USA > Illinois > Champaign County > A Standard history of Champaign County Illinois : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic and social development : a chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs, Volume I > Part 16
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THOMAS R. WEBBER
On the 6th of May, 1833, these first commissioners of Champaign County met at the cabin of Philip Stanford, on Section 28, Somer Township, and appointed Thomas R. Webber clerk of the Board. He held that position, either by appointment of the board or by popular election, for more than twenty years, and served as clerk of the Circuit Court for twenty-three years, from 1835 to 1857, inclusive. He was also the first postmaster at Urbana and in the county, and was, altogether, of such unusual capacity that his subsequent public career is here noted. He was a Kentuckian of German extraction and one of the pioneers and shining lights of the Big Grove contingent. In addi- tion to his long service as county and circuit clerks, he acted as master in chancery for a period of forty years, being succeeded hy M. W. Mathews in 1873. In 1847 he was elected to represent Vermilion, Champaign, Piatt and Coles counties in the constitutional convention of that year, and in 1862 he represented in a similar convention, the counties of Champaign, Piatt, DeWitt and Macon. The constitution prepared by the latter convention was rejected by the people, and hence the names of its framers were not so impressed upon the history of the
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state as if it had been incorporated into the fundamental laws. Mr. Webber was a man of high personal character, as well as ability, and widely beloved. He died at his residence south of Urbana on Decem- ber 14, 1881, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
BALANCE OF FIRST COUNTY OFFICERS
After the appointment of Mr. Webber as the first county clerk, the new commissioners chose Garrett Moore as constable and Moses Thomas as assessor and treasurer.
The next meeting of the Board, or Court (as it was originally called), was held June 3, 1833, when Mr. Webber was recommended to the governor for recorder. The appointment promptly followed, his commission dating from July 2. At the same meeting Garrett Moore the constable, was appointed surveyor, and Assessor Thomas reported the revenue of the county to be $71.37.
COUNTY DIVIDED INTO ELECTION DISTRICTS
The Court also divided the county into two election districts, calling one the Salt Fork precinct and appointing Moses Thomas, Robert Prather and Captain William Nox, Jr., judges, and the second, the Big Grove precinct, with Matthew Busey, Joshua Trickle and John Whitaker as judges. The meeting then adjourned to assemble at the call of the clerk at such time as the commissioners appointed by legislative act to locate the county seat should be ready to report.
CONTESTANTS FOR THE COUNTY SEAT
The late Judge Cunningham thus sizes up the situation at the time the locating commissioners were endeavoring to decide upon the site of the county seat, which was to be called Urbana: "It will be remem- bered that at this time there was no established town or village to claim the boon of the seat of justice, nor was there any densely settled district with influence. The law under which these gentlemen were to act only required them to 'take into view the conveniences of the people, the situation of the present settlements, with a strict view to the population and settlements which shall hereafter be made, and the eligibility of the place.' The 'settlements' and the 'people' whose conveniences were to be consulted as then located, were found in three groups: one upon the Salt Fork, another at the Big Grove mostly upon the Fort Clark
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road at the north side, and the third upon the Sangamon-the largest settlement of the three being the first, and the smallest, the last named.
"The positions occupied by the first and last named settlements, and opposite sides of the county, excluded both from the consideration of the commissioners, leaving the Big Grove settlement at the center of the county alone to be considered. On the north side were most of the inhabitants, including Stanford (at whose house the Commission was required to meet), John Whitaker, the Brownfields, John Light, Thomas Rowland (the friend of Senator Vance), and many others who had influence. On the south side were Isaac Busey, then the largest land owner in the county; Matthew Busey, his brother, and Thomas R. Webber, all on the ground with land to give, besides Colonel Matthew W. Busey, then a resident of Greencastle, Indiana, but a large land owner, who was then on the ground seeking, with others with like inter- ests, the location of the new county seat. So, also, William T. Webber, who had made valuable selections of lands on the south side, then a resident of Kentucky, represented by his son, T. R. Webber, threw his influence into the arena of contest. Those on the north side wished the new town of Urbana to be located there, where was then established Van Buren postoffice, the only office in the county.
