Elsah History

ELSAH HISTORY

NUMBERS 20 & 21

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

Backgrounds of the Elsah Piggotts

by Delight Koehler

/In the paper below, Miss Koehler explores the back-
ground of a family no longer in Elsah, the Piggotts. But
the history traced here is of more significance than the
chronicle of one family, because it traces a typical fron-
tier experience in Illinois, taking one direct line of des-
cendents from Revolutionary times to the present day.
This paper has gained enormously from the extensive re-
search done on the Piggotts of St. Clair County by Mr .
Carl Baldwin and from the tireless efforts to turn up in-
formation of Mrs. Eileeen Smith Cunningham of Carroll-
ton. Much geneological information was contributed, too,
by Mr . Cecil Piggott of Benton . Ed . Note J

Only five years ago, the peach-colored Gothic Revival
house across from the Elsah Landing Restaurant on La
Salle Street, in Elsah, Illinois, stood a forlorn ruin. Win-
dows were cracked and broken, the yard had grown up in
trees, window shades were torn and hanging, and boards
were pulling loose. In this dilapidated old building, the
direct descendents of early Illinois pioneers had once lived .
It had been one of the last homes of the Elsah Piggott family .

During the early days of Illinois history, members of the
Piggott family had often played important roles in the settle-
ment of the region. Some built forts, dealt with Indians,
and developed transportation routes. Others helped es-
tablish Methodism in western Illinois and St. Louis. In
1829 two Piggott brothers founded the town of Eminence near
the present site of Eliestoun on the Principia College campus
in Elsah Township .

The accomplishments of the Piggott family were con-
siderably varied . Their occupations ranged from doctor
or minister to bridge carpenter or farm hand. Often, as
was typical in frontier situations, they worked at several
odd jobs at once.
CAPTAIN JAMES PIGGOTT:

In 1783 the Piggott family first appeared in Illinois with
the arrival of Captain James Piggott. Captain Piggott was
a Revolutionary War figure who had resigned his commis-
sion in the Continental Army for "health" reasons . 1 He
then came west under the leadership of General George
Rogers Clarke. According to Mr. Carl Baldwin, the earli-
est confirmed record of James Piggott found him in the
Monangahela Valley in 1775. In 1776, in Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania, he was commissioned, on April
6th, a captain in the 8th Pennsylvania regiment of the

Continental Congress under General Anthony Wayne With
this regiment, Captain Piggott fought in the actions at
Bound Brook, New Jersey; Brandywine; Germantown; and
Saratoga.

In February, 1777, his regiment took part in "one of
the most arduous forced marches of the war" from Quibble-
town, according to Mr. Baldwin. Baldwin further des-
cribed the scene as "an entire regiment of 685 men, with-
out tents, and without winter clothing, keeping alive in the
sub-zero nights in the Pennsylvania mountains by building
huge bonfires and sleeping between them . "2

The next October, Captain Piggott resigned his commis-
sion and enlisted in a company of volunteers under General
George Rogers Clarke to establish civilization in the west.
These volunteers migrated to Kentucky. About twelve
miles downstream from the mouth of the Ohio, below what
is now Wickliffe, Kentucky, they built Fort Jefferson. 3

Minerva Jane Piggott Hupp, granddaughter of Captain
James Piggott. Born about 1828, she died in 1903 and
is buried in Piasa, Illinois. Picture courtesy of Cecil
Piggott.

ELSAH HISTORY is published quarterly by Historic Elsah Foundation, Paul O. Williams, Editor.
Subscription is with membership . Send to P. O. Box 117, Elsah, H 62028. Rates: Regular mem-
bership, $3; Sustaining membership $10 or more. Sample copies available on request.

PAGE TWO

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

Little is known of Captain Piggott from then until Aug-
ust, 1781, when the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians staged
an uprising. At the lead of the Indians was the celebrated
half-breed, Scotchman Calbert. Fort Jefferson and the
surrounding scattered homesteads were prime targets for
these Indian attacks . Speaking almost ninety years after
these events, James's son, Isaac Newton Piggott, gave a
historical lecture on the battle before the Literary and His-
torical Societies of East St. Louis . Since he was Piggott's
son, he might have added spice to the story. Nevertheless,
he gives an extensive account of the episode. 4

The Indians attacked the area first in small parties.
"If they had reached the settlement in a body, " Newton
Piggott points out, "the whole white population outside
the fort would have been destroyed. "5 Being so fore-
warned by the small attacks, most of the settlers were
able to move into the fort. A messenger was sent to the
falls of the Ohio for more provisions and ammunition.
It is unclear now whether James Piggott originally lived
in the fort or whether he had been one of the neighboring
homesteaders . All that has been reported is that the cap-
tain and his wife were in the fort during many of the on-
slaughts.

After two weeks of the attacks by these small marauding
parties, the main force of the Indians finally reached Fort
Jefferson. By now the settlers had more to worry about
than even these warriors . Both their water and food were
giving out. Many were sick and bed-ridden, so that they
had barely enough strength to hold a gun. Captain Pig-
gott's wife and many others died during the siege and
were buried within the walls of the fort. 6

Calbert's Indians were well aware of these conditions.
They had captured a white prisoner a short time before.
In return for his life, they forced him to tell about the sit-
uation inside the fort. With this knowledge in mind, the
Indians held up a flag of truce. Captain Piggott, a Mr.
Owen, and another man agreed to meet the Indian dele-
gation. "This was done, " Piggott's son recounted, "for
fear the enemy would know the desperate condition of
the fort. 7

Upon meeting these three white leaders, Calbert and
his followers demanded an unconditional surrender of the
fort. They were giving the settlers this opportunity, they
claimed, because they knew the defenseless condition of
the fort and hoped to save "much bloodshed." Piggott and
the other delegates refused to comment on what the prisoner
had told the Indians. Their answer was a compromise. "If
we deny his statements you may kill him — we cannot con-
fide in your promises to protect us; but we will promise,
if the Indians will leave the country, the garrison will aban-
don the fort and country as soon as possible. "8

Whether or not the Indians would have accepted this bar-
gain was never known. As their delegation left, a bullet
shot from the fort wounded Calbert. Itcame from the gun of
a settler whose family had been butchered by the Indians.
Although he was immediately taken into custody and Cal-
bert's wound was dressed, the Indians were greatly un-
settled. Fortunately, the provisions and reinforcements
sent for several weeks earlier by the garrison finally reached
the fort. 9 A battle ensued, but the settlers were able to
force the Indians to withdraw.

After the victory, Piggott left the fort and in 1783 moved
to what is now Illinois. There, in the American Bottoms
not far west of the present town of Columbia, the captain

established a new fort. Standing near the bluffs of the Mis-
sissippi, it was named the fort of the Grand Ruisseau (Big
Run) or Piggott's Fort. Isaac Newton Piggott, his son, has
much praise for this fort. According to him, "this was the
largest fortification erected by the Americans in Illinois at
that day, and was well defended with cannon and small
arms . "10 Within its walls, forty-five people lived .

