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Publication Number Twenty-eight
OF THE
ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY
TRANSACTIONS
OF THE
Illinois State Historical Society
FOR THE YEAR 1921
Twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Society, Springfield, Illinois, May 10-11, 1921
Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library
[Printed by authority of the State of Illinois.]
'1656— 3M— 1922
CONTENTS.
Officers of the Society page
Editorial Note '. 7
Constitution of the Illinois State Historical Society 8
An Appeal to the Historical Society and to the General Public 11
PART I— RECORD OF OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS, ANNUAL MEETING,
1921.
Directors' Meeting 15
Business Meeting 18
Report of the Genealogical Committee 23
Secretary's Report 26
PART II— PAPERS READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING, 1921.
William E. Barton, D. D., LL. D. — The Making of Abraham Lincoln and
the Influence of Illinois in his Development. 32
R. E. Hieronymus — Art in Historic Communities 54
John M. Glenn— The Industrial Development of Illinois 55
Chester J. Attig — Some Governmental Problems in the Northwest Terri- tory, 1787-1803 75
John H. Hauberg — Indian Trails Centering at Black Hawk's Village. ... 87 E. Bently Hamilton — The Union League: Its Origin and Achievements
in the Civil War 110
William W. Sweet — Peter Cartwright in Illinois History 116
Ralph Dempsey — William Reid Curran — In Memoriam, 1854-1921 124
PART III— CONTRIBUTIONS TO STATE HISTORY.
The Zearings, Earliest Settlers of the Name in Illinois, by Luelja Zear-
ing Gross 129
Sketch of the Life of Major James Roberts Zearing, M. D., 139
Civil War Letters of Major James Roberts Zearing, M. D., 1861-1865 150
Index.
List of Publications of the Illinois State Historical Library and Society.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2012 with funding from
State of Indiana through the Indiana State Library
http://archive.org/details/transactionsofilv28illi
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.
President Dr. Otto L. Schmidt Chicago
Vice Presidents.
George A. Lawrence Galesburg
L. Y. Sherman Springfield
Richard Yates Springfield
Ensley Moore Jacksonville
Charles L, Capen Bloomington
Directors
Edmund J. James, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
E. B. Greene, University of Illinois. Urbana-Champaign
Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber Springfield
Charles H. Rammelkamp, President Illinois College. . . .Jacksonville George W. Smith, Southern Illinois State Normal University. . . .
: Carbondale
Richard V. Carpenter. Belvidere
Edward C. Page, Northern Illinois State Normal School DeKalb
Andrew Russel Jacksonville
Walter Colyer Albion
James A. James, Northwestern University Evanston
H. W. Clendenin Springfield
Stuart Brown Springfield
Rev. Ira W. Allen LaGrange
John H. Hauberg Rock Island
Orrin N. Carter Chicago
Secretary and Treasurer Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber Springfield
Assistant Secretary Miss Georgia L. Osborne Springfield
Honorary Vice Presidents The Presidents of Local Historical Societies
EDITORIAL NOTE.
Following the practice of the Publication Committee in previous years, this volume includes, besides the official proceedings and the papers read at the last annual meeting, some essays and other matter contributed during the year. It is hoped that these "contributions to State History" may, in larger measure as the years go on, deserve their title, and form an increasingly valuable part of the Society's transac- tions. The contributions are intended to include the following kinds of material:
1. Hitherto unpublished letters and other documentary material. This part of the volume should supplement the more formal and exten- sive publication of official records in the Illinois historical collections, which are published by the trustees of the State Historical Library.
2. Papers of a reminiscent character. These should be selected with great care, for memories and reminiscences are at their best an uncertain basis for historical knowledge.
3. Historical essays or brief monographs, based upon the sources and containing genuine contributions to knowledge. Such papers should be accompanied by foot-notes indicating with precision the authorities upon which the papers are based. The use of new and original material and the care with which the authorities are cited, will be one of the main factors in determining the selection of papers for publication.
4. Bibliographies.
5. Occasional reprints of books, pamphlets or parts of books now out of print and not easily accessible.
Circular letters have been sent out from time to time urging the members of the Society to contribute such historical material, and appeals for it have been issued in the pages of the Journal. The com- mittee desires to repeat and emphasize these requests.
It is the desire of the committee that this annual publication of the Society supplement, rather than parallel or rival, the distinctly official publications of the State Historical Library. In historical research, as in so many other fields, the best results are likely to be achieved through the cooperation of private initiative with public authority. It was to promote such cooperation and mutual undertaking that this Society was organized. Teachers of history, whether in schools or colleges, are especially urged to do their part in bringing to this publication the best results of local research and historical scholarship.
In conclusion it should be said that the views expressed in the various papers are those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the committee. Nevertheless, the committee will be glad to receive such corrections of fact or such general criticism as may appear to be deserved.
CONSTITUTION OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL
SOCIETY.
ARTICLE I— NAME AND OBJECTS.
Section 1. The name of the Society shall be the Illinois State Historical Society.
Sec. 2. The objects for which it is formed is to excite and stimulate a general interest in the history of Illinois ; to encourage historical research and investigation and secure its promulgation; to collect and preserve all forms of data in any way bearing upon the history of Illinois and its people.
ARTICLE II— OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY— THEIR ELEC- TION AND DUTIES.
Section 1. The management of the affairs of this Society shall be vested in a board of fifteen directors of which board the President of the Society shall be ex-ofdcio a member.
Sec 2. There shall be a President and as many Vice-Presidents, not less than three, as the Society may determine at the annual meet- ings. The board of directors, five of whom shall constitute a quorum, shall elect its own presiding officer, a secretary and treasurer, and shall have power to appoint from time to time such officers, agents and committees as- they may deem advisable, and to remove the same at pleasure.
Sec. 3. The directors shall be elected at the annual meetings and the mode of election shall be by ballot, unless by a vote of a ma- jority of members present and entitled to vote, some other method may be adopted.
Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of the board of directors diligently to promote the objects for which this Society has been formed and to this end they shall have power: ■ • •
(1) To search out and preserve in permanent form for the use of the people of the State of Illinois, facts and data in the history of the State and of each county thereof, including the pre-historic periods and the history of the aboriginal inhabitants together, with biographies of distinguished persons who have rendered services to the people of the State.
(2) To accumulate and preserve for like use, books, pamphlets, newspapers and documents bearing upon the foregoing topics.
(3) To publish from time to time for like uses its own transac- tions as well as such facts and documents bearing upon its objects as it may secure.
(4) To accumulate for like use such articles of historic interest as may bear upon the history of persons and places within the State.
• (5) To receive by gift, grant, devise, bequest or purchase, books, prints, paintings, manuscripts, libraries, museums, moneys and other property, real or personal, in aid of the above objects.
(6) They shall have general charge and control under the direc- tion of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library, of all property so received and hold the same for the uses aforesaid in accordance with an act of the Legislature approved May 16, 1903, en- titled, "An Act to add a new section to an act entitled, 'An Act to estab- lish the Illinois State Historical Library and to provide for its care and maintenance, and to make appropriations therefor,' " approved May 26, 1889, and in force July 1, 1889; they shall make and approve all con- tracts, audit all accounts and order their payment, and in general see to the carrying out of the orders of the Society. They may adopt by-laws not inconsistent with this Constitution for the management of the affairs of the Society ; they shall fix the times and places for their meetings ; keep a record of their proceedings, and make report to the Society at its annual meeting.
Sec. 5. Vacancies in the board of directors may be filled by elec- tion by the remaining members, the persons so elected to continue in office until the next annual meeting.
Sec. 6. The President shall preside at all meetings of the Society, and in case of his absence or inability to act, one of the Vice Presidents shall preside in his stead, and in case neither President nor Vice Presi- dent shall be in attendance, the Society may choose a President pro tempore.
Sec. 7. The officers shall perform the duties usually devolving upon such offices, and such others as may from time to time be pre- scribed by the Society or the board of directors. The Treasurer shall keep a strict account of all receipts and expenditures and pay out money from the treasury only as directed by the board of directors ; he shall submit an annual report of the finances of the Society and such other matters as may be committed to his custody to the board of directors within such time prior to the annual meetings as they shall direct, and after auditing the same the said board shall submit said report to the Society at its annual meeting.
ARTICLE III— MEMBERSHIP.
Section 1. The membership of this Society shall consist of five classes, to-wit : Active, Life, Affiliated, Corresponding, and Honorary.
Sec. 2. Any person may become an active member of this Society upon payment of such initiation fee not less than one dollar, as shall from, time to time be prescribed by the board of directors.
Sec. 3. Any person entitled to be an active member may, upon payment of twenty-five dollars, be admitted as a life member with all the privileges of an active member and shall thereafter be exempt from annual dues.
Sec. 4. County and other historical societies, and other societies engaged in historical or archaeological research or in the preservation of the knowledge of historic events, may, upon the recommendation of
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the board of directors be admitted as affiliated members of this Society upon the same terms as to the payment of initiation fees and annual dues as active and life members. Every society so admitted shall be entitled to one duly credited representative at each meeting of the Society, who shall, during the period of his appointment, be entitled as such representative to all the privileges of an active member except that of being elected to office; but nothing herein shall prevent such repre- sentative becoming an active or life member upon like conditions as other persons.
Sec. 5. Persons not active nor life members but who are willing to lend their assistance and encouragement to the promotion of the objects of this Society, may, upon recommendation of the board of directors, be admitted as corresponding members.
Sec. 6. Honorary membership may be conferred at any meeting of the Society upon the recommendation of the board of directors upon persons who have distinguished themselves by eminent services or contributions to the cause of history.
Sec. 7. Honorary and corresponding members shall have the privilege of attending and participating in the meetings of the Society.
ARTICLE IV— MEETINGS AND QUORUM.
Section 1. There shall be an annual meeting of this Society for the election of officers, the hearing of reports, addresses and historical papers and the transaction of business at such time and place in the month of May in each year as may be designated by the board of directors, for which meeting it shall be the duty of said board of directors to prepare and publish a suitable program and procure the services of persons well versed in history to deliver addresses or read essays upon subjects germane to the objects of this organization.
Sec. 2. Special meetings of the Society may be called by the board of directors. Special meetings of the boards of directors may be called by the President or any two members of the board.
Sec. 3. At any meeting of the Society the attendance of ten mem- bers entitled to vote shall be necessary to a quorum.
ARTICLE V— AMENDMENTS.
Section 1. This constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members present and entitled to vote, at any annual meeting : Provided, that the proposed amendment shall have first been submitted to the board of directors, and at least thirty days prior to such annual meeting notice of proposed action upon the same, sent by the Secretary to all the members of the Society.
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AN APPEAL TO THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
Objects of Collection Desired by the Illinois State Historical Library
and Society.
(Members please read this circular letter.)
Books and pamphlets on American history, biography, and gene- alogy, particularly those relating to the West ; works on Indian tribes, and American archaeology and ethnology ; reports of societies and in- stitutions of every kind, educational, economic, social, political, co- operative, fraternal, statistical, industrial, charitable ; scientific publica- tions of states or societies ; books or pamphlets relating to all wars in which Illinois has taken part and the wars with the Indians ; privately printed works ; newspapers ; maps and charts ; engravings ; photo- graphs ; autographs ; coins ; antiquities ; encyclopedias, dictionaries, and bibliographical works. Especially do we desire —
EVERYTHING RELATING TO ILLINOIS.
1. Every book or pamphlet on any subject relating to Illinois, or any part of it ; also every book or pamphlet written by an Illinois citi- zen, whether published in Illinois or elsewhere ; material for Illinois history ; old letters, journals.
2. Manuscripts ; narratives of the pioneers of Illinois ; original papers on the early history and settlement of the territory ; adventures and conflicts during the early settlement, the Indian troubles, or the great rebellion, or other wars ; biographies of the pioneers ; prominent citizens and public men of every county, either living or deceased, together with their portraits and autographs ; a sketch of the settle- ments of every township, village and neighborhood in the State, with the names of the first settlers. We solicit articles on every subject connected with Illinois history.
3. City ordinances, proceedings of mayor and council ; reports of committees of council ; pamphlets or papers of any kind printed by authority of the city ; reports of boards of trade and commercial asso- ciations ; maps of cities and plats of town sites or of additions thereto.
4. Pamphlets of all kinds ; annual reports of societies ; sermons or addresses delivered in the State; minutes of church conventions, synods, or other ecclesiastical bodies of Illinois ; political addresses ; railroad reports ; all such, whether published in pamphlet or newspaper.
5. Catalogues and reports of colleges and other institutions of learning; annual or other reports of school boards, school superin-
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tendents and school committees ; educational pamphlets, programs and papers of every kind, no matter how small or apparently unimportant.
6. Copies of the earlier laws, journals and reports of our terri- torial and State Legislatures; earlier Governor's messages and reports of State Officers ; reports of State charitable and other State institu- tions.
7. Files of Illinois newspapers and magazines, especially com- plete volumes of past years, or single numbers even. Publishers are earnestly requested to contribute their publications regularly, all of which will be carefully preserved and bound.
8. Maps of the State, or of counties or townships, of any date; views and engravings of buildings or historic places ; drawings or photographs of scenery, paintings, portraits, etc., connected with Illinois history.
9. Curiosities of all kinds ; coins, medals, paintings ; portraits ; engravings; statuary; war relics; autograph letters of distinguished persons, etc.
10. Facts illustrative of our Indian tribes — their history, charac- teristics, religion, etc., sketches of our prominent chiefs, orators and warriors, together with contributions of Indian weapons, costumes, ornaments, curiosities and implements ; also stone axes, spears, arrow heads, pottery, or other relics.
In brief, everything that, by the most liberal construction, can illustrate the history of Illinois, its early settlement, its progress, or present condition. All will be of interest to succeeding generations. Contributions will be credited to the donors in the published reports of the Library and Society, and will be carefully preserved in the State- house as the property of the State, for the use and benefit of the people for all time.
Your attention is called to the important duty of collecting and preserving everything relating to the part taken by the State of Illinois in the late great World War.
Communications or gifts may be addressed, to the Librarian and Secretary.
(Mrs.) Jessie Palmer Weber.
PART I
RECORD OF OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS
1921
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MEETING OF THE DIRECTORS OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, MAY 11, 1921.
The directors of the Illinois State Historical Society met in the Clerk's office in the Supreme Court building on May 11, 1921. There were present Doctor O. L. Schmidt, Mr. Andrew Russel, Mr. H. W. Clendenin, Walter Colyer, J. H. Hauberg, Charles H. Rammelkamp and the Secretary, Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber.
The minutes of the last previous meeting of the directors were read and approved. The Secretary's report was read and the various items presented were considered. The Secretary spoke of the new plan for consolidation of some departments of the State Library and of the proposed new Division of Archives. Doctor Rammelkamp spoke of the extreme importance of this step and said that he believed that the Secretary of State was the logical person to have this work in charge. The question was asked as to what constituted State Archives, and it was the consensus of opinion of those present that State Archives include papers and documents of the various departments of the State administration and also may include the records of the counties of the State. Some one spoke of various letters of Mr. Lincoln and Doctor Schmidt said that of course, these belonged to the department of biography, and that in any event Mr. Lincoln was not an official of the State of Illinois, and of course anything relating to him is of great importance. Dr. Schmidt spoke of the letters written by Mr. Lincoln to the War Governor Yates and said that he understood that the younger Governor Yates had sold them to some dealer in New York for the sum of $3,000, but that this was a rumor and he had made no effort to verify it.
The proposed State Park Commission bill was considered. Mr. Hauberg spoke of the various historic sites in and about Rock Island. A memorial was presented from the citizens of Randolph County in relation to the proposed parks in that neighborhood, particularly the one known as Garrison Hill. The directors recommended that the Society pass a resolution on the subject of the purchase of these his- toric sites and its approval of the proposed State Park bill.
The Librarian reported that the plan for the purchase of the property adjacent to the Lincoln Home had been received with favor by the Appropriations Committee of the General Assembly. Mr. Roberts, a member of the House of Representatives, has taken a great deal of interest in the matter and will take care of it in the House. There is no doubt but what a reasonable appropriation will be made.
The Secretary reported plans for the completion of the work of the Lincoln Circuit Marking Association and the directors gave their
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approval to them and suggested that the Historical Society aid in this work in every manner possible.
The Secretary reported that plans were well on foot to mark the important places in Springfield which were connected with the life of Abraham Lincoln as a resident of this city. The Secretary also reported as to the progress of the Centennial Memorial Building and said that she hoped that within another year the Library and Society would be able to move into new quarters.
She reported on the manner in which the names to be engraved on the exterior of the building were selected. There are 28 names and Doctor Schmidt, Professor Greene, Mr. Alvord and the Secretary of the Historical Society and other persons were asked to make a list of 28 persons connected with the history of Illinois from the very beginning. These lists were made and as a matter of course a large number of names appeared on each list. After the names appearing on each list were checked off those having a preponderance of votes were voted upon and in this manner a list was arranged.
The Librarian reported that the records of the State Council of Defense including papers, films, etc., had been turned over to the Illi- nois State Historical Library by the Council when closing up its busi- ness.
The Secretary reported that the Genealogical Department of the Library is growing rapidly, has many patrons and much interest is shown in this department by persons studying family history or attempting to make up records for entrance into hereditary societies. The chairman of the Genealogical Committee will report at length on this work.
The Secretary also reported on the progress of the History of the 33d Division, by Lieutenant Colonel Frederic L. Huidekoper, now in press. She stated that the plan is to produce the work in three or more volumes. The first volume to be the narrative history of the entire movement of the division from the time it was mustered into the Federal service until mustered out. A copy of this history will be sent to each member of the division as far as the members can be located. The Secretary requests that the Society be urged to assist in the labor of finding the correct addresses of the soldiers of the Division.
The President of the Society has appointed in the place of Mr. William A., Meese, deceased, Professor J. A. James as a member of the Committee to locate the site of Fort Crevecoeur. The General Assembly has appropriated a small sum of money to place the marker on the site selected by the Historical Society as the site of the old fort, the site of which is so much disputed. The, other members of this committee are Jacob C. Thompson and Professor C. W. Alvord.
The Secretary spoke of the fact that the committees of the Illinois State Historical Society are doing very little and urged the members to make suggestions as to committees, their personnel and duties. The Secretary reported that she had sent letters to a considerable number of members of the Society asking suggestions for topics and speakers
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for the annual meeting and for publication in the Journal and that she had received very satisfactory response.
The Secretary stated that Professor J. A. James, one of the Direc- ors of the Historical Society, has been invited to deliver a series of lectures at the University of Prague in Bohemia and he is about this time starting to assume these duties. He will probably be abroad through the summer and is accompanied by Mrs. James. It was sug- gested that the best wishes of the Society go with Professor and Mrs. James for their good health and for the success of the lecture course.
The Secretary also reported that Professor E. B. Greene usually unfailing in his attendance on the meetings of the Society is doing some special work in the libraries of Cambridge and Boston and will be unable to be present.
The Secretary reported the deaths of a large number of the members of the Historical Society, among them being two directors, Mr. William R. Curran and Mr. Clinton S. Conkling. She also spoke of the death of Doctor J. F. Snyder, one of the founders of the Society and one of the most interested and painstaking historians of Illinois. She spoke of the death of Mrs. Alice Edwards Ferguson, a mem- ber of the Society, who had always been most interested in the work. Mrs. Ferguson was a member of an historic family, being the daughter of Judge Benjamin S. Edwards and the granddaughter of Governor Ninian Edwards, territorial and State Governor and United States Senator. Other members deceased were also mentioned. The report of the Secretary was read with attention, was approved and it was directed that it be read at the business meeting of the Society.
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BUSINESS MEETING OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 1921.
The annual business meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society was held in the Supreme Court Building, Wednesday, May 11, 1921, President, Doctor Otto L. Schmidt, presiding.
The first order of business was a call for the reading of the min- utes of the previous meeting. As they had been published in the 1920 Transactions of the Society, this formality was dispensed with.
The Chairman then called for the reading of reports, the first being that of Secretary-Treasurer of the Society. Miss Osborne, the Assistant Secretary of the Society and Chairman of the Genealogical Committee, was called upon to give the report of that committee.
The next order of business was the reports from the various local Historical Societies.
Mr. Ensley Moore of Jacksonville took a point of order and asked if it would not be necessary to take action on the two reports submitted. Doctor Schmidt replied as there were no objections to either report they stood approved.
Mr. Moore stated that he wanted to suggest that the Society rise in respect to the departed members and that the Reverend Ira W. Allen be asked to make a prayer.
Doctor Schmidt requested that the Society arise in reverential memory of those who have passed on and Reverend Ira W. Allen offered prayer.
The Chairman then requested that the local Historical Society reports be given. Doctor Rammelkamp was called upon for the report from Morgan County and stated his Society was not particularly active at this time. That during the Centennial year they cooperated with the Centennial Commission and the other counties in putting on an his- torical pageant at that time. Since then the Society has been rather quiescent, but will probably become active again as Morgan County will soon celebrate its own centennial.
Mr. Hauberg spoke for Rock Island County. He told of the placing of cases in the corridor of the County Court House ; one case contained exclusively Indian relics, another pioneer relics and the third a mixture. People as they come through from all parts of the State and county see these cases, are attracted by them and through this in- terest the County is constantly receiving relics because the people seeing these things are reminded of things they have at home.
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Mrs. Weber stated she had received reports from County His- torical Societies as follows :
Galesburg, Illinois, May 9, 1921. From Knox County. Sec'y Illinois State Hist. Society.
My Dear Mrs. Weber: My brief report concerning the present status of the Knox County Historical Society has been delayed from various causes. I am now sending you a special delivery letter, hoping it may reach you before the meeting of tomorrow morning has progressed beyond the report from the various counties. As you already know, our Knox County organiza- tion has been inactive for some years. The war, politics and disturbed con- ditions in general have been unfavorable to the renewal of our activities. T am hoping that some time we may take on new life and action. I am trying hard to bring that good time about. In the meantime the officers continue in their respective offices until their successors are appointed, and so I will report the following officers:
Mr. Fred R. Jelliff, editor of the Galesburg Republican-Register is the acting President, since the death of Dr. J. P. Standish, (President).
Mrs. Charles Ashley Webster, Secretary.
Mr. James H. Lacey (?), Treasurer.
Mr. W. F. Boyes, County Superintendent of Schools, is acting Vice Pres- ident.
The four above named represent the present active interest in the organ- ization. It was not possible for either one of us to attend the meeting, although we all would have been very glad to do so.
Very truly yours,
Martha Farnam Webster, (Mrs. Charles Ashley Webster)
Apt. 1, 144 West Simmons St.,
Galesburg, Illinois. The following was received from St. Clair County: St. Clair County was 131 years old on April 27th. It was the first county organized in the Northwest Territory. We have the oldest and most valuable historical repository in the State at Belleville, the county seat. The oldest civil record west of the Alleghany Mountains is here; it dates back to 1737, and is bound in hog-hide. We have a County Historical Association composed of 27 members.
Respectfully,
(Signed) J. Nick Perrin, President St. Clair County Hist. Assn.
From Kankakee County.
Kankakee, Illinois, May 9, 1921. To Officers and Members of the Illinois State Historical Society, in Session at Springfield, Illinois, May 10th and 11th, 1921 :
A hearty greeting of the officers and members of the Kankakee County Historical Society is extended, and an earnest wish for the successful carry- ing out of the very interesting and entertaining program prepared for the edification of those in attendance. Sorry not to be able to enjoy the interest- ing features of the session.
Very Respectfully and Sincerely,
Benjamin F. Uran, President Kankakee County Historical Society.
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Marseilles, Illinois, May 9, 1921. Secretary State Historical Society,
Springfield, Illinois: Dear Madam: — The invitation to the Manlius-Rutland Historical Sbciety received. The society regrets that it is unable to send a personal delegate to Springfield to attend the annual meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society on Wednesday, May 11th, 1921.
At a meeting held this afternoon, the society, by resolution, instructed the secretary to convey to the meeting of the Illinois State Historical Society their appreciation of the invitation extended to them, and desire to report to your meeting that the Manlius-Rutland Historical Society is meeting regularly each month, and are engaged in general research work relating to the history of the two townships in which the city of Marseilles is located, and collecting and preserving all historical data pertaining to this locality.
With cordial greeting and best wishes for the success of the State meet- ing, I remain sincerely yours,
Petet M. Mac Arthur,
Secretary.
Mr. Owen Scott spoke for Macon County. Said that the Society was moving along with no great efficiency, but that Judge McCoy was doing his best to keep the Society together, and its progress is reason- ably satisfactory. He stated that Decatur had many historical inter- ests—the organization of the G. A. R. occurred in Decatur. Here also Lincoln's name as a candidate for president was presented for the first time to a Convention.
Mr. L. J. Freese represented the Woodford County Historical Society. Told about the number of relics they had. Some years ago he stated he took steps to arrange an exhibit to show the people of his locality the necessity of having a museum for that county. The Society was very active until the war came, then interest waned and was diverted to other channels, but the Society is now planning to renew their efforts. He stated that the County has the old Court House in which Lincoln practiced law. That during his absence in the South effort was made to have the Legislature appropriate a sum to take over this building.
Mr. Freese stated that his home was one of the oldest in the county, and ever since he was a boy he had collected relics and that he had over 4,000 in his collection containing Indian points. He has now sold his home and does not know what will become of the relics. If his county had a museum he would present his collection.
Doctor Schmidt suggested that they be given to the State His- torical Society and was greeted with a chorus of approvals from the members. Doctor Schmidt then spoke of an archaeological survey for the State and said how backward we were on the archaeological his- tory of the State. Told how famous Ohio had become on account of its collection. Wisconsin, too, had a large collection. How tourists were going there to look at the Indian relics, mounds, etc., each year. Illinois had done practically nothing on this line. He spoke of the bill before the House of Representatives for the purchase of historic and beauty spots and stated that if this were done we would thus prob- ably secure Cahokia Mound and Black Hawk's watch tower. Stated little was known in Illinois generally about this archaeological material.
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Told about seeing an axe 2 feet long, probably the largest in the coun- try, which was found in the American bottoms near Alton, Illinois, in a museum outside of this state. Missouri has a large collection of Indian tools. In one museum he said a ceremonial knife and other objects which came from Illinois — the American Bottoms — and yet there is no place in this State where you can see these things. Stated there should be a survey to know where these mounds are and what to do for them. Doctor Schmidt then told about a letter that had been received from Winnebago County, telling of the mound in that county.
Mr. Moore suggested that action be taken toward securing the Woodford County collection.
Mr. Freese stated there were 30 or 40 so called Indian mounds that had been ploughed over. Told of skeletons having been removed from them and taken out of the county, and hoped that there would be a survey.
Mr. Colyer spoke of a collection of Indian relics of which he had knowledge.
The Chairman asked for further reports. Mr. Bates made the report for Tazewell County and spoke of the loss of Judge Curran, the President of the Society. He spoke briefly on the Union League and gave a list of the names of the first council of that League.
Doctor Schmidt called his attention to the paper of the afternoon on that subject and asked for further reports.
Mr. Lodge made the report for Piatt County. He stated they had a room in the Court house and were developing a museum on cer- tain lines — cooking utensils, fire places, weaving, etc., of the pioneers. That the Lincoln Circuit had been privately marked in their county. Fort Clark-Wabash Trail marked. Place where arrangements were made for the Lincoln-Douglas Debates marked. Have a full line of exemption cards used by the Exemption Board. Have letters and portraits of all the boys from the county in the Service. A cabin on the banks of the river that next fall will be one hundred years old and which was the first built in the county. Expect to celebrate at that time.
Mrs. I. G. Miller of Springfield said she had no report to make, but spoke of the effort of business men of this city to have the present court house, (the Third Capitol of Illinois), torn down to make room for municipal buildings, and desired that the Historical Society vigor- ously protest against any such action.
Doctor Schmidt asked if there was any further business. Mr. Hauberg moved the appointment of a Nominating Committee.
Before action was taken on this motion, Rev. Ira W. Allen, of LaGrange, presented resolutions as follows:
Whereas, Old Kaskaskia was the center of French influence in the upper Mississippi Valley, the key to the control of the Northwest by Great Britain, Virginia and the United States, the capital of Illinois Territory, and the first capital of the State, and is peculiarly the shrine of historic interest and memory for Illinois; and,
Whereas, There has, been introduced into the Senate of the Fifty-second General Assembly House Bill No. 310 entitled, "An Act in relation to State Parks and Preserves," providing an appropriation of $500,000 for the pur- chase of parks and historic sites; and,
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Whereas, There has also been introduced into the Senate House Bill 526 entitled, "An Act making an appropriation for the purpose of creating and establishing a State Park on what is called the "Garrison Hill Tract," providing an appropriation of $25,000 for the purchase for a public park of old Garrison Hill.
Resolved, That the Illinois State Historical Society in its annual meeting is deeply interested in the project of the preservation of this historic site, the site of Black Hawk's watch tower and other historic sites in the State, and earnestly urges its accomplishment under the terms of one or the other bill, whichever may to the Governor and the General Assembly seem more expedient.
Resolved, That copies -of these resolutions be transmitted by the secretary of the society to the Honorable Len Small, Governor of Illinois, to the Hon- orable Fred Sterling, Lieutenant Governor, and to the Honorable Gotthard Dahlberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
On motion, this resolution was seconded and passed.
Mr. Hauberg asked if this was not taken care of in Mrs. Weber's report and was told her's was merely a suggestion.
The matter of a nominating committee was then taken up and on motion the appointment of this committee was made by the Chair- man as follows:
Mrs. I. G. Miller, Mrs. Isabel Jamison, Mr. Lodge, Miss Lotte E. Jones and Mr. Freese. The committee retired to the ante room.
Doctor Schmidt then called upon Mrs. Chubbuck, State Regent of the D. A. R. for a short talk.
Mrs. Cubbuck said that as a D. A. R. she was deeply interested in the historical work of the organization as well as that of other organizations of the State. That with these societies combined and the same object before us, we will accomplish much that will prove valuable to us of today and to those who follow us.
She thought the movement to encourage the young people of this State to read and search for these gems of history is most commend- able and deserves time and thought in its organization and develop- ment. It is not one of the least valuable issues of this movement that it will greatly enrich the lives of our children. She assured the Society of the cooperation of the State D. A. R. She then spoke of the formation of an Historical Commission and of its great value to the State. She told of how much the D. A. R. had accomplished in preserving historical spots, documents and relics and in encouraging historical research and of how much interested they were in the for- mation of an Historical Commission in the State of Illinois.
Mrs. Chubbuck spoke of the Michigan Historical Commission and said she realized that changes would have to be made to adapt the plan for Illinois. She stated that Mrs. Weber, the Secretary of the State Historical Society, had been appointed by the Illinois Con- ference of the D. A. R. to look into this and make plans for this Commission. That the two societies could cooperate in the work and get a bill through the Illinois Legislature.
Doctor Schmidt, the chairman, then called for the report of the Nominating Committee which had returned to the room. The Chair- man, Mrs. Miller, reported the nominations as follows :
President — Dr. Otto L. Schmidt, Chicago.
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Vice Presidents — George A. Lawrence, Galesburg; L. Y. Sher- man, Springfield ; Richard Yates, Springfield ; Ensley Moore, Jackson- ville; Charles L. Capen, Bloomington.
Directors.
Edmund J. James.
E. B. Greene, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber, Springfield.
Charles H. Rammelkamp, Illinois College, Jacksonville.
George W. Smith, Southern 111. State Normal School, Carbondale.
Richard V. Carpenter, Belvidere.
Edward C. Page, Northern 111. State Normal School, DeKalb.
Andrew Russel, Jacksonville.
Walter Colyer, Albion.
James A. James, Northwestern University, Evanston.
H. W. Clendenin, Springfield.
John H. Hauberg, Rock Island.
Orrin N. Carter, Evanston.
Stuart Brown, Springfield.
Rev. Ira W. Allen, LaGrange.
Secretary and Treasurer — Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber, Springfield.
Assistant Secretary — Miss Georgia L. Osborne, Springfield.
It was moved and seconded that the report of the nominating committee be accepted. Motion passed, and the report was adopted.
Mr. James M. Graham moved that the candidates named by the Nominating Committee be now elected and that the Secretary be in- structed to cast the ballot at the meeting for those nominations. This motion was seconded and passed. The Secretary cast the ballot for the Society.
Doctor Schmidt stated the next order of business was the me- morial of Judge W. R. Curran by Mr. Dempsey, who was present and gave his paper.
At the conclusion of Mr. Dempsey's paper Mr. John Glenn was called upon for his paper on "The Industrial Development of Illinois/ at the conclusion of which Mr. Pringle of Chicago made a motion that the thanks of the Society be given Mr. Glenn for his splendid con- tribution.
The Society then adjourned until 2 :45 in the afternoon.
Report of Committee of Genealogy. To the Members of the Illinois State Historical Society:
Your Committee on Genealogy and Genealogical Publications begs leave to report that, "The Ancestor Industry never lags." "After each war there is again the popular interest in ancestral and family trees. Genealo- gists object to the idea that there is a revival in genealogy now going on. because they say that a revival implies a lull of interest, and there has been no lull. Any way you put it, since the war there has been a great deal of ancestry hunting. Boys who fought in France met other boys with the same surname or some odd given name that ran in families, and after they became acquainted they would ask are you related to the Stewarts of Illinois, the Strouds of North Carolina, or the Headleys of Kentucky, or whatever the name might have been, and as a rule, the answer would be, "I do not know."
In our library we have had many of these returned soldiers looking up their ancestors in former wars. The Ter-Centenary of the Mayflower cele-
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brations renewed interest in the Pilgrims, and the Mayflower passengers. Our workers along this line are our most industrious students. One young man has at last been successful in tracing his ancestors to one or more of the Mayflower passengers.
We have recently purchased a set of "The Mayflower Descendant," a quarterly magazine of Pilgrim genealogy and history, published by the Massachusetts society of Mayflower descendants. We have also subscribed to The Boston Transcript, as on Wednesdays and Saturdays of each week they have a genealogical department as well as a fine one on Book Reviews.
We are adding from time to time to our collection the books which will be most valuable to our workers. Have recently secured five volumes of the Delaware Archives, published by the Public Archives Commission of Dela- ware, two volumes and index of Rhode Island, Civil and Military Lists cover- ing the period from 1647-185'0. This latter an exchange for our centennial publications.
We asked the State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. H. C. Chubbuck, to appoint a committee on genealogy in the D. A. R., and if their chairman could suggest a list of books that would be of service to the Daughters in searching out family history we would be glad to pur- chase them for our collection. Our reference work by mail increases and in most instances we have been able to supply the information, if not to put the questioner in touch with persons or places where such material could be obtained.
The gifts to the department we acknowledged through the Journal of the Historical Society. Some recent ones, however, are the following:
Mrs. Charles EL Knapp, historian of the Springfield Chapter, D. A. R., has recently made a map of Sangamon County, showing the location of the graves of the Revolutionary soldiers buried in the county; also the location of the graves of "Real Daughters." This map has the old post roads and Indian trails marked. Mrs. Knapp has also compiled many interesting events connected with Sangamon County, Illinois, in which we were of service to her, and this material has been given to the library.
In family histories we have received the following:
The Conkling Family. Typewritten copy, gift of Miss Alice Conkling, sister of the late Clinton L. Conkling, one of our directors.
The Devon Carys. Two volumes. Gift of Mr. Fairfax Harrison, of Farquier County Virginia.
The Ewing Family. The Ewing Genealogy with cognate branches. Gift of Judge Presley K. Ewing, of Houston, Texas.
The Minor Family. The Diary of Manasset Minor, Stonington, Conn., 1696-1720. Prepared by Frank Denison Minor with the assistance of Miss Hannah Miner, 1915. Gift of Mrs. Lewis H. Miner, Springfield, Illinois.
Morgan Family. Francis Morgan, an early Virginia Burgess and some of his descendants. By Annie Noble Sims, from the notes of Mr. William Owen Nixon Scott, and original sources. Savannah, Ga., 1920. Gift of Mrs. William Irwin Sims.
Sewall Family. Gift of Miss Helen Goodell, of Beardstown, Illinois. Miss Goodell has deposited in the library a diary of her ancestor, William Sewall, son of Gen. Henry Sewall, on officers in the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. William Sewall came to Illinois from Augusta, Maine, and kept this diary from Sept. 1, 1819, to the date of his death, 1845, at Chandlerville, Cass County Illinois. There are many letters and documents also in this collection from the Revolutionary ancestor, Gen. Henry Sewall.
Wood Family, of Shelf, Halifax, Yorkshire, England, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, N. Y., and Canada, written by Dr. Casey A. Wood. Gift of Dr. Casey A. Wood, M. D., M. R. C. U. S. Army. Chicago, 1920.
Mrs. Weber has suggested that we have a department in the Journal called "The Genealogical Department, Notes and Queries." If this is done we will solicit aid from the members of the society and trust we will have your hearty support, so as to make the department one of mutual benefit.
Respectfully submitted,
Georgia L. Osborne, Chairman Genealogical Committee, Illinois State Historical Society.
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PROGRAM OF THE TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Order of Exercises. Tuesday Evening, May 10, 1921. Supreme Court Room. Illinois. Invocation.
Address Art in Historic Communities
R. E. Hieronymus, Community Advisor University of Illinois, Urbana. Music.
Address Illinois History and Ideals of Beauty
Lorado Taft, Chicago.
Song Hail Illinois
The Springfield Art Association invites the Historical Society and its guests to attend a Tea and Exhibition at Historic Edwards' Place on Tuesday afternoon, May tenth, at three o'clock.
Wednesday Morning, May 11, 1921. 9. A. M. Directors Meeting in Conference Room.
Supreme Court Room. 10 A. M. Annual Business Meeting of the Society. Reports of Officers. The Secretary's Report — Includes brief biographies of deceased
members of the Society. Reports of Committees. Greetings from Local Historical Societies, limited to five minutes
each. Unfinished Business. Miscellaneous. Election of Officers. Memorial on the Life and Services of William R. Curran, late a Director of the Illinois State Historical Society, and President of the Lincoln Cir- cuit Marking Association, by
Ralph Dempsey, Pekin, 111.
Address The Industrial Development of Illinois
J. M. Glenn, Chicago. 12:30 O'Clock. Luncheon— St. Nicholas Hotel.
Address Poets and Poetry of Illinois
Mr. Stuart Brown, Springfield.
Wednesday Afternoon.
2:45 O'Clock.
Address Some Governmental Problems in the Northwest Territory
Chester J. Attig, Northwestern College, Naperville, 111.
Address Indian Trails Centering at Black Hawk's Village
John H. Hauberg, Rock Island. Address — The Union League — Its Organization and Achievements During the Civil War.
E. Bentley Hamilton, Peoria.
Address Peter Cartwright in the History of Illinois
William W. Sweet, De Pauw University, Greencastle, Ind. Wednesday Evening. Supreme Court Room. The Illinois Hymn. Songs.
Annual Address The Making of Abraham Lincoln
William E. Barton, Oak Park, 111. Reception.
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Members of the Society :
I beg to submit to you my report as Secretary of the Society for the year ending this day, May 11, 1921.
Each year I must of necessity tell you of the same duties and accomplishments, for the main objects of our work do not change. The Society has, I believe, made a real growth in influence. The Sec- retary receive many letters commending our work, congratulating us upon some particular piece of work or upon our general progress.
The New Centennial Memorial Building. We are looking forward now to moving into the new Centennial Memorial building, where we will have better facilities in every way. We will be sorry to leave the Capitol building, because of its close proximity to, and close co-operation with — other departments of the State work. It has been so easy for friends to come into the Library when visiting the State House, and members of the Legislature have brought in new members and told them of the work of the Society, and we have made many staunch friends in this way. We think we have been of service, too, to members of the General Assembly and other State officials in research work, and our newspaper files have been most popular. We will probably miss this close association, but we hope our rooms will be so attractive and our material so well arranged and our service so much more efficient as to more than compensate for the losses above mentioned. There will be telephone service to the State House, and there will be two tunnels between the new building and the Capitol building, one for foot passengers and one will be a service tun- nel. We hope that next year our Annual Meeting will be held in the Auditorium of the new building and that the Society will be settled in its permanent home. The auditorium will comfortably seat about 500 people. It will have a stage, a screen for moving picture films, etc. It is expected that the room will be used for many small conventions. On the second main floor will be the reading rooms and offices of the two libraries, the State Library and the State Historical Library and Soci- ety. The steel book stacks, which it is contemplated will eventually house more than a half million books, will not all be erected at present, but there will be ample room for both libraries and allowance made for more rapid growth than has been possible in our cramped quarters. One of the main features of the Historical Library will of course be its Lincoln collection. A beautiful Lincoln room will be a part of the new equipment.
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Collection of Lincolniana.
The Library and Society continue the search for Lincoln material, manuscripts, books and pictures. Our collection is already one of the finest in the country. It should be the greatest and most complete in the world.
Major E. S. Johnson, long custodian of the Lincoln Monument, died at Lincoln Lodge — the custodian's house — on February 15, 1921.
Mr. H. W. Fay of DeKalb, the noted collector of Lincolniana and other historical material, has been appointed custodian of the monu- ment. This is a most excellent appointment. Mr. Fay has brought to Springfield his unique collection, and as far as there is space for it, he will place it on exhibition at the monument.
Newspaper Files.
One of the most important and badly needed rooms will be the basement rooms for newspaper files. Our files are now scattered, and many of them almost inaccessible, though they are in constant demand, and in daily, even hourly, use. During the past year additions have been made to our collection of files besides the natural growth by the completion of volumes. As I have often before told you, we suscribe to three Chicago daily papers, one St. Louis paper, two Springfield papers, and to newspapers of several of the more important towns of the State. We bind the Chicago and St. Louis papers monthly, and the volumes are quite heavy. This makes 36 volumes a year. We bind the Springfield papers and some others every two months. This makes six volumes a year of each newspaper. Some of the smaller papers we bind quarterly, and so on, according to the size of the papers. Their growth is rapid and they require a large amount of shelf room.
Some newspapers have beeen added because of the excellent his- tory of the part taken by its community during the great war, which they contain. We have also added some valuable old files, among them the Illinois Advocate, Edwardsville, 1832-1833; the Quincy Whig, 1838-1850, and several other early newspapers of the State. The care and binding of newspapers is laborious and expensive, and yet some binders will not bid on our work, as they say there is no profit in it.
Genealogical Department.
Our genealogical department, which now suffers for want of space, will be conveniently arranged.
I asked Mrs. Chubbuck, State Regent of the D. A. R., to appoint a committee to suggest books for a working genealogical library. She asked one of the best genealogical workers in the State to make up such a list, which she did, after consultation with the librarian of the genealogical department of the Newberry Library, and kindly sent me a list embracing some 200 titles of works which she considered important for this purpose. We had in the library all but two of the books suggested, and we have since acquired these two.
The chairman of our committee on genealogy will make her annual report.
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Labor and Problems of Moving. The task of moving into the new building will be a considerable one, but by careful planning it can be accomplished expeditiously and much of our present equipment can be utilized.
Department of Archives to be Organized. A bill is before the present General Assembly which contemplates among other provisions the organization of a department of Archives to be a part of the State Library. This seems to be an excellent plan as the Secretary of State is the Librarian of the State Library and he is also the natural custodian of State Archives. The Secretary of State will, under the terms of the law, have the power of appointing an archivist.
Records of the State Council of Defense. The State Council of Defense, which did such wonderful work for Illinois during the great war, has turned over to the Historical Library and Society its great mass of records. These cannot be col- lated until we are in the new building, but they are well arranged in separate boxes, and papers relating to certain departments can be located if needed. These records include the films of moving pictures which were shown by the State Council during the war.
The Gunther Collection. The great collection made with such infinite pains and labor and such a great expenditure of money by the late Mr. Charles F. Gunther, who was a member of this society, has been purchased by the Chicago Historical Society through a committee of which Dr. O. L. Schmidt was an active member. The work of arranging and classifying it is being carried on as rapidly as possible. I hope that at our next meet- ing, if not before that time, in the Journal, we can have a description of the collection and the work of arranging it presented to us by Miss Caroline M. Mcllvaine, librarian of the Chicago Historical Society, who is giving much labor and attention to this great task.
War History. This Historical Library is vigorously pushing the collection of material relating to the history of the part taken by Illinois in the World War. In my last report I told you that a war history section of the library had been inaugurated with Mr. Wayne E. Stevens as secretary in charge of the work. Mr. Stevens gave up this position last November to go to Washington and assist in the preparation of the history of the air service in the late war. He was succeeded by his assistant, Miss Marguerite Jenison, who had been associated with the work almost from the beginning. Miss Jenison has recently at- tended a meeting in Washington of the war History Association in which the State of Illinois is represented. This is an association of officials of the various states, which maintains for the present a worker in the government archives at Washington, making a record of the papers contained therein relating to the war work of the several states.
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Within the next year or two the Historical Library will publish two volumes, at least, one containing statistics relating to Illinois war service, particularly in regard to its civilian or auxiliary service, the Red Cross, food and fuel conservation, the amount of war material furnished by Illinois manufacturers, etc. ; the other volume to be of documents, largely from the letters and diaries of the Illinois soldiers themselves.
History 33d Division.
This will be in addition to the History of the 33d Division by Lieut. Col. F. L. Huidekoper, which it is believed will be ready for distribu- tion during the present summer. A copy of this last mentioned history is to be sent to each member of the Division and to the families of deceased soldiers. The officers of the Division are taking great in- terest in the history and will, with the Posts of the American Legion, furnish the lists of names and addresses to which the history is to be sent. This is another large task. Think of sending out more than 20,000 volumes. Members, please let the soldier boys of your locality know that the State of Illinois is publishing an accurate history of the Division written by a scientific and eminent historian who was the adjutant of the Division during its service over seas. The history must not be confused with any commercial history, no matter how meritorious the commercial history may be. Governor Small is taking the greatest interest in the history and is very desirous that each soldier shall receive a copy.
State Park Commission.
There is now before the General Assembly a bill, the purpose of which is to create a State Park Commission, which shall be an ad- visory commission, and shall have under certain restrictions, control of State parks. It shall from time to time recommend the purchase of sites of historical interest or scenic beauty. The plan is that this commission shall consider the merits of various sites, and shall gradu- ally and economically acquire them, having due regard to the interests of various localities of the State. It is believed that if this commission is created one of its first objects will be to acquire the Great Cahokia Mound. This wonderful archaeological relic should belong to the State of Illinois. Its owners, the Ramey family, are anxious that it should not be destroyed, but it belongs to eight persons, the heirs of Thomas Ramey, and they naturally desire to close the estate.
The author of this bill is Representative Kauffman of Ogle County. Mr. Kauffman was a soldier during the late war, and saw service across seas. He is a member of this society.
Lincoln Homestead. We have several times at our annual meetings called the attention of the people of the State to the constant danger of fire to which the Lincoln Home is exposed. We have urgently called the attention of the State Department of Public Works and Buildings to this menace, and the department is taking steps to improve the condition, and at least lessen the danger. It would be a lasting shame to the State if
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this house, the only home ever owned by Mr. Lincoln, and which was presented to the State of Illinois by Mr. Robert T. Lincoln, Mr. Lincoln's only son, should be destroyed by fire without every possible safeguard being used to protect it. I hope to have a better report to make on this matter before the next annual meeting.
Marking Sites Connected with Lincoln in Springfield. An association has been formed in Springfield, consisting of the State Historical Society, D. A. R. and private citizens to mark with bronze tablets, properly inscribed, places in Springfield which are connected in a significant manner with Mr. Lincoln's life in this city. A committee was appointed to select the places, for there are so many of them, another committee to write the inscriptions, and another to pur- chase the bronze tablets. Mr. I. B. Blackstock, a member of this so- city, is the chairman of the committee to purchase the tablets, and I believe that these will soon be ready and will be placed with proper ceremonies. Perhaps they will be ready by Memorial Day.
The Lincoln Circuit Marking Association. The Lincoln Circuit Marking Association hopes to place the markers on the county lines of the eighteen counties of the old Eighth Judicial Circuit during the coming summer and autumn. This is a D. A. R. project in regard to which you are well informed. Mrs. Chubbuck, State Regent of the D. A. R., is much interested in this work and is adding her splendid energy to the work already inaugurated by Miss Lotte E. Jones, Dr. Schmidt, Mrs. E. H. Waldo, Mrs. Geo. Busey, Dr. Anna Zorger, Mrs. Mary Lee and other pioneers of the movement. The Lincoln Circuit Marking Association, as has the Historical Society, has met with a sad loss in the death of Judge W. R. Curran, president of that association, and a director of this society. A biographical address on the life of Judge Curran will be presented at this meeting by Mr. Ralph Dempsey, of Pekin, law partner of Judge Curran.
Site of Fort Crevecoeur. . The last session of the General Assembly appropriated a small amount ($1,500) to the Department of Public Works and Buildings for the purpose of placing a marker or memorial on the site of LaSalle's old Fort Crevecoeur, the site to be designated by the Illinois State Historical Society. The society has for several years had a committee on the site of Fort Crevecoeur. Captain Burnham and Mr. Wm. A. Meese, both deceased had been members of this committee. Dr. Schmidt, the president of the society, appointed on the committee Prof. C. W. Alvord, of the University of Illinois, and Prof. J. A. James, of the Northwestern University. Mr. Jacob C. Thompson, already a member of the committee, was made chairman of the com- mittee. There could hardly be three persons better fitted for the work of investigating impartially and intelligently the various sites and the sources of information. The committee held meetings and visited the several sites and made a report. In another Act of the General As- sembly the Department of Education and Registration was also re-
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quired to designate a site. This Act carried no appropriation. The Department of Public Works and Buildings is waiting for the Director of Education and Registration to make his recommendation which he will do before the fund for the purchase of the marker lapses, which will be on September 30, 1921, unless it is reappropriated.
One of the directors of this society, Prof. J. A. James, has been invited to deliver a course of lectures this summer at the University of Prague. He has accepted the honor and is about this time starting on his way to begin his duties. The society wishes for him success in his undertaking, a pleasant vacation and a safe return.
Prof. E. B. Greene, another director of the society, is doing his- torical work in Boston and Cambridge, and will not be with us at this meeting, and we greatly miss him.
This society has 1,475 members, men and women of all ages and walks of life, the best people in the State. We have not made a membership campaign, but new members come in by invitation and recommendation of our members.
We have lost by death two directors of the society, Mr. Clinton L. Conkling and Judge William Reid Curran. We have also lost a former president and one of the founders of the society, the venerable and venerated Dr. John F. Snyder, of Virginia, who on March 22, 1921, observed the ninety-first anniversary of his birth. I will ask Dr. Lyles, a member of the society, an intimate friend of Dr. Snyder, and who spoke feelingly at his funeral, to prepare an adequate tribute to this remarkable man.
Publications of the Society. Our publications are so greatly delayed that I am almost ashamed to mention them. We have two Journals now ready for distribution and another in press. The story of the vexatious and provoking de- lays might be funny if it had not such serious consequences, and the present strike of the job printers may add another chapter to the story of disappointment and delay. I am hopeful, however, as usual, and I believe another year we will be able to do better.
Historical Museum. I wish to again call your attention to the urgent necessity of col- lecting objects for our proposed Historical Museum. We are hoping when we move into the Centennial Memorial building to have space to make a beginning in this important branch of our work. Nothing appeals more to the public than an historical museum and it is of great educational value. These are some of the more important mat- ters of our work to which I desire to call the attention of the society.
Respectfully submitted,
Jessie Palmer Weber, Secretary Illinois State Historical Societv.
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THE INFLUENCE OF ILLINOIS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By William E. Barton, D.D., LL.D.
Lincoln and Illinois were twin-born. Abraham Lincoln first saw light on Sunday, February 11, 1809. Nine days before his birth, Illi- nois, by Act of Congress, began its autonomous existence as a territory. The future commonwealth and its most illustrious citizen began life together, both unconscious of the influence which each was to exert upon the destiny of the other.
The first seven years of Lincoln's life were spent in Kentucky, and twice seven years following were spent in Indiana. Both of those States did well by him ; but when he came to his twenty-first year, Illinois, his own State, beckoned to him, and he came. He came in the dawn of his young manhood, and the whole of that manhood he spent as a citizen of this, his State. From the time he entered the young commonwealth in the Spring of 1830, driving an ox-team through the rich, deep mud of her prairies, until he left it to be inau- gurated President of the United States, he lived in Illinois- Gladly yielding him to the Nation, when the Nation called, Illinois still knew him as her own, and believed in him and loved him ; and when his work was accomplished, and crowned by his martyrdom, Illinois stood tear- fully awaiting the arrival of that majestic funeral train that wound its way westward through many cities from the Nation's capitol, and received back again into the heart of her soil the precious dust of her own Abraham Lincoln.
It should be an interesting and profitable inquiry, what influence had Illinois upon Abraham Lincoln? Did she help or hinder in his development? Might it have been as well for him and the State had he lived otherwhere ? These are legitimate questions, and not unprofit- able ; the more so because I do not find ,that they have been answered, or even very seriously asked. Among the biographers of Lincoln, no one, I think, traced his life so lovingly in its relation to that of his State, as Hon. Isaac N. Arnold. He approached the possibility of considering this question, but did not pursue the inquiry far, nor did he, apparently, arrive at a convincing answer. He said :
"When, in 1830, Lincoln became a citizen of Illinois, this great common- wealth, now the third or fourth state in the Union, and treading fast upon the heels of Ohio and Pennsylvania, was on the frontier with a population a little exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand. In 1860, when Lincoln was elected President, it had nearly two millions, and was rapidly becoming the center of the Republic. Perhaps he was fortunate in selecting Illinois as his home." — Life of Abraham Lincoln, p. 29.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
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Mr. Arnold went on to show how central to the Union Illinois had become, and he wrote of the growing importance of Illinois geo- graphically, but he did not in any definite way undertake to answer his question, whether it was well for Lincoln to have lived here, other than with a judicial qualification. "Perhaps he was fortunate in select- ing Illinois as his home."
It seems to me that the time has come for a more positive answer. I believe that Lincoln would have been a great man if he had lived in another State, but that Illinois contributed to his making some ele- ments which were of particular significance, and which may have been indispensable to his preparation for the particular work to which God and the Nation called him.
Two Theories of the Origin of Great Men.
There are two opposing theories of the origin of great men. One of them, derived from Buckle and his school, attempts to account for all men, both individually and racially, by their environment, and by the conditions of the times in which they live. The other, of whose conviction Carlyle is the indignant spokesman*, explains not the man by his times, but his times by the man. Emerson agreed with Carlyle, and went even farther. Emerson would seem to say that the Atlantic Ocean was there because nothing smaller would have answered the purposes of Columbus. Columbus needed a large earth and a round earth and a wide ocean to express what was inherent in himself. The world and all external conditions are to be explained by the man, and not the man by his world.
Something of this latter theory must be held as to genius. It has its own laws. It produces its great exponents in manner and form which cannot be predicted- It is impossible to explain Robert Burns without Scotland, but Scotland alone does not explain Burns. Scot- land has been on the map for a long time, and still there is but one Robert Burns. Henry Ward Beecher. stood at the foot of his class in Amherst College. Since his day many men in Amherst College
* Thus, with hot indignation, did Carlyle reply to the theory that great men are the product of their time and only that : "I am well aware that in their days hero- worship, the thing I call hero-worship, professes to have gone out and finally ceased. This, for reasons which it will be worth while some time to inquire into, is an age that as it were denies the existence of great men ; denies the desirability of great men. Show our critics a great man, a Luther, for example, they begin to what they call 'account' for him ; not to worship him, but to take the dimensions of him and bring him out to be a little kind of man ! He was the 'creature of the time,' they say ; the time called him forth, the time did everything, he nothing — but whatever the little critic could have done, too ! This seems to me but melancholy work. The time call forth ? Alas, we have known times call loudly enough for their great man, but could not find him when he was called ! He was not there ; Providence had not sent him ; the time calling its loudest, had to go down to confusion and wreck because he would not come when called.
"For if we will think of it, no time need have gone to ruin could it have found a man great enough, a man wise and good enough ; wishing to discern truly what the times wanted, valor to lead it on the right road thither ; these are the salvation of any time. But I liken common languid times, with their unbelief, distress, per- plexity, with their languid doubting characters and embarrassed circumstances im- potently crumbling — down into ever worse distress toward final ruin — all this I liken to dry, dead fuel, waiting for the lightning out of heaven that should kindle it. The great man, with his free force out of God's own hand, is the lightning. The dry, mouldering sticks are supposed to have called him forth ! Thev are critics of small vision, I think, who cry: 'See is it not the sticks that make the fire?' No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men." — Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship,, Chapter 1, pp. 14-15.
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have stood at the foot of the class, and it is not known that that envi- ronment has produced any more Beechers. Socrates was the product of the life and spirit of Athens; but Athens has long since given up the expectation of producing by wholesale and as the product of Athe- nian environment men of Socratic mind. Of each of these men we must say that Drinkwater says first of other great leaders and then of Lincoln, "He was the lord of his event."
But no great man can be understood entirely apart from his envi- ronment, and if he could, it would be unfair both to him and to his environment thus to attempt to interpret him.
Lincoln would have been a great man in almost any environment. But Gray is not the only man who has had occasion to moralize con- cerning the "mute inglorious Miltons" or the Cromwells guiltless of their country's blood, and guiltless of anything else good or bad enough to be mentioned, who lived and died in environments unsuited to their development.
If Lincoln Had Lived in Another State.
Illinois has a right to remind herself of those elements in the character of Lincoln which were, we will not say produced or created, but developed, by his Illinois environment.
Lincoln was born in the very heart of Kentucky. It was the claim of the La Rue County when its representatives asked to be severed from Hardin and to become a separate county, that La Rue County, as measured from east to west, and from the northermiost . point in the State direct to the southern boundary, was the precise geographical center of the State. Its centrality gave rise to some semi-burlesque oratory at the time, and this probably suggested to Proctor Knott a portion of his noted speech which many years later did so much for Duluth, and relieved the solemn tedium of the United States House of Representatives with a hearty laugh.
It is conceivable that Lincoln might have lived and died in Ken- tucky. If so, it is not certain that he would have lived and died un- known. Men from his own county rose to distinction, and he might have done so. But it is certain that he would not there have lived in an environment such as evoked in him those qualities that made him President- Indiana has its honorable place in the development of Lincoln. We cannot spare the record of those years of frontier life, nor of its proximity to that highway of traffic and thought, the Ohio River. Lincoln's life-long interest in river navigation was prompted by his experience in Indiana. His strong convictions on the slavery question were influenced in no unimportant degree by his voyage to New Orleans and' his visit to the slave-market. Even if we discount the statement of John Hanks that Lincoln then declared that if he had an opportunity to "hit that institution" he would hit it hard, we know from Lincoln himself that the sight of slaves, chained and sold, aroused in him emotions of enduring significance; and this we must credit in no small part to his life in Indiana.
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The Notable Influence of a Short Migration.
I have sometimes ventured to wonder what would have happened to the Lincoln family had Thomas Lincoln continued to live in the home on Nolin Creek where Abraham Lincoln was born until the time when the Lincoln family left Kentucky. He would not have sailed down the same stream. It might never have occurred to Thomas Lincoln to sail down the river at all, for the distance by Nolin Creek and Green River is several times as great.* By crossing Muldraugh's Hill and living on Knob Creek he was within much shorter distance of the Ohio River, and he reached it by an entirely different route. Had he continued to live on the Nolin Creek farm, and had he taken his long voyage from there, he would have landed much farther down the Ohio, at a point where the confluence of the rivers had already caused considerable settlements to be made. It is quite possible that he might have floated on as faf as the shores of Missouri before finding land as convenient and as remote from settlement as he found in Spencer County, Indiana.
If Lincoln had grown up in Hardin County, Kentucky, he might have received as good an education as he received in Spencer County, Indiana ; have studied law and been admitted to the bar ; have traveled the circuit and entered political life, and possibly have been elected to Congress. But it is hardly conceivable that Kentucky alone could have made him the man that he was when he left Illinois.
Had the Lincoln family remained in Spencer County, Indiana, Lincoln's most feasible avenue out into life was by way of the Ohio river. That might have given him valuable contacts with life farther south, and have widened his influence and made him a man of note in some southern State. But that would not have done for him what was done for him in Illinois.
Had the Lincoln family landed farther down the Ohio and made their home, as Daniel Boone did toward the end of his life, and as many other Kentuckians of Lincoln's day were doing, near the Mississ- ippi river and within the borders of the State of Missouri, it is hardly possible that he would have found there the environment which would have made him what he became.
Social conditions in rural Kentucky, Missouri and southern Indiana were not notably different from those in the portion of Illinois where Lincoln made his home ; but Lincoln found at New Salem and
* In response to my request, the Director of the United States Geological Survey furnishes me this information :
From Knob Creek by way of Rolling Fork and Salt River, the flat boat of Thomas Lincoln floated 42 miles to the Ohio, and then, assuming that he landed at the point in Spencer County nearest his farm, 91 miles down the Ohio to his debarcation near the mouth of Anderson River. Had he embarked on Nolin River, at its point nearest to the Lincoln cabin before the removal from Nolin to Knob Creek, he would have floated down Nolin and Green Rivers 256 miles to reach the Ohio, and would have been 46 miles, by the Ohio channel, below the mouth of Anderson River.
So far as I am aware, no one has considered the importance of this short removal from one sterile farm to another in the same county. I intend at some future time to work out more in detail the effects of the removal of the Lincoln family from Nolin Creek to Knob Creek. For the present it is enough to state that it appears to me that, while the distance was only about 15 miles, and within the same county, the effect upon the life of Lincoln was very great. Had the family remained upon Nolin Creek, they would not have been so likely to undertake a voyage of 256 miles to the Ohio ; and had they done so, they would have been very likely not to locate till they reached Missouri.
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at Springfield, and in the circuit of the Eighth Judicial District, some- thing which he did not find, and to the same degree was not very likely to have found, in any other place where he had lived, or was likely to have lived, had he not removed to Illinois.
Remembering that wherever he lived he would have been an honest and influential man, and remembering further, that, in any environment which Thomas Lincoln would probably have chosen, con- ditions of his life would have possessed many elements in common with those which obtained in Illinois, we may move on from the realm of hypothesis and inquire what as a matter of fact Illinois did for Lin- coln that assisted in the development of his latent greatness-
Illinois Stimulated Lincoln's Love of Learning.
Lincoln found in Illinois conditions which powerfully stimulated his ambition to learn. He had received valuable instruction in Indiana. He had learned to read, and had developed a strong desire to read. He had read the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, a History of the United States, Robinson Crusoe, Weems' Life of Washington and the Stat- utes of Indiana. To this excellent list he had added a few other books which happened to be within reach, and so far as we know they were all remarkably good books. But he himself declared that "There was absolutely nothing to stimulate ambition to learn." He learned, not because his environment was favorable, but because he had within him the determination to learn.
In Illinois, Lincoln found himself in an environment which greatly encouraged his love of learning. New Salem may seem to the modern student a poor, squalid little village, no one of whose few houses cost much more than one hundred dollars. To Lincoln it was a city. It was not sufficiently metropolitan to make him feel like a stranger, but it had within it and passing through it men who greatly assisted in making Lincoln what he would not have been likely to become in Spencer County, Indiana. There he met Mentor Graham, the school- master. The "few chicken-tracks" which Lincoln was able to make on paper when he arrived became a clear, strong chirography. He had already written his "Chronicles of Ruben," and certain treatises on Temperance and on Cruelty to Animals; but the debating society of New Salem encouraged him to write on many great themes, and gave him an appreciative audience.
Oliver Wendell Holmes has reminded us that authors need a "mutual admiration society" in order to do their best work. Such a society, with its adjuncts of frank and robust criticism and free dis- cussion, Lincoln found at New Salem.
There he studied Kirkham's Grammar under Mentor Graham. There he learned the rudiments of surveying. There he obtained his copy of Blackstone and read law. It was not simply that he found books in slightly larger number than had been available in Indiana; he found an atmosphere that encouraged him to make the largest pos- sible use of books.
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A College Education Not Impossible.
At this time Lincoln may even have considered the possibility of a college education. Some of his associates at New Salem were stu- dents at Illinois College. Lincoln himself became possessed of a book of Greek exercises. He probably did not make large use of it; but the fact that he owned it shows us that he did not think it impossible that he might learn Greek. After his removal to Springfield he engaged in a short study of German. Ann Rutledge desired him to spend at least one year at Illinois College, while she attended its academy. I have often wondered whether a college course would have made or unmade Lincoln. It might not have done either, but it is an interesting question, and one which I hope sometime to give a conjectural answer, whether a college course, such as Lincoln might have obtained at Illi- nois College in Jacksonville, would have developed his mind and character more directly toward his success in life than did his years at New Salem. He could probably have emerged from Illinois College less deeply in debt that he was when he left New Salem. Financially and geographically a college course was not impossible. At present we will not ask whether it would have been better for him and the world had he taken it, but only remind ourselves that Lincoln in Illinois was so situated that a college course was one of the possibilities.
We cannot pursue the history of Lincoln's six years at New Salem intelligently and confine our study to the financial adventures of the firm of Lincoln and Berry, or the vicissitudes of Denton Offutt or of Lincoln's rough-and-tumble encounters with the Clary Grove boys. Lincoln was in an environment that gave him adequate mental stimu- lous and encouragement.
Illinois Favored Lincoln's Political Ambition.
Lincoln found in Illinois conditions highly favorable to his ambi- tion to become a political leader. He had hardly landed from the return voyage of the flat boat which had conveyed him to New Orleans than he announced himself a candidate for the Legislature. The out- break of the Black Hawk War, if it interrupted for a few weeks his campaigning, brought him a popular election as captain, and did not diminish his political ambition or his prospect of success in that field.
Llad Abraham Lincoln's flat boat stuck, not on Rutledge's dam, but let us say at the foot of Long Wharf, Boston, or at the Battery in New York, or in Mobile or New Orleans, and had he made any one of those cities his home, and there entered political life, he would not have found conditions as favorable either for his immediate entry, or for his prospective development, as he found in Illinois.
Illinois offered Lincoln an opportunity to enter politics almost the moment he crossed the State line. After a year spent as a day laborer in the vicinity of his father's home near Decatur, he made his second flat-boat journey to New Orleans, and by good fortune his boat stuck on the dam of Rutledge's mill at New Salem. Returning from New Orleans, in the Summer of 1831, he took up his home in that micro- scopic and short-lived village, and almost immediately proclaimed him- self a candidate for the legislature.
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Illinois politics up to this time had been local and factional. The State was a Democratic State ; its southern part was settled very largely from Kentucky, and its northern portion as yet was almost uninhab- ited. National politics entered the State with the popularity of Andrew Jackson, and took a strong hold on the life and enthusiasm of the voters in 1840, when William Henry Harrison was a candidate, and the watchwords were "Log cabin and hard cider." It was not neces- sary for a candidate to have any large political program in 1832. Abra- ham Lincoln fitted well into his new environment. An unlettered backwoodsman, just off a flat boat, could poll a very respectable vote as a candidate for a member of the legislature in 1832, and could be elected two years thereafter, and re-elected regularly once in two years so long as he cared to announce himself a candidate. But Abraham Lincoln and Illinois politics were both developing through that period. Neither he nor the political situation remained unmodified. Illinois was not too proud to receive Abraham Lincoln as a member of her legislature in 1834, and was gratified and honored to have a share in electing him President in 1860. Illinois furnished a part of the neces- sary environment for the political development of Lincoln.
We know the political character of Illinois at the time when Lin- coln became a resident of the State. It was Democratic, and its De- mocracy was divided between the "whole-hog" Democrats and those whose devotion to Andrew Jackson carried them to less violent ex- tremes. Lincoln's personal backgrounds were those of Jacksonian Democracy. Thomas Lincoln was a Jackson Democrat; John Hanks, as late as 1860, was "an old Democrat who will vote for Lincoln." Persons who heard what is believed to have been Lincoln's first stump speech at Decatur in the summer of 1830 say that he was then for Jackson and internal improvements. I have not found the personal recollections of those who profess to have heard this speech very clear or consistent, but they may be correct. Andrew Jackson was a name to capture the imagination, and he may at that time have been Lincoln's hero personally if not politically. Lamon holds that Lincoln at the outset was "a nominal Jackson man." He says on the authority of Dennis Hanks that Lincoln was "Whiggish but not a Whig." (Lamon : Life of Lincoln, 123, 126.)
From the time of his first candidacy, however, there is nothing that identifies Lincoln with Jackson Democracy. His earliest announce- ment of himself as a candidate for the legislature did not name the party with which he was affiliated, and he was warmly supported by local Democrats as well as Whigs. But as soon as he began to express any principles which could be alligned with national issues, they were unqualifiedly those of the Whigs. He may have continued to admire Andrew Jackson, but he became immediately a disciple of Henry Clay. (See Nicolay and Hay, 1 : 102, 103; Morse, 1 : 38.)
In this development his personal evolution was like that of the State. But Lincoln's own development was in advance of that of the State as a whole, and qualified him to lead in a movement that in time committed Illinois against the policy of the extension of slavery.
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The Incidental Values of Political Mistakes.
It would perhaps be but fair to add that the standards which ob- tained in Illinois politics were the more favorable to the advancement of Lincoln because the mistakes of politicians in his day, in which mis- takes Lincoln participated, were so largely the mistakes of the whole body of the people and of Lincoln's constituents, that a public official was not too summarily condemned to oblivion for his errors of judg- ment. Governor Ford comments on this matter with characteristic severity, condemning the "Long Nine" whose log-rolling in connection with the removal of the Capital from Vandalia to Springfield cost the State, as he maintained, more than the value of all the real estate in the vicinity of Springfield, and he records the names of those members of the House of Representatives who voted for the disastrous "Inter- nal improvement system." He was especially indignant when he con- sidered how many of these men, who, as he believed, ought to have been repudiated by the people, were continued in office. Ninian W. Edwards and others were "since often elected or appointed to other offices, and are yet all of them popular men. . . . Dement has been twice appointed Receiver of Public Moneys. . . . Shields to be Auditor, Judge of the Supreme Court, Commissioner of the General Land Office, and Brigadier General in the Mexican War. . . . Lin- coln was several times elected to the Legislature and finally to Con- gress ; and Douglas, Smith and McClernand have been three times elected to Congress, and Douglas to the United States Senate. Being all of them spared monuments of popular wrath, evincing how safe it is to be a politician, and how disastrous it may be to the country to keep along with the present fervor of the people." — History of Illinois, pp. 195, 196.
We need not claim for Lincoln in these matters wisdom superior to that of his associates, but may remind ourselves that his errors of judgment were not only shared by his associates in office, but that their errors did not prevent his repeated re-election, much to the disgust of Governor Ford, who counted him one of the "spared monuments of popular wrath."
The historian of the future is certain to set enhanced value upon Governor Ford's History of Illinois. The future student is not likely to condemn with less severity than Governor Ford either the log-rolling of early Illinois politics or the folly of the financial methods by which it was undertaken to support the State banks and the Internal Improve- ment system which ended with the financial crash of 1837. In the main Governor Ford was right. But Governor Ford lacked perspec- tive. He was not strictly accurate in describing Lincoln and his asso- ciates as "spared monuments of popular wrath." There ought to have been more wrath than there was. The men who were responsible for those measures in the Legislature fairly represented the will and the wisdom or unwisdom of their constituents. The law-makers and the men who elected them to make laws were involved in the same attempts to create values out of things that had no value. The long list which Governor Ford gives us of men who were responsible for the financial
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evils of their time and who nevertheless were thereafter elected and re-elected to office is its own answer. These men were as wise as their constituents, and not much wiser. Illinois had to learn from bitter experience, and Lincoln was one of the men who had his share in the education which the whole State was compelled to undergo.
Lake and River Transportation.
Lincoln became a factor in Illinois life just at the time when the question of transportation was becoming most acute. Whatever sur- plus Illinois produced in the early days, was floated down the Mississ- ippi, whose commercial outlet was New Orleans ; but there were other agricultural states tributary to the Mississippi, and the wharves of New Orleans were piled high in time with unmarketable produce. It was less easy to float goods upstream than down, and New Orleans was not a manufacturing city. The goods which Illinois required for her own use were largely produced in Philadelphia or New York. The accounts and bills payable of Illinois merchants tended to accumulate in New York ; the credits were in New Orleans. The money in circu- lation was largely issued by wildcat banks, and afforded no suitable basis of exchange. If this situation went on permanently, Illinois could have no great commercial future. Her banking was principally done in St. Louis. In 1831, for the first time, goods were imported from the East to St. Louis by way of Chicago at one-third less cost than by New Orleans. That fact did more than we can now imagine to compel the unification of Illinois. Lake Michigan became a neces- sity to Menard and Sangamon Counties, as certainly as to Cook County and the northern end of the State, We remember the disastrous experi- ments in public improvements by means of which creeks were to have become rivers and canals were to have connected the heads of naviga- tion through the State. Let us not forget that these conditions with all their blundering and bankruptcy were potent in making Illinois a commercial unit and in securing her a place of influence in the com- mercial life of the nation.
Illinois and the Unification of the Nation.
