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X'S
3888
Champaign Public Library and Information Center Champaign, Illinois 61820
Local History Room
38888
JUL
1983
CHAMPAIGN PUBLIC LIBRARY
Gift of
Purchased by the Ben J. F. Johnson Bequest to the City Library
ILLINOIS: HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAI VOL. I.
17
Abraham Lincoln
27
ILLINOIS,
HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL
COMPRISING THE ESSENTIAL FACTS OF ITS PLANTING AND GROWTH AS A PROVINCE, COUNTY, TERRITORY, AND STATE.
DERIVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES, INCLUDING ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS AND PAPERS. TOGETHER WITH CAREFULLY PREPARED STATISTICAL TABLES RELATING TO POPULATION, FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION, INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS, INTERNAL GROWTH, POLITICAL AND MILITARY EVENTS.
BY JOHN MOSES,
EX-COUNTY JUDGE OF SCOTT COUNTY; PRIVATE SECRETARY OF GOV. YATES; MEMBER OF THE TWENTY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF ILLINOIS; SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF RAILROAD AND WAREHOUSE COMMISSIONERS, 1880-3; SECRETARY AND LIBRARIAN OF THE CHICAGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY; ETC., ETC.
ILLUSTRATED.
VOL. I.
CENTENNIAL ROOM CHICAGO: FERGUS PRINTING COMPANY. 1889.
Champaign Public Library Champaign, Illinois
917.3 M85
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1887, by JOHN MOSES, In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
cop 2
37
CONTENTS.
- -
List of Illustrations, - 13 Preface, 15
INTRODUCTORY.
CHAPTER I.
Illinois-Extent, Soil, Climate, and Productions, - 17
CHAPTER II.
Aborigines-Origin, Location, and Habits,
36
PERIOD I .- UNDER THE FRENCH, 1682-1781.
CHAPTER III.
Early Explorations and Discoveries, 1673 - 1700, - 52
CHAPTER IV.
catholic Missionaries-First Permanent Settlements, 81 CHAPTER V.
A District of Louisiana-Crozat's Grant-The East-Indies Company-Civil Government-Indian Forays-State of Society, 1718 - 1756, - 94
CHAPTER VI.
The French-and - Indian War - British Claims -Wash- ington's Mission-Position of Illinois-How affected- Why the French Lost the Country, 1755-1763, 109
PERIOD II .- UNDER THE BRITISH, 1761-1778. CHAPTER VII.
Pontiac's War-His Failure and Death, 123
CHAPTER VIII.
The British Government, 1765-1778, - I3I
PERIOD III .- UNDER VIRGINIA, 1778-1784. CHAPTER IX.
Illinois in the Revolution-Its Reduction by Virginia under Col. Clark-Capture of Vincennes-Indian Treaties, 145
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IO
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
CHAPTER X.
The County of Illinois-Officers and Government- Balme's and Brady's Expeditions-Attack on St. I and Cahokia-The Spanish Expedition against Joseph-Fort Jefferson-Close of the War and mination of Virginia Control, -
PERIOD IV .- UNDER THE UNITED STATES, 1784-181 CHAPTER XI.
The Public Domain-How Obtained-Its Extent-V it Cost-How Surveyed, -
CHAPTER XII.
Ordinance of 1787-First Sales of Public Lands,
CHAPTER XIII.
As a Part of the Northwest Territory-Merged into Clair County - First Officers- Land-Titles - In Disturbances-St. Clair's Defeat-Randolph Cour Early Attempts to Dismember the American U1 1789-1800, -
CHAPTER XIV.
As a Part of Indiana Territory-Indian Policy and T ties-Tables-Acquisition of Louisiana-Third . tempt to Divide the Union-Schemes of Aaron Bur 1800-1809,
CHAPTER XV.
The Territory of Illinois-First American Settlers-E Diseases-Manners, Customs, and Recreations-I Preachers, Lawyers, Doctors, and Merchants,
CHAPTER XVI.
