USA > Illinois > Christian County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Christian County, Volume II > Part 2
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 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
will be made in the ensuing pages to matters which are only related to this county in an indirect way.
EARLIEST CONDITIONS.
For many years after settlement was made along the Atlantic coast, nothing was done in the way of exploration of the land lying to the west. There was no necessity to investi- gate for there was plenty of room in the small strip already explored, for the few venturesome souls who braved the dangers of the new world in order to gain freedom of thought and speech, and the right to worship according to their con- science. Then, too, trips into the interior were wearisome, owing to absolute lack of transpor- tation facilities, and extremely hazardous, owing to the likelihood of attack from the unfriendly Indians who lurked in the depths of the mighty, untracked forests. Thus it was that Pilgrim Fathers rounded out their days, and their chil- dren after them, without any knowledge of the vast empire that lay close to their hand, an empire which in extent and richness of natural resources far outdistanced any in the old world from whence they had come. It is possible, however, that in thus remaining passive with re- gard to making discoveries, they were fol- lowing out some destiny and reserving for later generations an outlet for their dissatisfaction with old conditions, as they themselves had rebelled before coming to America.
FIRST EXPLORERS.
While the settlers along the Atlantic coast were content to confine themselves to their strip of country, French explorers had traversed the Mississippi River, and the Catholic missionaries Marquette and Joliet had carried knowledge of the white man's faith among the Indians along that mighty stream, even going so far as to establish missions at infrequent intervals. The
1
623
624
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
one that especially interests Christian County people is that which was founded at Kaskaskia by Father Marquette in 1673, in a little Indian village, for it was the first permanent mark the white man made upon what was to become the state of Illinois. Encouraged by the success of his associates, in 1679, Father La Salle built Fort Crevecoeur on the Illinois River, near Lake Peoria, and the next year founded a colony at that point. These settlements, however, were nothing more than religious oases in the desert of Indian superstition, and grew very slowly so that the French did but little to colonize the vast territory opened up by the Jesuit fathers. The interest of the French in this part of the country was religious rather than political, and it is possible that had the rich Mississippi Valley continued under the domain of this people, it would today be but a struggling dependency of the French government.
SPIRIT OF LIBERTY.
While these Illinois missions thus established were practically standing still with regard to development, mighty changes were taking place along the Atlantic seaboard. The same spirit that had caused the founders of the American colonies to lay a sound superstructure, led them first to give hearty assistance to the mother country when she made war against France, and later to demand that due recognition be given them in their own government. The conflict between England and France, assisted as the two countries were by their colonies in the new world, is interesting because of the acquisi- tion in 1763 by England from France of all of the possessions of the latter country east of the Mississippi, which naturally included these French missions in Illinois. In 1778, an armed American force under George Rogers Clark seized Kaskaskia and obtained from its settlers the oath of allegiance to the state of Virginia. A new flag was raised above the little village, which had once been Indian, later French, then English and was now American.
PART OF VIRGINIA.
With a supreme indifference to distance, and what now appears utter ignorance of conditions, those in authority decided that Illinois and much surrounding territory was a part of Vir- ginia, and it so continued until 1783, when Vir-
ginia was induced to cede her interests to the government. The flag which kissed the Illinois breezes then still rises and falls in the breeze, although the development of the country has caused some changes in it during the succeeding one hundred and thirty-four years. With the founding of the new government, came an appreciation of the fact that no territory can be properly governed when so far away from the seat of that government, and measures were taken to give to the vast lands east of the Mississippi proper representation, first in 1787, as a part of the great Northwest Territory, and later in 1809, as the territory of Illinois.
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
Attention had been called to the desirability of the Northwest Territory by George Rogers Clark, who led the patriot army on the frontier during the Revolutionary War, campaigning against the British in Illinois and other parts of the then western country. His expedition resulted in the acquisition of this territory from the British as it is likely that had he not investi- gated and reported favorably concerning it, the government might not have included it in its demands against the conquered enemy.
FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
The first governor of the territory of the Northwest was Arthur St. Clair, who received his appointment from Congress in 1788, and was later re-appointed by President Washington. In 1790 he organized what was called the County of St. Clair which included practically all of the present state of Illinois, but a year later division was made of this territory into two counties, the western part being called St. Clair County, and the eastern part Knox County, the division line being the junction of the Little Mackinaw with the Illinois River in what is now Tazewell County, so that the eastern portion of Christian County was at one time a part of Knox County, and the western portion a part of St. Clair County. In 1795 St. Clair County was divided into two counties by a line running due east and west. The northern part was called St. Clair County with Cahokia as the county seat, while the southern part was called Randolph County with Kaskaskia as the county seat.
ITuse !! Publishing Company
Enqa by Campbell Brothers NY
B Abell
625
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
INDIANA TERRITORY.
In 1800 Congress divided the Northwest Ter- ritory into two parts, the western part being known as the Indiana Territory. This territory consisted of the present states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. The capi- tal was located at Vincennes and the governor was William Henry Harrison. As soon as Indiana Territory was created, the people of Illinois began to agitate a further division of the territory. They argued that they had to travel 180 miles through dangerous and uninhab- ited country to reach Vincennes, the seat of gov- ernment. They thought also that if they could get a separate territorial government, they could solve many of the problems peculiar to Illinois people better than the legislature as it was then composed. In 1SOS they succeeded in electing Jesse B. Thomas as a delegate to Congress upon his promise to secure the desired division. This promise was fulfilled when Congress in 1809 separated Indiana Territory into the two terri- tories of Indiana and Illinois.
FIRST GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS TERRITORY.
Ninian Edwards was the first governor of Illinois Territory, serving from 1809 to 181S, and he later was honored by election to the guberna- torial chair of the state of Illinois in 1826, serving until 1830. Under his administration as governor of the territory, another division was made in 1812, so that Madison County embraced all of the region lying north of what is now the northern line of St. Clair County, and extending to the Wabash River, the other counties being St. Clair County, Randolph County, Gallatin County and Johnson County. The foregoing shows that Christian County has formed a part of the following counties: from 1778 to 1783, as a part of Illinois County as created by act of Virginia legislature, following the George Rogers Clark conquest; from 1783 to 1795 as Knox County ; from 1795 to 1812 as St. Clair County ; 1815 to 1816 as Edwards County ; from 1816 to 1821 as Crawford County; from 1821 to 1839 as Fayette County ; and from 1839 to 1840 it was known as Dane County. In 1840 the name was changed from that of Dane to the present one of Christian County. This instance of the changing of the name of a new county almost immediately after its creation is very unusual,
and the reasons governing such action will be given in their proper place.
FIRST GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS.
With the creation of Illinois as an independent state in 1818 came the third man associated in its executive government, Shadrach Bond, who served as governor from 1818 to 1822. By this time the new state government was firmly established, with its capital at the little old vil- lage of Kaskaskia which had been chosen as the appropriate seat of government from its age, but with the definite bounds of the new state settled, a more central position was demanded, and in 1819 the capital was moved to Vandalia where it remained until 1839 when removal was made to the present site at Springfield. It is interesting to note in connection with Kaskas- kia that the first elective franchise of Illinois was exercised at Kaskaskia in 1778. In 1804 the United States government opened a land office here, and for years it was a very important commercial center. Today it is a beautifully located little city, whose chief distinction is its historical memories.
PIONEERS OF ILLINOIS.
.
Venturesome travelers, journeying on horse- back, came to the new state, and many remained while others going back to their more eastern homes, returned later to secure some of the land which offered such opportunities for those who felt a need of a wider field than that afforded by the more closely settled east. Some who opened up farms and found conditions bet- tering, either went back home, or wrote to rela- tives, who joined them, and slowly, but surely the state began to have some of the best of permanent settlers. As soon as certain sec- tions acquired the necessary population, a move- ment was set on foot to create a new county so that these people could enjoy the privileges of home government, the state being ready and willing to respond to any demands made in the right direction, and so in 1839 Christian County passed out of general history, and began to make individual records. With the creation of the new county. ends the chapter upon the events which led to such action, and enables the his- torian to enter upon another phase which affects more closely the welfare of the people of this region.
