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 32
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 32
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 32
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Be it further enacted, That William Alexander, James Lemon, sen., James B. Moore, John Prim and James Me- Roberts be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to fix upon the proper place for the seat of justice for said county of Monroe, who shall meet for that purpose on the third Monday of July next, at the town of Harrison,-and they, or a majority of them, when so assembled together, shall take an oath to fix the said seat of justice at such place as they shall think best ealeulated to promote the conve- nience and interest of said county, without favor or affection to any individual or individuals; provided, the owner or owners of the land will give to the county for the purpose of erecting public buildings, a parcel of land at the said place, not less than twenty aeres, and laid off into lots and sold for the above purpose; but, should said owner or owners refuse to make said donation aforesaid, then and in that case it shall be the duty of the commissioners to fix upon some other place for the seat of justice as convenient as may be to the different settlements in said county, and, when fixed upon by said commissioners, they shall certify under their hands and seals, and return the same to the next county court in the county, which said court shall eanse an entry thereof to be made on their records of said county. Pro- vided, however, that if the said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall not be able to meet on the said third Monday in July next, they shall meet as soon thereafter as it may be convenient, and either at the first or any subsequent meeting they may continue from day to day, so long as they may think it necessary to form a correet decision, and said commissioners shall be entitled to two dollars each per day that they are necessarily employed in fixing the county seat, to be paid out of their county levy ; and provided, also, that the town of Harrison shall be the seat of justice for said county, until some other place shall be chosen as aforesaid and publie buildings be erected thereon.
Be it further enacted, That the said county of Monroe shall be, and hereby is allowed one representative in the House of Representatives of this territory, who shall be elected in the same manner that representatives are now authorized by law to be elected in other counties, and he shall be authorized to exercise all the powers, possess all the privileges, and be entitled to all the emoluments that any other Representative ean exereise, possess or receive accord- ing to law.
Be it further enacted, That whereas the said county of Monroe was taken off of two distriets for the election of Members of Council, all qualified voters who shall reside within those bounds which previous to the passage thereof
was a part of St. Clair county shall have a right to vote for a member of the Legislative Council to represent them and the qualified voters of St. Clair county as one district ; and all those qualified voters who shall restde within those bounds, which previous to the passage hereof, was a part of Randolph county, shall have a right to vote for a member of the Legislative Council to represent them and the quali- fied voters of Randolph county as one distriet, and it shall be the duty of the sheriff's of the counties of Monroe and St. Clair within eight days after the election to attend at Bellville and compare the polls and make out and deliver to the person duly elected for that distriet their joint certifi- cate thereof. And it shall be the duty of the said sheriff's of Randolph and Monroe to attend at Kaskaskia, within ten days after the election to compare the polls and make out and deliver to the person duly elected for that district their joint certificate thereof, provided however that any part of the said duty may be performed by a legally authorized deputy sheriff, the principal sheriff being responsible for the faithful discharge thereof, and if the said sheriff or any of them shall refuse or fail to perform the duties hereby re- quired, such delinquent or delinquents, shall severally forfeit and pay the sum of two hundred dollars to be recovered by action of debt or indictment, one-half to the use of the terri- tory and the other half tu the person suing or prosecuting for the same.
Be it further enacted, that the qualified voters of said county of Monroe shall be entitled in all respeets to the same rights and privileges in the election of a delegate to Congress, that are allowed by law to the qualified voters of any other county ; and all elections hereby authorized shall be held at the seat of justice for the said county of Monroe, and shall in all respeets be held and condueted as elections are authorized and required to be held and conducted in other counties. This law to commence and be in force from and after the first day of June next.
RISDON MOORE, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
PIERRE MENARD, President of the Council.
Approved January 6, 1816.
NINIAN EDWARDS.
A plot of the county drawn by Michael Jones, Register, and dated 1816, is on file in the county elerk's office at Waterloo, According to this plot the original county of Monroe contained the southwest half of township 1 South, Range 10 west, the fractional townships 1 South, Range 11, and 2-11, township 2 South, range 10, the southwest half of township 2 South, range 9 west, townships 3-9 and 3-10, and fractional township 3-11 with Harrisonville as " seat of justice," then townships 4-9 and 4-10, and also fractional township 4-11. This arca contained in the aggregate 216,- 640 aeres, or about 333} square miles.
