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LIBRAPLY 

OF THE 

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HISTORIC MORGAN 



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COMPILED IN 1884-'8r) BY 



CHARLES M, EAMES 



^Editor and Proprietor of the Daily and Weekly Journal,) 



AVITII INTHODUCTION BY 



Prof. Harvey W, Milligan, A M, M D., 



OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE. 



ILLUSTRA^TED. 



JACKSONVILLE, ILL.: 

PRINTED AT THE DAILY JOURNAL STEAM JOU PRINTING OFFICE. 

1885. 




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KESPECTFUJ.LY DEDICATED 

TO 'IHK MKMOKV OF 

THE OLD SETTLERS OF MOlUiAX COUXTY 




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BY THE COMPILER. 



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4 HrsToiac Morgan and Classic Jacksonville. 

PREFACE. 



I am reminded by the date of these final words, as the last form of "Historic Morgan" 
goes to press, that just a year has passed since, in a quiet way, I began the pleasant, 
self-imposed task of gathering material to supply, of course, "a long-felt want." The 
Journal files, extending back a quarter-of -century — not quite one-half the time, I wished 
to cover by an unpretentious historic compilation— occupied attention for months, and 
then came researches into other newspapers, stray copies of old-time Patriots, Sentinels, 
etc., records of societies and public meetings, interviews with the few surviving rescuers 
of this fair portion of Illinois, from aboriginal owners, rudeness and wild, un- 
broken prairie condition. Written recollections of early times claimed due considera- 
tion next. Encouragement came from the "Old Settlers' Associations" of Morgan and 
Cass and the "Jacksonville Historical Society." The material accumulated rapidly, 
for the field was fruitful, and the work grew more fascinating as it progressed. The 
size of the volume does not, to a casual observer, indicate extensive contents; but when 
the size of type used and the "solid" character of many pages are properly considered, 
even without perusal, the examiner will realize that a vast amount of information is 
contained in its fourteen chapters. There has been no attempt at ornate writing, no 
space wasted in opinion-giving, and we lay no claim and take no credit for authorship. 
The honor of painstaking in research and collecting, and faithfulness in chronicling 
all the noteworthy steps in the sixty years' progressive history of " my own, my native" 
city and county, the credit of publishing the most complete and accurate compilation 
of historical notes pertaining to "Old Morgan," is all that I ask of the present or future 
readers of the volume, if the work should have more than a transient existence. 

One fact will, I hope, be evident, viz., that there is nothing of a money-making or 
advertising character to the editing or publishing of the book. Of course many enter- 
prises and individuals have been complimented, but no pecuniary consideration has 
biased a single line or sentence. Even the illustrations of business houses were insert- 
ed gratuitously, that there might be no charge of " paid puff" connected with the book. 
I am well aware, too, there rhust have been some omissions and possible misstatements, 
as it is absolutely impossible to furnish a perfect history of long past times with meager 
resources at command. My original plan, of strict chronological order from first to 
last, had to be abandoned, on account of the late securing of material bearing upon early 
times. 

Due acknowledgement is made elsewhere of my indebtedness to various persons 
and papers for valuable aid. 

It will be observed that I have made no attempt to follow up the history of the 

towns of the county, except Jacksonville, since the date of the incorporation of that 

place. I have not had access to the necessary information. 

" My task is done." 

" The torch shall be extinguished which has lit "' 
" The midnight lamp ; and what is writ is writ." 
' ' Would it were worthier 1 ' ' 

JACKSONTTM.E, Mavch 31, 1885. THE COMPILER. 



llii^rnuic MoUCAX AND Cl.ASSir ,J ACKSONVILI-K, 



INTRODUCTION 



Every community is born into an inheritance. This inheritance may b? one of vir- 
tue or one of vice, of prudence or of folly, of health or of disease, of wealth or of 
poverty. The possession of wealth, health, prudence or virtue, or of an inherited ten- 
dency to secure those blessings, involves an obligation to those from whom such in- 
clination comes; while poverty, or vice, or folly, or disease, or even a tendency to 
those conditions, connects us no less intimately with our predecessors. 

How may we cancel this obligation which has come down to us from the past? 
Our ancestors are not here. If they were they would need no pay from us. But they 
are careless alike of praise or blame, of protit or of loss. It only remains to us to pay 
their heirs, who, fortunately, are also our heirs. 

By what means shall we pay this debt to posterity v 

We may do this by informing those who are to come of the causes of present and 
past prosperity. We may sliow them that man in his political and social relations is 
subject to laws which are as imperative as the laws of the physical world. We may 
tell them that the greatest individual liberty which is consistent with the good of soci- 
ety must be allowed. We may prove to them that individual production of wealth 
must not be checked. We may declare that intelligence is one of the greatest causes 
of prosperity, and that morality and piety exalt any people. To enforce and illustrate 
such teachings we may refer to the contents of this volume. 

We should also tell of the mistakes of the fathers to the end that similar errors 
«- may be avoided. Show that neglect of education postpones prosperity, that intemperance 
' increases taxation, that natural obstructions to trade diminish profits, that unprofitable 
industries destroy wealth, that debt discourages enterprise. By such teachings, both 
f/in the way of encouragement and of warning, in things industrial, social, political, 
intellectual, moral and religious, we may, perhaps, cancel the debt we owe to our ances- 
tors by conferring a favor on posterity. To this end," Historic Morgan" is a means. 
The following images also have the advantage of teaching these principles by exam- 
' pie, which is the most effective method of conveying truth. When we read that the 
iMorganian Society, founded in 182:^, and consisting of one hundred and twenty-five 
persons, adopted a constitution containing these words: "It is the declared design 
^"and intention of this society to promote the public good by using all honorable means 
-^jto prevent the introduction of slavery in this state," we feel little surprise that, forty 
f^ears later, a citizen of Illinois, from the National office in Washington, should have 
signed the Emancipation Proclamation. What reform of political methods, or what 
i-^ attainment of political good is impossible to a community which organized a Mor- 
^ ganian society, and sustained an Abraham Lincoln? 

'j As we read in these pages the romantic and thrilling story of the " Regulators of 

V the Valley," we are reminded that justice is the end of society, and law is but one of 



6 Historic Morgan and Classic Jacksonville. 

its means; and that, in the emergencies of a new country, a short cut to the end may 
be both allowable and advisable. 

It is hard for us, who order through a telephone, from a mile away, flour of the 
finest of wheat, to realize that sixty-five years ago, the nearest flour-mill was eighty- 
five long miles away. It is just as diflBcult to conceive of Huram Reeve's blacksmith- 
shop, or of Roe & "Webster's grist-mill, or of the substitutes for cassimeres and broad- 
cloth, which, only three generations ago, our fathers and mothers made and wore. 

" It is be.wildering to compare our present methods in agriculture witli those de- 
scribed in this book. Our planters, our cultivators, our reapers are not only sources of 
wealth, but their invention constitutes our titles of nobility. But the log cabins, the 
linsey garments and the hand grist-mills were for our fathers as clear a title to as proud 
a nobility. Their industry and frugality, as herein portrayed, laid the foundation of 
our wealth and leisure and culture. 

There are economical lessons to be learned from " Historic Morgan" concerning the 
development of manufactures among us. From the data given we may learn the fol- 
lowing principles : 1st, That a successful industry must have unsurpassed facilities 
for obtaining raw materials. 2nd, It must command a market second to none, for its 
manufactured goods. 3rd, It must be able to compete successfully with all other 
places in cheapness of labor. If, in the aggregate of these three elements of produc- 
tion, Morgan should fall behind other counties, it is inevitable that manufactures 
should fail here, and that the money invested should be lost. Unless we wish to be 
continually heaving our money into bottomless coal-holes, or wasting our wealth upon 
moribund car-works, we must heed these principles, and their illustrations as found in 
this volume. 

And here also the record comes to our aid to show us what enterprises are profita- 
ble, — for that there are profitable industries here, five flourishing banks bear witness. 

As we are living histoiy, day by day ; so also must we daily record that history for 
the benefit of posterity. " Historic Morgan" as it now appears, should be but the 
beginning of a series of recorded events to which some future historian, with a broader 
horizon than we behold, shall furnish the key. Without this record, enlarged and 
continued as it will be, a true historj^, showing the relation of causes and effects, would 
be impossible, and to a great degree past and present generations would have lived in 
vain. With it, posterity can profit both by our successes and by our mistakes. AVith 

it as data 

"They may discern — unseen before — 
" A path to higher destinies."' 

Let us greet then " Historic Morgan" as a means of utilizing the past for the bene- 
fit of the future. H. W. MILLIGAN. 



IItsTORK M(iK(i.\N AM) ('r.ASSiC fTACKS(tN \ I r.r,K. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CliArTKU I.— 1819-24. 

The First White Settlers -The Orifjiiud Lo{/-Cafnns- The Explorers from New York- 
First (froxnd Broken — Birthplace of Methodism in Morgan -Sixty Miles to Mill — 
An Anti-Slavery Society in 1823 — Its Constitution and Signer's — The County Cre- 
ated — The First Birth and First Death, First Sermon and First Sunday-School — 
The First Courts and Elections According to Judge Thomas and Gen. McConnel — 
Old 2Hme Justices — Judge Lockwood, Col. Joneph Morton, Judge Solomon, Uncle 
Johnny Jordan — Recollections — Beardsfoirn and Meredosia Founded. Page 9. 

CHAPTER \\.-AHlS}~.''2L~Continued. 

''The Regulators of the Valley''— A Tragedy in Real Life — A Chapter of the Dark Side 
of Pioneer Days in the Mauvaisterre Country — Captain Pistol— The Wild Hunter — 
The First Grace on the Banks of Magee's Creek— The First Settlers of Cass— Sales 
of Public Lands in 1823 — Venison, Blackberries and Milk. Page 20. 

CllArT¥.UlU.~lP>19-"24.,^-^Oo?icluded. 

Covering the same Period as Chapters I and II, but with Greater Detail. Annals of 
the Earliest Years in Morgan, (ts Published in the Illinois Sentinel in 1867, byJ.R. 
Bailey, now deceased, and vouched for in 1884 by Hurani Reeve, Esq., the oldest male 
resident of the county now living therein — Log Cabin Raising — Meal Grinding in 
Iland-inills — Honey Hunters — llie First Tarern, Bridge and Steamboat — Greene 
and Sangamon County Settlements. Page 27. 

CIIAPTEli IV.— 1825-'29. 

