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 29

Author: McDonough, J.L., & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.L. McDonough & Co
Number of Pages: 578


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 29
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 29
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 29


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116


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


Crosin, Samuel Hathorn, John Thompson, James Crosin, Robert Win, Margaret St. Clair, William T. Chambers, Thomas MeDill, Thomas Swanwick, Samuel Hill, Thomas McBride, John Anderson, sr., William Gordon, Martin Wilson, William Temple, Robert Huggins, John McMillan, jr., Arthur Parks, James McNulty, Hugh Leslie, Robert McMillan, James Anderson, sr., John McKelvey, Charles McKelvey, John McMillan, sr., William McDill, . William Thompson, James Wilson, jr , John Boyd, sr., Joseph Cath- cart, Smith Dickey, James Clark, Thomas Armour, John McDill, Samuel Leard, sr., Absalom Cox, Martin Gray, Alexander R. Leslie, Isaac Scudder, Isaac Rainey, Samuel Pitchford, John Hutchings, J. R. Hutchings, William Elliot, William Hodge, John Murdoch, John Wiley, Samuel Stor. mant, Hugh McKelvey, Absalom Wilson, Alexander Mc- Kelvey, jr., William Stormant, David Cathcart, Alexander Campbell, sr., John Dickey, William Marshal, James H. Beatty, Alexander Dickey, Samuel Wiley, Alexander Alex- ander, John Alexander, James Beaird, William Wiley, Wil- liam Campbell, John Armour, James Patterson, John Dob- bins, James Strahan, John Bilderback, John Miller, sr , Archibald Thompson, sr., William Lively, Turner Lively, John Lively, James Stoker, James S. Guthrie, William Me- Bride 3d, J. Wilkinson, Asa Scott, James Lively, James McMurdo, Josiah Little, Samuel Little, Robert Edgar, Joseph Win, Samuel L. Weir, Robert Caldwell, Archibald McMillan, James Wilson, sr., William Morris, William Miller, J. W. Henderson, J. W. Alcorn, Andrew Ross, Elizabeth Richey, Robert Thompson, sr., Robert Thompson, jr., John Anderson, jr., James Anderson, jr., Patsey Little, John McBride, John Haire, William Boyd, Samuel Doug- Jass, Henry Nore, James Redpath, Frederick Holden, Samuel Leard, jr., Allen Been, Ralph Scudders, John Briggs, Wil- liam McBride, sr., and Joseph Bratney.


Township of Springfield. Pierre Menard, Enoch Lively, William Robinson, Shadrach Robinson, John Taggart, John Mahon, John Lacey, John Pillars, James Murphy, D. Olliver, Alexander Campbell, Jr., Shadrach Lively, Sr., Thomas Roberts, Charles C. Glover, Aquila Brown, Antoine La- brier, George Franklin, Josias S. Briggs, Richard Robinson, jr., Justus Rockwell, John Beynolds, James Fisher, Joseph Jay, John F. Berry, Joseph Harman, Jonathan Bowerman, Lemuel Barker, Ezekiel Barber, Sarah Lee, Rachel Hughes, James McFarland, Jesse Bowerman, Jacob Bowerman, W. H. Threlkel, Richard Green, Hugh Brown, John Murphy, sen., Joshua Davis, James Herd, Jonathan Petit, Elizabeth Fowler, James Huggins, William Irick, Charles Stratton, Mary Bilderback, Samuel Crawford, Antoine Montroy, John Murdock, James McMillan, Denard Short, Eli Short, Matthew Vann, John Murphy, Jr., Abijah Leavitt, Abigail Pitchford, Julia Ricor, Calvin Lawrence, Harrison Colbert, Jane Jones, Isabel Hilton, Stace McDonough, Anderson Candle, William Porter, Jane Bilderback, Susan Harman, Isaac Slater, William Turner, George Harman, Daniel Tag- gart, Richard Pillars, Archibald Snodgrass, John Young, John Taylor, James Milligan, James McDonough, Isaac Leard, Solomon Foresee, John Foresee, William Coddle, Amos Anderson, David Looney, Richard Robinson, Joseph


Robertson, Silas Crisler, John Huggins, Joseph Lively, Robert Gant and Samuel Hughes.


