USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume I > Part 15
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The publisher of the book, "Alton Trials," John F. Trow of New York, said in his pref- ace: "There has rarely been an occurrence that has produced as intense an interest throughout the whole country as the disgrace- ful and murderous affair at Alton, Illinois, on the night of November 7th last. But the indictment of the defenders and the trial of the owner of the warehouse for the crime of riot in attempting to defend his property from mob violence, together with the singular verdict of the jury in the case of those of the mob that were tried, has, if possible, increased this feeling and created in the public mind a great desire to know the facts in the case.
"To gratify the public, and, at the same time correct the contradictory reports that have been circulated, by giving the facts, with- out comment, as they were drawn out in evi- dence, is deemed sufficient apology for spread- ing the 'Alton Trials' before the public."
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ALFRED COWLES
A word as to Alfred Cowles, whose perora- tion in prosecuting members of the mob is given above. He was a native of Connecticut, born in 1787. On coming to Illinois when a young man, he settled first at Belleville and re- moved thence to Alton when of middle age. He possessed acknowledged legal ability and was considered a very safe and reliable law- yer. He, at one time, served as acting, or as- sistant attorney general of the state. He fig- ured in important trials, the most noted of which was that of P. H. Winchester for the killing of Daniel C. Smith of Pike county. The trial took place at Edwardsville in 1824. Cowles and Benjamin Mills prosecuted the case, and Henry Starr of Edwardsville and that eminent criminal lawyer, Felix Grundy of Tennessee, appeared for the defense. The prisoner was acquitted. Brink's "History of Madison County" says that Cowles spent the later years of his life in Oregon. This is er-
roneous. On removing to Alton Cowles formed a law partnership with Hon. John M. Krum. Mr. Cowles was a man of high stand- ing and character, and was a member of the first board of elders of the Upper Alton Pres- byterian church. He had acquired quite a large property for those times, some $50,000, but the panic of 1837 and the disastrous after- math of the proslavery riots, which depressed business and caused the value of real estate to shrink almost to the vanishing point, dissi- pated the greater part of his fortune. His partnership with Krum continued until 1844, when it was dissolved. Mr. Krum moved to St. Louis and became mayor of that city, hav- ing also been mayor of Alton. Mr. Cowles moved with his family to Chicago, where he formed a partnership with the celebrated Wil- liam H. Brown.
Mr. Cowles was a Whig in politics and in 1849 was appointed register of the land office in Chicago, a position he filled until 1853,
when he moved to California to join his eldest son who had located in that state. He resided first at San Francisco, then at San Jose, and finally in San Diego county. At the age of ninety-three he presided over a Republican convention in San Diego. His career in the Golden State was a successful one. He died in San Diego city, November 16, 1887, aged one hundred years and two months, and re- tained his physical and mental powers unim- paired to the last.
To return to the aftermath of the riot. Where many were heroes it seems invidious to discriminate, but it appears that the cool bravery of Winthrop S. Gilman animated and dominated his comrades. In reply to the threats of the mob to blow up or burn his building if the press was not delivered up he replied that he and his associates had "assem- bled to defend the press and would do so, if necessary, with their lives." Another intrepid spirit was Rev. T. B. Hurlbut, associate editor of Lovejoy's paper, the Observer, who, after the defenders of the press had been driven out, remained all night with the body of his friend and associate. It is related of one of the mob as he surveyed the body of Lovejoy, that he remarked: "Good enough for you. You should not have set yourself up against the people !" It is a curious fact that M. de Tocqueville who, in his great political work on "American Institutions" selects the murder of Lovejoy as a typical illustration, ascribes precisely the same motive to the rabble, denying, in effect, that their resentment in such cases arises from a horror of heterodox sentiments, but asserting that they resent the presumption of a few in contemning the judgment of the many. There is manifest truth in this as a review of the cases of martyrdom in all ages will attest.
