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Full text of "Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical"

LIBRARY OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 

AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 



977.373 
B32c 



I.H.S 







C O IJ N T I E S 



O K 



jUmyandJaspef^njRiclilaot 



ILLINOIS. 



I€:iSXOmC-A.L A.lSri3 BIOGHt-A.raiC-A.L. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



a 




J 



CHICAGO: 
F. A. BATTEY & CO, 

1884, 




I 



'577,37-3 




j:)],,.o,c. f^''+ ■^'Z 



PREFACB. 



THIS volume goes fortli to our patrons tlie result of months of arduous, 
uiireniitting and conscientious labor. None so well know as those who 
have been associated with us the almost insurmountable diHiculties to be 
met with in the preparation of a work of this character. Sin(;c tiie inaug- 
uration of the enteri>rise a large forc« has been employed in gathering 
material. During this time most of the citizens of three counties have been 
called upon to contribute from their recollections, carefully preserved let- 
ters, scraps of manuscript, printed fragments, memoranda, etc. Public 
records and semi-otticdal documents have been searched, the newsjjaper 
tiles of the county have been overhauled, and former citizens, now livini;- 
out of the counties, have been corresponded with, for the verification of 
the hiformation by a conference with many. In gathering from these 
numerous sources, both for the historical and l)iographical departments, 
the conflicting statements, the discrepancies and the fallible and incom- 
plete nature of i)ublic documents, were almost appalling to our historians 
and biographers, who were expected to weave therefrom with some degree 
of accuracy, in panoramic review, a record of events. Meml)ers of the 
same families disagree as to the spelling of the family name, contradict 
each other's statements as to the dates of birth, of settlement in.the coun- 
ties, nativity, and other matters of fact. In this entangled c;ondition, we 
have given preference to the preponderance of authority, and Avhile we 
acknowledge the existence of errors and our inability to furnish a perfect 
history, we claim to have come uj) to the standard of our promises, and 
<>iven as accurate a work as the nature of the surroundings would })erniit. 
The facts incorporated in the biographic;al sketc^hes have in most cases 
been secured from the persons whom they rei)resent, hence tlM3 publishers 
disclaim any responsibility as to their general tenor. Whatever may !)(• 
the verdict of those who do not and will not comprehend the difficulties to 
be met with, we feel assured that all just and thoughtful people will api>re- 
ciate our efforts, and recognize the importance of the undertaking and 
the great public benefit that has been accomplished hi preserving the val- 
uable historical matters of the counties, and I)iograi)hies of many of their 
citizens, that perhaps would otherwise have passed into oblivion. To those 
who have given us their support and encouragement we acknowletlge our 
gratitude, and can assure them that as years go by the book will grow in 
value as a repository not only of ])leasing reading nnitter. but of treasured 
information of the past that will become an enduring numument. 

TlIK PUliiJSIIKRS. 



April. 1884. 



35^'^'^ 



CONTKNTS. 



PART I. 



HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



PA«K. 

American Settlements 59 

Black Hawk and the Black Havrk War 73 

Discovery of the Ohio River :<2 

Division of the Nortliwest Territory 05 



PAUX. 

Early Explorations 20 

English Explorations and Settlements 34 

Geographical Position 19 

Tecumseh and the War of 1812 69 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAOB. 

Black Ilawk, Sac ChiefUin 74 

Buffalo Hunt 26 

High Bridge 33 

Indians attacking Frontiersmen 55 

Indians attacking a Stockade 71 

LakeBluff «2 

La Salle Landing on the Shores of Green Bay 24 

Mouth^of the Mississippi 31 



PA»B. 

Niagara Falls 92 

Perry's Monument 91 

Pioneer Dwelling 00 

Pontiac, Ottawa Chief tain 42 

Present Site of Lake St. Bridge, Chicago, 1883 58 

Source of the Mississippi 22 

Tecuiaseh, Shawanoc Chieftain 68 

Trapping ^ 28 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITKT> STATES AN1> ITS AMENDMENTS 



PART II. 



HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 



PAGE. 
OlUiANIZATION AM) DKVKI.OPMKNT 91 

Agriculture, etc 104 

Churches - 170 

Clerks, Circuit I'lO 

Clerks. County 147 

Commissioners, County 142 

County's Name, Origin of the 90 

Court, County 143 

Courts, First 140 

Early Settlers --- HO 

Fair Association 109 

Geology 9'* 

Horticulture, etc... i04 

Industries and Experiences of Settlers . . 110 

Judges, County 147 

Jurors, First -- 140 

Material Resources 102 

Minor Divisions 1'^ 

Officials, County 142 

Origin of the County "1 

Political Organization 123 

Press and Politics 167 

Public Buildings 130 

Railroads 154 

Schools 1~3 

School Superintendents IIS 

Secret Organizations 175 

Sheriffs, County 146 

Social Development -. 148 

Stock Raising, etc 104 



PAOK. 

