunately been forgotten. The second school- house was a hewed log building and a decided improvement on the one described. It was erected about the year 1837 and stood near the Oblong grave-yard. It was first used by a man by name of Fithian who taught a three months' term in the winter of 1837 and 1838 with an attendance of about fifteen pupils. Among the early teachers who taught in the same place are remembered Samuel Crump- ton, John M. Johnston, Levi James, J. H. Price, and Peter Long. The house was in use until the year 1863 when it was aban- doned as being no longer fit for school pur- poses. The first frame school-house stood on Jesse Barlow's farm in the northeast corner of the township and was erected about the year 1850. It was in use for twenty-six years. The school lands were sold in the year 1851 and realized to the township the sum of 81,100. Seven per cent of this amount to- gether with $70 which the township drew the same year formed the basis of the present splendid school fund. There are at the pres- ent time ten good buildings in which schools are taught about seven months in the year, thus bringing the advantages of a good edu- cation within the easy reach of all. Nine of these buildings are frame, and one, the Ob- long school-house, is brick. The latter was erected in 1881 at a cost of 83,000. It is two stories high, contains three large, well fur- nished rooms, and covers a space of ground forty-three feet long by twenty feet wide. The Mount Comfort Grange No. lOOG P. of H. was organized in 1873 with a membership of thirteen. First officers were Harrison Seers, Master; D. M. Bales, Overseer; and A. Walters, Sect. The present officers are Will- iam Cortourly, M.; Edward Johnson, C; Joseph Kirk, S.; Albert Skaggs, Sect.; Wm. Johnson, Treas.; Chas. Johnson, Chap.; Thom- as Keifer, Lecturer; J. E. Skaggs, Gate Keeper; Anna Cortourly, P.; Lucinda John- son, A. S.; Rachel Kirk, F.; Catherine Keifer, C. Dog Wood Grange No. 1007 was organized January 29, 1874, at the Dog Wood school- house with thirty charter members. First offi- cers were the following: Preston Condrey, M.; Matthew Wilkin, O.; Scott Thornburg, L.; William E. McKnight, S.; Absalom Wilkin, A. S.; J. H. Wilkin, Chaplain; Hiram Lara- bee, Treas.; R. S. Comley, Sect.; Wilson Brooks, G. K.; Emily Wilkin, Ceres; Eliza- beth Condrey, Pomona; Carrie Snider, Flora; Rosilla Larabee, L. A. S. The present offi- cers are A. Reed, M.; C. Stifle, O.; R. S. Comley, L.; S. Wilkin, S.; J. A. Wilson, A. S.; G. W. Crogan, Chap.; A. Weir, Treas.; M. Wilkin, Sect.; J. J. Waterworth. G. K.; Mrs. E. E. Wilkin, Pomona; Miss E. Reed, Flora; Mrs. Mary Wilkin, Ceres; Mrs. C. Wilson, L. A. S. The lodge is in flourishing condition at the present time, and numbers forty-two members. CHAPTEE XYI. MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP— PHYSICAL FEATURES. BOUNDARIES, ETC.— EARLY SETTLERS AND AVHERE THEY CAME PROM— THE HURRICANE— FRONTIER INDUSTRIES— A RACE FOR THE BOTTLE AND ITS RESULTS— THE POISONING OF REED— VILLAGES-RELIGIOUS AND EDUCATIONAL. " What is the tale that I would tell ? Not one Of strange adventure, but a common tale." PIONEER hardships and privations on the frontier are a " common tale " to the writer of western annals. Those who have beard the old settlers tell of their hunting frolics,log-rollino;s, house-raisings, wolf-chases, etc., etc., were sometimes led to believe that pioneer life was made up of fun and frolic, amusement and enjoyment, but it is a woeful mistake. AVhile there was more or less of pleasure and happiness among the frontiers- men, with their rude, wild life, " wild ab the wild bird and untaught, with spur and bridle undeliled," there was much more danger, toil, privation, self-denial, a lack of all the com- forts of life, and many of its necessaries. Indeed, these were the main constituents that compose the grandeur of frontier life and rast a glamour over its dangers and hardships. To the early settlers of this division of the county we will now devote our attention, and transcribe some of their deeds and adven- tures. Montgomery Township is the southeastern division of Crawford County, and borders on the Wabash River. It is an excellent agri- cultural region and contains some very fine farms. Like all the Wabash bottoms, the lowlands along the river are frequently in- undated, sometimes subjecting the people to * By W. H. Perrm. serious loss of property. The center line of the township forms the divide, from which the water flows both ways — to the east into the Wabash River by Doe Run and Buck's Creek, and to the west into the Embarras by Brushy Fork which runs in a south-southwest direction. The east part of the township, a distance of two miles from the river, was known as the "Rich Woods," and was very rich, heavy-timbered Ian 1, and is yet as rich land as there is in the county. But the largest portion of Montgomery was called " Barrens," on account of its barren appear- ance, being almost entirely destitute of timber, except a few scattering, scrubby oaks and shelbark hickories. The barrens were caused by the great fires which annually swept over the prairie districts. After the prairie grass burned, the fire died out, the barrens disappeared and the heavy timber be- gan. It was usually black, red, water, white and burr oaks, hickory, sassafras, persimmon, with soft wood trees along the streams. The Rich Woods produced several kinds of oak, walnut, beech, sugar tree, elm, poplar, linn, hackberry, sycamore, honey locust, cofl'eenut, pawpaw, etc. Only the northwest corner of the township was prairie, and was called Beckwith Prairie, and was but a few hundred acres in extent. Montgomery Township lies south of Lamotte Township, west of the Wabash River, north of Lawrence County, east of Honey Creek Township, and by the 184 HISTORY OF CRAAVFOED COUXTY. census of 1880 had a total population of 1,959 inhabitants. The fii'st settlement of Montgomery Town- shij:) was made seventy years or more ago. There is a prevailing tradition that James Beard settled here as early as 1810, hut it is hardly probable that it was much before the cfose of the war of 1812. Beard was from Kentucky, and had been brought up among the stirring scenes of the dark and bloody ground in the days of Indian warfare. He had a nephew named Eli Adams, who came to this county with him and lived with him here. Their cabin stood in the southeast cor- ner of the township. Beard was killed by the Indians, as detailed in a preceding chapter. But it is not known what ever be- came of Adams. Thomas Kennedy, who figures prominently in this work, both as an early county officer and as a pioneer Baptist preacher was an early settler in this township. He was from southern Kentucky, and first squatted on the place where John S. Woodworth originally settled, the improvement of which he sold to Wood- worth. He then settled ia this township, on what is known as the Gov. French farm, and at present owned by Mr. Fife. Kennedy lost several members of his family by the milk-sick, and sold out and moved to Beck- ■with Prairie, where he died at a green old age. He was a good, honest man, somewhat illiterate, l)ut endowed with sound common sense. As stated, he was a Hardshell Bap- tist preacher, but much more liberal in his religious convictions than many of that stern and zealous creed. He used to often cross swords with Daniel Parker upon church gov- ernment and relations, and the church once tried to turn him out for what it termed his heresies, but failed in the attempt. Old " Daddy " Kenned}' was a man who possessed the confidence of the people among whom he lived, and enjoyed a reputation for honor and integrity, that remained unstained during a long and active life. Another early settler was John Cobb. He came to Montgomery Township in 1820 and opened a farm. He had six children, some of whom grew up and made prominent men. One of these, Amasa Cobb, studied law in St. Louis, and at the breaking out of the Mexican war, entered the army, taking part in that un- pleasantness. He afterward located in Wis- consin ; was sent to the Legislature and to Con- gress from the Badger State, and was in Con- gress when the war clouds rose on the south- ern horizon in 18G1. He at once offered his services to the government, was commis- sioned colonel of a regiment, and distinguished himself in the field. At this time, he is serv- ing his second term as judge of the Supreme Court of Nebraska. Another son is living in this township, and is a prominent farmer. The following incident is intimately con- nected with the early settlement of this sec- tion. About the year 1811-12, a hurricane swept over the country, passing from the southwest to the northeast, through the north- western part of Montgomery and the south- eastern part of Lamotte Township. Marks of its destructive course may yet be seen in many places. It was about half a mile in width, and the timber was felled before it, as grain before the reaper. A family named Higgins had just moved in, and had not vet had time to build a cabin and had constructed a rude hut to shelter their heads until better accommodations could be provided. The hut stood directly in the path of the hurricane, and after the storm was over the people gath- ered together, and knowing the location of Higgins' hut, supposed the family all killed, and that nothing remained to them, but to make their way into the fallen timber, get out the unfortunates and bury them. Upon work- ing their way to them, they were found to be wholly uninjured, not a single tree having HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 1S5 fallen upon the hut, or touched it, but the huge monarchs of the forest were piled pro- miscuously all around them, rendering their escape as remarkable as that of Tam O'Shan- ter's Mare. It was the only spot in the whole track of the hurricane for miles that was not covered over with fallen timber. The inci- dent is still remembered by many who have received it as a family tradition. Among the settlers of Montgomery, addi- tional to those already mentioned were, Joseph Pearson, Ithra Brasliears, James Shaw, John ^Yaldrop, Gabriel Funk, Sr., Andrew Mont- gomery and others whose names are now for- gotten. Pearson came from Indiana, and set- led here, bat not much was learned of him. Brashears was in Fort Lamotte, and when peace was established received from the Government 100 acres of land for some ser- vice against the Indians, but just what the service was is not remembered. He was from Kentucky, and like all those old pioneers from that region, W'asa trained Indian fighter. He had one of the early mills of the county. His children are all dead except one daughter. James Shaw settled what is now known as the Winn place. He has descendants still living. John V/aldrop was from Kentucky, and set- tled very early. Gabriel Funk, Sr., came here in 1815, and was a great hunter. He had a son named Gabriel, who followed in his fath- er's footsteps in regard to hunting. Andrew Montgomery came from Irelatid and settled here very early. He raised a large family of children. Mr. Montgomery was a prominent man, and the township bears his name, an honor that is not unmerited. Many others might be named in connection with the early settlement, but after this long lapse of time, their names are forgotten. Others will be mentioned in the biographical department of this work. For many j'ears after the whites came here, tli'.'y had hard work to live. Even up to 1815-50, times were hard and produce low, commanding the most insignificant prices. Particularly from 1810 to 1815 were farm pro- ducts low. Corn sold at 6;^ cents per bushel, after being hauled to the stage-stand at Ver- non in the north part of the township. AVheat ■was 37i to 40 cents per bushel in trade for salt, after being hauled to Evansville, Ind. Pork, from §1.50 to $'i.00 per hundred pounds; cattle, three and four years old sold for §6 and S7 a piece. Clothing was coarse and cheap. Many wore buckskin, and all wore home-made clothes. A family who came here from Vir- ginia made clothing of cotton and the fur of rabbits mixed, the latter being sheared from the backs of the rabbits like wool from sheep. This is a pioneer story, and like many of their stories, is somewhat huge in proportion, when we consider how many rabbits it would take to furnish wool enough to clothe an army. But it is told that Mr. James Laiidreth wore clothing composed of the material above de- scribed. Mills were among the early pioneer indus- tries of Montgomery. James Allison had a mill very early in the south part of the town- ship. Jesse Higgins built an early mill where Morea now stands. Ithra Brashears also built a mill in an early day, and James Brockman had a mill near the Wabash river, in the southeast part of the township. He was killed by his step-son. Bill Shaw. Distilleries were also a prominent industry among the pioneers. Veach had a distillery a half mile east of Flat Rock, while Shaw owned one in the east part of the township. Adams had one of the first in the country Another distillery was built in the southeast portion of the tox'wi, and afterward a tannery established at the same place. Hatfield was the first blacksmith, and Wm. Edgington was a pioneer blacksmith and run a sort of gun factory in the township for sixty years. Jioads. — The Vincennes State road was one 186 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. of the first public higlivvixys through Mont- gomery. It was surveyed in 1835. It was usually called the State Road, but its proper name was Vincenncs and Chicago road. The " Purgatory Road " as it was called, was laid out in 183G. It was so called on account of a large swamp through which it passed. It run from Viiicennes to Palestine, and is the real State road. While the Vincennes road, is merely an improved Indian trail, probably several hundred years old. The township is supplied with roads of as good quality as any portion of the county, and in many places good bridges span the streams. An incident occurred in this township some years ago, which shocked the moral sensibility of all the better class of people. Leonard Reed was a well-to-do citizen, and a man who stood fair among his neighbors. He lived five miles southeast of Palestine, and was poisoned by his wife that she might secure his property all to herself. She dosed him with arsenic, putting it in his victuals in small quantities, with the design of killing him by inches and thus escaping suspicion. The drug gave out and she was compelled to procure a second supply. One morning the hired girl saw her put something in her husband's coffee from a paper, and his violent pains a few moments afterward aroused the girl's suspicions. It seems the woman had given her husband a larger dose than usual, infuriated perhaps at his tenacious hold on life, and from the effects of it he died. The hired girl then told some of the neighbors what she had herself seen, and a medical examination was the result, which revealed the presence of arsenic in the stomach. The woman was arrested and lodged in the jail at Palestine. Before her trial came on she attempted to escape by burning a hole in the jail wall, which was of wood. She would burn a little at a time, and then extinguish the fire in order not to excite suspicion. One night she let the fire get the mastery of her, and when seeing that both she and the jail must burn together, she screamed for help. Sam Garrard, still a citi- zen of Palestine, was the first to reach the scene and succeeded in rescuing her from the flames. She was afterward transferred to Lawrence countv on a change of venue, tried for the murder of her husband, condemned, and finally hunsf in Lawrenceville. Another tragedy occurred in this township, which, though accidental, was none the less deplorable, inasmuch as it resulted from a barbarous custom. A young man named Green Baker, who lived in the southeast part of Montgomery, in " racing for the bottle " at a wedding was thrown against a tree and in- stantly killed. It was a custom in those ear- ly times at a wedding for two or three young men to be selected to go to the house of the bride for the usual bottle of spirits that graced the occasion. At the proper time they started on horseback at break-neck speed, as one would ride a hurdle-race, turning aside for no object or impediment. The one who gained the race by first reaching the bride's residence and getting possession of the bottle was the hero of the day, a kind of champion knight among the fair ladies. In obedience to this rude custom Baker and one or two otheis started on the race for the bottle. Thev were running their horses at full speed, and at a turn in the road by which stood a tree somewhat bent. Baker swayed his body to the side he supposed the horse would go, but contrary to his expectations it went on the other side. His head struck the tree and death was instantaneous. Thus, by observing a rude and barbarous custom, an occasion of gavety was turned into the deepest mourning. The people of Montgomery Township take an active interest in education. It is not known now who taught the first school in the township. It is known, however, that schools were established as soon as there were HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 187 children enough in a neighborhood to support a school. There are now ten school-houses in the township, hut the school township ex- tends two miles into Lawrence County. All the school-houses are frame, and their average cost is about §850.. The state of education is the best in the county aside from the towns. Especially is this the case in District No. 1, which is noted for its interest in education, and in which stands the McKibben school- house, one of the best in ihe township. Villafies. — There are several villages in the township, but all of them put together would not make a town as large as Chicago. Al- though they are dignified by being called villages none of them have been regularly laid out as such. One of the first places to be designated as a village, was Vernon. It was on the Vincennes road and was a stiige-stand when the old-fashioned stage-coach was the principal means of travel. A small store, a post-office, a tavern and a blacksmith shop comprised its proportions. The tavern was kept by Spencer Hurst, and one Salters was the blacksmith. The town, however, has dis- appeared. !Morea is another hamlet, and consists of a half dozen houses or so. Wm. P. Dunlap built the first store-house, but the first goods were sold by Wm. Wallace. The place con- tains but one store which is kept by Henry Sayre. A post-of5ce was established here, with A. W. Duncan as postmaster. It is now kept by Dr. J. A. Ingles. Tlitse, with a churehj school-house and blacksmith shop, constitute the town. The first move toward a town was the building of the church, which is a Pres- bj'terian church. Alexander MacHatton gave the ground upon which it was built. He also gave one acre of land to David Kelchner,who erected a house upon it. The school-house was built originally about a quarter of a mile from the post-office, and was a log structure. Later the present school- house was built, by parties, who made a kind of stock company of it, taking shares of stock. The upper portion is used for religious and literary purposes. The church will be referred to later on in this chapter. Heathville is another of the same sort. A post-office was established, and R. Heath, an old pioneer now living in Russelville, was the first post-master. The present one is Mr. Sullivan. A store, a shop or two, and a few houses are all there is of this lively town. Crawfordsville is situated on the line be- tween Montgomery and Honey Creek Town- ships. The first record we have of the place, was when Edward Allison built a water-mill here about 1830. Allison sold out to a man named Kiger, who in turn sold to H. Martin, a son of John Martin, who came to the county in lSlO-13. He built an ox-mill afterward, and later, a steam-mill, which is still stand- ing, and is owned by Dennis York and J. T. Wood. H. Martin kept a blacksmith shop about 18.j5. Elijah Nuttalls established a general store, and afterward several others had stores at different periods. During all this time it was known as Martin's mill, but when a post-oilice was established it was then called Crawfordsville. Samson Taylor was the first postmaster. The post-office was re- moved to Flat Rock when that town was laid out after the building of the railroad. A woolen-mill was connected with the steam-mill about 1870, and operated until 1879, when it closed business. Churches, — Wesley Chapel Methodist Epis- copal church is among the oldest churches in the county', dating its original organization back at least to 1825. The Methodists being missionary in their style, this church grew out of work done years previous to organiza- tion. Among the original members were James and Nancy McCord, Edward N. and Mary Cullom, Nancy Funk, Smith Shaw and wife, John and Mary Fox, S. B. Carter and 188 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. Margaret Carter, Daniel and Christina Funk, William Garrard and wife, and Jacob Gar- rard and wile. It was organized by Rev. John Stewart, one of the earliest preachers of the Methodists in the Wabash valley. The first church edifice was built in 1845, and was a frame, 2Gx40 feet, costing about $800. In 1878 a larger and more commodious house was commenced, and finished the next year. It is 30x50 feet, with many of the modern improvements — two class-rooms, gallery, bel- fry, stained glass windows, and will seat com- fortably some 250 persons. It has at present about 100 members. Many of the churches surrounding country grew out of this vener- able churcli, among which was that at Pales- tine. The following is furnished us of the dif- ferent pastors of this church: Rupert Delapp, a good proacher, but rather too plain spoken to be popular; Wra. McReynolds, a good man and polished gentleman, and much liked by all; John, his brother, and very similar; Samuel Hulls, a good man liut common preacher, one of those who wept when he preached, very excitable but popular and influential, held many responsible positions in the church, and is still living; John Miller and Finley Tliompson officiated tog-ether, and were both good men; John McCain, a de- voted and influential preacher, Israel Risley rather dry, but a man of good sense; Chai4es Bonner, a warm-hearted young man, and a preacher of medium talents; James M. Mas- sey, one of the best preachers the church ever had, and faithful to the end; a son, T. J. Massey, is now in charge of the Robinson circuit; Ira McGinnis, a good preacher; Wm. S. Crissy, promising young preacher; John Chamberlin, an elegant gentleman, and a mediocre preacher; Asa McMurtry and Wm. Wilson together; Wm. Ripley; Isaac Barr; Jas. Woodward; Americus Don Carlos; W. (;. Blondill; Michael S. Taylor; John Shep- herd; Jacob Reed; J. F. Jaques; Joseph Hopkins; W. H. H. Moore; Z. Percy; John Hill; John Glaze; Levi English; John John- son; James Holey; Jacob Reed and V. Lin- genfelter; D. Williamson; Charles McCord; Wm. Nail; John Leeperand W.J. Grant; S. P. Groves; James Thrapp; Lewis Harper; D. Williamson; Wm. Cain; O. H. Clark; O. H. Bruner; Wni. Hennessey; Joseph Ruther- ford; W. W. McMorrow; Wm. Bruner; .1. J. Boyer; Jason Carson; John Weeden and D. B. Stewart; John Weeden and Joseph Van Cleve; J. D. Reeder, the present pastor. Under his pastorate forty-four members have been added, " a record that has not been beaten," since the organization of the church. A Sunday-school in connection with the church, has been in operation since 1873. The regular attendance is about seventy-five children, and Wm. Fox is the superintendent. Canaan Baptist Church is another of the old church organizations of this section of the country. It was established by Elder Daniel Parker, a Hardshell Baptist preacher, near Fort Allison, away back about 1830, under the name of " Little Vdlage Baptist Church." A few years later it was moved to this township, and is now of the Missionary Baptist faith. They have some eighteen members, and hold their meetings in the Canaan school-house, in which they own an interest. Liberty Baptist Church was organized July 15, lSi3. The old Lamotte Baptist Church, great in numbers and in boundaries, con- tributed toward its formation. The mem- bers in the southeast part of the congrega- tion, thought it best to form a church nearer their homes. Among those wlio entertained this belief were D. Y. Allison, Sarah Allison, Benjamin Long, Jane Long, Isaac Martin, Mary Martin, Thos. F. Highsmith, Elizabeth Highsmlth, Wm. V. Highsmith, Sina Allen, Rebecca Rush and Amos Rich. Elders Drudut CoX- HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 191 Stephen Kennedy and Wm. S. Bishop offi- ciated at the organization. Since then tlie pastors have been: Elders Hezeklah Shelton and A. J. Fuson, by direction of the New York Home Mission Board; Solomon D. Mon- roe, D. Y. Allison, J. T. Warren, T. J. Neal, and J. L. Cox, the present pastor. The first church was built of logs eighteen by twenty feet, and a few years afterward another room of the same size was added, at a total cost, perhaps, of $200. The second church was built in 1S7A, and cost about $1,200. It has sixty-three members, and a Sunday-school, which was organized in 1865, by Jacob Clements and Hachel E. Dickinson. Clem- ents was superintendent. This church had but little ministerial aid in the early days of its existence; ministers being scarce and hard to procure in a new country such as this was then. But its mem- bers persevered, and it increased in power and usefulness. Twr> churches were afterward organized chiefly from its membership: one north of where it is located, and the other southwest, and just north of Lawrenceville. The United Presbyterian Church of Morea, as also the Associated Presbyterian Church and the United Presbyterian Church of Duii- canvilie, had their origin with a few families, mostly from East Tennessee, who settled in the Maxwell neighborhood. At their request they were organized into a " vacancy " of the Associated Presbyterian Church (commonly called seceders), under the care of the Pres- bytery of Northern Indiana; Rev. James Dickson, of the Presbytery, officiated at the organiz ition. Not long after, A. R. Rankin, a licentiate, was called to be their pastor, and accepting the call, was installed in the fall of 1852. A church was built a few years later, which served as a house of worship for nearly a quarter of a century. Rev. Rankin remained with them some five or six years and the congregation increased rapidly. He was succeeded by Rev. J. D. McNay as stated supply, and about 1858, while he was yet with them, the churches were united under the name of the United Presbyterian Church. Rev. McNay and a portipn of his flock de- clined going into this union, and Rev. R. Gil more, assistant editor of the Presbyte- rian Witness, of Cincinnati, re-organized the church and reported it as a " vacancy," under the care of the Presbytery of southern Indiana. Rev. Alexander MacHatton was pastor in 18G1, at which time the membership was thirty-eight. The congregation used the Beckwith Prairie church until they could build one of their own, which they did some years later; a good substantial building, and free of debt. This was the first building erected in Morea, and is still occupied by the congregation, though there is not one of the original thirty-eight now in connection with it. Soon after building the house the mem- bership increased to 120. A few families then in the northwest part of the congrega- tion obtained leave and formed a new church, and erected a building at Duncanville, where they have prospered, and for some years have had a settled pastor in Rev. Hugh MacHat- ton. In April 1877, after about sixteen years' service Rev. Alexander MacHatton resigned bis charge, and is now living on a farm near Morea. The next pastor was Rev. O. G. Brockett, in 1879, who remained until 1882, since which time the church has had no pastor. It has now about filty-five members and is in a flourishing condition. A Sunday-school is maintained, and was organized in 18G2, and since then it has con- tinued uninterruptedly. The attendance is about ninety children. The Green Hill Methodist Episcopal Church was organized about 1850-55. Although the Methodists had lield meetings in the neigh- borhood ever since 1830 in log school-houses, and in the cabins of the early settlers, it was 192 PIISTOEY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. not until this time that an organization was effected. One Dr. J. R. Winn, who came here about 1837, made a will, in 1855, in which he donated land on which to build a church, and also gave $100 for the same pur- pose, on condition that the people would build it within a given time. A frame church ■was erected, and the original members were twelve in number; at piesent there are but sixteen members. The first minister was Rev. Bruner. The church is in the same cir- cuit of Wesley chapel, and since its organi- zation has been administered to by the same preachers, except in 1878 and 1879, when they had their own minister, Rev. Mr. Hen- nessey. The present pastor is Rev. J. U. Reeder. The church was dedicated by Rev. C. J. Houts, presiding elder. A Sabbath- school, established in 1874, is maintained under the charge of the church, of which J. Landreth is superintendent. Another denomination, the Christians, have an organization here and hold their meetings in this church. It was organized by Rev. J. R. Wright, who is the present pastor. But other ministers have been with them at dif- ferent times. CHAPTER XVII.