The organization of Monroe county is one of the aets of the second territorial legislature, composed of Pierre Menard, of Randolph, Samuel Judy,* of Madison, Benjamin Talbott,
* Samuel Judy was originally from Monroe county, where his father, Jacob Judy, (Tchudy) a native of Switzerland, had, in 1794, erected a mill, the first water-mill of any kind built by American settlers in that region ; this till did good service, and was for many years the only one between Kasky and Cahokia.
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
of Gallatin, William Biggs, of St Clair, and Thomas Fer- guson, of Johnson, forming the Legislative Council, and Risdon Moore and James Lemen, jr., of St. Clair ; Philip Trammel and Thomas C Browne, of Gallatin, John G. Lof- ton and William Rabb, of Madison, and Jarvis Hazleton, of Randolph, forming the House of Representatives.
The organization of the county did not then give universal satisfaction to the inhabitants of the counties, out of which the new county was formed. James Lemen, jr., then a re- presentative of St. Clair county, deemed it proper to explain his vote on the question in a lengthy address published in the Kaskaskia Herald, the first newspaper published in the state.
The address contains a vast amount of political wisdom and morality, and is well worthy to be preserved Besides there are numerous descendents of the Lemen family in Monroe county who may have a personal interest besides in the document.
To the freemen of St. Clair county.
Fellow citizens : Previons to my election as one of your repre- Sentatives, I was not ignorant of the responsibility that would devolve on me as a legislator if elected. On turning my_ attention to political matters or the subject of legislation ; I have always viewed it as intricate and important. while I have been led to believe that it could not be filled to the satisfaction of all who have to be legislated for, many of whom having real or imaginary local interests involved not differing from each other. Therefore let the representative pursue what course he may, if he should receive the sanction and applause of some, he may expect to be censured and calumniated by others. A consciousness of this circum- stance, induced me to feel much reluctance in engaging such an office, but believing that man was not created to dwell in a state of nature independent of or unconnected with each other, but for the formation and benefit of society, by which it is understood that each part should protect and be under the control of the whole so that the community should guard the rights and enforce the obedience of each individual.
Thus government, results of course from the formation of society as necessary for its protection, and as each individual owes an equal part to the protection of civil government, therefore each is bound in similar obligations to participate in government, when called by the community to aid in promoting welfare, Although not entirely congenial to my feelings, I freely obeycd the call of my fellow-citizens to a seat in the legislature of this territory, in performing the duties of which I have endeavored to serve you to the best of my capacity, and when your wishes have been communi- cated to me my most active exertions have been used to pro. mote your wishes. The only subject which I supported without satisfactory information was the erecting of a new county out of the counties of St. Clair and Randolph, but policy dictated to me the necessity of such a measure, for at the first session which I served in the legislature, there was a new county erected out of the northeast part of Gallatin, to which a representative was allowed, and at the last session there were three new counties erected out of the counties of
Johnson and Gallatin and Randolph, called White, Pope and Jackson, all of which were supplied with members from Gallatin, one of its former members to supply a representa- tive for White, thus the lower counties will at the next ses- sion of the legislature send six members to the house of re- presentatives, while Randolph, St. Clair and Madison (if no division on our part had taken place) would have sent but four, which would have given the lower members so decided a majority as to have enabled them to have legislated for the whole territory ; the necessity therefore of throwing an additional weight in our scale of legislative power presented itself to my view and I advocated the measure. I was also sensible of the extreme hardship under which those citizens included in the new county had to labor in attending the seat of justice of the old, a grievance which was represented to the legislature with a petition containing about 200 signers, and believing that nothing short of such a division would tranquillize our county, while we had it in our power to dc- signate the division line favorable to it, and fearing that such might not hereafter be the case, I should not have acted ac- cording to the dictates of what I conceived to be sound policy, if I had not aided in the division, and I am happy to assure my fellow-citizens that I am of the opinion that it will result to their advantage, as the growing popu- lation in the frontier parts of the counties of St. Clair and Randolph will in a short time demand the erection of another new county, which will perminantly settle the seat of justice in our flourishing county.