Township of Mary. Curtis Conn, William Jay, William Bilderback, James Bilderback, Alexander Barber, John Crane, Wiley Lane, Susannah Lane, Malakiah Holleman, Stephen B. Tilden, James Clendenen, John Clendenen, Henry Petit, Adonijah Ball, James Steele, George Steele, William C. Marlin, William J. Lane, Alexis Buatt, William Cochran, Baptiste Montreal, David 1Ioar, Thomas F. Steele, Bryant Axom, Nathan Conant, J. D. Starnes, Samuel Manseo, François Montroy, Jehu Ertes, George Masters, William Paine, Joel Craue, David Petit, Demanda Petit, Shadrach Lively, jr., Genevieve Ravel, Nicholas Buatt, Benjamin A. Porter, John Griffin, William Hodge, John Cochran, sen., Asaph Smith, William Smith, Reuben Ertes, Robert Griffin, Sarah Johnson, William Manseo, Isaiah Vineyard, Benjamin Crain, John Hindman, Andrew P. Cochran, Daniel Sandbon, James Johnson, Martha Herd, Antoine P. Bienvenue, Joseph Curry, Pierre Reaume, Jean B. Gendron, John Harman, John Vineyard, Robert Tindell, Reuben Tindell, Joseph Archambeau, John Starnes, sen., Ilarvey MeNeely, Archibald Steele, John Steele, Sr., John Steele, jr., Duran Houseman, Richard Givin, Leonard Garter, Charles Bilderback, Cornelius Adkins, William Fowler, Mary Bapart, James Gillespie, Robert Davis and John Davis.


RECAPITULATION.


The population of the county 10 1825, as enumerated by Mr. Owen, numbered 3812 individuale,-to wit :


Whites.


.348]


Negroes-slaves ...


240


Negroes-free.


3812


POPULATION BY TOWNSHIPS.


Kaskaskia.


Whites.


-20


Slaves


137


Free negroes ... 48


91: 911


Prairie Du Rocher


Whites


287


Slaves


52


Free negroes ... 13


352 352


Williamsburg


Whites.


421


Slaves


G


Free negroes ... 3


430


430


Plum Creek


Whites


971


Slaves


12


Free negroes


5


988


988


Springfield.


Whites


,5×1


Slaves


21


Free negroes ... 21


623


623


Mary


Whites ......


494


Slaves ...


... 19


Free negroes .... 1


508


508


The report does not contain any further items of interest, except an enumeration of what it calls " manufactories " of Randolph county to wit : eight distilleries, nine horsemills, three inclined wheel grist mills, one water grist mill, and one " ditto " saw mill, three cotton gins, one carding machine, two house carpenters carrying on business, three shoe manu- factories, two hat, ditto, five blacksmith shops, one " bake" ditto, two tailor ditto, one saddle manufactory and one spin- ning wheel ditto. The location of those manufactories and


117


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


mills is not given, nor by whom they were operated. The presumption is, that those eight distilleries were sufficiently large enough to supply the 800 male adults of the county with the so much needed production. Not a word is said about the occupation of the people with the exception that Michael Danie was a fidler at Kaskaskia, and Don Oliver a priest at Du Rocher.


Another county census taken in 1830 hy John C. Crozier is more elaborate. From it we learn, that the population had increased to 4448 since 1825, 99 of whom were slaves, and 102 free negroes. 661 persons over 18 and under 45 years of age were enrolled as militia men and 911 were voters. William Morrison was running a copper steam distillery and a water grist mill, while his neighbor Na- thaniel Pope contented himself with one steam saw and grist mill. James O'Hara operated a water grist mill and a cop- per distillery. Enos Christy operated an inclined wheel grist mill, two earding machines and an oil press ; William Nelson a copper distillery and grist mill ; Samuel Crawford had a spinning machine, Joseph Bratney a water saw mill, Robert Forster a band mill and a steam distillery. Horse- mills were operated by Andrews Borders, William Pattison, James Beaird and John Armour. George Steele operated an inclined wheel grist mill, and David Steele a copper distillery, as also Robert Tindall and Andrew Crozier. Felix St. Vraiu operated a steam saw mill. The following me- chanies were mentioned also :


Blacksmiths : A. B. Brown, W. T. Evans, Silas Leland, Samuel Lybarger, John Mann, Jarret Wilkeson, David Woodside, Robert C. Jones, J. B. Burk and John Steph- enson.


