Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 127

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > Illinois > Morgan County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County > Part 127

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).

The first "Temples of Justice" used in Mor- gan County were exceedingly plain and primi- tive. Indeed the early judicial proceedings, in part at least, were conducted in the open air. Some amusing experiences are told of the ju- dicial happenings of that time. Hon. Murray McConnel relates the following of the session of the Circuit Court held at Swinerton's house : "There was but onc building at the place. and that was made of round logs, a single room about sixteen feet square, with an addition, leaned up against one side, half as large as the main building. This was the dwelling- house of Mr. Olmstead and family, who turned out, lived in a camp, and gave up his house to the court. In that camp, by a big log-heap, the females of Mr. Olmstead's family cooked for the Judge and lawyers, and other attend- ants of the court, and set the table, barbecue fashion, between the camp and the house, and all slept on a bed made on the floor in the room where the court was held. This was called field-bed, the sleepers laid across the

bed, not lengthwise. There was about room enough in this house for the Court, Clerk, Sheriff and lawyers, and one jury at a time."

The first court house was built in Jackson- ville in the year 1826, and it was as good a court house as the state of the county finances could afford. It was a frame building, thirty by forty feet square, set on blocks sawed from a round log. It was located on the northwest corner of the public square in Jacksonville, and cost about four hundred and fifty dollars. It was burned on the sixth day of December, 1827, and with it were destroyed all the rec- ords of the circuit and county courts of the county, and some deeds for lands belonging to citizens in the Recorder's office. The loss was not great, however, as the records were few, and the Recorder, Dennis Rockwell, had by chance taken the record of deeds to his house for some purpose, thereby saving it.

On the 17th of December, after the fire, a special meeting of the County Commissioners was called. At that meeting James Deaton and Allen Q. Lindsey were present, James Gill- ham. the remaining member of the board, being absent. The first record of this court after the fire, and the first now preserved, reads as follows: "Whereas, on the night of the 6th instant, the court house of this county, to- gether with the office of the Clerk of the Cir- cuit and County Commissioners' Courts, and all the papers and records of said offices, were destroyed by fire; it is ordered by this court that the County Treasurer pay to the order of . Dennis Rockwell, the Clerk of this court, out of the first money received into the treas- ury, fifty dollars in specie, for the purpose of purchasing books and stationery for the use of the county offices." Many persons had pur- chased lots of the county, and to those whose deeds were destroyed, or not recorded in the book mentioned as preserved from the fire. the Commissioners were called upon to give new deeds, which they in all cases dld, the giving of these papers being among the first acts of the County Court.

At a meeting of the County Court on the 6th day of March, 182S. the court ordered the Clerk to give notice that, on the 10th of April following, the building of a court house would be let to responsible bidders. At first the plan was to construct a brick bullding, two storles high, forty feet square. On the 22d a special

628

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

meeting of the commissioners was called, and the plan altered, making the building fifty feet long and forty feet wide. None of the bids offered for its construction were accepted, and no contracts were made that year. The next year the County Commissioners were Jo- seph M. Fairfield, John Wyatt and . Samuel Rodgers, and at a meeting of this court on January 31, 1829, it was decided to let the work in separate bids, and these were accordingly advertised. On the 14th of March the con- tracts for its construction were let; the brick and stone work to Garrison W. Berry and Henry Robley, for $1,720; the carpenter work to Rice Dunbar and Henry Robley, for $1,350, and a few minor contracts to other individuals. On March 5, 1830, contracts for finishing the court house, putting in the windows, putting window-shutters in place, with many other ar- ticles needed, were let to Rice Dunbar and Henry Blandford, for $1,250; for lathing and plastering to Henry Robley and Isham Dalton, for $326.62 1-2; for painting to John Challon, for $389.00; and to James Hurst, for the floors, $41.00. The court house was accepted by the County Commissioners at their meeting on September 8, 1830. The contractors and build- ers were paid in installments, as had been agreed. The total cost, when complete, was about $4,000. The building was the first brick house in the county, and occupied the central square of land on the south side of State Street, and west of Main Street, the present Central Park in Jacksonville.

