USA > Illinois > St Clair County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of St. Clair County, Volume II > Part 26
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Before the "Company of the West" was organ- ized, there was no organized government; for, according to Reynolds, "the small number of in- habitants and their destitution of wealth made a government entirely useless. The leaders were men of talent and classic education, while the common classes were innocent, honest and kind, and obedient. They had no itching for wealth, and, if provided with clothes and meat, they were happy." This settlement gives 'us a pleasing picture of primitive life. The people formed a small, compact, partiarchal village, living as one great family, assembled around their old men and patriarchs. The houses were plain and surrounded by uniform lots, 300 feet square, which were enclosed by rude picket fences. Then people lived in the villages for mutual protection from the Indians, and some-
(1) See Footnote at beginning of Chapter IV.
.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
times went armed to and from the lands they cultivated.
"The villagers were granted two tracts of land at convenient distances, for 'common fields' and 'commons,'" said Judge Breese, in a his- toric decision. The former was a tract of land containing several hundred acres, enclosed under one fence, each family possessing an in- dividual interest in a portion of the field bounded from the rest. These lands were owned in fee simple, and could be conveyed like any other landed property. The 'commons' was situated outside and around the 'common fields.' It was a tract of land granted to the town for wood, pasturage, etc. In this, each had a right in common, not an individual right." Sometimes this tract embraced thousands of acres.
By act of Congress, March 3, 1791, a tract of land including the villages of Cahokia and Prairie du Pont and used by the inhabitants as a common, was appropriated to their uses until otherwise disposed of by law. Since this left the limits of the 'common' undefined, Congress appointed commissioners to inquire into and adjust the same. On December 3, 1809, they re- ported substantially as follows:
"Because of the lack of definiteness alluded to, in 1797 the limit of the commons became a matter of compromise between the villagers and Governor St. Clair. By mutual consent two tracts-in all, 5,400 acres-were laid off for this purpose, and Governor St. Clair ap- pointed a surveyor to locate the land. He found great inaccuracy in the surveys; that Cahokia contained only 4,000 acres instead of 20,000 which it should have contained." Hence the board and people induced Congress on March 1, 1810, to permit a new location for commons of each village on more convenient land. The common fields retained their former boundaries, the board not having them under consideration.
Before 1841, the people of Cahokia used the commons only for pasturage, fuel, and the like, thus reaping but little benefit from them. Hence they appealed to the Legislature for power to lease the common in whole or part, at discretion, in order to raise funds for vil- lage schools. February 17, 1841, the Legis- lature passed a law empowering the Surveyor elected by the villagers to have lots out of the commons surveyed, and to lease the same for
a term of not longer than one hundred years. This fund furnished the villagers enough money to build school-houses and to pay teachers, even leaving them independent of the State fund. Families moving from the village to the com- mon fields, or elsewhere, forfeited their rights to the common fund, but persons becoming citi- zens of the village in accordance with the cus- toms of the people, acquired a right to the benefits of the fund equal to that of the older inhabitants. When a new comer arrived the citizens would measure off 300 feet square to him for a house, garden and stable lot, all of which had to be cleared of timber before it could be occupied. Then they appointed par- ties to lay off the lots with a suveyor's chain made of strips of pawpaw bark knotted to- gether. Early deeds were made by giving boundaries from point to point, naming the persons who lived adjacent to the property sur- veyed. Not until 1850 were lots numbered. Then the people of the village, with a view to making and recording deeds, employed the County Surveyor to make a plat of the town and number the lots; but no changes were made in the location and direction of the streets, and the deeds all read, "three hundred feet square, more or less."
Before 1850, few deeds were made, and not many that were made were put on record. The villagers often bought or traded property, ver- bally, just as they traded chattels. They fol- lowed the same custom in exchanging or sell- ing arpents of land in the common fields. In those days they did not bicker or distrust their neighbors-almost any man's word was con- sidered good. This trustful spirit showed it- self in all their common dealings with each other. Their farms were, on an average, eleven and sixty-seven-hundredths rods wide, and from three to four miles long. The purpose of this arrangement was to provide that no man might work in the field so isolated from his neigh- bors as to be far from help in case of In- dian attack. Without division fences, these long, narrow farms lay, side by side, enclosed by one fence on one common field; and yet, "for more than a hundred years" (so says the record) the owners cultivated their arpents in harmony and without the aid of the courts to settle any difficulty. Later, however, suits were not unknown.
