USA > Illinois > Cumberland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 58
USA > Illinois > Richland County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 58
USA > Illinois > Jasper County > Counties of Cumberland, Jasper and Richland, Illinois. Historical and biographical > Part 58
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"SEC. 4. Should said county of Richland be constituted accord- ing to the provisions of this act, said county shall, on the first Mon- day of August next, elect all county officers for said county, to be commissioned and qualified as in other cases.
"SEC. 5. Said county of Richland shall make a part of the fourth judicial circuit, and so soon as said county shall be organized, the clerk of the county commissioners' court of said county shall notify the judge of the said circuit, and it shall be his duty to appoint a clerk, and hold courts in said county, at such times as said judge shall ap- point, or shall be provided by law; said courts to be held at such place as the county commissioners of said county shall provide, until public buildings shall be erected.
"SEC. 6. The school funds belonging to the several townships in said county, and all notes and mortgages pertaining to the same, shall be paid and delivered over to the school commissioner of the county of Richland, by the commissioners of the counties of Lawrence and Clay, so soon as the said county of Richland shall be organized, and the commissioner of school lands shall be appointed and qualified according to law; together with all interests arising out of said money that may not have been expended.
"SEC. 7. That, until otherwise provided by law, that portion of Richland County taken off Lawrence, and that portion taken off Clay shall continue to vote with the counties they were taken off of, for senator and representatives to the General Assembly.
36
588
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
"SEC. 8. That the passage of this act shall in no wise alter or affect the assessment of property, or the collection of taxes in the counties of Lawrence and Clay, as the same are now organized for the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one. But should the said county of Richland be organized in pursuance to the provisions of this act, the county commissioners' courts of the counties of Lawrence and Clay shall immediately, after the settlement of the collectors of their respective counties, order that portion of taxes collected from citizens residing in that portion of Richland County taken off their respective counties after deducting a proportionate amount for the assessment and collection of the same, to be paid into the county treasury of Richland County.
"SEC. 9. The returns of the election for county officers to be held on the first Monday in August next, and the returns of the election for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat of justice of said county, shall be made to Samuel R. Lowry, James Laws and Joshua L. Johnston, who are hereby authorized and required to open the same and make returns thereof, in the same manner as Clerks of county commissioners' courts and justices of the peace,. called to their assistance in ordinary cases, are required to do."
The only opposition to the formation of a new county was based upon the natural hesitation to curtail the extent of the old county's area, but so determined were the people to be benefited by this change that the project received its most material aid from those about Lawrenceville. It was feared in this region that if the pro- cet failed the county-scat would be moved to a more central point, and hence their support to the new county. In Clay County there was but little or no opposition, and the vote under the provisions of this act was in favor of the division by a good majority. The name is due to the influence of Rev. Joseph H. Reed, who was a Methodist minister, a resident of the county, prominent in the agitation for a new county, and subsequently a member of the State Legislature. He wished to call the county-seat Calhoun, but in deference to his efforts, and as a compromise, the county was named after Richland County, in Ohio, from whence Reed had emigrated.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The county thus formed and named is in the eastern part of southern Illinois, and embraces a superficial area of about 350 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Jasper and Crawford counties, on the east by Lawrence, on the south by Wabash, Edwards and
589
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
Wayne, and on the west by Wayne and Clay counties. This county forms a part of the upper valley of the Little Wabash, though a rise of ground extending north and south, contributes a portion of its drainage through the Embarrass, and Bonpas. The Embarrass, in one of its eccentric bends, ents the northern line of German Town- ship, and receives some small tributaries, known as Elk Horn, Calf Killer, Elin Slough, Muddy Creek and Bugaboo. Bonpas takes its origin in Claremont Township, and flows in a nearly due south course in two branches, which unite in the township of Bonpas, and joins the larger Wabash at Grayville. It has no important affluents in this county, Sugar Creek being the only one reaching the dignity of a name. The Little Wabash, taking its rise in Shelby and Coles counties, flows a southeasterly course and enters the larger Wabash on the southern line of White County. In its course, it forms the boundary of the southwest corner of Richland County, and receives its main affluent, Big Muddy, at this point. The latter stream receives Harrison and Sugar creeks from Denver Township, and forms a part of the western boundary of the county. Fox River, rising in Jasper County, flows southerly, dividing the western half of Richland County, and joins the Little Wabash in Edwards County. The Fox receives a number of unimportant streams from either side, among which are found the names of Sugar, Big, Little Fox and Gentry creeks. The surface of the county is generally rolling, and its area is nearly equally divided into prairie and timbered land, the latter forming belts along the courses of the streams from one to three miles in width, and the prairies occupying the higher or table lands between the main water courses. The elevation of the prairies above the beds of the principal streams ranges from fifty to about a hundred feet. The southeastern portion of the county, on the head- waters of the Bonpas, is quite broken, and is underlaid by the heavy beds of sandstone and sandy shale, intervening between coals twelve and thirteen, which attain here a thickness of seventy to eighty feet, or more. In the central or western portion the surface is seldom so broken as to render it unfit for cultivation.