Illinois Territory [Continued]-Its Organization-Gove Edwards and other Officers-Indian Disturbanc The War of 1812-The Chicago Massacre - C paigns against the Indians-Peace,
CHAPTER XVII.
As a Territory of the Second Grade-First General semblies - Territorial Laws- Officers and Mem of the Territorial Legislatures, -
II
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVIII. Early Territorial Towns-Growth, Population, Politics, 267
PERIOD V .- UNDER THE FIRST CONSTITUTION, 1818-48. CHAPTER XIX.
Admission as a State-The Enabling Act-Constitutional Convention-First Constitution-Action of Congress, 276
CHAPTER XX.
First State-Election-Gov. Bond-First General Assem- bly-Officers-Laws-Election of United-States Sen- ators-Congressional Election-Cook vs. McLean- Removal of the Capital, - 287
CHAPTER XXI.
The Second General Assembly-State Bank-Synopsis of Laws-Resources and Expenditures, 300
CHAPTER XXII.
The Election of Gov. Coles-Third General Assembly- The Struggle to make Illinois a Slave-State-Election of United-States Senator-1822-1826, - - 307
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Fourth General Assembly-LaFayette's Visit to Illi- nois-Lieut .- Gov. Hubbard, 327
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Election and Administration of Governor Edwards- National Politics-Fifth and Sixth General Assem- blies-The Winnebago Scare-Banks and Taxes- Close of the Governor's Career, - 337
CHAPTER XXV.
Administration of Gov. Reynolds-The Seventh General Assembly - Black - Hawk War-Receipts and Expen- ditures, - - 352
CHAPTER XXVI.
Elections-Eighth General Assembly-Receipts and Ex- penditures-Commercial Progress-Social Changes,
CHAPTER XXVII. 379
Administration of Gov. Duncan-Ninth General Assembly
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
-Election of United-States Senator-Abraham L coln-Laws-Tenth General Assembly - Interr. Improvement System - Illinois - and - Michigan Ca - Removal of the Capital-Lincoln and Dougla. National Politics-Killing of Lovejoy-1834-1838, .
CHAPTER XXVIII.
First Democratic State Convention - Administration Gov. Thomas Carlin-Eleventh General Assembly First Whig State Convention-Removal of the Capi -Special Session at Springfield-Repeal of Intern. Improvement System-Presidential Campaign of 18 -Twelfth General Assembly-Reorganization of t Judiciary - 1838 - 1842, 4 -
CHAPTER XXIX.
Administration of Governor Ford - Thirteenth Gener Assembly-Election of U .- S. Senator and State Office -Bank and Public-Debt Measures - State Finances Election of 1844-Fourteenth General Assembly . Senatorial Election - Laws - Illinois - and - Michiga Canal, -
CHAPTER XXX.
Administration of Gov. Ford continued - The Mormo Imbroglio - The Mexican War, - 4€
CHAPTER XXXI.
Administration of Gov. French-Fifteenth General Assem bly-Election of Douglas to the United-States Senat - Election of Auditor and other Officers-Laws - Progress, - - 50
Appendix-Ordinance of July 13, 1787, -
Treaty of Greenville, August 3, 1795, 52.
Act dividing Indiana Territory, - - 52.