JAMES LEMEN, JR.
The third territorial legislature of Illinois, elected in August, 1816, two months after the organization of Monroe county, was convened at Kaskaskia on the 2d of December, 1816. Monroe, however, was not represented during this session, which lasted to January 14th, 1817. At the second session, convened on the 1st of December, 1817, was repre- sented in the legislative council (senate), by Abraham Amos, whose name is frequently mentioned in the early records of the county. He was a justice of the peace, and apparently a follower of Christ, for as such he solemnized the rites of matrimony between William F. Roberts and Elizabeth Farquer, on the 14th of August, 1817, affixing the letters " M. P." to his name. As Monroe county did not then sport a " Member Parliament " the M. P. above scemed to read Missionary Preacher.
The house of representatives of the third territorial legis- lature, December, 1816, to January, 1818, did not contain a member from Monroe.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT.
The civil officers appointed by the governor, met at the house of John McClure, at Harrisonville, on the 1st day of June, 1816, and caused their clerk to inscribe the follow- ing in the county records, to wit :
Organization of the county court .- Pursuant to an act of the legislature of the Illinois territory, passed on the 6th day of January, 1816, for forming a new county out of Randolph and St. Clair counties, to be called Monroe, Caldwell Cairns, James Lemen, Sr., and Abraham Amos,
17
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
gentlemen, met at the house of John McClure, in the town of Harrisonville, and county of Monroe, on the first day of June, 1816, and severally produced commissions from his excellency, the governor, bearing date the 10th day of January, 1816, appointing them judges of the county court of Monroe county.
Whereupon, William Alexander, Esq., by commission from his excellency, the governor, having been appointed clerk and recorder of the county of Monroe, aforesaid, and having heretofore taken the oaths prescribed by law, together with James B. Moore, Esq., his security as clerk, and Caldwell Cairus, Esq., his security as recorder, entered into and acknowledged bonds in the penalties and with the conditions required by law.
Aud thereupon, the said William Alexander, in pursuance of the act of the legislature in such case made and provided, administered the several oaths required by the constitution of the United States and the laws of this territory, to be taken by the judges of the county courts, to said Caldwell Cairns, James Lemen, Sr., an .? Abraham Amos.
James B. Moore, gentl , produced a commission from his excellency, the vernor of this territory, bearing date on the 10th day of January, 1816, appointing him sheriff of the county of Monroe, and together with William Alexander and James Lemen, Sr., his securities, entered into and acknowledged bond in the penalty and with the condition required by law, and took the oaths required by law.
James B. Edwards produced a commission from William Alexander, Esquire, clerk of the county of Monroe, appoint- ing him deputy clerk of said county, as also a commission from said William Alexander, as recorder of the county aforesaid, appointing hinr deputy recorder of said county, whereupon the said Edwards took the oaths required by law.
The little craft, called Monroe county, was now officered to start out on its career as a body politic. The reader will observe that the officers ranked as follows : The judges and sheriff, as gentlemen; the clerk, as esquire, and the deputy without rank The entry does not state to what day or place the authorities had adjourned, but at any rate, the record shows, that they had selected the next Saturday for a meeting, aud from the work done at this first " term," it is to be inferred that the county fathers had not been idle during the week.
This, the first court, was held again at the house of John McClure, on the 8th day of June, 1816, when the following proceedings were had :
Present, Caldwell Cairns, James Lemen and Abraham Amos, gentlemen judges of the county of Monroe. The court proceeded to lay off and divide the county into town- ships as follows, to wit: ordered that
Eagle Township, being No 1 in this county, be considered as included in the following boundaries, viz. : Commencing on the Mississippi river, where the base line strikes said river, thence with its meanders until it intersects the tornado, where it crosses said river, thence east until it strikes the county bridge on Eagle creek, from thence following the meanders of said creek to where it passes through the bluff, from thence east of north so as to include Levi Pickett, and
from thence to the county line, continuing on to where it commenced.