"The commissioners looked at the location about two miles east of Urbana in Section 15, where Matthew Busey then lived and, admiring the lay of the land, solicited from him an offer of land for public purposes. The suggestion was repelled by Mr. Busey, upon whose vision the thought of profits from the sale of corner lots and town sites, does not seem to have made any impression. He declared that he had purchased this land for a farm and a home, and was determined to use it as such, which he did to the day of his death, thirty years afterwards. The commissioners also looked at a very pretty town-site upon the land of John Brownfield near the creek in the Big Grove, believed to have been the geographical center of the county. So, also, the town of 'Lan- caster,' laid out but a year before, was a candidate for the favor, and not without friends. Noah Bixler, the proprietor, was not a man to remain silent when such an opportunity offered to aid his town. It had many things to recommend its claims. The land there and near by was entirely suitable for a town, and the location was not more than two miles from the geographic center of the new county. Possibly its name was against it, for the law said 'the seat of justice of said county shall be called and known by the name of Urbana.'
"The controversy narrowed down to the two points-north of the grove and south of the grove. The former was championed by Stan-
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ford, Heater, Brownfield, Rhinehart, Light, and many other dwellers along the Fort Clark road, who could claim for their settlement age, numbers, the postoffice, and the only public road through the county, and as being at the front ; while the south side was without any of these advantages, and was an out-of-the-way place with no advantages what- ever. In fact, the south side had nothing to recommend as a county seat. It had no roads, but bridle paths and Indian trails. It had no population except the families of Isaac Busey, Jacob Smith, and the Webbers; and it is still told by those who then noted the controversy, that it had no vegetation but the hazel brush, which grew in great abundance and to a wondrous height."
The secret of the unexpected decision in favor of the "hazel brush site" on the south side of the Big Grove was never divulged; only the fact that Commissioners Richardson and Shelledy adjourned from Mr. Stanford's house on June 20, 1833, to the residence of Isaac Busey, with the general understanding that they favored the "north-siders," and that on the following day they reported for the south side site.
REPORT OF THE LOCATING COMMISSIONERS
At the meeting of the county commissioners on the 21st, Clerk Web- ber made this record:
"This day came Stephen B. Shelledy and John F. Richardson, a majority of the commissioners appointed to locate the permanent seat of justice for the county of Champaign, appeared in court and made the following report, which is ordered to be committed to record and filed in the Clerk's office :
"We, the undersigned commissioners appointed to locate the seat in and for Champaign County, do certify that agreeably to 'An act creating Champaign County,' approved January 20, 1833, we met at the house of Philip Stanford in said county, and after being duly sworn, faith- fully and impartially to take into view the conveniences of the people, the situation of the present settlement, with a strict view to the popu- lation and settlement which will hereafter be made, and eligibility of the place, proceeded to explore and carefully examine the country and have selected a site and obtained donation of forty-three acres of land, titles to thirty acres of which we have procured to be executed to the County Commissioners' Court of Champaign County, 19 50-100 of which lies in the northeast quarter of Section 17, Town 19 North, Range 9 East, and ten and a half acres in the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 8, Town 19 North, Range 9 East ; the metes and bounds of
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which are particularly described in the deed executed by Isaac Busey and wife; also ten acres in the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 8 and the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 17, Town 19 North, Range 9 East ; the metes and bounds of which are particularly described in a bond for a deed, under penalty of $10,000, executed by T. R. Web- ber and M. W. Busey; also three acres described in a bond for a deed executed by M. W. Busey and T. R. Webber.
"Given under our hands and seals at the house of Isaac Busey, in said county, this 21st day of June A. D. 1833.
"John F. Richardson, (Seal) "S. B. Shelledy. (Seal)."
For twenty years the official affairs of Champaign County were made matters of detailed record by T. R. Webber, and from his methodical and neat books are extracted most of the following items of interest, which illustrate its material development in so many ways.
SOURCES OF REVENUE IN 1833
The meetings of the court had been heretofore held at the house of Philip Stanford, but at the September meeting (1833) it was ordered that hereafter they be held at the house of Matthew Busey. John Salis- bury was appointed sheriff soon after the organization, and September 2, 1833, he was ordered to proceed and collect the revenne, amounting to $71.37. As it was necessary to have a source of revenue, on Novem- ber 7, 1833, a license was granted to Isaac H. Alexander to retail goods, wares and merchandise until the end of the next term of court-the license being $5. Afterwards, the time was extended $3.00 worth. Soon after this the commissioners fixed the following rates of prices to be charged the public, viz .: For keeping a man and horse one night, in- cluding supper, bed and horse feed, 75 cents; single meal, 183/4 cents; horse feed, 121/2 cents; one-half pint whisky, 61/4 cents; one-half pint French brandy, 1834 cents; one-half pint wine, 1834 cents; one-half pint gin, 121/2 cents; one-half pint rum, 1834 cents; one-half pint domestic brandy, 1834 cents.
