USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Columbia > History of Columbia and Columbia precinct, Monroe County, Illinois, 1859-1959 and centennial celebration, Columbia, Illinois, July 3-4-5, 1959 > Part 1
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977. 391 C72 h
HISTORY OF COLUMELA AND COLUMSIA PRECILIDT ILLINOIS [MONROE COUNTY]
(1759)
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
977,391 c72h
Wignis bisLogical Survey
HISTORY of COLUMBIA, ILLINOIS
COLUMBIA'S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION JULY 3, 4 and 5, 1959
HISTORY OF
COLUMBIA AND COLUMBIA PRECINCT
MONROE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
1859
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1959
AND CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
COLUMBIA, ILLINOIS
JULY 3-4-5, 1959
FOREWORD
T This year, 1959, marks the 100th anniversary of the in- corporation of Columbia, Illinois, as a town.
Because of this, we, on July 3, 4 and 5, 1959, formally celebrate this event by a Centennial celebration.
As a part of this celebration, a committee was appointed to write the history of Columbia.
The story of Columbia goes back far more than a hun- dred years, and the story would not be complete without the telling of our rich background of early history.
For it is a story of hardy pioneering, with sacrifices and heroism. It is a story, too, of simple virtues, lofty ideals and wholesome domestic life. Yet it is a story of civic and military achievements and trail blazing. Underneath it all is deep religious faith and the quest for education; and the establishment of businesses and commercial enterprises that make for better living.
In our Centennial year, we pause to reflect upon our heritage and to survey our future prospects.
By this Centennial celebration the people of Columbia wish to publicly express their appreciation for 100 years of blessings and success, and our deep gratitude to our for- bears, even down to those in the dim and distant past whose bravery and fortitude made possible the Columbia of today.
To them, and to all the citizens of Columbia is this his- tory dedicated.
Our people pledge anew that the Columbia of today and tomorrow shall measure in every respect with the hopes and ambitions which imbued its founders.
Mayor and City Council: Left to right, bottom row: Michael Steffenauer, Jos. J. Volkert, Jr., City Clerk; Albert C. Metter, Mayor; Carl Richert, City Treasurer; Henry Haberlah, Magistrate. Top row: William E. Landgraf, Wilbert Kremmel, George J. Van Luik, Arthur Beckmann, Warren Bergmann.
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Centennial Officers and Directors: Mrs. C. ". Volkert, Mrs. Dorothy Eppinger, C. A. Hacker, Arthur P. Wink, A. C. Metter, Miss Ruth Kuergeleis, Mrs. Gerard Dundon. Top row: Mrs. Melvin Gasser, Roy P. Conrad, Walter F. Giffhorn, Herbert J. Vogt, B. D. Middleton, Charles J. Grueninger, Mrs. Raymond Kremmel.
Officers are: Arthur P. Wink, President; C. A. Hacker, Vice President; Miss Ruth Kuergeleis, Secretary; Mrs. Gerard Dundon, Assistant Secretary; Mrs. Dorothy Eppinger, Treasurer. Leo A. Weilbacher, Sr. Is a director but was not present for picture.
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The above is the Historical Committee from left to right, bottom row: Mrs. Ella Rose Rohm, Mrs. Lottle Henckler, Arthur P. Wink, Mrs. C. L. Volkert, Albert C. Metter, Mrs. Bertha Arnin Schoening, Miss Ernestine C. Smith; top row: Mrs. Viola Rapp Rueck, Mrs. Florence E. Haberl, F. W. Weinel, Victor Breldecker, Carl Reis, B. D. Middleton, Herbert J. Vogt, Jack Divers, C. A. Hacker, Mrs. Anna Belle Compton, Elmer Janson, Bertha Kunz Arnin, Walter F. Giffhorn, Mrs. Irene Haberl. Dorothy Weinel Eppinger and Leo Weilbacher, Sr. are members, but not present.
The Historical Committee appointed by Mayor A. C. Metter and approved by the City Council at the regular meeting March 2, 1959 for further historical research after
the Centennial is over, includes the above named commit- tee, and Ex-Officio Members, Mayor and City Council; Honorary members, Ex-village trustees, Edmund L. Rauch, Theodore Ludwig, Daniel Daab and Louis Landgraf and Ex-Village Clerk, Philip Ludwig.
To the right is a part of the Centennial Style Show cast taken at the home of Style Show Chairman Mrs. Mel- vin Gasser. Notice the beautiful doorway of the Gasser home. Front row, left to right: Lester Deffenbaugh, Mary Reyling, Mrs. Erwin Kossina, Mrs. Marvin Deem.
