USA > Illinois > Madison County > Centennial history of Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912, Volume I > Part 37
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HISTORY OF MADISON COUNTY
ary, 1809, when with Father Joseph he re- beginning of the Trappists in Illinois, Father turned to Casey Creek, Kentucky. Shortly Urbain gave later on the name of "Our Lady of Bon Secours." after the major part of the community left Kentucky for St. Louis, Father Urbain re- "'Shortly after their arrival at Monks' mound, the Trappists had to suffer from a very malignant fever, the fatigue and hard- ships of their first installation, and usually a corrupted water-the only one they could drink and use for their cooking-having sick- ened them all. At their door was flowing a little river, so full of fish that many of them, dead, were floating upon the water. Such un- healthy water the Trappists drank; they had not time to dig a well. Long before several Indian tribes having tried to settle there were, for these reasons, obliged to leave. Father Urbain fell sick like the others. The soil, at first tilled and sown, was abandoned for ab- solute want of work. At last they could dig a well which provided them with excellent wa- ter. A good Catholic of Cahokia came to their assistance, and soon the community was on foot. Only one religious had died so far. maining with four brothers to settle up some business. He left six months later and with three of his brothers and six children, three of whom were negroes, went to Florissant, Missouri, where he arrived November 2, 1809. This place not proving convenient Fa- ther Urbain resolved to settle on the lands pre- viously offered him by M. Jarrot on the other side of the Mississippi, where he repaired with his community. On the first days of 1810 he bought on the Looking Glass prairie the two highest of the forty ramparts which formed the necropole of the Indians (this place was most probably the great burying ground of the Indian tribes under preceding ages). When digging the ground to lay the founda- tions of their homes, the religious Trappists found many bones, idols, arms and materials of war, and many other Indian antiquities. These elevations were generally called ram- parts, and the highest of them still has the name Rampart of the Monks, or Monks' Mound. The Indians had erected these gigan- tic monuments, pyramid-like (not square, however, and built with stones and brick, like the pyramids of Egypt), but with ground purposely carried and heaped up on a circular basis of 160 feet, and reaching a height of more than 100 feet.
" 'The Trappists having bought these mounds, they erected on them twenty small structures of various kinds. Their inten- tion was to build upon the highest mound an abbey near the highway, a few miles from St. Louis. The highest and largest of these little buildings, in the middle of the others, was the church; another the Chapter room; another the Refectory, etc. Each was large enough to contain them all. Seen from a short distance these dwellings of Monks' mound looked like a little village or camp of travellers. To this
" 'The first difficulties had not depressed the courage of the Trappists. They were ready to suffer much more for the glory of God and the welfare of their adopted country. But another difficulty presented itself. Father Ur- bain had some doubts about the titles of the lands he had bought in Illinois. The govern- mient might contest them and make the Trap- pists lose the results of all their labors, to- gether with their hopes for the future. He then intended to have the titles of ownership of the 400 acres he then possessed ratified by the two houses of the next congress, at the same time he would try and secure the same ratification and sanction for 4,000 acres addi- tional he intended to buy in the same neigh- borhood. When congress met he had no trouble in obtaining the ratification and sanc- tion of the 400 acres actually in his possession, but, in spite of all his efforts and many sacri- fices (Father Urbain was obliged to remain a long time in Washington without any other
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resources than the public charity), he could never obtain the hope of similar action for the 4,000 acres he intended to buy (owing to op- posing landed interests). From Washington, Father Urbain returned to "Our Lady of Bon Secours" (Monks' Mound) and found the .majority of his religious in good health and very busy with their plantation. The rough buildings had been somewhat improved. All from the superior of the colony to the last head of cattle had much to do. Father Ur- bain's attention, however, was directed to the surrounding population which, he said, was in a deplorable moral condition. This in a letter dated April 28, 1810. There was only one Catholic priest-Rev. Rogation Olivier-who resided at Prairie du Chien and attended Kas- kaskia, Cahokia, St. Louis and St. Genevieve. For fourteen years he was the only priest in that country. To instruct and evangelize these communities he sent two assistants- Father Joseph and Father Bernard, a Cana- dian, whom he brought with him from New York to Casey Creek. Father Bernard had for his task St. Louis and the two borders of the Mississippi, but being old already and ex- hausted by many previous labors, he soon succumbed, probably in February, 18II. Father Joseph was intrepid. [His name was Jean Pierre Dunand, born in France in 1774; grenadier in the French arms during the great Revolution. He was one day ordered to shoot a priest. He refused to obey and, leaving the army, became a Trappist relig- ious.] He went farther into the west be- yond the great river, baptizing, evangelizing, visiting the sick, burying the dead, etc. He went through almost the whole country with-
out a stop, traveling day and night, correct- ing abuses and converting the sinners. At the death of Father Bernard, Father Urbain, to- gether with the care of his community, took upon himself the task left by his departed brothers, and showed the greatest energy and most admirable zeal in continuing this most excellent work of civilization.
