USA > Illinois > Cumberland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 41
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 41
USA > Illinois > Jasper County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 41
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Wade Township-JJohn Brooks. 1860 to 1865; George W. Blair, 1866 to 1857; John Dumont, 1868 to 1870: JJ. Q. Webb, 1871: Ful- ler Nigh. 1872 to 1873: John Schackman. 1874: S. R. Barker. 1875
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
to 1878: John Dumont, 1879 to 1880: John HI. Maxwell. 1881 to 1882: S. R. Barker, 1883.
Saint Marie Township-Jos. Piequet, 1860 to 1862; S. B. Crow- ley, 1863; Jos. Picquet, 1864 to 1866; James McVey, 1867: Jos. Picquet, 1868 to 1871; Thomas Gibson, 1872 to 1873; JJesse R. John- son, 1874; Thomas Gibson, 1875 to 1876: Daniel O'Donnell, 1877; John J. Rider, 1878 to 1880: Jos. L. Ponsot, 1881: J. E. Jacquet, 1882 to 1883.
Fox Township-Colmore Harris, 1877; S. L. Dickerson, 1878; Joseph F. Compton, 1879 to 1880: Anthony Litzelman, 1881 to 1882; J. L. Jessup, 1883.
The other officials of the county have been as follows:
Sheriff's-Lewis W. Jordan, from 1835 to 1840; Si. Barnes elected but could not fill bond; the Coroner, Jonathan C. Connelly, served to 1841: James Bridges, to 1846; W. J. Arnold, to 1848; Jacob L. Wagner, to 1850; Christian Sharrick, to 1852; Jacob L. Wagner, to 1854: John Kern, to 1856: JJ. E. James, to 1858; T. C. Melton, to 1860: William Shup, to 1862: Fuller Nigh, to 1864; Har- vey Love, elected, but died; John L. Elder, to 1868: S. B. Crowley, to 1872; James Cummins, to 1874: J. W. Selby, 1879, then ran off; Eugene Hartrich, to 1880: William Trainor is the present Sheriff.
Circuit Clerk-Did the business for both County and Circuit Courts. First Clerk, John Barnes, appointed in :1835, and in 1838, he ran off: Hiram Wade was appointed, and held the office until 1857, when the office was divided: E. W. Curtiss was elected County Clerk, and held the office until 1869, when Robert Leach was elected. and held the office to 1873, when H. K. Powell was elected, and is still County Clerk. William M. JJones was elected Circuit Clerk in 1857, and served to 1868, then Ogden Monell was elected, and served to 1872, then W. G. Williams was elected, and is the present Clerk.
County Treasurers-The County Commissioner appointed Tim- othy Garwood County Treasurer in 1835, and in 1837 they appointed L. D. Wade: in March -- , Z. S. Freeman was appointed, and in August the same year, W. JJ. Arnold was appointed; in March, 1839, G. S. Freeman was appointed; in August, 1840, W. J. Arnold was elected; in 1841, Charles Guthnick was appointed, and in January, 1842, he resigned, and March 15th, M. O'Kean was appointed and elected until 1857, when William M. Jones was elected; in 1859, Mordecai Bartley was elected: in 1861, John C. Broekman was elected: in 1865, Robert Leach was elected: in 1869, S. R. Barker: 1871, Samuel Brewer was elected, but left the county, and W. L
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IHISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
Heath filled out the time: in 1873, D. P. Smith was elected; in 1875. W. L. Heath was elected, and again in 1877; in 1879, D. P. Smith was elected, and is the present Treasurer.
Surveyors-There seemed to be no regular Surveyor, as the board. it appears, appointed a special one for special occasions until 1843. when William Bridges came in and held the office until 1851, when Levi Barnes was elected, but resigned, and Calvin Maxwell filled out his time: 1853, A. W. Ball elected; 1855, John M. Love elected: 1857, Robert Leach elected, and held the office until 1863, when William Kilgore was elected, and held until 1871, when S. B. Brown was elected, and held until 1879, when William Kilgore was again elected, and is yet Surveyor.
County Judges-W. S. Lee, Judge, from 1857 until 1864. when J. E. James was elected, and held to 1872. when William Carter was elected, and died in 1876, when R. B. Moffitt was elected to fill vacancy; in 1877, James W. Gibson was elected, and (1882) is the pres- ent Judge.
