USA > Illinois > Perry County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
USA > Illinois > Randolph County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
USA > Illinois > Monroe County > Combined history of Randolph, Monroe and Perry counties, Illinois . With illustrations descriptive of their scenery and biographical sketches of some of their prominent men and pioneers > Part 11
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1776
1857
Henry Clay
Kentucky.
1 1th Congress
December 4, 1813, to March 4, 1815.
.....
....
John W. Taylor
New York, 2d Session.
16th Congress
November 15, 1×20, to March 4, 1821
1784
1851
Philip P. Barbour.
Virginia
17th Congress
Henry Clay.
Kentucky
1sth Congress
December 5, 1825, 10 March 4, 1827 ..
December 3, 1827, to March 4, 1829.
1184
1857
Andrew Stevenson
.
11
2ªd Congress
December 2, 1833, to June 2, 1834
1:07
1819
James K. Polk
24th Congress
December 7, 1835, to Maich 4, 1837
1795
1819
Robert M. T. Hunter
Virginia
26th Congress
John White.
Kentucky
27th Congress
May 31, 1841, 10 March 4, 1843.
1805
1815
John W. Jones
Virginia
28th Congress
December 4, 1843, to March 4, 1845
1805
1848
John W. Davis
Indiana
wuth Congress
December 1, 1845, to March 4, 1×17
1599
1630
Robert C. Winthrop
Massachusetts
30th Congress
December 6, 1847, to March 4, 1849.
1809
Howell Cohb
Georgia
31st Congress
December 22, 1849, to March 4, 1831.
December 1, 1851, to March 4, 1853.
1800
1859
Linu Boyd
Kentucky
32d Congress
December 5, 1X33, In March 4, 1:55.
February 2 1xGG, to March 4, 1857
1822
18,3
James L. Orr
South Carolina.
35th Congress
Wmn. Pennington
New Jersey ..
36th Congress
February 1, Iso, to March 4, 1861
17:10;
1862
Galnoha A. Grow
Pennsylvania
37th Congress
December 7, 1863, to March 4, 186; 1×23
December 1, 1st, to March 4, 1867
14
=
=
40th Congress
March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1871
15.30
James G. Blaine.
Maine
4Ist Congress.
March 4, 1871, to March 4, 1873 ..
December 1, 1873, to March 4, 1875
Michael C Kerr
Indiana
HIth Congress.
December 6, 1875, to August 20, 1876
1>27
1876
Samuel J. Randall
Pennsylvania, 2d Session.
44th Congress
December 1, 1876, to March 4, 18,7.
1828
=
.4
45th Congress
October 15, 1877, to March 1, 1879.
March 18, 1879, to ....
POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES AT EACH CENSUS, FROM 1790 TO 1880, FROM THE OFFICIAL CENSUS.
States and Territories.
1790.
1900.
1$10.
1-20.
1830.
1810.
1850.
1-60.
1-70.
1540.
Per cent. mores-e Tal to '80.
The United States .... The States.
3920214 3920214
530×483
7239881
9633822 9000783
12866020 12820868
17069453 17019641
23191876 23067262
31443321 31183744
38538371 38115641
40.00,0595
30.0G 99.52
A labaina
964201
996992
1262794
26.GG
Arkansas ..
435490
4×4471
802564
65 65
California
370994
560247
804686
54.31
Colorado ..
34277
39801
194640
365.28
Connecticut
237946
251: 02
21 1942
275148
207675
309078
370792
460147
537154
022683
15,85
Delaware
59096
64273
72674
72749
76748
78080
91332
112216
125013
146,664
17.30
Florida
140424
187548
267351
42.39
Illinois
1711951
2539801
3078769
21.22
Indiana
Db 1
24520
147178
343031
088416
1350428
1480637
1978362
17.70
Jowa
6740113 107200
1194020
1621620
173.14
Kentucky
73077
220055
4141511
564135
637917
הצ אוי77
982405
115568
155084
1648708
04.60
Louisiana
708002
726915
940103
20.32
Maine
DU: G
131719
228705
208269
399455
501793
628279
626-15
11)945
3.15
Maryland.
