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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
UNIV
13A
BY EZPAS
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE
Cornell University Library F 547M4 P13 History of Massac County, Illinois; with
olin 3 1924 028 805 740
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TY
1865
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DED
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Cornell University Library
The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library.
There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text.
http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028805740
HISTORY
OF
MASSAC COUNTY, ILLINOIS
STATE
SOVEREIGNTY
IONAL UNION
DIVN
WITH
LIFE SKETCHES AND PORTRAITS.
BY O. J. PAGE, Editor " Journal-Republican," Member Forty-First General Assembly.
IN TWO PARTS.
-
PART ONE-HISTORICAL.
Dedication.
To a devoted and sacrificing wife, to a host of friends and to the stalwart citizenship of Massac County, we dedicate this work.
AUTHOR.
Illinois.
By thy river gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois, O'er the prairie verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois, Comes an echo o'er the breeze, Rustling through the leafy trees; And its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois, And its mettow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois.
From a wilderness of prairie, Illinois, Illinois, Straight thy way and never varies, Illinois, Illinois, 'Till upon the inland sea Stands thy great commercial tree, Turning all the world to thee, Illinois, Illinois,
Turning all the world to thee, Illinois, Illinois.
When you heard your country calling, Illinois, Illinois, When the shot and shell were falling, Illinois, Illinois, When the Southern host withdrew, Pitting Gray against the Blue, There were none more brave than you, Illinois, Illinois, There were none more brave than you, Illinois, Illinois,
Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois, Can be writ the Nation's glory, Illinois, Illinois, On the record of the years Abr'am Lincoln's name appears, Grant and Logan and our tears, Illinois, Illinois, Grant and Logan and our tears, Illinois, Illinois.
L
ERRATA.
READ ---
(a) Louis XIVth p. 13 instead of "Louis XIXth."
. (b) 1827-1831 p. 43, instead of "1872-1883."
(c) John H. Mulkey instead of "John C. Mulkey," p. 74.
(d) July, 1849, p. 78, instead of "1844 or 1845," and King in- stead of "Davison."
(C) John H. Norris instead of "Morris," p. 86.
(f) Uncle instead of "father," p. 91, line 32.
(g) Dr. S. J. Rhoads instead of "O. J. Page," author, p. 90.
(h) James E. Gowan, M. D., came to the county 1864, grad- uated at the Rush Medical College, and entered upon a long and successful practice. He died in 1899.
(i) Mesdames Malinda Lafont instead of "Fafont," p. 86, near bottom page.
(j) John L. Turnbo for "John H. Turnbo," p. 236, heading.
(k) Hon. George W. Pillow instead of "George H. Pillow," p. 310, heading.
INDEX. PART I -- History.
Preliminary Events ..
7
Regulators and Flat Heads. 78
79
Fort Massac ...
29
Newspapers.
80
Conspiracies about Fort Massac.
32
Secret Orders.
Physical Geography
34
Medicine
90
Peoples :..
40
Items of Interest. 95
Political History.
42
Religious History 100
County Organization.
52
Metropolis City. 128
Pope County History 138
PART II .== Sketches and Reminiscences.
METROPOLIS PRECINCT
175
GEORGE'S CREEK 339
GOLCONDA CITIZENS.
264
BROOKLYN PRECINCT. 284
Brooklyn Circuit ... 828
JOHNSON COUNTY. 352
JACKSON PRECINCT 365
Cumberland Presbyterianism in Massac County .
329
FRAGMENTS
383
Adams, Frank, Mayor 278
Adkins, Dr. A. E.
379
Moseley, Thomas J. 372
Atwell, Samuel, Captain 177
Mozley, Dr. C. A .. 292
Barham, R. C .. 247
Muse, Rev. Eben 306
Bonifield, W. H. 323
Norris, Dr. J. H. .245
Brinnen, C. W. 349
Nutty, A. F. 350
Chapman, Hon. P. T.
353
Otey C. R. . 239
Choat, Green B. .