"'About the middle of the year 1812 a ter- rible calamity befell the community at Monks' Mound. A very pernicious fever had for two years, and mostly during the summer of 1811, devastated the whole country, At the begin- ning of the following year it was the turn of the Trappists at Monks' Mound. In a very short time all of them were unable to do any- thing, even to help one another. The inten- sity of the scourge decreased during the au- tumn, but the following year brought it back with renewed severity. The most necessary things became out of price ; many people who could not care for their children sent them to Father Urbain, who could not refuse them. All sacred vessels, except a single one, were sold one after another. Religious and broth- ers fell victims of the epidemic. There was scarcely left a sufficient number to bury the dead. More than half the community had disappeared, and those who were still alive were so weak it seemed impossible for them to stand any longer against such unhealthful conditions. Having sold the best they could their property and materials, in March, 1813, the Trappists left Monks' Mound, going to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and later returning to France. A new colony of Trappists came to America in 1848 and founded the colony of Gethsemane, Kentucky.' "
CHAPTER XXXIV
LITERATURE AND AUTHORS
LUCY LARCOM-MINISTERS IN THE LITERARY FIELD-"FROM TIMBER TO TOWN"-COUNTY HISTORICAL WORKS-THE HAPGOODS AND A. F. BANDELIER-DR. J. C. CLARKE-OTHER MADISON COUNTY AUTHORS.
Madison county has been a prolific liter- ary field from an early date. A favorite Illi- nois writer was John Russell of Bluffdale. He did not remain permanently a resident of this county, but was a Professor in Alton Seminary, later Shurtleff College, when the institution was first located in Upper Alton, in association with the president, Rev. Hub- bel Loomis, Professor Russell's stories, sketches and miscellaneous writings were nu- merous and widely copied. Many of them appeared originally in Madison county pa- pers. "The Legend of the Piasa," "The Emi- grant," and "The Worm in the Still," were perhaps the most generally known.
Rev. John M. Peck, the famous Baptist preacher and author, was never properly a resident of this county, although he spent so much time here he was thoroughly familiar with it and its people. He lived at Rock Spring, just over the line in St. Clair county, and his early reminiscences of Madison, as recorded in his "Gazetteer of Illinois," are in- valuable. Among other enterprises he pub- lished in Alton the Western Pioncer and Baptist Standard Bearer, from 1836 to 1839. in association with Rev. E. Rodgers and Rev. Washington Leverett. He continued a pro- lific contributor to the Madison county press as late as the middle of the fifties.
The Lovejoy tragedy was the occasion for
the publication of several books. Among them were "Alton Riots," by Rev. Edward Beecher; "Life of E. P. Lovejoy," by his brothers; "The Martyrdom of Lovejoy," by Henry Tanner and "Alton Trials," by W. S. Lincoln. All of these, except Mr. Tanner's volume, were published in the year following the tragedy. Mr. Tanner's was published nearly forty years later. A few years ago Rev. Dr. M. Jameson, formerly pastor of the First Baptist church of Alton, published a book entitled "Lovejoy as a Christian."
LUCY LARCOM
Lucy Larcom, a poetess of national reputa- tion, removed with relatives from Massachu- setts at an early day and settled on Looking Glass prairie, in this county, where she taught school while still a young girl. Subsequently she taught the Summerfield school, four miles from Alton, on the Grafton road, making her home in the family of Mr. and Mrs. D. A. . Spaulding. Later she studied at Monticello Seminary and graduated there in the class of 1852. Probably her latest work, published in the early eighties, gives various sketches of life in Madison county in pioneer days and also contains her autobiography. Soon after graduation she returned to the east and con- tinued the distinguished literary career she
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had already commenced in Madison county. She died in 1893.