א': 3107
311544
380346
407350
447040
470019
383034
687049
180804
934632
19.68
Massachusetts.
1231056
14.731
17×3012
02.34
Michig .n.
749113
1184059
1036331
38.19
Minnesota
172023
4:1970G
1331592
36,67
Missouri
11x2012
1721293
2115504
25.99
Nebraska
122903
42433
267.83
Nevada
1857
42491
12265
46.53
New Hampshire.
141885
183838
211460
244022
269328
284354
31797G
32607.3
31×300
New Jersey
1$4139
211149
213562
277426
320823
373301
480555
672035
11308002
24>0
New York
311020
959049
1372111
1:18-09
2128521
3880,35
4782739
FUS3>10
15.99
North Carolina
393751
478103
555500
6388 9 581295
037903
1319467
19:0120 23:0511
21.6:26
3198230
19.99
Oregon
52465
90923
174767
92.21
Pennsylvania
134373
602365
$1001
1047507
1348233
1724033
200G215
352195]
Rhode Island
G8825
09122
76931
8:3015
07199
108830
147545
1,4620
217353
170328
27.22
South Carolina
249073
345501
415115
002741
581185
544394
668307
703708
70560G
095022
40 95
Tennessee
35691
105602
261727
422771
681904
820210
1002717
1109801
1258520
1542463
22.56
Texas
94.55
Vermont
81425
134465
217895
235966
280632
2019'8
314120
315008
33055]
332286
.52
Virginia
747610
880200
974000
1065116
1211405
1239797
1421661
1596318
1226163
1512806
23.42
West Virginia
39.91
Wisconsin
24.72
The States
3920214
5924 301
7215858
9000783
12820868
17019641
23007262
31183744
38115641
49369595
229.62
Arizona
Dakota
14093
24023
33039
39831
4.171 .
51687
73080
1317- 1
177638
31 88
Idaho.
14999
32611
117.42
Montana
20593
39137
90.12
New Mexico.
¥8.90
Utah
11:50
40273
$6786|
11390G
6. 81
Washington
115:1 |
23050
75120
213.58
Wyoming.
9118
20558
127.48
The Territories
24023
33034
39834
43712
121614
249577
442:30
TN1271
Total Population
3.9 11
5308493
7239841
06.34822
128: 6020
17069453
23191876
31413321
385583;1
501528GG
30.00
Increase
Increase
Increase Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase
Increase Increase
per cent
per rent. per cent.
per cent
per cent. per cont
per cent
per cent per cent.
1700-1800. 1801-1510 1810-1820. 1820-1830. 1830-1810. 1840-1x0, 1850-1860. 1860-1 70. 1870-1 8
35 10
17 20
:: .
4: 11.
29.65
...
John Bell
Tennessee, 2d Session.
11
2ith Congress
September 5, 1837, to March 4, 1$39
1800
1841
John W. Taylor
New York
19th Congress
20th Congress
21st Congress
December 7, 1829, to March 4, 1831.
December 5, 1831, to March 4, 1833.
23d Congress
23d Congress.
December 6, 1819, to May 15, 1820.
16th Congress
December 4, 1821, to March 4, 1823. 1783
December 1, 1823, to March 4, 1825
Virginia
13th Congress
Langdon Cheves
Anith Carolina, 2d Session ..
13th Congress
December 7, 1795, to March 4, 1797. 1760
1828
Jonathan Dayton ..
New Jersey
Theodore Sedgwick
Massachusetts
6th Congress
December 2, 1799, to Maich 4, 1801.
October 17, IND3, to March 4, 1805.
ath Congress
October 26, 1807, to March 4, 1800
11th Congress
15th Congress
Lecember 1, 1817, to March 4, 1819.
1>15
1868
Nathaniel P. Banks.
Massachusetts
34th Congress
December 7, 1837, to March 4, 1859
July 4, 1861, to March 4, 1863.
1823
Schuyler Colfax
Indiana ..
