Full text of "Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations ... and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers"

LIBRARY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

$977.37
D14C

111. Hist. Surv.

1682.

COMBINED HISTORY

EDWARDS, LAWRENCE WABASH

COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
DESCRIPTIVE OF THEIR SCENERY

ir llroramenl l^n anh

PUBLISHED BY

J. L. McDONOTJGH & CO.,

PHILADELPHIA.

CORRESPONDING OFFICE, EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.

1883.

PREFACE.

\HE publishers desire to return their sin-
cere thanks to those who have aided in
making this ^vork thorough and com- \
plete. For the incidents relative to the early settle-
ment of these counties, we are indebted to a few
early pioneers, who have seen a wild frontier
country develop into a wealthy and populous com-
munity; especially are we under obligations to the
writings of George Flower and Morris Birkbeck,
whose graphic articles shed much light on the
early settlements in this section of the state. For
other facts we are under obligations to a class
of intelligent men, who, amid the ordinary pur-
suits of life, have taken pains to thoroughly in-
form themselves in regard to the past history
and resources of their county. Among those who
have specially contributed to the history of Ed-
wards county are: Charles Churchill, Alexander
Stewart, Jesse Emmersott, John Woods, John Tribe,
Philander Gould, Ansel A. Gould, George Lapp,
Enoch Greathouse, Benjamin Ulm, Francis Great-
house, Thomas Coad, George Michcls, Elisha Chism,
and Dr. F. B. Thompson.

The gentlemen who have assisted us in Law-
rence county are :J W. Crews, David D. Lantcr-
man, J. M, Miller, Samuel Sumner, A. I. Judy,
George Me Cleave, Dr. W. M. Garrard, Richard
King, Francis Tongas, Renick Heath and William
Laws.

In the preparation of the history of Wabash coun-
ty we have been materially assisted by Judge Robert
Bell, James M. Sharp, Judge E. B. Green, Dr. Jacob
Schneck, Joseph Compton, Dr. James Harvey, John
Dyar, E B. Keen, Thompson Blackford, Henry Lov-
ellette, Dr. A. J. Mclntosh, J. J. Smith, Win. Ulm,
Thomas A'. Armstrong, Ira Keen, John Kigg, D. L.
Tillon, A. B. Cory, J. Zimmerman, Mrs. Elizabeth
Litherland, John } \ 'ood and John Higgins.

To the county officials of the respective counties we
extend our thanks for the many courtesies extended,
during the compilation of this work.

Among the chapters most fruitful in interest to
a great number of our readers, will be found
those which treat of the early history of the
churches. Many persons are now living whose
fathers and grandfathers, in the humble log cabin,
which was then the only house of worship, assisted
in founding organizations which have been of the
greatest good to subsequent generations. To the
clergymen of the different denominations, and to
many of the older members of these societies, we
are indebted for much valuable information. The
editors of the several newspapers have also rendered
assistance in that prompt and cheerfid manner so
characteristic of the journalistic profession.

We have endeavored, with all diligence and care-
fulness, to make the best of the material at our
command. We have confined ourselves, as nearly
as possible, to the original data furnished. The sub-
ject matter has been carefully classified, and will be
a great help to the public as a book of reference con-
cerning the past history of the county. The facts
were gathered from many different sources, and de-
pend largely, not on exact written records, but on the
uncertain and conflicting recollections of different
individuals! We have tried to preserve the inci-
dents of pioneer history, to accurately present the
natural features and material resources of this por-
tion of the state, and to gather the facts likely
to be of most interest to our present readers, and
of greatest importance to coming generations. If
our readers will take into consideration the diffi-
culties of the task, we feel assured of a favorable
verdict on our undertaking.

THE PUBLISHERS.

206789

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE NORTH-WEST
TERRITORY.

PAGE

Geographical Position, 9 ; Early Explora-
tions, 9 ; Discovery of the Ohio, 15 ;
English Explorations and Settle-
ments, 16; American Settlements, 22;
Division of the North- West Territory,
23 ; Present Condition of the North-
West, 24 9-25

CHAPTER II.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ILLINOIS.
French Possessions, 25 ; The first Settle-
ments in Illinois, 26; Founding of
Kaskaskia, 27; As a part of Louisi-
ana, 27 ; Fort Chartres, 28 ; Under
French rule, 29 ; Character of the Early
French Settlers, 30; A Possession of
Great Britain, 30 ; Conquest by Clark,
32; The "Compact of 1787," 32; Land
Tenures, 34 ; Physical Features of the
State, 35 ; Progress and Development,
35; Material Resources of the State,
36 ; Annual Products, 36 ; The War
Record, 38; Civil Government, 39;
Territorial and State Officers, 40 ; Mis-
cellaneous Information 25-45

CHAPTER III.

RAILROAD FACILITIES.
EDWARDS COUNTY, 46 ; LAWRENCE COUNTY,
46 ; WABASH COUNTY, 47. Railroads,
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, 48;
Ohio and Mississippi, 49; Louisville,
Evansville and St. Louis, 49 ; Peoria,
Decatur and Evansville, 49 ;. . . 46-50

CHAPTER IV.

UEOLOQY.
EDWARDS COUNTY, 50; WABASH COUNTY,

51 ; LAWRENCE COUNTY, 53. . . . 50-54

CHAPTER V.

FLORA.
List of Native Woody Plants, Grasses,

etc., etc 56, 56

CHAPTER VI.

FAUNA.

Treating of the Various Families of Ani-
mals and Birds that have existed in
these counties 56-58

CHAPTER VII.

PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.

HOWARDS COUNTY, First Settlers, 58 ; Early

Marriages, 66 ; The Deep Snow, 67 ;

The Sudden Freeze, 67. LAWRENCE

COUNTY, First Settlers, 68 ; WABASH

COUNTY, First Settlers, 73 ; Pioneer

Mills, 77 ; The Cannon Massacre, 78 ;

Habits and Modes of living in Pioneer

times, 78 58-80

CHAPTER VIII.

CIVIL HISTORY.

CDWARDS COUNTY, Act creating the Coun-
ty, 80 ; County Government at Pal-
myra, 81 ; Second Court, Third Court,
Justice's Court, 84 ; First and Second
Commissioner's Court, 85 ; County
Government at Albion, County Com-
missioner's Court from First to Four-
teenth, 86-88 ; County Courts, from
First to Seventh, 89, 90 ; Boards of
County Commissioners, 90, 91 ; Pub-
lic Buildings, 91 ; Taxable Property,
92 ; Circuit Courts, First Murder Trial,
93; Second Murder Case, 94; First
Naturalization, Judges of Circuit
Court, First Probate Business, The
First Will, Probate Judges, 95 ; First
Deed Recorded, Delegates to Constitu-
tional Convention, The County in the
General Assembly 96 ; County Officers 97.

LAWRENCE COUNTY, 97; County Gov-
ernment, 100; Militia Districts, 101 ;
Public Buildings, The First Court-
house, 102; Early Ferries, Early
Revenue, Fiscal Statement of De-
cember 6, 1827, 105; Election Pre-
cincts, 104-106 ; County Finance since
1827, 106-108 ; Circuit Courts, 1821 to
1848, 108-110; United States Census
1850, County Government from 1849
to 1883, Swamp Lands, 110 ; Finan-
cial Notes 1849 to 1883, 111 ; Officers
Representing and Serving Lawrence
County, 111-115.

WABASH COUNTY, Organization, etc., 115-
120 ; Public Buildings, 120-123 ; Tax-
es and Debts, 1825 to 1850, 123, 124 ;
Railroad Debts, 124 ; Officers Repre-
senting and Serving the county, 125-
127 80-127.

CHAPTER IX.
THE BENCH ASD BAR.

Circuit Judges & Non-resident lawyers, 128.
EDWARDS COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, 129; Present Bar, 129. LAW-
BENCE COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, 130; Present Bar, 130; WA-
BASH COUNTY, Former Resident Law-
yers, and Present Bar, 132. ; . . 127-133

CHAPTER X.

THE PRESS.

Giving the Names of all the News-
papers that have been printed in each
of the Counties 133-137.

CHAPTER XI.

PATEIOTISM.

Black Hawk War, 137-141 ; War of
the Rebellion, 141 ; A List of Names
of the volunteers from each of the
Counties, with a short historical
Sketch of the Regiments to which
they belonged 137-156

TABLE OF CONTEXTS.

CHAPTER XII.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
The School Systems of the State their
Growth, Resources and Management
etc., 150 ; EDWARDS COUNTY, 159 ;
LAWKEXCK CorxTY, 1G1 ; WAIIASH
CDI-VTY It! lot) lb'3

Foster Blashel

PAGE
315

Rice Cyrus

PAGE

. . 220
. . 323
. .260
. . 309
. . 218
. . 257
. . 310
. . 256
. .245
. . 244
. . 310
. . 258
. . 222
. . 306
. . 297
. .218
. . 255
. . 309

. .307
. .324

216

Foster, William F
Fox Jeremiah

.... 224

Rigg, Henry H
Rigg James W

Frazcr, Dr. Milton D
Freeman, Samuel
French, Dr. Zeba D
Friend, Dr. William
Frost, James P

.... 330
.... 324
.... 21)!!
.... 310
.... 275
.... 274
.... 225
.... 262
.... 314
.... 314
.... 300
.... 249
.... 322
.... 224
. . . .217
. ... 261
.... 253
. ... 308
. ... 267
253

Rodgers, Augustine J
Rude, David S
Samoniel Brothers
Schaefer, Dr. H. M
Schneck, Dr. J
Schrodt, John
Sears, Dr. Paul
Seibert. Charles
Scitz, Jr., William
Sentance, John
Shearer, Joseph B
Smith, Dr. James E
Smith, John
Smith, Valentine
Smith, Rozander
Stewart, Alexander
Stoltz, George
Strahan, John (deceased)
Tribe William B

CHAPTER XIII.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
EDWARDS COUSTT. Methodist Church, 163 ;
Protestai.t Episcopal, 165; Baptist, 167;
ChurcU of Christ, 268; Cumberland
Presbyterian, 172; United Brethren,
176; Evangelical Association, 179;
LAWRENCE C o u N T Y .-Presbyterian
Church, 181 ; Christian Church, 182;
United Brethren, 200; Disciples of
Christ, 183; Methodist Protestant,
184 ; Methodist Episcopal, 185. WA-
BASH COUNTY. Christian Church, 186;
M. E. Church, 189; Presbyterian, 192;
Evangelical, 195 ; Catholic, 198 ; Ger-
man Lutheran, 198 ; Evangelical As-
sociation of N. A., 199 ; United Breth-
ren in Christ, 200 163-202

Glaubensklee, Henry
Gordon, Robert S
Gould, Ansel A
Gould, Philander
Gray, Dr. F. S
Green, Hon. Edward B
Groff, Hon. John
Hallam, John
Harris, Gibson
Harrison, John M
Havill, Frank W
Higgins, John
Hoopes Caleb

Ulm, Captain William
Utter, Abraham (deceased)

. . 246

. .288
. . 309
. .283
. .284

Joy, Thomas L
Kamp, Louis
Keen, Hon. E. B
Keen, George W

. . . .261
. ... 263
.... 335
. ... 306
. ... 258
. ... 299

Vandermark, Simon
Vandermark, Cyr,us
Waller, Dr Fay K
Wilkinson, Thomas
Wilkinson, Hon. William R

BIOGRAPHIES.
Adams, David 300

Keniepp, Captain G. M
King, Henry (deceased) ....
Landes Hon Silas Z

Armstrong, Thomas N 298
Armstrong, Berkley (deceased) 297
Bear, James 220
Bell, Hon. Robert 247

Lescher, Dr. Jacob
Lewis, Harlie V

. ... 259
329

Woods, Thomas T."
Wood Hon William (deceased)

. .227
259

Low, Dr. Lyman W
Manley, Alfred P
Manley Frank C k

. ... 219
. ... 257
3''5

Zimmerman, Hon. Jacob

TOWNSHIPS.
Allison
H^ellmont
Bond

. . 248

. .276
. . 319
342

Belles, Philip 330
Berninger, Isaiah 307
Blood, John M. (deceased) 276
Bockhouse, William 325
Bower, George . ^ . . 228
Brause, August 302
Briggs, Jonathan 216
Burkett, JohnT 262
Campbell, Joseph M. , 226
Churchill, Joel 215
Colyer, Walter . . 26

Manley, Dr. Paul G
Mayo, Walter L
Marx, Samuel
Marx, Philip H
McClane, Dr. C. T
McClurkin, Dr. John C
McDowell, Dr. James
Mclntosh, Dr. Andrew J
McJilton, Dr. Edward L
Medler, William H
Michels, George
Miller, Edward

. ... 336
. ... 221
. . . . 307
. ... 308
.... 324
225
.... 268
.... 296
.... 308
.... 225
.... 214
.... 254

Bridgeport
City and Precinct of Albion
City and Township of Lawrenceville .
b/City and Precinct of Mt Carmel

. .327
. . 203
. . 228
235

Christy

. . 264
331

Dennison

. . >:.
89

Compton, Van Bureu 298
Curdling, Robert W ........ 227
Dalby, Samuel Nelson 214-n
Dickson, Dr. Henry I, 224
Edwards, Eld. Caleb 227
Emmerson, Morris 226
Kw:iM, George C 323
HIM, Id-. Chesterfield 22ti
Flower, George 212
Kluwci-. Mrs. Eliza Julia -j] | v
"owe-.'. R.C 224- A

French Creek

. . 337

Morgan, Maxwell W
Murphy, Dr. Hugh A
Parkinson, Robert (deceased) . .
Parmenter, Henry
Petty, G. \V
Pixley, Asa (deceased)
Price, Isaac K
Putnam, Samuel R

.... 218
.... 267
.... 260
.... 326

. ... 208
. ... 316

. . . . 2"iii
. . . . .V,

^Lancaster
/Lick Prairie
Lukin
Petty
Russell
Salem
Sh.'ll.y
,/Walmsh

. . 303
. . 340
. . 301

. . :;i7
. . m

. . 311

. . 272
. . 2!1

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

vii

PORTRAITS.

ILLUSTRATIONS

I'AGK

Landes Mrs lietw

en IMS -IMH

PAGE

Mauley, Dr. P. G

Facing 332

Armstrong, Berkley

. Facing 290

Adams, David (deceased)

Facing 808

Map ot Counties

Facing ',

Blood, John M. (dec'd) ....

Facing 270

Armstrong, Berkley

Facing 2'JO

Medler, Win. H

Facing 272

Churchill, Joel

... .216

Bear, James W

Facing 342

Miller, Edward

|-:u-i,, K 888

Flower, George

.... 212

Blood, Mrs. A

Facing 204

Parmenter, Henry

Facing 336

Flower, Mrs. Eliza Julia . . . .

. . . 214-A

Bond, L. C

Facing 226

Pixley, A., Jr

Facing 310

Flower, K.C

. . . 224-A

Buxton, Dr. W. E

Facing 204

Public Buildings, Edwards County .

Facing 84

Foster, Blashel

.... :!!,")

Churchill Bros.' Business Block . .

Facing 208

Public Buildings, Lawreuceville . .

Facing 232

Frost, James P

. . . . 276

Churchill, James, Residence . . .

Facing 20

Rigg, H. H

Facing 280

Gill, Thomas

. . . .274

Churchill, Mrs. Joel, Residence . .

Facing 208

Kigg, J. W

Facing 256

Gould, Philander,

. Facing 314

Couit-House, Mt. Carmel . . . .

Facing 120

Sears, Dr. Paul Betw<

en 248-249

Gould, Martha L

. Facing 314

Curtis, John

Facing 268

Seibert, Charles

Facing 304

liouM, Mrs. Sarah (dec'd) . . .

. Facing 314

Dreibelbis, F. and J. Mill ....

Facing 232

Seller, Jacob

Facing 236

Gould, Ansel A

Facing 314

Ewald, George C

Facing 284

Sentance, J. and Son

Facing 226

Gould, Chloe S

. Facing 314

Foster, Blashel

Facing 326

Smith, Rozander

Facing 308

Groff, John and Wife

. Facing 322

Frost, James P

Facing 272

Smith, James N

Facing 274

Harris Gibson

.... 217

Facing 284

Tribe, R. M

Facing 2bO

Lescher, Dr. Jacob

.... 269

Gill, Thomas

Facing 274

Tribe, W. B

Facing 226

Low, Dr. Lyman W

.... 219

Glaubensklee, Henry and Sanih .

Facing 220

Utter, Abraham (deceased) . . . .

Facing 247

Mayo, Walter L

.... 221

Gould, Deuel

Facing 204

Wood Joseph

Facing 216

Pixley, Asa (dec'd,)

. Facing 316

Gould, Ansel, Jr

Facing 288

Wood, Oliver II

Facing 280

Rice, Cyrus

. Facing 220

Gould, Philander Betwe

en 312-313

Wood, Thomas

Facing 342

Rude, David S. (dec'd) ....

. Facing 218

Gould, Ansel A Betwe

en 318-319

Wright, David P

Facing 256

Sears, Dr. Paul

.... 244

Groff, John Betwe

en 320-321

Stewart, Alexander
Utter, Abraham (deceased) .

. . . .223
.... 240

Kamp's Mill
Keen E B

Facing 240
Facing 298

Partial List of Patrons

Constitution of Illinois

. . . 345
. 360

Utter, Mrs. Elizabeth

.... 246

Keen, G. W

Facing 308

Declaration of Independence . .

. . . 872

Wood, Hon. William (dec'd) . .

. Facing 250

Keen, W. E

Facing 332 Constitution of the United States

. ... 373

Wood, Joseph (dec'd)

. Facing 210

King Henry (deceased)

Facing 300

Amendments to Constitution of U.

5. ... 376

LIBRARY

OF THE

UNIVERSITY or ILIINOIS

T.+ N\

EWARDS.LAWRENCE

W F O ft D

_./?. H

T'vr\-\~

IRIJJS!

-|-4- : -

El LVIL

HISTORY

EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILL

CHAPTER I.

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE NORTH-WEST TERRITORY.

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION.

,N 1784 the North Western Territory was
ceded to the United States by Virginia.
It embraced only the territory lying be-
tween the Ohio and Mississippi rivers;
and north, to the northern limits of the
United States. It coincided with the area
now embraced in the states of Wisconsin,
Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and
that portion of Minnesota lying on the
east side of the Mississippi river. On the first day of March,
1784, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Hardy, Arthur Lee, and
James Monroe, delegates in Congress on the part of Vir-
ginia, executed a deed of cession, by which they transferred
to the United States, on certain conditions, all right, title
and claim of Virginia to the country known as the North-
western Territory. But by the purchase of Louisiana in
1803, the western boundary of the United States was ex-
tended to the Rocky Mountains and the Northern Pacific
Ocean. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles,
beiug greater than the united areas of the Middle and
Southern states, including Texas. Out of this magnificent
territory have been erected eleven sovereign states and eight
territories, with an aggregate population at the present time
of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one-third of the entire
population of the United States.

Its rivers are the largest on the continent, flowing thous-
ands of miles through its rich alluvial valleys and broad,
fertile prairies.

Its lakes arc fresh-water seas, upon whose bosom floats
the commerce of many states. Its far-stretching prairies
have more acres that are arable and productive than any
other area of like extent on the globe.

For the last quarter of a century the increase of popula-

tion and wealth in the north-west has been about as three to
one in any other portion of the United States.

EARLY EXPLORATIONS.

In the year 1512, on Easter Sunday, the Spanish name
for which is Pascua Florida,* Juan Ponce de Leon, an old
comrade of Columbus, discovered the coast of the American
continent, near St. Augustine, and in honor of the day and
of the blossoms which covered the trees along the shore,
named the new-found country Florida. Juan had been led
to undertake the discovery of strange lands partly by the
hope of finding endless stores of gold, and partly by the
wish to reach a fountain that was said to exist deep within
the forests of North America, which possessed the power of
renovating the life of those who drank of or bathed in its
waters. He was made governor of the region he had visited
but circumstances prevented his return thither until 1521 ;
and then he went only to meet death at the hands of" the
Indians.

In the meantime, in 1516, a Spanish sea-captain, Diego
Miruelo, had visited the coast first reached by Ponce de
Leon, and in his barters with the natives had received con-
siderable quantities of gold, with which he returned home
and spread abroad new stories ^f the wealth hidden in the
interior.

Ten years, however, passed before Pamphilo de Narvaei
undertook to prosecute the examination of the lands north
of the Gulf of Mexico. Narvaez was excited to action by
the late astonishing success of the conqueror of Montezuma,
but he found the gold for which he sought constantly flying
before him ; each tribe of Indians referred him to . those
living farther in the interior. And from tribe to tribe he
and his companions wandered. They suffered untold priva-
tions in the swamps and forests ; and out of three hundred
followers only four or five at length reached Mexico. And
still these disappointed wanderers persisted in their original
fancy, that Florida was as wealthy as Mexico or Peru.

Pascum, the old English "Pash" or Passover; " Pascua Florida"
is the " Holyday of Flowers."

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Among those who had faith in that report was Ferdinand
de Soto, who had been with Pizarro in the conquests of Peru.
He asked and obtained leave of the King of Spain to con-
quer Florida at his own cost. It was given in the year 1538.
With a brilliant and noble band of followers he left Europe
and in May, 1538, after a stay in Cuba, anchored his vessels
near the coast of the Peninsula of Florida, in the bay of
Spiritu Santa, or Tampa bay.

De Soto entered upon his march into the interior with a
determination to succeed. From June till November of

1539, the Spaniards toiled along until they reached the
neighborhood of Appalachee bay. During the next season,

1540, they followed the course suggested by the Florida
Indians, who wished them out of their country, and going
to the north-east, crossed the rivers and climbed the moun-
tains of Georgia. De Soto was a stern, severe man, and
none dared to murmur. De Soto passed the winter with his
little band near the Yazoo. In April, 1541, thfc resolute
Spaniard set forward, and upon the first of May reached
the banks of the great river of the West, not far from the
35th parallel of latitude.*

A month was spent in preparing barges to convey the
horses, many of which still lived, across the rapid stream.
Having successfully passed it, the explorers pursued their
way northward, into the neighborhood of New Madrid ;
then turning westward again, marched more than two hun-
dred miles from the Mississippi to the highlands of White
river; and still no gold, no gems, no cities only bare prai-
rie?, and tangled forests, and deep morasses To the south
again they toiled on, and passed their third winter of wander-
ing upon the Washita. In the following spring (1542), De
Soto, weary with hope long deferred, descended the Washita
to its junction with the Mississippi. He heard, when he
reached the mighty stream of the west, that its lower portion
flowed through endless and uninhabitable swamps.

The news sank deep into the stout heart of the disap-
pointed warrior. His health yielded to the contests of his
miud and the influence of the climate. He appointed a
successor, and on the 21st of May died. His body was sunk
in the stream of the Mississippi. Deprived of their ener-
gatic leader, the Spaniards determined to try to reach Mexico
by land. After some time spent in wandering through the
forests, despairing of success in the attempt to rescue them-
selves by land, they proceeded to prepare such vessels as
they could to take them to sea. From January to July
1543, the weak, sickly band of gold-seekers labored at the
doleful task, and in July reached, in the vessels thus built,
the Gulf of Mexico, and by September entered the river
Paunco. Ode-half of the six hundred f who had disem-
barked with De Soto, so gay in steel and silk, left their bones
among the mountains and in the morasses of the South, from
Georgia to Arkansas.

De Soto founded no settlements, produced no results, and
left no traces, unless it were that he awakened the hostility
of the red man against the white man, and disheartened

* De Soto probably was at the lower Chickasaw bluffs. The Spaniards
called the Mississippi Rio Grande, Great River, which is the literal
meaning of the aboriginal name.
> t De Biedna says there landed G20 men.

such as might desire to follow up the career of discovery for
better purposes. The French nation were eager and ready
to seize upon any news from this extensive domain, and
were the first to profit by De Solo's defeat. As it was, for
more than a century after the expedition, the west remained
utterly unknown to the whites.

The French were the first Europeans to make settlements
on the St. Lawrence river and along the great lakes. Quebec
was founded by Sir Samuel Champlain in 1608,* and in 1609
when Sir Henry Hudson was exploring the noble river
which bears his name, Champlain ascended the Sorrelle
river, and discovered, embosomed between the Green moun-
tains, or " Verdmont," as the chivalrous and poetic French-
man called them, and the Adirondacks, the beautiful sheet
of water to which his name is indissolubly attached. In
1613 he founded Montreal.

During the period elapsing between the years 1607 and
1664, the English, Dutch, and Swedes alternately held pos-
session of portions of the Atlantic coast, jealously watching
one another, and often involved in bitter controversy, and
not seldom in open battle, until, in the latter year, the
English became the sole rulers, and maintained their rights
until the era of the Revolution, when they in turn were
compelled to yield to the growing power of their colonies,
and retire from the field.

The French movements, from the first settlement at
Quebec, and thence westward, were led by the Catholic
missionaries. Le Caron, a Franciscan friar, who had been
the companion and friend of Champlain, was the first to
penetrate the western wilds, which he did in 1616* in a
birch canoe, exploring lake Huron and its tributaries.
This was four years before the Pilgrims

"Moored their bark on the wild New England shore."

Under the patronage of Louis XIII, the Jesuits took the
advance, and began vigorously the work of Christianizing
the savages in 1632.

In 1634, three Jesuit missionaries, Brebeuf, Daniel, and
Lallemand, planted a mission on the shores of the lake of
the Iroquois, (probably the modern Lake Simcoe), and also
established others along the eastern border of Lake Huron.

From a map published in 1660, it would appear that the
French had at that date, become quite familiar with the
region from Niagara to the head of Lake Superior, includ-
ing considerable portions of Lake Michigan.

In 1641, Fathers Jogues and Raymbault embarked on
the Penetanguishine Bay for the Sault St. Marie, where
they arrived after a passage of seventeen days. A crowd
of two thousand natives met them, and a great council was
held. At this meeting the French first heard of many
nations dwelling beyond the great lakes.

Father Raymbault died in the wilderness in 1642, while
enthusiastically pursuing his discoveries. The same year,
Jogues and Bressani were captured by the Indians and
tortured, and in 1648 the mission which had been founded
at St. Joseph was taken and destroyed, and Father Daniel
slain. In 1649, the missions St Louis and St. Ignatius

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASU COUM1ES, ILLINOIS.

were also destroyed, and Fathers Brebeuf and Lallemand
barbarously tortuivd by the same terrible and unrelenting
enemy. Literally did those zealous missionaries of the
Romish Church "take their lives in their hands," and lay
them a willing sacrifice on the altar of their faith.

It is stated by some writer that, in 1G54, two fur traders
accompanied a band of Ottawas on a journey of five hun-
dred leagues to the west. They were absent two years, and
on their return brought with them fifty canoes and two
hundred and fifty Indians to the French trading posts.

They related wonderful tales of the countries they had
Been, and the various red nations they had visited, and
described the lofty mountains and mighty rivers in glowing
terms. A new impulse was given to the spirit of adventure,
and tcouts and traders swarmed the frontiers and explored
the great lakes and adjacent country, and a party wintered
in IGoO-GO on the south shore of Lake Superior.

In 1GGO Father Mesnard was sent out by the Bishop of
Quebec, and visited Lake Superior in October of that year.
While crossing the Kecweenaw Point he was lost in the wilder-
ness and never afterwards heard from, though his cassock
and breviary were found long afterwards among the Sioux.

A change was made in the government of New France in
1G65. The Company of the Hundred Associates, who had
ruled it since 1632, resigned its charter. Tracy was made
Viceroy, Courcclles Governor, and Talon Intendent.* This
was called the Government of the West Indies.

The Jesuit missions were taken under the care of the new
govcnmcnt, and thenceforward became the leaders in the
movement to Christianize the savages.

In the same year (1GG5) Pierre Claude Allouez was sent
out by way of the Ottawa river to the far west, via the Sault
St. Marie and the south shore of Lake Superior, where he
landed at the bay of Chegoimegon. Here he found the
chief village of the Chippcwas, and established a mission.
He also made an alliance with them and the Sacs, Foxes and
Illinois,^ against the formidable Iroquois. Allouez, the next
year (1GGG) visited the western end of the great lake, where
he met the Sioux, and from them first learned of the Missis-
sippi river which they called "Mcssipi." From thence he
returned to Quebec.

In 1GG8 Claude Dablon and Jacques Marquctte estab-
lished the mission at the Sault called St. Marie, and during
the next five years Alloiicz, Dablon and Marquette explored
the region of Lake Superior on the south shore, and ex-
tending to Lake Michigan. They also established the mis-
sions of Chegoimegon, St. Marie, Mackinaw and Green Bay.

The plan of exploring the Mississippi probably originated
with Marquctte. It was at once sanctioned by the Inten-
dent, Talon, who was ambitious to extend the dominion of
France over the whole West.

In 1G70 Nicholas Perot was sent to the West to propose a
congress of all the nations and tribes living in the vicinity
of the lakes ; and, in 1G71, a great council was held at Sault
St. Marie, ct which the Cross was set up, and the nations of

* The duties of Intcmlent included a supervision cf t'.ic policy, justice,
taj finance of the province.

| The meaning of this word b said to be " Men."

the great North-west were taken into an alliance, with much
pomp and ceremony.

On the 13th of May, 1G73, Marquctte, Joliet, and five
voyageurs, embarked in two birch canoes at Mackinaw and
entered Lake Michigan. The first nation they visited was
the " Folles-Avoines," or nation of Wild Oats, since known
as the Menomonies, living around the " Baie des Puans," or
Green Bay. These people, with whom Marquette was some-
what acquainted, endeavored to persuade the adventurers
from visiting the Mississippi. They represented the Indians
on the great river as being blood-thirsty and savage in the
extreme, and the river itself as being inhabited by monsters
which would devour them and their canoes together.*

Marquctte thanked them for their advice, but declined to
be guided by it. Passing through Green Bay, they ascended
the Fox River, dragging their canoes over the strong rapids
and visited the village, where they found living in l.armony
together tribes of the Miamis, Mascoutens f tMilKika.bea.ux
or Kickapoos. Leaving this point on the 10th of June, they
made the portage to the " Ouisconsin," and descended that
stream to the Mississippi, which they entered on the 17th
with a joy, as Marquette says, which he could not express."!

Sailing down the Mississippi, the party reached the Des
Moines River, and, according to some, visited an Indian
village some two leagues up the stream. Here the people
again tried to persuade them from prosecuting their voyage
down the river. After a great feast and a dance, and a
night passed with this hospitable people, they proceeded on
their way, escorted by six hundred persons to their canoes.
These people called themselves Illinois, or Illini. The name
of their tribe was Peruaca, and their language a dialect of
the Algonquin.

Leaving these savages, they proceeded down the river.
Passing the wonderful rocks, which still excite the admira-
tion of the traveller, they arrived at the mouth of another
great river, the Pekilan"ni, or Missouri of the present day.
They noticed the condition of its waters, which they described
as " muddy, rushing and noisy."

Passing a great rock, they came to the Ouabouskigon, or
Ohio. Marquette shows this river very small, even as com-
pared with the Illinois. From the Ohio they passed as far
down as the Akamsca, or Arkansas, where they came very
near being destroyed by the natives; but they finally paci-
fied them, and, on the 1 7th of July, they commenced their
return voyage.

The party reached Green Bay in September without loss
or injury, and reported their discoveries, which were among
the most important of that age. Marquctte afterwards
returned to Illinois, and preached to the natives until L<75.

On the 18th of May of that year, while cruising up the
eastern coast of Lake Michigan with a par!y of boatmen,
he landed at the mouth of a stream putting into the lake
from the east, since known as the river Marquette. He
performed mass, and went a little apart to pruy, and being

* See hgend of the p-eat bird, the terrible " Plata," t.'iru devoured men
and was only overcome by the sacrl5ec cf a bruvi.youn ; chief. The
rocks above Alton, Ill.aois, have como rude rci>SB^gU.or. i ci" this
monster.

| Prair'c

* XIarquctte's journal. { The ^rand tD

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

gone longer than his companions deemed necessary, they j
went in search of him, and found him dead where he had j
knelt. Thefburied him in the sand.

While this distinguished adventurer was pursuing his
labors, two other men were preparing to follow in his foot- i
step, and make still further explorations, and, if possible, |
more important discoveries. These were the Chevalier |
Robert de la Salle and Louis Hennepin.

La Salle was a native of Rouen, in Normandy. He was
educated at a seminary of the Jesuits, and designed for the
ministry, but, for reasons unknown, he left the seuiinary and
came to Canada, in 1GG7, where he engaged in the fur trade.

Like nearly every intelligent man, he became intensely
interested in the new discoveries of the West, and conceived
the idea of exploring the passage to the great South Sea,
which by many was believed to exist. He made known his
ideas to the Governor-General, Count Frontenac, and de-
sired his co-operation. The Governor at once fell in with
his views, which were strengthened by the reports brought
back by Marquette and Joliet, and advised La Salle to
apply to the King of France in person, and gave him letters
of introduction to the great Colbert, then Minister of
Finance and Marine. Accordingly, in 1675, he returned
to France, where he was warmly received by the King and
nobility, and his ideas were at once listened to, and every
possible favor shown to him.

He was made a Chevalier, and invested with the seigniory
of Fort Catarocouy, or Frontenac (now known as Kingston)
upon condition that he would rebuild it, as he proposed, -of
stone.

Returning to Canada, he wrought diligently upon the fort
until 1677, when he again visited France to report progress.
He was received, as before, with favor, and, at the instance
of Colbert and his son, the King granted him new letters
patent and new privileges. On the 14th of July, 1678, he
sailed from Rochelle, accompanied by thirty men, and with
Tonti, an Italian, for his lieutenant. They arrived at
Quebec on the 13th of September, and after a few days'
delay, proceeded to Frontenac. Father Lewis Henuepin, a
Franciscan friar, of the Recollet sect, was quietly working
in Canada on La Salle's arrival. He was a man of great
ambition, and much interested in the discoveries of the day.
He was appointed by his religious superiors to accompany
the expedition fitting out for La Salle.

Sending agents forward to prepare the Indians for his
coming, and to open trade with them, La Salle himself era-
barked, on the 18th of November, in a little brigantine of
ten tons, to cross Lake Ontario. This was the first ship of
European build that ever sailed upon this fresh-water sea.
Contrary winds made the voyage long and troublesome, and
a month was consumed in beating up the lake to the Niagara
River. Near the mouth of this river the Iroquois had a
village, and here La Salle constructed the first fortification,
which afterwards grew into the famous Fort Niagara. On
the 2Cth of January, 1G79, the keel of the first vessel built
on Luke Erie was laid at the mouth of the Cayuga Creek,
on the American side, about six miles above the falls.

In the meantime La Salle had returned to Fort Frontenac

to forward supplies for his forthcoming vessel. The little
barque on Lake Ontario was wrecked by carelessness, and a
large amount of the supplies she carried was lost. On the
7th of August, the new vessel was launched, and made ready
to sail. She was about seven tons' burden.

La Salle christened his vessel the " Griffin," in honor of
the arms of Count Frontenac. Passing across Lake Erie,
and into the small lake, which they named St. Clair, they
entered the broad waters of Lake Huron. Here they en-
countered heavy storms, as dreadful as those upon the ocean
and after a most tempestuous passage they took refuge in
the roadstead of Michillimackinac (Mackinaw), on the 27th
of August La Salle remained at this point until the middle
of September, busy in founding a fort and constructing a
trading-house, when he went forward upon the deep waters
of Lake Michigan, and soon after cast anchor in Green Bay.
Finding here a large quantity of furs and peltries, he deter-
mined to load his vessel and send her back to Niagara. On
the 18th of September, she was sent under charge of a pilot
while La Salle himself, with fourteen men,* proceeded up
Lake Michigan, leisurely examining its shores and noting
everything of interest. Tonti, who had been sent to look
after stragglers, was to join him at the head of the lake.
From the 19ih of September to the 1st of November, the
time was occupied in the voyage up this inland sea. On the
last-named day, La Salle arrived at the mouth of the river
Miamis, now St. Joseph. Here he constructed a fort, and
remained nearly a month waiting for tidings of his vessel;
but, hearing nothing, he determined to push on before the
winter should preventhim. On the 3d of December, leaving
ten men to garrison the fort, he started overland towards the
head-waters of the Illinois, accompanied by three monks
and twenty men. Ascending the St. Joseph River, he
crossed a short portage and reached the The-a-ki-ki, since
corrupted into Kankakee. Embarking on this sluggish
stream, they came shortly to the Illinois, and soon after
found a village of the Illinois Indians, probably in the
vicinity of the rocky bluffs, a few miles above the present
city of La Salle, Illinois. They found it deserted, but the
Indians had quite a quantity of maize stored here, and La
Salle, being short of provisions, helped himself to what he
required. Passing down the stream, the party, on the 4th of
January, came to a lake, probably the Lake Peoria, as there
is no other upon this stream. Here they found a great
number of natives, who were gentle and kind, and La Salle
determined to construct a fort. It stood on a rise of ground
near the river, and was named Oreve- Cceur f (broken-heart),
most probably on account of the low spirits of the com-
mander, from anxiety for his vessel and the uncertainty of
the future. Possibly he had heard of the loss of the " Griffin,"
which occurred on her downward trip from Green Bay ;
most probably on Lake Huron. He remained at the Lake
Peoria through the winter, but no good tidings came, and
no supplies. His men were discontented, but the brave
adventurer never gave up hope. He resolved to send a
party on a voyage of exploration up the Mississippi, under

* Annals of the West.
t Th site of the work is at present unknown.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

the lead of Father Hennepin, and he himself would proceed
on foot to Niagara and "Froutenac, to raise more means and
enlist new men ; while Tonti, his lieutenant, should stay at
the fort, which they were to strengthen in the meantime, and
extend their intercourse with the Indians.

Hennepin started "on his voyage on the last day of Febru-
ary, 16SO, and La Salle soon after, with a few attendants,
started on his perilous journey of twelve hundred miles by
the way of the Illinois River, the Miami, and Lakes Erie
ind Ontario, to Frontenac, which he finally reached in
safety. lie found his worst fears realized. The "Griffin"
was lost, his agents had taken advantage of his absence, and
his creditors had seized his goods. But he knew no such
word as fail, and by the middle of summer he was again on
his way with men and supplies for his band in Illinois. A
sad disappointment awaited him. He found his fort deserted
and no tidings of Tonti and his men. During La Salle'a
absence the Indians had become jealous of the French, and
they had been attacked and harassed even by the Iroquois,
who came the long distance between the shores of Lake
Ontario and the Illinois River to make war upon the more
peaceable tribes dwelling on the prairies. JJncertain of any
assistance from La Salle, and apprehensive of a general
war with the savages, Tonli, in September, 1G80, abandoned
his position and returned to the shores of the lakes. La
Salle reached the post on the Illinois in December, 1C80, or
January, 1681. Again bitterly disappointed, La Salle did
not succumb, but resolved to return to Canada and start
anew. This he did, and in June met his lieutenant, Tonti,
at Mackinaw.

Hennepin in the meanwhile had met with strange adven-
tures. After leaving Creve-Cceur, he reached the Missis-
sippi in seven days ; but his way was so obstructed by ice
that he was until the llth of April reaching the Wisconsin
line. Here he was taken prisoner by some northern Indians,
who, however, treated him kindly and took him and his
companions to the falls of St. Anthony, which they reached
on the first of May. These falls Hennepin named in honor
of his patron saint. Hennepin and his companions remained
here for three months, treated very kindly by their captors.
At the end of this time they met with a band of French,
led by one Sieur de Luth,* who, in pursuit of game and
trade, had penetrated to this country by way of Lake Su-
perior. With his band Hennepin and his companions re-
turned to the borders of civilized life in November, 1G80,
just after La Salle had gone back to the wilderness. Ilen-
nepin returned to France,' where, ia 1684, he published a
narrative of his wonderful adventures.

Robert De La Salle, whose name is more "closely connected
with the explorations of the Mississippi than that of any
other, was the next to descend the river in the year 1682.
Formal possession was taken of the great river and all the
countries bordering upon it or its tributaries in the name of
the King.

La Salle and his party now retraced their steps towards
the north. They met with no serious trouble until they
reached the Chickasaw Bluffs, where they had erected a fort

From this man undoubtedly come: the name of Eruluth.

on their downward voyage, and named it Frudhomme.
Here La Salle was taken violently sick. Unable to proceed,
he sent forward Toiiti to communicate with Count Fronte-
nac. La Salle himself reached the mouth of the St. Joseph
the latter part of September. From that point he sent
Father Zenobe with his dispatches to represent him at court,
while he turned his attention to the fur trade and to the
project of completing a fort, which he named St Louis,
upon the Illinois River. The precise location of this work
is not known. It was said to be upon a rocky bluff two
hundred and fifty feet hi^h, and only accessible upon one
side. There are no bluffs of such a height on the Illinois
River answering the description. It may have been on
the rocky bluff above La Salle, where the rocks are perhaps
one hundred feet in height.

Upon the completion of this work La Salle again sailed
for France, which he reached on the 13th of December,
1683. A new man, La Barre, had now succeeded Fronte-
nac as Governor of Canada. This man was unfriendly
towards La Salle, and this, with other untoward circum-
stances, no doubt led him to attempt the colonization of the
Mississippi country by way of the mouth of the river. Not-
withstanding many obstacles were in his path, he succeeded
in obtaining/ the grant of a fleet from the King, and on the
24th of July, 1684, a fleet of twenty-four vessels sailed from
Rochelle to America, four of which were destined for Lou-
isiana, and carried a body of two hundred and eighty
people, including the crews. There were soldiers, artificers,
and volunteers, and also " some youisg women." Discord
soon broke out between M. de Beaujcu and La Salle, and
grew from bad to worse. On the 20th of December they
reached the island cf St. Domingo.

Joutel* was sent out with this party, which left oa the
5ih of February, and traveled eastward three clays, when
they came to a great stream which they could not cross.
Here they made signals by building great fires, and on the
13th two of the vessels came in sight. The stream was
sounded and the vessels were anchored under shelter. But
again misfortume overtook La Salle, and the vessel was
wrecked, and the bulk of supplies was lost. At this junc-
ture M. de Beaujeu, his second in command, set sail and
returned to France. La Salle now constructed a rude
shelter from the timbers of his wrecked vessel, placed his
people inside of it, and set out to explore the surrounding
country in hope of .finding the Mississippi. He was, of
course, disappointed : but found on a stream, which is,
named the Yachcs, a- good site for a fort. He at once re-
moved his camp, and, after incredible exertions, constructed
a fortification sufficient to protect them from the Indians.
This fort was situated on Matagorda Bay, within the present
limits of Texas, and was called by La Salle Fort St. Louis.

Leaving Joutel to complete the work with one hundred
men, La Salle took the remainder of the company and em-
barked on the river, with the intention of proceeding as far
up as he could. The savages toon became troublesome, and

sjoutcl, historian of the voyage, accompanied La Salle, and subse-
quently wrote h;s " Journal Historique," which was published in Paris,
1713.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

on the 14th of July La Salic ordered Joutel to join him
with his whole force. They had already lost several of their
best men, and dangers threatened them on every side. It
would seem from the historian's account of the expedition
that La Salle began to erect another fort, and also that he
became morose and severe in his discipline, so much so as to
get the ill will of many of his people. He finally resolved
to advance into the country, but whether with the view of
returning to Canada by way of Illinois, or only for the pur-
pose of makiiig further discoveries, Joutel leives in doubt.
Giving his last instructions, he left the fort en the 12th day
of January, 1687, with a company of about a dozen men,
including his brother, two nephews, Father Ana&tasius, a
Franciscan friar, Joutel, and others, and moved north-east-
ward, as is supposed, until the 17th of March, when some
of his men, who had been cherishing revengeful feelings for
some time, waylaid the Chevalier and shot him dead.
They also slew one of his nephews and two of his servants.

This deed occurred on the 20th of March, on a stream
called Cenis.

In 1C87, France was involved in a long and bloody war.
The League of Augsburg was formed by the Princes of the
Empire against Louis XIV., and England, Spain, Holland,
Denmark, Sweden, and Savoy took up arms, and Louis
found himself battling with nearly the whole of Europe, and
only Turkey for an ally. This war ended with the peace of
Ryswick in 1697.

No material change took place in America, but the colo-
nists were harassed and many of their people killed or car-
ried captives to the Canadas. In 1688, the French posses-
sions in North America included nearly the whole of the
continent north of the St. Lawrence, and the entire valley
of the Mississippi ; and they had begun to establish a line
of fortifications extending from Quebec to the mouth of the
Mississippi, between which points they had three great lines
of communication, to wit : by way of Mackinaw, Green
Bay, and the Wisconsin Eiver ; by way of Lake Michigan,
tlie Kankakee and Illinois Rivers ; and by way of Lake
Erie, the Maumee and Wabash Rivers, and were preparing
to explore the Ohio as a fourth route.

In 1699, D'Iberville, under the authority of the crown,
discovered, on the second c f March, by way of the sea, the
mouth of the " Hidden River." This majestic stream was
called by the natives " Malbouchia," and by the Spaniards,
' La Palissade," from the great number of trees about its
mouth. After traversing the several outlets, and satisfying
himself as to its certainty, he erected a fort near its western
outlet, and returned to France. An avenue of trade was
now opened out, which was fully improved.

At this time a census of -New France showed a total
population of eleven thousand two hundred and forty-nine
Europeans. War again broke out in 1701, and extended
over a period of twelve years, ending with the treaty of
Utrecht, in 1713. This also extended to the American Colo-
nits, and its close left everything as before, with the excep-
tion that Nova Scotia was captured in 1710.

In 1718, New Orleans was laid out and settled by some
European colonists. In 1762, the colony was made over to

Spain, to be regained by France, under the consulate of
Napoleon.

In 1803, it was purchased by the United States, for the
sum of fifteen million dollars, and the territory of Louisiana
and the commerce of the Mississippi river, came under the
charge of the United States. Although La Salle's labors
ended in defeat and death, he had not worked and suffered
in vain. He had thrown open to France and the world an
immense and most valuable country. Had established
several ports, and laid the foundation of more than one
settlement there. " Peoria, Kaskaskia and Cahokia arc to
this day monuments of La Salle's labors; for, th-ugh he
had founded neither of them (unless Peoria, which was built
nearly upon the site of Fort Crevecoeur), it was by those he
led into the west that these places were peopled and civil-
ized. He was, if not the discoverer, the first settler of the
Mississippi Valley, and as such deserves to be known and
honored."*

The French early improved the opening made for them,
and before 1693, the Reverend Father Gravier began a
mission among the Illinois, and became the founder of Kas-
kaskia. For some time it was merely a missionary station,
and the inhabitants of the village consisted entirely of
natives ; it being one of three such villages, the other two
being Cahokia and Peoria. This we learn from a letttr
written by Father Gabriel Marest, dated " Aux Cascaskias,
Autrement dit de I'lmmaculee concepcion de la Saiute
Vierge, le 9 Novembre, 1712." In this letter, the writer
tells us that Gravier must be regarded as the founder of the
Illinois mi sions. Soon after the founding of Kaskaskia, the
missionary, Pinet, gathered a flock at Cahokia.f while
Peoria arose near the remains of Fort Crevecreur J

An unsuccessful attempt was also made to found a colony
on the Ohio. It failed in consequence of sickness.

In the north, De La Motte Cadillac, in June, 1701, laid
the foundation of Fort Poutchartrain, on the strait, (le De-
troit), || while in the southwest efforts were making to realize
the dreams of La Salle. The leader in the last named en-
terprise was Lemoine D'Iberville, a Canadian officer, who
from 1694 to 1697 distinguished himself not a little by
battles and conquests among the icebergs of the " Baye
D'Udson or Hudson Bay."

The post at Vincennes, on theOubaehe river, (pronounced
Wa-ba, meaning summer cloud moving swiftly), was estab-
lished in 1702. It is quite probable that on La Salle's last
trip he established the stations at Kaskaskia and Cahokia.
Until the year 17.30, but little is known of the settlements
in the northwest, as it was not until this time that the atten-

The authorities m relation to La Salle are Hennepin : a narrative pub-
lished in the name of Tonti, in 1697, but disclaimed by him (Charlevoix
III, 365. Lettres Edifiantes.

t Bancroft, iii. 196.

J There was an Old Peoria on the northwest shore of the lake of that
name, a mile and a half above the outlet. From 1778 to 1796 the inhabi-
tants left this for New Peoria, (Fort Clark) at the outlet. American
State Papers, xviii. 476.

I Western Annals.

Chnrlevoix, ii. 284. Le Detroit was the whole strait from Erie to
Huron. The first grants of land at Detroit, t. ., Fort Pontchartrain,
were made in 1707.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

tion of the English was called to the occupation of this por-
tion of the new world, which they then supposed they
owned. Vivier, a missionary among the Illinois, writing
" Aux Illinois," six leagues from Fort Chartres, June 8th,
1750, says : " We have here whites, negroes, and Indians, to
say nothing of the cross-breeds. There are five French
villages, and three villages of the natives within a space of
twenty-one leagues, situated between the Mississippi and
another river, called the Karkadiad, (Kaskaskia). In the
five French villages are, perhaps, eleven hundred whites,
three hundred blacks, and some tixty red slaves or savages.
The three Illinois towns do not contain more than eight
hundred souls all told.* Most of the French till the soil.
They raise wheat, cattle, pigs and horses, and live like
princes. Three times as much is produced as can be con-
sumed, and great quantities of grain and flour are sent to
New Orleans."

Again, in an epistle dated November 17th, 1750, Vivier
says : " For fifteen leagues above the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, one sees no dwellings * * * * New Orleans contains
black, white and red, not more, I think, than twelve hun-
dred persons. To this point come all kinds of lumber,
bricks, salt-beef, tallow, tar, skins, and bear's grease ; and
above all pork and flour from the Illinois. These things
create some commerce, as forty vessels and more have come
hither this year. Above New Orleans plantations are again
met with ; the most considerable is a colony of Germans,
some ten leagues up the river. At point Coupee, thirty-five
leagues above the German settlement, is a fort. Along here,
within five or six leagues, are not less than sixty habitations.
Fifty leagues farther up is the Natchez post, where we have
a garrison."

Father Marest, witing from the post at Vincennes, makes
the same observation. Vivier also says, " Some individuals
dig lead near the surface, and supply the Indians and Can-
ada. Two Spaniards, now here, who claim to be adepts,
say that our mines are like those of Mexico, and that if we
would dig deeper we would find silver under the lead ; at
any rate the lead is excellent. There are also in this coun-
try, beyond doubt, copper mines, as from time to time, large
pieces have been found in the streams."f

At the close of the year- 1750, the French occupied in ad-
dition to the lower Mississippi posts and those in Illinois,
one at Du Quesne, one at the Maumee, in the country of the
^lamis, and one at Sandusky, in what may be termed the
Ohio Valley. In the northern part of the north-west, they j
had stations at St. Joseph's on the St. Joseph's of Lake
Michigan, at Fort Pontehartrain (Detroit), at Michilli- j
mackinac or Massillimacinac, Fox River of Green Bay, and \
at Sault Ste. Marie. The fondest dreams of La Salle were I
now fully realized. The French alone were possessors of |
this vast realm, basing their claim on discovery and settle- |
ment. Another nation, however, was now turning its
attention to this extensive country, and learning of its
wealth began to lay plans for occupying it and for securing
the great profits arising therefrom.

c Letlrcs Ediffantcs (Paris, 1731), vii. 97-106.
t Western Annals.

The French, however, had another claim to this country,
namely, the

DISCOVERY OF THE OHIO.

The largest branch of the Mississippi river from the east,
known to the early French settlers as la belle riviere, called
"beautiful" river, was discovered by Robert Cavalier de
La Salle, in 1669. While La Salle was at his trading-post
on the St. Lawrence, he found leisure to study nine Indian
dialects, the chief of which was the Iroquois. While con-
versing with some Senecas, he learned of a river called the
Ohio, which rose in their country and flowed to the sea.

In this statement the Mississippi and its tributaries were
considered as one stream. La Salle, believing as most of
the French at that period did, that the great rivers flowing
west emptied into the Sea of California, was anxious to em-
bark in the enterprise of discovering a route across the
continent. He repaired at once to Quebec to obtain the
approval of the Governor and the Intendent, Talon. They
issued letters patent, authorizing the enterprise, but made
no provisions to defray the expenses.

At this juncture the seminary St. Sulpice decided to send
out missionaries in connection with the expedition, and La
Salle offering to sell his improvements at La Chive to raise
the money, the offer was accepted by the Superior, and two
thousand eight hundred dollars were raised, with which La
Salle purchased four canoes and the necessary supplies for
the outfit.

On the 6th of July, 1689, the party, numbering twenty-
four persons, embarked in seven canoes on the St. Lawrence.
Two additional canoes carried the Indian guides.

In three days they were gliding over the bosom of Lake
Ontario. Their guides conducted them directly to the
Seneca village on the bank of the Genesee, in the vicinity
of the present city of Rochester, New York. Here they
expected to procure guides to conduct them to the Ohio, but
in this they were disappointed. After waiting a month in
the hope of gaining their object, they met an Indian from the
Iroquois colony, at the head of Lake Ontario, who assured
them they could find guides, and offered to conduct them
thence. On their way they passed the mouth of Niagara
river, when they heard for the first time the distant thunder
of the cataract. Arriving among the Iroquois they met
with a friendly reception, and learned from a Shawnee
prisoner that they could reach the Ohio in six weeks.- - De-
lighted with the unexpected good fortune, they made ready
to resume their journey, and as they were about to start they
heard of the arrival of two Frenchmen in a neighboring
village. One of them proved to be Louis Joliet, afterwards
famous as an explorer in the west. He had been sent by
the Canadian government to explore the copper mines on
Lake Superior, but had failed and was on his way back to
Quebec.

On arriving at Lake Superior, they found, as La Salle
had predicted, the Jesuit fathers, Marquette and Dablo;:,
occupying the field. After parting with the priests, I ,-\
Salle went to the chief Iroquois village at Onondago, ivhrre
he obtained guides and passing thence to a tributary of the
Ohio south of Lake Erie, he descended the latter as far as

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

the falls of Louisville. Thus was the Ohio discovered by
La Salle, the persevering and successful French explorer of
the west in 1069.

When Washington was sent out by the colony of Virginia
in 1753, to demand of Gordeur de St. Pierre why the French
had built a fort on the Monongahela, the haughty com-
mandant at Quebec replied : " We claim the country on the
Ohio by virtue of the discoveries of La Salle, and will not
give it up to the English. Our orders are to make prisoners
of every Englishman found trading in the Ohio valley."

ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS.

We have sketched the progress of French discovery in
the valley of the Mississippi. The first travelers reached
tha* river iu 1G73, and when the year 1750 broke in upon
the father of waters and the great north-west, all was still
except those little spots upon the prairies of Illinois and
among the marshes of Louisiana.

Volney, by conjecture, fixes the settlement of Vincennes
about 1735.* Bishop Brute, of Indiana, speaks of a mis-
sionary station there in 1700, and adds: "The friendly
tribes and traders called to Canada for protection, and then
M. De Vincennes came with a detachment, I think, of
Cariguan, and was killed in 1735. ''f Bancroft says a mili-
tary establishment was formed there in 1716, and in 1742 a
settlement of herdsmen took place.J In a petition of the
old inhabitants at Vincennes, dated in November, 1793, we
find the settlement spoken of as having been made before
1742. And such is the general voice of tradition. On the
other hand, Charlevoix, who records the death of Vincennes,
which took place among the Chickasaws, in 1736, makes no
mention of any post on the Wabash, or any missionary
station there. Neither does he mark any upon his map,
although he gives even the British forts upon the Tennessee
and elsewhere. Such is the character of the proof relative
to the settlement of Vincennes.

Hennepin, in 1663-4, had heard of the " Hohio." The
route from the lakes to the Mississippi, by the Wabash, was
explored 1676,|| and in Hennepin's volume of 1698, is a
journal, said to be that sent by La Salle to Count Frontenac
in 1682 or '83, which mentions the route by the Maumee^f
and Wabash as the most direct to the great western river.

In 1749, when the English first began to think seriously
of sending men into the west, the greater portions of the
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and
Minnesota were yet under the dominion of the red men.
The English knew, however, of the nature of the vast
wealth of these wilds.

