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Full text of "History of Macoupin County, Illinois : biographical and pictorial"

I B R.AR.Y 

OF THL 

UNIVERSITY 
OF ILLINOIS 



977.585 

Wl5h 

M.\ 





V- 

1 , 



HISTORY 

OF 



Macoupin County 
ILLINOIS 

Biographical and Pictorial 



HON. CHARLES A. WALKER 

Supervising Editor 



VOLUME I 



ILLUSTRATED 



CHICAGO 

THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

191 1 



Y.I 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Introduction The Northwest Territory Father Marquette and Louis Joliet 
State of Illinois admitted to the Union and Constitution adopted First 
events of interest in the State The Black Hawk war The Mexican war 9 

CHAPTER II. 
o 

GEOLOGY. 

O Preparation of the earth for man's convenience The rocks and hills as Na- 
ture left them Coal and other mineral formations in the county Fauna 
and flora of the county 67 

CHAPTER III. 

ORGANIZATION. 

Macoupin county organized in 1829 Commissioners named to select a county 
seat Provisions made for the first election -First county officials First 
grand and petit jurors First and only legal execution 75 

CHAPTER IV. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 
^ 

it Macoupin is classed as one of the south-central counties The county an ob- 
long square Originally of prairie and undulating Soil Grasses Tim- 
ber Mounds, etc 87 

CHAPTER V. 

THE PIONEER. 

David Coop the first settler A creek and mound named for the pioneer 
Located on Coop's Creek in 1815 Others soon followed Names of many 
who came at a later period but opened the county to settlement 90 

8 






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4 CONTEXTS 

CHAPTER VI. 
MEMORY'S STORE HOUSE. 

Recollections of a pioneer Hon. Charles A. Walker here in 1828, three years 
before the county was organized He was acquainted with many of the 
pioneers of Macoupin Reminiscences entertainingly related in 

CHAPTER VII. 

GOVERNMENT. 

Commissioners' court of almost unlimited power List of first voters Com- 
missioners' court abolished and county divided into townships Names of 
county officials from 1829 to 1911 127 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PRIMITIVE. 

This chapter tells of how the pioneer managed to live Also how the early 
settler endured many hardships and privations Heroism and fortitude of 
noble women, their sacrifices and wonderful resourcefulness They were 
brave, too, in the face of danger 144 

CHAPTER IX. 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

The first court house a primitive log building Men of note held forth there 
Second building somewhat more pretentious than its predecessor Here 
Lincoln, Douglas and many others who became of national note foregath- 
ered Early criminal record 151 

CHAPTER X. 



A building with a history Money "no object" to its promoters Architect- 
urally "a thing of beauty" Creates a tax upon the people lasting over forty 
years Grand jubilee at public burning of last bond by Governor Charles 
S. Deneen 1 57 

CHAPTER XI. 

CIVIL WAR. 

Patriotic Macoupin and her splendid record in the war between the States 
First regiment in Illinois organized at Carlinville in response to Lincoln's 
first call for troops History of the brave men who went to the front 
Full roster of those who served from this county 171 



CONTENTS 5 

CHAPTER XII. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The church always comes first in a new community Many handsome houses 
of worship erected in the county in recent years A list of organizations 
in the county 1 99 

CHAPTER XIII. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Schools follow the settler Macoupin county at a high altitude in her educa- 
tional institutions History of the schools by County Superintendent Rob- 
ert C. Moore Blackburn College 234 

CHAPTER XIV. 

PIONEER SCHOOLS. 

The pedagogue and the schoolhouse of early days The teacher "boarded 
'round" and took "pot luck" No "laughing out in school" allowed 
Schoolhouses without windows simply a "hole in the wall" 260 

CHAPTER XV. 

THE HEALING ART. 

The pioneer physician and his burdens There were no specialists in those 
days Made his own pills and used the lance with or without provocation 
Quick of perception and self reliant Sketches of some pioneers and 
others Macoupin County Medical Society 267 

CHAPTER XVI. 

BENCH AND BAR. 

Some mention of the pioneer lawyer Those who shed luster on the legal 
profession and made a stir in the world General John M. Palmer Gen- 
eral John I. Rinaker and others Present members of the Macoupin bar. .279 

CHAPTER XVII. 

JOHN M. PALMER. 

Autobiography of John M. Palmer Lawyer Soldier Statesman Gave 
prominence to the local bar Served his country in the hour of peril--- 
Became governor of Illinois and honored the state in the national senate 
Candidate for President on the gold standard Democratic ticket 289 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PRESS. 

The printer early in the field and one of the great educational factors of the 
day A considerable history of Macoupin County's newspapers The 
statesman pioneer of them all Many well edited journals abreast of the 
times in news and make-up Papers of by-gone days are here mentioned . .303 



6 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIX. 

VARIOUS THINGS. 

Transportation Steam and electric railroads County Fair Association- 
Population of the county Macoupin a wealthy and progressive section . . 308 

CHAPTER XX. 

REMINISCENCES. 

The pioneer preacher and his bride Log court house used for many purposes 
Mention of Carlinville's first inhabitants Methodist and Baptist 
churches organized First child born in the county seat 317 

CHAPTER XXI. 
"JERSEY STREET." 

Interesting section of the county From Rockbridge to Piasa Creek Lyman 
L. Palmer writes with a facile pen of early days and their people Sweet 
singers of Medora Old Tobe Bill Davis' ox team The village dominie 

The village plow maker A hard nut to crack 328 

\ 

CHAPTER XXII 

THE TOWNSHIPS. 

This chapter is a long one and speaks of the twenty-six townships of the 
county Hamlets, villages, towns and cities First settlers in the various 
localities Founding and growth of the trading points Hilyard town- 
ship 358 

REMINISCENT. 

A tale well told by J. B. Andrews of early days in Shipman township He 
tells of the First Baptist Society The primitive schools Manumitted 
slaves and the underground railroad Lack of medical attendance 406 

CARLINVILLE. 

Seth Hodges and Ezekiel Good donate land for the county seat Named in 
honor of Thomas Carlin, member of the Legislature First lot sold Has 
now a population of three thousand, six hundred and sixty Mayors and 
public utilities 419 



PREFACE. 

For more than a decade I have been appealed to by a number of old pioneers 
left in our county to write and have published in book form my recollections 
of the settlement and organization of the county as well as the characteristics 
of. the pioneers who settled in the "New Wilderness." That really was the mov- 
ing cause that induced me to accept the position as supervising editor of this 
history. The purpose and intent of the publishers were to get facts and publish 
nothing that was not well substantiated; hence this record of those early times 
ought to be and will be the standard history of the county appertaining to its 
organization and settlement, and the events treated of in the history, so far as 
I have had control, have been recorded in justification of the action of those 
who aided in building up this great and prosperous county from the time of the 
early pioneers to the present period. 

I quote from the writings of one of our own pioneers "The memory of 
the life of even a pioneer is fleeting. The name written upon the shady shore 
of time is effaced by the coming wave of the next generation, and unless some 
effort is made to preserve in permanent form a record of that work it will be 
lost to future generations. There is no better way to preserve the most valued 
items in the history of a county and its progressive citizens than by the medium 
of such a history." 

In the preparation of this work the editor and publishers have recognized 
the magnitude of the task undertaken and in getting the material for the same 
there has been a constant aim to use a just discrimination in regard to the 
selection of such facts as will interest the reading public. Great labor and ex- 
pense have been required to collect such facts that will be of benefit to the 
future generations that will follow in the footsteps of the early pioneers of 
our county. 

Some names of families worthy of perpetuation here will not appear in the 
history, either on account of the apathy of those concerned, or the inability 
to secure the facts desired from those who are most interested. 

The publishers of this history at much expense sent agents into every part 
of the county to glean facts pertaining to the events and history of every citi- 
zen or his ancestors, who has been active as a worker in the upbuilding of the 
county, giving to such citizens or family an opportunity to have the leading 
facts recorded in the history and, if it shall appear that some one's name is 
omitted it must not be said that they (the publishers) are responsible for that 
omission, as an opportunity was given to such persons and they failed or re- 
fused to avail themselves of it, they are thereby estopped from criticizing the 
work on that account. Thanks are due and hereby given to all who in any man- 
ner contributed to the completion of this work. 

CHARLES A. WALKER, 

Supervising Editor. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



History of Macoupin County 



CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

INTRODUCTION THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY FATHER MARQUETTE AND LOUIS 

JOLIET STATE OF ILLINOIS ADMITTED TO THE UNION AND CONSTITUTION 

ADOPTED FIRST EVENTS OF INTEREST IN THE STATE THE BLACK HAWK WAR 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

Within the last thirty years this fertile portion of the Prairie state has as- 
sumed a new aspect. In the moral and physical changes that have produced this 
result, in the improvements of its soil, and the establishment of its political and 
literary institutions, you, the inhabitants of" the county, have ever been the zeal- 
ous actors. 

In the progress of this great change, much is due to the kind and fostering 
care of a good government in promoting the settlement and eliciting the latent 
resources of this portion' of the state. But the slightest reflection will make it 
evident that still more is due to manly enterprise, individual hardihood, and 
personal exertion of the inhabitants of the county. In this personal devotion, 
many persons have rendered themselves conspicuous, and their names are en- 
graved upon the minds of a posterity that has arisen to take their places. The 
active part that they and their ancestors have taken in the work of subduing 
this, our common country, their zeal and services in promoting the general wel- 
fare, is generally known and appreciated by all. 

The country is now in a most prosperous condition. Its agricultural re- 
sources have been improved and developed, its natural improvements fostered 
and encouraged; large manufacturing establishments have been erected; schools 
and institutions of learning built up and maintained, while its churches and re- 
ligious institutions have received the support and encouragement of a whole, 
united people. 

NORTHWEST TERRITORY EARLY EXPLORATIONS. 

In writing a history of Macoupin county, some reference must be made to 
the state of which the county forms so important a part and not only of the state, 
but also of the great northwest, where the first explorations and discoveries were 
made and where the pioneers of these many explorations, the Jesuits, first 
landed to prosecute their journeys through the country. 

9 



10 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

The Great Northwest territory, which was ceded by Virginia to the United 
States, in 1784, embraced what is now five of the larger of the middle western 
states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and that portion of Min- 
nesota lying east of the Mississippi river. It is a mighty empire in itself and now 
contains many millions of inhabitants. Its great lakes are inland seas of fresh 
water, while its rivers are among the largest of the North American Continent. 

When the act of ceding this vast territory was consummated, there were 
comparatively few white inhabitants included within its borders, while some 
very extensive portions had not probably a single white inhabitant. 

FIRST EXPLORATIONS. 

The first explorations made in that portion of the territory now embraced 
within the borders of the great state of Illinois was in 1673, when Father Mar- 
quette and his companion, Louis Joliet, set out from what was then known as the 
Straits of Mackinac, or Michilimackinac, on a voyage of exploration and dis- 
covery. 

Previous to this one Jean Nicolet, a native of Cherbourg, France, came to 
Canada and dwelt for several years with the natives, learned their language and 
adopted their mode of living, and to him, it is claimed, belongs the honor of hav- 
ing discovered Lake Michigan, then generally called the French "Lac des Illi- 
nois;" that he first saw it July 4, 1634, and that on the same voyage he went 
into Green Bay, known to the French as "Baye des Puens," and visited the 
Chippewa tribe of Indians and the Winnebagoes on the lake of that name. But 
very little is known of Nicolet's voyage at that time, as he kept but few records 
of his adventures. 

Nicholas Perrot was another of the daring spirits in those days to brave the 
dangers in exploring the great western country. He discovered the first lead 
mines in the west, and was for several years in command of the country around 
Green Bay. He was a man of learning and intelligence and committed to writ- 
ing an interesting account of his labors and explorations from 1670 to 1690, 
a period of twenty years. It was during his journey ings in the west that the 
notable conference was held between the French and seventeen tribes of na- 
tions at Sault Ste. Marie, June 14, 1671. It was at this conference that the 
French gained possession of Lakes Huron and Superior "and all the countries 
contiguous thereto, and southward to the sea." 

In 1667, Father Marquette, with that fearless and intrepid man, Claude Al- 
louez, and a companion, Claude Dablon, both brothers in the same order with 
himself, went up the river that forms the outlet to Lake Superior, to the falls, 
and there established a mission, which they named "The Mission of Saint 
Mary," but now known as Sault Ste. Marie. They named the river "Saint 
Mary," and then started on a journey up the great lake, with the object of dis- 
covering, if possible, its western extremity. They coasted the whole southern 
shore of the lake, passing through some beautiful islands when near the western 
end, and the islands, being twelve in number, they named them the "Twelve 
Apostles," and they are now known as the Apostle Islands. They reached the 
end of the lake to the site of the present city of Duluth. occupying three years 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 11 

in their journey. There the natives informed them of a mighty river far 
toward the setting sun, and of the savage tribes that lived upon its borders. 

On their return, Father Marquette established the "Mission of St. Ignace," 
opposite the Island of Mackinac, near the straits. This was afterward his 
rallying point when in that vicinity, and there he labored long and faithfully for 
the conversion to his faith of the natives of that region. It was to him a labor 
of love. His journeys were made in bark canoes, his bed but the ground and in 
the open air, and his food often but dry corn, or the moss and lichens from the 
trees. It was a holy religious enthusiasm that prompted him to undergo these 
many hardships and privations, and the great hope of a lasting reward when 
his earthly pilgrimage was ended. 

FATHER MARQUETTE AND LOUIS JOLIET. 

Father Jacques Marquette was a native of France, and a son of a wealthy 
family, who educated and trained him for the priesthood. He was of a quiet 
disposition, but of strong mind and character also, and just the man to engage 
in the work of christianizing and civilizing the natives of the Great Northwest. 
Louis Joliet was American born, being a native of Quebec, his birth being in 
1645. He was educated among the Jesuits but declined to enter the priesthood. 
As. soon as his education was completed, believing that the life of an explorer 
was better suited to his tastes, he was dispatched by the Canadian authorities 
in 1669 to explore the copper mines of Lake Superior, and the country to the 
west of the Great Lakes. Count- Frontenac, who was then governor of the 
province, confirmed the appointment. Joliet left Quebec in the fall of 1672, and 
arrived at Mackinac on the 8th of December. Here he remained until spring 
and it was at that time that he first met Marquette, the missionary then in 
charge of the mission at St. Ignace, on the north side of the straits. He made 
known to the good Father his mission and desired his companionship, to which 
the Father very gladly consented. He was a most valuable acquisition to the 
party, for. he could speak six of the Indian dialects, and his holy calling proved 
him to be the peacemaker needed, when trouble with the natives seemed most 
imminent. 

The pilgrimage of Marquette and his companions to the west end of Lake 
Superior was a notable event. The wonderful descriptions of the great river 
that flowed to the south, the vast valley that bordered it, the roving tribes of 
natives who lived in the valley, the beauties of scenery, and the endless verdure 
with which it abounded, was the great incentive to the Father to accompany 
Joliet in the hazardous enterprise of visiting the country. He desired to view 
with his own eyes the great river and the many things of which he had heard. 
It is to that journey that the world is indebted for the discovery of the Missis- 
sippi and the valley of the Illinois. 

On the 2Oth of May, 1673, Marquette and Joliet, with five French Can- 
adians, left St. Ignace in two bark canoes, and coasting along the northern shore 
of Lake Michigan, entered Green Bay. where they established the Mission of 
St. Francis Xavier, near the mouth of the Fox river. Father Marquette called 



12 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

together the tribes of Indians in that locality and preached to them of the Chris- 
tian faith, which was his guiding star in all his wanderings. 

THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

Having finished his work at the mission, Marquette and his companions 
with two Indians of the Algonquin tribe, as guides, embarked upon the waters 
of the Fox, and went up that river to near the last Indian village, where there 
was a most remarkable portage, and where upon the same level and but two 
miles apart, the stream they had just left pursued its way northeastwardly to 
the Great Lakes, and thence to the Atlantic, while the other upon which they 
were about to embark, took a course southwestwardly to some unknown destiny. 
They crossed the portage with their canoes and baggage and on the loth of 
June of that year, embarked upon the waters of the Wisconsin river, whose 
swift current bore them onward to their destination to the great river, and on 
the 1 7th of that month, their eyes beheld for the first time the large and beau- 
tiful stream of which they had heard so much, and which the pious Father and 
his companion had for so long a time desired to see. 

Launching their canoes upon its broad surface, its rapid current bore them 
swiftly forward past bold bluffs, which lined the stream upon either hand. Great 
herds of buffaloes appearing upon its banks, viewed the little flotilla of canoes 
with evident surprise. The rapids of Rock Island were passed in safety, while 
they gazed with great delight upon the beautiful landscape that everywhere un- 
folded itself to their view. Since leaving the Wisconsin, no human foot-print 
had been seen by them. It was a wilderness which seemed to them to revel in 
the beauties of nature. But after passing the lower rapids, a footprint was 
discovered on the western shore and they stopped to examine it. Upon follow- 
ing it a short distance, it led them to the bank of another river, which was 
dotted over with cabins. They were kindly received by the natives. A great 
council was held and Marquette told them of his mission, of the great king 
across the water, and of his power and willingness to protect them. They re- 
mained there several days and were treated with the greatest kindness and hos- 
pitality. The tribes told them of another large river coming in from the north- 
west, which they called Pekitanoni. On their departure the chief accompanied 
him with many of his warriors for an escort, and on parting presented him with 
the mystic Calumet, beautifully decorated, and instructed him of the many 
virtues it possessed. 

THEY DISCOVER THE ILLINOIS. 

Again their canoes were pointed south and they soon passed the mouth of 
the Illinois, coming from the east, its outlet into the Mississippi being lined 
with high walls of limestone and the pictured rocks of Piasan, which are such 
a wonder even to this day. 

THE MOUTH OF THE MISSOURI SEEN. 

Soon the swift current of the Missouri is discovered behind some islands 
upon the west side of the river, and so impetuous was the flood that it drove 
their light canoes over to the east shore, which was covered with trees and 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 13 

vegetation of such a rank growth that it excited their admiration. Some sixty 
miles below the Missouri, the Ohio was reached, the river being called by the 
natives Ouabauskijon, because it comes from the lands of the rising sun. Pass- 
ing this, they began to see the tall canes, or reeds, that grew in such profusion 
along the banks of the river. Before reaching these, they had not been troubled 
with insects to any great extent but now having entered their country, they 
had to suffer the dire consequences. As a protection against these, the natives 
built scaffolds on which they slept, with a small fire beneath, the smoke of which 
kept the troublesome insects away, and Marquette and his companions were 
compelled to adopt a like method for protection from their attacks. 

THE END OF THEIR JOURNEY SOUTH. 

At length they reached the mouth of the Arkansas river, below the thirty- 
fourth parallel of north latitude. Here the natives are seen with steel axes 
for weapons, but the pipe of peace given Marquette by the Illinois chief is 
shown them, and averts all possible danger. They landed, a religious celebration 
was held, and the faith of the pious Father was told to the savages, which they 
received with every evidence of satisfaction. 

Marquette and Joliet being convinced that the river flowed into the Gulf 
of Mexico, or Florida, as it was then known prepared for their return up 
the river. 

To the meek and humble Jesuit, the good Father Marquette and his com- 
panion, Joliet, is due the honor of being the first white men to float upon the 
bosom of the majestic river. Their light bark canoe was the first to stem its 
current, and their paddles the first to disturb its waters by any white men. Set- 
tlements had been made in many parts of the east for many years but to those 
then far off inhabitants, no knowledge of the mighty stream had ever been sug- 
gested to them and hence the discovery when made known was the opening of 
a new world. The natives of the east had no legend or tradition of the river, 
nor of the mighty tribes of natives who inhabited its borders. 

MARQUETTE AND JOLIET ENTER THE ILLINOIS. 

Marquette and Joliet, with their companions, toiled for many a weary day 
up against the current of the rapid stream. Annoyed at times with insects 
and with but scant supplies of food, yet no murmurs of complaint escaped from 
them and no despondency at any time entered their thoughts, ft was a high 
and holy mission in which they were engaged and therefore they believed 
with the utmost faith and confidence that to suffer in a just and virtuous cause 
was but the will of Him who had sent them. 

When they again reached the Illinois, they turned their course up that 
stream, passed through a country of great fertility, with rich prairies and 
meadows abounding upon either hand. A great variety of animals and birds 
were seen by them, "stags, buffaloes, deer, wild cats, bustards, swans, ducks, 
paroquets and even beavers." Their voyage up the Illinois was in great con- 
trast to that up the Mississippi, for the stream had hardly any perceptible cur- 



14 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

rent and they floated along "luxuriating in peace and plenty." This happy con- 
dition continued until they had reached the upper end of Peoria lake, when 
they encountered a strong and rapid current, until they reached the portage 
opposite the southern shore of Lake Michigan, at the point now known as the 
Summit, a station on the Chicago & Alton railway. A monument of granite 
boulders now marks the spot. Transferring their canoes to the waters draining 
into the Chicago river, they were soon in Lake Michigan. They passed up 
the west shore to the mission at Green Bay, which they reached the last day 
of September, 1673. 

JOLIET RETURNS TO CANADA. 

Louis Joliet returned at once to Canada and thence to France, to make 
known to his sovereign, the mighty empire he and his comrades had acquired 
for his majesty. He had kept a full record of this most important journey, 
together with a very complete map of the country they had explored but un- 
fortunately he lost all while on his return to Quebec by the upsetting of his 
canoe, while attempting to land at Montreal. Father Marquette had kept a 
very full record of the journey and this was preserved to the world and thus 
he acquired another trophy to the members of his order in all parts of the 
civilized globe. 

This voyage of Marquette and Joliet up the Illinois river was, beyond ques- 
tion, the first visit of white men within the present borders of this state. It is 
quite probable, too, that the party when it reached the junction of the Des 
Plaines with the Kankakee, passed up the former river to a well known portage 
of the Indians across to Lake Michigan. 

DEATH OF KATHER MARQUETTE. 

The fate of the good and pious Father after his return to Green Bay in 
September, 1673, is thus recorded. After a few weeks' stay there h ereturned 
to Canada. He had faithfully promised the Illinois Indians at Peoria lake 
that he would return to them but his health had been sadly shattered and he 
had some doubts whether he could keep his solemn pledge. He resolved, how- 
ever, to try and devote the remainder of his life to their service. It was in 
the year of 1674 that he returned to the mission of St. Louis on Peoria lake, 
and there he labored with the natives, teaching them his simple faith and 
exhorting them to lead a better life. In the spring following, he started on 
his return to Green Bay, going down the east shore of Lake Michigan and on 
the i8th of May he entered a small stream, and asked to land that he might 
celebrate mass. Leaving his men, with the canoe, he retired a short distance 
and began his devotions. As much time passed and he did not return, his men 
went in search of him and found he was, on his knees, dead. He had thus 
passed peacefully away while at prayer. He was buried on the spot, and there 
by the great lake, upon the bosom of which he had journeyed so many miles, 
in the obscure and forgotten grave, lie the mortal remains of the discoverer of 
Illinois and the great Mississippi Valley his only dirge being the sad, sullen 
moan of the waters near which he sleeps his last sleep. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY v 15 

Some writers have asserted that the small stream near which he died 
bears his name, but we can find no stream on the east shore of the lake bearing 
his name, nor is it known with any certainty what stream is meant. 

It is, indeed, a sad fate that a man of such distinction of such piety and 
zeal, should find at last such a resting place. He had devoted for many years 
his best energies in the service of his Divine Master, ministering to untamed 
savages, denying himself every comfort, even enduring cold, hunger and ex- 
treme fatigue, that he might uplift and improve the condition of the almost 
uncounted thousands of degraded humanity. 

LA SALLE AND HENNEPIN. 

In 1679 Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin began a voyage up Lake 
Erie in a small schooner named the Griffin. The vessel had been built for the 
purpose assigned and although of but sixty tons burden, yet it was a ''stanch 
and seaworthy craft." This was the pioneer of all the vessels upon the Great 
Lakes. In this expedition Chevalier Henry de Tonty, a brave and intrepid 
soldier, who had lost his right hand in battle, was second in command, and ac- 
companying them with three "barefooted, gray coated friars" of the mendicant 
order of St. Francis. 

They passed up the lake through the straits of Detroit, and thence through 
the river and Lake St. Clair into Lake Huron. In that lake they encountered 
heavy storms, so that they had much difficulty in reaching the Straits of Mack- 
inac. There they remained for some time and La Salle built a fort on the main 
land, on the south side of the straits, which he named Michilimackinac, and by 
this name it was known for more than a century. This, undoubtedly, was the 
first fort ever built by white men in the whole western country. 

He then sailed to Green Bay, where a large quantity of furs had been col- 
lected for him by the natives. Loading the Griffin with these and placing her 
in charge of a careful pilot and fourteen sailors, he started her on her return voy- 
age. The vessel was never again heard of. Whether she and her crew had 
been swallowed in the angry waves or captured by hostile Indians and destroyed 
and the crew murdered, nothing was ever known. He then collected his men, 
thirty in all, and the three monks and started on his great undertaking of bind- 
ing the country from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico by a chain of forts 
to his sovereign, the King of France. He passed down the shore of Lake Mich- 
igan to the Chicago river and then by a portage across the country, embarked 
again upon the waters of the Kankakee. Floating down this by easy stages, they 
entered the Illinois, and about the last days of December of that year, reached 
a village of the Illinois Indians. They were greatly in need of food. It was 
the dead of winter and the only game they had obtained on their voyage down 
the river was a half famished buffalo, found struggling in the river. 

This Indian village as described by Father Hennepin contained about five 
hundred cabins and was situated on the bank of "Illinois lake." It is difficult 
to determine at this time what body of water was referred to, but it is thought 
they intended to describe a widening of the river near the present site of the 
village of Utica. in La Salle county, as there was a large village of the Kas- 
kaskias, a branch of the Illinois Indians, on a meadow below that village. Upon 



16 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

landing, they found the cabins all deserted, the Indians, at the time, being away 
on hunt for game farther down the river. La Salle and his companions being 
in want of food, searched for it and found a large quantity of corn concealed 
in holes excavated beneath the cabins. Securing a sufficient quantity of this 
for their use, which they stored securely in their canoes, the party again em- 
barked on their journey down the river and on the evening of "New Year's 
day," 1680, entered the Peoria lake. This lake is described by them as being 
"seven leagues in length by one broad, and the country on the borders is called 
Primitouri," by the natives, meaning the place where fat beasts abound. 

On the shores of the lake they found large numbers of the natives but 
they were gentle and peaceable,, and soon a friendly intercourse was established 
between them and the white men. The natives rubbed the uncovered feet of 
the monks with bear's oil and the fat of the buffalo, and fed them with meat, 
placing with much ceremony the first three morsels in their mouths, as a mark 
of great civility. 

LA SALLE BUILDS A FORT. 

La Salle and his fellow voyagers spent some time with the natives. Some of 
these Indians at the Lake "Illinois" belonged to the Illinois tribe, and Father 
Zenabe, one of the monks, desired to remain and return with them to their 
village, to engage in spiritual labors and "save them from perdition." 

There was a mission at the lower end of the Peoria lake, established there, 
it is claimed, by Father Duguerre in 1657, and which remained in his charge 
for several years, but it was abandoned previous to 1673, when Father Marquette 
and Joliet passed up the river, for neither of them made any mention of it 
whatever. 

La Salle and his hardy followers were much worn out with fatigue from 
their long and arduous journeys and were in an almost hopeless state of de- 
spondency. This little band of white men were the only ones in the whole 
valley of the Mississippi, and surrounded by savages as they were, he resolved 
to build a fort that should serve to protect them until spring and as a rallying 
point in the future. This fort was named "Creve Coeur" or "Broken Heart," 
but its exact location cannot now be definitely determined, whether upon the 
east or west side of the lake. 

LA SALLE RETURNS TO CANADA. 

Winter passed away ere the fort was finished and the broad prairies were 
again green with verdure. The intrepid leader of the expedition despairing of 
receiving reinforcements long since promised him, resolved to return to Can- 
ada for help to prosecute his voyage to the gulf, and also obtain rigging and 
tackle for a small vessel they had commenced building for their journey down 
the river. Leaving Tonty, one of his most faithful followers, in charge of the 
fort, there to await his return, he directed that Father Hennepin, with two men, 
should proceed down the Illinois to the junction with the Mississippi, thence up 
that stream to discover, if possible, its source. He then turned his face toward 
Canada, taking a new route. He pursued his lonely way upon foot over snow- 
banks and ice, with no provisions but such as his gun could procure. He found 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 17 

his way back to Frontenac, the governor of Canada, and asked for further 
means to prosecute his desired adventure. 

While passing Starved Rock, then known as Le Rocher, or the Rock, he 
was forcibly struck with the spot as a most suitable place for a fort and dis- 
patching a message back to his faithful Tonty, ordered him to occupy the Rock 
for a fort. There is probably not in the whole Illinois valley a place more capable 
of defense than that. It is 160 feet in height, with three sides perpendicular, 
while the fourth is so steep that a few men could stop a whole army when 
equipped with the weapons then in use. 

TONTY OCCUPIES "THE ROCK." 

Tonty, with a part of his garrison at Creve Coeur, went to the Rock and 
at once engaged in fortifying it, but while so engaged he was alarmed by a report 
of the revolt of the men left at Creve Coeur. He returned there with all speed 
and found that one-half of the men had deserted, taking with them such arms 
and provisions as they could carry. Tonty had no alternative but to leave the 
fort at once and return up the river. Taking with him Father Gabriel an.l 
those of the men that were faithful, he went to the Indian village at "Illinois 
Lake," where he remained for six months, devoting his time to teaching the 
natives the use of firearms and the construction of a rude fortification for their 
village. 

TONTY RETURNS TO GREEN BAY. 

Soon after it was announced that a war party of the Iroquois, numbering 
five hundred warriors, was advancing into their country. Tonty and a com- 
panion, one Zenabe Membre, acted as ambassador between the town powers, 
and soon the Calumet was smoked and a peace arranged, but the Illinois war- 
riors considering that "discretion was the better part of valor," fled, leaving 
Tonty and his five companions alone. Tonty then had but one recourse and 
that was to return as best he could to Green Bay. He left the village in an 
old canoe, without any supplies, and started up the river with all speed. On 
the way up, Father Gabriel was cruelly murdered by the Kickapoo scouts and 
his body was left where it fell, a prey to the wild beasts. The remainder of 
the party passed up the west shore of Lake Michigan to the bay, thence to Mack- 
inac, there to await the return of their leader. 

HENNEPIN STARTS FOR THE GREAT RIVER. 

Meanwhile, Father Hennepin and his companions soon after the return of 
La Salle to Canada, prepared for their long and tedious voyage to the head 
waters of the Mississippi. On the morning of the last day of February, 1680, 
the light bark canoe is pushed from the shore, the provisions and arms having 
been carefully stored in it, and the three companions leap into it. The light 
paddles are seized, and as they float down the swift current, the good old 
Father Gabriel advances to the water's edge and bestows upon the little com- 
pany his parting benediction. They are once more upon the water, bound for 
they hardly know where, but this they know, that they have a long and tedious 

Vol. 12 



18 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

journey before them that untold dangers await them and that perhaps they 
have looked upon the faces of their comrades for the last time. 

The canoe moved swiftly down the gentle current, and Father Hennepin, 
as was Marquette before him, was charmed with the beautiful country through 
which they were passing, bestowing upon it the title of "The Delight of America." 

The mouth of the river was reached in safety and they then beheld with 
dismay the surface of the great river filled with floating ice, a sight at once 
disheartening in the extreme. They remained there three days in order to pre- 
pare for that hazardous journey up the mighty river, and on the I2th of March, 
1680, commenced the ascent, paddling up the icy stream for a month, reaching 
the mouth of the Wisconsin, April I2th. 

Here they were surprised and taken prisoners by a band of Chippewa Indians, 
who took them up the river through Lake Pepin to the falls, which he named 
St. Anthony, in honor of his patron saint. They remained in the vicinity of 
the falls for several weeks, hunting the buffalo and other game. Hennepin, dur- 
ing their stay, baptizing many of the native children. Their captivity continued 
until fall, when Hennepin, having obtained permission of the chief to return 
16 Canada, provided him with a map, sketched on bark, of the country through 
which they were to pass, their route being by way of the Wisconsin river. 

HENNEPIN RETURNS TO CANADA. 

Once more these hardy adventurers are in their canoe bound for home 
and civilized life. Entering the Wisconsin, they paddled up that stream to 
the portage into the Fox, thence down that and across Green Bay to Mackinac, 
reaching there in November, 1680. He wintered there with Father Pearson, 
a Jesuit, and on the last day of March, 1681, reembarked on Lake Huron, passed 
over Lake Erie to the falls, thence by portage to Lake Ontario, and to Frontenac 
and Montreal, and on the last day of April reached Quebec, having been absent 
two years and a half. 

LA SALLE RETURNS TO ILLINOIS. 

In the meantime La Salle had obtained from the governor of Canada his 
recruits and supplies and started on his return trip to the Illinois, reaching 
which, he passed down the river to the Rock, which he found deserted, as was 
also the fort, Creve Coeur. Almost discouraged at what he there found, he went 
back to Green Bay, where he soon after met his old companion. Tonty. Once 
more this intrepid man entered upon his scheme of discovering the mouth of 
the Mississippi. Gathering together his scanty resources as best he could and 
with his ever faithful Tonty and a few Frenchmen, started once more on 
his long and adventurous journey. Tonty and a few of the companions had 
preceded him and they were to meet at the mouth of the Chicago creek. They 
met there, and as it was then winter and the rivers frozen over, they prepared 
sledges and traveled across the country to Peoria lake, which then being open 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 19 

water, they launched their canoes once more and started on their hazardous 
enterprise. 

LA SALLE DISCOVERS THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 

From Peoria lake they descended to the Mississippi and were then borne 
upon its swift current, reaching the gulf on the 9th of April, 1682, where the 
necessary forms were gone through with and the whole country through which 
they had journeyed was taken possession of in the name of the King of France. 
Hennepin claimed to have discovered the mouth of the river in 1680, but the 
claim has since been proven to be a false one. 

LA SALLE AND TONTY RETURN TO ILLINOIS. 

In the summer of 1683, La Salle and Tonty returned to the Illinois, and 
caused the fort on "The Rock" to be completed and occupied, and leaving Tonty 
in command of it, in the fall of that year returned to Quebec and thence to 
France to lay before his sovereign his plans for the occupation and settlement of 
the vast country of which he had taken possession. 

LA SALLE'S EXPEDITION BY SEA. 

In 1685 he started from France on another expedition by sea to the mouth 
of the Mississippi, intending to erect a fort at the mouth and thus possess the 
country in fact. He met with many accidents and disasters and failed to find 
the mouth of the river, but landed far west of it in Matagorda Bay. He there 
erected a fort, naming it Saint Louis and then attempted to return to the Missis- 
sippi by land. But the whole country was a wilderness, without road or trail 
to lead them on their journey, and the attempt was a disastrous failure This 
attempt was repeated several times but without success. 

DEATH OF LA SALLE. 

Finally, in 1687, in one of those attempts, he was assassinated in a cowardly 
manner by one of his own men, who had a few days previously killed with an 
ax three of his most faithful followers, one of them being his nephew, to 
whom he was greatly attached. 

La Salle did not speak after he was shot, but grasping the hand of his only 
companion, Father Anastasius, he died calmly, and his body was left where it 
fell to be devoured by beasts, the place of his death being on a small branch of 
the Trinity river. 

The spot where this cruel tragedy occurred has forever been unknown, al- 
though careful search was made for it through many years. After his death 
the party went forward and in time reached Fort St. Louis on the Rock. There 
Tonty received them with open arms and informed them that the year previous 
he had descended to the mouth of the Mississippi with a party of followers, 
expecting to find La Salle there, but being disappointed he returned up the river 



20 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

and at the mouth of the Arkansas built a fort which the party from the La 
Salle expedition saw on their way up the river. 

FORT ST. LOUIS AT "THE ROCK." 

The friendly Indians of Illinois had gathered around Fort Saint Louis in 
large numbers and had built their cabins there and under the leadership of 
Tonty had repelled an attack upon it in 1684, by the warlike Iroquois. This 
fort was then the seat of the French power in Illinois and it was considered a 
post of the highest importance. But not long after that time its history became 
obscure and the Rock was not mentioned in the history of the country until 
1770, when the remnants of the Illinois tribes gathered upon it to make their last 
stand and were almost totally annihilated and thenceforth it was known to the 
white settlers as well as the Indians as "Starved Rock," and by that name it 
has become one of the most celebrated of the historic spots in the state. 

THE NORTHWEST IN 1689. 

At the time of which we write there was not a single permanent settlement 
in the whole northwest territory. The forts that had been erected by La Salle 
and Tonty were soon afterward abandoned and their very sites were lost in the 
years that followed. 

Fort Dearborn, the first fort built on the shore of lake Michigan in Illinois, 
was not built for more than a century later, while many other points that had 
become familiarly known to the settlers in the east and Canada have long since 
gone to decay, obliterated and lost. Even Fort Michilimackinac, at the Straits 
of Mackinac, that had been built with so much care, was abandoned and the 
mission at St. Ignace on the north side of the straits was the only rallying 
point for the few religious enthusiasts, who at times visited those shores. 

THE GREAT LEADERS. 

The indomitable spirit and energy that pervaded the minds and controlled 
the actions of Father Marquette and Louis Joliet, of the intrepid La Salle and 
Father Hennepin, had expired when those great leaders passed from the stage 
of action, and henceforth it was but the solitary monks and friars, the voyagers 
and traders, who passively filled the places left vacant by the zealous men, who 
first beheld these fair prairies and these majestic rivers. The trader had entered 
the field with his "firewater," and that was dealt out to the natives instead of the 
religious faith, the glorious example and the earnest love and good will of the 
father. 

That deadly poison to the untamed savage he exchanged for their buffalo 
robes, their beaver skins and other fine peltries, which they had with so much 
labor gathered. 

STATE OF ILLINOIS AREA AND BOUNDARIES. 

The state of Illinois, long known to the world at large as the "Prairie 
state," is situated between the thirty-seventh and forty-second degrees of north 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 21 

latitude, north and south, and from the Indiana state line to the middle of the 
Mississippi river, east and west, being 385 miles in extreme length and 218 miles 
in extreme width, containing 56,000 square miles of land and including its 
share of Lake Michigan, 56,640 in all, or 35,840,000 acres of land surface. 

It was admitted into the Union as a state by act of congress, which was 
passed April 18, 1818, and by that act these boundaries of the state were fixed : 
From the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi river, at Cairo, up the 
Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash ; thence ascending that river to the meridian 
of Vincennes, then in a straight line to Lake Michigan, from which point it 
takes a turn east along the northern line of Indiana to the middle of Lake 
Michigan, thence north along the middle of the lake to North latitude forty-two 
degrees and thirty minutes, thence west along said line, which divides it from 
Wisconsin to the middle of the Mississippi river, thence down that river to place 
of beginning. 

CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. 

Following this, a convention was held in the village of Kaskaskia, then the 
capital of the territory, on August 26, 1818, when a state constitution was adopted 
and that constitution was ratified by congress, December 3d of that year. 

At the time of its admission as a state, it had a population of about 50,000, 
having 55,211 at the time the census was taken two years later. The state was 
a part of the great northwest territory, which was ceded to the United States 
by Virginia in 1784. It was created into a territory, April 24, 1809, by act of 
congress, and President Madison appointed Ninian Edwards the first governor 
of the territory. He was a native of Maryland and was born in 1775, studied 
law, and removed to Kentucky, being a citizen of that state when appointed 
governor. He died at Belleville, Illinois, July 30, 1833, and the county of 
Edwards was named in his honor. 

At the time of its formation into a territory, it extended from the Ohio river 
to Lake Superior and included within its borders the present state of Wiscon- 
sin. The year, following its admission as a territory it contained a population 
of 12,282. 

AFTER IT BECAME A STATE. 

When admitted as a state it contained in all sixteen counties and the state 
capital was located at Kaskaskia, a small village on the river by that name, six 
miles above its junction with the Mississippi, and about two miles from that 
stream. At the first election Shadrach Bond was elected governor and Pierre 
Menard lieutenant governor. They were inaugurated October 6, 1818. The 
first legislature passed a law removing the capital of the state to Vandalia, a 
small town near the center of the state in Fayette county, and the government 
records were removed there in December, 1820. At the session of the legislature 
at Kaskaskia, four new counties were formed and at the first session at Van- 
dalia, in January, 1821, six more counties were formed, giving the state at that 
time twenty-six counties. 

Among the last counties formed was that of Pike, a most remarkable as 
well as extensive one, for it included within its borders the whole northern part 



22 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

of the state. Chicago was then "a village of Pike county, situated on Lake Mich- 
igan at the mouth of the Chicago creek, and contained twelve or fifteen houses, 
and between fifty and sixty inhabitants." The whole county did not have to 
exceed 2,000 white settlers. 

THE STATE BANK. 

It was at the session of the legislature in January, 1821, that the law was 
enacted creating a state bank. It was to be located at Vandalia, with four 
branches, namely, at Brownsville, Edwardsville, Shawneetown and at the seat 
of justice in Edwards county. The measure met with a very violent opposition 
from some of the very best men in the state, but owing to the then depressed 
financial condition of the state and also of the poor settlers who were so heavily 
in debt for their land and improvements, and aided by the many land sharks, 
the bill passed successfully and became a law. It proved exceedingly popular 
for a time and some $300,000 in state paper was issued to the impecunious 
settlers and security was taken upon most anything offered and to whoever 
wanted it. But there was no redemption provided for the paper and soon it 
began to depreciate in value, so that in less than two years from the time of 
the passage of the act it took three dollars of it to pay one in debts. The 
property upon which it was loaned was in most instances of very doubtful se- 
curity, and the borrowers were exceedingly dilatory in discharging their obliga- 
tions to the state, and the result was in five years the state had lost a quarter 
of a million dollars. 

One of the most vigorous of the opponents to the bank was John McLean, 
then speaker of the house of representatives, and so violent was the fight he 
made against it, though defeated, yet a grateful people realizing his worth and 
his eminent ability as a statesman, elected him United States senator and his 
name is perpetuated in the history of the state, for the great county of McLean 
was named after him. 

FIRST EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE. 

The first county formed in the state was that of St. Clair, in 1790. It occupied 
the extreme southern point, extending up both the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, 
the Illinois being its northern boundary. Soon after, the county was divided 
into St. Clair and Randolph. 

The first cabin built by a white man within the borders of the state, as it 
now is, was that built by Father Marquette, early in the winter of 1674, on the 
site of the present city of Chicago. It was located near the Chicago creek, now 
known as the south branch of the Chicago river, and was occupied by him 
until the following spring. That was the first home of any white man in the 
state. 

The first fort built in the state was that built by La Salle in the winter of 
1679, and which he named Creve Coeur. Father Hennepin in his records at the 
time says it was built "on the east side of the river on a little mound." And 
from the best information that can be obtained at the present day, it was located 
at what is known at the present time as Wesley City, in Tazewell county, some 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 23 

five miles down the river from Peoria lake. A monument has been erected on 
the spot where it stood by the Peoria Chapter of the Daughters of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. 

The first railroad in the state was one built by ex-Governor Reynolds in 
1837, from the site of the present city of East St. Louis, eastward across the 
American bottoms to the bluffs, some six miles distant. These bluffs contained 
large quantities of coal, and the object of the building of the railroad was to 
get the coal to the market in St. Louis. It was for a while a horse power road, 
horses being used to draw the cars, but later iron rails were shipped there from 
Pittsburg and on their arrival holes were drilled in them. The blacksmiths 
made the spikes to fasten them down, small engines drew the cars back and 
forth, and thus the first Illinois railroad became a reality. 

The first white persons to behold the fair beauties of the state or tread 
upon its soil were Father Marquette and Louis Joliet, who, on their memorable 
voyage down the Mississippi river in 1673, landed at the Indian village near the 
mouth of the Illinois river. There have been statements and surmises of white 
men having visited the Illinois country previous to that time but there is little 
or no certainty of their having done so. 

The first legal execution in the state was in 1821. It was the result of what 
was intended as a sham duel between Alonzo C. Stuart and Timothy Bennett. 
It was known to all that it was meant for a hoax on Bennett, and when they 
met they were placed forty yards apart, with rifles, as supposed, loaded only 
with powder. But when Bennett fired his rifle, he lodged a ball in the breast 
of Stuart, killing him instantly. The grand jury of St. Clair county indicted 
Bennett, but when the sheriff went to arrest him, he could not be found. He 
had left the state. He remained away two years, when he returned and was 
arrested. He was tried by the circuit court of the county, found guilty by the 
jury and sentenced to be hung. On Monday, September 3, 1821, the execution 
took place. It was shown at the trial that Bennett had secretly placed a ball 
in his rifle, and he therefore paid the penalty of his crime on the gallows. 

The first "American schoolmaster" in the state was one John Seeley, who 
taught a school in 1683 at a place called New Design, near where Cahokia was 
afterward founded, but it was continued only for a few months. 

The first newspaper ever published in the state was that begun by Mathew 
Duncan, at Kaskaskia, September 6, 1814, named the "Illinois Herald." It was 
not very long lived but it was the beginning of the great newspaper fraternity in 
Illinois that has since been such a dominant factor in molding and shaping 
public opinion upon all important events in the history of the state. There are 
now more than seventeen hundred newspapers and periodicals published in the 
state, and these have an incalculable effect upon the public and private life of 
the five million inhabitants of the state. 

THE ABORIGINES OF ILLINOIS. 

At the time of the discovery and exploration of Illinois, it was in possession 
of the natives who had held it from time immemorable. They were savages 
in every sense of the word, with hardly a good redeeming trait of character. 



24 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

They were cruel, selfish, brutal in the extreme, and never made friends unless 
it was to their advantage to do so. Their government was tribal and each chief 
a petty tyrant. Their religion a mere superstition, a blind worship of some, to 
them, undefined Great Spirit or Manitou, they were without learning or knowl- 
edge of the great world around them. They had no definite knowledge 
of property or human rights, nor did they care for any. They lived in 
tepees or rude cabins, and were clothed only with the skins of beasts they had 
killed in the chase. Their arms and implements were of the rudest sort, made 
from stone, wood and the bones of the buffalo. They were ruthless and re- 
vengeful in the extreme, as well as lazy and horribly dirty. Their only object 
in life was to procure food, which they devoured like gluttons, and to subdue 
and scalp their enemies. 

The tribes inhabiting the Illinois country and who were generally the "Illinois 
Indians," were the Illinois or "Illini," Miamis and Kickapoos. These all belonged 
to the Algonquin family, while the Kickapoos, including the Cahokias, Tamaroas, 
Peorias, and Mitchigamies, from whom lake Michigan was named, were gener- 
ally classed as Illinois Indians. 

The Illinois at the time of Father Marquette's and Louis Joliet's entry into 
the state in 1673, had as their possessions, from Lake Michigan and Des Plaines 
and Kankakee rivers, down the Illinois to the Mississippi and thence to the con- 
fluence of that stream with the Ohio. Their principal localities were, how- 
ever, in the central and northern portions of what afterward became the state, 
where they had in all, seventeen villages. The largest of these and which was 
to them their metropolis, was on the Illinois river, at the place heretofore de- 
scribed as "Illinois Lake." This village was called by the French La Vantum, 
but by the Indians, Kaskaskia, as that tribe was the chief inhabitants of it. It 
had in 1680, from the best information that could be obtained, some 8,000 in- 
habitants. The chief village of the Peorias was located at Peoria lake, while 
the Tamaroas and Cahokias had their villages below the mouth of the Illinois 
river, nearly opposite St. Louis. 

The Illinois Indians claimed that their name meant as implied, "Superior 
Men." Yet the French missionaries asserted that they were not in any way 
or manner different from the other tribes; that while they were generally tall 
and robust, swift runners, good archers, proud, and at times affable, yet they 
were "idle, revengeful, jealous, cunning, dissolute and thievish." They lived on 
beans, Indian corn, many kinds of roots, fruits and nuts, fish and game. 

The Illinois country to its fullest extent was beautiful and productive, 
abounding in the finest game, and it was not at all surprising that such a country 
should be coveted by the surrounding tribes. The Sioux from the west, the 
Pottawatomies from the north, and the warlike Iroquois from the far east, each 
made hostile excursions and raids into the country and were determined to 
possess it. 

Prior to 1673 frequent raids had been made into it and they were generally 
successful. In one of these raids, however, through the heroism of an Indian 
woman, they were compelled to acknowledge a most signal defeat. The narra- 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 25 

tive, as told soon after the event) is an interesting chapter on female prowess 
and bravery worthy of any people, and in any age. 

A BRAVE SQUAW. 

The Iroquois had attacked a village upon the banks of a river, and had suc- 
ceeded in driving out the inhabitants with great slaughter. A young, courageous 
and patriotic squaw of the tribe, named Watch-e-kee (the orthography of which 
has been changed to Watseka), learning that their enemies were then exulting 
over their victory and rioting upon the spoils secured in the village, urged her 
tribe to take advantage of the situation and attack them in return. But the 
warriors, smarting under the sense of their recent defeat, refused to respond to 
her urgent call. She pointed out to them the darkness of the night and the 
almost certain chances of a successful surprise. The "Braves" still refusing, 
she called for volunteers from among the squaws, urging upon them that death 
in battle was preferable to torture and captivity, which might be their fate on 
the morrow. The squaws came forward in great numbers and offered to follow 
their brave leader. Seeing the determination of their wives and daughters, 
the braves became ashamed of their cowardice, and inspired with a valor they 
had not lately exhibited, rushed to arms. A plan of attack was speedily ar- 
ranged and the Iroquois being taken unawares in turn, suffered a most over- 
whelming defeat. The stream near which this sanguinary defeat took place 
was called the "Iroquois," as has been the county through which it flows, while 
to the county seat has been given the name of the heroic Indian maiden, who 
so bravely compassed the overthrow of her enemies. 

THE INDIANS AND THE FRENCH. 

When the French came into the country they were received not only with- 
out opposition but with much friendliness. Their arms and equipments for war 
they saw with a great advantage and they were not slow in accepting them. The 
priests were made welcome for the reason that they came in the name of peace, 
and that was what they desired. 

The two nations, though so entirely unlike in habits of life, civilization, 
training and disposition, readily united on a common ground, hunted and traded 
together and eventually many of them married and lived together. 

THE IROQUOIS AGAIN RAID THE ILLINOIS. 

In 1680 the Iroquois and their allies to the number of some six hundred 
braves, attacked the Indian village at La Vantum, and, it is said, killed twelve 
hundred of them and then drove the rest beyond the Mississippi river. But in 
1684, the French having fortified the rock, since known as "Starved Rock," and 
placed a strong garrison there, many of the Indians returned and placed them- 
selves under the protection of the French. The Iroquois attacked them there 
and with the aid of the French, they were repulsed by the Illinois with great 
slaughter. That was the last raid the Iroquois ever made into the Illinois coun- 



26 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

try. The fort at the Rock was abandoned in 1700 and from that time until the 
total annihilation of the Illinois Indians at the Rock, in 1769, no mention is made 
of it in history. 

THE FRENCH AT KASKASKIA. 

The French established a military post at Kaskaskia, near the river, about 
the year 170x3, and the Kaskaskia Indians learning of the fact removed thither, 
that being their village and home for many years. They were useful to as well 
as dependent upon the whites, and therefore they got along very well together. 
In 1736 a numbering of the scattered tribes of the Illinois was made, and they 
were found to be about six hundred in all and these were but the remnants of 
the many thousands that once roamed the prairies and hunted the buffalo and 
deer, as lords of the soil. 

THE LAST OF THE ILLINOIS. 

The Illinois were charged with being concerned in the death of Pontiac at 
Cahokia, and the friends of that chieftain then rallied to their destruction. 
They were hunted from place to place about the country until they made their 
final stand upon the Rock, and then their sun set in eternal darkness. After 
gaining the Rock, they held out for twelve days, defying hunger and thirst, 
beset upon all sides by their cruel enemies, until at last rendered desperate 
by their condition, they made a desperate sortie, resolved to sell their lives 
as dearly as possible, but only one of the number, a half breed, escaped to tell 
the tale. And thus perished the large tribe of the Illinois Indians, which, with 
the exception of the solitary warrior, became extinct. Judge Caton, in his work 
"Last of the Illinois," fixes the number at eleven that escaped. The Rock has 
been known since that date as "Starved Rock." 

ILLINOIS CEDED TO THE UNITED STATES. 

In 1803 a treaty was made with the few remaining Indians upon the Illinois 
territory by which they surrendered to the general government all their lands 
in the territory and they were soon afterward removed to the Indian Territory, 
where they took the name of "Peorias," and in 1885 numbered one hundred and 
forty-nine. They are reported by the commissioner of Indian affairs to be 
"for the most part an active, well-to-do race of farmers, who live in comfortable 
frame houses." 

THE NORTHERN INDIANS. 

In the extreme northern part of the Illinois territory were a few remnants 
of tribes, once numerous and powerful but their frequent wars with the neigh- 
boring tribes had reduced their numbers until there remained but a handful of 
warriors to rally at the call of their chief. The Miamis, a warlike tribe, were 
located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan and on the St. Joseph river. 
They were originally allied to the Illinois but separated prior to 1673, and 
thereafter they were most bitter enemies. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 27 

The Pottawatomies were scattered. A portion of the tribe were in northern 
Michigan. Still another portion were in northern Ohio, while still another 
were located in the Illinois territory, north of the Kankakee and Des Plaines 
rivers, and west of the territory of the Miami and Sacs and Foxes. The name 
signifies, "we are making a fire," hence the other natives called them "Firemak- 
ers." They are described as being tall, fierce and haughty, fond of hunting 
and war and were, previous to their meeting with the French, the most numerous 
and powerful of all the northwestern tribes. They were ever friendly with 
the whites but in the war of 1812 united their fortunes with Tecumseh. After 
the death of that warrior they ceded their lands to the government and removed 
beyond the Mississippi. 

The Kickapoos were first found near the source of the Fox river, in Wis- 
consin, by Father Allouez in 1670. They afterward fought their way south 
to the Vermilion and Sangamon rivers, where they remained for more than 
one hundred years. Their villages were on the Vermilion and other streams in 
that portion of the territory. They were fierce and warlike, unwilling to mix 
with other tribes, and ever hostile to the whites, never would have aught to do 
with them. They would rove over the country in small bands and swoop down 
upon the unprotected settlements of the whites, murdering or taking captive 
all who were to be found, kill their cattle and make off with their horses before 
any alarm could be given. They finally ceded their lands and removed from the 
country to Texas and Mexico. 

The Sacs and Foxes, called by the French Outagamies, were first found in 
1666 near Green Bay, and numbered some four hundred warriors. They were 
a restless and discontented tribe, always at war with their neighbors, never ally- 
ing or holding any trade or barter with them. In truth it was said of them 
that "they were the Ishmaelites of the lakes, their hands against every man, 
and every man's hand against them." They often made raids down into the 
country of the Illinois for the purpose of plunder. They some time afterward 
established themselves on the Rock river and there they remained until the 
Black Hawk war, when they removed from the territory with the rest of the 
Indians that allied themselves with that chieftain in his war upon the white 
settlers. 

OTHER TRIBES. 

There were other small tribes scattered through the northwest but located 
outside the Illinois territory and hence not of interest in this history. What few 
are now left of these tribes of natives are now the "Nation's Wards," and so re- 
moved are they from our doors that but few of the people of the present day 
ever see one. They have passed from our view. Their ancient hunting grounds 
are now occupied by the agriculturist, who, with his well tilled farm, can but 
wonder at the great progress that has been made in the country since these 
lords of the soil trod these prairies, or paddled their light canoes upon the bosoms 
of our rivers. 

