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THE UNIVERSITY
OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY
ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY
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Tallula, Menard County, Illinois.
— -♦♦♦
I have always on hand a large and well selected
stock of
Fruit, Shade & Ornamental Trees
Creen House and Bedding Plants,
This is the only Nursery in the West where you
can procure the Dwarf Desert Plum, which
bears equal to the Gooseberry, and is not injured
by the Curculio. I have also a large stock of the
Alexander and Amsden June Peaches, the ear-
liest peaches grown. Also Huckelberries in
abundance. The Thornless Blackberry has
no thorns to lacerate your face or hands, or' tear
your clothes ; several thousand plants for sale.
I have a large stock of the above, all propogated
by myself, and warranted true to name, which I
will sell at reasonable rates.
If my Agents do not call on you, send your
address to me for price lists and circulars.
[OTTO IS
to sell good stock at reasonable rates and guaran-
tee satisfaction to all favoring me with their pat-
ronage. J$tH=*Correspondence solicited from all
needing Nursery Stock of any description.
For price lists, circulars, and all information,
Address E. W. REDIItfG,
Box 82, Tallula, Menard, Co., III.
CHEAPEST BOOKSTORE III CENTRAL ILLINOIS!
FRANK SIMMONS,
Bookseller, Stationer I Newsdealer
206 south Sixth Street.
SPRINGFIELD, : : ILLINOIS.
— :SPECIALTIES:—
Gift Books,
Albums, Bibles,
School Supplies,
Singing Books,
Blank Books §
Fine Stationery.
i-'oK SCHOOL SUPPLIES.
Orders by m nil />rom /ifl;/ attended to, <iu<l prices
furnished, on any hook published.
DE. JNO. MARENBURG,
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"WBIK
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HI
HA.V^ISr^, ILLINOIS.
In the strict performance of his duty as a physician
he will try to gain the good will of his
fellow citizens.
OFFICE AND RESIDENCE ON ORANGE ST.
PAUL O.
I
BIGGS STATION, ILLS.
©AJL
DBAUB I
SALT, LIME, ETC
-»-♦♦-
Highest Price Paid for Grain and Produce.
j± stock: oit-
GROCERIES,
AT LOWEST CASH PRICES.
Quick Sales and Small Profits.
STEP!EIS#EF & W4SLFELB,
PPILGROCER
-
Market St., bet. Plum and Orttnf/e,
HAVANA, ILLINOIS.
Take this method of informing the public that they will sell
Teas. Coffees. Sugars, Glassware. Queensware,
Woodenware, Table Cittlcrij. PoeJcet Catlerij
Canned Fruits, Dried Fruits, and
T O IB .A. CD O O
Of all kinds, for the
Lowest Cash Prices,
That can be offered in the City.
WE ARE AGENTS FOR THE WELL AND FAVORABLY KNOWN
MeH4EE1PS XEM&S W&QWBL,
Corn Meal, and all kinds of Chopped Feed.
A FULL LINE OF NAILS ALWAYS ON HAND.
STEPHENSON & WAHLFELD.
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O. C. TOWN,
DEALER I3KT
WATCHES, 6L0GKS, JEWELRY,
Silverware, Spectacles, Gold Pens, &c.
Silverware Replated.
ENGRAVING FINELY EXECUTED.
I sell no cheap, worthless goods ; every article
warranted strictly as represented.
SPECIAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO
iENIRIK WITCHES, CLOCKS AND JEWELRY
ALSO DEALER IN"
German Accordeons, Violins, Guitars, Flutes and
Fifes, a full line of Violin and Guitar
Strings and Trimmings.
SHEET MUSIC, lfO a
Main Street, Havana, Illinois.
O. G. TO WW.
Strickle Bros' Store,
Sign of the
Is the Headquarters tor the
OLD SETTtmS
AND THE
YOUNG SITTMBS
Of Mason county to buy their
DRY GOODS, CLOTHING,
BOOTS, SHOES, &C.,
— w o m O^SH I —
AT THE
Cash Buyer's Hard-Pan Prices!
-♦♦♦-
AVE ARE THE
Ohettp Cfa^li Stop®
OF MASON COUNTY.
No. 39 MAIN STREET,
HAVANA, ILL.
STRICKLE BROS.
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Kast Corner Public Square.
PEORIA, ILLS
OHAS. H. DEAN, Proprietor.
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P.
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$2, $2.50 AND $3 PER DAY,
According to Size and Location of Room.
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INDEX
PAGE.
Title page i
Preface 3
Introductory 8
Historical events # r i
Sketch of the early history of Illinois 15
Forests of Illinois 21
Illinois river and tributaries 22
Sangamon river and tributaries 25
Productions of Illinois 26
Sangamon, Menard and Tazewell counties 28
Mason county 20
Mason county Postoffices 30.
Salt Creek township 40
Lynchburg township 43
Forest City 44
Crop statistics in 1853 46
Geology of Mason county, 52
Treelessness of the Prairies 67
Early efforts at fruit growing 73
Havana, History of * 80
Meteorological 86
Mason City, History of. 101
Biographical 118
Benevolent Orders 230
Newspapers of Mason county 234
Railroads of Mason county 256
Educational 266
County Poor Farm 274
Military History 277
, Conclusion — The Pioneer 347
CENTENNIAL HISTORY
OF
MASON COUNTY,
INCLUDING A
SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF ILLINOIS,
ITS
PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES, SOILS, CLI-
MA TE, PROD UC Tl ONS, E TC.
BY
JOSEPH COCHRANE.
■♦»»
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.:
rokker's steam printing house.
1876.
a PREFACE.
1
o
The origin and the object of this work is best set forth in the
- following documents and proceedings. The work was engaged in
\~i by the writer without fully comprehending the undertaking before
-— him ; but, as new subjects and new interests have presented them-
selves, we have assumed to present them to the people fully, in the
belief that the intelligent reading and appreciative people of Mason
county will appreciate our efforts.
The scientific features of the work have been supplied by the
—State Geologists of Illinois and of Michigan. To these gentlemen
—we are under obligations for their assistance in "Exploring the hills
£of scientific truth that shade the landscapes of eternity."
It has been our aim and our ambition, in the following woi'k, to
j.«cgive facts, and facts only / to ignore our individual opinions.
''With Dr. Gall we can say : " That one fact is with me more positive
-^and decisive than a thousand methaphysical opinions." Our
^opinions and our own preferences are not history. In the Biograph-
jj3ca\ Department of the work we have found it necessary to practice
fl a large amount of self denial. After a residence of over twenty
"years in Mason county, and the friendships formed in that long
^period of time, we find it difficult, in writing personal sketches of
\)old friends and neighbors, to say much of them historically and
Restrain feelings engendered by their long personal friendships.
>EIow well this has been done the public must be the judge. With
J the sentiment, rendered immortal by the late President Lincoln, for
- — "Our guide, we cannot be far wrong: " With charity to at/, and
^malice towards none" For the military history of the county we
acknowledge our indebtedness to Adj. Gen. Hillyer, of Springfield,
Illinois, through whose promptness and kindness we have been
furnished with the very full and perfect details which we have been
Ql -;-;39
HISTORY OF MASOX COUNTY.
enabled to give. We arc also under large obligations to Mr.
Ludlam, of the Secretary of State's office, for documents and data
no where else obtainable. Also, to a careful and judicious use of
"paste and scissors," for some of the most valuabjc extracts. In the
defence of this I can only say, it is the general usage of writers.
A noted author says: "I am not ashamed to borrow to enrich my
own history." My own credit, if any shall he, in uniting the links
to form a chain.
We are indebted, also, for information and assistance, to numer-
ous individuals in every part of the county, and to acknowledge all
would necessitate the publication of a county directory. All will
please accept our thanks. This work has been assigned us without
our solicitation, and we arc thus under obligations to do a work
creditable alike to all, more than could be placed upon us by any
pecuniary reward.
The following is an extract from the Clarion, of Havana, pub-
lished by S. Wheadon, and was our first notification of the work:
"History of Mason County. — We understand that many of
our citizens have spoken favorably of our townsman, J. Cochrane,
Esq., to prepare a history of Mason county, to be filed at our
national capitol, in pursuance of the recommendation of their Gov-
ernor. We earnestly hope that Mr. Cochrane may be appointed
for the work — being an old citizen, thoroughly acquainted with the
geography, soil and products of our county, and withal an interest-
ing writer. We know of no one who is better fitted for the task."
In pursuance of previous call, a meeting was held at the court
house on the evening of May 2y, to make arrangements for the
celebration of the approaching Centennial Anniversary. The
meeting was called to order by I. N. Mitchell, Mayor of Havana.
Major H. Fullerton was elected Chairman, and F. Ketchum and
S. Wheadon, Secretaries. The Chairman addressed the audience
iu an able, patriotic speech, which elicited much applause.
Mr. J. Cochrane offered the following, which was adopted:
Resolved, That the Committee of Conference with other towns
be instructed to use every dibit to obtain the co-operation of every
and each individual town in the county for a grand County Cen-
tennial Celebration on the coming anniversary of our National
Independence, in conformity to the resolution of the Legislature,
and the proclamation of the Governor.
Hon. J. A. Mallory offered the following:
Resolved, That this meeting recommend the appointment of
Joseph Cochrane to write the History of Mason county, in ac-
PREFACE.
cordance with the proclamation of the Governor, and that an appro-
priation be made by our Board of Supervisors to defray the neces-
sary expenses of the same.
Remarks on the above were made by Major Fullerton and
F. Ketchum, favoring- the resolution, which was unanimously
adopted.
On motion of H. A. Wright, Esq., Mr. J. R. Foster was elected
Treasurer.
On motion of J. M. Ruggles, Esq., the Board of Aldermen of
this city were requested to appropriate from three to five hundred
dollars to defray the expenses of the celebration.
It was moved and carried that these proceedings be published in
the papers of Mason county, and this meeting stand adjourned to
next Friday night.
H. Fullerton, Chairman.
F. Ketcham, ) ,
e 1T7 >• -Secretaries.
S. Wheadon, \
The origin of Centennial County Histories is contained in the
following resolution of Congress, approved March 3, 1876:
Joint resolution on the celebration of the Centennial in the sev-
eral counties or towns:
Be it resolved by the Se?iate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That it be
and is hereby recommended by the Senate and House of Represen-
tatives, to the people of the several States, that they assemble in
their several counties or towns on the approaching Centennial
anniversary of our National Independence, and that they cause to
have delivered on such a day an historical sketch of said county or
town from its formation, and that a copy of said sketch may he
filed, in print or manuscript, in the Clerk's office of said county,
and an additional copy, in print or manuscript, be filed in the office
of the Librarian of Congress, to the intent that a complete record
may thus be obtained of the progress of our institutions during the
first centennial of their existence. Approved March 13, 1S76.
On the 25th of April, 1876, Governor Beveridge issued the fol-
lowing proclamation :
To the People of the State of Illinois, Greeting" :
Whereas, The Senate and the House of Representatives have
issued, and the President of the United States has approved, a
joint resolution on the celebration of the Centennial in the several
counties or towns, which joint resolution is as follows, viz:
Be it resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America, That it be and is hereby recom-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
mended by the Senate and House of Representatives, to the people
of the several .States, that they assemble in the several counties or
towns on the approaching Centennial anniversary of our National
Independence, and that they cause to have delivered on such day
an historical sketch of said counts' or town from its formation, and
that a copy of said sketch may be filed, in print or manuscript, in
the Clerk's office of said county, and an additional copy, in print or
manuscript, be filed in the office of the Librarian of Congress, to
the intent that a complete record may thus be obtained of the pro-
gress of our institutions during the first Centennial of their exis-
tence.
Now, therefore, I, John L. Bevcridge, Governor of Illinois, do
hereby earnestly recommend to the people of our State, that prompt
measures be taken in each county and town for the selection and
appointment, in such manner as may be deemed best, of one or
more persons, who shall prepare, as suggested in the resolution,
complete, thorough and accurate historical sketches of each counts - ,
city, town or village, from the date of its first settlement to the
present time; one copy of each of said sketches to be filed in the
office of the County Clerk, and an additional copy to be filed in the
office of the Librarian of Congress, at the City of Washington.
That these sketches may be of the greatest ' historical value, I
would especially urge the importance of the utmost care in their
preparation, in order that they garner many interesting facts con-
nected with the earliest days of our State, the knowledge of which,
recorded only in the memories of our older citizens, is gradually
passing away, and soon will be lost to us forever.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused
the great seal of the State to be affixed.
Done at the city of Springfield, this 25th day of April, A. D.
1S76.
John L. Beveridge.
By the Governor:
George II. Harlow, Sec'y of State.
/
A CARD.
The position of Centennial Historian of Mason county being
offered me by our citizens, and by the recommendation of the
meeting of the 27th inst., to prepare for the approaching Anniver-
sary, I hereby tender my thanks to those who have, with such en-
tire unanimity, offered me this work. It will be my ambition to
accomplish the work assigned, not only to the best of my ability,
but have engaged the criticisms and advice of competent friends, to
whom all manuscripts will be referred for examination. I desire
that fullness, correctness and impartiality shall be charac-
teristics of the work. I would be glad to receive from old resi-
dents such incidents of the early history of the county as may be
at their command.
J. COCHRANE.
INTRODUCTORY.
We live in an age of light and of knowledge; an age in which
the progress of science and of art is unprecedented in the history
of the world. Their progress is onward with the step of a Col-
lossus. We abide, too, in a land of civil and religious liberty. The
benignant smiles of an overruling' Providence have ever beamed
upon ns in all their glory and their effulgence.
The trump of the warrior, the noise and confusion of battle, and
the garments dyed in blood, have passed from our heritage, and
we are living in the felicitous enjoyment of those twin boons of
freedom and prosperity, purchased bv the blood of, and bequeathed
to us by, our fathers. Let us emulate their deeds, practice their
virtue-, and hand down to posteritv the rich legacy bequeathed
to us. untarnished by them, unimpaired by us. Let us contemplate
the edifice they reared, this magnificent temple of civil and reli-
gious liberty!
The permanent fruits of liberty are wisdom, moderation and mercy.
Its abuse are crimes, conflicts, errors. It is at this latter crisis that
its enemies love to exhibit it. The)- would pull down the scaffold-
ing from the half-finished edifice, and point to the flying dust, the
falling timbers and debris, and then ask in scorn, where is the
promised comfort and splendor of the structure to be found r
But there stands this ancient architectural pile, with tokens of
a century's age covering it from its corner-stone to its topmost
turret. Some of its enemies point to these -ymbols of age as
tokens of decay, while to its friends they indicate the years they
have stood; and chronicle a massiveness that can yet defy more cen-
turies than it has stood years. Its foundations are buried in the
accumulated mould of an hundred years. Its walls are mantled by
ornamental vines of ever green foliage.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Dig away the mould of a century, and these foundations were,
laid by no mortal hand. The Temple of Civil Liberty is founded
on primitive rock. It strikes its roots to an unfathomable depth.
No frost can heave — no convulsions shake it. The Centennial
Anniversary of the Temple of Liberty to-day we celebrate. July
4, 1S76.
COLUMBIA.
Come forth in all thy maiden charm,
Serenely still, benignly fair,
For greetinsfs true and glad and warm
Are thrilling through the summer air.
Come forth, so dowered with youthful grace,
Columbia, Lady of the West!
And be the welcome in thy face,
The pride of every honored guest.
A hundred years, in shade and light,
Have cast their glory o'er thy brow;
But what are they ? A watch by night
To nations vast who seek thee now,
Who heard the overture of morn
Swept grandly by the choiring stars,
Ere yet across the earth was borne
The sound of strife, the clash of wars.
The children of the farthest East
Have brought their tributes to thy shrine.
Though last, fair land, thou art not least,
And cordial hands solicit thine.
Lo ! out from all her mystic past
Steps she who reared the Pyramid;
And China opens wide the fast
Barred door which once her empire hid.
With stately courtesy they bring
Their wishes for thy long success ;
Their golden censers gently swing
With incense pure as love's caress.
With treasures of an elder art,
Across blue-rounding waves, Japan
Comes mingling in thy thronging mart,
To tell the brotherhood of man.
IO HISTORY OI'' MASON* COUNTY.
And other than these Orient ones
Are pilgrams to thy radiant shore;
The emphasis of kindred tones
Makes sweet the hail from lips, before,
A century back, that, touched with scorn,
In English accents told thy name —
Thy name! to-dav with glory worn
*-> ■
Wherever reaches England's fame.
to'
Italia sends her dreams sublime
In marble wrought. From Spain and France,
From German lands, From Russia's clime,
From Greece, with thoughts of old romance
Entwined, the votive offerings come;
And syllabled in silvery speech,
Beneath the deep cerulean dome,
Flow words of cheer thine ear to reach.
From where the Amazon's deep tide
Full-hearted glides through banks of green,
A royal pair have sought thy side,
With simplest grace and courtly mien;
And from their broad and ample state,
Where thousands bend to do their will,
Comes, fitly crowning freedom's fete,
A wreath of bloom from fair Brazil.
A fading shape, the while it fades,
That gives thee homage, joins to raise,
lore yet it vanish 'mid the shades
Of night and eld, its chant of praise.
Its name is on thy rivers writ,
Its music crowns thy mountain peaks,
Yet, phantom-like, its children flit
Before the tongue Columbia speaks.
Receive, fair virgin of the West,
The friendly plaudits of the world;
Receive the love in flowers expressed,
I5v flags in gentle peace unfurled!
Begin the century to come
In faith unfeigned, in solemn awe,
And consecrate thy soil, the home
Of Liberty allied to Law!
HISTORICAL EVENTS
LEADING TO THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
However instructive to the student of history to trace the lead-
ing events from the creation, the deluge, the calling of Abraham,
the exodus of Israel, and the giving of the Law, the foundation of
Sparta, the death of Saul, the foundation of Rome, the destruction
of Nineveh, the death of Cyrus, the battle of Marathon, the death
of Darius, birth of Plato, the death of Socrates, the destruction of
Thebes, Alexander invades Asia, completion of the Collossus of
Rhodes, Hannibal crosses the Alps, death of Hannibal, birth of Julius
Ceasar, death of Marius, Ceasar crosses the Rubicon, and is made
Dictator, death of Cicero, of Anthony and Cleopetra, and the great
central event of the world's history, the birth of Christ, it is not
the province of this work to detail.
From the birth of Christ to the discovery of America, a period
of nearly fifteen centuries, events thicken, as time rolls on, with ap-
parently an accellerated velocity. Prominent among them, we
note the death of Augustus, and the accession of Tiberius, and the
crucifixion of Christ, Nero Emperor of Rome, and Titus of Jeru-
salem, Christianity preached in Britain, siege of Alexandria, Con-
stantine the Great, Emperor of Rome, Anglo-Saxons in Britain,
Persia conquered by the Saracens, descent of the Danes on England,
Otho, the first King of Germany, America discovered, in 1S01, by
Biorn and Lief, two Icelanders, accession of William the Con-
queror, death of Abelard, the Tartar in Hungary, Palestine lost to
the Christians, Turks in Europe, burning of Heretics in England,
siege of Orleans, fall of the Byzantine Empire, Gibralter taken by
the Moors, birth of Luther and Raphael, the inquisition in Spain,
battle of Bosworth, Cape of Good Hope discovered, surrender of
Grenada, end of the Moorish Dominion in Spain, expulsion of the
Jews from Spain; and the discovery of America.
12 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA.
The province and scope of this work suggest extreme brevity,
and the avoidance of detail in the part of the work before us. We
will merely state in brief, in their chronological order, the events
bearing on the discovery of America.
Christopher Columbus discovered land belonging to the Western
Hemisphere, October 12, 1492, first landing on one of the Bahama
Islands.
John and Sebastian Cabot landed on Newfoundland the following
June.
Columbus on his third voyage discovered the Continent, near the
mouth of the Orinoco river, in South America, in 1498.
In the following year, Americus Vespucius conducted a vessel to
the coast of South America, and told the story of his voyage so
well that the Continent received his name; an error which the in-
justice of mankind has allowed to continue.
Ponce De Leon, in 1512, discovers Florida while searching for
the "Fountain of Youth."
James Cartier, a French sailor, discovers the river St. Lawrence,
in 1535. DeSoto, a Spaniard, discovers the Mississippi, discovers
Indians, near where the city of Mobile now stands, residing in a
walled citv, of several thousand inhabitants. He explored the
Mississippi and Red rivers, and«died, near the mouth of the latter,
May 21, 1542.
The first English settlement was contemplated in 1578, or about
three centuries ago. Queen Elizabeth, of England, granted a pat-
ent to Sir Humphry Gilbert "to such remote heathen and barbar-
ous lands as he should find in North America." Two unsuccessful
attempts are made by him to establish colonies. He finally perishes,
with his vessels, Sept. 23, 15S3. Sir Walter Raleigh is then sent
with two vessels, and lands at Pamlico Sound; also makes an un-
successful attempt on Roanoke Island. A third attempt, in 1587,
was unsuccessful, by the interference of the Spanish Armada, and
surrenders his charter to a company of merchants or Indian traders.
The Plymouth company landed a colony at the mouth of Kenebec
river, in 1607, are unsuccessful, and return to England; and the same
year a London company establish a settlement at James river, which
was the first permanent English settlement in America. English
convicts are sent to Virginia, and slaves introduced in 1620. Vari-
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 13
ous colonies and settlements were now established, with variable
success, encountering opposition from the Indians.
The first germ of American Union, we find in a confederation of
the Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven colo-
nies, a confederation that lasted nearly forty years. Common school
laws, an institution purely American, were passed in Connecticut,
in 1650.
The growth of the colonies, by emigration and natural increase,
continued to progress favorably, till they suffer the misfortune of
the resignation of their distinguished friend, Mr. Pitt, in October
1761.
In 1763, a treaty of peace between England and France closed
the war in America which was so disastrous to the colonies, by
reason of the atrocities committed by the Indians at the instigation
of the French. The colonics paid $16,000,000 war expenses, and
lost 30,000 men, and the French lost their Canadian possessions and
all of their immense territory east of the Mississippi river. These
were preparatory steps; in the hands of an overseeing Providence
other results that were to follow, namely : preparing the people for
war, and the organization of the new confederation whose centen-
nial anniversary we celebrate the present year.
The Colonial Commanders learned the art of war as they fought
side by side with the veterans of Great Britain, and the soldiers of
the western frontier compared favorably with the flower of the
British army. This was illustrated in the notable defeat of Gen.
Braddock. The skill and bravery of Washington saved the Brit-
ish army from annihilation in Pennsylvania.
Various acts were passed by the British Parliament in 1763 and
1764, acts obnoxious and adverse to the interest of the colonies,
which our intended brevity compels us to omit, and refer to the
obnoxious stamp act of 1765. Also, an act authorizing the British
Ministry to send any number of troops to America, for whom the
colonists were to find "quarters, firewood, bedding, drink, soap and
candles."
Various colonies passed resolutions, in their House of Burgesses,
claiming the rights of British subjects, and remonstrating with the
mother country to the burdens thus imposed. On October 7, 1765,
an assembly of committees or delegates from nine colonics met, in
New York. This was the first Continental Congress. The ex-
14 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
periencc of one year convinced England that the Stamp Act could
not be enforced in America.
While the colonies rejoiced over the repeal of the Stamp Act,
the home government was framing laws for their more serious
oppression, and in 1767 taxes were levied on tea, paint, paper,
glass and lead, and so exorbitant were these demands, that the colo-
nies determined to pay no more taxes or duties at all, illustrating a
principle in that early day that has since became patent to the even
casual observer, that the best way to get rid of an obnoxious law is
to rigidly enforce it. In 176S, the Massachusetts General Court is-
sued a circular to the other colonial assemblies, inviting co-opera-
tion for the defense of their common and mutual rights, and gener-
ally received most cordial replies.
In 1770 the indignation of the people of Boston at the British
soldiers breaks out into an affray of so serious a nature that the
troops fire on the citizens, killing three and wounding several others.
Importations are nearly discontinued, and home manufactured
goods superceded the foreign article, and so, popular did this be-
come that the graduating class at Harvard College took their de-
grees in homespun this year.
Through 1770 the feeling becomes more intense, and the year
following, a British Revenue Schooner was burned by a party of
colonists, at Providence, Rhode Island.
Parliament offered $3,000 and a pardon to any one of that party
who would betray his accomplices, that they might be arrested.
Though they were known by all the colonies, no legal evidence
was ever brought against them.
In 1773, the celebrated Boston tea party comes off, and the car-
goes of three ships are emptied into the sea.
The year following the Tea Party, the feeling acquires intensity,
and a Continental Congress was ordered by all the colonics but
Georgia. They assemble in Philadelphia, and Peyton Randolph,
of Virginia, is chosen President, and a "Declaration of Colonial
Rights" is the result of their labors, and agree on fourteen articles
as a basis of an "American Association." This body was hence-
forth the real government, and their requirements were the laws of
the country, to which the people gave strict allegicnce.
We have been more minute in the details of these transactions
because they prove the loyalty of the people to their former gov-
HISTORICAL EVENTS. I<
eminent, and the gradually tightening system of tyrany and op-
pression that drove them from that loyalty to a state of revolt.
The inauguration of the war of the Revolution, the variable
successes of the contending armies, the progress of public opinion
gradually growing stronger on the side of patriotism, ripened into
the
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, JULY 4, lj>j6.
The Declaration of Independence was followed by the Articles
of Confederation, and they being, after a few years experience,
found insufficient and unsatisfactory, were superceded by the Con-
stitution of the United States, in the year 1787.
SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
By a treaty between the general government and the Kaskaskia
Indians, made January 13, 1803, a large part of Illinois was opened
to settlement, though it was first visited by Europeans in the per-
sons of French Jesuit missionaries in the year 1672, who explored
the north part of the State. The oldest permanent settlement was
made in 1720, at Kaskaskia, by the French. The name of the
State is derived from the Indians, and the term " Illini" signifying
in the Indian tongue, a perfect man. It was modified by the
French into its present form.
This State was formed out of what was known as Northwestern
Territory, and was the twenty-first of the great American Union,
whose Centennial we celebrate the present year.
A territorial government was formed February 3, 1S09, and
April 3, 18 18, it was authorized to adopt a state constitution, and
became an independent State on the 3d day of December, the same
year.
It has an area of 55,405 square miles, equal to 35,459,200 acres.
Population in 1870, 2,539,63s. This State extends over a range of
latitude of five and a half degrees, giving a greater diversity of
l6 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY.
climate than any other State in the Union, and for fertility is un-
equaled hy any other territory of equal extent in the world. The
great agricultural staples do not constitute her entire wealth, but
she is rich in iron, lead, copper, zinc, lime, marble, gypsum, etc., etc.
Some single counties contain as many square miles of coal-fields as
all of England combined. Brevity compels important omissions,
of which our State may boast, viz: her beautiful cities and her
grand prairies, her thousands of miles of railroads and her majes-
tic rivers, her schools and her churches, her law-abiding, intelligent
population, her beneficent laws, and her noble constitution, second
to none in the Union.
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS.
Perhaps it will afford some of our readers a little pleasure to see
a list of all the early governors of Illinois, commencing with its
organization as a territory in 1S09. If so, they can read the fol-
lowing :
Ninian Edwards was appointed Governor of the Territory in
1809, and held the office until it was admitted as a State in 18 18.
His term of office expired in 1822, when he was succeeded by Ed-
ward Coles, second Governor. His term expired in 1S26, at which
time Ninian Edwards succeeded as third Governor. He was suc-
ceeded, in 1830, by John Reynolds, commonly called the "Old
Ranger," who was the fourth Governor. The fifth, Joseph Dun-
can, was inaugurated in 1834. Thomas Carlin, the sixth, in 1838.
Thomas Ford, the seventh, in 1842. Augustus C. French, eighth
Governor, was inaugurated first in 1S46, and again in 1S49, under
the new Constitution. He was succeeded by Joel A. Matteson,
ninth Governor, in 1S53; and he by Wm. H. Bissell, the tenth
Governor, in 1S57.
PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES, BOUNDARIES, EXTENT, ETC.
The rich and highly favored region forming the State of Illinois
is bounded on the north by Wisconsin, east by Lake Michigan and
the States of Indiana and Kentucky, south by Kentucky, and west
by the States of Missouri and Iowa. Its extent from north to
south is from thirty-seven degrees to forty-two degrees thirty min-
utes north latitude, and cast and west from ten degrees thirty-two
minutes to fourteen degrees thirty-three minutes longitude, west
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 1 7
from Washington City. Its extreme length is three hundred and
eighty miles, its breadth in the north one hundred and forty-five
miles, but it extends in its centre to two hundred and twenty miles,
from whence it contracts towards the south to a narrow point.
The whole area of the State is fifty-nine thousand square miles,
of which fifty-five thousand square miles, or about thirty-five million
acres, are capable of cultivation. The act of Congress admitting this
State into the Union prescribes boundaries as follows: Beginning
at the mouth of the Wabash river, thence up the middle of the
main channel, thereof to a point where a line drawn due north
from Vincennes last crosses that stream, thence due north to the
northeast corner of the State of Indiana, thence east with the
boundary line of the same State to the centime of Lake Michigan,
thence due north along the middle of said lake to latitude forty
degrees thirty minutes, thence west to the centre of the Mississippi
river, thence down the middle of the main channel thereof to the
mouth of the Ohio river, thence up the latter stream, along its
northern or right shore to the place of beginning.
The outline of the State is in extent about one thousand one
hundred and sixty miles, the whole of which, except three hundred
and five, is formed by navigable streams and waters. As a physi-
cal section Illinois is the lower part of that inclined plane of which
Lake Michigan and both its shores are a higher section, and which
is extended into and embraces the greater part of Indiana. Down
this plane, in a very nearly southwestern direction, flows the
Wabash and its confluents, the Kaskaskia, the Illinois and its con-
fluents, and the Rock and Wisconsin rivers. The lowest section
of the plane is also the extreme southern angle of Illinois, at the
mouth of the Ohio river, and is about three hundred and fifty feet
above the level of the sea. Though the State of Illinois does con-
tain some low hilly sections, as a whole it may be regarded as a
gently inclining plane in the direction of the rivers, as already in-
dicated. Without including minute parts, the extreme arable ele-
vation may be safely stated at eight hundred feet above sea level,
and the mean height at five hundred and fifty feet above the sea.
Next to Louisana and Delaware, Illinois is the most level State in
the Union. A small tract in the southern portion of the State is
hilly, and the northern portion is also somewhat broken. There
are likewise considerable elevations along the Illinois river, and the
bluffs of the Mississippi in some places might almost pass for
—3
iS HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
mountains. But by far the greater portion of the State is either
distributed in vast plains, or barrens, that are gently rolling like the
waves of the sea. We may travel on the wide prairie for days
without encountering an elevation that is worthy to be called a hill.
In no part of the peopled portion of the United States are there
such vast sections of prairie country. One vast prairie, with but
little interuption, spreads from the shore of the Mississippi to that
of Lake Michigan. Undoubtedly, the most remarkable feature of
the State of Illinois is its vast prairies, or unwooded plains. They
begin on a comparatively small scale in the basin of Lake Erie,
and increase as we proceed westward, already form the bulk of the
land about Lake Michigan, the Upper Wabash and the Illinois,
but west of the Mississippi they are still more extensive, covering the
whole country, interspersed with groves of timber, or patches of
wood land, chiefly confined to the river vallics and the borders of
streams. The characteristic peculiarity of the prairies is the ab-
sence of timber; in other respects they present all the variety of
soil and surface that are found elsewhere. Some are of inexhaust-
able fertility, others are of hopeless sterility. 'The latter condition,
the exception, and by no means the rule. Some spread out in a
vast boundless plain, others are undulating or rolling, while others
are broken by hills. In general, they a re covered with a rich
growth of grass, excellent natural meadows, from which circum-
stance they take their name.
Prairie is a French word, signifying meadow, and is applied to
any description of surface that is destitute of timber, and clothed
with grass. Wet, dry, level or undulating, are terms of descrip-
tion, merely, and apply to prairies in the same sense they do to for-
est lands. Indians and hunters annually set fire to the prairie
grasses to dislodge their game; the fire spreads with tremendous
rapidity, and presents one of the grandest and most terrible specta-
cles in nature. The flames rush through the long grass with a
noise like thunder; dense clouds of smoke arise; and the sky itself
seems almost on fire, particularly during the night. Travel on the
prairies, during the burning season, is extremely dangerous, and
when pursued by the fires the only escape is to fire the grass around
them, and taking shelter on the burnt part, where the approaching
flames must expire for want of fuel.
The groves and belts of timber bordering on the prairies have
frequent springs of water, and are covered with bushes of hazel
HISTORICAL EVENTS.
l 9
and furze, small sasafras shrubs, festooned with the wild grape vine
and the amepolopsis, and in the season of flowers becomes beauti-
fully decorated by a rich profusion of gaily colored herbaceous and
perennial flowers. In March, and early in April, the forests are in
bloom. The brilliant red bloom of the cercis canadensis, hand-
somely exhibits its charms. The yellow blossoms of the fragrant
leonicera diffuses its fragrance, and the jasminum frtiticans im-
pregnates the air with its delicious odors, and a vast variety of
other odoriferous plants are passively engaged in the faithful dis-
charge of their offices, either of the display of gay colors or the
emission of rare odors. The pi-airies are thus referred to by one
of the early western poets —
"Travelers entering here, behold around
A large and spacious plain on every side,
Strewed with beauty, whose fair grassy mound
Mantled with green, and goodly beautified
With all the ornaments of Flora's pride."
The deep, rich, black soils of the prairies are of exhaustless fertil-
ity, and equally adapted to the growth of vegetables, corn, wheat,
rye, barley and oats. All the fruits of this latitude are grown with
extraordinary success.
From May to October the prairies are covered with tall grass,
and the flower producing weeds. In June and July they seem an
ocean of flowers, of various hues, waving to the breezes that sweep
over them. The numerous tall flowers that grow luxuriently over
these plains, present a striking and delightful appearance. Early
in the history of the settlements of these prairies, herds of deer
were frequently seen bounding over these prairie undulations.
In the southern part of the State the prairies are comparatively
small, varying in size from a few acres to several miles in extent.
As we go northward, they widen and extend on the more elevated
ground, between the water courses, to a vast distance, and are fre-
quently from six to twelve miles wide. Their borders are by no
means uniform, but are intersected in every direction by strips of
forest land, advancing into and receding from the prairie towards
the water courses, whose banks are always lined with timber, prin-
cipally of luxuriant growth.
Between these streams are, in many instances, copses or groves
of timber, containing from ioo to 2000 acres, in the midst of the
prairie, like islands in the ocean. This is a common feature be-
20 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
tween the Sangamon river and Lake Michigan, the region of Illi-
nois in which our own Mason county, forms so conspicuous and
desirable a part. The largest tract of prairie in Illinois is called
Grand Prairie. Under this general name is embraced the country
lying between the water which fall into the Mississippi, and those
which enter the Wabash rivers. It does not consist of one vast
tract boundless to the vision, and uninhabitable for want of timber,
hut made up of continuous tracts, with points of timber projecting
inward, and long arms of the prairie extending between the creeks
and smaller streams. The southern points of the Grand Prairie
arc formed in the northeastern parts of Jackson county, and extend
in a northeastern course between the streams, of various widths,
from one to ten or twelve miles, through Perry, Washington, Jef-
ferson, Marion, the eastern part of Fayette, Effingham, through
the western part of Coles, into Champaign and Iroquois counties,
where it becomes connected with the prairies that project eastward
from the Illinois river and its tributaries. This part alone is fre-
quently called the Grand Prairie.
On the origin of the prairies, it is difficult to decide; various
speculations have arisen on this subject, and have given rise to vari-
ous opinions; the most practical of which is ably set forth by Prof.
Winchell, in another part of this work, in the section entitled the
"Treelessness of the Prairies." When Capt. John Smith visited
the Chesapeake, he found extensive prairies, and first bore witness
to the practice of circular tires as a mode of hunting among the
savages. These tracts have been early inhabited and cultivated by
the colonists, and the prairies have long since disappeared.
Probably one-half of the earth's surface, in a state of nature,
consisted of prairies or barrens; much of it, like our western prai-
ries, were covered with a luxurient coat of grass and herbage.
The Steppes of Central Asia, the Pampas of Buenos Ayres and
Venezuela, the Savanahs of Louisiana ami Texas, and the prairies,
designate identical, or at least similar, tracts of country. Mesopot-
amia, Syria and Judea had their ancient prairies, on which the
Patriarchs pastured their flocks. Travelers in Burmah, in the in-
terior of Africa and New Holland, mention the same description of
country. Mungo Park describes the annual burnings of the
plains of Manning, western Africa, in the same manner as the
prairies of the western States, and the practice is attended with the
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 21
same results, the country being in short covered with a luxurient
crop of young tender grass, on which cattle feed with avidity.
FORESTS OF ILLINOIS.
In general, Illinois is abundantly supplied with timber, and were
it equally distributed through the State, there would be no part
wanting. The growth of timber within the State is such, and its
preservation an object with the inhabitants, that it is estimated that
there is from one-fourth to one-third more timber in the State than
there was forty years ago. The apparent scarcity of timber
through the State, where the prairies predominate, is not an ob-
stacle to settlement, as has been supposed. For many of the pur-
poses to which timber is applied substitutes have been found.
The rapidity with which the young growth pushes itself for-
ward, without a single effort on the part of man to accellerate it,
and the readiness with which prairies become converted into thickets,
and then into a forest of young timber, shows that in another genera-
tion timber will not be wanting in any part of Illinois.
The growth of the bottom lands consists of black walnut, sev-
eral species of ash, three varieties of elm, hackberry, sugar maple,
soft maple, and the ash-leaved maple or box-elder, honey locust,
mulberry, buckeye, sycamore, cottonwood, pecan, and three or four
other varieties of the hickory family, numerous varieties of the oak
family, among them the cup oak, burr oak, swamp or water oak,
white oak, red oak, black oak; of the shrubbery, we note the red-
bud, pawpaw, dogwood, two varieties, spice brush, hazel, green-
briar, and many others, even the names of which we have been
unable to learn. We have now a collection of the native woods of
Illinois, numbering ninety-eight varieties, and we have not all.
Perhaps no other State in the Union can furnish such a variety of
timber, and shrubs, and vines, as Illinois. Along the banks of
streams the sycamore, the cottonwood, the elm and the pecan
predominate, and attain to an immense size, and are of rapid
growth.
Uplands are covered with various species of timber, among
which are the post oak, white and black oak, of several varieties,
and the black jack, a dwarfish gnarled tree, good for little else than
firewood, for which purpose it is equal to any we have, of hickory,
both the » shellbark and the smoothbark, black walnut, white wal-
nut or butternut, American linn or basswood, several varieties of
HISTORY OF MASON' COUNTY.
cherry, and many of the species produced on the bottoms. In
some parts of this State yellow poplar prevails, principally in the
south, interspersed with occasional clumps of beech. Near the
Ohio, on low creek bottoms, the deciduous cypress is found.
No poplar is found on the eastern borders of the State till near
Palestine, while on the opposite shore of the Wabash, in Indiana,
poplar and beech predominate. Occasional clumps of stunted
cedar are to be seen on the cliffs that overhang the bottoms along
the Illinois river north of Peoria; but no pines have come to our
knowledge that are natives of Illinois.
Timber not only grows more rapidly than in other States, but
decays sooner when put into buildings, fences, or is in any way ex-
posed to the weather. It is more porous, and will shrink and ex-
pand, as the weather becomes wet or dry, to a greater extent than
the slow crowing- timbers of other States. From the above it will
be perceived that Illinois does not labor under the great incon-
veniences for timber that many have supposed. Our excellent and
numerous facilities for transportation assure us us that the future
will be better provided for than the past. Timber may be artifi-
cially produced, with but little trouble or expense, to an indefinite
extent.
The black locust, a native growth of Ohio and Kentucky, may
be raised from the seed with far less trouble than a nursery of
apple trees, and as it is of very rapid growth, a lasting timber for
fencing, buildings and boats, it must claim the attention of farmers.
Already it forms one of the cleanliest and most beautiful shades,
and when in bloom presents a rich prospect, and sheds a most deli-
cious fragrance.
THE ILLINOIS RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
The Illinois river, which gives name to the State, may be con-
sidered the most important, whose whole course lies within the
limits of the State, and whose waters lave the western line of
Mason county. It is formed by the junction of the Kankakee and
the Desplaines rivers, near the towns of Dresden and Kankakee.
Thence it curves nearly to a west course, until a short distance
above Hennepin. Here it curves to the south, and then to the
southwest Passing the beautiful and flourishing cities of Peoria,
Pekin, Havana and Beardstown, it reaches Naples. Hence to its
mouth its course is nearly due south. It enters the Mississippi
HISTORICAL EVENTS.
3 3
twenty miles above the mouth of the Missouri, and at that point is
four hundred feet above the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. From
Havana to the mouth there is fifteen feet fall, and from Peoria to
Havana four feet eleven inches. At high floods this river over-
flows its banks and covers the bottoms for a considerable extent.
The Mississippi, at extreme high water, backs the water seventy-
miles up the Illinois. The commerce of the Illinois river is very-
extensive, and increases with a rapidity only known to the rich
agricultural regions of the western states. Several steamboats are
constantly employed in the Illinois river trade, and others make
occasional trips. At as early a date as 1S36, thirty-five different
steamboats passed and landed at Havana, and the total arrivals
and departures for the season were four hundred and fifty.
The year 1828 was the beginning of steam navigation on the Illi-
nois river. Forty miles below the junction of the Kankakee and
Desplaines rivers the Illinois receives the Fox river from the north.
Both above and below the mouth of this river there is a succession
of rapids in the Illinois, with intervals of deep and smooth water.
From the mouth of Fox river to the foot of the rapids is nine miles,
the descent in all eight feet, the rocks of soft sandstone mixed with
gravel and shelly limestone. Nine miles above Fox river the
rapids begin, and extend ten or twelve miles. They are formed
by ledges of rocks in the river, and rocky islands. The whole
descent from the surface of Lake Michigan, at Chicago, to the
foot of the rapids, a distance of ninety-four and one-fourth miles,
is one hundred and forty-one feet and ten inches.
At the foot of the rapids the Vermilion river enters the Illinois
from the south, by a mouth about fifty yards wide. It is an excel-
lent mill stream, and runs through extensive beds of bituminous
coal. Sixty miles down the Illinois from the termination of the
rapids, commences Peoria Lake, an expansion of the river, and
about twenty miles in length by an average of two wide. Such is
the depth and the regularity of the bottom, that it has no percepti-
ble current. Its waters are very transparent, its margin exhibits
beautiful scenery, and its surface is spotted with innumerable flocks
of pelicans, swan, geese and ducks. It also abounds in all the varie-
ties of fish, in bountiful supply, usually found in the western waters.
A few miles below Peoria lake the Mackinaw river comes into the
Illinois on the east side, from the south. It is about one hundred
miles in length, and was formerly boatable for a considerable dis-
24 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
tance. It rises in the prairie in the eastern part of McLean county,
and, running southwest through Tazewell county, enters the Illi-
nois about three miles below Pekin. The next stream entering
the Illinois river is Quiver creek, from the east, a short distance-
above the city of Havana. An inconsiderable stream, but on
whose banks are situated two fine mills, and along its shores lie
some of the finest farms in the State of Illinois. The stream is
abundantly stocked with fish. Twenty-five miles below the mouth
of Mackinaw, and directly opposite the city of Havana, Spoon
river — classic stream of many historical associations — enters the
Illinois from the west. It is a beautiful stream, the most consider-
able of those which water the military tract. It was once naviga-
ble for a short distance. Its length is about one hundred and forty
miles.
About eight miles above Beardstown the Sangamon enters the
Illinois from the east. It is one of the most prominent branches of
the Illinois, and forms the southeastern boundary of Mason county.
It is one hundred and eighty miles in length, and has been, in sea-
sons of high water, traversed with small steamers a long distance
from its mouth. From its position and excellence of its lands, it is
one of the most important streams in the State. Along its banks
are some of the best grass and stock farms in Illinois. Crooked
creek, next to Spoon river, is the most considerable stream that
waters the military tract. From its volume and length it deserves
the name of river, but it is mostly designated by the inferior title.
It enters the Illinois from the west, a few miles below Beardstown,
and is about one hundred miles in length. Below Crooked creek,
and on the east side of the river, are Indian creek, Mauvaisterrc
creek, and Sandy creek, in Morgan countv, and Apple and Macou-
pin creeks, in Green county. All these are beautiful streams,
and meander through some of the best populated and most fertile
regions of country of the garden State. McKee's creek, emptying
on the west side, is the lowest of the tributaries of the Illinois of
any note, from the military tract. The land on this creek and its
branches is excellent, and well proportioned in timber and prairie;
is gently undulating and rich.
In the Illinois river there are but few bars or obstructions to
navigation until we reach Starved Rock, about one mile above the
town of Utica. Here we meet the first permanent obstruction,
being a ledge of sandstone rock immediately at the foot of the
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 25
rapids, and extending entirely across the bed of the river. This
point is two hundred and ten miles from its mouth by the
course of the river. The town of Utica may properly be called
the head of navigation, though steamers have gone to Ottawa, nine
miles further. For a great distance above its mouth the river is
almost straight as a canal, and during low water in summer has
scarcely any perceptible current, and the water is quite transparent.
The river is wide and deep, and enters the Mississippi by a mouth
four hundred yards wide. No river in the western country is so
fine for the purposes of navigation as the Illinois, or flows through
so rich and fertile a region of country. On the banks of this noble
stream the first French emigrants from Canada settled, and here
was the scenery on which they founded their extravagant panegy-
rics on the western country.
By the Chicago and Illinois canal the waters of the Illinois river
are united to those of Lake Michigan, and form one of the most
important links in the chain of internal navigable waters of the
United States. Nature performed a great share in the accomplish-
ment of this grand improvement. The canal distance from the
lake to its intersection with the river is one hundred miles. The
navigation of the Illinois river was an indispensable necessity to
the early settlers as a means of access and egress, and for the ship-
ment of their immense superfluous crops.
THE SANGAMON RIVER AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
The Sangamon river forms the southeast boundary of Mason
county, and is one of the most important tributaries of the Illinois.
It enters that river about one hundred miles above its mouth, and
ten miles above Beardstown. It rises in Vermilion county, and
heads with the Mackinaw, the Vermilion, the Big Vermilion, and
other streams. Its length is about one hundred and eighty miles,
and is navigable for small steamboats when waters are high, and
before the stream was crossed by numerous railroad bridges, to the
junction of the north and south forks, a v distance from the Illinois
of about seventy-five miles. In the spring of 1832 a steamboat of
the larger class arrived within five miles of Springfield, and dis-
charged its cargo. In 1S37 arrangements were made for running
a small class of steamboats from the towns on the Illinois to Peters-
burg, on the left bank of the Sangamon, and forty-five miles from
its mouth. All the streams that enter this river have sandy or
—4
26 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
pebbly bottoms, clear and transparent waters. The Sangamon
bottoms have a soil of extraordinary fertility, and rear from their
rich, black, mould forests of enormous sycamore and elms, and
other forest trees; huge overgrown masses, and towering high
heavenward.
The Sangamon and its branches flow through the richest and
most delightful regions of the great west. The beautiful and fertile
prairies on its banks afford range and rich pasturage for thousands
of cattle. The general aspect of the country drained by the San-
gamon and its branches is level, yet it is sufficiently undulating to
permit the water to escape to the creeks. It now constitutes one
of the richest grazing and agricultural districts in the State, or the
United States, the soil being of such a nature that immense crops
are raised with comparatively little agricultural labor. The rail-
roads traversing this region to the great markets of the west and
east, here receive their long trains of cattle, hogs, corn, wheat and
rye.
The principal branches of the Sangamon are the South Fork
and Salt creek. The latter being most identified with Mason
county, is about ninety miles long, and heads near the main stream
of the Sangamon, and receives in its course several unimportant
tributaries. The same that was said of the Sangamon will apply
to the country bordering on Salt creek, without the slightest dimi-
nution.
PRODUCTIONS OF THE SOIL.
That region of Central Illinois — the western empire State —
of which Mason county forms no inconsiderable part, having a
vast extent of most fertile lands, must, of course, raise with greatest
ease all the articles to which her soil and climate are favorable, to
an amount far beyond her consumption.
All the grains, fruits and vegetables of the temperate regions of
the earth here grow most luxuriently. The wheat is of an excel-
lent quality, and there is no part of the western continent where
corn is grown with greater ease and abundance, nor of equal qual-
ity. In the great corn markets of the country, Chicago and Bos-
ton, "Mason county yello'iv" is a standard quotation, and at higher
rates than any other in those markets. When the frosts nip the
corn on lower and less favored soils, we find men from almost
every part of our great State sending to Central Illinois, and to
Mason county especially, for their seed corn. When the millers of
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 2*]
Northern Illinois desire a dry article for early fall grinding, they
send their purchasing agents to Mason county.
Garden vegetables of all kinds succeed well. No country can
exceed this in its adaptation to rearing the finest fruits and fruit-
bearing trees. (We make an exception here of dwarf pears and
the quince, and will give the causes in detail in the section on
Fruits, in another part of this work.) Wild fruits and berries are,
in many places, abundant, and on some of the prairies the straw-
berries are remarkably fine. In some localities grapevines indigen-
ous to the country are abundant, and yield a fruit from which can
be manufactured an excellent wine. Indigenuous vines are very
prolific, and are found in every variety of soil, interwoven in every
thicket, bordering on the prairies, and climbing to the tops of the
tallest trees on the bottom lands. The French, in early times,
made so much wine from our native grapes in Illinois, as to export
a quantity to France, upon which the government of that country,
in 1774, passed laws prohibiting the importation of wines from
their dependencies in America, lest it might injure the sale of that
staple of the French Kingdom.
The native plum is produced in great abundance, variety and
flavor, color and size ; are less subject to curculio than the tenderer
varieties. Crab apples are abundant and prolific. Wild cherries
are equally productive. The persimmon is abundant, and delicious
when the frost has destroyed its astringency. The black mulberry
is abundant and productive.
The gooseberry, the strawberry and the blackberry grow wild
and in great profusion, proving from natural causes alone the
beautiful adaptation of our soil and climate to the production of the
improved and finer varieties of fruits.
Of nuts, the hickory, black walnut and pecan deserve notice.
The later is an oblong, thin-shelled and delicious nut, that grows
on a large tree of the same family as the hickory. ( Carya-olive-
jbrmis.)
The pawpaw grows on the bottoms and rich timbered uplands,
and produces a large, pulpy, and luscious fruit. The Kentucky
coffee tree is a native of the lands bordering on the Illinois river,
and a desirable tree for shade and ornament.
Of the domestic fruits, the apple, peach and the pear are princi-
pally cultivated, the latter, however, with variable success. Pears
were successfully grown as seedlings by the early French settlers
2$ HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
in the southern part of the State. Many of their earliest plantings
still survive. The quince cannot he successfully grown in Central
Illinois. Peach trees grow with great rapidity, and decay propor-
tionately soon. Our variable winters render them precarious and
uncertain.
ORIGIN OF SANGAMON COUNTY.
Sangamon, which included within its limits a part of Mason
county, was formed from Bond and Madison counties in 1S21,
and in 1837 was the largest and most populous in the State,
being forty miles from north to south, and forty-two from east to
west on its southern boundary, and upwards of sixty on its north-
ern boundary; containing sixty full townships, or two thousand one
hundred and sixty square miles. Previous to 1S19 there was not a
white inhabitant on the Sangamon river; in 1837 tncv amounted to
over twenty thousand.
The whole territory watered by the Sangamon and its branches
is an Arcadian region, in which nature has delighted to bring
together her happiest combination of landscape and scenery.
There is in this region a happy combination of timber and prairie
land, the soil is of great fertility, being of a rich, calcareous loam,
from one to three feet deep, intermixed with fine sand. The sum-
mer range for cattle in inexhaustable. All who ever visit this fine
tract of country admire the beauty of the landscape which nature
has here displayed in primeval loveliness and freshness. So delight-
ful a region was soon selected by emigrants from New York, New
England, North Carolina, and Canada, and'more than two hundred
families had settled themselves here before it was surveyed.
It constitutes several populous counties now, one of which is Mason,
inhabited by thriving farmers, and prosperous commercial towns.
•'Arcadian vales, with vine-hung bowers,
And grassy nooks beneath the black jack's shades,
Where dance the never ceasing hours
To music of the bright cascade.
Skies softly beautiful and blue .
As Italia's, with stars as bright;
Flowers rich as morning's sunrise hue,
And gorgeous as the gemmed midnight.
Land of the west ! Green forest land !
Thus hath creation's bounteous hand •
Upon thine ample bosom flung
Charms, such as were her gift when the gray world
was young."
HISTORICAL EVENTS. 29
MENARD COUNTY.
The county of Menard was taken from the northwestern part
of Sangamon county, in 1S3S, and includes within its boundaries
about sixty miles of the lower part of the Sangamon river, and a
part of Salt creek. It was bounded on the north by Tazewell
county, on the south by part of Sangamon county, on the north-
west by Schuyler and Fulton counties. It towns are Petersburg,
New Salem and Athens.
TAZEWELL COUNTY.
From which the northern part of Mason was taken, was origin-
ally bounded on the north by Putnam county, east, by McLean,
south, by Sangamon, and west, by Peoria and Fulton, from which
it was seperated by the Illinois river. Its length from north to
south was forty-eight miles, and from east to west, on its southern
boundary, forty-five miles, and on its northen, ten miles. Its area
is about twelve hundred and twenty square miles. Tremont was
the county seat, about ten miles east of the Illinois river, and
nearly the centre of the county. It was laid out in 1835, and in
1S37 contained seventy houses, and about three hundred inhabit-
ants. The other towns, in the original limits of the county, were
Pekin, Wesley city, Havana, Mackinaw, Dillon, Bloomingdale,
Washington, Detroit and Hanover.
Mackinaw was the original county seat, before it was removed
to Tremont. The town contained about one hundred inhabit-
ants.
MASON COUNTY.
Was the result of the union of the counties of Sangamon and
Tazewell and Menard, and was born from the two latter, by an
act approved January 20, 1S41. Parts of Menard were used in its
construction. The adjoining counties, or the territory now form-
ing the adjoining counties, were all settled prior to Mason. In
1S30 to 1835 there did not reside in the present limits of Mason
county to exceed twenty-five families. Some years later, in 1S40
to 1S45, the tide of emigration and the progress of development
was begun which has so rapidly increased, and placed Mason
county in her present enviable position among the leading counties
in the State of Illinois.
The best information now obtainable, indicates that Mr. Osian
M. Ross was the first permanent white settler, and located at Ha-
vana, in the spring of 1S29.
Where the city of Havana now stands was a wilderness at that
time, and was long after known as Ross' Ferry. To illustrate the
primitiveness of this region at that time, we will here note that the
first Postoffice was established in the county in the fall of 1S29,
Osian M. Ross, Postmaster.
The present city of Chicago was then Fort Dearborn, and Cook
county and its surroundings had no Postoffice in their limits. The
first Postoffice in Cook county was established in 1S31.
Two offices were in Fulton county in 1S30. McLean had no
office in 1S30; neither had LaSalle county an office in her then ex-
tended territory. McDonough and Mercer were without Post-
offices. Peoria county had an office at Peoria, Norman Hyde,
Postmaster. Mackinaw, then the county seat of Tazewell county,
had a Postoffice in 1S30 and earlier. In that year there were but
one hundred and thirty offices in Illinois.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 31
The offices were mostly in the central and southern part of the
State, where the earliest settlements were established.
Mr. John Williams, of Springfield, Illinois, informs me, that in
1825 he was a clerk in the office in that city. They received mails
twice a week, and the surrounding regions were on hand for their
mails at these arrivals. Though the first white settlers located I
here permanently in 1829, this region had been traversed by white j
men long before that date. Father Hennepin, with two compan-
ions, passed down the Illinois river in 16S0. LaSalle and others,/
early explorers, traded with the Indians along the banks of the/
Illinois, and at various succeeding periods.
In 1S33 a few other families settled in this vicinity. Dr. Chand-
ler located where the town of Chandlerville is, in 1832. A maris,
named Myers came to Havana, also, the Krebaum family, about \
this date. A Mr. Shepherd and Mr. Westervelt located at Matan-
zas about this time, and Mr. Barnes at the Mounds, north of this
city. For the experiences and further details of the first settlers,
we refer the reader to the Biographical department of this work.
These early settlers were not troubled by the Indians to any seri-
ous extent, as in some other parts of the State, as nearly all had
left prior to the arrival of the first white settlers. A couple of \
blockhouses, for defense, had been erected at Havana, previous toy
the Black Hawk war, and stood for many yeai-s. The first school \
house, erected for the purpose of public instruction, was on what is ]
now the Court House square. As population increased, these facili-
ties were multiplied, to meet the wants of the pioneer. The first
school houses in the eastern part of the county were built at Crane
creek and Big Grove, and were known as the Turner and Virgin
school houses. These were the voting places for the election pre-
eincts in which they were situated, and supplied the place of church
edifices for religious services. The log school house at Big Grove
was built in the latter part of 1838. Mr. Lease, Sr., was the first
teacher. A school was taught in the vicinity, however, at an earlier
date, at the residence of Edward Sykes (see Biography), by his
daughter, Mary A., then a girl of fourteen, now the intelligent,
talented and amiable wife of S. D. Swing, Esq., of Mason city.
Churches were not erected at so early a date, though religious
services were not neglected, but were held at the residences of the
settlers, or in the groves which were God's first temples. The first
ministers transiently visiting this county were, Rev. Peter Cart
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
wright, who preached at Havana, in 1835, and at various times
since, to near the date of his death. Rev. John Jenkins, from Ful-
ton countv, may have visited here at an earlier date. In 1S36, Rev.
J. A. Daniels, now a resident of Bath, organized a Baptist church
at Sny Carte, assisted by Rev. Thos. Taylor, now of Oregon.
The original members were Wm. Davis and wife, Richard Phelps
and wife, Mr. Smith and wife, the parents of Mark A. Smith, Esq.,
now of that vicinity, and Mrs. J. W. Phelps. A very pleasant fact
connected with that organization is, that Mr. Daniels, the first min-
ister, is the pastor of it to this day, a period of forty years, with the
exception of a brief absence. Thus have they labored together, in
the good work before them, knowing in whom they trusted. Ir-
regular services were held in the eastern part of the county, by
different ministers, at various times and places. A Baptist church ]
was built on Crane creek, in 1S56. The old Methodist church, in
Havana, and a Presbyterian church, at Bath, were built at an
earlier date, and were, as near as we can ascertain, the first church
edifices in the county.
The present status of the county's schools and churches will be
Referred to, at length, in this work, under another head.
The subject of the formation of a new county having been for
some time agitated; in 1S41, as before stated, an act was passed by
the Legislature, and duly approved by the Governor, for that pur-
pose. By the provisions of this law the legal voters of the district
which was to compose the new countv, met at Havana on the first
Monday in April, 1841, and proceeded to elect a sheriff, treasurer,
and other county officers. The sheriff chosen was Francis Low,
still a resident of this city, and President of the First National
Bank, and who had been acting as deputy sheriff when part of the
territory of the county lay within the limits of Tazewell county.
George T. Virgin, John R. Chaney and Abner Baxter were
county commissioners. Joseph A. Phelps was the first county
clerk, and subsequently, at a meeting of the circuit court, he was
appointed circuit clerk by the presiding judge. The population of
Mason county at the time of its organization, as near as can be as-
certained, was about two thousand, and at this election about four
hundred votes were cast.
It was also directed by the Legislature that at the same time and
place a vote should be taken for the purpose of determining the
location of the county seat. Here began a struggle and a rivalry
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 33
continuing many years, which was far from creditable to the par-
ties engaged therein, on either side. They endeavored to accom-
plish by foul means what could not be accomplished by fair. It
was the source of rivalry between the friends of the towns which
were the candidates for the seat of justice. The two towns which
were the competitors for the county seat were Havana and Bath.
The contest was exciting, but the former was successful.
A bond donating a block of lots adjoining the public square, was
executed by L. W. & H. L. Ross. Thus Havana was elected the
county seat. It did not, however, long retain that honor. Dissat-
isfaction in the defeated town waxed strong and violent.
Agitation was kept up, and an act, approved January 19, 1843,
was obtained from the legislature, authorizing another election on
the second Monday of February, of that year. Polls were opened
in Havana, Bath and Linchburg, where votes were received for
and against Bath and Havana for county seat. The votes of Hava-
na were for that town, and those at the others were against it being
the county seat. Bath received a majority of the votes, and was
declared the county seat. They soon had the records removed to
that town. The June term of the circuit court, 1844, was held at
Bath; the term for the previous year had been held at Havana.
Bath continued the county seat for eight years. Havana still had
aspirations for the seat of justice, and in February, 185 1, legisla-
tion was obtained which ordered another election on the second
Monday in March, 1851, at which the question was again before
the people for or against removal. This election, conducted as un-
fairly as the former one, resulted in again making Havana the
county seat, which it has continued to be. The last term of court
held in Bath was in November, 1850. The May term following /
was held in Havana.
The first term of circuit court ever held in Havana was at the
hotel of Osian M. Ross, beginnning November 12, 1841, S. H.
Treat, Judge. The official bond of Joseph A. Phelps, first circuit/
clerk, was dated April 9, 1841.
Grand Jurors at the June term of county court ordered for the
November term, 1841, were as follows:
James Walker, Daniel Clark, Sr.,
Ira Halstcd, • Michael Swing,
Austin P. Melton, P. W. Campbell,
William Dew, John G. Conover,
—5
j
34 HISTORY OF MASON COUXTY.
Thomas F. Blunt, Anderson Young,
Lemuel D. Becket, George Marshall,
G. W. Phelps, Edmund Northern,
A. Hickey, Hodge Sherman,
William Hibbs, William Atwater,
Thomas Low, John Rishel,
Daniel Dieffenbacher, Pulaski Scovil,
Daniel Bell.
The following were ordered for a petit jury at the same Novem-
ber term, 1S41, second Monday of November:
George Close, Israel Carman,
Henry Sears, O. E. Foster,
A. W. Hemp, Thomas Falkner,
James Russel, James Yardly,
Laban Blunt, John Close,
Washington Davies, Jacob H. Cross,
James Ray, James Lockerman,
Benjamin Lesson, John Johnson,
Frederick Buck, David Coder,
William Chaney, James Blakely,
Nelson Abbey, Samuel Patton,
William Rodgers, H. C. Rowland,
Francis Low, Sheriff and Collector of taxes.
Collector's bond, $1,500. O. E. Foster and J. H. Netler, securi-
ties. Approved July 6, 1 84 1.
County Commissioners in 1S41 : Robert Falkner, A. J. Field,
George T. Virgin.
County Commissioners in 1844: John R. Chaney, Abner Bax-
ter, Amos Smith.
County Commissioners in 1S45: Abner Baxter, Amos Smith,
R. McReynolds.
At this date we find the following order: "That Joseph A.
Phelps be allowed, for use of room to hold court in, one dollar per
day for two and a half days. Total, two dollars and fifty cents."
County Commissioners in 1846: Amos Smith, Robert McRey-
nolds, Henry Norris.
Bond of Adolph Krcbaum filed for county clerk August 2S,
1847. Sworn into office September 6, 3847.
Count v Commissioners in 184S and 1S49: R. McReynolds,
Amos Smith, Henry Norris.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 35
I " '
November 28, 1849: Smith Turner, County Judge, and John
Pemberton and Robert McReynolds, Associates. These continued
till the 2Sth of November, 1853, when N. J. Rockwell, County
Judge, and Daniel Corey and J. H. Daniels, Associates.
The bond of Isaac N. Onstot, County Clerk, bears date Novem-
ber 29, 1853. James H. Hole's bond as Collector filed December
5> l8 54-
June 5, 1855: County Judge, N. J. Rockwell. Associates,
H. C. Burnham, J. H. Daniels.
The vacancy in the clerkship caused by the death of Isaac N.
Onstot, filled by Adolph Krebaum, by order of the court, Novem-
ber 7, 1856. J. P. West, Collector and Sheriff. Adolph Kre'-
baum elected for a full term, and sworn into office March, 1S57.
The following persons have filled the office of Circuit Clerk
since the organization of the county, in the order in which they are
named, viz: Joseph A. Phelps, John S. Wilbourn, Richard Ritter,
O. H. Wright, John H. Havighorst, George A. Blanchard, and
Leonard Schwenk, the present competent and gentlemanly incum-
bent.
The gentlemen who have served Mason county in the capacity of
Sheriff are named below, ad seriatum : Francis Low, who had,
also, been deputy when this formed a part of Tazewell county;
Isaac H. Hodge, John H. Havighorst, Robert Elkins, Robert H.
Walker, James H. Hole, J. Price West, John H. Havighorst,
Joseph Y. Hauthorn, John H. Havighorst, James L. Hastings,
Lambert M. Hillyer, David B. Phelps, John H. Cleveland and
Lambert M. Hillyer, whose efficiency and competency has placed
him in this position the third term, which expires this fall.
The Judges of the county court, since the term of Judge Rock-
well, before given, are: Joseph A. Phelps, Mathew Langston,
H. Warner and John A. Mallory, who is the present incumbent,
and serving his second term.
The Judges of the circuit court since the organization of the
countyin 1841, are: Samuel Treat, William A. Marshall, Pinckney
H. Walker, James Harriot, Charles Turner and Lyman Lacy, the
able and popular present Judge of this judicial district.
The County Clerks have been: Joseph A. Phelps, Adolph
Krebaum, Isaac N. Onstot, Adolph Krebaum, W. W. Stout,
S. Elliott, Isaac N. Mitchell, William M. Ganson, who is the pres-
ent very efficient incumbent.
$6 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
A vote for and against the adoption of township organiza-
tion was taken November 11, 1861, to take effect April, 1S62.
Commissioners to divide into townships were: B. H. Gatton,
Mathew Langston and Lyman Lacy.
Since then the following have heen County Treasurers, viz:
J. D. W. Bowman, S. Wheadon, B. A. Rosebrough, Isaac N.
Mitchell, Benjamin F. West and Samuel Bivens, the present
Treasurer.
The School Commissioners and County Superintendents have
been: S. D. Swing, E. B. Harpham, S. C. Conwell, S. Wheadon,
O. H. Wright, W. E. Knox. IT. H. Moore, and S. M. Badger, the
present incumbent.
MASON COUNTY DIRECTORY, 1S76.
Circuit Judge Hon. Lyman Lacey
Circuit Clerk Leonard Schwenk.
Prosecuting Attorney W. II. Rogers.
Sheriff " L. M. Hillyer.
County Judge J- A. Mallory.
Count}- Clerk W. M. Ganson.
County Treasurer S. Bivens.
County Superintendent Schools S. M. Badger.
Master in Chancery J. H. Havighorst, Jr.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.
Mason City B. A. Rosebrough.
Salt Creek A. Thompson.
Allen's Grove E. W. Nelson.
Sherman Alfred Athey.
Pennsylvania John W. Pugh.
Quiver J. W. Kelly.
Manito M. Langston.
Forest City S. H. Ingersol.
Lvnchburg Wm. Ainsworth.
Kilbourne A. S. Blakely.
Crane Creek J. L. Hawks.
Bath Robert Pearson.
Havana J. F. Kelsey.
The population of the county in 1850 was 5,921. In the next
ten years it nearly doubled. In 1S60 in was 10,929. In 1870 a
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 37
further rapid increase had raised it to 16,250, although much re-
tarded during this decade by the war. The same ratio of increase
would place the population at this time, July 4, 1S76, at not less
than 23,000, and it is, perhaps, even higher.
In 1870 there were 118,218 acres of unimproved lands, and 232,-
724 acres improved. There were 5,292 horses and 1,590 mules;
761 sheep, 19,706 hogs, and 7,810 cattle. The productions of the
soil are treated of in another place.
The county is traversed by four important lines of railroad,
which are treated of in detail in a separate chapter.
The following are the towns in Mason county, and the date of
their surveys, and names of proprietors, so far as has been ascer-
tained :
Name. Surveyed. Proprietor.
