USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I > Part 79
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MOUND-BUILDERS, WORKS OF THE. One of the most conclusive evidences that the Mis- sissippi Valley was once occupied by a people different in customs, character and civilization from the Indians found occupying the soil when the first white explorers visited it, is the exist- ence of certain artificial mounds and earthworks, of the origin and purposes of which the Indians seemed to have no knowledge or tradition. These works extend throughout the valley from the Allegheny to the Rocky Mountains, being much more numerous, however, in some portions than
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in others, and also varying greatly in form. This xact, with the remains found in some of them, has been regarded as evidence that the purposes of their construction were widely variant. They have consequently been classified by archæolo- gists as sepulchral, religious, or defensive, while some seem to have had a purpose of which writers on the subject are unable to form any satisfactory conception, and which are, therefore, still regarded as an unsolved mystery. Some of the most elaborate of these works are found along the eastern border of the Mississippi Valley, especially in Ohio; and the fact that they appear to belong to the defensive class, has led to the conclusion that this region was occupied by a race practically homogeneous, and that these works were designed to prevent the encroachment of hostile races from beyond the Alleghenies. Illi- nois being in the center of the valley, compara- tively few of these defensive works are found here, those of this character which do exist being referred to a different era and race. (See Forti- fications, Prehistoric.) While these works are numerous in some portions of Illinois, their form and structure give evidence that they were erected by a peaceful people, however bloody may have been some of the rites performed on those designed for a religious purpose. Their numbers also imply a dense population. This is especially true of that portion of the American Bottom opposite the city of St. Louis, which is the seat of the most remarkable group of earth works of this character on the continent. The central, or principal structure of this group, is known, locally, as the great "Cahokia Mound," being situated near the creek of that name which empties into the Mississippi just below the city of East St. Louis. It is also called "Monks' Mound," from the fact that it was occupied early in the present century by a community of Monks of La Trappe, a portion of whom succumbed to the malarial influences of the climate, while the survivors returned to the original seat of their order. This mound, from its form and com- manding size, has been supposed to belong to the class called "temple mounds," and has been de- scribed as "the monarch of all similar structures" and the "best representative of its class in North America." The late William McAdams, of Alton, who surveyed this group some years since, in his "Records of Ancient Races," gives the fol- lowing description of this principal structure:
"In the center of a great mass of mounds and earth-works there stands a mighty pyramid whose base covers nearly sixteen acres of ground.
It is not exactly square, being a parallelogram a little longer north and south than east and west. Some thirty feet above the base, on the south side, is an apron or terrace, on which now grows an orchard of considerable size. This terrace is approached from the plain by a graded roadway. Thirty feet above this terrace, and on the west side, is another much smaller, on which are now growing some forest trees. The top, which con- tains an acre and a half, is divided into two nearly equal parts, the northern part being four or five feet the higher. . On the north,
east and south, the structure still retains its straight side, that probably has changed but little since the settlement of the country by white men, but remains in appearance to-day the same as centuries ago. The west side of the pyramid, however, has its base somewhat serrated and seamed by ravines, evidently made by rainstorms and the elements. From the second terrace a well, eighty feet in depth, penetrates the base of the structure, which is plainly seen to be almost wholly composed of the black, sticky soil of the surrounding plain. It is not an oval or conical mound or hill, but a pyramid with straight sides." The approximate height of this mound is ninety feet. When first seen by white men, this was surmounted by a small conical mound some ten feet in height, from which human remains and various relics were taken while being leveled for the site of a house. Messrs. Squier and Davis, in their report on "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," published by the Smithsonian Institute (1848), estimate the contents of the structure at 20,000,000 cubic feet.
A Mr. Breckenridge, who visited these mounds in 1811 and published a description of them, esti- mates that the construction of this principal mound must have required the work of thousands of laborers and years of time. The upper terrace, at the time of his visit, was occupied by the Trappists as a kitchen garden, and the top of the structure was sown in wheat. He also found numerous fragments of flint and earthern ves- sels, and concludes that "a populous city once existed here, similar to those of Mexico described by the first conquerors. The mounds were sites of temples or monuments to great men." Accord- ing to Mr. McAdams, there are seventy-two mounds of considerable size within two miles of the main structure, the group extending to the mouth of the Cahokia and embracing over one hundred in all. Most of these are square, rang- ing from twenty to fifty feet in height, a few are oval and one or two conical. Scattered among
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the mounds are also a number of small lakes, evidently of artificial origin. From the fact that there were a number of conspicuous mounds on the Missouri side of the river, on the present site of the city of St. Louis and its environs, it is believed that they all belonged to the same system and had a common purpose; the Cahokia Mound, from its superior size, being the center of the group-and probably used for sacrificial purposes. The whole number of these structures in the American Bottom, whose outlines were still visible a few years ago, was estimated by Dr. J. W. Foster at nearly two hundred, and the presence of so large a number in close proximity, has been accepted as evidence of a large population in the immediate vicinity.
