USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Jacksonville > Historic Morgan and classic Jacksonville > Part 14
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On the first Sabbath in April, 1830, Rev. John M. Ellis was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Jacksonville.
Mr. Ellis resigned his pastorate about 1832, but his family remained in this village until the terrible cholera year of 1833, when they all died during his absence from home, and he learned of the fate of all at the same moment, en route homeward.
Of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, Father Lippincott writes in 1859:
To those of us who knew the worth of the extraordinary woman whom the Lord thus snatched from, him and the strength and tenderness of his affections, there was in his behavior a delightful proof of the supporting power of faith. My first acquaintance with him was made as they stopped at my house when removing to Jacksonville. With
83
ASIATIC CHOLERA-BURNING WITCHES.
the politeness of a French lady, she combined the sobriety of the serious christian. If I misjudged not, her intellect was more carefully cultivated than her manners, elegant as they were Her influence over her pupils was gentle but powerful. I have never known any one who could unite so perfectly the mild and the firm in the training of the young.
Mr. James S. Anderson, of our city, now believed to be the oldest undertaker in America, having begun business in that line in 1832, gives his recollections of the chol- era period of 1833 as follows :
"The first case made its appearance in May or June of the year 1833. A mover traveling by wagon through the country stopped here and his wife was taken sick. The citizens went to his assistance and the woman's disease was pronounced a case of genuine Asiatic cholera. The citizens conveyed the sick woman and the others to a log cabin ontside of town, so as not to spread the infection. This cabin was on the ground now owned by George Mauzy, and where he lives at present The woman died and the peo- ple burned the clothing,. &c., supplied the man with money and sent him on I saw this woman just before she died. Myself and several companions went to see her out of curiosity Two weeks afterward the second case appeared, being that of a young man from Exeter, who was visiting relatives who kept a boarding house where Marble Block now stands. He died, and the disease began to spread rapidly. The town at that time contained about 500 inhabitants, fully half of whom fled to the country. Of those who remained about seventy- five were attacked with the epidemic, of whom about fifty-five died. It was very malignant. Besides these quite a number who fled to the country died; some of them, I actually believe, were scared to death. When the disease first ap- peared my brother Robert. my partner Ross and myself were all working together. Robert became alarmed, and went to father's, on the farm near Murrayville. The next day he returned for Ross and I, but we concluded to take our chances and stay in town. We were both young, unmarried men, and we left our shop and commenced to nurse the sick. and we were almost the only ones who devoted our time to it. We went from house to house, sitting up night after night and day after day, waiting on the sick, preparing the dead for burial and doing what we could. The whole community seemed paralyzed, and but little business was done I don't believe that a man would have picked up a dol- lar if he had seen it in the street. We had a hard time getting anything to eat. Our boarding house was broken up, and no one could take us regularly, as all were either afflicted or waiting on those who were; but we were always welcome to a meal wherever we could find it. The scourge lasted six weeks, and was the most terrible that ever vis- ned Jacksonville The disease usually lasted from six to twenty-four hours before the sufferer died. Some curious cures were effected. Occasionally, after the doctors had given a patient up, one of what they called steam doctors would come in and cure him "
"What about coffins?"
"Well, coffins are usually made to order. We never thought of keeping a stock on hand; when a person died the measure of the body was sent us and we made the coffin out of cherry wood and lined it with domestic, but it was very seldom that any attempt at any ornamentation was made."
"Were funerals as expensive in those days as now?"
"You can judge for yourself; a good cherry coffin for a first class funeral cost from $9 10 $12 I kept a hearse myself and the charge for it was a dollar a funeral and some- times nothing. It was not customary to provide a string of carriages for the use of the public. My hearse was my own invention. It was a kind of buggy with a long bed and movable seat with a truck to hold the coffin I used to hire it to the boys to drive around in when not in use at a funeral. It costs more to bury a pauper now than it did in those days to bury the owner of a thousand acres of land."
From 1824 to 1835 paupers were sold in the county, and some time in 1835 a poor- house was built.