In the year 1710, Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, had
matured a plan and commenced movements, the object of
which was to secure the country beyond the Alleghenics to
the English crown. In Pennsylvania, also, Governor Keith
and James Logan, Secretary of the Province from 1719 to

Volney's View, p. 336.

t Butler's Kentucky.

J History XJ. S. iii. 340.

\ American State Papers, xvi. 32.

| Histoire General Des Voyages iiv., 758.

TNow called Miami.

1731, represented to the powers of England the necessity of
taking steps to secure the western lands. Nothing, however/
was done by the mother country, except to take certain
diplomatic steps to secure the claim of Britain to this unex-
plored wilderness. England had from the outset claimed
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on the ground that the dis-
covery and possession of the sea coast was a discovery and
possession of the country ; and as is well known, her grants
to Virginia, Connecticut, and other colonies, were through
from " sea to sea." This was not all her claims ; she had
purchased from the Indian tribes large tracts of laud. Thij
was also a strong argument.

In the year 1684, Lord Howard, Governor of Virginia,
held a treaty with the five nations at Albany. These wero
the great Northern Confederacy, and comprised at first the
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.
Afterward the Tuscaroras were taken into the confederacy,
and it became known as the six nations. They came under
the protection of the mother country, and again in 1701 they
repeated the agreement. Another formal deed was drawn
up and signed by the chiefs of the National Confederacy in
1726, by which their lands were conveyed in trust to Eng-
land, " to be protected and defended by his majesty, to and
for the use of the grantors and their heirs." The validity
of this claim has often been disputed, but never successfully.
In 1774, a purchase was made at Lancaster of certain lands
within the " colony of Virginia-," for which the Indians
received 200 in gold and a like sum in goods, with a
promise that as settlements increased, more should be paid.
The commissioners from Virginia at the treaty were Col.
Thomas Lee and Col. William Beverly.

As settlements extended, and the Indians ./egan to com-
plain, the promise of further pay was called to mind, and
Mr. Conrad Weiser was sent across the Alleghenies to Logs'
town. In 1784, * Col. Lee and some Virginians accom-
panied him, with the intention of ascertaining the feelings
of the Indians with regard to further settlements in the west,
which Col. Lee and others were contemplating. The object
of these proposed settlements was not the cultivation of the
soil, but the monopoly of the Indian trade. Accordingly
aftef Weiser's conference with the Indians at Logstown,
which was favorable to their views, Thomas Lee, with
twelve other Virginians, among whom were Lawrence and
Augustine, brothers of George Washington, and also Mr.
Hanbury, of London, formed an association whLh they
called the "Ohio Company," and in 1748 petitioned the
king for a grant beyond the mountains. This petition was
approved by the English government, and the government
of Virginia was ordered to grant to the petitioners half a
million of acres within the bounds of that colony beyond
the Alleghenies, two hundred thousand of which were to be
located at once. This portion was to be held for ten years
free of quit-rent, provided the company would put there one
hundred families within seven years, and build a fort suffi-
cient to protect the settlement. The company accepted the
proposition, and sent to London for a cargo suited to tho
Indian trade, which should arrive in November, 1749.

* Plain Facts, pp. 40, 120.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Other companies were also formed about this time in Vir-
ginia to colonize the west. On the 12th of June, 1749, a
grant of 800,000 acres from the line of Canada, on the
north and west, was made to the Loyal Company, and on
the 29th of October, 1751, another of 100,000 acres to the
Greenbriar Company. *

The French were not blind all this time. They saw that
if the British once obtained a stronghold upon the Ohio,
they might not only prevent their settlements upon it, but
in time would come to the lower posts, and so gain posses-
sion of the whole country. Upon the 10th of May, 1744,
Vandreuil, the French governor, well knowing the conse-
quences that must arise from allowing the English to build
trading posts in the north- .vest, seized some of their frontier
posts, to further secure the claims of the French to the
west. Having these fears, and seeing the danger of the
late movements of the British, Gallisouiere, then Governor
of Canada, determined to place along the Ohio evidences of
the French claim to, and possession of, the country. For
that purpose he sent, in the summer of 1749, Louis Celeron,
with a party of soldiers, to place plates of lead, on which
were written out the claims of the French, in the mounds
and at the mouths of the rivers. These were heard of by
Willliam Trent, an Indian commissioner, sent out by Vir-
ginia in 1752, to treat with and conciliate the Indians,
while upon the Ohio, and mentioned in his journal. One of
these plates was found with the inscription partly defaced.
It bears date August 16th, 1749, and a cop^ of the inscrip-
tion, with particular account, was sent by De Witt Clinton
to the American Antiquarian Society, among whose journals
it may now be found. These measures did not, however,
deter the English from going on with their explorations.

In February, 1751, Christopher Gist was sent by the
Ohio Company to examine its lands. He went to a village
of the Twigtwees, on the Miami, about 150 miles above its
mouth. From there he went down the Ohio River nearly
to the falls, at the present city of Louisville, and in Novem-
ber he commenced a survey of the company's lands. In
17.31, General Andrew Lewis commenced some surveys in
the Greenbrier country, on behalf of the company already
mentioned. Meanwhile the French were busy in preparing
their forts for defence, and in opening roads. In 1752
having heard of the trading houses on the Miami River,
they, assisted by the Ottawas and Chippewas, attacked it,
and, after a severe battle, in which fourteen of the natives
were killed and others wounded, captured the garrison.
The traders were carried away to Canada, and one account
gays several were burned. This fort, or trading house was
called by the English writers Pickawillany. A memorial
of the king's ministers refers to it as " Pickawellanes, in the
centre of the territory between Ohio and the Wabash."
This was the first blood shed between the French and
English, and occurred near the present city of Piqua, Ohio.
The English were determined on their part to purchase a
title from the Indians of lands which they wished to occupy,
and in the spring of 1752, Messrs. Fry,f Lomax and Pat on

* Revised Statutes of Virginia.
t Afterwards Commander-in-chief
ment of the French War of 177:,.

Washington, at the commence-

were sent from Virginia to hold a conference with the
natives at Logstown, to learn what they objected to in the
treaty at Lancaster, and to settle all difficulties. On the
9th of Juno the commissioners met the red men at Logs-
town. This was a village seventeen miles below Pittsburgh,
upon the north side of the Ohio. Here had been a trading
post for many years, but it was abandoned by the Indians
in 1750. At first the Indians declined to recognize the
treaty of Lancaster, but the commissioners taking aside
Montour, the interpreter, who was a son of the famous
Catherine Montour, and a chief among the six nations,
being three-fourths of Indian blood, through his influence
an agreement was effected, and upon the 13lh of June they
all united in signing a deed, confirming the Lancaster treaty
in its fullest extent. Mean while the powers beyond the seas
were trying to out-mano3uver each other, and were professing
to be at peace. The English generally outwitted the Indians,
and secured themselves, as they thought, by their polite
conduct. But the French, in this as in all cases, proved that
they knew best how to manage the natives. While these
measures were taken, another treaty with the wild men of
the debatable land was also in contemplation. And in Sep-
tember, 1753, William Fairfax met their deputies at Win-
chester, Virginia, where he concluded a treaty. In the
month following, however, a more satisfactory inter view took
place at Carlisle, between the representatives of the Iroquois,
Delawares, Shawnees, Twigtwees, and Wyandots, and the
commissioners of Pennsylvania, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris,
and Benjamin Franklin. Soon after this, no satisfaction
being obtained from the Ohio, either as to the force, position,
or purposes of the French, Robert Dinwiddie, then Governor
of Virginia, determined to send to them another messenger,
and learn if possible their intentions. For this purpose he
selected a young surveyor, who, at the age of nineteen had

I attained the rank of major, and whose previous life had
inured him to hardships and woodland ways ; while his
courage, cool judgment, and firm will, all fitted him for such

' a mission. This personage was no other than the illustrious
George Washington, who then held considerable interest in
western lands. He was twenty-one years old at the time of

! the appointment.* Taking Gist as a guide, the two, accom-
panied by four servitors, set out on their perilous march.

! They left Will's Creek, where Cumberland now is, on the
15th of November, and on the 22d reached the Monongahela,

| about ten miles above the fork. From there they went to

i Logstown, where Washington had a long conference with
the chiefs of the six nations. Here he learned the position
of the French, and also that they had determined not to come
down the river until the following spring. The Indians were
non-committal, they deeming a neutral position the safest.
Washington, finding nothing could be done, went on to Ve-
nango, an old Indian town at the mouth of the French
Creek. Here the French had a fort called Fort Machault.
On the llth of December he reached the fort at the head of
French Creek. Here he delivered Governor Dinwiddie's
letter, received his answer, and upon the 16th set out upon
his return journey with no one but Gist, hia guide, and a few

Sparks' Washington, Vol. ii., pp. 42S-447.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLIN CJf.

Indians, who still remained true to him. They reached home
in safety on the Gth of January, 1754. From the letter of
St. Pierre, Commander of the French fort, sent by Washing-
ton to Governor Diuwiddie, it was perfectly clear that the
French would not yield the West without a struggle. Active
preparations were at once made iii all the English colonies
for the coming conflict, while the French finished their fort
at Venango and strengthened their lines of fortifications to
be in readiness. The Old Dominion was alive. Virginia
was the center of great activities. Volunteers were called
for, and from neighboring colonies men rallied to the conflict,
and everywhere along the Potomac men were enlisting under
Governor's proclamation, which promised two hundred
thousand acres on the Ohio. Along this river they were
gathering as far as Will's Creek, and far beyond this point,
whither Trent had come for assistance, for his little band of
forty-one men, who were working away in hunger and want,
to fortify that point at the fork of the Ohio, to which both
parties were looking with deep interest. The first birds of
spring filled the fjrest with their songs. The swift river
rolled by the Allegheny hillsides, swollen by the melting
snows of spring and April showers. The leaves were appear-
ing, a few Indian Scouts were seen, but no enemy seemed
near at hand, and all was so quiet that Frazier, an old In-
dian trader, who had been left by Trent in command of the
new fort, ventured to his home at the mouth of Turtle Creek,
ten miles up the Monongahela. But though all was so quiet
in that wilderness, keen eyes had seen the low entrenchment
that was rising at the fork, and swift feet had borne the news
of it up the valley, and on the morning of the 17th of April,
Ensign Ward, who then had charge of it, saw upon the
Allegheny a sight that made his heart sink; sixty batteaux
and three hundred canoes, filled with men, and laden deep
with cannon and stores. The fort was called on to surren-
der : by the advice of the Half-King, Ward tried to evade
the act, but it would not do. Contrecceur, with a thousand
men about him, said ' Evacuate,' and the ensign dared not
refuse. That evening he supped with his captor, and the
next day was bowed off by the Frenchman, and, with his
men and tools, marched up the Monongahela." The French
and Indian war had begun. The treaty of Aix la Chapelle,
in 1748, had left the boundaries between the French and
English possessions unsettled, and the events already narra-
ted show that the French were determined to hold the coun-
try watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries : while the
English laid claim to the country by virtue of the discoveries
by the Cabots, and claimed all the country from New Found-
land to Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The
first decisive blow had been struck, and the first attempt of
the English, through the Ohio Company, to occupy these
lands had resulted disastrously to them. The French and
Indians immediately completed the fortifications begun at
the fork, which they had so easily captured, and when com-
pleted gave to the fort the name of Du Quesne. Washing-
ton was at Will's Creek, when the news of the capture of the
fort arrived. He at once departed to recapture it. On his
way he entrenched himself at a place called the " Meadow*,"
where he erected a fort called by him Fort Necessity. From

there he surprised and captured a forco of French and Indi-
ans marching against him, but was soon after attacked by a
much superior force, and was obliged to yield on the morn-
ing of July 4th. He was allowed to return to Virginia.

The English Government immediately planned for cam-
paigns, one against Fort Du Quesne, one against Nova Sco-
tia, one against Fort Niagara, and one against Crown Point.
These occurred during 1755-6, and were not successful in
driving the French from their possessions. The expedition
against Fort Du Quesne was led by the famous Braddock,
who, refusing to listen to the advice of Washington and those
acquainted with Indian warfare, suffered an inglorious de-
feat. This occurred on the morning of July 9th, and is gen-
erally known as the battle of Monongahela or " Braddock's
defeat." The war continued through various vicissitudes
through the years 1756-7, when, at the commencement of
1758, in accordance with the plans of William Pitt, then
secretary of state, afterwards Lord Chatham, active prepa-
rations were made to carry on the war. Three expeditions
were planned for this year : one under General Amherst,
against Louisburg; another under Abercrombie, against
Fort Ticonderoga ; and a third under General Forbes, against
Fort Du Quesne. On the 26th of July, Louisburg surren-
dered after a desperate resistance of more than forty days,
and the eastern part of the Canadian possessions foil into the
hands of the British. Abercrombie captu red Fort Fronte-
nac, and when the expedition against Fort Du Quesne, of
which Washington had the active command, arrived there,
it was found in flames and deserted. The English at once
took possession, rebuilt the fort, and in honor of their illus-
trious statesman, changed the name to Fort Pitt.

The great object of the campaign of 1759, was the reduc-
tion of Canada. General Wolfe was to lay siege to Quebec ;
Amherst was to reduce Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and
General Prideaux was to capture Niagara. This latter place
was taken in July, but the gallant Prideaux lost his life.
Amherst captured Ticonderoga and Crown Point, without a
blow ; and Wolfe, after making the memorable ascent to the
plains of Abraham, on September 13th, defeated Montcalm,
and on the 18th the city capitulated. In this engagement,
Montcalra and Wolfe both lost their lives. De Levi, Mont-
calm's successor, marched to Sillery, three miles above the
city, with the purpose of defeating the English, and there,
on the 28th of the following April, was fought one of the
bloodiest battles of the French and Indian war. It resulted
in the defeat of the French, and the fall of the city of Mon-
treal. The Governor signed a capitulation by which the
whole of Canada was surrendered to the English. This
practically concluded the war, but it was not until 1763
that the treaties of peace between France and England
were signed. This was done on the 10th of February of that
year, and under its provisions all the country east of the
Mississippi and north of the Ibervill river in Louisiana, were
ceded to England. At the same time, Spain ceded Florida
to Great Britain.

On the 13th September, 1760, Major Robert Rogers was
sent from Montreal to take charge of Detroit, the only re-
maining French post in the territory. He arrived there on

HIS TORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

the ( Jth of November, and summoned the place to surrender.
At first the commander of the post, Beletre, refused, but on
the 29th, hearing of the continued defeat of the French army,
surrendered. The North-west Territory was now entirely
under the English rule. In 1762, France, by a secret treaty,
ceded Louisiana to Spain, to prevent it falling into the hands
of the English, who were becoming masters of the entire
West. The next year the treaty of Paris, signed at Fou-
tainbleau, gave to the English the dominion iu question.
Twenty years after, by the treaty of peace between the United
States and England, that part of Canada lying south and
west of the great lakes, comprising a large territory, was
acknowledged to be a portion of the United States. In
1803 Louisiana was ceded by Spain back to France, and by
France sold to the United States, By the treaty of Paris,
the regions east of the Mississippi, including all these and
other towns of the north-west, were given over to England ;
but they do not appear to have been taken possession of until
1765, when Captain Stirling, in the name of the Majesty in
England, established himself at Fort Chartres, bearing with
him the proclamation of General Gage, dated December
30th, 1764, which promised religious freedom to all Catho-
lics who worshiped here and the right to leave the country
with their effects if they wished, or to remain with the priv-
ileges of Englishmen. During the years 1775 s.nd 1776, by
the operations of land companies and the perseverance of
individuals, several settlements were firmly established be-
tween the Alleghenies and the Ohio river, and western land
speculators were busy in Illinois and on the Wabash. At a
council held in Kaskaskia, on July 5th, 1773, an association
of English traders, calling themselves the " Illinois Land
Company," obtained from the chiefs of the Kaskaskia, Ca-
hokia, and Peoria tribes two large tracts of land lying on the
east side of the Mississippi river south of the Illinois. In
1775 a merchant from the Illinois country, named Viviat,
came to Post Vincenncs as the agent of the association called
the " Wabash Land Company." On the 8th of October he
obtained from eleven Piankeshaw chiefs a deed for 37,497,
600 acres of land. This deed was signed by the grantors,
attested by a number of the inhabitants of Vincenues, and
afterward recorded in the office of a Notary Public at Kas-
kaskia. This and other land companies had extensive
schemes for the colonization of the West ; but all were frus-
trated by the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. On
the 20th of April, 1780, the two companies named consoli-
dated under the name of the " United Illinois and Wabash
Land Company ; " they afterwards made strenuous efforts to
have these grants sanctioned by Congress, but all signally
failed. When the war of the Revolution commenced, Ken-
tucky was an unorganized country, though there were several
settlements within her borders.

Iu Ilutchins' Topography of Virginia, it is stated that at
that time Kaskaskia contained 80 houses, and nearly 1,000
white and black inhabitants, the whites being a little the
more numerous. Cahokia contained fifty houses, 300 white
inhabitants, and 80 negroes. There were east of the Missis-
sippi river, about the year 1771 when these observations
wcro made" 300 v.hitc men capable of bearing arms, and

233 negroes." From 1775 until the expedition of Clark,
nothing is recorded and nothing known of these settlements,
save what is contained iu a report made by a committee to
Congress in June, 1778. From it the following extract is
made : " Near the mouth of the river Kaskaskia, there is a
village which appears to have contained nearly eighty fam-
ilies from the beginning of the late Revolution ; there are
twelve families at a small village at La Prairie Du Rochers,
and nearly fifty families at the Cahokia village. There aro
also four or five families at Fort Chartres and St. Philip's,
which is five mibs further up the river." St. L >uis had been
settled in February, 1764, and at this time contained, inclu-
ding its neighboring towns, over six hundred white and one
hundred and fifty negroes. It must be remembered that all
the country west of the Mississippi was under French rule,
and remained so until ceded back to Spain, its original owner,
who afterwards sold it and the country including New Or-
leans to the Uuited States. At De'roit, there were, accord-
ing to Captain Carver, who was in the north-west from 1768
to 1776, more than one hundred houses, and the river was
settled for more than twenty miles, although poorly cultiva-
ted, the people being engaged iu the Indian trade.

On the breaking out of the Revolution, the British held
every post of importance in the West. Kentucky was
formed as a component part of Virginia, and the sturdy
pioneers of the West, alive to their interests, and recog-
nizing the great benefits of obtaining the control of the
trade iu this part of the New World, held steadily to their
purposes, and those within the commonwealth of Ken-
tucky proceeded to exercise their civrl privileges of electing
John Todd and Richard Gallaway burgesses, to represent
them in the assembly of the present state. The chief spirit
in this far-out colony, who had represented her the year
previous east of the mountains, was now meditating a move
of unequalled boldness. He had been watching the move-
ments of the British throughout the north-west, and under-
stood their whole plan. He saw it was through their
possession of the post at Detroit, Vincennes, Kaskaskia, and
other places, which would give them easy access to the vari-
ous Indian tribes in the north-west, that the British intended
to penetrate the country from the north and south, and
annihilate the frontier fortresses. This moving, energetic
man was Colonel, afterwards General George Rodgers Clark.
He knew that the Indians were not unanimously in accord
with the English, and he was convinced that, could the
British be defeated and expelled from the north-west, the
natives might be easily awed into neutrality ; by spies sent for
the purpose, he satisfied himself that the enterprise against
the Illinois settlements might easily succeed. Patrick Henry
was Governor of Virginia, and at once entered heartily into
Clark's plans. The same plan had before been agitated in
the Colonial Assemblies ; but there was no one until Clark
came who was sufficiently acquainted with the condition of
affairs at the scene of action to be able to guide them.

Clark, having satisfied the Virginia leaders of the feasibility
of his plan, received on the second of January two sets of
instructions: one secret, the other open. The latter authoriz-
ed him to proceed to enlist seven companies to go to Ken-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

tucky, subject to his orders, and to serve three months from
their arrival in the west. The secret order authorized him
to arm the troops, to procure his powder and lead of General
Hand, at Pittsburg, and to proceed at once to subjugate the
country.

With these instructions Clark repaired to Pittsburg, choos-
ing rather to raise his men west of the mountains. Here he
raised three companies and several private volunteers.
Clark at length commenced his descent of the Ohio, which
he navigated as far as the falls, where he took possession of
and fortified Corn Island, between the present sites of Louis-
ville, Kentucky, and New Albany, Indiana. Remains of
this fortification may yet be found. At this place he ap-
pointed Col. Bowman to meet him with such recruits as had
reached Kentucky by the southern route. Here he an-
nounced to the men their real destination. On the 24th of
June he embarked on the river, his destination being Fort
Massac or Massacre, and then marched direct to Kaskaskia.
The march was accomplished and the town reached on the
evening of July 4. He captured the fort near the village,
and soon after the village itself, by surprise, without the
loss of a single man or killing any of the enemy. Clark
told the natives that they were at perfect liberty to worship
as they pleased, and to take whichever side of the conflict
they would, and he would protect them from any barbarity
from British or Indian foes. This had the desired effect)
and the inhabitants at once swore allegiance to the Amerr
can arms, and when Clark desired to go to Cahokia on the
6th of July, they accompanied him, and through their in-
fluence the inhabitants of the place surrendered. Thus two
important posts iu Illinois passed from the hands of the Eng-
Hsh into the possession of Virginia. During the year
(1779) the famous " Land Laws " of Virginia were passed-
The passage of these laws was of more consequence to the
pioneers of Kentucky and the north-west than the gaining
of a few Indian conflicts. These grants confirmed in the
main all grants made, and guaranteed to actual settlers their
rights and privileges.

After providing for the settlers, the laws provided for sell-
ing the balance of the public lands at forty cents per acre.
To carry the Land Laws into effect, the Legislature sent
four Virginians westward to attend to the various claims
over many of which great confusion prevailed concerning
their validity vote.* These gentlemen opened their court on
October, 13, 1779, at St. Asaphs, and continued until April
26, 1780, when they adjourned, having decided three thou-
sand claims. They were succeeded by the surveyor, George
May, who assumed the duties on the 10th day of the month
whose name he bore. With the opening of the next year
(1781) the troubles concerning the navigation of the Missis-
sippi commenced. The Government of Spain exacted such
measures in relation to its trade as to cause the overtures
made to the United States to be rejected. The American
Government considered they had a right to navigate its
channel. To enforce their claims, a fort was erected below
the mouth of the Ohio on the Kentucky side of the river. f

Butler's Kentucky.

t American Stati- Papers.

The settlements in Kentucky were being rapidly filled by
emigrants. It was during this year that the first seminary
of learning was established in the West in this young and
enterprising commonwealth.

The settlers did not look upon the building of the fort in
a friendly manner as it aroused the hostility of the Indians.
Spain had been friendly to the colonies during their struggle
for independence, and though for a while this friendship ap-
peared in danger from the refusal of the free navigation of
the river, yet it was finally settled to the satisfaction of both
nations. The winter of 1779-80 was one of the most unusu-
ally severe ones ever experienced in the West. The Indians
always refered to it as the " Great Cold. " Numbers of wild
animals perished, and not a few pioneers lost their lives.
The following summer a party of Canadians and Indians,
attacked St. Louis, and attempted to take possesion of it in
consequence of the friendly disposition of Spain to the revolt-
ing colonies. They met with such a determined resistance
on the part of the inhabitants, even the women taking part
in the battle, that they were compelled to abandon the con-
test. They also made an attack on the settlements in Ken-
tucky, but, becoming alarmed in some unaccountable man-
ner, they fled the country in great haste. About this time
arose the question in the Colonial Congress concerning the
western lands claimed by Virginia, New York, Massachu-
setts and Connecticut. The agitation concerning this sub-
ject finally led New York, on the 19th of February, 1780, to
pass a law giving to the delegates of that State in Congress
the power to cede her western lands for the benefit of the
United States. This law was laid before Congress during
the next month, but no steps were taken concerning it until
September 6th, when a resolution passed that body calling
upon the states claiming western lands to release their claims
in favor of the whole body. This basis formed the Union,
and was the first after all of those legislative measures,
which resulted in the creation of the States of Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois,Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In December of
the same year, the plan of conquering Detroit again arose. The
conquest might easily have been effected by Clark, had the
necessary aid been furnished him. Nothing decisive was
done, yet the heads of the Government knew that the safety
of the North- West from British invasion lay in the capture
and retention of that important post, the only uuconquered
one in the territory.

Before the close of the year, Kentucky was divided into
the counties of Lincoln, Fayette, and Jefferson, and the act
eetablishicg the town of Louisville was passed. Virginia in
accordance with the resolution of Congress, on the 2d day
of January, 1781, agreed to yield her western lands to the
United States upon certain conditions, which Congress would
not accede to,* and the Act of Cession, on the part of the Old
Dominion, failed, nor was anything farther done until 1783.
During all that time the colonies were busily engaged in the
struggle with the mother country, and in consequence thereof
but little heed was given to the western settlements. Upon
the 16th of April, 1781, the first birth north of the Ohio
River of American parentage occurred, being that of Mary/

* AmiT>:m State Papers.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Heckewelder, daughter of the widely known Moravian Mis-
sionary, whose baud of Christian Indians suffered in after
years a horrible massacre by the hands of the frontier settlers,
who had been exasperated by the murder of several of their
neighbors, and in their rage committed, without regard to
humanity, a deed which forever afterwards cast a shade of
shame upon their lives. For this and kindred outrages on
the part of the whites, the Indians committed many deeds of
cruelty which darken the years of 1781 and 1782 in the his-
tory of the North-west. During the year 1782 a number of
battles among the Indians and frontiersmen occurred, and
between the Moravian Indians and the Wyandots. In these,
horrible acts of cruelty were practiced on the captives, many
of such dark deeds transpiring under the leadership of fron-
tier outlaws. These occurred chiefly in the Ohio Valleys.
Contemporary with them were several engagements in Ken-
tucky, in which the famous Daniel Boone engaged, and who,
often by his skill and knowledge of Indian warfare, saved
the outposts from cruel destruction. By the close of the
year victory had perched upon the American banner,
and on the 30th of November, provisional articles of
peace had been arranged between the Commissioners of
England and her unconquerable colonies ; Cornwallis had
been defeated on the 19th of October preceding, and the lib-
erty of America was assured. On the 19th of April follow-
ing, the anniversary of the' battle of Lexington, peace was
proclaimed to the Army of the United States, and on the 3d
of the next September, the definite treaty which ended our
revolutionary struggle was concluded. By the terms of thai
treaty, the boundaries of the West were as follows: On the,
north the line was to extend along the centre of the Great
Lakes ; from the western point of Lake Superior to Long
Lake, thence to the Lake of the Woods ; thence to the head of
the Mississippi River ; down its center to the 31st parallel of
latitude, then on that line east to the head of the Appalach-
icola River; down its center to its junction with the Flint ;
thence straight to the head of St. Mary's River, and thencj
clown along its center to the Atlantic Ocean.

Following the cessation of hostilities with England, several
posts were still occupied by the British in the North and
West. Among these was Detroit, still in the hands of the
enemy. Numerous engagements with the Indians through-
out Ohio and Indiana occurred, upon whrse lands adventur-
ous whites would settle ere the title had been acquired by the
proper treaty. To remedy this evil, Congress appointed
Commissioners to treat with the natives and purchase their
lands, and prohibited the settlement of the territory until
this could be done. Before the close of the year another
attempt was made to capture Detroit, which was, however,
not pushed, and Virginia, no longer feeling the interest in
the North-west she had formerly done, withdrew her troops,
having on the 20th of December preceding, authorized the
whole of her possessions to be deeded to the United States.
This was done on the 1st of March following, and the North-
west Territory passed from the control of the Old Dominion.
To General Clark and his soldisrs, however, she gave a tract
of one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to be situ-
ated anywhere north of the Ohio wherever they chose to

locate them. They selected the region opposite the falls of
the Ohio, where is now the village of Clarksville, about mid-
way between the cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville,
Indiana.

While the frontier remained thus, and General Haldi-
mand at Detroit refused to evacuate, alleging that he had no
orders from his king to do so, settlers were rapidly gather-
ing about the inland forts. In the spring of 1784, Pittsburg
was regularly laid out, and from the journal of Arthur Lee,
who passed through the town soon after on his way to the
Indian council at Fort Mclntosh, we suppose it was not very
prepossessing in appearance. He says, " Pittsburg is in-
habited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, who live in paltry
log houses, and are as dirty as if in the North of Ireland, or
even Scotland. There is a great deal of trade carried on,
the goods being brought at the vast expense of forty-five
shillings per hundred Ibs. from Philadelphia and Baltimore.
They take in the shops flour, wheat, skins and money. There
are in the town, four attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest
of any persuasion, nor church nor chapel."

Kentucky at this time contained thirty thousand inhabi-
tants, and was beginning to discuss measures for a separation
from Virginia. A land office was opened at Louisville, and
measures were adopted to take defensive precaution against
the Indians, who were yet, in some instances, incited to deeds
of violence by the British. Before the close of this year,
1784, the military claimants of land began to occupy them,
although no entries were recorded until 1787. The Indian
title to the Northwest was not yet extinguished, they held
large tracts of lands, and in order to prevent bloodshed Con-
gress adopted means for treaties with the original owners
and provided for the surveys of the lands gained thereby, as
well as for those north of the Ohio, now in its possession.
On January 31, 1786, a treaty was made with the Wabash
Indians. The treaty of Fort Stanwix had been made in
1781, that at Fort Mclntosh in 1785, and through these
vast tracts of land were gained. The Wabash Indians, how-
ever, afterwards rfused to comply with the provisions of
the treaty made with them, and in order to compel their
adherence to its provisions, force was used.

During the year 1786, the free navigation of the Mis-
sissippi came up in Congress, and caused various discussions,
which resulted in no definite action, only serving to excite
speculation in regard to the Western lands. Congress had
promised bounties of land to the soldiers of the Revolution,
but owing to the unsettled condition of affairs along the
Mississippi respecting its navigation, and the trade of the
Northwest, that body, had in 1783 declared its inability to
fulfill these promises until a treaty could be concluded be-
tween the two governments. Before the close of the year,
1786, however, it was able, through the treaties with the
Indians, to allow some grants and settlements thereon, and
on the 14th of September Connecticut ceded to the general
government the tract of land known as the " Connecticut
Reserve," and before the close of the year a large tract of
hind was sold to a company, who at once took measures to
settle it. By the provisions of this grant, the company were to
pay the United States one dollar per acre, subject to a de-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

duction of one-third for bad lands and other contingencies*,
they received 750,000 acres bounded on the south by the
Ohio, on the east by the Seventh range of townships, on the
west by the Sixteenth range, and on the north by a line so
drawn as to make the grant complete without the reservation.
In addition to this Congress afterward granted 100,000 acres
to actual settlers, and 214,285 acres as army bounties under
the resolutions of 1789 and 1790. While Dr. Cutler, one of
the agents of the company, was pressing its claims before
Congress, that body was bringing into form an ordinance
for the political and social organization of this Territory.
When the cession was made by Virginia, 1784, a plan was
offered, but rejected. A motion had been made to strike from
the proposed plan the prohibition of slavery, which prevail-
ed. The plan was -then discussed and altered, and finally
passed unanimously, with the exception of South Carolina.
By tliis proposition the Territory was to have been divided
into ten States by parallels and meridian lines. There were,
However, serious objections to this plan ; the root of the diffi-
culty was in 'the resolution of Congress passed in October,
1780, which fixed the boundaries of the ceded lands to be
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles square.
These resolutions being presented to the Legislatures of Vir-
ginia and Massachusetts they desired a change, and in July
1786, the subjeet was taken up in Congress and changed to
favor a division into not more than five Spates, and not less
than three; this was approved by the Legislature of Virginia.
The subject was again taken up by Congress in 17S6, and
discussed throughout that year, and until July 1787 when
the famous " compact of 1787 " was passed, and the founda-
tion of the government of the Northwest laid. This compact
is fully discussed and explained in the sketch on Illinois in
this book, and to it the reader is referred. The passage of this
act and the grant to the New England Company was soon
followed by an application to the Government by John Cleves
Symtnes, of New Jersey, for a grant of land between the
Miamis. This gentleman had visited these lands soon after
the treaty of 1786, and being greatly pleased with them,
offered similar terms to those given to the New England
Company. The petition was referred to the Treasury Board
with power to act, and a contract was concluded the follow-
ing year. During the autumn the directors of the New
England Company were preparing to occupy their grant
the following spring, and upon the 23d of November made
arrangements for a party of forty-seven men, under the
superintendency of General Rufus Putnam, to set forward.
Six boat-builders were to leave at once, and on the first of
January the surveyors and their assistant', twenty-six in
number, were to meet at Hartford and proceed on their
journey westward, the remainder to follow as soon as possi-
ble. Congress in the meantime, upon the 3d of October,
had ordered seven hundred troops for defense of the western
settlers, and to prevent unauthorized intrusions, and two
days later appointed Arthur St. Clair Governor of the Ter-
ritory of the Northwest.

AMERICAN SETTLEMENTS.

The civil organization of the Northwest Territory was
now complete, and notwithstanding the uncertainty of In-

dian affairs, settlers from the east began to come into the
country rapidly. The New England Company sent their
men during the winter of 1787-8, pressing on over the Alle-
ghenics by the old Indian path which had been opened into
Braddock's road, and which has since' been made a national
turnpike from Cumberland, westward. Through the weary
winter days they toiled on, and by April were all gathered
on the Youghiogheny, where boats had been built, and a
once started for the Muskingum. Here they arrived on the
7th of that mouth, and unless the Moravian missionaries be
regarded as the pioneers of Ohio, this little band can justly
claim that honor.

General St. Clair, the appointed Governor of the North
west not having yet arrived, a set of laws were passed, writ-
ten out, and published by being nailed to a tree in the
embryo town, and Jonathan Meigs appointed to administer
them. Washington in writing of this, the first American
settlement in the Northwest said : " No colony in America
was ever settled under such favorable auspices as that which
has just commenced at Muskingum. I know many of its set-
tlers personally, and there were never men better calculated
to promote the welfare of such a community." On the 2d
of July a meeting of the directors and agents was held on
the banks of the Muskingum, " for the purpo.e of naming
the new born city and its squares." As yet the settlement
was known as the " Muskingum," but was afterwards changed
to the name, Marietta, in honor, of Marie Antoinette.
Two days after, an oration was delivered by James M. Var-
num, who with S. H. Parsons and John Armstrong had been
appointed to the judicial bench of the territory on the ICth
of October 1787. On July 9, Governor St. Clair arrived j
and the colony began to assume form. The act of 1787 pro-
vided two distinct grades of government for the Northwest,
under the first of which the whole power was invested in the
hands of a governor and three district judges. This was
immediately formed on the governor's arrival, and the first
laws of the colony passed on the 25th of July : these provid-
ed for the organization of the militia, and on the next day
appeared the Governor's proclamation, erecting all that
country that had been ceded by the Indians east of the
Scioto River into the county of Washington. From that
time forward, notwithstanding the doubts yet existing as to
the Indians, all Marietta prospered, and on the second of
September the first court was held with imposing ceremonies.

The emigration westward at this time was very great.
The commander at Fort Harmer, at the mouth of the Musk-
ingum reported four thousand five hundred persons as having
passed that post between February and June 1788, many of
whom would have purchased of the " Associates," as the
New England Company was called, had they been ready to
receive them. On the 26th of November 1787 Symmes
issued a pamphlet stating the terms of his contract and the
plan of sale he intend.ed to adopt. In January 1788, Mat-
thias Denman, of New Jersey, took an active interest in
Symmes' purchase, and located among other tracts the sec-
tions upon which Cincinnati has been built. Retaining one-
third of this locality, he sold the other two-thirds to Robert
Patterson and John Filson, and the three about August

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

commenced to lay out a town on the spot, which was desig-
nated as being Licking River, to the mouth of which they
proposed to have -a road cut from Lexington ; these settle-
ments prospered but suffered greatly from the flood of 1789.
On the 4th of March 1789, the Constitution of the United
States went into operation, and on April 30th, George
Washington was inaugurated President, and during the next
summer an Indian war was commenced by the tribes north
of the Ohio. The President at first used pacific means, but
these failing, he sent General Harmer against the hostile
tribes. He destroyed several villages, but was defeated in
two battles, near the present city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
From this time till the close of 1795, the principal events
were the wars with the various Indian tribes. In 1796,
General St. Clair was appointed in command, and marched
against the Indians ; but while he was encamped on a stream,
the St Mary, a branch of the Maumee, he was attacked and
defeated with a loss of six hundred men. General Wayne
was then sent against the savages. In August, 1794, he met
them near the rapids of the Maumee, and gained a compkte
victory. This success, followed by vigorous measures, com-
pelled the Indians to sue for peace, and on the 30th of July,
the following year, the treaty of Greenville was signed by
the principal chiefs, by which a large tract of country was
ceded to the United States. Before proceeding in our nar-
rative, we will pause to notice Fort Washington, erected in
the early part of this war. on the site of Cincinnati. Nearly
all the great cities of the-North-west, and indeed of the whole
country, have had their nuclei in those rude pioneer struc-
tures, known as forts or stockades. Thus Forts Dearborn,
Washington, Ponchartrain, mark the original sites of the
now proud cities of Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit. So of
most of the flourishing cities east and west of the Mississippi.
Fort Washington, erected by Doughty in 1790, was a rude
but highly interesting structure. It was composed of a num-
ber of strong'y-built hewed log cabins. Those designed for
soldiers' barracks were a story and a half high, while those
composing the officers' quarters were more imposing and more
conveniently arranged and furnished. The whole was so
placed as to form a hollow square, enclosing about an acre
of ground, with a block house at each of the four angles.
Fort Washington was for some time the headquarters of both
the Civil and Military governments of the North-western
Territory. Following the consummation of the treaty vari-
ous gigantic land speculations were entered into by different
persons, who hoped to obtain from the Indians in Michigan
and northern Indiana, large tracts of lands. These were
generally discovered in time to prevent the schemes from
being carried out, and from involving the settlers in war.
On October 27, 1795, the treaty between the United States
and Spain was signed, whereby the free navigation of the
Mississippi was secured. No sooner had the treaty of 1795
been ratified than settlers began to pour rapidly into the
west. The great event of the year 179G, was the occupa'ion
of that part of the North-west including Michigan, which
was this year, under the provisions of the treaty, evacuated
by the British forces. The United States owing to certain
conditions, did not feel justified in addressing the authorities

in Canada in relation to Detroit and other frontier posts.
When at last the British authorities were called upon to give
them up, they at once complied, and General Wayne who
had done so much to preserve the frontier settlements, and
who before the year's close, sickened and died near Erie,
transferred his headquarters to the neighborhood of the lakes,
where a county named after him was formed, which included
the north-west of Ohio, all of Michigan, and the north-east
of Indiana. During this same year settlements were formed
at the present city of Chillicothe, along the Miami from
Middletown to Piqua, while in the more distant West, settlers
and speculators began to appear in great numbers. In Sep-
tember the city of Cleveland was laid out, and during the
summer and autumn, Samuel Jackson and Jonathan Sharp-
less, erected the first manufactory of paper the " Redstone
Paper Mills" in the West. St. Louis contained some
seventy houses, and Detroit over three hundred, and along
the river, contiguous to it, were more than three thousand
inhabitants, mostly French Canadians, Indians and half-
breeds, scarcely any Americans venturing yet into that part
of the North-west. The election of representatives for the
territory had taken place, and on the 4th of February, 1799,
they convened at Losantiville now known as Cincinnati,
having been named so by Gov. St. Clair, and considered the
capital of the territory, to nominate persons from whom the'
members of the Legislature were to be chosen in accordance
with a previous ordinance. This nomination being made,
the Assembly adjourned until the 16. h of the following Sep-
tember. From those named the President selected as mem-
bers of the council, Henry Vandenburg, of Vincennes, Robert
Oliver, of Marietta, James Findley, and Jacob Burnett, of
Cincinnati, and David Vance, of Vance ville. On the 16th
of September, the Territorial Legislature met, and on the
24th, the two houses were duly organized, Henry Vanden-
burg being elected President of the Council. The message
of Gov. St. Clair, was addressed to the Legislature Septem-
ber 20th, and on October 13th, that body elected as a dele-
gate to Congress, General Wm. Henry Harrison, who re-
ceived eleven of the votes cast, being a majority of one over
his opponent, Arthur St. Clair, son of General St. Clair.
The whole number of acts passed at this session and approved
by the Governor, were thirty-seven eleven others were
passed but received his veto. The most important of those
passed related to the militia, to the administration, and to
taxation. On the 1 9th of December this protracted session
of the first Legislature in the West closed, and on the 30lh
of December the President nominated Charles Willing Byid,
to the office of secretary of the Territory, vice Wm. Henry
Harrison, elected to Congress. The Senate confirmed his
nomination the next day.

DIVISION OF THE NORTH- TVEST TEEEITOEY.

The increased emigration to the north-west, and extent of
the domain, made it very difficult to conduct the ordinary
operations of government, and rendered the efficient action
of courts almost impossible ; to remedy this it was deemed
advisable to divide the territory for civil purposes. Coil-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

gross, in 1800, appointed a committee to examine the ques-
tion and report some means for its solution.

This committee on the 3d of March reported : " In the
western countries there had been but one court having cog-
nizance of crimes, in five years, and the immunity which
offenders experience attracts, as to an asylum, the most vile
and abandoned criminals, and at the same time deters useful
citizens from making settlements in such society. The
extreme necessity of judiciary attention and assistance is
experienced in civil as well as in criminal cases. * * * *
To remedy this evil it is expedient to the committee that a
division of said territory into two distinct and separate
governments should be made, and that such division be
made by beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river,
running directly north until it intersects the boundary
between the United States and Canada."

The report was accepted by Congress, and, in accordance
with its suggestions, that body passed an act extinguishing
the north-west territory, which act was approved May 7th.
Among its provisions were these :

" That from and after July 4 next all that part of the
territory of the United States north-west of the Ohio river,
which lies to the westward of a line beginning at a point
opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running
thence to Fort Recovery, and thence North until it shall
intersect the territorial line between the United States and
Canada, shall for the purpose of temporary government,
constitute a separate territory and be called the Indian
Territory."

Gen. Harrison (afterwards President), was appointed
governor of the Indiana Territory, and during his residence
at Vincennes, he made several important treaties with the
Indians, thereby gaining large tracts of land. The next
year is memorable in the history of the west for the purchase
of Louisiana from France by the United States for 815,000,-
000. Thus by a peaceful manner the domain of the United
States was extended over a large tract of country west of
the Mississippi, and was for a time under the jurisdiction of
the north-western government. The next year Gen. Harri-
son obtained additi >nal grants of land from the various
Indian nations in Indiana and the present limits of Illinois,
and on the 18th of August, 1804, completed a treaty at St.
Louis, whereby over 51,000,000 acres of land were obtained.

During this year, Congress granted a township of land
for the support of a college and began to offer inducements
for settlers in these wilds, and the country now comprising
the state of Michigan began to fill rapidly with settlers
along its southern borders. This same year a law was
passed organizing the south-west territory, dividing it into
two portions, the territory of New Orleans, which city was
made the seat of government, and the district of Louisiana,
which was annexed to the domain by General Harrison.

On the llth of January, 1805, the territory of Michigan
was formed, and Wm. Hull appointed governor, with head-
quarters at Detroit, the change to take effect June 30th.
On the llth of that month, a fire occurred at Detroit, which
destroyed most every building in the place. When the
officers of the new territory reached the post, they found it

in ruins, and the inhabitants scattered throughout the coun-
try. Rebuilding, however, was commenced at once. While
this was being done, Indiana passed to the second grade of
government. In 1809, Indiana territory was divided, and
the territory of Illinois was formed, the seat of government
being fixed at Kaskaskia, and through her General Assem-
bly had obtained large tracts of land from the Indian tribes.
To all this the celebrated Indian Tecumthe, or Tecumseh,
vigorously protested,* and it was the main cause of his
attempts to unite the various Indian tribes in a conflict with
the settlers. He visited the principal tribes, and succeeded
in forming an alliance with most of the tribes, and then
joined the cause of the British in the memorable war of 1812.
Tecumseh was killed at the battle of the Thames. Tecum-
seh was, in many respects, a noble character, frank and
honest in his intercourse with General Harrison and the
settlers ; in war, brave and chivalrous. His treatment of
prisoners was humane. In the summer of 1812, Perry's vic-
tory on Lake Erie occurred, and shortly after, active pre-
parations were made to capture Fort Maiden. On the 27th
of September, the American army- under command of
General Harrison, set sail for the shores of Canada, and, in
a few hours, stood around the ruins of Maiden, from which
the British army under Proctor had retreated to Sandwich,
intending to make its way to the heart of Canada by the
valley of the Thames. On the 29th, General Harrison was
at Sandwich, and General McArthur took possession of
Detroit and the territory of Michigan. On the 2d of Octo-
ber following, the American army began their pursuit of
Proctor, whom they overtook on the 5th, and the battle of
the Thames followed. The victory was decisive, and practi-
cally closed the war in the north-west. In 1806, occurred
Burr's insurrection. He took possession of an island in the
Ohio, and was charged with treasonable intentions against
the Federal government. His capture was effected by
General Wilkinson, acting under instruction of President
Jefferson. Burr was brought to trial on a charge of treason,
and, after a prolonged trial, during which he defended him-
self with great ability, he was acquitted of the charge of
treason. His subsequent career was obscure, and he died
in 1836. Had his scheme succeeded, it would be interesting
to know what effect it would have had on the north-we-tern
territory. The battle of the Thames was fought October
6th, 1813. It effectually closed hostilities in the north-west,
although peace was not restored until July 22d, 1814, when
a treaty was made at Greenville, by General Harrison, be-
tween the United States and the Indian tribes. On the 24th
of December, the treaty of Ghent was signed by the repre-
sentatives of England and the United States. This treaty
was followed the next year by treaties with various Indian
tribes throughout the north-west, and quiet was again
restored.

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE NORTH-WEST.

In former chapters we have traced briefly the discoveries,
settlements, wars, and most important events which have
occurred in the large area of country denominated the

* American State Papers

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH OF ILLINOIS.

north-west, and we now turn to the contemplation of its
gro\vth and prosperity. Its people are among the most
intelligent and enterprising in the Union. The population
is steadily increasing, the arts and sciences are gaining a i
stronger foothold, the trade area of the region is becoming j
daily more extended, and we have been largely exempt from
the financial calamities which have nearly wrecked com
munitties on the seaboard, dependent wholly on foreign com-
merce or domestic manufacture. Agriculture is the leading
feature in our industries. This vast domain has a sort of I
natural geographical border, save where it melts away to ;
the southward in the cattle- raising districts of the south- i
west. The leading interests will be the growth of the food
of the world, in which branch it has already outstripped all
competitors, and our great rival will be the fertile fields of
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Texas and New Mexico.

To attempt to give statistics of grain productions for 1880
would require more space than our work would permit of.
Manufacturing has now attained in the chief cities a foot-
hold that bids fair to render the north-west independent of
the outside world. Nearly our whole region has a distribu-
tion of coal measure which will in time support the manu-
factures necessary to our comfort and prosperity. As to
transportation, the chief factor in the production of all articles
except food, no section is so magnificently endowed, and
our facilities are yearly increasing beyond those of any
other region.

The principal trade and manufacturing centres of the great
north-west are Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Indianapolis,
Detroit, Cleveland and Toledo, with any number of minor
cities and towns doing a large and growing business. The
intelligence and enterprise of its people ; the great wealth of
its soil and minerals ; its vast inland seas and navigable
rivers ; its magnificent railroad system ; its patriotism and
love of country will render it ever loyal in the future as in
the past. The people of the Mississippi Valley are the key-
stone of the national union and national prosperity.

CHAPTER II.

:EGINNING the history of this great State j
we direct attention briefly to the discovery .
and exploration of the 3Iigsissippi. Hernando
.De Soto, cutting his way through the wilder-
ness from Florida, had discovered the Missis- j
sippi in the year 1542. Wasted with disease |
and privation, he only reached the stream j
to die upon its banks, and the remains of j
the ambitious and iron-willed Spaniard found
a fitting resting-place beneath the waters of the great river.
The chief incitement to Spanish discoveries in America was
a thirst for gold and treasure. The discovery and settle-
ment of the Mississippi Valley on the part of the French

must, on the other hand, be ascribed to religious zeal.
Jesuit missionaries, from the French settlements on the St.
Lawrence, early penetrated to the region of Lake Huron.
It was from the tribes of Indians living in the West, that
intelligence came of a noble river flowing south. Marquette,
who had visited the Chippewas in 1668, and established
the mission of Sault Ste. Marie, now the oldest settlement
within the present commonwealth of Michigan, formed the
purpose of its exploration.

The following year he moved to La Poiute, in Lake
Superior, where he instructed a branch of the Hurons till
1670, when he removed south and founded the mission at
St. Ignace, on the Straits of Mackinaw. In company with
Joliet, a fur-trader of Quebec, who had been designated by
M. Talon, Intendent of Canada, as chieftain of the explor-
ing party, and five French voyageurs, Marquette, on the
10th of June, 1673, set out on the expedition. Crossing
the water-shed dividing the Fox from the Wisconsin rivers,
their two canoes were soon launched on the waters of the
latter. Seven, days after, on the 17th of June, they joy-
fully entered the broad current of the Mississippi. Stopping
sis days on the western bank, near the mouth of the Des
Moines River, to enjoy the hospitalities of the Illinois
Indians, the voyage was resumed, and after passing the
perpendicular rocks above Alton, on whose lofty limestone
front were painted frightful representations of monsters,
they suddenly came upon the mouth of the Missouri, known
by its Algonquin name of Pekitanoni, whose swift and
turbid current threatened to engulf their frail canoes. The
site, of St. Louis was an unbroken forest, and further down
the fertile plain bordering the river reposed in peaceful
solitude, as, e.irly in July, the adventurers glided past it.
They continued their voyage to a point some distance below
the mouth of the Arkansas, and then retraced their course
up the river, arriving at their Jesuit Mission at the head of
Green Bay, late in September.

Robert Cavalier de La Salle, whose illustrious name is
more intimately connected with the exploration of the
Mississippi than that of any other, was the next to descend
the river, in the early part of the year 1682. La Salle was a
man of remarkable genius, possessing the power of originating
the vastest schemes, and endowed with a will and a judgment
capable of carrying them to successful results. Had ample
facilities been placed by the king of France at his disposal,
the result - of the colonization of this continent might have
been far different from what we now behold. He was born
in Rouen, France, in 1643, of wealthy parentage, but he
renounced his patrimony on entering a college of the Jesuits
from which he separated and came to Canada a poor man
in 1666. The priests of St. Sulpice, among whom he had a
brother, were then the proprietors of Montreal, the nucleus
of which was a seminary or convent founded by that order.
The Superior granted to La Salle a large tract of land at
La Chine, where he established himself in the fur trade.
He was a man of daring genius, and outstripped all his
competitors in exploits of travel and commerce with the
Indians. In 1669 he visited the headquarters of the great
Iroquois Confederacy, at Ouondaga, in the heart of New

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

York, and obtaining guides, explored the Ohio River to the
falls at Louisville.

In order to understand the intrepid genius of La Salle,
it must be remembered that for many years prior to his
time the missionaries and traders were obliged to make their
way ts the North west by the Ottaway River (of Canada),
on account of the fierce hostility of the Iroquois along the
lower l^kes and Niagara River, which entirely closed this
latter route to the Upper Lakes. They carried on their
commerce chiefly by canvas, paddling them through the
Ottaway to Lake Nipissing, carrying them across the port-
age to French River, and descending that to Lake Huron.
This being the route by which they reached the North-west,
accounts for the fact that all the earliest Jesuit missions
were established in the neighborhood of the Upper Lakes.
La Salle conceived the grand idea of opening the route by
Niagara River and the Lower Lakes to Canadian commerce
by sail vessels, connecting it with the navigation of the
Mississippi, and thus opening a magnificent water communi-
cation from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico.
This 'truly grand and comprehensive purpose seems to
Lave animated him in all his wonderful achievements and
the matchless difficulties and hardships he surmounted.

As the first step in the accomplishment of this object he
established himself on Lake Ontario, and built and gar-
risoned Fort Frontenac, the site of the present city of
Kingston, Canada. Here he obtained a grant of land from
the French crown and a body of troops by which he beat
hack the invading Iroquois and cleared the passage to
Niagara Falls. Having by this masterly stroke made it
safe to attempt a hitherto untried expedition, his next step
as we have seen, was to advance to the falls with all his
outCt for building a ship with which to sail the lakes. He
was successful in this undertaking, though his ultimate pur-
pose was defeated by a strange combination of untoward
circumstances. The Jesuits evidently hated La Salle and
plotted against him, because he had abandoned them and
co-operated with a rival order. The fur traders were also
jealous of his superior success in opening new channels of
commerce. At La Chine he had taken the trade of Lake
Ontario, which but for his presence there weuld have gone
to Quebec. While they were plodding with their bark
canoes through the Ottaway he was constructing vessels to
command the trade of the lakes and the Mississippi. These
great plans excited the jealousy and . envy of the small
traders, introduced treason and revolt into the ranks of his
own companions, and finally led to the foul assassination by
which his great achievements were prematurely ended. In
1082, La Salle, having completed his vessel at Pcoria,
descended the Mississippi to its confluence with the Gulf of
Mexico. At its mouth he erected a column, and decorating
it with the arms of France, placed upon it the following
inscription :

LOUIS LE GRAND, EOI DE FRANCE ET DE NAVARRE REGNE ;
LE NEUVIEME AVRIL, 1G82.

Thus France, by right of discovery, lay claim to the
Mississippi Valley, the fairest portion of the globe, an

empire in' extent, stretching from the Gulf to the Lakes,
and from the farthest sources of the Ohio to where the head
waters of the Missouri are lost in the wild solitudes of the
Rocky Mountains. La Salle bestowed upon the territory
the name of Louisiana, in honor of the King of France,
Louis XIV.

The assertion has been made that on La Salle's return up
the river, in the summer of 1682, a portion of the party
were left behind, who founded the village of Kaskaskia and
Cahokia, but the statement rests on no substantial foun-
dation.

THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN ILLINOIS.

The gentle and pious Marquette, devoted to his purpose
of carrying the gospel to the Indians, had established a
mission among the Illinois, in 1675, at their principal town
on the river which still bear stheir .name. This was at the
present town of Utica, in La Salle County. In the presence
of the whole tribe, by whom, it is recorded, he was received
as a celestial visitor, he displayed the sacred pictures of the
Virgin Mary, raised an altar, and said mass. On Easter
Sunday, after celebrating the mystery of the Eucharist, he
took possession of the land in the name of the Saviour of
the world, and founded the "Mission of the Immaculate
Conception." The town was called Kaskaskia, a name
afterwards transferred to another locality. The founding
of this mission was the last act of Marquette's life. He
died in Michigan, on his way back to Green Bay, May 18,
1675.

La Salle, while making preparations to descend the
Mississippi, built a fort, on the Illinois River, below the
Lake of Peoria, in February, 1680, and in commemoration
of his misfortunes, bestowed upon it the name of Crevecceur,
"broken-hearted." Traces of its embankments are yet dis-
cernible. This was the first military occupation of Illinois.
There is no evidence, however, that settlement was begun
there at that early date.

On La Salle's return from this exploration of the Missis-
sippi, in 1682, he fortified " Starved Rock," whose military
advantages had previously attracted his attention. Fronj
its summit, which rises 125 feet above the waters of the
river, the valley of the Illinois speeds out before the eye in
landscape of rarest beauty. From three sides it is inacces-
sible. This stronghold received the name of the Fort of
j3t. Louis. Twenty thousand allied Indians gathered round
it on the fertile plains. The fort seems to have been aban-
doned soon after the year 1700.

Marquette's mission (1675), Crevecceur (1680), and the
Fort of St. Lauia (1682), embrace, so far, all the attempts
made towards effecting anything like a permanent settle-
ment in the Illinois country. Of the second few traces
remain. A line of fortifications may be faintly traced, and
that is all. The seed of civilization planted by the Jesuit,
Marquette, among the Illinois Indians, was destined to pro-
duce more enduring fruit. It was the germ of Kaskaskia,
during the succeeding years of the French occupation the
metropolis of the Mississippi Valley. The southern Kas-
kaskia is merely the northern one transplanted. The
Mission of the Immaculate Conception is the fame.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

FOUNDING OF KASKASKIA.

