USA > Illinois > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws > Part 1
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FIRST PUBLIC BUILDING IN HANCOCK COUNTY COURT HOUSE
HISTORY
645 33/4
OF
HANCOCK COUNTY,
ILLINOIS,
TOGETHER WITH
AN OUTLINE HISTORY OF THE STATE,
AND A
DIGEST OF STATE LAWS.
Illustrated.
BY TH. GREGG.
CHICAGO: CHAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO. 1880.
F547 . Hz G8
2.325.28 10
16-1389 rev2
BLAKELY, BROWN & MARSH, PRINTERS, 155 & 157 DEARBORN ST., CHICAGO.
BOUND BY DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY, 105 & 109 MADISON STREET., CHICAGO.
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
JOHN BUNYAN, in his " Apology" for writing a Book, says :
For having now my method by the end, Still as I pull'd it came; and so I penn'd It down, until at last it came to be, For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.
And then, when it was written, and on submitting the question of its publication to friends :
Some said, John, print it; others said, Not so. Some said, it might do good; others said, No.
And after hearing their counsel :
At last I thought, since you are thus divided, I print it will, and so the case decided.
The undersigned has about the same apology for writing this book, which he styles a History of Hancock County. There is this difference, however, that instead of "having his method by the end," he found it to have neither end nor middle; and that though the work "came to the bigness that you see," he could have found enough material to have made a book of twice its size. From the beginning it has been a work from which he has expected more pleasure than profit; and if he has succeeded in making it credita- ble as a contribution to the great volume of Illinois history, he is amply satisfied.
And now at the close, no one can see and regret its imperfections more than himself. He can see errors of omission and commis- sion, and realize that many important things have been left unnoticed, while less important ones have found place. Yet he urges that, to a certain extent, this is unavoidable in a work compiled from so many diverse materials. If one cannot describe with exactness what has happened under his own observation, he cannot be ex- pected to state with absolute certainty events which transpired through a period of half a century, facts obtained through a thou- sand sources. He leaves the work in the hands of an appreciating
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
and generous public,-not hoping by the mention of these things, to avert or disarm criticism.
It would be wrong to close without acknowledging his indebted- ness to his publishers, whose timely and efficient aid has contributed so greatly to its value and success. He has also been placed under obligations by numerous friends all over the county, who have cheered him and aided him in various ways. He has been espe- cially aided by the gentlemen of the Hancock press-all of them,- and by the kind and courteous county officials and assistants; and he hereby extends to them and to all others his grateful thanks.
TH. GREGG.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
MOUND-BUILDERS
17 21
ILLINOIS TERRITORY.
59 MORMON WAR. 104
MEXICAN WAR. 118
Battle of Buena Vista. 119
Starved Rock
23
Massacre of Fort Dear- born
60
UNION .. 125
States Seceding. 126
EARLY DISCOVERIES ..
Nicholas Perrot ..
31
Joliet and Marquette ... LaSalle's Explorations
31
77
33 State Bank ..
78
Great Battle of the Illi- nois.
31 41
Tonti Safe at Green Bay LaSalle'sAssassination
43
INDIAN TROUBLES 83
FRENCH OCCUPATION. First Settlements ...
44
Winnebago War. 83
44
The Mississi pi Com- pany.
45 47
ENGLISH RULE ..
Gen. Clarke's Exploits
51
ILLINOIS .. County of Illinois
55
55 FROM 1834 TO 1842.
95
Internal Improvements
95
CHICAGO ..
170
The Great Fire ..
172
Ordinance of 1787. 56
Illinoi- and Michigan Canal.
97
St. Clair Governor of
Martyr for Liberty.
98
Commerce of Chicago. 173 STATES OF THE UNION 177
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL FEATURES, ETC 191
Geology .. 192
Building Stone 199
Potters' Clay. 200
Coal ...
200
Hancock Mounds
200
Natural Productions. 202
CHAPTER II.
PIONEERS
AND PIO-
NEER LIFE .... 204
CHAPTER III.
