USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Jacksonville > Historic Morgan and classic Jacksonville > Part 8
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By the action of the Legislature in 1826-'27, the State was divided into four circuits. To the first circuit, composed of counties bordering on the Illinois and Mississippi, the Hon. Samuel D. Lockwood, of Jacksonville, was assigned. In the spring of 1897, I attended all the counties in this circuit, Greene, Morgan, Sangamon, Peoria, Fulton,
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THE FIRST SCHOOL-JURORS IN 1828-FIRST COURT HOUSE.
Schuyler, Adams, Pike and Calhoun. The judges and lawyers traveled on horseback and visited all the county seats After leaving Peoria we either took our dinners in our saddle-bags or traveled all day without dinner. This circuit included all the organized counties in the northwestern part of the State, including Jo Daviess.
I continued to attend the courts in this circuit until additional circuits were cre- ated. The rides were rather sources of pleasure and amusement than labor. Our li- braries consisted of Digests, Chitty's Pleading and Blackstone. I could relate many incidents of trials, of travels, of swimming creeks, and the like.
Through the exertions of Mr. Thomas, coupled with those of other enterprising citizens, an unfinished log cabin, originally intended for such a purpose, was so far completed, and furnished in a primitive style, that it could be occupied as a school house, and in it he taught the first school in the town. This identical one-story log school house, located in the southeast part of the town, thus was the legitimate prede- cessor of all the halls of learning that Jacksonville can now boast of and Judge Thomas the veritable professional ancestor of all the more than three hundred school teachers of "the Athens of the West."
This cabin was also used as a place of worship by the Methodists ; and other denom- inations occasionally sent ministers to preach within its walls.
Mr. Atwood, already referred to, in July, 1883, when in his 79th year, wrote to the postmaster of Jacksonville in regard to his arrival in this place, as follows :
"I removed from St Louis in June, 1825, and located myself in a corner of a dou- ble log cabin on the east side of the common with a stock of goods for a variety store; at that time there were but eleven buildings in the place, a court house in the center of the common, two taverns, three stores and a ball, all built of logs. I built the first frame with a brick chimney inside of the house, located on the northeast corner of the common. I assisted in forming the Lodge of Free Masons, in a small ball on the northwest side of the common, by singing, and at that time I assisted in singing for the congregation at their communion season, although I was not a member of the church. Father Brich was the minister at that time My first partner was E. C. March, of Exe- ter, sixteen miles west of you; my next partner was H. G. Taylor; his wife and a daugh. ter, Louisa, then about two years old, was living at Jacksonville. I remember the names of Hackett, Fairfield, Nicely, Rockwell (clerk of the county. I went to his house to board at first. ) McConnel, Cobb, Wiswall and others."
We here will quote the following record of county affairs as given in Donnelly, Loyd & Co's. History:
The care of the poor, review of roads, justices' districts, and such matters, engaged the attention of the county court at its first sessions. As the county increased in popu - lation, its division into smaller road and justice's districts was made The first jury lists are now lost. The first one preserved is that drawn for the April term of court in 1828. The grand jury was composed of the following gentlemen: William Wood, Wil- liam Rodgers Frederick Bolinger. Samuel B. Jones, David Marks George M. Richards, Allen B. Hughes, Larkin Brown, Matthew Elder, Nathan Compton. Joshua Crow, Solo- mon Penny, William Miller, George Camp, William Sharon. Ira A Hooker, William B. Schott, Thomas Cowhick, Martin Humphries, and Thomas Allen Those composing The "travers" jury, as it was called, were Richard Beall, Samuel Holloway, Charles W. Horrell. Samuel Berry, Elias Williams, James Martin, Stephen Burrows, James D. Mor- rison, William Jarrod, Benjamin Shartzer, Peter Dew, Samuel White, David Hibbard, Thomas Wiswall, Richard P. Carter, John Box, John Wilson, Andrew Armstrong, James Taylor, Benjamin Case, William Wyatt, Solomon Perkins, Samuel Matthews, and James Redman.
