USA > Illinois > Fulton County > Canton > Canton; its pioneers and history : a continuation to the history of Fulton County > Part 9
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The people now assembled at Joel Wright's, Dr. Donaldson's, and a few other houses that were not seriously injured. At Donaldson's there was a scene of wild confusion: frightened women and children had been collected until the house was crowded, and there too was Betsy Swan's dead baby, while many of those present were suffering from contusions and bruises. Elias Foster was killed-a spoke from out the wheel of a new wagon driven into his groin. His little girl was missing, and was not found until the next morning, when she was found dead, having been blown from Foster's residence on the lot on Elm street, west
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of Wood, now occupied by Rev. Mr. Wasmuth, to a hazel-thicket near the residence of Hiram Snow, on Illinois street.
The storm appears to have struck the earth between Fairview and Canton, and, after passing through the timber west of town, destroying, indeed literally mowing a path through it, had swept , over the village, leaving but one or two uninjured buildings, and perhaps a dozen that were habitable, but demolishing or serious- ly injuring every other house in town. It passed a little south of east over the present poor-farm, destroying the residence of Geo. W. Gould in that neighborhood and killing his wife; then on through Duck Creek timber to the bluff, where it appears to have lifted, and for some distance at least did no more damage.
The scene the next morning was terrible. The earth was liter- ally swept clean of fences, out-buildings, and almost of buildings, but was covered with shingles, boards, rails, and timbers. 'Frank- lin P. Offield had just received and opened a large stock of goods in a new building on the corner of Main and Cole streets, oppo- site Piper's Factory. This house was demolished, and the goods scattered over the prairie clear away to Duck Creek. Cattel were killed and lying about in all directions. Chickens were blown away and killed, and the few standing houses were literally wrecked, moved from their foundations, unroofed, or with gables knocked in. The great wonder is that no more lives were lost. Out of a population approximating five hundred, only four per- sons were killed in town-Isaac Swan and his infant son, Elias Foster and his daughter. In the country near Mrs. Gould was . added to the list, making five victims of the air-fiend's wrath. The destruction of property and life that would ensue were such a storm to sweep over the country now would be absolutely ap- palling. Then the country was sparsely settled, and of course the destruction was not so great as it would be now. The track of the storm was about one mile in width, extending from the residence of John Coleman on the north to the vicinity of the. . Central School-House on the south. The marks of the storm were distinctly visible in the timber west of town until in recent years, since the timber affected has been cleared up.
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CANTON: ITS PIONEERS AND HISTORY.
REMARKABLE CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE.
ON the 17th day of December, 1836, there occurred a change of temperature so sudden and so remarkable that it is still spoken of among the old settlers. The day had been wet and sloppy, a previous snow was melting, and a drizzling rain had been falling. Men were moving about, between the intervals of rain, in their shirt-sleeves. Suddenly, at about two o'clock, the wind veered around to the northwest and blew almost a hurricane. In a mo- ment ice began to form, and formed so rapidly that the surface- water was frozen in ripples and waves as the wind left it. Chick- ens were frozen to death before they could reach shelter. Cattle had their hoofs and horns come off. Men who were out from home suffered terribly, and in many cases were frozen to death. One of the Messrs. Wolf, on his way to Canton, was within two miles of town, when he got into a slough and was wet to the middle. In a few moments the change struck him. He put his horse to its full speed and rode across the prairie to Isaac Shinn's place, just east of town. On reaching Shinn's he was so nearly frozen that he had to be lifted from his horse and carried into the house. To repeat all the stories current of this change would subject one to the reputation of a Munchausen. That the change was noteworthy to a remarkable degree there can be no doubt.
SEBREE'S TAVERN. 1
JAMES SEBREE opened the second tavern in Canton, some time in the year 1833. This was located on the northwest corner of Wood and Cole streets, opposite Dr. McDowell's present resi- dence. Sebree-or " Old Boon," as he was familiarly called - catered to the public corporal needs until in 1837, when, tired of hotel-keeping, he rented to Thomas J. Little, who united for one year the practice of law and the business of a Boniface. Little gave place to a Mr. Stephens, who also gave it up after about one year's occupation. A Mr. Galt was the next proprietor, and held possession for three or four years. Galt's successor was James Thompson, who ran the house quite acceptably to the traveling
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public for some years, and was succeeded by Peter C. Schenk, who soon gave place to Joseph Hebb; and Joseph, after a short occupancy, sold out to James Scott, who continued in possession until the summer of 1862, when he sold the property to Dr. A. Bell, who removed the old building, separating it, and from its various additions making several buildings.