38th Congress
39th Congress
March 4, 1867, to March 4, 1869
14
43d Congres9
516823
691392
901185
1057286
1184109
1539048
29.97
Georgia ..
162686
25/433
340985
55162
197445
476183
851470
43112
192214
Kansas,
37877
4228 15
472040
523159
61040% 31639
212267
397654
Mississippi
8850
#353
73448
136621 140135
375611 383702
682014
20847
66557
73787
753419
3097334 869039 992622
10,1301
1400017
30.67
Oho
45363
231760
30913
305391
7728-1
10646,0
1315480
40441
318.53
4:37
14'81
135180
853.24
76556
152023
21.739
352411
517762
683169
737699
094514
6077
791305
825922
601213
818579
1592574
442014
618443
=
5204.200
721.868
127901 14253
3095:27 30388
590746
97574
771623 209897 92597
64477
34730
87445
9950166
77 57
0.01
13244
2311786
21.60
212502
91571
11×430
76.91
4762
876.5
42d Congress
June 2, 1834, to March 4, 1833
December 16, 1838, to March 4, 1841.
33d Congress
40th Congress
......
December 2, 1793, to March 4, 1795.
965M
District of Columbia
12282
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
CHAPTER III.
GEOGRAPHY, AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES AND RAIL- ROAD FACILITIES OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES.
RANDOLPH COUNTY.
HIS county is situated on the southwest borders of the state, and bisected at right angles by the 38th degree of north latitude, and the 90th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. It is an irregular district of country, triangular in outline, and bounded on the north by Monroe, St. Clair and Washington coun- ties, on the east by Perry and Jackson counties, and on the south and west by the Mississippi river and Monroe county: It embraces an area of about sixteen congressional townships, or upwards of five hundred square miles. The Kaskaskia enters the county from the north in Baldwin precinct, flows in a southerly course. and discharges its waters into the Mississippi river about ten miles above the south line of the county. The cast is traversed in the same direction by Mary's river, which enters the Mississippi about four miles below the mouth of the Kaska-kia. In addition to these, Horse creek, and Nine Mile creek, tributaries of the Kas- kaskia, flow through the northern portion of the county ; and the Little Mary, a tributary of Mary's river. The-e, taken together, furnish an excellent waterway for all seetions of the county. Besides the above, there are streams of lesser note, which form auxiliaries to complete almost a perfect surface drainage.
Topography .- The features of the county topographically are somewhat varied. About one-third of its surface, com- prising the northeastern portion, is comparatively of a level or rolling surface, sufficient for good natural drainage. The prairie tracts are very small and limited, and possess a loamy soil of lightish color, with a yellow clay sub-soil. These prairie lands, although not possessing the deep black soil peculiar to the central and northern part of the state, are nevertheless, very productive yielding abundant crops of corn, wheat, oats, and grasses, and this without very much effort on the part of the husbandman. The prairie region is restricted, maiuly, to that portion of the county underlaid by the coal fields.
Soil and Agriculture .- Between this prairie region and the bottom lands on the Kaskaskia and Mississippi rivers, there is a belt of country underlaid by sandstone and lime- stone, which is quite broken and hilly, rising at some points to quite prominent bluffs. Originally this portion of the country was covered with heavy timber, and a considerable portion of its surface is still occupied by the natural forests.