* MARTIN AND SOUTHWEST TOWNSHIPS— POSITION AND BOUNDARIES— FORMATION OF SOUTHWEST— WATER COURSES— SOIL— PRODUCTIONS— TIMBER— PIONEER SET- TLEMENT—EARLY INCIDENTS AND INDUSTaiES— LIFE IN THE WIL- DERNESS—EARLY ROADS— CHURCH AND SCHOOL HIS- TORY—VILLAGES, ETC., ETC. The formation "Time though old is swift in fliglit." THE unheeded lapse of time is the histo- rian's greatest enemy. The events of one day are so closely crowded by those of the next, and so much occupied are we with the aflFairs of the present, that almost unawares we fulfill the scriptural injunction: "Take no thought for the morrow." History is commonly defined to be a record of past events, but shall we wait till the events must be recalled by di'feclive memories before we record them? Th. !i W(' get no perfect history, for no mem- ory is infallible, and often lie who thinks him- self most sure is least to bo relied upon. In recording the annals of even so small a place as a single township, absolute justice can not be given, as many events of importance, to- gether with the actors who participated there- in have been forgotten through the lapse of time. The division of Crawford County, which forms the subject of this chapter, origi- nally embraced the present townships of Martin and Southwest, and included in all fiftv-six square miles of territory, with the followiiig boundaries: Oblong Township on the north, Robinson on the east, Lawrence and Richland counties on the south, and Jasper County on the west. A few years after township organization (1869), that portion lying south of the Em- barras was formed into a distinct division with the river for its northern boundary, and *ByG.N. Ben-y. named Southwest Township, of Southwest was brought about by petition signed by the citizens of that part of the country, and chief among the several reasons urged in favor of the division was the diffi- culty experienced Jn reaching the voting place on account of high water during cer- tain seasons of the year. The history of the tvv 1 townships, however, is identical, and in the pages which follow we speak of them both as one division. The tov\nship is well watered and drained by the Embarras river. Big Creek, Dogwood Branch, Honey Creek and their affluents which traverse the country in various directions. Embarras river, the principal stream of importance, flows between the two townships, crossing the western boundary in section 4, and passing a north easterly direction about four miles, and unites with Big Creek in section 8. From this point the channel deflects to the southwest, leaving the township from section 24 about one mile north of the southern boundary. The stream flows through a well wooded but somewhat flat country, and afi'ords the principal drain- age for the western and southern portions of the county. Big Creek, the second stream in size, flows a southerly direction, through the central part of the township, and passes in its course through sections 21, 22, 29 and 32 of town G, and section 5 of town 5. Dog- wood Branch is the largest tributary, which it receives in section 29, in the northern part of the township. Honey Creek flows through 194 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. a somewhat broken portion of country, lying in the eastern part of the township, and empties into the Embarras in section 13. The general surface of the township is what might be termed level with undulations of an irregular character in the southeastern part and along the streams enumerated. About three fourths of the area is woodland, the forest growth consisting principally of the different varieties of oak, hickory, ash, maple, with walnut, elm and sycamore skirting the creeks. When first settled the woods were almost entirely devoid of undergrowth, ow- ing to the prevalence of forest and prairie fires, which swept over the country in fall of each year. With the improvement of the land these fires ceased, and in woods which have not been disturbed a rank growth of "underbush" has sprung up, principally spice, pawpaw, grapevine, dogwood and many other varieties. The northeast corner of the township is occupied by an arm of the Grand Prairie, which embraces an area equivalent to about eight sections. The prairie presents a very level surface and af- fords many inducements to the stock-raiser, as the greater portion of it is much better adapted to pasturage than to general farming. The south end of Oblong Prairie extends into the northwest part of the township, while a strip of prairie land about five miles long and one mile wide extends along the southern boundary. The soil of the land lying remote from the water courses is a gray clay-loam mixed with gravel, while the low ground ad- jacent to the creeks possesses a deep black, mucky soil, rich in decayed vagetable matter and very fertile. Corn and wheat are the staple productions of the wooded portions of the country, while corn and grass are the leading crops raised on the prairies. Taken as a whole the township is not so well adapted to agriculture as the northern and eastern divisions of the county, but as a fruit growing country it stands second to no other township. The early settlement of Martin Township, like all portions of the county, is somewhat obscured, and we are left in a great measure to conjecture. It is thought, however, that one Daniel Martin was the first to make improve- ments, and it is certain that he made the first entry of land as early as the year 1830. He was a native of the State of Georgia, and left his childhood home some years prior to the dawn of the present century, and set- tled in Kentucky. He married in the latter State and eniigrated to Illinois about the year 1810, settling, with a number of others who accompanied him near the present site of Palestine. His journey to the new country was replete with many incidents, some of tliera of a decidedly unpletsant nature, for at that time the country was full of Indians, many of whom were inclined to be trouble- some. Martin packed his few household goods on one horse and his family on another and thus the trip through the wilderness was made in safety, though they were surrounded at different times by hostile redskins, and it was only through Martin's fiimness that the lives of the little company were spared to reach their destination. Upon his arrival at Palestine, Martin fi und himself in possession of sufficient means to purchase thirtv acres of land on which a previous set- tler had made a few rude improvements. During the Indian troubles he figured as a brave fighter and participated in many bloody hand-to-hand combats with the savages, whom he hated with all the intensity cf his strong ruffo-ed nature. Being a great hunter, he passed much of his time in the woods, and in one of his hunting tovirs he chanced to pass through the central part of this township, and being pleased with the appearance of the country he decided to make a locatirm here and secure a home. He was induced to take HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 195 this step from two considerations: one for the purpose of securing mora land than he at that time possessed, and the other beini;r his desire to rid himself of society, for the usages and conventionalities of which he had the mo-t profound contempt. He sold his little farm to Joshua Crews in the year 1830, and from the proceeds was enabled to enter eighty acres of government land, which he did soon after, selecting for his home the east half of the southeast quarter of section Si, in town 6 north, range 13 west. He immediately be- gan improving his land by erecting thereon a good log cabin twenty by eighteen feet, to which he moved his large family as soon as the building was raised and roofed. Mar- tin did but little work on the farm, leaving that labor to be performed by his daughters, of whom there were several buxom lasses who inherited their father's powerful physical strength in a marked degree. They opened the farm, did almost all the plowing, chopped wood and looked after the interests of the place in general, while the father's rifle kept the family well supplied with fresh meat. Upon one occasion while out hunting, he had a narrow escape from being shot, under the following circumstances: He and a com- panion, who was getting old and had defect- ive eyesight, started out one morning in quest of deer, Martin riding his favorite steed, "Old Ball." A fine buck was soon started to which the hunters gave chase. Mar- tin, who was an expert shot, directed his com- rade to circle round a certain piece of woods for the purpose of dislodging the deer, while he would remain stationary and drop it as it went by. The hunter followed the directions as well as he could, but being misled by his near- sightedness, soon got back near the spot where Martin was stationed. Seeing, as he supposed, the deer among the branches, and thinking to surprise Martin, he "drew bead" and fired. The surprise was complete both to Martin and himself, for no sooner was the gun discharged than Martin's voice broke the stillness in the following terse exclamation: " There, by the gods, poor Ball's gone." The horse had been shot dead. Martin lived on his place about thirtv-three years, and died in 1SG3 at the age of seventy-si.TC vears. Two daughters, Mrs. Shipman and Mrs. Thomas, are living in the township at the present time. The old homestead is owned and occupied by Esau Har- din. The next actual settler of whom we have any knowledge was Abel Prvor, who located near the village of Hardinsville in the year 1831. He was born in Kentucky and moved from that State to Illinois in an early day and settled near the Palestine fort. Here he became acquainted with a daughter of John Martin, between whom and himself a mutual attachment sprang up which soon terminated in matrimony. After his marriage Pryor moved to Coles County, where he lived about three years, when, becoming dissatis- fied with the country, he came to this town- ship and entered land in section 26, at the date mentioned. He possessed many of the characteristics of the successful business man, to which were added an almost inordi- nate love of out-door sports, especially hunt- ing, which continued to be his favorite amusement as long as he lived. He became the possessor of several tracts of valuable land, and raised a large family, consisting of sixteen children, a number of whom still reside in the township. Pryor died in the year 1875. A man by name of Huffman set- tled in the eastern part of the township about the same time that Pryor came to the country, but of him nothing is known save that he mad a few improvements on land which was entered by Absalom Higgins two years later. William Wilkinson settled near what is known as the Dark Bend on the Embarras River, in 1831, where he cleared a small farm. A short time 196 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. after his arrival he married a daiicrhter of Daniel Martin, which is sa d to have been the first wedding that occurred in the township. He afterward entered land on the lower end of Oblong Prairie, where he resided until his death, which occurred about the year 18G3. Among other pioneers who secured homes in the township in 1831 was William Ship- man, who located near the site of Hardinsvilie village. Shipman was a native of Indiana and a man of considerable prominence in ihe community, having been noted for his indus- try and business tact. He entered land in section 34 a few years later and was one of the principal movers in the laying out of Har- dinsvilie. His marriage with Virginia, daugh- ter of Daniel Martin, about throe years after his arrival, was the second event of the kind that transpired in the township. In the year 1833 the following persons and their families were added to the township's population: Hezekiah Martin, Zachariah Thomas and Absa- lom Hio-gins. The first-named was a nephew of Daniel Martin. He was a native of Kentucky and came with his uncle to Illinois, and lived until the year 1833 on a small farm near Pal- estine. The farm which he improved in this township lies in section 34, near HanlinsviUe. He lived here about five 3'ears, when he traded his place to EphraimKiger for a mill on Brushy Run in Honej- Creek Township, to which he moved in the year 1838. Higgins, to whom reference has already been made, settled in the eastern part of the township on land which had been improved by Hufi'man, whom he bought out. He immigrated to this State from Ken- tucky, and was, like man}^ of the early settlers of the county, a pioneer hunter of the most pronounced type. He kept a large number of dogs, with which he hunted wolves, and was instrumental, in a great measure, in ridding the county of these pests. On one occasion, while out hunting, his dogs brought a large panther to bay, but were afraid to attack it. Higgins encouraged tlie dogs for the purpose, he said, of "seiiing some fun," but was very soon sorry for what he did, when he saw two of his favorites bite the dust. At this junc- ture he thought it was time for him to act, so he took deliberate aim at the beast and fired. Instead of the shot taking effect on the pan- ther, it killed one of his dogs, as they were running around and barking at a fearful rate, another and another shot were fired, which only wounded the wild animal, and a fourth discharge laid out another of the dogs. Fi- nally, after discharging seventeen shots and killing three dogs, he succeeded in bringing the ferocious animal to the ground. Higgins was a resident of the township until the year 1863, at which time he sold his possessions to Garrett Wilson and moved to Terre Haute, Indiana. Thomas was a Kentuckian, and made his first improvements' in section 34. But little canJbe said of him — at least in his favor, as he was not what one would call^ valuable acquisition to a community. Among the more prominent settlers of the township is remembered Thomas R. Boyd, who moved here from Palestine about the year 183(3 and located a short distance from Hardinsvilie. He was one of the early pioneers of tlie county, having moved from Kentucky to Palestine when the latter place^.was a mere hamlet of two or three houses. He was a prominent farmer, and one of the first stock- dealers in the township, at which business he accumulated considerable wealth. His death occurred in the year 1877. His widow and two daughters are residing in Martin at the present time. Samuel R. Boyd, a brother of the preceding', came out on a vssit from his native State about the year 1837, and being pleased with the country, he determined to locate here and make it his home, which decision was strengthened by the earnest so- licitation of his brother's family. He married, soon after his arrival, a young lady by name HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 197 of Hiiskins, and inimediateiy went to work and soon had a fine farm under successful cultivation. He sold his farm to a man by name of Baker, in the year 1850, and moved to Fort .Jackson in the adjoining townsliip of Honey Creek. Other settlers came in from time to time, among whom were .John Gar- rard, Alfred Griswold, Benjamin Boyd, .John Thomas and Robert Boyd. Garrard improved a farm in section 23, on land which he ob- tained from the government in the year 1838. He was, like the majority of pioneers in this section of the county, a native of Kentucky, and raised the largest family in the township. He was the father of seventeen children, the majority of whom grew up to manhood and womanhood. Griswold entered a large tract of land in section 15, but did not improve it. Thomas was a son-in-law of Daniel Martin, and a man of but little consequence in the community. His distinguishing character- istic was a dislike for anything known as work, and his laz ness became proverbial throughout his entire neighborhood. Benja- min and Thomas Boyd were brothers of the Boyds already alluded to, and like them were men of eiiterijrise and character. Benjamin and Ezekiel Bogart, two brothers, came to the township in an early day and located at the Dark Bend near the central part of the township. They made but few Improve- ments; and if all reports concerning them are true, many acts of lawlessness were traced to their doors. A short time after their arrival William Wilkinson, Jackson Inlow, David lidow, .Jerry ^V'ilkinson, Ephraim Wilkinson, and Thomas Inlow, made their appearance and settled in the same locality. They were ail men of doubtful character, and their neigh- borhood became widely noted as a place of bad repute. 'Tis said, upon good authority, that the Bend was noted for years as the ren- dezvous of a gang of horse-thieves and out- laws who chose it as a secure refuge from the minions of the law. Many crimes of a much darker shade than stealing are said to have been committed among the somber recesses of the thick woods, and persons having occa- sion to pass through that locality alw?.3's went well armed. The following fatal termination of a deadly feud which existed between two brothers, Jack and Thomas Inlow, is related : It appears that both brothers became enam- ored of the same woman, a widovir of unsa- vorv reputation by name of May. A bitter jealousy soon sprang up, which was aug- mented by the woman, who encouraged the visits of both, and so bitter did this feeling become that threats of violence were openly made by the two desperate men. They both happened to meet at the "siren's" house one day and a terrible quarrel ensued, during which weapons were dra^w and freely used. In the fight which followed, Thomas was fa- tally shot, and died soon afterward. David was arrested and lodged in the Palestine jail. He was tried for murder, but was cleared on the ground of self-defense. The woman mar- ried again soon afterward, but was never heard to express a regret for the sad occurrence of which she was the cause. The following persons additional to the set- tlers already enumerated, made entries of land in the township prior to the year 18-10: Bethel Martin, in section 23; William B. Martin, section 22; Robert Goss, in section 25; Benjamin Mvers, in section 30; and Fos- ter Donald, in section 22. The last named is the oldest settler in the township at the present time, having been identified with the country's growth and development since the year 1830. (See biography.) Jlrs. Donald relates that during the first summer of their residence in the township, her husband was absent the greater part of the time making brick at Palestine. In his absence she was left .alone, and in addition to her domestic duties, she was compelled to look after the. 193 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. interests of the place, and many lonely nights were passed in the little cabin while the wolves chased around the house and scratched upon the door trying to get in. Probably in no other part of the county were the wolves as troublesome as in this township, and for a number of years the settlers found it very difficult to raise any stock on account of them. Their attacks were not always confined to cat- tle and sheep, as the following will go to prove : A Mr. Waldrop shot a deer upon one occa- sion, and dressed it in the woods; while in the act of hanging the meat on a limb, he was set upon by a pack of wolves and com- pelled to flee for his life. After devouring the part of the deer left on the ground the wolves followed up the trail of AValdrop, and soon overtook him. He shot two of his pursuers, but soon found himself in a death struggle with his fierce assailants. His cloth- ing was almost stripped from his body and a number of ugly wounds inflicted, when he gained a tree near by, which he ascended. He passed the long, cold night in his lofty perch listening to the wild howls of his gaunt enemies, and was not relieved until the fol- lowing morning. Many devices were resorted to by the settlers to rid the county of the wolves, the most popular of which was the Sunday hunts, when all the citizens for miles around would start at a given signal, and close in on a circle. This would bring the wolves close together when they could be easily shot. Another serious hindrance to the pioneer farmer was the numerous flocks of crows which infested the country. These birds destroyed almost entire fields of corn, and premiums were ofi"ered for their destruc- tion. Grain-fields had to be carefully watched, and when the field was very large, dogs were tied in difi'erent places to scare the birds away, while the man with his gun watched the other parts. The settlers obtained their flour and meal from the early mills at Palestine and Law- renceville, and in later years the little mill belonging to Joseph Wood in Oblong Town- ship was patronized. The first mil! in Martin was built by a Mr. York as early as the year 1840 and stood on the Einbarras in the south- west part of the township. It was a water- mill with two run of buhrs, and for several years did a very good business. A saw was afterward attached, which proved a very pay- ing venture. York operated the mill a short time when he sold to Alexander Stewart who run it very successfully for about twenty years. A man by name of Williams then pur- chased it, and in turn sold to John Baker, who operated it but few years. It ceased opera- tions a number of years ago, when the dam washed out. The old building is still stand- ing a monument of days gone by. A steam flouring mill was erected at the little village of Freeport about the year 1848, but by whom was not learned. It was a good mill with two run of buhrs, and for a number of years was extensively patronized. The last owners were McNeiss and Sons. An early industry of the township was the Ruby distillery, which stood about two and a half miles east of the village of Hardinsville. It was erected in the year 1858 and ceased operations about the year 186'.J, the proprietor being unable to pay the large revenue demanded by the gov- ernment. It had a capacity of about one hundred gallons of whisky per day, and dur- ino- the years it was run before the war, did a very good business. But little can be said of the early churches of Martin, as the first set- tlers were not all religiously inclined. Sun- day was their gala day, and was generally spent in hunting, horse racing, or in athletic sports, such as jumping, wrestling, etc., favor- ite amusements during pioneer times. The first religious exercises were conducted by Elder Stephen Canady, a Baptist minister, at Daniel Martin's barn. This meeting had HISTORY OB CRAWFORD COUNTY. 199 been announced several days previous, and when the hour for services arrived, the barn was partially filled with women and children. The men accompanied their families, but did not go into the sanctuary; at the close of the service, each stunly pioneer shouldered his gun which he always carried wi'.h him, and spent the remainder of the d ly in the woods, much to the minister's disgust. Jesse York, a Methodist preacher, living in Oblong Town- ship, organized a small class at the residence of Jacob Garrard about the year 1846. The original members of this class as far as known were Jacob Garrard and wife, Polly Garrard, Margaret Higgins, Caroline Donald, Lillis Peacock and wife, Samuel R. Boyd and wife, and John Haskins and wife. York preached several years and was a man of great zeal and piety. Dr. Hally, of Hebron, was an early preacher and did much towards building up the consregation. Garrard's residence was used as a meeting place until a school-house was erected in the neighborhood. Services were held in the school-house at stated inter- vals until the year 1881, when in conjunction ■with the United Brethren, the church erected a very commodious temple of worship about two miles north of Hardinsville on ground donated by Foster Donald. The building is a frame structure with a seating capacity of about two hundred and fifty, and cost the sum of $300. The Hardinsville Christian church was organized about the year 1850 with a substan- tial membership. Services were conducted at the Hardinsville school-house until the year 1858, when their present house of worship was erected. It was built principally by donation of work by the citizens of the vicinity and re- presents a capital of about S600. It is a frame house 30x40 feet and will comfortably seat two hundred persons. Among the pas- tors, and stated supplies of the church were Elder Morgan, Allan G. McNees, to whose efforts the society is indebted for much of its success. F. il. Shirk, Beard, Lock- hart, P. C. Cauble, Joan Crawford and Sala- thiel Lamb, the last named being pastor in charge at the present time. The present membership is about forty. A Methodist class was organized at Hardinsville a number of years ago, with a membership of about thirty; meetings were held in the school-house for some years, and efforts were made at one time to erect a house of worship. The house was never built, however, and the class was finally disbanded. A second class was organized at the same place in the year 1883 by Rev. Dee. Aiiout twenty mem- bers belonged to this class and worship was regularly held at the school-house for one year. The old school-house was sold in the fall of 1881, and a new one erected, in which religious services were not allowed to be held. Since then there have been no reg- ular meetings of the society. At the present time efforts are being made to build a meeting house. The United Brethren have a good society which meets for worship in the new church north of Hardinsville, to which we have already alluded. The society is in a flourishing condition and numbers among its members some of the best citizens of the country. The Missionary Baptists have a society in the eastern part of the township, which is large and well attended. They have no house of worship but use a school-house for church purposes. The first school in the township was taught about the year 18-43, in a little hewed log house which stood a short distance south of Hardinsville. The name of the first teach- er and particulars concerning his school could not be learned. The house was moved to the village a short time afterward and was used for school and church purposes a great many years. The second achool-house 200 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. ■was built about four years later and stood on the Bethel Martin farm north of Hardinsville. It was a hewed log structure also, and was first used by William Cunningham in the ■winter of 1846 and 1847. Cunningham's school was attended by about twenty pupils, and he is remembered as a very competent in- structor. Samuel Blakely and Miss Dee were early teachers at this place also. A third bouse was erected about two miles west of Hardinsville in the year 1850. It was built of plank, and was in constant use until 1882, when it was torn down and replaced by a more commodious frame structure. Another early school-house stood east of the village on land which belonged to a Mr. Dewcomer. It was built about the year 185(3 and was in use until 1880. At the present time there are ten good frame houses in the township, all of which are well furnished with ail the modern educational appliances. The schools are well supported and last from four to seven months in the year. The village of Hardinsville is situated in the southwestern part of the township in section 34, and dates history from September, 1847. It was laid out by Daniel Martin, purely as a speculation venture, but the growth of the town never came up to bis expectations. "While the village plat was being surveyed Martin was interrogated by a by-stander as to what his intentions were in locating a town in such an out-of-the way place. The old man replied in his characteristic humor, "Why, by the gods, twenty years from this time will see a second St. Louis right on this spot or I am no true prophet." Will- iam Shipman erected a store building and engaged in the mercantile business about the time the village was laid out. He sold both bouse and goods to Charles Inman two years later who increased the stock and did a very good business for about three years when he closed out and moved from the place. Among the first business men of the village was one Daniel Miller, a rough char- acter, who kept a small grocerj^ and whisky shop which was the resort of all the desper- adoes of the country. This place became such an eyesore to the community that efforts were made to induce Miller to quit the whisky business and turn bis attention to other pursuits. To all these efforts, however, be turned a deaf ear, and instead of the "dive" becoming more civil it became worse and worse. At last the patience of the better class of citizens became exhausted, and as a dernier resort a keg of powder was placed under the building, after the carousers bad left, the charge was exploded, and the last seen of the saloon it was flying skyward in minute fragments. This had the desired effect, and no saloon was started in the town again for many years. A man by name of Rhodes was an early merchant and sold goods i 1 a little building which stood on the corner where Hicks' store now stands. John Hig- gins was an early merchant also; be occupied the building in which Inman's store was kept and continued in the business about two years. The Preston brothers came in about the year 1855, and erected a large business house on the corner of Market and Main streets, which they stocked with goods to the amount of §10,000. At one time they did as much, if not more business than anv other firm in the county, and accumulated consid erable wealth during their stay in the village. "Jack " Hasket succeeded them in the year 1861, and continued the business until 1870, when be sold out to Miller & Paiker. The firm was afterward changed to Parker & Kid well and the store moved to the village of Oblong. At the present time there is but one store in the place. It is kept by G. B. Hicks in a large frame building which was erected by William F. Bottoms in the year 187^. