Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 136

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

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"Art. 9. There shall be neither local nor po- litical distinction of parties in the selection of candidates for office, save one, which requireth that he shall be decidedly opposed to slavery; nevertheless, it is expected that he shall inherit morality, integrity and capacity.

"Art. 10. On the application, and previous to, the admission of new members, the president, or in his absence, the Vice-President, shall exact the following pledge:

"You, A. B., do solemnly pledge your word and sacred honor that you are friendly to the nat- ural and political rights of man, and will use all honorable means to prevent the introduction of slavery into this State."

Thus it will be seen that Morgan County was peopled by many who were in conscientious and hearty sympathy with the earliest efforts to rid our land of the wrong and curse of human bond- age. At the famous Lovejoy Convention held in Upper Alton, October 26-28, 1837, among the members enrolled were the following from Mor- gan County: Edward Beecher, Elihu Wolcott, William Carter, E. Jenney, A. B. Whitlock and J. B. Turner. The convention was broken up by a mob of outsiders, but next day a State Anti- Slavery Society was formed. In the election of its officers Mr. Elihu Wolcott was chosen as President. An address to the people of the State was issued, prepared by Messrs. Wolcott, Beecher and Carter, all of Morgan County.

Rev. Elijah Parish Lovejoy, who was conduct- ing an anti-slavery paper at Alton, was assas- sinated by a mob, on the evening of November 7,1837.

Rev. D. Pat Henderson, for many years a res- ident of Jacksonville, published the first aboli- tion newspaper, "The Statesman," west of the Alleghany Mountains, even before Lovejoy's time. It was published in Jacksonville, over Goltra's hat store. Professor J. B. Turner was the editor.

During the years 1851 to 1857 the most hon- ored political representative of Jacksonville was Hon. Richard Yates, Sr. In 1856 when the Re- publican party was organized, at Bloomington, Ill., upon an anti-slavery platform, Mr. Yates heartily espoused its cause. He was a member of that celebrated Convention, and was one of its Vice-Presidents.

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill re- pealing the Missouri Compromise greatly aroused and intensified the anti-slavery senti- ment of the country. The people were startled and alarmed by the passage of that act, and it led to the organization of a new party, to pre- vent the introduction of slavery into the Terri- tories, which party afterwards came to be known as the Republican. Many clubs and so- cieties had been organized previous to that time, all over the country, for the abolition of slavery. But the first club or society formed for the pur- pose of preventing the introduction of slavery into the Territories, so far as known, was a so-

Sallie B. Loum.

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ciety of seven citizens of Jacksonville. There were only those seven persons present, namely: Elihu Wolcott, Joseph O. King, Anderson Fore- man, John Mathers, William Harrison, Charles Chappel and James Johnson. That club was or- ganized for the very same purpose for which the Republican party was subsequently formed at Bloomington, Illinois, in 1856.

The part taken by citizens of Morgan County, in the anti-slavery agitation of that early day, is further instanced by the fact that, through the suggestion of the "Morgan Journal," of which Paul Selby was then the editor, a conference of Anti-Nebraska editors was called at Decatur, Ill., on February 22, 1856, and that conference called the Bloomington Convention held on May 29th of that year, when the Republican party in Illinois was formed. It is worthy of note that this conference was held on the same day on which a conference of a similar character, by representatives from different States, was held in Pittsburg, Pa., which resulted in the calling of the Republican National Convention at Phil- adelphia, on the 17th of June of that year, at which John C. Fremont was nominated for the Presidency. Thus it will be seen that the new party in Illinois was launched simultaneously with that of the Nation, and that citizens of Morgan County bore their part in that historic event. (See "Anti-Nebraska Editorial Conven- tion," Hist. Encyc. of Ill., pp. 18-19.)

Besides the names given in the foregoing ac- count of the anti-slavery movement in Morgan County, there were many others equally active and prominent ir various ways, who deserve to be mentioned, if space allowed, such as Peter Melindy, Dr. Samuel Adams, Timothy Chamber- lain, William Kirby, Julius Willard, Samuel Willard, Azel Pierson, William Holland, Henry Irving, William H. Williams, William Strawn, Rev. William Hindle, Rev. James H. Dickens, Rev. Horace Spalding, Benjamin Henderson (colored), Dr. David Prince, Dr. M. M. L. Reed, Ebenezer Carter. D. B. Ayers, Joseph H. Ban- croft, Horace Bancroft, J. W. Lathrop, T. D. Eames, Asa Talcott, Mr. Hoyt, Mr. Burdett, Wal- den Stewart, Mr. Snedeker, Mr. Pitman, Dr. Rus- sel, Dr. Adams, Isaac D. Rawlings, Dr. J. M. Sturtevant, David Spencer (colored) and many others.