MINISTERS IN THE LITERARY FIELD
An old-time resident of the Wood River country was a frontier Baptist clergyman, the Rev. John Brown. In addition to other gifts he was possessed of the "divine afflatus" and exercised it in the composition of hymns and spiritual songs founded on Scripture texts. He published a hymnal of several hundred pages for use in the churches. A large por- tion of the hymns were original and the re- mainder a compilation from other hymnolo- gists. The book was printed at the Alton Courier office in 1856. As a sample of its con- tents the writer recalls two isolated verses, the first from a hymn having for its subject the Fall of Jericho. The opening lines were :
"When Israel came to Jericho, Began to pray and shout and blow, The towering walls came tumbling down Like thunder, flat upon the ground."
Another hymn took for its subject "The Woman of Samaria." One of the verses ran thus :
"And when she came and when she got A drink, her heart was flaming : And she forgot her water pot, And went to town proclaiming."
The Rev. Dr. S. Y. McMasters, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal church prior to the war, an eminent divine and accomplished scholar as well, published several works of a theological or literary character during his residence in Alton.
Rev. Dr. Jas. B. Logan, pastor of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church, Alton (since the reunion, the Twelfth Street Presbyterian), was also editor of the Cumberland Presbyte- rian and other religious papers. He was a
prolific writer and published a number of volumes.
Rev. Dr. A. T. Norton, who came to Illi- nois in 1835 and resided in Alton until his death in 1884, was pastor of the First Presby- terian church from 1839 to 1858, and was edi- tor of the Presbytery Reporter for many years. In 1879 he published a "History of Presbyterianism in Illinois," a volume of some 700 pages. Dr. Norton, as superinten- dent of Home Missions, organized more churches in the west than any other minister of his denomination. He was known as "the Father of Presbyterianism" in Illinois. In addition to his historical writings he was the author of various pamphlets and published sermons.
"FROM TIMBER TO TOWN"
Mrs. T. E. Perley, of Alton, a lady of rare literary accomplishments, a descendant of one of the earliest pioneer families of southern Illinois, has published a volume illustrative of the modes of life and manner of speech of the pioneers, with a beautiful love story running through it like a thread of gold. It is written in the dialect of the early days and is invalu- able historically, as the only book which pre- serves and hands down to posterity an idiom that has vanished as utterly as the tongue of the aborigines. As a vivid portrayal of the lives and peculiarities of speech of the pio- neers it has no rival and is of unquestioned authority. The book is entitled "From Tim- ber of Town." The dialect so skillfully repro- duced is really that of the Appalachian moun- taineers, the early American settlers of Illi- nois being mainly from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas. During the war of 1812 Mrs. Perley's mother, then a young girl, was among those who sought refuge from the Indians in Fort Russell.
"A Pioneer College" is the title of a book written by Rev. Dr. A. K. deBlois while presi- dent of Shurtleff, and is a history of that
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school of the prophets, with references to many of its students who won distinction in active life.
COUNTY HISTORICAL WORKS
The Madison County Gazetteer and Direc- tory is the most valuable volume extant in bringing the history of the county up to the time of its publication in 1866. The publisher was J. T. Hair, but the work was evidently mainly edited by the late Hon. W. C. Flagg. Following in this historical line was the "Il- lustrated Encyclopedia of Madison County" by Brink, McCormick & Company, published in 1873, and followed in 1882 by W. R. Brink's "History of Madison County," the most complete and detailed work of the kind ever published. It is both historical and bio- graphical. A biographical work, relating in part to Madison county citizens, appeared in 1894, published by the Biographical Company of Chicago.
THE HAPGOODS AND A. F. BANDELIER
Norman and Hutchins Hapgood, sons of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Hapgood, late of Alton, are two authors of national reputation. Nor- man Hapgood was born in Chicago, March 28, 1868, and Hutchins May 21, 1869. Both spent their boyhood and youth in Alton which was the residence of their parents from 1873 to 1909. Norman graduated from Alton high school. A third son, William Powers, was born in Chicago May 26, 1872. All were pre- pared for college in Alton and all subse- quently graduated from Harvard University. Norman likewise graduated from the Har- vard Law School, and in 1903 became editor of Collier's Weekly, one of the most influen- tial high class journals in the country. As a publicist, biographer and essayist he has no superior among American writers. Since his college days he has spent much time abroad, and has contributed many articles to British Reviews. His leading books are: "Daniel Webster," "Literary Statesmen and Others,"
"George Washington," "Abraham Lincoln," "The Stage in America," and "Industry and Progress."