Havana 1835 O. M. Ross
Bath I §36 J°hn Kenton
Moscow 1857
Sny Carte
Matanzas
Saidora 1S59 Joseph Adkins
Sedan 1S71
Long Branch 1871 Gatton & Ruggles
Kilbourn 1S70 J. B. Gum
Poplar City 1873 Martin Scott
Biggs 1S75 P. G. Biggs
Easton 1872 J. M. Samuels
Teheran 1S73 Alexander Blunt
Mason City 1 857 Geo. Straut
Sangore 1S58. Dillon Morgan, Parker & Kidder
Natrona 1857 Conklin & Co.
Walker's Siding
Topeka i860 Thomas Eckard
Bishops
Forest City 1862 Dearborn & Kemp
Manito . . . 1858 Cox and others
Union
Conover 1 875
Peterville 186S Peter Thronburgh
Lynchburg 1S35 P. and G. May
3S HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY.
C. W. Andrus, Esq., one of the oldest and most substantial residents;
made his home in Havana, in 1836, since which time, a period of
forty years, he has been prominently identified with the interests of
this city.
By his courtesy, we are permitted to give to our readers a copy
of the poll book below. The reader will bear in mind that this
was then included in the limits of Tazewell county.
"Poll book of an election held at the town of Havana, in Ha-
vana precinct, in the county of Tazewell, and State of Illinois, on
the 7th day of August, 1837. For County Clerk, John H. Morri-
son. For Probate Justice of the Peace, Joshua C. Morgan. For
County Treasurer, Lewis Pi-ettyman. For Notary Public, Wm.
H. Sandusky."
Each of the above received twelve votes. The names of the
voters on the poll book are —
Daniel Adams, Henry Shepard, O. E. Foster, N. J. Rockwell,
Anson C. Gregory, A. W. Kemp, B. F. Wiggington, V. B.
Homes, C. W. Andrus, Wm. Hyde, J. H. Netter and N
D .
Attests: B. F. Wiggington, ) ^ T ,
A.W.Kemp, [ Clerks '
"At an election held at the house of O. E. Foster, in Havana
precinct, in the county of Tazewell, and State of Illinois, on the
7th of August. 1837, the following named persons received the
number of votes annexed to their respective names, for the follow-
ing offices, to-wit:
John W. Morrison, twelve votes, for County Clerk. Joshua C.
Morgan, twelve votes, for Probate Justice of the Peace. Lewis
Pretty man, twelve votes, for County Treasurer. Wm. H. San-
dusky, twelve votes, for Notary Public.
Certified by N. J. Rockwell, Henry Shepard and David
Adams, Judges of Election.
I, N. J. Rockwell, do solemnly swear that I will perform the
duty of Judge; and I, B. F. Wiggington, do solemnly swear that I
will perform the duty of Clerk of Election, according to law, and
to the best of our abilities, and that we will studiously endeavor to
prevent fraud, deceit or abuse in conducting the same.
N. J. Rockwell,
B. F. Wiggington.
Sworn by me, at Havana, Aug. 7, 1S37.
Daniel Adams."
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 39
The original document, of which the above is an exact copy, is
now in the possession of Mr. Andrus. Mr. John H. Havighorst
was also present at the above election, but had not yet attained his
majority, nor was he naturalized. He is still a resident of this city.
POSTOFFICES IN MASON COUNTY.
1 Havana, in fall of 1829, O. M. Ross, P. M.
2 Bath, in 1842, B. H. Gatton, P. M.
3 Long Branch, in 1872, N. S. Philips, P. M., (discontinued.)
4 Kilbourn, in 1872.
5 Biggs, in 1873, Wm. Buchanan, P. M.
6 Poplar City, in 1S73, S. A. Poland, P. M.
7 Easton, in 1873, E. Terrell, P. M.
8 Teheran, in 1874, W. T. Rich, P. M.
'9 Mason City, in 1858, A. A. Cargill, P. M.
10 Sangore.
1 1 Altoona.
12 Topeka.
13 Bishop's.
14 Forest City.
15 Manito.
16 Saidora, in 1S68, N. C. Bishop, P. M.
17 Sny Carte.
18 Leases Grove, (discontinued in 1S67,) and
19 Changed to Crane Creek in 1868.
20 Quiver, Samuel Patton, P. M., discontinued.
Stage route to Mason City, discontinued, 1867.
Mail route, by railroad, to Urbana, established in 1873.
Mail route, by railroad, to Springfield, established Dec, 1S73.
Mail route, by railroad, to Petersburg, established June, 1873.
mount's mill.
The above named primitive work of art was one of the earliest
triumphs of civilization that made its welcome appearance in Ma-
son county. So very early was its advent, that but few of its con-
temporaries are in existence, and itself, like all else in this fleeting
and transitory world, has passed away.
From the best information we have been able to obtain, this mill
was built in 1S31, by Mr. Mounts, on Crane creek, and it contained
40 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
but one pair of burrs, or millstones, and they but seven inches in
diameter.
The upper stone was stationary and the lower one revolved, to
grind the corn. It ground corn only, and its most rapid work was
one and a half bushels per hour, and the meal was exceedingly
coarse. Owing to the scarcity of mills, in this then new country,
it was patronized from a large extent of territory.
On the settlement of Mr. Scovil in Havana, they received their
ground corn from Beardstown. The Falkner family, sometimes
from Fulton county, and from Mackinaw, and from this mill in
1S38 and '40.
What time it ceased to exist, we have been unable to ascertain,
but having served its day and generation, like all else, it has passed
away.
EARLY SETTLEMENT OF SALT CREEK TOWNSHIP.
The early settlement of what is now the township of Salt creek
was in and around what was then so generally known as Big
Grove. For a long time the improvements wefe all near the tim-
ber. Land situated three or four miles from the timber was at a
discount, and for a long time there were congress lands on the
prairie, subject to entry, after all the land near the timber had been
taken up. The original settlers never imagined that the time would
come when they and their children could not have the benefit of
all the prairies around Mason City for stock range. The first set-
tler was Wm. Hagan, who came in 1830, and located on the bottom,
near old Salt creek bridge, where he remained till 1850, when he
sold out to Ephriam Wilcox, and removed to Missouri. None of
his family have ever lived here since. The farm on which he
lived is the one which has latterly been owned and occupied by
Charles L. Montgomery.
Austin P. and Robert Melton came to Big Grove in 1832.
Austin P. Melton settled on the farm afterwards owned by Geo.
Virgin, where he remained a few years, and moved to Tazewell
county and remained till 1S62, when he moved to Walker's Grove,
in this county, where he now resides.
In 1835, Daniel Clark, from Warren county, Ohio, settled in the
immediate neighborhood of Mr. Hagan, and remained until his
death, in 1S54, leaving three sons, Daniel, now of Mason City (see
Biography), Alfred, in Crane creek township, and William, in Du-
Buque, Iowa.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 41
In 1836, the Virgin's, George, Kinsey, Abram and Rezin all
came and settled in the Grove, and remained till they died, which
occurred as follows: Kinsey, in 1853; Rezin, in 1S72; George, in
1855; and Abram, in 1S73; the latter, the only one who left any
children living in this county. He left three sons and three daugh-
ters, all here, and the only ones of that name in the county. Kin-
sey Virgin left one daughter, the wife of James Hoyt, in Cass
county, Iowa. George and Rezin had no children. George, for a
number of years previous to his death, kept a store at this place,
first in a small log house, and afterwards in a frame house built for
the purpose, near which George Young erected a mill, John
Pritchett a blacksmith shop, and Louis Bushong a shoe shop. To
all of these, and the residences necessary for themselves and fami-
lies, they gave the romantic name of "Hiawatha."
For a number of years the place had some notoriety in the east-
ern part of the county, furnishing supplies to many of the inhab-
itants in the vicinity, but after the railroad was located through
Mason City, instead of this place, as originally surveyed, notwith-
standing the romance of its name, which, though of Indian origin,
was said to have been suggested here by an eminent physician of
the neighborhood, the town gradually dwindled away, till now Ed.
Auxier's cornfield marks the site. Sic transit gloria mtindi.
In 1837, Edward Sikes, John and Eli Auxier, John Y. Swaur
and John Young, all from Ohio, came and settled near the grove.
Edward Sikes settled on the farm formerly occupied by Robert
Melton, and now owned by F. Auxier, where he since died, leav-
ing a numerous family. John Auxier settled in the eastern part of
the Grove, where he acquired, by raising and feeding cattle, a large
tract of land, where he died, in 1859, leaving a numerous family,
who have since moved to Iowa. Eli Auxier had previously died,
leaving a widow and two children, viz : Rev. E. E. Auxier, who
now owns the site of the obsolete town of Hiawatha, and a dausrh-
ter, the wife of Nelson Dody. John Young settled in the western
part of the grove, near the farm of Col. Abner Baxter (who came
a year afterwards), and died, leaving a numerous family, among
whom were William, who settled on the north side of the Grove,
and died in 1S65, leaving a family, and where his widow (since
married to Joseph Lemley) now resides; and George, who was en-
gaged in the practice of law in Mason City, and died there, in
1873-
— 6
42 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
John Y. Swaur, the only survivor of the party who came in
1837, now lives on the north side of the Grove, where he, with his
sons, McDonald, William and George, have by their industry and
discretion in raising and feeding stock, risen from poverty to afflu-
ence, and become the possessors of fine large tracts of land and
fine herds of stock.
In evidence of the above fact, it may be here stated, that in this
centennial year they gave the assessor the largest personal property
list in Salt creek township, where many large lists are made.
Among the early settlers may also be named George II. Short,
who settled and improved a farm, adjoining the Hagan's place,
where he now resides, but owing to ill health for many years, has
remained closely at home; and, also, Jonathan M. Logue, famil-
iarly called Uncle "Jot," whose name has long been familiar to the
inhabitants of Big Grove; Eli H. Sikes, who came to the Grove
with the Virgins, when he was quite a youth, and settled on the
north side of the Grove, married a daughter of Wm. Warnock,
Sen., and died in 186S, leaving a widow and several children in af-
fluent circumstances, the result of his industry, and the inheritance
of his good name. Suplina Judd, best known as "Squire Judd,"
figured with, and for, considerable notoriety for several years on
account of his judicial character.
Coming down to the present time, there are but few persons re-
maining that lived about Big Grove twenty-five years ago. John
Y. Swaur and family, before named, E. E. and J. W. Virgin, sons
of Abram Virgin, Edmund E., son of Eli Auxier, Robert A., son
of Austin P. Melton, and Ludwig and Wm. L., sons of Granville
Davis, are the only ones remaining of the original settlers and their
descendants. While the place will compare favorably with any
locality in the west for health, many have died; but make the same
review of the changes wrought in twenty-five years, and the num-
bers who have died are below an average mortality. Since, the
neighborhood has become somewhat isolated, being five miles from
a railroad station, Big Grove, though possessing comparatively
less notoriety than in former times, yet these early settlers have
been succeeded by a class of unpretending citizens, that for indus-
try, intelligence and prosperity will compare favorably with any
part of the State, and consequently of the world.
Among the present inhabitants of the neighborhood of Big
Grove, in addition to those above named, are Cortes Hume, Wm.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 43
F. Auxier, Wm. P. and John R. Falkner, John Hill, George
Lumpce, H. C. Burnham, J. A. Hendrickson, J. H. Varnholt,
Wm. Brown, Aaron Werner, Michael Malony, John McCarty, A.
A. Blunt, and others.
The social habits of the place have of course changed in the last
fourth of the century. While the present inhabitants are eager for
the daily papers, lest their interests may be affected by the "spring"
or "decline" in the "hog market," the pioneers were content with
mails once a week, or less frequently during bad weather or high
water. Yet they had their social enjoyments, and it is with no re-
gret that we remember listening to their discussions of the respect-
ive merits of "gourd seed" and "flint" corn, or the prominent points
of a favorite "coon dog."
The old "timber school house," long since removed but still re-
membered, "Though lost to sight, to memory dear," as the place
where the people of the eastern part of the county went to vote,
and the "spirited" manner in which elections were sometimes con-
ducted, their opinions being sometimes defined, and arguments en-
forced by physical as well as logical means, yet they never
dreamed of the crookedness of some of the political combinations
of the present day. Where now stretch the broad farms of those
we have named, the writer has seen growing prairie flowers,
Side by side, graceful, affianced, destined to meet and unite
One by the other, in beauty, all decked in their coloring bright,
Reaching and quickening, all their fragrance is scattering
around,
The earth is made proud with their beauty, rejoiced of its
offspring the ground.
And now, with a separate life, swells proudly each little shoot,
While veiled in its sheltering womb lies secret the germ of the
fruit,
As they sink to the earth, one by one, the seed of another is
sown;
And so the great whole, as the parts, live a life of their own.
LYNCHBURG TOWNSHIP.
Among the first settlers in Lynchburg township was Nelson
Abbey, in the year 1S37. He built a log cabin near where the
village of Sny Carte now stands, which is supposed to have been
the first house in Lynchburg township. During the next year
William Rodgers settled near, and was soon followed by John
44 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Rodgers, his brother. There also came, in 1S3S, Amos Smith, Sr.,
with his sons, Amos, Jr., and B. F., who settled in the same vicinity.
Then came John Camp and Richard J. Phelps. Then William
Davis, James D. Reeves and George W. Phelps, all making a set-
tlement in a radius of about four miles. Amos Smith, Sr., died in
the fall of 1S41. Amos Smith, Jr., was elected Magistrate for
Linchburg precinct, on the first organization of Mason county, the
same year, which office he continued to hold until his death, in
1 85 1. He was also a county commissioner on the first organiza-
tion. B. F. Smith, before named, engaged in farming and car-
pentering, accumulated a fine property, and died. March, 1867.
His only surviving descendant, Benjamin B. Smith, resides on
the old farm. The Smith family emigrated from Rochester, Wind-
sor county, Vermont.
Most of the early settlers of Linchburg came west poor, and the
trials and hardships of improving new farms on these frontiers were
very great without the accustomed conveniences of the east. It
was common to walk several miles and back, in the wet grass, be-
fore breakfast, to get up the oxen for the plow.
Their milling was done at Sugar creek, in Schuyler county; on
Spoon river, in Fulton; Painter creek, in Cass county; and, in
later years, at Quiver, in Mason county.
This locality also suffered severely from chills and fever, which
was no respecter of persons.
To describe the early elections of Lynchburg would be to repeat
what we said on the preceding pages on the early elections of Salt
creek, that their arguments were more forcible than elegant, but
always conducted with energy. (See biography of M. A. Smith.)
FOREST CITY.
Forest City is situated on the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville
Railroad, and laid out at the time of its first construction, and is
seventeen miles from Pekin and thirteen from Havana. It was in
what was originally Mason Plains precinct, but by an act of the
Board of Supervisors, in 1S73, it was changed to Forest City town-
ship. The original town plat was purchased by Walker, Kemp,
Waggenseller and Wright, in Havana, and surveyed in 1859.
D. S. Broderic purchased forty acres of W. R. Nikirk, and in
1S66 had the same surveyed as Broderic's addition to Forest City.
The town is favorably situated, geographically, for a fine commcr-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. K
cial centre of as rich an agricultural region as the county affords,
and has a fine trade in all departments usual in country towns.
The growth of Mason City deducted from its trade on the east,
and points on the I., B. and W. R. R. did the same on the south,
but this was more than compensated for by the very rapid improve-
ment of its immediate vicinity. The present population is about
two hundred.
The first business house was built by A. Cross & Co.; the second
by E. T. Nikirk. There is, in addition to the above, G. W. Pem-
berton, family groceries, T. A. Gibson, hardware and grain dealer,
J. Miller, dealer in grain, V. H. Maxwell, family groceries, John
Gavin, family groceries, Limbach & Maxwell, dry goods and gro-
ceries, Patrick Kane, family groceries, Eli T. Nikirk & Son,
agents for the P., P. and J. Railroad, and F. M. Ellsworth, black-
smith, (and the first in the place,) and others, whose names we did
not reach. The physicians of Forest City are Drs. James S. Wal-
ker and G. S. Mosteller, both very competent and educated mem-
bers of their profession. (See biography of Walker family.)
Among the first settlers of this locality were Mr. Nikirk and
John Bowser, both of Seneca county, Ohio, who located here
twenty-three or four years ago. Mr. Nikirk purchased the entire
landed estate of W. G. Green, now of Menard county, Illinois.
The purchase was made in 1S52, and in 1S55 Mr. Nikirk died,
leaving nearly two thousand acres of land to his family. Twenty
years afterwards Elizabeth, his widow, died, leaving her children
pleasant and comfortable homes, nearly all in sight of the old
homestead.
The Nikirk sons are among the most substantial farmers and
business men of that vicinity, and it is with great personal gratifi-
cation that we here record them all pleasant, genial gentlemen,
whose acquaintance we have ever valued, and whose sociability and
hospitality we ever appreciate.
Mr. Bowser is residing on the farm first purchased, in affluent
circumstances, a most substantial citizen, possessed of many broad
acres of rich land within sight of his pleasant home, surrounded by
all that makes life desirable, and that contributes to human happi-
ness. We have had a personal acquaintance with Mr. Bowser for
nearly thirty-five years. On that acquaintance, we must say, we
have only known him as a neighbor, a gentleman and friend.
The business directory of Forest City is as follows: J.Jackson,
Justice of the Peace; M. Gordon, also Justice of the Peace; W. S.
46 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Reed and B. Heicks, Constables. We also note among her prom-
inent mechanics: J. A. Beard, builder and contractor; J.Jackson,
carpenter; T. G. Onstot, dealer in lumber, lime, cement, etc. The
substantial character of the business men of Forest City, and it
being the centre of a rich agricultural region, enjoying a fine local
trade, it bids fair to hold its present prominent position in the busi-
ness interests of Mason county.
CROP STATISTICS, ETC., IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF MASON
COUNTY.
A statement of the property assessed and taxes charged in
Mason county for the year 1S53:
Articles. No. Amount.
Horses 2,316 $99,862 00
Neat cattle 5i°5 2 53* 1 H °°
Mules and asses 170 7A°° °°
Sheep 1 ,SSo ^879 00
Ho g s • 1& 6 '5 J 5>3 8 7 °°
Carriages and Wagons 959 29,105 00
Clocks and watches 763 4,1 10 00
Merchandise 42,015 00
Manufactured articles ^850 00
Moneys and credits 109,817 00
Unenumerated property 39,161 00
Aggregate $399)73° °°
Deductions 46,01 1 00
$353>7 1 9 °°
Lands $92 1 ,689 20
Town lots 9°?5 2 4 °°
Total lands and lots $1,012,213 3 °
$ I >3 6 5>°3 3 2 °
The following statement of the amounts of corn and wheat
raised in this county in 1853, is the aggregate from the Assessor's
lists :
Number of bushels corn in 1S53 1,158,400
Number of bushels wheat in 1S53 187,64s
Total 1 ,246,048
HISTORY OF MASON*COUNTY. 47
Corn, at 2S cents, amounts to $324,371 60
Wheat, at 90 cents, amounts to ... . i68,SS3 20
Total $493,254 80
Robert McReynolds.
Assessor of Mason Co.
"Twenty years previous, the region of country then — in 1853 —
known as Mason county was one unbroken wilderness. Here and
there, near the point of some timber, near the bank of some creek
or stream, the log cabin of the pioneer, with a few acres of land
beginning to be cultivated, was the only indication of civilization.
The government owned the land, and $1 25 per acre was no in-
ducement to settlers so long as any quantity of what was considered
vastly better soil could be purchased at the same price. Emigrants
avoided these plains and sandridges as unworthy their notice. The
productive qualities of the soil had not been tested, and very few
were willing to run the risk and make the experiment. It was not
until land was growing scarce, in what were considered more
favored localities, that purchases began to be made here. The set-
tler very soon found, however, that his prejudices were unfounded —
that the forbidding apjDearance of the surface was a false indica-
tion — that an exuberance of productive power was here disguised
under an exterior show of poverty. The facts becoming known,
the settlers flocked in, and have continued to come, until now — 1S53
— there is scarcely any unentered lands to be found anywhere in
the county. Thousands of acres have been taken up by specula-
tors, in the confident expectation of realizing a fortune by selling
again. Men who were conversant with this state of things, sixteen,
or even ten years ago, are astonished to behold the changes even
ten years have wrought; any amount of land that then could have
been purchased at government price, is now held at from 10 to 25
dollars joer acre, and no anxiety to sell at that price. There has
been a steady, uniform and onward progress. Many a farmer who
came here a few years ago, with barely sufficient means to enter a
small tract, forty or eighty acres, or perhaps a quarter section, is
now in comfortable circumstances; some of them rich — became so
by agriculture. Mason county may safely challenge the State, and
if the State, the world, to raise better crops, with the same amount
of cultivation. Indeed, the very fertility of the soil induces a sys-
tem of farming, that in a soil of less strength would be less than
48 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
useless. Scientific agriculture has as yet received very little atten-
tion from our farmers, and though we are happy to be able to re-
cord the fact that a movement has recently been made by a few,
which, if carried out, will tend greatly to improve the modes of op-
eration in this, the most beneficial of all the branches of human in-
dustry. Under the best system of management that science has
yet discovered, the farmers of the older States are not able to com-
pete with ours who have taken very little trouble in reference to
the matter. How vastly more productive our virgin soil might be
made by a practical application of all the knowledge that is attain-
able on this subject."
STATEMENT OF THE FINANCIAL AFFAIRS OF MASON COUNTY,
JUNE 30, 1S57.
By amount of cash in hands of the Treasurer of
county $2,691 71
Amount of county revenue for 1856 5v+66 55
$S,i4S 26
Amount paid by J. P. West, Col-
lector, as part of revenue for 1856. .$4,350 78
County orders unredeemed 1 i95 2 2I
Jury certificates 112 70
$6,415 69
Balance in favor of county $1,723 57
Adolph Krebaum,
Clerk.
The progress of agriculture in this county and in the State has
more than exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine. In the
year 1867, we compiled from statistical reports the following, as to
THE CROPS IN ILLINOIS.
Our people have but little conception of the amount of produce
raised in our State. They know the soil is prolific, and that in their
immediate vicinity there is a great yield. Further than this, thev
have no idea of the aggregate of the crops of the State. It would
astonish most of them to be told that last year there were in Illi-
nois 4,931,783 acres of corn planted, and that the product from
these acres amounts to 155,844,350 bushels; 2,195,263 acres were
cropped with wheat, yielding 28,551,421 bushels; rye spread over
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 49
43,721, giving 1 666,455 bushels, enough to make whisky sufficient
to demoralize the whole State. In oats there were 883,952 acres,
producing 30,054,370 bushels.
Barley occupied 41,510 acres, giving 1,037,753 bushels. Buck-
wheat, 16,250 acres, raising 273,010 bushels. Potatoes took up
58,982 acres, and yielded 4,102,035 bushels. The hay crop covered
1,591,880 acres, and turned off 2,340,063 tons, and 25,578 acres
were in tobacco, yielding 17,546,981 pounds. The crops above
enumerated occupied 9,788,920 acres, valued at $160,148,704. In
this statement there is no account taken of the various fruit crops
for which our State is so famous. With these counted in, the value
of our products would be considerably swollen, and we should
show a wealth of agricultural products which cannot be rivaled by
any State in the Union.
It must be remembered that not more than one-sixth of our land
is under cultivation, if there is more than one acre in seven. Truly,
our State is a giant, rich in soil, and teeming with muscle and in-
tellect. Running through five degrees of latitude, we present a
climate and variety of soils which are truly the admiration of our
sister States. From Galena to Cairo we present the various fruits
and products raised in the temperate climates. Our grazing fields
are not to be surpassed by any in the world. Our cotton grows
luxuriantly, and our hemp, flax and tobacco are fast becoming
staple articles.
In this showing no mention has been made of our sorghum crop.
The number of acres in this article has not been ascertained; yet,
from all we can gather, a large surface must have been put in, and
the yield highly flattering and remunerative. The root crops, too,
have not been considered, and yet there can be no doubt but thous-
ands of acres were devoted to them last year, and that the value of
their products reached millions of dollars.
Who can say that the dwellers in our State should not be proud
of her? Her broad and beautiful prairies, and her groves of luxu-
riant timber, are objects over which we can feel a just pride. In
all that goes to make up a great State, we can be excelled in but
few, if any particulars. Our soil, our railroads, and other facilities,
besides bordering on a great inland sea, peculiarly fit Illinois for
the title of the Empire State of the great Northwest.
—7
50 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
From the Mason county Herald, December, 1S54, we extract
the following statement of the exports of Havana for the year
1854:
Exports. Bu. to Chicago. Bu. St. Louis. Total bu.
Wheat 5 7 , 3 S6 57,386
Corn 3 2 3o l8 3S,Soo 362,318
Oats 4,800 20,000 24,800
Rye 3,500 3,000 6,500
Potatoes 3,000 3,000
Beans 1 ,000 1 ,000
Total bushels. . .331, SiS 123,186 455,004
Exports. To St. Louis.
Hides 500
Butter 6,000 lbs.
Rags 7,000 lbs.
Lard 300 bbls.
Bulk meat >3°o pieces.
Articles manufactured in Havana and sold in the year 1SS4:
Cooperage, valued at $2,000
Saddlery, valued at 5,000
Plows, valued at ^,000
Boots and Shoes, valued at 6,000
Stoves and Tinware, valued at 10,000
Sundries, valued at 4,000
Total $31 ,000
Lumber sold — 1,500,000 feet; worth $33,000.
Exports of Bath for 1854. Reported by G. H. Campbell:
Corn 200,000 bu.
Wheat 25,000 bu.
Rye 4o°o bu.
Oats t 6,000 bu.
Pork slaughtered, over two thousand head. Bath has one steam
flouring mill and two steam saw mills.
The population of Mason county in 1S45 was 3' x 355 m 1 ^5° m
was vQ2i ; in 1S54 it was estimated at S,ooo.
In 1S4S Havana contained 151 population.
In 1S50 Havana contained 462 population.
In 1S54 Havana contained Soo population. (Estimated.)
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
5 1
From the books of the State Auditor we eet the following as to
the number of domestic animals on the first of May, 1S76, and
the number of acres in grain last year.
In Mason county there were of —
Horses 6,131
Cattle 3,334
Sheep 640
Hogs
5,SS 3
Total horses in Illlinois 924,044
Total cattle in Illinois 1,861,278
Total sheep in Illinois 826,077
Total hogs in Illinois 2,670,363
Wheat in Mason county 8,083 acre s
Corn in Mason county 96,542
Other grains in Mason county 1 6,458
Orchards in Mason county J O 9
Total wheat in Illinois 2,005,262
Total corn in Illinois 8,2 18,299
Total other crops in Illinois 2,277,615
Total orchards in Illinois , 312,902
GEOLOGY OF MASON COUNTY.
By H. M. Bannister.
[The Geology of Mason county being reported by the above
author in connection with Tazewell, McLean and Logan, we are
compelled to give data from those counties; also from Menard and
Cass, from the fact that the geological formations of these six
counties are so uniformly the same that a description of one is
nearly a description of all. It is also true that the geological sur-
veys of these six counties have been very superficial and neglected.
Our State Geologist, Prof. A. H. Worthen, being only remarkable
for giving little attention to the important work which the State
employs him to do. We shall extract from the work of Mr. Ban-
nister, done for the Geological office of this State, and add such per-
sonal investigations as we have been able to make.]
" The surface of the country over a great portion of the district
composed of the counties of McLean, Logan, the greater part of
Tazewell, and the eastern part of Mason, is a high, undulating prai-
rie, with here and there groves and belts of timber.
The soil is generally a rich brown mould, varying somewhat in
different localities in the proportions of clay, etc., which it contains,
some portions being more argillaceous than others. In the timber,
however, which occupies scarcely more than one-fifth or one-sixth
of the entire surface, and the broken country along some of the
principal streams, the soil is somewhat of a different character, the
lighter colored and more argillaceous subsoil appearing at or near
the surface.
In the greater part of Mason county, and over considerable
tracts in the southwestern part of Tazewell county, the surface
configuration varies from that which we have described. The
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
53
prairies are low and comparatively flat, and in many places were
originally overflowed, or marshy, at some seasons of the year. The
soil of these prairies is a rich alluvium, generally more or less ar-
enaceous, which forms, when sufficiently elevated or drained, one
of the best producing soils in the State.
Along the Illinois and Sangamon rivers, in this region, we find
rather extensive sandy tracts of river formation, and on the Sanga-
mon river in Mason county, and on the Illinois in Mason and
Tazewell, the bold bluffs of the Loess are, in some localities, con-
spicious features of the general landscape.
The principal streams occurring in this district, besides the Illi-
nois and Sangamon rivers, which form a portion of its borders, are
the Mackinaw, in Tazewell, Mason and McLean counties; Salt
Creek, in Mason and Logan counties; Kickapoo and Sugar creeks,
in Logan and McLean counties. These, with many minor streams
and nameless tributaries, drain nearly the whole surface of this
entire district. With the exception of the Illinois and Sangamon
rivers, none of the streams have extensive tracts of bottoms adjoin-
ing them, and even along these rivers the bottoms are either of in-
considerable extent or wanting altogether.
The geological formations appearing in this district are almost
entirely of the drift or later formations, the older rocks outcropping
only at a comparatively few localities in Tazewell and Logan
counties. The underlying rock, as far as can be ascertained from
these outcroppings, as well as from artificial exposures, by shafts,
etc., in various parts of the district, consists entirely of the diffei-ent
beds of the coal measure series.
The Loess, the uppermost of the more recent geological forma-
tions, appears only in the vicinity of the Illinois and Sangamon
rivers, and consists here, as elsewhere, of buff or ash colored marly
sand, containing fresh water shells of existing species. It is not
everywhere equally well developed, and in various localities along
the Illinois river, in Mason and Tazewell counties, it either does
not appear at all, or is inconspicuous. It may be well seen, how-
ever, in Mason county, where it appears in the bald, rounded bluffs,
with occasional mural-appearing escarpments covering their sum-
mits, which forms so characteristic a feature of the landscape along
the river below. In the northern part of Tazewell county,
although this bluff marl sand appears to some extent in the bluffs
along the Illinois river, it is not by any means as well exposed or
prominent as farther south, in other counties.
54 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The drift formation which covers the older rocks in almost every
part of this district, is here composed of heds of blue and brown
clay, sand and gravel, and varies in thickness in different portions
from fifty feet in the western part of Tazewell county, to two hun-
dred and fifty in the Bloomington shafts. It has been penetrated
however at but comparatively few points, and over the greater part
of this region, its depth can only be approximately estimated. It
seems probable indeed that it may be of this thickness over a con-
siderable portion of McLean county, as boring at Chatsworth in
the adjoining portion of Livingston county, was reported to have
penetrated to a depth of two hundred and fifty feet before striking
rock. The material of the drift in this region appears to be rough-
ly stratified; alternating beds of sand, gravel and clay are frequently
met with in wells and borings. The sand and gravel beds make
generally but a small part of the total thickness, though sometimes
single beds attain a very considerable thickness, as, for instance, at
Chenoa, in the northern part of McLean county, where a boring
for coal passes through abed of sand and gravel thirty feet in thick-
ness, overlaid by forty-five feet of the usual clays of this formation.
Occasionally also a bed of black earth or vegetable mould, still
containing pieces of wood, trunks of trees, leaves, &c, only partial-
ly decayed, is met with, and a bed of quicksand containing the
usual fossil land or fresh-water shells of existing species.
The following section of the drift afforded by a shaft sunk in the
city of Bloomington, is of special interest, as showing both of these
conditions at unusual depths. The shaft was sunk by the Bloom-
ington Coal Mining Company near the track of the Chicago and
St. Louis Railroad, half a mile north of the depot:
i Surface soil and brown clay 10 feet.
2 Blue clay 40 "
3 Gravelly hardpan 60 "
4 Black mould with pieces of wood 13 "
5 Hardpan and clay 89 "
6 Black mould, &c 6 "
7 Blue clay 34 "
8 Quicksand, buff and drab color, containing fos-
sil shells 2 "
9 Clay shales (coal measures)
Total 254 "
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 55
Another shaft a little over a mile distant from this one passed
through materially the same succession of strata, with only local
variations in the thickness of the different beds. The quicksand,
No. 8 of the above section, resembling the sands of the Loess in
general appearance, and the only species of the contained shells
which could be identified, was Helicina Occulta, which is also not
uncommon in the Loess of the river valleys of this State. Beds of
black vegetable mould are met with at less depths than in this sec-
tion in various places in this district, as, for instance, in the vicinity
of Pekin, Tazewell county, where it is said in few instances to have
tainted the wells which have penetrated it to such an extent as to
almost render them unfit for use. Sections of the drift are also afford-
ed by the borings for coal which have been made in various parts of
this district. In all cases they show variations of the material from
blue to yellow clay, sand and gravel, but do not generally afford
sections of such especial interest as the shafts at Bloomington, nor
is the depth of the formation as great. At Chenoa the thickness is
found to be ninety feet from the surface to the rock; at Lexington
one hundred and eighty feet; at Atlanta one hundred and twenty-
six feet; at Lincoln seventy feet; at Cheney's Grove one hundred
and twenty-two feet; and at several points in Tazewell county from
sixty to one hundred feet and more. Its thickness is quite irregular,
•but seems to be greatest in the central and eastern portions of the
district.
In Mason county we have no reliable data on which to base our
estimates, but its average thickness in that portion I think may be
set down at not less than fifty feet, and is probably much more. In
the western portion of Tazewell county in the ravines and broken
country along the Illinois river, I observed in a number of places at
the base of the drift a bed of cemented gravel or conglomerate
showing sometimes an irregular stratification similar to that of
beach deposits.
A ledge of this material may be seen, nine or ten feet in thick-
ness, in the northwestern quarter of section 7, township 25, range
4, west of the third principal meridian, up one of the side ravines
which comes down through the Illinois river bluffs a little south of
Wesley city, in Tazewell county, Illinois, and other similar ledges
appear in various places in the vicinity of Fon du Lac, and also on
the Mackinaw, in the eastern portion of this county. Another
similar bed of cemented gravel, of, however, a comparatively in-
56 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
significant thickness, may be seen about half way up the bluff, at
the steamboat landing in the city of Pekin, where it does not ap-
pear to be more than a few inches thick.
I have not observed any similar deposits in the eastern portions
of this district, cither in Logan or McLean counties, nor have I
heard of its having been met with in sinking the various shafts or
borings.
COAL MEASURES.
All the stratified rocks that outcrop within the limits of this dis-
trict belong, as has been already stated, to the coal measures, and
the actual surface exposures are confined for the most part to a
thickness of sixty or eighty feet in the middle portion of the forma-
tion. In the whole district there is but one boring which affords
an artificial section of the beds down to the base of this formation.
This is one made by Voris & Co., on the bottom lands on the Taze-
well county side of the Illinois river, and directly opposite the
city of Peoria.
The first bed of the coal measure which is met with in the bor-
ing is about forty feet below the lower coal scam, which is worked
in this section, number four of the Illinois river section, as given
by Prof. Worthen.
The following is a section of the first four hundred and fifty-
nine feet of the boring. Below that depth the records kept by
Mr. Voris & Co. are not complete, as to the thickness and material
of all the different beds —
1 Alluvial soil of river bottom 4 feet
2 Sand 4 "
3 Gravel (boulder drift) 20 "
4 Clay shale 59 "
5 Bituminous slate 3 "
6 Fire clay 15 "
7 Clay shale 15 "
120 "
8 Coal 4 "
9 Clay shale ... 34 "
10 Sandy or argillaceous shale (very hard) 34 "
1 1 Sandstone 4 "
12 Nodular, argillaceous limestone 6 "
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 57
13 Compact, fine-grained sandstone 5 feet
14 Hard, dark-blue sandy shale 25 "
15 Coal 3 "
235 «
16 Sandy and argillaceous shale 35 "
17 Bituminous shale, with thin beds limestone. . . 57 "
18 "Cherty rock" ;'.' 44 "
19 Hard silaceous rock 33 "
20 Fine-grained sandstone 65 "
459 "
As nearly as the limits of the formations can be made out from
this section, I think that at least that portion between the base of
the alluvium and drift, and the bituminous shale and limestone of
this section, number seventeen, may be referred to the coal meas-
ures. The remainder is Devonian, with perhaps some of the upper
beds of the lower carboniferous. The exact equivalent of the two
beds of the coal passed through, may, perhaps, not be stated with
certainty. The lower one, however, is probably No. 1, of the Illi-
nois river section. The greatest depth reached in the boring was
seven hundred and seventy-four feet, and the lowest rock was a
gray porous limestone, the fragments of which, brought up by the
instruments, were exactly similar in appearance to some of the up-
per limestones of the Niagai - a group, exposed in the northern part
of the State, with which this formation may doubtless be properly
identified.
The coal seam which is worked in this immediate neighborhood
is No. 4, as has already been stated. A good exposure of this coal
may be seen near the track of the Toledo, Peoria and Warsaw
Railroad, at a point of the bluff where the road enters the valley
of Farm creek. It is here immediately overlaid by loess and drift,
and is about four feet in thickness, the same as its average in other
localities thereabouts. It is worked in various places, both in the
river bluffs and for a mile or more up the valley of Farm creek, by
horizontal drifts into the hill sides, some of which, in their various
branches, are of considerable linear extent. The beds overlying
the coal are not exposed to the surface at any point north of Farm
creek, but the seam is generally found to have a roof of sandstone
or sandy shale in the interior portions of the drift.
—8
$S HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Along the Illinois river bluffs, between Fon du Lac and Wesley
City, there are several points where coal is now, or has been,
worked, and there are a few exposures of the overlying sandstones
in the bluffs near the main wagon road. South of Wesley City
there are scarcely any exposures on the river face of the bluffs,
but up the side ravines they are more numerous. In one of these
ravines, some distance from the road, on the land of Mr. Davis, I
observed the following succession of beds in a vertical exposure for
about sixty rods along the sides of the bluffs:
1 Shale, passing downward into slate 25 feet.
2 Coal \i/ 2 "
3 Fire clay, passing downward into nodular lime-
stone 12 "
4 Limestone 3 "
5 Sandstone exposed only a few inches.
It seems to me that the vein of coal observed here is still above
both the seams which are worked in this region. The distance
between this and the next vein below it, I should judge to be not
more than forty or fifty feet. The limestone which always over-
lies the coal No. 6, is entirely wanting here, although, as may be
seen bv the section, a bed of limestone occurs below its under clay,
and farther down the creek. Below the exposures from which the
above sections were made up, numerous thin beds of limestone
may be seen intercalated in the sandstone outcrops. These lime-
stone bands seem to be somewhat fossiliferous, but no good speci-
mens were obtained. In the northeastern part of section twentv-
four, township twenty-five, range five, on a northern fork of Lick
creek, I noticed a quarry in a ledge of soft, light gray and brown
micaceous sandstone, generally thin bedded and shaly, but in some
places with beds thick enough to answer for building purposes.
The total vertical thickness of the exposure was less than twelve
feet. Passing farther down the branch, in a general westerly and
southerly direction, we find the hillsides along the banks strown
thickly with fragments of similar sandstone, indicating the probable
existence of the same beds but a short distance under the soil. At
a point on the immediate bank of the creek, near the centre of the
section, I observed an exposure of about twenty feet of sandy and
argillaceous shales, containing a thin seam of coaly matter, not
over one or two inches in thickness at its best development, and
from that down to nothing. About half a mile farther east, near
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. £Q
the centre of the eastern line of the section, alongside of the
road which crosses the creek at this place, and well up the bluffs, I
observed the outcrop of a coal seam which had been worked to
some slight extent, and which I take to be the upper workable
vein of this region: No. 6 of the Illinois river section. The whole
exposure of this point presented the following section:
i Shale , 9 feet.
2 Limestone (light color) 2 "
3 Dark colored shaly beds 2 "
4 Blue shaly clay i «
5 Coal 3 "
Total 17 «
Farther to the eastward from this point, and higher in the bluffs,
I observed limited exposures of reddish, shaly sandstones, or aren-
aceous shale, which seems from its position to overlie the upper-
most beds of the above section. In the vicinity of Pekin there are
but few natural exposures of the underlying rocks, but the lower
coal is mined at several points in the neighborhood of the city. The
coal is generally overlaid by black slate. Above the slate there is
generally from twenty to forty or fifty feet of sandstone, or sandy
shales, according to the locality of the shafts, on the edge of the
bluffs, or farther up towards the rolling uplands.
This sandstone may be seen in the bottom of the ditches at one
or two points on the Fremont road, about a mile east of the city of
Pekin, and in the vicinity of the principal coal mines. At Mr.
Hawley's place, about five miles southeast of Pekin, a shaft was
sunk, which passed through both the upper and lower coals, affording
a section of the intermediate beds, which, as reported to me, were as
follows :
1 Argillaceous shale 4 feet.
2 Light colored limestone 2 "
3 Coal 4 «
4 Fire clay 8 "
5 Sandstone 50 "
6 Bluish-black slate 4 "
7 Coal , 4 «
S Fire clay 8 «
Total * 84 "
60 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
About two mile- cast of Mr. Haw-lev's place, in the southwest
quarter of section twenty, township twenty-four, range four, on a
branch called Lost creek, there is said to be another exposure of
brownish sandstone, of very limited extent. I failed to find the
locality myself, but if sandstone occurs here, it may be that over-
lying the lower coal, or possibly the higher bed not represented in
the above section.
In the central and eastern part of Tazewell county there are few r
localities where borings, etc., have been made, but satisfactory re-
cords of the variation of the strata could not in all cases be obtained.
At Rapp's Mills, near the centre of the north line of section
twenty, township twenty-four, range four, a shaft w r as sunk to the
depth of eighty-five feet, but, as it was reported to me, it struck
limestone at that depth. If this be the case, it is very possibly the
limestone overlying the upper coal, but without more reliable data
it is impossible to speak with certainty. The shaft was abandoned
before completion, on account of the difficulty in keeping it free
from water. At Delevan, in the southeastern portion of the
county, a boring w r as made, which was reported to have passed
through sixtv feet of sandstone, and below that seventy -five feet
more of arenaceous and argillaceous clay shales. No coal was re-
ported in this boring.
In Mason county there are no natural exposures of the older
rocks, and as far as I can ascertain, no good artificial sections af-
forded in shafts, wells or borings. Passing eastward, however,
into Logan county, we find along Salt creek, some distance above
Middletown, a few tumbling masses of bluish limestones, which
have evidently come out of the blufFs, but no good exposures. In
southeast quarter of section thirteen, township nineteen, range
four, a boring was made in the side of the bluffs by Messrs. Bovd,
Paisley & Co., of Lincoln, which passed one hundred and thirty
feet of alternating beds of limestone and arenaceous and argilla-
ceous shales, passing through the drift and surface deposits at the
depth of only fifteen feet.
A seam of coal was stated also to have been met with near the
bottom of the boring, but its thickness could not be satisfactorily
ascertained. I also heard it stated that a seam of coal about tw r o
feet thick had been worked by the early settlers of the county in
this vicinity, and afterwards abandoned on account of its poor qual-
ity. No traces of the outcrop or the old workings are now visible,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 6l
and I am not able to state with any degree of exactness the place
in the series of this seam of coal, though it is undoubtedly among
the measures of the upper beds.
At Rankin's mill, about two miles farther up the stream, in the
northwest quarter of section 7, township 19, range 3, the creek
flows over a bed of limestone, which is also quarried at one or two
places on the southern bank. The rock is a light gray or bluish
gray, irregular bedded limestone, and contains a few of the com-
mon coal measure fossils, of which Sfiiriffer, Cameratus, S. Lin-
eatuSy Athyris Subtiliia, and a few others only were collected. Its
thickness here as ascertained by means of a well dug in one of the
quarries, was eleven feet, and underneath it was found four feet of
black slate, underlaid by seventeen feet of fire-clay, and then six
feet of limestone. The hole is continued by a boring to a depth of
eighty feet from the surface, at which depth a seam of coal was
struck, the thickness of which I was unable to ascertain. This, or
a similar bed of limestone outcrops on Lake Fork of Salt Creek,
in section 23, township 19, range 8, in a ledge about three feet high,
which has been quarried to a slight extent at one point near the
center of the section.
The above comprises all the natural exposures within the limits
of this district. There remain, however, various shafts, borings,
&c, which, over the larger portion of the territory, afford us the
only means whatever of ascertaining the character and the thickness
of the underlying beds. Of these, with one or two exceptions
only, the shafts alone furnish sufficiently reliable sections of the
strata, and as yet but two or three have been sunk. At Lincoln
the shaft afforded the following section after passing through about
seventy feet of soil and drift:
1 Light blue arenaceous shale 6 feet.
2 Hard blue limestone, containing corals 3 "
3 Black slate 10 inches.
4 Coal 1 6 «
5 Fire-clay 6 feet.
6 Arenaceous shale 3 "
The black slate which had been taken from the shafts was too
much decomposed at the time of my visit for me to obtain from it
any very well preserved fossils, although among the rubbish I ob-
served various indistinguishable fragments of what had apparently
62 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
been fossil shells. The coal in this section is probably not below
No. 6 of the Illinois river section, and may possibly be still higher.
About four miles south of Lincoln, on the land of Mr. J. Brancher,
near the center of the south line of section 14, township 19, range
4, a hole was sunk by boring to the depth of two hundred and fifty
feet, and three seperate seams of coal are reported to have been met
with. Unfortunately, however, the thickness of the variation and
the thickness of the beds could not be obtained, and we are there-
fore unable to form an opinion as to the equivalents of these seams.
In a boring at Atlanta in the northern part of this county a seam
three feet and six inches thick was reported at a depth of two hun-
dred and forty feet; the overlying bed as reported consisting of
alternate strata of slate, soapstone, limestone, &c. This is probably
coal No. 6, although without a more positive evidence than is
afforded by a single isolated boring, nothing can be stated with ab-
solute certainty.
The two shafts at Bloomington, which have been mentioned in
the remarks concerning the drift in the previous portion of this
chapter, affords us the most satisfactory section of any excavation
in the district, enabling us to identify the two seams of coal which
they penetrate, with Nos. 4 and 6 of the general Illinois river
section.
The following section, made up from records furnished by both
shafts, illustrates well the variation of the strata of the middle coal
measures of this region. This section commences at the base of
the drift, and its upper portion, from 1 to 4 inclusive, was afforded
by the Bloomington Coal Company's shaft, and the remainder by
that of the McLean County Coal Alining Company, a mile further
south, along the railroad track :
1 Clay shale 16 feet.
2 Sandstone 32 "
3 Clay shale 1 "
4 Coal No. 6 4 "
5 Fire-clay 13 "
6 Limestone 2 " 7 in.
7 Fire-clay 10 "
8 Clay shale S "
9 Fire-clay 15 "
10 Shale 3 " 6 in.
1 1 Soft blue slate 22 " 7 in.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 63
1 3 Black slate 5 "
13 Coal No. 4 4 " 6 in.
14 Fire-clay 6 " 9 in.
No. 2 of this section is light colored laminated sandstone, con-
taining a few remains of fossil plants. In the more southern shaft
it seems to be replaced by a conglomerate. No fossils were ob-
tained from any of the other beds excepting the black slate No. 12,
over the lower coal, which contained in great abundance Lingula
umbonata, Aveculofecten rectalaterarea, Cardina frag ills, and
other fossils characteristic of the shales of this coal. A rather pe-
culiar feature, however, is the comparative rarity of the Discina
Nitida, usually the most abundant fossil in this State, only one or
two specimens being found in rather a protracted search.
In the northern and eastern portions of McLean county we have
only the records of several borings, which afford but few particu-
lars as to the character of the underlying beds. Just over the coun-
ty line in Livingston county, about two miles from Chenoa, in a
northeast direction, a ledge of blueish-gray, irregularly bedded
limestone outcrops in the side of a ravine. In general appearance
this rock is similar to that noticed in the preceding pages as occur-
ring on Salt Creek, in Logan county, and like it, is probably in
the upper part of the coal measures.
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
From the preceding remarks it will be seen that although four
of five different seams of coal underlie different portions of this
district, but two of them have been worked to any extent. The
upper of these two, No. 6 of the general section, is worked to a
slight extent along the Illinois river, in the region of Peoria and
Pekin, and is also the upper seam in the Bloomington shafts. Its
thickness in these localities ranges from three to four feet. The coal
in this bed is generally softer and more impure than that of the next
seam below, and its workings have frequently been forsaken for
those of the lower bed. The sixteen-inch vein of coal which has
been mentioned on a preceding page as occurring on a ravine a
short distance back of Wesley City, and which I have there con-
sidered as still higher vein of coal, may possibly be this seam, in
spite of its lesser thickness, as is a characteristic of this bed, in other
parts of the State, where it has been identified, to vary considerable
64 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
in its thickness; in some cases, indeed, thinning out very rapidly in
the space of a few feet.
The more reliable indications of the accompanying limestone
beds, with their characteristic fossils, cannot under all the circum-
stances, be well observed, nor, indeed, do they appear to be invari-
ably present.
The lower coal, No. 4, is the seam which is now mined in nearly
all the principal workings within the limits of this district, and will,
generally, average here near four feet in thickness.
The coal is generally harder, and a better heating material than
that of the upper bed, besides being more reliable in its thickness.
It, however, contains in some parts its share of impurities, but
often so disposed in the vein as to render them easily separable. In
some of the shafts near the citv of Pekin, the seam of coal which
I have referred to in the preceding pages, contains in its lower por-
tion, about sixteen or eighteen inches above the base, a thin seam
of fire clay, separating it into two unequal portions, and sometimes
a vein of slate or slatey coal is reported to otcur only five or six
inches above the bottom. In the upper portion, also, there is often
what is called "hickory," or mixed coal and shale or sand rock.
The thickness of good coal, however, is sufficient to render its
working profitable.
At Bloomington, the shafts were first sunk only to the upper
coal, which was worked for a short time, and then the shaft having
been deepened, the upper bed was abandoned, and only the lower
seam was worked. The difference in quality was very marked at
this place, the lower coal was very much superior to that of the
upper seam.
Beneath this coal, No. 4, we find by the boring, opposite Peoria,
by Voris & Co., two seams of coal, at the depths of one hundred
and twenty and two hundred and thirty feet, and, respective] v, four
and three feet in thickness, which are most probably Nos. 1 and 3
in the general sections referred to. Although we have no positive
data as to the existence of these or other beds under the coal No.
4, in other .portions of the district, yet, from their existence at this
point, and from our general knowledge of the development of the
lower coal measures of this State, it seems quite probable that these
seams of coal might be found at the proper depths in other parts
of this and the adjoining counties.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. SK
A boring of from two to two hundred and fifty feet below the
known horizon of No. 4, or to five, seven or eight hundred feet
from the surface, in different parts of the district, would probably
penetrate all the coal ' measures, and settle all the questions in re-
gard to the existence and development of the underljdng coal
seams.
The upper coal seams are perhaps represented in this district, by
the bed reached in the Lincoln shaft, and it may be, also, by the
small vein near Wesley city, in Tazewell county, which I have in
the preceding pages referred, with doubt, to a higher level than
No. 6, though still admitting its possible identity with that bed it-
self. In neither of these localities is the seam of sufficient thick-
ness to be worked with much profit, excepting where it might per-
haps be profitably worked in a small way by stripping along the
line of its out-crop.
BUILDING MATERIALS.
This district is, as a whole, scantily supplied within itself, with
building stone, the greater portion of its surface being occupied by
drift deposits.
Along the Illinois river, in Tazewell county, the sandstones of
the coal measures have been quarried, to some extent, to supply
local demand, and in some localities appear to afford a stone suita-
ble for foundations, cellars, walls, etc.
The limestone beds which also occur in the coal measure strata
in this region, though generally of inconsiderable thickness, may
also furnish a limited supply for the same purpose, as well as for
the manufacture of lime.
The limestone ledges, noticed as occurring on Salt creek and
Lake Fork, in Logan county, also furnish fair material for the
rougher kinds of masonry, and have been considerably quarried for
this purpose.
Dimension stone, etc., when used in this district, are brought
from beyond its limits ; in a great measure from the quarries at
Joliet.
Clay and loam, suitable for the manufacture of a fair quality of
red brick, are found in nearly all parts of the district, and have
been made use of in most of the principal towns within its limits.
Sand, for building purposes, is also sufficiently abundant.
—9
66 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
MINERAL SPRINGS.
We may, perhaps, properly mention under this head, the arte-
sian well sunk by Messrs. Voris & Co., on the edge of the bottom
land along the Illinois river, opposite Peoria, in which a current of
water, holding in solution sulpherated hydrogen, was struck at the
depth of seven hundred and thirty-four feet. When struck, it was
stated to have had a head of sixty or seventy feet, and the flow is
said to be nearly as strong at the present time. This water ap-
pears to be derived from the upper portion of the Niagara group,
but before the boring had reached its present depth, a vein of
saline was met with at a distance from the surface of three hundred
and seventeen feet.
Copperas and saline springs occur in various places in this dis-
trict, and occasionally give names to some of the minor streams.
Such names as Salt creek and Lick creek occur here as in other
parts of the State. These springs, however, are few in number,
and can hardly be considered of any economic value.
It is, perhaps, superfluous to mention at length the agricultural
capabilities of this district, since the capacities of its soils, etc., are
so well known, and its territory so generally taken up and occu-
pied by actual settlers, and now under high cultivation.
I may safely say, however, that, with the exceptions of some
sandv portions along the rivers, there are no extensive tracts of
what may be called poor land. There are, indeed, some tracts of
comparatively low bottoms, or marshy land, which are not at pres-
ent available for all kinds of agriculture, but these are generallv of
limited extent, and are rapidly diminishing under an improved sys-
tem of drainage, which places them at once among the more valu-
able lands of the district. The numerous railroads now traversing
the country, those projected and in process of construction, by mak-
ing all portions readily accessable to the centers of trade, will add
greatly to its present wealth and guarantee its future prosperitv.
TREELESSNESS OF PRAIRIES.
[ To Prof. Winchell, L. L. D., Professor of Geology and of
Botany, in University of Michigan, we are indebted for the follow-
ing interesting contribution : ]
The prairies of the Mississippi valley, especially those lying
within the limits of the great State of Illinois, constitute one of the
most remarkable features of North American topography. Hun-
dreds of thousands of acres, stretching through all the central and
western portions of the State, present a scene of almost unbroken
level and treelessness. The great prairies are neither a perfect
plain, nor in all cases completely undiversified with arboreal vege-
tation. The surface is generally undulating, and here and there
rise gravelly knolls and ridges on which the timber has obtained a
foothold. But these wooded spots are often many miles apart, and
scarcely serve to rest the eye, wearied with the monotony of an
interminable view of fenceless meadows and unsheltered farm
houses.
The traveler, leaving Chicago by one of the great southern
routes, passes out through the muddy and straggling outskirts of
the western metropolis, and, ere he had thought of the great prai-
ries through which he had expected to pass, he finds himself at sea.
Looking from his car window, the country landscape seems at first
to be entirely wanting. He feels as if passing over a trellis bridge,
three hundred feet above the surrounding region. The customary
objects — forests, shade trees, fences, houses, distant hills — which
elsewhere lift themselves to the horizontal plane of the eye, are not
here. The traveler must make a second effort, and look down up-
on the level of the country upon whose bosom he has now launched.
68 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The sensation is that which one experiences when going to sea.
The rattling of the train is easily transformed into the puffing and
creaking steamship, while the interminable prairie, mingling its
distant and softened green with the subdued azure .of the summer
sky, can be likened to nothing but the ocean's boundless expanse.
The ever recurring undulation of the prairie is the grand ocean
swell, which utters perpetually a reminiscence of the last storm,
while the evening sun, with dim'd lustre, settles down into the
prairie's green sod, as to the mariner he sinks into the emerald
bosom of the sea.
"These are the gardens of the Desert — these
The unshorn fields, boundless and beautiful,
And fresh as the young earth ere man had sinned.
The prairies — I behold them for the first —
And my heart swells, while the dilated sight
Takes in the encircling vastness. Lo! they stretch
In airy undulations, far away,
As if the Ocean, in his gentlest swell
Stood still, with all his rounded billows fixed,
And motionless forever — Motionless !
No ! — they're all unchained again. The clouds
Sweep over with their shadows, and beneath
The surfaee rolls and fluctuates to the eye;
Dark hollows seem again to glide along, and chase
The sunny ridges."
Illinois has been styled the garden State of the West. The deep
rich pulverulent soil of the upland prairie, and especially its readi-
ness for the plow, without the intervention of a year's hard labor
in opening "a clearing," have always constituted powerful attrac-
tions for the settler from the stony hills of New England, and the
wooded regions of other States.
From our earliest knowledge of the prairie, speculation has been
rife as to their treelessness and origin. The old and popular belief
was that which attributed their treelessness to the annual burning
of the grass by the Indians. But the prairies present other pheno-
mena, which the annual burning fails to explain besides; the treeless-
ness remains in regions where the burnings have ceased. And,
further, the treeless prairies were not the only regions burnt by the
Indians. And if they were, it seems more likely that the Indian
burned the rank grass because the region was treeless than that the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 69
region became treeless from the burning of such vegetation as flour-
ishes in the shade of a forest.
It has been suggested that the region was originally forest-cov-
ered, and that the southern cane flourished in such luxuriance
among the trees as to rob them of their moisture and nourishment,
and thus caused their extinction, and the cane having deprived it-
self of the forest shade and protection, was itself scorched out by
the rays of the summer sun. This theory is in every way unsatis-
factory.
With others, the absence of trees is to be attributed to the ab-
sence of moisture in the atmosphere, and also of the soil at certain
seasons of the year. It cannot be doubted that the treeless plains
of the far west, and also other regions, have failed to produce arbo-
real growths through an insufficient supply of moisture. Still
other treeless regions are such from an excess of saline constituents
in the soil. But all such regions have nothing in common with the
prairies of Illinois, except their treelessness. The topography and
soil constitution of Illinois prairies points to a different and peculiar
history. Moreover, trees occupy the dryer knolls of the prairies
in the midst of common atmospheric conditions.
Exactly the reverse of this theory is that which attributes the
absence of trees to an excess of moisture in the soil at certain sea-
sons. But we well know that there is no soil so wet and stagnant
but certain trees will flourish upon it — the willow, the cottonwood,
the beach, the black ash, the alder, the water oak, the American
larch, the arbor-vitas, or some other tree — some of them standing
joyously half the year, if need be, in water most stale and stagnant.
Many swamps and sloughs are, indeed, treeless, but is this in con-
sequence of the inability of the willow to take root and maintain
itself, or rather in consequence of the formation of the swamp so
recently that the germ of the tree has not yet been scattered over it ?
Moreover, wetness cannot be attributable to large portions of Illi-
nois prairies which are entirely treeless. Is there a different cause
for treelessness here? It has been suggested within a few years by
high geological authority, that the lack of trees is caused by exces-
sive fineness of the prairie soil. It can scarcely be denied however
that other soils, as pulverent as that of the prairies, are densely cov-
ered with forest vegetation, and that in the same latitudes, and
under the same meteorological conditions. On the other hand
certain soils of a coarse texture, are equally treeless. But the final
70 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
objection to this theory, and to all other theories which look to the
physical or chemical condition of the soil, or even to climatic pecu-
liarities, for an explanation of the treeless character of the upland
prairies of the Mississippi valley, is discovered in the fact that trees
will grow on them when once introduced — not water-loving trees
exclusively, but evergreens, decideous forest trees and fruit trees,
such as flourish in all arable soils, and habitable portions of our
country. Every one will now admit that trees will flourish upon
prairies. In proof of this fact the prairie farmers for many years
have been actively and successfully engaged in their introduction.
"The prairies," says a noted author, "may easily be converted into
wooded land by destroying with the plow the tough sward which
has formed itself on them. There are large tracts of country where,
a number of years ago, the farmers mowed their hay, that are now
covered with a forest of young, rapidly growing timber. In like
manner, the uplands of St. Louis county, Missouri, which were, in
1823, principally prairie lands, are now covered with a growth of
fine, thrifty timber, so that it would be difficult to find an acre of
prairie in the county." This testimony is confirmed by numbers
of persons from various parts of the State with whom I have con-
versed on this subject. The introduction of timber as a branch of
rural industry, is now systematically pursued. A drawback to the
cultivation of forest and fruit trees, is the violence of the prairie
winds, and the occasional severity of the winter weather.
There are pretty satisfactory evidences that the soil of the prai-
ries is of lacustrine origin. It has the fineness, color and vegetable
constituents of soil accumulated upon a lake bottom. We find in
it, moreover, abundant fossil remains of a lacustrine character.
Fresh water-shells of a species still existing in lake Michigan, are
found in localities many miles from the existing shore. Finally we
have found all around the chain of great lakes, abundant proofs
that their waters once occupied a much higher level than at pres-
ent. We have discovered the object that dammed the waters to
this extraordinary height. In short, we have ascertained that the
prairie region of Illinois must have been a long time inundated —
whether such inundation contributed to the characteristics of the
prairies or not. I think it did. If I ascertain that the cause for
an inundation exists; if I see the traces of an inundation all the
way from the Niagara river to Illinois; if the barrier which shuts
out Illinois from the lake is not one-third the night of the ancient lake
HISTORY OF- MASON COUNTY. *]\
flood; if I find throughout the region exposed to inundation, the
peculiar soil deposited by fresh waters, together with traces of
lacustrine animals, which never wander over land, do I not discover
a chain of facts which necessitates my conclusions? During the
floodtide of the lakes, Lake Michigan must have found an outlet
towards the south.
We find a corroboration of this. The broad, and deep, and
blufflined valley of the Illinois river was never excavated by that
inconsiderable sti-eam. The deserted river valley discovered at in-
tervals farther north, indicates the former southward flow of large
bodies of water. At Lemont this valley is distinct, with its bound-
ing bluffs and its "pot-holes," worn in the solid rock of the ancient
river bed. This was the work of the lake in its declining stages.
At the earlier period, when the waters of Lake Michigan stood
one or two hundred feet higher than their present level, how much
of the region south and west of Chicago must have been sub-
merged? The ancient lake must have reached its arms into Iowa,
Northern Indiana and Southwestern Michigan. While the ex-
panse of lacustrine waters was brooding over the region destined
to become a prairie, they busied themselves in strewing over the
tombs of pre-glacial germs a bed of mud which should forever
prevent a resurrection. Lake sediments themselves inclose no liv-
ing germs. You will see the seeds of grasses and of fruit trees
washed in by the recent storm, floating upon the surface and event-
ually drifting to the leeshore. If they ever sink to the bottom and
wrap themselves in the accumulating mud, it is after they have
lost their vitality. Sunken and buried, they go to decay. Let a
lake be drained and the bottom remains a naked, barren, parching,
shrinking waste. No herbs, or grasses, or trees burst up through
the pottery-like surface. But everywhere, from beds of ancient
glacial materials, vegetation is bursting forth and announcing itself.
"Lo! here lam!" speaks the nodding young pine, that has been
slumbering just beneath the surface through the long and undis-
puted possession of the deciduous forest, which the axe had just
mown down. Not so in a lake bottom. Here are the cerements
of the dead, not the wrappings of the slumbering. When, there-
fore, the ancient lake relinquished dominion over Central Illinois,
it left a devastated and desolate country. Around the ancient
shores of the abandoned area the emerald forest had stood nodding-
and blossoming and fruiting, while the inundating lake had washed
72 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
the slopes down which the oaken and the beechen roots descended
to sip the refreshing draughts.
Ever since the time when the Atlantic and Pacific held carnival
in the Mississippi Valley, these vigorous trees had stood smiling
upon the face of the freshening residuum left in Illinois on the final
retreat of the ocean.
A resurrected forest had risen from the tombs of the preceding
epoch. And not alone around the borders of the widening lake,
but upon every island knoll which raised its head above the denud-
ing waters, this encircling forest, and these isolated island clumps
still stood and flourished when at length the lake receded.
No turf carpeted the abandoned lake bottom. No oak, or beech,
or pine raised its head through the covering of lake-slime that sep-
erated the slumbering place of vegetable germs from the animat-
ing influence of the sun and air. By degrees, however, the floods
washed down the seeds of grasses and herbs upon the desert area,
and humbler forms of vegetation crept from the borders towards
the centre. At length the entire area smiled with vernal flowers,
and browned in the frosty blasts of winter.
The bulky acorn, and walnut, and hickory nut, traveled with
less facility, and the forest more sluggishly encroached upon the
lake's abandoned domain. In this stage of history the Indian was
here. For aught we know, he was here while yet the prairies
were a lake bottom. His canoe may have paddled over the future
spires of Bloomington, or the towering dome of the new State
House, at Springfield. The muscalonge and pike may have been
pursued through the future streets of Chicago or Peoria, but at
least the Indian was present in the interval of time by which the
herb distanced the tree in their race for the possession of the new
soil. In this interval he plied the firebrand t?6 the brown sedges of
autumn, and made for himself an Indian summer sky, while he
cleared his favorite hunting ground of the rank growths which im-
peded both eye and foot. While the Indian was engaged in these
pursuits, and while yet the forest had not time to extend itself
over the prairie, the white man came up the lake from Mackinac,
crossed over the prairies to the Mississippi, saw the Indian engaged
in his burnings, and hastily concluded that this was the means by
which the trees had been swept off, ignorant of the history that
had passed, and which was even then, as now, in very progress,
and which was even then, as now, actually crowding the forest
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 73
upon the prairies, bringing about the day when, perhaps, a thous-
and years hence, the prairies, like the forests of Lancashire, will
live only in history.
EARLY EFFORTS AT FRUIT GROWING IN MASON
COUNTY.
The following articles and correspondence was prepared many
years ago, by the author of this work, for the Warsaw Horti-
cultural So'ciety, and are here copied from the Journals of that
efficient and commendable organization. Little thought had the
writer at that time that the communications then prepared would
be used at this date, for the Centennial History of Mason county.
We extract from the proceedings of that Society:
"The Secretary also read a letter from J. Cochrane, Secretary of
the Mason County, 111., Horticultural Society, as follows:"
Havana, III., March 22, 1867.
N. W. Bliss, Esq.
Dear Sir — Your esteemed favor of the 17th inst., was duly
received. Please to accept my thanks for the accompanying ar-
ticle from your pen; also, for papers received a short time since. I
will comply with your request in regard to the history of the
Gardner Orchard, at an early date. I herewith send you a con-
densed statement, furnished me, of the Fisk orchard, one of the old-
est, if not the oldest, in this county.
"In the fall of 1837, we planted a lot of apple seeds, plum
and peach pits in a small space of ground dug up for that purpose.
In the spring following, many of them came up, and, with diligent
culture, grew finely. In two years they were ready for trans-
planting.
"They were set out in a valley, and on the side of a ridge
facing the north. The ridge was covered with bushes, interspersed
— 10
74 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
with large timber. The flat is of our richest black sandy loam, at
the depth of three or four feet underlaid with a stiff clay subsoil.
The ridge has but little soil upon it, towards the south part of the
orchard. Soil, light sand, subsoil yellow sand, yet blue-grass will
grow upon it. A few years later we purchased about a dozen of
trees from near Decatur, of the large Romanite variety.
"Now, as to the results. Some winters the water would rise in
the flats, but to obviate this, we hilled up the place for the trees,
and by after cultivation the mounds were increased. The first
trees were set out in the spring of 1S40, and in 1846 a number of
them bore fruit, but the hard winter of '45 and '46 killed the Deca-
tur trees to the ground and some of them never sprouted. The
seedlings remained, some of them I have grafted, and some bear
apples I am loth to part with, and do not care to graft. Two of
them bear a small striped red and green apple that will keep until
August. Two of them bear early apples; one is a striped apple,
sheep-nose in shape, medium — sub-acid — juicy. The other, striped
red and yellow — medium — sub-acid — juicy — flesh firm.
"Another bears a white apple, skin tender, flesh white, brittle
and firm, sub-acid, September, medium. Another produces a yel-
low fruit, very juicy, intensely sour, and very rich, as are all the pre-
ceding. Still another grows a large green apple with red streaks.
In size and color somewhat resembles the Rambo, ripens about
the 15th of August, sub-acid, tender and delicate. Others bear
good, common fruit, and from these trees I have a succession of
fruit the year round, and every year.
"The peach trees bore in three years. They bore well for sev-
eral years, and at the winter aforenamed, they went the way of all
the earth. There are a few now on the place, but their fruiting is
like angel's visits. The plum trees were suffered to remain with-
out transplanting. I have quite a thicket of them; they bear every
year; are not equal to some other varieties, yet some persons con-
sider them worth stealing."
