USA > Illinois > Edwards County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
USA > Illinois > Wabash County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
USA > Illinois > Lawrence County > Combined history of Edwards, Lawrence and Wabash counties, Illinois. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 12
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The grading of near twenty miles of road was com- pleted in 1839, and then the work was dropped. On the third of June, 1849, under act of the Legislature of the preceding session, the roadway was sold to the high- est bidder. General William Pickering bought it for the insignificant sum of three hundred dollars. It was not until 1871 that the property again attracted atten- tion, and became the route of the present Air Line. In February, 1872, [ the first train crossed the Little Wabash into Edwards county, and a few weeks after- wards they were running into Albion, the county seat.
W hat wonderful progress has been made in railroad fa- cilities and transportation since that time. In all parts of our land may now be heard the shrill whistle of the iron horse, but Illinois, the great Prairie State, leads the van in the number of miles of rail in this age of improvement.
Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific, more widely and com- mouly known as "The Wabash," has a greater number of miles of track in these counties than any other railroad. Through a system of consolidation, unpar- alleled in America, it has become the giant among railroads. This consolidation, it is estimated, has added over $50,000,000 to the value of bonds and shares of the various companies now incorporated in the Wabash sys- tem. The road takes its title from the river which forms the eastern boundaries of Lawrence and Wabash counties. The road extended through the above counties is now a part of the great Wabash system The follow ing is a brief history of this branch of the road. The northern portion was first known as the Paris and Dan- ville road, and was chartered March 23, 1869. It was put in operation from Danville to Paris, Illinois, in Sep- tember, 1872; from Danville to Robinson, August, 1875; from Danville to the Ohio and Mississippi junc- tion, May, 1876. It commenced running passenger trains to Vincennes, over the O. & M. railway track in May, 1876; commenced running freight trains from the
49
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
O. & M. Junction to St. Francisville, over the St. F. & L. road, in April 1880, and commenced running all trains into Danville, over the Wabash railway track, from Tilton Junction to Danville, August 1, 1879. In August, 1875, a receiver was appointed, it operating un- der said management until June, 1879. October of the same year it passed into the hands of the Danville and Southwestern Railroad Company. The southern portion of this branch of the road, now in the hands of the Wa-' bash, was originally called the Cairo and Vincennes rail- road, and was organized under an act of the General Assembly of Illinois, approved March 6, 1867, which was amended by act approved February 9, 1869, grant- ing further powers to the corporation. The main line from Cairo to Vincennes, was opened for business De- cember 26, 1872. It was subsequently sold-1880. A traffic agreement between the purchasers and the D. & S. and St. F. & L. railways, was entered into May 1, 1880, for operation of the St. F. & L. railroad, extending from St. Francisville, on the C. & V. road, to a junction with the D. & S. railway at Lawrenceville, a distance of ten miles. This was the status of these roads until within the last eighteen months the roads have been consolidated, and become a part of the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific system. In the three counties it con- tains more than fifty miles of main track, passing through the towns of Grayville, Mt. Carmel, St. Francisville and Lawrenceville, besides several smaller towns.
Ohio and Mississippi .- This road extends from east to west nearly on an air line through the central part of Lawrence county, passing through Allison, Lawrence, Bridgeport and Christy township. The principal stations are Summer and Bridgeport.
In 1848 the Legislature, of Indiana, passed an act in- corporating the Ohio and Mississippi railroad, empow- ering it to locate, construct and maintain a road leading from Lawrenceburg, on the Ohio river, to Vincennes, on the Wabash, and contemplating an eastern extension to Cincinnati, Ohio, and a western arm to East St. Louis, as soon as the States of Ohio and Illinois would grant the right-of-way. In 1849 the Ohio Legislature, and in 1851 the Illinois Legislature extended the contemplated aid by acts of their respective bodies, and in 1857, the entire length of the road was opened through for busi- ness.
The panic of that year greatly affected the pros- perity of the road, so that in 1858, creditors brought suit for foreclosure of mortgages and sale of property, pending which, a receiver was appointed, under whose directions the road was maintained until its reorganiza- tion was effected. Parties desiring the establishment of the road on a firmer basis bought largely of its stock, organized a new company, and held control until 1874, when it again became embarrassed, and after much liti- gation, was placed in the hands of a receiver, John King, Jr., vice president of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, acting in that capacity: Under its present management, the road has been put in excellent condi- 7
tion ; the credit of the company has been maintained, and the floating debt has been materially reduced.