The relation of Illinois to the unification of the nation was no accident. Governor Thomas Ford died in 1850, leaving the manu- script of his History of Illinois to be published after his decease. In that work he clearly set forth the aim of Hon. Nathaniel Pope, delegate in Congress from the Territory of Illinois, when, in January, 1818, he on his own responsibility amended the proposal for the admission of Illinois to the Union by moving her boundary north from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the line of 42° 30' so as to include within the State fourteen additional counties and the port of Chicago. Governor Ford said :
"It was known that in all confederated republics there was danger of dissolution . . . Illinois had a coast of 150 miles on the Ohio river, and nearly as much on the Wabash; the Mississippi was its western boundary for the whole length of the State ; the commerce of all the western country was to pass by its shores, and would necessarily
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come to a focus at the mouth of the Ohio, at a point within this State, and 'within the control of Illinois, if, the Union being dissolved, she should see proper to control it. It was foreseen that none of the great States in the West could venture to aid in -dissolving the Union, with- out cultivating a State situate in such a central and commanding posi- tion. What then was the duty of the national government? Illinois was certain to be a great State with any boundaries which that govern- ment could give. ... If left entirely upon the waters of these great rivers, it was plain that, in case of threatened disruption, the interest of the new State would be to join a southern and western confederacy. But if a large portion of it could be made dependent upon the com- merce and navigation of the great northern lakes, connected as they are with the eastern States, a rival interest would be created, to check the wish for a western and southern confederacy. It therefore became the duty of the national government, not only to make Illinois strong, but to raise an interest inclining and binding her to the eastern and northern portions of the Union. This could be done only through an interest in the lakes. At that time the commerce on the lakes was small, but its increase was confidently expected, and indeed it has exceeded all expectations and is still in its infancy. To accomplish this object effectually, it was not only necessary to give to Illinois the port of Chicago, and a route for the canal, but a considerable coast on Lake Michigan, with a country back of it sufficiently extensive to con- tain a population capable of exercising a decided influence upon the councils of the State." — Ford's History of Illinois, 22-23.-
If Governor Ford had written these words after the Civil War, we might have suspected him of attributing to Judge Pope more of political foresight than either he or Judge Pope really possessed. But he wrote before 1850, and we have no reason to doubt that this remark- ably clear view of the influence of Illinois as a State that might bind together the expanding Union was really possessed by Judge Pope when he secured for the new State her fourteen additional counties, including the port of Chicago, and keenly appreciated by Governor Ford in his stern opposition* to the proposals of Wisconsin that the northern counties of Illinois should be restored to the newer State.
The Courts of Illinois Developed Lincoln.
Illinois offered to Lincoln through her Circuit Courts an oppor- tunity of widening his acquaintance and influence and also of meeting in political and legal relations a circle of men admirably suited to his intellectual development. The lawyers of early Illinois represented widely divergent types. There were frontier shysters of small ability
* The fight of Wisconsin was very strong in Ford's administration. Not only so, but the northern counties of Illinois were inclined to think they had more in common with Wisconsin than with Egypt. There Avas more than one petition from the counties themselves or from some party within ther asking that they be severed from Illinois and joined to the State to the north. Governor Ford's argument in refutation of the claim of Wisconsin is given in extenso in his History and is a document of permanent interest.
A proposal to separate northern Illinois from southern Illinois is at this moment pending before the General .Assembly. Those who propose such a sundering of what God hath joined will find instructive reading in some of the early literature of this State.
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and less legal learning, but there also were men of large native ability, whose wits were sharpened by much experience. Lincoln's practice soon brought him before the Supreme Court of Illinois, where he had to plead before judges of learning and high standing. The courts of Illinois were not essentially different from those of Indiana and Mis- souri in the same period. Any of the frontier States then rapidly filling could have furnished him an arena for his legal skill; but the skill which Lincoln developed and the acquaintance which he formed in Illinois had their relation to a political situation which no other State could quite have duplicated. Mr. Arnold relates an interesting incident which occurred after Mr. Lincoln was elected President. He was asked to appoint a man named Butterfield to a position in the Army. This man Butterfield was the son of Justin Butterfield, who in 1849. had secured an appointment to the Land Office, a position greatly desired by Lincoln at the close of his term in Congress. Arnold says :
When the application was presented, the President paused, and after a moment's silence, said: "Mr. Justin Butterfield once obtained an appoint- ment I very much wanted, and in which my friends believed I could have been useful, and to which they thought I was fairly entitled, and I have hardly ever felt so bad at any failure in my life; but I am glad of an oppor- tunity of doing a service to his son." And he made an order for his commis- sion. He then spoke of the offer made to him of the governorship of Oregon. To which the reply was made: "How fortunate that you declined. If you had gone to Oregon, you might have come back as Senator, but you never would have been President." — Life of Abraham Lincoln, 81.
Lincoln assented to the foregoing and said he had always been a fatalist, believing with Hamlet in the Divinity that shapes our ends. ^
Oregon could have made Lincoln a Senator, but it is not certain that any other State than Illinois could have made him President. He needed essentially the conditions which he found in Illinois to develop the qualities which were inherent in him; and he needed a political situation such as existed in Illinois to make him at the opportune time the President of the United States. We can never be too certain con- cerning the negative implications of a study like this. We can never be quite sure what another State might have done. We are quite certain that no other State, then in the Union, could have furnished all the conditions which Illinois supplied and which were so important both in the evolution of Lincoln and in his elevation.
Illinois the National Keystone.
Pennsylvania is proud of her soubriquet, "the Keystone state." Had that name not been pre-empted when the Union formed a smaller arch, it should have been reserved for Illinois. Both the shape and geographical position of Illinois entitle her to that designation. Her superficial area extends from the lakes to the confluence of the great rivers, and hence virtually from the northern boundary of the nation to Mason and Dixon's Line. In the beginning it shared with Ken- tucky and Missouri the status of a southern State, but Lincoln saw and had some reason to fear the development of its northern and larger portion. It was an ominous sign for Linocln when he who had done so much for the election of Zachary Taylor as President, was set aside
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in his application for the Land Office and that position was given to Mr. Justin Butterfield of Chicago.* Lincoln had good reason to fear the growth of Chicago and of northern Illinois. As late as the State Convention of the Republican party at Decatur in 1860, the northern part of Illinois was for Seward. Not even the sight of John Hanks' two fence rails wholly convinced the politicians of the Chicago area that Lincoln was the right man for President. His solidifying of his own State was an important step toward the solidifying of the nation.
The River and Harbor Convention.
So far as I am aware no biographer of Lincoln has ever heard of the River and Harbor Convention of 1847. I do not find it mentioned by Nicolay and Hay, by Arnold, by Morse, by Miss Tarbell, or by any other biographer of Lincoln. But it Avas that which first brought Lincoln to Chicago. The Chicago papers, truthful then as always, stated that this was the first visit of the Honorable Abraham Lincoln to the "commercial emporium of the State."* He was more welcome than he might have been at some earlier periods in his career. In the first place he was the only Whig member of Congress from Illinois, was just elected and had not yet taken his seat. In the second place he was thoroughly committed to the policy of developing inland waters and of connecting the lakes with the rivers. It will some time become the duty of the historian to show what that convention did for Abra- ham Lincoln. The presiding officer of that convention was Edward Bates of Missouri. Lincoln probably did not know it at the time, but then and there he probably formed the impression which later made Bates a member of his Cabinet. It was there that Lincoln first heard Horace Greeley, and Greeley heard Lincoln in a short and tactful speech. Greeley did not know it, but he was forming an impression of Lincoln, which thirteen years later was to influence his judgment in accepting Lincoln as the compromise candidate who could not only defeat Seward in the Convention, but defeat the Democratic nominee in the election following. What Lincoln came to learn of the qualities essential to unifying his own State went far toward making him capable of unifying the nation.
* Justin Butterfield was born in Keene, N. H., in 1790. He studied at Williams College, and was admitted to the bar at Watertown. N. Y., in 1812. After some years of practice in New York state he removed to New Orleans, and in 1835 to Chicago. He soon attained high rank in his profession. In 1841 he was appointed by President Harrison United States District Attorney. In 1849 he was appointed by President Taylor Commissioner of the General Land Office. He was logical and resourceful, and many stories are told of his quick wit. He died October 25, 1835.
Mr. Butterfield probably owed his appointment over Mr. Lincoln to the influence of Daniel Webster, who was his personal friend, and also to the growing importance of the northern portion of the State of Illinois. Taylor was, according to his own pre-election statement, "a Whig, but not an ultra-Whig." The Whig interests in Illinois could better afford to overlook the claims of a down-state ex-congressman than those of a strongly backed representative from the Whig end of the State.
* "Abraham Lincoln, the only Whig representative to Congress from this State, we are happy to see in attendance upon the Convention. This is his first visit to the commercial emporium of the State, and we have no doubt his first visit will impress him more deeply, if possible, with the importance, and inspire a higher zeal for the great interest of river-and-harbor improvements. We expect much from him as an representative in Congress, and we have no doubt our expectations will be more than realized, for never was reliance placed in a nobler heart and a sounder judgment. We know the banner he bears will never be soiled." — Chicago Journal, July 6, 1847.
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The Chicago Journal in an indignant editorial inquired whether of the River and Harbor bill, on August 3, 1846, by President James K. Polk. That bill had contained appropriations of $15,000 for the Harbor of Buffalo, $20,000 for Cleveland, $40,000 for the St. Clair flats, $80,000 for Milwaukee, Racine, Chicago and other nearby ports, and sums for other lake harbors. President Polk affirmed that as these ports were not harbors of vessels used in international trade, "It would seem the dictate of wisdom under such circumstances to husband our means, and not waste them on comparatively unimportant objects."
The Chicago Journal in an indignant editorial inquired whether this same James K. Polk was not squandering millions upon an inva- sion of Mexico for the sake of the extension of slavery? Was he not buying steamboats at exorbitant prices for use in the transportation of troops and supplies to Mexico, and leaving our legitimate commerce on the lakes unprotected, with lives liable to be lost for lack of safe harbors, and great territory of our own undeveloped while he sought to acquire other territory by bloody means and for ignoble ends? What an insult to the intelligence of the nation for him to* declare that these lake harbors were "comparatively unimportant objects !"
A great convention assembled in Chicago on July 5, 1847, to pro- test against James K. Polk and all his works, to advance the interests of the lake harbors, and incidentally to promote the welfare of the Whig party. The significance of that convention has never been ade- quately understood.*
The attendance upon the River and Plarbor Convention was not limited to residents of lake cities. There were seven delegates from Connecticut, one from Florida, two from Georgia, twelve from Iowa, two from Kentucky, two from Maine, twenty-eight from Massachu- setts, forty-five from Missouri, two from New Hampshire, eight from New Jersey, twenty-seven from Pennsylvania, three from Rhode Island, one from South Carolina. I have not tried to count the long lists from New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wiscon- sin. These are all located by counties, and show a widespread repre- sentation from all parts of these States. The Convention was felt to be of vast economic interest, and was by no means lacking in political importance. Theoretically it was assembled for the consideration of internal improvements ; but in addition to this it was convened for the sake of opposing James K. Polk and all his political associations.
Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, Thomas H. Benton, Lewis Cass and other national leaders all were invited, and responded in letters, that of Webster especially being a document of considerable size and importance. Anson Burlingame headed the Massachusetts delegation, and Ohio followed the lead of Thomas Corwin.
Horace Greeley was there, and he wrote up the convention for the New York Tribune, and ever afterward advised young men to "Go West, and grow up with the country." Thurlow Weed reported
* I am indebted to Mr. James Shaw, of Aurora, for first calling my attention to the significance of this convention.
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it in full for the Albany Journal, and gave an interesting account of his own journey around the lakes on "the magnificent steamer, Empire."
The political aspects of the convention are suggested by the fact that Lewis Cass of Michigan, which State might have benefited by river and harbor improvements, remained away and sent a very dis- tant note of regret, while Daniel Webster, from Massachusetts, in a long letter read at the convention, came out unqualifiedly for all that the convention stood for. Cass wanted to be President, and greatly needed the vote of the slave States ; Webster's position was, of course, that of a politician who greatly desired to link the political and eco- nomic future of the new States with the North and East.
David Dudley Field was present to speak for the administration. He did it with shrewdness ; Greeley gives the gist of his address. The convention did not treat him any too courteously ; and Lincoln followed with his one speech, a tactful one, of which we have no report, but one that appears to have stood for fair play while being ardently in favor of the whole plan of internal improvements. The convention at its next session apologized to Mr. Field for the uncivil treatment he had received, but did not alter its program or change its convictions on account of this apology for bad manners.
* The River and Harbor Convention of 1847 put Chicago upon the nation's map. It did more than any previous or subsequent assembly to link the fortunes of the great State of Illinois with the North and East.
It must have been a very illuminating event to Lincoln. It was his first visit to Chicago, his first view of the great lakes.* It was his first important reminder that, while he was elected from Central Illi- nois, he, as the only Whig member of Congress from the State, must find his political support thereafter largely in the newer portion of the State where the Whigs were more largely in control. It must have reminded him, and he was soon to be rudely reminded again, that Chicago, and Northern Illinois with her, was thenceforth to be reck- oned with as an important political as well as economic factor. He had hoped to effect the unity of Illinois by a canal connecting the lakes with the rivers ; whether this ever was accomplished or not, the whole future of Illinois, central and southern as well as northern, was tied up with Chicago, and through Chicago with the East and North. Illi- nois, with her whole western boundary washed by the Mississippi, her southern border hemmed in by the Ohio, and a large part of her east- ern border determined by the Wabash, and all of these streams bearing their cargoes through slave territory to New Orleans, was an indivis- ible political and economic unit, bound by Chicago and the great lakes to New York and New England, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
* My good friends, Mr. J. Seymour Currey, of Evanston, and Prof. Julius E. Olson, of the State University of Wisconsin, are of opinion that Lincoln made two earlier visits to Chicago ; and they may be correct. To me, however, the evidence does not appear entirely conclusive ; and in any event, those earlier visits, if they occurred, were with- out important significance. Prof. Olson's interesting study is published by the Wis- consin Historical Society, Vol. 4, p. 44, 1920, and Mr. Currev's suggestive article is in the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Societv. Vol. 12, No. 3, Oct., 1919, p. 412.
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Illinois and Slavery.
In 1808, one year before the birth of Lincoln, the slave trade ceased by constitutional limitation. If slavery itself could have gone out with the importation of slaves, the history of Lincoln and our nation had been quite otherwise. It was not so, and in 1820 came the Missouri Compromise. By this act Missouri was admitted to the Union as a slave State, and slavery which before that time had been held south of Mason and Dixon's line was extended for north on the west side of the Mississippi river; but by the agreement then entered upon, States thereafter to be admitted into the Union were to come in free unless they lay south of the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 min- utes north longitude, the southern boundary of Missouri. For thirty- four years that Compromise had stood, but thirty- four years is a long time, and slavery had been gaining ground. The Louisiana purchase had brought in material for a number of new slave states and the Mexican War had brought in others. California had indeed entered the Union as a free State, but that was not the fault of the slave- holding element in Congress or even of the then occupant of the White House.
The removal of the Capital of the United States from Washington and later from Philadelphia to a small district taken from and bounded by the two slave States of Maryland and Virginia did much to strengthen slavery socially and politically. In 1854 the Kansas- Nebraska Bill repealed the Missouri Compromise, started Kansas to bleeding, set John Brown's soul and body to marching in the path that led to the gallows, and called Abraham Lincoln back into politics, from which he had retired in 1848.
Abraham Lincoln could not remember the time when he had not believed slavery to be wrong, but he found no occasion in his early political life to make slavery a direct issue. It was well for him and the nation that his home was in a State where he had to define his own position on the slavery question in terms both ethical and legal.
Illinois as a part of the Northwest Territory was forever dedi- cated as a shrine of freedom ; but Illinois as a State settled from Ken- tucky permitted a good many slaves to be held by families who moved into the State and brought their negroes with them. Illinois had a "Black Code" of disgraceful and revolting severity. On March 3, 1837, Abraham Lincoln and Dan Stone, representatives from the County of Sangamon, filed their protest against resolutions adopted on the preceding day by their fellow members of the House of Rep- resentatives, violently denouncing abolitionists and expressing strong pro-slavery sympathies. This protest of Lincoln and Stone stated that its two signers, "believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy." In 1841 the sale of a negro girl named Nancy, resulted in the case of Bailey vs. Cromwell, which was carried to the Supreme Court of Illinois. There Lincoln contended that this slave girl was free by virtue of the Ordinance of 1787, which prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territory. This case which Lincoln argued
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when he was thirty-two years of age, compelled him to consider slavery both in its legal and its moral aspects. Such an issue could hardly have risen, except in Illinois or Indiana or Ohio.*
The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
The leader in the repeal of the Missouri Compromise was Stephen Arnold Douglas, Senator from Illinois, and at that time chairman of the Senate Committee on Territories. Whether he was the real author of the measure is hotly disputed. The most careful study of this question seems to me to be that of Prof. P. Orman Ray, who, after a careful analysis of the material available, supports the view of Colonel John A. Parker, in his pamphlet, "The Secret History of the Kansas- Nebraska Bill", and derives the movement for the repeal to the fac- tional strife in Missouri between Thomas Hart Benton and David R. Atchison. Atchison, as Professor Ray believes, was the real author of the measure; and his conclusions appear to me to be valid. (See The Repeal of the Missouri Compromise, by P. Orman Ray, Ph.D., Cleve- land, 1909). He shows that much has been written about the part which Douglas took, and of his motive in the matter, is not sustained by adequate evidence, and that some things which Douglas claifned, as, for instance, that for eight years prior to the repeal, he had stead- ily advocated it, appear to be unreliable. But conceding, as we may well concede, the authorship of the repeal to David R. Atchison, and perhaps also in part to Judge William C. Price, it is Douglas with whom we have to reckon as the man responsible for the form of its presentation, for its report from the Committee, and for its adoption by Congress and discussion by the country, and Douglas was proud to be known as its responsible author.
And, whatever Douglas' motive at the outset, or even if he had then no motive except that of the possibility of being removed from the chairmanship of the Committee on Territories, to make way for Atchison to introduce the bill, he must ultimately have seen that he was certain to be held responsible for it, and it was well for him, if he expected to be a candidate for the Presidency, to use to his advantage in the Southern States what was certain to be used to his disadvantage in the States where a strong anti-slavery sentiment existed.
Beyond any reasonable doubt Douglas hoped to gain sufficient political influence in the slave-holding states to make him President. In the two sketches of Lincoln's life which he himself prepared, Abraham Lincoln stated that after his return from Congress in 1848, he returned to the practice of law with more ardor than he ever had manifested before, but that the Missouri Compromise recalled him to political activity. When Abraham Lincoln found himself recalled to political life by a great moral crisis in the life of the nation, it was the good fortune of Illinois to be able to furnish to Abraham Lincoln a foeman worthy of his steel. He did not have to go out of his own State to meet the national issue. Illinois furnished him an arena of
* Theoretically, such a case might have risen in any one of the five States carved out of the Northwest Territory, but it would not have been likely to rise in Wisconsin or Michigan, because they were newer and more remote from slave territory.
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national proportions. He did not need to go to Missouri or to bleed- ing Kansas, though he paid an important visit to the latter; he was able to beard the slavery lion in his political den in his own State and the State of Douglas.
An Illinois Foeman Worthy of Lincoln's Steel.
Who can measure the influence upon Lincoln of the fact that Stephen A. Douglas was in 1854 and still in 1858 not only a resident of Illinois but a dominant force in national politics? The joint debate between these two great men stands out in our national life and occu- pies a place all its own. The significant fact of our present purpose is that this contest found both of its notable participants in this State and the State itself on tiptoe eager for the contest between them.
Both Lincoln and Douglas knew that Illinois was not a unit, and each of them used that fact to the utmost to the disadvantage of the other. Douglas repeatedly charged Lincoln with uttering senti- ments in Northern Illinois which he would not dare to repeat in Egypt; and Lincoln succeeded in committing Douglas to the "Free- port heresy" which ultimately proved his undoing.
But Lincoln forced the issue on this platform, that while the Constitution recognized slavery as existing, and he had no plan or purpose to interfere with it where it then was, the framers of the Constitution had clearly understood that slavery was an evil, and it was a thing to be faced as such. At Galesburg, Lincoln quoted Doug- las as saying that Douglas did not care whether slavery was voted up or voted down ; and he proceeded :
"Judge Douglas declares that if any community wants slavery, they have a right to it. He can say that logically, if he says there is no wrong in slavery; but if you admit that there is a wrong in it, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right to do wrong. He insists that, upon the score of equality, the owners of slaves and the owners of property — or horses and every other kind of property — should be alike, and hold them alike in a new territory. That is perfectly logical if the two species of property are alike and equally founded in right. But if you admit that one of them is wrong, you cannot institute any equality between right and wrong.
"Now, I confess myself as belonging to that class in the country who regard slavery as a moral, social and political evil having due regard for its actual existence among us and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the constitutional obligations which have been thrown about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy which looks to the pre- vention of it as a wrong, and look hopefully to the time when as a wrong it may come to an end. He is blowing out the moral lights around us when he contends that whoever wants slaves has a right to hold them."
It was thus that Lincoln came to his position, not as an aboli- tionist, but as one who could say what Lincoln did say with great deliberation at Springfield on June 17, 1858 :
" 'A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this govern- ment cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect that it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall be- come alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, north as well as south."
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How carefully Lincoln had prepared this paragraph and its context is shown by the fact that when Douglas made quotations from it a few months later, Lincoln was able to repeat it word for word, saying as he did so, that Douglas had repeated it so often that Lincoln had learned it from him. That, of course, was only an excuse for knowing it so well that he could repeat it months after the occasion for which it had been prepared. The fact is, that when Lincoln went before the convention which on June 17, 1858, nominated him as a candidate against Douglas for Senator, Lincoln had determined to force the slavery issue upon moral grounds, indicated by the repeal of the Missouri Compromise; and the man with whom he had to discuss that issue was not John C. Calhoun of North Carolina or any other statesman from the Southern States, but Stephen A Douglas, of Illinois.
The Slavery Issue National and Moral.
Considered in their intellectual aspects, it is hard to decide which to admire the more, the speeches of Lincoln or those of Douglas. But what we are to remember is that Lincoln deliberately forced the consideration of slavery in its ethical aspects. Douglas set forth strongly his claim for "squatter sovereignty." He maintained that the founders of the republic never intended that there should be uniform- ity in matters of local concern, but that there should be large liberty in each State to decide its own policy in matters within its own bound- aries. The slavery issue thus was an issue for each State to determine in its own way. He insisted that to hold this principle was not to commit one's self to the pro-slavery view ; he did not care, so far as this principle was concerned, whether slavery was voted up or voted down, but he did care for the sacred right of each State to work out its own salvation in matters of its own concern.
But what Lincoln said at the outset, he reiterated in nearly every speech, and stated thus in the debate at Quincy:
"The difference of opinion, reduced to its lowest terms, is no other than the difference between the men who think slavery a wrong, and those who do not think it a wrong. The Republican party think it wrong; we think it is a moral, a social, a political wrong. We think it a wrong not confining itself to the persons or the states where it exists, but that it is a wrong in its tendency, to say the least, that extends itself to the existence of the whole nation. Because we think it wrong, we propose a course of policy that shall deal with it as a wrong. W!e deal with it as with any other wrong, in so far as we can prevent its growing any larger, and so deal with it that in the run of time there may be some promise of an end to it. We have a due regard to the actual presence of it amongst us, and the difficulties of getting rid of it in any satisfactory way, and all the constitutional obligations thrown about it."
It was no political accident that drove Lincoln to this position. The Kansas-Nebraska bill and the Dred Scot decision had practically nationalized slavery. This he affirmed in his speech in Springfield, June 17, 1858, and in that speech declared that a house divided against itself could not stand. He knew what answer Senator Douglas would make. There was nothing in the Chicago speech of Douglas on July
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9, 1858, that surprised him, and Lincoln was present and heard it. Douglas quoted Lincoln's "house divided against itself" paragraph, and commented.
"In other words, Mr. Lincoln asserts, as a fundamental principle of this government, that there must be uniformity in the local laws and domestic institutions of each and all the states of the Union.
"Now, my friends, I must say to you frankly, that I take bold, unqualified issue with him upon that principle. I assert that it is neither desirable nor possible that there should be uniformity in the local institutions and domestic regulations of the different states of the Union. The framers of our govern- ment never contemplated uniformity in its internal concerns. Mr. Lincoln has totally misapprehended the great principles upon which our government rests."
Lincoln did not misapprehend. He knew just what he was doing, and he knew why he was doing it. He was determined to force the fight with Douglas on these two grounds, that the slavery issue was national, and that it was fundamentally moral.
Illinois is not the only State in which Lincoln might have form- ulated or forced that issue : but Illinois was the State in which, above all other States, that issue could be squarely joined between himself and the advocate of "squatter sovereignty," Stephen A. Douglas. The event made Douglas a Senator again, and two years later it made Lincoln President.
Illinois the Forum for Lincoln's Greatest Speeches.
Illinois offered to Lincoln a forum for the delivery of very nearly all his greatest speeches up to the time of his departure for his Inaug- ural. If we except only the Cooper Union address, virtually all the other of Lincoln's outstanding speeches were delivered in his own State, and it was the best possible place for their delivery. The "House-divided-against-itself" speech has already been referred to. His "Lost Speech" at Bloomington, May 20, 1856, could not so well have been delivered in any other State convention. His Peoria speech of October 16, 1854, might have been ignored if delivered in another State, but in Illinois, it virtually made certain the contest four years later with Douglas.
Illinois Gave Lincoln Most of His Offices.
Illinois gave to Lincoln every office that he ever held, except that of the Presidency and the postmastership of New Salem. Even in those important positions Illinois exerted an influence far from negligible. When he was a candidate for the Presidency he recorded in a sketch of his life written with his own hand that his election as captain of his company in the Black Hawk war gave him at the time more satisfaction than any subsequent honor. He also recorded that his defeat in 1832 when he was a candidate for the Legislature was the only defeat he ever suffered at the hands of the people. The people who thus voted for him whenever they had opportunity were, down to 1860, wholly Illinois people. Even in the election of 1832 when he was defeated, that part of Illinois that knew him, the part
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adjacent to and inclusive of New Salem, voted overwhelmingly in his favor. A Legislature declined in 1858 to make him Senator; a President in 1848 declined to make him Land Commissioner, but the people of Illinois gave him every office which he ever asked of them.
Illinois Fence Rails and Their Various Uses.
Illinois did something for Lincoln worth remembering in pre- serving some of his fence-rails, and the memory of his making them. He made them in 1830, and the State Republican Convention of 1860 was held in Decatur, only ten miles away from where those rails still formed some part of a fence. Thither came Lincoln, to attend the convention that on May 9 and 10, 1860, was to elect delegates to the National Republican Convention, to be held in Chicago, scarcely a week later, May 16. The northern part of the State was still strongly for Seward, though the Chicago Tribune had already come out squarely for Lincoln. But the Decatur Convention was not long divided. Richard J. Oglesby and old John Hanks had found two of the old rails, and at the opportune moment they were brought into the Convention, with a reminder that Lincoln was "the rail candidate.,, So he proved to be ; and the Seward boom fell flat in Illinois. From Decatur the Lincoln hosts went almost directly to Chicago, carrying with them the fresh enthusiasm of their Decatur experience.
Illinois the Scene of the Convention that Nominated Lincoln.
Finally, Illinois offered to Lincoln a place for the National Re- publican convention of 1860. In the boisterous young city by the lake, within the borders of the very State where Lincoln had split his rails, convened the delegates from all the States where there was organized opposition to the extension of slavery. We do not know what would have happened if the Republican Convention had been held in some other city where as many men were shouting for Seward as in Chi- cago were shouting for Lincoln. We do know that the galleries were potent then and even now not wholly lacking in their power to influ- ence a body of delegates. It was Lincoln's own State that furnished the theater for that dramatic act which made him President of the nation.
But the theater was not the whole play. Illinois was geographic- ally and politically even then a State whose support was of vast impor- tance to the ticket of the new political party. Illinois did not dictate the nomination; that was done by the opponents of Seward, after failure4 to discover another candidate who could carry the convention with good prospect also of carrying the election; but the influence of Illinois in both these matters was important ; and Illinois was by that time united in support of Lincoln. And, when all else has been said, it is not to be forgotten that Illinois furnished a large fraction of the shouting.
Lincoln's Farewell and Return to Illinois.
The time came for him to say farewell to his own Illinois. He said it first to his aged step-mother, who remembered with loving heart how he had been dear to her as her own son, and had never
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spoken to her an unkind word. He said it to his old neighbors, as he stood on the rear platform of the train with the wet eyes asking them to commend him to God in their prayers. And then he went away.
He came not back, save only the sacred memory of him, and the holy pride with which he was held to lasting honor, and the dust that once had enshrined his great soul. Thus wrote Walt Whitman in the spring of 1865 :
"When lilacs last in the door-yard bloomed,
And the great star early drooped in the western sky in the night,
I mourned, and yet shall mourn with ever returning spring.
0 ever-returning spring! trinity sure to me you bring; Lilacs blooming perennial, and drooping star in the west, And thought of him I love.
Over the breast of the spring, the land amid cities,
Amid lanes and through old woods (where lately the violets peeped from
the ground, spotting the gray debris;) Amid the grass in the fields each side of the lanes — passing the endless
grass; Passing the yellow-speared wheat, every grain from its shroud in the
dark-brown fields uprising; Passing the apple-tree blows of white and pink in the orchards; Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave, Night and day journeys a coffin.
Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night, with the great cloud darkening the land, With the pomp of the inlooped flags, with the cities draped in black, With the show of the States themselves, as of crape-veiled women
standing, With processions long and winding, and the flambeaus of the night, With the countless torches lit — with the silent sea of faces and the un- bared heads, With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the somber faces, With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong
and solemn; With all the mournful voices of the dirges, poured around the coffin, The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organ — where amid these you
journey, With the tolling, tolling, bells' perpetual clang; Here! Coffin that slowly passes,
1 give you my sprig of lilacs!"
The long journey ended. The lilacs bloomed and drooped. The gates of Oak Ridge opened and closed. Abraham Lincoln was at home again, in his own Illinois.*
As the body of Lincoln returned to the soil of his own State, Edna Dean Proctor, then a young woman, wrote a noble poem, a copy of which in her own handwriting hangs in the tomb of Lincoln, from which I quote a few lines :
* Abraham Lincoln was assasinated on Good Friday night, April 14, 1865, and died the following morning. His funeral was held from the White House at noon on Wednesday, April 19. The body left Washington at 7 o'clock, Friday morning, April 21, and journeyed by wav of Baltimore, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York, Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, ' Coluinbus, Indianapolis and Chicago. The departure from Chicago was at 8 o'clock p. m. on Tuesday, May 2. Springfield was reached next morning. The Springfield funeral took place on Thursday, May 4. Late on the after- noon of that day, his body was-laid to rest in Oak Ridge cemetery.
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"Now must the storied Potomac
Honors forever divide; Now to the Sangamon fameless
Give of its century's pride; Sangamon, stream of the prairies,
Placidly westward that flows, Far in whose city of silence
Calm he has sought his repose.
"Not for thy sheaves nor savannas
Crown we thee, proud Illinois! Here in his grave is thy grandeur,
Born of his sorrow thy joy. Only the tomb by Mount Zioh
Hewn for the Lord do we hold Dearer than his in thy prairies,
Girdled with harvests of gold."
Is Illinois Capable of Producing More Lincolns.?
Times have changed. We no longer have or need those same conditions, but we need men of the same spirit. Is Illinois adapted to produce men now of the Lincoln type? We have sung tonight our State song which has some merit, and some undeniably fine lines. I could wish that it had more idealism. It is not enough that we have rivers gently flowing or prairies verdant growing and straight roads leading along section lines to Chicago, nor that the breezes murmur the musical name of our State. What does that name mean ? To the Indians it meant, 'We are men.' It was a proud boast of the manhood of the State. Are we producing manhood like Lincoln's? I have not undertaken to write a new State song, but I have written a little rhymed sermon, and that is no apology:
Not thy farms with cattle teeming,
Illinois, Illinois, Nor thy factories smoking, steaming,
Illinois, Illinois, Nor thy railroads hauling freight, Made thee, or can make thee great, Righteous manhood buids a State,
Illinois.
By thy rivers gently flowing,
Illinois, Illinois, Arc there any great men growing,
Illinois, Illinois? Long before the white man's ken, Proud thy boast, "My sons are men"; This thy glory now as then,
Illinois.
Lincoln's ashes thou dost cherish,
Illinois, Illinois, Guard his virtues, lest they perish,
Illinois, Illinois, Justice, righteousness and skill, Honor, faith and strong good will, These thy guiding beacons still,
Illinois.
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ART IN HISTORIC COMMUNITIES.
By R. E. Hiebonymus, Community Advisee, University of Illinois.
A year and a half ago the Art Extension Committee was formed at the Better Community Conference of the University of Illinois. One of the most important activities in any community is the making of that community a more beautiful as well as a better place in which to live.
The special purpose of the Art Extension Committee is to assist in making Art a more potent elevating force in the lives of the people of the State of Illinois. It aims to help the people to discover beauty in Nature and to enjoy it, to recognize beauty in Art and to appreciate it, and to stimulate the production of beautiful things.
For the development of its work the General Committee has sub- committees on Community Festivals, Club Activities, Competitions, Bulletins, Speakers, Legislation, etc. Three exhibits have been pre- pared and are now in circulation throughout the State, one of original Oil Paintings, another of photographs of Illinois Sculpture, and a third on Landscaping Plans for both large and small communities. Others are in preparation.
The Illinois State Historical Society and the Art Extension Com- mittee may well join hands in beautifying still further the communities of the State. It is a happy thought that we are thus brought together in this Annual Meeting to study ways in which we may be helpful each to the other.
Tablets, statues, monuments and memorials will increase in num- ber as the people come to appreciate the place that real works of art may come to have in enriching the life of the people. Instead of the vicious street carnivals now infesting all too many places, masques and pageants given by the people themselves would familiarize both young and old with the earlier history of their own community and at the same time create a deeper interest in dramatic art. City Planning is blazing the way for beautifying the cities of the State in many ways. And now plans are shaping through legislation and the sympathetic co-operation of State-wide associations and agencies for a State Plan and a comprehensive system of State Parks. We deserve little credit for what nature has already done for Illinois, but the obligation is upon us all to add through the various forms of Art to the natural beauty and charm of our boundless prairies, the wooded valleys and the many historic spots throughout the Commonwealth.
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THE INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ILLINOIS.
By John M. Glenn, Secretary of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association,
Chicago, Illinois.
The wresting of Illinois from the Indians and the wild beasts is one of the most interesting episodes in American history, and the story of the industrial development of the State which followed, so far as the manufacturing industry is concerned, is quite as romantic as the tales of Indian fighting and buffalo hunting.
Nature endowed the territory with wonderful resources, but the means of transportation enjoyed by the early settlers were primitive and tedious. To these pioneers a trip across Lake Michigan in a craft which would not now be regarded as safe, or a voyage, up the Mississ- ippi River in a steamboat like that described by Lincoln which had to stop every time the whistle blew, was as much of a luxury as a ride on the Twentieth Century train to New York or a trip to California on the Overland is to the present generation.
The moving of lumber and logs down the Mississippi River and the trafhc up and down the Illinois was no more of a novelty than a freight train is today. It was the way the traffic moved and it was a cheap and a convenient way and a sure way.
The modern method of fabricating steel on the eastern coast and shipping it to San Francisco by rail instead of by water simply shows the impatience of the modern buyer. He would rather pay the price of rail transportation than wait for delivery by the water route. In Illinois, in the early half of the last century, when it took thirty days to go to the seat of government at Washington, a merchant put in an order for his goods far enough ahead to have the delivery made in time for next season's trade.
I suspect that Louis Joliet, a French soldier of Fortune, who in company with Pere Marquette and five or six couriers du bois happened around this way in the spring of 1673 was about the first one to adver- tise ourlocality. He was sojourning up around Green Bay, where there was a French settlement, and he and Marquette did a lot of tramping around in these parts, if our early historians are correct. He stirred things up on the other side of the ocean with an occasional letter, in one of which he made the statement that we had "ready-to-wear" farm lands. He wrote to friends that one did not have to cut down trees preceding the spring plowing and that about all one had to do was to sow his grain, chase down a few buffaloes to get some hides from which to make shoes and cure a little wild meat and reap a bountiful harvest. He seemed to think that the effort to get food and clothes was mere play. Anyway, he got the French people started, and it was not long until some of the settlers in Ohio and Indiana who were chopping down
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trees to get a clearing upon which to raise food heard of the wonderful prairies and they came this way. The news spread farther east to Vir- ginia and down to the Carolinas and these states commenced to send settlers up through the Cumberland Gap. The Ohio River and the Mississippi River brought them in on one side and the great lakes brought them in on the other.
These waterways upon which the government has spent millions of dollars in recent years in an effort to> make them navigable were, so far as the early settler was concerned, the highways of commerce, and they were in their virgin state. Such streams as the Sangamon River, made famous by Abraham Lincoln and hundreds of others, now no longer navigated, were the mainstay of transportation during the long period between Louis Joliet's time and 1850. Yes, it was many years after 1850 before the iron horse superseded the steamboat.
What I want to emphasize is that the men who first came to Illinois and those who lived here two or three generations afterwards used the waterways without the lavish expenditure on the part of the govern- ment which has been demanded in later years and which thus far has not been especially effective or helpful. When the early settler found an obstruction in a stream he went around it and he built the craft in which he transported his goods to conform to the gauge of the water. He did not try to change the waterway to conform to his style of a craft. Nor did he wait for a fourteen-foot lake-to-the-gulf gauge or a Mark Twain.
Illinois always was a good market. Even before the farmer com- menced to turn over its fertile soil it carried on a wonderful fur trade, and I am sure the buffalo in the very early days found its prairies just as the Short Horn, Polled Angus and Herefords of today find its fat blue-grass pastures.
Louis Joliet, it is claimed, was the first man to suggest a canal connecting Lake Michigan with the Illinois River. The first actual survey was made in 1820. The first earth was turned in 1836 and the canal was completed in 1848. As early as 1832 Congress commenced to spend money on the Chicago harbor. This was fourteen years after the State came into the Union and five years before Chicago was an incorporated city. Peoria and some of the down State settlements were much more important. But adequate means of transportation, which has been one of the factors in our development, and one of our chief hobbies, was felt to be very important.
The first railroad was called the Northern Cross and it was pro- jected to extend from Springfield to Meredosia in Morgan County on the Illinois River. It was a crude affair. The first rails were laid in May, 1838* It did not prosper and in 1847 was purchased by Nicholas H. Ridgely, a pioneer banker of Springfield, and a man of great ability, energy and vision, and was opened again for business in 1849. In 1850 the State boasted of 111 miles of railroad. This included the line be- tween Chicago and Elgin. In 1837 the legislature passed an act author-
* Its first division was between Meredosia and Jacksonville and it was completed first. On November 8, 1838, the first train was run. The road was completed to Jacksonville on January 1, 1840.
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izing the construction of a railroad from Galena to Cairo. This road has been referred to frequently as the first Illinois Central. Its estimated cost was $3,500,000. Several other lines, the estimated cost of which was $14,000,000, were part of a very ambitious program. A financial panic swept the country about this time and hampered the State in the disposal of the bonds, but the commissioners who had the matter of sell- ing the securities in hand disposed of almost $5,000,000 worth. The Galena & Chicago Union Railroad was completed to a point near the Desplaines River, twelve miles west of Chicago, in the latter part of 1848. In January, 1850, it was extended into Chicago, giving the rapidly growing lake port a direct connection with Elgin. From that time on Illinois railroads boomed and the State now boasts of 13,000 miles of first line track.
So much for natural resources and transportation. The manu- facturing industry of the State dates its birth from 1850. It is true the census shows there were some factories prior to that time and, like all pioneer frontier settlements, we boasted of our prowess. But the fact is that we did not do much until the fifties and then we began to jump at an average rate of thirty per cent per decade. We had to learn the value of our cheap coal and how to take advantage of our cheap raw materials. We knew so little about coal in those days that we burned wood on our freight engines.
Illinois embraces much of what is known as the central fields of bituminous coal, covering an area of 37,000 square miles and under- lying sixty counties, forty-five of which mine the coal on a commercial scale, principally Saline, Marion, Franklin, Williamson, Sangamon, St. Clair, Vermilion, Macoupin and LaSalle. In some of the southern counties coke also is manufactured. The first coal was mined near Springfield in 1840, with an output of 16,000 tons for the year. Frank S. Peabody in a speech recently stated that the Illinois coal mines pro- duced 90,000,000 tons in 1918.
Salt mining was one of the earliest of Illinois industries, being of more or less importance, until it became more economical to bring the product from Michigan. The lead mines in the neighborhood of Ga- lena assisted materially in the development of the northwestern part of the State.
A review of census figures of 1850 shows that the invested indus- trial capital was $6,385,000, that the factories were employing 11,632 men and 433 women ; that the wages amounted to $3,286,000 and that the value of the product was $17,263,000. Meat packing, and plants devoted to the fabrication of iron and steel began to expand as the manufacture of agricultural implements and the grinding of grain and the distilling of corn into liquor had grown during the earlier period. Illinois, and especially the northern part of the State, was accessible to the inexhaustible iron and copper mines of Michigan and after the construction of the Illinois Central railroad and the development of the coal mines vast stores of fuel were available for the manufacture of iron and steel. The first rail mill was established in 1857 by Captain E. B. Ward on the north branch of the Chicago River. This plant
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is now owned by the Illinois Steel Company. The growing influence of the railroads was indicated in the starting of this plant. The Union Car Works, another Chicago enterprise, started in 1852.
The meat packing industry had its rise, like many other industries, in inconsequential beginnings. It developed in a marked . degree at Peoria and in the early sixties flourished in Chicago where the first packing plants were established by the Armours, Swifts, Morris' and later the Cudahys and others, but the business did not reach its full stride until the development of refrigeration in 1870, which made it possible to ship dressed pork, beef and mutton to all sections of the country as well as abroad.
The Civil War, as did the late World's War, created an enormous demand for food and clothing and for other commodities and ma- chinery. The great advance in prices caused tremendous expansion. Heavy war tariffs on imported goods encouraged the development of manufacturing enterprises. The population grew. The production of grain, live stock and other necessities was greatly stimulated. More railroads were built and people began to flock to the cities, higher wages were the rule and a more expensive standard of living was very noticeable.
For some time after the Civil War there was a period of high prices. Later the bottom dropped out and all industrial enterprises went through a period of depression and readjustment. Profits were low or absolutely wiped out. Many manufacturing plants suspended operations but on the whole, in spite of financial and industrial re- verses, some advancement was noticeable. The federal industrial returns for 1870 showed Illinois as making progress. The next twenty years were marked by great achievements. New labor saving machines were invented and new power methods devised. It is stated that in 1881 alone more than 1,000 patents were granted to the residents of Illinois. Machinery replaced hand labor. The natural consequence was a great increase in the amount of capital invested and in the volume of output. The $94,000,000 of invested capital in 1870 had increased to over $500,000,000 in 1890. More women were constantly entering industry. In 1850 there were only 433. In 1870 there were 6,617; in 1914, 82,888; and a careful estimate would indicate that the number in industry in 1920 was 132,040.
Reference has been made to the influence of the railroads on the industrial development of Illinois. Other public utilities have been quite as important, notably the telephone, interurban traction lines, the development of gas and electrical power. Computing machinery and other time-saving devices now are quite as indispensable in the general offices as labor-saving machinery is in the shops.
Transportation improved greatly in this period, along with manu- facturing and marketing facilities. In the Lake Superior region new ranges were opened from which iron ore could be transported quickly and cheaply to the Illinois factory districts. Improved loading devices were developed and larger boats were employed in lake transportation.
The manufacture of steel rails, which began in 1867, made possible the transportation of heavier loads.
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The iron and steel industry in Illinois dates from about the sixties. Originally Hardin County gave promise of an abundant supply of ore, but the works were soon abandoned. The Iron Mountain district of Missouri next furnished the ore, but since sometime in the eighties the Lake Superior iron ranges have supplied the greatest amount of raw material for iron and steel plants.
Eber Brock Ward, born in 1811 in New Hamborough, Upper Canada, was a pioneer in the iron and steel industry in the State. In 1855 he built the first iron mill west of Pittsburgh at Wyandotte, Michi- gan, a suburb of Detroit. Two years later, finding the need for a larger field, he built iron works on the north branch of the Chicago river and in 1872 this plant, together with one he had established at Milwaukee, were consolidated as the North Chicago Rolling Mill Com- pany. The Chicago works rolled the first steel ever made in America, on May 24, 1865.
Orrin W. Potter, a native of Rochester, N. Y., where he was born in 1836, had much to do with the development of the State's iron and steel industry. He became connected in 1857 in a clerical capacity with the rolling mill established by Captain E. B. Ward and was chosen secretary and general superintendent of the works on its incorporation in 1865. He afterwards became its president and occupied this impor- tant position for twenty-five years, until the consolidation of the enter- prise with the Illinois Steel Company. In 1869 the mill was credited with manufacturing about one-third of the iron and steel produced in the country.
The first furnace was built in 1868 by the Chicago Iron Company, and the following year or two, more were built by the North Chicago Rolling Mills Company. The Joliet Iron & Steel Company was estab- lished in 1871 and two furnaces added in 1873. Two other mills were established near St. Louis and three more in the region about Grand Tower, in 1876. Of the total output of rails in 1875 Illinois produced about one- fourth, ranking second to Pennsylvania. The first Bessemer steel in this country is said to have been rolled at the North Chicago Rolling Mill Company in 1874.
The Illinois Steel Company took in many of the works mentioned, but there were thirteen other steel plants in Chicago and vicinity.
One of the striking figures of the advancing days of the iron and steel industry in Illinois was the late John W. Gates who, as a young man, sold goods behind the counter in his father's hardware store at Turner's Junction, now West Chicago. Young Gates sold so much barbed wire that he was impressed with the possibilities of that product and made an eloquent plea to I. L. El wood to take him into the plant that had developed barbed wire, as a partner. Mr. Elwood declined to do so. After an exceedingly successful series of trips to Texas, during which he sold several train loads of barbed wire, Mr. Gates interested some St. Louis people and started a wire plant of his own. It was the beginning of the American Steel & Wire Company and the Gates millions.
Another great manufacturer who did not start at the bottom of the workmen's ladder, but who, like Mr. Gates, has developed wonderful
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capacity for organization, is Judge E. H. Gary, the present chairman of the board of directors of the United States Steel Corporation. Mr. Gary was born at Wheaton, Illinois, in 1846. He served as mayor of that town for three terms and county judge for two terms. Then he removed to Chicago and devoted himself to corporation law. He be- came counsel for several railroads and industrial corporations and in 1898 retired from practice of law to become president of the Federal Steel Corporation, which in 1901 was merged into the United States Steel Corporation. He is the most prominent captain of industry in the country and has more influence than any other man engaged in the manufacturing business.
The general tendency of large scale operation, the inevitable con- sequence of improved processes of manufacture, the standardization of machinery, better transportation facilities and the economies made possible by efficient management was made evident in the 1914 census reports. The development and employment of corporate forms of organization for industrial companies, the organization of stock and produce exchanges have been potent factors in this modern drift.
The tendency to concentrate in fewer establishments of larger units has been in the interest of the public. It has made most products much cheaper than otherwise would have been possible. It has made possible the installation of expensive machinery, specialization, more skillful management, the utilization of by-products, as in the meat pack- ing, iron and steel, woodworking and paper industries. Raw material can be bought to greater advantage and the finished product can be marketed more extensively. Large investments of capital are essential to economical operation.
It might be worth while to say something about the attainment of the State and what it has reached in the way of development, so far as figures are concerned. The latest statistics, so far as the census enumeration is concerned, are for 1914. They show an invested capital of $1,943,836,000 and a value of the product reaching $2,247,323,000. It is more than probable that the figures for 1919 will be double those of 1914, at least as far as the value of the product is concerned.*
The industrial development of Illinois has been due largely, as we have tried to point out to the advantage of waterways, supplemented by railroads and cheap fuel, together with other natural resources. The location of these resources had much to do with the establishment of the numerous industrial centers, of which Chicago is only one, although the largest.
Peoria ranks next to Chicago, its important manufacturing lines being distilling, slaughtering and packing, and agricultural implements. It is the home of one of the largest wire products companies in the State.
Joliet has important steel and rolling mills, blast furnaces and manufactories of wire and coke and advertising specialties.
East St. Louis shows the greatest growth of any city in the State in the last decade, with flour and grist mills, chemical works, slaughter-
* Since this was written the 1919 census figures have been secured. They place the value of manufactured products for 1919 at $5,426,662,000.
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ing and packing and rolling mills. It is the leading manufacturing center in the country for aluminum products and animal feed products. Rockford, in the last census, ranked fifth in the value of manufac- tured products, but second in the number of employes, the leading industries being furniture, knitting mills and foundries. It is one of the most important centers of the furniture industry in this country.
Moline has immense agricultural implements plants and factories for the manufacture of automobiles, carriages and wagons.
Alton has one of the largest glass and bottle plants in America and the only brass rolling mill west of Connecticut. It is also the location of one of the largest cartridge factories in the country.
Decatur is a center of car repair shops and plumbers' supplies and has about eighty different plants of varied industry. A great concern for the manufacture of flour and feed is located there.
Springfield is famous for its production of motor car accessories, watches, mill work and agricultural implements. It has ninety manu- facturing establishments, with an output of about $14,000,000 annually. Aurora has extensive railroad car repair shops, foundries and a number of plants devoted to the manufacture of heavy machinery and textiles.
Elgin has achieved international fame as a center of the watch- making industry, also for the manufacture of scientific instruments. It has large plants for the manufacture of condensed milk and other dairy products and is the world's recognized butter market.
Belleville shares with Quincy the distinction of having made Illi- nois the largest center of stove manufacturing in the world. It also has large plants devoted to the production of hosiery, mining and agri- cultural implements.
Quincy is a well located manufacturing center on the Mississippi River, with excellent harbor and terminal facilities. It employs over 7,000 persons in stoves, vehicles and varied industries.
Bloomington, located near the center of the State, possesses good distribution facilities. Its principal industries are agricultural equip- ment, railroad shops, canning, foundries, candy and printing.
Cairo, being a center of rail and water transportation, possesses the advantage of competitive freight rates. It handles over 150,000,000 feet of lumber annually. It possesses inexhaustible quantities of silica, kaolin and ganister, used in the production of high grade china and crockery. Approximately $10,000,000 is invested in its varied indus- tries.
Galena was for many years the center of the lead mining industry of the West. It has important iron works.
Danville's proximity to cheap coal has made it a prominent manu- facturing point. The principal products are zinc, brick and foundry specialties. It also has important glass works.
Galesburg has fifteen plants devoted to agricultural equipment, boilers and engines and creamery specialties.
Kankakee has large factories devoted to trucks and trailers, motor cars, tile and brick, and hosiery. Agricultural implements, metal bed-
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steads and wagons are important industries in the adjoining town of Bradley.
LaSalle is the center of great deposits of fire clay, brick clay, cement rock, silica sand and coal in the LaSalle-Peru-Oglesby trio of towns. Zinc, cement, chemicals and allied products, machine tools, clocks and watches, are the principal manufacturing lines.
Rock Island is the site of the U. S. Government arsenal and, with Moline and Davenport, forms the great manufacturing district known as the Tri-Cities.
Steger, another important manufacturing town, owes its chief im- portance to the location of a great plant for the manufacture of pianos and phonographs.
Champaign and Urbana together form an important manufactur- ing district for machinery, scientific instruments, road and locomotive cranes, hardware and tools and foundry products.
Sterling is the largest center in the West for the manufacture of builders' hardware. It also has large plants for the manufacture of foundry products, wire and rod products, and vehicles.
Streator is the home of one of the largest bottle factories of the West and is noted for its plants for the manufacture of clay products, brick, canned goods, freight cars and tin.
Waukegan has large plants for the manufacture of asbestos and magnesia products, including packing and roofing, envelopes, wooden- ware specialties, steel heating boilers and tanks, wire fences and wire products. It has advanced rapidly within the last year as an industrial center. North Chicago, in the same district, has extensive plants „devotel to the production of conveying machinery, creamery machin- ery, brass and bronze, electrical steel and chemical products.
Granite City, which adjoins East St. Louis, has large scale steel, granite, chemical and aluminum ware operations.
Chicago Heights represents one of the numerous manufacturing districts formed by plants which found advantages outside of the me- tropolis. It has large terra cotta works, plants for the manufacture of manganese steel castings, brick, machine tools, mining and crushing machinery, aniline dyes and sectional steel buildings. Cicero is another important manufacturing center in the general Chicago metropolitan district, and so are Maywood, Argo, Arlington Heights, Pullman, West Chicago, DeKalb, Harvey, Lamont, Sycamore and Woodstock, a center of the writing machine industry. Gary, East Chicago, Hammond and Indiana Harbor, although located in Indiana, also are considered in the Northern Illinois manufacturing district.
Freeport's leading industries are patent medicine and pharmaceu- tical preparations, soaps and spices, wind mills, foundry machinery, automobiles, toys and machine tools.
Metropolis is located in "Egypt" and fast becoming the industrial center its founders predicted. The most important industries are plan- ing mill products, stoves, shafts, bows and gearwoods, staves and headings, and fruit baskets.
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Ottawa has several plants for the manufacture of silica sand, and establishments of allied character producing opalescent and colored sheet glass and plate glass.
Pekin has one of the largest cooperage establishments in the West which ships its products to all parts of the world.
Peru is the center of an important clock industry and zinc works.
Piano is the location of one of the most important agricultural plants of the State.
Now I have given you in a cursory way a review of the manufac- turing industry in Illinois, its various important centers, and said something about its achievements. The greatest feature of all, how- ever, in connection with the growth of industry has been the develop- ment of the wonderful men who have been responsible for its growth. Some one has said that "a great institution is the length of a shadow of a great man," and I am sorry it is not possible to mention all who are worthy of notice in a review of this kind, but I must single out a few.
Among the famous pioneers should be mentioned Cyrus H. McCormick, the founder of the Harvester organization bearing his name, and John Deere, who established the immense implement plant at Moline. These men started at the anvil and they came to Illinois because Illinois had a market for the things they had in mind.
Mr. McCormick was a native of Virginia which in his youthful days, was a great wheat producing state. After years of contriving and developing Mr. McCormick produced a crude but effective reaper. His first factory was a blacksmith shop in which he used a flat stone for an anvil. In 1847 he established his first Chicago plant. The next year he built 500 reapers and from that output the McCormick plant has grown until it is now the largest farm machine producer in the world, making more than half a million farm machines annually.
John Deere made his first two plows by hand at his blacksmith shop in Grand Detour, Ogle County, in 1833. He gradually increased his output until in 1848 he made a thousand finished plows which es- tablished his position as the foremost manufacturer of that day. John Deere is said to have made the earliest all-steel plows, as con- trasted with the still earlier ones which were supplied with wooden mold boards. The steel plows would scour in the sticky Illinois soil.
William Parlin, born in Akron, Mass., in 1817, journeyed over- land to Canton, Illinois, in 1840. He started the little shop that made plows and other agricultural implements which later became famous the world over. In 1852 William T. Orendorff, a brother-in-law of Parlin, and a native of Illinois, joined the firm and the firm became Parlin & Orendorff in 1860, the partnership continuing for thirty years. Mr. Parlin was a mechanical genius, who worked at the bench and forge and even in later years continued to perfect and develop agricultural implements. He was the first to make a plow bottom en- tirely of steel, replacing wooden mold boards. He also put the first crude stalk cutter on the market, originated the disk harrow and led in the manufacture of the double plow.
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George Stephens, a pioneer manufacturer of Moline, Illinois, and president of the second largest steel plow factory in the world at the time of his death, in 1902, was a native of Pennsylvania. He came west in 1841 without a dollar save what he earned at his daily work. But he was a skillful millwright. He had erected several mills in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and consequently was well equipped for the task that awaited him at Moline. The first work he did in that grow- ing industrial center was installing the machinery for the flour mill of D. B. Sears, afterwards remaining with the mill in charge of the machinery. He erected other mills and in 1859, in company with Jonathan Huntoon and Timothy Wood, leased a saw mill, which also was utilized in the manufacture of furniture. In 1865 he engaged in the manufacture of plows in company with R. K. Swan and Andre Friberg, the venture proving so successful that in 1870 it was incor- porated as the Moline Plow Company, with a capital of $240,000. This was increased as the business expanded to a capital of $18,000,000.
Daniel M. Sechler, founder of the Sechler Carriage Company of Moline, Illinois, organized that company in 1887. He was born at Danville, Pennsylvania, in 1818, learned his trade in Newark, N. J., and built carriages and engaged in other manufacturing enterprises in Ironton and Cincinnati and in Montgomery County, Tenn., before removing to Moline.
Daniel C. Stover was born in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, in 1839. He left home at the age of 18 years and went to California and tried gold mining for a time, but in 1864 he came to Illinois. After two years in Lenark, Carroll County, he located in Freeport, where he lived until his death in 1908. A corn cultivator was his first invention and a windmill the next. He also invented an extensive line of barbed wire machinery and a machine to make a woven wire mat. He was at the head of the Stover Manufacturing Company, organized for the pur- pose of producing barbed wire machines, tripple geared grinders and windmills.
Alvah Mansur was another of the long line of pioneer manufac- turers of agricultural implements in Illinois. A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1833, he came west and entered the hardware business in Moline, where he made a friend of John Deere and afterwards became interested with his son, Charles H. Deere, in the Deere & Mansur Company for the manufacture of corn planters and other implements, developing into the largest corn planter works in the world. He died in 1898.
Robert H. Avery, one of the industrial leaders, who made Peoria so important a manufacturing center, and was, the founder of the great agricultural implement fabricating firm now known as the Avery Company. He was confined in Andersonville prison during the Civil War, when he worked out his first idea of a corn planter. A smooth place on the ground and a pointed stick were his drafting equipment. In 1874, on land he pre-empted in Kansas, he built and put into successful operation the first working model of the corn planter he had conceived while an inmate of the southern prison. In 1877 he returned to Illinois and in co-partnership with his brother,
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C. M. Avery, started to make planters at Galesburg, in connection with stalk cutters and other agricultural implements. The business grew so rapidly that in 1882 the brother removed to Peoria, which attracted them by the advantage of river transportation, railroad facilities and a dependable labor market. In 1889 the manufacture of steam engines and threshing machinery was taken up. Mr. Avery and his brother both have passed away, but the stupendous enterprise de- veloped by them still thrives and employs more than 4,000 people, sending its machinery to all parts of the world.
Other men who took high rank in production more or less de- pendent on the farm were Phillip D. Armour, Gustavus F. Swift, Nelson Morris, Michael Cudahy and Samuel W. Allerton. They were packers of meat and they builded great fortunes.
Philip Danforth Armour, one of the founders of the packing in- dustry, was a native of New York. At the age of 19 years he started with several companions, on foot, for the gold fields of California, but he was the only one who reached the coast. He remained there sev- eral years, digging ditches, building sluices and keeping store. Re- turning with a few thousand dollars in capital, he was impressed with the possibilities of Milwaukee, then the stopping place for gold seekers on their way to the mines and returning from the West. He engaged in the slaughtering and packing of hogs, was quite successful, and in the sixties came to Chicago and laid the foundation for the immense packing business of Armour & Company. The invention of the re- frigerator car which permitted the shipment of fresh meat in the summer months contributed greatly to the extension of the meat packing business.
Gustavus Franklin Swift, who was a contemporary of Mr. Ar- mour and other pioneer meat packers, was born in Massachusetts, with his first $20 capital, loaned by his father, he started the business which before he died was worth millions of dollars. With this capi- tal he bought a heifer, killed and dressed it in one of the buildings of his father's farm. He peddled the meat about the country and cleared $10. Then he went to buying and selling pigs. Soon he found his way to the big stock yards at Brighton, just outside of Boston, where his ability was recognized. He continued to peddle meat, later open- ing a butcher shop at Barnstable, and still later other shops in nearby towns, finally entering into buying and selling cattle on the Boston market under the firm of Hathaway & Swift.
As Cyrus H. McCormick had seen the future grain market in the West, Mr. Swift foresaw the possibilities of Illinois as a livestock market and 1875 found him among the cattle buyers at the Chicago stockyards. The family found a home in Emerald Avenue and there Mr. Swift continued to work among his employes for -twenty-three years.
Nelson Morris, another of the pioneer meat packers, was a native of the Black Forest section of Germany, where he was born in 1839. He was a self-educated youth who came to this country
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when he was twelve years old, reaching Chicago in 1854 and secur- ing employment in the stockyards, founding several years later the great house that bears his name.
Michael Cudahy, the founder of Cudahy Brothers, meat packers, was a native of Kilkenny, Ireland, where he was born in 1841. He came to the United States with his parents at the age of 8 years. When 14 years old he entered the Milwaukee packing house of John Plankinton, afterwards a partner of Philip D. Armour. Later he became superintendent of Plankington & Armour and in 1875 was admitted as a partner in the firm of Armour & Company of Chicago. In 1881, with his brothers John and Patrick, he established the firm of Cudahy Brothers.
Peter Schuttler of the Peter Schuttler Company, in 1843 started to make wagons in Chicago in a one story frame building at the cor- ner of Franklin and Randolph Streets. The six-year old town then had 3838 adult citizens. The high grade of his wagons made them popular with the ambitious gold seekers who went to California and other western states in the stirring days of 1849. The Mormons used his wagons in their exodus to Salt Lake in 1855. In 1865 his was the largest and best equipped farm wagon factory in the country. Mr. Schuttler was a native of Germany.
Ludwig Wolff was born in Germany in 1836. He emigrated to this country with his parents at the age of 17. The first work he did was clearing land for a Macoupin County farmer at $2.00 a month. He came to Chicago with a two cent copper coin. He had learned copper smithing in his native Germany and found employment at that trade until 1855, when he formed a partnership with Terence Maguire and engaged in the general plumbing and coppersmithing business. From this modest beginning grew the great industrial enterprise now known as the L. Wolff Manufacturing Company.
Dorr E. Felt, inventor of the Comptometer, was born at Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1862. He was educated in the public schools until he was sixteen when he went to work. At twenty years he was foreman of a rolling mill that had a daily output valued at $2,000. He learned the machinist's trade, became a mechanical draftsman and developed his inventive genius. His first Comptometer was made from a wooden spaghetti box, meat skewers, rubber bands and a keyboard of crudely- cut wooden blocks. From the beginning his knowledge of mechanics and his theoretical education enabled him to construct his own work- ing models, and even now he frequently fashions some delicate or in- tricate tool utilized in his great computing machinery factory. He is a close student of governmental and economic problems, well versed in geology, biblical history and political science. He took up study of French at age of 18 years and speaks that language fluently.
William Worth Burson, one of the pioneer manufacturers of Rockford, and inventor of the Burson knitting machine, was born in Pennsylvania and came west with his parents who settled in Fulton County in 1843. His inventive genius was displayed at an early age in labor saving devices and machinery. His first success was achieved in a self-raking reaper, completed in 1858, which was the first ma-
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chine to" regulate the sheaf by weight. He obtained a patent on a twine binder two years later. As a result of a successful demonstra- tion in the great reaper trial in Dixon in 1862, Mr. Burson was en- couraged to engage in a large scale production of the binder and Emerson & Company contracted to make 1,000 machines for him to be ready for the harvest in 1863. It was the purpose of carrying out this contract that Mr. Burson went to Rockford, where he remained until his removal to Chicago in 1881. Unforseen difficulties attended his first venture in manufacturing. The production and sale of the binders was a financial failure and the large indebtedness that ensued was not entirely liquidated until twenty years afterward. Undaunted, Mr. Burson pursued the trend of his inventive genius and developed a number of important harvesting inventions. His chief success, however, consisted in the invention of the family knitting machine. In this enterprise he was associated for many years with John Nelson. In 1869 a knitting machine part, now known as the presser hook, was developed and the following year the first sock knit by an automatic machine in Rockford was turned out. Valuable improvements were added from time to time until a perfect machine was developed. Rockford seamless hose was the pioneer in seamless hosiery and "Burson fashioned hosiery" became a widely known commodity in this and foreign lands. Altogether, Mr. Burson was granted more than fifty patents in the United States and foreign countries on grain binders, harvesters, automatic knitting machine and other improved machinery of various kinds. He died in 1913.
John Nelson, who was one of the founders of the great knitting industry in Rockford, was born in Sweden in 1830. He became a spinning wheel maker in his native land and was engaged in that trade until he emigrated at the age of 22 years. His association with Wil- liam W. Burson proved not only profitable for both, but of great ad- vantage to Rockford and industry in general. He died in 1883.
P. A. Peterson, who has contributed so much to the industrial development of Rockford, was born in Sweden in 1846. He came to this country in 1852 and located four years later in Winnebago county, engaging in farming. He entered the furniture manufacturing indus- try in Rockford in 1875, and was one of the founders of the Union Furniture Company the following year. He has been called the "father of the furniture industry" in Illinois.
Edward C. Hegeler, a leading zinc manufacturer and publisher of scientific periodicals of LaSalle, Illinois, for many years, was a native of Bremen, Germany. In his education he specialized in min- ing and mechanical engineering in one of the best German institutions. In 1857, at the age of twenty-two, he started for America in com- pany with Frederick W. Matthiessen, a friend and fellow student, who also was to become one of the leading manufacturers of Illinois. To- gether they journeyed to LaSalle where they ultimately developed the largest zinc works in the world. These two German students were the pioneers in the zinc industry in this country, where the smelting of zinc had been unknown until their arrival. LaSalle was selected as
68
the location for the industry in consequence of the large available supply of coal underlying the earth's surface there, for it require three tons of coal to smelt one ton of zinc.
Mr. Matthiessen did much to develop the Western Clock Com- pany at LaSalle, one of the greatest enterprises of its kind in the United States.
Richard Teller Crane, founder of the Crane Company, came of New England stock. Born at Passaic Falls, N. J., 1832, he became cotton mill operative at age of 9 years. He died in 1912, for more than seventy years a toiler and producer. He worked for a time in a tobacco factory, but in 1847 an uncle found a chance for him to learn the brass and bell foundry and brass finishing business with a firm in Boston. He received $2.50 a week during the first year of his appren- ticeship. Later he worked in printing press works in lower New York, becoming a first class machinist. He came to Chicago in 1855 where his uncle, Martin Ryerson, gave him permission to build a brass foundry in his lumber yard, corner Canal and Fulton Streets. From this small beginning came the Crane Company, which today manu- factures probably 18,000 different articles for use in connection with steam, water, gas and air.
John Crerar, founder of the Crerar Library, in Chicago, where he died in 1889, left a $2,500,000 endowment fund for that institution. Born in New York, 1827, at the age of 18 he became connected in a business way with William Boyd, who married his widowed mother and was American representative of an English firm, William Jessup & Sons, extensively engaged in the steel business. Afterwards he became connected with Morris K. Jessup & Company. In 1862, with J. McGregor Adams, he bought the Chicago branch of Jessup & Com- pany and the firm of Crerar, Adams & Company, dealers in railway supplies, was established. He was also largely interested in the house of Adams & Westlake and was one of the original incorporators of the Pullman Palace Car Company. He was one of the directors of the Chicago & Alton Railroad and at one time of the Chicago & Joliet Railway.
Philetus Woodworth Gates, who was born in Fenner, New York, 1817, and died in Chicago in 1888, was a nestor in the machine busi- ness in the middle and western states and it is probable that there are more large concerns in existence today which sprang from; his com- panies than from any other large corporation in this part of the coun- try. At the age of fifteen he was bound as apprentice to a blacksmith at Bristol Center, New York. After working for a time in that and other places in the east and also in St. Louis, he started for Chicago, but stopped at "Yankee Settlement", about twenty-five miles south- west of Chicago on the Illinois-Michigan Canal, in the neighborhood of what is now known as the "Sag". He found employment on a farm, and married there. In 1840 he and his father-in-law took a con- tract on a sub-section of the canal, but depreciation in the scrip in which they were paid left them financially bankrupt and heavily in debt. In 1842, with $3 in money and a horse which he sold for $7,
69
Mr. Gates went to Chicago accompanied by his family and the family of his father-in-law. One thousand feet of lumber was bought on credit, for which they paid an interest rate of 4 per cent a month. This lumber the men carried on their backs to a point on the Chicago River and erected a blacksmith shop and foundry. The firm pros- pered, several different partners entering it with Mr. Gates, although they afterwards disposed of their interests on profitable terms. Car building was added to the manufacturing lines, after Andrew Fraser, E. S. Warner and Thomas Chalmers became connected with the house. Mr. Gates made many valuable inventions, one being the conical die for the continuous cutting of threads, which patent covers the principle in all dies which have since been manufactured for the continuous cutting of threads. He also made many of the improve- ments which finally resulted in the Gates rock breaker, now the standard gyratory rock crusher of the world.
Eliphalet Wickes Blatchford was born at Stillwater, New York, 1826. He was very young when his father, who was the first man to be ordained a minister of the gospel in Chicago, came to Illinois. He was graduated from Illinois college at Jacksonville in 1845. Five years later he went to St. Louis and engaged in the lead and metal business, also extensively in oils. He came to Chicago and founded E. W. Blatchford Company in 1854. For forty years he was at the head of the Chicago Theological Seminary. He was one of the directors of the Crerar Library and did much enthusiastic work in the interest of the Chicago Manual Training School.
Robert Fergus, who printed the first book in Chicago, a city directory in 1843, came to Illinois in an old side-wheeler from Mil- waukee in 1839. On the vessel that brought him to Chicago was Edward H. Rudd, with material for the first job printing office that was established in a city that now numbers them by thousands. In 1842, with his partner, William Ellis, Mr. Fergus started Quid Nunc, the first 1-cent daily west of the Alleghenies.
Morris Selz began the manufacture of shoes in 1871 in Chicago. He was a native of Neiderstetten, Wurttemberg, Germany. When he landed in New York in the early forties his entire capital consisted of seventy-five cents. He traveled with a pack on his back through Con- necticut, went to Georgia as soon as he made enough money to buy a horse and wagon, learned the English language, and advanced in business success. In 1849 he went to California and there, chiefly as storekeeper, amassed $20,000 and came to Illinois to go into busi- ness. At first he entered the clothing business, but his ambitions always were in the direction of production, and these were fulfilled when he began the manufacture of shoes on a large scale. From a small factory, at first employing not more than 100 men, the enter- prise grew until it now has a dozen large plants employing thousands of workers, sending its product all over this country and the world. When he died in 1913 he left $150,000 to the workers who had helped him achieve success.
70
Patrick Joseph Healy, who founded the music house in Chicago that bears his name, was born on a farm near Bufort County, Cork, Ireland, in 1840, and died in 1905. He was 10 years old when the family removed to Boston. Through the influence of a music teacher, whose organ he blowed, young Healy found work when he was 14 years old in a music store. The firm he was working for, Oliver Dit- son and John C. Haynes, sent Mr. Healy to Chicago in 1864 to revive their trade which had reached a critical situation. Later he and a fellow clerk, Mr. Lyon, started the music *house that became famous, both before and after the Chicago fire. They were the first to sell the upright piano in Chicago, just before the fire. Mr. Lyon withdrew from the firm in 1889.
Ambrose Plamondon was born in Quebec in 1833 and died in 1896. He settled in Oswego, New York, and learned the millwright trade. Came west in 1856, superintended the erection of the Ottawa Starch works, subsequently building several flour mills in western states. In 1859 he started a small plant with a Mr. Palmer in a build- ing on West Water Street, Chicago. He did millwright work at first for flour mills and grain elevators, afterwards adding the manufacture of pulleys, gearing and shafting. He developed machinery for a new system of malting houses.
George Mortimer Pullman, who more than any one man has con- tributed to the traveling comfort of the public, built his first two "palace cars" in a small shop on the west side of the present Union Station in Chicago. From this small beginning the Pullman Palace Car Company, later changed to the Pullman Company, advanced steadily to its place among the large industries of the United States. Plants were established at Detroit, in New York State and Pennsyl- vania, St. Louis and Delaware. It was not until 1880 that the model plant near the Calumet, fourteen miles south of Chicago, was estab- lished.
Mr. Pullman was at least seventy-five years ahead of his time and his vision was blinded by the people of Illinois. He erected in the state an ideal work-shop and a model home town for the men of his plant. The State of Illinois, through its courts, recognized that he had the right to build stables for his horses, but not the right to build homes for his men, and it was judicially decreed that the model town of Pullman should be dismantled. The judgment of the court was carried out, and not one reformer or one citizen, so far as we know, ever protested.
Among the other manufacturers who built up the state were men like Jacob and John W. Bunn, who started the watch-making industry in Springfield ; George W. Brown, who in 1878 had what was said to be the world's largest corn planter works, in Galesburg; A. S. Cole, a pioneer flour manufacturer and distiller of Peoria ; John Ham- lin and John Sharp who had a large flour mill running on Red Bud Creek near Peoria as early as 1830 ; Jonas Clybourn and his son Archibald, who had a slaughter house on the north branch of the Chicago River, as far back as 1823, and began to furnish the settle- ment with meat; Frederick Weyerhaeuser, a native of Germany,
71
who removed to Illinois in 1856, and was shrewd enough to perceive the possibilities of the lumber trade and as the head of the lumber company bearing his name became internationally known as the "lumber king".
There were scores of others. Many of the sons, nephews and other kinsmen of the pioneers who contributed so largely to the indus- trial growth of Illinois are conducting the enterprises started by their elders.
The problems of business have increased with the extension of industrial enterprises and the present generation has not lost the grit and the progressive spirit of the early days. All the large packing en- terprises continue to be operated by the families who founded them. T. E. Wilson, president of the institute of American Meat Packers, is one of the new generation. John A. Spoor, who has had so much to do with building up the Chicago Union Stock Yards and the surface transportation system of the city, as well as the great manufacturing district west of the Stock Yards, also belongs to a later generation. The large agricultural implement houses have developed new indus- trial talents, and there, too, the spirit of the founders still is vigorous and ambitious. A new generation of iron and steel fabricators has made modern history.
There are many others worthy of mention in this paper who must be passed over, but in closing I want to again bring attention to the greatest captain of industry of the age, Elbert H. Gary, the head of the U. S. Steel Corporation, and in doing so I want to empha- size the fact that Judge Gary is only one of many men produced in Illinois who are now managing great industries in other states.
Twenty-eight years ago a group of manufacturers, headed by W. B. Conkey, feeling the necessity of united action on the part of those producing goods, organized the Illinois Manufacturers' Associa- tion. It was the first group of its kind in America. The first board of directors was composed of W. B. Conkey, Joseph E. Tilt, Charles F. Wolff, Percival B. Palmer and W. F. Holden. Its record for activity and accomplishment surpasses that of any organization of a similar character in the world. Its influence is unlimited and the sun never sets on its trail. It has developed a public-spirited set of men such as no other organization has brought forth and has been the example which other organizations in every industrial state in the union have followed. Its purpose is to stand for the best ; its object — the general good of the manufacturing industry in Illinois, as well as the public.
