USA > Illinois > Cumberland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 46
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 46
USA > Illinois > Jasper County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 46
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One Hundred and Forty-Third .- Jasper County contributed a few men to Company I, of this regiment, the larger part of which company was formed at Mattoon. The regiment was organized at Mattoon by Colonel Dudley C. Smith, and mustered June 11, 1864, for one hundred days. On the 16th of June, the regiment moved for Memphis, Tenn., and on the 19th, was assigned to the Fourth Brigade, District of Memphis, Colonel Butrick, commanding. On July 12, it was assigned to the Third Brigade, Colonel John Wood, commanding. On the 27th of July, the regiment was ordered to report to Brigadier-General Buford, commanding District of East Arkansas, at Helena. Arriving on the following day, the regiment was assigned to garrison duty, where it remained till the expiration of its term of enlistment. On the 10th of September, the regiment moved northward, and proceeded to Mattoon, Ill., where it was mus- tered out, September 26, 1864.
One Hundred and Fifty-Fifth Infantry .- Of this regiment, Company B was almost wholly made up in Jasper County. Its offi- cers were George W. Richards, Captain; Edward Herrick, First
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Lieutenant; William Trainor, Second Lieutenant. The regiment was organized at Camp Butler, Ill., by Colonel Gustavus A. Smith, and mustered into the service February 28, 1865, for one year. On March 2, the regiment, 904 strong, moved via Louisville and Nashville to Tullahoma, Tennessee, and reporting to General Milroy, was assigned to Brevet-Brigadier General Dudley. On June 17, the regiment was divided into detachments of twenty or thirty men each, and assigned to guard duty on the Nashville & Chatta- nooga Railroad, occupying the blockhouses from Nashville to Duck River, a distance of fifty miles. On September 4, the regiment was mustered out of service and moved to Camp Butler, Ill., where it received final payment and discharge.
Fifth Cavalry .- Of this regiment Company L was recruited in Richland, Wayne, Cumberland and Jasper counties principally. The regiment was organized at Camp Butler, Ill., in November, 1861, and Hall Wilson appointed Colonel. On February 20, 1862, the regiment moved to Benton Barracks, Saint Louis, Mo. March 3, it moved to Pilot Knob. On the 27th, it marched to Doniphan, and had a skirmish with the enemy, capturing their camp, April 1. On the 27th, the regiment started on a march for the Mississippi River, joining Curtis' army at Jacksonport on the 29th, and reaching Hel- ena, July 13. October 22, a forage train was attacked by the enemy and seventy-eight of the Fifth Cavalry captured. On Janu- ary 11, 1863, the regiment made an expedition to Duvall's Bluff, and in April, pursued Marmaduke, who was retreating from Missouri. May 29, 1863, the regiment embarked for Vicksburg; and on June 1, landed at Snyder's Bluff. June 3, the Fifth Cavalry made a recon- noissance to Mechanicsburg, drove the enemy ten miles, carrying ou a spirited skirmish in the meantime. Forming a junction on the following day with Brigadier-General Kimball, who had two regi- ments of infantry, eight pieces of artillery, they attacked the enemy, who was strongly posted, and defeated him. With General Sherman's army, the Ninth and Fifteenth Corps, the Fifth moved toward Jackson on the 6th, and five days later, the Third and Fourth Iowa, Second Wisconsin and Fifth Illinois, composing the cavalry brig- adge, went on an expdeition to Canton, Miss., arriving after some fighting on the 17th, and after destroying the public workshops, rail- road, etc., returned to the main army at Jackson. On August 3, the Fifth joined the expedition to Grenada, Miss. Reaching the Mississippi Central. at Durant, and, capturing wagon-trains, destroy- ing bridges, etc., it moved up the railroad. driving the enemy, under
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Chalmers, and effecting a junction with Colonel Phelps' force. Owing to destroyed bridges, the captured rolling stock could not be saved and 40 engines with 320 cars were burned. The force then moved toward Memphis, encountering on the 21st. a force of the enemy's cavalry, which the expedition defeated, the Fifth losing one killed and five wounded. On returning to Memphis the regiment was embarked for Vicksburg and went into camp on the Black River, August 29. Remaining here until May 1, 1864. the regi- ment was moved to Vicksburg, and subsequently took part in the movement toward Jackson, and in a cavalry charge at Brownsville, routing the rebel General Wirt Adams.