Thelnfant Town of Jacksonville — Locating the County Seat — The Early Settlers Arriv- 
ing — Churches, Schools and Colleges Founded — Judge Thomas' Arrival and E.r:peri- 
enees — The Winnebago War — County Officers — Liquor in the Harvest Field — The 
First License— Recollections of early times by Dr. Sturtevant, Anderson Foreman, 
John R. Harney, Murray McConnel and Judge Samuel Woods — Firi 
track the prairies between wliat is now Alton and .Jacksonville. The}' drove ahead of 
them, all the way, a sow and her shoats and two cows having bells ui)on tliem that tliey 
might not be lost in the wild woods. Reaching here a halt was made, their property 
dumped upon the ground, wliile Mr. Reeve, Sr., started at once to return to Edwards- 
ville for provisicms. With the seccmd load he brought a blacksmith's liellows, anvil and 
hammer. The former was swung between two saplings, a tree was felled anil an anvil 
block made of the stump, logs were rolled up for the furnace and tlius they began life 
in "Old Mrtrgan." This first blacksmith shop was of great service to the emigrant.s, wjio 
began to settle in tliis region, for the sharpening of the plows witli whidi the virgin sod 
of the "Prairie State" was to be upheaved. All provisions tiien had to be hauled one 
hundred miles. 

Of Mr. Reeve's place of business. Rev. N. P. Heath has said in an historical addre.ss: 

"It was a mammoth structure, as big as all out doors. Talk about your modern 
watch factories, and reaper factories, why the outside walls of Reeve's biacksniith 
shop extended as far as the lines of creation, to say nothing of the iutcrior arrange- 
ments. This shop was the first for some time, and the only one in the county, in fact, 
it embraced all the county and more too. This soon became the headiiuarters ot the 
county Here, like the Athenians of old, the settlers would meet from all parts, in 
order to tell and hear the news, and I have been informed that the first post (^fiice was 
(•pened at or near this place. And, from all that I can learn, they only lacked one 
thing of having a full grown town out on Sandy, and that was a doggery. However, 
the size of the blacksmith shop may account for that deficiency." 

The first ground broken in the county for purposes of cultivation was in the spring 
of 1820. We have been furnislied with the following names of persons who settled in 
the county during that spring : John Wyatt, William Wyatt, Isaac F. Roe, Jeddediah 
Webster, Isaac Reeve, James B. Crum, Isaac Dial, Thomas Smith, James Deatou, Robert 
James, Jesse Ruble, Ancil Cox, Joseph Buchanan, Samuel Scott, Isaac Edwards, Arch- 
ibald .lol), Stephen Olmstead, Michael Arthur, James Buckley, Aaron Wilson, Isaac 
Smith. 

Mr. Olmstead settled at a point now known as Alliscm's Mound. A settlement was 
made tlie same year on the north fork of the Mauvaisterre by Samuel Scott, and James 
Kerr. General McConnel came into the count}' the same year. 

In 1819, when the Kelloggs hxiated their humble and now historic cabin on the 
banks of the Mauvaisterre, their nearest white neighbors were tliirty miles distant, 
wliere Illinois' capital city is now growing so vigorously. 

In the spring of 1820, James I)eatert R. 
James and others settleil north-west of the present site of Jacksonville. In the fall of 
the same year John Bradshaw, Joseph Morton, Joseph Buchanan, Ancil Cox and Michad 
Antyl settled south and east of the same. In 1821, Lott Luttrell, Jolinston Shelton and 
Francis Petree became residents within the present bounds of Morgan county. In 1822, 
William. C. Verry, Thouia.s Wiswall, Adam Allison and a few others were added to the 
sparsely inhabited settlement. From this time emigration poured into this golden land 
<»f promise. Tlie wild prairies were fenced, plowed and sown, raid< wild grass yielded 
to corn, wlieat, oat.s, etc. Homes were established, fruit trees planted, live stock im- 
ported and the savages' hunting ground converted into as charming a farming region as 
beautifies this earth. 

The act of Congress reducing the price of the public lands from $2.00 t^t $1.25 per 



12 The Church in the Jordan Cabin. 

acre, was passed on the 24th day of April 1820, and took effect on the first day of July 

tliereafter. Very little land, if any, had been sold in Morgan county before this time. 

Levi Deaton, one of the first settlers in Morgan county, has, in answer to an inquiry, 

written the following about the introduction of Methodism into this county: 

"The first sermon preached in the county, so far as I know, was by Rev. John 
Glanville. at my father's house, in 1823. A class was then and there organized, con- 
sisting of my father and mother, and a brother named Johnson and his wife. The 
first quarterly meeting was held the same year at Father Jordan's — father of John and 
Wm. Jordan, in the east part of Jacksonville. The first camp meeting in the county 
was held on Walnut Creek, near Lynnville, by Peter Cartwright." 

The statement is undisputed that the first Morgan county church was organized in 
1822 by a few persons who held their meetings for worship in this famous large log 
cabin of "Father" Jordan. It stood just back of the old Berean College building and 
was erected before Morgan county was created. Its members were scattered over the 
country, many of them coming many miles to attend service. The Methodists continued 
to hold meetings in this cabin until the completion of the school house in which Judge 
Thomas held the first school in Jacksonville. They worshiped here until 1833 when 
they erected a brick church on East Morgan street, which was the first brick church in 
the county. 

It was in 1822 that "Uncle John" Jordan, now living in Jacksonville, removed with 
his father to this county, but he went back to Missouri and did not finally settle here 
until 1833. That year cholera prevailed, and he and his brother spent nearly their 
whole time during the season in caring for the sick. They settled on tlie Hardin farm, 
in the east part of town and the first Methodist meetings were held at their house, as 
stated above, and since that time the home of the Jordan's has been the place of religion. 
He has been married three times and has survived all. Considering his age he is still 
very strong and hardly a day passes but that he is seen upon our streets. He does all 
his work, even to sawing the wood. During his whole life he has been a staunch Chris- 
tian and one of the most honored members of Grace M. E. church. Ever since there 
was a Journal, or an ancestor to the J our mil, published in Jacksonville, he has been a 
subscriber and now reads his Daily Journal thoroughly and regularly. Mr. Jordan is 
one of the few men now living who took part in the war of 1812 which forever decided 
the strength of our claims. He was in the most disagreeable part of that war, because 
those troops who went out against the Indians experienced unspeakable hardsnips and 
many died from exposure. After the treaty was made they moved back to Buffalo 
creek and engaged in the more peaceful pursuits of farming. The principal crop was 
corn and not much wheat was planted. At that early day Uncle John tells us he went 
sixty miles to mill, and that many people used the hand-mills to keep from going so 
great a distance. They had plenty of meat, corn-bread, butter, wild honey and milk, but 
coffee, sugar, etc., were very scarce. Coffee 75c per lb. 

In a book entitled the "Annals of the West" we learn that there were in 1823 in 
Morgan county about seventy-two families. In 1821 there were but twenty families in 
(now) Morgan, Cass and Scott. 

One of the most valuable historical documents of these earliest Morganian days is 
the constitution of a political society "to prevent the introduction of slavery into this 
state." Its supposed date is A. D. 1823. For, in February 1823, the Legislature passed 
an act authorizing the people to vote at the next election for and against calling a con- 
vention to adopt a new constitution, the object being to create the institutioa of slavery. 
The election was held in August 1824. A society in Morgan county was organized 
against the call, and of the one hundred and forty signers or memliers of this society, 
so far as is known, Lazarus Reeve and Alfred jMills, are the only survivors. Honor to 
the memory of their colleagues ! And all honor to the living, who rejoice with us to- 
day in being citizens of a country tluit is free — the asylum of all the oppressed ! 

Constitution op the Mokganian Society.— Under a free government, public 
opinion gives energy to the laws, happiness and security of the community being the 



Anti-Slavery Society in 1823. 13 

legitimate end. Every good citizen thereof has an interest in its support. Under its 
fostering wing his moral, his religious and his political rights are maintained. Virtue 
and intelligence should be its bond of union. 

But as man is naturally prone to abuse power, it is rendered necessary for the se- 
curity of the whole, that this dangerous propensity should be guarded against. 

Therefore, we, citizens of Morgan county, have thought it advisable to form a so- 
ciety for the purpose of concentrating public opinion, and by a frequent interchange 
thereof, to enlighten and direct each other. 

When entering into association it becomes an indispensable duty to adopt a regu- 
lar system of establishing order. It is the declared design and intention of this socie- 
ty to promote the public good, by using all honorable means to prevent the introduction 
of slaver 1^ into this State, by maintaining the purity of elections; by cherishing political 
harmony, and by restraining vice and immorality. 

The better to secure these objects, we, the undersigned, citizens of Morgan county, 
agree to the following constitution: 

Art. 1. The style of this society shall be The Morganian Society for the dissemi- 
nation of political knowledge and the maintenance of the unalienable rights of man. 

Art. 3. No person shall be admitted a member of this society unless he has at- 
tained the age of eighteen years, is averse to slavery and is a citizen of this county. 

Art. 3. The officers of this society shall be a president, vice-president, treasurer, 
a corresponding and a recording secretary, and a standing committee of twelve mem- 
bers. 

Art. 4. The President shall preside at all regular meetings, preserve order repeat 
the question proposed by any member and perform such other duties as from time to 
time the society may require of him. 

Art. 5. The Vice-President shall preside at the committee meetings and he shall 
in case of a tie have a casting vote; moreover, in the event of a vacancy, perform such 
duties as may be annexed to the fourth article. 

Art. 6. The duties of the Treasurer shall be to receive and account for all moneys 
paid in by the society. 

Art. 7. The secretaries shall keep a register of the transactions of this society 
and correspond with any others that may be formed in this state for similar purposes; 
they shall, moreover, exhibit the records at any regular or call meeting when request- 
ed by the President. 

Art. 8. The standing committee shall individually and collectively promote the 
views of this society, by procuring qualified subscribers to this constitution, by using 
efforts to disseminate the principles of liberty, by striving to expose the views of those 
who are hostile to the natural and politicil rights of man; and by using all lawful 
means to prevent the introduction of slavery into this State. 

Art. 9. There shall be neither local or politicil distinction of parties in the selec- 
tion of candidates for office, save one, which requireth that he shall be decidedly op- 
posed to slavery; nevertheless, it is expected that he shall inherit morality, integrity 
and capacity. 

Art. 10. There shall be four regular meetings armually, viz: on the last Saturday 
in July, at the county seat, the last Saturday in October at the house of Col. Kellogg, 

on Plumb Creek, the last Saturday in January at the house of , on Mau- 

vaisterre, on the last Saturday of April at the bouse of , on Indian. 

Art. 1 1. All officers of the society shall be elected for one yi-ar and by ballot, sub- 
ject to removal by the concurrent vote of four-fifths of the members present at any of 
the quarterly meetings. 

Art 12. On the first meeting after the adoption of this constitution there shall be 
a code of by-laws framed, which to enact or amend shall require a majority of votes 
at a c|uarterly meeting. 