Supervisors. Board of 142 

Surveyors. County 148 

Swamp Lands 104 

Topography 97 

Treasurers, County 147 

Wau Record 170 

Cavalry, Fifth 192 

Infantry, Twenty-First 181 

Infantrv. Fifty-Ninth 184 

Infantry, Sixty-First 196 

Infantry. Sixty-Second 199 

Infantry, Ninety-Seventh 187 

Infantry, One Hundred and Twenty-Third 188 
Infantry, One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth 192 

VlI.I.AliKS OF THK CoiTNTY 201 

Bradbury 22:1 

Centerville 223 

Diona 223 

Greenup 201 

Hazel Dell 223 

Janesville 223 

Jewett 211 

Johnstown 210 

Neoga 219 

Rainsburg 223 

Toledo 213 

Woodbury 210 



n 



CONTENTS 



HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. -Continued. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKKTCHES. 



PAGE. 

Cottonwood Township 299 

Crooked Creek Township 284 

Greenup Tow-nnhip 248 

Neoga Township 322 

Spring Point Township 305 



PAGE. 

Sumpter Township 234 

Toledo City 224 

L'nion Township . 34tj 

Woodlxiry Township 363 



PORTRAITS. 



PAGE. 

Albin, George W 125 

Green. David B i*>l 

Hanker. Charles - 21a 

Monohon. Gershom i'^ 



PAGE. 

Neal, David 143 

Voris. Franklin D . 197 

Votaw, Alahlon 107 



PART III. 



HISTORY OP JASPER COUNTY. 



PAGE. 

Orijakization and Condition 367 

Agriculture.. SI'S 

Fair Association - 381 

Geology - 373 

Material Resources 3i() 

Name, Origin of 369 

Settlement, Early 382 

Swamp Lands - 378 

Topography 371 

Pl.l.lTICAI. ORliANIZATION -ffld 

Acta of County Commissioners H94 

Attorneys, State's 4.J6 

Charities, County 418 

Circuit Clerks 42.") 

Coroners' 4'J6 

iJourtsand Crime - 419 

(Jourt House 413 

•lail. The -ll-"' 

Judge, County - 4:i6 

Officials, County 422 

Public Buildings 413 

School Commissioners 426 

Sheriffs, County.... 42.') 

Supervisors. County 42;^ 

Surveyors, County 426 

Townships • -WW 

Treasurers, County 125 

Voting Precincts 4()0 

Social Dkvki.opment 427 

Benevolent Societies 4,55 

Bridges 4.34 

Church, The 449 

Ferries...- 4.34 

Modes of Life, Early -- 427 

Press and Politics 444 

Itailroads 436 

Hoads, Early 431 

Schools, The 451 

School StJitistics 455 

Settlers, Early 427 

Societies, Benevolent 4.55 



PACE. 

Travel, Early 431 

Jasi'kh Cotnty in the Wak 458 

Cavalry, Fifth 474 

Infantry, Eighth . 46(» 

iufantrv, Eleventh 463 

Infantrv, Twenty-First 405 

Infantry, Thirty-Eighth 468 

Infantry, Forty-Sixth 471 

Infantry, One Hundred and Thirtieth 473 

Infantrv, One Unudred and Forty-Third. 473 
Infantry, One Hundred and Fifty Fifth.. 473 

ViLi.AiiK Gkowth - 477 

Advance 491 

Bogota. 491 

Boos Station 491 

Brockville 487 

Buena ^'ista 487 

Centerville 487 

C'onstantinople 488 

Embarra8.aville 489 

Falmouth 491 

Franklin 488 

Grandville 487 

Harrisburg 487 

Haysville. 489 

Hidalgo 490 

Hunt City . 49() 

Langdon 489 

Latona .. 491 

List 491 

Mount Sidney 487 

New Liberty 4«8 

Newton 477 

Plainfield 487 

Pleasant Hill 488 

Point Pleasant 489 

(Mieenstown 487 

Hose Hill 489 

Saint Marie : 481 

West Liberty 488 

Wheeler 491 



BIO«KAI'HICAI. SKKTCHKS. 



l'A(iK. 

Crooked (reek Township 527 

Fox Township 577 

Grandville Township - .552 

Grove Township 865 

Newton Village 492 

North .Muddy Township... 571 



PAGE. 

