USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 12
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In early days, the prominent lawyers of Illi- nois and Missouri attended the early court sessions at Belleville. Noteworthy among these were: Elias Kent Kane (a United States Senator), Daniel P. Cook, Nathaniel Pope, Thomas Reynolds, William H. Bissell and Sid- ney Breese, of Illinois; Thomas H. Benton, Ru- fus Easton, Edward Hempstead, C. S. Hemp-
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stead, Robert Wash, David Barton, Joshua Bar- ton, John Scott and J. W. Peck, of Missouri. (See encyclopedia part of this work for sketches of several of these eminent lawyers.)
A civil case of note was one brought by St. Clair County vs. The Wiggins Ferry Company. It excited interest because of the brilliant law- yers arrayed against each other. On the side of the county were Lyman Trumbull, James Shields and Joseph Gillespie; on the side of the Wiggins Ferry Company, Stephen A. Douglas, Edward Bates, Hamilton R. Gamble, of St. Louis, and Stephen T. Logan. (For personal sketches of all these men who were citizens of Illinois, see "Historical Encyclopedia.")
A NOTED MURDER CASE .- James Affleck's reli- able and interesting narrative of the Stewart- Bennett duel is given elsewhere in these pages. This, which is recognized in history as the only duel ever fought in the State of Illinois by Illinoisans, resulted in the trial for murder of Timothy Bennett, the survivor of the con- flict, which was the first murder case tried in Illinois as a State. A special term of the circuit court was held March 8, 1819, under special authority of the Legislature. John Reynolds was presiding Judge; John Hay, Clerk and William A. Beaird, Sheriff. The Grand Jurors were: Ben Watts (foreman), Jacob Ogle, Jr., Sol Teter, William Padfield, Robert Abernathy, Robert Lemen, James Marney, Henry Hutton, Frank Swan, John Hendricks, Daniel Everett, T. M. Nichols, John Leach, W. T. Kincade, Odian Castleberry, Joshua Ogles- by, Marshall Duncan, Curtis Moore, George Prickett, William Bridge, Joseph Penn, Jere- miah Hand and James Walker. True bills of indictment were found against Bennett, and against Jacob Short and Nathan Fike, the sec- onds in the duel, on the testimony of the fol- lowing named witnesses: James Read, James Kincade, James Park, Reuben Anderson, Ben Million, Daniel Million, Peter Sprinkle and Ra- chel Tannehill. Short and Fike were acquitted in June, 1819. Bennett, who had escaped from jail, was recaptured about July 1, 1821. A spe- cial term of the court was held July 26, follow- ing. The members of the second grand jury were: Will Glasgow (Foreman), John Thom- as, James Cohen, Richard W. Chandler, John Rider, Archibald Allen, W. L. Whiteside, Hosea Riggs, Henry Stout, W. Leach, Thomas Gill- ham, David Sparks, John Scott, Jacob White- side, Daniel Birkey, Daniel Phelps, James Mar-
ney, Joseph Wilbanks, James Pulliam, T. West, George Harris, John Glass and Daniel Million. The witnesses were Rachel Tannehill, Reuben Anderson, James Kincaid, Thomas Hall, Wil- liam Hook, John Rutherford and Peter Sprin- kle. A new bill of indictment was found "in words and figures as follows:"
FORM OF FAMOUS INDICTMENT .- "State of Illi- nois, St. Clair County, SS. At a special term of the circuit court, held for the county of St. Clair, in pursuance of the statute in such cases made and provided, on the 26th day of July, 1821, the jurors of the people of the said State of Illinois, upon their oatlı present: That Timo- thy Bennett, laborer, late of Clinton Hill Town- ship, now called Belleville precinct, in the said county of St. Clair, not having the fear of God before his eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the Devil, on the 8th day of February, 1819, with force and arms, at the said township, then called Clinton Hill, but now called Belleville, the said county of St. Clair, in and upon Alphonso C. Stewart, in vio- lation of the peace of God and of the said people of the State of Illinois, then and there being, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did make an assault; and that the said Timothy Bennett, with a certain rifle gun, of the value of ten dollars, then and there loaded and charged with gunpowder and one leaden bullet, which rifle gun he, the said Tim- othy Bennett, in both his hands then and there had, and held to, against and upon the said Alphonso C. Stewart, then and there