Captain Pitman, who was officially employed
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
by Great Britain to survey the forts and vil- lages in the English territory soon after they had been acquired from the French, speaks of the Cahokia of 1765 as follows.
"It is long and straggling, being three-fourths of a mile from one end to the other. It con- tains forty-five dwellings, and a church near its center. The situation is not well chosen, as in the floods it is generally overflowed two or three feet. This was the first settlement on the Mississippi. The land was purchased of the savages by a few Canadians, some of whom married women of the Kaoquias nation, and others brought wives from 'Canada. The inhabitants of the place depend more on hunt- ing and their Indian trade than on agricul- ture. They have plenty of poultry and good stocks of horned cattle. What is called 'the fort' is a small house standing in the center of the village. It differs nothing from the other houses, except being one of the poorest. It was formerly inclosed with high palisades, but these were torn down and burnt."
The old fort long since disappeared, not a trace of it now remains. The old church is probably the oldest house of worship west of the Alleghenies. - Since the flood of 1844 changed the course of the Mississippi, the vil- lage has been nearly a mile from the east bank of the river.
Most of the names of the early settlers have been lost and forgotten with the years that have passed since Cahokia was settled. Ex- cept those who were pre-eminent, the only oth- ers who have left records of their names are those whose marriage records are still extant; but their history and characteristics have gone with the years. Some pioneers here have been mentioned in other chapters of this work.
Prominent among the early settlers was Mrs. LaCompt, who came to Cahokia in 1770. Her maiden name was La Flamme, and she was born at St. Joseph, on Lake Michigan, in 1734. She was a widow when she married La Compt, of Cahokia, by whom she had many chil- dren. After LaCompt's death, she married Thomas Brady, also a citizen of Cahokia, whom she outlived, reaching the age of 109 years. She was notably popular and influential among the Indians, who by giving her aid and informa- tion, often saved the whites from attack and massacre.
Thomas Brady, the third husband of Mrs. La
Compt, was born in Pennsylvania and came to Cahokia very early. He was a daring man, a Revolutionary soldier, and prominent in the making of early local history. In 1777, he raised a small company of men from the village of Ca- hokia and Prairie du Pont, marched through the wilderness to the fort at St. Joseph, Mich., then called Cow Pens, and captured the fort, losing but one man. After St. Clair County was organized as part of Northwest Territory, he was appointed Sheriff of the county. He died in Cahokia.
In 1774, Charles Gratiot established an In- dian trading store in Cahokia, and carried on trade with the Indians, conducting business in several of the Western States, but having his depot of supplies there. Although of English education, he fought in the Revolution as an American, and, after the war, retired to pri- vate life. In 1781 he married a Miss Chouteau, sister of Pierre Chouteau, of St. Louis, whose family founded St. Louis. Mr. Gratiot died in St. Louis in 1817. (See "Gratiot, Charles," His- torical Encyclopedia. )
Captain McCarty, a pioneer villager, headed a company of French in the Revolutionary War, and fought with distinction at the conquest of Fort Sackville and Vincennes. He was also prominent in the history of East St. Louis.
A man who was foremost in building up and perpetuating the village was Nicholas Jarrot, a Frenchman by birth who came to this coun- try in 1790, owing to troubles in his native land at that time. In 1794 he reached Cahokia, a comparatively poor man; but by native abili- ties and judicious attention to business he ac- quired a large fortune. As an officer in a bat- talion of the St. Clair militia he acquired the title of "Major." At first he was an Indian trader, and kept a retail store of goods suit- able to the place and time. Later he obtained a large landed estate and, at one time, owned the greater part of the Wiggins Ferry landing. Major Jarrot lived a very eventful life and had a large family. He died in 1823 and was buried in the old churchyard at Cahokia.
Other pioneers were: Jean Francois Perry, who settled in the village in 1792; John de Mou- lin, in 1790; John Hays and John Hay, in 1793; Julien Dubuque and William Arundel, in 1783; William Morrison, in 1800. Isaac Darnielle, the first resident lawyer, came to Cahokia in 1794. Most of these men have been mentioned else-
784
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
where. Dr. Lyle, who came very early, was the first regular physician who practiced in the vil- lage. He was considered good as a physician, but very disagreeable as a man. Governor Rey- nolds began his career as a lawyer in Cahokia in 1814.