THE ADVANCE GUARD 210
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST OFFICIALS 215
First Grand Jurors ...... 219
First Petit Jurors .. . 223
CHAPTER V.
ORGANIZATION AND
FIRST PROCEED-
INGS .. 229
Court Seals 234
Delinquent Tax List ... 235
Connty-Seat Question. 235
A Relic of Slavery . . . . 238
The Circuit Court .... 239 The Probate Court .... 241
CHAPTER VI.
THE MORMON PERIOD 242 Introductory Remarks. 242 Origin of Mormonism .. 247 TheTestimony of Three Witnesses .. 249
An Inquiry : The Book of Mormon ... 250 What the Neighbors Say .. . 254
Mrs. (Spaulding) Davi- son's Story. 259 Extracts and Opinions 265 The Gold Plates 270
Dr. John C. Bennett ... 273
'I he Call to Zion ... 276
Theft Denounced .. . ..
278
Quarrels among the
Chiefs. 283 Further Requisitions .. 288 Further Attempts at Prosecution. 290 Excitement at Nauvoo 295 The " Expositor" Ex- posed .. 296 "Nauvoo Neighbor" . 303
Smith's Proclamation. 318 The Atonement ... 319
How it was done-The Killing of the Smiths 324
Before Indictment and Trial .. 326 Trials and Acquittals .. 328 Struggle for the Succes- sion 331
Strang's
Four
Wit-
nesses.
332
More
Violence
and
Bloodshed. 336 Murder of Col. Daven- port. 338
The Beginning of the End. 342
The Exodus Begun. 344
War Impending .. 347 The Battle and Result. 349 Nanvoo Charter and Ordinances ... 354 The Kinderhook Plates 360 " Sons of Dan." 361
William W. Phelps. 361 The Titles of the Twelve 362 The Prophet as a Lin- guist 362
John D. Lee. 364
The " Revelations.". 364 Polygamy. 365 Temperance Clause .... 366 A TolerationOrdinance 366
The Mansion House ... 367
Egyptian IHieroglyph- ice .. . 367
The Temple.
367
The Nauvoo House ..
James C. Brewster .....
368
A Story from
Sten-
house ...
371
Col. Thomas Geddes'
Statement.
372
Mrs. Eliza R. Wells ...
372
The Carthage Greys ...
372
Parley P. Pratt as a
Prophet ...
373
The Baptismal Font ... 373
Incidents of the Burn-
ing.
374
Mormon Methods
374
Gov. Ford's Inaccura-
cies ..
375
The Prophet a Land Speculator. 375 The Re-organized Church. 376
Conclusion.
377
CHAPTER VII.
FORTS JOHNSON AND
EDWARDS ..
...
..
379
CHAPTER VIII.
BIOGRAPHICAL- Black
Hawk .. .
...
382
CHAPTER IX.
HANCOCK NEWSPA-
PERS.
386
CHAPTER X.
WEATHER
PHIE NOM-
Beasts in the Land of
Promise ..
361
ENA.
399
Deep Snow.
399
Storm of 1836. 400
Tornado, June, 1838 .. 400
High Waters ..
401
The Basco Tornado.
401
July 4, 1873.
408
Winter of 1836-'7.
409
CHAPTER XI.
THE JUDICIARY.
410
CHIAPTER XII.
368 | TIIE HANCOCK BAR .... 413
INDIANS ..
Illinois Confe leracy ...
23
THE WAR FOR THE
Sacs and Foxes.
24
27
Expeditions up the Mis- sissippi. 71
ILLINOIS AS A STATE .. 74
The Fall of Sumter. 127 74 Call for Troops Prompt- ly Answered .. Organization .. 128 Derivation of the name " Illinois"
The War Ended-The
Union Restored .... 137
LaFayette's Visit. 79
Grammar and Cook Contrasted. 82
DRESS AND MANNERS. 149 PIIYSICAL FEATURES OF ILLINOIS. 154
AGRICULTURE. 155
BLACK HAWK WAR. 84 87
Stillman's Run ..