Governor St. Clair appointed Piggott presiding judge of
the court of St. Clair County around the year 1790 . The
county seat was at Cahokia . When Judge Piggott arrived
there, he saw that a ferry from St. Louis to Illinois was
greatly needed . "At that time there was no other willing to
take the risk /"of creating such a terry] . In the summertime,
men could not work here," Isaac Newton Piggott recalled.
The judge erected two log cabins on a natural landing along
the l'Abbe River. From 1792 until 1795 he continued his
work on the area each winter . By 1797 he had created a
road, a bridge, and a ferry from Illinois to Missouri. He
then petitioned the Spanish governor on August 15th of that
year for the exclusive rights to collect ferriage in St. Louis.
His petition read as follows:

To Mr. Zeno Trudeau Commander at St. Louis:

Sir: — Though unacquainted, through a certain con-
fidence of your love of justice and equity, I venture to lay
before you the following petition, which, from reasons
following, I am confident you will find just to allow:

The petition is , that your honor will grant me the
whole benifit of this ferry, to and from the town of St.
Louis . I do not desire to infringe upon the ferry privi-
lege below the town , which has been long established .
But that no person in the town may be allowed to set peo-
ple across the river for pay (at this place) , so long as
you shall allow that the benifits of this ferry hath made
compensation for my private expenses , in opening a new
road and making it good from this ferry to Cahokia town,
and in making and maintaining a bridge over the river
Abbe, of 150 feet in length .--Your consideration and
answer to this is the request of your humble petitioner;
and as an acknowledgement of the favor petitioned for,
if granted, I will be under the same regulations with my
ferry respecting crossing passengers or property from
your shore as your ferry-men are below the town: and
should your people choose to cross the river in their own
crafts, my landing and road shall be free to them .

And should you wish me to procure you anything that
comes to market from the country on this side, I shall
always be ready to serve you .

And should you have need of timber or anything that
is the product of my land , it may be had at the lowest
rates .

I am, sir, with due respect, your
humble servant.

August 15, 1797.

James Piggott 12

The governor granted Piggott the exclusive rights to a
ferry landing just below Market Street in St. Louis. 13 For
this ferry, the judge used neither skiffs, scows, nor yawls.
Rather his ferry consisted of Indian canoes or pirogues ty-
pical of the west of that day .

On the twentieth of February, 1799, James Piggott died.

AUGUST 1977

ELSAH HISTORY

PAGE THREK

He left a wife, whom he had married in 1790, in charge of
his will and his ferry. She, in turn, leased the ferry out
several times. One of the renters "prooved treacherous" by
trying to steal the rights to the ferry. A court battle followed,
and the business was eventually re-established to the Piggott
heirs. 14 Later they sold the ferry to a firm called McKnight
and Brady.

FRANCES JAMES PIGGOTT:

Dead.

Altho at first the practice of medison was of necessaty
forsed upon her, --yet when her skill was Developed in
Cases of great emergency, her practice increased during
life. 15

Born in Virginia, her maiden hame had been Frances
James. She was the daughter of William James, a wealthy
iron founder at Mounty Etny. While she was still young, a
dashing man, named Bennet Ballew, swept her off her feet.
Without her father's consent, she married him. William
Captain Piggott1 s second wife was a very remarkable woman. James, being a fiery Welshman, became quite enraged at
She has been praised in some documents as being a skilled "sur- this. He completely disinherited his daughter. Bennet
geon doctress." An unknown nineteenth century historian tells Ballew then migrated with her to the wilderness of Kaskas-
us that kia, Illinois. 16

Amongst the female pioneers we must not overlook the Name Frances had four children by Ballew: Timothy, Agnes,
of Mrs. Frances Collard /she remarried after James Piggott Frances, and Margaret. Then Ballew deserted her' Ac-
died/ whose fame for her skill in the healing art was well cording to historian Carl Baldwin, he took out a law suit
merited . —She was the Surgeon Doctress who attended upon against Frances and confiscated everything of value except
and cured the wounds of John Dempsey and David Waddle both the children. 17 That he was the kind of man who would do
of whom the Indians had Tomahawked, Scalped, and left for such a thing is quite obvious from his other dealings. Bald-

Elsah school children around 1905 on the front steps of
the school (now the Civic Center) . At that time the steps
were wooden and ran up both sides of the front wall to
the door. Coal was stored under the steps. Pictured
are, bottom row: Dewey McDow, Verne Alright, Stubb
Vanderslice, Bill Cummings, Willis Jacobson. Next

row up, , Freda Lindow, , Zetta

Allen, Carrie Jacobson, Ruth Hughes, Ollie Hunger-
ford, Robbie Piggott. Third row, Lena Davenport,

Helen Mustane, Winnie Albright, Grace Barnal, Lucy
McDow, Elizabeth Bates, Roy Piggott, Marion Allen,
Edwin Mott. Fourth row, Georgie Mustane, Edna
Farley, Esther Keyser, Bernice Piggott, Ruth Keyser,
Mamie Worthey , Vida Farley. Fifth row, Blanche Howell.
Top row, Blanche Davenport, Corie St. Peters, Mr.
Ben Legatt (teacher) , Ruth St. Peters, Edith Bates,
Fay Jacobson. Picture courtesy of Marie Cresswell.

PAGE FOUR

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

win says that Ballew was

living a double life pretending to represent the interests
of the Cherokees in conferences with the United States
Government, but actually serving as land agent for John
Sevier of Tennessee in the largest land fraud ever per-
petrated in the United States. 18

Frances was destitute. She had to give Margaret to
Mrs. Pierre Troge in Kaskaskia for care. When she was
able to get her back, it required court action to get Mrs.
Troge to give up the child. 19 The ague came upon some
of the other children. Frances sunk down in despair. She
could not go home. Not only had her father disinherited
her, but "savage wars" made the journey unsafe for her
and the four children.

