USA > Illinois > Montgomery County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Montgomery County, Volume II > Part 7
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HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S COLLECTION.
The historical society and private individuals in Montgomery County, possess some very in- teresting and valuable Indian relics, and the question arises in the minds of many if some of them do not antedate the Indian period and belong to that mysterious class known as Mound Builders. It is very difficult to distinguish be- tween the periods, and to determine whether or no the quaint weapons and utensils which are dug from the soil of this section were used by those whose bodies had crumbled to dust before even the Indian took possession of the land, or whether the tribes of which we have definite knowledge, fashioned them. From out of a dim and uncertain past the Mound Builders loom mistily upon antiquarian history, and fade away. That such a people once existed, there is no reasonable doubt, but from whence they sprung, or what caused their decay, and the wiping out of any definite record of them, no historian has made clear. In some sections of the state there are more definite traces of them to be found than iu Montgomery County, although here there have been found the following relics : arrow heads, arrow points, scrapers, axes, mauls, drills, saw tooth points, and skulls and other instru- ments that we cannot classify. The Montgomery Historical Society has quite a good collection of these relics, and is adding to it from time to time, and will have au expert classify them so as to increase their educational value. Such a collection as is possessed by Montgomery County is one to be prized, aud treasured. for the time is not far distaut when the Indian will be extinct, and the few traces that remain of his presence will be almost priceless to those who take an interest in the development of mankind, and the furtherance of civilization.
The day of the savage Indian is over. Tribe after tribe has passed. The Indians that re- maiu are rapidly losing their racial character- istics, and becoming as other people of this country. Their good traits are developed by education and training, and their evil ones eradi- cated and as many of them are now wealthy and influential through the grants of government land, they are rising in importance in the states in which their former reservations were located.
While the Indian, as he was once knowu, is practically extinct, he lives on, and will do so as long as the nomenclature of the country con- tinues. His musical and poetic names are fas-
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tened to our lands, water courses, public build- ings, the streets in our cities, and to public monuments. The great commonwealth in which Montgomery County is located came from the tribe of Illini, and the Kickapoos, Kaskaskias, Iroquois, Sacs, Fox, Pottawattamies, Black Hawk, and a thousand and one tribes and chiefs are perpetuated throughout all time. This is but just. Coming into his lands, the white man through superior strength of intellect, educa- tion and civilization, took from the red man his lands, but at the same time gave to the con- quered the honor of placing his individual stamp on their development, and claiming them as his own. Nor can it be claimed, as some seem to believe, that it is either equitable or ethical to permit the assumption of a prior claim by a people who have never so much as attempted to subdue the wilds of nature, nor bring its forces into subjection by the sweat of the brow as God intended man should do. Where thorns and thistles intest, flowers and fruits must be made to luxuriate in the tread of civilization. And the ignorance or unprogressive stubbornness of any man or race dare not impede its progress. Such is the inexorable law of progress, and it must be respected.
INDIAN MASSACRES.
The following very interesting account of Indian Massacres in Montgomery County is con- tributed by S. Z. T. Kessinger.
"I have stated in previous articles that it was common tradition among the old relatives of both my family and those of my wife, that there were several white persons massacred in the county quite a while before we have any record. Some have expressed a doubt as to the relia- bility of these traditions, and saying that we were probably confusing them with the Cox murder in Bond County, and some others that General Whitesides punished the Indians so severely for. But I feel sure that I was correct in my first statement, though it was based on tradition. Since writing the statement, I had a talk with Mrs. Amos Holbrooks, who was a daughter of Sam Penter and a grand daughter of Henry Briance, and she remembers distinctly hearing her mother and other old women of her age, tell of them and tell exactly where they were committed. One was the murder of a little boy and the capture of two girls, and the other the murder of a whole family. In the first case
the family lived in a cabin near the junction of Town Fork and Shoal creek, not far from where the Pepper Mill stood, only nearer the creek. The parents of the three children were away from the cabin, and the Indians killed the boy and took the girls on their ponies and rode off with them. The parents after finding the murdered boy with the neighbors went in pursuit and when the girls saw them they jumped off the ponies and thus lightened of their extra weight, the Indians made good their es- cape. As the girls jumped off one Indian threw his tomahawk at one girl striking her on the lower part of her spine cutting a very deep gash, which came near being her death call.
