USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 33
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After the Black Hawk war was over the white people thought they could enjoy a peaceful life, and develop the land without further annoy-
ances, but they were soon threatened with de- struction by a scourge as dangerous as the savages. In 1834 a terrible prairie fire swept through the timber and across the prairies west of town. The crackling of the leaves added to the awful roar of the flames as they licked up the tall trees, struck terror to the hearts of these hardy pioneers. When they saw the homes for which they had worked so hard about to be swept away, men, women and chil- dren worked heroically, raking leaves into rows encircling the buildings, and pouring water on them. This turned the fire from the buildings, but it swept on to the banks of a little stream, which proved a barrier that could not be burned away.
The year 1834 was one of progression. Tracy & Reney instituted a stage line which passed through Monmouth on the way from Spring- field to Yellow Banks. The round trip was made once each week. The through fare was $9.00, way passengers six and one-fourth cents per mile; baggage at risk of owner. These stage coaches were built upon much the same plan as the royal state coach of England. They had no springs, but were swung upon rockers, and the passengers were jerked to and fro over a succession of hills and valleys, until some sympathetic mudhole received the bobbing coach and gave its occupants a much-desired rest. On such occasions the horses were un- hitched and led to dry ground, then ropes car- ried for the purpose were tied to the coach, thrown around trees, and the vehicle pulled from its position. These delays often lasted for hours, and became very serious. Several years later the Fink & Wagner line from Chi- cago to Yellow Banks also passed through Mon- mouth. The arrival of the Chicago coach was of great importance to the younger gen- eration, who gathered from all quarters and gazed upon the driver with open-mouthed ad- miration. In fact it was the only event which took precedence over their favorite pastime of pig-tail roasting. Pig tails were secured from the pork house which stood on the northeast corner of Main street and First avenue, and roasted over on the common-now the site of the government building.
The old brick court house was built in 1837, and out of the materials left were built two residences. One, known as the old Clark house, stands immediately north of the railroad tracks on the east side of South Sixth street.
732
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
The other is the east half of Mr. Draper Bab- cock's residence. The bricks were made here and are almost as hard as rock. The Babcock residence was built by Justus Woodworth. It was two and one-half stories in height, had the entrance in the southeast corner and the stair- way in the parlor. Mr. Babcock bought it in 1854 or 1855, and after the war remodeled it, adding the west half, which has made it a large and comfortable house. It is invested not only with the life of today, but bears the additional charm of having seen the city grow up around it.
From this time Monmouth grew rapidly, and many homes which are still standing were built, also two hotels. W. A. Grant was propri- etor of the American House, a three-story frame building on the north side of the square. The Claycomb Hotel was on the south side, and naturally there was much rivalry between the two. On festal occasions they were the scenes of elaborate dancing parties which attracted guests from all parts of the county. James Bower purchased part of the old American moved it to his lot on South Second street, and used it for a stable. Recently it was turned around to face First avenue, and remodeled for a dwelling, which bears no evidence of its checkered career. Its present resting place is No. 223 East First avenue. A somewhat inartis- tic but true picture of the old hotel hangs in one of the rooms of the city fire department. It is included in a picture of the square during the big fire of May, 1871, and shows the hotel in its second phase, standing a little north of the original location. Another interesting picture of the square at the time of the fire hangs in the office of Mr. Peyton Roberts. It is the last page in the early history of the square, and brings the realization that the change from 1871 to 1901 has been complete.
The home of Mrs. James Herdman on the corner of North Third street and Clinton ave- nue formerly stood on the corner just east of the Methodist church. In 1852 it was purchased and moved to its present location by E. C. Babcock, who built on its former site the colon- ial looking dwelling which still remains. The latter house is built on a generous plan, and pre- sents a stately appearance, with its narrow portico and heavy projecting roof, supported by tall columns. Its age and ancient architec- ture are not the least of its charms. Mr. Bab- cock and his brother, George C., landed at Yel-
low Banks in 1842, secured a ride as far as Olmsted's mill, and walked from there to Mon- mouth. They opened a general store on the northeast corner of the square and East Broad- way, which soon became so popular that the village rivaled Yellow Banks as a trading post. One day a customer made a wager with an- other that the latter could not go to Babcock's store and call for any article which they could not produce. He went to the store, called for a goose-yoke, and got it.