In 1834, near Middle Creek, in Cass county, now, but in Morgan, then, a religious society of fanatics was organized, who not only believed in witchcraft, but actually made offerings of themselves, and were burned at the stake, to appease and propitiate, as they believed, their offended Deity, and cast lots who of their members should be burned at the stake. Once the lot fell to an old lady, whom the others tied and bound to the stake, and when she began to burn she screamed so loud and pitifully that Mr. Elmore, hunting near by, broke the door open with a fence rail, released the burn- ing woman from the stake, broke up the meetings, and the grand jury of Morgan county indicted many of the members, and the religious fanatics left the country.
Nothing of interest occurred in the history of the county from the close of the
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THE FAMOUS "DEEP SNOW" OF 1830-'31.
Winnebago war until the fall of the "deep snow," which happened in the winter of 1830-'31. Quite a number of persons had settled in the county during this interval, and population and improvements had largely increased. This fall of snow was indeed a remarkable event. Nothing like it had ever occurred in the annals of the northwest. The Indians relate that years before the discovery of the Mississippi River, a great snow fell to the depth of a man's waist. Wild animals perished in great numbers, and the suffering among the Indians, which followed the loss of so much game, was severe- ly felt. In the early days of Kentucky a snow fell to a depth of more than a foot, causing great privation among the settlers; it however did not equal the "deep snow" of 1830-'31.
No meteorological events of this century are so deeply fixed in the memories of "the oldest inhabitants" as "the deep snow" of 183f, and "the quick freeze" of 1886. Dr. Sturtevant says of the first named :
In the interval between Christmas, 1830 and new year, 1831, snow fell over all Central Illinois to the depth of fully three feet on a level Theu came a rain, with weather so cold that it froze as it fell, forming a crust of ice over this three feet of snow. nearly, but not quite, strong enough to bear a man, and finally over this crust of ice there was a few inches of very light snow. The clouds passed away and the wind came down from the north west with extraordinary ferocity. For weeks, certainly for not less than two weeks, the mercury in the thermometer tube was not, on any one morning, higher than twelve degrees below zero. The wind was a steady. fierce gale from the northwest, day and night. The air was filled with flying snow, which blinded the eyes and almost stopped the breath of any one who attempted to face it. No man could, for any consid - erable length of time, make his way on foot against it.
The story of such a winter may be pleasant enough to hear, to one who hopes never to experience it; but the situation of the inhabitants of this county was certainly rather alarming. The people were almost wholly from regions more somthern than this, and knew nothing by experience of dealing with such a depth of snow, and such cold. In- deed I had then had some experience of New England winter. and have had some since, but I have to this day never seen any other which bore any comparison with that. Jackson- ville had then about four hundred people We were dependent chiefly for keeping warm on having plenty of wood, for our houses were certainly far enough from being warmly built; and yet our supply of fuel for the winter was not, as is more commonly the case now, piled at our doors before the beginning of winter. It was in the forest, and must be brought us, through that snow, and by people who were quite unac ;ustomed to it. Could it be done? It was at first not quite apparent that it could Our corn was in the fields over which this covering of snow was spread, and to a great extent the wheat for our bread was in stacks in like condition. Snow paths could not be broken after the New England fashion. There, a few hours of wind blows all the snow from exposed places, and deposits it in valleys and bebind hills where the wind cannot reach it. A little energy with ox teams and sleds will break out a road and there will be no more trouble till the next snow storm. There is no truer picture than that given by Whittier in his "Snow Bound" of the frolic of breaking the roads after a great snow storm But nothing of the sort would have been of much use in our case In this level country there is no end to the drifting as long as the snow lasts. and the wind blows There are no covered places into which the snow can be driven, consequently the path would fill be- hind a team, or any number of teams. in a few minutes, so that the track could not be seen. The only way in which snow paths were made was by going as nearly as we could in the same place till the snow was finally trodden hard and rounded up like a turn pike. This snowfall produced constant sleighing for nine weeks, and when at last warm rains and sunshine prevailed, about the first of March, melting the snow from fields and un- trodden places, the roads remained as lines of ice which disappeared but gradually. The New Englander has scarcely any such experience of winter as this, certainly not unless it be quite in northern New England. We had no railways then, nor indced any dream of having them. But our mail communications with the rest of the world were in- terrupted for several weeks continuously. We, in those days, had only one mail a week, and that on horseback from Springfield, and to bring that through that snow required more energy than mail boys in those days were masters of. * * *
I cannot say, after all, that in town there was any very serious amount of suffer- ing-we did get food and fuel, and a good deal of fun and frolic out of the deep snow; though at the expense of not a few frozen ears, noses and faces. But the loss to the farms in stock and crops are very considerable. Some varieties of wild game were nearly exterminated. Deer were entirely unable to protect themselves from the dogs and the huntsmen.