School Commissioners-1838, Lawrence Hollenback appointed: September, 1839, Lowis W. Jordan: 1841, Jordan removed and James Bridges appointed: February 5, 1842. M. O'Kean was elected. and was County Treasurer at that time, and in August, Samuel Garwood was elected School Commissioners; in 1843, M. O'Kean came in again; William Nigh, elected November, 1857, and died December of same year; Winston Mayo appointed January, 1858. to fill vacancy: 1859, I. H. Walker, elected: 1861, Joseph Schifferstein elected: 1865. I. II. Walker again elected: 1869, P. S. MeLaughlin: 1873, C. SJJames: 1877, J. F. Arnokh, and appointed by the Supervisors in 1881, for one year, and re-appointed for 1882 and 1883.
State's Attorneys-Prior to 1872, the State's Attorneys were elected for several counties. or for a district; JJ. P. Harrah elected in 1872; G. W. Fithian elected in 1876, and again in 1880, and is the present State's Attorney.
Coroners-There seems to have been no records kept of Coro- ners until 1866, when J. W. Williams was elected; 1872, George R. Weller was elected; 1873, Charles Yelton,; 1874, JJ. B. Harris; 1876. John Kern, (he died); 1877, A. B. Faller; 1878, Phillip Krebs: 1880, J. E. Stretcher (he died), and in 1881, Phillip Krebs was again elected, but subsequently moved to Kansas, and Jos. W. Hessler was elected in 1882.
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT.
EARLY SETTLERS AND MODES OF LIFE.
The pioneers of Jasper County came principally from Kentucky, with a number from Indiana, Ohio, and the far Eastern and Southern states. Most of these families were nurtured in the older settlements of the states, and had been trained in the stern school of experience to meet and conquer the difficulties of a new country. But the prob- lem here, presented difficulties which required personal ingenuity, perseverance and courage, to successfully treat. The timber which skirted the margin of the numerous rivers, divided the country into timber land and prairie into almost equal divisions, offering to the superficial view the happiest combination for the frontier farmer.
Every immigrant supplied his own means of reaching his des- tined home. The pioneer from Pennsylvania, Ohio and the Southern states, betrayed his nativity and prejudice in the schooner-shaped wagon box, the stiff' tongue, the hinder wheels double the size of the forward ones and closely coupled together, the whole drawn by a team of four or six horses, which were guided by a single line in the hands of a teamster riding the " nigh wheeler." His harness was of gigantic proportions. What, between the massive leather breeching, the heavy hames and collar, the immense housings of bear skin upon the hames, the heavy trace chains and the ponderous double-tree and whiffletrees, the poor beasts seemed like humanity in a chain gang, or some terrible monsters which human ingenuity could scarcely fet- ter securely. The Eastern immigrant from New York or farther cast, was marked as far as his caravan could be seen, by a long-coupled, low-boxed two-horse wagon, provided with a seat, from which with double lines, the driver guided his lightly harnessed horses. There was about part of the outfit, evidences of the close calculation of means to an end, and an air of utility which left no room for doubt as to the practicality of the maker in every part of it.
The open country, where circumstances favored, was undoubtedly far superior for farming to the timber land, but aside from the flies that infested that portion of the country and the general wet condition of the soil, the settlers imbued with the logical deductions of their
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
earlier experiences, looked with distrust upon the prairie. The gen- eral impression was, that only the timber belts would ever be inhab- ited; the prairie swept by fires of summer, and by the piercing blasts of winter, seemed little better than a desert, and for several years there was not a cabin in Jasper County built more than a hundred yards from the timber.