Sebree's Tavern was at one time the stage-stand, and was well known over the whole Military Tract.
A TRAINING-DAY IN 1830.
HARRISON P. FELLOWS, Esq., gives the following graphic ac- count of the first training he witnessed in Illinois: This training, or "muster," as our pioneers used to call it, was held on the prairie in front of the cabin of John Holcomb, now known as the Hyatt place, in Putman township. Holcomb had a barrel of whisky, which may have been the reason for the selection of his house as the military headquarters on this occasion. But let Mr. Fellows tell his own story.
"It was in the summer of 1830-we had just moved to the country, and my father, Hiram Fellows, had rented part of Cap- tain Haacke's house. I soon found out, in some way, that Haacke was a captain of a militia company, and as I had some knowledge of militia captains in New York, where we came from, I was filled with an intense awe of the captain. One day I mustered up courage to ask him if I might see them muster some time, and re- ceived a kind and cordial invitation to accompany him to the next training. I was in ecstacies, and looked forward with great anx- iety to the expected day. It came at last, and the captain noti- fied me to be ready by the time he was. I ran into our part of the house, and, I tell you, it was but a short job for me to wash, change my shirt, comb my hair, and make my appearance in the front yard to await the coming of the captain and his regimentals. I did not venture to go into Haacke's part of the house; but tim- idly peeped through a crack in the door to get a sight at the gor- geous trappings with which, I had no doubt, he would be array- ing himself. It is said that great men never appear well at their toilet, and I must have verified the observation, as I remember
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going back to mother and telling her I guessed Captain Haacke was not much of a captain, after all; any how, he did not dress up like one.
"In due time the captain presented himself in readiness for the parade-ground. Let me try to describe his dress. On his head he wore' a hat of home-braided wheat straw, the braid was notched, and the crown round. There was a band around it of red calico, with loose ends several inches in length floating in the breeze. His coat was made of homespun blue jeans, cut long in the skirts -so long, indeed, I fancied that he was in danger of throwing himself, by stepping on his own coat-tails. This coat was closely buttoned before with old-fashioned brass buttons, placed at intervals of perhaps two inches apart. The collar was short, stiff, and standing, the upper edge resting under his broad, hearty jaws, thus keeping his head proudly erect. His panta- loons were of the same homespun material, cut very wide in the legs, and correspondingly short. He wore no socks, and I noticed that his pantaloons and 'stogas' did not break joints by about six inches. The 'stogas' aforesaid were his crowning glory. They were built of cow-hide, very wide in the heels, very broad in the toes, and of considerable length. They were tied with buckskin whangs, while the huge counters were sewed to the quarters with other whangs, perhaps from the same de- funct deer. It had rained the day previous, and the shoes had become covered to a considerable depth with clay; they had then been dried in the sun, until their deep wrinkles were hard as bone. Mrs. Haacke had, that morning, undertaken the task of cleaning and greasing them. I can not say that her efforts had been en- tirely successful, as particles of yellow clay were interspersed with flakes of unmelted hog's lard, over their broad surface.
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"The captain held in his hand a formidable-looking sword, en- . cased in a leathern scabbard. I noticed hair on the hilt, and, as at that time I was not so familiar with natural history as I have since become, I could not tell whether it was human hair or hog- bristles. The discovery filled me with a due appreciation of the captain's ferocity ; so much so, indeed, that I followed him with some misgivings, and at .a respectful distance; when he would look back over his shoulder to see if I was keeping up, I would stop and tremble, until his face was turned in a forward direction again.
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"On our arrival at Holcomb's, we found the company waiting for the captain. He strode into the house 'with all the pomp and . circumstance of glorious warfare,' and I could see that by his bearing he was making an impression upon his subordinates that must be conducive to good discipline. I ventured to peep into the cabin, to get a glimpse of Captain Haacke's Staff, and noticed that he was the best dressed, and by no means the worst looking, of the party.