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THE QUICK FREEZE- DEATH TO MAN AND BEAST.
Mr. Anderson Foreman another living resident of Jacksonville at that time writes to the Courier, as follows:
The famous historic "deep snow" occured in the winter of 1830-'31. On the 20th of December, 1830, sleeting and snowing began and continued throughout Dec- ember. Through Januury and February, 1831, snow fell and in many places drifted to the depth of six feet and more The snow, on an average all over the country, was three feet deep It was indeed a season of great hardships and suffering to men and beasts and birds throughout the country.
In 1836 the cold wave and quick freeze occurred. The cold wave traveled at the rate of 70 miles an hour. Before the wave came it had been thawing and raining, and the geese and ducks, swimming and bathing in the ponds and puddles of water, when struck by the cold wave, froze, and were taken into the house and their wings, feet and feathers relieved of the icicles. The wagon wheels, when they ceased to roll, froze to the ground; and all the animals, and birds of all kinds froze to death far and near. Men killed their horses, and after disemboweling them crawled in and thus saved their own lives
Mr. John W. Lathrop describes the sudden freeze thusly :
I was, at the time, boarding with Prof. Turner, who lived in a one-story frame dwelling on the lot where now stands the fine brick dwelling of Mr. Henry Hall, on College Avenue.
During the previous night snow fell to the depth of about eight inches, and at sunrise the next morning it was raining and very warm and foggy, and continued rain- ing until nearly noon. I spent the forenoon in writing, and after dinner started to the postoffice, which was then in the old brick court house situated on the public square. The snow was completely saturated with the rain, so that in walking my feet went to the bottom of the snow until I passed the Female Academy; then the cold wave struck me, aud as I drew my feet up the ice would form on my boots until I made a track that looked more like that of a Jumbo than a No ? boot. When I reached the square the ice bore me up, and when I returned to Mr. Turner's, a half hour afterwards, I saw his chickens and ducks frozen into the ice-some on one leg and some on both.
Two young men who were traveling for Philadelphia merchants were frozen to death not far from Rushville One of them was found sitting with his back against a tree with his horse's bridle over his arm and his horse frozen in front of him. The other young man was partly in a kneeling position, with a tinder box in one hand and a flint in the other-with both eyes open, as though attempting to light the tinder in the box-that being the usual mode of lighting a fire before the days of friction matches These young men were here only a few days before, calling on the mer- chants, and, as was the custom then, traveled on horseback
The only other person who was frozen to death, who was known here, I think was a minister known as Father Brich, then living near Galena.
According to Mr. Ensley Moore's epitome of local affairs in 1830: The State of Illinois had a population of 155,447, and Morgan county then included what is now Cass and Scott counties, making about 1,114 square miles.
In 1821, Morgan county contained only 21 families; in 1825, its population was 4,052; in 1830, it was 13,281.
Dr. J. T. Cassell made his first tour to Jacksonville in 1830,and bought two lots on the west side of the square, for $100 each. One of them is now occupied by T. J. Hook & Co.'s store.
In the county there are "thirty mills for sawing and grinding, propelled by ani- mal or water power. Seven large steam mills are in operation, and two more have been commenced and will be finished the present year," wrote Peck, in 1834.
Land was worth about $3 to $15 per acre, and villages were about to spring up all around Jacksonville.
The Western Observer was published every Saturday, by James G. Edwards; terms $2.50 a year, if paid in advance.
"Mrs. Ellis' school re-opened on Monday, the 20th day of September; tuition per quarter, elementary branches $3.00, higher branches $4.00, boarding per week $1.00, washing 25 cents. Needle work is carefully taught; the French language is spoken in the family. Members of the school will have access to an excellent library without ad- ditional charge," says an advertisement in the Western Observer, the advertisement bearing the date of Sept. 17, 1830.
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TOWN AND COUNTY AFFAIRS IN 1830.