January 1, 1864. many of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans, the veterans receiving their furlough in March. May 10, the vet- erans returned and the regiment once more united, eight companies were dismounted, Companies A, B, C. D, retaining their horses. On July 1. this battalion joined in an expedition to Jackson. On the return march the raiders were attacked by a large force of the enemy which was repulsed only after a severe engagement. Septem- ber 27, the same force moved down the river, and, landing at Port Gibson, drove the enemy from the place. From thence the regiment moved to Natchez; thence to Tonica Bend, where the ex- pedition landed and moved to Woodville. Here a rebel camp was surprised and captured, but during the night, the enemy advanced with three guns and 600 men. The Fifth Cavalry and Third United States Colored Cavalry charged the enemy the next morning, driving him in confusion. November 20, the regiment went with an expedi- tion to destroy the Mississippi Central Railroad, over which supplies were being sent to Hood. Its objeet was successfully accomplished, the command destroying miles of road. In JJannary, 1865, the reg- iment moved to Memphis, and a little later went with an expedi- tion to southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. In March the regiment was assigned to guard duty on the Memphis and Charles- ton Railroad, and was thus engaged until July, 1865. The regiment was then ordered to Texas, and assigned to Custer's command. It was posted at Hempstead, Texas, until October 6, when it was ordered to Springfield, Ill., arriving on the 16th: on the 27th it was mustered out, and received final payment and discharge October 30, 1865.
Other organizations had representatives from Jasper County. especially the Thirty-Fourth Illinois Infantry, but it is impossible to obtain accurate information in regard to all. In the above brief
29
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survey no attempt has been made to do exact or equal justice to the military career of those who went out from Jasper County to the service of their country. Any such attempt must have failed in the very nature of the case. Such facts as have been given, have been gleaned from various sources of information, generally accepted as correct, yet often proving contradictory in essential particulars, and may prove in many instances to fall short of the merits of the case. But however much this sketch may fail of excellence, it will at least serve to show that Jasper County's patriotism found expression " where duty called and danger," and " was never wanting there," and so answers the purpose for which it was conceived.
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
VILLAGE GROWTH.
Newton .- The earliest settlement centered about the villages of Newton and Saint Marie. The site of the former village by its geo- graphical position and the natural advantages of the contour of the land made it the inevitable county-seat. But before the erection of the county its natural attractions had brought the situation to the favor- able notice of the pioneer. In November, of 1826, James Jordan came here with his family and erected the first cabin on the territory now covered by the village. The site of the cabin was near the north gate of the court house yard, and here Mr. and Mrs. Jordan put up a log cabin unaided by others. After settling his family Mr. Jordan was called from home on some business, and Mrs. Jordan with two or three children was left here alone in the wilderness surrounded by howling wolves and strolling Indians. They brought a number of young cattle with them, and one night a young heifer attacked by the wolves, came rushing into the cabin, bounding through the door- way which was only protected by a suspended blanket, and startling the little family by its distressful eries of alarm. In the morning the animal's side was found to be so terribly torn that it had to be killed. Some three weeks after the coming of the Jordans, came the family of Abram Decker and settled about two and a half miles to the east of them. The Deckers stayed only about two years, when they left the county. The Jordans subsequently moved to the Decker cabin and lived there for years. In February, 1836, when Grove came to the county, he relates that " there was but one dwelling house in the place, and a little water-oak pole grocery. John V. Barnes was the dweller in, and part owner of the grocery, his partner being Tenny. The Indians had all left this part of the country. In the fall before I came here, au old Indian woman lived in Newton who claimed to be 180 years old. She said she had always lived here, and that she could recollect when the Embarrass River had no certain chan- nel, but ran promiscuously through the bottom. She said that on the upland there was no big timber -- call little bushes."
