USA > Illinois > Douglas County > Historical and biographical record of Douglas County, Illinois > Part 4
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County judge-James Ewing, still living in Arcola, and the associates were John D. Mur- dock, now a large land owner in Camargo township, who was again elected in 1861. He filled the position for six years, and had been active in the formation of the new county. And Robert Hopkins, one of the pioneers of Newman township, who was, at the birth of the new county, an associate justice of Coles. Mr. Hopkins died in the spring of 1863, leaving a large unincumbered estate.
The first county clerk was John Chandler, who was a good officer. He was re-elected in 1861, serving in all about six years. Mr. Chandler was one of the most active in the partition, and by reason of a large experience in public business was altogether depended upon for statistics in the interest of the new county. He served in the war with Mexico.
The circuit clerk and recorder, elected at this time, was Andrew G. Wallace, who was , re-elected in 1860, 1864 and 1868, hokling the office by re-election for over twelve years. Mr. Wallace was one of the first settlers, having arrived in Coles county in 1834, and was one of the first in Tuscola. He died in Tuscola in 1877.
Samuel B. Logan was the first sheriff. Mr. Logan is now a resident of Bourbon, Illinois, and is a large land owner. He was a captain
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
in the Fifty-fourth Regiment, Illinois Volun- teers, in the war of 1861.
The office of assessor and treasurer was taken by William Hancock, of Newman town- ship. Mr. Hancock was engaged in banking in the city of Newman, and was a large farmer in Sargent township. He came to this vicinity in November, 1839.
The first county surveyor was Henry C. Niles, who was re-elected in 1861 and again in 1871. Mr. Niles came from Baltimore in 1857.
The first meeting of the county court, as it was called, was held in Camargo, so that the minds of the people might not be prejudiced as between Arcola and Tuscola.
The selection of the county seat, as was to have been expected, was the occasion of much excitement. The cities of Tuscola and Arcola, from their comparatively central position, and both being situated on the only railroad in the county, were the leading contesting points. The village of Camargo had claims to the honor which were strongly advocated, and the well known Hackett's Grove, not far north of the geographical centre of the county, was also talked of. The aspiring embryo cities of Tus- cola and Arcola, at the first election, polled probably ten times their legal vote, and the count in these two places being so glaringly preposterous, neither was considered at this time, and the unwritten history of this canvass for county seat will probably remain unwritten during the present generation. At this first meeting of the county court-a special term- April 28, 1859, it was ordered that a special election be held May 30, 1859, to choose a county seat as between the two rival towns, which election resulted in the choice of Tus- cola.
Camargo was made county seat pro tem, and Mr. W. If. Lamb was appointed commis- sioner to transfer from Coles county records those necessarily belonging to Douglas. Mr. Lamb had arrived in Camargo in 1853; was a merchant there until 1862, when he became adjutant of the Seventy-ninth Illinois Volun- teers in the war of the Rebellion. Ile was elected county clerk, or clerk of the county court, in 1865, and at the expiration of his term accepted the cashiership of the First National Bank of Tuscola, but now resides in Santiago, California.
The people having, at an clection held in November, 1867, decided to adopt township organization, Lucius McAllister, of Arcola, Jos. B. McCown, of Camargo, and Henry B. Evans, of Tuscola, were appointed Commissioners to divide the county into townships, which duty they performed by making the sub-divisions as they now stand. Jos. B. McCown served hon- ouably in the war with Mexico, as also in the Civil war of 1861, when he was colonel of the Sixty-third Illinois Infantry. Col. McCown stood high in the estimation of the people and consequently exercised considerable influence in politics and public business generally. He pos- sessed all the attributes of good citizenship, and his death, November 21, 1869, was much la- mented.
H. B. Evans was elected assessor and treas- urer in 1865 and re-elected in 1867; as assistant United States marshal in 1870 he procured the Douglas county data for the ninth census, and was postmaster of Tuscola for a number of years.
The first meeting,under township organiza- tion, of the board of supervisors, was held in Tuscola, on Monday, May 11, 1868, and the
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
supervisors were: Caleb Garrett, of Garrett ; Lemuel Chandler, of Bourbon; Asa T. Whit- ney, of Arcola; Oliver C. Hackett, of Tuscola; Geo. W. Henson, of Camargo; Benjamin W. Hooc, of Newman; Isaac W. Burget, of Sar- gent, and Benjamin Bowdre, of "Deer Creek" township, but upon being informed by the state auditor that there was a "Deer Creek" township in Tazewell county, the name was changed to "Bowdre," in honor of its first representative.