The manufacturing industry in Illinois has been encouraged, fostered, and put upon a high plane by the Illinois Manufacurers' Association. Progressive measures in state and federal legislation have been supported, such as improved working conditions in the factories and workshops, compensation for injured workers, better transportation facilities, including improved highways and waterways. Legislative measures which would have had the effect of shackling industry, restricting its operation to the detriment of employes and the public, as well as to the manufacturers themselves, vigorously and successfully have been opposed.
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The Association has taken a leading position in the development of foreign trade. It has cooperated with the railroads. It has opposed dishonest practices in industry. It has always been in the front line of public enterprise.
During the World War two former presidents of the association served respectively as chairman of the United States Shipping Board and director of the Emergency Fleet Corporation. Other members were prominent officials of the National Counsel for Defense, the Fuel Commission, the Food Commission, War Trade Board and other vital governmental agencies. Member firms were represented in much of the detailed work involved in the peace treaty. A special bureau of the association did effective service in securing millions of dollars worth of war contracts for Illinois. During the readjustment period following the war the association took an active part, among other things including "Our Country First" conference, lasting two days and attended by prominent business .men from all parts of the country.
William B. Conkey was the first president of the association, directing its affairs from 1894 to 1899. He was succeeded by the late Charles A. Plamondon, who, with Mrs. Plamondon, was one of the victims of the Lusitania, torpedoed during the war. Others who have served as president are :
Martin B. Madden, Charles H. Deere, B. A. Eckhart, John H. Pierce, John E. Wilder, U. G. Orendorff, C. H. Smith, Fred. W. Upham, La Verne W. Noyes, P. A. Peterson, Charles Piez, H. G. Herget, Edward N. Hurley, S. M. Hastings, William Butterworth, Dorr E. Felt, William Nelson Pelouze and the present incumbent, George R. Meyercord.
The men who have served as counsel for the association have contributed much to its influence and success — Levy Mayer, William Duff Haynie, and Colin C. H. Fyffe.
The Illinois Manufacturers' Association, in common with all progressive citizens, wants to see industry flourish and grow until Illinois stands first among the industrial states.
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INCREASE IN FACTORY EMPLOYES.
United States Census Figures for Illinois and Thirty-two of its Cities
Announced.
Sixteen Illinois cities with between 10,000 and 25,000 inhabitants, and the same number of 25,000 and above, showed a large increase in their manufacturing population between 1914 and 1919. More than two years are required in calculating totals, hence the United States census figures for the latter year have become available only recently. Joliet showed the largest percentages of increase, 123.2, among the cities of 25,000 and over. In 1914 there were 5,922 people employed in Joliet factories and in 1919 there were 13,215. These figures in- clude the officers as well as factory employes. Among cities of be- tween 10,000 and 25,000 the greatest percentage of increase was made by Centralia, 261.5 per cent. The manufacturing population of Cen- tralia increased from 309 to 1,117. The greatest numerical increase was noted at Chicago Heights. There the manufacturing population rose from 5,018 to 6,621, or 31.9 per cent.
Census figures for 31 cities follow:
CITIES OF 25,000 POPULATION AND OVER.
Population.
Aurora 36,397
Bloomington 28,725
Chicago 2,701,705
Danville 33,776
Decatur 43,818
East St. Louis 66,767
Elgin 27,454
Evanston 37,234
Joliet 38,442
Moline 30,734
Oak Park 39,858
Peoria 76,121
Quincy 35,978
Rock Island 35,177
Rockford 65,651
Springfield 59,183
|
Persons engaged |
Per |
|
|
in manufacturing. |
cent of |
|
|
1914. |
1919. |
increase. |
|
5,496 |
8,016 |
45.9 |
|
2,828 |
3,306 |
16.9 |
|
387,319 |
502,303 |
29.7 |
|
2,481 |
4,018 |
62.0 |
|
4,989 |
6,860 |
37.5 |
|
6,796 |
10,637 |
56.5 |
|
5,974 |
7,617 |
27.5 |
|
1,153 |
1,876 |
62.7 |
|
5,922 |
13,215 |
123.2 |
|
5,811 |
6,484 |
11.6 |
|
366 |
605 |
65.3 |
|
7,976 |
9,907 |
24.2 |
|
3,983 |
5,550 |
39.3 |
|
2,320 |
3,929 |
69.4 |
|
11,828 |
17,760 |
50.2 |
|
5,007 |
6,448 |
28.8 |
CITIES FROM 10,000 TO 25,000 POPULATION.
Population.
Alton 24,682
Belleville 24,823
Cairo 15,203
Canton 10,928
Persons engaged Per in manufacturing, cent of
1914. 1919. increase.
3,061 3,688 20.5
2,869 3,723 29.8
1,769 2,081 17.6
1,113 1,544 38.7
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Persons engaged Per
in manufacturing, cent of
Population. 1914. 1919. increase.
Centralia 12,491 309 1,117 261.5
Champaign 15,873 549 504 —8.2
Chicago Heights 19,653 5,018 6,621 31.9
Freeport 19,669 3,013 3,772 25.2
Galesburg 23,834 - 1,672 2,620 56.7
Granite 14,757 5,698 6,220 56.7
Jacksonville 15,713 1,162 1,307 12.5
Kankakee 16,753 1,574 2,151 36.7
Kewanee 16,026 3,261 4,546 39.4
LaSalle 13,050 1,311 2,015 53.7
Lincoln 11,882 327 279 —14.7
Mattoon 13,552 889 1,342 51.0
Pekin 12,086 860 1,069 24.3
Streator 14,779 1,908 1,516 ..20.5
Waukegan 19,226 2,744 3,071 11.9
Slaughtering and meat packing, an industry in which Illinois leads the world, in the last census again tops the list as the largest manu- facturing industry in the United States, considered from the stand- point of value of output, as it has done during the last three census periods. In 1909 the value of this output was one and one-third bil- lion dollars; in 1914 almost one and one-half billion dollars; in 1919, $3,714,340,000.
The number of people employed in manufacturing in the entire State of Illinois increased 30.3 per cent from 1914 to 1919, or from 617,927 to 805,008.
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SOME GOVERNMENTAL PROBLEMS IN THE NORTH- WEST TERRITORY 1787-1803.
By Chester J. Attig, Northwestern College, Naperville, Illinois.
At the close of the American Revolution the United States gov- ernment, through the treaty of 1783 and the cession of their Western Lands by the original states, came into possession of a large tract of land east of the Mississippi River. It was the first of a number of such tracts which were finally to make the Pacific Ocean our Western boundary. The story of the occupation and settlement of these lands constitutes a large part of our history as a nation — viewed from one angle our history is the story of colonization. The states of the Union assume the role of the mother country, sending colonists to the new and unsettled country of the west. These new communities develop, become states, and in turn send out other colonists to regions still farther west. And thus the process is repeated until the whole coun- try has become settled and organized as states of the Union. The organization of the Northwest territory as the beginning of this movement under the Federal Government is therefore of special in- terest and importance.1
No sooner were the land cessions completed than the Continental Congress began to wrestle with the problem of the government of this western territory. On April 23, 1784, they passed an ordinance providing for the division of the territory into districts which might be admitted as states when they reached a population of 20,000 free inhabitants. This was followed in 1785 by the famous land ordinance which committed us to the rectangular system of survey. But in spite of legislation there was scarcely anything in the territory north of the Ohio worthy of the name of law or government. The population was so far adrift that they did not know to whom they were respon- sible. Open anarchy prevailed. The people were too poor to provide an expensive government of their own. In an effort to get a show of authority for the little government which they did have, they petitioned the legislature of Kentucky, Feb. 5, 1787, to confirm their appointment of thirteen Frenchmen and two Americans as judges and magistrates. But even while they were doing this they found themselves at the mercy of lawless elements who said that they came from Kentucky, but who brought in liquor and sold it to the Indians,
1 Both the settler in the West and the Federal Government in the East were con- sciously aware of this colonial relationship while it was taking place. In the west the terms "colony" and "mother states" were used frequently, and the leading men openly testified to their gratitude for the "paternal care" which the Federal Government "exercised over the colony." Western Spy, Sept. 30, 1799 : . The relationship was in fact not new at all, for it. had been observed in the colonies farther to the East even in the days before the Revolution.
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thus jeopardizing the lives and property of . the inhabitants still further.2
Quite discouraged, many of the better citizens were removing to the Spanish side of the Mississippi, where the inducements held out were by no means unattractive. This left an element living in some of these places, like Kaskaskia, that was so lawless that even some of the officials refused to live there any longer and moved with their families to Cahokia.3 These were the days when unscrupulous men were making capital out of the necessities of widows and orphans, when neither life nor property was secure, when evil counsels pre- vailed on every side and even the troops which existed had been ille- gally raised and instead of proving a protection were actually a men- ace to rights and property.4
It was to meet such a situation as this that Congress on July 13, 1787, passed the famous ordinance organizing the Northwest Terri- tory. The chief authority rested with the governor and the judges who were to be appointed by Congress. The governor was to reside within the territory and was to be the owner of at least one thousand acres of land. It was intended that the judges should act together with the governor in selecting laws from the old states for the use of the territory as well as in dealing out justice in the new territory. But when it was not possible for all of them to be present, any two of them constituted a court.5 Besides the governor and judges there was the secretary who in the course of time was to exercise "all the powers and perform all of the duties of the governor in the absence occasioned by his removal, resignation or necessary absence of the said governor".6 Then there were officials who acted as agents for the federal government among the Indians and others whose duty it was to survey and superintend the sale of public lands.
Now the territory into which these officials were coming was one in which anarchy had prevailed, one in which there were neither laws nor court-houses. There had not been a single county erected to take care of the local government. On every hand there were the hostile Indians with whom, it was imperative that terms should be made at once. All of these conditions in fact, called for immediate solution, but the obstacles and difficulties which confronted the governor and judges could not but result in delays and inefficiency. In the first place there were obstacles arising from the physical characteristics of the territory. Lack of roads and poor means of communication
2 L. C. MSS., Papers of the Continental Congress 48 : 111. They suggest that authorities in Kentucky should give passes to the people who leave them and come across the Ohio. They thought that if this were done they could the better determine whom they were to trust.
8 Gabuniere to Congress, July 17, 1786, L. C. MSS., Papers of the Continental Congress 48 :9 ; Kaskaskia Records : 510.
4 L. C. MSS., Papers of the Continental Congress 48 :4 ; Boggess, Settlement of Illinois: 50-53.
5 Chase, Statutes of Ohio 1 :19.
6 U. S. Statutes at Large I :50. Often in the history of the territory was the secretary called on to exercise the duties of the Governor when the latter was no farther away than Kentucky, and he did not hesitate to make full use of his powers, even to the extent of laying out new counties, and erecting ferries over the Ohio. Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Papers and Records of the Territories, II; L. C. MSS., Northwest Territory.
77
made it next to impossible to get anything done, e. g., when the gover- nor arrived in the territory he entered into negotiations with the Indi- ans at once. From the very nature of the case a great deal of time would have to elapse before he could get any returns. In the mean- time, however, he could not go to the Mississippi settlements, no matter how much they needed him in the anarchy which there pre- vailed, because in his absence those Indians for whom he had sent might arrive, and the whole of the Indian negotiations would be set at naught.7
All through the territorial period the immense distances that had to be traversed through the trackless forests added dangers and delays to the duties of the officers, and the appropriation of Congress for the governor's salary was, under these circumstances, quite inade- quate to meet the expense of travel, house rent, etc. The territory was 1500 miles in extent from southeast to northwest and the actual distance traversed by the judges in holding court in the settlements most remote from each other was 1300 miles. Taking into account the native trackless wilderness it is not surprising to find that justice was uncertain and that terms of court were held at long and uncertain intervals. All of this, of course, only added to the difficulties of ad- ministration, because the uncertainty of the courts made the people lose respect for the law and the government.8
The second class of difficulties arose from the character of the people themselves. The western settler as a rule was brave and courageous as well as adventurous. He came west in spite of the fury of the Indians or the hardship of the journey through the wilder- ness. It is true as was stated in Congress in 1789, that "forming settlements in the wilderness between the savages and the least pop- ulated of the civilized parts of the United Sates (required) men of enterprising, violent, nay, discontented and turbulent spirit ; such always are our first settlers in the ruthless and savage wild".9 Set- tlers generally came west with the ambition expressed by Parsons in 1788: "to place my family in easy circumstances".10 Many of them were single young men. In spite of the signs which pointed to early Indian hostilities, they pushed right into the Indian country in 1790, although men like Putnam pronounced it risky and imprudent.11 They were not merely adventurous either, they seemed to be naturally rest- less. Many of them settled here and there, but nowhere seemed to be a permanent abiding place for them.
People of such characteristics were attracted by the wild country, the mild climate and the fertile soil and were determined to make it
7 St. Clair Papers II :86-87.
8 It was reported March 3, 1800, that a certain law of March 3, 1791, granting land to certain individuals in the western part of the territory and directing the laying out of the same remained unenforced, and great discontent had resulted on the part of those concerned. All of this happened because the conditions in the territory im- posed almost insuperable difficulties to the exercise of the function of government. Senate Files, Dec. 5, 1792 ; Bureau of Indexes and Archives, Domestic Letters 10 :210 ; Messages and Reports of Congress, 1799-1801 : 219-220 ; American State Papers, Public Lands I :206.
9 Benton, Abridgement 1 :114 ; Kaskaskia Records : 445-446.
10 Hall, Life and Letters of Samuel H. Parsons : 521.
11 Howe, Ohio Historical Collections 11:309.
78
their own, as many a traveler testified, but they did not like restraint of any kind. Military rule such as that which became necessary in the days of Wayne's expedition, made them discontented. Insubor- dination was common in the militia. The westerner was far too much of an individualist to train well as a soldier. He did not obey orders of vigilance enough to prevent horses from passing through the lines of the army at night. As Captain Doyle testified at the inquiry in Harmar's trial- in 1790, "the Kentucky militia showed great signs of revolt".12
But if the settler sometimes showed signs of insubordination he made up for his short-coming in that particular by his alertness, which was almost equal to that of the Indian. The situation in which he found himself, his very isolation, forced him to stand on his own feet, taught him self-reliance; but that frequently developed into an ex- treme form of individualism. It is not strange that the man who would come into the new country with nothing but his ax to rely upon for support and future success, should prefer to stand on his own feet in matters of government and social usage. Newspaper editorials deploring the fact that we constantly imitate Europe and borrow half our vices in that way are very well in keeping with the spirit of the West in this respect. "To imbibe their vicious principles and imitate their licentious manners is to betray our country/' says the Northwest Centinel.13 The western settler, therefore, generally did as he pleased and asked no questions. He carried out this idea in his relations with the Indians as well. Murders and robberies of the Indians by irresponsible whites brought great danger on innocent set- tlers, but that did not deter the men who had a private grudge to work off. In fact, this individualism even led to the organization of private expeditions against the Indians.14
If the frontier had the tendency to develop this sort of individual- ism, it also had the power to attract an element which was more than individualistic; it was the lawless, licentious and criminal element which had been rejected and driven out of the Eastern States.15 It seemed but a matter of course for such a settler to set himself up as a judge to decide how much of the law he should obey. Thus careless individuals set fire to the leaves in the forest and thereby endangered the property of many settlers. Others refused outright to obey the law forbidding the sale of liquor to soldiers.16 Then there were people who could not understand why they should give up the pleasure of shooting at mark within the limits of a town, because at sometime an
11 Draper Collection, G. R. Clark MSS. 40 :38-39 ; Frontier Wars MSS. IV :28, 64.
13 Northwest Centinel, May 14, 1796 : 4 ; Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly IV :3.
14 St. Clair Papers II :26 ; Philadelphia General Advertiser, Nov. 26, 1792 ; Howe : Historical Collections II :495 ; American State Papers, Indian Affairs 1 :166, 241.
15 Sargent to Symmes, Jan. 13, 1793, Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Tapers and Records of the Territories II ; Northwest Centinel, Sept. 12, 1795 : 4.
19 One man in Detroit in 1800 said that he considered that he had a right to sell liquor to whomsoever, whensoever and wheresoever he pleased. Burton Collection, Sibley Papers, 912-913 :17.
79
alarm for Indian attack might be mistaken for mere harmless shooting for pleasure.17 Others considered it as perfectly within their rights to make all sorts of unnecessary noise and commotion near the court house to the inconvenience of the court, and still others were opposed to all internal revenue as a needless interference with liberty.18 We may also cite instances of lawless disturbances perpetrated by some of the better class of citizens under the guise of Christmas celebra- tions. In Detroit in 1788 Patrick McNiff undertook to perform, a marriage ceremony for a man and woman when he had absolutely no legal right to do so.19
The audacity of this rampant individualism is difficult to picture in all of its details, but it certainly had a tendency to complicate the problem of government.
A third difficulty arose in connection with the interpretation of the powers given the governor and judges under the ordinance. That instrument stated that "the governor and judges or a majority of them shall adopt and publish" laws taken from the original states. The judges at one time wanted to interpret this as meaning a majority of the whole number including the governor. But this would mean that the judges could pass laws over the head of the governor. Naturally St. Clair objected to this interpretation. He said that in that case "the judges would be complete legislators, which is the very definition of tyranny".20 Neither did the governor and judges agree altogether on the extent of their powers in actually initiating legislation. The judges seemed to think that they would be within their powers if they were to adopt laws as long as they were not repugnant to the laws of the older states, but Congress did not think so. When the laws were referred to a committee of Congress in 1794, the Commit- tee reported that "there is one objection which applies to all of these laws which affords sufficient reason for disapproving of all of them". The power given to the governor and judges, they said, was merely to copy laws from the states, but "these laws seem to have been passed by the governor and judges on the idea that they possessed generally the legislative power and have not either in the whole or in part been adopted from the original states". They therefore advised that the laws be disapproved by Congress, thus making it necessary for the governor and judges to adopt other laws.21
Now what was actually accomplished under these circumstances? The first legislative enactments came along the line of the greatest need, and the needs which seemed most insistent were proper defence against the Indians, and an adequate code to defend the lives and property of the inhabitants against the lawless elements which natur- ally drifted to the frontier. To meet the first need we have a law
17 Proclamation of Winthrop Sargent, March 26, 1792, Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Papers and Records of the Territories II.
18 Reynolds, Pioneer History of Illinois : 149 ; Burton Collection, Sibley Papers, 113: 3.
19 Burton Collection, Sibley Papers, 919 : 2.
20 Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Papers and Records of the Territories II ; Chase, Statutes of Ohio I : 19.
21 American State Papers, Miscellaneous I : 82.
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calling for universal military service of all men between the ages of 16 and 60.22 They were required to keep a certain minimum equip- ment of arms and ammunition on hand at all times and to report at drill at certain stated intervals set by the commanding officer. In ad- dition, every man was to have his house in a state of defense.
As for the criminal code, a very elaborate system of law covering this point was adopted by the governor and judges in the first year of the territorial government. According to the code of 1788, there were listed 29 crimes ranging from treason and murder to improper language and Sabbath-breaking. Three of these crimes were punish- able by death and confiscation of property, four were punishable by death without the specification that the property of the criminal should be confiscated. There were twelve crimes mentioned which were punishable by whipping. Among them were arson, burglary, burglary with theft, robbery, obstructing authority, both first and second of- fences, perjury and subordination of perjury, which were all punish- able by the traditional forty stripes less one ; while larceny and receiv- ing stolen goods were punishable by 31 stripes. The lowest number of lashes mentioned was ten, which were administered in the case of dis- obedient children and servants. Five crimes, viz., arson, robbery, perjury subordination of perjury, and forgery were punishable by two hours in the pillory. Seven crimes were punishable by imprison- ment, among them, disobedience of children and servants. Six crimes, burglary, burglary with theft, robbery, riots, obstruction of authority, and assault and battery might entail the giving of bonds for good be- havior in the future. The period during which the bonds would be effective was all the way from six months to ten years. If a man were guilty of perjury or subordination of perjury, he might be de- prived of the right to hold office. On the second offense of larceny, a man might be bound out seven years as a laborer. In the absense of penitentiaries this was probably as effective a punishment as could be meted out, and in view of the opportunities which on every had surrounded the man who worked on his own initiative, it was prob- ably as severe a punishment as could be administered.23
Another group of laws may be classed under the general heading of moral legislation. Most of these laws appear in the legislation of the first territorial legislature in 1799. They deal with such subjects as drunkenness, Sabbath observance, the use of obscene and profane language, fighting in which maiming or disfiguring of the body might result, cock-fighting, betting and gambling, dice, billiards, shuffle- boards and the like.24 There was no definite law against lottery, but when a request came from the people of Detroit -for a lottery to build a protestant church and repair a catholic church, the legislature did not allow it. Thus did the legislature early take a definite stand against the practices that would be demoralizing and ruinous in their effect on the people.
n Chase, Statutes of Ohio, 1 : 92.
23 Chase, Statutes of Ohio ; 1 : 98-101.
24 Chase, Statutes of Ohio I : 228-229.
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We also find a body of legislation that might be termed social legislation. It has to do with the regulation of charities and kindred subjects. The poor and the dependents of the community became a subject of legislation quite early in the history of the Territory. As early as Nov. 6, 1790, a law was passed providing for the appointment of overseers of the poor. In each county the justices were to appoint annually one or more overseers of the poor in each township of the county. They were not only to concern themselves about the paupers of whom there were probably few, but more particularly about the fam- ilies suffering from sickness, accident or any misfortune or inability which might render them proper objects of public charity.25 Widows and orphans were especially mentioned as persons deserving attention, but any who had relatives who could support them were not to be accepted as objects of charity, it being decreed that they should be taken care of by their relatives, who were required by law to assume responsibility under penalty of a fine.
According to the law of Dec. 19, 1799, the poor were to be farmed out. At a given time an auction would be set and men would bid on the poor. The man who bid the the lowest, i. e., the man who would agree to assume responsibility for the care and nourishment of the poor at the lowest expense to the community, would be allowed to take charge of said poor persons. Of course, they were to act as his servants in such capacity as they could. In order that the poor should not be reduced to slavery by this method, they were allowed to make complaint to the overseer of the poor. Besides these laws concerning .the care of the poor, the widows and the orphans, there were laws governing the appointment of guardians for those who inherited property.26 Another group of unfortunates were idiots and lunatics, who were entrusted by the law of Jan. 4, 1802, into the care of the overseer of the poor, who were to take the property of such persons in charge and keep it safe for them subject to the direction of the probate court.
An inquiry into the organization of the system of courts, which included the court of Justice of the Peace, die Court of Common Pleas, the Orphans Court, the Probate Court, the General Court of Quarter Sessions, the Circuit Court, and the Superior Court, cannot be undertaken within the limits of this paper, but a brief survey of the difficulties that had to be met in establishing them and their consequent course of development may quite properly be undertaken.
When Governor St. Clair came into the territory in 1788 there were but the merest rudiments of justice as expressed in the local courts of the French settlements. The whole system of, courts which we have mentioned had still to be instituted. Judges and justices had still to be appointed from among the citizens who had the best repu- tation for common sense and fair play. All of this took time and there was bound to be some delay in getting the courts established.
25 Chase, Statutes of Ohio. 1:108.
28 The best examples of the operation of this law are to be found in the St. Clair County Records at Belleville* 111.
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The governor and those who, with him, were responsible for the gov- ernment of the territory had to be ready for almost any emergency, even the death of one of their associates, Judge Varnum, in the first year of the settlement at Marietta.27
The difficulties of organization were only increased by the extent of the territory. Until there should be a greater population in the territory, the counties perforce were large, and justice unwieldy. Probably a most extreme case is that of a suit at Cahokia involving the value of a cow. Most of the witnesses were at Prairie du Chien. Summons were issued and the sheriff undertook the journey to bring in the witnesses. The cost of a suit of this kind would run as high as $900.00. It was not only difficult under such circumstances to get the witnesses for the trial, but it was a burden for the people who wished to use the courts if they had to bring their difficulties before a court convening at a county seat so far removed from their place of residence. The judges themselves found difficulty in getting around over the territory to meet the various courts in session. Their times was so taken up in traveling that they had time neither to hear the courts nor to make laws for the territory as they were supposed to do with the aid of the governor.
It will thus be seen that the difficulties presented in the vastness of the country and the primitive conditions as well as the scattered condition of the population, were in themselves great enough to cause the boldest leaders to hesitate. But the story is not yet complete. To all of these difficulties we must add that imposed by the presence of the Indians. One of the results which the court hoped to accomplish, of course, was the cessation of Indian bloodshed in the establishment of justice for the Indians, as well as for the whites. But how could that be done when the criminals escaped to Kentucky and there were sheltered because the jurisdiction of the territorial courts did not extend to that point? But worse still was the condition which we find reflected in the claim of Kentucky for jurisdiction to the North Bank of the Ohio, including the islands which were sometimes formed from land of the Northwest Territory in times of high water. To recognize this claim meant that the territorial judges could not claim any jurisdiction over deeds done on vessels anchored at the wharves or landing places on the north bank of the Ohio, and it meant a serious setback to the establishment of real justice in the Territory.28
At Detroit there was another difficulty in finding men as judges who could understand both French and English. Even in 1800 it was possible for a correspondent from Detroit to say, "Since the sus- pension of Mr. May we have no justice in Detroit who speaks the English language".
Under these circumstances courts were established rather slowly. A committee reporting to Congress in 1800 said : "In the three west- ern counties there has been but one court having cognizance of
27 Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Papers and Records of the Territories II ; St. Clair Papers II : 111.
28 Burnet, Notes, 308.
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crimes in five years, and the immunity which offenders experience attracts as to an asylum, the most vile and abandoned criminals and at the same time deters useful and virtuous people from making set- tlements".29
But probably no less effective in counteracting justice than the difficulties which we have just mentioned, were some of the courts which were established in the territory, courts which were known chiefly for their injustice, their unfairness and their inefficiency; such courts, for example, as Hamtramck found at Vincennes, where fees were so high that they amounted to robbery and the people would not use the courts at all.
Then again there was the occasional tyrant among judges who would exercise his authority in absurd and arbitrary ways. There is the case of George Turner, for example. When his career as judge was investigated, Charles Lee reported the following charges to the House of Representatives, May 9, 1796: (1) He held courts in ex- treme corners of the population of the county without announcement or proper notice and then expected the people to attend, even though by so doing they exposed their families to attack by the Indians dur- ing their absence. There was one instance cited where the majority of the judges and jurors had to. travel 66 miles. (2) He levied fines amounting practically to forfeiture. (3) He compelled the transfer of records to the extremities of the county, thus making them unsafe. (4) He denied the operation of the law of inheritance. (5) He even seized certain intestate estates and converted them into money to the damage of the heirs and creditors.30
It was but natural under such circumstances, that the people who were always inclined to be individualists should have doubted the value of the courts, and it follows very naturally that there was more difficulty than ever to get the authority of the courts established in the territory. Of lawless individuals there seemed always more than could be handled anyway. Many a murder that was blamed on the Indians was no doubt committed by some vagabond white, who covered up his mischief by making it appear to have been done by the Indians.31
Finally the infrequency of courts and the lack of proper jails and prisons had a great deal to do with the spread of crime and had a tendency to complicate greatly the task of the courts where they were established. There seemed to be almost an entire lack of prisons in Cahokia, Cincinnati, Detroit and other western places. The only punishment possible was a fine and that, the judges said, was not effective in producing desired results.32 It is no wonder that jus- tice limped along for about a decade after the first settlements. Gov- ernor St. Clair was well aware of this lack. In his opening speech to the House of Representatives in the first meeting of the territorial
29 American State Papers, Miscellaneous 1 : 206 ; Messages and Papers, 1799-1800 : 219-220, Senate Library.
30 American State Papers, Miscellaneous 1 : 151-152, 157.
31 Western Spy, August 27, 1799.
32 American State Papers, Miscellaneous I: 206; Cahokia MSS.
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legislature, Sept. 25, 1799, he spoke at length on the need of adequate jails and court houses. If justice was to be administered in the terri- tory, there must be adequate facilities for housing the criminals as well as a definite place in each county where justice would always be administered and where the important records of the county could be kept on file. This was the burden of the governor's speech. His advice was that it should be made compulsory upon the inhabitants of each county to erect proper jails and convenient court-houses.33 When this lesson, taught by hard experience, became thoroughly im- pressed on the people, then the preliminary stages were past and justice was quite firmly established in the territory.
To a large extent the justice awarded in the early trials in the Northwest was a matter of development just as much as were the facilities for administering that justice. By no means all of the decisions were given in accordance with precedent, nor was the law in the case always nicely weighed and considered. Where common sense alone was the guide almost invariably followed by the judges of the lower courts of the counties, irrespective of precedent or legal form, what could be expected of a justice of the peace? Yet there was such a nicely balanced sense of fairness in the judgment of these men that there seems to have been general satisfaction with their decis- ions in the great majority of cases. But there were many cases of dispute, even crime, that were settled out of court by a sort of tri- bunal made for the occasion. It was not always convenient to go the long distances to the courts and then it was not certain even if one went to the court whether the judges and the jurors would be there, as a consequence we have a great deal of improvised justice made on the spur of the moment. For this reason, the number of criminal cases coming into the courts is by no means a criterion of the amount of crime that was committed in the territory. A few instances will suffice to explain this type of justice. In the Draper Collection is to be found this instance which occurred in Cincinnati in 1790. A man lost a barrel of flour. He informed the first man that he met and that man proposed a search. They would search every house. As they left each house they would take the householder along with them to the next house, where search would be continued. This they did until there were thirteen of them. The fourteenth man would not admit them, so they forced an entrance and found the barrel of flour under the bed. The thirteen men then formed themselves into a court and determined punishment. They tied the culprit to a thorn tree and provided themselves with thirteen whips, after which each of them gave him three stripes, making the traditional forty less one. As for the flour, it was restored to the owner and the case was con- sidered settled.34
As late as 1797 we have the case of a man by the name of Bran- non, who, aided by his wife, stole a great coat, shirt, and handkerchief. They were pursued and brought before a body of their fellow-citizens
83 Western Spy, Sept. 30, 1799 : 2.
34 Draper Collection, Daniel Drake Papers, 1 : 10.
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of Chillicothe for trial. One man, Samuel Smith, was appointed as judge. A jury was impaneled, an attorney was named for each side, the duty of this attorney being to conduct the case and call the wit- nesses. When all the testimony had been heard the case was given to the jury, who reported, "Guilty". The judge decided that the man should have ten lashes on his bare back or he should sit on his pony and let his wife lead the pony with her husband on it to every house in the village and proclaim, "This is Brannon who stole a great-coat, shirt and handkerchief". Brannon chose the latter punishment and it was duly executed, after which Brannon and his wife left town.35
Coming one step nearer the regular courts, we have the following case similar to those cited above, tried in the court of a justice of the peace near Chillicothe in 1797. A man by the name of McMurdy had had a horse collar stolen from him one night. The next morning he examined the collars used by the plowmen and found his collar. He claimed it of the workman who was using it, but the latter refused to give it up, and threatened to beat McMurdy for accusing him of theft. McMurdy went to the justice of the peace who immediately had the constable bring the accused and the horse collar before him. Court was opened at once under a tree. McMurdy was asked if he could prove that it was his collar. The answer was that Mr. Spear, who was present, could identify it. Without waiting to be sworn in, Mr. Spear advanced, took the collar and turned back the ear and dis- closed the name of McMurdy which he had written there. "No better proof can be given," said the justice, and the culprit was then taken to the nearest buckeye tree and tied while five lashes were laid on. Thus was justice dispensed by a servant of the law.36
As for the practice of regular criminal courts, it was just as free from strict adherence to form as was the procedure of some of these justice courts. The practice of referring matters to arbitration had such a hold on the imaginations of the men who composed the average court that it happened occasionally that a regular court referred a matter that had been brought to it for decision, to a board of arbitra- tors. At Cahokia in 1788, a Mr. German refused to accept some joists that had been made for him by a Mr. Brisson because they were not delivered on time. Brisson's plea was that the road was covered with water from a flood so that they could not be delivered. The court appointed arbitrators to see if the joists were acceptable and if they were they should be delivered the next day.37
But there was nothing wrong in these decisions, because through all of these cases, whether decided in or out of court, there ran the same sound fundamental common sense. People were satisfied be- cause the decisions appealed to their sense of fairness. Yet a court of law is supposed to be guided a little more by precedent and actual law. However, that, too, was to be acquired in the course of time.
35 Howe, Ohio Historical Collections II : 492-493.
36 Finley, Life among the Indians : 44-45.
37 Cahokia Records : 329-331, 345 ; Burton Collection 475 : 71-72. As late as the April term, 1797, seven out of the twelve cases that had been filed in the court of Cahokia were decided out of court by arbitration. Cahokia Court Records, 1797.
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The more experience these settlers acquired, the more men of legal training found their place among them, the more the cases began to conform to the established practice of the courts of law. As a- result, by 1800, whether it be in Cincinnati, Steubenville or Detroit, and whether the case be a suit for damages because of the inundation of land caused by the construction of a mill-dam, a suit of libel, or a case of assault and battery, the case was in any event handled according to the recognized principles of law and the decision was reasonably in accordance with proper form.38
Another point in which the advancement of the courts is to be noted is in their dealing with the crimes involving Indians. According to the law of Dec. 8, 1800, special provision is made for the trying of persons charged with homicide against Indians, and strenuous efforts were made to put it into effect. There were those who said that the sentiment agajnst the Indians was such that no jury would find a white man guilty of the murder of an Indian. To a certain extent this may have been true, and yet the facts in the various cases involv- ing theft seem to belie this conclusion. In 1796, for example, a cer- tain Daniel McKean arrived in Cincinnati from New Jersey. Within a very short time he was brought before the court for stealing a horse from the Indians who had camped near the town. He had entered their camp under the pretence of friendly trade, and at night had se- cured the horse and made away with it. The jury brought in a ver- dict of ''Guilty". He was sentenced to pay a fine of One Dollar to the Indian concerned when he returned the horse and was to receive thirty-nine lashes on the bare back, to be inflicted in the most public streets of the town. All the while the prisoner was to bear a placard bearing in large legible letters, the words, "I stole a horse from the Indians." The Centinel in commenting on the case was quite pro- fuse in its condemnations of the crime.39 It is true, the feeling against the Indians was high, but the courts gave special care in the latter part of the territorial period that due justice should be given to any Indian offender, even the murderer of a white man. If necessary, they would summon military assistance to prevent his falling into the hands of a mob.40
There are many other interesting phases connected with the insti- tution of government in the first of the Territories of the United States under the present form of government, but the limits of this paper will not permit a discussion of them. But probably sufficient evidence has been advanced to establish the fact that although there was a tendency to conform to Eastern practice, local conditions fre- quently imposed difficulties which seemed to make somewhat irregular and extra-legal methods necessary and desirable.
38 Burton Collection 475 : 31 ; Jefferson County Deed Record A : 171 ; Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library, Papers and Records of the Territories II. 32 Northwest Centinel, March 26, 1796 : 3. 40 Archives, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Ricker Files.
Black Hawk's Watch Tower was a conspicuous landmark to all travellers coming from across Rock River.
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INDIAN TRAILS CENTERING AT BLACK HAWK'S VILLAGE.
By John H. Haubehg.
The facts set forth in the following paper were gathered during the last six years. In that time the writer -has not neglected to see personally every man or woman claimed to have any knowledge of any Indian trail, or who was mentioned by others as probably having knowledge of a trail, and a diligent inquiry among the older residents of the counties of Rock Island, Henry and the northern part of Mercer County has been kept up. A liberal use was made of the automobile, and the method consistently followed was to make an appointment and take the person to the very spot which he knew, take photographs there, and carefully record the description given, as also all the side- lights in the way of a running narrative of the early-day life. This paper cannot, of course, give fully all these narratives. Nearly all of the informants had passed their three-score and ten, and some had passed the four score and ten years of life. Over and over again the writer would hear from their lips something like this : "If you had only started this a -few years ago. Now nearly everyone that knew is dead", or one would say, "If you had begun this a year or two ago I could have directed you to a half dozen men who have since died". In practically every instance, the trail was fixed in the man's mind be- cause it crossed his father's farm ; or that he plowed it up ; used it as the path to the public school ; herded cattle over it ; hunted over it ; had seen straying bands of Indians using it ; that it was the common tradition among the pioneers that it was an Indian trail, and that it was not the kind of trail commonly made by animals or by white men.
The Sauk and Mesquaki tribes, usually spoken of as the Sauk and Fox, formed a united nation. They had three villages about the vicinity of the mouth of Rock River. One of these, a Fox village, was on the west side of the Mississippi where Davenport, Iowa, now stands. The other two, both on the Illinois side, joined at the edges, but the distance from center to center of each village was about three and one-half miles as the crow flies. The one a Fox village, was located opposite the lower end of Rock Island, where the down-town part of the City of Rock Island now stands, and the other was the Sauk village which adjoined it to the south and extended to the bluff overlooking Rock River, known as Black Hawk's Watch Tower, practically all of the old Sauk village site also, is today included within the city limits of Rock Island, Illinois.
This Sauk village was the home of the most prominent individuals of the United Nation. Both Black Hawk and Keokuk were born here. It had been the home of the former for seventy years when he was finally expelled in the contest known to history as the*Black Hawk
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War. In its strictest sense, it was for possession of this particular village and its adjacent cornfields and pastures that the war was fought.
Numerous mounds are scattered all about these Indian village sites. These mounds are believed to have been built by a people ante- dating the Sauk and Fox Indians and their immediate predecessors here, and it is probable that when the latter located here, they found the principal highways mentioned in this paper already existent.
The Indian trails, sections of which are described in this paper, are the following:
(1) The "Great Sauk Trail" or "Sauk and Fox Trail" which is of especial interest to us because the War Chief Black Hawk and his band used this trail regularly in going from their village at Rock Island, Illinois, to Fort Maiden, Amherstberg, Ontario, to secure the annuities which the British authorities continued to bestow upon them for services rendered during the War of 1812-T4.
(2) The Indian and Military Trail, which was a short-cut from Rock Island to Oquawka, Illinois, on the Mississippi, fifty miles south- wards. It was a well known Indian trail, and its greatest use as a mil- itary trail was in the two campaigns of the Black Hawk War, 1831 and 1832 respectively, when the Illinois militia marched over it, to Black Hawk's village.
(3) The Indian trail up the east bank of the Mississippi from the Sauk and Fox villages at Rock Island, to their lead mines in north- western Illinois and Southwest Wisconsin.
(4) The trail up Rock River toward Prophetstown, followed alike by Indians, and by the Illinois soldiers of 1832, with Capt. Abra- ham Lincoln in command of a company.
(5) Indian trails about Moline and' Rock Island; some of them doubtless branches of the main highways.
Of the local trails, a section is pointed out by W. C. Wilson of Moline. Mr. Wilson says he has known this trace as an Indian trail for forty years. It is located in Prospect Park, near the east line of the park. It is visible, beginning at a point 150 feet west of the west line of Park 15th St. at 34th Ave., Moline, Illinois, and extends south- eastwards along the crest of the ridge. The ground here for forty-five paces is still covered with native timber of oak, hickory, etc., and has never been cultivated. The trail has recently been filled to a level with the surrounding ground, but it is easily followed because the natural soil here is dark, nearly black, and without stone or gravel, while the filling used was clay containing gravel and bits of crushed limestone. This trail would probably be one of the branches of the "Great Sauk Trail" and a short cut to the Fox villages where Rock Island and Dav- enport now stand, and to Fort Armstrong on Rock Island. It was doubtless used also by the Winnebagoes, whose village was 40 miles above the mouth of Rock River, as they came to the fort and to trade with George Davenport, whose establishment adjoined Ft. Armstrong. It is said (by Alex Craig, Moline,) that there was an excellent ford across Rock river opposite Blossomberg, on the section line between Sections eight and nine, Hampton Township, and the ford across
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Green river was less than a mile above this Rock river ford. It is probable that these fords had connection with the trail in Prospect Park.
Another section of an old trail is located along the crest of Black Hawk's Watch Tower — a bluff of about 150 ft., having a view of rare beauty overlooking Rock river. The trail is back (north of) of Indian Lovers' Spring and leads eastward to the creek. A few hundred yards eastward from the creek on a gentle rise of ground from Rock river, one may find at any time, numerous fragments of pottery and flints of the days of the Indians or their predecessors. The adjoining hill-tops have numerous mounds, probably of prehistoric age, and it is most likely that residents here, from prehistoric times, used the trail above mentioned in going to and from the Watch Tower. In his autobiography, Black Hawk says that this spot — the Watch Tower, to which his name had been applied, was a favorite resort for the Indians of his day. In our present day it is continued as a pleasure resort where tens of thousands go each year to enjoy the scene. This spot adjoins the city limits of Rock Island.
The trail from the top of the Black Hawk Watch Tower, down to the Sauk village which lay at its foot, immediately to the west, is men- tioned by Mrs. Mary Brackett Durham, late of Rock Island, in a poem entitled "Black Hawk's Watch Tower", as follows:
(5) "Among the boughs of that tall tree
The chief oft climbed to hide And plan his raids, while he could see The country far and wide."
(6) "There, unobserved by friend or foe,
Above the Indian trail, His piercing eyes watched all below, Isle, meadow, hill and dale".
(7) "Narrow and deep the war trail ran,
Diagonally down, Well worn by rain and foot of man, Down to the old Sauk town".
Mrs. Durham, author of the above lines, secured her informa- tion at first hand from Mrs. Lewis, (as per letter of Col. C. W. Dur- ham in the writer's possession), mother of George L. and Bailey Davenport. Mrs. Lewis was a member of the Col. George Davenport household on the island of Rock Island, for many years preceding the Black Hawk War, was a good friend of the Indians, and became well informed as to the various phases of their life here.
The site of a section of the trail from Black Hawk's village to the Fox village and to Rock Island, is pointed out by Phil Mitchell of Rock Island. It is on "Spencer Place, Out Lot 1" City of Rock Island, and this small section of it runs from a point beginning at the east line of 19th street, forty-four paces south of the south line of
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Sixth Ave., and taking a northeasterly course which would strike Twentieth St. at the northwest corner of 20th street and Sixth Ave. The location of this part of the trail is in a lot, an acre or so in extent, upon which is one of Rock Island's substantial residences. The ground was originally owned by John W. Spencer, who at the time of the Black Hawk War had his log cabin located on the adjoining block on what is now the southwest corner of 7th Ave. and 19th St., and that as long as this property was in the hands of Mr. Spencer, and that of his nephew, Spencer Robinson, this deeply worn trail was left as a relic of the olden days, but that when the property passed from their hands the lot was graded and the trail obliterated. It is prob- able that by digging cross trenches, the exact course of this trail might be found.
Another trail which may have run somewhat parallel to the above named, or may even be a part of the same trail, and which may be a section of the "Great Sauk Trail" to tlie Mississippi and beyond, crossing at Rock Island, is to be found near the crest of the ridge from the Watch Tower, and passing northwards toward the island of Rock Island.
A part of this trail is preserved just within the east edge of old Dixon Cemetery, now within the city limits of Rock Island. Another section of it is still to be seen in the virgin woodlands a little to the north in the west edge of the n. e. 34, Sec. 14, South Rock Island township, which is owned by the Tri-City Street Railway Co., then after cross- ing a cultivated field a distance of about 40 rods, still going northward one finds another well preserved section of this trail in the woodland. To find this last mentioned section of the trail, start at the corner on the east side of Fourteenth Street, at the south side of Thirty-seventh Avenue, city of Rock Island, and go south one hundred sixty feet ; thence east seven hundred sixty feet, and you will find yourself right in the trail, and it is plainest as you travel northwards on it.
On the testimony of Edwin Brashar and David Sears, both octo- genarians, and both of whom grew to manhood in this locality, this trail has always been known as an Indian trail. Mr. Brashar stated that it led from the Watch Tower to where the saw mill was on the Mississippi at 24th St., Rock Island, which is opposite the island of Rock Island.
It is interesting to note that in 1908, when the grandson of Black Hawk visited here, Mr. Sears found him at the top of this same ridge looking for the trail back to the Down Town of Rock Island. This grandson of the old war chief was born here and was quite a boy at the time of their expulsion through the Black Hawk War, in 1832. This trail, since the early white settlements here, has not been used as a public highway.
At page 26 of Armstrong's "The Sauks and the Blacky Hawk War" is to be found an account of a fence built of post and poles, extending from Rock river near the Watch Tower, northward for four miles to the Mississippi, to opposite the foot of the island of Rock Island. The southern part of this fence was kept up by the Sauks, and the northern part of it by the Foxes. Mr. Armstrong
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The Indian Trail from Black Hawk's Watch Tower to Port Armstrong, 37th Ave. Rock Island projected east 800 feet would intersect this Trail.
The Section of an Indian Trail in Prospect Park Moline, 111., as located by W. C. Wilson, who is standing in the trail.
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continues : "Immediately west of, and following the west line of this fence was a well beaten and extensively travelled road, leading from Saukenuk (the Sauk village) to the Mississippi, or the island, where Fort Armstrong and the trading house of Col. George Davenport stood". Beyond question, the trail or road referred to by Armstrong is identical with the one to be seen today in Dixon Cemetery and northwards. Mr. Armstrong is believed to have gained his knowledge of this trail from Hon. Bailey Davenport, son of the Indian trader, who came in 1816 and who had his post on Rock Island. (See page 8, "The Sauks and the Black Hawk War", by Armstrong.)
Another trail which should be mentioned, is one which follows closely the right bank of Rock river, from the Watch Tower to the Mississippi, a distance of about two and one-half miles. Today it is the usual fisherman's path. As you walk toward the Mississippi, you will find at your right hand, for more than half the distance, a high bank of, say thirty feet, while immediately at your, left you pass the row-boats, canoes and fish-boxes of the natives of today.
By the side of this trail one finds several fine springs from which the Sauk Indians, whose village was strung along these shores, got a part of their excellent water supply, as mentioned by Black Hawk in his autobiography (p. 62).
This trail would be intimately associated with the life of the local Indian residents. In the mind's eye one can see, on a certain early morning in September, 1814, a throng of braves and spectators hurrying to the battle at Credit Island, opposite the mouth of Rock river, which Maj. Zachary Taylor, afterwards president, was hope- lessly waging against British artillery and an allied force under Black Hawk of 1000 to 1500 Indians, and again, a certain night of April, 1831, when Black Hawk's people, thoroughly frightened, fled under cover of darkness to the west of the Mississippi. There was a large force of U. S. Regulars on their right at Fort Armstrong and another force of 1500 Illinois militia a few miles below at their left. The Indians numbering perhaps a thousand all told, were taking their ponies, dogs, baggage and all with them, and not only the trail but every serviceable canoe was no doubt crowded.
Of the Indian trail up the east bank of the Mississippi above Rock Island, Dr. William H. Lyford of Port Byron, Illinois, reports as follows : "The river road up here from Rock Island is the oldest road in Rock Island County and is on the old Indian trail between Black Hawk's Watch Tower and the lead mines around Galena. Sometimes the Indians went by way of the other side, but this (east) side had the main road. It was the only road through here, and Archibald Allen, who located on this trail in 1828, (in Section 24, Port Byron Township), traded with the Indians for their furs and skins, and carried mail on this road or trail between Fort Armstrong and Galena. December 30, 1833, he was appointed Post Master and kept the post office at his house. It was called Canaan and was the first post office in Rock Island County exclusive of the one on the island of Rock Island".
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"My father, Dr. Jeremiah H. Lyford, M. D., in 1837 built his log cabin along the river right on this trail. Father would be away days at a time, looking after his patients in Iowa Territory and in Whiteside and other counties in Illinois. Mother and I would be home alone and the Indians would stop on their way up and down the river. Later, the stage line, Rock Island to Galena, followed this trail also".
Of this trail Miss Mary Lydia Kelly, an octogenarian of Rock Island, had the following to say: "My father came to this county in 1841. We lived on the Mississippi two and a half miles above Cor- dova. As to Indian trails I know when I was a little girl I used to go from our house to our neighbor's in an Indian trail. It was right on the bank of the river and was a well trodden trail. It was wide enough for one man to go single file".
This trail for twenty miles from Rock Island was followed by an eager throng of Sauk and Fox warriors, on the occasion of Maj* John Campbell's expedition up the Mississippi in July, 1814. "The savages were seen on shore in quick motion ; canoes filled with Indians passed to the (Campbells) island, * * * the Indians firing from the island and the shore under cover", (p. 749, Western Annals, 1850). In this engagement sixteen Americans were killed. Campbells Island is about nine miles above Rock Island. The head of the rapids is about eight miles farther up-stream, at LeClaire, la. — Port Byron, Ills., and here the determined Indians overtook the Contractor's and the Sutler's boats which would have fallen to them (Niles Register, Vol. 6, p. 429), but for the fact that to the surprise of all concerned, they here found the large protected gunboat the "Governor Clark", anchored along the shore. The Indians evidently were in hot pursuit, both in canoes, and along the trail, which on this occasion was liter- ally a "War-path".
"At the time of the (Campbells Island) battle, Captain Yeiser in the gunboat (Gov. Clark) from Ft. Shelby, had arrived at the head of the Rapids, where he met the Contractor's boat, still in advance, and was fired on by the Indians, while lying at anchor near the shore in consequence of an unfavorable wind. The attack of the Indians induced him to haul off, and anchor beyond the reach of their small arms". (Page 443, History of the Late War, by McAfee, 1816.)
The two trails, the one from Oquawka, and the one from the east, joined on the south bank of Rock river opposite Black Hawk's village. The place of junction was somewhere about the line between the east and west halves of the Northwest quarter of Section twenty-three, Black Hawk Township, Rock Island County.
Mr. William O'Neal of Milan, 111., said: "The old Indian ford is really right in front of the main street of Milan. I could take you right across the (Ills, and Mich.) canal bank and show you where the ford is. It was right about where the old power dam was. There was a good rock bottom way across. I got this from Mrs. Ben Goble. Her father (Joshua Vandruff, after whom Vandruff Island is named) built a cabin right beside the Indian trail (in 1828) and the ford across the northern part (main channel) of the river was between the
:
The Ford across Rock River rapids to Black Hawk's Village site. "There was not a better Ford on any River in the World."
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present wagon bridge and the railroad bridge, about where the Davis Power House is now".
Rock river rapids at this point flow over a bed of flat rock, which provides a fordable bottom of a width of a hundred yards or more. Rev. Peter Cartwright, the "backwoods preacher", (in his autobiog- raphy (1856) at page 334) mentions this ford and quotes the stranger who crossed just before him as saying that "There was no better ford on any river in the world, and that there was not the least danger on earth".
Of all the Indian trails mentioned herein, the "Sauk and Fox Trail" or "Great Sauk Trail" is the most widely known. The Chicago Historical Society has plats showing where it crossed certain sections in the State of Michigan, and also plats showing its location in some parts of Illinois. The Cook County, Illinois, Forest Reserve has at Chicago Heights, a wooded lot bearing the name "Sauk Trail Preserve." One hears mention of this trail among the residents of northern Indi- ana, about the sand dunes ; Mr. J. F. Steward has an article entitled the "Sac and Fox Trail" in Vol. IV, Journal of the Ills. State Hist. Soc, and at page 158 thereof he shows "Homan's map of 1687", which has a trail marked upon it, which is believed to be the same trace, later known as the "Sac and Fox Trail" or the "Great Sauk Trail".
When the writer began his pursuit of Indian trails, he started with the idea that they were of rare occurrence ; that Indians roamed over the country regardless of any beaten highway. As we had heard of only two trails, the one connecting old Yellow Banks (Oquawka) with Black Hawk's village, and "The Great Sauk Trail", we began by asking old settlers if they knew anything about "the" Indian trail. We soon changed to asking if they knew of "any" Indian trail, for we learned that Indians, like white folks, prefer when travelling, to go over courses which are reputed to be the best, all things considered, and that there were principal highways, each with its diverging branches leading to other Indian villages ; to favorite hunting grounds, or merely a different route to the same place because of a different contour of the country. They had many trails, many of them perhaps but a foot in width, threading their way for miles upon miles through the prairie grass and through wooded country, while others, travelled probably for centuries and eroded by heavy rains, became wide and deeply worn, and in places the travellers would march beside the old, washed out trail, until there would be a dozen distinct, deeply worn traces side by side. Mrs. Kinzie, writing of this type of highways in northern Illinois in the early days, says : "We were to pursue a given trail for a certain number of miles, when we should come to a crossing into which we were to turn, taking an easterly direction ; after a time, this would bring us to a deep trail leading straight to Hamilton's. In this open country there are no landmarks. One elevation is so ex- actly like another, that if you lose your trail there is almost as little hope of regaining it as of finding a pathway in the midst of the ocean. The trail, it must be remembered, is not a broad highway, but a nar- row path, deeply indented by the hoofs of the horses on which the
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Indians travel in single file. So deeply is it sunk in the sod which cov- ers the prairies, that it is difficult, sometimes, to distinguish it at a distance of a few rods". (Waubun, c. XIV.)
The Sauk and Fox trail of which we are writing, took its name from the Sauk and Fox Indians, who had their permanent abode in the vicinity where Rock River joins the Mississippi. It retained this name at least as far east as to Fort Maiden, at Amhertsburg, Ontario. One should confidently expect that it joined with other trails in an unbroken chain, reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans.
We will start the route of the "Sauk and Fox Trail" at the Mississippi. From times immemorial these Indians had regarded the island of Rock Island as a bit of an earthly paradise. In the cave near its lower end dwelt a good spirit in the form of a large swan (Black Hawk's autobiography, p. 61). From this island we will cross the "slough" probably by swimming part way, then take one of the trails mentioned above in a southerly direction to the rapids of Rock river, passing through the Indian villages on the way there, ford Rock river to the south shore, and turn eastwards. It is just one mile to Mill Creek. Thomas J. Murphy of Coal Valley, 111., is authority for the location of the ford across this stream. He says (Interview of Apr. 9, 1917. "The Indian trail crossed right where the present pub- lis highway crosses", i. e. on the middle line of the north half of Sec- tion twenty-four. The creek bed here is of flat rock. Mr. Murphy says that after crossing the creek here the trail turned northeasterly to the shore of Rock river, which it followed for about three and a half miles to near Coal Valley creek, where it crossed that creek about the center of Section twenty-two, Coal Valley Twp., where it turned due south about a half mile to the point of the prominent bluff in the southeast corner of the southwest quarter of Section twenty-two, Coal Valley Twp., on the Charles Evener farm.
We will retrace our course to Mill Creek. Two miles almost due east of the creek is a rise of ground forming a ridge of about one and a half miles in length, paralleling Rock river, and affording a fine view of the country on both sides. David W. Hunt of Moline, Ills., (interview of Feb. 3, 1921,) said: "I came to this part of the country in 1847, and it was in 1847 or '48 that I saw the Indian trail going over the sand mound near Rock river, east of what they called Cam- den Mills, now Milan. It was very distinct and went east and west, right up over the top of the hill, parallel with the present public road, but north of it".
"It was very distinct and was well worn and looked different from similar trails I'd seen. Folks said it was an Indian trail".
"At the time the Drury farm, which was at the lower end of the sand mound, was the only house between Camden Mills and the Glenn's in Colona Township in Henry County (a distance of nine miles)".
Messrs. W. C. Wilson and Alec Craig, both of Moline, Ills., took the writer to Coal Valley creek in Section twenty-two. At about forty rods north of the center line of the section a private bridge spans the creek. Here, said they, is where the Frink & Walker Stage line ford-
The trail down the right bank of Rock River between the Watch Tower and where the Mississippi and Rock Rivers join. Black Hawk's village bordered this trail.
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ed the creek and Mr. Wm. Killing, who owned this place, also forded here until he built this bridge, and we think that in all probability the Indian trail crossed the creek here, and then turned south a half mile to the foot of the bluff, up which it then proceeded".
The best vouched-for part" of the "Great Sauk Trail" in this vicinity, is at the top of the ridge, starting on the Charles Evener farm in the south edge of Section twenty-two. Our first positive tes- timony to this location was by John N. Huntoon, of Rock Island, Ills., (Interview of June 30, 1916), who said, "Nathaniel Huntoon, my father, pointed out this hill top to me and said that in 1831, when he came here as advance agent for the Andover colony, to select a mill-site on Edwards river, he followed the Indian trail, and slept in the trail, at this point one night, with only a dog as a companion to keep the wolves off". Our next positive authority was T. J. Murphy, who said he used to be a great lad for hunting, and had followed the Indian trail all through here as far east as Sunny Hill, in Henry County. He came to this vicinity in 1857. Mr. John Campbell Bailey of Rural Township, Rock Island County, said he and his brother broke prairie hereabouts in 1853-'4 and '5, with six yoke of oxen to a single plow, and he knew the Indian trail. He said : "It was on the George Evener farm. It came up to Coal Valley, and passed along about where the public school house is". Mr. Austin Marshall, hotel keeper at LeClaire, la., knew the trail at this point also. He came here in 1842 when less than a year of age. He con- tinued : "We lived in the Washburne neighborhood, two miles east of Coal Valley, and a little north. I used to herd cows and I used to cross that Indian trail almost every day. This was three miles east of Coal Valley. It was washed out in places ; was six or eight inches deep and about eighteen inches wide. It was pretty near the line of the Rock Island & Peoria railroad". (Interview Feb. 14, 1921.)
But best of all, the old trail itself is still there. For a distance of a quarter of a mile or more, one may walk in this very distinct trace. Approaching from the direction of the village of Coal Valley, one finds a fork in the trail. One course of it continues along the top of the hill, which it descends as shown in the accompanying picture. The other turns to the northward, leaving the hill-top by a more gradual descent, down the first hollow east of the western promontory of the hill. This last mentioned fork, from the depth and width of the trail, would indi- cate that it was the most used. From the point where they join, and southeasterly toward Coal Valley, the old trail is deeply worn. This ridge has never been plowed up.
From the Charles Evener hill the trail follows the narrow crest of the hill, and crosses the Coal Valley school lot, according to the recollections of Messrs. T. J. Murphy and John C. Bailey, while Mr. John N. Huntoon remembered it as passing about seventy-five feet north of the school lot. All of them including W. C. Wilson and Austin Marshall remembered it as passing southeasterly from the Coal Valley school.
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Two trips were taken to the northwest corner of Section five in Western Township, Henry County. Mr. W. C. Wilson hoped to find traces of the old trail at the very corner, while Mr. Huntoon, on a separate trip with the writer, pointed to its location several rods south of the corner, saying : "I was born in our log cabin which stood on the east side of the road a quarter of a mile or so, north of where the public school is now, in Section twenty-nine, Colona township, and lived there until I was thirty years of age. I used to herd cattle on the prairies all over this part of the country and so passed over the Indian trail thousands of times, and I can tell you exactly in places and in some others I can tell pretty closely where it was."
"From the top of the Evener hill, the trail passed back on the top of the ridge, and passed just north of the road where it passes the Coal Valley school, and continues in a southeasterly course. I can follow as far as Cambridge, excepting for a couple of miles, where I was not so familiar with it".
"In the northwest quarter of Section five, Western township, is the Wes. Crampton place, on the east side of the road. One day I was hunting cattle horseback, and was thrown from the saddle very violently, right into the old Indian trail. It was worn about two feet lower than the regular lay of the land. This spot was next south of Crampton's barnyard".
Mr. Huntoon then took us to Shaffer Creek, near the east edge of Section five, Western township, a quarter of a mile or so south of the north line of the said section and showed where the Indian trail came down the slope toward the creek. At this point we met two men who were leaving the adjoining field with their teams. We hailed them, and one of them, an employe on the farm, said, "Henry Washburn who just died recently, told me the old Indian trail passed up the hill over there (pointing toward the east side of the creek) and I found an arrow-head there the other day". Henry Washburn came here in 1833".
The next location to the southeastward was pointed out by Mr. Huntoon. It was at the old Denton farm, three miles east of Orion. Mr. Huntoon said : "This farm was laid out in lots in the early days and was called East LaGrange. Later, during the stage-coach days, there was an Inn here called the Buckhorn Inn.. The old Indian trail crossed this farm, and in my judgment crossed about where the resi- dence stands, on the east side of the public road, and north of the R. I. & Peoria railway tracks, near the northwest corner of Section thirty, Osco township.
Nine miles due east of old East LaGrange, at the northwest cor- ner of Section twenty-seven, Cornwall township, stood the "Brown church" of Presbyterian faith. On June 12th, 1918, we were guided to this spot by a party consisting of Mrs. Ella Hume Taylor, Miss Lydia Colby and Mrs. Dr. J. E. West, all of Geneseo, Ills. Mrs. West and Miss Colby were members of this church during their girlhood, and told of their parents pointing to the Indian trail over which the church was built.
Here the great Sauk Trail left the level of the high prairie country and descended into the valley of Rock River but a few miles from Black Hawk's village. Messrs. J. N. Huntoon and Charles Evener on the farm of the latter.
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Mrs. West said: "My father, Elijah Benedict, came here in 1855. He gave this lot for the church, and he used to say, as we would get out of the buggy at church, That's the old Indian trail', and Uncle Albert (A. J. Benedict) used to say the Pottawatomies took this trail going between Rock Island and Peoria, and that the trail ran diag- onally from the Brown church to Spring Creek, but I cannot tell you where the trail touched Spring creek". The brown church was so called because it was painted brown. It has long since been torn down.
Miss Lydia Colby guided us to a spring, about three miles south- west of the Brown church, in Section four, Burns township, thirty rods or so west of the public highway, south of the small creek which flows easterly about midway of the north and south lines of the sec- tion. Miss Colby said: "My knowledge of the Indian trail comes through Mrs. Lucinda Clark. She was buried last week. She told me the trail passed by this spring, and that the Indians stopped here to refresh themselves". The spring is still flowing, and drains into the nearby creek bed.
Miss Colby then took us to "Hickory Point", a hill on the public road, at the east edge of Section fourteen, Cornwall township. She said : "This point, too, was pointed out to me by Mrs. Lucinda Clark as a place over which ,the Indian trail passed". Later Miss Colby wrote as follows: "James A. Clark of Geneseo, son of Mrs. Lucinda Clark, remembers well seeing the Indian trail along the south side of Hickory Point. The trail was grass-grown but was sunken a foot and a half, and perhaps two to three feet wide. From Hickory Point the trail led northeast to the marshes north of Annawan. There in the marshes the Indians used to camp as late as fifty-five years ago".
We made more or less diligent inquiry at Cambridge, Kewanee, Atkinson, Annawan, Sheffield and as far east as Wyanet, as also among the farmers who lived between these points, for people who might be able to locate the site of the Sauk and Fox trail to the east from the old Brown church, mentioned above, but were unsuccessful.
Sheffield is about fifteen miles east of the Brown church, and at this point the trail may be pursued on the authority of N. Matson, who says : "The trail passed through Bureau County almost in an east and west direction, crossing Coal creek immediately north of Sheffield, Main Bureau east of Woodruff's, passing near Maiden and Arlington in the direction of Chicago". (Reminiscences of Bureau County, 1872, p. 95.)
H. C. Bradley says this Sauk and Fox trail was "Followed by Gen. Scott's army in 1832, from Chicago to the Mississippi river". He also says: "The last time Indians were seen on this trail was in 1837 when the last of the Indians were being removed from Michigan to the Mississippi. Mrs. James G. Everett tells us she was on the occasion of the passing through the (Bureau) county of the last large body of Indians, teaching school just west of Princeton. She was then new in the west and knew but little of Indian character. She was occupied with her school duties when the red men began sud- denly to surround the building. She was terribly frightened, but some of the children had heard at home of the Indians going to pass that
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day and explained to their teacher that they would not harm them, and in a little while the cavalcade passed along". (History of Bureau County, Bradley editor, 1885, p. 271.)
Jesse W. Weik in an interesting article in which he speaks of the work of James M. Bucklin, Chief Engineer of the Illinois and Michi- gan canal, quotes the latter as saying: "While we were encamped on the (Calumet) river, on one occasion during our protracted stay, about two hundred Sac and Fox Indians on horseback passed on a trail not more than a hundred yards from our camp, without turning their faces to the right or to the left, on their way to Fort Maiden, for arms and ammunition. No doubt they marked us for their own, as the Sac or Blackhawk war was then about due, but was only post- poned for a year by the unexpected arrival at Fort Armstrong, Rock Island, of General Gaines with two or three companies of artillery", (p. 343, Vol. VII, Journal of the 111. State Hist. Soc.)
We are not unmindful of A. M. Hubbard's (of Moline) descrip- tion of the Sauk and Fox trail from Black Hawk's village, eastward, across Henry county, and on to Tiskilwa. We found no corroboration of his trace, except that through the Townships of Western, Osco, Munson and Cornwall, all in Flenry county, we are but a mile apart, and at one place, in Munson township, our lines cross, his taking a more southerly course. (Hubbards is in Steward's write-up, Vol. IV, Journal 111. State Hist. Soc.)
While pursuing the Sauk and Fox trail to the eastwards, we found that several of our Rock Island County men who located the trails for us, would mention Peoria as the destination of Indian travel over the trail past Coal Valley. Mr. John N. Huntoon believed it led to Peoria, and took us to the village of Andover, to which place he believed his father to have followed the trail in 1831. Here we made inquiry and were referred to George H. Johnson, as their most dependable author- ity. Mr. Johnson said : "I was born here in 1849. The Indian trail passed over that hill (pointing to it) and down there was a ford across Edwards river. Early settlers for many years before bridges were built here, used that ford. My dad and other old settlers all said this ford was on the old Indian trail. I remember it very well as a depres- sion worn down from travel. It passed on down into Knox County."
The trail as indicated by Mr. Johnson passes through the center of Sections twenty-four, twenty-five and thirty-six, in Lynn township, Henry county.
Mr. Johnson continued, "Wash. Hoyt was born just south of Ed- wards river, and now lives with his boys on a farm near New Windsor. He would know all about this Indian trail". (Interview Oct. 18, 1916.)
We called on Mr. Wash. Hoyt, at his home near New Windsor, and he and his son accompanied us as guides. Mr. Hoyt said : "I was born in Connecticut in 1836. We landed at Stephenson, now Rock Island, July 3d, 1842. My father, Edson Hoyt, attended the hanging of the Col. Davenport murderers at Rock Island. Nearly all the people from around Andover went. They were neighbors then. Anyone who lived ten or fifteen miles away was a neighbor in those days".
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"The Indian trail went just east of Woodhull. It might still be traced out where the timber was — the white oak grove".
"The trail used to be very plain, I can locate it nearly all the way from Andover to Woodhull, but not south of Woodhull. For most part it was a single trail not more than four to six feet wide. In some places it was deeper than others, but on the level prairies it was still a depression. We lived about three quarters of a mile from it".
"I do not know of anyone who knows the trail now. There are very few of those people left in the country, I can tell you".
Mr. Hoyt took us to the southwest quarter of Section five, Clover township, Henry county. In the west edge of this quarter section is a farm house, forty rods or more north of the south line of this quarter section. Mr. Hoyt pointed to a depression or trace running from the farm buildings south to the east and west road between Sections five and eight, where we were, and said, that was the Indian trail. He then took us northward, and in Section thirty-two in Andover township he again pointed to the location of the trail, but did not show us any trace. He said : "The trail crossed Edwards river where the big willows are, about thirty rods west of the north and south road which runs straight into Andover". This places the ford about one and three-quarters miles east of the location pointed out by George H. Johnson.
In his autobiography Black Hawk speaks of his trips to Peoria, to which place he doubtless followed a trail.
In 1780, during the contest for possession of the Illinois country, Col. George Rogers Clark sent Col. John Montgomery on a punitory expedition against the Indians of the Upper Mississippi. Col. Mont- gomery with an allied force of three hundred fifty men of Virginia, Kentucky, French of the Illinois villages, and Spanish subjects from St. Louis, moved up the Illinois river by boats, to Peoria. Here they began their overland march to the Sauk village located about the mouth of Rock river — now within the city limits of Rock Island. They burned the Indian village, and then, because of a desperate shortage of food supplies, they retraced their way to Peoria. (Vol. VIII, Ills. Hist. Col- lection, page CXXXV.) It is probable that they came over the trail, via Andover, East LaGrange, and Coal City. They came in pursuit of a defeated Indian and British force, and therefore could make bold to travel over the best route, regardless of danger.
For a further study of the Indian trails to the south of Woodhull, in Henry county, the reader is referred to the "History of Knox county, Ills.", by C. C. Chapman & Co., 1878, which has a township map of the county with the Indian trails traced on them.
The trail from Black Hawk's village to Oquawka, in Henderson County, Illinois, was doubtless the principal highway of the Sauk and Fox to their possessions to the southwest, down into Iowa and Mis- souri. They owned all of Missouri north of the Missouri river. The Mississippi continues westerly from Rock Island for a distance of twenty-five miles ; then after flowing south for a dozen miles it turns southeasterly toward Oquawka. The trail under consideration was a short cut, twelve to fifteen miles nearer than if they had followed the Mississippi. The distance to Oquawka by trail was fifty miles.
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This trail has been called the Indian and Military trail because both used it. It is a part of the route followed by Capt. Abraham Lincoln, in 1832, when the Illinois Volunteers marched from Beards- town to the mouth of Rock river in pursuit of Black Hawk. The Illi- nois State Historical Society at its annual meeting in 1909, appointed a special committee "To mark the route of Lincoln's Army Trail from Beardstown to mouth of Rock river", and Mr. William A. Meese re- ported that Hon. Frank O. Lowden had offered a gift of $750.00 to be used in marking the trail. The committee left its task unfinished — ■ probably left it without having started work on it, and after a few years, further mention of the committee was dropped.
Governor John Reynolds speaking of the march of the Illinois vol- unteers, says : "In this volunteer army were many of the most distin- guished men of the State. * * The brigade organized, and marching in the large prairies toward Rock Island, made a grand display". (My Own Times, p. 214), and Gov. Thomas Ford, speaking of the same cavalcade, says: "This was the largest military force of Illinoisans which had ever been assembled in the State, and made an imposing appearance as it traversed the then unbroken wilderness of prairie". (History of Illinois, Ford, p. 112.)
It was on this trail also, directly south of Blackhawk's village, on the south side of Rock river, that the Illinois Volunteers, including Capt. Abraham Lincoln, were sworn into the Federal service, doubt- less Capt. Lincoln's first federal oath. It was administered here by General Henry Atkinson of the regular army.
In 1828 Col. P. St. G. Cooke was ordered to take a detachment of recruits to Fort Crawford, at Prairie du Chien, Wis. One of his boats was left on the rocks of the Des Moines rapids, and it was necessary for some of his soldiers to march afoot. He says: "At a point fifty miles below Fort Armstrong (Rock Island) I heard that there was a trail to Fort Armstrong, which cut off much of the distance, so I imme- diately ordered my adventurous land detachment to take it". (Scenes and Adventures in the Army" by Cooke, 1859. Chapter III.)
The history of Mercer and Henderson counties, Hill & Co., 1883, at p. 25, speaking of the Black Hawk war, says : "The brigade was ac- companied by Gov. Reynolds, and Joseph Duncan was Brigadier Gen- eral. On the 15th of June (1831), this the largest body of military that had ever been seen in the State, left their encampment at Rushville and marched to within a few miles of the Sac village. This line of march took them directly through the central part of Mercer county, and the exact route is still known and pointed out. It being the old Indian trail (which was nearly on the Henderson and Warren county line) and extending through Mercer county northward between Aledo and Joy".
In the history of Mercer and Henderson counties, mentioned above at p. 300, history of Perryton township is the following regarding this trail : "Besides their knives and arrowheads of which numbers are still found, the Indians left no mark save the great trail their tribes followed in cutting off the bend of the Mississippi to the west. * * * in 1845 there were still five or six distinct, deep worn paths throughout the entire dis-
Another View of the Camp Site of 1832 111. Vol. looking toward mouth of Rock River. All the Historians of that day speak of this Camp as being at "the mouth of Rock River." It is 3 Miles S. E. of the mouth of Rock River. The Oquawka to Rock Island Indian and Military trail passed through this Camp Site.
Camp site on the open prairie of the Illinois Volunteers, which included Captain A. Lincoln and his company May 7-10, 1832. They were sworn into the Federal service here. The hill in background is Black Hawk's Watch Tower.
The Army Ford Across Edwards River.
101
tance, and were the guiding path to Rock Island and Oquawka, the two points where it left the river. This trail entered the town (Perryton township) on the south side of 31 ; thence along the divide to Camp Creek, crossing at a ford in 19 ; then along the ridge through 20 and 17, and nearly diagonal through the north half of 9, southeast of 4, and northwest of 3".
Attorney Isaac Newton Bassett of Aledo, says: (Interview Feb. 16, 1916.) "I came to Aledo in 1852. The Indian trail crossed Edwards river on the section line between Sections eleven and twelve in Millersburg township. That is what they call the Army Ford. It is right at the road. There is a riffle there, and that is where they crossed. This was the Indian trail and is the same trail on which the military crossed in 1831 and in '32 when Abraham Lincoln was with them".
Principal Norbury W. Thornton of Geneseo Collegiate Institute said (Interview, Nov., 1915) : "My father took me to the Edwards river ford when I was seven years of age and said this was where Lincoln and the army of the Black Hawk War crossed".
On our way to see the Army Ford on Edwards river we stopped at the nearest farm house southeast of the ford and made inquiry to see if the local people knew of its historic interest. Here we met Mr. John Noonan, who had lived in the vicinity for seventy years. To our ques- tion as to whether such a place was anywhere around, he promptly replied: "It's right down there", pointing in its direction, "right by the 'Downey bridge'. It's right below the bridge on the west side of the road". Mr. Daniel Laughlin who was present said Mrs. Margaret McGovern, now deceased, a sister of Mr. John Noonan, told him that they used to ford Edwards river at this old ford before a bridge was built, and that this ford was on the old Indian trail". We were referred to Mr. Joseph Terry, at Millersburg, Mercer County, for further infor- mation. Mr. Terry was born in 1841 and came to Millersburg in 1850. They corroborated what the others had said of the ford, and said: "Go east one mile from Millersburg, then south one and one-half miles to the river. You will see the Army Ford to your right, just below the bridge".
