USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 13
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
of business. Mr. Hueffner began improving the process and extending his trade until he worked up a very profitable business. He resided at Virginia with his family for about ten years, then having an opportunity to purchase a mill- ing plant at Petersburg, Ill., did so, and for a time conducted both plants. Later he sold the Virginia plant and moved to Petersburg. The business of the Virginia mill soon began to decline and it was not long after he sold, until the mill and lot ou which it stood fell into the hands of real estate agents, and it became simply a trading proposition, went from bad to worse, until it stands today idle and vacant. the smoke- stack fallen and flattened out over the roof of the engine room, the machinery rusted and use- less, the upper storerooms with the windows broken, a veritable roost for pigeons, owls and bats ; grim and gaunt in the darkening shadows of the night. Haunted by the censorious spirits of the dusty millers of long ago, who ground the daily bread for the toiling villagers, but who now sleep beneath the moss-grown slabs of marble in the distant graveyard, it gives ma- terial for reflection. Virginia has been without „a flouring mill for several years and there is no present prospect of supplying the want in the near future.
One of the earliest and most important indus- tries in Cass County, outside that of milling. was a tanyard, constructed and operated by An- drew Cunningham, a Scotchman. He came from Edinburgh in 1834 to Canada, and the next year to Cass County. His voyage over the sea and his journey's overland were interesting experi- ences to a person closely observant and appre- ciative of the conditions under which they were made. Mr. Cunningham did not ereet his tan- yard immediately upon his arrival in Cass County. It took some time for him to locate a convenient place where he could obtain a suf- ficient supply of water, and be near the oak groves where he eould more readily get the neeessary bark for tanning. Acting upon the adviee of William Holmes, who had settled in and entered land in township 17, range 9, about five miles east of the present site of Virginia, Mr. Cunningham finally located on seetion 6. township 17, range 9. Of this early tanyard, James A. Cunningham, a son of Andrew W. Cunningham, gives the following aecount and deseription :
"The tanyard was in operation about 1837. or as soon thereafter as the plant could be assem-
676
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
bled and fitted together and put into operatiou. It was built on section 6, township 17, rauge 9, and as I first saw it, consisted in part of a frame building of six rooms on the ground floor aud two upstairs rooms; and an outside room for footwear, aud harness, whips and saddles. Then there was the old lime house at the hill point, under the crabapple and plum trees, just set into the hill far enough to leave a driveway betweeu it and the tanyard. Oh yes, and then there was the bark shed and bark mill. The bark shed was about 40x50 feet, with the same slope roof as the slope of the hillside, and the bark mill was round and about 20 feet in diam- eter. The ground floors contained in part twen- ty-four pits 4x41/2 feet. Some were larger and called the 'water hole,' where the hides were soaked and softened. The flesh was then scraped off ; next put into the 'lime pit,' where the hair was loosened, and when the hair was scraped off the hides were passed on to the 'bates,' to remove all surplus. The 'bates,' oh my, it was a test of valor to stand a minute or two and sniff at the 'bates.' The skins aud heavy hides when cleaned were now ready for the tanning proper. The sheep and calf and deer skins would soon (in a month or two) be ready for use, by fall or winter. Other hides according to weight would be finished out in the winter or maybe would remain a part of the next summer in the tan liquor. (Hides are tanned by a quicker process now. ) The upstairs rooms are worthy of meution. The north room, covered with clap- boards not much used, might be a storeroom for hides, and I remember uow, two old ox collars, open at the bottom, and the big elk or deer horns and a few other old relics dimly remem- bered. The main room had a shingle roof and was lathed and plastered. It was used for the finishing room and for the storeroom, and where 'Tamas' Russell did his most artistic work. When he got done with a side of upper and har- ness leather it looked good. Most of the leather was sold at home, but often a lot would go to Beardstown to Chase, or Rich & Parker, or others of the long ago merchants of that town. It was quite common for buyers to come from Bath. Jacksonville and occasionally from Pe- tersburg or Springfield. Much of the travel to Petersburg from Virginia passed here. I have heard it said that the line of travel from St. Louis and Alton, up to Fort Clark (Peoria) was by here. The Indian trail lay between the hill country to the west and the flat prairie to the
east, and 'tis easy to believe how across Sugar Grove at the headwaters of Job's Creek would offer less resistance to travel than the stand near Beardstowu or the high grass and boggy pouds of the prairie ou the east. Aud that such ideal camping grouuds as the big old trees and running water, aud undulating prairie would furnish, should attract travelers if no other ad- vantages should offer. 'Uncle Billy' Holmes hap- peued to be one of the hospitable settlers who entertained father, Andrew Cunningham, aud said: 'Dowu there in that branch is always water, put your tauyard there,' and there it was put aud stayed until its course was run, and its usefulness was a question. The old men grew older, the young men preferred other lines, in fact the young men are gone, most of them. 'Bobby' Russell lives in the West uear the wa- ter; I'm here ; the others are gone, the buildings too. The lines of travel are chauged from the line of least resistance to the lines of the owner's fields."