Act enabling People to form State Constitution, 53:
Constitution of 1818, adopted at Kaskaskia, -
533
Ordinance accepting the Enabling Act, 545 Resolution declaring Admission of Illinois, - 545 Cong'l Apportionment under Constitution of 1818, 546 Table showing Genesis and Growth of Counties, 547 List of State Officers under Constitution of 1818, 550
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Baker, Edward D., from a portrait in possession of Joseph Wallace, Springfield, Ill., - - 490
Bond, Shadrach, from oil portrait in Executive Mansion, at Springfield. Ill., 286
Breese, Sidney, from "Western Monthly," Chicago, 1870, 49
Buffalo Rock, 1885, photo by Wm. E. Bowman of Ottawa, Ill., 42 Carlin, Thomas, from oil portrait in Executive Mansion, at Springfield, Ill., 424
Chicago in 1812, from "Massacre of Chicago," by Mrs. John H. Kinzie, "Ellis & Fergus, Chicago, 1844," - 246
Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, from his "Campaign in Illinois," 158 Coles, Edward, from oil portrait in Chicago Historical Soc'y, 286 Cook, Daniel Pope, from oil portrait in Chicago Hist. Soc'y, 342 Douglas, Stephen A., from engraving, -
508 Duncan, Joseph, from bust, by his daughter, Mrs. Edward P. Kirby of Jacksonville, Ill., 400
Edwards, Ninian, from oil portrait in Chicago Historical Soc'y, 242 Ewing, William Lee D., from litho, by permission of H. W. Rokker of Springfield, Ill., 424
First State-House, at Kaskaskia, 306
Ford, Thomas, from a daguerrotype in possession of his nephew, J. S. Hambaugh, Springfield, Ill., - - 490
Fort Chartres, from Reynolds' "Pioneer History of Illinois," 2d ed., 1887, II5
French, Augustus C., from oil portrait in Executive Mansion at Springfield, Ill., -
490
Hall, James, from his "Romance of Western History," 424
Harrison, Gen. Wm. Henry, from engraving in “Magazine of Western History," Vol. I, -
158
Henry, Patrick, from an India-ink drawing, by A. F. Brooks, taken from a portrait, by Thomas Sully, in possession of his grandson, Wm. Wirt Henry of Richmond, Va., - I58
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
Illinois in 1673, showing location of Indian tribes, drawn for this work,
36
Illinois in 1771, by Thomas Hutchins,
I34
# 1812, drawn for this work, 250
11 =
1818, 11 11 = 276
1837, 11 11
410
Jones, John Rice, photo from painting owned by his son, Hon. Geo. W. Jones of Iowa, - - 158
Kane, Elias Kent, from India-ink drawing, by A. F. Brooks, taken from oil portrait in possession of his granddaughter, Mrs. Gen. Geo. W. Smith, Chicago, 286
Kaskaskia, Plan of in 1765, from Capt. Philip Pittman's "Settle- ments on the Mississippi," electrotype from Houghton, Mifflin & Co., - 268
Lincoln, Abraham, from a photo by Alex. Hesler of Chicago, taken at Springfield in summer of 1860, - Frontispiece Menard, Pierre, from oil portrait in Chicago Historical Soc'y, 289 "Mormon, Book of," fac-simile of characters from which it was alleged to be translated, 471
Ordinance of 1787, fac-simile of "Article VI" in handwriting of Nathan Dane, through W. F. Poole, LL. D., Chicago, 512 Peck, John Mason, from engraving by J. Sartain, in memoir of, by Rufus Babcock, 424
Pope, Nathaniel, from portrait in U .- S. District Court, Chicago, by permission of Judge Henry Williams Blodgett, - 286 Reynolds, John, from his "Pioneer History of Illinois," 2d ed., 352 Robinson, John M., from litho, by permission of his daughter, Mrs. R. F. Stewart, Carmi, Ill., -
424
Second State-House, at Vandalia, Ill., 306 -
Semple, James, photo from oil painting, by permission of his daughter, Mrs. Lucy V. Semple Ames of Elsah, Ill., - 460
Shields, James, from engraving, - 490
Starved Rock, from a photo in 1879, by Wm. E. Bowman of Ottawa, Ill., 42 .
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, from engraving, "The St. Clair Papers," 158 Thomas, Jesse Burgess, sr., from a daguerrotype in posses-
sion of his grandnephew, H. T. Thomas, New-York City, 286
-
PREFACE.
H ISTORIES of Illinois, valuable and interesting, have already been written. It is not because the author un- derestimates these or would detract from their importance that he has undertaken the same task, but for the purpose of con- necting what in some respects are merely fragmentary accounts, contained in dusty volumes, the greater portion of which have been long since out of print; of correcting or modifying many previous statements in the light of later information; and of presenting new facts and recent events in such accessible form and manner that they may be readily consulted and employed in every field of labor, professional as well as mercantile, official as well as manual.
