USA > Illinois > Cumberland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Jasper County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
Stock-raising has always been an important part of husbandry in this county, but of late years is attracting a larger share of at- tention. Grass never fails save in exceptional years, the moist nat- ure of the ground rendering the crop a sure and luxuriant growth. Until some ten or twelve years ago but little wheat was grown, and now it requires so large an expenditure of time and labor, that it is being seriously debated whether a larger proportion of stock-raising would not yield greater returns. Cattle and hogs are already an important source of income to the farmer, the latter animal showing rather the most care in breeding. A few Shorthorn Durhams and Jerseys are found in the county for domestic purposes only, but there
Jours Only Mahlow Votor
109
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
is considerable talk by several of stocking up with registered cattle for breeding purposes. In hogs the Berkshire and Jersey Reds seem to be the favorite varieties. Sheep, though not so generally kept by farmers, are still found in considerable numbers, in the aggregate. There are no large flocks, but most farmers keep a few head, some- times reaching a hundred or more. Dogs prove a great hindrance to this class of stock. On the subject of horses there is considerable interest manifested. Oxen have been superseded here for some years, but the average farm horse has not been greatly improved over the original stock. The taste of the farmers inclines to the "all- purpose" class of horses, and the principal improvement in breeding is toward the heavier class of animals. One or two horse fanciers pay considerable attention to speed horses and roadsters, but the farmers are rather inclined to the Norman and Clydesdale horses.
Mules are bred and used to some extent, and the practice is be- coming more general. These animals command a readier sale, and at higher prices than horses, which qualification added to their har- dier constitution and easy cost of maintenance makes them more profitable than horses.
FAIR ASSOCIATION.
The first attempt for a Fair Association was made in 1858. On the second of January in that year the Cumberland County Agricult- ural Society was formed with. Michael Ruffner, as President; C. W. Pickering, C. C. Jones and Daniel B. Green, as Vice Presidents; James M. Ward, as Treasurer; A. G. Caldwell, Recording Secretary; and James LaDow, Corresponding Secretary. This Association held two Fairs in the month of October 1858 and 1859 at Greenup. The ground selected was an elevated spot in the north part of the village, which was partially surrounded by a brush fence. No regular pre- miums were offered, but cups and special prizes were offered and competed for in a spirited manner. The people took an active part in making these exhibitions successful, and in the event were instru- mental in awakening a widespread interest in the improvement of agricultural subjects. In 1860. the exhibitions were removed to the county-seat, then called Prairie City, and were held on a ten-acre tract west of town. until the fall of 1865. The association had adopted a plan too liberal for the financial success of the enterprise, and at that time the association, finding itself unsuccessful, disbanded and gave place to a new organization. Under the new regime the site of the exhibitions was transferred to a plat of ten acres north of the village. This organization, though adopting stricter rules of
7
110
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
membership, proved a failure so far as finances were concerned. Ten acres were bargained for and Fairs held continuously from 1866 until about 1874, when the mortgage held on the land was foreclosed. Another reorganization followed, and the land redeemed, but the as- sociation held it but a short time when this property was sold and forty acres purchased about one-half a mile southeast of the county seat. Here Fairs were regularly maintained until 1880, when another reorganization was effected. The Fairs had degenerated somewhat and were not financially successful. At this juncture certain of the wealthy stockmen and farmers conceived the design of forming a stock company. This was done under the name of the Cumberland County District Agricultural Society. The former association's grounds were purchased and ten more acres added : large improve- ments were added, such as box stalls, a large covered amphitheater, new fencing outside and safety railing on each side of the track, the additional land cleaned of underbrush, etc., etc. The organization held its first exhibition in October, 1883, with the following officers : C. G. Jones, President; L. L. Logan, Vice President; William L. Bruster, Secretary; W. S. Everhart, Treasurer; A. A. Neal, W. H. Caty, S. M. Pennington, C. G. Jones, and Veley Perry, Direc- tors. The stockholders are : L. N. Brewer, A. R. Huston, W. L. Bruster, C. G. Jones, W. H. Caty, J. A. McCandlish, R. D. Ash- will, W. C. Prather, Charles Hanker, L. L. Logan, L. B. Ross, Guy M. Lemen, Leon Sumerlin, Silas White, F. J. Heid, S. C. Miller, A. A. Neal, S. B. Pennington, F. M. Pennington, Veley Perry, Wesley Perry, George Starger, Harlow Park, S. C. Hol- sapple, T. P. Prather, V. E. Clark, W. S. Everhart.