The soil upon these broken lands is somewhat shallower than that of the prairies, yet its productive qualities seem to be about equal to the adjacent lands, and where the surface is sufficiently level for agricultural purposes, good crops are usually realized. The yellow elay sub-soil of this region appears to possess all the essential elements of a good soil, and when brought to the surface and subjected to atmos- pheric agencies, it becomes most productive. Hence, sub- soiling will be found largely advantageous to those soils that, from long and injudicious cultivation, have been par- tially exhausted. These broken lands are especially adapted to the growth of every kind of fruit peculiar to the temperate zones, and the smaller fruits may be successfully cultivated even where the lands are too undulating for the raising of cereals. Some of the enterprising German farmers have already commenced the culture of the grape, and the manu- facture of native wine by them has proven quite a success. It is a matter of experiment as yet, whether the Catawba will succeed as well here as in a more northern climate. Yet there are other varieties, if it should fail to be valuable, that can be successfully cultivated. The Delaware and Concord varieties have proven valuable and productive in all por- tions of the temperate zone, rather than in a comparatively mild one ; hence its cultivation in Southern Illinois has gen- erally proved a partial failure, while in localities further north it has been comparatively successful. The Catawba seems to be less liable to be affected by miklew or rot in a climate as cold as it ean stand without protection. It is no longer a doubtful problem that the broken and hilly lands along the principal streams, especially the bluffs of the Mis- si-sippi, where the marly deposit known as " loess " has been depo-ited, and is more or less intermingled with the soil, are admirably adapted to the growth of the vine. The labors of the intelligent agric ilturist have already demonstrated the fact that Ilinois is capable of producing, not only all the native wines required for home consumption, but a surplus for the supply ot less favored regions.
The most important and productive part of the county is probably found in the American Bottom, It forms a belt of rich alluvial soil about twenty miles in length, and an average width of four miles. It is exceedingly productive, and were it not for the periodical overflows to which it is subjected from the high waters of the Mississippi, it would be esteemed as the most valuable land in the county. The soil is quite sandy, but is intermingled with vegetable mould and clay from the sediment of the river, forming a rich, warm soil, which is unsurpassed by any in the state for the production of maize and the cereals generally. The uplands comprise a series of brown and yellow clays, intermingled locally with gravel and small pebbles, and specially adapted to the culture of wheat. There have really been three eras in the county of what might be considered the staple pro- ducts that have engaged the attention of the agriculturist. In an early day, Indian corn was the principal product. Later, the castor bean was largely cultivated, and was con- sidered a most profitable crop. About twenty-five or thirty years ago, wheat became largely planted, and to this time is the grand staple of the county.
47
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
The general elevation of the uplands above the Mississippi is from three to four hundred feet. The principal varieties of timber upon the land are blaek oak, white oak, shell-bark and pig-nut hickory, sugar maple, linden, blaek gum, per- simmon, red, slippery and white elm. blaek ash, red-bud, dogwood and sassafras. On the bottom lands are found the cottonwood, syeamore, honey-loeust, hackberry, box-elder, sweet gum, white ash, swamp oak, burr oak, white and black walnut, pecan and white maple. Plenty of good timber is yet left for all the wants of the people for fuel and building purposes.
('hester .- The capital of the county is situated in the southwestern part, located on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi, about seventy-five miles below St. Louis, and contains a population of nearly three thousand inhabitants. The southern penitentiary is located here, and there are many fine business houses in the city, and it is at this writ- ing in a prosperous and growing condition.
Population .- The population is composed mainly of Eng- lish, German, French and Irish nationalities, and, according to the census of 1880, was as follows :
PRE INCTS (including the towns).
Red Bud
2,1.4
Central and Blair 2,068
Ruma
090
Bremen 703
Brewerville
640
Rockwood
Prairie du Rocher
1,107
Steels Mills and Wine Hill . 2, 582
Kaskaskın
1,187
Sparta
Baldwin
1,557
Tilden and Coulterville
Chester
4,460
Evansville
Florence
75₺
25,001
Tuwas.
Chester
2,527
Baldwin
Sparta
1,754
Prairie du Rocher
213
Red Bud
Rockwood
231
Coulterville
Tilden
82
Steelville
140
MONROE COUNTY.
This county comprises an irregular-shaped triangular area on the southwestern borders of the state, embracing about three hundred and eighty square miles, and is bounded on the north and cast by St. Clair and Randolph counties and the Kaskaskia river, and on the south and west by Ran- dolph county and the Mississippi river.
Waterloo, the capital of the county, is situated on the St. Louis and Cairo railway, in the northeastern part of the county, and is one of the substantial inland towns of the state, and contains a population of about two thousand in- habitants. It is located on a high, rolling site of ground that overlooks a large scope of beautifully cultivated farming lands.