Mr. McAdams reports the finding of numerous specimens of pottery and artificial ornaments and implements in the Cahokia mounds and in caves and mounds between Alton and the mouth of the Illinois River, as well as on the latter some twenty-five miles from its mouth. Among the relics found in the Illinois River mounds was a burial vase, and Mr. McAdams says that, in thirty years, he has unearthed more than a thousand of these, many of which closely resemble those found in the mounds of Europe. Dr. Foster also makes mention of an ancient cemetery near Chester, in which "each grave, when explored, is found to contain a cist enclos- ing a skeleton, for the most part far gone in decay. These cists are built up and covered with slabs of limestone, which here abound."-Another noteworthy group of mounds-though far inferior to the Cahokia group-exists near Hutsonville in Crawford County. As described in the State Geological Survey, this group consists of fifty- five elevations, irregularly dispersed over an area of 1,000 by 1,400 to 1,500 feet, and varying from fourteen to fifty feet in diameter, the larger ones having a height of five to eight feet. From their form and arrangement these are believed to have been mounds of habitation. In the southern por- tion of this group are four mounds of peculiar construction and larger size, each surrounded by a low ridge or earthwork, with openings facing towards each other, indicating that they were defense-works. The location of this group-a few miles from a prehistoric fortification at Merom, on the Indiana side of the Wabash, to which the name of "Fort Azatlan" has been given-induces the belief that the two groups, like those in the American Bottom and at St. Louis, were parts of the same system .- Professor Engelman, in the part of the State Geological
Survey devoted to Massac County, alludes to a remarkable group of earthworks in the Black Bend of the Ohio, as an "extensive" system of "fortifications and mounds which probably belong 'to the same class as those in the Missis- sippi Bottom opposite St. Louis and at other points farther up the Ohio." In the report of Government survey by Dan W. Beckwith, in 1834, mention is made of a very large mound on the Kankakee River, near the mouth of Rock Creek, now a part of Kankakee County. This had a base diameter of about 100 feet, with a height of twenty feet, and contained the remains of a large number of Indians killed in a celebrated battle, in which the Illinois and Chippewas, and the Delawares and Shawnees took part. Near by were two other mounds, said to contain the remains of the chiefs of the two parties. In this case, mounds of prehistoric origin had probably been utilized as burial places by the aborigines at a comparatively recent period. Related to the Kankakee mounds, in location if not in period of construction, is a group of nineteen in number on the site of the present city of Morris, in Grundy County. Within a circuit of three miles of Ottawa it has been estimated that there were 3,000 mounds-though many of these are believed to have been of Indian origin. Indeed, the whole Illinois Valley is full of these silent monuments of a prehistoric age, but they are not generally of the conspicuous character of those found in the vicinity of St. Louis and attributed to the Mound Builders .- A very large and numerous group of these monuments exists along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, in the western part of Rock Island and Mercer Counties, chiefly between Drury's Landing and New Boston. Mr. J. E. Stevenson, in "The American Antiquarian," a few years ago, estimated that there were 2,500 of these within a circuit of fifty miles, located in groups of two or three to 100, varying in diameter from fifteen to 150 feet, with an elevation of two to fifteen feet. There are also numerous burial and sacrificial mounds in the vicinity of Chilli- cothe, on the Illinois River, in the northeastern part of Peoria County .- There are but few speci- mens of the animal or effigy mounds, of which so many exist in Wisconsin, to be found in Illinois; and the fact that these are found chiefly on Rock River, leaves no doubt of a common origin with the Wisconsin groups. The most remarkable of these is the celebrated "Turtle Mound," within the present limits of the city of Rockford-though some regard it as having more resemblance to an alligator. This figure, which is maintained in a
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good state of preservation by the citizens, has an extreme length of about 150 feet, by fifty in width at the front legs and thirty-nine at the hind legs, and an elevation equal to the height of a man. There are some smaller mounds in the vicinity, and some bird effigies on Rock River some six miles below Rockford. There is also an animal effigy near the village of Hanover, in Jo Daviess County, with a considerable group of round mounds and embankments in the immedi- ate vicinity, besides a smaller effigy of a similar character on the north side of the Pecatonica in Stephenson County, some ten miles east of Free- port. The Rock River region seems to have been a favorite field for the operations of the mound- builders, as shown by the number and variety of these structures, extending from Sterling, in Whiteside County, to the Wisconsin State line. A large number of these were to be found in the vicinity of the Kishwaukee River in the south- eastern part of Winnebago County. The famous prehistoric fortification on Rock River, just beyond the Wisconsin boundary-which seems to have been a sort of counterpart of the ancient Fort Azatlan on the Indiana side of the Wabash -appears to have had a close relation to the works of the mound-builders on the same stream in Illinois.
