USA > Illinois > Williamson County > Historical souvenir of Williamson County, Illinois : being a brief review of the county from date of founding to the present > Part 29
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A history of political parties of Williamson county would be incom- plete without a reference to the pro- hibition party, the oldest of all the three parties. Although its first national ticket was not put up un- til 1869, the temperance movement in its various phases which preced- ei prohibition began as far back as 1845 when a traveling temperance lecturer waked the county up as it had never been waked before. People stopped business to hear him. This strolling temperance lec- turer made two notable converts in the persons of Uncle Chess McCoy and Jacob Goodall, who have re- mained steadfast to their pledge to this day. Goodall celebrated his conversion by taking a barrel of whiskey he had, knocking the head in and emptying the contents into the gutter. A. B. C. Campbell oť Bloomington, Dan K. Shields and a reformed drunkard named Knowles of Greenville and Joseph Benson of Indiana followed as temperance lec- turers. Knowles wound up by get- ting $125 and a suit of clothes and then getting gloriously drunk. Dur- ing all this time temperance was the object of agitation. There were the
Sons of Temperance, Sons of Malta, the Blue Ribbon, high license and local option movements, all ending with the
present philosophical movement, prohibition. The lead- ers and followers of the party in Williamson county as elsewhere are men of high character who are un- dismayed by defeat. Frank Brown cast the first and only prohibition vote in the county in 1869. The party now counts its followers by the hundred.
The first business building erect- ed in Marion was a log shanty built by John Davis and run by him as a saloon. Erwin says that "he was in such a hurry to sell whiskey that he bought a set of stable logs from A. T. Benson which he put up- on the square a few feet north of the well." He also states that he was the first man to get a license to sell whiskey, but during 1839 two members of the county court began to sell whiskey-Campbell and Hill.
G. W. CHESLEY McCOY.
Reminiscences of a returned Cali- fornian.
I was born in Jackson, Tennessee, June 24, 1825, but my parents were both natives of North Carolina and came to Tennessee when quite young. My father, James McCoy, was born Christmas day, 1803, and my mother was born May 28, 1807. I came with my parents to Franklin County in the Spring of 1837, before Williamson County was organized. We settled near where the Illinois Central Railroad depot now stands. It was all prairie then for two or three miles northwest of town, and father broke up a piece that Spring where the depot now stands and planted it to corn on the sod with an ax. It was known as Poor's Prairie.
The first school I attended was taught by Spiller,
an uncle of William Spiller, in 1837. He began in August and kept three months. I was then 12 years old. and all the schooling ] ever had wouldn't amount to more than 12 months. About that time Isaac D. Stockton taught school in the upper story of the Court House, and all the chil- dren in the county attended it. It was a two-story frame building abont twenty feet square, and the first Judge I remember was Judge Seates, who tried Jerry Simpson for killing Andrew J. Benson, in the fall of 1841. Simpson got into a quarrel with Andrew Benson's fath- er, and as the old man, who didn't want to quarrel, was going away, Jerry ran after him with a knife in his hand, swearing he would kill him. He and Andy were chums, and Andy ran up to Jerry and put- ting his hand on his shoulder said,
"O Jerry, you wouldn't kill father, would you?" At that Jerry struck backwards with his knife in his hand, probably not thinking or in- tending to hurt Andy, but only to shake him off, and the blade entered the bowels of Andy and killed him, Willis Allen, the father of Josh Al- len, was one of the prosecution and James Shields defended him, Jerry was a man about 40. He broke jail and ran away, but was caught a year later and tried but acquitted by a packel jury.
We had no mills in those days. Milton and Dr. Jonathan Mulkey and C'apt. James Cunningham bought the machinery for a saw and grist- mill, and hal it sent by ox-teams to where the Edwards Mill now stands. But no one could be found who knew enough ahout machinery to set it up, and it lay piled up on the prairie for a long time. After a while, about '43 or '44, George Felts and John Hooper got track of the situation and came down from Bellville and built the mill and the old double log house still stan ling and occupied as a negro cabin by W'm. Watson and family, They lived there and ran the mill for a good many years. People used to come for 20 miles to mill and wait their turn. maybe two or three weks, before they could get their flour or meal. This was the first steam mill erected in the County. The logs they worked up were most- ly walnut and poplar.