To reach this interesting spot from Aledo, the county seat of Mercer county, go west two and one-half miles, then north one and one-half miles. It is in the east edge of Section eleven, Millersburg township.
John Montgomery (formerly of Edgington township, Rock Island county), said: "That trail crossed by our farm and my brother Dan and I broke up a good part of it with a breaking plow. I can point out to you where it was. The trail was as plain— there were from four to a dozen tracks, and in places they were worn a foot deep. When the first settlers came here they used that trail for their first roads. There was no other road in the country. It ran from New Boston or Keiths- burg to Fort Armstrong".
"One time — they used to tell the story, there were only a few whites anywhere around and they had an Indian scare. The settlers gathered together at New Boston for defense, and they wanted to send to Ft. Armstrong for help, but there were so few men they felt they
102
couldn't spare any of them. A boy 12 or 14 years old said if he could have a certain pony he would go. They got him the pony and he was escorted out onto the prairie by the men, and then he took to the Indian trail and headed for the fort. When he got near the Cooper settlement, in Mercer county, he saw some Indians and, of course, he was scared and he ran his pony all the rest of the way to Fort Armstrong".
Mr. Montgomery, in Nov., 1916, took us to see Mr. Eli Perry who, he said, would be able to assist in locating the trail in Mercer county.
Mr. Eli Perry of Perryton township, Mercer county, said: "1 have lived within a quarter to a half mile of this Indian trail all these years since I came here in 1843, at the age of two years. I know the old Indian trail and can pretty nearly follow it all the way from New Boston to Taylor Ridge. The trail was not used as a wagon road, but was used as a guide to go by. It wouldn't make a good road unless you were afoot or horseback. The trail led to the Bay Island where the hunting was excellent".
Camp Creek is in Mercer county and is so named because the Illi- nois soldiers in the Black Hawk War made their noon-day camp there on' the way from Oquawka to Black Hawk's village. Mr. Perry took us to Camp Creek, in Section nineteen, Perryton township, and taking us to the north side of the creek, at one hundred paces west of the public highway, said : "There used to be a walnut stump right here, and the story we got from way back, was that the walnut tree was cut down by the Black Hawk war soldiers, so it fell across the creek and they used it for a bridge. From the ford southwards and slightly southwesterly, across pasture land, to the crest of the hill, a distance of perhaps forty rods, one can walk in this historic old trail, for it is from a foot to two feet deep, and from about six feet to ten feet in width at the top, and as plainly to be seen as any natural object. It was deepest on the hill side where it had doubtless been washed by the rains. Mr. Perry said this was the Indian and military trail under consideration. It is on the Mrs. William VanMeter farm, in Sections nineteen and thirty, Perryton township. To find the trail, start at the fence, west side of the road, south of the creek, and go due west 100 paces. To the north- wards Mr. Perry pointed out the course of the trail as crossing the pub- lic highway near the foot of the hill and passing diagonally up the hill, in a northeasterly direction.
In volume "A" of Roads, of the records of the county clerk's office of Rock Island county, at page 40 thereof, is a plat filed in 1856 showing the public road in Section thirty in Black Hawk township, on which the crest of the ridge in the southeast quarter of the said section is designated as "Army Ridge Bluffs", and the creek below is called "Army Trail Creek". At the present, however, the creek is called Tur- key Hollow creek, and the bluff is Turkey Hollow hill. The public road leads from the high ridge down to the bottom land and to the Black Hawk village site, six miles to the northeast. We were taken to this "Army Ridge Bluff" by Mr. Almon A. Buffum of Edgington, Illinois, and William H. Miller who resides two and a half miles south of the spot under consideration. Mr. Buffum's account of the trail
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The Ford at Camp Creek. Messrs John Montgomery and Eli Perry are standing where the large Walnut tree was felled across the stream for the crossing of the 111. Vols, in the Black Hawk War.
The Indian and Military Trail immediately south of Camp Creek. Mr. Montgomery at the left is standing in the trail.
103
at this point was as follows : 'There was a tree known as the "Lin- coln Tree" just at the edge of the bluff north of the school (which stands in the southwest corner of the s. e. quarter of section 30 in Black Hawk township). It was an ill-shaped tree, run over by wagons and the bark peeled off. I grubbed this tree out and planted potatoes there. It would be just south and a little west of Vetter's house. There was an old road there which I broke up and planted to potatoes. This road or trail was known as the Indian trail and also as the military trail, along which the soldiers came during the Black Hawk war, and the reason the tree was called the "Lincoln Tree" was because Lincoln had come past there as a soldier in that war. This road or trail came by the "Scotch" Taylor place and came on along the top of the ridge, sometimes on one side of the present road and sometimes on the other. It passed down the hill from where the tree was and on down across where the ditch or creek now is. There wasn't any ditch there at the time I knew it first ; only a swale there. I could locate the old trail and location of the tree and will go with you some day and point it out to you," which he did in April, 1916." This place was the easiest way off the ridge.
Mr. Miller's account was as follows : "I came here in 1847 at the age of sixteen months. When I was a boy I used to go to Rock Island over this trail driving oxen. * * * Our road was over this trail all the way down Turkey Hollow and on right across where the sand and gravel pit of the Peoria & Rock Island Railway is (at the west end of the line between Section 22 and 27, Black Hawk town- ship) and on east to Milan over the ridge on the bottom. The road was on an east and west line, at about the middle of the south half of the south half of Section twenty-two in Black Hawk township, and in the southeast part of the southeast quarter of Section twenty-two is where the military camp of 1832 was, when Lincoln and the 1800 Illinois soldiers came to fight Black Hawk". Mr. Miller's knowledge covered about ten miles of the old trail, beginning at the Jahns' farm at the northeast corner of Section fourteen in Edgington township, crossing the public road south of the public school which is in Section Eleven, Edgington township, and continuing northeasterly passed east of the farm buildings on the "Scotch" Taylor place, in the south- east quarter of Section twelve, Edgington township, where the public road is now. From that point the old trail kept the top of the ridge, sometimes on one side, and at times on the other side of the present public road as it passes northward to the "Army Trail Bluff". It is a narrow ridge, some places being only a stone's throw across.
Messrs. Buffum and Miller personally conducted us to the "Army Ridge Bluff" and showed us the old, abandoned public highway on the hillside which now is enclosed as pasture land. Both declared this road was/ originally the Indian and military trail; that when the pioneers settled this country they had no roads other than this trail and therefore used it. The rains washed the old highway considerably, and a re-location of the public highway was made a few yards to the north of the old, and the old trace is sodded over, an olden days relic which might well be preserved because of its historic interest.
104
William S. Parks of Rock Island, and his brother, John Parks of Reynolds, Illinois, in October and November, 1915, took us to where the trail used to be on the- "Prairie Home Farm" in Edgington town- ship. This was in 1915, our first trip to locate Indian trails here- abouts. They showed where it passed through the northwest corner of the southwest quarter of Section 26. The country here is rolling and the trail had from half a dozen to twelve or fifteen parallel traces. The rains undoubtedly would wash a worn trail and a new one would be made next to it. Mr. William Parks, giving his recollections of the trail, said : "We broke prairie here sixty years ago when we were little tots, and the trail crossed here. Brother John drove the three head yoke of oxen and I drove the three rear yoke. We had six teams of oxen to the plow".
Mr. Fred Titterington of Rock Island took us to the east line of the northeast quarter of Section twenty-three, where the creek crossed the public highway. He expected to find some virgin sod there with the trail still visible, but was disappointed. He says he saw the trail there as late as 1860, at which time he, with his parents, frequently crossed it and he "remembers it as well as if it were yes- terday". It was deep on the side hill but on the top of the ridge it wasn't as plain". It had about four trails side by side, just south of the creek, which it crossed about where is now the public road. Mr. Titterington also remembers the location of the Lincoln camp as related to him by his Uncle George Crabs of Hamlet, Illinois, as being in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section twenty- seven in Black Hawk township, Rock Island county.
Mr. George Crabs of Hamlet, Illinois, was visited in company with his nephew, Mr. Fred Titterington, in December, 1915. Mr. Crabs, a nonogenarian, had a memory which as to the early times seemed as clear as a bell. He said : "The first time I saw that Indian trail was in August, 1844. I was on my way to camp meeting at Sugar Grove. There were four paths, worn a foot deep, three feet apart, plain as could be, like a cow path. At that time there was not a house on this prairie. I saw mounted soldiers on this trail once. They were on their way to Fort Armstrong from Oquawka and were traveling on a keen canter four abreast. About seventy years ago John Edgington and Jimmy Robinson went to mill where Quincy, (111.), is now, and they traveled down that old army trail. They drove four or five yoke of cattle and would be gone a week". Mr. Crabs gave the route of the trail all the way from Camp Creek in Mercer county to within a mile of Black Hawk's village at Rock Island, including the Lincoln camp site in the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Sec. 27. He was hardly in a physical con- dition to be taken over the course in person, but his testimony corrob- orated, without any suggestion or question on our part, the accounts given by men who personally conducted us to places where the trail was known to them.
The reader will notice that two different descriptions are given for the Capt. Lincoln Camp site— the camp of the Illinois Volunteers, May 7th to 10th, 1832. In reality the two locations are just across
The Indian and Military Trail on the hillside at Turkey Hollow, showing that the highways of the Indian suffered no less from heavy rains than do ours of today. Messrs. Miller and Buffum appear in the picture.
Traces of the Indian and Military trail in Turkey Hollow, used by the early settlers as a public highway.
It was also
105
the public road from each other, and the eighteen hundred men with their mounts would probably more than cover both tracts.
Jacob Harris, December, 1915, of Edgington, said: "Speaking of the Indian trail, it went down Turkey Hollow on the east side of the present road, the right hand side as you go down the hill. I used to play in the Indian trail when I was a boy. We didn't think any- thing about it then. There used to be lots of Indians come here in my time and I've seen them traveling on the old trail. There was more than one Indian trail. The one across Little's farm, east of Taylor Ridge, was not the main trail. The Indians would have a path and they'd follow the leader like sheep. If there were five hun- dred of them they'd keep one path. The trail passed right by the old Prairie Union school which at that time was a half mile north and a quarter of a mile west of where it is now". "The Parks boys, John and William, and I used to go to school part way in that trail." Mr. Harris' description places the old school where the trail was, at the northwest corner of the east half of the northwest quarter of Section twenty-six Edgington township, Rock Island county.
The old "Scotch" Taylor farm is in the southeast quarter of Sec- tion twelve, Edgington township. The public road passes northward through it. To this place in December, 1915, we were conducted by Sam C. Taylor, a son. Mr. Taylor said he remembered the trail very well, as it passed through between their farm buildings which are located just where the public highway bends northeastwards. He said : "There were several tracks of the trail. One time when I was a boy a lot of Indians came to our house and mother was trying to drive them away with a broom. She was afraid to let them into the the house because the men were away. There had been some fencing done on the trail and the Indians were asking about the trail. It looked to me as if the trail between our buildings in the hollow was headed to the high ground which led toward Fancy Creek".
Ex-Senator William F. Crawford, formerly of Edgington -town- ship, Rock Island county, said : "Yes, I saw the old Indian and army trail very often. I used to see the old, deep ditch-like trail going off the point of Turkey Hollow hill and I asked what that was and they said, 'Why, that's the trail Lincoln marched over on the way to fight Indians. I asked old man Miller, father of William H. Miller, one time, and he told me this. 'There was an old tree on the trail which had been tramped down and scarred up from being rode over. I've been in the cavalry and I know how the brush is tramped down that way. The tree was at the top of the hill, just at the bend, or a little southwest of the bend. We called it the Lincoln tree, and the trail was just as plain as could be and crossed where Turkey Hollow creek is now. Then it was just a tiny bit of a ditch with a couple of logs in it to drive over. Then we passed on down to the lowlands toward Milan, not keeping the section lines at all, but just driving across country". We interviewed Mr. Crawford in November, 1916.
George Washington Griffin of Milan, said (Nov., 1915) : "There were several Indian trails. Father and my uncles (the sons of Joshua Vandruff) would go out hunting and sometimes they'd go
106
out to look for cattle, and we would go sometimes in one direction on an Indian trail and sometimes in another direction on an Indian trail, and Big Island had different trails that were called Indian trails."
The village of Milan, Illinois, is situated on the south side of Rock River, opposite Black Hawk's village. We called on Mr. Ore- gon Pinekley, an octogenarian living at Milan, and an old resident there. He said: "There were two trails that met here, one from the east and one from the west, but I can't tell you just where they were. I know more about the old army trail in Mercer county. When I was a boy, we boys used to go swimming in Edwards river at the Army Ford. We lived in Millersburg at that time".
The Oquawka-Rock Island trail as it came within ten or twelve miles of Black Hawk's village, had a fork, somewhere southwest of where the village of Taylor Ridge stands. It is possible that the loca- tion pointed out by Fred Titterington, mentioned above, is a part of the east fork. Another spot on this fork was pointed out to us by Deputy Sheriff R. E. Little of Milan, located on the farm of his boyhood, pass- ing along a line from the southwest corner of the north half of the northeast quarter of Section eighteen, Bowling township, Rock Island county, thence running diagonally to the northeast corner of Section eighteen. Mr. Little said : "The old Indian trail here was at least ten feet wide, and there was not a number of them, but just one path, which went in a straight line over hill and hollow, and on the hillside the water washed a sort of ditch, and part of this, when I saw it last, was grown over with grass. This trail could still be seen twenty-five years ago. Now it is pretty well obliterated". The field here was under cultivation.
The next point on this fork was given us by C. P. O'Haver of Rock Island. It is located at the northwest corner of the northeast quarter of Section ten, in Bowling township, two miles due south of the camp ground of the Illinois Volunteers of 1832.
Both the Indians and the soldiers followed the left bank of the Rock river in their ascent up-stream, in the 1832 campaign of the Black Hawk war. Judge John W. Spencer, who was an acquaintance of Black Hawk and who was one of the pioneers who disputed with the Indians for possession of their village here, says that : "When Black Hawk and his warriors returned in 1832, they kept on the south side of Big Island (at the mouth of Rock river), which I had never known them to do before". (Reminiscences, p. 44.)
Gen. Henry Atkinson, writing from Fort Armstrong under date of April 13, 1832, says: "They (the band of Sauks under Black Hawk) crossed the (Mississippi) river at Yellow Banks * * and are now moving up on the east side of Rock river. * * toward the Proph- et's village". (Wakefield's Black Hawk War", p. 35.)
Lieut. Albert Sydney Johnston's diary corroborates the above as follows: "April 13. Black Hawk's band was reported this morning to be passing up on the east side of Rock river. Their course indicates that their movement is upon the Prophet's village". (Life of Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston, p. 34.)
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THE FORD AT GREEN RIVER.
107
Attorney William Allen of Erie, Ills., says : "There was an Indian trail on the other (east) side of Rock river to Prophetstown, where there was a little city of Indians, and their lodges were strung out, down Rock river for a half mile. At the time of the Black Hawk War, Abraham Lincoln with the crowd of his company camped at Pink Prairie in the edge of Henry county where he was nearly eaten up by the mosquitoes. Lincoln told this to Judge Teets, of Erie. Teets was down to do some lobbying regarding a ferry boat across Rock river, in 1859, after the Lincoln-Douglas debates". (Interview, Aug. 10, 1917.) Nels Anderson, who had lived on an island in Rock river, in Coal Valley township, for thirty years, said : "I came here in
1865, and old man Porter, who came here in 1833, told me
Lincoln came up on the east side of Rock river on his way to Wiscon- sin to fight Black Hawk". (Interview, April 9, 1917.)
The Illinois Volunteers followed Black Hawk up Rock river over the same trail. Black Hawk and his followers were a religious people and in the course of their progress would make sacrifices to the Great Spirit. Gov. Reynolds, speaking of these evidences, says : "It made us sorry to see often at the camp ground of Black Hawk a small dog immolated to appease the Great Spirit". (My Own Times, 229.)
Black Hawk reached Prophetstown, April 26th, as told by Wake- field in the following words : "On the 26th Mr. Gratiot saw at a dis- tance, about two miles down Rock river, the army of the celebrated Black Llawk, consisting of about five hundred Sacs, well armed and mounted on fine horses, moving in a line of battle — their appearance was terrible in the extreme. Their bodies were painted with white clay, with an occasional impression of !their hands about their bodies, colored black. About their ankles and bodies they wore wreaths of straw, which always indicate a disposition for blood". (Wakefield's History of the Black Hawk War, p. 38.)
Prophetstown is on the east bank of Rock river, and is so called because it was the village of the Winnebago Prophet, Wa-bo-kie-shiek (see Handbook American Indians, Vol. I, p. 886) who was one of the foremost of the Indian leaders in the Black Hawk War. This village was reached by the Illinois Vols, on May 10th, the same day they broke camp near Rock Island. The soldiers had made a march of forty miles, and "When they reached Prophetstown they found it de- serted, and at once applied the torch to the bark houses and reduced them to ashes". (Armstrong, Sauks and the Black Hawk War, p. 309.)
In the march to Prophetstown both the Indians and the soldiers would follow the beaten trail ; in this case the Sauk and Fox trail from Milan is now, to the ford across Coal Valley creek, as located by Messrs. W. C. Wilson and Alex Craig, and Thomas J. Murphy. At the east side of this ford the two trails would part company, the one up Rock river continuing due east.
Thomas J. Murphy said: "An old trail followed right on the bank of Rock river going up stream, then there was another trail which followed on the high ground right where the yellow barn on the Killing estate is". This "yellow barn' 'is due east of the ford, and as we walked over the course of this trail of the higher ground, the
108
writer found two flint arrow-heads not far from the barn, then as we proceeded eastward he began picking up chips of flint until he had thirty-three pieces; then seeing the plowed ground was full of them, the novelty of it dropped. Mr. Murphy continued: "The wider trail kept this ridge, and the one which followed the river bank was a nar- rower one and is still there just as it was when I was a boy". (April 9, 1917.)
The next point which we believed to be on this same trail up Rock river, was about five miles easterly, namely the ford across Green river. We located it by the process of elimination, under the guidance of Messrs. Craig and Wilson, above mentioned. Mr. Craig said: "Lincoln? Right here. This is the only place they could cross. This is the old Indian trail right across here. There is no ford between here and Rock river. I've been" along it hundreds of times hunting and fishing and strolling", to which Mr. Wilson added: "We've seined every foot of it from Colona to the mouth of Green river, and I know there was no other ford". Mr. Craig mentioned that in places the river was twelve to sixteen feet deep, to which Mr. Wilson replied : "We seined through all of it just the same".
The ford is being used by the farmer today. On the right bank of Green river, a few rods from the ford, is a farm house and barns. Our two guides said the house was built on top of a large Indian mound and when they dug the cellar they found a space walled in with rock "round or oblong" and they found skeletons, "either sixteen or twenty-three, I don't know which, and lots of implements". Mr. Craig said: "I was told about it by Gully (Gulliver) Adams and Sheldon Hodge. They got the rock out and told me of it".
These men also told of a "Kitchen heap" on the left (east) bank of Rock river, a short distance above this Green river ford, "A mile below the old Colona ferry", which they found thirty-five or forty years ago. They "found brown Indian pottery, implements, needles, deer horns and bones, and, mostly clam shells".
Green river ford is not on the public highway. To find it, take the "Geneseo road" between Moline bridge over Rock river, and Brier Bluff; when you come to the section line between sections fif- teen and sixteen, Colona township, Henry county, follow this line north to Green river (a distance of a little over a half mile) then fol- low the river down stream until you come to the ford, a distance of perhaps twenty rods, or thereabouts, northwest of the section line where it strikes the river.
Rock River was a favorite among our aboriginals. Continuing up stream, passing the old Colona ferry site (a fine bridge is there now), and about five miles farther up stream, passing the primitive Cleveland ferry, and five miles farther up stream, the old Angell's ferry, also a relic of pioneer days, one finds just above the last men- tioned ferry and on the east side of the river, other remains of Indian occupation. One day on a hike with our bands boys, we found there along a strip of higher land beside the river, a number of fragments of Indian pottery, a piece of a broken iron tomahawk, a stone celt, and ten well formed flint arrow-heads, and there are numerous pieces of chipped flints.
h 5i JvW
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MAP SHOWING INDTAN TRAILS CENTERING AT BLACK I
flK'S VILLAGE. THE TRAILS ARE SHOWN IN RED INK
i
109
The writer makes no pretense of knowing the exact course of the Indian trail up Rock river beyond the part located by Mr. Murphy, and the Green river ford located by Messrs. Wilson and Craig. En- quiry was made for information, but thus far without success. The evidences of habitations above mentioned, are included here, because they prove that the land was occupied, and there is no such occupation without its complement of highways or trails.
In addition to the above one should expect to find trails radiating from Davenport, Iowa, to the north, west, and probably southwest, for the Sauk and Fox United Nation held Iowa by right of conquest (Kan. Hist. Coll. XI, 334), and during the latter years of their great- ness they had their principal villages, opposite Davenport, where Rock Island now stands. Presiding over the Fox village was Wapella, Principal Chief of the Foxes, while the adjoining Sauk village had such men of note as Pash-e-pa-ho, Keokuk and Black Hawk. The writer merely suggests this as a subject for Trails-Hunters, who should begin their quest at once, while information can be had at first hand. One would expect to find a short cut northwards from Daven- port to the Dubuque mines, approximately along the "Dubuque Road", and as to a west-bound trail, the following extract from the reminis- cences of M. D. Hauberg may prove of value: "The next place we broke (virgin prairie in 1850) was for Claus Vieths, about seven miles west of Davenport. The second day we were there an Indian came along and stopped. When we came to the road he hailed us. The boss was afraid but I went up to him. He was riding an Indian pony, and he carried a rifle, a revolver and a bow and arrows. The pony's bit, the stirrups and the rifle were silver plated. He asked me how far it was to Davenport. While he stood here he would sometimes look toward the west. Then he went in that direction and was gone about ten minutes, when he returned with the whole tribe. There must have been two hundred of them. They had ponies running loose with baskets on each side, a papoose in each basket, and some were carry- ing the tents".
110
THE UNION LEAGUE: ITS ORIGIN AND ACHIEVEMENTS IN
THE CIVIL WAR.
By E. Bentlet Hamilton.
From the year 1680, when Robert LaSalle and Tonti, his military aid, erected a palisade fort on a high bluff overlooking the Illinois river and named it Fort Creve Coeur, Tazewell county has been rich in the history of the upbuilding of this western empire. In historical im- portance, the event of which I am to speak, is almost without parallel in any city in Illinois ; in its effect upon the greatest war on American soil, it will forever stand without a peer.
Reflect for a moment that even in 1860 Illinois was the fourth state in the Union in population and wealth, in influence and power ; no voice was more potent than hers in shaping government policy and directing "the course of empire". Each of the two political parties of the North had selected its standard bearer from within the confines of this western commonwealth and he who had mounted their courthouse steps to try his cases across the street and within a hundred feet from the spot where the Union League was organized, was summoned to "the seats of the mighty". Later, after the lawyer had become the President, Abraham Lincoln extended his official aid and sanction to this organization.
Following the attack upon Fort Sumpter on April 12th, 1861, and its capitulation on April 14th, the President issued his call on April 15th for 75,000 volunteers. The same day Governor Yates issued his call for the legislature to convene in special session on April 23rd. Before the legislature convened, 61 companies had been accepted and thus Illinois had exceeded her complement on the first call of President Lincoln.
It is worthy of more than passing comment that at first there was a suprising union of sentiment in this state. Leading Democratic journals condemned in strong terms the act of secession and urged sustaining the Government. The sum of $3,500,000 was at once ap- propriated by the Legislature for war ; a bill was passed defining and punishing treason to the state and everything was done that was deemed necessary "to suppress insurrections, repel invasion and ren- der prompt assistance to the United States Government".
But this condition was not one which was long destined to con- tinue. Bull Run, with its Confederate victory, had demonstrated to a humiliated North that a three months' war was to become a three years' struggle ; Wilson Creek, from the death of the brilliant Lyons, had reversed the order of victory in Missouri and crowned the Rebels with her laurels ; New Madrid and Island No. 10 under the success- ful co-operation of Pope and Commodore Foote had fallen into Union
Ill
hands ; the first Confederate line was broken by the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson.
Victory had been snatched at Pea Ridge in spite of the employ- ment of Indians by the Confederates, who scalped and tomahawked in the exercise of their savage and barbarous methods ,of warfare. Shiloh, wrenched from defeat, with its bloody toll of 15,000 lives, leav- ing the Union army shattered and demoralized, had been written upon the crimson pages of history.
In the meantime certain changes had been taking place in the sentiment of the North which at first had been unreservedly and un- qualifiedly in favor of the suppression of the rebellion. The pure streams of an undivided loyalty were being polluted at their source. Unseen hands were attempting to paralyze the efforts of those who were engaged at home in maintaining the armies in the field. The hushed voice of treason was whispering its venom for the perpetra- tion of abominable deeds. Treason, lurking in the cities and the coun- try, by its falsehood and its treachery, was far more monstrous in its danger than an enemy fighting in the open. Treason in all its deviltry was biting into the vitals of this loyal state with a tooth "bare gnawn and canker-bit". Through the "Knights of the Golden Circle" and similar organizations, it poured its dram of poison into loyal blood and sought to extinguish the sacred fires of Loyalty that burned in the hearts of all true patriots.
"Never land long lease of empire won
Whose sons sat silent when base deeds were done."
Such were the circumstances when eleven men assembled on the third floor of the building at 331 Court Street in the City of Pekin to organize the first Council of the Union League of America.
At that time the Knights of the Golden Circle numbered 350,000 members in the northern states alone,, two-thirds of whom were organized into military units and drilled. A few of its traitorous prin- ciples were to harass the families of the Union soldiers so as to cause desertions from the army ; to combat and resist all recruiting in the north ; to liberate, by force if necessary, confederate prisoners con- fined in northern prisons.
The source of the origin was undoubtedly attributable to the loyal men of Tennessee who, when driven from their homes soon after the opening of the Civil War, sought refuge in inaccessible places in the mountains of their state and took an oath of loyalty to the Government of their forefathers.
The first Council was composed of leading Union men of Taze- well County, to-wit : John W. Glasgow, J. P. ; Dr. D. A. Cheever, Hart Montgomery, Maj. R. N. Cullom, Alexander Small, Rev. J. W. M. Vernon, Geo. H. Harlow, Chas. Turner, Jonathan Merriam, Henry Pratt and L. F. Garrett. One of the original eleven was a Tennessee refugee, who introduced the Union mountaineer's oath, which was ac- cepted pending the reorganization in the North.
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The first Illinois State Council met at Bloomington on September 25, 1862, with representatives present from twelve counties. At this meeting the organization was completed and the following officers chosen :
Hon. Mark Bangs, of Marshall County, Grand President; Prof. D. Wilkins, of McLean County, Grand Vice-President ; Geo. H. Har- low, of Tazewell County, Grand Secretary ; H. S. Austin, of Peoria County, Grand Treasurer; J. R. Gorin, of Macon County, Grand Marshal ; A. Gould, of Henry County, Grand Herald ; John E. Rosette, of Sangamon County, Grand Sentinel.
The Executive Committee chosen was as follows : Joseph Medill, of Cook County; Dr.. A. McFarland, of Morgan County; J. K. War- ren, of Macon County; Rev. J. C. Rybolt, of LaSalle County; Hon. Mark Bangs, of Marshall County; Enoch Emery, of Peoria County; John E. Rosette, of Sangamon County.
The obligation which the members assumed and which was offi- cially adopted by the National Grand Council, might well be made today the obligation of all who undertake to assume the privileges of American citizenship. The following was the solemn oath :
OBLIGATION. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm), in the presence of God and these witnesses, that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States and the flag thereof, against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will also defend this State against any invasion, insurrection, or rebellion, to the extent of my ability. This I freely pledge without mental reservation or evasion. Furthermore, that I will do all in my power to elect true and reliable Union men and supporters of the Government, and none others, to all offices of profit or trust, from the lowest to the highest — in ward, town, county, state and General Government. And should I ever be called to fill any office, I will faithfully carry out the objects and principles of this lodge. And, further, that I will protect, aid and defend all worthy members of the Union League. And, further, I will never make known, in any way or manner, to any person or persons not members of the Union League, any of the signs, passwords, proceedings, debates or plans of this or any other Coimcil under this organization, except when engaged in admitting new members into this lodge. And with my hand upon the Holy Bible, Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution of the United States of America, under the seal of my sacred honor, I acknowledge myself firmly bound and pledged to the faithful performance of this my solemn obligation. So help me God."
The proud boast of Boston is Faneuil Hall where in that "Cradle of Liberty" the resolutions were adopted which proclaimed the free- dom of America ; Philadelphia has her Independence Hall, whose bricks are sacred because within those walls the terms of Liberty, when once it was achieved, were reduced to writing in the Constitution of the United States ; but the simple bronze tablet placed on December 7th, 1920, upon the historic building in the City of Pekin, 111., will forever commemorate the origin of that determined organization who dedicated themselves to preserving the liberty declared in Massachu- setts and to maintaining the Constitution adopted in Pennsylvania.
It was like the seed which is borne on the breast of the wind to germinate on other soil. Its purpose was so invincible, its methods so
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effective, its vigilance so much the alpha and omega of Liberty itself, that Union League Clubs began to be formed throughout the North. From Pekin the idea spread to Chicago ; from Chicago to Philadel- phia ; from Philadelphia to New York ; from New York to New Eng- land, until the ripple became the wave inundating every specter of treason wherever it raised its ugly head.
It was not an organization for the mere display of patriotic fer- vor ; it was no chimera or emotional effervescence ; it was as far above sentimentality as "mercy is above the sceptered sway". It was as fear- less as it was uncompromising. It neither tolerated nor condoned. It poured every man's citizenship into the crucible and tested it with the acid of undivided loyalty to the Union.
If you would give full credit to the accomplishment of the Union League, consider the precarious condition which threatened even this loyal state of Illinois. A strong secret band had sworn to take her out of the Union and remove her as a factor against the Confederacy. For a while civil war threatened to divide the state against itself. By reason of its geographical location and its natural boundaries it was the great dividing wedge between the East and the West and the North and South. The torch of the incendiary and the bullet of the assassin threatened every true and loyal home. It required no statis- tician in 1862 to compute that all chances were in favor of the South, were Illinois lost.
The spark that was here kindled became a flame. Every private citizen, every candidate for office, every public servant, every man of fighting age who came under the ban of suspicion was either prose- cuted under civil law, invited to leave for more hospitable climes, or branded with the 'scarlet letter' of disloyalty. The contagion of its spirit spread until it became a solid phalanx, making all of the people march in one direction, keeping step to the music of the Union, armed with an irresistible and triumphant faith.
The summer of 1863 marked the crest of the Confederacy. Get- tysburg, which was fought with the highest courage on both sides, resulted in a loss approximating 50,000 lives. Had the Army of the Potomac failed, Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York would have been taken. Vicksburg, the fit companion in victory to Gettysburg, was the crowning achievement of the Army of the Tennessee under Grant. It exhausted all known military science and surpassed all cam- paigns known to history. It dismembered the Confederacy and ranked him as the greatest military general of all the ages. Napoleon had but 72,000 men at Waterloo ; Grant took 75,000 prisoners in Virginia alone and disposed of as many more of the enemy on the battlefield. Marching through a hostile country, he led his men farther than Napoleon marched going to Moscow and father than Hannibal marched in coming into Italy.
When sanitary stores were sadly needed before the fall of Vicks- burg, the Grand Secretary of the League, Col. George H. Harlow, sent out the letters of urgent appeal that resulted in immediate sub- scriptions of the sum of $25,000 in cash, besides large quantities of supplies.
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Another notable instance of its efficacy was found at the time that Governor Yates urged the Government to permit organization of negro regiments in the North. It was in -1862 when another call was made for 300,000 additional volunteers. Dispatching an open letter to the President, urging him to summon all men to the defense of the Government, loyalty alone being the dividing line between the nation and its foe, he concluded, "in any event Illinois will respond to your call but adopt this policy and she will spring like a flaming giant into the fight". It was the unflinching course adopted by the Union Leagues throughout the United States with reference to the organ- ization of the black regiments that made the course possible. In New York not a single trumpeter could be found that would for love or money lead the march of these regiments through that City. Not even one would raise the martial strains of the liberty l©ving people of this country at the head of the colored men who were going out to fight for it. But when the government band and an escort of the Union League, leading* thousands of citizens, did march down at the head of those black regiments, no triumph was ever greeted with louder ac- claim than swept throughout the length and breadth of Broadway. No more distinguished company of ladies ever gave colors to a regi- ment than the ladies who from the balcony of the Union League Club handed their colors to that first negro regiment.
This was the factor then, that was able to turn hatred into favor and kindness into respect and thus directly became the most potent agency in furnishing these troops who assisted in turning the tide of battle for the North. The Union League Club of New York to fill up the strength of the army put into the field itself, with its resources, its money, its effort, its organization and its encouragement, 6,000 men as its contribution to the tide of triumph in which the cause of the re- bellion was then finally to be drowned. And patriotism became mingled with cuisine when on Thanksgiving Day on November 18, 1864, it distributed luxuries of the market among 200,000 soldiers at the front. Not in all history is there recorded a more gracious hospi- tality, a more generous host or a nobler company of guests than par- took of that generosity.
In the darkest days of the war in 1863, when England was delib- erating as to whether she should formally and openly recognize the Confederacy, the representatives of the Union League who crossed the Atlantic in the cause of the Union, were a potent influence in de- terring her from an action that would have been disatrous to the cause of the Union. These men made it plain that if the British Gov- ernment should, by any interference or by oversight or by purpose, even to the jostling of a hair, in that struggle, recognize the claims of the South, we should never forgive it and when the Government in all its authority was maintained, would seek its redress.
By October, 1862, the membership in Illinois had increased to ap- proximately 5,000; a few months later 50,000 were enrolled in its ranks, and by 1864 there were 175,000 members in this State.
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Here then was the full fruition of the movement conceived and executed by those eleven patriots whose names will be preserved "in characters of brass, 'gainst the tooth of time and razure of oblivion". From that humble room in which they gathered in that building in Pekin, on the 18th day of June, 1862, when Spring had hung her infant blossoms on the trees, emanated an active principle of loyalty which
"Swift as a shadow,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night"
electrified the spirit of devotion to the Union and served it nobly in the common cause. It became the strong right arm to execute the mani- festo of Lincoln that the Union must be preserved at all hazards. It sustained the unfaltering faith of that great, patient soul in the White House that no political policy founded on the immorality of slavery could endure. It tore the mask from the face of every citizen and scrutinized him in the light of his paramount duty to country. It instructed the youth, inspired the recruit and oft times handed to him the sword which he was not to sheath in its scabbard until the voice of Rebellion should be forever silenced. It struck the knife from the hands of the Copperheads who threatened to assassinate Governor Yates in 1863, and by its vigilance preserved the life of President Johnson when he was acting as Provisional Governor. At the second inauguration of President Lincoln, George H. Harlow and Dr. D. A. Cheever of Pekin and J. A. Jones of Tremont represented the Tazewell County Union League as a part of the secret body-guard to prevent the threatened assassination of the President. Like an angel of mercy it succored the wounded, fed the hungry and ministered to the sick, and thus maintained at high level the morale of the army in the field.
From the time that those eleven founders assembled under Divine Guidance, until Appomattox, "they slumbered not nor slept" and their enduring reward is in the gratitude of a united people toward them who did something to . leave the Union stronger than they found it ; who turned their gaze from the lowering clouds and angry rivers and the ashes of plantations and cities to the one bright gleam which was the harbinger of a reunited nation, over which "the morning stars might sing again to swell the chorus of the Union".
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PETER CARTWRIGHT IN ILLINOIS HISTORY.
By Wiixlam W. Sweet, DePatjw University.
Three generations ago no name was better known throughout north central Illinois than Peter Cartwright. No single individual from 1824 to 1870 was a greater factor in the social and religious life of the State than was this eccentric Methodist circuit rider, who will always remain the type of the frontier preacher.1
The son of pioneer parents, he was born in Kentucky in 1785 and grew up in the rudest and roughest region of the frontier, in the bor-. derland between Kentucky and Tennessee. When sixteen years of age he was "converted" in the great revival which swept over the western country from 1795 to 1802 and united with the Methodist Church, then weak and despised and considered as little better than an "ignorant and excitable rabble." Immediately he developed such zeal and power in exhortation that he was soon licensed as an exhorter and was thus, while yet a mere boy, employed by the frontier Church in aiding the regular circuit preachers. He was ordained deacon at twenty-one, an elder at twenty-three, and in 1804 was admitted to the Western Conference,2 of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which then embraced all the vast territory west of the mountains. From 1804 to 1811 he rode extensive circuits in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana. In 1812, when twenty-seven years of age, he became a Presiding Elder, overseeing a group of circuits and from this time to the end of his long, active career, with the exception of a very few years, he supervised vast districts in Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois.
He came to Illinois on horseback in 1823 to explore the country, and the next year moved with his family to Pleasant Plains, in San- gamon county. Here was his home for the remainder of his eventful life. He had requested the bishop to transfer him to Illinois, because as he stated : "I had seen with painful emotions the increase of a dis- position to justify slavery, and our preachers, by marriage and other ways, became more and more entangled with this dark question and were disposed to palliate and justify the traffic and ownership of human beings." Summarizing his reasons for his removal to Illinois he says: "First, I would get entirely clear of the evil of slavery. Second, I could raise my children up to work where work was not
1 The chief sources of information concerning the career of Peter Cartwright is his autobiography, published in 1856. A brief biographical sketch was published after his death, giving the events of his career from 1856 to 1872, in the Minutes of the Annual Conferences for the year 1873, 115-117. Another book giving biographical material is Fifty Years a Presiding Elder, by Cartwright, (Cincinnati, 1871).
2 For the Journal of the Western Conference, see Sweet, Rise of Methodism in the West, (New York, 1920).
PETER CARTWRIGHT.
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thought a degredation. Third, I believed I could better my temporal circumstances, and procure land for my children as they grew up. And fourth, I could carry the gospel to destitute souls that had by their removal into some new country, been deprived of the means of grace."3
Sangamon county, to which he had come, was but newly settled. The condition of the country we will let Cartwright describe : "It was the most northern and the only northern county organized in the State. It had been settled by a few hardy and enterprising pioneers but a few years before. Just north of it was an unbroken Indian country, and the Indians would come in by the scores and would camp on the Sangamon river bottom, and hunt and live through the winter. Their frequent visits to our cabins created sometimes great alarm among the women and children."4
The Illinois conference, to which Cartwright had been transferred on his removal to Illinois, had just been organized and included all the settled parts of Illinois, and southwestern Indiana. The Sangamon circuit, which was Cartwright's first Illinois appointment,5 had been organized but three years before and included all the scattered settle- ments in Sangamon county, and parts of Morgan and McLean coun- ties.6 The country was destitute of ferries, bridges or roads. After traveling this circuit for two years, Cartwright became Presiding Elder of the Illinois District and Superintendent of the Potawattomie mission. His district extended from the Kaskaskia river to the ex- treme northern settlements and included the Potawattomie Indian nation on Fox river.7 This district he superintended for two years, 1826-1828, when a new district was formed called the Sangamon, over which he was appointed to preside. This district included much of the territory of his previous district and embraced the sparsely settled region in the northern part of the State.
In 1832 two new districts were added to the Illinois conference, one called the Chicago and the other the Quincy district. Over the latter Cartwright was now appointed. The first mention of Chicago8 in the list of Methodist appointments was in 1830, three years before the incorporation of Chicago. In the above year it appeared as a mis- sion in the Sangamon district, under the superintendence of Peter Cartwright, although it had formerly been a preaching place on the Fox river circuit. The first preacher assigned to Chicago mission was Jesse Walker, while the second year Stephen R. Beggs9 was appointed
The Quincy district embraced the northwest corner of the State and even included a part of Wisconsin. It contained four
3 Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, the backwoods preacher, (New York, 1856) 244-245.
4 Conditions in Sangamon County in 1830, the year Abraham Lincoln came to Illinois, is described in Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, (New York, 1890) I, 47-60.
^General Minutes, I, (New York, 1840) 454. 9 Autobiography, 449-450.
7 Minutes, I, 516; Autobiography, 261.
8 Minutes, II, 85; 128. S. R. Beggs, the second circuit preacher assigned to the Chicago circuit, has written a book, Paqes from the Early History of the West and Northivcst (Cincinnati, 1868). When Chicago was incorporated, In 1833, there were 130 Catholics in the place, or ninety per cent of the population. They were mostly French or French and Indian. (Pease, The Frontier State, 1818-1848, (A. C. McClurg and Co.) 422.
9 Autobiography, 324, 326.
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missions and three circuits. Cartwright described the boundaries as "Commencing at the mouth of the Illinois river, and running up the Mississippi river to Galena, the northwest corner of the State, and up the Illinois river on its west side to near Peoria; thence due north to the northern line of the State and even into what is now Wisconsin." Over this vast territory Cartwright rode for four years and they were years of hardship.
Much of the Quincy district consisted of new settlements, "formed or forming," which meant long hard rides, "cabin parlors,, straw beds, and bedsteads, made out of barked saplings, and puncheon bedcords." The population he describes as "hardy, industrious, enterprising, game catching, and Indian-fighting set of men." The women were also hardy and they considered it no hardship to turn out and help their husbands raise their cabins, "they would mount a horse and trot ten or fifteeen miles to meeting, or to see the sick and minister to them, and home again the same day." With these hardy women of the early day, Cartwright contrasts the women of the latter fifties, "who have grown up in wealth and fashionable life, who would faint if they had to walk a hundred yards in the sun without a parasol ; who are braced and stayed at such an intemperate rate, that they cannot step over six or eight inches at a step, and should they by accident happen to loose their moorings and fall, are imprisoned with so many unmen- tionables, that they could not get up again."10 The Presiding Elder of the Quincy district was frequently four or five weeks from home at a time, and on many a journey he had difficulty in finding his way across the wide, unsettled prairies.11
Again in 1836 Cartwright was appointed to the Sangamon dis- trict, which he served four years ; he was then sent to the Jacksonville district ; thence three years on the Bloomington district ; then four years on the Springfield district; then two more years on the Quincy district, when in 1853 he was appointed to the Pleasant Plains district. After serving several more terms on other Illinois districts, he was relieved of the trials and hardships of the presiding eldership, at his own request, in September, 1869, when eighty-four years of age. He attended forty-six sessions of the Illinois conference, from 1824 to 1871, missing only one session in that long period.12
Peter Cartwright's career covered the first two generations of the history of the Church west of the mountains. He preached nearly eighteen thousand sermons ; baptised nearly fifteen thousand persons ; and received into the church nearly twelve thousand members, and licensed preachers enough to make a whole annual conference. This in brief represents the ministerial work of Peter Cartwright in its bare outline. For forty-eight years he lived and worked in Illinois, and in the early period of his Illinois residence his work lay in the newer sections of the State, whence he followed the advancing population as it pushed northward. He called himself one of the Lord's breaking
10 Autobiography, 326-327.
11 For an interesting account of such a trip, see Autobiography, 327-331.
12 See Biographical sketch, Minutes of Annual Conferences, 1873, 115.
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plows, and in physique, training and experience, and mental character- istics he was exceptionally well adapted for that task.
In person he was about five feet ten inches tall and had a square, built, powerful physical frame, weighing nearly two hundred pounds. His complexion was dark, his cheek bones high, with small piercing black eyes. His hardships and exposure seemed to add to his vigor and produced almost perfect health. The roughs and bruisers, so plentiful on the frontier, at camp-meetings and elsewhere, stood in awe of his brawney arm, and the tales of his courage and daring often sent terror through their ranks. Added to his physical strength and courage was a moral strength, which commanded attention wherever he went.13
While he had little schooling, in fact but little more than had Lincoln, yet his mind readily perceived the central points of a subject and he never wasted his energies on side issues, and he became a man of acknowledged mental power. He understood politics and legislation and at times took a prominent part in public affairs. As a preacher he was a prince, of the Methodist frontier type. Sometimes he was full of humor and mirth, but underneath there was always plenty of good sense. At other times he "was like a fearful cloud charged with terror, thunder and lightning." Everything about his discourse was marked and original. In his sermons he made the truths of religion plain to his hearers. There was never anything misty or ambiguous in his statements.
. Not only was Cartwright an ardent Methodist, but he was also a staunch Jacksonian Democrat. Andrew Jackson had been a man after his own heart, while Jacksonian political philosophy exactly suited his way of thinking. Soon after Cartwright's removal to Illi- nois he became interested in the politics of the State ; the reason for this interest we will let him explain:
"The year before I moved to the State there had been a strong move, by a corrupt and demoralized legislature, to call a convention with a view to alter the Constitution, so as to admit slavery into the State. I had left Kentucky on account of slavery, and as I hoped had bid farewell to all slave institutions ; but the subject was well rife through the country, for although the friends of human liberty had sustained themselves and carried the election by more than a thousand votes, yet it was feared that the advocates of slavery would renew the effort ,and yet cause this "abomination of desolation to stand where it ought not." I very freely entered the lists to oppose slavery in this way, and without any forethought of mind went into the agitated waters of political strife. I was strongly solicited to become a candi- date for a seat in the legislature of our State. I consented, and was twice elected as representative from Sangamon county."14
Of his experience as a state legislator he has left us several amusing incidents. While canvassing in Sangamon county, he came
"Minutes, 1873, 116.
14 Autobiography, 261-262.
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one day to a ferry over the Sangamon river. He heard some one talk- ing in a very loud voice and he reined in his horse to listen, being hid by a thick undergrowth. The ferryman was engaged in cursing Cart- wright, calling him a d d rascal, finally ending up by threatening
to whip him the first time he saw him. Just then the preacher candi- date rode up, and asked "who is it among you that is going to whip Cartwright the first time you see him?" The ferryman answered by saying, "I am the lark that's going to thrash him well." At that Cartwright warned the bully that the preacher was something of a man and it would take a man to whip him. To this the ferryman re- plied, "I can whip any Methodist preacher the Lord ever made." "Well, sir," said Cartwright, "you cannot do it; and now I tell you my name is Cartwright and I never like to live in dread; if you really intend to do it, come and do it now." At this the man looked confused, but insisted, however, that it was not Cartwright, and kept on cursing the preacher. Finally Cartwright asked one of the bystanders to hold his horse while he addressed the bully. "Now sir, you have to whip me or quit cursing me, or I will put you in the river, and baptise you in the name of the devil, for surely you belong to him." This, in the words of Cartwright, "settled him ; and strange to say, when the elec- tion came off, he went to the polls and voted for me, and ever after- ward was my warm and constant friend."15
On another occasion Cartwright was asked to dine with the Gov- ernor and his lady, with a "number of genteel people." He says, "We sat down to tea, and I found they were going to eat with graceless in- difference. Said I, "Governor, ask a blessing." The Governor at this rebuke blushed and apologized, and then asked Cartwright to say a blessing. After the blessing, and before the other guests, Cartwright proceeded to reprove the Governor and said, "the Governor ought to be a good man and set a better example."16
While Cartwright served but two terms in the State legislature, yet he continued his interest in politics and was high in the councils of his party in Sangamon county and in Springfield for many years. He was accused by his political opponents of belonging to a group of Springfield politicians who were not above attempting to control their party.17 The last venture of Cartwright into politics was in 1846 when he was named by the Democrats to compete with Abraham Lincoln for a seat in Congress. Lincoln and Cartwright had met be- fore in politics, for both had run for the state Legislature in 1832 from Sangamon county, and Cartwright had been elected. Cartwright was now over sixty years old and was at the height of his popularity. He was altogther a formidable candidate because of his large personal acquaintance throughout the district, where he had continued to live since his coming to the state in 1824.18 The result of the election is
15 Autobiography, 262-264. "Ibid, 26S.
17 Pease, The Frontier State, 1818-1848, 149 ; 237.
18 Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, I, 245-249 ; also Herndon and Weik, Lincoln, Cartwright, in his biography, fails to mention the campaign of 1846. The reason for this omission is doubtless the overwhelming defeat he suffered. Pease, The Frontier State, likewise fails to mention the candidacy of Cartwright against Lincoln in 184b.
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well known and was an overwhelming defeat for the preacher candi- date. A short time before the election Lincoln said to a Democrat friend, who had promised to vote for him if he needed his vote, "I have got the preacher, and I don't want your vote." Lincoln's majority over Cartwright in the district was 1511, while his majority in San- gamon county alone was 914, certainly a testimonial of the popularity of Lincoln. It was the largest majority ever given any candidate in the county during the entire period of Whig ascendancy until 1852.
One incident of the campaign is worth relating. On one occasion during the canvass, Lincoln happened into a town where Cartwright was engaged in a series of revival meetings. Lincoln came to the Church, where the meeting was in progress, and took his seat in the rear of the room. At the close of the preaching Cartwright asked for all those who wished to be saved and go to heaven, to stand up. All stood except Lincoln. Then Cartwright tried again. He asked all who did not want to go to hell to stand up. Again, all stood except Lincoln. Then Cartwright leaned across the pulpit and said : "I have asked all those who desired to go to heaven to stand, and then I have asked all who do not want to go to hell to stand and all have responded on both invitations except Mr. Lincoln, and now I would like to know where Mr: Lincoln expects to go." At this Lincoln stood up, stating that he had not considered himself a part of the congregation, but since Mr. Cartwright insisted on knowing where he expected to go he would be glad to state, and then he said, "I expect to go to Con- gress."
It is a difficult and perhaps an impossible task to correctly esti- mate the influence of such a career as that of Peter Cartwright. After Cartwright had served fifty years as a Presiding Elder, the Illinois Conference gave a Jubilee in his honor, which was held in Lincoln, Illinois, in September, 1869. The resolution passed by the Conference at that time stated, "The career of Dr. Cartwright has been one of the most remarkable and eventful known in the great west. No man west of the mountains has secured such wide-spread fame. There is scarcely a town, village, or city, within the borders of this great Re- public, where the name of Peter Cartwright is not familiar."19 It is undoubtedly true that at the time of his prime he was at least the best known preacher in Illinois. He was a familiar figure in the north central part of the state for nearly a half century and he was always the deadly enemy of slavery, whiskey and immorality of all kinds. He was particularly adapted to the conditions of the frontier and perhaps his most effective work was in the period when settlements were under way.
His preaching was the type best suited to conditions under which he worked. He appealed to the emotions more than to the reason of his hearers, and he had little patience with innovations either in theology or in Church organization. He has been accused of opposing college trained ministers and education generally, but such accusations are neither just nor true, for he himself established schools, and was
Peter Cartwright, Fifty Years a Presiding Elder, (Cincinnati, 1871), 195.
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one of the founders of McKendree College.20 He had the greatest contempt for eastern preachers who came out from New England especially, with their manuscript sermons and attempted to preach to western congregations. Such a preacher he described on one occasion as "a fresh green yankee, from down east" who "had regularly gradu- ated, and had his diploma, and was regularly called by the Home Missionary Society to visit the far west — a perfect moral waste in his view of the subject."21
Peter Cartwright's theology was as narrow as it was simple. It consisted chiefly of future rewards and punishments of the most con- crete character, and this formed the staple of his sermons. He was sometimes accused of hating the devil more than he loved Christ. He delighted in theological controversy and since he was a fluent and self- confident speaker he generally came off victor, aided by his fund of mother wit and keen sarcasm. On all possible occasions he delighted to attack the Baptists for their insistence on immersion and their prac- tice of close communion. On one occasion he said of certain Baptist preachers, "They made so much ado about baptism by immersion that the uninformed would suppose that heaven was an island and there was no way to get there but by diving or swimming."22 Likewise he delighted to attack the Presbyterian and Congregational Calvinism. He preached free grace with a vengeance and had little patience with a gospel which did not give every man an equal chance. Peter Cart- wright, with other frontier preachers, exercised a powerful influence in maintaining law and order. The Methodist system of Church or- ganization and government was a well ordered and efficient system. Designed by John Wesley, it had been brought to America by Asbury and his colaborers. Bishop Asbury was a far better organizer than he was a preacher, and he stood always for obedience to the laws of the Church. Order was his passion, and the introduction of such an orderly system in a more or less disorganized community had a far reaching influence.23 It is generally thought that the early Methodists welcomed excitement in their meetings and that the preachers desired to work the people up to a state of religious frenzy at every meeting and that they took special delight in such strange exercises as the "jerks", the "holy laugh" or the "barking exercise", and that they encouraged trances and visions, but this is an entire misconception. None of the preachers objected to hearty shouts during their preach- ing, indeed they encouraged it, but there were few fanatics among them, and certain it is that none were more level headed, or had a greater fund of common sense than had Peter Cartwright. He says concerning a certain camp meeting in Ohio where there was a ten- dency to go to an extreme, "The Methodist preachers generally
20 Peter Cartwright had the following connections with educational institutions. He served as a trustee, agent and visitor to McKendree College; three years he was a visitor to Illinois Wesleyan University ; one year he was a visitor to Garrett Biblical Institute. (Fifty Years a Presiding Elder, 199.)
21 Autobiography, 370. For Cartwright's opposition to Presbyterian and Congrega- tional missionaries, see Pease, The Frontier State, 1818-1848, 417 ; 438.
22 Autobiography, 133-138. Also Sweet, Rise of Methodism in the West, 51.
23 Tipple, Francis Asbury, the Prophet of the Long Road, 241, 242.
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preached against this extravagant wildness, I did it uniformly in my ministrations, and sometime gave great offense."24
Western morality was extremely loose and in many communities there was little attempt to preserve order or uphold decent morality by the civil authorities.25 In the face of this general looseness the preachers maintained and proclaimed an unbending morality. They waged war on vice of every kind ; not content to denounce sin in gen- eral, they often came to particulars and called out names in meeting and denounced sinners to their very face. In the early day when whisky was thought to be one of the necessities, the circuit preachers denounced its use and often pledged whole congregations to absti- nance.26 Nor was there to be found anywhere a more strenuous op- ponent to whisky and its immoderate use than was Cartwright. In his Autobiography he returns again and again to the subject, and wher- ever he went he was a potent influence for temperance and sobriety.27
Besides his influence as a preacher and a Church administrator, Cartwright exercised a peculiar social influence. The average Meth- odist circuit rider in the early day had no home, and his only pos- sessions were his horse and saddle bags. As a consequence of the vast circuits and district over which the early preachers traveled, the preachers and presiding elders were compelled to spend their nights and eat their meals in the cabins of the settlers. Few settlers would turn away a stranger, and fewer still, would turn away a preacher. For nearly fifty years Cartwright traveled among the people of Illi- nois ; he stayed in their homes ; he ate at their tables ; he sang and prayed at their firesides. It is difficult to estimate the influence which he exercised in this way, but it is safe to say that he and others like him brought a softening influence into the homes and lives of the peo- ple when such influences were most needed.28
This summary of the labors of Peter Cartwright can best be ended in the words of the greatest of Christian missionaries, describing his own labors, "in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils in the wilderness, in perils among false brethren, in labor and travel, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fast- ings often, in cold and nakedness."29 In the face of such difficulties did Peter Cartwright, even as did Paul, preach the Gospel.
24 Autobiography, 51, 52.
^McMaster's History of the People of the United States, II, 152, 578. 26Finley, Autobiography, 249, 250. Finley, Sketches of Western Methodism, 237, 2o8.
27 Cartwright, Autobiography, 212.
28 T. M. Eddy, Influence of Methodism upon Civilization and Education of the West, Methodist Review, 1857, 280-296.
29 II Corinthians, 11 :26-27.
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WILLIAM REID CURRAN, 1854-1921.
By Ralph Dempsey.
William Reid Curran was born in Hardin County, Ohio, Decem- ber 3, 1854, and died at his home in Pekin, Illinois, February 26, 1921.
One who rises to distinction above his fellow men, does so by reason of his exceptional value as a citizen and a public servant. Those qualities of a man which, blended together, determine his char- acter, are difficult to portray. What Judge Curran achieved in his various activities evidences best the manner of man he was. From his works accomplished we may gain knowledge of his character and know why he was honored by his fellows.
When one knows the habits and environment of the forebears, less difficulty is encountered in tracing to their origin, virtues and characteristics found in the offspring, than when that knowledge is wanting. Not much is known of the antecedents of William Reid Curran. His father, Thomas Smith Curran, and mother, Margaret Reid Curran, with their family, consisting of William Reid Curran, and another son Charles, who died in early manhood, moved from their home in Hardin County, Ohio, to a farm in Livingston County, Illinois, in 1859, where they lived until 1865, when the family moved to the Village of Chatsworth, Illinois. Here William Reid Curran grew to manhood, and availed himself of the rather limited school facilities which Chatsworth offered at that early period.
He had none of the advantages that wealth, social position or family influence may offer and he must have concluded in his early youth that such progress as he was to make, must come from his unaided efforts. Certain it is that with limited schooling, he became an educated man ; with no assistance from his family, he established himself in the profession of the law and amassed a competency ; with- out family influence or prestige, he rose to distinction and honor in his State.
Poorly equipped as he was, with knowledge gained from books, without college or university training and with his education in the law such as it was, gained by study in the office of Attorney Samuel T. Fosdick at Chatsworth, Illinois, over a period of two years, during which he also taught a country school near Forrest, Illinois, on July 4, 1876, at the age of twenty-one years, he was admitted to the bar of the State of Illinois. His admission to practice in the United States District and Circuit Courts took place in the month of April, 1888, and in March, 1897, he was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.
JUDGE W. R. CURRAN, Pekin.
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His first effort to establish himself in his profession was at the little town of Delavan, Tazewell County, Illinois, in the year 1876, immediately following his admission to the bar. He remained at Delavan with but indifferent success until the year 1880, when he moved to Pekin, the County Seat of Tazewell County, where he con- tinued in the active practice of the law until a few days before his death. On December 28, 1876, not long- after locating in Delavan, he was united in marriage with Mary C. Burgess and she and one daughter, Bessie C. Smith, survive him.
His strong will, tenacity of purpose and determination to advance himself in the law, were put to the test when he entered the field in Tazewell County. Here he had to meet and cope with practitioners, ripe in experience and skilled in the arts of their profession, who were the peers of any of the lawyers of Central Illinois. Among these able lawyers he was soon accepted as an equal, and in time he was recog- nized as the leader of the bar of his County, a position which he held until he gave up active practice in the Courts two or three years prior to his death.
William Reid Curran was possessed of unusual strength of will, a clear vision, confidence in his fellow men and an abiding faith in the Christian Religion. He had a logical and retentive mind, stored with a mass of useful information which he commanded with facility.
He was fearless in the discharge of his duties and tireless and ardent in his labors ; once having formed his opinion and determined upon his plan of action, nothing would change his conviction or cause him to waver in his course, save proof that he was in the wrong. His influence in public affairs was always toward the right ; his moraJ courage never was questioned.
No opponent ever concluded an engagement with him at the bar without respect for his ability as a lawyer. No difficult problem ever discouraged him. He was quick to see advantages in a situation which to his associates seemed hopeless. At all time respectful to the Courts, he maintained his dignity as a lawyer and a man, and nothing moved him from his chosen course in the furtherance justly of his client's cause. Of commanding presence, possessed of unusual oratorical ability and dramatic talent, the recognition which he ganied among his fellow lawyers of Central Illinois as a trial lawyer of unusual skill and ability, he never lost. For a period of more than twenty-five years preceding his death, he appeared as counsel in every important case tried in the Tazewell County Circuit Court and his aid and coun- sel were often sought by lawyers and litigants in the Courts of many Counties throughout the State. If he was intemperate in anything, it was. in work and in times of business stress, he drew heavily upon his seeming abundance of physical and nervous strength.
He was active in the affairs of the Tazewell County, State and American Bar Associations. He was president of the Tazewell County Bar Association in 1902-03, and the lawyers of this State honored him by electing him president of the State Bar Association for the vear 1910-1911.
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His rare attainments as a lawyer were recognized by the judges as well as the lawyers of his circuit, and from 1886 until 1894 he served as Master-in-Chancefy of Tazewell County. The voters of his county honored him by electing him County Judge in 1894, a position which he held until 1898.
While he was most widely known as a lawyer, and although the demands of his professional life were most heavy, he applied himself with diligence to many tasks in other lines, and took time to share with his fellow men the obligations of citizenship.
In 1911 he oiganized the Banner Special Drainage and Levee District in the Counties of Peoria and Fulton in the State of Illinois, whereby thousands of acres of overflow land were reclaimed from the waters of the Illinois River and reduced to cultivation in spite of diffi- culties which would have disheartened one of more limited vision and less courage.
As a Director of the Lincoln Circuit Marking Association, and as a member of the Tazewell County Historical Society, and a Director of the Illinois State Historical Society, he displayed a keen interest in the furtherance of the objects of those societies, as is so well known to members thereof with whom he was associated.
He was instrumental in the organization of the Tazewell County Memorial Association, of which he was president at the time of his death, and during the last two years of his life, he gave freely of his time to the end that that association might bring about the^ erection of a suitable memorial in commemoration of the soldiers of all wars who had claimed Tazewell County as their home.
His faith in men was constant. He was ever ready with encour- agement and aid for those who had failed or saw disaster confronting them. That his efforts to aid his fellow men sometimes came to naught, as seemingly they did at times, never discouraged him or weakened his conviction that the good in men far outweighed the evil in them and that his helping hand might be all that was needed to bring uppermost the good and turn them from the path of failure to the highway of accomplishment.
His admiration of Abraham Lincoln knew no bounds, and he never lost an opportunity to add to his knowledge of the life of the great emancipator. His address on the life of Lincoln delivered at Pekin on the occasion of the Lincoln Day Celebration February 12, 1909, later printed in pamphlet form, attracted favorable attention throughout the nation. This address was an unusual literary produc- tion and proved that its author had a rare knowledge of the character of the martyred President Lincoln. -
The Congregational Church, of which he was a member, knew him as a worker in the vineyard and as one always ready to give freely of his time and to aid financially in advancing the cause of the Christian religion.
As one of the founders of The Pekin Union Mission, he had the satisfaction of living to see the abundant good work of the Mission bear fruit. A few years ago he purchased and gave to the Pekin Union Mission, a building adjoining the property then owned by the
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Mission, in order that the work of that institution might not be retard- ed for lack of proper space. Fully conscious that the gift without the giver is bare, he took an active part in the conduct of the affairs of the Mission and continued as a teacher in the Mission Sunday School long after his physical strength had so failed him, that he was com- pelled to remain seated in conducting his class work. His sincere and unselfish devotion to this work after he had been forbidden by his physician to continue it, best evidences his keen desire to aid in the betterment of those in his home city who otherwise would have grown up without the good influences of the Pekin Union Mission. Although he reached a high station in his chosen profession and was honored for his activities in civic affairs, he will be as long and favorably remem- bered for what he gave and what he did to help make the poor boys and girls of his home city better men and women through his mission work, as for any other phase of his activities.
To his memory can be most fittingly applied this tribute:
He never failed to march breast forward,
Never doubted clouds would break;
Never thought though right were worsted,
Wrong would triumph;
Held we fall to rise, are beaten to fight harder,
Sleep to wake.
PART HI Contributions to State History
MAJOR JAMES R. ZEARING, M. D.
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THE ZEARINGS— EARLIEST SETTLERS OF THE NAME IN
ILLINOIS.
Compiled by Lueilja Zearing Gross, the Daughter of Dr. James Roberts
Zearing.
The name of Zearing in the State of Illinois stands among those honored pioneers who made a path for future generations to follow. This family bravely sought new homes in a new country. Two brothers, John Zearing, 1792 to 1846, of Harrisburg, Pa., and Martin Zearing, 1794 to 1855, of Mechanicsville, Pa., sons of Henry Zearing, in the spring of 1834 made a tour of several months of inspection and investment in the far away West, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. When they reached Chicago, they were advised to look at the country about a hundred miles southwest, where they were told the best people who' had arrived that year had decided to locate. The land was superior and the climate more healthy as there were less swamps with which to contend. What they heard of New England settlers, who were just ahead of them quite decided them to visit this location so highly recom- mended, and meet these people who had left a decided impression of genuine worth, stable character and were people of refinement and edu- cation. vSo to what was organized Feb. 28, 1837, as .Bureau County they went in May of that year and there decided to invest in land in Berlin township adjoining what is now the town of Dover, laid out as a village July, 1837, and later they returned with their families to make this their future home. These families bravely turned their faces from comfortable homes, and the cities of the East with their many ad- vantages of wealth, education and civilization to invest their small for- tunes in the western prairies in all their barreness and their primi- tive modes of living. They were willing to forego the comforts of their early homes, and endure the trials and hardships of a new country that their children might have greater opportunities in the future. Such as these noble pioneers were many others who chose Bureau County as their new home.
In later years the sons of these Zearing pioneers became large land owners throughout the country besides Bureau County — in Chi- cago, Cook County, and in the States of Iowa, Texas and Kansas, and the name was staunchly fixed as an established family name even be- fore the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad named its cross- road town with the New York Central Railroad "ZEARING," and today, with miles of railroad side-tracks, this town has become the most active railroad center between Galesburg and Aurora.
On May 9, 1836, Martin Zearing, his wife and seven children arrived in Princeton, after a five weeks trip from Pennsylvania. They left Harrisburg on a canal boat which had been chartered to take them and their household possessions to Pittsburg. They crossed the
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Alleghany Mountains on cars propelled with endless wire ropes. As these cars did not run at night, the travelers had to carry their bedding, their cooking utensils and provisions and stay over night in the stations which were rude houses built to accommodate travelers and furnished with rough beds and cook stoves. The trip over the mountains re- quired four days. Again the steamboat was their only mode of travel and when they reached the Ohio River they then traveled the Mississ- ippi to the Illinois and up the Illinois to Hennepin. The jour- ney had been almost beyond endurance in fatigue to the young chil- dren and their mother. When they were almost to St. Louis, the boiler on the steamboat burst and the cylinder head blew off. There was no way to repair it but for the engineer to take the broken machinery in a row boat to St. Louis and have it repaired. This took two weeks, and the passengers had to wait on the boat that length of time. The men could get off and have exercise and bring provisions to their families. A Mr. Needham, located near the landing heard of the delay of the boat and begged the passengers who could do carpenter work to help him in building a new home. The men, whether carpenters or not, volunteered to go. In the two weeks they accomplished all that Mr. Needham wished done and without a bargain, a contract or a building permit, they gladly gave their services. As each helper turned over his plate at the supper table daily, at Mr. Needham's he found a two dollar bill under it, but not a word had been said about pay. When the boat men returned with the boiler repaired, the travelers continued their journey and in the course of time completed that part of it and arrived at Hennepin where they crossed the river in a ferry boat to a cabin where they staid over night, their first night in Illinois. The dreary outlook was intensified by terrible rains and heavy roads. As soon as they could secure a man with team and cart to take them, they were ready to start for the long-looked for home at Princeton. When attempting to cross the creek, the horses and wagon went down in the mud out of their sight. The mother and girls were put into another cart that contained bags of flour for them to sit on. At the Doolittle place they stopped to water the horses. Mrs. Doolittle was baking bread which had run over the sides of the pan and she gave the children this warm overflow, which delighted the hungry children and is a lasting memory of the first neighborly act to these new comers.
It was evening when the family reached the Princeton Hotel, which was a frame building of one room upstairs and one down, with round windows, besides the kitchen. In this space was kept all the boarders and travelers; the last to arrive slept on the floor nearest the door. The stage came every day. This Zearing family of nine with one son-in-law and a friend, who had traveled with them, occupied the up-stairs room. Mr. Zearing and his sons immediately begun to build a home on Main Street near what is now the Clark Hotel, that the family would not have to long remain in the crowded hotel.
At this time there were only two frame houses in Princeton. The others were log cabins. The Zearing home was the third frame house built and was considered palatial and it was the talk and admiration
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of the whole country. In December of the same year the men had -learned that log houses were much warmer in that severe climate and they built on the first Zearing farm, which still remains in the family, a house of split logs. Snow fell by the time the house was completed and it remained on the ground until the next April, the most intense and severe winter this family had ever encountered and caused great destitution and suffering to all inhabitants. The night before the family moved to the farm, a forest fire swept away everything but the house. Prairie grass was as high as a man on horse. The fire made a terrible crackle. The light could be seen the seven miles to Princeton. The stable for the stock was burned, the horses died of exposure, the cows were so frightened they strayed to the woods and fed on brush. It was spring before they were found, and when they were found each cow had a calf. For five months this family was without horses, which cut them off from markets and all social life, besides the horses were much needed to drag the logs for the fire places, and with the loss of the cows, which had been their main investment for butter, milk and food, they were in a sorry plight. Butter was fifty cents a pound. Wheat sold for $2.50, and corn $1.00 a bushel, and flour $16.00 a barrel. The inventions of necessity brought them some comforts, the men sawed a log off at the ends and made a box for the family to mix grain and water for food.
We remember one family who traveled all night in a circle on ac- count of' snow on the ground. They nearly perished. People often were lost in the tall slough grass.
Supplies of clothing brought from the East began to wear out, and the mother and girls were kept busy supplying the needs of this large family. They made everything that was worn, except shoes, even to plating straw for hats.
In Pennsylvania Martin Zearing was a master builder. Many churches with hard wood and carved pulpits with winding stairs and box pews, public buildings in Cumberland and adjoining counties were built by him. He kept more apprentices than any other builder in that part of Pennsylvania. When his work became known in the west he was very soon called upon to build the Methodist Episcopal church, the New England Congregationalist, the Baptist church and the school houses in Princeton, the academy in Dover and the public buildings and best residences in many nearby towns.
Mr. Zearing built the Bryant home, which was the home of the mother and brothers of William Cullen Bryant. The Dover farm of 160 acres was bought of the government. Martin Zearing and his wife, Sarah Shafer, of Cumberland County, Pa., are both buried in the Dover cemetery. Martin Zearing was a man of great fixedness of purpose, and of an indomitable will, honest and never uttered a word of complaint in any trouble. His wife was as heroic and uncomplaining of the trials of life as he. He was class leader and elder in the German Reformed Church at Frieden's Kirch. He was a justice of the peace for upwards of twenty years while living in Shirmenstown, Cumber- land County, Pennsylvania. His sixty-one years of active and useful life were proof of his substantial character and noble endeavors. He
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was the leading spirit in church and school work on account of his earnest desire for the higher advantages for his large family, which advantages were at the best meager enough in those frontier days.
John Zearing, the father of James Roberts Zearing, on his first trip to Illinois in 1834, selected his farm location on what was known as the Chicago Road, six miles northeast of Princeton, and adjoining on the southwest the town of Dover, but it was not until 1842 that he succeeded in purchasing this particular highly improved farm of 160 acres, for which his brother had been negotiating. It had a well built house with forty acres broken and rail fenced, a grove of locust trees much enjoyed for the comfort it gave as a wind break and for the fragrance it gave to the air. This grove furnished material for fencing as well as fire wood. In the next five years all of the farm was well fenced. The state road, which divided this farm into two parts of eighty acres each, had a row of trees set out on each side, and the driveway from the house to the road had rows of these same trees, which were well cared for, and to this day this same driveway has retained its rows of green. This land was first bought from the govern- ment by a bachelor from Vermont, who set out fruit orchards which were the first orchards in that part of the country and bore the best fruits. This was the mother orchard. Its sprouts and clippings started most of the orchards for miles about. Stock purchased at the John Ament farm nearer Princeton put horses, cattle and sheep among Mr. Zearing's possessions. In two years his flock of sheep had increased to an enviable possession, envied, too, by the ever to be dreaded wolves and the large dogs. Martin Zearing also, had well stocked his farm and these two were for years the largest stock farms in that part of the country.
John Zearing lived on Capitol Street facing Market Square in Harrisburg, Pa., opposite the Beuhler Hotel. In 1836 they moved to Walnut Street one mile east. The Colder family were neighbors whose missionary son returned to start the sect known as Colderites. John Zearing sold his wholesale and retail shoe business, also his many private canal boats. He was the first man to own such boats, to supply Harrisburg with coal and wood. He was well equipped for a start in a prairie country. He paid cash for his entire farm and for the stock he put on his farm. This was quite unusual, for few of the early settlers had money to invest, and many of them became discouraged before they could pay for their farms. He left plenty of money in the Harrisburg bank, not wishing to take all west with him, but loaned it to Mr. Stehley, who had been a dear friend. Mr. Stehley never re- turned this borrowed money. Lawyer Winrick was to settle Mr. Zearing's accounts, but little could be collected.
Mr. Zearing's first trip in 1834 gave him information of the scarcity of goods purchasable in Illinois. On reaching Pittsburg in 1842, the family spent two weeks while there making the chartered boat sanitarily clean and buying all necessary supplies for family and farm. They bought a supply of guns and rifles which the older boys made good use of in hunting deer, which kept the family well fed.
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They also bought saddles and farm implements which were wholly unknown in the west at that time. When they reached Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis a few days were spent in sight-seeing and more supplies were purchased, especially a large amount of dried apples, peaches dried whole and wertzle. So they arrived at Hennepin Landing on the Illinois River well supplied for their store house but there was little provisions to be had at this place and only the youngest children had a supper of cold potatoes. This was the first time this family had gone to bed hungry.
From Hennepin the journey to Princeton was completed in farm wagons, leaving the boys and household goods until the next day. The landing at Hennepin was on the opposite side of the river and no canoe to cross. A long walk was taken before the neighboring farmers were enlisted to go these twelve miles to the Hennepin river with Mr. Zearing to bring the boys and the goods which had been stored there. These boys spent a night of great suspense awaiting the return of the father. All Indians looked ferocious to them even if they were told that the tribes there were peaceable. Mr. Zearing brought his house- hold furniture of splendid hand-made mahogany, many pieces of which had been in the family years before they were transported to the west. These pieces, except the old grandfather clock, are now in the posses- sion of John Zearing's grandchildren.