Louisville, Evansville and St. Louis .- This railroad ex- tends across the counties of Edwards and Wabash, nearly central from west to east, the principal stations being Albion, Browns, (cr.) Bellmont, and Mt. Carmel. The length of track in the counties is estimated to be, includ- ing sidings, about twenty-five miles. It is the consoli- dation of two divisions of road, known as the Indiana and Illinois divisions. This was among the first con- templated railroads in the State of Illinois, and first bore the name of the Alton, Mt. Carmel, and New Al- bany Railroad Company. It first presented itself in 1857, and the county of Edwards took steps toward ap- propriating their swamp lands to aid in constructing the road. About this time a portion of the road-bed was made, but for the lack of funds and co-operation, on the part of the company, the road was abandoned. It is said that General Pickering came into possession of it at one time for the sum of a few hundred dollars.
The Indiana division was organized under the general laws of the State, February 4, 1869, by the name of the New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railroad Company, and on the first of July, 1870, its name was changed to the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Air Line Railroad Company. The Illinois division was organized July 14, 1869, under a special act, and known as the St. Louis, Mt. Carmel and New Albany Railroad Com- pany. Said two companies were consolidated July 24, 1872, under the name of the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Railroad Company. Both divisions were subsequently sold under foreclosure. They again reor- ganized, the Indiana division in February, 1877, under the name of the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Railroad Company. The Illinois division reorganized in January, 1873, by the name of the St. Louis, Mt. Carmel and New Albany Railroad Company. August 15, 1878, these companies again consolidated under the name of the Louisville, New Albany and St. Louis Rail- road Company, At this writing it is called the Louis- ville, Evansville and St. Louis Railroad Company, which name it assumed about eighteen months ago, but is more familiarly known as the Air Line Railway.
Peoria, Decatur and Evansville .- This road extends through Edwards county from north to south, passing through the towns of West Salem, Browns and Grayville. It has a length of track in the county, including switches, of about twenty-eight miles.
The history of this road is briefly as follows : About the year 1867, the Pekin, Lincoln and Decatur Railroad Company was organized. A preliminary survey was at once made, and in 1869, the line was located, and a contract made for its construction. Work was com- menced late in 1869, and the line from Pekin to Decatur completed by October, 1871, at which time the Toledo, Wabach and Western Railway Company commenced to operate it under a lease. August 1, 1876, it was taken out of the bands of the above road, on account of
50
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
the non payment of interest, and the corporation name changed to Pekin, Lincoln and Decatur Railroad Com- pany. In September, 1879, the company made arrange- ments to run into Peoria over the Peoria, Pekin and Jacksonville railroad track. November 17, 1879, it consolidated with the Decatur, Mattoon and Southern Railroad Company. In February, 1880, it leased the Grayville and Mattoon road, and the July following bought said road. Since which time the line has been completed to Evansville, Indiana. Much of the road has recently been supplied with new steel rail, and all the equipments are of a character to indicate that it is in a prosperous condition, and that the managers propose to make and maintain it a first-class road.
-
CHAPTER IV.
-
GEOLOGY .*
N account of the similarity of the general for- mations and characteristics of Edwards and Wabash counties, we have seen fit to class them together in their surface descrip- tion and economical geology. They lie contiguous to each other, and are among the smallest counties in the State, their aggregate area being about four hundred and twenty-five square miles. Both counties,' originally. were covered with heavy timber, with small prairies interspersed within their territory. The surface of the uplands is generally rolling, but there are some limited areas of flat timbered lands above the river bottoms, which form what may be termed terrace lands.
EDWARDS COUNTY.
The outcrops of rock in this county are few and wide- ly separated. The prevailing rocks are the sand-tones and shales intervening between coal strata Nos. 11 and 13. At the railroad cut near Albion, and on the small creek that intersects the town, the following beds may . be seen :
Feet. Inches. Shale and shsly sandstone with pebbly bed 20 to 25 Sandstone, locally hard and concretionary . 8 to 12
Streak of bituminous shale .0
3
Hard nodular limestone .2
"Shale, with bands of argillaceous iron ore. 4 to 6
Hard sbaly sandstone 3 to 4
The main quarry rock here is concretionary sandstone, and it is sometimes quite hard and affords a very dura- ble material for foundation wall purposes. Above this there are some layers of even bedded sandstone, that when first quarried are of a soft nature, but harden after exposure, and thus become fair building stone.