In 1809 Samuel D. Davidson, a lawyer from Kentucky, settled here, but soon abandoned law, and became the first teacher in the vil- lage, taking charge of a school in one of the rooms of Major Jarrot's house at a salary of $400 a year, paid from the Major's private purse. He fought in the War of 1812, after which he was never heard of by any Cahokian.
This inventory of a forced sale shows that among the early French at Cahokia many con- veniences and some luxuries were known:
"Inventory of the goods and chattels of J. J. R. Hanson, sold in pursuance of an order of the committees of Cahos, made November 20, 1778, for the sum of 2,232 livres of silver, due the minor children of Penerasse, payable in May next, and to satisfy a judgment in favor of Jean B. De Corte, payable in March next." The sale took place at "Cahos," November 23, 1778, three days after the order was given. The following articles were sold: A tract of land; 2 arpents front; a plow, with plow share; an ox-cart; 1 milch cow and calf; 1 cow and yearling calf; 2 yearling calves; 9 table clothis; 6 napkins; 1 pair Russia leather boots; 1 feather-bed; 8 earthen pots; 9 tin plates; 12 hens and a cock; 2 china dishes; 12 small china plates; 1 table (deal) ; 5 cups; 2 copper chandeliers; 1 frying-pan; 1 large iron kettle; 1 small iron kettle; 1 set of shovel, tongs and poker; 2 old cauldrons; 1 old harness; 1 cup- board; 13 spoons and 2 ladles; 13 forks; 6 knives; 1 couch; a feather-bed and 2 straw pillows; 3 bed sheets of Russia linen; 1 bed spread; 1 coffee-mill; 3 tubs; 1 table-cloth; 1 horse-cart; 1 gun; 1 silver mounted pistol; 1 saddle; 65 empty bottles; 1 empty barrel; 2 cotton shirts; 1 pair cotton pants; 1 pair velveteen pants; 1 red silk handkerchief; 1 scarlet waistcoat; 1 cocked hat; a quantity of gunpowder; 1 yoke of 3-year-old steers; 1 car- rot of tobacco; 4 sailing crafts. The total amounted $928.40. However, as this is a rec- ord of a forced sale, it can not be taken as a criterion of values.
In 1798, three brothers-Louison, Etienne and Louis Pensoneau-from Canada, settled in
Cahokia. Eventually they married, and be- came highly esteemed as citizens. Louis con- ducted the first ferry between Cahokia and St. Louis, the landing of which was west of the village, a little below where Cahokia Creek formerly emptied into the river. In those days Cahokia was a metropolis, with twenty- four stores and more than 3,000 inhabitants, and, incredible as it may now seem, people from St. Louis, a small village, came here to trade.
About 1771, Nicholas Boismenue built the first mill in Cahokia, a horse grist-mill of crude construction, on the village lot later owned by Dr. Illinski. Several years after this, a Mr. Peyrot, while building a fence close by the mill, was sinking a post hole, where he found buried there a bucket containing $800 in Span- ish gold sovereigns. Three houses, which sur- vived the early days, were Dr. Illinski's dwell- ing, the church, and the old court-house, all built in primitive style. These buildings were constructed of cedar and walnut logs placed upright, the spaces between them filled with cement, or mortar. The inside was plastered with cement and the outside was weather- boarded. The dwelling-houses were surround- ed with verandas. Dr. Illinski's house, which was always considered the oldest, was built soon after 1700. The church, which was al- most as old, had a small cupola, in which swung a bell which, it is said, was sounded by the earthquake of 1811. The old courthouse was built when Cahokia became the county- seat. In 1814 the county offices were mnoved to Belleville. A long time ago, Cahokia ex- tended more than half a mile west of the court-house; but later the court-house was in the extreme northwestern part of the village proper. In later days-alas for sentiment !- it was used for a saloon.