My wife was Miss Jane Poague, a native of Saline County. We were married in the oll Western Ex- change building, which John Pas- chal built for Allen Bainbridge in 1842. In 1845 I began to work at brick-making, mason work and plas- tering, and followed it until about 1850.
I first heard of the discovery of gold in California in 1848. A man returned from there in 1849 and brought a nugget to Marion weigh- ing about 114 ounces which he sold to a merchant here for about $18 or $19. People began at once to make their way to California, mostly across the plains. I started April 26, 1850, in company with Dr. Jas. P. Thorn, H. L. Hayes, James and Thomas P. Louden, Henry Purdy and William Lipsey. We took three yoke of cattle with us and bought another when we stopped at Inde- pendence.
We were just four months on the road and landed at Coloma, Eldo- rado County, August 27, 1850. Co- loma was then called Hangtown from a hanging which took place there for stealing. James M. Mc- Coy, my brother, and Willis Aikman went in 1854, by way of New Or- leans and the isthmus.
Gold was first discovered in
what was known afterwards as
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SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Placerville, about five miles from Coloma, the county seat. The whole territory where the city now stands and far beyond was all rich placer diggings, and every foot of it has been washed, and tens if not hun- dreds of thousands of dollars of gold have been taken out of it. The first lind occurred this way. Old General John Sutter, who had a big ranch on the South Fork, about 45 or 50 miles up the river from Sacramento, buitt a saw-mill up where the gold was found anl had his men dig a race to carry the water to the mitl. After the water had run for a time it was seen that the ditch was not deep enough and they shut the water off to dig it deeper.
James W. Marshall ,a mill-wright from New Jersey, had charge of the joh, but knew nothing of the nature of the nuggets and shining yellow stuff with which the bottom and sides of the ditch were covered, but the Mexicans who were at work for him recognized the precious metal at a glance and by their shouts of "Ora!" "Ora!" soon had the men filling their pockets with the nug- gets which strewed the channel as thick as gravel-stones.
Mr. Marshall jumped on the back of a mule and took his coat pockets full down to General Sutter for ex- amination. It is needless to say
that the mill was abandoned and
the country soon swarmed with gold diggers. Two years later, when I went there, they were as thick as ants in an ant-hill, and everybody was so rich they hardly knew what to do with their gold. At first it was a common thing to take out $2000 or $3000 to the pan, and men would throw up their diggings in disgust and seek better ground until they got about that. One miner, Joe Beaman, of Nevada City, threw up his claim after going down 10 feet or so, and two others took it, and after throwing out a few more shovels of dirt struck it so rich that they cleaned up not less than $25,- 000 in two feet of dirt. William A. Hutchinson,- a friend of mine, with a company of 12 or 14 men, came down from Oregon and went into a canon, afterwards called Oregon Canon from their party, and it is incredible the amount of gold they took out of that canon. There was no lumber and all used pans, but four men, who got them a rocker
and went into partnership. They
went in the diggings in the Spring, and when it grew cold in the fall they threw up their claim as rich as they found it, but they loaded a donkey with all the gold he could carry and every one of them had all they could stagger under. Two and three thousand dollars a day was a very common result of the work of three men with pans. One of Hut- chinson's partners was digging away in his hole one day when he cried out, "Hutch, the derned hole has petered out." "Hutch" went into the hole with him to crack his little joke and gathering up a single pan of the dirt they put it aside in a handkerchief, and
when they weighed it they had 621/2 ounces or $1125. That canon was about ten or twelve miles long, and starting up in the mountains ran southwest into the middle fork of the American river. Probably ten million dollars of gold has been taken out of that canon.