Middle row: Mrs. Wm. Klein and Mrs. Clifford Ludwig.
Back row: Joe Avellone, Arthur P. Wink, Mrs. Melvin Gasser, Kenneth G. Haller, Mrs. Eugene Luhr and Al Kish.
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CENTENNIAL STYLE SHOW
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CITY EMPLOYEES
Bottom row, left to right: James Mahoney, General Supt. Utilities and Streets; Leo Koberiein; Police Sgt. Alfred Descher; Chief of Police C. L. Volkert; Theodore Klein, 1st Asst. Fire Chief; Jacob Steppig, Fire Chief; 2nd Asst. Fire Chief, Clemence Metter. Back row, left to right: Walter Giffhorn, Jr .; Erwin Kossina, General Maintenance; Mrs. Clifford Haberl, Asst. Librarian; Donald Stumpf, General Maintenance; Mrs. T. B. Henderson, Librarian; Ernestine C. Smith, Chief Control Room Operator; William Rie- beling, Control Room Operator; Mrs. Oiga Nollau, Control Room Operator; Margaret Volkert, Custodian City Hall; Alvin G. Klein, Asst. City Clerk and Asst. City Collector.
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SCHIEMER INSURANCE AGENCY
On March 10, 1923, Charles L. Schiemer founded the Schiemer Insurance Agency, soliciting all forms of insur- ance in Columbia and the surrounding area. The office was located in his home at 509 North Metter Avenue.
On April 7, 1938, the agency was licensed to sell real estate.
In 1940 a subdivision known as "Columbia Acres" was developed.
Through the years his sons joined him in the business and on September 1, 1955, the business was incor- porated under the name of Schiemer Insurance Agency, Inc.
In order to accommodate their clients and maintain efficiency, the First National Bank Building, located at 102 South Main Street in Columbia was purchased, which gave all the facilities necessary to service their clients. The building has a vault to protect their records against fire and windstorm. The grand opening of the office was held in December of 1955.
The founder, Charles L. Schiemer, died on September 28, 1958. The present officers of the firm are Carl L. Schiemer and Robert H. Schiemer.
"THE SPRING OF LASTING WATER"
HISTORY OF COLUMBIA, MONROE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Columbia, in Eagle precinet until March 15, 1875, when the precinct name was changed to Columbia, was laid out in 1820, incorporated as a Town in 1859 under a special Act of the 31st General Assembly of the State of Illinois, approved by Governor William H. Bissell, who was elected from Monroe County; changed to a Village in 1903, and to a City under the aldermanie form of government in 1927.
Columbia is situated in the northeastern part of Co- lumbia precinet, near the center of Township 1 South, Range 10 West of the third principal meridian. The south- eastern part is the oldest. and was laid out on the land of Louis Nolan in 1820. Wilson and Gardner laid out lots near the center of town in 1849. Columbia was surveyed and platted by John B. Whiteside, but not recorded.
The above is the legal description. To the layman, Co- lumbia is fourteen miles south of downtown St. Louis on Illinois routes 3 and 158, and U S. route 50. It is one mile from the Jefferson Barracks Bridge road, gateway to the West and the great new industrial areas of St. Louis County, Missouri.
A new by-pass enables traffic to skirt Columbia. It thus becomes a quiet, residential suburb within easy com- muting distance of a great metropolis, St. Louis, Mo., and the industrial East Side.
Columbians have always prided themselves on their homes and gardens, and that is as true today as it was in 1859. Amongst the many modern, new homes are the ones of other generations. all well kept, each with a garden. There are many houses older than the city itself. These are architecturally beautiful and still a joy to owners and beholders.
Although Columbia is in the Greater St. Louis Metro- ¡olitan Area, it still retains its quaint, old world charm. It is Columbia's heritage from the early pioneers and the sturdy Germans who settled here in the early 1800's.
Each brought with them the remembered beauty of their home lands and incorporated a part of it in Colum- bia, their "land of the free and the home of the brave."
WHAT IS HISTORY?
Webster's dictionary says: "History is a narrative, written or oral, especially a systematic narrative of events, and circumstances relating to man and his social or civie condition." Macaulay, the great English historian has said, "The history of a country is best told in the lives of its people."
Agreeing with these ideas, it is our purpose to weave into the dates of history the story of the people who founded Columbia. How they built it from an almost trackless wilderness by slow and painful degrees into the Columbia we know today. In the process we will try to understand why Columbia is what it is and where it is.