On the death of Marquctte, he was succeeded by Alloiicz,
and he by Father Gravier, who respectively had charge of
the Mission on the Illinois River Gravier is said to have
been the first to reduce the principles of the Illinois lan-
guage to rules. It was also he who succeeded in trans-
ferring Marquette's Mission from the banks of the Illinois
south to the spot where stands the modern town of Kas-
kaskia, and where it was destined to endure. The exact
date is not known, but the removal was accomplished some
time prior to the year 1685, though probably not earlier
than 1082.

Father Gravier was subsequently recalled to Mackinaw,
and his place was supplied by Bineteau and Pinet. Pinet
proved an eloquent and successful minister, and his chapel
was often insufficient to hold the crowds of savages who
gathered to hear his words. Bineteau met with a fate
similar to that which befell many another devoted priest in
his heroic labors for the conversion of the savages. He
accompanied the Kaskaskias on one of their annual hunts
to the upper Mississippi, that his pastoral relations might
not suffer intermission. His frame was poorly fittfd to
stand the exposure. Parched by day on the burning
prairie, chilled by heavy dews at night, now panting with
thirst and again aching with cold, he at length fell a
victim to a violent fever, and " left his bones on the wilder-
ness range of the buffaloes." Pinet shortly after followed
his comrade.

Father Gabriel Morrest had previously arrived at Kas-
kaskia. He was a Jesuit. He had carried the emblem of
bis faith to the frozen regions of Hudson's Bay, and had
been taken prisoner by the English, and upon his liberation
returned to America, and joined the Kaskaskia Mission.
After the deaths of Bineteau and Pinet, he had sole charge
until. joined by Father Mermet shortly after the opening of
the eighteenth century.

The devotion and piety of Mermet fully equalled those of
his companion. He had assisted in collecting a village of
Indians and Canadians, and had thus founded the first
French port on the Ohio, or, as the lower part of the river
was then called, the Wabash. At the Kaskaskia Mission
his gentle virtues and fervid eloquence seem not to have been
without their influence. " At early dawn his pupils came
to church dressed neatly and modestly, each in a large deer-
skin, or in a robe stitched together from several skins.
After receiving lessons they chanted canticles; mass was
then said in presence of all the Christians in the place, the
French and the converts the women on one side and the
men on the other. From prayer and instruction the mis-
sionaries proceeded to visit the sick and administer medicine,
and their skill as physicians did more than all the rest to I
win confidence. In the afternoon the catechism was taught
in the presence of the young and the old, when every oue, '
without distinction of rank or age, answered the questions of
the missionary. At evening all would assemble at the
chapel for instruction, for prayer, and to chant the hymns
of the church. On Sundays and festivals, even after vespers
a homily was pronounced ; at the close of the day parties

would meet in houses to recite the chaplet in alternate
choirs, and sing psalms until late at night. These psalms
were often homilies with words set to familiar tunes. Satur-
day and Sunday were days appointed for confession and
communion, and every convert confessed once in a fortnight.
The success of the mission was such that marriages of
French immigrants were sometimes solemnized with the
daughters of the Illinois according to the rites of the
Catholic Church. The occupation of the country was a
cantonment of Europeans among the native proprietors of
the forests and the prairies.* A court of law was unknown
for nearly a century, and up to the time of Boisbriant there
was no local government. The priests possessed the entire
confidence of the community, and their authority happily
settled, without the tardy delays and vexations of the courts,
the minor difficulties which threatened the peace of the
settlement. Of the families which formed part of the
French population in the early history of Kaskaskia, there
is some uncertainty. There is, however, authority for
believing that the following were among the principal
settlers: Bazyl La Chapelle, Michael Derouse, (called St.
Pierre), Jean Baptiste St. Gemme Bcauvais, Baptiste Mon-
treal, Boucher de Moutbrun, Charles Danie, Franc.ois
Charlesville, Antoine Bienvenu, Louis Bruyat, Alexis Doza,
Joseph Paget, Prix Pagi, Michael Antoyen, Langlois De
Lisle, La Derrou te and Nova!-

AS PAftT OF LOUISIANA.

The settlements of Illinois had been a separate depend-
ency of Canada. In 1711, together with the settlements on
the Lower Mississippi, which had been founded by D'lber-
ville and Bienville, they became united in a single province
under the name of Louisiana, with the capital at Mobile.

The exclusive control of the commerce of this region,
whose boundless resources, it was believed, were to enrich
France, was granted to Anthony Crozat, a merchant of
great wealth. "We permit him," says the king in his
letters patent, " to search, open, and dig all mines, veins,
minerals, precious stones and pearls, and to transport the
proceeds thereof into any part of France for fifteen years."
La Motte Cadillac, who had now become royal Governor of
Louisiana, was his partner. Hopes of obtaining great
quantities of gold and silver animated the proprietors, as
well as agitated France. Two pieces of silver ore, left at
Kaskaskia by a traveler from Mexico, were exhibited to
Cadillac as the produce of a mine in Illinois. Elated by
this prospect of wealth, the Governor hurried up the river
to find his anticipations fade away in disappointment. ''Iron
ore and the purest lead were discovered in large quantities
in Missouri, but of gold, and silver, and precious stones not
a trace was found. After Crozat had expended 42.3,000
livres, and realized only 300,000, he, in 1717, petitioned the
king for the revocation of his charter. The white popula-
tion had slowly increased ; and at the time of his departure
it was estimated that the families comprising the Illinois
settlements, now including those on tho AVabash, numbered
three hundred and twenty souls.

* Bancroft.
27

HJSTOHY OF LDWA1WS, LA WHENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

The commerce of Louisiana was next transferred to the
Mississippi Company, instituted under the auspices of the
notorious John Law. The wild excitement and visionary
schemes which agitated France during Law's connection
with the Cumpany of the West, and while at the head of
the Bank of France, form the most curious chapter in the
annals of commercial speculations. These delusive dreams
of wealth were based mainly upon the reports of the fabu-
lous riches of the Mississippi Valley. Attempts to colonize
the country were conducted with careless prodigality.
Three ships landed eight hundred emigrants in August,
1718, near Mobile, whence they were to make their way
overland to the Mississippi. Bienville, on the banks of that
river, had already selected the spot for the Capital of the
new Empire, which, after the Regent of France, was named
New Orleans. From among the emigrants, eighty convicts
from the prisons of France were sent to clear away the
coppices which thickly studded the site. Three years after
in 1721, the place was yet a wilderness, overgrown with
cauebrakes, among which two hundred persons had en-
camped.

Phillip Renault was created Director-General of the
mines of the ne>v country, and an expedition was organized
to work them. Renault left France, in 1719, with two
hundred mechanics and laborers. Touching at San Domingo
he bought five hundred negro slaves for working the mines.
On reaching the Mississippi, he sailed to Illinois, the region
in which gold and silver were supposed to abound. A few
miles from Kaskaskia, in what is now the south-west corner
of Monroe County, was the seat of his colony. The village
which he founded received the name of St. Phillip's. From
this point various expeditions were sent out in search of the
precious metals. Drewry's Creek, in Jackson County, was
explored; St. Mary's, in Randolph; Silver Creek, in
Monroe ; and various parts of St. Clair County, and other
districts of Illinois. On Silver Creek, tradition has it that
considerable quantities of silver were discovered and sent to
France, and from this the stream has its name. By the
retrocession of the territory to the crown, Renault was left
to prosecute the business of mining without means. His
operations proved a disastrous failure.

FORT CHARTRES.

Meanwhile war had sprung up between France and Spain
and to protect the Illinois settlements from incursions of
Spanish cavalry across the Great Desert, it was thought
advisable to establish a fort in the neighborhood of Kas-
kaskia. A Spanish expedition had, indeed, been fitted out
at Santa Fe, but their guides, leading it by mistake to the
Missouri Indians, instead of the Osages, enemies instead of
friends, the whole party was massacred, with the exception
of a priest who escaped to relate the fate of his unfortunate
comrades. Previous to this La Salle, on the occasion of his
visit to Paris, had shown the necessity of building a chain
of forts from Canada to the Gulf, in order to secure the
territory to the crown of France. In 1718, Buisbriant was
despatched to Illinois. He began the building, of Fort
Chnrtres, long the strongest fortress on the Western Conti-

nent, and of wide celebrity in the subsequent history of
Illinois.

Fort Chartres stood on the east bank of the Mississippi,
seventeen miles north-west of Kaskaskia, and between three
and four miles from the location of the present village of
Prairie du Rocher. The Company of the West finally built
their warehouses here. In 1721, on the division of Louisi-
ana into seven districts, it became the headquarters of Bois-
briant, the first local Governor of Illinois. Fort Chartres
was the seat of the Government of Illinois, not only while
the French retained possession ot' the country, but after it
passed under English control. When the fort was built, it
stood about one mile distant from the river. In the year 1724
an inundation of the Mississippi washed away a portion of
bank in front of the fort.

Captain Philip Pitman visited Illinois in 1766. He was
an engineer in the British army, and was sent to Illinois to
make a survey of the forts, and report the condition of the
country, which had recently passed under British control.
He published in London, in 1770. a work entitled, " The
present State of the European Settlements on the Missis-
sippi," in which he gives an accurate description of Fort
Chartres :

" Fort Chartres, when it belonged to France, was the seat
of the government of the Illinois. The headquarters of the
English commanding officer is now here, who, in fact, is the
arbitrary governor of the country. The fort is an irregular
quadrangle. The sides of the exterior polygon are four hun-
dred and ninety feet. It is built of stone, and plastered over,
and is only designed for defence against the Indians. The
walls are two feet two inches thick, and are pierced with
loopholes at regular distances, and with two port holes for
cannon in the facies, and two in the flanks of each bastion.
The ditch has never been finished. The entrance to the fort
is through a very handsome rustic gate. Within the walls
is a banquette raised three feet, for the men to stand on'when
they fire through the loopholes. The buildings within the
fort are, a commandant's and a commissary's house, the
magazine of stores, corps de garde, and two barracks., iThese.
occupy the square. ' Within the gorges of the bastion are a
powder-magazine, a bake-house, and a prison, in the floor of
which are four dungeons, and in the upper, two rooms and
an out-house belonging to the commandant. The command-
ant's house is thirty-two yards long and ten broad, and con-
tains a kitchen, a dining-room, a bed-chamber, one small
room, five closets for servant?, and a cellar. The commis-
sary's house is built on the same line as this, and its propor-
tion and the distribution of its apartments are the same.
Opposite these are the store-house, and the guard-house, each
thirty yards long and eight broad. The former consists of
two large store rooms, (under which is a large vaulted cellar),
a large room, a bed-chamber, and a closet for the storekeeper.
The latter of a soldiers' and officers' guard-room, a chapel,
a bed-chamber, a closet for the chaplain, and an artillery
store-room. The lines of barracks have never been finished.
They at present consist of two rooms each for officers, and
three for soldiers. They are each twenty-five feet square,
and have betwixt a small passage."

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Such was Fort Chartres, believed at the time to be the
most convenient and best built stronghold in North America !
Just before the French surrender, forty families lived in the
neighboring village, in which stood a parish church, under
the care of. a Franciscan friar, and dedicated to St. Anne.
At the time of the surrender to the English, all, with the
exception of three or four families, abandoned their homes,
and removed to the west bank of the Mississippi, preferring
the government of La Belle France to the hated English
rule, ignorant that by secret treaty the territory west
of the Mississippi had been ceded to Spain, even before
the transfer of the region eastward was made to the
English.

But the glory of the old fortress soon departed! In 1756
nearly half a. mile intervened between Fort Chartres and the
bank of the Mississippi. A sand bar, however, was forming
opposite, to which the river was fordable. Ten years later
the current had cut the bank away to within eighty yards of
the fort. The sand-bar had become an island, covered with
a thick growth of cottonwoods. The channel between it
and the eastern bank was forty feet in depth. In the great
freshet six years after, in 1772, in which the American Bot-
tom was inundated, the west walls and two of the bastions
were swept away in the flood. It was abandoned by the
British garrison, which took up its quarters in Fort Gage,
on the bluff opposite Kaskaskia, which then became the seat
of government. From this date its demolition proceeded
rapidly. InT^O the south-east angle was still remaining.
Only vestiges of the old Fortress can now be traced. Much
of the stone was carried away, and used for building pur-
poses elsewhere. Trees of stately growth cover the founda-
tions. The river has retreated to its original channel, and
is now a mile distant from the ruins. A growth of timber
covers the intervening land, where less than a century ago
swept the mighty current of the Father of Waters.

UNDER FRENCH RULE.

During the few years immediately succeeding the comple-
tion of Fort Chartres, prosperity prevailed in the settlements
between the Kaskaskia and the Miss'ssippi rivers. Prairie
du Rocher, founded about the year 1722, received consider-
able accessions to its population. Among the earliest French
settlers to make their homes here were Etienne Langlois,
Jean Baptiste Blais, Jean Baptiste Barbeaux, Antoine
Louvier, acd the La Compte and other families, whose de-
scendants are still found in that locality. New settlements
sprang up, and the older ones increased in population. At
Kaskaskia, the Jesuits established a monastery, and founded
a college. In 1725 the village became an incorporated town,
and the king, Louis XV., granted the inhabitants a com-
mons. The Bottom land, extending upward along the Mis-
sissippi, unsurpassed for the richness of its soil, was in the
process of being rapidly settled by the larger number of new
arrivals in the colony. Fort Chartres, the seat of govern-
ment and the headquarters of the commandment of Upper
Louisiana, attracted a wealthy, and for Illinois, a fashionable
population.

After having been fourteen years under the government

of the Western Company, in April, 1732,. the king issued a
proclamation by which Louisiana was declared free to all hU
subjects, and all restrictions on commerce were removed.
At this time many flourishing settlements had sprung up in
Illinois, centering about Kaskaskia, and the inhabitants were
said to be more exclusively devoted to agriculture than in
any other of the French settlements in the West.

M. D'Artaguette, in -1732, became commandant of Fort
! Chartres, and Governor of Upper Louisiana. Between New
i Orleans and Kaskaskia the country was yet a wilderness.
j Communication by way of the Mississippi was interrupted
by the Chickasaws, allies of the English and enemies of
France, whose cedar barks shooting boldly out into the cur-
rent of the Mississippi, cut off the connection between the
two colonies. It was in an attempt to subdue these that
M. D'Artaguette, the commandant, lost h ; s life. An officer
arrived at Fort Chartres from M. Prerrier, Governor-General
at New Orleans, in the year 1736, summoning M. D'Arta-
guette, with his French soldiers, and all the Indians whom
he could induce to join him, to unite in an expedition against
the enemy. With an army of fifty Frenchmen, and more
than one thousand Indians accompanied- by Father Senat
and the gallant Vincennes, commandant of the post on the
Wabash, where now stands the city bearing his name,
D'Artaguette stole cautiously in the Chickasaw country.
! His Indian allies were impatient, and the commander con-
i sented, against his better judgment, to an immediate attack.
One fort was carried another and then in making the as-
sault on the third, the young and intrepid D'Artaguette fell
at the head of his forces, pierced with wounds. The Indian
allies made this reverse the signal for their flight. The
Jesuit Senat might have fled, Vincennes might have saved
his life, but both preferred to share the fate of their leader.
The captives afterward met death at the stake under the slow
torments of fire.

La Buissoniere succeeded as commandant at Fort Chartres.
In 1739 a second expedition was undertaken against the
Chickasaw country. La Buissoniere joined Bienville, then
; Governor-General of Louisiana, with a force of two hundred
! Frenchmen and three hundred Indians. The whole force
I under Bienville was twelve hundred French and five hun-
j dred Indians and negroes. His men suffered greatly from
malarial fevers and famine, and returned the following
spring without conquering the Chickasaws, with whom after-
ward, however, amicable relations were established.

The period from 1740 to 1750 was one of great prosperity
for the colonies. Cotton was introduced and cultivated.
Regular cargoes of pork, flour, bacon, tallow, hides and
leather, were fl >ated down the Mississippi, and exported
thence to France. Frsnch emigrant* poured rapidly into
the settlements. Canadians exchanged the cold rigors of
their climate for the sunny atmosphere and rich soil of the
new country. Peace and plenty blessed the settlements.

La Buissoniere was followed, in 1750, by Chevalier Ma-
carty as Governor of Upper Louisiana, and Commandant of
Fort Chartres. Peace was soon to be broken. The French
and English war, which terminated in 1759 with the defeat
of Montcalm on the plains of Abraham, and the capturo of

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Quebec, began with a struggle for the territory on the Upper
Ohio. Fort Chartres was the depot of supplies and the place
of rendezvous for the united forces of Louisiana, and several
expeditions were fitted out and dispatched to the scene of con-
flict on the border between the French and English settle-
ments. But France was vanquished in the struggle, and its
result deprived her of her princely possessions east of the
Mississippi.

CHARACTER OF THE EARLY FRENCH SETTLERS.

The early French inhabitants were well adapted by their
peculiar traits of character for intercourse with their savage
neighbors of the forest, with whom they lived on terms of
peace and friendship. For this reason, the French colonists
almost entirely escaped the Indian hostilities by which the
English settlements were repressed and weakened. The
freest communication existed between the two races. They
stood on a footing of equality. The Indian was cordially
received in the French village, and the Frenchman found a
safe resting-place in the Iodg3 of the savage. In see ies of
social pleasure, in expeditions to remote rivers and distant
forests, in the ceremonies and exercises of the church, the
red men were treated as brothers, and the accident of race
and color was made as little a mark of distinction as possi-
ble. Frequent intermarriages of the French with the In-
dians strongly cemented this union. For nearly a hundred
years the French colonists enjoyed continual peace, while the
English settlements on the Atlantic coast were in a state of
almost constant danger from savage depredations.

It was doubtless greatly owing to the peculiar facility with
which the French temperament adapted itself to surround-
ings, and the natural address with which Frenchmen ingra-
tiated themselves in the favor of the savages, that this happy
condition of affairs existed. But something must be ascribed
to the differences of character between the French and Eng-
lish in regard to their aggressiveness. The English colonists
excited the jealousy and fear of the Indians by their rapid
occupation of the country. New settlements were constantly
being projected, and the white population pushed farther
and farther into the wilderness. When the Indians saw
their favorite haunts broken up, and their hunting grounds
invaded, a natural feeling of distrust and jealousy led them
to warfare against the English. With the French it was
different. There was but little disposition to found new
settlements, or occupy the wilderness. They were essentially
a social people, and the solitary life of a pioneer in the forest
was repugnant to their disposition. They lived in compact
villages. Their houses were in close proximity. With
abundant room for spacious streets, they yet made them BO
narrow that the merry villagers could converse with ease
across the street, each from his own cottage. Hunting was
a favorite pursuit, and the chief means of support. With
this mode of life the French were content. Ambition failed
to incite them to conquer the wilderness, and push their set-
tlements to unknown regions, and avarice was wanting to
lead them to grasp after great possessions. The development
of the "territorial paradise," as La Salle had called the re-
gion through which he passed on his first voyage down the
Mississippi, was to be accomplished by another race.

A POSSESSION OF GREAT BRITAIN.

By the treaty of Fountainbleau,1762, the vast possessions
of France, east of the Mississippi, with the exception of the
island of New Orleans, passed under British control. Fort
Chartres and the other Illinois posts were surrounded by an
impenetrable barrier of hostile savages, friends to the French
| and enemies to the English, and the French officers were
authorized t) retain command until it was found pos.-ible for
the English to take possession. M. Neyon de Villicrs was
commandant of Fort Chartres, and upon his retiring in 1764,
St. Ange d'Bellerive took upon himself the duties of that
position. It was the time of Pontiac's conspiracy, when the
Indian tribes, inflamed by the savage spirit of that warrior,
were precipitating themselves on. the English settlements
from Canada to Carolina. The French commandant of Fort
Chartres was besieged for arms and ammunition to be used
against the English. The French flag was still flying over
the Fort, and the fact of the territory having been ceded to
Great Britain was not generally known except to those in
authority. The commandant was visited by embassies from
the Illinois, the Delawares, Shawnees and Miamis, and
finally Pontiac himself, at the head of four hundred warriors,
entered the council hall. St. Ange d Bellerive, unable to
furnish arms, offered instead his good will. The reply was
received with dissatisfaction. The Indians pitched their
lodges about the Fort, and for a time an attack was seriously
apprehended. Finally Pontiac dispatched a chosen band of
warriors to New Orleans to obtain from the Governor there
the assistance St. Ange refused to grant.

Pontiac was killed a few years after. Disappointed by
the failure of his plans against the English, he retired to the
solitude of the forests. In the year 1769, he suddenly made
his appearance in the neighborhood of St. Louis. Arrayed
in the French uniform given him by the Marquis Montcalm
a short time previous to the latter's death on the Plains of
Abraham, he visited St. Ange d'Bellerive, who at that time
had removed from Fort Chartres to St. Louis, where he had
become one of the principal inhabitants and commandant of
the Spanish garrison. While at St. Louis, he crossed the
Mississippi to attend a social gathering of Indians at Cahokia.
Becoming intoxicated he started to the neighboring woods,
when an Indian of the Kaskaskia tribe, bribed by an Eng-
lish trader with a barrel of whiskey, stole up behind him and
buried a tomahawk in the brain of the renowned warrior.
St. Ange procured the body, and buried it with all the honors
of war near the fort under his command in St. Louis. The
tramp of a great city now sweeps over his grave.

Two attempts, on the part of the English, to take posses-
sion of Illinois and Fort Chartres, had been made by way of
the Mississippi, but hostile Indians on the banks of the river
had driven back the expeditions. Meantime a hundred
Highlanders of the Forty-second Regiment, those veterans
" whose battle cry had echoed over the bloodiest fields of
America,'' had left Fort Pitt, now Pittsburg, and descending
the Ohio, appeared before Fort Chartres while the forests
were yet rich with the varied hues of autumn. St. Ange
yielded up the citadel. It was on the tenth day of October,
17(55, that the ensign of France on the ramparts of the Fort

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

gave place to the flag of Great Britain. Kaskaskia had now
been founded more than three-fourths of a century.

Ou the surrender of Fort Chartres, St. Ange with his gar-
rison of twenty-one soldiers retired from the country, and
became commandant at St. Louis, an infant settlement just
founded. A large number of the French residents of Kas-
kaskia and other settlements refused to live under English
rule. Many of the wealthiest families left the country ; some
removed across the Mississippi, to the small village of Ste.
Genevieve, under the impression that on the west bank of the
Mississippi they would still find a home under the govern-
ment of France, while in truth that territory had been ceded
to Spain by a secret treaty in 1762. Others joined in found-
ing the city of St. Louis. The French settlements in Illinois,
at a period immediately preceding this date, were at the
zenith of their prosperity. From that day the French in-
habitants have declined in numbers and influence. In 17C5,
the population -of the Illinois settlements was computed as
follows : White men able to bear arms, seven hundred ; white
women, five hundred ; white children, eight hundred and
fifty ; negroes, nine hundred ; total, two thousand nine hun-
dred and fifty. One-third of the whites, and a still larger
proportion of the blacks, removed on the British taking pos-
session. A population of less than two thousand remained.
Few English, or Americans, with the exception of the British
troops, were in the country.

Captain Stirling, who now had command of the Fort, issued
a proclamation guaranteeing the inhabitants the liberty of
the Catholic faith, permission to retire from the country, and
enjoyment of their full rights and privileges, only requiring
an oath of fidelity and obedience to His Majesty, the English
King. Captain Stirling died some three months after his
arrival. In the period that elapsed before the coming of his
successor, St. Ange d'Bollerive returned from St. Louis, and
discharged the duties of commandant. Major Frazier, from
Fort Pitt, exercised for a time an arbitrary power, and his
successor, Col. Reed, proved still worse. He held the office
eighteen months, and during that time aroused the hatred of
the settlements by his oppressive measures. Lieutenant Colo-
nel Wilkins assumed command in 17G8.

Captain Pitman, to whose book on " The Present State of
the European Settlements on the Mississippi " reference has
already been made, gives the following description of Kas-
kaskia, as it appeared in 1766.

The vi'lage of Notre Dame de Cascasquias is by far the
most considerable settlement in the country of the Illinois,
as well from its number of inhabitants as from its advan-
tageous situation.

" Mons. Paget was the first who introduced water mills in
this country, and he constructed a very fine one on the river
Cascasquias, which was both for grinding corn and sawing
boards. It lies about one mile from the village. The mill
proved fatal to him, being killed as he was working
it, with two negroes, by a party of Cherokees, in the
year 1764.

" The principal buildings are the church and the Jesuits'
house, which has a small chapel adjoining it; these, as well
as some of tho other houses in the village, arc built of stone,

and, considering this part of the world, make a very good
appearance. The Jesuits' plantation consisted of 240 arpents
(an arpent is 85-100 of an acre) of cultivated land, a very
good stock of cattle,, and a brewery which was sold by the
French commandant, after the country was ceded to tho
English, for the crown, in consequence of the suppression of
the order.

" Mons. Beauvais wa^ tiio purchaser, who is the richest of
the English subjects in this country; he keeps eighty slaves;
he furnishes 86,000 weight of flour to the King's magazine,
which was only part of the harvest he reaped in one year.
Sixty-five families reside in this village, besides merchants,
other casual people, and slaves. The fort which was burnt
down in October, 1766, stood on the summit of a high rock
opposite the village and on the opposite side of the river.
It was an oblong quadrangle, of which the extreme polygon
measured 290 by 251 feeL It was built of very thick square
timber, and dove-tailed at the angles. An officer and twenty
soldiers are quartered in the village. The officer governs
the inhabitants under the direction of the commandant at
Fort Chartres. Here are also two companies of militia."

Of Prairie du Rocher, Pitman writes that " it is a small
village, consisting of twenty-two dwelling-houses, all of which
are inhabited by as many families. Here is a little chapel,
formerly a chapel of ease to the church at Fort Chartres.
The inhabitants are very industrious, and raise a great deal
of com and every kind of stock. The village is two miles
from Fort Chartres. It takes its name from its situation,
being built under a rock that runs parallel with the Missis-
sippi river at a league distance, for forty miles up. Here is
a company of militia, the captain of which regulates the
police of the village. "

In describing the distance from Fort Chartres, the author,
doubtless, refers to Little Village, which was a mile or more
nearer than Prairie du Rocher. The writer goes on to de-
scribe "Saint Philippe" as a "small village about five miles
from Fort Chartres on the road to Kaoquias. There are
about sixteen houses and a small church standing ; all of tho
inhabitants, except the captain of the militia, deserted in
1765, and went to the French side (Missouri ) The captain
of the militia has about twenty slaves, a good stock of cattle,
and a water mill for corn and planks. The village stands
on a very fine meadow about one mile from the Mis-
sissippi.

From the same authority we learn that the soil of the
country is in general rich and luxuriant. It was favorably
adapted to the production of all kinds of European grains
which grew side by side with hops, hemp, flax, cotton and
tobacco. European fruits arrived to great perfection. Of
the wild grapes a wine was made, very inebriating, and in
color and taste much like the red wine of Provcac?. In tho
late wars, New Orleans and the lower parts of Louisiana
were supplied with flour, baef, wines, hams, and other pro-
visions, from this country. At present, its commerce is
mostly confined to the peltry and furs which are got in traf-
fic from the Indians ; for which are received in turn such
European commodities as arc necessary to carry on that com-
merce and the support of its inhabitants."

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

CONQUEST BY CLARKE.

On the breaking out of the War of the Revolution, it is
probable that the British garrison (removed in 1772 from
Fort Chartres to Fort Gage, opposite Kaskaskia,) had been
withdrawn. Illinois was remote from the theatre of action,
and the colonists were little disturbed by the rumors of war
which came from the Atlantic coast. The French inhabitants
were rather in sympathy with the Americans than the Eng-
lish, but probably understood little of the nature of the
struggle. Illinois belonged to the jurisdiction of Virginia.
George Rogers Clarke, who visited Kentucky in 1775, seems
to have been the first to comprehend the advantages which
would result from the occupation of Illinois by the Ameri-
cans. He visited Virginia, where he laid his plans before
Patrick Henry, the Governor of the State. Clarke received
his instructions, January, 1778, and the following month set
out for Pittsburg His instructions were to raise seven com-
panies of men, but he could only succeed in enlisting four
commanded by Captains Montgomery, Bowman, Helm, and
Harrod. On Corn Island, opposite Louisville, on the Ohio,
Clarke announced his destination to the men. At the mouth
of the Tennessee, a man named John Duff was encountered,
with a party of hunters, who had recently visited Kaskaskia,
and also brought the intelligence that one Rocheblave, a
French Canadian, was in command at that point, that he
kept the militia well drilled, and that sentinels were posted
to watch for the " Long Knives," as the Virginians were
called, of whom the inhabitants were in terror. Securing his
boats near Fort Massacre (or Massac,) Clarke undertook the
journey across the country, one hundred and twenty miles,
to Kaskaskia. It was accomplished with difficulty. On the
afternoon of the fourth of July, 1778, the exhausted band of
invaders came to the vicinity of Kaskaskia, and concealed
themselves in the hills to the east of the town. After dark
Clarke proceeded to the old ferry-house, three-fourths of a
mile above the village, and at midnight addressed his troops
on the banks of the river. He divided his force into three
parties. Two were to cross to the west side of the river, and
enter the town from different quarters. The third, under the
direction of Clarke himself, was to capture the fort on the
east side. Kaskaskia at that time was a village of about two j
hundred and fifty houses. The British commander last in j
charge had instilled in the minds of the people the impres- !
sion that the Virginians, otherwise the " Long Knives," were I
a ferocious band of murderers, plundering houses, slaughter- !
ing women and children, and committing acts of great atro- j
city. Clarke determined to take advantage of this, and so j
surprise the inhabitants by fear as to induce them to submit |
without resistance. Clarke effected an entrance to the fort
without difficulty. The other parties at a given signal en- |
tered Kaskaskia at the opposite extremities, and with terri-
ble outcries and hideous noises, aroused the terrified inhabi-
tants, who shrieked in their alarm, "The Long Knives!'
" The Long Kuives are here!" The panic stricken towns- j
men delivered up their arms, and the victory was accom- \
plished without the shedding of a drop of blood. M. Roche-
blave, the British commandant, was unconscious of the pres-
ence of the enemy, till an officer of the detachment entered

his bed-chamber, and claimed him as a prisoner. ' In accord-
ance with his original plan of conquering the inhabitants by
terror, and then afterward winning their regard and grati-
tude by his clemency, Clarke, the next day, withdrew hia
forces from the town, and sternly forbade all communication
between it and his soldiers. Some of the principal militia
officers, citizens of the town, were next put in irons. The
terror now reached its height. The priest, and a deputation
of five or six elderly men of the villige, called on Clarke,
and humbly requested permission to assemble in the church,
to take leave of each other and commend their future lives
to the protection of a merciful Gjd, since they expected to
be separated, perhaps never to meet again. Clarke gruffly
granted the privilege. The whole population convened at
the church, and after remaining together a long time, the
priest and a few others again waited upon the commander of
the American forces, presenting thanks for the privilege they
had enjoyed, and desiring to know what fate awaited
them.

Clarke now determined to lift them from their despair, and
win their gratitude by a show of mercy. " What!" said he;
" do you take us for savages ? Do you think Americans will
strip women and children, and take bread from their mouths?
My countrymen disdain to make war on helpless innocents."
He further reminded them that the King of France, their
former ruler, was an ally of the Americans, and now fighting
their cause. He told them to embrace the side they deemed
best, and they should be respected in the enjoyment of their
liberty and the rights of property.

The revulsion of feeling was complete. The good news
spread throughout the village. The church-bell rang a
merry peal, and the delighted inhabitants gathered at the
chapel, where thanks were offered to God for their happy
and unexpected deliverance. The loyalty of the inhabitants
was assured, and ever after they remained faithful to the
American cause. The French inhabitants of Kaskaskia
were readily reconciled to a change of government. In
October, 1778, the Virginia Assembly erected the conquered
'territory into the County of Illinois. This County embraced
all the region north-west of Ohio, and five large states have
since been formed from it. Colonel Clarke was appointed
military commander of all the western territory north and
south of the Ohio, and Colonel John Todd, one of Clarke's
soldiers, who next to Clarke had been the first man to enter
Fort Gage, was appointed lieutenant-commander of Illinois.
In the spring of 1779, Colonel Todd visited Kaskaskia, and
made arrangements for the organization of a temporary
government. Many of the French inhabitants of Kaskaskia,
Prairie du Rocher, and the other settlements, readily took
the oath of allegiance to Virginia. Colonel Todd was killed
at the famous battle of Blue Licks, in Kentucky August,
1782, and Timothy deMontbrun, a Frenchman, succeeded
him as commandant of Illinois County. Of his administra-
tion but little is known.

THE "COMPACT OF 1787."

In 1632 Illinoi? became a possession of the French crown,
a dependency of Canada, and a part of Louisiana. In 17C5
the English flag was run up on old Fort Chartres, and

HISTORY OF EDWARD, LAWRENCE AND WARASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Illinois was counted among the treasures of Great Britain.
In 1779 it was taken from the English by Col. George
Rogers Clark : this man was resolute in nature, wise in coun-
cil, prudent in policy, bold in action, and heroic in danger.
Few men who have figured in the early history of America
are more deserving than he. Nothing short of first-class
ability could have rescued " Vincins " and all Illinois from
the English, and it is not possible to over-estimate the in-
fluence of this achievement upon the republic. In 1779,
Illinois became a part of Virginia. It was soon known as
Illinois county. In 1784 Virginia ceded all this territory
to the general government to be cut into states, to be republi-
can in form, with " the same right of sovereignty, freedom
and independence as the other states."

In 1787 it was the object of the wisest and ablest legisla-
tion found in any merely human records. No man can
study the secret history of The Compact of 1787 and not
feel that Providence was guiding with sleepless eyes these
unborn states. The ordinance that on July 13, 1787, finally
became the incorporating act, has a most marvelous history.
Jefferson had vainly tried to secure a system of government
for the north-western territory. He was an emancipationist
of that day, and favored the exclusion of slavery from the
territory Virginia had ceded to the general government,
but the south voted him down as often as it came up. In
1787, as late as July 10, an organizing act without the
anti-slavery clause was pending. This concession to the south
was expected to carry it Congress was in session in New
York city. Oi July 5, Rev. Dr. Manasseh Cutler, of
Massachusetts, came into New York to lobby, on the north-
western territory. Everything seemed to fall into his hands.
Events were ripe : the state of the public credit, the growing of
southern prejudice, the basis of his mission, his personal
character, all combined to complete one of those sudden and
marvelous revolutions of public sentiment that once in five
or ten centuries are seen to sweep over a country like the
breath of the Almighty. Cutler was a remarkable man ; a
graduate of Yale, he had studied and taken degrees in the
three learned professions, law, divinity and medicine, Har-
vard had given him his A. M., and Yale had honored herself
by adding his D. D. He had thus America's best literary
indorsement. He had published a scientific examination of
the plants of New England. His name stood second only to
that of Franklin as a scientist in America. He was a courtly
gentleman of the old style, a man of commanding presence,
and of inviting face. The southern members were captivated
by his genial manners, rare and profound abilities. He
came representing a company that desired to purchase a
tract of land now included in Ohio, for the purpose of plant-
ing a colony. Government money was worth eighteen cents
on the dollar. This Massachusetts company had collected
enough to purchase 1,500,000 acres of land. Other specu-
lators in New York made Dr. Cutler their agent ; on the
12th he represented a demand for 5,500,000 acres. This
would reduce the national debt. Jefferson and Virginia
were regarded as authority concerning the land Virginia
had just ceded. Jefferson's policy wanted to provide for the
publio credit, and this was a good opportunity to do some-

thing. Massachusetts then owned the territory of Maine,
which she was crowding on the market. She was opposed
to opening the north-western region. This fired the zeal of
Virginia. The South caught the inspiration, and all exalted
Dr. Cutler. The English Minister invited him to dine with
some of the Southern gentlemen. He was the centre of in-
terest; the entire South rallied around him. Massachusetts
could not vote against him, because many of the constituents
of her members were interested personally in the western
speculation ; thus Cutler, making friends with the south, and
doubtless using all the arts of the lobby, was enabled to
command the situation. True to deeper conviction, he
dictated one of the most compact and finished documents of
wise statesmanship that ever adorned any human law book ;
he borrowed from Jefferson the term " Articles of Compact,"
which preceding the federal constitution, rose into the most
sacred character. He then followed very closely the constitu-
tion of Massachusetts, adopted three years before, its most
marked points were :

1st. The exclusion of slavery from the territory forever.

2d. Provision for public schools, giving one township for
a seminary, and every section numbered 16 in each town-
ship ; that is, one thirty-sixth of all the land for public
schools.

3d. A provision prohibiting the adoption of any consti-
tution, or the enactment of any law that should nullify
pre-existing contracts.

Be it forever remembered that this compact declared
that " Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary
to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools
and means of education shall always be encouraged." Dr.
Cutler planted himself on this platform and would not yield.
Giving his unqualified declaration that it was that or nothing
that unless they could make the land desirable they did
not want it he took his horse and gig and started for the
Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. On July 13,
1787, the bill was put upon its passage, and was unanimously
adopted, every Southern member voting for it, and only one
man, Mr. Yates of New York, voting against it, but as the
States voted as States, Yates lost his vote, and the compact
was put beyond repeal. Then the great States of Ohio, In-
diana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin a vast empire,
the heart of the great valley were consecrated to freedom,
intelligence, and honesty. In the light of these ninety-five
years, it is evident to all that this act was the salvation of
the republic and the destruction of slavery. Soon the south
saw their great blunder, and tried to repeal the compact.
In 1803 Congress referred it to a committee, of which John
Randolph was chairman. He reported that this ordinance
was a compact, and opposed repeal. Thus it stood a rock
in the way of the on-rushing sea of slavery. With all this
i timely aid it was, after all, a most desperate and protracted
! struggle to keep the soil of Illinois sacred to freedom. It
was the natural baltlc field for the irrepressible conflict. In
the southern end of the State slavery preceded the compact.
It existed among the old French settlers, and was hard to
eradicate. The southern part of the State was settled froni
1 the slave States ; and this population brought their laws,

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

customs, and institutions with them. A stream of popula-
tion from the North poured into the northern part of the
State These sections misunderstood and hated each other
perfectly. The Southerners regarded the Yankees as a skin-
ning, tricky, penurious race of peddlers, filling the country
with tinware, brass clocks, and wooden nutmegs. The
Northerner thought of the Southerner as a lean, lank, lazy
creature, burrowing in a hut, and rioting in whisky, dirt
and ignorance. These causes aided in making the struggle
long and bitter. So strong was the sympathy with slavery
that in spite of the ordinance of 1787, and in spite of the
deed of cession, it was determined to allow the old French
settlers to retain their slaves. Planters from the slave
States might bring their slaves, if they would give them a
chance to choose freedom, or years of service and bondage
for their children till they should become thirty years of age.
If they chose freedom they must leave the State in sixty
days or be sold as fugitives. Servants were whipped for
offences for which white men are fined ; each lash paid forty
cents of the fine. A negro ten miles from home without a
pass was whipped. These famous laws were imported from
the slave States, just as they imported laws for the inspec-
tion of flax and wool when there was neither in the State.
These black laws are now wiped out. A vigorous effort was
made to protect slavery in the State Constitution of 1818 ; it
barely failed. It was renewed in 1826, when a convention
was asked to make a new constitution. After a hard fight the
convention was defeated ; but slaves did not disappear from
the census of the State until 1850. There were mobs and
murders in the interest of slavery. Lovejoy was added to
the list of martyrs a sort of first fruits of that long line of
immortal heroes who saw freedom a3 the one supreme desire
of their souls, and were so enamored of her that they pre-
ferred to die rather than survive her.

LAND TENURES.

The early French settlers held the possession of their land
in common. A tract of land was fixed upon for a Common
Field, in which all the inhabitants were interested.

Besides the Common Field, another tract of land was laid
off on the Commons. All the villagers had free access to
this as a place of pasturage for their stock. From this they
also drew their supply of fuel.

Indiv : dual grants were likewise made. Under the French
system, the lands were granted without any equivalent con-
sideration in the way of money, the individuals satisfying
the authorities that the lands were wanted for actual settle-
ment, or for a purpose likely to benefit the community. The
fir.-t grant of land, which is preserved, is that made to Charles
Danie, May 10th, 1722. The French grants at Kaskaskia
extended from river to river, and at other places in the Bot-
tom they commonly extended from river to bluff. Grants of
land were made for almost all the American Bottom, from
the upper limits of the Common Field of St. Phillip's to
the lower line of the Kaskaskia Common Field, a distance
of nearly thirty miles.

The British commandants, who assumed the government
on the cession of the territory by France, exercised the pri-

vilege of making grants, subject to the approval of his Ma-
jesty, the King. Colonel Wilkins granted to some merchants
of Philadelphia a magnificent domain of thirty thousand
acres lying between the village of Kaskaskia and Prairie du
Kocher, much of it already coven d by French grants pre-
viously made. For the better carrying out their plans, the
British officers, and perhaps their grantees, destroyed, to
some extent, the records of the ancient French grants at
Kaskaskia, by which the regular claim of titles and convey-
ances was partly broken. This British grant of thirty
thousand acres, which had been assigned to John Edgar,
was afterward patented by Governor St. Clair to Edgar and
John Murray St. Clair, the Governor's son, to whom Edgar
had previously conveyed a moiety by deed. Although much
fault was found with the transaction, a confirmation of the
grant was secured from the United States government.

When Virginia ceded Illinois, it was stipulated that the
French and Canadian inhabitants, and other settlers, who
had professed allegiance to Virginia, should have their
titles confirmed to them. Congress afterwards authorized
the Governor to confirm the possessions and titles of the
French to their lands. In accordance with this agreement,
Governor St. Clair, in 1790, issued a proclamation directing
the inhabitants to exhibit their titles and claims of the lands
which they held, in order to be confirmed in their possession.
Where the instruments were found to be authentic, orders of
survey were issued, the expense of which was borne by the
parties who claimed ownership. The French inhabitants
were in such poverty at this time that they were really una-
ble to pay the expenses of the surveys, and a memorial
signed by P. Gibault, the priest at Kaskaskia, and eighty-
seven others, was presented to Governor St. Clair, praying
him to petition Congress for relief in the matter. In 1791,
Congress directed that four hundred acres of land should be
granted to the head of every family which had made improve-
ments in Illinois prior to the year 1788. Congress had also
directed that a donation be given to each of the families then
living at either of the villages of Kaskaskia, Prairie du
Rocher, Cahokia, Fort Chartres, or St. Phillips. These were
known as the " bead-right " claims.

At an early date, speculation became active in the land
claims of different kinds; bead-rights, improvement rights,
militia right', and fraudulent claims were produced in greet
numbers. The French claims were partly unconfirmed,
owing to the poverty of that people, and these were forced
on the market with the others. Tne official report of the
commissioners at Kaskaskia, made in 1810, shows that eight

| hundred and ninety land claims were rejected as being ille-
gal or fraudulent. Three hundred and seventy were
reported as being supported by perjury, and a considerable

j number were forged. There are fourteen names given of
persons, both English and French, who made it a regular
business to furnish sworn certificates, professing an intimate
knowledge, in every case, of the settlers who had made cer-
tain improvements upon which claims were predicated and
when and where they were located. A Frenchman, clerk
of the parish of Prairie du Rocher, " without property and
fond of liquor," after having given some two hundred -depo-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

sitions iii favor of three land claimant speculators, " was
induced,'' in the language of the report, " either by compen-
sation, fear, or the impossibility of obtaining absolution on
any o<her terms, to declare on oath that the said depositions
were false, and that in giving them he had a regard for
something beyond the truth."

The report of the commissioners raised many doubts in
regard to the validity and propriety of a number of confir-
mations by the Governors, and much dissatisfaction among
the claimants ; and in consequence, Congress in 1812, passed
an act for the revision of these land claims in the Kaskaskia
district. The commissioners under this law were Michael
Jones, John Caldwcll, and Thomas Sloo. Facts damaging
to persons who occupied positions of high respectability in
the community, were disclosed. They reported that the
English claim of thirty thousand acres confirmed by Gover-
nor St. Clair to John Edgar and the Governor's son, John
Murray St. Clair, was founded in neither law or equity ; that
the patent was issued after the Governor's power ceased to
exist, and the claim ought not to be confirmed. Congress,
however, confirmed it.

For a period of several years, emigration was considerably
retarded by the delay in adjusting laud titles. The act of
Congress passed in 1813, granting the right of pre-emption
to settlers, was influential in bringing the public lands into
market. Emigrants poured into the country, and improve-
ments were rapid'y made.

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE STATE.

In area the State has 55,410 square miles of territory. It
is about 150 miles wide and 400 miles long, stretching in
latitude from Maine to North Carolina It embraces wide
variety of climate. It is tempered on the north by the great
inland, saltless, tideless sea, which helps the thermometer
from either extreme. Being a table-land, from 690 to 1,600
feet above the level of the sea, one is prepared to find on the
health maps, prepared by the general government, an almost
clean and perfect record. In freedom from fever and mala-
rial diseases and consumptions, the three deadly enemies of
the American Saxon, Illinois, as a State, stands without a
superior, ' She furnishes one of the essential conditions of a
great people sound bodies; we suspect that this fact lies
back of that old Delaware word, Illini, superior men. The
great battles of history have been determinative; dynasties and
destinies have been strategical battles, chiefly the question of
position ; Thermopylae has been the war-cry of freemen for
twenty-four centuries. It only tells how much there may be
in position. All this advantage belong to Illinois. It is in
the heart of the greatest valley in the world, the vast region
between the mountains a valley that could feed mankind
for a thousand years. It is well on toward the centre of the
continent. It is in the great temperate belt, in which have
been found nearly all the aggressive civilizations of history.
It has sixty-five miles of frontage on the head of Lake Michi-
gan. With the Mississippi forming the western and south-
ern boundary, with the Ohio running along the south-eastern
line, with the Illinois river and Canal dividing the State
diagonally from the lake to the Lower Mississippi, and with
the Rock and Wabash rivers furnishing altogether 2,000

miles of water-front, connecting with, and running through,
in all about 12,000 miles of navigable water. But this is
not all. These waters are made most available by the fact
that the lake and the State lie on the ridge runnin<; iuto the
great valley from the east. Within cannon-shot of the lake
the water runs away from the lake to the gulf. The lake
now empties at both ends, one into the Atlantic and one into
the Gulf of Mexico. The lake thus seems to hang over the
land. This makes the dockage most serviceable ; there are
no steep banks to damage it. Both lake and river are made
for use. The climate varies from Portland to Richmond.
It favors every product of the continent including the tropics,
with less than half a dozen exceptions. It produces every
great nutriment of the world except bananas and rice. It
is hardly too much to say that it is the most productive spot
known to civilization. With the soil full of bread and the
earth full of minerals; with au upper surface of food and an
under layer of fuel; with perfect natural drainage, and
abundant springs and streams and navigable rivers; half
way between the forests of the North and the fruits of the
South ; within a day's ride of the great deposits of iron, coal,
copper, lead and zinc: containing and controlling the great
grain, cattle-, pork, and lumber markets of the world, it is
not strange that Illinois has the advantage of position. This
advantage has been supplemented by the character of the
population. In the early days when Illinois was first admit-
ted to the union, her population were chiefly from Kentucky
and Virginia. But, in the conflict of ideas concerning sla-
very, a strong tide of immigration came in from the East, and
soon changed this composition. In 1880, her now native
population were from colder soils. New York had furnished
143,290: Ohio gave 172,623: Pennsylvania 108,352: the
entire South gave us only 216,734. In all her cities, and in
all her German and Scandinavian and other foreign colonies,
Illinois has only about one-fifth of her people of foreign
birth.

PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT.

One of the greatest davelopments in the early history
of Illinois, is the Illinois and Michigan canal, connecting the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers with, the lakes. It was of the
utmost importance to the State. It was recommended by
Governor Bond, the first governor, in his first message. Two
bright young engineers surveyed it, and estimated the cost
at $600,000 or $700,000. It finally cost $8,000,000. In
1825, a law was passed to incorporate the canal company,
but no stock was s~ld. In 1826, upon the solicitation of
Daniel P. Cook, ctmgress gave 800,000 acres of land on the
line of the work. In 1828, another law-commissioner was
appointed, and work commenced with new survey and new
estimates. In 1834-35, George Farquar made an able
report on the whole matter. This was, doubtless, the
ablest report ever made to a western legislature, and it be-
came the model for subsequent reports and action. From
this the work went on until it was finished in 1848. It cost

! the State a large amount of money ; but it gave to the indus-
tries of the State an impetus that pushed it up into the first

j rank of greatness. It was not built as a speculation. But
it has paid into the Treasury of the State an average annual

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

nett sum of over 111,000. Pending the construction of the
canal, the land and town- lot fever broke out in the state, in
1834-35. It took on the malignant type in Chicago, lifting
the town up into a city. The disease spread over the entire
State and adjoining States. It was epidemic. It cut up
men's farms without regard to locality, and cut up the purses
of the purchasers without regard to consequences. There
was no lack of buyers ; speculators and money swarmed into
the country. This distemper seized upon the Legislature in
1836-37, and left not one to tell the tale. They enacted a
system of internal improvement without a parallel in the
grandeur of its conception. They ordered the construction
of 1,300 miles of railroad, crossing the State in all directions.
This was surpassed by the river and canal improvements.
There were a few counties not touched by either railroad or
river or canal, and those were to be comforted and compen-
sated by the free distribution of $200,000 among them. To
inflate this balloon beyond credence it was ordered that work
should be commenced on both ends of each of these railroads
and rivers, and at each river-crossing, all at the same time.
The appropriations for the vast improvements -were over
$12,000,000, and commissioners were appointed to borrow
money on the credit of the State. Remember that all this was
in the early days of railroading, when railroads were luxu-
ries ; that the State had whole counties with scarcely a
cabin, and that the population of the State was less than
400,000, and you can form some idea of the vigor with
which these brave men undertook the work of making a
great State. In the light of history it appears that this was
only a premature throb of the power that actually slumbered
in the soil of the State. It was Hercules in the cradle. - At
this juncture the State bank loaned its funds largely to
Godfrey Oilman & Co., and other leading houses for the
purpose of drawing trade from St. Louis to Alton. Soon
they failed, and took down the bauk with them. In 1840,
all hope seemed gone. A population of 480 000 were load-
ed with a debt of $14,000,000. It had only six small cities,
really only towns, namely : Chicago, Alton, Springfield,
Quincy, Galena and Nauvoo. This debt was to be cared
for when there was not a dollar in the treasury, and when
the State had borrowed itself out of all credit, and when
there was not good money enough in the hands of all the
people to pay the interest of the debt for a single year. Yet
in the presence of all these difficulties the young State
steadily refused to repudiate. Gov. Ford took hold of the
problem and solved it, bringing the State through in triumph.
Having touched lightly upon some of th$ most distinctive
points in the history of Illinois, let us next briefly consider
the

MATERIAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE.

It is substantially a garden four hundred miles long and
one hundred and fifty wide. Its soil is chiefly a black sandy
loam, varying from six inches to six feet thick. On the
American Bottoms it has been cultivated for over .one hun-
dred and fifty years without renewal. About the old French !
towns it has yielded corn for a century and a half without
rest or help. It produces nearly everything green in the tet
perate and tropical zones ; she leads any of the other Stat

in the number of acres actually under plow. Her products
from 25,000,000 acresare incalculable. Her mineral wealth
is scarcely second to her agricultural power. She has coal,
iron, lead, copper, zinc, many varieties of building stone,
fire clay, cuma clay, common brick and tile clay, sands of
all kinds, gravel, mineral paint, everything needed for a
high civilization. Left to herself, she has the elements of
all greatness. The single item of coal is too vast for an
appreciative handling in figures. We can handle it in gene-
ral terms, like algebraical signs but long before we get up
into the millions and billions, the human mind drops down
from comprehension to mere symbolic apprehension. Nearly
four-fifths of the entire State is underlaid with a deposit of
coal more than forty feet thick on the average, including all
strata (now estimated by recent surveys, at seventy feet
thick). You can get some idea of its amount, as you do of the
amount of the national debt. There it is, 41,000 square
miles, one vast mine into which you could bury scores of
European and ancient empires, and have room enough
all round to work without knowing that they had been
sepulchered there. Put this vast coal-bed down by the
other great coal deposits of the world, and its importance
becomes manifest. Great Britain, has 1 2,000 square miles
of coal; Spain 3,000; France 1,719; Belgium 578; Illi-
nois about twice as many square miles as all combined.
Virginia has 20,000 square miles; Pennsylvania, 16,000;
Ohio, 12,000; Illinois has 31,000 square miles ; one-seventh
of all the known coal on this continent is in Illinois.

Could we sell the coal in this single State for one-seventh
of one cent a ton it would pay the national debt. Great
Britain uses enough mechanical power to-day to give each
man, woman and child in the kingdom the help and service
of nineteen untiring servants. No wonder she has leisure
and luxuries. No wonder the home of the common arfisan
has in it more luxuries than could be found in the palace of
good old King Arthur. Think, if you can conceive of it, of
the vastarmy of servants that slumber in Illinois, impatient-
ly awaiting the call of genius to come forth to minister to
our comfort. At the present rate of consumption England's
coal supply will be exhausted in 250 years. At the same
rate of consumption (which far exceeds our own) the deposit
of coal in Illinois will last 120,000 years. Lst us now turn
from this reserve power to tho

ANNUAL PRODUCTS

of the State. We shall not bo humiliated in this field. Here
we strike the secret of our national credit. Nature provides
a market in the constant appetite of the race. For several
years past the annual production of wheat in Illinois has
exceeded 30,000,000. That is more wheat than was raised
by any other State in the Union ; with corn, she* comes for-
ward with 140,000,000 bushels, twice as much as any other
State, and one-sixth of all the corn raised in the United
States. She harvested 2,767,000 tons of hay, nearly one-
tenth of a. 1 the hay in the Republic. It is not generally
appreciated, but it is true, that the hay crop of the country
is worth more than the cotton crop ; the hay of Illinois equals
the cotton of Louisiana.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

The valuation of her farm implements is 8230,000,000,
and the value of her livestock, is only second to the great
State of New York. She raises from 25,000,000 to 30,000,-
000 hogs annually, and according to the last census packed
about one half of all that were packed in the United States.
This is no insignificant item. Pork is a growing demand of
the old world. Illinois marked $64,000,000 worth of
slaughtered animals ; more than any other State, and one-
seventh of all the States.

Illinois is a grand and wonderful State, peerless in the fer-
tility of her soil, and inexhaustible resources. She is fast
marching on towards her predestined place as first among the
sisterhood.

We subjoin a list of the things in which Illinois excels all
other States.

Depth and richness of soil ; per cent, of good ground ;
acres of improved land ; large farms number of farmers ;
amount of wheat, corn oats, and honey produced ; value of
animals for slaughter; number of hogs; amount of pork;
and number of horses.

Illinois excels all other States in miles of railroads and in
miles of postal service, and in money orders sold per annum,
and in the amount of lumber sold in her markets. She pays
a larger amount of internal revenue to the general govern-
ment than any other state.

Iilinoisas only second in many important matters. This
sample list comprises a few of the more important:

Permanent school fund (good for a young State) ; total
income for educational purposes ; number of publishers of
books, maps, papers, etc. ; value of farm products and im-
plements, and of live stock ; in tons of coal mined.

The shipping of Illinois is only second to New York. Out
of one port during the business hours of the season of navi-
gation she sends forth a vessel every ten minutes. This does
not include canal boats, which go one every five minutes.
No wonder she is only second in number of bankers and
brokers or in physicians and surgeons.

She is third in colleges, teachers and schools ; cattle, lead,
hay, flax, sorghum, and beeswax.

She is fourth in population ; in children enrolled in public
schools, in law schools, in butter, potatoes, and carriages.

