USA > Iowa > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 3
USA > Illinois > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 3
USA > Missouri > Report of the organization and first reunion of the Tri-State Old Settlers' Association of Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, 1884 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
I see before me here to-day the survivors of the men to whose innate love of liberty, the commonwealth of Illinois is indebted that the foot of the slave never trod on her soil, and that in her early history, resisting the encroachments of the slave power', and repudiating any compromise of the freedom guaranteed by the ordinance of 1787, she always remained a free State, and in the end gave to the Union the President who freed all the States ; and the General, who in defence of freedom, commanded and conquered armies greater than Marlborough or Napoleon ever saw. I may not stop to call the roll of the illustrious dead whose name illumine the history of these States.
Many, ah, how many are not here to-day, some whom we know so well, to mingle their congratulations with ours as we contemplate the glorious accomplishment of their toil and sacrifices ; they sleep well. If, indeed, it be permitted to mortals in the dim hereafter to visit the scene of their labors here below, then are they with us here to-day, and you spirit band of the pioneers of the Mississippi valley, you we welcome to this reunion.
Hail, ye noble shades ! the forms that once ye wore, how hallow every part of his broad land. Our grateful memories shall be your endear-
22
ing monument, and your influence shall ever dwell among us, to inspire us and those who shall come after us, to imitate your examples and trans- mit to your children's children the glorious heritage you have bequeathed to us.
You who survive, heroes of peace ! the infant shall lisp the Illiad of your deeds ; and youth and manhood as the years go by, shall tell the simple story of your brave, earnest, fruitful lives. To you I bring the silent blessings, the prayer-benediction of a million hearts. I speak their glad, their sad acclaim, who bid you hail and farewell.
IMPROMPTU SPEECH BY JUSTICE SAMUEL F. MILLER.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- It is something of a sur- prise to me that I should be called upon to address you to-day. I hardly know in what character I am called upon to address you on this occasion. I am not, in one sense of the word, an old settler. I am not, as you can see by my ruddy cheeks, an old man. Here are my friends, Mr. Mer- riam and Mr. Bridgeman. I do not believe they would subject them- Selves to cross questions on that subject concerning their own age. Whatever may be the motive that has induced the presiding officer of this meeting to present me to you in the kind terms in which he has done, and whatever may be expected of me, I can say one thing, and that is, if an earnest, hearty, co-operative feeling for that which this meeting is called to represent, can qualify a man to speak to it, I have that qualifica- tion. Although not an early settler here or in this part of the country, whatever I may have achieved in this country as judge and jurist, is due to this people-to the early and unfliching support of my neighbors and friends in the city of Keokuk. There are many reposing in the opposite part of the city, and my memory calls them forth as the friends that held my arms and hands in the days that are past. Eloquent young men have addressed you with regard to Illinois and Iowa as two of the tri-partite old-settler states engaged in this demonstration. I claim to be identified with Iowa and expect to die a citizen of Iowa, and if I speak of Iowa as she stands in my estimation, and in the estimation of our sister States, I do not know that I shall enfringe upon anybody's patience. Her fifty thou- sand square miles of soil is capable of more cultivation than any other fifty thousand square miles in any sub-division of the globe. Her soil is productive beyond precedent, and is cultivated by a people of energy, in- dustry, and moral health. She has no great cities like Chicago, St. Louis, Cincinnati or Milwaukee, and I doubt not that she is all the better for it. Her towns, which we call cities by courtesy and by statute, are merely the commercial and trading necessities of the community. I will endeavor to present to you what has often presented itself to my mind's eye. This wonderful State of Iowa, with her fine fiells of agriculture, her healthy
23
atmosphere, sub-divided by little rivers which carry off the miasmas of the country-a country which might have been the Garden of Eden if its beauty and charm be evidence of the fact-this wonderful State of Iowa never had the foot of a slave tread its soil. Noble freemen have broken up that soil and established its institutions of religion and education-an educational system unsurpassed by any in the world. The people were brought from the moral fields of New England, interspersed with the vigor of the people of Missouri and Kentucky. Iowa sent more soldiers to the war for its population, than any State in the Union. It is this people that I am proud of, and it is a happiness to me to express it to-day. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attention.