Battle of Bad Ax. 90
Black Hawk Captured.
91
GOVERNORS OF ILLI- NOIS .. 157
Biographical Sketch of _ Black Hawk. 92
Lieutenant Governors. 160 State Officials. . 161 U. S. Senators. 162 Representatives in Con- 165 gress 165
NORTHWESTERN TER- RITORY .. 55
N. W. Territory.
59 | PRAIRIE PIRATES. 102
Schedule of Regiments 138 DUELS .. 141
Manners and Customs. Single-handed Combat with Indians ... 29 31
WAR OF 1812-THE OUT- BREAK .. 59
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIII.
ANECDOTAL.
420
CHAPTER XIV.
U. G. R. R ..
....
...
430
CHAPTER XV.
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS 433
CHAPTER XVI.
EDUCATIONAL.
435
CHAPTER XVII.
THE POOR.
444
CHAPTER XVIII.
ELECTION RETURNS .. 447
CHAPTER XIX.
PIONEERS' ASSOCIA-
TION.
463
CHAPTER XX.
MISCELLANEOUS STA-
TISTICS. 468
CHAPTER XXI.
TOWNSHIP ORGANIZA- TION 471
First Court House - Fron- tispiece ...
Map of Haucock County .. 14-15
Starved Rock 25
An Iroquois Chief 37
Old Fort Dearborn. 61
OId Kinzie House 65
Pontiac ...
69
Black Hawk.
85
CHAPTER XXII.
OLD LANDMARKS.
473
CHAPTER XXIII.
HANCOCK IN THE RE- BELLION .. 476 Ruth; A Poem of the Rebellion. 492
CHAPTER XXIV.
MISCELLANEOUS.
500
La Moine River. 500
Amzi Doolittle .. 500
Some Pontoosuc Pio-
neers
500
Spelling Schools. 501
The Lost Child. 502
Jumping Claims. 504
Pioneer Life ..
501
The Windmill. 505
The First Two - Story Frame. 506
The First Murder. 506
Sons of Temperance ..
507
Mormon Trail
507
The Deserters
507
LUSUS NATURÆ 508
Gangrene and Quinine 508
A Miscalculation ..
508
Spillman's Fort ..
...
509
CHAPTER XXV.
TOWNSHIP HISTORIES: Appanoose. 949
Augusta. 510 Bear Creek. 608 Carthage. 687 -
Chili.
530
Dallas.
929, 937
Durham
918, 975
Fountain Green 819, 973
673
Ilarmony .
La Ilarpe. 892
Montebello 790
Nauvoo. 955
Pilot Grove 841
Pontoosuc 929, 931
Prairie. 771
Rock Creek 861
Rocky Run 572
Sonora .. 881
St. Alban's 548
St. Mary's. 578,974
Walker ..
. 565, 970
Warsaw.
.637,653
Wilcox.
637, 613
Wythe. 625 ..
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CRIMINAL REC-
ORD.
. .
977
CHAPTER XXVII.
CENSUS OF 1880.
984 | HANCOCK RAILWAYS 988
ILLUSTRATIONS.
C., R .- I. & P. R. R. Depot. 99
Eye and Ear Infirmary .... 111
Deaf and Dumb Institute .. 115
Scene on Fox River. 121
Lincoln Monument 137
Asylum for Feeble Minded 143
Southern Normal Univer- sity
151
Mississippi Bridge 983
PORTRAITS.
Brant, Hezekiah. 873
Hoffman, E. S. 477
-- Bride, Samuel.
333
Hurdle, John N.
893
Randolph, James M. 723
Browning, G. M.
603
Ilowd, Joel.
833
Rhea, James. 818
Brumback, T. B .. 297
Carey, M. S.
733
Johnson, James T.
657
Smith, Joseph 243
Corey, V. B
549
Manier, W. H
703
Stark, James. 225
Clark, Gen. George R 49
Manifold, J. E
423
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur 101
Tressler, D. L .. 441
567 Turney, S. T 763
351
Ferris, S. G.