To meet the expense in the erection of this edifice, and for the county revenue, a tax was ordered levied at the meeting of March 4, 1829, on all slaves, indentured or registered, negro or mulatto servants, on all pleasure carriages, on distilleries, on stock in trade, on live stock, and on all personal property except household furniture, the ratio being one-half per cent. One per cent. was also established for the erection of public buildings, in accordance with an act passed by the General Assembly.

This court house remained in use until it was superseded by the present commodious structure, completed in 1868. The original structure had served the county thirty-eight years, and then gave way to its handsome suc- cessor. It had for some time been the desire of the citizens generally that it should be re- moved from its position, and the square left

for an ornament, as a Central Park for the city, which was done when the present court house was erected. The "old court house," as it was called, was also inadequate to the in- creasing demands of the county, and was, when the present court house was erected, pulled down and the material used elsewhere.

Gen. Murray McConnel, in a historical ad- dress delivered at the laying of the corner stone of the present Morgan County court nouse, May 12, 1868, made the following ref- erence to the older building (the third seat of justice in Morgan County) and the leading lawyers of those early days:

"In that house the people of Morgan County have met and held court, discussed public mat- ters, and nominated candidates for nearly forty years. In it some of the great men of the na- tion made their debut. There one of our greatest statesmen and orators, Stephen A. Douglas, made his first law argument, and presided as one of the Judges of the Supreme and Circuit Courts of this State; and in that house, by a meeting of his friends, he was first nominated for Congress, where he did honor to the State that elected him, and by his powerful talent rose to be an equal to the greatest men of the nation. In that court house the energetic and talented John J. Har- din commenced his brilliant career. There he, too, was first nominated to Congress, where, by his energy, tact and talent, in an uncom- monly short space of time, he rose to eminence in the councils of the nation. His bright and promising future was brought to an untimely end on the bloody field of Buena Vista in Mex- ico. There he fell with McKee, Clay and other brave men, bravely fighting the battles of his country. In that old court house, also, did the kind hearted and polished gentleman, the highly talented statesman and profound law- yer, James A. McDougal, late Senator in Con- gress from California, but now deceased, com- mence his career as a practicing lawyer.

"In that house, too, the young man of bril- liant mind, a good lawyer, and a polished writ- er, John L. McConnel, born and educated in Morgan County, made his maiden speech as an attorney at the bar, but like the memorable Hardin, he, too, fought and was wounded at the battle of Buena Vista, and though he was not, like Hardin, left dead upon the field, yet that most painful wound brought him to an

John D. Chp

629

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

untimely grave, in the midst of his youth and usefulness. In addition to these, I could men- tion Governor Joseph Duncan, Judge John Turney, John W. Evans, Josiah Lamborn, My- ron Leslie, Waller Jones, Jesse B. Thomas, Governor Thomas Ford, and ABRAHAM LIN- COLN, and many others whose names are inti- mately connected in memory with the old and crumbling walls of that old court house, but whose bones are now moldering in the dust, and whose names are written among the dead. But I will not pursue the mournful subject further. I will only ask that the dust of the falling edifice may be respected for the good it has done, and for the noble and honorable heads it has sheltered in bygone years. I will read to you a list of the various judges who have presided in the Circuit Courts of this county, and also a list of the names of the law- yers who have resided in this county from its organization to the year 1845. I do this to put their names on record, if any one should desire to refer to the list:

"Judges-John Reynolds, John York Sawyer, Samuel D. Lockwood, Stephen T. Logan, Jesse B. Thomas, Thomas Ford, Stephen A. Douglas, William Thonias. William Brown, David M. Woodson, Charles D. Hodges.

"Lawyers-John Turney, Murray McConnel, J. Quinby, Benjamin Cox. William Thomas, James Berdan, P. M. Irwin, John J. Hardin, Waller Jones, David Evans, John W. Evans, Josiah Lamborn, James A. McDougal, Stephen A. Douglas, A. H. Buckner, Myron Leslie, Hen- ry B. McClure, William Brown, S. G. Ander- son, A. S. Manning. T. I. Deumus, C. I. Drake, Charles Jones." ,

The Present Court House .- The court house completed in 1830, having become too limited for the largely increased business of the coun- ty, and being insufficient for the safe preserva- tion of the large accumulation of valuable rec- ords, it was resolved to erect a more commo- dious and permanent court house. The County Commissioners at that time, to whom the work of erecting the new county building was com- mitted, were Hon. Herbert G. Whitlock, Hon. Stephen Dunlap and Hon. John Hardin. It being generally desired by the people that the Public Square should be kept as a city park without any buildings in it, the Commissioners selected the northwest corner of West State

and West Streets as the site of the new court house. The building was completed in 1868, at a cost of $204,000. The material used for the exterior is stone from the quarries at Jol- iet. The architectural design and effect are very pleasing. The internal arrangement for the various purposes of the county business is ample and convenient.