Messrs. C. F. Davis, James Lapsley and Thomas C. Sharpe, were appointed a committee by the President to recommend an Executive Com. mittee and officers for the ensuing year.
Recess for dinner.
-
24
AFTERNOON.
Music by Keokuk Military Band-"Academy Waltzes."
PRAYER BY REV. WM. SALTER, D. D.
Our Father which art in heaven,-we hallow Thy name ; from Thee we have proceeded ; Thou art the maker of heaven and earth; Thou hast given us our dwelling place in a goodly land. We thank Thee for Thy favor to those who, in other days, laid the foundation of our civilization .. Commend Thy blessings upon the old settlers of these three States that are here to-day to recognize Thy great goodness to them. Fill them more and more with the wealth and reward of industry, intelligence virtue and moral order, and with the great salvation and the beauty of holiness. Let Thy blessing rest upon Thy whole beloved country ; bind us together with the sure cement of Divine love. May we live on earth as becomes the children of God; and may Thy blessings rest upon all mankind, through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.
IMPROMPTU SPEECH BY HON. A. G. ADAMS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- Your chairman in introducing me has intimated a most pleasant entertainment in alluding to my having seen the Hodges hung. Unfortunately for the history of that early affair, I cannot relate it. I was there and went to see the execution, but when I saw the glittering blade of the new hatchet brought for the occasion, I turned my back, and you cannot prove by me that the Hodges were hung at all. [Laughter.] Having been notified that I should be expected to address you, I wrote out a few thoughts yesterday, which I will .now read, and if I had something to put before me, you could not see them. [Laughter.]
I have attended State and county old settlers' meetings, and in some instances I have been allowed the privilege of inflicting upon the the old settlers a few desultory remarks, but this is the first time I ever tackled a triple-headed old settlers' celebration. [Laughter.] Knowing the insatiate appetite that old settlers have for fun and frolic, I wonder that even generous and hospitable Keokuk has had the temerity to bring together and take care of so many who are only in the pursuit of enjoy- ment. But Keokuk has demonstrated her ability to manage big things with the same facility that other places run town meetings ; she enforces prohibition with the same ease to day that she controlled the rapids roust- abouts and whiskey saloons on the levee forty-five years ago. [Applause and laughter.] What a change in forty-five years ! She has furnished more great men for government positions within the last fifteen years
25
than any other city of her size in the United States, and happily none that the country need be ashamed of. Her reputation for being liberal, kind and free-hearted is well known, the only objection to her is that she will take everything that is in sight. [Laughter.] And I see that she has taken some of the old settlers to-day. How pleasant it is that every locality has its old settlers, that belong to it exclusively, that fact keeps them at home. You can't use an Iowa old settler in that capacity to any advantage in any other State; the nearest to a cosmopolitan old settlers' organization is inaugurated here to-day, but this is limited only to three States.
These celebrations are full of pleasure to us old settlers. We feel our value and importance. Speeches are made, filled with our praise ; tell of our sacrifices ; of the many trials we have passed through ; of our lack of comforts, and all other styles of martyrdom, for the sole purpose of settling and developing this fair land for coming generations. This is all a mistake. We came here for selfish purposes. I came because my parents brought me. [Laughter.] Others came because their credit was impaired in the community of which they lived. [Laughter.] Others to get cheap land ; others because they had married a girl in opposition to her parents wishes. [Laughter.] Others because they wanted more elbow room. Others because the grand jury wanted to see them on particular business. [Laughter.] We all came to better our condition, but if the young settlers want to flatter us, pile it up mountains high. We can stand it. To-day, we are the observed of all the observers. If we came in 1839 or 1840, we strut around and put on airs when we meet those who were so unfortunate as to delay their coming a few years later, and the few years later assume superiority over the younger pilgrims, but we are all like Capt. Scott's coon-we come down when an 1833 or 1834 heaves in sight. They are the grand sachems of the old settlers.