I am now getting another orchard of grafted fruit. Some of the
trees, gotten five years ago of Prof. Turner, of Jacksonville,
fruited this and last year. Also, quite a lot of Chickasaw, Blue
and Lombard plums; all except the latter have been bearing. I
am not troubled with curculio so as to suffer any inconvenience.
Mv remedy is to do nothing, hence not expensive.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
75
Our county Horticultural Society is in its tottering infancy; we
hope to see it able, at least, to be standing alone during the present
summer.
I am urging the matter of our folks taking horticultural journals,
and will do "what in me lies" for the State Society. Anything
you can put in our way, in the future, as in the past, will be duly
appreciated.
Truly yours,
J. Cochrane.
The Secretary remarked that the history of the Fisk orchard
should encourage all to experiment in raising seedlings, and thus
increase the varieties of fruits, and at the same time secure hardi-
ness and productiveness.
Extract from the proceedings of a meeting held by the Warsaw
Horticultural Society, at Warsaw, Illinois, June 27, 1867:
"President A. C. Hammond called the meeting to order. Min-
utes of the last meeting read and approved.
The Secretary said he would read to the Society a history of the
" Gardner Orchard," furnished by Joseph Cochrane, Esq., Secre-
tary of the Mason county, Illinois, Horticultural Society, as fol-
lows :
Havana, III., May 16, 1S67.
N. W. Bliss, Esq.:
Dear Sir — According to promise, I proceed to give you a brief
history of the " Gardner Orchard," in Fulton county, near this
city. The "improvement" was begun by the father of the present
owner of the Gardner estate, many years ago, before the time had
come (in this vicinity) that
The furrows were deep that the plowman had made,
And the engines of war were the harrow and spade;
That the Soldiers of Labor had homes on their lands,
With their great stalwart chests, and their big bony hands;
Where the Farmer sat down in the stillness of even,
And their children sang songs to " The Father " in Heaven.
A lot of apple seed was obtained from Griffith's orchard above
the mouth of the Missouri River, near St. Charles, Mo., in the fall
of 1824, and planted in a nursery the succeeding spring, where the
young trees remained till three years old, when four hundred were
selected and planted out in orchard. The ground selected for the
orchard site was high prairie soil, rich sandy loam, with a clay sub-
soil, sheltered on the East and North by timber and bluffs.
76 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The trees commenced bearing at various ages, from five years
upward. The fruit generally was remarkable for keeping well
and for long periods; the fruit from many of the trees keeping well
till June, and even later. It was not generally of the largest size,
hut good in quality and variety. Among the trees of this orchard,
which hear early fruit, is the Fulton strawberry, an apple which
has become too well known to be described here, and as favorably
as widely known. The old, original tree is still standing, full of
blossoms, to-day, and bids fair to produce an abundant crop, as for
thirty yearspast it has rarely failed to do. The fruit of this orchard
generally was 'of so good a quality that a nurseryman sought and
obtained the privilege of cutting grafts of about forty varieties there-
from, for the purpose of propagation. What the longevity of these
trees would have been under favorable circumstances cannot be
stated, as the very disastrous hailstorm of May 2S, 1S40, destroyed
nearly the entire orchard, or so injured the trees that they were cut
down as cumberers of the ground, excepting a few, among which
is the afore-mentioned Fulton Strawberry.
None of the trees of this orchard were ever affected by blight or
other disease, but they were magnificent specimens of thriftiness
and healthfulness.
Pear trees have not done well in this locality, having invariably
died of blight.
Peaches have succeeded, especially a black seedling brought from
Kentucky. The Red or Indian Peach has also done well here.
Early settlers in Mason and McDonough counties came and
selected trees from those remaining in the original Gardner apple
tree nursery, thus raised from seed brought from St. Charles, Mo.,
and did themselves and their posterity good service thereby, for the
fullness of time had not yet come when philanthropic individuals
should disinterestedly perambulate the country, recommending,
with exaggerated pictures and studied eloquence, the "wonderful
strawberries and marvelous grapes 1 ' they have to sell, at the low
price of $3 per plant, to the " hard-fisted yeomanry " of the land.
If I were called upon to name the obstacle to the general plant-
ing and cultivation of fruit in this country, I should unhesitatingly
say it is the Tree Peddler, who, being itinerant, does not hesitate
to tell the most stupendous lies, in praise and recommendation of
what he has to sell. Thus purchasers are imposed upon, and after
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 77
much time and money is thus spent to no purpose, they become
discouraged in their very laudable undertakings.
Very respectfully yours,
Joseph Cochrane.
On motion, the thanks of the Society were tendered to Mr.
Cochrane for his very interesting and instructive contribution to
Apple History, in giving us this valuable account of the " Gardner
Orchard."
Since the above account of the Gardner orchard was written,
the old Gardner homestead has descended to Mr. James Gardner,
the grandson of the original proprietor, who, with his accomplished
wife, now occupies the old home.
In addition to the above, we find, in the early history of the
county, there were apple trees planted by Mr. O. E. Foster, three
miles northeast of Havana, about the year 1835 or 1S36, and by
another party, whose name we have been unable to learn, in the
vicinity of Crane creek.
AGRICULTURE IN I 776.
From an eastern publication we extract the following, which
may interest the reader as to " then " and " now :"
In the course of a century, within their narrow fringe of country,
the colonists had transformed the wilderness into a fertile and pro-
ductive territory. Agriculture was their favorite pursuit. Trav-
elers from Europe were struck with the skill with which they cul-
tivated the rich and abundant soil, the fine farm houses that filled
the landscape, the barns overflowing with harvests, the cattle, the
sheep. The northern and middle colonies for wheat and corn were
famous. Pennsylvania was the granary of the nation. In New
Jersey the farms that spread from Trenton to Elizabethtown ex-
cited the admiration of the scientific Kalm. Long Island was the
garden of America, and all along the valleys opening upon the
Hudson, the Dutch and Huguenot colonists had acquired ease and
opulence by a careful agriculture. The farm-houses, usually built
of stone, with tall roofs and narrow windows, were scenes of in-
telligent industry. While the young men labored in the fields, the
mothers and daughters spun wool and flax, and prepared a large
part of the clothing of the family. The farm-house was a manu-
factory for all the articles of daily use. Even nails were hammered
out in winter, and the farmer was his own mechanic. A school
78 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
aud a church were provided for almost every village. Few chil-
dren were left untaught by the Dutch dominie, who was sometimes
paid in wampum; or the New England student, who lived among
his patrons, and was not always fed upon the daintiest fare. On
Sunday, labor Ceased, the church-bell tolled in the distance, a happy
calm settled upon the rural region, and the farmer and his family,
in their neatest dress, rode or walked to the village church. The
farming class, usually intelligent and rational, formed in the north-
ern colonies the sure reliance of freedom, and when the invasion
came, the Hessians were driven out of New Jersey by the general
rising of its laboring farmers, and Burgoyne was captured by the
resolution of the people rather than by the timid generalship of
Gates.
The progress of agriculture at the South was even more rapid
and remarkable than at the North. The wilderness was swiftly
converted into a productive region. The coast from St. Mary's to
the Delaware, with its inland country, became within a centurv the
most valuable portion of the earth. Its products were eagerlv
sought for in alla^the capitals of Europe, and one noxious plant of
Virginia had supplied mankind with a new vice and a new pleas-
ure. It would be useless to relate again the story of the growth of
the tobacco trade. Its cultivation in Virginia was an epoch in the
history of man. Tobacco was to Virginia the life of trade and in-
tercourse; prices were estimated in it; salaries of the clergy were
fixed at so many pounds of tobacco. All other products of the soil
were neglected in order to raise the savage plant. Ships from
England came over annually to gather in the great crops of the
large planters, and Washington, one of the most successful land-
owners and agriculturists, was accustomed to watch keenly over
the vessels and their captains who sailed up the Potomac to his very
dock. The English traders seem to have been often anxious to
depreciate his cargoes and lower his prices. Virginia grew enor-
mously rich from the sudden rise of an artificial taste. From 1S24,
when the production of tobacco was first made a royal monopoly,
until the close of the colonial period, the production and consump-
tion rose with equal rapidity, and in 1775, 85,000 hogsheads were
exported annually, and the sale of tobacco brought in nearlv
$4,000,000 to the southern colonies. This was equal to about one-
third of the whole export of the colonies. Happily since that
period the proportion has rapidly decreased, and more useful arti-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
79
cles have formed the larger part of the export from the New
World to to the Old.
One of these was rice. A Governor of South Carolina, it is re-
lated, had been in Madagascar, and seen the plant cultivated in its
hot swamps. He lived in Charleston, on the bay, and it struck
him that a marshy spot in his garden might well serve for a plan-
tation of rice. Just then — 1694 — a vessel put in from Madagascar,
in distress, whose commander the Governor had formerly known.
Her wants were liberally relieved. In gratitude for the kindness
he received, the master gave the Governor a bag of rice. It was
sown and produced abundantly. The soil proved singularly favor-
able for its culture. The marshes of Georgia and South Carolina
were soon covered with rice plantations. A large part of the crop
was exported to England. In 1724, 100,000 barrels were sent out
from South Carolina alone. In 1761, the value of its rice crop
was more than $1,500,000. Its white population could not have
been more than 45,000, and it is easy to conceive the tide of wealth
that was distributed annually among its small band of planters.
They built costly mansions on the coasts and bays, lived in fatal
luxury, were noted for their wild excesses, and often fell speedy
victims to the fevers of the malarious soil. Indigo, sugar, molasses,
tar, pitch, and a great variety of valuable productions added to the
wealth of the south. But cotton, which has grown through many
vicissitudes to be the chief staple of British and American trade,
was, at this period, only cultivated in small quantities for the use of
the farmers. It was spun into coarse cloths. But it was not until
Whitney's invention, in 1793, that it could be readily prepared for
commerce, and to the inventive genius of Connecticut, the South-
ern States owe the larger part of their wealth and political impor-
tance.
HAVANA.
Havana is beautifully situated on the east bank of the Illinois
river, and is the county seat of the county. The situation is some-
what elevated, perhaps an average of forty feet above the river.
It contains many fine residences and pleasant homes, and more
than ordinary taste is exhibited in the improvement and ornamen-
tation of grounds.
The town contains, as near as we can estimate in the absence of
precise figures, 3,000 inhabitants. During the past year has erected
a fine school edifice on the bluff east of the court house, at an ex-
pense of nearly $30,000, an improvement of which our citizens are
justly proud. In addition to this main central school house, there are
smaller houses for the primary schools in both the north and south
ends of the town.
The churches are as follows: The Methodist Episcopal church,
corner of Main and Broadway, is a good, plain house, and the
place of worship of one of the oldest societies in the city. Being
centrally located, and of easy access, it is as well attended as any.
The Reformed church is located on the second block south of the
M. E. church; a neat, well finished house, of unpretentious ap-
pearance, erected at a cost of about $7,000.
The Lutheran church, on the bluff northeast of the court house,
is still smaller, though the average attendance is larger than in the
two preceding. It is as old, if not the oldest organization in the
city, and its membership is the wealthiest of any. A neat parson-
age is attached to their grounds, and their pastor has a pleasant
home.
In the northern part of town is the Catholic church, a neat,
commodious frame building, as are all the others, very tastefully
finished. This society has a large membership, and some of the
most substantial citizens of town and country are included in its
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 8l
numbers. All the foregoing churches have pastors in charge, and
regular services, though .the minister of the Reformed church re-
ceives his salary from the Board of Domestic Missions of that
church in the East.
The Baptist church is a neat frame building, near the southwest
corner of the public square. The membership is few in number,
and without a minister at this time.
Our Swedish citizens, of whom there are about fifty, are making
efforts to hold religious services in their own language, and a min-
ister of that nationality has recently visited them several times for
that purpose. A word in reference to our Swedish population.
Though not wealthy, they are in fair circumstances, and are right-
ly ranked among our most valuable citizens. Honest, industrious,
temperate and reliable is the reference we must make to them, and
a personal acquaintance with each enables us to know " whereof
we affirm."
If there is one class of inhabitants more than another of whom
we have just reason to be proud, it is our
MECHANICS.
We have a large number of mechanics, in all the various trades
usually pursued in inland towns. Carpenters, machinists, black-
smiths, shoemakers, tailors, painters, jewelers, printers, tinners, etc.,
etc., that are equaled by few and excelled by none. Strangers
have remarked to the writer, in regard to some of our mechanics,
whose abilities they had tested, that they regard them as very supe-
rior, indeed. It is ever our pleasure to give honor to whom honor
is due, and we hold it as a fundamental principle of a democratic
government, that the masses, the man who earns his bread by the
sweat of his brow, either in common or skilled labor, is the bul-
wark and stay, the anchor and safety, of the institutions of our
country. Hence the value of the free school system in our country,
where the property is taxed for the education of the poor man's
children. With few exceptions, the best minds in America have
sprung from the laboring classes, and been educated in the common
schools. More of this under another heading.
The first settlement was made where Havana now stands in
1S39. In 1829, in September, a postoffice was established, and six
— 11
82 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
years later, or 1835, a town was laid out — O. M. Ross, proprietor.
The second family was named Myers, and the third was the Kre-
baum family, some of the members of which have been identified
with the public and business interests of this city and county down
to the present day.
The details of the early settlement of Havana are so fully set forth
in the biographies of Pulaski Scovil, A. W. Kemp, N. J. Rock-
well, O. E. Foster, J. H. Neteler, and others, that a repetition here
would be a work of superogation. In lieu there of, we will refer
the reader to the biographies above named, to the extracts from
early newspapers, and the railroad department.
Havana contains many substantial business houses, warehouses,
steam elevators, and three hotels ; and her trade, though not as flour-
ishing as many towns, has had a slow, healthful growth. In 1856
there was no brick building in Havana. In 1857 J. H. & D. P.
Hole built the first brick store, and in the same year Wm. Walker
built the first brick dwelling.
Havana's improvement in trade and the e-rection of new build-
ings, has been equally slow. A reason for this is readily seen in
her manner of doing business. Manufactures of various kinds have
been undertaken here and failed for the want of patronage, and
from being driven out by competitive articles being brought in and
sold at such rates that an honest workman could not compete with
shoddy articles, and from a determination of the people to buy no-
thing at home that could be shipped here from abroad. This sys-
tem of business has been felt here in every department of trade.
We aim to state facts and facts only, and the preceding we
would gladly have omitted had candor allowed it to have been
done.
No city in our knowledge can claim more beautifully laid out
or better improved streets than Havana. All are regular and cross-
ing each other at right-angles, corresponding to the four cardinal
points of the compass, and beautifully ornamented with trees. Our
town viewed from some of the fine elevations within its limits, pre-
sents the appearance of a densely peopled forest, many of the
buildings being entirely obscured by trees. Among the many fine
improvements we can name, are the residences of Adolph Kre-
baum, R. R. Simmons, C. G. Krebaum, F. II. Cappel, L. Dear-
born, S. C. Conwell, and others.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 85
all were desirous that an enjoyable time should be the order of the
day, with our guests who might favor us with their presenee on
that occasion. To this end, many of the buildings were orna-
mented with shrubbery and flags ; wreathes and arches spanned the
streets.
The morning was rendered unpropritious by a slight rainfall,
and the two first trains brought but few guests.
The skies brightened, and the faces of our people partook of the
same blessing. Wagons and carriages brought their hundreds
from the country, and the later trains brought other hundreds.
A band of music enlivened the scene. At the park, all was life
and enjoyment. A tall liberty pole, with the national emblem,
graced the summit of the mound in the park. The tables were
being loaded with the abundant supply of food for the assembling
mass.
In the streets processions were formed by the benevolent orders
of the city, and others, who marched to the already well filled
park.
To omit a reference to the decorations of the engines and the
passenger coaches would be unjust. The employees of the P., P.
& J. road took especial pains to make their display of evergreens,
wreaths and bouquets tasteful, while hundreds of banners were at-
tached to all trains. A passenger coach on the fast express, Mr.
McSherry, conductor, was especially tasteful. The inside of the
coach was a profusion of wreaths, bouquets, evergreens, flags, etc.,
etc., commendable alike to the taste and patriotism of this gentle-
manly conductor, who spared no expense to make it attractive.
The proceedings at the speakers 1 stand were opened by the
president of the day, in a few introductory remarks, followed by a
brief prayer by the chaplain. The reading of the Declaration of
Independence, by Judge J. A. Mallory, was preceded by a few
well timed remarks by the Judge that were as happily conceived
as they were beautiful in their expression.
The reading was followed by an oration by Prof. Williams, of
Wabash College, Indiana. For conception, delivery, matter, lan-
guage, intonation, etc., we have heard few to excel it. Space for-
bids even a synopsis.
Atter the speaking, ample justice was done to the large supply
of viands. All had plenty. The five thousand were fed, not with
five loaves and two fishes, but with five hundred loaves, eight hun-
S6 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
dred pounds of dressed fish and four fatted cattle. All were well
done and in every way satisfactory.
The old squatter sovereignty doctrine was amply illustrated during
the afternoon, to- wit: that every body should enjoy themselves as
their taste and inclinations dictated, and most thoroughly and effect-
uallv was that done.
It is with pleasure that we are enabled to add that the dav passed
without accident or hurt to any.
In the evening came the display of fire-works, but these were
superceded and displaced by a most magnificent display of the
pvrotechnics of the heavens, and the booming of the artillery of
the skies. The vivid lightning blaze, and the reverbration of na-
ture's heaviest ordnance continued most of the night, accompanied
by the extraordinary rainfall of three and one-half inches of
water.
We hazard the opinion that the 4th will be long remembered
by those who partook in these centennial festivities, and as time
rolls on into the second century of our National' existence, ushered
in this dav, it will be with gratification and great satisfaction, that
we can all look back on our participation in the celebration of July
4th, 1876.
METEOROLOGICAL.
I append an abstract of Meteorological observations, taken in
Havana, on latitude forty, longitude ninety, above the sea level four
hundred and seventy-five feet, by the author of this work, who is
observer for the Signal Service of the United States Army:
The annexed table exhibits the annual aqueous precipitation at
the several points named, from observations taken during the vari-
ous lengths of time, ranging from one to eighteen years. By com-
paring the amount of actual rainfall, the latitude, the elevation, the
proximity to lakes and rivers, or the per cent, of timber in the
vicinity of the point of observation, we have been unable to fix
any rule or cause for the variableness of amounts.
There may, however, be a slight observance of increased pre-
cipitation in the line of extended river bottoms covered with tim-
ber. From our own point of observation we have abundant reason
for arriving at this conclusion. Havana is situated on a high, sandy
bluff, on the east bank of the Illinois river, averaging about seventy
feet above the river. The west bank of the river is low bottom
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
s 7
lands, covered with timber, and about an average of four miles
wide, and they are bounded on the west by the wooded bluffs of
Fulton county.
About twenty miles south of this point the Illinois river receives
the Sangamon river from the northeast, forming the southeastern
boundary of Mason county. The bluffs and bottoms of the San-
gamon are similar in structure and extent to those of the Illinois.
After a residence of eighteen years at this point, and noting the
rainfall carefully on my meteorological record, I am fully convinced
that our summer rains, usually from the southwest, divide at the
confluence of these rivers, and timber belts that fringe their shores,
leaving the central portion of the county with much less rainfall
than would be shown by observations taken in a central line of the
timber belts:
INCHES.
Pekin 41 .25
Warsaw 40.18
Batavia 36 . 68
Alton
Brighton.
•39
3°
Ottawa 37
R
iley
39
Aurora . ; 36
Winnebago 37
Evanston .24
Waynesville 42
Lee Centre 32
Jacksonville 35
Elmira 36
Waynet 40
Dubois 45
Athens 39
Yorkneck 44
Manchester 37
Augusta 37
Marengo 38
Peoria 35
Salem 42
Urbana 34
Elgin 37
00
19
45
61
83
78
74
00
35
87
3 1
'5
62
40
79
H
08
S3
2 3
89
7 1
SS HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Sandwich 50 . 1 7
Lebanon 37-93
Galesburg 35 .04
Highland 35 .67
Waverly 35 . 67
Elmore. ... 37 .07
Havana 33-3°
Height above the sea of several localities in Illinois, taken by the
writer at the solicitation of Prof. Henry, of the Smithsonian In-
stitution, for that institution :
FEET.
Springfield 615
Petersburg 510
Cuba 67S
Havana 465
Highland 620
Elmore 612
Magnolia • 500
Jacksonville 676
Athens 800
Chicago 591
Batavia 636
Marengo ... S24
Peoria bluffs 512
Urbana 550
Winnebago 900
Evanston 644
Keokuk, Iowa 444
Galesburg 740
Canton 678
Lewistown 582
Lebanon 505
Waverly 6S0
Murray ville 633
Illinois river, at Peoria 420
Illinois river, at Havana 415
Pekin 459
Warsaw 550
Alton 650
Ottawa '. 500
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 89
Aurora 696
Wheaton - .682
Elgin 777
Sandwich 665
The greatest amount of rainfall during any one month was June,
1872, when the enormous amount of 9.S3 inches fell, and nearly all
of that excessive amount during the first six days of the month.
The least amount was in October, 1872, and in August, 1873, when
0.S4 and 0.S9 of an inch respectively fell. The maximum temper-
ature for August, 1S73, was 103 deg., and the maximum for Octo-
ber, 1872, was 86 deg. The mean temperature for August, 1S73,
was 75^2 deg., and for October, 1S72, it was 50 deg. These tem-
peratures, compared with the corresponding months of other years,
show no excessive degrees of temperature over the same month,
when the amount of rainfall was greater or of an average amount.
[See table.]
My record shows, however, considerable cloudiness, and conse-
quentl}^ an obstruction of sunlight, with the natural result, as a con-
sequence, of a less generation of heat, as set forth and illustrated in
a succeeding part of my subject. Thirty-eight and three-tenths
inches is the average rainfall for a group of stations in this State,
whose aggregate terms of observation amount to ninety-nine years.
Every increase in the temperature of the atmosphere of 27 deg.
doubles its capacity to hold moisture, consequently those localities
most subject to frequent changes of temperature are liable to the
most rainfall, more, also, in a southerly than in a northerly locality,
because the high temperature makes the atmosphere capable of a
larger amount of moisture, Temperatures are less changeable in
the vicinities of the great lakes than farther inland, conse-
quently the aqueous precipitation is more uniform in Northern
than Central Illinois. I append, from reliable sources, some of
the most remarkable temperatures of the earth, that the reader
can compare his own locality with that of his more or less favored
neighbor.
Thibet, in Central Asia, has valleys between her snow-capped
mountains where they endure a heat of 150 deg. Fahrenheit; Sen-
egal, in South Africa, and Gaudaloupe, in the West Indies, 130
deg.; the Desert of Sahara, 130 deg. during the day and extremely
cool nights; Persia, 126 deg.; Calcutta and the Delta of the Gan-
— 12
90 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ges and Central America, 120 deg. is the limit. In the jungles of
Afghanistan and the deserts of Egypt, no deg.; Cape Colony, in
Africa, Greece in Europe, Utah in America, 105 deg. is the maxi-
mum; Arabia, 105 deg.; and Montreal and Quebec endure the
same summer temperature. New York, Spain, Upper India, Can-
ton in China, Island of Jamaica and the Southern United States,
100 deg.; Sierra Leone, in Africa, Guinea, in South America, and
the Island of Ceylon, 93 deg.; France, St. Petersburg, Denmark,
Belgium, Burmah, Shanghai, .Sandwich Islands, Buenos Ayres
and Trinidad, 90 deg. ; Nova Scotia, S7 deg.; England, Ireland,
Sicily, Siam and Peru, 85 deg.; Pekin, in China, and Portugal So
deg.; Liberia, 77 deg.; Australia, Scotland, Italy, Venezuela, and
Maderia, 74 deg.; Prussia and New Zealand, 70 deg. ; Switzerland
and Hungary, 67 deg.; Bavaria, Sweden, Northern Liberia, Tas-
mania and Moscow, 65 deg. ; Norway, Greenland and New Found-
land, 60 deg.; Central Scotland, Orkney Isles, Patagonia and
Falkland Islands, 50 deg.; Iceland, 45 deg.; Nova Zembla, the last
we shall note, whose extreme summer heat 'rarely comes above
freezing point, or 34 deg. maximum. In all this range of territory,
climate and temperature, wherever the foot of man hath trod, or
eye could reach, from the scorching vales of Thibet to the inhos-
pitable regions of Nova Zembla, in the deserts of Sahara, or the
perpetual snows of Greenland and Labrador, the scenery is reliev-
ed and brightened by the growth of indigenous plants and flowers,
cheering the wanderer in the desert, and the inhabitant of the
snow hut, casting beauty and fragrance on the sand or on the
snows, varying their form to suit their situation, from the fleshy
prickly Cactii of Mexico, to the Algea tribe that redden the polar
snows.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
9 1
Abstract of Aleteorological Observations at Havana, Illinois,
from September 1st, iS/O, to Attgust 1st, l8j6.
Year and Months.
K
K
ft)
s
K
K
K
if
B if
b£
S)
b
B
P
o
2
B
B
a
TO
CO
B
JO
B
B
•
(9
B
B
B
ft
£.
•5"
Ed
£
3'
B
o
cr
1870— September.
" October ..
" November.
" December.
1871 — January. ..
" February..
" March....
April
" May
" June
July ■
" August
" September.
" October ...
" November.
• v December.
1872— January ..
'• February..
" March
" April
" May
" Juue
" July
" August
" September.
" October. . .
» November
" December.
1873— January...
" February.
" March
" April
" May
" June
" July
" August —
" September
" October...
11 November.
" December
90
54
36
66
72
75
64
77
57
80
30
50
23
47
62tf
50
67
39
68
15
53
41 V*
34'/,
50
39'/,
58
29
56
62
60
78
90
—19
—02
06
28
34
75
64
66
50
56
26
25
31
46
47
57
58
66
79
10
06
11
33
42
98
98
98
98
38
56
60
54
60
42
38
44
58
75
77
76
81
85
89
83
44
62
67
60
80
48
42
65
73
54
88
66
26
00
62
66
65
34H
71
54
40
11
56
50
54
—07
—11
—10
63
61
64
23
22
27
47
39
47
- v%
—03
04
18
36
26
65
08
57
33
26
41
31
51
21
90
28
62
54
48
65
51
77
37
73
50
23
64
59
74
61
73
50
98
58
40
72
69
85
77
86
66
98
61
37
74
73
87
73
85
72
102
63
49
77
65
88
72
87
61
96
32
64
65
57
78
60
83
50
86
27
59
52
40
66
47
69
36
65
—05
70
32
24
40
31
52
06
53
—23
76
19
12
26
19
42
—15
49
—32
81
17
ny.
24
16
42
— MV4
49
—13
62
25
18
32
25
39
02
66
—03
69
37
30
46
35
52
08
87
32
55
47
42
55
46
73
35
87
46
41
63
56
73
60
74
49
100
56
44
75
70
90
73
86
68
98
62
36
73
67
85
74
87
65
103
57
46
75U
66
90
70
88
68
97
58
59
64
55
76
60
81
48
80
18
62
48
39
59
45
64
26
65
08
57
35
27
44
34
61
14
66
05
61
31
27
38
30
62
12
3.36
3 95
2..50
1.71
4.20
1.60
4.25
2.05
1.00
3 00
5.25
2.15
3.00
3 05
1.95
2.40
0.50
1..60
2.48
2.03
2.13
9.83
4 68
1.03
4 35
0.84
2.02
1.61
5. CO
1.83
0.99
6 20
5.58
1.74
5 50
0.89
5.69
3.17
1 68
7.72
A dash (— ) preceding a figure in the above table indicates below zero.
02
HISTORY OF MA^oN COUNTY.
Abstract of Meteorological Observations. — Continued.
1874.
£
*
a
2
X
=
P
-
H
=
3
3 =•
SjT
55
s
N
O "
3 re
3
S
3
-1
B*
^ =
- -
g ?
a
3
<3
■ H
3 '/•
s £
O
: a
• B
' B
3
£
• '-^
. «<
3
O
January. ...
February. .
March
April
May
June
July
August
September .
October
November. .
December. ..
Sums ..,
Means
07o
56o
TTo
TTd
95
101
1U5
103
93
82
78
52
716
59%
06
16
27
44
55
63
59
44
•24
08
02
340
28M
74
51
61
50
51
46
42
44
49
58
70
50
646
54
29
31
31
40
66
73
79
75
67
54
39
31
2.61
62
i -;
51
1 22
61
2 96
64
2.42
81
2.71
88
2.33
90
6.48
86
2.42
78
7.27
68
3 20
68 i
0.93
46
02
17
24
32
47
61
(17
64
54
3S
13
08
615 3U.42 843 425
511.J, 253 j 7OV4 3514
2.25
7 00
0.25
5.50
00
n to
0.00
0.00
00
0.00
15.00
3 00
83.00
1875.
3
b
s.
B
p
5*
B
P
3
?
3
B
3
:
1™*
B =
It 'z.
si
■ B.
• B
• vT
f: =
- r.
3 r
r-
: ft
■ B
: -5
*
X.
i
4
Jan nary
51
50
84
82
94
95
100
90
94
82
63
70
-18
-17
— 5
21
34
52
62
47
35
2*
07
— 5
69
61
89
61
60
13
38
43
59
54
56
75
is
17
31
49
63
71
79
70
62
50
36
38
39
44
67
67
79
84
89
78
84
66
47
60
-lov,;
- 2
13
23
44
57
62
56
54
35
12
02
.37
2.54
4.14
2.44
4.74
4 88
s .->;
1 30
G M
2 80
0.81
2.08
35
May
12 ::.
20.10
1 00
July
August
2.25
Totals
40 B6
82
1.41
7.1^3
2.69
4.35
5.60
9 fil
36.45
1876.
January
65
73
80
-I
93
94
97
— 4
10
38
39
48
68
65
77
86
57
54
46
34
:>.4
34
70
54
til
72
77
52
62
64
73
79
S3
89
14
07
18
38
45
52
63
1 50
1..50
20.50
May
A — preceding a figure indicates below zero.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 93
LIGHT AND HEAT.
In treating of this branch of the subject in connection with
Meteorology, it will be our aim to give correct views of the nature
of this all-prevailing and life-sustaining principle of light and heat,
which leads, also, to the discovery of a wide and important set of
truths, all tending to the conclusion that these great agencies, in
connection with electricity and magnetism, " which uphold life and
produce such collossal changes on our globe, are but expressions in
different language of the One Great Power."
These various forms of energy are mutually convertible, and
we can express the terms of each in the terms of any other. Dr.
Tyndall, in considering the important influence exerted by solar
radiation on the phenonema of life, says: "Each drop of rain or
flake of snow, each mountain, streamlet or brimming river, owes its
existence to the sun's rays. It is by the sun's rays that the waters
of the ocean are lifted in the form of vapor in the air, and it is by
the condensation of this atmospheric moisture that every drop of
running water on the earth's surface is formed. The balmy breeze
and the devastating tornado are alike the product of the changes
of atmospheric temperature, while the gradual crumbling of the
everlasting hills, and the consequent formation of stratified rocks
are sublime illustrations of the might of the actions which, during
geological ages, the sun has poured out on the earth. Nor is this
influence confined to the inorganic world; no plant can grow, no
animal exist, without the vivifying influence of the sun's rays. The
animal derives his store of energy from the plant necessary for the
maintenance of life, from the force locked up in the vegetable on
which it feeds. The food of the animal undergoes combustion or
oxydization in the bod)', and the heat thereby evolved is converted
into mechanical energy, so that the same laws which regulate the
labor of animals, regulate the work done by the steam engine sup-
plied with fuel. The animal draws its stores of energy from the
plant, and where does the plant obtain the supply necessary for its
growth?" " The source of power in the plant is found in the sun's
rays. It is the sun's rays that enables the plant to grow; for the
growth of the plant consists, chemically, of a decomposition or
splitting up of the carbonic acid gas which exists in the air, into its
simplest constituents, the carbon assimilated for the building up of
the vegetable tissues and the oxygen sent back into the air for the
94 HISTORY OF MASON* COUNTY.
subsequent use of animals. To effect this separation of carbon and
oxygen, a very large expenditure of force is necessary, and this
energy is supplied by the sunlight."
How beautifully harmonious the discoveries of modern science
with the profound depths of revealed truth, and how obtuse is
man's apprehension of these truths, till forced upon a slow-to-be-
convinced judgment by the practical deductions of science. "And
God said, let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the
light that it was good, and God called the light day, and the dark-
ness (or absence of light) He called night." "And God said, let
the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed and the fruit
tree yielding fruit of its kind, whose seed is in itself." "And God
made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the
lesser light to rule the night." "But there went up a mist from
the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." The at-
mosphere surrounding the globe had been called into existence — its
constituent elements as they now exist. Light was created to
generate heat that vegetation might clothe the-earth.
After vegetation, and next in order, there "went up a mist from
the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." The laws
of nature, as constituted, made any other order of creation impos-
sible. Light must combine with the elements of the atmosphere
before the vegetable creation could exist. The vegetable, in con-
nection with air, light and heat (heat being a result of air and
light), must exist before vegetable growth could occur or animals
inhabit the earth; and the consequent rainfall recorded in our last
quotation is the inevitable result of the action of heat on the
aqueous element. There seems to exist more largely those ele-
ments of the atmosphere that combined with light to form heat in
the lower stratas — more in the deep valleys than on higher table-
lands, or on the hills, and not existing at all above the snow line;
hence, snow does not melt in the full sunlight of meridian day
even under a tropical sun. On the Andes the snow line varies
from 14,000 to 17,000 feet. On the mountains of Colorado, snow
begins at 12,000 and increases in quantity to the extreme height of
the tallest peaks, or 14,250 feet, though in August the extreme heat
of the deep valleys rises up, when the light of the sun is with-
drawn, and the snow is melted to nearly or quite the extreme
height.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
95
In the ocean, water and salt are mixed together most intimately,
yet the heat raises the water through the atmosphere and leaves
the salt. Every increase of twenty-seven degrees of temperature
doubles the capacity of the atmosphere for holding moisture; con-
sequently, the large amount of rain at the points of greatest heat
and evaporation, and the distribution and precipitation of rain from
greatly heated localities to colder ones by the action of the winds,
and by other causes, and precipitated by counter-currents of cold
air.
INFLUENCE OF VEGETATION.
By respiration, putrefaction, etc., air is rendered unfit to support
animal life, and, in extreme cases, will not support it. By the con-
stant operation of the corrupting influences, the whole atmosphere
would become impure, were there no restoring causes, and would
come at length to be deprived of the necessary degree of purity.
Some of the restoring causes have been discovered, and their
efficacy ascertained by experiment. So far as these discoveries
have proceeded, they open up to us a beautiful and wonderful econ-
omy. Vegetation proves to be the most efficient of these restoring
influences. A branch of mint corked up in a small portion of foul
air, and placed in the light, renders it soon capable of supporting
life or flame.
Here, therefore, is a constant circulation of benefits between the
two great provinces of organized nature. The plant purifies what
the animal poisoned, and in return the poisoned or contaminated air is
more than ordinarily nutritious to the plant; but it must be remem-
bered that the renovating, purifying influence exerted by growing
vegetation on the atmosphere, can only be done under the in-
fluence of light, and ceases altogether in the night, or if the light
of the sun be withdrawn. This is a general characteristic of all
plants; for, with all their manifold diversities of form and appear-
ance, they are all constructed on the same general plan, " and are
living witnesses and illustrations of one and the same plan of crea-
tive wisdom in the vegetable world." Plants work only under the
influence of light. "There is conversion by the vegetable of
foreign dead mineral matter into its own living substance, or inor-
ganic matter, capable of becoming living substance." To do this
is the peculiar office of the plant, "and it is done by the plant by
the action of its green parts only, and by them only under the in-
96 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
fiuencc of light of the sun. The sun in some way supplies a
power which enables the living plant to originate these peculiar
chemical combinations to organize matter into forms which alone
are capable of being endued with life." The process is all the
same, whether the plant is making a direct immediate growth or
laying up material for future use. The principal ingredient laid
up by plants is starch, in the form of minute grains in the cells of
the plant. Some plants make these accumulations in the ro as
the parsnip and the carrot; some in shoots or underground growths,
for instance, the potato, while the onion and lily deposit in the
embryo leaves, and the cactus family generally in their fleshy
leaves and stems with green coverings, and only under the influence
of light.
ORIGIN OF HEAT.,
Heat is generated in various ways, by friction, combustion, oxvdi-
zation, concussion, etc.; but a combination of light with one or
more of the constituents of the atmosphere is the grand source from
which this indispensable combination is derived. An able scientist
in Europe says, "If our entire system were pure coal, the combus-
tion of the whole of it would furnish but one three thousand five
hundredth part of the amount needed,'' consequently we see the
utter impossibility of receiving the amount of heat necessary from
the sun, as well as the impossibility of the sun furnishing us the
adequate supply. As stated in another part of this essay, the snow
on high mountains, even in the tropics, docs not melt above a cer-
tain line. The deep valleys become extremely hot, though receiv-
ing less sunshine than the more elevated positions.
The valleys in Thibet, in Asia, endure a temperature of 1 ^o du-j;.
E. in the shade during the day, and as the sunlight is withdrawn
the warm air rises up, and the cold, dense atmosphere from the
mountains covered with snow, settles in its stead, the inhabitants,
who were during the day almost in the condition of the Hebrew
children, now find it necessary to retire to rest under thick cov-
erings.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 97
Another proof that heat does not emanate from the sun is found
in the experience of every green-house man and florist. The tem-
perature is raised to a high degree under his glass, and there it
seems to be imprisoned, being unable to return, although it appa-
rently came in through that dense medium unobstructed. The
facts of the case divest the subject of all mystery. These are, that
the sunlight penetrates the glass, and the heat is formed beneath by
a union of the light with some element or elements of the air, and
instead of being a prisoner in confinement, it is simply an occupant
of the place where it first had an existence in its present form.
The eye in its complex and multifarious forms can only be the re-
cipient of light, and cannot endure heat, hence it receives light
only. The lenses of the telescope and the human eye bear a com-
plete resemblance to each other in their figure, their position, and
in their power over the rays of light, viz : in bringing each pencil
of light to a point at the right distance from the lens, to-wit : in the
eye at the exact place where the membrane is spread to receive it.
Two things were wanted to the eye that were not to the telescope,
at least to the same degree, and these were the adaptation of the
organ to different degrees of light, and to the vast diversity of dis-
tance at which objects are viewed with the naked eye, as from a
few inches to many miles. These difficulties are not presented to
the maker of the telescope. He wants all the light obtainable, and
never directs his instrument to objects near at hand. In the eye
both cases are provided for, and for the purpose of providing for it
a subtle and appropriate mechanism is introduced to exclude the
excess of light when it is excessive; and to render objects visible
under obscurer degrees of it, the hole or aperture of the eye is so
formed as to contract or dilate for the purpose of admitting a great-
er or less number of rays at the same time. The chamber of the
eye is a camera obscura which, when the light is small, can enlarge
its opening, and when too strong can contract it without any other
aid than its own machinery, which machinery is operated by the
light itself and self-regulating.
Inasmuch as this organ has to operate under so many different
circumstances, with strong and weak degrees of light upon their
objects near and remote, and these differences demanded, according to
the laws by which the transmission of light is regulated, a corres-
ponding diversity of structure through which the light passes, that
they be larger or less, the lenses rounder or flatter, or that their
—13
9S HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
distances from the tablet on which the picture is delineated should
be shortened or lengthened. This being the case, and the difficulty
to which the eye was adapted, we find its several parts capable of
the most sudden changes, and mechanical and artificial apparatus
provided to produce these changes. These changes are made, this
complex machinery is operated on by the action of light itself,
which is another of its wonderful properties and adaptations of
means to ends. When light enters the eye it falls on a dark back-
ground, and hence does not generate heat, as though reflected from
a light surface in the air. The tropical sun shining on the dark
colored races of the tropics is another illustration of the same thing.
The negro will endure more heat than the light colored races,
though physically less robust than the average inhabitant of the
temperate zone. The eyes of birds possess the powers and pro-
perties described in the human eye to a more marked degree, as
their necessities require it to be so.
The eyes of fishes compared with terrestrial animals exhibit dis-
tinctions of structure adapted to their state and element. The iris
in the eyes of fishes do not admit of contraction or expansion. This
is a great difference, and the reason is probably that the diminished
light in the water is never too strong for the retina. Some inter-
esting differences, also, in the eyes of the different varieties of fishes
might be interesting, but enough has been said to illustrate this
part of the subject.
CONCLUSION.
One of the difficulties with which the popular scientist has to
contend with, is, that presenting his subject in such a form as to
come home to his readers in its true relations, not liable to be mis-
understood, and to avoid painting one side of the picture too forci-
blv, and not losing the harmony of the whole. We would here
remind the reader that much as science can do, it cannot explain
everything; that although we may demonstrate that the body is
built up by the solar rays, there are mysteries connected with life,
animal and vegetable, towards the explanation of which science
offers no clue whatever. It cannot explain the nature of that
silent power that bids the mighty oak spring from an acorn, or
builds from the simplest single cell the multiform differences of
animal life. Could it do this it would give us truer views of
nature's infinitude and man's littleness, expressed by Newton when
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 99
he said : " To myself I seem to be as a child playing by the sea
shore, while the great ocean of truth lies unexplored before me."
On the agreement of science and revelation the asserted divinity of
Christ itself is on trial. If the religion which he established falls
short of universal acceptance ; if it encounters civilization superior
to it; if pi-actical demonstrations of scientific facts that are incon-
trovertible, be against it, then the prententions of its author are
brought to naught.
" We will not here inquire if there be anything inherent in the
system, or in its past history, prophetic of universal dominion," but
so digress as to inquire if there are disagreements between science
and revelation. The system of truth revealed to us in the book of
nature and the book of revelation, both emanating from the same
Great Author, cannot conflict and both be true, hence disagree-
ment is rendered an impossibility. Empires like China and Japan,
embracing more than one-third of the population of the globe, re-
sist alike the advancement of science and Christianity. Idolatry
and stolid ignorance alike resist the march of truth. Millions of
men are idolators, other millions followers of Mohammed, and
still millions more the worshippers of Bramah and Budah; but a
single christian nation outweighs them all. "Let there be light,"
was spoken by the Creator before the dawn of creation's morn,
and science has continued to re-echo that grand acclaim to the
teeming millions who people this vast globe. The lights of science
are burning brightly on the broad domain of our own favored
land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from Alaska to Panama; in
the isles' of the ocean, and in the darkest regions of Paganism,
doors have been opened to our science, our commerce and our lan-
guage. About the time the reformation dawned on the darkness
of Europe, the polarity of the compass was discovered, and spread
the light with the expanding commerce of the nations. Then
came the printing press, "every pull of which casts rays of light
athwart the gloom," and the world is learning the sciences that
speak just what the bible speaks. No fact recorded by the sacred
historians has been so favorite a subject of cavil as the Mosaic ac-
count of creation, before quoted. The objectors fail to remember
that Moses described these things optically and not physically. Mod-
ern science proves that the phenomena of the heavenly bodies are not
at all contradictory to the Mosaic history. Modern opposers of
revelation have objected that Moses talks of light before there was
IOO HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
a sun, and calls the moon a great light, when every one knows it
to be an opaque body. But Moses seems to have known what
modern science did not until very lately discover, and therefore
does not call either sun or moon a great light, but luminaries or
light-bearers. Will the objectors look into their Greek, Hebrew
or Latin bibles, and their faith will be increased in reference to
Moses' attainments in science. Though the moon is not a light
itself, yet is that planet a light in its effects, as it reflects the light
ot the sun to us.
But the sun and the moon are with propriety called great, not as
being absolutely greater than all other stars or planets, but because
they appear greater to us, and are of greater consequence and use
in the world. And now, after all the philosophy and improve-
ments in astronomy, we still speak of the light of the moon, and
the rising and setting of the sun. The man who in a moral, theo-
logical or historical discourse should use any other language, would
only render himself ridiculous. Hence we say that Moses' descrip-
tion of creation in Genesis is not in conflict with science in its best
discoveries, but confirms it; that he speaks optically and not physi-
cally; and that we place implicit and impartially in detail, the ut-
most reliance on the Mosaic record as a proof of our position on
the origin of light, the generation of heat, cause of evaporation
and its effect, the philosophy of vegetable life and plant growth,
and the consequent assimilation of force in the animal kingdom.
Anciently the sciences were locked up in the hands of the priest-
hood, and unknown to the masses, and hence not reduced to the
practical wants of life.
To do so was spoken of as degrading science. Not so in mod-
ern times; the masses are educated, and in advance of the priest-
hood in all the literary, scientific and mechanical progress of the
age. And I believe that to-day the heaviest drawbacks, the most
ponderous dead weights that militate against the progress and ad-
vancement of the light that blazes in all its effulgence with more
than meridian splendor from the midday sky of the nineteenth
century, is to be found in the bigotry and lack of education and of
general intelligence of the priesthood. We do not assert this in
the spirit of faultfinding opposition, but with regret that such a
state of affairs should exist in our country; and the world hopes
and expects their speedy removal, by a wider diffusion of the
truths of science and the bible.
HISTORY! OF MASON CITY.
To a resident of the slow moving, staid and close calculating
Eastern States it is not easy to comprehend the springing into a
healthful existence in the brief space of a few years, of an active,
thriving, energetic business town of over two thousand inhabit-
ants, with its tall church spires, its noble school building, its exten-
sive and substantial business blocks, its banks, its printing offices,
grain elevators and commodious warehouses, its long lines of rail-
roads, the best in the State, in fact, all the elements and facilities of
a first class business town, where but a few brief years ago
the writer hereof has crossed those prairies on horseback, and fre-
quently a house of the pioneer was not in sight, and when nearing
the place where Mason City now stands, with her tall spires point-
ing high and glistening in the sunshine, we have ridden four to six
miles without seeing a human habitation. Yet, such has been the
history of this pleasant city. Its past is not only thus pleasant to
retrospect, but it needs no prophet's ken, to truthfully say that "it
doth not yet appear what it shall be," in even the near future.
About twenty-four years ago, what is now the site of Mason
City, was government land, and was entered in 1849 by James
Maloney, who afterwards conveyed it to George Straut. Mr.
Straut conveyed portions of the tract to various parties, who
subsequently re-conveyed to him, and in the autumn of 1857 rie
employed E. Z. Hunt to survey the original plat of the
TOWN OF MASON CITY.
This plat was filed in the Recorder's office by Mr. Straut, Septem-
ber 29, 1857. It includes a tract three-fourths of a mile long and
one-half a mile wide — 240 acres. It is bounded by Walnut, Jef-
ferson, Division and Keefer streets. It consists of 37 full blocks
(each 320 feet square), and 22 fractional blocks, which are divided
102 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
into 623 full lots and 7S fractional lots. The streets are 80 feet
wide, except Keefcr street, which is 60 feet wide. Block 30 was
reserved for public buildings, and block 36 for a park.
strain's addition
Was surveyed by J. C. Warnock, and the plat was filed by
Henry T. Strawn, the proprietor, August S, 1S66. It consists of 6
blocks (each 320 feet square), of 14 lots each — S4 lots in all.
Elliott's addition
Was surveyed by J. C. Warnock, and the plat was filed Sept.
25, 1S66, by Collin J. Elliot, the proprietor. It is divided into 24
lots, the average size of each being about equal to the quarter of
an ordinary block.
rosebrough's addition
Was surveyed by Bentley Buxton, and the plat was filed Oct. 18,
1S67, by B. A. Rosebrough, the proprietor. This is the smallest
of all the additions. It contains about 8 acres, and is laid out after
the style of Elliott's Addition. It contains six full and seven frac-
tional lots. Morgan and Main streets run south through this addi-
tion, and Prairie street (50 feet wide) runs east and west through
its center.
NORTHEAST ADDITION
Was surveyed by Bentlev Buxton, in Sept., 1S67. The plat was
filed February 29, 1S6S, by William G. Green, Richard Yates
and John Mathers, the proprietors. This addition embraces 80
acres. It contains twenty-eight blocks, which are divided into two
hundred and eighty lots.
WEST ADDITION.
Was surveyed by J. R. Falkner. The plat was filed September
29, 186S, by George Straut, the proprietor. There are fifteen
blocks, and two hundred and six lots. This completes the list of
additions.
From an examination of the figures given above, I find that the
whole number of lots in this city, as shown by the recorded
plats, is 1,30s. The sub-division of business lots would of course
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. IO3
increase this number. Within our corporate limits there are now
about 480 acres laid out in lots, very few of which remain unim-
proved.
And now, having disposed of these, perhaps, somewhat uninter-
esting details concerning the several recorded plats, I desire to turn
the attention of the reader back to the condition of this locality
eighteen or twenty years ago. In an interesting editorial, entitled
"Mason City Then and Now," from the pen of Mr. Warnock,
which appeared in the Independent, December 22, 187 1, I find the
following :
"Fifteen years ago the present site of Mason City was, in
autumn, a waving, and, apparently boundless, sea of blue stem
prairie grass, so high that, in many places, a man on horseback
could not be seen one hundred yards distant. Wolves had their
dens in the ridge where High street now runs, and night was made
hideous by their howls. Deer, in great herds, might be started up
at any time, but their course could only be known by the parting
of the tall grass. Every fall the whole face of the country was
swept over by fire, the flames of which would reach high up
towards the heavens, then swoop down, reaching a hundred feet
ahead, and taking into their grasp the tinder-like material. None
but those who have seen our prairie fires of fifteen or twenty years
ago can comprehend their magnificent grandeur.
"About a year before Mason City was laid out, a man with a
team was so nearly overtaken by a prairie fire, a couple of miles
west of this place, that he was compelled to cut his team loose
from the wagon, jump upon one of the horses, and 'lay whip' for
his life. He succeeded in finding the irons of his wagon after-
wards. But such scenes, in this country, are now numbered among
the things that were. The tall prairie grass has been made to give
way to wheat, corn and oats. The once broad expanse of open
prairie is now divided into fields in cultivation. Land that was
then for sale at $1.25 per acre, is now worth from $50 to $100.
In the summer of 1856, in July, the engineers of the Tonica and
Petersburg Railroad ran a random line about a mile west of this
place, crossing Salt creek near the then little and now defunct vil-
lane of Hiawatha, vulgarly called Slabtown. A short time after,
another line was run further east, which forever blasted the hopes
of Hiawatha as a railroad town.
IO4 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
"On this second line a town was laid out about a mile and a half
west of this place, by Wm. Young - , on a forty acre tract, which he
bought of John Y. Lane, for that purpose."
But Mr. Young's hopes were blasted, too, for a third line was
afterwards run, which is the present line of what is commonly
known as the Jacksonville Branch of the Chicago and Alton
Railroad.
I remember that this road was completed to the south line of our
corporation on the Fourth of July, 1867, and on that da)' the first
train made its appearance, bearing about two hundred excursionists
from Petersburg and other points along the route. That was a
happy day in this community. The locomotive was the most wel-
come new-comer we had ever seen. Scores of staring, wondering
children gathered about the strange visitor. Our women were
never more amiable and pleasing. Our business men smiled con-
tentedly, held their heads higher, and walked with a firmer step;
and that evening, when they retired to their homes, many of them
who had never been known to possess any musical talent, astonished
their families greatly by singing with exceeding gusto, "Ain't we
glad to get out of the wilderness," or "We'll have no trouble any
more!" That day was the beginning of the season of our city's
greatest prosperity.
Late in the fall of '57 David Dare put up a blacksmith shop on
the northeast corner of Chestnut and Menard streets. This was
the first building erected in the original plat. It was torn down
several years ago. The next building erected still stands upon its
original site on the third lot north of Chestnut street, on the west
side of Main street, and is now owned by Mrs. E. Bell. Mr. Straut
gave this lot to William Hibberd, upon condition that the latter
woidd erect a hotel thereon. Mr. Hibberd employed Henry How-
ell, a builder, and a few Petersburg mechanics, and on the first day
of December, 1S57, the erection of the "Hibberd House " was
commenced, and on the twenty-first day of the same month Mr.
H. and his family moved into it, although it was unpainted and un-
plastered till about the first of the succeeding month. The fram-
ing timbers were hewn out in one of the nearest groves, and the
lumber was hauled from Pekin. In the same month of December
Henry Keefer put up a tw r o-story frame building on the west side
of Tonica street, where it still remains, just north of the lumber
yard office of J. A. Clcgg & Co. Soon after Mr. Hibberd com-
IirSTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I05
menced building his hotel he caused a notice to be circulated, after
the fashion of those days, that a " Grand Dedication Ball," as he
called it, would be given at Mason City on Christinas night. Christ-
mas came, and so did the ball. Mr. Hibberd says that fully three hun-
dred guests were assembled. There were saints and sinners, old
men and matrons, young men and maidens. They came from
Peoria, Pekin, Havana, Delavan, Lincoln, Petersburg, and " all the
regfion round about." The ball was held in both stories of the
Keefer building, which had not yet been plastered. There was a
" string band " in each room. About one hundred and fifty en-
gaged in the dance, and about an equal number were mere specta-
tors. The dancing commenced about seven o'clock, p. m., and was
continued, with but brief intermission, till daylight. No one re-
tired at the Hibberd House that night. All night long the cooks
and waiters were busy catering to the appetites of those who had
come to the ball. For once, at least, "consumption" assumed an
epidemic form. Says Mr. H.: "I had laid in a large supply of
'provender,' but those people ate me out so completely that I had
to go to Delavan — the nearest town — the next day (Saturday) and
buy provisions for Sunday."
In January, 1858, A. A. Cargill and W. L. Woodward opened
a store of general merchandise, in the lower story of the Keefer
building, and soon afterwards the first public school was commenced,
in the second story of the same building, with Miss Rhoda Allen,
(now Mrs. Loring Hastings) for teacher. In this school-room the
first religious meetings were held.
Rev. Mr. Holdsclaw, a Baptist, who resided down on Crane
Creek, was the first regularly employed minister. This room was
used by all denominations, however, until the erection of a large
two-story frame building by Joseph Elliott, in the fall and winter
of '58, on the northwest corner of Tonica and Chestnut streets.
Early in the spring of '59 the Presbyterians organized a church in
the second story of Elliott's building, and employed Rev. John
Andrews for pastor. The public school had been removed to this
room, however, before the organization of this church. Cortes
Hume purchased the Elliott building before it was completed.
After its completion he opened a store in the lower story. This
building now stands on the northwest corner of Tonica and Elm
streets, having been removed from its old site by the present owner,
—14
106 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Gr. M. LaForge, in order to make room for his commodious Opera
House and mercantile rooms.
The third store was opened by A. & S. D. Swing, in the latter
part of the winter of '5S and '59, in a large frame buildings which
still stands upon its former site, a short distance east of the C. & A.
R. R., between Elm and Arch streets. R. A. Hurt came next in
the mercantile line, then Hurt & Porter. But I have neither time
nor space to make special mention of other merchants.
In those early days merchants necessarily had to deal in a little
of everything. The stock in trade of nearly every house consisted
of dry goods, groceries, hardware, farm machinerv, boots and
shoes, hats and caps, paints and oils, clothing, millinery (?), patent
medicines, etc., etc., and in exchange for merchandise they received
money, live stock, cord wood, furs, hides, poultry, butter, eggs,
fruit, grain, and all manner of produce.
A. A. Cargill was the first postmaster. He was commissioned
in the spring of '58, and remained in office about eighteen months.
For two or three years great difficulty was experienced in getting
the mail. For about a year the mail for this point was sent to
Petersburg, and the people in this vicinity employed Edgar Hunt,
by private subscription, to carry mail to and from Petersburg, once
a week, but in times of freshets the people had to wait from two
to four weeks for mail matter. In order to avoid high water, ar-
rangements were afterwards made for getting the mail at Delavan
instead of Petersburg. Israel Hibberd was appointed postmaster
in the fall of '59, and held his office till June, '61, when A. A. Car-
gill was again appointed, and he retained the office till August,
1S66, when he was succeeded by E.J. Mell. Mr. Mell was suc-
ceeded by J. H. Cleveland, Mr. Cleveland by Sallie C. Sullivan,
Miss Sullivan by Louise Hoyt, the present postmistress.
Mr. Cargill tells me that during his first administration a com-
mon cigar box was amply sufficient to hold a week's mail. About
ten years ago, I think, the government established mail routes
through here from Delavan to Petersburg, and from Lincoln to
Havana. This change in the manner of receiving and forwarding
the mail was, of course, highly appreciated.
During the first two or three years of its existence, Mason City-
grew rapidly, but during the succeeding five years very few new
buildings were erected. Soon after the close of the war the work
of improvement was resumed, but not until '67 did the period of
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. IO7
Mason City's greatest prosperity begin, and that period still con-
tinues.
Near the close of the session of the Legislature, held in the
winter of 1S6S-69, an act was passed incorporating Mason City
under a special city charter. It is certain that the passage of that
act was not secured in a very honorable manner. A large majority
of our citizens preferred to retain the old town organization, and
were unaware of the fact that a charter had been applied for un-
til after the announcement of its passage. But it soon became ap-
parent that acquiescence in the new order of things was unavoida-
ble. This charter divided the city into four wards, as follows:
First ward lay west of Main street and north of Chestnut; the
second, west of Main street and south of Chestnut; the third, east
of Main street and south of Chestnut; and the fourth, east of Main
street and north of Chestnut.
The first charter election was held, I think, on the first Tuesday
in April, 1869. That election and the preceding campaign were
very exciting, and hotly contested.
The license question was the issue in the selection of the Mayor
and Aldermen — politics being ignored. Inasmuch as a full vote
was polled at that election, it may not be uninteresting to insert the
result of the
ELECTION IN 1869.
Mayor.
Votes. Majorities.
T. J. Watkins, anti-license. . 165 61
George Young, license 104
ALDERMEN.
Votes. Majorities.
1st Ward — I. N. Ellsberry, anti-license 40 30
" H. T. Strawn, license 10
2d Ward — Jesse Montgomery, anti-license. 48 29
" Wm. Pollock, license 19.
3d Ward — S. D. Swing, anti-license 60 No opposition
4th Ward — J. A. W. Davis, anti-license. . .59 36
" D. M. Childs, license 23
Thomas Lamoreux was elected City Judge, S. N. Hornbuckle,
Marshal, and Wm. Warnock, Jr., Collector. The council elect
ioS
HISTORY OF MASON COL'XTY.
appointed G. W. Ellsberry City Clerk, S. N. Hornbuckle, Asses-
sor, and J. A. Walker, Treasurer.
ELECTION APRIL 4, 1S7O,
resulted as follows: H. T. Strawn, Mayor; Wellington House-
worth, Marshal; D. M. Childs, Collector. The Alderman from
the first ward was D. E. LeSourd; from the second, J. A. Phelps;
from the third, John Prichet; from the fourth, George Young.
R. C. Dement was appointed City Clerk, and R. W. Porter was
appointed Treasurer.
In consequence of the resignations of Judge Lamoreux and
Marshal Houseworth, a special election was held in December,
1870, which resulted in the choice of J. S. Shuck, for City Judge,
and George Tippey, for Marshal.
ELECTION APRIL 5, 1S7I.
Luther Naylor was elected Mayor; M. C. Vanloon, Marshal;
and F. N. Smith, Collector. The Alderman from the first ward
was H. M. Anderson; from the second, Geo. A. Withers; from the
third, N. Travis; from the fourth, J. S. Gates. J. F. Culp was
appointed City Clerk, and John Lazelle, Treasurer.
In consequence of the resignation of Judge Shuck, and the fail-
ure of F. N. Smith to qualify, a special election was held August
1, 1S71, resulting in the election of J. H. Wandle for City Judge,
and Jeremiah Riggins, for Collector.
ELECTION APRIL I, 1872.
Luther Naylor was elected Mayor; A. S. Jackson, Marshal;
S. S. Martin, Collector; Joseph Statler, City Judge. H. M. An-
derson was elected Alderman from the first ward; Andrew Mc-
Elheney, from the second; X. Travis, from the third; J. S. Gates,
from the fourth. J. F. Culp was appointed City Clerk, and John
Lazelle, Treasurer.
July 3, 1872, a petition, signed by fifty legal voters of the city,
was presented to the City Council, asking that an election be called
to vote for or against the adoption of "An act to provide for the
incorporation of cities and villages." Approved April 10, 1872.
In force July 1, 1872. The prayer of this petition was granted.
An election was held August 5, 1S72, which resulted in the adop-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
IO9
tion of the new incorporation act by a large majority. Minority
representation was rejected.
This result necessitated a change in the boundaries of wards pre-
vious to the next general election. The census was taken by a
committee appointed by the Council, and an ordinance was duly
passed, dividing the city into three wards, as follows : First ward
lay west of Mason street and noi - th of Chestnut; the second, west
of Mason street and south of Chestnut; and the third, all that por-
tion of the city east of Mason street.
ELECTION, APRIL 15, 1873.
Mayor— T. J. Watkins.
Aldermen ist Ward — A. A. Cargill and J. S. Gates.
" 2d « W. I. Kincaid and J. C. Ellsberry.
" 3d " W. S. Chenoweth and L. D. Case.
City Attorney — Wm. P. Freeman.
City Clerk— J. C. Warnock.
City Treasurer — John Lazelle.
Police Magistrate — Jacob Benscoter.
City Marshal — Dennis Pride (appointed).
But this article is already extended to twice the length I had in-
tended, and, lest I weary the reader, I must hasten to a conclu-
sion.
To-day, Mason City has a population of at least 2,000. During
the last six years the average increase in population has been about
250 j?er year. Perhaps a larger amount of business is transacted
here every year than in any other city of equal size in the State of
Illinois. This city is situated in eastern Mason county, in the center
of a well settled and exceedingly fertile district of country, and, as
long as agriculture shall continue to be the true basis of wealth
and power, just so long will the prosperity of Mason City be as-
sured. But, though the success of our city is largely dependent
upon the support of agriculturists, it must be admitted that the
growth and improvement, both of the city and the country sur-
rounding it, is, to a considerable extent, due to railroads, and to the
pluck and enterprise of our merchants, grain dealers and other
business men.
The Indianapolis, Bloomington & Western Ex. R. R. was com-
pleted through this place to Havana, in January, 1S73, It will
I IO HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
soon be finished to the Mississippi river, and will then be one of
the most important railroad lines in the West. It is probable that
within two years a road, to be known as "The Grand Junction
Railway," will be built from Quincy to this place, making connec-
tion here with the Chicago & Alton R. R.
And so, from all points of view, the outlook is most encourag-
ing. "It doth not yet appear what we shall be," fully, but enough
can be seen to inspire in any reasonable observer the belief that
Mason City is destined to move onward and upward to a much
higher rank among the host of cities stationed in the great Mississ-
ippi Valley.
For the above sketch of Mason City, we are very largely in-
debted to G. W. Ellsberry, Esq., Attornev-at-Law, in Mason
City, and for his kindness to us in the compilation of the material;
for this, we only wish that he may be prospered and built up as
has been the city of his adoption.
One of the elements of Mason City's prosperity is the class of
mechanics who have, fortunately for her and them, made their homes
within her limits.
Among them we are pleased to note Ambrose and Sons, dealers
in tin, stoves and hardware; L. Swing, tin, stoves and hardware;
Fiddler & Pritchet, saddles, harness and trunks, Havves & Co., saddles,
harness and trunks ; Cole, boots and shoes ; Gardner, boots and shoes ;
and Finch, boots and shoes; Mundt & Oeltjen, merchant tailors;
Cameron, merchant tailor; Cooper, merchant tailor.
Among her Physicians we find Drs. J. P. Walker, J. B. Mc-
Dowell, O. P. Crane, J. W. Speez, I. N. Ellsberry, A. M. Bird,
J. M. Taylor, G. B. Black and J. A. Walker.
Messrs. Kincaid & Bradley, druggists, and Fiddler & Pritchett,
saddlers, are the oldest business firms in the city without change.
In dry goods and general merchandise, we find Cargill & Swing,
Wakeman, Freeman & Co., Gulick, Taylor & Co., Sharp Bros.
and Mr. During.
In drugs, Kincaid & Bradley, J. H. Hopkins, W. A. Dunn,
Sharp Bros. & Co.
Livery stables, W. T. Lynch and B. D. Riner have both num-
ber one establishments.
Restaurants, Radebaugh & Manspeaker, Jacob Maurer, W. Le-
Sourd, and Nelson Wallace.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. Ill
Jewelers, J. C. Ellsberry, J. L. Davison, J. A. Smith, and H. C.
Parker.
Blacksmiths, W. S. Cheneworth, manufacturer of wagons on an
extensive scale; H. B. Cease, also a large manufacturer; and H.
S. Houseworth, wagon manufacturer. Geo. Yost, Roberts &
Benway, James Stebbins and Chas. Brooker, are among the sub-
stantial mechanics in their line.
The banks of the city are, the First National Bank and F. N.
Smith & Co., both substantial institutions.
In hotels, the St. Nicholas, by H. L. Gray; the Sherman, by J.
C. Bell; and the Mason City House, by Mr. Johnson.
Of her elevators and her warehouses, Mason City can well con-
gratulate herself. M. R. La Forge & Co., R. A. Mulholland, John
Stewart, and John Pritchet are the owners. They have an aggre-
gate capacity of over one million bushels, and facilities for hand-
ling second to none.
Of carpenters and cabinet makers, there are many, but we failed
to obtain a full list, and omit all.
Painters, J. F. McDonald, S. P. Woodward, Geo. Jackson,
Amos Cole, T. H. Price & Bro., Mark Banis, J. F. Culp.
An extensive carriage manufactory is carried on successfully by
Samuel Cobbs, and a wagon factory by W. B. Ward.
CHURCH SOCIETIES.
Presbyterian — S. J. Bogle, Pastor. Services every Sabbath,
at ii o'clock, A. M., and 7:30, P. M. Sabbath School, at 9:30, A.
M. E. M. Sharp, Superintendent.
Baptist — C. A. Hobbs, Pastor. Service every Sabbath, at 1 1
o'clock, A. M., and 7:30, P. M. Sabbath School, at 2:30, P. M.
J. J. Hastings, Superintendent.
Methodist — J as. W. Sinnock, Pastor. Service every Sabbath,
at 11 o'clock, A. M., and 7:30, P. M. Sabbath School, at 2:30, P.
M. Henry Wakeman, Superintendent.
BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES.
Mason City Lodge, No. 403, A. F. & A. M. — Regular com-
munications on the second and fourth Tuesday evenings of every
month. S. M. Badger, W. M. J. F. Culp, Secretary.
I 12 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Mason City Lodge, No. 337, of I. O. O. F. — Regular Meet-
ing every Thursday evening in their hall, LaFurge Block. G. W.
Ellsberrv, X. G. P. Mundt, Secretary.
mason city directory.
T. J. Watkins Mayor.
J. Benscoter Magistrate.
I. R. Brown Attorney.
John Lazelle Treasurer.
J. C. Warnock Clerk.
John Wilson Marshal.
D. E. LeSourd Deputy Marshall.
J. S. Gates Alderman 1st ward.
A. Green " «
John Dietrich Alderman 2d ward.
M. C. Vanloon " "
W. S. Chenoweth . . Alderman 3d ward.
S. D. Swing -;« "
One characteristic of the people of Mason City, and that to which
we attribute the success and healthfulness of every department of
her trade and her manufactures, is the system of home patronage
she has always pursued. Her own mechanics are the first choice
of her citizens for them to bestow their patronage on. Her own
merchants are the persons who receive the patronage of her man-
ufacturers and mechanics. This system of mutual patronage is
one of the most commendable as well as the most profitable that
can be pursued. It increases and fosters neighborly feeling, socia-
bility, and the improvement of society, and is alike commendable
and desirable to the head, the heart and the jjockets of the people
who practice it. It is not a principle of selfishness, but is an ap-
plication of that christian principle which is older than Christianity;
practiced, recommended and enforced in the days of Confucious,
adopted in a negative form by later rulers, and affirmatively com-
manded by the founder of the Christian system, viz: "Do unto
others as you would that they should do unto you."
POSTMASTERS IN MASON CITY.
The first Postmaster, on the establishment of an office in that
city, was Mr. A. A. Cargill. Then Israel Hibberd, E. J. Mell,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 1 3
J. H. Cleveland, Miss Louisa Hoyt, and J. S. Baner, the present
gentlemanly incumbent.
Mr. Cargill, in addition to being the first Postmaster of the city,
served a second term in that office, between the terms of Mr. Hib-
berd and Mr. Mell.