A noted orator, in speaking of the fast disappearance of the Indian tribes 
of the country, said: "Here and there a stricken few remain but how unlike 
their untamed, untamable progenitors. The Indian of the falcon glance, the 



28 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

lion bearing, the theme of a touching ballad, the hero of the pathetic tale is 
gone, and his degraded offspring crawl upon the soil, where he once walked in 
majesty to remind them how miserable is man when the foot of the conqueror 
is on his neck. As a race, they have withered from the land. Their arrows 
are broken, their springs are dried up, and their cabins are in the dust. Their 
council fires have long since gone out on the shores and their war cry is fast 
dying in the outtrodden west and they will soon hear the roar of the last wave 
that will settle over them forever." 

THE FRENCH MISSIONARIES. 

To the French is due the first permanent settlement in the Illinois country. 
The French missionary, with the explorer and the trader, entered the field hand 
in hand, the latter protecting the former, while the former in return aided the 
latter in making peace with the natives. The Jesuits were all powerful with the 
government of Canada, and therefore controlled the sale of the "firewater" 
dealt out so liberally to the natives, fixed the price of peltries, and, in fact, ruled 
the settlement with a despotic sway. 

The early history of Illinois is derived wholly from the letters, records and 
narratives of the missionaries, who first entered this wilderness in search of 
converts to their faith. The explorers and traders as a rule were wholly in- 
capable of writing any intelligent account whatever of their discoveries, while 
the priests were educated, ready with the pen and always used it to their own 
advantage. To them, therefore, we are indebted for almost everything we know 
of the early history of Illinois. 

After the decease of Father Marquette upon the banks of a small stream 
on the east shore of Lake Michigan, in 1675, Father Claude Jean Allouez was 
the most distinguished of the early missionaries. He was a native of France 
and came first to Canada in 1658, where he labored for twelve years establishing 
missions in that province and various points on the northern lakes, among which 
was that of St. Ignace, at the Straits of Mackinac. 

After the demise of Father Marquette, he was selected to complete the 
mission at Kaskaskia village at "Illinois lake." He arrived there April 27, 
1677, and erected a cross of wood, twenty-five feet in height, and preached to 
the tribes there assembled. He remained there and in that vicinity until 1684, 
when he returned to Green Bay. He died at Fort Joseph on the southeast 
shore of Lake Michigan, in 1690. 

Father Jacques Gravier was the next priest to care for that mission. He 
labored there and among the Peorias until 1699, when he was recalled to Mack- 
inac. In 1700 he started on a voyage down the Mississippi. The year follow- 
ing he returned and for a while labored with the Peorias. Here he was severely 
injured by an assault made upon him at the instance of the medicine men, and 
died of his injuries in 1706. Since Marquette, he was one of the most zealous 
and faithful of the fathers. Not long after this, the mission among the Peorias 
was discontinued. At least there is no reliable record of its existence. The 
natives had scattered, many of them going to and joining the mission at Cahokia, 
then called "Tamaroa." That was about the year 1700, for Father Gravier in 
the journal of his voyage down the Mississippi in that year, mentions the fact 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 29 

of his stopping there and visiting them. From that time until 1741 many 
priests were sent into the country and labored long and earnestly, with varied 
success. Their great obstacle in the work was "firewater," brought into the 
country by the traders and dealt out by them to the natives with a liberal hand. 
They would exchange their peltries for that when nothing else would be an 
inducement to part with them. 

It was in the year 1741 that the feeling of hostility to the Jesuits was started 
in Europe, which was carried out with extreme bitterness for many years, so 
that in 1764 the order was issued banishing them from the country. Illinois had 
then been ceded to Great Britain but that availed nothing, the vestments and 
vessels of the Jesuit chapels being seized by the "King's attorney," and the 
chapels leveled to the earth. The priests were soon sent down the river to 
New Orleans and from there to France. The order of banishment to the 
priests was a gross injustice to the priests, as well as a gross violation of the pre- 
cepts of Christian charity. It was a profanation of the Christian worship and 
a ruthless and cruel revenge inflicted upon the men who had labored so long 
and arduously for the improvement of the native races of America. 

The priests with one exception, were all expelled from the whole northwest 
territory and he was allowed to remain only on condition that he must not inter- 
fere in any way in the religious matters of the country. The settlements 
throughout the entire Illinois country were abandoned, except at Cahokia and 
at Kaskaskia, and they were only tolerated as trading posts for the few inhabi- 
tants who had settled in that vicinity. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 

The first permanent settlement made in Illinois was at Kaskaskia, about the 
year 1700. The village was located on the west bank of the river of that name, 
and between that and the Mississippi, and about two miles from the latter. The 
present city of Chester, where the southern penitentiary is located, is seven 
miles below the old site. It flourished with varied fortunes for nearly two hun- 
dred years until the Father of Waters cut a channel above it across the country 
into the Kaskaskia, making the site an island. The river then gradually washed 
away the island, taking the farms and gardens, until but little of it now remains. 
The village was removed several years ago to a site on higher ground. The vil- 
lage was for more than a century the capital of the territory and was the first 
capital of the state, when it was admitted into the Union in 1818. The old ceme- 
tery, located near the village, in which the pioneer dead had for two centuries 
been buried, being in danger of being washed away, the legislature in 1891 ap- 
propriated $10,000 for the removal of the dead buried there. Twenty acres of 
land on a hill on the east side of the river, was purchased and the bones and re- 
mains of thirty-eight hundred were gathered into as many boxes, taken to the 
new cemetery and there reinterred. The most of them were marked "un- 
known." The present village of Kaskaskia is located on the east side of that 
river, about two miles from its former site. 

CAHOKIA FOUNDED. 

Cahokia claims to have been founded at about the same time as Kaskaskia 
and some writers have asserted that it was settled in 1695 but there is no au- 



30 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

thority for the assertion. No doubt there were priests and traders there and at 
times large numbers of the natives but no permanent settlement was made there 
until about the year 1700. It was located on the Mississippi, some ten miles 
below the present city of East St. Louis. The place was never else but a small 
village of some two hundred inhabitants. It was the village visited by Father 
Gravier when he went on his voyage down the Mississippi in 1700. 

FORT CHARTRES. 

In the year 1718 Fort Chartres was built by a French company upon the 
east bank of the Mississippi, in what is now the county of Randolph. It was 
located four miles west of the village of Prairie du Rocher and twenty-two miles 
northwest of Kaskaskia. When first built, it was enclosed with a stockade but 
later a substantial stone wall, sixteen feet high was built, the wall enclosing about 
four acres of ground. Within the enclosure were barracks, stables, store houses, 
etc. It was well supplied with guns and ammunition and was considered at the 
time as the most impregnable fortress in the whole country. The erection of the 
fort greatly favored the settlements and particularly Cahokia and Kaskaskia. 
so that the latter became a very important post and was the headquarters for 
the whole Illinois country. In 1725 it became an incorporated town and the king 
of France granted its inhabitants a commons, or pasture grounds for their stock. 

Fort Chartres was abandoned in 1772, through the encroachment of the 
river upon its walls and the garrison and property were removed to Kaskaskia. 

AN INDIAN MASSACRE. 

The settlements of southern Illinois flourished and large numbers of French 
immigrants, both from France and Canada, came into the country and estab- 
lished fine homes, cultivated the rich lands, and peace and prosperity were every- 
where visible. But a terrible calamity befell the inhabitants upon the 28th of 
November, 1729. The Natchez and Choctaw tribes at the south became jealous 
of the whites and the progress they had made, and therefore resolved to wipe 
out the last vestige of French encroachment in the west. Upon that date they 
fell upon the peaceful inhabitants with fearful slaughter, murdering some seven 
hundred males, and taking all the females and children captives. 

As soon as the massacre became known, dispatches were sent to France for 
troops and supplies of ammunition to endeavor to recover the captives, if pos- 
sible. In the meantime the natives that were friendly to the French were in- 
duced to go upon the war path, and soon some twelve hundred warriors were 
gathered together and set forward against the murderers. The Natchez were 
still at their carousals, unaware of the danger that awaited them. The friendly 
natives, led by the French, attacked the enemy and a great slaughter ensue'd, 
gaining a great victory. Not long after, the French troops arrived, completing 
the victory and releasing the prisoners. The larger part of the Natchez and 
Choctaw Indians fled across the Mississippi but were followed by the troops 
and large numbers of them killed, four hundred being taken prisoners and sent 
south to New Orleans and then to Jamaica, where they were sold as slaves. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 31 

That was the last massacre upon Illinois soil until the massacre at Fort Dear- 
born in the war of 1812. 

A GALLANT DEED. 

It was during the war of the American Revolution that George Rogers Clark, 
a young Virginian, performed a most gallant deed, which enrolled his name for- 
ever among the noble heroes who performed such heroic acts of valor in the early 
settlement of the great west. Young Clark applied to Patrick Henry, then gov- 
ernor of Virginia, for troops, arms and supplies, with which he intended to ob- 
tain possession of the British outposts in the Illinois territory and thus strike 
a blow at the British power in the great northwest. Clark had been active in 
some military operations against the Indians in Kentucky, just previous to the 
war and had gained a most splendid reputation in the gallant deeds there per- 
formed. Governor Henry cordially approved of the enterprise as planned by 
Clark, and issued orders at once for the necessary troops and equipments. He 
was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the Virginia militia and given twelve 
hundred pounds in the depreciated currency of the state, with which to pur- 
chase supplies necessary for such an expedition and authorized to enlist three 
hundred and fifty men. His instructions from the governor were very explicit 
in every detail. He enjoined upon Colonel Clark generosity and humanity in 
dealing with the enemy, which was in striking contrast to that adopted by the 
British, who were then paying bounties to the savages for scalps of the women 
and children of the rebels, as they called the Americans. 

Colonel Clark raised but a part of the men necessary for the expedition but 
rather than wait for more, resolved to proceed with those he had. He proceeded 
to Fort Pitts and then embarked upon the Ohio; After starting on the voyage 
down the river, Colonel Clark informed the men that the object of the expedition 
was to take Kaskaskia, then the only stronghold in the Illinois territory. He 
landed on a small island in the river, opposite where Louisville now stands, 
where he erected a fort to protect his base of supplies. Everything being in 
readiness, on June. 24, 1778, he left the island with but one hundred and fifty- 
three men and floated down the river to Fort Massac, opposite the mouth of 
the Tennessee river. Here they landed, and hiding their boats in a small stream 
near the fort, with but two guides he started overland for Kaskaskia, one hun- 
dred and twenty miles distant. The country was a wilderness and the little army 
depended almost wholly for subsistence upon the game found in the country. 
They arrived in the vicinity of Kaskaskia on the afternoon of July 4th, and 
having obtained a very good description of the village and fort, divided their 
forces into three companies, and when darkness had set in, started for the fort. 
The attack was a complete surprise and the town and fort were taken without 
the shedding of a drop of blood. The commandant of the place had nicknamed 
the Virginians "Long Knives," and when the troops entered the town, that was 
the cry from the inhabitants on every hand. Kaskaskia contained at that time 
some two hundred and fifty houses, and hence was quite a large village for that 
part of the country to have. Order having been restored in the town, Colonel 
Clark then started for Cahokia and reached there before the town had heard of 
the taking of Kaskaskia. It was then taken without resistance and thus the 



32 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

gallant colonel had become the conqueror of the whole territory, of which he 
came in possession in the name of his state, and patron in the enterprise. 

On the 23d of November, 1778, the Virginia house of delegates passed a vote 
of thanks to Colonel Clark and his brave "little army" for the very important 
services they had rendered their state. 

COLONEL CLARK TAKES VINCENNES. 

After arranging the affairs for the government of the territory, he started 
across the country to Vincennes to obtain possession of a British post at that 
place. As it was a surprise to the garrison in the place it was easily taken and 
held, and thus the last British post in the whole northwest was wrested from 
British control. Soon after the Virginia house of delegates organized the whole 
country taken possession of by Colonel Clark, into a county and named it Illi- 
nois. This included all the country north and west of the Ohio to the Mississippi. 

DEATH OF COLONEL CLARK. 

Colonel Clark served in several campaigns in the west with great gallantry 
and after the attempt at betrayal by the traitor, Arnold, he enlisted in the Con- 
tinental army and served under Baron Steuben until the close of the war, and 
independence was gained. His later life was passed in private and as age ad- 
vanced he suffered from rheumatism contracted from exposure in his many 
campaigns. He died at Locust Grove, near Louisville, in 1818, and his remains 
were deposited near the river that forms the southern boundary of the land he 
was so instrumental in recovering to his state and the nation. 

The memory of Colonel Clark is perpetuated in the state where his gallant 
deeds are so well remembered and appreciated, for the year following his death, 
the legislature of the new state gave his name to a county then formed and a few 
years later when the infant city by the great lake took form, one of the first 
streets settled and named was Clark street, now one of the leading business 
streets in the great metropolis of the west. 

THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 

July 13, 1787, congress passed an act entitled "Ordinance of 1787" for the 
government of the great northwest territory, ceded by Virginia to the United 
States three years before. That act was the law of the land and regulated not 
only the government of the territory but made special provisions regarding in- 
heritances, descents, wills, conveyances, sales, etc., saving, however, to the French 
and Canadian inhabitants their laws and customs. The law provided for a gov- 
ernor, secretary and three judges, and the governor and judges had the power 
to make the laws for the territory, subject to the approval or disapproval of 
congress. 

The governor was all powerful and ruled the territory at will, subject only to 
the ordinances, and as congress dictated from time to time. Not less than three 
nor more than five states were to be formed in the territory. The boundaries 




PROPERTY OF REV. JOHN W. RICE. MEDORA 

One of the first houses in Medora. built in 1835. The south halt" is of logs and the house 
is now occupied. 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

Of ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 33 

of each st'ate were fixed, though no names were given to them. They were 
designated, however, as the Eastern, now Ohio, the Western, now Illinois, the 
Northwestern, now Wisconsin, the Northern, now Michigan, and the Middle 
State, now Indiana. 

It provided, further, that there should be ''neither slavery nor involuntary 
servitude," except as a punishment for crimes but provided for the return of 
fugitives to the original states when such service or labor could be lawfully 
claimed. It was that latter provision that in after years led so much to the mak- 
ing of history upon the subject of slavery and resulted in placing Illinois as a 
prominent factor in the settlement of the question, as results show. But the 
most important article in the ordinance and the one that the people of these five 
great states should be forever grateful to the f ramers for, was as follows : "Re- 
ligion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government, and the hap- 
piness of mankind, schools and the means of education, shall forever be en- 
couraged." That was the great bulwark of the liberties of the country and upon 
that the foundation was built, the splendid system of education which has ever 
been the great leading feature in the settlement of the country, and which has 
certainly placed Illinois in the van of modern civilization. 

THE FIRST GOVERNOR. 

General Arthur St. Clair was the first territorial governor, with his head- 
quarters or seat of government at Marietta, Ohio. He was born in Scotland and 
served with distinction in the French and Indian wars, also in the Revolution, and 
had been in public life so much that he became identified with the interests of 
the west to that extent, which made his appointment most appropriate and sat- 
isfactory to the people. 

PROTESTANTISM IN ILLINOIS. 

In 1790 the white population of Illinois, in round numbers, was about 2,000. 
A year or two previous to that, James Smith, a Baptist minister, came to New 
Design, a small village in Monroe county, and commenced his labors and that 
is placed by historians as the beginning of Protestantism in the state. In 1793, 
one Joseph Lillard, Methodist missionary, arrived there and from that time 
forward, Protestantism became an important factor in the religion of the state. 

ILLINOIS A PART OF INDIANA. 

From 1787 to 1809, Illinois was a part of Indiana Territory, but in the latter 
year it was formed into a territory by itself, as before stated in this work. This 
territory, which was created to commence its existence on the first day of March 
in that year, embraced the tract west of the Wabash river and north to Canada. 

AN EARTHQUAKE. 

November II, 1811, an earthquake occurred, which caused great fear among 
the then scattered hamlets of the territory and especially in the American bottom 



34 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 



along the Mississippi river, where chimneys were thrown down, houses damaged 
and bells rung. This was the first earthquake mentioned in the history of the 
state and pretty much the last, although slight tremblings have since been felt. 

THE MAMMOTH. 

There was a time when the mammoth and mastadon roamed these prairies 
in great numbers and their bones were often to be found in the marshy places 
where they had become mired, or had gone to drink. At what time this was, 
is a mystery. The Illinois knew nothing of them, nor had they even a tradition 
of any such an animal. 

But there is one thing certain, and that is, that people lived here at the same 
time those huge animals did. In exhuming the bones of one of them near Beards- 
town several years ago, an arrow head and the broken point of a copper spear 
were found among the bones, showing that the animal came to its death by the 
hand of man. Another skeleton, standing erect, was found in a marsh. A fire 
had been kindled against its sides, and ashes, pieces of charred wood, arrow 
heads and stone axes were found with the bones. It is the theory that it became 
mired in the mud and was then attacked and killed by the natives. 

A short distance from Peoria lake, numerous bones were found in the early 
settlement of the county. The place was a salt lick and quite marshy. Some of 
the bones were of immense size, showing the animal in life, at least fifteen feet 
in height and twenty-two in length. The largest elephant of the present day 
would be but a pigmy in comparison with it. 

THE ILLINOIS RIVER. 

The Illinois river from its junction with the Des Plaines and Kankakee is 
two hundred and sixty miles in length, exclusive of its many windings, and 
two hundred and ten miles of it are navigable 'for steamboats. It is a sluggish 
stream with only twenty-eight feet fall, nearly all of which is above Peoria 
lake. The mouth of the river where it enters the Mississippi is twelve miles 
wide between the bluffs, and when that river is high, it backs up the Illinois 
seventy-two miles. The bottom lands along the river are very fertile but much 
of them are overflowed, especially since the drainage canal from Chicago to Joliet 
was opened. 

The scenery along the river is beautiful, the stream being dotted along its 
whole course with innumerable islands, some of which are quite large. The 
first fort ever built in the Illinois country was upon the banks of the stream, as 
was also the first Catholic mission. It was a favorite stream with the natives, 
its sluggish current being just the place for their light bark canoes. At a later 
period the Mackinaw boat of the American Fur Company, took the place of the 
canoe and was used until navigation by steam supplanted it. 

A FARMER MECHANIC. 

An anecdote is related of an old farmer down in Monroe county by the name 
of James Lemon. He was one of the old sort of Baptist preachers, but an ex- 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 35 

cellent man and just the right sort to settle up a new country, for he was quite 
a mechanical genius and made all his tools used on his farm, even his harness 
for his horses. The collars he made of straw or corn husks, which were plaited 
and sewed together by himself. Being engaged in plowing a piece of stubble 
ground and having turned out for dinner, he left the harness on the beam of his 
plow. His son, a wild youth, who was employed with a pitch fork to clean the 
plow of the accumulated stubble, stayed behind and hid one of the horse collars. 
This he did, that he might rest while his father made a new collar. The old 
man returning, soon missed the collar and after reflecting a few moments, very 
much to the disappointment of the truant son, pulled off his leather breeches, 
stuffed the legs of them with the stubble, and then straddled them upon the 
horse's neck for a collar, proceeding with his plowing as bare legged as when he 
came into the world. 

INSTRUCTING A JURY. 

In some of the trials by jury in southern Illinois at an early day the judges 
had some very queer experiences. In a certain trial, the judge, when he came 
to instruct the jury as to the law, gave his instructions to them on the part of 
the learned judge. The instructions, however, were sound and very much to the 
point. Still the jury could not agree on a verdict and therefore returned to the 
court room. The judge asked the jury the reason why they could not agree, 
when the foreman answered with great apparent honesty and simplicity, "Why 
judge, this 'ere is the difficulty. The jury want to know whether that 'ar you 
told us when we first went out was r'al'y the law, or only just your notion." 
The judge, of course, informed them that it was really the law and they soon 
found a verdict accordingly. 

THE WAR OF l8l2. 

Of course the war of 1812 reached Illinois and was severely felt in several 
localities. War was declared by President Madison, June i8th, and August i5th 
following occurred "the massacre at Fort Dearborn, on the Chicago river. The 
fort had been erected by the government at the mouth of the river, in 1804, and 
was occupied by a small garrison under Captain Heald, as commandant. The 
garrison consisted of seventy men and in the fort were quite a number of women 
and children. Orders were issued for the evacuation of the fort and on that day 
all marched out, but' they had only gone a short distance when they were attacked 
by a large body of savages and nearly all murdered. 

Steps were at once taken to suppress the Indian uprising and avenge the 
bloody deed and an expedition was planned to attack a considerable number of 
the savages at Peoria lake. The expedition, however, proved a failure and only 
some of the native villages were burned. The year following another campaign 
was undertaken to Peoria, where another fort was built and named "Fort Clark" 
in honor of Colonel George Rogers Clark. The soldiers scoured the country, 
driving the Indians before them but no general engagement took place. 

In 1814 a force was sent te Rock Island under Major Campbell, where an 
engagement with the Sacs and Foxes took place without any definite result. 
Later in the same year, Major Zachary Taylor (afterward president of the 



36 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

United States), also went to Rock Island and had an engagement with the 
Indians and the British. 

Toward the end of that year hostile operations began to slacken and in 
the summer of 1815 peace was restored between the United States and the 
Indian tribes of the northwest, and the settlers of the state enjoyed comparative 
peace and quiet for many years, there being no further trouble with the natives 
until 1832, when Black Hawk stirred up the spirit of revenge in the Indian 
breast and sought to drive the white settlers from the state. 

The soldiers in the war of 1812 were given bounties in the lands, which are 
known as the Military tract, which extended between the Mississippi and Illi- 
nois rivers, from the mouth of the Illinois, northward one hundred and sixty- 
nine miles. 

ILLINOIS FROM 1815 TO l8l8. 

The territory from the close of the war of 1812 to the time of its admission 
into the Union as a state, continued to improve and increase in population, and 
the territorial laws were well and faithfully administered. The population in 
1815 was estimated at about 16,000 but when admitted as a state, as heretofore 
stated, it was about 50,000, showing a degree of prosperity seldom equalled in 
so remote a territory. On the i6th of September, 1805, there were five counties 
in the territory and the governor, by proclamation ordered an election to be held 
for six councilmen and six representatives, one of each for each county. Gal- 
latin was apportioned two of each. They were to meet at Kaskaskia, then the 
seat of the territorial government, on the loth of November. The election was 
held as directed and all met at the appointed time, all of the twelve being boarded 
at one house and lodged in one room. 

ONE ILLITERATE MEMBER. 

Among the members assembled was one John Grammar, from Johnson 
county. This was his first appearance in public life. He had no education, 
could neither read nor write, and yet he was a man of much natural shrewdness. 
He knew nothing of legislation or laws and so he adopted a rule to vote against 
every new measure that came up for passage, whether good or bad, he deeming 
it easier to conciliate his constituents by voting against a good measure than 
by voting for a bad one. He wore the most unique and original clothing of any 
of the members and for that matter, it was probably the most original, as well as 
odd, suit that any member of a public body has worn since that time. Not hav- 
ing suitable clothing to wear to the legislature, it is recorded of him that he and 
his family gathered a quantity of hickory nuts. These he took to the Ohio salines 
and traded for blue stranding, such as the Indians wore for breech cloth. When 
the women of the neighborhood got together to make the cloth into garments, 
they found it very scant and so they decided to make a bob tailed coat and knee 
pants, with long leggings. Arrayed in this primitive suit, he appeared at the 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 37 

seat of government and attended the daily sessions as though arrayed in broad- 
cloth and fine linen. 

THE LAWS PASSED. 

The most of the laws passed by this legislature were good and beneficial and 
some of them were so popular that they were reenacted by the new state after 
it was admitted to the Union. But there were some laws passed that were bar- 
barous in the extreme. Punishment of crimes and misdemeanors was by whip- 
ping on the bare back, confinement in the stocks, standing in a pillory and 
branding with a hot iron. These several punishments were ordered administered 
by the court that tried the culprit. The number of stripes that could be inflicted 
was from ten to five hundred. It was not the worst that received the most stripes 
by any means. For instance, burglary and robbery were punished with not 
exceeding thirty-nine, while for bigamy three hundred could be inflicted. An- 
other law was passed, placing a bounty of fifty to one hundred dollars for the 
killing of an Indian warrior or the taking of a squaw or child captive. 

TRADE AND COMMERCE. 

Commerce at that time was in its infancy. All foreign goods and articles not 
produced in the territory were brought from New Orleans by way of the river 
in keel boats, pushed up against the current by long poles with the most severe 
labor, and towed around the points with long ropes. The only other way they had 
of obtaining goods was by wagons over the Allegheny mountains from Philadel- 
phia to Pittsburg, thence in flat boats down the Ohio and landed at convenient 
points, then taken in wagons and carried where wanted. The trip down the 
Mississippi and back took fully six months, while that- east required at least 
three. 

. THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 

The first steamboat to ascend the Mississippi to St. Louis was the General 
Pike, and that was August 2, 1817. Agriculture was the principal pursuit of 
the people during territorial times but hunting and trapping were followed in win- 
ter by nearly all. There were few merchants and they only kept such articles 
as were mostly needed by the settlers. Tea, coffee and sugar were but little 
used and seldom to be found in the stores. Coarser goods for clothing and 
articles indispensable to the housekeeper, were usually kept. Cabins were built 
without glass, nails, locks or hinges, and the furniture was manufactured in the 
same rude fashion. The settlers all learned to make what was needed for use 
and that answered all purposes. 

EDUCATION. 

We have already alluded to the provision in the ordinance of 1787 regarding 
free schools and the constitutional convention that met in Kaskaskia in 1818 to 
form the first constitution. Inserted in that first organic law of the state the 
very letter as well as the spirit of the provision for free schools and the act 
of congress that enabled the territory to prepare for statehood, provided that 



38 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

section 16 in every township in the state should be "for the use of schools." It 
also provided that five per cent of the net proceeds from the sale of public lands 
in the state should be divided, two-fifths of which should be devoted to the 
making of roads and three-fifths to the cause of education. Those provisions 
were accepted by the state and became the basis of our present school system. 
Thus with every settlement a provision was made for a public school, and al- 
though funds were low and often hard to obtain, yet the "schoolmaster" was 
abroad in the land from the very beginning of the state government. 

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 

In 1854 the law was passed creating the office of state superintendent of 
schools and also for a complete system of free schools. 

The State Normal University was established by law in 1857, being located 
some two miles north of Bloomington. The purpose for which it was established 
was "to qualify teachers for the common schools of the state." The constitu- 
tion of 1870 gave the legislature power to "provide a thorough and efficient sys- 
tem of free schools, whereby all the children of this state may receive a good 
common school education." 

THE FIRST GOVERNOR. 

We have already alluded to the election of Shadrach Bond as the first gov- 
ernor, the act removing the state capital from Kaskaskia to Vandalia, and of that 
establishing the state bank. 

The total revenue of the state for the year 1818 was but $7,510.44. It was 
during his administration that the first steps were taken to construct the Illinois 
and Michigan canal, though but little was done except the recommendation of 
Governor Bond that some steps should be taken for the construction of such a 
waterway. 

In 1822 Edward Coles was elected governor and held the office until 1826. 
During his administration the state was seriously embarrassed by its financial 
conditions brought upon it by the state bank and some attempt was made to 
remedy the difficulty, but without much success. 

The governor in his first message also recommended the importance of a 
great waterway from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi river, and by act of 
the legislature, January 17, 1825, the Illinois and Michigan canal was incorporated 
but nothing further was done in the matter. 

Almost every measure recommended by Governor Coles was so bitterly op- 
posed even by his own party, that but little benefit accrued to the -state during 
his administration. 

December 6, 1826, Ninian Edwards was inaugurated governor and it was dur- 
ing his administration that an appropriation was made for the erection of a 
penitentiary at Alton. The act was passed and work begun. January 20, 1826, 
the act incorporating the Illinois and Michigan canal was repealed and thus the 
first chapter in the construction of that work was ended. The great objection 
to the act was that the state should construct the canal instead of it being con- 
structed by a private company. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 39 

Educational interests were greatly advanced during Governor Edwards' ad- 
ministration, by the establishing of several higher institutions of learning. In 
1827 John M. Peck, a Baptist minister, built a two-story frame house about half 
way between Lebanon and O'Fallon, which he named "The Rock Spring 
Theological Seminary and High School," and that was the beginning of Shurt- 
leff College, now located at Upper Alton. McKendree College was established 
three miles east of the Rock Spring institution, in the village of Lebanon where 
it is still flourishing. Illinois College at Jacksonville is one of the pioneers of 
that period and has been one of the great institutions of learning of the state. 

The population of the state in 1830 was 157,445, nearly three times what il 
was before. 

December 9, 1830, John Reynolds was inaugurated governor. He favored 
the construction of the Illinois and Michigan canal and the finishing of the peni- 
tentiary at Alton. 

It was during his administration that the county of Cook was formed, January 
15, 1831, and that was the beginning of Will county, as it was taken from 
that county in 1836. 

Joseph Duncan was inaugurated governor December 3, 1834. In his mes- 
sage to the legislature he strongly urged the construction of the canal to connect 
Lake Michigan with the Illinois river, as well as a general system of internal 
improvements. The charter of the old state bank at Shawneetown was revived 
and a new one granted. In 1837 the capital stock of the bank was $2,000,000, 
the whole to be subscribed for the state by the fund commissioners, an execu- 
tive body of the internal improvement system. The bank had six branches but 
it was short lived. Like its predecessor it succumbed to the inevitable in 1842 
and that was the last of the state banks. 

DEATH OF LOVEJOY. 

In 1837 occurred the tragedy at Alton, resulting in the death of "the first 
martyr to liberty," Elijah P. Lovejoy. He was born in Albion, Kennebec 
county, Maine, November 9, 1802. At the age of twenty-one he entered Water- 
ville College, and after graduating removed to St. Louis. 'A year or two later 
he became editor of the St. Louis Times and advocated the election of Henry 
Clay for the presidency. In 1833 he issued the first number of the St. Louis 
Observer, a religious newspaper. In his new labors as editor, he incurred the 
ill will of the Catholic church by some articles he wrote, opposing the laying of 
the corner stone of a Catholic church on Sunday. From that expression of 
opinion regarding what he termed the desecration of the Sabbath with "proces- 
sions, firing of guns and unseemly displays,"- came the persecutions that after- 
ward followed the man and finally terminated in his death. His opponents char- 
acterized him as an abolitionist and charged that all his outspoken expressions 
regarding the Catholics came from his bitter opposition to slavery. So bitter 
was the feeling against him in St. Louis that he was compelled to remove his 
paper and printing establishment to Alton, and it arrived there July 21, 1836. 
It was on Sunday when the press reached its destination, and Mr. Lovejoy pro- 
posed to leave it on the wharf until Monday. That night a mob went to the 



40 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

wharf, broke the press into pieces and threw it into the river. A new press was 
obtained and for nearly a year he published his paper with varying fortunes, but 
a mob entered his office, destroyed the press and threw it, with the type, into the 
river. He had frequently been warned as to what course he should pursue in the 
publication of his paper but being a free born citizen, contended "free speech" 
was his natural free born right and continued in his course without the least 
swerving from the course he had adopted. A new press was ordered but when 
it arrived it was broken up by the mob and consigned to the river with its pred- 
ecessors. A fourth press was then ordered and the mob openly defied. The 
press arrived and was temporarily stored in a stone warehouse and sixty of the 
citizens of the town volunteered to defend it. November 7, 1837, a demand was 
made for the press and the demand denied. One of the mob attempted to climb 
a ladder with a torch to set the roof of the warehouse on fire but was shot by 
one of the defenders. Soon after, Lovejoy went out of the building to see that 
no more such attempts were made and was shot by the mob, five bullets entering 
his body. The guard having lost their leader then surrendered the press and 
it soon followed its three predecessors into the bed of the Mississippi river. Thus 
ended the first tragical fight against the institution of slavery, and the first vic- 
tim to fall was Elijah P. Lovejoy, but he was not the last to fall in the cause, by 
many thousands. 

An act was passed at the same session for a general system of internal im- 
provements. This was such an extravagant measure that Governor Duncan re- 
fused to give it his approval but the legislature passed it over his head and it be- 
came a law. $10,250,000 was appropriated, all of which ultimately proved a 
total loss to the state, as not one of the works was ever completed. Among 
the works projected were nine railroads, while nearly every river of any size in 
the state was included in the bill to be improved. 

Thomas Carlin was inaugurated governor of Illinois in 1838. His policy 
was to foster internal improvements in every way possible. Bonds to the 
amount of $12,000,000 had been issued by the state for the improvements voted 
at the last legislature but as no interest was paid on them, they were soon of 
little value and the work ordered had been commenced but it was found im- 
possible to carry it on and so it was abandoned. Edward Smith, a member 
of the house from Wabash, was chairman of the committee on internal improve- 
ments and he portrayed in glowing colors the great benefits that would accrue 
to the state to carry forward the grand system of improvements as begun and 
contemplated, and such was the hold his report had upon the members that they 
were ready to vote for any amount required to carry forward every work asked 
for in the state. The Illinois and Michigan canal was not included in the mad 
schemes and the work on that proceeded without delay. Mr. Smith died before 
the next meeting of the legislature and with him died all the grand improve- 
ments contemplated by him. 

THE MORMONS. 

In the year 1839 a sect settled in Hancock county on the east bank of the 
Mississippi river and started a town, which they named Nauvoo. They called 
themselves Mormons, or Latter Day Saints. Their leader, Joseph Smith, claimed 




MACOUPIN COUNTY OLD SETTLERS' PICNIC. OCTOBER I. 1874 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 41 

to have found some golden tablets or plates, with inscriptions upon them; that 
he was directed by an angel he called Maroni where to find the plates and how 
to translate the inscriptions. The Mormons first settled in Independence, Iowa, 
but their conduct there was such that they were driven out by the authorities, 
when they removed to and settled in Hancock county. Here they soon got into 
trouble with the Gentiles, as they called all outside of their sect, or church, which 
soon after culminated in what is known in history as the "Mormon war," and 
the death of Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram. 

In 1840 the legislature granted a charter to Nauvoo, with full powers to or- 
ganize its militia into a Nauvoo legion, establish courts of justice and elect all 
necessary officers. Under the charter, Joseph Smith was elected mayor in 1842. 

December 8, 1842, Thomas Ford was duly inaugurated governor and his first 
duties were to look after the Mormons. They had become exceedingly arrogant 
and offensive to the rest of the people in the county, so much so as to have the 
citizens call upon the governor to suppress them or drive them from the state. 
The city council in Nauvoo passed an ordinance that if any person should try to 
arrest any of its citizens on foreign writs, the offender should be imprisoned for 
life and should not be pardoned by the governor unless the mayor of Nauvoo con- 
sented. The act practically amounted to the setting up of a separate govern- 
ment within the limits of the state. Other acts equally as notorious and illegal 
were enacted by the council and mayor and were attempted to be enforced. 

The governor visited the place, and finding that the affairs of the city were 
even worse than he had been informed of, he ordered arrests to be made and 
Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram were arrested and lodged in jail in Carthage, 
the county seat. After Governor Ford had left, a mob was organized and broke 
into the jail. Hiram Smith was killed at the first fire and soon after, Joseph, the 
so-called prophet. Brigham Young was elected as successor to Joseph Smith, 
and hostilities between the Mormons and Gentiles continued as before. But the 
governor and the leader of the Mormons entered into an agreement in the win- 
ter of 1845. by which they made arrangements to leave and about the middle of 
May following, sixteen thousand Mormons left Nauvoo for the west and finally 
settled in the valley of the great Salt Lake, where they have since remained. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848. 

December 9, 1846, Augustus C. French was elected governor. A proposition 
had been submitted to the people for a call of a constitutional convention and 
the vote was largely in favor of such a call. A special. election of delegates was 
called for the third Monday in April, 1847, and these were to meet at Springfield 
on the first Monday of June following. The delegates met in convention at the 
time set by the call and on the 3ist of August of that year, finished its labors. 
The constitution as made by the convention, was submitted to the people at an 
election held March 6, 1848, and reinaugurated, January 8, 1849. The popula- 
tion of the state in 1850 was 851,470. 

THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. 

In 1851 the Illinois Central Railroad was incorporated. Congress had the 
year previous granted lands for the construction of a railroad from Chicago to 



42 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Mobile, and the act of the legislature authorized the construction of a road from 
the southern terminus of the canal at La Salle to a point at the city of Cairo, 
with branches. The act of congress gave alternate sections of land for six miles 
in width, upon each side of the road, to aid in the building of it. A company was 
formed that agreed to build the road within the time limited and agreed to give 
seven per cent of its gross earnings to the state for the benefit of common 
schools. The seven hundred miles of road was completed before the close of 
the year 1856 and thus two and a half million acres of wild land became homes of 
thousands of actual settlers. 

Joel A. Matteson was inaugurated governor in January, 1853. It was during 
his administration that the great political changes took place, not only in the state 
but in the country at large. The old whig party ceased to exist at the defeat of 
General Scott in 1852, and in 1856 the great republican party sprang into exist- 
ence. It was defeated that year but in 1860 it rallied in its strength and won the 
battle with a good majority. 

The history of the state under the administration of Governor Matteson was 
that of unexampled prosperity. The financial depressions that had for years 
hung over it and greatly hindered its development and progress were swept away 
and the state came to the front as one of the most favored and prosperous of all 
the great states of the Union. 

William H. Bissell succeeded to the office of governor, January 12, 1857. He 
was a veteran of the Mexican war and a man of integrity and ability. It was 
during his administration that a new penitentiary was ordered to be built in 
the northern part of the state. Three commissioners were appointed, one of 
them being the late Hon. Nelson D. Elwood, of Joliet. These were to select 
the place for the new prison and take charge of its erection. Joliet was the 
place selected. Governor Bissell died at Springfield, March 18, 1860, and John 
Wood, the lieutenant governor, filled out the unexpired term. The population of 
the state in 1860 was 1,711,951. 

DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN. 

In 1854 Stephen A. Douglas, then a United States senator from Illinois, ad- 
vocated and brought about the repeal of the Missouri compromise. This was an 
act passed by congress in 1820, and was designed to reconcile the pro-slavery and 
the anti-slavery parties of that day. By this act it was determined that Missouri 
should be admitted into the Union as a slaveholding state but that slavery should 
never be established in any state, to be formed in the future, lying north of lati- 
tude thirty degrees and thirty minutes. That was the act repealed in 1854, and 
that left the question open, whether Kansas, which is north of that degree of 
latitude, should be admitted as a free or slave state. 

The repeal of that act brought Mr. Lincoln into prominence in the political 
history of the state. He was an able debater, an ardent republican, who was 
among the first in the organization of the party in its first campaign in 1856. Mr. 
Douglas' term as senator in congress expired in 1858 and Mr. Lincoln entered 
the lists as the opponent of Mr. Douglas in his candidacy for reelection. Each 
had received the nomination of his party and therefore they stood on equal 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 43 

grounds in their contest for the office. Mr. Lincoln challenged Mr. Douglas for 
a joint debate of the questions involved. Mr. Douglas accepted, and seven places 
were selected, one in each congressional district in the state, except in two dis- 
tricts where speeches had already been made. In that debate, slavery was the 
main question to be debated, Douglas contending that every new state, whether 
north or south of the old compromise line that applied for admission to the 
Union, should determine for itself whether it should be a slave or a free state, 
while Mr. Lincoln insisted that slavery should be put in a "course of ultimate 
distinction." Mr. Douglas won the prize and was the nominee of his party in 
the campaign of 1860 for the presidency, while Mr. Lincoln was the nominee 
for the republicans. M_r. Douglas lost through the division of his party, the 
southern wing having put John C. Breckinridge in nomination against him. 
Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated president, March 4, 1861. The south seceded and 
then came four years' Civil war, the emancipation of the slaves, and after a most 
desperate struggle in which many thousands of lives were sacrificed, the south 
surrendered and the Union was again restored. 

Richard Yates became governor in 1861. He was the war governor, as dur- 
ing his administration the Civil war was fought and won. He was a vigilant, 
active and patriotic governor, who did not shrink from performing his whole 
duty in aiding the general government in its life and death struggle in maintain- 
ing the Union from secession. 259,092 soldiers were raised in the state for mili- 
tary service in suppressing the rebellion. 

Richard J. Oglesby became governor, January 16, 1865. The war had closed 
but there were grave matters yet to be settled and Illinois must perform its full 
share. In January, 1867, the fourteenth amendment to the constitution of the 
United States, conferring citizenship upon persons without regard to color, was 
ratified by Illinois. Another measure was passed by the same legislature, which 
was of great interest to the agricultural community, the establishing of an agri- 
cultural or industrial college at Urbana, in Iroquois county. Congress had made 
donations to the several states for the purpose, of which Illinois received nearly 
half a million acres. A new state house was provided for, to be built at Spring- 
field, the cost of which was not to exceed $3,000,000. 

January, i, 1869, John M. Palmer was inaugurated governor. The people 
of the state had voted to call a constitutional convention to revise the constitution 
of the state and the delegates met in convention at Springfield, December I3th 
of that year. The most important change was that making it a fundamental law 
prohibiting special legislation, that having been the principal business of the 
legislatures of the state previous to that time. The constitution was ratified by 
the people, July 2, 1870. The population of the .state that year was 2,539,891. 

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE. 

It was late on Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, that a fire was discovered 
burning in a small stable west of the south branch of the river and about a mile 
southwest of the business portion of the city. A strong wind was blowing from 
that direction and soon the fire was communicated to the surrounding buildings 
and spread rapidly toward the very heart of the city. The fire continued to ad- 



44 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

vance and spread until nearly all of the business portion of the city was destroyed 
and 100,000 people rendered homeless. The loss by fire was $200,000,000, while 
a large number of citizens lost their lives in the holocaust. The world at large 
came at once to the aid of the stricken city in its terrible distress. It was a dire 
calamity to the young and growing city but its enterprising citizens rallied to the 
work of restoring it and soon it arose from its ashes, a better and more sub- 
stantial city than before. 

Mr. Oglesby was reelected for a second term and January 13, 1873, was duly 
inaugurated as governor. The session of the legislature that met that month 
elected him United States senator, and John L. Beveridge, the lieutenant gover- 
nor, then became governor. But little of note was done during his admin- 
istration. The state continued to grow in population, its agricultural and com- 
mercial resources were developed and expanded and the people of the state were 
contented and prosperous. 

Shelby M. Cullom was duly elected governor at the November election in 
1876, and inaugurated January 8, 1877. It was at that session of the legislature 
that General John A. Logan became involved in a contest for reelection as United 
States senator. His opponent was Judge David Davis. Logan was the regular 
republican candidate, while Davis was a democrat. There were enough inde- 
pendents in the legislature to hold the balance of power and it was not until the 
fortieth ballot that the long contest was decided in favor of Judge Davis and he 
became General Logan's successor. 

It was during Governor Cullom's term of office that the great railroad strike 
occurred. It began in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where the center of the various 
railroad employes was located, with branches all over the country. Illinois, as a 
great railroad state and mining center, felt the disturbances which reached every 
part of the state and especially Chicago, where many of the railroads terminated. 
Troops M ere called out, the rioting quelled and in a few days order was restored 
and business began to enter its usual channels. The population of the state in 
1880 was 3,077,871. 

Mr. Cullom was reelected in 1880 and duly installed into office, January 10, 
1881. In his message to the legislature he favored the cession of the canal to the 
general government but the legislature failed to act on his recommendation at 
the regular session. A special session for that purpose was called by the gov- 
ernor and among other things, of reapportioning the state into congressional and 
senatorial districts, and at that session an act was passed ceding it to the general 
government. The government, however, never accepted the gift nor took any 
steps whatever toward controlling it, and so the ceding came to naught. 

January 16, 1883, the legislature elected Governor Cullom United States sena- 
tor and it was at that session of that body the so-called Harper high license law 
was enacted, making the license for dram shops not less than $500. and $150 for 
the sale of malt and vinous liquors only. 

Richard J. Oglesby was elected governor in November, 1884, for the third 
time and was sworn into office, January 13, 1885. The great riot at Haymarket 
Square. Chicago, occurred May 4, 1886. A meeting was being held there by the 
labor element to consider the eight hour question and much noise and confusion 
took place. The police were called to quell the disturbance and a bomb was 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 45 

thrown among them. Seven of their number were instantly killed and many 
wounded. Eight of the rioters were arrested for the crime, tried, found guilty, 
and seven of them sentenced to be hung, while the eighth was sentenced to the 
penitentiary for fifteen years. One of the prisoners committed suicide while in 
jail, four were hung, and the sentence of the other two was commuted to im- 
prisonment for life. 

January 14, 1889, Joseph W. Fifer was inaugurated as governor and it was at 
that session of the legislature that the sanitary district of Chicago was created 
and the construction of the drainage canal ordered. 

. COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 

The great Columbian Exposition was to be held at Chicago in 1893 and the 
legislature was convened in the summer of 1890, to grant to the government the 
authority to hold it there and also to grant such other aid as was deemed neces- 
sary to hold the celebration and enable it to be devoted to exposition purposes. 

The population of the state in 1890 was 3,826,351. 

John P. Altgeld was elected governor in 1892. He was the first foreign born 
governor of the state, having been born in Germany in 1848. He was the first 
democratic governor since the election of Governor Matteson in 1852. About 
his first act after being installed into office was the pardoning of the Haymarket 
Square prisoners, then confined in the penitentiary. This act provoked a large 
amount of criticism from all classes all over the state, and even in other states, 
and so bitter was the feeling for this act of clemency on the part of the gover- 
nor that it hopelessly divided his party and he was most overwhelmingly defeated 
for reelection. During his administration, the World's Columbian Exposition, 
before alluded to, took place in Chicago. It was opened May ist and closed at 
the end of October. The exposition was a great success in every particular and 
reflected much credit upon its managers. 

John R. Tanner was the next governor and was inaugurated in January, 1897. 
The Cuban war, so called, occurred during his administration. It resulted in 
wrestling that island from Spanish rule and giving it independence, and also the 
acquisition of Porto Rico and the Philippine Islands to the American government. 

THE CUBAN WAR. 

The destruction of the warship Maine while on a friendly visit in Havana 
liarbor and the great loss of American seamen, was the direct cause for the 
declaration of war with Spain. The news of the terrible tragedy as it was flashed 
across the wires, aroused the nation to activity to avenge the insult to the na- 
tion's flag, and steps were at once taken to investigate the cause of the destruction 
of the vessel and the blame was laid upon the Spanish authorities. A demand 
was made upon Spain for a redress of the wrong. She refused to admit any 
liability in the catastrophe and the- war was the result. Troops were at once 
called for by the president and a noble response was made by every state in the 
Union. Seven regiments was the quota assigned to Illinois and these were quickly 



46 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

raised and sent to the front, where they performed most' excellent service for 
their country. 

STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

May 23, 1900, the Illinois State Historical Society was incorporated, with the 
following object: "To excite and stimulate a general interest in the history of 
Illinois ; to encourage historical research and investigation and secure its promul- 
gation ; to collect and preserve all forms of historical data in any way connected 
with Illinois and its people." 

The population of the state in 1900 was 4,821,550. 

Richard Yates was inaugurated as governor of the state in January, 1901. 
He was the first native born governor, his birth having occurred in Jacksonville, 
Illinois, December 12, 1860. The legislature that met in January, 1901, reappor- 
tioned the state into twenty-five congressional and fifty-one senatorial districts 
and appropriated $250,000 for the purpose of erecting a building and presenting 
exhibits of the state at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, to be held in St. Louis 
in 1904. 

Charles S. Deneen was elected governor in November, 1904, and was duly 
installed into office in January, 1905. He was the second native born governor, 
his birth having occurred in Edwardsville, Illinois, May 4, 1863. He is a grad- 
uate of McKendree College and the Union College of Law. Governor Deneen 
is the present incumbent of that office. 

RETROSPECTIVE. 

In retrospect we will go back to early times and refer to some of the interest- 
ing incidents and matters that occurred when the state was young. 

THE VISIT OF LAFAYETTE. 

It was in 1825 that the Marquis de LaFayette came to Kaskaskia, while on his 
tour through the western country. That was one of the great events in the 
monotony of western life and served the pioneers with food for friendly gossip 
for years thereafter. The general assembly having learned of his arrival in 
America, addressed a resolution of welcome to him at its session in December, 
1824, in glowing terms of admiration for his patriotic services for the country and 
earnestly invited him to extend his visit to the western country to Illinois. The 
address with a personal letter from Governor Coles, who became acquainted with 
LaFayette in France in 1817, was forwarded to LaFayette on the gth of Decem- 
ber, and on the i6th of January, 1825, he expressed his gratification for the honor 
done him by Illinois and then added: "It has ever been my eager desire and is 
now my earnest intention to visit the western states, and particularly the state of 
Illinois. The feelings which your distant welcome could not fail to excite have 
increased that patriotic eagerness to admire on that blessed spot the happy and 
rapid results of republican institutions, public and domestic virtues. I shall, 
after the celebration of the 22d of February, anniversary day, leave this place 
for the southern states, going from New Orleans to the western states, so as to 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 47 

return to Boston on the I4th of June, when the corner stone of Bunker Hill monu- 
ment is to be laid a ceremony sacred to the whole Union, and in which I have 
been engaged to act a peculiar and honorable part." 

The General arrived at St. Louis on the steamboat Natchez, April 28. An 
immense concourse entered the boat at the landing to greet and honor the patriot 
and hero. The greeting of the General in St. Louis was a most hearty and loyal 
one, well worthy of the patriot and his hosts. April 3Oth the Natchez took Gen- 
eral LaFayette and a large concourse of distinguished visitors down the river 
to Kaskaskia, where the entire population assembled to bid him welcome. A din- 
ner was prepared at the hotel, kept by Colonel Sweet, and the entire company 
of distinguished guests was entertained. In the evening a grand ball was given 
in his honor at the large and commodious house of William Morrison. At the 
ball was a squaw whose father had served under General LaFayette in the Revo- 
lutionary war. To identify herself she had brought a letter written by the Gen- 
eral to her father many years before, and which the father left to the daughter 
as a precious legacy. 

General LaFayette after the ball went to Nashville but returned in a few days 
to Shawneetown, where he was again greeted with enthusiasm on the part of 
the citizens that brought tears, and his answer to their address of welcome was 
given with much emotion. At his departure a salute was fired, after which he 
returned to the east. 

WHY SOUTHERN ILLINOIS WAS CALLED EGYPT. 

Charles Robertson in the Chicago Journal, under date of February 8, 1872, 
says that the southern part of the state was called Egypt from the following: 
"Fifty years ago, or in the summer of 1821, there was not a bushel of corn to be 
had in all central Illinois. My father settled in that year twenty-three miles 
west of Springfield. We lived for a time on venison, blackberries and milk,, while 
the men were gone to Egypt to harvest and procure breadstuffs. The land we 
improved was surveyed that summer and afterward bought of the government 
by sending beeswax down the Illinois river to St. Louis in an Indian canoe. 
Dressed deerskins and tanned hides were then in use and we made one piece of 
cloth out of nettles instead of flax, cotton material, well for a decade, until the 
deep snow of 1830." 

Thus the southern part of Illinois received the application of "Egypt," as 
therein indicated, because, being older, better settled and cultivated, it gathered 
corn as "the salt of the sea," and the settlers in the central part of the state, 
after the manner of the children of Israel in their wants, "went to Egypt to buy 
and bring from thence that they might live and not die." 

THE "SUCKERS" WHY so NAMED. 

Why all native Illinoisans are called "Suckers" originated at an early date 
and there are two versions, both of^ which we will give our readers and they can 
select from the two which to them seems the most probable and correct. 

In 1804 Governor Harrison bought of the Sac and Fox tribes a tract of land 
at the mouth of the Fever river, where Galena is now located, fifteen miles 



48 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

square. It was called "lead lands," for upon the tract in many places lead had 
been found, and several mines opened, and it is said that the origin of the name 
"Sucker" as applied to the native miners and the Illinoisans was first heard and 
used in those mines. George Brunk of Sangamon writes : "Late in the fall of 
1826 I was on board a steamboat bound down the river, when a man from Mis- 
souri stepped up and asked, 'Boys, where are you going?' The answer was 
'Home.' 'Well,' he replied, 'you put me in mind of suckers ; up in the spring, 
spawn, and all return in the fall.' ' The name stuck to the Illinoisans and when 
Judge Sawyer came up to the mines on circuit court duty, he was called the "king 
of Suckers." Those who stayed at the mines over winter most of them from 
Wisconsin were called "Badgers." The next spring the Missourians poured 
fnto the mining region in great numbers and. the state was said to have taken 
a "puke," and the offensive appellation of "Pukes" was applied to all the miners 
from that state. 

JUDGE DOUGLAS TELLS WHERE THEY GOT THE NAME OF "SUCKER." 

It was on the occasion of a pleasant entertainment of Judge Douglas at Peters- 
burg, Virginia, that he gave the following humorous account of the term "Suck- 
ers," as applied to Illinoisans ; the account is valuable further and confers a proud 
distinction upon Illinois, in that it clears up all doubts regarding the discov- 
ery of that important and inspiring beverage called "mint julep" a very mo- 
mentous question that for years has been covered with obscurity and beset with 
very many doubts, but in the light of the facts then disclosed by the learned 
judge, happily placed at rest. It is not improbable that a glass of the animating 
beverage served to quicken the memory of the honorable senator from Illinois 
on that occasion. 

Judge Douglas said : "About the year 1777, George Rogers Clark applied to 
the governor of Virginia and suggested to him that as peace might be declared 
at any time between the colonies and Great Britain, it would be well for us to be 
in possession of the northwest territory, so that when the commissioners came 
to negotiate a treaty, we might act on the well known principle of law that 
possession was at least nine parts, each party holding all that they had in pos- 
session. He suggested to the governor to permit him to go out to the northwest, 
conquer the country and hold it until the treaty of peace, when we would become 
possessed of it. 

"The governor consented and sent him across the mountains to Pittsburg. 
From there he and his companions floated down the Ohio on rafts to the falls, 
where Louisville now is. After remaining there a short time they again took 
their new rafts and floated down to the salines, just below the present site of 
Shawneetown, Illinois. Here they took up their march across the country to Kas- 
kaskia, where the French had an old settlement and by the aid of a guide they 
reached Oquaw and encamped near Peter Menard's house, some little distance 
from the town. You see, I am well acquainted with the locality. (Laughter.) 
Next morning Clark got his little army of ragamuffins together, for they had 
no army wagons with supplies, no sutler and no stores, and by this time looked 
ragged enough, and took up his line of march for the little French town of 





Commercial Hotel 



Main Street 




Gillespie Street Scene 




Christian Church - Methodist Church 

VIEWS OF OILLKSIMK 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 49 

Kaskaskia. It was summer and a very hot day, and as he entered the town and 
saw the Frenchmen sitting quietly on their little verandas in front of their 
houses, sucking their juleps through straws, he rushed upon them, crying 'Sur- 
render, you suckers, you.' (Great laughter.) The Frenchmen surrendered, and 
from that day to this Illinoisans have been known as 'Suckers.' (Applause.) 

"That was the origin of our cognomen, and when George Rogers Clark re- 
turned to Virginia he introduced the julep here. (Laughter.) Now, I want to 
give you Virginians fair notice that when they claim the honor of a Jefferson, of 
a Madison, of a Marshall, and of as many other distinguished sages and patriots 
as the world ever saw, we yield ; when' you claim the credit of a cession of the 
northwest territory, that out of it sovereign states might be created, we yield ; 
when you claim the credit o.f never having polled a vote against the democratic 
party, we yield ; but when you claim the glory of the mint julep, hands off, Illi- 
nois wants that." (Shouts of laughter and applause.) 111. Reg., September 9, 
1860. 

POLITICS AND POLITICIANS. 

The manner of conducting political campaigns in the days of yore was similar 
in some respects to that of more modern times and yet in other respects radically 
different. Politics entered into some of the campaigns to a great extent and yet 
in others they were almost entirely ignored. Governor Ford in his history of 
Illinois says of those days: "Up to the year 1840, I can say with perfect truth 
that considerations of mere party, men's condescensions, agreeable carriage and 
professions of friendship had more influence with the great body of the people 
than the most important public services." These .considerations have always 
been of more consequence in a majority of cases than any public services ren- 
dered, no matter how valuable those services may have been to the people or 
country. 