She is fifth in value of real and personal property, in theo-
logical seminaries and colleges exclusively for women, in
milk sold, and in boots and shoes manufactured, and in book-
binding.

She is only seventh in the production of wood, while she is
the twelfth in area. She now has much more wood and
growing timber than she had thirty years ago.

A few leading industries will justify emphasis. She man-
ufactures $210,000,000 worth of goods, which place her
nearly equal to New York and Pennsylvania.

In the number of copies of commercial and financial news-
papers issued, she is only second to New York, and in her
miles of railroads she leads all other States. More than two-
thirds of her land is within five miles of a railroad and less
than two per cent, is more than fifteen miles away.

The Religion and Morals of the State keep step with her
productions and growth. She was born of the missionary

spirit. It was a minister who secured her the ordinance of
1787, by which she has been saved from slavery, ignorance,
and dishonesty. Rev. Mr. Wiley, pastor of a Scotch congre-
gation in Randolph County, petitioned the Constitutional
Convention of 1818 to recognize Jesus Christ as King and
the Scriptures as the only necessary guide and book of law.
The Convention did not act in the case, and the old cove-
nanters refused to accept citizenship. They never voted
until 1824, when the slavery question was submitted to the
people. But little mob violence has ever been felt in the
State. In 1817 the regulators disposed of a band of .horse
thieves that infested the territory. The Mormon indignities
finally awoke the same spirit. Alton was also the scene of a
pro-slavery mob, in which Lovejoy was added to the list of
martyrs. The moral sense of the people makes the law
supreme, and gives the State unruffled peace. With about
823,000,000 in church property, and 4,321 church organiza-
tions, the State has that divine police, the sleepless patrol of
moral ideas, that alone is able to secure perfect safety. Con-
science takes the knife from the assassin's hand and the blud-
geon from the grasp of the highwayman. We sleep in safety
not because we are behind bolts and bars these only de-
fend the innocent ; not because a lone officer sleeps on a
distant corner of the street; not because a sheriff may call
his posse from a remote part of the county; but because con-
science guards the very portals of the air and stirs in the
deepest recesses of the public mind. This spirit issues within
the State 9,500,000 copies of religious papers annually, and
receives still more from without. Thus the crime of the
State is only one-fourth that of New York and one-half'that
of Pennsylvania.

Illinois never had but one duel between her own citizens.
In Belleville, in 1820, Alphonso Stewart and William Ben-
nett arranged to vindicate injured honor. The seconds
agreed to make it a sham, and make them shoot blanks.
Stewart was in the secret. Bennett mistrusted something,
and, unobserved, slipped a bullet into his gun and killed
Stewart. He then fled the State. After two years he was
caught, tried, convicted, and, in spite of friends and political
aid, was hung. This fixed the code of honor on a Christian
basis, and terminated its use in Illinois. The early preachers
were generally ignorant men, who were accounted eloquent
according to the strength of their voices. Gov. Ford says,
" Nevertheless these first preachers were of incalculable ben-
efit to the country. They inculcated justice and morality.
To them are we indebted for the first Christian character of
the Protestant portion of the people."

In Education, Illinois surpasses her material resources. The
ordinance of 1787 consecrated one thirty-sixth of her soil to
common schools, and the law of 1818, the first law that went
upon her statutes, gave three per cent, of all the rest to Educa-
tion. The old compact secures this interest forever, and by its
yoking together morality and intelligence it precludes the
legal interference with the Bible in the public schools. With
such a start it is natural that we should have about 11,500
schools, and that our iliteracy should be less than New York
or Pennsylvania, and about one-half of Massachusetts. What
a grand showing for so young a State. These public schools

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

soon made colleges inevitable. The first college, still flour-
ishing, was started in Lebanon in 1828, by he M. E. Church,
aud named after Bishop McKendree. Illinois college at
Jacksonville followed in 1830, supported by the Presbyterians.
In 1832 the Baptists built Shurtleff college at Alton, and
Knox college at Galesburg followed in 1838, and Jubilee
college at Peoria in 1847, and the good Catholic missionaries
long prior to this had established in various parts of the State,
colleges, seminaries and parochial schools. After these early
years colleges have rained down. A settler could hardly
encamp on the prairie but a college would spring up by his
wagon. The State now has one very well endowed and
equipped university, namely the North-western University,
at Evanston, with six colleges, ninety instructors, over one
thousand students, and $1,500,000 endowment. Rev. J. M.
Peck was the first educated Protestant minister in the State.
He settled at Rock Spring, St. Clair County, about 1820, and
has left his impress on the State. He was a large contribu-
tor to the literature of that day in this State ; about 1837 he
published a Gazetteer of Illinois. Soon after John Russell,
of BlufTdale, published essays and tales showing genius.
Judge James Hall published the Illinois Monthly Magazine
with great ability, and an annual called The Western Sou-
venir, which gave him an enviable fame all over the United
States. From these beginnings, Illinois has gone on till she
has more volumes in public libraries even than Massachu-
setts, and of the 44,500,003 volumes in all the public libra-
ries of the United S:ates, she has one-thirteenth.

In 1860 she had eighteen colleges and seminaries ; in 1870
she had eighty.

That is a grand advance for the war decade. Her growth
in the last ten years has been equally marvellous.

This brings us to a record unsurpassed in any age.

THE WAR RECORD OF ILLINOIS.

We hardly know where to begin, or how to advance, or
what to say, as we can at best give only a broken synopsis
of her gallant deeds. Her sons have always been foremost
on fields of danger. In the war of 1812 she aided in main-
taining national sovereignty. In 1831-32, at the call of
GJV. Reynolds, her sons drove Blackhawk over the Missis-
sippi.

When the Mexican war came, in May, 1846, 8,370 men
offered themselves when only 3,720 could be accepted. The
fields of Buena Vista, Chapultepec and Vera Cruz, and the
storming of Cerro Gordo, will perpetuate the bravery and
the glory of the Illinois soldier. But it was reserved till
our day for her sons to find a field and a cause and a foe-
man that could fitly illustrate their spirit and heroism.
Illinois put into her own regiments for the United States
government 256,000 men, and into the army through other
states enough to swell the number to 290,000. This far ex-
ceeds all the soldiers of the federal government in all the
war of the revolution. Her total years of service were
600,000. She enrolled men from eighteen to forty-five
years of age when the law of Congress in 1864 the test
time only asked for those from twenty to forty-five. Her
enrollment was otherwise excessive. Her people wanted to

go and did not take the pains to correct the enrollment.
Thus the basis of fixing the quota was too great, and then
the quota itself, at least in the trying time, was far above
any other State. Thus the demand on some counties, as
Monroe, for example, took every able-bodied man in the
county, and then did not have enough to fill the quota.
Moreover, Illinois sent 20,844 men for ninety or one hundred
days, for whom no credit was asked. When Mr. Lincoln's
attention was called to the inequality of the quota compared
with other states, he replied, " The country needs the sacri-
fice. We must put the whip on the free horse." In spite
of these disadvantages Illinois gave to the country 73,000
years of service above all calls. With one-thirteenth of
the population of the loyal States, she sent regularly one-
tenth of all the soldiers, and in the peril of the closing
calls, when patriots were few and weary, she then sent one-
eighth of all that were called for by her loved and honored
son in the White House. HeT mothers and daughters went
into the fields to raise the grain and keep the children to-
gether, while the fathers and older sons went to the harvest
fields of the world. What a glorious record there is treas-
ured up in the history of this great country for the patriotic
Illinois soldier. Her military record during the Rebellion
stands peerless among the other States. Ask any soldier
with a good record of his own, who is thus able to judge,
and he will tell you that the Illinois men went ui to win.
It is common history that the greater victories were won in
the West. When everything else was dark, Illinois was gain-
ing victories all down the river, and dividing the confederacy,
Sherman took with him on Lis great march forty-five regi
ments of Illinois infantry, three companies of artillery, and
one company of calvary. He could not avoid going to the
sea. Lincoln answered all rumors of Sherman's defeat with
" It is impossible ; there is a mighty sight of fight in. 100,-
000 Western men." Illinois soldiers brought home 300
battle-flags. The first United States flag that floated over
Richmond was an Illinois flag. She sent messengers and
nurses to every field and hospital, to care for her sick and
wounded sons. When individuals had given all, then cities
aud towns came forward with their credit to the extent of
many millions, to aid these men and their families. Illinois
gave the country the great general of the war Ulysses S.
Grant since honored with two terms of the Presidency of
the United States.

One other name from Illinois comes up in all minds,
embalmed in all hearts, that must have the supreme place
in this story of our glory and of our nation's honor : that
name is Abiaham Lincoln, of Illinois. The analysis of Mr.
Lincoln's character is dilHcult on account of its symmetry.
In this age we look with admiration at his uncompromising
honesty. And well we may, for this saved us thousands
throughout the length and breadth of our country who knew
him only as "Honest Old Abe," and voted for him on that
account; and wisely did they choose, for no other man could
have carried us through the fearful night of the war.
When his plans were too vast for our comprehension and
his faith in the cause too sublime for our participation,
when it was all night about us, and all dread before us,

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

and all sad and desolate behind us : when not one ray shone
upon our cause ; when traitors were haughty and exultant
at the south, and fierce and blasphemous at the North ;
when the loyal men here seemed almost hi the minority ;
when the stoutest heart quailed, when generals were defeat-
ing each other for place, and contractors were leeching out
the very heart's blood of the prostrate republic: when
everything else had failed us, we looked at this calm, patient
man standing like a rock in the storm and said, " Mr. Lin-
coln is honest, and we will trust him still." Holding to this
single point with the energy of faith and despair we held
together, and, under God, he brought us through to victory.
His practical wisdom made him the wonder of all lands.
With such certainty did Mr. Lincoln follow causes to their
ultimate effects, that his foresight of contingencies seemed
almost prophetic. He is radiant with all the great virtues,
and his memory shall shed a glory upon this age that shall
fill the eyes of men as they look into history. Other men
have excelled him in some points, but taken at all points, all
in all, he stands head and shoulders above every other man
of six thousand years. An administrator, he served the
nation in the perils of unparalleled civil war. A statesman,
he justified his measures by their success. A philanthropist,
he gave liberty to one race and salvation to another. A
moralist, he bowed from the summit of human power to the
foot of the Cross, and became a Christian. A mediator, he
exercised mercy under the most absolute obedience to law.
A leader, he was no partizan. A commander, he was un-
tainted with blood. A ruler in desperate times, he was
unsullied with crime. A man, he has left no word of pas-
sion, no thought of malice, no trick of craft, no act of
jealousy, no purpose of selfish ambition. Thua perfected,
without a model and without a peer, he was dropped into
these troubled years to adorn and embellish all that is good
and all that is great in our humanity, and to present to all
coming time the divine idea of free government. It is not
too much to say that away down in the future, when the
Republic has fallen from its niche in the wall of time; when
the great war itself shall have faded out in the distance like
a mist on the horizon ; and when the Anglo-Saxon language
shall be spoken only by the tongue of the stranger, then the
generation looking this way shall see the great President as
the supreme figure in this vortex of hist ry.

CIVIL ORGANIZATION.

The history of Illinois has been traced while a possession
of France, and when under the British government ; and
the formation of Illinois as a County of Virginia has been
noted. The several States afterwards agreed on the adop-
tion of Articles of the Confederation, to cede their claims to
the western land to the General government. Virginia
executed her deed of cession March 1st, 1784. For several
years after, there was an imperfect admistration of the law
in Illinois. The French customs partly held force, and
affairs were partly governed by the promulgations of the
British commandants issued from Fort Chartres, and by the
regulations which had subsequently been issued bv the Vir-
ginia authorities.

By the ordinance of 1787, all the territory north-west of
the Ohio was constituted into one district, the laws to be
administered by a governor and secretary ; a court was insti-
tuted of three judges. A general assembly was provided
for, the members to be chosen by the people. General
Arthur St. Clair was selected by Congress, as Governor of
the north-western territory. The seat of government was at
Marietta, Ohio.

In the year 1795, Governor St. Clair divided St. Clair
County. All south of a line running through the New
Design settlement (in the present County of Monroe) was
erected into the County of Randolph. In honor of Edmund
Randolph of Virginia, the new county received its name.

Shadrach Bond, afterwards the first Governor, was elected
from Illinois, a member of the Territorial Legislature which
convened at Cincinnati, in January, 1799. In 1800 the
Territory of Indiana was formed, of which Illinois consti-
tuted a part, with the seat of government at Vincennes.
About 1806, among other places in the West, Aaron Burr
visited Kaskaskia in an endeavor to enlist men for his
treasonable scheme against the government. In 1805,
George Fisher was elected from Randolph County a mem-
ber of the Territorial Legislature, and Pierre Menard was
chosen member of the Legislative Council.

By act of Congress, 1809, the Territory of Illinois was
constituted. Ninian Edwards was appointed Governor of
the newly organized Territory, and the seat of government
established at Kaskaskia. Nathaniel Pope, a relative of
Edwards, received the appointment of Secretary.

For nearly four years after the organization of the Terri-
torial Government no legislature existed in Illinois. An
election for representatives was held on the eighth, ninth,
and tenth of October, 1812. Shadrach Bond, then a resi-
dent of St. Clair County, was elected the first Delegate to
Congress from Illinois. Pierre Menard was chosen -from
Randolph County member of the Legislative Council, and
George Fisher of the House of Representatives. The Legis-
lature convened at Kaskaskia on the twenty-fifth of Novem-
ber, 1812.

In April, 1818, a bill providing for the admission of Illi-
nois into the Union as a sovereign State was passed by Con-
gress. A Convention to frame a Constitution assembled at
Kaskaskia iu the following July. The first election under
the Constitution was held in September, 1818, and Shadrach
Bond was elected Governor, and Pierre Menard, Lieutenant
Governor. Illinois was now declared by Congress admitted
to fhe Union as on an equal footing iu all respects with the
original States. The Legislature again met at Kaskaskia ia
January, 1819. This was the last session ever held at Kas-
kaskia. Vandalia, the same year, was selected as the Capital
of the State. It was stipulated that Vandalia was to be the
Capital for twenty years. At the end of that period it was
changed to Springfield. Bjlow we give list of governors
and staff officers of Illinois.

Illinois was constituted a separate Territory by act of Con-
gress February 3d, 1809. The boundaries were described
as follows :

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

ILLINOIS TERRITORY.

FROM 1809,

TO 1882.

* " That from and after the first day of March next, all
that part of the Indiana Territory which lies west of the
Wabash river and a direct linedrawn from the said Wabash
river and Post Vincennes due north to the territorial line
between the United States and Canada, shall for the purpose'
of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and
be called 'Illinois.'"

The seat of government was fixed at Kaskaskia.

The territorial government was continued under the first
grade from 1809 until 1812, when by a vote of the people
the second grade was adopted.

Under the first grade, the Governor and Judges, who
received their appointment from the President, constituted
the Legislative Council, and enacted laws for the govern-
ment of the people. The Governor possessed almost un-
limited power in the appointment of officers ; the Secretary
of the Territory being the only officer, not appointed by the
Governor.

Under the second grade, the people elected the Legisla-
ture, which was composed of a Legislative Council and a
House -of Representatives. The Legislative Council was
composed of five members, and the House of Representatives
of seven members.

The Legislature enacted the laws for the government of
the people, but the Governor was possessed of the absolute
veto power, and was therefore in position to dictate the laws,
if he chose to exercise the power.

The people also elected the Delegate to Congress by popu-
lar vote.

Territorial Officer*.

The following is a complete roster of territorial officers
from 1809 until the organization of the State government
in 1818:

GOVERNORS.

, March 7, 1809. Declined.

April 24, 1809, to December 6, 1818.

appointment was two years. Governor Edwards
i time, as his term expired, and served through

The term of the Governor's
ros re-appointed from time t
.he entire territorial governr

SECRETARIES.
, March 7,1809,1

is, 1816, to April, 1S1T.
1817, to August, 1817.
33,lSi;,toOetoberO,lSl

AUDITORS OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

IT. II. Maxwell 1812 to 1S16,

Daniel P. Cook January IX, 1

i;iaukwell April ;',,

Elijah C. Berry August 88,1

ATTORNEYS-GENERAL.

Benjamin II. Doyle July 24 1809, to December, 1809.

John J. Critteud'eM December 30, 1809, to April, 1810.

Thomas T. Crittvnden April 7, 110, to October, 1810.

Beiijamin M. Piatt Ootoh, -r .".I, isiu, to June. 1S13.

William Mears Iune23, 1813, to February 17, 1818.

From Legislative Directory, published 1881.

John Thomas

Shadrach Bond

Il.Mijamin stcphenson

Nathaniel Pope

Obadiah Jones, ..................

Alexander Stuart ..............

Jesse B. Thomas ...............

Thomas Tow-lea
Daniel Cook. (Wctern
John Wurno.'k. (Wester
John McLean. (Eastern

TREASURERS.

1812 to 1818.

ELEGATES TO CONGRESS.

December, 1812, to 18

~ itember 2
! to 1818.

JUDGES.
March 7,1809.

.V.V."'.V.V.'.'.'...V.'.'.'......Ijuly 29, lilia.

October -s, 'Sl.-i

.
El las Kent Ka

t.) February 17, 1818.

u iiii-i!M .Mear-. fl-.astern circuit. I February 17,1818.

Jeptha Hardiu. (Eastern circuit.) Mareh 3,1818.

ADJUTANTS-GENERAL.

Elias Rector

Robert Morrison

Elias Rector

Mav 3, 1809, to July 18, 1809.

lillv IS, IVM;,, to M'av2, 1810.

May W, 1*1".,,, October _>.% 181

First Territorial Legislature 1812.

askaskia on the 25th day of November, A. D. 1812. Adjour
'

, . .

nvened and adjourned

Convened at Ka _

the 26th day of December, 1812. Second
November 8, A. D. 1813.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
OFFICERS.

President Pierre Menard.

Secretary John Thomas.

Doorkeeper Thomas Van Swearingen.

MEMBERS.

Randolph. Samuel Judy Madis

...(iallatin. Thomas Ferguson Johns

...St. Clair.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
OFFICERS.

Pierre Menard

IVniiU.im Tall>tt
William Biggs

Doorkeeper

MEMBERS.

George Fisher Randolph. Josh

Alexander Wilson Gallat-n. Jaco

. Gallatin
..Johnson

. Greenu
Van Swe

Pt. flair

..... St. Cl.ir

Madron

Second Territorial legislature 1814.

FIRST SESSION.

;d at Kaskaskia the 14th day of November, A.
24, A. D., 1814.

D. 1814. Adjourned

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

OFFICERS.

President Pierre Menard.

Secretary John Thomas.

Doorkeeper Thomas Stuart.

MEMBERS.

Pierre Menard Randolph. Samuel Judy Madison.

William ISim?s t. Clair. Thomas Ferguson Johnson.

Benjamin Talbott Gallatin.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVF.S.
OFFICERS.

Sneaker Risdon Moore.

Clerk William Mears.

Doorkeeper Thomas Stuart

MEMBERS.

Riadon Moore St. Clair. Phillip Trammel Gallatin.

William Rabh Madis,,,,. Thomas C. Browne Oaltatln.

James Lemon, Jr ft. Clair. Owe,, Kvans Johnson.

James Gilbreath* Randolph.

Second Territorial Legislature 18 5.

SECOND SESSION

,th day of December, A. D. 1815.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
OFFICERS.

President Pierre Mcnard.

Secretary lohn Thomas

Enrolling and Engroiiwa Clerk Wm. C. Greenup.

MEMBERS.

Pierre Menard Randolph. Willis

Samuel Judy Madison. Thorn

Benjamin Talbott Gallatin.

Expelled.

HISTORY OF EDWARD, LAWRENCE AND WADASH COUNTIES, 1UANOIS.

OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

OFFICERS.

Spcak f r

Risdon Moore.

Under t

C'crk
Vaorkccper

Daniel P. Cook.
Ezra Owen.

nor and I

Enrolling and Enjr^

syutgfJUrk

Wm. C. Greenup.

election re

l:j -'l-.n Moore

KEMBEB8.

St. Clair. John G. Lofton..

Madison.

the Speak

Phillip Trammel
Th asC. I-.rown,-".:
Jarvis Ilazelton

(iallatin. William Ual.l.....
Hallatin. Jam.-- I..-m.-ii. .
Kan.l.ilph.

Mudi-.ui.
r St. Clair.

open and j
the Gener

.:_* u_ii

Third Territorial legislature 181O-1T.

FIRST SESSION.

Convened at Kaskaskia the 2d day of December, A. D. 1816. Adjourned
January 11, A. D. 1817. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL .

President..

I'ier

iMenard.

MEMBERS.
HarmMenard Randolph. John Grammar John

Thomas C. Browne ................. Gallati

, G.Lofton Madison.

Abraham Amo.i St. Clair.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

OFFICERS.
Speaker T. Oeor^' 1 i'i-h

Doorkeeper

Georco Fisher .................... Randolph.

C. R. Mathem- ....................... St. (flair.

Win II l!r:idsliv .......... St. Clair.

Nathan Davis ........................ Jackson.

. .
Ezra Owen

eph Palmer ..................... Johnson.

i.Jard .............................. Edwards.

iin.'l oinelvcny ........................ I'ope.

A. D. 1817. Adjour

..Ptoi

Third Territorial Legislature

SECOSD SESSIOX.

rened at Kaskaskia the. 1st day of December,
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

' winjGtort

Ezra Owen.

5IEMBERS.

Pierre Menard Randolph. John G. Lofton M

Ai.rah.iin AT.OS Monroe. Thomas C. Browne G

JolmGrimmar Johnson.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

OFFICERS.
Speaker George Fisher.

Doorkeeper

MEMBERS.
George Fisher ......................... Randolph Wm. H. Bradsby

M itheny .................. St. Clair. Joseph Pal

CoOk.

[J. K. MrLuii>_rlilm.
Ezra Owen.

Wil

nport

First Constitutional Convention.

CONVENTION OF 1818.

Assembled at Kaskaskia, July 1818. Adjourned August 26,
1818. Thirty-three delegates. One member from Washington county
ilird during the sitting of the convention ; name unknow
tion mlopted in convention without being submitted to
people. Approved by Congress, December 3, 1818.

OFFICERS.
President ............................ ........... Jesse B. Thomas.

Secretary ..................................... William C. Greenup.

DELEGATES.

St. Glair Jesse B Tiiomas, John Mewinger, James Lemen, Jr.

(ieor-o lusher, Elias Kent Kane.

Mu'limn Benjamin Stephenson, Joseph Borough, Abraham Pri
kett.

- - Michael Jones, Leonard White, Adolphua F. Hubbard.
, Hc'7.ekiah West, Win MoKatridge.
.! Srt.li Gard, Levi Corapton.
/,' illi* Hargrave, Win McIIcnry.
-Caldweli Cams Enoch Moore,
-Samuel Omelveny, Hamlet Ferguson.
..-Conrad Will, James Hall, Jr.
../-Joseph Kitchell, Edward N. Cnllom.
#;/ -Thomas Kirk patrick, S;imm-l G. Morse.

William KrhokJohiiWhiteaker.
Waihingtnn Andrew Bankson.
Franklin Iham Harrison, Thomas Roberts.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

Under the constitution of 1S18 the elective officers were the Gover-
nor and Lieutenant-Governor, who held office for four years. The
re transmitted by the returning officers, directed to
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, whose duty it was to
open and publish them in the presenca of a majority of each house of
l Assembly. In case of a lie, the choice was made by a
joint ballot of both houses. The first election for Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor was held on the third Thursday of September,
A. D. 1818. Thereafter the eleclions were held every four years
on the first Monday of August.

The Secretary of State was appointed by the Governor, with the
advice and consent of the Senate.

The Auditor of Public Accounts, Treasurer and Attorney- General
were elected by the General Assembly, and held office for two years
respectively.

By the constitution of 1848, all these officers were made elective by
the people, except the Attorney-General, which office was abolished .
The term of office for each was four years, except the Trcasn n r,
which was two years.

The office of Attorney-General was again created by law, in 1867,
and the term fixed at two years. The office was first filled by
appointment by the Governor, and at the expiration of the term by
election by the people.

The constitution of 1870 provides that the Executive Department
shall consist of a Gorernor, Lieutennnt-Governor, Secretary of State,
Auditor of Public Accounts, Treasurer, Superintendent of Public In-
struction, and Attorney-General, who shall each, with the exception
of the Treasurer, hold office for four years from the second Monday in
January next after election. The Treasurer holds office for two years,
and is ineligible for re-election until the expiration of two years next
after the end of his term. The first election under the constitution of
1870 was held November 5, A. D. 1872.

By a law passed in 1849 the Secretary of State was made ex-officio
State Superintendent of Public Schools. In 1854 the law establish-
ing a system of free schools created the office of State Superintendent,
and provided for the appointment by the Governor, upon the taking
effect of the law, of some person to hold office until the election in
1855, when a State Superintendent should be elected, and every two
years thereafter.

..St. Ciair.

The offices of Adjutant-General, State Geologist, and Entomolo-

'..Gallatin]

gist, are created by law, and filled by appointment of the Governor.

STATE OF ILLINOIS.

igust 20,

Coveriioro

n county

tc of the

When

From what

Nsme. ^

inaugurated.

county

Remarks.

Shadraeh Bond

Oct. 6, 1818

St. Clair

tiup.

1-Mwurd Coles

Dec. &, 182.!....

Madison

Ninian Kdwur.ls

Dec. 6, 1S2C...

Ma.lis.M,

John Reynolds

Dec. 9, 1830,...

St. Clair

Re-iltneil Nov. IT,' 1834."

n, Jr.

Win. T,. 1). Ewing

NOT. 17, 1834..

K-.yrtt"

Elected ll.'p. to Congress.
Vice Reynolds.

m Pric-

M-illl

Thomas Carlin

Dee. 3, 1834
Dec. 7, 1838

iV,".^*"

;"'z;!"z:;;!r;r7'.i::::::::.

Thomas Ford

Dee. 8, 1842

Ogle '.'.'.'.'I

ibbard.

Augustus C. French
Augustus C. Frenuli

Ian. ,s, Will

Crawford
Crawford

iie-eiected "under"con'st'ii
of 1847.

Jan., is:,. 1 !

Will

John Wood. '.'.".'.I..'.'.!!.

Jim. ll', ls:,T....
Mar. 21, 180(1...

4-temiw.'.".'.'.'.'.

~n.'.'<v(l'.lto theoffice vica

Richard Yates

Jan. 14,1801...

Morgan

Bisaell

Richard .!.< fleshy
John M. Palm.-r
Richard J. Oglesby

John L. Bcverid.-e

Jan. lr., l.s.;:
Jan. 11. I8W...

Jan. 13, INT::...
Jan 23, 1873...

Ma.'.m
Maeoiipin ...
Macon!

Cook

I'le.'tc.l IT. S.S.'irrtor.
Succeeded to office, rico

Shelby M. Cullom
SU.-li.y M. Cullom

Jan 8.18T7...
Jan. 10, 1881....

Sunj-umoil.'.'!

Oglosby resigned. '

HISTORY OF EDWARD, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

When

Fr^m what

Name

inaugurated

county.

Remarks.

Pierre Menard
Adolphus, F. Hul.l.ard..

Oct. 6, 1818..
Dec. 6, 1822..

Randolph

Oallatin

rr-- -:.=.:

Zadok'casov"' J ""."
Wm.L.D. Ewing

Dec! 9^ 183(1..
Mar. 1, 1833..

Jefferson'.'.'.'.'.'
Fayette

Resigned' March "i, TssS. '"
Presidentof Senate and Act-
ing Lieut-Governor.

Alex. M. Jenkins

Dec. 5, 1834..

Jackson

Resigned

Wm. H. Davidson

Dec. 9, 1836..

White

President of Senate and Act-

ing Lieut-Governor

Stinson H. Anderson...

Dec. 7, 1838..

Jefferson....

John Moore

Dec. 8. 1842..

McLean

Joseph B. Wells

Dec. 9, 1846..

Jan. 8, 1849..

John Wood !!'.".'.'.'."'.

Jan. 1853..
Jan. 12, 1857..

f t j a [g ir

-<uoeeeded to ofnV-e of (n.v

vice Bissell dec'd Mar. 21,

1860.

Thomas A. Marshall

Jan. 7, 1861.. Coles

President of Senate and Act-

ing Lieut-Governor.

Francis A. Hoffman

Jan. 14, 1861.. !Cook

William Bross

Jan. 16, 18G5..
Jan 11 186')

Cook

Tnion

'" '

John L. Beverfd'ge
John Early

Jan. 11, 1873..
Jan. 23, 1873..

Cook
Winnebago..

Succeeded to ortiee of <iov.
vice Oglesbyelec'dU.S Sen
ft-esidentof Senate and Act-

Archibald A. Glenn Jan. 8, 1875..

Andrew Shuman IJan. 8, 1877.
John Hamilton Jan. 10, 1S81..

Cook
McLean

ing Lieut-Governor.
President of Senate and Act-
ing Lieut-Governor.

Secretaries of State.

Elias Kent Kane

Samuel L>. Lnckwood....

Oct. 6.
Do 18,
\|.ril 2,
Oct. 15,

George Forquer Jan. 17,

Alexander P. Field '

Stephen A. Don-las

Lyman Trumbull >feo^27,

Thompson Campbell.... Mar. 4,
Horaces. CooK-v Do.; 2'i

Horaces. Cooley !jan. 8,

David L.Grcggs April 10,

Alexander Starne Ian In

Ozias M. Hatch Ian. 12

OziasM. Hatch Ian. 14

Shan.n Tvndale..
Edward Hummel

1818..,Kaskaskia..
cteb.Z

gamon...

1828..|Union

Win.. Morgan

,8H.. St. Clair

1843.. JoDaviess ...
Adams

IS If,.

Adams

Cook

Pike

lair!:::::

Peoria

Tazi-wi'll

Resignoa Dec. 16, 1822.

U.-<ii_-ii,-,l Jan. 15, 1825.

Removed MarrTi 4. Isl'i.

of 1848. Died April 2, 1850.

Name.

When
qualified.

From what
county.

Remarks.

Elijah C. Berry Oct. D, 1818..

Fayetto

Elijah C. Berry 'April 6, 1819..
Jwnes T. B. Stapp Aug. 27, Ml..
Levi Davis 'Nov. 16, 835..
James Shields Mar. 4, 841..

Randolph'.'.'.'.'

Wm. D. L. Ewing Mar. 26, 84:1..
Thomas H. Campbell...:Mar. 26, 816..
Thomas H. Campbell... Jan. 7, 847..

Kdoiph':::

Died.
Vice Ewing, deceased.

Jcsso K. Dubois [Jan. 12, 857..

Jesse K. Dubois ! Jan. 14. 861..

Orlinll. Miner

( hailes E. Lii.pinooti.
Charles E. Lippincott.

Dec. 1 !, 864..
Jan. 11, 869..
Jan. 11. 871..

san K amon ".: i ......... ;.v.v.v.".v.v.".".".;::".~ ..

Cass

Thomas B. Needles ! .Jan. 8, 877..
Charles P. Swigcrt .Jan. 10, 881..

W;i8'iincton

.::..:::.:....

Ninian W. Edwards M,-h. -j|, ls:,l.. Sancm.on... \,,point,.,l by the Governor

Newton Bateman Jan'y. ,1871.

Sam'l M. Etter ,Jn'y 11, 1876.

Jawes P. Sladr Jan'y 13, 1879.

Name.

When
qualified

^cZnt^'i Remark

Thomas 1818.

R. K. McLaugnlin 'Aug. 2, 1819.

Abner Field Jan. 14,1821.

James Hall 'Feb. 12. 1827.

John Dement IFeb. 5, 1831.

ry 'Dec. 5, 1836.

side Meh. 4, 1837.

ter !Mch. 6, 1841.

lAllg. 14 1848.

John Moore Dec. 16, 1850.

James Miller Sjan. 12, 18S7.

William Ilutler jSept. 3, 18M,

William Butler Jan. 14, 1801.

Alexander Starne 'Jan. 12, 1863.

James H Beveridge jjan. 9, 1865.

George W. Smith Jan. 10, 1867.

Erastus N. Bates Jan. 11, 1869.

Erastus N. Bates jNov. 8, 1870.

Edward Kutz |jan. 13,1873.

Thos. S. Ridgeway Jan. 11, 1875.

Edward Rutz iJan. 8, 1877.

I Jan. 13, 1879,

|Jan. 10, 1881,

Bamiltoi

nted vice G'arpent/i

Attorneys-General.

Daniel Pope Cook

William Mears

Sam'l D. Lockwood

James Turney

Ninian^

" Iwards..
Jesse B. Thomas, Jr....

Walter B. Scales

Usher F. Linder

George W. Ulney

Wiekliffe Kitehell

Josiali hamborn

.lames A. Mrliounall....

David ii. Campbell

Robert G. Ingersoll . ...
Washington lluslmoll..

James K. Edsall

James McCartney

Dec. 21, 1846.. Sangamon...

Feb. 28, 1867.. Pooria

Jan'y. 11, 1873.. LaSalle

Jan'y 13, 1873.. Lee

Jan'y. 8, 1877.. " -

Jan'y. 10, 1881.. Wayne

Resigned March 5, 1

Resigned Dec'.'3,"i832.'

iiosign'ed'FebVTVis'a!""
Resigned Jan'y 8, 183G.

liesi.nned D.-c. 2ii, ls:!i;.
Resigned Juno 11, 1838.

Api>ointed'b'y''G'o'v'.'ogiesby.

D B.Walsh !June 11, lsr,7.. Itock Island

Wm. LoKarnm April 2, 187(1.. Kane

Cyrus Thomas \pril M, l7- Jackson '

ah C.Berrv ................ .June 11 1821..

ios W. 11,-rrv .............. Ii-e. 19,1828..

es K. Anderson ....... Dec. in, i.s:::>..

Kim I'., liui'knor .......... \i>ril 3, ls:.7..

Wm.c;. Kennoy ............. \<l: :>, ls:,7..

Thomas S. Math.-,. ......... not. 2S. ls:.s..

Allen C. Killlor ................. Nov. II. lsi;l.

Ishani X. Hiwni.i ........... .lan'v 1C, ISiir...

Kdwanl P. Nilos .................... .' ..... . .........

i^H Remttrk3 '
dolph.....

Uesigiii'd .Nov7i'i','i839."

Uexamler...

Hubert DilKc-r Meh. 21, lxi.ii.. Sali'-am.m".'.'.

Ivlwiti I. HI--M,- .l.mV.l, 1ST:!..

Edwin L. HiRstins 'July 1,1874..

Hiram HillianL.^'Z.'^ .InlV >', is::... c,...k

1 Inly 2, 1877.. "

Hiram Hilliard

ice Kinney, deceased.

HISTORY OF EDWARD, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

POPULATION OF

Stat-mont showing the population of the State of Illinois by Counties, according to the United States census, from the year 1800 to the year 1S80,
of organization and name o/County Seat: .

Counties. 1800. j 1810. | 1820. j 1830.

1840.

1850.

1860.

1870.

1880. | When organized.

County Seats.

Adams
Alexand, r

.........

2,186
1,390

14, 476
313

26, 508
484

41,323
4,707

56, 362
10,564

69, 148 1 January 13, 1825
14,80!) March 4, 1819

Qu.injT

Bond

tfO\

060
705
183

144
19S

9,815
11, 67f

13 152
12,942

12,2(1-

14, S73 January 4, 1317 -
11,527 March 4,1837
13,044'February 1, 1839

(/roenvme!!777777

Hell-idem
Ml. Sterling

Bureau"".'"' 777..77777 777 777 777!
Calhoun
Carroll
Cass !

&fi"::.:::::::::z:::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::..

Clark

""'931

ijogb
'75.1

2,330

,007

' 475
878
453
228
718

231
586
2,13
619
203
532
,280

26,'426
6,141
11,733
11,325
14, 629
10, 492
11,987
9,336
10,941

34; 415

6, 562
16,705
11,580
32, 737
20, 363
18,719
15, 875
16 285

33,189
7,471

i^M
40, 869
28,232
21,900
16195
18,718

February 28, 1837 Princeton
January 10,182' Hardin
Febuarv22, 1839 Mt, Carroll
March 3, 1817 -, Virginia
February 20, 18'tt Urbana
February 15, 1.3:1:1 Tavlorville
March 22, 1.319 Marshall
December 23, 1324 Louisville ...
December 27. 1.3-21 carlvle

o8iw.77!.\7!7...7.!.7.777!.7.777 777 7.77

616

14, 203

25 235

27 01.1 December 2.1, 18311

Charleston

Cook

1 2'Jl

4: ' :;7

144,9.14

349966

607,719 January 11, 1J3I

Chicago

Crawford j ' 2,999
Cumberland j !

3,117

11,551

8,311

13 889
12 223

16,190 December 31, 1816

Robinson
Majority Point

DeKalb !

097
247

540
002

19,086
10, 820

2:1,,-,:,
14.76S

--,i7:i March 4, 183777777! Sycamore
17 OulMarch 1,1839 CJinton

D,F|^ ::;;:: !

535

290

7,140
14,701

15.S.17 February ri,1317 TusenU
19 is? February 9. 1*1!) Wheaton

^^577.77.7777777777777 777 "3,444

Ktfingham

t:;!!:'

221

10, WS

5,454

7 316

2l! 45?

7,565
1.1,05:1

2jio04 January's, 1823

1> Novem1,er23,1sl4
IM^Fobruaryll, IR31

Paris

Sam7777!77.

Favette , 2,704

J32S

075

11, !89

19,613

23,213 February 14, 1821

Vandalia

Ford

1,979

9, 103

15 101 F,.bni..,rV.17, 13.19

Kir ::::::::::::=::..:::::..:::::::::::::::::. .^

Gallatin ] 3155

4,083
1,841
7,40,1

iis-i

1 112
1 760

'tis'

i508
4 is

12, 612
33,291
11,134

16 i-.,,. January '2, 1818
41,219 January 23, 1823
12, si;-- September 14, 1312

Lewisto \vn77.7.7.777
Shawneetown

Greene

7,674

1 951 429

16,093

20,277

23,014 January 2;i, 1821

Carrollton

Hancock. !7777777777.7.77777! 777 777

'483

941
946
378

362

r.,12
887

10,379
9, 915
29 061

9 v!"

14,938
13, 014

16, 7.1.8 February 17, 1841
16,712 February 8, 1821.1
35 31 > January 18, 1825
r, o,l March'2, 1839

Morris
MeLeansboro

Sfc^!7777

Henderson ' '.... :

612

12! ,132

10,755

January 20, 1841

Oquawka

807

January n, 182.1

C mbridge

Iroquois ,
Jackson l,142j 1,828

69.1
500
472

149
862
220

12^ 325
9589
8,364

2.% 782

ass

I'Ybrilary 26,1833
January in, 1816
-elirnaryll, 1831

Watseka!.

702

109

12, 965

17,864

Iar<-h!iii,]S19

Mt. W Vern'on"77777.7

jersey...7777777.7777777 777 777 :

535

354

12,051

15, 054

IS) 548

February 28, 18:1!)

Jerseyville

Johnson

Mil 1.596

626

114

9, 342

11,248

13, 079

September H, 1^2

Kane

501

703

30, 062

39,091

44| 956

annarv li 1 ., 1836

Kankakee

15. 412

2 1! 3.12

24, 901

1 1. ls.11

Kankak'e'e 'cit7-.7!!7.7.

13. 074

12,399

13,08l!Fehruary19,'l841_

Yorkville ".

274

(160

279

28, 663

39,122

Galesburg

654

226

18,257

21,014

21^299 March I, i> :

Waukegan

LaSaiie777. 777777.77777. 77!!! !!!!!!'.'.'.'

348

815

48.332

60,792

70,420 January H. 1831.~~__

' Mtan.l

Livinjorton !....

777; Y"

092
035
759

121
292
552

9,214
17,651
11,637

12,533
27,171
31,471

13,663

27' 194
38,450

January 16. 1821 Xawrenceville
February 27, 183!) Dixon
February.27, 1837 Pontiae

Logan

:::!!!::: ::::7:::::!::

333

128

14, 272

23,053

25,041

February!), 183!)

, : 1.122

039

988

13, 738

26,481

30, 071

Janna-y 19, 1829

Decatur

Madiso p n!..7...'.......'....!'.7.!7.'.7...!.!.7!7!!!!!!! !!! ih'," 6/221

.326
1 433

355
441

21,60-2
31, 351

32, 726
44 131

37,705
60.141

January 17, 1329
September 14,1812

Carlinville

E,lwardsville

&EEEEEEEEEE E = ^.

742
849

12, 739
13,437

20,622

23,091
15,030

January 24, 1823

Salem
Lacon

Mason 1

i! 921

10,931

K, 184

Havana...

6213

9581

10,' 443 j February 1843.777!

McHenry 7.7.77.777777.77 777 !!!!!!!!.

ITS

616

978

20,069

22, OS,,

26,509

23, 762

24^914

Ianuary25, 1828

lanuary 16,183i;

WooTtoc'k

16.1

163

28, 772

63,968

m 115

1) mher -.

Bloomington7'.!!!7.7!.7

Mena?d.777:7.7.7.!77.7.7!777 777 7"7!

431

349

9,584

11, -:;r.

13 028

February 15, 139

Petersburg

Mercer
Monroe
Montgomery 1
Morgan
Moultrie

.........

1*7 14

aat

,481
1 ,'547

240

234

15,042
12,832
13,979
22,112
6, 385

1*71*
12,932
25,314
28 463
10,3.85

28, 016

January 13, 1825
June 1,1816.

February 12, 1821
January 31, 1823
February! i, 1843

Aledo
Waterloo
Hillsboro
Jacksonville
Sullivan

Ogle i 479

021

22,888

27,49?

29,946

January' 16, 1836

Oregon

Peoria

153

1.2).i; 222

547
278

47.640
13,723

16',008

Januar'y 13, 1821
January 29. 1827

pike 77777777.7.' '." 777 77.7 7.7." ii.wi 'i 728

KtoEEEE 77:77777 7;:::::: 7 m .... ( :!: 4

Putnam mo, 13
Randolph 1,101,7,275 3.-I92I 4429 944

60C

sin

97:
264

071

.6 I '?27
a', 943

21)' 855

15,' 583
33,761
13,2,56
9,507
IS 555
25; 691

January 27, 1841 Monticello
January 31, 1821 Piltsfield
April 1, 1816 (Jolcouda
March 3, 1843 Mound City
January 13, 1825 Hennepin
April 28, 1809 .Chester

Riebland

^^!-"77777777!77!7 ::::::::! 7!7!7::77

Bpngamon

s-huyier ;;:;::..; 77;

2,95!)

'liiV

972

01?

rls's

22S
573

9,711
21,005
9, 331
32,274
14,684

12. 803
29, 733
12,714
46, 352
17,419

15, 546
38,314
15, 9

52, 902
16,249

February 24, 1S41

February 9, 1831
February 21, 1847
January 3o, 1821
January 13, 1325

Olney

Itoek Maud
Harrisburg
Springfield

ftofoiy

2,972

21.1
669

914
807

9,069
14, 613

10, 530
25, 476

10,74.1 February 16, 1839
30,282 January 23,1827

Wincnester!.'.'!!!!!! 777.7
Shelhyville

573

71<

9,004

10, 751

ll,20!i March 2,1839

*st. ciaYr7'7777777!7.7777j"i^55y'v;o7T'5,248

7 07s

1 631

37,694

61 068

f.1,850 April 28, 1809

Belleviii'e".""".'.'.!!!"'."."."

Stephenson '

777

""4,716
3,239

fcii

25,112
21, 470

30,608
27, 903
16, 518

31, 97n March 4, 1837
M.U79 January 31, 1827
18,UKl January 2. 1818

Freeport
Pckin
Jonesboro

verm n iiion'77.'.7.'.77.: .7.777.7 :;;;7:: :; ..::...

Wabash
Warren

5,336
2,710
308

!2ir
739

492
690
176

7', 313
18,336

ao*sn

8,841
23, 174

41,' 600 January IS, 1326
9, 94o|December27, 1824
22,9to January 13, 1825

Danville
Mt. Carmel

\Vahim;t,'ii

i''i'n

1,075
2,553

810
133

953
825

13.731
12,223

17, M9
19,758

21,117

21,297

January 2, 1818
Mareh'26.1819

Fairfield .7.!'.7.'.'.V.V.'7!!.'

whi,"77777 77.':.'." !!"! !7:7

.i's -

6.091

919

92T

12 403

16,846

23,089

December 9, 1815

Wniteside. .......... 7 '

will ;..! 777.7.77777 777 ..7.7 777 77.77

tt'illiam-on
Wmn, -i,a';o 1

.1 -1 361
1 167 703
457 216
61 CJ 773

18, 7S7
29,321
12,205
21 491

27,503
43, 013
17,329
29, 301

30,' 838
53, 424
19. 32f
30, 518

January 16,1836
January 12, 1ST;
February 28, 1839
18. 1836

M^ison.'.".!......
.Toilet

Rockfor'd.!'.'.'.".'.'!'.'..'.'.'.!.'.....'

Woodford

41.1

$20

18.95C

21, 630 February 27, 1841

Aggregate ' 2,318 12. ?82 55,162 157,445' 476, 183 851,470

1,711,911 2,539, S91

3,078,63,1

* St. Clair county was organized April 27th, 1790, by Arthur St. Cla r, then Governor and Commander-in-chief of " The territory of t
west of the Ohio river, ' re-organized after Illinois had been established as a Territory, April 28th, 1809.

-tales north-

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Presidents.

Secretaries of State.

Secretaries of War.

Postmasters-General

NO. NAME. QUALIFIED.

NO. NAME. APPOINTED

NO. HAM*. APPOINTED.

NO. NAME. APPOINTED.

1 George Washington A (ml 30,

7vi
79!

17 John C. Calhoun Mar.

IX James Buchanan Mar.

XII

22 William L. Marcy Mar. 0, 1845
2:; George -. Crawford.. . Mnr. 8,1849

4 Gideon Granger Nov. 28
' Mar

sill

2 John Adams .'.'.'..Mar.' 4^

7M7

19 John M. Clayton Mar.

sei

24 diaries M. Conrad Am.'. 15, IS5O

" " Mar'

3 Thomas Jellerso i Mar 4,
Mar. 4,
4 James Madisoa Mar. 4,

8(15
809

Daniel Webst-r July 2
20 Edward Everett Nov.
21 William L. Marev Mar.

I860

1X52
863

2.-, .lelterson Davis Mar. 5, 1853
20 John B.FIovd Mar. 0.1857
27 Joseph Holt Jan. 18, 1801

6 Return J. Meigs, Jr Mar! 1

1X14
817

22 Lewis Cass Mar.

s:,7

28 Sim.,,1 i am.-ron Mar. 5, 1801

G John McLean '.......Iiine 2

6 James Monroe...'.:'.:::::::::^!.;: 4_;

M7
821

23 Jeremiah S. Black Dec. 1
24 William H. Si-ward Mar.

800
861

2:i K'Uun M. Staiilon Ian. 15, 802
" Mar. 4, Xi 5

7 William T. Barry'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'..Mar'. i

6 John Qiiinev Adams !!!! Mar! '4,

x-25

" April 15, si;:,

Mar.

7 Andrew Jackson....... ....Ma, 4,

April 1
25 E. B. Wa-hburne Mar.

Sill!

U.S. Grant, ad infmi...Anir. 12, S07
L Thomas, - " ...Feb. 21, xiix

8 Amos Kendall Mav
Mar

8 Martin Van Bnreri '.'.'.'.'.'.'..Marl 4'
9 Win. ll.-nrv Harii-on....Mar. 4,

X37
- II

20 Hamilton fish Mar. 1
" Mar.

873

in John M. Sehofield Mav 2s, xox
II John A. Kawlim .Mar. 11, si!!)

9 John M. Kiles May 2
10 Francis Granger Mar.

Is 1,1

lo John Tvler April 0,

sll

27 William M. Evarts Mar. 1

12 Wm. W. I'.elkliap Oet. 25, si,9

' " Apiil

lsl[

*l James K. Polk Mar. 4,

12 Zaeharv T.ivlor Mar. 5,
13 Millard Filimore July In,

xl'l

s-,0

2* .lamesti. Blaine Mar.
29 Frelinghuysen, F. T Dec.,

xx i

881

Mar. 4, 873
;:: MphousoTaft Mar. 8,1870

:\ .lames D. Cameron Mav 22, 1X70

llChas. A. Wieklifle Sept. 1
12 Cave Johnson Mar
13 Ja-'ob Collamer Mav.

1X11

si:,
Is 1:1

14 Franklin Piei-.-e Mar. 4,

s:/t

',:, Geo. W. McCrary Mar. 12, 1877

14 Nathan K. Hall July 23

1', James lliieiiamm Mar. 4,

857

30 Alexander Kunsev. Deo. In, 1H79

15 Sam'l T). Hubbard Aug 3

Is' 2

16 Abraham Lincoln .Mar. 4,

861

Secretaries of the Treasn

37 Robert T. Lincoln Mar. 4, 1881

10 James Campbell Ma?'
17 Aaron V Brown M-ir

17 Andrew Johnson, Auril 1%
18 Ulysses S. Grant Mar. 4,

s.';,

s'':,)
873

1 Alex. Hamilton Sept. 1
2 Oliver Wolcott...'.'.'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'..Feb.

7..!'

Secretaries of the Navy.

IX Joseph Holt Mar. 1
In Horatio Kini: Feb 1
20 Montgomery Blair Mar.

S..I

19 Rutherford R. Hayes ....Mar. 5,
20 James A. GaHield Mar. 4,

xx !

" " Mar.
Samuol Dexter Jan.

707

8ul

1 Benjamin Stoddert -May 21, 1798

* !' '..'- Mar: <

Is!'-!

21 Chester A. Arthur Sept. 20,

ss|

Albert GaHatin May 1

-el

2. RobertSmiih I'.'.'.'.'.'.'.jn'lv ir,\ ixol

22 Alex. W. Randall ".'.'.'.'.'." July' L

d t( ^J;| r - \

813

3. .1. Croivnin-hiold .Mai-. 3, 1SU5

23 John A. J. Cresswell Mar.

is.,,

Geo. W. Carnpbeii'."!"!"!Feb]

si (

4 Paul llamilt m Mar. 7, Mill

Mar.

1873

Vice-Presidents.

Alexander J Dallas Get
Wm. H. Crawford Oct. 22

|s| 1

1816
817

5 Wi Ham Jones Ian. 12, 1813
" " .. Alar 4 1X13

24 Marshall Jewell Aug >
25 James X. Tvner Julv 1
-20 David M.-K Kev Mar. 1

1x74
1x70

1 John Adams Tune 3,

7s '

B. W. Orowninshield Dee. 19, 181 1

" Dec. 2,
2 Thomas Jefferson Mar. 4,
3 Airon Burr Mar. 4,

793
sol

Richard Rush ...'"..'.'.'." .Mar
Samuel D. In^ham Mar.

821
823

1820

Mar. 4, 1817
7 Smith Thompson Nov. 9, 1818
Mar. 5,1X21

27 Horace Mavnard June
28 Thomas L.' James Mar.
29 Timothy O. Howe Dec.,

ix'o

lss|
IsXl

4 Goorce Clinton Mar. 4,

1 Louis M, 'Lane Aug

8 Samuel L. Southard Sept. lo. Is2:s

" " Mar 4
5 Eldridge Gerry "'.""'.'...'.'.'Mar.' 4,
*John Gaillard Nov. 25,

SII'J
Sll
si 1

1 William J. Diiane May 2
1 Roger B. Tanoy Sept. 23
1 Lovi Woo.lbnrv Juno!

x:> ;
1833
1834

Mar. 4. 182">
9 John Branch Mar. 9,1829
in Lovi Woo.lbiiry May 23, lx:il

6 Daniel D. Tompkins Mar. 4,

xl7

" ' .' Mar.

1837

" ' Mar, 4, 1x33

Mar. 5,

14 Thomas En ing Mar.

11 Malilon Diokerson lime :io, ix.il

7 John C. Calhoun Mar. 4,

s .,,
833
837

sll

IS 11

1843

is II

12 James K. Paul ding".'.".'.'. June 25,' 1838
13 Georue 10. Badger Mar. 5, 1841
April G, 1841

8 Martin Van Buren Mar. 4,
9 Kiehard M. Johnson Mar. 4,

10 John C. Spen. -or Mav.
7 George M. Bibb luue 1

1 Edmund Randolph Sept. 2fi

789

10 John Tyler Mar. 4,
*Samne'l L. Sou-hard Auril 0,

841

sll

x Kobert J. Walker Mar.
19 Wm. M. Meredith Mar.

1X15
1849

14 Abel P. Upshur Sept. l:;,]sll
15 David Hensliaw Inly 21, IS43

2 William Bradford....'.'.'.'.'.' Jan' 2

3 Charles Lee Dec.

*Willie P. Mangum Mav 31,

-12

20 Thomas Corwin July 2

1850

10 Thomas W. (;i mer I'Vb. 15,1844

11 George M. Dalla< Mar. 4,
12 Millard Fillinonl Ma'. R,
*William H. King July 11,
13 William K.King Mar. 4,
*David R. Atohison April is,

xr,
848

893

BUS

-21 .James Gutlinc Mar.
22 llowellCobb Mar.
23 Philip F. Thomas Dec. 1
24 John A. Dix Jan. 1
2.i Salmon P. Chase Mar.

1853

1 s:,7
son

S',1

1801

17 John Y. Mason Mar. 14, 1S-U
is Geo ire Bancroft Mar. Ill, 1X45
Johu'V. .Mason Sept. !i, 1X40
19 Uiiliuii 11. Preston Mar. 8,1841)
20 William A. Graham Tilly 22,1850

4 Theophilus Parsons !".".' Feb.' 2

5 Levi I.ineoln Mar
Kobert Smith Mar.
7 John Breekiuridge Aug.
8 ucsar A. liodney Jan.

sn;,

*.lesse D. Bright Dee. 5,
14 John C. Breckinriilge... Mar. 4,
i:, Il.-iiinibal llamlin...'. Mar. 4,
16 Andrew Johnson Mar. 4,

*l.afave-te S. Foster April 15,
*B.-niamin F. Wade Mar. 2,
17 Sehuvl-r Col fax Mar. 4,
18 Henry Wilson Mnr. 4,
Thomas W. Ferry Nov. 22
19 William A. Wheeler Mar. 5,
20 Chester A Arthur Mar. 4,

857

si;l

ST,

set

S09

873

877
881

20 Wm. Pin Fessenden lulv
27 Hugh MeCalloeh Mar.
April 1
2S George R. Boutwell Mav. 1
29 Wm. A liichavdson Mar 1
30 Bcnj. II. Bristow June
31 Lot M. Mori-ill luly
32 John Sherman Mar.
33 William Wi -mom Mar.
34 Chas. G. Folger Dec.,

864
805

1869
1"73

1.-7I
1870

1877

ss|

21 John P. Kenne Iv Inly 22, ls:>2
22 .lam.-s C. Dobbin Mar. 7,1853
23 Isaac Toueey Mar. o, 1857
21 Gideon Welles Mar. 5,1801
" Mar. 4, 1S05
' April 15, is,;-,
25 A.lolph E. Borie Mar. 5, IHiil
2, Ceo. M. Kobeson June 25, ISi-.ll
" Mar. 4 1X73

27 b'ieh. w. Thompson Mar. 12, 1x77
M Nathan Gofl; Jr. ton. 6,1881

9 William Pinkney'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.Dec.' 1

10 Kiehard Uush '.'.'..'.."'.>" 1
11 WilMam Wirt.'.'.".'.'..V.'.'.'.'.'.':Nov: 1

" ....... ......Mar.'

12 John M. Jierrien Mar
13 Roger B. Taney July 2

XI N'I

s|4
-17
S17
S2I

828

Sl-l

S3]
s 'i

.21 David Davis Oct. 13, 1881

2:1 W. H. Hunt .Mar. 4, 1881
30 W. E. Chandler April, 1882

11 Benjamin F. Bufier!~!Ijio 1

883

'Acting Vice-Presidcnt and PreFident

Secretaries of War.

i- F ,r" C d " ^'I'-

s.;,

pro tern of the Senate.