The other case was a family, don't know how many, who lived just east of where Louis Mc- Pherson now lives, in a cabin which stood in an open place, cleared off in what was called for many years Nicholdson's field. So named from the fact that Mr. Nicholson widened and broad- ened the open space formerly cleared off by the murdered man. This field is remembered by many old people today. After the murdering of the boy and of the family a fort, or block- house, was built not far from where the boy was murdered, for protection against the Indians, and as there were but seven families living in the entire community at that time, they all either lived in the fort or had easy access to it in case of danger."
BLEVINS ON INDIAN HISTORY.
The following account written by Henry B. Blevins, of an outrage just across the line in Bond County, is certainly true, and well known to the ancestors of many of the citizens of this county.
"In June, 1811, there was a family in Bond County by the name of Cox, residing about three miles northeast of Pocahontas. The family con- sisted of Mr. Cox, his wife, son and daughter. On the morning of June 2, 1811, the senior mem- bers of the family went out to pick wild straw- berries. When they returned they found the son murdered and scalped, the daughter gone and plenty of evidence of Indians. Whitesides was notified at once, and his rangers started in hot pursuit. A number of the Indians riding ponies, made the band easily trailed. They went north- west, crossed Cahokia Creek three or four miles below its head, and a party of the Indians on foot were overtaken as they were resting in a
DANIEL M. BLACKWELDER
MRS. DANIEL M. BLACKWELDER
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
small grove of timber on Prairie Branch. There one Indian was killed and more wounded. Two miles to the northeast another Indian was killed. They continued the pursuit killing one Indian at a time, until near Chatham in Sangamon County, where they regained possession of the girl, and returned, claiming they had killed all- the Indians but two."
Perhaps no Indian raid was better verified by landmarks than this one. The citizens of Pocahontas and vicinity contributed funds and erected a suitable monument to the memory of young Cox. I have seen the monument and listened to the tales they told me there. The same story, as a boy I often heard at my father's knee. The monument is about ten feet high and stands alone at the edge of the forest, marking the site of the Cox home, where the young man was slain by an enemy who was a terror to the pioneers of those early days.
The grove where the first Indian was killed, has long since disappeared, dead of old age, but the remnant, I think is remembered by C. A. ' Walker and Major F. M. Chapman. The last four trees of that grove stood in the branch close to my father's house. My oldest brother found under those trees an old butcher knife, well eaten with rust. My father thought it belonged to those Indians. The place in Cahokia Town- ship where the second Indian was killed is better verified. Four boys, Kinder and Karnes, picking berries thirty-six years afterwards, found an old flint lock gun and a tomahawk both nearly eaten up with rust. This find was one-half mile south of the village of Clyde, now Hornsby. I have often seen these relics, but unfortunately ยท they were not preserved.
INDIAN MOUNDS.
There are in Montgomery County quite a number of artificial mounds known to have been built by mound builders or later aboriginal in- habitants. Whether these mounds were built for defense. for the burial of the dead, or for religious rites, is not certain, but from the evi- dence obtained in this county it is not an un- reasonable supposition that all these objects were considered in their building. The Cahokia Mound and the Monks Mound near the Missis- sippi River are two of the most striking ones because of their great size. Those of Mont- gomery County are not so large, indeed many of them are rather small. There are several
in the vicinity of the McPherson bridge across Shoal Creek, and more than one of these have been dug into, and evidence of Indian burials found in abundance. There are some west of Hillsboro and in other parts of the county. It is believed that rich and valuable discoveries would be made by a scientific investigation of these mounds if done by the proper authorities.
CHAPTER IV.
EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS.
BEGINNINGS-EARLIEST SETTLERS-EARLY NEWS- PAPERS-EARLY FAMILIES-WHERE THE EARLY SETTLERS LOCATED-EARLY OFFICIALS AND CITI- ZENS-TOWNS QUIESCENT-HAMILTON -- WOODS- BORO-LEESBURG - HARDENSBURG - AUDUBON ~ EARLY CHURCHES - HURRICANE AND CLEAR SPRINGS CHURCHES-HILLSBORO PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - HILLSBORO LUTHERAN CHURCH - WAVELAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH-BEAR CREEK CHURCH-OLDEN TIME PREACHER-THOMAS W. HYNES-MONTGOMERY COUNTY SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSOCIATION - OLD LOG CABIN - OLD SETTLERS ASSOCIATION-OLD SETTLERS REGISTERED IN 1883 AND 1884-THE OLD SETTLERS-CLEAR SPRINGS SETTLEMENT-HILLSBORO WOOLEN MILLS.