Saint Marie Township .576 

Small wood Township 561 

South Muddy Townshij) .574 

Wade Township 492 

Willow Hill Township .510 



Caldwell. A. Gallatin. 



PORTRAITS. 

PAGE. I 

...411 I Picquet, .Joseph. 



I-AGE. 

,. 443 



CONTENTS. 



Vll 



PART IV. 



HISTORY OP RICHLAND COUNTY. 



PA(iB. 
OIM4ANIZATION AND GENERAL DB8CRIPTI0N.. 685 

Agriculture 595 

Agricultural Societies 600 

Agricultural Statigtics ,.,[ 60] 

Geology 589 

Material Resources 593 

Origin of the County ]] 585 

Personal Property 601 

Pioneers. The 606 

Real Estate Statistics (i02 

Settlement. Early 604 

Social Customs, Early 614 

Topofirraphy ,588 

Political OmrANiZATlON 618 

Churches, The 6(>0 

Clerks, Circuit (^9 

Clerks, County 639 

Commissioners, County 638 

Courts and Crimes 634 

.Tudijes, County 64<1 

Alinor Divisions 619 

Officials, County 6:W 

Press, The '.'.'.'.' 6,')7 

Press and Politics 6,'56 

Public Buildings 626 

Railroads 645 

Roads, Early 641 



rAoi, 

Schools, The 65^ 

Secret Organizations 667 

Sheriffs, County ,..."1! C40 

Social Development Ml 

Superintendent of Schools, County '. 640 

Surveyors, County 640 

Treasurers, County !. 63!» 

Thk War Rhxonn 683 

Cavalry, Fifth 705 

Cavalry, Sixth 696 

Infantry, Eighth 685 

Infantry, Sixtieth 703 

Infantry, Sixty -Third 687 

Infantry, Nine(v-Ei;;hth 690 

Infantry, One Hundred and Thirtieth... 704 
Infantry, One Hundred and Thirtv-Sisth 095 
Infantry, (Jne Hundred and Fifty-Fourth 705 
Infantry, One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth 6!t5 

\'ii.i,A(iE Ouowth 708 

Claremont 721 

Duudas ' 722 

Fairview 722 

Glenwood 728 

Noble 1 7ig 

Parkersburg '.. 722 

Wakefield 722 



BIOGRAPHICAl. SKETCHES. 



PAGE. 

Bonpas Township 819 

Claremont Township 800 

Decker Township 808 

Denver Township 833 

German Township ..." 824 



PAGE. 

Madison Township 812 

Noble Township 794 

Olney City and Township 724 

Preston Township 829 



PORTRAITS. 



PAGE. 

Beck. W. P 68] 

Elliott, William 603 

Hall, n. M ".;." 601 

Kuster, John 610 

Landensberger, F ',.['. 719 

Radcliff, Thomas '...[][l[ "[["["" 699 



PAGE. 

Spring, Arch 65S 

St. John, M. M 635 

Stiider, Henry .587 

Wolf, John " ' .595 

Wright, H.j.B "::;: 709 



VIEW. 



Residence of H. C. Sands. 



PAOK. 

... 671 





([« 




s 



The Northwest Territory. 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. 

When the Northwestern Territory was ceded to the United States 
by Virginia in 1784, it embraced only the territory lying between the 
Ohio and the Mississippi Rivers, and north to the northern limits of the 
United States. It coincided with the area now embraced in the States 
of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and that portion of 
Minnesota lying on the east side of the Mississippi River. The United 
States itself at that period extended no farther west than the Mississippi 
River ; but by the purchase of Louisiana in 1803, the western boundary 
of the United States was extended to the Rocky Mountains and the 
Northern Pacific Ocean. The new territory thus added to the National 
domain, and subsequently opened to settlement, has been called the 
'' New Northwest," in contradistinction from the old " Northwestern 
Territory." 

In comparison with the old Northwest this is a territory of vast 
magnitude. It includes an area of 1,887,850 square miles ; being greater 
in extent than the united areas of all the Middle and Southern States, 
including Texas. Out of this magnificent territory have been erected 
eleven sovereign States and eight Territories, with an aggregate popula- 
tion, at the present time, of 13,000,000 inhabitants, or nearly one third of 
the entire population of the United States. 

Its lakes are fresh-water seas, and the larger rivers of the continent 
flow for a thousand miles through its rich alluvial valleys and far- 
stretching prairies, more acres of which are arable and productive of the 
highest percentage of the cereals than of any other area of like extent 
on the globe. 

For the last twenty years the increase of population in the North- 
west has been about as three to one in any other portion of the United 
States. 