The second brick house in the Mississippi Valley was built by Nicholas Jarrot in the eastern limits of Cahokia village-the first one was in Kaskaskia. According to tradition it was begun before 1800 and finished in 1805, before the days of brick buildings in St. Louis. It was a two-story and attic structure, thirty- eight by fifty feet on the ground. It rested on timbers of black walnut with about two feet face, imbedded several feet underground, and these timbers lay on bedded charcoal sep- arated from the earth beneath by a layer of
785
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
sand and gravel. The partition walls were
According to Governor Reynolds, the village solid brick, sixteen inches thick, the outer , contained fourteen families in 1765. One of walls of solid brick, eighteen inches thick. The hall was sixteen feet wide; all the fur- nishings were of the quaint, aristocratic style of early days. This house withstood the earthquake of 1811 with slight damage. the early settlers was Jean Francois Perry, a Frenchman, of noble birth, and a classical scholar, who came to this country in 1792. In company with a Frenchman named Claudius, he set up in business in a small store in Ca- The first school-house in the village was built in 1841. It was destroyed by fire some- time in the 'seventies and replaced by another. Later, two school-houses were built in the vil- lage-a $5,000 brick one for whites and an $800 frame one for negroes. hokia, but later the two moved their business to Prairie du Pont. A few years later, Clau- dius was killed by being thrown from his horse, but Perry continued in business. In addition to his merchandising, he bought the old mill- site on the creek, where the Mission of St. Sulpice first erected a mill, built a new mill of great pretensions for those days and car- ried on the two enterprises until he died, a wealthy man, in 1812.
Another early settler was Philip Creamer, a native of Maryland, who came here in 1805, and located a little east of the village. He was noted for his manufacture of fire-arms, and in 1812 was employed by the Government to make and repair guns for troops stationed on the frontier. He died in 1845. Other pioneers of the village were J. B. Chartrand, John Bap- tiste Allary and Joseph Deloge.
The first water-mill in this part of the coun- try (just mentioned above) was built on the creek here by the Mission of St. Sulpice, in 1754 or 1755. This mill was the nucleus of the village. The oldest house there, standing twenty years ago, was owned by John Lepage, situated on lot No. 58. This was a small one- story log-house; and in the yard were a red cedar tree two feet in diameter and thirty feet in height, and locust trees three feet in diam- eter.
The first school in Prairie du Pont was taught in a small frame house built in 1861, at a cost .of $5,000. The teacher was William Williamson. The village was incorporated for school purposes by act of Legislature, Febru- ary 20, 1847; but not until twenty years later, was the revenue received from the leases of the commons sufficient to support a school. By an act of the Legislature of 1875, the com- missioner of the commons was authorized to convey the lands of the common in fee simple, and place the proceeds at interest. The prin- cipal was to be perpetual, while the interest was to be devoted entirely to a common school fund for the use of the villagers.
The first Justice of the Peace in the village
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Cahokia has two old cemeteries. One, said to be one of the oldest in the West, is in the rear of the old Catholic church; the other, which has been in use for about sixty years, is east of the village, and contains about two acres. The ground was donated to the village by Col. Vital Jarrot, son of Nicholas Jarrot. Nicholas McCracken once found, while plough- ing in his field, a head-stone of soft lime-stone bearing the date 1770.
The first wedding recorded was that of Jean Baptiste Chartran and Marie Rocheleau, widow of Michael Girardin, who were married June 10, 1790, by Father L. Gibault, a missionary.
Cahokia is now more than two centuries old. Its growth is practically a matter of the past; for the floods have killed all possibility of great development. The larger portion of the site of the old town is contained in the river slough, west of the present village. At the time of its settlement, it was a wilderness covered with heavy timber of oak, elm, syca- more, and walnut. It has lived through a life of prosperity, glory and eminence, and at last has gone to sleep, perchance to dream of its de- parted glories.
PRAIRIE DU PONT derived its name-which means, literally, "prairie of the bridge"-from a log bridge early thrown across the stream near by. The first settlement was made on the site of the present village on the south bank of the creek, about a mile south of Ca- hokia. In 1750, people from Cahokia settled here, probably on account of the inundations in the older settlement; for Prairie du Pont is about twelve feet higher than Cahokia. Hence it was a good place to which to flee at flood- time.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
was J. B. Vien, who was elected in 1869. Ac- cording to his statement, Mr. Vien did not have to issue half a dozen warrants against the native French citizens of Prairie du Pont in twelve years. One of the oldest roads in Illinois, the old highway between Kaskaskia and Cahokia, passes through the village. A noteworthy fact is the size to which some of the old trees have grown. Several pear-trees in the village grew to be as large as some of the forest trees-some of them attained to three feet in diameter at the base-and are said to be as old as the village itself. One of them bore as much as sixty bushels of fruit in one year. A green elm pole, thrust into the ground in early days to support a rickety mud- and-stick chimney, took root, lived and grew to be five feet in diameter and proportionately high.
