Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174

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The usual custom of giving prizes to certain classes was carried out again on this occasion. Dr. J. J. Reaburn was president of the day as well as of the society, while Mayor Berry made the address of welcome. He was responded to by Hon. John Hungate of La Harpe. A basket dinner was served to all present. Many eloquent and well-timed speecehs were heard throughout the day. As a "treat" to the pioneer band, Hon. O. F. Berry had secured the presence of a col- ored quartette which rendered the finest of con- cert music throughout the entire day.

The prize for the oldest man present who was born in the county fell to I. N. Hobart, of Web- ster. He was born in 1834 and carried away the hat offered as a prize.

The oldest woman was Mrs. Polly Hobart, aged ninety-three years, to whom was given the prize, a calico dress. This venerable lady was on the grounds all day and attracted much at- tention. She seemed as bright and happy as ladies half her age.

Thus year after year these re-unions have been kept up. One season was made especially "old folks" day when the pioneers had no special part in the program, but were simply guests and entertained by the others present. Some season all seventy years of age or older were permitted to ascend a large platform about the public square, and there they spent hours in old fash- ioned singing and the oldtime dances, to the great pleasure of the younger generations who had never witnessd such dances. Such has been the history, in brief, of this association.

M. P. Berry, of the Dime Savings Bank, has been secretary of the Pioneer's Association for a period in excess of twenty years, until on account of failing health about 1917, he was forced in justice to himself to resign. To Mr. Berry as much or more than to any other citizen can be attributed the success of this worthy association.

"Hamilton, Ill. "Aug. 15, 1890.

"Hon. B. Warren "and Committee of Old Settlers.

"Your card, kindly inviting me 'to talk to the Old Settlers,' if I feel able, and it will not be asking too much of me, was duly received.

"It certainly is not asking too much of me, to invite me to talk to Old Settlers, at any time and whenever I meet them-which I humbly hope I may be able to do, as long as I am able to talk at all. This I have done for fifty-four years past, greatly to my pleasure and profit. The talks have been, however, individually and hand to hand. If your polite note is to be con- strued to be an invitation to stand up before and in a formal way address a multitude of them, at your approaching gathering,-which I suppose was its real intent,-then I most re- spectfully decline, and ask you to accept this letter instead. The ability to stand and talk to an assembly of people, is one of the many gifts which Providence has inscrutably with- held from me.

"Moreover-'You'd scarce expect one of my age, to speak in public on the stage'-for, in addition to the accumulation of years, la-grippe, and 'rheumatiz,' and lung and liver, and heart, and kidney ailments have been menacing me, O so many years. Tall aches from little toe- corns grow, you know ; and as we grow in years, they grow in severity.

"Yet still, I hope to be able to be with you on that day-a day to which I, with most old settlers, I believe, look forward with a great deal of pleasure.

"The occasion has set me recalling to mind, the events and the people I have met in the early days here since that April night in 1836, when I first slept beneath the stars reflected in the waters of the Mississippi, and under the dilapidated roof of the old Fort Edwards, now no more. My own brother, then resident there, had preceded me, with his family, two years before. In his lifetime, he was three times a pioneer. Born near the Atlantic, in the Old Dominion, he was an emigrant in his youth to the wilds of Ohio-thence thirty years after, to the banks of the Mississippi and the prairies of Illinois-then in sixteen years more to the Golden Gate of the Pacific-led there by that fitful fever for gold, which drew so many ad- venturers from East and West, to mark the desert and the wilderness with their graves.

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

And there, in the vicinity of the broad Pa- cific in Southern California, his remains now lie.

"There is one circumstance in the life of James Gregg, somewhat remarkable, and maybe worthy of mention here. He made the trip be- tween the Mississippi and the Pacific five times -each time by a different route. 'First, under the gold mania, round Cape Horn, in a sailing vessel; 2. A return two years after, by the Panama route; 3. Back with his family on the Nicaragua route. Then again, in 1876, on a visit to the Centennial, to New York and Phila- delphia, by the Pacific Railroad, and back home through Denver.