There were many adventurers among the old pioneers, with whom govern- 
mental affairs had but little thought. When aroused to the exercise of the great 
privilege of a citizen the elective franchise by demagogues interested in some 
intrigue, no other consideration entered into the act of the voter than to either 
help a friend or punish an enemy. There were no great political questions to 
divide the people prior to the early '305. They called themselves whigs and 
democrats without the least thought or care regarding any of the questions of 
public policy, tariff or any of the great questions that were brought forward at a 
later date. 

The use of whisky for electioneering purposes was almost universal and the 
custom of "treating," as it was called, during a. political campaign was indis- 
putable to success. It was a common custom for the candidates to go to the sa- 
loons and leave orders to treat free all who came on certain days, called "treat- 
ing days," at their expense. "Treating days" were usually on Saturday and 
then the voters for miles around would all congregate at the saloons, many of 
them get drunk and often engage in rough and tumble fights. The candidates 
would usually be there, too, and in "some shady grove put forth their claims for 
office. The favorite platform from which their speeches would be made was the 
stump of some large tree, and hence the phrase of "stump speech." The vital 



50 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

questions "having been discussed," the meeting would break up and the audience 
disperse to their homes to sober up and get ready for the next "treating day." 

The real pioneers of that day were the leaders in all such meetings and sports. 
They were in many instances extremely ignorant, governed by passionate preju- 
dices and usually opposed to every public policy which looked to the elevation 
of society. They arrayed themselves in buckskin breeches, leather moccasins, 
raccoon caps and red shirts, belted at the waist, and with a large knife in the 
belt, hence they were called "butcher boys." They would proclaim their great 
bravery upon every occasion and swear that they were "half horse and half alli- 
gator," meaning that they could not be overcome in combat. 

Such to a great extent were a large number of the early settlers of southern 
Illinois. When in liquor they were veritable demons but at home, when away 
from the influence of drink, were quiet and peaceable and good neighbors. 

SALT MAKING. 

The making of salt in the early history of the Illinois country is one 
of the most interesting subjects of the time. The salt springs, or "salines," as 
they were called, were located near Equality, in Gallatin county. When dis- 
covered, there was every indication that they had been worked by a prehistoric 
race, long before the whites had penetrated the Illinois wilds. The evaporating 
kettles used by them were found near Equality and near the Negro Salt Springs. 
The kettles were between three and four feet in diameter, made of clay and 
pounded shells, and were molded in a kind of basket work, or cloth, which left 
the impression upon the outside of the kettle and looked like artistic hand work. 
Nothing is known as to how long the springs had been worked by the Indians but 
there was every appearance that they had been used in the process of making 
salt for ages. 

In 1812 congress assumed control of the springs, and on the i2th of Feb- 
ruary, that year, an act was passed setting apart six square miles of land to sup- 
port the Equality salines. They were then leased to work, and slaves were em- 
ployed to perform the work, they having been brought from Kentucky and Ten- 
nessee for that purpose. Many of these negroes, by extra work, saved enough 
money to buy their freedom and from these are descended the large number of 
those who resided in Gallatin and Saline counties before the Civil war. There 
was a monopoly in the salt trade after the act of leasing the springs and the 
common price of it was five dollars a bushel, and even at that price a ready mar- 
ket was always found in all the adjoining country. People would come hundreds 
of miles and carry it away in sacks on horseback. When Illinois was admitted 
into the Union, these salines were ceded to the state and thenceforward they were 
state property and ceased as such, February 23, 1847. By an act of the general 
assembly, the saline lands were all sold to the school trustees of the township. 
They have since been very productive, producing when worked to their fullest 
capacity, 200 barrels of salt per day. 

IMPROVEMENTS IN AGRICULTURE. 

The wonderful improvements made for cultivating the soil are most marvel- 
ous and are to be seen on every hand. Seventy-five to eighty years ago the plows 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIX COUNTY 51 

were made with moldboards of wood and these were sometimes covered with 
straps of iron to prevent wearing out too rapidly. In those days plows were 
about the only implement used in stirring the soil. Harrows with wooden teeth 
were used for covering the grain after sowing but they were poor affairs and 
easily broken. Corn was planted wholly by hand, the barefooted boys and girls 
dropping the seed, which was then covered with a hoe. Sickles were about the 
only implements used in cutting the grain, although grain cradles were introduced 
about that time. Grass was always cut with a scythe and raked together with 
the hand rake. Wheat and all kinds of grain were tramped out with horses. 
The bundles were laid with the heads inward in a circle, the horses were driven 
around on it until it was trampled out and then the grain winnowed and cleaned 
in the wind. 

But all this has been changed and that, too, for the benefit of the farmer. 
Gang and sulky plows of steel now turn over the sod and thus increase the 
capacity for human labor and greatly decrease its severity. Machinery has been 
utilized to drill in the grain, cut and bind it, thresh and winnow it, and also cut, 
pitch and load the hay and put it into stacks. 

The farmers were at first slow in adopting the machinery for farm work 
but it gradually gained in favor until now it has almost superseded labor by hand. 
The farmer guides from his seat behind his team and the machinery performs 
the labor and that, too, much quicker, far better and more satisfactorily than it 
could possibly be done by hand. 

PROGRESS IN THE STATE. 

Illinois has made wonderful progress as a state in internal improvements, 
agriculture and commerce. In 1837 the first railroad was built in the state. It 
was but six miles in length, with small cars drawn by horses or mules ; the rails 
were but wooden joists, laid on .ties, and upon the joists strap iron was spiked 
with spikes made by the local blacksmiths. From that small beginning the rail- 
roads in the state have been -extended until 1903, when the last report was made 
and there were 11,502 miles in operation, permeating every part of the state. 
The mileage of railroads exceeds that of every other state in the Union, the near- 
est approach to it being the state of Texas, with 11,256 miles. Pennsylvania has 
10,784 miles, the Empire state 8,180, while all New England has but 7,609 miles, 
or only about two-thirds as much mileage as the state of Illinois. In population 
it ranks as the third state in the Union, while in 1830 it was the twentieth. 

In agriculture it has made even greater progress. When the state was ad- 
mitted into the Union in 1818 it had a population of about 50,000, with some 
11,500 farms and 70,000 acres of land under cultivation. In 1820, two years 
after it was admitted as a state, 260,000 bushels of corn were raised in the whole 
state, 63,000 bushels of oats, and no broom corn; while by the last census we 
find there were 398,149,140 bushels of corn, 180,105,630 bushels of oats, and 
60,665,560 pounds of broom corn, equalling 3,330 tons. In 1820 there was not 
a gallon of fermented liquor made in the state, while in 1904 there were 4,632,- 
726 barrels of it made, just about a barrel for every man, woman and child in the 
state. The same year there were 41,787,891 gallons of distilled spirits or liquors 



52 HISTORY OF MACOUPIX COUNTY 

made, or about ten gallons for every man, woman and child in the state. This 
far exceeds any other state, for even Kentucky, which is said to use up all the 
surplus corn and rye into whisky, only produces 23,114,735 gallons a little more 
than one-half of what Illinois produces. 

There is another thing in which Illinois exceeds all other states, and that is 
in the number of war pensioners, there being 71,647 in the state, to whom the 
government annually' pays more than $10,000,000. 

DISCOVERY OF COAL. 

The first mention made in the history of the state of coal or finding it here, 
was by Father Hennepin in his journal. It was in 1679, when on a visit to the 
Illinois country with La Salle's party. He says: "Having arrived in the Miami 
country and while they were seeking for a portage by which they could reach 
the Illinois river, La Salle, while exploring the country, became separated from 
the rest of the party, and, as he did not return, searching parties were sent out 
after him. When found, his face and hands were black with the coal and the 
wood that he had lighted during the night, as it was cold." 

The Miami country, as then understood, was in the vicinity of the headwaters 
of the Illinois river, where it is formed by the junction of the Kankakee and 
Des Plaines. After giving an account of how they reached the Illinois, he says : 
"There are mines of coal, slate, iron and lumps of pure red copper, which are 
found in various places, indicating that there are mines and perhaps other metals 
and minerals, which will one day be discovered." 

These references clearly indicate the location of extensive coal mines in Will 
and Grundy counties, which have furnished such vast quantities of coal to the 
people of the state. 

In 1720 Father Charlevoix arrived at the junction of the headwaters of the 
Illinois. Lower down the river, at the junction of the Illinois with a river that 
flows from the Mascoutens, the place is called Charboniere, "because they find 
many coals there." That was in what is now La Salle county, the river named 
being the Fox. 

In T 773 Kennedy in his journal speaks of being near the site of the old 
Kaskaskia Indian town at Utica, in La Salle county. He says : "On the north- 
western side of this river is a coal mine that extends, for half a mile along the 
middle bank of the river, which is high." 

Beck, in a book issued by him in 1823, says: "Coal is found in great abun- 
dance in different parts of the state; it is of good quality and is very valuable 
on account of the scarcity of timber. Since the time of Father Hennepin's first 
mention of coal in the state the coal industry has grown and flourished to such 
extensive proportions that it is now one of our leading industries." 

From a summary recently furnished by the secretary of the Illinois Bureau 
of Labor Statistics it appears that there are now more than 1,000 mines in the 
state and that nearly 40,000,000 tons of coal are mined annually by 59,230 em- 
ployes. There are 102 counties in .the state and of these fifty-six have coal 
mines that contribute to the vast amount of coal consumed by the people of the 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 53 

state every year, and of the 56,000 square miles of land in the state, 36,000 
contain coal. 

TEMPERANCE. 

About the year 1840 a great temperance movement was inaugurated in the 
east and it soon spread to Illinois. The temperance people called themselves 
"Washingtonians," and the movement was quite popular in some localities in 
the east for several years but met with a chilly reception in most places out in 
southern Illinois among the pioneers. It was all right down there among the 
women and children but the lords of the soil would have nothing to do with it. 

A society was organized in the small village of Troy, Madison county, a 
few miles south of Edwardsville, and a committee was appointed to go out 
among the farmers and solicit them to join the society. The chairman or spokes- 
man of the party was the minister of the little church in the village. On one of 
their trips around the neighboring towns, they came across an old farmer who 
had taken his whisky straight for many a year. He was informed of the society 
and its object and very kindly asked to join it. The old fellow was indignant 
to think they should want him to join such an organization, and would not listen 
to them but they pleaded with him and told him of the misery and ruin whisky 
was causing in the country and added that if the men would join the society it 
would close up the dram shops and then no one could get any liquor. "What," 
said the old fellow, ''close up the dram shops? I would have you know, sir, 
that my brother keeps a dram shop up there in Edwardsville, and you want me 
to help ruin him, do ye? Xo, I'll see you d d first, and that I won't." And 
with that the old fellow turned on his heel and left them, boiling with indigna- 
tion to think they should ask him to do an act that would aid in ruining his 
brother's business. 

BEE TREES. 

The characteristics of the old pioneers are very forcibly illustrated in an 
anecdote related by the late Robert S. Blackwell, the author of "Blackwell on 
Tax Titles." Mr. Blackwell said that "the old pioneers were great bee hunters, 
and had the custom of appropriating to the finder all bee trees on whose land 
soever they happened to be growing. When they discovered a bee tree, without 
leave or license, they entered upon the land, cut it down and made themselves 
masters of the honey. The owners seldom ventured to complain and when they 
did, the juries were sure to punish their presumption with costs of suit. 

"Well, one of the old settlers to whom I allude came to my office one day 
and stated that he had felled a bee tree upon his neighbor's land. He alluded 
to the old custom of conferring title "by discovery, and that suit was threatened, 
asking my advice in the premises. I replied that he had committed a trespass 
and advised him to compromise the affair. He left the office in high dungeon, 
saying as he was departing, 'This country is getting too d d civilized for me. 



54 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

I'll make tracks for Oregon or some other country where an old pioneer can 
get justice.' ' 

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BUFFALO. 

When Illinois was first visited by white men, the prairies were one great 
pasture for countless herds of buffaloes. Father Marquette and his companion, 
Louis Joliet, when reaching the Illinois country on their voyage down the Mis- 
sissippi, saw upon the banks of that stream vast herds of the animals. On their 
return, and while going up the Illinois, the animals were everywhere to be seen, 
and as one of the father's records, they were so numerous as to be countless. 

The flesh of the buffalo furnished the natives with the greater part of their 
food, their skins with clothing, bedding and tents, their sinews for bows, their 
bones for implements and ornaments, while their hair they wove into a fabric 
for dress ; hence, this disappearance of the buffalo from the country. Deprived, 
then, of the many necessities of life, the exact time when they disappeared or 
left the country is unknown but from the best accounts that can be obtained 
it was about 1780 they were seen swimming the Illinois river in vast herds. 
As late as 1778, but a year or two later, there was a big snow storm that covered 
the ground to the depth of three feet, and upon the top was a thick crust of 
ice that would bear a man. The next spring a few buffaloes, poor and emaciated, 
were seen going westward, but in many places hundreds of carcasses of the dead 
animals were to be found lying on the prairie. What few were left went across 
the Mississippi and it was seldom that one was seen east of that river after 
that time. Forty years afterward the skulls and bones were to be seen in places 
extending for miles. 

CHEVALIER HENRY DE TONTY. 

Few of the writers of the early history of Illinois give much of an account 
of the life of this most faithful and intrepid companion of La Salle in his early 
voyages and explorations in the Illinois Territory. When referred to, he is 
spoken of as the "Faithful Tonty ;" that he was a Frenchman by birth, and had 
lost a hand in battle. It is our purpose, however, to here give some accounts 
of his early life and history. 

Chevalier Henry De Tonty was born in Naples in 1650. He was a son of 
Lorenzo Tonty, a banker and prominent man of that city. He received an ex- 
cellent education for those times and when eighteen years of age he entered the 
French army and served one year. It was an active one, however, for he was 
in seven campaigns and although he entered the service as a cadet, yet he was 
successively promoted as captain, and at Messina, Spain, he was placed in charge 
of 20,000 men. 

During the battle of Libisso, a grenade shot away his right hand and it is 
told of him that while awaiting the delayed services of the surgeon, he with 
admirable nerve, amputated the ragged stump with a knife. The lost hand of 
flesh was replaced by one of iron, on which he usually wore a glove. There 
is some dispute among historians as to whether the hand that replaced that of 
flesh was of iron, copper, or silver, but whatever it was it served his purpose 
well, and in some instances was better than the one he lost. In his dealings 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 55 

with the Indians, it is said if they became disorderly or unruly he used that 
hand upon the heads of the contumaceous ones, sometimes breaking or knocking 
out their teeth. They, not knowing the secret of the efficacy of the blow, re- 
garded it as a "medicine of the first order." 

He was taken a prisoner at Libisso by the Spaniards and was confined for 
six months, and his release was effected by exchanging for him the son of the 
governor of that place. Upon returning to France the king bestowed three 
hundred livres upon him in recognition of his services. 

In 1677 La Salle reached France from Montreal to seek the aid of the court 
in the prosecution of the vast designs he had formed for exploring the unknown 
interior of the continent south of the Great Lakes. Upon the recommendation 
of Prince Conti, whose favor Tonty seems to have won by his valorous conduct 
in the French wars, La Salle engaged the young man as his lieutenant. 

They sailed from Rochelle, July 14, 1678, to Quebec, where after a voyage 
of two months, they arrived and there La Salle learned to appreciate the many 
good qualities of heart of which his lieutenant was to give him later on such 
signal proof. It was there that La Salle formed the only intimate friendship of 
his life and was rewarded by attaching to himself a man whose loyalty and dis- 
interested devotion ceased only with death. 

La Salle had formed a plan to follow up the discoveries of Joliet and Father 
Marquette in their voyage down the Mississippi, and to ascertain by descending 
that river to its mouth, whether it emptied into the Gulf of California, the Gulf 
of Mexico, or was indeed the long sought medium of communication with 
Japan and China, the Cipangang Cathay of Marco Polo. They had brought 
over with them all necessary ropes, anchors and other material for building a 
vessel to navigate the lakes, expert artisans also being brought along, who were 
skilled in the construction of vessels. 

They at once set about the work of preparing for their long and tedious jour- 
ney. The marvelous energy and fertility of resources displayed by Tonty aston- 
ished as well as delighted La Salle. In writing to Prince Conti after landing 
in Canada, he said : "His honorable character, his amiable disposition, were 
well known to you but perhaps you would not have thought him capable of 
doing things for which a strange constitution, an acquaintance with the coun- 
try, and the full use of both hands seemed absolutely necessary. Nevertheless, 
his energy and address made him equal to anything and now at a season when 
everybody is in fear of the ice, he is setting out to begin a new fort two hun- 
dred leagues from this place." 

In going from Fort Frontenac to Niagara,' on Lake Ontario, Tonty ex- 
perienced the first evidence of the secret hostility directed against La Salle. The 
boat in which they came was wrecked through obstinacy of the pilot, who had 
doubtless been tampered with by the enemies of La Salle. Niagara, a place above 
the falls, had been selected as the site for the shipyard. It was the dead of win- 
ter but the work of building the \essel was begun with great energy. They 
had brought up the St. Lawrence and along the twelve mile portage trail of 
the Niagara gorge the anchors and other material necessary for the equipment 
of the vessel they were to build. La Salle remained long enough to drive the 



56 HISTORY OF MACOLTIN COUNTY 

first bolt and then returned to Fort Frontenac. He left Tonty in command, with 
full instructions to complete the vessel. 

It was a heavy task that was thus imposed upon Tonty. If he had an iron 
hand, he had a will of steel. The Senecas, an Indian tribe that was in the 
vicinity, were not only enemies of La Salle but they were also suspicious that 
the ribbed structure growing before their eyes meant menace to their fur trade 
in the west, which they had heretofore monopolized, and threatened to make a 
bonfire of the vessel. Provisions were scarce, the wrecked boat having con- 
tained the needed supply. But two New England Indians that La Salle had 
attached to the expedition became. his devoted followers and by their prowess 
saved the thirty men with Tonty and Father Hennepin. It was a long and 
tedious winter that tried the patience as well as the courage of the ever faithful 
Tonty to keep the enemies at bay, and at the same time supply his men with 
food while they pursued their labors on the vessel. 

It was under these trying circumstances that the first vessel that ever plied 
the waters of Lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan was constructed. The Indians 
were wily as well as treacherous and as the vessel neared completion they con- 
stantly menaced the workmen. They, however, completed it, and in May it 
was ready to be launched. Amid the roar of cannon and the chorus of the "Te 
Deum" from the bearded workmen, the vessel slid from her docks into the 
waters of the Niagara river and it was then safe from all harm or molestation 
from the hostile natives. It was towed out in mid-stream and there anchored as a 
precaution from any further interference. The five cannon on board peeped 
through the port holes upon the Indians on the bank, giving them warning of 
danger should they attempt to make any hostile visits to the vessel. 

It was not until summer was well advanced that La Salle joined the party 
on board the Griffin, as the vessel was christened. It was so named in honor 
of Count Frontenac, the governor of New France, as Canada was then called, 
that monster being his heraldic emblem. 

Tonty went in a bark canoe ahead of the Griffin up Lake Erie, in order to 
look up some men and supplies that La Salle had ordered at the straits of 
Detroit. He reached there all right and found his men and the vessel. They 
were taken on board and the vessel sailed up the straits toward Lake Huron. 
Their voyage up that lake was a stormy one. The fall gales that prevailed sent 
the small craft forward, trembling in every part. But they weathered the gale 
and on the 27th of August they reached Michilimackinac. the Jesuit stronghold 
for the whole western country. 

Early in September the Griffin sailed into Green Bay, mooring at one of 
the islands, which is thought to have been Washington Isle, whose astonished 
inhab'tants gazed in wonder at the "house that walked on the water." La 
Salle loaded the vessel with beaver skins which had cost 60,000 livres ($12,000). 
The vessel was never seen again. Whether she foundered in a gale or wa< 
destroyed by the crew was never known. 

La Salle and Tonty then went up Lake Michigan, as before described, and 
also their going to Peoria lake, erecting the fort, Creve Coeur, fortifying the 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIX COUNTY 57 

Rock, and their return to Green Bay have all been fully given in our history of 
the northwest. 

DEATH OF TONTY. 

Tonty toiled for nearly twenty years to maintain Fort St. Louis on the Rock 
but was at last compelled to abandon it. It had been the pet scheme of his friend 
and companion, La Salle, that a fort should be maintained there, as it was 
known to be impregnable to any assault that then could be made, and so reluc- 
tantly he obeyed a royal decree and left it forever. As he floated down the 
beautiful Illinois river with his few followers, he waved back a sad farewell to 
the bold, high rock upon whose topmost level he had made his home for so many 
years. That was in the spring of 1699. He was then on his way south to join 
the Louisiana colonies at old Biloxi, at the mouth of the Mississippi. The colon- 
ists received him with open arms and for four years he shared their varied 
fortunes, aiding them in every way with his knowledge of woodcraft and savage 
lore. Through his efforts the neighboring Indians were pacified and many of 
them became the allies of the colonists in their troubles with other tribes that 
were hostile to them. 

In 1704 a vessel arrived with supplies from Havana, but ere the colonists 
could rejoice at the acquisition of the stores it was learned that the vessel con- 
tained the germs of that terrible scourge, yellow fever. The vessel's crew had 
been nearly exterminated by it. It spread among the colonists and more than 
one-half of them lay dead. Tonty nursed the living and helped to bury the 
dead. But soon he, too, was stricken with the dread disease and in the month 
of September, 1704, a grave was dug in the soil of old Biloxi and therein was 
laid one of the most unselfish and loyal, as he was one of the most intrepid of 
the knightly men who first blazed a path whence civilization entered into what 
has since become the great empire of the northwest. 

WHERE WAS PONTIAC ASSASSINATED? 

In our history of Illinois in this work we have stated that the Indian war 
chieftain, Pontiac, was assassinated at Cahokia, and we have done so upon what 
we consider the very best of authorities upon the subject. 

Nearly every writer or historian who has alluded to or written of the death 
of that celebrated chieftain in the several histories of the state, so far as we 
can learn, with but one exception, all assert that he was assassinated at Cahokia. 
In fact, there is no mention in any of them that there was any question but that 
was the place, and they give in detail all the circumstances attending his death. 
Moses, in his history of Illinois ; Perrin, in his outlines of Illinois history ; Dres- 
bach, in his "Young People's History of Illinois;" and Parish, in his "Historic 
Illinois," all name Cahokia as the place of his assassination. One of the best 
authorities on the subject, as we view it, is Osmon's "History of Starved Rock." 
He not only gives a very clear and comprehensive description of the tragedy, 
but enters into all the details of the Indian feuds and troubles prior to that time 
with great exactness. 

It is generally conceded by all writers of Illinois history that the Illinois 
Indians had all left the northern part of the state at the time of Pontiac's last 



58 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

visit to the territory and had gone to Cahokia or near there ; that they had built 
villages there and were under the protection of the French who had settled 
there and that Pontiac, learning of the fact that the Illinois Indians had col- 
lected at Cahokia, went there, as he said, "to have a big spree," but as it was 
well thought by the people, to make trouble by inducing the Indians to make 
war upon the white inhabitants. A barrel of whisky was a big inducement to 
an Indian and he would doubtless have killed almost any one, even his own 
squaw or mother, in order to possess it. 

On the other hand, Matson, in his "History of Illinois," which is a very good 
authority on most subjects pertaining to the early history of our state, says 
Pontiac was assassinated at Joliet Mound, by an Indian named Kineboo, for 
revenge, Pontiac at some time having done Kineboo a great wrong. Now it is 
for the reader to judge which of the authorities is the most probably correct. 
To us, the Cahokia story is altogether the most reasonable and plausible. We 
are aware that Indian revenge will go a long ways in a red man's makeup but 
not so far as a barrel of whisky. It was a terrible inducement to an Indian and 
one that no Indian would refuse. 

BLACK HAWK WAR. 

When the United States assumed control of the country by reason of its 
purchase from France, nearly the whole state was in possession of the Sacs and 
Foxes, a powerful and warlike nation, who were not disposed to submit without 
a struggle to what they regarded the encroachment on their rights of the pale 
faces. Among the most noted chiefs and one whose restlessness and hatred of 
the whites occasioned more trouble to the government than any other of his 
tribe, was Black Hawk, who was born at the Sac village, on the Rock river, in 
1767. He was simply the chief of his own band of Sac warriors; but by his 
energy and ambition he became the leading spirit of the united nation of the 
Sacs and Foxes, and one of the prominent figures in the history of the country 
from 1804 until his death. In early manhood he attained distinction as a fight- 
ing chief, having led campaigns against the Osages and other neighboring tribes. 
About the beginning of the nineteenth century he began to appear prominent 
in affairs on the Mississippi. His life was a marvel. He is said by some to 
have been the victim of a narrow prejudice and bitter ill will against the Amer- 
icans. 

November 3, 1804, a treaty was concluded between William Henry Harri- 
son, then governor of the Indian Territory, on behalf of the United States, and 
five chiefs of the Sac and Fox nations by which the latter, in consideration of 
$2,234 > n goods then delivered, and a yearly annuity of $ 1,000 to be paid in goods 
at just cost, ceded to the United States all that land on the east side of the 
Missouri extending from' a point opposite the Jefferson, in Missouri, to the 
Wisconsin river, embracing an area of fifty-one million acres. To this treaty 
Black Hawk always objected and always refused to consider it binding upon 
his people. He asserted that the chiefs and braves who made it had no authority 
to relinquish the title of the nation to any of the lands they held or occupied 
and. moreover, to get one of their people released, who had been imprisoned at 
St. Louis for killing a white man. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 59 

% 

In 1805 Lieutenant Pike came up the river for the purpose of holding friendly 
council with the Indians and selecting sites for forts within the territory recently 
acquired from France by the United States. Lieutenant Pike seems to have 
been the first American whom Black Hawk had met or had a personal inter- 
view with and was very much impressed in his favor. Pike gave a very interest- 
ing account of his visit to the noted chief. 

Fort Edwards was erected soon after Pike's expedition, at what is now 
Warsaw, Illinois, also Fort Madison, on the site of the present town of that 
name, the latter being the first fort erected in Iowa. These movements occa- 
sioned great uneasiness among the Indians. When work was commenced on 
Fort Edwards, a delegation, from the nation, headed by their chiefs, went down 
to see what the Americans were doing and had an interview with the com- 
mander, after which they returned home and were apparently satisfied. In 
like manner, when Fort Madison was being erected, they sent down another 
delegation from a council of the nation held at Rock river. According to Black 
Hawk's account, the American chief told them he was building a house for 
a trader, who was coming to sell them goods cheap, and that the soldiers were 
coming to keep him company a statement which Black Hawk says they dis- 
trusted at the time, believing that the fort was an encroachment upon their 
rights, and designed to aid in getting their lands away from them. It is claimed 
by good authority that the building of Fort Madison was a violation of the 
treaty of 1804. By the eleventh article of that treaty the United States had 
the right to build a fort near the mouth of the Wisconsin river, and by article six 
they bound themselves "that if any citizen of the United States or any other 
white person should form a settlement upon their lands such intruder should 
forthwith be removed." Probably the authorities of the United States did not 
regard the establishment of military posts as coming properly within the mean- 
ing of the term "settlement" as used in the treaty. At all events, they erected 
Fort Madison within the territory reserved to the Indians, who became very 
indignant. Very soon after the fort was built, a party led by Black Hawk at- 
tempted its destruction. They sent spies to watch the movements of the garri- 
son, who ascertained that the soldiers were in the habit of marching out of the 
fort every morning and evening for parade and the plan of the party was to 
conceal themselves near the fort and attack and surprise them when they were 
outside. On the morning of the proposed day of the attack five soldiers came 
out and were fired upon by the Indians, two of them being killed. The Indians 
were too hasty in their movements, for the parade had not commenced. How- 
ever, they kept up the siege several days, attempting the old strategy of setting 
fire to the fort with blazing arrows, but finding their efforts unavailing, they de- 
sisted and returned to their wigwams on Rock river. In 1812, when war was 
declared between this country and Great Britain, Black Hawk and his band allied 
themselves with the British, partly because he was dazzled by their specious 
promises but more probably because they were deceived by the Americans. 
Black Hawk himself declared they were forced into the war by having been 
deceived. He narrates the circumstances as follows : "Several of the head men 
and chiefs of the Sacs and Foxes were called upon to go to Washington to see 
their great father. On their return they related what had been said and done. 



60 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

They said the great father wished them, in the event of war taking place with 
England, not to interfere on either side but to remain neutral. He did not 
want our help but wished us to hunt and support our families and live in peace. 
He said that British traders would not be permitted to come on the Mississippi 
to furnish us with goods but that we should be supplied by an American trader. 
Our chiefs then told him that the British traders always gave them credit in 
the fall for guns, powder and goods, to enable us to hunt and clothe our fam- 
ilies. He repeated that the traders at Fort Madison would have plenty of 
goods ; that we should go there in the fall and he would supply us on credit, 
as the British traders had done." Black Hawk seems to have accepted the 
proposition and he and his people were very much pleased. Acting in good 
faith, they fitted out for their winter's hunt and went to Fort Madison in high 
spirits to receive from the trader their outfit of supplies ; but after waiting 
some time they were told by the trader that he would not trust them. In vain 
they pleaded the promise of their great father at Washington ; the trader was 
inexorable. Disappointed and crestfallen, the Indians turned sadly to their 
own village. Says Black Hawk: "Few of us slept that night. All was gloom 
and discontent. In the morning a canoe was seen ascending the river; it soon 
arrived bearing an express, who brought intelligence that a British trader had 
landed at Rock Island with two boats filled with goods, and requested us to 
come up immediately, because he had good news for us and a variety of presents. 
The express presented us with pipes, tobacco and wampum. The news ran 
through our camp like fire on the prairie. Our lodges were soon taken down 
and all started for Rock Island. Here ended all our hopes of remaining at 
peace, having been forced into the war by being deceived." He joined the Brit- 
ish, who flattered him and styled him ''General Black Hawk," decked him 
with medals, excited his jealousy against the Americans and armed his band 
but he met with defeat and disappointment and soon abandoned the service and 
returned home. 

There was a portion of the Sacs and Foxes whom Black Hawk, with all his 
skill and cunning, could not lead into hostilities against the United States. 
With Keokuk, the "Watchful Fox," at their head, they were disposed to abide 
by the treaty of 1804 and to cultivate friendly relations with the American 
people. So when Black Hawk and his band joined the fortunes of Great Britain, 
the rest of the nation remained neutral and for protection organized with Keokuk 
for their chief. Thus the nation was divided into the "war party" and "peace 
party." Keokuk became one of the nation's great chiefs. In person he was 
tall and of portly bearing. He has been described as an orator, entitled to rank 
with the most gifted of his race, and through the eloquence of his tongue he pre- 
vailed upon a large body of his people to remain friendly to the Americans. As 
has been said, the treaty of 1804, between the United States and the Sac and Fox 
nations was never acknowledged by Black Hawk and in 1831 he established him- 
self with a chosen band of warriors upon the disputed territory, ordering the 
whites to leave the country at once. The settlers complaining. Governor Rey- 
nolds of Illinois despatched General Gaines, with a company of regulars and 
one thousand, five hundred volunteers to the scene of action. Taking the Indians 
by surprise, the troops burned their village 'and forced them to conclude a 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 61 

treaty, by which they ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi and agreed to 
remain on the west side of the river. 

Necessity forced the proud spirit of Black Hawk into submission, which 
made him more than ever determined to be avenged upon his enemies. Having 
rallied around him the warlike braves of the Sac and Fox nations, he recrossed 
the Mississippi in the spring of 1832. 

This armed array of savages soon alarmed the settlers and a general panic 
spread through the whole frontier, from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. 
Many settlers in terror abandoned their homes and farms and the Governor 
decided, on the i6th of April, to call out a large number of volunteers to operate 
in conjunction with General Atkinson, who was in command of the regular 
forces at Rock Island. The Governor ordered the troops to rendezvous at 
Beardstown on the 22d of April. Governor Reynolds' circular which he ad- 
dressed to the citizen soldiers in the crisis then pending, follows : 
"To the Militia of the Northwestern Section of the State: 

"FELLOW CITIZENS: Your country requires your services. The Indians have 
assumed hostile attitude, and have invaded the state in violation of the treaty 
of last summer. The British band of Sacs and other hostile Indians, headed 
by Hlack Hawk, are in possession of the Rock river country, to the great terror 
of the frontier inhabitants. I consider the settlers on the frontiers to be in im- 
minent danger. I am in possession of the above information from gentlemen 
of respectable standing, and also from General Atkinson, whose character stands 
high with all classes. In possession of the above facts I have hesitated not as 
to the course I should pursue. No citizen ought to remain inactive when his 
country is invaded and the helpless part of the community are in danger. I 
have called out a large detachment of militia to rendezvous at Beardstown on the 
22d. Provisions for the men and food for the horses will be furnished in abun- 
dance. I hope my countrymen will realize my expectations and offer their serv- 
ices, as heretofore, with promptitude and cheerfulness in defense of their country. 

"JOHN REYNOLDS." 

To the stirring appeal of the Governor the patriotic citizens of the state and 
Macoupin county nobly responded. Many of the best and prominent men of the 
county enlisted to protect the frontier and preserve the honor of the state and 
did signal service in the memorable events of the Black Hawk war. Among 
the citizens of Macoupin county who went out were as follows: 

Officers : Captain Harris, afterward better known to the citizens of this 
county as General Harris, who organized the first company. Captain Bennett 
Nolan also organized a company. Lieutenant Colonel Powell H. Sharp, then 
a resident of what is now Scottville township, ranked as lieutenant colonel in 
this war and is spoken of as a brave man. William Coop, Jefferson Weather- 
ford and the late Judge John Yowell were commissioned lieutenants. The two 
former were lieutenants in Captain Harris' company and the latter a lieutenant 
in Captain Nolan's company. Aquilla P. Pepperdine was the orderly sergeant 
in Captain Harris' company. Thomas McVey and John Lewis were also ser- 
geants in the same company. Captain Harris' company rendezvoused at Beards- 
town and was mustered at Rock Island under command of Colonel A. B. Du- 
witt of Jacksonville. William J. Weatherford was lieutenant colonel of the regi- 



62 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

ment. A portion of the Macoupin county men were in the regiment commanded 
by Colonel James Collins. Lieutenant Colonel Sharp was attached to this regi- 
ment. Of the private soldiers from this county may be mentioned the follow- 
ing: George Mathews, Oliver W. Hall, Lewis Solomon, Jr., Theodorus Davis, 
James Hall, John Bayless, John Coop, Hardin Weatherford, Ransom Coop, a 
Mr. Powell, Hiram English, Thomas Thurman, Reverdy English, David Rusk, 
Joshua Martin, Travis Moore, Samuel Cummings, Samuel D. Ray, Wilford 
Palmer, Larkin Richardson, Samuel McVey, John Chapman, Charles McVey, 
Mathew Withrow, Aaron Sample, John Ross, Spencer Norville, Charles Lair, 
William Talkington, James White, Achilles Deatheridge, E. H. Richards, John 
England, George Sprouse, Harvey McPeters and Zachariah Stewart. 

Captain Thomas S. Gelder, then a resident of Greene county, served in the 
campaign of 1831 and immediately after his return settled with his father on a 
farm in Chesterfield township. 

Among those who enlisted from Macoupin county in Captain Kinkead's com- 
pany of Greene county were : John Record, Isham Caudle, Isaac McCollum and 
Isaac Prewitt. There may have been others but these are all the names that 
we have been able to gather, as no official record has been preserved at Spring- 
field. Few of the hardy soldiers of this war remain with us. Many after the 
war was ended moved to other sections of the country and many others have 
passed over the river and are now in the embrace of the silent sleep of death. 

The force marched to the mouth of Rock river, where General Atkinson 
received the volunteers into the United States service and assumed command. 
Black Hawk and his warriors were still up on Rock river. 

The army under Atkinson commenced its march up the river on the gth of 
May. Governor Reynolds, the gallant "Old Ranger," remained with the army, 
and the President recognized him as a major general and he was paid accord- 
ingly. His presence in the army did much toward harmonizing and conciliating 
those jealousies which generally exist between volunteers and regular troops. 
Major John A. Wakefield and Colonel Ewing acted as spies for a time in the 
campaign of 1832, to discover the location of the enemy if possible. A Mr. 
Kinney acted as guide for them. He understood the Sac dialect. On the i4th 
of May, 1832, Major Stillman's command had a sort of running battle with 
the Indians at or near what is now known as Stillman's run, a small, sluggish 
stream. In this engagement eleven white men and eight Indians were killed. 
Black Hawk and warriors fought with the spirit born of desperation. Black 
Hawk says in his book that he tried at Stillman's run to call back his warriors, 
as he thought the whites were making a sham retreat in order to draw him into 
an ambuscade of the whole army under General Whiteside. The hasty retreat 
and rout of Stillman and his army was in a measure demoralizing to the entire 
forces. Undoubtedly the cause of the defeat was a lack of discipline. When 
Governor Reynolds learned of the disaster of Major Stillman, he at once ordered 
out two thousand additional volunteers. With that promptitude characteristic 
of the old "War Governor," he wrote out by candle light on the evening of 
Stillman's defeat, the order for additional troops, and by daylight dispatched 
John Ewing, Robert Blackwell and John A. Wakefield to distribute the order to 
the various counties. The volunteers again promptly responded. However, the 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 63 

soldiers from this county did but little fighting. On the loth of July the army 
disbanded for want of provisions. General Scott arrived soon after with a large 
force at the post of Chicago, to effect, if possible, a treaty with the Indians. Small 
detachments of Black Hawk's warriors would persistently hang on the outskirts 
of the main body of the army, thieve and plunder, and pounce upon and kill 
the lonely sentinel or straggling soldier. On the I5th of July the soldiers were 
reviewed and those incapable of duty were discharged and returned home. Po- 
quette, a half breed, and a Winnebago chief, the "White Pawnee," were selected 
for guides to the camp of Black Hawk and band. Several battles and skirmishes 
occurred with the enemy, the principal of which was on the banks of the Missis- 
sippi, where the warriors fought with great desperation. Over one hundred 
and fifty were killed in the engagement and large numbers drowned in attempt- 
ing to swim the river. After the battle the volunteers were marched to Dixon, 
where they were discharged. This ended the campaign and the Black Hawk 
war. At the battle of Bad Axe, Black Hawk and some of his warriors escaped 
the Americans and had gone up the Wisconsin river. 

The Winnebagoes, desirous of securing the friendship of the whites, went 
in pursuit and captured and delivered them to General Street, the United States 
Indian agent. Among the prisoners were the son of Black Hawk and the prophet 
of the tribe. These with Black Hawk were taken to Washington, D. C., and 
soon consigned as prisoners to Fortress Monroe. At the interview Black Hawk 
had with the president he closed his speech delivered on the occasion in the fol- 
lowing words : "We did not expect to conquer the whites. They have too many 
Rouses, too many men. I took up the hatchet, for my part, to revenge injuries 
which my people would no longer endure. Had I borne them longer without 
striking, my people would have said : 'Black Hawk is a woman ; he is too old 
to be a chief ; he is no Sac.' These reflections caused me to raise the war whoop. 
I say no more. It is known to you. Keokuk once was here ; yon 'took him by the 
hand, and when he wished to return to his home, you were willing. Black Hawk 
expects like Keokuk, he shall be permitted to return, too." 

By order of the president, Black Hawk and his companions, who were in 
confinement at Fortress Monroe, were set free on the 4th day of June, 1833. 
After their release from prison they were conducted in charge of Major Gar- 
land through some of the principal cities that they might witness the power of the 
United States and learn their own inability to cope with them in war. Great 
multitudes nocked to see them wherever they were taken and the attention paid 
them rendered their progress through the country a triumphal procession instead 
of prisoners transported by an officer. At Rock Island the prisoners were given 
their liberty amid great and impressive ceremony. In 1838 Black Hawk built him 
a dwelling near Des Moines, Iowa, and furnished it after the manner of the 
whites and engaged in agricultural pursuits, together with hunting and fishing. 
There, with his wife, to whom he was greatly attached, he passed the few re- 
maining days of his life. To his credit it may be said that Black Hawk remained 
true to his wife and served her with "a devotion uncommon among Indians, living 
with her upwards of forty years. 

At all times when Black Hawk visited the whites he was received with marked 
attention. He was an honored guest of the old settlers' reunion in Lee county, 



64 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Illinois, and received marked tokens of esteem. In September, 1838, while on 
his way to Rock Island to receive his annuity from the government, he contracted 
a severe cold, which resulted in an intense attack of bilious fever, and termi- 
nated his life October 3d. After his death he was dressed in the uniform pre- 
sented him by the president while in Washington. He was buried in a grave 
six feet in depth, situated upon a beautiful eminence. The body was placed in 
the middle of the grave, in a sitting position upon a seat constructed for the 
occasion. On his left side the cane given him by Henry Clay was placed up- 
right, with his right hand resting upon it. His remains were afterward stolen 
and carried away but they were recovered by the governor of Iowa and placed 
in the museum of the Historical Society, at Burlington, Iowa, where they were 
finally destroyed by fire. 

Fort Armstrong, on Rock Island, was the place appointed where a treaty 
would be made with the Indians but before it was effected that dreadful scourge, 
the cholera of 1832, visited not only the regular army, depleting its ranks far 
more rapidly than the balls of the Indians had done, but it also sought out its 
many victims in the dusky bands of the Black Hawk tribe. 

On the 1 5th of September, 1832, a treaty was made with the Winnebago 
Indians. They sold out all their lands in Illinois and all south of the Wisconsin 
river and west of Green Bay and the government gave them a large district of 
country west of the Mississippi, and $10,000 a year for seven years, besides pro- 
viding free schools for their children for twenty years, oxen, agricultural im- 
plements, etc. 

September 21, 1832, a treaty was made with all the Sac and Fox tribes, on 
which they ceded to the United States the tract of country on which a few 
years afterward the state of Iowa was formed. In consideration of the above 
cession of lands, the government gave them an annuity of $20,000 for thirty 
years, forty kegs of tobacco and forty barrels of salt, more gunsmiths, blacksmith 
shop, etc., six thousand bushels of corn for immediate support, mostly intended 
for the Black Hawk band. 

The treaties above mentioned terminated favorably and the security result- 
ing therefrom gave a new and rapid impetus to the development of the state, 
and now enterprising towns and villages and beautiful farms adorn the rich 
and alluvial prairies that before were only desecrated by the wild bands who 
inhabited them. Agricultural pursuits, commerce and manufactures, churches 
and schools, are lending their influence to advance an intelligent and prosperous 
people. 

THE MEXICAN WAR. 

In the Mexican war Macoupin county was represented by a number of pa- 
triotic men and the part taken by them in that controversy at arms is here pre- 
sented as related in a former history of the county : 

"In the war with Mexico in 1846-7, Illinois furnished six regiments of men, 
as follows : First regiment, commanded by Colonel John J. Hardin ; Second 
regiment, commanded by Colonel William H. Bissell ; Third regiment, commanded 
by Colonel Ferris Forman ; Fourth regiment, commanded by Colonel Edward D. 
Baker: Fifth regiment, commanded by Colonel James Collins; Sixth regiment 






First Christian Church 




New Christian Church 
SOME CHURCHES OF VIRDEX 



LIBRARY 
OF THE 

OTEP.5ITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 65 

commanded by Colonel Edward W. Newby. This county furnished about one 
hundred men. 

"The First regiment, mustered at Alton, Illinois, one thousand strong, was 
transported to New Orleans by steamboat in July, 1846, crossed the gulf and 
disembarked from the vessel at Port Levaca, in Texas, thence by forced march 
to Camp Crockett, at San Antonia De Baxar, where they became a part of the 
main army, thence to Persido, thence two hundred and fifty miles to Mount 
Clover, thence to Paris and from that point made a forced march to Aqua 
Aneva. This regiment fought bravely at the glorious battles of Buena Vista, 
fhe city of Mexico and Cerro Gordo. In this regiment enlisted, in Company C, 
James P. Pearson (better known as Captain Pearson), who was wagon master 
and musician. He was severely wounded in the ankle at Buena Vista; John 
and Henry Sharp, James Coen, Thomas Joiner, Isaac Hill, Enoch Witt, Richard 
Mathew, Jefferson Edwards and Thomas Pettyjohn. In Company E, commanded 
by Captain Newcomb, were John Vincent, who died in the service; William 
Davis, Snowden Sawyer, S. B. Sawyer, John H. and William C. Purdy, Reuben 
Skidmore, John Price, James Linton, Andrew Scroggins, Samuel Crowell and 
James F. Chapman. 

"Ig the Fifth regiment, Colonel Collins, Company C, there were fourteen as 
follows : B. J. Dorman, William Brown, John Coudel, John Pomeroy, who died 
in Mexico ; James Raffurty, James Colyer, Jackson Edwards, Theodorus Moore, 
who died in Mexico; Albert Clark, who also died in Mexico; William Larri- 
more, James Morgan and John Burgess, all of whom died in Mexico. James 
Green and Andrew Shaw were also members of Company C. Captain Lee, of 
Fayette county, commanded the company. Several men from the neighborhood 
of Staunton, were also members of this regiment. They were : D. W. Hender- 
son, Benjamin Henderson, S. W. Bell, Daniel Grant, who died in service; Drury 
M. Grant, B. F. Cowell, Thomas Howell, who died in Mexico; James Vincent, 
who died in Mexico; Jackson Scroggins, who also died in Mexico; Harrison 
Harrington, Ambrose Dickerson and David R. Sparks. 

"They were mustered at Alton in 1846 and were sworn in for duty during the 
war. Thence they were transported to New Orleans, and from that place were 
ordered to Tampico, from which place they were transported by vessel to Vera 
Cruz. They were in Patterson's Division and under General Scott. This regi- 
ment participated in several skirmishes but was in no general engagement. They 
marched to the city of Mexico but after its capture they were mustered out at 
Alton, Illinois, in August, 1847. 

"In the Fourth regiment, commanded by Colonel Baker, there were quite a 
number of boys from Macoupin county. They enlisted in Company B, Cap- 
tain Elkin, commander, at Carlinville, in the early part of June, 1846, and the 
next month, at Alton, were sworn into the service. They were : Fuller Smock, 
Sebum Gilmore, Rush Guy, Lee Graham, Joseph Graham, Elijah Pulliam, Will- 
iam Dews, Richard Mathews, John Tennis, Marion Wallace, who died at Tampico, 
Mexico; Jackson Wallace, who enlisted as a private, was promoted to first lieu- 
tenant and died at Camargo; Sylvanus Seaman, Wilson Mitchell, Felix Hampton, 
M. Warmack, discharged at Jefferson Barracks soon after being sworn in, on 
account of sickness; Alfred and Samuel Hall, both discharged at Matamoras on 



Vol. 15 



66 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

account of sickness; Felix Hall, discharged at Jefferson Barracks; and John 
Stockton, also discharged on account of sickness. Also in this regiment were 
Samuel Cowell and Andrew Scroggins. After being mustered at Alton, the 
regiment was moved to Jefferson Barracks, where they were drilled -for about 
a month, then sent to New Orleans, thence to Brazos Santiago, near the mouth 
of the Rio Grande, thence to Camp Belknap, on the same river, from there to 
Camargo, where they laid six weeks ; here severe drill was resumed ; they then 
took a steamer to Matamoras and were placed in Patterson's brigade, General 
Taylor commanding. They were later transferred to the main army under Gen- 
eral Scott. From Matamoras they went to Tampico, where they embarked for 
Vera Cruz, to which they laid siege, which, after a heavy bombardment, capitu- 
lated, surrendering the forts and shipping in the harbor. They then marched 
to Cerro Gordo, where the Mexicans, under Santa Anna, were defeated. Here 
General Shields commanded the brigade. They followed the retreating Mexi- 
cans to Jalapa, where they camped for three weeks. Their term of service had 
now expired and they were ordered to Vera Cruz, thence to New Orleans, where 
in August, 1847, they were discharged and paid their own way home. 

"Other soldiers from this county in that war were a part of Captain Little's 
cavalry. In Colonel Hays' regiment of Texas cavalry the regiment had two 
companies from Illinois Little's and Stapp's. Their names were as follows : 
Thomas Bacon, sergeant, John Murphy, John Guison, Edward Miller, Wyatt R. 
Hill, William Jones, Josiah Jones, Hiram Wood, James Holley, Peter Kuyken- 
tiall, John Wood, William Edwards, Hugh Rice, William F. McWain, Charles 
Cowden, Thomas Stone and William Hamilton. John Murphy and Thomas Stone 
were killed in action near Robert's Bridge, Mexico, and William Jones died at 
Rio Frio, Mexico. 

"Others undoubtedly were in the war but their names cannot now be pro- 
cured. It is pleasing to know that the general assembly of Illinois made an 
appropriation, in 1878, for the purpose of transcribing the names of Illinois 
soldiers who were in the Mexican war from the official register at the war de- 
partment, the same to be placed in the adjutant general's office at Springfield. 
Governor Cullom appointed Colonel Ferris Forman, of Vandalia, to perform that 
duty." 



CHAPTER II. 
GEOLOGY. 

PREPARATION OF THE EARTH FOR MAN'S CONVENIENCE THE ROCKS AND HILLS 

AS NATURE LEFT THEM COAL AND OTHER MINERAL FORMATIONS IN THE 

COUNTY FAUNA AND FLORA OF THE COUNTY. 

Drift Deposits The quatenary beds of the county consist mainly of drift 
clays, with some interstratified beds of sand and gravel, and some local deposits 
of loess along the bluffs of the Macoupin. They range in thickness from forty 
to two hundred feet or more, their greatest development being restricted to the 
ancient valleys, excavated anterior to, or during the drift epoch, and subsequently 
filled with drift accumulations. 

Three miles south of Carlinville a shaft was sunk by T. L. Loomis, to the 
depth of one hundred and sixty feet, without reaching bed rock, all but a few 
feet at the top being through a blue hard pan. At this point a stream of 
water broke through, probably from an underlying bed of quicksand and filled 
the shaft in a few hours to the depth of about eighty feet, and the work was 
consequently abandoned. 

At a coal shaft one mile east of Bunker Hill the superficial deposits were 
only twenty-eight feet thick, while at a shaft east of Staunton, they were one 
hundred and ten feet ; at the Virden shaft, twenty, and at Girard, about seventy 
feet. These figures illustrate the variable thickness of the drift deposits in the 
county, and indicate the irregularity of the original surface of the bed rock, 
which seems to have been intersected by valleys of erosion quite as deep, if not 
as numerous as those which characterize the surface at the present time. 

Stratified Rock All the stratified rocks of this county belong to the coal 
measures and include all the strata from the horizon of coal No. 4, which out- 
crops on Hodges' creek, just on the Greene county line, to coal No. 10, inclusive, 
embracing an aggregate thickness of about three hundred and fifty feet. The 
following section of the coal shaft at Virden will give a general idea of the 
relative thickness and position of the strata, and includes nearly all the different 
beds that outcrop in the county. 

VIRDEN SHAFT. 

Feet Inches 

Drift clay 20 o 

No. I Sandstone 5 O 

No. 2 Bituminous shale o 5 

67 



68 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Feet. Inches. 

No. 3 Coal o 2 

No. 4 Fireclay 5 o 

No. 5 Bituminous shale 4 6 

No. 6 Coal No. 10 , o 6 

No. 7 Fireclay or clay shale 6 o 

No. 8 Hard gray limestone 7 9 

No. 9 Bituminous shale i 4 

No. 10 Argillaceous shale 5 6 

No. ii Compact limestone (Carlinville bed) 7 o 

No. 12 Bituminous shale, Coal No. 9 i 3 

No. 13 Clay shale 6 o 

No. 14 Limestone o 9 

No. 15 Sandy shale and sandstone 63 o 

No. 16 Soft limestone or calcareous shale i 4 

No. 17 Bituminous shale 3 10 

No. 18 Coal No. 8 o 10 

No. 19 Sandstone and sand shale 72 o 

No. 20 Shales with ironstone 3 o 

No. 21 Hard calcareous sandstone 8 o 

No. 22 Blue clay shale 4 o 

No. 23 Variegated shales (Horizon of Coal No. 7) 22 6 

No. 24 Sandy shales 26 o 

No. 25 Soft bituminous shale i 6 

No. 26 Limestone 3 o 

No. 27 Bituminous shale 2 6 

No. 28 Coal No. 6 2 9 

No. 29 Fireclay 2 o 

i No. 30 Sandstone 4 o 

No. 31 Coal No. 6 i 6 

No. 32 Fireclay 2 o 

No. 33 Sandstone and shale 10 o 

No. 34 Limestone 7 o 

No. 35 Bituminous shale o 6 

No. 36 Coal No. 5 7 8 

Total depth to the bottom of the coal 320 i 

ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 

Coal As may be presumed from the perusal of the preceding statements coal 
is by far the most valuable mineral product of this county. Its entire area is 
underlaid by coal, and the supply from coal seam Xo. 5 alone is practically inex- 
haustible ; and its resources from this seam, reckoning its average thickness at six 
feet, which is believed to be a fair estimate, is not less than 5,184,000,000 tons, and 
will admit of an annual consumption of one million tons per annum for 5,184 years, 
before the coal from this seam alone would be exhausted. The underlying beds 

which have never yet been penetrated in this county may be safely set down 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 69 

as capable of affording an amount equally as great as that of No. 5, and hence 
the entire coal resources of this county may be estimated in round numbers at 
more than ten billions of tons. 

Coal No. 5 may be found anywhere in the county that it may be desirable to 
inaugurate a coal mining enterprise, as it outcrops at the surface on the principal 
streams that intersect the western border of the county, and in the central and 
eastern portions it may be reached in shafts varying from three to four hundred 
feet in depth. 

Coal No. 4 usually lies from thirty to forty feet below No. 5, and the three 
lower seams, Nos. i, 2 and 3, will all be found, if developed at all, within one 
hundred and fifty feet below No. 4, so that a boring or shaft carried two hun- 
dred feet below the main coal in this county, would penetrate all the coals to be 
found here, and determine positively the amount of coal accessible at any given 
point where the experiment may be made. 

Coal No. 5 affords'a coal of good average quality, tolerably hard, bright, com- 
pact and usually free from pyrite ; it has a rather uneven fracture, but inclines to, 
break into cubic forms, the layers rather thick and separated by partings of car- 
bonaceous clod or mineral charcoal, and contains vertical seams of white car- 
bonate of lime. An analysis of this coal from the Hodges' creek mines, made by 
the late Henry Pratten, former chemist of the geological survey, and published 
in Dr. Norwood's "Abstract of a Report on Illinois Coals," gave the following 
result : 

Specific Gravity i .2797 

Loss in coking 43-48 

Total weight of coke 56-52 



100.00 

ANALYSIS. 

Moisture 6.50 

Volatile matter 36.98 

Carbon in coke 48.72 

Ashes (white) 7.80 



100.00 
Carbon in coal 53-8 

In quality this coal will compare favorably with the average of our western 
bituminous coals. It is a good steam producing coal, hard enough to bear trans- 
portation, and when carefully selected this seam will afford a good smith's coal. 

Building Stone The coal measure strata seldom afford a good building stone, 
except for foundation walls, culverts and the more ordinary uses to which a 
coarse and homely material may be used. The Carlinville limestone is the most 
valuable rock of its kind to be found in this county, and it has been freely used 
for the ordinary uses above named. In the vicinity of Carlinville,. the beds range 
from five to six feet in thickness, antl occur in quite regular layers from four 
inches to a foot or more in thickness. When burned, it slacks freely, and makes 
a tolerably good but dark colored quick lime. It appears to stand exposure well 
and has proved to be a durable stone where used for foundation walls, bridge 



70 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

abutments, etc., and is the most valuable limestone in the county for economical 
purposes. 

