Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 2

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


USA > Illinois > Hancock County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock 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).


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976


Howard, Sarah F.


982


Howard, Vera G.


982


Hungate, Florence M.


988


Hungate, John H.


988


Jackson, William H


994


King, Frederick M.


1000


Kirby, Thomas J.


1006


Kirchbaum, Joseph H


1012


Klepper, Daniel .


.1018


Knox, Emily 2 1024


Knox, George S. .


1024


Kraushaar, Daniel H., and Family


1036


Kunkel, Ellen J.


1042


Kunkel, William O. 1042


LaSalle, Reni Robert


246


Lincoln, Abraham


Frontispiece, Vol. I


Lincoln, Hezekiah.


1048


Lincoln, Phoebe A.


1048


Lowden, Frank O.


274


Manifold, Arthur R


1054


Manifold, Lowella .


1066


Manifold, William E. 1060


Matteson, Joel A.


258


McNeill, Elizabeth.


1072


McNeill, John A.


1072


Metzger, Henry G.


1078


Metzger, Julia C.


1078


Miller, Elizabeth S.


790


Miller, Frederick B.


1084


Miller, John.


790


Nash, Anna B.


1090


Nash, George W


1090


Ochsner, Fred L., and Family


1096


Oglesby, Richard J.


262


Palmer, John M.


266


Patterson, Antoinette.


1102


Patterson, William J.


1102


Peck, Charles L. .


1108


Peck, Christopher C.


1114


Peck, Edwin N.


1126


Peck, Julia


1120


Peck, Oliver E


1132


Peck, Ora B.


1126


Peck, Sadie M.


1108


Pettijolın, Cora


1138


Pittam, Orville A., and Family


1144


Powell, Sydnor C ..


1150


Powell, Mrs. Sydnor C.


1150


Radel, Louisa.


.1156


Radel, Peter.


1156


Rawson, William H., and Family 1162


Reynolds, John.


254


Rice, Absalom K.


1168


Rice, Clark H.


1174


Rice, Cyrus S.


.1180


Rice, Ida L.


1186


Rice, Laura


.1168


Salisbury, Arthur G., and Family 1192


Schenck, Dillie R.


1198


Schenck, John W .


1198


Scofield, Charles J


637


Scofield, Rose S.


637


Scott, Gertrude


1204


Scott, John E.


1204


Sears, George W.


1210


Selby, Paul.


. Following Title Page, Vol. I


Shields, Louisa.


.1216


Shields, Lyman B


.1216


Shipton, John S.


1222


Sholl, Jacob.


.1228


Smiddy, Bertha E


.1234


Smiddy, James E


.1234


Smith, Ellen.


1240


Smith, Francis M.


.1240


Spiker, Diana


1252


Spiker, William


1252


St. Clair, Arthur


250


Swanson, Ann E. .1258


Swanson, Swan G. 1258


Tanner, John R.


270


Thomas, Anna J


.1264


Thomas, Joseph M


1264


Tonty, Henry De.


246


Vance, Elise B


1270


Vance, Sherman D.


1270


Walton, Augusta


.1276


Walton, Charles F.


1276


Walton, Georgenia


1282


Walton, William.


1282


War Eagle (Chief)


246


Wear, Alfred S.


1288


Wear, Mrs. Alfred S.


1288


Webb, James


1294


White, John.


1300


White, Mrs. John.


1300


Willis, J. Lawrence


.1246


Willis, Pearl.


1246


Wood, Earl W.


1306


Wood, John


262


Yanson, August.


1312


Yates, Richard, Jr.


274


Yates, Richard, Sr


262


$


ILLUSTRATIONS


Abraham Lincoln's Letter, 1858. 736


Court House (First), 1833. 692


Court House (Second), 1839 692 Court House (Third), 1908. 698


Denhart Hall, Carthage College 830


Floor Plans of Old Jail, Carthage 840


Fort Edwards, Warsaw. 676


Fort Edwards Monument, Warsaw 676


Gymnasium, Carthage College 832


High School, La Harpe 824


High School, Warsaw.