County Jail .- The first Morgan County jail was located on the west side of North Main Street, south of North Street. It was built of hewed timbers, each about one foot square, and every wall was made double. Between these double walls upright pieces of timber, of the same dimensions as that used in the wall. were placed, so that if a criminal attempted to escape by cutting through the wall, these inner pieces would, when a section was cut out of one of them, drop down, and thus the process would have to be repeated until the whole would be cut away. This would take more time than any criminal could use without being detected, and it is doubtful if the process was ever attempted. The strong doors of that supposedly safe institution were hung upon common wrought hinges, which fact, accord- ing to a legend of pioneer times. the inmates were not slow to discover, and Sampson-like, lifted them up and went off with them. Never- theless, that old log jail, though uncouth in ap- pearance, was probably as safe a repository for criminals as its more pretentious succes- sors. Mr. Thomas Carson was the first jailor. At the meeting of the County Court, on March 9, 1832, it was decided to erect a new jail, and the clerk of that court was ordered to adver- tise in the "Illinois Patriot" for sealed pro- posals from bidders for its construction. It was determined that it should be built of brick and stone, and the contract for that part of the construction was, at a subsequent meeting, awarded to Abram Dewitt, for about eighteen hundred dollars. The carpenter work was given to Ebenezer Miller for nearly fifteen hundred dollars. That jail was completed in 1833, its entire cost being about thirty-five hundred dollars. That jail was the stronghold for detaining criminals many years. It, in turn, also became unsafe through the lapse of years, and was declared unfit for use. In the spring of 1864 steps were taken for the erec- tion of a more substantial jail. The old one

630

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

was pronounced unsafe and uncomfortable by the County Commissioners, who decided to erect a new one. After mature deliberation, it was decided to construct the building with iron cells, and Hon. Stephen Dunlap, a mem- ber of the court, was instructed to proceed to Cincinnati, Ohio, with a competent me- chanic and make arrangements for its con- struction. The old lot and jail were sold to Mr. Jesse T. Newman for $3,000. A new site on the northeast corner of South Main Street and East College Avenue was selected and purchased of Mr. John Trabue for $3,500. Work on the jail was soon after begun, and prosecut- ed to its completion. The building cost $27,- 500, and is yet in use. An addition was made in 1904 at an expense of nearly $14,000.

County Poor Asylum. - The keeping of the county poor has always been a serious question in the management of county affairs. At first they were "farmed out," as it was termed, that is, given to, suitable persons to keep. These were obliged to provide a reasonable mainte- nance. In case the person kept was able to work, the one keeping him could obtain a par- tial recompense in that manner, and in addi- tion was given an allowance from the county treasury. Minors were bound out until of .

age, and the person to whom they were given was required to provide schooling for them a reasonable length of time during the year. These and various methods were tried in the early days of the West, but did not at all times prove satisfactory. With all due dili- gence, in some cases the poor would fall into the hands of those who only desired gain by their labors, and who cared nothing for their moral advancement. Minors would often be mistreated and unprovided with the means of education, and their moral training wholly neglected.

The earliest attempts to provide for this class of people by the county were made about 1840. A poor farm was established a few miles north of Jacksonville, and many of them were sent there for keeping. The house was not built expressly for this purpose, having been a private residence, but was so used. Addi- tions were made to it in 1847, when Joseph Halsep was Superintendent, as the accommoda- tions were not such as desired. At that time