(19) 



20 THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



EARLY EXPLORATIONS. 

In the year 1541, DeSoto first saw the Great West in the New 
World. He, however, penetrated no farther north than the 35th parallel 
of latitude. The expedition resulted in his death and that of more than 
half his army, the remainder of whom found their way to Cuba, thence 
to Spain, in a famished and demoralized condition. DeSoto 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 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 
DeSoto's defeat. Yet it was more than a century before any adventurer 
took advantage of these discoveries. 

In 1616, four years before the pilgrims " moored their bark on the 
wild New England shore," Le Caron, a French Franciscan, had pene- 
trated through the Iroquois and Wyandots (Hurons) to the streams which 
run into Lake Huron ; and in 1634, two Jesuit missionaries founded the 
first mission among the lake tribes. It was just one hundred years from 
the discovery of the Mississippi by DeSoto (1541) until the Canadian 
envoys met the savage nations of the Northwest at the Falls of St. Mary, 
below the outlet of Lake Superior. This visit led to no permanent 
result; yet it was not until 1659 that any of the adventurous fur traders 
attempted to spend a Winter in the frozen wilds about the great lakes, 
nor was it until 1660 that a station was established upon their borders by 
Mesnard, who perished in the woods a few months after. In 1665, Claude 
Allouez built the earliest lasting habitation of the white man among the 
Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette 
founded the mission of Sault Ste. iMarie at the Falls of St. Mary, and two 
years afterward, Nicholas Perrot, as agent for M. Talon, Governor Gen- 
eral of Canada, explored Lake Illinois (Michigan) as far south as the 
present City of Chicago, and invited the Indian nations to meet him at a 
grand council at Sault Ste. Marie the following Spring, where they were 
taken under the protection of the king, and formal possession was taken 
of the Northwest. This same year Marquette established a mission at 
Point St. Ignatius, where was founded the old town of Michillimackinac. 

During M. Talon's explorations and Marquette's residence at St. 
Ignatius, they learned of a great river away to the Avest, and fancied 
— as all others did then — that upon its fertile banks whole tribes of God's 
children resided, to whom the sound of the Gospel had never come. 
Filled with a wish to go and preach to them, and in compliance with a 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 21 

request of M. Talon, who earnestly desired to extend the domain of his 
king, and to ascertain whether the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico 
or the Pacific Ocean, Marquette with Joliet, as commander of the expe- 
dition, prepared for the undertaking. 

On the 13th of May, 1673, the explorers, accompanied by five assist- 
ant French Canadians, set out from Mackinaw on their daring voyage of 
discovery. The Indians, who gathered to witness their departure, were 
astonished at the boldness of the undertaking, and endeavored to dissuade 
them from their purpose by representing the tribes on the Mississippi as 
exceedingly savage and cruel, and the river itself as full of all sorts of 
frightful monsters ready to swallow them and their canoes together. But, 
nothing daunted by these terrific descriptions, Marquette told them he 
was willing not only to encounter all the perils of the unknown region 
they were about to explore, but to lay down his life in a cause in which 
the salvation of souls was involved ; and having prayed together they 
separated. Coasting along the northern shore of Lake Michigan, the 
adventurers entered Green Bay, and passed thence up the Fox River and 
Lake Winnebago to a village of the Miamis and Kickapoos. Here Mar- 
quette was delighted to find a beautiful cross planted in the middle of the 
town ornamented with white skins, red girdles and bows and arrows, 
which these good people had offered to the Great Manitou, or God, to 
thank him for the pity he had bestowed on them during the Winter in 
giving them an abundant " chase." This was the farthest outpost to 
which Dablon and Allouez had extended their misoionary labors the 
year previous. Here Marquette drank mineral waters and was instructed 
in the secret of a root which cures the bite of the venomous rattlesnake. 
He assembled the chiefs and old men of the village, and, pointing to 
Joliet, said: " My friend is an envoy of France, to discover new coun- 
tries, and I am an ambassador from God to enlighten them with the truths 
of the Gospel." Two Miami guides were here furnished to conduct 
them to the Wisconsin River, and they set out from the Indian village on 
the 10th of June, amidst a great crowd of natives who had assembled to 
witness their departure into a region where no white man had ever yet 
ventured. The guides, having conducted them across the portage, 
returned. The explorers launched their canoes upon the Wisconsin, 
which they descended to the Mississippi and proceeded down its unknown 
waters. What emotions must have swelled their breasts as they struck 
out into the broadening current and became conscious that they were 
no.w upon the bosom of ths Father of Waters. The mystery was about 
to be lifted from the long-sought river. The scenery in that locality is 
beautiful, and on that delightful seventeenth of June must have been 
clad in all its primeval loveliness as it had been adorned by the hand of 



22 



THE NORTHWEST TERKITORY. 