The remains of one of the oldest homes in the city stands immediately south of the Ham- mond hotel (once the Killian) on North Main street. It was built about the same time as the hotel, in 1840, and contained the first folding doors seen here. Chauncy Hardin lived there as early as 1842. Although the house is still standing, it has been untenable as a dwelling for many years.
Mr. Hardin built the old home on East Broad- way in 1858, and it was then so far from town that it was called a country residence. The massive looking house stands in the midst of a miniature forest of pine trees, loving guard- ians of the old home which has been deserted by later generations for a more modern house nearer the heart of the city. By the courtesy of its owner it is at present the pleasant home of the Golf Club. Harry G. Harding, a brother of Chauncy, also built a very large house in the southern part of town. it is still called "home" by his descendants, although owned by the youngest son, Frank W. The house was recently remodeled, when all its quaint old- fashioned attractions gave way to modern im- provements. Only the heavy walls and large dimensions speak of early days.
What has been long known as the Laferty homestead has been divided and moved to South Eighth street. E. . Babcock built it in 1852. The doors and windows were purchased in Chicago, shipped to Peoria and hauled from there by wagon. Mr. Laferty purchased it in 1856, and during the twenty-five years of his ownership he entertained many celebrated peo- ple there. James A. Garfield, Schuyler Colfax, Richard J. Oglesby, Abraham Lincoln and Rob- ert G. Ingersoll were at different times his guest. Schuyler Colfax had his pocket picked on the way to Monmouth, and borrowed $75 of Mr. Laferty with which to continue his journey. Mr. Laferty went to the station to meet Abraham Lincoln when he spoke here in
733
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
1858. As the latter stepped off the train his host said: "This way, Mr. Lincoln, I have a carriage for you." "No, thank you, my friend," replied Lincoln, "I prefer shank's horses." So the carriage was dismissed and the men walked to the Baldwin House (now the Richardson), where they ate dinner together. In the after- noon after Lincoln had finished speaking he held an informal reception for two hours at the Laferty home. Horace Greeley lectured in Monmouth in February, 1857, but contrary to expectations, spent the preceding night driv- ing over from Oquawka, after which he wrote an interesting description of the trip and the muddy roads. Just as the village was in sight one of the buggy wheels gave way, so the last half mile of the journey was made on foot. Mr. Greeley's arrival at 4 o'clock a. m. com- pletely disarranged the plans of the reception committee, but after some delay and incon- venience, he got to bed in the tavern, as he characteristically described it.
It is said the inhabitants of a western town believe that when they die they go to Mon- mouth. Monmouth has never claimed any sup- ernatural advantages, but it contains a house built according to instructions from the mystic world. This is the house at No. 510 North Third street, which formerly occupied the Weir corner on East Broadway. It was built in 1851 by G. W. Palmer, a spiritualist. The spirits told him to place the windows high above the street, so antagonistic eyes might not look in and dis- turb the seances. The windows are not so far from the floor, but the house was built upon a knoll a considerable height above the street, which answered the purpose, as it prevented passers-by from seeing in.
One of the prettiest cottages in the early vil- lage was the one at No. 414 North Main street. It was built on the southeast corner of East Broadway and First street and later moved to its present location. It has a quaint air about it, is one story high, with a row of tiny win- dows just under the eaves, and two porches sup- ported by columns. Another of the old build- ings is the Women's Clubhouse on South A street, formerly the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Pattee. Through their generosity it is now the home of three of the women's clubs. The interior decorations are modern, but an old-fash- ioned stairway and iron grate are left to pre- serve the memory of by-gone days.
As a striking illustration of the old and the 733-4
new, one has only to glance at a block of beauti- ful modern residences on the north side of East Broadway, between Fifth and Sixth streets, then let the mind wander back to a one-story brick cottage which formerly stood there, al- most hidden by gnarled and low-hanging apple trees. Students who daily passed that way can attest the lusciousness of those hard, little, wormy apples. In later days the shrubbery became so dense that children thought the house was haunted. Today there is no sign of the haunted house nor the wormy apples.
A little further up the street, crowning con- spicuously a steep, grassy bank, made historic by the first house in Monmouth, stands the resi- dence of Mrs. Mary E. Carr. It is of modern architecture, and from the east approach recalls the castellated structures of foreign countries. The comparison of this beautiful home and the arc light over the street in front, with the simple log cabin and the lantern on the pole, which stood there seventy years ago, reveals the history of the character and progress of the city.
.