The necessity of the situation made the cabins similar in size, style and material. The pioneer having selected a site on some pros- pecting tour, or being attracted to a certain region by the report of friends, came with all his worldly possessions on wagons, and, mak- ing selection of a farm, chose a site for his cabin, and set at once to build it. Trees were felled, logs of the proper length chopped off and drawn to the building site, and willing neighbors for miles about invitel to the raising. Rude as these structures were, it needed no little handicraft to erect them, and it was not long before the special ability of each member of the community, entailed upon him his spe- cial duty on these occasions. The logs trimmed, " saddled " and prop- erly assorted, were placed in the pen-shape of the cabin; the gable ends were run up with regularity, shortening logs shaped them at the ends, allowed for the slope of the roof ; on these the long roof poles two feet apart stretched from end to end, served as foundation for the clap- boards, which, riven by the froe from bolts of oak, were placed and held secure by " weight poles " held firm by pegs or stones. Then fol- lowed the sawing out of the doorway and windows, the chinking of the cracks with pieces of riven timber; the calking with a mixture of mud and chopped hay; the construction of floors and a door from puncheons, and the building of chimneys of "cat and clay." Hinges were supplied from rawhide or timber, and the wooden latch reached from the outside by means of an attached leather latch-string passing through a hole in the door, was often the only protection against forcible entrance. Later experiences introduced the use of heavy wooden bars, but the proverbial expression of carly hospitality was the hanging out of the lateh-string. The local characteristics of the early settlers cropped even in the construction of their 'chun- neys. Few of the carly cabins were more than one-story high, and the chimney placed on one side was constructed in the case of the Southerner or Indianian on the outside of his cabin, while the rest built inside, the top in all cases scarcely reaching the height of the ridge.
The interior of the cabin was marked by the same general simi- larity. In each the rude fireplace shed abroad its genial warmth of
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
hospitality or aided in the preparation of the table's cheer. The " crane " hung with iron pots and kettles, and the Dutch oven half submerged in coals, were in all cabins the "evidence of things not scen," and furnished forth under the guidance of the deft housewife, a meal which is still sighed for as the " grace of a day that is dead." The " corn pone," or when so exceptionally fortunate as to be able to use flour, the hop yeast or salt-rising bread, the "chicken fixings," the game, the fresh luscious vegetables, are memories that more pre- tentious days have not dimmed in the hearts of those who knew them. The latter-day inventions of salerat us and baking powder had their pro- totype in the pearlash, which was prepared by burning the potash, so common then, upon the lid of the ". bake kettle," the sputtering green- ish flame produced by the process, in the meanwhile, enforcing upon the childish minds of the household the stern doctrines of the hereafter. The frontier cabin as a rule contained but one room, which served all the domestic and social purposes of the family unchanged. Curtains arranged about the beds suggested the retire- ment of sleeping apartments, while the cheerful blaze of the fireplace afforded an unstinted glow to the whole establishment.
The women of those days ate not the bread of idleness. They were indeed the helpmates of father, brother and husband. and no- where in the world did man prove such an unbalanced, useless machine, as the unmarried pioneer in this western wild. While the man with masterful energy conquered the difficulties of a new coun- try, and asserted his sovereignty over an unsubdued wilderness, it was woman's hand that turned its asperities into blessings, and made conquered nature the handmaid of civilization. The surplus product of the farm sufficed to supply a slender stock of tea, coffee, sugar and spices, with an occasional hat for the man and a calico dress for the woman. All else must be derived from the soil. How this was accomplished, the occasional relics of a flax wheel, brake, spinning wheel or loom suggest. To card and spin, to dye and weave, were accomplishments that all women possessed. Housekeeping was crowded into the smallest possible space, and the preparation of linen, of " linsey-woolsey," and stocking yarn, with their adaptation to the wants of the family, became, to vary the catechism, the chief end of woman. About these homely industries gathered all the pride of womanly achievement, the mild dissipations of carly society, and the hopes of a future competence, a social foundation, of which the proud structure of this great commonwealth bears eloquent testimony.
But with all this helpful self-reliance indoors, there was plenty
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
to engage the vigorous activity of the male portion of the family out of doors. The exigencies of the situation allowed no second experiment, and a lifetime success or failure hung upon the efforts of the pioneer. The labor of the farm was carried on under the most discour- aging circumstances. The rude agricultural implements and the too often inadequate supply of these allowed of no economical expendi - ture of strength, and for years rendered the frontier farmer's life a hand to hand struggle of sheer muscle and physical endurance with the stubborn difficulties of nature. The location of the cabins along the border of the lowlands that form the site of most of the timber, exposed the early settlers at their most vulnerable point. During a considerable part of the year, the almost stagnant water of the slug- gish streams filled the air with miasmatic poison that hung in dense fog over stream and grove like a destroying spirit. The difficulty expe- rienced in securing good water often rendered it necessary for the farmers to drink from stagnant pools. That the "fever and ague" should stalk through the land, a veritable Nemesis, was inevitable under such circumstances, and many a hardy pioneer was cowed and fairly shaken out of the country in the chilly grasp of this grim mon- ster. But having withstood these discouragements and secured a har- vest, the greater disappointment came in the utter lack of markets. After a year of labor, privation and sickness, the moderate crop would hardly bear the expense of getting it to market. How this country was settled and improved under such circumstances can be explained upon none of the settled principles of political economy. Retreat, there was none, and that homely phrase " root hog, or die," was borne in upon the pioneer by his daily experience with a benumbing iter- ation that must have wrought ruin to any class of people of less hardy mental and physical health.