207
Mead, S B. .
513
Walker, H. M ..
783
Gill, Charles F. 883
405
Pattersor, Wm A 693
Walton, Wesley 585
Gittings, James
Hamilton, A ...
713
Pitt, John .. 823
Wilcox, L. L ...
803
Williams, W. C.
773
DIGEST OF STATE LAWS.
Laws. .
989 | Trust Deeds.
1008
Infants
1026
Jurisdiction of Courts.
989
Liens. .
1008
Adoption of Children 1027 Church Organization. 1027
ways ..
990
Receipts Limitation of Action.
1011
Miller's 1030
Fences ..
992
Drainage ..
994
Exemptions from Forced Sales. 1012
Landlords and Tenants ... 1013
Criminal Law. 1016
Marks and Brands
997 Subscription .. 1019
Contract for Personal Ser- vices. 1020
Legal Weights and Meas- ures 1034
Interest.
999 Newspaper Libel. 1021
Bees. 1037
Wills. 1001 Tender .. 1021 Dogs 1037
Descent. 1005 Drunkenness 1023
Cruelty to Animals. 1038
Names.
1038
Mortagages & Trust Deeds 1007
School Months 1026
1012
Paupers.
1030
Public and Private Con-
Trespass of Stock.
994
Estrays.
995 996 997
Taxes. 1018
Definition of Commercial Terms ... 1034
Articles of Agreement. Notes. 998
Judgment Note.
999
Deeds .. 1006
Marriage Contract. 1024
¡ Industrial University ..
167
The Crib .. 176
Court- House 190
Mormon Temple. 261
Old Jail ... 279
Kinderhook Plates 360
Carthage College 437
Central Insane Hospital ... 167
.Quinby, Jesse B. 743
Duffy, A. 675
Duvall, B. F 853
Ewell, J. S 863
MeGinnis, D. 621
Walker, George.
Mendenhall, B. 935
Walton, Fred. 793
Gillham, John.
369 Peyton, John. 753
Weakley, Peter E 495
Hammond, A. C. 639
Place, Jas. F. 843
Harter, Joseph. 531
James, A. J .. :
459
Sharp, Thomas C. 387
Maynard, L. C
315
County Conrts ...
990 Bill of Sale. 1010
Commissioner of High-
Days of Grace .. 1011 Game. 1028
veyances .. 1032 Wagers and Stakeholders. 1083 Sunday 1034
Horses.
McGaw, S. P.
Hancock .. 593
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18
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
FORMER OCCUPANTS.
MOUND-BUILDERS.
The numerous and well-authenticated accounts of antiquities found in various parts of our country, clearly demonstrate that a people civilized, and even highly cultivated, occupied the broad surface of our continent before its possession by the present In- dians; but the date of their rule of the Western World is so re- mote that all traces of their history, their progress and decay, lie buried in deepest obscurity. Nature, at the time the first Euro- peans came, had asserted her original dominion over the earth; the forests were all in their full luxuriance, the growth of many cen- turies; and naught existed to point out who and what they were who formerly lived, and loved, and labored, and died, on the conti- nent of America. This pre-historic race is known as the Mound- Builders, from the numerous large mounds of earth-works left by them. The remains of the works of this people form the most in- teresting class of antiquities discovered in the United States. Their character can be but partially gleaned from the internal evidences and the peculiarities of the only remains left,-the mounds. They consist of remains of what were apparently villages, altars, temples, idols, cemeteries, monuments, camps, fortifications, pleasure grounds, etc., etc. Their habitations must have been tents, struc- tures of wood, or other perisliable material; otherwise their remains would be numerous. If the Mound-Builders were not the ancestors of the Indians, who were they? The oblivion which has closed over them is so complete that only conjecture can be given in answer to the question. Those who do not believe in the common parentage of mankind contend that they were an indigenous race of the West- ern hemisphere; others, with more plausibility, think they came from the East, and imagine they can see coincidences in the religion of the Hindoos and Southern Tartars and the supposed theology of
18
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
the Mound-Builders. They were, no doubt, idolators, and it has been conjectured that the sun was the object of their adoration. The mounds were generally built in a situation affording a view of the rising sun: when enclosed in walls their gateways were toward the east; the caves in which their dead were occasionally buried always opened in the same direction; whenever a monnd was partially en- closed by a semi-circular pavement, it was on the east side; when bodies were buried in graves, as was frequently the case, they were laid in a direction east and west; and, finally, medals have been found representing the sun and his rays of light.