MOUND CITY, the county-seat of Pulaski County, on the Ohio River, seven miles north of Cairo; is on a branch line of the Illinois Central and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. The chief industries are lumber- ing and ship-building; also has furniture, canning and other factories. One of the United States National Cemeteries is located here. The town has a bank and four weekly papers. Population (1890), 2,550; (1900), 2,705; (1910), 2,837.
MOUNT CARMEL, a city and the county-seat of Wabash County; is the point of junction of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis and the Southern Railroads, 132 miles northeast of Cairo, and 24 miles southwest of Vincennes, Ind .; situated on the Wabash River, which sup- plies good water-power for saw mills, flouring mills, and some other manufactures. The town has railroad shops and two daily and two weekly papers. Agriculture and lumbering are the prin- cipal pursuits of the people of the surrounding dis- trict. Pop. (1890), 3,376; (1900), 4,311; (1910), 6,934.
MOUNT CARROLL, the county-seat of Carroll County, an incorporated city, founded in 1843; is 128 miles southwest of Chicago, on the Chi- cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. Farming, stock-raising and mining are the principal indus-
tries. It has five churches, excellent schools, good libraries, two daily and two semi-weekly newspapers. Pop. (1900), 1,965; (1910), 1,759.
MOUNT CARROLL SEMINARY, a young ladies' seminary, located at Mount Carroll, Carroll County ; incorporated in 1852; had a faculty of thirteen members in 1896, with 126 pupils, prop- erty valued at $100,000, and a library of 5,000 volumes.
MOUNT MORRIS, a town in Ogle County, situ- ated on the Chicago & Iowa Division of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 108 miles west by north from Chicago, and 24 miles south- west of Rockford; is the seat of Mount Morris College and flourishing public school; has hand- some stone and brick buildings, three churches and two weekly papers. Pop. (1910), 1,132.
MOUNT OLIVE, a village of Macoupin County, on the Chicago, Peoria & St. Louis and the Wabash Railways, 68 miles southwest of Decatur; in a rich agricultural and coal-mining region. Pop. (1890), 1,986; (1900), 2,935; (1910), 3,501.
MOUNT PULASKI, a village and railroad junc- tion in Logan County, 21 miles northwest of Decatur and 24 miles northeast of Springfield. Agriculture, coal-mining and stock-raising are leading industries. It is also an important ship- ping point for grain, and contains several elevators and flouring mills. Population (1880), 1,125; (1890), 1,357; (1900), 1,643; (1910), 1,511.
MOUNT STERLING, a city, the county-seat of Brown County, midway between Quincy and Jacksonville, on the Wabash Railway. It is sur- rounded by a rich farming country, and has ex- tensive deposits of clay and coal. It contains six churches and four schools (two large public, and two parochial). The town is lighted by elec- tricity and has public water-works. Wagons, brick, tile and earthenware are manufactured here; city also has carding and flouring mills, and one semi-weekly and one weekly paper. Pop. (1890) 1,655; (1900), 1,960; (1910), 1,986.