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 201 The Hardinsville Lodge No. 75G A. F. & A. .\I. was organized October, 187S, with the lollovvinsf cliaiter members: William Dvar, Green B. Hicks, Robert E. Haskins, .John Mulvean, John M. Donnell, John E. Cullom, Fay K. Wallar, James Shipman, Mills Hughes, Joseph C. Hughes and Tliomas H. Haskins. The first officers were William Dj'ar, W. M; G. B. Hicks, S. W.; and Robert E. Haskins, J. W. The officers in charge at the present time are, John Mulvean, W. M.; John M. Donnell, S. W.; James Shipman, J. W.; G. B. Hicks, S. D.; Mills Hughes, Treas.; C. J. Price, Sect.; C. P. Carlton, J. D. Present membership about twelve. Meetings are held in hall over G. B. Hicks' store. In the year 1855 a small village was laid out in the western part of the township by Andrew Nichols, and named Freeport. For several years it was considered a very good trading point and supported two good stores, one mill and a blacksmith shop. These in time disappeared, and a general decay fast- ened itself upon the once promising town. At the present time nothing remains of the village save a few dismantled and dilapidated dwellings. CHAPTEE XYIII. HONEY CREEK TOWNSHIP— DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY— ADVENT OF THE PALE- FACES, AND THEIR EARLY STRUGGLES— PIONEER IMPROVEMENTS— RELIG- IOUS HISTORY— AN INCIDENT— SCHOOLS AND SOUltoL-HOUSES— VILLAGES— PARTING WORDS, ETC., ETC. " The rank thistle nodded in the wind, and the wild fox dug his hole unscared." — Sprague. HONEY CREEK Township, though an early-settled portion of the county, has advanced very little in some directions and its citizens of to-day stand where their fathers stood fifty years or more ago, clinging with a wonderful tenacity to the relics of a bj'-gone period. Here we still find the primitive log cabin, together with many of those pioneer customs and habits, which the few old grandfathers and grandmothers yet living delight to dwell upon. Much of the land in Honey Creek Town- ship is of a rather inferior quality, as com- pared to other of the county. It is mostly timbered land and a good deal of it seems to be a kind of oak flat with a light, thin soil. There is, however, some very good land in the township, but that of a poorer quality largely predominates. The original timber growth consisted of several kinds of oak, hickory, elm, gum, maple, walnut, etc., with a few other trees and shrubs indigenous to this section. The Embarras River just barely touches the southwest corner of the township, Honey Creek flows through the northwest corner, and Brush and Sugar Creeks through the southeast portion. These, with a few other smaller and nameless streams, constitute its system of natural drainage. Honey Creek * By W. H. Perrin. is bounded on the north by Robinson Town- ship, on the east by Montgomery Township, on the south by Lawrence County, and on the west by Martin and Southwest Townships. The Wabash railroad passes along the town- ship line, and has improved the country to some extent. Several villages have sprung up since the construction of the road, which have added their mile to the growth and prosperity of the surrounding country, but there still remains vast room lor improvement and enterprise. Before the war-whoop of the savage had died away, the pale-faced pioneers were com- ing into this portion of the county. The first white men who located here were John and Samuel Parker, in 181t>. They were genuine pioneers, and of that character of men who were fully able to cope with privation, and with danger in any form. John and George Parker, now living in this township, are de- scendants of these hardy old frontiersman. John and George Parker came to the town- ship in 1830, from Kentucky, and settled on the "range road," near the present village of Flat Rock. They are of the true pioneer stock, like their progenitors, and are scarcely alive to and up with the age of improvement in which they live. About the time John and George Parker came the settlement was further augmented by the arrival of the following families: The Seaney family, Seth and Levi Lee, Jesse and James Higgins, John Hart and Wm. Carter. HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 203 These settlements were made about the time the land office was established at Palestine. After this there was quite a cessation in the arrival of emijvrants, and several years elap-^ed before vvc hear of any more new- comers to this immediate vicinity. Aaron Jones settled here about 183'2. He was originally from Vir<)-ini^ but settled in Buller County, Ohio, and ^Ifew years later came to this county. He died in 18G1, and his wife soon after followed him to the land of rest. Mr. Jones made his trip from Butler County, Ohio, with wagons and teams. The country was then very wild, and much of the distance was along Indian trails, and paths beaten down by hunters and emigrants, who had preceded him. Indianapolis was a strasfflinsr villaffe of a few rude cabins, and the country for miles and miles was without a single habitation. Robinson had not yet arisen from the hazel thickets and prairie grass, and the phase of the country generally was not inviting by any manner of means. The first land entered west of the range road — a road running from Mt. Carmel to Chi- cago, was entered b}' Asa Jones, a brother of Mr. J. M. Jones. About the time he made his entry, one .Tacob Blaythe wanted to enter a piece of land, and being unable to distinguish the corner, cut the num- ber of the land from a tree, and carried the block to the land-office at Palestine. Rich- ard Highsmith now living in Honey Creek assisted to build the fort at Russelville, and was one of the first who slept in it after its completion. Another early settler was Leonard Simons. He came from Tennessee, and located first at Palestine, in the days when the people found it conducive to longevity to live in forts. Af- terward he settled in this township. He died in the county aliout 1875, at an ad- vanced age. Samuel Bussard came originally from Maryland, but stopped for a time in Ohio, and came from the Buckeye State to this county, and settled where his son now lives. He raised a large family of children, and died some tvrenty-five years ago. Peter Kendall, from Kentucky, settled where John Parker now lives. He moved away some years ago. Robert Terrill, also from Ken- tucky, settled in IS-tS, and lives now in Flat Rock. There were many other pioneers who deserve a place in these pages, perhaps, but we failed to obtain their names. Wolves, panthers, wild-cats, deer, etc., etc., were here in the most plentiful profusion when the first settlements were made. The rifle of the pioneer supplied his larder with meat, but bread was not so easily obtained. Wolves and other ravenuous beasts rendered the rearing of hogs and sheep a very uncer- tain business for a number of years — in fact, until the country was somewhat rid of the troublesome animals. Milling is usually a serious task to the early settler in a \^ld country, and in the settlement of Honey Creek, the people went to Palestine and other places until they had mills built in their own neighborhood. The first roads were merely trails through the forest. These were cut out and improved as population increased and demanded more and better highways. Silas Tyler, of this township, is the oldest freemason in the county, or perhaps in the State. He was initiated in the ancient and honorable fraternity in 1818, in the State of New York, being at the time 22 j'ears of age. He afterward served as master of the lodge in which he took his degrees. Mr. Tyler, though not as early a settler of the township as some others, is certainly as early a mason. He was in his masonic prime at the time of the Morgan excitement, and remembers something of that stormy period to the fra- ternity. Of the first school-house in Honey Creek township, and the fi'-st teacher, but little was 204 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. learned. The first sc}iools here, as in other parts of the county, were tauc^ht in any cabin which mioht happen to be vacant. The first school-houses were built of logs, after the regular pioneer pattern, and the first teachers ■were as primitive as the buildings in which they wielded their brief authority. The townsiiip is now very well supplied with temples of learning, in which good schools are taught for the usual term each year. Relio-ious meetings were held in the pioneer settlements of this section, almost as early as the settlements were made. The first meetings of which we have any reliable account were held in the old Lamotte school- house, and the first sermon in the township is supposed to have been preached by Elder Daniel Parker, of whom reference has been made in preceding chapters, and who was of the "Hardshell" Baptist persuasion. He was one of the early ministers, not only of thia but of the surrounding counties, and ■was considered a powerful preacher in his day. It is told of him, that he would never accept pecuniary compensation for his minis- terial labors, but deemed it his duty to preach salvation to a " lost and ruined world," with- out money and without price. In this he differed from his clerical brethren of the present day. Mr. Seaney relates the follow- inn- incident of one of Elder Parker's meet- ings: Mr. Seaney started out one Sunday morning to look for some calves that had strayed away from him, when upon nearing a church or school-house, he encountered a group of young men, barefooted, dressed in leather breeches and tow-linen shirts. They were patiently awaiting the arrival of the minister, and whiling away the time in " cast- ing sheep's eyes " at a bevy of young ladies who had just arrived upon the scene, gor- geous in "sun-bonnets and barefooted." This seems on a par with the costume of the Geor- gia major, which, we are told, consisted of a paper collar and a pair of spurs, but whether this was the extent of the young ladies' ward- robe or not we can not say, but no other ar- ticles of wearing apparel were mentioned. The preacher finally made his appearance, clad, not like John the Forerunner, with "a leathern girdle about his loins," but in a full suit of leather. He walked straight into the house, and as he'flid so he hauled off his old leather coat and threw it upon the floor. Then after singing a hime and making a prayer, he straightened himself, and for two mortal hours he poured hot shot into " the wor Id, the flesh and the devil." John Parken a brother of Daniel Parker, was a preacher of the same denomination, and used to hold forth among the early settlers in their cabins, and at a Ifiter date in the school-houses. Thomas Kennedy, well known as one of the early county officers, was also a pioneer Bap- tist preacher. Bethel Presbyterian Church was organizsd m 1853, by Rev. Joseph Butler. Among the early members were A. D. Delzell, Mrs. M. E. Delz 11, Wm. Delz-11, Mrs. M. J. Delzell, L. B. Delzell, John Duncan and Mrs. S. M. Duncan. Rev. Butler visited them a few times and then left the society to die, which it lost but little time in doing. Some of the members united with the church at Palestine and some aided in founding the church at Beckwith prairie a few years later. Beckwith Prairie Presbyterian Church was oro-anized bv Revs. E. Howell and Allen Mc- Farland, and Elder Finley Paul, with twenty- eifht members, mostly from Old Bethel church above described. The first elders were James Richey, Samuel J. Gould and Wm. Delzell. The ministers, since its organization, have been Revs. A. McFarland, J. C. Thornton, Aaron Thompson, Thos. Spencer and John E. Carson. The house of worship, a neat white frame, was erected in 1859, at a cost of §1,:300, and stands on the southeast quarter of section HISTORY OF CRAWFOED COUNTY. 205 23, one mile from Duncanville, in a southwest direction. Good Hope Biiptist Church was organized in a very early day. Anioni); the earlj- mem- bers were George Parker, Hiram Jones, Sam- son Taylor and wile, W. F. Allen, Wm. Croy, S. Goff and Wm. Carter. The first church was a log building, erected .about 1848. The present church is a handsome frame recently completed, and the membership is in a flour- ishing condition, and numliers about eighty, under the pastorate of Elder John L. Cox. A good Sunday-school is carried on, of which Hiram Jones is the present superintendent. The Methodist Episcopal church at Flat Rock was built about the year 1871. They had previously held meetings a half mile south of the village near James Shaw's. We failed to receive full particulars of this church. The United Brethren church at New He- bron was built in 1855-56 by individual sub- scription. Rev. Mr. Jackson was among the first ministers. Before the erection of the church, meetings were held in the school- houses throughout the neighborhood, and were participated in by all denominations — the Methodists at that time being the most numerous. Samuel Bussard and the Gear family were among the early members of the church. A Methodist Episcopal church was organized here about the time the buildino- was erected, but the exact date was not ob- tained. From this it will be seen that the people of Honey Creek Township have never lacked for church privileges. If they are not religious, it is certainly their own fault, and they can blame none but themselves for any shortcoming charged to their account. Villaffes. — The township can boast of several villages, but all of them are rather small, and have sprung up mostly since the building of the railroad. Hebron, or New Hebron, as it is now called, is an exception. It was laid out in July, 1840, by Nelson Haw- ley, and is located on section 31 of township 6 north, range 12 west, or Honey Creek Town- ship, and was surveyed and platted by Wm. B. Baker, the official surveyor of the county. The land was entered by Dr. Hawley in 1839 and the year following he laid out the town. He practiced medicine in the neighborhood until 1850, or thereabout, when he opened a store in Hebron, the first effort at merchan- dizing in the place. He was from Ohio, and was a local preacher, as well as a physician, and administered to the soul's comforts as well as to the body's infirmities. After establish- ing a store at Hebron, he ceased the practice of medicine except in cases of emergency, when he was found always ready to lend his assistance in relieving suffering humanity. He eventually moved to OIney, where he de- voted his time wholly to the ministry. He was the first postmaster at Hebron, as well as the first merchant and phvsician. Leonard Cullom opened a store in the old Hawley building after Hawley had moved to Olney. Cullom came to the county when a boy and lived for a time in old Fort Lamotte. He remained in business in Hebron but a short time, when he moved his goods back to Palestine. A man named Newton was the next merchant, and about ISGO John Haley opened a store. He has been in business here ever since. He keeps both the hotel and store, and is also the present postmaster. The first house in New Hebron was built by Thomas Swearingen. A tread-wheel mill was built by Dr. Hawley at an early day, most probably the first mill in the township. It was afterward converted into a steam-mill; a saw-mill now forms a part of it. The boards for the original mill were all sawed out with whip-saws. Hezekiah Bussard was the first blacksmith; Wm. Gates was the next, and J. S. Bussard and S. H. Preston now follow the same business. A school-house, the first built in Hebron. 206 HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. ■was erected about the year 1S4"2, and has long since passed away. It was constructed of logs and was used for all purposes. A brick school-house was built to take its place, about 1858, situated in the south part of the town. It is also gone, and the neat frame was built about ten years ago. The village of Flat Rock was laid out April 20, 1876, by J. W. Jones. It is the old town of Flat Rock somewhat modified, and moved to the railroad. It is situated on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 6, township 5 north, range 11 west, and was sur- veyed by John Waterhouse for the proprie- tor. The first merchant was J. W. Jones, who kept a grocery store and sold whisky. He commenced business in a small way, and has been very successful. In 1876 he built a large store-house, fronting the railroad, where he still does a prosperous business. S. P. Duff was the second merchant, and started a store soon after the railroad was built. To sum up his history as it was given to us — he eloped with a neighbor's wife, and his store was closed out by creditors. I. Golf next started a dry goods store, but did not continue long in the business, when he closed out and rented his store-house to J. W. Jones. Dr. A. L. Malone established the next store, but after operating ic a short time removed his stock to Palestine. A drug store was established in Flat Rock by Dr. H. Jenner and S. R. Ford. James Kirker had started a drug store sometime previously, and sold out to Jenner and Ford, who continued about eighteen months, when they sold out to Bristow & Barton ; the latter sold to A. W. Duncan who still carries on the business. Other lines of business have been opened, and Flat Rock is jus ly con- sidered one of the best trading points in the county. A masonic lodge has been organized in the village, but of its history we failed to learn any particulars. Duncansville is located on the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter of section 24, township 6 north, range 12 west, and was laid out September 6, 1876, for R. N. Dun- can, the owner of the land. Its existence may be accredited to the building of the railroad, as its birth has been subsequent to the com- pletion of the road. The first store was kept by T. L. Nichols. He was succeeded by A. S. Maxwell, who is still merchandizing in the place, and doing a thriving business. A saw- mill, with a shop or two, and a few resi- dences constitute all there is of the town. Port Jackson is situated on the Embarras river about ten miles south of Robinson. It was laid out May 22, 1853, by Samuel Hanes, and years ago, was a place of some impor- tance, a point from whence shipping by flat- boats on the Embarras River was carried on to a considerable extent. Hanes built a mill here and opened a store, and did a rather lucrative business for several years. A dis- tillery was built and operated until the be- ginning of the war. Hanes finally moved away, and the town went down. The build- insr of the railroad, and the laying out of other towns, has buried Port Jackson beyond the hope of resurrection. Parting IVoi'ds. — This brings us to the close of the first part of this volume, the con- clusion of the history of Crawford County. " How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnished, not to shine in use ! As though to breathe were life." The writer has appeared in the roll of his- torian to this community probably for the last time. The task of rescuing from oblivion the annals of the county, and of preserving on record the deeds of the pioneers who have made it what it is, though an onerous, has been a pleasant one, as well from a love of the work, as that he once considered himself a part — though a very small one — of the county. That he has been permitted to dis- 'ctk/ HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY. 209 charge this duty affords him no little satis- faction. While the work may be somewhat imperfect in minor details, it is believed to be, on the whole, substantially correct. And now that it is fitiished, the writer strikes hands with the old pioneers, with whom his stay has been so pleasant, and with his many friends throughout the county, with a kind of mourn- ful and melancholy pleasure, conscious that their next meeting will be beyond the beauti- ful river, for the pioneers still left, who con- stituted the advance guard — the forlorn hope of civilization in the Wabash Valley, must pass to that " bourne whence no traveler returns." It is not probable, then, that we shall meet again, and the writer with many kind remembrances of the people of Crawford County, bids them — farewell. PART 11. HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. CHAPTER I* GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP CLARK COUNTY— TOPOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES- GEOLOGY— COAL MEASURES— THE STORY OF THE ROCKS-BUILDING STONE- SOILS, TIMBER AND PRODUCTIONS— ARTESIAN WELL— THE MOUND BUILDERS AND THEIR WORKS— INDIAN RELICS, ETC., ETC. " Ye mouklering relics of departed years, Your names have perished; not a trace remains," etc. CLARK County, originally, was diversified between woodland and prairie. It is situ- ated on the eastern border of the State, and is bounded on the north by Edgar and Coles Counties, on the east by the Indiana line and tlie Wabash River, on the south by Crawford, and on the west by Cumberland and Coles Counties. It contains ten full and eight frac- tional townships, making a total area of about five hundred and thirteen square miles. The surface of the country in the western portion of the county is generally rolling, though some of the prairies are rather Hat. The eastern portion is much more broken, especial- ly in the vicinity of the Wabash bluffs, where it becomes quite hilly and is often broken into steep ridges along the courses of the small streams. The general level of the surface of the highlands above the railroad at Terre * The succeeding' chapters on the county at large, have been written and prepared by Hamilton Sutton, Esq., for this volume. — Ed.] Haute, which is a few feet above the level of high water in the Wabash, is from one hun- dred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty feet. The principal streams in the west- ern part of the county are North Fork (of the Embarras) which flows from north to south, and empties in the Embarras River in the eastern part of .lasper County; and Hurricane Creek, which rises in the south part of Edgar County, and after a general course of south twenty degrees east, discharges its waters into the Wabash River near the southeast corner of the county. In the eastern part of the county, Big Creek, and two or three of less note, after a general southeast course in this county, empty into the Wabash River. The North Fork, throughout nearly its whole course, runs through a broad, flat valley, affording no ex- posures of the underlying rocks, and the bluffs on either side are composed of drift clays, and rise from thirty to fifty feet or more above the valley, and at several points where wells have been sunk, these clays and underlying quick- sands are found to extend to an equal depth beneath the bed of the stream. The creeks HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 211 ill the eastern portion of the county are skirted by bluffs of rock throup,-h some por- tion of their courses, and afford a better opportunit}' for determining the geological structure of the county. Geology.* — The quarternary system is represented in this county by the alluvial deposits of the river and creek valleys, the Loess of the Wabash bluffs, the gravelly clays and hard-pan of the true drift, and the under- lying stratified sands that are sometimes found immediately above the bed rock. The drift deposits proper vary in thickness from twenty to seventy-five feet or more, the upper portion being usually a yellow gravelly clay with local beds or pockets of sand. The lower division is mainly composed of a bluish- eray hard-pan, exceedingly tough and hard to penetrate, usually impervious to water, and from thirty to fifty feet in thickness. This is underlaid by a few feet of sand, from which an abundant supply of water can be had when it can not be found at a higher level. A common method of obtaining water on the highlands of this county, where a sufficient supply is not found in the upper portion of the drift, is to sink a well into the hard-pan, and then bore through that deposit to the quicksand below, where an unfailing sup|)ly is usually obtained. Bowlders of granite, sye- nite, trap, )orphyry, quartzite, etc., many of them of large size, are abundant in the drift deposits of this county, and nuggets of native copper and galena are occasionally met with, having been transported along with the more massive bowlders, by the floating ice, which seems to have been the main transporting agency of our drift deposits. Coal 3feasures. — All the rocks found in this county belong to the Coal Measures, and include all the beds from the limestone th.it lies about ?5 feet above Coal No. 7, to the sand- * State geological sm-vey. stone above the Quarry Creek limestone, and possibly Coal No. 14 of the general section. These beds are all above the main workable coals, and although they include a total thick- ness of about 400 feet, and the horizon of five or six coal seams, yet none of them have been found in this county more than from twelve to eighteen inches in thickness. In the north- west part of the county several borings were made for oil during the oil excitement, some of which were reported to be over 000 feet in depth; but as no accurate record^ seems to have been kept, the expenditure resulted in no general benefit further than to determine that no deposits of oil of any value existed in the vicinity at the depth penetrated. The following record of the "old well," or "T. R. Young Well," was furnished to Prof. Cox by Mr. Lindsey : Soil and drift clay, 23 feet; hard-pan, .30 feet; sandstone, 20 feet; mud- stone, 20 feet; coal and bituminous shale, 3 feet; sandstone, 23 feet; coal, 1 foot; sand- stone, 5 feet; clay shale — soapstone, so-called, 23 feet; blackshale, 9 feet; sandstone, 12 feet; coal, 1 foot; sandstone, 90 feet; mudstone, 2 feet; hard-rock, 1 foot; sandstone, 52 feet. The upper part of this boring corresponds very well with our general section, except in the absence of the Quarry Creek limestone, which should have been found where they report 20 feet of " mud-stone," but whatever that may have been, it seems hardly probable that such a terra would be used to designate a hard and tolerably pure limestone. This well was tubed with gas-pipe for some eight or ten feet above the surface, and water, gas, and about half a gallon of oil, per day, were discharged. All the wells, so far as I could learn, discharged water at the surface, show- inn- that artesian water could be readily obtained here, but it was all more or less impregnated with mineral matters and oil, sufficient to render it unfit for. common use. 212 HISTOUY OF CLARK COUNTY. TliG 900-i'oot well must have been carried quite through the Coal Measures, and if an accurate journal had been kept, the int'orma- tion it would have afforded would have been of great value to the people of this as well as of the adjacent counties. It would have gone far toward settling the question as to the number and thickness of the workable coals for all this portion of the State and the depth at which they could be reached from certain specified horizons, as, for instance, from the base of the Quarry Creek or Livingston lime- stones, or from either one of their coals of the upper measures that were passed through in this boring. As it is, the expenditure was an utter waste of capital, except in so far as it may have taught those directly engaged in the operation the folly of boring for oil where there was no reasonable expectation of find- ing it in quantities sufficient to justify such an expenditure of time and money. The beds forming the upper part of the general section in this county are exposed on Quarry Creek south of Casey and one mile and a half east of Martinsville, on the upper course of Hurricane Creek, and the Blackburn branch southeast of Parker prairie. At the quarry a mile and a half east of Martinsville, the limestone is heavy-Iiedded, and has been extensively quarried for bridge abutments, culverts, etc., on the old National Road. The bed is not fully exposed here, and seems to be somewhat thinner than at Quarry Creek, where it probably attains its maximum thick- ness, but thins out both to the northeast and southwest from that point. The upper part of the bed is generally quite massive, afford- ing beds two feet or more in thickness, while the lower beds are thinner, and at the base it becomes shaly, and locally passes into a green clay with thin plates and nodules of limestone. These shaly layers afford many fine fossils in a very perfect state of preservation, though they are neither as numerous nor as well pre- served here as at the outcrops of this lime- stone in Edgar County. Possibly the appar- ent thinning out of this limestone to the northward in this county may be due to sur- face erosion, as we nowhere saw the overlay- ing sandstone in situ, and Prof. Bradley gives the thickness of this bed in Edgar County as above 25 feet, which does not indicate a very decided diminution of its thickness in a north- easterly direction. Below this limestone, in the vicinity of Martinsville, there are partial outcrops of shale and thin-bedded sandstone, with a thin coal, probably No. 4 of the pre- ceding section, and southwest of the town and about three-quarters of a mile from it there is a partial outcrop of the lower portion of the limestone in the bluff on the east side of the North Fork valley, where we obtained numerous fossils belonging to this horizon. West and northwest of Martinsville no rocks are exposed in the bluffs of the creek for stmu distance, but higher up partial outcrops of a sandstone, probably overlaying the Quairy Creek limestone may be