Harrison Township, being No. 2 in this county, be considered as included in the following boundaries, commencing where the tornado crosses the Mississippi river, thence with the meanders of said river to the mouth of the Big Gut below the town of Harrisonville, from thence an east course running between Hugh Ralston and Isaiah Levens, so as to include Kinney's mills and Avington Shirril's, from thence a north course so as to include Valentine's old mills and Converse's, from thence with the meanders of Eagle creek to where said creek passes through the bluff.
Mitchie Township, being No. 3 in this county, be considered as included in the following boundaries, viz : Commencing at the mouth of the Big Gut on the Mississippi river, thence with its meanders to the county line, thence with the county Jine to where it intersects Range line, between Ranges No. 9 and No. 10 west, from thence a northwest course, so as to include MeRot rts until it intersects the division line be- tween Harrison and said township.
Belle Fountaine Township, being No. 4 in this county, be considered as included in the following boundaries, viz. : Commencing where Eagle township struck the county line, thence southeast to the corner of said county, thence south to the southeast corner of township No. 4 south, from thence with the county line until it intersects Mitchic township, from thence with Mitchie until it strikes Harrison township, and from thence until it intersects Eagle township. After establishing these townships the court hastened to gladden the hearts of many of their citizens by elevating them to various offices. John Violeny was made constable of Harri- son, and Michael Masterson of Mitchie, Stephen Terry and Churchill Fulsher became overseers of the poor for Eagle, James Garretson and Solomon Shook for Harrison, James Henderson and Alexander McNab for Mitchie, and Michael Miller and James McDonald, Robert Hawk, William Hogan, William Alexander, Raphael Drury, George McMurtrey and James Bradshaw became supervisors of roads.
John Moore, "gentleman," produced his commission as treasurer, and also one of coroner, and was sworn in the office. It was agreed that hereafter the " court" should meet at the house of Thomas O'Conner, and that Thomas O'Con- ner should have a tavern license, for which he was to pay $5.00 per annum. John Cooper was also granted such license, whereupon the court regulated the prices to be charged by said tavern keepers as follows :
For a warm breakfast, dinner or supper . 250.
For lodging (one in a bed) . 1216
For lodging (two or more in a bed), each 61/
For whiskey by the half pint 1216
For peach or apple brandy, by half pint . 1216
For cider per quart 1216
3716
For porter or beer per bottle
25
For porter or beer per quart .
121/2
For oats or corn per gallou
For hay, oats or fodder for a horse, per day 3716
For cherry bounce, per half pint 18%
The court proceeded on the same day to order a tax levy, as follows :
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HISTORY OF RANDOLPH, MONROE AND PERRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
For each hond servant or slave . $1.00
' each horse over 3 years old . .50
4
each stud-horse, the rate he stands at the season.
" each town and out lot, wind and water-mill, mansion-house, for every $100 value, the sum of . .30
" every single man over 21 years of age $1.00
Timothy Coats was licensed to keep a ferry from Carthage (formerly Harrisonville) across the Mississippi, with rates as follows : Man, 25c. ; horse, 50e .; horned cattle, 75e .; light carriage, $1.50 ; road wagon, $1.75; freight, 8e. per 100 lbs, and a eart or a " gig," $1.00.
The attention of the court was next directed to acquiring a donation of land whereon to erect the publie buildings of the county, as O'Conner's charge of $3 00 per term for the use of his house as a court-room was too extravagant. In this the court was successful, inasmuch as MeKnight and Brady were ready for a donation, and did subsequently ex- cute the following instrument, to wit :
THE SEAT OF JUSTICE.
Deed of Mcknight & Brady to the County.