At the meeting of the county court on March 4, 1828, the county was divided into seven road districts, which number was shortly greatly increased, so rapidly did the county fill with settlers. On the 6th of the same month, the court ordered the clerk to give notice that on the 10th of April following, the building of a court house would be let to responsible bidders. At first the plan was to construct a brick building, two stor- ies high, forty feet square. On the 22d a special meeting of the commissioners was called, and the plan altered, making the building fifty feet long and forty feet wide. None of the bids offered for its construction were accepted, and no contracts made that year. The next year the county commissioners were Joseph M. Fairfield John Wyatt, and Samuel Rogers, and at a meeting of this court on January 31, 1829, it was decided 10 let the work in separate bids, and these were accordingly advertised. On the 14th of March, the contracts for its construction were let; the brick and stone work to Garrison W. Berry and Henry Robley, for $1,720: the carpenter work to Rice Dunbar and Henry Robley, for $1,350, and a few minor contracts to other individuals. On March 5, 1830,
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OLD COURT-HOUSE, JAIL AND POOR-HOUSE.
contracts for finishing the court house, putting in windows, placing window-shutters in place, with many other articles needed, was let to Rice Dunbar and Henry Blandford, for $1.250; for latbing and plastering to Henry Robley and Isham Dalton, for $326.623; for painting to John Challon, for $389, and to James Hurst. for the floors $41. The court house was accepted by the county commissioners at their meeting on September 8, 1830 The contractors and builders were paid in installments, as had been agreed. The total cost. when complete. was about $4.000. The building was the first brick house in the county, and occupied the central square of land on the south side of State street and west of Main street. To meet the expense in the erection of this edifice, and for the county revenne, a tax was ordered levied at the meeting of March 4tn. 1829, on all slaves, indentured or registered, pegro or mulatto servants. on pleasure carriages, on distilleries, on stock in trade, on live stock, and on all personal property, except household furniture -the ratio being one-half per cent. One per cent. was also established for the erection of public buildings, in accordance with an act passed by the General Assembly.
This court house remained in use urtil it was superseded by the present commodious structure. completed m 1868 It had served the county thirty eight years, and then gave way to its handsome successor. It bad for some time been the desire of the citizens gen- orally that it should be removed from its position, and the square left for an ornament lo the town. The "old court house," as it was called, was also inadequate to the increas- ing demands of the county, and was. when the "new court house" was erected, pulled down and the material used elsewhere The present structure is one of the finest in the West, and is unusually safe from fire. It is constructed almost entirely of stone and iron; the first named material being obtained from the quarries at doliet.
The old jail was built of hewed timbers, each was about one foot square. and every wall was made double. Between these double walls, upright pieces of timber. of the same dimensions as that used in the wall, were placed, so that if a criminal attempted to escape by cutting through the wall, these inner pieces would, when a section was cut out of one of them, drop down, and thus the process would have to be repeated until the whole would be cut away This would take more time than any criminal could use without being detected, and it is doubtful if the process was ever attempted. At the meeting of the county court, on March 9, 1832, it was decided to erect a new jail, and the clerk of that court was ordered to advertise in the Illinois Patriot. for sealed propos- als from builders for its construction. It was determined it should be built of brick and stone, and the contract for that part of the construction was, at a subsequent meeting, awarded to Abram DeWitt, for about eighteen hundred dollars. The carpenter work to Ebenezer Miller, for nearly fifteen hundred dollars
The jail was completed in 1833, its entire cost being abont thirty-five hundred dollars.
This jail was the stronghold of detaining criminals many years. It, in turn. also be- came unsafe through the lapse of years, and was declared unfit for use In the spring of 1864 steps were taken for the erection of a more substantial jail. The old one was pro- nounced unsafe and uncomfortable by the county commissioners, who decided to erect a new one. Alter mature deliberation, it was decided to construct the building with iron cells, and Hon. Stephen Dunlap, a member of the court, was instructed to proceed to Cincinnati, Ohio, with a competent mechanic, and make arrangements for its construc- tion.