In its preparation every available source of information has been utilized. Public documents, official records, and manu- scripts have been carefully examined, compared, and verified. The author has also very largely drawn upon his own knowl- edge of what such a work should contain, and how it should be arranged-a knowledge derived from half a century's resi- dence in the State, and from a long and varied experience in the judicial, legislative, and administrative departments of public life.
The opinions expressed on public questions and men are his own, intended to be free from prejudice, as they certainly are uninfluenced by patronage or subsidies. Nor has he assumed to be the champion of any party, sect, or measure.
What was originally intended for one, has grown into two volumes, the second of which, now nearly completed, will bring the history down to the date of issue.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
Among the many who have contributed information a rendered other valuable assistance in the preparation of t work, the author tenders his especial thanks to the followi persons: Oscar W. Collet, librarian of the Missouri Histori Society, St. Louis, Mo .; Prof. John H. Woods of Jacksonvi' Ill .; and Walter B. Wines, LL.B., of Chicago.
In submitting his work-the result of many years of stu and research-to the judgment of his fellow-citizens, the autl is inspired with the hope that it may not be without influence in contributing toward the expansion, elevation, a onward march of the people and institutions of the mig! State whose phenomenal progress has been a source of c gratulation and pardonable pride to all her citizens.
John those
CHICAGO, April 1, 1889.
ILLINOIS, HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
INTRODUCTORY.
CHAPTER I.
Extent, Soil, Climate, and Productions.
I LLINOIS is the name given by the French to a confederate tribe of Indians and the country which they inhabited. It is derived from the Algonquin word Inini, which the French pronounced Illini. It signified "the men, perfect and accom- plished," and, by way of sharp antithesis, implied that all other aborigines were "mere beasts."* The suffix ois is purely French, and denotes tribe. Hence the word Illinois may be translated as meaning " tribe of men." It was variously written by early French chroniclers: Illinoies, Illinoues, Illimomouck, Illinewek, Illiniwek, and L-in-i-wek; but its definition has always been the same.
The general form of the State is that of a truncated cone, extending from north to south. Its boundary line, however, is very irregular, following as it does from its northwest corner the windings of the Mississippi, which separates it from the states of Iowa and Missouri on the west, and which washes its entire western and southwestern border. From Cairo, the line follows the still more tortuous Ohio, which divides it from Ken- tucky, to the mouth of the Wabash. Thence ascending this river to the meridian of Vincennes, it follows a straight line, separating it from Indiana, to Lake Michigan, from which point it takes a turn east, along the northern line of Indiana, to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of that lake to north latitude forty-two degrees and thirty min- utes; thence west along said line, which divides it from Wis- consin, to the middle of the Mississippi.+
* Marquette, Hennepin, et al.
+ The boundaries of the State are officially defined by the Act of Congress of
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18
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
As will be seen from the act of Congress, while the juris- diction of the States separated by the Mississippi and Wabash is concurrent and extends to the middle of said rivers, that of Illinois, in regard to the Ohio River, is confined to its north- western shore. The jurisdiction of Illinois, Michigan, and Wis- consin is also coordinate with their respective boundary lines to the middle of Lake Michigan.
Within the above-described boundaries there are 56,000 square miles, or 35,840,000 acres of land, and 650 square miles of water surface. Extending from thirty-seven degrees to forty-two degrees and thirty minutes north latitude, its extreme length is 385 miles; and its greatest breadth, lying between ten degrees and twenty-five minutes and fourteen degrees and thirty min- utes west longitude from Washington, is 218 miles.
The State of Illinois is greater in extent than any of the original thirteen States, except Georgia. It is larger than either Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, or Iowa, and em- braces a larger territory than all of the New-England States combined, exclusive of Maine. It has several counties, each of which contains nearly as many square miles as Rhode Island, while two of them, McLean and LaSalle, are larger than Dela- ware. It comprises a larger territory than England, or than Denmark and Portugal together, and has more square miles than Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland united.