The old timers enjoyed themselves as much as we do now. They bought dressed quails at 25 cents per dozen, good flour at two dollars per barrel, and venison at one dollar per saddle. Pork packers would give them all the tenderloins and spare ribs they wanted; whisky fifteen cents per gallon, a much needed article to mix with quinine and for "log- raisins " and harvest fields-in fact lots of other fun, gratis. Now it requires a plethoric pocketbook to obtain these luxuries. Then dances were as good with one fiddle as now with a full orchestra. [Laughter.] Then they walked to the little social gatherings and enjoyed carrying the girls over the mud-holes, as much as you do five dollar carriage transpor- tation now. [Laughter.] Then they had delightful Indian summers which the Indians took away with them. The only cards they used were for playing euchre. They did not require visiting cards with cabalistic letters, and knew no more about them than Senator MeCrary, of Ken-
·
-
26
tucky, who after being called upon by a foppish young constituent, who had just returned from Paris, and afterward met in the street, said : “I received your card the other day. I recognized your father's name, which is the same as yours, and that you are his son, but what does that E. P. mean on the corner of the card you left ?" "Why, Senator," replied the young Parisian dude, "it is customary in Paris to write the initials of cer- tain words in leaving cards. For instance, if I had been going away I should have written P. P. C., the initials of pour pondre conge, 'to take leave." As it was, leaving it myself, I wrote E. P., the initials' of en personne, in person." "Oh," said the Senator, "I understand." A week or two afterward the two met again. The young man said : "Senator, I received your card but I could not comprehend what the letters S. B A. N. meant in the corner. Pray interpret them." "With pleasure," said McCreary, his eyes twinkling with humor, "S. B. A. N. are the initials of 'sent by a nigger.'" [Laughter and applause.] In old set- tlers' days that would be a joke on the young man, now the joke would be on the Senator. My time being limited to five minutes I should like to get even with my friend C. F. Davis, who said on the occasion of the semi-centennial celebration in Burlington, that I resembled Black Hawk, except in one particular-that Black Hawk had a scalp lock, and that I had a good place for one. [Laughter.] Don't you think that unkind ? But I will say for him that of all the Indians I know in Keokuk that he is the biggest. [Applause.]
ORATION OF THE HON. WILLIAM HATCH.
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN :- I consider it an honor to be called upon to address the representatives of three great States, assembled under the call of this organization. I believe in these reunions. I am always glad to attend them; and you, Mr. President, have struck the key note that ought to go home with every one of us to-day-that whilst many of these reunions may occur, whilst old settler reunions in these three, and in all of the States, may happen from year to year, the time is rapidly approaching when the first settler, the pioneer, will be gone from among us forever.
Much of the labor that might have devolved upon me during this address I have been relieved of by the admirable speeches made in the forenoon by the representatives of the three States. To one of the hon- ored citizens of that great state of Missouri, a former citizen of Iowa, whom you all delight to honor, General John W. Noble, I desire to ten- der my thanks in the presence of his old neighbors and friends for words of eloquence, candor, truth and courage. To the distinguished represen- tative, Judge Strong, who has spoken in behalf of Illinois, am I also in- debted and desire to extend to him my warmest congratulations ; but
:
.
27
before I forget it, in the name of the old settlers of the three great agri- cultural States, whose capacities have been so eloquently discussed to-day -in the name of Iowa, of Illinois and of Missouri, I call upon him to make good the statement that he made to-day, that the great commercial city of Chicago "fixes the price of your commodities ;" that Chicago "fixes the value of wheat, pork and corn ;" and let me beg him when he goes back to his city to keep the price of corn up to ninety cents, the price it reached day before yesterday. I have learned something to-day that has done my heart good, for I am a farmer. I am interested in the price of agricultural products, and whilst wheat is down to seventy cents, I thank God corn is up to ninety cents.