"The captain now ordered Orderly-Sergeant Seth Hilton to muster the company and call the roll. This order was obeyed with due formality, and so reported, when the captain made his appearance before his men. I noticed at the time that he had buckled on his sword. The sword-belt was a strip of raw calf- skin, perhaps two inches in width, with the hair on, hair-side out. The buckle was of iron, of the width of the strap, and had, I had no doubt, been taken off some cow-bell strap; to this belt the sword was attached by a buckskin whang. The scabbard hung loose, and, to prevent its getting tangled among his legs, he had grasped its lower third in his left hand, while the right held the hilt. The captain stood for one moment in front of his company in dignified silence : looking slowly up and down the living line, he raised his voice to a tone of command, and shouted, 'Company, Halt!' This order was obeyed. The next order was given in a lower tone to the Orderly, and was: 'Seth, I reckon the boys are a git- tin' dry ; you come in with me and we'll see what can be done.' The captain now disappeared into the house, followed by Hilton. They soon reappeared, Hilton bearing in his hands an old-fashioned wooden-handled 'piggin,' which held perhaps a gallon and a half of Holcomb's whisky. Hilton was ordered to commence at the head of the line and pass the 'piggin,' which contained, in ad- dition to the fluid courage, three small gourds as drinking-cups. 'Officers, don't you drink out of the 'piggin," shouted Haacke. 'You come this way : I'll 'tend to you.' The officers seemed to manifest no disposition toward insubordination, but followed their commander to the rear of a corn-crib, when he proceeded to un- button his coat and draw, from an inside pocket, a gourd that would hold perhaps a quart; this gourd was bottle-shaped, with the end of the neck cut off smooth, and a corn-cob stopper. 'Here, boys, don't you see I've got a little something nice for us officers,-Oh, my stomach !' said the captain, as he handed it 13
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around, to the evident satisfaction of the heroic band who sur- rounded him.
"After this performance had concluded, the serious work of drill commenced, and I soon saw that Captain Haacke was quite pro- ficient in tactics. At one time during the day, the captain's shoes began to hurt his feet, and he ordered the company to 'Hold on, boys, till I'get off these c-d shoes.'
"During the day, Captain Saunders brought his company on the ground from his house, several miles further down the Lewis- town road. He said they had run out of whisky at his house, and hearing Holcomb had a barrel, had concluded it would be best 'just to march the boys up, you see,-Oh, my stomach !'"
FIRST INCORPORATION.
CANTON became an incorporated town for the first time on the 10th day of February, 1837, as appears by the following record, still preserved among the archives of the city.
[COPY.]
At a meeting of the citizens of Canton, held at the Presbyterian Church in said town, pursuant to legal notice, for the purpose of incorporating said Town of Canton, on the 10th day of February, 1837, David Markley, Esq., was chosen President, and Joel Wright, Esq., clerk of said meeting, who were sworn into office according to the statute.
[Here follows the oath of each of the Esquires, with their signatures.]
After which the meeting was called to order by the President, and the following-named persons, citizens of (Canton) said town, voted as follows, to wit :
VOTERS' NAMES. FOR AGAINST
Thompson Maple. 1
Samuel W. Patterson. 1
Alexander Hudson 1
Phillip Grim. 1
Thomas Boswell. 1
George W. Dewey 1
Elliott Chase. 1
Milton Dewey. 1
Joseph W. Kelso. 1
Horace F. Mitchell 1
Isaac P. Fellows. 1
Alexander McPheters ... 1
VOTERS' NAMES. FOR AGAINST
James C. Willis. 1
James P. Stewart. 1
Lathrop W. Curtis 1
James McPheters. 1
Thomas J. Little 1
Isaac P. Taylor. 1
Lewis Biderman 1
William B. Cogswell 1
Joel Coykendall. 1
Harrison P. Fellows 1
Robert McPheters
1
James Hood
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CANTON: ITS PIONEERS AND HISTORY.
VOTERS' NAMES. FOR AGAINST
VOTERS' NAMES.
FOR AGAINST
Joseph Guyer
1
Isaiah Stillman. 1
Tapley Willson
1
Geo. J. McConnell
1
William Blair 1
James Ellis
1
Lyman Walker 1
John Smith. 1
John McPheters. 1
Phillip Grim.
1
Eliud Israel.
1
Samuel G. Wright. 1
Robert Sebree 1
Samuel F. Bolingar 1
James Sebree 1
Printis Pond. 1
Robert C. Culton. 1
Robert L. Cook. 1
William Williamson 1
Edwin H. Hood. 1
John J. Culton. 1
Joel Wright 1
Total vote For Incorporating.
40
Total vote Against Incorporating. 6
The total number of votes cast upon this proposition being forty-six. On the election for aldermen, which followed imme- diately, only thirty-two votes were cast. Among those, however, were the following names, not recorded on the question of incor- poration : Frederick Mennert, A. J. Barber, Bryant L. Cook, George M. Gould, John Thorp, D. Coykendall, and J. Donaldson.