*GEOLOGY.
The geological formations of this county comprise a moderate thickness of drift clay, sand and gravel, that is everywhere found immediately beneath the soil, except in the creek valleys, where this superficial material has been removed by corroding agencies; and a
* Taken from the State Report.
590
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
series of sandstones, shales, etc., embracing an aggregate thickness of 250 to 300 feet, which belongs to the upper coal measures, and include the horizon of three or four thin seams of coal. The drift clays are somewhat thicker in this county than in Lawrence, and the bowlders are more numerous and of larger size. Below the brown, gravelly clays that usually form the subsoil on the uplands, and range from ten to twenty feet in thickness, there is in many places a bed of hard. bluish-gray, gravelly clay, or " hard pan," as it is frequently termed, and below this at some points there is an old soil or muck bed, underlaid by from one to five feet or more of quicksand. Limbs and trunks of trees are frequently found imbedded in this old soil, in which they probably grew, or in the bluish-gray hard pan imme- diately above it, but to the present time no authentic specimens of animal remains have been found in them in this State sufficiently preserved for identification. Some small fresh water and land shells have been found in the quicksands in other portions of the State, but they did not prove to be specifically distinct from those now living.
From the meagre outerops to be seen on the small streams in this county, it would not be possible to construct a continuous section of all the beds that should be found here, but fortunately a boring has been made at Olney which renders material assistance in aseer- taining the general character of the formations that underlay the southern and eastern portions of the county to the depth penetrated by the drill. This boring was made for coal, and from the report of the boring the following section is compiled:
feet. ins.
feet. ins.
1. Soil and drift elay 13
10. Hard rock(probably sandstone) 36
2. Yellow sandstone 28
11. Clay shale 22
3. Gray sandstone 2
6 12. Black shale and coal (No. 12). 2
4. Black shale(horizon of coal No13) 4
13. Clay shale 31
5. Clay shale 29
14. Limestone 4
6. Hard rock (probably sandstone) 48
15. Shale, partly calcareous 23
7. Clay shale, with black slate 25 16. Limestone 3
8. Hard sand rock 3 17. Hard rock (probably sandstone) 36 9. Clay shale. 28 337 Total 6
Two and a half miles south of Olney, in the vicinity of Boden's mill, located on the southeast quarter of Section 15, Township 3, Range 10 east, there is an outerop of a thin coal in the creek bed, over- laid by the following strata:
591
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
feet. feet. ins.
Brown sandstone 10 to 12 Hard silieious limestone, withbroken
Black shale, with concretions of plants 2
blue septaria
4 to 6 Clay shale, with coneretions of lime-
Blue elay shale
5 stone 3
Coal (No. 13 of general section)
6
The black shale in this section is probably identical with No. 4 of the Olney boring, and the thin coal below was wanting there, or else was passed without observation. The band of hard silicious limestone found at this locality is a very durable stone, and has been quarried for building purposes. It is a refractory stone to work, but may be relied on for culverts and bridge abutments, where an ordinary sandstone would yield to atmospheric influences. One and a half miles south of Claremont, there is an outerop of the following beds, probably representing the same strata seen at Boden's mill, south of Olney.