The closing inquiry of Mr. Cowles as to "who would stay or come among us" if the jury sanctioned the deeds of violence and murder which had disgraced the city, had the
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
fulfilment he prophesied. In connection with the panic of 1837 and the riots came a slump in prosperity and a decrease in the population of the city. Mr. Cowles himself, as we have seen, left the city. So did W. S. Lincoln, the re- porter of the trials, and his brother John Lin- coln, both lawyers. Likewise followed W. S. Gilman, who went to New York and became one of its most eminent bankers. Likewise re- moved James S. Stone, foreman of the jury that acquitted the defenders of the press and became one of the merchant princes of Boston. G. T. M. Davis, a brilliant lawyer and editor, moved eventually, to New York. John W. Chickering located in Chicago in 1843. F. B. Murdock, city solicitor, settled in St. Louis in
1841. Junius Hall, an accomplished lawyer, became discouraged after the slump in pros- perity and returned to his former home in Bos- ton. Thus of the eleven attorneys engaged in the trial only two remained permanently in Alton. These were Samuel G. Bailey, who died in 1846, and Seth T. Sawyer, who continuel until his death one of the most prominent law- yers of the county. I cite these instances sim- ply to illustrate the hegira from the city which followed the riots and in which many leading business and professional men of Alton joined those mentioned above. Truly the riots were a costly experience for Alton. "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is often in- terred with their bones."
CHAPTER X
POLITICAL AND LEGISLATIVE
FIRST COUNTY ELECTION-IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ( 1818-1912)-JUDGE JOHN Y. SAW- YER-LINCOLN AND GILLESPIE-VETERAN OF THE LEGISLATURE-OTHER PROMINENT MEM- BERS-"SONS OF THEIR FATHERS."
As stated heretofore, the territory of Illinois was at first organized without representation of the people in governmental affairs, but in 1812 a representative legislature was organized consisting of a legislative council and a house of representatives. Prior to that the governor and judges formed the legislative body which enacted all the laws and the governor ap- pointed all territorial and local officials, but it having been provided in the law of congress, dividing the territory of Indiana into two separate governments that "so much of the ordinance for the government of the territory northwest of the Ohio as relates to the organ- ization of a general assembly therein shall be in force and operate in the Illinois territory whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the governor thereof that such is the wish of a majority," and the governor having re- ceived several petitions from citizens praying for the organization of a general assembly- that official, on the 14th of March, 1812, is- sued a proclamation directing that an election be held on the second Monday of April of that year and continue three successive days at the court house of each county, at which the free- holders of each county would have an oppor- tunity of expressing their wishes on the sub- ject mentioned.
FIRST COUNTY ELECTION
The said election resulted in a majority of the electors expressing their opinion in favor of going into what was known as the second grade of territorial government, and the gov- ernor thereupon, on the 14th of September, 1812, at Kaskaskia, issued his proclamation ordering that elections be held in the several counties of the territory, on the 8th, 9th and Ioth days of October following, for the pur- pose of electing a delegate to congress, mem- bers to the council and representatives to the assembly. The election in Madison county was ordered to be held at the house of Thomas Kirkpatrick. There were then five organized counties in the territory and the governor as- signed one representative to Madison, two to St. Clair, one to Randolph, two to Gallatin and one to Johnson counties. It is interesting to note that the county of Madison was organized on this same date, September 14, 1812, and therefore was just in time to be represented in the first general assembly. The centennial an- niversary of the county, therefore, and the institution of judicial procedure therein, is also the centennial anniversary of its obtain- ing the right to representation in the legisla- ture, making the date doubly significant and worthy of commemoration.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
The election was held on the aforesaid dates in October, 1812, and resulted in the election of Shadrach Bond as the delegate in congress, and the following members of the legislative council: From Madison county, Samuel Judy ; from St. Clair, William Biggs ; from Randolph, Pierre Menard; from Galla- tin, Benjamin Talbott ; from Johnson, Thomas Ferguson.