A little later came L. W. JJordan and Benjamin Reynolds. The land on which the village was platted, was entered in 1831, in the name of L. W. Jordan, but it is probable that his father-in-law. Rey-
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
nolds, laid it out and subsequently donated the site for a county-seat. After the organization of the county, the village began to attract settlers, and improvements began to attract attention. Lawrence Hollenbeck and Thomas Garwood built a saw and grist-mill on the site now owned by B. Faller. Benjamin Harris, who had emigrated from Ohio, brought on a small stock of dry goods and opened the first store in Newton, but as farming was the more essential business, he closed out his store, located quite a body of land in the vicinity of Newton, and made large and valuable improvements in the imme- diate vicinity of the village. Joseph Picquet afterwards carried on a merchandising business in Newton, purchasing at the same time the mill property which he greatly improved.
In his reminiscences of Jasper County, W. H. Wade says: "From time immemorial in the history of Newton, there has been one of those sinks of perdition called saloons, kept on the corner of Jordan and Jackson streets. Before the improvement of the streets there was a small ravine in front of the place indicated, and as a general thing, if a fight occurred in that'vicinity, the combatants would more than likely ' fetch up' in said ravine, and in consequence the place took the name of ' bloody run.'
" I could relate many amusing incidents that came under my notice during my boyhood in old Jasper, had I space and time, as there were many characters like that of Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill, Sut Lore- good, et al., in the country. In early days, under the old constitu- tion, counties were divided into voting precincts, but it did not pro- hibit any citizen of the county from voting at the county-seat, if he so desired, and at general elections nearly all of the voters of the county would come to Newton to vote, and on election days, or at court, it was amusing to see the old pioneers coming into town. Often they were dressed in buckskin suits with coonskin caps, and generally carried that indispensable lite-guard-the rifle. After indulging in a few drinks of sod-corn whisky, they would begin to get lively.
" Shooting, or rather target shooting, for whisky, was a great source of amusement. Horse racing, what we now call . plug races.' was considered indispensable to make up the fun and amusement of those days. The distance run was generally 200 yards, or a quarter of a mile at farthest, and the stakes generally ranged in price and quantity from one quart to a half gallon of 'sod corn,' worth from fifteen to twenty-five cents, and it was a jolly time they had. As a matter of course, all understood and practiced the manly art of self-
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defense, and it was considered unmanly for a man to take an insult without resenting it, and generally the day wound up with a great many peeled heads, bloody noses, black eyes, and perhaps a few eyes gouged out."
The picture thus drawn of the early society in Newton, while not flattering, seems to be borne out by all the traditions that have come down to this day. The village was in moral quarantine. Its reputation was known far and near. Settlers avoided it, and even travelers avoided it on their journeys so far as possible. Whisky was king, and there was a tacit organization among the leaders of the settlement to keep out any influence that would interfere with the customs of the place. Up to about 1840 this sort of thing con- tinned without any efficient opposition. A jury, it is said, had been out a long time without coming to a decision, when one of their num- ber was let out of a window. He soon returned with a few sand- wiches and a large jug of whisky, and was hauled into the retiring room of the jury. All opposition of opinion vanished, and a verdict was agreed upon and accepted in short order. 1
An incident is related by Mr. Johnson, in his pamphlet, illus- trative of the early customs of Newton, as follows:
" A stranger was riding along through the town, and some of the roughs, who were standing in front of a saloon, saw him, and they thought he must comply with their rules, etc .; so their leader (Lewis W. Jordan, who was the high Sheriff of the county at the time), stepped out in the road and asked the gentleman to get down, come in and treat the crowd. The stranger said he was not a drinking man, and would rather be excused. Mr. J. said it made no difference in this case; it was the enstom of the town, that no stranger should pass through without treating. The stranger remarked that he had often heard of Newton, but had not thought it so bad as that. Mr. J. said it did not matter what he had heard (and taking the stranger's horse by the bridle), said it was the custom here, and ' now, sir, you have to treat or fight.' The stranger remarked that he was no fighter, and supposed he would have to treat, and getting off his horse, as Mr. Jordan supposed, to treat the crowd, he let go the bridle and started toward the door of the saloon, but as he passed, the stranger gave Mr. Jordan a 'sockdologer' behind the ear that sent him ten or fifteen feet in the street, and while the roughs were rubbing him, and trying to bring him to life, the stranger deliberately got on his horse and rode off, and remarked to the crowd, as he rode away, that he would pass through town again in a week or two; but the
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above put a stop to the stopping of strangers, as they passed this way. But the roughs had to learn other lessons, that cost them very nearly their lives, while others (Mr. Jordan, for one) had to flee the country for their country's good, and their own safety."