At what period they came to this country, is likewise a matter of speculation. From the comparatively rude state of the arts among them, it has been inferred that the time was very remote. Their axes were of stone. Their raiment, judging from fragments which have been discovered, consisted of the bark of trees, interwoven with feathers; and their military works were such as a people would erect who had just passed to the pastoral state of society from that dependent alone upon hunting and fishing.
The mounds and other ancient earth-works constructed by this people are far more abundant than generally supposed, from the fact that while some are quite large, the greater part of them are small and inconspicuous. Along nearly all our water courses that are large enough to be navigated with a canoe, the mounds are almost invariably found, covering the base points and headlands of the bluffs which border the narrower valleys; so that when one finds him- self in such positions as to command the grandest views for river scenery, he may almost always discover that he is ,standing upon, or in close proximity to, some one or more of these traces of the labors of an ancient people.
GALENA MOUNDS.
On the top of the high bluffs that skirt the west bank of the Mis- sissippi, about two and a half miles from Galena, are a number of these silent monuments of a pre-historic age. The spot is one of surpassing beauty. From that point may be obtained a view of a portion of three States,-Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. A hundred feet below, at the foot of the perpendicular cliffs, the trains of the Illinois Central Railroad thunder around the curve, the portage is in full view, and the " Father of Waters," with its numerous bayous
19
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
and islands, sketches a grand pamorama for miles above and below. Here, probably thousands of years ago, a race of men now extinet, and unknown even in the traditions of the Indians who inhabited that section for centuries before the discovery of America by Colum - bus, built these strangely wonderful and enigmatical mounds. At this point these mounds are circular and conical in form. The larg- est one is at least forty feet in diameter at the base, and not less than fifteen feet high, even yet, after it has been beaten by the storms of many centuries. On its top stands the large stump of an oak tree that was cut down about fifty years ago, and its annual rings indicate a growth of at least 200 years.
One of the most singular earth-works in the State was found on the top of a ridge near the east bank of the Sinsinawa creek in the lead region. It resembled some huge animal, the head, ears, nose, legs and tail, and general outline of which being as perfeet as if made by men versed in modern art. The ridge on which it was situated stands on the prairie, 300 yards wide, 100 feet in height, and rounded on the top by a deep deposit of clay. Centrally, along the line of its summit, and thrown up in the form of an embankment three feet high, extended the outline of a quadruped measuring 250 feet from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and having a width of 18 feet at the center of the body. The head was 35 feet in length, the ears 10 feet, legs 60 and tail 75. The curvature in both the fore and hind legs was natural to an animal lying on its side. The general outline of the figure most nearly resembled the extinct animal known to geologists as the Megathe- rium. The question naturally arises, By whom and for what pur- pose was this earth figure raised? Some have conjectured that numbers of this now extinct animal lived and roamed over the prai- ries of Illinois when the Mound-Builders first made their appearance on the upper part of the Mississippi Valley, and that their wonder and admiration, exeited by the colossal dimensions of these huge creatures, found some expression in the erection of this figure. The bones of some similar gigantic animals were exhumed on this stream about three miles from the same place.
LARGE CITIES.
Mr. Breckenridge, who examined the antiquities of the Western country in 1817; speaking of the mounds in the American Bottom, says: "The great number and extremely large size of some of
20
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
them may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidences of their antiquity. I have sometimes been induced to think that at the period when they were constructed there was a population here as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile or Euphrates, or of Mexico. The most num- erous, as well as considerable, of these remains are found in pre- cisely those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the month of the Ohio on the east side of the Mississippi, to the Illinois river, and on the west from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of ancient Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this country."