824


Lake View Club House, Hamilton. 734


Lincoln Boulder, Carthage. 734


Map of Hancock County 637


Mississippi River Dam. 874


Mormon Temple, Nauvoo.


838


North Hall, Carthage College


830


Old Jail, Carthage. 838


Residence of W. D. Bradshaw, La Harpe. 772


Science Hall, Carthage College. 832


ning Honthis


Charles . Scofield


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


CHAPTER I


GEOLOGY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES


A LARGE TERRITORY-ITS GEOLOGY-COAL MEASURES -HANCOCK MOUNDS-SOIL-POTTER'S CLAY- PRAIRIE GRASSES-BEAUTY OF ITS WILD FLOW- ERS-GAME, BIRDS AND FISH-PHYSICAL FEA- TURES GENERALLY.


Hancock County, one of the wealthiest of the counties in Illinois, is bounded on the north by the Mississippi River and by Henderson County, on the east by McDonough County and the northern part of Schuyler County, on the south by Adams County, and on the west by the Mississippi River, which separates it from the states of Iowa and Missouri. The county contains 16 full congressional townships and 8 fractional townships, amounting in area to about 211/4 full congressional townships. From north to south the county measures 30 miles, and from east to west averages a little more than 24 miles. It is said to contain about 492,160 acres, or about 769 square miles. 'Worthen, in his Geological Survey of Illinois and in his Economical Geology of Illinois, gives 756 as the number of square miles. The Mis- sissippi River is the western and northwestern boundary, the county line being the state line, or the middle of the main channel of the Mis- sissippi River. The central part of the county is mainly prairie land. Originally the creeks in these prairies, some of them with bluffs or rough land on either side, were heavily wooded, as also were the bluffs along the Mississippi River. The principal creeks are Crooked and Bear Creeks, which, with their tributaries, af- ford ample drainage for those parts of the county which are not drained by the Mississippi


River. The watershed between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers passes through the county north and south, and at Carthage is about half way between the east and west county boun- daries.


The history of the organization of the county and other matters of like character and inter- est, will be found in chapter 4, and further information as to the various parts of the coun- ty will be found in the chapters devoted to townships and in other parts of this volume.


GEOLOGY


The geology of Hancock County is quite fully considered in Economical Geology of Illinois, Vol. 1, by A. H. Worthen, State Geologist, pub- lished in 1SS2 by authority of the Legislature of Illinois. The following extracts are taken from that volume.


"A large portion of the surface of this county is prairie land, the proportion of prairie and timber being about three of the former to one of the latter. But notwithstanding the great preponderance of the prairie over the timber land, and the fact that the greater portion of the prairie is now occupied and improved, the amount of timber still remaining is probably nearly, or quite, as great as at any period be- fore its settlement by the white race, showing that the annual growth has proved adequate to supply the wants of the population for fuel, fencing and building purposes. By the settle- ment of the county, the fires which annually swept over its surface while in a state of na- ture, were prevented from spreading over the whole area as before, and the young growth of timber which had previously been destroyed by these annual fires was preserved, and in this way the supply has been fully maintained.


"The soil upon the prairie land is usually a deep black loam, with a brown clay sub-soil. On the ridges that skirt the streams the soil is usually a chocolate-brown loamy clay, be- coming locally light-brown or yellow, on the


637


638


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


slopes of the hills, from the predominant char- acter of the sub-soil. The timber on these ridges consists for the most part of black and white oak and hickory, with an undergrowth of red-bud, sassafras and hazel. On the more level portions of the timbered uplands we finc., in addition to these, elm, linden, wild cherry and honey locust. The soil, on the lands where the last named varieties of timber are found, is fully equal, in its productive capacity, to that of the prairies, while that on the oak ridges is comparatively thin. In the southwest portion of the county there is a wide belt of laluvial bottom skirting the Mississippi river, commencing at the city of Warsaw and extend- ing to the south line of the county, with an average width of about three miles. A part of this bottom is prairie, and a part is covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of cottonwood, sycamore, red and slippery elm, black and white walnut, ash, hackberry, honey locust, pecan, persimmon, paw-paw, coffee-nut, white maple, red birch, linden and mulberry, and the common varieties of oak, and shell- bark and pig-nut hickory. The greater por- tion of this bottom is susceptible of cultivation, and possesses a sandy soil that is not sur- passed, in its productive capacities, by any other portion of the county. It is subject to overflow, however, during seasons of extraordi- nary high water, and those who cultivate these lands must calculate on a partial, if not a total loss of their crops once in about seven years.