felonious- ly, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did shoot and discharge; and that the said Timothy Bennett, with the leaden bullet afore- said out of the rifle gun aforesaid, then and there, by force of the gunpowder shot and sent forth as aforesaid, the aforesaid Alphonso C. Stewart, in and upon the left breast of him, the said Alphonso C. Stewart, near the left pap of him, the said Alphonso C. Stewart, then and there feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did strike, penetrate and wound, giving to the said Alphonso C. Stewart, then and there, with the leaden bullet afore- said, so as aforesaid shot discharged and sent forth out of the rifle gun aforesaid, by the said Timothy Bennett, in and upon the left breast of him, the said Alphonso C. Stewart, near the left pap of him, the said Alphonso C. Stewart, one mortal wound of the depth of six inches, and of the breadth of one inch, of
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which said mortal wound the aforesaid Alphon- so C. Stewart then and there instantly died. And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say, That the said Timothy Ben- nett, the said Alphonso C. Stewart, then and there in manner and form aforesaid, felon- ously, willfully and of his malice aforethought did kill and murder, against the form of the statute in that case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the same peo- . ple of the State of Illinois.
This document was signed by Samuel D. Lockwood, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, and endorsed as a "true bill" by Will Glasgow, Foreman of the jury.
Bennett, defended by Thomas H. Benton, was put on trial, July 27, 1821, before Judge Reynolds and the following traverse jury: Eli- jah Davis (Foreman), John Matheny, John A. Mauzy, James Simmons, Burrill Hill, John Cot- ton, James C. Work, George Jack, James Wil- son, Joel R. Small, Zachariah Stephenson and James Fox. The next day the indictment re- ceived the following further endorsement: "We, the jury, find the prisoner, Timothy Ben- nett, guilty in manner and form as within charged .- Elijah Davis, Foreman."
Bennett was sentenced to die, by hanging, Monday, September 3, 1821. All efforts to have him pardoned or to have his sentence commuted were unavailing. He was hanged near the site of the southeast school house in West Belleville. The execution was witnessed by a large crowd, in which were many women and children. When Attorney General Lock- wood came into court to prosecute the case, he took this oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will, to the best of my ability and judgment, execute the duties imposed on me by the act for suppressing dueling, so help me God."
The idea of suppressing dueling was what was back of Bennett's awful fate. To have shown him any mercy would have been to diverge from the anti-dueling law. And thus, the Bennett-Stewart duel became the first and last duel fought in Illinois by citizens of Illi- nois after the organization of the State gov- ernment.
JUDICIAL CIRCUITS .- For the first six years after the adoption of the Constitution of 1818 (1819-24, inclusive), the four members of the Supreme Court-one Chief Justice and three Associates-presided over the courts in the
different counties of the State. Under the act of 1824 the State was divided into five circuits, and a Judge for each circuit was elected at the session of the General Assembly in Janu- ary, 1825. All Circuit Judges were, however, legislated out of office by the act of January 12, 1827. January 8, 1829, the Fifth Judicial District, including that portion of the State northwest of the Illinois River, was created, and Richard M. Young was commissioned Judge of this circuit January 23, 1829. By the act of January 7, 1835, five other Judicial Cir- cuits were created, which with the Fifth or- ganized in 1829, increased the number to six and one Circuit Judge was appointed for each. St. Clair County was then included in the Sec- ond Circuit with Sidney Breese as Circuit Judge. Later the whole number of circuits was increased to nine. In 1841 came another change when, as the result of a partisan scheme to secure a majority in the Supreme Court, the number of members constituting that body was increased to nine by the pas- sage of a law authorizing the election of five additional Associate Judges, and the Circuit Judges were legislated out of office, four of these-with Stephen A. Douglas as the fifth new member-being promoted to the Supreme Court.