In September, the same year, a petition to the board of supervisors was circulated, to which a great many signatures had been ob- tained, wherein the petitioners endeavored to show their belief that a majority of the voters of the county desired the abolition of township organization.
Camargo township was formerly called Al- bany precinct, Newman was once Brushy Fork, Garrett township was a part of Bourbon, Bour- bon was once North Okaw, Bowdre, once called Deer Creek, was a part of Collins pre- cinct, and Sargent belonged to Oakland pre- cinct.
Joseph G. Cannon came to Tuscola in 1859, the year of the new county ; was elected state's attorney in 1861 and again in 1864. He was elected to congress in 1872 and is there now. He resides in Danville.
The first session of circuit court was held in the then just finished depot building of the Illinois Central Railroad, and the first civil case on the docket was Button vs. K. B. Johnson, default of defendant and judgment for three dollars and twenty cents. This was an appeal from Dr. J. T. Johnson, a magistrate in the vil- lage of Bouron. Dr. Johnson removed from Bourbon to a point south of Newman, and after a few years went west. 3
Afterward court was held over J. M. Maris' store, on northeast corner of Parke and Sale streets, in which building Mr. Wallace had his office as recorder; at that time this was the largest available room in Tuscola, and after that, until the present permanent court house was built, in the large two-story wooden build- ing which stands opposite the court house on the north. Judge Harlan presided and heard all cases, whilst busily engaged in carving cur- ious toys from soft wood, a habit hie rarely laid aside during business hours.
For a while the county clerk's office was in the east end of the hotel, burned in 1864, which occupied the site of the "Stanley House." The original hotel was built by the Town Company, and there seems to be good authority for the statement that the Illinois Central Railroad Company had agreed to put the depot about opposite the site of the court house, say Houghton street, but under a mis- take of the person in charge, it got its present location.
The court house was begun under the ad- ministration, as a county court, in 1864, of Judge Francis C. Mullen, of Garrett town- ship, assisted by John D. Murdock, of Camar- go, and Caleb Bales, of Bourbon, as associates. Judge Mullen was the second county judge of Douglas county; was born in Delaware and came to Garrett township in 1850. Mr. Bales was elected in 1861 associate justice, and in 1872 represented his township as supervisor.
The court house was a brick building of two stories and basement, and contained the jail and living rooms for the sheriff or jailer. It was situated in Block "C," a roomy enough plat of ground, 216x320, in about the centre of Tuscola. The plat was deeded to the county
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BIOGRAPINCAL AND HISTORICAL.
by the original Town Company for the consid- eration "that a court house of a substantial character should be erected upon it within four years from March 7, 1864. The grounds to be used exclusively for county buildings, and also conditioned that when it ceased to be used for such purposes it should revert to the grant- ors."
The architect of the building was O. L. Kinney, of Chicago. The original accepted bid for the masonry was fifteen thousand dol- lars, and the carpenter work was offered for seven thousand and seven hundred dollars. The contractors for the masonry failed to perform their agreement, even after two or three exten- sions of time, and an advance of twenty per cent. on their contract, which advance was also made to the carpenter. The county board finally took charge of the work and in conjunc- tion with Mr. J. M. Smith, of Tuscola, em- ployed the same builders and others, and brought the work to a conclusion. The entire original cost of the building and furniture was forty-two thousand dollars, the painting, glaz- ing and iron not having been included in any of the bids.
COUNTY OFFICERS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY FROM ITS ORGANIZATION IN 1859. COUNTY CLERKS.
John Chandler, elected April, 1859; re- elected 1861.
William HI. Lamb, elected November, 1865. John C. Parcel, elected November, 1869.
Daniel (. Root, elected November, 1873.
D. A. Conover, November, 1880, died in office February 2. 1899.
E. W. Jeffers, appointed, and is the present incumbent.
CIRCUIT CLERK AND RECORDER.
A. G. Wallace, elected April, 1859.
P. C. Sloan, elected November, 1872. John N. Outcelt, elected November, 1882. R. F. Helm, elected November, 1886. J. W. King. elected in 1890.
C. A. Hawkins, elected in 1898, the present incumbent.
ASSESSOR AND TREASURER.