The first fiscal statement was made by T. R. Webber, and showed county orders unpaid, $85.25; fees for surveying 84 lots in the town of Urbana, $21; recording plat, $3.36 ; fees of commissioners and for sta- tionery, $17.55; making a total indebtedness of $127.36; deducting the revenue, $71.37, left $55.99; then deducting license of Alexander, $5.00, left the indebtedness of the county December 2, 1833, at $50.99.
March 3, 1834, the county was divided into road districts and Wil-
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liam Peters, Daniel T. Porter, John G. Robertson, Mijamin Byers, Philip M. Stanford, Wm. Nox, Jr., John Whitaker, were appointed road super- visors.
OFFICIAL HAPPENINGS OF 1834, 1835 AND 1836
March 4, 1834, the first grand and petit juries were appointed, as follows: Grand jury-Thomas Deer, Jefferson Huss, Wm. Nox, Sr., Joseph Thomas, Henry Thomas, Robert Trickle, James Brownfield, Walter Rhodes, James Johnson, Samuel G. Beckley, John W. Swear- ingen, John B. Swearingen, John Zaues, Robert Prather, Valentine Iliff, Gabriel G. Rice, Matthew Busey, John Tineman, Samuel Brom- ley, Arthur Beaird, Harris Wilson, William Corray and James Osborne. Petit jury-James Moss, Matthew W. Busey, Elias Stamey, David Gab- bert, William T. Webber, Augustine M. Webber, Larkin Deer, Stephen Boyd, Elijah Jackson, Andrew Wilson, Adam Yeazle, James Freeman, Jacob T. Hobbs, John Coddington, Jacob Heater, Moses Kirby, Elias Kirby, John Brownfield, Sr., William Coddington, Elias Thomas, Moses Argo, William I. Peters and Hiram Rankin.
At a meeting of the county commissioners, held December 1, 1834, it was ordered that hereafter they meet at the house of Isaac Busey. The court appointed T. R. Webber agent in July, 1835, to sell the lots in Urbana at following prices: Corner lots on Main Street, on public square, at $30 each ; corner lots elsewhere, $20; back lots, $10.
TEMPORARY COURTHOUSE
January, 1836, a temporary court house was ordered to be built on lot 25, to be of hewn logs, good size. The building was to be 24x20 feet, one and one-half story, shingle roof, hewn joists and sleepers, one door and two windows on each side. The contract was let to John Craig, but the building was never finished to the satisfaction of the commissioners and court continued to be held in private houses until 1837, when a frame courthouse 22x30 feet, with two rooms, was built by Moses and William Harvey. This building was replaced in 1841 by a brick building 30x40 feet, two stories, with offices below and court and jury above.
The revenue increased in 1836 to $258.85. On December 3, 1836, Jonathan Osborne and Isaac Busey were appointed a committee to locate a state road from Urbana to Bloomington, to run by the house of John Bryan. Joseph Stayton and Elias Thomas, on same date
-
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were appointed to locate a road from Urbana to Paris. At the December term, 1836, a license was granted Wm. Osborn to keep a ferry on the Sangamon River at a point where the state road crosses it, leading from Moses Thomas' to Bloomington-Osborn to pay $2 license. The following ferry rates were established at the same meet- ing, viz .: Ferrying one man, 61/4 cents; one horse, 61/4 cents; one-horse wagon, 25 cents; two-horse wagon, 371/2 cents; cattle, per head, 61/4 cents; sheep and hogs, per head, 3 cents.
At the March meeting, 1837, it was ordered that the office of asses- sor and treasurer be let to the lowest bidder; and Thomas L. Freeman having bid the sum of $12.50, was appointed to that office and qualified as such.
FINANCES IN 1837
In 1837, the liabilities of the county were $216.341/2; and the reve- nue being $258.85, the county had money in the treasury for the first time, amounting to $32.561/2, to which add $431.50 in notes on sale of town lots in Urbana, and cash donations unpaid $45, made the cash and resources of the county $476.50.
March, 1837, it was ordered that the following property be taxed one-half per cent, viz .: Horses, mares, mules, asses and neat cattle over the age of three years, clocks and watches with their appendages, and pleasure carriages.
In 1837, licenses to retail goods were granted and license charges as follows : A. Bruer, $5; James T. Roe, $5; T. R. Webber, $15; James H. Lyons, $25; Daniel T. Porter, $5; Noah Bixler, $5.