There were a good many disap- pointments and mistakes, and some surprises among the miners, though, aud one of the greatest of the mis- takes was the most common. Gold was so plentiful the miners thought it was inexhaustable, and didn't prize it nor take care of what they got. I was one of the biggest of all the big fools. I went into the mines in 1850 and staid there till 1898, and I suppose I have dug half a ton of gold, but I haven't a dollar. I had two brothers with me, and we once took up a very promising claim, I thought, but after holding it a while my eldest brother got a chance to sell for $600, and after he had teased us till we gave in, it was turned over and we got the $600. But in two weeks the buyers had taken out a cool $100,000 and more. That claim "petered" for us, and no mistake.
A very common way of setting the boundaries of a claim at that time in those diggings was for a miner with his pick to strike a circle at arm's length, and $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000 would be cleaned up down to bed rock.
I left that locality after a while and went up into Nevada and Yuba Counties, on the Yuba river, where we constructed a wing dam and cleaned up $4,000 or $5,000 a day. We mined as far down as Marysville
and took out fro m$50,000 to $100,- 000 to a flume. I believe that coun- try is yet rich in gold, but this old man will never go after it.
California has had as picturesque and eventful a history as any spot on earth. She produced twice as much gold ($50,000,000) in 1850 as the entire territory comprised in the present United States had yield- ed from Columbus' time down to Marshall's discovery in 1848, She produced more gold in 1853 ($65,- 000,000) than any other spot on the globe of equal area ever has turned out in twelve months, except the Rand district in South Africa, just before the Boer war. Over $1,500,000,000 of the yellow metal has been picked up from the Golden State's placers or dug from its mines since 1848, and the end is not yet in sight.
I was in California five years be- fore my wife came to me. She was a relative of the noted Dr. Benja- min Franklin, being his niece. We had five children, three of whom are now dead. I have one son in El Paso, California, and one daughter in Alton. My youngest son, George W. McCoy, went hunting in Alaska and never returned. My wife died in 1860.
On the 24th day of June, 1904, this genial religne of the past was 79 years old. A native of Jackson County, Tennessee, a son of native North Carolinians, raised to 12 years of age among the mountains, for thirteen years a resident of William- son County, from 1837 to 1850, then a miner in California for 48 years, the old man has preserved his vigor, his honesty and his simplicity al- most unimpaired to the present time. The snap-shot we secured of the old man shows him in his fa- vorite corner, at the entrance of Amzi White's residence, with his favorite paper, the San Francisco Call, on his lap. Though he con- sented with his tongue his heart re- fused to go to the photographer's for a good picture. inis would have invovled a general combing, trim- ming and brushing up, of which a mountaineer and Californian miner was never guilty. So I gave up the job and contented myself with a snap-shot at him in his everyday outfit, in which alone his many friends would recognize him.
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SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Carterville, Herrin, Creal Springs, Johnson City and Other Points.
Aldermen Mª Even und. Russell choose to be omitted from the group
Editor
PUBLIC OFFICIALS OF THE CITY OF CARTERVILLE.
Reading from left to right. Top row-James G. Winning, Ald .; B. P. Bandy, Police Magistrate; L. E. Robertson, J. P .; William McEwan, Treas .; Joe Stalcup, Ald. Second Row-W. H. Zimmerman, Ald .; Judge J. L. Gallimore, Atty .; E. B. Watson, Mayor; James Ballow, Clerk; Price Watson, Ald.
Third Row-John Murphy, Ald .: Charles Craig. J. P.
T THE City of Carterville is located near the Western boundary of Williamson County, Illinois, in Car- terville precinct. The original plat of the town on file in the Recorder's office at Marion is accompanied by the following memorandum:
"I hereby certify that I have sur- veyed the town of Carterville, sit- uated in the Southeast one-fourth of
the Southeast quarter of Section No. 3, Township No. 9 South, of Range No. 1 East in the County of William- son and State of Illinois. according to the above plat, this 17th day of February, 1872. H. L. Beasley, Sur- veyor."
