USA > Illinois > Cass County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Cass County, Volume II > Part 26
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APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS.
There are sixty-two rural districts in the county, two of them, the Lynn school in town- ship 19, range S, and the Bluff Springs school. Each has two rooms and employs two teachers ;
therefore there are sixty-four rural teachers an- nually employed in the county. In the villages and cities the number of teachers are as follows : Arenzville has four teachers, including the prin- cipal. Ashland has nine teachers, including the principal, and has, in addition, a teacher who superintends the musical department. Chandler- ville has a principal and five teachers. Beards- town has a superintendent besides thirty-tour teachers, eight assigned to the high school and twenty-six to the grades. Virginia has a super- intendent, four teachers in the high school, and eight in the grades, besides a director of the musical department. Teachers' institutes are held regularly each year during the vacation months, and teachers' meetings are held fre- quently during school terms.
SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS AND SUPERINTENDENTS.
Prior to the amendment to the school law, ap- proved February 16, 1865, relative to the election of a county superintendent for each county, an officer called a school commissioner was elected in each county, whose duties and prerogatives were very similar to that of the county superin- tendent in that act provided tor. The persons holding the offices mentioned in this county since its organization have been as follows: School commissioners-Richard S. Thomas, John B. Shaw, Frank Holenger, and James K. Vande- mark. The county superintendents of schools have been as follows: James K. Vandemark, the late Dr. Harvey Tate, of Virginia ; John Gore, Allen J. Hill, who served from 1877 to 1SS2; Andrew L. Anderson, 1SS2-1SS6; Charles A. Schaeffer two terms to 1894; John G. Pearn, 1894-1898; Albert E. Hinnes, 1898-1906; Henry Jacobs, 1906-1914 ; and Walter E. Buck, who was elected in 1914 for a term of four years without any opposition on any ticket.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHURCHES.
CHURCH ORGANIZATION AND RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES- CHARACTER OF RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT IN EARLY TIMES-FIRST SERVICES HELD IN CABINS OF PI-
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ONEERS-GROVES UTILIZED AS SUMMER CHURCHES -CAMP MEETINGS ENJOYED-FIRST PREACHERS IN CASS COUNTY-REV. REDDICK HORN ACTIVE VERY EARLY-VARIOUS DENOMINATIONS ESTABLISHED PROTESTANT METHODIST-METHODIST EPISCOPAL - REV. PETER CARTWRIGIIT - FIRST RESIDENT PREACHER - GERMAN EVANGELICAL - CONGREG.1- TIONAL - BAPTIST - LUTHERAN - CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC-CHRISTIAN OR DISCIPLES-ABANDONED CHURCHES-WITCHCRAFT IN CASS COUNTY-A DEBT OF GRATITUDE OWED TO THE EARLY PREACHERS.
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
The early settlers of Cass County came from so many different parts of the United States and of European countries, that it was but natural that there should be equally as great a variety of religions opinions and views. When Eli Cox came into the eastern part of the county, and when Thomas Beard located at the Mound vil- lage of the Indians on the Illinois River, there was no organized religious society anywhere north of Jacksonville, nor was it certain that there was any such society even at Jacksonville, for that place was then but the merest straggling village, and was not even laid out as a town until several years later. It is true that the French priests had passed up and down the Illinois River for a number of years before that period, and had established missions among the Indians, but even these missions had been abandoned and the natives had relapsed into a renewed state of barbarism not at all in keeping with the teach- ings of the kindly disposed priests. So the re- ligion of Cass County, prior to 1835, may be said to have been that of the faith of each con- tingent of emigrants, which they had imbibed from their ancestors, and brought with them over the long, rough roads, through the forests and unbroken prairies, or across the wide sea from England, Ireland, Germany and other countries which all sent many excellent men and women to blaze the trail of civilization. Whatever de- gree, however, or variety of religion each com- munity or individnal had, it was mostly con- sidered orthodox, and little attention was paid to the distinctions between denominations. There were no church buildings for several years after the white settlers began to arrive. As a matter of course people who had any religious sentiment at all, wanted their children educated to some degree at least, and so schoolhouses were erected
as the first public buildings, and these, such as they were, were thrown open by the people for the purpose of holding religious services in them. The dwellings of the settlers were also opened to the itinerant preachers whenever they came along, and any and all people were welcome at the meetings. In the summers the meetings were often held out of doors, under the magnificent forest trees, and as the country increased in population, and preachers became more numer- ous, regular meetings, which were called camp meetings, were held in the groves and in the timber. People would come from points many miles distant to attend these camp meetings, and a great religious revival would ensue. Perhaps the most noted camp meeting grounds were those near the farm of William Holmes, east and north of the Cunningham tan-yard, about six miles in an easterly direction from Virginia. As time worked changes for the betterment of conditions, the people in the settlements built houses of worship, all sects usually uniting for this pnr- pose. The first church buildings were of logs, covered with clapboards, but after the sawmills began to make their appearance, and the trees were converted into excellent Inmber, very sub- stantial structures were erected. Most of these old buildings have disappeared, and the congre- gations that once so loyally supported the preach- ing services, have long years slept in the little graveyards that were to be found in close prox- imity to the church.