In such a community, where "the richest were poor, and the poor lived in abundance," there was no chance for the growth of caste, and families for miles around were linked together as one neighborhood by the social customs of the times, which, in the spirit of true democracy, drew the line at moral worth alone. The amuse- ments of a people taking their character from the natural surround- ings of the community, were here chiefly adapted to the masculine taste. Hunting and fishing were always liberally rewarded, while log cabin raisings, the opening of court with its jury duty, and the Saturday afternoon holiday with its serub horse race, its wrestling match, its jumping or quoit pitching, and perhaps a fight or two, afforded entertainments that never lost their zest. It was a common
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HISTORY OF JAASPER COUNTY.
remark, however, that " Illinois furnished an easy berth for men and oxen, but a hard one for women and horses." So long as the com- munity gathered in Jasper County lacked easy communication, but little progress was made toward a higher civilization with its greater advantages and responsibilities. Indeed, not until the coming of railroads, which put the community somewhat nearer the level of the surrounding communities, did Jasper lose its carly reputation of lawlessness and low standard in morals.
EARLY TRAVEL AND EARLY ROADS.
To one who has known nothing more difficult than to follow the plainly marked highways of later days, the discouragements of frontier traveling are incomprehensible. The alternations of timber and prairie were unmarked save by the trail of the hogs that led a winding and uncertain way to their favorite places of wallowing. The earliest thoroughfare was the Palestine and Vandalia road, which passed through the territory of Jasper County on the town- ship line between townships number six and seven. This was the line on which it was laid out, but the method of establishing a road at that time left its course much plainer upon paper than upon the face of the country. For a time the temporary stakes and markings served the ingenuity 'and skill of the early teamster sufficient to bring him to his journey's end, but a little later all certain trace had disappeared. The character'of the prairie sod and the lightness of the travel prevented the establishment of the usual wagon trail that one of to-day might expect, but there were other indices that were scarcely less sure, under favoring circumstances, to the pioneer. The concentrated travel had the effect of killing out the stemgrass, the place of which was soon occupied by a yellow blossomed, gummy, resinous weed of little height, and which thus served to mark the established trail. This trail, however, varied very considerably from the established route, cach traveler, unchecked by fences or cultivated fields, marking out his own particular course along the general line. This guide, it will be observed, was an uncertain one even in a clear day to one accustomed to such experiences, but the frequent points of timber here furnished to the initiated never-failing landmarks which the settler learned to distinguish with the precision of a mod- ern signboard. To strangers (and there were many such in a grow- ing community ) all this was not so intelligible, and onee sure of a trail its various divisions and crossings were confusing and distracting to the last degree.
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
Travel in the daytime, however, was not attended with great risks, but the swarms of "green-headed flies" which infested the prairie practically disbarred the traveler from using the larger part of the day in prosecuting his journey. The unfortunate animal ex- posed to their attack would be covered with these voracious insects from the drying of the dew in the morning until its fall in the even- ing, and such was the vigor and effectiveness of their attacks that no animal could sustain it long. Horses and cattle became frantic as when attacked by becs, and work and travel were practically sus- pended from 9 o'clock until dew-tall in the evening. The timber was free from these pests and the early trails led along its border, but even these trails were abandoned during the heat of the day. Traveling was consequently done. principally at night, which gave rise to very serious experiences. Crossing the uncultivated prairie after dark was a very uncertain venture, even to the most expert. If the night was clear the stars were a reliable guide, and the pioneer became quite proficient in the simpler rudiments of astronomy. In a cloudy night and a snowy or foggy day their resources were less sure. A steady wind often proved the only guide. The traveler, getting his bearings, would note how the wind struck his nose, the right ear or the left, and then, keenly alive to these sensations, would so maintain his course as to keep the bearing of the wind always the same, and regardless of all other guides would generally reach his destination without difficulty. To do this required no little skill and a steady wind. If the latter changed gradually, the better the skill, the wider the traveler diverged from his proper course. With- out these guides it was mere accident if a person succeeded in crossing even a small prairie.]