This family accustomed to city ways and the comforts of a pros- perous life were now in Indian trod Illinois. In relating their first ex- periences none seems to bring to the memory of the sisters now well on in their eighty years, such merriment as to relate how their five brothers were dressed for the journey. Each boy wore a tuxedo suit of clothes, a silk hat, boots and carried a cane. Such costumes were not heard of in the west, and in the east those who could afford them indulged in these suits only on Sunday. The copper toed boys in Princeton soon laughed at these costumes and the Zearing boys begged to be real Romans and dress as the other Romans did. Dr. Zearing had the misfortune to lose his high hat in the Ohio River and he was thus obliged to make his first bow to Illinois at the age of fourteen, hat- less. The four girls had never known any other shoes than those hand made to fit their own feet and each one had her own last. Their hats were made fancy and always were called bonnets. Their dresses were of fine merino delaine and printed muslins, which were a striking con- trast to the cheap calico and linsey woolsey of the other girls. Their pantalettes were ankle length, which was a decided point of their high cost of living and position in life, for less fortunate girls wore theirs tied below the knees. To hang pantalettes on a clothes line with the rest of the washing was considered by some of the New England neighbors most indecent and the Pennsylvania families had done so before they realized they were making themselves a matter of discus- sion by these shocked Yankees.
One of the cousins told me some of her first remembrances of prairie life and the terrors by night and by day of the seven hundred Indians about Dover, the first year of their home there. With no locks on the doors, the Indians would go through the house and pick up
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everything and look at it, but never stole anything, but would always eat the garden things, especially the yellow cucumbers. They called her mother the white squaw, and would bring their papooses to show her. They were always pleased to have their children noticed. Oft times the papoose was strapped on a board which the mother would set up against the fence, or the chief and squaw would tie a bed for the child on the side of the horse with trinkets to play with. The Indian children were always sober looking babies.
The Zearing boys learned to ride a horse or pony like the wind. Sometimes the girls tried cross legged, as this seemed the best way to escape any danger. Mother would talk different languages to the Indians to try to make them understand. They were always disgusted at our house not to find "fire-water." On one occasion when they acted as though they were furious because there was no drink for them, while they were going about the house howling and yelling for "fire-water" mother and the girls took a hatchet, went up the ladder stairs to the second floor, and pulled the ladder up after them.
The family had formed many friends in the town of their birth, so on leaving Harrisburg, the shore was filled with friends to say goodbye. The Gondoliers, a pleasure boat club of that city, escorted them out of the city and bade them a tearful goodbye ; tearful, indeed, for those friends who had not seen Illinois and who had not foreseen its future, could only picture a life of starvation, privation and never more to return, so with a God-speed, they left this throng of loving friends to journey through canals and over mountains on to Pittsburg, where Mr. Zearing had chartered a boat to bring his family west.
In crossing the Alleghany Mountains the endless wire chain was used as a propellor for the cars and this family had about the same experiences in crossing that the brother's family had undergone, as well as all other western families of those times. The season was late, the ice would collect on the wire rope so that it was necessary to heat water in tea kettles to thaw it.
John Zearing's wife, Margaretta Herman, 1793-1859, was born in Dauphin County, Pa., and was a daughter of John Herman, 1767, and Sarah Bright Herman, 1770-1821. A friend who knew her inti- mately, particularly speaks of her thus : "She was very nice and quiet in manner. She had pretty black eyes and hair. She spoke English, German and Pennsylvania Dutch very fluently and played on her melodium and sang for her grandchildren. She was always regarded as queenly and wore real lace caps and collars. Some of these are yet in the family, although tinged with age and careful wearing.
John Zearing had been a power in Harrisburg in business, in church and in politics. He had taken an active part in helping to elect Van Buren, Harrison and Governor Rittenhouse in Pennsylvania. John Zearing was spared only a few years to his family in the west. His wife, unused to farm life, and her sons preferring professioal lives, rented the farm and moved into Princeton. It was only five years after arriving from Pennsylvania that John Zearing who was in his timberlands where more rails were being split for fencing was struck in the jaw with an iron wedge which flew off. This resulted in his death a year later, 1846.
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Mr. and Mrs. Zearing went back to Harrisburg after three years in the west to visit old time friends and relatives. They carrying many letters back from one friend to another. This was a trip equally as eventful as their coming west. It was unusual for one to return to his early home, as distance, lack of money, and home cares usually made traveling out of consideration.
John Zearing belonged to the Masons in Harrisburg. His apron is beautifully embroidered on white satin, with the emblems of the order. The only other one that I have seen which is so elaborate is the one in a collection of Masonic emblems at LeRoy, Illinois, said to have belonged to Gen. George Washington.
John Zearing resided in Harrisburg for thirty years. He was for many years an office bearer in Salem, German Reformed Church, serv- ing first as deacon, then as elder. When his country called them to defend the national honor of their country, and to repel the invading foe, he was one of many who in Captain Thomas Walker's company, first regiment, commanded by Colonel Kennedy, of Harrisburg, forming the first brigade, of which John Foster was Brigadier General — marched to Baltimore to defend that city, when an attack was made upon it Sept. 13, 1814, by the British, commanded by Gen. Ross. This was of course the second war with Great Britain, the war of 1812-1814. The Dover cemetery has but one marker of the war of 1812 and that one is at the head stone of John Zearing.
All the Zearing children before coming west attended the William Mitchell School of Harrisburg in the Lancastrain school house. Wil- liam Mitchell was a cousin of the celebrated Dr. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia. The school had a large play room with iron beams to hold the roof. Many eminent statesmen of Pennsylvania attended this school. As William Mitchell's wife was Sally Herman, a sister of Mrs. Zearing's, the children remember that they were dealt very sternly with on account of relatonship. Uncle Mitchell in his home was a most gentle and sweet spirit, but in school he got his athletic exercise in flogging the boys. On Saturday afternoons he took his pupils to the banks of the Susquehanna River for learning and recreation. The William Mitchell home was a three story brick house across the street from the capitol and the children loved to visit in this home. William's brother Joseph married Elizabeth Zearing, a sister of John Zearing, so the Zearing and Mitchell families were doubly bound in relationship. The early education of the Zearing family was far advanced above that of the usual pioneers, consequently they were urged to become teachers. The eldest daughter, Rebecca, took a school where the man teacher had been whipped out by the pupils. Her success with unruly boys made her services greatly sought, so she was moved from one location to another for seven years, and was one of the first teachers in the schools of Ohio township, LaMoille, Dover, Berlin Center and Perkins Grove. Before their ages would hardly permit, the little log school house in Dover had among its teachers Judge William Mitchell Zear- ing, and Dr. James Roberts Zearing, while they were studying their professions of law and medicine respectively. Later Dr. Zearing was interested in founding and supporting the Dover Academy, which was
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built in 1856 by contributions of the citizens and there is still in the possession of the family the certificate of shares of stock which show him to have been one of the first to subscribe. This school, before the Princeton High School was built, made Dover the educational center of not only Bureau County, but of the central part of the State. Many men and women who attained high position in life taught in this academy, and many more who have filled positions in life which were worth while, started their education here. This school was the outgrowth of the pioneer element who settled in Bureau County, well born and well bred, who begun at once to lay the foundation of educational institu- tions in order that their children might have educational advantages.
When we think back to the log cabin days and the privations that were endured, and as we today motor over the State, it hardly seems possible that one man's life has covered the period. It is only by asso- ciating with those few who yet live that the experiences of early times may be appreciated by the living. But a few years more and the gener- ations must turn to biographers and historians to know of these facts. To enumerate the hardships and trials, the privations and homesick hours, and to describe the gradual climb to the great and prosperous Bureau County as it is today, is beyond a short sketch. These two are the points historians leave untold, yet they are most interesting. The type of neighbors and the stories of their often tragic lives is no better exemplified than by the experiences of Mrs. Electa Smith, who was the first pioneer widow in the locality. Her husband's death oc- curred before he had selected a home for her, and she was left with three little ones, a stranger with very little money, in a country swarm- ing with the Indians from whom she fled many times with her children to save their lives, yet she opened up a farm in the woods and reared those little boys so that they became successful farmers and business men, and aided greatly in the upbuilding of Bureau County.
There was the other family of Smiths, the Alby Smith family. Alby Smith was one of the founders of the Congregational church of which Owen Lovejoy was the pastor for over twenty years. Then came the Bryants, the Zearings, the Coltons and the Love joys.
Chicago was the only market accessible to the pioneers of Bureau County, and all the grain raised was hauled by teams, the loads averag- ing 40 bushels. The Zearing boys looked forward to these annual trips to the city of Chicago, as it had been incorporated as a city in 1837, with an area of ten square miles, extending from North Avenue to Twenty-second Street, and from the lake west to Wood Street. _ To this was added a small stretch of ground on the lake shore, extending half a mile north of North Avenue and west to Clark Street, this was the old city cemetery afterwards. The population was at that time less than five thousand and about half of the people were young men under 21 years of age. But this was where the business activity was going on in the west, and the distance of a hundred miles was of little con- sequence, although it often took a week to make the trip, very much depending on the depth of Illinois mud, The drivers slept on the load or by the side of the wagon on the ground. The exchange of grain for lumber and other supplies was frequent, and not until later years did
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much money change hands. The vicinity of Lake, Clark and South Water Streets during the middle of the day was completely filled with teams and wagons. The nights spent in town were usually on the lake front where the drivers would gather about camp fires to cook their meals and tell of their experiences in the new west. For many years the Clark Street bridge was the only bridge in the city and was of the jack-knife kind, dividing in the center and each side was raised by a windlass. In 1840 this lift bridge was taken away and replaced by a float bridge which was fastened at one end and floated on a scow at the other end, so it could be turned about, and the present bridge of this style, built by Mr. Samuel L. Rowe, is similar, yet with great im- provements. The only outlet to the west was the ferry across the south branch of the river, the west and north sides had so few residents there was little need of bridges. The population had located as near as possible to the main street which was Lake Street.
From a tattered and stained newspaper, but with the print plainly visible, a copy of -the Bureau County Republican, dated Dec. 8th, 1864, I take some extracts :
The most prominent items of news deal with the war, which also dominates the editorial page. Among the leading advertisers were several names prominent in the town of Princeton, and such well known professional firms as Farwell and Herron, Stipp and Gibbons, S. M. Knox, J. M. Atwood, Chas. Baldwin, J. I. Taylor, Dr. E. S. Blanch- ard, Dr. C. F. Little, J. V. Thompson and W. M. Zearing, which were flourishing in Princeton when the paper was printed, as their names appear among the professional cards on the front page.
The early maps of South Chicago register the land at the head of Lake Calumet as the Zearing Acres. In early days of Chicago Judge William M. Zearing bought seven acres here of the government with riparian rights. After his death surveyors' reports showed this property to be fifty-three and a fraction of acres. The Zearing build- ing on Dearborn Street, near Harrison was built by Judge Zearing in 1886. It was then his intention to devote the building to law offices and he named it the Zearing Law Building. Before the Chicago fire, the Judge was a large owner of city property. As the city grew he grad- ually disposed of his holdings. His intention to carry out a plan which he had under way before the Chicago fire for a Zearing Public Library, was arrested by this calamity to the city, and before he was in a posi- tion to fulfill his desire, the Chicago Public Library was established. He was a man of great civic pride. He studied law at Dickinson Col- lege, Carlisle, Pa., and Harvard University. He traveled in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America for a period of ten years after completing his education.
The town of Zearing, in Iowa, was named for Judge Zearing, who owned an adjoining farm. The town of Brazos, Texas, where the river of that name and the Texas and Pacific Railroad cross, was first named Zearing by General G. M. Dodge, as Dr. James R. Zearing owned a sheep ranch near. The Doctor asked that the town be named for his pet goats, Angora, but it was found another town of similar name made this confusing, so it was given the name of Brazos. To-
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gether these brothers, both of professional lives and literary tastes, led useful lives for family, state and country.
Bureau County has erected at Princeton a monument to its soldiers and sailors of the Civil War. This was a worthy action and does honor to the county.
Some day Bureau County will see fit to ask its tax-payers to erect another monument, a companion piece to the one which they have now erected to those heroes of the Civil War and this one will show their gratitude to the pioneers who not only risked their lives among the barbaric Indians, but some of them sacrificed their lives. These were the people who laid the solid foundation upon which Bureau County is builded. The Indian was a harder foe to combat than the Confed- erate soldier. The thirty-one families who arrived before the Black Hawk War should head the list. Then on this pioneer's monument should follow names of those who first emblazoned the name and pre- served the honor of the country. Illinois soldiers of the Civil War brought home three hundred battle flags. The first United States Flag- to fly over Richmond after its surrender was an Illinois flag.
Illinois has dedicated a State memorial of white Georgia marble, a dome 54 feet in diameter and 62 feet high, at a cost of $200,000 as a memorial of the Vicksburg engagements. The names (more than 35,000) of the soldiers who then belonged to the 79 Illinois commands engaged in the operations commemorated by the Park, are inscribed in bronze on the interior walls of this memorial temple. The State has also placed 79 monuments and 85 markers in the Park.
Bureau County furnished 3,626 soldiers, and paid $650,000 in bounties in the Civil War. When the board of supervisors, in 1860, appropriated $18,000 to remodel the court house, it was looked upon as a forerunner of bankruptcy to put such a debt upon the people, it was but a few years later when half a million of dollars was appro- priated cheerfully for soldiers' bounties.
This county has done its part in all the wars of its country, and the sons of the pioneers gave a good account of themselves in the great World War.
Some Descendents of John and Martin Zearing of Illinois, Who Served in the World War :
Brigadier General D. Jack Foster, commander of the 66th Infantry Brigade.
Captain Pierre Steele, Physician and Surgeon, Michael Reese Hos- pital, Chicago.
Second Lieutenant Louis A. Zearing, Attorney, Princeton, Illinois. Commissioned at Fort Sheridan Officers' Training Reserve Station.
Lieut. Kingsley Buel Colton, 3600 Michigan Ave., Chicago, Com- missioned officer in the United States Navy.
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A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF MAJOR JAMES ROBERTS ZEARING, M. D.
Class of 1850, Rush Medical College; Surgeon of the 57th 111. Vol. Inf. ; Surgeon in Chief of the 4th Division of the 15th Army- Corps ; Surgeon in Chief of the 2nd Division of the Army of the Tennessee, War of the Rebellion.
Compiled by His Daughter, Luelja Zearing Gross.
These pages were compiled for family use and typewritten copies only were intended. Then a request came from Rush Medical College for a sketch of the life of Dr. James R. Zearing, also asking for his army letters, which are considered a connecting link between surgery of the Civil War and surgery of the late World War, and also his war and college mementoes, an album of his army friends, his few books of early surgery and medicine, his graduating essay, which is the Only graduating thesis in existence, of the first class of Rush Medical College, which graduated in 1850, also his log book, his instrument case, his medicine chest, his saddle-bag, his epaulets and scarf of major's rank, the gold cord for his hat and other interest- ing things might be given to the Society of Medical History of Chicago for preservation. Later a letter came from the Illinois State Historical Society at Springfield making a similar request, so in deep apprecia- tion I have collected the facts as best I can and gladly hand them over to the Rush Medical College Historical Society and the State His- torical Society, and later a similar request from the American College of Surgery in Chicago.
In preparing this sketch truth has been rigidly adhered to. Letters, note books, newspaper articles, army letters and papers from which these accounts are taken are in the possession of the writer.
I should claim some fitness to write a sketch of Dr. Zearing. As I think over and try to recall his exact words I find he spoke so little of his own achievements. A number of calls were made on those remaining who were among his early patients, or knew him through the war. One neighbor for over thirty years, Joseph Donnersberger, well known Chicago citizen, when asked what he remembered father telling him of his early life, summed the whole matter into this sen- tence: "Your father was the freest from self praise of any man I ever knew. He seldom referred to himself. It was his modest retir- ing manner that made him so beloved by every comrade; as well as his clever wit equally clothed in modesty, as was his whole life. If he ever uttered a slang word or an unkind expression, outside of his estimate of the city council of Chicago, it was not in my presence." And this is about what other earlier friends said of him.
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Once when playing with my doll near the window of his office, which was in the corner of our Dover yard, I heard my father laughing at the conversation of a neighbor who had stepped into his office, and he ended his merriment by saying, "By George!" My astonishment was unubounded to hear such a remark from him, and feeling that he would not wish me to hear it, my dolls and I ran away as softly as possible, but filled with great surprise at hearing him utter such words. This was the only time in my hearing he ever uttered even a mild pro- fane expression. In this he showed his natural instinct of a well-born and well-bred man. Such qualities are not usually made in one genera- tion, but are the result of many generations. His ancestors were gentle- men. If royalty was not at this time at such low ebb we might with more pride refer to the fact that Doctor Zearing had royal origin as well as valiant blood in his veins. His great-great-grandfather, Ludwig Zear- ing, came to the United States before 1732 and purchased land of William Penn near Johnstown, Pa. His great-grandfather, Henry, struggled for life, liberty and home and was one of those heroic pa- triots who sustained the colonies and assisted in their struggle for in- dependence. His grandfather, Henry, served with General Washing- ton at Brandywine, was an officer of the American Revolution; his father, at the age of 16, furnished money and teams in the American Revolution ; he also served in the War of 1812 with honor, and Doctor Zearing himself served with distinction and unusual ability in the Civil War, and his grandson, Kingsley Buel Colton, twenty- four years of age, of the class of 1915, Amherst College, served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during the great World War. Doctor Zearing had in him the qualities that were in the Zearing blood, the traditions of this family and the influence that came into their lives, all helped to make them what they represent, noble-hearted, large minded, honorable citizens.
Doctor Zearing was of a tall, slender build, yet was a man of great bodily endurance and agility throughout his life. He had a vigorous and well disciplined mind, and a remarkable memory. He was a close observer of men and their actions, an acute thinker and a man discerning between the genuine and the false. He was a man of large intelligence and highly interesting to those who enjoyed an intimacy with him. As to his moral qualities, he was strong and steadfast in every good sense. He was a staunch temperance man and was per- fectly willing to abolish whisky, even its use as a medicine. He advo- cated that physicians could find a substitute for patients with a snake bite equally as effective, and he prescribed intoxicants as a medicine less than most doctors of his period. A gentler, more considerate, and kinder man, beloved by family, friends, comrades in war and patients in both war and peace would be hard to locate. His generous sympathies, his noble impulses, his delicacy and tender consideration in the sick room, carried always in the minds of those to whom he had administered, a loving memory of the beloved family physician. Now he has gone to the Great Physician whom he implicitly trusted and reverently worshiped.
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In the late years of his life Doctor Zearing greatly enjoyed the visits of old friends, especially his comrades of the Civil War. One little incident may be of interest. In the cosy library room of Doctor Zearing's residence, four army friends were asked to luncheon and to meet Miss Ada Sweet, the pension lawyer, the daughter of a Civil War friend. Doctor Zearing and his four guests were all hovering about the 80th year mile stone, but no stranger would have rated any of them above 70 years. Miss Sweet ran her hands through the dark hair of the Colonel to prove to herself that it was his own hair, so re- markable was his youthful appearance. The Chinese cook, Chin Chuey, had prepared a chop suey luncheon and in his reverence for old men he served them most solemnly. When Miss Sweet was ready to depart she said to them, "This is one of the best days of my life, I never had more pleasure in my experience and I never met more interesting men than you three army physicians and you, Colonel.
The war stories, the reviews of battles, of extreme experiences and of what might have been different if the surgeons had had modern medical appliances and the new discoveries of anesthetics, of disin- fectants and the many things deemed absolutely necessary to hospital life now, the better food for soldiers and the faster transportation of supplies; all these subjects have been discussed over and over again in this self-same room by various groups of old soldiers, and with deep regret I realize that they were historical events and instances which should have been chronicled.
One of Doctor Zearing's greatest delights all through life was horse-back riding. One of the memories that always comes to the minds of the men today who were little boys of long ago in the village of Dover is the antics of Johnnie Smoker, the Mexican pony, the Doctor's riding horse. This Johnnie spent most of his time on his hind feet when he had an audience. When the Doctor was ready to mount the small boys were there to see the fun for Johnnie and his master would have a real frolic while the Doctor was trying to mount, and Johnnie trying and succeeding usually to dodge the mount. This play would continue until the Doctor was weary of the fun and then shaking his whip and sometimes giving the pony a taste of it, the fun would be over and off they would go on a lively canter for several miles.
Later in life the Doctor greatly enjoyed his handsome bay riding horse, and would start out every pleasant morning for a ride down Michigan Avenue. One neighbor said to my mother, "'Do you know how handsome your husband looks when riding? We ladies all run to the window to see him pass by on his single footer." Mrs. Zearing was a lover of the saddle, too, and could equal her companion in all equestrian feats, but did not continue riding as long as did the Doctor.
Doctor Zearing brought west with him at the age of fourteen his favorite book, voluminous, heavy in its calf-skin binding, "Goldsmith's Animated Nature," profusely illustrated with copper-plate engravings. As a child he poured over these pictures and descriptions of animals. Among other family books is a large Nurnburg Bible, date of 1765, printed in German, bound in leather with brass corners and clasps. To this date some of the pieces of dress braid 'and tapes used for book
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marks still marks grandmother's pages. One cut alone, the Ausbury Confessions, makes this edition of especial value. Many smaller bibles and school books and hymnals of the early print are in this same collection.
In the years of few books well read, Doctor Zearing clung to his favorite writers, Plutarch's Lives, Shakespeare, Milton, Bobbie Burns, and Gray's Elegy, and in the many years of his sightless life, he recalled from memory stanza after stanza of these writers, which he had read in youth, and thought over many times in making those long rides to see his patients in Bureau and the adjoining counties. One time only do I remember his asking to have a poem of Milton's read to him, because he could not recall two lines. He said, "I have tried for two months to think this out and it will not come." '^ keep his mind active and useful was as systematic a procedure Vvx... him as to keep his body in good condition, with proper food and regular exercise. Long walks twice a day, and just before retiring, no matter what the weather, was his desire, and when hair cuts were needed, or a call upon uninformed voters, he often brought into service our long time houseman, the colored and faithful Abraham Lincoln, and later Chin Chuey, to escort him on such errands.
Doctor Zearing was a member of Thomas G. A..R. post, Chicago, and a member of the Army of The Tennessee and of the Bureau County Soldiers' Association. He belonged to the Masons in Prince- ton, Illinois, He was frequently invited to become a member of the Loyal Legion and also the Pennsylvania Society, but he was cut off from attending such meetings by loss of sight, so he refrained from joining them. He was, during the World's Fair of 1893, in Chicago, a regular attendant. We have a pass with his name and photograph on it which was assigned to him. He spent many days there in the rail- road and transportation building, with too little sight to recognize his friends, but many saw him and thus he was afforded much pleasure, as this was the last time he had sight enough to be without a leader. He was always of military carriage and he would go about his home, with which he was so familiar, with ease and exactness. He would walk with his cane touching the grass along the edge of the stone pavement, not revealing loss of sight. On one occasion a confidence man rushed up to him, as he was turning to go up the steps to his door, saying, "Good morning, Doctor, how do you do. I am delighted to meet you again. I have not forgotten our pleasant meeting in Texas. What business are you in now, Doctor?" The reply was, "In the confidence business, sir," and walked on to his door.
The biography of a pioneer is a heroic poem yet unset to musical strains. It is a long story, showing with each new chapter a chronicle of national progress, which is of absorbing interest if it could be told in detail, even until the last page is turned. As one of the pioneers of Illinois, Doctor Zearing's life of eighty-three years covered the eventful period of its growth from scattered settlements into one of the grand states of our Union. He saw the evolution of a commonwealth, as the school houses, churches, railroads and telegraph came to it; he heard the celebrated debates between Lincoln and Douglas. He attended the convention in 1860 in the wigwam of Chicago, which
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ZEARING RESIDENCE, 3600 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 111.
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nominated Mr. Lincoln for President of the United States, also the ball that evening. He attended the reception given at the home of Doctor Paddock in Princeton, when Mrs. Paddock urged Mr. Lincoln to have his memorable picture taken by Masters, the Princeton photographer.
The World's War today has brought forth the followers of the blood and iron man — Bismarck — not the German people in which the Zearing family had pride in and reverence for, those whom they had been taught throughout their lives to honor, as most people have, to believe in such men as Martin Luther, whose inspiration has been cast over the entire world. The German people as represented by Goethe and Schiller, by Bach and Mendelsshon and many others to whom the whole world gives honor, nor can we think German affairs of today represent the high standard of the better people, and we wonder how amazed the older generations would be were they here to wit- ness the terrible downfall of the ideals of freedom and democracy for which members of the Zearing family have fought to sustain in every war since the American Revolution. A family more staunch for liberty and humanity could not be found and which lives up to its democratic principles even in smaller matters.
James Roberts Zearing, M. D., was born in Harrisburg, Pa., June 16th, 1828, son of John Zearing and Sarah Bright Harmon Zear- ing. He was married to Lucinda Helmer May 25th, 1854, and died April 16th, 1911, at the family residence 3600 Michigan Avenue, Chi- cago, and was buried in the family lot in Oakwood cemetery. Doctor Zearing is the lineal descendent of Ludwig Zearing, of Baden, Ger- many, who immigrated to this country prior to 1732 and settled in Johnstown, Pa. In 1842 he, with his parents, and family moved to Bureau County, Illinois. The father of John Zearing, Henry Zearing, was too young to take active part in the Revolution, but was instrumen- tal in furnishing money and teams for the use of the soldiers in the war.
John Zearing resided in Harrisburg thirty years. He was for many years an office bearer in Salem German Reformed Church, serv- ing first as deacon, then as an elder. He was overseer of the poor and held other official stations. In the war of 1812 he was in Captain Thomas Walker's company, first regiment commanded by Colonel Kennedy, of Harrisburg, forming part of the first brigade, of which John Foster was brigadier general, marched to Baltimore to defend that city when an attack was made upon it by the British commanded by General Ross, September 13th, 1814.
Doctor James Roberts Zearing was a graduate of the University of Missouri , Medical Department, 1848, of St. Louis, and of Rush Medical College, of Chicago, in 1850. He began the practice of medi- cine in the village of Dover, Illinois, where he resided until the out- break of the Civil War in 1861. In October, 1861, recruits to form the 56th Regiment of Illinois Infantry were being enlisted in Camp Bureau, of Princeton, Illinois. Doctor Zearing enlisted and was appointed by Governor Yates, Oct. 27, 1861, surgeon of said regiment. December 26th he was commissioned as first surgeon of the 57th Illinois, Colonel A. D. Baldwin. January, 1862, left Camp Douglas, Chicago, with the regiment for Ft. Henry, Tenn., then to Ft. Donelson and engaged in the
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battles of Ft. Donelson, Shiloh and Corinth and subsequently with the regiment through the campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. In the summer of 1864, the regiment was transferred from the 16th Army Corps, Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, commanding to the 4th Di- vision of the 15th Army Corps, Gen. J. M. Corse commanding. Doctor Zearing served as Surgeon-in-Chief of Staff of Gen. J. M. Corse until the army reached Savannah, Ga., at which place Doctor Zearing was ordered by General Sherman to prepare and take charge of hospitals for the sick and wounded of the 15th Army Corps.
On the breaking up of said hospitals, Doctor Zearing joined the advancing army under General Sherman at Raleigh, N. C., where he again took position as Surgeon-in-Chief on General Corse's staff until the command was mustered out at Louisville, Ky., in 1865.
Doctor Zearing's children treasure a war album which was pre- sented to their father during the Civil War by his personal friends whose photographs it contains, among which are Generals Grant, Sher- man, Sheridan, McPherson and Logan; also a beautiful pen drawing of a cornucopia surrounded with cards on which are printed the names of some of the battles and dates in which Doctor Zearing saw active service. This, with other army papers and relics of his medical career in the army as surgeon is highly prized by the family of Doctor Zear- ing, who are asked to present these relics to the archives of the Rush Medical College.
After the Civil War Doctor Zearing returned to Dover, Illinois, where he was received with great enthusiasm by the citizens of the entire county. He resumed the practice of medicine in Princeton, Illi- nois, where his family resided for many years and his children attended school.
In 1872, on account of ill health he went to Texas where he was engaged for ten years with his former army friend, General Grenville M. Dodge in the construction of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. After this he moved to Chicago, where he resided until his death. In 1886, the eye strain which had been caused by operating so constantly at the battle of Fort Donelson, where he was without sufficient aid, either in assistant doctors or nurses, developed into glaucoma and iritis and pre- vented him engaging in any business and developed a total loss of sight for twenty-five years before his death.
Doctor James R. Zearing, who was Illinois' first noted Civil War surgeon, began the study of medicine, as was the custom, in the office of a practicing physician, Dr. William Robinson, who had moved to Dover to be in a more central location of Bureau, Lee and LaSalle Counties, which his practice covered in that sparsely settled territory. The medical student became the druggist, that is, the compounder of many medicines and the maker of pills, those innocent little ones to appease the minds of the hysteria complainer, and also those robust dynamo blue mass concoctions ; the mortar and pestle was ever on the prescription desk, to be used to mix by careful rubbing together of the ingredients which were afterwards rolled into bullet-shaped pills, un- coated and bitter as gall. Then the doctor was the dentist and pulled the teeth with iron forceps, sterilizing only by washing in
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cold water. These were the days when the saddle bags were the useful adjunct to the pioneer physician, as they held the medicine, the instru- ments and the various sized bandages which the student physician had to roll in the office. Doctor Zearing was among the first doctors of Illinois to have a physician's gig which was a high two-wheeled vehicle, made as light as possible to stay on top of the muddy road. There were few physicians who preceded this time. The first three years of settlement on Bureau Creek, there were no doctors nearer than Peoria. In the year of 1831, Dr. N. Chamberlain came, and for many years he was, the only one who could care for the sick. His practice ex- tended to the settlement on Rock River, and he continued these long trips to visit patients until 1837. The next pioneer physicians were Dr. William O. Chamberlain and Dr. Swanzy. Both of these men stood high in their profession and did most conscientious work. In 1833 the first post office which had been named Greenfield, and kept for two years previous by Elijah Smith, had its name changed to Princeton, and Dr. N. Chamberlain was appointed postmaster, and Dr. William O. Chamberlain was the mail carrier from the first office, which was established and named Bureau. The rural people have always had the practice of going to the post office and seeing the Doctor after the day's work was done, and this was a great conven- ience to combine these two very important commissions.
There was but one railroad in Illinois in 1848. That was the Northern Cross road, from Springfield by way of Jacksonville to Meredosia on the Illinois River. The Galena Railroad was the next built, and later the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Dover fully ex- pected the road to come to it, but it passed two miles away, and Maiden was the nearest station. In 1850, when Dr. Zearing was attending Rush Medical College, the only way to get to Chicago was by way of LaSalle and the canal. It was the custom to drive to the end of the railroad, wherever that might be, to take the train.
After the war Doctor Zearing was one of the first surgeons to per- form abdominal surgery in private practice. His success was phenom- enal. He was called to New York, to Indiana, to Iowa, and to Texas to perform such operations in the families of his war friends, who had more confidence in him than any other surgeon, knowing of the great success he had during the Civil War. His skill in straightening crooked limbs also brought him patients from afar. One boy whose arm had been broken and poorly set, and whose parents wished to educate him to be a priest, sent him to the famed surgeon, and his arm was made straight so as to do its ecclesiastical work. When one of his first patients was asked what she remembered of Doctor Zearing's early life as a physician, she replied, "He was one of the most beloved men in Bureau County and it was always said of him that he had fifteen hundred confinement cases without a mother's life being lost. This is a record to stamp a special Providence cross on early, and what would now be considered crude surgery. Oh, yes, I remember, too, that every farmer's wife knew his love for a glass of cream and a piece of cake, and if one knew he would pass her home, she was always ready with this lunch after a cup of hot coffee. It was a pleasure to them because they all loved him."
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My sister, Charlotte Zearing Colton, contributed the following: "My first remembrance of the country doctor's life is of hearing the clatter of horse's hoofs coming across the square at midnight, or being awakened in the middle of the night by some one calling from the gate for 'Dr. Jim' ; or the loud knocking on the door, or the wrap- ping with the whip handle of some excited person sent in haste for the doctor. When about ten years of age it was the ringing of the door- bell that awakened me, and here may I tell the story of one of the little boys who had heard of this door-bell, and had a great longing to ring it. He was not well acquainted with us, as his people were homeopathists. His curiosity was so great that one day he ventured to the door, planning to run as soon as the deed was done, but my mother, opening the door so quickly, frightened this from his mind, as well as an excuse of an errand. But she quickly understood the circumstance, and asked him if he would not like to come in and see her new door-bell, which he did, and was allowed to ring it several times. All through life he had a vision of my mother as an angel.
So eager were the messengers to get the doctor started that they would offer to saddle Johnnie Smoker, or hitch up the horses and usually did it wrong. Before starting out father would go to the cellar, drink the cream from a pan of milk and eat some sponge cake. These two edibles were always in place for him on a swinging shelf. Then he was ready for the journey, which sometimes lasted three or four days, for people hearing that the doctor was coming into the neighbor- hood would leave word for him to journey on to another and another place. Many times I would not see my father for a week, as he would be sleeping when I went to school and be far out on the prairie when I went to bed. I remember standing by the window, watching for his return when there was a storm of thunder and lightning, and weeping at thought of his danger, and he would come in and tell me how much he enjoyed it. Then when I knew the creeks were high, how I grieved over his danger of fording; then when the snow drifts were over the fences, I wondered and wondered how he could ever make the journey. He never thought it possible to refuse making visits whether there was any pay from it or not. I remember the kindness of the people who had comfortable clean homes, in making him feel there was always a resting place, and a meal for the doctor whenever he passed, and he was not bashful in accepting this hospitality, for he knew the invita- tion came from the heart.
I think one of the most pleasant remembrances of these days was in stealing into my father's office when I knew there was some surgical operation to be performed. I would hide until I knew father was well started then I would come forth, and soon be handing a bandage or an instrument to him, or holding a basin, and making myself generally useful. There were times when I was sent out. I can see a whole family in the office, the mother worn out, children with tooth-ache, cross-eyed, mumps, sore throats and itch, and the old man stiff with rheumatiz. Each one received more love and sympathy than medicine, and was sent home on the mend.
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I often wonder how father survived those severe winters, for he always rode in an open buggy or sleigh, and did not have the warm garments that people have today to protect themselves against rain and snow and wind. He depended on heated bricks, a buffalo overcoat and robes. His great protection from these relentless enemies was the love and admiration and gratitude these people gave the doctor for his care and sympathy and help in times of distress and suffering.
After an early freshet, when Bureau Creek had become high and overflowed its banks, a farmer came into town one day and reported that he saw Doctor Zearing on horseback crossing the river and saw him go down and waited for some time, but did not see him come out on the other side. This report created great excitement to the family and friends of Doctor Zearing, and it was several days, when the creek was down enough to cross safely, before it was known whether he was safe or not, when he came riding into town to be greeted with great enthusiasm by all.
When Gen. Grenville M. Dodge went to Texas to build the Texas and Pacific Railroad he asked his army friend, Major Zearing, to go with him. They had bunked together in war and there formed that peculiar deep affection for each other that only camp life brings to men. For more than ten years they were associated in railroad building.
About this time he formed pleasant acquaintances with Col. Thomas Scott of Philadelphia, Col. George Noble, Jay Gould, Gov. John C. Brown of Tennessee, H. M. Hoxie, Capt. Grey, Morgan Jones, Major D. W. Washburn, long time friend, and with the more frequent association of Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, and others prominent in the building of the Texas and Pacific Railroad, Doctor Zearing counted many life long friends.
The writer recalls the memorable occasion when Col. Thomas Scott and associates sold the Texas and Pacific Railroad to the Jay Gould interests, and a part of this interesting transaction took place outside of the New York offices and culminated in Marshall, Texas, in the home of Col. George M. Noble and in the presence of Col. James Scott, son of Col. Thomas Scott, and Doctor Zearing.
After the tragic death of Major Washburn in a railroad accident, the railroad civil engineer's work stood still. The ability and com- mand of such a man was hard to replace. The New York office, after diligent search sent a Scotchman to this vacant place. He had the usual stubborn methods of his kin, which was so unlike what had been given out by Major Washburn that the Scotchman soon had the ill will and hatred of every official on the whole T. & P. Railroad. The men realized the good of the road was interfered with. They appealed to Doctor Zearing to communicate conditions to General Dodge, who was in his New York office, as they deemed the General would consider what Doctor Zearing would recommend without a question. Doctor Zearing realized the necessity of doing something. He went to the office of the Texas and Pacific Railroad in Ft. Worth, Texas, and stood before the civil engineer, shook his fist in his face and told him he was a "Damn nuisance" and that every man connected with the railroad hated and despised him for his bulldogged meanness. He further told
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him of certain things he could not do and other things he should do, and demanded he change his course that minute. If not he would report him to General Dodge. Every man in the office stood aghast at Doctor Zearing' s courage and authority as he plainly spoke to this red headed tryant, who at first looked furious, but calmed and heeded the advice given, which made life pleasant for all concerned. All along the telegraph line flashed this rebuke, extending to the M. K. & T. offices in Sedalia and St. Louis. The remarkable and unusual words used by the Doctor surprised all who received them, for the telegram read, "What do you think! Doctor Zearing swore, he called Mac a 'Damn liar' and shook his fist in his face. The T. & P. office force is happy."
The superintendent of the M. K. & T., Col. J. M. Eddy, at whose home I was a guest, came in to dinner very care-worn. His wife said "Forget the day and cheer up for dinner." He replied, with a twinkle in his eye, "Forget, I cannot. Read this telegram. It looks as if the T. & P. might go to pieces when Doctor Zearing has begun to swear." This was but one departure from the method of kind words, a manly example and perfect deportment, that Doctor Zearing had always used in his profession and business and which was so unusual of him, but he felt that he must adopt beastly methods to arouse a beast, and the word flew among his friends, and has been spoken of often as "the one time that Doctor Zearing swore."
Perhaps no instance we recall now shows the skill that Dr. Zear- ing possessed and which also shows him as peculiarly and distinctly a man who was cool and always in command of himself better than the account of an incident which occurred when he was with a party of men in a private car going over the T. & P. Railroad. A signal to stop was waved to their car as an accident was reported nearby. The men all went to the scene and found a man with a crushed leg which had to be amputated at once. Doctor Zearing sent the cook back to the car to bring him a saw and any knives he could find. With a meat saw and a carving knife the poor victim's life was saved. Another instance which happened in Louisiana when the Doctor was on horseback in the country, he met a runaway horse and wagon, dragging a negro, and the horse ran on into a pond and pulled the man under the water. The Doctor ran his horse to the stream and got the man's head above the water, then went to a darkey's cabin nearby for help, but these super- stitious people, having seen what had happened, ran in and locked their doors, and the only help that the Doctor found was a young boy he met on the road.
Doctor Zearing was sitting on his front porch on Easter Monday morning, wrapped in his steamer rugs "just out for fresh air and more sunshine," as he often remarked to passing neighbors, and while thus resting and waiting the summons came. He was stricken with apoplexy. Doctor Zearing carried his eighty-three years with the erect- ness and grace of a soldier of fifty. So April 16, 1911 he closed his sightless eyes forever. As the telegraph and newspapers carried the words of his passing on, the responses to the family came promptly in, for the influence and extent of his early career had penetrated from
MRS. J. R. ZEARING.
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Bureau County to every state in the Union, and these letters seem to call for something of a memorial to be preserved by family and State to show how he was regarded by his generation.
The Rush Alumni Association bulletin published the following notice :
Necrology.
James Roberts Zearing, Chicago. Graduated 1850. Surgeon of the Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry and later Chief Surgeon of the Fourth Division, Fifteenth Army Corps, serving throughout the Civil War ; said to have been the oldest alumnus of Rush Medical Col- lege. He had been blind for the last twenty-five years. Died at his home, April 16, 1911, from cerebral hemorrhage, aged 83.
LUCINDA HELMER, WIFE OF JAMES ROBERTS ZEARING.
Lucinda Helmer, who was always called by her nick-name, "Puss," was born January 30, 1833, and married to James Roberts Zearing, of Dover, Bureau County, Illinois, May 25, 1854. Mrs. Zear- ing took an active part in club, social and progressive movements. She was one of the original subscribers to the first woman's suffrage paper, and one of the first members of the "Friends in Council," a literary club, of Princeton. She was educated in the boarding schools of Green- castle and Bloomington, Indiana, at the time her father, Melchert Helmer was in the legislature of that state. Three children survive, Charlotte (Mrs. Buel P. Colton), Luelja (Mrs. J. Ellsworth Gross), and James Helmer Zearing, and two grandsons, James Zearing Colton and Kingsley Buel Colton.
A friend of mother's said recently of her, "Your mother was the handsomest girl I have ever seen. When she came to Illinois to visit her sister in Dover, many of us who had seen the attractive daugerro- type of her that always stood on the parlor table and admired it very much did not realize that any one could be so beautiful in feature and coloring as she. The first time I saw her, she came into church wear- ing an attractive straw poke bonnet. Her dresses were all low neck and short sleeve and her neck and arms were perfect. As she walked down the aisle every eye was upon her, but she, too, wanted to see. She carried the first gold framed monocle that Dover folks had ever seen. She was near sighted and during the singing she put the monocle to her eye and turned around to see the audience, who at the same time saw her face and every one was astonished that any human crea- ture could be so beautiful." Her father was with her. They had driven through from Bedford, with horse and buggy. He was just as hand- some a man as she was a girl, and his prominence in his own state added to his reception and warm welcome in Bureau County. The Hon. Melchert Helmer was of the Holland Dutch of New York, and as early as 1815 had gone with his family to Indiana, north of Louis- ville, Ky. At the age of twenty-two years he married Lucinda Burf ord Haggerty, of Kentucky, who was a cousin of President Polk. The inheritance of the combined New York and Kentucky ancestry was
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dominant in the Helmer daughters. Their father was a staunch Abo- litionist, and he would not live as he had intended, in Kentucky, but moved to southern Indiana, where he was in the Indiana legislature, and was one of the members of the convention in October, 1850 to "Revise the Constitution of Indiana." He was a great man, always standing most firmly for the truth and right. Four daughters lived to womanhood, but two sons died in infancy, which was a source of great regret that the name of this family should die in the state of Indiana in which the father and grandfather had helped to pave the way to greatness.
Mrs. Zearing was very much like her father and took part in Dover, Princeton and Chicago in all activities in which women were interested, especially during the World's Fair of Chicago, when women awoke to their usefulness, but when loss of sight overtook her husband, Mrs. Zearing devoted her life to him. She read, walked, traveled and was his strong arm, so other duties dropped from her life. A life of devotion is seldom so remarkably faithful as was that of Doctor and Mrs. Zearing. They had twin bicycles on which they rode out Michigan Avenue to the south parks, taking the morning papers along and enjoy- ing the fresh air and the exercise. The Doctor loved a slow, quiet smoke, while he listened to the daily news. His alertness in regard to history and events was remarkable. His mind was keen, his hearing the best, as was Mrs. Zearing's. In fact, age seemed to forget them until the end came. Mrs. Zearing died December 28, 1912.
LETTERS WRITTEN BY DR. JAMES R. ZEARING TO HIS
WIFE LUCINDA HELMER ZEARING DURING THE
CIVIL WAR, 1861-1865.
Camp Douglas, Dec. 3, 1861. Dear Puss :
I have neglected writing you for several days, although during that time I have received two letters from you for which I am very thankful. I have not, for the last week, been really able to write a letter, and if I had been, I would scarcely have had the time. About ten days ago I took a very bad cold, which settled on my lungs and leaves a severe cough, such as I had last winter. This has hardly left me fit for duty. As yet, however, I have been able to go through with it, but with the greatest effort, and all the time, too, through the in- crease of sickness, my labor has been largely increased. Unless I get rapidly better I will have to give up my position in the hospital, which will make my labor much less. The service in the regiment, I can get along with very easily. I have not determined positively whether I shall remain permanently or not. 'It will depend on this, if the regiment goes into service soon, or if there is a prospect of it going soon, I think I shall go with them, but if the prospect is to stay here all winter, I will probably come home, as I do not think I would like staying here so long, although I am well situated. I cannot tell you what will be the result of the filling up of the regiment. We are getting more recruits than any other regiment in camp, and we have offers of full companies
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to join us. I wish I could tell you when I would be down to see you, but as yet, I do not see any chance for it. I was glad to learn by your letters that you were doing well, and that the little chips were thriving. You did not state whether you were weaning the baby or not. I hope you will immediately, as it would be much better for you. In regard to those safes that William sent, you had better have Joseph take care of them if they come. He says he shipped one by railroad and two by water ; the two by water will be frozen up on the way, as navigation is already closed. I enclose you a letter from Mat and Eliza, as it may be later than when you heard from them last. I will try and write them soon. Write me as often as you can. I will write you soon again.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Camp Douglas, Dec. 20th, 1861. Dear Puss :
I just write you a few lines to inform you that I will not be home this week, but will certainly be at home on Monday next. My reason for not being able to fill my promise is that the regiment has been en- gaged in important matters this week that was necessary that I should be here. We have this day completed a consolidation of our regiment with that of the 57th regiment under Col. Baldwin. We have about an equal number of men and the offices have been equally divided. I have today selected an assistant surgeon, Dr. Blood, of this city. He appears to be a very fine man. This will be of much relief to me, as I can better feel that the regiment is provided for while I am gone. So goodbye till Monday, then I will see you.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Tennessee River, March 9th, 1862. Dear Puss:
I left Cairo Friday evening. We had to lay over at Paducah all day, so that we did not reach Fort Henry until this afternoon. I found when we arrived at the Fort that our regiment had already got on board a boat and proceeded up the river. We run up six miles and found them in company with a large fleet. I soon got on board and was warmly received by the regiment. There are about a hundred of the boys sick, so that I will have work on hand immediately. We are on board the steamer Argyle. We will probably remain here over night. There are still more regiments coming up the river. There are now about sixty steamers loaded with troops here and more coming. Gen. Grant and Gen. Wallace are with us. Where we are going is all a matter of conjecture with us. Undoubtedly there is some well ma- tured plan arranged which we will be made aware of when the time comes for action. Some think we are bound for Memphis, some that we are to go as far into Alabama as we can get, but by looking up the map, and comparing our location with the position of the enemy, you can judge of our destination as well as we can. There were three of our men taken prisoners today while out foraging. They had got several miles back from the river when a body of secesh cavalry
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pounced on them, one of the body managed to escape and brought the news to the boat. We sent out three companies in pursuit, but they had retreated back to a place called Paris, some twenty or thirty miles. Our men did not see proper to pursue them so far. They brought with them thirteen prisoners that were known to be hot secesh, although they were at their homes when taken. The officers thought they would have a chance to exchange them for their own men. They brought with them a fine lot of chickens and turkeys. One of the latter we purchased for our officers' mess, which will grace our table tomorrow. I am still getting better but feel "powerful" weak, but a few days will stiffen up my muscles so I can move about as lively as ever. I will write you as often as opportunity offers. You will still write to Cairo. The letters will be forwarded some time. Write often so that I need not be uneasy. We have seen no paymaster yet. Perhaps will not until the war is over. Kiss the babies for me, and one for yourself.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Tenn., March 15, 1862. Dear Wife :
I wrote you several letters while on the way up, I do not suppose, however, that you will get them very soon as I presume the government will delay them so as to prevent the object of the expedition to become known. After I wrote you last we continued up the river, in passing a town on the river by the name of Clifton, by a few cavalry that were prowling around, they fired into us after we passed the village, one man was badly wounded, the ball passing through the elbow joint, fracturing the elbow joint; during the excitement one of our men dis- charged his gun and shot another of our men through the head, killing him instantly. We fired back at the rebels, and then backed the boat down to the village and landed but could not catch the cavalry, the citizens represented that they used their best endeavors to prevent the rebels firing, they all professed to be willing to come into the Union. We took two of the citizens prisoners for the good behavior of the rest. We arrived at a place called Savannah on Thurs. morning, we layed there until night when that part of the fleet consisting of our brigade went three miles up the river, where we were ordered to land; we did so, and marched 4 miles into the country, the darkest and rainiest night you ever saw. We reached a place called Adamsville and camped. A large force of cavalry were sent out to scout, the object of the expedition was to attack a body of the enemy supposed to be at Purdy, the county seat of McNary Co., about 10 miles distant from where we were. This is an important point, as near there all the important railroads of the south converge. The enemy could not be found; in the night we marched back to the boats where we still are, awaiting the plans of our generals. It is reported that the rebels are in large force somewhere near this point, we will have to be shrewd or they will destroy our transports and cut off our chance for advance or retreat. Whether we will succeed in cutting off more than their railroad communication is doubtful. They have by so many roads
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converging at this point an opportunity of throwing a large force upon us here, if they have them to spare, and as they have evacuated Columbus, Bowling Green and perhaps other points where they had other troops, they will probably make a desperate attempt to cut us off here. I have been delighted at the appearance of the country here. It looks fertile and is well cultivated. We are now in the land of cotton and on our expedition we saw some valuable piles already pressed and sacked on fire, and the owners fled. The most of the in- habitants, however, stayed at home with their "niggers," and thereby saved them. We did not take any cotton, though we might have taken a large quantity of it.
I am getting along very well, though we have a great deal of sick- ness, and consequently we have to work very hard. Puss, I am pretty near tired of war, it is hard work and the most extreme kind of priva- tion. Just to think of a man of your husband's pretentions trotted out of bed at three o'clock in the morning and marched through the woods and then breakfasted on black coffee and pilot bread. Well, no matter, I can stand it if others can. Puss — we have just received a mail from up the river and no letter from you yet. I should be glad to hear from you. I received one from Dr. Isaacs dated March 6.
Goodbye,
J. R. Zearing. Tenn., March 18, 1862. Dear Puss :
I will write you a few lines again today. I nearly forgot where it was I wrote you last, but we are now at a point 4 miles below Savannah, a pretty village of some size and considerable wealth. I went up yesterday to see it. I was invited into dinner at one of the plantations adjoining the village. The owner has 80 "niggers" and lives in princely style. We had all the luxuries that a well ordered farm can produce. I shall enjoy it for month or two, just thinking of it. We find a great many true Union men in this vicinity. I think a majority of them are. They have suffered a great deal from the rebels by the way of foraging and stealing and they are heartily tired of it. We are still on the boat. Tomorrow we will go on the shore and camp. It will be far more pleasant, as the men will all have tents, and the weather is superb. For a few days it has been clear and a-: mild as May, the surface is being covered with grass and some of the trees of the earlier varieties are showing their leaves quite plainly. We are still waiting here for orders to move. The designs of the commanding officers are still a mystery, though it is evidently indicated by the magnitude of the operations that there will be movements of great importance. Besides the force already here which must be 50,000 troops are still coming up from below in large numbers. They are now bringing up the forces that have been operating against Price in Missouri. We have news that General Buel is only about 40 miles from us with his army, so you see that the forces concentrated here are immense. The rebels are said to be concentrating theirs to meet us. If so, it will be the most decisive battle of the war, and if we are victorious it will probably settle secesh.
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We lost another man today, who was shot accidently three nights ago while on picket duty. He was shot through the upper part of the left lung.
I have got perfectly strong again and feel sound. I can digest salt pork and hard biscuit and drink Tenn. water thick with mud, and that requires a pretty strong stomach. I would feel better if I could hear from you. We have had several mails up the river, but I have received no letter since I saw you. Write often. Kiss the babies for me.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Savannah, Tenn., March 21st, 1862. Dear Puss:
I have nothing particular to write, but as there is a mail to leave this evening, I thought I would drop you a line. I was sent down from our brigade yesterday with a boat load of sick to put in hospital here, and leave them. Major General Grant ordered me to stop here and take charge of the hospital until further orders. How long it will be until those further orders come I cannot tell. Our regiment was or- dered to prepare ten days rations when I left and if I am compelled to stay here a few days I shall get separated from the regiment. Puss, I am tired out again. I have taken cold and have a pretty bad cough, but presume I shall get over it again in a few days. There is an im- mense amount of sickness in the army. I believe that one-third are unfit for duty. In some regiments a good many are dying. Dr. Brown, of the 11th Indiana, died day before yesterday. We need physicians. If Orlando Helmer was here I could get him a contract immediately at seventy-five or a hundred dollars per month. If he can come on soon, you had better send him. Puss I have received no letter from you yet. I presume some day I will get a whole batch, and then I shall enjoy them. I still write you every few days. I presume you get some of them.
Goodbye,
J. R. Zearing.
Pittsburg, Tenn., April 8, 1862.
Tuesday Evening. Dear Puss :
I snatch a few moments this evening to inform you that we have just gone through two days of the bloodiest fight that ever occurred on this continent. I wrote you a letter on Saturday last, stating that the night before we were attacked by a few regiments of the rebels on our extreme right, that in a short time they were driven back and we re- mained quiet the rest of the night. Saturday everything was quiet and we presumed that it was merely a reconnoitering party, but it proved to be the advance of the- main body of the enemy. On Sunday morning at six o'clock the rebels advanced with their whole force, very rapidly and with great energy. Their whole force was thrown upon our right wing, General Sherman's division. It was but a short time before his division was forced to retire. Our whole force was
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immediately thrown forward and we formed a line of battle about two miles back from the river. The fighting was furious on the line for about two hours, but for want of complete organization and the time consumed in getting our artillery into proper position, we were forced to retire and form a new line, about half a mile in our rear. Upon this line our men fought for four hours with great determination. The ground was covered with the dead and wounded. No advantage seemed to be gained on either side. We had lost a large proportion of our field and line officers. The enemy moved up all their reserve and made a desperate onset. They were so far superior in numbers as to out-flank. At every gap in our line they would wedge in fresh regi- ments. After severe loss on both sides, we gradually retired fighting every inch of the way, holding the enemy at bay for a considerable length of time, and retiring so slowly was the only thing that saved our entire army from being captured. As soon as it was determined to retire from our second line, our general in command, Grant, had put in position on a new line, within a half mile of the river, a number of large siege cannon. Our troops retreated upon this line about five o'clock. The enemy rushed upon this line with great confidence. They knew if they drove us from this they would gain everything. Our men stood firm. The rebels came up apparently with undiminished numbers. Our large cannon opened upon them and mowed them down by hundreds. Our rifles poured a hail storm into them that completely checked them. They hesitated and fell back. It was growing dark and we were not in position to follow them. We remained behind our artillery. The rebels slept in our tents. We slept in the open air. So far they had the advantage of us. I must confess we were nearly whipped and feared the morrow. Twelve hours hard fighting and no time to eat. Just as dark set in we saw the most pleasant sight I think I ever saw in my life, the advance of Buel's army were seen marching down the bluff on the opposite side of the river. Never were friends more welcome. Our men sent three hearty cheers across the river to them, to which they replied. The steamboats were all put in motion and by daylight Generals Nelson's and Cook's divisions, consisting of about twenty thousand fresh troops were landed within our lines. The rebels undoubtedly expected easy work in capturing, as the next day we got up in the morning ahead of them. General Nelson's and Cook's divisions were formed on the right. Our troops on the left. We made the attack and with such vigor that the rebels fell back a short distance. They rallied and fought desperately, well knowing that they were about to lose a prize that was almost within their grasp. Fresh troops arrived across the river all the forenoon, which were con- stantly thrown against the enemy. We drove them back slowly and steadily. About noon General L. Wallace's division arrived from Adamsville, four miles below and fell upon their left flank. This was too much for them. They now commenced retreating rapidly but in good order. We recovered all the artillery that we lost the day be- fore, and captured part of theirs. We drove them about six miles when night put a stop to the pursuit. This morning part of the army started again in pursuit. What the result of today's pursuit has been
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I do not yet know, but you can depend upon it, we are going to have a complete victory, though dearly purchased. From Sunday morn- ing until tonight we have worked constantly and I can assure you I am tired. The wounded of the whole army were brought to the land- ing at the river, where we erected tents and used steamboats for putting them in. You may imagine the scene of from two to three thousand wounded men at one point calling to have their wounds dressed. We worked to the best advantage we could, but the crowded state of everything and the absence of extensive preparations for such an event caused a great deal of suffering, that might have been pre- vented. I think there is a much larger proportion of wounded in this battle that will prove fatal than at Donelson. It is impossible yet to give anything near the correct figure of our losses, especially of killed and wounded, as in the fight on Sunday we perhaps lost nearly two thou- sand prisoners, probably a good many of them wounded. Our regiment suffered severely. We have to report a loss of about two hundred killed, wounded and missing. We buried this morning twenty-three, all we could find, and have found about fifty wounded. Among the missing a good many will yet straggle in. Harrison Wood, of Dover, is seriously wounded, also George Cheney. Capt. Manzer is slightly wounded in the head, but the worst I have to tell you is the death of my warm friend, Major Page. He was shot in the groin on Sunday about one o'clock. The regiment was in the act of charging on the enemy when he fell. His men picked him up and carried him to the rear, but he died in about two hours. The regiment are unanimous in deploring his loss. He was as gallant and skillful an officer as there was in the regiment. We are going to send his body home. It will about end the days of his wife. We have also lost the commander of our division, General Wallace of Illinois. He was shot through the head on Sunday and died the next day. The general of our brigade, General Sweeney, of Illinois, was wounded in his left arm. He had lost his right arm in Mexico. The command of the brigade then de- volved on Col. Baldwin of our regiment. Captain of the 12th regiment from Princeton is shot through the chest. He will probably die. Lieut. Seaman, of Princeton, was killed immediately. Bureau County has suffered severely. As far as I can see, I have not been hurt. I heard a good many balls whistle as if they were pretty close. I was sitting on my horse talking with another surgeon, when a cannon ball passed through his horse just behind the surgeon's legs. The horse and sur- geon dropped immediately, the horse killed and the surgeon badly frightened. Puss, I have no more time to write tonight. I will write soon again.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
P. S. In the letter I wrote you on Saturday I enclosed twenty dollars. I hope you will get it. Friday morning — all well. Had a heavy frost this morning. Nothing by mail.
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Pittsburg, Tenn., April 30th, 1862. Dear Puss:
The last letter I received from you was post marked Bedford, Ind., April 13th. The letter was without date. I presume it was written a day or two before that date. I have written you so many letters since the battle that it is not strange you did not receive some of them before that date. I wrote you one also about a week before the battle in which I enclosed you twenty dollars. As your last letter makes no mention of receiving it, I presume of course, you did not receive it. I regret very much that you did not receive the letters in due time, as they would have set your mind at rest in regard to my condition. I have no doubt, however, that before this time you have received several of my late letters and you will then know that I have gone through the battle all safe and that I am in most excellent health. You must not worry about me at all. Keep yourself cheerful as pos- sible. I, of course, will take good care of myself. We all expect to get through the war safe, but if I should never see you again, you must remember that there will be thousands of families in the same con- dition. There is some fighting on the front line every day now. Our army is steadily advancing toward Corinth. Our cavalry went out- yesterday and burned two bridges on the railroad running north from Corinth. This was the purpose of cutting off their supplies from Tennessee. Our regiment broke camp yesterday and moved forward six miles. I remained in camp to attend to the removal of the sick. I must follow the brigade this afternoon. I must forward this line to the river and to do so must close briefly. Write often.
Yours affectionately,
J. R. Zearing.
Pittsburg, Tenn., April 27th, 1862. Dear Wife:
It has been several days since I wrote you and about a week since I heard from you. I presume I do not receive all the letters that you write or I would hear from you more often. It is Sunday today. At eleven o'clock we had preaching by the chaplain, but I was too busy at that hour to attend. All the forenoon of each day we are busy making prescriptions, visiting the sick, etc. The afternoon we devote to writing reports, making our requisitions and letter writing. We have had a few days of fine weather. The roads are improving rapidly. It has been so very wet and the roads so bad that no advance of much importance has been made. Still we are advancing. Our most ad- vanced troops are eight miles on the road to Corinth. The rebels are scattered all the way on the road. We do not know where their main body is. It is presumed to be at a point two miles this side of Corinth. We are pushing forward very cautiously. We do not intend to fall into any trap that Beauegard may be setting for us. The day before yesterday our cavalry surprised one of their camps nearest our lines. We captured about twenty prisoners, most of their equipments, burned all their tents and then retreated without losing a man. The probability is that we will have skirmishing every day now as our army advances
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until we meet their main forces and then another such a battle as Pittsburg or worse, and the war will be pretty much ended. I hope it will. Many here are of the opinion that they will not risk a great battle at Corinth, but will retreat further south, for the purpose of breaking our army by the diseases of the south, to which their own army are acclimated. If this should be their plan, they will fail in it, as we could march to the Gulf of Mexico before the yellow fever would prevail much, and their army will become so greatly demoralized by retreat that we could gain an easy victory, but in my opinion they have no idea of falling back except at the point of the bayonette. A very few days will decide the matter. We have but to march ten miles farther to prove the matter. Our army is twice as large as at the late battle, beside all of Bud's army nearly all of General Pope's army have arrived from the Mississippi. The 51st Illinois regiment is here. That is the one that Jonas Zearing and the Cochran boys are in. They are camped about six miles from our camp. I have not had an opportunity of seeing them yet. We hear of a great many of the wounded that have died since the battle. Captain Swain, of Tis- kilwa, Capt. Ferris, of Princeton, and I have heard that Harrison died in one of the hospitals below. We can expect to hear of as many dying from their wounds as were killed in battle. Captain Manzer has gone home on a furlough for twenty days. I would like to do the same. I was riding by the landing yesterday and saw a tent erected with a sign out, "pictures," so I went in and had one "tuck." You can judge if it is a good one, as I shall enclose it with this letter and send it to you. You will observe I have overcome my prejudices against mustachios and have concluded to sprout some. By the aid of your glasses you can discover my- first attempt. It is folly to try to be civi- lized in the army. We live as near a natural life as possible. I am getting along finely. Can eat anything that I can get, and could eat many things that I can't get, such as fresh butter and eggs. The sut- lers bring them up the river, but they are so strong that nobody can eat them. I wish you would send me some. The best thing we have is a fresh milk cow. I sent the boys out a few days ago and they captured a nice one for the hospital. I think we can make butter from her after we kill the calf. I have quite an extensive cooking establish- ment. About forty boarders usually, sick and nurses. You would be pleased to see how neat we are. I send you an invitation to call and take tea with us. I promised to ride to the lines this afternoon with the Colonel, so goodbye.
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, July 27th, 1862. Dear Puss :
I received yours of July 23rd today, the day you were to leave for home. It seems from your not mentioning it, that they have not heard yet of Dr. Isaac's sickness. He was taken sick on Friday, the 18th, and I wrote several letters shortly after to Dr. Robinson inform- ing him of the case, and requesting him to inform his friends. I also telegraphed to his father that he was dangerously sick and desired
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him or his brother William to come immediately here. I have as yet heard nothing from them, but still expect some of them down. Well, Puss, you will feel sorry, very sorry, when I tell you that yesterday we buried the poor boy. It seemed to me like burying a brother. He was always like one of the family. He was so kind, so cheerful, so good, but we had to part with him. He was attacked very violently with typhoid dysentery. The disease ran very rapidly and he died on last Friday night, just one week from the time he was taken sick. You may well suppose that we did all we could for him, watched him night and day, afforded him all the comforts we could, and yet we had to see him die. He had worked hard for the regiment — too hard for his own good. He was entirely exhausted so that when disease came on he had but little power to rally on. The regiment esteemed him highly, and yesterday we buried him with military honors. There was a large turnout and all seemed to regret his loss. He was conscious nearly to the last and was impressed with the belief from the first that he would not recover. He expressed great anxiety to have his body sent home. We could not keep him long enough to get a metallic coffin from Cairo, so I concluded it was best to bury him and await the arrival of his friends. It will be a sad blow to them and the community around Dover. Well, Puss, I suppose you are now safely at your own home. I hope you have found the friends all well. How did Lizzie and Lula endure their orphanage? I presume they jumped to see you. I would like to see them every day. You state in your letter that you are dis- appointed in not hearing from me. Did you not get a letter by Captain Manzer ? He resigned and went home a few days after I arrived here and I sent a letter by him to you. I will try and write oftener. You must do the same. I have been very busy and tired, but I am well and think I can stand this climate, if not worked too hard. A kiss for you.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., Aug. 10, 1862. Dear Wife :
This is Sunday evening, very calm and brilliant moonlight, the night is very pleasant, comfortably cool, succeeding a very hot day. It is pleasant to sit in a quiet tent and enjoy these nights. The enjoy- ment would be complete if I could have you by my side to participate in the pleasure.
Well, Puss — you did feel sad at the news of Dr. Isaac's death. I knew you would, it could not be otherwise. He spoke of you and the children before he died, very affectionately. His death will be re- gretted by all that knew him. I have not heard from Dover for some time. I wrote Joseph a letter last week, as you suggested for the pur- pose of encouraging him. He did much better with the farm than I supposed he would, but the season has been very discouraging and I am afraid he will relax his efforts. If he perseveres he will do pretty well as grain will bring a large price. The extensive issue of paper money will inflate prices and people will live fast for awhile. It will be a most excellent time for prudent people to get out of debt, and as
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we are among the prudent ones we will improve the good opportunity. I did not mean this as a lecture to you on economy, but just an acci- dental observation upon the times. I was notified this afternoon to send an ambulance to Corinth tomorrow to bring out the paymaster, as he is to pay our brigade tomorrow, so you see there is a prospect of having some money. We will receive pay up to the first of July, two months from the previous pay day. As soon as I get mine I will express it to you, so that you will have something to make you com- fortable.
I see by your letter that occasionally when you get the blues you still want me to resign. Well, Puss, that is very pretty to talk about, but when it comes to resigning the game is all up. I could not on any pretext whatever get my resignation accepted. The government is now going to throw its whole strength into the war, and they will not listen to an offer of resignation from an officer that has been serving in the army ; they will need a great many new ones and they think the old ones are the best. When the 600,000 new recruits come into the field we will form a line from the Mississippi to Richmond and march right down to the Gulf of Mexico and close the thing up. That will be in the fall, then I can get a chance to come Ihome. We are having some cavalry skirmishes every few days in front of our lines, the boys bring in some secesh prisoners frequently. The health of the army is good and every thing is ready for the secesh if they choose to come.
I am going to give John the position of hospital steward, Goodell is a nuisance. I will offer him John's position. If he does not accept I will put him in the ranks or send him home. John received a letter from his father today. They are all well. Goodbye; a kiss for you and the babies.
J. R. Zearing,
Corinth, Miss., Sunday, Sept. 21, 1862. Dear Wife:
We have had some excitement this week. For the last three days we have been under marching orders, rations cooked and all the usual preparations complete for a march. It has been rumored for some time that Price was meditating an attack upon this place or somewhere upon the forces in this vicinity. On last Thurs. it was ascertained that he had marched past this place with a large army going east, this would bring him in contact with Rosecrans' division which were en- camped about 20 miles east of this place near Iuka. On Friday all the troops from this place, comprising the 2nd and 6th divisions, except our brigade, were sent out to meet them. General Grant taking com- mand in person, in all about 8,000. They met Price's army three miles this side of Iuka. The battle commenced about nine o'clock Saturday morning. At noon we received a telegraphic dispatch from General Grant stating that he had engaged the enemy and defeated them and was in active pursuit. In the middle of the afternoon we received another dispatch that the rebels had made another stand and the fight- ing was severe. We had lost a good many men and one battery of artillery, before night the news was received that the enemy was again
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retreating, we had retaken the artillery and captured all the wounded of the enemy. This morning Rosecrans' troops have continued in pur- suit of Price, and the troops from this place are returning. It all amounts to considerable of a victory. The killed and wounded on both sides are estimated at 1,000. We have not yet received the par- ticulars of the battle. I cannot give the loss on either side. Yesterday and today we expected an attack on this place, as it was supposed that Price would endeavor to draw our troops off by an attack on Iuka, and in their absence make an attack here. We would have had but a small force to have resisted him, the prize would have been valuable as there is an immense amount of munitions of war and army stores here. Our regiment has been encamped about a mile outside the breastworks. Yesterday we moved inside to garrison the town while the main body of the troops were absent. Tomorrow we will move out again. We expect that Price will concentrate his forces and make another attack. It is getting to be good weather for army operations. It is only two or three hours in the middle of the day that it is uncom- fortably warm. The army is in good health and condition, the late news from the Potomac enlivens their spirit. I see by the papers that a large force of "hoosiers" have been captured at Mumfordsville, Ky., after some good fighting. Puss — I received your letter containing the stamps yesterday. You must have had the blues awfully when you wrote that letter. I have a great mind to scold you. You must be an awful eater to have so many women entertaining you. What fruits have you been putting up? I will have to come home and enjoy them. I thought I had instructed you so much on canning that you would know perfectly well how to ship it. My plan is to let them alone and they will grow better. And be careful that you don't suspect that people are begging from you when they are not, or don't magnify little things into mountains. Some people do that. However, I will not make you feel worse by scolding you. The sentiments in your last letter were so good that I will forgive you. You say that you have had no Sabbath school in Springville. How much have you done di- rectly towards supporting one since you have been there? I wrote you in one of my letters about educating Lottie and in another about coming down here. As you have alluded to neither of the subjects in your letters, I presume you did not receive them. Perhaps you will receive them yet. I am in the best of health and would like to see you. I am glad to hear that you are canning peaches. I think I shall taste a few of them.
Good night,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., Oct. 6, 1862. Dear Wife :
I will write you a few lines today amid the excitement of war in its bloodiest character, to let you know that I am all sound. We had been anticipating a heavy attack on this place for some time, especially since the battle of Iuka. But presuming that we could keep open our communication with Jackson, there was not as large a force here as
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should have been to have made it secure against the heavy force. The first positive indication we had of the approach of the enemy in force was on Thursday. The regular train from Columbus failed to come in on Thursday night and we soon learned that the rebels had torn up the track for the distance of several miles at a point seven miles from here and broken the road at other points above. Thursday night our army was all ordered to have rations in haversacks and be ready to move at a moment's warning. At four o'clock on Friday morning the rebels attacked our outposts on the west side of the place on the line of the Memphis road. We had been encamped on the east side of the town. Our brigade was immediately ordered to the point of attack, which was some four miles distant, in company with the bal- ance of the division. They got into position on the extreme left of the line about eight o'clock, and had not been formed in battle line over half an hour before they were attacked by a largely superior force in a most desperate manner. Our men stood the shock nobly, deliver- ing the most steady and effective fire that I have seen during the war. It told fearfully on the enemy as a view of the field shows at present, but it had no effect in checking their march. They advanced on the double quick in the utmost disregard of human life. At this point the rebels overpowered us, taking some of our men prisoners and tak- ing from our brigade two Parrot guns. The country at this locality is heavily timbered and quite undulating, a bad condition for making an orderly retreat. Our division was ordered to fall back, which they accomplished in pretty good order, leaving our dead and badly wounded upon the field. They rallied in good condition and formed a line on a ridge about three-fourths of a mile in the rear. They had not to wait long for the approach of the enemy. They were soon seen advancing in solid column and again the firing became terrific, very destructive on both sides. Our artillery, which had chosen good positions, poured grape and cannister into their ranks with terrible effect, but they soon threw a large force around on our right, endeavoring to cut us off from the right of our army and get between us and the town. To avoid this we were again moved rapidly to the rear, and secured a position defeating their plan. The whole army had been retreating at differ- ent points through the day and were all equally towards the rear. The rebels attacked us in the last positions along our whole line, throw- ing the most of their force on our center. They were met with most determined energy. During the fight on this line our brigade, consist- ing of the 57th, 7th and 50th Illinois, made a charge on the run at their extreme right and drove them back a half mile, capturing some prisoners. From this time their onward progress was checked and as they did not advance our army held its position. It was now about five o'clock and the battle for the day ended, except some skirmishing to watch each others movements. Our army during the night was drawn in within a line of batteries or small forts which have been built by us since the occupation of Corinth. The works built by the rebels pre- vious to our taking the place were too extensive to hold with a small army, being about five miles in diameter. We had built a fortification within theirs enclosing the town, about two miles in diameter. The
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soldiers here slept on their arms awaiting an attack in the morning, which we would conclude must take place, as the rebels had the moral effect of a victory on their side, although dearly bought, and their object was not attained. We had not long to sleep; as early as four in the morning they commenced shelling our works and the town. At sun- rise they commenced an attack with their whole force. There seemed to be no end to their numbers as they swarmed out of the woods on the west and north sides of the town. It certainly did not seem that our small force could resist them an hour. Our batteries opened upon them terribly, but on they came as if on parade, closing up their ranks as fast as their men fell. We held them at a distance for several hours with artillery, they, in the meantime, making different points of attack without success, but with heavy loss. At one o'clock they tired of delay. They ceased firing seemingly bent upon some new movement. In a short time our army was put in the most favorable position and everything ready for whatever might occur. We knew their intent to sacrifice everything to gain their object. The prize lay in plain view before them, large storehouses filled with army stores, munitions of war and everything needed for a destitute army. They advanced upon it, certain of obtaining it. They yet had a force largely superior to ours in numbers. The whole line was engaged, the rebels rushed for- ward, and here occurred one of the most desperate affairs of the whole war. They charged on our whole battery, which consisted of two 30 lb. siege, two rifled Parrot guns and one large howitzer. The battery mowed them down with grape and cannister, while the in- fantry that was supporting it poured in rapid volleys of Minnie balls, but they took it, many of them being shot in the ditch and embrassures of the fort. They could only hold it for a few minutes. Our men charged upon them and drove them out. The dead in front of this battery were far more numerous than I have ever seen on the same space of ground. Defeated at this point, they still fought with courage at others. On the north side of town they succeeded in driving our men partly through the town and effected an entrance into it. My hospital, which was about half a mile on the east side was in great danger from the fire of both armies, the rebels approached within a half mile of it about three o'clock in the afternoon. It looked as if the day and the town was lost, but our men rallied for another desperate effort, and it succeeded. The rebels commenced giving away and soon they commenced a retreat along their whole line, which resulted in a panic. We drove them that night two miles and night was welcomed by every- body. The day following, Sunday, we started in pursuit in conjunction with part of the army from Jackson, which arrived Saturday night. We overtook them Sunday afternoon and captured their whole train and many thousand small arms and prisoners. Their whole army is broken up and scattered. The rebels were commanded by General Price, Villepigue and Lovel. Price had his old troops with him, prin- cipally from Missouri and Arkansas. Our forces were commanded by Rosecrans. Our loss in killed was not very large. We had a great many wounded. I will not give figures as we have not had time to count. We lost one general officer, Hackelman, from Indiana. Gen-
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eral Oglesby, from Illinois, is wounded in the chest and will probably die. I think the rebels have lost in killed six to our one. We have an immense number of their wounded. We have had already four times as many amputations as we had at Shiloh. I am in a good posi- tion for performing them. The loss in our regiment is forty-two wounded and twenty-eight killed and missing. How many of the missing are killed we do not yet know. We think, however, the most of them.