A great many of our most attractive homes were built between 1860 and 1870, but there are too many for enumeration. Many of the men who have made Monmouth what it is came dur- ing that time, and their homes and home-life have been important factors in the substantial development of later years. Their hospitality has made the city famous. As Beethoven's music reveals the story of his sad life, as the' canvas of Millet expresses complete poems in form and color, so our homes mirror the tastes and ideas of their makers. In the midst of the pleasure they afford us, out of the hustle and bustle of modern life, it is sweet to look back on those primitive walls, hung with pictures painted by the flickering fire light; the smoke curling upward from the old log chimney; the happy groups seated about the fireplace.
"We may build more splendid habitations,
Fill our rooms with paintings and with sculp- tures,
But we cannot
Buy with gold the old associations."
A large part of the material for this sketch has been gathered from the oldest settlers, to whom thanks are due for their assistance. These are Mr. and Mrs. Edward Jones, Thomas H. Davidson, Talbot Andrews, Draper Babcock, Mrs. Wm. H. Young and Mrs. Hannah Par- sons.
PART II.
CITY OF MONMOUTH.
CHAPTER XXI.
How the City Got Its Name-Townsite First Owned by the County-The Quarter Sur- veyed by Peter Butler in April, 1831-First Sale of Lots-The First Residents and What They Did-The First School-Few Old Landmarks Left.
The city of Monmouth-the Maple City, as it is appropriately styled because of its many beautiful maple trees-covers the whole of Sec- tion of 29, and parts of Sections 30, 31 and 32 in Monmouth township (Township 11 north, range 2 west). The original site comprised only the southwest quarter of Section 29, and was selected by a commission of three appointed by the State Legislature, as is told more par- ticularly in that portion of this work which re- fers especially to the early history of the county. The name Monmouth was given by the same commission, and the choice of name was made in a peculiar manner. After the site had been selected, three names-Isabella, Kosciusko and Monmouth-were put in a hat, the first name drawn to be the lucky name. Kosciusko was drawn, but the commissioners felt sure very few of the inhabitants could ever learn to spell the name, so it was decided to draw again, and Monmouth was the resulting choice. It is said the name was suggested in the first place by John McNeil of Fulton county, one of the commissioners, who in his earlier days had re- sided in Monmouth, N. J.
The town site having been selected, prepara- tions were at once begun for laying out the future capital of Warren county. On April 25, 1831, the plans were placed in the hands of Peter Butler, the lowest bidder for the contract, and
he was directed to proceed with the surveys. The public square was located the next day by the commissioners. This survey was completed in about a month, and accepted by the county commissioners June 6. A number of lots were then put on the market and sold, and contracts for deeds given by the commissioners. Until the patent for the town site came from the gen- eral land office, no deeds could be given.
A new law in relation to the surveying of town sites, and requiring plats to be filed for record, was enacted in 1833, and the following year the county surveyor was directed to make a second survey and file the plat with the county recorder. This second survey was made and ac- cepted by the commissioners June 2, 1834, and the plat was recorded September 12. This sur- vey changed all the numbers of the blocks and lots, making them as they are known now. This accounts for some of the discrepancies which are found in some references to lots and blocks in the earliest records.
The original town, or as it is known, the "Old Town Plat," as has been stated, occupied the southwest quarter of Section 29, in Town- ship 11 north, range 2 west. This quarter is bounded on the east by what is now Sixth street, on the south by Fifth avenue, on the west by B street, and extends north to within five rods of Boston avenue. It is coextensive with the present First ward of the city, except that the north boundary of the ward is Bos- ton avenue. The original plat contained a pub- lic square and twenty-eight blocks. There were but two streets running east and west, viz: Broadway and Warren (now Second avenue) ; and three running north and south, viz: Main street, West street (now B street), and an un- named street now First street. The last only extended south to Warren street.
July 9, 1836, it was represented to the board of commissioners by W. B. Stapp and others that the survey of 1834 was not correct, and the
735
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
board was asked to order a new survey. It was said that the streets running north and south were not true to the compass, and crossed the east and west streets diagonally instead of at right angles. The county surveyor was directed to make another survey, which was done the same summer. When this survey had been accepted the commissioners directed that stones be set on Main street and Broadway as perma- nent marks, as follows: At the northeast corner of lot 1, block 7; the southeast corner of lot 8, block 49, on Main street; and at the northwest corner of lot 4, block 22, and one southeast corner of lot 1, block 51, on Broad- way. The stones were to be two feet in the ground, and to show not more than two inches above ground.