FIRST PREACHERS.
The first itinerant preachers in Cass County, and some of the first to permanently locate here, were Protestant Methodists, although the Meth- odist Episcopals, the Baptists, Presbyterians and Cumberland Presbyterians, and some of the Christians or Disciples, came at a very early day. The source of information concerning early preachers, and of the early churches and re- ligious organizations, is so meagre, and of such traditional character that little that could be regarded as authentic, can be said. Rev. Red- dick Horn was certainly in the county in a very early day, and taking an active part in stirring up the sinners. and was chaplain on the staff of Governor Reynolds in the Black Hawk cam- paign, when the soldiers rendezvoused at Beards- town. It is said he was very erratic and dis- pntations, and the records show that he was sued several times in the first few terms of the Cass
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County court, and he in turn sued a number of delinquents. He served one term as circuit clerk for the county. The records also reveal the fact that he engaged in business transactions, and bought and sold real estate, purchasing some of the first town lots sold at Beardstown and Vir- ginia ; took an interest in politics; was an un- compromising Whig, and withal, preached wher- ever and whenever he had an opportunity. In 1832 he preached in the schoolhouse at Beards- town, erected by Francis A. Arenz and Thomas Beard, and also in the courthouse at Virginia, built by Dr. Hall in 1838, under contract with the county. On one occasion, Judge Dummer, at Beardstown, announced that on the next Sab- bath, the president of the Protestant Methodist church would preach. A large congregation gathered, among them being N. B. Thompson, then circuit clerk, a man of great dignity, always scrupulously dressed in the latest fashion. He invariably wore a high silk hat, commonly called a "plug." When the hour for preaching arrived, to the disappointment of those assembled to hear the stranger, in walked Reddick Horn. Mr. Thompson was a Democrat, and disliked the Whigs cordially, and Mr. Horn especially. While the preacher was a good, Christian gentleman, it was said he "would walk a long distance to hate a Democrat." In order to make his dislike and disgust more noticeable, Mr. Thompson waited until Mr. Horn arose to read the scriptures, when, placing his "plug" hat on his head, he walked down the aisle and out the door. The reverend gentleman, however, met the emergency with the ready wit of the early backwoods preacher, and while the distinguised Mr. Thomp- son was nearing the door, Mr. Horn quoted in a loud, distinct voice : "The wicked flee when no man pursueth," and then expounded the doctrines of the scriptures as he understood them, for an hour or more, without any further notice of the incident.
PROTESTANT METHODIST CHURCHES.
The Protestant Methodists built the first church at Virginia. It was located on one of the lots designated on Dr. Hall's plat of the place, as a church lot, and stood on the present site of the Goodell-Skiles lumber yards. Another early comer ot that denomination was the Rev. Wil- liam H. Collins, who was born in Sligo, Ireland, November 21, 1795. His parents emigrated from Ireland in 1796, and took a goat with them on
board the vessel so that little William might be sure of having milk. The family lived in Mary- land for a time after their arrival in this coun- try, but later went to the state of Virginia, and from there to Ohio, where William married Miss Rebecca Brinkerhoff, April 18, 1825. He left working as a saddler to become a Protestant Methodist minister, and after preaching in vari- ous places in Ohio, came to Illinois about 1834, evidence of this being found in an advertisement in the Beardstown Chronicle, published by Fran- cis A. Arenz in that year. It has been frequently suggested that the expression "preaching at early candlelight" was the invention of some irreverent vaudeville stage performer, but not so. Here is the expression in the following adver- tisement or announcement : .