232
Cook, Elder A. R ..
235
Copeland, Major L. W.
257
Cowan, D. J ...
360
Cummins, Lewis
302
Cummins, Dr. J. T.
305
Pillow, Geo. W 310
Deane, Daniel .. 375
Delavan, Judge B. J.
202
Durfee Charles.
277
Elliott, James. 377
Evers, John W. 183
Fisher, Dr. H. C. 224
301
Gilbert, John. 265
359
Giltner, C. A. 371
362
Gowan, Dr. J. E.
197
Green, Hon. W. H. 278 Samson, Walter 320
Hankins, M. A. 363
Ilarker, Judge O. A
313
Helm, Hon. D. W. 181
Helm, Dr. J. A .. 211
Hilliard, Captain E. W. 220
271
Jobe, Han. James E.
381
Jones, Hon. B. O.
382
Kerr, Hon. S. B.
242
Kerr, Tony R ... 268
King, Hon. J. W. 274
Kraper, W. H.
212
Lafont, Eugene 231
Lay, Joseph.
272
Leeper, R. T. 330
Leeper, R. Byrd. 333
Lytton, R. B.
299
Martin, William 309
Martin, G. E.
280
McBride, Charles D.
347
McBride, John ..
348
McCartney, Hon. R. W 175
McCartney, Captain J. F.
252
McCartney, Professor W. P.
McKee, R. G. B. 194
Moore, W. H. 205
Morris, Rev. W. T.
280
Morris Colfax.
186
Morgan, Thomas S. 343
Walker, Wayne A .. 267
Walbright, Dr. G. W. 262
Webb, Dr. Chenault. 373
Whitley, Hon. M. S. 377
Whiteside, Judge W. A 273
Willis, Hon. J. C .... 239
Wolfe, Elder G. Lay 295
Woods, Capt. Elisha Thomas. 366
Wright, William 211
Wymore, Dr. J. W 344
Young, Hon. G. W. 317
Young, Hon. J. D 287
Young, Fred R.
233
277
Shoemaker, S. S ..
227
Skaggs, Hon. C. P.
376
Spence, Elder W. A.
350
Stone, D. R ...
Swan, Rev. B. C .. 257
Teitloff, Charles W. 324
Thompson, Judge D. G. 266
Tindall, W. H ... 324
Trovillion, Dr. C. E. 219
Trovillion, Dr. M. H. 380
189
Rhoads, Dr. Solomon J 251
Roby, Tillman
248
Robarts, Judge J. P 313
Rose, Hon. James A 264
Rush, George 300
Sawyer, Judge George 190
Scott, Rev. J. H ... 111
Scofield, Rev. Edward. 109
Sexton, E. O.
234
Sedberry, H. L.
222
Peter, Capt. J. A.
223
Pollard, Dr. R. H. 340
Poor, S. D .. 198
Prestly, Prof. William M. 393
Pryor, Elder D. R .. 368
Ragsdale, Dr. A. C. 216
Rankin, Col. Benj .. 261
Reynolds, J. M ...
Gilliam, W. H.
Orr, Dr. J .A 207
Owen, Wesley 236
Paris, D. L ... 365
Pell, Mitchell
291
Peter, Col. R. A.
Fry, J.
Gore, Thomas M.
Hodge, Professor J. H.
296
Turnbo, J. L .. 236
Vickers, Judge A. K. 355
McCartney Professor M. N.
356
227
339 New Columbia. Samoth 340
83
Reminiscences 64
Massac County Bar 71
Fort Massac and Concurrent Events .. 10
Mobs
Morgan, Ike L ... 364
Brown, Colonel W. R. 202
PREFACE.
This book is published to preserve interesting and im- portant historical data of our county; to record events in the lives of worthy citizens, dead and living; though fraught with many discouragements and onerous toil, our task is done. You view the result of our labors, and pass judgment thereon. It is not perfect-surely not just as you would have it, kind reader- but perfect things are not to be expected of others, than ourselves. After passing the cold deductions of your criticisms, may we not ask a fragment of consolation in the fact that our intentions were worthy of commendation, at least, and may we ask of you, dear critic, what you did to aid the right in the preservation of our country's history ?