"Of course it would be not only futile but unprofitable for me to attempt to name all, or even a moderate portion of the early pioneers I met during that first year of my acquaintance in the county. But I will try to recall the names of a few, who had a marked influence among the people, and on the county's progress and prosperity. The first Carthage man I ever met was that genial and affable merchant, David W. Mathews, who, with his brothers James B. and Hamilton, were selling goods there. With him I made my first trip across the Hancock prairie on horseback-a large por- tion of the way in a canal-the road-way serv- ing to hold the water, which was then over plenty, and which the prairie-sod prevented from running away. There was also that queer nondescript of a Frenchman, Louis Masquerier, who, like a meteor, flashed a brief period, and went out. There also I met that dark-eyed, dark-hued, inexplicable, incomprehensible, un- fathomable man, Dr. Isaac Galland-whom no man could see through.

"And there were Wesley Williams-the man who held all the offices-and the fiery John Wilson,-and Walter Bagby-and Artois Ham- ilton, and that active business clerk Robert Miller, whom all men knew,-and the elderly Michael Rickard. There, too, I found that tal- ented, affable and kind-hearted rising attorney, Sidney H. Little, whose prospects and career were so promising, and whose end was soon to be so tragical. In the southwest was one of the first county commissioners, and the first sheriff, Henry Nichols, and Edson Whitney- whose thirty-seven and thirty-one votes set them ahead of all others in 1829, and gave them the responsible (but not lucrative) offices they sought. Further east were Lewis Peyton and

John Dedman, and George Walker, Levi Wil- liams, and William Crawford-all, I believe, emigrants from the 'Dark and Bloody Ground.' In the south end were Benjamin Bacon, Elisha Worrell, Joel Catlin, and that quiet and retir- ing man of science, Doctor Mead. Passing north- ward were, Reuben Graves, William Darnell, David Greenleaf, Jabez A. Beebe, the brothers Lincoln, Mathew McClaughry, Major Smith, Dr. George Coulson, and the tall preacher and senator, Thomas H. Owen. Northward were Hezekiah Spillman, John McAuley, and the irrepressible Amzi Doolittle. Among my ac- quaintances in and about the city of the saints, before they discovered it, were the venerable minister Charles Robison, Davidson Hibbard, and Esquire Daniel H. Wells-he, who has fig- ured so largely as adjutant general in Salt Lake City. Nearer home, along the Riverside, were those Yankee pioneers, John Cochran, John Gordon, Cyrus Felt, Abram Smith, Hazen Be- dell, and Samuel Steele-the last named having been elected a justice of the peace in 1831, held it for thirty years continuously to his death, and who, it may honestly be said, never gave a false judgment.

"And lastly-at Warsaw, among its many fa- mous men, I will only take time to mention those four of its proprietors, John R. Wilcox, Mark Aldrich, John Montague and James M. Wells-whose faith in their new city's future, if carried to its full fruition, would ere this have placed Chicago in the back-ground, and possibly located the Columbian Exposition still nearer the center of the continent.

"But, excuse me: I did not begin this intend- ing to write a pioneer history. My object was to decline the task you have imposed on me, and to wish unbounded success to the Hancock County Old Settlers' Association, and many happy returns of its reunions.

"Yours faithfully,

"THOMAS GREGG."

DOUGLAS AND LINCOLN

In connection with a statement concerning the first term of the Circuit Court held in this county, begun on October 27, 1829, and held at the house of Captain James White, at the head of the lower or Des Moines Rapids, the following interesting item has recently been given by the press: "The statement has been made that the house was the scene of a law

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

suit in which Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas were opposing counsel, but we can not find any authentic information as to the truth of it. It has been stated that Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas also spent a night under the roof of the house."

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, and was not twenty-one years of age when the October term, 1829, of the Circuit Court of this county was held. He had not then been admitted to the bar.

Stephen A. Douglas was born on April 23, 1813, and was not yet seventeen years of age when the term of court in question was held. Not only is it true that Douglas had not then been admitted to the bar, but it is also true that he did not come to Illinois until about November, 1833, which was four years after the term of court in question was held. It is stated by his- torians that in November, 1833, Douglas, having made his way from the east to Cincinnati, thence to Louisville, thence to St. Louis, in search of work, arrived at Jacksonville, Illinois, in November, 1833, with a sum total of thirty- seven cents in his pocket. These facts show conclusively that Lincoln and Douglas were not pitted against each other in a law suit in the Circuit Court of this county at its October term, 1829, and that they could not have been in oppo- sition in our Circuit Court for more than four years thereafter.