William Hancock, elected April. 1859.
George W. Flynn, elected November, 1861. V. C. McNeer, elected November, 1863.
Henry B. Evans, elected November, 1865: re-elected November, 1867.
After township organization the office was called collector and treasurer.
COLLECTOR AND TREASURER.
James T. Walker, elected November, 1869: re-elected November, 1871.
James M. Cox. elected November, 1873.
Henry R. Ingraham, elected November, 1875.
Lines L. Parker, elected 1879.
T. S. Wyeth, elected 1886.
L. E. Root, elected 1890. James Jones, elected 1894. Henry C. Jones, elected 1898, the present incumbent.
SHERIFF.
Samuel B. Logan, elected April, 1859.
Parmenas Watson, elected November, 1860.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
William T. French, elected November, 1862.
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Isaac L. Jordon, elected November, 1864. Henry C. Carico, elected November, 1866. N. Rice Gruelle, elected November, 1868. Newton I. Cooper, elected November, 1870. James II. Shawhan, elected November, 1871.
Francis G. Cunningham, elected November, 1872 ; re-elected November, 1874; re-elected in 1876, and died in office.
Col. Wesford Taggart, elected 1880.
T. S. Wyeth, elected 1886.
John L. Goff, elected 1890.
J. C. Cutler, elected 1894.
F. D. Bagley, elected 1898, died in office May 20, 1898. F. T. Spies, M. D., then cor- oner, served out Bagley's time until the next general election.
C. A. Moon, elected 1898, the present in- cumbent.
SUPERINTENDENT SCHOOLS.
Wm. H. Sipple, elected April, 1859. S. S. Irwin, elected November, 1861. J. Frank Lamb, elected November, 1863. W. W. Monroe, elected November, 1865. Samuel T. Callaway, elected November, 1869; re-elected November, 1873.
C. W. Woolverton, appointed September, 1875.
J. W. King, clected November, 1875. Mr. King resigned to accept post office appoint- ment at Newman and was succeeded by ap- pointment of F. E. A. Starr.
Joseph R. Burres served from 1882 to 1886. Nora Smith, 1894.
Mamie Bunch, 1898.
Thomas M. Wells, a most worthy young man, who was elected by an overwhelming vote in 1898, and was killed in a railroad wreck two weeks after being sworn into office.
On March 9, 1899, Blanche Caraway was appointed and is the present incumbent.
COUNTY SURVEYOR.
Henry C. Niles, elected April, 1859, re- elected November, 1861.
Issachar Davis, elected November, 1863. Enos C. Siler, clected November, 1865. Issachar Davis, elected November, 1867. Edmund Fish, elected November, 1869. Henry C. Niles, elected November, 1871. Issachar Davis, elected November, 1875. H. C. Niles, elected 1883.
WVm. E. Price was elected in 1883 and is the present incumbent.
MASTER IN CHANCERY.
Andrew J. Wallace, 1859 to 1880, and was also Circuit Clerk during the time. After his death, in 1880, A. B. Powell served six months, when, in 1881. H. C. Niles was appointed and has since filled that office satisfactorily.
System of surveys .- To one not informed in regard to the principles of the government survey, the map of Douglas county presents a good many difficulties, and it may not be un- profitable to devote a page to this subject. The rectangular system adopted by the United States is peculiar to the public lands of the gov- ernment, and was devised for the old North- west. Meridian lines running due north from the mouth of some river are first established. These are intersected at right angles by a base
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
line, running east and west, and arbitrarily lo- cated. The meridian lines are known as "prin- cipal meridians," the first one being a line run- ring due north from the month of the Miami river, and forming the east line of Indiana. The second principal meridian is a line running Jne north from the Little Blue river, eighty- nine miles west of the former, and near the cen- tral part of the state of Indiana. The third principal meridian is a line running due north from the mouth of the Ohio river, and the fourth principal meridian is a line running due north from the month of the Illinois river. The base line from which the survey of Indiana was projected, and all of Illinois east of the Illinois river, crosses the state in latitude thirty-eight degrees and thirty minutes. With these principal lines established, the surveyors began at the intersection of the base line and a principal meridian line, and projected merid- ian lines, at intervals of one mile, parallel with the principal one, working eastwardly and westwardly from a given "principal meridian." Lines at right angles to these were run in sim- ilar manner, working northwardly and south- wardly from the base line. In running the north and south lines, owing to the shape of the earth, these are found to converge, and sub- base lines were established at intervals of twenty-four miles north of the base line and thirty miles below it, from which the line was begun afresh after accurate measurements east and west were obtained. At each of these "correction lines" a jog in the meridian-parallels will be observed, which shows the error due to convergence of lines. These jogs are known to surveyors as "fallings." i. e., falling to the right or left of the true corner, at the end of the line run. In surveying east and west from the
several established principal meridians another "fault" is found in actual practice. The dis- tance between these principal meridians is such as to leave a narrow strip of land between the survey proceeding west ( for example) from the third and east from the fourth principal merid- ian, and the east and west lines from either meridian are not found to exactly coincide at the meeting point.