The coarse brownish gray limestone above the Carlinville bed, which is found 
in the bluffs of the Macoupin, east of Carlinville, is also a durable stone and has 
been used for abutments and foundation walls in the vicinity of its outcrop, but 
as the bed is only from two to three feet in thickness the supply from this source 
is necessarily limited. 

Among the sandstones of this county there are at least three distinct beds 
that will furnish building stone of fair quality if carefully selected. Two of these 
beds outcrop on Apple creek and its tributaries, in the northwestern corner of the 
county. These beds are twenty-four and thirty feet thick respectively, and are 
in part composed of a massive brown sandstone that stands exposure well, has 
an even texture, and can be easily quarried in blocks suitable for ordinary build- 
ing purposes. There is also a softer micaceous sandstone outcropping on the 
Macoupin, below the bridge, on the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis railroad, which 
affords a tolerably good building stone if carefully selected. These sandstones 
may probably be found outcropping at other points in the western portion of the 
county, and as a rule, wherever a sandstone is found to present a solid cliff or 
rock at its outcrop, it may be safely used for all ordinary building purposes. 

Iron Ore A band o-f very pure carbonate of iron was observed at two or 
three points on the Macoupin east of Carlinville, intercalated in the shales over- 
lying the Carlinville limestone, but nowhere in sufficient abundance to be of any 
economic importance at the present time. 

Sand and Clay for Brick Making These materials are abundant in all parts 
of the county and may usually be obtained from the beds immediately beneath the 
soil on the uplands, and where there seems to be a deficiency of sand in the sub- 
soil clays it may be easily supplied from the beds of the streams, or from the 
sandbeds interstratified with the drift clays. 

REPORT OF J. C. SHANAHAN, COUNTY INSPECTOR OF MINES FOR igiO. 

"To the Honorable President and Members of the County Board of Super- 
visors, Macoupin County : 

"Gentlemen : I have the honor herewith to present to you my annual report 
as county inspector of mines, for the year ending July i, 1910. 

"The report will show the number of tons of coal mined, the tons shipped on 
railroads, the tons supplied to railroad locomotives, tons sold to the local trade 
and tons used for steam at the mines ; the aggregate value of coal at the mines, 
the number of tons mined by hand and the number of tons mined by machines ; 
the number and kind of machines used for mining coal and how operated by 
electricity or compressed air ; the number of miners, others employed under- 
ground, boys employed underground and all others employed above ground, 
with the total number of employes ; the number of kegs of powder used and 
motors used underground for hauling the coal, the number of accidents both 
fatal and non-fatal. 

"The following summary is given which will show the contents of the tables 

"Number of shipping mines 17, as follows: Superior Coal Company, No. 3, 
Gillespie ; Superior Coal Company No. 2, Gillespie ; Superior Coal Company No. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 71 

i, Gillespie; Consolidated Coal Company No. 15, Staunton; Consolidated Coal 
Company No. 14, Staunton ; Royal Colliery Company, Virden ; Girard Collieries 
Company, Girard; Madison Coal Corporation No. 5, Mt. Olive; Vivan Colliery 
Company, Green ridge ; Consolidated Coal Company No. 8, Mt. Olive ; Carlinville 
Coal Company, Carlinville ; Lukins & Andrews, Virden ; Glenridge Coal Com- 
pany, Virden; Consolidated Coal Company, Gillespie; Consolidated Coal Com- 
pany No. 6, Staunton ; Consolidated Coal Company No. 7, Staunton ; Nilwood 
Coal Company, Nilwood. 

"Number of local mines, as follows: William Neil & Company, Bunker Hill; 
Bauser & Truesdale, Bunker Hill; John J. Harbaugh, Chesterfield; G. B. Loper, 
Chesterfield ; Fritz T. Jardin, Bunker Hill. 

"Total number of mines, 22; tons shipped on railroads, 3,753,550; tons sup- 
plied to locomotives, 34,242; tons sold to local trade, 112,564; tons used at mine 
for steam purposes, 140,080; total number of tons, 4,040,436; tons mined by 
hand, 794,292; tons mined by machines, 3,246,144; average working days for 
shipping mines, 152; mining price for hand mining to June i, 1910, 55 cents; 
mining price for hand mining after June i, 1910, 58 cents; price for machine 
mining to June i, 1910, 48 cents; mining price for machine mining after June I, 
1910, 51 cents; number of mining machines, 278; number of miners, 3,117; 
others employed underground, 1,043; boys employed underground, 150; employes 
above ground, 371 ; total number of employes, 4,681 ; number of kegs of powder 
for blasting coal, 66,552 ; number of kegs used for other purposes, 71 ; number 
of compressed air locomotives, 4; number of electric locomotives, 17; number of 
cable rope used, i ; aggregate value of coal sold at mine, $3,508,565 ; number 
of fatal accidents, 4; number of non-fatal accidents of those who have lost 
thirty days, 23; number of tons produced to each fatal accident, 1,010,109; num- 
ber of tons produced to each non-fatal accident, 183,656. 

"The output of the county shows a falling off of 322,494 tons from last 
year. This is owing to the suspension of work at all the shipping mines in the 
county from April i, 1910, to June i, 1910. A number of the mines in the 
county have signed a scale with United Mine Workers and went to work June 
i, 1910, namely: Girard Collieries Company, Glenridge Coal Company, Carlin- 
ville Coal Company, Nilwood Coal Company and Superior Coal Company. 

"Improvements There have not been many improvements in the mines of 
the county during the last year, except putting in fire protection at the bottom 
of the shafts and stables in accordance with the amendments to the mining law 
passed by the late special session of the legislature. The shipping mines are all 
finished. Some of the local mines have not been able to secure all material to 
finish their mines but they will be finished in the near future. 

"Abandoned Mines The Consolidated Coal Company of St. Louis, Missouri, 
has abandoned its mine No. 10 at Mt. Olive. 

"Change of Name The No. i mine of the Illinois Collieries Company, being 
the north shaft at Virden, will be known from this time on as the Glenridge 
Coal Company." 

FAUNA OF THE COUNTY. 

In presenting a list of the animals of the county that existed here prior to and 
after the advent of the white man, while the list may not be complete, it will, 



72 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

however, be of interest to the student and scientist. Of the ruminating animals 
that were indigenous to this territory we had the American elk, and still have 
the deer of two kinds, the more common, the well known American deer and the 
white-tailed deer. The latter still affords amusement and sport for the hunter 
in the more timbered portions of the county, and at a period not very remote, 
the American buffalo must have found pastures near the alluvial and shaded 
banks of the Macoupin and plains and prairies of this portion of the state. The 
heads, horns and bones of the slain animals were still numerous in 1830. 
The black bear was quite numerous even in the memory of the old settlers. The 
gray wolf and prairie wolf are not unfrequently found, as is also the gray fox, 
which still exists by its superior cunning. The panther was occasionally met 
with in the earlier times, and still later and more common, the wild cat. There 
were also found the weasel, one or more species ; the mink and American otter, 
which were quite numerous on Otter creek, in the northern part of the county; 
the skunk, the badger, the raccoon and the opossum. The two latter species of 
animals are met with in every portion of the United States and the greater 
part of North America. The coon skin among the earlier settlers was regarded 
as a legal tender. The bear and otter are probably now extinct in the county 
and were valuable for their furs. Of the squirrel family we have the fox, 
gray, flying, ground and prairie squirrel. The woodchuck and the beaver were 
common prior to the settlement, as was also the common musk rat. The bats, 
shrews and moles are common. Of the Muridae we have the introduced species 
of rats and mice, as well as the meadow mouse and the long-tailed jumping 
mouse, frequently met with in the clearings. Of the hares, the so-called rabbit 
is very plentiful. Several species of the native animals have perished, being 
unable to endure the presence of civilization, or finding the food congenial to 
their tastes appropriated by stronger races. Many of the pleasures, dangers and 
excitements of the chase are only known and enjoyed by most of us at the 
present day through the talk and traditions of the past. The buffalo and the 
elk have passed the borders of the Mississippi to the westward, never more to 
return. 

Of the fish, the most common are the cat, bass and the sun-fish. The perch, 
pike and buffalo are also occasionally seen. The common carp chub is numerous. 
The bass is a game fish and affords fine sport. 

The game birds most sought are the wild turkey and prairie hen, which 
afford excellent sport for the hunter and are quite plentiful. The gray eagle is 
also occasionally seen. We also have pinnated grouse, ruffled grouse, ortyx vir- 
ginianus quail, woodcock, English snipe, red-breasted snipe, telltale snipe, yellow 
legs, marbled godwit, long-billed curlew, short-billed curlew, Virginia rail, Amer- 
ican swan, trumpeter swan, snow goose, Canada goose brant, mallard, black duck, 
pintail duck, green-winged teel, blue-winged teel, shoveler, American widgeon, 
summer, or wood duck, red-head duck, canvas-back duck, butter ball, rough- 
billed pelican, loon killdee, plover, bald head, yellow legged and upland plover, 
wild ibis, white heron, great blue heron, bittern, sand hill crane, wild pigeon, com- 
mon dove, American raven, common crow, blue jay, bobolink, red winged black, 
meadow lark, golden oriole, yellow bird, snow bird, chirping sparrow, field spar- 
row, swamp sparrow, indigo bird, cardinal red bird, cheewink, white bellied nut- 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 73 

hatch, mocking bird, cat bird, brown thrush, house wren, barn swallow, bank 
swallow, blue martin, cedar bird, scarlet tanager, summer red bird, robin, blue 
bird, king bird, pewee, belted kingfisher, whippoorwill, night hawk, chimney 
swallow, ruby throated humming bird, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, 
red headed woodpecker, golden winged woodpecker, Carolina parrot, great horned 
owl, barred owl, snowy owl, turkey buzzard, pigeon hawk, swallow tailed hawk, 
Mississippi kite, red tailed hawk, bald eagle, ring tailed eagle. 
We give the following classification of birds in three divisions : 

1. Those of the greatest value to the fruit growers in destroying noxious 
insects, and which should be encouraged and fostered in every way : blue birds, 
tit mice or chickadees, warblers, swallows and all birds known as woodpeckers 
except sapsuckers. The latter is entirely injurious, as it is not insectivorous 
but feeds on the inner bark of many species of tree and may be known from 
other woodpeckers by its belly being yellowish, a large black patch on its breast 
and the top of its head a dark bright red. The males have also a patch of the 
same on their throats and with the minor margins of the two central tail feathers 
white. This bird should not be mistaken for the two other most valuable birds 
which it nearly resembles, the hairy woodpecker and the downy woodpecker. 
These two species have the two outer tail feathers white and have only a small 
patch of red on the back of the head of the males. The yellow hammer or 
flecker is somewhat colored with yellow and should not be mistaken for the sap- 
sucker. It is a much larger bird. The red headed woodpecker sometimes pecks 
into apples and devours cherries and should be placed in the next division (2). 
The wren, ground robin, meadow lark, all the fly catchers, the king bird or bee 
catcher, whippoorwill, night hawk or goat sucker, nuthatcher, pewee or pewit, 
all the blackbirds, bobolinks, white and brown creepers, Maryland warblers, indigo 
birds, chirping sparrow, black throated bunting and thrushes, except those named 
m the next class, and all domestic fowls except geese. 

2. Birds of doubtful utility are those which have beneficial qualities in the 
way of destroying fruits and whose habits are not fully determined. The robin, 
brown thrush and cat bird are very valuable as cut worm eaters but also very 
obnoxious to the small fruit growers. The blue jay is not only destructive to 
grain and fruits but very noxious ' in the way of destroying the nest eggs and 
young of smaller and better birds, robin, brown thrush, cat bird, shrike or 
butcher bird, red headed woodpecker, jay bird or blue jay, crow and the small 
owls, pigeons and mocking bird. 

3. Birds that should be exterminated are sapsucker, or yellow bellied wood- 
pecker, Baltimore oriole, or hanging bird, cedar bird, or wax wings, hawks and 
the larger owls. 

FLORA. 

When we gaze out over the landscape the eye is pleased with its chequered 
beauty and loveliness. Here and there are bright flowers, clinging vines, green 
verdured hill and dale, majestic forest trees, whose towering heads have with- 
stood the blasts and storms of many winters, these were created not only to 
please the eye and beautify the world, but the cereals and grasses were made to 
furnish food for man and beast. This article will treat particularly of the more 



74 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

valuable woods utilized in the mechanic arts, and the grasses, plants, vegetables 
and flowers most beneficial to man, and particularly those which are natives of 
the county. Many species of the native vegetable kingdom have fled. The 
buffalo grass, which only grew on parts of the prairies, and almost wholly the 
large pampas grass, have become extinct and given place to blue grass, which, 
in places where domestic cattle feed, is rapidly and quietly displacing all others. 
The plants are many and rare, some for beauty and some for medicine. The 
pink root, the columbo, the ginseng, boneset, pennyroyal and others are used as 
herbs for medicine. Plants of beauty are the phlox, lily, asclepias, mints, golden 
rod, eye bright gerardia and hundreds more which adorn the meadows and brook- 
sides. Besides these there are the climbing vines, trumpet creeper, bitter sweet, 
woodbine, clematis and the grape, which fill the woods with gay festoons and 
add grace to many a decaying monarch of the forest. The trees and grasses, 
one so lordly and permanent, the other so humble and transient, are the true 
glories of the county. The oak, with at least its twenty varieties ; the hickory, 
with as many more species ; the thirty kinds of elm, from the soft, which bear 
leaves as large as a man's hand, to the kind which bear a leaf scarcely larger 
than a man's thumb nail ; the black walnut, so tall and straight ; the hackberry ; 
gum tree, black and sweet; the tulip and the giant cottonwoods and hundreds 
more, attest the fertility of the soil and mildness of the climate, while the blue 
grass, in its ten varieties, the timothy and red top, with clover so abundant in 
succulence, affords excellent pasturage and opens a fine field for the dairyman 
or stock raiser. 

The following is a partial list of the trees and plants of the county : Cot- 
tonwood, willow, alder, birch, hazel nut, red oak, water oak, black oak, black 
jack, laurel oak, chestnut white oak, yellow oak, white oak, post oak, pig nut, 
hickory, overcup oak, white heart hickory, shellbark hickory, pecan, black walnut, 
butternut, sycamore, red elm, red mulberry, stinging nettle, white elm, spear grass, 
blue grass, bulrush, Indian turnip, cat tail, arrow head, yellow lady's slipper, 
white lady's slipper, hemp, hop, Jamestown weed, milk weed, white ash, black 
ash, poke weed, pig weed, sour dock, sassafras, fever bush, hoarhound, night 
shade, ground cherry, horsemint, catnip, pennyroyal, persimmon, plantain, mullein, 
common thistle, burdock, dandelion, fire we'ed, rag weed, cockle bur, Spanish 
needle, beggar ticks, May weed, ox eye daisy, thoroughwort, dogwood, elder, wild 
gooseberry, wild crab, climbing rose, dwarf wild rose, blackberry, paw-paw. May 
apple, blood root, wild pepper grass, linden, prickly ash, sumach, poison oak, 
summer grape, frost grape, Virginia creeper, buckeye, sugar maple, white maple, 
box elder, indigo weed, red bud, coffee tree, honey locust, red plum, Chickasaw 
plum, wild cherry, wild strawberry, black cap raspberry, dewberry. 



CHAPTER III. 
ORGANIZATION. 

MACOUPIN COUNTY ORGANIZED IN 1829 COMMISSIONERS NAMED TO SELECT A 

COUNTY SEAT PROVISIONS MADE FOR THE FIRST ELECTION FIRST COUNTY 

OFFICIALS FIRST GRAND AND PETIT JURORS FIRST AND ONLY LEGAL EX- 
ECUTION. 

At the time of the creation of Macoupin county that portion of the state 
within the confines of the county was a part of Madison; but when part of 
Madison county was organized and designated as Greene county, the territory 
comprising the future county of Macoupin was then part and parcel of Greene 
and was known as the "attached part of "Greene county." 

In 1829 the legislature, in session at the capital, Vandalia, passed an act 
entitled "an act creating the county of Macoupin" and appointing five com- 
missioners to select a seat of justice, whose names appear in the bill which is 
appended. The county was named Macoupin in the act. This word is of In- 
dian origin and is abbreviated from "Macoupina," which signifies in their tongue 
"white potato," for that is the name they gave to the wild artichoke which grew 
abundantly along the water courses. The name was given to the principal stream 
of the county long before its organization, and when the new county was created, 
was conferred upon it. 

Thomas Carlin, afterwards governor of the state, was at that time a senator 
from this district, and it was largely through his instrumentality that the passage 
of the bill was secured. The celebrated and eccentric pioneer preacher, Peter 
Cartwright, was also a member of the general assembly, and opposed the bill, 
saying, among other things, that "God had set apart this region as a reservation 
for the geese and ducks." But the demands of the citizens of the attached part 
of Greene county were acceded to and the legislature passed the following bill, 
entitled 

AN ACT CREATING THE COUNTY OF MACOUPIN. 

"Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois represented in the gen- 
eral assembly, That all that tract of country within the boundaries, to-wit : Be- 
ginning at the southwest corner of ^township seven, north of range nine, west 
of the west principal meridian ; thence east on the line dividing townships six 
and seven to the southwest corner of Montgomery county ; thence due north 
to the southern boundary of Sangamon county ; thence west on the southern 

75 



76 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

line of Sangamon and Morgan counties, to the range line dividing ranges nine 
and ten; thence south on said range line to the place of beginning, shall form 
and constitute a county to be called Macoupin. 

"Section 2. For the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said 
county, the following persons are appointed commissioners, to-wit : Seth Hodges, 
Joseph Borough, John Harris, Shadrach Reddick and Ephraim Powers, who, or 
a majority of them being first sworn before some justice of the peace of this 
state, faithfully to take into consideration the convenience of the people with 
an eye to the future population and eligibility of the place, shall meet at the 
house of Joseph Borough, in said county of Macoupin, on the third day of 
March next, or within six days thereafter, and proceed to examine and determine 
on a place for the permanent seat of justice of said county ; Provided the com- 
missioners aforesaid shall locate the seat of Justice on public land, they shall 
designate the same, and certify to the county commissioners of said county, as 
soon as they shall be qualified to office, the half quarter or quarter section of ' 
land so selected for said county seat ; and it shall be the duty of said county 
commissioners as soon thereafter as they may be enabled, to enter the same in 
the land office of the district in which the same may be situated, and they shall 
immediately thereafter lay off the same, or any part thereof, into town lots, 
and sell the same on such terms and conditions as may be most advantageous 
to the interests of said county ; and the proceeds of the sale shall be appropriated 
to the erection of a sufficient court house and jail. But if the said commissioners, 
appointed to locate said seat of justice, should locate the same on the lands of 
any person, or persons, and such proprietor, or proprietors, should refuse or 
neglect to give to the county, for the purpose of erecting public buildings for 
the use of said county, a quantity of land not less than twenty acres, situated 
and lying in a square form, to be selected by said commissioners, then, and in 
that case, the said commissioners shall proceed to select some other situation, 
as convenient as may be to the place first selected ; Provided, the like quantity, 
and for the purpose above mentioned. And the said commissioners, after hav- 
ing made such location, shall designate the same, and certify as aforesaid, to 
the next county commissioners court, to be held in and for said county ; and it 
shall be the duty of said county commissioners to demand and receive a title in 
fee simple, for the use of said county, for the donation of land as above stated, 
and to lay out the same into town lots, and sell the same, and appropriate the pro- 
ceeds thereof as before mentioned ; which place, when so fixed upon, shall be the 
permanent seat of justice of said county; all of which proceedings shall be en- 
tered of record on the books of the county court. 

"Section 3. Until public buildings shall be erected for the purpose, the courts 
shall be held at the house of Joseph Borough, in said county, or at such other 
places as the county commissioners may appoint. 

"Section 4. An election shall be held at the house of Joseph Borough, in 
said county, on the second Monday of April next, for one sheriff, one coroner, 
and three county commissioners, for said county, who shall hold their offices until 
the next general election, and until their successors are qualified ; which said 
election shall be conducted in all respects, agreeably to the provisions of the 
law regulating elections ; Provided that the qualified voters present may select 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 77 

among themselves three qualified voters to act as judges of said election, who 
shall appoint two qualified voters to act as clerks. 

"Section 5. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the circuit court of said county, 
to give notice, in writing, at least ten days previous to said election, to be held 
on the second Monday of April next, and in case there shall be no clerk in 
said county, it shall be the duty of any Justice of the Peace, residing in said 
county, and commissioned a Justice of the Peace, for the county of Greene, to 
give notice of the time and place of holding said election. 

"Section 6. The citizens of said' county of Macoupin are entitled, in all 
respects, to the same rights and privileges as are allowed to other citizens of 
other counties of this state. 

"Section 7. The commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice of 
said county, shall receive one dollar and fifty cents per day, for each day neces- 
sarily spent in discharging the duties imposed on them by this act, to be paid out 
of the county treasury of said county, and the said commissioners shall give to 
the said seat of justice some appropriate name. 

"Section 8. The inhabitants of said county shall vote in all elections for 
members of the General Assembly, in the same manner as they were authorized 
to do, before the passage of this act. NINIAN EDWARDS, Governor. 

''Approved, January 17, 1829.'' 

RECORD OF THE MEETING OF THE FIRST BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. 

At a special term of court held on the i2th of April, 1829, it was "Ordered 
that until public buildings shall be erected for the purpose, the courts in future 
shall be held at the house of John L. Davis, in Macoupin county. 

"April 18, 1829. Ordered, that Macoupin county be divided into three elec- 
tion precincts, for the election of justices of the peace and constables for county. 

"April 18, 1829. Ordered, that all that tract of country lying within the 
following boundaries, to-wit : beginning at the southwest corner of Macoupin 
county, and running thence east with the line of said county, to the Bond county 
line, thence north with said line twelve miles, thence due west to the line of 
Greene county, thence due south with said line to the place of beginning, shall 
constitute an election district for justices of the peace, and constables, and be 
called Cahokia district. 

"April 18. 1829. Ordered, that all that tract of country lying within the 
following boundaries, to-wit : beginning at the southwest corner of township 
nine north, in range nine west, thence due east to the Bond county line, thence 
due north with said line twelve miles to the southeast corner of township eleven 
north, range six west, thence due west to Greene county line, 'thence south with 
said line to the place of beginning, shall constitute an election district for justices 
of the peace and constables, and be called Macoupin district. 

"April 1 8. 1829. Ordered, that all that tract of country lying within the 
following boundaries, to-wit : beginning at the southwest corner of township 
eleven north, range nine west, thence east to the line of Sangamon county, thence 
due west with the said lines of Sangamon and Morgan counties to Greene county 
line, thence due south with said line of Greene county to the place of beginning, 



78 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

shall constitute an election district for justices of the peace and constables, and 
be called Apple Creek district. 

"April 18, 1829. Ordered, that elections shall be held in each of the districts 
in this county for the election of two justices of the peace and two constables 
for each district, except the district in which the county seat is, in which district 
there shall be three justices of the peace and three constables elected, on Satur- 
day, the sixteenth day of May next. 

"It is ordered that Ephraim Powers, John Chapman and Lewis Cormack be 
appointed judges of election, for justices of the peace and constables in Cahokia 
district. 

"Also, that Theodorus Davis, Samuel M. Harris and Samuel Lear be ap- 
pointed judges of election, for justices of the peace and constables in Macoupin 
district. 

"Also, that Hugh Gibson, John Nevins and James Mabrey be appointed 
judges of election for justices of the peace and constables in Apple Creek district. 

"Also, that the elections for justices and constables in Cahokia district shall 
be held at the house of Ephraim Powers in said district. 

"Ordered, that the elections for justices of the peace and constables in 
Macoupin district shall be held at the house of Joseph Borough. 

"Also, that the elections for justices of the peace and constables in Apple 
Creek district shall be held at the house of Felix Hoover. 

"It is ordered by the court that William G. Coop be appointed county treas- 
urer and assessor of this county." 

SECOND SESSION. 

"At a County Commissioners' Court, begun and held at the house of John 
L. Davis, in and for said county of Macoupin, on Thursday, the seventh day 
of May, 1829. 

"President Theodorus Davis, William Wilcox, Commissioners. 

"On motion of several citizens of Apple Creek district, the line dividing said 
Apple Creek district and Macoupin district, is changed thus fourteen miles di- 
rectly east from the western line of said county, the line shall commence and 
run diagonally across the townships, so as to strike the eastern line of said 
county, two miles south of the northwest corner of the county aforesaid. 

"May 27, 1829. Some doubts having arisen with regard to the authority of 
the clerk of this court, he took the different oaths of office." 

THE SELECTING OF THE SITE FOR THE COUNTY SEAT. 



At a meeting of the commissioners court, held on the 2d of June, 1829. 

"The Court received the report of the commissioners, appointed by law for 
fixing the seat of justice for this county, which said report read as follows, to-wit : 

"The commissioners appointed by the General Assembly of the State of 
Illinois, in the year 1829, to locate the seat of justice for the County of Macoupin, 
having met at the house of Joseph Borough in said county, and having fixed 
upon the following site for the seat of justice of said county, etc., being and 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 79 

lying on the S. W. qr. of Sec. 28, Township 10 N., Range 7 West. Donation 
30 acres, to be situated in an oblong square, 80 poles in front on the north side, 
to run 60 poles south. Stake drove on the north side of public square, equi- 
distant from E. and W. corners on N. side, facing Main St., to run due East and 
West. 

"Given under our hands and seals, this first day of June, A. D., 1829. 

"SETH HODGES. 
"JOSEPH BOROUGH. 
"JOHN HARRIS." 

The court received a title in fee simple for the above described lot, or do- 
nation of ground, which said bond is ordered to be filed in the clerk's office 
of this court. The site for the county seat was named Carlinville, in honor 
of Thomas Carlin; who afterwards became governor of Illinois, and who, as has 
been seen, secured the passage -of the creating act. 

COPY OF PROPRIETOR'S BOND TO COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

"Know all men by these presents that we, Seth Hodges and Ezekiel Good, 
are held and firmly bound unto William Wilcox, Theodorus Davis and Seth 
Hodges, county commissioners for Macoupin county, and their successors in 
office, in the penal sum of one thousand dollars, for the true payment whereof 
we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors and administrators jointly, severally and 
firmly by these presents. Sealed with our seals, and dated this ist day of June, 
1829. 

"The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above named 
Seth Hodges and Ezekiel Good have agreed to make a good and lawful deed 
to the above named county commissioners and their successors in office to 
thirty acres of land situate, and lying and being in the southwest quarter of 
section of No. 28, 10 N. in W. R. 7, to-wit, situated in an oblong square, 80 
poles in front, on the north side to run 60 poles south. Stake drove on the north 
side of the public square equi-distant from E. and W. on N. side facing Main 
street, Main street to run due east and west. Now if the said Good and Hodges 
shall make a good and sufficient deed to the above described lot or parcel of 
ground as soon as the patent for said ground shall come to their hands, then 
this obligation to be void, else to remain in full force. 

"SETH HODGES. (SEAL) 
"EZEKIEL GOOD. (SEAL)" 

LAYING OFF THE TOWN OF CARLINVILLE, JUNE TERM OF COURT, 1829 JUNE I 

"It is ordered by the court that the surveyor of this county proceed to lay 
off the town of Carlinville into town lots, under the direction of the commis- 
sioners of this county, and that he return a plot of the same to the office of this 
court, previous to the 27th day of August next, and it is further ordered by the 
court that twenty lots of the aforesaid town of Carlinville be offered for sale 
on the 27th day of August next on the premises, on a credit of six, twelve and 
eighteen months, the purchaser giving bond with approved security for the pur- 



80 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

chase money, a.nd that the clerk of this court furnish an advertisement convey- 
ing the intent and meaning of this order, to be published in the Illinois Intelli- 
gencer, and also advertise the same in such public places in this county as may 
be deemed expedient. 

"State of Illinois, Macoupin county, ss. : 

"On this day personally appeared before me Ezekiel Good and Seth. Hodges, 
who are personally known to me to be the identical persons who executed thirty 
acres, as a donation, to Seth Hodges, Theodorus Davis and William Wilcox, 
county commissioners of said county, and also said county commissioners, all of 
whom acknowledged the within to be their act and plat to all intents and. pur- 
poses: Given under my hand and seal this 2/th day of August, A. D. 1829. 

LEWIS SOLOMON, J. P. 

"Registered August the 27th, 1829. 

T. P. HOXEY, Recorder." 

ASSESSMENT OF PROPERTY. 

At the same term an order was made by the court for the assessment of the 
county, and the assessor was furnished a classified list of taxable property. 

AMOUNT PAID COMMISSIONERS FOR LOCATING SEAT OF JUSTICE. 

"It was ordered by the commissioners of the county that Joseph Borough be 
allowed four dollars and fifty cents for three days' services as a commissioner in 
locating the county seat; also that John Harris and Shadrach Reddick each be 
allowed the sum of three dollars for two days' services as commissioners to 
locate the seat of justice." 

LAYING OFF THE TOWN. 

To the surveyor, Joseph Borough, for surveying and platting fifty lots in 
the town of Carlinville, the sum of seventeen dollars and fifty cents was allowed 
"by the court, and the same ordered to be paid. 

THE FIRST GRAND JURORS. 

"At a county commissioners' court begun and held at the house of John L. 
Davis, in and for the county of Macoupin, on Monday, the first day of June, 1829. 

"Present : Seth Hodges, William Wilcox, Theodorus Davis, Commissioners." 

"It is ordered by the court that the following named persons be certified 
to the sheriff to serve as grand jurors at the first circuit court held in this county, 
to-wit : 

"Michael Best, Roger Snell, John Chapman, Joseph Hilyard, Edward Mc- 
Kinley, John Powell, Isham Dolton, Samuel M. Harris, Daniel Stringer, Daniel 
Deadrick, Andrew B. Lee, Lewis Solomon, Green Weaver, James Bristow, John 




MOTEL AT BEX LI) 




SUPERIOR C'OAL MINE NO. 2. HEXLI) 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 81 

Nevins, John Cummings, Solomon Davis, James Mabrey, Ezekiel Springer, Hugh 
Gipson, John Love, Andrew Russell and Edmond C. Vancil." 

SECOND VENIRE OF GRAND JURORS. APRIL TERM, 1830. 

"At a term of the Macoupin Circuit Court, begun and held in the town of 
Carlinville, at the court house thereof, on the first Friday after the second Monday 
in the month of April, A. D. 1830. Present the Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and presiding judge of the first judicial 
circuit. John Harris, sheriff of Macoupin county aforesaid, returned into court 
the following venire of grand jurors, to wit: 

"Lewis Solomon, foreman ; John Nevins, Michael Best, John Cummings, 
Roger Snell, James Mabrey, John Chapman, Ezekiel Springer, Joseph Hilyard, 
George Matthews, Edward McKinley, Andrew Russell, John Powell, Edmond C. 
Vancil, Samuel M. Harris, Robert Patton, William Norvel, Bennet Nowlin, An- 
drew Broxvnlee." 

THE FIRST PETIT JURORS. 

"Ordered, that the following persons be selected to serve as petit jurors at the 
next term of the circuit court for the county of Macoupin : Joseph Best, John 
Snell. Joseph Vincent, William Cormack, Peyton Seamonds, Alexander B. Miller, 
Howard Finclley, James Braden, James Hall, Shadrach Reddick, George Nettles, 
Richard Smith, John Wright, David Cooper, Reuben Harris, Jones Denton, John 
Blainey, John Record, Russel Taber, James Howard, Jones Thompson, Isaac 
Massey, Maxey M. Mabrey and Elijah Bristow." 

SECOND DEED EXECUTED AFTER ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 

"This indenture made and entered into this 6th day of November, A. D. 1829, 
between Theodorus Davis, Sen., of the county of Macoupin in the state of Illinois, 
for and in behalf of said county of the one part, and Rowland Shepherd in the 
county and state aforesaid of the other part, witnesseth : That the said Theodorus 
Davis, Sen., commissioner for and in behalf of the county aforesaid, for the sum 
of eight dollars to him paid in hand, doth hereby acknowledge, have given, 
granted, bargained, sold, conveyed and confirmed, and by these presents doth give, 
grant, bargain, release, convey and confirm unto the said Rowland Shepherd and 
to his heirs and assigns forever a certain lot piece or parcel of ground situate, 
lying and being in the town of Carlinville on Main street, and known and desig- 
nated on the plan of map of said town by lot number seventy-one with the ap- 
purtenances. To have and to hold the aforenamed and described lot, piece or 
parcel of ground seventy-one in the town of Carlinville, aforesaid, together with 
all and singular the appurtenances, privileges, advantages, profits and emoluments 
belonging to it, or in anywise or degree appertaining to the same, to the said 
Rowland Shepherd, his heirs and assigns forever. And the said Theodorus Davis, 
Sen., commissioner for and in behalf of said county, doth covenant, promise and 
agree to and with the said Rowland Shepherd, his heirs, etc., that he, the said 
Theodorus Davis. Sen., commissioner as aforesaid for and in behalf of the 



82 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

county aforesaid, will forever warrant and defend the right and title of said 
above named and described lot, piece and parcel of ground to the said Rowland 
Shepherd and to his heirs and assigns forever, to his sole and only proper use, 
benefit and behoof, free and clear of and from the claim or claims of all and 
every person or persons claiming or to claim the same or any part thereof. In 
testimony whereof he, the said Theodorus Davis, Sen., commissioner aforesaid 
for and in behalf of said county, hereunto sets his hand and seal the date above 
written interlined before signed. 

THEODORUS DAVIS, Sen. (SEAL). 
"Attest : 

JOSEPH BOROUGH, 
EZEKIEL GOOD." 

Below are given as of interest to all some of the first papers on record. 

FIRST DIVORCE CASE, AUGUST TERM, 183!. 

"Nancy Sweet vs. Henry S. Sweet For Divorce. 

"This day came the complainant, by James Semple, her attorney, and the de- 
fendant not appearing according to the order of this Court, the complainant's bill 
is taken for confessed, and the Court having heard the evidence on the part of 
the complainant, and being satisfied that the allegation of two years' absence of 
the said complainant's bill was true, and the Court being now sufficiently advised 
of and concerning the premises, do order, adjudge, and decree that the bands of 
matrimony heretofore existing between the said parties be, and the same are 
hereby dissolved. 

"It is further ordered that said complainant pay the costs of this suit." 

FIRST NATURALIZATION. 

"At the April term of Court A. D., 1834, Thomas S. Gelder makes his writ- 
ten application to be naturalized, files his declaration, and takes the oath prescribed 
by law, in open Court, which is ordered to be filed." 

As will be observed from the above, Captain Gelder was the first person to 
become a naturalized citizen in the county. 

FIRST WILL UPON RECORD (1837). 

James Breden, executor, placed it on file in 1839: 

"I, John Murphy, of the county of Macoupin, in the State of Illinois, do make 
and publish this my last will and testament in manner and form following; that 
is to say: First. It is my will that my funeral expenses and all my just debts 
be fully paid. Second. I give, devise and bequeath unto my beloved wife, Sally 
Murphy, in lieu of her dower, the plantation on which we now live, containing 
about thirty acres, which is bounded as follows : that is to say. beginning on the 
northwest corner of the north quarter of section No. twenty-nine, in township 
eleven, north of range eight, west, running east eighty poles, thence north sixty 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 83 

poles to the beignning, and the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of 
section No. thirty, township No. seven, north range eight, west of the third 
principal meridian, and the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of section 
No. thirty, township No. seven, with range No. eight, west of the third principal 
meridian, containing about forty acres each, during her natural life, and all the 
live stock, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, by me now owned, or which I may own 
at the time of my death. And, also, the household furniture and other items 
not particularly named in this will, during her natural life as aforesaid, she, 
however, first disposing of a sufficiency thereof to pay my just debts as aforesaid, 
and at the death of my said wife all the property hereby devised or bequeathed 
to her aforesaid, or so much thereof as may then remain unexpended, to my 
grandson, Levi Murphy, and to his heirs and assigns forever. Provided, how- 
ever, that if my grandson, Levi Murphy, should die without any heirs, then it is 
my will that so much of the above named property as is not expended of by the 
said Levi Murphy at his death to go to my a'dopted son, Henry Anderson, and 
to his heirs and assigns forever. And, lastly, I do hereby constitute and appoint 
my said wife, Sally Murphy, and James Breden, to be the executors of this my 
last will and testament. 

"In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this twelfth 
day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty- 
seven. "JOHN MURPHY (SEAL.)" 

"Signed, published and delivered by the above named John Murphy, as and 
for his last will and testament, in our presence, who, at his request, signed as 
witnesses to the same. 

"ISAAC BREDEN, 

her 

"LOUISA X BREDEX." 

mark. 

FIRST (AND ONLY) LEGAL EXECUTION. 

Aaron Todd and William Todd were citizens 01 Indiana. On the 26th day 
of January, 1840, they were traveling toward Indiana from the west, and in 
their company was their cousin, Larkin Scott. Near Elm Grove, in this county, 
Larkin Scott was murdered by the brothers for the small sum of money he had 
with him some $26. He was killed by repeated blows from a bludgeon, dealt 
by Aaron Todd. The corpse of the victim was a few days thereafter found on 
the prairie, and the officers of the law set themselves to work to discover and 
apprehend the murderers. James C. Clack, a constable of Elm Grove, was 
especially active in ferreting out the perpetrators of this heinous crime, and the 
brothers, Todd, were apprehended in Indiana, and brought hither for trial. They 
were tried and convicted. William Thomas presided on the bench. The de- 
fendants being too poor to employ counsel, the court assigned as their attorneys 
Francis H. Hereford, Josiah Fish, John A. Chestnut and John M. Palmer. The 
jurors were: Amos Snook, Achilles "Tongate, Joseph Huddleston, Jeremiah 
Suiter, Fountain Land, Moses True, Thomas Hughes, Travis Moore, Thomas J. 
McReynolds, Jacob Kinder, Joseph Phillips and Aquilla P. Pepperdine. 



84 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

The state's attorney being absent, the court appointed David A. Smith as 
attorney for the people during that term of court. The trial began on the 5th of 
May. The verdict of the jury was that Aaron Todd was guilty of murder in 
the first degree, and on the 8th, Judge Brown sentenced him to be hung on the 
"2d day of June next, and that on that day, between the hours of twelve o'clock 
M. and four o'clock P. M., the said Aaron Todd be taken and conveyed to some 
convenient place within one mile of the court house in Carlinville, and then and 
there he hung by the neck until he be dead, for the offence of the murder whereof 
he stands convicted by the jury aforesaid; and the court doth further order that 
the sheriff, by himself or deputy, execute the order." 

The verdict fixed the punishment of William Todd at two years in the pen- 
itentiary. On the 8th, an arrest of judgment was entered in the case of William 
Todd. He finally came clear. 

The news that a man was to be hung on the 2d of June spread far and 
wide, and when the day arrived that the sentence of the court was to be executed, 
not less than 8,000 people had gathered in the county seat. The scaffold was 
erected south of West Main street, below the depot. Major Burke officiated in 
person. Dr. John Logan, colonel of the Forty-fourth regiment of militia, had 
five hundred of his men in line for the preservation of order. The execution was 
witnessed by an immense concourse of people. Todd met his fate bravely and 
with resignation. Two weeks before, he made a profession of religion, and died 
in the hope of a better life. He was buried on the west side of the burying 
ground, at some distance from the other graves. Some days after his remains 
were interred, they were exhumed, and his head and one arm were severed from 
the body and 'taken away. 

FIRST TAVERN. 



At the county commissioners' court held at Carlinville, March I, 1830: 
"On motion of William S. Holton he is allowed to keep a tavern at his 
own house in the county of Macoupin, for the term of one year from this date, 
he having executed bond with Tristram P. Hoxey, as required by law, in the 
sum of one hundred dollars, and the said William S. Holton having also paid 
a tax. one dollar and fifty cents being the amount of tax assessed on said stand 
by the court. 

"It is considered by the court that the following be tavern rates for the year 
1830, viz: 

"Breakfast, dinner or supper for one person 25 

Horses for single feed 12^2 

Horse per night or day 25 

Lodging per night for one person 6% 

Whiskey per half pint I2y 2 

Rum, Wine or French Brandy per half pint 25 

Cider or Beer per quart i2 l / 2 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIX COUNTY 85 

"And the several tavern keepers are authorized to receive the foregoing rates 
and no more." 

COPY OF FIRST TAVERN BOND 

"Know all men by these presents that we, William S. Holton and T. B. Hoxey, 
are held and firmly bound unto Ninian Edwards, Governor of the State of 
Illinois, and to his successor in office, in the penal sum of one hundred dollars, 
lawful money of the United States of America, for the payment of which said sum 
of money well and truly to be made, we, and each of us, bind ourselves and heirs, 
executors and administrators jointly, severally and firmly, by these presents. 
Sealed with our seals, and dated this first day of March, A. D. 1830. 

"The conditions of the above obligations are such that whereas the above 
bound William S. Holton hath obtained license and permission from the county 
commissioners' court of the county of Macoupin, State of Illinois, to keep a 
tavern or inn, at his own house in the county aforesaid, for the term of one year, 
from this date : Now if the said William S. Holton shall at all times be of good 
behaviour, and observe all the laws and ordinances, which are or shall be made, 
or be in force relating to innkeepers or tavernkeepers within the state, and further 
that he will at all times keep meat and lodging for at least four persons, over and 
above his common family, and stabling and provender for their horses. Then 
this obligation to be void, else to remain in full force and effect. 
"Attest 
T. P. HOXEY. 

W. S. HOLTON 

(Seal)" 
T. P. HOXEY. 

ROADS. 

At a special meeting of the commissioners' court held at the house of Ezekiel 
Good in August, 1829, sundry voters petitioned that a road should be laid out 
from Carlinville towards Jacksonville, as far as the county extended* at the same 
time other voters petitioned a road should be made from Carlinville toward Car- 
rollton. Both petitions, it will appear, were successful, from the following: 

"At a commissioners' court, begun and held at the house of Ezekiel Good, in 
and for the county of Macoupin, on Monday, the seventh day of December, A. D. 
1829. 

"Present Theodorus Davis, Sr., and William Wilcox, Commissioner. 

"The viewers appointed by the last term of this court to view and lay out a 
road from Carlinville (as far as this county extends) in a direction to Jackson- 
ville on the nearest and best route, made return of their proceedings, to wit: 
That said road as viewed by them, begins at the north end of Broad street, thence 
in a northwestern direction through the head timbers of Hurricane creek, thence 
to the north fork of Macoupin, and crossing the same near Reuben Clevenger's 
farm, thence pretty much in the same direction to Lewis Solomon's farm, run- 
ning on the northeast side of the same, and thence to the rock ford on Apple 
creek in Morgan county, which said report is approved and accepted by the court. 



86 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

and said road is ordered to be opened and kept in repair, and when opened to be a 
public highway and subject to all the laws and regulations of other highways. 

"The viewers appointed by the last term of this court to view and lay out a 
road from Carlinville to this county line, to pass by Bear Creek Point, thence to 
Daniel Deadrick's house, thence north of Norris Hayes' in a direction to Carroll- 
ton, made return of their proceeding, to wit : That said road after being viewed 
by them, was deemed necessary and proper, and that the same begins at the west 
end of Main street, and is designated by staking the prairies and blazing the 
timbered land through which it passes agreeably to the order of said court, which 
said report is approved and accepted by the court and said road ordered to be 
opened, to be a public highway and subject to all the laws and regulations of other 
highways. 

"Viewers for the Jacksonville Road. 

"Joseph Borough, John Love and Russel Taver. $8,37^ cost of survey. 

"Viewers for the Carrollton Road. 
"Samuel Lear, Ezekiel Good and Daniel Deadrick. $6.75^ cost of survey." 



CHAPTER IV. 
TOPOGRAPHY. 

MACOUPIN IS CLASSED AS ONE OF THE SOUTH-CENTRAL COUNTIES THE COUNTY 

AN OBLONG SQUARE ORIGINALLY OF PRAIRIE AND UNDULATING SOIL GRASSES 

TIMBER MOUNDS, ETC. 

Macoupin county lies directly north of the 39th parallel of latitude. It is 
classed as one of the south-central counties. The meridian of 15 west longi- 
tude from Washington passes through almost to the center of the county. It 
is thirty-six miles from north to south, and twenty-four miles from east to 
west, measured in section lines, and contains an area of 864 square miles or 
552,960 acres. It is bounded on the north by Morgan and Sangamon counties, 
east by Montgomery, south by Madison, west by Greene and Jersey counties. 

Carlinville, the capital of the county, situated near the center, is distant from 
Chicago, 223 miles, and from St. Louis, 57 miles. 

Form In form the county is an oblong square, and is divided into twenty- 
four congressional townships, and into twenty-five municipal township or voting 
precincts. 

Population The population of the county, according to the census of 1910, 
is 50,685, and is composed of persons of English, Irish and German extraction, 
with a few colored persons. 

Land Surface The land surface is divided between timber and prairie, the 
greater part being prairie. The surface is rather undulating. There are occasion- 
ally small hills or bluffs adjacent to the streams, principally along the Macoupin 
creek and its tributaries. The county is a portion of what has been happily 
termed the "Grand Prairie of the West," which extends to the heavily timbered 
regions of the sluggish Wabash on the east, to the pine clad Rocky Mountains 
on th,e west. 

The greater portion of the county consisted originally of prairie. Concerning 
the causes that produced the vast tr.eeless plains, various theories have been ad- 
vanced. The more plausible one is that the prairies were "formed under marsh 
of conditions unfavorable to the growth of forests, and that these marshes in 
the course of time became dry, either by the subsidence of the waters or ele- 
vation of the land." 

Waters It is watered by several streams; the Macoupin creek is the largest. 
It rises in Bois de Arc, Montgomery county, and runs in a tortuous and meander- 
ing southwestern direction through the county, and leaves it on section 6, Ches- 

87 



88 HISTORY OF MACOUi'IX COUNTY 

terfield township ; this with its numerous tributaries drains the largest area. The 
northwestern portion of the county is admirably drained by Hodges', Bear, Lick, 
Otter, Solomon's, Joe's and Apple creeks. These with their tributaries drain 
about nine townships or 217,360 acres of land. The south and southeast por- 
tion of the county are drained by Cahokia, Sweet and Indian creeks, and the 
streams running into Wood river. Each of these streams possesses its tribu- 
taries, so that the entire surface of the county is well watered and drained. In 
portions of the county good water is afforded by copious springs. The surface 
is higher than adjacent counties, as may be inferred from the fact that so many 
streams here have their source. The high grounds are the water sheds between 
the creeks. A few mounds exist, of which Coop's and Brush Mounds are the 
most noted. The natural and artificial groves, the fringed banks of the water 
courses, the smiling farms, with their fields of maize and grain and herds of 
cattle, all go to form a picture of surpassing loveliness. But little of the land 
is too flat for drainage, or broken for tillage, and hence the greater portion is 
susceptible of cultivation and affords the widest application of machinery. The 
climate is healthful and is a happy medium between extremes of heat and cold. 
The county forms part of the great maize belt of the continent and its soil is 
unsurpassed in fertility. It is very uniform throughout. Corn, wheat, oats, 
barley, rye, potatoes, flax or hemp, beans or turnips, or any other farm products 
yield a bountiful crop. 

Grasses Blue grass, red and white top clover and timothy grow with great 
luxuriance. The chief industry of the people is agriculture and stock-raising, 
which employs a majority of the people of the county, who possess all the ster- 
ling virtues of the rural freeholder. Directly upon the broad shoulders of the 
tiller of the soil rests the prosperity of every other class of men. He holds in 
his hands the destinies of all. His prosperity means universal prosperity ; his 
failure, universal distress. 

Soil and Agriculture This county is situated in the heart of the best corn 
producing region in the state, and its prairie lands, which constitute by far the 
largest part of its area, are unsurpassed among the uplands in the state in fer- 
tility, and annually produce large crops of Indian corn, as well as the small grains 
and grass, without the aid of fertilizers or artificial stimulants of any kind. 
With a judicious system of rotation of crops, these lands may be thus cultivated 
for an indefinite period without any serious deterioration in their productive 
qualities. 

The soil on the level prairie is of a black, peaty character, becoming of a 
chocolate brown color on the more rolling surfaces, and degenerating into a light 
ash-gray color on the oak ridges, which are the poorest lands in the county. But 
these poorer soils upon the broken lands that border the streams are excellent 
fruit lands, and also produce good crops of wheat and clover, if properly 
cultivated. 

The bottom lands in this county are restricted to a narrow belt along the 
lower course of the Macoupin, and some portion of this has been cleared of the 
heavy growth of timber and brought under cultivation, and is equal to the best 
prairie soils, especially in the growth of corn. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 89 

Natural Mounds There are some natural mounds in the eastern portion of 
the county, among the most conspicuous of which is Coop's Mound, eight miles 
northeast of Carlinville. This mound covers an area of several acres, and is about 
sixty feet in height above the level of the adjacent prairie. It was originally 
covered with a heavy growth of oak and hickory, and from its summit a beau- 
tiful view of the surrounding country may be seen. 

Timber The native kinds of timber are fully set forth in the chapter on 
flora of the county. The largest bodies of timber are found along the Macoupin, 
Otter, Solomon's, Hodges', Coop's and Cahokia creeks and their tributaries, and 
the head waters of the Wood river. The largest timber districts are in Brushy 
Mound, Polk, Chesterfield, Western Mound and Barr townships. Artificial 
groves and belts, consisting chiefly of hard and soft maple, elm, and fruit trees 
have been planted on the prairies for shade and shelter from winter winds for 
stock. 

Fine belts of timber skirt the banks of all the streams in the county, fur- 
nishing an adequate supply for fencing and for fuel to those who prefer wood to 
coal. The principal growth upon the uplands is two or three varieties of oak 
and hickory on the ridges adjacent to the streams, while on the more level lands 
skirting the prairies there are fine groves, which, in addition to these varieties, 
contain elm, linden, wild cherry, honey locust, black walnut and hackberry, and 
indicate a soil of excellent quality. On the creek bottoms the cottonwood, syca- 
more, white and sugar maple, ash, redbud, dogwood, sassafras, persimmon, paw- 
paw and white walnut are common. 






CHAPTER V. 
THE PIONEER. 

DAVID COOP THE FIRST SETTLER A CREEK AND MOUND NAMED FOR THE PIONEER 

LOCATED ON COOP'S CREEK IN l8l5 OTHERS SOON FOLLOWED NAMES OF MANY 

WHO CAME AT A LATER PERIOD BUT OPENED THE COUNTY TO SETTLEMENT. 

Macoupin county has had its disputations over the question of who was the 
first settler within its borders. In this it has nothing on its neighbors. Probably 
not a county in the state but what has gone through the throes of doubt and inde- 
cision upon the same subject and if any one of them has ever reached a conclusion 
satisfactory to each and every disputant, then the old saying is really true that 
"wonders never cease." 

In the case of Macoupin county, it is well settled that David Coop was in the 
county as early as the spring of 1815. John Reynolds, one of the first governors 
of the state, who wrote profusely and carefully of the early history of Illinois 
and in a work entitled "My Own Times" had this, among other things, to say of 
Macoupin's first settler: "Mr. Coop and family, in the spring of 1815, broke 
through the old Indian frontier of Madison county and settled in the limits of the 
present county of Macoupin." Governor Reynolds was one of the pioneers of the 
state, a man of large capacity and opportunity for learning events of importance 
pertinent to the history of the principal communities making component parts of 
the state, and by careful research gave to the productions of his pen a character 
and atmosphere that instilled confidence in his readers. History therefore ac-* 
credits David Coop and his family, consisting of his wife and four boys, John, 
David, Jr., William G., who afterwards became the first county treasurer of Ma- 
coupin, and Ransom, together with several daughters, with being the first settlers 
here. In the spring of 1815, the Coops set their stakes for a home on what has 1 
since been known as Coop's creek, near the center of Hilyard township, and here 
they remained until about 1825, when they removed to the locality designated as 
Coop's Mound, six miles northeast of Carlinville. The family remained at Coop's 
Mound for some years and then, becoming restless and probably cramped for 
room by incoming settlers, decamped and became the pioneers of an Iowa settle- 
ment. 

To the early arrival in this locality of Seth T. Hodges and John Love, both 
of Alabama, almost at the same time as the Coops, must be attributed the doubts 
as to whom should be ascribed the title of first settler. Hodges and Love had 
immigrated from Tennessee to Madison county in 1814 and no doubt has arisen 

90 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 91 

in the minds of former historians as to their coming to Macoupin in 1815. What 
time of the year first found them here is not recorded, but in the case of David 
Coop, the spring of 1815 is specifically stated. Another thing, Hodges and Love, 
even if they were here in 1815 before Coop, they did not take up a permanent set- 
tlement at that time, but were merely bent on hunting and taking observations 
with a view towards finding a suitable location. A year later, having returned to 
their homes, they brought their families and fixed habitations in Palmyra town- 
ship. Seth Hodges became one of the "big" farmers of those early days and, it 
is said, produced 800 bushels of corn from a ten-acre tract of land in 1817. He 
was a "dead shot" with the rifle and became one of the prominent citizens of his 
day. Mr. Hodges was chosen as a member of the first commissioners' court and 
died from the effects of an accident by falling into a well. 

John Love, who accompanied Hodges to this land of promise, was his life 
long friend. Love married Cynthia Seymore in Tennessee and with his wife and 
two children traveled from the south on horseback. Samuel Love, long a resident 
here, was born in the county in 1824, and John Jefferson Love in 1819, in Palmyra 
township. 

Abram Fulk also married a Seymore and came to the county later in the year 
1815. Richard Wilhelm,. whose wife was a Seymore, arrived in 1817 and settled 
on Cahokia creek, in Staunton township. John Powell, a son-in-law of David 
Coop, and Abram Fulk, settled in the northeastern part of Hilyard township in the 
fall of 1815; John C. Wood and Richard Wilhelm, with their families, settled in 
the county in 1817, and were the "first comers" that year. 

Telemachus Camp was one of the arrivals in 1817. He was born in Georgia 
and later became a resident of Alabama, and thence came to the territory of Illi- 
nois. On August 18, 1819, he made the first entry of land in Macoupin county. 
In 1826 Mr. Camp changed his residence to the prairie southeast of Staunton, 
where he passed the remainder of his days. In the fall of the same year, John 
Seymore came to Macoupin county and settled on the same section of land on 
which his son-in-law, Richard Wilhelm, was located, in Staunton township. His 
death occurred at the home -of his son-in-law, John Love, in Palmyra township, 
where his wife also died. 

Smith's creek; in Hilyard township, derived its name from Thomas Smith, 
who settled near its banks, in the southeastern part of the township, in 1818, the 
year in which Illinois was admitted as an integral part of the Union. At that 
time there were only ten families, or forty souls within the borders. 

Richard Chapman, a native of North Carolina, came to Illinois in 1818 and 
settled in St. Clair county, where he remained until December, 1819, at which time 
he settled in Macoupin county, in what is now known as Dorchester township. 
At that time his own and two other families were the only settlers in this part of 
the state. Later, in 1821, Mr. Chapman settled in Staunton township and re- 
mained there until 1857.' His death occurred in 1872 at Carlinville, at the age of 
ninety. John D. Chapman came at the same time as Richard and the two families 
occupied one cabin with only one room until another could be built. In 1826 they 
left the timber and settled just east of what was known as the Sawyer place. 

In September, 1820, Jesse Chapman, a ship carpenter and sailor by trade, 
"squatted" near his brothers, where he built a cabin. He remained here but a 



92 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

year and went to Alabama ; his cabin was occupied by a Mr. Castile and later by 
Mr. Piper. 

In 1821 several families arrived to swell the settlement and in 1824 Jesse Chap- 
man returned. Among those who came in 1821 were James B. Cowell, a farmer. 
Mr. Cowell was a native of North Carolina but before coming to Illinois had lived 
some time in Tennessee. He first settled in Madison county and from there 
moved to Macoupin. He only stayed here a year, when he returned to Madison 
but in another year came back and took up a permanent settlement. 