What made the condition of affairs more unmanageable was that those who were in power, the officials of the county, were lead- ers of the gang. But the law abiding people finally became con- vinced that a heroic effort must be made. Benjamin Harris was finally elected Justice of the Peace, and crime began to suffer the just penalties of its deeds. It is related on one occasion, that a citi- zen of the village was cited to appear in the Justice's Court, at the complaint of one of these roughs, or to appear against him, and he requested permission of " his Honor " to bring his shot-gun as a means of self-protection. The request was granted, but during the trial the gun being placed in the corner of the room, was seized by one of the opposing party who was prevented from killing the owner of the gun only by a timely interference of the bystanders. By the order of the Court the miscreant was taken to jail. On . being released the ruffian declared he would kill those who interfered with him. This threat only failed of execution by the nerve of one of the parties attacked, who, with a friend, served notice that if the offend- ing party did not leave the county they would be waylaid and killed.
Up to this time Jasper County had made but very little progress. Up to 1845 but little of the lands in the county had been entered. A great many of the citizens of the county were what is generally termed squatters, living on government land without titles. But in the intermediate time between 1845-50-52 the public lands were principally taken up, some by actual settlers and a great portion by speculators. This had its effect upon the county-seat, but still the growth was very slow. In 1855 there were but a dozen families here, and in 1874 Newton was a town of 400 inhabitants, and all communication with the outside world was carried on by means of Joc Litzelmann's hack express, which made one trip daily between this place and Olney. There was but one store on the east side. Fuller Nigh's, three on the north side, Iredell Spoon, R. B. Wall and Joseph Gæppner's. one on the west side, Aloysius Boos, one on the south side, Dr. Andrews, David Max in the building now occu- pied by George Forseman, Dr. John Franke's drug store up at the old stand, and across the street Mr. S. Johnson's store. The court house, occupying the site of the present beautiful edifi e, was an ancient,
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
square box affair, built with very red brick, and held together with great iron rods. A saloon on the south side and one on the east side, not forgetting Litzelmann's hotel and Miller's hotel, and you have a fair picture of Newton in 1874. With the debut of the G. & M. railroad, in 1876, its success became assured. New life, new vigor and new people took possession of Newton, and to-day as a result of the building of that road we have our own beautiful county-seat, filled with substantial, briek, business houses, as fine a court-house as there is in southern Illinois, a splendid school building, the best appointed opera house in this part of the State, mills, five factories, and an elegant and well kept class of dwelling houses.
April 20, 1835, Newton was surveyed by order of the County Commissioners, by Thomas M. Loy, deputy county surveyor of Effingham County. The lines were run at a variation of 6 degrees, the streets being sixty feet wide; the alleys twelve feet wide. The streets named on the original map are JJordan, Washington, Jack- son and Van Buren, and the alleys, Richard, Claycomb, Mattingly, Barnes, Ewing and Reynolds. The plat is laid out on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 1. in Township 6 north. in Range 9 east. The lots are 80 feet in front and 100 feet deep, except
fractional lots. The town thus laid out consisted of eight blocks of eight lots each beside the public square, and was bounded, north by Morgan Street, east by Clark, south by Decatur and west by Lafay- ette Street. In June 1841, the town was re-surveyed by William Bridges, when its size was doubled. Beginning at the north, the streets running west and east were, Water Street, 20 feet wide; Saint Marie, 40 feet wide; Marion, 60 feet wide; Morgan, 60 feet: Jordan, 60 feet; Washington, 60 feet; Decatur, 60 feet ; Harris, 40 feet; and Reynolds, 20 feet wide. Beginning on the west, the north and south streets were Perry, 20 feet wide; Lafayette, 40 feet; Jackson, 60 feet; Van Buren, 60 feet, and Clark, 30 feet wide. Since then additions have been made on the cast and south, so that the village has territory enough to build up into a very considerable town.