An incident is related of a man. well acquainted with the prairie road, who set out from Saint Marie. The prairie was only seven miles long, and to make assurance doubly sure, proceeded on foot, leading his horse. In a short time he became bewildered, lost, and was forced to remain until the morning light gave him the guid- ance of familiar landmarks. The tendency is to move in a circle, and when once this is begun and observed by the traveler, the only resource is to camp in the most convenient place and manner, and thus wait for the morning. It was the custom of cach family living in an isolated position, when one of its members was out from home, to keep a light so placed that it might be seen and recognized at a considerable distance. It was a frequent practice to elevate a lantern upon the top of a pole, supported beside the chimney. To be lost
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HISTORY OF JAASPER COUNTY.
in the prairie or timber was an experience frequently attended with very serious results, and unfortunately were of frequent occurrence. One man attempted to reach Saint Marie from Newton. It was not considered a difficult or dangerous undertaking, but missing his way, he was discovered three days later, worn out with his exertions and nearly famished. Such experiences, to which every settlement could add its share, impressed the general community with the neces- sity for good roads, and yet such were the natural difficulties in the way that but little improvement could be effected before 1850.
The great early thoroughfares lead from east to west, and in this region were the Palestine and Vandalia, Vincennes and Saint Louis, and the National or Cumberland road, leading in this region from Terre Haute to Saint Louis. The courses of these roads are now gen- erally marked, for a greater or less length, by railroads. The " Pal- estine road," as it was carly called, was the first constructed of the National thoroughfares, and was the only one in Jasper County at the time of its organization. On March 25, 1835. a petition was pre- sented to the county board by sundry citizens, asking that a road be established "from the Lawrence County line, where the Shelbyville State road strikes said line, and from theuce to Newton via James Jordan's on Fox River; thence to the Coles County line at or near the old crossing of Muddy Creek in a direction to Charleston." Wagon roads at this time were mapped out much upon the same principle as railroads are now-with strict reference to terminal points, connections, and surface of the route. The line projected connected the points of the judicial circuit, connected the principal parallel thoroughfares, and was subsequently varied to suit " the lay of the land." "Viewers" were appointed, and in the following June they made their report, locating this first road of the county. It is a curious record, and illustrates the simplicity of the carly times, the alternations of prairie and timber, the location of many of the early settlers, and its transcription may not prove wholly uninteresting in these pages. The course led north across Lawrence County " to a stake marked 'C. L.'; thence to Jordan's, the west side of his dwelling house; thence in a straight line through prairie to three hickories at edge of prairie; thence to John Barnes' lane, through said lane, and thence northwest to the line of John Gar- wood's land in Township 6 north, Range 9 east, to the southwest corner of said land; thence north on a straight line to the south end of Van Buren Street in Newton; thence along said street to the public square; thence west with Jordan Street to L. W. JJordan's
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
fence: thence north to the mouth of Jordan's lane; thence west along said lane to John Reynolds' house; thenee northwest to a black oak at the edge of the prairie: thence to the schoolhouse, thence to the prairie in a north direction to a black oak; thence through prairie to a black oak and large hickory; thence to Abbott Lee's farm, through said farm in a north direction to a stake; thence to W. M. Richards.' between house and barn; thence north through Richards' farm, thence through prairie to two post oaks; thence through tim- ber to Turkey Creek; thence to three post oaks at the east side of the point of Turkey Creek timber to four post oaks; thence through prairie to a black and post oak on a direct course north to Mint Creek to a large white oak marked with a blaze and two notches; thence through timber to pin oak; thence to stakes to the west side of the north fork of Mint Creek to a small blazed oak: thence to the point of the post oak grove; thence to a stake at the last point of Mint Creek; thence on a north direction to the head of Marsh Creek; thence through prairie on a straight line to the last point of Marsh Creek; thence along the old trace to the Coles County line to a large oak stake marked on the south side-J. C. line."" From this description it would be difficult to locate the true line of road, but fortunately, later changes and surveys have modified and fixed its course in more definite terms.
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