"Springs are not abundant in this county, but are occasionally found at the base of the river bluffs and in the valleys of the small streams. Some of these are chalybeate, and contain, in addition to the iron, both sulphur and magnesia. Good wells are usually obtained on the uplands at depths varying from twenty to forty feet. The surface deposits of this county comprise the usual subdivisions of the Quaternary system, and attain an aggregate thickness of about seventy-five feet. All the uplands are covered by accumulations of drift, varying in thickness from twenty to sixty feet or more. This usually consists of a bed of blue clay or hard pan at the bottom, of va- riable thickness, which is overlaid by brown clays, with gravel and boulders of water-worn rock of various sizes. Sometimes there are thin beds of sand in the brown clays, that pre- sent a stratified appearance, and serve as chan-


nels to the underground streams of water. A large portion of the material composing the drift deposits has been transported from a dis- tance, and many of the boulders are derived from the metamorphic strata of Lake Supe- rior, several hundred miles from the spot where they are now found. Many of these boulders are of great size and many tons weight, and must have required a mighty force to transplant them to their present position. One of these may be seen at the foot of the bluffs between Nauvoo and Appanoose, com- . posed of the metamorphic rock of the north- west, which is nearly twenty feet in diameter. The power required to wrench such a mass of rock from its native bed and transport it, for hundreds of miles, with a force sufficient to obliterate all its angles, is inconceivable great ; but here is the boulder of granite, nearly five hundred miles, as the crow flies, from the near- est known outcrop of this kind of rock, giving unmistakable evidence that such a result has been accomplished. Several specimens of native copper have been found in the drift deposits of this county, which, from their appearance, leave no doubt that they have been transported from the copper region of Lake Superior.


"Specimens of bituminous coal are also. fre- quently met with in the drift clays of this county, and have come from some of the coal seams in the adjacent region. To those who are unacquainted with the manner in which the drift clays and the inclosed boulders and gravel beds have been accumulated, these specimens of coal and copper, or any of the metallic ores that are to be found in them, may be regarded as indications of the near proximity of valuable beds of these minerals, whereas they were perhaps transported for hundreds of miles and then only in isolated specimens, and furnish no evidence whatever of the existence of any deposit of mineral wealth in the vicinity where they occur.


"Along the river bluffs the accumulations of drift appear to have been subjected to a par- tial sifting process, which has given the whole a stratified character, which may be termed modified drift. In the section of the river bluff exposed in grading Main street, in the city of Warsaw, a very interesting section of modified drift may be seen, showing the following order of super-position :


639


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


Ash colored marly clay, resembling


loess .10 ft. 0 in.


Brown drift clay .. 10 ft. 0 in.


Brown sands, partly stratified. S ft. 0 in.


Blue sandy clay 2 ft. 6 in.


Fine gravel and clay. 2 ft. 6 in.


Yellow sand 2 ft. 0 in.


Gravel and boulders. 8 ft. 0 in.


Blue clay 5 ft. 0 in.