The land where the town is located belonged to Benjamin Rey- nolds, who donated every alternate lot to the county, except the public square, which he gave in exchange for the same amount of land, out of other lots that he had given. The town at that time had but four or five families in it, no public buildings except a little saw-mill that stood where the brick mill now stands. They soon got a post-office, which was a large addition to the place, as they received mail once a week, if the waters were not too high. The
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mail was carried on horseback from Vincennes by here and on north, and came back the next week. Lewis W. Jordan was appointed postmaster, and for want of a building (as buildings were scarce then ), he used his hat for a post-office.
There was little to induce the incorporation of the village early. The town was isolated and dependent upon other villages for mar- kets and railroad facilities. In 1865, however, the village was incorporated under the general law of the State. "The boundaries were marked by a line "beginning at the northeast corner of the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 1, Township 6 north, of Range 9 east, in the county of Jasper and State of Illinois; thence west with the line of the township to where the same strikes the south bank of the Embarrass River; thenee with the meanderings of the said river to the mouth of the hollow or branch above where the bridge now stands; thence due south to the township line; thence west with the township line to the northwest corner of the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 2, in said township; thence south 320 poles or rods; thence cast 320 roods; thence north to the place of beginning." The center of the town was further located " on a line running due south, twenty rods from the bisection of Reynolds and Perry streets." The city ordinances were formulated in ninety-seven sections and established the usual regulations found in villages of the sort. In the matter of stock the public sentiment has been averse to as strict control as suggested by the Town Board. Cattle, horses and dogs are restrained, but hogs have the liberty of the town and are less controlled than any other " citizen " of the village. After the incorporation of Newton, attention was paid at once to the building of sidewalks, and, from that time forward, scarcely a meet- ing of the board has passed without some action in relation to this feature of the municipality. The plan has been to build them gen- erally at the public expense, though in case of extra width one half of the expense has been directly assessed upon the property improved. The improvement of the streets was taken up later, and this work has generally been confined to ordinary dirt repairs. Some grading has been done, the necessary filling being accomplished by hauling river sand and dirt from some of the higher ridges. Mnd is still a great inconvenience during some parts of the year, though there has been a marked improvement in recent years. It is told by one of the old merchants, that he has had to rescue his lady customers from the mud of the streets by carrying them into the store and then go out and rescue the shoes that had been pulled off.
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HISTORY OF JASPER COUNTY.
Beyond these primary efforts the village authorities have not been able to attempt more advanced internal improvements. Some fifteen or twenty street lamps were procured in 1882, by private sub- scription, and these are now, maintained by public expense. There is no organized protection against fire as yet. In May, 1880, the town was visited by its most serious conflagration, which cost the sufferers some $1,600. The fire was discovered in the buildings occupied by H. M. Printz as an agricultural warehouse, and Lemay Bros'. livery stable, which proved to be the most destructive one which has ever visited Newton. When discovered the fire had gained such headway that it was impossible to save anything out of the agricultural building, and the house and contents were therefore a total loss. The horses, buggies and harness belonging to J. C. & G. A. Lemay were saved from the livery stable, and their loss, therefore, was confined to the building and a small amount of hay and corn. From these buildings the fire spread to the small office room owned by D. H. Birt, and until recently, occupied as a shoe shop, but which had been vacant for several days. Next came John A. Brown's blacksmith shop, stable and out buildings together with their contents which were entirely destroyed. By an almost super- human effort on the part of the citizens who turned out to the res- cue, the two-story frame dwelling house and brick store room belonging to Mr. Brown were saved from destruction, although both were damaged to a great extent by the heat and water. The gun shop and blacksmith shop above mentioned were situated between the dwelling and store room, in fact within a few feet of the latter, and the heat from the burning buildings were so intense that it burned and blistered the brick very badly causing the walls to crack and spring out two or three inches.
The fire is supposed to have been the accidental work of night strollers, and was discovered by Breneman and Mason, of this place, who arose carly on that morning to take a buggy for Marshall. It was through their prompt work that Lemay's teams and buggies were saved. Since this fire there has been some talk of securing a more efficient protection against a repetition of such a disaster, but this talk had ended in nothing more material than talk.
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