The observance of the —
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
Is thus set forth by the Journal, published at Mason City:
The celebration of the Centennial Fourth of July in Mason
City was satisfactory, in its general particulars, to all who partici-
pated. Great preparations had been made, and on Monday P. M.
the prospects were fair for a good time, and an occasion of pleasure
without any alloy. The heavy wind and rain storm of Monday
night seriously damaged the wigwam and flooded the ground, so
that on the morning of the Fourth everything looked inauspicious,
and disappointment sat on every countenance. By nine o'clock,
however, such large numbers of people were coming into town,
that it was evident that the war of the elements had not in the
least quenched the patriotism of the people, and that the prospects
for a glorious Fourth were still good. A large force of men were
put at work to repair the wigwam, and it was determined to pro-
ceed with the programme as arranged.
Immediately after dinner the procession was formed by Capt.
Weaver, the Marshal, in front of the Journal office. The Mason
City band took the lead. Following next came the chariots of
State, the first one representing the States in the Union in 1776;
the second one the Union as it is now. In each chariot the States
were represented by young misses, appropriately dressed. These
chariots were followed by the fire company, with the engine orna-
mented and bedecked with flags. Next came the carriages -with
the speakers, the clergy, the members of the press, and a lengthy
procession of citizens. After marching through the principal
streets, the line of march was concluded at the wigwam. The
ground about the wigwam was, in consequence of the rain, in a
very damp condition, but every one seemed willing to make the
best of the situation, and the programme was gone through with
with great interest to all. After music by the band, and an elo-
quent prayer by Father Randle, and a patriotic song by the Glee
— J 5
114 HISTORY OP MASON COUNTY.
Club, Augustus Green, the President of the day, delivered a most
thrilling and eloquent poem, for the opening address. The Declar-
ation of Independence was read by Capt. W. H. Weaver, and was
read in a manner that elicited the warmest applause. Next came
the oration of the day, by Rev. John Crozier, of Menard county.
Mr. Crozier's oration is worthy of an extended notice, which we
are not able to give it at this late hour, before our paper goes to
press, especially as we are too much demoralized by the fatigue and
excitement of the week to write anything connectedly. Suffice it
to say that the oration was eloquent and eminently appropriate,
and was listened to with great interest by all. The oration was
followed by short addresses by Geo. W. Ellsberry and Joseph
Baner, Esq., and then by toasts and responses, interspersed with
songs by the Glee Club and music by the band. Of the responses
to the toasts, the original poem by Mr. Green, to the sentiment
" Now and Then," received very many encomiums, and while all
who responded did themselves great credit, this poem was the bo?i
mot of the occasion.
At night the vast assemblage gathered about the wigwam to
witness the display of fire-works. The discharge of these pyro-
technics was superintended by Frank Culp, and as a matter of
course, under his management, was a perfect success; being, prob-
ably, the finest exhibition of the kind ever given in Mason county.
Notwithstanding the war of the elements, the celebration was
an occasion of which the managers may be well proud. It is
probable that at least four thousand people crowded our streets,
and enjoyed the day and its ceremonies.
The thanks of the community are due to the band and the Glee
Club for their music and aid; to the committee who labored hard
to get the wigwam erected; and while we never like, on such oc-
casions, where all are willing to do what they can to aid a laudable
enterprise, to bestow especial praise on any single individual, we
know that we express the unqualified thanks of all who participated
in the jubilations of the day, to Ben Riner, who, though least con-
spicuous in the ceremonies, was the main spoke in the wheel; in
fact, the hub of the whole affair. Almost unaided, he solicited and
collected the funds, amounting to nearly $500, and paid the bills as
presented, taking upon himself a large responsiblity, and pushing
the matter to a successful issue. We only hope Ben may live to
raise the money for another centennial in Mason City.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. II5
The following is from the Independent, of Mason City, on the
Centennial Anniversary.
HOW MASON CITY, DISPOSED OF THE CENTENNIAL FOURTH. — A
GALA DAY.
The long-looked for and long-talked of Centenary Fourth of
July came last Tuesday, made its bright page in history, and left
its glorious memory with those who celebrated it. It was the
grand spectacle of a powerful and patriotic nation, rising simulta-
neously throughout its broad expanse and doing honor and homage
to a beloved country and revered ancestry, and it now remains for
the innumerable localities to record what they did and how they
did it. It is our province to help make up the record, and pre-
serve from oblivion, the manner in which the patriotic people of
Mason City commemorated the Great American Day.
The storm of the previous night disarranged our plans some-
what, but while we reverently acknowledged our dependence up-
on the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, we were not disposed to
superstitiously look upon this as an interposition of His providence
to prevent our celebration, but rather to give thanks that the day
was so pleasant after all. Our artificial shade was blown down,
and the ground underneath made wet and muddy ; but with this ex-
ception, which caused a delay of the exercises until afternoon,
everything passed off pleasantly.
The Centenary Independence morn was ushered in by ringing
of bells and firing of anvils (the cannon failed to come), and a gen-
eral jubilee of salutations. Early in the day the business portion
of the city, and a large number of dwellings, were beautifully
decorated with flags and banners. At quite an early hour the
streets were thronged with people, and as the clouds broke away,
wagon loads almost innumerable came pouring in from all the sur-
rounding country, and every train brought still others from distant
places. Everybody seemed happj'that they were vouchsafed the
great privilege of stepping across the centenary line in the life and
progress of their beloved country.
The procession was formed at the corner of Tonica and Chestnut
streets. The order of the procession was as follows: First, Mason
City Cornet Band; second, a chariot of state, containing thirteen
Misses, representing the original thirteen States; third, a chariot of
state containing thirty-eight Misses, representing the present num-
Il6 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ber of States; fourth, the fire engine, followed by the fire company
in uniform; fifth, carriages containing the mayor, president, orator
of the day, editors and ministers; buggies and wagons. The line
of march was through the principal streets of the city to the
wigwam.
The exercises at the wigwam commenced with music by the
Band and Glee Club, which interspersed the exercises throughout,
which were in the following order:
First — Prayer by Rev. G. D. Randle, the oldest minister in the
city.
Second — Reading of the Declaration of Indedendence, that im-
mortal document, which, though old, is ever new, and which for a
complete century has stood the test of criticism, and stands to-dav
unchallenged as the masterpiece in the English language, as it was
admitted to be by the learned and eloquent Wm. Pitt in his day.
It was read by Capt. W. H. Weaver, and in a manner that did
justice to that time-honored instrument, and credit to himself.
Third — Poetic Address, by Augustus Green, President of the
Day, which was a beautiful and expressive production, acknowledg-
ing the protective beneficence of God in preserving our nation,
and paying a glowing tribute to the immortal heroes of the Revo-
lution.
Fourth — Oration by Rev. John Crozier, in which we think he
fully sustained what we promised of him, as an orator, scholar and
historian, in this paper last week; although the circumstances of the
situation were against him, yet by his elegant and eloquent stvle
and expression he held the marked attention of the vast and un-
comfortably situated audience, while he beautifully traced the his-
tory and outbursts of the spirit of liberty down through the des-
potisms and monarchies of the world, and how the hand of God
had led the people on through succeeding ages to the full estab-
lishment of Liberty and Independence in the great nation of the
United States, and how the same divine hand had led the little
but heroic band of patriots through the terrible war of the Revolu-
tion.
After the oration, short addresses were delivered by J. S. Baner
and G. W. Ellsberry, after which a variety of toasts were read and
responded to, which was a pleasant feature of the occasion, and
which was both amusing and instructive. This concluded the ex-
ercises at the wigwam, and the audience adjourned up town for a
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 17
social time, friends and acquaintances grouping together in squads
as circumstances favored.
At night was a grand exhibition of fireworks, which was wit-
nessed by an immense crowd of people. But unfortunately for a
full fruition of great and well founded expectations, the electic fire-
works of the clouds began to illuminate the western horizon early
in the evening, and warn the people that time nor thunder storms
waited not for man nor for any public gathering. The people
stood their ground, however, in the face of the ominous thunder
and lightning until about the last minute, when there was a simul-
taneous start for home.
Taking it all in all, it was an occasion of which eastern Mason
county may well feel proud, in that despite the wind and weather
they did their duty towards commemorating the Great Centennial
Fourth, and if any failed to find in it all we promised in a rather
extravagant article on the subject last week, we charge it more to
their lack of appreciation, hearing and eyesight, than to an over-
wrought imagination from exaggeration on our part; and if we
should be editing the Independent when the next centennial comes
round, and you, kind readers, should be the readers of it, we will
make all right then whatever may have been amiss this time.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
In presenting the biographies of present residents and the former
early residents of Mason county, we have taken representatives of
three divisions of subjects, viz : Old settlers who were early identified
with the settlement of the country and have passed away; secondly,
old settlers identified with the interests of the county who are still liv-
ing; and thirdly, the representatives of the business interests of the
county at the present time. In these I have taken subjects from all
lines of business and professions, without regard to wealth or official
position, but to present briefly all the different divisions above
stated.
LYMAN LACY. t
Lyman Lacy was born in Tompkins county, New York, May
9, 1832. He is the son of John and Cloe (Hurd) Lacy, who re-
moved to Michigan in 1836, and in 1837 settled in Fulton county,
Illinois. His preliminary education was acquired in the public
schools of Illinois, whence he was transferred to Illinois College,
at Jacksonville, from which institution he graduated in 1S55. In
the same year he commenced the study of law at Lewistown, with
Hon. L. W. Ross, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar.
He located in Havana in October, 1856, and continued the prac-
tice of law until 1862, when he was elected to the lower House of
the Legislature, on the Democratic ticket, to represent the counties
of Mason and Menard, and served one term. In June, 1S73, he
was elected Circuit Judge of the seventeenth district, comprising the
counties of Mason, Menard, Logan and DeWitt. He was married
May 9, i860, to Miss Caroline A. Potter, of Beardstown, Illinois,
HISTORY OP MASON COUNTY. 1 1 9
who died September 12, 1863, and he married again, May 19, 1865,
to Mattie A. Warner, of Havana.
The official positions held by Judge Lacy have been filled with
ability ; with great credit to himself and satisfaction to his constitu-
ents. His standing as a judge is deservedly high.
JAMES W. KELLY.
The subject of this sketch has been a resident of this county
twenty-two years. A practical farmer, a practical business man,
and soundness and substantiality are the leading characteristics of
his organization. He was born in the State of Delaware, January
8, 1S19, and is consequently now in his fifty-eighth year, though
his appearance would indicate ten years less to the casual observer.
His avocation is that of a farmer, and a life-long experience has
made it, with him, a financial success. He removed with his pa-
rents to Ohio in 1827, and settled in Miama county. During his
residence there he married to Miss C. Benham, in 1S43, and for
thirty-three years have they traveled the journey of life together,
with a larger amount of health and comfort than usually falls to
the lot of humanity.
They removed to Illinois in 1854, and settled on the farm where
they now reside. An interesting family has sprung up about them.
Mr. Kelly, in common with other substantial residents of our
county, has served a full share in those humble but very important
and useful positions of school and township trustee, and is a mem-
ber of our county Board of Supervisors this centennial year; a
body that feels his influence, and is benefited by and indebted to his
judgment and practical business ability.
L. M. HILLYKR,
Is a native of New York, and removed to this town Sept. 15,
1 85 1, when this region was somewhat primitive, and Ha-
vana contained less than three hundred inhabitants. His occupa-
tion was that of a plasterer and bricklayer; he was a first-class
workman, and a man of unusual energy and perseverance in the
prosecution of his avocation, his motto being to do with his might
120 HISTORY OF MASON* COUNTY.
what his hands found to do, provided always that it was done well.
For about ten years he followed that avocation with more satisfac-
tion to those for whom he labored than with profit to himself.
About the year 1857 or 1858 he was elected a justice of the peace,
in which office he served his constituents acceptably for a period of
eight years; a position which his sound judgment and impartiality
abundantly qualified him to fill. He was also a member of the
board of town trustees for eight years, a place filled so much to the
satisfaction of his constituents that they continued to re-elect him
to the same position. So satisfactory was his services in these hum-
ble but useful positions, that the people of the county said very
emphatically, "come up higher." This they compelled him to do
by electing him sheriff in 1864, under the old constitution, when
two successive terms could not be served by the same man. He
was re-elected however in 1872, and again in 1874, making four
successive years of service in that important office, with credit to
himself and satisfaction to his friends and constituents, and is the in-
cumbent at the present time.
A personal acquaintance and neighborship with the subject of this
sketch for over twenty years, has, perhaps, disqualified the writer
from passing an impartial estimate and unbiased opinion on the
man. We will hazard the remark however, that we have never
known him to decline doing a favor or rendering a service for the
accommodation of others. This, too, has been done as freely for the
poor (and more so) than for the rich ; and when there was no possible
remuneration or hope of reward.
It has been the privilege of the writer to know of efforts by him
to benefit others that have resulted in pecuniary loss, and that quite
severe. In a private conversation on the subject, he remarked that
"where intentions were all right, there were no one to blame."
But it is to his official career as sheriff that we love to refer.
"He knew his duty, a dead sure thing,
And went for it there and then."
While kindness to all is a predominant law and element of his
nature, that principle of firmness so essential to strict official duty
was its balance. Many incidents have occurred in his long official
career that nothing but his indomitable firmness and strict adher-
ence to duty have made the sequel to his honor and credit. His
official term expires this fall, and he declines a re-election, which
has been suggested by his friends. Active and prompt in the dis-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 121
charge of his official duties, satisfied with nothing less than his
whole duty, a gentleman in his intercourse with all with whom he
has to do, doing to others as he would that they should do to him ;
it is not strange that he has fast friends, and many of them. Enjoy-
ing uniform good health, he bids fair for many more years to enjoy
the good things of this world.
JOHN W. PUGH.
It is with hesitancy that we approach the work of sketching the
history of him whose name is at the head of this article. A man
who delights in doing good to others in a quiet and unostentious
way; that shrinks from publicity and notoriety; of deep religious
character; that prefers that his right hand should not know what
his left doeth; to give to the public our knowledge of his life is a
pleasant and delicate task.
Mr. Pugh is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Luzerne county,
August 5, 1824. He removed to Mason county, Illinois, in 1850;
like many others, attracted by the fertility of the soil, healthful cli-
mate, though at that time not possessing the advantage of churches,
schools, etc., afforded at the present day. He has been engaged in
farming, practically and successfully.
He was married in 1S54 to Miss Sarah Apple, daughter of Major
Apple, of Lewistown, Fulton county, Illinois, hence for twenty-
two years they have together traveled life's pathway, on the bor-
ders of which few have found more flowers or become less wearied.
His official career is alike creditable to his head and heart. Seldom
has the time arrived since his residence in this county that he was
not trustee of town or school or both, as every good citizen is ex-
pected to give his time freely to these non-paying but useful and
indispensable positions. For nine years he has been a member of
the county board of supervisors, and is the present incumbenti
and one whose influence and judgment has much to do in the legis-
lation of the affairs of the county.
He was elected to the legislature and served the last session, and
his term includes the years 1S74 and 1876, Here, as in the county
board, his influence was felt, and his votes stand recorded credit-
ably to himself and constituents.
— 16
122 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The year following his marriage, (1S55) he united with the
Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he remained an honored
and influential member till 1S73, when he transferred his member-
ship to the Presbyterian Church, in his immediate neighborhood,
and for more convenient attendance. This transfer of Mr. Pugh
of his church relations from one organization to another, is only an
illustration of a very pleasant fact, which is this: That as educa-
tion and intelligence increase, the partition walls between church
organizations become lower, and the higher a man stands in ed-
ucation and intelligence the sooner he is able to look over these
walls, and they finally lose their dividing power, and the upper
strata of intelligence and piety find themselves equally at home on
either side of where the walls once stood, as they become invisible .
and crumble away. It is not true that "ignorance is the mother of
devotion," but it is true that ignorance is the mother of bigotry and
superstition; and bigotry and superstition are the foundations on
which rest the partition walls of religious organizations, which are
fast disappearing. It is the pride and glory of this century that
science and arts are moving forward to the annihilation of time and
space; that educated intelligence is at the helm of civil government
(the people) ; that the revelation of God's word and His works are
in happy unison, and science and not ignorance is the handmaid of
religion.
But we digress. We allude briefly to the usefulness of the sub-
ject of this sketch in the Sabbath-school work and the benevolent
enterprises of his neighborhood; and to enlarge on this topic is un-
necessary; we will say, however, that he takes a great interest and
pleasure in these commendable enterprises, and his duty is his great-
est pleasure.
"May never wicked fortune trouble him;
May never wicked men bamboozle him,
Until his head's as old as old Mathusalem;
Then to the blessed New Jerusalem,
With fleet wings away."
J. P. WALKER, M. D.
Dr. Walker has been a prominent physician in Mason county
for many years, noted for his skill and abilities in both medicine
and surgery. He was born in Adair county, Kentucky, April 6,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 23
1826. The family from which he descended came to Virginia,
when it was a young colony, from Londonderry, Ireland. The de-
scendants, who are numerous, are spread over many of the
western and southern States.
The subject of these notes removed with his parents, Joseph C.
Walker and wife, to Illinois, and settled in Sangamon county in
1S30, near a place now called Middletown,in Logan county. After
residing there seven years he removed to Irish Grove, Menard
county, where he died in 1S41, aged fifty-six years. Dr. Walker
then carried his mother back to Kentucky, overland, and remained
there, laboring at four dollars per month for means to enable him
to return to Illinois. On his return he worked on a farm, taught
school, and, as well as he could, unaided, pursued the study of
medicine. In 1S46 he enlisted in Company F, Fourth Illinois Vol-
unteers, under Col. Ed. Baker, and was at the seige of Vera Cruz
and the battle of Cerro Gordo; was a second Sergeant in his com-
pany. On his return to Menard county he was elected Assessor
and Treasurer, and was then enabled again to resume the studies
so congenial to his taste. So sanguine was he in the pursuit of the
knowledge requisite to the profession of medicine, that he carried
medical books in his knapsack during his service in the Mexican
war. His acquirements were finally reduced to system under Dr. J.
G. Rogers, of Petersburg, 111. '
He began the practice of medicine in Athens, Illinois, in March,
1849, but in July, the same year, removed to Walker's Grove,
Mason county.
On July 3d, 1849, he married Miss Martha E. Towne, who died
in 1853. In 1854 he again married. The lady was Miss M. A.
Walker, daughter of W. H. Walker, of Lancaster, Iowa. In 1S57
he joined with others in laying out Mason City, and in 1859 made
this his permanent home. In 1861, under the first call for volun-
teers, he enlisted, and was made Captain of Company K, 17th Illi-
nois Infantry, for which see roster of the 17th Infantry, in the
Military department of this work. He was in the battles of Fred-
ericktown, Ft. Donaldson and Shiloh. He then resigned and assisted
in raising the 85th Illinois Infantry, of which he was appointed
Surgeon, and afterwards Lieuntenant-Colonel, in which capacity
he served till the battle of Chicamauga, when he returned to Mason
City and resumed his practice. In 1865 it was proposed to erect a
monument to departed soldiers, and Dr. Walker was made Presi-
dent of the building association.
124 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
By his present wife a family of pleasant and interesting children
have sprung up ahout them — eight in number — making lively their
pleasant home in Mason Citv.
Dr. Walker is an active and enthusiastic member of his profes-
sion, enjoying an extensive and successful practice, and, like all
men who love their profession, is quite successful. Sociallv. we
know Dr. Walker as a genial, pleasant gentleman; enjoying good
health, he bids fair for a long life of usefulness in his labors to ben-
efit his fellow-man.
JOHN A. MALLORY.
The gentleman whose name is at the head of these notes is not
an old resident of Mason county, but one whose talents and abili-
ties have prominently identified him in the political, the literary,
the legal and the business interests of the county. The writer
first met and became acquainted with Judge Mallory on his first
arrival and settlement in Havana, in the year 1S5S, at which time
he emigrated here from Tennessee, where he had resided for some
years, though a native of Kentucky. Possessed of fine aesthetic
taste, unusual mechanical ability, sound education and a taste for
literature, it is not strange that we find him an artist, a printer, an
editor or a painter. These varied talents he possesses in no small
degree. He possesses poetical genius that deserves a notoriety that
he does not care to admit. Below find a little production of his
pen, thrown off without a moment's thought, July 4, iS^q, and
published in the Havana Gazette the same week:
"To-day's our Nation's Jubilee,
Let every patriot's heart beat high;
From North to South — from sea to sea,
May it- remembrance never die.
Baptized in blood, our fathers swore
No more to bend the suppliant knee —
No more to heed the Lion's roar,
Henceforth to be forever free!
That pledge of freedom which they gave.
In 'Seventy-six. 'mid sword and name,
Their children now should ever save
From tyrant's grasp or despot's claim.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I25
And shall traitor hands e'er sever
The Union hy which our fathers stood ?
No! may its links be bright forever,
Binding firm our brotherhood."
The New-year following he was the successful competitor for a
silver cup, valued at fifty dollars, for the best poem on the new
year. The premium was offered in the city of Memphis. We
have read the poem, and the letter awarding the cup, and asking
by what means of conveyance it should be forwarded to him. The
poem was a lengthy production, very meritorious, and we regret
that we have never been able to obtain a copy, of, on the present
occasion, to extract therefrom. On the breaking out of the rebel-
lion he took active part in political affairs in behalf of the preserva-
tion of the Union, and on the 27th of August, 1S62, was mustered
into the service in the 85th Illinois Infantry, in an official position,
(for which see roster of 85th 111., in another part of this book)
which was filled with fidelity and credit. He resigned February
7, 1S63. In 1S65 he was elected to the office of Police Justice, to
fill a vacancy, and afterwards re-elected for a full term ; served
with great acceptance in this position for five years, when he was
elected County Judge in 1869, which position he filled with such
fidelity and satisfaction that it needs no further comment than to
state the fact that he was re-elected in 1873 by the largest majority
any officer ever received in Mason county.
These continued re-elections by increased majorities is a better
and more eloquent commentary on his official acts than any in the
power of the writer to undertake.
A social, pleasant and genial gentleman, he has made many
strong friends; an active politician of the "straitest of the sect," a
democrat, a member of the County Central Committee of that
party, also of the State Central Committee.
If there is one fact more than another that stands forth pre-emi-
nent and conspicuous where there are many strong points, as a tall
mountain peak rises high in the blue vault of heaven, and is promi-
nent, though surrounded by other mountain peaks, it is his record
as a judicial officer. That record is without blot or blemish. His
decisions do not in the least indicate his individual opinions, but
the law and the testimony. When the surging waves of treason
were lashing against the columns of the colossal Accropolis of the
nation's glory, though a southern man by birth and education, he
126 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
felt it to be his duty to unite with the Union army. When an
odious law is to be enforced, he executes his duty to the letter of
the statute, thus hastening its repeal.
HENRY C. BURNHAM.
The Burnham family is descended from an ancient English an-
cestry. The historical publications of Norfolk county, England,
enables the family to establish an unbroken line in that country,
down through the lapse of centuries to the year 1S1S, and living
men of the name still in England carry the line of succession to
still later dates. The coat-of-arms seems to have existed since the
eleventh century, without modification.
Bv increase and inter-marrying they became scattered over Eng-
land, and prominently identified with Church and State, and, finally,
it became engrafted on American soil. The origin of American
Burnhams is traceable to three brothers, John, Thomas and Robert,
sons of Rupert and Mary (Andrews) Burnham, of Norwich, Nor-
folk county, England, who came to America in 1635. Robert es-
tablished himself at Dover, New Hampshire.
John Burnham acquired large tracts of land, and became a very
wealthy and influential man. His grandson, Ebenezer, moved to
Windham, Conn., and became the ancestor of a numerous progeny. '
He purchased a farm in 1734, located in Hampton, where, until re-
cently, was the old Burnham homestead. In the third generation
from him, or the sixth from John Burnham, Festus Burnham was
born, on the 25th of April, 1796, and was married, in 1S23, to
Lora, daugbter of Daniel Clark. Their children were Lora Ann,
Henry Clark, and Marina, only two of whom are now living,
Lora Ann, widow of James Ashley, and Henry C., the subject of
this sketch, who was born at Hampton, Conn., Jan. 30, 1826, and
who, being the only son, stands at the head of the seventh genera-
tion of his own family. He was educated at home, and furnished
with the advantages of high schools and acadamies abroad. At
the age of nineteen, he settled in Champaign county, Ohio. Here
he engaged in teaching, but afterwards went into a store, in Wood-
stock, Ohio, as a partner. This business proved too confining for
him, and he returned to Connecticut to regain his health. Here he
met, in the meantime, Miss Angeline Currier, who was at one
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 27
time a pupil of his school, and they were married, Dec. 16, 1S47.
She was born in Betheny, Genesee county, New York, Dec. 16,
1S25, whither her family had removed from New Hampshire.
After recovering his health, Mr. Burnham came to Illinois, in the
fall of 1852, and first stopped at Clinton, Illinois, and then went to
Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, and finally to his present locality. Mr. Burn-
ham's abilities and education fit him for any official position in the
gift of the people. His integrity and habits have made him a con-
spicuous member of the community. Being averse to office, he
has not been an office seeker. Our first acquaintance with him
was in 1856, at which time he was a member of the county court
of Mason county, a position of responsibility that his sound judg-
ment abundantly qualified him to fill with acceptance. Like all
other good citizens he has served a full share in the service of the
township and school offices. In times gone by, he has been guilty
of feeding and bidding Godspeed to the fugitive from slavery, with
which this government was then accursed. In 1S56 he was a Re-
publican, and one, of twenty-five, who voted for Fremont, out of
a poll of three hundred. Though ardently attached to the cause
of the union, and ever opposed to slavery, he is now devoid of hos-
tility to those who were our late opponents, and believes in spread-
ing the broad mantle of charity over the short-comings and mis-
doings of the past.
Henry C. Burnham is fortunate beyond the common lot of
humanity, in being surrounded by all that makes life pleasant. He
can traverse his own broad acres, and say :
"Earth has no gentler voice to man to give
Than, come to Nature's arms, and learn of her to live."
GEORGE A. BONNEY.
Mr. Bonney was born in the State of New York, in the year
1S10. His ancestors settled in Massachusetts, during the colonial
period. His grandfather was a Colonel, commanding a body of
State troops, at Springfield, Mass., in an engagement there during
what is popularly known as the whisky insurrection.
Col. Bonney's family consisted of nine children. Luke, the sec-
ond son, was united in marriage with Eunice Hinman, and re-
moved to the State of New York, in 1S02. Their family con-
I3O HISTORY OF MASOX COUNTY.
compile 1111 early history of Mason county, better than myself. With
its more recent history you yourself are well acquainted.
The best part of my life — that portion which should be given to
active business enterprise, was spent in Havana. It was not as
fruitful of desirable results as I wish it had been, for if I had the
ability, which I do not assert, I certainly had not the pecuniary
means to build up a new town in a new country. When at the
age of twenty-six years I landed in Havana from the steamer "Aid,"
the last boat up the Illinois river for the season of 1S35, Major Osian
M. Ross, was living at Havana, a man of means and large experience,
and proprietor of the town, ready and willing, to expend money, time
and influence in building it up. He promised much which I have
no reason to doubt he would have fulfilled had he lived, but death
removed him and left more than half of Havana the property of
an estate with minor heirs, nearly one-half of the town being sold
to a Peoria firm (whose names do not occur to me at this moment)
one of whom soon died, and their portion became also involved in
the affairs of another estate, with no one connected with either try-
ing to build up the town, but both trying to draw from it a support
to live elsewhere.
Daniel Adams and Abel W. Kemp and their families landed at
the same time, all of us having started, with Orin E. Foster and
wife (the late Mrs. E. Low) from Demorestville, in Upper Canada,
to settle somewhere in the great west, and in a warmer climate
than Canada. Mr. Adams, on a return trip to Canada, on business,
lost his life by a ruffianly mate on an Ohio river steamboat, near
Louisville, Kentucky. You know Mr. Kemp's present residence.
You ask the place of my birth: I was born in Benson, Ver-
mont, on the 14th day of February, 1809. Benson, Whiting and
Middletown, Vermont, were respectively my home until my iSth
year, when my father removed to Watertown, New York, where
I was a clerk in the extensive store of L. Paddock, until my 22d
birthday. I was offered a partnership in Demorestville, Canada,
with Mr. James Carpenter, who had been in business there a num-
ber of years, and was well established. I accepted, and became a
member of the firm of Carpenter and Rockwell.
In 1835 I sold out my interest in the firm to my partner and life-
long friend, and took my savings and started to seek my new home
in the great, and the then, far off west.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 131
Of the time and the money which I spent from my slender
means for years, to make Havana and Mason county desirable to
live in, it does not become me to speak. Havana seems to me yet
more like home than anywhere else I go or live; not becavise there
is no other place equal to it in this part of the country, but because
I lived there so long, and because there are so many much less de-
sirable places.
My official positions have been few and unimportant, with per-
haps the exception of County Judge, in which I tried to serve the
good people of Mason county honestly and faithfully to the best of
my ability, for one term. But "that was the day of small things,"
when one man and one clerk, partially assisted by two others, did
so much ivor k for so little pay, and when the county court thought
a prompt discharge of duty and economy in county- expenses were
cardinal virtues, and when taxes were but a fraction of what they
are now ; and yet the county had the same public buildings it now
has, and county orders were as good as gold. Times have, indeed,
changed.
Hoping that success may attend your efforts to publish a history
of Mason county and Havana, from their earliest settlement.
I am truly yours, ,
J. Cochrane, Esq., Havana, III.
N.J. Rockwell.
JAMES M. HARDIN.
In the preparation of this work there is no more pleasurable duty
to perform than to record the biography of those '•'•square built"
men who are physically, morally and intellectually described by
the above term, and of which Mr. Hardin furnished a marked ex-
ample. Free from all pride, show and pretense, whose sense of
duty, is his law, whose word is his bond, the stay and foundation
of any government is in the conscientious integrity of the masses
composing '•'•the people."
Mr. Hardin was born in Maryland, Dec. 12, 1819, and in his
earlier years his education was to labor, and not in books, having
received but six months schooling previous to his removal to Illi-
nois, in 1839, and only three months after that time.
I32 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
His parents not being in affluent circumstances, he worked dur-
ing the summers, thus laying the foundation of his present fine con-
stitution, and, in the winters, when farm labor was not to be ob-
tained, he applied himself to mental improvement, with eminent
success.
I often see the great misfortune many young men are compelled
to endure, the misfortune that they were not born poor men's sons,
and to earn their own subsistence.
On his first removal to Illinois, in 1839, he located in Greene
county; was married in 1S42. He located in Mason county, in
1S45, on Field's Prairie, near the village of Kilbourne, where he
now resides.
For thirty-eight years he has been identified with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and one of its substantial columns.
Mr. Hardin's religious views partake of the same general char-
acteristics as his business matters, that is, whatever he finds worth
doing at all, is worth doing well. Now, being advanced in years,
possessed of a competency of this world's goods, enjoying general
good health, few men have greater reason to anticipate a pleas-
anter future, or more years of permanent enjoyment for some
time to come.
ORRIN E. FOSTER.
The subject of these notes was born in the State of Vermont,
and settled in Havana in 1835. He was one of the colony comprising
Adams, Rockwell, Kemp, and others referred to, in the sketch of
Kemp and of Rockwell in this book.
On the location of Mr. Foster in Havana, he engaged in the
business of hotel keeping, and ultimately bought a farm three
miles northeast of Havana, where he resided to the time of his
death, which occurred December 17, 1S43, at the age of thirty-two
years, one month and ten days.
Mrs. Foster was born in New York. Thcv were married be-
fore their removal to Mason county, in 1S35, and survived her first
husband many years. She leaves four children by her first hus-
band — Judson R. Foster, grain dealer, of the firm of McFadden,
Low & Co., of this city, George H. Foster, Mrs. Jacob Wheeler
and Mrs. Nash, of this city.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 33
By her second marriage, with Mr. Low, there are two sons, Mr.
Anson Low, of the grain firm before named, and Mr. Rufus Low,
of this city. Mr. J. R. Foster and the Messrs. Low are among the
substantial business men of Havana.
WASHINGTON H. CAMPBELL.
Was born in Bath, Mason county, Illinois, on October 12th, 1847,
where he resided until he was ten years old. His father, having
been elected County Judge, removed to Havana. In 185S, his
father, having been elected to the Legislature, removed his family
to Lincoln. He was steady in attendance at school until he was
twelve years of age, when he entered a dry goods store, acting as
clerk and cashier. He remained in this employment for two years.
He then entered the high school, and pursued his studies for near
three years. He then became a student in Jonathan Jones' Com-
mercial School, St. Louis. After completing the commercial
course, he entered his father's store, in Lincoln, and remained there
as book-keeper until the fall of 1866. He entered Lincoln Univer-
sity at the opening of the institution. He remained there until
June, 186S, completing the junior year. During these two years
he was always at his post; was a faithful student and an earnest
Amasagascian, and took part in several of the public entertain-
ments given by his society. He then, with his parents, moved to
Mason City, where he engaged in banking with his father, and
keeping up his studies. In the fall of 1S69 he entered the Law
Department of the University of Michigan, Ann Ai"bor, and spent
one year there. He was very successful in the Moot and Club
courts, and was elected Judge of one of the best club courts in the
University.
In the summer of 1870 he entered the law office of Hon. Luther
Dearborn, Havana, Illinois. He formed a co-partnership with Mi\
Dearborn soon after being admitted. He has been admitted to the
United States District Court, and also to the United States Circuit
Court, in which courts, as also the several adjoining Circuit Courts
and State Supreme Court, he has a large and increasing practice.
Mr. Campbell kept up his studies in the course prescribed by Lin-
coln University, and in June, 1872, the degree of B. S. was con-
ferred upon him, and he graduated as a member of the class of 1869.
134 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
He addressed the Alumni Society, June, 1873. He isdestined to be-
come one of our ablest lawyers.
During the spring of 1876 Mr. Campbell married Miss Libbic,
daughter of S. C. Conwell, Esq., of this city, and resides in their
pleasant home, on the hill, near the residence of his law partner,
L. Dearborn, Esq. Perhaps few other cases have occurred in
which three generations have been so prominently identified with
a county's interests as have P. W. Campbell, G. H. Campbell and
W. H. Campbell. The son, father and grandfather have been
thus identified.
S. D. SWING.
Mr. Swing was born in Bethel, Clermont county, Ohio, in 182 1 ;
moved west in 1840, and located in Mason county, southeast of
Mason City, at a place called Swing's Grove. He here engaged
in farming until 1858. September 15, 1842, he married Miss Mary
Sykes, daughter of Edward Sykes, who settled in Mason county
in 1837. Miss Mary Sykes is referred to in another part of this
work as the teacher of the first school in Mason county.
Mr. Swing, like all substantial citizens of our common country,
has served a full share in township and school offices. For eight
yeai's he was engaged in a mercantile business, and has now two
sons among the prominent business men of Mason City.
For some time Mr. Swing has been retired from active business,
but, not willing to give him entire rest, the people of Mason City
retain him on their Board of Aldermen, where his judgment and
influence are felt and appreciated.
ABRAM SWING.
The subject of this sketch and the preceding one were brothers,
and both noted in the early interests of Mason county.
Abram Swing was born in 1S13, in Clermont county, Ohio, and
came to Illinois in 1S39, and was married to Sarah M. Sikes in
1840, settled at Swing's Grove, and was engaged in farming until
1857. He served the community in which he lived several years
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 35
as justice of the peace. He removed to Ohio for a short time, and
like all others who leave Mason county, soon returned to make it
his permanent home for the rest of his life.
After his return from Ohio he engaged in the mercantile busi-
ness in Mason City, until the time of his death, which occurred in
the year 1866. Being one of the first business men of the city, he
was known and greatly beloved among his acquaintances.
EDWARD SIKES.
The data we have been able to obtain of Edward Sikes is of ex-
ceeding brevity; but his early residence and identification with the
early history of Mason county, scatters his name on many pages of
this book. His home, quiet life, unostentatious manners, and the
surroundings of his early Mason county home, will make it long to
be remembered by residents of that county.
Edward Sikes was born in Maine, and removed to the State of
New York when six years old, and from there to Ohio when at
the age of fourteen. In 1820 he married Miss Jemima Virgin,
moved to Illinois in 1837, settled in Mason county, where he re-
mained until his death, in 1855. His sole occupation was that of
farming, which he made a success. He was frequently called on
to serve his neighbors in the capacity of justice of the peace. It
was at his house the first school was taught in the eastern part of
Mason county, by his daughter Mary, now Mrs. S. D. Swing, of
Mason City. The other daughter, Sarah M., widow of Abram
Swing, is also a resident of Mason city.
These families have been ever prominently identified with Ma-
son county's interests.
J. A. BURLINGAME.
Mr. Burlingame was born in New York in 1819, May 25th, and
in 1S48 he removed west, locating in Bath, Illinois, where he has
since resided. In 1S46 he married Miss Harriet Taylor, in New
York. On the first settlement of Mr. Burlingame in Bath he went
into the employ of Messrs. Ruggles and Gatton, and then with
Gatton and O'Neal. The confidence placed in him by these busi-
I36 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ness firms may be inferred from the fact that he remained in their
employ over twelve successive years.
On the completion of the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville Rail-
road through Mason county, he was made station agent at Bath, a
position he has since retained without a furlough, being the first
and only agent at that town.
Mr. Burlingame's make-up peculiarly qualifies him for the posi-
tion he has so long and so satisfactorily occupied ; satisfactorily not
only to his employers, but to the public with whom he has to do.
A pleasant, genial gentleman, kind and accommodating, whose
strict integrity may be inferred from the positions he has so long
occupied. His amiable lady is by no means his inferior in socia-
bility.
JOHN H. HAVIGH,ORST.
Was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1820, emigrated to America
in 1836, settled at Havana in in 1S37, and has since resided in Ma-
son county ; was one of the persons present at an election held at
Havana in 1837, at which there were but twelve voters in the pre-
cinct — Mr. Havighorst not being of sufficient age to vote. He was
elected sheriff in 1S48, served two years, was re-elected in 185S for
two years, and in 1S62 for a third term of two years.
In 1864 he was elected circuit clerk ; served four years. Between
these several official terms he has been engaged in farming.
Mr. Havighorst has, in all these positions, made a prompt and
efficient officer, as these frequent re-elections testify. Though now
the years have crept upon him, it has been almost imperceptible,
and he yet bids fair for many more. Active and vigorous in his
habits, he is in in no danger of rusting out, and the care he takes
and has taken to preserve his frame in its present vigor, he may
still be expected to keep it from wearing out.
To Mr. H.'s long residence, familiarity with public affairs, and
splendid memory of early events, and his kindness in communica-
ting them to us, we are indebted for many facts contained herein.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
137
LUTHER DEARBORN.
It is necessity, not choice, that compels the system of brevity we
have been compelled to adopt in this department.
Mr. Dearborn was born March 24, 1820, in Plymouth, New
Hampshire, and removed to Illinois in 1844, and settled at Havana.
Was admitted to the bar in 1852, in Kane county. He held the
office of sheriff and circuit clerk. It is superfluous to state the du-
ties of these important offices were performed. What Mr. Dear-
born does not do well and satisfactorily he will not do at all. He
returned to Havana in 185S, since which time this has been his per-
manent home.
The wife of Mr. Dearborn is a member of the the Walker fam-
ily, so prominently known in the business interests of Mason county.
We refer the reader to the history of the Walker family, else-
where in this work. A very interesting family has been the result
of their union.
To speak of Mr. Dearborn, personally, we have ever known
him the gentleman, and a lawyer of unusual abilities, kind and
courteous.
JOSEPH STATLER.
Joseph Statler was born, in 1828, in Miami comity, Ohio, re-
moved to Mason county in 1849, since which time Mason county
has been his permanent home. In 1852, he married Miss E. J.
Cramer. Mr. Statler's business abilities have frequently induced
his friends to place him in those official positions he is so peculiarly
qualified to fill. The records of Mason county show terms of his
services as assessor and county treasurer. In these positions, it is
needless to say his duties were promptly, faithfully and ably per-
formed.
Mason city is his present home, where he has resided some years,
and the people of that thriving and prosperous city have honored
him with the office of city judge. He is also extensively engaged
in the insurance business.
Mr. Statler's residence, on the eastern side of the county, began
when that region was quite primitive, and a very pleasing contrast
could be drawn between "then" and "now." Then, vast seas of
—18
I36 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY,
ness firms may be inferred from the fact that he remained in their
employ over twelve successive years.
On the completion of the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville Rail-
road through Mason county, he was made station agent at Bath, a
position he has since retained without a furlough, being the first
and only agent at that town.
Mr. Burlingame's make-up peculiarly qualifies him for the posi-
tion he has so long and so satisfactorily occupied; satisfactorily not
only to his employers, but to the public with whom he has to do.
A pleasant, genial gentleman, kind and accommodating, whose
strict integrity may be inferred from the positions he has so long
occupied. His amiable lady is by no means his inferior in socia-
bility.
JOHN H. HAVIGHORST.
Was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1820, emigrated to America
in 1836, settled at Havana in in 1S37, and has since resided in Ma-
son countv ; was one of the persons present at an election held at
Havana in 1S37, at which there were but twelve voters in the pre-
cinct — Mr. Havighorst not being of sufficient age to vote. He was
elected sheriff in 1848, served two years, was re-elected in 185S for
two years, and in 1S62 for a third term of two years.
In 1S64 he was elected circuit clerk ; served four years. Between
these several official terms he has been engaged in farming.
Mr. Havighorst has, in all these positions, made a prompt and
efficient officer, as these frequent re-elections testify. Though now
the years have crept upon him, it has been almost imperceptible,
and he yet bids fair for many more. Active and vigorous in his
habits, he is in in no danger of rusting out, and the care he takes
and has taken to preserve his frame in its present vigor, he may
still be expected to keep it from wearing out.
To Mr. H.'s long residence, familiarity with public affairs, and
splendid memory of early events, and his kindness in communica-
ting them to us, we are indebted for many facts contained herein.
HISTORY OF MASOX COUNTY. 137
LUTHER DEARBORN.
It is necessity, not choice, that compels the system of brevity we
have been compelled to adopt in this department.
Mr. Dearborn was born March 24, 1S20, in Plymouth, New
Hampshire, and removed to Illinois in 1S44, and settled at Havana.
Was admitted to the bar in 1852, in Kane county. He held the
office of sheriff and circuit clerk. It is superfluous to state the du-
ties of these important offices were performed. What Mr. Dear-
born does not do well and satisfactorily he will not do at all. He
returned to Havana in 1858, since which time this has been his per-
manent home.
The wife of Mr. Dearborn is a member of the the Walker fam-
ily, so prominently known in the business intei'ests of Mason county.
We refer the reader to the history of the Walker family, else-
where in this work. A very interesting family has been the result
of their union.
To speak of Mr. Dearborn, personally, we have ever known
him the gentleman, and a lawyer of unusual abilities, kind and
courteous.
JOSEPH STATLER.
Joseph Statler was born, in 1828, in Miami cot- Jhio, re-
moved to Mason county in 1S49, since which tirp .*iason county
has been his permanent home. In 1852, he married Miss E. J.
Cramer. Mr. Statler's business abilities have frequently induced
his friends to place him in those official positions he is so peculiarly
qualified to fill. The records of Mason county show terms of his
services as assessor and county treasurer. In these positions, it is
needless to say his duties were promptly, faithfully and ably per-
formed.
Mason city is his present home, where he has resided some years,
and the people of that thriving and prosperous city have honored
him with the office of city judge. He is also extensively engaged
in the insurance business.
Mr. Statler's residence, on the eastern side of the county, beo-an
when that region was quite primitive, and a very pleasing contrast
could be drawn between "then" and "now. 1 ' Then, vast seas of
— 18
I3S HISTORY OF MASON" COUNTY.
prairie grass and flowers; now, vast seas of ripening wheat and
growing corn. Then, the sight was onlv obstructed by the distant
groves, or undulating swell of the ocean-like surface. Now, the
landscape is diversified by orchards, meadows, and the homes of the
well-to-do farmers, whose fine agriculture is a mine of wealth, and
t'the cattle on a thousand hills" are his.
Like others removing to the. west before the day of railroads,
Mr. Statler came overland by his own convevance. At noon they
dined near Prairie creek, and from thereto Lease's grove was with-
out a house, tenanted onlv by herds of deer in the tall grass. The
leading characteristics of the subject of this brief sketch, are sound-
ness and business abilities, a pleasant associate, a good neighbor,
and a gentleman.
MOSES ECKARD.
Xo better representative of the substantial farmer element of
Mason county exists than the gentleman whose name is at the head
of this article. He was born in Frederick county, Maryland, Oct.
S, 1S12, and removed to Illinois in 1843, and settled where he now
resides, near Topeka, in this county. Mr. Eckard was married, in
1S44, to Miss Simmons, oldest daughter of Pollard Simmons, an
old resident of that vicinity. They have raised a family of four
chiiui -ee boys and one girl, all residing in Illinois. His busi-
ness has > farming, and with him it has been a financial
success.
There are few pleasanter homes, even in the beautiful region of
Quiver, than the home, and well cared for farm of Mr. Eckard, on
the banks of that beautiful stream. Quiet and unostentatious in
his manners, and though well on in years, he bids fair for many
more of pleasant usefulness in the community where he lives.
THOMAS X. MEHAX.
It is with pleasure we record the arrival in Mason county, dur-
ing this centennial year, of the gentleman whose name heads this
sketch. Mr. Mehan was born in the City of Xew York, April 1,
1S44; removed to Illinois in 1S57, located at Delavan, and worked on
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 39
a farm until twenty-one years of age ; and were we called on for
an opinion as to the kind of a farmhand he made, we would say,
good; for his physical organization and driving energy would
make him first up in the morning, first in the field, and first home
for his dinner. The common schools were his alma mater,
although he attended for a while Lombard University. He was
admitted to the bar in 1S6S; began the practice of law in Delaven;
located in Mason City in March, 1S76; was city attorney in Pekin
one year, and is the democratic candidate for county attoi*ney of
Mason comity for this coming fall's election. We anticipate his
success, for from our knowledge of Mr. Mehan, we know he ac-
complishes all his undertakings. In Thomas N. Mehan we find
another marked instance of a self-made man. Talented, energetic
and careful ; educated by his own energies and perseverance ; soci-
able and affable in his intercourse with all, of good legal abilities,
fine physical organization, we know of no one with better pros-
pects of usefulness and longevity before them.
COL. A. S. WEST.
Col. West first made Mason county his home in 1S44, having
located in Bath that year, when Bath consisted of two log cabins
and a small frame house, the latter not occupied. When Bith was
the county seat of Mason county, and no court h mty, Cas yet
erected, Circuit Court was held at the house of ^e MWest. He
also served in the Winnebago war, which was then a serious draw-
back on the settlement of the northwestern part of this State.
Col. West is now a resident of Miami county, Kansas. Being
born in 1801, he is consequently now seventy-five years of age, a
marked instance of health and vigor.
Nature has covered him over with certificates of good conduct —
of fidelity to her laws — thus enabling him to enjoy his present
years with the life and vivacity of youth, or "he has eaten his cake
and still has kept it." Col. West opened the first stock of general
merchandise in the town of Bath. Few men have been more
fortunate than Mr. West. Possessed of a competency, and his
family all well settled in life, though bereft by death of the com-
panion of his life's journey, he finds happiness in visiting those old
friends and the members of his family in this State and in the west.
I4O HISTORY OF MASON' COUNTY.
One daughter is the wife of Dr. II . O'Neal, well and favorably
known in this county. Another is married to a prominent physi-
cian in Jacksonville, and a third daughter is the wife of Dr. Chap-
man, an eminent physician in Peoria. A son is a prominent busi-
ness man in Paola, Kansas.
On the early settlement of Mr. West at Bath, a daughter died,
and was the first interment in the Bath cemetery.
The acquaintance of Mr. West and his pleasant family raises
our estimate of the human race. It is seldom we find the talents,
refinement, health and general sociability that we have met in our
acquaintance with this family.
CHARLES P. RICHARDSON.
In gathering material for the present work, we heard of Charles
P. Richardson, the old pioneer of Grand Island in 1S36, who as-
sisted Mr. Lincoln in the original surveys of- this country, etc. We
fixed in our minds that we would meet an old,decrepid man, walk-
ing on two canes, or on crutches, with an asthmatic cough, etc., etc.
But imagine our surprise. We found him, of course, on in year-.
but vigorous, hale and hearty, a model of health and activity, en-
gaged in an occupation requiring the exercise of muscle, of which
he has an abundance. A hand-shake with him wakes you up if
disposed to be dull; a mine of information, a splendid memory, a
pleasant gentleman.
Mr. Richardson was born in Kentucky, in 1S14; moved to Illi-
nois in 1S19, and settled on Grand Island, in the Illinois river, op-
posite Bath, in 1S36, and has resided in Bath for the past nine years.
He assisted the late President Lincoln in the original surveys of
this country and the town of Bath. Mr. R. is a natural mechanic;
has been engaged in the various occupations of blacksmithing,
shoe-making, boat-building and cabinetmaking. Mr. Lincoln and
surveying party boarded with Mr. Richardson during their stay in
the vicinity of Bath. Mr. Richardson was so pleased with the
society of his guests that he refused all compensation for board.
Mr. Lincoln persisted, however, in some compensation being made,
-.; some service rendered, in return, and surveyed Mr. Richardson's
lands for him in that vicinity. During the stay of Mr. Lincoln
and party at the home of Mr. Richardson, a party from Schuyler
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I4I
county came there on a deerhunting expedition, and also were the
guests of Mr. Richardson. Three beds were filled, and the rest
bivouaced on the floor of the one small room the house contained.
Billy Brown, one of the Schuyler county party, had a frightful
dream. He dreamed the world was on fire, an event Mr. Brown
did not feel prepared for, and consequently was much alarmed.
Rising hastily from his bed on the cabin floor, he looked through
the openings between the logs of the cabin walls, and beheld the
fires in the open furnaces of an Illinois river steamer, which was
headed for the shore, near where the cabin stood, wakening the
echoes of the island shore with her shrill whistle, to rouse the men
of the wood yard from their deep slumbers. Poor Billy Brown,
from his frightful dream, half awake, beheld the fires, the puffing
steamer, and the shrieking whistle, so mistook his surroundings as
to believe that Gabriel had blown his last trump, that "the elements
were melting with fervid heat," and the heavens were about to be
"rolled together as a scroll." Billy engaged in very fervent devo-
tions then and there, on his humble cot, much to the amusement of
Mr. Richardson and Mr. Lincoln, and the rest of the company.
The poor fellow was finally brought to his senses, and made to
comprehend the true cause of his alarm. For the balance of their
stay Billy's devotional exercises were not allowed to be long out of
mind.
W. F. BUNTON.
Mr. Bunton was born in North Carolina in 1822, and came to
Illinois in 1S40, and settled in Greene county. From there he re-
moved to Bath in 1842, and in 1843, when the county seat was con-
sidered permanently located at Bath, and a court house erected,
Mr. Bunton put the roof on that celebrated structure. Not only
the county seat has passed away, but also the old court house, to
give room for the handsome and commodious school edifice erected
in its stead.
Mr. Bunton is a good citizen — a gentleman. For many years he
has been in a general nursery business and the manufacture of
wines.
I yz HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ISAAC VAIL.
Mr. Vail is an old citizen, and a citizen of which Bath may well
boast. He is a native of Belmont county, Ohio, and came to Illi-
nois in 1S43, and to Bath two years later, which has since heen his
home. Bath owes much of her improvements and influence to
Mr. Vail. For fifteen years he was engaged in general merchan-
dise in that town, but for some time the weight of years have been
pressing somewhat heavily upon him and having a competency of
this world's goods, he has retired from active business.
Mr. Vail is now seventy-five years of age, enjoys uniform health,
saving with Job of old, "All the days of my appointed time will I
wait till my change come." Our personal acquaintance of over
twenty years with Mr. Vail has been very pleasant.
MOSES MORRIS.
The subject of this sketch is one of whom it is difficult for the
writer to to give an impartial sketch, for the reason that we have
had a long and an exceedingly pleasant personal acquaintance with
him.
"Some books are lies from end to end,
And some great lies were never penned,
Even ministers they have been kenned
In holy rapture.
At times a rousing whid to vend,
And nail it with scripture.
But this that I'm going to tell,
Is just as true as the di'els in hell,
Or Dublin city.
That he no nearer comes oursel's,
Is a great pity." — Burns.
The above named was born in New Jersey in the year 1S24, and
came to Illinois in 1854, and located in Bath three years later, and
has resided not only in the same place ever since, but in the same
house. In his younger days Mr. Morris was apprenticed to the
saddlery and harness business, but splitting leather, making wax-
ends and stuffing saddle- pads and horse-collars, did not satisfy a
strong and somewhat inquisitive mind, hence he became somewhat
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I43
actively interested in the political issues of the day, and an active
partizan, in local, State and national affairs. Though his home has
been in this small and comparatively quiet town, instead of a State
capital or a commercial centre, we have known frequently of his
opinions being asked for and his influence having been felt in places
and under circumstances that those uninitiated in politics would
have little dreamed of. The one prominent element in the charac-
ter of the subject of this sketch that is above the rest, where there
\are many prominent ones, is his kindness and goodness in caring
for and rendei'ing assistance to the sick or suffering of his neigh-
bors. No trouble too irksome, no undertaking too severe, where
the suffering of a fellow-mortal is to be alleviated or in any way
benefitted. He always has time for these duties, and duties he re-
gards them, and with him duty is law. In his intercourse with his
fellow-man he is dignified and courteous, never turning his back on
a friend or avoiding an enemy. His sociability makes him many
friends, and he has, perhaps, a larger acquaintance among promi-
inent men in the State of Illinois than any other person in Mason
county.
JOSEPH S. BANER.
Mr. Baner was born in Warren county, Ohio, 1823, and removed
to Mason county in 1857, and settled on a farm iu Allen's Grove
township, where he resided until he removed in 1S66 to Mason
City. Was made post-master at that city in February, 1874.
Mr. Baner was married in 1S46; has three children living and
five deceased. Mr. Baner has ever been an active politician, firm
and candid in his views, and a republican "after the straitest of the
sect." He w r as a candidate for the State Senate in 1S72, but was
defeated by our present Lieut. Governor; made a canvass for con-
gress before the convention last year.
We have advocated for some years the repeal of all laws requir-
ing official bonds to be given by men elected to office, either local,
state or national, and have always referred to Mr. Baner as one of
the men of our acquaintance for whom we would vote for any po-
sition as freely without an official bond as with it, and we have
never found a man to dissent from our opinion on that subject.
144 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Pleasant and gentlemanly, with all with whom he has to do, active
and efficient in his duties, as an officer and as a citizen he has many
friends.
• A. A. CARGILL.
Prominently identified with the business interests of Mason City,
and consequently of Mason county, is Mr. A. A. Cargill. He was
born at Wentham, Mass., Dec. 9, 1S27, where he resided until
1849, when he removed to Chicago, and from there to Mason
county, in 1S57, and to the vacant prairie where Mason City now
stands with her 2,500 inhabitants, in 1858, and opened the first dry
goods store in that now flourishing city in the same year. On his
commencement of business there, there were but six houses in the
vicinity, three within the corporate limits, and three without. He
has notloeen continuously in business since his residence in the city,
but for the past eleven years has done a very extensive trade in dry
goods, clothing, and boots and shoes.
Mr. Cargill's business ability in the management of his affairs
has secured him a competency, and he lets the world run on quietly
and easily, not losing rest at night for the accumulation of dollars
and cents. He was the first Postmaster in Mason City, was sue-
ceeded by Israel Hibbard, and again re-appointed, at the retire-
ment of Mr. Hibbard. He is at present a member of the city
council. As is usual with the prominent members of every com-
munity, he has served a full share in those humble but useful posi-
tions of township and school offices, where it is all work and no
pay.
Mr. Cargill is a man of fine natural abilities, and of cultivation,
enjovs the respect and confidence of his acquaintances, and his bus-
iness talents are of a high order.
J. M. ESTEP.
Mr. Estep is a native of St. Clair county, Illinois, was born
Dec. 14, 1819, removed to Menard county, in 1820, and to Mason
county, in 1833, being thus not only one of the first settlers of
Mason county, but one of the very first in central Illinois. In
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I45
1S20, when James Estep, the father of J. M., moved to what is now
Menard county, the present great State of Illinois had but few
white inhabitants. It had but just been admitted as a State into
the Union. The Estep family were originally from North Caro-
lina. The writer made the acquaintance of the elder Mr. Estep
more than twenty years ago, or about three years before his death,
and a pleasant personal acquaintance has existed with the sons
since that time, and it is with much pleasure that we record the
very excellent qualities of mind and heart in all.
The Estep family have ever been among our most reliable and
substantial farmers, and best citizens, making the golden rule their
law, in practice as well as in theory.
J. P. HUDSON.
Mr. Hudson was born in 1S05, in Oxford, Mass., removed to
Illinois, and settled in Macoupin county, in 183S; from there he re-
moved to Pike county, in 1S44, and to St. Louis in 1845, but re "
turned to Matanzas, in Mason county, and after a residence there
of seven years, removed to his farm, about five miles east of
Havana, and to Havana in 1857.
After residing in Havana about nine years, he removed to Mason
City, where he still resides, and is serving the people of that city
very acceptably as justice of the peace. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson
(formerly Miss A. Harrington, of Worcester county, Mass.,) were
married in 1S32, and have four children, two sons and two
daughters.
The oldest son is also a resident of Mason City, engaged in a
mechanical business. The youngest is a resident of Fort Dodge,
Iowa, and is engaged in the practice of law. He is a graduate of
Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The oldest
daughter is the wife of R. J. Onstot, Esq., book and news dealer,
in Mason City, and the youngest, a very competent and efficient
teacher, in the schools of Mason City.
Mr. Hudson has the credit of introducing the first McCormick's
reaper ever used in Mason county, and sold the same to Mr. Wm.
Ainsworth, of Lynchburg.
Mr. Hudson has been more than usually fortunate. He has not
grown rich, and has never been poor,
— 19
I46 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
"But has held fast that golden mean,
And lived most happily between
The little and the great;
Felt not the wants that pinch the poor,
Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's doors,
Embittering all his state."
But most fortunate has he been in rearing a pleasant intelligent
family. Education and refinement, with good tastes, and social
position that is not the lot of all.
JAMES K. COX.
James K. Cox was born in Henry county, Virginia, in 1797, and
emigrated to Tennessee in the year 1 8 10, and from there to Illi-
nois, in 1819, and settled in Madison county. From there he re-
moved to Morgan county, in 1822, and to Mason county, where
Manito now stands, in 1S51. He was one of the proprietors of
that town. He died there, in 1S63.
R. M. COX,
Son of James K. Cox, was born in Morgan county, Illinois, in
1 83 1. He came to Mason county with his father, in 1851, and has
always been engaged in farming. He was married, in 1S53, to
Miss A. Malony, daughter of Mr. A. Malony, of Coon grove, is
a well-to-do farmer, has made his business a financial success, and
promises to live long for the enjoyment of the good things of this
world, and the abundance that surrounds him.
O. C. EASTON.
Mr. Easton is a native of Butler county, Ohio, where he was
born August 17, 1829. He removed to Mason county, July, 1S56,
and engaged in the business of house and sign painting. In Sep-
tember, 1S52, he married Miss Angia, daughter of S. R. and M.
Pierce, who also removed to Havana, in the fall of 1857. After
being engaged in the business before stated, in Havana, for a num-
ber of years, he received the appointment of Postmaster, March
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I47
i, 1865, in which position he served near two years, and was re-
appointed, after the office had another occupant for the brief period
of seven months. He also served as city clerk, in 1S70. After a
residence in this city of many years, Mr. and Mrs. Pierce removed
to Waverly, Nebraska. Here, Mrs. Pierce died, June 11, 1S76,
aged seventy-five years. Mr. Pierce survives her, and is aged
seventy-four years.
The business qualifications of Mr. Easton peculiarly fit him for
the position he has so long and so satisfactorily filled. We have
long since claimed to have the model Postmaster, whose patience
in answering unnecessary questions is only equaled by his accom-
modating disposition.
THADEUS WRIGHT
Was born at Deerfield, Mass., in 1760, and died at Wright's
Corners, in Niagara county, N. Y., in 1847. ^ e serve d through-
out the Revolutionary war, and was a pensioner to the time of his
death. He was but seventeen years old when he entered the army,
and was tire youngest of six brothers, who all enlisted in the army
of the revolution, and one of these brothers (Isaac) was a member
of Washington's Life Guards. Thadeus was the father of George
Wright, the subject of the following sketch.
GEORGE WRIGHT, Esq.
The following we copy from Havana Post of April 1, 1865:
"Another aged and respected citizen has departed 'to that bourne
from whence no traveler returns.' The subject of this sketch,
after having outlived his generation, and lived his day, which was
protracted longer than life is commonly desirable, died of typhoid
pneumonia at his residence in this city, on the 28th of March, 1S65,
aged sixty-eight years, eleven months and thirteen days. The
death of the aged, unlike that of the young, suggests reflections
that are usually interesting, whatever may have been the sphere of
life of the deceased. The comparative length of the journey
he has traveled, the number and the variety of the vicisitudes of his
life, point a moral that, like a beacon of greater or less brilliancy,
14S HISTORY OF MASON' COUNTY
should serve instead of experience to those who are measurably to
follow in the same pathway.
"The subject of this article was born in the town of Deerfield,
Mass., April 1 ^, 1796. About the year 1801 the family moved to
Chittendon county, Vermont, where he lived till he was eighteen
years of age. At this time our country was at war with England,
and, with others of his neighbors, he enlisted in the regiment
known as the 'Green Mountain Boys.' We are not farther advised
of his military adventures than that he took part with his regiment
in the battle of Plattsburgh, and continued in this regiment until
it was mustered out of the service.
"At the conclusion of the war he emigrated to western New
York, when, in 1S24, he married the lady who, though now well
stricken in years, still survives him. Here, by persevering industrv,
he acquired a respectable property, but afterwards engaging as a
contractor on the Erie canal, he had the misfortune to lose, through
the rascality of his associates, his entire propertv. It can be said,
to his honor, however, that he paid everv farthing of his indebted-
ness, and with the conscientious satisfaction that he owed no man,
in 1S45 he emigrated to Illinois, and settled in Fulton county. In
1S49 he moved to Havana, where he has since resided. Although
he has taken no prominent part in the business affairs of this city,
vet he has constantly been identified with them, and his fellow-
citizens have frequently testified their confidence in his integrity
and conscientious faithfulness in the performance of every duty in-
trusted to him. Mr. Wright was one of the oldest A. F. and
A. M. Masons in the Lodge at this city. Having been
initiated into the mysteries of that sublime order at the age of
twentv-one vears, he continued faithful to its obligations till the
Grand Master above called him from labor to rest, frequently oc-
cupying the highest offices in the Lodge, and being an officer of
this body at the time of his death. He was also identified with
the Morgan trouble, and was a witness in the legal investigation
made by Hon. William L. Marcy, of Xew York. It is needless
to add that he remained faithful to the order, and lived to be grati-
fied that its principles had triumphed over the malignant attacks of
its enemies. His funeral was attended by the lodge in this citv in
a body, and he was buried with the ancient ceremonies peculiar to
the order. When we have said that Mr. Wright was a good
Mason, we have said everything that need be said as to his char-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I49
acter. His frailties were such as to be easily covered by the mantle
of Christian charity, while his virtues, which were many, should
be entered upon perpetual record."
Over twenty years ago we made the acquaintance of the subject
of the above article, and gladly endorse the very full and impartial
biography there given. Now, that over eleven years has elapsed
since the above was written, we will add further, that Mrs. A. T.
Wright, his widow, still survives, and, though far advanced in years,
'enjoys unusual health, and is an active and efficient exemplary
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a society that has
long felt her influence for good.
ORLANDO H. WRIGHT.
Son of the subjects of the above, was born at Lockport, N. Y.,
April 22, 182S, and made the west his home on the removal here
of his parents, as stated above, in 1849. He chose the profession
of law, and was admitted to the bar; his license bears date March
1st, 1852, and bears the signatures of S. H. Treat and Lyman
Trumbull. Mr. Wright has ever been noted for his legal abilities,
sound judgment, and has inherited from his parents a large amount
of that conscientious integrity that has so eminently marked their
lives ; but stand clear of the witticisms that are in inexhaustible store
in his fertile brain. He was united in marriage Nov. 6, 1849, with
Miss Harriet M. Parmelee, and an interesting family now adorns
and enlivens their present home. The best commentary that
can be made on the business and legal abilities of Mr. Wright is to
state that since of legal age he has been in the service of the town-
ship, the county and the state, as a justice of the peace, notary pub-
lic, county school commissioner, etc., etc.; all filled with fidelity
and credit to himself and friends. He represented his county in the
Constitutional Convention in 1S67, and was an active, influential
member of that body, which gave us the present admirable consti-
tution, which was adopted in 1870. He is now and long has been
city attorney, which, like all other positions he has occupied, is
ably and creditably filled.
It is a pleasure to record him socially a gentleman, popular and
unassuming; kind and courteous to all. Independent in his opin-
150 HISTORY OF MASON" COUNTY.
ions, with due deference to the opinions of others, with prospects
of many years of future usefulness in the community in which he
resides.
HORACE A. WRIGHT, Esq.
Brother of O. H., and consequently son of George and A. T.
Wright, was horn at Lockport, N. Y., April 14th, 1S39; came with
his parents to Illinois in the fall of 1S47, an< ^ to Havana in the
spring of 1849. First went to school in the old school house that
stood in the present court house square. Thomas A. Gibson, now
of Forest City, then teacher.
Like most boys, we find Mr. H. A. Wright prepared to do and
doing such things as presented themselves to him. In 1S55 we
find him carrying mails to the town of Delavan once a week,
among the beautiful prairies, covered with corn and grass, that lie
between here and that town. In 1856 we find him deputy post-
master in Havana, a position he was compelled to relinquish-on
account of health. In 1857 we find him in the banking house of
Messrs. Rupert, Haines & Co., in this city, where he remained
until it closed in 1S60. He is then employed as deputy circuit clerk,
in which position he has been such an indispensable necessity to the
business of the office, that with one brief intermission, he has been
permanently engaged there to the present time.
On July 3, 1S60, he married Miss Josephine Parkhurst, daughter
of Mr. Winslow Parkhurst of this city. A bright, intelligent lit-
tle family have grown about them and enliven their pleasant home.
A long personal acquaintance compels us to record him a prompt,
upright, capable man, of strict business integrity, and a pleasant,
genial gentleman. Enjoying good health, he bids fair for many
years of usefulness in the community in which he resides.
ABEL W. KEMP.
As will be seen by the following communication, the gentleman
whose name is above was an early inhabitant and an old citizen of
Mason county, and very prominently identified with its business
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
1 5 I
interests. We addressed him at his present home, Sparta, Wiscon-
sin, and received the reply copied below:
Sparta, Wisconsin, "June 26, 1876.
J. Cochrane, Esq.:
Dear Sir /—In answer to yours of the 14th inst., I would
say that I was away from home when yours was received, as an
excuse for the delay. I was born August 26, 1S02, at Fitchburgh
Massachusetts, and removed to Havana in 1835.
For any further information I send you an address given at my
golden wedding, two years ago, from which you may find some-
thing that may be useful to you in getting my history.
Yours truly,
A. W. Kemp.
The address referred to above is so good that we will give it
entire, as it would not bear abridgement:
Remarks of W. H. Spencer, at the Golden Wedding of
Mr. and Mrs. Kemp, of Sparta, on the evening of
August 26th, 1874.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, and Friends, all:
Somewhat more than fifty years ago, a young man in Troy,
New York, a little under the medium size perhaps, with blue eyes,
florid complexion, and hair the color of Rufus of England, might
have been seen, like Roger Sherman or President Wilson, when a
boy, sitting on a shoemaker's bench, plying his trade. Perhaps, if
you could have observed the young man, you might have detected
an abstracted, a wandering look in his eyes, while he drove the awl
and drew the stitches. You must forgive him if occasionally he
forgets to wax the thread, or tips over the box of shoe pegs, or fits
the heel to the toe of the boot, for he is thinking, as young men are
wont to think, that it is not good to be alone, and his thoughts are
away in sweet communion with a dark-eyed maiden of 17 summers,
whom he believed would divide his sorrows and double his joys,
would fill his soul with perfect peace, and his home with light and
love. The thought grew upon him; haunted him day and night,
until he said to himself, I must have, I will have Sarah Hagarty for
my wife, for I do love her with all my might, mind and strength.