We have been unable to find any evidence of Lincoln and Douglas being in Hancock County in association or opposition either in court or out of court except on a single occasion. That must have been in the year 1851, as it was the second winter after George Walker, who located in Walker township in this county in an early day, had been elected to the Illinois Legis- lature. The event in question is thus described in the Biographical Review of Hancock County, on page 259: "He (George Walker) became moreover one of the influential and leading citi- zens of the community and in 1848 was elected to represent his district in the State Legislature of Illinois. He spent two winters in Spring- field and became associated with many of the distinguished men of the state. During the sec- ond winter, in company with Stephen A. Doug- las, Abraham Lincoln and Jacob C. Davis, in a hired vehicle, he drove to his home in Hancock County, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, to make a visit over Sunday. They ar- rived Friday night, and that night such a heavy

fall of snow took place that the next Monday morning they had to drive a herd of cattle ahead of them to break the road to Quincy, to which place they rode on horseback. They were three days in getting to Springfield."

Stephen A. Douglas, when on the bench, pre- sided at five terms of the Circuit Court of Han- cock County, beginning respectively on May 3, 1841, October 4, 1841, May 2, 1842, October 3, 1842, and May 15, 1843. It is possible that Abraham Lincoln appeared in court at one of these terms, although there is no certain evi- dence of the fact. These two distinguished men delivered political addresses at Carthage and Augusta in Hancock County during the senato- rial campaign of 1858, but they did not speak in either city on the same day.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S VISIT TO CARTHAGE IN 1858

Some years ago Mr. Gaylord Isham Davidson, then of Carthage, Illinois, now of Roanoke, Vir- ginia, published two articles full of interesting information concerning the friendship which ex- isted between Abraham Lincoln and Major Alexander Sympson from their boyhood days un- til the assassination of the great war president. The account which follows is taken from these articles, for which Mr. Davidson is entitled to credit.

The picture of Mr. Lincoln herein referred to was owned by Mrs. Mary A. K. Quinby at the time when Mr. Davidson wrote his articles. Mrs. Quinby was a daughter of Major Alexander Sympson. Since these articles were written Mrs. Quinby has died, and the picture is now in the possession of her daughter, Miss Martha B. Quinby, now of Peoria, Ill. Major Sympson was born in Green County, Ky., Nov. 8, 1807, in an humble home not far from Greensburg, the county seat. The farm of the Lincolns, a small one, adjoined that of the Sympsons. The two families were on intimate terms. They knew the meaning and value of true friendship as in- terpreted and practiced by the early pioneers. Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Sympson were barefooted boy friends in those days. These boy- hood companions parted early in life. Mr. Lin- coln, with his parents, drifted into Indiana, then to Illinois, and lost sight of his friend Sympson. After Lincoln had become established in the practice of law in Springfield the friendly rela- tions between these boyhood chums became more marked. Major Sympson had married Nancy

LINCOLN SPOKE HERE OCTOBER 22 1858

LINCOLN BOULDER, CARTHAGE

LAKE VIEW CLUB HOUSE, HAMILTON

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

Carter in Green County, Ky., in October, 1829. Three children, viz. : Mrs. Mary A. K. Quinby, Mrs. Dr. J. H. Callihan and Samuel Sympson, resided in Carthage when Mr. Davidson wrote his articles. They are now dead. The eldest son, Maj. Coleman Sympson, who for nearly thirty, years was enrolling and engrossing clerk of the United States Senate, died in Washington some years ago.

Alexander Sympson came to Illinois with his family in 1836. He engaged in farming pursuits near Macomb, McDonough County. In 1840 he moved to Monmouth, Warren County, and con- ducted a hotel in that place until May 1, 1844, when he settled in Carthage just in the heat of the bitter struggle between the Mormons under the leadership of Joseph Smith and the Anti- Mormons. Major Sympson's sympathies were largely with the Anti-Mormons, and in the ex- citing scenes and incidents lie was an active par- ticipant on the side of public peace and justice. In 1858 Major Sympson, through the influence of Mr. Lincoln, secured the appointment of en- rolling and engrossing clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives. In the summer and fall of 1858 was the historical political tournament be- tween Lincoln and Douglas for the United States Senatorship. Maj. Sympson was enthusiastic for the success of his life-long friend and cola- borer in the ranks of the Republican party.