Sometime during the early 1780's, she met Captain Pig-
gott, and he agreed to take her "in tow. " Under the French
law which governed the Cahokia district, divorces were
not allowed. This meant, of course, that Frances could not
marry Captain Piggott for quite awhile. Either Ballew must
cease to exist orthey must ceaseto live under French law to
permit a marriage. Either of these conditions would take
time. Meanwhile Frances had four children by Piggott out
of wedlock. According to Carl Baldwin, there is a state-
ment by the captain in the Illinois section of the Draper
Manuscripts affirming "that the first four children of his
union with Frances were born out of wedlock and that he
accepted them on equal basis with the others ."20

In 1790 Frances and James went through a contract mar-
riage. Ballew had only appeared once during the time that
the Piggotts had lived together. James Piggott and Robert
Watts had given Frances a small plot of land to live on near
the fort of the Grand Ruisseau . Upon hearing this, Bennet
Ballew made arrangements to return to claim his ownership
of the land as husband. If he had, Frances probably would
have been without a single piece of property. Frances,
therefore, sought an injunction from the French to restrain
her husband. 21 Mostly likely it worked . No more was
heard of Ballew. The French had respect for Frances.
Often, they called her Frances St. James or Madam Piggott.
That Frances was a religious woman has often been ob-
scured. Some historians, according to Baldwin, have
claimed that because of her relationship with Piggott, Fran-
ces was a woman of easy virtue. Looking back on her
plight, however, they seem to be jumping to conclusions.
As Mrs. Piggott, she held Sunday Bible readings in her
Illinois home. 22 Captain Piggott also was a very religious
man. He had often "carried a book of Methodist hymns
which his soldiers sang on the march . "23

After the captain's death, she petitioned the governor to
marry Jacob Collard, June 8, 1802. This petition was soon
granted . In this new home the first Methodist services in
St. Louis County, Missouri, were held. Baldwin believes
that "there is little doubt that she — as a lay person — intro-
duced Methodism in Illinois. "24

With James Piggott, Frances had eight children: Sophia,
Asenath, Joseph, Isaac Newton, Frances, Zacheus, James,
and Cynthia. The most well known of these in the Elsah
area were Isaac Newton and Joseph Piggott. These men
founded Eminence and remained in the Elsah area for some
time.

ISAAC NEWTON PIGGOTT:

Isaac Newton Piggott was born in 1793 in Piggott's Fort.
When his father died, he moved with his mother from St.

Clair County, Illinois, to St. Louis County, Missouri. Then
in 1805 the family moved once again to the Upper Louisiana
Territory, where he grew to manhood . On February 1,
1816, he married Sarah Massey.

Like his father, Isaac Newton Piggott was involved in a
brief military career. In the War of 1812, he enlisted as a
private under Captain David Music in the Missouri Militia. 25
From his mother he learned the art of surgery at an early
age. Legend had it that as Frances and Isaac Newton were
walking through Stable Lane in early St. Louis, they found
a man lying in tall weeds who had been scalped by an In-
dian. They managed to get the man back to their home.
After Frances sewed his scalp back on, the man recovered.
Piggott descendent Cora Jones Heltzell reports that Isaac
Newton later became a physician in his own right.

His first claim to fame, however, stemmed from his reli-
gious training . in 1822 and 1823 he became the first Metho-
dist minister to travel a circuit in the western section of Il-
linois. In effect he was one of the first men to bring Metho-
dism to the St. Louis region. Piggott made his home three
miles north of the present site of Kane, in Greene County,
near Macoupin Creek . From there he traveled a nine county
territory (known as the Mississippi Circuit) as an ordained
deacon of the church. These counties included the present
day Jersey, Greene, Scott, Morgan, Schuyle, Brown, Adams,
Pike, and Calhoun counties. The circuit took four weeks to
complete. 27

During his sermons to the early residents of Illinois,
Isaac Newton often interlaced his preaching with quotations
from hymns or with original poetry. Upon at least one oc-
casion, it has been recorded, he "preached an entire ser-
mon in poetry." In the spring more people were able to
come into town to hear a service . Accomodations in the
church were often not large enough to seat all of them . In
such a case, the congregation had to move outside. Isaac
Newton Piggott did not mind this , however . The outdoors
gave him more subjects to draw poetic allusions from. 28

Piggott was indeed a very popular preacher . For many
years his daughter prized a letter sent to him from the citi-
zens of Greene County in 1823. It invited him to act as chap-
lain at the Fourth of July celebration in Carrollton .29

As an itinerant minister, Piggott got to know many people
well. After awhile, he decided that he could do these people
even more good if he were to run for state senate. In 1824
Greene and Pike counties were holding their first senatorial
election since the formation of the district. His decision to
run led to one of the most unusual elections in Illinois his-
tory.

Piggott ran for the senate against Thomas Carlin, the
founder of Carrollton and eventually the governor of Illi-
nois. Both men were dynamic and popular. Carlin was
known for his "nerve, energy, and undaunted courage. "30
He had been a ranger, and also knew the people well. From
his ministry, Piggott had become a forceful speaker, and
was declared a formidable opponent for Carlin.

The senatorial district for which they fought was very
large. Pike County at that time included "all territory west
and north of the Illinois river to the north line of the state. "31
Both candidates, however, traveled all over the district to
win votes. After the hard campaign, the vote was so close
that the decision of the people was unclear. Each man
thought he had won. Each, in some way, managed to obtain
a certificate of election. When Congress convened at Van-
dalia, then the capital of Illinois, both men stood before
the Senate claiming the seat. Needless to say, the Senate

AUGUST 1977

ELSAH HISTORY

PAGE FIVE

was not about to put up with this nonsense. Piggott and
Carlin were sent home immediately. The Senate declared
that "there had been no election," and the two would have
to fight it out again . 32

When the race began again, the people's excitement
boiled over. The battle grew hotter. On December 13, 1824,
the second election was held. This time the victory was
clearly Carlin's . Isaac Newton Piggott retired gracefully
from the state political scene.

During 1825 Piggott's health failed, and he was forced
to seek work other than itinerant ministry .33 In 1829 he
was made the first postmaster in the present day area en-
compassed by Jersey County. On April 11th he opened a
post office in Elsah township, then in Greene County, Illi-
nois . Located somewhere back from the bluffs , probably
in the Ewing Woods area of the Principia College campus,
between the Principia football field and Eliestoun, it was
potentially an excellent site for a new central post office
to serve the surrounding area. At the bottom of this bluff,
a man named Henry Mills, of Portage des Sioux, had just
recently established a store, the first in the immediate

area . On top of the bluff Isaac Newton and his brother ,
Joseph, laid out the town of Eminence (so called because
it was situated on the bluff, which rose 175 feet above
the Mississippi) .34 During the town's existence, it pro-
bably never contained more than five cabins . Like so
many incipient towns, Eminence never developed, and
its inhabitants went elsewhere. All that remains now are
four known graves belonging to Reverend Joseph Piggott;
his wife, Ann Spurlock; their son, David; and a Suzanna
Dambmann, whose gravestone is in German.

In 1835 Isaac Newton Piggott moved his post office to
Newbern, Illinois, about five miles north of Eminence.
Neither of these post offices was ever in good financial
shape, however. It apparently required twice as much
money to run them as was coming in . According to the
postmaster's budget sheets, four dollars needed to be col-
lected per mile in order to buy supplies . All Isaac Newton
Piggott could collect from the settlers amounted to two dol-
lars per mile. The balance was made up by the postmaster
out of his own pocket. 35

In 1831 a letter sitting in the Eminence post office caused

The digging season at the Koster archeological site is B.C.). Toward the end of the season a large .. oi Luary was
nearly over for 1977. Much of this season's work involved uncovered. Work on it was not complete when the ;egular
probing remains of the archaic culture in horizon 11 (6,400 fieid school ended on August 20th.