Roger Snell, a native of North Carolina, with his wife Mary and family, moved 
to Macoupin county in 1821 and settled a mile west of the town of Staunton. He 
died in 1858. He, as well as Archibald Hoxsey, was among the early school 
teachers in this district. His son, Hosea Snell, attended the first school ever 
taught in Staunton township, which was held in a little log schoolhouse three- 
quarters of a mile northwest of Staunton. In 1835 Hosea married Angelica Saw- 
yer. In 1840 he removed to Bunker Hill prairie, where he entered land. His 
first wife died in 1836 and in 1838 he married Melinda Parisher, who died in 1847. 
In the same year John Cormack settled near Telemachus Camp but soon be- 
came dissatisfied and returned to Edwardsville. He did not remain there any 
great length of time before he was back in Macoupin cpunty. 

Another immigrant about this time was Abraham Wyatt, of Tennessee, who 
built and for a short time occupied what became the first schoolhouse in the 
county He also became dissatisfied with the country and removed back to Ten- 
nessee but subsequently returned. 

From Tennessee, in 1821, came Ephraim Powers and his family, with his 
sons-in-law, James Caulk and Joshua Perkins. The discomfitures of frontier life 
and the prevalence of disease caused dissatisfaction and they returned to their old 
home in the south but in 1824 were back in Macoupin county. Powers first settled 
on the place improved by Richard Wilhelm. 

Lewis Cormack and his son William returned from Tennessee with James 
B. Cowell and at about the same time Abraham and Evan Smith, with their fami- 
lies, settled on the south side of Macoupin creek, near the line of the Chicago & 
Alton railroad. 

To this same locality also came Shadrach Reddick and Daniel Deadrick, with 
their families, about this time. Reddick was a ranger in the war of 1812. Daniel 
Deadrick in 1835 moved to Missouri, where he died. His son, the Rev. D. P. 
Deadrick, "was born in this county in 1829. 

At about the time these pioneers settled here William Wilcox became one 
of their number. He taught the first school held in the county in 1822, in Staun- 
ton township. It was held in a log cabin built by Abraham Wyatt and abandoned 
by him, as before stated. Mr. Wilcox offered to teach the school, provided he 
could get fifteen pupils at two dollars per term, which offer was accepted. It was 
further agreed that he was to teach eight hours a day, five days in the week, for 
thirteen weeks. The course of study embraced writing, arithmetic, reading and 
spelling. The house was 14x16 feet, had one door but no window and was pro- 
vided with a puncheon floor and fire place. The patrons furnished the seats and 
the teacher "boarded round." In 1823 Mr. Wilcox married Miss Polly Cormack 
and ceased to "board round." 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 93 

From 1821 immigration increased. The fear of Indians had died away and 
the chief enemy the settler had to combat was the malarial diseases so prevalent 
in a new country. As will have been noticed, the settlers came from the Caro- 
linas, Georgia, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. 

The following incident relating to William Wilcox may here be retold with 
interest to the reader. A large gray wolf attacked some chickens. Wilcox heard 
the commotion among his chickens and opened his cabin door and went out to dis- 
cover the cause. He found the wolf in or near the coop. This wolf seemed de- 
termined to have a chicken, and when Wilcox attempted to drive it away, it flew 
at him and seized him by the leg, holding on until Wilcox choked it loose. From 
the wound which the wolf inflicted, Wilcox suffered greatly and from that time 
to his death had to use crutches when he walked. It was supposed that the wolf 
had hydrophobia, as a dog belonging to Wilcox that had fought the wolf, after- 
ward died from that disease. 

James and Matthew Hall were natives of t North Carolina and emigrated to 
Illinois in 1816, settling in Madison county. Shortly thereafter, James Hall 
settled in this county with the families of Seth T. Hodges and John Love. In 
1823 he located on the creek about seven miles southwest of Carlinville. His 
brother, Matthew Hall, a blacksmith by trade, came to the county several years 
later. James Hall was a man of more than ordinary intellect and his muscular 
strength was beyond that of most men. His wife died in 1835 and he followed 
her some years later. 

John Pope also came to the county in 1823 and sold his claim to Charles 
McVey in 1825, but remained in the county. 

Theodoras Davis, a native of Kentucky, was one of the early Illinois pioneers. 
In the spring of 1823 he settled here with his wife and children, Theodoras, Jr., 
John L.. Belden, William H. H., Morgan, Oliver C., Porter, Polly, who became 
the wife of David Gregory, Sally, who married John Tomer, and Lavina, who 
married a Mr. Ward. The boys were noted for their skill as violinists. Theo- 
doras married a widow, sister of John Burleson. John L. married a sister of 
Oliver W. Hall and Belden married Mary, a daughter of Seth T. Hodges. Theo- 
doras Davis became a promihent and prosperous citizen of the county. Oliver 
died on the plains, while on his way to California. Belden moved to Missouri. 
Some of the family died here. Theodoras and others of the family moved to 
Iowa and some of the representatives of the family are still living in the county. 

Isaac Hall, noted for his great strength, a brother of James and Matthew 
Hall, while living in Madison county heard of the sickness of his brother James. 
While visiting his brother, David Gregory, a neighbor, became violently sick 
and at the same time were his wife and two children upon a sick bed. James 
Hall sent his brother Isaac over to take care of the stricken family. Mr. Greg- 
ory died, and leaving the sick wife and children in the house, Isaac Hall, with 
his ax, went into the'woods and there split out rude puncheons for a coffin. Fit- 
ting the rude casket into the grave, he returned to the house and taking the corpse 
on his shoulder, he toiled with it up the hill, laid it in the coffin and covered it 
with mother earth. 

Samuel Lair, with his family, consisting of wife and two boys, left his home 
in Madison county in 1823, or possibly sooner, and settled with his brother, 



94 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Charles Lair, Sr., on Otter creek. He eventually left Otter creek and built a log 
cabin west of the city of Carlinville near the Burke farm. Mr. Lair became a 
member of the second board of county commissioners. He was the father of 
Charles, Jr., John Austin and William Lair. William reared a large family, 
John moved to Missouri and Charles died. 

About this time George Matthews erected a cabin and began to improve a 
farm near Seth T. Hodges' on Hodges' creek. Here he died. His widow after- 
ward became the wife of Mr. Hodges. 

As will have been noticed, John Pope, who came in 1823, sold his claim to 
Charles McVey. The latter was the first of the family to settle here. Others 
of the family came in 1826 from Tennessee and settled east of Coop's Mound. 
The family consisted of seven brothers. William arrived in 1831 ; Charles sold 
his claim to John Yowell ; the other boys were John, Nathan, Samuel Edley and 
Thomas. Their home was in what was known as Sherrill's fork, being named for 
John Sherrill who settled there at an early day. One of the boys served in the 
Black Hawk war. John and William died here. Edley and Charles moved to 
Missouri. One of William's sons, John Wesley McVey, became a well known 
citizen of Nilwood township. 

Shaw's Point township derived its name from a Mr. Shaw, whose first name 
is not recorded. He settled in the township in 1824 or 1825, where he built a 
cabin and cultivated a few acres of land. As soon as other settlers began to come 
in he became dissatisfied and left for a newer country. His first neighbors in 
the township were Job Sperry and C. R. Hutton. 

Andrew Hetrick came to Macoupin county in 1825 from Carrollton and built 
a small cabin on Negro Lick. With him was a wife and seven children. The 
same year also came Howard Finley and Mr. Branscomb, who settled in Bunker 
Hill township. 

Lewis Solomon was a native of Kentucky, who came to Illinois in 1825 and 
settled in Morgan county, afterward coming to Macoupin county and locating 
in North Palmyra township, where he cleared a tract of government land. This 
he improved and made his home until his death, which occurred in 1849. He 
served as justice of the peace before the county was organized and was the first 
justice elected after it became a county. He married Sarah Bawd'en, who was a 
native of Franklin county. North Carolina. She preceded her husband in death 
a few months. 

John Cummings, father of Captain Samuel Cummings, a native of Virginia, 
came to Macoupin with his wife, Lucinda (Elliott) Cummings, and family in 
1825, settling on section 4, North Palmyra township. His wife died in 1838 and 
he followed her in 1844. They were the parents of ten children. 

Thomas Judy arrived with his family in 1826 and settled in Western Mound 
township. He afterward married the widow of John Love. Samuel Judy came 
several years later and settled at the forks of Hodges' creek. Subsequently, he 
moved back to Madison county. 

Oliver Brown, in 1826, came from Carrollton with his nephew, William 
Cowan and built a cabin ten feet square in Brighton township. Cowan was an 
Ohioan and was renowned for his giant like strength. It is said he had the ability 
to do the work of two men. His employer recognized this fact in 1834, when he 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 95 

paid him double wages throughout the year. Mr. Brown held a squatter's claim 
until 1827, when he entered the land,, a part of which is now the south and busi- 
ness portion of Brighton. 

Old settlers were wont to speak in terms of respect and affection of John 
Harris, a man who became closely connected with the early history and develop- 
ment of Macoupin county, to which locality he emigrated in 1826, locating in the 
eastern part of the county, which was afterwards given the name of Harris 
Point. He was a brigadier general of militia in the Black Hawk war and be- 
came the first sheriff of Macoupin county. He was a man who was looked up 
to by his neighbors as having a superior judgment and better education than the 
majority of the people. For his second wife he married the widow of David 
Coop, Sr., the first settler of this county, who had removed to Iowa. 

John Burleson was a stepbrother of Seth T. Hodges and came to this county 
in 1827. With him was his mother and other members of the family, all of 
whom were taken into the home of Hodges. . 

The Rev. James Solomon arrived this same year from North Carolina, also 
Andrew Hughes and Henrietta, with their families. 

In the fall of 1827 Ezekiel Ross settled in the county and built a cabin on 
Apple creek in Scottville township, into which he moved with his family on 
Christmas day. 

William Brewer, a Virginian by birth, became a resident of Brighton in 1827 
but in 1849 struck out for California to acquire some of the gold thousands of 
others were seeking. 

Nathan Scarrett had settled seven miles south of the site of Brighton, on the 
line of the Chicago & Alton railroad, as early as 1827. This same year Bennett 
Tilley and family settled on Western Mound. They were natives of North Caro- 
lina. The same year William Smith and family located in the vicinity of the 
Tilleys. 

Another resident of the county who settled here this year, in Bunker Hill 
township, was Aaron Husong. 

The time of the advent of Joseph Borough is somewhat in doubt. It is pre- 
sumed he came to the county in 1827. He was a Virginian and had moved to 
Madison county, Illinois. Mr. Borough settled east of Carlinville, where he lived 
and raised his family. He served the people as senator in the general assembly. 

James Breden was one of the first settlers of Bunker Hill township. He was 
a native of Virginia. When nineteen years of age he went to Tennessee, where 
he was married to a Miss Anderson. In March, 1827, he came to Macoupin 
county arid settled on section 9, of the present Bunker Hill township, locating 
at the head of Wood river. Along that stream the remains of Indian lodges 
were still in existence. On this tract he built a log house, in which he lived until 
1840. This home was replaced by another, where the old pioneer spent the rest 
of his days. His first wife having died, he married Mrs. Cynthia Ann Barrow, 
formerly Cynthia Ann Neaville, in 1836. She was the widow of William Bar- 
row, a native of Kentucky, who settled on Dry Fork, near the Bunker Hill and 
Carlinville road, in 1827. William Barrow enlisted in the Black Hawk war and 
was in the campaign against the Indians in 1831. From the fact that he never 
returned, it is supposed that he was killed by the Indians. 



96 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

James W. York became well known as a stock-raiser of this county. He 
settled here in 1828. 

Peter Akes, Sr., with his four grown sons, Alfred, Isaac, Peter, Jr., and John, 
and several daughters, were residents of Macoupin county in 1828. 

Huriah Smith settled in Western Mound in the fall of 1828. His father, 
Richard Smith, and family, settled on Hodges' creek about that time, as did 
also Andrew Brownlee, who was one of the first justices of the peace. 

William and Elizabeth (Sims) Nevins came to Macoupin county from Tennes- 
see in 1828, and settled in North Palmyra township, where they spent the re- 
mainder of their days. They were the parents of nine children, among them be- 
ing James Nevins, who came to the county with them. James Nevins became 
one of the prosperous and influential farmers of this section, owning at one time 
over a thousand acres of land in Macoupin and Montgomery counties. 

Jacob Nifong was a southerner by birth, who married Letcy Sims, a native 
of Tennessee. After their marriage in 1825, they removed to Illinois and settled 
on section 7, North Palmyra township, in the year 1828. Here Jacob Nifong 
died February 2, 1844. His widow afterward married James Patton, and died 
in 1856. 

Edmund C. Vancil, a Kentuckian by birth, moved to Sangamon county in 
1827 and in 1828 settled in North Palmyra township. He put up the first horse 
mill in the north part of the county and also the first distillery. He possessed 
remarkable mechanical genius, manufactured his own boots and shoes, built his 
own wagons, constructed a superior flat boat and invented an excellent plow for 
breaking purposes. At the time he erected his dwelling in 1848 it was considered 
the finest farm residence in the county. In 1852 he erected a steam sawmill. 
His son, Imri B. Vancil, was born in Union county, Illinois, in 1825, and was 
raised in North Palmyra township. He became one of the largest landowners 
in the county. 

John S. Greathouse, one of the pioneer lawyers of Macoupin county bar was 
a citizen of the village of Carlinville before the fall of 1829, as the records show 
he had purchased property of Joseph Borough in the fall of that year. He re- 
mained in Carlinville until 1846. 

G. M. McGinnis settled in Bird township in 1829, also James Howard, who 
taught school that year in a log house in North Palmyra. 

Samuel Harris, the father of twenty-six children, was also a settler here in 
1829, as were also Norris Hayes, a farmer; Jairus Coddle, a farmer of North 
Carolina; James McFarland, a farmer of Tennessee; Aaron Tilley, brother of 
Bennett Tilley ; and William Barrett, who sold goods in the first store in the 
county in 1829. 

James Bristow, a Virginian, came to Macoupin county from Tennessee in 
1829, and settled on land which afterward was included in Scottville township. 
He brought with him his wife and four children. After purchasing the land from 
the government, he erected a log cabin, in which no nails were used and the door 
was hung on wooden hinges. It also had a wooden latch with the traditional latch 
string which hung outside in those early days. The cabin was furnished with 
the traditional puncheon floor. 




STATE STREET, PALMYKA 




MAINE STREET, PALMYRA 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UX!V"S!TY OF ILLINOIS 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 97 

Robert Ross removed from Tennessee to Illinois in 1829, and for a while 
lived in Morgan county. He came to Macoupin county shortly after and bought 
a "squatter's" claim to a tract of land in South Palmyra township. 

John Gray, Thomas and Daniel Marfoot and Mr. and Mrs. Sherrill came to 
the county in 1829. 

Ezekiel Good, who was said to have had enough character to mold a whole 
community, moved to Macoupin county from Greene county in the '203 and built 
a log house just east of the old plat of Carlinville. He acquired considerable 
property and died a comparatively young man. A number of representatives of 
the family are still living in the county. 

John and Cynthia (Seymour) Love emigrated from Alabama to Illinois in 
early days. They first located in Madison county, remaining there but a few 
months, when they came to Macoupin county as early as before the '205 but at 
just what date cannot be determined. They made their home in what is now 
South Palmyra township but about the year 1828 removed to Morgan county. 
These worthy pioneers were parents of Samuel Love, who was born in South 
Palmyra township in the year 1822 and is given the distinction of being the first 
white child born in Macoupin county. 

James and Rhoda (Regan) Husky, natives of Tennessee, were among the 
early settlers of Bird township, where they lived until their death. They were 
parents of thirteen children, of whom Mrs. Mary A. Easley was one. This lady 
became the wife of Isaac N. Edwards in Bird township, October 4, 1838. Mr. 
Edwards died in December, 1860, and in 1866 his widow married George W. 
Easley, who passed away in 1872. 

In 1830, among others, came James Simmons, Arter Taylor, Mrs. Daniel 
Huddleston, Thomas Kinder, Abraham S. Walker and family, among whom was 
Hon. C. A. Walker; James B. Pinkard, Michael Brown, William Palmer, Brice 
Robertson, Susan Adams, Benjamin Adams, Mrs. Permelia Baird, David Holmes 
and wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Foster, Jarrett Dugger, J. A. Pepperdine, John Mc- 
Collum and parents, Giles M. Adams and parents, John Andrews, E. B. Clark, 
David Gimlin, a Baptist minister; and many others. 

Newton Berry settled in the county in 1831 and was one of the first teachers. 
Among other settlers this year may be mentioned D. B. Sawyer, J. L. Plain, 
William McKinney, James B. Gray, Stith M. Otwell, a minister of the Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, John Gelder, Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards, Mrs. Job Sperry, 
William Phillips, John, Josiah, Jesse, Henry and C. C. Rhoads, Peter B. Karnes, 
Samuel Howard, John Kinder, the Huddlestons, Stephen Sawyer, Amos Snock, 
Rev. Levi Mitchell, a Baptist clergyman, the Weatherfords and Gimlins. 

Dr. Gideon Blackburn, the founder of Blackburn University, arrived in the 
county in 1832 ; ako L. P. Stratton, William H. Carson, Richard Skaggs, Thomas 
Leach, Colonel J. R.- Miles, William Jolty, Mrs. Elizabeth Duckies, F. M. 
Adams, J. D. Wagner, Daniel Huddleston, Hampton W. Wall, William Hilyard. 

John Morris, G. B. Carson, William Chism, James M. and Mrs. W. H. Car- 
son, Thomas E. Carson. Captain James P. Pearson, who married Rebecca Gwin, 
a settler with her father's family in 1831; W. H. Rhoads, Mrs. Nancy Challa- 
combe, Thomas Leach, James Raffurty and the Bostons, all came in 1832. 

Vol. lt 



V 

98 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Elsewhere in this volume mention is made of the arrival of many of Macoupin 
county's pioneers who may be considered the first settlers. This chapter is de- 
voted to many who took up their residence in the county in the '305. 

Absalom Kent, a native of Pennsylvania and a pioneer of Ohio, came to Illi- 
nois about the year 1830 and settling in Macoupin county, bought land west of 
Carlinville. He was successful in the conduct of his affairs, eventually buying 
large tracts of land in different parts of the county. Absalom was the grand- 
father of Perrin Kent, one of the early settlers of Macoupin county, who came 
with his parents in 1840, settling in Virden township. 

William C. Anderson was a son of William D. and Elizabeth (Hancock) An- 
derson, and was born in Carlinville, August 26, 1830. He eventually settled on 
section 9, Shaw's Point township. 

Thomas Wood, of Virginia, was a settler in Macoupin county as early as 
1830. He settled in Bunker Hill township. He was one of the first of three 
school trustees of this township and was one of the organizers of the division of 
the county. 

Joseph England moved from Virginia to Tennessee and from the latter state 
to Illinois in 1830, stopping in Macoupin county for a time. With him was his 
wife and ten children. Mr. English bought a squatter's claim from the govern- 
ment in the vicinity of what is now known as North Otter township. 

Samuel Bruce, a native of the Emerald isle, sailed from Belfast with his wife 
and several children, in 1830. Landing in New York, they came overland by 
team to Macoupin county, settling in Staunton township, near the village of that 
name, which then consisted of one store and a few houses. 

Joseph Andrews was a soldier of the war of 1812, and married Susan Ellis. 
When their son John was in his third year the family moved to Todd county, 
Kentucky, and lived there until 1830, when they emigrated to Illinois, settling on 
the northeast corner of section 6. Brighton township. Here Joseph Andrews en- 
tered nine hundred and sixty acres of land, a part of it in Jersey county. John 
Andrews, in 1837, married Martha A. Miles, a daughter of Alexander Miles. 

William T. and Clementina Duncan were both natives of Kentucky. Follow- 
ing the year of their marriage, in 1830, they came to Macoupin county and set- 
tled in Palmyra township. He had served as a soldier in the Black Hawk war. 
His son, James S. Duncan, was one of the early coroners of the county. William 
T. Duncan died in 1861 and his wife survived him a number of years. 

Joseph and Abigail Holmes, natives of Virginia, he a soldier of the war of 
1812, emigrated to Indiana in 1828 and thence to Illinois in 1830, when he settled 
in Carlinville. That year he built a cabin on the ground now occupied by the 
county jail. Carlinville then contained five families. He died in Indiana in 1834. 
His wife's death occurred in 1837. One of the sons, David Holmes, settled in 
Western Mound township in 1837 and there married Elizabeth Hubbard, daugh- 
ter of Joel Hubbard, one of the early settlers of Macoupin county. 

Elijah and Jane (Moore) Mitchell came to this county in the spring of 1831. 
settling in Brushy Mound township. He entered eighty acres of government land 
on section 24, on which was a cabin that had been abandoned by a squatter. This 
cabin he shortly afterward tore down and built another, which was eventually 
superseded by a frame house, where the pioneer lived until August 17, 1877, 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 99 

when his death occurred. Elijah Mitchell was twice married and was the father 
of twenty-one children, eighteen of whom were reared. Among them were Mil- 
lie, Levi, Martha A., Elizabeth. Travis, Lucy and Sally (twins), Jane, William 
T., Phoebe and Elijah. William T. was born in Brushy Mound township, August 
25, 1838. Travis M. Mitchell was born in Macoupin county, February 13, 1833, in 
his father's log cabin on section 24, in Brushy Mound township. 

David Plain was born in Frederick county, Maryland, and became a settler 
of Macoupin county in the spring of 1831, taking up his residence in Shaw's Point 
township, where he at once selected a good tract of land. He cift poles and put 
the ends in the ground, letting the tops come together and covered them with 
boards rived by hand and thus made a temporary shelter, which with his family 
he occupied while he erected a hewed log house. He devoted his time principally 
to farming and lived in Shaw's Point township until his death in 1873. He left 
a family of ten children. 

Robert and Martha (Proffitt) Scott arrived in Macoupin county from Indiana 
in 1831. Their daughter Mary married Thomas Anderson in Indiana and came 
with her husband and child, William Anderson, to Macoupin county in 1834, set- 
tling in what is now Honey Point township, where both died in middle life, Mrs. 
Anderson in 1838 and her husband in 1843. 

Samuel Hays was a settler in Macoupin county as early as 1831, locating in 
South Otter township after his marriage to Rebecca Bond. In 1848 he moved to 
North Otter township, where his wife died in 1887. 

Robert and Eliza W. Moore, natives of Kentucky, settled in Carlinville town- 
ship in 1831. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Thomas G., the 
sixth in order of birth, was born in Carlinville township in 1838. 

Henry Rhoads came to Macoupin county from Grayson county, Kentucky, 
in 1831 and settled in Chesterfield township. His wife died in 1835 and he fol- 
lowed her in 1854. 

John Gelder, with his family, emigrated to America from England in 1831, 
and settled on a farm in Chesterfield township. He built a log cabin, which at the 
time of its construction was the largest building of its kind in the county, with 
the exception of the court house. He died in 1851 and his wife Elizabeth died in 
1847. Mr. Gelder assisted in organizing the Episcopal church at Chesterfield 
and was one of its wardens until he died. Captain S. Gelder was a son and one of 
the pioneers of the county. 

Daniel B. Sawyer emigrated to Illinois from North Carolina in 1831 and came 
directly to Dorchester township, this county, where he assisted his brother-in-law 
in building a log cabin. He married Minerva Scroggins in 1834. 

John M. Hilyard. a native of Cable county, Virginia, born January 30, 1798, 
was one of the pioneer settlers of Macoupin county, locating in Hilyard township 
in 1831. where he entered eighty acres of land on section 22. His father had 
moved to Gillespie township three or four years previously. When the Hilyards 
settled in township 8, range 8. there were only two other families living in the 
township, John M. Hilyard, his father-in-law, James P. Gray and Erred Maxwell. 

John R. Cundall was a native of Leeds, England, as was also his wife. He 
came to America in 1832, settling in Chesterfield township, where he engaged in 
farming. 



100 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Alexander Miles was a native of North Carolina. He was married in Ten- 
nessee to Mary Irvin, who was a native of Georgia, and with his wife and family 
settled in Macoupin county in 1832, becoming pioneers of Brighton township, 
where they lived and died. They were the parents of Colonel J. R. Miles, who 
was born in Kentucky in 1820 and came to this county with his parents. Col- 
onel Miles built the first mill in the section of the county where he lived, and 
in October, 1867, founded the town of Miles Station, and it was largely through 
his influence that the Chicago & Alton railroad was built through the place. He 
became a man of large means and as a soldier deserved great credit. At the 
beginning of the Civil war he formed a company, which on the Qth of August, 
1861, was organized as Company F of the Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry, 
which saw much service under his captaincy. In 1862 he was promoted to the 
rank of colonel and participated in many important battles. Colonel Miles mar- 
ried Eliza A. Stratton, a native of Kentucky. 

Samuel B. Clark, a native of Virginia, accompanied by his wife and eight 
children, came to Illinois in 1828. They first located near Edwardsville, where 
they resided until 1832. That year they moved to a farm one and a half miles 
west of Brighton, which Mr. Clark rented for one year. He then bought a tract 
of wild land in the same locality and built a hewed log cabin, splitting shakes for 
the roof. In 1835 he sold that and removed to a farm near Carlinville, on which 
he lived one year, and in 1836 settled in Brushy Mound township. He lived in 
this township until his death, which occurred in 1840. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Elizabeth Floyd, survived him but one year. 

James Wheeler was a Kentuckian, who married Catherine Harland, also a 
Kentuckian. In the fall of 1832, accompanied by his wife, three children and 
five of his wife's brothers and sisters, Mr. Wheeler journeyed with teams to 
Illinois and located in Macoupin county, settling on land which his father-in- 
law had purchased for him in Gillespie township. He was one of the pioneers of 
this locality. Where the town of Bunker Hill now stands there was but one 
building and that was a log cabin. Deer, wolves, wild turkeys and sand hill 
cranes were plentiful. The family moved into a log house that stood on the place. 
Mr. Wheeler bought government land near his home and was a resident of Gil- 
lespie township until his death. 

Selick B. Sawyer was born in Carroll county, North Carolina, in 1821. He 
came with his parents, Valentine and Polly (Spence) Sawyer, to Macoupin 
county in 1832. A location was made by the family in the southern part of the' 
county at what is now West Prairie, near Williams creek. 

Daniel Huddleston. a native of Ohio, settled in Gillespie township in 1832. 
His death occurred in 1865. He built a home on section 3. His wife was Rachel 
Huddleston, a daughter of William and Juda Huddleston, natives of Virginia 
and Kentucky, respectively. William and Juda Huddleston settled on govern- 
ment land in Gillespie township in 1830. 

Samuel Wood came to Macoupin county with a double yoke of oxen and 
was thirty-four days upon the road, moving from Kentucky to Bunker Hill. 
He entered a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Bunker Hill township 
in 1832, living there for over a half century. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 101 

James E. Wood died in 1891. He arrived in Bunker Hill township, June 
16, 1832, and became one of its most prosperous residents. 

David B. Boston was a Virginian by birth. He removed from Indiana in 
1832 to Macoupin county, settling on section n, Nilwoocl township, where he 
entered eighty acres of land. His death occurred in 1853. In his family were 
five boys and five girls, of whom David B. was the fourth son. 

Jasper Rice came to Macoupin county in 1832, settling in North Palmyra 
township. In 1833 he married Mary, daughter of Stephen Jones, who was a 
settler in Palmyra township as early as 1831. 

David Henderson came from the Old Dominion in the fall of 1832 and set- 
tled on section 30, Barr township. His uncle, John Henderson, settled on sec- 
tion 20 at the same time. These were the first two settlements made in the south- 
west part of Barr township. J. W. Henderson, a son, was two years old at the 
time the family arrived here. 

Thomas Jones emigrated to this country with his wife and family from Eng- 
land, in 1831, and settled in Dutchess county. New York, where they resided 
until the spring of 1833. That year found them in Brighton, where eventually a 
farm of one hundred and twenty acres of government land was secured and de- 
veloped. He became prosperous and raised a large family of children. 

Ferdinand Taggart was born April 6, 1812, in Shelby county, Kentucky. At 
.the age of eighteen he removed to Carrollton, Greene county, and there remained 
three years, learning the trade of brick making. He then came to Carlinville 
and opened a brickyard for the gentleman under whom he had learned his trade. 
This was in 1833, when Carlinville had a population of 20x3 and the buildings 
were mostly of logs, with mud and stick chimneys. There was not a brick build- 
ing in the town and but one brick chimney. In 1835 he opened a brickyard for 
himself. He became a contractor and one of his first contracts was for the brick 
work on the court house, which was built in 1837. Mr. Taggart eventually en- 
gaged in merchandising in company with A. S. Walker and William Phelps. 
This firm also carried on a branch store at Taylorville. The last wife of Mr. 
Taggart was a sister of Hon. Charles A. Walker of Carlinville. 

John G. Chiles, a native of Virginia, married Elizabeth F. Wills, of the same 
state. The family removed to Kentucky, whence they came to Macoupin county 
in 1833, settling on the line between North and South Palmyra. In 1845 tnev 
took up their residence in Bird township. 

L. P. Stratton was born in New Hampshire in 1808 and learned the trade of a 
carpenter. In 1833 he came to Brown's prairie and entered forty acres of land 
a mile west of Brighton. 

William Jones came to Macoupin county in 1833. He was a native of Wales 
and his birth occurred in 1817. He finally purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land in Brighton township. 

Joshua Peek was a' native of Virginia, who removed to Kentucky and there 
married Eliza Scott, a native of Ireland. In 1833 tne Peeks settled in Palmyra 
township and there entered one hundred and sixty acres of land. Mr. Peek died 
in 1851 and his wife in 1847. 

Alexander McKim Dubois was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1812, and 
came to Carlinville on the 4th day of July, 1834. That year he opened a general 



102 HISTORY OF MACOUP1N COUNTY 

store on the east side of the public square. He sold the store in 1836 and the 
following year was elected justice of the peace. In 1841 he was appointed clerk 
of the circuit court and in 1848 at the first election he became his own successor. 
Judge David Davis appointed him trustee of Blackburn College in 1855 and at 
the meeting of the board following he was made treasurer. In 1866 he was ap- 
pointed by the county court one of the commissioners for the building of the 
Macoupin county court house and was made financial agent of the county for 
the sale of its bonds. 

Solomon Steidley and wife, Rachel (Barr) Steidley, came from Frederick 
county, Virginia, to Macoupin county, in 1834, and settled in Barr township, 
where they lived until their death. Mr. Steidley passed away in 1848 and his 
wife followed him eight years later. Frederic Steidley, a son, came with his 
parents in 1834, at which time there were nine children in the family. 

Colonel James Anderson, a Virginian, first came to Macoupin county from 
Kentucky, in June, 1834, when he entered a tract of land on section u, Carlin- 
ville township. He then went back to Kentucky for his family. On the I2th 
of the following October with his wife and six children he returned, bringing 
along a pair of oxen and wagon, two horses and a carriage. During the winter 
of that year he lived in a rented log house and in the meantime built a log cabin 
on his own land, riving boards for the roof and splitting puncheons for the 
floor. In the spring of 1835 the new home was occupied and the land opened 
for cultivation. He became an extensive trader in live stock, and prospered. 
His death occurred in 1851 from an attack of cholera. Thirteen days thereafter 
his wife followed him, from the same disease. To Colonel Anderson and his 
wife were born seven children, Crittenden, H. C, Uriah C., Erasmus S., Augustus 
E., Malcolm M., Henry C. and Mary A. Crittenden. H. C. Anderson was the 
founder of the C. H. C. Anderson banking house and died one of the wealthiest 
men of the county. 

Thomas Arnett was born in North Carolina in 1804 and became a pioneer 
of Tennessee. He removed from the latter state in 1829 to Illinois, settling in 
Morgan county, from which locality he came to Macoupin county in 1834, set- 
tling in what is now Bird township. On the farm that he developed he spent his 
remaining days. His death occurred in 1876. 

Benjamin Wheeler and wife came from Ohio in the fall of 1834 and settled 
in Bird township. His son, John Wheeler, was a member of the party and even- 
tually became one of the prosperous and prominent citizens of Macoupin county, 
at one time possessing over a thousand acres of land. 

Dudley Saunders came from Kentucky in 1834 on horseback and settled in 
Honey Point township, where he bought a tract of land on which was a log cabin. 
This farm he sold at an advance of two hundred dollars and bought another tract 
in Brushy Mound township, constituting one hundred acres. After two years 
he sold this land and bought on section 2, Honey Point township. In 1838 he was 
married to Elizabeth Huddleston, of Kentucky, who died in 1876. By this union 
there were ten children. 

Peter Wagner, a native of Virginia, arrived in this county in 1834, when his 
son, Jacob D., was twenty years of age. With his wife and other children he 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 103 

settled on one hundred and sixty acres of land, which was situated not far from 
Prairie View. Here he and his wife passed their remaining days. 

Robert R. Tompkins, whose life ended in 1871, came to Macoupin county 
from Virginia in 1834, when a young man. 

Amos Avery Hilyard, a pioneer of the county, died in 1878. He was a native 
of New Hampshire. He came west in 1832 and in 1834 purchased a farm on sec- 
tion 17 of the present Brighton township, on which he resided until his death. 

Edmund Lee Woodrough, a native of Virginia, settled in Macoupin county 
near where the town of Gillespie now stands, in 1834. In 1858 he" was killed by 
the kick of a horse. 

Thomas H. Stratton, whose birth place was in Tennessee, came from his na- 
tive state to Illinois in 1834, settling in Shipman township. He worked on a farm 
for some time and then bought land, which he cultivated with success. 

Thomas Dews, a native of Yorkshire, England, emigrated to America in 1829. 
In 1834 he made a trip to Illinois and in that year settled in Macoupin county 
upon eighty acres of land which he entered from the government in Western 
Mound township, taking up his permanent residence thereon in 1837. That year 
he was married to Sylvia Morris of this county and raised a family of six 
children. 

Samuel V. Rhoads was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1791. He was a 
soldier of the war of 1812 and one of the Kentucky volunteers under General 
Harrison, which took part in the battle of the Thames, when Tecumseh, the In- 
dian chief, was killed. In 1834 he removed from Grayson county, Kentucky, and 
settled in Chesterfield township, about a mile from Rhoads Point, now known as 
Medora. About this time he began preaching and was instrumental in organiz- 
ing several United Baptist churches in this part of Illinois, most of the churches 
of that denomination in Macoupin county having in fact been founded by him 
and his brother, the Rev. Jacob Rhoads. He died in 1877. Charles Rhoads, a 
son, married Nancy Cawood, whose father, Joshua B. Cawood, settled in North 
Palmyra township in 1838. He moved to Shipman township, south of Medora, 
and in 1845 to Hilyard township, where his death occurred the same fall. 

Thomas M. Metcalf was a Kentuckian, his birth occurring on the loth of 
November, 1828. He came to Macoupin county with his father, William Met- 
calf, Jr., in the spring of 1835, settling in Western Mound township. There his 
father engaged in cultivating the soil until 1858, when he removed to Girard town- 
ship. Later, in 1874, he took up his residence on section i in South Otter town- 
ship. Thomas M. Metcalf was elected county treasurer in 1869 and reelected in 

1873- 

James A. McClure, a native of Virginia, came to Macoupin county from 
Kentucky in 1835 and settled on section 36 in Carlinville township, where he en- 
gaged in farming until 1844, when he was appointed to a position in the land de- 
partment at Washington by President James K. Polk. He was reappointed by 
President Taylor and died -in 1849, while in office. 

Daniel Blodget, a native of New Hampshire, settled in Brighton township 
in 1835. becoming one of its most successful merchants. He here married Ellen 
Jones, a native of England, whose parents were early settlers of Brighton town- 
ship. After her death, Mr. Blodget married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Simon 



104 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Peter, who located in Madison county in 1829 and became a circuit rider. Mr. 
Blodget died November 27, 1889. 

Joel York removed from Tennessee with his family to Morgan county in 
1828 and from there to Macoupin county in 1835, at which time he entered land 
near Carlinville. He died in 1847 upon a farm a mile farther east. His wife 
died two months later. 

Haskins Trabue, accompanied by his wife and seven children, came to Macou- 
pin county from Kentucky in 1835, settling in what is now Brushy Mound town- 
ship, where he entered a tract of government land. Here he erected a small log 
house. In 1837 Mr. Trabue built a carding mill, the first concern of the kind 
in the county. He also farmed. His death occurred in 1860, and his wife, 
Olympia (Wilson) Trabue, also died the same year. 

Peter Denby, Sr., came from Liverpool, England, in 1834, and first located in 
Morgan county, Illinois, where he rented land. In 1835 he visited South Palmyra 
township and entered government land on section 36, which was one of the finest 
tracts of the county. He lived here until his death, which occurred December 3, 
1862. His wife had preceded him in 1847. 

Joel and Miriam (Haycroft) Parker came from Kentucky in 1835, settling in 
Shipman township, where he died November 28, 1843. His widow became the 
.wife of Oliver C. Forwood. Benjamin E. Parker, a son, was born in Shipman 
township, October 9, 1839, where he grew to manhood. 

Henry Solomon was born in Franklin county, North Carolina, and came with 
his father, Lewis Solomon, to Morgan county in 1825. In 1835 Henry sold his 
property in Morgan county and with the proceeds bought government land in 
South Palmyra township, this county, where he erected a log house. With the 
exception of one year he continued to occupy his farm until death closed his ca- 
reer at the ripe old age of seventy-six. He was twice married, the third child of 
his first wife being Rebecca Jane. She was the mother of Ariel M. Solomon, 
who was but four years of age when his father came to Illinois. Ariel continued 
an inmate of his father's home until he was twenty-four years old. When he 
was seventeen his father gave him fifty dollars and told him to do whatever he 
liked with it. The enterprising youth wisely invested it in forty acres of gov- 
ernment land in South Palmyra township. Two years later his father gave 
him another fifty dollars, which he judiciously invested in forty acres in Barr 
township, adjoining his first entry. He never located on the land but eventually 
sold it at $5.25 per acre. He then bought one hundred and ten acres in Barr 
township and took up his residence there. In the fall of 1888 he removed to 
Palmyra. 

Randall Clark at the age of twenty arrived in Macoupin county from his na- 
tive state, South Carolina, in 1835. He finally settled on a farm on section 20, 
Gillespie township, where he lived many years. 

John and Emily A. Lumpkin settled in Macoupin county in 1835. Mr. Lump- 
kin purchased a tract of wild land on time and located in Bird township, where 
he erected a log house, riving the boards to cover the roof, which was held in 
place by means of poles. The floor and door were made of split puncheons. 
Here James W. Lumpkin, who was for many years editor and proprietor of the 
Macoupin County Enquirer, was born November 15, 1836. 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 105 

James P. Pearson located in Macoupin county in 1835. He was a native of 
England. After his arrival he married Tabitha Gwin, a daughter of Elias and 
Tabitha (Weather ford) Gwin, natives of South Carolina. and Kentucky, respect- 
ively. After the death of his wife, Mr. Gwin, with a family of ten sons and 
daughters, left Tennessee and in 1830 settled in Macoupin county. 

Isaac B. Johnston was born in Kentucky and came to Macoupin county about 
the year 1835 from Madison county, this state, where he had previously resided 
for a short time. He settled in North Palmyra township, where in 1843 ne 
married Elizabeth Berry. 

Joseph King was born in Todd county, Kentucky, and after his marriage 
came to Illinois with his wife and two children, in 1835. He settled in Macoupin 
county, where for a time he rented land and then entered forty acres of timber 
and brush land on section 32, North Palmyra township, on which he built a log 
cabin. 

William Metcalf, Jr., was a Kentuckian ami arrived in Macoupin county on 
the 22d of April, 1835. He entered a quarter section of land in Barr township, 
also a part of a quarter section in Western Mound township. On the latter tract 
was a log house, which he and his family occupied. 

George Wagner, a native of Maryland, arrived in Macoupin county in 1835, 
when his son, James E. Wagner, was but five years of age. He settled in 
Brighton township. 

Moses Smith was born in Pennsylvania. He married Parmelia Aiken, a na- 
tive of North Carolina. After his marriage ne came to Macoupin county from 
Tennessee in 1835, settling in North Palmyra township, where they spent the 
remainder of their lives. They were the parents of seven children. 

His acquaintance with John Cavender, John Tilden and others, who had 
bought land in the vicinity of Bunker Hill, was the means of bringing Moses 
True to Macoupin county. He traveled from the east in an ordinary covered 
wagon and on Christmas day of 1835 arrived at the spot which is now the town 
site of Bunker Hill, then a wild prairie, inhabited by wolves. In January, 1836, 
he brought from St. Louis a wagon load of groceries and dry goods and opened 
the first store in Bunker Hill. His cabin on the west side of Washington street 
wa the first hotel in' the town. 

William Duckies, a native of England, arrived in the United States in 1834, 
and in the month of February, 1835, settled in Macoupin county on section 14, 
Chesterfield township. 

Andrew Jackson Rose came with his parents, Enos and Rachel (Stout) Rose, 
from New Jersey, in 1835. The family settled on forty acres in section 21, Gil- 
lespie township. 

Arter Taylor, a native of South Carolina, emigrated to Illinois in 1835 and in 
the spring of that year-settled in Gillespie township, where his sister Nancy, wife 
of Giles M. Adams, was then living. He married Sarah Ann Rose in 1836. 

Howard Clark and his wife, Eliza J., with their children, removed to Illinois 
from Kentucky in 1831 and settled in Macoupin county, two and a half miles 
west of Brighton, in 1835. He passed the last years of his life in Brighton, 
where he died in 1866. His wife had preceded him in 1858. 



106 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Beatty T. Burke was a native of Jefferson county, Virginia, and was born in 
1806. He arrived in Macoupin county in 1836 and purchased the grocery store 
of Jefferson Weatherford, at Carlinville. In 1837 he became major of militia 
and was always designated by that title. He was elected sheriff in 1838 and held 
the office twelve years. In 1852 he was elected to the state legislature and was 
defeated for the senate in 1854 by John M. Palmer. He was returned to the 
legislature in 1856, and in 1871 became senator, which office he held four years. 
He represented Carlinville on the first board of supervisors and held the office 
until his death, which occurred in 1876. Major Burke took first rank as one of 
the county's able and most trustworthy men. 

Charles Holliday was a Methodist preacher of his day. He was a native of 
Pennsylvania and came to Macoupin county from Kentucky in 1836, at which 
time he entered land in Chesterfield township, where he acquired considerable 
property. While on his way to conference at Quincy, Illinois, in the fall of 1849, 
he was taken sick, and never recovered. He died the following year. 

Henry Etter, Sr., was a native of Tennessee and came from, that state to Il- 
linois in 1826, first locating in Greene county. In 1836 he disposed of his posses- 
sions there and settled in Macoupin county, buying a tract of land in Western 
Mound township. A log cabin stood on the place and a few acres of land had 
been tilled. In a short time he erected good frame buildings and had a valuable 
farm, upon which he spent his days in prosperity and contentment, departing this 
life in 1853. 

John Keller, a native of Maryland, removed to Kentucky with his parents and 
there married. He found his way to Macoupin county in 1836 and became one 
of the pioneers of Chesterfield township, where he entered a tract of land. He 
spent the remainder of his days in the village of Chesterfield. 

Joshua Ragan was a Virginian but went to Tennessee when a young man and 
was there married. In 1831 he removed to Missouri, where he lived until his re- 
moval to Illinois in 1836. In June of that year he came to Macoupin county and 
bought a claim in what is now Bird township. 

Joseph B. Steidley was born in the Old Dominion, near Fredericksburg. In 
1836 he came to Illinois with his wife and six children and bought a tract of land 
four miles from the present site of the village of Palmyra. On this land was a 
log house, in which Samuel R. Steidley was born, March 25, 1838. Joseph B. 
Steidley died in 1861, his first wife having preceded him in 1849. 

George Caldwell, a native of Ireland, came from Philadelphia with his family 
to Macoupin county in 1836, and located on land in Staunton township. His 
death occurred at the home of his son Henry J. Caldwell, July 6, 1887, when he 
was eighty-five years of age. 

Solomon and Elizabeth Groves were natives of Kentucky. They came to 
Macoupin county in the spring of 1836 and took up their residence in the then 
sparsely settled village of Carlinville, where Mr. Groves worked at his trade of 
carpentry. 

Nathan D. Barber, who died in 1878, was a native of New Hampshire and 
came to Alton, Illinois, in 1836. In the winter of that year he removed to a farm 
a mile and a half north of Brighton, where he made his home until his death. In 
1841 he married Emeline Moore, daughter of Captain James and Arethusa Moore, 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 107 

who settled a mile north of Brighton, in the fall of 1837. Mr. Barber's wife died 
in 1879. 

Thomas Jefferson McReynolds was born in Kentucky- in 1803, and came to 
Illinois in 1832. The year 1836 found him in Macoupin county, where he en- 
tered the south half of section 31 in Honey Point township and also a tract in 
Brushy Mound township. On the latter tract of land he lived until his death, 
which occurred in 1869. 

Robert Meatyard's birth place was in Dorcestershire, England. He came to 
the United States in the fall of 1835 and in the spring of 1836 settled in Shipman 
township, Macoupin county, where he entered land and commenced farming. The 
town of Piasa was afterward laid out and built upon a portion of the land origi- 
nally entered by him. 

Samuel Trible emigrated from England to this country in 1836. He came di- 
rect to Illinois and settled in Shipman township. 

J. W. Gilson, a native of Pennsylvania, married Miss M. Merrewether, a na- 
tive of Louisville, Kentucky. In 1836, with his wife, he settled in Macoupin 
county, near Brighton, where he engaged in general merchandising, real estate 
and stock-raising. Mr. Gilson died in 1864 and his wife in 1873. 

Francis G. Brown came to Macoupin county in 1837 from West Virginia and 
entered a tract of land on section 23, in what is now Western Mound township. 
Having removed to Tennessee, he brought his family from that state in 1838 to 
their new home, the journey being made on a flat boat on the waters of the Hoi- 
ton, Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi rivers to within fifty miles of Paducah, 
Kentucky, thence by steamer to Alton and from there by team to their destina- 
tion. Mr. Brown rented a log house on section 4, Bird township, in which the 
family lived until November. In 1851 he sold his farm and removed to Chester- 
field, where he engaged in merchandising and kept a hotel. He died in 1878 at a 
ripe old age. His wife Mary preceded him in death in July, 1864. 

Achilles Tongate, a native of Virginia, after having lived in Kentucky and Mis- 
souri, removed to Illinois in 1836. After spending a year in Morgan county he 
located near Palmyra with his wjfe and children. He was a good farmer and was 
amply rewarded for his industry and frugality. He reached the venerable age of 
ninety-three before answering the last call, surviving his wife but a few years. 

Joseph and Candace Penn, both natives of North Carolina, arrived in Ma- 
coupin county in 1837 an d settled in Shaw's Point township, where Mr. Penn died 
in 1840. His wife survived him seventeen years. 

Joseph Montgomery came to Macoupin county from West Virginia in 1837 
and settled on a farm which he purchased near Scottville. 

Lewis L. O'Neal, with his young bride, Elizabeth (Cram) O'Neal, came to 
Macoupin county from Morgan county in 1837, and in the spring of that year 
settled in North Palmyra township, on section 34, where Mr. O'Neal died in 
1854. 

Samuel Welton came from Connecticut in 1837 and settled on a tract of land 
six miles from Carlinville. 

Hugh Caldwell came to the United States from Derry, Ireland, in 1837. 
After a short stay in Philadelphia, he continued his journey west and settled in 
Staunton township, where his brother George had previously taken up a claim. 



108 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

He began improving a tract of land and his house at that time was the only one 
between Staunton and Silver Creek. 

John A. Pettingill was born in New Hampshire. He came to Illinois in the 
fall of 1837, when twenty years of age. After visiting Bunker Hill, he went to 
Peoria and clerked in his brother's store until the spring of 1839, when he re- 
turned to Bunker Hill and began improving a farm one mile north of the village 
the first farm ever opened on the prairie north of the town. 

Jackson Sisson, of Culpeper county, Virginia, arrived in Macoupin county 
in 1837. In November of that year he settled on a farm on which was after- 
ward built the principal part of the town of Gillespie. 

Taylor G. Chase was a native of New Hampshire and in 1837 journeyed 
from that state by wagon to Macoupin county. He had previously, in 1833, 
entered one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 18 of the present Brighton 
township. In 1837 he brought with him his family and lived in a rented cabin 
on land on section 20, until the fall of 1839, when he settled on a quarter section 
he had entered. 

Richard Bacon, a native of England, arrived in this country in 1835 and in 
the fall of 1837 settled in Carlinville. Shortly thereafter, he moved with his fam- 
ily to the Dr. Blackburn farm near Carlinville and lived there one year. He then 
moved to Chesterfield township and died there in 1839. In the spring of 1840, 
Mary K. Bacon, his wife, entered forty acres of land on section 19, South Otter 
township, where she lived for some years. 

Joseph Listen came to Macoupin county from Marion county, Kentucky, set- 
tling near Eagle's Point, in North Palmyra township, where he remained until 
his death, which occurred January 31, 1877. Joseph B. Listen, a son, was born 
in Macoupin county, August 19, 1838. In 1866 he was elected sheriff of the 
county and fulfilled the duties of his office faithfully and well. He was a demo- 
crat, casting his first vote for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860. 

Gottlob Rumbolz was a native of Stuttgart, Germany. He came to the United 
States in 1838 and entered land in Bunker Hill township. 

Henry F. Martin became a resident of Brighton township, Macoupin county, 
in 1838. He was a native of Rhode Island. His father died about 1836 and the 
mother married Samuel Avis, who owned land in Brighton township, which was 
the occasion of Mr. Martin settling in Macoupin county. 

Joseph Loomis, the father of Thaddeus L. William and Horace J. Loomis, 
came to Illinois with his family in 1838, settling on section i, Chesterfield town- 
ship, where he engaged in farming quite extensively. He was the first man in 
the county to engage in the dairy business and made large quantities of cheese. 
He was mainly instrumental in founding the Chesterfield cemetery in 1848. He 
died in 1850. 

Sargeant Gobble was born in Virginia in 1811. He arrived in the vicinity 
of Carrollton in 1832, where he married Amelia Johnson. In the fall of 1838 
he settled in Scottville, which had been laid out three years previously. In 1844 
and 1864 he was elected to the legislature from this district. 

Edward H. Davis came to Macoupin county in 1839 and settled in Bunker 
Hill township. In 1840 he married Jane H. Cavender, daughter of Charles 
Cavender, who settled on an unbroken farm of one hundred and sixty acres just 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 109 

west of Bunker Hill in 1838. Here he spent the remainder of his life, dying at 
the age of eighty-three years. 

Peter Edwards, a Virginian, removed from his native state to Kentucky and 
resided there until 1825, when he came to Illinois and settled in Morgan county. 
In 1839 he came to Macoupin county, entering eighty acres of land in Scottville 
township, where he resided until his death in 1847. 

John Maze, a native of Tennessee, married Sarah Morrow, also a native of 
that state, and they emigrated to Greene county in the early '305. Shortly after- 
ward they removed to Barr township in Macoupin county. Mr. Maze's death 
occurred some time after his removal here, while on a business trip to Kentucky. 
His daughter, Martha, married William J. Bates, a native of Tennessee, who was 
one of the pioneers of Macoupin county. Mr. Bates' death occurred September 
16. 1890. 

Henry J. Ferguson, a native of Ireland, arri.vecl in this country in the sum- 
mer of 1839. Striking west from Philadelphia, he continued across the country 
until he arrived at Staunton, Macoupin county, which was then a small hamlet. 
Here he purchased a partially improved farm of forty acres and eventually be- 
came prosperous. He died in 1883 at the age of eighty years. 

Horatio Adams emigrated from Kentucky to Illinois in 1828, and after a resi- 
dence in Clay and Greene counties of some five or six years, came to Macoupin 
county, settling in Bird township. Here he continued to live until his death, 
which occurred in 1874. 

Martin Dickerman, a native of Kentucky, was born in 1816 and came to 
Macoupin county with his widowed mother and six other children, when a young 
man. 

John 'England and wife Linnie came from Tennessee to Macoupin county in 
the '305, having spent a year previous in Morgan county. They settled in North 
Otter township, where they lived until their death. 

Samuel Smalley, of New Jersey, settled in Bunker Hill township in the '305, 
when the city of that name was a mere hamlet. Here he and his wife both died 
at an advanced age. On this farm their children and grandchildren were born, 
among the latter being. James H. Smalley, whose birth occurred in 1840. 

Richard Wall was in Macoupin county before 1832. This is apparent from 
the records, as his son, Hampton W. Wall, was born on West prairie in Dor- 
chester township, November 10, 1832. The latter, when four years of age, went 
to live with his maternal grandfather Telemachus Camp, who was one of the 
earliest settlers of Staunton township. 

Elijah Mills, a native of North Carolina, emigrated to Illinois in 1829 and 
settled in Morgan county. Some time in the early '305 he came to Macoupin 
county and entered, land on section 6, South Palmyra township. After several 
changes he removed to Missouri and died there in 1869. 

Samuel T. Mayo can hardly be placed in the category of those who settled in 
Macoupin county in the '305. He did not locate here until in 1843, but in 1835 
spent a short time at a hotel of which Samuel Keller was the host. Mr. Mayo 
had stopped over in Carlinville to relieve the tedium of a horse-back journey from 
Carrollton back to his old home in Albermarle county, Virginia, where he re- 
mained until 1841, at which time he returned to Carrollton and entered the em- 



110 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

ploy of a merchant. While on his way there the coach, in which he was riding, 
stopped at a point in Jersey county to let off a lady passenger, and it was there 
Mr. Mayo met Elizabeth Palmer, his future wife. 

In 1843 S. T. Mayo formed a partnership with the mercantile firm of Wright 
& Lynn of Carrollton and took charge of a branch of the concern, which he es- 
tablished here in 1843, in the building now occupied by the Sonneman shoe con- 
cern, on the east side of the public square. Taking into the store with him 
Nicholas (Nick) Boice, business increased from day to day and Mr. Mayo and 
those associated with him prospered. His biography, written by Professor [. D. 
Conley, from which these excerpts are made, speaks of him in a kindly and rever- 
ential spirit voicing the opinion of its author and the estimate of those who 
knew him well in that Mr. Mayo was an upright, honest man, and true as steel 
to friends and principles. His reputation for honesty and faithfulness reached 
the superlative degree and these characteristics of the man were given generous 
recognition by the many who placed the administration of their estates within 
his keeping. He retired from active business pursuits in 1857 and enjoyed the 
income from a competency until his death, which occurred on the eighty-eighth 
anniversary of his birth, November 24, 1906. 

General John I. Rinaker is authority for the story that upon a certain occasion 
a great, strapping big fellow entered Mr. Mayo's store. The man was noted for 
his physical strength and prowess at wrestling and boasted before "Uncle Sam" 
of what he was capable of doing. This did not strike Mayo's fancy and grabbing 
the man he threw him sprawling upon the counter, very much to the surprise and 
evident satisfaction of all who saw the test of strength and agility of the unassum- 
ing storekeeper. This incident goes a long way in proving the assertion that S. T. 
Mayo was entitled to being credited with a goodly stock of courage. When he 
accompanied John M. Palmer on one of his campaigning tours, he fully expected 
to get into trouble. It was in the '505, and William T. Harris was running for 
congress. Palmer was billed to speak in opposition to Harris' election at Plain- 
view. Harris was noted for his hotheadedness and the Plainview meeting was 
looked forward to with no little anxiety by the opposition. In part, as a means 
of protection to the speaker in case of trouble, B. T. Burke, James Fishback, 
James (or John) McWain, and Sam T. Mayo accompanied Palmer to the place 
of anticipated hostilities. There had been threats thrown out by Harris' partisans, 
but Palmer was fearless and amply able to care for himself and the fears of his 
henchmen were not realized. Mr. Mayo's birthplace was in Albermarle county, 
Virginia, and he knew Thomas Jefferson, philosopher and "Sage of Monticello," 
who lived in the same county. 



