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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN ILL. HIST. SURVEY
1
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 977.354 H 629
ILLINOIS FHISTORICAL SURVEY
1
HISTORY
OF
TAZEWELL COUNTY ILLINOIS;
TOGETHIER WITH SKETCHIES OF ITS CITIES, VILLAGES AND TOWNSHIPS; EDUCA- TIONAL, RELIGIOUS, CIVIL, MILITARY, AND POLITICAL HISTORY; POR- TRAITS OF PROMINENT PERSONS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
EMBRACING ACCOUNTS OF THE PRE-HISTORIC RACES, ABORIGINES, FRENCH, ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CONQUESTS, AND A GENERAL REVIEW OF ITS CIVIL, POLITICAL AND MILITARY HISTORY.
DIGEST OF STATE LAWS.
ILLUSTRATED. -
CHICAGO: CHAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO. 1879.
-
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1879, by CHIAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO.,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.
J. W. FRANKS & SONS, PRINTERS AND BINDERS, TEORIA, ILL.
477. 354 # 639
PREFACE.
. THE early history of Tazewell county is peculiarly interesting, and we are enabled to give it from the very earliest occupancy of Illinois by the whites. In point of time of its soil being disturbed by Europeans, it is more remote than any other section of our great Prairie State. The second centennial of its first settlement is at hand. In the county are places of unusual historic interest, and to those who have located here we judge it will be a source of no little gratification to inform themselves on the ante- pioneer history of the county, which we detail at considerable length. In the compilation of this work we pass over a period of two hundred years.
We have taken much care in recording the pioneer history, that future generations, those who will not have the early settler to relate to them the history incident to the settlement and development of this county, may familiarize themselves with it through this medium; and that the reader may see the county in all its various stages of progression. We do not profess to have fully delineated the trials, sufferings, and hardships that were experienced in converting even this fertile land from its virgin wildness into the luxuriant and densely populated country it now is. No! for human tongue or pen is far from being adequate to that task.
Different persons have given us honest and sincere, but nevertheless conflicting accounts of the same events, and it has been both a difficult and delicate task to harmonize them, and draw therefrom reasonable and approximately correct conclusions. We had only one ain in view, one plan to carry out, and that was, to record events impartially-to detail them as they have actually occurred.
That we have completed our work, fulfilled all our promises to the uttermost, we feel conscientiously assured, and we submit the result of our labors to the charitable consideration of this intelligent and liberal people. It must not be expected that, in the multiplicity of names, dates, and events, no errors will be detected. We do not dare hope that, in the numerous and varied details, this book is absolutely correct, nor is it ex-
PREFACE.
pected that it is beyond criticism, yet we believe it will be found to be measurably correct and reliable. We have labored assiduously and with studious care to make it a standard work of reference, as well as an authoritative record for future historians to build upon.
Believing a work of this nature would be comparatively incomplete without speaking of the history of the State, of which Tazewell county forms no unimportant portion, we have carefully prepared a condensed, yet very complete history of Illinois, which we incorporate in this volume. And as a valuable aid in transacting every-day business, we append a carefully compiled digest of Illinois State Laws, which both the business man and farmer will find of great value.
Before laying aside our pen, we desire to express our warmest thanks to the editors of the various newspapers published throughout the county; to the county officials, and to the people in general for the assistance and liberal patronage given us.
PEKIN, June, 1879.
CHAS. C. CHAPMAN & CO.
CONTENTS.
HISTORY OF ILLINOIS.
MOUND-BUILDERS 17
INDIANS ...
21
Winnebago War.
Illinois Confederacy.
23
Starved Rock
23
Stillman's Run .. 57
Sacs and Foxes
Battle of Bad Axe 90
Manners and Customs.
Black Hawk Captured ..
01
Single-handed Combat with Indians 29
Biographical Sketch of Black Hawk
EARLY DISCOVERIES
Nicholas Perrot. 31
liet and Marquette.
LaSalle's Explorations ..
Great Battle of the Illinois 31
PRAIRIE PIRATES
102
MORMON WAR 10:
118
FRENCH OCCUPATION 4.1
First Settlements
41
The Mississippi Company .. 15
ENGLISH RULE. 17
The Fall of Sumter .... 127
Call for Troops promptly answered 128 The War ended - The Union restored 137 Schedule of Regiments ..
111
DRESS AND MANNERS 119
151
AAGRICERTURE
155
WAR OF ISI2 - THE OUTBREAK 59
Massacre of Fort Dearborn.
71
ILLINOIS AS A STATE.
Organization .. 71 77
Derivation of the name Illinois
State Bank
La Fayette's Visit ... 79
Grammar and Cook contrasted ..
HISTORY OF TAZEWELL COUNTY.
CHAPTER I.
Settlement and Organization. 1.89
Lasalle's Explorations. 189
The War of 1812 196
The Pioneers
Organization of the County 207
First Mill. 2019
A few First Things
The Deep Snow
Sudden Change. 217
High Water 215
The Beautiful Prairies.