found. At Quarrj' Creek, about a mile and a half south of Casey, on section 28, township 10, range 14, this limestone appears in full force, and has been extensively quarried, both for building stone and the manufacture of quick- lime. It is here a mottled-gray, compact limestone, locally brecciated, and partiy in regular beds from six inches to two feet or more in thickness. At least 25 to 30 feet of limestone is exposed here, and as the overly- ing sandstone is not seen, its aggregate thick- ness may be even more than the above esti- mate. At its base the limestone becomes thin-bedded and shaly, passing into a green- ish calcareous shale with thin plates and nod- ules of limestone abounding in the character- istic fossils of this horizon. At one point of this creek a bed of green shale about two feet in thickness was found intercalated in the limestone. A large amount of this stone was HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 213 quarried here for lime, for macadamizing ma- terial and for bridge abutments on tne old National Road, and this locality still furnisiies the needed supply of lime and building stone for all the surrounding country. At the base of the limestone here there is a partial ex- posure of bituminous shale and a thin coal, probably representing the horizon of Xo. 4 of the preceding section, below which some ten or twelve feet of sandy shale was seen. On Hurricane branch, commencing on sec- tion 14, township 10, range 13,. and extending down the creek for a iistance of two miles or more, tiiere are continuous outcrops of sand- stone and sandy shales — No. 12 of the county section. The upper portion is shaly with some thin-bedded sandstone, passing down- ward into a massive, partly concretionary sandstone that forms bold cliffs along the banks of the stream from twenty to thirty feet in height. At the base of this sandstone there is a band of pebbly conglomerate from one to three feet in thickness, containing fragments of fossil wood in a partially car- bonized condition, and mineral charcoal. The regularly bedded layers of this sandstone have been extensively quarried on this creek for the construction of culverts and bridge abut- ments in this vicinity, and the rock is found to harden on exposure, and proves to be a valuable stone for such uses. Some of tjie layers are of the proper thickness for flag- stone, and from their even bedding can be readily quarried of the required size and thickness. This sandstone is underlaid \)y an argillaceous shale, and a black slate which, where first observed, was only two or three inches thick, but gradually increased down stream to a thickness of about fifteen inches. The blue shale above it contains concretions of argillaceous limestone with numerous fos- sils, which indicate the horizon of No. 13 coal, and in Lawrence, White and Wabash Counties we find -a well-defined coal seam as- sociated with a similar shale containing the same group of fossils, but possibly belonging to a somewhat lower horizon. The limestone on Joe's Fork are the equiv- alents of the Livingstone limestone, and they pass below the bed of the creek about a mile above the old mill. The sandstone overlaying the upper limestone here, when evenly bedded, is quarried for building stone, and affords a very good and durable material of this kind for common* use. At the mouth of Joe's Fork the lower limestone is partly below the creek bed, the upp?r four feet only being visible, and above it we find clay shale two feet, coal ten inches, shale five to six feet, succeeded by the upper limestone which is here only three or four feet thick. The upper limestone at the outcrop here is thinly and unevenl}' bedded and weathers to a rusty brown color. The lower limestone is more heavily bedded, but splits to fragments on exposure to frost and moisture. It is of a mottled gray color when freshly broken, Init weathers to a yellowish-brown. Fossils were not abundant in either bed, but the lower afforded a few specimens oiAthyris iSubtilita, a coral like JlcUophyllum, Froductus costa- tus and Terehratula boindens. At Mr. Spangier's place, on Section Vi in Melrose Township, a hard brittle, gray limestone out- crops on a branch of Mill Creek. The bed is about eight feet in thickness, and is under- laid by a few feet of partly bituminous shale and a thin coal from six to eight inches thick. The upper bed of limestone (No. 18 of the County Section), is traversed by veins of cal- cite and brown ferruginous streaks, that give the rock a mottled appearance when freshly broken. The upper layer of the lower bed is about thirty inches thick, and is a tough, com- pact, gray rock, that breaks with an even surface and has a slightly granular or semi- volitic appearance. The lower part of this bed is a mottled gray fine-grained limestone 214 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. and breaks with a more or less conchoidal fracture. The upper division of this limestone thins out entirely about a mile above the bridge, and passes into a green shale like that by which the limestones are separated. The tumbling masses of limestone that are found in the hill-tops above the railroad bridge, no doubt belong to the Quarry Creek bed, which is found in partial outcrops not more than half a mile back from the creek, and from eighty to ninety feet above its level. The in- tervening sandstones and shales which separate these limestones in the northeastern part of the county are much thinner than where they outcrop on Hurricane and Mill Creeks in the southern portion indicating a general thinning out of the strata below the Quarry Creek bed to the northward. The coal SPam at Murphy's place, near the mouth of Ashmore Creek, on Section 20,T. 11, R. 10, averages about eighteen inches in thick- ness and affords a coal of fair quality. Trac- ing the bluff northeastwardly from this point the beds rise rapidly, and about half a mile from Murphy's there is about thirty feet of drab-colored shales exposed beneath the lime- stone which is here found well up in the hill. At the foot of the bluff on Clear Creek, near the State line, a mottled brown and gray limestone four to five feet in thickness is found, underlaid by ten or twelve feet of vari- egated shales which are the lowest beds seen in the county. Extensive quarries were opened in this limestone to supply material for building the old National Road, and in the debris of these old quarries were obtained numerous fossils from the marly layers tiirown off in stripping the solid limestone beds that lay below. The limestone is a tough, fine- grained, mottled, brown and gray rock, in tolerably heavy beds, which makes an excel- lent macadamizing material, and also affords a durable stone for culverts, bridge abutments and foundation walls. From what has already been stated it will be inferred that there is no great amount of coal accessible in this county, except by deep mining. In the thin seams outcropping at Murphy's place, near the Wa- bash River, and at Mr. Howe's and Mrs. Brant's, southeast of Casey, the coal varies in thickness from a foot to eighteen inches, and though of a fair quality the beds are too thin to justify working them except by stripping the seams along their outcrop in the creek valleys. The coal at Murphy's place has a good roof of bituminous shale and limestone, and could be worked successfully by the ordi- nary method of tunnelling if it should be found to thicken anywhere to twenty-four or thirty inches. The higher seams found at the localities above named, southeast of Casey, are thinner than at Mr. Murphy's, though one or both of the upper ones are said to have a local thickness of eighteen inches. There is no good reason to believe that the main work- able seams that are found outcropping in the adjacent portions of Indiana, should not be found by shafting down to their proper horizon in this county, notwithstanding the reported results of the oii-well borings in the north- western portion of the county. The writer specially requested Mr. David Baughman to furnish him with particulars of an artesian well sunk on his place in 1873-74 In reply he received the following in substance from Mr. Baughman: The well was sunk to a depth of 1,211 feet, and showed the following section: At a depth of 110 feet coal was reached, four and three quarter feet thick; two feet of fine clay was found underlying it. At the depth of 144 feet, a vein of coal tbi-ee feet thick was found; and at the depth of 230 feet a vein of coal over seven feet in thickness was found, specimens of which, Mr. Baughman in- forms us, he has on hand, subject to the inspec- tion of any who may wish to examine them. If HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 215 there is no mistake in the reported section of this well, there are veins of coal to be found in that locality at a depth to justify their being profital)lj^ worked. Building Utone. — Clark County is well supplied with both freestone and limestone suitable for all ordinary building purposes. The sandstone bed on Hurricane Creek, southeast of Martinsville, is partly an even-bedded freestone, that works freely and hardens on exposure and is a reliable stone for all ordinary uses. The abut- ments of the bridge over the North Fork on the o;d National Road were constructed of this sandstone, which is still sound, although more than thirty years have passed away since thev were built. The sandstone bed overlying the limestone at the old Anderson mill below the mouth of Joe's Fork, also affords a good building stone, as well as material for grind- stones, and the evenlj'-bedded sandstone higher up on Joe's Fork, which overlies the green shales, is of a similar character, and af- fords an excellent building stone. Each of the three limestones in this county furnishes an excellent macadamizing material, and the Quarry Creek limestone, as well as the beds near Livingston, furnish dimension stone and material for foundation walls of good quality. A fair quality of quicklime is made from both the limestones above named, and on Quarry Creek the kilns are kept in constant operation to supply the demands for this article in the adjacent region. An excellent article of white claj', suitable for pottery or fire-brick, was found in the shaft near Marshall, about eighty to eighty- five feet below the Livingston limestone and about fifty feet above the coal in the bottom of the shaft, which was probably the same coal found at Murphj-'s. This bed of clay would ]>robubly be found outcropping in the Wabash bluffs, not far below Murphy's place. Soil and Timber. — The soil i~ generally a chocolate-colored sandy loam, where the sur- face is rolling, but darker colored on the flat prairies, and more mucky, from the large per cent of humus which it contains. The prai- ries are generally of small size, and the county is well timbered with the following varieties: White oak, red oak, black oak, pine oak, water oak, shell-bark and pig-nut hickory, beech, poplar, black and white walnut, white and sugar maple, slippery and red elm, hack- berry, linden, quaking ash, wild cherry, honey locust, red birch, sassafras, pecan, coffee-nut, black gum, white and blue ash, log- wood, red- bud, sycamore, cotton wood, buckeye, per- simmon, willow, etc. The bottom lands along the small streams, and the broken lands in the vicinity of the Wabash bluffs, sustain a very heavy growth of timber, and fine groves are also found skirting all the smaller streams and dotting the upland in the prairie region. As an agricultural region this county ranks among the best on the eastern border of the State, producing annually fine crops of corn, wheat, oats, grass, and all the fruits and veo-etables usually grown in this climate. Market facilities are abundantly supplied by the Wabash River, the Vandalia, Wabash and other railroads passing through the county, furnishing an easy communication with St. Louis on the west, or the cities of Terre Haute and Indianapolis on the east, and Chicago on the north. Notwithstanding the fine character of the soil and lands of the county, much of the land has been almost worn thread-bare by constant cultivation, no rest, and no manuring or fertilizing. By proper means it may be improved, and re- stored to its original quality and strength. In addition to the indications of coal, the county contains mineral wealth to some ex- tent, though perhaps not in sufficient quanti- ties to justify mining. ' At one time it was believed that silver existed here in consider- able quantities, and the excitement occasioned 216 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. thereby was, for a time, intense. The people nearly went wild, and lands supposed to be impregnated with silver were held at fabulous prices. But the most critical examination by experts showed that while silver actually existed in many places, it was in such a lim- ited way as to be wholly unremuncrative to even attempt to do anything toward mining. Further particulars of the silver excitement will be given in the township chapters. JI/oMwrfs.— Clark County abounds in mounds, relics of that lost race of people of whom nothing is definitely known. These mounds, the origin of which is lost in the mists of re- mote antiquity, and of which not even tradi- tionary accounts remain, number about thirty in this county, and extend along the Wabash river, and at the edge of the prairie from near Darwin to below York, thence into Crawford county. They are of different sizes and shape, and some of them of considerable extent, rang- ing from ten to sixty feet in diameter, and from two to fifteen feet high. In early times they were much higher, having been worn and cut down by the cultivation of the land; in- deed, some of them are almost if not entirely obliterated, while all, at least, have been more or less reduced in altitude. The largest is on the land of James Lanhead, near York, and one and a fourth miles from the river. This mound has been explored, and from its depths were taken stone hatchets, fragments of earthenware, arrow-heads, flints, etc. Sev- eral others have been opened of late years, with much the same results. [It has been pretty definitely settled by pre-historic writers, that these mounds were actually built by a race of people, and ■were of different kinds, viz.: temple mounds; mounds of defense; burial mounds; sacrifi- cial mounds, etc., etc. See Part I of this work. — Ed.] The countless hands that erected them; the long succession of genera- tions that once inhabited the adjacent coun- try, animating them with their labors, their hunting and wars, their songs and dances, have long since passed away. Oblivion has drawn her impenetrable veil over their whole history; no lettered page, no sculptured mon- ument informs us who they were, whence they came, or the period of their existence. In vain has science sought to penetrate the gloom and solve the problem locked in the breast of the voiceless past, but every theory advanced, every reason assigned, ends where it began, in speculation. " Ye moklering relics of departed years, Your names have perished; not a trace remains, Save where the grass-grown mound its summit rears From the green bosom of your native plains — Say, do your spirits wear oblivion's chains? Did death forever quench your hopes and fears?" The antiquities of Clark County are similar to other portions of the State. Indian graves are not uncommon, especially in the vicinity of the mounds above described. Fragments of bones, and in one or two instances whole skeletons in a remarkable state of preserva- tion have been found. Near Rock Hill church, on Union Prairie, in the year 1850, Jonathan Hogue, while digging a cellar and some post- holes, discovered three stone-walled graves within a radius of a hundred feet, and about two feet beneath the surface, each containing the perfect skeleton of an adult person in a silting posture facing the sunrise. Flints, arrow-heads, etc., were also found in these graves. In other instances graves have been found, where the length from head to foot did not exceed four feet, and yet contained a skeleton of full stature. This, at first, gave rise to the belief that the skeletons of a race of pigmies had been discovered. But a more careful examination of the position of the bones showed that the leg and thigh bones laid parallel, and that the corpse had been buried with the knees bent in that position. / HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 217 In natural advantages Clark County is in- ferior to none of her sister counties. She has her Dolson and Parlcer Prairies, ar.ible and productive; her Rich woods, which are all the name implies; her Walnut and Union Prai- ries, the garden spots of Illinois. She lias her river and creek bottoms, receiving their allu- vial deposits from the annual overflows, ren- dering them inexhaustible in fertility. She 'las her barrens, capable of producing almost any product grown in this latitude. Has her hill country, that only awaits the sinking of tiie shaft and the light of the miner's lamp to reveal coal-beds of exceeding richness. Sil- ver, too, has already been found in small quantities, at the mine already opened in Wa- bash township, by enterprising citizens, and there is no foretelling the possibilities. Pe- troleum exists in many parts of the county, and yet flows from the Young well, in Parker township. Capita! will, at no distant future, explore the hidden depths, and compel it to become an important factor in the wealth and commerce of the county. As a county, she is admirably adapted to the growth of all products peculiar to an ex- cellent soil in this latitude. Corn grows lux- uriantly, and yields abundantly; the various esculents attain perfection, and as a wheat and grass county, ranks among the foremost in the State. There is no portion of it but what is well adapted to the growth of large fruits, and within her limits are some very fine orchards. Small fruits, of all varieties com- mon to the climate, seem indigenous to our soil, and with little care and attention return bounteous yields. Stock raising is one of her great resources, and can be prosecuted with large profits. It is an industry that has rapidly increased since the advent of railroads, and ono that is attract- ing attention and capital. And large areas of land, where once the craviffish raised his hill- ock, and the frog and the turtle held sway, now sustain herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. The health of the county isinferior to none. With the exception of chills ane fever along the miasmatic river and creek bottoms, there is but little sickness. Our county being a pleteau exceeding in elevation any adjoining counties, the atmosphere is naturally purer and more salubrious, and as a consequence, ths mortality among our people, in proportion to population, is as little as any county in the State. We have the purest water to be found anywhere. Living springs gush out in countless places, and nature's pure and whole- some beverage can be found anywhere for the digging. Our railroad advantages are first-class, abundantly able to accommodate all the wants of commerce. We have supe- rior educational facilities, the efficiency of our school system being evidenced on every side; and the corps of teachers throughout the county, far above the average. Our peo- ple, as a class, are tetnperate, law abiding and industrious; and religious denominations with large followings flourish in country and town. Clark is capable of supporting a dense pop- ulation, and offers superior inducements to immigrants of all kinds. The farmer in search of a home, can purchase lands, im- proved or unimproved, at reasonable rates; the artisan can find employment for his skill, the laborer find employment, the professional man find business. There is room for ail. Although Clark -si as one of the pioneer counties of the Wabash Valley, and although one of her towns at one time rivaled Terre Haute, yet she was among the last to receive within her territory one of those mighty arter- ies of commerce, a railroad. For two decades or more her condition was that of inaction and stagnation. Owing to various disappointments in regard to the building of railroads through the county, men of skill and enterprise, as well as capital, left 218 HISTORY OF CLAKK COUNTY. her to seek elsewhere locations more conge- nial and better adapted to active business pursuits. This centrifugal influence came very near depleting the countj' of the best part of her population. They went to places where the transportation facilities were equal to the wants of the people, and where years of their lives would not be spent in listless apathy. She sat supinely by, after the failure and disappointment in her railroad projects, and saw the rushing trains speed across the do- mains of hersister counties, by far her juniors. Saw their uninterrupted course of prosperity; saw their lands rise rapidly in value — saw the smoke of their factories — heard the dull thunder of their mills. Saw them in the front rank of advancement, marching to tlie grand music of progress. Saw them double, even treble, her in wealth. But things were changed as by some ma- gician's power. When the first shriek of the locomotive awoke the echoes of her hills, and the rumble of the trains rolled across her prairies, old Clark arose, Phcenix like, from the ashes of her sloth, and like a young giant, shook off the lethargy that bound her; took up the line of march toward prosperity, and made gigantic strides toward the position she should occupy in modern progress. She was infused with new life, and capital and enter- prise were attracted to her borders. Her advancement has been almost phe- nomenal, and has far exceeded the anticipa- tions of the most sanguine. Inaction gave way to energy, and lethargy to enterprise. Emigrants poured in, land and lots increased in value; farms were opened in every section, and industry flourished beyond precedent. Towns and villages sprang up as if by magic. Tidy farm-houses, neat and tasty school-hous- es, and churches, those surest indexes of prosperity and culture, and mighty promoters of all that is good, dotted the prairies and nestled in the uplands. Every department of business received an impetus powerful and lasting, and the trades flourished as they had never before. She entered upon an era of unprecedented prosperity. Improvements were visible on every hand. Where once sol- itude reigned, the hum and smoke of the mills fret and darken the air. Her future is indeed bright. She is grid-ironed with rail- roads and sieved with telegraphs, and the products of her fields reach an hundred marts. And when her immense agricultural and min- eral resources are fully developed, old Clark will occupy a proud position in the galaxy of counties that compose this mighty State. To- day, Clark stands side bj' side with her sister counties of the Wabash Valley, in agriculture and all its kindred associations. It on !y needs the active energy of her citizens to place her in the van, advancing as the years advance, until the goal of her ambition is reached. CHAPTER II, EARLY SETTLEMENTS-THE PIONEERS AND WHERE THEY CAME FROM— THEIR HARD LIFE, RUDE DWELLINGS AND COARSE CLOTHING— INCIDENT OF A BISCUIT— SALT-NEGRO SLAVERY— AN EXCITING CAMPAIGN— COL. ARCHER- GAME-" MARKS" AND " BRANDS "—TAXATION— THE INDIANS-SHOOTING MATCHES— EARLY SOCIETY —CHRISTIANITY AND PIONEER PREACH- ERS— INTEMPERANCE— THE CLIMATE, ETC., ETC. " Great nature spoke; oliservant men obey'd; Cities were built, societies were made: Here rose a little State; another near Grew by like means, and join'u through love or fear." — Pope. IT has been said, that civilization is a forced condition of existence, to which man is stimulated by a desire to gratify arti- ficial wants. And again, it has been written by a gifted, but gloomy misanthrope, that "As soon as you thrust the plowshare under the earth, it teems with worms and useless weeds. It increases population to an unnatural extent — creates the necessity of penal enactments — builds the jails — erects the gallows — spreads over the human face a mask of deception and selfishness — and substitutes villainy, love of wealth and power, in the place of the single- minded honesty, the hospitality and the honor of the natural state." These arguments are erroneous, and are substantiated neither by history or observation. Civilization tends to the advancement and elevation of man; Lifts him from savagery and barbarism, to refine- ment and intelligence. It inspires him with higher and holier thoughts — loftier ambitions, and its ultimate objects are his moral and physical happiness. But as every positive of good has its negative of evil, so enlightened society has its sombre side — its wickedness anil iminoralities. The pioneer is civilization's forlorn hope. Without him, limited would be its dominions. He it is who forsakes all the comforts and surroundings of civilized life — all that makes existence enjoyable; abandons his early home, bids adieu to parents, sisters and brothers, and turns his face toward the vast illimitable West. With iron nerve.s and lion hearts, these unsung heroes plunge into the gloomy wilder- ness, exposed to perils and disease in a thou- sand different forms, and after years of in- credible toils and privations they subdue the forest, and thus prepare the way for those who follow. "Who were the first settlers of Clark County? " is a question most difficult to satis- factorily answer. There is considerable di- versitjr of opinion among our oldest living citi- zens as to the first pioneers. There is a story extant that the first white inhabitant of Clark, as its territory is now defined, was a man who shot and killed his brother at Vin- cennes, in 1810; he escaped in a canoe and paddled up the Wabash, landing near the present Chenoweth ferry, and lived a wild, semi-savage life, a fugitive from justice. It is said he was seen by one or more of the settlers who came years later, and that the Indians asserted the fact of his existence, and tiiat he was the first wliite inhabitant of the 220 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. county. There is nothing corroborative of this stor}', find we niaj' regard it as one of the many traditions of the past. As early as 1812, Fort Lamotte, on the site of Palestine, was built, and the nearest settle- ment, except Vincennes, was Fort Harrison» near Terre Haute. A family named Hutson, however, located about five miles north of Palestine, where they were massacred by the Indians, and their buildings destroyed. As the savages were troublesome and hostile during the war of 1813, it is hardly probable that there were any settlements in Clark prior to its close, though it has been strenuously asserted that settlements were made in the county as early as 1814. From the roost reli- able information obtainable, the first perma- nent settlers were the Handys; Thomas, and his sons John and Stephen. They came from Post St. Vincent, near Vincennes, to Union Prairie, in the spring of 1815; broke ground planted and raised a crop of corn, erected cab- ins, and in the fall ensuing, removed their fam- ilies hither. Thomas, the father, settled on the farm now occupied by James Harrison; John, where West Union stands, and Stephen, on the farm occupied by Mrs. Sophronia Brooks. The late Thomas Handy, son of John, once prominent and well known among our people, is said to have been the first white child born in Clark County. This is disputed by some of the oldest living settlers, who assert posi- tively, that Scott Hogue and Isabel Handy, born within a few hours of each other, saw the light of day prior to Thomas. In the year following, there were signs of Indian hostilities and the Handys erected a fort or stockade on the hill, one half mile south of West Union, called it " Fort Handy," and removed their families there for security. The well dug within the work, and which furnished the water supply for the dwellers, could be seen a few years ago. This fort, the only structure of the kind ever built in the county, was situated on the pres- ent farm of James Harrison. It was not a very formidable or extensive work of defense, and was built out of abundant caution by the settlers. It contained two or three cabins for the accommodation of the families, and was surrounded liy a bullet-proof palisade, pierced with loop-holes at convenient dis- tances. The same year (181G) other families came, among whom were the Hogues, the Millers, Bells, Megeath, Prevo, Blaze, Crow, Leonard, the Richardsons and Fitchs, who all settled on Union Prairie, the two last named founding the town of York in 1817. The first house erected there, a log dwelling, was built by Chester Fitch. James Gill, yet living and residing in Cumberland County, aided in its erection. Henry Harrison set- tled in the timber, immediately west of Un- ion, in 1818. The Bartletts located near him about the same time. Walnut Prairie, just north of Union, and separated from it by Mill Creek and a nar- row strip of timber, was settled in 1817 by the Archers, Neely, McClure, Welch, Chen- oweth, Dunlap, Blake, Shaw, Poorman, Staf- ford, Lockard, Essery and a few others. Mr. Essery afterward entered land on Big Creek, two miles northeast of where Marshall now stands, and opened what is known as the " Cork farm," where he died at an advanced age. Reuben Crow for a few years culti- vated cotton on Union Prairie, with some suc- cess, and erected, perhaps, the first cotton- gin north of the Ohio River. The experi- ment of raising cotton was tried with fair results, some years later, on Walnut Prairies. The soil of these two prairies seems admira- bly adapted to the culture of cotton, but the climate is too irregular to render its produc- tion