Secretaries of the Interior.

ll! Henry 'D. Gifpi[V...'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.!JaZ' 1

s'io

1 Henry Knox ..Sept.

1780
1703

1 Thomas Ewing Mar. 8, 1849

April

sll
XII

Secretaries of State.

Timoth y Pjckerin'g'':::.'.'.'jan.'
James MeHenry Jan^, 2'

17:'-'
17:i_.

2 Alex. H. Stuart Sept. 12, 1X50
3 Robert MeClellaud Mar. 7 Is;,:;

18 JJugh S. Legare Sept.
19 John Nelson July
"u John V Mason Mar

1 Thomas Jefferson Sept. 20, 1789
Mar. 4, 17W

Samuel Dexter May ]:
Uoger Griswold Feb.

IS ']

5 Caleb B. Smith Mar. 5, 1X01
John P. Usher Jan. 8, 1803

21 Nathan Clifford (let.
22 Isaae Toueey lime

sir,
848

2 Edmond Randolph Ian. 2 1791
3 Timothy Piekering Dor. lo, I7'.r>

4 John Marshall .'.".'.'.'.'.May 13,' 1800
B James Madison Mai-. 5, ixm

Henry Dearborn ..Mar.

William Eustis...'..".'..'....".Mar'.
John Armstrong Jan.
Mar.

ISiil

1-",

1809
Is!-:
1813

7 James Harlan .'.'.'.'.'.'.. .'.'.'..'."Mav i\ I8H
8 0. H. Browning Julv 27.lxoo
11 Jacob D. Cox..! Mar. 6, 1809

2:: Itever.lv Jonnson Mar.
John J Crittenden July
-21 Caleb Cu.hing Man
25 Jeremiah 8. Slack Mar.
20 Edwin M. Slanton Dec.

s ,3
S'io

Mar. 4, 1805
G Robert Smith Mar. 6, 1809

9 James Monroe Sept.
10 Win. H. Crawford Aug.

l -1 1
Is].,

M Columbus D.-hino Nov. 1,1870
41 * Mar. 4, 1873

27 Kdward Bates Mar.
T. J. Coffey. nd int June

.'.1

7 James Monroe April 2, 1S11
" Mar. 4, 1813
8 John Quiney Adams Mar. fi, 1817

11 George Graham nd Inter
12 John C. Calhoun Oct.
" " Mav.

1817

1- :l

11 Zachariah Chandler Oet. I:>. 1X75
I2<3arl Seburz Mar. 12,1877
13 Samuel . I. Kirkwood Mar. 4, sxl

28 James Speed Dee.
" '.'.'..'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'. April 1.

s,::,

" " ' Mar. 5] 1x21
9 Henry Clay Mar. 7, 1825

13 James Barlx.ur Mav.
14 Peter B. P.uter Mav

1 128

14 Henry M. Teller \pril, 1882

20 llenrv Stanberv lulv
3'i William M lOvarts July

s,:,;

sis

11 Martin Van Huron Mar. 0, 1X211

5 John H. Eaton Mar.

1829

31 E. lioi-kwood Iloa- .Mar.

11 Edward Livingston Mav 21, lx:ll
12 Louis Mr-Lane Mav 29 1833
13 John Forsyt.h June 27, Is:;-,
Mar. 4 is::7
14 Daniel Weh.ter Mar. 5, 1*41

Lewis Cass Aug.

18S1
1841

|sll

Postmasters-General.

32 Amos T. Akerman June
33 George it. Williams liee. 1

31 Edward Pi'-rropont...'.'..Aiiri'l 2t
35 Alphonso Taft Mav

870
871

B7
876

17 Joel R Poius It Mar.
18 John Bell Mar.
" April

1 Samuel Gsgood Sept. 26, 1789
2Timolhy fiokering Ujg. 12.1791
" Mar 4, 1793

April fi, 1*11

19 John C. Spencer Oct.

IM1

3 Joseph Habersham F. b. 25, 17;i:>

30 Charles Devens Mar

5 Hugh S. Legare Mav 21, S!:'
Abel P. Upshnv Ju:v 21. si:

20 James M. PO-UT Mar.
21 William Willdns, Feb. 1

i -i::

Mar. 4. 1797
Mar. 4. 1S01

37 Wavue Mat'Vengh Mar

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

F. A. Muhl.nberg Pennsylvania
Jonathan Trumbull | Connecticut
F. A. Milhlenberg Pennsylvania

1st C -ngress

2d Congress....

April 1, 1789, to March 4, 1791

October 24, 1791. to March 4,171)3
December 2, 1711.1, to March 4, 17D.1

17.50

1740

1801
1809

Jonathan Dayton

New Jersey
Massaehusetts'.'.!!!!'.!'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.!'.'!!!!!'.'

4th Congress
5thCon|res,

lieeetnl.er 7, 179,1 , t" .March 4, 1797
.Mav i:>, 171)7, t" March :i, 1799
December _'. 1791), to March 4, Isol

1760

1823

Nathaniel Macon

North Carolina

sth Connress

December 7. lx"l. to March 4, L8U3
October 17, Iso:;, to -Mar.-h 1, lso.1
December 2. Iso:,, i,, .March 1. INC

17,17

1837

Joseph B. Varnum
Henry Clay '.'.'.!!!'

Langdon Cheves!! !....!
Henry Clay

Massachusetts
Kentucky ^^"VZZZ

10th Congress
IHli Congress
12tli Congress
l:!th Congress
13th Congress
11th Cotiuress
15th Congress _

1-07, t., March 4, ismi
Mav 22. 1 si in, to .March 4, isll
November 4, 1811. to March 4, 1813
May 24, isl. i, t., .human- 19.1x14
lanuaiv 19, Ixl 1, to -Mai'vh 1, ixl.1
December 4, l.sl.1, to M-rch I, 181.1
ember 1, lsl7, to March 4, 1819

1750

i'fn

1821
1852

i's'iV

Philip P. Barbo'u'r'."!.!'. '. '. !...'.'.'.'.'.'.!!.
Homy Clay
John W. Taylor

S^EEEEEE

Virginia

10th Congress
17th Coiinres*
18th Congress
lath Congress
2(lth Congress
21st Connress
2-'d Congress

November 15. I8a>, t" Mar.-h 4, 1821
December 4, 1x21. to March 4. 1823
December 1, 1x2:1, to March 4. 1825
Dec. inbi'l-5. 1x2.1, I" March 4. 1x27
December :i, 1x27, t" Mar, h 4, ]XL:'
December 7, 1x29, to March 4. lx:il
December-., lx:n. to March -li lx:;:i

1784

1783

1784

1857

John Bell '."".'.'.'.'.'.'.!'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'."."'.'!!!.".!!!!.
James K. Pol i

Tennessee, 2d Session

23d congress..'.'.'.'..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_'4th Conmvss
2.1th Congress

1 i.-ce or L', ix:;:i. to June :>. IK'A
June 2, 1834, to Mar. h 4, is:!:,
December 7, 18:::,, to Maivh 4, lx:;7
September.',, 18:',-. to March 4,1X39

1797
1795

1869
1849

Robert M. T. Hunter

Virginia

December In. l.vls, to .Maivh 4, 1841

1809

John Woite

Kciilucky

Mav 31 1841, to March 4. Isl:!

1846

Jol,n\V. Jones
John \V. Davis

Virginia..
ndiana

,'Sth Congress
)th Congress

December 4, 1x1:1, to March 4. Isl:.
December 1, 1x4.1. to March 4, 1x17

1805
1799

1848

Robert C. \Vinthro|. ft

UMsaohQBeiu

December 0, 1817. to March 1. 1x41)

1809

Howeil C.,l,l,
Linn lioyd

Georgia
Kentucky

H-t Congress
!2.l CJongress

!:id Congress

Dccmb,r22, 1,819. to M,.r, 1,4,1851
December 1, ls:i, to Mar.-h 4. 1 8.1:1
December 5, I8S3, to March 1, 1-55

IMS
1800

1808
1859

Nathaniel P. Hanks Massachusetts

Febril.-irv 2 Ix.lo, 10 Jla-ch 4, 1x57

1816

James L. Orr South Carolina

), mber7, lx.17, to .Maivh 4, ls.19

1873

Wra. Pennington New Jersey
Galusha A. Grow Pennsylvania
Bohuyler Colfax Indiana

)0th Congress
17th C ngress -.
i8th Congress

February 1, Ism, t Maivh 4, 1801
illy 4, isr.l, to March 4, Is.;.!
lecetnber 7, Isi :i, to Maivh 4, Isr:,

171)6
18-23
1823

1862

Kith Congress

ilarch 4, 18(17, t., March 4, IMHI

James G. Elaine

Maine

larch 4, 18011, to March 4, 1871

1830

March -I, 1871, to Mai'.-h 1, 1x73

Michael C. Kerr
Samuel J. Ramlall

In.liana
Pennsylvania, 2d Session

44th Congress
44th Congress

December 0, 1875, to August 20, 1870
>e,'.cmbcr4. Is7n, to March 4, 1877
Ictober 1.1. 1x77, to March 1, 1879

its

1876

46th Congress

March 18, 1879, to

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AT EACH CENSUS, FROM 1790 TO 188O, FROM THE OFFICIAL CENSUS.
nd Territories. 1790. 1800. I 181O. 1820. 1830. ]

Wyomi

The Territories

Total Population

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

CHAPTER III.

GEOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES
RAILROAD FACILITIES.

EDWARDS COUNTY.

AXD

stone, as may be seen from the outcroppings along the
banks. Between two seams of sandstone shale low vein
of coal appears, and in an early day was taken out in
small quantities by the blacksmiths for their forges at
Albion.

Soil and Agriculture. The soil on the rolling upland
is a chocolate-colored clay loam, well charged with
HE county of Edwards was erected in 1814, j humus from decomposed vegetable matter, and is very
and was the sixth county formed in what is I productive, being specially adapted to the culture of the

best quality of wheat, of oats, and the grasses. The
bottom lands along Bonpas creek are heavily timbered,
but when cleared and brought into cultivation are very

now the State of Illinois. At its organi-
zation it embraced nearly all the eastern
portion of the territory of Illinois, and a part of the

territories of Wisconsin and Michigan,
boundary extending to Upper Canada.

one of the smallest counties

ts northern I productive, and constitute the best corn lands in the
southern part of the State. At this time wheat is the

the State, and is

staple product of the county. In an early day, corn

bounded as follows : On the north by Richland, east stood at the head of the list in acreage. A little later,
by Wabash, south by White and west by Wayne \ pork became the leading product, and furnished the
county. It is about twenty-one miles from north J greater revenue to the farming community. It should
to south, and is eleven miles in width, and contains be noticed here that horticulture is among the leading

industries. Both the soil and climate are admirably
adapted to the culture of all kinds of fruit.

Hydrography On account of most of the surface

141,280 acres of land, about five-eighths of which is
under cultivation.

Population. The population of the county is com-
posed mainly of people of English descent, and according j being more or less undulating, the natural drainage of

to the census of 1880, numbered as follows :

Albion,

West Salem,

Shelby,.

French Creek and Dixon,

. 3,301
. 1,857
. 1,521

Albion, the capital of the county, is situated a little
south of the centre, on the Louisville, Evansville, and
St. Louis railway, and about four miles west of the line

the county is necessarily good. The main water course is
| the Bonpas, extending along the entire eastern boundary.
In an early day.it formed a means of transit for many of
the products of Edwards and Wabash counties. Flat
boats have been floated down this creek from as far
north as west Salem ; and in about 1840, as many as
twenty boats, within a year, have passed through the
Bonpas, and thence down the Wabash and other rivers
to the southern markets. The other streams of lesser
note are the little Wabash in the northwest, Big creek

of the Peoria, Decatur, and Evansville road. It is nicely j in the southwest, French creek in the south, and Bear

located on high rolling ground, and the surrounding
country is among the best in southern Illinois. At this
writing, it contains a population of about one thousand
inhabitants.

Topography. The surface of the uplands is quite
rolling, but there are some limited areas of rather flat
timbered lands above the level of the creek bottoms,
forming what is known as terrace lands. Originally

creek in Shelby precinct. The latter discharges its
waters into the little Wabash. Sugar creek, and the
head waters of Fox river are also important factors
of the drainage system iu the northwest part of the
county. One point that the farmers of Edwards have
not fully realized the value of, is that of surface drain-
age by tiling. Experience has taught those who have
tried it, that it matters not how much nature may have

the main surface was covered with heavy timber, but [ done in the way of draining the soil, if one would reap
interspersed here and there with prairie patches, ranging ! the greatest benefits from the farm, he must have it well
iu area from one section to four or five square miles iu j underlayed with tile, which has the effect of keeping the
surface. The largest of these is the Bold nghouse Prairie, j surface porous, warm, and alive. There is but little if
situated a little south and west from Albion. A peculi- I any land in the county not susceptible of improvement,
arity of some of these prairies is, that the soil is cold and I and fine farms and farm buildings are seen on every
somewhat unproductive. The principal kind of timber j hand, forming a picture pleasant to behold,
on the uplands is the white oak, but when once cleared j
from the laud the black oak takes its place. On the low
grounds, near the streams, may be found in large
abundance the water-oak, sweet gum, ash, soft maple,
and other varieties. There is but one point in the
county where the surface rises to anything like high

LAWRENCE COUNTY

was organized in 1821, and was originally a part of
Edwards. It embraces an area of upwards of 280 square
miles, or 183,526 acres. The following is taken from

bluffs, and this is on the Little Wabash in Shelby pre- j the assessor's report for 1882. Acres of wheat, 40,413 ;
cinct. Here the banks are quite steep and rise to the I corn, 36,046 ; oats, 5,903 ; meadow, 10,596 ; other prod-
height of about sixty feet. This is underlaid with sand- I ucts, 2,443. Acres inclosed in pasture, 24,076 ; in or-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

chard, 2,516; of woodland, 61,533, showing a total of
183,526 acres.

The county is bounded on the north by Crawford
county, on the east. by the Wabash river, south by
Wabash county, and west by Richland county. It lies
nearly equidistant from St Louis and Indianapolis, the
distance being about one hundred and twenty-five miles, j
and forms one of the eastern tier of the counties.

The Population is composed of various nationalities,
and according to the census of 1880, was numbered
13,633. The county is divided into nine townships, viz., j
Christy, Lawrence, Allison, Denison, Lukin, Bridgeport,
Petty, Bond, and Russell.

Lawreneeville, the county seat, is situated on or near the
west shore of the Embarras river, and is centrally located.
The Wabash, St. Louis, and Pacific railway extends
through its territory from north to south, and the Ohio
and Mississippi road passes about three-fourths of a mile
south of town.

Land Surface. The greater portion of the county j
was originally covered with heavy timber, though there
are a few small prairies in the south and northwest.
The surface is generally rolling, but in no part is it
sufficiently broken to be unfit for cultivation. The ele-
vation above the water courses, is nowhere very great;
on the uplands its altitude will range from fifty to one
hundred feet. The most elevated lands are the Perkin's
hills, situated in the north part of Christy's township.

Drainage and Climate. The principal water courses, j
besides the Wabash, are the Embarras river, traversing
the northeast with its affluents, Brushy Fork and Indian
creek, which drain the north and central portion, and
Raccoon creek and the eastern fork of the Bonpas ;
which drain the south. East of Lawreneeville, and
situated between the Embarras and Wabash rivers j
there is an extensive marsh from to two to four milts in
width, and about ten miles in length, called Purgatory
swamp. On the east and north of this low belt, there is
quite an area of bottom prairie ; the northern or upper
portion is known as Allison's prairie, and the lower por-
tion as Russellville prairie. The climate is healthful and
pleasant, being a happy medium between the extremes
of heat and cold, and thus well adapted to the culture of
fruits and the various kinds of cereals.

Soil and Timber. The Wabash and Embarras rivers
are skirted with broad alluvial bottoms and level
table lands, ranging from two to four miles in extent, j
Some portions of the latter are quite sandy, and con^ti-
tute the terrace prairies between the Wabash and Pur-
gatory swamp. During the seasons of high water, this
portion of the county is more or less inundated ; the
cultivation of the land is thus impeded, and the farms
are therefore of less value in the market. The uplands
are generally rolling, and in a state of nature, were
heavily timbered, though at this time much of the land
has been brought under a good state of cultivation.
The principal products are: wheat, barley, corn, oats,
and the grasses.

Perennial Springs and artificial mounds are found in
different parts of the county. At the foot of the Perkin's
hills there are several of these springs, that furnish an
abundance of excellent water. J. C. Foster, who resides
in section 27, Petty township, utilizes them by convey-
ing the water through pipes to his house and farm, situ-
ated one-half mile away. One of these springs forms
quite a branch, and when united with the wa er that
flows from the surrounding springs, the discharge is
borne away into Paul's creek. At what was known sev-
eral years ago as the " clay-banks," east of the Embarras,
in Lawrence township, there are also numerous springs,
besides several Indian mounds, relics of a pre-historic
race ; by excavating, it is found that the earth forming
these mounds is of an entirely different composition to
that of the land surrounding them, proving beyoi.d
question that the mound-builders once inhabited this
region.

WABASH COUNTY.

Was created in 1824, having formed a part of the
great territory of Edwards county, and received its
name from the river washing its eastern boundary. In
area, number of population, and products, it closely re-
sembles the present county of Edwards, being bounded
as follows: on the north by Lawrence and Richland
counties ; on the east and south by the Wabash river ;
and west by Edwards county, Bon pas creek forming the
boundary line between the two counties. It has an area
of upwards of 140 000 acres of land, about half of which
is under cultivation. The general outline of the county
is in the form of a V ; its greatest length from north to
south is twenty-two miles, and from east to west, sixteen
miles. It embraces two full, and thirteen fractional parts
of congressional townships, and is divided for political
purposes into seven voting precincts, known as Wabash,
Frieudsville, Lancaster, Lick Prairie, Bellmout, Mt.
Carmel, and Coffee. ^

Population. According to the census of 1880, the
population of the county numbered 9,908, composed of
persons of English, German, IrUh, French, and African
descent ; the English element largely predominating.
Mt Carmel, the county seat, situated on the Wabash
liver, is the largeSt town, having a population of 2,040
in 1880. Bellmout, next in size, numbered 350 ; Allen-
dale,- 290.

Topography. The surface of the country is somewhat
varied, and for general description may be readily divi-
ded into the uplands and the bottoms ; the former con-
stitute about two-thirds of the area. By looking on the
map of Wabash county, it will be seen that the territory
is nearly included or surrounded by two considerable
water courses, the Wabash river and Bonpas creek ; each
of these streams are embraced by a large body of bottom
land, including nearly one-third the area of the county-
These uplands are more or less undulating, while there
are small areas of rather flat timbered land above the
level of the river bottoms, forming a second bottom or
terrace land. At Mt. Carmel there are quite prominent

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

bluffs, the city being situated about one hundred and
forty feet above the level of the river.

Hydrography. The county is well supplied with water
courses, the whole eastern and southern boundaries being
washed by the Wabash, and the entire western portion
drained by Bonpas creek and its tributaries. Raccoon
creek empties into the Wabash from the northeast, and
the Little Bonpas discharges its waters into the Bonpas
from the northwest. Besides the foregoing, there are
several smaller branches, the principal of which are :
Coffee, Greathouse, Crawfish, and Jordan creeks.

Soil and Agriculture. In the vicinity of the Wabash
bluffs the clayey soil peculiar to the uplands is modified
by the sandy marls of the Loess upon which it rests; yet
these soils are quick and productive, yielding large crops
of all the cereals cultiva'ed in this climate. The soil of
the uplands is of a chocolate-colored clay loam, similar
in all respects to the upland soil of Edwards county, and :
it is upon this land that the best quality of wheat is |
produced. In a state of nature it was but meagerly j
covered with timber, and was therefore not considered
valuable, but by good cultivation it has been found to |
be, fur certain agricultural purposes, the best land in ;
the county. The bottom lands along the Wabash and
Bonpas are tracts of heavy timber, the land being a deep
alluvial soil, with sandy subsoil ; when cleared and ;
placed under good cultivation, it is the most productive
land in the county, yielding most bountiful crops of
maize, oats, and gras;es.

Transportation Facilities. The first means employed
for transportation of the surplus products of this part of I
the country were rafts and rudely-constructed flat-boats,
on the Wabash, along the eastern boundary of the then 1
Edwards county. The first steamboat that navigated the
Wabash as fjr north as Mt. Carmel was the ' : Commerce,"
in about 1819. It came from Cincinnati, and was comman-
ded by Jacob Strader ; its farthest passage north w s to
Terre Haute. Only now and then did steamers navigate
the Whba&b, until 1832, when steam-boating on the river
was conducted with much regularity. Prior tot! is, one
boat during the year was about the extent of steam
navigation. From 1832 until 1856 the river traffic was
quite active, but as soon as the railroads commenced op- I
erations, the business fell off, the railroads having almost !
the entire monopoly as common carriers.

Railroads. Railroading is comparatively a new in-
dustry ; many centuries have adrled their contributions
to science, yet during only about fifty years have rail-
roads been known. Scientists of all ages have grappled
with the various problems of government and political
economy, social life, and questions of demand and supply,
and left the records of their labors for our instruction ;
the accumulated wisdom of centuries furnishes much
material from whence we can draw such knowledge,
but railroads are institutions of to-day this is the " Iron j
Age," wherein distance is virtually wiped out and "push" !
has become the watch-word of the nineteenth century. '*

The first railway constructed in the Mississippi valley

was in 1837, and WJS known as the Illinois and St. Louis
railroad; it was built by Governor Reynolds, Vital
Jarrot and a few others, and extended from the Missis-
sippi bluffs on the east, at the old town of Pittsburg, to
East St. Louis a distance of about six miles. It was
constructed with a wooden rail, and the cars were moved
by horse-power. It was only used for conveying coal
from the mines at Pittsburg to the St. Louis markets.

In 1837, under the popularly so-called Internal Im-
provement scheme of Illinois, grading was commenced
from Mt. Carmel, in Wabash county/westward, 'simul-
taneously with like work from Alton, eastward, along
the proposed line of the Illinois Southern cross road,
which recognized Alton and Mt. Carmel as its termini,
by Messrs. Bonham, Shannon, and Goforth, who had
the contract from Mt. Carmel to Albion. They subse-
quently associated with themselves in this work John
Brisenden, Sr. They employed in all nearly four hundred
hands. West from Albion, and in the limits of Edwards
county, like work was done under a contract let to
Messrs. Hall and Kiuner.

The grading of near twenty miles of road was com-
p'eted in 1839, and then the work was dropped. Ou
the third of June, 1849, under act of the Legislature of
the preceding session, the roadway was sold to the high-
est bidder. General William Pickering bought it for
the insignificant sum of three hundred dollars. It was
not until 1871 that the property again attracted atten-
tion, and became the route of the present Air Line. Iii
February, 1872, } the first train crossed the Little
Wabash into Edwards county, and a few weeks after-
wards they were running into Albion, the county seat.

What wonderful progress has been made in railroad fa-
cilities and transportation since that time. In all parts
of our land may now be heard the shrill whistle of the iron
horse, but Illinois, the great Prairie State, leads the van in
the number of miles of rail in this age of improvement.

Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, more widely and com-
monly known as "The Wabash," has a greater number
of miles of track in these counties than any other
railroad. Through a system of consolidation, unpar-
alleled in America, it has become the giant among
railroads. This consolidation, it is estimated, has added
over $50,000,000 to the value of bonds and shares of the
various companies now incorporated in the Wabash sys-
tem. The road takes its title from the river which
forms the eastern boundaries of Lawrence and Wabash
counties. The road extended through the above counties
U now a part of the great Wabash system The follow
ing is a brief history of this branch of the road. The
northern portion was first known as the Paris and Dan-
ville road, and was chartered March 23, 1869. It was
put in operation from Danville to Paris, Illinois, in Sep-
tember, 1872; from Danville to Robinson, August,
1*7.5; from Danville to the Ohio and Mississippi junc-
tion, May, 1876. It commenced running passenger
trains to Vincennes, over the O. & M. railway track in
May, 187(5 ; commenced running freight trains from the

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

O. & M. Junction to St. Francisville, over the St. F. & |
L. road, in April 1880, and commenced running all
trains into Danville, over the Wabash railway track, (
from Tilton Junction to Danville, August 1, 1879. In
August, 1875, a receiver was appointed, it operating un-
der said management until June, 1879. October of the
same year it passed into the hands of the Danville and
Southwestern Railroad Company. The southern portion
of this branch of the road, now in the hands of the Wa-'
bash, was originally called the Cairo and Vincennes rail-
road, and was organized under an act of the General
Assembly of Illinois, approved March 6, 1867, which
was amended by act approved February 9, 1869, grant-
ing further powers to the corporation. The main line
from Cairo to Vincennes, was opened for business De-
cember 26, 1872. It was subsequently sold 1880. A
traffic agreement between the purchasers and the D. & S.
and St. F. & L. railways, was entered into May 1, 1880,
for operation of the St. F. & L. railroad, extending
from St. Francisville, on the C. & V. road, (o a junction
with the D. & S. railway at Lawrenceville, a distance
often miles. This was the status of these roads until
within the last eighteen months the roads have been
consolidated, and become a part of the Wabash, St.
Louis and Pacific system. In the three counties it con-
tains more than fifty miles of main track, passing through
the towns ofGrayville, Mt. Carmel, St. Francisville and
Lawrenceville, besides several smaller towns.

Ohio and Mississippi. This roid extends from east
to west nearly on an air line through the central part of
Lawrence county, passing through Alison, Lawrence,
Bridgeport and Christy township. The principal stations
are Summer and Bridgeport.

In 1848 the Legislature, of Indiana, passed an act in-
corporating the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, empow-
ering it to locate, construct and maintain a road leading
from Lawrenceburg, on the Ohio river, to Vincenne.3, on
the Wabash, and contemplating an eastern extension to
Cincinnati, Ohio, and a western arm to East St. Louis,
as soon as the States of Ohio and Illinois would grant
the right-of-way. In 1849 the Ohio Legislature, and in
1851 the Illinois Legislature extended the contemplated
aid by acts of their respective bodies, and in 1857, the
entire length of the road was opened through for busi-
ness.

The panic of that year greatly affected the pros-
perity of the road, so that in 1858, creditors brought
suit for foreclosure of mortgages and sale of property,
pending which, a receiver was appointed, under whose
directions the road was maintained until its reorganiza-
tion was effected. Parties desiring the establishment of
the road on a firmer basis bought largely of its stock,
organized a new company, and held control until 1874,
when it again became embarrassed, and after much liti-
gation, was placed in the hands of a receiver, John
King, Jr., vice president of the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad, acting in that capacity. Under its present
management, the road has been put in excellent condi-

tion ; the credit of the company has been maintained,
and the floating debt has been materially reduced.

Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis. This railroad ex-
tends across the counties of Edwards and Wabash, nearly
central from west to east, the principal stations being
Albion, Bro'wns, (cr) Bellmont, and Mt. Carmel. The
length of track in the counties is estimated to be, includ-
ing sidings, about twenty-five miles. It is the consoli-
dation of two divisions of road, known as the Indiana
and Illinois divisions. This was among the first con-
templated railroads in the State of Illinois, and first
bore the name of the Alton, Mt. Carmel, and New Al-
bany Railroad Company. It first presented itself in
1857, and the county of Edwards took steps toward ap-
propriating their swamp lands to aid in constructing the
road. About this time a portion of the road-bed was
made, but for the lack of funds and co-operation, on the
part of the company, the road was abandoned. It is
said that General Pickering came into possession of it at
one time for the sum of a few hundred dollars.

The Indiana division was organized under the general
laws of the State, February 4, 1869, by the name of the
New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railroad Company,
and on the first of July, 1870, its name was changed to
the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Air Line
Railroad Company. The Illinois division was organized
July 14, 1869, under a special act, and known as the
St. Louis, Mt. Carmel and New Albany Railroad Com-
pany. Said two companies were consolidated July 24,
1872, under the name of the Louisville, New Albany
and St. Louis Railroad Company. Both divisions were
, subsequently sold under foreclosure. They again reor-
j gauized, the Indiana division in February, 1877, under
: the name of the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis
Railroad Company. The Illinois division reorganized
in January, 1873, by the name of the St. Louis, Mt.
1 Carmel and New Albany Railroad Company. August
15, 1878, these companies again consolidated under the
name of the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Rail-
j road Company, At this writing it is called the Louis-
ville, Evansville and St. Louis Railroad Company,
which name it assumed about eighteen months ago, but
I is more fajniliarly known as the Air Line Railway.
j Peoria, Decatur and Evansville. This road extends
j through Edwards county from north lo south, passing
j through the towns of West Salem, Browns and Grayville.
I It has a length of track in the county, including switches,
1 of about twenty-eight miles.

The history ot this road is briefly as follows : About
the year 1867, the Pekin, Lincoln and Decatur Rail road
Company was organized. A preliminary survey was at
once made, and in 1869, the line was located, and a
contract made for its construction. Work was com-
menced late in 1869, and the line from Pekin to Decatur
' completed by October, 1871, at which time the Toledo,
Waba h and Western Railway Company commenced
I to operate it under a lease. August 1, 1876, it was
taken out of the hands of the above road, on account of

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

the non payment of iaterest, and ths corporation name
chauged to Pekin, Lincoln and Decatur Railroad Com-
pany. ID September, 1879, the company made arrange-
ments to run into Peoria over the Peoria, Prkin and
Jacksonville railroad track. November 17, 1879, it
consolidated with the Decatur, M#ttoon and Southern
Railroad Company. In February, 1880, it leased the
Grayville and Mattoon road, and the July following
bought said road. Since which time the line has been
completed to Evansville, Indiana. Much of the road has
recently been supplied with new steel rail, and all the
equipments are of a character to indicate that it is in a
prosperous condition, and that the managers propose to
make and maintain it a first-class road.

CHAPTER IV.

GEOLOGY*

IN account of the similarity of the general for-
mations and characteristics of Edwards
and Wabash counties, we have seen fit to
class them together in their surface descrip-
tion and economical geology. They lie contiguous to
each other, and are among the smallest counties in the
State, their aggregate area being about four hundred
and twenty-five square miles. Both counties,' originally,
were covered with heavy timber, with small prairies
interspersed within their territory. The surface of the
uplands is generally rolling, but there are some limited
areas of flat timbered lands above the river bottoms,
which form what may be termed terrace lands.

EDWAEDS COUNTY.

The outcrops of rock in this county are few and wide-
ly separated. The prevailing rocks are the sand-tones
and shales intervening between coal strata Nos. 11 and
13. At the railroad cut near Albion, and on the small
creek that intersects the town, the following beds may
be seen :

Feet. Inches.

8hal and shaly sandstone with pebbly bed 20 to 25

Sandstone, locally hard and concretionary 8 to 12

Streak of bituminous shale 3

Hard nodular limestone 2

'Shale, with bands of argillaceous iron ore 4 to 6

Hard shaly sandstone 3 to 4

The main quarry rock here is concretionary sandstone,
and it is sometimes quite hard and affords a very dura-
ble material for foundation wall purposes. Above this
there are some layers of even bedded sandstone, that
when first quarried are of a soft nature, but harden
after exposure, and thus become fair building stone.

On the west bank of Bonpas creek, about four miles
north of Grayville, the bluff rises to an elevation of
about a hundred feet. In this is found a thin vein of

* For much of the data of this chapter we are indebted to the State
Geological Export of Professor A. U. Worthou, its editdr.

coal at an elevation of about thirty-six feet above the
bed of the creek, which is underlaid by sandy shales and
sandstone. The coal is about eight inches thick, of good
quality, and is underlaid by a light-colored fire-clay
The sandstone and shale below this coal are the same as
the beds above the fossiliferous shale in the Grayville
section, and the fossil-bed of that locality would no
doubt be found here a little below the creek bed. The

| thin vein of coal found here has also been met with in
sinking wells in the upper part of the town of Grayville.

| The same beds outcrop again about a half mile above,
and on the same side of the Bonpas. At the base of the
bluff there is from ten to twelve feet of blue shales,
which passes upwards into a sandy shale and sandstone
twenty feet in thickness, with a partial outcrop of thin
coal and bituminous shale still higher up. This coal
probably corresponds to the ten-inch seam, No. 15, of
the Coffee creek section.

A coal vein was opened many years ago on Mr. Nail-
or's farm, six miles northwest of Grayville, which was
successfully worked for some time, the coal being used
to supply the local demand. This is undoubtedly the
same vein that is worked southwest of Mount Carmel.
It is said to be about thirty inches thick, and the coal
is very hard, partaking of the block character.

At the ford, on the little Wabash, northwest of Albion,
on the S. W. qr. of section 7, may be found an outcrop
of this coal associated with the following beds:

Feet. In.
Brown ferruginous clay shales ........... II

Brash coal .....................

Clay shale* ....................

Brash soil ....................

Shale with hands of iron ore ............

Gray sandy shale .................

7. Iron conglomerate .................

The shale of No. 5 of the above contains considerable
' clay iron ore of fair quality, amounting to nearly one-
; half the thickness of the bed. If the quantity of iron
in this shale should prove continuous for some distance
into the bluff, it would, perhaps, justify the establishing
I an iron furnace in the vicinity. About a mile further
up the river, at another ford, the same outcropping of
coal may be seen. This is found in connection with a
thin bed of nodular argillaceous limestone of a light
gray color, turning to a yellowish-brown when exposed
to the weather.

The following section may be found on the northwest
qr. of section 22, T. 1 S., R. 10 E , about five miles
northwest of Albion.

Sandy shale and thin-bedded
Bituminous shale
Nodular argillaceous li

Feet. In.
andstone . 10 to 12

1 to 1 6

2 to 3

Gray sandy shale with bands of ironstone ...... 3 to 4

Thin-bedded sandstone has been quarried here for
wall purposes, and it has proven to be excellent material
for such uses.

On the east side of the town of Albion, at Hartman's
mill, a boring for oil was made some years ago. The
following is a reported section :

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

The following section at Seal's mill on Blockhouse
creek, in the east part of the county, is reported by Prof.
Cox:

Drift

Gray shale with clay iron ore . .

Silicious iron ore

Blue argillaceous shale

Black bituminous shale

Impure limestone

Coal in the bed of the creek . .

All the beds represented by the foregoing sections
belong between coals Nos. 10 and 13, and do not attain
an aggregate thickness to exceed two hundred feet.

WABASH COUNTY.

The geological formations of this county belong to the
Quaternary and upper Coal Measures. The former is
more fully developed along the bluffs of the Wabash
than elsewhere, and consist of the buff and yellow
marly sands and clays of the Loess, and a moderate
thickness of the gravelly clays of the Drift formation.
In the vicinity of Grayville, and in some of the valleys
of the smaller streams, stratified clays appear at the
lowest levels known, which may belong to an older de
posit than the Drift. A heavy bed of this kind is re-
ported to have been passed through in boring southwest
of Mt. Carmel, but it was found to be overlaid with
sandstone, and as no rock of this kind is known in the
county of more recent age than the Coal Measures, the
theory is placed in the scale of doubt. It is not impro-
bable, however, that there are valleys along the Wabash,
as well as the Mississippi and Ohio, that were filled,
originally, with Tertiary or Cretaceous deposits, some of
which still remain, and are now hidden by the more
recent accumulations of Loess and Drift. For more
than two hundred miles above St. Louis, evidences may
be found to verify this theory. Indications of the exis-
tence of such beds have been found on the Ohio as far
north as Louisville, and on the Mississippi as above
stated. The reported sandstone above the clay in the
boring for coal, is most probably a Coal Measure bed,
and the clay beneath it may be a soft clay shale of the
same age.

At Mt. Carmel the loess and drift clays are about
thirty feet in thickness, being about the average depth
in the vicinity of the river bluffs, while on the uplands,
remote from the river, their average thickness is not
more than fifteen or twenty feet, and at points, much
leas. In Edwards county, the Quaternary beds present
the same general character, and are considerably thicker
in the bluffs on the lower course of the Bonpas, than in
the central and western portions of the county, where is
found from ten to twenty feet of buffer brownish gravel-
ly clays overlying the bed rock. Near the town of

Grayville, the creek banks show outcrops of five to ten
feet of stratified clays of various colors, and seemingly
derived from the decomposition of the clay shales of the
Coal Measures, and above these are found twenty to
thirty feet of loess, covering, possibly, a nucleus of
gravelly drift clay. f To the north and west the loess is
not conspicuous, and in well-digging, the bedrock is
found after passing through ten or fifteen feet of brown
drift clays.

Coal Measures la the bluffs of the Wabash, at Mt.
Carmel, there is an outcrop of sandstone forming the
lower portion of the bluff, underlaid by a blue clay shale,
but partially exposed.

Feet.

Loess and drift clays 30

Soft, shaly, micaceous sandstone 13

Massive sandstone, partly concretionary 20

Blue clay shale, partial exposure 3to6

Springs of water issue from the base of this sandstone,
indicating the impervious character of the underlying
beds. The base of the above section is some fifteen or
twenty feet above the low water level of the river, and
the intervening beds of which are probably shales, are
not exposed. The following table of beds passed through
in boring for coal was given to the State Geologist by
Mr. J. Zimmerman. The bore was commenced just
above the low water level of the river, and about fifteen
I feet below the base of the foregoing section.

No.

ndstone .

nd sandstone .

Shale

Sandstone

Clay shale

Sandstone

Micaceous sandstone . . .
Hard, fine sandstone . . .

^Fireclay?

Coal and bituminous shale
Fire clay . .
No. 10. Argillaceous
No. 11. Blue shale* ,
No. 12. Fire clay . .
No. 13. Calc. shale i
No. 14. Calc. shale, with black str

No. 15. Blue clay shale

No. 16. Blue fire clay

No. 17. Coal

ire clay

rgillaceous limestone .
ard sandstone, pa-ting .
ard gray limestone . .
ard gray limestone . .
ry hard limestone . .

No. 24. Calcareous shale

No. 25. Band of ironstone ....
No. 26. Variegated shale ....
No. 27. Hard gray limestone . . .

No. 28. Variegated shale

No. 29. Hard gray limestone . .
No. 3. Variegated shale ....
No. 31. Hard gray limestone . . .

No. 19.

No. 21.
No. 22.

This boring was commenced near the horizon of No.
11 coal, and the beds passed thorough probably extend
nearly to No. 7. The following is the report of a well
sunk for oil, one mile and a half southwest of the court-
house, commencing in a creek valley ;

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Feet. In.

At Mr. Reed's place, on section 8, tp. 1 S., range 12,

No.

Sandstone

blue limestone at the foot of the hill, one foot thick, un-

Clay?

derlaid by a thin coal. Bluish shale and sandstone is

No.
No.

Sandstone
Bituminous shale

found in the hill, forty feet above. The well at the

No.

Sandstone

house passed through soil and drift ten feet, clay shale

No.

x Bituminous shale
Sandstone

four feet, sandstone twenty-nine feet.

No.

Bituminous shale

At Little Rock, on the Wabash, sec. 19, tp. 1 N.,

No.

Sandstone

No.

Bituminous shale

range 11 VV. :

No.
No.
No.

Sandstone
Bituminous shale, showing oily soot

Shale and covered slope 81)
Sandstone.solid bed 30

No.

Very hard limestone

The sandstone of this section is probably the same

No.
No.

Bituminous shale
Sandstone

strata as that found at St. Francisville, in Lawrence

No.

Coal No. 9

county.

No.
No. 2*

Limestone

The following beds, one mile and a quarter north of

No 21 Sandstone

Friendsville, are reported by the state geologist from

No. 22. Mixture of sand and limestone
No. 23. Yellow shale

memoranda furnished by Mr. J. Zimmerman :

Ft. In.

No. 24. Sandstone t

No. 25. Clay shale, with pyrite

Soil and clay 18
Impure coal-probably bituminous shale 2

No. 27. Bituminous shale

Clay shale, with iron nodules 3

No. 23. Sandy shale

Gray sandstone, in even beds, four to eight inches thick 15

No. 30. Micacious sandstone
No. 31. Coal, No. 7. ?

Sandy shales 11
Hard sandstone in two layers 2 8
Dark bituminous shale 3

No. 34. Compact limestone

Coal, said to be good 2

No. 35. Bituminous shale

The above section, is made from the sinking of Mr.

No. 40. Bituminous shale

McNair's well. Another well sunk in the same neigh-

By comparing this section, with that made for the
coal, it will be seen that there is a wide discrepancy in
the descriptions given of the strata passed through in
each. The oil well boring, was sunk to the depth of
about seven hundred feet, yet no coal was reported
below the three foot seam found at the depth of four
hundred and fifty-five feet, which probably repr.sents
coal No. 7 or 8 of the general section. The sandstone
No. 2 of the oil well boring may be the same as No. 4
in the other, but there is very little correspondence in
the lower strata, considering that the distance between
the two points is scarcely two miles.

A few miles northeast of Mt. Carmel, at Hanging-rock,
there is an outcrop of massive sandstone similar to that
at the town, which projects into the bed of the river at
low water, and rises above it to the height of 35 feet.

An abandoned coal shaft, about three miles southwest
of Mt. Carmel, on Mr. Simond's place, was reported to
have a seam of coal averaging three feet in thickness,
and located from 30 to 35 feet below the surface. The
following is the reported section :

Drift clay and soil . . . 5 6

Argillaceous shale 30

The following is reported by Prof. Cox :

"On sec. 5, tp. 10, range 12, there is a bed of light
blue clay, very plastic, exposed in the bank of Crawfish
creek, as the following section shows :

Soil, calcareous shale and limestone

Coal

Blue Clay

Sandstone in the bed of the creek

borhood, after reaching the same strata of coal, a boring
of nine feet below the coal was made, when a material
of milk-white substance resembling fire-clay was ob-
tained.

The following section is reported at Hamiker's old
mill on the Bonpas, a little north of west from Allen-
dale:

Feet.

Soft, thin-bedded sandstone and shales 15

Ferruginous conglomerate 3 to 4

Hard black shale 2 to 3

No coal is reported as laying beneath.

Since the last report was made by the state geologist a
shaft has beeu sunk about five miles west from Mt.
Carmel, on the Air Line railway. The depth of shaft
is forty feet, and the thickness of the vein is four feet.
Through the kindness of Mr. J. Zimmerman, who is one
of the Coal Company and a practical geologist, we are
furnished the following interesting facts relating to
the coal deposits in Wabash county. He says: "In
addition to the coal seam above mentioned, there are
others which indicate a possible great future for the
mining interests of the county whenever energy, enter-
prise and capital shall be directed to their development.
An outcrop of twenty inches of coal (one half cannel-
splint, the residue cubical), a short distance below
the Wabash railway crosing at Sugar creek, thickens up
within a half mile westward, to forty-two inches. This
seam underlies most of the county, but the dip of rocks
being in that vicinity twenty-eight feet per mile south-
westward, it will be found only at considerable depths
over most of the county. A boring for petroleum, near
Mt. Carmel, commenced geologically below both these
seams, disclosed at a depth of 420 feet, a seam of three

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

feet thickness, and at 569 feet a seam of coal twelve feet
in thickness. In same boring, at 325 feet, salt water was
found, and another stratum of the same, a short distance
above the twelve feet vein of coal. It has been flowing
ever since."

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.

Coal. From the state geological survey we glean the
following: The upper coal seam in the Coffee creek
section was the only outcrop in either of the fore,
going counties that promised to be of value for practical
coal mining. The coal in this seam ranges from thirty
inches to three feet in thickness, and probably underlies
a considerable portion of the south part of Wabash
county and the southwestern part of Edwards. Sev-
eral shafts have been sunk about three miles south,
west of Mt. Carmel, where coal was obtained from thirty
to thirty five feet below the surface. This coal strata
affords a hard, splinty or semi-block coal of fair quality.
The roof seems to be good, and if the thickness of the
vein should prove to be uniform, there is no reason why
it might not be sucessfully mined. This is probably the
same vein worked in the southeast part of Edwards j
county several years since, for the supply of Albion and ;
adjacent region. To reach No. 7, the lower seam, a j
depth of probably from two to three hundred feet will
have to be attained. Although these counties have not
developed this vein, time will undoubtedly prove that it
can be made a paying investment.

Building Stone As indicated in the sections hereto-
fore given, it will be sfeen that a fair quality of building
stone may be obtained from the sandstone outcropping
in various portions of these counties. The best is pro- !
bably that from the even -bedded sandstone above No. j
11 coal, that is found in the central and northern portion
of Edwards and north and northwest of Wabash. In |
the latter county, in the vicinity of Oriole, quarries have
been opened where a good, evenly-bedded rock is ob-
tained, the thin layer affording a good flag-stone, and
the thicker beds utilized for foundation walls, etc. This j
ledge probably underlies all the highlands and ridges in
the northwest part of the county. These will be de- |
veloped as the demand for building-stone increases. The
ledge in the river bed at Rochester has been but slightly
quarried, and at Walden's place quarries have been I
worked between this place and Mt. Carmel, where a fair
quality of sandstone has been obtained from a bed that,
in appearance, resembles the ledge in the Mt. Carmel
bluff.

Sandstone of a fair quality is obtained at several j
points in the vicinity of Albion, some of which is con- j
cretationary and very hard, yielding a durable stone.
No lime-stone suitable for building purposes is found !
in either county, although that obtained at Rochester
Mills, and at Mr. Reel's place, north of Mt. Carmel,
has been used to some extent in the neighborhood of the
outcrops.

Iron Ore. Bands of Argillaceous iron ore are found
disseminated more or less throughout many of the shale

beds, in these counties, but in such limited quantities
that it can prove of but little value. Eight miles north-
west of Albion, at the ford, on the S. W. qu. of Sec. 7,
T. 1 S., R. 10 E. there is a better showing for this ore
than found elsewhere in this region. The shale bed is
four feet thick, and about one-half of this thickness is a
clay iron ore of a fair quality. At the foot of the bluff
several tons of ore may be collected from the debris,
where it has been washed out of the shale by the river
current. Twenty inches of coal of fair quality overlies
ferruginous shale.

Potter's Clay is found in the bank of Greathouse creek,
near Mt. Carmel. This is said to be of fair quality, and
could be worked with success. Good brick clay is
abundant in nearly all localities, while sand suitable for
all building purposes is found in the river bluffs and
creek valleys.

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

This county contains an area of about three hundred
and sixty-two square miles. The surface is generally
rolling, and is thus well prepared for natural drainage.
Originally it was mainly covered with heavy timbers,
interspersed here and there with small prairie belts.
The elevation above the water courses is nowhere very
great, the uplands ranging from fifty to about a hundred
feet in altitude.

Loess and Drift. At various places along the Wabash
river may be found beds of brown clay and yellowish
marly sands, averaging from ten to twenty f>-et in thick-
ness. These probably represent the age of the Loess.
They are underlaid by gravelly clays intermingled with
small boulders, ranging in size from an inch to a foot or
more in diameter. Away from the river bluffs, on the
uplands, there may be found these gravelly clays from
fifteen to twenty feet above the bed rock ; and in sink-
ing wells, especially in the northern portions of the
county, a sufficient supply of water can only be reached
by goicg from ten to upwards of forty feet below the
Drift clays into the shales or sandstone beneath. In the
vicinity of Lawrenceville there is usually from five to
six feet of brown gravelly clay resting upon the btd
rock ; but before reaching this you pass through a strata
of brown or buff-colored clay, quite free from gravel,
and about twelve feet in thickness.

Stratified .Roc/fo. All the formations that outcrop in
this county below the superficial deposits heretofore
mentioned, belong to the upper Coal Measure, and in-
clude a vertical thickness not to exceed two hundred
feet. At St. Francisville, on the Wabash, there appears
an Outcrop of massive gray sandstone, which is believed
to be the same as that found in Wabash county, at
Hanging-rock bluff, and is the lowest rock seen in this
county. The section here is as follows :

Feet.

Shale 8

Impure iron ore 1

Thin-bedded sandstone nnd sandy shale 16

Massive gray sandstone 20 to 25

Uneiposed to river level 10 to 13

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

On the Embarras river, just below the dam at Law-
renceville, may be found the following section :

Feet.

Brown and bluish-gray argillaceousShale 10 to 12

Bituminous and partly calcareous shale with bands of

iron ore and numerous fossils 4 to 5

Black slaty shale 3 to 5

Dark gray limestone in river bed 1

A repetition of the above section is found two miles
east of Lawrenceville, but the bluff is much higher and
a larger thickness of strata is exposed, giving the follow-
ing section :

Feef.

Mieaeious sand stone and shale 20 to 25

Bluish-gray calcareous shale, with iron bands and

fosssils 4 to 6-

Black laminated shale, with concretions of blaek lime-
stone 4 to 5

Brittle dark-gray limestone Ij^to2

Blue and brown shale, partly ar gillaceous and bitu-

Two wells were sunk on Mr. Plummer's farm, in the
S. E. qr. of Sec. 25, T. 5 N., R. 12 west. The one near
his house, passed through eighteen inches of coal at a
depth of eighteen feet. The other, located a quart* r of
a mile to the north, was sunk to the depth of forty-three
feet, rav-ingmistly through sandstone and shale. At Mr.
Porter's place, which adjoins Mr. Plummer's on the
south, a well was sunk to the depth of fifty-six feet, with
the following showing :

Feet.

Drift clay, soil, etc 18

Sandstone 11

Blue shales, bituminous at the bottom 27

The coal vein passed through in the well of Mr.
Plummer must lay above the sandstone in the Porter
well, which had probably been eroded away at that
point by water currents during the Drift-epoch. At a
well half a mile west of Mr. Plumraer s, a bed of cel-
lular iron ore occurs in the sandstone near its base, and
was passed through in this well about sixteen feet below
the surface. The iron ore was reported to be two feet
thick in the well, but at the outcrop, a quarter of a mile
away, its thickness was only about six inches. But for
its being so sandy it might be valuable for smelting pur-
poses.

In the bluffs of the Embarras river, on the N. W-
qr. of Sec. 33, T. f>, R. 12, a massive sandstone exposure |
indicates the following section :

Ft. In.

Massive sandstone . 8 to 10

Ferruginous conglomerate . . . . Zto3

Coal (probably local) .' '8

Slope covered to the river level 10 to 12

A hundred yards above where this section is visible,
the sandstone continues down the river level without
indications of coal. It is probable that the thin coal
vein, just over the line in Crawford county, on Brushby
creek, is of the same formation as the above, and as it
is there from forty to fifty feet above the creek level, it
indicates a westerly deflection of the strata equal to
about six or seven feet to the mile. On the Embarras j
fjr sDme distance above this pjint, no rocks are known

to outcrop, and below there is not much exposure be-
tween this and the dam at Lawrenceville.

On the south side of Indian creek, three miles south
of Lawrenceville, and at several places in the neighbor-
hood, a coal vein is found and worked sufficiently to
supply the local demand for coal. The seam ranges
from twelve to eighteen inches in thickness, and is mined
by stripping along its outcrop in the banks of the small
streams.

The following sections and notes have been reported
by Prof. Cox :

At Leed's quarry, on Indian creek, one mile west of
St. Francisville road, is found the following section :

Ft, In.

Gray shale 6

Carbonaceous shale C

Shale 8

Sandstone, in even beds 3

This sandstone is suitable for good building stones,
and was utilized in the brdge abutments on Embarras
river. On the north bank of the above river, at Shaker
mill, the following section was found :

Ft.

Soil and Drift 5

Thin bedded Sandstone, 2 to 8 inches 8

Massive Sandstone 13

Section on Indian creek, three miles south of Law.
renceville :

Ft. In.

Soil and Drift 10

.Argillaceous shale, with iron bands 25

Impure coal 8

Fire-clay and grey shale 5

Bluish sandstone in bed of creek ?

The approximate section of rocks out-cropping in the
county is as follows :

Brawn and gray sandstone, the lower part in massive beds 60 10 75

Coal, No. 12 1 to 1^

Shales, with bands of argillaceous iron ore 30 to 35

Coal, No. 11 Oto 1

Sandstone, t*p thin-bedded and shaly, bottom massive . . 30 lo 3.1

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.

Building Stone. In the foregoing section both the
sandstones afford building stone of fair quality for cer-
tain purposes, and large quarries have been opened in
the upper seam, in the vicinity of Summer, for the use
of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad. Small quarries
are operated in various localities in the northern and
central part of the county. Leed's quarry on Indian
creek is probably in the lower bed, and the rock obtained
there is in thin even beds, ranging from four inches to a
foot in thickness.

The limestone at Lawrenceville, and at the bridge two
miles east on the Embarras, is somewhat argillaceous,
and, therefore, is not to be depended upon where it is
subjected to the section of frost and moisture. This is
the only limestone developed in the county,', and is not
adaped f >r either the lime-kiln or building purposes.

Coal. On account of the thinness of the seams of
coal reached in the county, it can ouly be mined by
stripping. It is a very good quality, but worked only
in a small way.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Just north of the county line in the edge of Crawford
county, at Nettle's coal mine, the vein is about 18 inches
thick, aud is overlaid by about a foot or more of hard
bituminous shale resembling canuel coal. The man-
ner of mining it is by tunnelling into the bank along the
line of outcrop, but no penuanaut entry was constructed,
and when work stopped the roof caved in and filled the
opening so that a new entry was required as often as the
work was resumed.

If the well sunk at Lawrenceville has been conducted
by experts, and an exact record kept of strata passed
through, the question would have been determined
whether any thick vein of coal exists within four hun-
dred feet of the surface, in the county. Nothing, how-
ever, has been positively determined, further than the
fact that two coal seams of uncertain thickness were
found, one at a depth of about 340 and the other at 440
feet below the surface. It is evident that deep mining
is the only means of obtaining this fuel to any great ex-
tent within the limits of this county; and if the coal de-
mand would justify reasonable expenditure in sinking
deep shafts, fair returns might reasonably be expected.

Iron Ore. The shales intervening between coals 11
and 12 contain numerous bands of argillaceous iron ore,
but are of little practical value. At the base of the upper
sandstone a ferruginous bed is frequently met with i
sometimes appearing as a conglomerate of iron nodules
in sandstone. In a well on section 25, T. 5 N., R. 12
W., this conglomerate was reported to be two feet thick,
aud consisted partly of a very good quality of brown
hematite ore, but other portions were too much mixed
to be of value for the production of iron.

CHAPTER V.

FLORA.

|lN speaking of the flora of these counties, it is
not the purpose of this work to treat ex-
haustively on the plants of the respective
counties, but rather to give a list of the
native trees and grasses found within their limits.

" Mere catalogues of plants growing in any locality,"
says a popular writer, " might without a little reflection,
be supposed to possess but little value ;" a supposition,
however, which would be far from the truth. The care-
ful and intelligent husbandman looks at once to the
native vegetation as a sure indication of the value of
uncultivated lands. The kinds of timber growing in a
given locality will decide the qualities of soil for agri-
cultural purposes. So too, the artisan in wood, will find
what materials are at hand the best suited for his pur-
poses. By the botanist, the state of Illinois is usually
considered under three divisions ; the heavily timbered
regions of the south, the flora which is remarkable for

its variety ; the central portion, consisting mainly of
prairie, and the northern section composed of both
prairie and timber. Below we append a list of the
native forest trees and shrubs of these counties. For
this data we are indebted to the State report, the list of
which was kindly furnished by Dr. J. Schenck of Alt.
Carmel, Wabash county :

Acer rubrum, L., red or swamp maple.

Acer dasyc.irpum, Ehrhardt, white or sugar maple.

Acer saccharinum, common sugur maple.

Acer saccharinum, var nigrum, black sugar maple.

Aesculus glabra, smooth or Ohio buckeye.

Alnus serrulata, smooth alder.

Amorpha fruticosa, false indigo.

Asimina triloba, common paw paw.

Betulalenta, cherry or sweet birch.

Betula nigra, river or red birch.

Oarpinus Americana, ironwood; hornbeam.

Carya oliva'formis, pecan nut.

Catalpa speciosa, Warder; Indian bean.

Carya alba, shellbark or shagbark hickory.

Carya microcarpa, small-fruited hickory.

Carya Sulcata, Nutt; Western shellbark, hickory.

Carya tomentosa, mockeruut; wliite-hearted hickory.

Carya procina, pignut or broom hickory.

Carya amara, bitternut or swamp hickory.