626
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
CHAPTER II.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION - NATURAL DRAINAGE - GEOLOGY AND SOILS-REASONS FOR PREFERRED SECTIONS-DRAINAGE DISTRICTS-LAKE FORK DISTRICT-GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIMENTS-DREDGE BOAT DITCHES-TILING-FAUNA-FLORA.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION.
Christian County lies almost in the geographi- cal center of Illinois, and is admirably adapted for agricultural purposes both by reason of the fertility of its soil and its climatic conditions. In addition, however, to the valuable farm lands, it has some equally valuable coal fields, and the industry of its people has developed some important manufacturing interests. The soils of Christian County are the result of the drifts brought by the ice from the northwest; the one predominating is a fertile black rich and deep layer particularly in the western and northern portions of the county. In the eastern part, and running in a southeastern direction there is found a soil less fertile, and of less depth.
The county consists mainly of prairie, the timbered lands being confined to a narrow strip along the streams. This belt formerly varied in width from one to three miles, but in late years much of it has been cleared and converted into farm lands. Badger's Mound near Rose- mond, is the highest point in Christian County, being 750 feet above the level of the sea, while the lowest point is in the northwestern part along the Sangamon River and is 530 feet above the sea level. West Blue Mound is nearly as high as Badger's Mound, and is located in the northeastern part of the county. This mound is composed mainly of gravel and sand, which has been, in recent years, excavated and hauled away as ballast, by the Wabash Railroad, a spur track and steam shovel operating the same, and reducing its height by about eighty feet. The county is gently rolling in character, interspersed with large flat areas, and in the early days had much swamp land, with considerable timber, especially along the water courses.
NATURAL DRAINAGE.
Mosquito Creek, which enters Christian County about four miles to the north of the West Blue Mound, runs in a westerly and northwesterly direction to the North Fork of the Sangamon River of which it is a tributary. The North Fork forms the northern boundary of Christian County, while the South Fork of this same river rises in the neighborhood of Rosemond, its tribu- taries passing on either side of Badger's Mound, and uniting with several smaller tributaries, among them being Flat Branch, Locust Creek, and Bear Creek. After the junction with the latter streams, the South Fork runs northerly and northwesterly to the North Fork, uniting therewith and forming the Sangamon River proper. There is a ridge of sandy and gravelly soil which starts a little southwest of Taylor- ville, and runs northeasterly up to and beyond Stonington to Boody, and this forms the water- shed of this portion of Christian County. There is another ridge of a similar character which rises between Mosquito Creek and the North Fork, passing through Mt. Auburn at an eleva- tion of about fifty feet above the surrounding country. These comprise what are technically known as morainic ridges, and mark various stages of the advance of the later ice-sheets dur- ing the era of glaciation.
GEOLOGY AND SOILS.
The editor is much indebted to Jas. W. Dap- pert, civil engineer, of Taylorville, for the fol- lowing excellent article on the geology and soils of Christian County.
The formation of soils is an interesting study, and as the fertility of a soil depends largely upon its manner of formation, it is a subject well worthy of study and investigation. The whole of Christian County is within what is technically known as the glaciated area. At least two, and possibly more, stages of glaciation took place, over the county, leaving a mantle of drift and debris from fifty to one hundred feet or more in thickness.