Audrew Cunningham was born December 17, 1806, in Bonnington, a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a son of a well-to-do land owner of that city, and had received a fairly good education. He learned the tauner's trade, and along with it learned industrious habits and business ways. He was a close observer and frequently made notes of anything of in- terest that particularly attracted his attention. An excellent and interesting account of his voy- age to America aud of his travels through Can- ada and some of the states, including Illinois, is now in the hands of his son, James Cunning- ham, and from it we learu that he, in company with his brother George, William Blair, Charles Sheriff and others, sailed from Grenoch on March 17, 1834, for New York in the Camillus, a sailing vessel. After encountering a severe storm which washed overboard the cook house with the cook; assisting to quell a mutiny on board, and enduring an eight-weeks turbulent voyage, they landed at New York, May 8, 1834. Mr. Cunuingham traveled up the Hudson River and over the Erie Canal, which was just then completed, and then into Canada. There be visited many of the towns and Niagara Falls. and finally returued to the United States, and at Rochester, N. Y., worked at his trade for some months. He then took to the road again, and in company with Charles Sheriff, coucluded to visit Illinois. They took a lake steamer for Cleve- land, and from there walked across to Pitts-
MRS. JOHN M. BIERHAUS
677
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
burgh, Pa., from there going by river steamer down the Ohio a short distance, then on foot across to Dayton and Springfield in Ohio. Still walking, then went back again towards the Ohio River until they reached Cincinnati. From that point they took a steamboat down the Ohio River to its mouth and up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. They had, as might be expected from such a trip, a unique experience, and Mr. Cunningham found many things of interest to write into his account of their long journey. From St. Louis they crossed into Illinois and tramped over to Edwardsville, an uninviting little village at that time, but they found a castor oil press at work there, and a wool card- ing machine operated by oxen on the inclined treadmill principle. Next they visited Alton on the Mississippi River, and noted that a peniten- tiary was being built there, and also that "it expected to become the seat of government for the state." That is, the town of Alton, not the penitentiary. The town or city of Alton was, in fact, an applicant for the location of the state capital and three years later, when the vote upon the question of removal of the capital from Vandalia was before the legislature, Alton re- ceived sixteen votes as the place for the new seat of government. From Alton the wanderers turned their steps northward and walked up to Carrolton, but reached it on Sunday, and found the town exceedingly "dry." They concluded that the people were mostly Methodists and temperance people. The weather was extremely hot and they thought walking at night would be a relief from the day travel in the hot sun, so they started for Jacksonville at dark, or rather after supper time, as it was not dark owing to a bright shining moon. They had not gone far when they encountered a rattlesnake crossing the road. They had the courage to kill it, but this incident so frightened them that they aban- doned the night walk at the first house which offered them shelter. Through all their travels in the West they were struck with the pictur- esque scenery and great variety of landscape, and in Illinois especially they were attracted by the myriads of beautiful flowers growing in the pastures and fields and along the roadsides. They reached Jacksonville early the next morn- ing, but not being much pleased with its appear- ance did not remain long, but pushed on through the prairie towards Springfield. No comment whatever is made on Springfield by Mr. Cun- ningham in his notes of travel, but no won-
der, for it was then a sorry looking place, although it too had ambitions towards securing the seat of the state government, which were realized in 1837. The travelers had started for Peoria, but when they reached the Sangamon River, north of Springfield, they found no ferry, but Mr. Sheriff discovering a canoe on the oppo- site side, undertook to wade across after it. He soon found himself up to his arms in the water, and concluding that this was an excellent op- portunity to wash his trousers, continued on across and returned with the canoe to paddle Mr. Cunningham across. After getting across the Sangamon without being drowned, they took a bath and then again started northward. It was not long, however, until they were over- taken by a "return chaise" going to Chicago. They took passage, and the next day arrived at Peoria, which is described by Mr. Cunningham as "a very young but thriving place." There they discovered they had been for several days, and were yet, in a district infected with cholera. The driver of the chaise became very much frightened. Mr. Cunningham speaks of a phy- sician without giving his name, who had