"The upper clay bed in the above section re- sembles the loess in its color and general ap- pearance, but contains no fossils at this local- ity. In the vicinity of Hamilton there is an exposure of loess, fifteen feet thick, in the railroad cut; and at this point it contains a few fossil shells. It appears to be generally more argillaceous here than at points farther south, and it probably nowhere exceeds, in this county, a thickness of fifteen or twenty feet. Where it forms the sub-soil its porous charac- ter allows the water to pass freely through it, affording a more thorough drainage to the surface than that afforded by the clay 'sub- soils of the drift. Along the river bluffs in this county the drift, either in its normal or modified condition, appears everywhere below the loess, while the deposits of the latter are comparatively thin, and restricted to the vi- cinity of the river bluffs. The drift clays that underlie the central and eastern portion of the county contain fragments of wood, and often the entire trunks of trees of considerable size are met with, in sinking wells in this forma- tion. These woods are coniferous, and appear to belong to a species of cedar. At several points in this county, one of which is on the State road, five miles nearly east of Warsaw, there is, at the base of the drift deposits, a bed of ferruginous conglomerate, exactly resembling the conglomerate of Southern Illinois, which we regard as of Tertiary age. Whether this bed in Hancock county, which appears to be only about two feet in thickness, is really referable to the same age, is a point we have not yet been able to determine; but the fact, alluded to in a previous chapter, of the occurrence of shark's teeth in the alluvial sands of the Mis- sissippi river, in this county, renders it highly probable that beds of this age were really de- posited as far north as this; and if so, this band of conglomerate is most probably referable to the same age. As it contains no fossils, its age can only be inferred from its stratigraphical


position, which is below the blue clay or 'hard pan' that is usually regarded as the base of the drift formation. These superficial deposits, be- longing to the Quaternary, or most recent of the geological systems, are spread entirely over the surface of the county, except in the valleys of the streams, where they have been carried away by surface agencies. Hence the under- lying stratified rocks are only to be seen in the bluffs and valleys of the streams, where the clays and gravel beds have been removed by the agency of water currents.


"The stratified rocks that are exposed above the surface, in this county, comprise a limited thickness of the lower Coal Measures, and about one hundred and fifty feet of lower Carbonif- erous limestone belonging to the St. Louis and Keokuk groups. A vertical section of these rocks would exhibit the following order and thickness of strata :


Coal Measures :


Sandstone, passing downward into clay shale .30 feet


Coal 2 feet


Bituminous and argillaceous shales .. 9 feet Coal


1 foot 6 in.


Conglomerate sandstone. 20 feet


St. Louis Limestone :


Brecciated and concretionary


limestone 10 to 25 feet


Calcareous grit stones. 10 feet


Blue clay shales and Archimedes limestone 20 feet


Magnesian limestone. S to 12 feet


Keokuk Limestone:


Geodifieros shales and shaly


limestone 30 to 40 feet Light, bluish-gray limestones .... 20 to 30 feet


Cherty thin-bedded gray lime- stones 40 to 50 feet


"From the above section it will be seen that the aggregate thickness of the Coal Measures in this county is only about sixty-five feet, and they include the horizon of two coal seams, both of which are comparatively thin. The best outcrop of coal in the county is on Williams creek, near Augusta, in the southeast corner of the county. The upper seam, which we regard as perhaps identical with the Colchester seam, is here about two feet thick, sometimes as much


640


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


as twenty-eight or thirty inches, and affords a fair quality of coal. The roof is usually clay shale, and when worked by drifting it requires a good deal of expense in cribbing, to keep the roof from falling in. Just above the bridge on the Pulaski road, the following strata were exposed at the time we first visited this locality in 1853:


Shaly sandstone. 14 feet


Sandy and argillaceous shales. 16 feet Coal 2 feet


Red shale. 1 foot


Unexposed slope. 7 feet


Fire clay . 3 feet


"The sandstone and shale above the coal seam was somewhat ferruginous, and contained nodules of argillaceous iron ore. At another exposure of these beds, not more than fifty yards from Hawley's coal bank, the coal was replaced by a thin band of bituminous shale, and the following section was exposed :


Ferruginous shale and shaly sandstone.32 feet Bituminous shale. 0 feet 4 in.