On the west bank of Bonpas creek, about four miles north of Grayville, the bluff rises to an elevation of about a hundred feet. In this is found a thin vein of
coal at an elevation of about thirty-six feet above the bed of the creek, which is underlaid by sandy shales and sandstone. The coal is about eight inches thick, of good quality, and is underlaid by a light-colored fire-clay The sandstone and shale below this coal are the same as the beds above the fossiliferous shale in the Grayville section, and the fossil-bed of that locality would no doubt be found here a little below the creek bed. The thin vein of coal found here has also been met with in sinking wells in the upper part of the town of Grayville. The same beds outcrop again about a half mile above, and on the same side of the Bonpas. At the base of the bluff there is from ten to twelve feet of blue shales, which passes upwards into a sandy shale and sandstone twenty feet in thickness, with a partial outcrop of thin coal and bituminous shale still higher up. This coal probably corresponds to the ten-inch seam, No. 15, of the Coffee creek section.
A coal vein was opened many years ago on Mr. Nail- or's farm, six miles northwest of Grayville, which was successfully worked for some time, the coal being used to supply the local demand. This is undoubtedly the same vein that is worked southwest of Mount Carmel. It is said to be about thirty inches thick, and the coal is very hard, partaking of the block character.
At the ford, on the little Wabash, north west of Albion, on the S. W. qr. of section 7, may be found an outcrop of this coal associated with the following beds :
Feet. In.
1. Brown ferruginous clay shales 10 to 12
2. Brash coal . 0 10
8. Clay shales 0 8
4. Brash soil 0 10
5. Shale with bands of iron ore. 4
6. Gray sandy shale . 6
7. Iron conglomerate.
1
The shale of No. 5 of the above contains considerable clay iron ore of fair quality, amounting to nearly one- half the thickness of the bed. If the quantity of iron in this shale should prove continuous for some distance into the bluff, it would, perhaps, justify the establishing an iron furnace in the vicinity. About a mile further up the river, at another ford, the same outcropping of coal may be seen. This is found in connection with a thin bed of nodular argillaceous limestone of a light gray color, turning to a yellowish-brown when exposed to the weather.
The following section may be found on the north west qr. of section 22, T. 1 S., R. 10 E, about five miles northwest of Albion.
Feet. In.
Sandy shale and thin-bedded micacious sandstone . 10 to 12
Bituminous shale . 1to 1 6 Nodular argilisceous limestone. 2 to 3
Gray sandy shale with bands of ironstone . 3 to 4
Thin-bedded sandstone has been quarried here for wall purposes, and it has proven to be excellent material for such uses.
On the east side of the town of Albion, at Hartman's mill, a boring for oil was made some years ago. The following is a reported section :
* For much of the data of this chapter we are indebted to the State Geological Report of Professor A. H. Worthen, its editor.
51
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Feet.
Clay and soil
49
Coal .. .
1
Blue shale
.107
The following section at Beal's mill on Blockhouse creek, in the east part of the county, is reported by Prof. Cox :
Feet. In.
Drift .
5
Gray shale with clay iron ore
12
Silicious iron ore . .
1
Blue argillaceous shale .
5
Black bituminous shale
I
6
Impure limestone
0
6
Coal in the bed of the creek
0
8
All the beds represented by the foregoing sections belong between coals Nos. 10 and 13, and do not attain an aggregate thickness to exceed two hundred feet.
WABASH COUNTY.
The geological formations of this county belang to the Quaternary and upper Coal Measures. The former is more fully developed along the bluffs of the Wabash than elsewhere, and consist of the buff and yellow marly sands and clays of the Loess, and a moderate thickness of the gravelly clays of the Drift formation. In the vicinity of Grayville, and in some of the valleys of the smaller streams, stratified clays appear at the lowest levels known, which may belong to an older de posit than the Drift. A heavy bed of this kind is re- ported to have been passed through in boring southwest of Mt. Carmel, but it was found to be overlaid with sandstone, and as no rock of this kind is known in the county of more recent age than the Coal Measures, the theory is placed in the scale of doubt. It is not impro- bable, however, that there are valleys along the Wabash, as well as the Mississippi and Ohio, that were filled, originally, with Tertiary or Cretaceous deposits, some of which still remain, and are now hidden by the more recent accumulations of Loess and Drift. For more than two hundred miles above St. Louis, evidences may be found to verify this theory. Indications of the exis- tence of such beds have been found on the Ohio as far north as Louisville, and on the Mississippi as above stated. The reported sandstone above the clay in the boring for coal, is most probably a Coal Measure bed, and the clay beneath it may be a soft clay shale of the same age.
At Mt. Carmel the loess and drift clays are about thirty feet in thickness, being about the average depth in the vicinity of the river bluff's, while on the uplands, remote from the river, their average thickness is not more than fifteen or twenty feet, and at points, much less. In Edwards county, the Quaternary beds present the same general character, and are considerably thicker in the bluffs on the lower course of the Bonpas, than in the central and western portions of the county, where is found from ten to twenty feet of buff or brownish gravel- ly clays overlying the bed rock. Near the town of
Grayville, the creek banks show outcrops of five to ten feet of stratified clays of various colors, and seemingly derived from the decomposition of the clay shales of the Coal Measures, and above these are found twenty to thirty feet of loess, covering, possibly, a nucleus of gravelly drift clay. , To the north and west the loess is not conspicuous, and in well-digging, the bedrock is found after passing through ten or fifteen feet of brown drift clays.