Celtis occidental!*, hickory ; sugarberry.

Cehis MisMssippiensis, Mis.-issippi hackberry.

CvpbHlanthus occidental!*, button bush.

Cercis Canadensis, red-bud ; Judas-tree.

Cornus Florida, flowering dogwood.

Cornus sericea, silky Cornell ; kmnikinnik.

Cornus paniculatn, panicled Cornell.

Corylus Americana, wild hazelnut.

Corylus rostrata, beaked hazelnut.

Crategus tomentosa, black or pear thorn.

Crategus tomentosa var., Mollis.

Cratcegus punctata, Jacq.

Cra'cegus cordata Washington thorn.

Crateegus Crus-galli, cockspur thorn.

Diospyros Virginiana, common persimmon.

Euonymus atropurpureus, burning-bush; wahoo.

Euonymus Americanus, strawberry-bush.

Fagus ferruginea, American beech.

Fraxinus Americana, white ash.

Fraxinus pubescens, red ash.

Fraxinus viridis, green ash.

Fraxintis quadrangulata, blue ash.

Gleditschia triacanthos, honey-locust.

Gleditschia monosperma, Walt; one-seeded or water locust.

Gymnorladus Canadensis, coffee tree.

Hydrangea arborescens, wild hydrangea.

Hydtangea proliBcum, shrubdy St. John's wort.

Ilex decidua, Walt.

Juglans cineren, butternut.

Juglans nigra, black walnut.

Juniperus eommunis, common juniper.

Lindera Benjoin, spice-bush; Benjnmin-bnsh.

Liquidambar Styraciflua, sweet gum tree.

Liriodendron Tulipifera, tulip-tree; poplar.

Mortis ruba, red mulberry.

Negundo aceroides, box-elder.

Syssa multinors, Mack gum ; tupelo.

Ostrya Virginica. hop-hornbeam, leverwood.

Plalanus occidental!*, sycamore; plne-tree.

Populus heterophylla, cottonwood; downy poplar.

Populus moniiifera, necklace poplar ; cottonwood.

I'oj.uliis tremtiloides, American aspen.

jno&yerticillata, black elder; winterberry.

Prunes Americana, wild yellow or red plum.

Prunus insita. Bullace plum.

Prunus serotinn, wild black cherry.

Pyrus coronaiia, sweet-scented crab apple.

Pyrus ingu tifolia. narrow-leaved crab apple.

Ptclea trifoliata, wafer ash ; shrubby trefoil.

Quorcus alta, white oak.

Qucrcus ^tcllatii, Wans; post oak.

Qtiercusanacrocarpa, burr or overcup oak.

Quorcus macrocarpa, var. oliviformis; olive-fruitod overcup oak.

Quorous lyrata, Wait. ; lyre-leuvod uuk.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUN1IES, ILLINOIS.

Quercus hicolor, var. Michmixii, Engelm ; Inrge-fruited swamp oak.

Quercus muhlenberidi, Engelm ; chestnut oak.

Qiiercua tincto. ia, blue'* or tanner's oak.

Quercus coccinea, ocarlet oak.

Quercus rubera, red oak.

Queicus falcata, Michaux ; Spanish oak.

QuercuH palu>tris, pin or water oak.

Quercus nigra, black-jack or barren oak.

Quercus phellos, willow oak.

Quercus imbricaria, laurel or shingle oak.

Rhus tophina, staghoru sumach.

Rhus glabra. smooth sumach.

Rhus copallin, dwarf sumach. .

Salix tristis, dwarf gray willow.

Salix discolor, glaucous willow.

Salix criocephala, wooly-headed willow.

Salix petiolaris, long-stalked green osier.

Salix nigra, black willow.

Salix rigida, stiff-leaved willow.

Sambucus Canadensis, common elder.

Sassafras otflcinale, sassafras.

Spiraea opulifolia, L., nine barks.

Spiraea salicifola, L., meadow sweet.

Slaphylea trifolia, bladder nut.

Symphoricarpus occidentalis, wolf or buckberry.

Symphoricarpus vulgaris, Indian currant.

Taxodium disticlium, American bald cypress.

Tilia, American bas\vood . linden.

Tilia heterophylia, white basswood.

tlimus fulva, slippery elm.

Ulmus Americana, American or white elm.

Ulmus alata, winged elm.

Viburnum prnnifolium, black haw.

Viburnum iiudum, white rod.

Zanthoxylum American, prickly ash.

The plants are many and rare, some for beauty,
while others are most valuable for their medi'-inal pro-
perties. The pinkroot, the columbo, ginseng, boneset,
pennyroyal, and others are utillized as herbs for me-
dicine. Among the plants of beauty are phlox, the
lily, the asclepias, the mints, golden rod, the eyebright,
gerardia, and hundreds of other varieties which adorn
the meadows, the timber, and the brook-sides; besides
the above there are many varieties of the climbing and
twining vines, such as the bitter-sweet, trumpet-creeper,
woodbine, the clematis, the grape and others, which fill
the woods with gay festoons, and add grace and beauty
to many a decayed monarch of the forrest.

GRASSES.

In speaking of these we purposely exclude the grain
plants, and confine ourselves to those valuable grasses
which are adapted to the sustenance of the lower animals.

Timothy grass or cat's tail, naturalized.
Agrostus .ulgaris, red top or herb grass.
- Muhlenbergia diflusa, nuniUe will.
Calamgiastis Canadeusi-, blue joint.
Dactylis glomerata, orchard grass.
Poa Pratensis, Kentucky blue grass.
Poa Compressa, true blue grass.
Festuca Elator, meadow fescue.
Bromus Leculinus, cheat chess; foreign.
Phragmites Communis, the reed.
Arundinaria Macrospei ma, or cane.
Solium Perenni, perennial ray grass.
Anthoxanthum Odoratum, sweet-scented vernal grass.
Phalaris Arundinacea, reed canary grass.
Paspalum Setaceum.
Panicum Sanguinale, crab grass.
Panicum Glabrum, smooth panicum.
Panicum Capillare, witch grass.
Panicum crusgalli, barnyard grsss.
S. t:iria Glan.-a, foxtail.
Setiiria Viridis, bottle grass.
8el3t.iaIta.Hca, millet.
AuJrunogim *:oparius, brown-beard grass.

In the above lists we have given the botanical as well
as the common terms, believing such a course best to
pursue in the study of plants, and more beneficitl to the
student or general reader. Some plants may have been
omitted, yet we think the lists quite complete.

CHAPTER VI.

F the ruminating animals that were indigenous
to this territory, we had the American Elk
(Cervus Canadensis), and still have the
deer of two kinds ; the more common, the
well-known American deer (Cervus Virginianus), and
the white-tailed deer (Cervus Leucurus). And at a pe-
riod not very remote the American Buffalo (Bos Ameri-
canus), must I'ave found pastures in this portion of the
state. The heads, horns and bones of the slain animals
were still numerous in 1820. The Black Bear (Ursus
American us) were quite numerous even in the memory
of the older settlers. Bears have been seen in the counties
within the last thirty years. The Gray Wolf (Cauis
Occidentalis) and Prairie Wolf (Canis latrans) are not
unfrequently found, as is also the Gray Fox (Vulper
Virginianus), which still exists by its superior cunning.
The Panther (Felis concolor) was occasionally met with
in the earlier times, and still later and more common,
the Wild Cat (Dynx rufus). The Weasel, one or more
species ; the Mink (Putorius Vison) ; American Otter
(Latra Canadensis) ; the Skunk (Mephitis Mephitica) ;
the Badger (Taxidea Americana) ; the Raccoon (Pro-
cyon Lotor) ; the Opossum (Didelphys Virginiana). The
two latter species of animals are met with in every por-
tion of the United States and the greater part of North
America. The coon-skin, among the early settlers, was
regarded as a legal tender. Of the Squirrel family we
have the Fox, Gray, Flying, Ground and Prairie Squir-
rel (Scirus Ludovicanus, Carolinensis, Volucella, Stria-
tus and Spermaphilus). The Woodchuck (Arctomys
Monax) ; the common Musk Rat (Fiber Zibethicus). The
Bats, Shrews and Moles are common. Of the muridse
we have the introduced species of Rats and Mice, as also
the native Meadow Mouse, and the Long-tailed Jumping
Mouse (Meriones Labradorus), frequently met with in
the clearings. Of the Hare, the Lupus Sylvaticus (the
so-called Rabbit) is very plentiful. Several species of
the native animals have perished, being unable to endure '
the presence of civilization, or finding the food congenial
to their tastes appropriated by stronger races. Many of
the pleasures, dangers and excitements of the chase are
only known and enjoyed by most of us of the present day
through the talk and tradition of the past. The Buffalo
and the Elk have passed the borders of the Mississippi to
the westward, never more to return.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Of Birds may be mentioned the following :*
Among the Game Birds most sought after are the
Meleagris Gallopavo (Wild Turkey), and Cupidonia
Cupido (Prairie Hen), which afford excellent sport for
the hunter and arc quite plentiful ; Pinnated Grouse
(Bonasa Umbellus) ; Ruffled Grouse (Ortyx Virgini-
anus) ; Quail (Philohela Minor) ; Woodcock (Galliuago
Wilsonii) ; English Snipe (Macrorhamphus Griseus) ;
Red-breasted Snipe (Gambetta 'Melanoleuca) ; Telltale
Snipe (Gambetta Flavipes) ; Yellow Legs (Limosa Fe-
doa) ; Marbled Godwit (Scolofax Fedoa, Wilson) ; Nu-
menius L")ngirastris (Long-billed Curlew) ; Numenius
Hudsonicus (Short-billed Curlew) ; Rallus Virginiauus
(Virginia Rail) ; Cygnus Americauus (American Swan) ;
Cygnus Buccinator (Trumpeter Swan) ; Anser Hvper-
boreus (Snow Goose) ; Bermicala Canadensis (Canada
Goose) ; Bermicala Brenta (Brant) ; Anas Boschas
(Mallard) ; Anas Obscura (Black Duck) ; Dafila Acuta
(Pintail Duck) ; Nettion Carolinensis (Green-winged
Teel) ; Querquedela discors (Blue-winged Teel) ; Spatula
Clypeata (Shoveler) ; Mareca Americana (American
Widgeon) ; Aix Sponsa (Summer, or Wood Duck) ;
Aythaya Americana (Red-head Duck) ; Aythaya Val-
lisneria (Canvass-back Duck) ; Bucephala Albeola (But-
ter Ball) ; Lophodytes Cucculatus (Hooded Merganser) ;
(Pelecanus erythrorhynchiis), Rough-billed Pelican ;
Colymbus torquatus), The Loon ; (Aegialatis vociferus) ;
Killdeer Plover ; Ball Head, Yellow Legged and Up-
land Plover; (Tantalus loculator), Wild Ibis, very rarely
visit this locality ; Herodus egretta), White Heron ;
(Ardea Herodus), Great Blue Heron ; (Botaurus lenti-
ginosus), Bittern ; (Grus Canadensis), Sand Hill Crane ;
(Ectopistes migratoria), Wild Pigeon ; (Zenaidura Caro-
linensis), Common Dove; (Corvua carnivorus), American
Raven ; (Corvus Araericanus), Common Crow; (Cyanu-
rus cristatus), Blue Jay; (Dolichonyx oryzivorus),
Bobo'link; (Agelaius Phoenicians), Red-winged Black
Bird ; (Sturella magna). Meadow Lark ; (Icterus Balti-
more), Golden Oriole ; (Chrysometris tristis), Yellow
Bird ; (Junco hyemalis), Snow Bird ; (Spizella Socialis),
Chipping Sparrow ; (Spizella pusilla), Field Sparrow ;
(Melospiza palustris), Swamp Sparrow; (Cyanospiza
cyanea), Indigo Bird ; (Cardiualis Virginianus), Car-
dinal Red Bird ; (Pipilo erythrophthalmus), Cheewink ;
(Sitta Carolinensis), White-bellied Nuthatch ; (Mimus
polyglottus), Mocking Bird ; (Minus Carolinmsis), Cat
Bird ; (Harphorhynchus rufus), Brown Thrush ; (Trog-
lodytes ifdon), House Wren; (Hirundo horreorum),
Barn Swallow; (Cotyle riparia), Bank Swallow; (Progne
purpurea), Blue Martin ; (Ampellis cedrorum), Cedar
Bird ; (Pyrangra rubra), Scarlet Tanager ; (Pyrangra
a.^tiva), Summer Red Bird ; (Tardus migratorius), Robin,
came less than forty years ago ; (Sialia Sialis), Blue
Bird ; (Tyrannus Carolinensis), King Bird ; (Sayornis
fuscus), Pewee; (Ceryle alcyon), Belted Kingfisher;
(AntroetomuB vociferus), Whippoorwill ; (Chordtiles

popetue), Night Hawk; (Chtetura pelasgia), Chimney
Swallow; (Trochilus colubris), Ruby-throated Humming
Bird ; (Picus villosus), Hairy Woodpecker ; (Picus pu-
bescens\ Downy Woodpecker; (Melanerpes erythroce-
phalus), Red-headed Woodpecker ; (Colaptes auratus),
Golden-winged Woodpecker; (Conurus Carolinensis),
Carolina Parrot ; ( Bubo Virginianus), Great Horned wl ;
Syrnium(nebulosum),barredowl; (Nycteanivea),Snowy
Owl ; (Cathartes aura), Turkey Buzzard; (Falco colum-
barium), Pigeon Hawk ; Nauclerus furcatus), Swallow-
tailed Hawk; (IcteriaMississippiensis), Mississippi Kite;
(Buteo boroalis), Red-tailed Hawk; (Haliatus leucoce-
phalus), Bald Eagle; (Falco fulvius), Ring-tailed Eagle.

We give the following classification of birds into
three divisions, as found in the " Transactions of the
Illinois State Horticultural Society " of 1876 :

1st. Those of the greatest value to the fruit-growers in
destroying noxious insects, and which should be encour-
aged and fostered in every way.

Blue Birds, Tit-mice or Chicadees, Warblers, (small
summer birds with pleasant notes, seen in trees and
gardens), Swallows, Vuros, (small birds called green
necks). All birds known as Woodpeckers except sap,
Suckers (Picus varius). This bird is entirely injurious,
as it is not insectivorous, but feeds on the inner bark
cumbium (and the elaborated sap) of many species of
tree?, and may be known from other Woodpeckers, by
its belly being yellowish, a large black patch on its
breast, and the top of its head a dark bright red. The
male have also a patch of the same on their throats and
with the minor margins of the two central tail feathers
white. This bird should not be mistaken for the two
other most valuable birds which it nearly resembles, to
wit : The Hairy Woodpecker (Picus Villiosii et vars) ;
and the Downy Woodpecker, (Picus pubescens et vars).
These two species have the outer tail feathers white or
barred with black and have only a small patch of red
on the back of the head of the males. The Yellow
Hammer or Flecker (Colaptus auratus), is somewhat
covered with yellow, and should not be mistaken for the
sap-sucker. It is a much larger bird. The Red-headed
Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), sometimes
pecks into apples and devours cherries, and should be
placed in the next division (2d). The Wren, Ground
Robin (known as Cherwick), Meadow Lark, all the fly-
catchers, the King Bird or bee-catcher, Whippoorwill,
Night Hawk or Goat Sucker, Nut-hatcher, Pewee or
Pewit. All the Blackbirds, Bobolinks, Finches (Frin-
gillidie), Quails, Song Sparrows, Scarlet Tanager, Black,
White and Brown Creepers, Maryland Warblers, Indigo
Birds, Chirping Sparrow, Black-throated .Bunting,
Thrushes, except those named in the next class, and all
domestic fowls except geese.

2d. Birds of Doubtful Utility.

Which include those which have beneficial qualities
but which have also noxious and destructive qualities in
the way of destroying fruits, and whose habits are not
fully determined. Thus the Robin, Brown Thrush and

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Cat Bird are very valuable as cut- worm eaters, but also
very obnoxious to the small fruit growers. The Jay
(Blue Jay) not only destructive to grain and fruits, but
very noxious in the way of destroying the nest eggs and
young of smaller and better birds, Robin, Brown Thrush
and Cat Bird, Shrike or Butcher Bird, Red-headed
Woodpecker, Jay Bird or Blue Jay, Crow and the small
Owls (Screech Owls), Pigeons and Mocking Bird.

3d. Birds that should be Exterminated.

Sap-sucker, or Yellow bellied Woodpecker (see above) ;
Baltimore Oriole, or Hanging Bird, Cedar Bird, or
Wax-wings (Ampelis cedrorum), Hawks and the larger
Owls.

The names, and a carefully prepared list of the animals
of a country, state, or county, are always of interest to
the inhabitants, and especially so to the scientist and
student of natural history. After inquiring into the
political and civil history of a country, we then turn
with pleasure to the investigation of its Natural History,
and of the animals which inhabited it prior to the advent
of man ; their habits and the means of their subsistence
become a study ; some were animals of prey, others were
harmless, and subsisted upon the vegetable products of
the country. The early animals of this part of the state
ranged over a wide expanse of country, the habits of
which will be fully found and set forth in all of our
zoological treatises.

CHAPTER VII.

J PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.

INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF EDWARDS, LAAVRENCE
AND WABASH COUNTIES.

|0 rescue from oblivion the incidents of the past,
and to preserve the names of the hardy few,
who in fact were the real instruments of paving
the way toward making the wild forests habitable, is one
of the main objects of the historian. In a little time the
gray hairs of the pioneers, who still live as tottering
monuments of the good old times, will be gathered to
their fathers ; their children engrossed by the busy trans-
actions of life, will neglect to treasure up the doings and
recollections of the past, and posterity will search in vain
for land-marks and memorials thereof. How necessary
then that no time be lost in gathering together the frag-
ments of our infant history, which still exist, and thus
rescue it from entire forgetfuluess.

A little less than three-quarters of a century ago this
beautiful country was in a state of nature, and the only
inhabitants were the uncivilized Indians and the wild
game of the forest. The white man came, and lo! the
transition ! Beautiful fields of grain wave in the gentle
breeze, and neat villages and farm houses dot the land-
scape. In that early day the means and facilities for
tilling the soil would be considered a burlesque on farm-

ing to-day. When they turned the sod with the old
| wooden mould-board plow and gathered the harvest with
the reap-hook, the threshing was as slow and laborious
as the reaping, the process being by tramping out the
I grain by the use of cattle, or beating it from the straw
j with a flail. Presto change ; nearly seventy-five -years
have glided by, and we cast 'our eye upon the landscape
and what a transformation ! The old mould-board has
given way to the elegant sulky plow ; the reap-hook is
transformed into the wonderful mechanism known as
the self-binder, and the tramping of the cattle, and the
thud, thud of the flail have yielded to the steam engine
and the hum of the gigantic thresher. It is thus that
the results of the labors and hardships of the pioneers,
combined with the efforts and genius of their children,
are written not ouly in history, but more unmistakably
engraved upon every highway in the land. Let the
| reader stop for a moment and reflect, if he would do
justice to those who have led the way and so nobly done
their part. Do not chide or jeer them for their odd,
old-fashioned ways, but keep in mind, that it is to
them that we, " Young America," are indebted for the
surrounding comforts which our land yields to-day.
But a few years more, when we have grown gray and
i feeble, shall we be pointed out by the busy, bustling
throng of a more advanced age, as the old fogies, and
as among those who have passed their days of useful-
ness.

EDWARDS COUNTY.
FIRST SETTLEMENT AND E*ARLY SETTLERS.

Tradition relates that the first white men to penetrate
the wilds of Edwards county, were three brothers by the
name of Daston, as early as 1800. They were great
hunters, and spent most of their time in hunting and
trapping. They made little or no improvements, and
all that is known of them by the pioneers who made per-
manent settlements, is that their cabins were left stand-
ing in sections 10 and 15, in township 15, 1 north, range
14 east, when the first permanent settlers came to the
county. Prom whence they came or where they went,
tradition is silent.

The first families to make a permanent settlement in
the county were those of Jonathan Shelby, Thomas
Carney, John Bell, Lot Sams, and Isaac Greathouse ;
these all made their advent here in 1815. Shelby and
Carney came together with their families and located
near each other in township 1 north, range 10, now
Shelby precinct. They were from Tennessee, and made
the long journey to Grayville with their families over-
land, in wagons, the only method then for traveling.
They halted at Grayville, where they remained one year,
when they remov. d to the northern part of the county,
as above stated. Mr. Shelby located in the northwest
quarter of section 34, where he erected a cabin and
commenced the life of the pioneer in the wilds of
Edwards county. He was an active and energetic man,

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

and in a few years had under cultivation several acres the Southern States, and located in the edge of Big
of land, and was surrounded with the comforts of a ! creek timber, where he erected a small cabin and cleared
good home. In 1831, he moved to section 18, on the a patch of land on which he raised a meager crop of
Little Wabash, and four years later constructed a water corn sufficient for the wants of his family. His cabin

grist mill on this stream, it being the first water-mill in
Shelby precinct. He was one of the first justices of the
peace in the county, which office he Ixeld for many years.

was erected just in the margin of the timber overlooking
quite a prairie belt, which subsequently received the
name of Birk's Prairie. His family consisted of his

He died about 1838. ! wife, four sons and three daughters, and their mode of

Mr. Carney also located in section 34, and subse- I living was of the most primitive character. Their

quently b?came one of the leading farmers of the times cabin contained but one room, which served the purpose

of kitchen, eating and sleeping room. The family
remained here but,s6out three years, or until about the
time of the Errgfish colony settlement, as Mr. Birk was
of the pu*e type of the backwoodsman and could not
tolerate civilization. To use his own language as re-
lated by one of the pioneers, "He did not wish to live
where neighbors were so plenty ; that to see three neigh-
bors within a day's ride was sufficient for him."

Walter Anderson, who came about the same time,
located in section 30, township 2 souih, range ten east.

He had the confidence of the people, and in 1832, he
was elected to the county commissioners' court, which
position he held until 1838. Mr. Carney was always a
public-spirited man, and to him belongs the honor of
constructing the first mil! in his neighborhood. This
was in 1832. The mill was propelled by horse-power,
but it answered the wants of his neighbors. About 1844
he moved with his family to the State of M ; ssouri, where
he died a few years ago.

John Bell was of German descent, but was born in

South Carolina. In an early day he moved to Ken- j He had the honor of planting the first orchard in the
tucky, and from thence to Tennessee. From this State county, on his little clearing, in 1817. He remained
he enlisted in the war of 1812, where he served about but a few years, when' he moved to some other portion
one year; and in 1815 he moved with his family to ', of the State. John Hunt located in the same settlement
Illinois and settled in section 27, township 1 north, i and remained here until his death ; but one of his de-
range 10 east, where he resided until his death. He i scendants is now living in the count)', a grandson,
was a plain, unassuming man, and a good neighbor. James T., who resides about a mile from his grand-
One son, H. C. Bell, resides in section 10. j father's old home. Others who lived in this settlement

Lot Sams was a native of North Carolina, but had i were, Hugh Collins, Rollin and Joseph Lane, and Wil-
been a resident of Kentucky aid Tennessee. He came Ham Ham. They were all natives of some of the
with his family to Illinois in 1815, and located in sec- I Southern States, and remained only a few years after
tion 35, township 1 north, range 10 east. His mode of coming.

travel to this State was by pack horses ; upon these he
made the whole distance with his little family. In 1821

In the fall of 1816, quite a sensation was created
among the few settlers of this part oi^he country, caused

precinct, has the honor of bearing his name.

Isaac Greathouse came from Kentucky in 1815, and
with his family, located in this part of Illinois, where he

he located in section 25, where he died in the fall of j by the killing and mutilating of the body of one Joseph
1863. At his death he had accumulated considerable i Boltinghouse. He was a single man, the family then
property, and the little hamlet of Samsville, in Shelby | residing in White county. In the fall, Joseph drove to

the Big creek timber, quite a quantity of hogs to feed
and fatten from- the mast, then so plenty in this part of
the county. He built him a camp, a little south of the

followed the pursuit of farming for a short time ; but | creek, on what is now the Churchill land. While here
the Indian depredations drove him into one of the forts. : a band of Shawnee Indians prowling through the
Being tired of the Indian warfare on the frontier he country espied his camp, and finding that he was alone,
returned to his native State, where he remained several took him by surprise, and murdered him upon the spot.
years. Again, in 1821, he moved to Illinois and settled When found his body was lying close to his camp in a
permanently in the S. W.i of the N. W.} of section 13, j mutilated condition, and his head, which had been
Salem precinct. He was a plain farmer, never aspiring j severed from the trunk, was suspended upon a pole near
to office of public trust. He died at the old homestead, j by. Tradition relates that the murderers suffered dearly
Enoch, the eldest of the pioneer children, is a wealthy for the crime. They were captured near the Wabash
farmer residing in section 18, township 1 north, range ; river, stones were lashed to their bodies and they were
1 1 east. Francis, another son, lives in section 13. The | sunk in the river. The following spring, James and
father of Isaac was one, if not the first English settler Daniel, brothers of the above, moved to the county from
in this part of the State, west of the Wabash river, a , Gallatin, now White county, and located in section 26,
sketch of whom will be found in the chapter of Mt. township 2 south, range 10 east, a little south of Big
Carmel precinct, and pioneer history of Waba>h county, creek, in the edge of the timber, overlooking the prairie
In 18 1C a settlement was formed in the southwest part that subsequently took their name. Daniel was a man
of the county on or near Big Creek, the first of whom of family, and his brother James resided with him.
was " Captain" J eremiah Birk, who came from one of They cleared and improved a good farm, and became

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

prominent citizens of the county. In about 1837, they
all moved to the State of Arkansas.

Thomas Riley, a native of Ireland, settled near the
Boltinghouse's, the same year, 1817. Mr. Riley was then
a single man, but subsequently married Sarah Morris, a
daughter of one of the pioneers. He improved a good
farm, where he resided until his death, which occurred
about 1852. His father-in-law, Isaac Morris, came
from the south and settled in section 5, township 3 south,
range 10 east, in the same year.as the above. He had a
large family, and wasagenuine backwoodsman. Hespent
the most of his time in hunting, and was noted for his
exaggerated tales and hair-breadth escapes while in the
woods. He remained in the county until his death,
which occurred many years ago. His children are
scattered to the many points of the West, none of his
descendants being now residents of this part of the
county.

Another pioneer of 1817, was Clem Martin, who
located in section 33, township 2 south, range 14 west.
He came from the souther^ States, partaking of the
spirit of emigration to the new Eldorado, then so popular
with the poorer class of the south and southwest. Mr.
Martin was what would be termed to-day, a man of
eccentric for peculiar ways. He was outspoken and
fearless in character, somewhat rough and uncouth in
manners, and thus made enemies when he might have
had friends. For some reason the family stood in rather
bad odor in the new settlement ; this was undoubtedly
due to the wild, unpleasant ways' of his children. He
died in the county many years ago.. It is said that some
of his descendants are living in White county.

About this time, in 1817, a n.ew era dawned upon the
settlements made in what is now Edwards county.
Morris Birkbeck and George Flower, both well-to do
Englishmen, made a tour of the west in search of the
"beautiful prairies" they had heard and read about,
in the new world, with the view of establishing a colony
of their countrymen within the same, should the reports
given meet their expectations. Mr. Flower crossed the
Atlantic, landing on American shores in the spring of
1816. He spent one year in making inquiries and be-
coming acquainted with the people, country and insti-
tutions of our republic. One year later Mr. Birkbeck
and family came to the United States, and in company
with Mr. Flower, they made a tour of the west. The
country pleased them, and it was agreed between Mr.
Flower and Mr. Birkbeck that the former should return
to England and induce immigration to their chosen spot,
Edwards county, while the latter was to attend to pro-
curing the necessary lands, and otherwise to prepare for
the reception of their countrymen. Of the first emigrants
their names, time, and manner of coming, we quote from
the account as given by Mr. Flower in his history of the
English settlements in Edwards county. He says,
" Early in March, 1818, the ship Achilles sailed from
Bristol with the first party of emigrants, destined for our
settlements in Illinois. Mr. Charles Trimmer, of Yeatly,

Surrey, a young farmer, and a neighbor and acquaint-
ance of Mr. Birkbeck, with forty-four men and one
married woman, sailed in this ship. The men were
chiefly farm laborers and mechanics from Surrey. Many
of them had for years worked for Mr. Birkbeck, others
were from his neighborhood, and were personally ac-
quainted or knew him by reputation. This party was
j under the special care and leadership of Mr.
Trimmer. About an equal number, composed of
London mechanics and tradesmen from various parts of
| England, formed, another party that sailed in the same
ship. These were under the guidance and direction of
! Mr. James Lawrence, merchant tailor, of Hatton Gar-
j den, London. Mr. Lawrence being a man of property,
| a resident of the city, and well acquainted with the
usages at the docks, custom-house, shipping, etc., became
actually the head of the whole party." Another pro-
minent p irty in this ship's company was Mr. Hugh
Ranalds, from Hammersmith, near London. He was
then a single man, but subsequently married Mary C
Flower, a sister of George Flower.

According to the account given by Mr. Flower, the
emigrants landed at Philadelphia early in June, 1818.
They made'their way to Edwards county overland, some
in wagons, others on horseback over the mountains to
Pittsburg, then descended the Ohio river in flat boats to
Shawueetown, and from thence on foot, in wagons or on
horseback, to Mr. Birkbeck's cabin, situated on Bolting-
house prairie, the place being subsequently named Wan-
borough, after Mr. Birkbeck's old home in England.
He had received notice of their coming and had made
the best preparation possible for their reception. A
square of rough log houses had been erected, each cabin
being supplied with two doors with a small sash window
in each door. This hamlet was subsequently denominated
" The Barracks," and was open to all new-comers. It
was here that the first ship's company eighty-eight in
number were accommodated, all men, excepting three
women. Mr. Flower, in his reminiscences, says of this
novel state of affairs in the new found land, " I mu>t
leave to imagination the various feelings of its motley in-
mates, some of whom were used to the refinements of
civilized life; all to the comforts of a home however
humble ; some without money, and all for a time, with-
out occupation ; without vegetables ; corn bread and
salt pork their only diet'; whisky their sole luxury and
consolation, and some not able to get that. It was for a
time a fermenting mass. Strange and conflicting emo-
tions exhibited themselves in ludicrous succession. Some
laughed and joked, some moped and sulked, while others
cursed the fates that brought them there. All things
worked out right in time. The activity and energy of
the national character soon displayed itself, and all be-
came fairly satisfied with the condition of things."

Mr. Birkbeck had laid out the town of Wanborough
in five-acre lots, and on these were built cabins, rented
by some, and bought by others as the means of the im-
migrants would permit. In a short time an ox mill was

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

erected for grinding their corn, and the necessary black-
smith shop was added to the village. This formed the
nucleus of the neiv-founded colony.

In April, 1819, another ship-load of emigrants swelled
the numbers of the already prosperous little community.
Of this accession Mr. Flower sayp, " My own immediate
family and friends occupied the cabin, and my domestic
servants and othor emigrants going out to join us, fille.l
the steerage ; my live stock of cows, hogs and sheep
from the choicest breeds of England, took all the spare
room on deck." Among those who came in this ship
were, Mr. and Mrs. Flower, parents of George Flower .
the latter 's two bisters, his brother William, a mere lad'
his two sons, Miss Fordham and the servants of Mr.
FJower. These constituted the immediate family party
of Mr. F. Prominent among others seeking the prom-
ised land were Francis Rotch and brother, friends and
acquaintances of Mr. Birkbeck ; an elderly gentleman
of means, Mr. Filler ; Dr. C. Pugsley and family ; Adam
Corrie ; John Wood, then a single man ; John Ingle and
family ; David Bennett and Jamily ; Mr. White and
family ; a carpenter and buildf r from London, and Cap-
tain Stone and family. These, with some others, formed
an emigrant party of upwards of sixty, who were bound
fur the '' prairies " of Illinois.

On arrival upon American shores, thty divided into
parties preparatory for their long and tedious journey
to the wilds of the west. Their manner of traveling was
similar t f > those who had preceded them one year before.
Mr. Fordham, under the instructions of Mr Birkbeck,
had in the meantime been busy in preparing for the rer
ception of the new emigrants. He had made frequent
excursions into the prairies to assist in the preparatory
arrangements, as well as making more distant journeys
to Cincinnati and Louisville, for many articles needed
by the settlers, which he loader! upon flat boats and sent
down the Ohio river to be conveyed to the new settle-
ment. The emigrants, for a time, were obliged to oc-
cupy the log cabins of the hollow square of Wanborough,
until other and better arrangements could be made.
The increase of population far exceeded the privilege
of comfortably receiving them, though all was done that
could be for their comfort and convenience. It must
be rembered that this part of the country was in a state
of nature, and that buildings and improvements could
not be made with the facilities they are to-day. Mr.
Fordham had also built two cabins on the land of Mr.
Flower, and it was at one of these cabins that Mr F.
deposited his family after the long and tedious trip from
the seaboard. We here give the language of Mr Flower
relating to his arrival at his new-found home. He says,
" I entered the praii ie with my carriage at the same
spot from which we had, one year before, first seen it.
The prairie grass completely enveloped my horses, and
they lain rioiisly dragged the heavy-laden vehicle. The
ciibin built for me hove in sight, which was to be our
home in the new found land. It was well sheltered by
wood from the north and east, with an arm of the

praiiie lying south in a gently descending slope for a
quarter of a mile, and was as pretty a situation as one
could desire. The cabin, however, could boast of no
comforts. It contained a clap-board roof, held down by
weight-poles, a rough puncheon floor, and had neither
door nor windows. Two door-ways were cut out, and

\ the rough logs were scutched down inside. All the chips
and ends of logs left by the backwoods' builders lay
strewn upon the floor. We were now face to face with

, the privations and difficulties of a first settlement in the
wilderness." From Mr. Flower's statement it seems
that one of their greatest privations was the lack of good
water. A well had been sunk on his land, but it was a
quarter of a mile away. He further says that, " The

i floor of their cabin being cleared, a fire was kindled in
a hole where a hearth was to be. One of us had a half

; mile trip for water. Then for the first time we knew
the blessing of an iron tea kettle. Our first meal was
spread upon the floor from such provisions as the ' car-

I riage afforded, cheese, crackers, tea, etc. The tea we
drank alternately from one or two tin cups. Some sit-
ting, some kneeling, some stretched at length, resting on

! an elbow upon the floor ancient fashion, was the way

I we*took our first meal. But then I was in my own house,
on my own land, in a free and independent republic,
and could cast my vote into a hollow tree for coon 'or
'possum to be president of the United States if I so de-
sired." It will thus be seen what privations and
discomforts the pioneers underwent, although some of

I them at the time of their settlement were accustomed to

1 all the comforts of life that wealth could give. Mr.

, Flower and Mr. Birkbeck both were representative men

i in England, and each commanded quite a fortune when

j they landed in this county. Whether their philan-
thropic efforts have been fully appreciated, the present
genera-ion of Albion and vicinity must answer. The for-
mer lived to see the " prairies " and surrounding

1 country largely populated with prosperous farmers of his
own countrymen. The little colony which he had been
accessory in planting, had become among the most pros-
perous and independent of the great prairie State. After
seeing and enjoying the results of his patriotic efforts, he
passed the portals of this life at the city of Grayville,
January loth, 1862. For some reasons, his and Mr.
Birkbeck's relations in social or business matters were
not altogether agreeable, but that is a personal matter
and belongs to no part of history. Mr. Birkbeck dur-
ing his life time looked well and took good care of the
interests of his countrymen, who had virtually placed
themselves and families under his care and advisement.
Wanborough, for a time, grew and prospered as a town.
Albion springing up and getting the precedent as a
county seat, in 1821, was a death blow upon the little
town of Wanborough, the parent town within the pres-
ent limits of Edwards county. Mr. Birkbeck became
one of the leading men of the State, and it is said that
through his efforts, and a few others, Illinois never
has had the stain if slavery placed upon its escutcheon.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

From his sound judgment and clear ideas with regard
to governmental affairs, Governor Cole saw fit to choose
him as his Secretary of State in 1824. This office he
held but a short time, when he returned to his little
colony. It was only about a year following that he met
with a sudden and tragic death, the circumstances of
which are so well and vividly portrayed in a journal of
that day, that we copy the same for the readers of this
history: " Oa June 4th, 1825, Mr. Birkbeck went to
Harmony, Indiana, taking a packet of letters for us to
Mr. Robert Owen, who being on the eve of departure to
England, had kindly promised to deliver them. On Mr.
Birkbeck's return occurred the melancholy circumstan-
ces of his death. In attempting to cross Fox river, with
his son Bradford, they found the " flat " on which
they expected to be carried over, had been taken away.
They, therefore, entered the stream with their horses
with the intention of swimming the river. Bradford's horse
plunged and threw him into the seething water. Being a
good swimmer, he, although encumbered with an over-
coat, besides being weak from a recent illness, had nearly
reached the opposite shore, when he heard his father's
voice calling for assistance; and turning himself around
he saw him struggling in the middle of the stream, and
returned to him. Upon reaching him his father
caught hold of him, and they both sank together. Upon
coming to the surface, Bradford desired his father to
take hold of his coat in another place, which he did, and
again they both sank. At this time only Bradford
arose ; he finally reached the bank in safety, but he left
his father beneath the waves. After some time his cries
brought a person to his assistance who endeavored to re-
cover the body of his father. It was all in vain, and
it was not until the following day that the body was re-
covered from the angry waters. When found his um-
brella was grasped in his right hand, the position he
held it when he went down. His body was taken to
New Harmony, and there interred with every mark of
respect that the living could give. So passed away the
soul of one who had labored, faithfully, many years of
his life, to benefit his fellow-man."

A prominent pioneer of 1817, was Alan Emmerson,
who was born in Kentucky. When a young man he
emigrated to Indiana, where he married. Oa coming to
this State he located in section 4, township 2 south,
range 10 east. His family then consisted of his wife
and four children. He built a snug little cabin on
the quarter section of land he had entered, and here
commenced the hard labors of the pioneer. In a short
time he was elected justice of the peace, being among the
first to hold that honorable position in what is now Ed-
wards county. He served several terms upon the board
of County Commissioners, and for several years was the
p'esiding Judge of the county court. He was also
elected County Treasurer and Assessor, and was otfe
term in the State Legislature. In factfor many years prior
to his death, he was almost constantly serving the peo-
ple in some public capacity. He lived to a good old age,

he and his wife both passing away in 1876, Centennial
year. But one of the family is now living, Jesse, who
resides in Albion, and is among the wealthy and influ-
ential citizens of the town.

Rev. John Depew came in the same year as Mr. Em-
merson. He was an immigrant from the South, and on
arriving in the county he located on land adjoining Mr.
Emmerson. He was a zealous Methodist divine, and
the first of that persuasion in this part of the country. It
is remarked of him that he was a good neighbor, an
! honest and conscientious man, and practiced what he
preached. Being at a neighbor's house one dav, and
asked to take dinner with the family, he refused one of the
delicacies of the early times wild honey, as he had
learned in the mean time that the Sabbath had been
desecrated in felling the bee-tree. He remained here
but a few years, when he moved to Marion county.

In 1818, three months after Wanborough was
established, Albion was founded. Mr. Flower, in his
reminiscences says, that the emigrants were con-
tinually flowing in, and it became necessary to furnish
them with suitable and comfortable quarters. They
would first visit Mr. Birkbeck, who had but small
accommodations, and would then call upon Mr. Flower,
who at the time, was Lss prepared to receive them than
Mr. Birkbeck. At this stage, says Mr. Flower, "we
were experiencing the many inconveniences of a popu-
lation in the wilderness, in advance of necessary food
and shelter. Do as you will, if you are the very first in
| the wilderness, there are many inconveniences, privations,
| hardships, and sufferings that cannot be avoided. My
own family, one day, were so closely run for provisions,
that a dish of tender buds and shoots of the hazle-brush
was our only resort."

Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Trimmer, who led the first
ship's company, made their settlement in Village Prairie,
so called from the Piankashaw Indians, who had for-
merly located there. Other emigrants kept coming in,
some on foot, some on horseback, and some in wagons.
Some sought employment and accepted of such labor as
I they could find. Others struck out on their own respon-
i sibility and made small beginnings for themselves, while
! others dropped back into the towns and settlement in
Indiana. At this time Mr. Flower had been unable to
~ prepare for the reception of the emigrants, his whole
i time having been occupied in making his own family
j comfortable. One evening, after he had completed his
surroundings for the comfort of his family, Messrs.
; Lawrence, Ronalds, and Fordham called at the cabin of
] Mr. Flower. The question of making suitable prepara-
tion for the incoming tide of emigration was discussed.and
measures were to be adopted for the laying out and build-
ing a town, as a center for the useful arts, and conven-
iences necessary for a prosperous agricultural district.
The subject was considered in all its various bearings,
and there in the darkness of Mr. F's. cabin (they were
then not even supplied with a candle) the village of
Albion was located, built and peopled, iu imagination.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

But one day was suffered to elapse between the decision
and execution of what had been purposed. The gentle-
men, before mentioned, had remained over night with Mr.
Flower, and it was decided in the morning that Messrs.
Fordham and Flower should start north from the latter 's
dwelling, while Lawrence and Ronalds were to go
south from Village Prairie, at a given hour on the fol-
lowing morning, and at their place of meeting should be
the future town. Mr. Flower says : " We met the
next day in the woods, according to appointment. The
spot seemed suitable, the woods being rather open and
the ground level." With one accord, it was decided
that ths spot upon which they then stood should be the
center of the town. They were then standing upon the
ground now enclosed in the public square. It was thus
that the town of Albion was born. The first building
was a double log cabin, utilized for a "tavern," and
was built by John Pitcher, who, with his family, consti-
tuted a portion of the first emigrants in 1818. Among
these emigrants were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Pen-
fold, all excellent mechanics. The second buildings in
the town were a house and blacksmith shop for the fam-
ily and use of Jacob Penfold, who was the first black-
smith of Albion. These families have all passed away
long ago ; one, a daughter of Abraham Penfold, is yet
living in Albion, the wife of " Uncle Johnny Woods."
She has lost her eyesight, but is active for one of her
age.

Another of the emigrants, of 1818, was Joel Church-
hill, an intelligent and educated young man from Lon-
don. He entered quite a large tract of land about
five miles south of Albion, now Dixon precinct, built
a log house, and commenced the life of a pioneer in
the timber of Big creek. In 1824 he married Eliza
Simpkins, from which union eleven children were born.
Being of a business turn of mind, Mr. Churchill re-
moved to Albion, and engaged in the commercial busi-
ness. Here he erected a brick store-room, and built
' a stone dwelling. By good business tact he had,
in a few years, increased his mercantile affairs to consid-
erable proportions, besides establishing a large manufac-
tory for pressing and shipping castor oil. He died at
Albion in 1872, having led a busy and prosperous life.
His widow and two sons are prominent citizens of Albion.
One of his sons, Charles, has had the honor of represent-
ing the district in the State Legislature.

John Tribe came from England one year later than
Mr. Churchill. He was then a single man, and first
located at Wanborough. He subsequently married,
and reared a large family. In later years he moved to
Albion, where he carried on the business of wool-carding
until his death, which occurred in the summer of 1880.
Mr. Flower, in his memoirs, says of him : " He has
not made that accumulation of property that many men
have, that came with as little as he, but this is probably
because he has not given himself up to the one idea of
acquisition and accumulation. As he has labored
moderately through lite, he has always reserved a little

time for observation, reflection, and reading. His house
is small, his living plain and simple. He reserves a
small room for himself, where he receives any friends
who may call. On his table are placed writing materials,
| books, periodicals and newspapers. In his garden are a
i few of the choicest flowers, that would grace the
j grounds of Buckingham palace. Is not a New York
millionaire poor, compared to Mr. Tribe?" That he
was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and
reading, is fully attested by the evidences given by the
citizens of Albion of to-day. Many a time has the
writer in interviewing the old citizens of the town for in-
| formation for this volume, heard them exclaim: "How
! unfortunate that this book had not been written a little
earlier, before the death of 'Uncle Johny Tribe;' he
was a perfect walking encyclopedia, and could have told
you all about it." Mrs. Tribe is yet living in Albion,
and eight of the children are residents of the county ;
one son, William B., is the present Circuit Clerk of Ed-
wards county.

John Woods, Sr., of Surrey, England, came in the fall
of the same year as the above. He was a man of family,
having a wife and five children. He settled at Wan-
borough, where he remained for several years, when he
moved to Albion, and thence to Shawneetown, where he
died. One son, John Jr., is a merchant in Albion,
and one of the oldest surviving settlers in the county.
For nearly forty years he served as County Treasurer
and Assessor, and is yet active for one of his years.

As previously stated, Richard Flower and his wife,
father and mother, of George Flower, came from Eng-
land, with the latter in 1818. They stayed one year at
Lexington, Kentucky, and the following spring moved
to Albion. Mr. Flower was what would be called wealthy
in those days, being worth between one and two hundred
thousand dollars. He built a mansion much after
the style and architecture of the farm-houses in England.
Thirty acres of woodland were preserved in connection
wilh the house, the under-brush was cleared away and
the entire ground sowed with blue grass. This gave the
grounds an appearance of a beautiful and commodious
park. Hence, it received the name "Park House."
Mr. Flower, in speaking of it, says : " Old Park House,
near Albion, will long be remembered by old settlers
and distant visitors for its social reunions and open-
handed hospitalities. Here the family party of children
and grandchildren met at dinner on Sundays. An Eng-
lish plum pudding was a standing dish that had graced
my father's dinner table from time immemorial. Here
all friends and neighbors, that had any musical tastes
or talent, met once a fortnight for practice and social
enjoyment. Strangers and visitors to the settlement re-
ceived a hearty welcome. It may be truly said that,
for thirty years, ' Old Park House ' was never without
its visitors from every country in Europe, and every
i State in the Union."

The following is a short sketch of some of the settlers
in Albion and Wanborough, as given by Mr. Flower:

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

Brian Walker and his friend William Nichols, from
Yorkshire, came to Philadelphia in 1817, and to the
settlement, at Albion, in 1818- Mr. Walker, when he
landed at Philadelphia, had but one guinea in his pocket.
How much there was left of that guinea when he arrived
in Illinois, there is no record. He and his friend Nich-
ols settled on land side by side, situated on the skirts of
a prairie, one mile east of Albion. They worked hard,
opened land, built their houses, married, reared large
families and became possessed of abundance. They,
with most of the other early settlers, have passed away.

William Wood of Wormswold, Leicestershire, a small
farmer, with his wife and one son, Joseph, left England
for the prairies of Illinois in the spring of 1819. Ac-
companying him were two young men, John Brissenden
of Kent, and William Tewks, from Leicestershire; also
Miss Mea, afterward Mrs. Brissenden, and Joseph
Butler and family, from Kent. 'Ihe party kept together,
and came the usual route from Philadelphia to Pitts-
burg, and descended the Ohio in an ark. When near
their journey's end Mrs. Wood was taken ill, and on
reaching the mouth of the Wabash, died. On a point
of land at the junction of the Ohio and Wabash, on the
Illinois side, far from any settlement or habitation, her
grave was made between two trees, on which her name
and age were carved, and thus were her remains left
alone in the wilds of a new country. Who can image a
more melancholy situation for an old man, left virtually
alone, just at the end of his toilsome and weary journey,
to lose his life-long partner, just as the promised land
they had so much doted on, was heaving in sight? Mr.
Wood being a man of great vigor and good sense did not
yield to discouragement as many might have done. After
reaching his destination, Albion, he soon opened a good
farm, planted an orchard, and lived for several years
enjoying the fruits of his labors. His son Joseph, in
after years, became one of the wealthiest and most thrif-
ty farmers in the c lunty.

John Brissenden, after working for a time, and having
acquired a little money, settled on a tract of land by the
side of his old friend Wood. His was the usual way to
competency of the early settlers. He cleared his farm,
married, reared a large family, and in time built a
fine house, besides having an interest in a mercantile
house in Maysville, Clay county. He died some years
ago, leaving a good property to his heirs.

William Tewk's career was simply a repetition of Mr.
Brissenden's. For a time he was a carrier between
Albion and Evansville, Indiana. He acted in the
capacity of itinerant commission man between both
places, making the purchases which his wagon brought
home. He drove one of the wagons himself, and met
with an accident, which proved fatal, about twenty years
ago.

John Skeavington from Nottinghamshire, England,
came in the same year and located on the prairie near
Mr. Bri.*senden, and cultivated a good farm. Like his
neighbors, he commenced with but little if any means,

but before, his death, had amassed a good competency.
Several of his descendants are good and respectable
citizens of Edwards county.

William Harris, also from England, came with the

migrants of 1819. For many years he followed team-

' ing with an ox team. Mr. Flower says of him : " William

Harris' team was a sort of institution in the county for

many years. I would charter Billy Harris' wagon for

a loiig journey across the prairie. It, was strong, large,

I well covered, and, when well fitted up with bedding

and provender, was comfortable enough. Myself and

family have taken many long and pleasant journeys in it.

It was the best conveyance for our rough county at that

I day no hill too steep, no bog too deep for Mr. Harris'

! strong ox-team. Not railroad-like, but more indepen-

j dent, and in some respects, more comfortable." In later

| years Mr. Harris located on a farm near Albion, where

he resided in peace and plenty.

Samuel Prichard, who sailed in the Columbia in the
spring of 1819, had a family consisting of his wife, four
sons and four daughters He belonged to the society of
Friends, possessed a good property, was liberal minded,
and well educated. He was an acquaintance of
Mr. Birkbeck's in England, and on coming to the county
he located near Wanborough, on the road leading to
Albion. He contracted a fever soon after coming, and
lived but a short time. His descendants are yet living
here.

William Clark and family came about the same time
as Mr. Prichard. Mr. Clark also belonged to the society
of Friends, and was a valuable acquisition to the colony.
He settled on one of the little prairies lying between Al-
bion and the Little Wabash, and it was owing tohis capital
and enterprise that the first wind-mill was constructed
in the county. Three other parties came at the time of
Mr. Clark, David and George Kearsum, and a Mr.
Sampson, none of whom are now living at least none
are residents of the county.

Another early settler was William Hall, from Surrey.
He had a large family, and located on the prairies west
of Wanborough, where he improved a good farm. Mr.
Hall was a well educated man, a close observer and one
of more than ordinary intelligence. He kept a record
of all important passing events, and it is to his journal
and notes that Mr. Flower acknowledges indebtedness
for many points obtained in the furtherance of his history
of the English settlements. We here insert a
letter written by Mr. Hall to a friend in England relat-
ing to the sad death of one of his boys while engaged in
hunting wild turkeys. He says : " Preserve this letter,
dear John, as a monument of the instability of all human
felicity. The very dav I wrote it, on the fatal morning
of the 24th of April, 1822, I heard the sound of my two
sons passing through the porch, into which my bed-room
opens. One of them I knew by his light step and cheer-
ful voice, to be my beloved Ned, the other was unfortu-
nate Robert. About half an hour after, I heard the
report of a rifle in the woods. I lay about a quarter of

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

an hour longer, until it was light enough to dress. When
I went out of the door it was just five o'clock. Upon
going to the back of the house, where I heard most
unearthly cries of distress, I saw po>r Robert rolling on
the ground and writhing in the utmost agony. I im-
mediately concluded he was dreadfully wounded, and it
was some time before he could speak. He exclaimed,
Oh, father, I have killed Ned, and I wish I was dead
myself! I uttered an in voluntary exclamation, and sank
down myself upon him. The noise brought out his
mother, and the scene which followed cannot be described.
Two of the neighbors, aroused by Robert's cries, assisted
me in conveying him and his mother and laying them
upon the bed. I went with them in search of the body,
which was not found for some time. At length it was
brought in, and buried in a spot which my poor boy had
selected for his garden. It seems they had sighted a
turkey, when Robert dispatched his brother one way,
and lay down himself behind a log, to endeavor to call
up the bird within gun shot, with his turkey-call. After
a little while, he heard a rustling but a few yards away,
and soon afterward saw what he concluded to be the
turkey. He took aim, fired, and leaped up, shouting for
Ned, and ran in triumph to p'ck up his game. Think
of his feelings, when he found it to be the corpse of his
brother weltering in his own blood."

Mr. Hall died many years ago, and the family have
moved to other scenes. One daughter, widow of Walter
L. Mayo, it is said is now a resident of Leavenworth,
Kansas.

The first English settlers in Village Prairie, were
John Brenchly and wife, and John Lewis and family.
In speaking of them Mr. Flower says : " Mr. Brenchly
had been a distiller in the old country ; not a man
of country habits, or possessed of much capital. Mr.
Lewis was a man of excellent educalion, but with small
pecuniary^means. These were both difficult cases for a
new settlement. In a few months they both left their
quarter sections in the prairie. For a year or two, Mr.
Brenchly lived chiefly by his labors as accountant, etc.,
and finally moved to Philadelphia. Mr. Lewis remained
longer, and for a time, rented the first brick tavern in
Albion, built by Richard Flower, Senior. The family
subsequently moved to Cincinnati.

" Speaking of the Lewis's," says Mr. Flower, " reminds
me of an accident that nearly proved fatal to one of
the family. I had dismounted from my horse, and hitched
him by the bridle to the handle of the well-windlass,
that was situated near the kitchen door at the Park
House, and had run over to my cabins about seventy
yards distant. Soon afterward a servant came running
in haste, exclaiming that Mary Lewis had fallen into
the well. The child, about twelve years of age, had
been standing on the well-top ; the horse became sud-
denly frightened and pulled the windlass and curbing
from the well, and the child had dropped in. The well
was about forty feet deep and contained ten feet of
water." Assisted by two or three parties at hand, the

little girl was rescued from her perilous situation,
though pretty well exhausted through fright and drown-
ing. This well has a further history connected with it.
It was of large diameter, the sides and bottom being of
smooth sandstone. At the sinking of it, the digger,
William Truscott, had nearly completed his work, and
was engaged in sweeping at the bottom of the well, just
preparatory to coming to the surface. Suddenly a dread-
ful hubbub was heard in its vicinity the mingled voices
of a man and beast in agony of distress came forth and
attracted every one within hearing to the spot. The
cause was at once apparent. A large, fat hog had
strayed to the mouth of the well, and had slipped his
hind feet over, and was struggling with might and main
to recover himself. While in this position, squealing
for aid, the man below looked up in terror and loudly
roared for help. Seeing that the hog was gradually
losing his hold, he flattened himself against the stone
sides and waited the dread results. Down went the
animal to his instant death ; for a moment all was silent.
Shouts from the top were given, asking if the digger
was hurt ? A faint voice said, " Oh, yes, do haul me
up." The man was brought to the surface, nearly dead
with fright. The hog was subsequently removed from
the well, but was split open on the back from head to
tail, as if the process had been performed with a sharp
knife.

One of the great fears that the pioneers labored under at
their coming, was that the place they had chosen would
have to be abandoned on account of the inability to ob-
tain good water. Wells were sunk to considerable
depths, but no water could be obtained only as they
filled by the surface flow. We are informed that to-day,
water can be reached almost anywhere, at the depth of
ten or fifteen feet. Science and theory has thus far
failed to give any satisfactory or intelligent reason for
this phenomenon.

In 1820, Thomas Spring and his family, left Derby-
shire, England, for the beautiful prairies of Illinois.
The second son, Archibald, was left at a medical college,
in Baltimore, to finish his studies. The family proceeded
to Wheeling, Virginia, by laud, when Mr. Spring waa
taken with a fever and died before reaching his destina-
tion. His three sons, Henry, Sydney, and John came
on with their mother, and located on Birk's Prairie.
Sydney afterwards married here and reared a large
| family He subsequently removed to Graysville, White
j county. Henry, in after years, became a merchant in
j Olney. Archibald, after completing his studies, came
, to Edwards county, and for many years was a successful
i physician in Albion, where he remained until his death.
| Others who came about the same time were, James
| Carter and family, Gilbert T._Pell JU Mr^Kenton, Mr.
! Coles and family, Mr. Peters, Thomas Simpkins and
family, Mr. Gillard, Henry Bowman, then a single man,
Oswald Warrington and family, James and Robert
Thread, Mr. Orange and family, Henry Birkett, Mr.
Stanhope, Francis Hanks and family, J. B. Johnson

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRflNCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

William Hallnm, Thomas Shepherd, Henry, John and he served as Representative, from 1826 to 1828. Again
Henry Cowling, Edward Coad and family, Joseph, | in 1832, he is sent to the State Senate, served one term,
Thomas and Kelsey Crackles, John May, William Cave, and in 1838, is re-elected to the same position, where he
Thomas Swale, Moses, John and George Michels, Ellis remained until 1840. He died at the old homestead, in

Weaver, and many others.