In actual surveying the first lines were run each way at intervals of six miles, dividing the country into "congressional townships." These townships were subsequently subdivided into sections by lines at an interval of one mile by other surveyors, the law making it illegal for the same surveyor to run both sets of lines, so that one might be a check upon the errors of the other. The land was first offered for sale by sections, but this was found to work disad- vantageously to settlers, and these sections, containing six hundred and forty acres, were subdivided into halves of three hundred and twenty acres, and quarters of one hundred and sixty acres each, which last were again subdi- vided in halves of eighty acres, and quarters of forty acres each. "Fractions" are parts of sections intersected by rivers, or confirmed claims or reservations, and are of various sizes. The sections of a township are designated by numbers, beginning with the northeast corner and following in regular order to the west side, the second tier of sections beginning on the west side of the township and proceeding cast, using the numbers from one to thirty-six in- chisive.
Townships are designated by numerals in- creasing north and south from the base line, and are still further defined by ranges num- bered east and west from the principal me-
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BIOGRAPINCAL AND HISTORICAL.
ridian, and both are required together with the further description of north or south, and east. or west to accurately locate it.
The survey of Illinois was made from about 1812 to 1824. and presents some excep- tions to the above rules. South of the base line both townships and ranges are regular, and north of it, to the southern boundary of town- ship 31, east of the Illinois river. A portion of the state, east of a line running due north from the mouth of the Wabash river to the southern line of township 31 north, was surveyed west from the second principal meridian, and ranges are numbered westward as high as fourteen ; the ranges eastward from the third principal meridian reaching number eleven. the last one consisting of but a single section in width. Above township 30, the ranges extend cast from the fourth principal meridian to the east- ern line of the state, and reach the number of sixteen. West of the third principal meridian the ranges run regularly to the Mississippi and Illinois rivers so far north as the point where the third principal meridian crosses the Illinois river, where the ranges west cease. The town- ships are regular, extending south to number 16, and north to number 46. North of town- ship 33 north, the townships on the east side of the third principal meridian only proceed regularly. That part of the state lying west of the Illinois river, and north of the linois river and west of the third principal meridian, is surveyed from the fourth principal meridian. The base line for this survey is a line running due west from the point where the third prin- cipal meridian crosses the Illinois river and passes just south of Beardstown. The town- ships extend south from this line to number 14. and north to number 29. The ranges number
9 west and IT east, the last being fractional. North of the Illinois river the ranges are num- bered east from the fourth principal meridian up to the third principal meridian.
In Douglas county the peculiarities of the survey are nearly all exemplified. The jog or "falling" in Newman and Garrett townships shows the presence of the correction line: range Il east. in Newman and in Sargent townships. shows the result of the independent surveys. eastward from the third principal meridian and westward from the second principal meridian, and in range II east, the southern line of town- ship 15 north shows the slight variation in the cast and west lines of the two surveys. The long sections in the north tier of township 15. clear through Douglas county, were the re- sult of the arbitrary placing of the correction line; the township surveyor, having found the extra half-mile on closing on his standard or correction line, threw it into lots and so re- corded it. Many contradictions between the record and actual measurement are found, but the rule is established that where the original corners can be found they are unalterable, and remain under the law as the true corners they were intended to represent, even though not exactly where strict professional care might have placed them in the first instance. Missing corners must be re-established in the identical localities they originally occupied, and when the spot cannot be determined by existing land- marks in the field, resort must be had to the field notes of the original survey. The history of the first survey of Douglas county is not complete, but township 16, range 8, was sur- veyed by John Messinger, April, 1821; town- ship 15. range 9. by W. L. May, in May, 1821 ; townships 14 and 15, in range 8, by C. McK.