The candidates for aldermen, or trustees, as they were called, were-David Markley, who received 31 votes; Lathrop W. Curtis, who received 14 votes; Thomas J. Little, 22 votes; Wm. B. Cogswell, 24 votes; Franklin P. Offield, 22 votes; Joel Wright, 29 votes; James W. Willis, 2 votes; Isaiah Stillman, 3 votes; A. J. Barber, 4 votes; James McPheters, 1 vote; Chester Williams, 1 vote; James Sebree, 2 votes; and Isaac P. Taylor, 3 votes. The five highest on this list-David Markley, Joel Wright, Thos. J. Little, Wm. B. Cogswell, and Franklin P. Offield, were declared duly elected, and were qualified accord- ingly.
The first meeting of the new board was held on the 27th day of March, 1837, as the records have it, "at Frederic Mennert's Inn." At this meeting David Markley was chosen President of the board, and Thomas J. Little Clerk. George W. Gould was by the board elected Treasurer, and required to give a bond of one thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his duties. John Thorp was appointed both Constable and Collector, "and," says the ordinance, "shall give bail for both offices for the sum of one thousand dollars." Lathrop W. Curtis was "appointed Su- pervisor of Highways for the Town of Canton, and to be en- titled to the sum of two dollars for every day spent in that ca-
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CANTON: ITS PIONEERS AND HISTORY.
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pacity after the third." Nathan Jones, Lathrop W. Curtis and Isaiah Stillman were appointed Assessors, and their pay fixed at one dollar and fifty cents per day for every day employed.
Under the by-laws adopted by this board, revenue was to be raised by a tax on all real estate within the boundaries of the town, which, it was provided, should be assessed at its true value, and upon the assessment "an ad-valorem tax of not ex- ceeding fifty cents on every one hundred dollars should be levied by the President and Trustees annually."
Section 36 of the ordinances provided that "any person who shall on the Sabbath day play at bandy, cricket, cat, town-ball, corner-ball, over-ball, fives, or any other game of ball, within the limits of the corporation, or shall engage in pitching dollars or quarters, or any other game, in any public place, shall, on convic- tion thereof, be fined the sum of one dollar. .
The boundaries of the incorporation were defined as follows: " Commencing eighty rods west from the northwest corner of the northeast quarter of section 27, township No. 7 north, of range 4 east of the fourth principal meridian; thence south three hund- red and twenty rods; thence east three hundred and twenty rods; thence north three hundred and twenty rods; thence west three hundred and twenty rods, to the place of beginning; con- taining and comprehending the east half and the east half of the west half of section twenty-seven, and the west half of the west half of section twenty-six.
At the second annual election under this incorporation, the names of but twenty-one voters are recorded, among whom are E. Boice, Abel A. Stevens, John W. Shinn, E. Rockhold, James H. Stipp, I. P. Strong, and E. H. Fitch, who did not vote at the first election. The candidates for trustees, with their votes, were as follows: David Markley, 17 votes; Thomas J. Little, 18 votes ; Lathrop W. Curtis, 20 votes; George W. Gould, 12 votes; J. R. Walters, 13; Joel Wright, 5; Joel Coykendall, 10; Lewis Bida- mon, 3; Isaac P. Taylor, 1; Franklin P. Offield, 2; and John Smith, 1 ;- making David Markley, Thos. J. Little, L. W. Curtis, George W. Gould and J. R. Walters the board. David Markley was reelected President of the board, and Lathrop W. Curtis Clerk. John Whitten was appointed Constable and Collector, Joel Coykendall Supervisor, and required to give a bond in the sum of five hundred dollars for the faithful performance of his
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duties. Thompson Maple was appointed Treasurer, and Wm. B. Cogswell, Franklin P. Offield and Joel Wright Assessors. It was also ordered that a committee be appointed to select certain sections from the by-laws which were to be printed in the Canton Herald.
At the council meeting held August 13th, an ordinance was adopted prohibiting the running at large of swine within the cor- porate limits, "except so much as lies north of the north line of Commercial street in Little's Addition to the Town of Canton." At the next meeting of the board James Sebree presented a re- monstrance against this ordinance; but, as the petitioners for the law were in the majority by thirteen names, it was sustained. At this meeting Messrs. Stone & Offield were allowed their bill of $12.00 for printing the hog laws.
At the meeting of September 10th, 1838, B. G. Roe, for build- ing a bridge on Wood street between Illinois and Cole streets, presented his bill for $11.75; but it was not allowed, "it not hav- ing been built according to contract."