June, 1837, ordered that Matthew W. Busey have a writ of ad quod damnum for condemning a mill seat on north end of E1/2 SW1/4 Sec- tions 8, 10, 9. The same year Green Atwood was allowed a license to keep a tavern at Homer; also a license was granted to Isaac A. Brown to keep a tavern at Sidney, each to pay a license of $4.
MILL SEATS AND BRIDGES
September, 1837, a writ of ad quod damnum was granted to Charles Haptonstall to build a mill. A like writ was granted at same meeting to A. H. Jose for a mill seat on Sangamon River, on lot 15, Sec. 16, T. 20, R. 7. At same meeting it was ordered that a bridge be con- structed over the Salt Fork at Cyrus Strong's ferry, and that Major Nox attend to advertising for bids and to insert an advertisement in the Danville Enquirer. The building of this bridge was let in October,
1-10
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1837, to Wm. I. Peters for the sum of $426, and he to have one year to build it.
FIRST COUNTY JAIL
The first county jail, to be completed by March, 1839, was arranged for January, 1838; it was to be 18 feet square, the lower story to have two windows, one foot square each. The building was to have a brick and log foundation and to be built of logs, and to be two stories. It was struck off to Col. M. W. Busey at the sum of $850.
FIRST COUNTY JAIL (1838-39)
Judge Cunningham speaks of the old jail : "This building was stand- ing and in use by the sheriff for the detention of prisoners in 1853, when the writer came to the county. An outside stairway afforded the means of reaching the second story where, by the only door of the build- ing, access and egress were had. Through it prisoners were taken for confinement, and from the second story a trap door in the floor gave access to the lower story, where the worst prisoners were placed. The prisoner was sent down the ladder which, being removed, he was con- sidered safe. The only light was admitted through narrow grated win- dows in the lower story. No means of heating either story existed. The writer, when acting as justice of the peace in 1855, in the case of a person charged with horse stealing, found in the evidence probable
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guilt and, as required by the letter of the law, committed the unfor- tunate to this bastile in the dead of winter, with no means furnished but an abundance of bed-clothing to keep him from freezing. The law would have been more honored in the breach than in the observance in that case. The prisoner did not die of cold, however, but met his fate in another manner."
On March 19, 1838, it was ordered that an election precinct be established on the Middlefork and that elections be held at the house of John Manning, near the town of Brotherton in said precinct.
In June, 1838, a license was granted Groenendyke & Coffeen to retail goods at Homer, and that they pay for same $15. At the same meeting a county road was ordered from the south end of Market Street, in Urbana, to Sidney, December, 1838, A. Bruer was granted a license to keep a tavern in Urbana and that he pay $2 for the same.
PIONEER CHURCHES AND SCHOOL
At the December term, 1839, it was ordered the clerk convey to the officers of the Methodist Episcopal Church a lot to be selected by them if they shall have erected a house of worship thereon in twelve months. And "we also make to the Baptist society the same offer in all respects." The Methodist people raised the money and built a church, which was afterwards known as Renner's livery stable. The Baptist people, how- ever, did not comply at that time.
Col. M. W. Busey having donated a three-acre tract to the county, permission was given to erect a schoolhouse on the same. December, 1839, Colonel Busey, Jacob Bradshaw and Elias Stamey were appointed a committee to select a suitable spot for said house.
June term, 1840, it was "ordered that we sell to Rev. A. Bradshaw lot 51 (where Hubbard's hardware store now stands) for the sum of $3, the same to be deeded to the Methodist society, which has a legal right to receive a deed. Also that we sell to David Cox, for Baptist Church, with same restriction, lot 76, east of Kerr's Tavern, for $2."
The salary of T. R. Webber as clerk was not very heavy; he was allowed $77.98 in full for his services as clerk for year ending June 7, 1841.
At the June term, 1842, M. D. Coffeen represented that it was too far for the people of Homer to go to the house of James Copeland, in the Salt Fork precinct, to vote. He therefore presented a petition that the name of the precinct be changed to Homer precinct and the voting be done at the schoolhouse in Homer, which was ordered done.
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October 2, 1843, the contract for building a bridge across the San- gamon at Mahomet was awarded William Harvey of Urbana.
MATTERS IN 1844 AND 1845
June, 1844, on petition of citizens, an election precinct known as the Middlefork precinct, was ordered, and that the voting place be at the house of Samuel Swinford, and Samuel Swinford, Samuel Kerr and James Kellor were appointed judges. At the same meeting, James Orr, Sr., Henry Swearingen and Elias Thomas were appointed judges of Homer, Marshall Cloyd, John Crabb and James Myers, of Urbana, and Jonathan Maxwell, Benjamin F. Harris and Joseph T. Everett of Sangamon precincts.