PAGE SIX

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

more sorrow than any other in the area of the time, in all
probability . It was not that the information in the letter
was depressing. Nevertheless, by the end of the year,
it had played a part in the first murder and legal hanging
in Greene County . 36

When the circuit court session sat in Carrollton in
September, 1831, I.N. Piggott had some business to
attend to there. While he was at the court, he saw John
Lofton of the Macoupin Creek region. Piggott recalled
that the Eminence post office had recently received a let-
ter addressed to him . Lofton gave Piggott $.25 for post-
age and promised he would soon send his son, Samuel,
to pick up the letter .

Samuel was a responsible, able boy of fifteen. He was
given an additional chore on this particular trip to the
post office. Henry Mills , the store owner at Eminence,
owed David Pierson of Carrollton $25. Since the round
trip between Macoupin Creek took at least a full day,
neither Mills nor Pierson had had the opportunity to
settle the debt. It therefore became young Sam's duty
to collect the money .

He arrived at Eminence late Saturday afternoon and
proceeded first to see Henry Mills . Mills paid him . Near-
by stood one of his customers, James Sullivan, "who was
known to the boy . . . ."37 Samuel then went up the bluff
to the post office. From Mrs . Piggott he received his
father's letter. As it was nearly sundown, Sarah Piggott
asked him "if he intended to go home that night. "38 He
replied that he planned to go as far as Newbern and stay
with his Aunt Aggie Lofton over Sunday . After he left
the Piggott home, Samuel was seen alive by only one
other person.

According to the newspaper account, he rode alone
along the main road. As he passed the homestead of the
late Thomas Carroll, he saw a figure on horseback on
the lane ahead of him. It was James Sullivan, whom he
had seen just awhile earlier . Sullivan told the boy he
was going to work at Jacob Lurton's that night. The
two decided to ride together . After they had travelled
about a mile, Sullivan left the road, telling the boy that
"he knew a nearer way than the ridge road by taking a
path which led up what is now known as the 'Briggs
Branch. '"39 The Lofton boy followed his lead . Within
the next quarter mile, Sullivan attacked the boy and
brutally murdered him . He checked over the value of
John Lofton's letter, and placed it in the boy's hat with
bloody fingerprints . Sullivan then fled with the $25
that Samuel had collected from Mills.

The boy's body was not found for two weeks . His
parents were used to his taking detours to visit his
aunt for extended periods of time . When they did find
him, they spotted the buzzards first. The bushes and
grass showed signs that a desperate struggle had taken
place.

From a preliminary investigation, enough evidence
was found to make James Sullivan their primary suspect.
The evening of the murder Sullivan had finally gone to
Jacob Lurton's. Once there he gathered up all his clothes
and left for parts unknown. At the time, nothing much was
thought of this. Sullivan was known for his nomadic life.
He never stayed anyplace very long . Now no one knew
precisely where he was . There was little hope of bringing
him to justice.

In the winter, however, a man named Jefferson Murphy
from "Gillham Mound," in the Newbern area, travelled to

New Orleans and there found Sullivan. He had him arrested
for the murder of the Lofton boy and sent back to Carroll-
ton. There he was tried by jury, convicted, and "sentenced
to be hung at the spring term of the court in 1832. "40 Sulli-
van's real name turned out to be Patrick Cavanaugh.

Although the execution took place in a "terrible rain
storm" on April 25, 1832, several hundred people turned out
to see the hanging . The murder of a young boy, such as
Samuel Lofton, collecting a letter and a debt, horrified
most people. They wanted to see justice done. General
Jacob Fry carried out the orders . As soon as he was
through, he and his regiment left in pursuit of Black Hawk's
warriors in that small Illinois war.

Dr. Isaac Newton Piggott's postal service after this in-
cident is recorded as merely an uneventful list of debts and
expenditures. In 1853 he retired from the business and re-
turned to St. Louis. There he was still known as a power-
ful speaker . On August 4, 1871 he gave a long historical
lecture (previously quoted in this article) before the Literary
and Historical Society of East St. Louis, Illinois. Much of
it was stories of his parents' lives. When Piggott received
the title of doctor is not known; however, this lecture was
published under the name of Dr. Isaac Newton Piggott.
Some historians believe that he might have taken on his
mother's career of surgery. Isaac Newton Piggott died on
February 11, 1874. Upon interment in Belfontaine Cemetery,
he was given a bronze marker commemorating his service
in the War of 1812.41

SARAH MASSEY PIGGOTT:

At the date of his passing, Sarah Massey had been mar-
ried to Isaac Newton Piggott for sixty-six years . During
that time, she created a home for him befitting that belong-
ing to a Methodist preacher. Her own obituary seven years
later says that "her house was the home of preachers of all
denominations as long as she lived. "42

Sarah Massey was born in Kentucky in 1795. When she
was only two years old, her family came to Upper Louisi-
ana (Missouri) . Her father served as a captain in the War
of 1812. On February 1, 1816 she married I.N. Piggott,
another veteran of the "Second War for Independence."

Although she lived until December 14, 1881, her life as
a wife of a minister was anything but easy for her . For
one thing, early in their marriage, her husband was rarely
home for long . Later he became the postmaster , and this
too caused him to be away at times. During the nineteenth
century the mortality rate for children was extremely high.
Sarah had at least twelve children by Isaac Newton, of whom
only three girls lived to adulthood. Most died in infancy.
The record of their births and deaths was duly noted in
the family Bible.

Nancy October 29, 1816 to October 14, 1817

Ann F. October 4, 1818 to September 16, 1866

Frances April 22, 1821 to October 17, 1821

Mary Jane November 1, 1822 to May 1, 1902

William James November 30, 1825 to September 29, 1826

Unnamed son born and died May 3, 1827

Joshua April 24, 1828 to July 29, 1828

Isaac Newton August 11, 1829 to December 11, 1833

Joseph April 29, 1832 to May 28, 1832

Levi July 1833 to August 15, 1835

Cornelia Celinda November 26, 1836 to September 27, 1839

Asenath June 20, 1842 to 1931 43

AUGUST 1977

ELSAH HISTORY

PAGE SEVEN

Of the three girls who survived, all married fairly
well. Ann married John W. Slaten on October 27, 1836.
Born in Jackson County, Georgia, Slaten had a prosperous
mercantile business in Jersey County, Illinois, at the time
of his marriage. In 1840 he became a justice of the peace,
and three years later he was licensed to preach. 44

Ann Slaten died before her mother, Sarah Massey Piggott
passed on. In her will, Sarah remembered each of her daugh
ter 's children: Christopher J . , Allen M . , George N . , Thad-
deus A. , Dwight D. , Roxana C. , and Dexter. To these
seven she willed one dollar to be divided equally among
them.