We thank our friends who have contributed in any way to the success of the "History of Massac County" and hope it may receive a generous reception at the hands of the public.
O. J. PAGE.
Metropolis, Ill., Sept. 1, 1900.
HON. ROBERT WILSON MCCARTNEY.
FRONTISPIECE.
HISTORY
OF
MASSAC COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
PRELIMINARY EVENTS.
( O. J. PAGE.)
I
Q
Ø
N the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." "And God said, Let us make man in our own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man and woman He had formed."
This is the sacred historical record of man's origin and first home in Eden, supposed to have been located in the valley of the Euphrates in Western Asia. From this "paradise" he has peopled the earth amid zones of icebergs and snow, as well as meadows of lilies and orange groves. Different climatic conditions have changed his skin, and varied environments have multiplied his languages until today we have different races and many tongues.
From the birth of Christ back to "the beginning" the period of time is uncertain-but vague speculation. Usher's Biblical chronology fixes it at 4,004 years. It certainly was longer. Nations arose in the vigor of youth, flourished and decayed. Successively over each other's ruins was erected a
8
HISTORY OF
grander civilization in the evolution of man. China, Egypt, Persia, Judea, Atheus and Rome bloomed and withered.
In the 15th century civilization and trade hugged the Mediterranean sea, satisfied in the folly that the shores its waves were wont to kiss was all the world. Spain, now a by- word, was fast becoming a mighty nation. France, England, the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy were also strong and ven- turesome. In intellect men were broadening; commercially and in area their nations keenly felt the restriction imposed upon them. New and shorter routes to Cathay, and new routes to unknown fields must soon be found. Navigators and geographers did not dream the earth was round. Sailing was done near the frequented shore in small vessels. Deadly fear of hideous monsters prevented voyagers from attempting to cross the broad Atlantic, which bore upon its restless waves messages unread of the most inviting and fruitful land the hand of God had formed.
The hour and man arrived. Christopher Columbus, born in the seafaring town of Genoa, Italy, a studious boy and thoughtful man was the "chosen one" to brave the ignorance of the age and boldly sail where man had never been and open a new route of boundless possibilities. August the 3d, 1492, aided by Isabella, the Spanish Queen, he set sail in three small vessels, for "he knew not where," and after privations and mutinies he sighted the island of San Salvador, Oct. 11, fol- lowing. He returned to Spain and told of the most wonderful event since the birth of Christ-the discovery of a land which afterward was named America, destined to become the home of the most peculiar and mighty nation civilization had pro- duced.
Navigators, representing the various peoples, now forgot the stories of the monsters of the sea, and eagerly explored the "new land" which might yield to them riches and honor. In 1497 Cabot, for England, traced the Atlantic south from Labrador. In the same year Pinzon, a Spaniard, explored the coast of the gulf of Mexico; Americus Vespucius was their pilot and the continents took his name.
Each nation vied with the others in the vigor of their ex-
9
MASSAC COUNTY.
plorations. According to custom, when land was touched or traversed it was solemnly dedicated to the government under which the explorer served. Their routes necessarily carried them into the same territory and resulted in a conflict of inter- ests to be eventually referred to the arbiter of the sword. The Spanish, however, seemed to acquire territory about the gulf of Mexico; England in the new England states and the Vir- ginias; the French in the valley of the Mississippi and great lakes, wherein lies Illinois, the Queen of States.
IO
HISTORY OF
CHAPTER II.
FORT MASSAC AND CONCURRENT EVENTS.
(JUDGE B. O. JONES.)
"Behind the Squaw's light birch canoe A human sea now waves, And city lots are staked for sale Beside old Indian graves."