WE ROLL BACK THE SCROLL OF TIME
The Mound Builders undoubtedly were Columbia's first citizens. They were so-called because they built mounds in North America chiefly centered in the valleys of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. These mounds can still be seen near Columbia at Bixby and Fish Lake. The mounds here were apparently garden plots where maize and other crops were raised Their tops were flat to make cultivation easier. In flat lands these mounds averted the disaster of floods and excess moisture. It is possible these garden mounds were surrounded by stakes to prevent the erops from being destroyed by great herds of bison and deer that roamed the country.
The Mound Builders were Indlans, ethnologists now agree, rather than people of a mysterious culture who preceded the Indians, as was originally thought. Columbus, when he discovered America, named the early inhabitants Indians, for he mistook the new continent for Indla.
Indians who built the mounds are believed to have inhabited the area from the eighth or ninth century be- fore the arrival of the earliest French settlers.
The Mound Builders here were succeeded hy the Klck- apoo Indians who were hunters and warriors. They were marauders and savages indeed. They belonged to the Illinois confederacy which included the Michigamles, Kas- kaskias, the Kahoklas, the Peorlas, the Tamaroas, the Saes and Foxes, the Winnebagoes, the Piankeshaws, the Pottowatomies and the Shawnees.
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THE FIRST WHITE MEN
Probably the first white men to see what is now Co- lumbia precinct were the French. These two men were Pere Jacques Marquette, a missionary priest and Louis Jolliet, an explorer. This was in 1673. Jolliet was born in Canada and had gone far in the wilderness around the Great Lakes. He had heard the Indians tell about a big river named the Mississippi and he was eager to find out where it reached the ocean. The French governor of Quebec, Count Frontenac, under orders from the King of France, told Jolliet to explore it. With Jolliet went Father Marquette, for he knew the Indian language, and hoped to convert the Indians to Christianity. In 1673 they floated down the Mississippi in two canoes after portaging from one river to another to reach the Mississippi. They must have floated down past the western boundary of Colum- bia precinct, to become the first white men to see Colum- bia.
Other Frenchmen followed. Count Frontenac knew that the rich fur trade would have be protected against hostile Indians and other enemies and so did a great soldier, Robert Cavalier Sieur de le Salle. He dream- ed of a vast empire stretching all the way from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, to be called New France. He proposed to bring settlers from Europe to colonize it. He too must have floated past Columbia on his voyage down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Returning, he placed his good friend Henri de Tonti, an Italian, in charge. Tonti guided missionaries who came from Quebec to establish missions among the Indians at Cahokia in 1699.
OLD AND NEW KASKASKIA
Four years later in 1703 the missionaries established the Mission of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin on the Mississippi River, sixty miles below Cahokia, at the Indian village of Kaskaskia, again floating past Columbia.
This was not a flourishing mission so the priests in charge and the Kaskaskia Indians started down the Illi- nois river expecting to continue their journey down the Mississippi to the new settlements But when they reached the head of the island of Kaskaskia they crossed over the narrow neck which separated the Mississippi from the Okaw and settled on the bank of the Okaw. Here they founded the first permanent settlement in Illinois. This village became the new Kaskaskia. This settlement grew and soon became known by all travellers passing up and down the Mississippi.
History records few French people in Columbia, and no permanent French settlers. The French possessed Illi- nois until 1765 but they were lax in holding their terri- tory, and at the close of Europe's Seven Year War the French ceded their holdings to the British.
For a few years the British flag flew in Illinois until George Rogers Clark captured Kaskaskia in the name of the immortal Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. The hauling down of the British flag is a dramatic story. Clark had persuaded Patrick Henry to let him take his 175 men, his "Long Knives", Kentuckians, so designated because of the ferocity of their fighting, to capture the outpost at Kaskaskia, the farthest British port in the Illinois country. Leaving their boats at the present site of Metropolis, Illinois, they started on foot along the old Indian trail to Kaskaskia, and announced to the startled village that Illinois now belonged to America. This was on July 4, 1778. No one resisted Clark when he hauled
down the British flag. Then he captured the British fort at Vincennes. Some of Clark's men, under the command of Captain Bowman journeyed over the now famous Kas- kaskia Trail through Columbia. Clark, however, was not with the group, but some of the early settlers of Colum- bia were.
They went back to Virginia and told their families and friends about the lands they had seen and many pio- neers began preparing for the hazardous journey to the new land of their choice.
EARLY IMMIGRANTS BEGAN TO ARRIVE
These Virginia immigrants who had come from the fertile fields of England, the green valleys of Ireland, the picturesque plains of Wales, and the moors and fens of Scotland settled the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida. Those who came to Monroe County came from Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. The early eastern immi- grants were from families of wealth in their native countries. They established large plantations or estates, taking hundreds of acres of ground.