Population .- The population of the county is mainly com- posed of a thrifty German nationality, which constitutes about three-fourths of the inhabitants of the county. The other fourth is a mixture of various nationalities, principally of English, Irish and French deseent. The Irish settle- ments are in the center and south. According to the census of 1880 the population by precinets was as follows :
Waterloo Precinct including city
3,103
Columbia und New Hanover . 2.810
Moredock
Mitchie. Bluff, and Harrisonville 2.177
Renault
New Design 1,470
Prairie dn Long
1.450
1.3,50 $
The census of 1860 was 12 832; of 1870, 12,982. The population of the town of Waterloo in 1870 was 1,537; in .880, 1,822.
Topography .- The surface is considerably diversified, the region adjacent to the river bluff's being quite hilly and broken, while the eastern portion of the county is compara- tively level, and affords an arca of excellent farming lands. In that portion of the county underlaid by the St. Louis limestone, in the central aud southwestern uplands, there are numerous " sink-holes," which render the land nearly valueless for agricultural purposes. These depressions are funnel-shaped, and lead down to crevices or caverns below, through which the water that falls upon the surface finds an outlet into the adjacent streams. Occasionally the crevice at the bottom becomes filled up with the sediment that washes into it, and small ponds of water are found, some of which, in the vicinity of Waterloo, cover an area of several aeres, and are bountifully supplied with fish.
Hydrography .- The natural drainage of the county is almost complete, the Mississippi extending along the entire western boundary, and the Kaskaskia partially on the east. The principal interior streams are Fountain creek, Horse creek, and Prairie du Long creek. The former rises in the highlands south of Waterloo, and extends in a north- westerly course until it enters the American Bottom, and from thence southwesterly, emptying into the Mississippi near Harrisonville. Horse creek, which intersects the southern portion of the county, and Prairie du Long creek, which waters the eastern portion, both discharge their waters into the Kaskaskia. In the western part of the county there are several fine lakes, among which are Moredock, Kidd, and the Grand Coule lakes, with some others of lesser note. Some of these are fed mainly by subterranean streams, which find their way through the fissures and caverns of the line- stones underlying the adjacent highlands. These lakes arc well supplied with fish, and are favorite resorts for the sportsman, both for hunting and fishing.
Resources, Soil and Agriculture .- As a body, Monroe county was originally heavily timbered, there being but three or four small prairies in the eastern portion, the larger of which are New Design prairie, Prairie du Long, and Prairie du Rond, none of which exceed an area of more than three or four square miles in extent. The timber of the uplands consists mainly of the usual varieties of oak and hickory on the broken lands, while on the more level traets in the east, elm, black walnut, hackberry, wild cherry, linden and honey-locust are found in abundance. The bottom lands are for the most part heavily timbered with cottonwood, sycamore, black and white walnut, ash, clm, pecan, soft maple, persimmon, and several other varieties. The surface of the highlands is composed of a buff-colored sandy loam, often filled with bleached fresh-water and land
48
HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
shells, and is underlaid with a variable thickness of drift clays and " loess," usually ranging from ten to sixty feet, and at a few points near the river bluffs it attains a maxi- mum thickness of seventy-five to one hundred feet. The western portion of the county, embracing nearly one-fourth of its entire area, is included in the American Bottom. The average width of this alluvial belt is about four miles, and its extent north and south is over thirty milcs. These bottom lands are exceedingly fertile, and really possess three classes of soil. Probably the richest and most inexhaustible is that portion known as the blue-black deposit, and can be cultivated only when it is of a proper consistency between wet and dry. The other soils are composed of either black or light sandy Joams. This land is peculiarly adapted to the growing of corn, but wheat, grasses and oats are culti- vated with success. On the uplands, wheat has been the grand staple for twenty-five or thirty years, and the yield and quality is unsurpassed by any lands in the state.
Perennial Springs abound in various parts of the county after rising the bluff. They are of pure cold water, and are auxiliary to the comfort of both man and beast. Many of these gush forth in sufficient quantities to form brooks of ever-running water.