House of representatives: From Madison, William Jones; from Randolph, George Fisher; from Gallatin, Philip Trammel and Alexander Wilson; from Johnson, John Grammer; from St. Clair, Joshua Oglesby and Jacob Short.
These members constituted the first general assembly of the territory of Illinois, the legis- lative council corresponding to the state senate. This first general assembly was con- vened at Kaskaskia, November 25, 1812. Pierre Menard was elected president of the council and George Fisher, speaker of the house. Thus Randolph county secured the honor of furnishing both presiding officers.
In the second territorial assembly Madison county was represented in the council by Sam- uel Judy and in the house by William Rabb. At a second session of the legislature, in De- cember and January, 1815-16, John G. Lofton appears as the representative of Madison county. Benjamin Stephenson, of Madison, was elected delegate to congress.
The third general assembly of the territory was elected in 1816 and convened December 2d at Kaskaskia. John G. Lofton represented Madison county in the council, being pro- moted from the house. The name of the member of the house of representatives at this session I have not been able to ascertain. Nathaniel Pope was elected delegate to con- gress in 1816.
IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (1818-1912)
In 1818 congress passed an enabling act for the proposed new state of Illinois. A state
constitution was adopted in August, officers were elected and on December 3rd, Illinois was formally admitted to the Union.
Following is a list of members of the gen- eral assembly from Madison county from 1818 to 1912.
First general assembly, 1818-20: Senate, George Cadwell; house, John Howard, Abra- ham Prickett, Samuel Whiteside.
Second general assembly, 1820-2; Senate, George Cadwell; house, Joseph Borough, Nathaniel Buckmaster and William Otwell.
Third general assembly, 1822-4: Senate, Theophilus W. Smith; house, Curtis Blake- man, George Churchill and Emanuel J. West.
Fourth general assembly, 1824-6: Senate, Theophilus W. Smith, first session, (re- signed) ; second session (senate), Joseph Conway; house, Curtis Blakeman, George Churchill and William Otwell.
Fifth general assembly, 1826-8: Senate, Joseph Conway ; house, George Churchill and David Prickett.
Sixth general assembly, 1828-30: Senate, Joseph Conway ; house, George Churchill and William Jones.
Seventh general assembly, 1830-2: Senate, Joseph Conway; house, John B. E. Canal (died), John Y. Sawyer (vice Canal) and George Churchill.
Eighth general assembly, 1832-4: Senate, Joseph Conway; house, Cyrus Edwards and James Semple.
Ninth general assembly, 1834-6: Senate, Cyrus Edwards ; house, James Semple, Jesse B. Thomas, Jr. (resigned) and Nathaniel Buckmaster.
Tenth general assembly, 1836-8: Senate, Cyrus Edwards; house, John Hogan, James Semple (speaker), and Robert Smith.
Eleventh general assembly, 1838-40: Sen- ate, George Churchill; house, William Otwell, George Smith and Robert Smith.
Twelfth general assembly, 1840-2: Sen-
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ate, George Churchill; house, Cyrus Ed- wards, Joseph Gillespie and James Reynolds.
Thirteenth general assembly, 1842-4: Sen- ate, George Smith; house, Robert Aldrich, John Bailhache and Curtis Blakeman.
Fourteenth general assembly, 1844-6: Sen- ate, George Smith ; house, George Barnsback, George Churchill and N. D. Strong.
Fifteenth general assembly, 1846-8: Sen- ate, Joseph Gillespie; house, Curtis Blake- man, William F. DeWolf and William Mar- tin.
Sixteenth general assembly, 1848-50: Sen- ate, Joseph Gillespie; house, Edward Keat- ing and Curtis Blakeman.
Seventeenth general assembly, 1850-2: Sen- ate, Joseph Gillespie; house, Andrew Miller, Nelson G. Edwards and Samuel A. Buck- master (vice Edwards, resigned).