In haste, yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Oct. 11th, 1862. Dear Wife :
Sunday has arrived again and I will steal time enough to write you a few lines. I have the rheumatism so bad in my right shoulder that I can hardly write, it was probably brought on by the storm, as we have had a real cold fall of the year rain storm. Such a change from the extreme heat and dust of the days of the battle is quite welcome. We are getting things in good order again. A fight musses up things in the army like wash day at home, though the soldiers are more cheerful than the women on such occasions. We have had an immense amount of labor to perform during the past week taking care of the wounded. Besides our own we have had about a thousand of the rebel wounded to take care of. The most of the latter have been removed to Iuka and left in charge of their own surgeons, a number of whom were captured. Our wounded are well provided for, and we are now sending them to hospitals in the north. I have not sent any of mine yet, but will probably in a few days. I would rather keep them with me until they recover, but we will have to dispose of them so as to be ready to march or to receive more wounded should another battle occur. The smoke of the battle has pretty well blown away and now we can get a pretty good view of the results. It has certainly been a severe defeat to the rebels. They have failed in their attack, been defeated and pursued with a loss to them of eight thousand killed, wounded and prisoners, a heavy loss of the munitions of war and transportation, and the moral effect upon their mind that the army of the southwest Qannot be beaten. They were pursued on Sunday and Monday as far as the Hatchie River where they rallied for a fight. They had a severe but short fight at this point. They were defeated again. They then retreated in a panic, throwing away their arms and baggage in immense quantities. The woods were full of stragglers along the route. Our force pursued them as far as Ripley, where they stopped pursuit in consequence of the rebels dividing into so many small divisions as to make the pursuit useless. The rebel force, as near as we can learn was forty thousand. Our force on Friday and Saturday was about fifteen thousand, which were rein- forced on Saturday evening by troops from Jackson. The rebel pris- oners, as usual, are of all shades of uniform, the gray and butternut prevailing. We have been a part of Gen. Lovell's guard, a French company of Zouaves from New Orleans. They are very dashy in their
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dress. Our troops are now returning to Corinth. It is expected that the rebels will try it again as soon as they can get reinforcements from the south. I think the probability is that we will be marched farther south to meet them. Puss — I am afraid you will disappoint the chil- dren by telling them that they could expect me home, as you said you did in your last letter. Just at present I cannot see an opening to slip .out. However, I shall watch the cracks closely and if any open I shall slip through. Part of our regiment started for St. Louis last Thurs- day as a guard with six hundred of the prisoners. We have another lot on hand which I presume will be sent to the same destination, and it is probable that the balance of the regiment will be sent with them. If it does the Colonel and staff will, I presume, go along and then I will try and slip across the country to see my wife and babies. If you are anxious to see me, don't raise your anticipations too high, as they may not be realized. I should indeed be anxious to see Ned before he goes to his long home, as I have no doubt from your description of him that he is tending that way rapidly, and I will not probably have the satisfaction of seeing him again. I presume you have by the time this reaches you stirring events in Kty. If the rebels are well whipped there the west will be quiet through the winter. Give my love to all and a kiss for yourself.
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., Dec. 7th, 1862. Dear Wife :
I received another letter from you this week in which you inform me that you are improving in health, which I was extremely glad to hear. I judge from the general tenor of your letter, although you have expressed no definite opinion, that, you are well contented with your temporary residence in Thorntown. How would you like it as a permanent one? Or is your experience too limited as yet to reply? My reason for asking you the question is this, I received a letter from Joseph yesterday stating that he thought it, the Dover home, could be sold to a good advantage. That Dr. Grow, Dr. Robinston's partner, and also Dr. Conants wished to buy the place. It is probable that the place might be sold for more than it is intrinsically worth to us, as it would really be necessary for us to build a new house. Yet it seems pleasant to me as a home. We have spent many happy hours there, and it is a pleasant village to live in, though a very expensive one, as it requires large expenditures every year to keep up the place. I wish in your next letter you would get an opinion from Matt, as to the propriety and probable success of a good drug store in Thorntown. It is probable that I may leave the army in the spring and indeed it is possible that I may leave before that time, on account of difficulties ex- isting in the regiment, although there are none in which I am directly interested. There has been ever since the consolidation of the two regiments in Chicago a jealousy existing between the two. Lately it has grown to such proportions as to induce very open enmity. The cause most prominent is the superior military knowledge of our Lieut. Col. over that of the Col. and the greater esteem which the mass of
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the regiment had for the former. This jealousy induced the Colonel to prefer charge against the Lieut. Col. and also against a number of the line officers. They in return have preferred charges against him, so you will preceive that court martial will occupy our attention for the next few weeks, and may result in destroying the regiment. I have some feeling in the matter and my sympathy is with the Lieut. Col. If he should leave the regiment I should desire to do so also, and as my anxieties are to be at home it would not require any remarkable pressure to induce me to leave. I shall, however, be calm and wait the result of events. Mrs. Crossley started for home yesterday on a visit. She intends to return in a couple of weeks. You can imagine how lonesome I will be during her absence. Capt. Mills was married when he was at home. He told Mrs. Crossley to bring Alice down with her. If she comes you may presume it will relieve the monotony of camp life. Mrs. Linton and Mrs. Barr are still here enjoying themselves very well. We have no war news of any importance. I presume you get the news of Grant's advance sooner that we get it here. Wish we were with him in the field. It would keep us in better discipline. Being in garrison we have nothing to do but to keep up the memory of old causes of quarrel, and agitation of them begets more ill feelings. We are all in good health, and the weather is the most delightful I ever saw. We have the hospital in very comfortable condition. We have just received a box of delicacies from the ladies of Peru. We have also a box on the way from the ladies of Princeton. We will now have full supplies for the winter. Write soon and let me know how you feel. Accept a good night kiss.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., Dec. 14th, 1862. Dear Wife :
I write you again to inform you that I am in good health and en- joying myself very well. This is perhaps the most important news that I have to communicate. We are still having a pretty quiet time, though the last week has been a little more exciting than usual. The guerillas having become pretty bold of late, an expedition was started out to drive them or capture them. The were found about forty miles south- east of this place and were attacked. There was a pretty sharp fight for a short time, resulting in the capture, wounding, and killing of about fifty of them and the destruction of their camp. We had about a dozen wounded. There is another expedition out which we have not heard from yet. We had a very serious accident happen to one of our Bureau County boys last week, Jacob Butts. He, in company with a number of soldiers from the 12th regiment, went out with a train to LaGrange as guard. On their return by R. R. a gun was discharged accidently, which shot him through both legs above the knees shattering the bones. We amputated both legs, he nearly di>:d during the operation, but has since rallied and there seems to be some chance for his recovery. Such fearful mutilations hardly offers a chance to hope for his recovery, and if he does it will be a rare case. Capt. Mills immediately telegraphed to Alice to come down She
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arrived last night. I have given her and the Capt. one of my rooms to stay in for the present. It looked really like home in Dover to see Alice's face here. She is the same frank, forward girl she was before her marriage. I fancied I could see her trooping across the street towards our gate as she used to do. She expressed a regret that you had not written to her. She sends her compliments to you. Her time will be closely occupied in attending on her brother as he will need the closest watching.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., Jany. 6, 1863. Dear Wife:
I take the earliest opportunity of opening communication with you to inform you that I am still alive and well, and very happy to have received two letters from you last night after long anxiety to hear from you. I received last night two letters, the last dated December 28th. Was very happy to hear that you were all well and enjoying yourselves. I wrote you a letter three days after the rebels cut the railroad and put it in the post office so that it would start as soon as the road opened, but it was a long time starting. The rebels destroyed the road very extensively, burning bridges and trestle work, so as to require nearly weeks to repair. They crossed the Tennessee River and made their first attack on the railroad at Trenton. They captured the garri- son at that place, consisting of one Illinois regiment. They then com- menced destroying the road for several miles on either side of that place. As soon as we heard of their attack the force here was marched north between the railroad and river to intercept them on their return, but instead of returning they crossed the road and marched south to Holly Springs, destroying the road in the rear of Gen. Grant's army. They captured Holly Springs. This had been the general depot for stores for Grant's army. Large quantities of military clothing and munitions of war were there, estimated in value at three millions of dollars. The rebels attacked the place, captured the garrison and car- ried off and burned all the property. Their force was all mounted and moved very rapidly, so it was impossible to catch them with the in- fantry. It is going to be very difficult to keep these roads open, and you must make up your mind that occasionally you will not hear from me very regularly. We have become very short of food here — on half rations for two weeks, but have not suffered. Now that the road is open we expect to be more liberally supplied. Puss, we still have lively times in our regiment quarreling. Our Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel and several company officers have been under arrest. I think, however, the matter will quiet down bye and bye. It is, however, a good time for me to get out of the service, and if circumstances permit I shall certainly improve the opportunity. I will watch events closely and see what I can do. Puss, I will write you again very soon, and I just write this to send by the first mail.
Yours with a kiss,
J. R. Zearing.
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Corinth, Jany. 27th, 1863. My Dear Puss :
I write you a few lines this evening to let you know that I have arrived safe at home. I got through yesterday after a slow and tedious journey. I came through by Columbus and had to walk five miles through mud and water, through the swamps where the rebels had burned the trestle work. The water has been so high for three weeks past that the workmen have been unable to continue the work of repair- ing. I think they will leave it unfinished and repair and use the road running direct to Memphis.
Puss, you will be astonished when I tell you that I met Mrs. Crossley and Stephen Studevant at Cairo. I accidently learned that there were some ladies aboard a boat that were acquainted with me, and going to see who they might be, I found the whole party ready to start for Corinth by way of Memphis. As they were well provided with company, I concluded to take the direct route to Columbus. They arrived all well, and it seemed to be a happy meeting with their hus- bands. A baby in the party is a very fine one and very quiet. The latter quality will recommend it to all the household. In a few days we will be well situated. We will have three good rooms for our own use, Mary, John and I will keep house, so you can imagine we will live very comfortably. Mary brought with her a trunk full of luxuries, which, while they last, will be a great addition to our table. Mary has no definite idea as to the time she will stay here. I presume it will be governed by the convenience of staying. I find things here pretty much as when I left. A division of troops had arrived here, but were im- mediately ordered to Memphis. Col. Baldwin's trial will commence this week. It will excite a good deal of interest, as there has been a great deal of talk about it. The paymaster will commence paying off in a few days, when I hope to have some money. He will only pay for two months. I will write you soon again. Write me immediately.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss. Feb. 14, 1863. Dear Wife :
I have received one letter from you of Feb. 1 and am anxiously ex- pecting another. I was very glad to hear that you were all remaining well. You say that the children were disappointed at my departure in the night. It has been a source of regret to me since that I could not have bid them goodbye when they were awake, as a person always likes to reflect upon the last look and expression 'of the friends we bid good bye to. But in this life we often have to sacrifice our feelings to the circumstances by which we are surrounded.
I have written you three letters since I returned, in the last one I informed you that we had received two months' pay and I enclosed in that letter twenty dollars which I hope you have received in good time. I could spare you one hundred more which I would express to you, but we are expecting to be paid again in a few days. If we do I will express the whole to father Helmer to keep for us. If we are not paid soon I will send you some more for your own use and to buy
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the baby a dress. I wrote father a long letter this week which I pre- sume will please him, as he has not heard directly from me for some time.
Puss, we are getting along here about as usual. Mary is keep- ing house for us and we are living very comfortably. We have ladies call on us frequently and have social times taking tea and playing cards. Nearly everybody plays cards here. They think it a very innocent amusement. I presume, however, if the ladies' friends at home knew of it they would be shocked at the knowledge of it. I hope they will not become so addicted to the practice as to retain their taste for it when they return home. I find there are a great many things practiced in the army that would not be considered strictly correct at home. I suppose it is because we are seldom instructed by our chaplains. They grow as lazy in their habits as the rest of us, and you know it would hardly be proper to excell our instructors. But then you need not fear that I will acquire any very bad habits for you know that I have always been very strict. Our army here is still very quiet ; more troubles about their northern peace-makers than the southern rebels. It is strange that the people would favor an armistice at this juncture of affairs and throw away all the lives that have been lost and the treasure expended and the Union with it. There is nothing more certain in my mind that if the people of the north would remain united and push the war vigorously for six months longer the rebels must return to their allegiance. Their resources are greatly exhausted, they have to resort to the most severe laws to fill up their armies, the mass of their people are discouraged and are becoming mutinous. This is shown by the numbers from this vicinity who are claiming protection or enlisting in our ranks. Since we have been here we have enlisted hundreds of able bodied good soldiers, and for the last two months they have been increasing rapidly, so much so that they are making for forming a full regiment. Those that have come in from a distance south represent that an immense number would enlist if they could get here. The army is as determined as ever to fight until the rebellion is crushed. There is scarcely a symptom of disaffection. The officers of the Illinois regiments here met a few weeks ago and passed reso- lutions in favor of sustaining the war, approving of the course pursued by the Governor of the State, and condemning the acts of the recent legislature of that State. They have been published in the Chicago papers. Perhaps you have had an opportunity of reading them. I think there will be a strong reaction in the present sentiment of the majority of those who are advocating peace, and they will contend for a more vigorous prosecution of the war than ever. Write soon.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, Miss., March 8, 1863. Dear Puss :
I last wrote you from Burnsville, to which place our regiment had gone on an expedition. We returned day before yesterday and are now in our old quarters. We got through the trip nicely feeling re- freshed by the country air. There is nothing special in news here, all
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is very quiet. We are anxiously expecting important news from Vicks- burg or some other point. Last week all the troops at Memphis passed down to Vicksburg, among them the 93rd Illinois, the regiment that was partially raised in Bureau County. I understand the boys are in good spirits. They will see some rough soldiering down the Mississippi. This movement of the troops down, I think, indicates an immediate attack on Vicksburg. If the rebels take a few more of our rams they will drive us out of the river, but hereafter they will have to take them all together if they take them at all.
The weather at present is very mild. Peach trees are in bloom and the small shrubbery will soon have leaves on, but it is almost rain- ing continuously. April showers with scarcely perceptible intervals between them. Yet with it all, it is not very muddy. The soil is not broken up by freezing, so that it is settled and firm. The ladies are cultivating flowers to some extent. They gather roots from gardens around town where they have escaped destruction, and transplant them in boxes. Mary has a few started, but John has not much taste for the cultivation of them, so that I fear they will suffer for want of care. I will, however, pay some attention to it myself, so as to have some for your pleasure when you come down. In my last letter I gave you an invitation to come down and visit me, presuming that you would like to. I presume by this time you have received the letter and are arguing the subject over pro and con. I hope the affirmative will prevail, as I would like very much to see you. I wrote you that Mrs. Linton had gone home and that if you would like to visit Dover, you might go around that way and start from there with her. Perhaps that would be the most agreeable way. I learned from Linton that she will . start toward the last of this month, or if you wish to come more direct, you can come on to Cairo direct from where you are. With your experience in traveling I think you would not have any difficulty. The cars arrive at Cairo about daylight ; the boat leaves for Columbus immediately. You take breakfast on the boat, and arrive in Columbus in two hours, when you will immediately take the cars and come through to Corinth, the same day. I will be at the depot ready to receive you. You can bring one large trunk full of clothes. You will find men at the cars and boats to carry it for pay. I wrote you that if you thought best you could bring one of the children, either Lottie or Lizzie; not that I have any preference, but if you brought Lottie she would take care of herself, and if Lizzie, you would have the one that needs you most. Lula is half way between. Puss, I have just learned that there will be no more trains run to Columbus. That part of the road from Jackson to Columbus will be vacated, so you will have to keep the boat to Memphis. Thi's will be a more pleasant route for you. Mr. Linton wrote his wife that you would come down with her. She will start in about two weeks, so you had better get ready as soon as possible.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
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The Other Side of Corinth, June 6, '63. Dear Puss :
I write you a few lines in great haste this morning just to inform you that I have this day expressed to Father .Hdmer, at Bedford, Ind., seven hundred dollars, which you will please inform him so that he can send for it.
I suppose you have read all about the evacuation of Corinth in the papers. I have not time to say anything, as we just received orders to march in haste. I have an opportunity of sending the express pack- age to the river this morning and hastily send this also. I am trying to get home soon when I will tell you all about it. It is my opinion a great victory at a small cost to us. I have no idea where we are going to, but if we ever reach the Mississippi, I will take boat and come up and see you. I have been somewhat unwell for a few days, but shall feel better soon.
Yours affectionately,
J. R. Zearing.
Corinth, July 1st, '63. Dear Wife:
I arrived at home yesterday and found the folks as we left them — all pretty well. It seems very lonesome to me since my return. I sat upon the porch last night, it was a beautiful calm moonlight, well adapted to thoughts of absent friends and I anxiously thought of jour trip homeward. Today I received a Memphis paper, and as there is no reports of boats having been fired upon since your leaving Memphis, I consoled myself with the belief that you had made the trip to Cairo in safety.
Today, or tomorrow, I presume, will find you receiving the wel- come of your friends at home. I fancy you had no difficulty in the transit over the railroad, .as we learned by the papers that the raiders from Kentucky were all captured in Indiana. I am very anxious about your health, and almost regret I did not keep you here two weeks longer, that you might have fully recovered. I trust that you are rap- idly recovering. I shall await your first letter with interest.
Baldwin was here when I arrived and has been actively engaged trying to get in command of the regiment. He called on General Dodge. The General would not see him personally, but sent him word that if he had any papers he could send them for his examination. Baldwin sent the papers. After examing them Dodge sent him word that there was nothing about them that made him anything but a civil- ian. Baldwin was non-plussed, but endeavored to excite sympathy. This morning the provost guard arrested him, took him to the cars and started him for Memphis. This, I think, will be the last of him in mili- tary circles. There is nothing new in military affairs since you left except increasing of an approaching attack on Memphis, Corinth, or both. Our cavalry is constantly out watching. We are now having all we want of blackberries. The boys get two or three pails full a day. I presume you will soon have them at home. Give my love to all the friends. A kiss for you.
J. R. Zearing.
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Blynnville, Tenn., December 15, 1863. Dear Wife : ,
I was very glad to receive your letter of December 6th, through in six days, quite an improvement in time. I was glad to hear of the continuous good health of all the family and friends. My own health is of the best kind, which is very satisfactory to my feelings, but severe on beef and corn. I eat very largely now of beef and corn bread for breakfast and dinner and invariably mush and milk for supper, good rich milk from our own cow. I am very fond of the mush and milk, and next to yourself and the babies, I love it better than anything else. Dunton, the old nurse in the hospital at Corinth, is cook, and a good one he is. He is as clean as a woman, and as sen- sitive as an old maid. So far as comfort is concerned I am well situ- ated, and if your good looking was here, I should be happy. We are still quietly situated as when I last wrote. Every few days detach- ments of our mounted infantry are sent out to scour the country along the Tennessee River for the purpose of preventing the rebels from getting supplies out of this state. Some of our forces came in this morning from a scout. They brought in a rebel major and five pri- vates. They were surprised in their camps, and besides the prisoners, our men captured twenty horses and a number of small arms. This is represented to be part of the advance of Johnson's army from Mis- sissippi, who are crossing the Tennessee near Florence. They either designed making an attack somewhere in Grant's rear and cut off* the railroads, or have come over for the purpose of gathering supplies. Since they have been prevented getting supplies of meat from across the Mississippi, they have received large amounts from Tennessee, especially this portion of the state, and they are undoubtedly in great need of it. It is very important to the rebels at this time that they keep up a show of power in Tennessee. The people of this state are rapidly becoming loyal. They seem to be generally impressed with the belief that the rebel cause is hopeless, and they are tired of spoliations. Since the late battles they are free in expressing a desire to have the Union restored. They still cling with tenacity to the negro, but in two months from now, if no serious reverses to our arms take place, they will go, nigger and all. They are daily becoming convinced that they would be better off without the negro. They are continually losing their best negroes by their joining the army. Last week I inspected a hundred and twenty, fine, sleek negroes for mustering in, all collected in this vicinity. Their masters feel relieved by having them join the army, as then they feel secure from any injury being done. The ne- groes that stay at home are worthless — even the females are impudent and saucy. The people generally are in a state of terror. They lock and bar their doors at night with as much feeling of fear as our fore- fathers did in the time of the Indian wars. In some instances resi- dents here have applied for guards to protect them from their own negroes.
Puss, I was glad to hear in your last letter that you had received the money from Memphis. We have been paid again. I can send you six hundred dollars this time. Five hundred and fifty dollars in an
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order on the treasury at Louisville, which can be cashed any time, and a fifty dollar bill. I will enclose them in this letter. The only risk will be the fifty dollar bill, as the order, if lost will be replaced. Puss, I am still inclined to think that investment of those bonds will be a good thing. They can be had in sums of fifty dollars and upwards. Those from fifty up to five hundred will be used as bank notes in circu- lation. Do, however, as father thinks best. You can start him on a pleasure trip to Louisville, and he can there get the bonds if he thinks best. * * * Are you getting ready to come ? Give my respects to all. A kiss for you.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Sunday, March 20th, 1864.
Athens, Alabama. Dear Wife :
One week ago today we arrived in this place; we are still here, not knowing how long we will remain. The opinion of the officers are quite various, some thinking that we will remain for a long time, others presuming that as soon as the pontoon bridge at Decatur is finished, which will be in one week, that we will be ordered to march south of the Tennessee River. I think we will remain; perhaps "the wish is father to the thought," as this is a desirable place to spend the summer. We are fixing up as if to remain permanently. The men are building barracks and will soon be comfortable.
I am fixed comfortable beyond description, real luxury. In the first place, I have for a hospital a large two story brick house with basement for kitchen. The house is situated in a large enclosure con- taining shade trees, paved walks and a large variety of shrubs and flowers. In the same yard embowered in shade trees stands a small brick office, which is my offices, containing sofa, mahogany bedstead, table, chairs, etc. A large library of choice books here awaits my leisure hours. In the yard is a large green house filled with choice flowers in pots, growing well and awaiting the season's advance to be set upon the porch and along the walks to add fragrance and beauty to the scene. I have a variety of roses, geraniums, camelias, rhodo- dendrons, mosses, oleanders, cactuses, etc. Some of the more tender plants have been winter killed, the winter has been more severe than usual and some of the glass has been broken. I will, however, have a fine variety. Besides all of these luxuries I have been invited to board with one of the first families of the place. The house is a palatial residence and all things to correspond. I have a fine room to myself and plenty of servants at my command. The board is ex- cellent and the ladies of the house very pleasant. They desired my company as the gentleman of the house is absent a considerable por- tion of the time attending to his plantation. All this is free; will not take a cent of pay. So you will perceive that I am doing well. I sympathize very much with you in your little eight by ten domicile and hope you are contented, but I don't think I will be able to relish such living in the future. But it is not all play with us at present. The same recruits are giving us a great deal to do. I have about twenty
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in hospital and increasing rapidly. The measles has broken out among them, we have about a dozen cases of that disease, some cases of lung fever and other diseases consequent upon exposure. But I think this sickness will not last long. They will soon become inured to exposure. Your letter of 13th instant was received and was eagerly perused. You should have received my letter from Louisville before that time. I am sorry you feel so lonely. I wish I could be with you to cheer you. You must not think too much about our separation. The time will soon pass by when we will be together again. I was very glad to hear that Lottie has recovered and that the other ones were well. Take good care of them. Did Lew say anything about paying on that note ? He enlisted while in Chicago and received a hundred dollars bounty. I saw him the day we left. He spoke of the note, expressing his great regret about, etc., and said before he left he would pay part of it. I presume that he had not much intention of doing so. I gave Will an order on you for forty dollars and money to pay a note which he said he had against me. I do not remember the note, but he said he had it among his papers at Princeton. If he produces the note it will be all right. You can pay it when Taylor pays that note. Have you money enough to live on? Don't stint yourself too closely. I am en- tirely destitute. We as yet hear nothing of paymasters. I hope they will come along soon. I am very fortunate, however, in not having any expenses as I am situated now. Mrs. Linton and Mrs. Bane are living in the same house. They are very pleasantly situated. I intend calling on them soon. I have received a call from them. I have called on Mrs. Dodge, they are very agreeable. I am glad to hear that Re- becca and Elizabeth are well situated. Give them my love. Has Mary heard again from John? I wish he was here. Good bye.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Athens, Ala., April, 1864. Dear Wife :
Your letter of the 10th instant came duly to hand, with the con- tents, $10.00. I had no especial use for the money, but now that I have it I presume that I shall spend it. If we do not get paid before we are ordered to march I shall need it. We have indications that military operations are coming on, and that the usual amount of alarms and marching will take place this summer as last. Last Sat. we were ordered to be ready to march with five days' rations. Sat. and Sun. we were held in readiness. Mon. things quieted and we are now in our usual condition. The cause of the disturbance was a threatened attack by the rebels on Decatur. They hovered around the place, but finally retired without making an attack. They are still in front of Decatur in considerable force watching our movements. I think if we move forward that there will be a fight in front of De- catur. I see from the papers that there is some fighting in a small way in all the departments, the prelude to heavier battles. The rebels are having their own way in west Tenn. since we left Corinth. For- rest's command is doing a large amount of injury by attacking and
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capturing small bodies of our forces, the capture and massacre at Ft. Pillow has excited a great deal of indignation throughout the army and they are anxious for retaliation. There will undoubtedly be some severe battles this spring and some probability that we will participate in some of them. We are still of the opinion that we will be moved from here in a short time. Sickness is lessening very fast and our men will be in a good condition for a march. We will soon have easy times again. I found a little leisure in the first of the week and improved it by taking a visit to Huntsville, which is about forty miles by R. R. from here. I had heard so much of the beauties of the place that I had a great deal of curiosity to see it. It was called the gem of the south, and I think it is deserving of the name. It is situ- ated close to a range of the Cumberland range of mountains and sur- rounded by a very fertile country. The scenery is very beautiful and the inhabitants having been very wealthy and possessed of good taste have ornamented the village in fine style. There are many magnificent residences, and the yards and gardens are ornamented by flowers and shrubbery on a very extensive scale. While there I visited the camp of the 93rd 111., had a very pleasant visit. Saw a good many Bureau County men, but failed to see many that I would liked to have seen. Lieutenant Lee's company are away from the regiment several miles guarding the regiment, consequently I did not see any of them. Lee is promoted to captain, a promotion I presume well deserved. I saw my old friend Dr. Hopkins. I was very glad to see him. He is doing very well and I think is pretty well liked by the regiment. Mr. Taylor was with the regiment. He was looking very healthy and seemed well contented. The money that Mr. Taylor paid you I wish you could loan out at interest. I think Dr. Robinson could loan it to good advantage if he would feel interested in it, but I don't think you can depend upon him too much in that way. I presume you can lend it safely at a low rate of interest, it would be better to put it out at six per cent than to have it lie idle. I saw a notice in the papers that the government was commencing to pay the interest on the 5-20 bonds. I presume that they will be paid at Chicago, or the brokers there will buy them at a small discount. I would cut off those coupons that are due the first of May and send them to Chicago, they are payable in gold, and as the gold is as high now probably as it will be, I would sell the gold for greenbacks. I am sorry that you had the difficulty about your letters. It is very unpleasant to have one's private affairs so extensively read.
Good bye and a kiss for the babies.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Letter of W. M. Zearing to Mrs. James R. Zearing.
Chicago, III., 5th May, 1864. Mrs. J. R. Zearing:
Dear Madam : Your kind letter of date 26th A pril, ult, enclos- ing forty-five dollars coupons on bonds, duly reached me. I was anx- ious to realize every cent on them and therefore did not dispose of
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them on the first day of May as I expected gold would advance some. It has advanced some, but there is some probability it will advance more, still if you insist on it being sold I will do so forthwith. On the first Monday of May the brokers would not offer over seventy-four on account of the fears that gold would fluctuate or fall, and I did not like to sell it below their usual paying rates which is within one and two cents of the price gold brings in New York. Today I was offered seventy-seven cents, but gold sold today in New York seventy-nine and a half and during a part of today it reached as high as one dollar and eighty-one cents in New York. If it does not soon take arise I will sell it in a few days as I think it safest not to wait long. Still I am certain it cannot fall much and may go up higher, but if you write to sell it I will do the best I can and let it slide immediately. I will send the amount it brings in a draft. In reference to the note I will look- over my papers here as soon as I get leisure, but I think it is with my papers down there. I saw it a few months ago in my large pocket book, but I changed some of the papers from there. In excellent health. Hoping you and your friends are all well.
Yours,
W. M. Zearinc.
In Maj. Zearing's letters to his wife he repeatedly speaks of his anxiety of keeping his family in money and the danger of sending money home.
Snake Gap, Ga., May 12, 1864. Dear Wife:
I last wrote you from Chicamauga on Wed. last. I am informed that no mails are allowed to pass north of Chattanooga until this ex- pedition has been brought to some conclusion, so I fear that you will have some time of anxious suspense until the mail embargo is removed. General Dodge's and General Logan's commands under McPherson, moved from Chickamauga in a southwest direction until we arrived at this gap in the mountains which is 18 miles directly south of Dalton and 57 miles of Chattanooga. Thomas' army still lies at Tunnel Hill im- mediately north of Dalton, and Hooker's command is about half way be- tween the two. We arrived at this gap yesterday, the rebels attacked our front with cavalry at this point, but we drove them from our front as we proceeded until we arrived within one mile of the R. R. near Resaca. At that place is a large R. R. bridge. The rebels are in large force at that place and have strong fortifications. We were not ordered to attack the place so at night we fell back to this gap, which is naturally a very strong position. Our division lost in the skirmishing throughout the day four killed and twenty-three wounded. The rebels lost eight killed and near forty wounded, which fell into our posses- sion. We also captured a"bout fifty prisoners. When I last wrote you I supposed that the whole force would immediately march on Dalton and bring on a general engagement, but it seems that our generals are adopting some strategic measures which I do not understand, but which I hope will result in something important. The army mjay lay in their present position for some days or we may move any moment. It will
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perhaps depend on the movements of the rebels. The present position of our part of the army is rather hazardous, one being so far in the rear of so large an army as the rebels have at Dalton. They might, unless Thomas in their front, watches them very closely, throw the larger part of their army against us, but I do not fear it as we are watching them very closely. We are living very rough here in the woods. We are all on short rations on account of the difficulty of transporting them. However, our appetites are in a condition to con- sume all and everything we can get in the way of eatables. I never felt better in my life, perfectly well, though exposed to hot sun and cold rains. I think we shall get far worse before we fare better.
We hear of important victories for the army of the Potomac and an opinion prevails that they will take Richmond. I have not received a letter from you since I left Huntsville. Am anxious to hear from you. I hope you are doing well.
Good bye, yours,
J. R. Zearing.
May 17, 1864.
I have had no opportunity of sending the within. We have been fighting for the last three days. Today the whole of Johnson-s army are on the retreat. Our army is pursuing in haste. We have been busy night and day with the wounded. Our division has suffered con- siderable. The 57th has not had any casualties. We are now in he advance of the pursuit.
Yours well, in haste,
J. R. Zearing. Lays Ford, Ga.
Rome, Ga., May 24th, 1864. Dear Wife :
I believe I last wrote you from Kingston while in pursuit of the enemy. At that place the whole army rested for three days. We had then marched night and day in the pursuit and were completely tired out. The rebs had the advantage of us in the retreat as they had the bridges to pass over the streams and would burn them in their rear, and they were retreating on their supplies while we had to bring our forward. At Kingston our brigade was sent to occupy this place until the 17th Army Corps came up to relieve us. Gen. Dodge assured us we would not have to remain here over ten days. I hope we will not as I would much prefer being in the front where the fighting is. We have now been here one week and we learn that the troops that are to relieve us are within fifteen miles of the place, so I expect in two days we will be marching towards Atlanta. It was expected that Johnson would make a stand at the Altona Mountains on the Chata- hoochie River, fifteen miles south of Kingston. Sherman, it seemes, stopped his army at Kingston a purpose to give the rebels a chance to stop and fortify that place. It being on the railroad Johnson sup- posed we would necessarily come that way. When Sherman ascer- tained they had stopped at that place, he left the railroad and marched
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around them on the right to get between them and Atlanta. He suc- ceeded in getting equally near Atlanta as the rebels were. When find- ing out his intentions they commenced retreating again. The two armies are now racing for Atlanta, fighting as they go, side by side. It is confidently hoped that Sherman will get there soon enough to prevent Johnson from taking advantage of the strong works that have been built there. Two days longer will determine, as the armies were within a few miles of Atlanta yesterday. I hope we will be in at the taking of the place. Sherman will destroy Johnson's army before he quits it, and if Grant succeeds equally as well with Lee's army, I shall expect to be home at the doings you are going to have next fall. I have not determined yet whether to call the boy Grant or Sherman. We are very pleasantly situated here in Rome. Quite a number of families moved away on the approach of our troops so we have plenty of vacant houses to occupy for our quarters. It is a town of about three thousand inhabitants, with all the appurtenances of a city, as gas works, town hall, churches, etc. There was a foundry for the casting of cannon and a large rolling mill had just been completed. There was also a dry dock for the building and repair of boats. It is a very beautiful city. Next to Huntsville it is the handsomest I have seen. The streets are shaded with magnificent shade trees. It is like walking in a continuous bower. The houses are on such large lots that ample space is given for trees and flowers. And such flowers ! The rose is now in its perfection. The whole town seems to be one vast rose bed, every variety of size and color. I never before saw such magnificence. In riding through the streets the perfume is per- ceptible at all times. This town was a place of a good deal of busi- ness. It has direct communication with Mobile by steamboat and by railroad communication with all parts of the south. The inhabitants at present seem very peaceable and talk very mildly. But every man in the place belonged to some military organization. We find arms in every house. In one of the town wells we found three pieces of cannon. It was near this place that Col. Streight was captured. The citizens all turned out to assist in his capture. We have just learned that the 15th and 16th Army Corps have had a severe fight near Dallas. Our division suffered considerably. The rebels were whipped with a very heavy loss. It makes me feel anxious to be with them. We lost a very fine young man yesterday by drowning in the river. He was attempting to swim across the river but became exhausted and sank His name was John Van Law, of Arlington. I received your letter of May 18th today ; was very sorry to learn that your health was uncom- fortable. I hope you will soon grow better. I am surprised that Mary does not hear from John again. I see by the papers that they have been removing the prisons more into the interior from Richmond, which will make it more difficult for him to communicate. In regard to the amount of pay for the tombstones for father's and mother's graves, I would leave that to you. Whatever you think is right will suit me. It seems that you do not find a very ready market for money. If you cannot loan it, it will do to keep. lam sorry that Joseph is still borrowing money. I don't believe there is any real need of it.
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At what period in his life does he expect to get out of debt? I think the less chances he has to bonow money the better it will be for him. If he wants to borrow of you it would be better to discourage him. If Will has not already sold the coupons he had better do so at once. I think gold will tumble down rapidly soon. A kiss for you.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Kingston, Georgia, May 20th, 1864. Dear Wife :
I last wrote you from Lays Ford on the Eustenow River, which was last Tuesday. The day after we crossed the river in pursuit of the enemy. They resisted our crossing with a good deal of earnest- ness. We had some severe skirmishing and artillery firing. We drove them off during the day. Our division lost over a hundred men killed and wounded. The 57th lost two killed and ten wounded, also two missing, none, I presume that you were acquainted with, the nearest living to Dover was a man by the name of Irwin who lived at Lamoille. He was killed,. After dressing the wounded we sent them back to Resaca, from which place they will be sent to Chattanooga by railroad. We are still marching in pursuit of the enemy, not giving them a mo- ment's rest. As we have to skirmish with them continually it makes our progress slow but very tiresome. We frequently have to march half the night, and under orders to move at a moment's notice at all times. You may well suppose that we are all tired, but all en- thusiastic. We still hope to capture a good many of them and also their supply trains. We expected they would make a stand at this place, so we marched here in the night, but this morning we find they are still retreating. We expect to move after them immediately, it is still expected that they will resist us at some point this side of Atlanta, which is about fifty miles from here. The country so far has furnished us but small quantities of supplies, so that we have been compelled to live exclusively on army rations and of those we have had very short supply, but we learn that after we proceed fifteen miles further the country is more fertile and better cultivated and we will have more variety of food, which will be duly gathered and appreciated. We will also receive some supplies by the R. R., which is repaired as fast as we move. The rebels burned the large bridge at Resaca when they evacuated, but in three days the bridge was rebuilt and our cars are now running to this place. It was considered certain that the bridge would be burned so that before the fight our authorities had the bridge framed and loaded on cars at Chattanooga and ready to put up.
The result of the battles around Dalton and Resaca from official sources show that the enemy lost in all about 2,500 killed and wounded and near 2,000 prisoners. We also captured 14 pieces of cannon. Our loss is very considerable, amounting to 2,000 killed and wounded. We also captured some supplies at Resaca. Well, the troops are beginning to move, where I will write you from next I do not know, but shall improve the first opportunity. I presume that you will find the letters to be long on the way to you as yours are now to me. I have received
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none since the one dated May 1 and am very anxious to hear from you. I take it for granted that you are all well. You will find that by taking a great deal of outdoor exercise and letting plenty of fresh air into your bedroom at night you will be much more comfortable. My health is so good that it is perfect luxury. I never was better in my life. I think Joseph would hardly stand the exposure of camp life. If he could I would not object to his going in. He should not read the Chicago Times as it undoubtedly poisons his mind with false prin- ciples. There is danger in time of war in adhering to party at the ex- pense of our patriotism. Good bye. A kiss for you and the babies.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Rome, Ga., June 28, 1864. Dear Wife:
You will find a long interval between this and my last letter to you, I think nearly two weeks. The cause of it is that I have been away from Rome and no opportunity for writing. Last week I went down to the front to see about some business and curious to know the positions of the armies. The rebels were occupying the Kennesaw Mountains which lay around Marrietta, about 15 miles this side of Atlanta. They have a strong natural position and are strongly forti- fied. Their rear extends to the Chattahoochie River. Our army is laying inside of breastworks, which are within rifle shot of the enemy along the whole front. There is continual firing from one side to the other by the sharp shooters and every day a good many on either side are killed and wounded. This skirmishing scarcely attracts much attention but will foot up largely in the aggregate losses of our army. The position now gained by Sherman has required a good deal of fighting to secure and his advance has been very slow for the last ten days. The general belief was that Johnson could not retreat from his position without heavy losses, and I think he intends to make a stand where he is and give a severe fight. When I left day before yesterday it was expected that Sherman would make a general attack on that day, but there was nothing unusual occurred. Yesterday it was re- ported here that the whole army was engaged and that a desperate fight was going on. I think it is the case as we could hear heavy firing here yesterday and last night. I should liked very much to have stayed down if a battle had taken place. I expect to be at the taking of Atlanta as Gen. Dodge issued an order for me to report to the 2nd Division. I probably will leave here day after tomorrow. When I get down there I can give a better account of affairs in general. I can assure there will be but little comfort or leisure at the front. If I were to consult my own comfort I should much prefer remaining at Rome. I have everything here in nice order. I have established a very fine post hospital as comfortable as a hospital can be made. But I think I can be of more service in the field. There will soon be a great deal of sickness among the troops in the field. The weather is getting very hot. Dr. Kendall is sick and unfit for duty for the last three weeks. Dr. Wood is useless with rheumatism. He has just received a leave
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of absence and will go home as soon as he gets a little better, so you perceive we are getting short of medical officers.
Your last letter arrived while I was absent, dated June 14th. I hope Lula enjoyed her birthday. I should be very glad to see the girls all together again. Give them all a kiss for me. I am afraid Mary will not enjoy herself very well in her little cabin. It will do no harm to try it. As soon as I can see a paymaster I will enquire as to the mode of getting John's pay for her. I do not presume we will get paid very soon. You are not suffering for money I presume. I think it would be safe to lend the $200.00 to Kellogg, as he is a money making man. You will have no trouble loaning money soon, as I see that an act of Congress has passed to lesson the amount of money in circula- tion. This will make a demand for money. I am glad that you are having tolerable health at this time. I am afraid you will melt some during these hot days. Take good care of yourself.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Which of the hundred day regiments did John go in, and does he remain in ?
July 6th, 1864. Three miles north of Chattanooga, Tenn. Dear Wife :
I wrote you on the "Fourth" from a point four miles north of this. I do not know how it will be in regard to your receiving my letters, but I think that they will be very irregular. I shall write you occasion- ally, but hope that you will receive them sometime. Our communica- tions with the rear are liable to be interrupted any day, as Sherman left the R. R. with twenty days' rations and seems determined to ad- vance without much regard for his rear. The rebel cavalry may cut the R. R. and perhaps capture the mails. I am afraid that I shall not receive your letters for some time, as they will go to Rome, and it will be very doubtful if I can get a chance to send for them very soon. I shall regret this very much as my chief pleasure is to receive a letter from you. When I last wrote you I was anticipating a quiet fourth, but was disappointed. In the afternoon our corps was moved forward two miles and soon came upon the rebs, every move of a corps or a division brings on fight of greater or less magnitude.
At four o'clock in the afternoon we came upon a line of breast- works of the enemy and the skirmishing commenced. At sundown in the evening the 2nd and 4th divisions charged the breastworks and captured the first line which they held. In the night the rebels evacu- ated all their works and retreated, so we will have another march and another fight. So it continues from day to day. We feel now as if we would soon be at the end of our journey — Atlanta. The late at- tack on the fourth kept us busy all night dressing the wounded, so I think I shall remember this fourth.
This morning we are marching for the river. What will happen there I cannot tell. It is expected that we will have a heavy fight. I must saddle up and start. I saw Charlie Pool this morning. He is
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looking very well. His time will be out the middle of the month. He then intends going home. I shall write to you as soon as we get to a stopping place. Good bye.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Roswell, Chattahoochie River, Georgia, July 11th, 1864. Dear Wife :
I believe I last wrote you on the 6th, since which time we have nothing of unusual importance occur. On the 8th we moved down to Chattahoochie River at Baker's Ferry to attract the attention of the enemy. While Gen. Stoneman crossed the river several miles below with four thousand cavalry for a raid south of Atlanta. We have not heard from him since he left. On the 9th our corps ^as ordered to march from where we were on the extreme right to this point on the extreme left. We started at noon of that day and arrived here at noon yesterday, a distance of thirty miles. We marched nearly all night. It was very dusty and tiresome. We marched through Marietta, a beautiful place of about two thousand inhabitants, the most of whom are gone farther south. Roswell has been a considerable manufactur- ing place. There are two cotton factories and one woolen. They were in full operation until a few days ago when our cavalry came and burned them. The operatives were still here, all very short of pro- visions. We have had to provide for them. To do so we sent them to Marietta. It was a very fine sight to see four hundred girls all at once, a sight we do not often see in the army. The river is fordable at this point. We crossed over to the south side and are now in camp here. I think it is the intention to move the whole army in this direc- tion and cross the river. We will probably stay here until the whole army has crossed to protect the ford. This point is fifteen miles from Atlanta and less than that to the principal railroad connecting Atlanta with Richmond. We will probably cut the road very soon. I think the question of taking Atlanta will soon be settled. We are certainly getting affairs so arranged that Atlanta will soon fall. We may have a very heavy battle first. It is expected that we will. I hope the campaign will soon end. It is getting late in the season and the army is getting to be terribly exhausted. It has been a very long campaign. The troops have been on the watch or march night and day. Sickness is increasing rapidly. The army is seriously affected with scurvy, caused by living exclusively on salt pork and hard tack. We send the sick to general hospital in the rear as fast as they accumulate. I sent Lute Fish to Marietta yesterday, sick. Dr. Marsh was left at Marrietta, sick. I take his place as surgeon in chief of division. I have as yet received no letter from you since I left Rome. I will direct Dr. Crosby to send them to me here. I am in first rate health and hope you and the babies are the same.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
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Near Peachtree Creek, Georgia, July 18, 1864. Dear Wife:
The last I wrote you was from Roswell. We lay at that point on the Chattahoochie River just one week. The army was occupied in getting forward supplies and making repairs in general. It was neces- sary to have a good supply of rations on hand before the army was moved any further. As the railroad is not being carried any farther than Marietta, it would be unsafe to move until a quantity of rations had been accumulated, as our communications with supplies could be very easily cut off. Yesterday we moved forward again. Today we are at a point nearly due east of Atlanta, about twelve miles from the place and about eight miles north of Decatur, a place on the railroad from Atlanta to Richmond. The rebel position, as near as we can learn, is a semi-circle on the north side of Atlanta. It seems now to be the intention of Sherman to move his army down on the east side of Atlanta; again flanking him; to prevent it Johnson will have to come out of his fortifications and fight, or again retreat and give up Atlanta without a severe fight, and as we have rations enough on hand to sup- ply us until we march to such a point as will determine the matter. A very few days will bring the campaign to a crisis. We are getting along about as well as usual. I think the health of the army is im- proving. I attribute this to the rest we have had on the river, and to the large supply of black berries the men are getting. They are also getting apples in any quantity, some ripe and all good for cooking. In a few days we will have roasting corn, then we will live just as if we were at home, except the butter. You know how well I like butter. I would like to sit at your tea table this evening and eat some of your nice butter and biscuit. I think many times of the comforts of home down in this wilderness, and I cannot think of asking for the oppor- tunity of enjoying them for a long time yet. I hope you are living so snug and comfortable that you do not often think of the miserable in this life. How do you manage your household affairs? How are the girls prospering? Are they getting well instructed? How many of them go to school? I presume you are taking a good deal of care in their training. Teach them to read carefully and think systemati- cally. I received Mary's letter of June 24th this week. I hope she will succeed well in her enterprise. I will do all I can to carry out her wishes in regard to John's pay. I do wish we could hear from John again. It would be so satisfactory. The letter was brought to me from Rome. I was much disappointed in not getting a letter from you at the same time. I have not heard from you since I left Rome. I feel very anxious to hear from you. They will send my letters to me as often as opportunity offers, but the chances are very few.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Utoy Creek, West of Atlanta, Ga., August 26, 1864. Dear Wife:
Yesterday we moved our camp from the north side of Atlanta and are now on the west side. We moved our hospital and trains today several miles in advance of the troops. We are giving up our
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lines around Atlanta and will probably move entirely away from it. We have to move our trains by day and the troops leave their en- trenchments at night, one corps at a time, commencing on the left. This is necessary to prevent a heavy attack on our column while we are moving. So far the movement is going on very favorably. The enemy threatened an attack this morning, but were easily checked. Tomorrow we will move again and as the rebels have learned by this time that we are making a general move, we may have some fighting, but the whole movement seems so well managed that I think we will let go of Atlanta without any disaster.
I presume you would like to know where we were going. I would like to know positively myself. I heard General Sherman tell General Dodge a few days ago that he was going to move the army south' of Atlanta and take permanent possession of their railroads and cut off all their communications. He thought that would draw them out of their works and he could attack them at his own option. The rebels cannot afford to let him do this, and I think the attempt will bring on a fight of large proportions. The whole army joins in the movement except the 20th corps, which will be thrown back across.
Near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 1, 1864. Dear Wife:
I received your letter of July 24th, today. I also received this week yours of June 26th and July 23rd. I have been so very busy since the battle of the 22nd that I have only written you once. I hope to have time to write you more frequently soon, but fear that we shall be kept continually busy until Atlanta falls. We are just now getting through operating upon the wounded of the late battle. There has been so many amputations, exsections, setting of fractures and cutting generally that I have become almost sick of it. The poor fellows en- dure it bravely, and it is really a pleasure to do all that we can for them. We have not sent away any of our wounded yet. In a few days we will send to their homes all the slightly wounded, those that are able to travel alone. The severely wounded will be retained here until there is better accommodations for sending them to the northern hospitals. We have our hospital in a beautiful pine forest, which furnishes a very fine shade. The wounded are as comfortable as it is possible to make them in the woods so far away from supplies. We have the most of them on bunks with branches of trees for bed- ding. You would call it a cheerless bed at home, but the boys seem well satisfied. A good soldier is always content with the best on hand. We sent to Marietta a few days ago and received a good sup- ply of sanitary stores; without them our wounded would have suf- fered much more than they are now doing. The rebel wounded we have are much more difficult to treat than those of our own. They do not have the nerve to bear up under their suffering and consequently die more rapidly from the same character of wounds. They seem very grateful for attentions and seem glad that they fell into our hands. Since the battle of the 22nd our corps with the rest of the army of the Tenn. have moved around on the right flank, so that they are
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now on the west side of Atlanta. Tonight Burnside's army, the army of the Ohio, will move on their right, which will extend the army on the south side of the city. The rebels will then have to come out and fight or fall back. I think tonight's movement will bring on a fight tomorrow. The enemy have such very strong fortifications around the city that it would be imprudent to make a direct attack upon them. We have skirmishing and cannonading day and night and more or less wounded. General Howard is now in command of the army of the Tenn. in place of General McPherson.
I was really rejoiced that you have received such favorable news about Jonas. He is such a worthy man that it gives me great pleasure to hear that there is a possibility that he is yet alive. I am in first rate health but very tired. We are all waiting anxiously to get into Atlanta, as we expect no rest until we get there. You say you are getting short of money. I hope that you will not suffer. It is uncertain when we will get paid, so you will have to engineer yourself through. Kiss all the children for me. I hope they are all good girls.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Near Atlanta, Ga., Aug. 7th, 1864. Dear Wife:
This is Sunday evening and we have pretty much finished hospital work and are taking a quiet sit-down in our tent. The surgeons are principally engaged in writing to their wives or sweethearts. You may suppose that after a hard day's work we would be getting off to bed to rest our weary bodies. This we would do but it is the only time we have to attend to our correspondence, write our reports and all business that requires a little retirement. And then going to bed does not always secure a night's rest. There is so many changes take place through the night in the symptoms of the wounded, that we are fre- quently awakened to give advice or visit them and now is the time for secondary hemorrhages. For the last four nights we have been called up every night to attend to some bleeding vessels. This is one of the most serious complications that arises in the treatment of wounds. A stump or wound in the body may seem to be doing finely, and suddenly a large vessel will break loose and endanger a man's life in a very short time by bleeding. Then we have to go to work, night as it is, and ligature the vessel. All this is very disagreeable, but it must be gone through with. Sunday, as usual, is a very quiet day along the lines. There seems to be a mutual disposition to suspend firing through respect for the Sabbath. But I notice they make the Sabbath as short as possible, for they scarcely wait for the sun to set when the firing commences as lively as usual. They are at it now and the woods resound with the sharp crack of the rifle. This night firing is usually quite harmless as the pickets are safely stowed away behind trees or pits dug in the ground. Sometimes, however, it wounds a man and he comes into hospital. The object of this continuous night firing is to prevent a night surprise, which is always to be apprehended, when the lines are so close together, as it would be but a short run
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from one line of breastworks to the other. It requires constant watch- fulness to prevent disaster and it cannot for a moment be relaxed.
We are very much in the same position as when I last wrote you, except that our army has swung around more to the right. This places our left flank in a position on the north of Atlanta, the main body encircling it on the west side and our right flank extending to a point south of the city and across the Macon R. R. This cuts off all communication by R. R. that the enemy have had outside their lines. It is a very great advantage, as it will compel them to live exclusively on the supplies now in the city. I presume they have supplies to last them a month or six weeks, but I think Sherman will not give them time to eat them all up, as he is constantly advancing his lines and will dig into them before very long. Our lines are not farther than three miles from the city at the most distant point, and some places do not ex- ceed two. Several of our batteries can easily throw shell into the city, which they do occasionally. Every inch we advance now occasions pretty severe fighting, but we are daily gaining ground and in a few days will reach their works. While the infantry are thus busy, the cavalry are actively engaged in inflicting damage upon the
(Unfinished.)
J. R. Zearing.
Near Atlanta, Ga., August 12th, 1864. Dear Wife :
I was just sitting outside my tent looking at the brilliant moon shining through the tops of the tall, 'straight pine trees, and fell into a reverie, and my thoughts all centered upon the loved ones at home. I fancy I saw you sitting upon the front door step or over on Sarah's porch gossiping about village affairs or war matters, the children playing and scampering around as in olden times, when we were all at home together. I can assure you that it reminded me of many pleasant days gone by. I would like very much to be with you this moonlight evening and talk over the events of the last three years. It would be real happiness, if the same time we could be assured that I could remain with you at home. I would much prefer the quiet of our home to this noise, confusion and suffering of war. I should like to go out in the morning to feed the horses and pigs while you and Lottie are getting breakfast. Lula would assist me and Lizzie is now large enough to throw an ear of corn to the pigs. I would like to visit your garden and hoe out some of the weeds. I presume there are some in it, and then walk down to the orchard and prune off some of the surplus branches. Are you going to have any fruit this year? I presume, as usual, you will have a good supply of apples. Reports all seem to concur that you have had a summer of very little rain and that vegetation of all kinds has suffered to a disastrous extent by drought. If as bad as reported, I fear it has so affected the crops as to make rather hard times in Illinois next winter. I have no fears that any of you will starve, but it compels poor people to live hard. How does Libbie and Rebecca get through in a financial way? I have most apprehension for Rebecca as Libbie has more property and is a
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better manager. I am afraid Mary will find it hard to keep house with so small an income. The Colonel wrote me that the regiment would be paid off this week. If I was there I could find out by inquiring of the paymaster how she could get her pay. I will not get my pay until the paymasters come down here, and I presume they will not be here until we take Atlanta. I have not had a dollar in my pocket for two weeks, which is just as well as I have no expenses. I will get all the information for Mary as soon as I can and write her. Does Isaac collect any money on the old debts? If he does he can pay you my share, if you need it and you can receipt to him for it.
I received your last letter of July 31st in eight days. That is very quick time. And Will is really married? Well, that is a sur- prise. I really have a curiosity to see the woman that would have him. I decline to believe that he has caught a Tartar. It would be almost a pity that a clever girl should be tied to such an old weed. I hope she may have a good influence over him. I wrote another letter to father this week. I wonder if he gets my letters. I have received but one reply from him and that was before we left Athens.
Army matters are about the same as when I last wrote you. We every day get closer to the city. Sherman is getting some heavy seige guns. When he gets them in position we will probably have something exciting. Stoneman's raid has proved a failure. He has been taken prisoner with most of his command. So we need not look for John so soon.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Hospital, Second Division, 16th Army Corps,
Jonesboro, Ga., September 4th, 1864. Dear Wife :
The last time I wrote you was about the 25th of August. Since that time we have been entirely cut off from communications, receiving or sending no mail. We have been through such eventful scenes since that time that have much diminished our anxiety to hear from home, though I have no doubt the same circumstances would increase your anxiety to hear from us. At the time I last wrote you we were about moving to the right of Atlanta. The whole army moved suddenly from our works in front of Atlanta and on the 28th we were on the Montgomery and Alabama Railroad. We here stopped one day and entirely destroyed fifteen miles of the road, burning the ties and heat- ing and bending the rails. On the 30th the army moved in three columns for this place, one column marching on the open road, the other two making roads parallel with it, all within view of each other. We marched by extraordinary labor, thirteen miles on this day, bringing us within two miles of this point on the Macon R. R. We there stopped for the night, working all night throwing up breastworks. The enemy were busy through the night bringing up troops from Atlanta to our front to oppose our reaching the railroad. They were permitted to go on undisturbed until they had as many troops as we thought proper, when in the middle of the day a portion of the army swung around between
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them and Atlanta, thus cutting their army in two. The rebels finding this to be the case, attempted to cut their way back. To do this they were compelled to attack us in our works. Three times on the after- noon of the thirty-first they charged our lines, each time being re- pulsed with heavy loss. The next day they repeated the attempt, but with worse defeat than before. On the afternoon of the third they commenced retreating in confusion, taking a course south. We pur- sued them to a point seven miles south of this. The balance of their army in Atlanta hearing of the defeat of this portion of it, and fearing to be attacked, hastily evacuated the place, and fled to the southeast. They destroyed in Atlanta large quantities of ammunition and other material of war and much railroad machinery. This is a glorious result of the campaign and we feel as if we had got through and would find a resting place. In these battles we have captured three thousand prisoners, killed and wounded as many more and captured ten pieces of artillery, and disorganized their army generally. Our losses have been remarkably small, yet we have had plenty to do in our line, and I begin to feel worked down. My position as Surgeon in Chief of the Division imposes a great deal of labor during and subsequent to an engagement, in collecting the wounded and providing for their treat- ment and all pertaining to their welfare. Tomorrow we fall back toward Atlanta. The army will encamp in and around Atlanta. The army of the Tennessee will, I understand, encamp at last point eight miles south of the city. We will probably have our hospitals in the city. We will probably have a short rest there, not very long, however, as I think Sherman will soon be after them again. The army will be paid off and be reclothed and fed. I will then have some money for you which I presume you are in need of. I presume when we get to Atlanta I shall receive some letters from you which I shall be very glad to receive.
Headquarters, Fourth Division, 15th Army Corps,
Rome, Ga., Oct. 13, 1864. Dear Wife:
It has been a long time since I wrote you for the reason that there has been no communication by mail, the rebels having destroyed the road, nor have I received any letters from you for some time until yesterday our mail came through, but this will be the last for some time, as the rebels under Beauregard, with all their forces are on the railroad above and are destroying extensively at Dalton. Since I last wrote you we have been just as busy as during the summer cam- paign. The design of the rebel's is to destroy the railroad, and compel Sherman to evacuate Atlanta, which they may yet succeed in doing. In their moving around Atlanta they first struck the rail- road at Big Shanty, the first station above Marrietta. They cap- tured the small garrison there and at Ackworth. They then sent a strong force against Alatoona. Our division was ordered down to defend the place. On account of a break in the railroad, only one train load containing the seventh Illinois, the thirty-ninth Iowa and the twelfth Illinois and two companies of the 57th reached the place
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in time for the fight. The whole force of the garrison numbered about fifteen hundred. They were attacked by French's division of Hardee's corps, amounting to 3,000 men, on the morning of the 5th of October and continued fighting for six hours without intermission. It was perhaps the severest battle of the war for the number of men engaged. The depot contained a million rations of provisions which the rebels needed for their campaign and they fought desperately. The loss was very heavy on both sides. General Corse was wounded and many other officers killed and wounded. Major Fisher was severely wounded. He is here with me and is doing well. Oscar Webb, I am sorry to say, was killed. He died instantly. This will be sad news to the family. Some others from the 93rd from near Dover were killed. I brought all the wounded here to Rome. Martin Taylor was wounded, but not very severe. Abel Hansel is very severely wounded. For the last few days the rebels have been crossing the Coosa River, ten miles from here going north. Yesterday we moved out from here and attacked them, capturing two cannon and a number of pris- oners. Colonel Sherman has started his whole army in pursuit. They will, however, do great damage to the railroad before he can reach them, so you need not worry if you do not hear from me for some time. I send this by Colonel Cummings who is going through by some means and will probably be not long delayed. The two letters I re- ceived from you in last mail were dates — September 25th and October 2nd. I was very glad to receive them, and glad to know that you were getting along so well. I received a letter from Commissary of Prisoners at Washington. He says he has received no notice yet of the death of John Garvin. I would write you more but the Colonel is waiting. A kiss for you.
J. R. Zearing.
My health is pretty good. I have enjoyed this trip- very much, as it has been one of continual excitement. The weather has been very pleasant, comfortably cool all the time. We are now in the midst of splendid corn fields which affords plenty of food for our stock and the men enjoy the eating of it by roasting it on the coals. It has im- proved their health very much. I will write you again when I arrive in the city of Atlanta. Till then, goodbye. Take good care of your- self.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Headquarters 4th Division, 15th Army Corps,
Surgeon-in-Chief's Office, Rome, Ga., November 4th, 1864. Dear Wife :
I have been anxiously waiting a letter from you this week, but so far have been disappointed. I did not write you last Sunday as I usually do when Sunday comes, as I was so very busy with a variety of duties and have had no time since until this evening. Tonight I feel a good deal relieved as today I succeeded in clearing out the hos- pitals and sending the sick and wounded north. Now I will have
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nothing to do but get everything ready for our Grand March and yet this is no small work, as we have large preparations to make. Here- tofore on our campaigns we had opportunities of replenishing our supplies by having communication with the north, but on this we will be entirely cut loose for some considerable length of time. How long will depend a good deal upon the weather and state of the road. Every- thing is being hurried through to get ready to leave Rome. We are destroying all property of a military character that we cannot send to the rear or carry with us. Today we burst some fine cannon that were captured here. On the day we leave we will burn the foundry in which they were cast, also machine shops, mills, etc. The people are much alarmed, as they have an impression that we will burn the town, but no private property will be destroyed. They will be miser- able enough without burning their house, for they will be in a starv- ing condition. I sent you my last letter by Lieut. Jackson, who re- turned home. Major Fisher started for home this week. He was recovering fast from his wound. He will probably call and see you. This will be some satisfaction, perhaps, to you, to see some one who has seen me and will do much to console you for my not being able to be at home. Puss, the chances for my coming home the last of this month grow less every day. How it will be possible for me to be at home I cannot see. It is hardly probable that we will get through in time for me to get home and after we start there will be no chance of getting home until we do get through. I want you to write regularly and let me know each week how you feel. I shall get the letters some time, and it will do me good to get several at once. I do not know yet the day we will start, but certainly in four days. If I have a chance I will write you again. Goodbye.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Headquarters Fourth Division, 15th Army Corps,
Surgeon-in-Chief's Office, Little Ogeechee River, Gav Dec. 15, 1864. Dear Wife :
We have at last arrived at a point from which I am addressing you and I am happy to inform you that I am in the best of health and have been all through the expedition. We left Rome on th 11th of November, at which time I wrote you informing you of our probable destination and that I would not be able to get home to see you as I had anticipated. We arrived in Atlanta on the 15th. We there remained one day loading with supplies and destroying the city. All public buildings and many of the best private houses were burned. As we left it its appearance was a melancholy contrast with the day we first entered it, but such is war and such is the destiny of the whole south, unless they rapidly become loyal. Leaving Atlanta was like the jumping off place. We then started for an unknown country and an unknown destination, with apprehensions of having to meet with many difficulties. We, however, started off with a good deal of hilarity, excited by the novelty of the enterprise. We proceeded south
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from Atlanta, keeping close to the Atlanta and Macon R. R. We eat up and destroyed everything on the route that would tend to keep a man or beast alive. As we approached Macon, we marched slowly for the purpose of enducing the rebels to concentrate their forces at that point. When within ten miles of it we sent a large cavalry force towards the city, threatening an attack and covering our movements. The army then marched east along the Macon and Savannah Railroad in the direction of Milan, the junction of this road with the road to Augusta. These railroads were torn up and burned in such a manner that they cannot be repaired in less than a year, thus cutting off the main transportation for supplies to their army at Richmond. As our cavalry withdrew from Macon the enemy marched out and gave them battle at Griswold. The cavalry defeated them with heavy loss. We marched on eastward without any resistance until we reached the Oconee River. The rebels had collected a force at that point to pre- vent our crossing. We soon dispersed them and crossed on our pon- toons without much difficulty. Our cavalry in the meantime was sent around to Milledgeville, the capital of the state, capturing it and de- stroying a good deal of munitions of war. We enjoyed the march through the country well. We have not lived so well before while in the army. Sweet potatoes, corn, turnips, etc., with all kinds of meat, more than the army could use. We moved on leisurely until we reached the big Ogeechee River. Here the enemy again had a force to oppose us. We skirmished awhile with them and drove them away. By this time the enemy had collected together a considerable number of militia and some regular troops and skirmishing took place every day. Consequently we had some wounded to take care of, but com- paratively few. I believe the whole number of the wounded of our division does not exceed twenty-five and four killed. We arrived at our present position on the twelfth, a march of thirty-one days. We are now on the Little Ogeechee, which runs southeast from here and empties into the Big Ogeechee near its mouth. Our camp is nine miles from Savannah. The lines of our army extend from the Sa- vannah River to the Big Ogeechee. The nearest part of our lines is only three miles from the city. The enemy have strong works along our front, which would be difficult to take on account of swamps and rivers in their front. Sherman will give them their own time. He has them completely surrounded and as the population of Savannah has been doubled by refugees from our army, they will be ready to sur- render by the time our army gets its supplies from the fleet. The capture of Fort McAllister, at the mouth of the Ogeechee gives ships a chance to come up to our army at high tide. The fleet will be up today, when I expect to receive some letters from you and send this out. It would make me very happy to know that you were well today and that you had a fine boy and a nice recovery. I shall try and be- lieve that you are well. As to the boy, it may be doubtful. I have anxiously thought of you and regretted that I could not be with you, but now I hope it is all over and you are. well. I am anticipating the pleasure of seeing you soon. I expect to leave for home the last of the month and will expect to see you in a few days thereafter, and will stay with you a whole month. It is possible that I will return and
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stay until spring. I shall be very glad to see the girls. Kiss them for me. I do wish I had this moment a letter from you to know that you were all well. Tomorrow I may get one. You have certainly written. Goodbye..
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Headquarters Fourth Division, 15th Army Corps,
Surgeon-in-Chief's Office, Savannah, Ga., January 2nd, 1865. Dear Puss:
I am a very happy man today. I received your letter yesterday with Rebecca's endorsement on the back of it, of December 10th, an- nouncing that you were allright, and with a bouncing boy lying by your side. Well I cannot say that I was disappointed, but although I ex- pected it, yet I can assure you that I was unusually happy to know that it was so. I would like enormously well to see you and the boy. How tickled you must feel over the event. It is decidedly a new thing in the house, and the novelty of the thing will be interesting if the boy is not so smart. I regret that Rebecca did not write more particulars of the occurence, how much you suffered, what the boy looks like how much he weighs, etc. etc. Does she suppose this is a common event? I shall be very anxious until I hear from you again to know that you are hav- ing a good recovery. I hope the girls will take the best of care of you and be sure and care for yourself. See that your rooms are well aired and your bed kept dry. You must remember that your rooms are very small and therefore you are more liable to take cold. To avoid it venti- late your rooms well ; if the weather is not excessively cold, keep a win- dow open where the air will not blow directly upon you. Do not get up too soon, and when you begin to sit up, keep a firm bandage around you all the time. I hope you have secured plenty of good fire wood so that your girl will not get cross and you will have no smoke in the house.
How do the little girls like to have a boy in the house ? I suppose they rather enjoy it. As to a name for the boy, that will be a matter for profound consideration, and will take some time to determine what it shall be. Be sure and write me often, as I shall be concerned about you for some time. I should be very glad to start home immediately to see you, but cannot leave at present. I shall settle up all my business so as to have everything ready to leave at any time. I could come home now, but the medical director presses me to stay awhile longer. It is expected that the whole army will soon move on Charleston and they are desirous to have me stay until it is taken. Some move will be made as soon as the fleet supplies the army with clothing and rations. As yet it comes very slow. We have just finished removing all the obstruc- tions from the harbor such as torpedoes and spiles so that supplies will probably come in rapidly. Since we arrived here we have been com- pelled to feed our horses exclusively on rice and it has also been the principal article of food for the army. The soldiers are, however, get- ting a good rest and enjoying themselves well. The people of Savan- nah are exceedingly kind to them and seem well pleased with their pres- ence. I have very comfortable rooms in a private house and can't say
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but what I am in every way comfortable, and then the weather is so delicious. It is really a luxury. Bright sunny days with a nice frost in the morning, just enough to keep up an appetite. It makes me shudder to think of the cold winds of Illinois. If I could know that this evening you and the boy are feeling well, I would be well content. I wish you you a happy new year and send you much love.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Savannah, Gav Feb'y. 5th, 1865. Dear Wife :
This beautiful Sunday evening, so calm, so moonlight and pleas- ant, my thoughts instinctively revert to home and you. Today I had a delightful walk in the park. The weather was so bland, so perfectly agreeable, it was difficult to imagine that I was not enjoying a stroll in June. The parks are the prominent beauties of this city. There are numerous small parks throughout the city and adjoining my hospitals is the principal park of the city. It is a magnificent ground well laid out and beautifully ornamented. The trees are the natural pine forest trees of large growth and always of a rich green verdure. Here and there stands a beautiful live oak, the most magnificent shade tree in the world. Scattered among the forest trees are the magnolia and small shrubs. Here of afternoons the band disperses sweet music and the gay promenaders scattered over the ground make a scene of unusual splendor. You don't fancy that you see your humble servant walking with one of the fair sex amidst this pleasant scene? Oh ! no. I just walk around the outside, musing to myself while the curling smoke of my cigar ascends lazily to the clouds. How nice it would be if I could have you by my side to talk to while Lottie would draw the boy in his carriage over the nicely graveled walks and Lula and Lizzie would be scampering around full of glee and merriment. It would be delightful.
My casual observation leads to me to conclude that there are more beautiful women and children in this city than any city I was ever in. They have also, a large degree of intelligence and refinement. Were it not for the epidemics of yellow fever, which so frequently visit this place, and which are so fatal to northern natives, I should be strongly tempted to make arrangements for a permanent settlement here. But as the chances for shaking off this mortal coil are sufficiently great where only ordinary diseases prevail, I think I shall not increase them by migrating to these unhealthy climes. The people here, how- ever, contend that the city is a healthy one and indeed they have the appearance of living in a healthy climate, but the extensive rice fields in close proximity to the city indicate that disease in the summer and fall must prevail to a large extent. Last week I had my first sea voy- age. I took a trip to Port Royal, the headquarters of the department of the South about fifty miles up the coast. It was a very interesting little trip. The boat surged about and the waves rolled very much like out at sea. However, it was a short voyage and I had not the pleasure of being sea-sick. Port Royal is a beautiful harbor. It is at the mouth of Broad River which runs up to Beaufort, S. C. The
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harbor was well filled with ships that had brought supplies to the army. Since Sherman's army arrived on the coast this harbor has become an important point, as all the vessels stop here. Capt. Page went up with me to take the steamer for New York. He left in the Fulton on Wednesday last. He proposed going up into New York state to spend the balance of the winter and send for his family. Our division is still laying at Sister's Ferry, up the Savannah River, though I learn that it will move forward tomorrow. It has been occupied in building roads and bridges in its front. The whole army moves slowly on ac- count of numerous swamps and rivers in that part of South Carolina. They will soon, however, get to that point where the rebels will have to fight or evacuate Charleston and Wilmington. I think you can look anxiously for news from them. I am kept pretty busy here; to run a general hospital requires a good deal of labor, as everything must be very exact. I wrote you in my last to continue to address your letters to the division. I want you now to address me here, as I will get them. Write as soon as you get this so that I may get one as soon as possible. Address Surgeon J. R. Zearing, U. S. General Hospital, Savannah, Ga.
Hilton Head, South Carolina, March 29, 1865. Dear Wife :
I have to acknowledge the receipt of a letter from you of date Feb'y 26th, addressed to me at Savannah. I had left orders to have them forwarded to me at Blair's Landing as soon as I had determined to go to that place. It is possible that I may yet receive another of the letters you sent to Savannah before I leave for the army. You con- jecture in your letter that I might be growing gray. I do not think that I have any more gray hairs than when I was last at home, and when, as you say, I have no one to pick them out, it shows that they are not increasing. Probably this is owing to my long absence from domestic, but of course I would not attribute it to this. You speak of Lula having improved from sickness as if you had mentioned her sickness in a former letter. If so I have not received the letter. I hope she really has improved and by this time quite well again. You speak of the boy having a cold. This is quite common to persons of his sex. It sometimes makes them very cross and troublesome. He will, un- doubtedly, often try your patience, especially if you try to do your own housework. You must be careful and not let him worry you into the blues too often, as I expect to come home before long and I should like to find you in one of your most amiable moods. Lottie seems very anxious about her piano. I should hardly think she was advanced enough to have one. Perhaps she has not given sufficient indication that she would use one if she had it, unless she has made up her mind fully to persevere in her studies she might tire of it as of a toy. How are the children progressing in their studies? You will have to watch them continually and encourage them.