EARLY SETTLERS-THEIR EXPERIENCES AND INDUSTRIES.
The early immigration into Illinois was principally from Ken- tucky, and across its territory from the States farther to the south and cast. About 1812 the inflow of population, which had been gaining force and numbers from the beginning of the century, was rapidly spreading over Southern Illinois along the main water courses. But the hostilities which broke out in that year and continued during the succeeding three years, gave a sudden check to, and subsequently diverted the course of, this tide of immigration. The " Wabash coun- try " was famed far and near, and many adventurous pioneers came into what is now Crawford County as early as 1811, and even during the Indian hostilities, these pioneers received accessions. After coming to this land the danger of attack seemed so imminent that a consid- erable number were forced to remain cooped up in a palisade fort at
111
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Palestine until the cessation of the Indian troubles in 1814-15. In the meantime the more western portions of the State were considered safer, from the denser character of its settlements and its remoteness from the Indiana country where Indian hostilities seemed more vigorously car- ried on. The consequence was that this region of the State was aban- doned by settlers and suffered a considerable delay in its development. When this cause was no longer operative, the large navigable streams attracted the earlier settlements, and it was nearly 1830 before the re- gion now embraced in Cumberland County received its first settlement.
It will be observed, from a foregoing part of this work, that the Indian title to the larger part of the State was extinguished as early as 1816. The savages did not at once abandon the territory ceded, but under a provision of these treaties lived and hunted here for years, while numerous reservations in favor of individuals and families. made these relies of a peculiar race, like dying embers of a great fire, a familiar sight for years to many of the present generation. Until about 1825, the natives were in full possession of the territory of Cumberland County, though their numbers gradually grew less, until the Black Hawk war, in 1832, took them all away. The Kicka- poo tribes furnished the larger part of those who found a home in this region. These received annuities at Vincennes, and had villages on the old Perry place and further up the Embarrass River. This tribe, in 1763, occupied the country southwest of the southern extremity of Lake Michigan, but on the removal of the Illini followed south- ward, making their villages on the Mackinaw and later on the San- gamon River. The settlers of Southern Illinois found them all along the Embarrass. They were more civilized, industrious, energetic and cleanly than the neighboring tribes, and it was also true that they were more implacable in their opposition to the whites. They were prominent among the tribes that for a century carried on the exter- minating war against the friendly Illinois confederation. They were prominent in all the Indian struggles against Generals Harmer, St. Clair and Wayne; and maintained their hostility to the whites and friendly tribes to the last. During the years 1810 and 1811, in con- junction with the Chippewas, Pottawatomies and Ottawas, they committed so many thefts and murders on the frontier settlements, that Governor Edwards was compelled to employ force to suppress them. When removed from Illinois they still retained their old ani- mosities against the Americans and went to Texas, then a province of Mexico, to get beyond the jurisdiction of the United States. They claimed relationship with the Pottawatomies, and perhaps the Shes and Foxes, and Shawnees.