There was no concealment of the fact that Jacksonville was a station on "The Under- ground Railroad." Many fugitive slaves here

found protection, rest and assistance in their flight for freedom. Many were the sad and thrilling experiences of those who were active in the service of that "road." The story of some of them would rival "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in pa- thos and heroism; and if the report of the pri- vate and public anti-slavery meetings that were held, and the addresses delivered, and the for- mal action taken in such meetings, were all written, it would make a volume of great size and historical value.

The Portuguese Colony .- The coming of the Portuguese colony to Morgan County forms one of the most thrilling events in its history. The leaving of their native land by the colonists was due to religious persecution. In 1844 Rev. Rob- ert F. Kelley, D. D., a physician and Presby- terian clergyman, went from Scotland to the Island of Madeira. He was the means of start- ing a wonderful revival of religion, in which it is reported great numbers of the people joined the Presbyterian Church. That result angered the authorities, and measures were taken to stop the preaching of Dr. Kelley. He was ar- rested and put in jail, but after long imprison- ment managed to escape, through the aid of British residents, and was taken to England in a British steamer. The converts were so vio- lently persecuted that they fled to the moun- tains, where they lived on roots and berries, and endured many cruel hardships. In September, 1844, seventeen men and five women were cast. into jail. Among those prisoners was a girl aged thirteen years, who afterwards became the wife of Mr. Aneceto Joaquin, one of the refu- gees, who was in prison many months. An- other of those prisoners was Mr. J. C. Vascon- cellos, now aged 84 years. He is a veteran of our Civil War, having been a member of the One Hundred and First Illinois Volunteers. He was in prison for twenty-two months at Funchal, in the Island of Madeira. Others of the colonists suffered similar experiences of religious perse- cution. In August, 1846, a shipload of refugees sailed from Funchal, Madeira Island. They were poor and desolate, having no clothes except what they had on, which were torn and ragged from long hiding among the briars and brush of the mountains. They first went to the Island of Trinidad, one of the West India Islands, belong- ing to Great Britain. After remaining there more than a year, they went to New York City by invitation of the American Protestant So-

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

ciety of New York, in charge of Rev. M. J. Gon- salves, who was sent to pilot them to this (to them) strange land. They reached New York December 1, 1848, where they remained until October, 1849, when they came to Jacksonville. On their arrival they were received by Gov. Au- gustus C. French, Rev. Julian M. Sturtevant, D. D., President of Illinois College, Rev. Albert Hale, of Springfield, and by many other char- itable persons, who cared for them until they be- came self-supporting. There were 350 persons in the first colony. In 1851 there were 211 more who came to Jacksonville. These last were cared for by the first arrivals, who by this time had acquired sufficient means to afford the needed assistance. In 1853 there were 273 additional arrivals, who were also cared for by those who had preceded them. A portion of these refugees went to Springfield, Ill., where there are about 1,000 of their descendants residing. Of the original colonists there are now (1905) but fourteen remaining in Jacksonville, and twelve at Springfield. Almost all the Portuguese be- long to the Presbyterian Church. Until 1896 their religious services were conducted in the Portuguese language, from which time the Eng- lish language has been used in all their services, as very few of the younger generation speak the Portuguese. The Society of Philanthropic Aid, however, uses exclusively the Portuguese lan- guage in their ritualistic forms. To that society only Portuguese, or their descendants, can be- long. It is charitable in its character, and pro- vides for the poor of their nationality. The Portuguese population of Morgan County now number about 1,700, and, as a class, they are excellent citizens. By their habits of industry and frugality they have acquired a competence,

some having amassed a large amount of prop- erty. They have excellent natural intellectual gifts, and take great interest in education. Sev- eral have occupied places of public trust and honor. The father of Mr. John Cherry, the well known paving contractor, is a Portuguese refu- gee. Mr. Cherry is said to be worth $500,000, and is the largest owner of city real estate in Morgan County.