remunerative. About the year 1823 a settlement was commenced at the head of Parker Prairie. Among these early inhabitants were the fam- HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 221 ilies of Parker, Coiinely, Bean, Newport (a noted Baptist preacher), Biggs, Iiee, Duncan) Dawson, Briscoe, Bennett, Redman, Evin" gor and otliors. On Big Creek there were some new settlers: the Mains, Forsythe, Mc- Clure, and David Reynolds, an aged and re- spected pioneer yet living. But it is unnec- essary to follow the subject farther, as an extended notice of the early settlements and settlers will be given in the respective ciiap- ters devoted to each township. The cabins of the early settlers were rude, but secure. Thev were generally built of large logs and constructed with an eye to safety and defense; for the Indians were nu- merous, and at times threatened hostilities. Mrs. Justin Harlan relates that the cabin constructed by her father, David Hogue, and situated on the present farm of M. C. Dol- son, near York, was a Gibralter of primitive architecture. The logs composing the walls were massive and heavy, and pierced with loop-holes commanding every approa^ h. The roof was so constructed as to be almost fire- proof, while the door was a ponderous affair of slabs, and secured by fastenings that would have resisted the efforts of a giant. James Gill, then a boy of fourteen, says that in company with seven men he assisted in the construction of a cabin near the present town of York, in 1816, and during its build- ing one of the men killed a deer and hung it in a tree near by. During the night, the loud barking of the dogs, and the snorting and plunging of the horses, aroused the settlers and the dread whisper went around — " In- dians!" They arose in silence — each man grasped his trusty rifle and manned his allot- ted loop-hole. Skirmishers were thrown out with the utmost caution and strict guard was kept until broad da3\ No signs of Indians were discovered, and they concluded that it was some wild beast, attracted by the scent of blood from the slain deer, that had caused the alarm. The privations endured by the early settlers were such as none but stout hearts would dare to encounter. Nothing but the hopeful in- spiration of manifest destiny urged them to persevere in bringing under the dominion of civilized man what was before them, a howling wilderness. These sturdy sons of toil, pio- neers in the early civilization of Clark County, mostly hailed from the States of New York, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and a few from South Carolina. They were exceptions, to a great degree, of the accepted rule, "that immigrants on settling in a new coun- try, usually travel on the same parallel as that of the home they left." The fashions were few and simple, com- pared with the gaudy and costly paraphernalia of the present time. Comfort and freedom were always consulted. The principal articles for clothing were of home manufacture, such as linsej'-woolsey, jeans, tow-linen, etc. The world was not laid under tribute as now, to furnish the thousand mysteries of a lady's toilet — mysteries that like the ways of Prov- idence, are past finding out, at least bv the sterner sex. Powders and lotions, and dan- gerous cosmetics by which the modern belle borrows the transient beauty of the present, and repays with premature homeliness, were unknown to her frontier ancestors, whose cheeks were rosy with the ruddy glow of health — painted by wholesome exercise and labor. Shoes and slippers of kid and morocco,' with high and villainous heels, were not then worn. The beauty and symmetry of the fe- male form was not distorted and misshapen by tight lacing. The brave women of those daj-s knew nothing of ruffles, curls, switches or bustles; had not even dreamed of those fearful and wonderful structures of the pres- ent, called " boiuiets." Instead of the organ 222 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. or piano, before -which sits the modern miss, torturing selections from the majestic operits(!) they had to handle the distaff and shuttle, accompanying the droning wheel or rattling loom with the simple and plaintive melodies of the olden time, contented with their lin- sey clothing — their roughly made shoes, and a sun-bonnet of coarse linen. Proud and happy was she, and the envy of her less for- tunate sisters, who was the possessor of a cal- ico dress, brought from Cincinnati or far off Orleans. An estimable old lad}', now living, informed the writer, that the first shoes, other than of home manufacture, that she ever pos- sessed, were of the heaviest calf-skin; and so careful and jealous was she of them, that many a time she carried her shoes and stock- ings in her hand to within a hundred yards of the place of meeting, to keep from soiling or wearing them out. And this she repeated on her way homeward, even if escorted by some rustic gallant. The costume of the men was as simple and primitive. The " wamns " was almost universally worn. This was a kind of loose frock, reaching to the waist, open before, with large sleeves and cape, the latter some- times fringed by raveling and attaching a piece of cloth different in hue to the garment. The " wamus " resembled an army^ overcoat of the present day, with the tail cut off. Breeches and leggings furnished the cover- ing of the thighs and legs. Home-made shoes or moccasins supplied him with footgear, and the skin of the raccoon made him hat or cap, though not a few of the men dressed in full suits of buckskin. The pursuits of the early settlers were chiefly agricultural. Fort Harrison and Vin- cennes were their nearest trading points. However, a Pennsylvanian, naire'l.Iohn Wise, brought a small assortment of goods to York, in 1818, the first ever in the county. He was the pioneer merchant of Clark, and is yet living in Vincennes. The two first named were the principal points, where they bartered for the few necessaries which could not be produced or manufactured at home. There were no cooking stoves and ranges, and the thousand culinary apparatuses of to-day were unknown among the early settlers. Broad was generally baked in what was called " Dutch ovens;" though frequently on aboiird before the fire, and often in the ashes. Among the poorer classes, the "corn dodger" was tiie only bread. It is related that a wearied traveler stopped at one of these humble cabins to rest and refresh himself and jaded horse. In his saddle-bags he had a few of those old-time, yellow, adamantine indigesti- bles — saleratus biscuit, and by accident dropped one upon the hearth. He was absent a few moments, and upon returning, the eldest boy had covered the wheaten bowlder with live coals, saying to the surrounding tow- heads, " I'll make him stick his head out and crawl," mistaking the biscuit for some new species of terrapin. Tea, coffee and sugar were rarely used, except on the visit of the preacher, or some other equally momentous occasion. The fare was plain, substantial and healthj'. The richlj- flavored, highly sea- soned, dyspepsia-promoting food of to-day, is the invention of a later civilization. There were no friction matches, their place being supplied by the flint and steel. In nearlv every family, the chunk, like the sacred fires of the Aztecs, was never allowed to expire. In the genial spring-time, the prudent house- wife, in making her soap, always stirred it " widdershins " that is, from east to west, with the course of the sun. To stir the reverse of this, was to destroy all the cleansing qual- ities of the soap. The people were quick and ingenious to supply by invention, and with their own hands, the lack of mechanics and artificers. Each settler, as a general rule, built his own house — made his own plows, harrows and har- HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 223 r.ess. The cultivation of the soil was con- ducted after the most approved fashion of primitive times. The plows, with wooden mold-board, turned the sod; the harrow, with wooden teeth, prepared it for planting. The harness was often made of ropes, sometimes with the bark of trees. The collars were of straw. Corn was the principal crop; very little wheat was produced, and was seldom sown on Walnut or Union prairies, or along the river and creek bottoms, for more than a quarter of a century afier the formation of the county. For the soil of these sections was thought to be wholly inadapted to its growth. It is only of late years that wheat has become the staple crop on the prairies and bottom lands. The ]>ioneer also made his furniture, and other indispensable articles. And considering his few tools, and the entire absence of all machinery, many of these were models of skill and workmanship. Their carts and wagons, however, were ponderous affairs, made wholly without iron, the wheels often consisting of cuts from six to eight inches in thickness, sawed from the end of a large log:. A hole was made in the center for the insertion of the spindle. Into the axle the huge tongue was inserted. The bed was fastened to the axle, and extended about an equal distance before and aft; the front end was secured to the tongue. Soft soap was substituted lor tar, to facilitate the movement of the vehicle. Dr. Williams, of Casey, relates that when a boy, he once accompanied his father to a horse-mill, in one of these old-time carts. It was in the winter, and they were delayed about their grinding, and did not get started home until the evening of the second (ay. Darkness overtook them, and to render matters worse, their lubricating supply gave out. The lumbering and creaking of their juggernaut could be heard a mile or more, and soon aroused all the wolves in four town- ships. At first they were timid, and kept well behind; but as they proceeded, became bolder, and the gloomy woods resounding with their dolorous howls were only equaled by the horrible noise of the wagon. The snarling and growling pack kept clos- ing in, until their fiery eyeballs could be seen, and their panting be heard. His father would drop one occasionally with his rifle, which would temporarily check the pursuit, but it was only after a desperately contested struggle that they escaped being devoured. That indispensable article, salt, was at first wagoned from Cincinnati to Vincennes, or floated down the Ohio and keel-boated up the Wabash. The more prosperous of a neigh- borhood, who could purchase two or three bushels at a time, soon found it a profitable investment, for they doled it out to their less fortunate neighbors, at largely increased price, and were as careful in the weight and measurement as if each grain were gold. In after years, the Vermillion County salines rendered salt more abundant and less difficult to obtain. From 1S19 to IS'23 immigration to Clark County, and in fact to the Wabash Valley, almost ceased, on account of their unhealth- iness. The principal diseases were bilious and intermittent fevers. These fevers took their most malignant character in the bottom lands bordering large streams, especially the AVabash. There, in the rich black loam, formed from the alluvial deposits of the spring floods, and of great depth, vegetation luxuriated in almost tropical profusion. Im- mense quantities were produced, the decay of which generated vast volumes of miasma. The high bluffs which usually border these teeming lands, covered with dense woods, prevented the circulation of the purer air from the uplands, and left all the causes of disease to take their most concentrated forms among the unfortunate settlers of these dis- mal solitudes. Here, at fated periods, these 224 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. disorders, or " Wabash chills," as they were termed, found their most numerous victims. Some seasons they Ijecame epidemic — a pes- tilence, almost — prostrating the entire com- munity. The inhabitants of the adjacent prairies were by no means exempt from these plagueful visitations which seemed indiaje- nous to the soil. From the sluggish sloughs that penetrated these districts arose the dis- ease-burdened malaria, which tainted the air and left its imprint in the sallow complexions and emaciated forms of the people. By rea- son of these ailments the crops frequently suf- fered sadly for want of proper cultivation and care, often entailing suffering and destitution the ensuing winter. Physicians were few, and the victims of those distressing plagues sel- dom received any medical attention or reme- dies. Every family was its own doctor, and roots and herbs supplied, though illy, the place of quinine and the more powerful cures and preventatives of the present. As the coun- try was opened up and reduced to cultiva- tion, and the people became acclimated, these fevers became less prevalent, and lost in some degree their virulence. According to the first county census taken by Silas Hoskins, of Aurora, in 1820, there were nine hundred and thirty whites and one slave, thus indicating: that the blisrhtino- curse of human slavery once desecrated Clark County. In this connection a brief mention of a few of the provisions of the " Black Laws," as they were called, enacted by our first Legislature, and which disgraced our statute books for twenty-five years, may not prove uninteresting. There were com- paratively few negroes in our county during the existence of these laws, the highest num- ber being thirty-eight. Under this code, immigrants to the State were allowed to bring their negroes with them; and such of the slaves as were of lawful age to consent, could go before the clerk of the county and voluntarily sign an indenture to serve their masters for a term of years, and could be held to the performance of their contracts; if they refused, their master could remove them from the State within sixty days. The children of such slaves were taken before an officer and regiit?red, and were bound to serve their masters until thirty-two 3-ears of age. Such slaves were called indentured and registered servants, and were annually taxed by the county authorities, the same as horses and cattle. No -negro or mulatto could re- side in the State, until he had produced a cer- tificate of freedom, and given bond with se- curity for good behavior, and not to become a county charge. The children of such free negroes were registered. Every person of color, not having a certificate of freedom, was deemed a runaway slave; was taken up, jailed by a justice, advertised and sold for one year by the sheriff; if not claimed in that time, was considered free, though his master might reclaim him any time thereafter. Any slave or servant found ten miles from home, without a pass from his master, was punished with thirty-five lashes. The owner of any dwelling could cause to be given to any ser- vant entering the same, or adjoining grounds, ten stripes upon his bare back. Any person permitting slaves or servants to assemble for dancing, night or day, was fined twenty dol- lars; and it was made the duty of every peace officer to commit such an assemblage to jail, and order each one whipped, not ex- ceeding thirty-nine lashes on the bare back. In all cases where free persons were punish- able with fine, servants were corrected by whipping, at the rate of twenty lashes for every eight dollars' fine. The object of these laws was to prevent free negro immigration, and to discourage runaway slaves from coming to Illinois to become free. But for what pur- pose such rigorous punishments were meted to slaves and servants, for such trifling of- J' ^^ {^^At^^^ — HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 227 feiises, when their paucity of numbers pre- cluded all danger of seditions and insurrec- tions, can only be conjectured. The most exciting and memorable cam- paign that ever marked the history of the Slate, occurred in the years 182.3-4. It grew out of a proposition of the pro-slavery party, which had a majority in both branches of the Legislature, to call a convention, subject to a vote of the people, to frame a constitution recognizing slavery in Illinois, in utter defi- ance to the ordinance of 1787, by which slavery was prohibited in the Northwest ter- ritorv. The campaign began in the spring of 1823, and lasted until August 2, 1824. It was the longest contest ever in the State or count}-; a contest angiy and bitter, and char- acterized by torrents of personal detraction and abuse. The excitement extended even to the ministry. The Baptists and Method- ists were the prevailing denominations, and were, almost to a man, opposed to a conven- tion and slavery. And the old preachers, in outbursts of rude and fiery eloquence, and in language so fierce and caustic as to ill be- come the armor bearers of the lowly Nazarine, fired the hearts of their flocks against the "divine institution," and painted slavery in all its hideousness. Governor Coles was the leader of the anti-slavery movement, and his trenchant reasoning portrayed all the iniquity and deformity of slavery. The anti-slavery party was victorious by a majority of over two thousand, and forever put at rest the question of slavery in Illinois. The vote of Clark was thirty-one votes in favor of a con- vention and slavery, and one hundred and sixteen against. Colonel William B. Archer was the anti- slavery candidate for the Legislature; his op- ponent, William Lowrie. Colonel Archer was triumphantly elected by a vote of one hundred and thirty-eight to five. Although raised in a slave State, Colonel Archer at an early age imbibed an unconquerable aversion to human slavery; and during his long and busy life, whether in legislative halls or the private walks of life, he ever advocated the^ cause of freedom and free States. And we deem it not inappropriate to give here an ex- tended notice of this remarkable man. He was the oldest of eight children of Zachariah Archer, three of whom yet survive: .Judge Stephen Archer, Hannah Crane and Elizabeth Hogue. His father's family removed from Warren County, Ohio, to Kentucky, and from thence to this county, landing here in a keel boat near what is known as the Block School House, during the memorable Wabash freshet in the year 1817. He was tall of stature, spare made and slightly stooped. He had tlip endurance of an Indian — was insensible to fatigue — a man of iron. His character was rugged, strong and res- olute, and marked with peculiar irulividuality. He had a sound judgment, a firm confidence and abiding faith in his own convictions of right, and a moral courage to defend them that is rarely met with. In fact, were "The elements so mixed in him That Nature might stand up And say to all the world, This is a man." The people recognized his sterling qualities, and he at once took a commanding position in the affairs of the infant settlement. He then commenced a long, busy and useful ca- reer. He was the first county and circuit clerk. He was appointed one of the commission- ers of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and laid out the town of Lockport, on the Illinois River. He was engaged on some public im- provement near Chicago, and that city hon- ored him by naming an avenue in his honor, which still bears the name of " Archer Ave- nue." He promptly responded to the call for troops in the Black Hawk War, was made 228 HISTORY OF CLAKK COUNTY. captain, and served with distinction. He was again circuit clerk, in 1S4S. In politics he was a Whig, and a partizan, yet respectful for the opinion of others. He made the mem- orable congressional race against Judge J. C. Allen, which resulted in a tie. He was defeated in the next election. It is said of him that he was the first man to bring the name of the lamented Lincoln, of whom he was a devoted friend, into public notice. He was a delegate to a convention, at Philadelphia, we believe, and during the deliberations. Colonel Archer proposed the name of Lincoln for Vice President, when a pert member sarcastically asked: "Who is Lincoln? Can he fight?" The Colonel an- swered: " Yes, by Guinea, he can, and so can I." In private life he was genial and kind, and around his private character cluster many noble virtues. He was married to Eliza Har- lan, and the result of that union was a daughter, who became the wife of the late Woodford Duianey, of Kentucky. His reli- gious convictions we never knew, but suffice it to say, he was an honest man. He was an honored member of the Masonic fraternity for sixty years. But the absorbing and control- ling idea of his life was for the improvement and development of the county, both town and country. For this he labored — for this he toiled, and for this he gave the best years of his manhood. He became interested in the construction of the old Wabash Valley Railroad, (the pres- ent Wabash) and entered into the work with all the zeal and energy of his indomitable nature. He gave his time and his money, and just as it seemed that success would crown his efforts, the project was abandoned. He was never destined to see its completion. He did more for Clark County than any man in his day or since. But no recognition, pe- cuniary or otherwise, was ever given him for his long and valuable services. Possessed at one time of ample means, yet so absorbed was he in his schemes of public improvement, that he was careless as to his private affairs, became involved and lost nearly everything. Time bent his form, silvered his locks and enfeebled his steps, but it could not conquer his spirit. Butat last the end came. Bowed down by the weight of eighty years, and in- firmities incurred by a long life of incessant toil for the general good, on the 9th day of August, 1870, he calmly passed to his final reward, leaving as his only legacy, an untar- nished name, and the enduring monuments of his labor and enterprise in the county. For a considerable period after the forma- tion of the county, and for years before, there was but little or no good money in circulation. The people were involved in debt, the lands purchased from the United States were unpaid for and likely to be for- feited. Such bank-notes as were in circula- tion had driven out the specie; and as these notes became worthless, one after another, the people were left almost destitute of any circulating medium whatever. The county commerce was insignificant; we exported lit- tle or nothing, except the scanty surplus of produce occasionally shipped to New Or- leans. Hence there was nothing to attract an influx of coin into the countrj'. The great tide of expected immigration from abroad failed to come, and real estate of ev- ery description was unsalable. This state of affairs prevailed all over the State; and to remedy the evil, the Legislature of 1831 created a State bank. All br^inches of indus- try and business flourished for a time, but the bank was founded on false theories of solv- ency and utterly failed of its contemplated objects — -in fact almost bankrupted the peo- ple. A considerable period following the decline of the State Bank was called the " harvest of the Shylocks." The legal rate HISTOr.Y OF CLARK COUNTY. 229 of interest was six per cent; but there were no interest limits to special contracts, nor no penalties for usury. Consequently, those having money took advantage of the neces- sities of the people and extorted exorbitant interest rates, often as high as one hundred and fifty per cent being charged. Game was abundant in the early settle- ment of the count}'. Deer, turkeys, hares, squirrels, foxes, otters, muskrats, raccoons, opossums, etc., existed in large numbers. A lew bears were killed, but they were never numerous. Panthers, catamounts, wolves and wildcats abounded, to the great annoyance of the settlers. Smaller vermin, such as weasels, minks, skurdcs and polecats were very plentiful; and these, with the owls and hawks, rendered the raising of domestic fowls very difficult. Porcupines were also quite nu- merous. In an early day droves of wild horses roamed over portions of the; country west of us (then in Clark County), but there is no ac- count of any ever having been within our present limits. The streams were alive with fisii, especially the Wabash. The catfish, muskalonge, bass, perch, sturgeon, spoon- bills, shad, eels, etc., were very plenty. In the early spring the river, creeks, ponds and ba)-ous were covered with geese, ducks, brant and other water-fowl, and on the prai- ries were large numbers of prairie-chickens, grouse and partridges. In early times, when the amount of cul- tivated land was very small and live stock had unbounded range, owners were more particular than in later times about their marks and brands. Horses were always branded; other stock was marked. These were their only means of identification, as cattle and hogs were often turned out in the early spring and were likely to be seen no more till cold weather. Sheep were gener- ally kept through the day in inclosures, and at night in stout high corrals, to prevent their destruction by the wolves. Some of the early marks were curiosities in their way. Charles Neely's mark was recorded May 26, 1S19, the first in the county, and was "A smooth crop ofiF of the left ear and a slit in the same." The mark of Hugh Miller was "An under-bit or half penny out of the un- der side of each ear." That of Joseph Shaw, "A smooth crop off the right ear and an underslope from heel to point of the left ear, bringing the ear to a point, similar to foxing." Cushing Snow's was, " A smooth crop oif the left ear and a poplar leaf in the right; that is, a crop ofi' the point, and upper and under bit in the same, which forms a poplar leaf." The penalty, on conviction, for alter- ing or defacing any mark or brand with intent to steal, or prevent identification by the owner, was a public whipping, not exceeding one hundred lashes on the bare back, impris- onment not exceeding two yeais, and fine in a sum not less than one half the value of the animal on which the mark was altered or defaced. The severity of the punishment indicates the jealous importance our ances- tors attached to their marks and brands, and their lofty regard for the rights of property. The condition of society, and the moral de- portment of the early settlers were very good for a new country, where the laws were lax, and feebly enforced, where schools were few and inferior, and where religious instruction and church organization were rare, and not publicly carried on as in later years. Candor, honesty, and a readiness to help a friend or neighbor in distress, were the chief character- istics of the early pioneers. They were in- dustrious as a class, generous in their hospi- tality, warm and constant in their friendships, and brave in the defense of their honor. As is the case in all newly-settled countries, there was among them a rough and boisterous ele- ment, a low grade and type of civilization. An element ignorant, vicious and uncouth; its 230 TIISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. members loud in their deiuinciations of any innovations tending to better their condition, or that looked toward the erection of Christian institutions. The lives of the early pioneers must indeed have been monotonous. The settlements vrere scattering, and the population sparse. There ■was no general system of schools, or of reli- gious teachings, and as a consequence, for years the Sabbath was simply observed as a day of rest by the young and old. When anv future event, that promised to relieve the tedium of their existence became bruited throughout a settlement, its coming was im- patiently awaited. A house or barn raising, or log rolling, a quilting frolic, or husking bee — each and all of these were looked forward to with liveliest anticipation. But nothing stirred society to its remotest depths like the announcement of a wedding. A marriage was a momentous event, and was looked forward to with e:iger expectation by young and old Mrs. Judge Stockwell relates that she was- present at the marriage of Stephen Archer to Nancy Shaw, and that the wedding and "infare" carnival lasted three days and nights in one continuous round of merry-mak- ing, and was only terminated by exhaustion and loss of sleep on the part of the guests. There was a rapid influx of population after the year 1825. The census of 1S30, at which time the county had been greatly reduced in territorial extent, being somewhat over twice its present size, showed a population of 3,921 ■white, and 19 colored. The increase in num- ber of white people being over four hundred per cent, over the census of 1820. The ma- jor part of this immigration ■ was from the Southern and Middle States. Nearly all the necessaries and the few luxuries of frontier life, which had hitherto been wagoned over the mountains to Pittsburg, thence floated down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash, and pulled and poled up that stream on keel boats, were now transported by steam-boats, quite a number of which plied the waters of the latter stream. About all the surplus products of the county, such as corn, bacon, and the like, together with lumber, staves and hoop-poles, were generally shipped to New Orleans, an undertaking that involved a long, perilous and tedious voyage, often re- quiring two and three months for going and returning. The journey home was gerieially performed on foot, through three or four In- dian tribes inhabiting the western parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. There are citizens now living in the county, who have each made five different pedestrian trips from New Orleans to Darwin; carrying with them, over all the long and weary miles, the proceeds of their cargoes, which wore invari- ably in silver coin. This system of co iimerce was carried on regularly, and quite exten- sively for many years, and was the principal channel of