112
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
The white settlement of Cumberland County came close upon the retreat of the savages. Indeed, the squatter and hunter who constitute the advance line of the permanent settlement was here before, and from 1820 to 1830 this region was a common hunting ground for both the white and red man. It is difficult at this time to ascertain who first made his permanent settlement here. It is prob- able, however, that John Tully was the original pioneer in the ter- ritory now embraced within the limits of Cumberland County. Ho was a native of East Tennessee, and came early to Marion County, Ill. From this section he moved in 1828 to the site of Johnstown, in Cottonwood Township, for the purpose of establishing a still and grist-mill. The two enterprises were naturally and frequently asso- ciated at that time, and the settlements which had been formed fur- ther north gave abundant promise of a good patronage. He first built a still-house in the edge of the timber, and in 1829 built a small log water-mill, and afterwards another cabin for a residence. Early in this year, - Hunt, with his two sons-in-law. Henry Lance and Purcell, settled in the vicinity of Tully. This family came from Indiana, but were originally from Tennessee. A little later, in 1829, the families of Lovi and David Beals were added to the settlement on Muddy Point, and in 1830, the family of Joseph Berry, from Maury County, Tenn. In the fall of 1829, a settlement was formed on the Embarrass near Sconce' Bend. James Gill. a native of Ken- tucky, and one of the occupants of old Fort La Motte, at Palestine. in Crawford County, came here. After the pacification of the Indi- ans at the close of the war in 1812. he settled on the sand prairie. and married there. Soon afterward, with his family and household effects, he came on horseback to the site of the old homestead which he now occupies, and has lived there ever since. This was in December, 1829, and without other assistance than his horses and wife, he erected a pole cabin in which he passed the winter, near the Ryan Ford. He subsequently moved to the site of his present dwelling. In the same fall. A. Y. Dobbs, a native of Alabama. came to the vicinity of Seonce' Band. In the following year came to this settlement Alexander Baker, three families of the Ashbys. all Kentuckians by birth; -- Piner, who stayed but a short time before he left the region, and Thomas Sconce, who came from Kon- lucky in 1830. There was at this time a strong settlement on the upper part of the Embarrass, and not a cabin along the route of the projected National road. In 1830, a strong settlement was begun on Bear Creek, most of the families forming it coming from Indiana, but originally coming from the border States of the South.
113
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Of these were John Inghram, originally from Tennessee; John Ful- fer, from the same State; George Lake and several other families, originally from Kentucky via Indiana.
In 1832, the work began on the National road through this county, and attracted settlements along its line. The road had been surveyed before this, but no work was performed on it here until about this time. Wm. C. Greenup had been connected with the engineer corps that laid out the road, and subsequently, in company with Joseph Barbour, took a contract to construct the bridge at or near the village which bears his name. Ira B. Rose, then a resident of Martinsville, in Clark County, found employment with him, and seeking to enter into a speculation at the same time, secured forty acres just west of the present village and built his cabin, subsequently platting a town. Barbour came from Louisville, and brought a stock of goods, but never was considered a permanent resident. Greenup had his residence in Vandalia, and the settlement at " Rose- dale," while of some size, was chiefly made up of temporary sojourn- ers, workers on the road. But among these were a few whose names are still familiar sounds in the county. Of these were the families of Lathrop, Ewart, Hazlewood and Vandike. About 1833, George Henson and David Henson, with Jack Houtchins, cut out the National road through this county, and settled at Woodbury. As early as 1831, George Woodbury had built his cabin here, but he made no improvements and did not own the land, though he gave his name to the village platted here. Thomas B. Ross, a native of Kentucky, came to this locality also about 1833, but two years later moved to the more thriving village of Greenup, but soon afterward returned. Levi Beal came down from Muddy Point in this year and kept a tavern. West of Woodbury was quite a strong settlement. Chip- man Webster came in 1832, and settled on the National road about a mile and a quarter west of Woodbury, where he kept tavern, and about one and three-quarters miles further west was Abram Marble. John and William Owens, natives of Kentucky, were in this region as early as 1830, and James Mullen, a native of Ohio, in 1832; in 1834, the family of JJames Green, a native of Richmond, Va., about a mile west of Woodbury. D. B. Green was a lad of some five years when his father came first to the county in 1832. The fan ily was then in Ohio, and his father brought some fine horses and a jack from Maysville, Ky., to Charleston, to sell. Young Green rode the jack while his father rode one and led three more. Selling these ani- mals in this vicinity of the State, Mr. Green selected land in this county, and entered it, moving his family two years later. D. T.