Mary Jane married Robert T. Brock, whose father had
been the foreman of the jury that convicted Sullivan for the
murder of Samuel Lofton. During the Civil War, Brock had
been secretary of the war relief committee in the north .
Afterwards he had been representative for St. Louis in
the General Assembly of Missouri in 1867 and '68. 45 Unfor-
tunately, three of their children passed on at an early age. 46

The last of the daughters, Asenath Piggott, married
Howard G. Lame, otherwise known as Doc Lame. He was
a Mississippi riverboat pilot, renowned for his courage.
Few soon forgot the fire and sinking of the Golden Eagle.
As pilot, Lame had calmly steered the burning vessel
with its passengers to shore. By the time the steamboat
touched ground, his own escape had been cut off by the
flames. A newspaper of the period reported that "he
jumped from the texas to the roof, from there to the boiler
deck, and then down through the fire and smoke, until
he, too, reached a place of safety, although badly scorched
and burned. 47

In accord with his quiet, reserved nature, Doc Lame
hardly ever commented on this episode. Some people mis-
took this reserve for coldness, but others thought other-
wise. When his young daughter died, he placed the fol-
lowing poem in the newspaper, full of nineteenth century
sentiment:

Sweet little Emma,

Idol of mine,

Gone to her rest,

Where bright angels shine,

Though she has left us,

Sadly alone,

Christ has bereft us —

Claiming his own. 48

Those friends who knew him well respected his nature. His
newspaper obituary ended with typical Victorian flamboyance.
His friends wished "most earnestly, that when he made his
last crossing --over the dark river--he saw the signal shin-
ing, and safely reached the shores of eternal peace. "49
Howard Lame and Asenath had at least one surviving
male heir, Virgil Lame. His daughter is Mrs. Harold (Betty)
Marshall, who presently lives in Old Kane, Illinois.

JOSEPH PIGGOTT AND DESCENDENTS:

In 1874, Isaac Newton Piggott's branch of the Piggott
family died out with no male heirs. However, Captain
James Piggott had had six other sons who might also carry
on his name. The most interesting son who stayed in the
Elsah vicinity was Joseph Piggott. Like Isaac Newton, he
moved with his mother to St. Louis in 1805 and finished his
■ growing up there.

His great-great grandson, Cecil Piggott, a local geneal-
ogist, believes that Joseph "was the first of the Piggotts to
return to Illinois. "50 For a while he resided in St. Clair
County, where his father had last lived. Then around 1818
he bought a farm near Old Kane. There he remained for
several years until he heard that his brother, Isaac Newton,
was moving to what is now Jersey County . Joseph had been
-close to his younger brother . He decided to move down
near him. Together they founded the small, ephemeral
village of Eminence, high on the bluffs above the Mississippi
River , a mile downriver from the present site of Elsah .

As has been stated, Isaac Newton became postmaster,
and Joseph created a ferry which ran from near Eminence
to Portage des Sioux on the Missouri shore. 51

On April 16, 1832, Joseph's wife, Ann Spurlock, died
at Eminence and was buried near the village along one of
the bluff ridges east of the village. A son, David, was also
buried there after he died on August 29, 1852, at the age of
twenty-six . Joseph was reported to have died in Old Kane
on October 17, 1850, but he too was brought to Eminence
and interred beside his wife in the Eminence graveyard.

Cecil Piggott traces his family line through Joseph's
son, James. During his lifetime, James had two wives.
His first, Lucinda McDow, having died, he married Sarah
Susan Snyder. James and Sarah had a son, Henry H. Pig-
gott, in 1860. When Henry was twenty-seven, he married
Mary Ann Talley, at the time sixteen years old. Their son
was Cecil's father, George Piggott. This half of the Piggott
family appears to have spread out in the region. Cecil Pig-
gott now lives in Benton, Illinois.

The first half of the family that James had with Lucinda
McDow had several members who remained in the Elsah vi-
cinity. James and Lucinda's son, George, was duly noted
in the 1880 census of Elsah . Recorded as being born in
Illinois, George Piggott was a thirty-eight year old farmer
with five children. He had married Hannah Snyder, the
younger sister of his father's second wife. That would
mean, of course, that his step-mother was also his sister-
in-law. Other records show that when George Piggott
was twenty-two or twenty-three, he had served in the

An archaic grooved axe-head found by Susan C. Smith on
the field east of the Principia Knob Site (see EH # 18) . The
artifact is now a part of the Principia College collection .

PAGE EIGHT

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

Civil War. 52

Also around this time in Elsah, another Isaac Newton
Piggott appears in documents . No information has yet
been turned up as to whom he is descended from . The
original I. N. Piggott's son, Isaac Newton, died as an
infant. Therefore, it is quite possible that this one is
either an uncle, brother, or "close" cousin to George.
Cecil Piggott believes that the younger I.N. Piggott
could possibly be another son of his great-great grand-
father, Joseph. 53

In the 1872 atlas of Jersey County, I.N. Piggott's
property appears to be quite widespread. He is believed
to have lived in the farmhouse west of the Elsah cemetery.
References are made in the McNair diary to Robert and
William McNair 's working on a house for I.N. Piggott
from March 26th to May 25th, 1875. William McNair some-
times referred to him as "Newt." In 1891 the town clerk
recorded money being dispersed to Isaac Newton for
"streets and alleys." A present resident of Elsah, Lucy
McDow, remembers her parents speaking of an Isaac
Newton Piggott who worked at the Riverview Hotel with
his wife. 54

Although Isaac Newton Piggott was a well-known name
around Elsah, his twenty year old son, Thomas, soon made
a more notorious name for himself. He became, in 1887,
a major defendent in the only attempted murder trial the
village had had. The victim was Xavier Schneider, a highly
respected cooper in Elsah. According to the JERSEY COUNTY
DEMOCRAT of October 6th, 1887, the incident took place as
follows:

Thursday night about half past seven Mr . S . went to
the mill and was paid $354. 5C. He had in his pocket
at the time $105. He did not return home at once as he
is an Odd Fellow and the Lodge of Rebecca met that
night, and being a member he attended . About 10
o'clock he started home accompanied by some of the
members of the lodge, among them Mr. John Reintges.
The latter left him but a short distance from his home and
and this is the last seen of him till he staggered into his
home bleeding profusely from two wounds in the head.
. . . The robbery was committed doubtless by persons
acquainted with the place for they knew the route Mr .
Schneider would take and had cut off some limbs from
a tree under which he would pass that the murderer
could get a better chance to strike him, the assassin
standing over the fence and reaching his arm across
the walk. 55