CHAPTER II.
Important Labors of the County Commis- sioner's Court
CHAPTER III.
Black Hawk War
CHAPTER IN.
Geology 267
CHAPTER V.
Zoology and Botany
CHAPTER VI.
Criminal Record
CHAPTER VII.
Important Labors of the Board of Super-
visors .
CHAPTER VIII.
Blooded Stock
308
CHAPTER IX.
Under-ground Railroad
313
CHAPTER X.
Pioneer Life ..
321
CHAPTER XI.
The Rebellion ..
Tazewell County Volunteers .
........
351
CHAPTER XH.
Tazewell County Bar.
..
CHAPTER XIII.
TOWNSHIP JHISTORIES :--
Boynton ... 308
Cincinnati 11.1
Deer Creek
Delaval 421
Dillon -151
Ehn Grove
460
Fond du Lac
Groveland
llittle
Hopedale. 491
Little Mackinaw 515
Maloue
Morton
531
Mackinaw
Pekin.
Sanal Prairie 617
Spring Lake
Tremont 652
Washington
CHAPTER XIV.
County Officials and Political History
70G
Election Returns
711
22758
FROM ISA TO 1812
Internal Improvements
95
Illinois and Michigan Canal. Martyr for Liberty
97
Tonti safe at Green Bay 11
LaSalle's Assassination 13
MEXICAN WAR Battle of Buena Vista
119
THE WAR FOR THE UNION
125
Gen. (lark's Exploits. 51 50
ILLINOIS
County of Illinois
NORTHWESTERN TERRITORY. Ordinance of 1757 ...
St. Clair Governor of N. W. Territory .. 59 ILLINOIS TERRITORY 59
GOVERNORS OF ILLINOIS
157
Lieutenant Governor
160
State Officials 161
1. S. Senators 16℃
Representatives in Congress. 165
CHICAGO 170
The Great Fire 170
Commerce of Chicago 173 STATES OF THE UNION 177
States Receding. 126
DUELS
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF ILLINOIS
Expeditions up the Mississippi
INDIAN TROUBLES
BLACK HAWK WAR
300
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XV.
THE PRESS :-
Pekin Times.
Tazewell County Republican.
718
Washington Herald .. 72.1
Delavan Advertiser. 7:26
Delavan Times
C., A. & St. L. R. R 733
Minier News
727
P., L. & D. Ry .. 734
T,, P. & W. Ry 735
Tazewell Independent
728
Ill. Midland R. R. 738
C., P. & S. W. R. R
739
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Starved Rock
An Iroquois Chief
27
Seene on Fox River.
121
Gen. Geo. R. Clark
37
Lincoln Monument ...
137
Gen. Arthur St. Clair.
19
Asylum for Feeble Minded
143
Old Kinzie House.
61
Central Insane Hospital
160
Black Hawk
CA
Exposition Building.
160
C., R. I. & P. R. R. Depot
Lasalle Street Tunnel.
167
Eye and Far Intir.nary
111
Court-House 176
187
PORTRAITS.
Allensworth, W. P.
Alfs, Gerd
560
Lindsey, Jean
553
Bemis, T. K ...
560
McDowell, Mrs. Kitty
197
Bequeaith, Elizabeth
416
Marshall, Horace S
6-11
C'laton, John ...
397
315
Crabb, Daniel
497
Minier, Sarah
519
Cobleigh, G. R.
Crawford, James 737
397 397
Frey, Rudolph.
132
50
Golden, C. L.
649
Reardon, John 421
397
Haas, Eli
497
Shurtleff, Flavel
599
Haas, Ann Catherine.
639
Smith, D. C.
575
Hall, Ira B.
639
Hill, Nehemiah.
432
Hill, Emily
lippen, H. W 545
599
197
Ireland, Francis
599
Woods, Abraham.
663 631
Irwin, Joe B ..
397
Woods, Harriet M
636
Lindsey, James A
121
Zinger, Louis
599
DIGEST
Laws
Jurisdiction of Courts. 743
County Courts ..
741
Fences. 741
Lender
,75
Drainage
748
Estrays
718
Horses ...
7.49
Marks and Brainis.
751
Notes.
751
Judgment Note.
753
Wills 700
Descent 755
759
Mortgages and Trust Deeds.
760 761
Leins .
762
Bill of Sale
761
Limitation of Action. 705
Names
I. S. Mails 790
790
Rates of Postage.
792
Landlords and Tenants ..
766
Criminal Law 767
Taxes.
Money Orders
Registered Matter 79-1
791
151
Pontiac
65
Industrial University
The Crib .. 172
Deaf and Dumb Justitute
115
Map of Tazewell County
14-15
Bacon, E. HI
Luppen, Luppe .. .....
575
Bequeaith, John.
279
Mckinstry, John .
Brenneman, Jacob
Martin, James P'.