How this young man managed to communicate his feelings to Miss
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Sarah is not a matter of history. Suffice it to say, that he found
some means of telling her the secret of his heart, as young men are
apt to do.
But the course of true love does not always run smooth. Sarah,
like Clara Peggotty, was "willin','' and Abel, like Barkis, was anx-
ious, but one day when Abel mustered up courage to go up to
Sarah's father and say, "Mr. Hagarty, I love your daughter .Sarah,
may I have her for my wife?" the old gentleman, forgetting, per-
haps, that he was once a boy, or for some reason best known to
himself, replied, "No! not as long as th/s sun rises in the East can
you have her!"
Abel had no notion of changing the course of the sun to please
the old man, but he had no notion, either, of giving up Sarah, and
as Sarah had no notion of giving up Abel, Sarah and Abel private-
ly resolved to give up the whole world, if necessary, rather than
give up each other. The result was that Sarah's father was not
invited to a certain wedding which took place just fifty years ago
this very day, at the house of one of Sarah's married sisters in
Schenectady, N. Y., where the name of Sarah Hagarty was
changed to Sarah Kemp, and Abel Wheeler Kemp and Sarah
Kemp have proved that their love was true, for since they clasped
hands and vowed to love each other and live together, a half cen-
tury has rolled round, and still the bond of union is unbroken, yea
stronger, than when first knit, fifty years ago. It is in honor of
this fact that we come, a band of brothers and sisters, to offer this
semi-century couple our hearty congratulations, with our hopes
that many more years may see that bond unbroken.
And the twain, when made one, started out in life. I believe
they lived for a short time at Troy, N. Y., and afterwards at
Watertown, in the same State. He followed the trade of shoe-
maker, at which he had served an apprenticeship of seven years.
History does not inform us what kind of shoes he made. If his
leather was as sound as his religion, I think his customers never
grumbled of pasteboard stiffening, pan-cake inner soles and split-
leather uppers, sold for best quality French calf. A sound religion
cannot possibly make and sell shoddy shoes for A No. i. As Mr.
Kemp attends the services of the First Independent Societv of this
place, of course, we must believe that he always did turn off first-
class work.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 53
But the wife, in the meantime, was proving herself a valuable
help-mate, for her deft fingers and good taste applied themselves
to millinery work in a shop of her own, and thus she added her
shilling to his, until shillings made dollars, and dollars made hun-
dreds.
In this place four children was born to them — James and Daniel,
living in Minnesota, both present on this occasion; Mary, now
Mrs. Simpson, and another daughter, Elizabeth, who died in Illi-
nois.
In 1833 Mr. Kemp and family left Watertown and went to
Canada, thence moving, in 1S35, *° Illinois, on to a farm in the
bottom lands of the Sangamon river, near Havana, Mason county.
In those times it w r as very fashionable to get the ague and keep
it, and so Mr. Kemp's family, one and all, immediately joined the
company of shakers, and we are told that their faces were of the
color of lemon peel, and their teeth did chatter, chatter, as unceas-
ingly as old Goody Blake's, in the melancholy cynic poem. There
were no doctors in the neighborhood, which, perhaps, accounts for
the fact that they all survived the shakes. In one respect, how-
ever, this family did not follow the fashions, for at that time, when
the houses were all made of logs, and windows were holes in the
wall, perfectly innocent of glass, what did this Mr. Kemp do but
fly right in the face of public opinion by purchasing four panes of
glass and putting them in the aforesaid holes in the wall. Is it
any wonder that his humble neighbors pronounced it one of the
vanities of civilization, and looked upon his house as a proud man's
castle, and upbraided them as being wickedly extravagant, "big
feelin,' " and "sort o' stuck up like?" After viewing this case on all
sides, I am, however, disposed to acquit Mr. Kemp of all shame or
blame, from what I know of the vanity of women, it is my deliber-
ate conviction that Mrs. Kemp herself was at the bottom of that
extravagant idea of getting glass for the windows, and I dare say,
if you could have looked inside the house you might have detected
other similar innovations on the customs of her green-eyed neigh-
bors.
On this farm they had a hard time of it. I believe that he
worked at his trade a part of the time and worked on the farm the
remainder. But working at anything, with ague fits and fevers
alternating, was extremely discouraging. As they had no wagons,
everything must be hauled on sleds, even in summer time. Flour
— 20
154 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
must be brought from St. Louis at great expense, and all kinds of
groceries was so dear, that the cost of supporting a large family
there ate a big hole in the sack of earnings stored away.
There is one bright oasis in this desert time that I must call at-
tention to. However much the ague shook them, we may offer
laus Deo that it did not shake the religion out of them. As proof
of this, I may adduce this fact, that one time while here Mrs.
Kemp, and I think, Mr. Kemp, also, went ten miles to a camp
meeting, and that, too, riding after an ox team. Now, a man or
woman who will do that will unquestionably be saved. They
might have walked, no doubt, but for the sake of religion they
were willing to sacrifice ease and comfort, and ride.
Happy the day when they decided to quit this ague farm. It
happened in this wise. Mr. Kemp was preparing to build a new
house on the old ground, determined, apparently, to fight it out on
that line, if he shook all his life. But when the foundation was
laid Mrs. Kemp came to look at it, and it seemed to her that she-
was looking at her grave. With sallow face and chattering teeth,
she admonished him that she could not survive another year on that
old, billious farm, and begged him to kick the dust of it off his
feet, and pitch his tent where she should direct. Like a good,
obedient husband, he did just what he ought to have done — he left
his farm and saved his wife; he followed where she led.
Riding over the prairie several miles from the site of the first
farm, she pointed to a spot, and said: "There, Abel, is where I
want my house." He alighted and drove a stake there, bought
the land of the government, and built his house on the very spot,
in the midst of one hundred and twenty acres of rich soil. From
that day the ebbing tide in his fortune stopped, and the flow set in.
Health, that had been so long a stranger, returned, and prosper! tv
smiled upon them. The moral is, be sure you get a wife of sound
Judgment^ and then i/nfilicity obey her.
After remaining several years on this farm, he moved into the
little village of Havana, where he kept a hardware store in connec-
tion with a foundry. I believe it was here that he was first made
justice of the peace. While holding this office it docs not appear
from the records (so far as I have examined them) that he ever ac-
cepted any bribe, or was engaged in any "ring" speculations, in
which respect he departed from the custom of many in these latter
days.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 55
While in Illinois, N.J. Kemp and Frances (now Mrs. John M.
Palmer) were born, making in all eight children, three of whom
are not living, John, Elizabeth and Sarah, all of whom died in
Illinois.
In 1865, Mr. and Mrs. Kemp came on a visit to their children,
(Mr. and Mrs. Simpson) in this place, and very naturally fell in
love with our beautiful village, and decided to make it their future
home. Here they moved, and for nine years have lived, surround-
ed by affectionate children and a host of friends.
In religious belief, Mr. Kemp and wife are Universalists, and for
many vears have been constant readers of the New Covenant, but
as they are unsectarian, every liberal movement in religion receives
their sympathy, by whatever name it may be called, while their
charity is broad enough to love and receive the truth which dwells
in all faiths.
Mr. Kemp has been a member of the I. O. O. F. for twenty-five
years. He is therefore a veteran in our ranks — the patriarch of
the family. No one is more regular in attendance at the lodge
than he, and this week he has shown his interest as well as physi-
cal vigor, by riding fifteen or twenty miles to attend the funeral of
a brother.
If he enjoys the social intercourse and hearty hand-shakes which
he receives there, let him be assured that every member of that
lodee feels a welcome in his heart whenever the white hairs crown-
ing the venerable form of Father Kemp, are seen entering the old
lodge room. May he long live to be welcomed there !
Mr. and Mrs. Ke?tip :
Dear Friends — One word to you and I am done. Fifty
years, with winged feet, have glided by since you, a young man of
twenty-two, and you, a maiden of seventeen, clasped each others
hands, and with hearts full of love, vowed to live in love together
till death should sever you. Nobly and well have you kept your
troth. We honor you for it. In the sunshine of prosperity you
have rejoiced together. When sorrow has come with her heavy
clouds, you have bowed your heads and wept together. When
hard trials have borne down heavily upon you, you have not des-
paired nor deserted, but resolutely joined hands and struggled uni-
tedly against them until the storm has past. When sickness has
cast its shadow over your household, and death its deeper shadow,
I 56 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
we have seen you mingling your tears in the shadow of a common
sorrow. For fifty long years you have been faithful, fond and true
to each other as you promised to he fifty years ago to-day. For
your fidelity and devotion we honor — from our deepest hearts we
honor you. And more, we congratulate you.
It is true that three of your children dear, have fallen out of the
ranks, grown weary in the march of life, but you have still five
remaining, who are to you all that sons and daughters could be.
Around you cluster children and grandchildren, and even four
great-grandchildren have already risen up to call you blessed. To
very few of Earth's children is granted such a rich inheritance.
May your hearts be thankful to the Great Giver of all, that the
evening of your lives is made radient with so much domestic hap-
piness, filial affection, social respect and esteem. We honor and
congratulate you on this fiftieth anniversary of your wedding, and
as a token of our esteem for you as a man of integrity, our respect
for you as an honorable citizen, our affection for you as a brother, a
long-tried, true, trusty and faithful Odd Fellow, allow me, in be-
half of many members of our order here, to present you this
cane.
Let its golden head symbolize the fifty golden years that crown
your golden life, so full of honor and joy. It is a staff which you
may lean upon, not as a broken reed, but a staff as strong as the
love of your friends, which will ever bear you up as you walk
through your declining years.
And to you, Mrs. Kemp, in congratulation of this event, and as
a little token of their esteem, the daughters of Rebecca, through
me, present this silver cup, gold lined, and other friends present this
gold watch.
And now, dear friends, may this only be a joyful surprise to you.
May you still live long to enjoy the life that began fifty years ago,
and the society of your many friends, many of whom are here
met to-night to rejoice with you, and when at last the summons is
heard — "Come up higher' 1 — may you hear it calmly, trustinglv,
and obey it as cheerfully as
"One who wraps the drapery of his couch about him,
And lies down to pleasant dreams."
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 57
The following extract from the Bellevue Local JVexvs, published
at Bellevue, Ohio, refers to the family of the writer's father, and as
the paper is published at the old home of the family, is intended
only as local information, but is equally appropriate in the Bio-
graphical department of this work :
CHAT ABOUT THE OLD FOLKS.
THE COCHRANE FAMILY.
Joseph Cochrane, Sr., was born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania,
April u, 1S71. His father, Alexander Cochrane, emigrated from
Ireland when quite young, and settled on a farm in Mifflin county,
where he lived and died, raising a family of 12 children. Joseph,
the subject of this sketch, was the next to the youngest, and by an
arbitrary and eccentric will of his father, he became the owner of
the old homestead, and in the same house raised a family of ten
chilren.
About 1S27, he sold the old homestead and moved to Dry valley,
in the same county. After a residence there of seven years, the
last three of which were spent in western travel in the pursuit of
health, he sold out and removed to Seneca county, Ohio. Bought
a farm of Job Wright, on the Kilbourne road, four miles from
Bellevue, and moved his family there about 1834.
Elizabeth Hooven, his wife, was born in central Pennsylvania,
near Carlisle, April 8th, 17S5, and at the age of sixteen was mar-
ried to James Campbell. By him she had two children, one of
whom died in infancy, and Mary Jane, born December 6, 1806, of
whom we shall speak hereafter. Mr. Campbell died in 1806 or
1807, and in 1808 she married Mr. Cochrane.
They lived together twenty-eight years, and had ten children —
six sons and four daughters. Mr. Cochrane died of pulmonary
consumption, August 4, 1836, on the old farm, and was buried in
the cemetery of the old German Reformed church in Thompson.
He was a man of good business ability and great mental vigor,
and he held many important and responsible official positions be-
fore his removal to the west. These he always filled with fidelity
and credit to himself and friends. An army commission from old
Governor Simon Snyder, dated August 1, 1S14, and a post-master's
commission from Amos Kendall, dated September 1, 1835, are now
in the possession of the writer, neatly framed and standing on a
I5S HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
hall table — cherished relics. He was self-educated, never attended
school three months in his life. This he always spoke of as his
misfortune and not his boast. He was set and determined in his
opinions, which were only liable to be changed when his judgment
was convinced.
A kind and accommodating neighbor, generous to a fault, impul-
sive and sometimes hasty, watchful as to the wants of the poor,
whom it seemed his delight to favor. This description we believe
has the merit of candor.
Elizabeth, his wife, was a model woman, as wife, mother, friend
and neighbor. The ruling element of her nature was kindness.
In her prime of life, she possessed a vigorous, robust organization,
and almost always enjoyed excellent health. She was a model of
good, cheerful, healthful country life. "Her children shall rise up
and call her blessed." She never knew what an enemy was. It
might be asked if she had no faults. She had: they were exces-
sive kindness and charity for all God's creatures. "All her failings
leaned on virtue's side." A deep, religious' feeling pervaded her
entire life.
She died March 7, 1S46, at Fremont, Ohio, and was buried in
Thompson beside her husband. She died as she lived, as calmly,
sweetly and peacefully as an infant goes to sleep. No pain, no
disease; but that vigorous frame was worn out, and gradually gave
way, and her spirit returned to God who gave it. Mary Jane,
her daughter by her first husband, resides in Jefferson county, Pa.,
the wife of Robert Witherow; is 70 years of age, and resembles
her mother, not only in kindness and amiability of disposition, but
also in personal appearance. She has seven children, two sons and
five daughters, also several grand children. Her husband is eight
years her senior. Both have lived to a good old age, models of
rectitude, and "all of the days of their appointed time will they
wait till their change come." All their descendants reside in their
immediate vicinity.
Nancy, the oldest of the family by the second marriage, married
Rudolph Sherck, an old-time fanner in Thompson township. She
had several sons and one daughter. They removed to Michigan,
manv years ago, and a singular fatality has attended the family.
She died in 1864, and all the family are now dead, I believe, but two
sons, who reside in Michigan.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
1 59
Thomas, the oldest son, married Nancy, daughter of Samuel
Clark, a Thompson farmer, and removed to Monroe county, Mich-
igan, had three sons and two daughters. He went to Oregon in
1850, and a few years later sent back for his family, who made the
journey to him by water in 1853. The now reside at Amity, Yam-
hill county, Oregon. He is now 65 years old, hale and hearty.
He and his wife returned for a visit for the first time in 1S75, after
an absence of twenty-five years, and spent the summer among his
friends East, returning in the fall. Their youngest son resides in
San Jose, California.
Rosanna married Samuel P. Clark, a brother of Thomas's wife,
and has a family of fine daughters. They enjoy this world's ways
of wagging along on a farm in Monroe county, Michigan, raising
fine horses, cattle and sheep, and big apples. Her age is 63.
Elizabeth married Philip, son of John Miller, an old resident on
a farm south of Bellevue. She now resides with her son James B.
Miller, Esq., in Bellevue. Philip Miller died at Flat Rock, Ohio,
January 15, 1874. The old farm in Thompson is occupied by
Mary, her only daughter, who is married to Henry Zeiber.
Catharine married George Gear, of Fostoria, Ohio, but during
recent years has resided in Findlay, Ohio. The war made sad
havoc with her family as with that of Mrs. Sherck. Our inform-
ation in regard to them is not complete, but a son and two or three
daughters comprise the family.
William A. is an old settler in Fremont, Ohio. After the death
of his father, in 1S36, he learned the carpenter trade with Benja-
min Moore, in Bellevue, and then went to Fremont, where he has
since resided. He married Mrs. P. Smith, in 1846, and has three
children — Henry, Frank and Rosa. He is now 56 years old, but
time's hand has touched him very gently. He is so very fortu-
nately balanced that he will neither wear out nor rust out, but bids
fair to see many more years.
Samuel, the next son, died in infancy, before the family left
Pennsylvania.
Joseph, named after his father, was sometime in the employ of
Harkness and McKee, in Bellevue, but went to Fremont, where,
in 1S46, he married Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Frederick Rahouser,
pastor of the German Reformed church, in Thompson, adjoining
the old farm, and where the parents are buried. From there he
moved to Tiffin, Ohio. In the spring of 1856 he removed to Ha-
l6o HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
vana, Illinois, where he has since resided. They had a daughter
and two sons, and have six grandchildren. The daughter married
O. C. Town, an extensive jeweler in that city. The oldest son is
also married, and both reside adjoining their parents' home. The
youngest son has been for nearly four years in Pittsburg, Pa., and
during three years was cashier of the Franklin Bank, of that city,
and is now in the employ of Jones & Laughlin, the most extensive
iron workers in the United States. Joseph is now fifty-one years
old. The productions of his pen are extensively circulated by the
Illinois State Board of Agriculture, and the Illinois Horticultural
Society. For six years he has been in the employ of the Signal
Service, and was assigned the work, by Prof. Henry, of the Smith-
sonian Institute, of ascertaining the height above sea of the princi-
pal points in Central Illinois. His tastes have ever inclined him to
scientific pursuits. He was educated in and graduated at the old
log school house near Decker's, in Thompson, at the age of eleven
years.
John R. is aged forty-eight years, and resides at Laporte, Indiana.
He married Miss Francis Young, a daughte'r of Rev. Mr. Young,
a missionary to Iceland, where Francis was born. They have five
children living. He learned the carpenter trade with David Moore
in Bellevue. His wife possesses remarkable musical talents, as do
also the daughters. As is the case of William and Joseph, so with
John R., he refuses to grow old as the years roll by.
Henry H., the youngest son, died in Thompson, December 12,
1846, aged fifteen years. His remains sleep by his parents in the
old church yard. Plain slabs of Italian marble mark the resting
place of those three as they "await the final summons.
This family have long been separated. Mrs. Witherow and
Joseph did not meet for forty years. Thomas and Joseph have not
met for thirty-two years. In two other cases almost equal time
has elapsed since members of the family have met.
Spectator.
ISAAC NEWTON MITCHELL.
Mr. Mitchell was born in Morgan county, Illinois, February 13,
1829. His parents removed to that county from Kentucky in 1828,
at which time Central Illinois was almost in a state of nature.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. l6l
Here he resided until the age of seventeen, when the family re-
moved to Field's prairie in this county, where he continued at work
on the farm for four years more, or until twenty-one years of age.
He then went to Bath, and in the employ of Mr. Beesley until
1S50, and with Messrs. Beesley & Gatton until 1861. He served
one year as constable, and two years were spent steamboating on
the Illinois river.
In 1867 he was elected treasurer of Mason county, and in 1869
was elected county clerk, in which position he served four years.
He was elected Mayor of the city of Havana in 1875, and is the
present incumbent during this centennial year.
He is also school director, and with his associates on that impor-
tant board, Messrs. J. Wheeler and J. R. Foster, have erected our
splendid new school edifice in this city, and advanced our schools
to their present high state of perfection, of which we shall speak
under another heading.
In 1S56 he married Miss A. L. Campbell, daughter of P. W.
Campbell, and consequently sister of Hon. G. H. Campbell, of Ma-
son City, of whom we treat on another page. On the business
abilities of Mr. Mitchell it is useless to comment. The people of
Mason county and of the city of Havana have put on record a
most weighty and tangible proof of the estimation in which his
qualifications in this respect are held, by the positions they have
given him. Nor was these offices given him, a stranger and un-
known, but because he was known, and from his boyhood's days
had been with us.
Faithful and reliable in all the relations of life, of healthful, ro-
bust constitution, he bids fair for more extended usefulness in the
county and in the city where he resides.
JAMES F. KELSEY.
The subject of this brief biography was born in Yates county,
New York, in the year 1830; came west to "grow up with the
country" in 1855, and how well he has succeeded in that enterprise
the facts of his history will best present to the reader. On his arri-
val in this county, a young man with limited means, aside from his
own energies and business abilities, he went into the service of
George N. Walker, then the largest grain dealer and heaviest
-21
\62 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
dealer in general merchandise on the Illinois river between Peo-
ria and St. Louis. Here he remained for some years, discharging
his duties faithfully and well, as has ever been his invariable rule
of business. By judicious investments, made with rare judgment,
a fine property was accumulated. In 1S62 he became identified
with the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville Railroad, and for the past
fourteen years, with a brief furlough required by his private inter-
ests, has that important corporate body been indebted to his rare
judgment, promptness and business tact for successful superintend-
ence. The superintendent of the machinery department of this
road, who is a most experienced and competent engineer, some
years ago made to the writer the remark "that Mr. Kelsey was the
best general railroad superintendent he had ever seen; that his
orders were promptly given, always right, and never cou?itcrmand-
edP As before stated, it was some years ago that this remark
was made. A few weeks since in a conversation with the same
engineer, we referred him to his former remark, and asked his per-
mission to use it here. He gave us the privilege of doing so, with
his re-affirmation of it.
Mr. Kelsey has for several terms been a member of the county
board of supervisors, a body whose deliberations have been bene-
fitted by his presence.
thomas Mccarty.
Mr. McCarty, the subject of these notes, is a native of Cham-
paign county, Ohio, being born there in 1S23. He came to Mason
county in 1837, and has since been a resident thereof, engaged in
farming, which with him has been a great financial success. He
began with one horse and a barshire plow, and from this small be-
ginning, with economy and industry, he has risen to his present af-
fluent circumstances.
In 1844, he married Miss Malinda Wilcox, and together for all
these years they have made the journey of life. They reside in
Mason City, retired from the anxieties and the cares of business
on the fruits of their industry of former years.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 163
J. R. STONE,
Born in Green county, Penn., Sept. 12, 1822. His parents
moved to Ohio, in 1S30, and from there to Illinois, in 1845, an< ^ se ^"
tied at Quincy. From there to Mason county, in 1875. Mr.
Stone is a blacksmith by occupation, and has recently applied for a
patent on a very simple but useful invention, viz: an improved
steel plow-point. In 1869, he married Mrs. N. C. Crafton, of Mt.
Sterling, Illinois.
Mr. Stone is doing a lucrative business in his line, at Topeka, in
this county, and is one of the substantial citizens of that town.
JOHN H. NETLER.
Mr. Netler was born in 1801, in Hanover, Germany, came to
America, in August, 1832, and first landed at Baltimore, Maryland,
but finally settled in New Orleans. He became a resident of
Mason county, in 1835, and returned to New Orleans, in 1836, and
married Miss M. Speckman. They had six children; among them
we best know Henry, the proprietor of the old homestead, south of
Havana. Mr. Netler was one of Mr. Lincoln's assistants in his
earl 3' surveys of Mason county; his education was of a high order,
being a professional teacher, in Europe, before his emigration to
this country. During his residence in New Orleans, he was en-
gaged in blacksmithing, and in Mason county, in farming. All his
undertakings and investments were financial successes, and he died
quite wealthy. He died Dec. 4, 1863; his wife died some years
previous. Mr. Netler's wealth and judgment gave him an ex-
tended influence in the community, which was always on the side
of good.
edward Mccarty.
Edward McCarty was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, July 17,
18 1 3, where his parents were residents at an early day, and where
his father died, in 1829, his wife surviving him, and coming to Illi-
nois, in 1S44, with Edward, and died at their home, near Forest
164 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
City, in June, 1846. When he settled in Mason county, as above
stated, he engaged in the business of farming, his lifelong occupa-
tion.
He was married, in 1862, to Miss Jemima Norman, and had four
children. The life of Mr. McCarty has not been all sunshine, or
all shade, but varied with the vicissitudes incident to this world's
changes.
*e>"
"A life of labor was his lot;
He always tried to do his best."
Industrious, honest, and upright, enjoying the confidence of his
fellow-men, he is now looking back on a life of duties done. He
has for some years past been a resident of Pekin, Illinois.
ROBERT PEARSON.
Mr. Pearson was born in England, April 20, 1834, and emigrated
to America, in 1S38, and at that time made' the southern part of
Mason county his home, and there he has ever since resided, a sub-
stantial member of societv and of the communitv in which he re-
sides. In 1863 he married Mary Fletcher, daughter of Joseph
Fletcher, now of Champaign, Illinois. Three interesting children,
the result of this union, enliven their pleasant home. Although
Mr. Pearson's tastes and his inclinations would incline him strictly
and exclusively to the cares of his farm, his neighbors' appreciation
of his business ability and his judgment, have called him at vari-
ous times to serve them as road commissioner, school trustee, and
member of the board of supervisors, which latter position he has
been elected to three terms, and is the present incumbent.
His position in the community needs no further commentary than
a reference to these official positions, so frequently and so unani-
mously given him, unasked for — the spontaneous expression of
his neighbors' confidence in his abilities and worth.
JOSEPH ADKINS.
The subject of this brief sketch was born in east Tennessee, in
181 2, and removed to Illinois, in 1833, and settled in Morgan
county, where he resided four years, and then removed to his pres-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 165
ent place of residence in 1837, which makes him one of the very
early settlers of this region, and four years before the organization
of Mason county. He engaged in farming and merchandizing,
and after the construction of the Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville rail-
road, he laid out the town of Saidora, and built a commodious
warehouse, and in addition to his other occupations, has added quite
an extensive grain trade. Mr. Adkins was first married in 1S31,
two years before his removal to the west, and again, in 1845, an< ^ a
third marriage, in 1S65, to his present companion.
Like all substantial citizens, Mr. Adkins has served his share as
township and school official, and now, as the hand of time begins
to bear slightly on his once vigorous organism, he has, in a great
measure, relinquished business affairs to the management of his
sons, who are entirely competent for the trust imposed.
BENJAMIN H. GATTON.
Mr. Gatton was born in Kentucky in 1808, and with his parents
removed to Morgan county, (now Cass), Illinois, in 1824. For an
idea of the homes and surroundings of the settlers of Central Illi-
nois, fifty-two yeai's ago, we refer the reader to the "Sketch of the
Early History of Illinois," in another part of this book. From
Morgan he removed to Mason county, May 1, 1841. His business
has been, dealer in grain and general merchandise, at the village of
Bath, and so prominently has Mr. Gatton been identified with that
town that his biography is substantially a history of the same.
Mr. Gatton was the first post-master there on the establishment
of that office in 1842. He has been succeeded by the following
gentlemen, though not perhaps in the precise order named, to-wit:
John S. Wilbourn, J. M. Beesley, — Patterson, Joseph A. Phelps,
— Moseley, John E. Nelms, W. J. Odle, and Isaac N. Weir, the
present incumbent.
Mr. G. erected the second house in Bath, and has since been
closely identified with the place; was at Beardstown in 1831, when
that city had scarcely an embryo existence, and during his brief
sojourn there, served as a justice of the peace. He was at Bath
when the first survey of block fifteen was made by ex-President
Lincoln. A cabin stood on the shore of the river, and was occu-
1 66 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
pied by a Mr. Carey. The old house still is in existence, sided up
over the log walls, and is still occupied as a residence.
A Mr. Smith, a brother of the well-known Marcus A. Smith,
of Sny Carte, was the first county commissioner from this locality.
In 1S49 Mr. G. went to California, and again in 1853, making
these journeys overland.
He was first married in 1S27, and the second marriage in 1835,
and again, ten years later, or 1S45, anc * m X S53 to his present com-
panion.
The official positions of the subject of this sketch have been as
various as might be expected from a man of his abilities, his ex-
tended and somewhat varied experience, and the numerous vicisi-
tudes of a long and active life. In addition to his position as first
postmaster of the town where he still resides, he served in the
State militia as Major — the date of the aj)pointment was in 1843 —
an appellation which has ever adhered to him, and by which he is
still most familiarly known. He has served in all those minor
offices of school, township, corporation and county, and as grand
juror in the United States Courts. In politics, Major Gatton was
at an early date identified with the Whig party, and when "realties-
cat in ■pace' 1 '' was inscribed on the mausoleum of that once invinci-
ble organization, he took a position in the ranks of the Democratic
party.
In all the varied experiences of the above hastily sketched life,
its possessor has been peculiarly fortunate. He has been fortunate
in the possession of a well-balanced mind of great vigor; fortunate
in the possession of a fine physical organization and excellent
health; also, in the habit of befriending all, and having all for his
friends. Though now his years are nearly three score and ten, he
retains the appearance and activity of those twenty years his junior.
The hand of time has touched him lightly.
JOSEPH DONOVAN.
The Donovan brothers are natives of Champaign county, Ohio,
and it was there the parents lived and died. An acquaintance with
these five brothers gives to the stranger who reads human nature a
more exalted idea of the attributes of our common humanity.
Joseph, who is more especially the subject of this sketch, was
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 167
born at the place above named, in 1825, came west in 1848, and
located on the east side of Mason county, and engaged in farming,
and the five brothers have, to the present time, operated quite
largely in that most important industry, and with great financial
success. . Three of the brothers are married and two remain single.
All have operated together in unison for these thirty years. When
these brothers transferred their large interests from Champaign
county, Ohio, to the more favored agricultural region of Mason
county, an aged mother resided at the old home. One or more of
the sons remained in the east during her lifetime, and at her death
all became permanent residents of the new western home.
To record here what partial friends and neighbors have said to
us of these gentlemen, would partake too much of flattery for
these pages, on which we propose to record only facts in the lives
of the subjects of whom we write, but when the acts of men's
lives flatter them, then it is history, and their own lives, and not
pen pictures given by the writer; hence, by their affability and
honorable, upright lives, they have placed encomiums on them-
selves.
LEONARD SCHWENK.
When a frail bark crossed the restless billows of the Atlantic
ocean, in 1854, bearing to the shores of free America, another de-
tachment of emigrants from the fatherland, then, as in thousands
of other instances, they bore among their numbers those destined
under the free institutions of our country to become not only our
most substantial citizens, but most competent officials. Such an
instance occurred in the case of him whose name heads this article.
Born in Wurtembergh, Germany, July 23, 1832, he emigrated to
America in 1854, and located in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania,
where he resided until 1864, in April, when he came to Illinois and
made Mason county his home, and engaged in tilling its remuner-
ative soil. In 1855, as millions have done in every clime and in
every age, he wisely concluded it "was not good for man to be
alone," and brought to his help Miss Rebecca Singley, and right
pleasantly have they made life's journey together. Mr. and Mrs.
Schwenk are both models of mental and physical health, and bid
l6S HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
fair for very many long years of happiness, and the enjoyment of
the good things of the world.
The business abilities of Mr. Schwenk are of a high order. His
first official positions were township collector and school treasurer,
etc., in Manito township. In 1872 the people of Mason county
desiring to place in the office of circuit clerk a man of ability, hon-
esty and worth, discussed the subject very closelv, and placed Mr.
Schwenk in that important office, the duties of which have been
discharged with such fidelity that he is a candidate for re-election.
A pleasant family of boys and girls enliven their home, parta-
king, like their parents, of special healthfulness peculiar to the de-
scendants of that nationality.
DANIEL CLARK.
Mr. Clark was born in Warren county, in 1S1S; removed to In-
diana in 1 82 7, where he remained seven years, and removed to
what is now Mason county, in October, 1S34. At that time there
were less than twenty families in Mason county, and but two
houses in Havana.
(The reader will please see article on Salt Creek Township.)
In 184S Mr. Clark married Miss Abigail Chase. His principal
occupation has been farming. When he located on Salt Creek the
country was nearly all in a state of nature, not one thousand acres
had yet been entered in Mason county. Mr. Clark has been one
of the substantial men of the county, and served a full share in the
school and township offices, commissioner of highways, etc.
Though not rich he is possessed of a competency, and feeling
that he had done his share to make the world better since his resi-
dence in it, he has retired from active labor, and since 1S74 his
home has been in Mason City.
Twenty years ago the writer lost his way on the Salt Creek
bottoms, overtaken by a very dark night. About twelve o'clock
we found the home of Mr. Clark, and were glad to receive his
kind hospitalities for ourself and team. His kindness to us has
since then been a pleasant recollection.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 69
E. A. WALLACE.
Mr. Wallace was born at Antrim, New Hampshire, June 7, 1S43.
Graduated at Henrriker Academy, Henniker county, N. H., and
from Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass., June, 1867: admit-
ted to the bar at Boston, Mass., June, 1S67; commenced the prac-
tice of law Nov. 4th, 1867, at Havana, Illinois, as partner of Hon.
Lyman Lacy. Married Dec. 27, 1869, to Miss Gertrude Lightcap,
daughter of H. W. Lightcap, then of this city.
It is only necessary further to state that Mr. Wallace is a rising
young attorney, of fine abilities, and an extensive and increasing
practice.
E. B. HARPHAM.
Dr. Harpham was born in the city of Philadelphia, in the year
18 14, and removed to what is now Ohio county, Indiana, in 1819,
and from there to Mason county, Illinois, locating at Havana, in
November, 1S44, or three years after the organization of Mason
county. He has since then, and until the past few years, been
actively engaged in the practice of medicine, and since 1S56 inter-
ested in the drug business in Havana. He was county school com-
missioner several years and president of the first board of trustees
of the town of Havana.
We are handed by Dr. Harpham the original list of the inhabit-
ants of Havana, when a canvass was made in 1S4S, when the peo-
ple were called on to vote for or against incorporation, which we
shall copy in the history of Havana. He also hands us the original
draft of the first ordinance passed by the town trustees after incor-
poration, and a list of the subscribers, and the amount subscribed,
and the amount paid by each of the subscribers to the Illinois River
Railroad, now the P., P. & J. R. R. Since his residence in Mason
county his interests have been very prominently identified with the
public welfare; being a large property holder, and his experience
and business abilities have given his opinions great weight in the
community where he resides.
Did space permit we might enlarge to any extent on the inci-
dents and experience of Dr. Harpham in the early history of his
— 22
170 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
practice in this country, but we must forbear. Having by rigid
economy accumulated a large fortune, he is now living in its quiet
enjoyment, in a fine home, corner of Main street and Broadway.
Though well advanced in years, the hand of time has touched him
kindly, and he bids fair for great longevity and a ripe old age.
SELAH WHEADON.
Mr. Wheadon was born in Mendon, Monroe county, N. Y.,
November 29, 18 19; emigrated with his father to Ashtabula, Ohio,
in 1 S3 1, where he resided until 1S35, and started for Illinois June 1,
of that year. They made the trip by land to Wellsville, on the
Ohio river, where thev embarked on board a steamer for the then
distant city of St. Louis, and re-embarked for the Illinois river and
Havana, where the} r landed June 15, 1S35. The financial condi-
tion of the family was at this time at low ebb, and without the
means to liquidate a hotel bill, the family were rendezvoused in the
old log school house, near where the northwest corner of the court
house square now is, to remain until he could return from Water-
ford with teams to remove them to Lewistown.
Havana was then known as Ross' ferry. An old block house,
for defense against the Indians, stood a little back from the river,
where Market street now is, and a few cabins among the black-
jacks, formed the town. Mr. Asa Langsford, the only resident of
Waterford, sent a team of three or four yoke of oxen, to convey the
family to Lewistown. The water was so high on Spoon river and the
Illinois bottoms as to swim the oxen in some of the sloughs. He
resided on a farm between Waterford and Lewistown from the
fall of 1S35 until the spring of 1854. He was married at Havana,
October iS, 1S47, to Francis Howard, who died in 1S51- In 1S53
he married Mary Howard, who died in 1S56. May 2, 185S, he
married Cassandra M. McConnell, who died March 7, 1S69.
December 8, 1870, he married Mrs. Elizabeth Hezlep. He joined
the Presbyterian church in Lewistown, in 1S41 or '42, and was
expelled for heresy in 1S51. Attended the Illinois College, in
Jacksonville, in 1S42 and '43, one term. Had previously studied
Latin at home, going four miles on foot to recite. Commenced
preaching the universal salvation of all men, October 24, 1851, at
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 171
Matanzas. Taught his first school in Waterford, in 1844, and was
the first town clerk of that locality. April 3, 1850, he was elected
justice of the peace. In 1852 he taught school in Springfield for a
short time as a supply. In April, 1854, he came to Havana, and in
December, 1855, commenced book-keeping for Moore, Pratte &
Cheek. Organized a Universalist church at Havana, March 1,
1S56, of ten members, which soon increased to twenty-three; has
since then organized seven or eight others, and held about the
same number of religious discussions.
In April, 1S57, he commenced clerking in the drugstore of Dr.
E. B. Harpham ; was elected trustee of Havana on a temperance
ticket in 1857, and was appointed county school commissioner the
same year to fill a vacancy.
He was elected supervisor from Salt Creek township, and justice
of the peace in 1S63; moved to a farm south of Havana in 1864.
In 1866, May 2d, he bought the " Volunteer 1 '' printing office of
W. W. Stout, and began the publication of the '•'•Democratic True
Unionist" In 1870 he consolidated, it with the "Ledger" and
called it the '•'•Democratic Clarion" This publication still con-
tinues in the charge of Mr. Wheadon, an able exponent of the
principles of the democratic party, and of which we shall speak at
length under another head. The experience of Mr. Wheadon,
like all pioneer residents, has been quite various, but his abilities
and versatility of talents has been his stay. Fine, natural abilities
and a liberal education, and taste for literature, makes him, editor-
ially, financially and politically, successful.
J. B. PAUL, M. D.
Dr. Paul was born in Solon, Maine, April 30, 1823. and received
his education at an Academy in that State. Was principal in the
public schools, in Houston, in i846-'7; in Calais, in i847-'S; and
in a ward school, in Bangor, Maine, in 1 S48-'9-'5o.
On account of ill health (bronchitis, and apparently incipient
phthisic) he emigrated to the west, in 1851. Was principal of the
Fourth Ward School, in Peoria, Illinois, from 185 1 to '55, during
which time his attention was turned to medicine and surgery, as a
life business. Came to Mason county, in 1855, and was instrumen-
I72 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
tal in bringing order out of chaos in the public schools of Havana,
over which he presided during the years 1S55— '6— '7.
Having received the degree of M. D., from Rush Medical Col-
lege, he opened an office in Havana, the following summer, for the
practice of medicine. He was married, in Dexter, Maine, in 1848,
to Miss Lovina G. Lawton, and an unusually bright and interest-
ing family enliven their pleasant home. Dr. Paul and wife became
identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1858, and now
constitute its strength and stay, The Doctor's experience fur-
nishes another illustration of "that where there is a will, there is a
way." He left home at the age of sixteen years, with a worldly
estate of ninety-three cents. We find him to-day, well-to-do, self
educated, and a valuable experience, with medical and literary abil-
ities attained to but by few.
WILLIAM A. BARTHOLAMEW,
Was born Sept. 14, 1842, at Zanesville, Ohio. His ancestors
were French Huguenots during the religious persecutions of the
sixteenth century; left the vine-clad hills of sunny France, and
their youthful home, and with an abiding faith in an over-ruling
Providence, entrusted themselves and their families to the mercy of
the winds, and the waves of the mad Atlantic. With their faces
toward the setting sun, they sought and found an Asylum, in
happy, free America, where they were free from religious perse-
cution. Thev settled in the State of Maryland. The branch of
the family to which our subject belongs, settled at an early day in
western Ohio.
In the fall of 1S52 his father came with his family to Montgom-
ery county, Illinois, but returned to Ohio the following autumn.
In the spring of i860 he moved with his family to Cape Girardeau,
Missouri. The spring of 1S61 found them again in Ohio, when
William A., in his eighteenth year, enlisted under the first call for
troops, and was mustered in on the 2 2d of April, 1S61. He re-
mained in the army until 1864, and saw service under Generals
Bucll, Rosecrans and Sherman, and was in some of the hardest
fought battles of the war, and, on his individual merit, made his
way from the ranks to Captain.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 73
He entered the Sophomore class, of 1866, at Wittemberg Col-
lege, at Springfield, Ohio, and graduated with the class, in 1869.
The third of July, that year, found him in Mason City, Illinois.
That fall he registered himself a law student, with Isaac R.
Brown, Esq., of that city. At that time some friends, in Ohio, de-
sired him to look after their interests in California. The offer was
too tempting to meet with opposition on his part, so Blackstone
was laid aside for awhile, and in October, 1870, he was admiring
the sublime and the beautiful scenery of the Pacific slope. Stop-
ping in Kansas, on his return from California, he became ac-
quainted with and married Miss Lillie, daughter of Hon. George
H. Strouse, of Pennsylvania.
In September, 1873, he was back in Mason City, and again took
up Blackstone, in the office of Mr. Brown. He was admitted to
the bar, in June, 1875, and formed a co-partnership with Mr.
Brown, for the practice of law, in Mason City. He is personally
a man of pleasant address, a fluent speaker and writer, a rising
young attorney, with a rapidly increasing practice, and bids fair to
become a leading attorney in central Illinois.
PETER A. THORNBURGH.
Mr. Thornburgh was born in 18 15, in the State of Maryland,
came west in 1839, and located in Fulton county, and removed to
Havana, in 1842. It then contained eight families. Here he en-
gaged in blacksmithing, the first permanent shop in the place.
About ten years ago he removed about six miles southeast of Ha-
vana, and became proprietor of the town of Peterville, where he
now resides, and for some years has been engaged in farming.
He was married, in 1842, to Leah, daughter of James Milleson,
an aged citizen of Fulton county, who still survives, at eighty-
eight years of age. Mr. Thornburgh has served time immemorial
in township and school offices, commissioner of highways, etc.
He has long been identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and has all the official positions pertaining thereto. He enjoys
good health, and the promise of a long life of usefulness.
174 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
STEPHEN HOLE.
Stephen Hole was born on the site of the present city of Cincin-
nati in the year 1796. He was the son of Daniel Hole, a Revolu-
tionary soldier. His mother's maiden name was Bedell. In early
life Stephen Hole became a citizen of Warren county, Ohio, where
he was married to Mary Eddy. While quite young he was a vol-
unteer in the war of 181 2, and received a land warrant for services
in the army, with which he entered eighty acres of land in Mason
county. He removed from Warren county, Ohio, to Washington
county, Indiana, in 1S20. In 1S33 his first wife died, leaving six
surviving children, viz: James H., Joseph E., Daniel P., Phoebe E.,
John X. and Mary A.
Soon after this he married Luanda Mitchell, who survives him,
an honored and respected resident of Mason county.
Stephen Hole was an active and enterprising farmer in Indiana
for thirty-six years; was elected sheriff of his county several times,
was universally respected for his upright character, genial disposi-
tion and sound judgment. There were born to him by his second
wife six children, that lived to maturity, viz: Thomas A., William
H., Sarah E., Louisa M., Robert M. and Kate.
In 1856 he removed to Mason county, Illinois, where several of
his children had preceded him. Here he resided until his death, in
1S73. He was a man whom to know was to admire.
JAMES H. HOLE.
James H. Hole was born in Warren county, Ohio, in the year
18 1 8. With his father's family he removed to Washington countv,
Indiana, in 1S20; received a good common school education. When
seventeen years old, and for several years after, taught the winter
school in his neighborhood. In 1S37 visited his mother's family,
the Eddy's, at Lebanon, Ohio, and clerked in the store for them.
In 1S40 was married to Mary D. Wible, by whom he had nine
children, eight of whom are now living.
In 1846 James H. Hole and family, Joseph E. Hole and wife,
and Daniel P. Hole, moved into Salt Creek township, Mason
county, Illinois. March 1, 1S48, he moved to Havana, and started
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 75
a store in connection with Abram Swing, since deceased, under the
firm name of Holt & Swing. This business arrangement only
continued a few months, when Mr. Hole sold out to Mr. Swing.
Soon after this he was elected justice of the peace. While holding
that office he was employed as salesman and book-keeper by Walker
& Hancock, who were at this time the largest dealers in merchan-
dise, grain, etc., in Mason county.
About the year 1851 he commenced business with his brother
Daniel P. This firm did a large business, both in grain and mer-
chandise, for seven or eight years, and these brothers were connected
in their business relations until the close of the war, in 1865.
In 1S54 Mr. Hole was elected sheriff, which office he filled cred-
itably. He was a candidate for a member of the constitutional
convention of 1862, but was defeated. In 1S62 he commenced
buying corn for the government contractor. He continued in this
business until the close of the war, in 1865, buying an immense
amount of grain.
In 1S65 he and his son Henry F. became connected in business,
and in 1867 his son-in-law, Thomas Jones, was added to the firm.
From 1867 to 1S70 they carried on the merchandise, grain and
milling business. In September, 1S71, James H. Hole died, regret-
ted by all good men who knew him. For more than twenty years
he had been a leader in every public enterprise for the benefit of
Mason county.
He was a director of the Illinois River Railroad Company (now
P., P. and J.) while it was being built; was one of the board of
directors that selected the beautiful site and built the old school
house. His voice and means were always on the side of morals,
education and advancement. He made the first republican speech
ever made in Mason county. Gentlemanly, cordial and generous,
he died poor. None of the vast amounts of money he had handled
remained unto the end.
His widow, Mrs. Mary D. Hole, with the three youngest chil-
dren, reside on a farm in Thayer county, Nebraska. The oldest
son, Henry F. Hole, is a book-keeper at Fairbury, Nebraska. The
oldest daughter, Mrs. M. Jones, wife of Thomas Jones, resides at
Lincoln, Nebraska. The second daughter, Mrs. Pollie Keith, has
just returned from Assam, India, with her husband, the Rev.
Thos. J. Keith, where, for the past five years, they have been suc-
cessful missionaries of the American Baptist Missionary Union.
176 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The third daughter is Mrs. Hattie Whitaker, wife of Capt. S.
Whitaker, of Havana. The fourth daughter, Miss Clara, an ac-
complished teacher, has just finished her second year as principal
of the school at Belvidere, Nebraska.
JOSEPH E. HOLE.
Joseph Eddy Hole was born in Washington county, Indiana,
about 1 821; received a good common school education; was re-
markable for his steady character, good habits and keen mind.
He was married in 1846 to Miss Clotilda Green. Immediately
after his marriage he removed to Mason county, Illinois, residing
for a year or more on a farm owned by Daniel Clark, (an uncle by
marriage.) He soon acquired a half section of land about two
miles south of the present site of Mason City. He was elected
justice of the peace. He was a man noted for his correct decisions,
and among his neighbors was highly respected. He died in 1S55,
leaving a widow and three children, all now living. The oldest
child is now Mrs. E. Everest, residing with her husband and her
mother on a part of the land owned by Mr. Hole at the time of his
decease.
DANIEL P. HOLE.
Daniel P. Hole was born in Washington county, Indiana; came
to Mason county in 1846. His first enterprise was making brick
in the Salt Creek bottom. Afterwards returned to Indiana for
several years, and was employed by his father, Stephen Hole, in a
large steam saw-mill. About 1851, returning to Illinois, he en-
gaged in business at Havana with his brother, James II., under the
firm name of J. H. & D. P. Hole. This relation continued, in one
way and another, until 1865. After which, for several years, Mr.
Hole conducted a very successful merhandise business on his own
account. May he live until the next centennial, as much respected
as lie has been in the past. He was married to Miss Dollie
Taylor. The fruit of this union is three children.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 77
JOHN N. HOLE.
John Newton Hole was born in Washington county, Indiana;
came to Havana about 1S52. Afterwards returned to Indiana, and
again to Mason county after the death of his brother, Joseph E.
Hole. He settled his brother's estate, and continued a store on his
place for some time. Was engaged in farming for several years.
In 1862 he enlisted in Co. K, 85th Illinois Volunteers, and was
elected Orderly Sergeant. Took part in the battle of Perryville,
Ky., but his health failing, he was discharged from the service. In
1S63 he commenced buying grain at Bath, where he resided until
1S73. He was in active business there all the time, and was highly
respected for his uprightness, sound judgment, and general ex-
emplary character. Married in 1S64 to Miss Jennie Lester; has
one child, Miss Emma, now eleven years old. In the fall of 1S73
he removed to Belvidere, Nebraska. There, as might be expected,
he is quite popular with all classes.
THOMAS A. HOLE.
Thomas Alexander Hole was born in Washington cov ity,
Indiana; removed with his father to Mason county in 1856. Mar-
ried the same year to Miss Eliza Snyder, by whom he has three
children living. Engaged in farming, he has not been brought so
prominently before the public as some other men, yet is much re-
spected for his modest manners and unobtrusive ways. There
would be fewer failures in business and less complaint of the times
being out of joint if more men were like Tom Hole.
WILLIAM H. HOLE.
William Harmon Hole was born in Washington county, Ind.;
removed with his father to Mason county in 1S56. A farmer by
nature, he has always followed it. In 1S62 he enlisted in Co. K,
85th regiment Illinois Volunteers, and served until the close of the
war. Went with the regiment through to the sea on Sherman's
historic march. Always with his company, his tall form and broad
— 2 3
'7 8
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
breast must have been a fair mark for rebel bullets, yet he came
home unscarred. He was married in 1865 to Miss Becca Dieffen-
bacher. Several children bless this happy union.
Miss Phebe Ellen Hole resides with her widowed step-mother,
on the old homestead, four miles from Havana.
Miss Mary Ann Hole occupies her residence in Havana.
Miss Sarah E. Hole married James Covington, and bore him
several children, two of whom, Will and Stephen, are now living.
Mrs. Covington died in 1869.
Miss Lou. M. Hole was married in 1862 fto Robert Lofton.
After Mr. Lofton's return from the army, he removed with his
family to Livingston county, Illinois. Afterwards to Ford county,
where he died in 1S75, leaving Mrs. Lofton and several children to
survive him. Mrs. Lofton has recently removed to the old place
in Mason county.
Miss Kate Hole married Capt. S. Whitaker, but died in 1S70,
much regreted.
Robert M. Hole died in 1S56, aged seventeen years.
NO. CHILDREN.
Stephen Hole 12 children
James H. Hole S children .
Jos. E. Hole 3 children . .
D. P. Hole
3 children,
T. A. Hole 3 children
W. H. Hole.
children
Mrs. Covington 2 children . .
Mrs. Lofton 5 children . .
John N. Hole 1 39-f 1 =^o-\-
GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN.
,H. F. Hole 5 children
. Mrs. Jones 2 children
.Mrs. Keith 1 child.
.Mrs. Whitaker. ..1 child.
. Mrs. Everest 2 children
. C. C. Hole 1 child.
12 = 52
ALMOND JONES.
The subject of this sketch is a well-to-do, unostentatious farmer,
residing in the vicinity of the well-known locality of McHarry's
mill. Prominent among his neighbors are Peter Ringhouse,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I 79
Aaron Pollard, Pollard Anno and Charles Howell. The McHar-
ry mill site before referred to, was entered and improved by Julius
Jones, the father of Almond, and some years deceased, and sold to
McHarry about the year 1846.
It is the purpose of this personal sketch to note the prominent
characteristics of the individuals to which they refer, and to hand
down to the future, those who now stand prominent as citizens of
our county, and representative men. To describe the character of
the individual whose name is at the head of these notes, our first
impress is set forth briefly in three words, to- wit: an honest man.
Comment would be useless verbiage, superfluous and unmeaning.
We will close this brief note by a quotation addressed to the sub-
ject of these remarks, ziz:
"Pardon the freedom I have taken,
And if impertinent I've been,
Impute it not, good sir, to one
Whose heart ne'er wronged you,
But to his utmost would befriend
Aught that belonged to you."
ISAAC R. BROWN, Esq.
Mr. Brown was born in Burlington county, N. J., Sept. 1842.
His paternal ancestry came from Scotland; his mother's family
is of English extraction, and came to America with William Penn.
In 1856 Mr. Brown came with his parents to Tazewell county,
Illinois, and from thence, in the spring of 1864, to Mason county.
He enlisted in the Union army during the war of the rebellion,
and as a soldier acquitted himself with credit. When the Goddess of
Peace had spread her wings over our undivided Union, and our
citizen soldiers laid aside the habiliments of war, to don those of
peace and home, we find Mr. Brown a student of the laws of the
country in whose service he had been on the tented field. He read
law with Hon. Charles Turner, of Pekin, Illinois, and was admit-
ted to 'the bar in November, 1867. He then located at Mason
City, where he has since resided.
Mr. Brown is another instance, so frequently met with in this
country, where the way to advancement is open and free to all ; of
a self-made man, with no other resources but his own indomitable
l8o HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
energies and persevering will, to aid his naturally fine legal mind,
he has established an enviable reputation. There are few young
attorneys in Central Illinois who have made a fairer record.
WILLIAM M. GANSON.
It is with diffidence that we attempt to lay before a reading
intelligent public, the character of a gentleman whose native mod-
esty and worth shrinks from notoriety, and whose tastes and inclin-
ations lead him only in the line of duty, public or private, in what-
ever position he may be called to fill. Such is the case, however,
with the subject of this sketch; and such is the model we would
present, worthy of the imitation of all. He was born in Cham-
paign county, Ohio, October 22, 1S3S; came to Illinois in 1858,
and permanently located in Mason county, in the vicinity of Mani-
to, in 1859, and engaged in farming, and in the purchase of grain
at the town of Manito.
Mr. Ganson served two terms as justice of the peace at that
place, and a member of the county board of supervisors for four
years. In the fall of 1873 he was elected county clerk of Mason
county, which important office he still holds. It is a work of super-
ogation to add that the duties pertaining to these offices, have been
faithfully and unostentatiously discharged.
He was married in 1859, October 2d, to Miss Mary Rawalt, and
since installment in his present official position, has made his resi-
dence in Havana.
May "Through a long life his hopes and wishes crowned,
And bright in cloudless skies his sun go down;
May bliss domestic smooth his private path,
Give energy to life, and soothe his latest breath."
SAMUEL H. IXGERSOLL.
Prominent for many years in the business interests of Forest
City and of Mason county, has been the individual whose name
heads this sketch. He was born in 1828, in Medina county, Ohio.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. iSl
In 1S49 he went from Cleveland, Ohio, to California, and remained
there until 1855, when he came to Mason county, which has since
been his home.
He married in 1S59 to Miss Lois A. Van Orman, of Ohio, and
their very pleasant home ornaments the side of one of those beau-
tiful undulations or prairie swells south of Forest City. His busi-
ness has been farming and milling, and his rare judgment and busi-
ness tact has made both financial successes. He has been called
by his neighbors to serve them at various dates and in various
humble but useful home offices, in township and schools ; but it has
been in continued re-elections and long and efficient service on the
county board of supervisors that his judgment and influence
have been most useful to the people of Mason county.
Mr. Ingersoll is one of those rare combinations of pleasant, gen-
ial sociability, and square, rigid, frank business talent. The orna-
mentations that surround their tasteful residence indicate refinement
and aesthetic cultivation, the more valuable on account of its rarity.
Mr. Ingersoll is the artificer of his own fortune; self-reliant and
prudent, consequently successful, illustrating the fact that the shad-
ows that cross the pathway of our lives are those we make by
standing in our own light."
SAMUEL C. CONWELL, Esq.
Mr. Conwell has been engaged in the practice of law in Havana
for a long term of years, and perhaps as well known throughout
our county as any other member of that profession. He was born
in the State of Deleware, August 27, 1819. Came west, and
located at Havana, in 1S40, and has since been a resident thereof.
In December, 1841, he married Miss Mary A. Walker, daughter
of James Walker, of Walker's Grove, at an early date. He was
admitted to the bar, January 27, 185 1; his license was signed by
Judges Treat and Trumbull.
During a residence in Indiana, previous to his removal to Illinois
he was a neighbor to, and also graduated with, Gov. Hendricks
the present Democratic candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the
United States. Mr. Conwell is an extensive land owner in this
county, and has served as county school commissioner several
[82 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
terms. His family consists of four daughters and a son, viz : The
wife of J. F. Kclscy, the wife of Fred. Pollitz, merchant of this
city, and the wife of W. H. Campbell, Esq., and a daughter at
home.
CHARLES COXWELL,
The son above referred to, was born in 1852, in Havana, mar-
ried, in 1S74, to Miss May Stevens, of this city. Was admitted to
the bar, in 1S75, at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, and is engaged in the
practice of law with his father.
JOHN W. HOLZGR^FE,
Was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1S0S. Emigrated to
America, in 1S36, and to Mason county, in 1S39, where he has
since resided. He was married, in 1S36, has five sons and one
daughter, viz: G. William, G. Henry, G. Lewis, G. Brantz and
G. Frank, and these five sons are among the successful business
men of Havana and vicinity. During his residence in this countrv,
he has been engaged in farming, of which he has made a fine for-
tune, and is now enjoying a tour in Europe, re-visiting his youthful
home and fatherland.
It is a conceded fact, that the family will weigh more avoirdu-
pois than any other family in Mason county, all being of a large
size, and of splendid physique.
ROBERT G. RIDER.
Dr. Rider was born March 14, 1S31, in Palmyra, Portage
county, Ohio. When about five years old, his parents removed to
near Logansport, Indiana, where his father died. The mother
then removed with the family to Pennsylvania, where the Doctor
attended the common schools till the age of fifteen years, when he
entered Jefferson College, at Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, continu-
ing there four years. He then commenced reading, in Washing-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 183
ton, Pennsylvania, continuing there three years. He then attended
medical lectures, in the Iowa Medical University, at Keokuk, Iowa.
In the spring of 1853 he went south, and settled near Mobile, Ala-
bama.
He remained in practice until the fall of 1856, when he came to
Mason county, and settled where the town of Topeka now standi.
In the spring of 1857, he married Harriet M., daughter of Aaron
Littell, late of that vicinity.
In the fall of 1862, he recruited Co. K, 85th Vol. Inf., was elected
Captain, and soon after promoted to Major, and was with Sherman
in his march to the sea. He resigned his commission, in Savanah,
Georgia, returned home and resumed his profession. In the spring
of 1S76, he removed to Havana, where he continues the practice of
medicine, and the superintendence of a fine farm, south of Forest
City.
The medical qualifications of Dr. Rider are of a high order, and a
varied experience in his profession to which few men attain. He
stands second to none in his profession in Mason count)-.
Hon. MATHEW LANGSTON.
The somewhat eventful history of the present subject compels
more than usual brevity. He was born in Rutherford county,
Tenn., June 24, 1824, and removed with his parents to Missouri, at
an early age, and from Missouri to Illinois, in 1828, and settled in
Morgan county. From there he removed to Mason county, in
1850. He was the first justice of the peace in Egypt precinct,
now Manito township, elected in 1S53, and frequently re-elected
thereafter. When township organization was adopted, in 1S62, he
was elected first supervisor from Manito township.
He was mustered into the United States service, as Captain of
Co. A, 85th 111. Vol. Inf., August 27, 1362, (see roster of that regi-
ment, in military department of this work,) where he served cred-
itably and acceptably, and resigned, Jan. 11, 1863.
Mr. Langston had also seen military service in the Mexican war
for one year, having enlisted at Winchester, Illinois, June 23, 1846,
and was in the memorable battle of Buena Vista, where his com-
pany suffered severely. Some details of the organization and
1S4 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
leaving home of the company of Capt. Langston, in 1S62, we have
been unable to obtain, but were published in the papers of Taze-
well county at the time. We refer to some peculiarly happy re-
marks by the Captain, on the occasion of a fla^g presentation to his
company.
, He was elected a member of the 27th General Assembly, and
and has served as county judge, and all the home offices pertaining
to townships, schools and corporations. He removed to Kansas, in
October, 1873, and, like all who leave Mason county, he returned
to make it his lifelong home, Feb. 24, 1875. This matter of emi-
grants from Mason county returning here for a permanent home,
has become proverbial. We bid them good-bye, knowing we shall
soon hail their return. The manner in which Mr. Langston dis-
charged his official duties is best illustrated by his continued and
frequent re-election.
The estimation placed on him by his friends is told in the fact of
his invariable promotions to higher and more responsible positions.
When stubborn, rigid facts in a man's history is flattering to him,
then, and then only, is he flattered in this work. This is the case
with our subject. The acts of his life are their most eloquent en-
comium.
JAMES WALKER
Removed from Dearborn county, Indiana, to Walker's Grove, in
1837, and there raised the family so largely identified with both the
early and later interests of Mason county. The family consisted
of George N., William W. and Robert; also, the daughters, who
are now Mrs. Luther Dearborn, Mrs. S. C. Conwell, Mrs. C. L.
Waldron and Mrs. G. A. Blanchard.
James Walker died in Havana, at an advanced age.
George N. Walker, the oldest son, was born in Dearborn county,
Indiana, September 4, 1S16. He engaged in business in Havana in
1844, in merchandise and grain, and some of the most prominent
men whose biographies are given in this work, refer to the busi-
ness tuition received in an early day, in his employment. In 1S39
he married Miss Frances Livingston, who, with him, for these
thirty-seven years, shared the vicisitudes and the fortunes of life.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1S5
Their family consists of five sons, the eldest of whom is a promi-
nent physician at Forest City — Dr. James Walker, whose abilities
have placed him in the front rank of his profession. We have not
the data to refer in detail to the other members of this very prom-
inent family, but suffice it to say, that the family and the relation-
ships thereof, continue now, as they have done since 1S37, some °f
the leading business interests of the county. George N. Walker
removed to Peoria in the winter of 1863, as Superintendent of the
Illinois River Packet Company, where he still resides, in a general
commission business and grain trade.
ALEXANDER STUART.
Mr. Stuart for near forty years has been a substantial, well to do
citizen of Mason county, his home having been here permanently
since his first arrival. He was born in county Derry, Ireland, and
a model representative of that nationality to whom our country is
indebted, to them and their descendants for some of the best minds
it has ever afforded in church or State affairs. The date of his
birth was in 1S15 ; emigrated to America in 1835, and settled in
Mason county in 1837. During his residence here he has most of
the time been engaged in a mercantile and grain business. He run
the steamer "Navigator" in 1837.
The first boat up the Illinois river was the " Utility" in 1826.
He married Miss Gardiner, in 1S46, a member of one of the old
families of this county. She died in 1856. Mr. Stuart is a large
property owner, and has ever been prominently identified with the
interests of his home and community, especially in public improve-
ments, which have always been advanced by his co-operation and
his money.
He was elected justice of the peace in 1S43 to 1847, and nearly
always a member of the town board since the incorporation of Ha-
vana, and was the first town treasurer, and is justice of the peace
at the present time. In school and township offices he has had a
large share of service. The decisions rendered by him in the capa-
city of justice of the peace have been models of impartiality and of
fairness, worthy the imitation of others of more pretense.
—24
lS6 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Many interesting incidents in the early history of this part of the
county could he given in this connection, did space permit, which
it does not. Upright, honest and reliable in all the relations of
life, is the most candid record we can make of the character of our
subject.
JOHN H. SCHULTE.
A native of Hanover, Germany, and came to America at the age
of thirty-eight years. He settled in Mason county in 1S37. His
business was general merchandise in Menard, Mason and Cass
counties. On his settlement in Mason county in 1S37, ^ e establish-
ed what was and is now known as Schulte's Landing, at the
Mounds, south of Havana, on the Illinois river. Here he engaged
in the grain trade, and was very successful in all his investments
and business undertakings. His sons are among the prominent
men of the county, one of whom is now deputy county clerk. Du-
ring the time he did business at the Landing the shipments ex-
ceeded those at Havana. He died Sept. 1845.
JOHN H. DIERKER.
Mr. Dierker is a representative of that nationality to which the
United States is indebted for very many thousands of her most
prosperous citizens and substantial men of worth and merit, being
born in Hanover, Germany, August 15, 1799, and is now conse-
quently past his three score years and ten, and nearing the four
score. He came to America in 1S38, and settled in Mason county,
and has since been a resident thereof.
The year succceeding his location here he married Miss Mary
C. Heye. They have had four children, two of whom are living,
viz: the wife of Lewis Hahn, and the wife of Henry Hahn, sub-
stantial farmers of this vicinity. He came to America a poor man,
and by his industry, prudence and good management, has become
one of the wealthiest men of the county, and has, perhaps, donated
more to benevolent and religious enterprises than any citizen of
this vicinity.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1S7
, The first we ever heard of him was to hear him spoken of 20
years ago as emphatically the friend of the poor. His wealth has
not been obtained by narrow and penurious dealing, but he has
ever been noted for. generous open-heartedness, and from him the
poor never went empty away. Though his sun is now declining
into the western horizon, he enjoys good health, and is quite active
for his years. The hand of time has touched him gently. He has
long been identified with the German Lutheran Church of Havana,
the financial interests of which have been in a most healthful state
on account of that relationship. His sense of right is his law, do-
ing unto others as he would that they should do unto him. Long
may his family, his church, and his acquaintances enjoy his
society.
Dr. G. W. PARKINS.
The gentleman whose name heads this article, is, we believe, the
oldest practitioner in Mason county. He was born in Greenbrier
county, Virginia, December, 1S21, removed to Ohio in 1S32, was
educated for his profession, and began practice in Springfield, Ohio,
and came to Illinois in 1S50. Realizing that it was "not good for
man to be alone," in the then somewhat primitive region of Illi-
nois, he married, in 1S53, March 9, to Mrs. R. Maxwell, widow of
Gen. George W. Maxwell. The family consists of a son, now a
young man of more than usual abilities, who is being educated in
Chicago.
Mr. and Mrs. Parkins are among our well-to-do, substantial people.
They reside in a pleasant home, on the south side of the public
square, in Havana, "and along the cool sequestered vale of life,
they keep the noiseless tenor of their way," highly respected by
their numerous friends and acquaintances.
The Doctor is one of the few men who combine common sense,
in large proportion, with his medical attainments, in the practice of
his profession, and is consequently very successful.
iSS HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Dr. JOHN S. WALKER.
Dr. Walker was born in Shelbyville, Indiana. His father, Rob-
ert Walker, removed to Mason county, Illinois, in 1845, where his
family have lived most of the time since.
Dr. Walker enlisted in the 85th Reg., 111. Vol., at its first organ-
ization, and served about two years. He left the army on account
of sickness. After recovery, he studied medicine, at Lexington,
Missouri, and attended Medical College, at St. Louis, and gradu-
ated at St. Louis Medical College, in the spring of 1869.
He married, in Chicago, in April, 1870. He practiced medi-
cine in Forest City, until March, 1S73, when he removed to Man-
ito, where he has had an extensive and increasing practice in medi-
cine and surgery. He is also engaged in the drug business.
His lucrative profession, and close application to business, is
making him very successful, financially as well as professionally.
JAMES MONROE RUGGLES,
Was born in Mansfield, Richland county, Ohio, and at the age
of fifteen, engaged in the printing business. In 1837, ne came to
Illinois, and continued that business till 1846. Meanwhile, he had
studied law, and had been admitted to the bar fin 1844. In 1846,
he came from Winchester, Scott county, and settled in the town of
Bath, then the county seat of Mason county, and engaged largely
in merchandising, which was continued until the beginning of the
war, in 1861. From 1S46 to 1851, there was a fierce contest rag-
ing through the county, over the removal of the county seat from
Bath to Havana, and Mr. Ruggles fought the battle for Bath
against largely accumulated odds. In 1852, without his knowledge,
he was taken up by the Senatorial District Convention, composed
of the counties of Sangamon, Menard and Mason, and elected to
the Senate, where he served four years, with credit to himself and
friends. During this time, Mr. Lincoln was elected to the Lower
House, and as a constituent of Mr. Ruggles, solicited his support
as a candidate to the United States Senate, which was given with
cordiality, in the contest of 1S55, which resulted in the election of
Lvman Trumbull.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 189
In the winter of 1856, the disintegx\ation of the old Whig party
being in progress, a meeting of the Whigs, and all the elements
opposed to the party then in power, was called at the State House,
participated in by the most prominent politicians of the old Whig
party, and at that meeting a committee, consisting of J. M. Rug-
gles, Abraham Lincoln and Ebenezer Peck, was appointed to draft
a platform and resolutions. Both the other members of the com-
mittee being engaged, that work devolved, exclusively, on Mr.
Ruggles, who, unaided, drew up the platform, which was the first
declaration of principles upon which the Republican party was
founded.
At the state convention the same year a large number of the
delegates were instructed for Mr. Ruggles for Lieutenant-Gover-
nor, but he declined in favor of a German candidate, to influence
the strength of that important element. In 1844 he received the
vote of his party for state printer, without his knowledge or solici-
tation. In 1850 he began the agitation of the question of an Illi-
nois River Railroad, and when elected to the Senate, prepared a
charter and had it passed, (see railroad history otherwheres.) and
as chief corporator, worked manfully, from one end of the line to
the other, until stock was subscribed to complete the organiza-
tion and begin the construction. During the existence of that cor-
poration he was an active director and manager of the enterprise.