gained a great reputation for treating cholera, having lost only three cases out of thirty. While being delighted with the situation and beauty of scen- ery around Peoria, they did not deem it wise to remain, and soon resumed their journey towards Chicago. They were two days in reaching Ottawa, passing through prairies and barrens. From Ottawa to Chicago it seems they went nearly an easterly course a great portion of the way, as he says, "we were on the borders of the Grand prairie," but near Chicago they found it low and wet. Chicago was, at that time, but two years old, that is, there was a town organi- zation in 1832, but it was not incorporated as a city until 1837, so that Chicago as a city is only as old as Cass County. Mr. Cunningham did not know its age, but records a prophecy. He says: "Chicago is a considerable of a place and has arisen entirely in these few late years. It promises well."
Mr. Cunningham made many comments on the people, their habits, the appearance of the towns and the farm lands over which he and his com- panion passed, the apparent fertility of the dif- ferent soils, and the general prospects of the country for the future. He picked up some- where on his trip, probably at Springfield, Ill., a copy of the Sangamon Journal, from which he copies into his book the following which he
678
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
designates "a fragment from the Sangamon Journal."
"The people of Illinois have often been ac- ensed by those who have never visited the state, with exaggeration in describing its advantages. The inhabitants of New England can hardly be induced to believe that a farmer can make 500 bushels of corn with twelve days' work-that the labor required on an acre of wheat when ready for the sickle and which will produce. twenty to thirty-six bushels, will not exceed one day."
Mr. Cunningham spent the winter in Canada and northern New York, and the next summer, in company with his brother, George Cunning- ham, came back to Illinois. This time they came by way of Chicago, from whence they walked to Ottawa, and then, by riding in a stage coach when they conld, and by walking when they could not ride, they went on to Hennepin, where they took a steamboat on the Illinois River for Beardstown, at which place they landed on July 3, 1835. He says in passing down the river a great many eagles were seen hovering over the water and frequently they caught ducks; that they passed a place where evidently a tornado had swept throngh and across the river. "The trees were twisted and smashed like nettles struck down with a stick ; it had destroyed several houses and killed a woman and a child." Beardstown "presented a most desolate appearance in consequence of the cholera being at that time prevalent." The two strangers had to walk some distance ont of town before they conld indnce anyone to per- mit them to stay over night on account of their having come through the town infested with the cholera. On his first trip to Illinois Mr. Cun- ningham did not pass through any part of the territory comprising the present Cass Connty, but it appears that on his second trip he had a definite point in view, the home of John De Weber. and to that place, thirteen and one-half miles in an easterly direction from Beardstown, they made their way. Virginia had not yet been laid out. One small store building on the north side of the road, which is now East Springfield street ; and a story and a half dwell- ing house on the south side, opposite the store, which building is still standing and nsed as a residence, with a few others, constituted the place. The De Weber home was but a short distance east of Virginia. Mr. Cunningham and his brother George soon located suitable land
which they purchased from an earlier settler ; and that same year they also entered several tracts from the government in the same neigh- borhood, on section 6, township 17, range 9. They were not yet throngh, however, with their journeys afoot. It appears they left some of their baggage at Chicago to be shipped to them, bnt as it had not yet arrived late in the summer, they concluded to return to Chicago to look after it. Walking being the only means of travel, except when they conld catch an occasional stage coach, it made little difference to them which way they went, so taking the sensible course, they started in a direct line northeast for Chicago, where they arrived within a few weeks, only to find that their baggage had been sent on as directed. Retnrning to Cass County, the fntnre home and the tannery were soon erected, and there Mr. Cunningham spent the remainder of his life. He named his home "Allendale" in honor of his wife, whose maiden name was Allen; and for more than half a century it was known by that name, and the older inhabitants still speak of the Cunningham farm as Allendale. Mr. Cunningham was a man of exemplary habits, a good citizen, well liked by his neighbors. He had abundant faith in himself. and what is equally as well for snc- cess in life, he had faith in his fellow man. On one occasion when he was abont to make a trip to Cincinnati in the interest of his tannery, his neighbors requested him to purchase a grist mill and