Art. 13. On the application and previous to the admission of new members, the 
president, or in his absence, the vice-president shall exact the following pledge: 

"You, A B., do solemnly pledge your word and sacred tionor that you arc friendly 
to the natural and political rights of man and will use all honorable means to prevent 
the introduction of slavery into this state." 

Art. 14. This constitution may be altered or amended at any quarterly meeting, 
provided two-thirds of the members present agree to the same. 

Archibald Job, Moses Nash, Peter Conover, Thomas Arnett, Stephen W. Spen- 
cer, Elisha Kellogg, Elijah Wiswall, Eli Redding, Moses Keelock, Page Blake, David 
C. Blair, Robert Henry, Israel Robertson, Abram Johnsdn, Peleg Sweet, Robert Sweet, 
Charles W. Horrell, David Beebe, Andrew Reed, Wm C. Verry, Joseph Sweet, David 
Shelby, Constant Claxton, Wm. B. Burritt. Peter Smith, Alfup:!) Mills, Elisha Henry, 
Wm. S Jordan, Andrew V. Patten, H. G. Taylor. Curtis Cadwell, John Weatherman, 
Joseph T. Leonard, Zachariah Cockburne, Bennett Smart, Robert Eckler, G. Cadwell, 
John Adams, Alford Carpenter, Samuel Bristow, Dennis Rockwell, Ronwell Parmerlee, 
Lewis Allen Thomas Blair, Timothy Harris, Alex Blair, Nathan Eels. John Box, 
Martin Dyer, Simeon Herron, James Hills, Stephen Langworthy, James Arnett, Wm. 



14 The County Created — Virgin Sod Broken. 

L. Morse, Daniel Lieb, James Gillham, Wiley Green, Samuel Bogart, Aaron Robertson, 
( 'harles Self. Orris McCartney, Obadiah WaddcU, Nelson McDowell, Timothy Demars, 
Phillin Mallett, Abram S Bergen, Rowland Shepherd, Ephraim Lisles, Henry Robley, 
John P. Teftt, VVm Robertson, Forrest Fisher, Aquilla Clarkston, William Samples, 
Horatio Eddy, Abram B Dewitt, Jonathan C. Bergen, Jesse Bellamy, Noah Wiswall, 
Stephen Olmstedt, Anthony Thomas, Levi Newman, James Jenkins, John Edwards, 
Isaac B. Reeve, Lazarus Reeve, David Casebar, Myron Bronson, Joel Reeve, Levi 
('ouover, Guinn Porter, John Angelo, James Deaton, Sr., James Deaton, Jr , George 
Hackett, Samuel Shepherd, Isaac Dial, Alexander Robertson, Robert James, Joseph I 
Ba^ey, Stephen Nash, Baxter Broadwell, Patrick Lynch, Olney Ticknor, Seymour 
Kellogg, Charles Troy, Hiram Duff, Henry H. Snow, Joseph Stanley, Andrew Arnett, 
Joseph Carter, Thomas B. Arnett, Levi Deaton, Patrick Mullett, Thomas Kinnett, 
Renj. Selmitz, Nicholas Jones, Joseph Milstead, Henry Kettner, Robert Bowen, James 
Redmond, Andrew Bowen, Levi Scott, Samuel Matthews, Richard Matthews, Sr., 
Richard Matthews, Jr., R >bert Morgan, George Bristow, John Rusk. Armsted Cox 

In January, A. D. 1828, when Morgan count}' was established, not a human being 
lived where now are the hundretls of handsome residences of our city — the homes of 
thousands of happy hearts ; elegant business blocks — the every day haunt of enteri)ris- 
ing and energetic merchants— and scores of schools, churches and charitable institu- 
tions — elevating the mind, ennobling the heart and kindly caring for the dependent — 
comi)rising what has endeared itself to the hearts of all her citizens, under the com- 
prehensive name of Jacksonville. 

The county was created by an act of the Legislature of date of January 81st, 1823, 
and named after the revolutionary general. The territory then included what is now 
Morgan, Cass and Scott counties, and was attached to the senatorial district composed 
of the counties of Greene and Pike, and of the representative district composed of 
Greene county. Dr. George Cadwell was elected to the Senate and Archibald Job to 
the House. 

Of Mr. Job his friend Judge Thomas writes to the Daily Journal: 

"Though humble and retiring in his pretensions, yet his mind — well stored with in- 
formaticm upon all questions relating to the history of the country, the powers and 
practical operations of the government, the rights and duties of citizens, and above 
all, his stern integrity and persistent advocacy of the right, in connection with sound 
practical judgment — constituted him in the early settlement of the Sangamon country 
and for years afterwards a man of mark. He settled in the grove, which he called 
Sylvan Grove*, near the present site of Virginia, in Cass county, in the year 1820. In 
1822 he was elected to the Legislature from the district composed of the county of 
Greene and the territory afterward included in the county of Morgan." 

In 1821 Greene county was formed from Madison, in 1823 Morgan came from 
Greene, in 1837 Cass from Morgan, in 1839 Scott was set off. 

In 1822, and the years following, the brave and hardy hunters, trappers, and pioneers 
gathered together, one by one, for mutual protection and for the cultivation of the fertile 
soil. There fortunately happened to be a higher culture among them than was usual 
for that class of men, in those days. Both the north and south contributed in about 
equal proportions their sons and daughters to form the society of the embryo city, and 
Jacksonville may owe, to some extent, her honorable and influential i)osition in the 
state to this fact, since she avoided the vices and clung to the virtues of both sections. 
To the energy and enterprise of the Yankee she joined the generosity and hospitality 
of the Southron ; and her sons and daughters grew up an educated, industrious and oj)en. 
hearted race. To come more slowly up the plane of time we find the virgin sod of the 
prairie where Jacksonville now stands first furrowed in 1824, and the man who planted 
the first crop of corn lived in the -county until 1881 — Mr. John Reeve. Mr. "Jacky" 
Smith, deceased, is another claimant of the honor of breaking the sod here. At this 
time the county was much larger than at present, and the location of the county seat 
had not been decided upon, and the sessions of the circuit court were held temporarily 
at the house of James G. Swinnerton, some six miles west of the city, at Swinnertou's 
Point. The discussion as to the permanent location of the seat of justice came up in 
the autumn of 1824, and the geographical centre of the county was found to be on the 
* Sm-ronnrterl by Kickapoo and Pottawatomie Indians. 



The First Election and Court. 15 

"Mound," altoiit tliiop miles west of the present site of tlie court Imuse. Tiiis hind, 
liowever, was already "entered," while the present site of Jacksonville was what was 
then called "conj^ress hmd," and on account of its cheai)ness was accordingly purchased. 
The first court was held on the level prairie in the open air. 

In a ]iaper pre])ared for the Old Settlers' Meetinir in 187;), and suhsequently pub- 
lished in the Dnihj Jimrnnh Judge Thomas .says: 

"The county of Morgan was created with the following boundary: 
Beginning at the northwest corner of Greene county, thence cast to the range line 
between seven and eight west of the third principal meridian, thence northerly along 
the middle of the prairie that divides the waters of the Sangamon from those of Aijjilc 
Creek, Mauvaisterre and Indian Creek, until it arrives at the middle of range eight, 
thence north to the middle of the main channel of the Illinois river, thence down said 
last mentioned channel to the place of beginning. 

An election of county ofHcers was required to be held on the tirst Monday in March, 
1823, at the house of James G. Swinnerton. Joseph Klein, John Clark and Daniel Lieb 
were appointed judges of the election. Samuel Bristow, John Clark and Henry 
Fahnestock were appointed commissioners to fix on a place for a temporary seat of 
justice. Milton Ladd, a member of the legislature from Johnson county, was elected 

t'udge of the coCirt of probate, and was appointed clerk of the circuit court Dennis 
{ockwell was appointed recorder. I believe Ladd made one visit to the county, and 
declined accepting the offices to which he had been elected and appointed. Dennis 
Rockwell was then appointed clerk, and Aaron Wilson, judge. 

The county was attached to the first judicial circuit of which John Reynolds (elect- 
ed governor in 1830) was judge — and was made to constitute a part of the senatirial 
and representative district with Greene county. 

Jonathan Piper, Stephen Pierce. James Deaton, John Clark, Daniel Lieb, Thomas 
Arnett, Samuel Bristow, Aquilla Hall, David Blain, John Green, Joseph Buchanan, 
and Seymour Kellogg were appointed justices of the peace; Johnston Shelton, survey- 
or — all deceased. 

At the election of county officers Daniel Lieb, Peter Conover, and Samuel Bristow 
were elected county commissioners, and Wiley B. Green, sherifl'. Dennis Rockwell 
was subsequently appointed clerk of the county commissioners' court — all of whom 
are dead. 

The commissioners appointed for that purpose agreed upon the house of James 
G. Swinnerton as the temporary seat of justice. 

The first circuit court was held by Judge John Reynolds on the third Monday of 
April, 1823, in a log cabin owned by Dr. Cadwell, near Swinnerton's house. 

At the election in 1824, Daniel Lieb, Peter Conover, and Seymour Kellogg were 
elected county commissioners, and Joseph M. Fairfield, sheriff. 

Thomas Carlin, (elected Governor in 1836,) and Isaac N. Piggott, (now a resident 
of St Louis, over ninety years old,) were candidates for the Senate, Carlin obtained 
the certificate of election, but Piggott contested his right to the seat, and upon inves- 
tigation the question was referred back to the people, when Carlin was elected. Mr. 
Job was re-elected to the House from the counties of Morgan and Greene." 

(Jen. Murray McConnel's account of these first cr)urts and electi(ms varies a little 
from Judge Thomas'. In May '(58 Gen. McConnel saiil in a speec^h at the laying of the 
corner stone of the present Court House : 

In January, 1823, the legislature by law created Morgan county, and included 
therein all the country before described as attached to Greene county for judicial and 
political purposes, now composing the counties of Morgan. Scott and Cass This, the 
attached parts of Greene county, then included about fifteen hundred inhabitants. 
The county was organized on the first Monday of March, 1823, and on that day the 
first election was held therein, at a place called Swinnerton's Point, a mile and a half 
north-cast of where the town of Lynnville now stands. At that election, Joseph Klein, 
John Clark and Daniel Leib, acted as judges, and Dennis Rockwell and Josejih M. 
Fairfield were the clerks. Seymour Kellogg, Thomas Arnett and Peter Conover, were 
elected county commissioners, and Wiley B. Green, sheriff. 