shipment for surplus, but the railroad system of the present day has changed all this. The taxes during the first decade or two "were neither heavy nor burdensome. The total amount of taxes for each of the ten years, ranged from two to five hundred dollars. Yet these insignificant sums were to defray all the contingent expenses of the county, which was then larger than many of the principali- ties in Europe. Lands were taxed by the State, and were divided into three classes : first, second and third, 'and were valued at four, three and two dollars per acre, and were taxed respectively, two, one and a half, and one cents per acre. In 1821 the first tax was levied, and the property included was horses and cattle, clocks and watches, town lots and pleasure carriaares. The last item was evi- dently a mild bit of pleasantry on the part of the early authorities, as such things existed only in the imagination, in Clark County. In 1823, slaves, registered and indentured ne- HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 231 groes aod mulattoes, and rlistilleries, were made taxable by the county commissioners. A stout, lusty ne<;ro servant or skve was as- sessed at about the same as five good horses. Ill 18;i7, hogs, sheep, and ferries over the Wabash, were made taxable. The county commissioners had broader and more extensive povrers than our present law- makers. They not only had authority to license certain occupations, but also to fix and establish a scale of prices for conducting the same. They issued license to the keeper of a tavern or house of entertainment, speci- fied the amount he should pay for the same, and tiien arbitrarily fixed the rates he should charge his guests; and if the wayfarer was bibulously inclined, and desired a stimulant, the law stepped in, and not only scheduled the kind and quantity of his potation, but fixed the maximum price for it. To illustrate, a specimen is herewith given: At the JIarch term, 1820, of the commissioners' court, ap- pears the following: "Court grant license to Silas Hoskins to keep a tavern in Aurora, at tiie rate of two dollars per year, to be paid into the county treasury, and fix his rates as follows: for one night's lodging, per man, 12^ cents; one meal's victuals, per man, 25 cents; one feed for horse, per gallon of corn, 12^ cents; one horse to hay and oats, per night, 37^ cents. For one pint of rum, wine or brandy, 75 cents; for one half pint of same, 374^ cents; for one pint of whisky, 25 cents; for one half pint of same, 12J cents; for one gill of same, li^ cents; ale, beer or cider, per quart, 25 cents. About this time the Galena lead mines were at the height of successful operation, and our people would run up the Mississippi in the spring, labor in the mines during warm weather, and then return to their homes in the fall, thus establishing, as was supposed, a similarity between their migratory habits and those of the piscatorial tribe called suck- ers. For this reason the name "Suckers" was applied to the Illinoisans, at the Galena lead mines by the Missouriaiis, and which has stuck to them ever since, and no doubt al- ways will. Missouri sent hordes of uncouth ruffians to these mines, from which our people inferred that the State had taken a puke, and had vomited forth all her worst population. As analogiis always abound, the Illinoisans, by way of retaliation, called the Missourians "Pukes," a name they will be known by for all time. The Indians were quite numerous in the county at the time of its early settlement. There were camps on Mill Creek; one about a mile and a half southeast of what is now Marshall, on what is now known as the Wat- son quarrj-; one a short distance north of the present town of Livingston, and one south of the same, near the Ahvood hill. But the largest camp was on Dial's Creek, in the Rich- woods; a large majority of these Indians were Kickapoos, and the remainder chiefly Potta- watomies. They were generally quiet, peace- able and friendly, spent their time in hunting and trapping, and bartered the proceeds of the chase with the whites, for corn, powder and lead, salt, etc. They about all disap- peared during the Black Hawk War. Though during the war, and while a large portion of our male population was absent in the army, there was a large number on Mill Creek that threatened hostilities, to the great apprehen- sion of the remaining settlers. They held pow-wows, danced their war dances, and at night their fierce and savage yells could be heard a great distance, to the terror of de- fenceless women and children. There then lived in the northeastern por- tion of the county, a man beyond middle ao-e, named John House, who was a second Lewis Whetzel. \\'hen a boy the savages had massacred nearly alljiis father's family, and he had sworn eternal vengeance, and im- 232 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. proved every opportunity to gratify it. He was well known to the Indians as " Big Tooth John," on account of his eye teeth projecting over his under lip, like tushes. It is re- lated that on one occasion, while hunting, an Indian stepped from an amliush, and ex- plained how easily he could have killed him. House pretended to be quite grateful, but watching his opportunity, shot the Indian dead. He enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was in the memorable engagement on the banks of the Mississippi, of August 2, 1S33, in which tiie Indians were routed and which terminated the war. During the battle, a Sac mother took her infant child, and fastening it tea large piece of cottonwood bark, consigned it to the treacherous waves rather than to captivity. The current carried the child near the bank, when House coolly loaded his rifle, and taking deliberate aim, shot the babe dead. Being reproached for his hardened cruelty, he grimly replied, "Kill the nits, and you'll have no lice." Among the diversionsof tlie (^irly times, were shooting matches for beef, turkeys, whisky and sometimes for wagers of money. When a beef was shot for, it was divided into five quarters, the liide and tallow being the fifth, and considered the best of all. Among the most noted marksmen of the day, were Judge Stephen Archer and Stump Rhoads. Indeed, so expert were they, that both were generally excluded from the matches, and the fifth quarter given them, as a sort of a royalty, the possession of which was usually decided by a contest between themselves. The Judge had been several times victorious over his rival, who finally procured a new rifle, and badly defeated his opponent on a most momentous occasion. Smarting under his discomfiture, the Judge had a heavy, target rifle made, with especial reference to accurate shooting. This artillery he dubbed " Sweet Milk and Peaches," and patiently bided his time to vanquish his adversary. An opportune occa- sion soon arrived. It was in the summer; the usual donation had been made to these cham- pions, and Rhoads' best shot h;ul just grazed the center. The Judge's breeches were of the usual tow linen, and worn without drawers. As he was lying down, taking long and deliberate aim, his rival, by some means, slipped some bees up the leg of his pantaloons. These hostiles, after a short voyage of dis- covery, began to ply their harpoons. But so completely absorbed was the Judge in this struggle for victory, that he stiffened his limb, elevated it straight in the air, and crying: — " Stump .Rhoads, you can't throw Sweet Milk off that center with no dod-hlasted bee," pulled the trigger, clove the center, and was declared the winner. Though society was rude and rough, that curse of humanity, intemperance, was no more prevalent, in proportion to population, than now, perhaps not as much. Scarcely was the nucleus of a settlement formed, ere the steam of the still tainted the air. The settlers en- dured privations and hunger, and their children cried lor bread for want of mills; they groped in ignorance for want of schools and churches, but the still was ever in their midst, where the fanner exchanged his bag of corn for the beverage of the border. In every family the jug of bitters was an insep- arable adjunct, and was regularly partaken of by every member of the household, espe- cially during the chill season. The visit of a neisrhbor was signaii.^e>l by producing the bottle or demijohn. At all rustic gatherings, liquor was considered an indispensable arti- cle, and was freely us^d. Everybody drank whisky, ministers and all. True, there were some sections, in which the people resisted all ailvancement and progress. In these, liquor was used to great excess, and then, as now, was an active piomoter of broils, disturbances and fights. In these affrays, to their credit HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 2:;3 be it said, fists and feet were alone u&ed, and were called "rough and tumble." The knife, the pistol and the bludgeon, were then unknown, and are the products of a much later and more advanced civilization. These sections were known as the " hard neighbor- hoods," and were always shunned by re- spectable immigrants seeking homes. There is a story that an itinerant teetotaler once strayed into one of these haunts of immorality, and threw a fire-brand into the camp by de- livering a terrific discourse against the use of intoxicants. The speaker was interrupted by the representative man, who introduced him- self, and described the society of his locality, as follows: " I'm from Salt Creek, and the folks than are all bad and wooley; and the higher up you go, the wuss they air, and I'm from the headwaters. I'm a wolf, and it's my time to howl. Now, Mr. Preecher, what ■would we do with our corn crop, if there wuz no still-houses?" " Raise more hogs and less hell around here," was the ready, but vigor- ous reply. The speaker was interrupted no more. The old time ministers were characters in their waj'. A distinct race so to speak, and were possessed of an individuality, peculiarly their own. As a class, they were uneducated, rough and resolute, and encountered and overcame obstacles that would appall the efl'eminate parsons of later days. They were suited exactly to the civilization in which they lived, and seem to have been chosen vessels, to fulfil a certain mission. These iiumble pioneers of frontier Christianity, pro- claimed the " tidings of great joy " to the early settlers, at a time when the country was so poor that no other kind of ministers could have been maintained. They spread the gospel of Christ when educated ministers with salaries could not have been supported. They preached the doctrine of free salvation, without money and without price, toiling hard in the interim of their labors, to provide themselves with a scanty subsistence. They traversed the wilderness through sunshine and storm; slept in the open air, swam swollen streams, suffered cold, hunger and fatigue, with a noble heroism, and all for the sake of their Savior, and to save precious souls from perdition. JIany of these divines sprang from, and were of the people, and without ministerial training, except in religious exercises, and the study of the Scriptures. In those times it was not thought necessary that a minister should be a scholar. It was sufficient for him to preach from a knowledge of the Bible alone; to make appeals warm from the heart; to paint the joys of heaven and the miseries of hell to the imagination of the sinner; to terrify him with the one, and exhort him, by a life of righteousness to attain the other. Many of these added to their scriptural knowledge, a diligent perusal of Young's Night Thoughts, Milton's Paradise Lost, Jenkins on Atone- ment, and other kindred works which gave more compass to their thoughts, and brighter imagery to their fancy. And in profuse and flowery language, and with glowing enthusi- asm and streaming eyes, they told the story of the Cross. Sometimes their sermons turned upon mat- ters of controversy — unlearned arguments on the subjects of free grace, baptism, free will, election, faith, justification, and the final per- severance of the saints. But that in which they excelled was the earnestness of their words and manner, the vividness of the pict- ures they drew of the ineffable bliss of the redeemed, and the awful and eternal torments of the unrepentant. " They preachetUhe joys of heaven and pains of hell, And wjrned the .-inner with becoming zeal. But on eternal mercy loved to dwell." Above all, they inculcated the great principles of justice and sound morality, 234 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. and were largely instrumental in pro- moting the growth of intellectual ideas, in bettering the condition, and in elevating the morals of the people ; and to them are we indebted for the first establish- ment of Christian institutions throughout the county. These old-time evangelists passed away with the civilization of the days in which they lived and labored. They fougiit the good tight, well and faithfully performed the mission, and bore the burdens their divine Master assigned them, and may their sacred ashes repose in jjeace, in the quietude of their lonely graves, until awakened by the final trump. The white population of our county has steadily and rapidly increased, as will be seen by the following exhibit by decennial periods: In 18"^0 the white population was 930; in 1830, 3,921; in 1840, 7,420; in 1850, 9,494; in I860,' 14,948; in 1870, 1S,6'.:I8; in 1880, 21,843. The increase in colored population has been small, both by emigration and otherwise, in- creasing from one slave in 1820 to fifty-one free colored in 1880. After 1830 the moral and intellectual condition of our people grad- ually improved, each passing year recording a marked change for the better. But what it lacked in refinement it made up in sincerity and hospitality. The establishment of com- merce, the forming of channels of intercourse between distant sections by building exten- sive highways, the regular exportation of all our surplus products, were among the first means of changing the exterior aspect of our population and giving a new current to pub- lic feeling and individual pursuit. Tlie free diffusion of knowledge through schools and the ministry of the gospel also largely con- tributed to the liappv change, and to all these influences are we indebted for the civilization of the present. But still, when we ponder on those olden days, rude and rough as they were, wj almost wish for their return. Those good,. old days, when the girls rode behind their sweethearts to church or pjrty, and when the horses always kicked up, and the maidens held tightlj' oii; when wife and hus- band visited on the same nag, the former in front of her liege, with sleeping babe snugly cuddled in her lap. Those good old days, when the hypocrisy, shams, and selfishness of modern societv were unknown. Wiien the respectabilitv of men and women was not measured by their bank accounts and bonds, nor by displays of finery, but by the simple standard of worth and merit; by their useful- ness in the community, by their readiness to aid the suffering, to relieve the distressed. When there were no social castes or dis- tinctions, and when honesty and uprightness were the livery of aristocracy. When the turpitude of vice and the majesty of moral virtue were regarded with stronger sentiments of aversion and respect than they to-day in^ spire. It is a well-established fact that the settle- ment and cultivation of a country have a noticeable effect upon the general tempera- ture of the climate. But the change has been so gradual that it is a matter of difficulty for our few surviving pioneers to distinctly rec- ollect and describe. At the first settlement of the country the summers were much cooler than now. Warm evenings and nights were not common, and the mornings, frequently, uncomfortably cold. The coolness of the niirhts was owing, in a great degree, to the deep, dense shade of the forest trees and the luxuriant crops of wild grass, weeds, and other vegetation, which so shaded the earth's surface as to prevent it from becoming heated by the rays of the sun. Frost and snow set in much earlier than now. Snowfalls fre- qu ntly occurn'd during the latter half of October, and winter often sot in with severity during November, and sometimes in the early part of it. The springs were formerly later IIISTOKY OF CLARK COUNTY. 235 and colder than tliey now are, but the chaiifje ill lliis respect is not favorable to vegetation, as the latest springs are generally I'ollowed by the most fruitful seasons. It is a law of the veg table world that the longer the gernii- natnig principle is delayed the more rapid when put in motion. Hence those far north- ern countries like Sweden, Norway, and Russia, which have but a short summer and no spring, are among the most productive in the world. While, in this latitude especially, vegetation, prematurely started by reason of open winters and delusive springs, is often checked by " cold snaps" and untimely frosts, and frequently fails to attain its ultimate per- fi'ction. From this imperfect account of the weather system of early times, it appears tliat the seasons have undergone considerable change. As a rule, our springs are earlier, summers warmer, the falls milder and longer, and the winters shorter and accompanied with less cold and snow than formerly. These changes can be partly, if not wholly, attrib- uted to the destruction of the forests. Every acre of cultivated land must increase the heat of our summers, by exposing an augmented extent of ground surface denuded of its tim- ber, to be acted upon and heated by the rays of the sun. But, by reason of there being no mountainous barriers either north or south of us, the conflict for equilibrium between the dense and rarified atmospheres of these two extremes will most likely continue our changeable and fickle climate forever. OHAPTEE III. ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY— THE LEGISLATIVE ACT CREATING IT-LOCATION OF THE SEAT OF JUSTICE— THE COURTS— AURORA AND DARWIN— REMOVAL TO MAHSHALL-BITTER CONTESTS-THE QUESTION FINALLY SETTLED- DIVISION OF THE COUNTY INTO PRECINCTS— ENGLISH TITHINGS— TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION— BEN- EFIT OF THE SYSTEM, ETC., ETC. CRAWFORD Countj', from the territory of which Clark was taken, was created under the old territorial laws. It embraced a vast extent of country, including all of East- ern Illinois to the Canada line, and as far west as Fayette County. In order to form a new county, the law required the proposed district to have at least 350 iidiabitants. The northern portion of Crawford having the req- uisite population a petition was filed in the Legislature for a separate county. That body, at the session of 1819, passed the fol- lowing act: An Act Forming a new County out of the County of Crawford. Seo. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly, That all that part of Crawford County lying north of a line beginning on the great Wabash River, dividing townships eight and nine north, running due west shall form a new and separate county to be called "Clark." Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice for said county the following persons are hereby appointed commissioners, viz.: Smith Shaw, Thomas Gill and James Watts, which commissioners or a majority of them shall meet at the house of Charles Neely be- tween the first and second Mondays of May next, and after having been duly sworn before some justice of the peace within this State, faithfully to take into consideration the situa- tion of the settlements, the geography of the country and the conveniency and eligibility of the place, shall then proceed to establish the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Clark, and designate the same, provided however the proprietor or proprietors owning such land on which the seat of justice may be fixed, shall give to the county of Clark twenty acres of land for the purpose of erecting public buildings, to be laid out into lots, and sold for the use of said county, but should the proprietor or proprietors neglect or refuse to make the donation as aforesaid, then and in that case, the commissioners shall fix upon some other place for the seat of jus- tice for said county as convenient as maybe to the different settlements in said county, which place when determined on by said com- missioners they shall certify under their hamis and seals to the clerk of the commissioners court, and it shall be the duty of the said clerk to spread the same on the records of said county, and the said commissioners shall receive two dollars per each day they may he necessarily employed in fixing upon the afore- said seat of justice, to be paid out of the county levy. Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That until the county commissioners shall other- HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 237 wise direct, the court and elections for said county shall be held at the house of Charles Neely in said county. Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the citizens of Clark County shall be entitled to vote for Senator and Representatives with Crawford County in the same manner as they would have done had this act not passed. Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, Tliat the said county of Clark be and form a part of the second judicial district and that the courts tiierein be holden at such times as shall be di- rected in the act regulating and defining the duties of the justices of the Supreme Court. Sec. G. And be it further enacted, That the county commissioners shall proceed tolaj' out ■ tiie land that may be given to said county into lots and sell the same or as much as they mav think proper and necessary for the erec- tion of public buildings, within three months from the time the seat of justice shall be established. Sec. 7. And be it further enacted. That in order to remove all difficulty concerning the future division of Clark County, it is hereby enacted that all that tract of country lying north of an east and west line dividing townships numbered twelve and thirteen nortli, shall l)e the line between the county of Clark and a county whicii may be laid off north of the same, provided, however. That ail that part of Clark County lying north of the bne last mentioned shall remain attached to and be considered a part of Clark County until a new county shall be laid off north of the line as above stated. This act shall bo in force from and after its passage. JOHX MESSiyOER, Speaker of the House of Representatives. PjeerT! Menaed, Speaker of the Senate. Approved by the Council of Revision, March 22, 1819. Suadkacu Kond. Clark, at her organization, as we have said, embraced a large amount of territory. Fay- ette was formed in 1821, partly from Clark and Crawford. In the year 1823 Edgar County was taken from Clark, locating partly the present north line of our county. In 1830 Coles County was formed from Clark and Edgar. By the forming of Coles, Clark was reduced to the area contemplated in the orig- inal act. But at the session of the Legisla- ture in 1823, AVilliam Lowry, the represent- ative from Clark and Crawford, procured the passage of a bill, at the solicitation of the people of the newly formed County of Ed- gar, cutting off three miles from the north line of Clark and adding the same to Edgar, for the reason that Paris was very apprehen- sive of losing the county seat; but by hav- ing this slice attached, it would so centralize her position as to enable her to retain the seat of justice. The county was named after Gen. George Rogers Clark, a gallant and meritorious of- ficer of the Revolution, born in Albemarle Count}', Virginia, in 1752, and die- 251 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. memory, possessed an inexhaustible store of anecdotes, of old time courts, gleaned from his long years of individual experience as judge, and many were the amusing stories he related to the writer of early days, and two we will here repeat: In one of the southern counties of the circuit, a long, lank and cadaverous specimen, and as verdant as the backwoods he hailed from, was elected sheriff. He was clever and good hearted, and had a stentorian voice. At the first court after his election he walked into the room, carrying a heavy rifle, and dressed in a cos- tume at once unique and picturesque. He •wore the inevitable wamus, and his nether extremities were encased in a new pair of bright, pea green unmentionables, except a ten inch abbreviation of each leg was pieced out with cloth of blue. His first words were: "Well, Jedge, I'm the sheriff, what'll you have?" "Convene court, Mr. Sheriff." "Do what, Jedge?" replied the sheriff, the word "convene" having floored him. "Open court, Mr. Sheriff." This was done in a tone tiiat shook the rafters. Not a juryman was pres- ent, and the judge inquired, "Where is the panel, sheriff?" "Where is the what, Jedge?" "Why, the panel, the jury." "Oh! they're round somewhar, and I'll hunt 'em up." In a few minutes he returned, and said: "There's going to be a fight over at Brayley's, and they won't come 'till arter its over." "Mr. sheriff," said the judge sternly, "I command you to bring the jury here forthwith." "All right, Jedge, I'll fetch em." And seizing his rifle he marched over to Brayley's, and in a tone full of meaning, said: "Boys, the old man over thar is madder'n a hornet, and wants you oraediately. I'll give you jest one minit to git, and the chap that aint trottin' then, I'll drop," bringing his gun to his shoulder. It goes without saying, that the jury was speed- ily impaneled. No irreverence is intended by the following, but is merely to show the ignorance and stu- pidity of an officer, and a practical joke of early days: Among the hangers-on at the court, was a fellow named Murray, occasion- ally a jury man or bailiff. He was a great favorite with the judge, who liked him for his many genial qualities and sunny nature, but he was an incorrigible wan-. Taking the sheriff aside after the first adjournment, he told him privately as a friend, that he had been talking to the judge, who was well pleased with his promptness and efficiency, all except his manner of adjournment. But that he, the judge, felt some delicacy in tell- ing him, for fear of wounding his feelings. That the adjournment ought to be made in his loudest tones, so the outside world could hear, and that under the new code, the ad- journment should be closed with "so help me Jesus Christ and General Jackson, Amen," as this was a Democratic county. He urged him to say nothing, and at the next adjourn- ment, both surprise and please the judge. The sheriff, aware of Murray's intimacy with the judge, believed him implicitly. That evening, at the proper hour, the judge ob- served, "Mr. Sheriff, adjourn court." At a nod from Murray the officer braced himself and with a roar that awoke the echoes for a mile or more, he yelled: "Oh! yes; Oh! yes; the honorable Circuit Court is now adjourned until to-morrow morning at nine o'clock, so help me Jesus Christ and General Jackson, amen!" The court was adjourned, and the sheriff near losing his position for contempt, until Jlurray explained, and received a severe rep- rimand. Clark County with a distinct organization extending throusrh sixty- four years, from the morning till the twilight of the nineteenth century has had but very few officers in some departments. Owing to the absence of some of the old records, it is difficult to collate an HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 255 accurate list of all those who have been hon- ored by the citizens of the county with posi- tions of profit and trust. Especially is this the case with regard to the treasurers and coroners. It is a fact to be remarked, how- ever, that in all the offices since the formation of the county but one vacancy has been oc- casioned by death, and but three from resig- nation. Owing to the then large area of the county, and the sparse population, the duties of some of the pioneer county officers were extremely arduous. In the listing of taxable pro]3erty by the treasurer, and the collection of the revenue by the sheriff, the isolation of the settlements necessitated long and te- dious journe3'S, through a wilderness without roads, leagues often intervening between habitations. Judge Stockwell relates that he onoe collected the taxes throughout the county, and walked through deep snow over the site of the present town of Charleston, Coles county, at the time the surveyors were laj'ing it out, and at the end of a week, he found upon comijaring, that he had traveled a mile for each cent of revenue he had re- ceived. At the December term, 1819, of the commissioners' court, the following appears of record: "It appearing to the court, that William Lockard, treasurer, has been put to much trouble in taking a list of taxable pro- perty this present year, that the sum allowed by law is not sufficient to compensate him, therefore court do allow him extra of his al- lowance by law, which amounts to only nine dollars and ten cents for this present year, the sum of fifteen dollars." No doubt this was considered ample remuneration for listing the property of a county at that time com- prising one eighth of the entire State. To-day the sum would scarcely complete the assess- ment of a school district. In the summoning of jurors, witnessess, etc., the serving of a single process often involved a journey of a hundred miles. Yet the salary of the sheriff was but fifty dollars per annum. County treasurers were appointed by the commis- sioners, and the office was not one usually from which the incumbent retired rolling in wealth. In addition to his allowance for assessment services, he received two per centum com- mission on