I N the reign of Francis I. of France, the French navigators began to interest themselves in the New World. Juan Verrazano, a Florentine, sailed from France in 1524, and sighted land in the latitude of North Carolina. He sailed south some distance and then, turning north, explored the eastern coast of the continent for 600 leagues, and named it New France, in honor of his royal patron.
Ten years afterwards, Jaques Cartier, a bold navigator of Brittany, sailed from St. Malo, 1534, reached the eastern shore of Newfoundland, and sailed nearly around that island. He discovered and named the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and entered the Bay of Chaleurs.
This was the beginning of the French occupancy of North America. The discoveries made by Cartier and companions turned the attention of France to the valley of the St. Law- rence and its capabilities, and established her claim to the country according to the equities then prevailing among the maritime powers of the old world.
II
MASSAC COUNTY.
Samuel de Champlain was a prominent figure among the early list of navigators and explorers who left their impress upon the New World. July 3, 1608, he landed a company of adventurers at Quebec, and explored the country which he called New France. In 1615, he brought from France three priests and a lay brother of the order of Recollet-the first of priestly orders that set foot in the New World.
The French gradually extended their occupation through- out the country now known as Canada, and to the Northern lakes and the head waters of the Mississippi river.
By the treaty of Utrecht of April 11, 1713, France re- stored to England Hudson's Bay, ceded Newfoundland and a large portion of Acadia, and renounced all claims to the coun- try of the Iroquois, reserving to herself the valleys of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi and the region of the upper lakes.
De Soto was the first white man to view the Mississippi river, 1541. He crossed the river at a point a short distance below the present city of Memphis, continued his explorations until June 5th, 1542, when he died, and was buried in the "great river" at a point below the mouth of the Arkansas. His three hundred followers were scattered, many disap- peared, others appeared in Mexico, while tradition states that one band found a temporary resting place on the banks of the Ohio river, just above the ruins of old Fort Massac. Span- ish relics have been found around a ruin, that tradition still marks as a temporary fort, used by De Soto's men to protect themselves from the Indians.
One hundred years after De Soto's discovery of the "Great River" the first Canadian envoys met the Indians of the north- west at the Falls of St. Mary, but it was not until nineteen years afterwards that the first mission was established in that region. Menard, who founded this first mission, perished in the woods a few months afterwards, and in 1665, Father Claude Allonez built the earliest of the permanent habita- tions of white men among the Indians of the Northwest. In 1668, Claude Dablon and James Marquette founded the mis- sion at St. Mary's Falls; in 1670, Nicholas Perrot, explored Lake Michigan as far as Chicago: in 1671, formal possession
12
HISTORY OF
of the Northwest was taken by French officers in the presence of the surrounding tribes of Indians. Marquette, by this time had gathered a little flock of listeners around him at Point St. Ignatius, on the mainland, north of the island of Mackinac. He had heard of the "Great. River" of the west, and of the untutored tribes of nien who lived along its banks, and he wished to go and seek them out and preach to them. His heart was filled with joy when he received permission from Talon to carry out this great desire. As companions, Talon sent to him from Quebec, Monsieur Joliet and five boatmen. Upon the 13th of May, 1637, this little band of seven French- men left Michillimacinac in two bark canoes, lightly laden with stores, to tempt the unknown and go, they knew not whither. They finally reached, through the aid of friendly In- dians, the Wisconsin river, and floated down its sand-barred stream, past vineclad isles and pleasant slopes, bordered with alternate groves and meadows, until the 17th day of June, 1673, when they entered the Mississippi river, as Marquette writes, "with joy, that 1 cannot express."
They beheld deer and buffaloes; and great fish, one of which came near wrecking their canoe; the swan, and birds of many kinds and hues; but no men. On the 21st of June. they observed footprints of men along the western bank of the river, and a little path leading into a pleasant meadow. Leaving their canoes, Joliet and Marquette boldly advanced upon this path, and soon came to an Indian village, where they were well received by four old men, who presented them the pipe of peace, and told them, that this was a village of the "Illinois." They were feasted on fish, dog and buffalo, spent a pleasant night among the true and genuine native Illinois- ans, and next morning were escorted to their canoes by six hundred people.