Three persons— Samuel Bristow, John Clark and Henry Fahnestock, had been 
appointed by the legislature to fi.\ the county seat of the county, and. on the third 
Monday of March. 1823, they located the .eame at a place called Olmstead Mound, now 
called Allison's Mound, about one and a half miles north of the present town of 
Lynnville, and now near the eastern boundary of Scott county. In the fall of 1823. 
the first circuit court was held at that place John Reynolds, afterwards governor, 
was the judge. Milton Ladd was the clerk, Wiley B. Green, the sherifi, and James 
Turney, then of Carrollton, Greene county, was state's attorney. The persons present 



16 Juries in the Open Air. 

claimiug to be lawyers, in addilion to James Turney, were Alfred W. Caverly, then 
of Gneue county; Murray McConnel, of Morgan county; Benjamin Mills, of Vandaiia; 
Jonathan H Pugb, and William S. Hamilton, then of Sangamon county 

There was but one building at the place, that was made of round logs, a single 
room of about sixteen feel each way, with an addition, leaned up against one side of 
ii, about half as big as the main building. This was the dwelling-house of Mi. Olm- 
stead and family, who turned out, lived in a camp, and gave up his house to the court. 
In that camp, by a big log-heap tire, the females of Mr. Olmstead's family cooked for 
ihe judge and lawyers, and other attendants upon the court, and set the table, barbe- 
cue fashion, between the camp and the house, and all slept on a bed made on the 
tioor in the room where the court was held. This was called field-bed — the sleepers 
laid across the bed, not lengthwise. There was about room enough in this house for 
the court, clerk, sheriff and lawyers, and one jury at a time — the grand jury was 
called in, and sworn, and sent out to deliberate under some forest trees near by. The 
bystanders gathered around the jury and all hands took part in the proceeding. The 
travis jury, when trying a case, was accommodated with seats, made of split logs, in- 
side Ihe house, and when the trial closed, they were sent out into the grove, under 
the charge of a constable, to make up their verdict, and the constable of ten had much 
trouble to prevent the parties and witnesses from participating in the deliberations. 
In one instance he entirely failed, and the contending parlies got into a rough and 
tumble fight, and the constable called on the jury to aid in keeping the peace, and in 
their attempting to do so, all parties, jury, bystanders and constables, got into a gen- 
eral row, the lawyers and people left the court, and the grand jury left their shade 
trees, and all r la to the scene of action; several fights were g )ing on at the same lime, 
and all this inrreased the confusion, which grew hotter and louder, until the judge 
himself iind ihe shcritTalso, repaired to the jury room, alins, the field of battle, and by 
an etf'rl quelled the tray. The idea of imprisoning the offenders was out of the ques- 
tion, as there was no prison within eighty miles, and to punish them by a fine would 
have been fully as useless, as in nine cases out of ten, the ofi'enders had no property 
but a gun, and as the law then was, that could not be taken for debt or fine any more 
than you could lawfully take a piece of the owner's ear for the same purpose. 

l3uring this court a newly made justice of the peace, claiming the right to call up- 
on the judge to advise him in the line of his duty as a squire, came bolting into the 
court room, saying, "Mr Judge, I am a squire, and I want to nx you a question about 
the law." The judge said to him, "why sir, you had better enquire of some of those 
lawyers, or Mr. Turney, who is the state's attorney." "Oh! shaw, now judge," said 
the squire, "I know about as much law as any of them ar fellows, and I begin to find 
out that I don't know much, and now, I want you, old feller, to tell me if a squire 
c-m divorce a couple?" "Why no." said the judge, "a justice of the peace has no 
jurisdiction over such a case " The newly made justice then stretched out his big 
fist towards the judge, and with a stentorian voice said, "now look here, old feller, I 
know better nor that myself, I know a squire can divorce a couple, for I done did it 
yesterday, and the ooman has gone back to her mammy, and the fellow started to 
Packinsack this morning, so he did." The judge at once submitted to the superior 
experience of the squire, and admitted that he must be wrong in his law, and the 
squire right. 

There was but one more court held at Olmstead's Mound. 

Of the funny things done by the squires of this county in an early day, we are told 
the following: Esquire Fanning had been justice of the peace for several years and 
he kept his docket on separate pieces of paper, which were stuck up over the laps of 
the board roof of his cabin. Each case was carefully kept by itself, and a strange mass 
of sunmionses, warrants, estray notices, etc., and docket entries could be found there. 
Manning Mayfield was elected his successor and, according to law. Esquire Fanning 
prepared to turn over his docket. He carefully put all these papers into and filled a 
two bushel sack and took them over to Mayfield. "Now," says he, "here is vay docket 
all made up and in good shape, except an execution which I believe, is not quite paid 
up." They looked through the lot and finally found it, and Mayfield sat down and 
made a calculation of the credits and reported that he had been overpaid by some $15. 
"Is that so? All right, then, let it go with the balance," and Mayfield tossed the sack 
up into the loft of his cabin. 

Rev. J. E. Roach, of Virginia, Cass county, once said at an Old Settlers' Reunion : 

"I do not feel fully prepared for the work of representing Cass county. I will 
speak about what the country was then and now. When Cass, Morgan and Scott 
counties were first formed they blossomed then, but they were wild, and now they are 
tamed. The people who then occupied the county were just the ones to hand down 



^^l•;KI•;l»le, "23, C. R. Wilson, "20, Thomas and Joseph P. Deaton, '-20. 
S. B. Smitii, '24, John Smith, '24, Patterson Hall, '21, S. J. Mattingly, -24. J. M. Wilson. 
'24, Clayborn Coker, '23, George Curts, '22, H. R. Green, '24, Michad Huflfaker. '23. 
Samuel Magill, '21, A. K. Barber, now living here, '24. The Bartons, three families, 
came together; also, Verian Daniels and wife, the latter a Barton — in all twenty persons. 





CHAPTER lL~-lSl\)-'24:.—CoHtluued. 

"■The Re(jidntorK. of the VdUey^' — A Tragedy in Heal Life — ^1 Chapter if the Dark Side 
of Pioneer Days in. the Mauvaisterre Country — Captain Pistol — 'The Wild Hunter — 
The First Grate on the Banks of Mayee's Creek — The First Settlers (f Cass (Ihen 
Morgan) County — Sales of Public Lands in 1823 — Venison, Blackberries and Milk. 

"Across the stretehing scene, where years had died. 
The spirit of the past swept to my side: 
Silent and sad and haggard, for to him 
Earth's visage had been dark and cold and grim." 

"The good and bad he kindly laid away 
In one dark fold to wait the judgment day; 
And spread the turf, and with i)aternal care, 
Wept o'er the dead and planted flowers there." 

N view of the commendable and continually increasing desire to rake up from 
among the ashes of the dead past all the incidents and legends of the early set- 
tlement of this county manifesting itself everywhere in our midst, we are en- 
couraged to give to our readers a sketch of a thrilling scene which occurred in 
our county at a very early date, and although it may read much like a fictitious 
narrative of border life, yet we are assured that every part of the following narrative 
is a literal fact. The whole story in much fuller details than we have room for was 
once before made public; in February, 1882, a communication appeared in the Illinois 
Patriot, chronicling at consideral)le length these stirring events. The article was sign- 
ed "J. G. R." but was from the pen of Gen. Murray McCounel, who was himself cogni- 
zant of many of the doings of these "regulators." 

At that time it was not prudent or discreet to reveal the true names of any of the 
parties, hence false ones were used throughout the article, but now, as none of the 
relatives of any concerned are living hereabout, we give their jjroper api)ellations, and 
the facts, as given by the general. 

The hero of this story was one of a gang of desperadoes and renegades from good 
society, which infested our county at a very early period of its existence. 

The persons who now emigrate to Illinois have but a faint idea of the hardships, 
privations and troubles of the first settlers. Few have been the years which liave rolled 
away since the county of Morgan, now so populous and flourishing, was a frontier 
county. The settlers were few and far between; many of them were without dwellings 
to shelter them and their families from the storms, and none of them had more than a 
cabin of round logs thrown together in the rudest manner. Provisions of every kind 
were scarce and very dear; the means of the inhal)itants were small and their wants 
great. The county was infested by a set of unprincij^led renegades from a more civil- 
ized society, who equally disregarded the rights of the citizens and the laws of the laud. 

We, who are living now in a county teaming with life, and under codes of laws, 
(executed by multitudinous officers,) which guarantee protection to our lives and proper- 
ty, can have but a faint idea of the hardships and privations of the first settlers in Mor- 
gan. Yet comparatively few have been the years since ours was one of the frontier 
counties with inhabitants few and far between. Many were without a sheltering roof 
of any kind, and society was troubled by unprincipled men. 



TlIK OlTI.AW AND TIIK AVh.I) iTl'NTER, 21 

Of one of tliese uneasy spirits we propose to unfold a "tale," his name was Abra- 
ham Williiinis Keller, but for reasons best known to himself, he dropped his proper 
surname before he came to our county and was known liere as Abe Williams. In the 
fall of the year 1820, a small cart bearing this man and liis family i)ushed forward into 
tiie wilds of the valley of the Illinois. Then all was wild and dreary here, the site of 
our flourishing and beautiful city was surrounded and inhabited only by the wild beasts. 
"Westward, ho!" was this traveler's cry until he reached a romantically l)eautiful crrove 
in a small prairie at the extreme west end of wliat is now .Morgan county. There was 
his first "squatting ground," that was the first sod breaking in the valley of our little 
^lauvaisterre. Williams' trail was soon followed, until, within a year, a settlement of 
six families was made, all choice spirits for frontier life, ready for cabin raising, bear 
hunting, or Indian fighting. All was tiien peace and (piietness in the colonies. 

The next season brought other families, until enough were living within helping 
distance to rear up new cabins with ease. This mutual help was a great blessing, but 
we have "no rose without a tiiorn," so this blessing brought evil in its train. Among 
the new comers came "certain lewd fellows of the baser sort" as St. Paul says. With 
only three of these will we deal particularly, John Cotrill, Henry Percifield and his 
brother Jerry, were of the very worst of men, and settling near Williams, (south of 
the Mauvai.sterre,) in a short time became his intimate friends and associates. During 
that autumn Jerry Percifield, the eldest and by far the worst of the lot, brought up to 
the little settlement two barrels of whisky, the first of the cursed stuff l)rought to the 
county after its settlement by the whites. AV'illiams', the depot of the liquor, soon be- 
came tiie lieadquarters of tlie male portion of the colony, and fnmi this date the down- 
fall of Williams and others began. Robberies occured in this and neighboring counties, 
and the goods from plundered stores were by rumor .said to be secreted near or in Wil- 
liams' grove, and he and his trio ot cronies were suspected. The law^-abiding citizens 
were anxious to have their settlement retain a fair name for honesty and good order, 
hence warrants were issued, the suspected parties searcheil and some stolen goods were 
found. Upon examination by the magistrate however, they were allowed to testify in 
3t!ch other's favor, so all were acquitted. 

Sf)on after, horse tiieft, house breaking, store robbing, and other depredations began 
to multiply. Williams became suddenly rich, iiaving horses, cattle, and household goods 
in al)undance. To his house came all the idle and profligate of the region. Their 
daily occupations were drinking, gambling, horse racing, pocket picking and horse 
stealing, with all their concomitants. 