Xavier Schneider recovered barely enough to talk during
October . After he told the detectives on the case some de-
tails, they arrested Henry Minard and Thomas Piggott.
The case has already been written up in detail in the March,
1974, issue of ELSAH HISTORY ("The Case of the Clobbered
Cooper") by Leslie Yelland . One of the witnesses called
spoke only German. Since she lived across the street from
the scene of the incident, in the Virginia Anderson house,
her testimony was very important, and a translator was
brought in. In the end, both defendents were convicted.
Xavier Schneider lived another sixteen years in ill health,
dying on August 10th, 1905. He had never fully recovered
from the attack. 56

JAMES AND JULIA PIGGOTT AND THEIR ELSAH HOUSE:

George Piggott's son, James, fared much better in Elsah
than Thomas had. He married a young lady, Julia, in 1892,
and settled down in the gabled house across from the present
Elsah Landing Restaurant. Together they had three children,
Roy (born in 1893) , Bernice, and Eunice (born in 1898) . All
attended the Elsah school. In 1896 a child named Hannah was
born. However, no further mention is made of her in a later
listing of citizens. During his residence in Elsah, James
worked as a bridge carpenter . Later James and Julia moved
away and used the Elsah house only for weekend visits. 57

Their son, Roy, lived by himself in the house. During
World War I, however, Roy B . Piggott served as a private in
the Sixth Field Artiller replacement draft. Roy made it through
the war all right, but did not live long after . He returned to
the same Gothic Revival house in Elsah and went to work as
a farmer . Returning home from work one day at noon feeling
ill, he shortly passed on. 58

When James Piggott, the father, died, he left the Elsah
house to his wife, Julia. Apparently, Julia must have come
back to Elsah to live once again, for she is believed to have
died in this house. 59 After her passing, the Gothic Revival
house slowly deteriorated until it was on the verge of being
condemned by the village. Several people were interested
in buying it, but quite a few Piggott relatives had inherited
portions of the house. No potential buyer had the time or the
tenacity to hunt down all these owners — that is, no potential
buyer until Mr. Alfred Mack.

Early in 1972, Alfred Mack, a partner in the Elsah Landing
Restaurant, began to get interested in the building . He hated
to see the old house get torn down. Before Elsah had been
put on the National Register for Historic Places , he had be-
gun to dream of buying and restoring the Piggott home.

The first job was to trace down all the owners . When
Julia died, Alfred Mack discovered that she had left the pro-
perty to her daughters, Mrs. Bernice Kiel and Mrs. Eunice
London. Mrs. London passed on later without making a
will. Half her property went to her husband, Mr. Oscar
London, who received one fourth of the house. Her three
children each received one twelfth. Mrs. Bernice Kiel still
owned one half. Mr. London soon remarried. When he
died, he left everything to his new wife, Catherine. She
remarried a Mr . Slate and moved to Texas . Of the owners,
she was the most difficult for Mr. Mack to locate. By 1972,
therefore, there were five partial owners of the house.

After some difficulties , Mr . Mack finally found all the
heirs. Mrs. Slate, it turned out, had moved back to St.
Louis. Within a short time, he also had gotten them all
to agree to sell the property . The bill of sale was drawn
up . Mack then drove each one personally to a notary pub-
lic to have his signature authorized. 60

All in all, the transaction took about six months in 1972.
The house, which had been standing vacant for fifteen to
twenty years , was ransacked between the start of the buy-
ing process and the actual sale. Everything had been left
where it was when Mrs . Piggott passed on . These articles
disappeared. After the building had been bought, it was
ransacked a second time, supposedly by the same indivi-
duals . This time everything left in the building was taken
away. Eventually, though, the thieves were caught, and
most of the goods recovered .

AUGUST 1977

ELSAH HISTORY

PAGE NINE

Soon after purchasing it, Alfred Mack and his wife,
Inge, began restoring the Piggott house. They started
at the top . Working with the help of a master carpenter ,
Mr. Macks' son, Glenn, the Macks first removed the old
roof and had a completely new one put on . Next the
family took off all the clapboards . Only the bare studs
were left showing . During this stage, the house was re-
ferred to as looking like a bird cage. You could look right
through it. The Macks kept most of the old studs and doub-
led them with new when necessary. This made a more so-
lid wall. Plywood boxing was also added to strengthen
the structure.

Then they reframed all the windows and doors. New
windows were made to order to match those that had been
there before. When the house was built, the top windows
had been two inches shorter than the bottom ones . These
measurements were reproduced in the new house. After
jacking up the building a few inches, they put in new
sills. Plaster board and insulation were put in also,
along with all the modern conveniences which our society
is used to .

Before the restoration, the Piggott house had been un-
excavated. The Macks put ducts underneath. A founda-
tion was laid for the kitchen and the garage which was
added to the left of the house. Since this side of the house
sat on a rock ledge, these foundations had to be dug out
with a jackhammer. Finally, the family built a retaining
wall to hold the hill in back of the house. Earlier in its
history, a landslide had pushed the house off its founda-
tions and into the street. Someone had managed to move
it back to its original location. The new retaining wall
should prevent this incident from recurring . 61

When the Macks finished the restoration, they had al-
most created a completely new house in place of the tattered
old one. Indeed, it had cost more than most new houses
would. It now stands as a quiet memorial to a once pro-
minent family in Illinois and Elsah history . Perhaps it
was a better memorial than any other Piggott house in the
area, because it had become the center of community atten-
tion as the Macks made their heroic efforts to save and
beautify the dwelling . Today Mrs ."Do" Lanigan is the
resident of the house.

The ancestors of James and Julia Piggott had made many
contributions to the settlement of western Illinois . The first
member to come to Illinois, Captain James Piggott, built a
fort, a road, and a bridge, and set up a ferry from St. Clair
County to St. Louis. His second wife and one of his sons,
Isaac Newton, were among the first to establish Methodism in
western Illinois. Later Isaac Newton went on to found two new
post offices. Together with his brother, Joseph, he devel-
oped a short lived town, Eminence. Joseph's ferry to Mis-
souri helped to span the river for settlers . Since then many
other Piggotts have been prominent members of towns in the
Elsah area.

There are other Piggotts from Elsah who are not included
in this paper because no information has been uncovered about
them. These include Robert Piggott (1870-1948); Hattie Pig-
gott, his wife (1874-1941); and Robert B. Piggott (1893-1910) .
All are interred in the Elsah cemetery . Further information
about local members of the family will be welcomed by His-
toric Elsah Foundation. A fairly extensive genealogical chart
was developed in the research on this paper and is available
for those interested .

Special thanks for help in developing this paper must go
to Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Mack, Mr. Carl Baldwin, Dr. Paul

0. Williams, Mr. Cecil Piggott, Miss Lucy McDow, Mrs.
Eileen Smith Cunningham, and Mrs. Annetta Cronin.

ENDNOTES:

1. James Piggott, Copy of a petition to George Washington re-
questing permission to resign his commission as captain of
the 8th Pennsylvania regiment, undated. Found by Mrs.
Cunningham, along with many other Piggott documents.