He also projected and located the road from Bath to Havana,
now traveled by teams. To him is also due the credit of draining
a large scope of country in Havana, Bath and Kilbourn townships,
before a desert waste, and now among the most fertile of Mason
county.
In July, 1861, Governor Yates tendered him a commission as
Lieutenant and Quartermaster of the 1st Illinois Cavalry, which
he accepted, and went into the service in Missouri, under Gens.
Grant and Curtis. He was promoted to Major of the 3d Cavalry,
in which regiment he remained until mustered out in 1864. At
Pea Ridge he was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and was a part
of the time in command of the regiment. At the close of the war
he was made a Brevet Brigadier-General, for meritorious services.
In 1868 he was appointed by Hon. Charles Turner, Circuit
Judge of this judicial district, Master in Chancery for Mason
county, which position he held for two years, and resigned. In all
these various official positions, aught besides strict official duty Mr.
I90 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Ruggles has not known. His official acts are the seals of his in-
tegrity. Possessed of a competency, (a 1,200 acre farm,) he spends
his time in leisure and in travel. Of fine literary and aesthetic
taste, he enjoys, and is sought by, the best classes of society.
Dr. T. T. SCOTT.
Was born at Bushnell, 111., April, 1S45; educated at Rushville,
Illinois; came to Mason county in 1S74, and engaged in the prac-
tice of his profession, having been practicing seven years before
his settlement in this county. He married, Dec. 7, 1S75, to Miss
Ella Campbell. They reside in Bath. Dr. Scott is an efficient
and capable member of his profession.
Dr. MILES H. ALDERSON.
Was born in Hart county, Kentucky, September 19, 1841 ; next to
the youngest of a family of fourteen children; had limited educa-
tional advantages before the age of sixteen years. He began the study
of medicine in Barren county, Ky., under a competent preceptor,
and in 1S66 entered the medical department of the University of
Louisville, Kentucky. Graduated in 1S67, and settled in Mason
county, Illinois. In 1S6S the Kentucky School of Medicine con-
ferred his degree. Dr. Alderson now resides in Bath, and is a
very successful practitioner, combining excellent judgment with
medical skill and ability.
RUBEN HENXINGER.
Among the early settlers the gentleman named above was con-
spicuous, and the Henningcr family have held no second position
in their influence in the community from then to the present time.
Ruben Henninger was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, in
1 801, and is seventy-five years old this centennial year. He mar-
ried in 1823 to Susan Boyer; had ten children, eight of whom are
living and residents of Mason county. They are, Angeline, wife
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. IQI
of S. Frankinfield, of Havana; Frank and John, wealthy farmers,
east of Havana; Amanda, wife of B. F. Howell (see biography);
Ruben A. and Daniel, also able farmers; Cyrus, now deceased;
Susan, wife of C. C. Fager, of Havana; Jane, deceased; Sarah,
wife of George Shaneberg, an able farmer; and all substantial and
prosperous.
He removed to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1832, and to Illinois
in 1842, to Mason county, where he has since resided, engaged in
farming practically, and, consequently, successfully in all his under-
takings and investments. He was married a second time to Mrs.
Fager, in 1S48. She is the mother, by a former marriage, of
Messrs. John F., Harry A. and C. C. Fager, substantial citizens of
Havana. These children and their numerous grand-children and
several great-grand-children, all in this county, form one of the
most interesting families it has been our fortune to record, and com-
prise an amount of health, vigor, enterprise, wealth and prosperity
that falls to the lot of few. The old gentleman has spent three-
fourths of the century our government has existed as a citizen
thereof, and his numerous descendants are the substantial represen-
tives of the greatest industry pertaining to our country, to-wit:
the agricultural.
MARK A. SMITH.
Second son of Amos Smith, Sr., was born August n, i8n,
in Hancock, Addison county, Vermont ; was married October
15, 1837, to Eliza A. Wait; September 12, 1S39, started with
his family from their native home in the Green Mountains, for the
grand old prairies and beautiful groves and rivers of Central Illi-
nois, and landed at Moscow on the 15th of October, making the
journey in five weeks, via. New York and Erie canal, Lake Erie,
the Ohio canal from Cleveland to the Ohio river, then by steamer
to St. Louis, and up the Illinois river to destination. Their oldest
child was taken sick during the journey, and died Dec. 12th, 1S39.
At the time of landing at Moscow, his earthly wealth and entire
fortune, aside from his own strong arm and will, consisted of thirty-
seven cents, in silver comfortable clothing, and a very few house-
hold goods. Dependent on him was the nursing and care of a wife
and sick child. When landed, the family and goods were left on
I92 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
the bank of the river, and he went to explore the town, and for a
team. The town consisted of two log cabins, very open; two
sacks of corn were in the loft of one of them, and the squirrels
were performing their morning gymnasium exercises on the roof.
These were the only inhabitants that could be found. He traveled
about six miles to a Mr. Abbey's, procured a team and returned
about three o'clock for his family and goods, who, like good sol-
diers, had held their position on the river bank, during his six hours'
absence. Arrived at Mr. Abbey's, three families were domiciled
in one room till more cabins could be built.
The next two years were spent in the diversified employments
of earning a living, earning a team, and shaking with the ague,
principally the latter, which engaged a large share of the attention
of the early settlers. At the end of two years he '•'•squatted''' on a
. quarter section of land, three-fourths of a mile south of the present
site of Sny Carte, and began improving it, and at the end of an-
other two years borrowed a hundred dollars and purchased from
government eighty acres of the land. He retained the money bor-
rowed for nine years, when the interest (12 per cent.) amounted to
one hundred and eight dollars. At the end of that period he own-
ed six hundred acres of land in the vicinity, and had one hundred
and sixty in cultivation.
In 1S52 he was elected one of the justices of the peace in Lynch-
burgh precinct, which office he filled with great acceptance for
four years, and, though strongly solicited to be a candidate for re-
election, he declined that honor.
In 1853 he built a warehouse, and engaged in the grain trade,
and has since been in dry goods and groceries in connection there-
with, but always in grain, and has been quite successful, and has
all the time been engaged in farming. He has four children —
Henry, now living at Sny Carte; Mrs. Emily Sweney, proprie-
toress of the Metropolitan Hotel, Jacksonville, Illinois; Irving,
living on a farm near Sny Carte; and Albert F., Attorney at Law,
Virginia, Illinois.
In 1S70 his wife, the companion of his pioneer life and early
successes, died of lung fever. He was married again in 1S71. In
1872 the second wife died of typhoid fever. In 1S73 he was mar-
ried to Mrs. Mary A. Butler, of Bath. The death of his first wife
was the first in the family for a period of over thirty years. Mr.
Smith has served almost continually in township and school offices,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 1 93
and has been school treasurer for over thirty successive years. An
amiable, pleasant, genial gentleman, enjoying the confidence of his
numerous friends.
Dr. A. M. BIRD.
Alfred Morgan Bird, of Mason City, Illinois, was born in Union-
town, Pa., April 19, 1842, the son of Dr. M. and E. A. Bird, both
of Fayette county, Pa. The ancestors of Dr. M. Bird came from
England to Virginia.
The subject of this sketch was the fourth child of his parents.
His mother is still living, being sixty-one years of age; his father
died July 24, 1871, in his sixty-fourth year, at Princeton, Kentucky,
where the family now reside. Dr. A. M. Bird received his
literary education principally at the St. Louis High School
and at Cumberland University, of Lebanon, Tennessee. Having
selected the profession of medicine for a life employment, he be-
gan the study of the same in Princeton, Kentucky. His health
failing him, he was compelled temporarily to relinquish his studies
and travel in the middle and western states until returning health
enabled him to resume his studies, which he did in Leavenworth,
Kansas.
He then attended Rush Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois,
and here graduated. After visiting his friends in Princeton, Ken-
tucky, he returned to the Prairie State, and began the practice at
Greenview, Illinois, which was continued for one year, when he
located in Mason City, and formed a co-partnership with Dr. Con-
over, which was continued until Dr. Conover's death, since which
time he has continued the practice alone.
He was married, October 23, 1873, to Mary, daughter of J. C.
Bondon, D. D., late President of Lincoln University, Lincoln, Ill-
inois. Dr. Bird enjoys a lucrative practice, which his rare abilities
and abundant preparation fairly entitle him to„ and we know of no
reason why he should not continue to hold the high position in his
profession for years to come, which he now so unostentatiously en-
joys.
- 2 5
194 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
LORIXG AMES.
It is the privilege of few to experience the varied scenes that
have made up the life of Loring Ames. The disadvantages of his
youth made him energetic, and a close thinker. Of vigorous frame
and active investigating turn of mind, his varied experiences were
treasured for future profit. He was born in Berkshire county,
Mass., Sept. 13, 1S06, and is this centennial year at the alloted
period of three score years and ten. When one year old, his
parents removed to Bradford county, Pennsylvania. Books were
then less plenty than now, and newspapers rare, but from slips
and fragments of the latter, his letters were learned, and his educa-
tion began. It was a great annoyance to his older sisters to in-
form him of the names of the letters he found on bits of news-
paper, for he must know them all. At the age of seven, he began
school, walking one and a half miles to learn to read. In 1S1S, he
removed to St. Clair county, Illinois Territory, where he resided
until 1823, during which period Illinois was- admitted as a State of
the Union. Desperate efforts were made to incorporate slavery in
the original constitution of Illinois, and a large emigration being
settled here from slave-holding States, it very nearly succeeded. It
would be useless to say that Mr. Ames was active on the side of
freedom. From St. Clair he removed to Adams county, in 1S23,
and from Adams to what is now Mason county, in 1S36, or five
years before the survey of Mason county.
During his residence in Adams county he acquired a knowledge
of the Indian tongue, one of the necessities of that day. In 1829,
he run a flatboat, loaded with produce, to New Orleans, and his
curiosity excited him to attend the slave marts in the southern
cities. His strong anti-slavery sentiments here became stronger, if
possible, than before, from his observation of the actual working of
the system.
His home has been in Mason county since 1S36, but in the anti-
slavery organization, since 1829. He married, in 1S33, to Elmira,
daughter of Deacon Jones, the proprietor of the city of Canton,
Illinois. He served in the Black Hawk war, first as a private, in
Capt. G. W. Flood's company, and then as a Lieutenant, in the
company of Capt. Pierce, of Col. Fray's noted regiment. He now
resides near Topeka, 111., on a farm, which has been his avocation
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I95
most of his life. He became a member of the Congregational
Church, in Quincy, Illinois, in 1S31, is now with the Methodist
Episcopal Church, in his vicinity, an honored member, and to the
wisdom of his councils and experience, many have applied and
been benefitted.
No eulogy or fulsome praise is necessary to comment the rigid
anti-slavery sentiments of the subject of this sketch, in view of cir-
cumstances like the following, which came under the writer's im-
mediate observation: In 1852, five fugitives from bondage were
seized at Sandusky, Ohio, without color of law, when a Mr. Rush
R. Sloan appeared as their counsel. They were discharged, and
fled to Canada.
Their southern masters sued Mr. Sloan for defending his clients,
in a United States Court, and he was compelled to pay, in costs
and damages, over five thousand dollars, for simply doing a pro-
fessional duty to these poor, distressed negroes, fleeing for liberty.
The great injustice done him had its effect to rouse the people of
northern Ohio to a knowledge of their degradation to the slave
power, and bore good fruit in the cause of universal liberty.
Rev. WILLIAM COLWELL.
Mr. Colwell, once so prominently known in Mason county, is
one who has served his term of usefulness here, and has gone to
his reward across the river —
"Over the river, that cold, dark river,
To gardens and fields that are blooming forever."
He was born April 3, 1801, in Herefordshire, England; was mar-
ried to Miss Susanah Bennett, of the same place, December 25,
1827. They -emigrated to America in 1838, and settled in Cass
county, Illinois, 'and from there to Mason county in February,
1841, and resided near Bath until the fall of 1842, at which time he
removed to Quiver township, where he resided the remainder of
his life. He died in April, 1861, from the effects of a kick from a
horse. Mrs. Colwell is still living at Bloomington, Illinois, and is
in the seventy-sixth year of her age.
196 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
When Mr. Colwell settled in Mason county his family consisted
of one son and three daughters. The son, Rev. J. B. Colwell, is
Pastor of the M. E. church, at Lincoln, Illinois. The youngest
sister, Mrs. M. E. Day, is living near Maysville, Mo. Mrs. II. C.
Kepford, second sister, resides at the old home, in Quiver town-
ship, and the oldest sister, Mrs. G. C. Ringhouse, resides at
Bloomington, Illinois, with whom the aged mother makes her
home.
Mr. Colwell served in the ministry of the M. E. church for about
forty years, and the result of his labors will only be known on that
day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed. He was a
man of abilities and personal worth; a substantial citizen, and one
whose opinions were looked up to in his neighborhood. He has
rested from his labors.
Dr. Z. T. MAGILL.
Born February 2, 1849, in Mason county, Illinois. The first
years of his life being spent on a farm with his parents, William
E. and Laura Magill, prominent residents, near Topeka. He at-
tended the district school winters, assisting his father on the farm
in the summers, until of the age of about twenty years. Having a
desire to see the western country, he went to Canton, Missouri,
where he attended the Christian University. In 1870 he returned
and engaged in teaching, and afterwards attended college at Eure-
ka, Woodford county, Illinois. Returning again to Mason county,
he engaged in the study of medicine in Havana, and teaching school
in the winter.
He then made a trip to Jewell City, Kansas, and afterwards en-
gaged in teaching at Mt. Pleasant in that State. He again pursued
his studies and attended lectures at Keokuk, Iowa, in the fall and
winter of 1S73— '74. He returned to Illinois and located at Easton,
in Mason county, where he now resides. In 1876 he again atten-
ded lectures, and graduated, and resumed his practice in partnership
with Dr. Houghton of that place.
Dr. Magill is a young man of good abilities, devoted to his pro-
fession, studious, and bids fair to rise in future experience.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I97
Dr. JOHN MARENBURG.
Dr. Marenburg was born in 1816, of a noble fumily, in Styria,
a province of the Empire of Austria, at the castle of Marenburg,
the hereditary family property since the time of Rudolph of Hals--
burg. In his eleventh year he was sent to the military academy
of Weiner-Neustadt, and remained there eight years as a student;
and after completing his extended studies, entered the army as a
first lieutenant in a regiment of infantry, and was advanced in a
short time to a captaincy. He left the army in 1842, tired of the
monotony of the service, and went to Vienna, where he followed
his natural inclination for scientific and literary studies. The med-
ical science especially attracted his attention, and made him a con-
stant attendant of the lectures at the renowned Josephinium, a
medical academy at Vienna.
The revolutionary year 1S48, ended his pursuits and brought
him into politics, taking an active part in siding with the people
against the absolute government of the country. The final over-
throw of the revolutionary party and the capture of Vienna by
Field Marshal Windishgrady, compelled him to fly for his life and
leave the country and his home. He went to Schleswig-Holstien
and entered the army against the Danes, but had to leave again
after the suppression of the war by Austrian troops. He went then
to England, and from there to New York, in 185 1 ; practiced med-
icine in Baltimore, Cincinnati and Covington, and finally landed
in Petersburg, Illinois, in 1855, where he remained until 1870,
when he removed to Havana, where he has remained to this time,
actively engaged in the practice of his profession. He is of the
Homcepathic school of medicine, and among our most successful
practitioners. His services are often called for in adjoining coun-
ties. His family is two adopted daughters, very pleasant and edu-
cated young ladies, who enliven his pleasant home, on Orange
street, Havana, Illinois, and whose taste in the ornamentation of
the grounds make it one of the best in the city.
I98 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
JAMES M. SAMUELS.
Mr. Samuels was born in the State of Virginia, July 27, 1809;
emigrated to Kentucky at the age of six years, and from there to
Mason county, in 1834. In 1S38 he married Miss Matilda Taylor,
daughter of John Taylor, an old resident of Cass county, Illinois.
His business since his marriage has been farming; before that time
he followed the trade of a plastsrer.
Mr. Samuels' practical business abilities have made all his under-
takings and investments so many successes, and his broad acres in
the central part of Mason county, will fully corroborate this state-
ment. From times long past his neighbors have kept him in the
office of justice of the peace, school and township officer; and there
is little hope of his release.
A few years ago he laid out the town of Easton, in the central
part of the county, about equal distances between Havana and Ma-
son City. It is pleasantly situated, in the richest agricultural re-
gion in the world, and is very rapidly improving. It is no narrow
policy in its proprietor that has been the cause of its success, but
the reverse. A stranger visiting Easton is first impressed by the
fine class of buildings of which it is composed. There is now in
process of construction a fine school edifice, of which the citizens
may be justly proud. It is an excellent grain market, has excellent
facilities for handling grain, and large amounts are brought and
shipped from that point. There are several stores doing a lucra-
tive business in this prosperous town; also a number of first-class
mechanics. Mr. Samuels, as will be seen by the date of his arrival,
was one of the very first settlers, and space prohibits those inter-
esting details so full in the life of all our pioneers. Mr. S. is yet a
healthy, robust man, and good for many years of his characteristic
usefulness in the community where he resides.
PULASKI SCOVIL.
The subject of this sketch removed from Cincinnati, Ohio, to
Warren county, Illinois, in 1834, and in Mason county in 1S36, and
is consequently one of the very earliest residents not only of Cen-
tral Illinois, but also of Mason county, with whose interests he has
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. I99
been so largely identified. He was at the city of Canton the day
following its destruction by a hurricane, in 1S34. This region of
Illinois was then a hunting ground for the Indians. The sign of
the milliner and dressmaker was not on every cross-street. The
resources of the country were varied. There was a large propor-
tion of deer and Indian, and very little white man.
These original old settlers of Illinois knew what good brandy was
as well as though each were proprietor of a wholesale liquor store.
Little did they dream that in forty years the most of them would
still be living, in affluence and wealth, and where the deer roamed
unmolested would be traversed by the iron horse, and as far as the
eye could reach a vast sea of growing corn and yellowing grain
would form the landscape, dotted with grove and orchard, and the
homes of contented prosperity.
Household goods were landed from the steamer or emigrant
wagon, and the men bossed the job of building a cabin.
One principle was that the poor Indian had no rights that the
white pioneer was bound to respect. There were a few of the old
settlers who died off, but for each several pairs of twins would be
born, and the population increased as rapidly from emigration as
from natural increase.
The Indians did not wear as good clothes as the average white
settler, and there was a jealousy; but we have no record of the
white man putting on style over the Indian, as is common be-
tween classes of the present inhabitants.
Little misunderstandings sometimes grew up between the first
settlers and the Indians, but these had their redeeming features.
They kept the women from gadding about they neighborhood, and
it kept the men at home at night. One of the objects of this work
is that the recollections of the "long ago" be revived; that these
primitive times be lived over again in imagination; that old men
and women call up reminiscences of pioneer history and early
times. But we digress.
Mr. Scovil bought sixteen quarter sections of land on the mili-
tary tract, paying for them with land warrants of the soldiers of
18 1 2. The Indians of that region were the Sacs, of Iowa, who
were trading and hunting between the Illinois and the Mississippi
rivers. He was one of the twelve voters in Havana precinct, a
copy of the poll-book of which is given on another page, and was
the cotemporary here with Ross, Krebaum, Rockwell, Kemp,
200 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Andrus, Foster and Low, and others referred to in this work. He
bought at one time eight quarter sections of O. M. Ross. It was
mostly prairie, and no timber; was very much chagrined and de-
sired to exchange for timber. Ross proposed to him to exchange
timber land therefor at an advanced price. He had a box of jew-
elry and watches with him (he had been engaged in the manufac-
ture of these in the east,) which Ross proposed to exchange land
for. They made the trade. Air. Scovil considered that Ross had
overreached him in the sale of the prairie land, determined to get
even, so he billed the watches and jewelry to him at double their
value, and bought eight more quarter sections, paying thereon but
one hundred in money. They went to Lewistown in a boat, got
the titles arranged, and returned.
During the first two years he sent to Cincinnati for all provis-
ions except the corn meal, which was manufactured at Beardstown.
The first corn he could buy in Havana was one thousand bushels
from a Mr. Reese, where Virginia now is, and then twelve hun-
dred bushels from James Walker, at Walker's Grove. He raised
his first corn on the farm now owned and occupied by Ruben Hen-
ninger, east of Havana. He tried to sell it in Havana. He could
get ten cents a bushel in dry goods, but no money nor groceries;
consequently did not sell, but gave to the early settlers in the neigh-
borhood to gather and haul away. Among those thus benefitted
were Ruben Henninger, Sr., whose son now owns the farm then
owned and occupied by Mr. Scovil. His fine peach crop was dis-
posed of in the same way.
The first business engaged in was a steam saw-mill with Frank
Low, the deputy sheriff, when this was a part of Tazewell county,
and the first sheriff of Mason county, and at this time President of
the First National Bank of Havana.
They finished building the mill, Mr. Scovil furnishing means far
beyond his expectations. He ultimately bought out the interest
of Mr. Low, and run it in his own exclusive interest. William
Krebaum, then a young man, was in the employ of Low & Scovil,
in the mill, and is still a resident of Havana. About this time he
took a contract to furnish a thousand dollars worth of timbers for
the Meredosia and Jacksonville Railroad, then in contemplation,
the first in the State. The mill machinery not being heavy enough,
it was run with loss; consequently, new machinery became a neces-
sity, which he went to St. Louis and purchased, after which the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 201
mill was run with profit instead of loss. He then undertook
heavy contracts for timbers for building purposes in the city of St.
Louis. This was in the year 1840 and 1841, when Mason county
was set off from Tazewell and Sangamon. Mr. Scovil, Judge
Rockwell, and others, were signers of the bond to build the Ha-
vana court house. Mr. Scovil was furnishing the timber. Bath
did not want a court house at Havana, and late one night, after a
hot discussion on the county seat question, the mill burned down.
It stood on ground where the Brown warehouse now stands.
When he left the farm east of Havana, he removed to Water-
ford, Fulton county, and run a mill there for some years. In 1854
he settled where his present beautiful home now is. Mr. Scovil
was born in Harwington, Litchfield county, Conn., in 1808; went
to Geneva, New York, and engaged in business, and in six years
thereafter to Cincinnati, and engaged in silversmithing, and was
remarkably successful. He started the first manufacturing shop in
that city in 1S32, and his successors are still in the same business in
that place. He has always been so fully and constantly immersed
in business that he has refused all official positions. His pleasant
home is near Teheran, in town 20, range six.
He has rafted logs and lumber on the Illinois river when the
bars were so covered with grass that he was compelled to wade in
the water to his arm-pits to clear away the grass so that his raft could
pass over.
He was first married in New York in 1832, to Sarah Jerome;
had six children. She died in 1839. His second marriage was to
Olive Cross, in 1841; had two children, both of whom died in
infancy. She died in 1844. The third marriage was in 1846, to
Anna Boardwine. Troubles intervened and they were divorced.
She is still living. Had by this marriage one son, Frank Scovil,
who made a good record as a soldier in the late war. With this
third wife he lived seven years. The fourth marriage was with
Mrs. Caroline Scovil, widow of Julius Scovil, a brother of our sub-
ject. She had four children by her former marriage. These were
cared for most tenderly by Pulaski, their uncle and now stepfather.
This marriage occurred in 1854. The fifth marriage was in 1S62,
to Hannah Jones, of Mason county. They have five children, a
most happy and interesting family, models of neatness, propriety
and kindness.
—26
202 HISTORY OF MASON" COUNTY. I
In the relation of all these vicissitudes, these ups and downs,
these profits and losses, these deaths and separations, Mr. Scovil
has no word of blame or censure for any living creature; no harsh
word for any who has done him wrong, but "charity to all and
malice toward none," is exemplified in his words and in his daily
life. He is advanced in years, but active and in good health, and
happv, but we cannot imagine that any man could be otherwise
surrounded by the fields and groves that lie adjacent to his resi-
dence, which is very nicely situated on one of our beautiful prairie
elevations, near a splendid grove of native forest trees.
Dr. J. W. ROOT.
Was born in 1845 in Favette count} - , Pennsylvania, and removed
to Illinois in 1S51. Served in the war of the rebellion three years.
He afterwards commenced the study of medicine, and attended two
courses of lectures at McDowell's College, St. Louis, Mo. He
then located in Leesville, Mo., and engaged in practice. After-
wards attended lectures at Rush College, Chicago, and engaged in
practice at the town of Bruning, Schuyler county, Illinois, and from
there came to his present location at Kilbourn, in this county, where
he enjoys a lucrative and successful practice.
Dr. N. S. PHILIPS.
Was born in Clark county, Kentucky, in 1S25; emigrated to Illi-
nois in 1829, and located at the town of Griggsville, Pike county,
Illinois. He served in the Mexican war, and participated in the
battle of Buena Vista. He attended a course of lectures at Jack-
sonville, and located for practice in Chambersburg, Pike county,
Illinois. Removed to Mason county in 1851, and then removed to
Schuyler county, Illinois. He also served in a St. Louis hospital
as a physician, and is now having a lucrative and successful practice
at Kilbourn in Mason county.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 203
GEORGE W. ELLSBERRY, Esq.
The subject of this sketch was born at Bethel, Ohio, February
21, 1846. When a mere boy his tastes inclined to science and liter-
ature, which has increased with his years. In his boyhood days he
made the best possible use of such educational advantages as the
public schools of his native town afforded and the limited means of
the family would allow. No time was wasted in truancy, but his
business was the improvement of his mind. He never, as he grew
older, learned that a season of sowing wild oats was necessary or
essential to make a man. During the first years of the late war he
was a junior member of a literary club of his native town, some of
whose older members had entered the army. At the time when
the sanitary commission was soliciting aid, this organization deci-
ded to give an entertainment in aid of that enterprise. The pro-
ject was well received, and an immense audience assembled. George,
then but a boy, had been selected to deliver the opening address,
but being hardly seventeen years old, he entered upon the task un-
aided and with many misgivings; however, being in thorough
sympathy with the work and spirit of the occasion, and this being
his first extemporaneous address, he had his fears. The sequel re-
lieved him. He was loudly applauded and warmly congratulated.
He thus early gave evidence of forensic eloquence that has charac-
terized his later and maturer efforts.
When a little over seventeen he received from the county exam-
iner a teacher's certificate, and soon acquired a reputation as a
teacher, enjoyed or merited by few, and pursued that profession in
his native county till the spring of 1867, when he came to Mason
county on a visit to friends. By the time he had concluded his
visit he had become so attached to the country, its pleasant and en-
terprising people, and prosperous growth of his locality, that he
decided on a permanent home in Mason City. He first engaged
in the real estate business and as a salesman; then he devoted two
or three years to the study of law, and in the winter of 1870 was
admitted to the bar. As an attorney he has been a strict observer
of the rules of professional integrity and honor, never soliciting pat-
ronage or encouraging litigation.
He has occupied several important official positions under the
municipal government of Mason City. It is superfluous to add
204 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
that the duties thereof have been faithfully and efficiently dischar-
ged. A pleasant personal acquaintance of many years has existed
between the writer and the subject of whom we write, and it af-
fords us pleasure to record him a gentleman of fine natural endow-
ments and acquired abilities, an enviable reputation, professional
and social, and has contributed much to the very rapid prosperity
of the town of his adoption; and bv his strict attention to business
and fidelity to the interests committed to his care, he has been re-
warded financially, and bv the confidence and growing' esteem of
his personal and business friends.
HUGH FULLERTOX, Esq.
Major Fullerton has been a resident of Mason county since 1S52,
to which he emigrated from Ohio. He was admitted to the bar,
and engaged in the practice of law, Oct. S, 1S45. He was com-
missioned 2d Lieutenant in Co. I, 6th Reg. 111. Vol., in the war
with Mexico, and served during the war. After the close of the
Mexican war, Feb. 2, 1S52, he located in Mason county, and was
elected State's Attorney for the judicial district composed of the
counties of Woodford, Tazewell, Mason, Cass and Menard. Was
commissioned, March 25, 1857. He raised Co. C, 2d Reg. 111.
Caw, for the war of the rebellion, and was commissioned Captain
thereof, Aug. 27, 1S61. He was promoted to Major of the same
regiment, Sept. 27, 1S62. (See roster in this work, in the military
department.)
When the town of Havana adopted a citv organization, he was
elected first Mayor of the city.
Major Fullerton is one of Havana's substantial citizens, and has
accumulated a fine property, and is in the law business with E. A.
Wallace, and being an able and efficient attorney is engaged in a
very extensive and lucrative practice.
He enjovs excellent health, is vigorous and robust in his organi-
zation, and bids fair for many years of life, and the enjoyments of
this world's best allotments to the human race.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 205
FRANCIS DORRELL,
Was born in the State of Pennsylvania, Feb. i, 1808. In 181 2,
with his parents, he came to Ohio. He was married, Feb. 23,
1832, to Huldah Denman, of Hamilton county, Ohio. They re-
moved to Sangamon county, 111., in 1S35, and to Mason county in
1849, and settled on the farm, where Mrs. Darrell, at the age of
three score years and ten, still resides; an amiable and estimable
lady, who has passed through the numerous vicissitudes of an early
frontier life, but has been favored by long life and prosperity, and
is happy in the enjoyment of its blessing.
During the war of the rebellion, a son had entered the army and
taken sick. Mr. Darrell went to his relief, at Bolivar, Tenn., was
himself taken seriously ill, and not having the care and kindness
that a home afforded, nor even what might have been done in the
soldier's camp, he returned homeward, but never reached there,
having died in Havana, Jan. 15, 1863, much regretted by his many
friends. The funeral was conducted under the ritual of the
Masonic order, of which he was an honored member.
The family are among the most respected citizens of Mason
county, and merit the good will of their numerous friends.
RICHARD LANE,
Was quite an early settler in Mason county, and among those
substantial farmers who contributed much to its advancement, and
have now gone to their reward, leaving descendants, who are
among our best citizens.
Richard Lane was born in Tennessee in 1796, came to Illinois
at an early day, and to Mason county in 1844, only three years
after its first organization. He married Rachel Drake, who is still
living, at the advanced age of seventy-five years. They had ten
children ; two sisters and a brother still reside in Mason county.
Mr. Lane died in 1871.
J06 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
PETER ALFRED LORANCE,
Was born in North Carolina, June i, iSoi,and emigrated to Illi-
nois in 1S2S, and consequently a very early resident of central Illi-
nois. He originally settled in Cass county, and came to Mason
county the 1st of April, 1S45. ^ e marr i e d, during his residence in
Cass county, in 1832, Miss Mary Robertson, who had emigrated
to that county in 1S26. She is still living with her son at Long
Branch, in this county, and has passed the allotment of three score
years and ten. He was for many years in the work of the local
ministry, was very earnest, and' somewhat eccentric. They had
six children, only three of whom arrived at maturity, viz : two
sons and a daughter. One of these sons died in the army. The
daughter is a resident of Menard county. The other son, Jacob
A., resides at Long Branch, and on him the aged mother, in her
decling years, leans for support, and leans not in vain. Space for-
bids a repetition of the trials and experiences of each of these early
pioneers.
R. P. GATTON.
In the life of Mr. Gatton, we have but few brief data, and hence
this notice must be extremely brief, much more so than his posi-
tion in the community in which he lived would justify.
He was born Dec. 24, 18 16, and made his home in Bath, in
April, 1S41, and engaged as a salesman in a general dry goods
trade. He ens-aged in the business of general merchandise with
Gen. J. M. Ruggles, in 1849, and afterwards with Dr. O'Neal.
He was married in 1S41. He died December, 1S73. The family
are still residents of Bath, and Mr. Gatton and family have ever
been justly regarded as one of the most highly esteemed of the
many pleasant families of that town.
PAUL G. BIGGS.
Is the proprietor of the town of Bigg's Station, on the I., B. &
\Y. Railroad, east of Havana. It was surveyed and platted April
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 207
19, 1875, and is now an important shipping point on that line of
railroad.
He was born in August, 1843, in Clinton county, Ohio; emi-
grated to Illinois with his parents in 1856, and settled in Havana,
and removed to his present location in 1873, and opened the first
business house in the place.
In conformity to universal experience, Paul, like every other de-
scendant of Adam, "found it was not good to be alone," and with
rare judgment and good sense, (an article not usually brought into
requisition in such cases,) selected as "a help-mate for him," Miss
M. A. Springer, of Peoria county, Illinois. They were married
January 8, 1872. Cheerfully, happy and contented, they are float-
ing down the stream of time together, the banks of which, in their
case, seem to be lined only with flowers. No rude storms or ad-
verse winds seem to ruffle the smooth surface; no rock to strand,
no bars to obstruct their passage, so onward pleasantly they glide.
JOHN S. COOK.
Mr. Cook, though not a resident of Mason county, has for
twenty years been with us and of us, and we would be direlect of
duty to omit an active, energetic representative man, so prominent-
ly identified with the interests of Mason county. He was born at
Sackett's Harbor, Jefferson county, New York, June 15, 1828. He
had excellent opportunities of early education and personal im-
provement, and threw none of these away. In 1854 he went to
California. He did not make a million of dollars in that land of
gold, and on his return settled in Illinois in 1856.
He became identified with the interests of Mason county in 1S59,
when the Illinois River Railroad was first built (now P., P. & J.
R. R.) and operated. He was the first General Passenger and
Freight agent of that important line of railroad, and has been the
only one to the present date. Much of its successful financial man-
agement is due to his fine business abilities. A lion's share of the
good feeling which the people along its line hold towards it is due
to his courteous and gentlemanly intercourse with all with whom
his business relations bring him in contact. Active and correct in
the business department of that important corporation, over which
I
2o8 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ft
he has presided with such success, it is not strange that he has
made hosts of friends, as well as a most successful railroad official.
Dr. CHARLES CHANDLER.
Though not a resident of Mason county, Dr. Chandler has been
engaged in the practice of his profession within her limits for fortv-
four years, and has had a pioneer experience vouchsafed to but few.
Though the doctor is now past seventy years of age, (his '•'•three
score years and ten"* anniversary occurring two days before the
centennial of our country,) he is yet a most healthful, hale and
vigorous personage. The robust frame, fine physical organization
and great activity of mind and bodv, furnishes a most beautiful
case where dame Nature bestows a certificate of good conduct and
fidelity to her laws on their possessor.
Dr. Charles Chandler is a son of John and Hulda (Howard)
Chandler, and was born at Woodstock, Conn., July 2, 1S06. He
married Mary C. Rickard, who died at Chanderville, Illinois,
December 28, 1840, a daughter of Peter Rickard, of Thompson,
Connecticut.
He is a graduate of the Medical College of Castleton, Vermont,
with the degree of M. D. In 1829 he located at Scituate, Rhode
Island. He started for the great west in 1S32. On his arrival at
Beardstown he found the Black Hawk war raging farther to the
northwest, and not caring to take his wife and daughter into those
surroundings, then a feature of western life and the Indian frontier,
and being pleased with the rich lands along the Sangamon river,
he invested two hundred dollars in one hundred and sixty acres,
where the town of Chandlerville now stands, on the Cass county
side of that stream. He laid out the town in 184S. The late
President Lincoln was his surveyor. The very many incidents re-
lated to the writer, at various times, b}' Dr. Chandler, would fill a
volume, and our very brief space forbids their rehearsal. His
home, a cabin, was the resting place of the frontier traveler, the
resort of the hunter, and the source of relief sought by the sick or
the wounded pioneer resident. The doctor's practice extended
over a territory now included in the limits of eight counties. He
had frequent calls to Havana in iS32-'33-'34- , 36, etc., and as set-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 200,
tiers occupied the territory from there south to the Sangamon, he
was the indispensable and welcome visitor to the home cabin of the
pioneer, relieving their suffering and doing them good, and often
without remuneration or hope of reward. The present Hon. L.
W. Ross, of Lewistown, stopped at the doctor's cabin on his way
to school at Jacksonville. General Hardin and Lockwood on their
way from Springfield, to attend the courts farther north and west,
made his cabin their hotel. Hardin often made the Doctor's home
his headquarters in hunting expeditions along the Sangamon and
Illinois rivers.
In his extensive travel and his practice, the present facilities were
not dreamed of. There were not only no railroads, but no roads.
The route was made by the points of the compass, over the broad
expanse of prairie and forest grove to the settler's cabin, alarming
in his passage the herd of deer or pack of wolves. So scattered
were his patients that in his visits to them, sixty, and even as high
as ninety miles a day travel has been made, taking fresh horses as
. necessity required. His remarkable health and endurance did not
fail him, and to-day he is, as said in the beginning, a model of health
and vigor possessed by but few younger men. During these early
days an intimate acquaintance existed between him and Mr. Lin-
coln. It began in the following incident:
At an early date, and soon after his residence where Chandler-
ville now is, the Doctor was hastening to the Springfield land
office, by the shortest route, and on his fastest horse, and at that
horse's best speed, for the purpose of entering a piece of land that
another party had started to enter the same morning, by a longer
route, a slower horse and more moderate speed ; also, a less vigor-
ous rider. Dr. Chandler had proceeded to within some miles of
Springfield, when he overtook three men on horseback, who en-
quired of him the cause of his extreme haste. He explained the
case to the strangers, when one of them, a tall, dark-complexioned
man, proposed to take the Doctor's tired horse and ride it slowly
to Springfield, and give him his fresh animal, on which to hurry
on to the land office. His caution prevented him from taking a
stranger's horse into his possession on this frontier at that time,
and he pushed on with his own jaded animal, without even asking
the names or residence of those who offered so disinterestedly to
assist him. He reached the land office, entered his land, looked
—27
2IO HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
about the streets for his would-be friends, but of no avail. He
could not find them or their horses. He returned home, and the
next day he desired the services of a surveyor to run out his lands,
and was informed that a young man named A. Lincoln, at Salem
or Salisbury, was a good surveyor; he sent a messenger for him.
The surveyor returned with the messenger, and imagine Mr.
Chandler's surprise to find him the stranger who had so kindly
offered him his horse the day before. From that time on
they were friends, each enjoying the other's successes in life with a
personal interest, and on the inaugeration of Mr. Lincoln in the
Presidential chair, no man in the union enjoyed his elevation to
that position more than Mr. Chandler. He visited Washington
on that occasion, and was the guest of the new made President,
his early frontier friend.
JOHN HURLEY, §r.
Came from New Jersey in 1S34, and settled in DeWitt county,
Illinois, and removed from there to Mason county in 1S43; engaged
in farming, and by diligence accumulated a fine property, and was
a good substantial citizen. He died February 5, 1S65, aged seven-
ty-five years.
John Hurley, Jr., son of the above, came with his parents and
has since resided here. He was born May 26, 1824. He built the
first house on the prairie between Havana and McHarry's mill.
He still resides at his old home, and is one of the substantial men
of the county, who by his industry and economy is laying up a fine
property, and enjoying the fruits of his labors. May his shadow
grow larger as he grows older.
J. F. CAPPEL, Esq.
Born August 17, 1833, in Adams county, Ohio; removed west
in 1S52, and located in Mason county, Illinois, and has since been a
resident thereof. AVas admitted to the bar in i860; engaged in
banking in 1866, a business which he continues to the present time.
In 1S56 he married Mary L., daughter of Hon. R. McReynolds,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 211
an old and honored citizen of Mason county. Mr. Cappel served
Mason county as master in chancery for twelve years, and a notary
public for a much longer time, and is one of the leading men in the
business interests of the county and city, and one of the substantial
citizens.
JOHN W. PITMAN, Esq.
Born December n, 1832, in Estill county, Kentucky, came to
Illinois in 1842, and settled in Fulton county; was educated at
Lombard University, at Galesburg; graduated in June, 1S56; was
admitted to the bar in 1S59; removed to Havana in 1863.
In June, i860, Mr. Pitman married Miss N. A. Haley, of Gales-
burg, a most amiable and estimable lady, who died at Havana in
August, 1870, leaving a family of two boys. During his residence
in Havana its citizens have been largely his debtor for his efficiency
and valuable services as a school officer, which place he has so
competently and faithfully filled.
Mr. Pitman's abilities as a lawyer are above medium; he enjoys a
lucrative practice, and is highly esteemed by his numerous friends.
THE HOWELL FAMILY.
Nathan Howell came to the State of Illinois in 1840 from the
State of Pennsylvania, and settled in Mason county. His son
Charles preceded him three years, having located here in 1837.
The next son was William, who is now in the west. Levi, the
next son, and Mrs. Mary Gardiner, a sister, reside east of Havana.
Alfred is dead, also Elizabeth and Levina. B. F., the next son, is
a wealthy farmer near Havana, and Theodore, the youngest, is
now a resident of Missouri. B. F. Howell is now aged forty-seven
years. The first corn ground at the Simmons' mill was raised by
the Howell family. B. F. has been one of the most prosperous of
the prosperous farmers in Mason county. He has plowed every
season since 1840, a term of thirty-six years, and not lost a week by
sickness, a fine comment on his habits and care, and an admirable
climate. His many friends would be glad to see him continue to
2i2 History of mason county,
plow for a century more to come, for no man plows any better, as
his farm's appearance and management abundantly testify. No
farm in Mason county is kept in better order and condition.
Dr. HARVEY O'NEAL.
Dr. O'Neal was born May 19, 1S1S, in the State of Kentucky.
He emigrated at any early day to Cass county, Illinois, and from
there to Mason county in 1S44, since which time he has been a res-
ident thereof. He was educated for his profession at Kemper Col-
lege, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1S42-43.
His first marriage was to Miss A. M. Beeslev, in November,
1844. She died in 1S50. His second marriage was to Miss E. M.
West, daughter of Col. A. S. West, then of Bath, September, 1S51.
(See biography of Col. West on another page.)
Dr. O'Neal has been engaged in the practice of medicine in Ma-
son county for twenty-five years, but has now retired on a farm,
enjoying the fruits of his labors. He has been a skillful and suc-
cessful practitioner, and retired on a very comfortable property and
income, and bids fair for many years of this world's best enjoy-
ments.
Like all prominent residents of our common country, he has fre-
quently been selected by his neighbors to fill important official
positions, and the frequency of the calls is the best commentary on
the manner in which the incumbent's duties have been performed.
A. D. HOPPING.
Mr. Hopping was born in Lower Canada, Dec. 4, 1S09, and re-
moved to the State of Indiana in 1S15, when that State was quite
primitive and thinly settled. He came to Illinois in 1S51, and set-
tled in Mason county, on the farm where he now resides. Dur-
ing his residence in Indiana, in 1S39, he married Miss Elizabeth
Covington, and thus far together they have, in the goodness of an
over-ruling providence, been permitted to enjoy the successes of
their mutual efforts.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 213
For many years they have been identified with the Baptist
church. Mr. Hopping has served two terms as a justice of the
peace, and has been township treasurer for sixteen years. His bus-
iness has been farming, and his practical business abilities have made
it a success, and his broad and well cultivated acres will corroberate
this assertion.
JOHN R. CHANEY.
Like the subject of the preceding sketch, Mr. Chaney is one of
Mason county's most substantial men and successful farmers. He
was born in Kentucky, Nov. 4, 1S11, and removed with his parents
to Tennessee, and then to Greene county, Illinois, and then to
Mason county, in March, 1839. The family consisted of five
brothers, viz: John R., William, James, Riley and Granville, all
farmers.
Mr. Chaney married, in 1837, Missouri Gregory, and forty years
nearly have they shared each other's joys and sorrows, but we infer
that the former has been largely predominant in their lives. He
has been identified with the Baptist church over forty years, and
with the Democratic party since his age permitted an identification
with any party whatever. He was one of the first county com-
missioners of this countv, and has filled various and almost contin-
uous township and school offices since that time.
Reliable and substantial in all the relations of life, and his inter-
course with his fellow men, successful in his business transactions,
he promises many long years more of prosperity and happiness to
himself, his family, and many friends.
W. W. STOUT,
Was born at Oxford, Ohio, in 1832, removed to Indiana at an
early date, and to Illinois in 1852, and engaged in printing a county
paper, (see Mason county papers, on another page) in company
with a Mr. Wheedon, under the firm name of Wheeden & Stout.
In Sept., 1857, he married Miss Eunice Covington. His army ser-
vices are given in the military department of this book. He died
214 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Sept. 4, 1S69. His wife and family of intelligent children reside
in this city, in their pleasant home.
WILLIAM E. MAGILL,
Was born in the State of Pennsylvania, June 9, 1816. Removed
west, in 1837, and settled in Griggsville, Illinois, and removed to
Springfield, Illinois, in 1840, and to Mason county in 1842.
He was married in 1S40 to Miss Laura Hoyt, of Griggsville, his
present estimable wife. Mr. Magill is an educated farmer, of large
experience, and has accumulated a good property. His influence
and position in his neighborhood is indicated in these facts, that for
twenty-two years he has been a justice of the peace, and for ten
years township treasurer. He was among the first men in this
county to engage in the "farmers' movement," and has been prom-
inently identified with it.
Col. ROBERT S. MOORE.
Col. Moore was born in Greene county, Kentucky, in 1828, and
came to Illinois with his parents in 1S37, and settled in Sangamon
(now Menard) county, and engaged in farming. In 1S54 he mar-
ried Miss Isabella Trent, of that county. Their family consists of
a son and daughter, of very unusual intelligence.
On the beginning of the war with Mexico, Col. Moore joined in
the service of his country in 4th Illinois infantry, company F, under
Capt. Thomas L. Harris, afterward promoted to Major. Col.
E. D. Baker raised the regiment. He did good service as a sol-
dier at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, etc. Cornelius Ruark, of Peters-
burg, and Dr. J. P. Walker, of Mason City, were his messmates
while in that service. After his return from Mexico he located his
land warrant in Mason county, and became a resident of the north
end of the county in April, 1849. Since then he has been a perma-
nent resident, was the founder of Spring Lake, but Havana has been
his home since 1854. Since his residence in Havana he has been a
large dealer in grain, being the principal of the firm of Moore,
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 215
Pratt & Cheek. Was formerly in the dry goods business and
farming.
In the beginning of the rebellion he again went into the army
in the 27th Illinois infantry (see roster of that regiment,). After
the battle of Corinth he returned home and raised the 85th Illinois
infantry, and was commissioned Colonel thereof. No army officer
had the good will and confidence of his command more than did
Col. Moore. Genial and companionable in his associations with
all, it is not strange that he was a universal favorite not only in the
army but among his friends, and all are Col. Moore's friends. In
religious belief he is a Presbyterian. In politics his inclinations
lean somewhat towards the democratic party.
Hon. ROBERT McREYNOLDS.
On the death of our old friend, Judge McReynolds, in 1872, we
wrote the following obituary, which was published at that time,
and we can pay no more appropriate tribute to departed worth,
than to insert a copy of the same here :
OBITUARY.
Beautiful is the grey morning as the sun arises from his misty
bed, "rejoicing as a strong man to run a race," and sheds his illumi-
nating beams over the earth, dispelling the darkness and gloom.
Beautiful in his meridian splendor, when from his zenith height he
pours his health-giving light over more than half this immense
globe. Beautiful, as he descends below the horizon, gilding the
earth, clouds and sky with many shades of crimson and gold.
Beautiful is the majestic river, as it pours its ceaseless tide in the
unabating fullness towards the great ocean. Beautiful are the ever-
green-clad hills, the mountain slope, the deep chasm, in which
pours the vexed, turbulent stream, to find a more placid bed.
Beautiful the peaceful valley in the stillness and quiet of Sabbath
rest, broken only by the bleat of flocks, the low of herds, or the
Sabbath bell. Beautiful the infant reposing on its mother's breast
or in its cradled slumber of blest unconsciousness, symbolized by
the rising sun. Beautiful the life of that man or women, arrived
at maturity, filling the place alloted by the Creator, shedding be-
2l6 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
tlignaiit blessings on all that may come within the circle of their
influence for good, like the sun in the zenith. More beautiful still
is the departure of the good man, gradually and peacefully as the
setting sun, not to another hemisphere, but to another world.
From his declining sky he looks back on a life spent in the in-
terests of God and humanity, casting haloes of coloring, gorgeous
to the beholder, on the objects of his attention in his course
through life. Nature has bestowed on him a diploma for fidelity
to her laws, by extending the years of his pilgrimage — aye, beyond
the three score years and ten alloted to her less faithful subjects.
She has bestowed on him many badges of honor and insignia of
her partiality to faithful servants, in the blessings of home, family
and friends, that rise up to call him blessed, in that health which
enables its possessor to enjoy the comforts of this world, even to
old age. Beautiful that head of hoary hairs, the crown of honor
to the aged as they ripen for the tomb and immortality. Beautiful
the peaceful and triumphant crossing of the dark river, beautiful
beyond comprehension the arrival on the other shore. Thus lived,
thus died, Hon. Robert McReynolds, in this city, on Thursday,
Nov. 14, 1872.
"He crossed Time's river. Now no more
He heeds the baubles on its breast,
Or feels the storms that sweep its shore."
Judge McReynolds was one of the pioneers of Mason county,
having removed here in 1838. During his long residence here he
was frequently called to serve the county in various official positions,
and for some time in the office of County Judge. In every posi-
tion, public or private, conscientious integrity marked his course.
He was born in Union county, Penn., April 13, 1 791 , consequent-
ly, at the time of his death, was eighty-one years seven months
and one day old. For more than a year the hand of Time bore
heavily upon him, but happily and cheerfully he could .say with
Job, "all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change
come."
The deceased was an old-time christian. He united with the M. E.
Church in 1S31, consequently was not only a pioneer in this country,
but a pioneer in Methodism in the west, and for long years the in-
timate friend of the venerable Peter Cartwright, who so recently
preceded him to the Spirit Land. About six years ago these two
aged veterans together called on the writer. What a history and
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 2 I 7
experience was comprised in their long lives of usefulness ! In
the demise of our friend, we are again admonished that we are
mortal, and have no abiding city here. If there be those who
think that the contractedness and debility of the human facultie in
our present state, seem ill to accord with the expectations of
religion, I would ask them whether any one who saw an in-
fant would ever expect it to comprehend the abstruse sciences
of the schools. What may be our powers, endowed, as we will
be, with a sensorium, adapted as it undoubtedly will be, as our pres-
ent senses are, to the perception of the subjects and properties of
things with which our concern may be. But in everything which
respects this solemn subject with which we all have to do, we have
a wise and good Being upon whom to rely (as did our departed
friend) for the choice and appointment of means adequate to the
execution of any plan which His goodness or His justice may have
formed for the moral and accountable part of His creation. That
office rests with Him, be it ours to hope and prepare under a firm
and settled persuasion that living or dying we are His; that life is
passed in his constant presence, that death resigns us to His merci-
ful disposal.
GEORGE H. CAMPBELL.
Was born July 19, 1S21, at Nashville, Tennessee; a son of P.
W. Campbell, also an early resident and large property owner in
Mason county. His parents, on both sides, were related to some
of the early historical families of Tennessee. In 183S he came to
Mason county to superintend the fencing and cultivation of lands
his father had entered between the Sangamon and Illinois rivers,
then a part of Sangamon county.
Thus, we find him a boy of seventeen, a stranger in a wild fron-
tier country, dependent on his own sagacity for a beginning in hfe.
For two years he carried out the plans designed, and was followed
by his father, P. W. Campbell, in 1S40. P. W. Campbell was
elected to a county office on the organization of the county in 1841,
and our subject, George H., was elected as soon as he attained his
majority, to the office of assessor and treasurer of Mason county.
After a course of legal study he was admitted to the bar at the age
—28
2l8 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
of twenty-three, and soon after actively participated in the politics
of that day. In August, 1S46, he was married to Miss Eliza Jane,
daughter of Major B. H. Gatton, a noble woman, a true and devo-
ted wife and mother. For more than a quarter of a century she
shared his joys and sorrows, but on the first of July, 1873, she was
taken to her final home. Their oldest son, W. H. Campbell, is a
member of the law firm of Dearborn & Campbell, of Havana. —
(See biography of W. H. on another page.)
In politics Judge Campbell was an old line whig, but more lat-
terly has been identified with the democratic party. In 1S56 he
was tendered a nomination for the legislature by the democratic
party, but declined. In 1857 he engaged in the practice of law in
Havana, and the same year was elected county judge. In 1858 he
was elected to the legislature to represent the counties of Mason
and Lo^an, in which bodv he was second to none in abilitv and
influence. An epitome of his legislative career would be of inter-
est, but too lengthy for this work ; suffice to say that he was at the
head of many important committees, originated many useful laws,
and was regarded one of the most able debaters in the house. He
received the nomination for the office of Secretary of State in i860,
but failed of election.
On the breaking out of the rebellion he assisted in raising the
106th regiment of Illinois infantry in Logan county, and was made
lieutenant colonel of that regiment, but resigned after about one
year's service on account of poor health. In 1868 he engaged in a
mercantile and banking business in Mason City. In 1870 he took
the necessary measures to organize the First National Bank of Ma-
son City, and was elected President.
It would be superfluous verbiage to add encomiums on the tal-
ents and abilities of Judge Campbell ; neither is it the province of
this work so to do. We relate historical facts, dates and figures.
Prominent official positions, long continued, prove ability, honesty
and the confidence of friends and constituents, more emphatically
than words can do. If mens' lives and acts, that go to make up
a man's history, are compliments to him, then facts of his life and
not we flatter him.
Long will the Campbell family be remembered in the official
archives of Mason county, as for three generations they have been
its most honored citizens.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 2IO.
A. E. FIELD.
Among the first families who settled in Mason county, and
served an important part in its early history and improvements was
the Field family. Drury S. Field, the father of the subject of this
sketch, was a native of Petersburg, Virginia, and born Oct. 6,
1792. The family settled in Mason county, in 1835, on wnat 1S
now known as Field's Prairie, and here he resided to the time of
his death, in April, 1S3S.
A. E. Field was born March 6, 1823, came to Mason county
with his parents, and this has since been his home, consequently he
is one of the earliest settlers of the county now living. His ex-
perience includes the pioneer condition of this section of the State,
and the transformation of Mason county from a wilderness to its
present high state of improvement and its present society.
In early life he read medicine and adopted the profession of his
father, and assisted him in his practice. He afterwards engaged in
agriculture.
He was married, in Dec, 1845, to Miss Bessie Craggs, of this
county. They had seven children, four of whom are still living.
Mr. Field is a faithful and consistent member of the Baptist
Church, and a lifelong member of the Democratic party.
Possessed of more natural abilities than usually falls to the lot of
mortal man, and also of a good education and much reading, it
follows of necessity that he has ever held a position of influence
among his friends and acquaintances, and is one whose opinions
are sought and relied on by his neighbors. He is, as might be ex-
pected in a man of his strong sense, entirely free from all ostenta-
tion and pretense, but a model of genial sociability and neighborly
kindness.
THE FALKNER FAMILY.
The ancestors of this family came to America with the Dutch
colonists, and settled at New Amsterdam and Fort Orange (now
the cities of New York and Albany), and in the Revolutionary
tim is were on the side of the colonists, and actively participated in
that memorable struggle.
220 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Thomas K. Falkner was born in the year 1800, and in 181 5 re-
moved with his parents to Dearborn county, Indiana, -where, in
1820, he married Miss Phoebe Heaton. Ten years after, they re-
moved to Madison county, Indiana, and settled on the banks of
White river. In 1S3S they removed to Illinois, and entered lands
in section 7, town 21, range 7, west of the 3d P. M., in Tazewell
county, now Mason, built a cabin, and on the opening of spring
began to break prairie.
This was the first improvement in what is now Sherman town-
ship. The next fall came the Hibbs, Hampton and Dentler fami-
lies, and settled in the vicinity. West of their location to the town
of Havana there were seven or eight families along the border of
the woods, to-wit: Coder, McReynolds, Robert Falkner, Fisk,
Howell, Brown, Fesler and Rishel. These lived east of Havana,
and constituted the inhabitants in the first thirty miles or further.
Nearly the whole country, from a short distance east of Havana,
was a vast unbroken prairie, over which roamed, at pleasure, herds
of deer and wolves, "none daring to molest or make afraid." I
an informed by Mr. John R. Falkner, that in the spring of 1S40,
he, with two others, counted on Bull's Eye Prairie fifty-nine deer
in one herd, and forty-two in another, all in sight at the same
time.
The marshes and sand hills about the heads of Quiver creek and
Long Point timber were famous hunting grounds for many years
after this. The only mill within the present boundaries of Mason
county, was on Crane creek, and known as the Corn Cracker, (see
Mount's mill) with a pair of seven inch burns, and when every-
thing was favorable, could crack one and a half bushels of corn
per hour. A bov was set on the top of a sack of corn, on horse-
back, and traveled twelve, fifteen or twenty miles to this mill.
When wheat was to be ground the settlers must either go to
Mackinaw or to Fulton county, but usually to the former, by rea-
son of the scarcity of means to pay the toll at Ross' ferry, (now
Havana,) which cost eighty-seven and-a-half cents the round trip.
The journey to Mackinaw mill took four or five days, governed
by the time they had to wait for a "grist" to be ground. The con-
trast between living and farming in 1840 and 1S76 cannot be reali-
zed by a person who has not seen both. Now we look over the
finely cultivated fields and we see the farmer sowing his small
grains by means of a drill, and harvesting with a header or a self-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 221
raker, and planting his corn with a check-row planter, and plowing
it with a Blackhawk cultivator, or some other modern improved
plow. Then, you would have seen here and there a farmer sowing
his two or three acres of wheat by hand, broadcast, and harrowing
it in with a blackjack brush, and furrowing his ground for corn
with a two-horse plow, dropping it by hand and covering it with
a hoe, and often plowing it with a forked sapling hitched to a
"steerP He sowed his flax-seed on Good Friday, and "in the
moon," and after "pulling" it, laid it out to "rot" and then "break-
ing' 1 '' and "scutching' 1 '' it by hand, it was turned over to the female
department of the household, to be "hackeleoT' 1 and spun and wove
into cloth, to make for the girls and boys their summer wear.
But to return to our subject. Mr. Falkner's family consisted of
five children, two boys and three girls — all lived and arrived at
maturity. William is on his farm in Salt Creek township, a happy
independent farmer. Jane is the wife of John Henninger. John
R, was for many years our very able, competent and efficient coun-
tv surveyor, now on his farm in the eastern part of Mason county.
Did space permit we would like to pass a deserved tribute to the
ability and the disinterestedness of Mr. John R. Falkner in his
official duties, but we are reluctantly compelled to forbear.
In June, 1S39, within a short time after the location of the fam-
ily in their new home, the wife and mother was called to that
bourne whence no traveler returns, but the little family struggled
on, and the father was with them until 1S65, when he too "follow-
ed that beckoning hand to the shore" of that cold, dark river.
WILLIAM ALLEN.
There will always attach an interest to the history of the pioneer
families of the west which will never properly belong to others
who came at a later date, as they have laid the foundations of our
social and material status, and coming generations can only modify
and develop that which they, by their energy and perseverance, estab-
lished. By their strong arms were the forests felled, the undergrowth
cleared away, and the prairie sod broken ; by them were the primitive
cabin, the log school house and the church erected. Later emi-
grants make further and higher advancements in all these, and pro-
ceed to further develop the embryo foundings of the pioneer. To
222 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
the later class of emigrants belongs the subject of this notice. He
was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1S07, and at the age of
fourteen he spent the two succeeding years at school at Vandalia,
Illinois, and at the age of sixteen settled at Shelbyville, Indiana,
where he resided for ten years, and from there he removed to
Laporte, Indiana, in 1S34. In the pleasant city of Laporte he
made his home for twenty years, and served the people for two
terms as sheriff of that county, and was also a member of the
Legislature of the State of Indiana, from that district. From
there he removed to Mason county in 1854, and settled in Havana,
where he has since resided.
In 1838 he married Miss Sarah E. Shortwell, of New Jersey,
and together for thirty-eight years have they shared the joys and
sorrows incident to human life, but in their case the former have
been largely predominant. The result of this union has been three
sons and two daughters, all living at this date, in the full vigor of
maturity. Randolph, the oldest son, is an honored minister of the
M. E. church, in this State, doing good and acceptable service in
his calling; an educated gentleman of more than medium talents.
William, the next son, resides at Hood river, Oregon, whither
he emigrated with a colony in 1875, and is engaged in business
there, as a permanent home.
Henry, the youngest son, is in a mercantile business in Missouri.
Louisa F. is the wife of YV. S. Dray, Esq., a prominent citizen,
and Ions' identified with the business interests of Havana.
Kate, the youngest daughter, is with her parents.
Mr. Allen became identified with the Presbyterian church at
Laporte, Indiana, in 1835, and after his removal to Havana, there
being no society of that denomination, he found no inconvenience
in identifying himself with the M. E. church.
During the war of the rebellion he served as Assessor of inter-
ternal revenue of this district. Comment is superfluous in this
connection, for the integrity, the honor and business abilities of Mr.
Allen have long been proverbial with the people of Mason county.
WALTER S. DRAY.
Was born in Alleghany City, September 20, 1S3S, and with his
parents removed to the territory of Iowa in 1839, and in 1S45 to
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 223
Pike county, Missouri, and in 1848 to Vermont, Fulton county,
Illinois, the mother having died in Iowa, and his father being at
that time in California, he was in the care of a grandmother.
From Vermont they removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1857, and
in 1S59 returned to Illinois, and settled in Canton, Fulton county,
and engaged in the jewelry business.
On the 27th of July, 1861, he located in Havana, where he has
since resided, and engaged in the business of jewelry, watches,
clocks, musical instruments, etc. In 1864 he took into his employ
Mr. O. C. Town, of Pekin, Illinois, a workman of rare abilities
and good business tact, and after four years of successful trade they
became partners, or in the year 1S6S. For eleven years a success-
ful partnership continued, and in 1875, Mr. Dray desiring to look
more especially after his important real estate interests, sold out to
Mr. Town the business so long and so successfully prosecuted by
that well-known firm.
In 1S64 Mr. Dray was married to Miss Louisa F., daughter of
Hon. William Allen, of Havana. The result of this union was
three children, only one of whom survives. He is a member of
the Board of Alderman of the city of Havana this centennial year,
a body that is profited by his influence and business abilities. For
fifteen years Mr. Dray has been largely identified with the interests
of the city in which he resides, and the success attending the long
partnership of Dray & Town is simply another addition to the
thousands of cases that an observer may notice, in which fair deal-
ing, business integrity and an honorable sense of justice, meet their
reward.
HENRY ONSTOT.
"We are sorry when a good man dies." Such was the feeling
visible at Forest City on the first of August, 1876.
When the man whose name is at the head of this article ceased to be,
although he was past three score years and ten, the allotted period
of man's earthly pilgrimage, we would yet have had him stay
longer. He was born near Danville, Kentucky, in November,
1804. He removed to Menard county, Illinois, in 1824, having pre-
viously married Miss Susannah Schmick, also of Kentucky, and
who preceded him to their home over death's dark river, on Dec.
224
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
14, 1867. For forty-four years the joys and sorrows incidental to
this world's journey, they shared together, not in wealth and afflu-
ence, nor in poverty, but in
"That golden mean,
That lived contentedly between
The little and the great;
Felt not the wants that pinch the poor,
Nor plagues that haunt the rich man's door,
Embittering his estate."
From Menard county they removed to Mason county in 1845,
since which time they have made this their home. For the past
eight years, or since the death of Mrs. Onstot, he has made his
home with his son in Forest City.
It is of the christian character of Mr. Onstot that we love to
speak. Early identified with the Cumberland Presbyterian church,
he ever remained a faithful member thereof, and faithful and dili-
gent in all his religious duties. We know whereof we speak in
this matter, for we have known of his faithfulness when it was not
popular to be identified with the religious Interests of the commu-
nity.
Kind and courteous with all, firm in his convictions of the right,
but always willing to be convinced, unostentatious, candor was the
strongest element of his character. His funeral was attended in
Havana on the evening of August 1st, by a large concourse of his
friends, and all were his friends.
The flowers fade, the heart withers, man grows old and dies;
but time writes no wrinkles on eternity. The ever-present, unborn,
undecaying and undying — the endless chain composing the life-God
— the golden thread entwining the destinies of the universe. Earth
has its beauties, but time shrouds them for the grave; its honors
are but the sunshine of an hour; its palaces, they are but the gilded
sepulcher; its pleasures, they are but bursting bubbles. Not so in
the untried bourne. In the dwelling of the Almighty can come
no footsteps of decay.
BARNHARD KREBAUM.
Was born in Hesse Cassel, Germany, in the year 17S1 ; came to
America in 1834, and arrived in Havana, in this county, on the 3d
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 225
of July of that year, by the way of New Orleans. The Krebaum
family were the third in Havana, and the fourth in Mason county.
He resided here until the time of his death, which occurred in 1853,
at the age of seventy-one years.
On his landing at Havana he found Mr. Ross and Mr. Myers —
the only residents here. Mr. Shepherd, where Matanzas now is,
and a Mr. Barnes, north of Havana, came near the same time. His
family consisted of Frederick, Adolph, William, Edward and
Charles G.; the latter born in this city, and the oldest inhabitant
now here that is a native born. There are also two daughters.
A very remarkable fact in this connection is that this family of sons
and daughters are all yet living, with a single exception, viz: Ed-
ward, who died here some years ago. Frederick, the oldest son,
is now sixty-three years old, and bids fair for many more years to
be added to his longevity ; and Charles G., the youngest, will be
thirty-nine years old in December, this year.
These brothers have from their first settlement in the county
been largely identified with its business interests. William built
the first saw-mill in the county, and was in the employ ment of
Scovil & Low in their mill on the bank of the Illinois river, and
worked on the job of sawing the timbers for the first railroad in
Illinois. Adolph has been county clerk for many years, and was
the second incumbent of that office after the organization of the
county. Charles G. is a member of the firm of Otto & Krebaum,
extensive and successful grain dealers in Havana, whose business
integrity commends them to all.
HENRY BISHOP.
Was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1824, and emigrated to
America in 1829, and located in Mason county, which has since
been his home. In 1S48 he was married to Miss Catharine Wes-
ling, a member of one of the substantial families of Mason county.
They have had a large family, and nine children are now living.
An aged mother, now past her four score years, makes her home
with Mr. Bishop. The father died the first year after his arrival
in Mason county.
—29
226 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY
Mr. Bishop is the proprietor of the town known as Bishop's Sta-
tion, on the P., P. & J. Railroad, northeast of Havana, laid out in
the spring of 1875. A post-office was estahlished there in 1871. He
is engaged in farming, and has the peculiar faculty of heing suc-
cessful in all his undertakings. His good judgment and fine busi-
ness abilities have secured him a competencv of this world's goods,
and he and his amiable and intelligent wife are living with more
happy contentment in their surroundings than is usually the lot of
man to enjoy.
JONATHAN CORY, Esq.
In Mr. Cory we have another illustration of the superiority of
practical strong sense, in contrast with the too many instances we
meet in the world where a forced education is urged into a small
head, and no room to store it.
He is a graduate of the noblest of all American Institutions,
the common schools, and his own tireless energies. He was born
June 13, 1815, in Summerset county, New Jersey, and was admit-
ted to the bar in 1841.
In February, 1856, he located in Mason county, and since that
time has been a resident thereof. He was married in 1S36. Mr.
Cory's business abilities are of a high order, consequently his suc-
cess in life. Though he is past his three score years, he would
pass for fifteen less, and enjoys that vigorous health incident to obe-
dience to the laws of nature.
JESSE BAKER.
Mr. Baker, whose rapidly failing faculties bespeak this earthly
pilgrimage nearly closed, was one of the first white men in Mason
county. He was born in Tennessee, in 1798, and is now in his
seventy-ninth year. He came to Illinois Territory in 1816, and
settled in what is now Morgan county, and became a citizen of
Mason county in 1833, and since then this has been his home.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 227
Mr. Baker has had a varied experience. Possessed of an unusu-
ally vigorous and robust frame, he endured the privations and
hardships of a pioneer life, the chase of the deer, and the defense
against "the noble red man" that few could endure with him. But
now that eye is dimmed with age, and that vigorous arm that once
poised the unerring rifle with the grip and steadiness of a vise,
hangs feebly by his side; that six foot, stalwart frame totters feebly
along, his mental vision dimmed, and all his faculties bespeak the
needed rest the grave will soon afford,
He has fought the Indian from tree to tree; was cotemporary in
Havana with Ross and Scovil, and Yardley and Krebaum, etc.