1. Shale.
feet. 1 to 2
2. Hard calcareous sandstone 4 to 8
3. Blue shale, with calcareous nodules 3 to 4
4. Black laminated shale, extending to creek level 4
The quarry here belongs to the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, and an immense amount of stone has been quarried from the calcareous sandstone No. 2 of the above section, to be used in the construction of culverts and bridges on that road. This quarry is near the center of Section 16, Township 3, Range 14 east. On Mr. P. Berry's place, on the southeast quarter of Section 11, Township 2, Range 14 east, coal has been mined for several years, in a limited way, by stripping the seam along its outerop in the valley of a small stream, a trib- utary of the Bonpas. The coal is about eighteen inches thick, and of good quality, and is overlaid by a few inches of soft bituminous shale, and an argillaceous shelly limestone. This coal is also mined on the northeast quarter of the same section. This is probably coal No. 12 of the general section, and must have been passed through in the boring at Olney, and may be represented by No. 12 of the boring at that point.
About five miles northeast of Olney coal has been found on the open prairie, at a depth of about twenty-two feet below the general surface level. It was first discovered in digging a stock well, and subsequently an inclined tunnel has been driven down to the coal and preparations made to work it in a systematic way. The roof of this seam consists of clay shale with some limestone, in bowlder-like masses, though it is possible the limestone masses thrown out in
592
HISTORY OF RICHILAND COUNTY.
opening the tunnel may belong to the drift clays and not to the roof shales of the coal. This coal is found on the adjoining farm, and on a farm a little farther to the west, on Section 18, Township 4 north, Range 10 east, a double seam is reported to have been passed through in a bore but a short distance below the surface, the upper one two . feet and the lower one three feet in thickness, with a space of about fifteen feet between them. These coals. if there are really two dis- tinet seams here, mnst be about the horizon of No. 15 of the general section, and this is probably about the southern line of outcrop for these coals, as no indications of their presence was found in the boring at Olney or in sinking wells about the city, and from the topography of the surface it is believed the surface level where these coals have been found is at least forty or fifty feet above the level at Olney. A previous survey notes the following section at the quarry on Section 34, Township 4, Range 10 east. 1. Soil and drift, eight feet. 2. Soft buff' sandstone, three feet. 3. Hard gray building-stone, four feet. The gray sandstone is very hard and takes a good finish, stands well but is somewhat marred by carbonaceous spots. At the quarry two miles west of Olney, the quarry rock is overlaid by eight feet of buff silicious shale, beneath which is a heavy bedded buff sandstone that was quarried for the masonry on the Ohio & Mis- sissippi Railroad at the time of its construction.
On Section 18, Township 3, Range 10, on Big Creek, occurs the following section: 1. Covered slope, twenty-five feet. 2. Shaly sandstone, five feet. 3. Heavy bedded sandstone, ten feet. 4. Black bituminous shale, three feet. A quarter of a mile down the creek a soft buff sandstone in heavy beds from four to ten feet thick alternate with thinner beds of hard bluish sandstone. On Section 34, Township 3, Range 14, in a well near the Higgins mill, sixteen feet of sandstone was passed through and a coal scam below it reported to be twenty inches thick. Shaly sandstone and clay shale were seen, overlaying the heavy bedded sandstone a few hundred yards above the mill. The hills along the Bonpas are from twenty to sixty feet high, com- posed of drift deposits consisting of yellowish clay with gravel and small bowlders, the latter seldom exceeding five or six inches in diameter. At the coal bank on Section 16, Township 2, Range 14, the section is as follows: 1. Soil and drift, ten feet. 2. Buff sandstone and shale, five feet. 3. Bluish gray limestone, two feet- 4. Shale, two inches. 5. Coal, one foot eight inches. The shale over the coal was filled with fossil shells, corals, etc. The limestone over this coal was also seen three miles northwest of the coal bank
593
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
where it was formerly quarried and burned for lime. A quarter of a mile below the Big Creek bridge, south of Olney, is found the fol- lowing section: 1. Soil and drift, fifteen feet. 2. Coarse irregu- lar bedded sandstone, fifteen feet. 3. Black marly shale, thirteen feet. The lower part of the black shale was slaty and contained numerous fossils. Four and a half miles southwest of Olney a black shale outerops in the banks of Sugar Creek, about five feet thick, underlaid by a thin coal. A quarter of a mile below, at the bridge, is seen the same conglomerate sandstone that oceurs on Big Creek, underlaid by the same black shale, which is sometimes marly and contains numerous fossils. It also contains large nodules of impure limestone. This bituminous shale and thin coal represent coal No. 13 of the general section, and the same group of fossils is found in Montgomery County.