BEGINNINGS.
The character of a people and the reputation of a community are alike dependent on the in- fluences and the individuality of their promoters. The early settlers of Montgomery County came here from Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Ohio, and a few from the northeastern states, all actuated by a common purpose, that of securing homes where the soil was remarkably fertile and could be obtained for a pittance. They willingly faced untold privations and dan- gers innumerable for love of family, and in an- ticipation of securing a "vine and fig tree" that they could call their own. First a rude cabin was erected, and a crop planted, then their interests were directed toward a building which should be for the double purpose of wor- ship and the schooling of their children. Such
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
people, however, unschooled and rude of manner, went to work with undaunted hearts in rever- ential respect for God, love of family, and ad- miration for the country of opportunity. They were your and my ancestors of a hundred years ago, and we mention their names and endur- ances with something of awe, and reverential admiration.
As Montgomery County, while it was still a part of Bond County, was settled much earlier than many of the other counties of Illinois, its history naturally extends back further into the past, and the pioneers of this region were ven- turesome and brave, for when the first settlers, bent upon making here a permanent home, ar- rived, the Indians were still plentiful, and no improvements of any kind had been made. Roads were non-existant, and travel was diffi- cult. These pioneers must have been very opti- inistic to have been able to look into the future and vision fields of golden grain, meadows dotted with high grade cattle, and flourishing communi- ties where, when they arrived there was but timber, prairie and swamp land.
EARLIEST SETTLERS.
The first white settlement in the present Mont- gomery County was made during the fall of 1816, or the very early spring of 1817, by a colony formed of Joseph Williams, Henry Piatt, William McDavid, John and Henry Hill, Jesse Johnson, Henry Sears, Aaron Case, Harris Reavis, Joseph and Charles Wright, Easton Whitten, John Kirkpatrick, Henry Rowe, John Russell, David Bradford. E. Gwinn, and others. They took up land on Hurricane Creek in the extreme southern part of the county. Another settlement was made by some colonists from Kentucky and Tennessee on Shoal Creek, in what is now Hillsboro Township, during 1817- 18, and among them were: Alexander McWil- liams, Solomon Prewitt, John Norton, Roland Shepherd, Jarvis Forehand, Gordon Crandall, William Clark, David McCoy, Nicholas Locker- man, Hugh Kirkpatrick, Melchoir Fogleman, William Griffith, Joseph McAdams, Israel Se- ward, James Street, Luke Steel, John McPhail,
Joel Smith, David Kirkpatrick, Jesse Townsend, Jacob Cress, Israel Butler, the Harkeys and a number of others. Hiram Rountree came to this settlement in 1821, and spent here the remainder of his life. Some who came a little later were Israel Fogleman, Nicholas Voyles, William
Stephens, Austin Grisham, James Baker, John Jordan, James Card, Thomas J. Todd, John Alexander, Henry and Peter Hill, M. Mason and others.
A very interesting list of the early settlers with some slight mention of what they later ac- complished is given below :
Aaron Armstrong, who was one of the first county commissioners to locate at the county seat. E. J. C. Alexander, who was one of the early newspaper men, at various times editor or owner in whole, or part, of the Union Monitor, the News Letter, the Litchfield News and the Hillsboro Democrat, and who died recently in Greenville. Elijah C. Berry was another of the first commissioners to locate at the county seat. Stephen R. Briggs was one of Litchfield's first settlers. William II. Brown was the third man to marry in Montgomery County, Rev. Townsend performing the ceremony. John Beck was one of the first county commissioners, built the first mill in the county, operating it on Hurricane Creek, with ox-power. Dr. Levi Boone was cap- tain of the first company raised in the county for service in the Black Hawk War and was afterwards mayor of Chicago. C. B. Block- burger, at one time county judge, was a first sergeant in the Black Hawk War, and state in- spector general of state militia. James Brown was a private in Boone's company during the Black Hawk War. Colvert P. Blair was also a private in Boone's company during the Black Hawk War. Hiram C. Bennett was a private in the Boone company. James Blackman owned first the Mirror and later the Montgomery Herald. William Brewer was a county judge and a merchant of Hillsboro. David Bradford was a member of the first grand jury of the county. Samuel Briggs was a private in Boone's company during the Black Hawk War. Newton Coffey bought and deeded to the county, land for the courthouse. James Card lived in Fill- more Township, and was a member of the first grand jury of the county. Absolom Cress was a private in Boone's Company during the Black Hawk War. George W. Conners was also a private in the above named company, as was John Crabtrec. Mr. Clapp was first editor of the Prairie Beacon, the first paper issued in Montgomery County. C. D. Dickerson was editor of the Hillsboro Mirror under the owner- ship of Mr. Jackson. George Davis, a member of the first grand jury in the county ; John Elder, also a member of the first grand jury in the