MOUNT VERNON, a city and county-seat of Jefferson County, on three trunk lines of railroad, 77 miles east-southeast of St. Louis; is the center of a rich agricultural and coal region; has many flourishing manufactories, including car-works, a plow factory, flouring mills, pressed brick fac- tory, canning factory, and is an important ship- ping-point for grain, vegetables and fruits. The Appellate Court for the Southern Grand Division is held here, and the city has nine churches, fine school buildings, a Carnegie library, two banks, heating plant, two daily and two weekly papers. Pop. (1890), 3,233; (1900), 5,216; (1910), 8,007.
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MOUNT VERNON & GRAYVILLE RAILROAD.
(See Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway.)
MOWEAQUA, a village of Shelby County, on the Illinois Central Railroad, 16 miles south of Decatur; is in rich agricultural and stock-raising section; has coal mine, three banks and two newspapers. Pop. (1900), 1,478; (1910), 1,513.
MUDD, (Col.) John J., soldier, was born in St. Charles County, Mo., Jan. 9, 1820; his father having died in 1833, his mother removed to Pike County, Ill., to free her children from the influ- ence of slavery. In 1849, and again in 1850, he made the overland journey to California, each time returning by the Isthmus, his last visit ex- tending into 1851. In 1854 he engaged in the commission business in St. Louis, as head of the firm of Mudd & Hughes, but failed in the crash of 1857; then removed to Chicago, and, in 1861, was again in prosperous business. While on a
business visit in New Orleans, in December, 1860, he had an opportunity of learning the growing spirit of secession, being advised by friends to leave the St. Charles Hotel in order to escape a mob. In September, 1861, he entered the army as Major of the Second Illinois Cavalry (Col. Silas Noble), and, in the next few months, was stationed successively at Cairo, Bird's Point and Paducah, Ky., and, in February, 1862, led the advance of General McClernand's division in the attack on Fort Donelson. Here he was severely wounded; but, after a few weeks in hospital at St. Louis, was sufficiently recovered to rejoin his regiment soon after the battle of Shiloh. Unable to perform cavalry duty, he was attached to the staff of General McClernand during the advance on Corinth, but, in October following, at the head of 400 men of his regiment, was transferred to the command of General McPherson. Early in 1863 he was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel, and soon after to a colonelcy, taking part in the movement against Vicksburg. June 13, he was again severely wounded, but, a few weeks later, was on duty at New Orleans, and subsequently participated in the operations in Southwestern Louisiana and Texas. On May 1, 1864, he left Baton Rouge for Alexandria, as Chief of Staff to General McClernand, but two days later, while approaching Alexandria on board the steamer, was shot through the head and instantly killed. He was a gallant soldier and greatly beloved by his troops.
MULBERRY GROVE, a village of Bond County, on the Terre Haute & Indianapolis (Vandalia) Railroad, & miles northeast of Greenville; has a local newspaper. Pop. (1900), 632; (1910), 716.
MULLIGAN, James A., soldier, was born of Irish parentage at Utica, N. Y., June 25, 1830; in 1836 accompanied his parents to Chicago, and, after graduating from the University of St. Mary's of the Lake, in 1850, began the study of law. In 1851 he accompanied John Lloyd Ste- phens on his expedition to Panama, and on his return resumed his professional studies, at the same time editing "The Western Tablet," a weekly Catholic paper. At the outbreak of the Rebellion he recruited, and was made Colonel of the Twenty-third Illinois Regiment, known as the Irish Brigade. He served with great gallan- try, first in the West and later in the East, being severely wounded and twice captured. He declined a Brigadier-Generalship, preferring to remain with his regiment. He was fatally wounded during a charge at the battle of Win- chester. While being carried off the field he noticed that the colors of his brigade were en- dangered. "Lay me down and save the flag," he ordered. His men hesitated, but he repeated the command until it was obeyed. Before they returned he had been borne away by the enemy, and died a prisoner, at Winchester, Va., July 26, 1864.
MUNN, Daniel W., lawyer and soldier, was born in Orange County, Vt., in 1834; graduated at Thetford Academy in 1852, when he taught two years, meanwhile beginning the study of law. Removing to Coles County, Ill., in 1855, he resumed his law studies, was admitted to the bar in 1858, and began practice at Hillsboro, Mont- gomery County. In 1862 he joined the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Regiment Illinois Volunteers, with the rank of Adjutant, but the following year was appointed Colonel of the First Alabama Cavalry. Compelled to retire from the service on account of declining health, he re- turned to Cairo, Ill., where he became editor of "The Daily News"; in 1866 was elected to the State Senate, serving four years; served as Presi- dential Elector in 1868; was the Republican nomi- nee for Congress in 1870, and the following year was appointed by President Grant Supervisor of Internal Revenue for the District including the States of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Removing to Chicago, he began practice there in 1875, in which he has since been engaged. He has been prominently connected with a number of important cases before the Chicago courts.