erect it upon his premises near the yard. He did so, and when the customers came for their grinding he told them to go to the mill and grind what they wished, and to leave the toll, as he did not have time to attend to it. Speaking of the matter long after the mill was in disnse, he said: "In all the years I owned the mill, only one man went away without leav- ing the toll. I never asked him for the pay." This incident exhibits a pleasing characteristic of the early settlers, for honesty and integrity. Mr. Cunningham spent fifty-nine years of his life in his tannery and on his farm where the yard was built. He died April 7, 1895, at his home, and was buried in the Robinson grave- vard about a mile east of his farm. At that time he was eighty-eight years three months and twenty days old, honored and respected by all who knew him. His son, James A. Cnnning- ham, who gave the description of the tannery incorporated in this article, was born on the farm near the tannery, and is still living there.
679
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
engaged in farming and stock raising, but the farm is greatly increased in acreage.
EARLY MANUFACTURES.
All kinds of necessary articles of farm ma- chinery, household goods, wearing apparel aud eveu the caskets for the dead, were manufac- tured in the early days in Cass County. The day ot trusts and combinations had not yet arrived to smother out the small factory, and hence, scattered over the county in the various villages and towns were to be found many fac- tories, most of them of very limited capacity, but some turning out large orders. At Beards- town, as early as 1848, Thomas Eyre had a large wagon shop. He was manufacturing wagons of all sorts used at that time, aud especially was he supplying the farmers with diamond plows. In 1849, when the gold fever prevailed, and many persons were preparing for an over- land trip, Mr. Eyre in a few weeks completed six wagons as a special order for those overland emigrants. He employed fourteen hands, and in the one season made and sold 200 of his diamond plows, as well as making many buggies aud carriages. Ou the west side of the "Old Court House Square" in Virginia, about the same time, Kenneth Conover had a chair fac- tory where he made chairs of all descriptions, commou and fancy, aud had a splendid trade throughout the surrounding country. Even steamboats and other vessels were built at Beardstown, when the river traffic was at its height. Captain Ebaugh had a boat yard, and Thomas Chalfant was his foreman. They con- structed the first steamboat built at Beards- town. It was named the Farragut.
PRINCETON WOOLEN MILLS.
Although most families had spinning wheels and many had hand looms in their houses that spun the yarn and thread, and wove the cloth out of which the family wearing apparel was made. yet, in a very early day a few carding machines, or woolen mills, found their way into the West. One suchi was brought to Old Prince- ton when that town was staked out in northern Morgan, or a little north of the present south line of Cass County. It was introduced by Harvey Beggs, a son of Captain Charles Beggs, previously mentioned, and Charles Brady, who, not being weavers or expert mechanics, needed
someone who could operate the affair. As there was no one in the West likely to be found suit- able for the position, they advertised in a Bos- ton (Mass.) newspaper for a foreman to operate the mill. This notice chanced to meet the eye of John E. Haskell, and after a short corre- spondeuce with Beggs and Brady, Mr. Haskell, then a young man twenty-two years of age, came from the far-away old Pine Tree state to the Illinois wilds and began work in the Princeton Woolen Mills. This was in the spring of 1835, and the following year he bought the interest of Mr. Beggs in the business, and returned to Maine to get the necessary money. He returned to Illinois in 1837, traveling all the long dis- tance ou a pony with a faithful Newfoundland dog as his only companion. When Mr. Has- kell got back he found a new county had beeu created out of the north eud of Morgan, but Princetou was still in the old couuty. He cou- tinued running the mill until 1840, when the towu of Virginia had become the county seat of the new county of Cass, and as it appeared to have a bright future, Mr. Haskell moved his machinery to Virginia. There he purchased of Dr. Hall, the proprietor of the uew town, lot 117, in the original towu, au unusually large lot, being 180 feet square. William Clifford's ice house now stands upon this lot. A two- story building 44 feet square and an ell, was erected on the lot in which the machinery was placed ; the upper floor was used for storage. The power used for propelling the machinery was a treadmill upon which oxen, cows or horses were placed to tramp on their never end- ing and never progressing journey, the most cruel and inhuman work ever demanded of ani- mals, as it was an uphill walk all the time, really an endless chain of heavy cleats upon which the animals walked. Such power went out of use long ago, like many other primitive methods, the genius of man in his inventions tending to alleviate the burden of labor of both man and beast.