Wagonmakers : Aquila Brown and Jacob Harman.


Coopers : Thomas Horrell, John Harman, George Har- man, and Seth Allen.


Tanners : Maurice D. Smith, Samuel Hull, Elisha Sey- mour, Win. MeDill, Wm. Gordon, Andrew Allen.


Harness makers : George Lamb, Robert G Shannon.


Shocmokers: John Reynolds, Michael Pemy, James Strathan, Wm. Gordon, Solomon Foresee, Justus T. Roek- well.


Hatter : Jacob Feaman.


Tailors : Ferdinand Unger, Robert G. Shannon.


Cabinet makers and turners : Harry Fulton, Henry Res- inger, Stanley G. Peet, Wiley Lain, Wm. C. Marlain. Tinner : Julian Chenoux.


Patt Kavanaugh operated at one and the same time a saddler, cooper, shoemaker, and a tailor shop. Cotton gins, and press were operated by Wm. Pattison, John Patterson and Levi Simmons, and shingle shaving machines by Robert Miller and by Charles Bilderback. The following data are taken from the U. S. census reports of 1840.


'The census of 1840 gave Randolph county a population of 7,944 in the aggregate, 133 of whom were slaves and 188 free colored people ; 50 people were over 70 years of age, 2 of whom were over 90 years old. The occupations of the people of Randolph were defined as follows : mining 7, ag- riculture 1,895, commerce 116, manufactures and trades 360, navigation 1, learned professions and engineers 48,


Revolutionary soldiers 1 .* The unfortunates were : 2 deaf and dumb, 3 blind and 6 insane. Education could be had in one college, attended by 50 students; one academy, with 25 scholars; 14 common schools, with 403 pupils ; 78 adults were unable to read or write.


The census reports of 1840 state that 11 men were em- ployed in digging coal, producing 6,011 bushels, and that 8525 were invested in that business; that there were in the county 5,742 mules, 16,847 cattle, 7,688 sheep, 25,338 hogs, and $8,402 worth of poultry ; that the farmers of the county had harvested in 1839, 56,792 bushels of wheat, 803 of bar- ley, 76,051 of oats, 1,042 of rye, 377 of buekwheat and 301,342 of corn; besides 9,091 pounds of wool, 256 of hops, 985 of wax, 18,177 bushels of potatoes, 1,050 tons of hay, 83 tons of hemp, 11,174 pounds of tobacco. 300 pounds of rice (?), 5,776 of cotton and 719 of sugar. 7,085 cords of wood were sold; butter and cheese brought $4,603 to the diligent house- keeper ; orchards produced $2,938 worth of fruit; linsey and woolsey made at home on the hand-loom, now an almost unknown and forgotten apparatus, were estimated at $6,961, and gardening yielded $347. There were 10 commission houses in the county, having a capital of 851,000 invested ; 32 retail houses, with 878,820 capital ; 4 lumber yards, with $6,000, giving employment to 28 hands; 4 men were em- ployed in "internal transportation " (running stage-coaches) ; A others were engaged in butchering and packing, having a capital of $12,500 invested in that business. The products of the forest were $3,617 worth of lumber and $773 worth of skins and furs; 13 men produced bricks and lime to the value of $1,523. One fulling mill and woolen manufactory, with a capital of $1,500, gave employment to 4 persons and produced $400 worth of goods; 4 persons were engaged in manufacturing tobacco, had $1,000 invested in the business and turned out $350 worth of the werd. There were then 6 tanneries in the county, which turned out 2,420 sides of sole leather and 2 084 of upper leather, employed 13 hands and had $7,850 invested in the business ; there were 2 saddleries, with $600 capital and 2 hands, who manufactured $1,200 worth of articles ; 4 distilleries, giving employment to 13 men, turned out 5,500 gallons of whisky. Randolph county had 2 printing offiees and 1 bindery, employing 5 men, capital invested $1,800; 6 flouring, 8 grist and 11 saw mills, with an investment of $71,000, gave employment to 39 men. The value of prodnets, including 11,000 barrels of flour shipped, amounted to 881,050. Boats, valued at $1,500,