By the Constitution of 1848, the State was di- vided into nine judicial circuits, in each of which a Judge was elected in September, 1848. , The Legislature was authorized by the Con- stitution of 1848 to still further increase the number of circuits as necessity might require. St. Clair County then remained in the Second Circuit, but in 1858 it became part of the Twen- ty-fourth Circuit. The General Assembly, by an act of March 28, 1873, divided the State, ex- clusive of Cook County, into twenty-six Judi- cial Circuits, in each of which one Judge of the Circuit Court was elected on June 2, 1873, for a term of six years, each circuit electing two Judges. Then St. Clair County became a part of the Twenty-second Circuit. The act of 1877 divided the State into thirteen Judicial Districts, including St. Clair County in the Third Circuit. This consolidation brought two Justices into each circuit, which later was in- creased to three. Under the apportionment of 1897, when the number of judicial circuits in the State was increased from thirteen to seventeen, St. Clair County, with Madison,
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
Bond, Washington, Monroe, Randolph and Perry Counties, was constituted the Third Cir- cuit.
UNITED STATES COURT .- In 1903, a branch of the United States district court was established in East St. Louis, with headquarters in the Metropolitan Block.
COUNTY COURTS .- At the organization of St. Clair County, in 1790, the civil government of the county was entrusted to Jean Baptiste Barbeau, John du Moulin, James Piggott, Shad- rach Bond, Philip Engel, Jean Baptiste Saucier and George Atchison, "Esquires and Justices," and, as such, members of the Court of Com- mon Pleas. William St. Clair succeeded Jean Baptiste Barbeau, September, 1795. John du Moulin, who usually presided at the sittings of these Justices, dropped out of active participa- tion in their doings about 1802 and died in 1805. St. Clair acted as Probate Judge. Be- tween 1795 and 1813 the following named citi- zens were, at one time and another, Justices: James Lemen, William Biggs, Jean Francois Perry, Nicholas Jarrot, William Whiteside, Uel Whiteside, David Badgley, James Bankson, Samuel S. Kennedy, John Finley, Jacob A. Boyes, John Caldwell, John G. Lofton, Wil- liam Scott, Enoch Moore, William Gillham. The County Court held its first session in October, 1813, John Thomas, Jr., William Biggs and Cald- well Cairns being Judges, John Hay Clerk, and John Hays Sheriff. In 1816 this gave place to a new County Court, with William Biggs, Benja- min Watts and Risdon Moore Judges, John Hays Sheriff and John Hay Clerk. In 1818, a Court of Justices was re-established and con- tinued in power until the State was organized. John Hay, Peter Mitchell, Jacob Ogle, Jr., Henry Walker, Thomas Gillham, Abel Fike and Thomas Cohen were its members. Now the county business passed to a Board of Commis- sioners appointed by the Governor. The mem- bers of the first board were Cornelius Gooding, E. P. Wilkinson and Clayton Tippon. From 1831 to 1848, Commissioners were elected. The Constitution of 1848 abolished the Board of County Commissioners, substituting a county court consisting of a County Judge and two Associate Justices. From May, 1821, Judges of Probate had transacted the court business of the county. The new County Judge had probate jurisdiction.
Under the Constitution of 1870, a County
Board of three members, to be elected for three years, was provided for, the probate busi- ness continuing under jurisdiction of the County Judge. In 1902 a separate probate court was established. In 1874 the county commissioner system was re-established and was put in operation. Now there are some forty supervisors in the county legislative de- partment, one-half the number being elected each year. Following are names and terms of services of Judges of Probate 1821-1902: Edmund P. Wilkinson, 1821-23; John Hay, 1823- 42; John D. Hughes, 1842-49; Nathaniel Niles, 1849-61; John D. Hughes, 1861-68; F. H. Pieper, 1868-81; William H. Underwood, 1881-85; John B. Hay, 1885-89; J. Boneau, 1889-94; Edward C. Rhodes, 1894-97; Frank D. Perrin, 1897-1902. Mr. Perrin was re-elected Probate Judge in 1902 and 1906, and John B. Hay County Judge the same years.