The quaint old brick residence in which Major. Sympson lived during the earlier years of his life in Carthage, stood one block west and one block south of the public square, and has been replaced recently by the modern residence of Mr. L. B. Clark. In those early times the house was considered a mansion, and its doors were ever open in hospitality. Looking out toward the southeast was a room wherein Lincoln often slept after a fatiguing journey overland either on horseback or in buggy. Mr. Lincoln's visits to the home of his friend Sympson were always. the signal for a gathering of the pioneer citizens, and no matter how many of them came, nor low late they remained, Mr. Lincoln was ever urbane and entertaining.

The speeches delivered by Lincoln and Douglas at Carthage have not been recorded. Lincoln's speech delivered at Augusta, in this county, Sep- tember 25, 1858, was an important one. The fol- lowing letter from Mr. Lincoln to Major Symp- son refers to that speech, and it is evident that Major Sympson had made all the arrangements

for the meeting in so far as his party was concerned :

"Springfield, Aug. 11, 1858 .- Alex. Sympson, Esq .- Dear Sir: Yours of the 6th received. If life and health continue I shall pretty surely be at Augusta on the 25th.

"Things look reasonably well. Will tell you more fully when I see you. Yours truly, A. Lincoln."

The two men drove from Carthage to Augusta in a buggy, and a large crowd of Mr. Lincoln's admirers in Carthage accompanied them in vehicles and on horseback. His speech, delivered in Catlin's Grove, September 25, 1858, was list- ened to by a crowd of people coming from the contiguous counties. On Thursday, October 20, 1858, Mr. Lincoln delivered an address in the Courthouse square in Carthage to a large crowd. He remained in that town until the 24th, visit- ing with Major Sympson and his family. (A large boulder has been placed in the courtyard by the Shadrach Bond Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, near the spot where Lincoln stood while making this speech.)

It was on the morning of the 20th that Major Sympson noticed that an itinerant photographer named Charley Frost had appeared in town with his picture gallery, a sort of a wagonbox affair, and was taking crude pictures of the country folk who had gathered to hear Mr. Lincoln. Major Sympson and Mr. Lincoln took a stroll downtown, and the Major induced Mr. Lincoln to have his picture taken in Frost's "art parlor." Mr. Lincoln at first demurred, pleading that he had ridden long and hard the night before, and that his personal appearance was not as satis- factory to himself as it might be. But Major Sympson urged the more, saying that the girls at home wanted a likeness of their friend. Then Mr. Lincoln good-naturedly assented, and stoop- ing his tall, lank form, entered the narrow wagonbox gallery and sat for his picture.

When Mr. Davidson's articles were published, few people outside of Mrs. Quinby's own imme- diate family had ever seen this picture or the letters and other mementos of Mr. Lincoln in her possession. Mr. Lincoln consented to have a photograph taken that he might please an old friend, and the members of the Sympson family respected their great friend's implied wishes that the picture should be considered for them alone. But afterward when anything touching upon the life and character of this, one of the greatest of Americans became of intense interest

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

to the people, Mrs. Quinby was willing that these mementos should be given publicity.

The morning of October 24, 1858, Mr. Lincoln was driven in a buggy by Major Sympson to Blandinsville, in McDonough County. Here the two friends parted. A day or two afterwards Major Sympson received the following letter from Mr. Lincoln :

"Blandinsville, October 24, 1858 .- A. Sympson, Esq .- Dear Sir: Since parting with you this morning I heard some things which make me believe that Edmunds and Morrill will spend this week among the National Democrats trying to induce them to content themselves by voting for Jake Davis and then to vote for the Douglas candidates for Senator and Representative. Have this headed off if you can. Call Wagley's attention to it and have him and the National Democrat for Rep. to counteract it as far as they can. Yours as ever, A. Lincoln."

The Morrill referred to was Milton M. Morrill, brother of Governor Morrill of Maine and of Senator Morrill of Vermont. Mr. Morrill, now dead, was a leading attorney in the historic city of Nauvoo. The Edmunds referred to was Judge George Edmunds of Carthage, a cousin of the late Senator Edmunds. Edmunds and Morrill were leaders of the Democratic party and were working for the election of Judge Douglas. Judge Edmunds explains the incident as follows :

"Carthage, July 17, 1892 .- Gay Davidson, Esq. : Dear Sir-Yours containing copy of Mr. Lincoln's letter to Alex. Sympson of October 24, 1858, in which he refers to Jacob C. Davis, M. M. Morrill and myself, at hand, asking my recollec- tion of the matter thus referred to.