At this time two new characters appeared upon the scene of action, one a respecta- 
bly wealthy old gentleman, who settled near the mouth of the Mauvaisterre. As his 
house was said to contain much monej', it was soon visited by Williams and his crew 
wlio laid plans to ascertain how much money the owner of the liouse liad, where it was 
concealed, when he would be absent from home, when he wouKl return, etc. 

The other emigrated here from Kentucky, whence Williams had come, a singular 
sort of a man, yet a good type of the daring backwoods scouts of those da^ys. He was 
clad in a leather hunting siiirt which trailed almost to his knees, (decorated with fringes 
iif various lengths,) and in i)antaloons of the same material. Deer skin mocuasins were 
on his feet, and an enormous catamount skin upon his head. His weapons were an un- 
erring Kentucky rifle and a knife of a frightful length. The "wild hunter of the 
prairie," was tlie oidy name by wliich he was known. Ht^ movements were mysterious; 
line day he would be .seen in one part of the settlement, the next in another. He visited 
every house in the little colony except Williams'. 

Our ciiaracters being introduced, we proceed: 

One evening as Williams and Percilield were returning from a visit at the liou.se of 
this wealtliy and aged gentleman, (whose name was Lewis G. Newell,) they perceived 
by tlie aid of the moon's bright rays which were adding beaut)' to the already charming 
Illinois prairies the form of a man moving towards them. 



22 . . Kew ell's Housp: Robbeh. 

"There," said Jerry, "is the wild liunter — did j'ou ever see hiinV" 
Before Williams could reply, the mysterious man stepped up, exclaimino;, "Abraliam, 
do you know me V" 

The stern glance and thrilling voice chilled the very lieart of the cowardly ^Villiams ; 
his cheek paled, his knees smote together, and he trembled like a leaf. "What's the 
matter?" asked Jerry, "do you know the man? If so, come forward and speak for your- 
self." No reply was needed, for tlie stranger continued to address the scoundrel, using 
these words: 

"Abraham, you know me well; you know, too, that 1 am acquainted with your un- 
natural deeds; your ill-gotten wealth shall avail you little. Before many days pass by 
I will see you again, Avhen circumstances are different, and times more favorable tlian 
now." Immediately he was out of siglit, having Hed to an adjoining grove. 

Percifield was astonished, and Williams troubled, especially by the threat "1 will 
see you again," but the latter obstinately refused to impart any information as to the 
stranger, moreover immediately began to disjiose of liis property, and shortly removed 
with his family to the west side of the Illinois River, not far from the spot wliere liis 
bones were shortly laid to moulder bac-k to their native dust. 

A few days before Williams moved away, Newell, who was supposed to have so 
much money, also left his home on business, leaving his wife and a small boy to guard 
their treasures. A few nights after this man's departure, the roof of liis house was 
broken open, and the dwelling robbed of all the money and valuables that coidd be 
found. Tills glaring robbery alarmed and aroused the citizens of the wliole settlement. 
"Something must be done," was the cry. A public meeting was held, and among other 
things, a company was formetl, consisting of ten law-abiding men of well known courage, 
wlio bound themselves together, under the name of the Regulators of the Valley, to rid 
the country of horse thieves and robbers, and not to cease their operations until they 
had accomplished that great object. A regular constitution was drawn up and subscrib- 
ed to, and this paper is still in existence. 

There was another man in the communfty at this time, wlio needs introducing. By 
his vain boasting and Itraggadocio, he liad induced his fellow-citizens to l)elieve tliat 
he was a man of great courage, a daring warrior. He lived, at that time, near the place 
where now is built the town of Exeter, in Scott county. By his own bold-facedness lie 
was chosen the captain of this little band who were taking the law into tlieir own hands. 
He was dubbed Captain Pi-stol. (James H. Pistol was his ordinary appellation.) Or- 
ganization being completed, the party resolved to perform their first operations on 
Williams himself. 

Tiie plan agreed upon was to go to his liouse in disguise, seize him by force, tie 
him to a tree and scourge him with whips, until he should surrender the money and 
goods which they believed were in his possession unlawfully, and also disclose to tliem 
his associates and accomplices, but by no means or under any circumstances to take his 
life. This arrangement was known to none l)ut this little band of associated law pre- 
servers. The little band i)roceeded immediately to the Illinois River for the purpose 
of commencing the work of reform with Williams, but before they pr(x;eeded far. 
Captain Pistol became very sick; it was totally impossible for him to proceed any fur- 
ther on this enterprise, and down he laid himself on the prairie. He entreated liis 
soldiers, however, to go on and not wait for him. He instructed tliem that if he ditl not 
overtake them before they crossed the river, to appoint some one as leader in his stead. 
They were no sooner beyond his sight than he rapidly recovered, and witli 3:40 speed 
made for his home, and within an hour he was by his wife's side, armed with a spoon 
and filling his emjrty stomach with liominy. Tlius ended tlie valorous feats of this 
"twilight glory" hero of ye olden times. Would that such men were confined to those 
days. 

The band of regulators marched on — crossing the Illinois River near the mouth of 



''Stand 15.\( k oij I'i.i. I*>i,o\v vor Down." 2.^ 

tl»e Mauvaisterre, and having arrived in the vicinity of Williams' house, halted to make 
further arrangements. Several fruitless efforts were made to elect another captain, but 
!)() one seenu'd to wish to take this resi)oiisihility ujioii liiniself. While tlnis del)ating 
and waiting their sentinel gave the warning cry, "Who is there y" "A friend!" was the 
answer, and the Wild Hunter appeared upon tlie scene. Grant-like, his speech was 
short and to the point, as follows: "My friends, I know all your intentions. I liave 
overheard your conversation. Tliere is nothing hid from me Williams is my enemy 
— 1 am his. Wliy it is so, is not material for you to know, suttice it to say that he has 
years gone by planted a dagger in the heart of my dome.stic peace, and did me an injury 
I am bound to avenge. You, I have discovered, are without a leader, will you accei)t 
the services of a true soldier?" 

The animated words and i)repossessing manner of the speaker gained for him im- 
mediately the coveted conuuand. They chose him their captain, and under him marched 
directly to Williams' house, which they surrounded. They selected two of the band to 
force their way into the cabin, with tlie hunter captain, and seize their victim. Before 
tlie encircling lines could be formed, however, and tlie outi)osts stationed, the family 
became alarmed by the noise, and the fierce barkings of the dogs. One of the house- 
hold cautiously opened the door, and by means of the light proceeding from the room, 
discovered one of the attacking party. The immediate cr}' was, "Indians! Indians!" 
sui>posing tluit the house was surrounded by the savages, Williams, seizing his ritie, 
rushed out of the house, and the first object that met his eye was the mysterious captain. 

He immediately e.xclaimed, "Thomas G , stand back, or I will blow you down," and 

jiresentiug his ritle, attempted to suit his actions to his words. By some unaccountable 
accident, the weapon snapped but missed fire. He was again making ready, when, from 
all sides came the shouts, "fire! fire!" One single report was heard, and AVilliams fell, 
e.xclaiming, "I am a dead man, Thomas G . You have taken nij- life." The regu- 
lators gathered around their leader and his victim, and stood in speechless a.stonishment 
gazing at tiie convulsed limits and twinging muscles of the dying man. It was an un- 
expected event, but they did not renuiin lon£ in this silence. Their reveries were in- 
terrupted by the screams of a woman, who, running from the house in her night dress, 
witii disheveled hair, and crying piteously, exclaimed at the top of her voice, "Oh, you 
devils! — you devils! — you iuive killed my husband. I knew it would come to this. It 
all comes by associating with them diunken thieves, Henry and Jerry. Murder! mur- 
der! Stand back, you black-looking monsters. I will see my husband. <), dear, O, 
dear." Two of tiie party, in order to frighten her buck into the house, discharged their 
guns near her head, but all in vain. She pressed on until arrested by the strong arm 
of the liunter (it seems she had seen him before); he forced her back into the house 
and clohed the door upon her. Now, tlie question arose quickly, what was to be done? 
Many asked, but none answered. Williams' rifie was picked iij), and tiie adjoining hills 
echoed back the sliarp, keen crack, for so near were tiie preparations completed for a 
second shot !it tlie revenging iiunter. "Retreat, retreat," was now the reply of all to the 
query, "Wliat sliall be done V" 

Quickly tlie line of marcli for tlie liigiier lands was taken. As soon as tiie place of 
lilood was fairly out of siglit, upon a liillside overlooking an extensive plain, tliey called 
a lialt. Tlie captain again addressed tiiem as follows: "My friends, the deed is ilone. 
We cannot now recall it. I did it in self-defense. I have rid the world of a monster 
and myself of an inveterate foe. My conscience acquits me; so I regret not the act. 
.My advice to each of you is to go your way and I will mine. You never will see uie 
again; let every num guard well his secret, and none otlier will know you were here." 
In tiie language of tiie sensation novelist, we migiit now say tiiat, "tiien witii the elastic 
liouiul of a liuck, he ilarted down tiie iiill, was in a moment out of siglit, and lias never 
been heard from in tiiis country since." We suppose tiiat, liis oltject accomplished, lie 
retraced his steps to Kentucky, where some of liis descendants maj' still be residing, 
and for this reason we tiiink it liest to still preserve the mystery, as to name and motive, 



24 The First Cass County Land Entry. 

(for of this we have been apprised,) whicli in those days hung about tlie "Wild Hunter of 
tlie Prairie." 

The news of the murder of Williams was speedily noised about. It went like the 
wind, but found each one of that little band safe in his respective home as innocent 
and ignorant as you please. Cotrill and the Percifield left the county with haste, and 
Morgan county has never been troubled with such desperadoes since. Friends and 
neighbors performed tlie last services of burial for Williams. Near the spot where he 
was shot the body was laid, and there was the grave of "the first man that ever settled 
'n the valley of the Mauvaisterre." As near as we can learn, the site of the grave was 
on the left bank of Magee's Creek, in the county of Pike. Around that grave the weeds 
and grass grow in rich profusion. The winds of heaven sweep over it, and the wolf, 
unconscious of its existence, sets up his midnight howl by its side. No gaudy pillar oi 
flattering epitaph points out to the traveler the spot of earth where lie the bones of the 
pioneer of the Mauvaisterre. This man was dreaded by the people of the county in 
which he lived, and was feared by his family, and was also a terror to his enemies. 
His death was attended by circumstances of a truly tragical and very singular nature, a 
detail of which has been given above. 

Before taking up again the r*eguhu thread of our historic narrative we append to 
this tragic picture of pioneer life a quotation from Judge J. Henry Shaw's "Historical 
Sketch of Cass county," an oration delivered July 4, 1876, as it covers a period when 
that region was included in the bounds of Morgan county. 