Jacksonville in 1834 .- The writer of this his- tory became a resident of Morgan County in the autumn of 1834. The following is a brief de- scription of Jacksonville when he first saw it. (Synopsis by Mrs. M. M. L. Jumper) :

There were sixteen stores, six grocery stores, two drug stores, two taverns, several boarding houses, one baker, two saddlers, three hatters, one silversmith, one machinist, one house and sign painter, one watchmaker, two tinners, three cabinet-makers, six tailors, two cordwainers (shoemakers), four blacksmiths, three chair- makers, one coach-maker, one wagon-maker, one wheelwright, eleven lawyers, ten physicians, one steam mill, one saw-mill, one manufactory for cotton yarn, one distillery, two oil mills, two card factories, one tannery, three brickyards, a brick courthouse, a county jail, a brick market- house (standing in the public square, near the northwest corner, with the ground floor sur- rounded by brick columns, and a large second- story room for public meetings and offices), a brick Methodist church, a brick Episcopal church, a wood-frame Presbyterian church, a brick female academy, Illinois College (one mile west of town), one book-bindery and job print- ing office combined, two weekly newspapers, "The Patriot" and "The Gazette."

2.W. brum

PART II.

CITY OF JACKSONVILLE.

CHAPTER XI.

MUNICIPAL HISTORY.

EARLY HISTORY-MORGAN COUNTY CREATED-COUN- TY-SEAT IS LOCATED AND NAMED JACKSONVILLE- FIRST OFFICERS-THE FIRST STORE-EARLY BUILD- INGS-ILLINOIS COLLEGE FOUNDED IN 1829-FIRST TOWN INCORPORATION-CHOLERA EPIDEMIC OF 1833-MORGAN & SANGAMON RAILROAD-CHANGE IN VILLAGE INCORPORATION-CITY GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED IN 1867-PUBLIC UTILITIES-GAS AND ELECTRIC LIGHTING-CITY WATER WORKS- ARTESIAN WELLS-NEW WATER SYSTEM COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION-STREET RAILWAY- LIBRARY BUILDING-POSTOFFICE BUILDING.

When the law establishing the County of Mor- gan was passed, January 31, 1823, not an inhab- itant dwelt on the future city's site. Owing to the fact that, at that time, but few families lived within the bounds of the new county- then including Scott and Cass Counties-the Legislature thought best to provide that the county-seat should be temporary only, leaving to some future Legislature to fix a permanent seat of justice. This temporary county-seat was lo- cated at a place called "Olmstead's Mound," near where Mr. Adam Allison subsequently lived, and there, in an old cabin on Mr. Swin- nerton's farm, the first county courts were held. But one year elapsed ere the people evinced a desire for a permanent county-seat, and on Jan- uary 6, 1825, John Howard, Abraham Prickett and John T. Lusk, of Madison County, were ap- pointed Commissioners to locate the permanent seat of justice for the new county. They were required to meet at Mr. James Deaton's on the first Monday in March following, and, after be- ing duly sworn, were to proceed to select a site for the county-seat as "near as possible to the

center of the territory, having a due regard to the present and future popula- tion." In this law it was also provided that, if said county-seat should be located upon land be- longing to any private citizen, the owner or owners of the same should donate to the county · twenty acres, to be laid out in lots and sold, the proceeds of which should be applied to the build- ing of a court house and jail for the county.

In obedience to this law, the three persons ap- pointed located the county-seat in the center of a quarter section of land composed of the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 20, and the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 21, in Township 15 North of the Base Line, and in Range 10 West of the Third Prin- cipal Meridian.

First Proprietors .- The day this county-seat was located, the land belonged to the Govern- ment of the United States, but the next day, at nine o'clock in the morning, the Government sold it at private sale at $1.25 per acre to Thomas Arnett and Isaac Dial, two citizens re- siding near the place-Arnett purchasing the tract in Section 20, and Dial the tract in Section 21. Arnett and Dial resolved, in connection with the county, to lay out a town upon this land, and by an agreement between these own- ers and the County Commissioners' Court, a line was drawn from east to west, through the center of the quarter-section, and Arnett and Dial con- veyed, by deeds to the county, each twenty acres immediately on the north side of that line. This donation by those proprietors contained forty acres, being double the quantity required by the law to be given to the county. On March 10, 1825, those proprietors, for themselves, and the County Court, for the county, laid out a town on eighty acres of land, in a square form, in the center of the 160-acre tract, the county owning the north half and the proprietors the south

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

half, and after much research and deliberation in selecting a name, they called the town Jack- sonville, after Gen. Andrew Jackson, he being the great man of that day.