A prominent settler of 1821, was William Pickering,
from Yorkshire. He came a single man, but subse-
quently married Martha Flower, and first made his set-
tlement at Village Prairie. He was an active and
energetic man, and in a few years rose to distinction in

the spriug of 1854. Three of his sons, born of his
second marriage, are now living at the old farm.

Benjamin Ulm was a native of Ross county, Ohio,
and came to the county in 1820, and is one of the few
survivors of the early settlers. He now resides in sec-
tion 32, township 2 north, range 14 west, and has ever

the State. Governor Washburn says of him : " Gen. been considered one of the staunch citizens of the

William Pickering was a well-known man among the
old Whig politicians of Illinois, of his day. He was
a representative man in the party, in the southeastern
part of the State. I often met him in conventions,
and kuew him well in the Legislature. He had a con-
tinuous service in the State Legislature, as the member
from Edwards county, from 1842 to 1852, a service of
exceptional length. He was a man of great intelligence
and public spirit. He had a fine presence, and was
thoroughly English in look and manner. He was an
intimate friend of Mr. Lincoln, who, on his accession
to the Presidency, appointed him Governor of Wash-
ington Territory." Mr. Pickering died at his home,
near Albion, about eight years ago. One sou is living
at the farm a little west of Albion.

James O. Wattles was another distinguished early
settler. It is said that he was a good lawyer, and when
engaged in reading his briefs or other papers, he did so
with the paper upside down. This was caused by a

peculiarity of the eyesight. He was elected Judge of I dollars a good price in those days. I built him a
the fifth Judicial District of Illinois, by the General i forge, which he rented at first and afterwards purchased.
Assembly, and commissioned January 19, 1825, and I With the proceeds of the horse, he purchased iron and
was legislated out of office, January 12, 1827. He I went to work. This was the beginning of Alexander
moved to New Harmony, Indiana, about the time of the j Stewart, who, after several years of labor and industry,
settlement of Robert Owen, at that place. j added to his blacksmith shop a store. Business and

ccunty.

One who figured very prominently, for many years in
the civil matters of the county, was Walter L. Mayo.
He was eltcted Clerk in 1831, and served continuously
in this capacity until 1870. He was a genial, popular,
whole souled man, and had the confidence of all who
knew him. He amassed a good competency, and subse-
quent to 1870, he moved with his family to Leaven-
worth, Kansas. While returning to Olney, Illinois, to
transact some business, he was way-laid, as supposed, in
East St. Louis, and nothing has ever been heard of the
cause of. his untimely and sudden death.

Alexander Stewart, who has seen the town of Albion
grow up almost from its infancy, is among the early
prominent business men of the English settlement.
Mr. Flower in speaking of him says : " Nearly forty
years ago, (it is now nearly sixty) a young Scotchman
in his teens, rode up to my house and wished me to pur-
chase his horse, saddle and bridle, which I did for sixty

Ex-Governor, Augustus C. French, also commenced
his life in the west, at the town of Albion. He was a
graduate from one .of the eastern colleges. On his ar-
rival at Albion, he possessed but his education and wits
to make a livelihood. He first taught school at two
dollars a quarter for each pupil, and in the meantime
commenced the study of law, in which profession he
gained some reputation. Subsequently he was elected
to the Legislature, and in 1846, was elected Governor of
the State. Prior to this, however, he had removed to
another part of the State.

Henry I. Mills was a prominent settler of early times.
He was a native of Ohio, but had for several years lived
at Vineennes, Indiana, before coming to Illinois. He
first located in section 28, on the prairie that bears his
name. His family then consisted of his wife and two

capital increasing, he soon went largely into the produce
trade of the country, of which pork, corn a%d wheat,
are the staples. He is also proprietor of a large flour-
ing-mill at Graysville."

It is but a short time .since the writer saw Mr. Stewart,
who is yet living and enjoying the comforts and luxuries
of a good home, the legitimate results of ardent,
honest labor. He is now somewhat feeble, and has
withdrawn from active life, yet is a living monument 01
what frugality and industry may accomplish, as his
possessions may be counted by tens-of-thousauds.

One peculiarity of the ups and downs of the English
colony is, that those who came with an abundance, died,
after years of struggle with the various freaks of fortune,
with far less than they brought with them, while those
of little or no means have made comfortable homes, and

children. He soon became popular among the early attained a degree of wealth which is commendable to
settlers and as early as 1820, was promoted to the office j their many years of industry,
of Sheriff, which position he held until 1826. In 1838,
he was appointed School Commissioner, being the second

EARLY MARRIAGES.

The following list includes the marriage licenses grant-

officer for this position in the county. Twelve years i e d in the county ' after its organization to 1817, as
prior to this, we find him in the State Legislature, M here j appears upon the license record :

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAEASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

(17

Name. Pate of license. By whom married. Date of mrrge.

J,vne"pholp\'u, tl January llth, 1815, William Smith, J. P. Jan. llth, 1815

Jane Bathe. Feb. llth, 1815,

James Shaw, Esq.

Feb. 14th, 1815

Ramnel Putnam to

Relief Chafee, March 15th, 1815

J. Mclntosh, J. C. C.

Mar. 16th, 1815

Joseph Robertson to
Sally Barney, May 17th, 1815,

Rev. Jm'h Ballard,

May 18th, 1815

Jam's Ford ice to

Susnn (Jar.l, June 10th, 1815,

" "

June 29th, 1815

John Barger to
Catharine Minor, July 4th, 1815,

Rev. Jno. Mclntosh

Philip Plouzh to

Sallic Arnold, July 6th, 1815,

it it if

July 7th, 1815

Thomas Trueloek to

Jemima Ramsey, July 8th, 1815,

it ii it

July 9th, 1815

Havward Putnam to

Otroltna James, July llth, 1815,

Jeremiah Ballard to
Elizabeth Barney.July 31st, 1816,

Seth Gard, J. C. C.

Aug. 2nd, 181

Jarvis D:ilo to

Francis Chafee, Dec. 2nd, 1815,

" " "

Dec. 3rd, 1815

Daniel Keen to

Mary Compton, Dec. 13th, 1815,

ii ii it

Dec. 14th, 1815

.Toeph Ballard to
Patty Putmau, Deo. 27th, 1815,

.. ..

Dec. 28th, 1815

James Mr-Daniel to
Martha Wesncr, Advertisement,

Rev. Dvd. MeGahey

, Dec. 13th, 1815

George Miller to
Elizabeth Shook,

., ..

Dee. 25th, 1815

Nancy Beaton, without license

James Shaw, J. P.,

Mar. 18th, 1816

John Walder to

Nancy Dawson, July 4th, 1816,

Robert Baird, J. P.

July 4th, 1816

William Woodland to

Mary Stepteford, July 18th, 1816,

Gerv.Hazletoi.J. P

John Flinn to

El eta Payne, Aug. 21st, 1816,

G. W. Smith, J. P.,

Aug. 22nd, 1816

Gervaae Hazleton to

Eliza Osgood, Aug. 22nd, 1816,

G. W. Smith, J. P.,

Aug. 22nd, 1816

Samuel Brinbery to
Mary Jones, June 16th, 1816,

Rev. Dvd. MeGahey,

June 18th, 1816

John Compton to

Jane Barney, Sept. 4th, 1816,

Rev. Jm'h Ballard,

Sept. 4th, 1816

Alpheus Peckard to
Catharine Gray, Sept. 22nd, 1816,

Rev. Dvd. MeGahey,

Sept. 22nd, 1816

Jeremiah McRinney to

Catey Westner, Sept. 29th, 1816,

it a ii

Sept. 29th, I b 16

Benjamin Imterson to

Susan Decker, Sept. 30th, 1816

G. W. Smith, J. P.,

Sept. 30th, 1816

Charles Dubois to

Sally Gollaher, Oct. 3lst, 1816,

ii it *i

Oct. 31st, 1816

Ephraim Armstrong to

Ruth Gard, Nov. 12th, 1816,

ii it ii

Nov. Hth, 1816

James Baird to

Martha Stenare Dec. 18th, 1816,

ii it ii

James Davidson to

Elizabeth Young, Dec. 30th, 1816,

ii i. ii

Dec. 30th, 1816

As early as 1815, it seems that parties who contem-
plated matrimony could be required to give a bond to
carry out in good faith, said intentions. The following
is a copy of one of the bonds given in 1815 : " Know all
men by these presents that I, John Ballard, am held and
firmly bound unto Nathaniel Claypool, clerk of Edwards
county and Territory of Illinois, in the just and full sum
of five hundred dollars, by which payment well and truly
to be made, I bind myself, my heirs and assigns for and
in the whole, sealed with my seal, and dated this 31st
day of July 1815.

The condition of the obligation is such, that whereas
the above bound John Ballard has this day made appli-
cation for license to join together in bonds of matrimony
with Miss Betsy Barney. Now if the said John Ballard
does well and truly marry the said Betsy Barney without
any fraud, partiality or illegality attending the said

marriage, then this obligation to be void, otherwise to be
and remain in full force and virtue in law."
Bondsmen, Jeremiah Ballard and Seth Gard.

THE DEEP SNOW.

The deep snow occurred in the winter of 1830-31.
At that period this part of Illinois was sparsely settled.
The roads were merely trails or bye-paths; and the
houses of the settlers were log-cabins of a rude style
of architecture, and the larder was not well supplied
with sufficient provisions to carry the settler and his
family through the winter. This being the case, much
suffering occurred. The " deep snow " is one of the
land-marks of the early settler. It is the mile-stone, so
to speak, from which he counts in dating events. He
sometimes relies upon it in recounting the date of his
coming, his marriage, and the birth of his children.
The deep snow was an important and very extraordinary
phenomenon. Nothing has equalled it in this latitude
for the last century if the Indians' traditions are cor-
rect as to what occurred before the advent of the white
man. The Indians had a tradition that about seventy-
five years before, a snow fell which swept away the im-
mense herds of buffalo and elk that then roamed over
these prairies. This tradition was verified by the vast
quantity of buffalo and elk bones found on the prairies
in different localities when first visited by white men.

The snow began falling early in autumn, and con-
tinued at intervals, throughout the entire winter. The
snow falls would be succeeded by heavy sleet, forming
crusts of ice between the layers of snow, strong enough
in many places to bear up the deer and hunter. Fre-
quently for weeks the sun was not visible, and the cold
was so intense that not a particle of snow would melt on
the sides of the cabins facing the south. For weeks
people were blockaded or housed up, and remained so
until starvation compelled them to go forth in search of
food. Great suffering, hunger and untold hardships
were endured by the people. Game, such as deer,
prairie chickens, quails, rabbits, &c., before that time
had been abundant, but for years afterwards was very
scarce, having perished in the snow. As the snow would
thaw, deer were often caught and killed without the aid
of fire arms, being unable to get through the snow or
walk on top. Later in winter, when the mass of-snow
or ice had become compact, fences that were staked and
ridered were driven over with heavily loaded vehicles,
and, in fact, the old settlers say in places could not be
seen. The snow in many places, where not drifted, was
three to five feet deep. In the spring, when this immense
amount of snow melted, the river streams and marshes
became flooded.

^ THE " SUDDEN FREEZE."

The writer, in conversing with a lady, an old settler,
elicited from her the following facts and recollections
relative to the wonderful and extraordinary atmospheric
phenomenon, which occurred a little after noon one day
in January, 1836. The lady says, she and her family

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

had finished their noon-day meal, and were sitting
around aud in front of the old-fashioned large open fire-
place, enjoying its generous warmth, chatting and dis-
cussing the state of the weather, as during the morning
it had been snowing and raining a little : presently the
lady in looking from the window in her cabin, noticed a
heavy black cloud lying off to the west, which seemed to
be rapidly approaching. Needing some water she took
a bucket and went to the well, at a distance of about 100
yards, lowering the bucket with a long " sweep " then
used in drawing the water, filled it, and started for the
house. Before reaching the house the wind and rain
struck her ; blew and upset a portion of the water on her
clothing; the cold air seemed to cut like a knife, and
before she reached the house, her dress and apron were
frozen stiff in a solid sheet of ice. Ponds which a mo-
ment before were free from the ice, were frozen in a
few minutes. Many persons were frozen to death who
happened to be caught away from home ; and many
others, before they could get to a place of shelter, had
their faces, ears, hands and feet frozen. Immediately
preceding the storm, the ground had been slightly cov-
ered with snow, which from rain falling in the morning
had become "elushy." Cattle, that were in the fields,
were held fast by the " slush" freezing about their feet;
and it became necessary to cut away the ice to liberate
them. Ducks and geese were imprisoned in the same
way. It was scarcely ten minutes after the cold wave
swept over the place, that the water and melting snow
was hard enough to bear up a man on horseback.

Thus have we briefly sketched a few of the incidents
that occurred in the early history of the county.

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

The French led the van in the settlement of the Illi-
nois territory. Their primary object was commerce with
the Indian tribes; and to this end they established
trading posts, and manifested to the untutored savage
initial evidences of civilization. Secondary to this,
the French missionaries, by their pious devotion, their
spotless character and their quiet, unassuming and dis-
interested lives, gained the favorable attention and re-
spect of the natives. The suavity of the manners of
the French, and the softness of their outward bearing
and presence, and moreover their compliance, to some
extent, with the Indian modes of life, gained for them
the rude respect of the aborigines and operated as a
safeguard against that savage outrage which was often
mercilessly visited upon the American and English
settlers. In the early part of the seventeenth century a
French settlement and trading post was established at
Vincennes, on the Wabash, then one of the great avenues
from the St. Lawrence to the Illinois country. From
this French colony the first settlements in Lawrence
county originated. By a French rule settlers received
allotments of land, which they located at pleasure.
Many of them chose their portions in what is now the

county of Lawrence. Little is known of them except
their names on record. They were required to be resi-
dent settlers prior to 1783. The following is a list
of these grantees, mainly French but partly Anglo-
American :

J. B. Dumais, Francois Bosseron, Roux, Paul

Gamelin, Pierre Barthe, Pierre Carnoyer, Francois
Brouillat, Joseph Durharm, Joseph Huniot, Madame
j Denoyon, Louis Denoyon, August Du Gal, J. B. Vil-
i lery, Toussaint Denoyon, Francois Bosseron, Jr., Joseph
I Tougas, Antoine Bardeleau, Luirent Bazadon, Alexis
! Ladavont, Joseph Durocher, Madame Cornoyer, Francois
i Pettier, Louis Raveilate, Philip Dejtan, Pierre'Grimayoe
| Lezate Clairmout, Widow Maria, Heirs of Dubois, Jean
Leguarde, Jean Baptist Culy, Pierre Godairie, Nic. Bal-
lenjeau Alexander Valle, Jacques Lallemoille, Ambrois
Degenet, Jacques Couteaux, Jean Sauvage, Baptiste
Bonate, Joseph Tougas, Jacques Louis, Jean B. Vaudry,
Louis Boisjean, Jean B. Racine, Jean C. Thiriot, Ga-
i briel Boulon, Pierre Levriet, Etienne St. Marie and
i Francois St. Marie; Jacob Howell, Hannah Dalton,
Solomon Small, Lawrence Slaughter, John Bailey ; Moses
Decker, Henry Speek, probably Germans ; Moses Henry,
John Culberton, G. R. Clark, heirs of Ezekiel Johnson,
Israel Ruland, Andrew Robinson, Francis Hamlin, V.
T. Dutton, Thomas Hall, Christopher Wyatt and Nicho-
las Varner.

The title to the lands occupied by parties named in
the foregoing list originated by donations made by
; French commandants of Vincennes prior to 1764, also
! by English commandants, 1764-1778, by Virginia im-
provement rights, and lastly by grants of the United
States, their so-called head of family rights and militia
rights. Winthrop Sargent, acting as governor in place
of Arthur St. Clair in 1790, granted small tracts of
land to Luke Decker, Robert Buntin, Henry Vander-
burgh and Samuel Bradley. The court at Vincennes, by
| authority delegated to it by M. Le Gras.Col. John Todd's
, lieutenant, about 1780, granted to Pierre Luerez, father
' and son, ten leagues (30 miles) " deep," of which they
i sold various tracts to other parties. Isaac Decker
| bought 2000, John Powell 5000 and Thomas Flower
20,000 acres of them. Pierrie Gamelin came in for a
large share also, which enabled him to sell 27 000 acres
to Nicholas Perrott and 41,000 acres to Thomas Flower.
What may be termed modern settlement in Lawrence
1 county dates back to the beginning of the present cen-
I tury. The immigration and settlement prior to that
time might, in most instances at least, more properly be
j called speculation. At all events they were not " ac-
i tual," in the moral sense of the term, so as to be
! permanent, though they may have answered legal re-
i quirement. But before proceeding to speak of the
; modern settlements, it may be pertinent to add some-
thing concerning the early marriages, performing as
they did indirectly an important function in the settle-
ment and development of the county. The records
| show the following marriages solemnized in the county

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

(ill

during the first years of its existence. A number of \
licenses issued at that time seem to have been wasted, |
inasmuch as there is no evidence of the proper binding j
of the nuptial knots in many instances :

Squire Thomas Anderson solemnized the marriage of
Mr. Benjamin Norton and Nancy Thorn, on the 20th of
June, 1821. It is to be hoped that their path through
life was freed from thorns, and strewn with roses
instead. Andrew Cams and Nellie Anderson joined
hands for life on the 27th of June, Squire Benjamin
McCleave officiating. Thomas Gordon and Sarah But-
ler, June 30, married by J. C. Clark, a minister of the
gospel ; Samuel Mundell and Nancy Adams, July 19, by
H. M. Gillhara, J. P. ; P. Bourdelon and Julia Aupin,
July 31, by Rev. J. C. Clark ; Jetson Gowen and Nancy
Morris, August 6, by James Westfall, J. P.; John Smith
and Elizabeih Baird, September 9, by H. M. Gillham,
J. P, ; Jonathan Phelps and Sally Gowen, by Daniel
Travis, September 26 ; John Armstrong and Susannah
Lemons, October 17, by Squire Anderson ; John Hun-
ter and Mary Robinson, December 13, by same ; Wil-
liam Martin and Syrithia Clark, December 13, by John
Martin, M. G. ; Henry Jones and Ibby Lester, Dec. 20,
by Joseph Baird, J. P. ; Aaron Wells and Catherine
Vanosdall, Dec. 25, by Squire Anderson ; James Miller
and Nancy McBeans, January 4, 1822, by 'Squire Baird ;
Samuel V. Allison and Matilda Mills, Feb. 8, by same ;
Joshua S. Johnson and Mary Gardner, April 23, by
J. C. Ruark, J. P. ; Samuel Herron and Martha
Leech, Sept. 14, by J. C. Clark, M. G. ; Robert Barney
and Casiah Pargin, July 3, by Benjamin McClean, J. P. ;
Jacob Parker and Peggy Dockery, September 2, 1822,
executed by Squire McLean ; Henry Reineyking and
Matilda Chenowith, September 21, by Squire Ander-
son ; Joshua Dudley and Barbery Clark, October 19, by
same ; Nathaniel Hysmith and Elizabeth Matthews,
Nov. 11, by J. Baird, J. P. ; Oliver W. Phelps and
Hannah Mason, January 4, 1823, by S. H. Clubb, J. P.;
Elihu Cole and Letty Morris, Jan. 22, by Squire An-
derson ; John Organ and Jane Gilbert, Feb. 4, by
same; Peter Cisco and Eliza Chandler, Feb 11, by
James Nabb, J. P. ; John Snider and Nancy Allison,
March 17, by Joseph Baird, J. P.; Benjamin Sumner
and Sally Laws, June 7, by S. H. Clubb, J. P. ;
Charles Martin and Betsey Spencer, July 18, by Rev.
Clark; Thomas Parson and Eliza Huston, July 28, by
William Kinkard, J. P. ; Andrew McClure and Betsey
Allison, September 24, by Joseph Baird, J. P. ; James
Leeds and Judy Mattox, Oct.lo, by B. McCleave, J. P. ;
Philip Lewis and Polly Craven, Nov. 12, by same;
John Summers and Emily Woodrow, Dec. 4, by Squire
Kinkade 13 marriages during the first half-year of the
county's existence, 9 in the full year, 1822, and 13
during the year 1823.

Settlements for the purposes of permanent residence,
improvement and agriculture were made along the Wa-
bash opposite Vincennes, and principally at St. Fraucis-
ville. These were made by French immigrants from Vin-

cenes and Canada. An American settlement was formed
at Russellville prior to 1812, and another atCenterville
in 1815, called the Christian settlement, as most of that
community were members of the Christian church.
Those in the interior of the county were formed at a
later date, after the storm of war had passed entirely
away and the Indians had become reconciled to the
advance of civilization. Although less characteristic
and definite, they continued to be formed into neigh-
borhoods, as acquaintanceship, agreement in religion, or
color or eligibility of locality suggested.

The negro settlement was in the vicinity of Pinkstaff
station, and the Lackey neighborhood, some distance
east of this locality. Charlottesville, on the Embarras,
is the site of the Shaker colony formed in 1819. The
Corrie purchase, resulting in the acquisition of a large
tract of laud in Decker's prairie by John and William
Corrie, of Scotland, was made in 1818; shortly after this
date it was settled by the Corries and their connections.
Ruark's prairie, in the southeastern part of Lukiu town-
ship, was settled by a family of that name.

The French settlement of St. Francisville contained
within it the elements of permanence, both in respect of
locality and the habits of its members. The native lan-
guage is still used, interchangeably with the English, in
many households. Joseph Tugaw, properly Tougas,
was the pioneer and first permanent settler, not only of
this vicinity, but also of Lawrence county ; he came from
Vincenues, and located on the present site of St. Fran-
cisville about the year 1803 or 1804 ; his two brothers,
William and August Tougas, and John Longlois were-
with him there, but soon moved to what afterward be-
came Rochester, in Wabash county, and were the first
settlers in that vicinity. About the year 1809 or '10,
came Francis Tougas, another of the four brothers, who
assumed a leading part in the pioneer life of Lawrence
and Wabash counties. They immigrated from Vin-
cennes, and were marvels of physicial strength and stat-
ure ; Joseph was a leading spirit, and the center of in-
fluence in the settlement of which he formed a part ; in
1814 he was the only slave-owner, except John Stillwell, *
in all that vast region, then known as Edwards county.
In that year he was the only resident in said county
who owned a " mansion house." Its taxable value was
$300.00. In the year 1812 he constructed a picket or
stockade fort for the protection of himself and his
neighbors against the Indians ; it consisted of an enclo-
sure formed by placing large stakes or pickets in the
earth side by side. The enclosure was some twelve or
fourteen feet high, and was a sort of city wall ; for within
were a number of log dwellings, for the use of the fami-
lies that sought protection there ; in two of the corners
of the stockade were watch-houses, projecting beyond the
enclosure, at the sides and at some distance above the
ground, so as to command a view of the enemy that
might be approaching. At night the heavy oaken doors
were swung to and barred, the guards took their places
in the watch-houses, and the drowsy inmates lay down

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

to rest. Among the cabiqs within the enclosure was
the negro hut, occupied by the slaves of Joseph Tugaw.
Soon after his arrival, probably about 1805 or '06, Tu- \
gaw established a ferry on the Wabash, at St. Francis
ville; the boat with which it was operated was sufficient |
to carry two carts. The pioneer died at the home of ;
his first choice, which afterward became the site of St. I
Francisville, of which his widow, Frances, was the
original proprietor. Francis Tugaw settled about a
mile and a half north of the village. Joseph and Amab
Potvine, nicknamed and usually called Arpas, came
from Vincennes about 1804 or '05 ; the former had three
children, the latter was a bachelor; they settled a short
distance west of the village. About the year 1806 or
'08 the French settlement was augmented by the immi-
gration from Vincennes of Andrew and Charles Lacoste ;
Pierre Gremore, L. Bonaut, Philip Deschaut, Andrew
Godaire and Joseph Venve ; the latter settled south of
St. Francisville, in the edge of Wabash county. At a
little later date, but prior to 1813, the families of John
Shirkey and Charles Moyes were added to the settlement.
The latter received the pseudonym of Coy, meaning
"spot." It originated from the circumstance that
Moyes, on one occasion, went under the yoke from which
Coy, his ox, had dropped dead, and assisted the other ox
in hauling the load. Nearly all the early French set-
tlers were familiarly known by some nickname, wnose
history would explain a laughable circumstance in the
simple lives of these early French pioneers.

The settlement opposite Vincennes, at Wesport, never
attained to much prominence, and was mainly accessory
to the ferry established to accommodate travel to and
from Vincennes, along the Cahokia and Kaskaskia
traces. These highways from the Wabash to the Mis- j
sissippi had been worked out by the Indians and buffa- !
Iocs long before the advent of civilization. The ferry I
was operated, about the beginning of the present cen- j
tury, by Joseph La Motte, a Frenchman and Indian
trader, whose round log cabin stood alone and solitary on
the west bank of the Wabash. On more than one occa-
sion was he obliged, single-handed, to defend it and his
family against the attacks of the Indians; one night
they climbed upon the roof, and though he was the only
male inmate, he frightened them away by directing, in
a loud voice, a number of persons to assume certain po-
sitions, and to do certain acts toward repelling the
attack. But though the assailants left without doing
material damage to the house, or bodily harm to its in-
mates, they led away its owner's horse. On another oc-
casion, in 1809 or '10, anticipating an attack by some
Indians he observed cross the river to Vincennes, he sent
his wife and children out into the wood, and stood ready,
single-handed and alone, to defend his habitation and
his life ; the looked-for onset was made, and the valor
withw hich he defended himself and his home is sufficient-
ly attested by the fact that, during the onset, he received
seven bullet wounds; at day-break the Indians gave up
the attack and left, but not without a number of injured

in their ranks. Imagine the anxiety and horror that must
have filled the souls of the wife and children as they sat in
their solitary retreat, and listened to the sharp echoes of
the rifles, as they sank to silence along the shores of the
Wabash ! La Motte was afterward killed by the Indians
on the creek and in the prairie that still bear his name,
in Crawford county. After his death his widow opera-
ted the ferry till about 1812, when it passed under the
management of her fon-iu-law, James Gibson. Across
the way from La Motte's lived a family named White.
Also in that vicinity dwelt a family of Buntons, three
of whom, the mother and two of three daughters, were, one
afternoon, massacred; the remaining daughter, whose
name was Jane, escaped and secreted herself in a corn-
field till night, when she swam the Wabash to Vincennes.
This brave girl, at the time of the massacre, was fortu-
nately wearing on her head a handkerchief, after the
manner of the French, whom the Indians were not wont
to disturb, so long as they betrayed no affiliation with
the Americans. If not suffered voluntarily to escape,
she was probably reserved for more clemency of treat-
ment, as captivity. About a mile below the ferry, at
the "Ford," lived a French family, named Senette.
Somewhere also, in this vicinity, was the home of Chas.
Boneaut. Some distance above the ferry landing, on
the bluff known as Dubois' hill, lived the family of that
name ; they had three sons, Toussaint, Lawrence, and
Killgore; the family became conspicuous in the civil
and business affairs of the county. Toussaint was
drowned while crossing Indian creek. On Dubois' hill,
in troublous Indian days, lived an old negro, called
"Billy o' the Bow," and his dusky conjugal companion,
Seeley by name ; they lived together in a house not
made with hands a hollow sycamore tree till their in-
dependent life together was brought to a close by a bullet
from the rifle of some lurking Indian. Going north
along the river till the vicinity of Russellville is reached,
the settlements are of a more recent date.

This vicinity was settled about the year 1809 or "10
by some Baptist families from Kentucky. Most con-
spicuous among them were the Allisons, of whom there
were four families, whose respective heads were Samuel
and his two sons, Frederick and Ezra, and his brother
Jonathan. Of these, the first possessed the element of
pioneer the most prominently. He was fond of the pursuit
of game, and frequently brought down, and dressed the
saddles of as many as fifteen deer between sun and sun.
When the redoubtable Tecumseh had impressed upon
the remnant tribes in the Wabash valley, a sense of
their supposed wrongs, and they began a career of de-
predation and pillage, the necessity of some means of
life and property became apparent. A stockade fort
was accordingly built in the spring of 1812, on Samuel
Allison's improvement, now within the northern corpor-
ate limits of Russellville, called Fort Allison. The
construction of this defensive arrangement was similar
to that at St. Francisville, above described. Besides the
Allisons, the families of Thomas Mills, William Stock-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

well, McBane, William Hogue, Daniel and Henry
Kuykendall, and the colored families of Anderson,
Morris, and Tannann were early inmates of the fort.
Stockwell and Anderson were shot by the Indians, the
former on returning from Fort La Motte, the latter
somewhere in the neighborhood of Fort Allison. The
wife of Anderson wanted a cannon mounted on Dubois
hill to deal out indiscriminate slaughter among the
Indians. During the days of " forting," 1812-1815, a
party of thirteen Rangers, one rainy day, were passing
from Fort La Motte to Fort Allison, and, when within
half a mile of the latter, were fired upon by a number of
Indians. They suffered no bodily harm or incon-
venience, save that of the strange circumstance that the
handkerchiefs they were wearing about their necks
were, in two cases, shot away. The party on leaving
Fort La Motte, discharged their guns, as a precaution
against wet priming, and, when fired upon, were unable
to return the attack. As Austin Tann was returning,
one day, from Small's Mill on the Erabarras, with a sack
of meal, he was pursued by a band of Indians on ponies.
He was riding a large horse and took refuge in the
marsh, southwest of Russellville. His pursuers were
unable to follow him with their ponies, and he escaped
with the loss only of his grist. The pious community
that settled at Russellville, established the pioneer
church of Lawrence county. It was organized in 1817,
and built a house of worship, in 1821. It was named
Little Village church, which name was also given to the
burial place that lay adjoining it. " Little Village " was
an Indian hamlet that stood on the site of Russellville.
This vicinity was an important one in the rude un-
written annals of savage life. This is shown by the ex-
istence of mounds, commonly in groups, scattered along
the river for the distance of a mile and a half from
Russellville south. Investigation shows that they were
burial places, but whether they were used for ordinary
interments or designed as monuments to the memory of
those who had distinguished themselves in council or
in battle, may be treated as a matter of conjecture.
Among the characters of note, buried in this vicinity,
was Little Turtle, the sworn enemy of the pale face, and
the father of Captain William Wills, who had been
taken captive, when a child, and who was killed in the
Chicago massacre, iu 1812. Around his neck, in life, he
wore a neatly carved figure of the -animal, whose dame
he bore, and when he died it was buried with him, and
was a few years ago exhumed. Among the tribes, rem
nants of whom, at the advent of the white man, roamed
over the territory of the county, in savage sport and
pastime, by marsh and stream, and river and timber-
skirt, were the Miamis, Pottawotamies, Delawares,
Shawnees and others. The latter through Tecuraseh,
claimed the whole of the W abash valley, and endeavored
to annul the title of government to such territory as it
had acquired from other tribes. The dramatic interview
between Ttcumseh and Gov. Harrison in this behalf, has
passed into history, and was witnessed by Austin laun,

an early colored pioneer. Communication between the
east and west shores of the Wabash, in the vicinity of
Russellville, was had at an early day by means of a
terry established and operated by a man named Lana-
fere. Though most of the early settlements were made
along the Wabash, a few found their way into the in-
terior, along the Cahokia and Kaskaskia traces, and the
Euibarras river. On the banks of this stream, about a
mile and a quarter above its mouth, in 1805 or 1806,
settled John Small. Shortly after this date, he built a
frame water mill, which became familiarly known as
I Small's mill. After Small's death his widow married
I a man named Brown, and the mill was, in laier years,
called Brown's. It was among the very earliest, if not
; the first frame building, in the territory of Lawrence
! county. The dam was built of hewed logs, supported by
j rock and earth. It was a most important economic in-
stitution in those early days, and commanded trade from
a wide extent of country. It was doubtless watched
by the lurking Indians with an eye of unrest, as he read
! in it the sad prophecy of coming events. Tradition tells
of many adventures with the natives at this point.
Tecumseh and his fifteen hundred warriors encamped in
this vicinity during the war of 1812. Some distance
I above the mill, in a little log cabin, at a locality called
l " Muscle shoals,'' lived William Harriman with his wife
| and Tour children. Seneca Amy, a young man, lived
with them. Mrs. Harriman, for two successive nights,
i dreamed that she saw her children hurribly butchered.
] She told her husband that she regarded the dreams as
prophetic of their fate, unless they sought some place of
' safety. He endeavored to quiet her fears, but became
himself apprehensive on account of a sulky disposition
manifested by the natives whom he met, and yielded to
her importunities. The family had gone to the
river edge, when young Amy started back for a gun
they had forgotten. He had not advanced far, when he
saw the cabin surrounded by Indians, and, unobserved,
dodged into the brush and escaped. They immediately
followed in pursuit of the family, and shot Harriman
seated in a pirogue, and tomahawked the mother and
children. Tradition says there were also other victims
of this massacre, which took place about the year 1812.
The girls are said to have been beautiful, and to have
had magnificent heads of long hair. Still farther up the
river, it is said, another family fell victims to savage
ferocity. One day two men left the. block-house, at the
mill, and went down to the marsh to shoot duck. They
I were attacked and one of them was shot and toma-
hawked and scalped. John and Levi Compton, of the
] timber settlement in Wabush county, and Israel Potvine
and Francis Tugaw buried him at the foot of a white oak
I tree, upon which they chopped a cross, yet to be seen.
! In 1805 or 1806, Wil.iam Spencer built a double log
i house, where the Cahokia trace crossed the Embarras.
j It was subsequently moved farther down the river to
Small's mill. Shortly after this, Nathan Rawlings settled
on Indian creek, at the crossing of the trace.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABA8H COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

With the exception of these few outpost settlements, room, whfre Judge Wilson was presiding, and hallooed
the interior of Lawrence county remained unbroken ! out: " Judge Wilson, Judge Wilson, adjourn the court.
wildernes till 1815, when the storm of war having I A most grievous outrage has been committed ; a nigger
passed away, immigration, which for three years had i has hit a white man with a rock ! " The negro settle-
been entirely checked or confined to the fortifications j ment, in the course of time, worked its way further

along the Wabash, set rapidly in. The doors of the
forts were also thrown open, and their inmates went
forth to the avocations of peace. In this year the
" Christian neighborhood," now the vicinity of Center-
ville, was settled by people of the New Light, afterward
the Christian faith, principally from Tennessee. Among
them were the Harrises, Howards, Rigses, Ashbrooks.
Johnsons, Leneves, Turners, Andersons, Adamses,
Lemons, Berries, and others equally worthy of mention.
This was an important centre of industry, good neigh-
borhood, and education in that early day. The " Cen-
ter School-house," a double log building designed for
school and church purposes, was put up in 1816 or '17,
and in point of antiquity and importance, deserves a
place at the head of educational and church efforts in
the State of Illinois. Henry Palmer and Eli Harris,
both of whom came to the settlement in 1815, were re-
spectively the pioneer minister and teacher. The
colored inmates of Fort Allison began a settlement in
the neighborhood of Pinkstaff station, and as they were
law-abiding like their fair-complexioned fellow-citizens,
so they shared equally with them the blessings of pro-
tection and civil liberty. The soil of Illinois as a State
is free from the taint of slavery. The sentiments of her
people, with their broad liberality, and respect for the
rights of man could never tolerate an institution whose
essential features were a violation of those rights ; rights

south, and is now mainly within the northern confines
of Lawrence township.

The next important settlement was that of a colony of
Shakers, on the Embarras river, formed in 1819. The tenets
and regulations of the sect were strictly carried out by this
community. In their mode of life they were communistic,
and their affairs were managed by a board of three
trustees. The colony numbered about forty individuals,
male and female, who lived separate and apart from
each other. Their most important act was the building
of the old " Shaker mill," the particulars of whose his-
tory may be learned ffom the chapter on Bond Town-
ship. The breaking and washing away of the mill dam
about two years after their settlement, was the signal at
which they Left for other parts, principally Shakertown,
Indiana, whence they came. The four years interven-
ing between the return of peace, in 1815, and the forma-
tion of the settlement just mentioned brought many
home seekers to the shores of Lawrence county, who
penetrated into the interior. Their names will be found
in their appropriate places in the township histories.
They were a brave and hardy set of men, and nobly
triumphed over the difficulties incident to life in a new
country. Disease lingered in the marshes, the wild beasts
stood ready to pounce on the fold, and the Indian, though
nominally at peace with the pale face, was a walking
embodiment of latent hostility that made the home of

whose sacredness depends not upon the character of the I the settler a place of constant anxiety and unrest.
owner, but upon the character of the rights themselves. James Baird was shot by an Indian while working in

Most of the immigrants who brought slaves with them
to the territory of Illinois, liberated them, as though her
broad lauds and spreading prairies were a moral rebuke.
An effort was made, in 1816 or '17, by two Tennesseeans,
William and John Leach, father and son, to establish a
slave farm or plantation on an extensive fcale in the
neighborhood of Little Raccoon creek. This germ of
the dark institution was crushed by the admission of
Illinois into the Union as a free State. Not only did
she guarantee liberty to those within her own borders,
but in after years by her most gifted son, to every one
within the broad limits of .the United States. Though
a feeling of equality, regardless of race or color, was a
prevailing sentiment among the pioneers yet it is not
btrange that something of prejudice should have per-

his field south of Russellville, in 1815 or 1816. In 1819
a family of McCalls settled some distance north of Law-
renceville. At that time, or (shortly after, a party of
Delaware Indians, from a camp on Brushy Fork, came
to McCall's cabin and demanded whisky. He refused
compliance with their demand, and they murdered him.
Kill Buck, a chief, Captain Thomas and Big Panther
were convicted of the crime, but from motives of policy
were suffered to go unpunished. Some time subsequent
to 1824, the wolves one night almost entirely devoured a
cow and the calf she had just given birth to, belonging
to Renick Heath, then residing at the old Shaker mill.
Eight wolves were found gormandizing on their flesh in
the morning, and were with some difficulty driven off.
An amusing and instructive incident, bearing upon the

vaded the minds of some individuals. And in this con- | habits of the panther, is related by Mr. Heath, one of the
nection it may be pertinent to mention an incident re- few pioneers who yet remain to tell the romanticrstories
lated by Hon. O. B. Ficklih, not only as illustrating this i of early life in Illinois. One night a wolf was heard
point, but as throwing light upon the administration of I barking violently some distance off. It continued till
justice in the county's infancy. During a wrangle at | daybreak, when Mr. Heath, gun in hand, went to inves-
a drinking place in Lawrenceville, a negro hit a white j tigate. He saw the wolf at some distance jumping up
man with a rock, and severely injured him. Knowledge | and from side to side, as it kept up a constant barking.
of the affair came to the ears of one of the early resident I He continued to advance, and when within a short dis-
justices of the place, who rushed headlong into the court I tance of the wolf, was greatly surprised to observe a pan-

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

7:1

ther, which had been the object of so much ado, leap
from a limb. Both animals made good their escape.
Beneath the tree lay the fresh, partially devoured body i
of a raccoon, upon which the panther is supposed to '
have been feeding, when the wolf rudely obtruded. The
former animal, when attacked, is readily induced to j
ascend a tree, less perhaps as a refuge from, than as a j
convenient means of attacking, an adversary. Game, |
in the days of which we are writing, was abundant j
almost to an extent exceeding our belief. The wild [
fowls were so numerous, that while they were an abun- j
dant and convenient supply of food, they were a serious
drawback to early husbandry, not only as destroying
the fruits, but as discouraging the efforts of labor.
Wheat fields were frequently completely destroyed by I
them. Hunting was an important pursuit, and supplied j
directly or indirectly the luxuries as well as the neces-
saries of life. Every man was either by choice or
necessity a hunter. Conspicuous among the former
were Samuel Allison and Peter Paragin. Allison was
not only an expert hunter, but was also skillful in Indian
warfare. A day's hunt would frequently yield him fif-
teen saddles of deer. If not the first American settler
in Lawrence county, he was among the most conspicuous.
One of his daughters-in-law, an English lady, whose
maiden name was Rebecca Moody, made bullets in an |
old oven for the colonists at the battles of Bunker Hill ;
and Cowpens. Paragin was the pioneer of the north- !
western part of the county. He pushed his way into ,
the wilderness far in advance of his fellows, and by his i
triumphs over the beasts of the forest, lent two names !
to the geographical vocabulary of the county. " Paragin
slough " commemorates the killing of two bears, and
" Eagle Branch " is an epitome of the story of the cap-
ture on that stream of an eagle of extraordinary size.
Not only did the flesh of wild animils serve for the set-
tler's table, but their skins supplied the necessity of cloth- I
ing. A pioneer with buckskin breeches, a homespun i
coat, and a coonskin cap was an embodiment of these
lines of Pope :

" Happy the man whose wish and care
Content to breathe his native air

An important early industry was bee-hunting. The
destiny of the Indian is to recede before the approach of
the white man ; it is the province of the honey-bee to act
on the rever-e, and precede the advance of civilization.
The approach of the honey-bee was always a sad har-
binger to the Indians, for they knew the pale faces were
not far behind. At an early period bees were very
numerous in Illinois, in the groves and along the skirts
of timber; hence the product of the hive became a
desirable commodity in trade and commerce ; and when
the farmer wished a little " land office " money, this was
an article that would readily command it. They would
take their beeswax, deer-skins and peltries to the water-
courses, and descend in their canoes or improvised boats
10

constructed for the purpose, to New Orleans and other
markets. Bee-hunting excursions were an annual occur-
rence. In the spring, when the wild flower unfolded its
petals, the search would begin. It was not only an
avocation, but it was a science or trade, and an expert
bee-hunter could find ready employment. The principal
early agricultural industry was cotton-raising. Allison
Prairie was the cotton-field of the Wabash Valley. Its
cultivation began some time prior to 1820, and con-
tinued for several years. Cotton gins were not uncom-
mon, and the spinning-wheel was in every cabin. The
raising of cattle and hogs was likewise an important
industry. Wild grass and mast for their sustenance
were abundant. Illinois has always assumed an honor-
able part in the matter of education, so materially con-
cerning the welfare of a free people ; and as soon as an
immigration set in the school teacher was abroad in the
land.

Among those who taught in the cftunty limits from
1817 to 1819 were Mrs. Clark, Agnes Corrie, George
Godfrey, I-aiah Lewis, Larkin Ryle, John Martin, Jas.
Swainey, Borden and Fleming. The school teacher and
the minister went hand in hand, and, in many instances,
performed the same office. The same rude log structure
served alike for the school and as a house of worship.
The early resident ministers were : Revs. Blithe Mc-
Corcle, Mr. Stone, John Clark, Richard B. McCorcle,
William Ramsey, John Dollahan, Samuel Borden, Wil-
liam Kincaid, Daniel Travis, and others, among whom
was " Squealing Johnny " Parker, as he was called. He
styled himself a " Two-see Baptist." Travelling preach-
ers frequently came into the territory, and among them
were James Hughes, John Rodgers, David McDonald,
Elijah Gooden, Peter Cartwright and Lorenzo Dow.
One of the most needed and poorly supplied blessings
of pioneer life were mills. Long and hazardous journeys
were necessary to secure the grinding of a bag of meal.
Small's mill, on the Embarras, built in 1805 or 1806,
was one of the earliest in the State of Illinois ; but,
considering the difficulty of reaching it through dense
forests and swollen streams, it was scarcely a convenience
except to a few.

We have thus set forth briefly the dangers and hard-
ships of those who paved the way for whatever is
grand in morals or government or magnificent in struc-
ture in the county of Lawrence. Let the reader compare
the present with the past, and then let him reflect how
rapid has been the march of progress and how marvellous
has been the change.

WABASH COUNTY.

The county of Wabash is an offspring of Edwards
county ; yet the first settlements made within the vast
boundaries of the latter were within the limits of what
is now Wabash county.

The first settlers were a few French families, who
located on the Wabash river, near the point known as

74 HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTJE8, ILLINOIS.

Rochester, in Coffee precinct. This was about 1800. families. In the time of the Indian troubles, at a pre-
Prominent among these was the family of Tougas, also concerted signal, the families of the settlement would
named Lavulette. This occured from Mrs. Tougas take refuge in the fort, where they would remain until
marrying a man by the name of Lavulette, and some of it was pronounced safe to leave. In about 1817, Mr.
the children of Mrs. Tougas, assumed the name of their ' Compton moved to township 2 south, range 14 west, and
step-father. There were four brothers, August, William, i settled in section 13, where he spent the remainder of

Joseph, and Francis. They were all well formed, athle-
tic men, and possessed of such material as to brave the

his days. He was a representative man, and had the
honor of being a member of the first Constitutional Con-

wilds of the frontier. The former is said to have been I vention in 1818. From 1818 to 1820, he was in the
six and one-half feet in stature. During the Indian State Senate. He died about 1844, at the advanced
troubles, they remained and trafficked with them. The I age of eighty years. One son, Joseph Compton, is a
Indians both feared and respected them. The word of i citizen of Coffee 'precinct, and U said to be the first
August among the treacherous Piankashaws was law, j white child born in the county.

and it is said that he even went so far as to inflict pun Joshua Jordan was also from Virginia, and at his
ishment upon some of the tribe for petty theft. An . coming had a family of four children. While a resident
Indian is bound to respect and admire his superior in I of that State, for a time, he was a tenant of George
strength. In this capacity, August had demonstrated j Washington, and was with the General at the memora-
to their picked warriors, that he was their superior, by . ble Braddock's defeat. On coming to Illinois, he located
friendly hand to hand, athletic sports with them. It i in section 12, near Mr. Compton. He remained here
was through this means that they stood in such awe and several years, when he removed to Barney's prairie,
fear of him. While others were massacred and pillaged, where he resided until his death.

he was never disturbed. In 1838 he sold his posses- A pioneer of 1804, was John Stillwell, a native of
sions at Rochester and moved to Mt. Carmel, where he ! Kentucky. He had a family of two sons, Samuel and
engaged in the hotel business. He continued in this ! James. Besides his family he had a negro slave by the
calling for several years, when he returned to Coffee pre- ! name of Armstead. From the records of 1822, we find
cinct, where he died in 1849. His eldest daughter, that the slave was liberated in that year. Mr. Stillwell
Mrs. Stewart, is now a resident of Texas. One daugh- j located on the southwest quarter of section 12, where
ter, wife of Captain Sharp, lives in Mt. Carmel. William [ he improved quite a farm for those days. He con-
was a man of a family when he moved from Vincennes structed a stockade during the Indian troubles, for the
to the county, locating near the mouth of Coffee creek, protection of his family and stock. It is said that he
with the rest of the family. He remained here a few I was a very eccentric man. Although one of the wealth-
years, when he moved to the banks of Raccoon creek, j iest citizens among the early settlers, he took pleasure
in Lawrence county. Two years afterward he removed j in wearing the poorest of clothes, and bearing the most
to near Vincennes. After a short stay here he re- shabby of appearances. It is related of him, that at
turned to Coffee precinct and permanently located in sec- j one time he lost his hat, and from that time forth he
tion 10, township 2 south, range 13 west. This was about | went bareheaded, until such time as he said his hat should
1816. He built and operated a horse mill, which was j have lasted. Many are the peculiarities related of him,
one of the first in the county. He died on his farm at the j by those who knew him personally or by reputation,
age of 75 years. Joseph and Francis Tougas, subse- [ Hemovidto Bellmont precinct in 1820, and perma-
quently located at St. Francisville, in Lawrence county. \ nently located in section 21.

Enoch Greathouse was a pioneer of 1804, and set-
tled on the land now occupied by the city of Mt.
Carmel. He was a native of Germany, and on coming
to the States he first stopped in Pennsylvania, sub-

The first American settlement was made in what is
now Wabash precinct, in about 1802. Those having
the honor of striking the first blow toward civilization
in this part of the county, were Levi Compton and

Joshua Jordan, brothers-in-law. The former was a j sequently moved to Kentucky, and from thence to
native of Virginia, but as early as 1791, he moved to Illinois. He had a family of a wife and four children,
Kentucky, and from thence to Illinois in the year above I also one grand-child. In 1817, he sold his property at
stated. He then had a family of a wife and six chil- j Mt. Carmel, and moved to the now extinct town of Cen-
dren. He first located on the Wabash river, in section j terville, where he died long ago, at the age of 110 years.
26, township 1 north, range 12 west, where he constructed | Several of his descendants are citizens of this and
a cabin and improved a few acres of land. Not liking | Edwards county. Mrs. Sylvester Greathouse, of Mt.
the locality, he removed to section 12. It was here, in Carmel, is a great-grand-daughter.
1814, that he built what was probably the first John Degan was one of the early French settlers of
horse-mill in the county. A fort was also built here Coffee precinct, and came a short time after the Lavu-
about 1810, which was known as Compton fort It was ; letts. He was originally from Detroit, Michigan, and
enclosed with a palisade and contained dwellings, grana- in his movement westward he first stopped at Vincennes,
ries, booths, etc., for the convenience of the inmates, and and from thence to the French settlement in Wabash
was sufficient in size to accommodate about one hundred county. He first located at Rochester, his family then

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

consisting of his wife and two sons, Henry and William,
and a step-son, Frank Burway. Two years later he
permanently settled in section 10, where he engaged in '
stock raising. He died here in 1848, leaving a family,
some of whom are yet living at or near the old home.

Joseph Burway and Joseph Pichinant were also early
French settlers. In 1815, they were both killed by the j
Indians in the Coffee bottoms. They had gone in search
of their horses, and while tramping through the bot- \
toms, were surprised by the red-skins and massacred. ;
Only one, Burway, carried a rifle, Pichinant being mar-
ried. Three other pioneers were in the bottoms at the
time, and heard the report of Burway's rifle, followed
by a volley of several guns. They surmised the cause,
and soon roused the settlement to action. On going to
the point where the firing was heard, the dead and muti-
lated bodies of the unfortunate men were found. The
Indians were pursued, but were not overtaken. From ;
the evidences on their trail, Burway had fought desper- '
ately before he was killed, as several dead Indians were
found along the trail.

Francis Degan, brother of John before mentioned,
came with his family in about 1811, and settled on the !
bluff, a little below Rochester. He had two sons,
Augustus and Francis, Jr. The latter is yet living, and
is one of the prominent citizens of Coffee precinct.

John Wood came from Kentucky, in the spring of
1809, and erected a small cabin in section 36, township I
1 north, range 13 west, now Friendsville precinct. He j
then returned to Kentucky, and in the fall moved his
family to his new made home. He soon cultivated a
little farmland was one of the first to plant an orchard j
in the county. A year latter, he and his few neighbors
were obliged to erect a fort to protect their families
against the marauding bands of Indians. The neigh- '
borhood was always on the sharp look-out for the red j
skins, but strange to say, this settlement was never dis-
turbed by them. John Wood Jr., is the only survivor
of the pioneer family. He resides on the farm where
his father first settled. Joseph Wood, a son of the latter,
came here in an early day prior to his father, and set-
tled in section 30, township 1 north, range 13 west,
where he remained until his death, leaving quite a
family.

William Barney located in the same settlement about
the same time as Mr. Wood. He was from Western
New York, on the banks of the Genesee. He ex- !
changed his live stock for a raft of lumber at the Alle- ;
gheny river, and upon this he and his family floated
down to the mouth of the Wabash. Here he sold his '
raft, and purchased a keel boat and poled his way to
Ramsey's rapids. The male members went overland
through the timber toselect a site for a home. A broad
stretch of prairie came to view, and it was here that they
pitched their tent, and soon afterwards threw up a cabin.
Since which time this part of the county has been :
known as Barney's prairie. HU cabin was erected near
where the Friendsville Academy now stands. Judge j

Barney became an influential man in the county, and
was always among the foremost in lending a hand to
improve and develop the county. He was one of the
three first County Commissioners, which position he held
for several years. A fort was erected near his place in

1811, which took the name of Barney's Fort. It was
large and commodious, sufficient to accommodate all the
families in the settlement. A well may yet beseen, which
was dug within the fort, a relic of ye olden time. In

1812, the fort was felt to be insecure, and all the parties
moved over into Indiana and passed the winter in a
block-house. In the spring they returned to their
homes, and although the Shawnees were plenty and still
hostile, yet the settlers of Barney's prairie were unmo-
lested. Mr. Barney died many years ago, on his farm
in section 23, a little southwest of Frieudsville.

Shortly after Mr. Barney's advent here, his three
sons-in-law moved into the settlement. They were Ran-
som Higgins, Philo Ingraham, and Wilbour Aldridge.
The former was a large athletic man, and possessed of
more than ordinary courage. He built one of the first
water-mills in this region of the country. It was sit-
uated on Barney's Prairie creek, and was constructed
as early as 1813. One of his sons was accidentally killed
by one of the rangers while target shooting at Barney's
fort. His remains were buried in the Friendsville cem-
etery, and it was the first interment made there.

Philo Ingrah'am located in section twenty, near Mr.
Barney, where he lived until 1840, when he moved to
Clay county. Mr. Aldridge settled on the northwest
quarter of section 24.

Nathaniel Claypole emigrated here in 1814, and set-
tled in section thirty-two, Friendsville precinct. He
was a prominent citizen, and very popular among his
acquaintances. He was appointed the first County and
Circuit Clerk after the organization of Edwards county,
and died while in office, in 1815. Thomas Pulliam came
in the same year as the above, and located in section
thirty-two, township two north, range 12 west. His
name appears upon the records as the assessor of Em-
barras township as early as 1817. He lived here on his
farm until his death, which occurred long ago. Near
Pulliam 's lived John and Moses Decker. Their settle-
ment was also made in 1814. The prairie upon which
they located bears their name.

One of the most prominent settlers of 1813 or '14 was
Seth Gard, who came from Ohio, and permanently
located in section twenty-eight, now Lick Prairie pre-
cinct. The locality where he settled was known as
Card's Point, and the post-office established there in an
early day, is still known by that name. Judge Gard
was a man of great force of character, and endowed with
more than ordinary ability and cool judgment He
possed a quiet vein of humor, a keen sense of the ridic-
ulous, and thorough convictions of right and justice.
He was a representative man in every sense of the word,
and his counsel was sought on every hand by the early
settlers When Edwards county was organized, he was

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

chosen to represent its people in the Territorial Legisla-
ture, which position he occupied until the admission of!
the State, in 1818. He was appointed one of the judges j
of the first County Court, and was one of the members
of the Constitutional Convention at Kaskaskia, in 1818. '
In fact, he was in public life until he became too infirm
to longer bear the responsibilities incurred thereby.
Aaron Waggoner, a nephew of Judge Gard, came with \
him and located near his premises. He was a stone- j
mason by trade, and proved a useful acquisition to the
little colony. In the same year, Jacob Claypole settled I
in section four, township one north, range thirteen west.

William Jordan, Nathaniel Osgood, Benjamin Rey- i
nolds, and Henry I. Mills settled in what is now Lan-
caster precinct in 1814. The former was from Kentucky j
and had a family of four children. In about 1818, he
erected a large distillery on his premises. He remained
on his farm until his death. The Osgood family came
from Ohio. It consisted of a married son, Nathaniel,
and four other children. Reynolds was from Kentucky,
and had a family of three sons, John, Richard, and
Harrison, and four daughters. In 1820 he built a j
horse-mill and distillery on his farm. He lived here
until his death. Col. Henry I. Mills remained here but |
a few years, when he moved over into Edwards county, j
a sketch of whom has already been given. John Ar-
nold, son-in-law of William Jordan, came with the latter
from Kentucky, and settled near his father-in-law. He
was among the early Justices of the Peace, and in 1832,
was commissioned captain in the Black Hawk war.
He subsequently moved to Wayne county, where he died.
Tarlton Borin was a settler of 1815. He permanently
located in Lancaster precinct. In about 1828, he es-
tablished a tannery, which was a great convenience to
the settlement. One daughter, Mrs. Cunningham, re-
sides in the precinct.