The tax books for the year 1844 show that the taxable property was increasing, the amount returned being $334,373. The levy was as fol- lows: 20 cents on the $100 for state purposes, making $668.75; 20 cents for county, $668.75; and 10 cents for road making, $334.37.
William D. Somers seems to have been the county physician in 1844. At the December meeting of the County Court it was "ordered that Dr. William D. Somers have an order on the treasury for the sum of $2 in full for medical charge for attending Robert H. Newlon."
At the June meeting, 1845, William D. Somers was appointed to take the census of the county.
COUNTY FUNDS IN 1846
Col. M. W. Busey, county treasurer, made his report July, 1846. He reports a balance on hand of $561.37, as follows: $332 in paper money ; $155.52 in gold, and $73.85 in silver. The county seems to have been in good condition, as Colonel Busey was ordered to loan the county funds at 6 per cent interest, reserving a sufficient sum to pay outstanding orders, and that he take ample security in all cases, and that he collect the interest in advance; that the notes be so drawn that additional security may be required if it is deemed necessary by the treasurer or commissioners.
At the July term, 1848, Col. M. W. Busey was appointed a mes- senger to carry the vote of this county for senator to Danville, for the purpose of being canvassed, and William Harvey was appointed a like messenger to Decatur, to carry the vote for representative.
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NEW COURTHOUSE COMPLETED
May 2, 1849, the new courthouse having been completed, the old one was sold to the Urbana school district for $105 on a credit of twelve months. At the June meeting a bridge was ordered to be constructed at Homer, provided the cost did not exceed $400. June 20, the con- tract was struck off to M. D. Coffeen, James S. Wright, Harmon Stev- ens, John B. Thomas, Solomon Dill, Samuel A. Harvey and W. S. Coe for $600, $400 to be paid by the county and the balance by private donations-the bridge to be completed by the following December.
October, 1849, it was ordered that Clapp & Russell have leave to renew their license to retail goods on the same terms as before. March term, 1850, Henry M. Russell having bought out A. O. Clapp, was granted license for one year by paying $25.
The County Court cut and carved the bills, in the olden times, very much as is done in later days. March, 1850, Benjamin C. Morris pre- sented a bill of $22.25 for services, board, medical attendance and funeral expenses of Daniel Wheat, a poor person. The court, after ex- amining into the matter, decided that said Morris is justly entitled to pay for the coffin and shroud and therefore allowed him $7.25 and rejected the rest of his claim.
PUBLIC SQUARE FENCED
At the March term, 1851, it was decided to enclose the public square with a fence, which contract was let to Wm. Park and John Cantner for $80. At the July term, 1851, on petition of Samuel Dean and David Cantner, permission was granted them to establish a ferry on the Sangamon River at the crossing of the state road leading from Urbana to Bloomington. The following rates were fixed as ferry charges : For man and horse, 10 cents; footman, 5 cents; wagon and one horse, 15 cents; wagon and two horses or oxen, 20 cents; each addi- tional horse or ox, 5 cents; each head of cattle, 4 cents; each hog or sheep, 2 cents.
ONLY WEBBER AGAINST INCORPORATION
At the October term, 1851, J. W. Jaquith, John Gere, Calvin Hig- gins, president and trustees of the town of Urbana, and William D. Somers, clerk, presented to the court a poll book of an election, whereby it appears that at an election held in the town of Urbana, September 8,
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1851, for the purpose of voting for or against the incorporation of said town the following votes were cast in favor of same, viz. : W. D. Somers, Geo. O. Potter, Wilson Lewis, W. S. Garman, Joseph M. Harry, Elisha Harkness, Wm. Park, John Cantner, Calvin C. Higgins, Wm. Abel, Robert Logan, Wm. Waters, Lewis Higgins, John Black, Edward Ater, Asa Gere, Wm. Gill, Samuel M. Logan, Thomas J. Newport, Silas Chad- wick, John C. Hankins, David M. Ireland, J. W. Jaquith, Samuel Waters, George W. Toy; total, 25. Against : Thomson R. Webber. At the election, Joseph M. Harry was the judge and John Ireland clerk.
The foregoing is a synopsis of the business transacted in the county from 1833 to and including February term, 1852. While some of the business might seem insignificant, yet it was entered of record by the clerk, T. R. Webber, in detail, and there was no mistaking the meaning of the persons doing the business for the people.
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