He engaged in farming, on Crane creek, near where he and his
descendants now reside, and here has grown his ninety bushels of
corn per acre, and sold supplies to Mr. Falkner, the first farmer in
Sherman township.
These new comers took pride in the duty of assisting new com-
ers, and gladly welcoming them as accessories to their strength.
Mr. Baker's pilgrimage will soon be done. His descendants are
among the substantial residents of the county, and we gladly here
record his worth, and honorable sense of right, for his successors
when he has passed away.
SAMUEL SLOANE.
Was born in Maryland, in 17S7, and died in Fulton county, Illi-
nois, in 1859, at the age of seventy-two years. He came to Havana
in 1835, in the month of June, and lived in a cabin where the cor-
ner of Orange and Main streets now is. His family was John M.,
Miss Deziah, Miss Athliah, Hiram W., Samuel, Jr., Uriah B., An-
drew J., Amberiah, Daniel R., Miss Jane and Miss Charlotte, only
four of whom now survive, viz: Hiram W., Samuel, Uriah B.
and Amberiah, all of whom reside in Fulton county, except one,
who is in Kansas; their ages range from forty to sixty-one.
The settlers in Havana at that time were Krebaum, Ross, Tim-
ony, Hilbert, Miller, Sloan, and north of Havana were Burnell
and Barnes, south, at Matanzas, was Shepherd, and at Moscow, a
Mr. Herbert. Nine miles east was Gibson Gerret, who, with those
before named, were all the inhabitants in the west side of the
county.
228 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The milling for the family was taken to Mount's mill, and Hiram
informs us that he has ridden a horse, with three pecks of corn in a
Lack, to mill, and waited twenty-four hours for it to be ground.
The supply of pork was obtained by hunting it in the woods
where Ross had numberless wild hogs, and gave new settlers one-
fourth for killing it and bring-ins: in.
Hiram Sloane got a special contract, in which he got one-half
of all he killed, and Ross found one pound of powder and four
pounds of lead. Sloane well knew an important rendezvous of the
hogs he did not care to find under the old contract. With his bro-
ther Samuel, and Frederick Krebaum, in half a day they killed
fifteen hogs of heavy weight, that furnished supplies for a vear,
and some for sale. He once had a desperate hand to hand fight
with a wild hog, where the M. E. Church now stands, and finallv
dispatched him with his knife. His dog died from wounds received
in the encounter.
Hiram followed the river to some extent at an earlv day. In
1S34 he arrived at the Havana levee in a little keel boat. A man
named Mallory kept a trading post here, and a lot of Indians came
for whisky, and were refused. They said they were friendly and
peaceable, and carried no knives. He gave them whisky, got seri-
ous trouble on his hands, and sent to the boat for help.
About the time help came from the boat Mrs. Mallory blew the
top of an Indian's head off by the discharge of a musket, and the
fight became hot. One of the boat's crew, Ben. Hokum, killed
two, and another man named Odd was also busy. A Mr. Terry
was cut off from the party, and ran north, pursued by an Indian,
with a drawn tomahawk. Terrv's knee became dislocated and he
fell, and as he was about to be tomahawked, the Indian was struck
on the back of the neck with a stick and felled by the hand of Ter-
ry's friend, and Terry siezed the tomahawk, intended for his head,
and buried it in that of the prostrate Indian. While he was doing
this the friend who saved him pulled his dislocated knee into place,
and Terry and his friend returned together. Mr. Sloane did not in-
form us who this friend was, but we infer from what we know of
him that he was not an idle spectator of the scene.
On their return thev saw three Indians crossing: the river in a
canoe. Hokum shot two of them with a steady hand and unerring
aim, and the third sank before he reached the east bank of the river.
Sloan and his party proceeded to Fort Clarke, now Peoria, where
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 229
they arrived on the third day, and discharged their cargo; were
visited by Indians who enquired if that boat came from Havana.
They replied, no. The Indians were not satisfied, and our party
must either seek safety by flight or in the fort. They chose the
former, and at nightfall left with muffled oars in a light skiff, for
the south, and rowed to Beardstown by sunrise the next morning.
Here again the Indians were on the alert and suspiciovs, and our
party concluded they had pressing business at St. Louis, and left
for that destination on the first steamer.
In after years Hiram boated on the river steamers and traded
along the Illinois, and to his energies were the family indebted for
much of their early supplies, as were also many of the other set-
tlers. Much might be said in this connection of the kindness of
early pioneers to each other. Many were the sacks of apples and
potatoes brought over by Mr. Gardiner, the grandfather of the
present proprietor of the Gardiner estate across the river, and dis-
tributed to the early settlers here without money or price, and to
those he had never seen before as freely as to those he knew.
In closing this department of the work we regret that there are
a number of interesting biographies we have been unable to obtain.
Among those are the Horstman family, Henry Sears, Solomon
Bayles, the Scott family, the Blakely family, Wm. Atwater, Peter
Ringhouse, Peter and Adam Himmel, Mr. Fisk, Henry Buck, and
others, that would have added to the interest of this work. Some
it has been impossible to obtain data from; to others we have ap-
plied and received no response. We cannot use matter unob-
tainable.
BENEVOLENT ORDERS
OF
MASON COUNTY.
We assume, in the following' pages, to give the organization, etc.,
of the various henovelent organizations in Mason countv, from
such data as we have been able to obtain on that subject, and fol-
low with some quotations from various publications, which we
deem relevant to this division of our work. From personal knowl-
edge and our own experience in the work of the various orders,
we cannot write. From our observation, our reading, and conver-
sation, and a long association with members of these organizations,
we can give our opinions from a disinterested standpoint.
The following little circumstance illustrates our individual views:
Many years ago, in an Eastern city, a stranger stopped for the
night at the principal hotel, and after registering his mime, retired
for the night. During the night he was taken suddenly ill. He
called a servant and enquired for any member of a masonic organ-
ization. A member was sent for, and he brought other members.
The stranger grew rapidly worse. In the beginning he gave his
trunks, money, letters, and all his valuables, unreservedly into the
keeping of his strange brethren. They watched his sick-bed day
and night, and furnished him the best medical attendance the city
afforded.
In four days the stranger died. His funeral was largely attended
by members of the order to which he belonged, and the citizens.
A funeral sermon was preached on the occasion at the First Pres-
byterian church, by its pastor. The sermon closed, the minister
spoke on the kindness and care bestowed on the stranger by the
order to which he belonged, and closed his remarks by saying:
HISTORY OF* MASON COUNTY. 23 1
"That if professing christians did their duty, these organizations —
these orders, would have no existence; that commendable as were
the acts of kindness shown this stranger, it was only what should
be done under like circumstances in any and every christian com-
munity." That very small word "//"," boy as we were, when we
heard those remarks, looked to us as an important feature of that
paragraph, and those words have remained in our memory nearly
forty years.
From a work on the table on which we write we make the fol-
lowing extracts:
The order of Freemasons has for its object beneficence, the study
of universal morality and the practice of all the virtues.
It has for its foundation-stone the existence of a God, the immor-
tality of the soul, and the love of humanity.
It is composed of freemen, who, submissive to the laws, unite
themselves into a society governed by general and particular
statutes.
Freemasonry occupies not herself with the vai-ious religions
spread throughout the world, nor the constitutions of different
countries. Having her place in the sphere of ideas, she respects
the religious faith and the political sympathies of all her members.
And so at her meetings all discussions upon such subjects are form-
ally forbidden. She ever maintains her ancient device — Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity — but she reminds her members that while
walking in the domain of ideas one of their first duties as Masons
and as citizens is to respect and to observe the laws of the country
in which they live."
Below we give the organizations in this city and county:
HAVANA LODGE NO. S8, A. F. AND A. M.
Chartered 1850.
George Wright, W. M.; George R. Wilson, S. W.; M. Bald-
win, J. W.
Number of charter members, 7.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
H. W. Lindley, W. M.; Charles Schill, S. W.; A. T. Beck, J.
W.; N. Leibenaler, Treas.; H. H. Hanrath, Sec'y.; O. H. Harp-
ham and Geo. Bigg, S. and J, D.
Present membership, 88.
232 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
OLD TIME LODGE NO. 629, A. P. AND A. M.
Chartered 1869, August 27.
Organized 1869, September 1st.
Charter members, 20.
Original officers were — L. M. Hillyer, W. M.; E. Snyder, S.
W.; G. A. Blanchard, J. W.; J. F. Coppel, Treas. ; C. W. Em- X
met, Sec'y.; W. S. Dray, S. D.; Anson Low, J. D.; J. B. Jimer-
son, Tyler; W. H. Webb, J. W. Lyke, Stewards.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
C. C. Fager, W. M.; E. A. Wallace, S. W.; G. A. Sanford,
J. W.; C. W. Emmet, Treas.; J. C. Yates, Sec'y.; E. Snyder, S.
D.; G. H. Holgrafe, J. D.; Win. Prettyman, Tyler.
No. members since organization, 52.
No. members at present time, 39.
HAVANA CHAPTER NO. 86, ,R. A. M.
Date of dispensation, August 3, 1S65.
Date of charter, October, 1865.
Original officers — L. M. Hillyer, H. P.; G. R. Wilson, E. K.;
A. Biggs, E. S.; C. W. Emmet, C. H.; J. F. Coppel, P. S.; E.
Snyder, R. A. C; G. A. Blanchard, Jas. Kelly, S. H. Ingersoll,
Masters of Veils; A. Krebaum, Sentinel.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
W. S. Dray, H. P.; E. Snyder, E. K.; W. H. Hamlin, E. S.;
O. H. Harpham, C. H.; A. T. Beck, P. S.; N. Seibenalcr, R. A.
C; L. R. Haack, Charles Schill, H. H. Hanrath, Masters of Veils;
C.W.Emmet, Treas.; H. W. Lindly, Sec'y-; E. A. Wallace,
Sentinel.
Total membership, 60.
COUNCIL NO. 40, R. AND S. M.
Date of dispensation — December 29, 1867.
Date of charter — October, 1S68.
Charter members: — C. W. Emmet, J. F. Coppel, J, W. Kelly,
J. W. Lyke, E. B. Laughton, W. II. Webb, II. R. Cleaver, II. W.
Lindly, J. L. Irwin.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 333
PRESENT OFFICERS.
L. M. Hillyer, G. M.; J. F. Coppel, Deputy G. M.j C. W.
Emmett, P. C; W. S. Dray, Captain of G. ; E. Snyder, Treasurer;
O. H. Harpham, Recorder; J. B. Paul, Conductor of C; Isaac
Tinkum, Sentinel.
Number of members, thirty-two.
DAMASCUS COMMANDERY, NO. 112.
Sir L. M. Hillyer, E. C; Sir O. H. Shearer, General; Sir C. W.
Emmett, Capt. General; Sir E. Snyder, Prelate; Sir W. S. Dray,
S. W.; Sir O. H. Harpham, I. W.; Sir E. A. Wallace, Warden;
Sir I. N. Mitchell, Recorder; Sir N. Siebenaler, Treasurer; Sir
C. C. Fager, S. Bearer; Sir W. H. Webb, Standard Bearer; Sirs
W. H. Hamlin, Anson Low, J. L. Waller, Guards; Sir H. A.
Fager, Capt. Guard.
The Odd Fellows organizations in Havana, and the Masonic and
Odd Fellows, in Bath, we have been unable to reach, thoueh
frequently applied for.
ORDER OF DRUIDS.
Havana Grove No. 40, V. A. O. D.— Hall corner of Main and
Plum streets.
Organized May 13, 1874.
ORIGINAL OFFICERS.
J. H. Knobbe, N. A.; Wm. Dargel, V. A.; J. G. Reichel, Sec;
R. Hackman, Treas.; H. Stockert, J. G.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
R. Hackman, N. A.; A. Marquardt, V. A.; A. Lope, Sec;
J. Lebeck, Treas.; H. H. Hackman, J. G.
Meets every Wednesday evening.
MANITO LODGE 476, A. F. AND A. M.
Charter dated October, 1866.
Charter members' were:— H. A. Sweet, A. G. H. Conover,
P. W. Gay, A. A. Griffin, P. W. Thomas, Z f Miller, R. SjEakin,
John Thomas, B. Ruthetiburgh, Smith Mosier, H. Latham,
W. W. Pierce.
—3°
^34 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
ORIGINAL OFFICERS.
H. A. Sweet, W. M.; R. S. Eakin, S. W.; A. G. H. Conover,
J. w.
PRESENT OFFICERS.
R. S. Eakin, W. M.; F. Schoeneman, S. W.; J. A. McComas,
J. W.; Peter Fox, Sec; Joel Cowen, Treas. ; J. A. Rodgers, S. D.;
W. B. Robison, J. D.; R. Sauters, Tyler.
Total membership at present, thirty-three.
MASON CITY LODGE NO. 403, A. F. AND A. M.
Regular communications on the second and fourth Tuesday
evenings of every month. S. M. Badger, W. M.; J. F. Culp,
Secretary.
MASON CITY LODGE NO. 337, I. O. O. F.
Regular meetings every Thursday evening, in their Hall, La-
Forge Block. G. W. Ellsberry, N. G.; P. Mundt, Secretary.
NEWSPAPERS OF MASON COUNTY.
To give a sketch, historically, of the different newspapers pub-
lished at various times in Mason county is at this time an impossi-
bility. Perpetuity has not been a characteristic of that important
industry, "that art preservative of all arts" that is so much the
pride, and so very justly the boast of our age and country. The
art of printing is second to no other. Of its first origin, histories
differ, but enough is known to place beyond a doubt that it was
practiced in Asia before its discovery in Europe. But it has fallen
to the lot of our own country to render it a r/opular institution, and
so cheaply executed that the poorest of the people of this country
are abundantly supplied with reading matter of the latest date at a
mere nominal rate. The mechanic and laborer, as well as the man
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 23 5
of leisure and the professional man, can this morning read in his
daily, the yesterday's proceedings of our congress, the British Par-
liament, the French Congress, the doings of the city of Rome and
Constantinople, and in Egypt.
To the printing press of our country, and largely to the local
press, is due that general diffusion of intelligence so characteristic
of the American people. This enterprise and intelligence has car-
ried the press and the English language and the newspaper to every
country on the globe. Our American-English language is thus
diffused, American enterprise made notorious, till Americans offi-
cer the armies of Egypt, and hold high positions in its government.
Americans are the civil engineers of Russia and Turkey, and many
in China are teaching our language and arts, while Japan has a
head to her department of agriculture from our neighboring coun-
ty, and a postmaster general from a neighboring State. Nor is this
all : China looks out from all
"Her mystic past,
And opens wide the fast
Barred doors which once her
Empire hid."
And an American built railroad has invaded her long-secluded do-
main. The railroad engineers of the United States have overrun
South America in all her fastnesses, probed the Andes, and travers-
ed the plains of Columbia and Brazil,
"And where the Amazon's deep tide
Full-hearted glides through banks of green."
The American engineer, stimulated by his characteristic enter-
prise, and guided by that intelligence that ever in human history
has followed in the wake of the printing press, is marking his lines
of railroad, and directing the nominally-priced labor of the country
in its construction.
Eight years only were allowed to elapse after the organization
of Mason county before the local newspaper was established in our
midst.
In 1849 Messrs. McKenzie & Roberts established the first news-
paper in Mason county, called the "Mason County Heraldy
In 1851 we find O. H. Wright, Esq-., of Havana, editor and pro-
prietor. He was succeeded by E. L. Grubb, who also published a
paper under the same title. Then Stout & Wheaden published a
2$6 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY.
county paper under the same title. This was in 1853.
Stout & Wheaden' were succeeded by W. W. Stout; Wheaden re-
tiring, and under his management the "Herald" became a paper of
much influence and ability.
From this time on we are unable to give dates of the "Arrivals
and Departures" of the local papers, that in most cases were very
short lived, but the following are their names and their editors.
We cannot even give them ad seriatim — so ephemeral were the
existence of some:
The Squatter Sovereign, by James M. Davidson.
The Havana Post, by John B. Wright.
The Battle Axe, by Robert L. Durdy.
The Volunteer, by W. W. Stout.
The True Unionist, by S. Wheadon.
The Havana Gazette, by Robert L. Durdy.
The Havana Voter, by D. G. Swan.
The Revielle, by D. G. Swan.
The Havana Ledger, by William Humphreyville.
The Journal, by J. J. Knapp.
This was removed from Havana to Mason City, and sold to W.
vS. Walker, and there published by him, and is now the Mason City
Journal, so ably and efficiently conducted by Mr. Wells of that
city.
The True Unionist and the Havana Ledger were consolidated
by their editors, Messrs. Wheadon and Humphreyville, and formed
the Democratic Clarion, of Havana, now ably conducted by Mr.
Wheadon.
The Havana Gazette, by D. G. Swan.
The Bath Journal, of Bath, by W\ W. Stout.
The Bath Journal, by Stafford & Servass.
The Mason City Times, by Haughey & Co., the first number of
which issued Dec. 25, 1S66, lies on our table.
The Mason City News, by Haughey & Walker.
The Lndependent, by Haughey & Warnock.
The Democratic Bugle, by Robert L. Durdy.
If there are others we have been unable to get data of them, and
can only use such material as is within our reach. We will in the
following pages give brief extracts from some of the earliest publi-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
2 37
cations in the county, and such other interesting references as are
obtainable.
EXTRACTS FROM OLD MASON COUNTY NEWSPAPERS.
From Herald, April, 1857.
COURT.
The next term of the Mason Cii'cuit Court will be holden in
Havana, on the third Monday in April next. The following per-
sons have been subpoenaed to attend as jurors:
GRAND JURY.
Wm. Allen,
James Boggs,
E. Low,
J. S. Wilbourn,
W. T. Chapman,
W. E. McGill,
S. Rule,
J. R. Chaney,
G. A. Phelps,
R. Anderson,
J. M. Hardin,
J. M. Robinson,
Thos. Walker,
Sam. Webb,
T. Tomlin,
A. Hoyt,
J. M. Logue,
H. Cheek,
John Rodgers,
Steele,
P. H. Odle,
J. M. Lampton,
John Micklam,
PETIT JURY.
M. Scott,
I. Mussleman,
C. W. Pierce,
John Higbee,
John Covington,
C. G. Millesson,
D. Black,
W. Caldwell,
E. B. Hibbard,
W. C. Barnett,
D. M. Hillyard,
Robert Donevan,
Thos. Covington,
John McNight,
J. Y. Lane,
J. W. Vaughn,
H. Perry,
Jas. Atkins,
Jas. Brown,
John Haslerig,
A. E. Field,
R. P. Gatton,
H. Blunt,
F. Shurtcliffe.
23S HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
DEMOCRATIC COUNTY CONVENTION.
The undersigned, Democratic Central Committee, give notice
that there will be a democratic convention held at the court house
in Havana, on Saturday, the 12th of September next, at 1 o'clock,
P. M, for the purpose of nominating candidates to be supported at
the November election, 1S57. The primary meetings in each pre-
cint, for the purpose of choosing delegates, will be held at the
usual place of holding elections in each precinct, on Saturday,
September 5th, 1S57, at 1 o'clock, P. M.
Each precinct will be entitled to five delegates, to represent them
in said convention.
C. W. Andrus,
h. fullerton,
Alex. Gray.
MAIL ROUTE.
Some time ago, we noticed in some of our exchanges, a state-
ment to the effect that a new mail route, from Havana to Lincoln
via Mason City had been created, and that the same would soon
be placed under contract. But we suppose the announcement was
all humbug, as we have heard no more in reference to it for some
months. Such a route is very much needed, and it is greatly to be
desired that it be obtained, as there is a very large extent of terri-
tory, with many inhabitants, who are almost without any mail
facilities whatever.
EGYPT STATION.
Our readers should by no means forget the fact, that on Satur-
day, the 27th inst., there will be a great sale of town lots in Egypt
station. This town, as all are well aware, is beautifully located,
being situated on the Illinois River Railroad, and in the heart of
the most productive portion of Mason county. A better location
could not possibly have been selected than the one on which it is
situated. It is quite apparent to all, that in a few years hence there
must be quite a flourishing town at some point in that neighbor-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 239
hood, and it will, in all probability, be at Egypt station, as that place
has every advantage required for its support. Persons who wish
to invest money in a paying speculation would do well to attend
the sale, as no loss can be sustained in making purchases at that
point. The terms of sale are extremely reasonable, only ten per
cent, to be paid at the time of purchase.
march 19, 185S.
Improvements are rapidly going forward in our town. Many
new and substantial buildings are in course of erection; new busi-
ness houses are being opened, all of which goes to show that our
town is in a prosperous and flourishing condition.
Messrs. Stewart & Reichman will open a drug store in the
course of a few days, in the building formerly occupied by John
Close. They are at present in St. Louis making their purchases.
Messrs. Otto & Thee inform us that they intend opening a fam-
ily grocery in the building formerly occupied as a store by Adolph
Krebaum, Esq.
Mr. James C. Kemp, who recently made an assessment of the
real estate and personal property of the town of Havana, subject
to taxation, has kindly furnished us with the following statement:
Amount of personal property $134,957
Amount of real estate 156,800
Total $291,757
Of course due allowance must be made for the fact that it was
generally understood that the assessment was made for the purpose
of levying a tax, consequently the estimate of property would be
put at considerably lower figures than its real value.
24O • HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
THE THIRTEENTH.
To-morrow will be a great day in the annals of Havana. The
morning will be ushered in by the booming of cannon and the en-
livening strains of music. At an early hour of the day the citizens
from all sections of the country will commence flocking in, and our
town will soon be densely crowded with the "sovereigns," all anxi-
ous to get a view of the illustrious advocate of popular sovereignity.
Large delegations are expected to be in attendance from Lewis-
town, and also from Pekin and Peoria. The steamboat Excelsior
will arrive here on to-morrow morning, and return to Peoria in
the evening, thus affording to the citizens of the up-river points an
excellent opportunity to be here during the day and hear the
speeches. Two excellent bands of music, we understand, are ex-
pected to be in attendance. The oration will be delivered at the
grove north of town, at two o'clock, P. M. A torch-light pro-
cession will probably come off in the evening. Taking all things
into consideration, the affair promises to be one of rare interest.
Mr. Douglas, during his sojourn in our place, will be the guest of
M. Dearborn, Esq.
MASON HERALD. W. W. STOUT, EDITOR.
Havana, jfune 4, 1858.
DELTA.
This boat is the Havana and Peoria daily packet. She made
her first appearance at this port on Monday last. A number of
gentlemen were on board, taking a pleasure trip; among them was
the "local" of the Transcript, a very pleasant fellow. We had
the pleasure of an introduction to Mr. Whittington, Captain,
and Mr. H. N. Forsythe, Clerk, who are both "capital fel-
lows." The Delta made her first trip in less than five hours,
making landing at all the intermediate points, which are Liver-
pool, Spring Lake, Coperas Creek, Kingston and Pekin, which is
as good time as is usually made by any of the St. Louis and Peoria
packets. The Delta is well fitted up, and although there is noth-
ing gaudy about her fixtures, everything looks neat and comfort-
able, and she can accomodate, with ease, about fifty passengers,
HISTORY OF MASON" COUNTY. 241
and likewise carry a considerable amount of freight. This boat is
a great accommodation to the citizens of Havana, and other towns
along the river, and should be well patronized by them. She
leaves Havana every morning at half-past seven o'clock, and re-
mains in Peoria some three or four hours previous to starting on
her return trip to this place. To many persons this will be an ad-
vantageous arrangement, as those having business in Peoria can go
up on the Delta, have time to transact their affairs, and return on
the same boat at night. Our citizens, especially, should appreciate
and assist in the encouragement of the enterprise, as the men en-
gaged in the running of the boat are eminently worthy of patron-
age. We understand that, so far, the boat has made her expenses,
which we consider a very flattering beginning for her, considering
that there is such a good stage of water at present in the river, and
plenty of very fine steamers making daily trips. We think there
is not a doubt but the business of the Delta will be largely in-
creased, and the investment made in the running of a daily packet
from Havana to Peoria will prove a paying one. There is not a
doubt but she will do a heavy business if we should have low
water at any time during the summer.
OCEAN SPRAY VICTIM ( ?).
A passenger on board the Sam Gaty, on her last trip up the
river, informed us that he saw the body of a man floating in the
Illinois river, near Harris' Landing. As every person found
drowned at the present time is set down as "a victim of the Ocean
Spray disaster," we suppose this is another person who was lost
by the burning of that ill-fated steamer! St. Louis papers please
copy.
As we are now in daily communication with Peoria, perhaps
some of our citizens would like to subscribe for some of the daily
papers published in that city. If such is the case, we can recom-
mend to the republicans the Peoria Transcript as being a very
good paper, both for news and commercial matter. The paper is
neat in its mechanical execution, and its proprietors are gentlemen.
— 3 1
242 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Should any of our citizens visit Peoria — which they do every day —
they should call and see the Transcript office, as it has recently
been adorned by a new steam press.
THE HERALD. — W. W. STOUT, EDITOR.
Havana, October 2d, 1857-
CANDIDATES.
Adolph Krebaum announces himself as a candidate for the office
of county clerk, subject, however, to the decision of a democratic
county convention, to be held at Havana on the 12th day of Sep-
tember next.
I. A. Hurd announces himself as an independent candidate for
county clerk, at the ensuing election.
We are authorized to announce Fletcher Coppel as a candidate
for clerk, at the ensuing election.
We are authorized to announce Selah Wheadon as a candidate
for school commissioner of Mason county.
Editor of the Herald: Please announce J. B. Paul as a candi-
date for school commissioner, at the ensuing election, and oblige
Many Voters.
Robert Anderson is a candidate for treasurer, at the ensuing
election.
Mr. Editor: Please announce N. Powell, Esq., as a candidate
for the office of county judge, at the ensuing election, and oblige
Many Voters.
We are authorized to announce G. H. Campbell as a candidate
for county judge, at the ensuing election.
the agricultural fair.
Are our readers aware that our county fair is to be held in this
place during the ensuing week. We have heard so little said in
regard to it that we fear many of the citizens of the county have
forgotten that we are to have an exhibition of articles during the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 243
present year. There are but a few more days to elapse before the
appointed time will have arrived, and the short interval should be
employed in making preparations to be present on the occasion.
Our citizens do not manifest as much interest in such exhibitions
as they should. There are many articles raised and manufactured
in the county well worthy to be exhibited, and our citizens should
not be backward in bringing them forward and placing them on
exhibition. The articles exhibited at the last fair, were very cred-
itable to the county, when compared with what we saw on exhibi-
tion at the State fair. Some of the needlework exhibited here last
year was almost equal to anything we saw at Peoria.
MASON CITY.
We were informed that there were a very large number of peo-
ple present at the sale of town lots in Mason City, which took
place on Wednesday last. It is supposed that the number of per-
sons present much exceeded 1,000. Lots sold very high, we are
informed at from $75 to $300! This may be considei'ed rather ex-
travagant figures by some, when they take into consideration the
fact that there are not at present half a dozen houses within two
miles of the location. We are informed that there is a very beau-
tiful and fertile country in the neigborhood of the projected town,
as fine a country as any town could desire to have for its support;
and we presume, should the railroad be completed through that sec-
tion of country and a depot located at Mason City, it will stand a
very fair chance of making a considerable town, and of transacting
a very respectable business. But we are very much inclined to
doubt whether in twenty years from the present time it will have
become as large and important a place as some of the most sanguine
friends of the undertaking expect it to become in the next three or
four years. We are informed that some of its friends entertain the
opinion that the county seat will be removed to that point at an
early day.
Well, perhaps such may be the case; though we are seriously
inclined to doubt it; but we presume when it does occur, the event
will very shortly after be followed by the removal of the capitol of
the United States to the same important point! One event will
certainly follow the other, and perhaps we may as well at once
:i| HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY
commence to congratulate the citizens of that portion of the county
on their favorable location, in such near proximity to the Federal
Capitol. We are prevented from offering our congratulations to
the citizens of Mason City, from the fact that there are no inhabit*
ants there — but we promise to do so as soon as some move in.
We are convinced since our attending the State Fair, that Mason
county is the equal of almost any county in the vState for the raising
of almost every kind of vegetables, and as for watermelons we can
safely challenge and defy the competition of the entire State. There
has been many larger melons sold in Havana during the present
summer than any we saw at Peoria during the Fair.
Some one presented the editor of the Cass County Tinb&s with a
melon weighing 38 pounds, and he takes on considerably about the
size on't. We saw a load of melons sold in this town a few days
ago, several of which were weighed and found to exceed 38 pounds
in weight. A thirty-eight pound melon may be considered deci-
dedlv "some" in v oul * diggings, neighbor, but up here it is consid-
ered rather "small pertaters," and hardly worth the gathering.
The largest melon ever presented to the Herald office, weighed
fifty-nine pounds, and was not considered worth bragging about!
It was raised by J. D. W. Bowman. It was only twenty-one
pounds heavier than yours, neighbor! 'Twarn't as big agin, was
it? Some consolation, anyhow.
From the Maso?i County Herald, Nov. 24, iSjj.
PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY, BY T. C. WHEADEN & W. W. STOUT.
This is court week in Havana, and the town is crowded with ad-
vocates and clients, jurors and those who expect to deal out justice
even-handed. Candidates are here, and traders seeking bargains.
Business is legibly written on every countenance. Some will be
happier and some sadder at the week's close than at its commence-
ment.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 245
On Monday evening, the citizens were called together, at the
court house, to listen to one of the most important discussions of
the day, and the most so of any ever presented to the people of
Mason county. Though a fifty cent show would have collected a
more numerous audience, yet there was a large and deeply inter-
ested audience listening to the matter-of-fact statements, and
weighty and conclusive arguments of Major Harris, in reference to
the importance and feasihility of the construction of the Spring-
field & Petersburg Railroad, and the necessity, almost, of the citi-
zens of Mason county voting for the corporate subscription to that
object, to the amount mentioned by the county court, viz: twenty-
five thousand dollars. The Major showed, conclusively, that if
constructed it would be a largely paying road, because of the con-
nections it would have with the roads running north to Chicago,
and south to St. Louis, and the very direct communication it would
open up with the towns and country on the line of our road, and
the great eastern commercial centres, New York, Boston, Phila-
delphia and Baltimore, by the connection it would form with the
numerous lines of roads running eastward, thus giving farmers the
most ample facilities for disposing of their produce at the very best
markets.
Judge Kellogg, of Canton, was afterwards called to the stand,
and presented additional arguments, in an able and eloquent style,
on the same subject. It was a masterly effort, showing that rail-
road communications such as this road would give us, are absolute-
ly indispensable to develop the resources of the State. We regret
that a larger number of our citizens of the county were not present
to be convinced by these addresses, if they ever had any doubt, that
nothing will so much advance the interests of Mason county as
railroad communication with the great northern, eastern and south-
ern markets, and that there is nothing the people can so easily do
as to vote at the coming election for county subscription.
The election for county and precinct officers will take place on
Tuesday, the Sth inst. It is very much wished that every voter
should be present at the polls, prepared to deposit an intelligent
vote for the question of the county subscription of $25,000 to the
capital stock of the Springfield and Petersburg Railroad Compa-
ny, which is on that day to be decided; and certainly a question of
246 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
more interest has never yet been before the citizens of Mason coun-
ty for decision. The future prosperity of the county will be very
materially affected by the decision of the voters on that question
next Tuesday.
RATHER SINGULAR.
We hear it said that the association of "Secret and obscure
Know-Nothings," which is said to exist in this community, have
been in the habit heretofore of holding their meetings in the Ger-
man church, but that refusing to pay a certain amount of rent, thev
were ejected, and compelled to use Cotilion Hall as their lodge
room. Of course this statement is incorrect. A German church
would be a strange place for a Know-Nothing meeting. The
number of persons who attended the mysterious meeting at the
Hall, we first heard was 25, but according to .the latest censvs it
has increased to between 60 and 70.
In grading the street leading past the Mason Hotel to the river,
quite a number of skulls were found, also other bones. A portion
of them were in an excellent state of preservation. From the num-
ber of bones found at this and other times, we incline to the opinion
that anciently that part of Havana that fronts on the river was used
as an Indian burying ground.
Feb. 10, 1854. Our townsmen, James Mallory and Pike C. Ross,
left this place on Monday last for a tour of observation in Texas,
and should that country meet their expectations, they design remov-
ing there. They go via. Orleans and Shreveport.
From the Mason County Herald, February ij, 1854.
The county subscription in aid of the Springfield and Peters-
burg Railroad is a subject of considerable interest to the people of
Mason county at this time. The hopes that have been revived
concerning the early construction of that road are not a little mixed
with apprehension in the minds of many of our citizens. The
road, it seems, was chartered from Springfield to Petersburg, and
the entension of it to this place was left optional with the company.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 247
The county vote of twenty-five thousand dollars was unconditional,
but assurances were given in public addresses to the citizens, pre-
vious to the election, that an estimate had been made of the cost of
grading and tieing in each county, and that the subscriptions were pro-
portioned to the estimate, so that, if the road should be built, each
county would, in fact, have its own money expended within its
limits. The people made the vote, of course, in good faith that
the count}- would have the advantages of a railroad. We all
know the road ought to be built; but will it? That is the question.
Can we have satisfactory assurances that such will be the case, or
is it taken for granted that the money of Mason county will be
faithfully expended in building the road, and that she shall make
her subscription, not absolutely knowing whether she is building
the road from Havana to Petersburg or from Petersburg to Spring-
field? We commend cautiousness to our court.
From Herald, March 2Q, 1835.
The election for town officers took place on Monday last, and re-
sulted in the choice of John H. West, James Boggs, N. Waggen-
seller, J. D. Hays and Silas Cheek, as board of trustees for the
town of Havana for the ensuing year. R. H. Walker was elected
police magistrate.
The election for associate justice and constable passed off quietly.
But few people were in attendance on account of pressing business
at home in the agricultural line. The following is the vote of this
precinct:
FOR ASSOCIATE JUSTICE.
Henry C. Burnham 89
Abner Baxter 53
J. C. Randolph 13
FOR CONSTABLE.
A. Olmsted 65
John R. Falkner 66
We have no reliable returns from other precincts except Salt
Creek, which gives Burnham eighty-six, Baxter seven, and Pern-
248 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY.
berton one. There is little doubt of Burnham's election by a
large marjority.
Herald, September 21, iSjJ.
We suppose our readers are aware that on the 4th and 5th of
next month our county fair will be held. We feel considerable in-
terest in the result, it being the first attempt that we have made in
this county to hold a fair. The executive committee have bought
grounds and provided for fencing the same, so we shall commence
our first fair upon grounds owned by the society. Every person
who is a member is entitled to the privilege of entering any article
in the advertised list, and any person may become a member for
the trifling sum of fifty cents. Then we again say, come, from the
fertile forks of the Sangamon, the rich bottoms of Crane Creek,
the verdant banks of Salt Creek, and the blooming prairies of
Egypt, and everybody bring his wife and children.
From Herald, August 23, J 85 5.
Ninian W. Edwards, State Superintendent of Public Instruction,
will deliver an address on the subject of Education, at the court
house, on Thursday, the 30th of August, at seven, P. M. All
should made it convenient to be present on that occasion.
SAMUEL KURD.
We are authorized to announce the name of Samuel Hurd as a
candidate for Constable at the ensuing election, to fill the vacancy
made by the resignation of John Falkner.
The number of bushels of corn raised in Mason county in 1853
was 1,158,400, and 187,648 bushels of wheat.
Twenty years ago — 1833 — the region of country now known as
Mason county, was one unbroken wilderness. Here and there in
some point of timber, or near the bank of some creek or river, the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 249
log cabin of the pioneer, with a few acres of land beginning to be
cultivated, was the only indication of civilization.
The Government owned the land, and $i 25 per acre was no
inducement to settlers, when any quantity of what was considered
better soil could be purchased for the same price. Emigrants
avoided these plains and sand ridges as unwoi-thy of their notice.
The productive qualities of the soil had not been tested, and very
few were willing to run the risk and make the experiment.
It was not until land for entry was growing scarce, in what was
considered more favored localities, that purchases began to be made
here. The settler very soon found, however, that his prejudices
were unfounded, that the forbidding appearance of the surface was
a false indication; that an exuberance of productive power was here
disguised under the exterior show of poverty. The facts becom-
ing known, the settlers flocked in, and have continued to come
until now there is scarcely any unentered land to be found in the
county.
The Herald, of April 19, 1855, says in the local news column,
"the town is crowded with business. Walker & Hancock are re-
ceiving large supplies of goods."
C. W. Andrus is receiving his spring stock.
J. H. & D. P. Hole are also receiving large consignments of new
and desirable articles.
Steiner & Sterns are daily making heavy sales.
Richard Ritter is receiving from the east a large stock of fancy
goods.
N. Waggenseller has had new goods for some days, and making
heavy sales:
H. R. Cleaner has just returned from St. Louis with a new
stock.
R. H. Walker has opened a new establishment, located at the
heart of the city.
J. C. Kemp has also returned from the city with new goods.
Kemp & Simpson are receiving heavy stocks of stoves, etc.
Under date of July 4, 1855, the Herald says: "The warehouse
of R. S. Moore & Co., will be ready to receive grain in a few days.
This warehouse will be the largest on the Illinois river."
— 3 2
250 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
"N.J. Rockwell will soon have his flouring mill done."
June 27, 1855, "O. H. Shearer will remain in Havana a few
days longer and take daguerratypes."
Also, the cards of Thomas Covington and J. D. Hays, furniture
dealers.
Population of Havana in 1837 932
No. of males 495
No. of females 437
No. of mechanics no
TRADE OF 1856.
From January 1, 1856, to January 1, 1857.
From the Herald.
Firm. Rye. Wheat. Pork. Corn. Oats.
Moore, Gill & Co 5,000 45,000 71,200 lbs. 130,000 10,000
Walker & Hancock.. .4,500 68,000 42,100 lbs. 150,000 7,700
Wagenseller& Jones. . 980 29,800 31,000 840
J. H. & D. P. Hole. 20,000 80,000
John Close 5,000 4,000 10,000
H. R. Cleaver 10,000 20,000
Stuart & Bro M 6 5 15,000
R.H.Walker 10,000 25,000
Stiner, Sterns & Co 20,600 22,600
J.C.Kemp 5,000 20,000
SALES OF GOODS REPORTED SAME YEAR.
Walker & Hancock. ... $100,000
Wagenseller & Jones 43,ooo
J. H. & D. P. Hole 30,000
Otto & Krebaum 8,500
John Close 10,550
H. R. Cleaver 20,000
Stuart & Bro 6,130
R. H. Walker 26,000
HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY. 251
vSteiner, Sterns & Co 26,270
C. W. Andrus 21,000
J. A. Hurd 20,850
J. C. Kemp - . 17,000
DRUG STORES.
E. B. Harpham $9,000
P. L. Beckstead 3,500
H. R. Cleaver 5,070
HARDWARE.
J. F. Coppel $6,000
G. Simpson 3->5°°
GROCERIES.
W. C. Thompson $6,500
J. D. Thee 3,000
W. C. Stone 4,856
S. Morris 4,100
LUMBER YARDS.
Simmons & Dixon 1 ,500,000 feet.
William Allen 500,000 feet.
From the '•'■Mason City Times" No. 1, volume i,the first paper
in Mason City, Dec. 25, 1866, we quote the following:
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
Amid the congratulations, the joy and hilarity of holliday week,
the Times presents itself as one of the rare Christmas gifts, to all
who feel an interest in the welfare of our city. Free from all sec-
tarian or political bias, having a heart only for the general good,
and priding itself upon its neat appearance, it appeals confidently
to all for support.
To those who have aided us by kind words, advertisements and
subscriptions, we return our thanks. As for those who have not
aided us, we hope to merit their patronage, if we do not receive it.
Z$l HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
BUSINESS HOUSES OF MASON CITY.
Dry Goods and Groceries. — Warnock & Co., R. W. Porter,
Orendorff & Keefer, Powell & Cargill, Mrs. A. Swing.
Grocery Stores. — S. Sites, Wilson & Brother.
Drug Stores. — Kincaid & Bradley, W. S. Walker, Warnock
&Co.
Boots and Shoes. — Warnock & Co., Orendorff & Keefer,
J. Riggins, R. W. Porter, Mrs. A. Swing, Powell & Cargill,
Geo. Deitrich.
Clothing. — R. W. Porter, Gotlieb & Myers, J. Riggins, Oren-
dorff & Keefer, Powell & Cargill.
Hardware. — J. Prichett, Orendorff & Keefer.
Merchant Tailors. — P. Cooper, A. Zimmerman, W. T.
Menick.
Builders. — Ritter, Young & Co., J. Deitrich, E. F. Hackley,
J. H. Piercy.
Blacksmiths. — Brooker & Ceare, House'worth & Co., Hughes
& Co.
Livery Stables. — Taylor & Co., Riner & Brother.
Butchers. — C. Crew, Butler & Carter.
Saloons. — J. Elliott, Mike Reed, J. Houseworth, R. Seward.
Restaurant and Bakery. — J. C. Ambrose.
Lumber Dealer. — J. L. Gates.
Daguerrean Artists. — Haughey & Eulass.
Harness Makers. — Fidler & Hall, Kramer & Warnock.
Wagon Makers. — J. McClarin, George Yost, George Brown.
Insurance Agents. — J. A. Walker, A. B. Ruth.
Physicians.— J. P. Walker, W. J. Chamblin, J. A. Walker,
M. P. Phinney, J. C. Patterson, M. C. Phinney.
Mason Contractors. — A. G. Moses, A. H. Martin.
Sherman House. — James Bell.
Brick Maker. — R. Seward.
Tin Shops. — E. M. Whyler, John Pritchett.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 253
We make the following reference to the four papers published
in Mason county at the present time:
Not having full data of all, of course this reference will be
brief.
THE MASON CITY INDEPENDENT.
The nucleus of what is now the Mason City Independent, was
a small job office in the picture gallery on Tonica street, opposite
M. R. LaForge & Co.'s grain elevators. The job office was start-
ed in connection with the picture gallery by Elder J. M. Haughey,
now [the senior proprietor of the Independent, and Sheridan En-
lass, in the spring of 1866. The rapidly increasing prosperity of
the town and its commercial business, soon demanded a newspaper,
which brought into existence the Mason City News, with the pro-
prietorship of Haughey & Walker — W. S. Walker having bought
an interest in the office about a month before the issue of the first
paper, July 4, 1867. The paper was published under this name
until February 9, 1871, when J. C. Warnock, Esq., the present
editor, bought Mr. Walker's interest, and the name of the paper
was changed to the Mason City Independent, with Haughey &
Warnock, proprietors.
MASON CITY JOURNAL.
The Mason City Journal, published in Mason City by Wells
Cory, Esq., is now in its sixth volume; a neat quarto, and well
conducted, and enjoys a very liberal advertising patronage and cir-
culation ; is strongly devoted to the interests of the republican par-
ty, and the local interests of his city and county.
The Journal is always a welcome visitor, and is second to none
in matters of interest in this region of Illinois. It is not the prov-
ince of a weekly paper to assume to furnish the latest news that is
in this fast age supplied at lightning speed by the city dailies, but
it is their duty to give home locals and matters of interest not gov-
erned by the question of time, so important to the daily. It is here
that the Journal succeeds.
DEMOCRATIC CEARION.
The Clarion is in its sixth volume; a folio of eight columns to
the page, conducted by S. Wheadon, and E. O. Wheadon, local
editor. The Clarion is rigidly democratic, and is conducted with
ability. Mr. Wheadon is a writer of more than ordinary talent,
254 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY.
and his political abilities are of a high order, and worthy of a wider
field. We quote the following, which now is for the first time
in type:
"Ah, what can cheer the lonely breast,
Bereft of youth's companions, all
Who once in days that long have passed,
Sprang joyous at my friendly call.
Where are they now? Ah, whither fled?
Perchance to some far distant shore;
Perchance some moulder with the dead,
Where friendly voice shall ring no more.
The bright sun throws his golden beams,
The soft wind sighs across the plain,
The fishes sport in silver streams,
The warbler tunes his throat again.
But what are summer's golden beams,
Or zephyr's breath, or warblers gay,
If youthful hopes like morning beams,
Have fled — forever fled away."
"I saw in girlhood's rosy flush,
A fair and joyous bride,
Upon her cheek a modest blush,
A youth was by her side.
And hope was in her fine dark eye,
And fond confiding love;
A dream of happiness and joy,
Her youthful fancy wove.
She dreamed that o'er her summer sky
No dreary clouds should rise,
Her breast should never know a sigh,
No tears bedim her eyes.
But he who shared her youthful heart,
Was thoughtless, young and gay;
And vice, with its alluring art,
Had taught his feet to stray."
DEMOCRATIC BUGLE.
The Democratic Bugle, published by Robert L. Durdy, is a
campaign paper, intended to serve the interests of the political crisis
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 355
the present fall, and as its name indicates, is of the democratic faith.
Mr. Durdy is not a new man in the newspaper business of Mason
county, but has been engaged in publishing and in the employment
of others in that business for many years. He is a fine mechanic
in that line of business, as well as an able writer.
The "Bugle" is issued from the office of the Democratic Clarion,
has had a good circulation and is liberally patronized as an adver-
tising medium.
The Bugle is the last born of the twenty-five papers that have
entered their appearance in Mason county since McKinzie & Rob-
erts began in 1849 the issue of the Mason County Herald.
R A ILR O ADS
TRAVERSING MASON COUNTY. THEIR ORIGIN AND PRESENT
CONDITION, MANAGEMENT, ETC.
PEORIA, PEKIN AND JACKSONVILLE RAILROAD.
The first we find in reference to the above named road is an ed-
itorial in the "Mason County Herald" in which the editor urges
the voting of stock by Mason county in the Illinois River Rail-
road.
The subject continued to be agitated, and we proceed to give ex-
tracts from the Herald, of this city, showing the progress made,
and the feeling with which the people of the county engaged in
this great necessity, then so severely felt. River transportations,
and tri-weekly or semi-weekly mails, were becoming too slow for
the increased population and advancing trade.
The Herald, Havana, jfuly 17, 1S57.
THE RAILROAD.
On Monday next our citizens will be called upon to say or gain-
say whether the corporation shall take $15,000 worth of stock in
the Illinois River Railroad.
That a railroad is indispensable to our well-being need sno con-
travention; that the road in question will partially allay the evil of
which we might complain, is a "fixed fact;" therefore, property
holders within this precinct should turn out en masse ou the day of
election, and show, by their acts, whether they consider the advan-
tages commensurate with the taxation.
We have said, time and again, that wherever a railroad is built,
in that vicinity (within eight or ten miles) he who cultivates the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 257
soil is most benefitted; our expressed opinion remains still unaltered,
The farmer finds a ready market at his own door for all produc-
tions he can spare, at prices commensurate with St. Louis, or other
principal places of sale, less the freight and handling. But these
same farmers are the last men to engage in internal improvement;
content to "let well enough alone," rather than risk a dollar in bet-
tering their condition. Such being the case, the town of Havana
proposes to do that for the country which the country proper will
not do for itself: appropriate $15,000 to the building of the Illinois
River Railroad, secured by the bonds of the corporation. Will
the freeholders vote the amount? Not the least doubt in our mind
exists but they will do it, knowing, as we do, they "love the glory
of Rome better than Cesar." Whatever may have tendency to
benefit our country friends, will ever receive a hearty response
from our townsmen, even should they be the losers by the trans-
action. Then let every man to the polls on Monday, casting his
vote for or against the improvement in question, as his own good
judgment may suggest.
Herald, September u, 1857.
The annual meeting: of the stockholders of the Illinois River
Railroad Company will be held at Chandlerville, on the first Sat-
urday of September next, at which time and place there will be
an election of five directors of said company for the ensuing year.
Every stockholder is requested to attend said election.
By order of the Board of Directors.
K. S. Thomas, President.
M. H. L. Schooley, Secretary.
ILLINOIS RIVER RAILROAD.
Call for installments of capital stock. An order of the Board of
Directors and notice by the Treasurer.
Whereas, this board has heretofore made calls upon the sub-
scribers to the capital stock of the Illinois River Railroad Com-
pany for a payment of a portion of their stock, according to which
calls thirty per cent, of the amount subscribed by each subscriber
to said capital stock is now due, (including what has been paid ;)
and whereas, part of said subscribers have not yet paid the full
amount thus due; and whereas, the work on the road has been
commenced and the money is needed now to pay for such work ;
—33
25S HISTORY OF MASON" COUNTY.
and whereas, five per cent, more of said subscription has been
called for by this board, which will become due on the first Mon-
day in next September, and also five per cent, on each of the first
Mondays of next October, November and December.
It is therefore ordered by this board, that each and all of the sub-
scribers to the capital stock of the Illinois River Railroad Com-
pany pay to the Treasurer of said company, or to his agents, at
such places as he may fix upon, on or before the first Monday in
next September, thirty-five per cent. — that is, the sum of thirty -
five dollars, (including what has been paid) upon each share of one
hundred dollars subscribed by him or her; and that they also pay
to said Treasurer, or his agents as aforesaid, on each of the first
Monday's of October, November and December, five per cent, or
five dollars, upon each of such shares, and in default of any such
payments bv any subscriber, the Treasurer is hereby authorized to
institute legal proceedings against each subscriber who shall fail or
refuse to make any such payments. And it is hereby further or-
dered, that notice of the foregoing order or call be given to the
subscribers, bv publication in the Cass County Times and Mason
County Herald.
I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an order passed by
the Board of Directors of the Illinois River Railroad Company, at
a meeting held by them, at Chandlerville, on the 10th day of
August, 1S57, as the same appears of record.
Witness my hand and seal, this nth day of August, 1S57.
M. H. L. Schoolev.
Sec. of I. R. R. R. Co.
NOTICE BV TREASURER.
Notice is hereby given to the subscribers to the capital stock of
the Illinois Ri\er Railroad Company, to make payments of the
amount due and to become due from them, as specified in the fore-
going order of the Board of Directors, either to G. N. Walker, at
Havana, or Benjamin Beesley, at Bath, in Mason county; Sylves-
ter Paddock, at Chandlerville, or N. B. Thompson, at Virginia, in
Cass countv. The money must be paid promptly, as the under-
signed is bound to do his dutv in collecting it.
Thomas Plaster,
Treas. of I. R. R. R. Co.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
; 59
The Morgan County Journal, of Jan. 28, 1858, says:
ILLINOIS RIVER RAILROAD.
B. S. Thomas, Esq., President of this road, passed through Jack-
sonville on Monday last, on his way to New York. The object of
his visit is to make arrangements for procuring iron for the road,
and to make sales of some county bonds.
We learn that among the bonds which Mr. Thomas has to dis-
pose of, are some $100,000 voted by the people of Mason county.
The value of "swamp lands" alone, owned by this county, is esti-
mated at $300,000; so that the purchase of her bonds would be a
safe investment.
The work upon the road is still progressing. Some forty-five
miles of the northern part of the line is now ready for the ties and
iron, and the whole road, as far south as Virginia, can be placed in
readiness for track-laying early in the season. The engineers are
now employed in locating that portion of the road between Vir-
ginia and Jacksonville, and it will not be long before the work of
construction will be going on throughout the whole line.
NOTICE TO RAILROAD CONTRACTORS.
Chief Engineer' 's Office, Illinois River Railroad,
Peoria, March 14, 185"/.
Proposals will be received by the undersigned until Tuesday, the
5th day of May next, for the grading, bridging and furnishing
cross-ties for the Illinois River Railroad, between the cities of Pekin
and Jacksonville, a distance of about seventy miles.
Proposals may be for separate sections, of about two miles each,
any number of sections, or all together. Bids will be preferred for
the entire work, including the iron and station buildings. Profiles,
plans and specifications are ready for inspection at the chief engi-
neer's office.
This line passes its entire length over a rich and well developed
country, where supplies are cheaply obtained. The first fifty
miles being very level, with sand subsoil. The last twenty miles
passes over a rolling country, and presents some heavy work. It
is also the closing and interior link of the great north and south
trunk road between Chicago and St. Louis, and between St. Louis
and the upper Mississippi country.
R. S. Thomas, President.
W. G. Wheaton, Chief Eng.
200 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
THE HERALD. — W. W. STOUT, EDITOR.
Havana, September n, /Sj/.
ELECTION OF DIRECTORS.
The election of directors of the Illinois River Railroad took place
at Chandlerville on Saturday of last week. A large number of
persons were present on the occasion, and and an amount of stock
was represented equal to $350,000. Considerable interest was
manifested among those present in regard to who should be elected
to the directory, and as to how they should be appointed. Hut after
the manifestation of considerable feeling in regard thereto, matters
were finally arranged, as we presume, to the satisfaction of all par-
ties. Judge Thomas was elected director for Morgan county; R.
S. Thomas for Cass; J. S. R uggles for Bath; Frank Low for Ha-
vana; and Joshua Wagenseller, for Tazewell. The selection of a
more efficient board of directors could not have been made. They
are the very best men to be found along the line of the road, and
their selection will meet the approbation of a large majority of the
citizens of the different counties through which the road will pass,
and give renewed confidence to the friends of this great improve-
ment. After the election, the new board held a short session and
chose James H. Hole, of Havana, to be the treasurer of the com-
pany, and M. H. L. Schooley secretary. The board then adjourn-
ed to meet again in Havana, on the third Saturday of the present
month.
THE RAILROAD.
It is with no small degree of satisfaction that we inform our
readers that active operations have commenced on the Illinois River
Railroad at this place. At the present time between forty and fiftv
men, and also some dozen teams, are busily at work in despoiling
the enormous sand-hill, which has so long been an eye-sore to the
citizens of this place, of its huge dimensions, and they are now haul-
ing away the dirt and making fills therewith on other portions of
the road. The citizens of our town seem to manifest an extraor-
dinary interest in the work, judging from the fact that all the
"shady spots" in near proximity to where the work is going on, is
constantly occupied all day long by persons who seem to contem-
plate with immense satisfaction its progress. This 'enormous sand-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 26 1
hill is rapidly giving way before the "Mickeys," and it is a great
pity but the road had been located throughout the center of it, the
railroad company in making excavations for the road would have
done more for the benefit of the town, more towards improving the
appearance thereof, in three months' time, than the town council
will be able to do in the next three years.
The road from Market street to the little prairie above town will
have to be raised, we are informed, something like four feet above
the present level.
There will be a bridge erected across Market street of sufficient
hight to enable wagons to pass under with ease.
The town council held a meeting on Wednesday last, with the
intention of granting the company the right of way through the
town, but did not do so, from the fact that they thought it best to
wait until they could see the chief engineer, before making the
grant.
There will have to be a number of culverts made at different
points along where the road passes through town, otherwise at
times, immediately after hard rains, a number of lots lying back of
the railroad would be entirely submerged with water. Conse-
quently it was thought proper by the board of trustees to make
some stipulations in regard thereto, before granting the right
of way, and they delayed so doing until the proper officer could be
seen in regard to it.
Having thus somewhat in detail given the beginning of the Illi-
nois River Railroad, which was the first in the county, we will
quote from the report of Railroad and Warehouse Commissioners,
giving the present status of said road, though by its transfer its
name was changed to Peoria, Pekin & Jacksonville.
Work was begun on this road in Havana, in Sept., 1857. The
road from Pekin to Virginia, fifty-eight miles, was put in opera-
tion in 1859. From Pekin to Peoria, ten miles, was put in opera-
tion in 1864. From Virginia to Jacksonville, fifteen miles, in the
summer of 1869.
The P., P. & J. road acquired, by purchase, all the property
covered by a deed of trust of the Illinois River Railroad Company,
under the foreclosure of which it was sold. It also acquired, by
zGz HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
legislative authority, the right to use any or all the powers con-
ferred upon the Illinois River Railroad Company, hy charter and
amendment, but no merging of the company took place by a con-
solidation of these respective interests, except as here stated.
Length of main line 83 miles
Length of sidings and other track 12^ miles
Weight of rail per yard 52 and 56 lbs
Width of guage 4 feet 8}4 inches
Number of miles run by passenger trains, for the
year ending June 30, 1S75 1 17,816
Number of miles by freight 84,345
Number of miles by construction 4 2 >°43
Total 244,204
Total number of passengers 80,370
Total tons of freight 1 29,997
The extraordinary care exercised in the management of this
road has made it almost free from accidents. During the year
above named, three passengers were injured, none killed; of em-
ployees, there were two injured, and one killed. This is attributa-
ble to the very sensible plan of Mr. John Allen, President and
Superintendent of the road; which is, that when he has a good,
careful employee, to hold him. In a somewhat extended railroad
travel, we have yet to meet more efficient and gentlemanly con-
ductors than are in the service of this road. Among them we are
pleased to name Mr. J. D. Cork, Mr. N. McSherry, Mr. George
Elwell, Mr. S. Reiley and Mr. W. H. Haynes. To Mr. Cook
and Mr. Kelsey we have referred at length in another place. This
road has been peculiarly fortunate in acquiring and holding the
good will of the people along its entire line; is doing a prosperous
business, and is in excellent condition.
THE INDIANAPOLIS, BLOOMINGTON AND WESTERN EXTENSION.
This line runs from Champaign to Havana, a distance of one
hundred miles, and traverses Mason county in nearly an east and
west direction, and began operations in October, 1873.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 263
The guage of this road is four feet eight and three-quarter inches.
The further details at our command, in regard to this road, not be-
ing of general interest, we omit them, and have only to say that
the road is carefully and judiciously managed, is in excellent order,
and supplied with efficient and gentlemanly employees. Among
them it is with much pleasure that we can here name Mr. L. C.
Thrall and Mr. J. Caldwell, the gentlemanly and efficient conduc-
tors. This line gives us a long wished for and much needed direct
eastern connection for mails and travel.
SPRINGFIELD AND NORTHWESTERN.
In 1853 a railroad from Springfield to Petersburg and Havana
was discussed, and in that year Mason county voted $25,000 of
stock in that enterprise, but for the time it was delayed. On Dec.
13, 1855, the city of Springfield voted $50,000 of stock to the
Sangamon and Northwestern Railroad, and Menard county voted
$100,000 to the same project. An organization was effected by the
election of V. Hickox, J. T. Stuart, John Bennett, W. G. Green
and John S. Wilbourn, directors, but here again it ended for a
time. The date of the charter of the present company was March
24, 1869. The road was built in 18.71- 72-73. The entire length
from Springfield to Havana is forty-seven miles. The weight of
rail per yard is fifty pounds ; guage of road, four feet eight and a
half inches. This line is in good order, and is carefully and judi-
ciously managed by the present officials and employees. They re-
ceive from the government $45 per mile per annum for carry-
ing mails, and $40 per month from the U. S. Expi-ess Company
for carrying express. John Williams is President and principal
owner of the road, and Geo. N. Black is Receiver. The impor-
tant points connected by this line gives it a liberal share of through
travel, and the rich farming region through which it passes, com-
bined with the accomodating and popular conductors, Messrs.
W. M. Bacon and M. Myers, give it a fine local passenger travel.
The S. & N. W. connects south with the T., W. & W., the C.
& A., the O. & M., the G. & C, giving access to all points of the
compass, from Springfield at all hours. At Petersburg it makes
connection with the Jacksonville branch of the C. & A. north and
south, and at Havana with the P., P. & J., and the I. B. & W. ex-
264 HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY
tension for the north and east, and thus to Peoria, where numerous
roads diverge to all points of the compass. The large stock and
coal interests on the line of this road, with the increasing develop-
ment of the country must eventually make it one of the most pay-
ing lines in the State. The line is in excellent condition, is opera-
ted with care, and accidents are unknown on it.
THE CHICAGO AND ALTON RAILROAD. JACKSONVILLE BRANCH.
For many years this line terminated at Petersburg, but in 1867
it was extended to Bloomington. It was opened up for service to
Mason City in June, and to Bloomington on the 23d of Septem-
ber, in that year. It was incorporated as the Tonica and Peters-
burg Railroad Company, January 15, 1857. Richard Yates was
the first president.
In 1862 it was consolidated with the Jacksonville, Alton and St.
Louis Railroad Company, the whole taking the name of the St.
Louis, J. & C. R. R. Co. William G. Green, of Menard county,
was the first president of the new company, succeeded by George
Straut, of Peoria. This road was leased to the C. & A. road April
30th, 1868.
A letter from George Straut, of PeOria, Illinois, dated June 5th,
1876, says:
J. Cochrane, Esq.:
Dear Sir: A brief history of the road running through
your county, I presume would assist you to prepare your work.
The project was first started as the Tonica and Petersburg Rail-
road, and the line was located through your county in 1S57. The
Hon. Richard Yates was at that time president of the company,
and during the year 185S a portion of the grading was done on
that part of the line. The hard times of 1S58, which continued for
several years, made it impossible to negotiate railroad securities,
consequently work was suspended for several years. Mr. Yates
being a candidate for governor, in i860, he resigned the presidency
of the company, and Wm. G. Green was elected president; and
during his administration arrangements were perfected for consoli-
dating the interests of the Tonica and Petersburg and the Jackson-
ville, Alton and St. Louis Railroad companies. This consolidation
was ratified by the companies in December, 1862, and the new com-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 365
pany was styled the St. Louis, Jacksonville and Chicago Railroad
Company. At the first meeting of the directors I was elected pres-
ident, and have so continued up to this time.
In 1863 arrangements were made for completing the road, and
in 1864 it was completed from Jacksonville south to the C. & A.
road at Godfrey, which gave our road an outlet to St. Louis, and
in 1867 the line was completed from Jacksonville to Bloomington,
giving us an outlet north to Chicago, over the C. & A. road. In
the spring of 1868 the line was leased to the C. & A. road, and has
been operated by that company since that time.
Yours, truly,
George Straut.
HAVANA, RANTOUL AND EASTERN RAILROAD COMPANY.
Length, 128 miles; western terminus, Havana, Mason county;
eastern terminus, the C, D. & V. Railroad, in Ross township,
Vermilion county. Length of line only graded, 36^ miles. This
road has been in progress for some time, with prospects of a rapid
completion.
Amount of stock subscribed $1,000,000
Per centage paid in 5°'^59
Iron and rolling stock have been purchased for the first division
of the road. Width of gauge, three feet. The splendid region of
country through which this line is to pass, and the very low cost
of operating that class of roads, ensures it a good, safe investment,
and completion at an early date.
-34
EDUCATIONAL
THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF MASON COUNTY.
Unpolished marble does not show-
Its beauties to the sight,
Until the labored polish doth
Make all its colors bright.
The youthful mind inclines to rest
In Nature's finest mould,
Until, by education dressed,
Its powers doth unfold.
Let us imagine that a young immortal is placed before us, whose
duty it is to give him an education. This word signifies that we
are to take him into our hands, find out what faculties he possesses,
and then make the most of every one of them, preserving, how-
ever, a just balance among all his varied powers. Not one of
those powers were given him to lie dormant. He can never be a
real man until all are developed. It is not our business to give
him a certain amount of knowledge, to practice him in certain arts,
or to teach him a profession.
He comes to us to be educated, not to be crammed with other
people's ideas, nor to learn a trade. The ideas he can get
afterwards bv reading. The trade he can acquire when he is
prepared for it. What shall we do for this young being, whose
future we are to form for him? As quick as possible let us
make a man of him. Let us, in the first place, take him up
as a physical being, and young and feeble as he is, see what we
can do for him. Let the persons who have the charge of him in
this particular know everything about his body. Let them map
out that knowledge to the best of their abilities, with a deep con-
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 267
sideration of the case in hand, to the comprehension of their pupil.
Let them instruct that pupil not only in the anatomy and physiol-
ogy of his body, but in the laws of life and health, of strength and
growth, and of that essential exercise by which the highest physi-
cal beauty is developed. Let the effort then commence, in which
the scholar will enthusiastically unite, so soon as he is made to un-
derstand it, to rear up out of this beginning the completest,
strongest, healthiest, hardiest, most beautiful and graceful being
possible. Let him not only be exercised, but exercised scientifical-
ly, by a man who knows every bone and muscle of his body —
every want and possibility of his physical existence. Let one set of
exercises be suited to employ, invigorate and enlarge the muscles;
let another inflate the lungs, enlarge the chest, and give larger
scope for the growth and development of the internal organs. A
third will give him ease of motion and gracefulness of carriage.
Nor need we stop when these ends are gained. The organs of
sensation, which are useful according to their power and accuracy,
may be astonishingly improved by a course of scientific practice.
The eye can be educated to see, the ear to hear and the hand to
feel, and the remaining senses do their appropriate work. Nature,
in these particulars, gives us the beginning and a subject capable of
the highest degree of improvement. It is the business of effort
and of art to carry that beginning to the best and highest attain-
ments.
Instead of suffering the strength and health and beauty of our
pupil to waste away, as they do, almost univei-sally, after the
first hour of education is begun, we should not only preserve them
all, but carry each of them to a perfection which nature, unaided
by education, can never reach. The young man, when he goes
from our hands, with all his other qualifications, in place of being
the sickliest, weakest, and most pallid and cadaverous person in
society, ought to be, physically, a pattern and paragon for all other
men, with a good conscience and a brisk pulse, one whose head
rarely pressed the pillow while others ai*e astir. Polite without
perfumery, graceful without a rattan; meditative, without stimulat-
ing cups, narcotic juices or voluptuous fumes.
Without particular and judicious treatment, however, this can-
not be. Such a result will no more follow from the fact that a
child lives on to the estate of manhood, than it follows that the
crab-apple will gradually bear better and better fruit, till the most
268 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
luscious sorts shall drop from its outspreading branches, because
the shower and the sunlight continue to moisten and warm the
soil and atmosphere in which it grows.
Let us also, while this physical training is going on, look care-
fully and philosophically into its mental constitution, determine
precisely what intellectual faculties he possesses, and then set every
one of these faculties to work, that we may thereby gi\'e each and
all their utmost development. With a chart of the human mind
spread out before us, we shall at once see the work we have under-
taken to accomplish. We are to draw out, expand, strengthen and
mature, and set in harmonious action every one of the prescribed
possibilities of thought. It is easy enough when we have fixed
upon mental growth as the first object of scholastic discipline to
select from the boundless field of human knowledge those studies,
which, while they are best adapted so promote this growth, will
also furnish the mind with the most important truths. This second-
ary object can be best attained, in fact, by pursuing a perfectly
philosophical and universal method,for truth is the food of 'thought ',
and those sciences which are best adapted to develop the several
faculties of the mind, will be found to be precisely those of the
highest future value to the man. When that man goes out from his
scholastic life, he will not be as graduates in general now are, the
imbecile possessor of theoretic knowledge, but a being of varied
powers. The word power exactly expresses the nature of his be-
ing. Every one of his capacities has become a power. You need
not ask him what he knows. Ask him what he can do. In his
ability to do consists his superiority over those who only know.
They, in the abundance of their lore can tell you all the laws of
reason; because they have been memorizing the elementary prin-
ciples of logic. He can reason, because the full expansion of this
element of his being has been the direct object of his exertions.
They can recite by the hour what has been written concerning the
arts, based on imagination, particularly the works of great masters.
He, through these works, has been cultivating his own imagina-
tion. They (it is possible) can tell the names and detail the faults
and graces of the great authors of antiquity. He can both write
and speak. They are men of information. He of power, securing
to himself that wholeness and evenness of mind without which no
one can be truly great. This degree of perfection must be reached
by exertions to develop a capacity, not to furnish it.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 269
OUR LIFE.
'Upon the summit of a hill, whose sides sloped either way,
A toil-worn traveler musing stood, upon a summer day,
Behind him lay the path of life, his weary feet had sped;
Before, the dim declining way that to the future led.
And on his ear there rose a song of mingled wail and mirth,
From memory's wonder-waking harp, the music of the earth,
And sights and sounds and dreaming things that evening shad-
ows bring,
Up to the windows of the heart like birds upon the wing.
A vision of his childhood's home, a group in alder grove,
A mother's, brother's, sister's voice, the first young dream of
love.
The fair bride blushing in his arms, the infant on her breast,
And, ah, the green mounds by the way, where we laid them
down to rest.
And much he mused on perils past, of toils and hopes and fears,
Like April skies all mingled up with sunshine, shades and tears.
And golden wealth so widely sought, and honors bright and
brief,
That won the thoughtless throng's applause, but filled his heart
with grief.
I will not say he turned away, in sadness or in gloom,
Or that the world he left behind, was of his hopes the tomb;
Though heaviness was in his heart, hope kindled in his eye;
Behind him was a world of change; before, a changeless sky."