My friends, your committee, in the organization of this reunion, has called together the representatives of an empire. It requires a stretch of . the imagination to take in the few figures I will give you of the three great States whose enterprise and prosperity, and wonderful wealth, have become so well known in this country as well as Europe. Iowa was organized as a territory July 4th, 1838, admitted as a State March 3rd, 1845, readmitted with enlarged boundaries December 28th, 1846, com- prising under the last readmission her present territory of 55,475 square miles. Her population in 1860 was 674,913 ;. in 1870, 1,194.020; in 1880, 1,624,615. By the last census her manufactories had grown to 6,921 establishments with a capital of $33,987,886.00. The products amounted in value to $71.045,926.00. Of her agricultural products, I
would simply tire you to repeat them. As Justice Miller say "they are
almost beyond computation." The fertility of your soil, the wealth of your products, are known throughout the land, and not only in this country, but throughout the entire civilized world. I will not repeat all the statistics given you to-day, but let me call your attention to the num- ber of her public schools. Under the last census there were 12,635 elementary and high schools. 11, 148 school. buildings and the total value of her school property $9,460,775 00. Her assessed valuation in real estate was $297,254 342.00 ; personal property, $101,416,909.00 ; total, $398,971,251.00. The growth of this wonderful young State is almost equal to the story of Aladin's Lamp.
Missouri was organized as a territory in 1812; admitted as a State August 10th, 1821, with an area of 68,735 square miles. Her popula- tion in 1860 was 1, 182,012 ; in 1870, 1,721,295 ; in 1880, 2, 168,380, The number of her manufacturing establishments is 8 592, employing a capi- tal of $72,507,844 05. The value of her products was $165,386,205.00. The number of her schools was 10,329 ; school buildings, 8,552 ; and the total value of her school property, $7,810,924 00. The value of her real estate is $381,985, 112 00 ; personal property, $150,810,689 ; making a total of $532,795,801.00.
28
Illinois was organized as a territory March Ist, 1809, admitted as a State December 3rd, 1818, with a territory comprising 56,000 square miles, and a population in 1860 of 1,711,951; in 1870, 2,539,891; in 1880, 3,077,871. The number of her manufacturing establishments was 14,549, employing a capital of $140,652,066; the value of their products $414,864.673. The number of her public schools 15,203 ; school buildings, 11,880, total value of school property, $15,876,572.00. Her assessed valuation of real estate was $575,441,053 ; personal property, $211, 175,341.00 ; total, $786,616,394.00.
Now my friends, I have given you these figures for a purpose. I want to group some of them together. These three States comprise an area of 180,210 square miles. I want some of the young men to take these fig- ures home with them. 180,210 square miles of territory is two and one half times as large as the six New England States, which only comprise 66,465 square miles ; nearly twice as large as the three great States, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey ; almost equal in extent to the great German Empire with 208,624 square miles; one and one-half times as large as Great Britain and Ireland with 121,571 square miles ; more than half as large as the thirteen original states which only contain 325,065 square miles. Now my friends, this is an empire-an empire so vast that it requires a stretch of imagination to take it all in one day. These few figures I have given you show the growth of these three grand States lying in the basis of the Mississippi valley within the last thirty years. Look, if you please, to the future. What will they be thirty years to come. I predict to day that in less than thirty years the seat of empire, commercial and political, in the United States, will have been transferred from the three great eastern States, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to the three great States of the Mississippi valley that we people celebrate to-day. I can add nothing to what has been said of the great progress and wealth of these States, but my friends, is this all that is involved in this celebration. Are we here to-day, Mr. President, simply to tell these people of the facts and figures of our material wealth that is taught every day in our school houses ? or are we here to give to the young some lessons that they may take home with them, and that in years to come will produce fruit as rich as that which comes from the inexhaust- able soil of these great States ? I believe in honoring these occasions. It gives me pleasure to meet the old men and women of the land. I love them. I was taught when a child that the only commandment of the ten, that came down amid the lightnings and thunders of heaven, that had a specific promise attached to it, was the one "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord, thy God. giveth thee ". We have been taught to love and reverence the pioneers and old settlers of the land, but we have another duty to perform, and that is, whilst we are paying homage to them, to teach those who are to follow us
-
29
in this path of progress and civilization, that wealth of the soil is not all' we are proud of. My friends, go back to the days of your ancestors and mine, the men who settled upon the inhospitable shores of New England. Was it the wealth of that soil that attracted the people ? No. It was the love of liberty and a determination to found a government that should last as long as time endures. Why, my friends, I have often thought that if in the providence of God, the first settlers of this country could have landed in Illinois, Missouri or Iowa, New England would be a wilderness to-day. There was nothing in her soil to attract immigration. It was simply a home of a race of men who wished to found in this country a govern- ment that should perpetuate civil and religious liberty.