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
county ; Melchoir Fogleman, one of the first commissioners appointed to locate the county seat; Israel Fogleman, a third sergeant during the Black Hawk War; Elisha Freeman, a mem- ber of the first grand jury of the county ; Jarvis Forehand, a member of the first grand jury in the county ; William Griffith, a private in Boone's Company ; Frank Gilmore. the publisher of the Prairie Mirror in 1850 ; Silas Gilmore, associated with Frank Gilmore in the Mirror; James G. Human, first lieutenant of Boone's Company ; Johnson Hampton, a private in the above named company, as were also James Hawkins, Benja- min Holbrook, Joshua Hunt ; B. S. Hood, editor of the News Letter of Litchfield during 1868; Henry Hill, a member of the first grand jury of the county ; Samuel Ishmael, a private in Boone's company ; William L. Jackson, owned the Prairie Mirror in 1851, and was later a Hillsboro merchant; A. H. Knapp, a private in Boone's company ; E. Killpatrick, a private in Boone's company; Stephen Killingsworth, a private in Boone's company ; John W. Mitchell, owned the Union Monitor and News Letter ; Nicholas Lockerman, the first man to marry in the county, Rev. James Street performing the ceremony; George E. Ludewick, a private in Boone's company ; Robert A. Long, also a private in the above mentioned company ; Daniel Mer- riweather, one of the first constables; William Merriweather, a private in Boone's company ; D. W. Munn, editor of the Illinois Free Press in about 1859-61 ; Thomas 'J. Mansfield, a private in Boone's company ; Joseph McAdams, who owned the house in which the first court was held ; David McCoy, the second man to marry in the county, Rev. James Street performing the ceremony : John McAdams, one of the first county commissioners; William C. McDavid. fourth sergeant in Boone's company; Betsey Nussman, who dug out the first spring in the county with her bare hands; John Prater, Jr .. first corporal in Boone's company ; Samuel Pea- cock, a private in Captain Boone's company ; Hiram Rountree, a county commissioner and the first county clerk ; Eli Robb, a private in Boone's company ; William Roberts, a private during the Black Hawk War, serving in Captain Boone's company ; Hiram Reaves, a member of the first grand jury held in the county ; John Reynolds. one of the judges and held the first circuit court in the county ; Thomas Robinson, a member of the first grand jury held in the county, were all very early settlers.
Luke Lee Steel gave his residence for the pur- pose of holding the second county court and meeting of the commissioners. Rev. Daniel Sherer organized the first Lutheran Church in the county. Israel Seward was the first school commissioner and one of the first county com- missioners. Newton Street was a corporal in Boone's company. William D. Shirley, a private in Boone's company, later became a judge of the county. Curtis Scribner was a private in Boone's company. Rev. Francis Springer was president of Hillsboro College and one of the editors of the Mirror. George Shipman was a member of the first grand jury of the county. John Seward was a member of the first grand jury of the county. Louis Scribner was a member of the first grand jury of the county, Rev. James Street, one of the first commissioners appointed to lo- cate the county seat, preached the first sermon and married the first couple in the county. Eleaser Townsend was the first probate judge of the county. John Tillson, the first county treas- urer, was the first Hillsboro postmaster, Rev. Jesse Townsend was the first Presbyterian preacher in the county. Michael Turner, Thomas J. Todd, and McKinzie Turner were privates in Boone's company. Joseph Wright was one of the first commissioners appointed to locate the county seat. Silas Wait was one of the second commissioners appointed to select the county seat. Joel Wright, served as first sheriff of the county from 1821 to 1826. James Wright served as one of the first constables of the county. M. H. Walker was a sergeant in Boone's company, and J. B. Williams, Eaton Whitten, and Ben R. Williams were members of Boone's company. James Walker was a member of the first grand jury of the county. James Young was a private in Boone's company.
Some of the pioneer families are worthy of special mention because of the part their mem- bers bore in the development of the county, and among these & few are given.
WHERE THE EARLY SETTLERS LOCATED.