"The Reverend Wm. H. Collins from Ohio, of the Methodist Protestant Church, will preach in Jacksonville, on Thursday night, the 20th inst. at early candle lighting, and on Friday night at New Lexington, and on Saturday and Sunday 22 & 23, at Wm. Babbs, and on Thursday 27th at Beardstown in the new schoolhouse." The date of the paper is March 15, 1834. Mr. Collins was a fearless preacher, and a man personally of the highest integrity. Although not possessing much means, he was frugal and saving, and acquired a comfortable home for his family according to the standards of those times. During his resi- dence at Beardstown, he owned his own house, and when he went to Virginia, he built a resi- dence on the east side of Main street, now ad- joining the livery barn property, a half a block south from the public square at Virginia. The house is yet standing, and in fair condition, being still used as a residence.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.
The Methodist Episcopal church, established at Beardstown about 1836, had sent representa- tives to preach much earlier. A church building was erected in 1848, at the corner of Fifth and State streets, and an addition was made to it in 1874. The old buildings were torn away in 1SS9, and a splendid, commodious, up-to-date church erected, with Sunday school rooms, parlors and all modern conveniences. It also has a fine pipe organ. The church has a large membership, a well organized Sunday school that is attended by the older members as well as the children. It has never been without a pastor since its or- ganization.
10
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
REV. PETER CARTWRIGHT.
On October 12, 1853, the Illinois Conference was held at Beardstown, the Rev. Bishop Scott presiding. At that conference, the Old Quincy district, which included Beardstown and Vir- ginia stations, was changed, and the Pleasant Plains district formed. Rev. Peter Cartwright was appointed its presiding elder. This new dis- trict was composed of the following appoint- ments : Beardstown station, Meredosia circuit, Havana, Jacksonville circuit, Sangamon, Virginia and Island Grove. Elder Cartwright had been a presiding elder of several districts prior to his appointment to the Pleasant Plains district, in both Kentucky and Illinois. It may be interest- ing to the present elders, or superintendents as they are now called, to hear what Elder Cart- wright said of the early districts. Writing of them some years later, and referring to the Old Quincy district, he said :
"In 1851, my four years having expired on the Springfield district, I was appointed to the Quincy district, where I had traveled fifteen years before; then my district extended from the mouth of the Illinois River to Galena, and, indeed, as far north as was inhabited by the whites; and yet further still, into the Indian country, where I superintended the mission among the Pottawatomies. My district was then between four and five hundred miles from north to south, and I suppose I would average one hundred miles from east to west. I thoughit then the district was a small one, for when I was first appointed to a district in the Illinois Con- ference in the fall of 1826, my district com- menced at the mouth of the Ohio River, and ex- tended north hundreds of miles, and was not limited by the white settlements, but extended among the great unbroken tribes of uncivilized and unchristianized Indians." Most of the pre- siding elders, and nearly all the itinerent preach- ers of every denomination of that early day, had the sanie experience. They traveled their cir- cuits, whether large or small, on horseback, through pathless timber, with a broken road only now and then; through the wide stretches of prairie, following a narrow path where the tall grass waved above them and their horses; over streams that were not bridged, oftentimes crossing on fallen trees, leading the faitliful horses through the water beside them. Some- times the horses would swim the deeper streams, carrying their riders over in safety. These
preachers slept out of doors, with their saddles for pillows, and the saddle blankets for covering. They found no well-heated, well-lighted, com- fortable church buildings in which to preach at the end of their journey, but more frequently delivered their religious message in some set- tler's cabin ; and later in the log schoolhouses that began to multiply as the country increased in population.