Coal Measures .- In the bluffs of the Wabash, at Mt. Carmel, there is an outcrop of sandstone forming the lower portion of the bluff, underlaid by a blue clay shale, but partially exposed.
Feet.
Loess and drift clays
. 30
Soft, shaly, micaceous sandstone . 13
Massive sandstone, partly concretionary .20
Blue clay shale, partial exposure 3 to 6
Springs of water issue from the base of this sandstone, indicating the impervious character of the underlying beds. The base of the above section is some fifteen or twenty feet above the low water level of the river, and the intervening beds of which are probably shales, are not exposed. The following table of beds passed through in boring for coal was given to the State Geologist by Mr. J. Zimmerman. The bore was commenced just above the low water level of the river, and about fifteen feet below the base of the foregoing section.
Feet. In.
No. 1. Shale
2
No. 2. Sandstone
2
No. 3. Clay shale 4
No. 4. Sandstone 35
No. 5. Micaceous sandstone 0 10
No. 6. Hard, fine sandstone 4
No. 7. Fire olay ?
No. 8. Coal and bitumiuous shale
0
4
No. 9. Fire clay .
9
No. 10. Argillaceous sandstone.
2
No. 11. Blue shale
1
4
No. 12. Fire clay 3
10
No. 13. Cale. shale and sandstone.
32
No. 14. Calc, shale, with black streaks . 20
No. 15. Blue clay shale 30
No. 16. Blue fire clay
4
No. 17. Coal . 0
No. 18. Fire clay 3
No. 19. Argillaceous limestone 5
No. 20. Hard sandstone, pa-ting .
0
1
No. 21. Hard gray limestone . 2
9
No. 22. Hard gray limestone
1
No. 23. Very hard limestone
No. 24. Calcareous shale
1
No. 25. Band of ironstone
20
9
No. 26. Variegated shale .
No. 27. Hard gray limestone
1
No. 28. Variegated shele .
0
No. 29. Hard gray limestone 2
4
No. 30. Variegated shale. O
3
. No. 31. Hurd gray limestone
8
8
-
180 8
This boring was commenced near the horizon of No. 11 coal, and the beds passed thorough probably extend nearly to No. 7. The following is the report of a well sunk for oil, one mile and a half south west of the court- house, commencing in a creek valley :
1
Shale .
52
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
Feet. In.
No. 1. Soil, clay, etc ..
54
No. 2. Sandstone . 24
No. 3. Clay ? . 45
No. 4. Sandstone 2
No. 5. Bituminous shale . 32
No. 6. Sandstone
1
No. 7. Bituminous shale 10
6
No. 8. Sandstone 2
No. 9. Bituminous shale 5
No. 10. Sandstone . 3
No. 1]. Bituminous shale
4
No. 12. Sandstone .
T
4
Shale and covered slope. 80
Sandstone, solid bed . 30
The sandstone of this section is probably the same strata as that found at St. Francisville, in Lawrence county.
The following beds, one mile and a quarter north of Friendsville, are reported hy the state geologist from memoranda furnished by Mr. J. Zimmerman :
Ft. In.
Soil and clay 18
Impure coal-probably bituminous shale . 2
Clay shale, with iron nodules . 3
Hàrd sandstone . 0
8
Gray sandstone, in even beds, four to sight inches thick 15
Sandy shales 11
Hard saudstone in two layers 2
S
Dark bituminous shale 3
Coal, said to be good
2
The above section. is made from the sinking of Mr. McNair's well. Another well sunk in the same neigh- borhood, after reaching the same strata of coal, a boring of nine feet below the coal was made, when a material of milk-white substance resembling fire-clay was ob- tained.
The following section is reported at Hamiker's old mill on the Bonpas, a little north of west from Allen- dale :
Feet
Soft, thin-bedded sandstone and shales 15
Ferruginous conglomerate 3 to 4
Hard black shale . 2 to 3
No coal is reported as laying beneath.