Judge Rountree in his reminiscenses gives the location of many of the old settlers, which is valuable as a matter of history. We give a few of them.
John Beck settled on the Vandalia road, east side of East Fork, near the Richard Blackburn place. He was one of the county's first commis- sioners. Joseph McAdams settled a mile and a
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half south of Hillsboro about where Taylor Springs now stands. It was at his house that the first court was held. The place was known as the Berry Nail place. John Seward settled at what was known as Sewards Grove near Butler. He was the father of Israel and Butler Seward. Seward Butler first settled the Burnap place in Raymond Township, later known as the Elias Miller place. James Wright, son of "Granny Wright," one of the county's first con- stables, lived in a cabin on what is now known as the Henry Haller place. John Tillson first settled on what was later known as the Sherer place, three miles sonthwest of Hillsboro, and here he opened the first store ever conducted in the county. Sam McAdams lived on the place which had been first settled by a Mr. Clark. It was subsequently known as the Thomas Mc- Adams place. John McPhail settled at a place west of Thomas McAdams' place and now known as the Williams Atterbury place, where George Rainey now lives. Luke Lee Steel lived on the place originally settled by his father in law, Joseph McAdams, known as the Berry Nail place, the land being given to Mrs. Steel by her father. Rev. Jesse Townsend the first Presbyterian preacher in the county, first settled what was afterwards known as the Ira Davis place in the southeastern part of the county. William Mc- David first settled on what is known as the Rns- sell place some six miles south of Hillsboro. Later he settled the McDavid homestead, where his grandson, the Rev. Thomas M. McDavid, died a few years ago. Jesse Johnson, settled about seven miles south of Hillsboro on the place well known as the Johnson place as his son and grandson lived on the place. Newton Coffey and Mr. Hill, father of Peter B. Hill, settled near the Hurricane village, as early as the fall of 1816. Eaton Whitten settled the farm in Fill- more Township known as the Kirk farm, not far from the Mt. Moriah Cemetery. Charles Wright settled the place in Fillmore Township known as the Judge Linn place. Henry Hill settled in Fillmore Township on the place known as the Jeremiah Ellis place. Aaron Casey settled the land in Fillmore Township known as the John Landers place.
By way of locating some of the earliest set- tlers, Mrs. J. E. Opdyke, who was raised in the now extinct town of Woodsboro, then the most promising one in the county, says "I will men- tion the names of those I can remember who lived near Woodsboro in the days I am describ
ing. East of us were, the MeDavids, the Kill- patricks, the "Brooks, Jesse Busan, Frederick Scherer, Wesley Seymour ; West of us were, John Griffeth, Mrs. Hanken, mother of Mrs. Whit- ledge, James Paden, Alex Paden, Anthony Street, Phillip Corlew, David Corlew, William Corlew, who by the way used to teach a "loud" school, the kind that made the most noise ; North of ns were, Mrs. Cromwell, Allen Gray, Peter Cress, Alex McAdams, Joseph McAdams, Wesley Simmons, William Youell, Reuben Ross, Ed Grubbs, David Starr, John Canaday, Thomas Phillips, Joseph Bnrnap, Israel Seward, Thomas Gray, Ben R. Kelley, John Killpatrick, and south of ns were, Mr. Roper, brother-in-law of Ben Wilton, Ammon Forehand, John Kirkpatrick, Jacob Whitehead, Robert Gillman, George Brown, Mr. Weise, William Stepheson, Jabez Wheeler, John McAdams, Edison McLain, Lnke Steel, Rev. James Street, and his sons, James Anthony and Israel, Israel Fogelman, William Jenkins, Wilkins Webb."
EARLY OFFICIALS AND CITIZENS.
We liere quote an article from the reminis- censes of A. H. H. Rountree, written in 1873 : "In 1823 the courts were still held at the house of Joseph McAdams, but in that year it was owned by Luke Lee Steel, and under similar surroundings as before. The first circuit court in 1823, was held in June and the second in November, John Reynolds being the judge. It will be remembered that in June, 1823, Hills- boro was located as the county seat instead of Hamilton. The anthorities deemed Hillsboro satisfactory, and therefore would be permanent. Hence arrangements were immediately made for building a courthonse. Its architecture, while very simple, still was fully up to the times, as before described. The first court held in the first conrthonse was held June 17, 1824, and the court lasted two days. There was no call terms of the court in 1824, probably becanse none was needed. The court was held by Judge Thomas Reynolds, no connection of John Reynolds.
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