2. Carl Baldwin, "James Piggott--Piggot--Piquette, " ILLI-
NOIS STATE GENEALOGICAL ASSOCIATION, December
1976, p. 179.

3. Richard Elwell Banta, THE OHIO (New York: Rinehart
and Company, 1949) , p. 152.

4. Dr. Isaac Newton Piggott, "Historical Lecture Delivered
Before the Literary and Historical Society of East St. Louis,
Illinois, By Dr. Isaac N. Piggott, August 4, 1871," in L.

U. Reavis, ST LOUIS: THE FUTURE GREAT CITY OF THE
WORLD WITH BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THE REPRESEN-
TATIVE MEN AND WOMEN OF ST. LOUIS AND MISSOURI (St.
Louis: C. R. Barns, 1876), pp. 95-103.

5. Piggott in Reavis, pp. 95-103.

6. IBID.

7. IBID., p. 102.

8. IBID.

9. An Indian party had been sent to intercept these pro-
visions and men, but they had landed too far downriver.
The reinforcements, therefore, continued in safety.

10. Piggott in Reavis , p . 103 .

11. IBID, p. 97-98. Also "The Wiggins Ferry ," ST. LOUIS
POST-DISPATCH, April 24, ? (date incomplete) .

12. "The Wiggins Ferry . "

13. Piggott in Reavis, p. 98.

14. Anonymous handwritten history about Mrs. Frances
Collard , p . 1 . Copy given to HEF .

15. IBID.

16. Carl Baldwin letter to Mrs. Eileen Cunningham,
July 15, 1975.

17. Baldwin, "James Piggott — Piggot — Piquette," p. 181.

18. IBID.

19. Anonymous handwritten history, p. 2.

20. Baldwin, "James Piggott— Piggot— Piquette," p. 183.

PAGE TEN

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

21. IBID., p. 181.

22. IBID., p. 182.

23. Cora Jones Heltzell, CITY OF MY LOVE, ST. LOUIS,
p. 2.

24. Baldwin, "James Piggott— Piggot— Piquette," p. 182.

25. Widow's Pension for Sarah Piggott, Pension Bureau,
Department of the Interior, United States Federal Govern-
ment, March 9, 1878.

26. Heltzell, p. 4. This story is probably somewhat in-
accurate since a scalp which has been completely taken
and is missing cannot be sewn back on. Perhaps the
man had been severely cut.

27. Robert T. Brock, "Early Methodism in Illinois,"
single separate sheet.

28. "A Glance Backward, Historical Reminiscences Ex-
changed at the First Methodist Church Reunion, " ST .
LOUIS GLOBE-DEMOCRAT, undated.

29. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society Collection, "The Fourth of
July, 1823," undated.

30. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, "Death Recalls
Episode of 1824, Mrs. Lame was Daughter of Rev.
Piggott, Opponent of Gov . Carlin," undated.

31. IBID.

32. IBID.

33 . Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, "First Jersey
Postoffice Located in Elsah Township, " Jerseyville,
Illinois, September 29, ? (date incomplete) .

34. IBID.

42. IBID.

43. Isaac Newton Piggott, FAMILY RECORD.

44. JERSEY COUNTY ATLAS (Davenport, Iowa:
Andreas, Lyter, SCo., 1872), pp. 60-61.

45. "Hon. Robert T. Brock," ST. LOUIS GLOBE-
DEMOCRAT, May 5, 1895.

46. Robert T. Brock, FAMILY BIBLE.

47. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, "Howard G. Lame,"
undated.

48. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, undated . The
clipping is pasted to a piece of stationery marked:
Everett House, St. Louis, Dec. 18th, 1875, Mr. Vir-
gil T. Lame. According to Mrs. Eileen Smith Cunning-
ham, this poem appeared in the ST . LOUIS JOURNAL,
September 30, 1873.

49. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, "Howard G. Lame."

50. Cecil Piggott letter to Mrs. Cunningham, undated
(approximately November, 1976) .

51 . IBID .

52. Cecil Piggott letter to Mrs. Cunningham, January 22,
1976.

53. Cecil Piggott letter to Paul O. Williams, February 28
1977, p. 1.

54. Lucy McDow interview of January 22, 1977.

55. Leslie Yelland, "The Case of the Clobbered Cooper,"
ELSAH HISTORY, Number 8 (March 1974) , p. 2. Quota-
tion from the JERSEY COUNTY DEMOCRAT, October 6
1887.

35. Legal allegation of the financial state of the Eminence 56. IBID. , p. 7.
and Newbern post offices, undated.

57. Alfred Mack interview of January 16 1977

36. Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection, "The First Legal
Hanging in Greene County," undated.

37. IBID.

38. IBID.

39. IBID.

40. IBID.

41 . Unidentified newspaper clipping from the Greene
County Historical Society collection," Mrs . Dr. Piggott's
Death," December ?, 1881.

Between Powder Mill Hollow and Chautauqua, a mussell
sheller at work in the Mississippi. Many shellers work
in the Illinois River between Hardin and Grafton.

AUGUST 1977

ELSAH HISTORY

PAGE ELEVEN

58. Lucy McDow interview.

59. IBID.

60. Alfred Mack interview.

61. IBID.
******************************************************

/Ed. Note: Anyone scanning the documentation above will
notice a great many references to unidentified material.
Almost without exception this is material turned up by Mrs.
Eileen Smith Cunningham in her indefatigable researches
and generously lent to HEF for copying . As is so frequently
the case, the newspaper clippings testify to the imperfect
historical methods of whatever family member originally
cut them from their identifiable source. For the benefit of
future historians, all clippings should be identified at least
by some marginal notation so their source and date can be
recovered later .

In addition to these houses, Glenn and Judy Felch's
Ailsa Craig gallery, behind River view House, was open,
as were the Elsah Landing Restaurant, the Village Hall
and the Civic Center, both of Elsah's churches, the Joy-
ous Junques Antique Shop, and the Buggy House Rock
Shop of the Robertsons.

Too many deserve credit and thanks for the work on
the house tour to single any out without the danger of
leaving out the acknowledgement of significant work. Per-
haps the assiduous parking crew, headed by Ed Lewitz,
deserves special mention for their heroic efforts to acco-
modate the great numbers of cars.

Surely the publicity afforded by a news spot on the
Dick Ford show, Channel 5, at 6: 30 p .m. on May 3rd,
is to be credited with bringing many people from St.
Louis to the tour .

HEF is very grateful for all the help of its many workers .

House Tour

HEF's Mother's Day house tour was the most success-
ful to date,, with a large crowd of visitors totalling around
1,8000. Able coordination by Mrs. Mary Ann Pitchford,
and work by a large number of able and faithful workers ,
resulted in a fairly smooth handling of the large crowd.