Mı. Jesse T. Newman had offered $3,000 for the old lot and jail. It was decided to accept this offer, and purchase another site. After examining various offered sites, a lot owned by Mr. John Trabuc was selected and he was paid for the same $3.500. Work on the jail was soon after begun, and prosecuted until its completion The building cost $27,500, and is yet in use
The keeping of the county poor has always been a serious question in the manage- ment of county affairs At first they were "farmed out," as it was termed, that is given 10 suitable persons to keep. These were obligated to provide a reasonable maintenance. In case the person kept was able to work, the one keeping bim could obtain a partial recompense in that manner, and in addition was given an allowance from the county treasury. Minors were bound out until of age, and the person to whom they were given was required to provide for them schooling a reasonable length of time during the year. These and various metnods were tried in the early days of the West, but did not at all times prove satisfactory. With all due diligence, in some cases the poor would fall into the hands of those who only desired gain by their labors, and who cared nothing for their moral advancement. Minors would often be mistreated and unprovided with the means of education, and the moral training wholly neglected
The earliest attempts to keep this class of people by the county were made about 1840. A poor-farm was established a few miles north of Jacksonville, and many of them cent there for keeping. The house was not built expressly for this purpose, having been a residence, but was used. Additions were made to it in 1847, when Joseph Heslop was superintendent, as the accommodations were not such as were desired. At this time insane persons were kept by the county. Miss Dix, a woman who devoted her life to this un- fortunate class of humanity, and whose history is given in connection with that of the
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50 MISS DIX AND THE COUNTY'S POOR-THE FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Insane Asylum, elsewhere in this volume, came about this time to Morgan county and visited the poor-house. Finding all classes of the poor kept together, and no provision for the insane, she vigorously set to work to remedy the evil. She visited the county commissioners and urgently importuned them to sell the property and purchase elsewhere. She selected a site just east of the city, and succeeded in her purpose. On July 12, 1847, James H. Lurton was appointed agent, on behalf of the county, to purchase fourteen acres at a price not to exceed fifty dollars per acre. Before the purchase was made the number of acres was increased to thirty. On September 10th the old poor-house, and property belonging thereto, was ordered to be sold. An addition to the new location was purchased of W. B. Warren, in 1854, for four thousand dollars. In accordance with the views of Miss Dix. a building for the use and care of the insane was erected, in addition to the building intended for the paupers, and new and improved methods adopted in the treatment of all.
The farm was occupied until 1867. The city's growth had reached the grounds, and advantageous offers were made to the county for the property. As the population of the county had increased, the number of poor augmented until more land and more accom- modations were necessary. Land adjoining the farm was too valuable for such purposes. and the county commissioners decided to sell the property. and, by going farther from the city, purchase more land. On January 27, 1866, in accordance with an order of this court, the county farm, and all property therewith, was sold at public sale to Joseph R Askew and John T. Springer for $13,375. These persons soon after Isid the farm out in town lots, and as such it is now known as Askew and Springer's addition to Jacksonville. This sale necessitated a new location. The most eligible site, offering timber for fuel, was the farm of Cornelius Goltra, about three miles northwest of the city. This farm, of two hundred acres, was purchased for about $13,000, and the present poor-house built thereon. It is a good structure, capable of accommodating all those who may call upon the county for keeping, and is excellently managed. In ordinary years the farm bears a large share of the expense, and furnishes employment to all inmates able to work.
The erection of the several county buildings has now been conclusively stated, and it will be well before closing this chapter to note the various divisions of the county. From its earliest existence, as settlements increased, the justices' and road districts were set off, and their boundaries determined. On June 30, 1828, the county was divided into five election precincts, known as Jacksonville, Exeter, Sandy. Apple Creek, and Clay Creek precincts. The judges appointed for each district were: Joseph Klein, John Leep- er, Aaron Wilson, Jacksonville; Daniel Lieb, Baxter Broadwell. and Daniel Burbank, Exeter. James Hatchin, Alexander Walls, and Alvin Coe, Sandy; John Lappington, John Williams, and Thomas Luttrell, Apple Creek; Thomas Gatton, William Summers, Joshua Crow, Clay Creek. Indian Creek precinct was not long after added, and William Lager, Isaac R. Bennett, and Aquilla Hall appointed judges of election. All those named were to serve two years from the dates of the appointments. On the next day after the division of the county into election precincts, the trustees for the school sections were appointed. On June 8, 1831, William Thomas was appointed school agent on be- half of the county to sell these sections, and thereby create a school fund. His bond was $12,000, and he, with his characteristic honesty, discharged his dutics faithfully. It is doubtful if the National Congress ever passed an act, which resulted in equal benefit to the people, as this one. Three years before Judge Thomas' appointment, on Sept. 2, 1828, the Mound school district was established; probably the first school district, at least the first on record, in the county. At this time no bridges were built for the accommo- dation of travelers. All crossing of streams was done by ferries, the owners of which were allowed to charge a fee, regulated, like tavern licenses, by the county court. On the day the trustees for the school sections were appointed, the rates of ferriage over the Illinois River were established as follows;
"For each four-horse or ox team and carriage, seventy-five cents; for each two-horse or ox team and carriage, fifty cents; for each one-horse and carriage, thirty-seven and one-half cents; for each man and horse, twelve and a half cents; for each footman, six and a fourth cents; for each head of loose horses or cattle, six and a fourth cents; for each head of hogs, sheep or goats, three cents." These were the common rates charged. The price of license was according to the location. At Beard's ferry it was four dollars; at Green's, two dollars, and at Phillips', three. Others were charged like amounts.