Rev. Peter Cartwright was a unique figure in those early days, and gained great fame and notoriety throughout Illinois, and, indeed, in the whole jurisdiction of the Methodist church, as an eccentric backwoods preacher of great per- sonal power and force of character. He, too, en- gaged in politics and was elected to the Illinois General Assembly, but when he came to try for a place in the national Congress against Abraham Lincoln, he was unsuccessful, although many Whigs who otherwise would have voted for Mr. Lincoln, could not resist the opportunity to vote for their long-time friend and spiritual adviser. Peter Cartwright was born September 1, 1785, in Amherst County, on the James River, Va. His father was an American soldier in the Revolu- tionary war. In 1790, the elder Cartwright moved to Kentucky with his family, and there Peter Cartwright was sent to school where he learned to read and write, and cipher a little. When about sixteen years of age, he was con- verted to religion, and soon began to ride a cir- cuit as an itinerant preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church. He remained in Kentucky preaching and filling the office of presiding elder until 1823, when slavery, which surrounded him on all sides, became so obnoxious to him, he de- cided to emigrate to Illinois, hoping not only to get away from undesirable conditions, but also to better the prospects of his growing family. Accordingly, in 1823, with two companions, he set out on horseback for the beautiful land of the Illini. They crossed the Ohio River iuto Indiana ; went up the east side of the Wabash River towards Vincennes, and crossed into Illi- nois; followed the valley of the Wabash up to the grand prairie and across that to Fort Clark on Lake Peoria, where they crossed the Illinois River, and soon emerged from the bluff coun- try into the military tract. Making an investi- gation of the prairies and rolling uplands of that part of Illinois, they made their way south and back again to the Illinois River to the Mound village, which, at that time, says Mr. Cartwright writing of the journey years later, comprised
Sarah - a. Genom
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
but one white family and one cabin, beside In- dian tepees. From this place they traveled up the Sangamon River valley, then across in a southerly direction until they reached Richland Creek, in Sangamon County. Finding a tract of land with a double log cabin in fair condition, which suited him pretty well, Mr. Cartwright purchased it, and arranged to have it looked after until his return. Following a short stay, the little party started back for Kentucky, pass- ing through the squalid little muddy village of Springfield. In the fall of 1824, Mr. Cartwright returned to Illinois with his family, and settled on the land he had purchased, and which he re- tained as his home the remainder of his busy, active life. The farm home of Rev. Cartwright was near to and a little north of Pleasant Plains, in Sangamon County, and there the most famous itinerant preacher of Illinois died, September 25, 1872.
FIRST RESIDENT PREACHER.
Rev. Levi Springer was another early itinerant preacher in central Illinois, and was really the first resident minister of the Methodist Episco- pal church in Cass County. Levi Springer was born near Springfield, Ky., January 22, 1797. He came to Cass County in 1826, and July 11, 1827, he purchased of the Rev. Reddick Horn, a part of section 12, township 17, range 10, which Mr. Horn had entered from the government in 1826. In 1830, Mr. Springer entered eighty acres of land in the same section, and in 1835, 120 acres more, the balance of the section having been entered by Archibald Job, and Rev. Horn. On his land Mr. Springer built a cabin, a little north of the state road, which then ran near his premises on its way from Springfield to Beardstown, There was then no town of Vir- ginia. A few years later the cabin burned, and Mr. Springer built a new frame house a little further to the west. It was built of lumber sawed from logs cut in the woods nearby, and most of the lumber, including the weather board- ing, is of walnut. The house still stands in excellent condition, and is occupied as a resi- dence by the only child of Rev. Springer, John S. Springer, who operates the old home farm. Mr. Springer had a large circuit over which to ride to his appointments and he officiated at the funeral of many early settlers at quite a distance from his home. He preached the funeral sermon of Dr. Ephraim Rew (the first
physician of Beardstown and of the west end of the county ) near Bluff Springs, May 24, 1842. His first wife, Elizabeth Short, died February 19, 1851. He afterwards married Elizabeth Freeman, a daughter of Silas Freeman, an early settler in the vicinity of Virginia. Some time prior to his death, Mr. Springer left the min- istry, and devoted his attention to farming. When he died, November 13, 1871, he left an excellent farm for his wife and son, it being the land he had entered from the government. Rev. Springer is buried in the family graveyard on the southeastern part of the farm.