Mr. Haskell was an energetic man, closely at- tentive to business, and in 1842 had saved of his, earnings enough to purchase the interest of Charles Brady in the mill, thus becoming its sole proprietor. He successfully conducted the business for many years, when. on account of newer and better methods coming into use, and being rapidly established in other nearby locali- ties, he finally abandoned the mill. As late as 1867, it stood as a wind-blown, decaying relic
680
HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
of a bygone age, when it was finally demolished and its old hardwood timbers used for other purposes. It was then that Mr. Haskell turned his attention to other business and was elected a justice of the peace for Virginia Precinct, which office he held for thirty years. His de- cisions were often unique, but generally con- ceded to be just and equitable. At thirty years of age he married Eliline Brady, the daughter of his former partner, and continued to reside at Virginia, where his family of seven children was born, four of these children dying in in- fancy. Charles I., the eldest of the three to grow to maturity, a former postmaster of Virginia, who was for several terms deputy sheriff of Cass County, was born in September, 1845, and still remains a resident of the county seat. John E. Haskell died at Virginia, Ill., September 30, 1876, aged sixty-four years and eight months.
A CHURCH ORGAN.
One article manufactured at Beardstown in a very early day is especially worthy of mention. In 1833 William H. Hemminghouse, a jeweler, came from the Province of Hanover, Germany, to Beardstown, in company with George and John Nolte, and John Pappmeyer, and Henry F. Kors. They all settled in Beardstown, and re- mained to help build up the new town. As most Germans who came to this country in that day, they were fairly well educated, and nearly all had learned some trade of handicraft. Mr. Hem- minghouse soon purchased a lot and erected a building whereon he established his jewelry shop. There was no such thing as an organ in any of the churches with which to lead the sing- ing. and the Germans being also of a religious turn of mind, had erected a church building and were doing their best to conduct public wor- ship in the way they had been taught in their own country. Mr. Hemminghouse conceived the idea of building an organ. His musical educa- tion and his genius and proficiency as a me- chanic enabled him to make a complete reed organ of which he constructed every constituent part himself. He, however. made a mistake in the material used for the bellows. He thought pigskin would be excellent material out of which to form the air generator, but when put to the test it was found to be entirely too porous. Substituting a bellows of calfskin, he had his organ ready for use, and, in fact, it was used for a number of years as the church organ of
the German church to which Mr. Hemminghouse belonged.
PORK PACKING AN EXTENSIVE EARLY INDUSTRY.
The most noted industries of Beardstown, and in fact of Cass County, were the extensive pork packing establishments. Prior to the era of railroads, when the rivers were the main chan- nels of the carrying trade, Beardstown had the largest pork trade of any western town, com- peting even with Cincinnati. From 40,000 to 75,000 hogs were slaughtered annually between the months of November and February. A num- ber of firms from the East established houses at Beardstown, among them being: Houston & Company of Cincinnati, Ohio; Gano, Thomas & Talbot and Colonel McKee, of Wheeling, W. Va .; and Sydam, Sage & Company, of New York City. Among the leading business firms of Beards- town in the earlier days may be mentioned the following: Nolte & McClure, S. M. Tinsley & Company, H. F. Foster, Horace Billings, D. Kreigh & Company, John McDonald, H. Chad- sey & Company, Knapp & Pogue, Bassett & Tay- lor, George Kuhl, Chase, Rich & Parker, George Valkmar & Company, E. J. Dutch & Bro., Thomp- son & Ames, J. W. Thompson & Company, and H. T. Foster & Company.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.