CHAPTER VI. 
MEMORY'S STORE HOUSE. 

RECOLLECTIONS OF A PIONEER HON. CHARLES A. WALKER HERE IN 1828, THREE 

YEARS BEFORE THE COUNTY WAS ORGANIZED HE WAS ACQUAINTED WITH MANY 

OF THE PIONEERS OF MACOUPIN REMINISCENCES ENTERTAININGLY RELATED. 

The present generation cannot have a very definite idea of the grandeur and 
beauty of Illinois at the time of coming into the state of the first pioneers. My 
first recollection of life finds me in a new, wild, unsettled, and beautiful 
region. I rejoice that my young eyes were permitted to view nature before 
the vandal man had marred its beauty and destroyed its virgin loveliness. When 
my father, with his young family, landed in Macoupin county (1828), the for- 
ests were fresh and unscarred by the ax of the coming thousands. The 
millions of acres of prairie grass were waving on our lovely prairies. The 
land was unplowed and no barbed wire fence destroyed its grand appearance. 
It was a beautiful land, looking as though it had just emerged from the hands 
of the Builder of the Universe. The pioneers, where are they? They have 
performed their labors on this earth, and we feel that they are worthy of being 
enrolled in this history. 

There are many historical monuments in our county, of former generations. 
When my father moved to Carlinville, he found on what is now Sunny Home 
Stock Farm, in asssisting in the building of John Harris' water mill, two smelt- 
ing crucibles, which induced him to believe that there were lead mines some- 
where in our county. So much did the early inhabitants of the county believe 
that, that "little" Johnny Hull concluded to sink a shaft within a few yards of 
where were found the smelting crucibles. He dug down one hundred and 
seventy-five feet and found nothing except natural gas which drove him out 
of the, shaft. 

Another place of interest was an Indian cemetery, situated eight miles south- 
west of Carlinville, near what was then known as the Holliday ford of Ma- 
coupin creek. The Indians who had lived here buried their dead by sinking a 
square hole about three feet deep, placing lai*ge, flat rocks in the bottom and 
thin slabs of rock at the sides, head and foot. They then put the dead body in 
the grave in a sitting, upright position, facing the east. Then they placed in 
the tomb all the valuables that the Indian possessed at the time of his death, 
except, perhaps, his live animals. I have, on many an occasion, aided in the 
opening of those tombs, finding the Indian bones just as they were placed by 

111 



112 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

those who buried the bodies. I still possess many warlike and domestic im- 
plements taken from these Indian graves. 

In the south part of our county there was a beautiful mound of considerable 
dimensions, perhaps thirty or forty feet in height above the level of the prairie. 
There ran at the east edge of that mound a beautiful specimen of a mountain 
stream; clear, pure water, that did not dry up during the summer. This place 
was a great resort, not only for Indians, but for wild animals that roamed the 
forests and prairies at that time, especially wolves that denned on the mound 
and brought forth their young in great numbers. From that fact it took its 
name. "Wolf Mound," and on Wolf Mound stands today the beautiful town of 
Bunker Hill. 

Coop's Mound, eight miles east of Carlinville, was another noted place, as 
it rose in height to about forty feet above the surface of the adjoin- 
ing land. It was covered by a magnificent forest, one tree of which became so 
noted that persons would travel several miles to examine it. It was a large, 
branching elm, and many and many a time have George Holliday and myself 
visited it to enjoy its magnificent shade and beauty. Along the west side 
of the mound ran the old Indian trail, from the head waters of the Wabash 
river to Cahokia, which was then the Indian trading post for all of the Illini 
tribe of Indians, who formerly resided in the territory that finally became the 
state of Illinois. 

At one time, after my father had moved to Carlinville and erected his cabin, 
there came following that trail down the Macoupin creek, twelve Indian "bucks," 
wearing their war garb, and were painted, as they painted themselves when going 
to war. They came to my father's cabin where my mother was with her small 
children, and as the pioneers in that day feared the Indians more than they did 
the wild beasts of the wilderness, of course she was greatly frightened, as were 
the other pioneer women and children of the town. The men, also, felt as 
though it became their duty to notify all the pioneers within reach of them, of 
the Indians being in that neighborhood. 

I had forgotten to say that at Wolf Mound there was a large spring of pure, 
cold water, that I presume still gives forth that beverage to the thirsty Bunker 
Hillites. 

There were many other noted places of interest to the early pioneers of our 
county that space will not permit me to name. In regard to our early hotels, 
the first one that I remember was a log cabin just across the street from Walker 
& Woods' law office, in the old Dubois building on the corner where Meyer's 
music store is located. This hostelry was kept by Lev. English, who had a fam- 
ily of boys that were never backward in any of the little broils coming up 
among the pioneers. One of them especially, High English, was a rough speci- 
men of the backwoodsman. I remember on one occasion there was to be a 
puppet show in the hotel that I attended. And it being the first place of the 
kind that I had ever visited or heard of, I was greatly amused by the move- 
ments of the little men and women and animals that were made to act by wires, 
under control of the operator who was hidden from view. 

The most noted hotel keeper of those early days was a man from New 
Jersey Robert Hankins. He kept not only the City Hotel, but a number 




METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, STAUNTON 




PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. PALMYRA 



LIBRARY 
OF THE 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS - 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 113 

of others for many years during his life in Carlinville, and died regarded by the 
citizens of the county as one of the best landlords that ever engaged in the hotel 
business in the city. There were many other noted hotel keepers during the days 
of stage stands, and one of them was Dan Anderson, a Yankee, who kept the 
Green Tree Hotel. It was located in the south part of the village and was a 
stage stand for many years. A part of that old frame building yet remains on 
the lot where it was erected. 

There has been but one judicial hanging in our county. Aaron Todd 
was hung on the 2d day of June, 1840, for the killing of his cousin, Larkin 
Scott. As the details of that murder, trial and hanging, is given in another 
place in this history, I refer to that for information in regard thereto. 

During the fall of 1831 it commenced snowing in December and continued 
up to about the middle of March, 1832, covering the ground with from four to 
five feet of snow on a level. So great was the depth of the snow that very few 
of the wild animals, or feathered tribe, escaped, but starved to death for the 
want of food. Deer were killed by the pioneers, supposedly for food. They 
could not move with any speed, unless they were in a beaten path. Up to that 
time there had been thousands and thousands of wild turkeys in the forests of 
our state which perished during that deep snow, and, since then that grand bird 
has been very, very scarce in Macoupin county. 

During the early '305 there resided in Carlinville a man by the name of 
Holton, who had a wife that had a voice she used on all occasions. My father 
lived just across the street from Helton's. One night during the fall of 1833 
everybody in town was awakened by the loud prayers of Mrs. Holton, in which 
she beseeched the Lord to forgive her all her sins (and she had many), and 
shouting that the world was coming to an end. I was but a small boy at that 
time but being awakened by my father (or mother), I got up, went to the door 
and saw the grandest sight that was ever viewed by mankind in this world. It 
so impressed itself upon my memory that at this moment, in my mind's eye, 
I can see the heavens and the earth lit up by the falling or shooting of meteors, 
or stars, as we called them at that day. They created a light which was brighter 
than that ever made by the sun on a clear day and lasted for about four 'hours. 
The heavens were being bombarded, seemingly, by great streams of fire, follow- 
ing the shooting stars, and the sky, in all parts, was literally covered with those 
shooting meteors. There was no space in the heavens that was not being filled 
by what looked like great streams of fire, that followed the rapidly moving me- 
teor. They were moving in all directions ' and seemingly, to the onlooker, 
would come in contact with each other. We were awakened about two o'clock 
in the morning and of course, there was no more sleep that night for any one 
who had witnessed that wonderful panorama in the heavens. 

During the first part of January, 1836, we had been having a very warm, 
open spell of weather. During the morning the sun shone bright and clear, with- 
out any indication that a storm was brewing. So pleasant was the morning that 
many of the pioneers who lived in the country came into town on business, and 
among them was Colonel William C. Anderson. The colonel lived four miles 
northeast of our town and when coming to town would always ride a bay, bald- 
faeed pony. He was a large, strong healthy man and usually upon 



114 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

visiting the county seat would remain until the middle of the afternoon 
or later. About two o'clock in the afternoon a cloud came up that was not 
apparently, dangerous ; but it rapidly grew black and threatening. The air then 
commenced turning cold and it commenced raining and continued until the 
streams and low places were filled with water. Colonel Anderson was fixing to 
start home. His road would be over an open prairie. His friends in the village 
tried to persuade him not to venture on his journey until the storm passed away, 
but he refused to listen to their solicitations and started for his home. It grew 
so rapidly cold that within less than one-half hour the streams and prairies, 
which had been filled with water, froze over, and a heavy sleet was falling. . Col- 
onel Anderson had not proceeded more than a mile from the village until his 
road was obliterated, he found his pony refusing to go in the face of the wind 
and discovered that he was lost on the prairie. He became chilled and at one 
time, before the darkness set in, had discussed in his own mind whether or not 
he had better get off his pony, cut its throat, open its body and crawl in to keep 
himself from freezing. But finally, he came across a place in the prairie that 
he thought he recognized, and taking new courage, rode less than a hundred 
yards toward where he thought his house was located and in a few minutes saw 
a light that he knew was shining from his home. He rode up to the gate, tried 
to dismount, but utterly failed to do so, as he was tightly frozen to the saddle. 
As best he could he called for help. Some of the family came out, helped him 
off the horse and into the house, where he found that his feet had been frozen 
and that he was very nearly chilled to death. He recovered from the injury and 
died during the cholera epidemic in our county in 1851. 

Another excitement that occurred in Macoupin county was that of the kill- 
ing of a Mr. Lockerman by Andrew J. Nash. This occurred at Zanesville dur- 
ing the early '505. . Nash escaped and kepf himself hidden from the officers for 
about one year, when he was arrested, brought back and placed in jail. At the 
first term of court following he was indicted for murder, and placed in the lower 
cell of the old log jail, to await his sentence after having been convicted. John 
M. Palmer, then a practicing lawyer of our county, defended him and being a 
friend of Nash, sought every means within his skill as a lawyer and an influ- 
ential citizen to prevent the hanging. Failing to get a new trial, Pahner cir- 
culated petitions asking the governor to reprieve or commute Nash's sentence, 
but they were not acted upon until the afternoon of the day before he was to be 
hung. During the morning of the day that he was to mount the scaffold a mes- 
senger from Springfield landed in'Carlinville about daylight, bringing a reprieve 
to Nash reducing his sentence to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. Xash 
was a vindictive, bad-tempered man, who had declared that Lockerman's broth- 
ers and other relatives should never see him hung. A great crowd of persons, 
not only from this county but from the surrounding counties, flocked to our 
town to see the hanging, and as it was not known to them that Nash's sentence 
had been commuted, when informed of the fact, the crowd became very boister- 
ous and threatening. David McDaniel was then deputy sheriff and jailer. The 
citizens of the town became excited and raised a body of about sixty men to 
guard the jail to prevent the Lockermans and their friends from breaking in 
and taking Nash out and hanging him. During the excitement around the jail 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 115 

the prisoner had torn up some of the bedclothing and had hung himself until he 
was dead, but this was not known to anyone while the excitement was going on, 
nor was the suicide discovered until the crowd had dispersed from the town. 
On opening the jail door Sheriff McDaniel on looking down into the dungeon 
after the crowd had dispersed, discovered Nash hanging to a beam of the upper 
floor of that part of the prison. 

These items would not be complete without giving the history of some of 
the leading men and women that were living in and organizing the county, 
which occurred in 1829. The greater number of the persons to whom I shall 
refer had emigrated to the county, were pioneers previous to that time and aided 
in its organization. Robert Wallace, with a large family of boys and girls, had 
'emigrated, I think, from Tennessee, and as he was a man of some capital that 
he had brought with him, entered the land on which the northern part of our 
city is located. He was a man of great industry, prudent in his dealings, and 
soon accumulated money sufficient, aside from that which he had brought with 
him, to "enter up" many acres of the then virgin soil surrounding the vil- 
lage. And as he had much help in his boys Mr. Wallace's farming interests 
were pushed and from that source he accumulated property faster than did 
most of the pioneers. He built a log cabin on the land that he had first entered 
that is now within the city limits, on North Broad street, where John Brown's 
residence is located. Soon after Wallace's coming, T think, in 1829 or 1830, 
David McDaniels, a young man, landed here, and was very soon on social terms 
with the Wallace family, and within a short time married the eldest daughter, 
Rebecca. From that day until the day of his death, which occurred some time 
in the '705, he was a very active, energetic, good citizen, and reared a family of 
boys and girls that have taken their places in our county as worthy citizens and 
who greatly aided in the building up of the county to its present high position. 
McDaniel was often elected to positions of trust ; was deputy sheriff and jailer 
during the terms of Sheriffs John Harris, Jeff Weatherforcl, Beatty T. Burke, 
Sr., and others. He was also elected justice of the peace, acting in that capac- 
ity for more than thirty years and giving perfect satisfaction to persons who 
had business in connection with that office. At his death his funeral was largely 
attended and the death of no man who ever resided in our county was more 
deeply regretted. 

In regard to Robert Wallace, one of his occupations was the raising of hogs. 
He entered many acres of timber land south of our city in the Macoupin bot- 
tom, and as there were always a great amount of mast, consisting of acorns, 
hickorynuts, walnuts, and other growths, that gave food for the wild animals 
before the pioneers had taken possession, those lands afforded an abundance 
of mast and Wallace, taking advantage of this fact, bought all the hogs that 
lie could find in the county and turned them loose in that bottom. Of 
course the "porkers" accumulated very fast and well do I remember of often 
being "treed" by them on hunting and fishing trips in that part of the county 
when I had taken a dog with me. On one occasion my father had bought up 
and driven to Alton a bunch of fat cattle, and I had gone along to help drive them 
to that market. My father had secured a very fine bay horse for me to ride, 
from Mr. Wallace. After selling the cattle he started me for home on the horse. 



116 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

It was during the fall of the year and the roads were good. I was a boy anxious 
to get home before some furious (?) wild beast or robber should stop me on the 
road. That is what I thought then. There were not very many wild beasts and 
but few robbers that would stop a boy at that early day for the purpose of rob- 
bing him. I started from middle Alton at ten o'clock in the morning and landed 
in Carlinville, thirty-five miles distant, at one o'clock in the afternoon, having 
made the trip in three hours, by putting the horse to his best gait when on level 
ground. That was regarded as a feat that only a thoroughbred horse could ac- 
complish. 

Another man of note was Major P. H. Winchester, who came here with his 
family from Edwardsville during the year 1829 or 1830. He was a lawyer of 
much repute at that time, but had killed a man in Edwardsville, tor which he 
was acquitted by the eloquence of Felix Grundy, the celebrated criminal law- 
yer of Tennessee. The Major brought with him a family of intelligent and edu- 
cated persons, who took high rank at once with our people. Soon after 
his arrival Major Ben Stevenson came to Carlinville, for the purpose of 
settling, bringing with him some of his family. He took an active part in the 
affairs of the pioneers in aiding to build up and secure immigration into the 
county. Soon after Stevenson's coming, a very worthy man, Nicholas Boice, 
came to our village and opened a store. He was here but a few months when 
lie married the eldest daughter of Major Winchester, and their home became 
the mecca of all the social gatherings that frequently occurred in the town. The 
Winchester and Stevenson families were always regarded and esteemed as worthy 
and .good citizens. 

The name of John Harris is so indelibly fixed as a benefactor in the records 
of our county that no lapse of memory will ever cause the coming generations to 
forget him. He came here and discovered that those who had preceded him 
needed a mill to grind the grain that was being pounded into meal in Indian 
mortars, and at once (1830) built a water mill on the Macoupin creek, one and 
one half miles east of Carlinville, on what is now known as Sunny Home Stock 
Farm. A portion of the logs that formed the dam now remain on the rocks 
at the bottom of the creek where it was built. He was the first sheriff of the 
county, was state senator and honorably filled those and other positions of trust 
and responsibility. 

Judge Thomas B. Rice, who settled at what was afterwards Icnown as Rice's 
Point, in the western part of the county, filled satisfactorily the office of assist- 
ant county judge and other positions of trust, and died leaving a family, who have 
followed in his footsteps, in making the county one of the very best in the state. 

Joseph Phelps and Sallie Ainslee, his wife, my maternal grandparents, came 
to the county in 1826,. from Tennessee. They settled on what was afterwards 
known as the Phelps Hill, bringing with them a family of boys and 
girls, who married and settled in and near Staunton. Nathan Phelps, a son, 
soon after his majority, became well-to-do and left quite a fortune for lhat day 
to be distributed between his parents and four sisters, namely : Clarissa, who 
married Robert Weeks ; Cassie, who married Robert Page ; Charlotte, who 
married Abram Smith ; and my mother, who had married Abram S. Walker. 
The latter couple had followed the Phelpses to the new country in the year 1828, 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 117 

and all of those to whom I here refer, except my mother and father, now lie 
buried at the Phelps cemetery, three miles south and west of Staunton. My 
mother and father on their arrival built a temporary cabin near the Phelps Hill, 
remaining there until the spring of 1830, when they removed to Carlinville. At 
that time there were but two dwelling houses (log cabins) in the young village. 
They reared a family of two boys and two girls : Caroline, who married William 
Phelps; myself, who married Permelia A. Dick; Tennessee, who married Fer- 
dinand Taggart ; and a son, James L., who died in August, 185!, during the 
epidemic of cholera, in his twentieth year. All except my wife, Permelia A., 
and I, have passed away, and lie buried in the Carlinville cemetery. 

Telemachus Camp was a very early settler in our county. He located two 
miles south of Staunton, and the first thing that he did was to plant an apple 
and peach orchard. It was the first orchard planted on what afterwards be- 
came the soil of Macoupin county. Soon after my father arrived in the new 
country my mother took me on a visit to Mrs. Camp, the wife of Telemachus 
Camp. They were friends in Tennessee before moving to the new Eldorado. 
Of course, the apple orchard was the attraction to me. Peter Camp, a son, now 
owns and lives on the old farm. He is a worthy son of a worthy father. 

Judge Alva Cloud, a resident of what is now North Otter township, was an 
early pioneer and was frequently elected to the position of assistant county 
judge and justice of the peace. He died without blot or stain on his name. 

Thomas D. Moore, an early pioneer, settled on a farm four miles east of 
Carlinville. He reared an honorable family, the members of which have done 
their part in the making of Macoupin county one of the richest of the state. 

Daniel Anderson was "mine host" of the Green Tree "tavern" in Carlinville, 
it being the stage stand. His name will ever remain fresh in my memory, from 
the fact that when a boy, he paid my way into the first circus that I ever at- 
tended. 

The Weatherfords emigrated to the county before its organization and soon 
became leaders in politics and 'the bettering of the condition of the pioneers. 
Jeff Weatherford succeeded John Harris as sheriff in 1834, but was defeated by 
lieatty T. Burke, Sr., 1 for that office in 1836, Burke having been deputy under 
Weatherford for the two previous years. Harbird Weatherford was the work- 
ing man of all the Weatherfords that I ever knew. He erected an ox mill at an 
early day, three miles southeast of Carlinville. 

The Tennis family, John, "Bill" and Alex were pioneers and were worthy 
citizens. 

Dr. Levi J. Woods came from Morgan county, Illinois, and located in Car- 
linville when a young man for the practice of his profession. Soon after his 
arrival he married Miss Martha McClure, a sister of James A. McClure, Sr., of 
our county. He was a very promising young man and soon became the leading 
physician of the county. He belonged to a popular family, pioneers of Morgan 
county, Illinois. Joseph and George, his brothers, soon after followed him to 
Carlinville and became leading merchants and honorable citizens of the town. 
I have always claimed, and had a right to claim, the Doctor as a firm friend of 
mine. He was cut off in early life during the cholera epidemic here, in July. 
1851. He was but thirty-four years of age at the time of his death, and at tint 



118 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

early period of his life had secured a large and paying practice in his profession. 
He was of a genial disposition, had gained the confidence and esteem of our 
people and was greatly missed by the community. 

At an early day there came into the county, about 1827, a large, portly man, 
known as "King" Solomon, with his wife and a large family of boys. He set- 
tled on a creek in the northern part of the county, near where Scottville now 
stands. That creek is now and ever has been since that time, known as Solo- 
mon's creek. No family in our county has exerted a greater influence for good, 
or has made itself felt to a greater extent in all the affairs of the county, than 
"King" Solomon and his seven boys. They took a leading position in the county 
and maintained it up to the time of their death, having all lived and died in Ma- 
coupin. 

The Rev. Stith M. Otwell, a Methodist minister, settled in Carlinville during 
the early '305 and was the first minister of that church who preached a sermon 
in our town. He was an able man and left a family of intelligent and cultured 
boys and girls, having occupied an honorable position in the history of our county. 
(A more extended sketch of Mr. Otwell will be found on another prge of this 
volume.) 

Colonel James C. Anderson emigrated to this county from Kentucky during 
the year 1834, bringing a family of girls and boys with him. He was a large, 
portly, fine looking man, that attracted attention wherever he went and, being of 
bold and independent disposition, soon became a leading force in all the move- 
ments of the pioneers to induce a good class of emigration to this county. And 
as he was a typical Kentuckian his influence and efforts brought from that and 
other southern states many of the better class of emigrants who were then seek- 
ing homes for themselves and descendants in the free states. His name will 
always be honored by the old pioneers of our county. He was the father of a 
family of boys and girls that inherited his open, generous disposition, and they 
have well maintained and kept to the front this man's great and generous qual- 
ities of mind and business ability. His grandson, John C. Anderson, owns and 
is the president of the oldest bank in the city and is regarded as one of the 
wealthiest men in the county of Macoupin. A goodly number of other descend- 
ants of this broad-minded man are now living in the county, honorable, upright 
and intelligent men and women. One of his sons, C. H. C. Anderson, was the 
husband of Mrs. Mary C. Anderson, who was a daughter of Marshall H. Strat- 
ton. Having survived her husband, she is now living in Carlinville, occupying a 
social position that gives her much prominence. 

Uncle "Dickey" Chapman, one of the early pioneers, settled on Cahokia Creek, 
during the year 1817 or 1818. He died leaving a family of boys and girls, among 
whom was our old friend, Major Fletcher H. Chapman of Carlinville, whom we 
knew as one of the very best of our citizens. He often held positions of re- 
sponsibility and, having served in the Union army during the rebellion, came 
home with a record for bravery and efficiency that was not excelled by any other 
officer of that army. He died but a few years ago, leaving a small family, who 
have since resided in Chicago. 

Seth T. Hodges settled in the western part of the county on what has since 
been known as Hodges' creek, before the organization of the county. He was 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 119 

one of the commissioners that assisted in the organization of the county in 1829. 
He did his duty in life as he saw it and gained from the -pioneers the encomium 
of "well done, good and faithful servant." The people of our county will not 
forget his well performed services in their behalf. He died many years ago, 
leaving a large family of girls and boys. 

One of the best known families of early days was that of Uncle "Jimmy" 
Hall, who emigrated from North Carolina. He came during the year 1817. He 
was a small, slim-made, active, energetic, quick-spoken man, with courage enough 
for that early day. He settled on the "ridge," near where Hurricane creek emp- 
ties into the Macoupin, near the C. & A. railroad station, known as "Macoupin 
station." Uncle "Jimmy" and all his family were splendid musicians and often 
enlivened the cabins of other pioneers with sweet strains of the violin". Oliver 
W., a son, was peculiarly gifted in that most entertaining accomplishment. Ter- 
rell Hall, another son, I have often thought was the most active man I ever met. 
He was not a large or robust man ; on the contrary he was slim in his make-up, 
but well-muscled. On one occasion a stranger came into the town, who proved 
to be an expert wrestler from St. Louis, boasting of his ability to throw down 
any man in the village, and especially, Terrell Hall. It did not require many 
hours until Terrell's friends were on hand, jibing the St. Louis man, telling him 
that he was too big and "beefy" to throw anybody down and that Terrell Hall 
could wipe the earth with him. A wager of fifty dollars on the side was made 
and the contest was to take place the next day. When the time arrived the 
parties met and arranged "holds" to be taken in each one of three falls. The first 
was to be "catch-as-catch-can," the second "arm-and-elbow" hold, and the third 
"back-holds." The contestants selected judges and stripped to pantaloons for 
the test of skill. The first "catch-as-catch-can" was ended in quicker time than 
it has taken me to write the above sentence, as Terrell, although the smaller man, 
was as active as a cat. He caught Davidson and with one effort landed him upon 
his back, it was said, before Davidson got a hold on Hall. There was to be a 
half-hour intermission between the falls. The second fall was to be arm-and- 
elbow holds. This was Hall's favorite and, as he had never been thrown when 
wrestling this hold, his friends thought that he would end the contest with ease, 
as the rule was, two best in three of the falls. On coming together for this fall, 
Terrell tried his favorite "trip" to throw Davidson ; but it failed, as Davidson 
was too heavy to be handled by the smaller man, with sufficient strength to 
throw him. But Hall's wind enabled him to wear down Davidson until, in a 
lucky moment, he got a twist on Davidson and with a '.'trip" threw him and won 
the fifty dollars. The next day the boys made up a "pony" purse for Davidson 
to pay his way back to St. Louis on the stage. Another feat that I witnessed 
when a' small boy,, of Terrell Hall's gave me a lesson in hunting large game 
that has been of great advantage to me in my outings. A number of men were 
helping a little "Yankee" to build a store house on the west side of the square, 
where Steinmeyer's drug store is now located. One of them, who was on the 
top log of the building, discovered three deer feeding on the prairie, a quar- 
ter of a mile from the store house, and notified the men below him that there were 
three deer feeding on the prairie west of where they were at work. Terrell 
Hall was noted as a skilful hunter of that animal. Some one in the crowd of- 



120 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

fered to wager a small sum that he could not creep on the deer close enough 
to kill one of them. Having his rifle with him he accepted the wager. 
No one in the crowd thought he would succeed, as there was nothing between 
the men and the game to prevent the deer from seeing Hall's approach. He 
exacted a promise from the men at work that they would continue their work on 
the building and make no unusual moves, commenced his approach towards his 
quarry, in a stooping position, for sixty or seventy yards. Then he dropped to 
his hands and knees and at intervals continued his approach by jumping to his 
feet and running towards the deer as fast as he could, for twenty-five or thirty 
yards. Suddenly, he again fell to his hands and knees and lay motionless for a 
few minutes and again as suddenly jumped to his feet and ran about the same 
distance as he had done in the first instance toward the deer. When he had per- 
formed these feats a number of times, the deer still feeding, seemingly without 
notice of Hall, we saw him raise his rifle to his face, rest his arm that upheld 
his rifle on his knee, and after taking deliberate aim, fired, and as we heard the 
report of the gun one of the deer went down, killed by a rifle ball which entered 
its body just behind the fore shoulder. We had observed that when any one of 
the deer had its head up looking around, Hall remained motionless ; but when all 
three of them had their heads down feeding, he would jump to his feet and run 
towards the deer until he saw *ne of them shake its tail and commence to raise 
its head. Then again he was down, motionless. It is not generally known that a 
deer will feed but a few seconds before it raises its head and looks all around for 
danger, and then resume its feeding if it sees nothing that looks suspicious, and 
always before it raises its head for another look, it invariably shakes its tail. In 
order to show the great quantity of game that then roamed over the forests and 
prairies in this part of the state, I will repeat what Oliver Hall frequently told 
me of the manner in which meat was obtained during several years that the 
Halls lived near the junction of the Hurricane and Macoupin creeks. He told 
me that his father owned an old United States yaeger, flint lock, with the main 
spring of the lock broken, so that it made the lock useless. He would load up 
the old gun with powder and ball and would prime the same in the pan of the 
lock with powder and then taking a torch, made of knots of dry timber, would 
light the torch and with it in one hand and the yaeger in the other, go slowly 
through the woods until he spied a deer. He would then creep onto his quarry 
until he got within thirty or forty yards of it, when he would place the muzzle 
of the gun in the forks of a bush, or on a log, and take deliberate aim ; then plac- 
ing the fired torch in contact with the priming in the pan, kill the deer. In this 
way he furnished the meat for his father's family for several years. On another 
occasion, he was sent on an errand to a neighbor's cabin and was riding an old mare. 
When he had got but a short distance from his destination he saw a large black 
bear jump from an old treetop and start to inn. He started after it and soon 
overtook the bear, but could not make the old mare jump on it. As he had noth- 
ing with him that he could kill the animal with he was at a loss to know what 
to do. The bear kept running and he after it, trying to push the old mare on 
it, until they got out into the prairie. He then thought of the iron stirrup on his 
saddle and as soon as possible, keeping the bear in sight, took the stirrup off the 
saddle and was soon up with it again. As the bear by this time was about fagged 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 121 

he would run up by its side and pound it on the head with the iron stirrup until 
he finally brought it down. He then jumped off the mare and finished the bear 
with his improvised weapon. On looking around Hall found himself within a 
few hundred yards of "bear rough." It had grown to be nearly dark; therefore, 
he left the bear where he had killed it until the next morning, when he and Terrell 
went after it and brought it in. 

Dr. Gideon Blackburn has been so fully discussed in this history that I re- 
fer to those chapters for his, biography. One thing that I must say of him is, 
that of all the men that have ever lived and labored for the benefit of our county, 
Dr. Blackburn, in my estimation, stands in the foreground. 

Elijah Wills settled in the north part of the county during the early '303. 
He died many years ago, leaving an intelligent family. One of the boys, Meridea 
A., was afterwards elected sheriff of the county. 

William Bird, the father of Joseph Bird, settled in what is now known as 
Bird township at an early day. The township took its name from him. 

Jesse Peebles, the father of Judge L. P. Peebles, came to the county some 
time about its organization. He soon became strongly imbued with the great 
worth of our prairie and timberland, and realized the real value of these lands 
for agricultural purposes. He invested his earnings in them and by that means 
secured many acres of the best land in the county before his death. He left a 
family that has followed his example, by securing many acres of Macoupin 
county's rich farm lands. Judge L. P. Peebles, his son, was elected county judge 
for many terms and always discharged his duties with so much satisfaction that 
I never heard his action while judge criticised. He was, and is, a lawyer prac- 
ticing in our courts, having as a partner his son, Jesse Peebles. They have one 
of the largest clienteles of any law firm in the city, and have the respect and 
confidence of our people. 

Joseph Listen, Sr., the father of our townsman, Joseph Listen, Jr., entered 
and improved a farm in the northeastern part of the county. He came from 
Kentucky and was noted for his genial and urbane manners. The old farm is 
still in possession of the family. 

Colonel James A..McClure was the head of all the McClure family now liv- 
ing in the county and other portions of our country. As a family the McClures 
have always been leading men and women, not only of this county but of the 
state. He emigrated from Kentucky to Macoupin county during the early '308 
and located on a farm about three miles east of Carlinville. He was highly edu- 
cated and was a large, fine-looking gentleman, with a hospitality and manner of 
the old Virginia planter. The colonel was scrupulously neat about his appear- 
ance and dressed well. He became a very useful member of the pioneers in the 
forming and settling of the county. Finally he became connected with one of 
the departments of the' government at Washington, D. C., and died while in that 
service, leaving many descendants, who have been noted in our state and county 
for their ability, honesty and integrity, in all the official and business affairs to 
which they have been called. Especially have they taken a leading part in build- 
ing up^our churches and public schools. 

Alfred S. Mayfield. whose family settled in the county prior to its organiza- 
tion, was circuit clerk for a number of terms. He was popular with all classes 



122 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

of our citizens. A peculiar feature about Mr. Mayfield was unrealized height, 
he being six feet and six inches high. One, judging from appearances when 
seeing him in his office or walking on the streets, would not have estimated him 
to be over five feet, eight or ten inches in height. This occurred from his being 
stoop-shouldered. About one year before his death Mrs. Walker and I had the 
pleasure of a summer's outing with him. among the lakes and forests of Minne- 
.sota. This outing was taken in the hope that it would be of benefit to his health. 
He, however, did not realize this hope. He came home without benefit from the 
trip and bravely fought the disease that was pulling him down until the next 
summer, when, with the knowledge of his approaching end, he admonished his 
children to be true and kind to their mother, aiding and comforting her in the 
great affliction that would soon weigh her down. And thus this loving father 
passed away, leaving his wife and a young family of boys and girls to be looked 
after by her. 

Barney Rhodes belonged to a large family that came into the county, some 
of them, before its organization. It would be impossible for me to single out 
each member of this family and do justice to those that have passe/1 away, per- 
haps unknown to me, and those that are now living. Space would not permit 
of my doing so, as the members of this family would fill the historical book that 
we are now assisting in preparing. But to return to Uncle Barney, no man in 
his community stood higher for truth, honesty and integrity. His promise was 
accepted by all, without hesitation or doubt. He was a farmer, living in what is 
now Plainview township. He entered land, he struggled with the wilderness un- 
til he subdued it. He died respected and loved by all who knew him. His chil- 
dren, well started in life from his earnings and their own, have made good. So 
rest, Uncle Barney, your good name will never suffer by the conduct of your 
children. 

Barr's Store in the northwest part of our county, took its name from Hugh 
C. Barr, who settled there about the year 1830. 

Thomas Davis came to Carlinville about the year 1828 and settled on a farm 
that he entered about one mile west of Carlinville. He was a good man, true to 
all the duties in which he was trusted. 

Dr. Edmond C. Vancil was a man of more than ordinary ability. He came 
to this county about the year 1826 and settled in what is now North Otter town- 
ship. He was a successful physician, a model farmer and commenced in early 
life to acquire all the land in the northern part of our county, and came near 
doing so before his death. As his name will appear in another part of this his- 
tory, I refer thereto for the details of his life. 

Pinkney Hughes, the father of our T. P. Hughes, came to this county about 
the time of its organization, and soon took a leading position in all the affairs of 
the pioneers who were then laboring to build up the county and people it with a 
good class from the emigration which was then generally flowing from the south. 

I have always rejoiced that Daniel Dick, a resident of Kentucky, emigrated 
to Illinois for when I became of age I visited his house, found a most beautiful 
girl and, within a very few months afterwards, she became my wife. Mr. Dick 
was the nephew of the Donners, who went from Sangamon county to California, 
many of them perishing during the winter of 1846-7 in the Nevada mountains 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 123 

from starvation, as they were caught before they had crossed the Nevada moun- 
tains by the fall of a heavy snow that obscured all traces and covered the ground 
to the depth of thirty or forty feet. Some of them escaped to Captain Suiter's 
ranch on the Sacramento, during the spring following. He first settled in San- 
gamon county, Illinois, but soon afterwards moved to Macoupin and 
bought a farm in what is now North Otter township. He acquired many acres 
of those now valuable lands in that township. His wife died in 1853, when he 
moved with his children to Carlinville, and lived there up to the' time of his 
death which occurred in 1878. 

Colonel Isaac Greathouse, warden of the Alton penitentiary during the '305, 
with his family, moved to Carlinville about the year 1840 and bought four or 
five hundred acres of land adjoining and including the home place of Bertie M. 
Burke, where he, Burke, now resides. He erected on the land adjoining that 
residence a deer park of one hundred and sixty acres, by building a stake-and- 
rider fence about twelve feet high, and placed therein about three hundred deer, 
that made a great resort for all the pioneers of the county. 

Hugh Rice, a Scotchman, came to the county at an early day, settling in 
what is now Gillespie township, and in 1849, he and I started for California, 
joining the Alton company that went from that city to the new Eldorado. To 
learn the characteristics of a man nothing is of more aid than trav- 
eling and camping with him on a trip of this kind. He had become 
possessed of a number of acres of land and when starting on this trip left a 
young family behind him. By his industry and economy he accumulated quite 
a fortune, leaving it to his children, who have proved worthy of being the sons 
and daughters of as good a man as was Uncle "Hughey" Rice. 

Beatty T. Burke, Sr., came to the county of Macoupin in 1830, from Virginia. 
His history is given in detail in this work, hence I refer the reader to another ar- 
ticle which relates to his successful efforts in aiding the building up of our county. 

Ferdinand Taggart came to Carlinville at an early day and erected the first 
brick building in the city. He married a sister of the writer and for years was 
one of the firm of Walker, Phelps & Company, engaged in the mercantile business 
in this city, Alton and Taylorville. 

H. W. Wall's father came to Macoupin county before its organization, Wall 
being born in the county and raised by Telemachus Camp. He was a successful 
business man and acquired a very considerable fortune before his death, which 
occurred a few years ago in Staunton, Illinois. He occupied positions of trust, 
both state and county, always with credit to himself and benefit to his consti- 
tuency and earned a reputation for honesty and integrity not surpassed by any 
citizen of the county. 

Sargeant Gobble settled in what is now Scottville township before the town 
of that name was laid out, 'and became one of the leading men in that part of the 
county. He was frequently elected to positions of trust by the people of the 
county, as well as of his own township. 

John Lumpkin settled in what is now Chesterfield township, about the time 
of the county's organization. He soon acquired a large farm and other prop- 
erty and was and continued to the time of his death, a respected citizen of that 



124 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

locality. C. J. Lumpkin, now the owner and editor of the Enquirer of our city, 
is a descendant from that respected pioneer. 

Thos. B. Ross, who with his father's family settled in what is now Palmyra 
township in an early day, became sheriff of the county and died of the cholera 
in 1851. He filled the office with satisfaction and credit to himself as well as to 
his constituency. 

Moore's branch, three miles east of Carlinville, took its name from Robert 
W. Moore, who was a Revolutionary soldier, and moved to this county at about 
the time of its organization. (See another chapter giving his history.) 

Dr. John W. Hankins came to Carlinville when it was but a small village. 
1 think he began the practice of medicine in 1843 and became before his death 
one of the most successful physicians that ever practiced medicine in Carlinville, 
having during his later years the most of the best families of the town as his 
patients. He became quite well-to-do and left his property to his children who 
reside here and in other states. 

General John I. Rinaker came to Carlinville in December, 1852, and com- 
menced the study of law under John M. Palmer, who was then a very successful 
lawyer. He obtained license to practice law in 1854. He afterwards married in 
October, 1855, Miss Clarissa Keplinger, who resided in Franklin, Morgan county, 
Illinois, and has from that time until the present, been a permanent resident of 
our city. General Rinaker is a successful lawyer, a brave soldier, who enlisted 
in the Union army in 1862. went through the entire war, coming out as a briga- 
dier general with a record of bravery and efficiency. The writer of this sketch 
got the knowledge that he has of the law as a student in the office of General 
Rinaker. I have found him to be an upright, fearless lawyer, ready to defend 
the interests of his clients with great skill and ability. We went through the 
entire courthouse controversy, associated together in the fight against the bond- 
holders until we finally succeeded in relieving the taxpayers of our county of 
one million dollars. I think the records of that controversy will justify the above 
assertion. The General and Mrs. Rinaker have raised a family of boys, who are 
lawyers and one a skilled architect. They inherited from their father the prin- 
ciples of the law and have proven themselves able, worthy and successful de- 
fenders of the rights of their clients. Two of them have succeeded as repre- 
sentatives of the people in the legislature of our state, and the General was elected 
and served a term in the lower house of congress but declined to become a can- 
didate again. 

Henry W. Burton was a native of Connecticut and emigrated from that 
state to Illinois in 1841, having become strongly imbued with the idea, as ex- 
pressed by Stephen A. Douglas, "It is no crime to be born in one of the eastern 
states, provided you emigrate early." Following out this idea Mr. Burton, when 
a young man, started for the West to cast his lot with the pioneers of Illinois. 
Here the farms had no rocks to be moved off, that the land might be plowed, 
but on the contrary the land produced in great abundance without 
the hard labor required on a farm in the eastern states. His first stop- 
ping place was Woodburn, in the south part of the county. His brother, James 
came with him and there he married a Miss Cornelia Rider, who proved a de- 
voted and helpful wife. They had two children, Etta and Frank W. Etta 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 125 

married judge Robert B. Shirley, who is the son of William C. Shirley, whose 
family settled in Illinois at an early date and became connected with the Hoxey 
family. They, too, were pioneers of Illinois. Frank W. Burton was admitted 
to the bar after a course of reading in the office of the writer and 
is now one of the leading lawyers of the state. He married Miss Anna 
Robertson, the daughter of Dr. William A. Robertson. He was first elected as 
states attorney for the county. He is now serving his second term as state senator. 

The writer of this sketch first became acquainted with Henry W. Burton 
during an outing we had together in 1844 over the beautiful prairie of Illinois. 
In going from Carlinville to our destination in a spring wagon we travelled the 
road that led from Carlinville to Springfield, there being no house or habitation 
between Carlinville and John Virden's stage stand, situated near the timber of 
Sugar Creek in the southern part of Sangamon County. From that time until 
his death, a few years ago, that outing was repeated in different parts of the 
United States, annually, until we both became convinced that we had passed the 
age of the camp life of the hunter. 

In 1868 Mr. Burton was elected circuit clerk of our county and held that 
office for twelve years, being elected for three terms. He moved to our city 
soon after his first election and resided here until his death. He was of genial 
disposition and made friends wherever his lot was cast. No man in this county 
stood higher in the estimation of our people for honesty, integrity and upright- 
ness in all his dealings. During the gold excitement of 1849 Mr. Burton crossed 
the plains to the "new Eldorado," California, and return home during the year 
1851 and soon afterwards commenced a mercantile business in Woodburn and 
Bunker Hill, which was continued until he was elected to the office of circuit 
clerk in 1868. 

Josiah Burrough settled on a hill one-half mile east of Carlinville. The 
stream nearby afterwards and up to the present day has been called "Burrough's 
Branch.'' Mr. Burrough was one of the commissioners who assisted in the or- 
ganization of the county and diecl leaving a large family to mourn his loss. 

Dr. William A. Robertson was a son of a Methodist minister who came to 
our county about the time of its organization. In many respects, Dr. Robertson 
had many traits that the pioneers thought strange, one of which was that while 
merchandising in Carlinville he invariably walked to Alton, 35 miles distant, to 
purchase his goods for the store. Another was that becoming subject to dys- 
pepsia he tried to cure it by the use of crackers and water alone, without other 
food for one year. He, too, soon became conscious that the purchase of lands 
in this county would repay him better than merchandising and became a trader 
in real estate and the loaning of money, at which he succeeded to the extent 
that when he died he was quite wealthy for that day. He reared a family of 
boys and girls who have aided greatly in the building up of the county. I neg- 
lected to say that Dr. Robertson became a Methodist preacher and died in that 
faith. 

Ezekiel Good settled in what is now Carlinville and built the first log cabin 
that was erected, across the street east from the courthouse. He was one of 
the commissioners that laid off the county. He did his duty to the full 
satisfaction of the pioneers of this county and died in 1834 greatly lamented 



126 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

by those whose acquaintance he had formed. He was buried in the Carlinville 
cemetery and was one of the first to be interred in that now populous burying 
ground. 

In preparing the above sketches I have tried to confine myself to the pioneers 
who came to the county prior to and about the time of its organization, in 1829. 
I feel conscious that I have made mistakes and have omitted the names of 
many pioneers whose names ought to be recorded in this sketch. Memory fails 
in the attempt to single out incidents and men when the corroding effects of 
time have intervened between the long ago and today. 






CHAPTER VII. 

GOVERNMENT. 

COMMISSIONERS' COURT OF ALMOST UNLIMITED POWER LIST OF FIRST VOTERS 
COMMISSIONERS' COURT ABOLISHED AND COUNTY DIVIDED INTO TOWNSHIPS 
NAMES OF COUNTY OFFICIALS FROM 1829 TO 19! I. 

Under the act of the legislature passed in 1829, creating the county of Ma- 
coupin, provision was made for a governing body to be known as the county 
commissioners' court, and at the first election, held at the home of Joseph Bor- 
ough on the I3th day of April, 1829, a majority of the votes cast resulted in the 
choice of Theodorus Davis, William Wilcox and Seth Hodges as members of 
said court. Tristram P. Hoxey was appointed county clerk. His duties included 
the offices of county recorder and circuit clerk. Joseph Borough, at whose home 
the first election was held, was appointed county surveyor by the governor in 
1829, and it was he who laid out the county seat. At the election referred to, 
seventy-eight votes were cast. 

NAMES OF VOTERS. 

John Hope, Edward McKinley, Reuben Harris, Isom Dalton, Charles Mc- 
Vey, Lewis Stiller, Peter Akes, Jr., William Smith, Howard Finley, Alfred 
Akes, Robert Patton, Jesse Cox, Isaac Akes, Robert Palmer, Robert Harris, 
Shadrach Reddick, David Coop, Henry Weeks, John Chandler, Joseph Carter, 
John D. Chapman, Joseph Vincent, Charles Lear, Jr., Levi Day, George Shelly, 
William Lovel, Thomas Loveless, Daniel Stringer, Samuel Jackson, Aaron Jack- 
son, William Cormack, Reuben Jackson, John G. Wright, David T. Taylor, Sam- 
uel Lear, Joseph Borough, John Snell, Theodorus Davis, Sr., William Wilcox, 
Richard Chapman, William G. Coop, John Davis, Larken Richison, William 
Cummings, James B. Cowell, Andrew Russell, Isaac Massey, Hiram Russell, 
Abel Russell, Isaac Bristow, Reuben Clevenger, Morris Hilyard, John Gray, 
Newton Vance, Hugh Gibson, Charles Lear, Sr., Joseph Hilyard, Michael Best, 
David Coop, Sr., John Harris, John W. Cox, Joshua Simmons, Samuel M. Har- 
ris, Peter Akes, Sr., Elijah Bristow, Seth T. Hodges, George Mathis, Solomon 
Davis, Roger Snell, Tristram P. Hoxey, John Powell, Abraham Wyatt, Lewis 
Solomon, Alexander Carson, John Lee, Sr., John Lee, Jr., Theodorus Davis, Jr., 
John Coop (78 votes). 

"I certify that John Powell, Abraham Wyatt, judges, and T. P. Hoxey and 
Theodorus Davis, clerks of the election, were severally sworn before me as the 

127 



128 HISTORY OF MACOUPIX COUNTY 

law directs, and that I was sworn agreeably to law by John Powell, he being one 
of the judges of the election, previous to our entering upon the duties of our 
respective offices dated at the house of Joseph Borough, this I3th day of April, 
one thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine. 

"LEWIS SOLOMON, J. P." 

A poll of an election held at the house of Felix Hoover, in the third precinct 
in Macoupin county, on the i6th of May, 1829. 

NAMES OF VOTERS. 

Levi Day, Isaac Prewitt, David Faulkner, Felix Hoover, T. N. Vance, I. Lee, 
Jr., I. McGinnis, G. Mathis, J. Nevins, I. Massey, Thomas Morris, S. Hodges, 
Russell Tabor. William U. Vance, I. Bristow, E. Wells, I. Howard, Charles 
Lear, Andrew Russell, Wyatt Wardup, Green Weaver, David Taylor, Edmond 
C. Vancil, William Cummings, E. Bristow, James Bristow, T. C. Mabry, T. Nev- 
ins, Hugh Gibson, Henry Quyle, Solomon Davis, John Cummings, Lewis Solo- 
mon (35 votes). 

A poll book of an election held at the house of Joseph Borough, Macoupin 
county, state of Illinois, for Macoupin district, to elect three magistrates and two 
constables in and for said district, this i6th of May, 1829. 

NAMES OF VOTERS. 

David Stringer, Andrew Brownlee, John Harris, Robert Palmer, Samuel M. 
Harris, Samuel Lear, Theodorus Davis, Bennett Tilley, Abraham Smith, Tris- 
tram P. Hoxsey, David Coop, Sr., Daniel Deadrick, Richard Smith, Shadrach 
Reddick, Norris Hays, Nathan Mabry, Aaron Tilley, John L. Davis, John Pow- 
ell, Joseph Borough, Peter Akes, William G. Coop (23 votes). 

At an election held this i6th day of May, 1829, agreeably to an order received 
from the county clerk of Macoupin county, we the undernamed judges and clerks 
do return the following list of names to be acknowledged as sufficient votes at 
said election : 

NAMES OF VOTERS. 

Lewis Cormack, Joseph Vinson, Henry Weeks, John Vinson, james Grant, 
Abraham Wyatt, Peyton Samands, William Wilcox, Joseph Hilyard, Alexan- 
der B. Miller, Joshua Samands, Cornelius Wood, Edward McKinley, James B. 
Cowell, William G. Cormack, John W. Cox, Samuel Jackson, Roger Snell, John 
Chapman. Joseph Best, Michael Best, John Snell (22 votes). 

To the commissioners' court was given almost unlimited power in the matter 
of local government and its jurisdiction covered almost every conceivable sub- 
ject relating to the business affairs of the bailiwick. In fact, the record makes 
it appear that on more than one occasion the court assumed dignities not intended 
by the law which called it into being, and for that reason it finally became a tar- 
get for many adverse criticisms. 

The county commissioners' court continued in existence until 1849, when it 
was abolished by an act of the legislature, approved February I2th of that year. 





Citv Park 



Xortli Tliird Street. Looking; North 





C. & A. Depot 



I. T. S. 





High School West Madison Street 

VIEWS OF GIRARD 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 129 

Under this act provision was made for a county court to consist of a j udge, and 
two associate justices, whose duties should be "to sit with the county judge, as 
members of the court, for the transaction of all county business." The county 
court remained in existence until 1870, when it was superseded by the board of 
supervisors, the present governing board of the county. 

Dissatisfaction throughout the county was made manifest by many of the 
taxpayers, with the manner in which the affairs of the county had been con- 
ducted, and hence it was that in 1870 the citizens of Macoupins by a decided 
majority, adopted the township form of government, which has since been 
adhered to. 

THE COUNTY DIVIDED INTO TOWNSHIPS. 

Following the expressed determination of the people to adopt the township 
form of government, the county court, then composed of Philander C. Huggins, 
Andrew A. Atkins and Martin Olmstead, appointed John I. Rinaker, E. H. Davis 
and John T. Henderson commissioners, to divide the county into towns, agree- 
ably to the statute made and provided to provide for township organization. In 
relation thereto the following appears in the records : 

"At a meeting of the board of commissioners appointed by the county court 
of Macoupin county, state of Illinois, at the December term, A. D., 1870, of said 
court to divide said county into townships and name the same under the town- 
ship organization laws of the state of Illinois, held at the court house in Carlin- 
ville on this day in pursuance of agreement, the board organized by the ap- 
pointment of John I. Rinaker as chairman and John P. Henderson secretary. 

"The said board as such commissioners proceeded to divide the county into 
towns, making as many towns as there are townships according to government 
survey, there being twenty-four in number. The board not being fully advised 
in regard to the wishes of the people in the several towns, or some of them, in 
regard to names for the said towns, and wishing to further consult the wishes 
of the people, it was moved and carried that the board adjourn to meet again 
on Thursday, February 2, 1871, at the county clerk's office in Carlinville, Ma- 
coupin county, Illinois. 

"JOHN I. RINAKER, 
"Chairman Board Commissioners. 
"JOHN P. HENDERSON, 
"Secretary of the Board. 
"February 23, 1871. 

"The board met pursuant to adjournment, present John I. Rinaker, E. H. 
Davis and John P. Henderson. After due consideration of reports from differ- 
ent parts of the county, the board proceeded to make changes in the names of 
towns in accordance with .the expressed will of the people and agreed and finally 
adopted the names as set forth in the report this day, agreed upon and filed 
with the county clerk, which report was duly signed by the several commissioners 
and the board adjourned. 

"JOHN I. RINAKER, Chairman. 
"JOHN P. HENDERSON, Secretary." 

Vol. I I 



130 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

In 1872 township 12 N. R. 6 W. was divided into two townships, namely, 
Virden and Girard, which made the number of townships in the county twenty- 
five. In 1884 Staunton township was divided into two halves and the north half 
was named Mt. Olive, which made the number of townships in the county 
twenty-six, which at present prevails. 



COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

Theodorus Davis, William Wilcox, Seth Hodges, 1829; Lewis Solomon, 
Roger Snell, Samuel Lair, 1832; Samuel Lair, Ezekiel Ross, Jesse Rhoads, 1834; 
Ezekiel Ross, Jesse Rhoads, Thomas Corr, 1836; Lewis Solomon, Samuel Lair, 
Frederick A. Olds, 1838; Lewis Solomon, Andrew S. Opdyke, Samuel Lair, 
1839; Lewis Solomon, Andrew S. Opdyke, Seburn Gilmore, 1840; David Mc- 
Shee, A. S. Opdyke, S. Gilmore, 1841 ; John S. Foster, S. Gilmore, David Mc- 
Shee, 1842; David McShee, J. S. Foster, Jarrett Dugger, 1843; David McShee, 
J. S. Foster, Jarrett Dugger, 1844; Jarrett Dugger, David McShee, John M. 
Hilyard, 1845; David McShee, John M. Hilyard, Bird Peebles. 1846; John M. 
Hilyard, Bird Peebles, David McShee, 1847; J orin M. Hilyard, David McShee, 
Bird Peebles, 1848; Bird Peebles, David McShee, John M. Hilyard. 1849. 

PROBATE JUDGES. 

J. P. Smith, 1831; P. W. Winchester, 1832; Charles Stover, 1837; Thomas 
Jayne, 1839; John M. Palmer, 1843; Seburn Gilmore, 1847; John M. Palmer, 
1848; William Weer, Jr., 1851 ; S. S. Gilbert, 1853; Lewis Solomon, 1857; T. L. 
Loomis, 1861, reelected in 1865; P. C. Huggins, 1869; Lewis P. Peebles, 1873, 
reelected in 1877. 

COUNTY JUDGES. 

John M. Palmer, James Breden, G. A. W. Cloud, 1849; William Weer, 
G. A. W. Cloud, 1852; Samuel S. Gilbert, James Breden, 1852; G. A. W. 
Cloud, George Judd, 1854; S. S. Gilbert, G. A. W. Cloud, George Judd, 1856; 
L. Solomon, T. B. Rice, G. A. W. Cloud, 1857; Thaddeus L. Loomis, G. A. W. 
Cloud, Thomas B. Rice, 1861 ; T. L. Loomis, John Yowell, Isham J. Peebles, 
1865; Philander C. Huggins, Andrew A. Atkins, Martin Olmstead. 1869; Lewis 
P. Peebles, 1873, reelected 1877, 1882 and 1886; Archilaus Yancey, 1890; Bal- 
four Cowen, 1894; David E. Keefe, 1898; J. B. Vaughan, 1902, reelected, 1906; 
Truman A. Snell, 1908. 

COUNTY CLERKS. 

T. P. Hoxey, 1829; John Wilson, 1837, removed the same year and A. Mc- 
Kim Dubois elected to fill the position; J. A. Chestnut, 1838; Enoch Wall, 1851 ; 
George H. Holliday, 1858; Thomas M. Metcalf, 1869; Casper Westermeier, Jr., 
1873, reelected, 1882; William R. Dugan, 1886; John B. Vaughn, 1890; Fred G. 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 131 

Oeltgen, 1894; O. C. Hartley, 1898; W. C. Seehausen, 1902, reelected, 1906 and 
1908. 

STATES ATTORNEYS. 

George Farquer, 1830; John J. Hardin, 1833; Stephen A. Douglas, 1835; 
Jesse B. Thomas, 1837; D. M. Woodson, 1839; John S. Greathouse, 1841; John 
Evans, 1843; C. H. Goodrich, 1845; Henry Dusenberry, 1847; C..H. Goodrich, 
1849; Cyrus Epler, 1853; James B. White, 1857; C. M. Morrison, 1865; Horace 
Gwin, 1870; S. T. Corn, 1873; Alexander H. Bell, 1880; Frank W. Burton, 1884, 
reelected, 1888; J. B. Vaughn, 1896, reelected, 1904; James M. Mahoney, 1900; 

A. S. Cuthbertson, 1904; James H. Murphy, 1910. 

CIRCUIT CLERKS. 