Immigrants coming later found no ground for a home, so they pushed on into Kentucky looking for land. The mountains there did not furnish the kind of land they wanted. They wanted a home and land to till, so they went on into Ohio, down the Ohio river to the Mississippi and crossed into lllinois. Remembering the stories that Clark's men told of the fine land here near what is now Columbia they decided to settle here. Here were clear, cold streams in plenty, so that water was no problem. Everything was heavily wooded so that trees could be cut for homes and burned for fuel. In the forest game abounded to stock the family larder. The lakes in the neighborhood teemed with fish. Here stretched away acres of potentially rich farm land bordering the banks of the mighty Father of Waters. Aeons before, a slow-moving glacier of the Ice Age engineered the bed for the Missis- sippi to flow in-thirty miles of it in Monroe county. But the Bottom land was low, subject to floods and plagued with blood-thirsty mosquitoes. Poisonous snakes lurked in the undrained Bottoms. Miasmic vapors hung over the rich land and the settlers thought they gave them the "aggers and fever".
But there on a rise between the Bottom and the nearly 700 feet bluffs lay a plateau, 509 feet above sea level, which, safe from floods, protected from storms by a rise of hills on the north and east would make a good site for homes This site, which is now Columbia, had an abundance of clear, spring water. They probably reasoned this was the logical place to settle and found a perma- nent village.
In the Bottom lay the rich alluvial soil for raising crops if they were venturesome, and dared defy the oft- flooding Mississippi. On the hills above the river were deep layers of loess soil if they were of a conservative bent.
The only established road through the wilderness was the old Kaskaskia Trail, which wended its leisurely way through what is now Columbia. Though only a footpath of the Indians, this road must have seemed a wonderful thing, for the settlers had practically cut their way through the wilderness from Virginia and Kentucky and into Illinois. The Trail was probably a deciding factor in their settling of Columbia.
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SETTLEMENT OF WHITESIDE STATION
The oldest permanently settled place in what is now Columbia preeinet was established by the Flanneries. It became known as Whiteside Station. In 1793 the White- sides came from Kentucky. They were born and raised on the frontiers of North Carolina and immigrated to Ken- lucky. The patriarch and leader, William Whiteside, had been a celebrated soldier In the Revolutionary War and was in the famous battle of King's Mountain. He came to Illinois as captain of a company of mounted rangers and immediately began the protection and defense of the settlers. His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, the next year after the arrival of the family, became the wife of John Moore. Their first child. Sebastion, was born in 1795. The same year, John D. Whiteside, youngest child of William and Mary Whiteside was born. These children were presum- ably the first white children to be born in the preeinet. He and his relatives built a fort in section 26 Township 1 Range 10 west on the St. Louis and Waterloo road, a little southeast of Columbia. It is part of the farm of Robert J. Frierdich now.
The forts sometimes consisted of a single block house, the second story projecting over the first with holes in the floor through which to shoot at Indians attempting to enter the lower story. The lower floor had portholes through which to fire and strong puncheon doors 3 or 4 inches thiek. Sometimes there were block houses at four corners with uprights of wood to make a high fence. When Indians appeared everyone in the surrounding ter- ritory went into the block houses. It probably was the larger block house the Whitesides built, for their family was numerous. There were William and Mary Whiteside, Johnson D., Uel, Davis, Samuel, John L. and John D. Other people who came to the fort for protection were Samuel Judy, Isaac Enochs, John Porter and John Dempsey and their families.
In 1795 Captain Whiteside gathered to his standard his small but trusty company: Samuel and William White- side, Samuel Judy, Isaac Enochs, Johnson D. Whiteside and others-fourteen in all-and attacked and killed a camp of Indians of considerable number. The French at Cahokia told him the Indians had assembled at the Bluff to attack him and his property. He was wounded in bat- lle, presumably mortally, but his son Uel, whose arm was disabled so he could not use his gun, found the bullet was defleeted and lying near the skin. He took his knife and cut it out. The old warrior sprang to his feet and cried, "Boys, I can still fight the Indians."
In 1793 the Kickapoo Indians stole horses from the American Bottom near Eagle Cliffs. · (See footnote) Wil- liam Whiteside, Captain Samuel Judy, and John and Sam Whiteside, Wm. L. Whiteside, John Porter and John Demp- sey look after them. The Indians were camped near Belle- ville near Shoal Creek The Whiteside party found three of the horses grazing on the prairie, took the horses and divided forces of four men each. They attacked at the same time "whooping and hollering" from opposite sides. Thinking a large number were attacking them, old Chief Peeon surrendered. The Whitesides took the horses, and on a non-stop flight made off for Whiteside Station. Forty Indian warriors pursued them, but they reached the fort and safety.