John Mclntosh, an influential pioneer, was a native
of Virginia, born of Scotch parents. As early as 1785,
he emigrated from Kentucky, and from thence to Illinois,
in 1814. He then had a family of six children. He
first stopped in the Compton fort a few months, when he
moved to section 23, Wabash precinct, where he re-
mained but a short time, removing to Coffee precinct.
Not liking this section of the country, he returned to
Wabash precinct, where he made a permanent settle-
ment in section 23. He was a representative man, and
popular with the people. On the organization of Ed-
wards county, he was appointed one of the three mem-
bers of the County Court, which position he held for
several terms. In 1816, he was selected counsel for that
court in the place of Thomas C. Browne. He was a
public spirited man, and did much in aiding to organize
and regulate the affairs of the county. His death oc-
curred at his farm in 1829. Some are residing
in the county. Charles Garner, a son in-law
of Judge Mclntosh, also came from Kentucky, in
1814, and settled in section 23, Wabash precinct. Other
settlers of this precinct, in 1815, were Benjamin Hul-

bert, Henry Leek, Samuel Simcoe, John Armstrong,
Joseph Gardner, and Peter Keen. The former came
from New Jersey, having a large family of children
when he made his advent here. He located in section
13. Henry Leek was a son-in-law of Hulbert, and was
noted as a great hunter, and a skilled mechanic. He
remained but a short time, when he moved to other
parts. Armstrong came from Tennessee, and settled in
section 15. He had six sons, one of whom, Abner, was
appointed the first sheriffof Edwards county. Another
son, Thomas, represented Wabash county in the Legis-
lature one term, and was also Judge of the County
Court. Gardner settled in section 9. Peter Keen came
to the county on a prospecting tour in 1814, when he
returned to his family in Ohio. The spring following
he came to the county, and after shifting about for a
few years he permanently settled in section 14, town-
ship 1 north, range 13 west. He remained here until
his death in 1850. Two of the pioneer children
are yet living, Shulamite and Ira. The latter resides at
Friendsville, and is eighty two years of age.

William Mclntosh settled in the north part of Mt.
Carmel precinct, as early as 1814. He owned a large
tract of land known as " Mclntosh " Reserve." He
erected quite a large mansion, for those days, situated
near the Wabash, at the foot of the rapids. He was a
single man, but had colored servants to conduct his
household affairs. He died many years ago.

A prominent early settler was Henry Utter, who came

! to the county in about 1814 or '15, and located in
Friendsville precinct. He was elected a member of the
Legislature in 1818, the year of the State's admission

' into the Union. In 1824, he was again elected to fill
the same position. In 1821, he was one of the members

| of the county board. Some of his descendants are liv-
ing in the county. Gervase Hazleton was one of the
first settlers at old Palmyra. The first courts were held
at his residence. He was the third County Clerk of
what was then Ed wards county, serving from 1821 to 1823.

I A settlement was formed at Campbell's Lauding, in
Coffee precinct, as early as 1810. One of the most prom-

| nent settlers was James Campbell, of Scotch descent.
He came from Kentucky, and had quite a large family,

I besides owning thirteen slaves, whom he set at liberty
some time after coming to Illinois. It is said that eleven
of them were subsequently kidnapped and sold back into

i slavery. At one time the family was obliged to flee
across the river to save being massacred at the hands of
the Piafikashaws. Others of the settlement were, Henry
Painter, Henry Gambrel, a man by the name of Parks,
John Cannon, and his son in-law, John Starks, and John
Grayson. The latter located in section 31. He was a
man of push and enterprise, and was the first to erect a
water-mill in this part of the county. Some of his de-

i scendants are residing here. A portion of the Cannon

! family were massacred by the Indians, an account of
which will be found in this chapter.

Daniel Keen and David Wright also located in this

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

settlement iu about 1815. The former was a sou of
Peter Keen, heretofore mentioned. He became an" in-
fluential citizen iu the neighborhood, and was elected a
member of the county board, which office he filled for
several years. Wright came from Ohio. He was then
a widower. He afterwards married Sarah Mclntosh,
and settled in section 22, range 13 west. Robert E.
Wright, a son, now r< siding at Mt. Oarinel. Other early
settlers of Coffee precinct may be mentioned, Elijah
Compton, Walter Garner, James Lansdowu, John
Craddock, Charles P. Burns, who was one of the first
Justice of the Peace ; Daniel Groves, John McCleary,
Thomas Baird, Reuben Blackford, Henry Bignon, Jas.
Chism, Elias Jordon, the Cowlings, James and John
Gray, James Kennerly, John Nesler, and others.

In 1816, quite a little colony left Alleghany county,
New York, to make their homes upon the wild frontiers.
Among these with their families, were George W. Hig-
gins, John Higgios, Willis Higgins, Edward Brines,
Henry Utter, Lemuel Haskins, David Moss, John
Harrison, Benjamin Smith, and Levi Couch. They
secured boats at the Alleghany river and floated down
to the Ohio, and thence to Evansville. Here they pro-
cured keel-boats and came up the Wabash, landing at
Old Palmyra. Of this little band of emigrants, five
families settled in Lancaster precinct, John Higgins,
Couch, Moss, Harrison and Smith. The others located
in Friendsville. Others of an early date who located in
Lancaster precinct were, Isaac Harues, Henry Cusick,
James McMullen, George and David Pugh, George and
Andrew Knight, James Rollins, Jessie Jones, Geo. Glick>
Elias Baily, Rozander Smith, Samuel Fisher and others.

The first settlers of Bellmont precinct were John and
Jacob Arnold, Staly D. McKlure, and a man by the
name of Mpturey. This was in 1816 The latter settled
in section 24, town 1 south, range 14 west. John
Arnold came with his family from Kentucky. He was
a distinguished hunter and had no fixed abiding place-
He subsequently moved to Missouri, James, his brother,
a single man, afterwards married and settled in
section 5, township 2 south. McKlure was also from
Kentucky. He located in section 28, towiship 1, range
13 west, where he remained until his death. Other early
settlers of Btllmont precinct were, William Wilson,
George Wheeler, William Tanquary, Jonathan Gilkin-
son, William Deputy, Robert James, and Samuel Riggs,
Andrew T. Dyar, Joseph Ballard, Christ Ernsc, Samuel
Fettinger, Rodarn Kenner, William Hunter, John
Proctor, William Weir, A. W. Cory, Joseph Sloan and
John Frair.

Cornelius Vanderhoof was a settler of Wabash pre-
cinct as early as 1816. S. E. Goff settled in section 14,
of the same precinct at about the same time. Among
others who made early settlements in this precinct may
be mentioned, John W. Buchanan, William Johnson,
Mrs. Margaret Filpot, Hugh Calahan, John Andrew,
Joseph Wright, John Buchanon, John Snider, Thomas
Cisel, Isaac Smith and James Payne.

One of the prominent early settlers of Mt. Carmel
precinct, was the Rev. Thomas S. Hinde, a native of
Virginia. He came from Ohio to Illinois, in 1817, and
in connection with others, founded the city of Mt. Car-
mel. He was a man of strict moral convictions, and did

i much good in the age which he lived Hediedat Mt Car-
mel in 1846. Other early settlers of Mt. Carmel precinct
were, Rev. William Beauchaimp, Hiram Bell, Joshua
and James Beall, Isaac Ingersoll, Edward Ulm, Scoby
Stewart, Aaron Gould, Joseph Jones, James Townshend,
James Black, Abraham Russell, William Simonds,
William Stone, Beauchamp Harvey, John Tilton, Capt.
James Sharp and others. Capt. Sharp is yet living, and
is a citizen of Mt. Carmel.

John Dale settled in Friendsville precinct, in 1815, on
section 20. He was a farmer and mechanic, and was
noted for his cleverness in horse trading. In the same
year, Henry McGregor located here not far from Dale.
Among others of early times, who came to this precint
were, John Smith Jr., William and James Pool, Josiah
Higgins, Ephraim Reed, the Knapps, John Shadle,
Charles and John McNair, the Osgoods, George Lither-
land, William Brown, John White, Benjamin Taylor,

I Z. Warner, David Daily and some others.

Philip Hull settled iu Lick Prairie precinct, in 1815,

I section 28. Ephraim Armstrong from Tennessee,, locat-
ed in section 30, near Hall. Samuel Mundy, Louis
Armstrong, William Ulm, James Wiley, Jacob Gupton,
Calvin Morgan, Benjamin T. Hill, Adam Baird, Fred-

j erick Miller and John Moore were also early settlers in

! the precinct.

Pioneer Mills. Among the first were the " band
Mills." A description of one will not prove uninterest-
ing. The plan was cheap. The horse power consisted
of a large upright shaft, some ten or twelve feet in hight
with some eight or ten long arms let into the main shaft
and extending out from it fifteen feet. Auger holes
were bored into the arms on the upper side at the end,

! into which woooden pins were driven. This was called
the '' big wheel," and was as has been seen, about twenty
feet in diameter. The raw hide belt or tug was made of
skins taken off of beef cattle, which were cut into str'ps
three inches in width ; these were twisted into a round
cord or tug, which was long enough to encircle the cir-
cumference of the big wheel. There it was held in place
by the wooden pins, then to cross and pass under a shed
to run around a drum, or what is called a "trunnel
head," which was attached to the grinding apparatus.
The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means
of raw hide tugs. Then walking in a circle the machin-
ery would be set in motion. To grind twelve bushels

! of corn was considered a good day's work on a band

I mill.

The most rude and primitive method of manufactur-
g meal was by the use of the Grater. A plate of tin

! is pierced with many holes, so that one side is very
rough. The tin is made oval, and then nailed to a

i board. An ear of corn was rubbed hard on this grater

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

whereby the meal was forced through the holes, and fell
down into a vessel prepared to receive it. An improve-
ment on this was the Hand mill. The slones were
smaller than those of the band mill, and were propelled
by man or woman power. A hole is made in the upper
stone, and a staff of wood is put in it, and the other end
of the staff is put through a hole in a plank above, so
that the hole is free to act. One or two persons take
hold of this staff and turn the upper stone as rapidly as
possible. An eye is made in the upper stone, through
which the corn is put into the mill, instead of a hopper.
A mortar, wherein corn was beaten into meal, is made
out of a large round log three or four feet long. One
end is cut or burnt out so as to hold a peck of corn,
more or less, according to circumstances. This mortar
is set one end on the ground, and the other up, to hold
Ihe corn. A sweep is prepared over the mortar so that
the spring of the pole raises the piston, and the hands at
it force it so hard down on the corn that after much
beating, meal is manufactured.

The trials, inconveniences, dangers and hardships of
the pioneers would fill volumes. As early as 1811, each
settlement was obliged to have its fort or block-house to
flee to at a moment's warning for protection from the
marauding bands of Indians. Several of these forts
have already been mentioned. The Greathouse fort was
situated on Greathouse creek, in section 30, township 1
south, range 13 west. From 1811 to 1815, this fort was
occupied by more or less families. Tradition relates of
an episode, that occurred at fort Ramsey in about 1812.
In the most troublesome times the women and children
were placed in the forts, while the men would work in
the fields, gun in hand, ready for any emergency. Others
were detailed to scout around and to keep a sharp look-
out for the murderous red skins. One Ramsey was too
fearless to go into the fort, declaring he could protect
himself. The rangers had been out on a scout, and on
return thought they would give him a scare, his cabin
being not far from the fort, they gave a terrific war
whoop, fired their guns, and came thundering toward
the fort. Captain Higgins, inside, cried out, " The
Indians, the Indians. Every man to his post! At this
moment the ponderous gate swung open, and an army
seemed to be entering. The women screamed, believing
that they all would soon be scalped. Cries, prayers, and
snatching of babies by women in undress continued for
some time to the amusement of the Rangers. The joke
turned out far more serious for the women than it did
for Ramsey. The only means of grinding their meal in
the forts, was by crushing it in a mortar. Families
would take turns in performing this slow and arduous
task, for it must be remembered these were times when
a small army had to be fed. Harrison Ingraham, who
died in Clay county, Illinois, a few years ago, in an ar-
ticle of the Pioneer Times, published in one of the Mt.
Carmel papers centennial year, says that he was born in
Fort Barney, and that he has heard his mother relate
that the day before he was born, she went to the fields

and plucked, wheat, rubbed it out with her hands,
crushed it in a mortar, and made a cake to set before her
friends on that occasion. This was said to be the first
wheat bread manufactured in Wabash county.

A circumstance occurred in 1815, which threw the
early settlers into a fever of fear and excitement. It
was what has passed into history as

THE CANNON MASSACRE.

The account of the sad affair as related by one of Mr.
Cannon's daughters a few years ago, is substantially as
follows : Mr. Cannon and his sons cajne across the Wabash
from the Indiana side, and constructed a cabin near
Campbell's Landing in Coffee precinct, on the ground
where the Painter grave-yard is now located. No signs
of Indians were seen while they were engaged in the
work, and they supposed they had all left. After com-
pleting the cabin, they crossed the river to bring over
the family. Late in the afternoon of the same day, they
all moved over and settled in their new home. While
building their house, they had found a bee-tree, and after
becoming fairly settled, the men went into the timber to
cut it. While thus engaged a band of Indians suddenly
j fell upon them. Mr. Cannon was instantly killed, and
the others fled for their lives. Samuel, a son, was soon
overtaken and dispatched by the murderous foe. They
cut off his head and otherwise mutilated the body, leav-
ing it where he fell. Mrs. Cannon, a daughter, and a son-
in-law by the name of Starks, were captured and carried
off by the Indians. They were, however, subsequently
ransomed. Mr. Cannon and his son were buried by two
neighbors, Samuel Mclntosh and Henry Gambrel. They
were wrapped in a horse skin and placed in one grave.
This was the first interment made in the Painter burial
ground.

HABITS AND MODES OF LIVING OF THE PIONEERS AND
FIRST SETTLERS.

The pioneers were destitute of many of the conven-
iences of life, and of some things that are now con-
sidered necessaries ; but they patiently endured their lot
and hopefully looked forward to better. They had
plenty to wear as protection against the weather, and an
abundance of wholesome food. They sat down to a rude
table to eat from tin or pewter dishes ; but the meat
thereon spread the flesh of the deer or bear; of the
wild duck or turkey ; of the quail or squirrel was su-
perior to that we eat, and had been won by the skill of
the head of the house or of that of his vigorous sons.
The bread they ate was made from corn or wheat of
their own raising. They walked the green carpet of the
grand prairie or forest that surrounded them, not with
the air of a beggar, but with the elastic step of a self-re-
spected freeman.

The settler brought with him the keen axe, which was
indispensable, and the equally necessary rifle ; the first
his weapon of offense against the forests that skirted the
water-courses, and near which he made his home ; the

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

second that of defence from the attacks of his foe, the
cunniug child of the forest and prairie. His first labor
was to fell trees and erect his unpretentious cabin, which
was rudely made of logs, and in the raising of which he
had the cheerful aid of his neighbors. It was usually
from fourteen to sixteen feet square, and never larger
than twenty feet, and was frequently built entirely with-
out glass, nails, hinges or locks.

The manner of building was as follows: First large
logs were laid in position as sills ; on these were placed
strong sleepers, and on the sleepers were laid the rough-
hewed puncheons, which were to serve as floors. The
logs were then built up till the proper height for the
eaves were reached ; then on the ends of the building
were placed poles, longer than the other end-logs, which
projected some eighteen or more inches over the sides,
and were called " butting pole sleepers ; " on the project-
ing ends of these was placed the " butting pole " which
served to give the line to the first row of clap-boards.
These were, as a matter of course, split, and as the gables
of the cabin were built up, were so laid on as to lap a
third of their length. They were often kept in place
by the weight of a heavy pole, which was laid across
the roof parallel to the ridge-pole. The house was then
chinked, and daubed with a coarse mortar.

A huge fire-place was built in at one end of the
house, in which fire was kindled for cooking purposes,
for the settlers generally were without stoves, and which
furnished the needed warmth in winter. The ceiling
above was sometimes covered with the pelts of the rac-
coon, opossum, and of the wolf, to add to the warmth
of the dwelling. Sometimes the soft inner bark of the
bass wood was used for the same purpose. The cabin
was lighted by means of greased paper-windows. A log
would be left out along one side, and sheets of strong
paper, well greased with coon-grease or bear-oil, would
be carefully tacked in.

The above description only applies to the very earliest
times, before the rattle of the saw-mill was heard within
our borders.

The furniture comported admirably with the house
itself, and hence if not elegant, was in most perfect taste.
The tables had four leg*, and were rudely made from a
puncheon. Their seats were stools having three or
four legs. The bedstead was in keeping with the restj
and was often so contrived as to permit it to be drawn
up and fastened to the wall during the day, thus afford-
ing more room to the family.

The entire furniture was simple, and was framed with
no other tools than an axe and auger. Each was his own
carpenter; and some displayed considerable ingenuity
in the construction of implements of agriculture, and
utensils, and furniture for the kitchen and house.
Knives and forks they sometimes had, and sometimes
had not. The common table-knife was the pack- knife
or butcher-knife. Horse-collars were sometimes made
of the plaited husk of the maize sewed together. They
were easy on the neck of the horse, and if tug traces

were used, would last a long while. Horses were not
used very much, however, and oxen were almost exclu-
'. sively used. In some instances carts and wagons were
constructed or repaired by the self-reliant settler ; and
the woful creakings of the untarred axles could be heard
at a great distance.

The women corresponded well with the description of

the virtuous woman in the last chapter of Proverbs, for

they " sought wool and flax, and worked willingly with

i their hands." They did not, it is true, make for them-

i selves " coverings of tapestry," nor could it be said of them

that their "clothing was silk and purple;" but they

" rose while it was yet night, and gave meat to their

household," and they "girded their loins with strength

and strengthened their arms." They "looked well to the

1 ways of their household, and eat not the bread of idle-

! ness." They laid " their hands to the spindle and to the

' distaff," and " strength and honor were in their cloth-

| ing."

I In these days of furbelows and flounces, when from

| twenty to thirty yards are required by one fair damsel

i for a dress, it is refreshing to know that the ladies of

j that ancient time considered eight yards an extravagant

amount to put into one dress. The dress was usually

made plain with four widths in the skirt, and two front

ones cut gored. The waist was made very short, and

across the shoulders behind was a draw-string. The

sleeves were enormously large, and tapered from shoulder

to wrist, and the most fashionable for fashion, like love,

rules like the " court and grove" were padded so as to

resemble a bolster at the upper part, and were known as

" mutton-legs," or " sheep-shank sleeves." The sleeve

was kept in shape often by a heavily starched lining.

Those who could afford it used feathers, which gave the

sleeve the appearance of an inflated balloon from elbow

1 up, and were known as " pillow-sleeves."

Many bows and ribbons were worn, but scarcely any
jewelry. The tow dress was superseded by the cotton
I gown. Around the neck, instead of a lace collar or ele-
j gant ribbon, there was disposed a copperas-colored

neckerchief.

! The women manufactured nearly all the clothing worn

I by the family. In cool weather gowns made of "linsey

woolsey " were worn by the ladies. The chain was

of cotton and the filling of wool. The fabric was usually

plaid or striped, and the differing colors were blended

according to the taste and fancy of the fair maker.

Colors were blue, copperas, turkey-red, light blue, etc.

Every house contained a card-loom and spinning-wheels,

which were considered by the women as necessary for

' them as the rifle for the men. Several different kinds

of cloth were made. Cloth was woven from cotton. The

i rolls were bought and spun, on little and big wheels,

j into two kinds of thread; one the "chain," and the

other the " filling." The more experienced only spun

the chain ; the younger the filling. Two kinds of looms

: were in use. The most primitive in construction was

called the " side-loom." The frame of it consisted of

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASII COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

two pieces of scantling running obliquely from the floor
to the wall. Later, the frame loom, which was a great
improvement over the other, came into use.

The men and boys wore "jeans" and linsey-woolsey
shirts. The "jeans" were colored either light blue or
butternut. ,

Many times when the men gathered to a log-rolling or
barn-raising, the women would assemble bringing their
spinning-wheels with them. In this way sometimes as
many as ten or twelve would gather in one room, and
the pleasant voices of the fair spinners were mingled
with the low hum of the spinning-wheels. "Oh! golden
early days!"

Such articles of apparel as could not be manufactured
were brought to them from the nearest store by the mail-
carrier. These were few, however. The men and boys,
in many instances, wore pantaloons made of the dressed
skin of the deer, which then swarmed the prairies in
large herds. The young man who desired to look capti-
vating to the eye of the maiden whoni he loved, had his
" bucks " fringed, which lent to them a not unpleasing
effect. Meal-sacks were also made of buckskin. Caps
were made of the skins of the wolf, fox, wildcat and
muskrat tanned with the fur on. The tail of the fox or
wolf often hung from the top of the cap, lending the
wearer a jaunty air. Both sexes wore moccasins, which
in dry weather were an excellent substitute for shoes.
There were no shoemakers, and each family made its
own shoes.

The settlers were separated from their neighbors often
by miles. There were no church-houses or regular ser-
vices of any kind to call them together ; hence, no doubt,
the cheerfulness with which they accepted invitations to
a house-raising, or a log-rolling, or a corn-husking, or a
bee of any kind. To attend these gatherings they would
go ten and sometimes more miles.

Generally with the invitation to the men went one to
the women to come to a quilting. The good woman of
the house where the festivities were to take place would
be busily engaged for a day or more in preparation for
the coming guests. Great quantities of provisions
were to be prepared, for dyspepsia was unknown to the
pioneer, and good appetites were the rule and not the
exception.

At all the 1-g-rol lings, and house-raisings it was cus-
tomary to provide liquor. Excesses were not indulged
in, however. The fiddler was never forgotten. After
the day's work had been accomplished, out doors and in,
by men and women, the floor was cleared and the merry :
dance began. The handsome, stalwart young men, |
whose fine forms were the result of their manly outdoor |
life, clad in fringed buckskin breeches and gaudily j
colored hunting shirts, led forth the bright-eyed buxom '
damsels, attired in neat-fitting linsey woolsey garments, !
to the dance, their cheeks glowing with health, and j
eyes speaking of enjoyment, and perhaps of a tenderer !
emotion.

The amusements of that day were more athletic and

rude than those of to-day. Among the settlers of a new
country, from the nature of the case, a higher value is
set upon physical than mental endowments. Skill in
woodcraft, superiority of muscular development, accu-
racy in shooting with the rifle, activity, swiftness of foot,
were qualifications that brought their possessors fame.
Foot racing was often practised, and often the boys and
young men engaged in friendly contests with the Indians.
Every man had a rifle, and kept always in good order ;
his flints, bullet-molds, screw driver, awl, butcher-knife
and tomahawk were fastened to the shot-pouch strap or
to the belt around the waist Target-shooting was
much practised, and shots were made by the hunters and
settlers, with flint-lock rifles, that cannot be excelled by
their descendants with the improved breech-loaders of
the present day.

At all gatherings jumping and wrestling were indulged
in, and those who excelled were thenceforth men of no-
toriety. Cards, dice, and other gambling implements
were unknown. Dancing was a favorite amusement. It
was participated in by all.

At their shooting-matches, which were usually for the
prize of a turkey, or a gallon of whisky, good feeling
always prevailed. If disputes arose, they were settled
often by a square stand-up fight, and no one thought of
using other weapons than fists.

The picture here drawn of the pioneers, their modes
of living, their customs and amusements, while lacking
entire completeness, we feel is not inaccurate and un-
truthful.

CHAPTER VIII.

CIVIL HISTORY.

EDWAKDS COUNTY.

HE formation- of Edwards county dates back
to 1814, and is the sixth county organized
within the present territory of the State of
Illinois. It embraced an immense area, in-
cluding about one-third of the State, besides a large
portion of the State of Wisconsin and a part of Michigan.
As another writer said, " In the presence of the stupend-
ous changes in this State, it is hard to imagine that
sixty nine years ago, when Edwards county was organ-
ized, neither Cook county or Chicago had any existence,
but the present Cook county was in the jurisdiction of
Edwards county, and its county seat at Palmyra at the
falls of the Big Wabash, a town which has long since
ceased to be."

The following is a copy of the original paper prepared
by the Territorial Legislature creating Edwards county .
"An act for the division of Gallatin county. Sec. 1. Be
it enacted by the Legislature, Council, and House of
Representatives of the Illinois territory, and it is here-
by enacted by the authority of the same, that all that

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AXD WAR A fill COUXTIES, ILLINOIS.

.81

tract of country within the following boundaries (to wit) :
Beginning at the north of Borapast (Boupas) creek on
the big Wabash, and running thence due west to the
Meridan line, and due north till it enters the line of j
Upper Canada to the line that separates this territory
from Indiana territory, and thence with the said dividing i
line to the beginning, shall constitute a separate county
to be called Edwards, and the seat of justice for said
county shall be at the town now called Palmyra, on the
Wabash, provided the proprietor or proprietors of said
land shall give to the said county, for the purpose of
erecting the public buildings, a quantity of land at said
place, not less than twenty acres, to be laid off into lots
and sold for the above purpose. But, if such proprietor
or proprietors refuse or neglect to make the donation
aforesaid, then in that case it shall be the duty of the
Court of Common pleas, who shall be appointed for said
county, to fix up jn some other place for the seat of j
justice as convenient as may be to the different sett e-
ments in said county.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted that the Court of Com- j
mon Pleas shall sit in said county at the following
periods (to-wit.) The court for the civil and criminal
business on the fourth Mondays of March, July, and
November, yearly and every year, and three other
courts shall be holden on the fourth Mondays of Jauu- ;
ary, May, and September 4 yearly and every year.

Sec. a. Be it further enacted that it shall and may be ;
lawful for the governor of this territory immediately to
constitute the militia in this county, thus laid off into
one battalion, the commanding officer of which shall
have the same power to order out the militia as is now
proposed by the Lieutenant-Colonels of the respective
regiments.

Sec. 4. And be it further enacted that the said county
of Edwards is hereby entitled to one representative in
the House of Representatives of this territory, who shall
be elected agreeably to law and be entitled to all the :
immunities, powers, and privileges prescribed by law to
the members of the House of Representatives. And
whereas the next general election for representatives to
the legislature, will not take place before the month of
September, in the year 1816, and in consequence thereof
the said county will be unrepresented in the House of
Representatives until the time for remedy thereof.
An election is hereby directed to be held in the seat of
justice for said county, on the first Thursday in March
next, and continued open three days, and to be conducted
in all other respects by the persons and in the manner
prescribed by law, at which said election the persons
entitled to vote, may elect a representative to the House
of Representatives, who shall continue in office until the
10th day of October, 1816, and shall during his con-
tinuance in office be bound to perform the same duties,
and entitled to the same privileges and immunities that
are prescribed by law to a member of the House of Re-
presentatives.

Sec. > r >. Be it further enacted that whereas the counties
11 *

of Gallatin and Edwards compose one district for the
purpose of electing a member of the Legislative Council,
the citizens of said county entitled to vote may at any
election for a member of the Legislative Council to re-
present said district, proceed to vote for such members ;
and it shall moreover be the duty of the sheriff of the
said county of Edwards, within ten days after the close
of said election, to attend at the court-house of the
county of Gallatin, with a statement of the votes given
in the said county of Edwards, to compare the polls of
the respective counties, and it shall be the duty of
the sheriff of Gallatin county to attend at such time and
place with a statement of the votes of Gallatin county,
and upon counting the votes of the respective counties,
it shall be the duty of the said sheriff of Gallatin and
Edwards counties to make out and deliver to the person
duly elected a certificate thereof. If the said sheriff, or
either of them, shall refuse or fail to perform the duty
required by this section, such delinquent shall forfeit
and pay the sum of two hundred dollars, to be recovered
by 'action of debtor indictment, one half to the use of the
territory, and the other half to the person suing the
same.

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted that the citizens of said
county of Edwards are hereby declared to be entitled,
in all respects, to the same rights and privileges in the
election of a Delegate to Congress, as well as a member
to the House of Representatives of the territory, that are
allowed by law to the other counties of this territory,
and all elections are to be conducted at the same time
and in the same manner, except as is excepted in this
law as is provided for in other counties. This act shall
commence and be in force from and after the passage
thereof.

Approved this 28th Nov., 1814.

RISDON MOORE, Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives.

BENJAMIN TALBOT, President of the Council, pro tern.
NINIAN EDWARDS.

NAT. POPE, Secretary of Illinois Territory.

It will thus be seen that the grand old county of
Edwards, which once contained many millions of acres
within its boundaries, has become one of the smallest
counties in the State. It received its name in honor of
the Hon. Ninian Edwards, first territorial governor of
Illinois territory.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT AT PALMYRA.

Palmyra, the county seat named in the act, was
accepted by the county court as the proper point for
establishing the capital of the county, upon the propri-
etors of said town offering to donate twenty acres of
ground for said purpose. The town of Palmyra was
created the 22d day of April, 1815, by the joint act of
Seth Gard, Peter Keen, Gervase Hazletou, Levi Comp-
ton, and John Waggoner, which was known as Seth
Gard & Co. It was situated at a sluggish bend on the
river within the confines of two fractional lots, numbers

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

four and five, in township 1 south of the base line, in
range 12 west of the second meridian. For some reason
the proprietors of the town withheld the deed of donation
to the county until the 7th of May, 1816.

From the county court's record of the February term,
1815, we find the following in relation to the acceptance
by the court, and the boundaries of the twenty acres
donated to the county : " Ordered that the court accept
the donation of twenty acres made by the proprietors,
lying in the following manner, viz. : Beginning at the
northwest corner of the public .square, and running north
and west, so as to include a square of twenty acres. It
is also ordered, that no person cut any timber off the
said twenty acres except it be for public use."

The subject is brought up again at the April term
following, as the action of the court was not satisfactory
to the donors of the land. The record reads, " Judge
Card, as a branch of this court objects to the manner
and form in which the donation was received by the
court from the proprietors on the 6th February last.
The objection was heard and agreed to by Judge Mcln-
tosh ; therefore, it is ordered that the former donation
made by the proprietors be made null and void, and
agreeable to the act of the legislature in that case made
and provided on the 28th day of November, 1814, it is
ordered that the donation be, and is hereby rescinded in
the following manner, viz. : Commencing at the north-
west corner of the public square and running due north j
forty-eight rods, three and a-half feet, thence west twenty-
two rods, thence south parallel with the first line, thence
at right angles east and north to the place of beginning, j
so as to include the twenty acres ; and whereas one or
more lots hath been given to Solomon Frear, etc., for
building upon, the said proprietors bind themselves to
give the court one to the same value, if the said Frear
should build and hold the said lot."

At the third meeting of the county court it was or- ;
dered that N. Claypoole be appointed agent for the county
of Edwards, to advertise and sell the lots that the court
should think proper, for the use of defraying the ex- \
penses of the public buildings, on twelve months' credit,
by taking bond and approved security, the sale to con-
tinue until all lots were sold. At a subsequent meeting
of the court an order ia made that the lots shall not be
sold for less than $15 per lot. Palmyra was only a
frontier town of the most primitive character, the build-
ings being constructed wholly of logs, and the site was
most unfortunately chosen. It was situated on low
ground, surrounded by sloughs and marshes, and was
therefore one of the most sickly portions of the West. It
was for this reason, perhaps, that lots brought such a
meager price in the market.

The First County Court.* The following is a synopsis
of the doings of the first county court, the session being
held at the house of Gervase Hazleton, Monday, Jan. 2o,
1815: " At a county court of Edwards county, begun
and held in the town of Palmyra, the seat of justice of

William Barney was one of the members of the county court, Kin was
not i.reH..nt:.t it- fir-t -.s-i..,,.

said county and territory of Illinois, agreeable to an Act
of the Legislature passed at Kaskaskia November 28th,
1814 Members present:

JOHN MclNTOSH, ) T *

: N. CLAYPOOLE, Clerk. SETH GARD, j Juages.
ABNER ARMSTRONG, Sheri/."

After being duly sworn, the clerk and sheriff pro-
duced their bonds with security, which was approved
by the court, when they proceeded to business as fol-
lows: The first order of the court was for the establish-
ment of a ferry from the town of Palmyra across the
Wabash river to the opposite shore, in the name of
Hazleton & Co., the rates being fixed as follows : " Each
wheel of a cart, carriage or wagon, 18?c. ; and each
horse drawing the same, 12} cents. For every man and
horse, from the first day of December until the last day
of May inclusive, be 25 cents ; and from the first day of
June until the last day of November inclusive, be 12}
cents ; and for every footman and each head of cattle,
6} cents; and each head of sheep and hogs, 3 cents."

The second order reads : " That a road be reviewed
from Palmyra for the nearest and best route to the
county line dividing Edwards county and Gallatin; on
a direct line to Shawneetown ; and that Levi Compton,
Ransom Higgins and John Campbell be and are hereby
appointed to review the same, and make return against
the 6th day of February next." The next order pro-
vides for a road to be reviewed from Palmyra to the
nearest and best route to Vallies' Ford on the river
Wabash. John Compton, Wm. B. Smith and Alex-
ander AVood were appointed reviewers. The foregoing
constituted the first day's business. On convening the
court the day following, Robert Baird was appointed to
" cess and take in all land and county tax in the county
of Edwards." One of the most important actions of the
court was the dividing of the great county of Edw.irds
into two townships. The order reads : " That the
county of Edwards be and is hereby divided into two
townships, by a line running with the Embarras creek,
and all that county above to be included in one town-
ship, and be called Lamot township ; and all the country
south of the said Embarras creek, to include the other
township and called Palmyra township." It will be
seen from the description of the foregoing boundaries,
that Lamot township comprised a territory of very great
dimensions, and was probably the largest township on
record in this or any other state, as it embraced all thaf
country between the eastern and western boundaries of
Edwards county, and extending from the Embarras to
Upper Canada.

At the same session, Ransom Higgins and John Still-
well were appointed supervisors of the poor for Palmyra
township ; and Thomas Kennedy and James Baird for
Lamot township. The court also ordered, " that the jail
for Edwards county be let to the lowest bidder on Mon-
day, the 6th day of February next, at 3 o'clock p. si."
Until the completion of the jail, it would seem that the
prisoners were confined under guard within certain

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND II .1 A'.l.sV/ COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

limits, as the following action of the court would verify :
" Ordered, that no person in the prison bounds go further !
than the southwest corner of Lot No. 3, in block M, and
thence wiih an alley to the southeast corner of lot No. 5 !
in block B, and thence north to the northeast corner of '
lot No. 6 in block D, thence west with an alley to the !
corner of lot No. 2 in block O, thence south to the place
of beginning."

Subsequent Proceedings. At a special meeting of the
court, held Feb 6, 1815, the reviewers of the road from
Palmyra to the line dividing Edwards and Gallatin
counties made their report, when the court decided that
said road would be of public utility, and Joseph Wood
was appointed supervisor of so much of the road as lay
between Crawfish and Coffee Creeks, including the prai-
ries Pulliam and Banker. August Laviolette (Lavu-
lette) was appointed supervisor of that part of the road
lying between Coffee creek and Boupas ; and Thomas
Jjeavins, supervisor of that part between Bonpas and
the county line. The reviewers of the road between
Palmyra and Vallie's Ford also reported, which being
accepted, Joshua Jordan was appointed supervisor of the
same.

The first license for the sale of spirituous liquors was
granted to Robert Erwin, on payment to the county of
the sum of two dollars ; the rate fixed for the sale was
twelve and a-half cents per half pint. This was done at
a special term, April 4th, 1815. At the same session,
Francis Vallie was licensed to establish a ferry across
the Wabash river, from his house to the opposite shore,
the rates fixed as follows : For every man and horse, 25
cents ; footman, 12J cents; for each wheel of cart, car-
riage or wagon, 18J cents ; for each head of cattle, 6J
cents ; for each head of sheep or hogs, 3 cents

William B Adams was appointed constable for Pal-
myra township; Thos. C. Browne was appointed prose-
cuting attorney for EJ wards county; Robert Beard was
recommended by the court to the territorial governor
for county surveyor, and Gervase Hazleton was recom-
mended for justice of the peace.

The following are the rates of the first tax levy, as
fixed by this court : " Each ferry, $8 ; each horse, mare,
mule or ass, 50 cents ; each stud horse at the rate he
stands the season ; every bond servant, $1.00, and 10
cents for every hundred dollars worth of land."

The first case before the court came up at the August
term, 1815, and is 'thus placed of record : ' "Richard
Easton, assignee of Andrew J. Walker, vs. John Wal-
drup." The case was ordered to be continued until the
next session of court.

At the beginning of court session in February, 1816,
it would seem that this honorable body had grown in
importance and dignity, as the record reads : " Present
The Worshipfuls John Mclutosh. Seth Card and Wil-
liam Barney." As there is nothing in the records to
show wherein this court received any emoluments for
their services, we are led to infer that the title of" Wor-
shipful " was the only compensation to which this august

body was entitled The first business transacted was
ordering an allowance of fifty dollars salary to the
sheriff, Abner Armstrong, for one year's salary.

On the petition of James Martin, he was licensed to
keep a public house in the town of Palmyra, by paying
the sum of one dollar for the use of the county. The
" tavern " rates were fixed as follows : " For half pint
of whisky, 12Jc. ; night's lodging, 12}c. ; for each diet,
25c. ; horse to hay all night, 25c. ; each horse feed, 12Jc. ;
each quart of cider, 121c. ; pint of rum, wine or brandy,
50 cents."

The same session Thomas C. Browne, prosecuting at-
torney, was allowed ten dollars attorney fees for the
county in the year 1815. Following the above is an
order that Levi Cumpton, John Tome and Gervase
Hazleton be appointed to contract for the building of a
court-house in Palmyra, and that said commissioners
take no action in the matter until further instruction.
The first business on the following morning the commis-
sioners, by an order from the court, are instructed to
contract for the building of the house upon the best
possible terms, and have the work done immediately.
Later in the day the following appears : " Ordered that
the order this day made directing the commissioners
appointed to contract for the building of the court-
house be set aside."

John Shadle was allowed twenty dollars for putting a
shingle roof on the jail, which was to be completed by
the next term of court.

" Ordered that the sum of eight dollars be allowed to
Gervase Hazleton for the use of his house for the court's
last year's session.

'Ordered that the sum of $235 be allowed to David
Wright, as full compensation for the building of a jail
in Palmyra, and that the treasurer pay the same as soon
and as fast as money comes into his hands, this being
the senior claim against the county."

Settlement was made with the county treasurer Feb-
ruary 16, 1816, with the following showing:

Amt. received by treasurer for 1815, including claims by sheriff 8179 62}$

Amt. rec'd from Seth Gar.l for purchs
Amt rec'd from tavern license

ey of lot in Palmyra 31 00

At the May meeting of thia year Lamot township
was divided with boundaries as follows : "Beginning at
the Wabash river at the corner between townships Nos.
5 and 6, and running with said line due west to the
meridian line, thence with said line to the township line
between Nos. 2 and 3, thence with the fifth township
lines to the Wabash ; and that the same be known by
the name of Embarras township."

At the same session Abner Armstrong filed his bond
as collector of the revenue of the county of Edwards.

John Mclutire was appointed counsel for the court in
the place of Thomas C. Browne, at the August'tern, 1816.

The following appears on the record of the November
term following : On the petition of Adam Gollahart and

HISTORY OF KDWAKDS, LAWRKXCK AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

William Douglas, trustees to the Shakers, it is ordered
that a writ of ad quod damnum be issued in their name
to view a mill-seat on Erabarras river, on the southwest
quarter of sec. 28, tp. 5, range 12, and that a writ be
directed to the sheriff commanding him to summon
twelve good and lawful men householders to meet on
the premises Friday, the 8th day of November, 1816.
The su bscquent action of the court granted the prayer of
the peiitioners, and the mill was located on the river, in
the southwest qr. of sec. 28, tp. 5, range 12, being the first
water flouring mill authorized to be built in the county.
A reward was offered at the rate of twenty five cents
for male wolf scalps and two dollars for female scalps.
George Barney received the first reward under this
law. At the above session the record reads : " Ordered
that the sum of one dollar and fifty cents be allowed
George Barney for killing two wolves."

SECOND COURT. *

John Mclntosh, William Barney, Robert Frazer,
commissioners. At the February term, 1817, important
charges were made in the subdivision of the county
i nto townships. It was ordered that the county be di-
vided and laid off as follows:" 1, township called Coffee
township, to begin at the mouth of Bonpas creek, and
running up the Wabash river to the line between towns
one and two, and with that line to the meridian line, and
all that part of the county south of the line between
towns one and two compose township No. 1 ; and that
part of the county between the upper boundary of Coffee
township and the base line running west to the meridian
line, compose township No. 2, called Palmyra township;
and that part of the county Ijing between the upper
boundary of Palmyra township, and the line between-
towns one and two north of the base line running
due west, compose township No. 3, called Prairie town-
ship ; and that that .part of the county lying north of
Prairie townthip to the northern boundary of the coiTnty,
compose township No. 4, called Embarras township."

Robert Frazer was appointed assessor in Coffee town-
ship, Samuel Marshall in Palmyra township, ^"eth Gard
in Prairie township and Thomas Pulliam in Embarras
township.

At the same session the rates of taxation were fixed
as follows :

Each mare, horse, mule or ass- ' $60

Each stud-horse, the rates he stands the season

Each bond-servant or >lave , 1 00

Each young man not having taxable property to the amount of two

hundred .1,, liars 1 00

li.Mil..-ii .Ionian's ferry 1 00

Samuel Marshall's ferry 1 no

i alette-i terry 2 00

<}*rvise Ha/.leton's ferry 400

Francis Vallies' ferry 3 00

Joseph LavuU-It.'V iVnv 2 00

"All town lots, houses iu town, out-lots and mansion-

houses in the country above the value of two hundred
dollars and upwards, all water and wind-mills, at thirty
cents on the one hundred dollars' worth."

A peculiar feature appears in the record of this ses-
sion, trom the fact that the clerk states : " At a county
court begun and held at the court-house in Palmyra,"
etc., while there is nothing in the prior proceedings of
the court to show that any court-house had ever been
constructed, or any moneys appropriated for the same.
At a subsequent day's meeting of the same session, the
following appears : " Ordered that this court adjourn to
the house of Gervase Hazleton, and that the house be
considered the court-house for one year, and he ac-
knowledges the receipt of six and one-fourth cents a full
cousideration for the use of said house for the courts
and elections, and the clerk and sheriff are to have the
use of one room for their office in his house."

THIRD COURT.

William Barney and Samuel Marshall, 1817 to Spring
of 1818.

; There is nothing in the records of this term of court

I to show that there were more than the above-named

; members constituting it. It must be borne in mind that

| the act of congress creating the state of Illinois was
passed in April, 1818, therefore this court only had ju-

i risdiction of public matters to that time under the "laws
of the territorial government. While the affairs of the
state stood in atatu quo from the time of the passage of
the act until the adoption of the constitution and or-
ganization of the state, the several justices of the peace
within Edwards county constituted the county court,
and transacted the affairs peculiar to that body.

At the October meeting, 1817, the following order
was made: "Ordered that the sura of fifty dollars be
allowed to Levi Comptou, late treasurer of the county,
for taking lists of land tax for the years 1815-16, and
that 4 ie same be certified to the auditor of public

, accounts.

Three writs of ad quod damnum for the purpose of
reviewing mill-seats were applied for at this session.

; John Grayson desired to erect a mill on Bonpas creek,
in the northwest quarter of section 34, township No. 2,
range 14, west; Joseph Wright asked the privilege to
build a mill on the Bonpas, in section 26, township 2
south, range 14 west; Leonard White desired to con-

1 struct a mill on the Little Wabash, in section 7, town-

i ship 1, range 9.

The Court ordered that all the hands living north-

i west of the " Old Trace " and Indiana creek, who had
been fined for not working on the road leading from
Small's mill to the Beaver Holes, be exonerated from the
payment of said fines.

It was further ordered that it be certified that Wil-
liam Bodger is a man of good demeanor and moral char-

lecte<l. S.i lo.iiras thr jud

ohapter one court, though ;
may have been re-elected.

1818.

JUSTICES COURTS

and held f r the COUIlt y f Edwards > March 23 '
Present, Gervase Hazleton, Joseph Baird, Ran-

COURT HOUSE.

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

som Higgius, William Smith, John Gravson, Samuel
Newell, and James Martin.

At this session five parties were granted license to ]
vend domestic spirits, and the amount of twenty-eight
dollars was allowed for wolf scalps.

It was also ordered that the clerk of this court pro-
cure such weights and measures aa the law directs.

John Hunt, Robert Anderson, Daniel Keen, Robert
Bell, and John Higgins, were recommended to his Ex-
cellency, Ninian Edwards, for Justices of the Peace of
Edwards county.

Abner Armstrong, sheriff of the county, was allowed I
fifty dollars for official services for the year 1817.

At the July session the following order was made:
" Ordered, that Guy W. Smith, John D. Wolverton and
John Shadle, be agents, for this county, to contract for [
building a court-house, and selling the county lots in the \
town of Palmyra ; and that the county agents give pub- j
lie notice in one of the Vincennes papers, and the paper
published at Shawneetown, at least twenty days previous
to the day of sale." At the following day's session, an
order was passed that the county agents should not sell
any lots for less than twenty dollars. Guy W. Smith
was empowered to execute deeds to the said lots.

The commissioners appointed to contract for the build-
ing of a court-house were instructed as follows, relating
to plans and specifications of the said building: "To
be a frame, of good and sufficient timbers, 36 feet wide
by 44 feet long, and 20 feet high from the foundation to
the wall plates, and to be well weather-boarded, with
good seasoned poplar plank of a proper thickness, a
good and sufficient roof of good sound shingles, with a
balcony eight feet square and twelve feet high, and a
steeple 23 feet in height. The building to be let to the
lowest bidder, who shall be bound in a bond with such
security as the said commissioners may deem sufficient
for the just and true performance of the contract, with-
in six months from the first Monday in September next,
when the building of said court-house is to be let."

At the November session, on the application of Wm.
Beauchamp, agent for Thos. Hinde and William Mc-
Dowell, it was ordered that they be permitted to estab-
lish a ferry across the Wabash at the mouth of White
river from their land to the opposite shore.

Augustus Tougas was permitted to keep tavern and
vend spirits for one year, from the first of July, 1818,
by paying a tax of two dollars.

"Ordered, that Edward Burns be allowed the sum of
seventeen dollars extra for building a bridge across
Crawfish creek.

At a special meeting of the court in April, 1819, the
county was again sub-divided into townships having the
following names : Enabarras, Palmyra, Coffee, Bon-
pas and Prairie township.

The judges of election for the several townships, were
respectively as follows : John McClelland, Samuel New-
ell, William Denison, Seth Gdrd, William Barney,
Hezekiah Clark, Levi Compton, Elias Jordan, Philip

Plough, Robert Anderson, Hugh Stewart, Alan Em-
merson, James McMillan, Shadrach Ruark, Richard
B. McCorkle.

FIRST COUNTY COMMISSIONERS* COURT.

John Armstrong, Robert Frazer, John Higgins. 1819
1820.

The court convened June 7, 1819, the only business
of the day being the appointment of Jesse B. Browne,
County Clerk, and William Beauchamp, County Treas-
urer. On the following day the order for the appoint-
ment of the latter was rescinded, and Scoby Stewart ap-
pointed in his stead.

Jesse B. Browne was allowed thirty dollars for ser-
vices as County Clerk for the year 1818.

Reuben T. Baker was licensed to keep a tavern, and
to vend spirits in Mt Carmel ; John Pitcher was granted
a like license in Albion.

At the September term, 1819, John Small was allowed
sixty dollars for making three seals for the county of
Edwards, under the territorial government, he promis-
ing, by his attorney, to alter the aforesaid seals to State
seals when required.

It was also ordered that the rates of toll across the
Bonpas bridge should be as follows :

Empty cart

Loaded cart

Empty wagon-two horses

Loaded wagon " "

Team of four horses wagon empty .

Team of four horses wagon loaded 1 00

Each neat head of cattle 6% cents

Each head of sheep or hogs 3% "

December 6, 1819, the proprietors of Albion petitioned
to establish a mill on Bonpas creek in section 30, town-
ship 1, range 14. The greater portion of the time of the
court at this session was occupied in establishing new
roads in various parts of the county.

"Ordered, that John Youngman be allowed four dol-
lars for the use of his house as a court-room, beginning
the 25th day of March, 1819, and ending the same day
and month, in 1820."

At the March term, 1820, Guy W. Smith was allowed
seventy dollars for taking the census of Edwards county,
in the year 1818. Abner Armstrong was allowed eight
dollars for furnishing four "ticket" boxes. The Clerk
of the Court was allowed thirty dollars for his services
for the year 1819.

SECOND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS* COURT.

John Higgins, Henry Utter, William Clark. 1820
1821.

John B. Griffith was allowed ten dollars for making
fires and furnishing water for the court. At this session
appears the first allowance to any member of the court
for official services. The order reads: "Ordered, that
John Higgins, Esq., be allowed the sum of five dollars
for a part of his services as County Commissioner for
the year 1819." The first petit jury appointed by the

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LA WHENCE AND W ABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.

authority of this court, were as folltfws : George Field,
Zeba French, John Phipps, Charles Garner, Aaron
Gould, Enoch Greathouse, Daniel Greathouse, Seth
Gard, Thomas Garder, John Gray, James Gray, John
Grayson, Ransom Higgins, John Higgin?, John Han-
nison, Asa Hannison, Gervase Hazleton, Lemuel Has-
kins, Benjamin Halbert Isaac Harness, Ptlick Hull,
Havilah Green, John Graves, and Daniel Graves.

COUNTY GOVERNMENT AT ALBION.
THIRD COUNTY COMMISSIONERS* COURT.

Henry Utter, George May. 18211822.

For this term but two commissioners' names appear
in the records of the proceediugs of the court. It was
in this year that the county seat was located at Albion.
Mu'ch bitterness of feeling sprang out of this change, and
for a time a county war between the factions was im-
minent. It is said that several companies of militia
were raised and drilled in the eastern part of the county,
and they were about to march on Albion and take pos-
session of the records by force of arms. Before any
overt act had been committed the matter was compro-
raised.

No action of the court appears on the record book
from March 7, 1821, to December third following. This
discrepancy is explained by the fact that the court
records were spirited away and hidden for a time while
the warfare, relating to the removal of the county seat,
was in progress. There were three rival towns besides
Palmyra, that were clamoring for the seat of justice ;
Albion, Wanborough, and Centerville. The following
is the report made to the County Commissioners' Court to
permanently locate the county seat : " To the Com-
missjoners" Court of Edwards county, State of Illinois
Pursuant to an act of the Legislature in the last session,
dated February 1, 1821, entitled an act to provide for
the removal of the Seat of Justice of Edwards county,
having met agreeable to law, and fixed on Albion as the
permanent Seat of Justice; and we also designate and
appoint the Public Library room, in said town, as a
temporary house to hold court until the public buildings
are prepared. Given under our hands and seals this
tenth day of April, 1821,

DAVID TADE,

A. G. L. WIGHT,

AARON WILLIAMS. J L. s. J

On the same day, the commissioners appointed to as- j
sess the damages to the town of Palmyra in consequence i
of the removal of the county seat, made their report, i
The judgment was one-hundred dollars damages, and
that said amount be (qually distributed among the pro- j
prietors of the town of Palmyra. (signed)

A. G. S. WIGHT,
WILSON LAGOW,
AARON WILLIAMS,
DAVID TADE.

The first session, held at Albion, was commenced the
3rd day of December, 1821, and the following is the
first action of the court :

"Ordered, that although the report of the commis-
sioners appointed to fix the county seat of this county
was never properly made, received or recognized by this
court; the report being in no particular in compliance
with the law, yet as the proceedings of this court at Pal-
myra have been decided by the judge of the Circuit Court
to be illegal and void, refusing to latify the proceediugs
thereof; therefore, to avoid the dilemma to which the
people of this county may be reduced, the future sessions
of this Court shall be held at Albion until the Legisla-
ture determine otherwise."

It was further ordered that that part of Edwards coun-
ty lying on the east side of B jnpn creak, f jrm one p irt of
election precinct to be called Palmyra, and that all elec-
tions for said precinct shall be held at the town of Pal-
myra.

Henry I. Mills, sheriff, was allowed four dollars, which
sum he had paid to four men, for guarding James Mar-
tin who had been convicted of larceny.

Henry Cusiek was allowed three dollars and seventy-
five cents for guarding James Allen to Crawford jail,
who had been commited for horse stealing,

At the June term, 1822, the following appears :

" Ordered that Thomas Pulliam be allowed seventy-
six dollars for keeping John Stratton, from the time he
was sold (probably a pauper) at the court-house, until
the first Monday in May, 1822.

FOURTH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS* COURT.

Cyrus Danforth, Samuel Munday, Ephraim Phor.
1822-1824.

It seems that at the convening of this court there existed
a contest for the county clerkship, as this order appears
upon the record. '' Whereas, Jesse B. Browne and Ger-
vase Hazelton are at this time both executing the duties
of clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of Edwards
county, and the Commissioners of said county are not in
possession of such legal evidence as that they can at this
time determine which of the said persons are entitled to
Hhe said office. It is therefore ordered by the court that
Jesse B. Browne do perform the duties of clerk of the
court until the same be legally determined."

David Tade was allowed twenty dollars for twelve days
services attending the legislature for the purpose of ob-
taining an act to permanently locate the county seat of
Edwards county.

" Ordered, that Dr. Ezra Baker be allowed 8120.00
for medical attendance on John L. Jones, a poor tran-
sient person."

At the July term in 1823, the certificate of Association
of the " Albion Library Company " was ordered to be
placed on record. The company was composed of twelve
members, Richard Flower being the chairman.

At the March term in 1824, William White was al-
lowed thirty dollars for making a coffin, and erecting a

HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WAS ASH COUN1IES, ILLINOIS.

gallows for the execution of Shadrach Perry, who had
been accessory in the committing of a capital offence.
Perry was subsequently pardoned by the govornor.

June 7th, 1824, Henry I. Mills, sheriff, was allowed
$38.25 for grand jury rooms and candles found and pro-
vided for the Circuit Court in the years 1823-4.

At the above session Hiram Bell, County Treaesurer,
settled with the court for the year 1823, when it was
found that he had a balance of $36 86 in his hands due
the county.

FIFTH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' COURT.

Elias Jordan, James Hunt, Moses Bedell, 1824-1825.

At the first meeting of the court, the following action
was taken relating to the county buildings :

" It appearing to the court that the building com-
menced for the court-house and gaol will be insufficient
for the purpose intended, it is ordered that the same shall
be raised two stories, with a cupola and pediment, and
that a contract to that effect be made."

September 7th, 1824, John B. Johnson was allowed
$22.87 for services as coroner in viewing the body of \
Jones Hobson.

" Ordered, that the lots remaining unsold, donated to
the county of Edwards by the proprietois for the erec- ;
tion of the public buildings, be offered for sale on the
third Monday in Obtober, 1824."

SIXTH COUNTY COMMISSIONERS* COURT.

James Hunt, Joel Churchill, Alan Emmerson, 1825-
1826.

The rate of taxation for 1825, was fixed as follows : ,
One half per cent, on all town lots, carriages for the con- '
veyance of persons, distilleries, stock in trade, horses
three years old and upwards, neat cattle three years old
and upwards, clocks, watches, sheep six mouths old and
upwards, hogs one year old and upwards, leather, small
wagons, road wagons, carts, household furniture, to wit ;
bedsteads, bed curtains and bed furniture, tables, bu-
reaus, side-boards, silver-plate ; libraries containing twen-
ty-five books or more, whiskey beer, and rifle gins.

Henry I. Mills was ordered to take the census for
1825. -

At this session John Robinson was allowed $1.60 for
repairing the market-house for the convenience of hold- i
ing the April term of -circuit court, 1825. The county '
revenue for this year was $832.92i.

" Ordered, that Henry I. Mills be allowed the sum of
$11:.62, for his services in the cases of Kennedy, Mere-
dith and Bottinghouse for murder ; and in the cases of
Joseph Toville, John Hall, William Wood, Daniel Or-
ange, George Flower, Eliza Andrews, Wm. Orange,
Campbell, et al, wherein, the people failed, and for other
services rendered as per account presented."