OUR EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES.
Having on the preceding pages spoken of the benefits of a men-
tal, moral and physical education, we now refer more in detail to
the facilities possessed by our county for disseminating the benefits
above set forth, the values of which are incalculable. Education
leads into exercise the active powers of man, those which God
has endowed and made active for this end. Science, all science
enlarges these faculties and gives them scope and vigor. The
memory, the understanding, the taste, the power of association,
are all to be cultivated. They grow by exercise, and only in this
270 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
way. We premise by saying that the trust conferred upon those
having the superintendance of the public schools, is a responsibility
scarcely less or inferior in importance to that of the administration
of the government. The government itself depends in no slight
degree upon the education of those by whom it is hereafter to be
controlled. Amid the various conflicting opinions on moral, po-
litical and religious subjects there is need of charity and forbear-
ance, concession and compromise. Citizenship is of no avail unless
we imbibe the liberal spirit of our laws and our institutions.
Through the medium of the common schools are the rising <rene-
ration of all nationalties assimilated readily and thoroughly, form-
ing the great American people.
The common schools are alike open to the rich and the poor, the
citizen and the stranger. It is the duty of those to whom the ad-
ministration of the schools is confided, to discharge it with mag-
nanimous liberality and christian kindness. While the law should
reign supreme, and obedience to its commands should ever be
required, yet m the establishment of the law which is to control,
there is no principle of wider application,' or of higher wisdom,
commending itself to the broad field of legislation or of municipal
action, to those who enjoy its benefits and its privileges, and to
which all should yield a cheerful obedience, than a precept which
is found with nearly verbal identity in the teachings of Confucius
and those of Jesus Christ, acknowledged by all and endeared to all
by association and education, viz: "All things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
The constitution of 1S70, of our State, the fundamental law, pro-
vides "That the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession
and worship without discrimination, shall be forever guaranteed,
and that no person shall be denied any civil or political rights, priv-
ilege* or capacity on account of his religious opinions. No person
shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of wor-
ship against his consent; nor shall any preference be given bv law
to any religious denomination or mode of worship.'"
A learned teacher and author, in speaking of the duties of in-
structors of youth, says their duty is "to take diligent care, and ex-
ert their best endeavors to impress on the minds of children and
youth committed to their care and instruction, the principles of
morality and justice, and a sacred regard to truth, love of their
HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY. 27 I
country, humanity, and universal benevolence, sobriety, industry
and frugality, chastity, moderation and temperance, and all other
virtues which are the ornaments of society."
It will not be insisted that this duty, so beautifully set forth, is
other than in conformity with the noble constitution of our State,
above quoted. Neither will it be claimed that the Bible, in any of
its translations, is averse to sound morality, or to those virtues de-
signated as proper to be inculcated. If this book is proper, if con-
sonant to sound principles of morality; then can it be claimed that
it is adverse to the interests of morality and education, and exclude
it from the common schools. Reading the Bible in school is no
more an interference with religious belief than the reading the
Mythology of Greece and Rome, or an affirmance of the truth of
Mahomedanism an interference with religious faith.
Our Legislature very justly leaves the selection of books to be
used in our schools to the directors, teachers and superintendents,
who are elected by a majority of the community for which they
act, thus reflecting the will of their constituants. There is no com-
pulsory attendance, no religious tests required, no essentials of be-
lief, no property qualifications to entitle a scholar to the benefits of
the common schools of this State. He may be a Jew, Mahommetan,
Catholic or Protestant. He may believe much or little, or have no
belief at all, but in no case can he be deprived of instruction.
The constitution and laws impose no test or other impediment to
debar any from the public schools.
If the writing of Gallileo, Copernicus or Newton should be de-
rogatory to the opinions of any individual, is that any reason why
the youth of the country should be educated in ignorance of the
teaching of these philosophers?
Shall Locke, Bacon, Milton and Swift be stricken from our list
of authors, because some church votes them heretical writers ?
Hence, the wisdom of our constitution and laws placing the selec-
tion of books in the hands of school officers, elected by the people
whom they serve, as before stated, thus reflecting the will of their
constituents.
Our grand old system of equality, regards the Pagan and Mor-
mon, the Brahmin and the Jew, the Sweedenborgian and the Bud-
hist, the Catholic and the Quaker, all as possessing equal rights under
our beneficent laws in the common schools. The decrees of a
27- HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
council, conference, or the decisions of a Ulema, are alike power-
less before our laws. It acknowledges no government external to
itself; no ecclesiastical or other organization as having power over
her citizens, or any right to dispense with the obligations of its
laws. The doctrine is the supremacy of the people, and that all
government is founded on their authority, and instituted for their
benefit. We defend our common schools. Thev are our Alma
Mater.
It is the enviable lot of the age in which we live, to see
"The church and state that long had held
Unholv intercourse, now divorced.
She, who on the breast of civil power
Had long reposed her harlot head,
(The church a harlot then when first she wedded civil
power,)
And drank the blood of martyred saints,
Whose priests were lords,
Whose coffers held the gold of every land,
Who held a cup — of all pollutions full."
In the early settlements the school preceded the church, and
the educational position* now held by our county is an enviable
one.
We refer with pleasure to the tine school edifices of Havana.
Mason City, Bath, and the one now in process of erection at the
pleasant village of Easton. These splendid buildings are very
justly the pride of their respective localities.
The building in Havana, erected in 1875, at a cost °* on h' $3°r
000, is that city's best ornament.
Our people are under obligations to our excellent School Board
for assuming the high position they did in the erection of that
building, that not only meets the present wants of the city, but
will do so for many years to come. The architecture, the mechan-
ical execution, and all the details of ventilation and heating are on
the most approved scientific basis. Our School Board, composed
of Messrs. Isaac N. Mitchell, Jacob Wheeler and Judson R. Fos-
ter (we would like to name each one first in the list to give each a
special prominence) will long deserve the consideration of our citi-
zens, not only for the building, but for placing our schools in the
control and management of the very able corps ot teachers that
have and will hereafter assume its management. In selecting
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 273
female teachers, they sought for ability, experience and adaptation,
and one year last passed has proven the wisdom of their selec-
tions.
The female teachers are Miss Gertie Chase, Miss Katie Kemp,
Miss Kissie Wright, Miss Theresa Burnell, Miss Sadie M. Hutch-
ins, Miss Nellie M. Beane, Miss Jennie E. Hutchins. Under their
superlative management for the year last past, the schools have
made such fine progress that the entire corps have been retained
for the coming year. And while the Directors wrote dignoir after
the names of each of the other teachers, it is no disparagement to
them that they wrote dignissimus after Miss Burnell's. Mr. Thos.
W. Catlin, a graduate of Yale College, is employed as Superin-
tendent for the coming year.
The schools of Bath are supplied with a competent and efficient
corps of teachers, and so satisfactory have been their services that
they too have been retained for the coming year. Their fine and
commodious edifice is creditable to the very laudable ambition of
the town to excel in her educational interests.
We have been unable to obtain data of the schools of Mason
City to enable us to give the facts in reference to their manage-
ments and prosperity. We have made frequent applications to the
county superintendent therefor, but have failed up to this date to
receive them. We have learned, however, from individuals of that
city, that their very fine and commodious edifice is well and com-
petently occupied by an able superintendent, and corps of teachers,
to whose faithfulness and abilities the people feel themselves in-
debted. Another edifice has been spoken of, to be erected in the
eastern part of the city.
We would refer in detail to every school house and every teacher
in Mason county could we do so, and did space permit, but we must
forbear that pleasure and simply state that all are very compe-
tently supplied, and the class of school buildings throughout the
county are creditable to those who have their charge. We cannot
express the advantages of our system of schools. It is a fact ob-
served by all, that the best and most vigorous and comprehensive
minds of our country have arisen from the masses — from the com-
mon people This is a rule, and not an exception, and exceptions
to this rule are very rare. This is attributable to our school sys-
tem. It is ability and power that makes the progress and advance-
—35
2~ \ HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
meat, and ultimately attains eminence in politics, law and scientific
attainments.
The same is true of the most successful manufacturers, mer-
chants, mechanics and farmers. It is the poor man's son, depend-
ent on his own individual energies, that is successful in life; a most
emphatic commentary on our school system, and our governmental
institutions.
We once attended a noted school examination where the son of
an Irish laborer carried away first honors in all his recitations, and
the son of a wealthy citizen and high official was excused, after he
had made repeated failures, from further examination. Money,
position and influence will not buy talent, energy, perseverance and
application. Some of these results are attributable to the exercise
and muscular-physical development which are predominant in the
poorer people.
"There is a bird, God bless its feet {
That chirps a music very sweet,
Upon the snow.
Let other warblers come in spring,
Amid the flowers their notes to sing,
And plumage show.
Rut give me yet that little bird
Whose cheerful voice is often heard
In winds that chill.
Blest emblem of God's child of grace,
Whose soul the storm of life can face,
And carol still."
THE COUNTY POOR FARM.
While it is true that "man's inhumanity to man makes countless
thousands mourn," it is also true that in no age or country has the
poor unfortunates of God's creatures been cared for as in the United
States; and not one of the states of this Union has the facilities for
caring for its unfortunates as does the State of Illinois. There i^
no more commendable object to which the millions can be applied
that are expended on the noble edifices in which the deaf, dumb,
blind, insane and feeble-minded are housed and fed, and tenderly
cared for.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 275
For the unfortunate poor of our own county, the authorities
have most amply provided.
In contrast with the present, we here insert a description of the
Parish Poor House in England. We quote from an old work
issued from the press nearly one hundred years ago:
"•Behold von house that holds the parish poor,
Whose walls of mud scarce hear the broken door;
There where the putrid vapors flagging play,
And the dull wheel hums doleful through the day ;
There children dwell who know no parent's care,
Parents who know no children's love, dwell there,
Heart-broken matrons on their joyless beds,
Forsaken wives, and mothers never wed ;
Dejected widows with unheeded tears,
And crippled age with more than childhood's fears;
The lame, the blind, and far the happiest, they
The moping idiot, and the mad-man gay.
Here, too, the sick their final doom receive,
Here hrought amid the scenes of grief to grieve;
Where the loud groans in some sad chamber flow,
Mixed with the clamors of the crowd below ;
Here sorrowing they each kindred sorrow scan,
And the cold charities of man to man;
Whose laws, indeed, for ruined age provide,
And strong compulsion plucks the scrap from pride;
But still that scrap is bought with many a sigh,
And pride embitters what it can't deny.
Such is that room, which one rude beam divides,
And make the rafters form the sloping sides;
Where the vile bands that bind the thatch are seen,
And lath and mud are all that lie between ;
Save one dull pane that coarsely patched gives way,
To the rude tempest, yet excludes the day.
Here on a matted flock with dust o'erspread,
The drooping wretch reclines his languid head ;
For him no hand the cordial cup applies,
Nor wipes the tear that stagnates in his eyes;
No friends with soft discourse his pain beguile,
Nor promise hope till sickness wears a smile."
Instead of the conditions above described the poor of Mason
county are most amply cared for. A commodious home is provi-
ded them. A most healthful and a most beautiful country farm, in
the best surroundings in the county, is their location. Ample
amount of healthful food is provided them. The best medical at-
276 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
tcntion is furnished those who may need it, and cleanliness, quiet
and order is the characteristic of all their ample appointments.
This feature of American philanthropy finds no counterpart in
anv country in the world, however boasted its civilization or its
advancement. And it is with no feeling of regret that we can
record that the United States, Illinois and Mason county are high
up on the roll of humanitarians. To the objects of these charities
the question is never asked, How came ye here? Enough for the
public, who is the dispenser of this beneficence, to know that the
subject is needing their assistance.
MILITARY HISTORY
OK
MASON COUNTY
COMPILED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF
THE STATE OF ILLINOIS.
We shall .give, in the following pages, the name, date of enlist-
ment, date of muster, and remarks, including promotions, dates,
etc., and a brief sketch of the services of each regiment in which
Mason county was represented, taken with care from the records
of the Adjutant-General, of Springfield, Illinois, to whom we are
indebted for his kindness in furnishing us these data.
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HISTORY OF M.\mi\ COUNTY
CO. I). 85th ILL. INF.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OK ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Samuel Young, Bath July 20, '62 . .Promoted Captain.
\V. W. Turner " " " . . Promoted Lieutenant
Freeman Broth, l> \ug. 4, '62. . Killed at Chaplin Hills.
U. B. Lindsay, " lulv 30, '62 . .
Miles McCabe, " July iS, '62 . .
Thos J. Mosley, M " " . . Mustered out.
John R. Nevill, " J ulv 30, '62 . .
Jas. H. Seay, " * " "
fames Ferrell, " " " . . "
J . C. Wilson, " " " . .
H. O. Reeder, M July 25, '62 . . Discharged.
John O'Brien, •• J u b' 3°' ^2 . .
F. S. Cogshall, " 'Aug. 8, '62 . . Promoted.
C. L. Hamilton, " July 30, '62 . .
F. M. Berry, " * " "
A.J. Allen, - July 2S,'62..
Thos J. Avery, M Aug 18, '62 . . Promoted.
Henry Beal, " . . . . Aug. 7, '62 . .
Clinton Black, " Aug. 1, '62 . .
N . A. Bullard, " Aug. 7, '62 . .
Joseph Conover. " July 30, '62 . . Mustered out.
H. W. Casselbeny, Havana. v> " . .
Joseph Cady, Bath Aug. 1, '62 . . Died Aug. 4.
A. Capper, " " " "
G. O. Carlock, " 1 ulv 30, '62..
\V. D. Close, « Aug. 1, '62 . .
W. H. Casselberry, Havana.July 30, '62 . .
Rober Capens, Bath Aug 15, ''62 . .
Jacob S. Dew, " July 31, '62..
E. M. Durhem, " Aug. 3, '62 . . Promoted.
Noah Davis, " Aug. 8, '62 . . Killed by accident.
W'm. Davis, k > « " ..
Cadmus Flow, " July 2S, '62 . . Killed Peach Tree creek.
Allen Goben, " Aug. 7, '62 . .
Sam'l Grisum, " July 3°> '62 . .
James Goben, " Aug. 7, '62 . .
\\ illard Hicks, M J u b' 3°' '^ 2 • -Died at Andersonville.
John Hecrigg, " July 22, ''62 . . Promoted.
John L. Harbert, " July 30, '62...
A. J. Hamilton, M Aug. 1, '62 . . Died Oct. 1 1, 1S63.
Henry Honerth, k - Aug. 7, '62 . .Severely wounded.
Elijah Houghton, " " "
H. P. Jones, Havana July 20, '62 . . Died at Atlanta.
Daniel Jones, Bath " " . .Deserted.
Daniel Kicer, Bath July 25, '62. .Died Dec. 4, 1262.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 323
COMPANY D, 85th ILLINOIS INFANTRY -Continued.
$
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Amisted Kirk, Bath Aug. I, '62 . .
J. A. Lorance, Bath Aug. 3, '62 . .
Isaac Lyman " Aug. 4, '62 . .
Joseph Lorance, " Aug. 7, '62 . .
G. Mattison, " Aug. 8, '62 . .
Henry Meads, Havana Aug. 3, '62 . . Deserted.
H. Morgan, " July 29, '62 . .Died July 9, 1864.
Jas. Meyers, Bajh Aug. 3, '62 . .
John J. Murphy ,-Bath Aug. 2, '62 . . Died July 7, 1864.
W. H. Mongen, Havana . . . Aug. 4, '62 ;
H. Mattison", Bath Aug. 8, '62 . . Deserted.
Rob't Noder, " Aug. 12, '62 .Lost.
P. O'Rourke, « July 14, '62 . .
O. W. Parks, " Aug. 7, "62 . .
John Plasters, " "
"John W. Price, Bath July 28, '62 . .Died at Louisville 1S62.
John L. Phelps, Bath July 5, '62 . .
TThos. F. Patterson, Bath. . .Aug. 3, '62. .Promoted Captain.
N. C. Patterson, Bath Aug. 6, '62 . .
D. B. Phelps, Bath Aug. 7, '62 . .
W. H. Ransom, Bath July 30, '62 . .Died Jan. 4, 1S63.
"N. S. Rochester, Bath "
Alanson Robins, Bath "
Wm. Rhinders, Mason Co. July 20, '62. .
Jas. S. Rochester, Bath July 25, '62 . .
Elias Reeder, " Aug. 15, '62 .
Rolle Ray, " Aug. 12,' 62.
Isaac Stilts, " July 30, '62 . . Died May 1 1, 1S63.
John Sizelove, " .... -July 20, '62 . .
John Scoles, " Aug. 7, '62 . .
F. M. Smith, Havana July 22, '62 . .
Merton Steley, Bath . . .Aug. 7, 62 . .Died December, 1862.
Van Turner, Bath July 30, '62 . .
Martin L. Treadway, Bath. .Aug." 3, '62. .Died Feb. 6, 1S63,
Martin Troy, Bath July 21, '62. .Died at Mound City, 111
Chas. W. Toley, Bath July 27, '62 . .
G. Vanlaningham, Havana .July 25, " l f>2. .Deserted.
[. H. Welch, Bath July 24, '62 Killed Peach Tree cr'k
Ira Welch, " Aug. 7, '62 . .Died December 29, 1862
Chris. Wheeler, Bath July 28, '62. .Deserted.
James Wallace, " July 19, '62 . .
Wm. Young Aug. 4, '62 . .
G. P. Patterson, Mason Co.
G. W. Pulling, " . Deserted.
3 2 4
IMSTOrO <i[ M A.SON COUNTY.
CO. /. 85th ILL. INF.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Thos. Burbridge, Manito.. .Aug. 1, '62.. Died ;it Nashville.
Chas. Cain, I [avana
( reorge Dingles, Bath
John Watson. Havana
it
a.
CO. K, 85th ILL.
Roht. F. Reason, Havana. . .July 18, '62 ,
John N. Hole, "
J. S. Walker, "
A. A. Carrington, Mason Co.
Wm Masterson,Forest City . "
Thus Jamison, Havana "
Joseph Bodle, "
Wm. K. Rose, "
J. M. Durham, "
Wm. H. Hole, -
P. C. Hudson. "
Romeo Magill, Topeka.... "
]as Jamison, Havana
James Durdv, " "
G. Hoagland, "
Chas Pond, "
Orpheus Ames, Topeka ....
C. X. Andrews, Havana. ... "
Wm. Beek, Mason City
W. C. Blakely, Topeka
John M. Barr, Havana
feff. Bowers, Havana "
Jos. Chaplain, Havana
D. B. Colglaizer, Havana.
G. H. Cottrell, Forest City..
R. L. Durdy, Havana kw
George Drake, Topeka
Chas. Errick, Havana Aug. 7, '62.
W. H. Evans, « July iS, '62.
1. Fountain, Forest City.... "
John Frank, Mason Citv... .Aug. 1, '62.
Wm. Gurnbell, Forest City. Aug. iS,'62.
B. II. G rover, Topeka July [8,'6a .
A. D. Griffith, Mason Citv.. Aug. 1, '62.
I. \. Griffith, Mason Citv..
R. C. Garrison, Mason Citv.
G. II. Hopping. Topeka....
A. J . I limmel, Topeka .....
(j. Hetzeller, Topeka
I.YF.
.Died at Louisville.
. Promoted.
Died at Nashville.
Died at Danville, Kv.
Died at Bowline Green.
Died at Danville, K v .
Killed i\{ kenesavv M n.
Promoted.
Promoted.
Died at Nashville.
(( u
Died at Danville.
Supposed dead.
Died at Bowling Green.
Died at Nashville.
Killed at Buzzard K oost
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
3 2 5
CO. K, 85th ILL. INF. -Continued,
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
u
tt
Ben. Hibbs, Havana
S. B. Horsey, Forest City.
C. E. Hitchcock, Havana
Ephraim Happin,
Daniel T. Joneson,
W. H. Jimeson,
Joseph E.Jackson, Topeka .
Wm. McKillip, Havana . . .
H. Mohlenbrink, " ...
F. Mohlenbrink, " ...
W. H. Massey, Topeka . . .
J. McNight, Mason City . .
Lester N. Morris, Topeka. .
Alfred T. Morris, Topeka..
Chas Morris, Topeka
E. T. Neikirk, Forest City
|. Prettyman, Havana
A. Robinson, Havana
John Rakestraw, Havana. .
C. P. Riddle, Topeka
H. F. Reason, Mason Co. .
A. Shellibarger, Topeka. . .
}. W. Shellibarger, Topeka
J as. A. Stone, Havana
Mosos Shaw, Havana
Henry Speelman, Topeka..
John Seibenborn, Topeka .
Zimri Thomas, Havana . . .
D. P. Vanhorn, Mason City
Sol Weidman, Topeka
W. H. Wagoner, Havana. .
J. M. Whitaker, Topeka . .
Henry Went, Topeka
John B. Wright, Havana. .
David Zentmire, Havana. . .
John Zanise, Manito
Aug. i, '62
July 18, '62
Aug. 1, '62
Aug. 2S, '62
Aug.
July iS,'62
10, '62
Aug
u
It
Killed at Jonesboro.
.Died at Richmond.
Died at Bowling Green.
Aug.
Aug.
Aug.
Aug.
Au»-.
July 18, '62
,5/62.
18, '62.
1, '62. .Promoted.
15, '62'.
1, '6
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July 1 8, '6:
Aug. 15/62
July 1S/62
Aug. 15, '62
CO. A, 108th ILL
.Died at Louisville.
.Died at Bowling Green.
. Died at Louisville.
.Died at Dallas, Ga.
James Sillbee, Bath
CO. C, 108th ILL. INF.
L. Morganstarn, Spr'g L'ke.Sept. 20, '62.
J. Ross, Spring Lake Sept. 27, '62.
CO. I), 108th ILL. INF.
James Woods, Spring Lake. Sept. 20, '62.
.Promoted.
. Died at Nashville.
INF.
Mustered out Aug. 5, '65
3- 6
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
CO. F, 1 08th ILL. Iffl.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
John Eveland, Bath Vug. i 5, '62.. Invalid corps.
S. T. Northcrafi " " . .Deserted.
G. W. Patterson kt " . . "
W. P. Markland "
Robert Moore, Lynchburg. " . .Died at Young's Point.
R. Bradshaw " . "
Wm. E. Sarff » "
James Butler, Bath •• ...
Benj. Dodson, Lynchburg . . "
Hezekiah Lynch, Bath •• . .Deserted.
Gustave Tuzi, Lynchburg. . . " ..Died at Covington.
Thomas Gatton, Bath " . .Deserted.
Thomas Porter, Lynchburg "
Peter Arndt, « "
[saac N. Adkins, Bath « . .Died at Memphis.
Peter Brandt " " . .Died Jan. 19, 1S63.
Richard Butler " " . .Died at Memphis.
M. W. Boyd " "
J. P. Breeden M " . .Died at .St. Louis.
Mead. Camp, Lynchburg.
Calvin Cox, Bath " . . Deserted.
C. E. Deer «
Wilev Dew " « . . Died May 1 1, 1862.
J as Esters " " . .Died at Young's Point.
Mat Frank " "
Joseph Fuse, Lynchburg. .. " ..Deserted.
George Gobble " .... " . .Died in Tennessee.
William Griffin, Bath " . .Deserted.
Thos Hamilton, Lynchburg. " . . Died at Young's Point.
Wm. H. Huffman, Bath. ... kv . .Deserted.
John Harsher " "
Andrew Harsher "....■ "
Lewis Haid " "
M.J. Holiday, Lynchburg. . kk ..Deserted.
Edward Johnson, Bath >k .. "
Franklin S. Knight, Bath.. •• ...Died at Ford, Texas.
Henry Kerchian, Havana.. . " ..Died at Young's Point.
Samuel C. Lane, Lynchburg
Abner Madison, Bath "
Hassan Mahan « > i . .Died Feb. 1863.
A. Neiderer '■
Jas. H. Perry, Lynchburg.. . " . -Died at St. Louis.
Isaac Pierson " . . "
William Pierson - k . . "
Rolle Ray, Bath « . .Deserted.
HISTORY OF .MASON COUNTY
3 2 7
CO. F, 108th ILL. INF -Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Elias Redman, Lynchburg. .Aug - . 15, '6
Bruno Rempston, . " ... "
S. S. Rochester, Bath
Ransom Smith, Lynchburg. "
William Steele
Abner Sarff
Isaac Shaffer, Bath
John Sarff, Lynchburg ....
Henry Smith, Bath
Alex. Taylor, Lynchburg.. "
D. Van Blancum, Bath . . . . .
Wm. Wright, Lynchburg.. .
Warren Wright, Bath ......
Wm. Wood ' "
Chas. Gaston, Spring Lake. lt
CO. H, 108th ILL
Samuel Biggs, Sangore . . .
Wm. Little "
Edwin Smith "
R. B. Somers "
A. P. Houston
Oren Robinson "
Edwin Dillon
Ed. C. Kidder "
John Orm, Sangore ,
John A. Nelson, Bath ....
John Radcliff, Bath
Joseph D. Hite, Sangore .
C. Black, Crane Creek
David Boyer, Sangore.
Emanuel Boyd, Sangore. . ,
Jacob Brown, Sangore
M. W. Boyd, Bath
J.H. H. Buchanan, Sangore
W. P. Cook,
M. Comesford,
John G. Dorance,
John B. Davis,
R. Elmore, Crane Creek ..
Ulrich Fry, Sangore
John Ford, " ....
G. W. Garren, «
L. Gardner, Mason county
S. Hutchinson, Sangore . .
Aug. I2,'62
u
u
Died at Young's Point.
Deserted.
Died Jan. 1863.
Deserted.
Deserted.
Died in Louisiana 1S63.
it «
Deserted.
INF.
Died Feb. 1863.
Died Feb. 1863.
Deserted.
u
u
Died at Young's Point,
ic u
Deserted.
K
Died Jan. 1863.
Deserted.
c<
Died at Young's Point.
Deserted.
328
lilSl (>K Y ol MASON COUNTY.
CO. H, 108th ILL. TJTF— Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
[esse C. Hillman, Sangore. .Aug. u, '62. Died Jan., 1863.
John C. Jones, Bath " Deserted.
Zenas B* Kidder, Sangore.. . " ....
Patrick Keiting, " . . "
Nicholas Leahy, " •• '* ••••
Alfred Lucas, Field Prairie . - k Died Jan., 1863.
John Moore, jr., Sangore ... " Deserted.
John Moore, Sr., " ... " . . . -Died July, 1S63.
James A. Martin, « ... " Died at St. Louis.
Michael McCartv, " •.. " Deserted.
Geo McNaughton, " ... "
Flavious f. McGhee, " ...
Robert M. Orm, " ... "
Thos Pounds, Field Prairie. " Deserted.
J W. Setters, Crane Creek
James Sellbee, Bath " Promoted.
Daniel Tatten, Sangore "
C.W.Tyler, « .... " ....
A. Yountz, " ... " Died Jan., 1S63.
A. X. Anno, Spring Lake. .Sept. 27, '64.
COMPANY D. 114th ILLINOIS INFANTRY.
S. Holmes, Spring Lake . . . .Sept. 22, '64.
Wm. Hale,
Peter O'Connor, "
J. W. Thompson, "
CO. I, 133d, (100 DAYS) INF.
R. B. Duskin, Mason City. .April 27, '64.
Sam'l P. Ilewet, Havana. . .May 10, '64 .
CO. I, 139th (100 DAYS) INF.
W. II. Patterson, Havana ..May 12, '64.
f ohn Cogshall, Bath
J. R. Trenarv, Havana "
'( ). W. Clotfelter, Bath Max 8, '64. .
Wm. A. Martin, Havana .. May 13, '64.
John Nix, Bath May 12, '64.
Chas E. Hitchcock, Havana. " ....
Henry Wilkins, Bath May 13, '64.
C.S.Chambers, Havana May 12, '64.
|. H. Daniel, Bath April 30, '64.
J. 11. Thomas, Havana May 12, "0.\ .
Chas E. Gore, Path May 2, '64. .
O. II. Harpham, Havana . . .May 12, 04.
/
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY
32 9
CO. I, 139th (100 DAYS) INF -Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Win. H. O'Reily, Havana.
Ed. A. Schermahorn, tk
John II. Sherwood, "
Andrew J. Adkin, "
J . T. Bowers, "
Otto Brandt, "
I lenry Bubert, "
John L. Clarkson, Bath...
John L. Carman, Havana. .
Chas. Clotfelter, Bath
G. W. Cross, Havana
Chas. Cogshall, Bath
N. R. Cress, Havana
II. G. Deverman, Havana. .
Simpson Dnvall, Havana. .
James Derr, Bath
J. C. Donlin, Havana
Geo. B. Earl, »
Azariah England, Havana.
Isaac W. England, "
Chas. C. Grant, "
Mathew Griggs, Bath
Wm. C. Hardin, "
Mark D. Hill, «
Geo. S. Holiday, "
A. B. Hollingsworth, Bath
A. Hanson, Mason county.
Richard Jones, Havana ....
VV. H. H. Judson, Havana.
August Kroft, Havana. . . .
James Kirk, Bath
Thomas Knight, Bath
Rob't Lacy, Bath
Nathanial Littrell, Havana..
J as. Lisco, Havana. ,
Godfrey Martz, Havana. . .
John M. Martin, Bath
Joseph F. Moore, Havana.
C. A. Nichols,
Geo. D. O'Leary, Bath....
Geo. A. Parkhurst, Havana
Hardin Pegram, Bath
J. W. Pesterfield, Bath....
Henry Pounds, Havana. . .
Lemuel Ruckman, Havana
— 4-
May 12, Ylj
May 13, '6.j
May 14, '6_j
May 13, '64
a
May 12, "'64
May 2, '64.
May 13, '64
April 30, '64
. May 14, '64.
May 4, '64.
May, 14, '64
May 12, '64
May 13, '64
April 30, '64
May 27, '64
May 23, '64
May 12, '64
.May 2, '64.
.May 1, '64.
cc
.May 2, '64.
• May 3, '64.
.May 24, '64
u
.May 12, '64
.May 14, '64
.May 2, '64.
. April 30, '64
May 12, '64
•May 13, '64
.May 12, '64
. May 9, '64 .
.May 14, '64
.May 13/64
.May 2, '64.
.May 12, '64
. April 30, '64
.May [2, '64
.May 13, '64
.May 15, '64
Died at Cairo.
Promoted.
530 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
CO. 1. ISBth (loo DAYS) ILL. INF.— Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Geo. H. Rupert, Havana. . . . May \6,'Gj\. .
Geo. M. Schultz - May i-O'q. .
J as. M. Schultz - "
Marcus Sisson, Bath .Apr. 3o,'6j. .
[rving Smith " May 5,Yq . .
Phillip 'Poland " May 2,'6_j . .
Walter Tolly " "
N. E. Thompson ,w May 8,'6^ . .
W. H. Walker, Havana . . . .May I2,'6.:| . .
Fred. Wente, Topeka May i |,'6_| . .
Martin Shay, Mason Co. . . . June i ,'6.| . .
H.J. B. Stillman « . ... «
CO. H, 145th {WO DATS) ILL. I.YF.
John Earnett, Mason City ..May S,'64..
J ohn M. Griffith " . . May io,'6 1 . .
Jacob Herwig " .. " ....
CO. ('. 148th <7 YEAR) l.YI'\
A.J. Roberts, Manito Feb. 8,'65- .
W. C. Boone " "
fohn Barnes "
John Dowden " v> ....
Reese Dowden '_' " ....
Win. Pollard k ' "
C. H. Porter "
B. F. Pollard "
C.Pendleton " " Descried.
H.C.Reynolds "
(i. Smith" " "
G.W.White « " ... .Died March 1865.
CO. B, I hist (one i/ear) ILL. IM'.
fohn II. Rankin, Havana.. .Feb. i.|,'r>^..
fohn Shugarl " ... •• ....Deserted.
CO. A, 15 2d (one year) ILL. IMF.
Robt. F. Fisher, Easton ....Feb. 7, '65.. Died at JefFersonville.
f. H. B. Fisher " .... " Died at 'home.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 33I
CO. B, 2<l CAVALRY.
NAME AM) RESIDENCE. DATE OK ENLISTMENT. REM AUKS.
W. L. Blakesly, Mason C'y. Mar. 12, '6i.
II. Martinie, Salt Creek. ."..Mar. 31, '64.
\V. Wolf, « .... " ....
CO. C, 2d CAVALRY.
[ohn Goodheart, Havana. . July 31, '61 .Promoted.
John Fallis " . . . " Promoted.
Phillip D. Baxter, " ... "
E.J. Tinker,
Geo. Moore, " ... kk Promoted.
[ohn E. Nikirk, " ... [uly 3, '6i . .
Clark. S. Chatfield, Bath
[ohn J. Thomas, Havana ... " ....
[ohn S. Brooks, Havana ... " ....
(). Breedan, Bath "
R. S. Eakin, Manito " Promoted.
[. M. .Shook, Havana "
Thos. A. Ringland, Havana . "
[ohn H. West, Havana " ... Promoted.
E. Talman, Havana "
W. [. Anderson, Havana. . . " ....
Lew Aubere, Havana Promoted.
C. Bohlier, Havana
John B. Bond, Havana
L. Burnell, Havana
D. S. Broderic, Havana . . .
S. G. B. Barker, Bath
John L. Barndollar, Havana . ' k ....
CO. B, 2d, CAVALRY.
Adam Cotterman, Havana. .July 3, '61 . .
John Conwell, Havana " ....
[ohn T. Davis, Bath " Died at Memphis.
Chas. Holder, Bath
fames Dacy, Havana " ...
"R ob't Eaton, Havana "
Peter Holt, Havana " Promoted.
W. D. Hill, Bath
]. D. Hudson, Havana " ...
*E. S. Hibbard, Mason City. "
I. H. Haines, Mason City .. . '" ••••
E. Z. Hunt, Havana " ... Promoted.
a
7 _ ' MfBH
I
_
-
R.
V.
- 7
JLELOtte
Bumfl! H_ Pfo-
:n 7 .:
E>---
~ ;~ - .- - - .
. _Jmly :
Pener .
. - -
*
rnear, -
E -
~
lasH Vaaaalv
Dtsiid WSKaoasy Hareanma- --
!
._ Boor.- E
_
HLJ- Mow
■
MCE A3
M. D, WaEt .
" : '. - . - -
M
Da ::: - ' ". ' _ - -
Geo
- .
W. G. Q .. . .
_
W> A
i:;i T : T7C". irF:r^ :cn-;f: "■. . ft ; /': t
.& A- T - •
— • • , - ,
534
in vi 01; \ 01 mam >.\ ( or n i ^
CO M- .'</ ILL CAVALRY.
\.\MI. \\l> RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Havana .
.Oct.
. Nov,
. Nov,
. Oct.
.Dec.
.Oct.
(). II. Shearei
\V. II. Webb
Win. Coachman
Cyrus Marsh
James II. Smith. Bath ....
Lafayette Powell, Havana
C. L.Johnson, Havana Nov
Win. Swartwood, Bath Nov
Duncan McGilver, Havana. .Nov
Byron Grant " . . .Nov
J. M. Darrel •• ...Nov
Henry Maxwell " ... .Oct.
Samuel B. Pearce, Bath . . . .Nov
Henry Anglemire, Havana.. Dec.
Daniel E. Banks, Bath Nov
George Butler " Nov
I . Bartholomew, Havana. . .Nov
Lawrence Butler, Bath Dec.
.XoV
.Dec.
.X«»V
.Nov
. Nov
.Dec
F. M. Bcarder
G. W. Conklin
C.IG. Cogshall
R. A. C lurry
A. W. Cain, Havana .
John Crossman "
'Henry J. Cline, Bath Dec.
A. Dickinson, Havana Oct.
Wm. G. Davis, Bath Nov
Richard England, Havana . .Nov,
Fred. Fisher " ..Dec.
Ed. Farrell " ..Dec.
George Furrer " ..Dec.
Amos Gee, Bath Nov,
Oliver J. Gee, Bath Nov.
Elias Gibson " Nov,
F. E. Howard, Havana Dec.
Francis Hadlock,Bath Dec.
Myron Hopkins " Oct.
Franklin L. Jones, Havana.. Nov.
jeptha Jones " . . Dec.
Fred Lispc " . . Dec.
Martin Lineweaber - ..Dec.
|oel Musselman " ..Dec.
Thomas Mohley " ...Nov.
Thos. F. Malone - . .Nov.
Daniel McDonald " ..Nov.
26, '6
9, '6
6, '6
,^o, Y
30. '6
29, V)
2 1 ,Y>
16/6
i" Y
6,Y
2 9 ,'6
30, 6
6,y
2 5 ,'6
2 7 ,'6
n,Y
3,'6
. 7 ,'6
• i9,'6
. 20,'6
io,'6
20,'6
8,'6
6,y
2 Y
1 3»'6
2,'6
S,'6
2^6
8,'6
2,'6
5,'6
u,Y
6,'6
io,'6
a Y
1 1, '6
19/6
27/6
Promoted Captain.
Promoted Sergeant.
Died at Bolivar
Died at Memphis.
Promoted.
Deserted.
.Died April [S62.
Died at Memphis
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
.>.i5
CO. M, J nil a 1 TALK 1 '-Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
O. G. Millison, Havana Nov. 29, '6
J. S. Millison, '.' Dec. 7, '61
Joseph O'Neal, Bath Nov. 20, '6
S. I). Owen, Havana Nov. 9, '61
Thos Pulling, " ....:. Dec. 4, Yi
W R. Parsley, « Nov. 29, '6
Geo Robinson, ik Nov. 6, Yi
John Ray, Hath Nov. 1 (, Y
F. Staley, " Dec. 30, '6
Warren Samms, Havana ...Nov. 19, '6
Geo S. Spinner, Bath "
Jacob Sizelove, " ......Dec. 9, '6i
N. Sizelove, " Dec. 10, Y
Win. Sizelove, " Dec. 1 i, Y
Andrew J. Smith, w> Dec. 2, '6i
Isaac Tinktnn, Havana Nov. 6, '6i
Harper West, - l Now 6, '6l
John W. Wallace, Hath Nov. i..|, '6
L. C. Waggoner, Havana ..Nov. 15, '6
Moses Walker, ..Nov. 19, '6
Died at Paducah.
Died at Paducah.
Died at Paducah.
Died in Mason county.
Died at Baton Rousre.
Wm Warner,
..Oct. 28, Ym .Died at Paducah.
VETERANS.
). A. Crawford, Mason Co. .Mar [4, Yi . .
Thos Mobly, " .. «
Joshua Ashurst, Havana
II. P. Allman,
John J. Beardon, tk
John Bremley, "
Greenberry Baker, "
Win Brown, "
RECRUITS.
..Aug. iS,'62.
a.
. . Aug. 7, '62 .
. . Aug. 1 2, Y2
. . Dec. I, '62.
..Aug. 17, Yj
CO. M, 2nd CAVALRY
Geo. W. Duffell, Havana ...Mar 17, '62 .
Dennis Doyle, " .... .Sept. 6, Y2 . .
J. W. Ellis, Mason Co Mar 20, Y2. .Died in Memphis.
A. Flemming, Havana Aug. 1 1, '62.
Wm L. Guy, " Died at Baton Rouge.
R. K. Ishmeal, Mason Co . .Oct. 31, Yi . .
James Johnson, 1 lavana .... Aug. 18, '62 .
M.Johns, ". ....An-'. [4, '62 . Died at Holy Springs.
*- ■:
v.vjce Jtxr
^Uc bsncm
Joseph O !
-
.\, Rarest: -
-
.Dec. -
bftoHs W3k». -
~ ...
-fifoac
i
mstr Sc.v ■
Ge> Perd :.t. .Died as: R^L
•-"» KXSTDESiCE- DATS Off
la Fair. Srj Cane -- -A»£. »^:
H ^d ill .: i\
J. Gilpatricfc- Sar ^ara scat
--,-.— V ♦:- .--_!.--. Air; '-.
i ■:- .- : : : . _ a __■_-_■_-..
Heatrr C. Steele. Sov _
H. WagyeeKS". Sr-rtrt:
W. BL Wa5£I i . S - t Cane . >=r: - .
Ml Pearson. L~r:iV^r_-
Gool W. . 1 e~-Ma«s&...rcEu I
I."-.- . -•-.- -
- * . - _
:-: ? :: -.-..-.- -
-- -'-- -"— * Oct. zcJ'zz . J> - : b: _r:_:— --.
. &* oj.rjZL :
h--..- ;. i .-:. i -- : :■- - •-_ .
i ZOih CJJULMT.
. i. ::: _ ■ .:. _
B. M_ Bass. Ibn C©....Sepfc.3cA
O.D. Bs:
Lewi? G. Tapp. Harass. _ . .Jaa. j, "^Si
A" : \ . .- - -_lj :
Tr. ::.:.- ZA-..-. A\ --..-:_ . _ . -
x b. ugk cirjLxr.
.-- . AA; :_. - ? _ '_ . , - _■_-_ At: ?_--- -:. -..
—
3 $S
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
CO. (', 1 1th CAVALRY.
NAMi; AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS.
Sam'1 Hill, Sangore Nov. 15, *6i .
James Glead, Sangore Nov. 14, '6i .
Sam'l Bowman, " Nov. 17, '61.
James Neil, " "
J. \V. I lite, " Feb; 20, '64.
J. C. Hull, " Nov. 22, »6i.
D. W. W. Taylor, Salt cr'k. Mar. 24, '64.
CO. F, 11th CAVALRY.
A. Westerfield, Mason Co. .Oct. iS,' 61 . .Died at Corinth.
Win, Senate, Havana Oct. 7, '6i . .
F. Westerfield, " Sept. 20, '6i
Dennis Clary, - Oct. 7/61..
Geo. Lock, " Sept. 24, '6i
John D. Sannus, " Dec. 20, "63
CO. K, 11th CAVALRY.
A. Maxwell, Mason Plains. Mar. 3, ^6^. .
CO. L, lit It CAVALRY.
it
it
S. D. Poland, Havana
John Bell, "
John Allen,
John B. Conover, "
F. M. Stuart,
Michael J. Beck, M
John Bordie,
John Conover,
V. Carson,
Geo. Conover,
Comhes Conover,
Wm. Fisher,
Caleb M. Frazer,
James Gawison,
\\'m. Kiner,
W. W. Melntyre,
John Mollis,
Green Pelham,
Philo Peck,
Rob't Quigle,
W'm. Rote,
. .Oct. 7, '6i . . .Promoted.
. . Nov. 27, '61 .
. .Nov. 20, '61 .
. .Nov. 23, '61. Died at Keokuk.
. .Nov. 19, '6 1 .
. . Nov. 6, '6 1 . .
..Oct. 25, '61 ..
. .Nov. 23, '6i .
. .Nov. 15, '6 1 .
. .Nov. 23, '61 .
" ... .Died at vSt. Louis.
. . Dye. 9, '6i . . .Drowned Tenn. river.
..Nov. 18, '61.
. .Nov. 25, '61 .Died at Jackson.
. . Nov. 28, '61 .
. .Nov. 20, '6 1 .
. .Dec. 5, '6 1 . . .
. . Nov. 2S, '6i .
tt
..Oct. 25, '6i.. Died at Louisville.
..Dec. 7, "6 1 ..Died at Bolivar.
1IISTOKY OF MASON COUNTY
339
COMPANY L,
11th a IVALR Y— Continued.
NAME AND RESIDENCE. DATE OF ENLISTMENT. REMARKS
Henry Rabe, Havana.
Nov. 35, '6i .
Amos Snider,
.«
. . . .Dec. 15, '6 1 .
A. Shindleman,
a
Oct. 35, '6i..
W. Spellman,
t(
....Nov. 15, '6i .Deserted.
Samuel Webb,
a
. . . .Oct. 35, '61 . .
John O. Wagner,
il
Nov. 16, '6 1 .
Geo Zimmerman,
u
Nov. 13, '61 .
Geo Leadman,
u
Oct. 4, '61 . . •
a
a
a
M
u
u
a.
John H. Allen, Havana.
John Bordle,
W. T. Ball,
Chas Dering,
John Elliot,
Michael Ibeck,
W. H. Kinner,
W. W. Mclntyre,
John Morris,
Owen Maid,
L. G. Pelham,
Wm Smith,
J. Shundlemeyer,
A. Shnndlemever,
F. M. Stuart,
James Adkins, Havana .
Theodore Bell,
Wm T. Ball,
John N. Corman, "
John R. Dimmit, Topek
J. Diefenbacher, Havana
Chas Dearing, "
Wm E. Halsel,
W. Jackson, «
Owen Maid, "
J. Shindlemyer, "
Wm Smith, "
VETERANS.
Dec. 30, '63. Promoted,
cc
Dec. 33, '63.
Dec. 30, '63
a
...
u
Dec. 33, '63
(C
u
Dec. 33, '64
u
RECR. UITS.
..Dec. 35, '61 .Deserted.
. .May 1, '61 . .
. .Dec. 35, '61 .
. Nov. 23, '6i .Deserted.
. .April 19, '64.
. .Dec. 25, '61 .
. .Nov. 25, '61.
. . April 21, '64 .
..Dec. 20, '61. Died at Jackson.
. .Dec. 25, '6i .
, . .Dec. 30, '61 .
. .Feb. 33, '62.
1st ARTILLERY, BATTERY K.
Wm. T. Nutt, Mason City . .Aug. 1, '63 .Mustered out Corporal.
1
$40 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
The preceding pages show as near a perfect list of the men in
the army from Mason county as is obtainable from the Adjutant
General's records. To obtain these has necessitated a search of
five thousand six hundred pages of matter. The residences of the
first three months' men are not on the records at all; neither arc-
records full as to the residences of all in the three years' service.
These we have supplied in this work as far as possihle; also col-
lected many names erroneously given on the records. If omissions
have been made, we are satisfied they are very few, hut think there
are none, as our search has been thorough.
In the following pages we give brief sketches of some of the reg-
iments, mostly composed of Mason county men.
SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY.
The seventeenth regiment of Illinois infantry volunteers was
mustered into the service at Peoria, Illinois, on the 24th of May,
1861; left camp on the 17th of June, for Alton, Illinois. Late in
July it left Alton for St. Charles, Missouri; remaining but one day
there, it proceeded to Warrenton, Missouri, where it remained in
camp about two weeks. Company A being detailed as body guard
to general John Pope, with headquarters at St. Charles.
The regiment left Warrenton for St. Louis, and embarked for
Bird's Point, Missouri. Remained at Bird's Point some weeks
doing garrison duty, then proceeded to Sulphur Springs landing;
debarking there, proceeded via. Pilot Knob and Ironton to Fred-
ericktown, Missouri, in pursuit of Gen. Jeff. Thompson, anil joined
Gen. Prentice's command at Jackson, Mo.; thence to Kentucky to
assist in the construction of Fort Holt; thence to Elliott's Mills,
and returned to Fort Holt; thence to Cape Girardeau, and again
in pursuit of Jeff. Thompson's forces. Participated in an engage-
ment near Greenfield ; lost one man killed and several wounded.
Returned to Cape Girardeau, doing provost duty until February,
[862, when ordered to Fort Henry. Participated in that engage-
ment and Fort Donaldson, losing several men in killed, wounded
and prisoners. Then proceeded to Metal Landing, Tennessee
river, and embarked for Savanna, Tenn.; from thence to Pittsburg
Landing, and was assigned to the First Division, Army of West
Tennessee, under Gen. John A. McClernand; was engaged in the
battles of the 6th and 7th of April, and suffered great loss in killed
and wounded. "\\ r as with the advance on Corinth. After the
HISTORY OK MASON COUNTY. 3j!
evacuation of Corinth, marched to Purely, Bethel and Jackson,
Term. Remained to the 17th of July, and was then ordered to
Bolivar, and was assigned to duty as provost guard. Remained at
Boliver until Now 1862; was in the expedition to Iuka, to reinforce
Gen. Rosecrans; was at the battle ofHatchie. Returned again to Bol-
ivar; remained till November. Then ordered to Lagrange, report-
ing to Gen. Logan; was assigned duty as provost guard. Early in
Dec. marched to Holly Springs; thence to AbbeyviUe, guarding rail-
roads; thence to Oxford. After the capture of Holly Springs, was
assigned to Sixth Division, 17th Army Corps, under Gen. McPher-
son. Then proceeded via. Moscow, to Collierville and Memphis, and
assigned duty at the navy yard. Remained there until Jan. 16, and
embarked for Vicksburg; re-embarked and proceeded to Lake
Providence, Louisiana, then headquarters 17th army corps, where
it remained until the investment of Vicksburg. Arrived at Milli-
ken's Bend May 1st. Marched across the Delta to Perkin's Land-
ing on the Mississippi river; crossed below Grand Gulf, and ad-
vanced via. Raymond, Champion Hills, Jackson, Big Black, and
to final investment of Vicksburg. After the surrender of that city,
remained there doing' garrison duty and making incursions into the
country as far east as Meridien, and west as far as Monroe, La. The
regiment was ordered to Springfield, Illinois, for muster out and
final discharge, when and where those of the original organization
who did not re-enlist as veterans, were mustered out and discharged.
A sufficient number, however, re-enlisted to entitle them to retain
their regimental organization; the veterans and recruits whose term
of service had not expired, were consolidated with the 8th Illinois
infantry volunteers^ and were finally mustered out and discharged
with that regiment in the spring of 1866.
TWENTY-SEVENTft INFANTRY.
The twenty-seventh infantry Illinois volunteers was organized
with only seven companies, at Camp Butler, Illinois, August 10,
1 861, and ordered to Jacksonville as part of Gen. McClemand's
brigade.
September 1st, 1S61, ordered to Cairo, where the three remain-
ing companies joined. It was engaged in the battle of Belmont
Nov. 7, [S6l, bore a prominent part and lost severely. On the
evacuation of Columbus, Kentucky, this regiment was sent to that
point. On March [4th, it formed a part of the Mississippi flotilla,
342 HISTORY Ol MASON COUNTY.
and went down the river to Island No. 10. The 27th was the first to
hind on that island. Moved to Fort Pillow, but was recalled and
ordered to Pittsburg Landing. Was engaged in the siege of Cor-
inth and battle of Farmington. Was in pursuit of the enemy al
Boonville, and returned to Corinth. In July, [862, ordered toluka,
and soon afterwards along the line of the Memphis and Charleston
Railroad, where it remained until September, when it crossed the
Tennessee river at Decatur, Alabama, and made a rapid march for
Nashville, Tennessee, where it arrived September 12, and remained
in that city during the time it was eut off from communication from
the north, it was with the advance from Nashville, and engaged
in the battle of Stone River, where it was particularly distinguish-
ed. June 24th, 1 S63, moved against Shelbyville and Tullahoma;
thence to Bridgeport, Alabama. September 2d, 1863, moved to-
ward Rome, Georgia; returned in time to take part in the battle
of Chickamauga, where it suffered severely. Was in Chattanooga
during its investment, and was in the storming of Mission Ridge,
and was noted for its good behavior. From Mission Ridge it went
on a forced march to the relief of Knoxville, then closely pressed
1>\ Longstreet. It returned to Loudon, Tennessee, Jan. 25, 1864,
and remained till April, when it was ordered to Cleveland, Tenn.
From here it moved with the Army of the Cumberland on the
Atlantic campaign. Was engaged at Rockfaced Ridge, at Resaca,
Calhoun, Adairsville, Dallas, Pinetop Mountain, Chattahoochie
riser, Peachtrec Creek, and Atlanta.
Was relieved from duty at the front Aug. 25, 1864, and ordered to
Springfield, Illinois, for muster out. Was detained two days at
Nashville in apprehension of an attack. During the term of serv-
ice it had the following casualities: Killed or died of wounds, [02;
died of disease, 80; wounded, 328; discharged and resigned, 209;
transferred, 39. Veterans and recruits consolidated with the 9th
Illinois infantry volunteers.
TWENTY.EIGHTH ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER tNFANTY.
The twenty-eighth infantry Illinois volunteers was organized al
Camp Butler August 1861; August 28 ordered to Thebes, Illinois;
Sept. 9 to Bird's Point, Missouri; Octoher 2 to Fort Holt, Ken-
tucky, w here it remained until Jan. 31, [862, whence it moved to Pa-
ducah, K.v. Feb. 5 moved up the Tennessee river. Feb. 6 assist-
ed in the capture of Forts Henry and Heiman. Feb. 13th, j>S men
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 3-| 3
and 12 officers, under Col. Johnson, met an enemy 500 strong, five
miles from Fort Henry; attacked and routed them.
April 6, 1S62, called into line and assigned a position on the left
in Peach Orchard. Held its position from S A. m. until 3 P. M,and
then retired under- orders. On the morning of the 7th it held a
position on the right and was hotly engaged till the close of the
battle. During these two long and bloody days this regiment be-
haved nobly, and was never broken or driven back, though often
heavily pressed. It sustained a loss of 239 killed and wounded.
Was in the siege of Corinth; marched to Memphis via. Grand
Junction, Lagrange, Holly Springs, Moscow, Lafayette, Colliers-
ville and Germantown. Marched Sept. 6th, reached Bolivar 14th,
and Big Muddy river Oct. 4th. Oct. 5th engaged in the battle of
Matamora, losing 97 killed, wounded and missing. Returned to
Bolivar Oct. 7, 1862.
After various marches in the winter of 1S62, the 28th was engaged
in the siege of Vieksbuurg from June 1 1 to July 4, 1863, On July
12th, 1863, near Jackson, Mississippi, this regiment lost in killed
and wounded more than half of the rank and file in eight compa-
nies, numbering 128 men, lost 73 men killed and 16 prisoners.
January 4, 1864, re-enlisted in the veteran service. May 18, pro-
ceeded to Illinois for veteran furlough. May 29, every man who
had been furloughed, reported at Camp Butler, Illinois, and the
regiment moved for Natchez, where it arrived July 8th.
After further prolonged and honoroble service in the southern
states they returned to the north and were mustered out.
No. enlisted in first organization 761
Recruits 959
Total 1720
Commissioned officers killed . 9
" " wounded 19
" " discharged 49
« " dismissed 4
" " died of disease 2
" " transferred ' 3 — S6
Enlisted men killed 5 3
" " died of wounds 34
" " wounded and missing 282
$4 | HIS1 (MO ol M VSON c (il'S T\
Enlisted men killed accidentally and died i 1 1
" discharged 145
transferred iS — 977
EIGHTY-FIFTH INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS.
This regiment was organized at Peoria, Illinois, in August, [862,
l>v Col. Robert S. Moore, and must, Med into the service August
27th, [862. Ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, Sept. 6, 186.1, and
assigned to the thirty-sixth brigade, eleventh division, Third Army
Corps, Gol. D. McCook commanding brigade, and Brig.-Gen.
1 ! . ii. Sheridan commanding division.
The eighty-fifth marched in pursuit of the enemy under Gen.
Bragg, October 1st, [862, and was engaged in the battles of Chap-
lain ITills, Perryville, Kv.. October 8. and moved with the army
to Nashville, arriving Nov. 7, 1862.
Mustered out June 5, [865, at Washington, D. C, and arrived at
Camp Butler, Illinois, June 11, 1865, where it received final pay-
ment and discharge.
ONE III XDRED AND EIGHTH INFANTRY.
The one hundred and eighth Illinois infantry volunteers was
organized at Peoria the 27th and mustered into service the 28th of
August, 1862.
On October 6th, left Peoria for Covington, Kentucky, via. Lo-
gansport, Indianapolis and Cincinnati, arriving at Covington the
morning of the 8th. The regiment here drew the necessary trans-
portation and camp equippage, and on the 17th marched with its
division into the interior of the state after a retreating enemy.
November 14th, the regiment marched for Louisville, via. Ver-
sailles, Frankfort and Shelbyville, and reached Louisville on the
19th, and on the 21st embarked on board of transports for Mem-
phis, where it arrived on the 26th, and went into camp near the
city.
On the 20th of December, it embarked on board the "City of
Alton," and proceeded in the expedition against Yicksburg. They
landed near Chickasaw Bluffs, on the evening of the 28th, and
bivouacked for the night. The various experiences of the regi-
ment in this region we have no room to detail, but its whole duty
HISTORY OP MASON COUNTY
345
was unflinchingly performed. It returned to Vicksburg on the
24th of January, 1863, disembarked and went into camp.
Inconveniences of transportation, impure air, and lack of sanitary
conveniences, cost the ioSth more lives than all other causes — [35
of its members died, in February and March, 1863.
On July 18th, 186^, this regiment broke camp for the purpose of
returning to their homes, from which they had been absent three
long and bloody years of the war. On August 5th, iS6^, the final
muster rolls were ma.de out and signed by the mustering officer,
and the regiment embarked for Cairo. From thence it proceeded
by rail to Chicago, Illinois, where, on the 1 ith of August it was
paid and fully discharged from the service of the United States,
having acted well its important part in the war.
A conclusion of the military history of Mason county would not
be complete without a reference to those brave soldiers who, failing
of an acceptance of their services in our own State, and determined
to have a hand in suppressing the rebellion, enlisted in other states.
About one hundred men from Mason county applied to Gov.
Yates for admission to the ranks, and our quota being more than
full, could not be received. To their solicitations Gov. Yates re-
plied, "That Mason county could not fight this war alone, that
other parts of the State desired a representation in the service as
well as Mason county.' 1 These men went to St. Louis and enlisted
in the 8th Missouri, not giving their residences as in Illinois.
In order to obtain a full record of all Mason county's soldiers,
we addressed the Adjutant General of Missouri, requesting the
roster of enlisted men in that regiment, and received the following
reply :
Headquarters, State of Missouri,
Adjutant General's Office,
City of Jefferson, June igtJi, /8j6.
1. Cochrane, Esq.,
Havana, Mason Comity, Illinois:
Sir: It does not appear from the "J )escriptive
Book" of the 8th regiment infantry Missouri volunteers, on file in
—44
Ll6 HISTOR'Y «'l MASON COUNTY,
this office, that there were any enlistments in said regiment from
Mason conntv, Illinois.
Verv respectfully,
G. C. Bingham,
Adft Gen. Missouri.
By W. F. Melbourne,
Chief Clerk.
Hence we have been unable to ohtain a list of those in that
regiment. The following figures will compare more than favora-
bly with the war record of any county in Illinois. We quote from
the schedule of quotas and credits on the records of the Adjutant
General of Illinois:
Mason county had a population in i860 of 10,929
Enrollment in 1S63 , 1,529
" in 1S64 1,695
Revised enrollment 1865 1,822
Quota 1S61 306
" 1862 210
Call of February and March 344
Call of July iSth 265
Total quotas prior to Dec. 31, 1864 M 2 5
Total credits to same date t ,514
Excess over all calls 389
CONCLUSION
Wc have in the preceding pages sketched such important facts
in the rise and progress of the history of our country, our State and
our county, and their institutions, as we believed would interest the
reader. We have devoted more space to the early history of Illi-
nois than would seem proper, did we not form a part, and a con-
spicuous illustration of that unprecedented progress that brought
Illinois from an uninhabited wilderness, and unoccupied domain, to
a condition of improvement and progress unprecedented in the
world's history. For example: in 1823, Chicago contained ten
houses and sixty inhabitants. In 1S31, a Postoffice was there es-
tablished. In 1S32, it had two hundred and fifty inhabitants, and
in 1837, it had S,ooo. It then had three newspapers, fifty lawyers,
and thirty physicians.
The city of Quincy, laid out in 1S25, ten years later had 1,500
inhabitants, and now sustains a position of the second city in the
State, exceeded in beauty by none.
In 1836. Peoria had twenty-five stores, and seven groceries and
and two hotels, a brewery, and two steam sawmills. That now
important railroad centre, had then four lines of stages, viz : one to
Galena, tri-weekly; one to Chicago, tri-weekly; one to Spring-
field, and one to Knoxville.
The City of Ottawa was located in 1830, and seven years later
had seventy-five families. See her now.
The citv of Canton had only a population of 500, in 1S36.
Bloomington, in 1S37, had a population of 600, and but two small
churches, two hotels, two lawyers, and three physicians.
J48 HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
Beardstown was laid out in 1829, and at the time of the surve)
there was but one log cabin in its limits. The present status of
these cities arc hut an index to the agricultural developments of
the State.
There is a moral sublimity in the life and character of the pio-
neer. In some arduous work or some great achievement, perhaps,
:is in the revolution, which was to cover with glory a great portion
of the world, he stands in the front rank, or is the leader of the
van, lie encounters difficulties only to conquer them. Neither
his motives nor his aims may he properly understood, hut he fixes
his eye on his work, ami presses forward. His enemies may raise
a storm of persecution to beat upon his head. The darkness that
always besets an incipient day and the opening- of his brilliant
career may brood thickly along his path, but his confidence is not
shaken. No clouds can completely cover his horizon. While oth-
ers are confounded with despair, beyond the thick gloom of his
present, his faith and hope contemplates a clear sky, as his eye
catches an occasional glimpse of the coming light. From the very
nature of his work, being many years in advance of the age in
which he lives, he advances with much toil. Poverty is al-
most uniformly his lot. While the rich and the gay are living in
splendor in their eastern homes, he continues his arduous calling,
and labors night and day, not so much for himself as those who
succeed him. Why does he not curse his lot, lie down and die?
Why labor and toil, and endure the hardships of a frontier life, the
benefits of which will perhaps be enjoyed by those he may never see?
The answer to these questions is very plain. He is in every sense a
providential man. He comes to endure and to suffer for his age. I Ee
feels within his heart the spirit of his calling. The fate of coming
generations he sees in a great part committed to his single hands,
lie is willingtO beoffercd for their weal. True, he has the natural
feelings of his kind. He would be glad to enjoy the quiet and
serene pleasures of his home. The hearthstone of his little cottage,
if he is not too poor to have one, he would love to see as blithe and
cheerful as that of others in a less busy life. No man loves lbs
wife, his children or his neighbors more than he. A condition thai
would give him leisure for all the amenities of social life — for high
communion with nature and her works — for profound study of no-
ble monuments, erected by art and genius, through the world,
would cheer and gladden his soul, and gratify his tastes.
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 349
The fields are as green for him as for other men; the forest is as
gay in autumn or as fresh in spring. He, as well as others, could
take the partner of his life and his children, and walk out each
sweet summer evening, to view the glories of the rural landscape,
and his heart would beat a response to every joyful note of the
warbling waters and the echoing woods. But no; he is denied
this. He has work to do; he has dangers to encounter. All these
things he must forego — must resign to those — for whom? The
coming settler. Though his own and his companions' hearts
often yearn after them by reflection, they subdue their feel-
ings, and reluctantly give them up. 1 repeat, there is a sublimity
in the life and character of the pioneer. He once lived in the cen-
ter of social life. His home was on his native hills, or in some
rural valley, among his friends. His cottage stood in the shade of
some venerable trees, planted by his ancestors a century ago. The
vines that wound around his door posts, the shrubs that fringed his
garden walks, and the grove waving in the wind in the rear of his
peaceful dwelling, were all the work of a bygone age. There he
had known and loved the mother that brought him into the world;
there he had revered a father, who led him in youth and conducted
him safely to manhood. There he first heard the voices of brothers
and sisters, the memories of which now come like visions to his
soul. There, in later years, he laid those kindred, his venerated
father and his affectionate mother, in the silent grave. Long ago
their mouldering bodies had passed away, and the earth above
them had settled in to supply their places. The rank grass, the
dilapidated tombstones, erected by surviving love, all now pro-
claim the old family burying-ground, a place for the heart to lin-
ger around, but not leave. And these little mounds, recently
formed, where the violets and primroses have not yet had time to
bloom, tell that death has been there lately. This cottager and
the mother of his children not long since laid one, two or three of
their own tender offspring beside the departed ones of former
years. Here, then, let him linger; here let him spend the remain-
der of his days; here let him enjoy the wife of his youth and the
dear children given him, and the competence saved for him by the
frugality of his lathers. But it must not be so. He has a work to
do. His children are numerous. His patrimony is not enough for
them all. More than that, the western country needs his services.
35° HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY.
His example is destined for a new world. He seeks room for the
energy of his children to expand itself, where his children's chil-
dren can settle by his side. The intellectual and moral power of
his descendants will there have a more commanding influence on
the fortunes of the coming age. Perhaps, in the new country, he,
surrounded by the thousand chances incident to frontier life, may
live to see his offspring wielding for good the fate of a new repub-
lic, and the destinies of a State be committed to their hands.
These thoughts, and others like them, fill his mind in his eastern
home. Gradually he submits to their influence, until he finds him-
self committed to their sway, and he becomes a convert to his new
work. From this moment he is a pioneer. He breaks away from
the ties that bind him to his native land. He disposes of a few ar-
ticles of loose property, and these make a trial of his faith. He
rinds the same things, when sold, looks differently in the hands of
another person than when it was his own.
The farther he proceeds in these sacrifices, the more strength he
acquires for what remains to be done. His cottage where his
father lived, how can he give it up? The old well, with "its moss
covered bucket," must he never drink from its cool, sweet waters
more? That neat front \ aid, where his children have skipped and
played among the shrubbery and flowers; must these children
never gambol there again. But then those green graves of his
ancestors, and those other fresh, little hillocks where the violets
had not yet bloomed; must all be left to the neglect of strangers,
and the vicissitudes of coming years? In such a conflict, what
memories come back to the soul.
Yes? He must go. He has undertaken the duties of a pioneer,
and all personal feelings must be lost in the work.
There, reader, on that beautiful undulation, that prairie swell,
beside the grove we see a cabin. The smoke from its rude chim-
iil'v, the only mark of civilization on all that vast scene presented
to the view from this eminence and grove. Let us go up and see
what this pioneer has done. At the time of our visit he has re-
sided in his new home twenty-five years.
Many a day had the deer in herds browsed the rich grass on the
prairie, and laid down in the shade of the grove to rest. Many a
dark night had the grim old wolf crouched in the grass or thicket
watching for his prey. Perhaps the still wilder savage, with the
HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. 3^1
scalp of the white man upon his quiver, and the rifle of his victim
on his arm, laid himself down to rest beneath the covert of the
grove. But now all these things are numbered with the past.
They are gone — gone forever, never to return. In their place
bright fields of ripening wheat and waving corn are glistening in
the gentle breeze. This tall corn, that springs up annually, is
memorial of its predecessor, that tall grass that once grew on this
same prairie. The Osage hedge marks the long lines of darker
green beside the waving corn and yellow wheatfield, and encloses
two full sections of as rich rolling prairie as ever drank in the rays
of the rising sun. When it was first entered it cost but a trifle. It
is now a princely fortune. Everything on the premises indicates
industry and thrift. This old gateway has been standing here
from the first.
The private wagon road leading up past the house is skirted on
both sides by cultivated trees. The house itself, with its substan-
tial walls and snug rooms, its immense yard and large back garden,
its spacious barns and numerous out-houses, stationed here and
there in the rear, might be a suitable residence for a king, provided
that king had the heart of our pioneer.
For a quarter of a century the man now aged has been toiling
for generations yet to come. It was not for himself. This he
knew all the time. Nor was he certain that his own children
would enter upon his labors. They, like those he left behind,
might be laid low by the hand of death. Would he therefore remit
his toil ? No ! This was the mission on which he came. His was
the heart of the true pioneer. In his early day he has seen the
wild prairie become a garden. He has himself reared the log
school-house upon his farm. He has invited teachers from the
land of his birth. When there were few to help he paid them
from his own purse, and fed them bountifully at his own board.
Here, too, within this cabin was that other pioneer welcomed,
who, single-handed and alone, came here through many perils, to
proclaim messages of divine love; and many of his successors have
found a home and a resting place within these walls. Many ser-
mons that burned with fervor, have been preached in the grove
beyond the house. How many souls saved, or how much good
done within the precincts of this lowly cottage, the angels them-
selves may never know. But we may look down the vista of
time's river and see other pioneers who received their first impul-
35 2
Ills lnin OF M W '\ COUNTS
ses and baptism. in this grove, and within this humble domicil. A
few to-day arc thus the host of to-morrow. From the first to the
last of his weary years there lias been in his life and his labor-, and
especially will there appear in these last results* a lofty and living
example of true sublimity. Speechless be that tongue, withered
be the ungrateful heart, that does not, when occasion offers, respect
the character and bless the memory of the old and honorable
pioneer.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA
977 355C64C C001
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF MASON COUNTY. INCL
3 0112 025393064
i