* From a list of Revolutionary soldiers drawing pensions as such, and having been residents of the State of Illinois, we found that the following residents of the county of Randolph drew such pensions, to wit: John Edgar, captain U. S. Navy, admitted hy special act of May 26, 1830; commencement of pay March 3, 1826, $480 per annum ; the full amount drawn was $2,291.33. General Edgar died December 19, 1830. The amount mentioned was drawn by his administrators Charles MeNabb, private Maryland Continentals, drew $96 per annum. George Stamm, private Maryland Continentals, drew 896 per annum. William Fowler, private South Carolina militia, drew $20 per annum. Paul Harratson, private South Carolios militia, drew $62.50 per annum. We annex a list of Invalid Pen- sioners of the War of 1812 and the Indian wars prior to 1816, residing in Ran- dolph county : Julian Bart, A Virginian (mentioned heretofore as a fit subject for charity), served in the Illinois militia, was pensioned Sept. 1, 1815, received $8 per month, and lived long enough to draw $1,104.80. David Hoar, from Maeg- achusetts, private 31st U. S. Infantry. William Henly (Tennessee), Dyer's regiment of militia. Armistead Jones, Illinois militia. William Lippincott (New York), 2d U. S. Infantry. William Lane, Tennessee volunteers (U. S. ser- vice). Eli Short, Kentucky volunteers (U. S. service).


118


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


were built during the year, aud 66 mechanics erected 4 brick and 20 wooden houses, at an expense of $15,760.


COUNTY FINANCES-1819 TO 1844.


The financial condition of the county remained as it had been in territorial times; the expenditures, though most sparingly made, exceeded the revenue. On the 17th of December, 1825, an interesting report was filed by Thomas J. V. Owen, treasurer and sheriff, who had been authorized by the county commissioners to examine all books and pa pers bearing on the subject of county finances since 1819. He reported that the county had expended the following amounts of money, to wit :


In the year 1819. $1,108,7114


1820 758.5734


1821. 2,055.23


1822 1,821.46


44


1823


920.1734


=


1824


1,613.2414


1825


1,991.9234


And that the revenue of the county during all that time had been considerably less than the allowances made ; that now, on the 17th of December, 1825, there were county orders out and unpaid, calling for the enormous amount of $3,811 .- 572, and that the total revenue to be expected for the cur- rent year amounted to only $1408.993, to wit : tax on land, 595.484, and on other property, $813.01}.


During the administration of the 7th board -- Arthur Parks, Josiah Betts and Franklin P. Owen -- the first free schools were organized, one in township 5 S., Range 7 W., called Liberty School District, on petition of Archibald Thompson and others ; the other at Unionville, on the peti- tion of David Hathorn and others.


A few years later, during the administration of Thomas Roberts, William G. Hizer and John Thompson, Samuel G. Thompson (in 1833) was appointed commissioner of schools, and authorized to sell the lands donated by the Federal Government for the purpose of aiding public schools. Thompson was very dutiful and accurate in filing reports, which were all approved but not recorded.


The above mentioned board, in 1825, made an effort to enliven business at the old village, and on the 29th of Octo- ber appointed a board of inspectors for the harbor of Kas- kaskia. This board consisted of Curtis Conn (the probate judge), Gabriel Jones and William G. Hizer. They were authorized to have warehouses erected, and instructed to inspect beef, pork, flour, hemp, tobacco, and other articles of exportation ! No report of their labors is found.


The next reference to the financial condition of the county was made March 9, 1831, when the "enormous amount " of unpaid county orders of December, 1825, had been reduced to $91.61, with not a cent of money in the treasury.


This condition of affairs remained unchanged till 1836 and subsequent years, when the county drew large amounts from the State Improvement fund.


The legislature of the State had, in an evil hour, inaugu- rated a system of public improvements, to be carried on by State officers under the supervision of the legislature.