PERRY COUNTY
lies immediately north of Jackson county, which forms its southern boundary, and is bounded on the north by Wash- ington, on the west by Randolph, and on the east by Frank- lin and Jefferson counties. It embraces a superficial area of twelve congressional townships, or about 276,480 acres of land, three-fourths of which was originally covered with timber. It is divided into eight political divisions or pre- cinets as follows : Grand Cote, Beaucoup, Tamaroa, Cutler, Pinckneyville, South Western, Du Quoin and Paradise.
Pinckneyrille, the seat of justice, is situated on the west side of Big Beaucoup creek, and near the geographical center of the county in section twenty-four, five south, three west, at the head of Four-Mile prairie. At this writing it contains a population of about 1500 inhabitants. In 1837, according to Peck, it contained four stores, one tavern, one grocery, and fifteen or twenty families, and was sur- rounded with a settlement of industrious farmers.
Population .- The first settlers were principally American born, and emigrants from the south. The present popula. tion is composed of various nationalities, English, German, Irish, Negroes and Poles ; the former probably being in the ascendancy. According to the official census of 1880, the county contained 16,008 inhabitants.
Hydrography .- The county is well supplied with water- courses suitable for natural drainage. The principal streams within its limits are Little Muddy, Beaucoup, and Colombo creeks, all of them being northwestern affluents of the Big Muddy river. The former constitutes the principal portion of the eastern boundary of the county, and, with its tribu- taries, furnishes excellent drainage for that part of the county. Beaucoup creek flows through the entire county from north to south, and nearly equally divides the territory
in acreage on the east and west, while the Colombo practi- cally drains the west and southwest.
Topography and Soil .- The surface of the country is gene- rally rolling, and on some of the streams becomes consider- ably broken by low ridges, but not sufficiently abrupt to reuder the land unfit for cultivation ; while some portions are quite level, including a few flat prairies and a portion of the timbered land kuown as " Post-Oak Flats." As stated above, Beaucoup creek trends through the center of the county, and the prairies occupy mainly the highlands be- tween this stream and the Little Muddy on the east, and the Colombo on the west, except the Grand Cote prairie, which occupies an elevated ridge in the northwest. The prairies here, as is usually the case in other parts of the state, form the highest part of the ground, yet their relative elevation is quite variable, even in a single county. In Perry, they are mostly surrounded by timbered flats, which gradually pass into more broken timbered lands as you approach the streams. Their surface is usually flat, or gently undulating, passing in places into the broken grassy upland known as " barrens." This land consists of low hills and ridges, covered with a dense growth of tall grasses, and quite desti- tute of timber. The sub-soil of the " barrens " consists of a white sandy loam, but the surface configuration affords a complete drainage, and therefore sustains a good growth of vegetation, which in time has formed a rich soil, highly charged with humus. These lands become dry early in the spring, and from their excellent surface drainage, resist the drouth better than the "flats" on account of the soil being more porous, and readily absorb the atmospheric moisture. The absence of timber is undoubtedly due to the annual fires that sweep over them, fed by the tall grasses that cover the surface. These " barrens" merge into the oak hills, which are similar ridges covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of post-oak, black oak, hickory, black- jack, etc.
The creek bottoms within the barren region have a soil similar to that of the flats, but a little coarser, and contain- ing a greater per cent. of vegetable mould, rendering them as dark in color as the prairie soils. The timber is tall and heavy, and consists principally of the varieties of oak, ash, shell-bark hickory, walnut, hazcl, aud some other classes of timber.
The " Post-Oak Flats" are comparatively level stretches of theupland, sparsely timbered with patches of post-oak, and interspersed with black-jack and a young growth of post- oak. They thus form an open forest, and the light, bleached appearing soil is but scantily covered with vegetation. The sub-soil comprises a white sandy loam, and reaches to the depth of several feet. The surface soil is quite shallow, and seems to differ from the sub-soil only by a slight mixture of vegetable mould. This soil, like that of the prairies, is so finely comminuted as to render it almost impenetrable to water, which remains in depression upon the surface until it slowly disappears by evaporation. A potent remedy for this would be by clovering frequently, or top dressing with a copious supply of well-rotted compost. These flats extend around the prairies, forming a narrow belt between them
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