Tristram P. Hoxey, 1829; A. McKim Dubois, 1841; A. S. Mayfield, 1860. 
He died after his reelection in 1864 and the term was filled out by M. Mayfield; 
Henry W. Burton, 1868; George R. Hughes, 1876; Thomas R. McKee, 1880, 
reelected, 1884; Ben B. Olbert, 1888; John Homer, 1896, reelected, 1900; George 
L. Tipton, 1904; Thomas Cain, 1908. 

SHERIFFS. 

John Harris, 1829; Jefferson Weatherford, 1834; B. T. Burke; 1838; William 
M. Snow, 1851; J. L. Plain, 1854; M. McClure, 1856; J. L. Plain, 1858; M. N. 
Wills, 1860; H. Tappan, 1862; M. N. Wills, 1864; Joseph B. Listen, 1866; S. B. 
Wilcox, 1868; William H. Fishback, 1870. He died in office and the term was 
filled out by Peter Schaffer; James T. Pennington, 1872; Isaac Heaton, 1876; 
John F. Sunderland, 1878, reelected, 1880; Abraham C. Hulse, 1882; Lawrence 
C. Murphy, 1886; Henry D. O'Neil, 1890; P. C. Davenport, 1894; W. J. H. 
Fahrenkrog, 1898; Ed H. Dickerson, 1902; Robert L. Jones, 1906; Elmo Etter, 
1908. 

TREASURERS. 

William G. Coop, 1829; Henry H. Havron, 1831 ; Travis Moore, 1832; Archer 

B. Beauchamp, 1832; Travis Moore, 1833; John Lewis, 1834; James McLarning, 
1839; Thomas P. Ross, 1847; William M. Maddox. 1850; L. F. Palmer, 1850; 
William M. Snow, 1853; Thomas Hart, 1854; Mark Crowder, 1855; Dempsey 
Sawyer, 1857; Frank Steward, 1865; Randolph J. Haley, 1869; John W. Ayers, 
1871; John W. Wills, 1873; Lucius B. Corbin, 1875; Zachariah Harris, 1879; 
George Siegel, 1882;' Peter Heinz, 1886; Abraham Frey, 1890; Thomas Z. Glea- 
son, 1894; Thomas P. Hughes, 1898; Emmet T. Rice, 1902; Elmo Etter, 1906; 
S. T. Carmody, 1908. 

CORONERS. 

David Coop, Sr., 1829; Robert Wallace, 1832; William S. Raymond, 1840; 
William S. Dugger, 1842; Josiah Borough, 1844; William S. Dugger, 1846; John 
Graham, 1847; Josiah Borough, 1853; William F. Dugger, 1856; William B. 



132 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Brink, 1856; David McDaniel, 1858; J. D. Kerr, 1860; - - Wright, 1864; John 
Cromwell, 1866; M. R. Judd, 1868; Charles A. Herb, 1870; Peter Schaffer, 1871 ; 
David Deeds, 1872; Peter Heinz, 1874; Andrew Rathgeber, 1876; James S. 
Duncan, 1878; Franklin B. Simpson, 1882; Robert A. Hoxey, 1888; C. C. Robin- 
son, 1900; Henry Winter, 1904; Dorris Karns, 1908. 

SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. 

William Miller, 1833; Daniel Anderson, 1839; Enoch Wall, 1846; G. W. Wal- 
lace, 1847; William Weer, 1849; George B. Hicks, 1851 ; Lewis Judd, 1855; Hor- 
ace Givin, 1859; Charles E. Foote, 1861 ; Fletcher W. Chapman, 1869; John S. 
Kenyon, 1873; F. W. Crouch, 1877; George W. Grubb, 1881 ; George W. Bower- 
sox, 1883; George Harrington, 1886; Thomas E. Moore, 1890; J-ames E. Mc- 
Clure, 1894; M. M. Kessinger, 1898; Robert C. Moore, 1906; reelected in 1908. 

SURVEYORS. 

Philip Deatherage, 1829; he died the same year and Ezekiel Good was ap- 
pointed to fill the office; Benjamin V. Stephenson, 1837; Isaac Whitaker, 1841; 
George H. Holliday, 1851; F. H. Chapman, 1853; Thomas R. McKee, 1859; A. 
W. Edwards, 1861 ; G. W. Farrar, 1863; T. G. Capps, 1865; James Woodul, 
1867; E. C. Winchester, 1869; Jacob R. Muhleman, 1875; E. C. Winchester, 
1878; Thomas. Bacon, 1884; H. M. Minton, 1896; S. T. Morse, 1904; G. E. Mc- 
Kean, 1908. He resigned and S. T. Morse was appointed to fill the office. 

SUPERVISORS. 
1871. 

Staunton Thomas Funderburk; Cahokia Edward S. Holmes; Honey Point 
James W. York ; Shaw's Point John Lewis ; Nilwood J. D. Williamson ; Vir- 
den J. D. Metcalf; Dorchester Thomas J. Lukens; Gillespie Randal Clark; 
Brushy Mound Levi Mitchell; Carlinville B. T. Burke; South Otter Will- 
iam H. Johnson ; North Otter Andrew A. Atkins ; Bunker Hill J. T. Penning- 
ton; Hilyard William N. Thomas; Polk Moses S. Eldred; Bird Samuel L. 
Loveless; South Palymra Dempsey N. Solomon; North Palymra J. B. Van- 
cil; Brighton Henry F. Martin; Shipman R. F. Rambo; Chesterfield Nicho- 
las Challacombe; Western Mound W. C. Edwards; Barr John M. Bates; 
Scottville John H. Rohrer. 

1872. 

Staunton Henry A. Best ; Cahokia Edward S. Holmes ; Honey Point 
John Cromwell ; Shaw's Point John Lewis ; Nilwood J. D. Williamson ; 
Girard J. D. Metcalf ; Virden Jonathan Plowman ; Dorchester Thomas J. 
Lukens ; Gillespie Francis M. Adams ; Brushy Mound F. Trabue ; Carlinville 
B. T. Burke; South Otter Robert Bacon; North Otter Andrew A. Atkins; 
Bunker Hill William Love; Hilyard R. Cromwell; Polk Moses S. Eldred; 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 133 

Bird Samuel L. Loveless; South Palmyra Dempsey N. Solomon; North 
Palymra J. B. Vancil; Brighton Henry F. Martin; Shipman Edward C. 
Wales; Chesterfield Nicholas Challacombe; Western Mound W. C. Edwards; 
Barr Richard J. Metcalf ; Scottville James H. Rohrer. 

1873- 

Staunton William Panhorst; Cahokia Edward S. Holmes; Honey Point 
John Brown; Shaw's Point G. W. Barnett; Nilwood A. F. Hamilton; Girard 
J. P. Wiley ; Virden Jonathan Plowman ; Dorchester Thomas J. Lukens ; 
Gillespie Alexander Sinclair; Brushy Mound F. Trabue; Carlinville B. T. 
Burke; South Otter Robert Bacon; North Otter Andrew A. Atkins; Bunker 
Hill F. W. Cross; Hilyard R. Cromwell; Polk Moses S. Eldred; Bird- 
John Craggs; South Palmyra Dempsey N. Solomon; North Palymra J. B. 
Vancil ; Brighton Henry F. Martin ; Shipman Edward C. Wales ; Chesterfield 
Nicholas Challacombe ; Western Mound W. C. Edwards ; Barr Edward 
Henderson ; Scottville James H. Rohrer. 

1874. 

Staunton F. M. Anderson ; Cahokia Allen Bayless ; Honey Point * ; 
Shaw's Point G. W. Barnett; Nilwood, John H. Ballinger; Girard Michael 
Brown; Virden *; Dorchester John R. Sawyer; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer; 
Brushy Mound George Cowell ; Carlinville B. T. Burke ; South Otter Moses 
Yowell ; North Otter Andrew A. Atkins ; Bunker Hill F. W. Cross ; Hilyard 
Peter Coriell ; Polk Moses S. Eldred ; Bird** ; South Palmyra* ; North 
Palmyra J. B. Vancil ; Brighton George A. Brown ; Shipman Samuel Will- 
iams ; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell ; Western Mound P. R. Cook ; Barr Rich- 
ard J. Metcalf; Scottville James B. Angelo. 



Staunton F. M. Henderson ; Cahokia William M. Baldwin ; Honey Point 
J. B. Masters; Shaw's Point *; Nilwood S. H. Taylor; Girard Michael 
Brown; Virden J. G. Smith; Dorchester John R. Sawyer; Gillespie 
P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound George Cowell, Jr.; Carlinville; B. T. Burke; 
South Otter Moses Yowell; North Otter Andrew A. Atkins; Bunker Hill 
F. W. Cross; Hilyard Joseph Waggoner; Polk Moses S. Eldred; Bird J. F. 
Gulp; South Palmyra Dempsey N. Solomon; North Palmyra J. B. Vancil; 
Brighton George A. Brown ; Shipman J. W. Darlington ; Chesterfield Amos 
Goodsell ; Western Mound P. R. Cook ; Barr J. W. Henderson ; Scottville 
James B. Angelo. 

1876. 

Staunton F. M. Henderson; Cahokia L. W. Link; Honey Point Isaac G. 
Colton; Shaw's Point E. W. Johnson; Nilwood S. H. Taylor; Girard Michael 



*Not represented. 
**Not recorded. 



134 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Brown; Virden J. G. Smith; Dorchester John R. Sawyer; Gillespie P. H. 
Pentzer ; Brushy Mound George Cowell ; Carlinville B. T. Burke, George 
Hunter, assistant ; South Otter Moses Yowell ; North Otter William A. Gard- 
ner; Bunker Hill F. W. Cross; Hilyard R. Cromwell; Polk Moses S. El- 
dred; Bird J. H. Arnett; South Palmyra Dempsey N. Solomon; North Pal- 
myra J. B. Vancil ; Brighton George A. Brown ; Shipman T. N. Marsh ; 
Chesterfield Amos Goodsell; Western Mound P. R. Cook; Barr J. W. 
Dalby: Scottville David Elder. 

1877. 

Staunton F. M. Henderson ; Cahokia L. W. Link ; Honey Point J. B. 
Masters; Shaw's Point David Gooch; Nilwood S. H. Taylor; Girard William 
E. Eastham ; Virden J. G. Smith ; Dorchester John R. Sawyer ; Gillespie 
P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound D. P. Deadrick; Carlinville Thaddeus Phillips; 
W. E. P. Anderson, assistant ; South Otter Moses Yowell ; North Otter Wil- 
liam A. Gardner ; Bunker Hill F. W. Cross ; Hilyard Alexander Shultz ; Polk 
Moses S. Eldred ; Bird Henry Craggs ; South Palmyra Dempsey N. Solo- 
mon ; North Palmyra- J. B. Vancil ; Brighton George A Brown ; Shipman 
T. N. Marsh; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell; Western Mound Gus Etter; Barr 
J. W. Dalby ; Scottville James B. Angelo. 

1878. 

Staunton William Panhorst ; Cahokia L. W. Link ; Honey Point John F. 
Sunderland; Shaw's Point J. J. Womack; Nilwood James H. Wolfe; Girard 
William E. Eastham ; Virden J. G. Smith ; Dorchester John R. Sawyer ; Gil- 
lespie P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound Joseph F. Clark; Carlinville J. W. 
Hankins ; T. G. Moore, assistant ; South Otter Thomas Mahan ; North Otter 
D. W. Solomon ; Bunker Hill F. W. Cross ; Hilyard Newell H. Brown ; Polk 
Henry Bradford; Bird Samuel L. Loveless; South Palmyra William G. 
Ross ; North Palmyra George W. Bullock ; Brighton George A. Brown ; Ship- 
man C. E. Wales ; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell ; Western Mound Philip R. 
Cook; Barr J. W. Dalby; Scottville James H. Rohrer. 

1879. 

Staunton Thomas Funderburk; Cahokia L. M. Link; Honey Point Wil- 
liam N. Gulp; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nilwood James H. Wolfe; 
Girard C. C. Armstrong ; Virden John G. Smith ; Dorchester Josiah Sawyei , 
Gillespie P. H. Pentzer ; Brushy Mound William H. Perrine ; Carlinville John 
W. Hankins; T. G. Moore; South Otter Moses Yowell; North Otter Enoch 
Hill; Bunker Hill P. C. Muggins; Hilyard James Hackney; Polk John M. 
Yowell ; Bird George W. Arnett ; South Palmyra William G. Ross ; North 
Palmyra James Nevins ; Brighton E. T. Dain ; Shipman C. E. Wales ; Ches- 
terfield Amos Goodsell; Western Mound Elisha Dawson; Barr Edwin Hen- 
derson ; Scottville James H. Rohrer. 

1880. 

Staunton Thomas Funderburk, Cahokia L. W. Link ; Honey Point Wil- 
liam N. Gulp; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nilwood A. F. Hamilton; 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 135 

Girard C. C. Armstrong; Virden John G. Smith; Dorchester Josiah Saw- 
yer; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound Joseph - F. Clark; Carlinville 
J. W. Hankins, T. G. Moore; South Otter Moses Yowell ; North 
Otter Enoch Hall; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins ; Hilyard James Hack- 
ney; Polk John M. Yowell; Bird John H. Brown; South Palmyra William 
M. Esisex ; North Palmyra James Nevins ; Brighton E. T. Dain ; Shipman 
John Fischer; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell ; Western Mound William C. Ed- 
wards ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; Scottville William Carling. 

1881. 

Staunton Thomas Funderburk ; Cahokia Lewis W. Link ; Honey Point 
William N. Gulp; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nilwood George W. Bower- 
sox ; Girard William E. Eastham ; Virden John G. Smith ; Dorchester Josiah 
Sawyer; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound William H. Perrine; Carlin- 
ville John W. Hankins, T. G. Moore ; South Otter Moses Yowell ; North Ot- 
ter Enoch Hall ; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins ; Hilyard Henry Morrison, 
Jr. ; Polk John M. Yowell ; Bird George W. Arnett ; South Palmyra William 
M. Esisex; North Palmyra John N. Pinkerton ; Brighton E. T. Dain; Ship- 
man C. E. Wales; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell; Western Mound William C. 
Edwards; Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville William Carling, Sr. 

1882. 

Staunton Thomas Funderburk; Cahokia L. W. Link; Honey Point 
Marion Ruyle; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nilwood George W. Bower- 
sox; Girard Wilson T. Huff; Virden John G. Smith; Dorchester Josiah 
Sawyer; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound August Hacke; Carlinville 
John W. Hankins, E. Widaman; South Otter Moses Yowell; North Otter- 
Enoch Hall ; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins ; Hilyard Henry Morrison, Jr. ; Folk- 
John M. Yowell; Bird George W. Arnett; South Palmyra Charles E. Crumj 
North Palmyra John N. Pinkerton; Brighton E. T. Dain; Shipman William 
James ; Chesterfield Amos Goodsell ; Western Mound William C. Edwards ; 
Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville William Carling, Sr. 

1883. 

Staunton Cornelius Godfrey ; Cahokia H. R. Blevins ; Honey Point 
Marion Ruyle; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nilwood Oscar Smithson; 
Girard William E. Eastham ; Virden John G. Smith ; Dorchester Josiah 
Sawyer ; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer ; Brushy Mound August Hacke ; Carlinville 
James M. Pruitt, E. Widaman; South Otter William Price; North Otter- 
Enoch Hall; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins; Hilyard Henry Morrison, Jr.; Polk 
John M. Yowell; Bird George W. Arnett; South Palmyra -William Esisex; 
North Palmyra John N. Pinkerton ; Shipman William James ; Chesterfield 
Ed F. Corey ; Western Mound William C. Edwards ; Barr John W. Dalby ; 
Scottville S. D. Eades. 



136 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

In 1884 Staunton township was divided in halves by drawing a line through 
the township from east to west. The north half was named Mount Olive town- 
ship and has since been known and designated as such. 

1884. 

Staunton Cornelius Godfrey; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser; Cahokia H. B. 
Blevins ; Honey Point Marion Ruyle; Shaw's Point John J. Womack; Nil- 
wood D. C. Enslow ; Girard Chris C. Armstrong ; Virden John G. Smith ; 
Dorchester Josiah Sawyer ; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer ; Brushy Mound William 
H. Perrine; Carlinville William B. Dugger, E. Widaman; South Otter P. L. 
Arnett; North Otter John G. Hugler; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins; Hilyard 
Henry Morrison, Jr.; Polk E. B. Edwards; Bird George M. Arnett; South 
Palmyra James W. Duncan; North Palmyra John H. Landreth; Brighton 
D. D. Goodell; Shipman Meshach Shultz; Chesterfield E. F. Corey; Western 
Mound Elisha Dawson ; Barr John W. Dalby ; Scottville William Carling, 
Sr. 

1885. 

Staunton Cornelius Godfrey ; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser ; Cahokia E. S. 
Holmes ; Honey Point Marion Ruyle ; Shaw's Point L. N. English ; Nilwood 
David C. Enslow ; Girard John Ball ; Virden Thomas G. Duckels ; Dorchester 
Josiah Sawyer; Gillespie B. P. McDaniels; Brushy Mound William H. Per- 
rine; Carlinville William B. Dugger, John E. Parrottet; South Otter P. L. 
Arnett; North Otter Enoch Hall; Bunker Hill P. C. Huggins; Hilyard Har- 
ris Thomas; Polk W. A. Towse; Bird George W. Arnett; South Palmyra 
Thomas W. Conlee ; North Palmyra John H. Landreth ; Brighton D. D. 
Goodell ; Shipman Mashach Shultz ; Chesterfield E. F. Corey ; Western Mound 
Elisha Dawson : Barr John W. Dalby ; Scottville Dred Dugger. 

1886. 

Staunton Archibald Burns; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser; Cahokia- C. Drennan ; 
Honey Point W. J. Fuller; Shaw's Point Joseph Howard; Nilwood D. C. 
Enslow ; Girard Fountain L. Thompson ; Virden John G. Smith ; Dorchester 
J. H. Bauer; Gillespie P. H. Pentzer; Brushy Mound William H. Perrine; Car- 
linville J. M. Cohlepp, Charles S. Patchen; South Otter P. L. Arnett; North 
Otter D. W. Solomon; Bunker Hill F. C. Zimmerman; Hilyard Harris 
Thomas; Polk W. A. Towse; Bird Samuel E. Killam; South Palmyra- 
Thomas W. Conlee; North Palmyra R. D. Humphrey; Brighton D. D. Good- 
ell ; Shipman William James ; Chesterfield M. J. Huffman ; Western Mound 
John Hagaman ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; Scottville Dred Dugger. 

1887. 

Staunton Archibald Burns; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser; Cahokia Calvin Dren- 
nan; Honey Point Robert Wilson; Shaw's Point, Zeph Howard; Nilwood 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 137 

D. C. Enslow ; Girard C. C Armstrong ; V irden John G. Smith ; Dorchester 
J. H. Bauer; Gillespie William J. Steidley; Brushy Mound August Hacke; 
Carlinville John Lancaster, W. F. Meiher ; South Otter Thomas Mahan ; 
North Otter W. B. Chapman; Bunker Hill W. O. Jenks; Hilyard Henry 
Morrison; Polk W. A. Towse; Bird S. E. Killam; South Palmyra G. F. 
Fanning; North Palmyra Daniel Chapman; Brighton D. D. Goodell; Ship- 
man William James; Chesterfield M. J. Huffman; Western Mound John 
Hagaman ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; Scottville Dred Dugger. 

1888. 



Staunton Archibald Burns; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser; Cahokia C. Dren- 
nan ; Honey Point Robert Wilson ; Shaw's Point A. H. McAlister ; Nilwood 
J. H. Bailey; Girard George W. Bowersox; Virden John Gelder; Dorchester 
J. H. Bauer ; Gillespie W. A. Steidley ; Brushy Mound W. E. Taylor ; Car- 
linville C. S. Patchen, Henry Leifers ; South Otter William T. Conlee ; North 
Otter J. A. Wallace; Bunker Hill W. O. Jenks; Hilyard Gill S. Brown; 
Polk W. D. Reader ; Bird John H. Arnett ; South Palmyra George F. Fan- 
ning; North Palmyra A. J. Drum; Brighton D. D. Goodell; Shipman J. B. 
Andrews ; Chesterfield David T. Hall ; Western Mound George Etter ; Barr 
J. W. Dalby : Scottville Dred Drugger. 

1889. 

Staunton Cornelius Godfrey; Mt. Olive C. J. Keiser; Cahokia Calvin 
Drennan ; Honey Point M. E. Hart; Shaw's Point George Dooley; Nilwood 
J. H. Bailey ; Girard S. McKnight ; Virden John Gelder ; Dorchester Nathan 
Smith; Gillespie W. A. Steidley; Brushy Mound W. E. Taylor; Carlinville 
C. W. Gray, J. E. Parrottet ; South Otter W. T. Conlee ; North Otter John G. 
Hugler; Bunker Hill James Rumbolz; Hilyard J. F. Schultz; Polk W. E. 
Sanders; Bird John H. Arnett; South Palmyra George F. Fanning; North 
Palmyra A. J. Drum ; Brighton D. D. Goodell ; Shipman M. Schultz ; Ches- 
terfield D. T. Hall; Western Mound George Etter; Barr J. W. Dalby; Scott- 
ville Dred Dugger. 

1890. 

Staunton H. W. Wall; Mt. Olive Frank Friede; Cahokia C. Drennan; 
Honey Point R. D. Wilson; Shaw's Point A. H. McAlister; Nilwood J. H. 
Bailey; Girard George W! Bowersox; Virden Richard Ball; Dorchester Na- 
than Smith ; Gillespie W. A. Steidley ; Brushy Mound August Hacke ; Carlin- 
ville C. W. Gray, J. E. Parrottet; South Otter W. T. Conlee; North Otter- 
William M. Drennan; Bunker Hill James Rumbolz; Hilyard J. F. Schultz; 
Polk Daniel E. Witt ; Bird Robert Whiteley ; South Palmyra T. W. Conlee ; 
North Palmyra J. B. Vancil ; Brighton Dr. J. T. Dickerson ; Shipman Steven 



138 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Candler ; Chesterfield D. T. Hall ; Western Mound George Etter ; Barr J. W. 
Dalby ; Scottville Dred Dugger. 

1891. 

Staunton H. W. Wall; Mt. Olive Frank Friede; Cahokia C. Drennan; 
Honey Point W. C. Dey; Shaw's Point A. H. McAlister; Nilwood J. H. 
Bailey; Girard George W. Bowersox; Virden Richard Ball; Dorchester 
Nathan Smith; Gillespie W. A. Steidley; Brushy Mound W. H. Perrine; 
Carlinville C. W. Gray, J. E. Parrottet; South Otter W. T. Conlee; North 
Otter William M. Drennan; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard J. F. 
Schultz; Polk W. E. Sanders; Bird Robert Whiteley; South Palmyra John 
W. Duncan; North Palmyra J. B. Vancil; Brighton J. T. Dickerson; Ship- 
man M. Schultz; Chesterfield D. T. Hall; Western Mound John Hagaman; 
Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville Dred Dugger. 

1892. 

Staunton H. W. Wall; Mt. Olive A. J. Keiser; Cahokia Calvin Drennan; 
Honey Point W. C. Dey ; Shaw's Point J. P. Enslow ; Nilwood J. H. Bailey ; 
Girard George W. Bowersox ; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick ; Dorchester 
Nathan Smith ; Gillespie W. A. Steidley ; Brushy Mound W. H. Perrine ; 
Carlinville B. M. Burke, J. E. Parrottet; South Otter W. T. Conlee; North 
Otter William M. Drennan; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard William 
Meehan ; Polk W. E. Sanders ; Bird Cicero J. Solomon ; South Palmyra 
John W. Duncan ; North Palmyra J. B. Vancil ; Brighton J. T. Dickerson ; 
Shipman M. Schultz ; Chesterfield Samuel Barnstable ; Western Mound John 
Hagaman; Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville James A. Sims. 

1893. 

Staunton R. A. Hoxey; Mt. Olive A. J. Keiser; Cahokia Calvin Dren- 
nan; Honey Point W. N. Gulp; Shaw's Point W. C. Dey; Nilwood J. H. 
Bailey ; Girard George W. Bowersox ; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick ; Dorchester 
Nathan Smith; Gillespie W. H. Whitefield; Brushy Mound August Hacke; 
Carlinville John E. Parrottet, B. M. Burke ; South Otter W. T. Conlee ; North 
Otter William M. Drennan ; Bunker Hill A. D. Wood ; Hilyard William Mee- 
han; Polk W. E. Sanders; Bird Cicero J. Solomon; South Palmyra E. C. 
Crouch; North Palmyra Charles S. Steidley; Brighton John E. Andrews; 
Shipman M. Schultz ; Chesterfield Samuel Barnstable ; Western Mound Will- 
iam Davis; Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville James A. Sims. 

1894- 

Staunton R. A. Hoxey ; Mt. Olive Frank Helmbold ; Cahokia H. W. Rice ; 
Honey Point W. N. Gulp ; Shaw's Point S. B. Dugger ; Nilwood J. H. 
Bailey; Girard Isaac F. Gibson; Virden W. Kirkpatrick; Dorchester Nathan 
Smith ; Gillespie W. H. Whitefield ; Brushy Mound August Hacke ; Carlin- 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 139 

ville John F. Kasten, B. M. Burke ; South Otter W. T. Conlee ; North Otter- 
John A. Wallace; Bunker Hill A. D. Wood; Hilyard. Daniel H. Combes; 
Polk W. E. Sanders; Bird C. J. Solomon; South Palmyra E. C. Crouch; 
North Palmyra Charles S. Steidley; Brighton John E. Andrews; Shipman 
M. Schultz ; Chesterfield Samuel Barnstable ; Western Mound William Davis ; 
Barr John W. Dalby; Scottville S. E. Ruyle. 



Staunton A. Burns ; Mt. Olive Frank Helmbold ; Cahokia H. W. Rice ; 
Honey Point Guy A. Snell; Shaw's Point S. B. Dugger; Nilwood J. H. 
Bailey; Girard Isaac F. Gibson; Virden W. Kirkpatrick; Dorchester 
Nathan Smith ; Gillespie William Fuess ; Brushy Mound August Hacke ; 
Carlinville J. F. Kasten, B. M. Burke ; South Otter William T. Conlee ; North 
Otter John A. Wallace; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Gillespie Daniel H. 
Combes ; Polk ; W. Sanders ; Bird C. J. Solomon ; South Palmyra J. M. Dun- 
can ; North Palmyra C. L. Steidley ; Brighton John E. Andrews ; Shipman 
J. T. Darnielle; Chesterfield Samuel Barnstable; Western Mound John Haga- 
man ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; Scottville S. E. Ruyle. 

1896. 

Staunton A. Burns; Mt. Olive W. H. Whitehouse; Cahokia H. W. Rice; 
Honey Point Guy Snell; Shaw's Point C. W. Switzer; Nilwood G. W. 
Denby; Girard C. E. Burnett; Virden G. M. Chidester; Dorchester L. S. 
Mize; Gillespie W. J. Fuess; Brushy Mound August Hacke; Carlinville 
J. F. Kasten, B. M. Burke; South Otter W. T. Conlee; North Otter R. E. 
Alford; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard W. J. Donahue; Polk W. E. 
Sanders; Bird W. A. Craggs; South Palmyra J. M. Duncan; North Pal- 
myra C. :L. Steidley ; Brighton John E. Andrews ; Shipman J. T. Darnielle ; 
Chesterfield J. H. Duckies ; Western Mound John Hagaman ; Barr J. W. 
Dalby ; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1897. 

Staunton W. C. Seehausen; Mt. Olive W. H. Whitehouse; Cahokia H. 
W. Rice: Honey Point H. I. Masters; Shaw's Point C. W. Switzer; Nil- 
wood G. W. Denby ; Girard C. E. Burnett ; Virden G. M. Chidester ; Dor- 
chester L. S. Mize ; Gillespie William J. Fuess ; Brushy Mound Clinton Da- 
vis ; Carlinville John F. Kasten, B. M. Burke; South Otter W. T. Conlee; 
North Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard W. J. Don- 
ahue ; Polk W. E. Sanders ; Bird W. A. Craggs ; South Palmyra J. W. Dun- 
can ; North Palmyra J. J. Sims ; Brighton Spencer Brown ; Shipman J. T. 
Darnielle; Chesterfield J. S. Duckies; Western Mound John Hagaman; 
Barr J. W. Dalby; Scottville J. A. Turner. 



Staunton W. C. Seehausen ; Mt. Olive Frank Friede ; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice ; Honey Point H. I. Masters ; Shaw's Point A. H. McAlister ; Nilwood 



140 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

John H. Bailey; Girard George L. Tipton ; Virden George H. Westlake; Dor- 
chester David Thompson; Gillespie W. J. Fuess; Brushy Mound Clinton 
Davis ; Carlinville B. M. Burke, John F. Kasten ; South Otter S. T. Carmody ; 
North Otter R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood ; Hilyard H. M. Cof- 
fee; Polk W. E. Sanders; Bird G. W. Rhoades; South Palmyra J. W. Dun- 
can; North Palmyra J. J. Sims; Brighton M. S. Brown; Shipman H. S. 
Eaton ; Chesterfield James Sawtelle ; Western Mound John Hagaman ; Barr 
J. W. Dalby ; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1899. 

Staunton A. Burns ; Mt. Olive Frank Friede ; Cahokia H. W. Rice ; 
Honey Point H. I. Masters ; Shaw's Point A. H. McAlister ; Nilwood John 
H. Bailey ; Girard George L. Tipton ; Virden George H. Westlake ; Dorches- 
ter David Thompson ; Gillespie W. J. Fuess ; Brushy Mound George C. 
Walton; Carlinville B. M. Burke, J. F. Kasten; South Otter S. F. Carmody; 
North Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard H. M. Coffee; 
Polk L. B. Corbin; Bird G. W. Rhoades; South Palmyra R. E. Crum; 
North Palmyra J. J. Sims; Brighton James J. Kelsey; Shipman H. S. Eaton; 
Chesterfield James Sawtelle ; Western Mound H. C. Duckies ; Barr J. W. 
Dalby ; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1900. 

Staunton A. Burns; Mt. Olive A. H. Fuchs ; Cahokia H. W. Rice; Honey 
Point H. I. Masters; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood James D. Stead; 
Girard S. S. Huber ; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick ; Dorchester D. M. Thomp- 
son; Gillespie W. J. Fuess; Brushy Mound George C. Walton; Carlinville 
Robert S. Hemphill, J. F. Kasten ; -South Otter S. F. Carmody ; North Otter 
R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood ; Hilyard H. M. Coffee ; Polk L. B. 
Corbin ; Bird J. M. Sacre ; South Palmyra R. E. Crum ; North Palmyra 
J. J. Sims ; Brighton James J. Kelsey ; Shipman H. S. Eaton ; Chesterfield 
J. R. Duckies; Western Mound H. C. Duckies; Barr J. W. Dalby; Scott- 
ville J. A. Turner. 

1901. 

Staunton Henry Burns; Mt. Olive A. H. Fuchs; Cahokia H. W. Rice; 
Honey Point Charles York ; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree ; Nilwood James 
D. Stead; Girard S. S. Huber; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick; Dorchester D. 
M. Thompson ; Gillespie W. J. Fuess ; Brushy Mound Clinton Davis ; Carlin- 
ville Robert S. Hemphill, J. F. Kasten ; South Otter S. T. Carmody ; North 
Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood; Hilyard H. M. Coffee: 
Polk J. W. Anderson ; Bird J. M. Sacre ; South Palmyra R. T. Ross ; North 
Palmyra V. E. King ; Brighton J. E. Andrews ; Shipman M. B. Thompson ; 
Chesterfield J. R. Duckies ; Western Mound Elmo Etter ; Barr J. W. Dalby : 
Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1902. 

Staunton Henry Burns ; Mt. Olive Jacob Klein ; Cahokia H. W. Rice ; 
Honey Point Charles York ; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree ; Nilwood James 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 141 

D. Stead ; Girard John J. Stowe ; Virden Henry Noll ; Dorchester David 
Thompson ; Gillespie George G. Enslow ; Brushy Mound Clinton Davis ; Car- 
linville Robert S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; North 
Otter R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill R. H. Wood ; Hilyard Samuel Drew ; Polk 
J. W. Anderson; Bird J. M. Sacre; South Palmyra R. T. Ross; North Pal- 
myra V. E. King ; Brighton J. E. Andrews ; Shipman M. B. Thompson ; 
Chesterfield Elmer Day; Western Mound Elmo Etter; Barr J. W. Dalby; 
Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1903. 

Staunton George Luker; Mt. Olive Jacob Klein; Cahokia H. W. Rice; 
Honey Point Charles York; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood James 
D. Stead ; Girard John J. Stowe ; Virden Henry Noll ; Dorchester David 
Thompson; Gillespie P. H. Dorsey; Brushy Mound August Hacke; Carlin- 
ville Robert S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; North 
Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill Joseph Welch; Hilyard Samuel Drew; 
Polk J. W. Anderson ; Bird J. M. Sacre ; South Palmyra R. T. Ross ; North 
Palmyra V. E. King; Brighton D. D. Goodell; Shipman Fred H. Kohl; 
Chesterfield Elmer Day; Western Mound Elmo Etter; Barr J. W. Dalby; 
Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1904. 

Staunton George Luker; Mt. Olive Henry Engleman; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice; Honey Point Charles York; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood 
Frank B. Huber; Girard J. J. Stowe; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick; Dorches- 
ter D. M. Thompson ; Gillespie P. H. Dorsey ; Brushy Mound August 
Hacke ; Carlinville Robert S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates ; South Otter S. T. Car- 
mody; North Otter William A. Gardner; Bunker Hill Joseph Welch; Hil- 
yard Samuel Drew; Polk J. W. Anderson; Bird George Duckies; South 
Palmyra R. T. Ross; North Palmyra V. E. King; Brighton D. D. Goodell; 
Shipman Fred H. Kohl ; Chesterfield E. E. Day ; Western Mound Elmo Et- 
ter ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; Scottville J. 'A'. Turner. 



1905. 

Staunton P. H. Carroll; Mt. Olive Henry Engleman; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice; Honey Point W. E. Sharp; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood 
Frank B. Huber; Girard J. J. Stowe; Virden Walter Kirkpatrick; Dorches- 
ter D. M. Thompson; Gillespie M. W. Clark; Brushy Mound Louis Miller; 
Carlinville Robert S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; 
North Otter William A. Gardner ; Bunker Hill J. H. Welch ; Hilyard Sam- 
uel Drew ; Polk F. L. Rhoades ; Bird George Duckies ; South Palmyra R. T. 
Ross ; North Palmyra R. L. Conlee ; Brighton W. W. Rhoades ; Shipman 



142 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

F. H. Kohl ; Chesterfield E. E. Day ; Western Mound Elmo Etter ; Barr J. 
W. Dalby; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1906. 

Staunton P. H. Carroll ; Mt. Olive Henry Engleman ; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice ; Honey Point E. D. Nantz ; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree ; Nilwood 
F. B. Huber ; Girard T. W. Brendle ; Virden Charles Muhlenbeck ; Dorches- 
ter D. M. Thompson; Gillespie W. N. Clark; Brushy Mound Louis Miller; 
Carlinville R. S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; North 
Otter R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill J. H. Welch ; Hilyard D. M. Wadsworth ; 
Polk F. L. Rhoades ; Bird Q. H. Bates ; South Palmyra R. T. Ross ; North 
Palmyra R. L. Conlee; Brighton W. W. Rhoades; Shipman F. H. Kohl; 
Chesterfield James W. Hall ; Western Mound Elmo Etter ; Barr J. W. Dalby ; 
Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1907. 

Staunton P. H. Carroll; Mt. Olive Henry Engleman; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice; Honey Point W. E. Sharp; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood 
F. B. Huber; Girard T. W. Brendle; Virden Charles Muhlenbeck; Dorches- 
ter D. M. Thompson; Gillespie M. W. Clark; Brushy Mound John T. 
Glower; Carlinville D. M. Bates, R. S. Hemphill; South Otter S. T. Car- 
mody; North Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill J. H. Welch; Hilyard D. M. 
Wadsworth; Polk Benjamin Woods; Bird Q. H. Bates; South Palmyra 
R. T. Ross ; North Palmyra August Zelmer ; Brighton John W. Darlington ; 
Shipman F. H. Kohl ; Chesterfield James W. Hall ; Western Mound William 
Killam ; Barr W. C. Huson ; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1908. 

Staunton P. H. Carroll; Mt. Olive L. C. Reilly; Cahokia H. W. Rice; 
Honey Point W. E. Sharp ; Shaw's Point E. D. Nantz ; Nilwood F. B. 
Huber; Girard T. W. Brendle; Virden Charles Muhlenbeck; Dorchester 
D. M. Thompson; Gillespie M. W. Clark; Brushy Mound John T. Glower; 
Carlinville R. S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; North 
Otter R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill J. H. Welch ; Hilyard R. D. Roach ; Polk 
Benjamin Woods ; Bird Q. H. Bates ; South Palmyra R. T. Ross ; North 
Palmyra August Zelmer ; Brighton John W. Darlington ; Shipman F. H. 
Kohl; Chesterfield E. E. Day; Western Mound William Killam; Barr W. 
C. Huson ; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1909. 

Staunton Charles W. Soapes ; Mt. Olive L. C. Reilly; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice ; Honey Point Charles Bruce ; Shaw's Point E. D. Nantz ; Nilwood 
F. B. Huber ; Girard T. W. Brendle ; Virden Charles Muhlenbeck ; Dorchester 
D. M. Thompson; Gillespie M. W. Clark; Brushy Mound W. P. Kaleher; 
Carlinville D. M. Bates, R. S. Hemphill ; South Otter S. T. Carmody ; North 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 143 

Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill Charles Schoeneman ; Hilyard R. D. 
Rhoades; Polk William H. Robinson; Bird Q. H. Bates; South Palmyra 
R. T. Ross; North Palmyra George W. Stults; Brighton W. W. Rhoades; 
Shipman Samuel French; Chesterfield E. E. Day; Western Mound George 
Bauer; Barr W. D. Huson; Scottville J. A. Turner. 

1910. 

i 

Staunton Charles W. Soapes; Mt. Olive A. R. Scheiler; Cahokia H. W. 
Rice; Honey Point Charles Bruce; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nilwood . 
F. B. Huber; Girard T. W. Brendle; Virden Charles Muhlenbeck ; Dorches- 
ter D. M. Thompson; Gillespie M. W. Clark; Brushy Mound W. P. Kale- 
her; Carlinville R. S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter S. T. Carmody; 
North Otter R. E. Alford ; Bunker Hill Charles Schoeneman ; Hilyard C. M. 
Bullman ; Polk William H. Robinson ; Bird A. H. Bates ; South Palmyra 
R. T. Ross; North Palmyra George W. Stults; Brighton W. W. Rhoades; 
Shipman Samuel French; Chesterfield John H. Duckies; Western Mound 
George Bauer ; Barr W. D. Huson ; Scottville John A. Turner. 

1911. 

Staunton C. W. Soapes, C. Godfrey; Mt. Olive Arno Scheiter; Cahokia 
H. W. Rice; Honey Point Charles Bruce; Shaw's Point C. B. Crabtree; Nil- 
wood F. B. Huber; Girard T. W. Brendle; Virden C. Muhlenbeck; Dor- 
chester D. M. Thompson; Gillespie George W. Behrens; Brushy Mound 
William P. Kaleher; Carlinville R. S. Hemphill, D. M. Bates; South Otter 
T. B. Weller; North Otter R. E. Alford; Bunker Hill C. Schoeneman; Hil- 
yard Charles Bullman; Polk W. H. Robinson; Bird Q. H. Bates; South 
Palymra R. T. Ross; North Palmyra George W. Stults; Brighton W. W. 
Rhoades ; Shipman G. G. Reno ; Chesterfield J. H. Duckies ; Western Mound 
George Rauer; Barr S. M. Hicks; Scottville J. A. Turner. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
THE PRIMITIVE. 

THIS CHAPTER TELLS OF HOW THE PIONEER MANAGED TO LIVE ALSO HOW THE 

EARLY SETTLER ENDURED MANY HARDSHIPS AND PRIVATIONS HEROISM AND 

FORTITUDE OF NOBLE WOMEN, THEIR SACRIFICES AND WONDERFUL RESOURCE- 
FULNESS THEY WERE BRAVE, TOO, IN THE FACE OF DANGER. 

So rapid has been the improvement in machinery, and the progress in the arts 
and their application to the needs of man, that a study of the manner in which 
people lived and worked only three-fourths of a century ago seems like the study 
of a remote age. 

It is important to remember that while a majority of settlers were poor, that 
poverty carried with it no crushing sense of degradation like that felt by the very 
poor of our age. They lived in a cabin, it is true, but it was their own and had 
been reared by their hands. Their house, too, while inconvenient and far from 
water proof, was built in the prevailing style of architecture and would compare 
favorably with the homes of their neighbors. 

They were destitute of many of the conveniences of life, and of some things 
that are now considered necessaries, but they patiently endured their lot and 
hopefully looked forward to better. They had plenty to wear as protection against 
the weather, and an abundance of wholesome food. They sat down to a rude 
table to eat from tin or pewter dishes, but the meat thereon the flesh of the deer 
or bear, of the wild duck or turkey, of the quail or squirrel was superior to that 
we eat, and had been won by the skill of the head of the house or of that of his 
vigorous sons. The bread they ate was made from corn or wheat of their own 
raising. They walked the green carpet of the grand prairie or forest that sur- 
rounded them, not with the air of a beggar, but with the elastic step of a self- 
respected freeman. 

The settler brought with him the keen ax, which was indispensable, and the 
equally necessary rifle the first his weapon of offence against the forests that 
skirted the water courses, and near which he made his home ; the second that of 
defence from the attacks of his foe, the cunning child of the forest and prairie. 
His first labor was to fell trees and erect his unpretentious cabin, which was 
rudely made of logs, and in the raising of which he had the cheerful aid of his 
neighbors. It was usually from fourteen to sixteen feet square, and never larger 
than twenty feet, and was frequently built entirely without glass, nails, hinges or 
locks. 

144 




METHODIST CHURCH. MEDORA 




BAPTIST CHURCH. MEDORA 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 145 

The manner of building was as follows : First large logs were laid in position 
as sills; on these were placed strong sleepers, and on the sleepers were laid the 
rough hewed puncheons, which were to serve as floors. The logs were then built 
up till the proper height for the eaves was reached ; then on the ends of the build- 
ing were placed poles, longer than the other end logs, which projected some eigh- 
teen or more inches over the sides, and were called "butting pole sleepers ;" on the 
projecting ends of these was placed the "butting pole," which served to give the 
line to the first row of clapboards. These were, as a matter of cpurse, split, and 
as the gables of the cabin were built up, were so laid on as to lap a third of their 
length. They were often kept in place by the weight of a heavy pole, which was 
laid' across the roof parallel to the ridge pole. The house was then chinked and 
daubed with a coarse mortar. 

A huge fire place was built in at one end of the house, in which fire was 
kindled for cooking purposes, for the settlers generally were without stoves, and 
which furnished warmth in winter. The ceiling above was sometimes covered 
with the pelts of the raccoon, opossum, and of the wolf, to aid to the warmth of 
the dwelling. Sometimes the soft inner bark of the bass wood was used for the 
same purpose. The cabin was lighted by means of greased paper windows. A 
log would be left out along one side and sheets of strong paper, well greased 
with coon grease or bear oil, would be carefully tacked in. 

The above description only applies to the very earliest times, before the rattle 
of the sawmill was heard within our borders. 

The furniture comported admirably with the house itself, and hence, if not 
elegant, was in most perfect taste. The tables had four legs and were rudely 
made from a puncheon. Their seats were stools, having three or four legs. The 
bedstead was in keeping with the rest, and was often so contrived as to permit it 
to be drawn up and fastened to the wall during the day, thus affording more 
room to the family. The entire furniture was simple and was framed with no 
other tools than the ax and auger. Each was his own carpenter, and some dis- 
played considerable ingenuity in the construction of implements of agriculture 
and utensils, and furniture for the house. Sometimes they had knives and forks 
and sometimes they had not. The common table knife was the pack knife or 
butcher knife. Horse collars were sometimes made of the plaited husk of the 
maize sewed together. They were easy on the neck of the horse, and if tug 
traces were used, would last a long time. Horses were not used much, how- 
ever, and oxen were almost exclusively used. In some instances carts and 
wagons were constructed or repaired by the self-reliant settler, and the woeful 
creakings of the untarred axles could be heard at a great distance. 

The women corresponded well with the description of the virtuous woman in 
the last chapter of Proverbs, for they "sought wool and flax, and worked willingly 
with their hands." They did not, it is true, make for themselves "coverings of 
tapestry," nor could it be' said of them that their "clothing was silk and purple;" 
but they "rose while it was yet night, and gave meat to their household," and they 
"girded their loins with strength and strengthened their arms." They "looked 
well to the ways of their household and ate not the bread of idleness." They 
laid "their hands to the spindle and to the distaff," and "strength and honor 
were in their clothing." 
Vol. i :o 



146 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

In these days of furbelows and flounces, it is refreshing to know that the 
ladies of that ancient time considered eight yards an extravagant amount to put in 
a dress. The dress was usually made plain with four widths in the skirt, the two 
front ones cut gored. The waist was made very short, and across the shoulders 
behind was a draw string. The sleeves were enormously large and tapered from 
shoulder to wrist, and the most fashionable for fashion, like love, rules alike the 
"court and grove" were padded so as to resemble a bolster at the upper part and 
were known as "mutton legs," or "sheep shank" sleeves. The sleeve was often 
kept in place by a heavily starched lining. Those who could afford it used 
feathers, which gave the sleeve the appearance of an inflated balloon from elbow 
up, and were known as "pillow" sleeves. 

Many bows and some ribbons were worn, but scarcely any jewelry. The tow 
dress was superseded by the cotton gown. Around the neck, instead of a lace 
collar or elegant ribbon, there was disposed a copperas colored neckkerchief. 

In going to church or other public gatherings in summer weather, they some- 
times walked barefoot till near their destination, when they would put on their 
shoes or moccasins. They were contented and even happy without any of the 
elegant articles of apparel now used by the ladies and considered necessary arti- 
cles of dress. Ruffles, fine laces, silk hats, kid gloves, false curls, rings, combs 
and jewels were almost unknown, nor did the lack of them vex their souls. Many 
of them were grown before they ever saw the interior of a well supplied dry- 
goods store. They were reared in simplicity, lived in simplicity and were happy 
in simplicity. 

It may be interesting to speak more specifically regarding cookery and diet. 
Wild meat was plentiful. The settlers generally brought some food with them 
to last till a crop could be raised. Small patches of Indian corn were raised, 
which, in the earliest days of the settlements, was beaten in a mortar. The meal 
was made into a coarse but wholesome bread, on which the teeth could not be 
very tightly shut on account of the grit it contained. Johnny cake and pones 
were served at dinner, while mush and milk was the favorite dish for supper. 
In the fireplace hung the crane, and the dutch oven was used in baking. The 
streams abounded in fish, which formed a healthful article of food. Many kinds 
of greens, such as dock and polk, were eaten. The "truck patch" furnished roast- 
ing ears, pumpkins, beans, squashes and potatoes, and these were used by all. 
For reaping bees, log rollings and house raisings, the standard dish was pot 
pie. Coffee and tea were used sparingly, as they were very dear, and the hardy 
pioneer thought them a drink fit only for women and children. They said it 
would not "stick to the ribs." Maple sugar was much used and honey was only 
five cents a pound. Butter was the same price, while eggs were three cents. 
The utmost good feeling prevailed. If one killed hogs, all shared. Chickens 
were to be seen around every doorway in great numbers and the gabble of the 
turkey and quack of the duck were heard in the land. Nature contributed of her 
fruits. Wild grapes and plums were to be found in their season, along the 
streams. 

The women manufactured nearly all of the clothing worn by the family. 
In cool weather gowns made of "linsey woolsey" were worn by the ladies. The 
chain was of cotton and the filling of wool. The fabric was usually plaid or 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 147 

striped, and the differing colors were blended according to the taste and fancy 
of the fair maker. Colors were blue, copperas, turkey red, light blue, etc. 
Every house contained a card loom and spinning wheels, 'which were considered 
by the women as necessary for them as the rifle was for the men. Several dif- 
ferent kinds of cloth were made. Cloth was woven from cotton. The rolls were 
bought and spun on little and big wheels, into kinds of thread; one the "chain" 
and the other the "filling." The more experienced only spun the chain; the 
younger the filling. Two kinds of loom were in use. The most primitive in 
construction was called the "side loom." The frame of it consisted of two pieces 
of scantling running obliquely from the floor to the wall. Later, the frame loom, 
which was a great improvement over the other, came into use. 

The men and boys wore "jeans" and linsey woolsey hunting shirts. The 
"jeans" were colored either light blue or butternut. 

Many times when the men gathered to a log rolling or barn raising, the women 
would assemble, bringing their spinning wheels with them. In this way some- 
times as many as ten or twelve would gather in one room, and the pleasant 
voices of the fair spinners were mingled with the low hum of the spinning wheels. 

Such articles of apparel as could not be manufactured were brought to them 
from the nearest store by the mail carrier. These were few, however. The men 
and boys, in many instances, wore pantaloons made of the dressed skin of the 
deer, which then swarmed the prairies in large herds. The young man who 
desired to look captivating to the eye of the maiden whom he loved, had his 
"bucks" fringed, which lent them a not unpleasing effect. Meal sacks were also 
made of buckskin. Caps were made of the skins of the wolf, fox, wild cat and 
muskrat, tanned with the fur on. The tail of the fox or wolf often hung down 
the top of the cap, lending the wearer a jaunty air. Both sexes wore moccasins, 
which in dry weather were an excellent substitute for shoes. There were no 
shoemakers and each family made its own shoes. 

The settlers were separated from their neighbors often by miles. There were 
no churches or regular services of any kind to call them together, hence, no 
doubt, the cheerfulness with which they accepted invitations to a house raising 
or a log rolling or a corn shucking, or a bee of any kind. To attend these gath- 
erings sometimes they would go ten miles or more. 

Generally with the invitation to the men went one to the women to come 
to a quilting. The good woman of the house where the festivities were to take 
place would be busily engaged for a day or more in preparation for the coming 
guests. Great quantities of provisions were to be prepared, for dyspepsia was 
unknown to the pioneer and good appetites were the rule and not the exception. 

The bread used at these frolics was generally baked on Johnny or Journey cake 
boards, and was the best corn bread ever made. The board was made smooth, 
about two feet long and -eight inches wide. The ends were generally rounded. 
The dough was spread out on this board and placed leaning before the fire. One 
side was baked and then the dough was changed on the board, so the other side 
was presented to the fire. This was Johnny cake and was good if the proper 
materials were put in the dough and it was properly baked. 

At all log rollings and house raisings, it was customary to provide liquor. 
Excesses were not indulged in, however. The fiddler was never forgotten. After 



148 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

the day's work had been accomplished, out doors and in, by men and women, 
the floor was cleared and the merry dance began. The handsome, stalwart young 
men, whose fine forms were the result of their manly, outdoor life, clad in fringed 
buckskin breeches and gaudily colored hunting shirts, led forth the bright eyed, 
buxom damsels, attired in neatly fitting linsey woolsey garments, to the dance, 
their cheeks glowing with health and eyes speaking of enjoyment, and perhaps of 
a tenderer emotion. 

In pioneer times the corn was never husked on the stalk, as is done at this 
day, but was hauled home in the husk and thrown in a heap, generally by the 
side of the crib, so that the ears, when husked, could be thrown direct into the 
crib. The whole neighborhood, male and female, were invited to the shucking, 
as it was called. The girls, and many of the married women, engaged in this 
amusing work. 

In the first place two leading expert huskers were chosen as captains, and the 
heap of corn divided as nearly equal as possible. Rails were laid across the pile 
so as to designate the division ; and then each captain chose, alternately, his corps 
of huskers, male and female. The whole number of working hands present were 
selected, on one side or the other, and then each party commenced a contest to 
beat the other, which was in many cases truly exciting. One other rule was that 
whenever a male husked a red ear of corn, he was entitled to a kiss from the 
girls. This frequently excited much fuss and scuffling, which was intended by 
both parties to end in a kiss. It was a universal practice that tafna or Monon- 
gahela whisky was used at these husking frolics, which they drank out of a bottle, 
each one, male and female, taking the bottle and drinking out of it, and then 
handing it to his next neighbor, without using any glass or cup whatever. This 
custom was common and was not considered rude. Almost always these corn 
shuckings ended in a dance. To prepare for this amusement fiddles and fiddlers 
were in great demand, and it often required much fast riding to obtain them. 
One violin and a performer were all that was contemplated at these innocent 
rural games. 

Toward dark and the supper half over, then it was that a bustle and con- 
fusion commenced. The confusion of tongues at Babel would have been ashamed 
at the corn shuckings, the young ones hurrying off the table, and the old ones 
contending for time and order. It was the case, in nine times out of ten, that 
but one dwelling house was on the premises, and that used for eating as well 
as dancing. 

But when the fiddler commenced tuning his instrument the music always 
gained the victory for the young side. Then the dishes, victuals, table and all, 
disappeared in a few minutes, and the room was cleared, the dogs driven out, 
and the floor swept off ready for action. The floors of these houses were some- 
times the natural earth, beat solid, sometimes the earth, with puncheons in the 
middle over the potato hole, and at times the whole floor was made of puncheons. 

The music at these country dances made the young folks almost frantic, and 
sometimes much excitement was displayed to get on the floor first. Generally 
the fiddler on these occasions assumed an important bearing, and ordered in true 
professional style, so and so to be done, as that was the way in North Carolina, 
where he was raised. The decision ended the contest for the floor. In those 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 149 

days they danced jigs and four handed reels, as they were called. Sometimes 
three handed reels were also danced. In these dances there was no standing still ; 
all were moving at a rapid pace from the beginning to the end. In the jigs the 
bystanders cut one another out, as it was called, so that this dance would last 
for hours. Sometimes the parties in a jig tried to tire one another down in the 
dance, and then it would also last a long time before one or the other gave up. 
The cotillion or stand still dances were not then known. 

The bottle went round at these parties as it did at the shuckings, and male 
and female took a dram out of it as it passed around. No sitting was indulged 
in, and the folks either stood or danced all night, as generally daylight ended 
the frolic. The dress of these hardy pioneers was generally in plain homespun. 
The hunting shirt was much worn at that time, which was a convenient working 
or (lancing dress. Sometimes dressed deerskin pantaloons were used on these 
occasions, and moccasins, rarely shoes, and at times barefeet were indulged in. 
In the morning all went home on horseback or on foot. No carriages, wagons or 
other vehicles were used on these occasions, for the best of reasons because they 
had none. Dancing was a favorite amusement and was indulged in by all. 

The amusements of those days were more athletic and rude than those of to- 
day. Among settlers in a new country, from the nature of the case, a higher 
value was set upon physical than mental endowments. Skill in woodcraft, supe- 
riority of muscular development, accuracy in shooting with the rifle, activity, 
swiftness of foot, were qualifications that brought their possessors fame. Foot 
racing was often practiced, and often the boys and young men engaged in friendly 
contests with the Indians. Every man had a rifle, and always kept it in good 
order. His flints, bullet molds, screwdriver, awl, butcher knife and tomahawk 
were fastened to the shot pouch trap or to the belt around the waist. Target 
shooting was much practiced and shots were made by the hunters and settlers, 
with flint lock rifles, that cannot be excelled by their descendants with the im- 
proved breech loaders of the present day. 