Hutchins Hapgood is equally successful in a somewhat different field of literature. After graduating from Harvard he made a trip around the world and spent two years at the Universities of Berlin and Strassburg. He made a special study of Sociology. He is the author of the following books which have had a wide vogue: "The Spirit of the Ghetto," "The Autobiography of a Thief," "The Spirit of Labor," "The Anarchist Woman," "Types from City Streets" and "Paul Jones." These are in addition to contributions to leading magazines. Mrs. Hutchins Hapgood (Neith Boice) is a well-known and successful novel- ist. She is author of "The Forerunner," "The Revel," "The Eternal Spring," "The Folly of Others" and many short stories.
A. F. Bandelier, a native of Highland, is known throughout this and foreign countries as one of the greatest scientists and archaeolo- gists in America. His research work in New Mexico, Arizona and Old Mexico, for the Smithsonian Institution, is of incalculable value. His scientific reports and publications throw a flood of light on the aboriginal races of America.
A poetess of lesser fame than Lucy Lar- com, but yet a gifted writer of melodious verse, was Mary E. (Gary) Benson, whose lines found wide publication and were much admired.
DR. J. C. CLARKE
Several learned books have been written by Rev. Dr. J. C. Clarke, of Upper Alton, and received with great favor in scholarly circles. They include :
In 1884: "Origin and Varieties of the Shemiic Alphabet ;" twenty pages of illustra- tions.
In 1876: "The Pioneer Baptist States- man." It demonstrates, from official records
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of Rhode Island, that the government of Rhode Island was initiated and organized at Newport by Dr. John Clarke and his asso- ciates, and not at Providence by Roger Will- iams; that Newport maintains its leadership, and that Dr. Clarke obtained from Charles II the first charter that granted complete liberty of religion.
1890: "Man and His Divine Father." The first one hundred pages are a demonstration of the facts and principles of rational psychology. The rest of the book (260 pages) is a demonstration that the same philosophy is the substance of the Bible.
Dr. Clarke has also in type, but not pub- lished : "The Apocalypses: The Beginning, Body, and Symbols of Christianity." This is a demonstration from Jewish literature that everything in the New Testament, except the personality and special work of Jesus, was in substance formulated previous to Jesus; and that almost everything puzzling and mysteri- ous in the New Testament, can be explained by, and paralleled, by Jewish literature.
OTHER MADISON COUNTY AUTHORS
Following is a list of books by Madison county authors published by Melling & Gas- kins, of Alton: "Poems of the Piasa" (illus- trated), by F. C. Riehl; "Runes of the Red Race," poems (illustrated), by F. C. Riehl ; "Life of Fr. Ostrop" (illustrated) by Rev. B. Hartmann; "On the Heights, poems (illus- trated), by Miss Anna Riehl; "Golden Jubilee St. Mary's Church" (illustrated), by Rev. Fr. Meckel; "Harriet Newell Haskell" (illus- trated), by Emily G. Alden; "Poems by Emily Gillmore Alden ;" "Semi-Centennial History of Alpha Zeta Society of Shurt- leff College" (illustrated), compiled by W. W. Greene; "Manual of Field Service, or the Essentials of the Art of War" (illus- trated), by Capt. W. A. Campbell, U. S. Army ; "Sermons," by Rev. F. S. Eitelgeorge.
F. C. Riehl is a poet who holds an impor- tant place among local authors and his metri- Vol. I-17
cal talent is of a high order. In his book of poems he sings the songs and recalls the leg- ends of the vanished races who once inhabited Madison county. This legendary lore is all we know of their history, save what the archæologist learns from the implements, pot- tery and relics he exhumes from their tombs.
Miss Emily G. Alden, whose poetical gifts are well known to this generation and are universally admired, was for forty years an instructor in Monticello Seminary. She has now retired from active labor and is spending the evening of her days with relatives in Boston.
The poems of Miss Anna Riehl are mainly. of a religious character and possess much merit. She is now the wife of a missionary in Korea.