The Indians warned them, before they departed, of a terrible demon in the river further down, who would devour them, but they made their escape, and duly passed his lair without accident. This demon was a pillar of rocks, now known as Grand Tower, in Jackson county, Illinois. They reached the Onaboskigon, or Ohio, an important stream which
I3
MASSAC COUNTY.
failed to impress Marquette with its immensity, and finally reached the mouth of the Arkansas, (Akamscas.) Here they had trouble with the Indians, but "God touched their hearts," says the pious Marquette, and they were allowed to proceed to the village of Akamscas, where they were received and feasted bountifully on dog meat and other luxuries. Here we must leave Pierre Marquette, or rather, after stating that he returned to the Illinois, and on the 18th of May, 1675, died, alone in the sublime wilderness, on the shores of Lake Mich- igan, near the mouth of the Marquette-a river named in his honor.
The next great French explorers are Robert de La Salle and Louis Hennepin, whose names we may read on the map of Illi- nois. To La Salle belongs the honor of discovering the Ohio river. Marquette had heard of the Hohio, but died before he could visit it. About the fall and winter of 1669-70, La Salle entered the Allegheny river, following its course in his frail boat, passed down the Ohio as far as the Falls at Louisville, and according to the authority of Pierre Margery, a recent French writer, descended to the Mississippi. This is doubted by some. It is well known, however, that he was the discov- erer of the Ohio river, and the pioneer of Illinois history. He and his boon companion, Chevalier Tonti, an Italian, contin- ued their explorations together, and, finally, landed at the mouth of the Mississippi river. On the 9th of April, 1682, with great formality they took possession of that river and all its tributaries, and the country drained by all of them, in the name of the great Louis XIX, King of France and Navarre, and named the country Louisiana in honor of that monarch. La Salle lost his life by the treachery of some of his men, on the 20th of March, 1687, while engaged in a final expedition to reach the Illinois country, and establish a colony there. He had already located and completed Fort St. Louis, on the Illinois river, near the present site of Utica, La Salle county, Illinois, during the winter of 1682-3.
Before this, Marquette, in 1673, had visited a village of Peoria Indians, and, also, a village of Kachkaskias, further up, on the Illinois river, and La Salle. in March, 1680, had
14
HISTORY OF
built Fort Creve Coeur-or the Fort of the Broken Heart, long thought to have been named by La Salle, from depression of spirits, the results of difficulties thrown in his way by the Canadian authorities, preventing him from the free pursuit of his long cherished plans of discovery.
It may be well to mention that Marquette, the pious, died preaching the gospel to the Indians, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, May 18, 1675.
We have now traced the salient points in the discovery of the northern lakes, rivers St. Lawrence, Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois, and embracing a greater portion of that territory drained by them. Especial reference is made to what was known as the "territory of Illinois," long subject to the French in Canada.
The French continued to occupy Fort St. Louis on the Illinois river, until 1690-1, when the Count de Ponchertrain, French minister of the colonies, disbanded the garrison, which returned to Canada. The fort was not again occupied as a military post, but became a fur-trading station until sup- pressed by a royal decree of the King of France in 1699; but a provision was made in favor of Henri de Tonti and La For- rest, his lieutenant, but in 1702, a provincial order was made from the Commandant at Quebec, ordering La Forrest to re- move to Canada, and Tonti on the Mississippi, and the estab- lishment at Fort St. Louis was permanently discontinued. This was the last of the chivalrous Tonti in Illinois. He dis- appeared from history somewhere in lower Louisiana. In 1718, the fort was temporarily occupied by some French trad- ers, but in 1721, when Charlevoix passed by, he only found the remains of its palisades and rude buildings.