MASTERS IN CHANCERY .- The following have been Masters in Chancery, their terms of serv- ice beginning in the year mentioned. When no year is mentioned the exact term of service is in doubt; William C. Kinney, P. B. Fouke, W. W. Roman, G. W. Brackett, Nathaniel Niles, C. W. Thomas, G. A. Koerner, C. P. Knispel, Fred Scheel, Alonzo St. Clair Wilderman, 1885; W. H. Underwood, 1887; L. D. Turner, 1891; W. H. Snyder, Jr., 1895; R. D. W. Holder, 1897; Frank B. Bowman, 1898; M. W. Borders, 1902; F. B. Merrils, 1903; Frank C. Smith, 1904.
CHAPTER XIII.
CIVIL SUBDIVISIONS.
PRECINCTS FIRST ORGANIZED SUBDIVISIONS-TOWN- SHIP ORGANIZATION ADOPTED IN 1884 - THE PRECINCT SYSTEM UNDER DIFFERENT CONSTITU- TIONS AND STATE LAWS-BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-LAST LIST OF PRECINCTS-LIST OF TOWNSHIPS ORGANIZED IN 1884-TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS ASSUME JURISDICTION OVER COUNTY AFFAIRS - ADDITION TO TOWNSHIPS - MEMBERS OF PRESENT COUNTY BOARD (1906).
The first organized subdivisions of St. Clair County, for the purpose of local government, in accordance with the system then in force in the
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
different counties of the State, were in the form of precincts. While one of the primary reasons for this subdivision was for the pur- pose of establishing polling districts for the people in the election of local and State offi- cers, it also served the purpose of defining the districts within which Justices of the Peace and Constables were to be elected and had ju- risdiction. This method was continued in force under the respective State Constitutions until the formal adoption of township organization by vote of the people, which, in the case of St. Clair County, occurred in 1884.
Under the Constitution of 1818, the County Board having control of local affairs, consisted of three County Commissioners, elected under laws which underwent various changes at dif- ferent periods. The Constitution of 1848 changed the organization of the County Board to one County Judge and two Associate Judges, having general jurisdiction as Justices of the Peace within the county. Under the Consti- tution of 1870 the County Board, in counties not yet having adopted township organization, underwent another change, the Board there- after consisting of three County Commission- ers, one being elected each year and holding office for three years. Between 1818 and 1884- the latter, as already stated, being the date at which township organization went into effect in St. Clair County-the precinct system under- went various changes as to the number and boundaries of the precincts, due to changes in the population and other local causes. Owing to the defective character of the records, it is impossible to secure accurate details in refer- ence to these changes, or the names of all those who constituted the various Boards during that period.
LAST LIST OF PRECINCTS .- At the time of the adoption of township organization in 1884, St. Clair County consisted of sixteen precincts, viz .: Athens, Belleville, Cahokia, Caseyville, Centerville, East St. Louis, Fayetteville, French Village, Lebanon, Mascoutah, O'Fallon, Prairie du Pont, Richland, Shiloh, St. Clair and Sum- merfield.
In the preceding ten years but little, if any, change had been made in the territorial limits of precincts, but two important precincts-in the northwestern and central-northern parts of the county-had received new names, East St. Louis having been substituted for "Illinois- town," and O'Fallon for "Ridge Prairie." With
these exceptions, the names of the precincts, as well as their number, in 1874, were the same as in 1884.