David B. Ayers says: "The subscriber has just received, principally from Phila- delphia, the following articles, viz." (Then follows a list of paints, glass, drugs and patent medicines, at wholesale and retail.)
The Jacksonville School Association having gone to pieces, William Sewall adver- tises his school to open under his own direction ; terms $2.50 per quarter.
"An apprentice is wanted at this office."
Capt. John Wyatt was a prominent citizen, who farmed about six miles south-east of town. He was the father of Col. Wm. J. Wyatt, now also a prominent citizen.
Col. Joseph Morton took the census of Morgan county this year, 1830.
The Court House, which was taken out of the southwest corner of the city park in 1870, was accepted from the contractors September 8, 1830. It cost about $4,000 dollars; our present Court House cost about $204,000-a slight difference.
The contracts for the "old court house" were made March 14th, 1829, by Joseph M. Fairfield, John Wyatt and Samuel Rogers, county commissioners. Garrison W. Barry and Henry Robley took the brick work for $1,720, Rice Dunbar and Henry Robley the carpentering for 1,350, besides minor contracts to others. Henry Blanford, Isham Dalton, John Challon and Jas. Hurst, were also employed in constructing the building. It was the first "brick" in the county, as at present bounded. To meet the expense of this improvement, and for county revenue, a tax was levied on all slaves, indentured or registered, negro or mullatto servants, on pleasure carriages, distilleries, or stock in trade, on live stock, and all personal property except furniture.
The "old jail" was built of hewed timbers, each about one foot square, and every wall was made double. This jail was followed by another, built in 1833, succeeded in time by the present one on South Main street.
Minors were "bound out" until of age, when thrown upon the county for support, and in 1830 there was neither a "poor farm" nor "poor house."
William Gilham, James Green and William Woods were elected county commis- sioners in this year.
Venison was a favorite article of food, and, during the "deep snow" one man cap- tured thirteen deer in one day- to the best of our remembrance.
Marshall P. Ayers came to Morgan county in 1830 and Augustus E. Ayers was in the same party. -
Samuel Bateman came the same year as did Robt. L. Caldwell, Edward Craig, James Craig, J. R. Chambers, Jesse Gunn, A. S. Gunn, Elijah Henry, George Loar, Har- rison Osborn, A. C. Patterson, F. H. Patterson, Preston Spates, John Spires, J. J. Shep- herd, W. D. R. Trotter, S. Turner, Elizur Wolcott, Dudley Young, and Wesley Mathers.
No trouble with Indians is known of as occurring in Morgan county, but in 1829-'30 the trouble began along the Rock River, which culminated in the Black Hawk War, to which many of our citizens went in 1831.
One of the Jacksonville volunteers in that war has recently narrated briefly his ex- perience in the following language :
"My experience was not a very exciting one. There had been a call for troops, the first term of service having expired, but it was in the spring of the year and the farmers would not volunteer. The town boys were ready to go, but the order was for cavalry and they had no money to buy horses. James Deaton, who was the chief military man of this neighborhood. called out every able-bodied citizen and the first draft we had ever experienced occurred. Somehow the thing did not work right, and a compromise was make by which we agreed to furnish a company of infantry instead of cavalry. Cyrus Matthews was our captain and Col. Samuel Matthews was commander of the regiment. We marched to Beardstown and went by boat from there to Fort Welburn, opposite La Salle on the Illinois River, where we were mustered into the service by General Gaines, of the regular army. Our regiment, by reason of its being partly infantry, was stationed at this fort, which was the base of supplies for the expedition. We stayed there until the :var was over (seventy-two days) and then came home, having never had a scratch. If the bill to pension the survivors of the Black Hawk war is passed our regiment ought to be excepted, for not one of us ever received a wound or contracted any disease while in
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OLD TIME WEDDING CEREMONIES.
the service, although some of us were badly scared by the report of the cholera amongst Gen. Scott's troops at Chicago.
Among those from Morgan in this war, with their age in 1879 when a "Reunion" was held, were the following:
Anderson Foreman, 70, Jacksonville; Thomas Wright, 74, Franklin; A. W. Stice, -, Jacksonville; Arch. P. Riggs, 69, Franklin; Richard Seymour, 71, Franklin; Wil- liam Wright, 72, Waverly; Lee T. Morris, 69, Jacksonville; James Morrison, 80, Jack- sonville. Governor Duncan, then major general of militia, was in command of the mounted brigade sent by Governor Reynolds to this "war." Judge Thomas went as quartermaster of the brigade.