insane persons were kept by the county. Miss Dix, a woman who devoted her life to this un- fortunate class of humanity, came about this time to Morgan County and visited the poor house. Finding all classes of the poor kept to- gether, and no provision for the insane, she vigorously set to work to remedy the evil. She visited the County Commissioners and urgently importuned them to sell the property and pur- chase elsewhere. She selected a site just east of the city, and succeeded in her purpose. On July 12, 1847, James H. Lurton was appointed agent, on behalf of the county, to purchase fourteen acres at a price not to exceed fifty dol- lars per acre. Before the purchase was made the number of acres was increased to thirty. On September 10th the old poor house, and the property belonging thereto, was ordered to be sold. An addition to the new location was pur- chased of W. B. Warren in 1854, for four thou- sand dollars. In accordance with the views of Miss Dix, a building for the use and care of the insane was erected, in addition to the building intended for the paupers, and new and im- proved methods adopted in the treatment of all classes. This farm was occupied till 1867. The city's growth had reached the grounds, and ad- vantageous offers were made to the county for the property. As the population of the county had increased, the number of the poor had also augmented until more land and more accommo- dations were necessary. Land adjoining the farm was too valuable for such purposes, and the County Commissioners decided to sell the property, and, by going farther from the city, purchase more land. On January 27, 1866, in accordance with an order of this court, the county farm, and all property therewith, was sold at public sale to Joseph R. Askew and John T. Springer for $13,375. This sale neces- sitated a new location. The most eligible site, offering timber for fuel, was the farm of Cor- nelius Goltra, about three miles northwest of Jacksonville. That farm of two hundred acres was purchased for about $13,000, and the pres- ent poor house built thereon. It is a good structure, capable of accommodating all those who may call upon the county for keeping, and is excellently managed. In ordinary years the farm bears a large share of the expense, and furnishes employment to all inmates who are able to work.

631

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

CHAPTER III.

GEOGRAPHY-NATURAL PROPERTIES.

GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY-BOUNDARIES AND STREAMS -SOILS AND TIMHER-NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL DRAINAGE-GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS -- BUILDING MATERIALS-WATER COURSES-FAUNA AND FLORA -OSAGE ORANGE HEDGE PLANT-AGRICULTURE- SOIL PRODUCTS-"A MODERN GARDEN OF EDEN"- MORGAN COUNTY AGRICULTURA, SOCIETY-COUNTY FAIRS.

Morgan County is bounded on the north by Cass County, on the east by Sangamon County, on the south by Maconpin and Greene Counties, and on the west by Scott County and the Illi- nois River. It comprises about fifteen and two- thirds congressional townships; or about 563 square miles. Nearly or quite one-half of this is well wooded; the remainder is prairie. Be- sides the Illinois River, which forms a portion of its western boundary, the county is well watered by several lesser streams, among which the Indian, Mauvaisterre, Sandy, and Apple Creeks may be mentioned as the most important. Nearly all these streams head in the county, and attain considerable dimensions before passing beyond its limits. With their tributaries they afford good water facilities to the residents of the county, and carry off the surplus water in times of freshets.

The county, away from the streams, is, in most part, a gently undulating prairie with a rich, dark colored surface soil, similar in all respects to that in the adjoining regions, and differing but little from the general character of all the prairie soils in this part of the State. On the broken land along the streams, the soil is generally lighter colored and clayey, and gen- erally bears a heavy growth of black, white and red oak, with some laurel oak, pin oak, butter- nut and shell-bark hickory, black walnut, but- ternut, white and slippery elm, iron wood, sas- safras, hackberry, redbud, soft and sugar maple, linden and hazel. On the narrow strip of land which borders many of the streams. in addition to many of the above mentioned spe- cies, swamp white oak, chinquapin oak. syca- more, paw-paw and cottonwood are found. In the extreme western portion of the county, the Illinois River is bordered by an extensive tract of bottom land, ranging from four to six miles

in width at different points. In this bottom, with the exception of a few tracts of low sand ridge, covered with stunted black jack, the soil is a rich, arenaceous loam, which, whenever sufficiently elevated, is one of the best soils in the county. A considerable portion of this bot- tom land, however, is, at times, flooded by the river, and certain tracts are so little elevated as to form permanent shallow lakes or sloughs. Along the edges of the bluffs, at their imme- diate base, there is generally a sandy slope, similar in soil and timber to the sand ridges in the bottoms, the material of which is derived from the marly sand of the Loess, of which the bluffs are mainly composed. The general sur- face of the county inclines to the southwest, and the water courses take that general direc- tion. The undulations of the surface afford am- ple drainage for the whole county, so that there is no untillable land either by reason of its too precipitous, or too low character. In the north- western part of the county much valuable land has been obtained by the drainage of small bodies of water. A very large per cent of the county is prairie; the timber being usually con- fined to narrow borders of the streams. The first cultivation of the land was made by clear- ing off the timber. The settlers regarded the prairie lands unsuitable for agricultural pur- poses, the turf being too stubborn to be culti- vable by the agricultural implements then in use. The soil is remarkably productive, and generally inexhaustible. In all essential nat- ural elements for the cultivation of a large va- riety of necessary and valuable products Mor- gan County is unsurpassed by any section of equal extent in our country. The natural undu- lations of the surface, together with the variety and abundance of products, unite to forni scenes of landscape beauty that are rarely surpassed.