In 1831, there were but twenty families within the pre.«ent limits of Morgan, Chss 
and Scott counties. 

In the early years of the white settlements here, wheat was unknown, and Indian 
corn, the only breadstuff", was exceedingly bard to obtain, as mills were scarce. 
Jarvoe's Mill, on Cahokia Creek, was for along time the only one Mccessibie to our 
pioneers. In 1821, a small horse-mill was erected on Indinn Creek by one Kichard 
^hepa^d. Then a horse-mill was pui up at Clary's Grove, Menard county. To these 
mills the boys of the families had to make frequent and tedious journeys to procure 
corn meal for bread. 

The public lands were first oflered for sale in November, 1823; so that, ull those 
who settled here previous to that time were only squatters on the public lands, and 
could hardly be termed permanent settlers. In fact, Thomas Beard, and bis friends 
who lived with the Indians at Kickapoo village, were merely squatters, dependent, up- 
on the Indians tor the privilege of erecting their huts. 

The first land entry was made by Thomas Beard and Enoch C. Maich, j limiv. v\h'> 
entered the northeast quarter of 15, 18, 12, September 23, 1826. It w^is upon thi-< 
quarter section that Mr. Beard's cabin was built. On the 28tb day of Oclubcr, 18'J7, 
Beard and March enteied the northwest quarter of 15, 18, 12, which exiended ilitiir 
river front down below the mound. Thomas Beard individually emered ihe wc si half, 
southwest. 15, 18, 12, October 10, 1827; and John Knight entered the east half, souih 
west 15, 18, 12, July 17, 1828. Thus there were three men who entered the entire >•< clion 
upon which the original town of Beardstown was located, in the years 1826, 1»27 and 
1828 So you will see that the stories current that Beardstown was htid out in 1824, 
and that the site was bought by Beard and March for twenty-five dollars, are not 
founded on record evidence. 

The fact is, that the original town (>f Beardstown consisting of twenty-three blocks, 
fronting on the river, three blocks deep, reaching from Clay to Jackson Street, of 
which block ten, lying between the Park and Main Street, is the cenirf one, was laid 
out and platted by Enoch C. March and Thomas Beard, and acknowledged before 
Thomas B Arnett, a justice of the peace of Jacksonville, September 9, 1829, and is 
recorded on page 228 of Book B of the Morgan county records 

Among the first settlers in Beardstown, after it became a town site, were Francis 
Arenz and Nathaniel Ware, who purchased an interest and became joint, landed pro 
prielors with Beard and March The town was named after Thomas Beard 

The very first deed from March and Beard upon record, of lands within the present 
limits of Beardstown, was made before the town was laid out, and is dated August. 21, 
1828, to "Charles Robinson, of New Orleans," for the consideration of $l(i(), being for 
a "part of the fractional part of the northwest quarter of section 15, in town 18, 12; 
beginning at a forked birch tree on the Illinois River bank, maiked as a corner, run- 
ning thence down the river meanders thereof, so as to make two hundred yards on a 
straight line, and from thence running out from the river at both ends of the ab'ive 
line by two parallel lines, until they strike the north line to the east halt of the south- 
west quarter of section 15, 18, 12, supposed to contain 12 acres." 



(Iass County And the Sangamo ('ofntuv. 2o 

And immediately following this deed upon the record is this singular "deed of 
defeasance," executed by Charles Robinson. 

Deep ok Defeasance. — "I having this day bought of Enoch 0. March and Thomas 
Beard and his wife Sarah a piiece of land on the river below the ferry of the above 
Beard and having this day received from them a deed for the same I hereby declare 111 ti 
it is my intention to do a public business on the said laud betweeu this date ami the 
first day of October next year and if I have not upon the land by that date persons 
and property to efl'ect the same, or actually upon the way to do so, I will return the 
above deed and transfer back the land to them upon receiving tlie consideration given 
them for the same. The above public business means, a steam mill, distillery, rope 
walk or store. Witness my hand and seal this ^1 day of August \H2H 

(Signed) "ClIAKLES ROBINSON. [seal.]" 

Acknowledged August 21, 1828, before Dennis Rockwell, Clerk of Morgan Circuit 
Court; recorded June 29, 1829, Book B, deeds 180. This land is part of the original 
town of Beardstown. 

Mr Charles Robinson, party to these deeds, still lives in this county, near Aren/.- 
ville. On the 8th of February, 1872, he wrote a letter to the Chicago Journal, from 
which I make this extract: 

"Fifty years ago, or in the summer of 1821, there was not a bushel of corn to be 
had in Central Illinois My father settled in that year twenty-three miles west ol 
Springtield. We had to live for a time on venison, blackberries and milk, while the 
men were gone to Egypt to harvest and procure breadstufl's The land we improved 
was surveyed that summer, and afterwards bought of the government, the nioiuy being 
raised by sending beeswax down the Illinois River to St. Louis in an Indian (;anoe 
Dressed deer skins and tanned hides were then in use, and we made one piece of cloth 
out of nettles instead of tlax. Cotton matured well for a decade, until the deep snow 
of 1830." 

The southern part of the State, referred to by Mr. Robinson as Egypt, received 
this appellation, as here indicated, because, being older, better settled and euliivated, 
it "gathered corn as the sand of the sea," and the immigrants of the central part of 
the State, after the manner of the children of Israel, in their wants, went "thither »o 
buy and bring from thence that they might live and not die." 

The section of country drained by .streams heading in the Grand Prairie, and eiiii)- 
tying into the Illinois River between Alton and Peoria, was known as the Sangamo 
country. By this name it was known in the south and east, and at the time of the set- 
tlement of the part comprised in Morgan county, it was the destination of all ciuigrants 
to the central or southern part of the State. 

Emigration w'as great to the Sangamo country during the intervening years between 
1822 and the "Deep Snow." To give the names of all who located during that time is 
impossible. The principal families, however, were those of .loiiatiian Atliertou, Thorn- 
ton Shepherd, liev. John IJricli, James Mears, (leorge llackett, Klijah A\'iswall and sons 
Noah, Thomas and Henry, Jacob Deeds, Daniel Daniels, William Jackson, Elijah 
BiU'on, Jacob Redding, Montgomery Pitner, William C. Posey, John Redfern, Aaron 
Wilson, Daniel liichardson, William Hays, Jacob Hiiffaker, Sr., Mr. Buckingham, 
William Scott, Mr. Scroggin, Sr., Abner Vanwinklc, James Evans, Sr., James (ireeii, 
Andrew Karns, Elder Sweet, and Peleg Sweet. 

The settlers of 1819, '20, '21 and '22 have now been mentioned. Some further ac- 
count of their privations should be given, and the difliculties they encountered in found in li' 
their homes. Ft>r this see ne.\t (•hai)ter. 





1-3 



12; 

O 












CirAPTEll III.— 1819-'2-t. CoiH'hnh^L 

Covering the nmne period as chnpters I and FT, but with greater detail. Annah of 
the earlient i/eurs in .Uorgan, (Ik ])ahlis/ied in. the fllinoix Sentinel in ?.W7, l>!/ •/. A*- 
Biiileg, now decenned, and couehed for in l,SSi hy Ilurani Iteeoe, Knq., the oldest umlr 
resident of the county now licing therein — Log Cabin Raising — Afeal Grinding in 
Hand-mills — Honey Hunters — The First Tave7'n, Bridge and Steandioat — Greene 
and Sdnganwn County Settlements. 

Few are the men who live to-day 

And l)y exi)eri(»ncp know 
The toils and ills of frontier life 

Of sixty years aj:!o. 
The hunt, tile uliot, the •;lorioii8 chase I 

And the captured elk and deer. 
The camps, the hi-; bright lire, and tiien 

The rich and wholesome cheer. 
How sound iw our sleep at dinid of niu'lit, 

Hy our camp lire blazing liigh, 
I'nbroken by the wolf's low growl, 

And the i)anther"s ringing cry. 
And 80 merrily pass the time, despite 

Our wary Indian foe; 
In the days when we were pioneers, 

Si.xty years ago. 

IIILE the early general liistory of the state of Illinois, coinprising its first ex- 
ploration by the French, the settlements of Kaskaskia and I'eoria, and its siili- 
secjuent organization as a territory and settlement by tiie hardy pioneers from 
^ ''J^'5 K^^"tiicky and other states; while these incidents of the early history of our 
•■ o) state are familiar to the reading public, there is yet much historical detail con- 
nected with the first settlement, organiztition and growth of ejicli county of the state 
that is unwrit^n, existing only in the memory of the reniaining pioneers, or in the 
traditions jtre.^erved l)y tiieir descendants. 

Each county has had its local history, spiced with interesting detail and varied in- 
cident, the collection of which in the shape of local historical anntds, would afford 
valuable and correct data to the future historian, and prove an interesting becpiest to 
the generations to come after us in the possession of this beautiful and fertile land, 
the vast wealth and future resources of which are now just beginning to be developed. 

To this end, in i)art, a meeting of the early settlers of the county wsis held in 
this city on the last Saturday of the month of May, 18G7, for social re-union, organiza- 
ticm, and to take steps for the collection of statistics, historiciil details and local incidents 
as data from which correct annals of the county might be compiled for preservatiiMi 
and transmission to posterity. 

In aid of this object we have been courteously furnished by Mr. Iluram Heeve 
and others, with a correct account, based upon the i)ers()nal knowledge of om- informant, 
of the first settlement made by white men in tliis county, with the leading incidents 
connected with such settlement during the first season. 

At tliat early d;iy tile face of the country, although attractive in its wild beauty, 
presented an iippearance different from that wliicii now strikes the eye under its cdn- 
ditiou of cultivation and imi>rovement. The surface of tiie coiintr}', prairie and tinilier, 
was covered with a luxuriant and rank vegetation. < )n low grounds and flat prairie the 




28 Prairie Fires — The Settlers of 1820. 

wild grass grew to a consideral)le lieight. The "hazel roughs" that crept out on the 
dry prairie knolls near the timber, and the young timber skirting the prairies, had a 
hard struggle for life with the autumnal fires, lighted by the Indians for hunting pur- 
poses, and, after the passage of such fires in the fall, presented a blackened and stunted 
appearance ; and among this timber, already fire-girdled to his hand, the settler subse- 
quently opened up his first five acre field, and planted his first patch of corn. 

The traveler exploring the country found the grassy surface unbroken except by a 
rarely met Indian trail, and in skirting the timber of the Mauvaisterre, Sandy or Apple 
Creek, he saw attractive points of timber, and enticing locations for settlement, but no 
smoke was rising where the house should stand ; no bark of dog or low of cattle to be 
heard ; naught but nature clothed in the grand robes of her virginity, breathing solemn 
silence. 