Nature. Drifting rapidly, it is said that the bold bluffs on either hand 
*' reminded them of the castled shores of their own beautiful rivers of 
France." By-and-by, as they drifted along, great herds of buffalo appeared 
on the banks. On going to the heads of the valle)' they could see a 
country of the greatest beauty and fertility, apparently destitute of inhab- 
itants yet presenting the appearance of extensive manors, under the fas- 
tidious cultivation of lordly proprietors. 




SOURCE OF THE MlSSISSirPI. 



On June 25, they went ashore and found some fresh traces of men upon 
the sand, and a path wliich led to the prairie. The men remained in the 
boat, and Marquette and Joliet followed the path till they discovered a 
village on the banks of a river, and two other villages on a hill, within a 
half league of the first, inhabited by Indians. They were received most 
hospitably by these natives, who had never before seen a white person. 
After remaining a few da3^s they re-embarked and descended the river to 
about latitude 33°, where they found a village of the Arkansas, and being 
satisfied that the river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, turned their course 



THE NORTHWKST TEURITOKY. 28 

up the river, and ascending the stream to the mouth of the Illinois, 
rowed up that stream to its source, and procured guides from that point 
to the lakes. " Nowhere on this journey," says Marquette, •' did we see 
such grounds, meadows, woods, stags, buffaloes, deer, wildcats, bustards, 
swans, ducks, parroquets, and even beavers, as on the Illinois River." 
The party, without loss or injury, reached Green Bay in September, and 
reported their discovery — one of the most important of the age, but of 
which no record was preserved save Marquette's, Joliet losing his by 
the upsetting of his canoe on his way to Quebec. Afterward Marquette 
returned to the Illinois Indians by their request, and ministered to them 
until 1675. On the 18th of May, in that year, as he was passing the 
mouth of a stream — going with his boatmen up Lake Michigan — he asked 
to land at its mouth and celebrate Mass. Leaving his men with the canoe, 
he retired a short distance and began his devotions. As much time 
passed and he did not return, his men went in search of him, and found 
him upon his knees, dead. He had peacefully passed away while at 
prayer. He was buried at this spot. Charlevoix, who visited the place 
fifty years after, found the waters had retreated from the grave, leaving 
the beloved missionary to repose in peace. The river has since been 
called Marquette. 

While Marquette and his companions were pursuing their labors in 
the West, two men, differing widely from him and each other, were pre- 
paring to follow in his footsteps and perfect the discoveries so well begun 
by him. These were Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin. 

After La Salle's return from the discovery of the Ohio River (see 
the narrative elsewhere), he established himself again among the French 
trading posts in Canada. Here he mused long upon the pet project of 
those ages — a short way to China and the East, and was busily planning an 
expedition up the great lakes, and so across the continent to the Pacific, 
when Marquette returned from the Mississippi. At once the vigorous mind 
of LaSalle received from his and his companions' stories the idea that by fol- 
lowing the Great River northward, or by turning up some of the numerous 
western tributaries, the object could easily be gained. He applied to 
Frontenac, Governor General of Canada, and laid before him the plan, 
dim but gigantic. Frontenac entered warmly into his plans, and saw that 
LaSalle's idea to connect the great lakes by a chain of forts with the Gulf 
of Mexico would bind the country so wonderfully togetiier, give un- 
measured power to France, and glory to himself, under whose adminis- 
tration he earnestly hoped all would be realized. 

LaSalle now repaired to France, laid his plans before the King, who 
warmly approved of them, and made hun a Chevalier. He also received 
from all the noblemen the warmest wishes for his success. The Chev- 



24 



THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY. 



alier returned to Canada, and busily entered upon his work. He at 
once rebuilt Fort Frontenac and constructed the first ship to sail on 
these fresh-water seas. On the 7th of August, 1679, having been joined 
by Hennepin, he began his voyage in the GrifiQn up Lake Erie. He 
passed over this lake, through the straits beyond, up Lake St. Clair and 
into Huron. In this lake they encountered heavy storms. They were 
some time at Michillimackinac, where LaSalle founded a fort, and passed 
on to Green Bay, the " Baie des Puans" of the French, where he found 
n large quantity of furs collected for him. He loaded the GrifiQn with 
these, and placing her under the care of a pilot and fourteen sailors, 




LA SALLE LANDING ON THE SUCRE OF GREEN BAY. 

Started her on her return voyage. The vessel was never afterward heard 
of. He remainc