At all gatherings jumping and wrestling was indulged in, and those who ex- 
celled were thenceforward men of notoriety. Cards, dice and other gambling 
implements were unknown. Dancing was a favorite amusement. It was par- 
ticipated in by all. 

At their shooting matches, which were usually for the prize of a turkey, or 
a gallon of whisky, good feeling generally prevailed. If disputes arose, they were 
often settled by a square stand-up fight, and no one thought of using other 
weapons than fists. They held no grudge after their fights, for this was consid- 
ered unmanly. It was the rule, that if a fight occurred between two persons, 
the victor should pour water for the defeated as he washed away the traces of 
the fray, after which the latter was to perform the same service for the former. 

Among the first of the pioneer mills were the "band mills." The plan was 
cheap. The horse power consisted of a large upright shaft, some ten or twelve 
feet in height, with some eight or ten long arms let into the main 'shaft and ex- 
tending out from it fifteen feet. Auger holes were bored into the arms on the 
upper side at the end, into which wooden pins were driven. This was called the 
"big wheel" and was, as has been seen, about twenty feet in diameter. The raw 
hide belt or tug was made of skins taken off of beef cattle, which were cut into 



150 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

strips three inches in width ; these were twisted into a round cord or tug, which 
was long enough to encircle the circumference of the big wheel. There it was 
held in place by the wooden pins, then crossed and passed under a shed and run 
around a drum, or what is called a "trunnel head," which was attached to the 
grinding apparatus. The horses or oxen were hitched to the arms by means of 
raw hide tugs. Then walking in a circle the machinery would be set in motion. 
To grind twelve bushels of corn was considered a good day's work on a band 
mill. 

The most rude and primitive method of manufacturing meal was by the use 
of a grater. A plate of tin was pierced with many holes, so that one side was very 
rough. The tin was made oval and then nailed to a board. An ear of corn was 
rubbed hard on this grater, whereby the meal was forced through the holes, and 
fell down into a vessel prepared to receive it. An improvement on this was the 
hand mill. The stones were smaller than those of the band mill and were pro- 
pelled by man or woman power. A hole was made in the upper stone and a 
staff of wood was put in it, and the other end of the staff was put through a hole 
in a plank above, so that the whole was free to act. One or two persons took hold 
of this staff and turned the upper stone as rapidly as possible. An eye was made 
in the upper stone, through which the corn was put into the mill with the hand 
in small quantities to suit the mill, instead of a hopper. A mortar, wherein corn 
was beaten into meal, was made out of a large round log, three or four feet 
long. One end was cut or burned out so as to hold a peck of corn, more or less, 
according to circumstances. This mortar was set one end on the ground, and the 
other up, to hold the corn. A sweep was prepared over the mortar so that the 
spring of the pole raised the piston and the hands at it forced it down on the 
corn so hard that after much beating, meal was manufactured. 



CHAPTER IX. 

I : ; ,'j 

PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

THE FIRST COURT HOUSE A PRIMITIVE LOG BUILDING MEN OF NOTE HELD FORTH 

THERE SECOND BUILDING SOMEWHAT MORE PRETENTIOUS THAN ITS PREDE- 
CESSOR HERE LINCOLN, DOUGLAS AND MANY OTHERS WHO BECAME OF NA- 
TIONAL NOTE FOREGATHERED EARLY CRIMINAL RECORD. 

FIRST COURT HOUSE. 

The county, being organized and electing officials to look after its business 
affairs, needed a place of its own, wherein the county officers might perform 
their duties. Or, in other words, a place was needed in which to hold court, of- 
fices for the board of commissioners and other officers, and a safe repository for 
public documents. The commissioners' and district courts had been held at the 
homes of certain of the settlers, but the business of the county was growing and 
the necessity of a courthouse became more and more apparent. Hence it was "at 
a county commissioners' court begun and held at the house of Ezekiel Good, in 
and for the county of Macoupin, on Monday, the seventh day of September, 
A. D., 1829." 

"Present: Theodorus Davis, Sr., Seth Hodges, Commissioners. 

"It is ordered by the court that the building of a courthouse for said county 
of the following description, namely : to be built of hewn logs, 18x24 f eet - The 
logs to face one foot on an average ; the house to be two stories high. The lower 
story to be eight feet between floors and the second story to be six feet below 
the roof; to have one door below, with one window below and one above; door 
to be cased and to have a good strong plank shutter ; the windows to contain twelve 
lights or panes of glass, eight by ten ; two good plank floors, to be jointed and 
laid down rough ; roof to be double covered with boards ; weight poles to be 
shaven ; craqks to be lined on the inside with shaven boards and crammed on the 
outside with mud and. straw or grass, well mixed together ; all to be completed 
in a strong manner by the first Friday after the second Monday in April next, 
will be let on a credit of six, twelve, and eighteen months, to the lowest bidder on 
the igth inst; the undertaker to give bond with approved security for the per- 
formance of his contract, and that the clerk of this court advertise the same." 

Seth Hodges received the contract for the building of the courthouse, and 
filed the necessary bond required by the commissioners. The building was duly 
completed according to contract, and the commissioners held their first court in 
the new courthouse on the ijth day of July, 1830. 

151 



152 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

The courthouse was accepted by the commissioners, and at the September 
term, 1830, Seth Hodges was allowed the sum of $48.33 1/3, and at a subsequent 
term of the court he was allowed $57.33 1/3. Among the items inckided in the 
building and furnishing the courthouse were benches and bar $23, which fur- 
nishes an interesting comparison with the furniture of the court room and judges' 
chair of the present magnificent structure. 

The commissioners on the 25th of March, 1835, appointed James C. Ander- 
son, Isaac Greathouse, Stith M. Otwell, John R. Lewis, and John Wilson agents 
for the county of Macoupin, to borrow a sum of money not under five or ex- 
ceeding seven thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding eight per 
cent per annum, for a term of years not under six nor over ten to be applied to 
the erection of a brick courthouse. The commissioners approved the bond, 
June i, 1835. 

THE SECOND COURTHOUSE. 

The second building erected as a courthouse had an atmosphere about it never 
attained by its successor. It was build on ground dedicated by its donor for that 
purpose and its walls echoed and reechoed many times the eloquence of a Lin- 
coln, a Douglas and other great legal lights that have long ceased to shed their 
radiance upon an admiring public. Men of national renown, in the days of "rid- 
ing the circuit" attended court in this historic old building. 

The court adopted the following as the plan of a courthouse in the town of 
Carlinville and county of Macoupin : "The square of the house fifty feet ; wall 
to be of stone, four feet, two feet under ground, of rough stone, and the other 
of two feet hewn stone, all to be laid with good lime mortar, two feet, six inches 
thick ; the balance of good hard burnt stock brick, laid with good lime mortar, in 
workmanlike manner, two and a half bricks thick first story, and two the second, 
each story to be fourteen feet in the clear ; the lower floor to be even with the 
top of the stone wall, to have four posts with a door, and two windows in the 
lower story and three windows in each front in the upper story, each window 
to be twenty-four light, 10x14, and the door to be made in accordance with a 
plan given by Dr. J. R. Lewis ; the first door in the east to be made permanent 
and the judge's seat to be placed against the same. The lower part to be divided 
into a court room and lobby, separated by a bannister four feet high, passing 
through the house from north to south, parallel or nearly so with the near side of 
the north and south doors, to the judge's seat, two flights of stairs running from 
the court room over each door to the center space of upper story, and to be one 
chimney. 

"December term, 1836. It is ordered by the court that Harbird Weatherford 
and Jefferson Weatherford, two of the undertakers to build the courthouse for 
this county be allowed the sum of $1,500 to be due and payable on the 1st of 
March, 1839, and if not punctually paid when due to draw interest at the rate 
of eight per cent per annum from the time the same becomes due and payable until 
paid. 

"June term, 1837. It is ordered by the court that in the plan of the court- 
house in this county that the stone caps be dispensed with and that brick arches 
be turned, and also that the sills for the windows of stone be dispensed with and 




OLD COURTHOUSE OX PUBLIC' SQUARE. 1869 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 153 

A 

walnut sills be received in their place, and also that $175 be deducted from the 
price of building said house. Two of the undertakers of the house being present 
and giving their consent to this order by J. Greathouse and J. Weatherford. 

"March, 1840. The court house officially received. $550 deducted from pay- 
ment thereof for defalcations in completing of the work. 

"1838. A fence costing $230, built round the courthouse to each corner, and 
each chimney to have two fire places, one above and one below, the upper part 
to be laid off with a passage in the center, corresponding with the center win- 
dows, ten feet wide ; the east side of said passage to be entry room and the west 
to be laid off in three rooms of equal size. The roof and cupola to be built in ac- 
cordance with the said plan of Dr. J. R. Lewis, James C. Anderson and Thomas 
Corr as commissioners to let out the said building to the lowest bidder, payable 
out of the county in the following payments: $2,000 payable the ist of March, 
1839; $4,000 payable the ist of March, 1840; $4,000 payable the ist of March, 
1841 ; and the balance provided the amount does not exceed the sum of two 
thousand dollars, payable the ist of March, 1842. County orders to be issued to 
the order of said commissioners, and said orders to bear eight per cent interest v 
per annum, from the time due until paid, if not punctually paid, and said court 
house to be built in the center of the public square, of the said town of Carlin- 
ville, and the same to be finished according to the said plan, against the ist of 
January, 1838. Ordered publication of said building be published in the Alton 
Telegraph four weeks." 

On the completion of the third and present courthouse, the old building was 
sold at public auction by the authorities, and brought a little over $700. 

JURISTS OF EARLY RENOWN. 

Here sat upon the bench with dignity and impartiality Stephen T. Logan, a 
man who won lasting renown as a learned lawyer and unapproachable jurist. 
He was preceded, however, by Judge Samuel D. Lockwood, whose character was 
stainless. It was said of Judge Lockwood that as a jurist he was the peer of 
the ablest of his contemporary associates on the bench. 

There was also William Brown, who was appointed by Governor Duncan as 
judge pro tem. of the first judicial district, upon the resignation of Judge Logan 
in 1837. He was a native of Kentucky, a man of culture and agreeable manners 
and at the time of his elevation to the bench but twenty-five years of age. He 
was followed on the bench by Jesse B. Thomas, John Pearson, William Thomas, 
of Jacksonville, David M. Woodson, of Carrollton, in 1848; Edward Y. Rice, 
who studied law under General John M. Palmer and was elected to the bench in 
1857; H. M. Vandeveer, of Taylorville, in 1870; and Charles S. Zane, of Spring- 
field, in 1873; William R. Welch, in 1877; Jesse D. Phillips, of Hillsboro; Judge 
Phillips resigned in 1893 and was succeeded by Robert B. Shirley, of Carlinville, 
the number of the districts having been changed and Macoupin placed in the 
fifth. 

In the apportionment of 1897 the number of judicial districts was increased 
from thirteen to seventeen and Macoupin county was assigned to the seventh. 
Judge Shirley succeeded himself on the bench and is the present resident judge. 



154 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS. 

IWhen southern Illinois formed one vast judicial district many able lawyers 
appeared at this court as' the state or prosecuting attorney. Among them may be 
mentioned George Farquer, a half brother of Governor Ford, in the early '305; 
John J. Harclin, within the same period; Stephen A Douglas, the "little giant," 
in 1835 and 1836; Jesse B. Thomas, who afterward was elevated to the bench, 
likewise D. M. Woodson; John S. Greathouse, in 1841-2, the pioneer lawyer of 
Carlinville; John Evans, in 1843-4; C. H. Goodrich, 1845-6; William Weer for 
short time as an appointee; Henry Dusenburg, 1847-8; C. H. Goodrich, 1849-52; 
Cyrus Epler, 1853-6; James B. White, 1857-64; C. M. Morrison, 1865-69; Horace 
Gwin, 1870-72; S. T. Corn, 1873-80. 

At this bar appeared members of the legal profession who eventually became 
of world-wide reputation. Abraham Lincoln, in "riding the circuit" was fre- 
quently called to the Macoupin sittings of court and there are men still living in 
Carlinville, who can remember seeing him upon his visits. He was considered a 
good lawyer and a shrewd one. In his cases he was uniformly successful. As is 
well known by the student of history, Douglas and Lincoln's rivalry did not be- 
gin at the opening of their political career. They rarely appeared on the same 
side of a case ; the rule was to find them opposing each other in the courts in the 
interest of contending clients. The fact that such men as Lincoln and Douglas 
practiced at the Macoupin bar, if only as itinerant lawyers, gives to the local 
history of the profession a flavor all its own. 

The eloquent and heroic E. D. Baker, of Springfield, also appeared here, as 
did also U. F. Linder, John J. Hardin and many others who made great reputa- 
tions and thereby honored the profession of their adoption ; but to enumerate them 
all would be tedious and, most likely, profitless to the general reader ., 

COUNTY JAILS. 

It was, of course, even though the county was new and sparsely settled, nec- 
essary to have a place in which to confine the unruly and criminal class. Carlin- 
ville was the county seat and the building of a county jail could not be avoided. 
Consequently, at the March term of the commissioners' court, in the year 1832, 
it was ordered that a county jail be built of the following description : 

FIRST JAIL. 

"To be built of hewed timbers, the outside wall to be started one foot under 
ground, to be eighteen feet square, built of logs, hewed to square ten inches ; the 
floor to be laid with hewed timbers, to square twelve inches, two thicknesses and 
crosswise, the whole to be only twelve inches above the surface of the ground ; 
the inside wall to be built of hewed timbers, to square eight inches, and started 
on the floor the middle wall to be started at the same place as the inside one, and 
built of hewed timbers, to square six inches, to be let down outwise, the inside and 
middle wall to be raised seven feet high ; the second, floor to be laid with timbers 
to square ten inches, to be laid on said walls, and said floor to be laid with two- 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 155 

inch plank crosswise, to be jointed and laid down rough ; then the middle wall 
will be discontinued, and the other two to be continued seven feet higher, leaving 
an open space between them of six inches ; third floor to be seven feet from the 
second, and laid with hewed timbers, to square twelve inches, said timbers to ex- 
tend outside of the wall nine inches at each end ; roof to be shingled with walnut 
shingles, to be made five-eighths of an inch thick and four inches wide, on an 
average; rafters to be three by five inches at the plate and thfee square at the 
top, to show four inches to the weather ; to be sawed and to be set two feet from 
the center ; two center plates framed on the top to be eight by twelve inches, where- 
on to set the rafters, with conduits or eave troughs, to be black walnut ; one out- 
side door in the upper story, to have two shutters, one to open on the outside and 
the other on the inside, to be two feet six inches wide and five feet high, to be 
made of two thicknesses of plank, plank to be one and a half inches thick, nailed 
on crosswise, to be strapped with iron, straps to be half-inch thick and three 
inches wide, to be riveted on the door not exceeding six inches apart, the spaces 
between to be filled up with nails with large heads, to be driven in and clinched 
on the inside ; hinges to be strong and suitable to the door ; hatchway two and 
a half feet square, to be made as the outside door, and put in the middle of the 
second floor, hung on strong hinges, to be fastened with a large hasp and pad- 
lock; platform four feet square, bannistered round, with a stepladder extending 
from the ground up to it; two windows below, one foot square each, with iron 
bars one inch square, to be two inches from center to center, and let in the mid- 
dle wall, bars to be crossed in the windows, and two windows above, to be the 
same size as the lower ones, and made with bars as below, only single instead of 
crossed ; all the timbers to be of white oak and over cap ; to be completed in a 
strong and workmanlike manner, on or before the 1st of September, 1833. One 
payment of two hundred dollars to be made at the March term, 1833, to the un- 
dertaker, the same amount to be paid in annual installments, until the full amount 
shall be discharged ; be sold on the first Monday in June next, to the lowest bid- 
der, the undertaker to give bond, with approved security for the performance 
of his contract, to the county commissioners of this county and to their succes- 
sors in office, conditioned for the faithful performance of his contract, on or 
before the first day of September, 1833 ; also that the clerk of this court adver- 
tise the same in three public places in this county. 

"December, 1832. It is ordered by the court that the jail about to be erected 
for this county be erected on the northeast corner of lot numbered eighty, being 
the same lot on which the stray pen is put in the town of Carlinville. 

"March, 1834. Total cost of jail, $686.70." 

SECOND JAIL. 

This was a much more pretentious structure than the former and was erected 
near the southeast corner of the public square in the year 1854. It was a two- 
story building, the outer walls being constructed of brick and the cells and parti- 
tions of wood. The upper floor contained the cells for prisoners, while the lower 



166 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

was used for a residence by the jailer and family. This building was burned to 
the ground in 1860. 

THE THIRD JAIL. 

This was built in 1860, on the site of the burned building. The walls were of 
brick ; the cells of iron. Upon the completion of the building the cells were re- 
moved to Alton and used for jail purposes. The building was used as a dwelling. 

THE FOURTH JAIL. 

The fourth and present jail is built of stone and is a handsome and durable 
structure. It stands south of the courthouse and was built at the time of the 
erection of its grander neighbor. A view of this edifice is given, from which a 
good idea of the plan may be gained. 



CHAPTER X. 
MACOUPIN'S "WHITE ELEPHANT." 

A BUILDING WITH A HISTORY MONEY "NO OBJECT" TO ITS PROMOTERS ARCHI- 
TECTURALLY "A THING OF BEAUTY" CREATES A TAX UPON THE PEOPLE LAST- 
ING OVER FORTY YEARS GRAND JUBILEE AT PUBLIC BURNING OF LAST BOND BY 

GOVERNOR CHARLES S. DENEEN. 

On the 2 ist day of July, 1910, closed that part of the history of the present 
courthouse relating to the men who were instrumental in paving the way to its 
erection, the methods devised and carried out for financing the great structure, 
the issuing of bonds and the difficulties experienced in finding for them a market ; 
also the dissatisfaction engendered in taxpayers, their futile but persistent 
efforts to stop what they deemed a wantonly extravagant expenditure of money 
and the final adjustment, through the able and patriotic efforts of General Johq I. 
Rinaker and Hon. Charles A. Walker as attorneys for the county, of the monster 
debt, by which over a million dollars was saved. 

The history of the "State of Macoupin's" courthouse has been written both 
in prose and poetry. The country and metropolitan press had been furnished 
copy, by reason of its .unique character, for generations, and the magazine writer 
has contributed his dot to spread broadcast the many interesting and remarkable 
details connected with the building and cost of this temple of justice, that has 
not its counterpart in the whole length and breadth of this great country. 

A building that should have cost not exceeding $600,000, held up the Ma- 
coupin county taxpayers to the tune of one and one-third million dollars and 
took them forty-three years to clear the debt. A magnificent structure it is, how- 
ever, and in its proportions and architectural lines, spacious enough for a state 
house and pleasing to the most critical eye. 

On the day and year above mentioned, Macoupin county threw off the last 
shackle of debt and to commemorate the event set apart the day for one of 
general rejoicing and thanksgiving. The last of the hated bonds was publicly 
burned by Charles S. Deneen, governor of the state, before an immense con- 
course of men and women, who had become wearied and worn throughout the 
years of their thraldom in meeting the demands of the great brood of its fellows, 
which was brought into being by a too liberal and plastic authority. And in the 
flames consuming that bond was extinguished all bitterness, animosity and re- 

157 



158 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

crimination; but not so remembrance. The courthouse bids fair to last and be 
serviceable for at least another half century, and probably by that time it will 
have ceased to remind the people of Macoupin county how near, and yet how 
dear, it has been to them. 

The following details pertinent to the subject at hand were gathered with 
care and precision by C. J. Lumpkin, the courteous and efficient editor of the 
Daily Enquirer, and published in that excellent paper as a prelude to the jollifi- 
cation festivities succeeding the destruction of the final evidence of debt con- 
nected with the courthouse. The essential facts are given and all data relative to 
the subject have been abstracted from the minute books of the commissioners' 
court and the board of supervisors. The compiler of this history has been well 
assured of the correctness of Mr. Lumpkin's researches and the results of his 
labors are here placed before the reader : 

THE INITIAL MOVE. 

It is a fact known not only in Carlinville and Macoupin county, but through- 
out Illinois and, in fact, the surrounding states, that we have the finest court- 
house ever erected by any county in this country. It is also generally known 
that the beautiful structure came into existence only after long and serious trouble 
and litigation had contested every inch of its construction and the people who at 
first anticipated with some misgivings a debt of $50,000 for a new courthouse, 
finally found themselves loaded down with a debt of $1,380,500. This was at a 
time when the population was comparatively small, and the great natural wealth 
of field and forest and mine was as yet hardly dreamed of and certainly developed 
only in the smallest way. 

But Macoupin had the wealth then, as now, and perhaps those who caused 
the debt to be contracted and the fine building to be erected were gifted with a 
farther insight into the future than others. Perhaps they realized the great nat- 
ural wealth lying dormant here and there, and in the mind's eye foresaw the time 
when the debt, which seemed so fearful then, would be small compared to the 
wealth of the county. In charity to them, for they were trusted men in their day, 
let us now conclude this to be true, and with the burning of the last bond 
destroy any traces of bitterness yet remaining from other days. 

An act passed by the state legislature in February, 1867, was the first step 
toward the courthouse bonds. It was passed on the application of the county 
court, composed of Judges T. L. Loomis, John Yowell and Isham J. Peebles, with 
George H. Holliday as clerk, and authorized the county to expend $50,000, and 
no more. Although this amount at that time seemed large, if the members of 
the county court had built a courthouse for that sum, the people would have 
cheerfully paid for it and there would have been no long history of trouble nor 
any fine courthouse for the present generation to be proud of, nor any last bond 
to burn on the 2ist day of July, 1910. 

FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ONLY A STARTER. 

The $50,000 was only a starter. At the March term of the county court, 
1867, it was ordered that A. McKim Dubois and George H. Holliday be asso- 






HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 159 

ciated with T. L. Loomis and Isham J. Peebles, as commissioners, to erect a 
new courthouse in the city of Carlinville. These four men fought out the battle 
and back of them was a small, but strong, faction headed by that master mind, 
John M. Palmer. They set their heads and hands to the work and rode over 
every legal or civil act opposed to their plan, with a determination worthy of 
fatalists. 

Very soon, in fact at the June term following, it was ordered that county 
orders to the sum of $200,000 be issued and a tax levy of fifty cents on each 
$100 valuation on all property of all kinds be made, and Judge Loomis was ap- 
pointed agent for the court, with absolute and arbitrary powers. 

At a special term of the county court, held August 2, 1867, it was ordered 
that bonds to the amount of $50,000, authorized by the legislature, be issued for 
the purpose of constructing the courthouse. The bonds were to draw ten per 
cent interest, payable semi-annually, and were to mature at stated periods covering 
ten years' time. 

TAXPAYERS APPLY FOR AN INJUNCTION. 

An injunction, preventing the county court from proceeding, was refused 
and the commission proceeded with their plans until January i, 1869, when the 
special agent reported amounts paid on contracts aggregating $313,044.25. These 
payments were made with county orders in the sum of $1,000 each, payable ten 
years from January i, 1868, with interest at the rate of ten per cent per annum. 

Then the opposition to the building of the courthouse grew more intense and 
outspoken. Indignation meetings were held in all parts of the county, condemn- 
ing the actions of the commissioners. Threats were made, protests entered <and 
such was the furor and excitement that it had the effect of calling into question 
the validity of the interest bearing orders. A legal opinion had been obtained 
from John M. Palmer, attorney for the commissioners, which stated that the 
interest bearing orders were properly issued and were binding on the county. 
The commissioners asked for special legislation. The building was erected up 
to the cornice and no means attainable to finish it. Confidence had to be re- 
stored, so that money could be obtained and the commissioners sent special 
agents to Springfield, who knew how to go about it to get the legislation needed. 
From time to time it was understood by the people that the commissioners were 
endeavoring to secure the passage of an act that would fasten the courthouse 
debt upon them more firmly and give the builders further lease of power and 
ability to issue bonds, and they organized to defeat the plans of the commissioners- 

* 

A BATTLE ROYAL. 

Then came the battle royal the Gettysburg of the courthouse fight in the 
state legislature. The commissioners had paid out the original $50,000 raised 
by the bonds, authorized in 1867 and had issued interest bearing county warrants 
to ten or more times that sum and must legalize beyond question the county 



160 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

warrants and also get authority to raise much more money. Just how much, 
neither they nor any one else knew. So this attempt to get their past and future 
acts approved by the legislature was the crucial and all important part. If they 
had failed, it is probable that the building could have gone no further, at least 
for many years. 

But they did not fail. They won this fight and there was passed and ap- 
proved on March 9, 1869, an act legalizing all bonds, warrants, contracts or 
other evidences of indebtedness in reference to the building of the courthouse, and 
the county court was authorized to borrow money and issue bonds to raise what- 
ever sum might be necessary to complete the courthouse and the improvements 
connected therewith. This was the act that settled the courthouse question, as a 
matter of fact, but the opposition refused to recognize defeat and kept on fight- 
ing. They held more meetings and adopted fiery resolutions. They had repre- 
sentatives at Springfield when the bill was on passage, and as a sample resolu- 
tion this one section of a set of six passed at a mass convention of citizens held 
at Carlinville in February, 1869, with I. M. Metcalf as chairman, is given: 

"Resolved, That the county court of Macoupin county, in building a new 
courthouse, has disregarded the almost unanimous and oft-repeated protest of 
the people of this county ; that it has utterly disregarded the best interests of 
the people and has imposed a debt that the present generation may not hope to 
be able to cancel ; that they have transcended the laws of the land and trampled 
under foot the bulwarks of our liberties ; that such open and shameful violations 
of law and utter disregard of the people is the worst form of tyranny and des- 
potism, and that this convention regards and condemns as enemies to free gov- 
ernment the authors and perpetrators of these evils." 

AND YET MORE BONDS ARE ISSUED. 

At the March term, 1869, of the county court, bonds aggregating $272,000 
were authorized and were issued and sold. At the September term that year, 
$408,000 in bonds were issued. At the November term, $212,000 more bonds 
were ordered issued and were turned over to the financial agent, A. McKim Du- 
bois. 

At the general election held in 1869, P. C. Huggins, A. A. Atkins and M. 
Olmstead were elected county judges. They were "anti-court house'.' and imme- 
diately repudiated as many of the acts of their predecessors as they possibly 
could. They required final reports from the commissioners at a special term 
held February i, 1870. The final report of the county agent was made February 
7, 1870, and was not aproved by the court. The building was practically com- 
pleted that year and the commissioners resigned February n. They had built 
the courthouse and accomplished what they set out to da and had issued bonds 
and orders as follows : 

Bonds issued under the act of the legislture of February, 1867. Of this class 
the amount issued was $94,000, of which $49,500 bore the seal of the county and 
the balance did not. (The act authorized them to issue only $50,000.) 

Ten per cent orders. Of this class there were issued $64,000. 

Macoupin county interest bearing orders. Of this kind $321,000 were issued. 




MACOUPIX COUNTY .JAIL 



LIBRARY 

OF THE 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 161 

Bonds under the act of the legislature approved March 9, 1869. Of this 
class there were issued $950,000. 

PROPOSITION TO FUND DEBT. 

At the March term, 1870, of the county court, attorneys for many taxpay- 
ers offered a motion that the court declare illegal the courthouse tax which the 
former court had imposed, to pay the debt on the building, and the motion was 
sustained and the sheriff was ordered not to collect the courthouse tax. But 
other special levies under the names of special tax and bond tax were allowed to 
stand and the motion as to them was not sustained. Suits were brought, judg- 
ments obtained against the county by holders of the various classes of paper, a 
writ of mandamus to compel the levy and collection of all the courthouse 
taxes was obtained. The county in the meantime, in 1873, having adopted the 
township form of government, in 1877 the supervisors made a proposition for 
funding the courthouse indebtedness, which was adopted by a majority vote of 
the people at an election held January 5, 1878. The substance of the proposition 
was to fund, take up and cancel all of the outstanding bonds, notes, orders, 
coupons and judgments, at the rate of seventy-five cents on the dollar of the 
principal of said papers, and to issue in lieu thereof, bonds issued by the county 
to run twenty years and bear interest at the rate of six per cent per annum, 
payable 'annually, the aggregate amount of such bonds to be $1,036,000. This 
issue was made and sold and in the succeeding years to 1890 nothing further 
was clone in the matter except to take up the bpnds and coupons as the funds 
provided by the special tax allowed. In 1890, the supervisors attempted to re- 
fund the outstanding six per cent bonds with an issue of four per cent bonds, but 
on account of the low rate of interest this was found impracticable and only 
$10,000 of the bonds were taken and these by residents of the county ex- 
clusively. 

In 1898 the twenty years of the original 1878 issue having expired and the 
debt of that time being $720,000, the supervisors ordered, issued and sold four 
and a half per cent bonds to the amount of $720,000 and it is believed all of the 
1878 issue has been paid at this time. The last outstanding bond was of the 
1898 issue and it was paid July I, 1910, and publicly burned on the 2ist at the 
.celebration. At the time of the principal funding issue in 1878, the court house 
debt was estimated at $1,380,500. Some of this had been finally paid by the 
county court from the receipts of the special levies made by them, and the balance 
was settled by a compromise agreement of seventy-five per cent, so that the 
issue of $1,306,000 covered the entire debt as compromised. 

This is the story of the courthouse bonds, told as briefly as is consistent with 
a clear understanding of the matter. The details cover a period of forty-three 
years and their history is a long story of strife and bitter feeling, recrimination 
and charges and counter charges, but through it all there was a steadfast pur- 
pose exhibited which shows that men of great strength of character figured in 
the matter. The commissioners and county court who entailed the debt were 
steadfast in their purpose in the face of opposition equally determined, the 
supervisors who managed the affair of the county through all these years stead- 



162 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

fast in their purpose to discharge the debt, and no less true is it that the people 
of the county were steadfast in their support of the various boards and even 
reached a frame of mind where they willingly, if not cheerfully, paid into the 
county every year a large amount which showed on their tax receipt or "court- 
house bond tax." 

INSIDE HISTORY AND COMMENT. 

By 1866 the old court building was said to be inadequate. The county clerk 
moved his office and records into a building at the southeast corner of the square, 
alleging that there was not room for him in the courthouse, and it was argued 
that the records were in danger of destruction by fire and that all the county 
documents should be housed in one and the same building and that the building 
should be fire proof as nearly as possible. To this proposition the people gener- 
ally assented, although even at this time there was an anti-court house senti- 
ment developed to a slight extent, at least, as some of the citizens believed that 
the old building was quite sufficient for the needs of the county in every way. 
However, the courthouse party was sufficiently large to warrant the county 
court to proceed with plans for the erection of a new building, and the public 
generally understood that a new courthouse would be erected on the site of the 
old one in the public square. It was also understood that the cost might be as 
much as $150,000, and to this there was no great or determined opposition. In 
fact, it was favored by many of the leaders among the people in that day, who, 
when they found the location would be different and the cost greater, became 
anti-court house partisans and fought the proposition to the bitter end with 
every power nature had given them. 

The fundamental reason for building the new courthouse was that a majority 
of the people of the county and the county court believed that a new and larger 
courthouse was necessary. Many other reasons were alleged against the pro- 
moters afterwards, in the heat of acrimonious debate, but in the cold light of 
history an impartial writer at this day can safely say that this was the true 
basic reason. It was also the opinion of Judge T. L. Loomis and some others, 
that the erection of a very fine and substantial building in Carlinville would for- 
ever put an end to any agitation to divide the county or move the county seat. 
Those who advanced this idea said that there was a movement on foot whereby 
Bunker Hill was to be the county seat of a county composed of a part of Ma- 
coupin and Madison counties, and Virden was to be the county seat of part 
of Sangamon and a tier of townships off of the north end of Macoupin county. 
But, after investigation, no great importance has been placed on the theory 
that this fear had much to do with the matter. 



CHOOSING THE SITE. 

Although the impression was general that the proposed new building was to 
be erected on the site of the old courthouse, in the square, the county court and 
the commissioners had other plans, as events proved. They evidently reached the 
conclusion that a building such as they contemplated would be too large for the 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 163 

public square, and furthermore, that it should have a park surrounding the 
building which would be commensurate and in harmony with the structure. It 
is easy now to realize that the present courthouse would be sadly out of place in 
the public square, but at that time the people did not dream of a building of the 
proportions which we are now familiar with. Most of them thought that the 
new courthouse should be in the public square and many believed that the 
ground which was donated by Seth Hodges would revert to his heirs, if used for 
any other purpose than a courthouse. Some of the heirs had some such idea, 
and a prominent attorney from Kansas City, Missouri, came to Carlinville in 
recent years with the idea of setting up such a claim for the Hodges heirs, but 
after investigation, he dropped the matter. 

The county court quietly purchased land in the block now used for the 
courthouse, from Messrs. J. E. Andrews and Mrs. Martha Woods, the former 
owning the northeast, and the latter the southeast portions of the block. When 
the general public became aware of the fact, it was found that the county owned 
the entire block except the northwest portion, where George Judd had erected a 
$10,000 residence, by far, at that time, the finest in the town. William Maddox 
purchased this place from Mr. Judd and later sold it to the county for $15,000. 
In regard to the purchase of this piece of the courthouse square, it is told that 
after occupying the fine home for a time, Mr. Judd found it rather a burden to 
maintain the place, his business affairs becoming in a more or less unsatisfactory 
condition. About that time, William Maddox, who was a widower, was court- 
ing Mrs. Wall, widow of ex-county clerk Enoch Wall. Mrs. Wall was a very 
handsome and highly esteemed lady and the story goes that she intimated to 
"Billy" Maddox that if he had a home for a bride such as the George Judd 
place, she might favor his suit for her hand. Maddox took the hint, relieved Mr. 
fudd of his burden by purchasing the property, and the widow, keeping her 
part of the agreement, became Mrs. Maddox and mistress of the beautiful 
home. But Maddox, who was a village merchant, soon found that the costly 
home was also a burden to him. His store business declined and he, too, came to 
the point where he was anxious to turn the place into cash. He was a very 
prominent politician, a leader in county political affairs, and as an election 
of county officers was at hand about the time he decided that he must turn the 
place into cash, and is said to have made it known that he would support can- 
didates who favored building a new courthouse, locating it in the same block 
with his fine home, and who also favored purchasing the balance of the block 
(his home place) for courthouse park purposes. He delivered the votes and 
the successful candidates "delivered the goods." His place was purchased by the 
county and plans were soon completed for the erection of the courthouse in that 
block. The Maddox home was torn down. 

These facts and legends show why the new building was erected in its pres- 
ent location. Always in the location of a large public building there is more 
or less dissension and dissatisfaction, and the promoters are usually charged 
with selfish reasons, of which they probably never thought at all, and in this 
matter the rule probably held true. Every conceivable selfish motive was alleged 



164 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

against the county court and commissioners in the heat of the fight which fol- 
lowed, but none of them seem to be borne out by the facts known at this time. 



AS TO THE COST. 

When we enter upon the subject of the cost of the present courthouse, we 
immediately find ourselves in a labyrinth of conflicting evidence. In this matter 
of the cost lay the whole reason for the strife and dissension which accompanied 
the erection of the building, and did not end until years after its completion. 
The matter of changing the location was a small circumstance compared to the 
fact that the cost was increased from $50,000 to $1,380,000. The bad feeling 
caused by the change of location would have disappeared in a few years no doubt, 
but the hardship imposed on the people by the fearful debt was a thing to 
endure and descend upon the next generation, and in the last analysis it caused 
all the trouble. 

No one believed that the original $50,000, authorized by the legislature, 
would build a satisfactory courthouse. A Springfield, Illinois, architect, E. E. 
Meyers, submitted a set of plans which the commission approved, and he estim- 
ated the cost of the building according to these plans at $150,000. This sum the 
people thought would be about right. A mass meeting was held in the court 
room of the old building, at which William Maddox presided, and after speeches 
by various prominent men, including C. A. Walker, a resolution was passed that 
it was the sense of the meeting and the will of the people that a new court house 
be erected to cost not to exceed $150,000, and that it be located in the public 
square. 

With this understanding the people were content but when it was found that 
the location was to be changed, and when the immense foundation began to take 
form, every one realized that the plan approved at the mass meeting was being 
ignored and $150,000 would not be a "drop in the bucket" towards the cost of 
the building. No one was permitted to see the plans and no one knew anything 
about the matter except what the casual look at the big foundation told every 
one. 

Then Messrs. Rinaker and Walker, representing the people, prepared statis- 
tics showing that the building, if completed along the lines evidenced by the 
foundation, would cost a sum, the payment of which would make necessary tax 
levies that would be practically confiscatory. These figures they took to Spring- 
field, before the judicial committee of the house of representatives, where a 
bill was then pending to authorize the county court to expend any sum, with- 
out limit to complete the courthouse. The commissioners also appeared and 
gave their word that while the plans had been enlarged, the new building would 
not cost more than $500.000. Governor Palmer, himself a Macoupin county 
man, wrote a letter to John M. Woodson, state senator from this district, urging 
him to secure the passage of the bill which he wrote. The letter was read to 
the senate, the bill passed and is the act of gth of April, 1869, approved by Gov- 
ernor Palmer. The legislature passed the sweeping bill which gave the court 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 165 

and commissioners authority to entail a debt of $1,380,000, the act setting 
no limit whatever as to the cost. 

Governor Palmer was interested in getting as fine a building as practical in 
this county, not from any selfish motive, but because he had a feeling of affection 
and pride for his home town and county. He was the dominant spirit in the 
erection of the courthouse. It could never have been built without his aid, and 
at every turn of the game he stood behind the county court and the court house 
party. He did not anticipate the immense cost but he did believe that a $500,000 
building could properly be erected and with that idea he aided the plan. He 
personally guaranteed to capitalists who financed the scheme that the court house 
bonds would be paid, and in summing up the reasons for the increased cost of 
the structure, we must take Palmer's influence into consideration, as it undoubt- 
edly played an important part. 

But the $500,000 was insufficient. The commissioners and the people began 
to realize this as the work on the building progressed. The realization on the 
part of the commissioners brought chagrin and disappointment, but they felt 
that they must carry the work through, whatever the cost. On the part of the 
people, it brought anger and bitter feeling against those who were saddling the 
great debt upon them. The great increase over the $500,000 was brought about 
very largely by the fact that the architect, Meyers, persuaded the commissioners, 
after the plans had been accepted, to alter one certain and seemingly unimpor- 
tant part of the contemplated structure, and this change being agreed upon and 
made, it soon developed that almost every other part of the building had to be 
changed to conformity. The expense became doubled again and again until it 
grew far beyond the wildest dreams of the commissioners and the people. 

There was some graft to deny it would be foolish. But the commissioners 
got none of it, with probably one unfortunate exception, and in that case the 
party himself did not keep whatever money he may have wrongfully obtained in 
the deal, and left the county with less, perhaps, than he had when the court 
house was first talked .of. The money "grafted" went to parties outside of the 
county and with the possible exception noted, no man directly connected with 
the building, who could properly be called a citizen of Macoupin, got any of the 
money improperly spent on the court house debt. 

In this matter of increased cost, the division of the county theory also 
played a part, no doubt, in that the commissioners were afraid to turn back or 
abandon the work because the people were in an ugly frame of mind and would 
gladly vote to divide the county or do almost anything else that would thwart the 
plans of the little courthouse party, stop the work and kill the debt. But even 
with all these considerations, it is hard to understand how it happened that the 
commissioners and county court ever allowed the matter of cost to get so thor- 
oughly beyond their control. The fairest appraisers have valued the structure 
at $643,876 in years past and offered to give bond to duplicate it for that sum. 

Some people blamed George Holliday, the county clerk, for some of the 
unnecessary expense. Mr. Holliday was an exemplary citizen of this community 
for years. He lived in the handsome home now occupied by ex-Senator W. L. 
Mounts and family. He was a scholarly man of considerable mental attainment, 
but before he left, his name was stained with scandalous tales, including the im- 



166 HISTORY OF AIACOL'PIX COUNTY 

proper expenditure of large sums of money. He left Carlinville on a Chicago 
& Alton train one night in the year 1870 and has never since been heard of. He 
was indicted by the grand jury after he left for larceny and embezzlement, and 
as many as fifteen separate indictments were returned against him at the suc- 
ceeding terms of circuit court, until at the March term, 1872, when, Judge Arthur 
J. Gallagher presiding in the absence of Judge Horatio M. Vandeveer, the case 
was stricken from the docket with leave to reinstate, at the motion of the state's 
attorney. Capias' were issued from time to time. 

An extensive search was made for Mr. Holliday, and a man believed to be 
him was arrested in what was then Washington Territory. Deputy Sheriff Dan 
Delaney, who knew Holliday intimately and had been associated with him in 
Carlinville, was sent after the suspect and returned with a prisoner. The suspect 
was taken into court and established the fact that he was not Holliday. Only 
two persons who saw the man here would say that there was the least doubt in 
their minds that the prisoner might be George Holliday and the rest of the 
population were very certain that he was not the man wanted. The suspect said 
his name was Hall. He left this part of the country and probably returned 
to his western home, although there is no hint in the records or in the metnory 
of our older citizens that any further surveillance was kept on him. Possibly 
Delaney thought it best to bring the man here so that the people could see for 
themselves whether or not he was Holliday. The expense to the county of bring- 
ing Hall here was considerable and the county, of course, had to pay the cost, 
which caused considerable more argument and some bad feeling. 



ERECTION OF THE BUILDING. 

Immediately following the March term of the county court in 1867, the work 
of construction was commenced. The foundation was laid and the corner stone 
put in place. This corner stone was laid October 22, 1867, by the Masonic order, 
and the description thereon tells the story as graphically as it can be set down, as 
follows : 

Laid by the Most W. G. L. 
A. F. & A. Masons, by 

Charles Fisher 

Deputy Grand Master. 

October 22d 

A. L. 5867 

A. D. 1867 

Building Commissioners 

A. McKim Dubois. 

Geo. H. Holliday. 

I. J. Peebles. 

T. L. Loomis. 

The above appears on the east face of the corner stone, and on the north 
face the inscription is : 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 167 

Erected by order of 

County Court, 
March Term, A. D. 1867. 

County Court 

Thaddeus L. Loomis. 

Isham J. Peebles. 

John Yowell. 

E. E. Meyers, 

Architect. 

In the corner stone there was placed the following articles: Holy Bible in 
English and German, the square and compass, revised statutes of the state of 
Illinois, Charter and revised ordinances of the city of Carlinville, proceedings 
of the injunction case tried in Alton City court, embracing the act of the legis- 
lature, orders of the county court and briefs of counsel. This was the case in 
which the people sought to enjoin the county court from building a new court 
house. There were also placed therein resolutions of a public meeting held at 
Chesterfield in opposition to the erection of a new court house, and Judge 'Isham 
J. Peebles' reply to the same ; Howell's map of the county of Macoupin, Muhle- 
man's map of the city of Carlinville, photograph of the old court house, copies 
of the county newspapers, the premium list and poster of the Macoupin County 
Agricultural and Mechanical Society for the year 1867, United States coin pre- 
sented by Joseph C. Howell, and oration of Hon. John M. Woodson at the laying 
of the corner stone. 

The newspapers of that day report that there was only a small crowd of 
citizens in attendance. The work of construction was often delayed by the 
opposition of the anti-court house party, which included a large percentage of 
the people, but the building was finally completed and stands today the pride of 
the people, no matter whether they or their ancestors were "court house" or 
"anti-court house" in days gone by. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING. 

The courthouse as it now stands is a beautiful structure. It is built of brick, 
magnesian limestone and iron of choice and elegant design. It is thoroughly fire 
proof throughout. For the purpose of giving the reader a better and more cor- 
rect idea of the structure we give a brief statement of its dimensions and a 
description of the material that entered into its construction. 

The building is a rectangle, 181 feet in extreme breadth, crossed at an equal 
distance from the north and south ends by a transverse rectangle of smaller 
dimensions the plan resembling an elongated Swiss cross, or a cross of St. 
George, of double width. It is built after the Corinthian order of architecture, 
and this classical model is strictly adhered to throughout the entire building. 
It is divided into three floors, basement, twelve feet in height; main floor, six- 
teen feet in height, and upper floor, occupied mostly by the court room, thirty-two 
feet in height. The height of the building from the top of the cornice to the 
ground, is sixty-nine and a half feet. Four iron columns resting on the founda- 
tions and running up within the walls, to the plumb of the roof, support its cir- 



168 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

cular iron band, from which spring ribs of the dome. From the apex of the dome 
to the foundation it is 186 feet, giving the dome an altitude of almost 100 feet. 
Each story of the building is anchored not only to its own walls but the walls 
of the other stories. 

The main entrance is on the north, and the portal is reached by twenty-two 
stone steps, flanked on each side by a low wall of masonry, capped with cut stone, 
leading up to the portico. The roof of the portico is supported by four Cor- 
inthian columns forty feet in height, four feet in diameter at the base, and three 
and one half feet at the capital. These columns are composed of seven whole 
blocks of dressed stone, and half of another. The ceiling of the portico is all 
of stone, forty-seven by sixteen feet, laid off in three panels. 

The south entrance has ten steps from the level of the street to a terrace 
eight feet in length and the width of the building, formed of square blocks of 
cut stone, neatly and uniformly laid. From the terrace there are twenty-three 
steps to the portico. The steps to the east and west entrances are laid parallel 
with the building, ascending from the north and the south, and meeting upon a 
platform before the large entrance way. A balustrade of finely chiseled stone, 
with heavy stone caps, flanks the steps, at the foot of which on the pedestals, a 
lamp post rises on each side made to represent the symbol of unity, a bundle of 
fagots, banded by a scroll, upon which is "Macoupin County." At all the 
entrances these lamp posts are stationed with three heavy glass light chambers, 
about four feet in height, gilded and bronzed, surmounting them. There are five 
entrances to the basement from the court house park. The ceilings of the base- 
ment are arched, and are twelve feet high. The floor is laid in mosaic, with 
a wide border of brown slate running the length of the side walls. The building 
is lighted by gas and heated by steam. There are twelve rooms on the main 
floor, all finished in the most elegant style and manner, with marble floors, pan- 
elled walls, chandeliers, etc. The upper floor is reached by a wide, light appear- 
ing, yet strong, iron stairway. The court room has an area of 4.500 square 
feet. Its general dimensions are nearly sixty-four by seventy-four feet, in shape 
resembling a square with a rectangle attached to it, projecting wings extending 
some eight feet from the walls of either side. It is thirty-two feet in height 
from the floor to the ceiling, and from the floor to the apex of the inner dome is 
forty-four feet. From this dome hangs suspended a magnificent chandelier of 
fifty-six burners, which cost the sum of $3,000. All the inside work is finished 
with galvanized iron. The pilasters are of cast iron, ceilings and walls of gal- 
vanized iron, heavy cornice and moldings of the same. The walls are in tall 
shield like panels, surmounted above alternate panels by appropriate devices. 
Twelve windows, six on each side, furnish ingress to the light. The windows 
have four panes of glass each, besides the rose shaped circle of colored glass at 
the top, and are fully twenty feet in height. The judges' stand, on the south 
side, projects about eight feet out into the room. It is made of five different 
kinds of marble after the style of Henry VI. of France, and is the finest in the 
country. The judges' chair is an elegant one of the Elizabethian period, tall, 
richly carved square shaped back, arms and legs. It is about seven feet in 
height and upholstered with crimson velvet. Adjacent to the court room are 
the judges' private apartments, jury rooms, and rooms for officers of the court 




MACOUPIX COUNTY COURTHOUSE IX 1910 



LIBRARY 

OF 1HE 

UNIVERSHV OF n UNOIS 



HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 169 

The roof is formed of wrought and cast iron, and covered by corrugated gal- 
vanized iron. The dome is formed of wrought iron ribs, springing from a heavy 
iron band, which are braced by cross trusses, the whole covered by galvanized 
iron, close to the roof. On the south side is a galvanized iron tank that holds the 
water pumped by the engine below, and from which pipes convey the water to 
all parts of the building. The capacity of the tank is about 8,000 gallons. 

The structure is as near fire-proof as the ingenuity of man could make it, and 
in this regard and in many other respects is truly remarkable when one com- 
pares it to the so-called fire-proof buildings of modern times. 

Time has made itself felt and with the assistance of the elements has changed 
the appearance of the structure. The beautiful stone has taken on a buff, creamy 
color that does not detract but enhances its appearance, but here and there a 
stone or two has scaled and crumbled to a comparatively slight extent ; from 
other stones pieces have broken off and left holes that are rather unsightly. The 
interior has never been touched by the artisan since its construction and has been 
for some time demanding attention. At the June sitting of the board of super- 
visors, in 1911, provision was made for a thorough renovation of the first, or 
office floor. When this work is completed, other repairs will be made, so that 
in a year or two from this time, the whole structure will have been entirely re- 
paired and brought back to its pristine beauty and sightliness. 

A TIME OF GREAT REJOICING. 

On Wednesday, July 21, 1910, began the carefully arranged jubilee of two 
days' duration at Carlinville and thousands upon thousands of men, women and 
children were on hand to take part in the unusual event. The double-column 
"scare head" in the Enquirer told the tale in a nutshell in the following words: 

"Jubilee and Celebration Success in Every Detail. One of the Most Im- 
portant Epochs in Events in the County Has Passed Into History. The Results 
Far Exceeded Everybody's Expectations. Twenty Thousand People Attended 
the Exercises Thursday and Half as Many Were Here Wednesday Every 
Feature was Remarkable down to Smallest Detail. 

"Every feature of the program was carried out faultlessly and just as nearly 
on time as circumstances would permit. From the opening, with a band concert 
by our own fine Carlinville Band, on the east portico of the court house Wed- 
nesday at i :3O P. M. to the closing, with a display of fireworks and natural gas 
and oil Thursday night, there was not a serious hitch anywhere. The committee 
that handled the affairs were the following: 

"Supervisors, H. W. Rice, Charles Muhlenbeck, S. E. French, J. A. Turner, 
R. S. Hemphill ; mayor and councilmen, Jesse Peebles, Dr. Matthews, Thomas 
O'Connor, Louis Gouch, August Zaepffel. Citizens, George J. Castle, Dr. Fischer, 
J. E. McClire, C. J. Lumpkin, E. C. Knotts, Thomas Sweeney. 

THE BOND BURNING. 

"The actual burning of the bond was, of course, the main feature. The docu- 
ment was numbered 720, and was one of the series of funding bonds issued under 



170 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

the Act of the Legislature in 1865. It was the last of one hundred and twenty 
bonds of $1,000 each, dated July i, 1898. It was signed by John W. Dalby, 
chairman of the board of supervisors at that time, and countersigned by Fred G. 
Oeltjen, county clerk. 

"At the exercises in the courthouse square Thursday afternoon, in the pres- 
ence of everyone who could get within sight or sound of the speaker's stand, 
Governor Charles S. Deneen received this bond from the hands of County 
Clerk W. C. Seehausen, who carried it from his office to the speaker's stand 
for that purpose. The Governor then held the paper in a flame of burning 
natural gas from a half-inch pipe extended to the stand from the court house, 
set fire to the bond in that way and held it until it was almost entirely consumed, 
then dropped the remaining piece, the corner by which he held the bond, and 
which was still burning, to the ground immediately in front of the stand, where 
it was entirely consumed. 

"Standing close to the Governor, as witnesses of the destruction of the bond 
were: W. C. Seehausen, county clerk; D. M. Bates, chairman of the board of 
supervisors of Carlinville township ; Charles Muhlenbeck, of Virden township ; 
H. W. Rice, of Cahokia township ; R. S. Hemphill, of Carlinville township ; J. A. 
Turner, of Scottville township ; and Samuel French, of Shipman township. The 
gas flame was lighted by Mayor Jesse Peebles of Carlinville. Besides these 
there were on the stand State Auditor J. S. McCullough, Adjutant General 
Frank Dickson, ex-President of United Mine Workers of America John Mitchell, 
Circuit Judges James M. Creighton and Robert B. Shirley, and numerous other 
officials and prominent men in the county, -state and nation, including Congress- 
men James M. Graham and William A. Rodenberg and ex-Congressman Ben F. 
Caldwell, and others too numerous to mention here, many of them being citizens 
of our county and town. 

"While the bond was burning every bell and whistle, not only in Carlinville 
but in every city, town and hamlet in Macoupin county, including wayside schools 
and churches, sounded for about five minutes. The vast crowd in the court 
house park sang two stanzas of 'America,' bombs were fired on the streets nearby 
and there were prolonged cheers and shouts of 'Glory! Hallelujah!' " 

SPORTS AND SPEECHES. 

Features of the glorification consisted of addresses by Governor Charles S. 
Deneen, Hon. C. A. Walker, General John I. Rinaker, Hon. W. E. P. Anderson, 
John Mitchell, head of the United Mine Workers of America, Congressman 
James M. Graham, Jesse Peebles, Mayor, and others. And there were fire 
works, parachute leaping, a marathon race, natural gas and oil display and 
many other amusements not here enumerated, all of which was topped off by 
luncheons served to the speakers and distinguished visiting guests, in the parlors 
of the M. E. church, which were in charge of ladies of the Aid Society. 



CHAPTER XI. 

CIVIL WAR. 

PATRIOTIC MACOUPIN AND HER SPLENDID RECORD IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE 

STATES FIRST REGIMENT IN ILLINOIS ORGANIZED AT CARLINVILLE IN RESPONSE 

TO LINCOLN'S FIRST CALL FOR TROOPS HISTORY OF THE BRAVE MEN WHO WENT 
TO THE FRONT FULL ROSTER OF THOSE WHO SERVED FROM THIS COUNTY. 

SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

The distinction of being the first regiment organized in the state of Illi- 
nois under the first call of the president for three months' troops is claimed 
by both the Seventh and the Eighth Infantries. Companies F and K of the 
Seventh were recruited in Macoupin county. J. F. Cummings was captain of 
Company F, and William O. Jenks and C. F. Adams were first and second 
lieutenants. Richard Rowett, afterward general by brevet, was captain of 
Company K and his lieutenants were Manning Mayfield and George Hunter. 
The Seventh was mustered into service for three months at Camp Yates by 
Captain John Pope, U. S. A. The regiment was sent to Alton, St. Louis, Cairo 
and Mound City and was reorganized and mustered in for three years, July 
25th. It did duty in Missouri and went into winter quarters at Fort Holt, 
Kentucky. It was at the investment and siege of Fort Donaldson, February 
13, 14 and 15 and was in the last charge on the enemy's works, when it lost 
three killed and nineteen wounded. On the 2ist of the same month, 1862, it 
left for Clarksville, Tennessee, Major Rowett commanding. It was ordered 
to Nashville and Pittsburg Landing, and was engaged in the two days' battle 
of Shiloh, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Rowett. Its loss was two 
officers and fifteen men killed and seventy-nine wounded. It was engaged both 
days in the battle of Corinth with a loss of two officers and six men killed 
and forty-six wounded. 

On the 1 8th of June, 1862, the regiment was mounted by order of General 
Dodge and did most excellent service on scouting expeditions under Colonel 
Rowett, being engaged in many severe skirmishes and making an enviable rec- 
ord for bravery and efficiency. 

December 22, 1863, the regiment reenlisted as veteran volunteers. They 
did valiant service under Sherman and were with him in the battles around 
Atlanta and on the memorable march to the sea. The regiment was mustered 
out July 9, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky, and arrived at Camp Butler, July 12, 
1865, for final payment and discharge. 

171 



172 HISTORY OF MACOUPIN COUNTY 

Company A. 

Corporal, Isaac D. Newell ; musician, Francis D. Orcutt. 
Privates: John Brand, Phillip F. Howell, John C. Myers. 

Company F. 

Captain, J. F. Cummings; first lieutenant, William O. Jenks; second lieu- 
tenant, C. F. Adams ; sergeants, Henry Allen, Thomas B. Atchison, Thomas 
H. Gildemeister, Eldridge Atchison; corporals, Josiah Lee, Marshall Allen, 
Samuel L. Moore, John