MATERIAL RESOURCES.
Sandstone of a fair quality for ordinary use is quite abundant, and there is probably not a township in the county where good quarries could not be opened at a moderate expense. Many of these localities have been indicated in the foregoing lines. The quarries south of Claremont, belonging to the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, afford a very hard and durable rock, and although the bed is only about six feet in average thickness, it is, fortunately, so situated as to require no great expenditure in stripping, and the rock has been removed over a considerable surface. The rock is a very hard, gray, micaceous sandstone, and seems to be but little affected by long exposure, and hence affords a desirable material for culverts, bridge abutments, etc. The sandstones in the northern and western por- tions of the county are for the most part rather soft, but locally they afford some very good building stone, as at the quarry northeast of Olney, and at the quarry two miles west of the town. The stratum of hard, silicious limestone outcropping on Big Creek, two miles and a half south of Olney, is a durable stone but is not to be obtained in sufficient quantity to be of much importance as a building stone.
There are two coal seams cropping out in this county that prom- ise to be of some value in supplying the local demand for fuel, and the upper one, if the thickness had been found persistent over any considerable area, would have furnished all needed supplies for the county for many years to come. The lower seam, which out- crops on the headwaters of the Bonpas, in the southeastern portion of the county, and has been referred to as No. 12 of the general section,
594
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
ranges from sixteen to twenty inches in thickness, and has only been worked by stripping in the creek valleys where it outerops. It affords a coal of good quality, but unfortunately is generally too thin to be mined profitably in a systematic way. The other seam, five miles northwest of Olney, is about three feet in thickness, and an inclined tunnel has been carried down to it, but the preparations which were made for carrying on the work systematically for the supply of the home market have not resulted advantageously to the projectors, as yet. This is probably the Shelbyville seam, No. 15, of the general section, which is the thickest seam in the upper coal measures and usually quite persistent in its development. In Shelby County this scam affords a semi-block coal, of fair quality. hard enough to be handled without much waste and tolerably free from sulphuret of iron, but showing thin partings of selenite on the transverse cleavage. The thickness of the sandstones, shales, etc., intervening between coals twelve and fifteen in the valley of the Okaw, is about 235 feet, but in this county it is probably somewhat less, though this point could only be determined approximately. from the lack of continuous outerops of the intervening strata. The main coals of the lower coal measures are probably from 600 to 1,000 feet below the surface at Olney, and it would require an expenditure of capital to open and work them that the present demand for coal would not justify. If the scam northeast of Olney should be found to retain an average thickness of three feet over any considerable area, it could be worked profitably and supply the home market. At present the chief supply is derived from the coal- fields of Indiana.
No limestone is found especially adapted for use in the lime- kiln, though some attempts have been made to use the rock overlying coal No. 12, on the Bonpas, for that purpose. It is usually too argillaccous to slack freely when burned, and at best, would only produce a very inferior quality of lime.
The soil is, however, the chief resource of the county. The prairies are generally small and possess a rich, productive clay-loam soil that seems practically inexhaustable, and will seldom need forti- lizing if properly cultivated with a judicious system of rotation in crops. On the timbered lands the soil is less uniform in quality. and its character is generally well indicated by the various growth of timber. Where this is mainly composed of two or three varieties of oak and hickory the soil is thin and poor, and requires frequent applications of fertilizers to keep it up to the ordinary standard of
1
John Wolf
595
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
productiveness for western lands. But where the timber growth is largely interspersed with elm, black-walnut, linden, wild cherry, persimmon, honey-locust, etc., the soil is good and will rank favor- ably with the best prairie land in its productive qualities. A large portion of the timbered land in the county is of this quality, and when cleared and brought under cultivation it produces nearly or quite as well as the best prairie land.