At the election held February 20th, 1839, there were 38 votes polled. The poll-list contained the names of Hiram Snow, Milton C. Dewey, Thompson Maple, Joel Coykendall, John Smith, Ben. G. Roe, Frederick Bidamon, John Thorp, E. D. Davidson, Elliott Chase, Albert Squires, B. Loomis, Wells Tyler, Wm. B. Cogs- well, James R. Parker, John G. Piper, James McPheeters, Otis Remington, Peter L. Snyder, John Ballard, L. S. Williamson, James Perry, James Ellis, Phillip Grim, Daniel H. Dewey, George McConnell, J. L. Davis, P. Stone, A. Piper, J. W. Whit- ing, David M. Smith, Tapley Willson, Nathan B. Scott, Cyrus Coykendall, Irwin H. Whitaker, David Markley, George W. Gould, John W. Shinn. The candidates for trustees were Tim- othy Norris, who received 16 votes; George W. Gould, 19 votes; John W. Shinn 26; Augustus L. Davidson, 30 votes; Milton C. Dewey, 16; Thos. J. Little, 10 votes; David Markley, no votes - although his name appears on the poll-book; Alexander Mc- Pheeters, 18; George McConnell, 12; John Thorp, 3 votes; P. Stone, 14 votes; John Smith, 17 votes; L. H. Sovereign, 9 votes. Messrs. Augustus L. Davidson, John W. Shinn, George W. Gould, Alexander McPheeters and John Smith were, by this vote, elected and duly qualified. This board elected as its Presi- dent A. L. Davidson, John W. Shinn Secretary, James McPhee-
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ters and John G. Piper Assessors. John Thorp was reappointed Constable and Collector.
At the second meeting of this board, on the 5th day of April, 1839, "a petition was presented, signed by 93 legal voters of the Town of Canton, praying that the trustees of said town shall not grant license to any grocery in the said Town of Canton." This petition was referred to a special committee, consisting of Messrs. Davidson, Gould, and Smith, who at the next meeting of the board were to report. At the next meeting the subject was called up and postponed until the next meeting; but it does not appear to have been acted upon at all, and, as there were but two more meetings of the board ever held, it may be presumed that this question tas one of the causes of the premature death of Canton's first incorporation. One of the last acts of this board was the passage of the following resolution: "Moved that the President of the board be requested to examine the records at Lewistown, and ascertain if there is a street or alley on the north side of the old Town of Canton, and if the town is placed in the situation which the original proprietor intended it should be." The last act of the trustees was the appointment of James R. Parker as Constable for the corporation. This was done at a special meeting of the board, held June 1st, 1839; and here its record closes.
SECOND INCORPORATION OF CANTON.
THE second incorporation of Canton was made at a meeting called in pursuance of law at the Congregational Church, on the 21st day of February, 1848. At this meeting Henry Walker was Chairman and H. F. Ingersoll Clerk. At this meeting an elec- tion was held for the purpose of deciding whether the citizens of the village were desirous of being incorporated, whereat one hund- red and twenty votes were cast in favor of incorporation, and forty-two votes against the proposition.
On the 1st of March, 1848, an election for town officers under this incorporation was held, at which William Parlin, William Kellogg, George S. McConnell, James Wills, and John G. Piper, were elected trustees.
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CANTON: ITS PIONEERS AND HISTORY.
The first meeting of the Town Board of Trustees was held on the second of March, and the members of the board were sworn into office by James R. Parker, Justice of the Peace. The board then proceeded to the election of its officers, electing George S. McConnell President, and Henry F. Ingersoll Clerk.
The bounds of the incorporation were fixed as follows: Com- mencing at the centre of the northwest quarter of section twenty- seven, township seven north, range four east of the fourth princi- pal meridian; thence east, through the centre of the northeast quarter of section twenty-seven, to the centre of the northwest of section twenty-six; thence south, through the centre of the southwest (quarter) of section twenty-six, to the centre of the northwest quarter of section thirty-five; thence west, through the centre of the northeast quarter of section thirty-four, to the centre of the northwest quarter of section thirty-four; thence north, through the centre of the southwest quarter of section twenty-seven, to the place of beginning.
The clerk was instructed to transmit to the county commission- ers' court the ordinance establishing the boundaries of the town, and the work of organization was thus made complete.
Wm. Kellogg was, by the board, appointed to draft a code of laws for the government of the town, at the second meeting, held March 3d, of the board. Mr. Kellogg made his report, in the shape of a full code of laws, on the 27th of March, which was adopted.
On the 14th of April, Henry F. Ingersoll was elected Treas- urer, James R. Parker Assessor, and Harrison P. Fellows Con- stable and Collector; and Ephraim Boice, on the payment of $3.00 into the treasury, was granted a license to exhibit a buffalo. Whether or not Ephraim got back his money in profits from his exhibition is not recorded. Mr. Parker failed to qualify, from some cause, and at the next meeting Peter L. Snyder was ap- pointed in his place.
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