Gray shale. 9 feet


Bituminous shale. 1 foot


Fire clay


3 feet


"These two sections were made less than fifty yards apart, and represent exactly parallel strata, and will serve to illustrate the sudden changes that sometimes occur in coal seams, or indeed in any other stratified rock, even in very limited areas. The coal which, in the first sec- tion, is two feet thick, is represented in the last by four inches of bituminous shale. The lower seam of bituminous shale represents the horizon of the other coal seam, and at this locality it contains a few fossils, among which were Discina nitida and a few scales and spines of fishes. A coal seam-probably the same as the upper one in the foregoing sections-out- crops about one mile southeast of Plymouth, which had not been worked to any extent at the time of my visit to the locality.


"In the central and western portions of the county coal has been found at several localities, but it appears to exist only in detached outliers, and probably occupies shallow depressions in the concretionary limestone. On the small creek north of Carthage there are two or three out- crops of coal, one of which is on the lands of


A. Simpson, Esq., the northeast quarter of sec- tion 11, township 5 north, range 6 west, and an- other on the northwest quarter of section 3, township 5 north, range 6 west. The coal &c these outcrops is only from twelve to eighteen inches thick, and is of little economical value at the present time. On the head waters of Waggoner's creek, which enters the Mississippi one mile above the old town of Montebello, there is an outlier of coal, that was worked to some extent in the early settlement of the county. The coal at this point is from twelve to fourteen inches thick, and strongly impregnated with iron pyrites. On Mr. Miller's place, a little farther north, on the northeast quarter of sec- tion 32, township 6 nortli, range 8 west, there is another exposure of about the same thickness. The coal is here underlaid by about thirty feet of conglomerate sandstone. At Nauvoo this thin outlier of coal was found about a hundred yards south of the 'Temple,' and was worked, while the city was occupied by the Mormons, by stripping off the overlying drift clays and loess which rested directly upon the coal. It is only about eighteen inches in thick- ness, and having no roof, could not be profit- ably worked at the present time. It is probable that this outlier of Coal Measures originally extended continuously from Waggoner's creek to Nauvoo, and it is also found on the opposite side of the river, just below the old town of Nashville, where it is represented by a bed of massive conglomerate sandstone, that caps the bluffs at that point. There are also outcrops of sandstone and bituminous shale extending up the river bluffs nearly to the north line of the county, but up to the present time they have afforded no valuable deposit of coal. On section 13, in the eastern part of township 4 north, range 8 west, on the waters of the north fork of Bear creek, coal was found and worked in the early settlement of the county, but was soon abandoned.


"From the fact that all the streams of any considerable size in the county cut down to the limestones that underlie the Coal Measures, it is not probable that any very extensive and valuable deposits of coal will ever be found in this county. Local deposits, however, may exist beneath the heavy drift deposits that are spread over the broad prairies, and may be found by boring through these overlying de- posits. It is probable that a boring one hundred feet deep would reach the limestones below the


E


Eng by E G Williams & Bra NY


I has Abbott


Munsell Pub


641


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


coal at every point in the county, and thus settle definitely the question as to the amount of coal that existed at the point where the boring was made. By referring to the general section of the strata in this county, it will be seen that all the limestones underlie the Coal Measures, and consequently the search for coal either in or below these limestones would be in vain. All the coal in this county lies between the lime- stones and the drift, and if the drift is found resting directly on the limestone, no coal will be found.


"The concretionary or brecciated limestone, which is the upper bed of lower Carboniferous limestone in this county, underlies the Coal Measures throughout this county, and it there- fore forms a reliable and easily recognized hori- zon to guide those who are in search of coal.


"Fossils are quite rare in the Coal Measures of this county, but the bituminous shale over- lying the lower seam on Waggoner's creek, and near Augusta, has afforded a few marine shells, as well as some fish remains, and the Conglomerate sandstone has afforded a few specimens of plants, such as Sigillaria, Stig- maria, Lepidodendron, etc.