Eighteenth general assembly, 1852-4: Sen- ate, Joseph' Gillespie ; house, S. A. Buckmas- ter and Thomas Judy.
Nineteenth general assembly, 1854-6: Sen- ate, Joseph Gillespie; house, George T. Allen and Henry S. Baker.
Twentieth general assembly, 1856-8: Sen- ate, Joseph Gillespie; house, Louis Ricks and Aaron P. Mason.
Twenty-first general assembly, 1858-60 : Senate, S. A. Buckmaster; house, Z. B. Job and Joseph H. Sloss.
Twenty-second general assembly, 1860-2 : Senate, S. A. Buckmaster ; house, Cyrus Ed- wards and Garrett C. Crownover.
Twenty-third general assembly, 1862-4 : Senate (unrepresented) ; house, Samuel A. Buckmaster (speaker). Legislature pro- rogued by Governor Yates.
Twenty-fourth general assembly, 1864-6: Senate, Andrew W. Metcalf ; house, Julius J. Barnsback and Hiram Drosser.
Twenty-fifth general assembly, 1866-8: Senate, Andrew W. Metcalf ; house, John H. Yager.
Twenty-sixth general assembly, 1868-70 : Senate, Willard C. Flagg; house, Daniel Kerr.
Twenty-seventh general assembly, 1870-2 : Senate, Willard C. Flagg; house, Daniel B. Gillham, A. F. Rodgers and Theodore Miller.
Twenty-eighth general assembly, 1872-4: Senate, John H. Yager; house, Henry Wein- heimer, Benjamin R. Hite and Thomas T. Ramey.
Twenty-ninth general assembly, 1874-6: Senate, William H. Krome; house, Franklin Pike, George A. Smith and George H. Weig- ler.
Thirtieth general assembly, 1876-8: Sen- ate, William H. Krome; house, John S. Dewey, S. A. Buckmaster and Francis M. Pearce.
Thirty-first general assembly, 1878-80: Senate, Alfred J. Parkinson ; house, William R. Prickett, John M. Pearson and John S. Dewey.
Thirty-second general assembly, 1880-2 : Senate, Alfred J. Parkinson ; house, Henry O. Billings, John M. Pearson and Jones Tontz.
Thirty-third general Assembly, 1882-4: Sen- ate, Daniel B. Gillham; house, John M. Pear- son, Henry O. Billings and R. D. Utiger.
Thirty-fourth general assembly, 1884-6: Senate, D. B. Gillham; house, William R. Prickett, William W. Pearce and Jones Tontz. Thirty-fifth general assembly, 1886-8: Senate, W. F. L. Hadley; house, John W. Coppinger, Isaac Cox and John Wedig.
Thirty-sixth general assembly, 1888-90: Senate, W. F. L. Hadley; house, David R. Sparks, Thomas T. Ramey and Henry H. Padon.
Thirty-seventh general assembly, 1890-2: Senate, John W. Coppinger; house, Henry C. Picker, William H. Faires and William Mc- Kittrick.
Thirty-eighth general assembly, 1892-4: Senate, John W. Coppinger (president pro tem) ; house, Michael J. Gill, Conrad A. Am- brosius and Thomas T. Ramey.
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Thirty-ninth general assembly, 1894-6: Sen- ate, Charles A. Herb (died in office) ; house, Thomas P. McFee.
Fortieth general assembly, 1896-8-Senate, David R. Sparks ; house (unrepresented).
Forty-first general assembly, 1898-1900: Senate, John J. Brenholt; house, William Mc- Kittrick.
Forty-second general assembly, 1900-2 : Senate, John J. Brenholt (president pro tem) ; house, Louis E. Walter.
Forty-third general assembly, 1902-4: Sen- ate, Louis E. Walter, house, William Mont- gomery.
Forty-fourth general assembly, 1904-6: Senate, Louis E. Walter; house, William Montgomery and Amos E. Benbow.