In 1811, when Indians again began depredations. Whiteside was elected Colonel of the St. Clair County militia and held that office for many years. He also served in the Mexican War. After peace reigned he turned his attention to his farm at the station and planted the
first apple orchard in these parts In 1832 he was ap- pointed agent to receive from the state authorities all sums of money derived from the sale of saline lands in Gallatin County. The amount was $282.621 :. He was state treasurer from 1837 to 1841. History says he and his wife are buried at Whiteside Station.
FORT PIGGOTT
Another fort stands out in the history of early Co- lumbia. This is Fort Piggott, or it was sometimes known as, Fort Big Run. James Piggott erected this fort in 1783 at the foot of the bluff, one and one half miles west of Columbia. The fort was located on what was known as Carr Creek, which the French called "Grand Risseau." (literal translation large gully). The creek was named for Lenard Carr, an early settler. Fort Piggott was located on the old Charles Schneider place, now the residence of Elmer Schlemmer, et al, in survey 554 Claim 487 T 1 S R 10 W. Monroe County, Illinois, adjacent to present West- ern City limits of Columbia. Whiteside Station or Fort Whiteside is located on the Robert J. Frierdich place and east of the Shoemaker School (now occupied by Joe Maul and wife) in survey 412 Claim 520 T 1 S R 10 West Mon- roe County, Illinois, formerly owned by Franeis Joseph Frierdich, now by Robert J. Frierdich. These locations were in the American Papers in the Court House at Waterloo, Illinois and the information supplied by Robert Gardner, County Surveyor and Arthur H. Rueek, Cireuit Clerk.
James Piggott the builder of the fort was a soldier. He fought with Washington in the Battle of the Brandy- wine and with Gates at Saratoga. As Indian depredations increased the Fort became a haven for the settlers. When word went out to summon the settlers for safety's sake to the fort it was said that even the children realized the danger and would go silently to the fort without a word of caution from their elders. Indian massacres were ae- celerated and during 1789 and 1790 no one was safe. In- deed, one-tenth of the population was massacred by the Indians.
The trouble began early in 1788, for on March 28 of that year, William Biggs, a Columbian and John Vallis of Bellefontaine (now a part of Waterloo) set out for Ca- hokia to sell some beaver fur. Within six miles of Ft. Pig- gott they heard the report of two guns. Soon afterward sixteen Indians made their appearance, guns In firing position. Biggs and Vallis whipped up their horses but Biggs' horse was killed. Four shots piereed his overcoat but he was uninjured. With his furs and saddle he at- tempted to run away, but he was caught by the Indians. Vallis, though shot, elung to his horse and made It to Ft. Piggott As he reached there a swivel gun was fired to summon the neighborhood to the Fort. When the Indians heard this they ran with Biggs for six miles for they had no horses. Forty miles they covered that day says history The Kiekapoos took Biggs to thelr village on the Wabash He later escaped and reached Kaskaskia via the Wahash. Ohlo and Mississippi rivers. From there he went to Belle- fontaine.
Another time Fort Piggott provided safety for the Set- tlers attacked by the Indians In 178) six Indians attacked three boys. One of the boys, David Waddle, a distant relative of Miss Josephine Burroughs of Columbia, was "injured In three places" and then scalped The two other boys rushed him to the fort and his life was saved
One of the outstanding events In Columbla's ea. history occurred In 1790 when Captain Piggutt, with fort five Inhabitants of his fort, petitioned to name the F
Big Run. They also asked Territorial Governor St. Clair for grants of land for the settlers. They asked for 400 acres of land for every settler (head rights it was called) and for 100 acres of land for every militiaman enrolled that year, 1790.
When the British commandants were in power they exercised the power of making land grants subject to the approval of the King of England. British Colonel Wilkens granted 30,000 acres of land between Kaskaskia and Prairie du Rocher to John Edgar, a British subject, and John Murray St. Clair, the territorial governor's son. The French had previously given this land to others, but the records were conveniently lost by the British. In spite of this fiasco the U. S. government confirmed the grants, despite protests.
The name of John Edgar appears on a number of early Columbia land sales, saying that the property was a grant from the government in 1813. In fact, he really did a land office business, for his transactions fill 172 consecutive pages in land records of Randolph county. He was the largest landowner in the territory for he paid taxes on 130,400 acres. Robert Morrison paid on 34,000 and William Morrison on 24,000. These Morrisons were relatives of Carlisle B. Morrison of Waterloo, all early Illinois settlers. When the Illinois country organized in 1795 these land grants called for many hundred thousand acres of land but the 1,000 individuals to whom these grants were made divested themselves of the land prior to the first assess- ment of taxable property.
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