FIRST LIST OF TOWNSHIPS .- The adoption of township organization, in 1884, resulted in the division of the county into nineteen townships, which, as first organized, were named as fol- lows: Belleville, Caseyville, Centerville Sta- tion, East St. Louis, Engelmann, Fayetteville, Freeburg, Lebanon, Lenzburg, Marissa, Mascou- tah, Millstadt, New Athens, O'Fallon, Prairie du Long, Shiloh Valley, Smithton, Stookey and Sugar Loaf.
Under authority of the State law empower- ing the County Board, in any county under township organization, to organize the terri- tory embraced within the limits of any city having a population of not less than 3,000 as a separate township, on request of the City Council of said city for such action, in 1886 the city of Belleville, which had previously constituted a part of Belleville Township, in the central portion of the county, was set off as an independent township, the rest of the original township receiving the name St. Clair. and its outside boundaries remaining un- changed. In 1888 a similar change was made in East St. Louis Township by the setting apart of the western portion of the original town- ship, comprising the district within the city limits of East St. Louis, as a separate town- ship under the original name, the eastern por- tion of the original township first receiving the name of Brooklyn, from the only village within its limits, but this name was soon after changed to Stites. These changes added two names to the first list of townships, making the total number twenty-one. Under the new arrange- ment the boundaries of Belleville and East St. Louis Townships are identical, respectively, with the boundaries of the cities whose names they bear.
The present St. Clair Township, which is sit- uated in the central part of the county, does not include any portion of the original St. Clair Precinct, which was in the southeastern quarter of the county-the territory of the former St. Clair Precinct being now embraced within the limits of the townships of Fayette- ville and Marissa.
The village of Brooklyn in Stites Township is an industrial center, being the site of the Armour, Swift and Nelson Morris Packing Companies.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
PRESENT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS .- According to the State law regulating the apportionment of members of the County Board, each town- ship is entitled to one Supervisor, with an ad- ditional (or Assistant) Supervisor from each town having four thousand inhabitants, and additional Assistant Supervisors for each ad- ditional twenty-five hundred in population ex- ceeding four thousand. Under this law the Board of Supervisors of St. Clair County, as now constituted, consists of thirty-nine mem- bers, of which East St. Louis is represented by twelve members, Belleville by seven, and Centerville Station by two members-each of the remaining eighteen townships having one representative. The roll of members for the year 1906, with the names of the townships which they represent, is as follows-the mem- ber for each township having only one repre- sentative being a Supervisor:
Belleville Township: Supervisor - John Schultz; Assistant Supervisors-August Bar- thel, Henry J. Frick, John Rauth, Louis Tie- mann, John Voegtle, John Wamser.
Caseyville: William C. Elliott.
Centerville Station: Supervisor - Adolph Sanboeuf; Assistant-William J. Rosselot.
East St. Louis: Supervisor-Le Roy Brown- ing; Assistants-A. Cushenberry, Albert R. Er- linger, Thomas L. Fekete, Jr., Adam Harwell, Pat Kelly, Robert Lowery, Max Oppenheim, C. A. Scherer, D. M. Sullivan, Fred Stoppacher, Samuel Youiss.
Engelmann: William B. Engelmann.
Fayetteville: J. Leuchtenfeld.
Freeburg : F. X. Helmstein.
Lebanon: L. P. Zerweck.
Lenzburg: George A. Reinhardt.
Marissa: S. S. Bogle.
Mascoutah: Peter W. Lill.
Millstadt: William N. Baltz.
New Athens: Louis Shulz.
O'Fallon : Rudolph Ochs.
Prairie du Long: Louis G. Miller.
Shiloh Valley: Julius Reuss.
Smithton : A. A. Miller.
St. Clair: Adolph Fehr.
Stites: C. B. Jones. Stookey : Walter Eymann.
Sugar Loaf: John F. Adelsberger.
The history of individual precincts and town- ships is given in detail in the three succeed- ing chapters, to which this chapter is merely introductory.
CHAPTER XIV.
PRECINCTS AND TOWNSHIPS.
(WESTERN.)