AGRICULTURE.
The agricultural facilities, methods and progress of Richland County are not dissimilar to those of the other counties reviewed in this vol- ume. The pioneer farmer found enough to engage his attention in se- curing a plain subsistence for his family, but with the rude, careless cultivation which he expended upon it, the land yielded considera- bly in excess of his demands, and in the absence of profitable mar- kets, there was little inducement to raise more. When one piece of ground was conceived to be exhausted a freshly cleared piece was brought in subjection to the plow, and the older plat temporarily abandoned. There was little, if any, systematic farming until about 1855. At this time the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad was constructed from Vincennes to Saint Louis and opened up a market for the sur- plus products of this region, and with this incentive the farmer brought more care and thought to the production of a crop. Until recently the subject of fertilizers has received but little attention. The virgin soil was so productive, and the stabling of stock so little practiced, that the value or necessity for the enrichment of the ground did not press itself upon the attention. Of late years the barnyard accumulations have generally been utilized upon the wheat crop, the manure being spread upon the sown crop. But little of commercial fertilizers have been used. Occasionally a little plaster or phosphate has been used as an experiment, but the richness of the soil has obviated the necessity of its use. This fertility has led to the practice of cropping the ground for a series of years with the same grain. Certain pieces of " willow land" and river bottoms have produced good yields of wheat for twelve or fifteen years in succes- sion without manuring. There is practically no rotation of crops observed in the county. The first crop on sod ground is generally wheat, and this may be kept in wheat for a succession of from five to ten years, and when found to be exhausted is turned out to recuper- ate in growing weeds. There is more of systematic rotation of late years, though the range of crops is limited; on flat ground, corn is
596
HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.
generally planted on sod, and this followed by a second crop, or wheat. The plan of cultivation adheres to shallow plowing, about eight inches being the average depth. Deep plowing and subsoiling have been experimented with, but the advantages are so remote and the surface soil so little impaired in its productiveness, that the practice has never gained a foothold in Richland. In the matter of drainage the county is still in the happy freedom from any stern necessity. Most of the farming lands have so good a natural drainage, that the majority of cultivated lands are dependent upon the plow only for surface drainage. A theory is maintained as to the advantage of tile draining, but the judgment of the community upon this topic has evaporated in talk. A tile factory has been established about a mile south of Olney, and tile will probably be used to a considerable extent, but thus far no regular attempts at permanent drains have been made.
The grass crop is not an important one here. Stock is not grown or fed extensively, and grain seems to have absorbed the prin- cipal attention. Timothy and redtop are sown separately or mixed for hay, and considerable quantities are shipped to foreign markets. Meadows are not prepared with special care before seeding, but form a convenient way of resting the soil while the farmer still retains its use. The average life of a meadow is about three years, though some advanced farmers by manuring it extend its productiveness to five years. At this age the weeds become so numerous as to dam- age the value of the hay, and the land is turned over for wheat or corn, and sometimes turned out for pasture. Clover is sown only for seed, which commands a good price in the home markets, ranging in price from $3.50 to $8 per bushel. Until very recently this could not be successfully grown on the prairie land, though the present year has exceptionally spread the growth of white clover all over the country. But little is sown for the purpose of plowing under, and the hay is so difficult to handle properly, that the major- ity of farmers do not value it save for seed. The principal crop of the county is wheat, though at first it was supposed that it would not grow here. A very serious difficulty in its early culture here was the unfavorable character of the season, and this unchanged, the best of cultivation would have probably failed to secure a crop. The early farmers, however, brought with them certain methods of successful culture in the cast and found it difficult to modify them to suit the new circumstances found here. The consequence was that after repeated efforts with careful cultivation scarcely a straw was
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