MUNN, Sylvester W., lawyer, soldier and legis- lator, was born about 1818, and came from Ohio at thirty years of age, settling at Wilmington, Will County, afterwards removing to Joliet,
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1
where he practiced law. During the War he served as Major of the Yates Phalanx (Thirty- ninth Illinois Volunteers); later, was State's Attorney for Will County and State Senator in the Thirty.first and Thirty-second General Assemblies. Died, at Joliet, Sept. 11, 1888. He was a member of the Illinois State Bar Associ- ation from its organization.
MURPHY, Everett J., ex-Member of Con- gress, was born in Nashville, Ill., July 24, 1852; in early youth removed to Sparta, where he was educated in the high schools of that place; at the age of fourteen he became clerk in a store; in 1877 was elected City Clerk of Sparta, but the next year resigned to become Deputy Circuit Clerk at Chester, remaining until 1882, when he was elected Sheriff of Randolph County. In 1886 he was chosen a Representative in the Gen- eral Assembly, and, in 1889, was appointed, by Governor Fifer, Warden of the Southern Illinois Penitentiary at Chester, but retired from this position in 1892, and removed to East St. Louis. Two years later he was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fourth Congress for the Twenty-first District, but was defeated for re-election by a small majority in 1896, by Jehu Baker, Democrat and Populist. In 1899 Mr. Murphy was appointed Warden of the State Penitentiary at Joliet, to succeed Col. R. W. McClaughry.
MURPHYSBORO, the county-seat of Jackson County, situated on the Big Muddy River and on main line of the Mobile & Ohio, the St. Louis Division of the Illinois Central, and a branch of the St. Louis Valley Railroads, 52 miles north of Cairo and 90 miles south-southeast of St. Louis. Coal of a superior quality is extensively mined in the vicinity. The city has a foundry, machine shops, skewer factory, furniture factory, flour and saw mills, thirteen churches, four schools, three banks, two daily and two weekly newspapers, city and rural free mail delivery. Population (1890), 3,380; (1900), 6,463; (1910), 7,485.
MURPHYSBORO & SHAWNEETOWN RAIL. ROAD. (See Carbondale & Shawneetown, St. Louis Southern and St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroads.)
NAPERVILLE, a city of Du Page County, on the west branch of the Du Page River and on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, 30 miles west-southwest of Chicago, and 9 miles east of Aurora. It has three banks, a weekly newspaper, stone quarries, couch factory, and nine churches; is also the seat of the Northwestern College, an institution founded in 1861 by the Evangelical
Association; the college now has a normal school department. Pop. (1900), 2,629; (1910), 3,449.
NAPLES, a town of Scott County, on the Illi- nois River and the Hannibal and Naples branch of the Wabash Railway, 21 miles west of Jackson- ville. Pop. (1900), 398; (1910), 457.
NASHVILLE, an incorporated city, the county- seat of Washington County, on the Centralia & Chester and the Louisville & Nashville Railways; is 120 miles south of Springfield and 50 miles east by south from St. Louis. It stands in a coal- producing and rich agricultural region, There are two coal mines within the corporate limits, and two large flouring mills do a considerable business. There are numerous churches, public schools, including a high school, a State bank, and five weekly papers, two of them German. Pop. (1890), 2,084; (1900), 2,184; (1910), 2,135.
NAUVOO, a city in Hancock County, at the head of the Lower Rapids on the Mississippi, between Fort Madison and Keokuk, Iowa. It was founded by the Mormons in 1840, and its early growth was rapid. After the expulsion of the "Saints" in 1846, it was settled by a colony of French Icarians, who introduced the culture of grapes on a large scale. They were a sort of communistic order, but their experiment did not prove a success, and in a few years they gave place to another class, the majority of the popu- lation now being of German extraction. The chief industries are agriculture and liorticulture. Large quantities of grapes and strawberries are raised and shipped, and considerable native wine is produced. Nauvoo was founded adjacent to the original town of Commerce. Pop. (1900), 1,321; (1910), 1,020. (See also Mormons.)
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