The impetus to the system, at the expense, or, more properly speaking, on the credit of the State, was given by


George Farquer, a senator of Sangamon couuty, in 1834. (He had lived for years in Randolph and Monroe counties, had laid out the present city of Waterloo, and been county commissioner some years). His plans, however, failed. J. M. Strode, senator of all the country including and north of Peoria, had a bill passed in 1835 authorizing a loan of one- half a million of dollars on the credit of the State. This loan was negotiated by Governor Duncan in 1836, and with this money a commencemeut was made on the Illinois Canal in June, 1836.


The great town lot speculation had reached Illinois about that time. The number of towns multiplied so rapidly, that it seemed as though the state would be one vast city. All bought lots and all dreamed themselves rich ; and in order to bring people to those cities in embryo the system of in- ternal improvements was to be carried out on a grand scheme. The agitation became general and the indifference of the busy farmer was taken for tacit consent. The legislature, on the 27th of February, 1837, provided for the building of about 1300 miles of railroads, appropriating eight millions of dollars for that purpose, two hundred thousand of which were to be paid to counties not reached by these proposed railroads as an indemnity. Two millions of dollars were voted for highways and river improvements, so as to remove impediments to navigation, fifty thousand of which were to be expended on the Kaskaskia river, and a loan of four millions was authorized to complete the canal from Chicago to Peru. And as a crowning act of folly, it was provided that the work should commence simultaneously on all the proposed roads at each end and from the crossings of all the rivers.


No previous survey or estimate had been made, either of the routes, the costs of the work, or the amount of business to be done by them The arguments in favor of the system were of a character most difficult to refute, composed as they were partly of fact, but mostly of prediction. In this way it was proved, to general satisfaction by an ingenious orator in the lobby, that the state could well afford to borrow a hundred million of dollars, and expend it in making internal improvements. None of the proposed railroads were ever completed ; detached parts of them were graded on every road, the excavations and embankments of which have long remained as a memorial of the blighting scathe done by this legi-lature A special session of the next legislature, held in 1839, repealed the system and provided for winding it up, for it had become apparent that no more loans could be ob- tained at par. Under this system a state debt of $14,237,- 348 had been created, to be paid by a population of less than 500,000 souls.


Randolph county was represented in the legislature of 1834-1836 by Thomas Mather, senator, who resigned in 1835, to be succeeded by the late Richard B. Servant, and by Richard G. Murphy and John Thompson, members of the house, and in 1836-1838, by said Servant, as senator and James Shields and Samuel G. Thompson.


We were unable to ascertain, how these gentlemen voted, but from the fact that Thomas Mather was soon after ap- pointed a member of the board of fund commissioners-


119


HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.


practical and experienced financiers to contract for loans, ete .- it cannot be doubted that he voted aye.


In the next legislature, 1838 to 1840, by which the system was repealed, the county was represented by senator Servant, and Gabriel Jones and E. Menard, members of the house, and there cannot be a question about the vote of those gentlemen.


The population of Randolph county was then about 7000, and its proportional part of the debt was fully 200,000 dol- lars, and yet, the county fared far better than her sister counties, as it was not reached by the proposed routes and consequently shared in the 200,000 dollars indemnity fund mentioned herein.


Nathan Conant, Ferdinand Maxwell, Thomas MeDill, Jobn C. Crozier and James Clendenin were appointed com- missioners to view roads and report where improvements were most needed. This unexpected wealth, placed at the disposition of the county authorities, who had struggled for forty years to defray the county expenses out of a minimum of revenue, caused the inauguration of public improvements in the county, such as had never been witnessed before. 21 substantial bridges were built, and thousands of dollars ex- pended on the improvement of publie roads, and still large amounts of money remained in the treasury. An order of the county board, Wm. G. Hizer, Samuel Douglas and Harvey Clendenin, made on the 7th of December 1838, pro- vided that 12,000 dollars of the improvement fund should be Joaned out, at 10% annual interest, to citizens of the county, in sums of from 50 to 100 dollars cash. 141 citizens of the county availed themselves of this opportunity, and $10,- 636.00 were loaned out ere the elose of the year.