Since the last report was made by the state geologist a shaft has been sunk about five miles west from Mt. Carmel, on the Air Line railway. The depth of shaft is forty feet, and the thickness of the vein is four feet. Through the kindness of Mr. J. Zimmerman, who is one of the Coal Company and a practical geologist, we are furnished the following interesting facts relating to the coal deposits in Wabash county. He says: "In addition to the coal seam above mentioned, there are others which indicate a possible great future for the mining interests of the county whenever energy, enter- prise and capital shall be directed to their development. An outcrop of twenty inches of coal (one half cannel- splint, the residue cubical), a short distance below the Wabash railway crosing at Sugar creek, thickens up within a half mile westward, to forty-two inches. This seam underlies most of the county, but the dip of rocks being in that vicinity twenty-eight feet per mile south- westward, it will be found only at considerable depths over most of the county. A boring for petroleum, near Mt. Carmel, commenced geologically below both these seams, disclosed at a depth of 420 feet, a seam of three
Drift elsy and soil
8
6
Argillaceous shale
30
Limestone
0
S
Coal
3
The following is reported by Prof. Cox :
"On sec. 5, tp. 10, range 12, there is a bed of light blue clay, very plastic, exposed in the bank of Crawfish creck, as the following section shows :
Ft. In.
Soil, calcareous shale and limestone
16
Coal .
0
8
Blue Clay
4
Sandstone in the bed of the creek
At Mr. Reed's place, on section 8, tp. 1 S., range 12, blue limestone at the foot of the hill, one foot thick, un- derlaid by a thin coal. Bluish 'shale and sandstone is found in the hill, forty feet above. The well at the house passed through soil and drift ten feet, clay shale four feet, sandstone twenty-nine feet.
At Little Rock, on the Wabash, sec. 19, tp. 1 N., range 11 W .:
Ft.
No. 13. Bituminous shale, showing oily soot .
6
No. 14. Sandstone .
13
No. 15. Very hard limestone 24
No. 16. Bitumlnous shale 8
No. 17. Sandstone
2
No. 18. Coal No. 0. 2
No. 19. Limestons 5
No. 20. Shale 3
No. 21. Sandstone 2
No. 22. Mixture of sand and limestone . S
No. 23. Yellow shale
4
No. 24. Sandstone .
. 12
No. 25. Clay shale, with pyrite 12
No. 26. Sandstone . . 15
No. 27. Bituminous shale 8
No. 28. Sandy shale . 70
No. 29. Sandstone
.60
No. 30. Micaclous sandstone
. 10
No. 31. Coal, No. 7. ? .
3
No. 32. Bituminons shale . 12
No. 34. Compact limestone
No. 35. Bituminous shale 7
No. 39. Lime and sandstone 2
No. 40. Bituminous shale 5
482 4
By comparing this section, with that made for the coal, it will be seen that there is a wide discrepancy in the descriptions given of the strata passed through in each. The oil well boring, was sunk to the depth of about seven hundred feet, yet no coal was reported below the three foot seam found at the depth of four hundred and fifty-five feet, which probably represents coal No. 7 or 8 of the general section. The sandstone No. 2 of the oil well boring may be the same as No. 4 in the other, but there is very little correspondence in the lower strata, considering that the distance between the two points is scarcely two miles.
A few miles northeast of Mt. Carmel, at Hanging-rock, there is an outcrop of massive sandstone similar to that at the town, which projects into the hed of the river at low water, and rises above it to the height of 35 feet.
An abandoned coal shaft, about three miles south west of Mt. Carmel, on Mr. Simond's place, was reported to have a seam of coal averaging three feet in thickness, and located from 30 to 35 feet below the surface. The following is the reported section :
Ft. In.
HISTORY OF EDWARDS, LAWRENCE AND WABASH COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
53
feet thickness, and at 569 feet a seam of coal twelve feet in thickness. In same boring, at 325 feet, salt water was found, and another stratum of the same, a short distance above the twelve feet vein of coal. It has been flowing ever since."
ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY.
Coal .- From the state geological survey we glean the following: The upper coal seam in the Coffee creek section was the only outcrop in either of the fore. going counties that promised to be of value for practical coal mining. The coal in this seam ranges from thirty inches to three feet in thickness, and probably underlies a considerable portion of the south part of Wabash county and the southwestern part of Edwards. Sev- eral shafts have been sunk about three miles south. west of Mt. Carmel, where coal was obtained from thirty to thirty five feet below the surface. This coal strata affords a hard, splinty or semi-block coal of fair quality. The roof seems to be good, and if the thickness of the vein should prove to be uniform, there is no reason why it might not be sucessfully mined. This is probably the same vein worked in the southeast part of Edwards county several years since, for the supply of Albion and adjacent region. To reach No. 7, the lower seam, a depth of probably from two to three hundred feet will have to be attained. Although these counties have not developed this vein, time will undoubtedly prove that it can be made a paying investment.
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