Forty-fifth general assembly, 1906-8: Sen- ate, George M. McCormick; house, William Montgomery (died in office), and Michael S. Link.
Forty-sixth general assembly, 1908-10: Senate, George M. McCormick ; house, Joseph G. Bardill, Norman G. Flagg and M. S. Link (seat unsuccessfully contested by J. T. Calla- han).
Forty-seventh general assembly, 1910-12: Senate, Edmund Beall; house, Norman G. Flagg, Jos. G. Bardill and William Dickman (seat unsuccessfully contested by J. P. Thomas).
JUDGE JOHN Y. SAWYER
One of the notable men of the early days of the county was Judge John York Sawyer, who, as lawyer, judge, member of legislature, schoolmaster and editor was a prominent fig- ure. He was born at Reading, Vermont, March 7, 1788 son of Benjamin and Sally York Sawyer. He studied law with Judge Aiken of Windsor, but his legal education was interrupted by the War of 1812 in which he served as ensign and lieutenant of the Thirty- first Infantry, and acting judge advocate. After the war he was admitted to the bar and
in 1816 moved to Illinois and located at Ed- wardsville in the practice of his profession. He became successively justice of the peace, judge of probate, recorder of deeds and in 1824 was elected by the legislature judge of the First Judicial circuit, an office he filled with credit until the legislature repealed the circuit court system in 1826. Judge Sawyer then moved to Wisconsin where he remained a short time and then returned to Edwards- ville where he engaged for a short time in teaching school. He was elected to the legis- lature in 1830-2. He established the Illinois Ploughboy in 1830 and later combined it with the Illinois Advocate which he purchased. In 1832 Mr. Sawyer was elected state printer by the legislature and removed the Advocate to Vandalia, then the capital. He died March 18, 1836, aged forty-eight years. He was an older brother of Hon. S. T. Sawyer of Alton.
CYRUS EDWARDS
Cyrus Edwards was a member of the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth and Twentieth assemblies, serving in both senate and house. He was one of the most distinguished men connected with the history of Madison county.
Mr. Edwards was a native of Montgomery county, Maryland, and was born June 17, 1793. He was the ninth of fourteen children born to his parents, Benjamin and Margaret Beall Edwards and was a younger brother of Ninian Edwards, territorial and state gover- nor. The Edwards family removed to Ken- tucky in 1800 where the elder brother had preceded them six years earlier. Cyrus Ed- wards was educated mainly at a private acad- emy and at the age of nineteen began the study of law with his brother, Presly Edwards. He was admitted to the bar at Kaskaskia, Illinois, in 1815. He then located at Potosi, Missouri, and began the practice of law, but in 1819 re- turned to his former home in Elkton, Ken- tucky, where he was married to Miss Nancy Reed, a beautiful and accomplished young
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woman then in her sixteenth year. He re- mained in Kentucky and Missouri until 1829, when he removed with his wife and five chil- dren to Edwardsville, Illinois, named after his brother. He served in the legislature from 1832 to 1840; in 1838 was the Whig candidate for governor and was defeated by Thomas Carlin by the small margin of 996 votes. This was the nearest the Whigs ever came to carrying Illinois. Edwards was defeated by illegal votes cast by foreign laborers on the Illinois and Michigan canal. He was twice the minority candidate of his party for United States senator, in the legislature. He did not reenter public life until 1847, when he was a member of the constitutional convention. After a period of retirement on his estate at Woodland, near Upper Alton, he was again induced to become a candidate for the legisla- ture, and was elected on the Republican ticket. This was his closing public service. Only the fact of his belonging to the minority party prevented his receiving the highest honors the state could bestow.