Filed February 21, 1872.
On the 15th day of the following May, Cavett & Picketts addition was
surveyed, west half of southwest half and filed June 26, 1872.
A petition was drawn up for a Village Charter for the following ter- ritory:
Northeast quarter of Section 10; west half of northwest quarter of Section 11; west half of southwest quarter of Section 2; southeast quar- ter of Section 3: south half of north-
SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
G
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ORES
CO
BAND
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s/7/
ARTE
SIZEMORE'S CONCERT BAND, CARTERVILLE.
Names of members, counting from left to right: First Row-Matt W. Watson, James Taylor, Lacy Pay- ton, Wm. MeEwen, Thos. Parrott. Second Row-James Hutton, John B. Rowett, William Peebles, Richard lIadfield, Alex. McRae, Chester Taylor. Third Row -- Hiram Rice, Charles Dunn, John King, Frank Sizemore, leader: Fred Bevard, Kiah Hodges, Wm. Swaar. Rob. Parrott and Joe Hadfield were not present when the picture was taken. All are membersof the Musicians Union.
east quarter of Section 3; southwest quarter of northwest quarter of Sec- tion 2: all in towns 7 and 9, range 1 east.
To this petition there were thirty- six signatures. A population of 300 was sworn to by J. A. Bundy, George M. McNeil, before L. D. Crain, J. P., at Crain City, and the petition ap- proved April 10, 1872. The election was held January 22, 1881, at Crain City. Thirty-eight votes were cast, twenty-nine for and nine against. The commissioners of election were F. M. Grimes, T. C. Crain, B. F. Nor- ton, William Curtin and B. P. Spill- er. The certificate is sworn to June 25th, 1881, before Brice Holland and John H. Reynolds, J. P's., and the papers filed by W. H. Eubank, Attorney, June 29th, 1881.
The following are the first officers chosen for the new Village. Presi- dent, Jonathan Bandy; Clerk, J. D. Herrin: Treasurer, Laban Carter; Trustees, William Tranbarger, V. S. Harris, E. C. Jones, James Blair, George McNeil.
In 1892 the Village was incor- porated as a city with the following public officers: G. C. Philips, Mayor; W. W. Sizemore, Clerk; J. B. Sam- uels, Treasurer: C. A. Bander, At- torney: Aldermen, W. W. Snyder, P.
J. Teter, John Bevard, J. C. Riley, Dave McFadden, T. J. Moak.
The present official roll is as fol- lows: E. B. Watson, Mayor; James Ballow, Clerk; William McEwan, Treasurer; J. L. Gallimore, City At- torney; S. P. Watson, Street Com- missioner: B. P. Bandy, Police Mag- istrate; Geo. Walker, City Marshal; Charles Craig and L. E. Robertson, Justices of the Peace. Council, Henry Zimmerman, James Winning, John Murphy, James McEwan, Jos. Stałcup, Samuel Russell.
The City has a good fire brigade under R. H. H. Hampton, Captain, and is well provided with fire-fight- ing apparatus.
It is furnished with electric lights by the Hope Electric Light Co., and is one of the best lighted cities in Southern Illinois. It has a fine grove, which was purchased for a park in 1894, where all out-of- doors public gatherings are held.
The city has been visited by very destructive fires four times. The
first in March, 1885: then in April, 1897: August, 1898, and August, 1900. But it has been practically rebuilt with brick in a more sub- stantial manner, much to the satis- faction of the inhabitants.