114
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
Wisner came here in 1833 or 1834, to work on the National road. He was but a boy, and apprenticed to John Bruster, a tanner, of Shelby- ville. Ill. The trade does not seem to have pleased him, and he sought the public work for employment. He remained here and was for a long time closely identified with this county. Samuel Kingery and son were carly settlers of Cumberland. They came in 1834, from Ohio. and made their home in this vicinity. Henson Bright was an carly settler on the Embarrass River, between the settlement at Sconce' Bend and Greenup. He was a native of Kentucky, and one of the families in the fort at Palestine; he came to Cumberland County about 1830. Henry Nees, a native of Tennessee, was another of the occupants of the fort, and came here about the same time, settling near the Ford which still bears his name. Fewel Hampton was among the settlers of 1830, and was noted as a great " fiddler." It is said that he would carry his violin about with him as most of the pioneers did their guns, and it was no unusual thing to find him playing on his favorite instrument when he ought to have been hoeing his corn. Aaron Mahaffey was another eccentric settler of 1830. He was noted as a great hunter, and supported himself en- tirely by his rifle. Among those who came in to reinforce these various settlements, from 1835 to 1845, were Daniel Decius, from Ohio. in 1835 or 1836; Dr. Samuel Quinn, about 1838, from Ohio; Dr. James Ewart, from the same State, about 1838; Silas Huffeut, a local Methodist preacher, from New York, in 1840; Wade, about 1842; Edward Talbott, from Ohio, in 1844; JJames Ward. from Ohio, about 1840; Charles and James McKnight, about 1843: Isaac Sayers; Shiplors, two families; House, Dow, Drummond, Petersons, Jacob Green, Armours, Beni White, Watson, etc.
In 1843, when the county of Cumberland was formed, there were about 2,000 inhabitants, but from this time to 1850. immigra- tion almost ceased, and emigration was sufficient to keep the growth of the population at about a standstill. In 1845. the cholera proved fatal to many here, and in 1848 and 1849, a considerable num- ber joined the current setting toward California. About 1850, however, the land warrants issued to the soldiers of the Mexican war began to bring about a change. These warrants got into the hands of persons about to seek new homes, and from 1850 to 1853 almost every acre of public land was entered, and largely by actual settlers. The carly settlements were all made in some point of tim- ber, at Muddy Point. Sconce' Bend, Nees' Ford. Greenup. Woodbury and Bear Creek, thus encircling the central part of the county, which for years was almost a marsh. water standing all over the prairie
115
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
portion up to a horse's belly until AAugust. Daniel Kingery lost faith in the country and returned East, but after a year or two came back to this county. In his published reminiscences he says Greenup was a hamlet then of a half dozen cabins; from that point to Towertown there was but one house, and from thence to Wisner's the families of Webster, Saracool, and John Gardner were the only residents. Between where he now lives and Dutchtown, or Teutop- olis, there was but one cabin, and the latter village consisted only of a double log house, which was used as store and dwelling by Jno. Trackfort. From the residence of Wisner to Newton. in Jasper County, there was but one cabin, and that was occupied by Albert Caldwell. A traveler from Ohio, on his way to the West to pur- chase land, came along the National road and leaves an account of his impressions of the lower part of the county, written in a diary. On the 16th of November, 1838, he reached Marshall, in Clark County, "and from thence rode thirty miles into the prairie to Greenup, making thirty-three miles of poor country and thinly set- tled. On Saturday, left Greenup ; the weather cold and prairie large. Noticed several large hewed log houses; look like our double barns. They were mostly deserted and vacant, the people appearing to be all in the streets standing about a fire that had been kindled in the streets. They seemed in fine spirits, or fine spirits in them; the lat- ter is supposed to be the case." The other villages do not seem to have attracted his attention.