By reason of changes in climatic conditions, this country was once much colder than at pres- ent. There is every reason to believe that it was also once much warmer than now. When the climate became cold, the conditions were then much the same as they now are in the glacial regions of Alaska, or those of the Alps
627
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
and other large mountain ranges of both hemi- spheres. There is no doubt but that a slowly moving field of ice from 500 to 1,600 feet in depth came down from the Hudson Bay regions and covered this and adjoining counties com- pletely. This mass of moving ice, in places, scooped up the soil in its advance and accumu- lated a large amount of debris, soil and bowlders along its front and over its surface just in the same manner as the glaciers of Alaska are doing today. Occupying in time many hundreds of years, the soil accumulated over the surface of the glaciers in sufficient volume to support vegetation, and even forests of considerable mag- nitude grew in the soils covering the ice sheet. Sometimes when for a few years the seasons became warmer, the ice would melt as rapidly as it was pushed forward, thus halting the actual advance of the glacier, and by melting, the accumulated debris and earth was allowed to drop, thus forming a ridge or mound, accord- ing to whether the debris and earth had been spread out and distributed over the glacier, or had been left in heaps while in transit. Ex- amples of this sort of hill formations are Blue Mound, Mount Auburn Hill, Sand Ridge one and one-half miles northwest of Grove City, Pope's Hill between Pana and Millersville, Sibley Hill nearby, Badger's Mound two miles west of Rosemond, and a number of smaller mounds and hills throughout the county. The less pronounced and rather low ridges, fre- quently joining the higher mounds and forming a watershed or divide in the land, are also a result of the halting for some time of the forward movement of the glacier. These are known as moraines or morainic ridges. Some of these which were left by the earlier ice formations have been passed over and flattened out by a later glacier or by a later advance of the same glacier. At some particular point in its forward movement, the glacier halted, due to the fact that its front was melting as rapidly as the ice and snow in its rear could feed it. At other times the front of the glacier even retrogressed for a considerable time, and after a few years or a few hundred years, when the climate again became colder, the accumulation of ice to its rear caused it to move forward again. That there have been several such advances and retrogressions is proven by the complex system of moraines and by the animal and vegetable fanna left with its deposits.
Between such retrogressions and future ad-
vances, sufficient time has clapsed, in places, to produce a vegetable mold and top soil several fect in thickness, which may be encountered in many localities, and especially in the low flat prairie lands that were formerly swamps. A layer of black soil one or two feet thick, or more, and produced by vegetable growth and decay is frequently found in the construction of tile drains, at a depth of from three to eight feet. The black soil is technically called the "weathered" zone, and has been formed during the period between times when glaciers have passed over it, having been covered by the later stage of glaciation. The length of time required for the formation of a layer one or two feet of black surface soil, upon land not in timber, would probably be several hundred or a thou- sand years or more which gives some idea of the duration of even one short period of the glacial epoch.
The finding of well preserved pieces of wood, logs and animal remains, at depths of from ten to cighty feet, in wells dug in all parts of the county, proves that there has been a great force in operation, at some time within compar- atively recent geological history. Similar things are now happening in the glacier regions of Alaska and the Alps mountains of Europe, and elsewhere, which point out the manner in which our own soils have been formed, and indeed, no other explanation can be found to account for the various phenomena observed. That these soils were formed by glaciation as the main method is further proved by the striae or scratches produced upon bowlders and pebbles, where one pebble or bowlder, under a weight of the ice mass above it passes over another, leav- ing its marks upon the surface. In excavations made upon the Chicago Drainage Canal at the top of the limestone were found many such striae or markings, and in a number of instances, the pebbles in the base of the glacial drift, were found midway of the base of the canal, at the end of the grooves which they had formed.