At the first the town site was owned by the county, and all the sales of lots and everything connected with the business of the future metropolis were under the control of the com- missioners. As soon as the first survey was accepted, which was on June 6, 1831, a number of lots were sold at public auction. The buyers, the lots purchased (according to the present designation of lots and blocks), and the prices paid at the first sale, June 6, are as follows:
Purchaser
blk
lot
price
Chas. Dawson
5
4 $ 4 25
Wm. Gibson
8
4 4 6894
Wm. Gibson
21
6 44 50
Alex Davidson
6
5
6 75
Alex Davidson 21
3 11 6834
Alex Davidson 11
7
4 10 00
Geo. Jones.
6
5 16 621%
Geo. Jones. 10
3 8 121%
Solomon Perkins.
7
6 5 75
Wm. M. Davidson
5
5 4 871%
Jas. Robison
12
2 1 00
Jas. Robison
20
4 8 121%
Willis Peckenpaugh.
9
2
4 50
Willis Peckenpaugh
22
3
7 371%
Seth C. Murphy 9
4 10 00
Wm. Murphy .
11
4 21 00
Wm. Murphy
21
5 25 0614
Wm. Murphy.
11
5 30 121%
Marshom Lucas
12
4 4 871%
Randolph Casey
12
6 16 50
Elijah Davidson
12
8 28 0614
Elijah Davidson
9
5 23 121%
Elijah Davidson
21
2 29 75
Reuben Riggs.
9
7 7 25
Reuben Riggs.
22
1 21 871%
Josiah Whitman. 19
4 25 50
Josiah Whitman. 19
5 5 3114
Michael Matheny . 19
2 10 1216
John Sellers. 22
5 4 0614
Adam Ritchie. 22
7 5 0614
Adam Ritchie. 10
1 44 25
H. E. Haley . 20
2 26 00
John Kendall.
10
5
28 121%
Robert Kendall. 21
1 50 00
Peter Butler
20
6 43 00
Peter Butler
20
1 50 00
Wm. Whitman.
20
5 36 00
John E. Murphy. 11
1 48 871%
Matthew D. Ritchie 10
2 30 00
Francis Kendall. 10
6 58 00
Daniel McNeil, Jr 19
7 4 1814
Daniel McNeil, Jr 11
6 45 00
D. McNeil, Jr., all blks 2, 15, 16 13 00
D. McNeil Jr., all blks 3, 4, 13, 14
15 75
Nathaniel Armstrong ..... all 41
30 00
Total, 46 lots
$965 621%
The highest price paid was for the south lot on the present court house block-lot 6 of block 10-for which Francis Kendall paid $58; and the lowest price was for a lot on South B street between Broadway and First avenue, the one now occupied by Mayor W. A. Sawyer's elegant residence. It was bought by Jim Sell- ers for $4.061/2.
It seems that whenever the county treasury was a little short of funds, or someone wanted to buy a lot, additional sales were had. A half dozen lots were sold October 1, 1831; a dozen October 27; other small bunches Septem- ber 3 and October 26, 1832, March 7 and June 14, 1833, June 2, 1834; and at a sale December 7, 1837, forty-five lots were sold. At these later sales the prices for lots ran higher than at the first sale, showing that people had begun to see in the bustling little town the promise of a great future.
When the first sale of town lots was made in June, 1831, the county commissioners, in order to encourage the speedy settlement and build- ing up of the county capital, offered a discount of 121% per cent. on the price of each lot on which within one year a comfortable cabin or dwelling house, store, or mechanic's shop should be erected and finished suitable to live in. This did not seem to have much effect, however, as when winter closed in only six buildings beside the court house had been erected.
2 31 50
Geo. Jones.
736
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
The first building was a small store erected by Joel Hargrove on the lot on North Main street on which the Pillsbury building and the city prison now stand. It was of small logs, chinked and daubed with prairie mud, with a split clapboard roof. Mr. Hargrove secured his license to sell "goods, wares and mer- chandise" from the county commissioners Octo- ber 31, paying a fee of $8.00 for one year. His clerk boarded at Jacob Rust's, in the grove northeast of the present Monmouth cemetery, and it is said that whenever he was ready to go to his meals he would get on the roof of the store to see if any customers were in sight. Mr. Hargrove did not move into town until about the 1st of November. He built his dwell- ing on the corner of East Broadway and North Second street now occupied by the Richardson Hotel. He bought the lot in October for $20.