The earlier sites chosen for the frontier cabin were along the high points of timber that skirted the streams. The prairie at that time was covered with joint grass, which at times reached the enor- mous height of ten or twelve feet. There was little natural drain- age. and the rain tall lay upon the ground, after saturating the soil, until the whole prairie area was one great swale. Accustomed to a timbered and rolling country, the first settlers could not believe that the open land could ever be tilled; and it was practically im- possible for the pioneers, few in number and limited in resources, to cultivate it. The site chosen for a farm, therefore, was in the tim- ber. The cabin was a simple log pen with a door, a window, and a puncheon floor. At first glass was not to be had, and greased paper, which was proof against the rain, and at the same time admitted a faint light, was used as a substitute. It was no unusual thing for cabins to be erected without a nail, wooden pegs supplying their place, and most of these first structures were erected with but a limited supply. The work on the farm was carried on by the men an'l boys under similar disadvantages. A space cleared of its timber
116
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
was ploughed with the rude implement of the time and planted to corn. What the crows, black-birds and squirrels left was ample for the needs of the family. There was no accessible market for the produce, and few farmers but had plenty of " hog and hominy." There were very few large farms. The range of wild grass, the moss and roots were so abundant in the woods that hogs, cattle and horses required but little other food, and that was in general corn alone. It is probable that a single corn-field of five acres consti- tuted the majority of the early farms. Wheat was not sown for some years, as there were no mills to grind it if a crop had been secured. Mills were a prime necessity of the early days, but even when secured, the demands of the farm or the difficulties of early traveling prevented the settler from " going to mill." Resort was then had, so long as the corn was soft, to the " grater " made of per- forated tin, or sheet iron. Upon the rough side of this erude instru- ment the corn was reduced to a condition which made it adapted to the use of the pioneer housewife. Later, when the corn became hard, it had to be reduced in a mortar or handmill. Almost every family had its " hominy block." This was formed from a large block or stump. A large hole, " kettle shaped," was made in it by burning and scraping. Over this, suspended to a huge " sweep," often by a wild grape vine, was a heavy stick of wood, the lower end of which was provided with an iron wedge. The "sweep" was converted into a spring-pole by fastening the lower end by stakes driven into the ground. By such machinery hundreds of bushels of corn were reduced to hominy and a coarse meal, which furnished the corn-pone. An improvement upon this was the handmill, which some of the well-to-do farmers sometimes possessed. This consisted of one stone running upon another in a frame, the upper one being provided with an "eye" and a handle, and with this the boys were accustomed to grind the family's supply of meal.
It was not long before power-mills were built. The streams afforded good sites and power for water-mills, for a part of the year, but the lack of good mechanics often forced the pioneers to depend upon the horse-mill. This consisted of a small run of stone, manu- factured by the miller out of " nigger-heads." The power was con- veyed to this by a large cog-wheel of ten or fifteen feet diameter, placed upon a perpendicular axle, which was caused to revolve by levers placed in it at right angles near the ground, to which horses were attached. The earliest mills in the county were erected at Johnstown. Here in 1829, John Tully had a little water-mill, but as the river did not always afford power to run it, he erected a horse-mill,
117
HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY.
and in low stages of water he was accustomed to transfer the home-made buhrs from the mill to the horse-power. Another horse- mill was early built at Woodbury, by Levi Beals, and in 1832 a good mill was established at Greenup. These mills drew patronage from miles around, and were generally run to their fullest capacity. The abundance of corn, and the small demand for it gave rise to another industry, which was of doubtful advantage to the community. Dis- tilleries were generally built as a part of the miller's establishment, or near at hand. Holly had one which was patronized fully as much as the mill, and was probably more influential in making the place one of importance. H. B. Russell operated the still in later years, using a steam still. The product was sold to farmers in exchange for corn, and to the stores and groceries in the neighborhood where it was often the principal commodity for sale. Whisky was a reg- ular beverage, and very few of the pioneers were without it. At the " still" whisky was kept in a large vessel, and a cup near by, and every one was welcome to so much as he cared to drink. After tansy came up in the spring, this was added, and " tansy bitters " was then kept for the public entertainment.
Some reminiscences, by Daniel Kingery, and published in a re- cent issue of the Democrat, give an interesting account of the re- sources of the southwestern part of the county at an early date:
" His place of marketing and trading was at Woodbury and Dutchtown, generally at Woodbury. Wisner kept a stock of goods such as was needed by the people at that time, and in addition to this he kept a supply of "fire water," and it was here they used to congregate and indulge their appetites and practice their pugilistic skill. At those times as well as now there were some who " went considerable," and even prided themselves upon their muscular pow- ers. He says he has seen as much as ten gallons of whisky drank here in one day. Of course that much whisky in men would natur- ally produce considerable fight. For milling he depended on the horse-mill at Towertown, owned and operated by a Mr. Beals. For meat he depended to a great extent upon the woods. There was plenty of deer here then. But Uncle Daniel says he had never been trained to the chase and was not much of a Nimrod. But he had brought with him an excellent gun with the intention,of course, of shooting deer, for amusement, if nothing else. He relates his first experience in deer hunting which was taken with his brother Ste- phen, who was an experienced hunter. Early in the morning they were in the woods. Just north of what is now known as the ' Good' farm they separated, and in a short time up jumped a deer and he
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.