During the spring of 1820 the first settlement of white men (after the Kelloggs') was 
made in Morgan county, in the vicinity of where Jacksonville now stands. This settle- 
ment was made by Mr. Roe, who located his claim and commenced work on what is now 
known as the Becraft place, west of Diamond Grove. 

Next came Messrs. John Wyatt and Wm. Wyatt, who commenced their improve- 
ment on the farm later owned and occupied by Cyrus Matthews, Esq., formerly sheriff 
of jMorgan county. These settlements were made about the 1st of March, 1820, and soon 
after, during the same month, Isaac Reeve, Joel Reeve, Lazarus Reeve Jno. Reeve, 
James B. Crain, Martin Dial, James Deaton and his son Levi, and Robert James pitched 
tlieir tents and selected their claims. 

Mr. Reeve settled on Sandy, southwest of the Diamond Grove' on what has since 
been known as the Deed's farm. Being a blacksmith he brought with him his anvil, 
hammers and bellows. As the season advanced and the plows of the infant settlement 
began to need sharpening, Mr. Reeve extemporized the first blacksmith shop in the 
open air, the interlocking .stumps of two saplings being his anvil block, the bellows rig- 
ged to stakes driven in the ground, the fire place of the most primeval construction. 
This airy shop became at once a public institution, and from far and near the settlers 
trudged there through the high grass, to get their little jobs of smithing done. 

The persons above named made their settlements in the immediate vicinity of the 
present location of Jacksonville, scattered around as attractive locations had caught 
their fancy. Mr. Deaton and his son made their claim about four miles west, on what 
is now called the McCormack place, on the Meredosia road, and Mr. James also settled 
in the same neighborhood. 

During the same spring, 1820, but somewhat later, settlements were made in two 
other neighborhoods. Mr. Swinnerton, Mr. Olmstead and Mr. Pierce fixed their loca- 
tion and commenced improvements at Olmstead's Mound, since known as Allison's 
Mound ; and on the north fork of the Mauvaisterre settlement was made bj^ Samuel 
Scott. The Messrs. Kellogg were on the north side of the creek, and the first improve- 
ment was commenced on what is known as the Huifaker place, by Isaac Edwards. 
Mr. Buchanan settled on the head of south fork of the Mauvaisterre the same spring ; 
also jSIr. Roberts and sons at Island Grove. 

Thus the first settlements of white men made in Morgan county in the spring of 
1820, were in three distinct neighborhoods, the pioneers who first attacked the primeval 
forests with the all conquering axe and turned the first furrow in the virgin soil, having 
chiefly emigrated from Madison, St. Clair and other southern counties. 

The little band of pioneers during this first spring, comprised, with a single excep- 
tion, only males — the pioneers and their sons; the women and smaller children not be- 
ing removed to their new homes until late in the fall. Jas. B. Crain, however, brought 
his family with him, and Mrs. Crain was the only white woman in the settlement dur- 
ing the first summer, being, it is claimed, also, the mother of the first white child born 
in the countj'. 



BriLDiNG THE Lo(i Cabin Home — Eighty-five Miles to ^Iii.l. 20 

The first steps and subsequent proceedings of the pioneers in making their settle- 
ment, are well worthy of record. After selecting a location suited to liis fancy, the 
first act of the settler was to pitch his camp. For this a site was selected under shelter 
of the timber, near a spring or running branch. The team was unhitched from the 
wagon, and after being carefully belled, was turned out to browse upon the swelling 
[buds. The next care was to provide a camp for protection from the weather during 
the season. The ringing sound of tlie a.xe then awoke the forest echoes, and rails were 
split for the erection of a rail cabin. A "board tree" was selected, felled, and in the 
absence of a cross cut saw, butted ofE with the axe into four feet cuts. These being 
opened and hearted with the maul and wedge, were rived into claplx)ards for covering 
the rail pen cabin, the boards being held to their place by weiglit poles laid on tliem 
as each layer was placed, the eave pole being pinned fast and each succeeding weiglit 
pole, up to the comb, being kept from slipping toward the eaves by blocks placed at 
each end and in the centre between them. 

The rail cabin being rai.sed and covered, a door was cut out, jams pinned on and a 
clapboard door made and hung with wooden or leather hinges, to l)e fastened when 
closed, with a wooden pin. Dry grass was then collected for underbedding, claplmards 
nailed over the cracks between the rails, or bed quilts hung up over the walls to keep 
out the driving rain. The summer camp was then completed. 

The settler next proceeded to mark off the boundaries of his claim, eacli settler 
being entitled to claim, under the rules of the frontier, three hundred and twenty acres. 
The claim lines were marked by blazing the trees with an axe through the timber, and 
driving stakes into the ground at short distances through the prairie. The lines thus 
established were respected l)y new comers, and if they did not happen to correspond 
with the government surveys when made, the claim title of the settler, to parcels cut 
off or divided was not affected, and transfers were often made between neighl)ors after 
the land had been entered, in order to make the old claim lines good to each particular 
owner. 

The next step was to mark out five or ten acres of ground, as the help of the settler 
might justify, in the young timber skirting the prairie, as a patch for the first crop of 
corn. The timber land was selected as being better fitted for immediate cultivation 
and more easily broken than the tough, wild prairie sod. The work of making rails 
for fencing was now commenced, to be followed by the clearing, grubbing and break- 
ing of the ground, and planting of the crop. The corn having ])een planted in tlie fresh 
soil required ])ut little further attention for sometime, enabling tlie settlell- 
ing them to leave their partly made crop and travel a ilistance of eiglity-five miles, to 
Edwardsville, to renew their sui)ply. The journey had to be made cliipfly in tlie niirht 
to avoid the green-head tlies of the prairie, wliicli at this season wouUl in tlic ilay time 
almost bleed a team to death. Sliaping their course by the stars, and witliout a road or 
trail, they started on tlie trip, provisionless and hungry. Their first canijnng jilace 
was on Apple Creek. The country liad lieen pretty well cleared of game l)y Indians, 
but here they were fortunate enough to kill a scjuirrel, wliicli tliey roasted at tlieir camp 
fire. During the ne.xt day they succeeded in killing a deer near wliere the town of Jer- 
seyville now stands, and thus tliey were enabled to reach Etlwanlsville in excellent 
time and good spirits. 

Although at this pericnl game was exceedingly scarce, having been killed out or 
driven off by Indians, \)ees were abundant, and in the fall after the corn crop had been 
made, the first settlers reaped a rich harvest in honey and wax, the latter constitutin"- 



30 Bee Hunting, Cabin Raising, Meal Grinding. 

at that time, in connection with furs, the circulating currency of the frontier. An 
average of from six to eight bee trees a day was considered ordinary lucli by the bee 
hunters, and the Messrs. Wyatt, who appear to have excelled in this line of woodcraft, 
were known to have found as many as twelve bee trees in a day. Diamond Grove was 
a favorite haunt of the wild bee, the surrounding prairies blooming with a succession 
of wild flowers, affording them a rich field for the collection of wax and honey. If the 
land did not literally flow with honey, it afforded a convenient and welcome source of 
revenue to the pioneer settlers. 

As the fall approached, house logs were chopped, clapboards rived, puncheons for 
flooring split, and preparations made for erecting log cabinS to shelter the families of 
the settlers during the coming winter. In raising the cabins the entire force of the 
little colony would l)e assembled, thus lightening the work of "raising," and each set- 
tler soon found himself the proud possessor of a log cabin prepared to shelter his wife 
and little ones in their new wilderness home. 

The patch of corn having been safely "laid by," the cabin built and a good supply 
of honey and wax collected — the latter to be bartered at Edwardsville for necessaries, 
the team was hitched up, the trackless prairies and unbridged streams again traversed 
and the family safely landed at their new home. 

As the new corn began to harden it was made into coarse meal for family use by 
rul)bing the ear on a tin grater until the grains were rasped off close to the cob. This 
meal made a bread very sweet and palatable, but the work of grating was very laborious 
When the new corn became hard enough to grind, a small hand mill was put up at Dia- 
mond Grove, by Isaac Fort Roe and Jedediah Webster, and upon this "mill privilege" 
the surrounding neighbors depended mainlj- for grinding their meal during the first win- 
ter, the nearest regular mill being eighty-five miles. The hand mill was primitive in 
construction and its manipulation was tiresome work, as some of the youngsters of that 
day, now grown gray-headed, will doubtless remember. Two stones of the kind known 
as "lost stone," some two feet in diameter, were procured. These were dressed into 
millstone shape and a hole drilled through the centre of the one intended for the upper 
stone. AVith a simple contrivance by which to regulate the grinding space between the 
two stones the upper stone was made to revolve on a pivot. A hole was drilled on the 
top side and near the outer circle of the upper stone and in this hole a wooden peg was 
driven. 

This was the handle by which the stone was revolved, being thus turned exactly 
like an ordinary millstone with the right hand, while the left hand managed the shelled 
corn and represented the hopper, dropping the grains slowly into the hole in the centre 
of the stone, to be ground into meal. The labor involved in grinding a bushel of meal 
by the above manual process can only be correctly appreciated by those who have 
tried it. 

We have already described the first hand-mill. We might add that it could be 
changed into a horse mill by fixing it firmlj' between two posts and attaching a sweep 
to it. Another contrivance for making meal was the mortar ; this was made by burn- 
ing or excavating the end of a stump or log. As the hole in the stump or log became 
deeper, it was narrowed until it came to a point. A pestle was made to fit closely into 
tliis aperture ; in the end of the pestle an iron wedge was fixed. When the pestles 
were made of great weight they were attached to a sweep, made like a well sweep ; by 
this means they could be raised and dropped into mortars. Meal was made in this 
manner by simply breaking or pounding the corn until it was thoroughlj- pulverized. 
The mortar in this country was probably the invention of the Indians, as it was in use 
when discovered by the white men. The hand-mill is spoken of in the Bible, and is 
probably as old as the world. 

After the hand-mill and mortar came the horse-mill, made after various plans' 
which, in its day, was considered a great improvement on its primitive predecessors. 
During the first years of the settlement of Morgan county, the pioneers of that time, 



CoRllECTING MlSKKl'RESKNTATloXS (H I'loNKl.K Lll K. 31 

(lid they desire better accommodations than that iuinislicd at Diainond Uiove, were 
compelled to go to Edwaid^ville, eight}- five miles away. The settlers were gn-atly 
dependent on each other during this period, and were noted for their hospitality an 1 
kindness toward one another and to strangers. Their latch-striugs were always out, 
and though frugal their fare and humble their accomuKxlations no one was allowed to 
go away hungry or uncared for. During this early period the settlers were much do- 
pendent on each other, in illustration of which it is related that one of tliem during tin- 
first summer, trudged eighteen miles in the tall prairie grass to l)()rrow an iron wedg(! 
of his neighltor. Long journeys would have to be made to procure tools to use in tlieir 
daily avocations. - It was not uncommon for men to go fifteen or twenty miles for an a.\, 
u chain, or any such article when needed. 