From the time Rev. Peter Akers, D. D., took charge of the mission station at Beardstown, in 1836, the Methodist Episcopal church increased in Cass County, and charges were established at a number of points. Virginia charge was established in 1851. Services were held in the public schoolhouse, on the old west public square, which had been built and used for the first courthouse in the county. In 1855 the first Methodist Episcopal church building was erected in Virginia, on lots 58 and 59 of the original town, on the north side of west Springfield street, one block west of the courthouse square. It was a frame building, about 30 x 50 feet, of oblong shape, and fronted south. It had a wide, double-door entrance, and a square bell tower above the front. The sawed timbers used in its construction were hauled in the fall of 1854, by teams from the steam sawmill on Mauvisterre Creek, a few miles north of Jacksonville. Rev. Peter Cartwright preached the dedicatory ser- mon. The first pastor of the station was Rev. William Owen, in 1851, and the charge has been regularly supplied by the conference every year since. The old building served the congregation for forty years, but on July 25, 1895, the corner- stone of a new building was laid, and the edifice was dedicated on January 26, 1896, and stands on lots 83 and 84 of the original town, on the north side of State street, one-half block east of the courthouse square. It is a substantial brick building of gothic style of architecture, with a large main audience room, and Sunday school room to the side which may be thrown open with the main room. It has parlor and reading rooms on the second floor, is supplied with all modern conveniences, is beautifully finished and decorated, steam heated and elec- tric-lighted. On November 11, 1911, it was almost totally destroyed by the terrible cyclone which is elsewhere described, but was immedi-
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
ately rebuilt and restored without a change in design. The church has a splendid pipe organ, an excellent Sunday school largely attended, and supports aid societies organized according to modern ideas, so that the church organization is kept in the foremost rank of religious activ- ities.
At Chandlerville, a number of the Methodist faith were preached to in private houses until about 1850, when a regular pastor was secured for the charge, and the Congregational church building rented for service. In 1852 a frame building was erected on a lot donated by Dr. Chandler, and the society has been kept up ever since. The remodeled church is a conven- ient place of worship, and the members of the congregation are prosperous.
The Methodist Episcopal church at Ashland was organized in 1857, using the Mitchell school- house, southwest of the village, for meeting pur- poses for some time. In 1861 it was reorgan- ized, and meetings were held in vacant store buildings, and later in the village schoolhouse. A substantial frame building was erected in 1870, and the congregation increased and pros- pered, and having outgrown the old building, a splendid new brick building of modern stlye and convenience was erected in 1911, on the same site. Walter S. Rearick, who has been president of the county Sunday school association for a number of years, has been superintendent of the Sunday school of this church, and one of the most energetic and active members of the Ashland congregation for over twenty years.
Arenzville has a fine congregation of active and energetic members who erected a handsome new building in 1905, where they have regular services weekly, and a progressive Sunday school.
There were a number of Methodist charges established in the rural parts of the county, some in a very early day, and others later on. Quite a number of them have been disbanded, and the church property reverted to the donors, or was sold and taken to other districts. There are yet churches at Monroe, Garner Chapel. Bluff Springs. Griggs Chapel, Richmond and Zion in Princeton Precinct. The Centenary Church, near the home of John Beggs, north and west of Aslı- land, was built and named in honor of the hun- dredth anniversary of the Methodist Episcopal church in America. It is in an excellent com- munity. and is well supported.
GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCHES.
The first church building to be erected at Beardstown was placed on the corner of Fifth and Washington streets and designated the Ger- man Evangelical church. The building was com- pleted late in 1841, and served the purpose of the German Evangelical congregation until a change in the organization of the society itself was made in 1845, when the name was changed to the German Methodist church. At least a large portion of the former congregation adopted that name, and although the Evangelical church con- tinued in existence for a time, it disintegrated and the building was sold to H. T. Foster, who turned it into a dwelling. The other branch, known as the German Methodist, continued to exist for a number of years.
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES.
The second church edifice at Beardstown was built at the corner of Third and Washington streets, in 1845. by the Presbyterians, but in February, 1850, the organization became a Con- gregational church, and is known as the First Congregational Church of Beardstown. This church includes within its fold many of the best citizens of Beardstown, and the surrounding country. In 1909 the old brick building that had stood as a landmark on the public corner for so long a time, was torn away, and a new, up-to-date building was commenced. This was completed and dedicated in 1912. It is a hand- some structure and so built and apportioned as to meet the requirements of the prosperous con- gregation and the excellent Sunday school.
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