"My recollection is that at that time there was a small faction of the Democrats of Illinois opposed to Judge Douglas. In this county that faction was headed by Jacob C. Davis and Wm. C. Wagley of Warsaw. Davis was the candidate of that party for Congress from this (the Fifth) district and Wagley was the candidate for the State Senate, and it was feared that such dis- affection might arise in the Democratic ranks as would endanger the election of the regular Douglas candidates for Senate and Representa- tive. With a view to save the Senate and Repre- sentative ticket for Douglas, Hon. M. M. Morrill and myself called a meeting at the Courthouse here, which resulted in an arrangement for an- other convention, which was held, and resulted so satisfactorily to the Democratic voters that

we were able to elect Douglas Democrats to both Senate and House.

"The result is evidently what Mr. Lincoln feared, and hoped through an appeal to Wagley to keep up the Democratic factional fight.

"This letter of Mr. Lincoln's I never heard of .

before. Respectfully, G. Edmunds."

Judge Edmunds was a friend of Mr. Lincoln, - and says that the martyred president was not only a pleasant friend, but an honorable op- ponent in politics, while yet being a shrewd campaigner.

The result of that Senatorial campaign is history. The following letter is brief, but full of meaning :

· "Springfield, December 12, 1858 .- Alexander Sympson, Esq .- My Dear Sir: I expect the re- sult of the election went hard with you .- So it did with me, tho' perhaps not quite so hard as you may have supposed. I have an abiding faitlı that we shall beat them in the long run. Step by step the objects of the leaders will be- come too plain for the people to stand them. I write merely to let you know that I am not nearly dead or dying.

"Please give my respects to your good family and all inquiring friends. Yours as ever, A. Lincoln."

The friendship of these two men never failed. There is no doubt they met on numerous occa- sions after the result of the Senatorial contest, but if any further correspondence passed be- tween them the surviving members of Major Sympson's family have no record of it. Major Sympson was a delegate to the Chicago conven- tion in 1860 that nominated Lincoln for the presidency, and rendered valuable aid in that campaign.

In January, 1861, Major Sympson entered the Union service under Rosecrans and served throughout the war. His health failed in the army, but he remained at his post and was on duty, save during an illness at Louisville. In December of 1861 Major Sympson's son, Cole- man, went to Washington and applied for some kind of a position. The following is a copy of the original note of introduction written to Mr. Forney by President Lincoln in behalf of young Sympson :

"(Private)

"Executive Mansion, July 20, 1861. Hon. J. W. Forney : My Dear Sir-There is a young man here by the name of Sympson (Senator Browning will give you his Christian name) to

Blandonville, Oct 24. 1858 A. Symprow Eng D'éas Si

Since parting with you this morning I hervor some things which makes me believe that Edmunds and Morrell, will never this week among the National democrats trong to indica Chemio content themselves by voting for Jake Davis, and Then to vote for the Douglas candidates for this header off. if you can- Cale Naglegi attention to it, x how hime and the National democrat for Reps, to counteract it as far as they can-

nous Alincoln

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LETTER, 1858

737

HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

whom the giving of some place, if in your power, would greatly oblige me. His father is one of my best friends, whom I have not, so far, been able to recognize in any substantial way, Yours very truly, A Lincoln."

Young Sympson received the position of en- rolling and engrossing clerk of the Senate, a post he held without interruption until his death.

Major Sympson died August 16, 1867.

In prophecy Mr. Lincoln was almost unerring. While yet a young and rising attorney in Spring- field, he uttered a prophecy that was almost inspired. At a harvest home celebration held in Fulton County the widely known and venerable Methodist divine, "Uncle Dick" Haney, related the following personal reminiscence of Mr. Lin- coln, which has gained little publicity : "Uncle Dick" said that at a country meeting held not far from Springfield, some years ago, it was announced that Rev. Peter Akers would preach. The Rev. Mr. Akers was a widely known Metho- dist and he was also celebrated for the power and prodigious length of his sermons. A car- riage load of young Springfield attorneys went out to hear the preacher. His theme was the sin of slavery. He portrayed its horrors in vivid colors .* He prophesied that God would wash this sin of crimes away in blood. He predicted the war and with prophetic accuracy described its terrors. But he put off the date of the con- flict some years. Few of the hearers sym- pathized with the preacher's views. They re- garded the sermon as the idle frothings of a harmless old crank.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 19

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1174

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174