OLD PRECINCTS OF CAHOKIA, CASEYVILLE, CENTER- VILLE, EAST ST. LOUIS, FRENCH VILLAGE, PRAIRIE DU PONT AND RICHLAND-PIONEER HISTORY- EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND FIRST LAND ENTRIES- COAL DEPOSITS AND A SILVER MINE STORY- TOWNSILIP ORGANIZATION AND PRESENT LIST OF TOWN OFFICERS-CASEYVILLE, CENTERVILLE STA- TION, EAST ST. LOUIS, MILLSTADT, PRAIRIE DU LONG, STITES, SUGAR LOAF AND STOOKEY TOWN- SHIPS-LOCATION AND AREA-PRESENT OFFICERS.
The district, a history of which will be at- tempted somewhat in detail in this chapter, comprises the old "precincts"-as, under the first geographical division of the county, they were called-of Cahokia, Caseyville, Centerville, East St. Louis, French Village, Prairie du Pont and Richland, embracing substantially within their limits the present townships of Caseyville, Centerville Station, East St. Louis, Millstadt, Prairie du Long, Stites, Stookey and Sugar Loaf, exclusive of municipal and village interests. The history of East St. Louis and of towns and villages in this territory is given on other pages. The several precincts will be first con- sidered.
CAIIOKIA PRECINCT .- This precinct, which contained more than 22,000 acres, was bounded, north by East St. Louis and French Village Precincts, east by Belleville Precinct, south by Belleville and Centerville Precincts, and west by Prairie du Pont Precinct and the Missis- sippi River. It is now a part of Centerville Station Township. It is especially rich in al- luvial soil; but, owing to the floods which, from time to time, overflow the low country along the Mississippi, the crops are often de- stroyed. To show definitely the fertility of this soil, we need to say only that, for almost two centuries, it has been cultivated with excellent results. Like the other localities in the Amer- can Bottom, this district has had the drainage problem to contend with. Some notable early
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
floods in this region occurred in 1770 (the first recorded), 1772, 1784, 1826, and in 1844, when steamers plied between the bluffs, and when the villages of Cahokia, Prairie du Pont and East St. Louis (or Illinois Town) were thor- oughly inundated and practically destroyed. Prairie du Pont and Cahokia never recovered from the damage done by these floods. Later floods occurred in 1851, 1858, 1878, 1883, 1892 and 1903.
Time was when Cahokia Creek emptied into the river just north of the village; but later its course was turned to north of Pittsburg dike at East St. Louis. In many places in the Bottom, particularly along the creeks, the land about Cahokia and Prairie du Pont was cov- ered with timber, mostly black walnut, cot- tonwood, elm and oak; but this has largely been cleared away in order to cultivation of the soil. There were many ancient mounds near the borders of these creeks, in which have been found human bones, shells and pottery, evident- ly prehistoric. Wheat, corn and vegetables are the chief products of the neighborhood.
As to the exact date when Cahokia was set- tled, historians differ. About 1834 Louis Pen- soneau built the first house in the precinct outside of Cahokia Village, a small story-and- a-half log structure, near the present crossing of the old Illinois & St. Louis Railroad, and the highway leading to Papstown, a mile and a half south-east of Jarrot Station. The last relic of the "common fields" of old Cahokia left is an old stone chimney.
CASEYVILLE PRECINCT occupied fifteen sections in the northwestern part of T. 2 N., R. 8 W., and nine sections of T. 2 N., R. 9 W., and con- tained 14,720 acres. It included parts of Casey- ville, Centerville Station and Stites Townships, and was bounded on the north by Madison County, on the east and south by O'Fallon Pre- cinct, and on the west by French Village and East St. Louis Precincts. The land is drained by Canteen Creek and its tributaries in the north, and by the Grand Marias in the south. The precinct was traversed by two railroads- . the Vandalia & Terre Haute, and the Ohio & Mississippi (present Baltimore & Ohio). The only village that ever came into being in the precinct is Caseyville. The territory consists
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