Since I last wrote you I have been on duty with troops at Blair's Landing, S. C, an encampment formed for the purpose of collecting scattering men and detachments from Sherman's army. It is about thirty miles from here up Broad River. We have now about eight thousand troops there that have been awaiting an opportunity to reach
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the army in the field. Communication is now open with Sherman up the Neuse River and as fast as transportation can be procured these troops will be sent forward and the camp broken up. A few days ago we sent forward one thousand. In four or five days more they will all be gone and me with them. I think the campaign will be very fatiguing, but I want to go that way to Richmond. When we get there I promise you I will come directly home. I think that will suit you very well, as it will be just in time to help you make garden, and you will then begin to have some tolerably decent weather. I should like to sit out on the porch with you on a plenty of sunshine days, or walk out and see the garden towards evening, when it is calm and delic- iously soft and pleasant, but your cold, stormy March days would chill out love itself. We might perhaps keep warm by the fireside, by sitting close together. If you were down here now, you would be enjoying the brightest quality of sunshine and the most gentle breezes, birds and flowers in profusion. But they will come bye and bye with you up north. Perhaps you will enjoy them more exquisitely on account of the long dreary winter. The last letter I wrote you was from this place, as I have not much to do at Blair's Landing and we have a boat making daily trips between there and this point. I run down frequently just for the ride. In my last letter I sent you a check for $200.00, which I presume you will receive in due time. Today I put a box in the express office which I directed to you at Maiden. I had spent some time while here in picking up some shells so I put them in a box for you. They are not near so nice as I would like to have secured, but it requires considerable effort and a systematic plan We have to go considerably away up the coast from here where the main sea beats directly on the beach and then it is only at low tide that they can be found, nor are they prepared as nice as they should be. Of the conch shells I would only select the best for the house. The others you can lay on the border of the walk or garden bed. Those that you wish for the house should be rubbed with sweet oil and then polished. It adds much to their beauty. They may perhaps need washing again in hot water to remove the remaining smell of the animal. I also send you some paintings which you can lay away until I come home, and I will help you put them up. Also some cotton cloth which I presume you can find use for in the house
Yours with a kiss,
J. R. Zearing.
Wilmington, N. C, April 13, 1865. Dear Wife :
I have to announce to you my safe arrival at this place. We left Hilton Head, S. C, three days ago and I arrived at this point last evening. We had three ships loaded with troops for Sherman's army. The voyage was very pleasant, the weather was unusually calm, con- sequently there was but little of the usual misery of a sea voyage, sea sickness. For myself I had not the least symptom of it. I was very much interested in the trip as it is my first experience to any considerable extent at sea. I fancied if you had been along providing
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you could have kept your stomach down. The most interesting part of the trip was our entrance into the mouth of Fear River, where we had a good view of Ft. Fisher and the numerous fortifications that the rebels built to defend the entrance into Wilmington harbor. The attack on these works by the navy must have been terrific judging from the effect of the shot upon the works. This you know was the most important harbor for blockade running. The coast near the entrance is strewn with wrecks of ships destroyed by our fleet as they tried to run the blockade. Wilmington is up the river about 30 miles from the mouth. It has been during the war probably the most prosperous city in the south as its trade was extensively with all parts of the south on account of the facility of the entrance of foreign goods by blockade running. It is a city of about 6,000 population and very well situated, tolerably well built and the streets beautifully adorned with shade trees. The splendid flower gardens and shrubbery prevail here as in other southern cities. The inhabitants have generaly re- mained at home and seem pretty well pleased with the new order of rule. It is said that there existed a powerful Union sentiment in the city during the war. I judge from the appearance and action of the people that it was correct. It was our expectation upon arrival here to proceed immediately to Sherman's army at Goldsborough. In this we are sadly disappointed. The day before we arrived was the last of communication with the army. It is not definitely known here what is the condition of affairs at the front. Yesterday the R. R. and tele- graph wires were cut between here and Goldsborough. It is supposed that Sherman has withdrawn his forces from the protection of the road, abandoned it and moved on. If this is the case there is no certainty of our reaching the army for a long time. If it is only a temporary interruption of communication by the enemy it will be re- paired in a few days and we will move forward. I hope we will suc- ceed in getting there. But I am afraid it will be a failure. I think Sherman has moved forward in a hurry to act in combination with Grant's army in the pursuit of Lee. I regret very much that I am not with them, for I am certain that the present movements of our armies will close out the rebellion. We received the news of the fall of Rich- mond while at Hilton Head on the seventh through rebel papers, They called it an evacuation. On the eighth we received news from the north that the place was captured by fighting with considerable loss. Salutes were fired by the forts and navy at Port Royal and a jubilant time prevailed generally. We have received later news that Grant's troops are pursuing Lee and inflicting heavy losses on his army. Be- sides losses by capture Lee's army will undoubtedly desert rapidly so we reasonably expect that his army cannot again make an effective stand. I am still receiving no letters from you nor do I expect any until I rejoin the division. So you may well suppose that I am in no very contented mood. I saw Martin Taylor. He is with these troops. He informs me that he left home in Feb. and that everything was going on well as far as he knew. He has been sick in hospital here at Hilton Head. Seems very well now and is anxious to get to his regi- ment. I presume you are still expecting me home. I think I wrote
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you in a letter from Hilton Head that I would come home as soon as Richmond was taken. I presume you will be inclined to hold me to the bargain. Well, as soon as I can get to the division I will settle up affairs and perhaps come home immediately. I will be home in time to help you make garden. I can determine better when I get your letters. Perhaps you are getting so exquisitely fine that you can do just as well without me. Kiss all the babies for me and take one for yourself.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Goldsborough, N. C, April 22nd, 1865. Dear Wife :
I have the pleasure of addressing you from another strange place. I wrote you last from Wilmington. We left that place on the 17th and arrived here last evening, a march of five days. I enjoyed the march very well. Good weather and good roads, all of which go very far toward making the trip pleasant. The country between this and the sea over which we passed is flat and sandy, covered with dense pine forest and but thinly inhabited, a very poor country to forage in. We consequently could get no milk nor chickens so for our table we had to go back to first principles, hard tack and bacon. 1 think I fell away on the diet some as I find by weighing today that I only weigh 132 pounds. I weighed in Savannah 140 pounds, the highest that I ever attained to. I was compensated, however, by seeing the great turpentine regions of the south. The immense forests of the pitch pine through which we passed are all scarred with the tap- pings of former years for the purpose of procuring the gum from the trees out of which the turpentine and resin is made. Goldsboro is a very pretty railroad town of about fifteen hundred inhabitants. It is the crossing of two important railroads connecting with all the roads in the south and was a great thoroughfare for supplies for the Rich- mond army. Its capture by Sherman was a cause for the evacuation of Richmond. On our march we received the glorious news of the capture of Lee's army. It was received with great cheers by our troops. We saw at once that it was the prelude to the capture of all the armies in the south. On arriving we received Sherman's order for the suspen- sion of hostilities, as he was negotiating with Johnson for the sur- render of his forces, which would lead to peace in a few days, and now we hear of the capture of Roddy's forces in Alabama and the capture of Mobile with its garrison, so that it does not leave a doubt but that peace must follow. Well, we are all glad of it. We feel now as if we were all marching home. We find by conversing with the people that they are all glad of the prospect of peace. So pleasant is it to them that they almost seem to enjoy the capture of the whole army. We met on the road a great many of Lee's soldiers returning home on their pay rolls. They were glad to get home. I presume our soldiers will be equally glad, but they will go home with lighter hearts, feeling the gratification of having succeeded in a good cause. I fancied upon looking at the returning soldiers army worn and tired of Lee's army, with the depressing feeling of defeat, that their hearts must be dreary
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beyond conception, realizing that many of their homes are in ashes, their property all destroyed and nothing but hard labor and a toilsome life for the future. Puss, tomorrow we march for Raleigh, where we will join our division. It will feel almost like getting home. They are in camp near Raleigh. The rumor here is that the army is to move immediately through Virginia to Fredericksburg and from there to their respective states to be disbanded. This will be a joyful time. The assassination of the President was a shocking affair. The army feels much enraged and it required some restraint to keep them from im- mediate retaliation on the people. It is a great loss to the country. No man was better qualified to bring the country to a settled condition. I will write you from Raleigh. I hope to get home letters here.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Raleigh, N. C, April 28, 1865. Dear Wife :
I have at last reached the Grand Army after an absence from it of about three months. I can assure you that it afforded me much pleasure to see my old army acquaintances. Some of the officers of the regiment have been mustered out and gone home. Colonel Hul- burt is home on leave of absence. I have met some of the soldiers from Dover, Taylor, Stoner, Streator, Charles Pool and others who are all in good health. I arrived here on the 26th after a three days march from Goldsboro, from which place I last wrote you. I was severely disappointed on my arrival here. I had expected, of course, to find a number of letters from you awaiting my arrival. You can conceive my regret when I was informed that two days before my arrival my letters were remailed to me at Savannah. I then at once concluded that I would have to trust to fancy and flatter myself that I could see you at home, enjoying yourself and contented and the little ones around you all lively and happy. But- yesterday I was rejoiced to find that the mail brought me two letters from you of dates March 29th and April 6th, so I am at once relieved of my despondency. I was glad to hear that matters are prospering so well. I will be glad to be at home this month to make arrangements with you for the summer. I think if I were there I would sell out to the new doctor, but of this I am not certain that I would desire to do so, as circum- stances for remaining there may appear more attractive when I re- turn. I wiill be home so soon that we had better leave such mat- ters in abeyance until I arrive. I perceive by your letters that you have not named the boy yet. I presume you have your head full of names, but puzzled to select from among the number. I think you had better decide before you have another one or you will be more puzzled still. I will try and help you out of the difficulty when I come home. The first day we arrived here we expected to have received orders to march home immediately. As Sherman and Johnson were then negotiating for terms of surrender of the whole of Johnson's army. The terms had already been agreed upon between the military com- manders and had been sent to Washington for approval. On the 26th they were returned from Washington disapproved. The terms agreed
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upon were the pay roll of all the army with the privilege of marching to the capital of the several states to which the troops belonged and turning over the arms and military property to the state governments, and further that Jeff Davis and his cabinet should be permitted to leave the country. It is well that civil authorities at Washington would not consent to these terms, as Johnson's army could be captured with but little loss to us and then we could make our own terms.
On the afternoon of the 26th it was announced that the armistice was suspended and the whole army was immediately ordered to pre- pare to march. Johnson's army lay thirty miles from here and we commenced moving in that direction. On the morning of the 27th Johnson sent in for another suspension of hostilities, which was granted and negotiations commenced immediately which resulted in the surrender of Johnson's army on the same condition as that of Lee's. This completes the downfall of the rebellion and we have reason to rejoice that it is ended so favorably. The only rebel force now existing is that of Kirby Smith's on the other side of the Miss- issippi. That will soon be disposed of. Today we are all getting ready to march to Richmond. We move tomorrow morning and then I expect soon to be at home. Good bye.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Richmond, Va., May 12th, 1865. Dear Wife :
I am happy to announce to you that I have at last arrived in this memorable city for which large armies have been contending for the the last three years. I last wrote you from Raleigh, N. C. We marched from that place to Petersburgh, arriving there in eight days. We lay at Petersburgh two days and then started for this city, dis- tant twenty-two miles, arriving here yesterday. I was much interested in the march from Raleigh to Petersburgh. It lay in a country that had escaped the ravages of war so that we had an opportunity of seeing it in its natural condition, both in respect to its people and its improvements. Everything considered, that portion of North Caro- lina between Raleigh and the Virginia line is unsurpassed by any part of the south in which we have been. The soil is fertile and well culti- vated. The people are intelligent and enterprising. I was especially delighted with the great fruit crops that were maturing on the trees- fruit of every variety in profusion. This is said to be the best locality for the raising of fruit in the United States. The same is true of that portion of Virginia between North Carolina and Petersburgh until we arrive within ten miles of the city; for that distance out from the city the country is utterly desolated by the operations of Grant's army during the last year. Petersburgh was a quaint old city. Some por- tion of it is in the old European style. Houses built with the eaves toward the street. The old houses are built of brick imported from Europe before the Revolution. The inhabitants seem to be as ancient and unprogressive as the houses. They of the F. F. V.'s are generally wealthy and well educated. In all it is a city well worth a visit. Our stopping here two days gave me a fine opportunity of visiting
200
the various localities in which battles have been fought and you remem- ber that during the last year the principal operations of the Potomac army have been against the rebel lines around Petersburgh and some heavy battles took place. The whole country for miles around is com- pletely dug up and formed into mines, rifle pits, forts, etc. I never before saw as extensive digging operations. The armies lay at some points within a hundred yards of each other, and every device of mili- tary engineering was used to so form their works as to protect them- selves and destroy the other. I visited the notable point of the Peters- burgh mine explosion in which one of the rebel forts was blown up and our forces made a charge and were repulsed. The ground is yet strewn with the debris of the battle. These lines of works extend from Petersburgh in a continuous line to Richmond, extending across the Appomatox and James Rivers, a distance of not less than thirty miles. We are now in Richmond and I have been busy visiting the various points in and around it. It is in a bad condition for showing well as a* city. Before the rebels evacuated it they burned nearly all the best business portions. I have never seen so extensive result of fire. Dozens of blocks in succession of large structures were burned. Nothing left but partially broken down walls and chimney stacks. These buildings contained an immense amount of property, principally cotton and tobacco. The remaining portion of the city is very beauti- ful. The houses are uniformly well built and many of them very handsome. The city is delightfully situated on the north bank of the James. The river is navigable by ships of considerable size to this point. Here the river is dammed and furnishes as good water power as can be found anywhere. Richmond had already become an im- portant manufacturing place. There are extensive mills of flour, woolen and cotton. Now that slavery is abolished, new capital and new labor will so develop the resources of the state as will make a great city of Richmond. The people are taking the capture of their city with a good deal of composure, the only sign of disaffection is the scornful expression on the face of the ladies. They, however, will soon get over it. The most interesting object of curiosity in the city is an equestrian statue of Washington. It is a wonderful work of art. On pedestals surrounding the statue are other statues of Patrick Henry, Mason and Jefferson, all of life size in bronze. Puss, tomor- row we start for Washington. We will arrive there on Friday or Saturday. We cannot determine how soon we will be mustered out after arriving there, or if at all. It is presumed by some that the veteran regiments will be retained in service. We are to have a grand review at Washington of the whole army. I presume there will be a great many persons to witness it. I think you had better come down and see it, and if you desire, you can see me at the same time. Shall I look for you? You can expect to see me in a short time anyhow.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
201
Washington, D. C, May 26, 1865. Dear Wife :
I last wrote you from Alexandria promising then to write yMi again immediately after the review. Well, the grand review is past and it will be impossible for me to describe fully the brilliancy and success of the affair. As a military display I presume it has never been excelled in ancient or modern times. The two days of the review in point of weather was all that could be desired. The rain of the day previous had laid the dust and the days, though of brilliant sun- shine, were cool and pleasant. The street on which the review took place was Pennsylvania Avenue, a broad well paved street. We marched on this street for about three fourths of a mile, half way was situated the principal stand, on which were Generals Grant, Sher- man, Mead, Hancock, the President, members of the cabinet and for- eign ministers. On other stands were the governors of states and other prominent dignitaries. These stands were festooned with flowers, flags and mottoes of the most brilliant description. Across the street throughout the whole distance were flags of every variety of beautiful erriblems. While on either side was a dense mass of anxious spec- tators, and from every window and housetop waved the little flags and white handkerchiefs of the ladies. I never before saw such en- thusiasm manifested. The color bearers of the regiments and the mounted officers were presented with numerous bouquets by the ladies as they marched along. The whole procession, indeed, seemed to be covered with roses. As we rode along slowly there was so much to be seen that it was vexatious that we could see so little. So many beautiful ladies to admire. We should have had eyes on both sides of our heads, so that we could see without turning our heads. Perhaps you will think that we saw enough of the ladies with the eyes we had. We can't help seeing all we can of the dear creatures. The army of the Potomac was reviewed the first day, the 23rd, Sherman's army on the 24th. The comparison between the two armies in point of march- ing is said to be much in our favor. However, all did well and every- thing passed off in perfect order. I only regret that you were not here to see it. I have always desired to visit Washington and now that I am here, I should be glad to have you see the curiosities of the capital, too. If I am compelled to stay here some time, I shall expect you to come down. Up to the present time I have not visited any of the public buildings for the want of time. Washington is a beautiful city and has a very fine class of inhabitants. We can here get vege- tables and other articles of diet in abundance and at remarkable prices, and as we have been so long without such luxuries I am indulging pretty freely. I have ventured on some strawberries and cream. Puss, I had hoped to be able by this time to inform you positively when I should be at home, but nothing can yet be ascertained. All we know is that all troops whose term of service expires before the first of October next are to be mustered out immediately. This, of course, does not include the veterans. It is rumored that the veterans will receive a furlough and be held in service for some time yet.
202
Washington, D. C, June 2nd, 1865. Dear Wife :
I wrote you day before yesterday and as we have received orders late this evening to move at five o'clock in the morning I thought best to write you a line to inform you that we should be soon on our way to- Louisville. In my last letter I requested you if it would conform to your convenience, to proceed immediately to father's and I would meet you there. I presume that you would like to visit home at this time and I presume that Mary, Libby or Rebecca would keep house for you during your absence. We will probably arrive in Louisville next Wednesday and go into camp somewhere in that vicinity. How long we will remain there we cannot yet determine, probably three weeks. Write me as soon as you determine to start and the time you will probably reach father's. We expect to go by rail from here to Parkersburgh on the Ohio River and from thence by boat to Louis- ville. Today I visited Mt. Vernon. 'Twas an interesting visit. To walk over the same walks that Washington walked over, and sit in the same chair, etc., was indeed of interest. The old house is yet in pretty good repair. It is romantically situated on the banks of the Potomac, surrounded by beautiful forest. I could spend a week yet with much enjoyment in examining the places and objects of interest in this vicinity. Capt. Page is still here, settling Col. Hurlbut's affairs. He expects to leave in four days. Good bye.
Yours,
J. R. Zearing.
Note — Mrs. Luelja Zearing Gross has deposited in the Illinois State Historical Library a large collection of material relating to the Zearing and allied families. The collection consists of land warrants, and patents, deeds, appointments, commissions, letters, newspaper clip- pings, pictures and other interesting material. It has been filed and will be carefully preserved.
203
INDEX.
Ackworth, George 188
Adams & Westlake Co 68
Adams, Gulliver 108
Adams, J. McGregor. Member of firm of
Grerar, Adams & Go 68
Adamsville, Term 152, 155
Akron, Mass 63
Alatoona, Ga 188
Albany, N, Y. Foot-note 52
Albany, N. Y., Journal (Newspaper) 45
Albion, 111 23
Aledo, (Mercer Co.,) Ill 100, 101
Aledo, 111. County seat of Mercer Co.... 101
Alexandria, Tenn 201
Alleghany Mts 19, 69, 130, 134
Alleghany Mts. — Crossing the Alleghanies
Zearing Family 130, 134
Allen, Archibald, Indian trader 91
Allen, (Rev.) Ira M 18, 21, 23
Allen, William. Quoted on Indian Trail.. 107 Alton, 111. Archaeological finds in the
American bottom near Alton 21
Alton, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Alton, 111. Manufacturies 61
Altona Mountains 177
Alvord, (Prof.) Clarence Walworth 16, 30
Alvord, (Prof.) Clarence Walworth. Mem- ber of Committee Illinois State Histori- cal Society to mark site of Fort Creve
Coeur 16, 30
Ament, John 132
America 112, 122
American Bottoms. Archaeological finds in 21 American Meat Packers. T. E. Wilson,
President 71
American State Papers. Indian Affairs.
Foot-note <73
American State Papers. Miscellaneous.
Quoted. Foot-note 79
American State Papers. Public Lands.
Foot-note 77
American Steel and Wire Company 59
Amherst College, Amherst, Mass 33
Amherstburg, Ontario 88, 94
Andersonville Prison 64
Andover Colony 95
Andover, (Henry Co.) Ill 98, 99
Andover Township, Henry Co., Ill 99
Angell's Ferry 108
Annawan, (Henry Co.,) Ill 97
Appeal for historical material for the Illi- nois State Historical Library and So- ciety 11, 12
Appomattox River 200
Appomattox, Va 115
Archaeology. Cahokia Mound, efforts to
preserve 29
Archives — Bureau of Indexes and Archives.
Domestic Letters. Foot-note 77
Archives. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Ricker Files. Foot-note 86
Archives. Bureau of Rolls and Library Papers and Records of the Territories. L. C. Quoted. Foot-notes .. 76, 78, 79, 82, 86 Argo, 111. Listed among the manufactur- ing towns in Illinois 62
"Argyle" (Steamer) 151
Arlington Heights. Listed among the man- ufacturing towns in Illinois 62
Arlington, 111. (Bureau Co.) 97
Armour & Company. Packers, Chicago
58, 65, 66
Armour Philip Danforth. Founder of the
Armour Packing Industry in Chicago. 65, 66 Armstrong, Perry A. The Sauks and the
Black Hawk War.' 90, 91, 107
Army Ford on Edwards River. Black
Hawk War 101, 106
Army of the Ohio War of the Rebellion. . . 185 Army of the Potomac. War of the Re- bellion 113, 200, 201
Army of the Tennessee. War of the Rebel- lion 113, 142, 184, 185, 188
Army Ridge Bluffs. Rock Island County
Illinois 102
Army Trail Creek. Rock Island County
Illinois 102
Arnold, Isaac N. Life of Abraham Lincoln.
Quoted 32, 33, 42, 43
Foot-note 32
Arnold, Isaac N. Quoted on Lincoln and
his home in Illinois 32, 33
Foot-note 32
Art Extension Committee of the University
of Illinois 54
Asbury, (Bishop) Francis. Methodist
Church 122
Foot-note 122
Asbury, (Bishop) Francis. Ezra Squire Tipple. Francis Asbury, The Prophet
of The Long Road. Foot-note 122
Atchison, David R. Credited with the au- thorship of the Repeal of the Missouri
Compromise 47
Athens, Ala 173, 174
Athens, Greece 34
Atkinson, (Gen.) Henrv. Black Hawk
War 100, 106
Atkinson, (Henry Co.) Ill 97
Atlanta, Ga
144, 177, 178, 179, 181,
182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 190, 191
Atlanta & Macon R. R 191
Atlanta, Ga. Evacuation of 187-188
Atlantic Ocean 33, 94, 114
Attig, Chester J. Some Governmental Problems in the Northwest Territorv,
1787-1803 25, 75-86
Atwood, J. M. Princeton, 111 137
Augusta, Ga 191
Augusta, Maine 24
Aurora, III. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Aurora, 111. Manufacturies 61
Ausburg Confession 142
Austin, H. S. Member of Union League of
America 112
Autobiography of Black Hawk. Reference
89, 91, 94
Autobiography of Peter Cartwright.
Quoted 93
Foot-notes
116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123
204
INDEX— Continued.
Autobiography of Rev. James B. Finley.
Quoted. Foot-note 123
Avery, C. M. Member of the Avery firm
of Manufacturers, Peoria, Illinois 65
Avery, Eobert H. Founder of the Avery
Agricultural Implements 64, 65
Bach, Johann Sebastian, composer of
church music 143
Bailey, John 0 95
Bailey vs. Cromwell. Case in Supreme
Court 46
Baker's Ferry, (Ga.) 182
Baldwin, (Col.) A. D. Union Colonel War
of the Rebellion 143, 156, 168, 171
Baldwin, Chas. Princeton, 111 137
Baltimore, Md 135, 143
Foot-note 52
Baltimore, Md. Defense of, War of the
Rebellion 135, 143
Bane, (Mrs.) Mentioned in Zearing letter. 174 Bangs, (Hon.) Mark. Member of Union
League of America 112
Banner Special, Drainage and Levee Dis- tricts. In Peoria and Fulton Counties.. 126
Barnstable, Mass 65
Barr, (Mrs.) Mentioned in Zearing letter.. 166 Barton, (Rev.) William E. Illinois, a
rhymed sermon on 53
Barton, William E., D. D., LL. D. The Influence of Illinois in the Development
of Abraham Lincoln 25, 32-53
Bassett, Isaac Newton. Quoted on Indian
Trail 101
Bates, Edward, of Missouri. Presiding offi- cer River and Harbor Convention of
1847, held in Chicago 43
Bates, W. H. Report from Tazewell Co.,
Illinois, Historical Society 21
Battery. New York City 37
Beardstown, 111 100
Beaufort, S. C 193
Beauregard, (Pierre) Gustave Toutant. Confederate General, War of the Rebel- lion 157, 188
Bedford, Ind 149, 157, 171
Beecher, Henry Ward 33
Beggs, Stephen R. Pages from the early History of the West and Northwest.
Quoted. Foot-note 117
Beggs, Stephen R. Pioneer Preacher Meth- odist Church 117
Foot-note 117
Belleville, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Belleville, 111. Early records of St. Clair
County in, Reference. Footnote 81
Belleville, 111. Manufactories 61
Beloit, Wis 66
Belvidere, 111 23
Benedict, A. J 97
Benedict, Elijah 97
Benton. Abridgment. Quoted. Foot-note 77
Benton, Thomas Hart 44, 47
Berlin Township, Bureau Co., Ill 129
Berry, William F., Lincoln & Berry store
at New Salem 37
Better Community Conference of the Uni- versity of Illinois 54
Big Island at the mouth of Rock River. .. 106
Big Ogeechee River 191
Bismarck, Otto Edward Leopold Prince Von 143 Black Hawk and his followers religious people Governor Reynolds, Quoted on, . . 107
Black Hawk. Autobiography of Black
Hawk. Reference 89, 91, 94
Black Hawk. Fox & Sac Chief 87-109
Black Hawk. Hauberg, John H. Indian Trails, Centering at Black Hawk's Village
25, 87-109
Black Hawk Township. Rock Island Co.
Ill 92, 103, 104
Black Hawk's Village
93, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 106
Black Hawk's Watch Tower
20, 22, 87, 89, 90, 91
Black Hawk's Watch Tower, Poem on, by Mrs. Mary Brackett Durham, Extract
from 89
Black Hawk War, 1832
37 50 88 90
91,' *98," "l66," "lOl," "102',' 104, 105, ' 106,' 107 Black Hawk War. Armstrong, Perry A.
The Sauks and the Black Hawk War. .90, 91 Black Hawk War. Army Ford on Edwards
River 101
Black Hawk War. Atkinson, (Gen.)
Henry, in the Black Hawk War 106
Black Hawk War. Duncan, Joseph, Briga- dier-General, Black Hawk War 100
Black Hawk War. Ford, (Gov.) Thomas,
Illinois Volunteers Black Hawk War.
Governor Ford quoted on 104
Black Hawk War. Johnston, (Lieut.)
Albert Sydney, in the Black Hawk War . . 106 Black Hawk War. Lincoln, Abraham,
Captain in the Black Hawk War
88, 100, 104, 105
Black Hawk War. Lincoln, Abraham,
Captain in, Camp site, Reference. . .104, 105
Black Hawk War. Prophet's Village 106
Black Hawk War. Reynolds, (Gov.) John,
Illinois Volunteers, Black Hawk War.
Governor Reynolds quoted on 100
Black Hawk War. Wakefield, John Allen.
History of the Black Hawk War 106, 107
Blair's Landing, South Carolina 194
Blanchard, (Dr.) E. S., Princeton, 111 137
Blatchford, Eliphalet Wickes. Founder of
the E. W. Blatchford Co 69
Blatchford, E. W. Co 69
Blackstock Ira B 30
Blackstone's Commentaries 36
Blood, (Dr.) Henry S., Assistant Surgeon Fiftv-seventh 111. Vols., War of the
Rebellion 157
Bloomington, 111 23, 61, 73, 112, 118
Bloomington, 111. Census figures on popu- lation and manufacturing interests 73
Bloomington, 111 Illinois Conference
district, M. E. Church 118
Bloomington, 111. Manufacturies 61
Bloomington, 111. Union League of
America. Illinois First State Council
held in Bloomington, Sept. 5, 1862 112
Bloomington, Ind 149
Blossomberg, 111 88
Blynnville, Tenn 172
Boggess, Arthur Clinton. Settlement of
Illinois, 1778-1830. Foot-note 76
Bonaparte, Napoleon. Napoleon at Water- loo. Reference 113
Boone, Daniel 35
Boston, Mass 17, 24, 31, 37, 65, 68, 70, 112
Boston, Mass. Faneuil Hall 112
Boston, Mass. Long Wharf, Boston 37
Boston, Mass. Transcript (Newspaper) . . 24
Bowling Green, Ky 153
Bowling Township. Rock Island County,
Illinois 106
Boyd, William 68
205
INDEX— Continued.
Boyes, W. F • • • 19
Bradley, H. C. Quoted on Indian Trail.. 97
Bradley, 111., Manufactures 62
Bradley, Thomas L. History of Bureau
County, Illinois. Quoted 98
Brandywine, Battle of, War of the Revolu- tion l^O
Brashar, Edwin. Quoted on Indian Trail. . 90
Brazoo, Texas 137
Bremen, Germany 67
Brighton, Mass 65
Brisson, Pierre. Pierre Brisson Plaintiff
vs. Charles Germain, case of. Reference.. 85
Bristol Center, N. Y 68
Broad River 193, 194
Brown, (Dr.) 11th Indiana, War
of the Rebellion 174
Brown, George W., Corn planter, works of,
Galesburg, 111 70
Brown, John. Anti-slavery leader 46
Brown, John C, Governor of Tennessee... 147
Brown, Stuart 23, 25
Brown, Stuart. Poets and Poetry of
Illinois 25
Bryant Family, Princeton, 111 131
Bryant Home, Princeton, 111 131
Bryant, William Cullen 131
Buckhorn Inn. Early days in Illinois .... 96 Buckle, Henry Thomas. English writer . . 33 Bucklin, James M. Chief engineer of the
Illinois and Michigan Canal 98
Buel, (Gen.) Don Carlos. Union General,
War of the Rebellion 153, 154 158
Buffalo, N. Y 44
Foot-note 52
Buffalo, N. Y. Harbor at, appropriation
River and Harbor Bill, 1846 44
Buffum, Almon A. Quoted on Indian
Trail 102, 103
Bufort County, Cork, Ireland 70
Bull Run, Battle of, War of the Rebellion 110 Bunn, Jacob. Watch Company, Spring- field, 111 70
Bunn, John W., Watch Company, Spring- field, 111 70
Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress 36
Bureau, Camp, Princeton, 111 143
Bureau Co., Ill
97, 98, 129, 142, 143, 144, 170, 175
Bureau Co., Bradley, Thomas L. History
of Bureau County, Illinois. Quoted.... 98 Bureau Co., 111. Matson N. Reminiscences
of Bureau County 97
Bureau Co., 111. Republican (Newspaper) 137
Bureau Co., 111. Soldiers Association 142
Bureau Co., 111. Soldiers in the Civil War
170, 175
Bureau Co., 111. Zearings. Early settlers
in 129, 143
Bureau Creek, 111 147
Burgess, Mary C. Wife of Judge William
Reid Curran 125
Burlingame, Anson, at River and Harbor
Convention, 1847 44
Burnet, Jacob. Notes on the Early Settle- ment of the Northwestern Territory,
1770-1853. Foot-note 82
Burnham, (Capt.) J. H 30
Burns, Robert (Bobbie Burns) 33, 142
Burnside, (Gen.) Ambrose E. Union Gen- eral, War of the Rebellion 185
Burnsville, Miss 169
Burson Knitting Machine. William Worth
Burson, inventor 66, 67
Burson, William Worth. Inventor of the
Burson Knitting Machine 66
Burson, William Worth. Patents granted to, on inventions 67
Burton Collection. Foot-notes. 78, 79, 85, 86 Burton Collection. Sibley Papers. Quoted.
Foot-notes 78, 79
Busey, (Mrs.) George 30
Butterfield, Justin 42, 43
Biographical sketch. Foot-note 43
Butterworth, William 72
Butts, Jacob, Bureau Co., Ill . 166
Cahokia 76, 83
Foot-note 85
Cahokia Mound 20, 29
Cahokia Mound. Efforts to preserve 29
Cahokia Records, 1778-1790. Illinois State
Historical Collections. Vol. 2. Foot-note. 85
Cairo, 111 57, 61, 73, 151, 168, 170
Cairo, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Cairo, 111. Manufacturies 61
Cairo, 111. Railroad from Galena to Cairo, referred to as the first Illinois Central
R. R 57
Calhoun, John C, of North Carolina 49
California State 46, 64, 65, 66, 69
California State, Enters the Union as a
free state 46
California State. Gold seekers of 1849.. 66
Calumet River 98
Cambridge, (Henry Co.) Ill 97
Cambridge, Mass 17, 31
Camden Mills, now Milan, 111 94
Camp Bureau, War of the Rebellion, Prince- ton, 111 143
Camp Creek, Mercer County, 111. .101, 102, 104
Camp Douglas, Chicago, 111 143, 150, 151
Camp Meeting, Sugar Grove Camp Meet- ing 104
Campbell, (Maj.) John 92, 95
Campbell, (Maj.) John. Quoted on Indian
Trail 95
Campbell's Island. War of 1812 92
Canaan. First post office in Rock Island
County, Illinois 91
Canada 24, 59
Canada. New Hamborough, Upper Canada 59
Canal Boats, Private 132
Canton, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Canton, 111 Manufacturies 63
Canton, 111. Parlin & Orendorff Plow Co . . 63 Capron, Charles L. Vice President Illi- nois State Historical Society 23
Carbondale, 111 23
Carlyle, Thomas. Heroes and Hero Wor- ship. Quoted. Foot-note 23
Carlyle, Thomas. Quoted on great men,
theory of. Foot-note 33
Carolinas, (The) 56
Carpenter, Richard V 23
Carroll Co., Ill 64
Carter, (Hon.) Orrin N 23
Cartwright, (Rev.) Peter. Autobiograplry.
Quoted. Foot-notes
93, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123
Cartwright, (Rev.) Peter. Defeated for
Congress by Abraham Lincoln 120, 121
Cartwright, Peter. Description of 119
Cartwright, Peter. Fifty Years as Presid- ing Elder. Foot-notes 116, 121, 122
Cartwright. Peter. Member of Illinois
State Legislature 119, 120
Cartwright, Peter. Ministerial work 118
Cartwright, Peter. One of the founders of
McKendree College, Lebanon, 111 122
Foot-note 122
206
INDEX— Continued.
Cartwright, Peter. Opposed to slavery 116,
Cartwright, Peter. Pioneer preacher Meth- odist church. Autobiography. Quoted. 93, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122,
Cartwright, Peter. Sweet, William W. Peter Cartwright in Illinois History . . 25, 116
Cartwright, Peter. Theology of, simple..
Cass, Lewis 44,
Centennial Memorial Building, State of Illinois 26,
Centralia, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests. . . .73,
Chalmers, Thomas
Chamberlain, (Dr.) N
Chamberlain, (Dr.) William 0
Champaign, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests
Champaign, 111. Manufacturies in
Chandlerville, (Cass Co.) Ill
Chapman, C. C. & Co., Pubs., History of Knox County, 111
Charleston, S. C 192,
Chase, Salmon P. Statutes of Ohio. Foot- notes 76, 79, 80,
Chatahoochie River 177, 180, 182,
Chatsworth, 111
Chattanooga, Tenn 144, 176, 179,
Cheever, (Dr.) D. A. Member of the Union League of America, Tazewell Co. .
Cheever, (Dr.) D. A. Member of Union League, Tazewell Co., one of the secret body guard to protect Lincoln at second inaugural
Cheney, George
Chicago Heights, 111 62, 73, 74,
Chicago Heights, 111. Census figures on population and manufacturing inter- ests 73,
Chicago Heights, 111. Manufacturies in..
Chicago, 111. .28, 40, 41, 43, 44, 51, 56, 57, 59, 68, 69, 71, 73, 93, 97, 113, 117, 129,
136, 137, 142, 145, 150, 175,
Foot-notes 43, 45, 52,
Chicago, 111. Burlington and Quincy Rail- road 129,
Chicago, 111. Census figures on population and manufacturing interests
Chicago, 111. Chicago & Alton R. R
Chicago, 111. Chicago and Joliet R. R
Chicago, 111. Chicago Journal. (News- paper)
Foot-note
Chicago, 111. Chicago Journal, July 6, 1847. Quoted. Foot-note
Chicago, 111. Directory, first one printed in 1843. By Robert Fergus
Chicago, 111. Galena and Chicago Union Railroad
Chicago, 111. Harbor
Chicago, 111. Historical Society 28,
Chicago, 111. Historical Society. Gunther collection purchased by
Chicago, 111. Illinois Conference Metho- dist Church, 1832. Chicago added to..
Chicago, 111. Iron Company builds the first furnace in 1868
Chicago, 111. Lincoln's visits to Chicago. Foot-note
Chicago, 111. Manual Training School ....
Chicago, 111. National Republican Con- vention, May, 1860, held in Chicago..
Chicago, 111. North Chicago Rolling Mill Company
Chicago, 111. River and Harbor Convention of, 1847, held in
119
123
123 122
45
31
74
69
145
145
74 62
24
99 194
81 183 124 181
111
115
156
93
74
180 117
145 73
43
28
117
59
45 69
51
59
43
Chicago, 111. Theological Seminary 69
Chicago, 111. Thomas Grand Army Republic
Post 142
Chicago, 111. Times. (Newspaper) 180
Chicago, 111. Union, League Club formed in
1862 113
Chicago, 111. Union Stock Yards 71
Chicago, 111. Wigwam located in where
Republican National Convention of 1860
was held 142
Chicago, 111. Zearing Building in 137
Chicago River 57, 59, 69, 70
Chickamauga, Ga 176
Chillicothe, Ohio 85
Chin Chuey. Dr. J. R. Zearing's cook. 141, 142 Chubbuck, (Mrs.) H. Eugene. State Regent,
Illinois D. A. R 22, 24, 27, 30
Churches. Congregational Church 122
Churches. German Reformed at Frieden's
Kirch 131
Churches, Presbyterian Church 96, 97, 122
Churches, Princeton, 111. Martin Zearing
builder of churches in 131
Churches. Salem German Reformed. Har-
risburg, Pa 143
Cicero, 111. Manufacturing center 62
Cincinnati, Ohio 64, 83, 84
Civil War. See War of the Rebellion. .58, 64 Civil War. Great demand for food and
clothing in 58
Clark, (Gen.) George Rogers...: 99
Foot-note 78
Clark, (Gen.) George Rogers. George
Rogers Clark Papers 1771-1781. Illinois
Historical Collections, Vol. VIII 99
Clark, (Gen.) George Rogers. Manuscripts,
Draper Collection. Reference. Foot-note 78
Clark, James A 97
Clark, (Mrs.) Lucinda 97
Clary Grove near New Salem, 111 37
Clay, Henry 38, 44
Clav, Henry. Lincoln a disciple of Henry
Clav 38
Clend'enin, H. W 15, 23
Cleveland Ferry 108
Cleveland, Ohio 44
Foot-note 52
Cleveland, Ohio. Harbor at, appropriation
River and Harbor Bill, 1846 44
Clifton, Tenn 152
Clover Township, Henry County, 111 99
Clybourn, Archibald. Slaughter House on
the Chicago River 70
Clybourn, Jonas. Slaughter House on the
Chicago River 70
Coal Creek, Henry Co., Ill 97
Coal. Illinois area, counties in which it
is found 57
Coal Valley Creek 94, 107
Coal Valley, 111 94, 95, 96, 98, 99
Coal Valley, 111., School 95, 96
Coal Valley Township, Rock Island Co.,
Ill 94, 107
Colby, (Miss) Lydia. Quoted on Indian
Trail 96, 97
Colder Family 132
Colderites 132
Cole, A. S. Flour manufacturer and dis- tiller of, Peoria, 111 70
Colona Ferry, Henry Co., Ill 108
Colona, Henry Co., Ill 108
Colona Township, Henry Co 94, 96, 108
Colton, (Mrs.) Buel P. (Charlotte Zearing) 149
Colton, Charlotte Zearing 146, 149
Colton Family, Bureau Co., Ill 136
Colton, James Zearing 149
Colton, (Lieut.) Kingsley Buel. U. S.
Navy, World War 138, 140, 149
207
INDEX— Continued.
Columbus, Christopher
Columbus, Mississippi 153, 162, 168,
Columbus, Ohio. Foot-note
Colyer, Walter 15, 21,
Comptometer. Dorr E. Felt inventor of the Comptometer
Conants, (Dr.) (Bureau Co.)
Congregational Church 122,
Congregational Church, Pekin, 111
Conkey, William B. First president of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association ....
Conkey, William B. Manufacturer. Organ- ized the Illinois Manufacturers' Associa- tion
Conkling, (Miss) Alice ,
Conkling, Clinton L 17,
Conkling, Clinton L Director of the Illinois State Historical Society. Deceased
Conkling Family
Connecticut State 24, 44, 69,
Connecticut State. Biver and Harbor Con- vention at Chicago, 1847. Seven dele- gates to, from Connecticut
Constitution of the Illinois State Historical Society 8,
Constitution of the United States
Continental Congress. Ordinance of 1784- 1785
Continental Congress. Papers of the Con- tinental Congress. Quoted Foot-note . .
Cook, (Gen.)
Cook Co., Ill 93,
Cook Co., 111. Forest Reserve
Cooke, (Col.) P. St. G. Scenes and Adven- tures in the Army, 1859. Quoted
Cooper Settlement, Mercer County, 111. . . .
Coosa River, Georgia
Cordovia, 111
Corinth, Mississippi. .144, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167 168, 170, 171, 172,
Corinth, Mississippi, Battle of.... 144, 161
Corinth, Mississippi, Evacuation of
Cork, Ireland, Buford, Co
Cornwall Township, Henry Co., 111.. 96, 97,
Corse, (Gen.) John M. Union General War of the Rebellion 144,
Corwin, Thomas
Crabs, George. Quoted on Indian Trails. .
Craig, Alex 88, 94, 107,
Crampton, Wisconsin
Crane Co., Chicago, 111
Crane, Richard Teller. Founder of the Crane Company, Chicago
Crawford, William F. Quoted on Indian Trail
Credit Island. Battle of 1814
Crerar, John. Founder of the Crerar Li- brary, Chicago, 111
Crerar Library, Chicago, 111 68,
Crerar Library, Chicago, III Gift of John Crerar
Crosby, (Dr) Mentioned in Zearing letters. .
Crossley, (Mrs.) Mentioned in Zearing letters 166,
Crusoe, Robinson
Cudahy Brothers. Meat Packers of Chicago
Cudahy Company. Meat Packers, Chicago.
Cudahy, John. Member of the packing firm of Cudahy Brothers, Chicago. ..20,
Cudahy, Patrick. Member of the packing firm of Cudahy Brothers
Cullom, (Major) R. N. Member of the Union League of America
Cumberland Co., Pa
Cumberland Gap
33 170
52 23
165 126 126
72
44
10 112
75
76 155 112
93
100 102
189 92
174
164
171
70
189
44
104
108
68
105 91
182
168 36
58
111
131
56
PAGE.
Cummings, (Col.) Alfred. Union Colonel
War of the Rebellion 189
Curran, Charles 124
Curran, Margaret Reid 124
Curran, Thomas Smith 124
Curran, (Judge) William Reid
17, 21, 23, 25, 124-127
Curran, (Judge) William Reid. Address
on Abraham Lincoln. Reference 126
Curran, (Judge) William Reid. Director
of the Illinois State Historical Society,
Deceased 31
Curran, (Judge) William Reid. Memorial
address on, by Ralph Dempsev
23, 25, 124-127
Curran, (Judge) William Reid. President
of the Lincoln Marking Association.... 30 Currey, J. Seymour. Quoted on Lincoln's
visits to Chicago. Foot-note 45
Dahlberg, (Hon.) Gotthard. Speaker of
the House of Representatives 22
Dallas, Ga 178
Dalton, Ga 175, 177, 179, 188
Danville, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Danville, 111. Manufacturies 61
Danville, Pa 64
Daughters of the American Revolution. Work in preserving historical spots,
documents and relics 22
Davenport, Bailey 89, 91
Davenport, (Col.) George 88, 89, 91, 98
Davenport, Iowa ....62, 87, 88, 109
Davenport, Iowa. Manufacturies in 62
Davis, Jefferson 199
Davis Power House, Rock Island Co., 111.. 93
Decatur, Ala 173, 174, 183
Decatur, 111 Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Decatur, 111. Grand Army of the Republic,
organized in Decatur 20
Decatur, 111. Lincoln's Illinois home near
Decatur 37
Decatur, 111. Manufacturies 61
Decatur, 111. Republican Convention May
9, 10, 1860, held in Decatur, 111 43, 51
Deere and Mansur. Manufacturers of corn
planters, etc 64
Deere, Charles H 64, 72
Deere, Charles H. Member of firm of Deere and Mansur, manufacturers of corn
planters 64
Deere, John. Founder of the John Deere
Plow Company, Moline, 111 63
Deere, John. Made his first two plows by hand in blacksmith shop in Grand De- tour, Ogle Co., Ill 63
DeKalb, 111 23, 62
DeKalb, 111. Listed among the manufactur- ing towns of Illinois 62
Delavan, (Tazewell Co.) Ill 125
Delaware State 24, 70
Delaware State. Delaware Archives 24
Democratic Party 38
Dempsey, Ralph. William Reid Curran.
In Memoriam 23, 25, 30, 124-127
Denton Farm. Henry County, Illinois.... 96
Desplaines River 57
Detroit, Mich 59, 70, 79, 80, 83
Foot-note 78
Devon Carys 24
Diary of Manasseh Minor. Stonington, Con- necticut, 1696-1720 24
208
INDEX— Continued.
24
Diary of William Sewall, Sept. 1, 1819, to
1845
Ditson, Oliver. Member of music firm,
Ditson & Haynes, Boston 70
Dixon Cemetery, Rock Island, 111 90, 91
Dixon, 111. Reaper Trial in 1862 67
Doctors. Pioneer Doctors in Illinois. .144, 145 Dodge, (Gen.) Grenville M. Union Gen- eral War of the Rebellion
137, 144, 147, 171, 176, 177, 180
Dodge, (Mrs.). Mentioned in Zearing
letters 174
Donelson, Fort 143, 156
Doolittle, (Mrs.) 130
Douglas, Camp. Chicago, 111 143
Douglas, Stephen Arnold
21, 39, 47, 48, 49, 50
Doug-las, Stephen Arnold. Dominant force
in national politics 48
Douglas, Stephen Arnold. Leader in the
Repeal of the Missouri Compromise. ... 47 Douglas, Stephen Arnold. Lincoln-Douglas
Debates, 1858 21, 48, 49,107
Douglas, Stephen Arnold. Speech at Chi- cago, July 9, 1858. Reference 49, 50
Dover, 111 129, 131, 132, 133, 135, 141
143, 144, 145, 149, 150, 156, 159, 165,
167, 170, 179, 198
Dover, 111. Academy 135
Dover, 111. Soldiers 'in Civil War 198
Downey Bridge 101
Doyle, (Capt.) 78
Drake, Daniel. Draper Collection. Daniel
Drake Papers. Quoted. Foot-note 84
Draper, Lyman C. Collection. George
Rogers Clark Mss. Foot-note 78
Draper, Lyman C. Collection. Daniel
Drake Papers. Foot-note 84
Drinkwater, John 34
Drury Farm, Henry County, Illinois. ..... 94
Dubuque Mines 109
Duncan, Joseph. Brigadier General, Black
Hawk War 100
Dunton. Nurse in hospital at Corinth,
Mississippi 172
Durham, (Col.) C. W 89
Durham, (Mrs.) Mary Brackett. Poem on "Black Hawk's Watch Tower," extract from 89
East Chicago 62
East La Grange, 111 96, 99
East St. Louis, 111 60, 61, 62, 73
East St. Louis, 111. Census figures on popu- lation and manufacturing interests 73
East St. Louis, 111. Flour and grist mills, chemical works, etc., shows the greatest
growth of any city in Illinois 60, 61
Eckhart, B. A 72
Eddy, T. M. Influence of Methodism upon civilization and education of the West,
Foot-note 123
Eddy, (Col.) J. M 148
Edgington, 111 102
Edgington, John 104
Edgington Township, Rock Island County,
Illinois 101, 103, 104, 105
Education. Amherst College, Amherst,
Education. Dover, Illinois, Academy
Education. Geneseo, Illinois, Collegiate Institute
Education. Illinois College, Jacksonville, Illinois 37,
Education. Illinois, early education in. 135,
Education. Illinois. Northern Illinois State Normal School
Education. Illinois. Northwestern Uni- versity, Evanston, 111 23,
Education. Illinois. Princeton High School
Education. Illinois. Southern Illinois State Normal School
Education. Illinois. University of Illi- nois 23, 30,
Education. Illinois. Wesieyan University, Bloomington, 111. Foot-note
Education. McKendree College, Lebanon,
Illinois
Foot-note
Education. Northwestern College, Naper- ville, 111
Education. Prague University of, in Bo- hemia
Education. Prairie Union School, Rock Island County, 111
Education. University of Prague
Education. Williams College, Williams- town, Mass. Foot-note
Education. Wisconsin State University, Foot-note
Edwards, (Judge) Benjamin S
Edwards, (Gov.) Ninian
Edwards, Ninian Wirt
Edwards River 95, 98, 99, 101,
Edwardsville, 111. Illinois Advocate. News- paper, 1832-33, published in
Elgin, 111 56, 57, 61
Elgin, 111. Census figures on population and manufacturing interests
Elgin, 111. Manufacturies
Ellis, William. Early printer in Chicago.
Elwood, I. L
Emergency Fleet Corporation, World War.
Emerson & Co. Contractor on twine binders
Emerson, Ralph Waldo
Emery, Enoch. Member of the Union
League of America
"Empire" Steamer
England. Deliberating whether she should openly recognize the Confederacy. War of the Rebellion
English, William Hayden. St. Clair Papers. Quoted. Foot-notes. .. .77, 78,
Eustenow River
Evanston, 111. Census figures on population and manufacturing interests
Evanston, 111. Northwestern University located in 23,
Evener, Charles .' 94,
Everett, (Mrs.) James G
Ewing Family
Ewing, (Judge) Presley K
135
101
69 136
23
30
136 23 54
122
122 122
25
17
105- 31
43
45 17 17 39 106
27
59
72
112 45
82 179
73
30 95 97
Education. Chicago Manual Training
School
Education. Chicago Theological Seminary
Education. Coal Valley School 95,
Education. Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, 111
83
122
Factory Employes, United States Census figures for Illinois and Thirtv-two of its
cities 73, 74
Faneuil Hall, Boston, Mass 112
Farquier County, Va 24
Farwell & Herron, Princeton, 111 137
Fay, Herbert W., Custodian of the Lincoln
Monument, Springfield, 111 27
Fear River 196
209
INDEX— Continued.
72
Federal Steel Corporation
Felt, Dorr E . 66,
Felt, Dorr E., Inventor of the Comptometer 66 Fence Rails made by Abraham Lincoln carried into the Republican Convention,
May, 1860, at Decatur, Illinois 51
Fenner, N. Y 68
FergTis, Robert. First Chicago Directory
1843, printed by 69
Fergus, Robert. Head of the Fergus Pub- lishing Co., Chicago 69
Ferguson, (Mrs.) Alice Edwards 17
Ferries. Angell's Ferry 108
Ferries. Baker's Ferry, Georgia 182
Ferries. Cleveland Ferry 108
Ferries. Colona Ferry 108
Ferries, Sisters Ferry Georgia 194
Ferris, (Capt.) Princeton, 111., War of the
Rebellion 158
Field, David Dudley 45
Finley, (Rev.) James B. Autobiography
of, Quoted. Foot-note 123
Finley, (Rev.) James B. Life among the
Indians. Quoted. Foot-note 85
Finley, (Rev.) James B. Sketches of West- ern Methodism. Quoted. Foot-note. . . . 123
Fire, Forest Fire 131
Fisher, (Major) James M. Ninety-third 111. Vol. Infantry, War of the Rebellion
189, 190
Fisk, Lute 182
Florence, (Ala.) 172
Florida State, River and Harbor Conven- tion at Chicago, 1847, one delegate to,
from Florida 44
Food Commission. World War 72
Foote, (Commodore) Andrew Hull, Union
Rear- Admiral, War of the Rebellion.... 110 Ford, (Gov.) Thomas. History of Illinois
Quoted 39, 40, 41,100
Ford, (Gov.) Thomas, Illinois Volunteers Black Hawk War. Governor Ford.
Quoted on 100
Ford, (Gov.) Thomas. Quoted on the "Long Nine" and their influence in removing the State Capital from Van-
dalia to Springfield 39
Forest Reserve, Cook Co., Ill 93
Forrest, 111 124
Forrest, (Gen.) Nathan B. Confederate
General, War of the Rebellion 74
Fort Armstrong. .88, 91, 98, 100, 101, 102, 104
Fort Clark. Wabash Trail, marked 21
Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wis- consin 100
Fort Creve Coeur 16, 30, 110
Fort Creve Coeur, Illinois State Historical
Society appoints committee on, 16
Fort Creve Coeur. Marking of site, appro- priation for, etc 30
Fort Donelson, Tenn Ill, 143, 144, 156
Fort Donelson. War of the Rebellion, fall
of Ill, 144
Fort Fisher, N. C 196
Fort Henry, Tenn., Fall of, War of the
Rebellion Ill, 143
Fort McAllister, Ga 191
Fort Maiden 88, 94, 98
Fort Pillow, Tenn 175
Fort Shelby 92
Fort Sumpter. Attack on April 12, 1861.
Capitulation on the fourteenth 110
Fort Worth, Texas 147
Fosdick, Samuel T 124
Foster, (Brig-Gen.) D. Jack. Sixty-sixth
Inf. World War 138
Foster, (Brig-Gen.) John. War of 1812. 135, 143
Fox Indians 87, 109
Fox River 117
Franklin Co., Ill 57
Fraser, Andrew 69
Fredericksburg, Va 198
Freeport, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
Freeport, 111., Manufacturies 62
Freeport, 111. Stover Manufacturing Com- pany located in 64
Freese, L. J 20, 21, 22
Freese, L. J. President of the Woodford Co.
Historical Society 20
French's division. Confederate War of the
Rebellion 189
Friberg, Andre. Member of the firm of
the Moline Plow Co 64
Frieden's Kirch. German Reformed Church 131 "Friends in Council" Club of Princeton,
Illinois ' 149
Frink & Walker Stage Line 94
Fuel Commission. World War 72
Fulton Co., Ill 66, 126
"Fulton" (Steamer) 194
Fyffe, Colin C. H 72
Gabuniere, to Congress , July 17, 1786.
Foot-note 76
Gaines, (Gen.) Edmond P. At Fort Arm- strong 98
Galena, 111 57, 61, 91, 92, 118, 145
Galena, 111. Galena and Chicago Union
Railroad 57
Galena, 111. Lead mines in, 57, 61, 91
Galena, 111. Lead mining industry, and
iron works 61
Galena, 111. Railroads 57, 145
Galena, 111. Railroad from Galena to Cairo, 111., referred to as the Illinois
Central R. R 57
Galena, 111. Stage line, Rock Island to
Galena 92
Galesburg, 'ill .' .' .' .' .' .19, 2B, '48,' 6l', '65,' 70, 74 Galesburg, 111. Brown, George W. Corn
planter works of, in Galesburg 70
Galesburg, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests 74
Galesburg, 111. Lincoln-Douglas Debate
held in 1858 48
Galesburg, 111. Manufacturies 61
Galesburg, 111., Republican-Register (News- paper) 19
Garrett Biblical Institute, Evanston, 111
Foot-note 122
Garrett, L. F. Member of the Union Lea- gue of American Ill
Garrison Hill, Randolph Co., Ill 15, 22
Garrison Hill Tract. An Act making an appropriation for the purpose of creating and establishing a State Park on what is called the "Garrison Hill Tract".... 22
Garvin, John 189
Gary, (Judge) Elbert H., Chairman of the board of directors of the United States
Steel Company 60
Gary, Elbert H. Head of the United Steel
Corporation 71
Garj', Indiana 62
Gates, John W. Striking figure in the iron
and steel industry of Illinois 59
Gates, Philetus Woodworth. Manufacturer
and Inventor 68, 69
Gates Rock Breaker 69
210
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Genealogical Department Illinois State
Historical Library 27
Geneseo, 111 96, 97, 101
Geneseo, 111., Collegiate Institute 101
Georgia State 49, 69
Georgia State. River and Harbor Conven- tion at Chicago, 1847, two delegates to,
from Georgia 44
Germain, Chai'les. Pierre Brisson vs. Char- les Germain case of, Reference 85
German Reformed Church at Frieden's
Kirch 131
Germany 65, 66, 67, 69, 70
Germany. Black Forest of Germany 65
Germany. Bremen, Germany 67
Germany. Neidersletter, Germany 69
Germany. Wurttemberg, Germany 69
Gettysburg, Pa. Battle of Gettysburg.
War of the Rebellion 113
Glasgow, John W. Member of the Union
League of America Ill
Glenn, John M. The Industrial Develop- ment of Illinois 25, 55-74
Goble, (Mrs.) Benjamin 92
Godell, (Miss) Helen. , 24
Goethe or Gothe, Johann Wolfgang. Ger- man Poet 143
Gold. Value of, during Civil War.. 174, 175
Goldsborough, N. C 196, 197, 198
Gondoliers. Club of Harrisburg, Pa.... 134 Goodell. Hospital Steward, War of the
Rebellion 160
Gorin, J. R. Member of Union League of
America 112
Gould, A. Member of Union League of
America 112
Gould, Jay 147
"Governor Clark" Gunboat. War of 1812. 92
Graham, James M 23
Graham, Mentor. Schoolmaster of Lincoln
in New Salem 36
Grand Army of the Republic 20, 142
Grand Army of the Republic, organization
of, 20
Grand Detour, Ogle Co., 111. John Deere made his first two plows by hand in
blacksmith shop in Grand Detour 63
Grand Tower. Iron and Steel company near 59 Granite City, 111. Census figures on popu- lation and manufacturing interests 74
Granite City, 111. Manuf acturies in 62
Grant, (Gen.) Ulysses S. Union General,
War of the Rebellion
113, 151
154, 155, 160, 166, 167, 172, 178, 196, 201
Gratiot, (Col.) Henry 107
Gray, Thomas. English Poet. Gray's
Elegy 34, 142
Great Men. Two theories on the origin of
33, 34
Great Sauk Trail 93
Greeley, Horace 43, 44, 45
Greeley, Horace. Attends River and Harbor Convention, Chicago, 1847, writes an
account in New York Tribune 43, 44
Green Bay, Wis 55
Greencastle, Ind 149
Greencastle, Pa 64
Greene, (Dr.) Evarts Boutell. . .16, 17, 23, 31
Greenfield, (111.) Later named Princeton. . 145
Green River, Ky . . . 35
Green River, Rock Island Co., Ill 89, 108
Grey, Capt 147
Griffin, George Washington. Quoted on
Indian Trail 105
Griswold, Ga 191
Gross, (Mrs.) J. Ellsworth. (Luelja Zear-
ing) 139, 149
PAGE.
Gross, Luelja Zearing. "A sketch of the life of Major James Roberts Zearing, M. D." 139-149
Gross, Luelja Zearing. Zearings earliest settlers of the name in Illinois 129,-138
Grow, (Dr.), Dover, 111 165
Gunther, Charles F. Chicago Historical Society, purchases the Gunther Collection 28
H
Hackelman, (Gen.) Pleasant A., Union
General , War of the Rebellion 163
Haggerty ,Lucinda, Bur ford 149
Hall, Life and Letters. Samuel H. Parsons.
Quoted. Foot-note 77
Hamilton E. Bentley. The Union League ■its Organization and Achievements dur- ing the Civil War 25, 110-115
Hamlet, Ills 104
Hamlin, John. Flour mill on Red Bud
Creek near Peoria, 111 70
Hammond, Ind 62
Hampton Township, Moline, 111 88
Hamtramck, Major John Francis 83
Hannibal, Son of the Carthaginian com- mander, Hamilcar Barca. His march into
Italy. Reference 113
Hancock, (Gen.) Winfield S. Union Gen-
al, War of the Rebellion 201
Hanks, Dennis 38
Hanks, John, at the Republican State Con- vention in Decatur, May 9, 10, 1860. ... 51 Hanks, John, cousin of Abraham Lincoln
34, 38, 43, 51
Hansel, Abel. Ninety-third 111. Vol. Inf.
War of the Rebellion 189
Hardee's corps, Confederate, War of the
Rebellion •. 189
Hardin Co., Ill 59
Hardin Co., Ky 34, 35
Hardin Co., Ohio 124
Harlow, (Col.) George H 112, 113, 115
Harlow, George H., member of the Union
League of America Ill, 112
Harlow, George H., member of Union Lea- gue, Tazewell Co., one of the secret body- guard at Lincoln's second inaugural.... 115
Harmer's Trial, 1790. Reference 78
Harris, Jacob. Quoted on Indian Trail... 105
Harrisburg, Pa. 113, 129, 132
Foot-note 52
Harrison, (Pres.) Benjamin 134
Harrison Fairfax 24
Harrison, (Pres.) William Henry 38, 43
Harvey, 111. Listed among the manufactur- ing towns in Illinois 62
Hastings, S. M 72
Hatchie River 164
Hathaway & Swift, cattle buyers 65
Hauberg, John H 15, 18, 22, 23, 25, 87
Hauberg, John H. Indian Trails center- ing at Black Hawk's Village 25, 87-109
Hauberg, M. D. Quoted on Indian Trail . . 109 Hay, John. Nicolay & Hay, Life of Lin- coln, Quoted 38, 43
Foot-notes 117, 120
Haynes, John C, Member of music firm
of Ditson and Havnes, Boston 70
Haynie, William Duff 72
Healy, Patrick Joseph, Founder of the
Healy Music House, Chicago 70
Hegeler, Edward C, Zinc manufacturer and
publisher of scientific periodicals 67
Helmer, Lucinda 143, 149
Helmer, Melchert 149
Helmer, Orlando 154
211
INDEX— Continued.
Henderson Co., Ills 99, 100
Henderson County. History of Mercer and Henderson Counties, Pub. 1883 by Hill
& Co., Quoted 100
Hennepin, 111 130, 133
Henry Co., Ills 94, 95-98, 99, 107, 108, 112
Henry Co., Ill, Andover Township 99
Henry Co., 111., Clover Township 99
Henry Co., 111., Colona Township. .94, 96, 108
Henry Co., 111., Cornwall Township 96-98
Henry Co., 111., Lynn Township 98
Henry Co., 111., Osco Township 96, 98
Henry Co., 111., Pink Prairie 107
Henry Co., 111., Sunny Hill 95
Henry Co., 111., Western Township 96, 98
Henry, Patrick, Statue in Richmond, Vir- ginia 200
Herget, H. G 72
Herman, John 134
Herman, Margaretta, wife of John Zearing 134 Herman, Sally, sister of Mrs. John Zearing 135
Herman, Sarah Bright 134
Herndon and Weik, Life of Lincoln, Quoted
Foot-note 120
Heroes and Hero Worship, by Carlyle.
Quoted. Foot-note 33
Hickory Point, Henry Co., Ill 97
Hieronymus, R. E. Art in Historic Com- munities 25, 54
Hill & Co, Pubs, History of Mercer and
Henderson Counties. Pub. 1883 100
Hilton Head, S. C 194, 195, 196, 197
Hodge, Sheldon 108
Holden, W. F., Member of first board of directors, Illinois Manufacturers Asso- ciation 71
Holly Springs, Miss 167
Holmes, Oliver Wendell 36
Homan's Map of 1687 93
Home Missionary Society 122
Hooker, (Gen.) Joseph. Confederate Gen- eral, War of the Rebellion 176
Houston, Texas 24
Howe, Henry, Ohio Historical Collections,
Quoted. Foot-notes 77, 78 85
Hoxie, H. M 147
Hoyt. Edson 98
Hoyt, Wash. Quoted on Indian Trail. .98, 99 Hubbard, A. M. Quoted on Indian Trail 98 Huidekoper, (Col.) Frederic L. History of the Thirty-third Division, World War 16, 29 Hunt, David W. Quoted on Indian Trail . . 94 Huntoon, John N. Quoted on IndianTrail.
„ 95, 96, 98
Huntoon, Jonathan 64
Huntoon, Nathaniel 95
Huntsville, Ala 175, 177 178
Hurlbut, (Col.) Frederick J., Fifty-seventh
111. Vol. Inf., War of the Rebellion. 198, 202 Hurley, Edward N 72
Illinois and Michigan Canal 56, 68, 92, 98
Illinois and Michigan Canal. James M.
Bucklin, chief engineer 98
Illinois and Michigan Canal. Statistics ' on 56
Illinois Central Railroad 57
Illinois College. Jacksonville, 111.. 23, 37*, 69
Illinois Conference, Methodist Church .... 117 Illinois Conference, Methodist Church, 1832, two new districts added, Chicago and
Quincy H7f 118
Illinois Country 99
Illinois River.. 55, 56, 99, 118, 126, 130, 145
Illinois State. Archaeological finds in. .20, 21
Illinois State. Archives of the State Di- vision of, to be organized 15, 28
Illinois State. Art in Historic communi- ties, plea for 54
Illinois State. Bar Association 125
Illinois State. Barton, William E., D. D., LL.D. The Influence of Illinois in the Development of Abraham Lincoln. .25, 32-53 Illinois State. Barton, William E., D. D.,
LL.D. Rhymed Sermon on Illinois 53
Illinois State. Boggess, Arthur Clinton. Settlement of Illinois, 1778-1830. Foot- note 7q
Illinois State. Brown, Stuart. Poets and
Poetry of Illinois 25
Illinois State Cahokia Mound, efforts to
preserve 29
Illinois State. Centennial Memorial Build- ing 16, 26, 31
Illinois State. Coal in, Area, Counties in
which it is found 57
Illinois State. Coal, production in 1918.. 57 Illinois State. Could have been called the Keystone State, from her geographical
position, etc 42
Illinois State. Council of Defense, records of, World War, turned over to the Illinois State Historical Library. .. .16, 28 Illinois State. Department of Education
and Registration 30
Illinois State. Department of Public Works
and Buildings 29
Illinois State. Early settlers used the
waterways 56
Illinois State. Factories in 1850. Num- ber of employees, etc., etc 57
Illinois State. Factory Employees. United States Census for Thirty-two of its
cities 73, 74
Illinois State. Federal Industrial returns
for 1870 58
Illinois State. Ford, (Gov.) Thomas.
History of Illinois. Quoted. .39, 40, 41, 100 Illinois State. Fourth State in the Union
in population and wealth in 1860 110
Illinois State. General Assembly, 1863... 169 Illinois State. General Assembly proposal in to separate northern Illinois from southern Illinois. Reference. Foot-note 41 Illinois State. Glenn, John M. The Indus- trial Development of Illinois 23, 55-74
Illinois State. Hamilton E. Bentley. The Union League. Its Organization and Achievements during the Civil War ....
25, 110-115
Illinois State. Hauberg, John. Indian Trails centering at Black Hawk's Village
87-109
Illinois State. Historical Collections
See list, end of this volume. Illinois State. Historical Collections, Vol, II. Cahokia Records, 1778-1790.
Quoted. Foot-note 85
Illinois State. Historical Collections, Vol. VIII. George Rogers Clark Papers,
1771-1781. Quoted 99
Illinois State. Historical Collections. Kas- kaskia Records, 1778-1790. Quoted.
Foot-notes 76, 77
Illinois State. Historical Library
6, 11, 12, 16, 27, 29
Illinois State. Historical Library Appeal
for historical material 11, 12
Illinois State. Historical Library. Coun- cil of Defense, records of, turned over
to the library 16
Illinois State. Historical Library. Genea- ological Department 27
212
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Illinois State. Historical Library, News- paper files 27
Illinois State. Historical Library Publica- tions. See end of this volume.
Illinois State. Historical Library. World War, Illinois in, history to be published by the Library 29
Illinois State Historical Society
5, 8, 9, 10, 15-31, 100, 126
Foot-note 45
Illinois State Historical Society Appeal for historical material 11, 12
Illinois State Historical Society, appointed special committee to mark Lincoln's Army Trail Black Hawk War 100
Illinois State Historical Society Constitu- tion 8-10
Illinois State Historical Society. Fort Creve Coeur, Illinois State Historical Society appoints committee on, to mark site 16, 30
Illinois State Historical Society. Genea- logical report 23, 2*
Illinois State Historical Society Journal.
Quoted 6, 28, 93, 98
Foot-note 45
Illinois State Historical Society Member- ship 31
Illinois State Historical Society. Officers 5, 22, 23
Illinois State Historical Society Publica- tions 31
See list end of this volume.
Illinois State Historical Society. Record of Official Proceedings 15-31
Illinois State Historical Society. Report of the Secretary, Jesse Palmer Weber. .. .26-31
Illinois State Historical Society. Resolu- tions on the preservation of historic sites 21, 22
Illinois State. Illinois and the Unification of the Nation 40
Illinois State. Illinois Steel Company. .58, 59
Illinois State. Indian Mounds in 20, 21
Illinois State. Indians
20, 21, 87, 109, 133, 134, 136
Illinois State. Industrial Capital invested in 1850 57
Illinois State. Internal Improvement craze of 1837 39
Illinois State Interurban traction lines, telephone and other influences in the in- dustrial development of Illinois 58
Illinois State. Iron and Steel industry. . 59
Illinois State. Is Illinois capable of pro- ducing more Lincoln's? 53
Illinois State. Lake and River Transporta- tion 40
Illinois State. Lead mines at Galena, 111. . 57
Illinois State. Lead mines in northwestern Illinois 88
Illinois State Library 15, 26
Illinois State. Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois counts in the development of Lincoln. 41, 42
Illinois State. Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois gave Lincoln most of his offices 50, 51
Illinois State. Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois the Forum for Lincoln's greatest speeches 50
Illinois State. Lincoln, Abraham. Lin- coln's farewell to Illinois .51, 52
Illinois State. "Long Nine," their influence in the removal of the Capital from Van- dalia to Springfield 39
Illinois State. Manufactured products value of 1914 60
Illinois State. Manufactured products value of 1919. Foot-note 60
PAGE.
Illinois State. Manufacturers' Association 55, 71, 72
Illinois State. Manufacturers' Association. First board of directors 71
Illinois State. Manufacturers' Association. List of presidents 72
Illinois State. Manufacturers' Association. Members of, prominent in World War Work 72
Illinois State Manufacturing industry be- ginnings 57
Illinois State. Manufacturing number of people employed in the State 74
Illinois State. Meat Packing Industry, beginnings, data on present statistics.. 58
Illinois State. Meat Packing Industry, leads the world 74
Illinois State. Park Commission 15, 29
Illinois State Park. Commission bill, Reference 15
Illinois State. Parks and Preserves. An Act in relation to, House Bill No. 310. . 21
Illinois State. Patents granted to Illi- noisans in 1881 58
Illinois State. Pease, Theodore Calvin,
Editor Vol. 2, Centennial History of Illi- nois. The Frontier State, 1818-1848. Quoted. Foot-notes 117, 120
Illinois State. Pope, Nathaniel. His work in extending the northern boundary of the State 40, 41
Illinois State. Prairies of Illinois
32, 54, 56, 95, 99, 100, 102, 104, 109
Illinois State. Rail mill, first one estab- lished in 1857 57
Illinois State. Railroads. First one North- ern Cross R. R 56
Foot-note 56
Illinois State. Railroads in 1848 145
Illinois State. Railroads number of miles in 57
Illinois State. Resources and transporta- tion 56, 57
Illinois State. Reynolds, (Gov.) John, "My Own Times." Quoted 100
Illinois State. Reynolds, (Gov.) John, Pioneer History of Illinois. Quoted. Foot-note 79-
Illinois State. Salt mining, early industry in 57
Illinois State. Slavery. Illinois and Slavery 46, 47
Illinois State. Supreme Court case of Bailey vs. Cromwell 46
Illinois State. Sweet, William W. Peter Cartwright in the History of Illinois. . 25, 116-123
Illinois State. Taft, Lorado. Illinois His- tory and Ideals of Beauty 25
Illinois State. Transportation in 56, 57
Illinois State. Union Car Works begun in 1852 58
Illinois State. Union League of America, Illinois first State Council held in Bloom- ington, Sept. 5, 1862 112
Illinois State. Union League membership in the State 114
Illinois State. Union League Oath. Offi- cers, etc H21
Illinois State. University of Illinois
23, 30, 54
Illinois State. University, Art extension committee 54
Illinois State. University. Better com- munity conference 54
Illinois State. Wesleyan University, Bloom- ington, 111. Foot-note 122
213
INDEX— Continued.
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion. Legis- lature of Illinois appropriates money. . 110 Illinois State. War of the Rebellion. Sev- enth Reg. 111. Vols 162, 188
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion.
Twelfth Reg. 111. Vols 166, 188
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion. Fif- tieth Reg. 111. Vols 162
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion.
Fifty-first Reg. 111. Vols 158
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion.
Fifty-seventh Reg. 111. Vols 151, 162, 188
Illinois State. War of the Rebellion.
Ninety-third Reg. 111. Vols 170, 175
Illinois State. World War. History of the 33rd Division. By Lieut. Col. Frederic
L. Huidekoper 16
Illinois State. Zearing family, early set- tlers in Illinois 129, 138
Illinois Territory 50
Illinois Territory, Pope, Nathaniel, delegate
in Congress from 40
Independence Hall, Philadelphia 112
Indian Lovers' Spring 89
Indian Mounds 88, 89
Indian Relics 18, 20, 21
Indian Trails 24, 25, 87-109
Indian Trails Centering at Black Hawk's
Village. By John H. Hauberg 25, 87-109
Indian Harbor 62
Indiana State '.
32, 34, 35, 36, 44, 47, 55, 116, 117
Indiana State. In the development of
Lincoln 34
Indiana State Legislature 150
Indiana State. Spencer Co., Ind 35, 36
Indianapolis, Ind. Foot-note 52
Indians 11, 12, 20, 21, 55, 75, 76, 77,
78, 79, 87-109, 117, 133, 134, 136
Indians. Armstrong, Perry A. The Sauks and the Black Hawk War. Reference ....
90, 91, 107
Indians. Black Hawk, Fox and Sac Chief
87, 99, 106, 107, 109
Indians. Black Hawk's Village
93, 99, 100, 102, 104, 106
Indians. Black Hawk War, 1832
88, 90, 98, 106, 107
Indians. Black Hawk's Watch Tower ....
20, 22, 87, 89, 90, 91
Indians. Durham, (Mrs.) Mary Brackett. Poem on Black Hawk's Watch Tower.
Extract from 89
Indians. Finley, (Rev.) James B. Life Among the Indians. Quoted. Foot-note 85
Indians. Fox Indians 87-109
Indians. Fox Village 87, 88
Indians. Great Sauk Trail... 88, 93-109
Indians. Handbook American Indians,
Vol. I. Quoted 107
Indians. Hauberg, John H. Indian Trails Centering at Black Hawk's
Village 25, 87-109
Indians. Illinois
20, 21, 87-109, 117, 133, 134, 136
Indians. Illinois State Indian Mounds in
20, 21
Indians. Keokuk Indian Chief 109
Indians. Mesquaki Indians 87
Indians. Pash-e-pa-ho 109
Indians. Pottawatomie Indians 97, 117
Indians. Saukenuk (The Sauk Village) . . 91 Indians. Sauk and Fox Trail or Great
Sauk Trail 88, 93-109
Indians. Sauk Indians 87-109
Indians. Sauk Village 87
Indians. Steward, John F. Sac and Fox Trail. Reference 83
PAGE.
Indians. Wa-bo-kie-shiek. Winnebago
Prophet 107
Indians. Winnebago Indians 88, 107
Industrial Development of Illinois. By
John M. Glenn 25, 55-74
Iowa State 44, 99, 188
Iowa State. River and Harbor Convention at Chicago, 1847, twelve delegates to,
from Iowa 44
Iowa State. War of the Rebellion.