Enough has now been told to give an intelligent idea of the acts of the county as a corporate body. At every meeting of the county court new tavern and ferry licenses were issued. Prominent among the names appearing on the records are those of Joseph Bently, Nathan H. Gest, Abraham Vance, Abraham De Witt, and Thomas Bently, all of whom were licensed to "keep tavern" in the county seat, and the majority of whom paid five dollars fee. Ira Kelley was licensed to open a house of entertainment in Exeter, Thomas Beard at his ferry, Archibald J. Hite at a mill on Sandy Creek, Jacob Ekel- burner at Naples, and others at different places, as the county filled with settlers, and the needs of the country required. These persons' rates of charges were all fixed, and, as
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Cows WORTH $5.00 EACH-CORN FIVE CENTS PER BUSHEL.
will be seen by the reader iu those quoted elsewhere, included wine, gin, rum, cordial and whisky.
The increase in population also demanded new road districts, which from time to time were made. New polling places were also established. and we find as early as 1830, Jacksonville had so increased in inhabitants, that on June 8th of that year an additional voting place was made therein. The next year Stephen R. Bartlett and Isaac Negus were licensed to sell clocks. The former, being a non-resident, was charged twenty-five dollars for the privilege. while the latter. a resident, was charged half that sum. Knapp & Pogue. B. Ayers and Francis Arenz paid ten dollars for the privilege of opening a store and doing business in the county seat. At the meeting of the commissioners' court on March 9. 1831. the following firms were licensed to sell goods in the county. From the number the reader will readily perceive the increase in population and commerce a lapse of five years had produced in Morgan county. The list with the rates of charges for the license is herewith appended as given on that day:
Alexander T. Douglas, five dollars; James Dunlap & Co., twelve dollars and fifty cents; Nathan H. Gest, seven dollars and fifty cents; N. and N. H. Johnson and Joshua D. Austin, five dollars each; John P. Wilkinson, the same as James Dunlap & Co .; Archibald T Hite. Joseph M Fairfield, William Hunter, and Davenport & Henderson, each five dollars; Hook & Wiswall and James P. Coddington & Co., seven dollars and fifty cents each, and Gillett & Gordon, fifteen dollars, making a total amount received that day from this source, ninety seven dollars and fifty cents. Tavern licenses had by this time raised, as we find F. C. Maupiu was charged eleven dollars to open such a house on Apple Creek, and five dollars to "vend merchandise therein."
By an act of the legislature, approved April 23, 1831. James Green, John Henderson, and Joseph Cloud were appointed commissioners "to survey and lay out" a state road from Henderson's Grove in Montgomery county to Jacksonville, and afterward John Green and Abraham Vance were appointed to lay out this road through the county to Naples on the river. This road was reviewed from Jacksonville to Naples by Abraham Vance, John Green and Alexander Wells, and thereby finally established. Throughout the county's existence its several acts as a corporate body have be similar to those nar- rated, being changed as the exigencies required, and as the increase in population, wealth and commerce demanded. The county is yet under the old form of government. the township form not being adopted. Three commissioners comprise the county court, and attend to all business relating to the commonwealth.