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
Hamtranek, who subdivided township 15, range o. into sections in June. 1821.
Topography and geology .- Douglas county hes about midway between the north and south limits in eastern Minois. It is bounded on the north by Champaign, on the east by Edgar, on the south by Coles and on the west by Moul- trie and Piatt. It lies on the divide between the hydrographic basins of the Wabash and Kas- kaskia rivers, sending its surface drainage through the Embarrass to the one and through the Okaw to the other. The Embarrass, pop- ularly pronounced "Ambraw" through a cor- ruption of the French. takes its rise near To- lono, in Champaign county, and, flowing south- easterly through this county, proceeds in its meanderings some ninety miles before it reaches the Wabash in Lawrence county. It was marked Fox river in the government survey, but the French name seems to have outlived it. It is said that this name had its origin with the original settlers at Vincennes, who found the marshy margins of that river in that region a great embarrassment to early travel. The Okaw is the head waters of the Kaskaskia, and rises in Champaign county. Flowing nearly a direct south course, it passes through Garrett and Bourbon townships, and thence south- westerly to the Mississippi river in Randolph county. after a meandering course of three hundred miles. The regular tributaries to these streams are few, the Embarrass receiving the Brushy Fork from the northeast, a small creek draining the southeast corner of Newman and the northwest corner of Sargent townships; Deer Creek, a prairie creek flowing nearly di- rectly east, and joining the main stream on the line of section 33, in Sargent township; and Scattering Fork, a tributary which divides into
three branches, which extend through Tuscola township, about a mile apart, and traverse the township in a southeasterly direction. The tributaries of the Okaw are all on the west side of the river in this county, and all have a south- easterly course. There are three only, Dry Fork, Lake Fork and Big Slough, joining the main stream at points about five miles apart, and are characteristically named.
The whole area of the county is covered so deeply with drift clays that there is no outerop of the underlying coal measure strata, From the exposures in the adjoining counties, it is known that the underlying beds belong to the upper coal measures, and probably include two or three of the upper coals, but the extent to which they are developed here can only be determined with the drill. It is not probable that any heavy bed of coal will be found short of six hundred or eight hundred feet from the surface, though one of the upper seams, two or three feet thick, might be found at a mod- erate depth. The drift clays are found here at nearly their maximum thickness, but only the upper part of this deposit is to be seen in the natural outcrops in the bluffs of the streams. Bowlders are rarely found of any great size in the county, and in many parts they are un- known. In other sections, however, there are enough, weighing from one to five hundred pounds, to add some difficulty to the tilling of the soil. The largest specimen of this rock stands in the southeast corner of section 28, township 16, range 7. It protrudes consider- ably above the ground, showing some one thousand cubic feet. Water is generally ob- tained of fair quality at a depth of twenty or thirty feet. Upon section 33, town- ship 16. range 9, in Camargo township, is a
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BIOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL.
fine fountain of living water, widely known as "Patterson's Spring:" a similar one near the Okaw on section 14, township 16, range 7, is called the "Sulphur Spring," and another is in 1Jackett's Grove, section 31, township 16, range 9, the overflow of which finally reaches the Em- barrass, through Scattering Fork. The soil is mainly a deep, black, vegetable mokdl, character- istic of the prairie lands throughout the central portions of the state. On the timber lands the soil is a light grayishi clay, rather better adapted to wheat growing than the prairie soil.
The swamp lands .- Douglas county is sit- uated on the Grand Prairie, and is generally a low, level tract of country. This fact greatly retarded its early settlement, as a large propor- tion of its area was covered with water during certain portions of the year. Cultivation has done much to remedy this evil, but the task of draining so large an area, where but few good natural outlets exist, has been a slow work. In addition to this general character of this legion, there was a large area in the county, as well as throughout the central portion of the state, of swamp or overflowed lands. On the 28th of September, 1850, the general govern- ment granted to the several states the whole of these lands, "made unfit thereby for cultiva- tion, and remaining unsold" on or after that date. On March 2, 1855, "An act for the re- lief of purchasers and locators of swamp and overflowed lands," provided upon proof by the authorized agent of the state, before the con- missioner of the general land office, that any of the lands purchased by any person from the United States, prior to the passage of this act (March 2, 1855), were swamp lands within the true intent and meaning of the act of Sep- tember 28, 1850, "the purchase money shall
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