There are no mountains in Illinois, and, with the exception of Louisiana and perhaps Delaware, it is the most level State in the Union. Cairo is but three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, and the county of Jo Daviess, where the State attains its greatest altitude, is barely eight hundred anc twenty feet higher. From this elevation in the northern portion of the State there is a gradual descent to the valley of the Big- Muddy River in Jackson County, where there is a rapid rise
April 18, 1818, enabling the people thereof to form a state government, as follows : " Beginning at the mouth of the Wabash River, thence up the same, and with the line of Indiana, to the northwestern corner of said State; thence east with the line of the same State to the middle of Lake Michigan; thence north along the middle of said lake to north latitude forty-two degrees and thirty minutes; thence west to the middle of the Mississippi River, and thence down along the middle of that river to its confluence with the Ohio River, and thence up this latter river along its northwestern shore to the beginning."
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INTRODUCTORY-SURFACE.
until a hilly, broken ridge is reached, which extends to the extreme eastern portion of the State.
The general surface of the country inclines to the southwest, in which direction slope the water-shed and interior drainage. There are no lakes* in Illinois, but the best maps show that it is watered by two hundred and eighty-eight streams, great and small;+ and while many of the largest of them have been declared by law to be navigable, only the Illinois River has been of any practical use for that purpose.
The Illinois River is formed by the junction of the DesPlaines and Kankakee, which unite at a point near the boundary line dividing the counties of Will and Grundy. The head-waters of the former of these two streams are in Wisconsin, near Lake Geneva, and its general course is southerly. The Kankakee rises in Indiana and flows westerly to the point of confluence. The course of the Illinois is at first nearly due west to Bureau County, thence southwesterly in a diagonal line to a point in Scott County, thence south until, after having traversed the State for five hundred miles, it empties itself into the Missis- sippi at Grafton, forty miles above St. Louis.
Among the other principal streams in the State may be mentioned the following: Rock River, which rises in Wisconsin, flows southwesterly about three hundred miles, and joins the Mississippi just below the upper rapids, near Rock Island; the Kaskaskia, or Okaw as it has been sometimes called, rises near the eastern boundary of the State in Champaign County, and flowing also to the southwest, enters the Mississippi at Chester, six miles below the ancient village of Kaskaskia; the Sangamon, a branch of the Illinois, has its rise also in Cham- paign County; the Fox, Vermilion, and Spoon rivers are also tributaries of the Illinois, as is the Pecatonica of Rock River and the Iroquois of the Vermilion; while the Embarras and Little Wabash contribute their quota to swell the waters of the Wabaslı.
The general surface of the State rises from its bottom lands
* There are numbers of small bodies of water in the State, especially in Lake County, and on river bottoms, called lakes, that are not properly entitled to the name.
+ Porter's "The West."
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
in wooded cliffs or bluffs from fifty to four hundred feet in height. From these extend its beautifully undulating and diversified treeless meadows, called, by the French, prairies. They first appear in Northwestern Ohio, and increasing in dimensions through Indiana, become so wide and extensive in Illinois as to give it the name of the Prairie State.
As seen by the first explorers, the forest covered the entire country around the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, but as these diverged from each other the prairie began to inter- vene. At first only an occasional savannah, as the English called them, appeared, but proceeding northward the timber gradually diminished and the prairies enlarged, until, arriving at the centre of the State, the continuous prairie from its east- ern to its western boundary was only broken by narrow strips of timber on the Vermilion, the Sangamon, and Illinois rivers, and their tributaries. And from Washington County the pion- eer could travel a distance of three hundred miles to ,the Wis- consin line without encountering so much as five miles of timber .*
The native prairies presented themselves to the early ex- plorers and settlers as marvels of beauty and design, as inex- plicable as they were enchanting. Their attractive features consisted not only in their rich carpet of verdure and flowers, but in their bewildering extent, their undulating surface, their mysterious paths, and their occasional groves, like islands in the sea.