Thirty-ninth Reg. 111. Vols 188
Iowa Territory 92
Ireland, Kilkenny, Ireland 66
Iron and Steel Industry in Illinois 59
Irwin, Mr., Lamoille, 111 179
Isaacs, (Dr.) M. A 153, 158, 159
Island of Rock Island 89, 90, 91
Island No. 10. War of the Rebellion 110
Italy H3
Iuka, Mississippi 160, 161, 164
Jackson, (Pres.) Andrew 38,119
Jackson, Lieut 190
Jackson, Miss 161, 163, 164, 170
Jacksonville, 111 18, 23, 74, 118, 145
Jacksonville, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests 74
Jacksonville, 111. Illinois Conference dis- trict-, M. E. Church 118
Jacksonville, 111. Northern Cross Rail- road completed to Jan. 1, 1840. Foot- note 55
Jahns' Farm, Rock Island Co., Ill 103
James, Edmund J 23
James, (Prof.) James, Alton 16, 17, 23, 30, 31 James, (Prof.) James, Alton. Invited to deliver a course of lectures at the Uni- versity of Prague in Bohemia 17, 31
James, (Prof.) James, Alton. Member of committee Illinois State Historical So- ciety on marking site of Fort Creve
Coeur 16, 30
James, (Prof) James, Alton. To deliver lectures at the University of Prague in
Bohemia 17, 31
James, (Mrs.) James, Alton 17
James River, Virginia 200
Jamison (Mrs.) Isabel 22
Jefferson County, Deed Record A. Foot- note 86
Jefferson, Thomas, Statue of in Richmond,
Virginia 200
Jellif , Fred R 19
Jenison, (Miss) Marguerite. In charge of the War History section, Illinois State
Historical Library 28
Jessup, Morris K. and Co 68
Jessup, William, Member of English firm
of William Jessup & Sons 68
Johnnie Smoker, (Dr.) J. R. Zearing's
horse 141, 146
Johnson, (Pres.) Andrew 115,201
Johnson, (Major) E. S., Custodian of the
Lincoln monument. Death of 27
Johnson, George H. Quoted on Indian
Trail 98, 99
Johnston, (Gen.) Albert Sidney, Confeder- ate General, War of the Rebellion
106, 172, 177, 178, 183, 198
Johnston, (Lieut.) Albert Sidnev. Life of
Reference 106
Johnstown, Pa 140, 143
Joliet, 111 Census figures on population and manufacturing interests 73
214
INDEX— Continued.
Joliet, 111. Chicago and Joliet R. R 68
Joliet, 111. Iron and steel company 59
Joliet, 111. Steel and rolling mills 60
Joliet, Louis 55, 56
Jones, J. A. Member of Union League, Tazewell Co., one of the secret body- guard to protect Lincoln at his second
inaugural 115
Jones, (Miss) Lotte E 22, 30
Jones, Morgan 147
Jonesboro, Ga 187
Joy, (Mercer Co.) Ill 100
K
Kankakee, 111 19, 61, 74
Kankakee, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
Kankakee Co., 111. Historical Society. ... 19
Kankakee, 111. Manufacturies 61
Kansas State 46, 47, 48, 49, 64, 109
Kansas State Historical Society Collections
XII Quoted 109
Kansas State. Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Par- ker, (Col.) John A. "The Secret History
of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill" 47
Kansas State. Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Prac- tically nationalized slavery 49
Kansas State. Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Re- pealed the Missouri Compromise 46
Kaskaskia 21, 76
Foot-notes 76, 77
Kaskaskia. Center of French influence in
the upper Mississippi Valley 21
Kaskaskia Records. Illinois Historical Col- lections, Vol. V. Quoted. Foot-note. 76, 77
Kaufman, (Rep.) Harlan B 29
Keene, N. H. . .Foot-note 43
Keithsburg, Ills 101
Kelly, (Miss) Mary Lydia. Quoted on In- dian Trail 92
Kendall, (Dr.) 180
Kennedy, Col., of Harrisburg. War of
1812 135, 143
Kennesaw Mts 180
Kentucky State
32, 34, 35, 42, 44, 99, 116, 119, 171
Kentucky State. Influence of in the life of
Lincoln 34
Kentucky State Raiders 171
Kentucky State. River and Harbor Conven- tion at Chicago, 1847, two delegates
from Kentucky 44
Keokuk, Indian Chief 87, 109
Kewanee, 111 74, 97
Kewanee, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
Kilkenny, Ireland 66
Killing Estate 107
Killing, William 95
Kingston, Ga 177, 179
Kinzie, (Mrs.) John K. (Juliette A.) Wau- bun. The Early Day in the Northwest.
Quoted 93, 94
Kirkham's Grammar. Studied by Lincoln 36 Knapp, (Mrs.) Charles E. Historian,
Springfield Chapter D. A. R 24
Knights of the Golden Circle. Source of
the origin of Ill
Knights of the Golden Circle. War of the
Rebellion Ill
Knob Creek, Ky 35
Foot-note 35
Knott, Proctor 34
Knox Co., Ill 19, 98, 99
Knox Co., 111. Chapman, C. C. & Co. His- tory of Knox Co., Pub. 1878 99
Knox Co., Ill Historical Society Officers. ... 19 Knox, S. M., Princeton, 111 137
PAGE.
L
Lacey, James H 19'
LaGrange, 111 21
Lake Michigan 40, 41, 55, 5&
Lake Superior 58, 59
Lamon, Ward. Life of Lincoln. Quoted. ... 38 Lamont, 111. Listed among the manufac- turing towns in Illinois 62
Lanark, (Carroll Co.) Ill 64
LaRue Co., Ky 34
LaSalle Co., Ill 57, 112,144
LaSalle, 111 62, 67, 68, 74, 145
LaSalle, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
LaSalle, 111. Manufacturies 62
LaSalle, 111. Western Clock Company
located in 68
LaSalle, 111. Zinc works 67, 68
LaSalle Rene Robert Sieur de 110>
LaSalle Rene Robert Sieur de. Fort Creve Coeur site of, to be marked by Illinois
State Historical Society 30
Laughlin, Daniel 101
Lawrence, George A., Vice president Illinois
State Historical Society 23
Lays Ford, Ga 177, 179*
Lead Mines at Galena, 111 91
Lead Mines in northwestern Illinois 88
Lead Mines in Wisconsin 88
LeCare, Iowa 92, 95
Lee, Charles 83
Lee County, 111 144
Lee, (Lieut.) James W 175
Lee, (Mrs.) Mary 30
Lee, (Gen.) Robert E., Confederate General
War of the Rebellion 178, 196, 197, 199-
Letters of Dr. James Roberts Zearing to his
wife during the Civil War 150-202"
Letters. W. M. Zearing to Mrs. James
Roberts Zearing 175, 17&
Lewis, (Mrs.) Member of Col. Davenport's
household on the Island of Rock Island . . 89> Library of Congress Archives, Bureau of Rolls and Library. Papers and Records of the Territories. Quoted. Foot-notes
76, 78, 79, 82, 86
Library of Congress. Papers of the Con- tinental Congress. Foot-note 76
Lincoln, Abraham 15, 16, 20, 21, 25,
30, 32-53, 88, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 107, 108, 110, 115, 120, 121, 126, 142, 143
Foot-notes 32, 45, 52, 117, 120
Lincoln, Abraham. Arnold, Isaac N., Life
of Lincoln. Reference 32, 33, 42, 43
Foot-note 32
Lincoln, Abraham. Arnold, Isaac N. Quoted on Lincoln and his home in Illi- nois 32, 33 .
Foot-note 32
Lincoln, Abraham, Assassinated April 14, 1865. Funeral and journey of body from Washington to Springfield, Illinois. Foot- note 52
Lincoln, Abraham. Attends the River and Harbor Convention of 1847 held in Chi- cago 43, 44
Lincoln, Abraham. Barton, William E. D. D., LL. D. The Influence of Illinois in the Development of Abraham Lincoln
25, 32-53
Lincoln, Abraham. Black Hawk War. Lin- coln Captain in the War
88, 100, 104, 105, 107
Lincoln, Abraham. Black Hawk War, Cap- tain in, Camp site. Reference 104, 105
Lincoln, Abraham. Black Hawk War. Camped at Pink Prairie, Henry County, Illinois 107
215
INDEX— Continued.
Lincoln, Abraham. Black Hawk War. Lin- coln's Army Trail
Lincoln, Abraham. Books read by, in early days in Indiana
Lincoln, Abraham, Candidate for the Legis- lature, defeat
Lincoln, Abraham. Clay, Henry, Lincoln a disciple of Henry Clay
Lincoln, Abraham, Cooper Institute speech. Reference
Lincoln, Abraham. Curran, (Judge) Will- iam Reid, Address on Lincoln. Reference
Lincoln, Abraham. Defeats Peter Cart- wright for Member of Congress 120,
Lincoln, Abraham. Early Education. .36,
Lincoln, Abraham. A factor in Illinois life during early transportation
Lincoln, Abraham. Fence-rails made by Lincoln carried into the Republican Con- vention of 1860 at Decatur, 111
Lincoln, Abraham. Gives aid and sanction to the Union League
Lincoln, Abraham. Herndon and Weik. Life of Lincoln. Quoted. Foot-note. .
Lincoln, Abraham. House divided against itself. Speech June 17, 1858. Refer- ence
Lincoln, Abraham. House divided against itself. Speech June 17, 1858. Extract from
Lincoln, Abraham, Illinois counts in the development of Lincoln 41,
Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois favored Lin- coln's political ambition 37,
Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois gave Lincoln most of his offices 50,
Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois stimulated Lincoln's love of learning
Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois the Forum for Lincoln's greatest speeches
Lincoln, Abraham. Illinois the scene of the Convention that nominated Lincoln, 1860
Lincoln, Abraham. Indiana State in the development of Lincoln
Lincoln, Abraham. Lamon, Ward. Life of Lincoln. Quoted
Lincoln, Abraham. Lincoln & Berry store in New Salem
Lincoln, Abraham, Lincoln Circuit Marking Association 15, 21, 30,
Lincoln, Abraham. Lincoln-Douglas De- bates, 1858 21, 48, 49, 107,
Lincoln, Abraham. Lincoln Tree in Black Hawk Township, Rock Island Co., 111.
_ • 103,
Lincoln, Abraham. Lost speech at Bloom- ington, 111., May 20, 1856. Reference..
Lincoln, Abraham. Lowden, (Hon.) Frank Orren, offers fund to mark Lincoln's Army Trail, Black Hawk War
Lincoln, Abraham. Marking the sites con- nected with Mr. Lincoln's life in Spring- field, Illinois
Lincoln, Abraham. Member House of Rep- resentatives, State of Illinois, 1837
Lincoln, Abraham. Missouri Compromise recalled him to political activity
Lincoln, Abraham, Morse, John T., Jr. Abraham Lincoln, Statesman. Quoted 38,
Lincoln, Abraham. Nicolay & Hay. Life
of Lincoln. Quoted 38,
Foot-notes 117,
Lincoln, Abraham. Nominated by the State Republican Convention, June 17, 1858, for United States Senator
Lincoln, Abraham. Nominated for the presidency at the National Republican Convention held in Chicago, May, 1860
Lincoln, Abraham. Offered the governor-
100 ship of Oregon. Reference 42
Lincoln, Abraham. Peoria speech of Oct.
36 16, 1854. Reference - 50
Lincoln, Abraham. Post-master at New
50 Salem 50
Lincoln, Abraham. Proctor, Edna Dean.
38 Poem on Lincoln, extract from 53
Lincoln, Abraham. Second inauguration
50 Reference 115
Lincoln, Abraham. Slavery case, in the
126 Supreme Court of Illinois 46, 47
Lincoln, Abraham. Slavery opposition to 46-50 121 Lincoln, Abraham. Springfield, Illinois.
37 Marking of places connected with the life of Lincoln in Springfield 16
40 Lincoln, Abraham. Tarbell, (Miss) Ida M.
Life of Lincoln, Reference 43
Lincoln, Abraham Visits Chicago. Foot-note 45
51 Lincoln, Abraham. War of the Rebellion Call for Volunteers 110
110 Lincoln, Abraham. Whitman, Walt, Poem-
on Lincoln 52
120 Lincoln, Abraham. Colored servant of Dr.
J. R. Zearing 142
Lincoln Circuit Marking Association
48, 50 15, 21, 30, 126
Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 1858
21, 48, 49, 107, 142
48 Lincoln Family, notable influence of a short migration 35
42 Lincoln Home, Springfield, 111. Efforts to preserve against fire, plans to purchase
38 adjacent property 15, 29, 30
Lincoln, 111. Census figures on population
51 and manufacturing interests 74
Lincoln Monument. Fay, Herbert W. Cus-
36 todian of the Lincoln Monument 27
Lincoln, Robert T., Son of Abraham Lincoln 30
50 Lincoln, Thomas, Father of Abraham Lin- coln 35, 36, 38
51 Foot-note 35
Lincoln, Thomas. Migration of, from
34 Kentucky to Indiana 35
Foot-note 35
38 Lincoln Tree in Black Hawk Township,
Rock Island -County, Illinois 103, 105
37 Lincoln's Army Trail, Black Hawk War. . . 100 Linton, (Mr.) Mentioned in Zearing letters 170
126 Linton, (Mrs.) Mentioned in Zearing letters
166, 170, 174
142 Little, (Dr.) C. F. Princeton, 111 137
Little Ogeechee River, Ga 190, 191
Little, R. E. Quoted on Indian Trail 106
105 Little's Farm, Rock Island County, Illinois 105 Livingston Co., Ill 124
50 Lodge, William F 21, 22
Logan, (Gen.) John A. Union General
War of the Rebellion 144, 176
100 Long Island, N. Y 24
"Long Nine" Members of Illinois Legisla- ture their influence in the removal of the
30 Capital from Vandalia to Springfield 39
Long Wharf, Boston 37
46 Louisiana Purchase 46
Louisiana State 148
47 Louisville, Ky 144, 149, 173, 174, 202
Lovejoy, Owen . . 136
43 Lovel, (Gen.) Mansfield. Confederate Gen- eral War of the Rebellion 163, 164
43 Lowden, (Hon.) Frank Orren offers fund to 120 mark route of Lincoln's Army Trail in
Black Hawk War 100
Lowell, Mass 64
49 Luther, Martin 143
Lyford, (Dr.) Jeremiah M. D 1 . . 92
Lyford, (Dr.) William H. Quoted on Indian
51 Trail 91, 92
216
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Lyon, George W. Member of the firm of
~Lyon & Healy, Music House Chicago. ... 70 Lyon, (Gen.) Nathaniel, Union General,
War of the Rebellion 110
Lusitania, Ship Torpedoed, World War.... 72
Lyles, (Dr.) A. L 31
Lynn Township, Henry Co., Ill 98
M
McAfee, Robert B. History of the late war in the western country, 1816.
Quoted 92
McAllister, Fort, Ga 191
MacArthur, Petet M. Secretary of the
Manlius-Rutland Historical Society 20
McClernand, (Gov.) John A. Union
General. War of the Rebellion 39
McCormick, Cyrus H 63, 65
McCormick, Cyrus H. Founder of the
Harvester organization 63
McCoy, (Judge), of (Macon Co.) 20
McFarland, (Dr.) Andrew, Member of
Union League of America 112
McGovern, (Mrs.) Margaret 101
Mcllvaine, (Miss) Caroline M. Librarian
of the Chicago Historical Society 28
McKendree College, Lebanon, 111 122
Foot-note 122
McLean Co., Ill 112, 117
McMaster, John Bach. History of the People of the United States. Quoted.
Foot-note 123
McNiff, Patrick \ \ . 79
Macon Co., Ill 20, 112
Macon Co. Historical Society 20
Macon, Ga 186, 187, 191
Macon, Ga. R. R 186, 187
Macoupin Co., Ill 57, qq
McPherson, (Gen.) James B. Union Gen- eral War of the Rebellion 144, 176, 185
Madden, Martin B 72
Maguire, Terence. Partner with Ludwig Wolff in general plumbing and copper- smithing 66
Maine State. River and Harbor Conven- tion, Chicago, 1847, two delegates to,
from Maine 44
Maiden, (Bureau Co.) Ill 97, 145, 195
Manlius-Rutland, 111., Historical Society. . 20 Mansur, Alvah. Pioneer manufacturer of
agricultural implements in Illinois .... 64 Manzer, (Capt.) A. H. Co. B. Fifty- seventh 111. Vol. Inf. War of the Re- bellion 156, 158, 159
Maps. Homan's map of 1687. Reference. 93
Marietta, Ohio 82
Marion Co., Ill 57
Marquette, (Father) James 55
Marietta, Ga 180, 182, 184, 188
Marseilles, 111 20
Marsh, (Dr.) ■ — — — . (Surgeon-in-chief of
division.) War of the Rebellion 182
Marshall, Austin 95
Marshall Co., Ill 112
Marshall, Texas 147
Maryland State 46
Mason and Dixon's Line 4, 46
Mason, George, Statue of, in Richmond
Va 200
Masons, Fraternal organization 135, 142
Massachusetts State
24, 44, 45, 63, 64, 65, 112
Massachusetts State. Akron, Mass 63
Massachusetts State. Barnstable, Mass... 65
Massachusetts State. Boston, Mass 65
Massachusetts State. Brighton, Mass.... 65
Massachusetts State. Lowell, Mass 64
Massachusetts State. River and Harbor Convention at Chicago, 1847, twelve dele- gates to, from Massachusetts 44
Masters. Princeton, 111., photographer... 145
Matson, N. Quoted on Indian Trail 97
Matson, N. Reminiscences of Bureau Co.
Quoted 97
Matthiessen, Frederick W 67, 68
Mattoon, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
May William. Northwest Territory 82
Mayer Levy 72
Mayflower Celebrations. Ter-Centenary.23, 24
Mayflower Descendant. Periodical 24
Maywood, 111. Listed among the manu- facturing towns in Illinois 62
Mead, (Gen.) George. Union General.
War of the Rebellion 201
Mechanicsville, Pa 129
Medill, Joseph. Member of Union League
of America H2
Meese, William A 16, 30,100
Memphis, Tenn 151, 162, 168, 170, 171
Menard Co., Ill • • 40
Mendelssohn- Bartholdy, Jakob Ludwig
Felix I43
Mercer and Henderson Counties, Illinois. History of, Hill & Co., Pubs., 1883.
Quoted 1$9
Mercer Co., Ill 87, 100, 101, 102, 104
Mercer Co., 111. Camp Creek in 104
Mercer Co., 111. Millersburg Township.. 101
Mercer Co., 111. Perryton Township
100, 101, 102
Me'redosia, * 111. 56> i4^
Foot-note
Meredosia, 111. Northern Cross Railroad extended to
Foot-note
56
50
Merriam, Jonathan. Member of the Union
League of America Ill
Mesquaki Indians • •.• • ■ ■ • 8 '
Methodist Church. Asbury, (Bishop)
Francis, of the Methodist Church 122
Methodist Church. Beggs, Stephen R-
Pioneer Preacher J1 '
Foot-note • • • • • • • • iX '
Methodist Church. Finley, (Rev.) James
B. Sketches of Western Methodism.
Quoted. Foot-note • • • • \l*
Methodist Church. Illinois Conference... 117 Methodist Church. Methodist Review.
Quoted. Foot-note .
123
Methodist Church. Minutes of Annual
Conferences, 1873. Quoted Foot-
notes 117, 11°> iiy
Methodist" 'Church. , Sweet, William W
Peter Cartwright in Illinois History. .116-123 Methodist Church. Sweet William W.
Rise of Methodism in the West. Quoted.
Foot-note ■ ■ •' '
Methodist Church. Walker, Jesse. P10-
neer preacher • • • ■ • • • y '
Methodist Church. Wesley, John, founder
of Methodism *■"
Methodist Church. Western Conferences.. 116
Foot-note 116
Metropolis, 111. Manufactures 62
Mexico
Meyercord, George R 72
Michigan State 22, 44, 45, 57, 59, 93
Foot-note 4?
Michigan State. Detroit, Mich 59
Michigan State. Historical Commission.. 22 Michigan State. Wyandotte, Mich 59
217
INDEX— Continued.
47
47
47
Milan, (Rock Island Co.) Ill
92, 94, 103, 105, 107
Milan, Ga 191
Mill Greek 94
Milledgeville, Ga 191
Miller, (Mrs.) I. G 21, 22
Miller, William H 102, 103, 105
Miller, William H. Quoted on Indian
Trail 102, 103
Millersburg, (Mercer Co.) Ill 101, 106
Millersburg Township, Mercer Co., 111.... 101
Mills, (Capt. ) John M 166
Milton, Poet 142
Milwaukee, Wis 59, 65, 66
Miner, (Miss) Hannah 24
Miner, (Mrs.) Lewis H 24
Minor Family 24
Minor, Manasseh. The Diary of Manasseh Minor, Stonington, Conn., 1697-1720... 24
Mississippi River 35, 40, 45,
46, 55, 56, 61, 75, 76, 77, 87, 88, 90, 91,
92, 97, 99, 100, 106, 118, 130, 158, 160, 171
Mississippi State 172
Mississippi Valley 21
Missouri Compromise. Atchison, David R. Credited with the authorship of the Re- peal of the Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise. Douglas, Stephen Arnold, leader in the repeal of the
Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise. Price, (Judge) William C. His part in the repeal of
the Missouri Compromise
Missouri Compromise. Ray, (Prof.) P. Orman. The Repeal of the Missouri
Compromise 47
Missouri Compromise. Repeal of the
Missouri Compromise 46, 47, 48, 49
Missouri River 99
Missouri State
35, 42, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 59, 99, 110, 153
Foot-note 35
Missouri State. Admitted to the Union
as a slave state 46
Missouri State. Iron Mountain district . . 59 Missouri State. Missouri Compromise,
Repeal of 46,47,48, 49
Missouri State. River and Harbor Con- vention at Chica~o, 1847, forty-five dele- gates to, from Missouri 44
Missouri State. Universitv, Medical
Dept * 143
Missouri State. War of the Rebellion. 110, 153
Mitchell, Joseph 135
Mitchell, Phil. Quoted on Indian Trails.
Rock Island 89, 90
Mitchell, (Dr.) Weir 135
Mitchell, (William) School, Harrisburg,
Pa 135
Mobile, Alabama 37, 178, 187
Moline, 111 61, 62, 63, 64, 73, 88, 94
Moline, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Moline, 111. Indian Trails about Moline.. 88 Moline, 111. John Deere Plow Company
located in 63
Moline, 111. Manufacturies 61, 62
Moline, 111. Plow Company 63,
Moline, 111. Plow factory second largest
in the world located in Moline
Moline, 111. Sechler Carriage Company. .
Montgomery & Alabama R. R
Montgomery Co., Tenn 64
Montgomery, Dan 101
Montgomery, Hart. Member of the Union
League of America Ill
Montgomery, (Col.) John 99, 101, 102
Montgomery, John. Quoted on Indian Trail 101, 102
64
64 64
187
PAGE.
Moore, Ensley. Vice President, Illinois
State Historical Society 18, 21, 23
Morgan Co., Ill 18, 112,117
Morgan Co., 111. Historical Society 18
Morgan Family 24
Morgan, Francis. An early Virginia Bur- gess 24
Mormons. Exodus to Salt Lake, Utah in
1855 66
Morris Co. Chicago Meat Packers. .. .58, 6o Morris, Nelson. Founder of the Morris
Packing Co., Chicago 65
Morse, John T., Jr. Abraham Lincoln.
Quoted 38, 43
Moscow, Russia 113
Mt. Vernon 202
Muldraugh's Hill, Ky 35
Mumfordsville, Ky 161
Murphy, Thomas J. Quoted on Indian
Trail 94, 95, 107, 108
"My Own Times." By Gov. John Reynolds. Quoted 100, 107
N
Nancy. Negro girl. Sale of, case carried
to the Supreme Court of Illinois 46
Naperville, 111. Northwestern College
located in 25
National Council of Defense. World War 72 National Republican Convention, May,
1860. Lincoln nominated 51
Needham, Mr., St. Louis, Mo 130
Negroes. Nancy. Negro girl, case of, in
Supreme Court of Illinois 46
Negroes. Union League support of the black regiments. War of the Rebellion. 114
Neiderstetten, Wurtemberg, Germany 69
Nelson, John. Associated with William Worth l^urson in manufacturing knitting
machines 16
Nelson, (Gen.) William. Union General.
War of the Rebellion loo
Newark, N. J 64
Newberry Library, Chicago 27
New Boston, 111 101, 102
New England • • • • • • • • • 4o
New England. Union League clubs formed
in, 1862 H3
New Hamborough, Upper Canada o9
New Hampshire State. River and Harbor Convention, Chicago, 1847, two dele- gates to, from New Hampshire 44
New Jersey State. Newark, N. J 64
New Jersev State. Passaic Falls 68
New Jersey State. River and Harbor Con- vention, Chicago, 1847, eight delegates
to, from New Hampshire 4=4
New Madrid. War of the Rebellion 110
New Orleans, La 34, 37, 40, 45
New Orleans, La. Slave market <s4
New Salem, Sangamon County, 111. . . . . • • •
36, 37, 50, 51
New ' Saiem! ' ' Lincoln & Berry store in.
Reference • • • ; fj
New Salem. Lincoln postmaster in 5U
Newspapers. Albany, N. Y., Journal.... 45
Newspapers. Boston Transcript ^
Newspapers. Bureau County Republican.. 137
Newspapers. Chicago Journal 44
Foot-note *3
Newspapers. Chicago Journal, July 6,
1847. Foot-note 43
Newspapers. Chicago Journal. Quoted
on the River and Harbor Bill 44
Newspapers. Galesburg Republican-Regis- ter 19
218
INDEX— Continued.
Newspapers. Illinois Advocate. Edwards-
ville, 1832-1833 27
Newspapers. Illinois State Bibliography. Newspapers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879. See end of this volume. Newspapers. Illinois State Historical Li- brary. Newspaper files 27
Newspapers. New York Tribune 44
Newspapers. Northwest Centinel. Foot- notes 78, 86
Newspapers. Quid Nunc, first one cent
daily west of the Alleghanies 69
Newspapers. Quincy Whig-, 1838-1850.. 27 Newspapers. Western Spy. Quoted. Foot- notes 75, 83, 84
New Windsor, (Mercer Co.) Ill 98
New York City 15, 40, 55, 69
Foot-note 117
New York City. New York Tribune 44
New York City. Union League Club, 1864, its patriotism and loyalty. War
of the Rebellion 114
New York City. Union League Club sup- port of the Black Regiments. War of
the Rebellion 114
New York City. Union League formed in
1862 113
New York State 44, 45, 59, 68, 70, 129
Foot-note 43
New York State. Bristol Center, N. Y. . . 68
New York State. Fenner, N. Y 68
New York State. New York Central R. R. 129
New York State. Oswego 70
New York State. Rochester, N. Y 59
Nicolay and Hay. Life of Lincoln. Quoted.
38, 43
Foot-notes 117, 120
Niles Register. Quoted 92
Noble, (Col.) George 147
Nolin Creek, Ky 35
Nolin River, Ky. Foot-note 35
Noonan, John 101
North Carolina State 49, 199
North Chicago, 111. Manufacturies in ... . 62 North Chicago Rolling Mill Co. First Bessemer steel in this country said to have been rolled at the North Chicago
Mill Co 59
North Chicago Rolling Mill Company. Rolled the first steel ever made in
America 59
Northern Cross Railroad, Illinois 56, 145
Foot-note 56
Northwest Centinel. Quoted 78
Foot-notes 78, 86
Northwest Territory. Attig, Chester J. Some Governmental Problems in the
Northwest Territory 25, 75-86
Northwest Territory. Character of the
early settlers in 77, 78
Northwest Territory. Courts, organization
of the system of courts 81
Northwest Territory. Criminal code adopted by the Governor and Judges. ... 80
Northwest Territory. Extent of 77
Northwest Territory. Five states carved
out of. Reference. Foot-note 47
Northwest Territory. Governor and Judges
appointed by Congress 76
Northwest Territory. Illinois a part of.. 46 Northwest Territory. Law passed Nov. 6, 1790, providing for appointment of
overseers of the poor 81
Northwest Territory. Laws adopted by
the first territorial legislature in 1799. 80 Northwest Territory. Ordinance of 1787.. 46, 76, 79
Northwest Territory. St. Clair (Gov.) Arthur. Governor of the Northwest Territory 81, 82
Northwest Territory. St. Clair Co. first county organized in :,v • ; 1&
Northwest Territory. Slavery prohibited in by the Ordinance of 1787 46
Northwestern University, Evanston, 111 . . 30
Noyes, LeVerne W ' 2
O
Oak Park, 111 ,-:25' 7S
Oak Park, 111., Census figures on population and manufacturing interests .... ... • • : • <•*
Oak Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, Illinois.
Burial place of Abraham Lincoln j>£
Foot-note • • °*
Oakwood Cemetery, Chicago, 111 1«
Oconee River *-"±
Offutt, Denton j? '
Ogeechee River • • • • • • • • • • • • LZ±
Oele Co., HI., Grand Detour, Ogle Co., 111. bd Oglesby, Richard J. At the Republican
State Convention, Decatur, 111., May 1860 51 Oglesby, (Gen.) Richard J. Union General War of the Rebellion. ............. • 164
O'Haver C. P. Quoted on Indian Trail 10b
Oh?o River. 34, 35, 40, 41, 45, 56, 82, 130 202
Foot-notes 6i>> i(>
Ohio State, -g; ^5/64^16,42^124, 185 ' 'Foot-notes ... .76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 85 Ohio State. Archaeological Collection... 20 Ohio State. Army of. the Ohio, War of the
Rebellion :"Au"
Ohio State. Chase Statutes of Ohio.
Quoted. Foot-notes 76, 79, 80, 81
Ohio State, Cincinnati, Ohio °*
Ohio State. Hardin Co., Ohio............ 124
Ohio State. Howe, Henry. Ohio Histori- cal Collections. Quoted. Foot-notes
77, 78, 85
Old' Northwest'.' Genealogical Quarterly.
Quoted. Foot-note • • • • ■ 7S
Olson, (Prof.) Julius E. Quoted on Lin-
coin's visits to Chicago. Foot-note.... 4o O'Neal, William. Quoted on Indian Trail 92
Ontario, Canada 88> 9i
Oquawka (Henderson Co.) m- ••■•■■• ■■•■ -nr. . . .88, 92, 93, 99, 101, 102, 104, 106 Oquawka, ill., Rock Island Indian Trail... 106 Oquawka, 111., Yellow Banks, Oquawka, 111.
formerly called • • • • • • jjj*
Ordinance of 1787 46,76, 79
Ordinance of 1787. Powers given the Governor and Judges under the Ordi- nance , : ■ * &
Ordinance of 1787. Prohibited slavery in
the Northwest Territory 46
Oregon, 111 £2
Orendorff , U. G • • • • ?2
Orendorff, William T. Member of the firm of Parlin and Orendorff makers of agri- cultural and plow implements, Canton,
Illinois 63
Orion, 111 • • • ■ 96
Osborne, Georgia L. Assistant Secretary
Illinois State Historical Society 18, 23
Osborne, Georgia L. Chairman of the Genealogical Committee, Illinois State
Historical Society 18
Osborne, Georgia L Report of the Genea- logical Committee, Illinois State Histori- cal Society 23, 24
Osco Township, Henry Co, 111. 96, 98
Oswego, N. Y 70
Ottawa, 111., Manufacturies 63
Ottawa, 111., Starch Co 70
219
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Pacific Ocean 75, 94
Paddock (Dr.) Princeton, 111 143
Paddock, (Mrs.) Princeton, 111 143
Paducah, Ky 151
Page, Edward 0 23
Page (Major) Norman B. Union officer,
War of the Rebellion 156, 194, 202
Palmer, Mr. Associated with Am- brose Plamondon, manufacturer 70
Palmer, Percival B. Member of Board of Directors, Illinois Manufacturers' asso- ciation 71
Papers of the Continental Congress. Quoted
Foot-note 76
Paris, Ky 152
Parker (Col.) John A. The Secret History
of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill 47
Parkersburg, W. Va 202
Parks, John 104, 105
Parks, John. Quoted on Indian Trails,.. 104.
Parks, William S 104, 105
Parlin and Orendorff. Agricultural and plow implements establishment of at
Canton, 111 63
Parlin, William. Agricultural and plow implements, manufacturer of at Canton
Illinois 63
Parrot guns 162, 163
Parsons, Samuel H. Life and Letters of, by
Hall. Foot-note 77
Pash-e-pa-ho, Sac Indian Chief 109
Passaic Falls, N. J 68
Peabody, Frank S . . 57
Peachtree Creek, Ga 183
Pea Ridge, Battle of, War of the Rebellion 111 Pease, Theodore Calvin. Editor Vol. 2, Centennial History of Illinois. The Frontier State, 1818-1848. Quoted. Foot-
rt ?otes " 117, 120
Pekin, Tazewell Co., Ill
25, 62, 74, 111, 112, 125, 126, 127
Pekin, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
Pekin, 111. Congregational Church 126
Pekm, 111. Council of the Union League of
America, Organized in Ill
Pekin, 111 Manufacturies in 62
Pekin, 111 Union League, tablet marks site of spot where organization was
formed 112
Pekin, 111. Union mission 126, 127
Pelouze, William Nelson 72
Penn, William 140
Pennsylvania State. 42, 44, 45, 64, 66, 70, 112
Pennsylvania State Danville, Pa 64
Pennsylvania State. Greencastle, Pa 64
Pennsylvania State. The Keystone State. . 42 Pennsylvania State. River and Harbor Convention, Chicago 1847. Twenty- seven delegates to from Pennsylvania.. 44
Peoria Co., Ill 112, 126
Peoria, 111 25, 56, 58, 70, 73, 98, 99, 103
Peoria, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Peoria, 111. Industries 60
Peoria, 111. Meat packing industry in'.
Reference
58
Peoria, 111. Pepria and Rock Island R. R. 103
Periodicals. (The) Mayflower Descendant. 24
Periodicals. Methodist Review. Foot-note 123
Periodicals. Niles Register. Quoted 92
Periodicals. Old Northwest Genealogical
Quarterly. Quoted. Foot-note 78
Periodicals. Western Annals, 1850. Quoted 92 Perrin, J. Nick. President of the St. Clair
Co., 111., Historical Society 19
Perry, Eli. Quoted on Indian Trail 102
Perryton Township, Mercer Co., Ill
100, 101, 102
Peru, 111 62, 166
Peru, 111. Manufacturies 62
Petersburg, Va 199, 20O
Peterson, P. A 67, 72
Peterson, P. A., One of the founders of the
Union Furniture Co., Rockford, 111 67
Philadelphia, Pa 40, 112, 113
Foot-notes 52, 78
Philadelphia, Pa. General Advertiser, Nov.
26, 1792. Quoted. Foot-note 78
Philadelphia, Pa. Independence Hall 112
Philadelphia, Pa. Union League Club
formed in 1862 113
Piatt Co., 111. Historical Society 21
Pierce, John H 72
Piez, C. H 72
Pillow Fort, Tenn 175
Pinekley, Oregon. Quoted on Indian Trail 106
Pink Prairie, Henry Co., Ill 107
Pittsburg Landing, Battle of, War of the
Rebellion 154-156
Pittsburgh, Pa 59
Pittsburg, Tenn 154, 157
Plamondon, Ambrose, Manufacturer, Chi- cago 70
Plamondon, Charles A. President of the
Illinois Manufacturers' Association .... 72 Plamondon, Charles A. Victim of the
Lusitania, torpedoed World War 72
Plamondon (Mrs.) Charles A. Victim of
the Lusitania, torpedoed World War.... 72 Plankington & Armour Packing company. . 66 Plankington, John. Packing house at
Milwaukee, Wis 66
Piano, 111. Manufacturies 63
Pleasant Plains, (Sangamon Co.) Ill, Illi- nois Conference district, M. E. Church.. 118 Pleasant Plains, (Sangamon Co.) 111. Home
of Peter Cartwright 116
Plutarch's Lives 142
Political Parties. Democratic Party. ..... 38
Political Parties. Republican Party.. 43, 49
Political Parties. Whig Party 38, 43
Foot-note 43
Polk, (Pres.) James K 44, 149
Pool, Charlie, Dover, 111 181, 198
Pope, (Gen.) John. Union Maj. -General,
War of the Rebellion 110, 158
Pope, (Judge) Nathaniel 40, 41
Pope, (Judge) Nathaniel. His work in ex- tending the northern boundaries of the
State 40, 41
Port Byron, 111 91, 92
Port Royal, Va 193, 196
Porter, . Early resident of Henry
Co., Illinois 107
Potomac, Army of the Potomac. War of
the Rebellion 200
Potomac River 53, 161, 177
Pottawatomie Indians 97, 117
Potter, Orrin W. Had much to do with the development of the State's iron and steel
industry 59
Prague, Bohemia. University of Prague
in Bohemia 17, 31
Prague, Bohemia. University of. James (Prof.) James, Alton, invited to deliver a course of lectures at the University of
Prague * . . . 31
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin 100
Prairie Home Farm, Edgington Township,
Rock Island Co., Ill 104
Prairie Union School, Rock Island Co., 111. 105
Prairies of Illinois
32, 54, 56, 95, 99, 100, 102, 104, 109
220
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Pratt, Henry, Member of the Union League
of America Ill
Presbyterian Church 96, 97, 122
Presbyterian Church, Brown church, Henry
Co., Ill 96, 97
Price, (Gen.) Sterling. Confederate Gen- eral, War of the Rebellion. 153, 160, 161, 163 Price (Judge) William C. His part in the Repeal of the Missouri Compromise.... 47
Princeton, 111
97, 130, 136, 137, 144, 150, 166, 174
Princeton, 111. Business and professional
firms 137
Princeton, 111. Civil War Monument. . . . 138
Princeton, 111. High School 136
Princeton, 111. Masons, Fraternal Society 142 Princeton, 111. Zearing, Martin, early set- tler of 129, 130, 132
Pringle, Mr. 23
Proctor, Edna Dean. Poem on Lincoln.
Extract from 53
Prophet's Village. Black Hawk War 106
Prophetstown, on east bank of Rock River
88, 107
Prospect Park, Moline, 111 88, 89
Pullman, George M. Builder of the town of
Pullman, 111 70
Pullman, George M. Head of the Pullman
Car Company 70
Pullman, 111. Built by George M. Pullman 70 Pullman, 111. Listed among the manufact- uring towns in Illinois 62
Pullman Palace Car Company 68, 70
Purdy, McNairy Co., Tenn 152
"Puss" (Lucinda Helmer Zearing) ... .150-202
Putnam, Rufus. Northwest Territory 77
Quebec, Canada 70
Quid Nunc First one-cent daily west of
the Alleghenies 69
Quincy, Illinois 27, 49, 61, 104, 117, 118
Quincy, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Quincy, 111. Illinois Conference Methodist
Church, 1832, Quincy added to 117, 118
Quincy, 111. Lincoln-Douglas Debate held
in 1858 49
Quincy, 111. Manufacturies 61
Quincy, 111. Quincy Whig, 1838-1850 27
R
Railroads. Atlanta & Macon R. R 191
Railroads. Chicago & Alton 68
Railroads. Chicago, Burlington and Quincy
R- R 129, 145
Railroads. Chicago & Joliet R. R 68
Railroads. Galena & Cairo referred to as
the Illinois Central R. R 57
Railroads. Galena and Chicago Union
R. R 57
Railroads. Galena R. R 57, 145
Railroads. Illinois Central Railroad .... 57
Railroads. Illinois Railroads in 1848 .... 145
Railroads. Macon, Ga 186, 187
Railroads. Montgomery and Alabama
R. R 187
Railroads. New York Central R. R.... 129
Railroads. Northern Cross Railroad. .56, 145
Foot-note 56
Railroads. Peoria and Rock Island R. R. . 103
Railroads. Rock Island and Peoria R. R.95, 96 Railroads. Steel rails, manufacture of, in
1867 58
Railroads. Texas and Pacific R. R
137, 144, 147
Raleigh, N. C 198, 199
Ramey Family. Owners of the Great Ca-
hokia Mound 29
Ramey, Thomas 29
Rammelkamp, (Dr.) Charles H. . .15, 18, 23
Randolph Co., Ill 15
Ray, (Prof.) P. Orman. The Repeal of
the Missouri Compromise 47
Red Bud Creek near Peoria, Illinois 70
Reminiscences of Bureau County. By N.
Matson 97
Republican Convention, Illinois, May 9,
10, 1860, held in Decatur 43, 51
Republican Party 43, 49, 51
Republican Party. Illinois State Conven- tion of May 9, 10, 1860, held in Decatur,
Illinois 43, 51
Republican Party. National Convention,
May, 1860, held in Chicago 51
Resaca, Ga 175, 179
Reynolds, 111 104
Reynolds, (Gov.) John. Illinois Volun- teers Black Hawk War. Reynolds.
Quoted on 100
Revnolds, (Gov.) John. "My Own Times."
Quoted 100, 107
Reynolds, (Gov.) John. Pioneer History
of Illinois. Quoted. Foot-note 79
Rhode Island State. Civil and Military
Lists 24
Rhode Island State. River and Harbor Convention, Chicago, 1847. Three dele- gates to, from Rhode Island 44
Richmond, Va 160,
177, 178, 182, 191, 195, 196, 197, 199, 200
Richmond, Va., Fall of 196
Ridgely, Nicholas. Purchases the Northern
Cross Railroad 56
Ripley, Mississippi 164
Rittenhouse 134
River and Harbor Bill, U. S. Congress,
1846 44
River and Harbor Convention held in
Chicago, 1847 43, 44
River and Harbor Convention, 1847. Dele- gates to 44
River and Harbor Convention, held in Chi- cago, 1847. Delegates to, by states.... 44
Roberts, (Rep.) Adelbert H 15
Robinson, James 104
Robinson, Spencer 90
Robinson, (Dr.) William 144, 158, 165, 175
Rochester, N. Y •. • • 59
Rockford, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 73
Rockford, 111. Manufactured products,
ranks fifth in the State 61
Rockford, 111. Manufacturies 67, 73
Rock Island Co., Ill 18, 87, 88, 91,
92, 95, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107 Rock Island Co., 111. Black Hawk Town-
ship 92, 102, 103, 104
Rock Island Co., 111. Bowling Township.. 106 Rock Island Co., 111. Canaan first post office
in the county 91
Rock Island Co., 111. Coal Valley Town- ship 107
Rock Island Co., 111. Edgingtoh Township
101, 103, 104, 105
Rock Island Co., 111. Historical Society.. 18
Rock Island Co., 111. Rural Township 95
Rock Island, 111. .15, 23, 25, 62, 73, 87, 88, . . ..89, 90, 91, 92, 95, 96, 98, 100, 101, 104 Rock Island, 111. Census figures on popu- lation and manufacturing interests .... 73
221
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
Rock Island, 111. Historic sites in and
about. Reference 15
Rock Island, 111. Indian Trails about
Rock Island 87-109
Rock Island, 111. Rock Island and Peoria
Railroad 95, 96
Rock Island, 111. Stage line, Rock Island to
Galena, Illinois 92
Rock Island, 111. United States Govern- ment arsenal, located in 62
Rock River 87, 88, 89, 90, 91,
92, 93, 94, 99, 100, 106, 107, 108, 109, 145 Roddey, (Gen.) Philip D. Confederate
General. War of the Rebellion 197
Rolling Fork, Ky. Foot-note 35
Rome, Ga...l77, 178, 180, 181, 183, 188, 189 Rosecrans, (Gen.) Wm, S. Union General.
War of the Rebellion 160, 161, 163
Rosette, John E. Member of Union
League of America 112
Ross, Gen. (War of 1812) 135, 143
Roswell, Chattahoochee River, Ga 182, 183
Rowe, Samuel L. Bridge builder, Chicago 137 Rudd, Edward H. Early painter in Chi- cago "9
Rush Medical College, Chicago, 111
139, 143, 144, 145
Rush' Medical College Alumni Association. 149
Russel, Andrew • • 15, 23
Rutledge, Ann. Lincoln's early sweetheart 37
Rutledge's Dam, New Salem 37
Rutledge's Mill at New Salem 37
Rybolt, (Rev.) J. C. Member of the
Union League of America 112
Ryerson, Martin 6°
93
S
Sac and Fox Trail. By John F. Steward.
Reference
St. Clair (Gov.) Arthur. Governor of the
Northwest Territory 79, 81, 82, 83
St. Clair Co., Ill 19, 57
Foot-note 81
St. Clair Co., 111. First County organized.
in the Northwest Territory 19
St. Clair Co., 111. Historical Society 19
St. Clair Co., 111. Records at Belleville,
111. Foot-note 81
St. Clair Flates. Harbor at. Appropria- tion River and Harbor Bill, 1846 44
St. Clair Papers, Vol. II. By William H. English. Quoted. Foot-notes. . .77, 78, 82
St. Louis, Mo 40, 59, 69, 70, 143, 148, 165
St. Louis, Mo. Iron and Steel Company
established near 59
St. Louis, Mo. University of Missouri.... 143 Salem German Reformed Church, Harris- burg, Pa 143
Saline Co., Ill 57
Salt Lake, Utah. Mormon exodus to in
1855 66
Salt Mining early industry in the State.. 57
Salt River, Ky. Foot-note 35
San Francisco, Cal 55
Sangamon Co. , 111
24, 40, 46, 53, 56, 57, 112, 116, 117
Foot-note 117
Sangamon Co., 111. Described by Peter
Cartwright 117
Sangamon River 117, 120
Sargent, Winthrop. Foot-notes 78, 79
Sargent, Winthrop. Proclamation of Win- throp Sargent dated March 26, 1792.
Foot-note 79
Sauk and Fox Trail or "Great Sauk Trail" 88, 93-109
Sauk Indians 87-109
Sauk Trail Preserve. Forest Reserve, Cook
Co., Ill 93
Saukenuk (Sauk Village) 91
Savannah, Ga 24, 144,
152, 153, 154, 191, 192, 193, 194, 197, 198
Savannah River 194
Schiller, Johann Christoph Frederich von . . 143 Schmidt (Dr.) Otto L. President of the
Illinois State Historical Society
15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 30
Schuttler, Peter. Founder of the Peter
Schuttler Wagon Co., Chicago 66
Scotch Taylor Farm. Rock Island Co., 111. 105 Scott, Dred. Dred Scott decision, practic- ally nationalized slavery 49
Scott (Col.) James 147
Scott, Owen 20
Scott (Col.) Thomas, Philadelphia 147
Scott, William Owen Nixon 24
Scott (Gen.) Winfield 97
Seaman, (Lieut.) Wright of Princeton, 111. 156 Sears, David. Quoted on Indian Trail.... 90
Sears, D. B. Flour Mill, Moline, 111 64
Sechler Carriage Company of Moline, 111. . 64 Sechler, Daniel M. Founder of the Sechler
Carriage Co., Moline, 111 64
Sedalia, Mo 148
Selz, Morris. Shoe manufacturer, Chicago 69
Seward, William H 43, 51
Seward, William H. Candidate for the pres- idency of the United States, 1860 51
Sewall Family 24
Sewall, (Gen.) Henry. Officer in the Revo- lutionary Army and War of 1812 24
Sewall, William. Dairy of. Sept. 1, 1819
to 1845. Reference 24
Shafer, Sarah. Wife of Martin Zearing. . 131
Shaffer Creek, Henry Co., Ill 96
Shakespeare, William 142
Sharp, John. Flour Mill on Red Bud
Creek, near Peoria, 111 70
Shaw, James, of Aurora, 111. Foot-note. . 44
Sheffield, Bureau Co., Ill 97
Shelf, Halifax, Yorkshire, England 24
Sheridan, (Gen.) Philip H. Union General,
War of the Rebellion 144
Sherman, Lawrence Y. Vice-president Illi- nois State Historical Society 23
Sherman, (Gen.) Wm. Tecumseh, Union
General War of the Rebellion
144, 154, 177, 178, 180, 181, 183, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 194, 195, 196, 201
Shields, (Gen.) James 39
Shiloh, Battle of. War of the Rebellion
Ill, 144, 164
Shirmenstown, Pa 131
Sibley Papers. Burton Collection. Foot- notes 78, 79
Sims, Anna Noble 24
Sims, (Mrs.) William Irwin 24
Sister's Ferry, Ga 194
Slavery 34, 38, 44, 46, 47, 49
Slavery. "Black Code" of Illinois 46
Slavery. Cartwright, Peter. Opposed to
slavery 116, 119
Slavery. Dred Scott decision, practically
nationalized slavery 49
Slavery. Illinois and slavery 46, 47
Slavery. Issue, an issue for each state to
determine in its own way 49
Slavery. Kansas-Nebraska Bill, practically
nationalized slavery 49
Slavery. Lincoln, Abraham. Extract from "House divided against itself" speech,
June 17, 1858 48
Slavery. New Orleans slave market 34
222
INDEX— Continued.
Slavery Ordinance of 1787 prohibited
slavery in the Northwest Territory 46
Small, Alexander. Member of the Union
League of America HI
Small, (Gov.) Len. Governor of Illinois.. 22
Smith, Alby 136
Smith, Bessie 0 125
Smith, C. H 72
Smith, (Mrs.) Electa 136
Smith, Elijah, Princeton, 111 145
Smith, George W 23
Smith, Kirby 199
Smith, (Maj.) Robert 39
Smith, Samuel g&
Snake Gap. Ga • • 176
Snyder, (Dr.) John F 17, 31
Snyder, (Dr.) John F. One of the founders of the Illinois State Historical Society.
Deceased 31
Socrates. The product of the life and spirit
of Athens, Greece 34
Some Governmental Problems in the North- west Territory, 1787-1803. By Chester
J. Attig 25, 75-86
South Carolina State 44, 194
South Carolina State. River and Harbor Convention, Chicago, 1847. One dele- gate to from South Carolina 44
Spencer Co., Indiana 35, 36
Foot-note 35
Spencer, (Judge) John W 90, 106
Spoor, John A. A factor in the Chicago
Union Stock Yards 71
Springfield, 111., Art Association 25
Springfield, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests 73
Springfield, 111. Coal, first coal mined in
1840. Output 57
Springfield, 111. Illinois conference district,
M. E. Church 118
Springfield, 111. Lincoln, Abraham. Mark- ing of places connected with the life of
Lincoln in Springfield, 111 16, 30
Springfield, 111. Manufacturies 61
Springfield, 111. Oak Ridge Cemetery, bur- ial place of Abraham Lincoln 52
Foot-note 52
Springfield, 111. Watch factory. Jacob and
John W. Bunn, head of 70
Springfield, 111
16, 25, 30, 52, 57, 61, 70, 73, 118, 145
Foot-note 52
Springville 161
"Squatter Sovereignty." Stephen A. Doug- las, advocate of 50
Stage Line, Rock Island to Galena 92
Standish, (Dr.) J. P 19
Steamer "Empire" 45
Steele (Capt.) Pierre, World War 138
Steel Rails, Manufacture of, 1867 58
Steger, 111. Manufacturies in 62
Stehley. Of Harrisburg, Pa 132
Stephens, George. Pioneer manufacturer
of Moline, 111 64
Stephenson (now Rock Island, 111.) 98
Sterling, Fred. Lieutenant Governor of
Illinois 22
Sterling, 111. Manufacturies in 62
Stevens, Wayne E., Secretary of the War
History Department, Historical Library 28 Steward, John F. Sac and Fox Trail. Ref- erence 93, 98
Stipp & Gibbons, Princeton, 111 137
Stone, Dan. Member of House of Represen- tatives, State of Illinois, 1837 46
Stoneman, (Gen.) George. Union General,
War of the Rebellion 182
Stonington, Conn 24
Stover, Daniel C. Head of the Stover Man- ufacturing Co., Freeport, 111 64
Stover Manufacturing Company, Freeport,
111 64
Streator, 111. Census figures on population
and manufacturing interests 74
Streator, 111. Manufacturies in 62
Streight, Col 178
Studevant, Stephen 168
Sugar Grove Camp Meeting. Reference.. 104
Sunny Hill, Henry Co., Ill 95
Supreme Court, State of Illinois. Bailey
vs. Cromwell, slavery case 46
Supreme Court, U. S 124
Swain, (Capt.) William T. Tiskilwa 158
Swan, R. R., Member of the Moline Plow
Company 64
Swanzy, (Dr.) James 145
Sweden . 67
Sweeney, (Gen.) Thomas. Union General,
War of the Rebellion 156
Sweet, (Miss) Ada 141
Sweet, William W. Peter Cartwright in
the History of Illinois 25, 116,-123
Sweet, William W. Rise of Methodism in
the West. Quoted. Foot-note 116
Swift & Co., Chicago. Meat Packers 58
Swift, Gustavus. Founder of the Swift
Packing Co., Chicago 65
Sycamore, 111. Listed among the manu- facturing towns in Illinois 62
Symnes, John Cleves 78
Tablet placed on building in Pekin, Illi- nois to mark Union League organization 112 Taft, Lorado. Illinois history and ideals
of beauty 25
Tarbell, (Miss) Ida M. Life of Lincoln.
Reference 43
Taylor, (Mrs.) Ella Hume 96
Taylor, J. I., Princeton, 111 137, 175
Taylor, Martin, Dover, 111 189, 196
Taylor Ridge Village 106
Taylor, Sam C. Quoted on Indian Trail. . 105
Taylor, (Maj.) Zachary 91
Taylor, (Pres.) Zachary 42
Foot-note 43
Tazewell Co., 111.. 21, 110, 112, 115, 125, 126
Tazewell Co., 111. Bar Association 125
Tazewell Co., 111. Circuit Court 125
Tazewell Co., 111. Historical Society.... 126 Tazewell Co., 111. Memorial Association.. 126 Tazewell Co., 111. Union League. .111, 112, 115 Tazewell Co., 111. Union League, members of part of the secret body-guard to pro- tect Lincoln at second inaugural 115
Teets , (Judge) 107
Tennessee, Army of the 184, 185, 188
Tennessee River 151, 167, 172, 173
Tennessee State. 64, 111, 116, 153, 154, 157, 172 Tennessee State. Knights of the Golden Circle. Source of the origin of in
Tennessee Ill
Tennessee State. Montgomery Co., Tenn. . 64
Terry, Joseph 101
Texas State 59, 137, 144, 147
Texas State. Texas and Pacific R. R. . . . . .
137, 144, 147
Thomas, (Gen.) George H. Union General.
War of the Rebellion 176, 177
Thomas Grand Army Republic Post, Chi- cago, 111 142
Thompson, Jacob C. Member of commit- tee Illinois State Historical Society on marking site of Fort Creve Coeur. ...16, 30
223
INDEX— Continued.
Thompson, J. V., Princeton, 111 137
Thornton, Norbury W 101
Thorntown, 111 165
Tilt, Joseph E. Member of first board of directors, Illinois Manufacturers Asso- ciation 71
Tipple, Ezra Squire. Francis Asbury, the Prophet of the Long Road. Foot-note.. 122
Tiskilwa, Bureau Co., Ill 98
Titterington, Fred 104, 106
Titterington, Fred. Quoted on Indian
Trail 104
Tonti, Henry 110
Travel. Early modes of travel
130, 132, 133, 136, 137
Treaty of 1783, at the close of the Ameri- can Revolution 75
Trenton, Tenn 167
Tunnel Hill, Ga 176
Turkey Hollow, Rock Island Co., 111.. 103, 105 Turkey Hollow Creek, Rock Island Co.,
Ill 102
Turkey Hollow Hill, Rock Island Co., 111.
102, 105
Turner, Charles. Member of the Union
League of America Ill
Turner, George. One of the judges, North- west Territory 83
Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens) 56
U
Union Car Works, Chicago, begun in
1852 58
Union Furniture Company of Rockford,
111 67
Union League : Its Organization and Achievements during the Civil War. By
E. Bentley Hamilton 25, 110-115
Union League of America Clubs formed in
the United States, 1862 113
Union -League of America, Council of.
First organized in Pekin, 111 Ill
Union League of America. First Council
of. Reference 21
Union League of America. Illinois State
Council, first meeting Sept. 5, 1862... 112 Union League of America. Lincoln, Abraham. Gives aid and sanction to the
Union League 110
Union League of America. Oath...' 112
Union League of New York City, 1864. Its loyalty and patriotism. War of the
Rebellion 114
Union League of the United States. Sup- port of the Black. Regiments. War of
the Rebellion 114
United States 46, 60, 68, 72
Foot-notes 35, 76
United States. Capital, removal of, to the
District of Columbia 46
United States. Constitution. Reference. 112 United States. Geological Survey. Foot- note 35
United States. Navy in the World War. . 140 United States. Shipping Board. World War 72 United States. Statutes at Large. Quoted.
Foot-note 76
United States. Steel Corporation 60
United States. Supreme Court 124
United Steel Corporation. Elbert H.
Gary, head of 71
Upham, Fred W 72
Uran, Benjamin F. President of the Kankakee County Historical Societv . . . . 19
Urbana, 111 23, 62
Urbana, 111. Manufactures in 62
Utoy Creek, Ga 183
V
Van Buren ,(Pres.) James 134
Vandruff Island. Named for Joshua Van-
druff 92
Vandruff, Joshua ..... .92 105
Vandruff, Joshua. Vandruff Island 'named
for 92
Van Law, John, of Arlington ......... 178
Van Meter ,(Mrs.) William 102
Varnum, (Judge) James Mitchell. One of the Judges of the Northwest Terri- tory 82
Vermilion Co., Ill 57
Vernon, (Rev.) J. W. M. Member of' the
Union League of America m
Vicksburg, Miss 113, 170
Vicksburg, Miss. Siege of. War of the
Rebellion 1^3
Vieths, Claus " '. ] 109
Villepigue, (Gen.) J. B. Confederate' Gen- eral. War of the Rebellion 163
Virginia State 46, 56, 99, 198, 199
W
Wabash River 49 45
Wa-bo-kie-shiek. Winnebago Prophet. . .' 107 Wakefield, John Allen. History of the
Black Hawk War infi 107
Waldo, (Mrs.) E. H 30
Walker, Jesse. Pioneer Preacher Metho- dist Church 217
Walker, (Capt.) Thomas. Wa'r"of 'isii
Wallace, (Gen.) Lew.....'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'...' 155 Wallace, (Gen.) William Henry Lamb. 151, 156
Wapella, Chief of the Foxes 109
War of the Revolution 24, 75, 140
War of the Revolution. Treaty of 1783 ' 75
War of 1812 24 88, 92, 135, 140, 143
War of 1812. Battle of Campbell's Island 92 War of 1812. Defense of Baltimore. 135, 143 War of 1812. McAfee, Robert B. History of the late War in the Western
Country. Quoted 92
War of the Rebellion 25, 58,
64, 110-115, 138, 139-150, 151, 154, 155, 156, 158, 161, 162, 163, 164, 166, 170, 175, 177, 178, 184, 185, 188, 189, 200, 201 War of the Rebellion. Appomattox. Sur- render of General Lee 115
War of the Rebellion. Army of the Ohio. 185 War of the Rebellion. Army of the Po- tomac 113, 200, 201
War of the Rebellion. Army of the
Tennessee 113, 142, 184, 185, 188
War of the Rebellion. Bull Run, Battle of 110 War of the Rebellion. Bureau Co., Ill, in
138, 170, 175
War of the Rebellion. Corinth, Battle of
144, 161-164
War of the Rebellion. Demand for food
and clothing in 58
War of the Rebellion. England deliberat- ing whether she should openly recognize
the Confederacy 114
War of the Rebellion. Fifteenth and
Sixteenth Army Corps 178
War of the Rebellion. Fluctuating value
of gold 175
War of the Rebellion. Fort Donelson,
Battle of Ill, 144
War of the Rebellion. Fort Henry, fall of 111 War of the Rebellion. Fort Sumpter, at- tack and capitulation, April, 1861... 110 War of the Rebellion. French's division. . 189
224
INDEX— Continued.
PAGE.
War of the Rebellion. Gettysburg, Battle of 113
War of the Rebellion. Hamilton E. Bent- ley. The Union League. Its Organiza- tion and Achievements during the Civil War 25, 110-115
War of the Rebellion. Hardee's Corps. . 189
War of the Rebellion. Illinois. Seventh Reg. 111. Vol. Inf 162, 188
War of the Rebellion. Illinois Twelfth Reg. 111. Vols 166, 188
War of the Rebellion. Illinois Fiftieth Reg. 111. Vols 162
War of the Rebellion. Illinois Fifty- seventh Reg. 111. Vols.. 151, 158, 162, 188
War of the Rebellion. Illinois Ninety- third Reg. 111. Vols 170, 175
War of the Rebellion. Iowa State. Thirty- ninth Iowa Reg 188
War of the Rebellion. Island No. 10 110
War of the Rebellion. Iuka, Battle of.. 161
War of the Rebellion. Knights of the Golden Circle Ill
War of the Rebellion. Letters of Dr. Jas. Roberts Zearing, during the War of the Rebellion 150-202
War of the Rebellion. Lincoln, Abraham, call for volunteers 110
War of the Rebellion. Monument to Sol- diers and Sailors, Princeton, 111 138
War of the Rebellion. New Madrid 110
War of the Rebellion. Pea Ridge, Battle of Ill
War of the Rebellion. Pittsburg Landing, Battle of 154-156
War of the Rebellion. Seventeenth Army Corps 177
War of the Rebellion. Shiloh, Battle of Ill, 144, 164
War of the Rebellion. Vicksburg, siege of 113
War of the Rebellion. Wilson Creek, Battle of 110
War of the Rebellion. Yates, (Gov.) Richard, War Governor, call for special session of the legislature, 1861 110
War of the Rebellion. Zearing, (Maj.) James Roberts. Letters 150-202
War of the Rebellion. Zearing, (Maj.) James Roberts. Record 139-149
War with Mexico 39, 46
War Trade Board. World War 72
War, World War
12, 28, 29, 58, 72, 138, 140
See World War.
Ward, (Capt.) Eber Brock 57, 59
Ward, (Capt.) Eber Brock. Pioneer in the iron and steel industry of Illinois. . 59
Ward, (Capt.) Eber Brock. Rolling-mill established by 59
Warner Co., Ill 100
Warner, E. S 69
Warner, J. K. Member of the Union League of America 112
Washburn, Henry 96
Washington, D. C. .28, 55, 147, 200, 201, 202
Washington, D. C. Grand review of re- turned troops in Washington. War of
the Rebellion 201
Washington, (Gen.) George
135, 140, 200, 202
Washington, George. Statue of in Rich- mond, Va 200, 202
Waterloo. Napoleon at Waterloo. Refer- ence 113
Watertown, N. Y. Foot-note 43
Waukegan, 111. Census figures on popula- tion and manufacturing interests 74
Waukegan, 111. Manufacturies in 62
Wayne, (Mad) Anthony 78
Webb, Oscar 189
Weber, Jessie Palmer. Librarian, Illinois
State Historical Library 12
Weber, Jessie Palmer. Secretary, Illinois
Historical Society
15, 19, 22, 23. 26-31
Weber, Jessie Palmer. Secretary, Illinois
State Historical Society. Report. .. .26-31 Webster, (Mrs.) Charles Ashley. (Martha
Farnham Webster) 19
Webster, Daniel 44, 45
Foot-note 43
Webster, Martha Farnham. (Mrs. Charles
Ashley Webster) 19
Weed, Thurlow 44
Weems, Mason Locke. Life of Washington 36
Weik, Jesse W 98
Wesley, John. Founder of Methodism. . 122 West Chicago. Listed among the manu- facturing towns in Illinois 62
West, (Mrs.) J. E. Quoted on Indian
Trail 96, 97
Western Annals, 1850. Quoted 92
Western Clock Company, LaSalle, 111 68
Western Spy, Aug. 27, 1799. Quoted.
Foot-note : 83
Western Spy, Sept. 30, 1799. Quoted.
Foot-notes 75, 84
Western Township, Henry County, 111.. 96, 98 Weyerhaeuser, Frederick. Known as the
"Lumber King" 70, 71
Wheaton, Illinois 60
Whig Party 38, 43
Foot-note 43
Whiteside Co., Ill 92
Whitman, Walt. Poem, "When Lilacs Last
in the Door-yard Bloomed" 52
Wigwam. Chicago. Where Lincoln was
nominated for the presidency, I860.... 142
Wilder, John E 72
Wilkins, (Prof.) D. Member of the Union
League of America 112
Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
Foot-note 43
Williamson Co., Ill 57
Wilmington, N..0 194, 195, 196, 197
Wilson Creek. Battle of. War of the
Rebellion HO
Wilson, T, E. President of the Institute
of American Meat Packers 71
Wilson, W. C 88, 89, 94, 95, 96, 107, 108
Wilson, W. C. Quoted on Indian Trail..
94 95, 96
Wilson, W. C. Quoted on Indian Trails,
Moline, Illinois 88, 89
Winnebago Co., Ill 21, 67
Winnebago Co., 111. Indian Mound in. . 21
Winnebago Indians 88, 107
Winrick, Lawyer, of Harrisburg, Pa ... . 132 Wisconsin State.... 40, 41, 44, 107, 117, 118
Foot-notes 45, 47
Wisconsin State. Archaeological Collection 29
Wisconsin State. Beloit, Wisconsin 66
Wisconsin State. Fight for the fourteen
northern counties of Illinois including
the port of Chicago 41
Foot-note '
Wisconsin State. Historical Society. Foot-
note
45
Wisconsin State. Lead mines in 88
Wisconsin State. Milwaukee, Wis .... 59, 65 Wisconsin State University. Foot-note... 45 Wolff, Charles F. Member of first board of directors, Illinois Manufacturers Associ- ation 71
225
INDEX— Concluded.
PAGE.
Wolff, Ludwig. Founder of the L. Wolff
Manufacturing Company 66
Wolff, Ludwig Manufacturing Co bO
Wood, (Dr.) Casey A 24
Wood, (Dr.) (U. S. Army) 180
Wood Family l*
Wood, Harrison. Dover, 111 l«>o
Wood, Timothy 64
Woodford Co., 111. Historical Society 20
Woodford Co., 111. Indian Mounds in.... 21
Woodhull, (Henry Co.) Ill 99
Woodstock, 111. Listed among the manufac- turing towns in Illinois 62
World War. 12, 28, 29, 58, 72, 138, 140, 143 World War. Demand for food, etc., in. . . . 58 World War. Emergency Fleet Corporation 72
World War. Food Commission 72
World War. Fuel Commission 72
World War. Germans in 143
World War. Huidekoper, (Col.) F. L. History of the Thirty-third Division,
World War 29
World War. Illinois State Council of
Defense Records 28
World War. Illinois Manufacturer's Asso- ciation. Members of, prominent in war
work 72
World War, Lusitania, Ship torpedoed
World War 72
World War. National Council of Defense 72 World War. United States Shipping Board 72
World War. War Trade Board 72
World War. Zearings in 138, 140
World's Fair, Chicago 142, 150
Wurttenberg, Germany 69
Wyandotte, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit 59 Wyanet, (Bureau County) 111 97
Yankee Settlement Twenty -five miles
southwest of Chicago 6S
Yates, (Gov.) Richard, War Governor of
the State of Illinois
15, 110, 114, 115, 143, 169
Yates, (Gov.) Richard. War Governor of
Illinois, call for special session of the
legislature, 1861 HO
Yates, (Gov.) Richard. War Governor of
Illinois. Copperheads threaten his life
during War of the Rebellion 115
Yates, (Gov.) Richard, The Younger. .15, 23 Yates, (Gov.) Richard (The Younger) Yice
President Illinois State Historical Society 23 Yeiser, (Capt.) Gunboat "Governor Clark"
Battle of Campbell"' s Island 92
Yellow Banks. Oquawka, Illinois formerly
called 93, 106
Zearing Building, Chicago
Zearing Descendants in World War.. 138,
Zearing, Elizabeth
Zearing, Family. By Luelja Zearing Gross 129
Zearing, Henry, Great-grandfather of Dr. James R. Zearing 129, 140
Zearing, Henry, Grandfather of Dr. James R. Zearing 140,
Zearing, Illinois, named for Zearing Family
Zearing, (Dr.) James Roberts
.129, 135, 137, 139
Zearing, (Dr.) James Roberts. Necrology
Zearing, (Dr.) James Roberts. Civil War Letters 150
Zearing, (Mrs.) James Roberts. . 149, 150,
Zearing, James Helmer
Zearing, Jonas
Zearing, Lucinda Helmer (Mrs. J. R. Zear- ing) Biography 149
Zearing, Ludwig 140,
Zearing, Martin 129, 131,
Zearing-, Ohio
Zearing, Rebecca
Zearing, Sarah Bright Harmon
Zearing, (Judge) William Mitchell
135, 137,
Zearing, (Judge) William Mitchell. Let- ters to Mrs. James Roberts Zearing 175,
Zearing, Acres, South Chicago, 111
Zearing, John 129, 132, 134, 135,
Zearing, (2d Lieut.) Louis A
Zorger, (Dr. ) Anna
Zouaves from New Orleans
137 140 135
138
143
143 129
149 149
■202 175 149
158
150 143 132 137 135 143
175
176 137 143 138 30 164
PUBLICATIONS OF THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORICAL LIBRARY AND SOCIETY.
No.l. * A Bibliography of Newspapers published in Illinois prior to" I860 Pre- pared by Edmund J. James, Ph. D., and Milo J. Loveless. 94 pp. 8 vo. Springfield,
No. 2. * Information relating to the Territorial Laws of Illinois passed from 1809 to 1812. Prepared by Edmund J. James, Ph. D., 15 pp. 8 vo. Springfield 1899
No. 3. * The Territorial Records of Illinois. Edited by Edmund J. James, Ph D ' 170 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1901. ' '
No. 4. * Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the year 1900 Edited by E. B. Greene, Ph. D., 55 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1900.
No. 5. * Alphabetical Catalog of the Books, Manuscripts. Pictures and Curios of the Illinois State Historical Library. Authors, Titles and Subjects. Compiled bv Jessie Palmer Weber. 363 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1900.
Nos. 6 to 28. * Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the vears 1901-1921. (Nos. 6 to IS out of print.)
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. I. Edited by II. W. Beckwith, President of the Board of Trustees of the Illinois State Historical Library. 642 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1903.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. II. Virginia Series, Vol. I. Edited by Clarence Walworth Alvord. CLVI and 063 pp. 8 vo. Springfield. 1907.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. III. LincOln-Douglas Debates of 1858, Lincoln Series, Vol. I. Edited bv Edwin Erie Sparks, Ph. D., 627 pp. 8 vo. Springfield. 1908.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. IV. Executive Series, Vol. I. The Governor's Letter Books, 1818-1834. Edited by Evarts Boutell Greene and Clarence Walworth Alvord. XXXII and 317 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1909.
^Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. V. Virginia Series. Vol. II, Kaskaskia Records, 1778-1790. Edited by Clarence Walworth Alvord. L. and 681 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1909.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. VI. Bibliographical Series. Vol. VI. News- papers and Periodicals of Illinois, 1814-1879. Revised and enlarged edition. Edited by Franklin William Scott. CIV and 610 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1910.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. VII, Executive Series, Vol. II. Governor's Letter Books, 1840-1853. Edited by Evarts Boutell Greene and Charles Manfred Thompson. CXVII1 and 469 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1911.
* Illinois Historical Collections. Vol. VIII. Virginia Series, Vol. III. George Rogers Clark Papers, 1771-1781. Edited with introduction and notes by James Alton James. CLXVII and 715 pp. 8 vo. Springfield. 1912.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. IX. Bibliographical Series, Vol. II. Travel and Description, 1765-1865. By Solon Justus Buck. 514 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1914.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. X. British Series, Vol. I. The Critical Period, 1763-1765. Edited with introduction and notes bv Clarence Walworth Alvord and Clarence Edwin Carter. LVII and 597 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1915.
* Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. XL British Series Vol. IT. The New Regime 1765-1767. Edited with introduction and notes by Clarence Walworth Alvord and Clarence Edwin Carter. XXVIII and 700 pp. 8 vo. Snringfield, 1916.
Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. XII. Bibliographical Series, Vol. III. The County Archives of the State of Illinois. By Theodore Calvin Pease. CXLI and 730 pp. 8 vo. Springfield. 1915.
Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. XIII. Constitutional Series. Vol. I, Illinois Constitutions. Edited by Emil Joseph Verlie. 231 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1919.
Illinois Historical Collections. Vol. XIV. Constitutional Series, Vol. II. The Constitutional Debates of 1847. Edited with introduction and notes by Arthur Charles Cole. XV and 1018 pp. 8 vo. Springfield, 1919.
Illinois Historical Collections, Vol. XV. Bibliographical Series, Vol. I. Governor Edward Coles. By Elihu B. Washburne. Reprint with introduction and notes by Clarence Walworth' Alvord. 435 pp. S vo. Springfield, 1920.
* Bulletin of the Illinois State Historical Library, Vol. I, No. 1 September, 1905. Illinois in the Eighteenth Century. By Clarence Walworth Alvord 38 pp. S vo. Spring-
'* Bulletin of the Illinois State Historical Library, Vol. I, No. 2, June 1, 1906. Laws of the Territory of Illinois, 1809-1811. Edited by Clarence Walworth Alvord, 34 dp 8 vo. Springfield, 1906.
* Circular Illinois State Historical Library, Vol. I, No. 1. November, 1905. An Outline for the Study of Illinois State History. Compiled by Jessie Palmer Weber and Georgia L. Osborne. 94 pp. 8 vo. Springfield. 1905.
* Publication No. IS. List of Genealogical Works in the Illinois State Historical Librarv. Compiled by Georgia L. Osborne. 8 vo. Springfield, 1914. _
* Publication No. 25. List of Genealogical Works m the Illinois State Historical Library. Supplement to Publication No. IS. Compiled by Georgia L. Osborne. S vo.
Pn Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, Vol. I, No. 1. April 190S, to
V0L J^ommahT'out of "print ,' Vols.' I, II. Ill, IV, V, VI, VII VIII, No. 1 of Vol. IX, No. 2 of Vol. X.
Out of print.