This order was soon after succeeded by other orders, call- ing in the money, as it was needed for other improvements. The records of the county do not contain any information as to the 850,000 appropriated for the improvement of the Kaskaskia river, but it is to be presumed that a part of it was expended for said purpose.


The balance of this improvement fund, amounting to $9,945, as per report of April 14th, 1840, was reduced to $3,115.42 in 1844, when it was placed in the county treasury and used as county revenue.


The financial reports of the county officials from 1825 to 1843 were not recorded, but the "Kaskaskia Republican" of December 23d, 1843, brought a lengthy report called, " An abstract of the fiseal eoneerns of Randolph county for the current year, commeneing on the 6th day of December, 1842." We introduce here an extract of said abstraet: The income of the county was stated to have been as follows :


Fines collected


$ 66,00


Licenses collected


183.00


Taxes of 1842 and back taxes collected .


2,828.11


Improvement fund notes and interest collected .


698.25


$3,777.36


EXPENDITURES.


Co. offices, stationery and fuel, etc


75.67


Conits, jurors and bailiff's


208.60


Elections .


128.50


Jail and inmates .


27.91


Officers, compensation of.


· 1,049 23


Panpers


877.45


Roads and bridges


1,035.44


$3,402.80


Balance in treasury


$374.56


The report further stated, that the year commeneing on the 6th of December, had opened with a balance of $1, 496 .- 47 of outstanding county warrants, and that this floating debt of the county had thus been reduced to $1,148.91.


The pauper expenses were stated too high, inasmuch as Stuart Bilderback had in 1842 built a poor-house for the county at an expense of $125.00. This building was erected on west half of the northeast fractional quarter of section thirteen in township six south, range eight west.


During the period of apparent prosperity numerous towns had been laid out and improved in the county, and consid- ering the very inconvenient location of the county seat, it was but natural that other and more accessible towns should make efforts to become the capital of the county. A short sketch of this strife will be of interest to the reader.


CHANGE OF COUNTY SEAT FROM KASKASKIA TO CHESTER.


The question of changing the county seat to a more accessible and safer point, became general after the great flood of 1844 .* The Kaskaskians became greatly alarmed, and Parson Perey of the "Republican," published at Kaskaskia, fought manfully for the old village. He was aided by many able correspondents, whose communications are signed by various noms-du-plume, " Aristides" and "Sophoeles," philosophical and eloquent effusions did no more execution than "Zip's " flippaneies, or " Taxpayer's" homilies. " Eeee Homo's' pathetic expeetorations are also in vain, while "Sans Culotte " (Without Pants) does harm by his French impetuousness. "Cores" appeals tearfully to the readers in behalf of Kaskaskia. A bill providing for the selection of a permanent seat of justice, for the county of Randolph, was introduced in the General Assem- bly in January, 1847, and became an " Aet" by approval of the governor, January 30th, 1847.


This Act was artfully worded and clearly designed to abandon Kaskaskia as the county seat. It provided, Ist, that an election should be held on the first Monday of April, 1847, as between all towns having aspirations to become or remain the county eapital ; 2d, that if one of the contending towns should receive a majority of all the votes east at said eleetion, a second election should be held on the first Monday of May, 1847, to decide between the three towns having obtained the most numerous vote at the first election ; and 3d, that in ease no absolute majority was obtained, a third election should be held on the first Monday of June, 1847, to decide between the two towns having received the greatest number of votes at the second eleetion.


*Ferdinand Marwell's Official Report in reference to the flood of 1844 .- This day, June 28th, A. D. 1844, I have witnessed the whole of the town of Kaskaskia inundated by the high water, some seven feet upon an average. The whole population of the place removed over on the hills or high lands opposite, and a great many took shelter at Col. Pièrre Menard's house. On Wednesday, the 26th of June, the steamboat Indiana, Captain Ludwig, landed near Col. Men- ard's house, which may be known by cinders from stone coal which was thrown ont at the place where she landed, which is southwest from the spring not over fifty yards, and she remained a few hours and took away the sisters or nuns, who were teaching a school in the village nt the time of the flood, to St. Louis. Many houses were carried off by the water ; the water commenced rising about the 12th of June and commenced falling about five o'clock, P. M., this 28th day of June. Given under my hand, F. MAXWELL, Clerk.




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