Gen. Murray McConnel, in a historical address delivered at the laying of the cor- ner stone of the present Morgan county court house, May 12, 1868, (see cut next page) made the following reference to the first seat of justice, its successor and the leading lawyers of those early days:
"The first court house was built in Jacksonville, in the year 1826, and in that day it was as good a court house as the state of the county finances could afford. It was a frame building set on blocks sawed from a round log, and of course, we laid no cor- ner stone under it, as we are now doing with this great building. That house was located on the northwest corner of the public square in Jacksonville, and cost about four hundred and fifty dollars, and although it was a cheap court house, I have no doubt but that as pure justice was administered therein as ever will be in this great, costly and magnificent building.
In connection with this low priced court house, it should be remembered, that our people were new settlers and poor, and that our county revenue that year was but $758 00, and out of that we had to pay $55.75 collector's fees, and to lose a pretty large delinquent list, as our inhabitants were constantly on the move, and, as I told you, generally poor people. We should remember, too, that a good horse in those days in this county, was only worth about thirty dollars in trade. A good cow was worth four or five dollars. Pork from sixty 10 seventy five cents per hundred, and beef was not generally sold at all. Corn, where it was sold at all, brought five cents per bushel, seller delivering it in the purchaser's crib. Wheat about thirty cents per bushel. Potatoes were worth from five to ten cents per bushel, and everything raised by the farmers bore about such prices, and this was not generally paid in money, but in other property called trade, such as honey, beeswax, furs, &c., &c. The truth is that there was no market for anything the farmer raised, nearly everybody raised their own provisions and only a few had anything to sell, and if they had, there was nobody to purchase it. Every dollar that was brought to the country was paid into the land office for land, and thereby the country was constantly kept drained of money, and if any one had more money than they wanted to lay out in land, it could be Joaned at one hundred to one hundred and fifty per cent. per annum I loaned a part of the money to enter the land at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre whercon this city is laid out, at one hundred and twenty-five per cent. per annum.
LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
-CHANDLER-Ct.I
MORGAN COUNTY COURT HOUSE, ERECTED 1868.
53
THE LOCAL BAR FROM 1825 To 1845.
But to return to the subject of the court houses, about which I was speaking-the first court house was burned on the sixth of December, 1827, and with it was destroy- ed all the records of the circuit and county courts of the county, and some deeds for lands belonging to citizens in the recorder's office. To supply its place another court house was built in 1829, of brick, and costing about four thousand dollars. In this house, the people of Morgan county have met and held court, discussed publie matters and nominated candidates for nearly forty years. In it some of the great men of the nation made their first debut. There one of our greatest statesmen and orators, Stephen A. Douglas, made his first law-argument, and presided as one of the judges of the su- preme and circuit courts of this state, and in that house, by a meeting of his friends, he was first nominated for congress, where he did honor to the state that elected him, and by his powerful talent rose to be an equal to the greatest man of the nation.
In that court house the energetic and talented John J. Hardin commenced his brilliant career. There he, too, was first nominated to congress. where, by his energy, tact, and talent in an uncommonly short space of time, he rose to eminence in the councils of the nation. His bright and promising future was brought to an untimely end on the bloody field of Buena Vista in Mexico. There he fell with McKee, Clay, and other brave men, bravely fighting the battles of his country.
In that old court house, also, did the kind-hearted and polished gentleman, the highly talented statesman, and profound lawyer, James A. McDougal, late senator in congress from California, but now deceased, commence his career as a practicing ing lawyer.
In that house, too, the young man of brilliant mind, a good lawyer and a polished writer, John L McConnel, born and educated in Morgan county, made his maiden speech as an attorney at the bar, but like the memorable Hardin, he, too, fought and was wounded at the battle of Buena Vista, and although he was not, like Hardin, left dead upon the field, yet, that most painful wound brought him to an untimely grave, in the midst of his youth and usefulness.
In addition to these, I could mention Governor Joseph Duncan, Judge Jolin Tur- ney, John W. Evans, Josiah Lamborn, Myron Leslie, Waller Jones, Jesse B. Thomas, Governor Thomas Ford, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and many others whose names are intimately connected in memory with the old and crumbling walls of that old court house, but whose bones are now mouldering in the dust and whose names are written among the dead But I will not pursue the mournful subject further. I will only ask that the dust of the falling edifice may be respected for the good it has done, and for the noble and honorable heads it has sheltered in by-gone years.
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