Mr. Edwards was a warm friend of public education. He was long interested in Shurt- leff College, made it a donation of lands valued at $10,000, and was for thirty-five years chair- man of its board of trustees. In the legisla- ture he gave special attention to the interests of educational and charitable institutions and was greatly instrumental in establishing the first Normal school at Normal, Illinois. He was ever a firm believer in Christian doctrine and in his eighty-second year confirmed his faith by uniting with the Baptist church of Upper Alton. In 1852 he received the honor- ary degree of LL. D. from Shurtleff College, Mr. Edwards' first wife died in 1834. She was the mother of eight children, none of whom survive but have left numerous de- scendants. In 1837 he married Miss Sophia Loomis, a daughter of Rev. Hubbel Loomis and a sister of the famous astronomer and mathematician, Professor Elias Loomis, of
Yale College. By his second wife he had four children, three of whom survive: Mrs. Mary Beall Hopkins, of Alton; Mrs. Margaret G. Lea, of Atchison, Kansas, and William Wirt Edwards, of Jerseyville, Illinois.
In person Mr. Edwards was of command- ing and dignified presence, six feet two inches tall, and of genial personality. He lived to a good old age and left behind him a record of distinguished service and of philanthropic en- deavor. He was one of the grand characters that made Madison county famous, for all history is but the biography of the great men who made its several epochs eventful.
Joseph Conway was a prominent man in the early history of the county. He was a Sena- tor in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Assemblies. In 1834 he received in- ducements to remove to the newly organized county of Rock Island and thereupon trans- ferred his residence and disappears from the annals of Madison, but had a long and honored career as a citizen and official of Rock Island.
LINCOLN AND GILLESPIE
Joseph Gillespie, the eminent jurist and statesman, the friend and associate of Abra- ham Lincoln, had a long and honorable career in the legislature from this county, as shown in the above record. He was a Whig in poli- tics and subsequently a Republican. He was a candidate for reelection to the senate of the Twenty-first assembly, but was defeated by Col. S. A. Buckmaster in a contest which had national significance. It was the memorable campaign of 1858 which Lincoln and Douglas made famous by their joint debates in their contest for United States senator. Their cam- paign was for the control of the legislature, and each of the two great disputants took a keen interest in the result in every senatorial district. Before recounting the connection of Madison county with this campaign I wish to quote, as an introduction, a tribute to Judge
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
Gillespie by Hon. E. B. Washburne in his book, "Sketch of Governor Coles," published in 1882. It bears the following dedication :
"TO THE HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE,
One of the connecting links between the earlier and later Illinois, who in his career as a lawyer, a magistrate and a citizen, has illustrated the history of Illinois for more than half a century, this paper is dedicated, as a slight token of the profound re- spect and high esteem in which he is held by the Writer."
Lincoln has been ably portrayed in number- less biographies as the ideal patriot and states- man; the great emancipator, the vivifier of the constitution and the savior of the Union, but little has been written of him as the keen, sa- gacious, practical politician, and yet he was one of the most adroit politicians in the land. His finger was ever on the pulse of the people. He knew when the body politic needed a stimulant and when a febrifuge. An interest- ing instance of his political painstaking is fur- nished in two letters written to Judge Gilles- pie during the campaign of 1858. Mr. Lin- coln had been nominated for United States senator by the Republican convention that met at Springfield January 16, 1858. Of course he was naturally desirous of being elected. His nomination was only a recommendation and his success depended not on the popular vote, but on securing the election of a majority of the Republican members of the Legislature. This fact explains the situation under which the appended letters were written :
SPRINGFIELD, July 16, 1858.
HON. JOSEPH GILLESPIE :- My dear sir: I write this to say that from the specimens of Douglas Democracy we occasionally see here from Madison, we learn that they are making very confident calcula- tions of beating you and your friends for the house in that county. They offer to bet upon it; Billings and Job have been up here and were each, as I learn, talking largely about it. If they do so it will be only by carrying the Fillmore vote of 1856. Very differ- ently from what they seem to be doing in the other part. Below is the vote of your district in 1856:
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