The foundation of Kaskaskia, the oldest town founded by white men in the state, has been variously ascribed to members of La Salle's party on returning from the mouth of the Mississippi in 1682; to Father Jaques Gravier, about 1685; to Henri de Tonti in 1686, and to others at different dates. It is probable that numbers of these parties visited the location -they certainly passed near it, but the antiquarian, in his search after the archaic, frequently draws strongly on his
I5
MASSAC COUNTY.
imagination, as to the proper date of the founding of Kas- kaskia. Father Marquette, in 1673, when on his voyage of discovery down the Mississippi, stopped at a village of Kas- kaskias, on the Upper Illinois river, and, at their request, re- turned thither in 1675, founding a mission among them, called "the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin." Father Claude Allonez was appointed to succeed him, after Mar- quette's death, by the Superior General of the Jesuits, at Que- bec. He called this village Kachkachkia, but as the C in French nearly always has the sound of S, the name has been by later writers, spelled according to its orthoepy. Father Allonez clung to this Illinois mission until he died in 1690, and was succeeded by Sebastian Rasles, in 1692, the latter remaining in charge until 1693, when he was recalled to his former station, among the Abenakis, on the Kennebec river, in Maine. Father Jaques Gravier received this mission from Rasles and remained until 1697 when he was recalled to Mackinac. Gravier was succeeded in 1697 by Fathers Julian Binneteau and Jaques, or (Franceis) Pinet. In December, 1699, Binneteau, while with the Indians, on their annual hunt, died of a fever, and his remains were left to bleach along the track of the buffalo.
In 1698, Gabriel Marest, and it was under his guidance, in the year 1700, that the mission to the Kaskaskias was re- moved from the Illinois river to the Mississippi. The inten- tion was to journey to the French establishment, founded by D'Iberville on the lower Mississippi. The Indians with Marest, who was sick, halted between the Kaskaskia and Mis- sissippi rivers, and thus, doubtless, providence, through the sickness of Marest, laid the foundation of the permanent set- tlement of Kaskaskia, and the future greatness of Illinois and the Northwest. But for this settlement George Roger Clark would never have undertaken (1778) his expedition to the Illi- nois, and the whole Northwest, not being in occupancy of the colonial forces, as was the case with Canada, would have been set off to England at the Treaty of Peace after the Revolu- tionary War. Father Marest remained at his new mission, and was buried there. To him and James Gravier should be
16
HISTORY OF
the honor of founding Kaskaskia, in the fall of the year 1700, styled by theni "Le Village d' Immaculee Conception de Cas- casquias."
In 1707, Father Marest was joined at Kaskaskia by Fath- er Jean Mermet, who had, undoubtedly before that time, founded a mission at what is now old Fort Massac, under the name of Assumption. This was the same year that Kaskas- kia was founded by Fathers Marest and Gravier. At this point the locality of Massac begins to assume a clearer outline, under the light of history. Hitherto it has been the purpose of the writer to give the outlines of the advent of the white settler into the state of Illinois. This history has been brought down to the year 1700. Louis XIV-Le Grande Monarque -- ruled in France, and claimed vast possessions in America- claims which were wrested from France. at a later period in the history of the Illinois country, a name of French deriva- tion-''Illini," the name of the Indians that inhabited this section with the French affix, "ois," meaning the people or country of the Illini.
The Wabash river had at an early day attracted the atten- tion of the adventurous pioneers of the wilderness. The head waters of this stream, called by the French Ouabache, on ac- count of their contiguity to the Great northern lakes and the French possessions in Canada, furnished an accessible passage into the interior, the southwest, which was not neglected by the explorers, who risked their lives freely for the sake of making new discoveries.
As early as 1719, De Vincennes established or aided in es- tablishing, on the Wabash, the post named for him and Fort Onatanon, higher up the river, had also been established by the French. There is a claim that these settlements bear a more ancient date, but, in view of the fact that the record bearing on the Wabash settlements must include the lower Ohio river to its mouth, which bore, also, the name of Wabash, it is probable that the mission, called Assumption, at the pres- ent site of "Old Fort Massac" has been credited by historians as having been at the present Vincennes.
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