collected revenues, which, in exceptional years, amounted to as much as four dollars, which swelled the aggregate of his annual salary to as much as thirty dollars. Charles Patrick, a pioneer treasurer, in an ex- hibit of the fiscal concerns of the county, re- ported that the levy of the previous year was two hundred and fifty dollars, and that all outstanding orders, except two for a dollar each, had been redeemed, and these remained in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, the sum of sixteen and one fourth cents. He also suggested and recommended a reduction in the tax levy of the then current year. No doubt he had the interest of the tax payers at heart, and perhaps was desirous to avoid the weighty responsibility of having as much as three hundred dollars in the county coffers at one time. The clerk of the circuit and commissioners' courts, for one person filled the dual position, was paid about in the same pro- portion. The salary of Jacob Harlan for the year 1834 was but $7-4.'25, which amount included the sum of $6.87| expended for years' sup- ply of stationery. For every dollar then paid, we now pay hundreds for the same articles. But these were the days of real frugality and economy. All legal instruments and docu- ments, summons, deeds, assessment lists, county orders, election notices, and in fact every instrument, was written out at length, as printed blanks were very rare and e,\c :ed- ingly costly. In 1824 the clerk was ordered to procure one quire of printed blank deeds, and the same cost $9 in Vandalia, the nearest press in the State, besides seventy-five cents postage to Darwin. This was the last pur- 236 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. chase of blanks for many years. And it slioilld he bortie in mind that the salaries of these officers were paid generally in State bank notes, then very much depreciated. Though the county was small in population and extensive in territory, yet when we com- pare the cost of conducting affairs then with that of to-daj', one is astounded at the con- trast, and is a convincing argument that ad- vanced civilization and refinement are expen- sive luxuries. The population at the time re- ferred to was about one eleventh as large as it is to-day, and it would be natural to pre- sume that the business of the county, and the cost of conducting it, would increase in the same ratio as the inhabitants. But such is not the case in the matter of expenses, which have grown enormously' and far beyond all rea- sonable jiroportion. It is safe to say that the present cost of maintaining any one of the important county offices for one year would have defrayed every county expense in that day, including all courts, jurors, elections, salaries of officers, stationery, etc., for five years. The following county judges have worn the judicial ermine since the organization of the county. In early times they were appointed by the Legislature and were paid by fees: Samuel Prevo, 1819 to 1823; Charles Neely, 1823 to 1825; Jacob Harlan, 1825 to "~-4a35; Uri Manly, 1835 to 1843; Stephen Archer, 1843 to 1853; John Bartlett, 1853 to 1854, resigned; John Stockwell, 1854 to 1857; William C. Whitlock, 1857 to 1869; William R. Griffith, 1869 to 1873; Justin Har- lan, 1873 to 1877; William R. Griffith,* 1877 to 1882; Eth Sutton, 1882. The commission of Samuel Prevo, first Judge of Probate, is among the county files, * It will be seen by the foregoing list that Judge Griffith, as well as all the other olficers whose terms of office expired in 1881, held until the general elec- tion of 1882, as provided by legislative enactment. and is the oldest document of the kind in the county. It is dated February 12, 1821, signed by Shadrach Bond, Governor, and Elias K. Kane, Secretary of State, and the usual formula, " To whom all these presents shall come, greeting:" reads, "To all who shall see these presents." The first instrument ever re- corded in the county, however, was the stock- mark of Charles Neely, bearing date May 26, 1819. The judge of the Circuit Court ap- pointed its clerk,and the county commissioners their clerk,though one person usually filled both positions. And it was not uncommon for the offices of probate judge, circuit and county clerk, and justice of the peace, to be held by one individual. Jacob Harlan officiated in three of these capacities for years. CLERK OF CIKCUIT AND COITSTT COMMISSION- ERS' COURTS. William B. Archer,* 1819 to 1832; Jacob Harlan, 1823 to 1836; Jonathan N. Rathbone, 1836 to 1837; ■'Uri Manly, 1837 to 1842; Newton Harlan, 1842 to 1848; William B. Archer, 1848 to 1852; William P. Bennett, 1852 to 18G0; Thomas W. Cole, 1860 to 1872; Daniel J. Davidson, 1872 to 1880; William B. Hodge, Jr., 1880— elected for four years. In 1836, the circuit and county clerkships were separated, the latter being made elec- tive. Jonathan N. Rathbone was chosen to the office September 5, 1836, and served until ISIarch, 1837, when he resigned, and Joshua P. Cooper was appointed to fill the vacancy, and served until September of same year, when Darius Phillips was elected and held the office until 1851, when he resigned. Phillips was an able and competent officer; was an old resident, and was county treas- urer for one or more terms. By accident he became crippled in his right hand, and ac- * W. B. Archer resigned as clerk Commissioners Court, March, 1820, and as circuit clerk, May, 1822, and was succeeded in each position by Jacob Harlan. HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 257 quired the art of writing with his left, and was an accomplished scribe. He was very popular for a time, and possessed the unlim- ited confidence of the entire people. But at last he was suspected of being connected with tiiat extensive and thoroughly organized horde of murderers and thieves, which infested the Mssissippi valley, and for a long time defied the law, and was under the leadership of the notorious Bob Birch, of Anderson township, this county, whose capture, escape, and final breaking up of the gang is so thrillingly recounted by Edward Bonny, a renegade member, as was generally believed. Phillips was accused with being in constant commu- nication with the gang in this county, and forewarning them with needful information concerning legal prosecutions, etc. So con- firmed became this suspicion that, in 1851, the regulators gave him an unmerciful whip- ping, his shirt being cut into ribbons. Im- mediately after the castigation, he climbed upon a stump, and in a brief but affecting speech to the regulators, resigned his office, and in a short time left the country. Howard Harlan, Sr., filled the vacanc}', by appoint- ment, until the succeeding fall, when John Stockwell was chosen, and served until De- cember, 1853. Allen B. Briscoe was elected in November of same year, and was re-elected five consecutive terms, and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Harrison Black, De- cemiier 1. 1377, who was re-elected in 1885, for the term of four years. Clark, since her organization, has had twenty-four sheriffs, as follows: Isaac Parker, 1819 to 1S20; .lohn Welsh, 1820 to 1833; Joseph Morrison, 1833 to 1834; James P. Jones, 1S34 to 1831; John Stock- well, 1S31 to 1S3S; James Lockard, 1838 to 1843; William P. Bennett, 1843 to 1848; Samuel McClure, 1848 to 1850; Thomas Handy, 1850 to 1853; Samuel MoClure, 1853 to 1854; Horace E. Ritchie, 1854 to 1850; Morrison Spenny, 1850 to 1858; John B. Bris- coe, 1858 to 1860; Nicholas Hurst, 1860 to 1863; Andrew J. Smith, 1863 to 1864; Tim- othy H. Connely, 1864 to 1866; Joseph A. Howe, 1866 to 1868; Timothy H. Connely, 1868 to 1870; Samuel Lacy, 1870 to 1873; Warren Bartlett, 1873 to 1876; William T. Flood, 1876 to 1878; William H. Beadle, 1878 to 1880; Henry Sherman, 1880 to 1883; Jacob N. Farr, 1883 — elected for four years. War History. — Though lacking the halo of warlike tradition and romance; though destitute of historic personages and deeds of arms, embalmed in story and in song; though wanting memorable battle-fields, made sacred by patriot blood; though not glorified with heroic achievements in the " times that tried men's souls;" though not a county during the struggle of 1813; yet the military history of Clark, though young and limited, is honor- able, and one of which she may well be pioud; one that reflects luster on her name, and credit on her patriotism; a history, every page of wiiich has proven her sons worthy descendants of courageous ancestry. The sires and grand- sires of our early settlers had fought with un- wavering hearts through the darkest hours of the Revol-ution; had crimsoned the snows with bleeding feet on long and perilous marches; starving and in rags, they had counted the lonely da3'S through that terrible winter at Valley Forge; they had lived on parched corn, and burrowed with the " swamp fox " in Carolinian- marshes, only sallying from their fastnesses to strike a blow for freedom; sustained and inspired through all their hard- ships, through all their sufferings, with an un- faltering and implicit faith in their ultimate independence. Strong in their might, invin- cible in their cause, the day of triumph at last dawned, and beneath the" bending skies at Yorktown, they beheld the lion of England prostrate in the dust before the eagle of Amer- ica. And from these heroes our pioneers in- 2)8 HISTOEY OF CLAEK COUNTY. herited the same fierce love of liberty that brooked no trammels which partook of op- pression and injustice. They, too, knew what war was. They bad threaded dangerous de- files, with Harmer, bristling with unseen and relentless foes; had stood in the gloom of death under ill-fated St. Clair, when the groans of the scalped and dying mingled with the crack of the rifio and the yells of savage victory. They had seen the blackened ruins and charred remains of kindred at Fort Minns; had fought with Harrison at Tippecanoe, and with ringing shouts hurled back the purple tide of Indian warfare, and avenged the sick- ening butcheries of other days. They stood at New Orleans, and before their deadly rifles the flower of Britain's chivalry melted like morning mist before the sunbeams. The first attempt to establish a military force in Clark, on a peace footing, was in June, 1831, when the commissioners proceed- ed to lay off the county into company districts for the organization of the militia. Union and Dubois townships were each a company district, and Washington and Pike composed one. County musters were required to be held at county seat the first Saturday in April, annually. Yearly battallion and regi- mental drills were had in September. Fines were imposed upon members for non-attend- ance to these, ranging from fifty to seventy- five cents. Officers were fined for neglectino- to wear any and every article of uniform. At all musters, shooting matches for beef and other property, including whisky, were legal- ized by State law. At these gatherings col- lected the best marksmen, far and near, and many were the close and exciting trials of skill. Running, jumping, wrestling, pitching horse-shoes, and other athletic sports, were indulged in, while every crowbait in the coun- ty, that could head off a steer, was paraded as a race-horse. In fact these musters were carnivals of eniovment on the frontier, durino- which our early settlers abandoned themselves to feasting, carousing and general jollity. In Movember, 1804, by a treaty piade by Gen. Harrison with the chiefs of the Sac and Fox nations of Indians, all th'eir lands. Rock river, and much more elsewhere, were ceded to the government. This treaty was after- ward ratified by portions of the tribes in 1815 and 181G. But there was one old turbulent Sac chief who alwaj'S denied the validity of these treaties, and by his wild and stirring eloquence at times, though usually gloomy and taciturn, incited the Indians to hostilities. He was distinguished for his courage, and for his clemency to prisoners. He was firmly attached to the British; had been an aid to the famous Tecumseh and cordially hated the Americans. This chief was Mucata Muhic- atah or Black Hawk. Under pretense that the treaties before referred to were void. Black Hawk, in the spring of 1831, with three hundred warriors, invaded the State, drove off the white settlers, destroyed their crops, killed tlieir stock, and other violent depredations, besides committing several murders. Bv the promptness of the military he was quickly checked, and compelled to sue for peace, and ratified the original treaty of 1804. Not- withstanding this treaty, Black Hawk, with about six hundred warriors, again entered the State in the spring of 1832, and committed many acts of vandalism. Great alarm pre- vailed, and Governor Reynold's issued his call for two thousand troops which was promptly answered. This was the first de- mand upon the patriotism of our county. Drafting was at first resorted to fill Clark's quota, but as this entailed considerable hard- ship and injustice, volunteers were called lor. Two companies of about eighty men each were quickly raised and mustered at Darwin, and reported to and were accepted by the governor. The officers of the first company were William B. Archer, captain, Danie HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 259 Poorman, first lieiUeiiarit, and Roj'al A. Knott second lieutenant. Upon arriving at tiie rendezvous, Captain Archer was assigned to the stafif of the commanding general with the rank of colonel*, and Royal A. Knott was elect- ed captain. The officers of the second com- pany were John F. Richardson, captain; Woodford Dulaney, first lieutenant, and Jus- tin Harlan, second lieutenant. Both these companies served with distinction until the war was ended. The next call upon Clark for the military services of her sons, was in the war with Mexico. One company of about seventy-five men was raised and mustered at Marshall, and officered as follows: ^yiIIiam B. Archer, captain; Nicholas Hurst, first lieutenant, and Charles Whitlock, second lieutenant. The company left Marshall June 6, 1846, and was transported to Alton in wagons; arrived there and reported to the governor, and was by him received as company number twenty- seven, on the 9th following. The company was discharged June 27, 184G, the State's quota having been filled by previously accept- ed troops. By an act of the Legislature, of February 20, 1847, the sum of six hundred dollars was appropriated by the State to de- fray the expenses and pay for the services of the company; and Justin Harlan, Timothy R. Young and^Uri Manlej-, were appointed a B lard of Commissioners for the disburse- ment of the fund. Several members of the coinpaii}', confident that it would not be re- ceived, and anxious to serve their countr}-, enlisted in other organizations, and served through the entire war, participating in its fiercest battles, one being killed at Buena Vista. Among these were the Hon. .James C Robinson, David Dolson, Austin Handy, Daniel and Luther Groves, and James Ben- nett. The next occasion upon which Clark was called upon to manifest her patriotism and de- votion to the country, was the war of the re- bellion 18G1-5. It is unnecessary to refer to the causes which precipitated that stupen- dous struggle, that most gigantic civil war that marks the history of the world, for they are familiar to all. On the 4th of March, 1861, on the marble in front of the national capitol, in the pres- ence of thronging thousands that surged like an ocean around their feet, stood two men, Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan, one old and gray, and bowed by responsibilities and years, gladly laying down the burden of his power and august position over a great people, for the quietude of a peaceful home; the other, accepting the thorny glories of the White House, and outward bound into the wild turmoil of contending hosts and heroic deeds. The strife of opinions and clash of factions which had been waxing deeper and stronger between the North and South con- centrated after Lincoln's election, and the heart of the Nation was almost rent in twain before he took the inaugural oath. Already had a Southern government been organized; already had the Palmetto flag kissed the sky at Montgomery. And when these two men shook hands, it was a supreme moment por- tentous with mighty events — the commence- ment of an epoch grand and terrible in the history of our country. And when Abraham Lincoln solemnly swore to preserve intact the Constitution and Union of his fathers, peace veiled her face, and shuddering, fled before the darkening pall and lowering gloom of intestine war. No one realized the com- ing terror, or thought how easy it was for a war of passions to verge into a war of blood. The idea of a rebellion that would rend our fair country for long and cruel years, that would fill the whole length and breadth of the land with widows and orphans, was not recognized as a possibility. The people hoped against hope that tiie calamity of war would bo 260 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. averted, that milder counsels would prevail, that some plans of pacification could be united upon. But all iu vain, and when in the twilight calm of a southern morning a screaming shell burst over Sumter, its rever- aberations echoed from sea to sea, and aroused a mighty nation to arms. How little did the actors in that opening scene dream of the horrors that were to follow! In response to the first call for troops, in early May, 1S61, a company was at once enlisted, with. Edwin Harlan as captain, and Nineveh S. McKeen and A. G. Austin as first iind second lieutenants. It was afterward assigned to and becam<^ Company " H," 21st Infantry, of which U. S. Grant was colonel, and then began his illustrious military career. The next were Company " G," 10th Infantry, and Company " B," 2d Artillery. As the war progressed old Clark, true to her ^ancestry, sent company after company. She was rep- resented by Companies " F," of the 30th; " G," of theSitii; "C,"of the 62d; « G," of the 70th; "I," of the 79th; " K," of the 130th, and " G," of the 152d Regiments of Illinois In- fantry. She had Company " K" in 1st Mis- souri Cavalry; her sons fought in the 14th Indiana. She was represented by detach- ments in Illinois and other State regiments other than above mentioned. Space pre- cludes an extended mention of each, and comparisons would be invidious. Suffice it to say they fought and died as freemen, and shed imperishable glory on the arms of the State. Clark, throughout that long and des- perately contested war, sent 1,.560 men to the lioid, over one tenth her population at the time, of which number it is safe to say, one eighth never returned. Old Clark was largely represented in the War of the Rebellion, and her sons fought in nearly every important battle in the south and soutliwest. They were in that gallant host that captured Forts Henry and Donel- son. They stood in the murderous hail at Crab Orchard and Stone River. They stormed at Lookout midst iiissing shot and hurtling shell, and planted the banner of their coun- try amid the war and shock of battle upon his dizzy crest. At Chickamauga they rallied around that " Rock of the Union," General Thomas, and aided in stemming the tide of inglorious defeat. They charged at Fred- ericktown and fouglit at Mission Ridge. Their blood crimsoned the fated field of Shiloh, and reddened the sod at Atlanta. They were in the sieges of Vickfburg and Mobile, at Corinth and the Wilderness. Before Nash- ville, at Franklin and Five Forks. They were in that wonderful masterpiece of modern warfare, unequaled in its boldness of concep- tion and execution in the histor}"- of the world, in that army that swept to the sea, and thence northward through the Carolinas and Virginia. They wore out their lives in weary waiting and hopeless captivity amidst the cruelty and disease of loathsome prison pens, and their ashes repose at Andersonville and Tyler. The bones of her children rest in unmarked graves along the lonely bayous of Texas and Louisiana. In the dusky glades of the Wilder- ness, in the sunny savannahs of Georgia, at the foot of frowning Lookout. And their bones reposing on the fields they helped to win, and in the graves they fill, are a perpet- ual pledge that no flag shall ever wave over their silent dust but the flag they died to maintain. Herewith are appended the muster-rolls of the two companies furnished by Clark County, during the Black Hawk War, and also the names of those who served, during the war with Mexico. They are appended in the belief that it is eminently appropriate that the names and memories of these gallant men should be perpetuated within the pages of this work, and that it will be a matter of in- terest to their descendants, for generations to HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTy. 2G3 come. The first company raised in the Black Hawk War, %vas that of William B. Archer, of wiiicli Tnentioii has herotoforo been made. It was known as Gapt. Royal A. Knott's company of the 1st Regiment of the 2nd Brigade, Illinois Mounted Volunteers, called into tiie service of the United States by the Governor's proclamation of May 15, 1832, and Inustered out August 15, 1832. The following is the roster: Daniel Poorman, 1st Lieut. George W. Young, 2d Lieut, discharged July 21^, 1832. Lost mare. Sergeants. — Stephen Archer, John Fears, James I.i0ckard, Oliver C. Lawell. Corporals. — William T. McClure, James Du-ilap, discharged July 31, 1832; Noah B ijauchamp, discharged July 31, 1833; John W. Thompson, lost mare,'saddle, bridle and i)!anket. Privates. — Jesse K. Archer, Daniel Boone, lost horse, strayed away; Samuel Burk, lost iiorse; William Bostick, George Berry, Thos. F. Bennett, Theophilus Cooper, lost his horse; Joel Cowen, Chalkley L. Cooper, lost mare; Jeremiah Crip, lost mare; Martin L. Cheno- iveth, Alexander H. DeHart, discharged July !J!, 18:;2; Lorenzo D. D.-Hart, disch. July 21, 1S32; Alhanan Davis, Daniel Davis, Samuel Dolsiin, furloughed, Aug. 9, 1832; Andrew Fleming, discharged July, 21, 1832; Ahalis Faiiin, horse worn out; Phineas Fears, lost his blaider five, Marshall township, became the purchas- ers of the building and converted it into a graded c muion school, and by additions to it, and improvements to the grounds, have ren- dered them commodious and sightly. In 1839, also, a law was passed, incorporat- ing the "Marshall Female Academy," with James McGabe, Isaac Hill, Thomas Hender- son, Thomas Carey, Justin Harlan, John Bart- lett, Stephen Archer, Woodford Dulaney and "William B. Archer as trustees. This institu- tion was never carried into successful oper- ation. Matters pertaining to education and com- mon schools, remained substantially un- changed until 184-3, when a law was passed making the secretary of State ex-officio State superintendent of common schools, and autho- rizing a school tax to be levied in each dis- trict, sul)ject to the decision of the voters. The secretary reported to the Legislature in 1847, that the common schools throughout the State, with the exception of a few localities, were in a deplorable condition, especially iu the southern portion. After the adoption of the constitution of 1848, the school law was again revised in all its details. From the passage of this act, dates the office of school commissioner, who was made ex-officio county superintendent. School lands could be sold when two thirds of the white male inhabitants thereof, over twenty-one years of age, should petition the school commissioner. Each congressional township, was established as a township for school purposes; the law provided for the election of three trustees in each township, who had supreme control of the schools. The trustees divided the township into school dis- tricts, and three directors were elected in each, the employment of teachers, building and repairing school houses, and many other duties. Taxes could be levied by a majority of the voters of each district, but the levy was limited to twenty-five cents on the hund- red dollars valuation of property. The law required that all teachers be qualified to teach orthography, reading in English, penman- ship, arithmetic, English grammar, modern geography and the history of the United States. Each teacher was required to exhibit a certificate of the school commissioner certi- fying to his qualifications. This revision is es- sentially the foundation on which our present superstructure rests. The Constitution 1818, is silent upon the subject of educating the masses through the medium of common schools. The framers of the Constitution of 1848, went a little further, and said, in a subjunctive way, that the gen- eral assembly might provide a system of free schools. But it was not until after half a century of existence as a State, that, our dele- gates in convention assembled, engrafted upon the pages of our organic law, a manila- tory section, declaring that " the general as- sembly shall provide a thorough and efficient 272 HISTORY OF CLAEK COUNTY. system of free schools, whereby all children of this State may receive a good common school education." The foilowinCT exhibit of the condition of the common school system in the county, for the year ending .Tune 30, 1882, is not unin- teresting to the friends of education. There are at present, in the county, on hundred and two school districts, and one hundred and four school buildings. There were em- ployed, during the year, one hundred and seventy-seven teachers, who imparted instruc- tion to six thousand and thirty-eight pupils. Of the one hundred and four schools taught in the county, six are graded, and two of the six are high schools proper, one each at Mar- shall and Martinsville. A graded school is where there are more than -one teacher, and where the school is divided into departments) usually with a reference to the age and advancement of the pupils, and known as the primarj', intermediate and advanced grades. The county in addition to her excellent and flourishing common school system, and her high and graded schools, has one college, conducted by an able faculty, and with a reputation inferior to none; it is under the direction and management of the United Brethren denomination, and is located at Westfield. All these will, be fully written up in the respective townships in which they are situated. The educational history of each township will also be given, from the small and humble beginnings, through their various changes and improvements to the almost per- fect state of the | resent. The total school expenditures, in each township, for all purposes, including wages of teachers, repairs, iuel, erecting school buildings, etc., are as follows: Anderson, $1,397.92; Casey, $14,794.93; Darwin, $1,497.65; Dolson, $3,9U8.53; Doug- las, $619.05; Johnson, $1,150.18; Marshall, $6,721.84; Martinsville, $4,439.19; Melrose, $1,955.32 ; Orange, $1,417.91 ; Parker, $1,325.88; Wabash, $4,336.51; Westfield, $8,018.87; York, $3, 459.65. -Total, $54,143- .43. In the townships of Westfield and Casey new school-houses were built, which will ex- plain increased expenditures over those of the other townships. The above expenditures were for the year ending June 30, 1882. About one hundred and eighty unexpired teachers' certificates are outstanding, of wiiich about twenty are first grade, the remainder second grade. The county received from the State school fund, for the year, the sura of $7,437.13; from the State interest fund, $423.45; from fines and interest on loans, the sum of $189.42, making in all $8,050.00, which was distributed by the county superin- tendent to the treasurers of the different townships in the county. |^,-^/| '^■1^ ^ CHAPTER VI. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS— THE OLD NATIONAL ROAD— HOW IT WAS BUILT— RAIL- ROADS— THEIR APPEARANCE IN CLARK— BUILDING OF THE VANDALIA ROAD —WABASH AND OTHER RAILROAD PROJECTS— CONCLUSION, ETC., ETC. "When the iron steed shall know why man restrains His fiery course, or drives him o'er the plain," etc. -- , n^HE old National Road and its construc- -L tion created as much interest in its day, not only in this county, but in all the country through which it passed, as any internal im- provement ever inaugurated in the State of Illinois, perhaps. Jt was originally called the Cumberland Road, after the old stage road from Washington, D. C, to Cumberland, Mil., a great highway in its time, and forming the eastern division and terminus. This road was a national work. It had been provided for in tiie reservation of live per cent of the sale of public lands in Illinois and other States, and biennial appropriations were its depend- ence for a continuance to completion. ^^ hen Congress made any appropriation for this road, it required that "said sums of money shall be replaced out of any funds reserved for laying out and making roads, under the direction of Congress, by the several acts passed for the admission of the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri into the Union, on an equal footing with the original States." Tiie work was commenced on the road in this county in lS27-'28, by the cutting out of the timber on the line, and was pushed to practical completion as far west as nearly to the east line of Fayette County. Then with scattering work at the streams as far west as Vandalia, such as a levee across the Okaw bottom, and several bridges at that place, had exhausted the appropriations of Congress^ and the people of Illinois, becoming crazed over the foolish State policy, were divided in sentiment to the extent (some wanted it to go to St. Louis and others to Alton) that no fur- ther appropriations were procured, and the great work was stopped. To this portion of the country it was a most important public work. It gave the people access to the out- side world, where, before, they had been pent up by almost impossible obstacles. People could go to Terre Haute, and even to St. Louis, and thus reach markets and sell the little portable stuff they had, and buy such tilings as their necessities demanded and haul them home. But the growth of county im- provements was slow indeed. The county, like the people generally, was poor, and while they made commendable efforts, yet often the money was wasted through being expended by inexperienced or ignorant men. In after years, it may be of interest to some, to know which of the public highways passing through Clark County, was once known as the old National Road, and just where it was located. It is the road passing east and west through Marshall, on the north side of the public square, and known as Cum- berland or Main street within the corporate limits, taking its name from the original title of the road. It was a great thoroughfare be- fore the era of railroads, and was intended to cross the continent, even as railroads now cross it. But railroads were invented a little too soon for its entire completion, and its im- .274 HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. portance in this age of steam, is no greater than any ordinary county or State road. A branch diverged from the main line at Zanesville, Ohio, and crossed the Oiiio River at Maysville, Ky., passim,'- through Lexington, thence to Nashville, Tenn., and on to New Orleans. Thus the country was to he spanned from east to west and to the extreme south. Itailroads. — As we have stated in a pre- ceding chapter, all of Clark's early railroad projects resulted in failure, and she was doomed to sit idly by and see many of her sister counties, younger in years than herself, prospering through means of railroad commu- nication, of which she, herself, was wholly deprived. This was the case until a compar- ative late day in railroad building and rail- road enterprise. Hon. W. S. Wait, an old and prominent citizen of Bond County, in a letter to B. Gratz Brown, .June, 18G3, makes the best in- troduction to the history of the rise and pro- gress of the St. Louis, Vandalia & Torre Haute Railroad — the first road built through Clark County. Mr. Wait says: " The rail- road projected so early as 1835, to run from St. Louis to Terre Haute, was intended as a direct line of railway to the Atlantic cities, and its first survey was taken over the exact line of the great Cumberland road. We ap- plied to the Illinois Legislature for a charter in ISiG, but were opposed by rival interests, that finally succeeded in establishing two lines of raiload connecting St. Louis with the Waiiash — one by a line running north, and the other by a line running south of our survev, thus demonstrating by the unfailing test of physical geography that our line is the central and true one; the two lines alluded fo are the Terre Haute & Alton and Ohio & Mississippi. We organized our company ■with the name of the Mississippi & Atlantic Company in 1850, by virtue of a general rail- road law passed the year previous, and im- mediately accomplished a survey. An ad- verse decision of our Supreme Court led us to accept the oiler of eastern capitalists to help us through, who immediately took nine- tenths of our stock, and gave us .John Brough for president. Our riyht to contract was finally confirmed, in Fe iruary, lS5i, the road put under contract and the work com- menced. The shock given to all railroad enterprises by the 'Schuyler fraud' suspend- ed operations, and before confidence was restored, the controlling power, which was enthroned in Wall street, had arrived at the conclusion, as afterward discovered, to pro- ceed no further in the construction of the Mississippi & Atlantic Railroad. For purposes best understood by themselves, the eastern manager amused us for several years with the hope that they were still determined to pros- ecute the work. When we were finally ctm- vinced of the intentional deception, we aban- doned the old charter and instituted a new company, under the name of the Highland & St. Louis Railroad Company, with power to build and complete by sections the entire road from St. Louis to Terre Haute. The charter was obtained in February, 1859, with the determination on the part of the Highland corporators to make no delay in constructing the section connecting them with St. Louis, but were prevented at the outset by difficul- ties since overcome, and afterward by the existing rebellion." This public letter portraj^s some of the chief difficulties with which the friends of this road had to contend. "State policy," the stupidest folly rational men ever engaged in, was openly urged by many of the leading men north and south of the "Brough road," as it was generally called. Hon. Sidney Breese, a long resident of Carlisle, on the line of the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, publicly declared for that doctrine, " that it was to the interest of the State to encourage that policy HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. 275 that would build the most roads throuont to be entered into for building of the road under the charter so recently obtained from the LegisLiture. In 1807, first mortgage bonds were put on the " property, rights, franchises, leases and estate, etc., of the company to the amount of $1,900,000." When the property was leased, in February, 1808, a second mortgage was put on the same to the amount of S'^,6 0,000, each mortgage bearing 7 per cent interest, payable semi-annually. For the purpose of further equipment of the road, preferred stock has been issued to the amount of $1,544,700, bearing 7 per cent interest. The issue of $2,000,000 has been authorized. This stock will take precedence over the com- mon stock of the company in receiving divi- dends, and as the interest on the preferred stock may accumulate before anv payment thereof, the prospect for dividends on common stock is remote. By mutual understanding between the con- tractors and the company, E. C. Rice was en- gaged as Chief Engineer, January 18, 1867, and he commenced the first survey on the west end of the line in March, and the grad- ing was begun as soon as the line was fixed at the west end in April following. At the same meeting a code of by-lavps was adopted, and Greenville was designated as the general oflSce of the company. At the annual election held in .lanuary, 186 r, J. P. M. Howard was re-elected presi- dent, Williamson Plant, secretary, and W. S. Smith, treasurer. April 3, 1867, Mr. Howard gave up the position by request, and J. F. Alexander was chosen president of the com- pany in his place. By the charter the company was authorized to issue first mortgage bonds, not to exceed $12,000 per mile. The capital stock was made $3,000,000, which could be increased at an annual meeting by a majority of stock- holders in interest, as they should direct. The road was completed to Highland, July 1, 1868. The first regular passenger train did not run to that point until August "iOth following. By consent of the railroad company. Gen. Wins- low, as contractor, was paid $120,000 for labor expended on the line, to the 10th day of Feb., 1808, and at his request was released from his contract. The same was ratified and accepted by the company at their meeting, March 13, 1868. The company entered into a contract, February 10, 1868, with Thomas L. Jewett and B. F. Smith, of Ohio; Goo. B. Roberts, of PhiladelpMa, and W. R. McKeen, of Terre Haute, in the firm name of McKeen, Smith & Co., to complete the road at an early day. At the same time and place, an agreement was entered into, leasing the St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad to the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad Company. In the re- port of the president of the Vandalia Compa- nv, made to the stockholders at the annual meeting, held at Greenville, January' 6, 1872, he says : "When on the 10th day of February, 1868, the contract was made insuring the comple- tion of your road, another contract was also made, providing for its forming a part of a continuous railroad line from St. Louis (via Indianapolis) to Pittsburgh; and for perfect- ing this object your line was leased for a pe- riod of 999 years to the Terre Haute & In- dianapolis Railroad Company, for the joint interests of the company and the several rail- road companies forming the said line. Under this lease the lessees were to work your road HISTORY OF CLARK COUXTV. at their cost and expense, and to pay to your company 35 per cent of the gross earnings, first paying therefrom all interest due on the bonds of the company, and all taxes assessed against the property of the company, advanc- ing any deficit in the amount needed to meet these liabilities, and paying the surplus (if any remained) of the 35 per cent to your company. Your board, in view of the light traflic usually done upon a new line, reduced the proportion due your company of the gross earnings to 30 per cent, provided that after payment by the lessees of the road, out of the 70 per cent re- ceived for that purpose, if any surplus re- mained, it should go to your company." From small earnings from the time the ro:id was opened, first to Highland and Green- ville, in 18GS, and finally through to Terre Haute, July 1, 1870, it has developed a mar- velous increase of business, not only to the road, but to the farming and all other indus- tries along the line. The whole cost of the road, and equipment of the same to July 1, 1870, when the contractors turned the road over to the lessees, was §7,171,355.89, which was increased steadily as the line was more fully developed by " rolling stock " and "betterments," etc., on the road, until the last report of the treasurer, W. H. Barnes, made the total costs of the road and equip- ment to October 1, 1880, $8,330,410.75. The amount of business done over the line for the year 1881, aggregates $1,565,515.04, and the rental due to the company from the lessee for the year ending October 31, 1881, was 8469,354.50, and for the same time $424,- 837.04 was earned in carrying passengers; $43,490.57 for express, and $90,835.98 for mail services. The first regular passenger train over the whole line, on schedule time, was on the 12th day of June, 1870, and as mentioned before, the contractors turned over the road, as per contract, to the Terre Haute & Inilianapolis liailroad Company, July 1, 1870. The St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad is 158 miles from East St. Louis to the eastern line of the State, and seven miles from State line to the Wabash river at Terre Haute, and about 25 miles in Clark County. The Wabash Valley Railroad was the next project in which Clark County became inter- ested. This project came up while the " Brough " road was on hand, and before work wholly ceased upon it. The Wabash Valley road ran north and south, the survey conforming substantially to the present Wa- bash, St. Louis & Pacific. It was one of the railroad projects growing out of the old inter- nal improvement fever. On the 5th of May, 1855, by a vote of the people, $50,000 were subscribed by the county, to aid in the con- struction of the road. A line was surveyed from Chicago to Vincennes and work com- menced. The work was vigorously prose- cuted until the grading was fully half done, when for lack of funds and from other causes, work was eventually discontinued and the project, for the time being abandoned. Some years after the close of the late war, it was revived under the title of "Chicago, Danville & Vincennes Railroad," and as such it was completed to Danville. A new com- pany — " The Paris & Danville " — was then formed, and under that title the road was built through this county in the winter of 1874-5, and during the next summer it was completed to the Ohio and Mississippi road at Lawrenceville. A more complete history, however, will be found in Part I. of this vol- ume, and hence a repetition is unnecessary here. The only railroad that Clark ever enjoyed until the completion of the Vandalia line, was a horse railroad with wooden rails, run- ning to the quarries on the Wabash, and was 27.S HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY. used for transporting stone to the Wabash valley. It was known as the " Williams Railroad," and was considered quite an insti- tution, by those who had never seen a rail- road. The Terre Haute & Southwestern Railroad was an enterprise in which Clark County took an active interest, particularly the south- east part of the county. At one time, it seemed almost certain that the road would be built, but from a lack of either funds or stamina, or a little of both, it failed, and prob- ably will never be revived. The Danville, Olney & Ohio River Railroad, passing through the western portion of the county, has been re(?ently constructed. When properly completed and equipped, it will jjrove a valuable and good paying road. Conclusion. — Written history, as a rule, is generally too formal, dignified and scholastic, to interest the mass. Of broadest scope, it requires too much nicety and precision as to circumstances and dates, and too much mul- tiplicity of detail. It requires, in order to be perfect, so much minuteness, and so many unimportant facts, as to often render it weari- some. Hence, the reader is requested not to consider the foregoing pages an elaborate history, or finished production, but more properly as a sketch of the county in which we live, and one, too, that is not written up to the level of critical perfection ; and the critic who expects or demands elegance of diction, grandeur and purity of expression, nicety of language or precision of words, will be disappointed. Though a sketch, and of course admitting of anecdote, excursive digressions, and a flex- ible texture of narrative, yet, for the most part, it is essentially historic. The writer has humbly endeavored to narrate within its pages some of the physical and moral features of our county, its formation, settlement, local divis- ions and progress; the habits and customs of the early pioneers, interspersed with indi- vidual incident. He has striven to execute his task with candor and fidelity, though pro- foundly aware that many inaccuracies and imperfections exist. Stating facts from the records, and on what appeared to be good authority, and avoiding as much as possible all false coloring and exaggeration. How far be has succeeded is submitted to the judgment of his fellow citizens of the county. Much of the early history of the county has been lost through the unusual mortality among our aged citizens, who have passed away in the fullness of years and honors, after living long, useful and eventful lives; after their early dangers and privations were but stirring memories of the forever past, they laid down their burdens, and "slumber in the sanctuary of the toinb, beneath the quiet of the stars." But much yet remains, and we have endeavored to record as we could, some of the events and ordeals of those early days; some of the habits, customs and incidents in the lives of those heroic men and women who, forsaking the comforts of civilization, and braving death and danger in countless forms, pluriged into the wilderness and transformed it into peaceful and happy homes for their descendants. We have recorded them as the customs and manners of our day and time, which will remain long after we have passed to the silent dust. In conclusion, while it would be rather in- vidious to name the kind friends from whom the writer has received sulistantial aid and encoura"-ement in the preparation of this sketch, yet it would be indeed rude if he did not return to them his humble and grateful acknowledgments. 'Try 4. t-^^^^U-^ CHAPTER VII.* BENCH A>T) BAR— THE EARLY COMERS AND WHO THEY WERE-SOME COMMENTS ON THE PROFESSION— FIRST LA^YYERS-BIOGRAPHIES AND CHARACTER SKETCHES- ANECDOTES OF FICKLIN AND LINDER— OTHER LEGAL LUMINARIES, ETC. "Time when the memory of man nmneth not to the contrary." — Blackstone. IN the very first steps of ororanization in the countv there were no local lawyers here. In fact, the legal machinery of the county had been all fully put in working order be- fore even the legal circuit riders came to gladden the hearts of the people with their imposing presence, seedy plug hats, and the singular combination of store clothes and home-made shoes and socks. But courts were a necessary part of the legal start of a county — justice had to be administered, quarrels adjudicated, rows settled, naturalization granted, and many other little things that could only be performed by this august body, were a pressing necessity, and the court, therefore, was among the early comers. Lawyers, then, especially to the county mu- nicipality, were much more esential than now, for in the very first essentials toward making a new county the assistance of trained legal minds were indispensable. The people could themselves move in the matter of forming a new county only so far as to talk up the project among themselves,and agree upon the bounda- ries, etc., but after this, at every step they must have the aid and guidance of lawj-ers. They had to reach the Legislature and a formal peti- tion dul\- signed had to be drawn; not only this, but a draft of a bill creating the county, defining in proper technical and accurate * By H. C. Bradsby. words the new countj-'s territory, naming three commissioners and defining their duties, etc., and to whom but a lawyer could they go for all this? The work of these men, then, was of the greatest importance, as they were the foundations upon which rests the future of the little municipality. Their advice to the people, their work in the matter of legal documents, were to remain with us in the long time and for the weal or woe of the unborn generations. But soon after the county or- ganization came the first term of the Circuit Court, and with it the lawyers to see after the little business that might perchance be there needing their learned attention. This array of traveling lawyers was but a meager crowd, but the woik awaiting them was light, and the fees were ranged down to coon-skin cur- rency prices. This meager caravan, however, as they traveled on horse-back, from county to county, constituted the early Bench and Bar. It was the court, and the " circuit riders," of the early fraternity, and without drawing invidious distinctions, the moving procession was constituted of some of the most valuable of our pioneer people. Their life was a hard one, their work often difficult and perplexing; they braved the heat and cold, the storms and floods, and all over the vast circuits (then embracing more than half the State), with their wardrobes and their law libraries in their saddle-bags — which, often, with all their clothes, they cairied on their heads while their horses were swimming the HISTORY OF CLAiaC COUNT V. swollen streams. They traveled from one county seat to another, where often they would not find more oases on the docket tiian there were numbers of them, and these frequently unimportant and frivolous, the hotel accommodations meager and rude, and packed with perhaps a rough-and-tumble lot of hunters and trappers, who had come to town to have a jolly good time and make night and day hideous with their orgies. If the judge got a private room he was in luck, be- cause generally the rooms were all in one, and all over this were beds on the floor, and on cots, as thick as they could be placed, and all the iiio-ht lono- the chances for sleep were few and far between. Then below this vast sleep- ing room was the hotel bar-room, where drinking and "stag-dances" often rioted in noisy fun the most of the night, to the screeching of a cracked fiddle handled by some yahoo who could worry the very soul in acrony of all within ear-shot of his hideous caterwauling. The writer hereof will never foro-et hearing Judge Koerner, upon one oc- casion, somewhat like that above mentioned, express his exasperated feelings. The judge would be perfectly quiet in his cot for some time and then flounce over, pouch out his lips and blow, and, talking to himself ap- parently, say, "d — n dot feedling." And thus the long night was interminably drawn out. The Circuit Court held generally biennial sessions in each county. The judge was the great man, of course, upon the recurring- great day of the assembling of the court. The Bar was much like the nightly courtiers attending upon royalty, and it is not wonder- ful that they inspired the greatest respect and awe from all the people as they went in triumphal procession over the country. Even the clerks and sheriffs and other local ofBcials of the court, by virtue of their right to ap- proach the bench and bar upon something like terms of familiarity, and exchange words with them, were temporarily greatly enlarged and magnified and sometimes doubtless great- ly envied by the common crowds. But soon after the organization of each county came the local lawyer — the dv^eller among the people — and thus some of the glamour that invested the profession of law passed away. Soon, too, these increased in numbers, and as law and politics were synonymous terms, and, in their electioneering, they more and more mixed amona: the people, generally coaxing and wheedling them out of their votes, kissing babies, patting frowzled-headed, dirty faced boys; flattering the rural sun- flowers, kissing the blarney stone and dealing out thickened taifa to the old beldames, and hugoing like a very brother the voters, and dividing with them their supply of plug tobacco, and tipping the wink to the blear- eyed doggery keeper — making spread eagle speeches everywhere and upon all possible occasions, and thus the work of breaking down the one great barrier between the pro- fession and the people, and their mingling in discriminate herds, went on, until a lawyer o-ot to be simply a human being, "nothing but a man," as the boy said when the preacher for the first time dined at his mother's house. But the fact remains that in the early set- tlement of the State, and in the first forma- tion of the laws and customs of the different counties, these gentlemen had much to do, and to their glory be it said, they did their work wisely and well, and the proud State of Illinois, and her royal train of daughters — • the 102 counties — are imperishable monu- ments to their industry, patriotism, ripe judgment and incorruptible integrity'. We have here the fiurth State in the Union, and it was eager and swilt in the race for the third place. The next decade will place her second, and a few brief years may, naj', doubtless will, put her at the head of the HISTORY OF CLARK COrXTY. 2^3 groat column of States, and toward tliis grand consuminatiuri a nieeil of praise will always be due these good men — the early Bench and Bar. The first session of the Circuit Court in Clark County was held in Aurora, as stated in a preceding chapter, the first county seat, on the 20th day of Sep- tember, 1819. Judge Thomas C. Browne presiding, and W. B. Archer, clerk, and the first case ever entered upon the Circuit Court docket was a little appeal case, from the docket of C. Patrick. Wickliffe Kitchell ap- peared as the plaintiff's attorne}-, and John M. Robinson for the defendant. This first case of the court's docket, bear in mind, was not at the first term of the court, for, accord- ing to the record, there was no case put down for trial at this court. The records are models of their kind, and we much doubt if any county in the State can show records in their organization, that would compare with these ill their completeness or mechanical execu- tion. Every paper, every certificate and each proper entry are all in their place and are models that have never yet been improved upon. These splendid records shoulil be preserved by the county, as one would the ap])le of his eye, and the time will soon come when these books will be a just and fitting moiuiinont to the first county officials, especi- ally the clerk of the court. In Aj)ril, 18"^'0, the second term of the Cir- cuit Court for the county convened, Judge William Wilson presiding. There were only four cases on the docket, and two of these were for slander. At this term of the court appeared as attorneys, John McLean, John M. Robinson, WicklifTe Kitchell, Mr. Nash, and Henry W. Dunford. At the September term, 1820, William P. Bennet was enrolled as a practicing attoriiev. At the May term, 1821, the clerk, W. B. Archer, makes this ex- ])lanatory entry: " Be it known that the sheriff, clerk of the court, suitors, etc., at- tended at Aurora, the seat of justice of Clark County, on Wednesday the 23d day of May, 1821, and until 4 o'clock of Thursday, the 24th day of said month, and no judge appear- ing to form a court, the people dispersed." At the October term, 1821, Nathaniel Hunt- ington and Jacob Call were enrolled as at- torneys. At the May term, 1822, Jacob Har- lan acted as clerk pr> tein., and John M. Rob- inson appears upon the records as the first State's attorney for the county of Clark, John Jackson enrolled as a regular attorney. In 1823 the county seat was moved from Aurora to Darwin. In 1825 Hon. James O. Wattles succeeded Wilson as Circuit Judge. At the November term, 1825, Judge James Hall held a term of the court, and at this term T. C. Cone was enrolled as an attorney. Then in 1826 Judge Wattles again presides, and at the April term, 1827, Wilson is again on the bench. In 1831 Edwin B. Webb ap- pears as the State's attorney. O. B. FiciCLiN. — In 1830, now fifty-three years ago, in a memorable day in September, appeared in the little town of Darwin, the Hon. O. B. Ficklin, " on horseback." Judge Ficklin says he can distinctly remember the day, because it was just as the little town was in the greatest state of excitement over finding a den of snakes. He thinks if the whole village had been suffering an attack of jim-jams thev could not have had a worse at- tack of snakes. When found, the reptiles were intertwined into an immense roll, larger than a bale of hay, where they had apparent- ly gathered to go into winter quarters. When disturbed they started in every direction, and the people en masse had armed themselves and were working away in the slaughter like men threshing wheat with old-styled flails. The old judge says his arrival was wholly eclipsed by the serpents, but ho congratulates himself that he has stayed longer than the snakes, at least longer than that particular ■2S4 HISTORY OF CLAUK COUXTV. batch of them. Tlip people were not so much to blame for overlooking him and seeing only the snakes. They didn't know him then, as well as pretty much everybody in Illinois now does; they did know the snakes, and they literally pulverized the heads of the de- scendants of the first apple vender with their heels, and with sticks, clubs or anything they could lay their hands upon. Ficklin rode up to the tavern, dismounted, carried his rather emaciated saddle-bags into the house, had his horse put up, and immediately joined the lit- tle array that was so bravely battling with reptiles. Ficklin came from Missouri to Illi- nois, and fi.^ed his home at Mt. Carmel, and thus became a member of the Wabash bar, and entered actively upon the practice of his chosen profession. He diligently continued his studios, struggled hard to pay his light expenses of living, and by untiring energy to win a name and just fame among his fellow members of the bar. He was then but a bright, inexperienced boy, having been born in Scott County, Ky., December 10, 1808. It is not intended here to give a statistical bioii-raphv of Judge Ficklin, but rather a mere outline of dates and facts, as a founda- tion on whicli to build, or place a sketch of the man mentalU', morally, socially and polit- ically. His political life commenced as early as 1834, when he was elected to the Legisla- ture at Vandalia, the then State capitol. Here he first met Douglas, Lincoln, John T. Stewart, Jesse K. Duljois and many others who afterward gained wide celebrity. He describes Douglas as the little, sprightly boy of the Legislature, very bright, affaljle, indus- trious, and universally liked and petted by all the members. Lincoln was long, gang- linn-, uncouth, and his clothes always fit badly, and he looked so awkward that his friends were always afraid he would tramp on his own feet and trip himself. But he could tell a good story; sometimes showed fair ability in argjument, and was conceded to be an opponent who would bear a great deal of watching. Jesse K. Dubois — well, everybody on the Wabash knows him, and respects and loves his memory. He was one of the kind- est hearted, most genial men that Illinois ever produced. His power with men lay in his kind, warm heart. John T. Stewart impress- ed voung Ficklin as the giant among these pigmies, both intellectually and physically. He was all intellect, without thut flow of animal spirits that are generally essential to a politician. Then, too, he was more given to be a great lawyer than a great politician. His whole nature imbued him with the aristocratic ideas of the Whig party, and the Whig party in the early days of Illinois, was not well adapted to the wants and ideas of the people. Hence, Mr. Stewart never entered very seriously into polities, especially afte-r his momorable contest with Douglas for a seat in the United States Coni-ress. These were the men that Ficklin met at the State capitol in the winter of 1834. His recollec- tion is most distinct upon the point that there certainly was not one there who then even dreamed there was not only the materials for presidents, but men who by sheer force of their intellects, and in defiance of defeats in elec- tions, would send their fame all over the