Geological Formations .- The surface of Mor- gan County, except the portions adjacent to the water courses, is generally level or gently un- (ulating prairie, similar in character and qual- ities to that comprising a large portion of Cen- tral Illinois. The soil is dark colored, and pos- sesses great fertility. Adjacent to the streams. where the land was originally heavily timbered with a great variety of valuable woods, the soil is light colored and clayey. The surface inclination and the direction of the drainage

632

HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

faces the southwest. The formation of the soil is due to geological and other physical agencies. It is well to consider its wonderful properities and its great importance in the economy of animal life. While the soil is not attractive itself, yet its productions far tran- scend the most elaborate works of art; and having but little diversity of appearance, the endless variety which pervades the vegetable and animal kingdoms springs from its prolific abundance. Its mysterious elements, incorpo- rated in the structure of plants, clothe the earth with verdure and pleasant landscapes. They bloom in the flower, load the breeze with fra- grant odors, blush in the clustering fruit, whiten the fields with harvests for the supply of food, furnish the tissues which, wrought into fabrics, decorate and protect the body, and yield the curative agents for healing the dis- eases to which it is subject. From the same source also proceed the elements which, enter- ing the domain of animal life, pulsate in the blood, suffuse the cheek with the glow of health, speak in the eye, in the nerve become the recip- ients of pleasure and pain, render the tongue vocal with music and eloquence, and fill the brain, the seat of reason and throne of the im- agination, with its glowing imagery and bril- liant fancies. But while the soil is the source of such munificent gifts, it is also the insatiable bourne to which they all must return and be- come soil again, from which other forms will come, and live through endless succession. The lofty tree, spreading its vast canvas of leaves to the winds and breasting the storms of a thousand years, finally dies, and, undergoing decomposition, enriches the earth in which it grew. The king of beasts, whose loud roar can be heard for miles, and whose immense power enables him to prey upon the denizens of his native jungle, can not resist the fate which at length consigns his sinewy trame to the mold. Even the lord of the lower world, notwithstand- ing his exalted position and grasp of intellect, must likewise suffer physical death and mingle with the sod that forms his grave.

The soil was originally formed by the decom- position of rocks. These, by long exposure to the air, water, and frost, became disintegrated, and the comminuted material, acted upon by vegetation, forms the fruitful mold of the sur- face. Almost the entire surface of Illinois is a , stratum of drift, formed by the decomposition

of every variety of rock, and commingled in a homogeneous mass by the agents employed in its distribution. This immense deposit, vary- ing from 10 to 200 feet in thickness, required for its production physical conditions which do not now exist. This splendid soil-forming de- posit is destined to make Illinois the great cen- ter of American wealth and population. Per- haps no other country of the same extent on the face of the globe can boast a soil so ubiquit- ous in its distribution, and so universally pro- ductive. Enriched by all the minerals in the crust of the earth, it necessarily contains a great variety of constituents. Since plants differ so widely in the elements of which they are composed, this multiplicity of composition is the means of growing a great diversity of crops, and the amount produced is correspond- ingly large. So great is the fertility that years of continued cultivation do not materially diminish the yield; and, should sterility be induced by excessive working, the subsoil can be made available. This subsoil extends from two to ten, and sometimes even twenty to thirty feet in depth, and when mixed with the mold of the surface, possesses a greater pro- ducing capacity than the surface soil had at first. Other States have limited areas as pro- ductive, but nearly the entire surface of Illi- nois is arable land, which, when brought under cultivation, will become one continuous scene of verdure and agricultural profusion.

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.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 127

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Short, William F., 1829- 4n
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286