This indenture, made this 19th day of June, A. D. 1816, between John McKuight and Thomas Brady, trading under the firm of MeKnight & Brady, of the county of St. Louis and territory of Missouri of the one part, and William Alexander, James Lemen, sen., James B. Moore, and James MeRoberts, commissioners appointed by virtue of an act of assembly, in that ease made and provided for and in behalf of the county of Monroe, in the territory of Illinois, of the other part, witnesseth that the said John McKnight and Thomas Brady, trading under the firm of MeKnight & Brady as aforesaid, for and in consideration of the sum of one dollar current money of the United States of America, to them in hand paid, the receipt whereof they hereby ac- knowledge, and forever acquit and discharge the said Wil- liam Alexander, James Lomen, sen., James B. Moore, and James McRoberts, commissioners aforesaid, their heirs, ex- ecutors and administrators, have granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeotfed and confirmed, and by these presents do grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff and confirm unto the said William Alexander, James Lemen, Sen., James B. Moore and James McRoberts, commissioners for and in behalf of the county of Monroe aforesaid, and their heirs and assigns forever, the following lots or parcels of land situate in and adjoining the town of Carthage, in the county of Monroe aforesaid, to wit : Block No. 47 in the " plan " of the said town, containing one acre and 32 poles, and lots No. 1, 2, 3, 4, on the east end of the town tract and adjacent to the said town of Carthage, containing together eighteen aeres and one hundred and twenty-eight poles, which said lots together with block No. 47 in the plan of said town of Carthage, con- tain in the whole twenty aeres, more or less, by a late survey, together with all improvements, profits and appurtenanees whatsoever to the said lots belonging or iu anywise apper- taining, and the reversions, remainders and profits thereof, and all the estate. right, title, interest, property, claim and demand of them the said John MeKnight and James Brady, of, in and to the same, to have and to hold the aforesaid lots or parcels of land hereby conveyed, with all and singular the premises aud every part and parcel thereof, with every of the appurtenances, unto the said William Alexander, James
Lemen, sen., James B. Moore and James MeRoberts, com- missioners as aforesaid, for the use and in behalf of the county of Monroe aforesaid, their heirs and assigns forever. And the said John MeKnight and Thomas Brady, for them- selves, their heirs, executors and administrators, do cove- nant, promise and agree to and with the said William Alex- ander, James Lemen, sen., James B. Moore and James Mc- Roberts, commissioners as aforesaid, their heirs and assigns, by these presents, that the premises before mentioned now are and forever hereafter shall remain free of and from all former and other gifts, grants, bargains, sales, dowers, rights and titles of dower, judgments, executions, titles, troubles, charges and incumbranees whatsoever, done or suffered to be done by them the said John McKnight and Thomas Brady. And the said Mcknight & Brady aforesaid, and their heirs, all and singular the premises hereby bargained and sold with the appurtenances, unto the said William Alexander, James Lemen, sen., James B. Moore and James McRoberts, commissioners as aforesaid, their heirs and as- signs, against them the said John McKnight and Thomas Brady, trading under the firm of MeKnight & Brady, and their heirs and all and every other person or persons what- soever, do and will warrant and forever defend by these presents.
In witness whereof they the said John MeKnight and Thomas Brady, trading under the firm of MeKnight & Brady, have hereunto set their hands and atlixed their seals, the day and year first before written.
Signed, sealed and delivered ) in the presence of THOMAS JAMES. MCK NIGHT & BRADY.
JAMES B. EDWARDS.
Illinois Territory, Monroe County.
Be it remembered, that on the 20th day of July, Isto, James B. Edwards, one of the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing deed of' conveyance, personally appeared before me, a justice of the peace of Monroe county aforesaid, and made oath that he saw Thomas Brady, one of the firm of MeKnight and Brady, the grantors in said deed mentioned, sign and heard him acknowledge the same as and for his free and voluntary act, and allowed the same to be recorded in the recorder's office of said county, given under my hand and seal the day and year aforesaid.
PRINCE BRYANT, Justice of the Peace.
The title thus conveyed to the county by the firm of Me- Knight and Brady was, as lawyer Guy Gaylord contended, not perfeet, and the county authorities were unsuccessful to find purchasers. In 1818, April 28. a second deed to the same real estate was made, signed this time by John Me- Knight, Thomas Brady and Harriet, his wife, individually. Still the people were very slow in investing in this property, so that even Gen. John Edgar, of Kaskaskia, felt it his duty to come to the rescue, which he did in the following eard, published in the Illinois Intelligencer of June 15, 1819, to wit :
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