Houses open on the tour included the large brick
home of Ned and Paula Bradley, the stone cottage formerly
owned by Mrs. Josephine Copeland, the Frances Grayson
brick house on Palm Street, the Methodist parsonage re-
cently restored by Mike and Mary Ann Pitchford, the Ro-
. bertsen house on Valley Street, the former McNair home
on Mill Street restored by Charles and Jeralyn Hosmer,
the former Farley home at Mill and Maple, recently re-
furbished by Ray and Blanche Darnell, and the Irina
Azar home on Mill Street, a home for many years that of
the Mandorca family .

Chris Hagenlocher and Chris Lindgren selling softdrinks
at the Mother's Day house tour.

****************************************************

News Notes

It is difficult to think of Elsah without John Wanamaker,
who has been associated with the village for so many years .
His retirement from the Principia College biology depart-
ment, in June, to his home in Idyllwild, California, would
seem to mark the end of the presence of a Wanamaker in
Elsah.

However, his influence for good will still be felt.
"Doc," as he was generally known, was very generous in
leaving Elsah, turning over all the furnishings of his apart-
ment for sale by HEF as a donation. This sale was held
during the third week in August, and the proceeds to HEF
came to $1,825. This contribution is to be used for the re-
| storation of the interior of the old Village Hall, as well as
for other restoration work on the hall . The Wanamaker
influence will continue in many ways in Elsah . We are
particularly grateful for this one.

******************************************************
One house on the tour was the former Jo Copeland house HEF.S new pamphlet, JEREMIAH'S ELSAH, edited by

across from the Village Hall. This house has been pur- Gail Samek and Brian McCauley , is being currently re-

chased by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Semple. Mr. Semple is a leased. Composed of newspaper reports written from

first cousin, twice removed, of General James Semple, foun-Elsah a hundred years ago, it gives a particularly graphic
der of Elsah. This means that they shared the same great-
great grandfather.

PAGE TWELVE

ELSAH HISTORY

AUGUST 1977

picture of life in the village from the point of view of a
real midwestern humorist with a vivid sense of life.
Look for the flyer in this issue.
*******************************************************

According to a Decatur, Illinois, newspaper of Sun-
day, May 15, 1977, attempts have been made by people
in the St. Louis area, including Principia College, to
acquire the Frederick Oakes Sylvester painting, "As
the Sowing, the Reaping," which hung in the Stephen
Decatur High School.

The painting was a donation of the high school classes
of 1909 and 1911. Sylvester had visited the city in 1909, and
was much admired by art patrons there. The painting ori-
ginally cost $300, but by 1937 it was valued at $60,000.

When the high school was recently razed, the paint-
ing was taken from the wall and permanently loaned to
the North Fork Museum.

The painting depicts a portion of the Elsah river bluffs
as seen from farmland on the Missouri shore.

*******************************************************

The ALTON TELEGRAPH for August 13, 1977 devotes
its entire "Back Page" to historic districts in Alton. Three
sections of the city, Middletown, Christian Hill, and Upper
Alton, have been nominated for inclusion on the National
Register of Historic Places . Closest to Elsah is the Chris-
tian Hill district, which includes much of the old section
of Alton west of Belle Street near the river in the vicinity
of the Peavey flour mills .

publications

it********

************

**************************

Controversy regarding the Alton Locks and Dam continues,
especially with regard to the user's fees. Bargaining and pro-
posals shift too rapidly for HEF to give a report on the issue.
Some time back, after previous remarks on the issue, HEF
received a letter from member Richard Worthen, who is also
a member of the Sierra Club. Mr. Worthen lists a number of
disadvantage to allowing the United States Army Corps of
Engineers to build the dam they propose. While some of these
predictions are based on the assumption that a twelve-foot
channel would be established, Mr. Worthen nonetheless pre-
dicts that the continued buildup of traffic in any case will
produce the spread of barge tie-ups like Alton's at Norman's
Landing well up the river toward Elsah.
*******************************************************

HEF is grateful for a contribution of $100 from Mrs.
Kenneth Bechtel, of Kentfield, California,
x******************************************************

The UNION ELECTRIC NEWS, an in-house folder,
contains recognition for the work done by Mike and
Mary Ann Pitchford in coordinating the Mother's Day
House Tour and putting their house on the tour.
This appears in Volume 35, Number 6, the issue for
June, 1977. It contains pictures of the exterior and
the interior of the Pitchford home, with the couple,
and text about their restoration of the home.
*******************************************************

As of June, 1977, Paul O. Williams resigned from the
board of HEF to concentrate his efforts on the editing of
its publications .

HEF has a small supply of publications that frequently
come into demand. Below is a listing of available mater-
ials:

ELSAH HISTORY: Numbers 1, 3, 6, 7, 10-13, and 15-19
are available at 25 cents each, plus 15 cents postage if the
copy is to be mailed .
LEAFLETS:

#1 THE MAYBECK PILOT at 25 cents, plus 15 cents
postage. This publication outlines the designing and
building of the Principia College campus by famous
California architect, Bernard Maybeck.

#2 ELSAH CITIZENS at 50 cents, plus 20 cents post-
age. This publication is chiefly of interest to local gen-
ealogists . It consists of listings of 19th century Elsah
citizens , including a complete roster of the stones in
the Elsah graveyard. This has proved to be one of the
most useful research tools HEF has developed .

#3 ELSAH BLUFF PRAIRIES, by Marilyn Bland, at
75 cents, plus 20 cents postage. This study of the uni-
que ecosystems of the bluff prairies in the Elsah area
is both scientifically accurate and fascinating .

#4 THE GREAT RIVER: MASTER SCULPTOR, by
Percival Robertson, at $1.50, postpaid. Professor
Emeritus Robertson examines the geology of the
Elsah area and its fossil remains . Included is a key to
the various formations one encounters in a drive on the
River Road from Alton to Pere Marquette State Park.

#5 CHAUTAUQUA, ILLINOIS, A BRIEF HISTORY, by
William Fabian, at $2, postpaid. This is the most com-
prehensive history ever done of our neighboring com-
munity of Chautauqua.

ELSAH: A HISTORIC GUIDEBOOK, 3rd edition, by
Charles B. Hosmer, Jr., and Paul O. Williams. This
guide to buildings and history of Elsah was awarded
a certificate of commendation by the American Associ-
ation for State and Local History and has long been an
aid to visitors to Elsah . Copies have been sent to al-
most all the states and some far regions of the world .
So far it is the most comprehensive history of Elsah.

OTHER ITEMS:

Postcards of Riverview House, with the old road entrant
at 10 cents each, plus postage, unless sent with other
items .

Sylvester souvenir, showing a full -color reproduction
of a F. O. Sylvester riverscape with information inside,
at 25 cents, plus 10 cents postage.
Notepaper: A fine Elsah composite scene on 5 differ-
ent pastel note folders with matching envelopes . A
good gift, or a good stationery for short notes to
friends. $1.25, plus postage if necessary.

DON'T FORGET. CONTRIBUTIONS TO HISTORIC ELSAH FOUNDATION ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE NOW.