Daniel McNeil had bought most of the town site north of Broadway and east of the Hargrove corner. He built his cabin on the side of the hill about where the handsome residence of Mrs. Mary E. Carr now stands on East Broadway. On the location of the county seat at Mon- mouth in the spring of 1831 Mr. McNeil had moved over from the Yellow Banks (now Oquawka). He found a deserted cabin a half mile north of the old Hardin homestead, east of town, and took possession of it. It was about 16x18 feet, made of logs, and without a floor. He lived here, and here were his offices as clerk of the county commissioners' court, circuit clerk, probate justice, recorder, etc., until fall. Toward the last of October he moved his offices into a shanty near where his cabin was after- wards built and occupied it until the cabin was completed in June, 1832, when it was moved back and used for a stable. The cabin stood until the summer of 1876, when it was torn down to make room for the Carr residence. It was at that time the oldest house in Monmouth, and in it had occurred the first marriage, the first birth and the first death in the city. In the same house, also, the first religious services were held, and the first ser- mons preached by Baptist, Methodist and Pres- byterian ministers. Commenting on its re- moval, The Monmouth Atlas said: "If it could only speak, it would tell an interesting story of Monmouth's youthful days and incidents re- lating thereto. It should have been purchased by the city and preserved as a relic. Lincoln, Douglass and other notables have been enter-
tertained 'neath its roof. Sic transit gloria mundi." After Mr. McNeil separated from his. wife, Aunt Betty, he married again and resided on the corner just east of the old home, the Dr. J. H. Wallace property. Aunt Betty, how- ever, remained in the old home until her death in 1871, and her funeral was held on the hill- side under the trees she had herself planted.
Elijah Davidson put up a blacksmith shop and dwelling on Lot 2, Block 21, on the west side of South Main street between the square and First avenue. His was the third family in the coming metropolis. December 5 he se- cured from the county commissioners a license to keep a grocery in Monmouth, on payment. of a fee of $2.50. r'he rates he was permitted to charge were as follows:
Keeping horse over night. $0 25
' Horse, single feed. 0 121%.
Each meal of victuals 0 25
Lodging, per bed. 0 121%
Lodging, two persons in bed, each. 0 0614
Half pint brandy. 0 25
Half pint gin, rum or wine. 0 1834
Half pint whiskey . 0 121%
Less quantities the same price.
Jacob Rust had been licensed to keep a gro- ery on October 31, with the same scale of prices; and on June 4 the next year (1832) Daniel McNeil was licensed to sell goods, wares. and merchandise for one year for $5.00, "pro- vided his bills do not amount to more than $1,000, but if more to pay one-half per cent." Mr. McNeil built his store on the north side of East Broadway, where the National Bank of Monmouth now stands, and he sold merchan- dise and kept postoffice there for several years.
General James McCallon came the same fall and put up a residence on South Main street below First avenue, about where the old Shultz opera house stood for so many years. Here he- dug the first well in the town and walled it with stone. General McCallon and William Gib- son put up the first frame building in town in 1832 or 1833. It was on the corner now oc- cupied by the Pillsbury building on the north side of the square, and they kept a store there in 1833 and 1834. They secured their license for the store December 4, 1832, and it cost them $6.00. General McCallon was responsible for the big cottonwood tree which stood for so many years in the northwest corner of the
737
HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
square. He rode into the square on horseback one morning in 1834, so the story goes, carry- ing a cottonwood whip. It was seven or eight feet long, perhaps an inch in diameter, and of two or three years' growth. He "planted" it in the mud, and it grew and became a great tree, and not only did the fowls of the air lodge in the branches of it, but billy-goats and effigies of men were sometimes seen dangling from its limbs. The tree became a nuisance to the business places about the square be- cause of the blossoms which it cast every sum- mer, and on June 18, 1866, the city council passed a motion "that persons doing business in the northwest corner of the square be per- mitted to cut down the cottonwood tree at their own expense." The same night, the giant old tree was girdled and soon after was cut down, but no one would admit his responsi- bility for the destruction of the faithful sen- tinel which had kept its solitary watch and ward over the hamlet, the town, the sleeping city by night, a mute spectator of the busy bustling scenes transpiring around it and under the shade of its spreading branches by day. The Atlas said the crime was charged to three young "bloods" of the city, A. C. Gregg, E. C. Babcock and W. P. Pressly.
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