Hon. William McAdams, the famous geolo- gist and archæologist, accomplished more than any other scientist in unveiling the secrets of prehistoric Madison. He explored many In- dian mounds in the Illinois valley and col- lected more relics in Madison, Jersey and Cal- houn counties than any other antiquarian. These three counties are richer in archeologi- cal remains than any others in the state. His research work, also, in developing the eco- nomic geology of the county, was invaluable in a material sense. One of his collections of Indian pottery, implements and weapons is now in the museum of Monticello Seminary and another in the State Museum at Spring- field. Mr. McAdams' illustrated book, "Rel- ics of Vanished Races," is a prized contribu- tion to the science of archaeology and of pecu- liar local interest to the people of Madison county. The author's tragic death by drown- ing in the Mississippi, a few years ago, in the prime of his usefulness, was an irreparable loss to the cause of antiquarian research.
This list of books and authors is incomplete, but gives some insight into the progress of literature in Madison county, in history, poetry, biography, archæology, theology, fic- tion and science.
CHAPTER XXXV THE GERMANIC ELEMENT
ITS INFLUENCE ON THE PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTY.
By J. S. Hoerner
Speaking of the early German immigration to Madison county and its results in our his- tory, we know that conditions regarding the characteristics and influence of this element in the upbuilding and life of this county are in all respects the same here as elsewhere in this country wherever the Germans are repre- sented. Consequently an all-embracing treat- ment of the subject may be permissible as best covering the purpose of this chapter for Madison county as well.
It is to be understood that the German ele- ment is considered to consist of all those com- ing from Europe where German is their language, since the characteristics of all are so similar in consequence of their educational systems and literature. They were either from the present German Empire, formerly divided into numerous independent kingdoms, and dukedoms, as well as from Austria, Rus- sia, and Switzerland. Their immigration to this country during a period of more than two hundred years was due to the horrors of war, religious troubles, despotic rule and political changes. They came to this country to escape the oppressive conditions of the old world. They did not want to start or create a new Germany, but to improve, above all, their material welfare and to throw into the scale all the good that was in them-their physical powers and abilities in human activi- ties, the riches of their mental world and
ideals of life, together with the advantages and good they found here-thus gradually becoming, through the crucible of the Ameri- can nation in the assimilation of all elements, a part of the American nationality, soon be- coming accustomed to existing conditions, to the benefit of the country in fact, invariably and naturally stamping upon it, socially and politically, their high civilization and culture.
The Germans came here to stay, unlike some other elements which remain only tem- porarily, returning again to their native coun- try after having earned and accumulated a desired sum of money. There is the marked distinction that Germans are not in the class of undesirable immigrants who, mostly in late years, have been coming to this country, be- ing below the desired cultural and social standard, unable to understand and adapt themselves to our conditions and institutions, used to extremely low standards of living, without real moral sense, bare of human dig- nity, and dangerous to the progress of our people.
It can be truthfully claimed that the native born owe much to the characteristic spirit and ethics of the German element-its well-known integrity, economy, frugality, thoroughness, perseverance, high sense of honor, virtuous family life, love for law and order, liberty and tolerance, intense patriotism, high ideals for the beauties of life, for music, art and
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flowers, and that no element of the American people has devoted itself more earnestly and persistently to its mission for the benefit of all.
Considering that from the beginning, more than two hundred years ago, the German ele- ment constituted so valuable an ingredient of the American composite life, having taken a very prominent part in all respects, we may be permitted to refer here briefly to but a few of the more important historical facts: That Francis Daniel Pastorius, the founder of Ger- mantown, Pennsylvania, (now a part of Phil- adelphia), was one of the signers of the first protest in America against the buying and selling of slaves; that Frederick A. Muehlen- berg was the first speaker of the first house of representatives in Washington's first administration ; that Germans were among the signers of the Declaration of Independence and aided in the framing of the constitution ; that Baron Steuben, one of Frederick the Great's officers, was the organizer and dis- ciplinarian of the Revolutionary army, and General Herkimer one of the many successful German Revolutionary officers and soldiers.
The Germans still hold the second place among the racial elements of the American people, those from the British empire retain- ing the primacy in numbers. Socially as well as politically, the Teutonic blood in the Amer- ican strain has left its mark. In all great questions of this country the Germans were almost unanimously on the liberal and pro- gressive side. The first protest against slavery was made by Germans in Pennsylvania as far back as 1688, and when this institution threat- ened to break up the country by Civil war there were no more bitter enemies of slavery and no truer patriotic Union men than the Germans, evincing their intense patriotism for their adopted country by rallying in the spirit of "furor Teutonicus" into the Union army, readily making good soldiers and officers be- cause they had experienced military service
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