Village Platted .-- Previous to that time there had been a public road laid out from Spring- field, the then recently located county-seat of Sangamon County, to the town of Naples, on the Illinois River, then in Morgan County. This road, by way of eminence and distinction, was called the State road. This State road passed east and west on the top of the ridge of land directly over the spot selected for the county- seat. The surveyor who laid out the town (Mr. Johnson Shelton) began the survey by laying out a central square of land, containing some- thing more than five acres, directly in the cen- ter of the 160 acre tract, the State road running through the center of the square. Upon this State road he located a street, sixty feet wide, intending it to run due east and west across the 160 acres, and on the north line of the land belonging to the proprietors, thus locating one- half of the square and one-half of the width of the street on the land of the private owners, and the other half on the land of the county. This street was called State Street.

A street of the same width was then laid out running north and south through the center of the land and the central square and was called Main Street. Taking these two streets as base lines, the town was laid out in square blocks of 180 feet and nine inches on each side, which blocks were divided into three lots, each of equal size. All other streets, except these two, were made forty feet wide and the alleys twen- ty-five feet wide, all running at right angles with each other.

The county offices and all county business were removed from the temporary county-seat at Olmstead's Mound, in the summer of 1825, and the first Circuit Court was held at Jack- sonville in September of that year.

When the Commissioners located the seat of justice, they found on the site one cabin oc- cupied by a hatter named Alexander Cox, who made caps of furs for the settlers. This cabin stood in the Public Square, and was a comfort- able, though primitive, affair.

First Officers .- The laying out of the city and its selection as the seat of justice brought im- mediately a number of families thither. Den- nis Rockwell, the first Recorder, Clerk of Court

and the first Postmaster here, was without doubt among the first settlers. Mr. Rockwell was a native of Vermont. He resided for some time at Edwardsville, Ill., and when Mor- gan County was organized, he was appointed Recorder and Clerk of the Circuit and County Commissioners' Courts, and, upon the location of the county-seat at Jacksonville, was made Post- master. In 1854 he removed to Chicago, where he was engaged in the lumber business until 1867, when, his health failing, he returned to Jacksonville. He was one of the first Directors of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and, with Col. George M. Chambers, superintended the erection of the building for that institu- tion. He was also one of the Trustees of the Institution for the Blind, and for a time held a position as cashier in the Branch of the State Bank, located in Jacksonville. He donated to the Episcopal Church, of which he was a mem- ber, a block of ground on which the church edifice now stands, and gave largely toward the erection of the house and support of the min- ister. After his return from Chicago in 1867 his health further declined and he died shortly thereafter.

First Store .- The first store in the county was opened soon after the town was laid out by Hackett and Fairfield. Before opening this store in town they peddled through the settle- ments, exchanging goods for furs, beeswax and honey, the only substitute for money in the settlements at that time. Town prop- erty, for the first three or four years of the growth of the town, was very low. A lot on the southwest corner of the square, now occupied by the dry-goods store of Metcalf & Fell, was offered to Mr. Dennis Rockwell for a cow and calf, worth at that time $10, and Mr. Rockwell sold at one time eight acres of land just north and west of the square, now in the heart of the city, for eighty dollars, to be paid for in blacksmithing.

The first improvements on the west side of the square consisted of a row of small frame houses. In one of these houses the first barber shop was opened by a colored man named Ball, and in one of these buildings Col. John J. Hardin held his office.

Early Buildings .- All houses were built of logs, with puncheon floors, wooden-hinged doors and "stick" chimneys. The old log school-house, erected probably early in 1823, was of this pat-

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

tern. Judge William Thomas taught the first school therein. It was also used by the Metho- (lists and Presbyterians as a house of worship, these denominations alternating with each other. It was in this pioneer structure that Dr. J. M. Sturtevant, so long and so intimately connected with the educational interests of Jacksonville, preached his first sermon in the county. This was in the fall of 1829, when he and Theron Baldwin emigrated to Illinois, pledged, with others, to establish the institu- tion with which he was so long associated.

Illinois College Founded .- The founding of Illi- nois College in 1829 and the Jacksonville Fe- male Academy in 1833 established the future character of Jacksonville. They brought to it an excellent class of citizens, who in coming years saw unequalled opportunities for the ed- ucation of their children. Provision for the free education of the youth had not yet been fully made by the State of Illinois. The people were generous in this regard, and were always ready to be taxed for the education of their children. What the public fund lacked was made up by a private subscription, and every winter a school or schools were regularly main- tained in Jacksonville. This plan of sustain- ing the public schools was continued until the adoption of the present school system.