During the fall of 1820, sometime in December, ^Ir. John Bradshaw visited tin- 
settlement and marked out his claim on what was known later as the Warner farui, 
and still later as the Chestnut place, adjoining this city on the southeast. He did not, 
however, renuiin during the winter or make any improvements until the following spring. 

Gen. ^Murray McConnel, a gentleman who has since occupied no mean position 
among the noted men of the state, also paid his first visit to ^lorgan county during the 
fall of 1820. He made his settlement on the place now owned anil occupied by Mr. 
Kiggs, in what is at present known as the Gilliam neighborhood, within the jiresent lim- 
its ot Scott county, but did not commence improvements or remove his family to hi - 
claim until the following spring. 

Thus the early annals of Morgan county have been opened up, and details of it.; 
history given, based upon the personal knowledge of persons who were upon the spot 
and themselves witnessed what has been described, the facts given covering the period 
of the first year of the settlement of the country within the present limit of tiie county. 
Some of the first settlers of that period yet remain, and numerous descendants of 
others of them who have i)assed away, yet live in the county, some of them on the very 
spot first settled by their father or grandfather. 

The Kerr place was settled in 1820 by Mr. Jesse Ruble. He sold his first improve 
nient and claim to Mr. Kerr, who came the following year. Mr. Bailey says: 

"The delineation of the early western frontier character has become hackneyed, yet 
many of the writers upon tiiis subject have picked up their information in every possi- 
ble way, except that allorded l»y a long personal experience and observation. Hence 
much of error has naturally crept into published descrii)tions of pioneer character anil 
its early primitive surrounding. 

• "Tliis fact is illustrated in a recent article of considerable length in the Atlnntir 
MoiUldii, giving a de.scriptive account of the early settlement of Sangamon county, Illi 
nois, purporting to be from the pen of an eastern guest of Wm. H. Herndon, of Spring- 
field, upon whose authority many of the incidents embodied are given. While the ar- 
ticle referred to gives some true descriptions, there is also interwoven much tiiat the 
early pioneer will recognize as exaggeration and absurdity; and the writers deductions 
and conclusions in reference to the pioneer character as a class, are in simie particu- 
lars little short of positive slander. For instance, lie pictures tiie early settlers of Illi- 
nois as characterized by loo.scness of morals in tlie relations and intercourse of the 
sexes, a.scribing the cause to the absence of the enlightened soi'ial refinement of a more 
advanced civilization. 

"Never were the pioneers of Illinois more grossly misrejuesented. In honesty ami 
purity of morals they were the peers of the men of .Massaciiusetts, and in openness of 
ciiaracter, kindly hospitality, neigiiborly fraternity and some otiier nolile qualities, 
their .superiors; because uncimtaminated with the vices of :\ refined and advanced east- 
ern civilization. Female purity was a markeil social feature among tlie early settlers. 
A majority of them were newly married people who came to estal>lisii homes. Of tin- 
unn\arried the young men outnumbered tlie young women, and as the girls grew to ma- 
turity they were early sought in marriage, few remaining single to the age of twenty 



32 Xekiuborly Courtesies — Another "First Baby."' 

yeius. Imeutives to vice that are incident to densely populated communities in the 
east, were not to be found in the scattered settlements of a new country ; hence purity 
in the s(K-ial and domestic i-elations was a ruling characteristic among the pioneers. 

"The early settlers were especially noted for kindly fraternity of feeling. They 
were much dependent upon each other, having to borrow and lend and the strong bonds 
of fellowship were cemented l)y mutual interests and necessities. The visit of a neigh- 
l)()r always awakened pleasurable emotions, and the stranger was welcomed to the 
homely calnn with an open hospitality unknown and unfelt amid the surroundings of 
an old settled country. The settler would cheerfully leave his own work and walk five, 
ten or fifteen miles to assist his neighbor in rearing his cabin or the performance of 
any lieavy labor requiring help, regarding it as a pleasant duty which his neighbor 
would, if required, perform for him with equal cheerfulness. 

"There was no law in those days, nor need for any, the rule of kindly fellowship 
"overnina: in the intercourse and business relations of the settlers, while politics as a 
disturbing element was unknown. It was several years later when disreputable char- 
acters began to straggle into the settlements, rendering the organization of "regulators" 
necessary. 

"As the supply of clothing which the settlers brought with them began to wear 
out, they were driven to shift in the best way they could to supply that want. Many of 
them had brought with tliem their spinning wheels, and those who were so fortunate 
as to own a few head of sheep ivere in a measure independent, the women being able 
to spin and weave linsey and jeans for the family wear, the weaving being done on 
home-made wooden looms. The game beginning to multiply after the first season, the 
rille was lirought into rec[uisition and the skins of the deer were dressed and converted 
into warm and comfortable clothing. 

"The Corrington farm on the Mauvaisterre, was settled in 1821, by Mr. W. Miller. 
Stephen Jones settled the Cassell place, and Joseph Slattern made the first improve- 
ments on the O'rear place. 

"Billy Robinson, an old, white-haired hunter, made an improvement north of Anti- 
och Church, on which Bennett Jones afterward settled. Isaac Edwards and Mr. Scott 
located north of the Curts and Reeve places. 

"John Anderscm settled on the Layton place; James Taylor taking the farm west 
of the Stephen Dunlap place, on the northern side of the north fork. Mr. Murray was 
the first settler on the Dunlap farm, and Mr. S. Berey took possession of the quarter 
section east of it. 

"Mr. Olmstead settled on the quarter-section east of Colonel Matthews. All of the 
above settlements were made in 1821. 

"Rev. Peter R. Boranau was one of the early Methodist preachers in the county; 
he became a noted revivalist, and died in Chicago, some forty years ago." 

"Martin Lindley settled at Camp Hollow, since known as the Fisher Place, near 
Bcardstowu; and Timothy Harris and John Catrough accompanied him. Harris set- 
tled on the north side of the creek opposite the Bluff House; but Catrough remained 
with Liodley for some time afterward, and during a prairie fire came near losing his 
life, his jeans ch)thinff being burned to a crisp. On December 20, 1820, Julia A 
Lindley, daughter of Martin Lindley, was born; supposed to be the first white child 
born in the county. In 1821 Mr. Lindley moved to Peoria, where he remained one 
season, then proceeded down the river and stopped for a time at the mouth of the 
Mauvaisterre, from thence returning to Camp Hollow. He was killed by the caving 
in of a well in the year 1830; his family remained at Camp Hollow until 1855. 

"Mr Thomas Beard came to Beardstown in 1820, but did not commence improving 
until 1832 It is related that he built his cabin over a den of snakes, and for some 
time the inmates were annoyed by the reptiles crawling through the crevices of the 
puncheon floor. In 1826 he married Miss Sarah Bell, I. R. Bennett, Esq., of Emerald 
Point performing the ceremony. After the location of the seat of justice at Beards- 
town, it became an important shipping point, and Mr. Beard became wealthy Elisha 
Lenn, Mr. Waggoner, Simeon Lenn, Solomon Bery, John Baker and Nathaniel Herring 
were among the earliest citizens of Beardstown. 



/ 



TnK First Stkam Boat — Mrs. Job and the Ixdians. 33 

"Tbe first steamboat ascended the Illinois River in 1826, the river being navigated, 
prior to that time, only by keel-boats, flat-boats and canoes. 

' Bees were very plenty, and two of the settlers, Messrs, Bucklcman and Kobinsim, 
collected in 1827 fourteen barrels of honey, selling the wax for money enough to enter 
their claims. 

"Mauvaisterre Creek is said to have been named by the early French voyagers ou 
the Illinois River. Indian Creek is supposed to have been named by the early rangers 
under General Whitesides, from the fact that while pursuing a marauding band they 
killed an Indian on that stream, in 1814 Archibald Job, subsequently, for many 
year.'* a noted jiublic man, settled on Job Creek, in Cass county, in 1820 With his 
family he left Pittsburg on a keel boat, on the BOth of October, 181U, and landed at St. 
I^outs enrly in February. 1820, having been detained some time by ice. Leaving 
the keel- boat in charge of his wife and children, Mr. Job came up the river located 
Ills claim and built a cabin. He broke twelve acres the first season, fencing it by fell- 
ing saplings with their tops interlocked. About the 12th of May, 1820, David and 
'I'homas Blair settled in Mr. Job's neighborhood, and during the same sea.son went for 
their families. On the authority of Mr Job, it is understood that the first Baptist 
preacher was Rev Samuel Bristow; Rev. William Sims and Rev. William Crow being 
next in order. 

When Hon. Archibald Job came to Morgan county, as mentioned alx»ve, he left 
his wife on the west side of the Illinois River, alone in cam]) by a log fire, while he 
came over into the Sangamo country to meet a brother-in-law. During his absence 
twelve Indians came to Mrs. Job's tent and demanded whiskey. She told them her 
husband had taken it all away with him, but they refused to believe her or to leave and 
she had to remain there all night alone, with those savages lying upon the ground on 
the opposite side of the camp-fire. How few matrons of the present day could stand 
such a trial of nerve ! 

' Alexander Wells, James Gillbam and Alexander Bell were the first settlers in the 
'Gillham neighborhood.' 

"Mr. Keller was one of the settlers of 1821, and was killed by the Regulators. 

"In the year 1820, Mr. Thomas Arnett settled near the present reservoir for the 
Insane; he was the first justice of the peace in the county, and one of the proprietors 
ul Jacksonville. He sold his first claim to John Leeper and moved to the Loar place. 

"Col. Joseph Morton and John Bradshaw came to Morgan county in 1820, and 
located claims, but did not remain. Thev returned the next season and commenced 
improvements Col. Morton used a wooden cart — in which there was no iron to be 
found — when hauling his rails and doing farm work They fenced eighteen acres the 
first season. Mrs Minnie Conovcr settled on Indian Creek about 1821 The public 
lands in this section were surveyed in 1821 and brought into market in 1823. 
Mr. ("barles Robinson settled at the head of the southern fork of Mauvaisterre Creek 
in 1820; his money capital was twenty-five cents, and he invested that in whisky to 
make bitters for curing the ague He hunted bees for a time, and sold wax enough to 
enter the first eighty acres He afterwards became wealthy. 

"Miles Wood settled the Posey place, adjoining Jacksonville on the east. 

"The first school taught regularly in the county was held at Isaac Edwards' farm, 
on the Springfield road — now owned by John Shuff — Mr. Palmer being its teacher. 

"After Rev. Joseph Bisey, Rev. John Miller w