Commencing May 1st, 1834, there were frosts and freezes for ten consecutive nights killing all vegetation. Even forest trees were injured so as to soon die.
"The marriage ceremony, in those days, was a very unceremonions affair," says John MeConnel, whose excellent description in his "Western Sketches" we quote in full :
"The parents never made a 'parade' about anything-marriage, least of all. They usually gave the bride-not the 'blushing' bride-a bed, a lean horse. and some good ad- vice; and. having thus discharged their duty in the premises. returned to their work, and the business was done. The parade and drill which now attend it.jwould have been as ridic- ulous as a Chinese dance; and the finery and ornament, at present understood to be indis- pensable on such occasions, then bore no sway in fashion. Bridal wreaths and dresses were not known, and white kid gloves and satin slippers never heard of. Orange blos- soms-natural and artificial-were as pretty then as now; but the people were more of- cupied with substance than with emblem.
"The ancients decked their victims for the sacrifice with gaudy colors flags and streamers; the modeins do the same. and the offerings are sometimes made to quite as barbarous deities. But the bride of the pioneer was clothed in linsey-wolsey, with hose of woolen yarn; and moccasins of deer skin-or, as an extra piece of finery, high-quar- tered shoes of calf-skin-preceded satin slippers. The bride-groom came in copperas col- ored jeans-domestic manufacture-as a holiday suit; or, perhaps, a hunting shirt of huck-skin, all fringed around the skirt and cape, a 'coon-skin' cap, with moccasins. In- stead of a dainty walking stick, with an opera-dancer's leg, in ivory, for a head, he al- ways brought his rifle, with a solid maple stuck; and often, during the whole ceremony, he did not divest himself of powder horn and bullet-pouch.
"Ministers of the gospel were few in those days, and the words of form were usu- ally spoken by a missionary. Or. if the pioneer bad no objections to Catholicism-as many had-his place was supplied by some justice of the peace, of doubtful powers and mythical appointment. If neither of these could be procured, the father of the bride, himself, sometimes assumed the functions pro hac vice, or pro tempore, of minister or jus- tice. It was always understood, however, that such left-handed marriages were to be confirmed by the first minister who wandered to the frontier; and, even when the oppor- tunity did not offer for several months, no scandal ever arose-the marriage vow was never broken. The pioneers were simple people; the refinements of high cultivation had not yet penetrated the forests or crossed the prairies, and good faith and virtue were as common as courage and sagacity.
"When the brief, but all sufficient ceremony was over, the bride-groom resumed bis ritle. helped the bride into the saddle-or, more frequently, to the pillion behind him- and they calmly rode away together.
"On some pleasant spot-surrounded by a shady grove, or point of timber-a new log cabin has been built; its rough logs notched across each other at the corners, a roof of oaken clapboards, held firmly down by long poles along each course, its floor of heavy 'puncheons.' its broad, cheerful fire-place, large as a modern bed-room-all are in the style of the frontier architecture. Within-excepting some anomalies, such as putting the skillet and tea-kettle in the little cupboard, along with the blue-edged plates and yel- low.figured tea-cups-for the whole has been arranged by the hands of the bride-groom himself-everything is neatly and properly disposed. The oaken bedstead, with low, square posts, stands in one corner, and the bed is covered with a pure white counterpane, with fringe-an heir-loom in the family of the bride. At the foot of this is seen a large, heavy chest-like a camp-chest-to serve for bureau, safe, and dressing-case.
"In the middle of the floor-directly above the trap-door which leads to a 'potato hole' beneath, stands a ponderous walnut table, and on it sits a nest of wooden trays, while, flanking these, on one side, is a nicely folded tablecloth, and, on the other, a wooden handled butcher knife and a well worn bible. Around the room are ranged a few 'split-bottomed' chairs, exclusively for use, not ornament. In the chimney corners, or under the table, are several three-legged stools, made for the children, who-as the bride-groom laughingly insinuates, while he points to the uncouth specimens of bis
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