According to Brink, writing in 1880, "within the memory of the oldest inhabitant, the vil- lage of Prairie du Pont never had a resident physician or lawyer, nor did it contain a post- office." Now it is only a small hamlet.
FRENCH VILLAGE (so-called), now in Center- ville Station Township, was settled about 1800. In 1837 it had only thirteen families, all French. The first mill in old French Village precinct was erected by John Derosch, on the Vincennes (now Rock) road in 1820, and was owned by Joseph Boneau. It was operated by ox-power. In 1838 Glode C. Belange erected a frame store-building near the mill, and Bo- neau established the first blacksmith shop on the Rock road. In 1849 French Village post- office was established. John Penn was the Postmaster. Belange kept the first hotel in connection with his store. The first blooded stock brought to this part of the country were brought to this vicinity by Mr. Boneau in 1832.
The first school-house was built on Section 25 on the Vincennes road in 1829. The pioneer teacher there was John Robinson. In 1842 the Catholics built a frame church and laid out a cemetery. Eventually this wooden structure gave place to a brick edifice. In 1869 a good school-house was erected near the church. Be- fore French Village had a church, the people attended religious services at Cahokia. Lam-
bert Boneau, Amanial Trotier and Deno Pelli- tier were early Justices of the Peace in this neighborhood.
Thomas Frick, in 1867, built a large three- story brick malt-house on the Bluff road, about half a mile north of the Rock road. The cost of this building was $8,000. It was supplied with two tanks, capable of holding, respect- ively, 350 and 150 bushels of barley. The entire output was 15,000 bushels of malt a year, and the value of the man- ufactured product $15,000. In connection
with the malt-house, an ice-house was built on the bluff near by. In 1880, French Village proper had the following business con- cerns: A two-story frame hotel, one general store, two blacksmith shops, a boot and shoe shop and three saloons. Now it presents fewer of the aspects of a village than it did then. Its few buildings, scattered for some distance along the Rock road, are mostly farm houses, interspersed with two or three small shops and country business houses. The French Vil- lage church is a landmark that may be seen from afar. The Rock road is one of the best wagon roads in the county. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad now passes through the village, which is accessible also by street cars. The population is about 115.
SMITHTON AND GEORGETOWN. - Georgetown was platted November 25, 1853, by George Fischer, and consisted of four blocks, one of which had already been purchased by Chris- tian Melinda, John Drasur, and George Stoer- ger. Fischer and Stoerger, being interested in the plat, gave to the village their common Christian name- George -calling the town Georgetown. In October, 1859, Fischer added seventy-six lots, the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 33, T. 1 S., R. 8 W. Smith- ton (the postoffice name), was laid off by Ben- jamin Smith in fourteen lots, April 29, 1854, to the east of Georgetown, a street then separat- ing the two villages. Additions were made as follows: By the Franklin Mill Company, the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter Section 33, May 27, 1859; by Amos T. Barker, forty-eight lots north of the above, July 29, 1859; by B. I. Smith, thirty-two lots, April 27, 1865; by Christ Gauch, forty-eight lots, March 15, 1867.
W.S. Forman
787
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
In 1853 the first house at Georgetown was built and used as a tavern by George Stoerger; the second was built by Christian Melinda, who used part of it as a shoe-shop. The first store was kept by Benjamin Smith, who was appointed the first Postmaster in 1853. In 1858, a brewery was built by George Smith. It was operated until 1869, when it was converted into "Farmers' Hall." In 1860, a reading club was organized, which was maintained for many years.
In 1868 a company of sixteen or seventeenl stockholders was formed to build a mill, which was erected that year, at a cost of $17,000. Later, the mill passed into the hands of F. A. Reuss & Company, who put in improved ma- chinery, did a large business, shipping their flour direct to Europe in sacks of 200 pounds each. They put in four runs of stone, afford- ing a capacity of about 100 barrels of flour a day. The Catholics built a church in 1868, cost- ing $6,000; the Protestants one that cost $5,000.
In 1878, Henry Lippert built a steam saw- mill, three-quarters of a mile southeast of town, in the operation of which he employed five men. In 1880, the local business concerns consisted of three general stores, two drug stores; H. Keim's "Franklin" Tavern, kept in a stone building erected in 1853 by George Stoerger, Adam Herold and Paul Boll; three blacksmith shops; two wagon shops; a book and stationery store; an agricultural imple- ment store; a saddlery and harness store; and seven saloons. Two physicians were practicing there.
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