The religious life of the village, always aid- ed by education, had been carefully fostered all these years. In the little log school-house reg- ular religious services were held until larger and better accommodations could be secured. In 1822. in "Father" Jordan's house, standing a lit- tle in the rear of the old Berean College build- ing, now Passavant Memorial Hospital, a Meth- odist class was organized, and for three years before the town of Jacksonville was contemplat- ed, religious services had been held regularly. The old log school-house was afterwards used by these worshipers, alternating with the Presby- terians.

Population Statistics-Cholera Epidemic .- By the United States census of 1830, the town con- tained 446 inhabitants, and the next year Jack- sonville was incorporated as a town. The sys- tem of government was so well managed that it continued in use until 1867, long after the population had grown to the proportions which fully warranted a city government. The growth of the city received a severe check by the rav- ages of cholera in 1833, which carried off a

great many of the inhabitants. This was a se- rious blow to the prosperity of the city, from which it had scarcely rallied when the financial crash of 1837 gave it another serious blow, from which it took years of time to recover. The census of 1840 showed a population of 1,900, which indicated that, despite the drawbacks mentioned, the growth of the city was gradually progressing. The building of the Morgan & Sangamon Railroad in 1838, at its completion to Jacksonville, two years later, gave a fresh impulse to the growth and business of the city, and from that time its prosperity has been un- abated. The old railroad, with its insufficient equipment, was the beginning of a grand sys- tem of railroads now traversing the State in every direction. At first the depot was in the public square, but soon after the road was ex- tended to the capital of the State, and though the stages could sometimes out-travel the small train of cars used to carry passengers and freight, yet its ingress and egress to and from the growing town gave it an air of activity seldom seen at that day. In 1847 the old, worn- out road passed into the hands of a confpany of men who were determined to rebuild and equip it in a manner insuring success. Those who had so strenuously urged the building of the track through the principal streets of the city, and had succeeded in their efforts, saw, as others foretold, the impropriety of railway cars passing through the center of the city, and were, with all citizens, well satisfied when the com- pany removed the track from State Street to its present location.

Changes in Incorporation Act .- Jacksonville was incorporated as a town by an act of the Gen- eral Assembly in force April 6, 1840. Matthew Stacy, John Hurst, R. T. McNeely, William Branson and E. T. Miller were the incorpora- tors, and were constituted a body politic by the name and style of the President and Trustees of the town of Jacksonville. At that time the boundary of the town embraced one mile square, the center of the Public Square being the center of the said mile square. The act stipulated that the incorporators should con- tinue in office until the first Monday in April, 1840, and an election was held annually there- after for five Trustees, who held their offices one year. The officers of the town at that time were a Clerk and a Town Constable-who were authorized to perform all the duties as required

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HISTORY OF MORGAN COUNTY.

by an act entitled, "An Act further defining the duties of the Trustees of incorporated towns," which was approved January 31, 1835-one Treasurer and such other officers as the Presi- dent and Trustees should see fit to appoint.

In 1849 the Legislature passed another act, which was in force February 10 of that year, en- titled, "An act the better to provide for the in- corporation of the town of Jacksonville." The incorporators under this act were William Branson, William J. Johnson, Joseph O. King, James Hurst and William N. Ross, who were styled the President and Trustees of the town of Jacksonville. The boundaries of the town under this act, as provided in the original act of incorporation of 1840, included an area of one mile square. The Board of Trustees had the power and authority to assess and collect taxes for corporate purposes upon all the real and personal property within said town not ex- ceeding one-half of one per cent per annum upon the assessed value thereof. The Board had also the power to require every male resi- dent of the town over twenty-one years of age to labor upon the highways not exceeding three days in each year or forfeit the sum of fifty cents for each day. The Board had the power to license, tax and regulate peddlers, auction- eers, saloon-keepers or other kinds of business, and to make regulations to prevent the spread of contagious diseases. There were chosen an -. nually by the Board of Trustees, a Treasurer and Assessor of the town, who held their of- fices for one year. There were elected annually by the voters of said town, at the same time and in the same manner as the Trustees were elected, a Clerk of the Corporation, a Super- visor and a Town Constable-the latter being er-officio Collector of the said town. The town Constable had the authority to execute anywhere within the limits of Morgan County, all writs, processes, etc., which might be issued against persons or property by any court of general or limited jurisdiction, and to arrest on sight all persons who may violate any ordinance of the corporation.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Morgan County, Part 136

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