In the spring, the first coat of grass, sprouting up from the charred remains of autumn fires, was mingled with the violet and other smaller flowers of the most minute and delicate tex- ture, whose natural beauty no handiwork of man's cultivation could improve. As the stronger grass increased in size, these were succeeded by others of a larger growth and more gaudy appearance, displaying their brilliant colors in striking contrast to the green surface. It is impossible to conceive a more infi- nite diversity or a richer profusion of hues. In the summer, the wild prairie was covered with a long, coarse grass, which later assumed a.golden hue, and in the rich, wet soil, fanned by the winds and kissed by the sun, grew to the height of eight
* Beckwith's "Vermilion County."
21
INTRODUCTORY-SURFACE.
or nine feet, throwing out long, coarse leaves which reached above the head of the traveler on horseback.
The prairies of Illinois differ from those west of the Missis- sippi in this, that while the former possess a uniform fertility, the latter, as they ascend toward the Rocky Mountains, gradu- ally become less fertile until a region of drouth and barrenness is reached, rendering them comparatively valueless.
Inviting as were the prairies for agricultural purposes, the first settlers were afraid of them-of their lack of shade and water, and of their pestiferous flies. And when, finding that they improved upon acquaintance, they ventured to locate upon them, they selected the highest situations, shunning the low, wet grounds which, in some portions of the State, have in late years most richly repaid the labor of the farmer.
An interesting inquiry respecting the origin of the prairies has engaged the attention and research of many learned writers. The theories advanced, all of them more or less speculative, need not be referred to here; suffice it to say, that whether due to the action of water or fire, or of both these elements-the one to form and the other to preserve them-they furnished to the hardy pioneer of the West the finest body of farm lands, ready-made as it were, upon which the sun ever shone.
Those large districts in the southern portion of the State which were densely covered with forest trees and heavy belts of timber, extending along the banks and filling the areas between the forks of rivers and creeks, when the white man first entered the territory, have been gradually yielding to the ax and plow. But so many groves have been planted, and so many orchards and hedges now cover the ground where for- merly were only grass and weeds, that it has been claimed with great plausibility that the leaf surface of the State is larger now than ever before .*
The proportion of woodland to prairie in 1880 was estimated as follows: in the twenty-three northern counties, seven per cent; in the district extending from the Illinois River below Ottawa to the Mississippi, twenty-one counties, fifteen per cent ; in the Grand-Prairie district, east of this last, seventeen counties in the eastern-central portion of the State, six per cent; in the
* Gov. Reynolds, W. C. Flagg, etc.
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
Centralia district south of this, between the Wabash River and the Illinois-Central Railroad, seventeen counties, twenty-four per cent, in the Kaskaskia district, thirteen counties, twenty- one per cent; and in the eleven remaining counties, the grand chain district, twenty-seven per cent .*
While among the states of which Illinois is the centre, in the Mississippi Valley, the soil contains many elements common to all, yet certain distinctive peculiarities belong to each. While some of the adjoining states possess a greater proportion of prairie and others of timber, there is no other country of the same extent on the face of the globe which can boast of a soil so uniformly distributed over so large a territory, and so uni- versally productive as that of Illinois.
The subsoil over a large portion of the State is usually a yellow clay, but in some of the northern counties it is gravel, and occasionally in the Grand-Prairie region it is of blue clay. The river-bluffs are more or less covered with a silicious deposit called loess, of uniform character and sometimes of great thickness. The surface soil is mainly formed of deposits of drift from more northern latitudes, varying from ten to two hundred feet in depth, overlaid with rich black loam from ten to fifty inches thick. It is the product of finely comminuted limestones, sandstones, and shales, mingled with organic, vegeta- ble, and animal mould left by the dead herds and unknown harvests of countless centuries.+ In the north it is coarser and more open; in the south, finer and cleaner, which renders the plants in this soil less liable to damage from extreme dry cold or dry heat. Hence the greater certainty of winter-wheat as a crop in southern Illinois.
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