Minier, T. L. 519
Darah, Robert
Nichols, Geo .. 519
432
Gaines, John
421
Rankin, John S.
Golden, Mrs. Eliza B
649
Rundle, William
Haas, Edward 639
Smith, Fred.
Smith, Ties
Stoehr, George.
426
Studyvin, John ..
126
Hoffman, John
Wilson, Dr. R. B. M
Infants 780
Church Organizations
Game.
Millers
Paupers ..
Public and Private Conveyances
Wages and Stakeholders.
Sunday
Definition of Commercial Terms
Legal Weights and Measures Bees
Dogs
Cruelty to Animals
789
Receipts .
Exemptions from Forced Sales 766
Subscription.
Contract for Personal Services.
Com. of Highways.
Newspaper Libel.
Drunkenness
Trespass of Stock
Marriage Contract
School Months.
Adoption of Children
Articles of Agreement
719
Larimore, Timothy
Wood, Dr. E. F 701
553
CHAPTER XVI.
RAILROADS :-
I., B. & W. Ry
P., P. & J. R. R 732
Legal Tender
Freie Presse
780
Old Fort Dearborn
Southern Normal University
-416
Minier, Geo. W
Minier, Ellen 519
Orendorf, G. P
Rankin, Daniel M
friesemer, Adam.
Stoehr, Mary M.
OF STATE LAWS.
Interest
Trust Deeds.
Days of Grace
Rates of Postage on Third-Class Matter. 793
:ORIA
pf
SECTIONAL MAP
TAZEWELL COUNTY
ILLINOIS.
RIVER
PEKIN
ILLINOIS
17
11
-
Pekin.
V
25/1
28
26
DZI CINCINNATI
- 4
SPRING LAKE
Maineville
1.4
17
R. 7 11.
SAND PRAIRIE
Green Valley
4
MALONE
1
7
25
R. S. W.
.
Scale I Miles to the inch.
Drawn for the History of Tazewell Co.
by Chas C. Chapman & Co.
13
R. 6. W.
13
21
5
R.4 W.
R.3 W.
R. 2 W.
5
3
WASHING
IGTON
7
R
10%
11
RB
14
13
10
PEORIA
Hirshington
T. 26 N.
33
3
9
10
12
GROVE LAND
13 1
MORELON MMortout
---
18
-
17
16
DEreck BB
19
1
Grove land
7
F77
32
33
34
2
5
12
TREMONT 11
1
ELM+CROYEZ
₡
19
2
-
MACKINAW
-
20 $5
L
1
1
35 1 26
Circleville
Dillon
6
4
1
10
9
Ir.
'LE MACKINAW
BELLON
Hopedale
Tullamore
Munier
3.
1
A
1
6
5
4
3
12
7
BOYNTON
YTT
1.
1.
DELAVAN
-
1
28
1
R. 3 W.
R 2 TƯ.
T. 25 .V.
Machines
12
Leslie
Thembut
1/7
it
13
2. IV.
24
2-4
24
-
-
HOPEDALE
9
7
DecaturM
17.
1
-
DEER GREEK
-
33
30
T
12
7
Pekin!
ORIA
LAKE
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 een- 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-historie 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 perishable 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 ouly 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- elosed 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 ereet who had just passed to che 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 extinct, 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 ba 9, and not less than fifteen feet high, even yet, after it has been be ten 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 perfect 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, excited 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 mouth 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 uses 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 must probably forever baffle human skill and ingenuity.
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 Mound-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 cause 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.
When Christopher Columbus had finally succeeded in demon- strating the truth of his theory that by sailing westward from Eu- rope land would be discovered, landing on the Island of Bermuda he supposed he had reached the East Indies. This was an error, but it led to the adoption of the name of "Indians " for the inhab- itants of the Island and the main land of America, by which name the red men of America have ever since been known.
Of the several great branches of North American Indians the only ones entitled to consideration in Illinois history are the Algon- quins and Iroquois. At the time of the discovery of America the former occupied the Atlantic seaboard, while the home of the Iroquois was as an island in this vast area of Algonquin popula- tion. The latter great nation spread over a vast territory, and various tribes of Algonquin lineage sprung up over the country, adopting, in time, distinct tribal customs and laws. An almost continuous warfare was carried on between tribes; but later, on the entrance of the white man into their beloved homes, every foot of territory was fiercely disputed by the confederacy of many neighboring tribes. The Algonquins formed the most extensive alliance to resist the encroachment of the whites, especially the English. Such was the
23
HISTORY OF ILLINIOS.
nature of King Philip's war. This King, with his Algonquin braves, spread terror and desolation throughout New England. With the Algonquins as the controlling spirit, a confederacy of conti- nental proportions was the result, embracing in its alliance the tribes of every name and lineage from the Northern lakes to the gulf. Pontiac, having breathed into them his implacable hate of the English intruders, ordered the conflict to commence, and all the British colonies trembled before the desolating fury of Indian vengeance.
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