It must be admitted that whatever the nses of these mounds- whether as dwellings or burial places-these silent monuments were built, and the race who built them vanished from the face of the earth, ages before the Indians occupied the land, but their date most probably forever baffle human skill and ingennity.
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the places of sepulture raised by the Mound-Builders from the more modern graves of the Indians. The tombs of the former were in general larger than those of the latter, and were used as receptacles for a greater number of bodies, and contained relics of art, evincing a higher degree of civ- ilization than that attained by the Indians. The ancient earth- works of the Monnd-Builders have occasionally been appropriated as burial places by the Indians, but the skeletons of the latter may be distinguished from the osteological remains of the former by their greater stature.
What finally became of the Mound-Builders is another query which has been extensively discussed. The fact that their works extend into Mexico and Peru has induced the belief that it was their posterity that dwelt in these countries when they were first visited by the Spaniards. The Mexican and Peruvian works, with the exception of their greater magnitude, are similar. Relics com- mon to all of them have been occasionally found, and it is believed that the religious uses which they subserved were the same. If, indeed, the Mexicans and Peruvians were the progeny of the more ancient Mound-Builders, Spanish rapacity for gold was the canse of their overthrow and final extermination.
A thousand other queries naturally arise respecting these nations
,
21
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
which now repose under the ground, but the most searching investi- gation can give us only vague speculations for answers. No histo- rian has preserved the names of their mighty chieftains, or given an account of their exploits, and even tradition is silent respecting them.
INDIANS.
Following the Mound-Builders as inhabitants of North America, were, as it is supposed, the people who reared the magnificent cities the ruins of which are found in Central America. This peo- ple was far more civilized and advanced in the arts than were the Mound-Builders. The cities built by them, judging from the ruins of broken columns, fallen arches and crumbling walls of temples, palaces and pyramids, which in some places for miles bestrew the ground, must have been of great extent, magnificent and very pop- ulous. When we consider the vast period of time necessary to erect such colossal structures, and, again, the time required to reduce them to their present ruined state, we can conceive something of their antiquity. These cities must have been old when many of the ancient cities of the Orient were being built.
The third race inhabiting North America, distinct from the former two in every particular, is the present Indians. They were, when visited by the early discoverers, without cultivation, refinement or literature, and far behind the Mound-Builders in the knowledge of the arts. The question of their origin has long interested archæologists, and is the most difficult they have been called upon to answer. Of their predecessors the Indian tribes knew nothing; they even had no traditions respecting them. It is quite certain that they were the successors of a race which had entirely passed away ages before the discovery of the New World. One hypothesis is that the American Indians are an original race indigenous to the Western hemisphere. Those who entertain this view think their peculiarities of physical structure preclude the possibility of a common parentage with the rest of mankind, Prominent among those distinctive traits is the hair, which in the red man is round, in the white man oval, and in the black man flat.
A more common supposition, however, is that they are a derivative race, and sprang from one or more of the ancient peoples of Asia. In the absence of all authentic history, and when even tradition is
.
.
22
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
wanting, any attempt to point out the particular location of their origin must prove unsatisfactory. Though the exact place of origin may never be known, yet the striking coincidence of physical organization between the Oriental type of mankind and the Indians point unmistakably to some part of Asia as the place whence they emigrated, which was originally peopled to a great extent by the children of Shem. In this connection it has been claimed that the meeting of the Europeans, Indians and Africans on the continent of America, is the fulfillment of a prophecy as recorded in Gen- esis ix. 27: "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant." Assuming the theory to be true that the Indian tribes are of Shemitic origin, they were met on this continent in the fifteenth century by the Japhetic race, after the two stocks had passed around the globe by directly different routes. A few years afterward the Hamitic branch of the human family were brought from the coast of Africa. During the occupancy of the continent by the three distinct races, the children of Japheth have grown and prospered, while the called and not voluntary sons of Ham have endured a servitude in the wider stretching valleys of the tents of Shem.
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