The following is pretty nearly a
complete list of the industries of the city at the present time: Five Gen- eral stores, one Hardware store, two Clothing stores, six Restaurants, two Confectionaries, one Electric Light Plant, three Lumber Yards, five Barber Shops, two Blacksmith Shops, one Photograph Gallery, two Drug Stores, two Shoe Shops, two Livery Stables, two Feed Stables, two Tailor Shops, one Bakery, one Jewelry Store, one Harness Shop, two Millinery Stores, two Butcher Shops, five Grocery Stores, two Ho- tels, one Furniture and Exchange Store, one Laundry, two Furniture and Undertaking Rooms, one Cigar Factory, four Boarding Houses, two Opera Houses, one Weekly Newspa- per, nine Saloons, one Cornet Band, two Dentists, three Lawyers, one Surveying and Engineering Co., four Insurance Agents, two Printing Offi- ces, four Resident Ministers, four Physicians.
First Things.
The first store in Carterville was conducted by John Herrin, Sr., on the spot where the Thompson House now stands. The first religious ser- vice was conducted by Elder Henry Boles in 1871. The first Boarding
3
SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE HOPE ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANT.
House was run by James Thompson, where William Lockie now lives. The first Postmaster was Aschal Connor. The first grist-mill and saw-mill was built and operated by James M. Washburn in 1882. The Carterville Milling Company was es- tablished in 1894, also the Taylor Bros. planing mill the same year. The Illinois Central Railway Com- pany built its present depot in 1888.
Public Schools.
The late school census gives to Carterville the following figures: School age, 6 to 21 years, male 466. female, 514: total, 980.
It has excellent officers and teach- ers of the different grades and two fine school buildings. A neat frame building of two stories with four rooms was built in 1895 and a large commodious, well-lighted brick built in 1898. An excellent school library has been provided by the Board of Education, which comprises the fol- lowing gentlemen: Dr. J. W. Vick, President: J. L. Gallimore, Secre- tary: A. K. Elles, F. C. Bevard, M. Bulliner. C. E. Owen, Jacob West.
The following is a list of the teachers at the present time: W. L. Ozment, Supt .: Taylor Black. Prin- cipal: Mamie Coleman, Primary: Nora Ferrill, Assistant Principal : Sadie Campbell, 3rd Room: Anna M. Pullum, Emma Chester, 4th grade: Tirzah, Fay Goodwin,. Mina E. Hub- bell and Byrch Chamness.
Churches.
The first religious services held in Carterville were in 1871, a year be- fore the Village charter was grant- ed. by Henry Boles. Elder Henry Boles, a Christian preacher, held a revival meeting in 1887, which re- sulted in 200 conversions.
The M. E. church was built in
1875 and afterwards a new one in 1899. In 1885 the Presbyterian church was erected, and in 1888 the Christian church. The Baptist church was built in 1890 and the Catholic in 1895. For statistics of the churches see sketches of their pastors.
Transportation.
With the exception of the services of the Coal Belt Electric Railroad, which conveys passengers and their baggage principally, the City of Car- terville is wholly dependent upon the old Carhondale and Shawnee- town Railroad, now owned and op-
erated by the Illinois Railway Com- pany for all freighting.
Coal Mining.
While Williamson County is es- sentially an agricultural County, coal mining has become its most ex- tensive and its most important in- dustry, and of that industry Carter- ville is the largest center. Coal was discovered near Carterville about 1569 by Mr. Laban Carter, in whose honor the city was named. The first mine was opened by Connor and Bry- den, and was operated as a slope. A few years later the Carterville Coal and Coke Company, under the man- agement of A. C. Bryden, opened the Dodd Shaft and Laflin Slope. In 1881 John Adam Young opened a mine, which has furnished the larger portion of coal for local use.
In 1888 the Carterville Coal Co. opened the Barr Shaft on the farm of Elijah Peterson, three-quarters of a mile northeast of the City. In 1896 the Prosperity Shaft was opened by the Scott Wilson Coal Co., now known as the New Ohio Washed Coal Company, who also operate the Fredonia mines, located on the C. Kennedy farm, two and a half miles northwest of the City. This Com- pany has lately built one of the fin- est coal washing plants in the State of Illinois.