ST. LOUIS LIMESTONE


"Concretionary and Brecciated Limestone .- This division of the St. Louis group is a bluish- gray, sometimes nearly white, limestone, con- cretionary in structure, and sometimes brec- ciated, and rarely presents any regular lines of bedding. It contains locally, irregular seams and crevices filled with green marly clay, and also seams and nodules f chert. At some localities the chert forms a stratum a foot or two in thickness at the top of the limestone. This limestone outcrops in the river bluffs throughout the county, and on all the principal streams in the interior. On a branch of Bear creek, in the vicinity of St. Albans, it forms the entire bluff, and also outcrops at several other points in this part of the county. On Crooked creek it was met with as far north as the cross- ing of the Pontoosuc road west of La Harpe, and it may be found along this creek as far south as it runs in this county. It is also found on the forks of Brunce's creek, northwest of Plymouth. Its thickness in this county is vari- able, ranging from ten to thirty feet.


"Calcareous Grit-stone .- The concretionary limestone is usually underlaid by about ten feet


of grit-stones in regular beds, that are locally calcareous, and vary in thickness from two inches to. a foot or more. It is extensively quarried in the vicinity of Warsaw, where it is exposed on all the small streams, as well as in the river bluffs. It is an excellent material for foundation walls, and is very generally used in the vicinity of its outcrop.


"Blue Shales and Archimedes Limestones .- Below the grit-stones above described, there are a series of blue clay shales, with inter- calated beds of coarse granular gray limestone, that attain a thickness of twenty feet or more in this county. They are well exposed at the city of Warsaw, and also in the river bluffs, both above and below. On the southwest quar- ter of section 24, township 4 north, range 6 west, the beds are well exposed on Brunce's creek, and are twenty feet in thickness. This division of the group is somewhat variable in its lithological characters, and is sometimes com- posed entirely of blue or gray clay shales, with- out any intercalations of limestone, and at other localities it becomes a shaly magnesian lime- stone.


"Magnesian Limestonc .- The lowest member of the group is a brown or gray magnesian limestone, generally evenly-bedded, is easily dressed, and is an excellent material for caps and sills, and is generally used in the vicinity of Warsaw as a building stone. Its thickness in this county ranges from eight to twelve feet. It is extensively quarried at several points in the river bluffs, from two to three miles below Warsaw, where it attains its maximum thick- ness, and is quite regularly-bedded, and these quarries afford nearly all the dressed stone used in the city. For evenness of texture and dur- ability, this limestone is not surpassed by any other in the county, but it contains minute crystals of iron pyrites, which oxydize on ex- posure to the atmosphere, giving origin to patches of rusty brown on the exposed surface of the rock. Zinc blend in crystals, associated with crystals of dolomite and calcite, is oc- casionally found in pockets in this limestone. It will be found in all the highest points of the river bluffs from Warsaw to Nauvoo, and is also exposed on Brunce's creek and Crooked creek in the east part of the county.


"Fossils abound to some extent in all the sub- divisions of the group, but are most abundant in the shales and Archimedes limestones. The Archimedes Wortheni is, perhaps, the most abun-


1


642


HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY


dant and conspicuous fossil in this bed, but there are several other very beautiful forms of Bryozoa associated with it, among which are Coscinium plumosum, C. elegans, C. sagenella, C. Michelinia, and Polypora Varsouviensis. Fossil shells are not so abundant, but the fol- lowing species are to be found at Warsaw: Spirifer lineatus, Orthis dubia, Productus Alto- nensis, Rhynchonella subcuneata, Conularia Ver- neuilii, and Lithophaga pertenuis. The ex- posures of this bed at Warsaw have also af- forded several very beautiful specimens of crinoi- dea, the most of which are unique. They comprise the following species: Cyathocrinus Thomae, Platycrinus Gcorgii, P. Pumilis, Acti- nocrinus caroli, Rhodocrinus Varsouviensis, Scaphiocrinus divaricatus, Dichocrinus dichoto- mus, and Pentremites conoideus, Zaphentris spinulifera, and two or three undetermined corallines, are also quite common at this locality. The calcareous grit-stone and Magnesian lime- stone, that lie above and below these shales, contain the same species of fossils in a less perfect state of preservation.




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