As the heavy mass of ice moved along it crushed and ground the pebbles into an impal- pably fine powder, and some of this powder was carried along ahead of the glacier by water which came from the melting ice, and was thus spread out over the low lands, and in some in- stances was later plowed up again by the glacier in its advance, and mixed with the mass of ice or held upon its top surface, to be later redepos- ited as soil. Also, during the glacial epoch, and
628
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
its various stages, many old water courses were filled up, and their direction of flow re- versed, either temporarily or permanently, some- times leaving their flow, inverted, and dams of earth and debris caused large areas to become inland lakes, which stood under water, in some cases many hundreds or even thousands of years. It is believed that most all of the prairie lands of this county, during the glacial epoch, were covered in most places, with a shallow sheet of water, that the glaciers having brought down and produced their deposits of sand, gravel, lowlders and clay, spread the same out over the surface of the land, rather uniformly, and the melting ice produced a sheet of water, mostly shallow, but held in place because their drainage courses were stopped up by ice and debris left from the ice, and during the recession of the ice sheet, when the climate became warmer, a pro- fuse amount of vegetation, mostly grasses. flags and moss, grew in the shallow water, fell down and decayed as it froze during winters, and grew again profusely during summers, until a black peaty vegetable mold from two to four feet in thickness was accumulated. This theory is perfectly rational and accords well with what we see now going on in the marsh areas of northern Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana. Assuming that only one-eighth inch of compacted soil was formed each year by the decaying vegetation in this manner, it would then only require 2SS years to produce a layer three feet in thickness, and we must concede that in world building, two or three centuries, or a few thousand years for that matter, "are only as a day," in the eyes of the great Creator and Builder.
As the fertility of the soil depends greatly upon its method of origin, we can now return to the subject of fertility of Christian County soils briefly. Most parts of the county have in the main, a soil known as black silt loam, or a brown silt loam, the two types being sim- ilar. and composed of mixtures of clay, silt and decomposed organic matter. The river and creek bottom lands are usually composed of an alluvial loam, underlaid with clay sub-soil, only small areas being of a sandy character. The mounds and ridges are usually composed of a thinner stratum of loam soil upon the surface, underlaid with a deep bed of gravelly or sandy clay, and in some instances, with a mixture of sand, gravel and clay, in layers of which the gravel is nearly free of loam or clay. In a few
localities, especially in the southeastern por- tion of the county, the surface soil and especially the sub-soil is of a more compact and very finely comminuted clay. At least one-half and more, probably two-thirds of the surface of the entire county is covered for a depth of from one to three feet of what is technically known as "Marshall silt loam," and this is a very fertile soil, amongst the most fertile soils found in the whole State of Illinois. Analyses of this soil show it to contain all elements necessary to plant growth. A mechanical analysis of typical soil, from the northern portion of Christian County, shows as follows :
(From the U. S. Geological Survey)
Fine gravel, none.
Coarse sand, none.
Medium sand, 0.69 per cent; grains per gram, 1,200.
Fine sand, 0.00 per cent; grains per gram, 74,600.
Very fine sand, 4.50 per cent; grains per gram, 501,400.
Silt, 71.84 per cent ; grains per gram, 22,311,- 200.
Very fine silty clay, 18.68 per cent ; grains per gram, 1,608,000,000.
Organic matter, 3.39 per cent; grains per gram, 1,600.
Total, 100.00 per cent; grains per gram, 1,630,890,000.
When it is considered that a gram in weight is but slightly more than 35-1,000 of an ounce or 32-10,000 of a pound, it will be seen that the fine particles composing a pound of this soil will amount to over 6,085,000,000 in number, or are so fine that the particles will pass whole through the cell spaces in the building up and growth of plants, thus forming nourishment readily available and easily accessible for the production of all kinds of crops suitable to this latitude.
This minute and exceedingly fine subdivision into soil particles has been brought about largely by glaciation, aided by the action of running water, freezing and thawing, and other natural agencies, and much of our fertile soils was originally laid down in world building, in the shape of rock and bowlders, from which our clays and fertile soils have been thus derived, through a long-continued process of disintegra- tion, decay and glaciation.
A chemical analysis of a typical sample of the "Marshall silt loam," prevalent, as before
Eng by F G. KernanNY
In anderen
629
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY
stated, over approximately two-thirds of the area of Christian County, is as follows :
Total organic carbon, 17.00 parts per 1,000.
Total nitrogen, 1.49 parts per 1,000.
Total phosphorus, 0.45 parts per 1,000.
Total potassium, 15.SS parts per 1,000.
Total magnesium, 5.54 parts per 1,000. Total calciuni, 6.20 parts per 1,000.
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.