Other mines now in operation near the City are the St. Louis and Big Muddy Coal Company, the Donaly and Koenneck, the Carterville Coal Company is opening another shaft three-quarters of a mile northwest of the City, and several other com- panies have the opening of new
HOPE ELECTRIC LIGHT PLANT.
4
SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
GROUP OF FOUR GENERATIONS.
Lemons Boren, Carterville, Ill .: Ephriam Boren, his son: Alonzo Bo- ren, his grandson; John Boren, his great grand son.
mines in the vicinity in the near fu- ture. Among the first mines of Car- terville may be mentioned David Waldron, Sr .: Alex. Hutton, Sr .; David Thomas, David True, B. P. Bandy, Perrin Spiller, William Holt, Thomas Carrie, lohn Hadfield, John Royatt, Walter Royatt, Thomas Lauder, Sr., John Lauder, Alex. Lau- der, William Ceitry, James Thomp- son.
Fraternal Orders.
The following Fraternal Orders are well established in Carterville: The A. F. & A. M., I. O. O. F., Mod- ern Woodmen of America, A. O. U. W., Knights of Pythias, Red Men. G. A. R., Daughters of Rebekah. Royal Neighbors. The Labor Or- ganizations are well represented. numerous anl firmly established. The following are the principal Unions: The United Mine Workers of America have four locals here: the Team Drivers Union, the Retail Clerks, Carpenters and Barbers all have locals.
Carterville Riot.
This bloody riot and the causes which led to it, is so well told by the Chicago Inter Ocean in an interview with Mr. Sam T. Brush, the man- ager of the mine where it occurred that the Souvenir is content with presenting the account entire, believ- ing that it contains the substantial truth.
"In 1890, assisted by the late Mayor E. C. Dawes, of Cincinnati, Ohio, I organized the St. Louis and Big Muddy Coal Company, for the purpose of mining and shipping coal from Jackson and Williamson Coun- ties, Illinois," said Mr. Brush.
"l'pon the organization of the Company 1 was appointed general manager, which position I have held until the present time.
"In May, 1895, owing to the death of Major Dawes, who was President of the Company, and to adverse busi- ness conditons, the company was put into the hands of a receiver, and by special order of the United States Court, I was continued as general manager of the business.
"This company, like all others, has had its experience with strikes. In 1894. 1896 and 1897 troubles of that nature confronted us, but were amicably settled to the satisfaction of both parties.
"Early in 1896, my men having been induced to strike through the machinations of the Miners Union, I found it necessary to bring in negro laborers in large bodies, as it was found impossible to let men go to the mines unaided or unprotected. Before employing the negroes I called upon the committee represent- ing my men, and told them that I had arranged to bring from the Southern States enough negroes to
THOMPSON HOUSE, Mrs. Mary Barth, Proprietor.
5
SOUVENIR OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
THE PROFESSORS AND TEACHERS AT CREAL SPRINGS. Left to right. Top Row-Miss Mamie Hutchinson, Prof. Gilbert Lentz, Supt .; Miss Mayme McRaven, Prof. N. H. Fry, Isaac Gifford.
work the mines; that I did not wish to do so, and understanding that many of my old employes were in distress, 1 offered to give for distri- bution among the needy $1000 in cash if they would call my miners together and induce them to go to work by a certain day.
"The committee, all fair men, regularly took up the proposition, and assured me that they believed the miners would accept it. A meet- ing was called for the purpose of discussing the proposition. The offi- cials of the State Miners Associa- tion heard of the proposed meeting, and immediately sent representatives to Carterville to protest against the acceptance of the proposition.
"Mr. Ryan, present State Secre- tary of the miners' organization. came to Carterville and advised the miners not to enter into any agree- ment. Accordingly, the proposition was rejected, and when the time ex- pired, the negroes, who had already been engaged, and were in charge of my son, James C. Brush, at Jel- lico. Tenn., were brought through on a special train to Carterville and landed at the mines on the morning of May 20, 1898.
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