I believe, under our system of government, in great political parties. I believe that the perpetuity of our institutions to a great extent, depends upon the organization and maintenance of the great political parties in this country. I would not undertake to proselyte all those who differ from me. My friends, I hope never to see the day in this country when the people shall be banded in one political organization. I do not believe that the church of God itself could stand for half a century if it were banded together in one organization. The highest evidences, to my mind, of the divinity of the Bible, is the fact that all men, of all grades of intel- lectual power, can find in that Bible the evidences of their salvation, their hope and their eternal life; and I do not want to see the day when this country will not have more than one great political party, organized upon great principles of government, and zealously contending for position and control of the government ; the party out of power acting as a check upon the one in power. But there are a few great cardinal principles of government that underlie all parties. I propose for a few moments to go back to the days, the primitive days of the pioneers when the immortal writer of that Declaration of Independence stated what he believed to be a model of government. I have never found an audience yet in any por- tion of the United States that would not listen with interest to the reading of the few words that I will read to you now. Then, as now, the wealth of the country was being extolled ; the fertility of our soil ; our advancing manufacturers ; all this was an object of pride to the people.
"Kindly separated by nature, and a wide ocean from the extermi- nating havoc of one-quarter of the globe, too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others, possessing a chosen country with room enough for our descendants to the hundreth thousandth generation, en- tertaining a due sense of our equal rights, to the use of our own faculties, to the acquisitions of our industry, to honor and confidence from our fellow-citizens, resulting, not from birth, but from our actions, and their sense of them; enlightened by a benign religion, professed, indeed, and practiced in various forms, yet all
30
of them including honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude and the love of man ; acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence, which, by all its dispensations, proves that it delights in the happiness of man here and his greater happiness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still, one thing more fellow-citizens, a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities."
"About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties which com- prehend everything dear and valuable to you, it is proper that you should understand what I deem essential principles of our government, and con- sequently those which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear, stating the general principles, but not all its limitations. Equal and exact justice to all men of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political ; peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations-entangling alliances with none ; the support of the State governments in all their rights, as the most com- petent administrations for our domestic concerns, and the surest bulwarks against anti-republican tendencies; the preservation' of the general gov- ernment in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad ; a jealous care of the right of election by the people ; a mild and safe correction of abuses which are lopped off by the sword of revolution, when peaceable remedies are unprovided; absolute acquiesence in the decisions of the majority-the vital principle of repub- lics, from which there is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism; a well disciplined militia our best reliance in peace, and for the first moments of war, till regulars may relieve them; the supremacy of the civil over the military authority ; "economy in the public expense, that labor may be lightly burdened ; an honest payment of our debts, and sacred preservation of the public faith ; encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid ; the diffusion of information and the arraignment of all abuses at the bar of public reason ; freedom of religion ; freedom of the press; freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trials by juries impartially selected -- these principles form the bright constitution which 'has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reform. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith-the text of civil instruction-the touch-stone to try the service of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety !"
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.